Showing posts with label Superbabes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Superbabes. Show all posts

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Amazing Adventures: The Refrigerator

A while back I did a series of posts for Superbabes. It was a lot fun. Part of the conceit of the posts was that all these various super-women like Kim Possible and Justice were gathered together to face an evil so bad that it takes all of them.  Well that evil was a mad scientist by the name of the Refrigerator.

Here is what I posted then:

The big bad is this mad scientist known as The Refrigerator. He captures women and freezes them.  Plenty of subtle and overt S&M and dominance context that makes this guy a bit creepier than Mr. Freeze or Captain Cold, yet fits rather well in this.  After all the perfect foil for a Good Girl is a creepy misanthrope.  All these heroes are gathered together, kick his ass and rescue the original team.

I also found this the other day from the August 1937 issue of Horror Stories.


Now here is the deal.  This guy came, literally, out of a nightmare.  Around 1982 or so (I was 12) I was hit with a double shot of women being frozen alive, the movies were "In Like Flint" and "Kiss the Girls and Make them Die".  It really bugged the hell out of me and gave me nightmares for a long time.



Still kind of bugs me.  Of course later I learned there is a whole creepy fetish thing related to this.  I think my issue is far more basic.  I hate being cold and think being frozen is quite possibly the worst thing ever.

But that picture above deserves a villain.  I have not found the issue yet so I can't say if there is a story that goes with that cover. But I have enough of my own nightmare fuel.

History of The Refrigerator
Dr. Andreas Gelé was born to wealth and privilege but never to love.  His father was a was a rich industrialist who made his money on the work of others and his mother was a noted and beautiful stage actress.  From his father he gained his intellect and from his mother he learned lessons in cruelty.

As his mother aged she became more and more cruel.  In his mind's eye he saw her as beautiful. This was reinforced by all the pictures of her on the wall of their estates where she was young, beautiful and happy. Frozen in time.  Gelé began to work on a process to forever keep the beautiful women young.  He was drawn to beautiful women, and his prestige later as a doctor and his wealth made that easy.  But he never could talk to or relate to them having grown up socially stunted.  So Gelé embarked on a plan so he could have his desires met.
His first experiments in cryonoics were failures. Animals would not return to life when frozen and even when he perfected the process they still had damage.  Finally through a combination of fluids and gases at super cooled temperatures.  He tested it first on his hated father. He died soon after he was free of the ice, but Gelé expected that since the old man's heart was now weak.  He froze his mother next. He was overjoyed that the ice preserved her remaining beauty.
All his research though has left his fortunes depleted so he robs banks to keep himself funded for more research and to keep his "beauties" on ice.

Dr. Andreas Gelé "The Refrigerator"
12th level Gadgeteer, Male, Chaotic Evil

STR: 10 (0)
DEX: 13 (+1)
CON: 14 (+1)
INT: 18 (+3) P
WIS: 14 (+1)
CHA: 9 (0)

AC: 16 (protective lab coat, gloves, goggles)
HP: 51 (d6)
BtH: +3

Sanity
- Starting: 70
- Current: 55
- Max: 85*  (Using his science as roughly the same as Arcana)

Fate Points: 10

Abilities: Medicine (removed Jury rig)
Background: Scientist (medical doctor, cryonics)
Trait: Focused

Languages: English, French, German, Russian

Gadget: Refrigeration Gun (self-created gadget)
Powers
- Freezing Stun (Sleep, 1st level)
- Freeze (Hold Person, 3rd level)
- Wall of Ice (Wall of Ice, 4th level)
- Freeze Ray (Cold of Cold, 5th level)

All in all a nasty piece of work.  But a good bad guy. I can't wait to try him in other systems too.

Don't forget to support the Amazing Adventures Kickstarter.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/amazing-adventures-rpg

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.



Monday, September 23, 2013

Bloodrayne: Superbabes

Yeah. I couldn't stop.

Bloodrayne was one of the first characters I ever stated up on my blog.  In fact you have to go back all the way to post 200 (just over 1700 posts ago) to see her.
In many ways Rayne is the antithesis of what Superbabes is all about.  She has questionable morality, ended up in Playboy (NSFW), and usually solves her problems by killing them.

Also her powers are not a great fit for the game.  She drains blood to gain extra power and killing by hand (as opposed to the guns she has) sets off her bloodlust.  If she does that enough she can enter Bloodrage.
Normally I would use Mental Muscles for this, but the rules specifically state that Mental Muscles can't be used by characters with Muscles above 20.  So instead I went with the weaker Hit Em Harder and Run Faster.

Like the other characters in this batch I am going with a modern day version, so this is Rayne in 2013 (reflected in her age).

Character: Bloodrayne
Secret ID / AKA: Rayne
Age: 96   Apparent Age: late 20s
Origin: Supernatural Accident (15cp)
15 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 31  Damage: +2d6 Max Press: 3,100
Health: 31  Regen, Combat: 1pp/5rds Regen, At rest: 1pp/1rd  HTK/Day: 4d10
Moves: 51  Bonus to hit: +5 Movement: 10" Hittability: 10 Initiative Bonus: 5
Brains: 15   Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 21  Regen Rate: 1pp/1rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+4
Personality: 8 ("Unpleasant")
Looks: 25
364 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 183
HTK: 100
Fame: 5
Bimbo Points: 2 (Appearing in Playboy was her idea)
XP:
Level: 9
CPs: 2 left to spend

Powers
Hit Em Harder +2d6 20cp
Immortality 80cp
Invulnerability 4 20cp
Psi Invulnerability 2 8cp
Run Fast +10" 30cp
Super Senses (Vampire)
- See in the Dark 5cp
- Smell Good 10cp
- See Far Away 10cp
Suck It Up I (Health) 100cp
283 CPs

Gizmos
Blades (obvious)
- Sharp Stuff 20cp
- Concelalment 10cp
10 CPS

Skills
Martial Artist 4 levels 200cp
Acrobatics 20cp
Catwalk 20cp
Climbing 20cp
Fire Pistols/Rifles 50cp
Melee Weapons 25cp
Quickdraw 20cp
Survival 10cp
375 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'10" (6'3" in heels)
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green (Red in in Bloodlust)
Skin: Extremely pale
Unique Characteristics: She wears blades on her arms, has two strips of leather hanging from her hair.
Quote: "Stop whimpering... it's unattractive."

Not as happy with this build as previous builds,  either for her or for Superbabes.  That's ok, not every system is perfect.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Fire & Ice: Superbabes

My son's favorite girl super heroes are Fire and Ice.  When playing D&D he always goes with elemental-style casters, particularly fire ones.  So when he saw Fire on Justice League Unlimited years back he had to know who they were!  I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!


Fire and Ice are not heavy hitters.  They do what they do well, but outside of a career in modeling, not much else.  Yes, Fire is a spy and an agent in checkmate.  But for Superbabes I think the best thing to do is keep them in their JLU guise, or even their Batman Brave and the Bold characterizations.  Fire is not a killer, checkmate operative or whatever. Ice is not dead.

Character: Fire
AKA/Secret ID: Beatriz Bonilla da Costa, Green Fire, Green Fury
Age: unknown   Apparent Age: late 20s/early 30s
Birthplace: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Origin: Scientific Accident (5cp) Going with the 'caught in a pyroplasm explosion at WayneTech' origin.
5 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 13  Muscles Damage: 0 Max Press: 650
Health: 17   Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/3rds  HTK/Day: 2d10
Moves: 19  Bonus to hit: +3 Movement: 8" Hittability: 8 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 11  Mental Attack Bonus: - Mental Hittability: 3
Will: 14 ("Ambitious")  Regen Rate: 1pp/10rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6
Personality: 21
Looks: 26 (pretty much every woman from Brazil is hot)
242 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 121
HTK: 50
Fame: 12
Bimbo Points: 3
XP:
Level: 8
CPs: 13 more to spend

Powers
Flight 20 levels (80" 80cp)
Blast (fire blast) 20d6 120cp
Big Blast (fire ball) 10 levels 110cp
Change Body (fire) 50cp
Force Field 20 60cp
Invulnerability 4 20cp
440 CPs

Gizmos
none

Skills
Agent 100cp (good one for her skils)
Acrobatics 40cp
Contacts 20cp
Languages (English, Portugese, Spanish) 20cp
Martial Arts 2 levels 100cp
Persuation 20cp
Survival 20cp
300 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair: Green
Eyes: Green
Skin: Caucasian, dark


Character: Ice
AKA/Secret ID: Tora Olafsdotter, Ice Maiden
Age: unknown   Apparent Age: late 20s
Origin: Genetic Quirk (32cp)
32 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 14  Muscles Damage: +2 Max Press: 700 
Health: 16   Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/4rds  HTK/Day: 1d20
Moves: 16  Bonus to hit: +1 Movement: 6Hittability: 6 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 16  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 17  Regen Rate: 1pp/4rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+2
Personality: 18
Looks: 25
244 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 122
HTK: 50
Fame: 11
Bimbo Points: 2
XP:
Level: 8
CPs: 0 more to spend

Powers
Blast (ice) 20d6 120cp
Big Blast (ice storm) 11 121cp
Blind (ice storm) 75cp
Change Body (ice form) 50cp
Control Weather 75cp
Force Field (ice wall) 20 60cp
Go Places, line of sight (ice bridge) 50cp
Invulnerability 5 10cp
Run Fast (while on ice bridge) +5"  15cp
576 CPs

Gizmos
none

Skills
Animal Handler 20cp (pet seals)
Contacts 20cp
Languages (English, Norwegian) 10cp
Martical Arts 2 levels 100cp
Survival 20 cp
Swimming 10cp
180 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 136 lbs
Hair: White
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Caucasian, pale

So both girls ended up around 8th level.  A little bit lower than I expected to be honest.  I could bump up their martial arts both by 2 and get them to 10th level, but this is fine.

Actually stating them up here was a lot of fun.  I think I would like to try giving them a go in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying just to see how they work.

I guess my week of Superbabes is over.  Too bad really, this is a fun system and it was a lot of fun trying this out.  Maybe I'll have more tomorrow anyway.

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:



Friday, September 20, 2013

Willow & Tara: Superbabes

Of course I had to do this.

Witches and magic using types are always a good test of any supers system.  Either they break them or they get broken and don't work quite as well.  In Superbabes it takes a lot of XP and levels to do anything super-like with magic.  The Magic Spells are twice the cost of the powers, but you gain a lot of flexibility.   In Superbabes though you are are also limited by the powers listed.

I am keeping with my conceit that the characters here are aging real time so I can experiment with how they might grow.  Though in truth I have not really played either character in a number of years now, so they are semi-retired.

In both cases their primary stats are not really high. I really wanted to keep them to human norms.  The unfortunate side effect to this is this also means a low number of Power Points.  So I would maybe create a Power called Power Well that characters can dump CPs into to get PP out.  But that might bend the rules a bit.

Character: Willow Rosenberg
Age: 32   Apparent Age: early 30s
Origin: Supernatural Pupil (50cp)
50 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 10  Max Press: 200 (seems a bit high)
Health: 14   Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/5rds  HTK/Day: 2d6
Moves: 14 ("Agile")  Bonus to hit: - Movement: 5" Hittability: 5 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 24  Mental Attack Bonus: +2 Mental Hittability: 7
Will: 26  Regen Rate: 2pp/1rds HTK Regen/Day: 2d6
Personality: 20
Looks: 17
250 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 125
HTK: 55
Fame: 6/16 (normal/supernatural world)
Bimbo Points: 1
XP:
Level: 10
CPs: 2 more to spend

Powers
Magic Spells
- Blast 6d6 (72cp)
- Flight 2 (16cp)
- Force Field 10 (60cp)
- Misc spells (100cp)
Move things Without Touching Them 200cp
Suck it Up (Magical) 100cp
Super Senses
- See Magic 20 cp
Read Minds (listen & talk) Tara only 20cp
588 CPs

Gizmos
Doll's Eye Crystal, Magical Focus 100pp
20 CPs

Skills
Occultist 50 cp
Scientist 50cp
Computer Ops 20cp
Electronics 20cp
Contacts (Supernatural) 20cp
Languages (English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin) 30cp
190 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Skin: Caucasian


Character: Tara Maclay
Age: 33   Apparent Age: early 30s
Origin: Supernatural Pupil (50cp)
50 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 10  Max Press: 200 
Health: 15   Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/4rds  HTK/Day: 1d20
Moves: 15 ("Dancer")  Bonus to hit: - Movement: 6Hittability: 6 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 17  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 22  Regen Rate: 1pp/1rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+4
Personality: 24
Looks: 16
238 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 119
HTK: 58
Fame: 4/14 (normal/supernatural world)
Bimbo Points: 2
XP:
Level: 10
CPs: 0 more to spend

Powers
Healing II 100cp
Magic Spells
- Blast 6d6 (72cp)
- Force Field 20 (120cp)
- Misc spells (90cp)
Move things Without Touching Them 200cp
Super Senses
- See Magic 20 cp
- Sensitive touch 10 cp
Read Minds (listen & talk) Willow only 20cp
672 CPs

Gizmos
Miss Kitty Fantastico II (Familiar, 200pp)
40 CPs

Skills
Occultist 50 cp
Equestrian 20cp (maybe the only time this skill was used in Superbabes!)
First Aid 20cp
Contacts (Supernatural) 20cp
Languages (English, Latin, Russian, Irish Gaelic, Japanese (free)) 30cp
Animal Handler 20cp
160 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 130 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Caucasian

So both girls ended up around 10th level.  They have quite a bit of power, but are not as powerful as other characters around the same levels.  Batwoman or Red Sonja could best them in a purely physical fight.
I would have to work up a few spells and even some rituals. Rituals in this case would be spells that do not take CPs but do burn PP.  Usually only a one time deal.
I cheated and gave them Gizmos that store PP. Well, its not a cheat, but it is bending the rules a bit.
Again. Pretty happy with what I have here.  

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Batwoman: Superbabes

There is almost something not right about stating up Batwoman in Superbabes.  First of the character would not be amused, but she is also not "Super", well at least anymore than Batman is.  And "babe" is never something she would seek out. Yes she is athletic, rich and very attractive.  She considers herself a soldier first and foremost.  Plus she has a lot of pathos that you don't see in the world of Superbabes.  She was kicked out the Army for being gay. Her mother and twin sister were murdered. She had been kidnapped. Spent most of her days after the Army in an alcohol and sex-fueled daze. And she has some father issues as well.

But there are also a lot of reasons to include her.  For starters the system includes what is obviously a "Batman" option; the Adventuress.  Also, unlike the Batman himself, there are a lot of things going on in Kate's world that make her perfect for this game. She is still learning how to be a super hero for example.

Also given the recent shake-up of her creative team it would be a good idea to showcase her here.

Character: Batwoman
Secret ID / AKA: Kate Kane, Katherine Kane, the Twice Named Daughter of Kane
Age: 24   Apparent Age: mid 20s
Origin: Adventuress (0cp)
0 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 18 ("Peak")  Damage: +4 Max Press: 900
Health: 17  Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/3rd  HTK/Day: 1d10
Moves: 20  Bonus to hit: +3 Movement: 8" Hittability: 8 Initiative Bonus: 2
Brains: 15 ("Remarkable")  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 20 ("Forthright") Regen Rate: 1pp/2rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+3
Personality: 8 ("Unpleasant") Batwoman and Kate have some issue relating to others.
Looks: 18
232 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 116
HTK: 57
Fame: 15
Bimbo Points: 0
XP:
Level: 9
CPs: 3 left to spend

Powers
Hit Em Harder +2d6 20cp
20 CPs

Gizmos
Batsuit ("Uniform of the Bat") Obvious, hard to loose Gizmo
Invulnerabilty 12 60cp
Super Senses
- See Far Away 10cp
- See in the Dark 5cp
- Good Hearing 15cp
Go Places, Line of Sight (Grapple gun) 50cp

Batarang (free)
140 CPs


Skills
Soldier 200cp
- Acrobatics
- Demolitions
- Detect & Deactivate Alarms & Traps
- First Aid
- Fire Pistols/Rifles
- Fire Unknown Weapons
- Mechanic
- Melee Weapons
- Skydiving
- Stealth and Concealment
- Squad Tactics
- Survival
- Thief
- Trapping

Blind Fighting 25cp
Contacts (Criminal) 20cp
Interogation 30cp
Martial Artist 7 levels 350cp
Persuasion 20cp
Streetwise 10cp
655 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Extremely pale Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: Out of uniform Kate has a number of unique tattoos.

So this one was a real test of the Adventuress Origin.  Kate can't have any ability above 20 and really no super powers.  Everything comes from her own skills and the gizmos she has.
I didn't refer to her previous stats or even her official ones in DC Adventures in order to make her more "organic".  She ended up about a level higher than I wanted, but I really wanted her Martial Arts at 7 or even 8.

Links
Elegy
Unisystem
Marvel Heroic Role-Playing

Batman Wikia
DC Wikia
ComicVine

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Justice Issue 7: Superbabes

Doing something a bit different from the supernatural characters I wanted to try out my other supers character "Justice".

You can read about the character in my various posts and her introduction here.
Justice is very much a perfect fir for Superbabes.  She is young, good looking and of strong moral fiber.  Where she doesn't fit really is she not really a good candidate for "Good Girl Art" she is more a straight forward super-hero.  Plus she has some angsty background elements (she did nearly kill someone with her heat vision).  But besides all that she was a fun character to stat up.

So continuing the the theme of Justice's posts here being an issue in her comic what does Issue 7 give us?  Well this is the time that Justice had to team up with a bunch of other Superbabes from across the multiverse (Taryn, Tarot,... to stop a threat.   If it is going to be something that requires all these heroes (including a younger version of her own mother) then it would have to been something that had also took out the original Superbabes team.
How about this. The big bad is this fetish dude known as The Refrigerator. He captures women and freezes them.  Plenty of subtle and overt S&M and dominance context that makes this guy a bit creepier than Mr. Freeze or Captain Cold, yet fits rather well in this.  After all the perfect foil for a Good Girl is a creepy misanthrope.  All these heroes are gathered together, kick his ass and rescue the original team.  Yeah it's a bit like the X-Men #1 that introduced us to Wolverine, but that's fine. Or any similarities to this scene are probably totally intentional.


Character: Justice
Secret ID / AKA: Astra Kal-El, Astra Kent
Age: 24   Apparent Age: mid 20s
Origin: Extrateristrial (25cp)  Closest thing really.
25 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 32  Damage: +2d6 Max Press: 3,200
Health: 22 ("Amazon" natch)  Regen, Combat: 1/10rds Regen, At rest: 1pp/1rd  HTK/Day: 3d10
Moves: 51  Bonus to hit: +5 Movement: 11" Hittability: 11 Initiative Bonus: 5
Brains: 16  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 17 ("Driven") Regen Rate: 1pp/4rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+2
Personality: 20
Looks: 75
466 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 233
HTK: 60
Fame: 8
Bimbo Points: 1
XP:
Level: 6
CPs: 32 more to spend (still has some skills to learn but I want to improve her Flight later on).

Powers
Flight 10 40cp
Don't Breathe III 20cp
Invulnerabilty 12 60cp
Hit Em Harder 2 +2d6 10cp
Blast (Heat Vision) 2d6 12cp
Super Senses
- See Far Away 10cp
- See Through Things 25cp
- Good Hearing 15cp
222 CPs

Gizmos
none

Skills
Melee Weapon (Sword) 10cp
Blind Fighting 25cp
Law Student 20cp
Contacts (Criminal) 20cp (thanks to the Batman)
Contacts (Government) 20cp
Detect & Deactiveate Alarms & Traps 30cp
Streetwise 10cp
Acrobatics 20cp
155 CPs

Character Description
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue (but wears a blindfold)
Skin: Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: Wears a red blindfold.

Movement
Ground: 11"
Flight: 40"

Again, I am pretty pleased with this build.  Justice and the build I did for Wonder Woman showed that you can spend the points really fast.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Tarot Witch of the Black Rose for Superbabes

I have posted about Tarot before.  Unlike the characters of Superbabes and Femforce, Tarot is often considered to be part of the "Bad Girl Art" type.  Not that she is the opposite of the Good Girl Art, but rather the situations she gets herself in never would have happen to Nightveil or Miss Victory.

I am not going to lie. I like Tarot. Its a guilty pleasure to be sure, but my enjoyment of it is honest.  Plus +HOlly Golightly and creator Jim Balent are both really cool.

Tarot in Superbabes is actually a good fit.  She has some magic, some skills and combat ability and certainly the chance to earn Bimbo Points.  If you read the comic then yeah. She does some really cool comic things, but then ends up loosing her clothes while sledding due to some faeries (ok to be fair the whole vacationing lot, Jon, Mother and Raven, did too).

Character: Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose
Secret ID / AKA: Rowan
Age: she isn't saying   Apparent Age: mid 20s
Origin: Supernatural Pupil (50cp)
50 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 14  Max Press: 700
Health: 17 ("Buxom" seems right)  Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/3rds  HTK/Day: 2d10
Moves: 19 ("Fast")  Bonus to hit: +3 Movement: 8" Hittability: 8 Initiative Bonus: 1
Brains: 16  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 19  Regen Rate: 1pp/2rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+3
Personality: 18 ("Sparkling")
Looks: 51 ("So gorgeous she is hard to look at")
308 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 154
HTK: 50
Fame: 5/15 (normal/supernatural world)
Bimbo Points: 1 (there will be more)
XP: 15,002 ("Big Leaguer")
Level: 9 ("Junior Heroine")
CPs: 4 more to spend

Powers
Magic Spells (Tarot admits she is still a student here)
- Blast 4d6 (48cp)
- Flight 10 (80cp)
- Force Field 10 (60cp)
- Go Places (teleport) (200cp)
Healing II 100cp
Visions of Elsewhere 40cp
Visions of the Past 30cp
588 CPs

Gizmos
Armor (Invulnerability 4)
Sword of the Goddess (free gizmo)
20 CPs

Skills
Occultist 50 cp (gained for free at 1st level)
First Aid 20cp
Melee Weapon (Sword) 10cp
Persuasion 20cp
Blind Fighting 25cp
Contacts (Supernatural) 20cp
Survival 20cp
Weaponsmith 25cp
140 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Skin: Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: She has a black rose tattoo/birthmark on her left shoulder.

All in all not a bad fit.  I like her at 9th level which lines up nicely with her other builds.
She has a winged cat familiar named Pooka as well as a two lovers, Skeleton Man (Jon Webb) and Boo Cat (a werecat).  Given how often they are endangered or get Tarot into trouble they should be worth a couple of Bimbo incident-free Bimbo Points.

Links to other Tarot stats
And Tarot's home on the Internet http://www.jimbalent.com 

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.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Superbabes Week is here!

I have been going through my collection and wanted to spend some quality time with some of the lesser known, or lesser remembered games.  So this week I want to cover Superbabes: The Femforce RPG.



If you don't know about Superbabes or Femforce, then I hope you find the week enjoyable.
I'll discuss the merits of how much Looks should affect your ability to get hit by a weapon, the pros and cons of level based supers and what exactly is a Bimbo Point!