Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brutal- Paws of Fury, Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama)

Post by Batgirl III »

I've always wondered in Cage might have been a lot more successful if they had put him on the Avengers right away. His power-set works better as a team player than a solo hero (he pretty much did the Nineties Team Big Guy thing twenty years ahead of schedule) and his personality really shines when he gets to act counterpoint to the standard superhero personalities. Luke debuted in June, 1972... If they had added him to the Avengers in, say, 1975, when the team had one of its bigger roster changes, it probably would have done both Luke and the Avengers good.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brutal- Paws of Fury, Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama)

Post by MacynSnow »

Batgirl III wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:34 pm I've always wondered in Cage might have been a lot more successful if they had put him on the Avengers right away. His power-set works better as a team player than a solo hero (he pretty much did the Nineties Team Big Guy thing twenty years ahead of schedule) and his personality really shines when he gets to act counterpoint to the standard superhero personalities. Luke debuted in June, 1972... If they had added him to the Avengers in, say, 1975, when the team had one of its bigger roster changes, it probably would have done both Luke and the Avengers good.
As good of an idea that is BG3,it's now just a case of Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda... ;)
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brutal- Paws of Fury, Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama)

Post by Batgirl III »

MacynSnow wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:26 am As good of an idea that is BG3,it's now just a case of Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda... ;)
Until I go back to the future and re-invent time travel before Thorpocalypse can steal it from me like he will have did last time.

Don't you remember that time three years ago, when I invented a time-machine, travelled back to the 1950's and replaced Stan Lee? Hmm, probably not, since it was almost seven years ago when Thorpacoplyse and Jabroniville stole my time machine, traveled back to two years ago and will be having had stopped me.

I remember it all, like it was only tomorrow. We are going to have had good times.

Provided I can just remember to teach myself how to pre-invent time travel, in order to have had a chance to show myself how to have built it.
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MacynSnow
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Brutal- Paws of Fury, Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama)

Post by MacynSnow »

Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:33 am
MacynSnow wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:26 am As good of an idea that is BG3,it's now just a case of Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda... ;)
Until I go back to the future and re-invent time travel before Thorpocalypse can steal it from me like he will have did last time.

Don't you remember that time three years ago, when I invented a time-machine, travelled back to the 1950's and replaced Stan Lee? Hmm, probably not, since it was almost seven years ago when Thorpacoplyse and Jabroniville stole my time machine, traveled back to two years ago and will be having had stopped me.

I remember it all, like it was only tomorrow. We are going to have had good times.

Provided I can just remember to teach myself how to pre-invent time travel, in order to have had a chance to show myself how to have built it.
But where you messed up is that you made it Tomorrow,not Yesterday where they never stopped you.... ;)
Jabroniville
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Luke Cage

Post by Jabroniville »

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LUKE CAGE (Carl Lucas, aka Power Man)
Created By:
Archie Goodwin & John Romita
First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1 (June 1972)
Role: Groundbreaking Hero, Token Black Guy, Gangsta Speaker, Tough Guy, Human POV Guy, The Put-Upon Leader
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The Heroes For Hire, The Defenders, The Fantastic Four, The Marvel Knights, The Thunderbolts
Avengers Grade: B-Level
PL 10 (146)
STRENGTH
9 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+11)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+7)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Insight 6 (+8)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Investigation 6 (+8)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+5)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages: 
All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Close Attack 2, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Extreme Toughness" Protection 1 (Extras: Impervious 13) [14]
Immunity 7 (Pressure, Heat, Falling Damage) [7]
Regeneration 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +12 (+7 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +9

Complications:
Relationship (Jessica Jones & Baby)- Luke Cage is now a proud husband and father, and would do ANYTHING to protect them.
Relationship (Danny Rand)- Cage & Iron Fist go way back, and are the best of friends. He is also quite close to Misty Knight & Colleen Wing.
Reputation (Criminal & Thug)- A reformed criminal, Cage was framed for heroin dealing, and his status as an escaped convict still haunts him and causes others to mistrust him.
Enemy (Willis Stryker, aka Diamondback)- Cage's best friend framed Cage and put him in jail after thinking that Cage was responsible for Stryker's girlfriend leaving him.
Enemy (Various)- Cage has numerous low-key enemies: The first Bushmaster, various Chemistros, Discus, Stiletto, Coldfire (Cage's own brother) and Hardcore. Also, since The Purple Man once mind-raped his wife, he's rather pissy with Zebediah Killgrave.

Total: Abilities: 72 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 23 / Defenses: 11 (146)

-Cage is strong (Class 12- a notch above Spidey in damage) and tough as hell, nearly-matching guys like Ben Grimm & Sasquatch on the "hard to hurt" front. You've got to do more than +7 Damage to even SCRATCH him, and even then he can modify many of his caps to come out looking tougher than his stats would imply. He mixes streetwise nature, investigative skill and raw mental & physical toughness into a build that is very capable at the PL 10 level, despite JUST missing his points-cap. He's usually not the major ass-kicker on any team he's in, but I have seen him brawl it out with Wonder Man thanks to his toughness and fighting skills.

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LUKE CAGE (Carl Lucas, aka Power Man)- 1970s Version
Created By:
Archie Goodwin & John Romita
First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1 (June 1972)
Role: Groundbreaking Hero, Token Black Guy, Gangsta Speaker, Tough Guy
Group Affiliations: None
PL 8 (122)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 11 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 7 (+9)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 2 (+4)
Stealth 2 (+4)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages: 
Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fast Grab, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Last Stand, Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage

Powers:
"Extreme Toughness" Protection +0 (Extras: Impervious 11) [11]
Immunity 7 (Pressure, Heat, Falling Damage) [7]
Regeneration 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +11 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +11, Will +6

Complications:
Reputation (Criminal & Thug)- A reformed criminal, Cage was framed for heroin dealing, and his status as an escaped convict still haunts him and causes others to mistrust him.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 8 (122)

-Cage in the '70s is much lesser than his present-day self, keeping the general strength & toughness but falling a ways behind in accuracy. He's a good, all-around PL 8 in this form.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:02 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Ares »

Luke and Danny worked very well together, and done right a series about the pair can be immensely entertaining. Though in some ways, I feel Luke benefited more from the pairing than Danny.

Danny is the greatest martial artist of a city full of immortal martial arts masters. He has legit chi powers and techniques, and had to kill a dragon one-on-one to gain them. He owns part of a mega-corporation. There's really no reason Danny shouldn't be some A-List superhero going on some epic adventures, kung fu fighting gods and monsters, etc. Writing an Iron Fist book should be stupidly easy, as Fraction showed.

And yet, a good chunk of his run was spent doing mercenary work alongside Luke Cage, acting as a detective, bodyguard, security and supervillain deterrent. What's funny is that the writers at one point started watering down Luke and Danny's abilities. Whereas at one point Luke was at least Spider-Man strong and completely immune to small arms fire, Luke was suddenly barely able to lift a ton or two, and normal bullets hurt him, and armor piercing rounds could kill him. Likewise, Danny's martial arts skills often got downplayed and his Iron Fist varied in how useful it was. In an effort to keep them "street level", they wound up getting underplayed, and never really got to either build up a good rogue's gallery or adopt villains that other folks weren't using. Basically, being "street" heroes hurt them more than helped them.

Power wise, I kind of prefer both heroes to be solidly in the middle tier. Compared to Ben Grimm, Luke would be weaker (around Class 50 or so), but would actually be more durable, and that extra durability would actually let him hit out of his weight class. Similarly, Danny is tied for best Martial Artist on Earth with Shang Chi, and has a variety of chi techniques that make him versatile. And what makes them really dangerous is their teamwork. People should DREAD fighting Luke and Danny because they've got a fighting style that borders on telepathy. My write-ups for them in my own system actually gives them unique benefits when fighting together that other heroes don't get.

Adventure wise, something that kind of sucked was that, generally speaking, the adventures on the street were Luke's bread and butter, and Luke basically had to advise Danny on how to act. It would occasionally get flipped, but much more rarely. To me, the fun would be to show how each hero handles being in their element and helping their partner adjust. So a Power Man and Iron Fist book should really be about the pair having adventures across the world. They'd be based out of New York, and when Luke encounters a problem on the streets, he calls Danny down for help. When Danny needs to go deal with the Hand in China, he calls Luke for help. Danny gets to help Luke when he's the fish out of water, and Luke does the same for Danny. And through it all, they're having the most bro-tastic buddy cop style adventures and banter.

I'd also retcon Danny and Misty into being an official couple and having a daughter, much like that one shot did, and make said daughter more or less the same age as Luke's daughter.

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THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS TO NOT BE A THING, MARVEL!

Actually, I could really see the series being a family book, with Misty, Jessica and Colleen having just as much a role in the book, possibly with Uncle Shang Chi as well. Misty and Jessica can do detective work, Misty is a gun-fighter with a bionic arm, Jessica is a flying powerhouse, and Colleen can brings another unique skill based fighter to the group. It'd basically be the Defenders book Marvel tried, only replacing Daredevil with Misty and Colleen. And Hell, given who the heroes know, you could have regular guest appearances from Uncles Matt Murdock, Peter Parker and Shang Chi.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
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Re: Luke Cage

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:26 am Image
It's Christmas time, in the city!!
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Ares wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:34 am Actually, I could really see the series being a family book, with Misty, Jessica and Colleen having just as much a role in the book, possibly with Uncle Shang Chi as well. Misty and Jessica can do detective work, Misty is a gun-fighter with a bionic arm, Jessica is a flying powerhouse, and Colleen can brings another unique skill based fighter to the group. It'd basically be the Defenders book Marvel tried, only replacing Daredevil with Misty and Colleen. And Hell, given who the heroes know, you could have regular guest appearances from Uncles Matt Murdock, Peter Parker and Shang Chi.
B-b-but, Ares... If they did this then the heroes might be happy! What kind of superhero has a happy, stable, and well-adjusted private life? Are you a madman!?
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Ares »

Batgirl III wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 3:09 am
Ares wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:34 am Actually, I could really see the series being a family book, with Misty, Jessica and Colleen having just as much a role in the book, possibly with Uncle Shang Chi as well. Misty and Jessica can do detective work, Misty is a gun-fighter with a bionic arm, Jessica is a flying powerhouse, and Colleen can brings another unique skill based fighter to the group. It'd basically be the Defenders book Marvel tried, only replacing Daredevil with Misty and Colleen. And Hell, given who the heroes know, you could have regular guest appearances from Uncles Matt Murdock, Peter Parker and Shang Chi.
B-b-but, Ares... If they did this then the heroes might be happy! What kind of superhero has a happy, stable, and well-adjusted private life? Are you a madman!?
I prefer the term

Image
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by MacynSnow »

I could picture the girls hanging out with Power Pack(and Franklin Richards) under the Hero Names Pow-Girl and Iron Kick!

This stuff just writes itself....:D
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Batgirl III »

MacynSnow wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 3:41 am I could picture the girls hanging out with Power Pack(and Franklin Richards) under the Hero Names Pow-Girl and Iron Kick!
I wanna see Molly Hayes try to babysit.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Wasn't Squirrel Girl brought in as the babysitter?

Side note, Luke Cage also got the "invulnerability isn't always great" bit. I can't remember if they had to dig bullets out, or if he had a heart attack, but they had problems operating because his skin was so tough.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by MacynSnow »

FuzzyBoots wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:26 am Wasn't Squirrel Girl brought in as the babysitter?

Side note, Luke Cage also got the "invulnerability isn't always great" bit. I can't remember if they had to dig bullets out, or if he had a heart attack, but they had problems operating because his skin was so tough.
He was beat into a near coma by some enemies that jumped him Sinister Six style,then Cockroach shot him point-blank in the chest with all 6 barrels...
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Ares »

Yeah, occasionally they needed to get special lasers designed by Tony Stark that could actually cut his skin to operate on him medically.

Though with Danny's healing abilities, that should render the issue largely moot, especially given he can actually use his chi abilities to expel bullets from a wound (he's done it to himself before). It would actually provide another benefit of their relationship, with Danny being one of the few guys who can reliably heal Luke in the rare times he takes a serious injury.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Re: Jab's Builds! (Tai Cheetah, Foxy Roxy, Dali Llama! Luke Cage!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Have the ever addressed how Luke shaves?

Clark has to use his own heat vision. I know Luke isn’t nearly as invulnerable as Clark, but he’s still gotta be tougher than a Gillette safety razor, right?
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