Jab's Builds: 2nd Edition Stuff (Kept in Reserve)

[Jabroniville]

VALKYRIE (Brunnhilde/Samantha Parrington)
PL 10 (150)
ST 29 (+9) DEX 16 (+3) CON 26 (+8) INT 12 (+1) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+5)
Gather Information 4 (+5)
Handle Animal 8 (+9)
Intimidate 5 (+6)
Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 4 (+5)
Knowledge (History) 5 (+6)
Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy) 4 (+5)
Language (Nordic Languages, English) 1
Notice 5 (+6)
Ride 8 (+9)
Sense Motive 2 (+3)
Survival 4 (+5)

Feats:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (Melee) 3, Attractive, Diehard, Dodge Focus 3, Endurance 2, Improved Critical (Dragonfang), Improved Sunder, Minion 6 (Aragorn), Power Attack, Takedown Attack

Powers:
Morph 1 (Brunnhilde or Samantha Body) [1]

"Asgardian Physiology"
Density 4 [12]
(+8 Strength, +2 Toughness, +1 Immovable & S.Strength)
Super-Strength 6 (heavy load: 50 tons) [12]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]

"Valkyrie Powers"
Super-Senses 4 (Precognition) 4 (Flaws: Limited to Impending Death) [2]
Super-Senses 2 (Detect Death, Acute) [2]

"Dragonfang" Device 3 (easy to lose) (Feats: Subtle- Appears Invisible When Sheathed) [10]
Strike +2 (Feats: Mighty, Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating (13)
AP: "Spear" Strike +1 (Feats: Mighty, Extended Reach 2)
Feats: Quick Change, Quick Draw (2)

Saves:
Toughness +10, Fortitude +9, Reflex +5, Will +6

Combat:
Attack +6 (+9 Melee), Damage +9 (+11 Dragonfang), Defense +7 (+10 Dodge), Initiative +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Valkyrie of Asgard)
Responsibility (Aragorn)

Abilities: 39 / Skills: 52--13 / Feats: 22 / Powers: 42 / Saves: 8 / Combat: 26 (150)


-Criminy, now THIS is an overly-complex character! Debuting first as Brunnhilde, the Samantha Parrington persona came into things, and there was a bunch of switching around, as Valkyrie's mind could be transplanted into the bodies of various women over the years. A major character in The Defenders, pretty much the "this is where D-League heroes go when they can't make The Avengers" book of Marvel's 70s & 80s, she did all KINDS of stuff, switching identities, gaining and losing new powers, etc. So I'm absolutely confused as to where one ends and the other beings- even the Annotated Appendix to the Marvel Universe has a dozen Defenders appearances of "normal" Brunnhilde, and a hundred of the "Samantha" Valkyrie, as if they're different people (but with one personality in the other), but nobody around her seems to ask what's up... I'm so confused.

-She's been a very minor over the years, recently showing up again because Frank Cho was drawing Marvel stuff, and there's nothing he likes more than thickly-muscled women with giant knockers who love to kick some ass. Who knows which body is being used this time?

-Valkyrie's a standard PL 10, though she's one of those classic pains in the ass characters, because she uses a super-sharp Sword, PLUS is super-strong normally, AND is supposed to be a really good fighter, which adds up to a PL 12 or something using M&M's system. So I had to make her a +9 Unarmed, +11 Armed character with +9 Accuracy, able to be shifted with a ton of Combat Feats, to make up the difference, because I've never seen Valkyrie portrayed as a supreme threat like a PL 12 should be. She has a set of assorted minor powers, such as Detecting and Foreboding Death, a Quick Changing Sword that's normally invisible, the ability to morph into her 'civilian' form, and a Flying Horse Minion.

[MorningKnight]

Sword girl always favorite of Hulk's... er, Val was always one of my favorites at Marvel.

[Horsenhero]

Y'know, it's kind of sad, but, the D-League Defenders Jab always talks about, were my favorite super-team for a long time. Unfortunately, the greatest impact they seem to have made on comics, is that the "Wrecking Crew" were debuted in the Defenders. To me though, Dr. Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie and Nighthawk will always be my favorite foursome.

[Jabroniville]

It's kinda that way in comics, I've noticed. So many "D-League" characters are underrated and have tons of potential, and are often centred in some of the best recent books. I think it stems from their lack of popularity translating to less editorial control (or less of Mark Millar wanting to write them) and a willingness to mix things up and experiment. Experimenting with Cap or Spidey is doomed to failure and being forgotten in mere months (COUGHtheotherCOUGH), but if you wanna add seven more cities to the Iron Fist mythology and completely alter his history- then who cares? If it doesn't work out, then it's just another failed Iron Fist series.

A lot of these side guys are "hit or miss" stuff- like the failed "Punisher is an Angel" thing, or the various attempts to make Heroes For Hire or New Warriors top sellers. But a hit like Hercules or Iron Fist? It's worth the pain.

[Jabroniville]

Oh, Marvel UK. If this was one of your top characters, then I'm kinda glad I never read much of you.

BLACK AXE
PL 10 (175)
ST 24/26 (+7/+8) DEX 20 (+5) CON 26 (+8) INT 20 (+5) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 16 (+3)

Skills:
Bluff 5 (+8)
Computers 5 (+10)
Craft (Electronic) 3 (+8)
Craft (Mechanical) 3 (+8)
Diplomacy 2 (+5)
Disable Device 1 (+6)
Disguise 5 (+8)
Intimidate 5 (+8)
Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+9)
Knowledge (History) 10 (+15)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 2 (+7)
Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+9)
Knowledge (Technology) 5 (+10)
Language (Many) 4
Notice 4 (+7)
Pilot 2 (+7)
Profession (Assassin/Mercenary) 3 (+8)
Search 3 (+6)
Sense Motive 3 (+6)
Survival 3 (+6)

Feats:
Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (Melee), Beginner's Luck, Benefit 4 (Wealth), Blind-Fight, Diehard, Dodge Focus 3, Endurance, Improved Critical (Axe) 2, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack

Powers:
"Unknown Physiology"
Super-Strength 2 [4]
Immunity 3 (Aging, Disease, Poison) [3]
Regeneration 2 (Disabled 2) [2]
Super-Senses 2 (Extended & Acute Scent) [2]

"Special Armour" Device 4 (hard to lose) [16]
Enhanced Strength 2 (2)
Super-Strength 4 (heavy load: 12 tons) (8)
Protection 2 (2)
Super-Senses 4 (Infravision, Extended Vision, Detect Weakness- Acute) (4)
Invisibility (4) -- (20 points)

"Black Axe" Device 5 (easy to lose) [15]
Blast 10 (20)
AP: "Ballistics" Blast 6 (Extras: Autofire)
AP: Strike +3 (Feats: Mighty, Extended Reach) (Extras: Penetrating 10)
AP: Force Field 10 (Flaws: Immobile)
AP: Teleport 10 (Flaws: Drains Axe) -- (24 points)

Saves:
Toughness +8 (+10 Armour), Fortitude +10, Reflex +6, Will +5

Combat:
Attack +8 (+9 Melee), Damage +7 (+8 Suit, +11 Axe), Defense +7 (+10 Dodge), Initiative +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Unknown Identity)

Abilities: 62 / Skills: 76--19 / Feats: 18 / Powers: 42 / Saves: 5 / Combat: 30 (175)

-I gotta admit- I'm only doing this build because I own his Marvel Card . See, back in 1993, Marvel was on it's FOURTH set of Marvel Cards, and they were kinda running out of steam. That edition had a great concept- every nine cards could be grouped into a single page 'spread' of all the characters in one big scene, themed around something or other. It worked well for some (X-Men, Avengers), but not so much for others, as it forced the set to only have a FEW X-Men, Avengers, etc., while Street Level guys ended up putting losers like The Scarecrow (Marvel version), Cobweb and Terror, Inc. out in card form to fill the gaps in their sets, while many X-Force guys couldn't make the cut. The backs of the cards also sucked, as they replaced the big mini-bio and Power Ratings chart with only FOUR categories for their Powers (chosen nearly at random for most guys), and a mini Did You Know.

-The whole set was rather disappointing (especially compared to how good Series II & III were, but it did have an interesting bit- the Marvel UK cards section. NINE CARDS devoted to some do-nothing characters from the mostly-unsuccessful Marvel UK imprint, back when comic companies were just throwing EVERYTHING out there to see what would stick. Centred around Death's Head II & someone named "Dark Angel", it was mostly uninspired, derivative 90s-Dork Age drek. Every character was dark as hell, everyone had spiked weapons and/or guns, had some combo of Blood, Death, Kill or Murder in their name (my personal favourite series title in comics history was "Death's Head II & Killpower: BATTLETIDE", which only needed a subtitle of "BLOODSPASM MURDERRAPE" to be the ultimate 90s book of all time).

-OK, so yeah... I had this guy's card, and was fascinated by him. He's a dude in black armour carrying around a giant axe, that is apparently immortal, has been alive for thousands of years, and has a questionable origin. All in all, brutally 90s. I'm not sure what his job or motivation was- he just kind of kicked around, fought some guys, and killed some people. He had his own book, but it didn't last too long. All in all, it went for seven issues, which is even worse than Slapstick got.

-Jeez, this guy's kind of an average combatant (a good fighter with some balanced offensive/defensive stats, but focused on his Melee talents), but he goes WAYYY over cost. That happens alot with this "I'm an elite military/smarts/designer/builder/immortal" type of guy, as they end up with boatloads of military prowess and "I've done everything, ever" skills. He's partially super-tough outside of his Armour, but REALLY gets elite with that and his Black Axe (which is a super-tough set of Blast, Autofire Blast, Penetrating Strike, Force Field & Teleport).

[Invictus]

I'm another Defenders fan, or at least, a fan of the Defenders before David Anthony Kraft got a hold of 'em. And my first contact with the non-team was the issue where the Valkyrie joined, so I liked seeing the build here. She doesn't get enough credit; for one thing, she was ready and willing to disembowel bad guys with a sharp object a couple of years before that little guy dropped out of Canada and got all that attention for it.

[BARON]

seemed to me like marvel UK was a toxic waste dump for iron age characters; a place for marvel to try to steal away image fans while they kept their actual mainline books... well... not QUITE as bad.

[Jabroniville]

I think my entire building career has led up to this moment right here.

NFL SUPERPRO (Phil Grayfield)
PL 8 (100)
ST 24 (+7) DEX 20 (+5) CON 24 (+7) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2)

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Bluff 2 (+4)
Computers 2 (+3)
Diplomacy 2 (+4)
Intimidate 3 (+5)
Investigate 2 (+4)
Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+5)
Knowledge (Pop Culture) 5 (+6)
Notice 4 (+6)
Profession (Football Player) 7 (+12) -- (Uses Dex)
Profession (Reporter) 4 (+5)
Sense Motive 2 (+4)

Feats:
Attack Focus (Melee) 3, Attractive, Defensive Throw, Dodge Focus 2, Endurance, Equipment (Superpro Suit- Protection +1), Fast Overrun, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Overrun, Power Attack

Powers:
"Slightly Enhanced Physique"
Speed 1 [1]
Leaping 1 [1]

Saves:
Toughness +7 (+8 Suit), Fortitude +7, Reflex +6, Will +4

Combat:
Attack +6 (+9 Melee), Damage +7, Defense +6 (+8 Dodge), Initiative +5

Complications:
Responsibility (Ex-NFL Superstar)
Enemy (Marco Sanzionare)

Abilities: 48 / Skills: 40--10 / Feats: 13 / Powers: 2 / Saves: 3 / Combat: 24 (100)

-Hahah, SUPERPRO. Fabian Nicieza has since admitted he only created this character to get free NFL tickets, and it shows, having created one of the most famously bad comic books in history. He had a brief 12-issue run (still too much for this crap), having cliched fight scenes, groan-inducing football-related puns in mid-fight ("How about an autograph?" *PUNCH*), a really goofy-looking costume, and a bunch of guest-stars (Spider-Man in Issue #1- even though usually he only showed up in book #2. Sales were expected to be so crappy they needed a boost in the FIRST one!) to make him seem less lame. He was a football player hobbled by injuries who got doused in some Generic Experimental Comic-Book Chemicals (tm), became a peak human guy, wearing some elite football uniform that was super-tough. His only recurring villain was a generic "Sleazy 80s Millionaire Crimelord" Marco Sanzionare, and 'named' super-villains include a football-player-turned-NINJA by the name of "Quick Kick". It's kind of stupidly amusing, like a really crappy movie, at times, and I have FOUR of these awful, awful issues.

-Unsurprisingly, the character faded away into obscurity, and now that the NFL won't license it's name out to this kind of crap, we'll probably never see him again. Me, I kinda wish they'd "Catman" him into a legit, awesome threat, just to see the look on supervillains' faces when he came in and beat the snot out of them. As a kid, I didn't have him so much- I even made "NHL Superstar", a HOCKEY GOALIE version of Superpro, who shot pucks out of his blocker and used a stick (which makes him about a thousand times cooler than this idiot already). Superstar's catchphrase should be "I'm NHL Superstar, and I'm here to beat THE PUCK out of crime!"

-So yeah, this guy kinda sucks the fat one. He's got a lot of football player-style "Rushing" tactics (Overruns, Power Attack), and he's not BAD at fighting, but he's only a PL 8 scrub, and would lose to anyone except some members of the Zodiac Cartel or maybe an Acolyte or two. Okay, so he beat up Crossbones a bit during a Cap guest appearance, but 'Bones got the better of him by cheating, and now that this guy's a jobber, he's done with great showings.

-There's a bit of a hard thing to figure out regarding how powerful Phil Grayfield is, though. The writing on the books was so half-assed that a guy who supposedly gained enhanced strength, athletic abilities, etc., during a chemical bath, and gaining a super-durable football uniform, was depicted as: a) needed to use extra effort to toss a particularly heavy henchman, b) needed to dodge and weave to avoid bullets, and c) vulnerable to cobra venom on Crossbones' knife, which easily cut into his calf. So, at best we're talking about a guy who was at Captain America's physical level. Nothing to SNEEZE AT, of course, but he's barely superhuman at all, and his suit only gives a +1 Toughness bonus, since it appears to have little effect on his durability. I gave him mini-ranks in Speed & Leaping to give him a tiny boost.

-Mini-commentary on the whole disturbing thing here: http://daveslongbox.blogspot.com/2005/1 ... -1991.html

[BARON]

one of those landmark moments where you first realize that comics can be stupid.

[FuzzyBoots]

<starts humming the ProStars theme>

And it could be worse. You could be building the hero from NASCAR Heros.

[Sidious]

Kickers, INC


That is all.

[Jabroniville]

DEATH'S HEAD II (Minion)
PL 11 (225)
ST 34 (+12) DEX 16 (+3) CON 30 (+10) INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10

Skills:
Bluff 4 (+4)
Computers 5 (+8)
Gather Information 8 (+8)
Intimidate 8 (+8)
Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+8)
Knowledge (Tactics) 6 (+9)
Notice 6 (+8)
Search 6 (+8)
Sense Motive 4 (+6)

Feats:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Dodge Focus 3, Eidetic Memory, Endurance, Fearsome Presence 2, Grappling Block, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Plasma Blaster), Improved Initiative, Jack-of-All-Trades, Power Attack, Startle, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Cyborg Physiology"
Super-Strength 6 (heavy load: 100 tons) [12]
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 6) [8]
Speed 3 [3]
Super-Senses 4 (Infravision, Extended Vision, Detect Energy- Ranged) [4]
Immunity 9 (Heat, Cold, Radiation, Suffocation 2, Starvation & Thirst, Pressure, Vertigo) [9]
Communication 4 (Radio) (Flaws: Limited to Cyborgs) [2]

"Multiple Personalities Encoded" Variable Power 2 (Skills) [8]
Regeneration 5 (Feats: Regrowth) (Injured 3, Disabled 2) [6]

"Gun Attached to Arm"
Plasma Control 12 (Extras: Penetrating) [38]
AP: "Cranial Disruption System" Mimic (All Skills) 2 (Flaws: Touch Range) (4) -- Linked to -- Stun 10 (Extras: Will Save +0, Ranged) (30)
AP: "Multi-Blade" Strike +0 (Feats: Mighty, Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 10)

Saves:
Toughness +12 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Reflex +6, Will +6

Combat:
Attack +10, Damage +12 (+12 Plasma Blaster), Defense +7 (+10 Dodge), Initiative +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Multiple Personas)

Abilities: 60 / Skills: 52--13 / Feats: 21 / Powers: 90 / Saves: 9 / Combat: 34 (225)

-The original Death's Head was a TransFormers character (though Marvel used some sneaky deals to make him an official Marvel character, not licensed to Hasbro), a quintessentially British character (ie. he was an amoral bastard who wandered the stars and met various weirdos... how is that NOT the embodiment of all Brit-comics?). By the '90s, he was killed off and replaced with this upgraded, even MORE violent and horrific character. This skull-faced guy became an honest-to-god hero (though of course still killed people) after assimilating too many personalities, and did a bunch of stuff (most of which I've never read, but it involved teaming up with every single other Marvel UK character, and a bunch of X-Men). He makes the occasional reappearance nowadays, but is just SO absolutely 90s (Skull face! Made of metal! Gun that turns into bladed weaponry! Regeneration! Willing to kill!), that we're unlikely to see him in a major resurgence.

-And yes, Marvel UK is actually MORE 90s than the entire rest of Marvel Comics in the 90s. Death's Head II is only ONE of the horrifically-Iron Age names that was come up with in this time period. Also awful are Death Metal, Die-Cut (what the hell does that even MEAN?), and of course Killpower. It was like someone took Image's worst stuff (Ripclaw, that guy with FOUR cyborg arms on one side of his body, all of Brigade), and then upgraded it to be even MORE extreme and kill-y.

-Geeeezz.... I hate these 90s-types with all their varied weapons. Death's Head II is a Class 100 melee fighter who ALSO has a Blaster weapon and a ton of Skills & Feats (even with Variable Power to cheaply give him a ton of various skills with the 105 minds in his compu-brain), which drives his cost into the stratosphere. So he ends up being a PL 11 guy with the points-cost of an elder member of the Justice League of America, which fits the tendencies of the character (he could fight a ton of X-Men at once at points, and had a ton of powers & abilities), but wow, it just seems awful that he totally outclasses so many other, better characters.

[BARON]

Die-Cut.

good night folks.

[FuzzyBoots]

Also awful are Death Metal, Die-Cut (what the hell does that even MEAN?), and of course Killpower.

Hmm... a method of punching out shapes from a sheet of material. So, essentially, he's a cookie-cutter character. Truth in advertising?

[MorningKnight]

Honestly, I'd love to see Death's Head II get his lunch money handed to him by Thor.

To add insult to injury, make it Hercules.

"I don't even NEED energy powers to trounce you, troll!"