Crimson Arrow

I am getting the feeling that you are tending towards the mystic. While you have more details for the mentalist, she seems a little lifeless to me. Maybe that's MY prejudices though! What sort of powers do you see the mentalist having? Is she more telekinetic, precognitive or telepathic? For example, there's no point calling he Phantasmagoria if she is a telekinetic. Bearing in mind that a phantasm means something seen, but with no bearing in reality (and is often associated with ghosts as well), that (Phantsam) would fit with a telepathic psychic with Mental Illusions who had an interest in the paranormal and it's a bit shorter too! However, I think you have in mind that she can do the whole range of psychic powers. If I am right, could her OIFs be jewels of gems (a bit like Ioun Stones in D&D)? They float round her, but there are too many to take away in combat, at least all at once. The ruby gives her pyrokinesis, the sapphire telepathy (associated with clear thought and spirituality), etc. She could be called something simple, like "Jewel". I'd avoid "Gem", as that was a terrible cartoon series in the 80s, I think. If you go down that route, there is stuff on "gem lore", explaining what associations each type of jewel has. The very first site I found is this one: http://uk.geocities.com/paganeagle2...l/gem_lore.html That seems to have quite a few possibilities (plus one or two spelling mistakes). There's probably a lot more on the net.

No. More of a general comment that mystics always seem to have capes and it has become a bit of a cliche. At least Doctor Strange's one has some use, so you can understand why he wears such a cumbersome item. His is particularly bulky, but the "living" qualities of the cloak explain why he doesn't fall over it.

1) Never thought about this before, but I'd say that (paradoxically) mystics are both cooler and less cool then mentalists. On the one hand, they deal with bizarre and powerful forces beyond the ken of ordianry folk. They often have a lot of flexibility and unusual knowledge and skills. On the other, they often have cheesy villains, dodgy-looking costumes (can you say "cape"?) and go around talking about "Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth". Overall, I think I prefer mystics to mentalists, though. 2) The name partially stems from whether she's a mystic or mentalist. Do you have any ideas about her at all? Ethnicity, colouring (not guaranteed by ethnicity - think of Storm), background (rich, impoverished, big family, orphanage), moral stance (totally pure or just a good person), quirks, preferred powers (for example is she more a telepath than a telekinetic), motif (the classic Champions character Rose had magical powers which were accompanied by the smell of roses, for example). The names thread is a good source, but might be a little overwhelming.

Never seen it either, but familiar with the theme. How about - Killing Attack (OIF, various blades, guillotines, saws, etc.) Invisible Power Effects (Visible to electronic signals - a bit of a fudge, but there you go). You could build the hypnosis thing as Mind Control (believe you saw no blood) or Mental Illusions, I suppose. Can he hypnotise the audience into seeing other things? Then a Resurrection option Healing, but limited in effect to one hour (fairly hefty Limitation that one). So, it would allow him to bring anyone back to life, but only for an hour. After that, they go back to being dead. Did he really cut off his own head, or could this be Images or Mental Illusions? Perhaps he also has Resurrection Healing without the time limit. It might only work if he dies by his own hand. Just a few ideas off the top of my head (which is, yep, still attached). I think maybe you need someone who's seen the film, though!

Well...I understand that the quote on the back cover of issue 6 of volume 2 was from "Dracula", so perhaps the Count returns and Allan has to unite a band of vampire hunters to rescue Mina. Maybe this time she actually becomes a vampire. Allan might have to make a tragic choice if Mina is in Dracula's thrall. That's all pure hypothesis, of course. Sherlock Holmes might finally show his face (it is reasonable to think he survived in the League's world). The Fu Manchu character (he was never named, I assume for copyright reasons) was still at liberty at the end of volume 1. Perhaps Holmes needs help from Mina and Allan, as he knows they have had success against the evil Doctor before.

Definitely Contacts. He might have some kind of signalling device to call for help from them. I can imagine he would have the KSs listed in Champions (KS: Superhuman World, KS: Superheroes, KS: Supervillains, etc). Perhaps Analyze Superhuman, even. Find Weakness against supers only might fit, but is perhaps a bit much for someone with little practical experience. He'd have learned martial arts (quite possibly a variety - shown by "Comic Book Martial Arts", some form of self-defence training (Krav Maga, Hisardut, Commando Training) or a collection of moves taken from different arts (throws and escapes from Jiu-Jitsu, strikes from Tae Kwon Do etc.). He'd probably have useful combat-related Skills too, especially Breakfall and quite likely Acrobatics. Possibly a weakened form of Danger Sense ("I smell a rat", as BNakagawa puts it), perhaps confined to certain situations where he could perceive the danger and the stories he's heard would inform him. How about a couple of Levels subject to the Limitation "only where he's heard of a similar situation"? This can operate as something for the GM to decide, or maybe just give the Levels an Activation or RSR Limitation instead. I'd suggest you roll once at the beginning of the fight (or possibly other event, if you are using Overall Levels).

These ladies are part of the NEW Purple Gang. Although maybe the rhythm is the sound of their fists beating into the heroes' heads? Nice job so far, Kristopher.

One I thought of would be a high fantasy world. DC did an Elseworlds like this some years ago (never did see the second part to it, unfortunately). Powers largely came from being a member of an unusual species (fishperson for Aquaman, birdperson for Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the Flash was a demon, IIRC), were magical (the Green Lantern character) or were a result of training or medieval sciences (they had the Batmancer, who used chemical compounds, but pretended they were magical, rather than based on science). It might be interesting for the PCs to run into themselves with different power origins, or perhaps other heroes changed in a similar way and the players are mistaken for the fantasy world counterparts. Alternatively, perhaps the PCs are changed (happened to the JLA when they were sucked into the storybook universe a couple of years ago). Depending on how much work you want to do, it could be as easy as changing powered armour to magic armour or a more extensive rewrite.

When I am building a scientist character, I tend to give them the main science, plus subsidiary ones. In your case, I would give him SS: Biology. This might only be at 11- or might be INT-based. Then, I would give him more specific skills either INT-based or INT-based with some extra points spent to increase the roll. The ones Pattern Ghost has come up with are good choices. I always think it's a bit odd to see a character with SS: Genetics at 19-, but not the slightest idea of how photosynthesis works, for example. If he's going to be building all sorts of wonderful equipment (possible from your description of him including Electronics and Mechanics), he would benefit from engineering/electrical engineering Sciences. Inventor might be appropriate, as might Weaponsmith. These are not exactly essential, but are a logical extension of a super-scientist Master Villain.

Kristopher - I don't mind at all if you use the "Purples". While anything posted is effectively in the public domain, it's nice to be asked and to know you might get some use out of them.

Glad there was something in my second try you think you can use. On the Entangle point, yes Guy Neville has Teleport, but I wouldn't let that power with the "must cross intervening space" Limitation be used it to get out of an Entangle. Of course, your style might be different and only you can be the ultimate arbiter of what goes in. Good luck with the rest.

Caris summarised what I was aiming at with “The Purplesâ€. They sound silly and are actually deadly, able to exploit weaknesses in the heroes. Like Caris, I was interested to read that your heroes would “shred†villains who have powers that exploit specific vulnerabilities in the PCs and who attack from surprise and with teamwork…Caris made some other very good points, as did phydaux and Fur Face. I am not at all surprised nothing in CKC grabbed you, because you are after something exceedingly specific. OK, let’s see if we NOW have all of your criteria. You’d have liked a theme, but think this goes against the tone of your campaign. Now that you’ve given more details, I am inclined to agree. However, you want more than just a group of people with guns, because you (rightly) think this is not interesting enough. You said that Greymalkin has interests in biological technology and the PCs all have innate powers, so it’s not surprising that Crosshair Collie and I thought it wouldn’t be a stretch to have super-powered villains created by that corporation.. What you haven’t said is if power suits are a possibility from Greymalkin’s tech. My suggestions can be built with our without this. I can’t see how, realistically, they can have a “Sinister Six†style history with the PCs and fit in with your other criteria. Maybe there are people who fit the bill already, but I’d go along with Fur Face and say that you make the players hate their foes because they are nasty, efficient, dangerous, sneaky and amoral. Running the risk of being told (yet) again that this is not what you are after, how about:- FlashFire - A former special weapons expert. Powers include flares (these illuminate areas , denying DarkGlow any areas of shadow in which to use his powers and can also be used offensively, burning through enemies), flash bangs (to disorientate the heroes and to trigger DarkGlow’s vulnerability to Flash attacks), incendiary devices and a flamethrower (miniature one, a bit like the kind on Mandalorian armour in the Star Wars universe), to prey on DarkGlow‘s fire weakness. Note the spelling of FlashFire’s name, echoing DarkGlow. He might conceivably set fire to a hero’s apartment block (or one where a DNPC lives) or murder a contact or DNPC horribly through fire. Bombast - A demolitions expert. He is equipped with various explosive devices, including grenades, rocket launchers and bombs. He demolishes buildings in the area the heroes have been lured to, ensuring there are precious few shadows for DarkGlow, and little for Ghost Knight to enter or use his powers on. He also gets to the heroes. Imagine them being told a time bomb has been planted at their home, their workplace, or that of a DNPC. Maybe friends and relatives are killed by car bombs or other booby traps. Remember something similar happening in “Lethal Weapon 2â€? He can also plant a bomb as a distraction or to facilitate an escape, such as blowing a hole in a wall or taking out a building. Lockdown - A former military policeman. He has entangling powers, including area effect entangles (net launchers and riot foam), tangler grenades, a wire garrotte/lasso and martial arts style Chin Na which I believe was designed to restrain escapees (see UMA). He also has gas grenades which he can use to knock out people caught in the Entangles. He is designed to take out Guy Neville. Guy would probably be the one the villains target first, as his SPD and DEX Drains could hurt them and mess up their plans. Shock Trooper - A communications expert. He has communications gear (shielded), maybe a portable computer or some kind of uplink to one. His main offence comes from electrical powers either from a suit or a gun. This could be an EB and maybe he also has a foci destroyer option (Penetrating RKA only against circuitry). He is primarily good against Tia, but can also be used against Tengu, should he show up. Shock Trooper can also generate interference in communications equipment, preventing people from calling for help (their systems are shielded against this). Naturally, he also has a support function. Vulcan - A former machine gunner. He has been equipped with a lightweight, but extremely effective mini-gun, plus a strength-enhancing exo-skeleton. I suggest using an Area of Effect to simulate laying down huge numbers of bullets, maybe with Cone and Line options (both with No Range, of course). He can be used to attack Ghost Knight , DarkGlow and Guy Neville in particular, by laying down covering fire. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know exactly where you are because he pumps out so many bullets, he’ll hit you anyway. Black Fox - A former secret service agent. He has infiltration skills and is generally sneaky and stealthy. He is the one who shadows heroes and finds out their secrets, kidnaps DNPCs and generally causes trouble behind the scenes. He is also an expert martial artist and can be called upon to fight Ghost Knight (no equipment for him to affect). He probably has sniper skills and access to a high-powered rifle, a silenced pistol and throwing knives. My suggestion would be to keep him well behind the scenes in the first fight and maybe the players don’t even know that there is another member in the squad until he breaks the team out of jail (assuming they ever make it that far!) Their background is that they have all done military service in China and are now seeking to make money in the USA as a team of Tong-sponsored mercenaries. If you go the power armour route, the players won’t even know their foes are Chinese at first. They all have shielded communications, Mental Defence in headbands or helmets (Ming can only EGO attack them without knowing their names, so this is to protect them against Ego Attacks) and typical military skills. As you would expect, they also have Tactics and Teamwork too. They can be built either with power armour, or with guns, grenades, rocket launchers, and other, more advanced types of “realistic†equipment. Bearing in mind the nature of the Chinese military, some of the villains could be female. Black Fox and Lockdown are the two I see being most likely to be female. They all use codenames for efficiency and to prevent Ming from using her more effective powers.

Silver Sable would hand Callisto her behind. Years and years of training in a wide variety of martial arts styles against low-level mutation and street-fighting skills equals not much of a contest. In a “no holds barred†fight, I’d give Mockingbird (with her SHIELD training) the nod over Hellcat, but I haven’t seen either of them fight in years and Bobbi is a little reliant on her staves to reach peak effectiveness. For reasons given below, I don’t think it matters. Elektra would beat The Black Cat. Again, she is more ruthless in a real fight. Black Canary against Harley Quinn wouldn’t be much of a fight without gimmicks. I think Dinah would beat Harley fairly easily. Cheshire would take Poison Ivy (without powers) in about ten seconds and eight of those would be checking that no one was waiting in the shadows. Talia against Catwoman is really tough to call. Again for the “no holds barred†reason, I think it would go to Talia. Catwoman’s portrayal has been a little uneven over the years, but I think Talia would be guaranteed to be ruthless. I had a look at the DCU Gotham City sourcebook and they are almost identical in combat skills without weaponry, but Talia has a very slight edge. So combined with her attitude, I give this one to Talia. Silver Sable against Black Widow is incredibly difficult to decide. This is good enough to be the semi-final. As has already been noted these two have previously fought to a deadlock. As we must have a winner, I’ll go for the Black Widow. This is based on the fact that, unless they are really trying to promote a new character, long-established ones tend to have the edge in fights. Elektra would beat Mockingbird for certain if no weapons are allowed in the round and almost certainly would with weapons. Elektra would also beat Hellcat, hence why I said it didn't matter if Mockingbird lost the first match. I think Black Canary would take Batgirl if the no gadgets rule applies. Cheshire against Talia would be interesting, but I think Cheshire would win. I am a little hampered by not knowing huge amounts about these ladies. Talia is a very good martial artist, but I don’t think she is at Cheshire’s level.. The semi-final at Marvel is Black Widow against Elektra. Very tough match again. I’ll go for Elektra, but seriously Black Widow, Elektra or Silver Sable could easily be the Marvel winner. It’s just too close to call for certain, IMHO. I think ruthlessness will play a part again, hence I give the win to Elektra. Black Canary against Cheshire would be interesting. It could go either way, but (partially to make the final more interesting), I’ll give it to Cheshire. Dinah could quite possibly win. OK, by now I’ve offended almost everyone, but the final is Elektra against Cheshire, with weapons. I’ve set this up so we have two characters with real martial skills and a minimum of fancy weaponry and also one hero and one villain, just to make it interesting. I haven’t deliberately ignored one character’s superiority in previous rounds, but when given the choice between two characters who are pretty evenly-matched, I have gone for a winner who would make the next round more interesting. For example, if I let Black Canary beat Cheshire, we have two heroes fighting and also one “Canary Cry†and the final might all be over. Cheshire’s been known to use guns, but I think Elektra could dodge the bullets until she got in range (this would be a comic fight, of course). I’ll give this fight to Elektra, unless she gets scratched by Cheshire’s poisoned fingernails.

Well, that's my idea out of the window, then. It was only in the early stages and just something I thought of as I read the initial post. I was thinking of:- "Purple Haze", who can create darkness fields or maybe just fog (Change Environment), go Desolid and possibly has some kind of knock-out gas attack (might be a rival for DarkGlow and probably useful against a lot of the heroes); "Purple Rain" (yes, I know, I said it was just something off the top of my head), with weather powers (maybe some nice elctrical-based powers for damaging foci); "Purple Prose", a mentalist with the power of confusion through manipulating the linguistic centres of the brain, probably got Universal Translator too; "Purple Rose", (sister of the above) who has energy projector powers (you can crib Sapphire, basically), or possibly the power to use EDM to go into film and TV images, but that seems a bit too much and maybe overlaps with Purple Haze; "Purple Passion", an empath with emotion manipulation powers, who is especially good at inspiring lust in men; and behind the scenes, explaining why the heroes get their butts kicked first time around, is the team leader, "Deep Purple", with a superb mind, high Tactics roll and lots of Intellect Skills (especially a KS about each hero) and Power-based "super skills". Shame you can't use them! EDIT: I should have explained the slightly silly names are a result of Greymalkin's influence. The tech team had a sense of humour! Also Deep Purple has some form of Mind Link (possibly a power, but more likely shielded and concealed radio communications) with the field team.

It's got to be Code vs. Killing. By and large , it's the epitome of heroism (well, excluding the Iron Age). Virtually all of my heroes have had CvK.

Great idea! "My Secret Life: My Secret Heartache: Neutron Girl's Tragic Story Will Make You Weep." "This Season's Colours: Are Autmnal Shades in Costumes Set for a Comeback?" "I Was Stalked by an Amorphous Blob from Beyond the Stars and Now I Couldn't Be Any Happier." "Does YOUR Boyfriend Have a Secret Identity Too? Our Quiz Will Tell You If Your 'Mr. Right' Might Really Be Your Arch-Enemy." NOTE: Parody. These items are not supposed to bear any resemblance to articles in real world magazines. Although, now that you mention it...

I'd forgotten about Victory, but there aren't many published heroes anyway (for good reason, I suppose). I think there has been a toning down of COM levels in 5th Ed. products. It could be the "Image factor", but it might be an effort to halt a "COM" race, a little like how characters don't seem to have quite such high DEX scores in 5th Ed. If that is the reason, it's probably got a different motive - with COM it might be an effort to dissuade people from shelling out 30 points (the experienced version of Lorelei mentioned above) on something which has no official game effect. After all, think what you could get with 30 points in other Characteristics or Martial Arts. Still, it's pure hypothesis on my part. Although maybe it is the case that bad girls are more attractive...

Good point Hermit. Is that because the published lady characters (well, ignoring the Sentinels currently being done in Digital Hero issues), haven't got that magical thing known as Experience (aka Villain Bonus) on their sheets? Spare points = bump up the COM a little?

Thanks again for the mention, Hermit (I hadn't seen that thread until you pointed it out). Yes, her little sister is the REAL beauty of the bunch.

Do I mind? Hell, no! Thank you for thinking of her. Thanks also to Killer Shrike for the vote of confidence. Mind you, Alecto hasn't been been published yet... High COM (naturally), high PRE and even higher PRE for attractiveness purposes. I will finish writing her one day!

All-in-all, pretty good. I agree absolutely with JmOz about rolling the two bionic limbs powers into one and reducing the limitation down to -1/4. I'd also make the fist an HA as Vanguard suggested. A 3d6 HA backed up by 33 STR does 9 1/2 d6 damage (using superheroic rules for adding damage to HAs). Against an ordinary or lightly armoured person, that's going to leave a mark. I think Steve Austin could run a lot faster than that, but I can't find a speed conversion table, so I might be underestimating how fast he actually is. My recollection (and this is going back a long way, so it could easily be defective), is he could run at 60MPH. I suppose you could handle this with NCM, but with that dart gun, expense might not be relevant! Didn't his eye have Telescopic Vision? Maybe also a few PER levels with sight. I don't think there would be any Limitation for it only affecting one eye. It's not likely to come up often enough, but maybe I am wrong. The Skills look fine to me. Sorry, that little list looks like I don't think much of the sheet, but I do!

If we're not confined to "living" characters, what about Hector Ayala, The White Tiger? He was a pretty good martial artist. I think he might have has low-level super-strength, but Iron Fist's punch is clearly a superpower (yes, I know it's chi-based, but still a power).

Hey, don't forget the fabulous Furies! I will eventually write up the other two. Promise. RL things have been getting in the way over the last couple of months.

What about Conor Hawke? Yes, allegedly third best (or whatever it is today) martial artist in the DCU, but he doesn't have Daredevil's superb senses. Conor is a similar sort of build to Matt Murdoch (well, in most incarnations). And I never quite bought that Conor was THAT good at martial arts. Fantastic, yes, third best, no.

Lion and Unicorn? Two soldiers, one English and one Scottish, mystically empowered as champions of their respective countries. Lion is strong and fast, Unicorn is agile and skilful. Of course, there is nothing to stop the heroes having just about any name or powers. I've always thought it was a little cliched that every African character (for example) would have the powers of an African animal or be a witch-doctor. For example, while Uncle Sam is clearly a patriotic character, there's also Shining Knight, the Phantom Lady, Dollman, the Human Bomb, etc. I think it might be better to go that way, especially for countries like Canada where the wolverine has already been taken! I'm ropey on the history, but I don't think even the maple leaf was Canada's emblem at the time of WWII. In "Zenith", the first superhero was a British soldier who is transformed into Maximan. Basically very strong and tough, but strictly minor-league by modern superhero standards. Roughly comparable to the original Hourman, at a guess.