Kerevision: Josiah X, Confessor II, Black Lantern Superman

[kerianvalentine]

Another series is making its debut today - the Spawn series! The cape swirls against the lightning-blasted background, Spawn himself crouching between a pair of gargoyles.



Spawn
PL 10/PP 159
Attributes: STR 22, DEX 16, CON 0, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 10

Skills:
Acrobatics 8+3 = 11
Bluff 4+1 = 5
Climb 4+6 = 10
Computers 4+2 = 6
Disguise 8+1 = 9
Intimidate 12+6 = 18
Knowledge [Arcane] 4+2 = 6
Notice 8+3 = 11
Search 8+2 = 10
Stealth 8+3 = 11

Feats:
Ambidexterity, Benefit [STR Bonus for Intimidate], Diehard, Dodge Focus 5, Favored Opponent [Hellspawn 2, Heaven-Sent 2], Fearless, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Rage 1, Redirect, Ritualist, Sneak Attack 3, Startle

Powers:
Immunity [FORT]
Regeneration [Ressurection 2, Bruised 2, Injured 2, Disabled 4]
Spiked Chains 4 [Critical Strike Extended Reach 4 Improved Critical 5 Penetrating Damage]
Concealment [Visual 1]
The Costume [Protection 10, Morph 1]
The Cape [Gliding Flight 3, A.P.: Shield 3]
Hellspawn Magic [Fading Ranged Damage 6]

Initiative/Defense: +3/+7 [+1 Flat-Footed, With Cape: +10]
Saves: FORT [IMMUNE], REF +3, WILL +8, TOUGH +10
Attack/Damage: +5/+6 [+5 Chain]

Drawbacks:
Vulnerable [Holy Magic, Major, Common, +4]
Weakness [Heavenly Outposts, Minor Attack Drain, 1/Round, +5]

DVD Commentary:
Spawn...is hard to stat up.

I chalk this up to the fact that the guy is a freaking god [literally...McFarlane has a poor sense of power scale when it comes to his characters...] and therefore can do whatever the heck he wants. In a vague attempt to emulate this, I ended up giving Spawn numerous ways to hit his caps.

Spawn's defensive power came out nicely. His +5 Dodge Bonus and base of +2 Defense, when combined with his cape's Defensive Mode, peaks him up to +10 Defense - maxing out his caps. His offensive power, however, is a little tricksier.

His Rage ups his unarmed damage to +8, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with the toughest Hellspawn and Angels in the world. If he manages to Sneak Attack an enemy, he gets to add up +5 to his attack - making a devestating strike against whosoever he chooses as long as he's got the ability to reach [and at 25-foot reach, he's got plenty of reach!].

Finally, Spawn, on the run from Heavenly and Hellish enemies, knows how to fight them very well, and can deliver Critical Hits against them when he uses his chain [a very good reason to do so, by the way, if the lowered damage isn't your cup of tea], peaking up to +10 damage right there with a Sneak Attack. In addition, because he knows how to fight their magics, he's picked up a little bit of it, but not much - Spawn's Necroplasm reserves, for all intents and purposes, are best saved for real desparate situations. HOWEVER, in Story Situations, Spawn is willing to burn that Necroplasm off, assuming it flips off God or Satan or whoever. Extra Effort allows him to perform some fun tricks with his 6-points of Hellspawned Magic, such as healing, teleporting, and Ressurection.

[Libra]

Rohrsacht and Spawn? This does not bode well for any poor souls who get caught up in their wake. . .

[Wordmaker]

Did you just go over 150 pp on a character??

[kerianvalentine]

No - his Drawbacks are included in the point total. See Superman [Animated] for an example of the same thing.

He's a base 10/150 with +9 PP drawbacks, becoming a 10/159.

[Wordmaker]

Ah! Cool.

[kerianvalentine]

The Spawn series continues, the image of three glowing beings appearing in the background of the title sequence. One can easily be made out to be...



The Redeemer III (Eddie Frank)
PL 10/PP 150
Attributes: STR 20, DEX 16, CON 0, INT 14, WIS 14, CHA 14

Skills:
Acrobatics 4+3 = 7
Bluff 4+2 = 6
Concentration 4+2 = 6
Escape Artist 8+3 = 11
Gather Information 4+2 = 6
Intimidate 12+2 = 14
Investigate 4+2 = 6
Knowledge [Religion 8]+2 = 10
Notice 8+2 = 10
Search 4+2 = 6
Sense Motive 8+2 = 10

Feats:
All-Out Attack, Ambidexterity, Assessment, Attack Focus [Melee] 1, Attack Specialization [Heavenly Blade] 2, Diehard, Favored Opponent [HellSpawn] 1, Power Attack, Rage 1, Redirect, Takedown Attack 1, Well-Informed

Powers:
Immunity [FORT Saves]
Impervious Protection 8
Shield 5
Flight 5
Sword Of The Redeemer 2 [Easy-To-Lose Device, Restricted x1: Divine Beings, Indestructible]

Sword Of The Redeemer
Extended Reach 1 Mighty Damage 2 [Critical Strike, Improved Critical 5]

Initiative/Defense: +3/+5
Saves: FORT [Immune], REF +8, WILL +10, TOUGH +8 [+8 Impervious]
Attack/Damage: +4/+5 [+7 Sword]

DVD Commentary:
The third Redeemer is basically your average badass angel out for blood, though that's not actually what he is at all. Perhaps I should back up.

The Redeemer concept stems from the idea that Heaven has an answer to the military weapon of the Hellspawn. So far, only one Redeemer appears to be active at a time - the above Redeemer's human name is Eddie Frank, someone who despises Spawn innately for some inane little triviality that made his father beat him more, projecting his own insecurities onto the mighty Mary Sue.

This particular Redeemer has a pair of wide wings that allow him to fly, as well as a massive sword capable of great damage and armor capable of taking said great damage.

Eddie here is built to, essentially, function as the anti-Spawn [though not identically - that's a different character]. This is shown in a couple of ways. First, he's only slightly weaker than Spawn himself, both strength-wise and attack/damage base. Second, he's much, much more interested in closing the distance than Spawn is, since he's fairly useless when it comes to dealing damage at a range - his only hint of such a thing is that his sword is a 10-foot-reach weapon.

Third, Eddie lacks Spawn's regenerative capabilities. Instead, his body is heavily armored, enabling him to deflect Spawn's unarmed damage [unless Spawn gets worked up into a rage and scores a critical or something]. He's more adept at soaking damage, and no earthly weapon short of a rocket to the face will harm him, whereas Spawn can easily be harmed by anything but has a higher Toughness and the ability to repair himself.

Fourth, Eddie's basic combat style is entirely different from Spawn's. Instead of using feints/demoralizations [which he is still adept at] to gain a Sneak Attack opening, Eddie prefers to Rage and let his sword do the talking. Because Rage pushes the Blade of the Redeemer up to +9, and Spawn is a Hellspawn [and thus susceptible to Eddie's Favored Enemy benefit], Eddie ends up dealing +10 to Spawn. Oh, wait...no he doesn't! You see, Spawn's greatest weakness - Holy Magic - is exactly what the Sword of the Redeemer does! It -doubles- the damage Spawn takes, forcing him to take a DC 35 Toughness Save. It's absolutely impossible for Al to make that save, so Spawn has to fight dirty, staying out of the Redeemer's reach.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Eddie's sword can be disarmed. This means he loses his main avenue of attack if Spawn decides to get yank-happy with his chains. Fortunately, the Sword can't be destroyed, so Eddie has a little leeway there.

All-in-all, Eddie's a very, very dangerous foe for an unprepared Spawn, and if he gets caught off-guard he's toast. Fortunately, Spawn's abilities run completely counter to Eddie's, giving him a very very very very very mild advantage.

[kerianvalentine]

Now the title sequence moves into Spawn standing in the center of a green garden, twelve black-armored creatures burning in flame surrounding him.



The Disciple
PL 10/PP 150
Attributes: STR 30, DEX 16, CON 0, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 10

Skills:
Acrobatics 8+3 = 13
Escape Artist 8+3 = 11
Knowledge [Religion] 8+3 = 11
Notice 8+3 = 11
Sense Motive 8+3 = 11

Feats:
Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Ambidexterity, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Fearless, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Redirect

Powers:
Immunity [FORT]
Sustained Aura Damage 4
Holy Fire Control 4
Impervious Protection 10
Enhanced Will Save [Limited: Mental Effects] 8

Initiative/Defense: +4/+5
Saves: FORT [IMMUNITY], REF +3, WILL +3 [+11 Mental Effects], TOUGH +10 [Impervious]
Attack/Damage: +8/+10

DVD Commentary:
The twelve Disciples are the guardians of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life and Death, the First and Greatest Of Heaven's Warriors [though their loyalty does not with Heaven lie].

The Disciple presented here is IX, the one with no visible weapons, simply because it's easiest to stat out. Effectively, the Disciple has two major points of power:

It's strong and it's tough.

And that's really about it. The Disciple can punch out Spawn very easily - his every blow deals Spawn's toughness save, for crying out loud, and he can take Spawn's own damage easily, shrugging it off and dealing yet more damage to Spawn with his Holy Fire Aura!

But wait, there's more! The Disciple has Holy Fire Control, as well, allowing him to project his flames around in a manner similar to Liz Sherman [see BPRD], flinging his aura about wherever he may so choose in whatever range he wishes up to 20 feet away. This gives him a weapon only slightly shorter-ranged than Spawn's own chains, which is EXTREMELY helpful when faced with such a foe.

The Disciple is a real danger to face, but Spawn should never be in a situation where he has to fight all twelve at once - they should be seen as a set of tests, not an unstoppable adversary, and this is a point where Spawn should be scoring a hero point as the Disciples fiat over and over whenever they miss. Spawn should, by the end of it all, gain a HUGE load of H.P., and thus be able to finish the test.

[Libra]

I'm not fond of series where the Heavenly Host is portrayed as, well, rather Hellish.

Understandably I'm not fond of Garth Ennis' work.

But none-the-less I admire your statting skills Kerian.

(If you want me to delete the comment above my compliment, just say so. I do get a little Flander-ish at times.)

[kerianvalentine]

Personally I find Spawn to be an interesting reinterpretation of the War, but the real thing I dislike about it is that the main character at one point becomes a god.

I have a thin patience for comics in which character power fluctuates so immensely.

[Thorpacolypse]

I have a thin patience for comics in which character power fluctuates so immensely.

Here, here, Kerian. That's one of my peeves, too. I do love the Spawn universe builds. Any others on deck?

I'm not fond of series where the Heavenly Host is portrayed as, well, rather Hellish.

I should let this go, but dang it, I can't!

Dude, where did Lucifer come from in the first place?

[kerianvalentine]

Expect the Redeemer II and the Anti-Spawn/Redeemer I to be up any day now. And I might do the Adventures Of Spawn redefs, and possibly OvertKill and some of the other foes.

He really doesn't have many allies, does he? Not a very likeable dead guy.

[Servitor_2152]

Kerian, just FYI, Gai-sensei's picture has been replaced with a giant "NO" symbol. The Master might need to go back and update the Region settings on his DVD player.

[kerianvalentine]

The middle silhoutte - rimmed with light - can now easily be seen in the Spawn opening sequence. It's obviously...



The Redeemer II (Phil Timper)
PL 10/PP 150
Attributes: STR 26, DEX 18, CON 0, INT 16, WIS 14, CHA 12

Skills:
Acrobatics 4+4 = 8
Climb 4+7 = 11
Escape Artist 8+4 = 12
Gather Information 8+1 = 9
Intimidate 12+1 = 13
Investigate 8+3 = 11
Knowledge [Religion] 4+3 = 7
Notice 8+2 = 10
Search 4+3 = 7
Sense Motive 8+2 = 10

Feats:
All-Out Attack, Attack Specialization 1 [Energy Strike], Defensive Roll 7, Dodge Focus 5, Favored Enemy [Hellspawn 1], Move-By Action, Power Attack, Rage 1, Startle

Powers:
Immunity [FORT]
Teleport 4
Ranged Damage 7 [A.P.: Critical Strike Improved Critical 3 Damage 10]
Enhanced Will Save [Limited: Mental Effects] 6
Detect [Necroplasm]

Initiative/Defense: +4/+8 [+13, +4 Flat-Footed]
Saves: FORT [Immune], REF +5, WILL +8, TOUGH +7
Attack/Damage: +7/+7

Trade-Offs:
-3 Toughness/+3 Defense
-1 Attack/+1 Damage

DVD Commentary:
The second Redeemer is an ex-con named Phil Timper. He's exceptionally powerful - while he lacks the out-and-out survivability of the third Redeemer, he's much more nimble - his Defense reflects that quite well.

The Redeemer II also lacks the Blade used by Eddie Frank, instead opting for his Ranged Damage and Melee Damage effects.

Phil's basic advantage over Spawn is his Ranged Damage - he's able to stay outside Spawn's considerable range and be just as dangerous, which causes a real problem for the melee-oriented/25-Foot-Limited Spawn.

Second, his Melee Damage effect - the blazing lance - enables him to do significant damage when and if he chooses to enter Spawn's death-radius, the strike doubling up to +20 against Spawn's weakness to Heavenly magic.

Finally, this Redeemer is capable of doing even more damage than Eddie Frank. His Favored Enemy pushes him up to +11 damage, meaning that Spawn is effectively going to be making an impossible Toughness save against every strike from that lance. Terrifying.

[Libra]

Does anyone else think Mr McFarlan may be a fan of Warhammer 40000?

[Thorpacolypse]

Ah, The Redeemer, one of Mac's better creations. Keep 'em coming KV!