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

[The Wayfarer]

-The more I do these little bios and do research, the more I realize that the Crisis and everything that came with it ended up messing DC continuity WAYYYY more than the "bunch of Earths" concept ever did (trying to explain Post-Crisis to my friends always goes down south the second I get to the 'so they had to merge all the histories into one').

And when you realise that all the big events with Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis are attempts to FIX the damage and confusion caused by CoIE, then it really starts to look like bad. DC really overuses the Cosmic Reset.

some retroactive stuff to explain him further

Most memorable thing for me about Crimson Avenger I is the story where they explained his name retroactively. Turns out he was avenging Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday, which he saw in a precognative vision in a Tibetian monastery.

[Jabroniville]

Their cosmic resets wouldn't be so bad if they didn't do things like forgetting heroes' origins or histories and setting them to 'be decided later' (poor, poor Legion of Superheroes). Just wait till I get to Black Canary or Wonder Woman/Hippolyta/Fury in my builds, THEN you'll see some ranting about what happens when you hit a reset on only SOME things but not others.

What's worst of all is that the Crisis was designed to make sense of people's histories for new fans; yet now new fans have to look into the "Kandor Effect" (John Byrne's term for stuff that just keeps building in confusion with each explanation) from each and every Golden Age hero, as suddenly they're all re-aged, de-aged, father children or clones that are de-aged.

[Libra]

Ye make a good point. But still, it could be worse.

[Jabroniville]

MEKANEK
PL 9 (89)
ST 22 (+6) DEX 14 (+2) CON 18 (+4) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10

Skills:
Climb 5 (+11)
Disable Device 4 (+5)
Notice 12 (+14)
Pilot 6 (+8.)
Search 4 (+6)
Sense Motive 6 (+8.)
Survival 3 (+5)

Feats:
Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Equipment 3 (Mace, Armor), Improved Critical (Mace), Improved Grab, Improved Sunder, Power Attack

Powers:
"Mechanized Neck"
Elongation 4 (Flaws: Neck Only) [2]

Saves:
Toughness +4 (+6 Armour), Fortitude +8, Reflex +5, Will +5

Combat:
Attack +7 (+9 Melee), Damage +6 (+9 Mace), Defense +8, Initiative +2

Abilities: 30 / Skills: 40--10/ Feats: 7 / Powers: 2 / Saves: 10 /Combat: 30 (89)

-Mekanek, easily the worst of all the characters in the first He-Man series, actually got an episode of the new toon devoted to his sucktitude. In honor of that, he gets a write-up here more benefitting his later version, where his pretty useless power essentially made him Mr. Sentry. And he's the usual beefy Eternian build (I can't imagine a single one of these guys going below 18 Strength), so he's got some damage output to actually MAKE HIS DAMAGE CAPS at PL 9, in spite of his one-trick pony nature.

[JackGiantkiller]

I'm really enjoying the Golden Age builds and history, Jab.

[Jabroniville]

THE FLASH I (Jay Garrick)- Modern-Day
PL 10 (175)
ST 12 (+1) DEX 14 (+2) CON 14 (+2) INT 16 (+3) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 12 (+1)

Skills:
Bluff 6 (+7)
Craft (Chemical) 8 (+11)
Diplomacy 6 (+7)
Disable Device 4 (+7)
Escape Artist 4 (+7)
Investigate 4 (+7)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 6 (+9)
Notice 5 (+8.)
Sense Motive 5 (+8.)

Feats:
Attack Focus (Melee) 4, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 5, Elusive Target, Evasion, Fast Overrun, Improved Defense 2, Improved Disarm, Luck, Move-By Action, Set-Up, Takedown Attack, Teamwork 2

Powers:
Super-Speed 14 [74]
AP: Deflect (Slow & Fast Projectiles) 10
AP: Air Control 10
AP: Insubstantial 4
AP: Rapid Attack
AP: Takeaway
AP: Strike 10
Super-Movement 2 (Water-Walking, Wall-Crawling) (Flaws: Limited- While Running) [2]
Immunity (Aging) [1]

Saves:
Toughness +2 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Reflex +8, Will +7

Combat:
Attack +6 (+10 Melee), Damage +2 (+10 Strike), Defense +7 (+12 Dodge), Initiative +43

Abilities: 24 / Skills: 48--12/ Feats: 23 / Powers: 77 / Saves: 13 /Combat: 26 (175)

-More for Jay Garrick. More fully fleshed-out in his modern form, he's been there by the side of nearly every speedster, and the modern JSA series necessitates him being a major part, even if he's rarely the guy who ends the fight. Though he & Joan are nearing a silly point for 'we're still alive and well' (even WITH shadow-based de-aging)- and she's starting to look WAY older than he does, what with his Reed Richards silver temples and her totally gray hair, and DC's seen fit to kill TWO of his successors over the years. But as long as JSA is published, I don't think we'll see Jay fall away like the rest of his teammates; he's just too important to DC as an inspiration for the speedsters, much like Alan Scott is. By definition, he's one of the last of the true old guard left, and practically unkillable, no matter how goofy his hat is.

-Flash by the modern age has developed many of the Speed Force tricks of his speedster buddies, including the Insubstantial trick, the SUPER-fast punch, and the ability to move far past the speed of sound and all that. And holy CRAP is Super-Speed an expensive power or what? I guess it has to be, so people don't do game-breaking powers and then add tons of stuff to it, but WOW. Like most Flash builds (though most stat Wally, this is the only Jay one I think that's been done far as I know), I technically underscore his base speed, deciding that the rest can be "Extra Effort" related, though comics writers have annoying tendencies of 'he's all over the world in seconds' for nearly every speed guy. And if my Jay Garrick stats at 175 pp, I wonder how I'd stat Wally, the TRUE powerhouse of the Flash family? Sure, Wally's got next to NO skills compared to the scientist and old-school hero Jay (where wits were as important as powers, if not more so), but his powers & stunts are WAY more advanced. He's above PL 10 as well.

[Libra]

Good old Jay. He's probably my favourite Flash.

[Libra]

Whoops. Double post.

[Jabroniville]

THE RED TORPEDO (Jim Lockhart)- 1940s
PL 6 (72)
ST 12 (+1) DEX 14 (+2) CON 12 (+1) INT 16 (+3) WIS 10 CHA 10

Skills:
Craft (Mechanical) 10 (+13)
Disable Device 5 (+8.)
Disguise 3 (+3)
Drive 4 (+6)
Investigate 4 (+4)
Knowledge (Technology) 8 (+11)
Notice 4 (+4)
Pilot 10 (+12)
Profession (Sailor) 8 (+11)
Sense Motive 3 (+3)
Swim 8 (+9)

Feats:
Dodge Focus 2, Equipment 5 (Red Torpedo Mini-Sub w/ Energy Beams), Elusive Target

Saves:
Toughness +1, Fortitude +4, Reflex +4, Will +4

Combat:
Attack +6, Damage +1 (+6 Energy Geams), Defense +6 (+8 Dodge), Initiative +2

Abilities: 14 / Skills: 68--17/ Feats: 8 / Powers: 0 / Saves: 9 /Combat: 24 (72)

-Nope, this isn't Ma Hunkel (she's up later), it's the similarly-named Red Torpedo, a guy so lame he didn't make it 20 appearances before going away, until a retcon from the 80s resulted in him being blowed up at Pearl Harbor with the rest of Uncle Sam's Suck Fighters. But ANOTHER retcon (this one from Starman- beacon of hope for all the Golden Age fans in the 90s, before JSA came back) has him turn up alive, helping Starman I build his Star Ship or whatever it was, and THEN you hear nothing else from him. So yeah, this one-note guy ends up living past the war with some history, just like nearly everybody else.
-Torpedo's actually a remarkable Skillmonkey, especially for his era, with great mechanical & tech skills, but lacks almost anything in the combat area. He only makes PL 6 caps in his mini-sub, elsewise he's just some guy who's a pretty good fighter, but very weak.

[Jabroniville]

HOURMAN III (Matthew Tyler)- Modern-Day
PL 8 (173)
ST 26 (+8.) DEX 14 (+2) CON 26 (+8.) INT 20 (+5) WIS 10 CHA 8 (-1)

Skills:
Craft (Chemical) 6 (+11)
Craft (Mechanical) 6 (+11)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 7 (+12)
Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+9)
Medicine 1 (+6)

Feats:
Dodge Focus 5, Equipment 10 (Time Ship)

Powers:
Super-Strength 3 [6]
Impervious Toughness +5 [5]
Flight 4 [8]
Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9]
Illusion 6 (Visual Senses) [12]
Regeneration 10 (Recovery Bonus +5, Disabled 5) [10]

"Time Vision"
Time Stop 4 [34]
AP: "Laser Vision" Blast 8
AP: Healing 6 (Extras: Energizing) (Flaws: Non-Lethal Only)
AP: Healing 6 (Extras: Restoration) (Flaws: Non-Lethal Only)
AP: Super-Senses 12 (Postcognition, Precognition, Microscopic Vision 2, Timesense, Ultra-Hearing)
AP: Super-Movement 3 (Feats: Progression 3) (Temporal Movement 3)
AP: Drain All Effects 6 (Feats: Extended Reach 3)

Saves:
Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Reflex +3, Will +3

Combat:
Attack +8, Damage +8, Defense +2 (+7 Dodge), Initiative +1

Abilities: 44 / Skills: 24--6/ Feats: 15 / Powers: 84 / Saves: 4 /Combat: 20 (173)

-The third Hourman is a creation of Grant Morrison, largely based around the time travelling Rock of Ages storyline & DC One Million, who was initially given a fairly decent push in DC. First he was J'onn's JLA replacement, then he went right into the resurrection of the JSA series while his own series was ongoing, but unfortunately, his lifespan was short after that. With Johns & Goyer's JSA, you got the palpable sensation that he was only around because of his name, and they felt that he was WAY too powerful for such a team (and when Alan freaking Scott is on your team, that's saying something), so they made him inexperienced, hesitant, and flighty, prone to long disappearances to 'find himself' and such things.

-Add to that the fact that there's been literally hundreds of "help my android self become more human" characters in fiction over the past 10 years, and you have a recipe for "Let's write him out of the title". And sure enough, he popped into the timestream to do stuff, got replaced by the 'hey I'm getting a Catman push' Rick Tyler, and came back just in time to replace Rex Tyler in his final battle, ending up dead. The implication is that Rex is trying to rebuild him, and Metron is still waiting in the wings to make him his official replacement, but without Morrison's influence over books, and other writers' unwillingness to deal with him, Hourman III is very much a victim of comics limbo.

-Hourman III is one of the harder characters on the JSA to stat, if only because of his myriad powers, and somewhat odd way they're depicted. It's inferred in a few battles that he can 'devolve' people (I'll call that Drain All Effects, removing powers & stuff like that), he has generic laser blasts, see into the past & future, has robotic senses (which weren't really delved into, so I just assumed 'lots'), can enhance the healing of other characters' wounds (but not outright cure dying people, see Non-Lethal Only flaw), and I would assume that a guy with Time Controlling powers could at least do the Time Stop trick, just at a low level. I also had a bit of a decision to make over whether or not he counts as a real construct or not, as he's an ANDROID, which implies actual anatomy, but at the same point, he's been sliced the hell open and blown apart like a robot. Soooo.... I decided to just give him a high Con, followed by the Regeneration power, because he CAN self-heal. And even though he's got a ton of powers, I think he's still only PL 8 because he was always shown as a terrible combatant (+8 Attack is actually probably being nice), and easy to hit if he's being hesitant or something (relying entirely on Dodge for defense).

[Jabroniville]

KUEI- 1940s
PL 7 (73)
ST 26 (+8.) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10

Skills:
Intimidate 6 (+6)
Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+3)
Language (English, Chinese) 1
Notice 4 (+6)
Profession (Soldier) 3 (+4)

Feats:
Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Fearsome Presence, Power Attack

Saves:
Toughness +5, Fortitude +7, Reflex +5, Will +4

Combat:
Attack +4 (+6 Melee), Damage +8, Defense +7, Initiative +2

Abilities: 36 / Skills: 16--4/ Feats: 4 / Powers: 0 / Saves: 7 /Combat: 22 (73)

-Kuei is part of the "Young Allies", a group that joined the mostly-ignored Young All-Stars series (the Post-Crisis revamp of the All-Stars) as a one-shot that dealt with the unlikely idea that there were NO superhumans who weren't American that permeates most Golden Age works. The Allies were four people, drawn from various nations under Axis attack, that fought back. They only got one issue, but hey, that makes 'em All-Stars in my book. Kuei is a Chinese soldier who tried to end his suffering by drowning (he'd been shot), but got possessed by a Chinese demon instead.
-He's pretty strong and tough, but is mostly a minor-league powerhouse-type.

[Jabroniville]

FIREBALL- 1940s
PL 7 (79)
ST 10 DEX 14 (+2) CON 12 (+1) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1)

Skills:
Bluff 5 (+6)
Language (Russian, English) 1
Notice 4 (+7)
Sense Motive 2 (+4)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Feats:
Attack Specialization (Fire), Dodge Focus 2, Improved Aim

Powers:
Fire Aura 5 [22]
AP: Fire Blast 7
AP: Deflect 7
Flight 4 [8]

Saves:
Toughness +1, Fortitude +4, Reflex +5, Will +5

Combat:
Attack +4 (+6 Fire), Damage +0 (+7 Fire), Defense +5 (+7 Dodge), Initiative +2

Abilities: 14 / Skills: 16--4/ Feats: 4 / Powers: 30 / Saves: 9 /Combat: 18 (79)

-Fireball is another Young Ally, a Russian woman whose powers I'm pretty sure are obvious just from her name, and derived from the Tunguska Event of 1908 (aka 'big-ass meteor'), and whose parents were murdered during the Nazi invasion. Like Kuei, she was never seen again in another book after her initial appearance.
-Generic "Fire Hero" build, at a lower level than normal (low-level PL 7).

[Jabroniville]

THE FLYING FOX (Name Unknown)- 1940s
PL 7 (106)
ST 16 (+3) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+8.)
Climb 5 (+8.)
Disguise 5 (+5)
Handle Animal 8 (+8.)
Intimidate 5 (+5)
Notice 6 (+9)
Sense Motive 3 (+5)
Stealth 4 (+7)
Survival 7 (+9)

Feats:
Animal Empathy, Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Defensive Roll 2, Elusive Target, Endurance, Evasion, Fast Overrun, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Sneak Attack

Powers:
"Flying Fox Pelt & Cowl" Device 2 (hard to lose) [8]
Flight 4 (8)
Immunity (Cold, Pressure) (2)

Super-Senses 2 (Magic Awareness 2) [2]
Magic 5 (Drawbacks: Power Loss- Requires Magic Pouch of Herbs -2) [9]
AP: Invisibility
AP: Illusion 5 (Visual Senses)

Saves:
Toughness +3 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Reflex +7, Will +6

Combat:
Attack +6 (+8 Melee), Damage +3 (+5 Sneak), Defense +8, Initiative +3

Abilities: 24 / Skills: 48--12/ Feats: 12 / Powers: 19 / Saves: 11 /Combat: 28 (106)

-Flying Fox is another Young All-Star, inexplicably taking the place of Batman in All-Star Squadron adventures, despite him not having any technical know-how, a car, a sidekick, or detective skills, instead being a guy who could fly and do some magic. Not one of Roy Thomas' better ideas, he basically vanished from site once Young All-Stars was cancelled. His gimmick was that he was a native Canadian chief's son, gaining a fox pelt that bestowed powers passed down through generations, and fought the Nazis during WWII.

-Not a bad all-around hero, he's good in combat and magic, but only at lower levels. He's no match for serious super-villains or powerhouses, and is basically limited to flying around and dishing out melee damage, and using Magic as a side-gimmick.

[Jabroniville]

THE STAR-SPANGLED KID I (Sylvester Pemberton)- 1940s
PL 7 (120)
ST 10 (+0) DEX 20 (+5) CON 12 (+1) INT 18 (+4) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13)
Bluff 5 (+6)
Diplomacy 5 (+6)
Disable Device 2 (+6)
Disguise 5 (+6)
Escape Artist 5 (+10)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 4 (+8.)
Knowledge (Earth Sciences) 4 (+8.)
Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+8.)
Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+8.)
Notice 4 (+5)
Search 2 (+3)
Stealth 4 (+9)

Feats:
Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus (Melee) 3, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Wealth), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 4, Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Inventor, Jack-of-all-Trades, Luck, Set-Up, Sidekick 19 (Stripsey), Sneak Attack, Taunt, Teamwork 3, Uncanny Dodge (Sight)

Saves:
Toughness +1 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +4, Reflex +8, Will +5

Combat:
Attack +6 (+9 Melee), Damage +0 (+2 Sneak Attack), Defense +6 (+10 Dodge), Initiative +5

Abilities: 24 / Skills: 56--14/ Feats: 48 / Powers: 0 / Saves: 10 /Combat: 24 (120)

-The first Star-Spangled Kid & Stripsey are a unique subject in comics: pretty much the only teen hero/adult sidekick duo ever. Given a patriotic gimmick, they were an acrobatic double-teaming pair, with SSK as the boy genius/leader, and Stripsey the down-home rough-but-smart genius grease-monkey. The two were part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, doomed to being forgotten if not for the 70s JLA/JSA cross-over that led to them being rediscovered tossed about time, and the Kid got to actually join the big-league team of non-jobbers, the Justice Society, going on to much greater fame than most of his forgettable teammates (Vigilante, Spider, Crimson Avenger...), eventually gaining the Cosmic Converter Belt from the retiring Starman and a bunch of new powers as Skyman (a forgotten storyline), leader of Infinity Inc. But fate took hold, and Roy Thomas killed him off as a cap-off to the series, and he was nearly entirely forgotten until Geoff Johns brought back his design around a new character based on his own dead sister. Stripsey on the other hand outlived his mentor, and as one of the few famous Greasemonkeys in DC, he got to show up as a minor guy fixing stuff if anybody ever needed it.

-Typical PL 7 baseline regular human fighters, with the schtick that they work best as a team, Sylvester as the sneaky acrobat, and Pat as the powerhouse fisticuffs fighter. Actually kind of a fun build, though Pat's wicked skillset and statline (compared to all the other Boy Sidekicks out there, who are like 60 points max) makes him brutally expensive, making Syl yet another guy whose dependant on a Sidekick to make points. Note that though history has made Stripsey a genius mechanic, back in the day, the Kid himself was depicted as a super-genius wunderkind with tons of skills of his own, so he gets a Skillmonkey build TOO. Note that the Kid didn't actually get his Converter Belt until much later, in the 1980s, so he doesn't have it here.

STRIPSEY (Pat Dugan)- 1940s
PL 7 (95)
ST 20 (+5) DEX 14 (+2) CON 18 (+4) INT 16 (+3) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 10

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+8.)
Bluff 5 (+5)
Craft (Mechanical) 9 (+12)
Disable Device 6 (+9)
Escape Artist 5 (+7)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 4 (+7)
Knowledge (Technology) 7 (+10)
Notice 5 (+6)
Sense Motive 1 (+2)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Feats:
Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (Melee) 3, Defensive Roll 1, Dodge Focus 2, Equipment 3 (Star Rocket Racer- Car with Flight), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Pin, Inventor, Set-Up, Teamwork 3

Saves:
Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Reflex +6, Will +5

Combat:
Attack +5 (+8 Melee), Damage +5, Defense +6 (+8 Dodge), Initiative +2

Abilities: 30 / Skills: 52--13/ Feats: 18 / Powers: 0 / Saves: 12 /Combat: 22 (95)

[Libra]

Good job, Jabronville.