Jack of Spades: Mystique, Avalanche, Growth, Juggernaut

[jspade]

Storm • PL 11

• Ororo Munroe

Abilities
STR 1, STA 3, AGL 3, DEX 4, FGT 8, INT 0, AWE 3, PRE 4

Powers
Weather Control: Environment 8 (1 mile radius, 4 ranks of effect), Dynamic, Limited to when outdoors, Selective (choose effects) • 33 points

• DAE Lightning: Ranged Damage 11, Indirect 4 • 2 points
  AE Tornado: 120' × 120' Cylinder Area Move Object 10 • 1 point
  DAE Wind Blast: 120' × 500' Line Area Move Object 6, Limited to Push • 2 point

Weather Resistance: Immunity 10 (Weather descriptor) • 10 points

Wind Riding: Flight 6 (120 mph) • 12 points

Advantages
Benefit 2 (Queen of Wakanda), Burglar (Sleight of Hand), Connected, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 1, Extraordinary Effort, Languages (English, Kenyan, Russian), Leadership

Skills
Acrobatics 3 (+6), Athletics 4 (+5), Deception 0 (+4), Insight 4 (+7), Intimidation 3 (+7), Perception 4 (+7), Persuasion 4 (+8), Ranged Combat: Weather 6 (+10), Sleight of Hand 8 (+12) [Burglar], Stealth 6 (+10).

Equipment
Comlink
Lockpicks

Offense
Initiative +4
Lightning +10 (Damage 11), Unarmed +7 (Damage 1)

Defenses
Parry 10, Dodge 12, Fort 3, Will 6, Toughness 6/3*
* without Defensive Roll

Power Points
Abilities 50 + Powers 48 + Advantages 10 + Skills 21 + Defenses 14 = Total 143 points

Complications
Accident: Storm’s mood may trigger her weather control; using her powers on a large scale can have unintended side effects on nearby weather patterns.
Phobia: Storm is claustrophobic.
Prejudice: Storm is a mutant. They’re hated and feared.
Responsibility: As one of the leaders of the X-Men and mutants in general.

Notes
Storm’s grown a lot over the years, but I can still recognize her. We’re introduced to her as a somewhat naive primitive weather “goddess” with both an unshakable moral compass and a streak of badassery, and she’s grown into a leader and hero. She’s the X-Man I most buy as an Avenger.

I don’t buy her as part of the Fantastic Four. Pairing her up with the Black Panther struck me as both racist and sexist. Why her? Because she’s black. Depict her as a full partner to her husband? Hell no; we’ll pull her out of books and not use her at all. I can more readily see Ororo punching T’challa in the face than kissing him. For purposes of my campaign, their marriage is in trouble from day one, with Ororo struggling to keep her vows in the face of a husband who clearly things of her as nothing more than a fashion accessory.

Cyclops is the brains of the X-Men; Storm is the heart. When she leads, the team follows because they love her and she loves them.

[Horsenhero]

I don't understand the logic behind claiming its racist or sexist to have two heterosexual people of the same racial extraction get married. I mean would it be less sexist or racist to have T'challa marry Lorna Dane? It's simply a matter of the writer wanted T'challa to marry and Marvel has a very limited portfolio of female characters it would be acceptable for the monarch of an African nation to marry. Storm has a tenuous claim on royalty and she hails from subsaharan Africa, like the Panther.

The fact that she was then relegated to the role of background character shows a failure of skill on the part of the writers to consider the consequences of having Black Panther marry someone who could overshadow him in his own book. What probably should have been done was to create a character that T'challa could marry and have her hang around the book for awhile before any actual nuptials, but perhaps the Panther book was suffering in sales and the editors thought Storm's presence would be a way to boost them.

Now, on to the build. It's good. It covers most of her major powers and relegates her unbelievable flexibility to power stunts, which isn't a bad idea.

[cbwjm]

I definitely agree with you regard Cyclops tactical ability, he is definitely right up there as one of the top tacticians in the marvel universe.

I should also say, nice builds. Seen plenty of versions of these characters made before (made plenty myself) but I always enjoy reading someone else take on them.

[jspade]

I don't understand the logic behind claiming its racist or sexist to have two heterosexual people of the same racial extraction get married.

It felt like the only factor in choosing Storm was that she was also dark-skinned, not that it made any sense for her to marry T'Challa. It's entirely possible I missed the ground work, but from my perspective encountering it well after the event their entire history, and her claim to royalty, was retconned in to justify marrying two prominent black characters. You definitely have a better suggestion on how to handle it than what was executed. If it had to be an established super-hero, perhaps someone he'd actually fought alongside in the Avengers.

The sexist part was sidelining her after the wedding. If the writer was going to take on Storm, he should have been willing to write Storm, not the Black Panther's arm candy.

I have a pretty low opinion of celebrity stunt-writer Reginald Hudlin anyway; if I have it right, he's the one who claimed Wakanda has been sitting on a cure for cancer because whitey would turn it into a weapon.

[jspade]

Colossus • PL 10

• Piotr "Peter" Nikolaievitch Rasputin

Abilities
STR 12/4, STA 15/4, AGL 1, DEX 1, FGT 5, INT 0, AWE 2, PRE 1

Powers
Organic Steel Form: Density 5; Enhanced Strength 4; Enhanced Strength 5 (3.2 ktons), Limited to lifting; Enhanced Stamina 7; Immunity 9 (Environmental effects, disease, poison, & suffocation); Immunity 12 (Ballistics, corrosives, and electricity), Limited to half effect; Impervious Toughness +2; Activation (Move action) • 62 points

Healing Transformation: Healing 5, Limited to self, Free action, Limited to when assuming normal form • 10 points

Advantages
Improved Hold, Interpose, Languages (English, Russian), Power Attack, Teamwork

Skills
Athletics 3 (+7/+16) [Organic Steel Form], Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+8), Deception 0 (+1), Expertise: Farmer 4 (+4), Insight 2 (+3), Intimidation 4 (+6), Perception 0 (+2), Perform: Artist 6 (+7), Persuasion 1 (+2), Ranged Combat: Throwing 4 (+5), Stealth 0 (+1), Vehicles 1 (+2)

Offense
Initiative +1
Unarmed +8 (Damage 12)

Defenses
Parry 5, Dodge 4, Fort 15/4, Will 5, Toughness 15*/4
* impervious 7

Power Points
Abilities 34 + Powers 72 + Advantages 5 + Skills 15 + Defenses 6 = Total 133 points

Complications
Motivation: Colossus is one of the most truly good X-Men.
Martyr Complex: Colossus is extremely self-sacrificing; he’s willing to die for his sister, his girlfriend, the people of Breakworld... anyone, really.
Relationships: No matter how bad she gets, he stands up for his little sister Illyana (Magik). And he’s still carrying a torch for Kitty Pryde.
Trusting: Colossus is terrible at seeing betrayal coming; he’s essentially still a naive farm boy.
Weakness: In his organic steel form, Colossus takes an extra degree of effect from magnetic attacks.

Notes
And looming in the background is Colossus. The big Russian doesn’t get a lot of camera time; he’s quiet and generally not prone to controversial behavior. Colossus has your back though, and he never moves faster than when someone else is about to take a hit.

Peter has mostly been a supporting character in Illiyana and Kitty’s stories. He’s not a leader or initiator; he’s just the guy you can count on.

The writeup here is prior to his Juggernaut-force upgrade.

[jspade]

Nightcrawler • PL 10

• Kurt Wagner

Abilities
STR 2, STA 4, AGL 10, DEX 4, FGT 10, INT 1, AWE 3, PRE 3

Powers
Bamf!: Teleport 12 (16 miles), Increased Mass 2, Quirk (Bamf!), Turnabout; linked to Affliction 5 (Fort; Dazed, Stunned), Cumulative, Limited Degree • 31 points

• AE Bamf Flurry: Ranged Shapable Area Strength-based Damage 2 • 1 point

Mutant Physiology: Enhanced Attributes (AGL 6, FGT 5), Permanent; Extra Limb 1, Leaping 1 (15’), Movement 3 (Slithering, Wall-Crawling); Innate • 31 points

Shadowy: Concealment 2 (Vision), Blending, Limited to darkness or shadows; Senses 1 (Low-light Vision) • 2 points

Advantages
Agile Feint, Benefit (Ambidextrous), Equipment 1, Languages (English, German, Romany), Move-by Action, Redirect, Set-Up, Skill Mastery: Acrobatics

Fencing (Limited to swords): Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Power Attack

Skills
Acrobatics 6 (+16) [Agile Feint, Skill Mastery], Athletics 10 (+12), Deception 0 (+3), Expertise: Priest 5 (+6), Insight 5 (+8), Intimidation 0 (+3), Perception 3 (+6), Persuasion 0 (+3), Stealth 2 (+12), Treatment 4 (+6), Vehicles 1 (+5)

Equipment
Comlink, First Aid Kit

Offense
Initiative +10
Bamf! (Affliction 5), Unarmed +10 (Damage 2)

Defenses
Parry 14, Dodge 16, Fort 4, Will 5, Toughness 4

Power Points
Abilities 52 + Powers 65 + Advantages 11 + Skills 18 + Defenses 12 = Total 158 points

Complications
Motivation: Nightcrawler is a good Christian trying to help others live together in love.
Code of Honor: Kurt is a swashbuckler at heart, and tries to be worthy of Errol Flynn’s legend.
Guilt: When Kurt’s loved ones suffer, he feels responsible.
Prejudice: More than most, Kurt suffers from prejudice against mutants.
Quirks: Kurt is a devout Catholic and has never lost his German accent.

Notes
Nightcrawler’s always seemed to be the one who most enjoyed being an X-Man, both in terms of sheer love of adventure and drawing deep satisfaction from the work they do. He’s always the optimist, and always there to lift up his teammates.

I’m of the “Nightcrawler turns invisible in shadows” school; my very first exposures to him were seeing through him where the light didn’t fall. His teleport range has improved over the years; originally limited to just a mile or two, he was routinely bamfing all over the Bay area before his untimely death.

Supposedly he’s part of a mutant race of demons. Sorry, I find the idea of a mutant race both ludicrous and contradictory. I prefer the idea that he’s the son of Mystique and Destiny, but apparently Marvel stomped on that hard.

[Earth-Two_Kenn]

What does being Catholic have to do with his German accent? Shouldn't that be "Quirks" plural?

[jspade]

What does being Catholic have to do with his German accent? Shouldn't that be "Quirks" plural? :wink:

If that's the biggest mistake I made, yay! Fixed.

[jspade]

Shadowcat • PL 9

• Catherine “Kitty” Pryde

Abilities
STR 1, STA 2, AGL 3, DEX 2, FGT 7, INT 5, AWE 2, PRE 1

Powers
Disruption: Close Reaction Nullify Electronics 12, Affects Corporeal, Simultaneous • 48 points

• AE Interpenetration: Lethal Damage 12, Affects Corporeal, Alternate Resistance (Fort), Concentration, Quirk (Requires an object), Trigger (Not phasing or releasing the object) • 1 point

Phasing: Insubstantial 4, Affects others, Extra Mass 7, Reaction (to attack), Precise, Subtle 2; Flight 1, Subtle • 37 points

Advantages
Defensive Roll 2, Languages (English, Japanese, Russian), Minion 5 (Lockheed), Precise Attack 2 (Close, Concealment & Cover), Power Attack, Redirect, Set-up, Teamwork

Skills
Acrobatics 3 (+6), Athletics 4 (+5), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+11), Deception 4 (+5) [Redirect, Set-Up], Expertise: Teaching 4 (+9), Insight 4 (+6), Intimidation 0 (+1), Perception 0 (+2), Persuasion 0 (+1), Stealth 6 (+9), Technology 7 (+12).

Lockheed – PL8 • 73 points
STR −2 STA 0 AGL 3 DEX 0 FGT 1 AWE 2 PRE −1
Powers: Alien Shoulder Dragon: Immunity 10 (Telepathy), Shrinking 2 (Innate, Permanent). Wings: Flight 2 (Innate, Winged). Flame Breath: Immunity 10 (Fire); Line Area Damage 8.
Advantages: Hide in Plain Sight, Languages (English, Shi’ar, native)
Skills: Perception 6 (+7), Stealth 0 (+11).
Offense: Init +3; Flame Breath (Area Damage 8), Claws +5 (Damage −2)
Defense: Parry 8, Dodge 12, Will 0, Fort 0, Toughness 0
Totals: Abilities 12 + Powers 46 + Advantages 2 + Skills 3 + Defenses 10 = 73

Offense
Initiative +3
Disruption +11 (Nullify 12), Interpenetration +7 (Lethal Damage 12), Unarmed +11 (Damage 1)

Defenses
Parry 12, Dodge 10, Fort 4, Will 5, Toughness 5/3*
* without Defensive Roll

Power Points
Abilities 46 + Powers 85 + Advantages 14 + Skills 18 + Defenses 17 = Total 180 points

Complications
Accident: Kitty’s phasing will sometimes trigger at embarrassing moments, such as the first time she and Peter were in bed together. She also occasionally phases through electronics at bad times.
Prejudice: Kitty is a mutant. She’s also Jewish, a fact she likes to throw out to bigots.
Relationships: Kitty is romantically involved with Colossus, and has been mentored by Wolverine. She used to have a close friendship with Storm, but they’ve drifted apart.
Rivalry: Kitty cannot trust Emma Frost.

Notes
How many super-heroes are better known by their real names than their code names? Kitty and Reed Richards are the only two who come to mind. Personally I liked Sprite and Ariel better than Shadowcat, but that’s what you get when you ride the ninja wave.

Kitty starts off as the X-Men’s kid sidekick, but when she comes back from Excalibur she’s a grown woman and an equal to the team’s veterans. I’m enjoying her as “Professor K” to the time-traveling original X-Men; she fits right in.

Kitty’s disruption attack is PL 12 vs. electronics, but that’s a rare enough circumstance that I don’t think of it as impacting her overall PL. Lately she’s gotten vicious, though, about threatening people with leaving a phased object in them; I included that as an alternate effect, but a power stunt might suit it better.

[jspade]

Rouge • PL 11

Abilities
STR 1, STA 2, AGL 3, DEX 1, FGT 4, INT 0, AWE 4, PRE 2

Powers
Memory Theft: Mind Reading 9, Close, Limited to exposed skin, Linked to Power Theft • 3 points
Power Absorption: Variable 20 (100 points, duplicated traits), Free Action, Fades (as target recovers), Limited to points lost to Power Theft • 140 points
Power Theft: Nullify Powers 12, Broad, Close, Limited to exposed skin, Side Effect (Fort DC 12; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated; Limited to initial attack), Simultaneous, Sustained • 30 points
Stuns Victims: Affliction 12 (Fort; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Limited to exposed skin • 6 points

Advantages
Languages (English, French, Russian), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6

Skills
Acrobatics 2 (+5), Athletics 2 (+3), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+9), Deception 0 (+2), Expertise: Law 2 (+3), Insight 1 (+5), Intimidation 0 (+2), Perception 0 (+4), Persuasion 0 (+2), Stealth 0 (+3)

Offense
Initiative +3
Power Theft +9 (Affliction 12, Mind Reading 9, Nullify 12), Unarmed +9 (Damage 1).

Defenses
Parry 9, Dodge 9, Fort 2, Will 4, Toughness 2
Abilities 34 + Powers 179 + Advantages 8 + Skills 6 + Defenses 11 = Total 238 points

Power Points

Complications
Motivation: Rogue knows how hard mutant powers can make someone’s life. She feels some responsibility to do good with her abilities, to make up for the harm she’s caused.
Accident: Rogue’s powers will trigger on flesh-to-flesh contact.
Guilt: Over the people she’s inadvertently harmed with her powers, especially her first love, Cody Robbins.
Prejudice: Rogue is a mutant.
Relationships: With Gambit and Mystique; Rogue has previously been involved with Joseph and Magneto.

Notes
Rogue is ridiculously expensive, but in the hands of a player she’s ridiculously powerful. She’s an eggshell (PL 6 on defense) until she steals a power set, but from then on she’s pretty much arbitrarily powerful.

In practice, she doesn’t keep every power she’s copied in her Variable all at once; she swaps them out as she needs them. This reduces the number of Variable points she needs to do her “can of whup-ass” move of copying every X-Man in sight all at once.

I’m not a fan of the recent developments giving Rogue full control over her powers. It makes her even more dangerous without any storytelling up side. Like the Professor’s wheelchair, I expect the limitation will be back as soon as someone tries to make use of her.

[Horsenhero]

Of the last group of builds, I've got to say Nightcrawler is my favorite, but since he's my favorite of the trio, that's not much of a surprise. I like your builds of Kitty and Rogue though. Nice builds of two of my least favorite X-Women. I know most readers have a soft spot for Kitty and Rogue touches the munchkin buried within many fanboys, but I've never been inordinately fond of either.

[jspade]

Marvel Girl • PL 10

• Jean Grey

Abilities
STR 1, STA 3, AGL 2, DEX 3, FGT 3, INT 2, AWE 9, PRE 3

Powers
Levitation: Flight 5 (60 mph), Subtle • 11 points

• AE Astral Projection: Remote Sensing 5 (900 ft; Visual, Audio, & Mental), Dimensional (Astral), Side Effect (physical body is Defenseless & Immobile) • 1 point

Psychokinesis: 120’ Burst Area Selective Move Object 8 (6 tons), Dynamic, Subtle • 42 points

• AE Mind Blast: Perception Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Cumulative • 1 point
  AE Mind Scan: Cumulative Mind Reading 10, Sensory Link • 1 point
  DAE Personal Force Field: Protection 8, Immunity 2 (Environmental Heat & Cold) • 2 points
  DAE Telekinesis: Damaging Move Object 10 • 2 points
  DAE Telekinetic Force: Create Movable Telekinetic Force Field 10, Selective, Stationary • 2 points

Psychic Senses: Senses 6 (Acute Accurate Ranged Radius Detect Minds, Extended Mental 1) • 7 points

Psychic Shields: Enhanced Will 4, Impervious Will 6, Limited to Mental effects • 8 points

Telepathy: Comprehend Languages 3, Affects Others, Communication Dependent; Mental Communication 3, Rapid 2; Senses 1 (Communication Link with Cyclops) • 13 points

Advantages
Attractive, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Disarm, Teamwork

Skills
Acrobatics 2 (+4), Athletics 4 (+5), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+7), Deception 0 (+3/+5) [Attractive], Expertise: Teacher 3 (+5), Insight 0 (+9), Intimidation 0 (+0), Perception 0 (+9), Persuasion 5 (+8/+10) [Attractive], Ranged Combat: Telekinesis 7 (+10), Stealth 0 (+0), Vehicles 3 (+6)

Offense
Initiative +2
Mind Blast (Perception Affliction 10), Telekinesis +10 (Damaging Move Object 10), Unarmed +7 (Damage 1)

Defenses
Parry 7, Dodge 9, Fort 3, Will 9, Toughness 11/3*
* without Force Field

Power Points
Abilities 52 + Powers 90 + Advantages 4 + Skills 14 + Defenses 11 = Total 171 points

Complications
Motivation: Jean is dedicated to Xavier’s dream of peaceful co-existence between all peoples.
Prejudice: Jean is a mutant.
Relationships: Especially with Cyclops, but also Wolverine, Storm, and Professor X.

Notes
Jean is a remarkably pivotal character for someone whose story arguably hit it’s climax over thirty years ago. She still casts a shadow over every psychic in the Marvel universe, and of course Scott is never going to get over her.

This is Jean in her own right, not with the Phoenix Force – though is she ever actually without it? When she’s missing her telepathy, initially as a student and then later in X-Factor, remove her Psychic Senses, Psychic Shields, Telepathy, and Mind Blast, Astral Projection, & Mind Scan alternate effects. In her earlier days she didn’t have the personal force field alternate effect or levitation. These days those are de rigueur for a telekinetic.

I don’t regard Jean’s telepathy and telekinesis as separate powers. Most if not all mutant telepaths are also telekinetic (even Xavier a little, though not so far Emma Frost). Also, splitting them into separate arrays makes Jean’s best tactic to use telekinesis for defense while going offensive telepathically, which doesn’t seem to me like what she does most of the time.

One could give Jean a laundry list of alternate telepathic effects, but she doesn’t seem to use anything consistently other than basic mind-reading so I chose to regard them as power stunts. Like most of the mutant telepaths and telekinetics, a GM should be liberal in what he allows.

Worked out Jean, finally.

[jspade]

OK, you guys wanted pictures, you got pictures. Of the X-Men at least.

[Horsenhero]

I was good with the builds, but the pictures are a nice touch.

Btw, I like the Marvel Girl build, especially the fact that she can't go full on offense without sacrificing her defense. Sure, there might be some who prefer her going blow for blow with the heavy hitters as Phoenix, but I think mid-tier and lower tier heroes are more challenging and usually more interesting.

[Spectrum]

So... given that you had Rogue and Kitty together, I'll mention one of my favorite pet headcannons. Except for the movies, I've never seen the two on the scene at the same time and explored the idea of the two actually being the same person, in a Clark Kent/Superman kind of way.

Crazy fun.