Kevin Scrivner

True, but the comments were so in character that none of the bad guys caught on. I believe the episode title was "Almost Got Him." My favorite line was the Penguin having to refer to his "Aviary of Doom" as "the Big Bird Cage" so the faux Croc would understand. Another favorite from the Superman radio show: Sniggers, the knife-wielding Cockney sidekick of the sinister Scarlet Widow. Timid in the villainess' presence, he was a competent safecracker and burglar when left on his own. It was he who first stole Kryptonite from the Metropolis Museum despite police interference and later almost kidnapped an unconscious Superman (he would have, too, if a pesky beat cop hadn't showed up to berate Supes for apparent public drunkeness).

The Gargoyle, from the 1980s animated "Incredible Hulk." A mad genius in his own right, he was forced to serve the Leader in hopes of gaining a cure for his gamma-induced deformities. Since the Leader had intellect but not necessarily wisdom, Gargoyle was continually making cynical and accurate observations in the background, slathering on the servility if the boss overheard him. From the "Adventures of Superman" radio show: Keno Carter, a gambler, strong-arm henchman and saboteur forced to flee Chicago for the Southwest. Despite his subservience to master villains such as The Wolf and the Yellow Mask, Carter was the first bad guy in the series to realize that his real adversary was Superman rather than a certain mild-mannered reporter. Of course, the big brains wouldn't listen to him until it was too late. He continued his career while his masters perished or went to prison.

I think it would be easier to write up Doc's companions, or even The Shadow. I mean, Savage himself is an expert at everything! He has every conceivable skill in HERO System at 18-, great physical stats, and an arsenal of gadgets. He'd cost more points than Doctor Destroyer!

There was a Doc Savage/Superman team-up comic way back when. I don't remember Doc berating Supes for stealing his schtick. D-Man is correct that the creators of Superman looked to their Jewish roots for inspiration. They wanted to create a deliverer as strong as the biblical Sampson, as smart as Sherlock Holmes, the kind of guy who was the best at everything like Doc Savage. Things kind of snowballed from there. Originally, Superman was the "Man of Tomorrow" or "The Action Ace" but the writers tried various appellations and "Man of Steel" stuck. Kal-El went Sampson one better. Sampson loses his strength if his hair is cut; Superman's hair CAN'T be cut except for his own heat-ray vision. I think the writers gave a nod to Sampson after the "Death of Superman" saga when Superman had long hair for a while. They dropped it because it made the whole secret identity thing more difficult.

Yes, Virginia, there are superhero pajamas I don't have cable and don't get Cartoon Network, so I have to depend on video releases to see "Justice League." Recently got the video "Justice On Trial." Re the Aquaman episodes, when did they transplant Namor the Sub-Mariner's brain into Aquaman's body? Enjoyed it but the whole story line was sooo Marvel Comics. I also liked the "In Blackest Night" plot. The writers finally got over their Batman fixation and let another team member shine. John Stewart makes a noble Green Lantern even if he is a stuffed shirt. By the way, Hawkgirl refused to answer Flash when he asked whether there was a "Hawkboy." Has the series established whether Hawkman exists in this continuity? I haven't specifically been looking for Wonder Woman or Hawkgirl pajamas for my preschoolers but I know that Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man versions exist. Toy R Us and Target would be good places to start looking. My son already has Hulk pajamas -- we just tell him to put on his jean cutoff shorts and he's good to go.

Good quotes from the website. The 1939 Superman couldn't fly but could leap an eighth of a mile. But he frequently defied gravity by abruptly changing direction in mid-leap. If you watch some of the old Max Fliescher cartoons you'll get the idea. As previously noted, this gradually evolved into genuine flight. He had enhanced senses, really good hearing, like pulp adventurers such as Doc Savage. But he couldn't see through walls or hear Lois scream from across town yet. In the 1940 radio serial he was able to easily follow both sides of a telephone conversation while seated in an office with one of the conversants. This ability drove Perry White and numerous public officials nuts. While Superman was resistant to disease and could hold his breath an unusually long time he didn't yet have Life Support as such. In one early confrontation with Lex Luthor the mad scientist took him out with poison gas after robot fighter planes and trained attack wolves failed. While not strong enough to juggle planets, his strength and speed did increase rapidly. Again, in the 1940 radio serial he went from snatching people out of runaway trolley cars to swiftly clearing rock slides off railroad tracks and ripping apart mountainsides to dam floodwaters. Kryptonite didn't appear until 1945, when a Nazi war criminal stole pieces of a meteor that had crashed near Metropolis and injected the resultant radioactive solution into the veins of a young SS officer to create Superman's first super-powered foe, the Atom Man. By then, Superman was flying, had some of his super senses, had become a public hero instead of a shadowy mystery man. He could count on the cooperation of the police and the military instead of having to dodge them as he had in 1940. The story arc is available from Radio Spirits, Inc., as "Superman vs. Atom Man." If you can't get ahold of the radio shows, the 1950s TV show will give you a good idea of what Superman was like during this period. They pretty much translated the radio version wholesale. The whole yellow sun thing is a product of the late 1950s or 1960s. The radio show, which introduced us to Superman's parents, described the Kryptonians as a race of supermen dwelling on a planet in Earth orbit on the opposite side of the sun. Their powers were the products of their advanced science and culture.

Another vote for Fu Manchu, the great-granddaddy of all supervillains! Often imitated, never equalled, never defeated. Count Fosco, from "The Woman in White." Master spy, hypnotist, experimental chemist. Classy and scary. Jadis of Charn, the White Witch. So arrogant she's funny and she's too proud to realize it. Resourceful even when robbed of her powers in our dimension. I'm more into the intimate villains. Sure Thanos wants to blow away your planet but it's nothing personal. Evil on a smaller scale is scarier to me. Sauron covets the Earth but Gollum is the one likely to crawl through your open window on a hot summer night. With that in mind, Doctor Octopus! A mad scientist with a unique gimmick and the ability to match Spider-Man quip for quip. And he nearly married Aunt May! The Penuin, from Batman the Animated Series but also the Burgess Meredith version. Sure he's low-powered and a little silly but he's also charming and clever. You never know what he's going to stuff in one of those umbrellas next. The Hobgoblin. He stole the Green Goblin's schtick but it took us months to find out his identity -- and it kept changing! The greatest identity guessing game since Fantomas. Well, maybe not. But it was still fun. Oh, and Gollum. I like the CGI version in "Two Towers" but the character begs to be played by Peter Lorre. Megavolt from "Darkwing Duck." He was upstaged by Negaduck but Megavolt had that gleeful love of crime for its own sake that I find appealing.

There's the novel "Darker Than You Think" set in the late '40s or 1950s but could easily be moved up a decade. Witches, actually a psychic human subspecies which evolved in prehistory, really do walk among us and are preparing to seize the reigns of power once again! A team of anthropologists think they've figured out a way to stop the new dark age, but will they make it in time?

Nah. It was such a great comeback it left us speechless. "Speed Racer: The Next Generation." Hmmm. Since Speed could pass the business on to Spritle or to his and Trixie's children, we've got the makings of a franchise to rival Roddenberry's -- if we can make it through that awful first season.

As GM of a "Speed Racer" campaign I probably wouldn't do write-ups of the television characters and hand them out to the players. My goal would be to capture the feel of the show rather than slavishly translate it into HERO stats. I'd focus on the racing team concept with different characters taking on certain roles: drivers (maybe an aging pro saddled with an upstart young junior driver), mechanic/inventor, business manager/publicist. If you split up the dual positions, you've got character templates for a gaming group of three to five people -- which is the most I can handle comfortably. Of course I wouldn't depict the villains scheming in a back room. But there's plenty of other ways to hint that something is going on. Someone's sabotaging the cars. A kidnap attempt is made on one of the PCs when they ignore mysterious warnings not to enter a particular competition. They notice that they're being watched by shadowy figures after the business manager refuses a buyout offer from another team. One of the characters gets bopped in the head when he examines the underside of the Mammoth Car too closely. Once the campaign was rolling I'd probably thrown in homages to the Love Bug movies, Ben-Hur, or whatever other elements seemed to fit.

Sharing the Limelight Sure, you'd have to give each player-character his place in the sun but I don't think it would be that much different than providing game play balance in a Justice, Inc. or Danger International campaign. In your crime-busting detective games everyone can't be Sam Spade. In a Speed Racer/NASCAR Racers campaign, each PC would have his own specialty. In a way, Speed Racer already does this: Speed: boy prodigy driver, but he's still learning the sport. He can do one thing extremely well but needs the other PCs to round things out when he's not in the middle of a race. Pops: mechanic and inventor. He has to come up with a new gadget to save the day periodically just like any good pulp mad scientist. Plus he's a former champion wrestler so he's got some fisticuffs ability as well. Racer X: mysterious masked vigilante with a secret agenda. Pretty much along the same lines as your Batman or Shadow character from other genres only the focus is on his driving skill rather than on how well he throws a gun or a boomarang. Trixie: like Scooby Doo's pal Velma Dinkley, she's the smart one, the gal with all the detective and disguise skills. And she's an experienced pilot for all those pulp aerial action scenes. Spritle and Chim Chim: yeah, they're comic relief but they also make effective spies and last-minute rescuers because the bad guys always underestimate them. Plus, if the campaign were true to the series, three-quarters of the action would take place off the track. There's always some skullduggery going on behind the scenes: a plot to fix the championship, an attempt at sabotage or industrial theft, a scheme to smuggle goods across international borders using the big race as a cover. There would be plenty for non-drivers to do. They'd have to save the world AND get the "star" driver to the starting line on time. What? He's still trying to defuse that deathtrap? There goes the new Nar-Cola endorsement deal!

Don't think of it as losing SAN. Think of it as gaining insight into the true nature of the Cosmos.

For Fathers' Day my kids got me a DVD collection of "Speed Racer" episodes. The animation was much more primitive and cartoony than I had remembered (we're talking 1967 limited TV animation) but the characters and story lines were as vivid as ever. In our translations from anime to HERO System we've usually focused on superheroes, space conquerors, or giant robots. But "Speed Racer" provided a lot of action with characters who had to be 50-point normals. (I assume they got a certain number of extra points in order to build their specialized vehicles.) The Racer family and friends battled crooked drivers, smugglers, industrial spies, and plain vanilla gangsters while seeking to win the international championship. And the Mach 5 had to be a contender for the coolest car of the '60s alongside the Batmobile and Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang. There have been other animated series that focused on the adventures of an auto racing team but none has captured the sense of glamour, excitement, and fun like "Speed Racer." Anyone ready to pump up his Combat Driving skill level and take the challenge? A side note: Mom always told me that Speed's companion Trixie was the perfect girlfriend. They were pals first and foremost, and she and Speed never touched each other.

Revised version Here's Daddy Longlegs revised per your suggestions. I've ditched the Ink Spayer for +2 SPD, made the Ambidexterity apply to the tentacles rather than Perretti's personal limbs, and used the extra points to boost his performance skills. Guy's gotta make a living, ya know. Name: Daddy Longlegs Val Char Cost 15* STR 5 17 DEX 21 15 CON 10 13 BODY 6 25 INT 15 18 EGO 16 25 PRE 15 18 COM 4 6 PD 3 6 ED 3 4* SPD 13 8 REC 4 30 END 29 STUN *STR 55, SPD 6 with Tentacles Characteristic Rolls: STR: 12-/20-, DEX: 12-, CON: 12-, INT: 14-, EGO: 13-, PER: 14- Run: 6"/21", Swim: 2", Jump: 3"/11", Lift: 200 kg/50 tons Cost Powers END/Roll 10 EC: "Steel Tentacles" 20 "Tentacles," Four Extra Limbs plus 40 STR (+1/2) 0 END, (-1/2) Only With Extra Limbs, (-1/2) OIF 13 "Mechanical Reflexes," Missile Deflection, All Attacks, +6 to Roll, (-1/2) OIF 16 "Telescoping Limbs," Stretching 6", (+1/2) 0 END, (-1/4) Metal Tentacles Only, (-1/2) OIF 10 "Long Stride," Running 15" (Total 21"), (-1/2) OIF, 4 END 16 "Tentacles Harness," Armor 8PD/8ED, (-1/2) OIF 13 "Gosh! Those Things Seem to Have a Mind of Their Own!" +2 SPD, (-1/2) OIF "Onboard Tactical Computer" 13 +4 Levels with Hand-to-Hand Combat, (-1/2) OIF 13 +4 DCV (-1/2) OIF 7 Defense Manuever IV, (-1/2) OIF 6 Talent: Ambidexterity, No Off-Hand Penalty with Tentacles, (-1/2) OIF 7 "Gripping Claws," Clinging, (-1/2) OIF 10 "Hard-Headed," Mental Defense 14 Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll 3 Acrobatics 12- 3 Acting 14- 3 Breakfall 12- 3 Climbing 12- 3 Combat Driving: Common Ground Vehicles 12- 3 Concealment 14- 3 Contortionist 12- 3 Conversation 14- 5 Cramming 3 Disguise 14- 3 High Society 14- 3 Oratory 14- 3 Mimicry 14- 3 Persuasion 14- 3 PS: Actor (PRE-based) 14- 4 PS: Dancer 13- 4 PS: Singer 13- 5 Rapid Attack Hand-to-Hand 3 Seduction 14- 3 Sleight of Hand 12- 3 Stealth 12- 4 Talent: Double-Jointed 5 Talent: Eidetic Memory 3 Talent: Perfect Pitch 100+ Disadvantages 20 Normal Characteristics Maximums 5 Age 40+ 15 DNPC 11-: Larry, manager, Normal, Useful Skills, Unaware of Hero's Secret ID 20 Hunted 11-: Cuttlefish, More Powerful 20 Hunted 11-: The Police, More Powerful 15 Psychological Limitation: Swashbuckler, Common, Strong 15 Psychological Limitation: Glory Hound, Common, Strong 15 Social Limitation, Secret ID: Eddie Perretti, has-been movie crooner 15 Extreme Reputation 11-: Vicious Supercriminal (People Think He's Cuttlefish) 10 Professional Rivalry with Flynn Hudsawyer, Rival More Powerful, Is Unaware of Rivalry OCV: 6 (10 with HTH Combat); DCV: 6 (10 with Tentacles); ECV: 6; Mental Def.: 14; Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 with Tentacles) PD/rPD: 6/8 ; ED/rED: 6/8 Costs: Char.: 115 Disad.: 150 Powers: + 235 Base: + 200 Exp.: + Total: = 350 Total: = 350

Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate the suggestions and the kudos. You're right, I did envision him as a normal with Doc Ock's tentacles. On the other hand, isn't that what Doc is? A chubby middle-aged guy who wouldn't have an CV greater than 4 without his hardware. Somehow, though, he manages to avoid Spidey's punches most of the time, and I've never seen him get hit with a ranged attack other than Spider-Man's webbing. The skills derive from the fact that Eddie Perretti is a Broadway hoofer, a song and dance man who probably spent time doing variety acts (hence Sleight of Hand and Concealment). That also explains his nome de guerre. In addition to being a spidery critter, "Daddy Longlegs" is the name of a Fred Astaire movie (Astaire being noted for his extended bony frame). I can envision Perretti attempting to do a MGM dance routine on those 36-foot tentacles. THAT'S why need needs Acrobatics! Ditching the Ink Sprayer for built-in SPD boosters might be a good idea. I merely figured the sprayer would be something a guy named "Cuttlefish" would be likely to have. Plus, in a low-DEX setting Spider-Man himself might have a SPD of only 5 or 6. Thanks again, and please don't hesitate to post any additional thoughts.

??? Almost 40 people have viewed the character without making comments or suggestions. Does that mean he's perfect as is? Or beyond redemption?

Don't forget Disney villains! I, too, found usable ideas in most of these series. "Gargoyles" felt like a RPG with its serial plot and its vigilante monsters. Adventures from "Duck Tales" or "Talespin" could be stolen whole and inserted into one's campaign. "Darkwing Duck" made for a good Tick-like campaign. For Fantasy HERO ideas I'd throw the series "Alladin" into the mix. But Disney has always excelled at villains. The Fearsome Five from "Darkwing Duck" were intended to be comedic but they're an efficient supervillain team. The gazillionaire technology magnate and his devoted assistant/henchman (sorry, can't recall their names off hand) from "Gargoyles" could give Lex Luthor and Mercy a run for their money. "Alladin" introduced a youthful sorceror who had murdered his own father to seize power and sacrificed his hand for a magic glove; he ruled over an army of ghouls and sought world, or at least Mid-Eastern, conquest. Another good magical villain was the Bast-like sorceress from another dimension who could turn people into ... minion things! Even "Rescue Rangers" produced a memorable villain, an inventor who committed burglaries via levitating Persian rugs packed with concealed circuitry. Disney movies also provide good villains. I'd like to thrown the cyborg Long John Silver from "Treasure Planet" or Ursula the Sea Witch from "Little Mermaid" at player-characters. Ratigan from "The Great Mouse Detective" was my kind of guy; he couldn't decide which deathtrap to use to dispatch the hero, so he chose them all!

I began this character during one of our "high DEX/normal DEX" discussions. My basic concept was, "What if someone else got ahold of Doctor Octopus' tentacles?" In this case, that someone is Eddie Perretti, a Danny Kaye/Fred Astaire wannabe whose career hasn't gone so well since musicals went out of fashion. Too bad, since he really is a good actor and singer despite his monumental ego. He stumbled upon the villain Cuttlefish's spare set of arms and decided becoming a superhero would be a good way to boost his career. Now he's sought not only by the angry criminal but the police as well, who think he's Cuttlefish. Please let me know what you think. Name: Daddy Longlegs Val Char Cost 15* STR 5 17 DEX 21 15 CON 10 13 BODY 6 25 INT 15 18 EGO 16 25 PRE 15 18 COM 4 6 PD 3 6 ED 3 4 SPD 13 8 REC 4 30 END 29 STUN *STR 55 with Tentacles Characteristic Rolls: STR: 12-/20-, DEX: 12-, CON: 12-, INT: 14-, EGO: 13-, PER: 14- Run: 6"/21", Swim: 2", Jump: 3"/11", Lift: 200 kg/50 tons Cost Powers END/Roll 10 EC: "Steel Tentacles" 20 "Tentacles," Four Extra Limbs plus 40 STR (+1/2) 0 END, (-1/2) Only With Extra Limbs, (-1/2) OIF 13 "Mechanical Reflexes," Missile Deflection, All Attacks, +6 to Roll, (-1/2) OIF 16 "Telescoping Limbs," Stretching 6", (+1/2) 0 END, (-1/4) Metal Tentacles Only, (-1/2) OIF 10 "Long Stride," Running 15" (Total 21"), (-1/2) OIF, 4 END 13 "Ink Sprayer," Darkness, 4" Radius vs. Sight, (-1/2) OIF, (-1/4) 6 Continuing Charges (Last One Turn Each) 16 "Tentacles Harness," Armor 8PD/8ED, (-1/2) OIF "Onboard Tactical Computer" 13 +4 Levels with Hand-to-Hand Combat, (-1/2) OIF 13 +4 DCV (-1/2) OIF 7 Defense Manuever IV, (-1/2) OIF 7 "Gripping Claws," Clinging, (-1/2) OIF 10 "Hard-Headed," Mental Defense 14 Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll 3 Acrobatics 12- 3 Acting 14- 3 Breakfall 12- 3 Climbing 12- 3 Combat Driving: Common Ground Vehicles 12- 3 Concealment 14- 3 Contortionist 12- 3 Conversation 14- 5 Cramming 3 Disguise 14- 3 High Society 14- 3 Oratory 14- 3 Mimicry 14- 3 Persuasion 14- 3 PS: Actor (PRE-based) 14- 2 PS: Dancer 11- 3 PS: Singer 12- 5 Rapid Attack Hand-to-Hand 3 Seduction 14- 3 Sleight of Hand 12- 3 Stealth 12- 9 Talent: Ambidexterous 4 Talent: Double-Jointed 5 Talent: Eidetic Memory 3 Talent: Perfect Pitch 100+ Disadvantages 20 Normal Characteristics Maximums 5 Age 40+ 15 DNPC 11-: Larry, manager, Normal, Useful Skills, Unaware of Hero's Secret ID 20 Hunted 11-: Cuttlefish, More Powerful 20 Hunted 11-: The Police, More Powerful 15 Psychological Limitation: Swashbuckler, Common, Strong 15 Psychological Limitation: Glory Hound, Common, Strong 15 Social Limitation, Secret ID: Eddie Perretti, has-been movie crooner 15 Extreme Reputation 11-: Vicious Supercriminal (People Think He's Cuttlefish) 10 Professional Rivalry with Flynn Hudsawyer, Rival More Powerful, Is Unaware of Rivalry OCV: 6 (10 with HTH Combat); DCV: 6 (10 with Tentacles); ECV: 6; Mental Def.: 14; Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 PD/rPD: 6/8 ; ED/rED: 6/8 Costs: Char.: 115 Disad.: 150 Powers: + 235 Base: + 200 Exp.: + Total: = 350 Total: = 350

Point taken Just about says it all, doesn't it?

Well, give Superman a "glass jaw" disadvantage. Even though he should be the most powerful member of the team, he's always getting his butt whooped. He's forgetful, too. In the pilot, he allowed himself to be encased in alien concrete along with the other captured heroes. Once Batman showed up with a blowtorch and freed one of his teammates Supes suddenly recalled his heat ray vision and burned himself loose. D'oh! After you've built all the characters, give Batman an extra 50 points to play with. He's always super competent even though he's the member who SHOULD be getting his butt whooped.

Read a book! Rima the Bird Girl was a character from the classic novel "Green Mansions." Last member of a lost Venezuelan civilization, she could talk to animals and was feared and revered by jungle tribes as a goddess. Although exotic and mysterious, she had no overt combat abilties. Think Mowgli without the testosterone. DC apparently ripped off the name and jungle theme for their villainess. If they were going to base a villain on 19th century adventure novels, they should have chosen Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, as a template. She was an immortal Arabian sorceress ruling a tribe of cannibals somewhere in central Africa amid the ruins of a lost civilization. Seductive, ruthless, able to kill with a word, She would have beat out Luthor as leader of the bad guys.

Ghost Knight certainly is versatile. I'd almost have to know what the other characters in your campaign are like to make a comparison. To my eyes, Ghost Knight almost looks like a Justice, Inc., character with powers with that DEX 18, SPD 4, PD/ED 2. Of course, my campaigns were very much affected by the DEX race, where 23 DEX, 5 SPD were standard and few characters had a PD lower than 10 or 15. If most of the other characters are normals with powers -- CVs and normal defenses of 5 or so -- then I can see Ghost Knight as being very effective.

Gotta go with Namor. He practically destroyed New York City single-handed during his salad days. Aquaman couldn't do that -- unless he can summon Godzilla or something. I ran a female swimster called Cygnet, the product of an emergency experimental medical treatment. In addition to Swimming and Life Support, she was a minor brick with a SPD 6. She had Instant Change defined as algae that suddenly grew on her body when her skin became moist.

Character stats available You can find write-ups for the combatants at http://www.sysabend.org/champions/gnborh/groups/gnborh-Cartoon.html

"Not NOW, Dog Wonder!" Dynomutt trashes everyone else, including Blue Falcon -- unintentionally, of course. He's a disaster waiting to happen along the lines of Inspector Clouseau and Maxwell Smart. Mere firepower can't compete with cosmic-level incompetence.