Showing posts sorted by relevance for query batwoman. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query batwoman. Sort by date Show all posts

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Justice is Blind, Issue 2: BASH!

Continuing on my development of a "new" superhero I want to first talk about a few things from my first post on Justice. I see Justice as a very conflicted sort of hero, but not angsty.  She is conflicted because she wants to do good, but is unsure what is the best way to that.  She knows she has a duty because of who her parents are and she has obligation because of who she is.

One thing that Justice is really needs is a nemesis.  All good heroes are defined by their enemies.  For the moment I'll leave that one to my GM.  Though I did just finish Batwoman: Elegy and I am thinking that the best nemesis for her would be her own twin sister.

Justice is sort of my anti-Witch.  She is smart, yes, but she is strong and has no affinity for magic whatsoever.  So this makes for a character that is more physical than I have done in the past.

Since this is a new character I think I need to use the game that was my first new game of 2010, BASH!.

BASH is a pretty simple system.  Basically it is kind of a modified point buy with points determined by the campaign setting.  Pretty common for a supers game.  The mechanic is kind of an odd one with multipliers (but I think it works for supers) and exploding doubles on 2d6, which I admit I like. It also has a cool FASRIP-looking chart for die results, so it gives it an old school feel (something all old school supers games had were charts, lots of them!). I like that the main Abilities have been reduced to just three; reminiscent of Tri-Stat, but these a Brawn, Agility Mind (BAM!).  Everything after that are skills and powers.

It has it's legions of fans and that is cool and I can see why.  I don't know if I'll ever play it myself.  I'll try it out one day to be sure, but if and when I do, I have a character ready to go.

Here is Justice based on a 40 point game.

Name: Justice
Real Name: Astra Kent / Astra Kal-el

Brawn: 4
Agility: 3
Mind: 2

Soak: 9
Defense: 4
Mental Defense: 2

Powers
Martial Arts Mastery (Tough, Fast, Wrestling styles) (+2 Brawn, +1 Agility) 2
Flight, 15 squares, 3
Armor, Impervious (+3 Brawn) 3
Super Senses, Vision and Hearing 3
X-Ray vision 3
Keen Senses, Vision
Skillful, +2 to Skills 1
Heat Vision, Special Attack 2
Super Speed

Skills
Social/Sci - Law
Social/Sci - History
Athletics - Acrobatics
Athletics - Running
Stealth - Prowl
Investigate - Finding Clues
Security - Surveillance

Advantages
Contacts
Never Surrender
Resources

Disadvantages
Outsider
Secret
Magic Weakness (Negates Armor)

Character Points: 39

Again I like the picture being put together here.
If this was an on going narrative, Issue #1 (Mutants & Masterminds) focuses on her powers and how much she is like her parents.  Issue #2 here (BASH!) then is told in flashbacks to talk about her training as an Amazon and then her later training with Bruce on martial arts and how to be a detective.  Issue #3?  Well not sure yet, either Icons or Villains and Vigilantes.

Either way tune in next time for the exciting new adventures of Justice!

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Zatannurday: HeroForge Zatanna

Zatannurday

I am really enjoying HeroForge.

Maybe, too much really. I have nearly a hundred characters I have made and I have bought a few as well that I love.

So really it was only a matter of time before I made my own HeroForge Zatanna.

Zatannan HeroForge

Zatannan HeroForge

I could not quite get her fishnets and her tux did not have tails, but otherwise, I think she is great.
You can get yours here, https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D16149885/

I also used the lighting effects on her.  It works out well in the screenshots, but I still trying to find the proper "magic" for the printed minis.  For example here is another mistress of magic, The Simbul holding silver flame.

The Simbul

And here is how it looks printed.

The Simbul

Not bad, but I can certainly tweak it a bit more.

Z would be a welcome addition to my growing group of magical people.

magic minis

And while I was working on this we are NOW getting reports that an HBO Max series or movie for Zatanna is on the way!

HBO Max

Looks like we could be getting Batgirl, Batwoman, and more Shazam!  This could be great!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Zatannurday: Alouette Cosplay, Part 2

A while back I posted some pictures of a great Cosplayer, Alouette.
I talked to her a bit on Facebook and she is really sweet and great.

And look what I got!


'To Tim: "Thank you for Saturday!" Alouette'

How cool is that!  This is going up in my game room!

She has some more prints for sale on her Facebook, DeviantArt and Storenvy pages:
http://www.facebook.com/AlouetteCosplayPage
http://alouettecosplay.deviantart.com/
http://alouettecosplay.storenvy.com/

I love her Catwoman and Batwoman costumes. But of course Zatanna is my favorite!
(Her Catwoman is really, really close though...)

I am now thinking that I need a wall of these. You know like you see in restaurants where celebs sign pictures of themselves when they have been there.  I could do all the superheroes that have appeared in my games and get them from cosplayers.  My game gets decorated and I help support their costuming!

Cause remember. Cosplayers make cons more enjoyable for everyone.  I drag my wife to cons and she looks forward to seeing all the costumes.  She acted like a total fangirl when she saw "Rose" from Doctor Who.

Thanks Alouette!

OH and LIKE her Facebook page too!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Zatannurday: Superbabes

Been talking about Superbabes all week.  Since I have done Batwoman and Wonder Woman I should also do my other favorite DC Superbabe.

Like with Tarot, Willow and Tara, Zatanna has most of her points in Magic.  Though at Zee's level she gets to be really powerful.

Character: Zatanna Zatara
Age: unknown, older than she looks
Apparent Age: early 30s
Origin: Supernatural Pupil (50cp)
50 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 12 Muscles Damage: +1  Max Press: 200 
Health: 14   Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/5rds  HTK/Day: 2d6
Moves: 16  Bonus to hit: +1 Movement: 6" Hittability: 6 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 26  Mental Attack Bonus: +3 Mental Hittability: 9
Will: 26  Regen Rate: 2pp/1rds HTK Regen/Day: 2d6
Personality: 101 ("enchanting")
Looks: 52
494 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 247
HTK: 114
Fame: 19
Bimbo Points: 1
XP:
Level: 24
CPs:  12 more to spend

Powers
Magic Spells
- Blast 5d6 (60cp)
- Costume Change (40cp)
- Flight 3 (24cp)
- Force Field 20 (120cp)
- Illusions (300cp)
- Misc spells (200cp)
Move things Without Touching Them 200cp
Read Minds (listen & talk) 30cp
Super Senses
- See Magic 20 cp
Visions of Elsewhere 40cp
1034 CPs

Gizmos
Wand (Focus) 10cp
Hat (40 cp to Psi Invulnerability) 10cp
20 CPs

Skills
Acrobatics 20cp
Animal Handler 20cp
Disguise 20cp
Catwalk 20cp
Contacts (Criminal) 20cp
Contacts (Supernatural) 20cp
Languages (English, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Backwards Talk) 40cp
Occultist 50 cp
Stealth & Concealment 30cp
240 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 137 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Caucasian

At 24th level Zee packs a punch.  Most of her points went into powers as expected.  The issue here is Zee's magic is so flexible she can in theory do just about anything.  This is not a new issue, she has the same problem in most games, but here it begins to stand out.  She is full 15 levels more than Willow and Tara and only outclasses them in raw magical talent.

I based these stats on these stats:



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Zatannurday: Bombshells #3 for October

The DC Bombshells are coming!
The third issue will feature the one and only Zatanna!

From one of my favorite blogs, Supergirl Comic Box Commentary.   BTW this is a good blog to follow to keep up on the latest on the new Supergirl series.

From the site:

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #3
Written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
Art by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE and LAURA BRAGA
Cover by ANT LUCIA

A dark ritual is performed in a German cabaret, and a supernatural servant is brought forth to serve the Reich— has Zatanna been manipulated by The Joker’s Daughter? Plus, Batwoman leaves Gotham City, and Amanda Waller introduces her to an unearthly ally. And Wonder Woman gets into combat as she joins Mera on the European war front.



Is it me or does John look like Pikachu?

Looking forward to it!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Happy Birthday Adam Hughes

Today is Adam Hughes birthday.  I have posted his Zatanna pics before,  but here is an awesome Batwoman.


How cool is that.  I love the pic of The Question/Renee at the bottom.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Zatannurday: Injustice DLC

If you are a fan of Injustice: Gods Among Us then you probably already know that new Zatanna Zatara DLC was released this week.

For $5.00 you can get her as a DLC character.  Totally worth it in my opinion.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/07/zatanna-is-the-next-injustice-gods-among-us-dlc-character/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/07/zatanna-dlc-comes-to-injustice-gods-among-us-next-week?abthid=52029c8440b625453b000016
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/gamenews.php?id=107491


I am pleased to see her in her classic outfit rather than the New52 one.  I am fine with that outfit, but this one is better.

Her ending scene is also depicted here:



Special thanks to Tower of Fate for the tip here via Twitter!
I am not 100% sold on her voice to be honest, but it sounds like the same actress from Young Justice, Lacey Chabert.

Now that Zatanna, Raven and Wonder Woman are part of the game I really need to pick it up. Just need Batwoman too!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Kim Possible: Superbabes

I think I need some sort of 12 step program...

One last build for Superbabes.
This one is another Batwoman like build. Heavy on skills and gadgets. It is a place where Superbabes really works well I think.

I had done Kim is other systems in the past, but interestingly enough, never posted here. Odd really. I am going with a modern version here as well. So if her high school graduation was in 2007 she would be 23 or 24 now.
I am going easier on her Primary stats here.  No good reason other than I want to see how her points shake out.

Kim Possible by MachSabre
Character: Kim Possible
Secret ID / AKA: Kimmie, KP, Kimberly Ann Possible
Age: 23-24   Apparent Age: early 20s
Origin: Adventuress (0cp)
0 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 16  ("Strong") Damage: +3 Max Press: 800lbs
Health: 16  ("Robust") Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/4rds  HTK/Day: 1d20
Moves: 20  ("Fast") Bonus to hit: +3 Movement: 8" Hittability: 8 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 17 ("Genius")   Mental Attack Bonus: +2 Mental Hittability: 6
Will: 18 ("Driven") Regen Rate: 1pp/4rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+2
Personality: 18 ("Sparkling")
Looks: 16 ("Babe")
242 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 121
HTK: 52
Fame: 15
Bimbo Points: 0 ("So not the drama...")
XP:
Level: 8
CPs: 18 left to spend

Powers
Hit Em Harder +2d6 20cp
20 CPs

Gizmos
Grapple Gun (Obvious) 20cp
- Go places, line of sight

Kimmunicator 30cp
- Communication
- analysis (Super Senses)
50 CPS

Skills
Martial Artist 9 levels 450cp (knows 16 styles of Kung-fu)
Athelete 80cp
- Acrobatics
- Catwalk
- Climbing
- Skydiving
- Swimming
- Swinging
- Tumbling
Communications 20cp
Contacts 20cp
Fire One Pistols 10cp
Languages (English, French, Spanish) 15
Melee Weapons 25cp
Stealth & Concealment 30cp
Survival 20cp
670 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 130 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Skin: Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: 
Quote: "What's the sitch?"

This one turned out pretty nice.  I might go back and look over the powers again, but in truth I am rather pleased with it as is.

So that's my team.  Ready to stop the evil of the vile Refrigerator!

Now in retrospect I kinda wish I had used David Reynolds art for all the postings.  Though I don't think he has done any art of Tarot.



Saturday, October 13, 2012

Zatannurday: Alouette Cosplay

A while back I featured a pic of a faux Justice League movie that featured Zatanna.

Well I finally tracked down that Cosplayer, Alouette Cosplay, and she has done some more.

Here are some of her DC Heroes. First up, Zatanna



:DC: Sorcery Savant by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART


:DC: A League of Their Own by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

And as Black Canary, with an unknown Zatanna


:DC: Fishnet Heroines by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

As Catwoman with Poison Ivy,


:DC: Double Team by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

As Catwoman again with Harley, Ivy and the Bat.


:DC: The Sirens and The Bat by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

Batwoman (love this one)


:DC: Twice Named by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

And finally Black Canary


:BC: Little Bird by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART


You can find her on DeviantArt and Facebook.

Friday, November 30, 2012

TBBYANR: Two "new" blogs

Well they are new to me.

D20 Dark Ages
http://d20darkages.blogspot.com/

D20 Dark Ages is run by Stelios a writer and historian.  The blog mostly focuses on his one gaming exploits from the time period of 1989 to now.  There is a strong old-school vibe to his blog and details on what really were the Dark Ages in my mind as well, the period of the death of TSR but before 3.0.

Interesting site and I hope to see a lot more.

Comiccritique
http://comiccritiqueblog.wordpress.com/

Coniccritique was turned on to me by an old friend.  It's not an RPG blog, but as the name suggests, a comic review blog.  There is quite a bit of good critical insight.  It is a work in progress, but the writing is good.
I enjoyed his reviews of Batwoman and Justice League Dark and honestly he reminded me why I was reading two of the best New52 comics.

So go out read them, follow them.  I am expecting them both to get bigger and better.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

BECMI: They Keep Killing Aleena

This is going to irritate some people, but no honest discussion about the BECMI Basic set can occur without a mention of the doomed cleric Aleena and Women in Refrigerators

Briefly, Women in Refrigerators is a trope where the plot of a male character is moved forward by the death (or disability or rape) of an associated female character.  Also often the female character is not returned to the status quo; ie she stays dead or disabled.

This trope was masterfully, and somewhat depressingly, detailed by then comics-fan and now best-selling comic writer, Gail Simone (writer of Batgirl, Wonder
Woman, Red Sonja, and The Secret Six).  The name comes from Green Lantern #54 where then GL Kyle Raynor finds his girlfriend murdered and stuffed into a refrigerator.  So not just a murder, brutal one designed to antagonize the character by an enemy.

Now the issue of Green Lantern in question was from 1994.  Gail put up her original website in 1999.  If that was the only example one might excuse the writers a little.  But it was far from the only one.

Simone compiled a list in 1999, simply called The List, of all the comic book women who have been killed, depowered, raped, or disabled.  The list is long and sadly we could double it today.  Or as comic writer Mark Waid has said:
Jesus H. Christ in a birchbark canoe, is that a list disturbing in its length. And, yes, there are even more male characters who could make up a similar list--but it would be a smaller PERCENTAGE of male characters than this is of comics' females. Brrr...
Lots of comic writers do it.  Lots of television writers do it.  I spent a better part of the early 2000s (just prior to starting this blog) trying to draw attention to this trope and the damage it causes on television.

It's also lazy writing.

But What About Aleena?

Aleena, as many fans of the BECMI Red Box know, is the cleric in the first adventure who is designed to help the Character, and thus the Player, learn D&D.  The adventure is a solo deal, so naturally, there is a little bit of a railroad.  This can be excused because of the space needed and to serve the purpose of the text; It's not a "real" adventure, it is a teaching tool in the guise of an adventure. As a teaching tool, it serves this role well.  As an adventure, it is a bit contrived, but that is excusable.

However, no matter what the character (a fighter, and a male one as depicted in the art) does, Aleena will die.

Overtly this is designed to give the character a buy-in to the "Life and Death Drama" that is D&D.  Characters will die.   In that respect, it worked.  To this day you can find "Kill Bargle!" adventures and t-shirts[1][2] and other reminders of the fateful battle between Aleena and Bargle.  She has her own Facebook page.  I even contributed to a "Shrine of St. Aleena" adventure for 5th Edition.   If the goal was to get buy-in to D&D then one can say it worked.

That doesn't mean it still not lazy writing.

I know that is going to blow some of my old-school cred, but everyone that uses this trope always defends why their use of it is right and appropriate.  Granted this one was written in 1983, years before Gail ever wrote her essay or even before the Green Lantern comic appeared.  But it was not before the trope itself was known. Often called "Disposable Women" it has had a lengthy history in all sorts of literature.

In fact, the one that hit me the most was not Alex, Kyle Raynor's girlfriend, but Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's girlfriend in the Amazing Spiderman issues #121 to #122 from 1973.  I remember reading these when I was a kid in the 70s.  My barber had all sorts of great comic books in his shop so I would read these.   Gwen's death bugged me. It was so pointless.  Even then I could see the purpose was to enrage Spider-man, but he was already committed. He was going to go after Green Goblin anyway.  I thought it was just dumping on the character and needlessly killing a character.

Another one was the original Batwoman, Kathy (not Kate) Kane in Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #485.  This was 1979 and was right at the start of my D&D involvement.   Her death also seemed to serve no purpose than to motivate Batman.  Well Batman, like Spider-man, already had lost people what purposes did this serve?  More to the point why bring a character out of retirement only to kill her? Unlike Gwen and Aleena, no one even remembers the sacrifice Kathy Kane made.

And don't even get me started on Batgirl/Barbara Gordon or Sue Dibny. Just to name two.

The point I am getting here is this.  If a kid reading comics can see problems with this in the late 1970s and early 1980's, certainly others could too.

None of this is made any better by describing Aleena in the books using the language one uses for a girlfriend. Which, in this case, Aleena was the stand-in for Frank Mentzer's ex-girlfriend Aileen and written to die.

In 1987, after pretty much of all the old guard of TSR was gone, GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos was published for the Basic D&D game. In it, there is an Aleena Halaran, a mace-wielding Lawful cleric.  She is supposed to be the same Aleena, unless of course, you played through the Basic set, then she is Anielle Halaran.

Aleena and Baron Sherlane
My Own Takes and What Would I Do?

I ran a couple of adventures for my kids a while back using Bargle and Aleena. I ran T1 Village of Hommlet but included Aleena and Bargle and yes, she still died in it despite my personal objections. Morgan Ironwolf also made an appearance.  I later ran The Shrine of St. Aleena for the Second campaign.  The point here was to show that in this other campaign with the same players that somethings are "fixed points" in the multiverse.  Something not lost on my players.

Later I contributed to the 5e conversion of The Shrine of Aleena.  I guess I really can't change the past.

I guess to make my multiverse connections right I would need to have a raised from the dead Aleena show up in my third campaign, Into the Nentir Vale, and riff off of my 4e stats for her since that is my "4e converted to 5e" game.

IF, and that is a big IF, if I were going to change the intro adventure I would drop Aleena in favor of an older male wizard.  More of a Joseph Campbell-esqe mentor figure.  Someone of the Gandalf or Merlin mold to guide the new adventurer at the start of their own Hero's Journey.  Indeed in the Hero's Journey the older mentor or supernatural aid dies so the hero can go on.  Maybe even Bargle is a failed student of this mentor and you, as the "ego" character, take on this brave wizard's quest.

"But!" you say, "how can Bargle kill a wizard old enough to have an apprentice?"  Well, the same way Bargle killed a cleric of at least 2nd level. Aleena does heal the player at one point so she has spells so is at least 2nd level and an average of 7 hp. That is still more than a magic missile can effect.

"But!" you say again, "Aleena needs to HEAL the player how is a magic-user going to do that?" to which I say the wizard has one, and only one, potion of healing.  He GIVES this potion to you and you are healed.  Going back to the purpose of this whole thing is to teach you how to play D&D you have now learned TWO things you didn't know before. There are magic items that can heal you (and the wizard can always lament the lack of a cleric here) AND that such items need to be managed carefully, ie resource management.  The wizard gets to be heroic by giving you his last healing potion even though he needs more.  A potion of healing even gets introduced at the end of the sample solo adventure anyway.

Bargle and this Wizard have history.  So Bargle wants the wizard dead. The wizard wants to protect you because you are only first level. Another lesson learned! Protect the weaker members of the party, it is the right thing to do.

I would go as far as to say that a fighter and a wizard are much more iconic duo than a fighter and cleric.  Look at the cover of Holmes Basic, look at the cover of Moldvay Basic.  Look at the cover for Pathfinder. Having a wizard instead of a cleric makes far, far more sense to me.


Would it have had the same emotional impact?  Hard to say.  Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy for me to point out these sorts of problems because I have been focused on them for so long.  Less certain is the cultural impact this isolated scene would have had independent or the cultural impact as the whole the Red Box Basic had in total.  For me, a wizard mentor falling battle would have had the same impact intended, because I have to say one of the big turn-offs for BECMI for me was this death. I had already at this time thrown out a copy of Lord Foul's Bane, I didn't have to spend my money here. So I didn't. Until now of course.

Morgan Ironwolf is mentioned in the same tones of reverence and often in the same breath as Aleena.  But we know far less about her and she is, as far as I can tell, still "alive" out there in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons.

I want to end with a comment made by Sarah Darkmagic about Aleena.  She quoted me years ago and I would return the favor here.  Sarah has said, " I pointed out that the D&D art I saw growing up didn't make me feel welcomed." this is combined with the entire treatment of Aleena did not make early D&D a welcoming place to women. I believe her. It wasn't.  She was not there in the early days, but I was, and often times the only women playing were girlfriends of the players.

She also makes the claim that Aleena was not very empowering for her. Again I have no reason but to agree. Aleena is NOT empowering. She is cannon fodder. She is fridge material.  She serves only one purpose here, to further the ends of a male character.

Simone said "if you demolish most of the characters girls like, then girls won’t read comics. That's it!" This is also true for every reader. And every gamer.

I am reminded of Whoopi Goldberg when she first saw Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura on Star Trek. She went to her mother saying, "Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"  What would have happened if Uhura had been "redshirted" after an episode? What would've happened then?  What would have happened to Mae Jemison?

Granted this was years ago.  Today it is different. Hopefully, it is better.
It bears repeating, but representation matters.

But I still look at this section as the weakest point of the BECMI books and really kind of a low point for D&D in general.

My Posts On Aleena
More on Women in Refrigerators

Monday, September 16, 2013

Review: Superbabes the Femforce RPG

Superbabes was always one of the games that seemed to exist out there in the periphery for me, but I never knew if anyone actually played it.   I was able to pick up a copy a while back and it has been sitting in my collection, unused and unread.  Recently I have been doing some more research on the game and found it had a small bu loyal following.  I knew I had to give it a try.



The first disclaimer about the game. Superbabes is billed as the Femforce RPG.  Not a Supers RPG or even a comic RPG but a very specific comic, Femforce.  Femforce was created in 1985 and is still running in some form today.  The comic is based on number of public domain and original female super-heroes.  Based on the "good girl" art of the the pulp era.  This is an important distinction.   Don't go into Superbabes expecting angst, or shades of grey.  There won't be any cases of the heroes getting into sexual situations that would besmirch their character. Sure they can be curvy, sexy and maybe have the occasional wardrobe malfunction.

Superbabes came out in 1993 (also something to keep in mind).  The first edition was part of a boxed set that included 132 page rulebook, two Femforce comics, a poster, cut out miniatures and more. My box had more sheets and some maps too.


The game was written by Marc Schezzini and Cameron Verkaik, art comes from the various artists from the comics.

Superbabes starts out pretty much like all RPGs, introduction, where to get dice are RPGs evil... typical drill.  The tone of the book is somewhat tongue in cheek.  Some of the language can sound snarky or even condescending, but I actually think that is part of the humor of the game.

Characters begin with an Origin (which can cost Creation Points). Some are easy to figure out, Extraterristrial, Biological quirk, Supernatural and Adventuress.  Adventuress is the interesting one since it doesn't cost any points, but your are limited in how high your Attributes can go.  This is the "Batman" er rather "Batwoman" option.

You start out with 600 Creation Points to build your superbabe. Your abilities are bought on a 2 CP for 1 point of ability option.  The abilities are roughly equal to the D&D standard. They include Muscles, Health, Moves, Brains, Will, Personality and Looks.  Human normal is between 1 and 20 with average at 10.  The charts go to 1,000.  The levels have numbers (17-18) and titles (Peak Performer for Muscles for example). Some are silly, but others I used as an idea of what to rank various characters.  Secondary abilities are then calculated.  All the primary ones adjust HTK (hit points) in some way.  Interestingly enough the better looking you are the LESS HTK you have.  But before you create the female version of Dogg the Bounty Hunter,  Looks also help your Fame.
You start at Level 0 and then as soon as you get 1 XP you go to Level 1.  You gain 50 CP for every level you go up.

You can buy superpowers, gizmos and skills with your remaining points.   Both are very much taken from the AC Femforce comics.  So no Death Touch powers.  People looking for a full Super RPG might want to look elsewhere OR spend some time with the Game Master making the powers you like.  But I think that defeats the purpose of this game.  There are no "drawbacks" to give you extra CP; remember these are good girls.

Skills cover the basics with some "professions" that bundle skills.
Gizmos are devices that hold powers and can be ranked as obvious or not.  Vehicles and bases though are not gizmos. So they are bought with cash and not CPs.   Stuff are also not Gizmos, but things that can be made by anyone.  This includes the amazing Span-XX material.  All costumes are made from this and can stretch and grow with the character.

The remainder of the book is dedicated to combat, vehicle  chases and the normal things you find with supers games.   There is also a starting adventure.

What sets this game off from the rest, outside of subject matter, is the use of the Bimbo Points.  Like Hero Points, Bimbo points allow you to change the outcome or situation you character can find herself in.  The difference here is you are trading a success now for some GM controlled mishap later.  So you could take a Bimbo Point to avoid some damage in a fall, but then expect to have something go on later.  What?  Well there is a huge table for it.  Things like "Character linked to Public Figure in Tabloids" or "Men's Magazine publishes compromising photos of character". So are embarrassing, others could cause your character to loose Fame and others are pure plot device.   It is actually a nice little mechanic and even neater given when it came out.

There are a lot of similarities between this game and Villains and Vigilantes.  Outside of both being level-based supers, characters take damage to Power Points before their HTK points.  In fact there is a general tone of both games that makes them feel rather close.

The other game this is likely to invoke is Macho Women with Guns.  Both feature female centric characters and both exist to bust stereotypes.  Where MWWG attempts to do this with over the top humor and embracing the cliche head on, Superbabes attempts to subvert it.  While there is plenty of what we might call fanservice in the game and the comics, you can also play it straight.  If Superbabes in Good Girl Art, then MWWG is Bad Girl Art.

At the end of the day there is nothing wrong with Superbabes. It is a fun little game with an interesting premise and history.  You could do the same sort of game with any number of other games, but I think some of the charm would be lost. Certainly some of the innocence.

Building a Character
There are other reviews out there for Superbabes if you want more details.  There is a particularly good on over at RPG.Net and another in Dragon Magazine #208.  What I like to do when putting a system through the ropes is build a few characters.

"Teen Witch" is one of my Supers characters that I never get a chance to play.  Well...that isn't entirely true. I have played her in a low powered M&M game (PL 5) and in Marvel Super Heroes/FASRIP.  I also stated her up for BESM 3.0 but never got to play her there.
She is a teen that discovers she has magic. She is also my "embracing the stereotype" character.  She has a talking cat named Mojo and her "supers" outfit includes a broom, black pointy hat and striped leggings.  In this case I figured she was at least 2nd level now. So that gave me the ability to buy a flying broom as a gizmo.

Character: Teen Witch
Secret ID / AKA: Taryn Nichols
Age: 15   Apparent Age: 15
Origin: Supernatural Pupil (50cp)
50 CPs

Ok so first we have her origin.  Since the Teen Titans were such a big influence on super hero gaming I am making her a teen.  She is the daughter of my regular witch character Larina so supernatural pupil seems right.

Primary Stats
Muscles: 9 (she is just a young kid with some super powers), Max Press: 180
Health: 14  Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/5rds  HTK/Day: 2d6
Moves: 10  Bonus to hit: - Movement: 4" Hittability:Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 15  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 14  Regen Rate: 1pp/10rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6
Personality: 16 (Likable)
Looks: 14 (Cutie)
184 CPs

Since she is a teen I don't feel I need superpowered stats just yet.  I might improve them over time since that is also how I get more PP.  Very much like WitchCraft in that respect, that the Primary Abilities/Stats sum up to your Power Points.  I am in for 184 Creation points here.

Secondary Stats
PP: 92
HTK: 14
Fame: 2 (mostly unknown)
Bimbo Points: 2 (Taryn is due for some embarrassing moments)
XP: 1002 (just hit level 2)
Level: 2 ("Junior Heroine")
CPs: 16 more to spend

These are derived, more or less, from the Primary Stats.

Powers
Magic Spells (spells cost twice the CP as powers)
- Blast 5d6 (60cp)
- Flight 10 (80cp)
- Super Senses: Sensitive Touch (20cp)
Super Senses: See Magic 20cp
Move Things without Touching Them 200 cp
380 CPs

Magic Spells are not cheap.  For that cost though I get more flexibility.  You don't see it here, but when I roll out Zatanna or Tarot later this week it becomes obvious.  I like to keep my Telekinesis seperate from my spells. Something that started with Buffy.  I also like my magic using characters to be able to see more magic than other.  So that is a seperate power too.
I am in for 380 Creation Points now.

Gizmos
Broom (obvious) 40 cp of additional flight
20 CPs

The broom she bought at 2nd level.  In the game she challenged a guy to a race, him on his motorcycle her on her broom. She won and maybe gained a potential "bad guy" boyfriend.  I think I know how her Bimbo Points will be called in.  For 40 CPs worth of flight I paid 20 CPs on an obvious Gizmo.

Skills
Occultist 50 cp (gained at 1st level)
(she is only 15, not a lot of skills yet)
50 CPs

She is just learning so not a lot of skills yet.  50 CPs.

Character Description
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 95 lbs
Hair: Short black with purple and green streaks
Eyes: Green with cat-like slits
Skin: Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: Cat-like eyes

There is also a place for measurements and quote. Again the parallels to MWWG and V&V should be obvious. I am not going to bother with those.

Compared to her other sheets (M&M, MSH & BESM 3.0) I am pretty pleased with the results.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

How I stat out characters

I post a lot of characters here.  Lots.

Usually I have something in mind or I want to try out a new system with something I already know or a combination of the two.  But how do I take a character like Zatanna, or Red Sonja, or Willow and Tara or anyone and figure out how they are supposed to "be" in a particular system.  I have a couple of things I like to do and it has usually worked pretty well for me.

I always start out with what the character can do and who is this character supposed to be in my mind.  If I am working on Dirty Nel then I have a good idea, "sassy street faerie prostitute. cute. smarter than anyone gives her credit for. Enjoys her creature comforts and knows how to get them."  Some of that doesn't translate into game stats. Well...most games anyway. But a lot of it does.  I know she has quite a bit of knowledge about the world, street life and the occult.  I know she has a bit of magic in her and I also have a good idea about what her fighting prowess is like.

Skills
In most systems there are skills.  I look for signature skills the character has, say being able to program computers or speaking 4 languages and figure out how these are represented in the system.   For someone like Willow I look for high numbers in computers, science but also occult knowledge.  I know this is going to suck up most of her points and want to get them figured out first.  Plus they are very iconic to the character.  If I am working on Batwoman then I want to be sure her acrobatics are good, if I have Robin Sena I know she is young and most of her skills are weak except for things like occult knowledge and maybe her languages.

I like to stay within the rules as much as I can.  This helps me define the character in terms of that world's reality. If a Unisystem character gets 25 points for skills then I need to have good reasons for going to 35.  If I am using PL 9 as a base for Tarot and PL 11 for Tara in Mutants and Masterminds then I want their skills to comparable to those realities.

Skills are good Rosetta Stone really.  Most systems have them and there are lot of good translations.  Knowledge (Supernatural) could be the same thing as Occultism or Occult Knowledge.

Magic
Since I tend to make a lot of magic using characters using magic as another yardstick is good.   For D&D and d20-like games I know they need a certain spell and they need to be a certain level to cast that.  That is how I came up with Willow and Tara's levels in d20 Mod, a combination of spells and skills.
In a game like Ghosts of Albion the same is true, but then I can decide on how many levels of magic they might need.
For something like d20, this is pretty easy to work backwards from.  Find the spells, find the levels that can cast those spells, fill in the details.
For a point buy system like Ghosts, it is only part of the equation.

Combat
A lot of games feature combat or fighting.  To ignore this does the character an injustice.  Even in Call of Cthulhu or Doctor Who the character might need to stop running or talking and fight it out.  Thinking about combat like a skill then is a good way to figure out a character.  In M&M I know Tarot for example is a better fighter than Willow or Zatanna, but she can't match either of them (or even come close) in magic.  That doesn't mean she can go toe to toe with the likes of Red Sonja either.  It means that there is a good balance to be had.  Where that balance is sometimes is up for debate.  My Red Sonja may be different that someone else's based on the same PL (to use an Mutants and Masterminds example).

Feel
This is less "quantitative" really.  I'll start with a premise, "Willow is the most powerful witch in my game" then I work down from her.  I think what would it take to get the character to this level, what would it take to get a different character to a similar level.
For characters like the Hex Girls I want to make them total novices at magic.  So in Unisystem they have Magic 1 or 2 tops.  But still give the points where they would be better than average, music and showmanship.   I usually feel pretty confident in my builds, but each one usually takes longer than say just stating up John or Jane Doe Character.

Sometimes I have such strong idea for a character concept, like Justice, that I also just like to see the character in different systems too.  In the case of Willow and Tara I am also seeing if I can stat them up in as many systems as I can.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Zatannurday: DC Bombshells #2

Zatanna in the latest DC Bombshells comic.
All this info is courtesy of Supergirl Comic Box Commentary.

Head on over to read their point of view of issue #2.

http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2015/09/review-dc-comics-bombshells-2.html

Interesting choice of having Zee as part of a cabret.




Ok so Zatanna is jewish? Ok, I can work with that. Let's see where this goes.

#1 was great with some great Batwoman moments and this one looks like it is just as good.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Zatannurday: Other Days of the Week

We know you have a choice when it comes to super-heroine cheese cake and here at the Other Side are happy you have chosen Zatannurday for your DC Heroine needs.

But did you know there are other days in the week?!?

Love this picture by the way.  
It is true.  And one of the great things about being a part of the blogging community is the ability to see and share what others are doing.  So just as there are other days of the week and super girls, there are other blogs doing something similar too!

I have posted this one before from Adam Hughes.  That is because I like it.

First off I have to give a big shout out to Toyriffic. It was his posts about Harley Quinn ever "Qwednsday" that gave me the idea to do this!

Hero Press has sent me 1000s of hits over the last few years, it is always nice to send some back. Tim also has a few features.

Cal up in Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool is an old friend to the Other Side.  His posting schedule dwarfs all of the blogs mentioned above, including my own.  In addition to being the Fortress of Solitude for some nice little witches, he loves his super girls.  Maybe none more than Batgirl herself.

By my count that leaves plenty of DC Women and Monday and Tuesday with no love.
Ones that could use (and support) their own days are Starfire, Black Canary, Raven (she fits with the theme of my blog), Vixen (though she is given a lot coverage over at Justice League Detroit), Batwoman (maybe not enough of her yet since the Kate Kane version is still pretty new), Renee (The Question) Montoya and personal favorites, Fire and Ice.

I should point out some other great blogs featuring DC women.

IF you know of any more let me know!

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Zatannurday: Multiversity

Not sure if you have been paying attention to the world of comics but DC has been gearing up it's Multiversity arc.  From the mind of Grant Morrison (and others) this brings back the DC multiverse hinted in the 52 series.  There are 52 Earths and each one is different.

And I love Multiverses!

Read more here:
http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2015/01/multiversal-geography-checking-against.html
http://heropresstwo.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-peak-inside-grant-morrisons-head.html

Personally, if I were Green Ronin I would jumping all over this for the DC Adventures RPG.

Of course one of the first things I did was try to track down as many Zatannas as I could.  Here is what I know so far.

Earth 0
This is the Zatanna of the new 52.



Earth 1
This is the fishnet wearing Zatanna of the Pre-52.  I also call this the "Paul Dini" Zatanna.
This is just a guess on my part though.



Earth 3
The "evil" reversed Universe where all the bad guys are good and visa versa.
The most powerful sorceress is Annataz Arataz.


Earths 67 and 8
These have Marvel connections so not likely to have a Zatanna here.

Earth 11
This is the "gender switched" universe of Superwoman, Batwoman and Wonder Man.
Here is where you find Zatara.

Earth 12
This is the Earth of the Batman Beyond timeline.  Likely we would find John Zatara here.

Earth 13
Annataz Arataz is this world's Zatanna and member of the League of Shadows in the horror themed Earth 13.

Earth 16
There are some contradictions online.  Earth 16 is listed in the Multiversity book as "Earth-Me" other places link it to the Young Justice animated show.


Earth 19
No pictures yet, but this is the Earth of the Elseworlds Victorian stories.



Earth 21
This is the "Darwyn Cook" universe. I am sure it will look fantastic.


Earth 22
This is the world of Kingdom Come. So this is the home of Zatanna's and John Constantine's son John Zatara.


Earth 23
This is the world of Kal-L of Krypton. In his alter ego of Calvin Ellis he is President of the US.
Not much is known yet of this Zatanna save she prefers a neck tie to a bow tie.


Earth 32
This is the home of the mashed up world of the Justice Titans.  Here the most powerful sorceress is Ravanna, a mash up of Zatanna and Raven.


Earth 37
Appears to be the Thrillkiller world.  I'd imaging the Zatanna of this world looks something like this.



Earth 42
Home of the Li'l Leaguers.


Earth 50
Home of the Justice Lords from the Justice League Animated series.
No idea if Z is on their side or not but I found this fan pic online.  Bruce Timm style and reminiscent of Earth 3's Annataz Arataz.
A multiverse of Zatanas.

Now I want to run a Multiversity game!