Batgirl III's Character Thread (Simon Baz, Lady Shiva)

[Shock]

Marvel Comics

WizKids – HeroClix: We’ll make a miniature for everybody!

Hasbro - SuperHero Squad: I guess the chainsaw hand was too much for preschoolers?

Lego - Okay, now you’re just taking the piss. Did someone inside Marvel Comics licensing department do this all as a gag?

I have both the Lego and Heroclix versions in my house. Because my edgy pre-teens thought he looked cool.

[Batgirl III]

Aftermath ‘Borg from RIFTS®: Warlord of Russia


Detroit Steel from Marvel Comics

[Harnos]

Yeah, I guess I underestimated the dodge/parry rank of 8 since it is default for toughness oriented official PL 10 builds. But a veteran soldier archetype has +7 to his attacks, so 8 d/p is quite competent against normal people

[Ares]

Yeah, most of the times whomever is active as the Crow at the time is the only person with superpowers active in the world. You'll occasionally get some folks with mystical knowledge, maybe even some ritual casting, but most of the time it isn't like Buffy or the World of Darkness where the Crow is just part of a larger supernatural world. They're more like Highlander the Series where outside of some very, very rare circumstances, all instances of magic or supernatural phenomena were just Immortal shenanigans.

So the Crow will almost exclusively be fighting normal people, and not werewolves or ninjas.

[Batgirl III]

The Crow would fit in pretty well with the World of Darkness RPG line (which James O’Barr’s comic and the movies definitely inspired) as he’s basically a vampire without the blood drinking or the severe sunburn. I seem to recall that “The Crow with the serial numbers filed off” characters called Revenants were in one of the “splat books,” but that might have been a fan-made book. He’s also a real close match to the Kuei-Jin from the Kindred of the East product line, with the notable exception of being in Detroit and not Asia. Probably a Devil Tiger with a slight imbalance towards Yin…

In terms of “power level,” I’d say he’s on par with the higher middle tier guys seen in The Highlander franchise – Duncan, Connor, etc. The only real difficulty in that crossover would be that The Highlander canon is really closed off to any sort of other supernatural beings. But if you’re willing to play a bit fast and lose with the canon, he’d fit in pretty well.

[Davies]

The Crow would fit in pretty well with the World of Darkness RPG line (which James O’Barr’s comic and the movies definitely inspired) as he’s basically a vampire without the blood drinking or the severe sunburn. I seem to recall that “The Crow with the serial numbers filed off” characters called Revenants were in one of the “splat books,” but that might have been a fan-made book.

There were a number of the latter, but there was also this.

[Batgirl III]

I do believe that’s the one I’m half-remembering.

[Ares]

Way back in the day I did a homebrew of the World of Darkness setting that was basically an attempt to combine all of the various White Wolf franchises into a single world. I basically kept which elements of the Old World of Darkness and New World of Darkness I preferred (I kept the original Mage, Vampire and Werewolf, used the New Changeling, Hunter and Promethian, and retooled Wraith heavily), but also kept the original idea of Exalted being the distant past of the setting, and had Street Fighter be mortals re-discovering how to use Exalted-type martial arts. I also had the Adventure / Aberrant setting included to give the world Pulp and Superheroes, and also threw in Scion for mythological fun. I also included a variant called Revenant (based off of the advertisement in one book mentioned above) in which The Crow was one Revenant type, and finally included Immortals from Highlander since they fit the setting so well.

It took a bit of lore twisting, but I managed to make it all work, and felt that some of the more heroic elements added no longer made it a World of Darkness, so I called my setting . . . the World of Twilight. The idea being that whether it was the sun setting on the world or a new dawn was up to the players.

Then those damned Twilight movies came out and I had to abandon that name, because my players kept giggling every time I proposed it. I eventually opted for calling it White Wolf: Equinox.

Damned sparkly vampires ruining everything.

[Batgirl III]

Marvel Comics

Stalker
G.I. Joe Character
Power Level 8 ( 150 PP )

ABILITIES
Strength 2
Stamina 3
Agility 3
Dexterity 3
Fighting 6
Intellect 4
Awareness 5
Presence 4

SKILLS
Acrobatics 3 (+6), Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat [Unarmed] 2 (+8), Deception 4 (+8), Expertise [Military] 8 (+12), Expertise [Streetwise] 4 (+8), Expertise [Tactics] 8 (+12), Insight 5 (+10), Intimidation 4 (+8), Perception 8 (+12), Persuasion 4(+8), Ranged Combat [Firearms] 2 (+10), Stealth 5 (+8), Treatment 4 (+8), Vehicles 3 (+5)

ADVANTAGES
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Roll (1), Diehard, Equipment (8), Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical [Firearms] (2), Improved Initiative (1), Inspire, Languages [English; Arabic, French, German, Russian, Swahili, Vietnamese, (4)], Leadership, Precise Attack [Ranged, Cover & Concealment (2)], Ranged Attack (5), Set-Up, Teamwork, Ultimate Aim, Well-Informed

EQUIPMENT ( 40 EP )
As a member of G.I. Joe, Stalker has the ability to requisition nearly any piece of equipment in common use by the United States military, subject to GM’s approval. He usually carries a designated marksman’s rifle, sidearm, survival knife, and a couple of grenades:

□ Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (7.62×51mm NATO) [Automatic Fire] Damage 4 (Extras: Accurate [1], Extended Range [2], Multiattack, Ranged) [ 15 EP ]
□ AE: Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (7.62×51mm NATO) [Semiautomatic] Damage 4 (Extras: Accurate [1], Extended Range [2], Improved Critical [1], Penetrating [3], Ranged) [ 1 EP ]
□ AE: Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (7.62×51mm NATO) [Sniping] Damage 4 (Extras: Accurate [1], Extended Range [5], Improved Critical [2], Penetrating [3], Ranged; Flaws: Distracting) [ 1 EP ]
□ SIG Sauer M17 Semiautomatic Pistol (9mm NATO) Damage 3 (Extras: Ranged) [ 1 EP ]
□ Fragmentation Grenade Damage 5 (Extras: Area [Burst, 30’], Ranged) [ 1 EP ]
□ Survival Knife Damage 2 (Strength-based; Extras: Improved Critical [1]) [ 1 EP ]

DEFENSE
Dodge (10) Base 7
Parry: (10) Base 4
Fortitude: (8) Base 5
Toughness: (3/4) Base -
Will: (8) Base 5

WORKSHEET
Attack 8 Effect 2 Total: 10 (Unarmed)
Attack 12 Effect 4 Total: 16 (Rifle, Auto)
Attack 12 Effect 4 Total: 16 (Rifle, Semi)
Attack 12 Effect 4 Total: 15 (Rifle, Sniper)
Attack 10 Effect 3 Total: 13 (Pistol)
Dodge 10 Tough. 3/4 Total: 13/14
Parry 10 Tough. 3/4 Total: 13/14
Fort. 8 Will 8 Total: 16


ABILITIES [ 60 pp ] +
SKILLS [ 35 pp ] +
ADVANTAGES [ 34 pp ] +
POWERS [ 0 pp ] +
DEFENSES [ 21 pp ] =
150 PP TOTAL

FILE CARD
RANGER
Code Name: Stalker
File Name: Wilkinson, Lonzo R.
SN: RA725054399
Primary Military Specialty: Infantry
Secondary Military Specialty: Medic, Interpreter
Birthplace: Detroit, MI
Grade: E-5

Stalker originally joined the army as he was seeking a chance to escape from the streets of Detroit. With the Vietnam War raging he didn't want to worry his mother so, with the help of a cousin stationed in Germany, he pretended to be working there and had his mail rerouted. Others in this Long Range Recon Patrol (L.R.R.P.) team would help him make up stories for his letters home. He served with both Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow and their experience made them the close friends.

After their tour, only Stalker stayed in the military, while Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow went on a long sabbatical training in the art of the ninja (which would eventually completely take over the franchise and turn it All Ninja All The Time). Stalker, along with Hawk, would be responsible for selecting the members that would comprise the original Joe team. He was, in effect, serving as second in command to Hawk until Duke came on board.

He appeared in like, two episodes of the cartoon… But was arguably the lead character of the comic book for the first dozen or so issues and regularly appeared as a focus character for almost the entire series (until it became Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas! [with special guest Ninjas!] for its final years). Rather annoyingly, I never read the comic until I was in my thirties. Childhood would have been cooler if my friends and I had know one of the most badass Joes was from Detroit!

[Ares]

Larry Hama was clearly a fan of Stalker, as he got regular use in the comic way past the point where the cartoon and toy line had stopped using him. Stalker was a bigger part of the original G.I. Joe animated mini-series that jumpstarted the franchise, but the given the different audiences between a cartoon aimed at 6-to-12 year olds and a comic aimed at teenagers and up, it made sense that they would focus on different characters.

[Batgirl III]

As I recall it, the cartoon put heavy emphasis on Shipwreck (my favorite), Lady Jaye (one of my childhood crushes), Flint (another childhood crush), and Destro & the Baroness (couple goals!).

Re-watching it all these years later, it’s very obvious that the cartoon underwent several re-tools (including a major one between the Sunbow and DiC seasons). But my nostalgia goggles have happily obscured those ugly bits. I mostly just watched the cartoons and played with some of the toys (I hated Eighties “girl” toys for the most part). I knew the comic existed back then, but never read it… Which means I basically never got to see Stalker.

Of course, these days, the thing that absolutely annoys me the most about the entire G.I. Joe franchise is that Cutter the sole representative of the United States Coast Guard is given a secondary M.O.S. as the coach of the women’s swim team at the United States Naval Academy. Now, I won’t pretend to know anything about how Annapolis hires its faculty in the real world, let alone the Joe ‘verse, but this is just… so… weird. Like, 24,601 characters in the damn franchise and the ONE COASTGUARDSMAN on the squad has a day job coaching Navy cadets!?

Incoherent Coastie grumbling.

[Ares]

The first Season of the show tended to jump around a lot in terms of character focus, but it was clear that the writers enjoyed using Shipwreck for comedic purposes (as well as the occasional bits of genuine pathos), and Flint and Lady Jaye as their more flirty power couple. The show also really enjoyed pairing up certain characters to bounce off each other, like Alpine and Bazooka.

Season 2 gave Sgt. Slaughter a lot more focus, and Leatherneck and Wetsuit became the usual "bickering duo", and of course gave us Serpentor.

Then after the movie we got the DIC series and . . . well, the less said about that the better.

Don't get me wrong, the Sunbow series wasn't high art (though several episodes stand out as REALLY good), but it was overall a fun, solid cartoon that felt like the best version of the US military fighting against all kinds of weird super science, pseudo-science and sometimes even mysticism. It was a really fun kitchen sink setting, but while the characters were obviously not a realistic military organization (Quick Kick was going around barefoot and with no shirt everywhere) it was still easy enough to go along with.

Then the DIC series decided to focus on characters like Sgt. Gridiron, the soldier that dressed like a football player and had football-shaped grenades. Or how the Joes suddenly had a Pro-Environment / Anti-Polution team. I know that was equally the fault of the toy manufacturer, but still. G.I. Joe went from highly personalized military heroes to kind of bargain basement superheroes.

But hey, the Sunbow series still exists and the Joe concept is ripe for constant reinvention.

[Batgirl III]

There was a lot of pressure from Congress and lobbyists to push anti-drug, anti-pollution, and anti-gang messages in children’s media in the mid-Eighties to mid-Nineties… Although, if weasel-faced men in purple trench coats and fedoras were hanging out near playgrounds to give away free drugs and encouraging littering, I certainly never met them as a kid.

But, yeah, between retooling the cartoon into “Captain Planet with laser rifles” and the comics into “Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!” the property clearly moved too far from its roots.

At least they never gave them a live-action movie where they wore power armor that let them run at super-speed and didn’t even have Cobra Commander as the villain. That would have been a disaster!

[Batgirl III]

Daniel HDR


DC Comics

SIMON BAZ
Green Lantern Character
Power Level 12 ( 180 PP )

ABILITIES
Strength 3
Stamina 3
Agility 3
Dexterity 3
Fighting 5
Intellect 1
Awareness 5
Presence 2

SKILLS
Close Combat [Unarmed] 3 (+8), Deception 3 (+5), Expertise [Mechanical Engineering] 5 (+6), Expertise [Streetwise] 4 (+5), Insight 3 (+8), Intimidation 3 (+5), Ranged Combat [Constructs] 6 (+12), Technology 4 (+5), Vehicles 3 (+6)

ADVANTAGES
All-Out Attack, Beginners’ Luck, Defensive Roll (1), Fearless, Improved Initiative (1), Power Attack, Ranged Attack (3), Languages (1), Ultimate Effort [Will Defense]

POWERS
► Green Lantern Power Ring Device (95 PP Base; f: Removable [–1 per 5]) [ 76 Total ]
► Power Ring Traits
• Uniform and Power Battery Feature 2 (Quick Change, Internal Compartment) [ 2 PP ]
• Personal Force Field Protection 10 (E: Sustained); Immunity 10 (Life Support) [ 20 PP ]
• Flight 10 (2,000 MPH); Movement 3 (Environmental Adaptation [zero-g], Space Travel [2]) [ 26 PP ]
• Emerald Sight Senses 4 (Mental: Precognition) [ 4 PP ]

► Artificial Intelligence
○ Scanning Beam and AI Variable 1 (5 PP Traits; F: Limited to Senses); Features 2 (Database, Ring AI); Enhanced Advantages 2 (Eidetic Memory, Well-Informed) [ 10 PP ]
○ AE: Omniversal Translator Comprehend 4 (Languages: Speak All, Read All, Understand All, and Understood Simultaneously; E: Subtle [2]) [ 1 PP ]
○ AE: Commlink Communication 5 (Anywhere, Mental; F: Concentration, Limited [Green Lantern Corps]) [ 1 PP ]

► Force Constructs
○ Simple Constructs Create 12 (E: Dynamic) [ 25 PP ]
○ DAE: Complex Constructs Create 8 (E: Movable, Precise [1]) [ 2 PP ]
○ DAE: Weapon Constructs Damage 12 (E: Ranged) [ 2 PP ]
○ DAE: Manipulation Constructs Move Object 8 (E: Sustained, Precise [1]) [ 2 PP ]

DEFENSE
Dodge (10) Base 7
Parry: (10) Base 5
Fortitude: (8) Base 5
Toughness: (14) Base -
Will: (14) Base 9

WORKSHEET
Attack 8 Effect 3 Total: 11 (Unarmed)
Attack 12 Effect 12 Total: 24 (Weapon Constructs)
Dodge 10 Tough. 14 Total: 24
Parry 10 Tough. 14 Total: 24
Fort. 8 Will 14 Total: 22


ABILITIES [ 50 pp ] +
SKILLS [ 17 pp ] +
ADVANTAGES [ 11 pp ] +
POWERS [ 76 pp ] +
DEFENSES [ 26 pp ] =
180 PP TOTAL

A Lebanese-American born in Dearborn but living in Detroit. Baz became the Green Lantern of Earth during the New 52. A life growing up with anti-Muslim and anti-Middle Eastern sentiments around him led to a career as a criminal and carjacker. He gains a Lantern ring during an interrogation by the police, which busts him out of police custody. He tries to prove his innocence when, inevitably, the villains attack and he has to rush off to save the day. Hijinks ensue. Eventually, the charges are dropped when he becomes a member in good standing of the Justice League of America.

Baz is (in)famous for being “the Green Lantern with a gun,” as it was a prominent feature of all the early promotional art for him and even included with his action figure. In his debut issue, his ring lost power during a fight, so he grabbed a nearby a handgun to defend himself. Once he gots his ring recharged, he kept the gun as a backup, in case he was unable use his ring again. He got rid of the gun after gaining more experience as a Lantern and working with the Batman to stop Scarecrow, having decided that he needs to trust his abilities as a Green Lantern over his gun. (With the Batman actually saying he’s one of the only Green Lantern Corps he can tolerate working with.)

Frankly, I find Baz kind of bland as a character. John Stewart already did the disgruntled minority stories, Kyle Rayner did the rookie Lantern stories, Guy did all the gruff anti-hero stories… and why the heck do we need fourteen Green Lanterns from Earth!? But, having said that, I don’t hate the guy and I can appreciate his appeal for younger audiences who didn’t grow up reading the classic Civil Rights era stories about John Stewart.

Plus, you gotta love a guy who refers to his own fists as being made of “Detroit Steel.”

[Ken]

for younger audiences who didn’t grow up reading the classic Civil Rights era stories about John Stewart.

All I can say as a member of the older audiences who did read the classic Civil Rights era stories about John Stewart... I'm so glad they eventually let John grow a personality beyond "young angry black man".

I was 5; I opened up Justice League of America #110 as a present on Christmas morning. I met John Stewart as a GL before I met Hal as a GL (okay, I did see Hal slip on an inordinately large soap cake before I saw John, but still.) I did meet Hal in the "Z is for Zatanna and Zero Hour" story reprinted later in the book, though.