Statting Existing Characters

[archersix]

    I've done a little of this, and when I can dig out my notes I'll post some.

    Thought it would be fun to come up with some stats for characters that we all know that haven't been listed in any of the H&H books yet. Or maybe you have an alternate take on the character.

    There's some easy ones like Dr. Mid-Nite. A fighter with smoke bombs.

    Some others might be harder to fit into H&H like the Red Raven. Probably a superhero, but the dude could fly at will from his first (and only) appearance. Maybe an aviator? Maybe a new class?

Thoughts from the gallery??

[Adminenkainen]

Granted, I'm biased. But one of the things I love is how flexible the rules are for statting existing characters. You could really stat Red Raven in a variety of ways -- and we got an example of this in that one TTC issue I produced that had completely different Hawkman stats from two contributors in it.

[archersix]

Yeah, I think that's one of the groovy things about H&H too. Do as you will and it'll probably work great.
I'm hoping to stir up some conversation and ideas.

[Adminenkainen]

Since no one else has jumped in yet, let me point out that in your first example, Red Raven, it's pretty clear in the story that he's using trophy items, both the Wings of the Flying and the Gold Detector. It's possible that the wings are just flavor text for a power, but the gold detector would be harder to explain that way.

[archersix]

Scott, you're correct of course! It'd been a while since I'd read the story and I had posted while at work. After digging our my copy of "The Golden Age of Marvel Comics Vol. 2" it looks like Red Raven is a fighter with those trophies: oddly reptilian looking wings and an 'element detector' that acts as an all around deus ex machina!
I didn't notice any super powers, and Raven attacks 2 goons simultaneously on pg 13 (before he changes into uniform!).

Cool stuff.

[Adminenkainen]

>before he changes into uniform!

That rule has been a sticky point for awhile now. I added the rule that superheroes have to be in costume to gain XP as a rather strict way of ensuring that superhero players took the time to come up with a design idea for their superheroes. But, as you said, there are lots of examples in the comics of superheroes fighting out of costume. This rule got lightened up quite a bit in 2nd edition.

[archersix]

Scott, how do you feel about starting out characters with trophies like that? Red Raven's wings, Dr Mid-Nite's smoke bombs and goggles, Hawkman's wings (if he's a fighter), stuff like that.
In the comics, a lot of characters started out pretty powerful and the trophies were very tied into their origins.

[order99]

Why not exchange one of the Human powers (Keen Senses or Hide In Shadows from 1st ed or the Extra SCM for 2nd ed) for a reliable Gadget, details to be worked out between Player and Editor?

After all Hourman (for example) could well be:

-Human Alter Ego/Human Superhero(Miraclo) and a Hang-up of (Only Super for ONE HOUR at a time with a hour of 'Cooldown'!)
-Human Fighter with access to Miraclo (gives both Giant Strength and Super-Heroism, but only for 6 Turns exactly and must be tailored for the user) with 1D3 doses per Issue!
-Human Superhero with Miraclo as a handwaved Special Effect ("what? I've been Super all DAY? No, I've just been popping Miraclo every few hours and luckily I haven't had any Reeaallly long fights between doses...")

I recall that the original Blue Beetle was just a Cop (Human Fighter) with a Chain mail costume (Trophy). Not much later he gets a Super Vitamin from his SCM-either this was Window Dressing for Dual-Classing into Superhero or BB's Editor was seriously letting the Player have some Freebies! It DID seem to be a Solo campaign though, so....

Golden Age Hawkman-a Human Fighter with a Brevet Trophy from the Editor at Lvl 1? Or a Half-Alien with Keen Senses and Leap Higher, supplemented with ornamental wings that he later developed into a Glider Cape? I suppose either would work...

I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the Gadget-powered Heroes evolve new abilities pretty quickly-I suppose that the one-Issue abilities are easily covered under the Inventing rules (Book III page 30) and the more permanent abilities could just the Player funnelling LOTS of money into constantly repairing his/her Gizmos...On the other hand, why couldn't a Human forfeit an Ability for say, Touch of Madness(any time an Invention/Rebuild roll falls under INT as a percentage, the Device is no longer prone to Failure)?

So many ways to interpret a comic book character-no wonder there are continuity issues...

[archersix]

Good stuff Order. That's one of the things I like about H&H (and games like it), there's a bunch of ways to interpret your character.
Take Timely's Vision: he could be a magic user or a superhero, either way he'd be playable. You'd have to start him out with a few levels as a MU though...

[order99]

Yeah, and then you've got the 'Ghost' type Heroes who either go Intangible at will or stay that way-I suppose re-purposing Bulletproof Skin into Partial Intangibility would help a little, but how to balance 'Walk Through Walls At Will'? That's a POTENT ability! For the ones who can't materialize I suppose we could just add the 'Intangible' tag to them...unable to be damaged by non-magical weapons/fellow Intangible creatures, able to pass any non-magical barrier, completely unable to affect the material world in any way without Powers/Spells, and subject to Wrecking (3D6 hour Recovery time)? Even with the extra limitations you have a very powerful PC as long as he/she can communicate with other PCs...imagine having a Ghost for an SCM who could scout Hideouts for you (Editorial Hammer employing in three...two...one...)

[Adminenkainen]

Ghost is a player race introduced in Supplement V.

I'd like to see someone stat the Golden Age Vision!

I never allow original heroes to start with trophy items. I have allowed published characters to "start" with them, but I've never started them at 0 xp before.