Woodclaw's 2E - Hercules, Iolaus, Xena, Gabrielle

[Horsenhero]

Once upon a time, there was a relatively weak character named Marvel Girl. She was created in a time when almost all female heroes (Wonder Woman Excepted) were weak and pretty much existed to give someone for the male heroes to protect. Early depictions of the Wasp and Invisible Girl were also pretty weak in comparison to their male counterparts.

Anyway, over time this character got stronger, and the writing of her personality got better. Then she became Phoenix. At first Phoenix was depicted as being able to defeat Firelord in cobat, but, possibly not quite being in the same league as Thor or Silver Surfer. Most all the fans, including myself enjoyed the character, since she was the first and only "good" mutant to achieve that level of formidability. Then her power began to creep and creep and creep, until it finally exploded beyond all reason as Dark Phoenix.

The Dark Phoenix saga and its' inevitable sacrifice at the end, was probably the height of Chris Claremonts' writing for the X-Men and maybe for comics in general. I, like many fans, was truly moved by this epic.

....Then came the crap. John Byrne started it, by resurrecting Jean and retconning everything that had been written since Phoenix's debut. Walt Simonson furthered it with X-Factor. And writer after writer just made things worse...until they killed Jean off for good...we hope.

Once upon a time...I liked this character, and if I only look at her history up to the Dark Phoenix Saga, I still like her.

This is a pretty darn good build Woodclaw, but, I truly hope we don't see this character in comics ever again...except maybe in flashbacks.

[Geekery]

The Dark Phoenix saga and its' inevitable sacrifice at the end, was probably the height of Chris Claremonts' writing for the X-Men and maybe for comics in general. I, like many fans, was truly moved by this epic.

....Then came the crap. John Byrne started it, by resurrecting Jean and retconning everything that had been written since Phoenix's debut. Walt Simonson furthered it with X-Factor. And writer after writer just made things worse...until they killed Jean off for good...we hope.

Once upon a time...I liked this character, and if I only look at her history up to the Dark Phoenix Saga, I still like her.

Quoted for truth. Dark Phoenix is my favorite story in all of comics, so of course Marvel has to try for it again and again ad nauseum. Between their quasi-necrophiliac obsession with Jean (that's not a joke; Phoenix: Endsong is what I'm specifically thinking about here) and Grant Morrison's thorough attempt to devalue the franchise, I gave up on the X-Men completely. I should point out that I've been a reader since Giant Size X-Men #1.

Having said that, I get more requests for X-Men campaigns than any other, and someone pretty much always wants Jean around, even as an NPC. Woodclaw, I'm impressed with your point economy here. Jean would be the last of the "First Class" crowd whom I'd expect to fit into such a playable package (excluding the Phoenix container). Well done.

[Woodclaw]

The Dark Phoenix saga and its' inevitable sacrifice at the end, was probably the height of Chris Claremonts' writing for the X-Men and maybe for comics in general. I, like many fans, was truly moved by this epic.

....Then came the crap. John Byrne started it, by resurrecting Jean and retconning everything that had been written since Phoenix's debut. Walt Simonson furthered it with X-Factor. And writer after writer just made things worse...until they killed Jean off for good...we hope.

Once upon a time...I liked this character, and if I only look at her history up to the Dark Phoenix Saga, I still like her.

Actually Byrne left the Marvel shortly after the end of the Dark Phoenix saga having some artistic issues with Claremont, namely how to end the whole thing, Byrne thought that the Phoenix was simply a foreign entity using Jean's body he wanted her to wake up at the end and all happy thereafter, while Claremont wanted to kill her out of the picture for a long time.

Marvel obviously had another idea, why not to bring together the style and the team of the original X-men? As a result they put the first X-factor together with all the crappy consequences.

Quoted for truth. Dark Phoenix is my favorite story in all of comics, so of course Marvel has to try for it again and again ad nauseum. Between their quasi-necrophiliac obsession with Jean (that's not a joke; Phoenix: Endsong is what I'm specifically thinking about here) and Grant Morrison's thorough attempt to devalue the franchise, I gave up on the X-Men completely. I should point out that I've been a reader since Giant Size X-Men #1.

Having said that, I get more requests for X-Men campaigns than any other, and someone pretty much always wants Jean around, even as an NPC. Woodclaw, I'm impressed with your point economy here. Jean would be the last of the "First Class" crowd whom I'd expect to fit into such a playable package (excluding the Phoenix container). Well done.

Well, it's strange to say, but without the container Jean is PL10/165pp more or less, so a lot less playable than the full powered Phoenix, which, by the way, can't reach PL15 on both offensive and defense at the same time.

Thanks for the kudos I hope the rest of the first class will live up to your expectations.

[Woodclaw]

The first class of X NEVER, EVER MARKS THE SPOT continues, with yours truly Blue-furred, Bouncing, Bubbling academic


If you're leaving anyway, forgive me for fast-forwarding to my final rebuttal as I say - on behalf of mutants everywhere... *Pthhhphth!*

Beast
Dr. Henry "Hank" Philip McCoy

Power Level: 10 (168pp)

Abilities: STR: 26 (+8), DEX: 26 (+8), CON: 24 (+7), INT: 22 (+6), WIS: 14 (+2), CHA: 16 (+3)

Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+12), Bluff 6 (+9/+13 [Attractive]), Climb 5 (+13), Computers 3 (+9), Craft (chemical) 5 (+11), Craft (electronic) 3 (+9), Diplomacy 5 (+8/+12 [Attractive]), Disable Device 2 (+8), Knowledge (art) 2 (+8), Knowledge (life sciences) 6 (+12), Knowledge (physical sciences) 4 (+10), Knowledge (popular culture) 4 (+10), Knowledge (technology) 3 (+9), Language 7 (French, German, Latin, Russian, 3 at GM choice; Native: English), Medicine 8 (+10), Notice 5 (+7), Pilot 1 (+9), Search 2 (+8), Sense Motive 5 (+7), Survival 2 (+4), Swim 2 (+10)

Feats: Acrobatic bluff, Ambidexterity, Attack Focus 5 (melee), Beginner's luck, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 4, Eidetic memory, Equipment 2, Fascinate (Bluff), Improved Grab, Improved Throw, Power Attack, Teamwork 1, Two-handed attack

Challenges: Conversational Paralysis, Perfect Balance

(Attractive 1, Rage 1 [5 rounds])

Powers:

Beast-like Physique (Container 5 [passive]; Drawback: Noticeable; 24pp)
- Claws (Strike 1; PF: Mighty, Ricochet 1)
- Enhanced feat 2 (Attractive 1, Rage 1 [5 rounds])
- Insulating fur (Feature 1)
- Prensile feet (Feature 1)
- Speed 1 (10 mph)
- Super-movement 2 (Swinging, Wall-crawling 1)
- Super-senses 2 (Low-light vision, Scent)
- Super-strength 4 (Heavy load: 7 tons [12 tons, while raging]; PF: Dynamic Alternate power 1, Dynamic)
-- DAP: Leaping 4 (jumping distance x25)

Equipment: Reading glasses (removes the Drawback; 1ep), Military commlink (as Commlink plus Subtle 1 [scrambler]; 2ep), X-men uniform (Protection 2 [subtle 1] + Immunity 2 [heat & cold, Half-effect]; 4pp)

Combat: Attack +6 (+11 Melee); Damage +9 (Claws); Defense +11 (+4 Flat-footed); Initiative +8

Saves: Toughness +9/+7 without costume, Fortitude +8, Reflex +8, Will +7

Drawbacks: Disability (mild presbyopia [uncommon, minor]; -1pp)

Abilities 68 + Skills 21 (84 ranks) + Feats 24 + Powers 24 + Combat 26 + Saves 6 - Drawbacks 1 = 168

Complications: Fame (world-class genetist and known mutant), Prejudice (inhuman appearence), Responsibility (to the Avengers and the X-men)


Hank went quite overboard with points, but given that he's a physical powerhouse, socially adept, and a mental polymath (like She-Hulk in many ways) that was to be expected. Honestly if he wasn't so damn funny of a character he will probably be a unsufferable Mary-Sue

this is obviously the simian-like Beat, I really hated the whole "secondary mutation thing", especially the more animalistic/feline-like Hank so I won't stat that ever

I was almost tempted to stat his natural mutation and the effects of the Beast serum as to separate containers, but overall I decided that it was a useless complication

Beast quite a strange combination being an accuracy shifted powerhouse, in many way more closer to a paragon super-soldier. As a consequence he should really be used more as a larger version of Spider-man or Captain America, rather than a bouncing version of the Thing

the Attractive feat for the container simulate his pheromones. I prefered this way rather than the more usual Emotion control effect since Beast's pheromones doesn't seem that powerful

the idea of giving him a Ricochet attack to simulate his fighting style is from BatgirlIII's build

[Horsenhero]

Thank you Woodclaw. Thank you. Thank you. A great Beast...in his best form. He was my second favorite of the original X-Men (from the comics, not the upcoming movie), right after the Angel, and I'm with you on the secondary, feline mutation. Blech. He's supposed to be a simian-like acrobat/minor brick, not a blue Wolverine/Tigra, predator.

I'm really appreciating these builds thus far.

[Woodclaw]

Thank you Woodclaw. Thank you. Thank you. A great Beast...in his best form. He was my second favorite of the original X-Men (from the comics, not the upcoming movie), right after the Angel, and I'm with you on the secondary, feline mutation. Blech. He's supposed to be a simian-like acrobat/minor brick, not a blue Wolverine/Tigra, predator.

I'm really appreciating these builds thus far.

Very glad you liked, Angel will come tomorrow. About the secondary mutation thing, Beast's was the second most hated in my graduatory, the first was Emma's diamond form. Especially since the writers clearly didn't know a couple of things about diamonds, in a couple of scenes Emma was shown walking through fires using her diamond body to survive. Problem is that diamonds are pure carbonium compressed, they burn leaving nothing behind not even ashes.

[ScourgeXLVII]

Very glad you liked, Angel will come tomorrow. About the secondary mutation thing, Beast's was the second most hated in my graduatory, the first was Emma's diamond form. Especially since the writers clearly didn't know a couple of things about diamonds, in a couple of scenes Emma was shown walking through fires using her diamond body to survive. Problem is that diamonds are pure carbonium compressed, they burn with leaving anything behind not even ashes.

Not to mention that diamond is only super-hard, but not indestructible, and would break from the impact of enough bullets, and would certainly still be susceptible to lasers, as that is one of the ways real diamond cutting happens. Writers have come to pass off diamonds as some super-material, which it's not.

[Jabroniville]

Nice Beast. I know when I statted up the X-Men with intentions to make PL 10 (150) balanced builds, he (along with Rogue) was by far the hardest to pare down. The problem was, making a Skillmonkey as good as him, added to an agile fighter-type build at PL 10 was ludicrously hard.

I've never quite been sure where he falls on the Strength level, myself, but most of us M&M statters go between 26 & 30 with him, I've found. I figured he was slightly stronger than Spider-Man, but not a lot more. Which made if funny, since he was "Team Powerhosue" on the early X-Men & X-Factor teams.

[Geekery]

Well, it's strange to say, but without the container Jean is PL10/165pp more or less, so a lot less playable than the full powered Phoenix, which, by the way, can't reach PL15 on both offensive and defense at the same time.

We probably have different definitions of "playable" here. I'm thinking of various X-Men campaigns that I've played in or run. A lot of new players want to play something familiar, and any of the established X-Men are pretty much guaranteed to be overpointed (and Jean Grey more so than the the others). I think that coming in 10% over PL10 guidelines is actually quite reasonable, assuming that we're talking about something later than her Marvel Girl days.

I wouldn't let a player have Phoenix, period. One player I once knew joked "You swallow the Sun as your action for the round." I might consider a Phoenix PC with Xavier's built-in "psychic circuit breakers" (again, the guy is a jerk), but even then they'd have to be prepared for a full-on Magneto beatdown. Minimum.

Thanks for the kudos I hope the rest of the first class will live up to your expectations.

I should add that I appreciate your, uh, "sacrifice," given that these clearly aren't your favorite characters.

[Geekery]

Beast's was the second most hated in my graduatory, the first was Emma's diamond form.

Agreed, on both fronts. Emma Frost was a powerful and interesting enough character without having to become the team powerhouse as well.

And I'm old enough to remember (and prefer) Beast with no fur whatsoever. The one thing I enjoyed about X-Factor was his "restoration," but then they turned around and made Angel into Archangel, so the whole thing seemed a bit pointless. They must've agreed, because the blue fur came back in short order.

The whole "blue lion" look is even more pointless. What exactly was that supposed to accomplish? Appeal to the "furry" demographic? Make Beast more like Wolverine, who is on the same team? It's been argued that Professor X may actually be the most effective supervillain ever; I think it could also be argued that Grant Morrison was secretly on DC's payroll to trash the X-Men franchise.

[Geekery]

Beast
Feats:
Challenges: Conversational Paralysis

Attractive 1

Yes, and yes. Conversational Paralysis is perfect. I seem to recall the good Doctor's thorough pwnage of Graydon Creed on Nightline (is that where the character quote came from?), and that Feat is dead-on.

And, pheromones or not, McCoy always had a way with the ladies, so Attractive is appropriate.

Again, good point economy on a deceptively high-pointed character.

[Geekery]

Xavier: The world needs dreamers to give it a soul.
Magneto And it needs realists to keep it alive.

I apologize for this ongoing string of posts, but I just noticed the quote.

Personal note: Professor X's long history of "superdickery" (Marvel Dickery?) was the thing that taught me, as I was growing up, that idealism has a big price tag. Probably one of the things that contributed to my surly teenage years, in fact.

Faked his own death, put villains in charge of his teams (more than once!), wrested control of a perfectly-functional team from Cyclops... How is it that "let's shoot the Hulk into space" wasn't his idea?

[Woodclaw]

Nice Beast. I know when I statted up the X-Men with intentions to make PL 10 (150) balanced builds, he (along with Rogue) was by far the hardest to pare down. The problem was, making a Skillmonkey as good as him, added to an agile fighter-type build at PL 10 was ludicrously hard.

I've never quite been sure where he falls on the Strength level, myself, but most of us M&M statters go between 26 & 30 with him, I've found. I figured he was slightly stronger than Spider-Man, but not a lot more. Which made if funny, since he was "Team Powerhosue" on the early X-Men & X-Factor teams.

The big problem with Beast is that while he have a lot of lifting strength I can't picture him having a major impact strength, so I modeled him based on this consideration, I assume that he routinely power attacks against larger/stronger opponents.

[Woodclaw]

Well, it's strange to say, but without the container Jean is PL10/165pp more or less, so a lot less playable than the full powered Phoenix, which, by the way, can't reach PL15 on both offensive and defense at the same time.

We probably have different definitions of "playable" here. I'm thinking of various X-Men campaigns that I've played in or run. A lot of new players want to play something familiar, and any of the established X-Men are pretty much guaranteed to be overpointed (and Jean Grey more so than the the others). I think that coming in 10% over PL10 guidelines is actually quite reasonable, assuming that we're talking about something later than her Marvel Girl days.

I wouldn't let a player have Phoenix, period. One player I once knew joked "You swallow the Sun as your action for the round." I might consider a Phoenix PC with Xavier's built-in "psychic circuit breakers" (again, the guy is a jerk), but even then they'd have to be prepared for a full-on Magneto beatdown. Minimum.

Ok, if that's what you meant I agree. The PL10 Jean is obviously from a later incarnation, that the Black and Gold costume days.

Thanks for the kudos I hope the rest of the first class will live up to your expectations.

I should add that I appreciate your, uh, "sacrifice," given that these clearly aren't your favorite characters.

Actually you are wrong here, I really like the X-men and the concept behind them, what I dislike are the ton of questionable treatments they received during the last decade (actually this can be said of any Marvel of the last decade).

Agreed, on both fronts. Emma Frost was a powerful and interesting enough character without having to become the team powerhouse as well.

And I'm old enough to remember (and prefer) Beast with no fur whatsoever. The one thing I enjoyed about X-Factor was his "restoration," but then they turned around and made Angel into Archangel, so the whole thing seemed a bit pointless. They must've agreed, because the blue fur came back in short order.

Actually I'm partial to the simian blue-furred Beast, the human-looking Beast never appealed too much to me.

The whole "blue lion" look is even more pointless. What exactly was that supposed to accomplish? Appeal to the "furry" demographic? Make Beast more like Wolverine, who is on the same team? It's been argued that Professor X may actually be the most effective supervillain ever; I think it could also be argued that Grant Morrison was secretly on DC's payroll to trash the X-Men franchise.

That's a fascinating theory.

Yes, and yes. Conversational Paralysis is perfect. I seem to recall the good Doctor's thorough pwnage of Graydon Creed on Nightline (is that where the character quote came from?), and that Feat is dead-on.

Yes the quote is from there.

Xavier: The world needs dreamers to give it a soul.
Magneto And it needs realists to keep it alive.

I apologize for this ongoing string of posts, but I just noticed the quote.

Personal note: Professor X's long history of "superdickery" (Marvel Dickery?) was the thing that taught me, as I was growing up, that idealism has a big price tag. Probably one of the things that contributed to my surly teenage years, in fact.

Faked his own death, put villains in charge of his teams (more than once!), wrested control of a perfectly-functional team from Cyclops... How is it that "let's shoot the Hulk into space" wasn't his idea?

As I said before, the big problem with Xavier is that many authors seem not to realize that giving a highly intrusive mentor/father figure to a team of full grown-ups is simply silly. Having someone like Xavier on the first team was a necessity (they were all around 17 at the time) and it worked for a while with the New Mutants, but after that it doesn't make much sense.
The funny thing is that over the years practicly every team leader of the various X-teams had clashed with Xavier over how to do things (particulary memorable Cannonball and his Closed fist vs Open hand speech), but the idea that maybe retiring or stop meddling with his student lives never touched his mind.

About the Illuminati I consider the entire idea a failed atttempt to make the MU more similar to the Wildstorm, with secret superhumans' cabals and stuff. And really not worth any more comment.

[Woodclaw]

X NEVER, EVER MARKS THE SPOT build #5 the first class is almost over.


I'd rather die that lose my wings!

Angel / Archangel
Warren Kenneth Worthington III

Power Level: 11 (145pp)

Abilities: STR: 20 (+5), DEX: 20 (+5), CON: 18 (+4), INT: 14 (+2), WIS: 12 (+1), CHA: 16 (+3)

Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+11/+14 [aerobatics]), Bluff 4 (+7/+11 [attractive]), Diplomacy 5 (+8/+12 [attractive]), Disguise 4 (+7), Gather Information 3 (+6), Knowledge (business) 7 (+9), Knowledge (physical sciences) 5 (+7), Language - (Native: English), Notice 9 (+10), Pilot 3 (+8), Search 4 (+6), Sense Motive 7 (+8), Stealth 3 (+8)

Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Specialization 1 (Unarmed), Attractive 1, Benefit 3 (wealth), Connected, Dodge Focus 4, Elusive Target, Endurance 1, Equipment 2, Evasion 1, Fast Overrun, Favored Environment 4 (Airborne), Improved critical 1 [wings], Move-by Action, Power Attack, Set-Up, Sneak Attack 1, Task Focus 1 (Acrobatics, aerobatics)

(Environmental adaptation 1 [high altutudes])

Powers:

Eagle's eyes (Super-senses 2 [Extended 2 [normal sight]; 2pp)
Enhanced feat 1 (Environmental adaptation 1 [high altutudes]; 1pp)
Regeneration 5 (Injured [1 minute], Disabled [1 hour] PF: Diehard; 6pp)
Iron grip (Super-strength 4 [heavy load: 800 lbs]; PF: Super-breath; Flaw: Limited [no increase to carrying capacity, 3 ranks only]; 6pp)
Angel to Archangel (Array 8; PF:Alternate power 1; Flaw: Uncontrolled; 9pp)
- Base power: Organic wings (Container 2 [passive])
- AP: Metal wings (Container 4 [passive]; Flaw: Split personality [bloodlust])

Organic wings (9pp of effects)
- Flight 4 (100 mph; PF: Alternate power 1; Drawbacks: Power loss [winged; -1])
-- AP: Wing strike (Strike 2; PF: Extended reach 1, Knockback 2, Mighty; Drawback: Inaccurate 1)

Metal wings (19pp of effects)
- Neuro darts (Linked powers: Darts + Paralyze; PF: Alternate power 3)[/i]

• Linked: Darts (add the Autofire 1 and Range 1 [ranged] extras to 4 ranks of the Strength bonus)
• Linked: Paralyze 4 (Extra: Alternate save [Fortitude], Range 1 [ranged]; Flaw: Limited [the target must fail the save against the linked blast])

-- AP: Flight 6 (500 mph; Drawbacks: Power loss [winged; -1])
-- AP: Deflect 10 (Fast and Slow projectiles; PF: Extended reach 2; Flaw: Distracting)
-- AP: Wing slash (Strike 2; PF: Extended reach 2, Mighty; Extra: Pentrating [7 ranks]; Drawback: Lethal only, Inaccurate 1)

Equipment: Military commlink (as Commlink plus Subtle 1 [scrambler]; 2ep), X-men uniform (Protection 3 [subtle 1] + Immunity 2 [heat & cold, Half-effect]; 5pp)

3ep in mission specific equipment

Combat: Attack +9/+11 Airbone (+11/+13 unarmed); Damage +5 (Unarmed), or by weapon of choice; Defense +11/+13 airborne (+4 Flat-footed); Initiative +5

Saves: Toughness +7/+4 without costume, Fortitude +6, Reflex +8, Will +6

Drawbacks: Hollow bones (Vulnerable [blundgeon weapons; very common, +1 DC]; -3pp)

Abilities 40 + Skills 15 (60 ranks) + Feats 27 + Powers 24 + Combat 32 + Saves 10 - Drawbacks 3 = 145

Complications: Enemy/Hatred (Apocalypse), Guilt (crimes as the Angel of Death), Responsibility (Worthington Industries)


ok once again, no secondary mutation and a little consideration. Warren is basically a totem/animal style mutation with eagle/hawk traits, as such one of his trait was to have a incredibly strong grip. If his mutations has developed further he would have probably developed talons and a beak

poor old Warren suffer of a big problem of the comic books the yo-yo syndrome, meaning that there are two (sometimes more) very iconic incarnation of the characters and the authors have him constantly shifting between them. For Warren is his classic Angel (organic wings) and bas-ass Archangel (metal wings) forms

Warren's PL doesn't change between his two forms, the Metal wings gave him more options and a major penetrating strike, at the cost of suffering from uncontrolled periods of bloodlust and rage

Angel combat stats are built around the same considerations I used for Hawkman and Aquaman, he is PL9 on the ground and can reach PL11 to offenisve or defense while airborne, or PL10 to both at the same time