[SUPERS] My Unofficial Handbook to the DC Universe

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

I'd give a bit more background than one or two sentences. I mean, it works for Batman, but for someone a bit more obscure like, for example, Holly Granger/Hawk or Atom Girl of the "threeboot" LSH, we might be left going, "so, who is this guy?"

Yeah, I agree. I was in a hurry to get a character posted to be the ball rolling before I stepped out for the evening. I'll make more of an effort in the future.

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

I'm not sure I'd call Oracle simply "Somewhat" Reliable. If anything, she's the embodiment of Totally Reliable for the members of the Batman family.

Hmmm, fair point I'll have to consider it. And here I was all pleased with myself that Bruce came out to a nice even 1000 points. :(

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Hmmm, fair point I'll have to consider it. And here I was all pleased with myself that Bruce came out to a nice even 1000 points. :(

Welcome to the reason why almost none of my Marvel characters is a nice round number. There's always something I miss on a first go; at best I can find points to remove to even it out again, but at worst I end up with stuff like "104 points over budget".

BTW, I like the "Trained by Batman" martial art. It fits the urban vigilante style perfectly.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Hero: BATMAN

Wealth gives Bruce wayne $2,000,000,000, he probably needs another level of Multimillionaire.
He really should have Very Rapid Healing [15]
I'd say he should also have seriously powered up Common Sense, Danger Sense, Empathy and Intuition
Status:
He should have something like Corporate Rank 7 [35] which gives Status +2 for free, he should get another +3 status free from wealth, and isn't being a Wayne a bit like being a Kennedy? That should get him another +2 status for 10 points.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Wealth gives Bruce wayne $2,000,000,000, he probably needs another level of Multimillionaire.
He really should have Very Rapid Healing [15]
I'd say he should also have seriously powered up Common Sense, Danger Sense, Empathy and Intuition
Status:
He should have something like Corporate Rank 7 [35] which gives Status +2 for free, he should get another +3 status free from wealth, and isn't being a Wayne a bit like being a Kennedy? That should get him another +2 status for 10 points.

Additionally, shouldnt Batman actually be _stronger_? Isnt he peak human, much like Captain America? That should put him at or even above 20. ST 16 is only as strong as 2.5 men, which is low for a super-vigilante. It is not impossible to find a ST 16 at most any gym you visit (note, they will NOT have Batmans DX though :) ).

HT 14 maybe needs some Hard to Subdue/Hard to Kill to back it up (yes, even with Very Fit), or to be bumped up a bit. At least the versions of Batman Im familiar with, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

And Batman isnt the poster child for Fast Gadgeteer that Reed Richards is, but he DOES build stuff far faster than just Gadgeteer... I do see your Bat Belt modular ability, but that is really for one offs. He builds and modifies his suit, car, plane, boat, etc all the time, and far faster than "months" no? Could be wrong.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by chandley

Additionally, shouldnt Batman actually be _stronger_? Isnt he peak human, much like Captain America?

I've never seen him as such. There are much stronger normal humans. Bruce isn't a power-lifter or Andre the Giant. In the WB DC animated universe, when he fought Ubu, he resorted to skill, not strength.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by chandley

Additionally, shouldnt Batman actually be _stronger_? Isnt he peak human, much like Captain America? That should put him at or even above 20. ST 16 is only as strong as 2.5 men, which is low for a super-vigilante. It is not impossible to find a ST 16 at most any gym you visit (note, they will NOT have Batmans DX though :) ).

HT 14 maybe needs some Hard to Subdue/Hard to Kill to back it up (yes, even with Very Fit), or to be bumped up a bit. At least the versions of Batman Im familiar with, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

And Batman isnt the poster child for Fast Gadgeteer that Reed Richards is, but he DOES build stuff far faster than just Gadgeteer... I do see your Bat Belt modular ability, but that is really for one offs. He builds and modifies his suit, car, plane, boat, etc all the time, and far faster than "months" no? Could be wrong.

Batman isn't among the strongest humans in the DCU, though his strength is greater than average. An ST in the 16-18 range seems about right for him, IMO. It's his ST + DX + HT + Advantages that gives him his edge. I'd be willing to give him additional Striking ST, though; he hits harder than his body ST would indicate. Striking ST +1 (ST 17) isn't going to do much; I'd put his Striking ST at 20+.

I agree with your points about Hard to Kill/Subdue. The man's had his spine broken, putting him in a wheelchair, and he managed to come back in top fighting form.

As for his gear, he has from time to time employed others to make gear for him or adapt technology from WayneTech's R&D department. And with today's rapid prototyping/3D printers, he can make parts faster than he could by hand. Maybe Fast Gadgeteer (Accessibility: Only When Adapting Others' Technology); he's not making new stuff from scratch, just using it in other manners.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by Culture20

I've never seen him as such. There are much stronger normal humans. Bruce isn't a power-lifter or Andre the Giant. In the WB DC animated universe, when he fought Ubu, he resorted to skill, not strength.

Guess it will depend on the version Aesir23 is going for. I will say though, that ST 20 wouldnt make him as strong as the strongest humans, much less freakish examples like Bane. Bane could be as high as 22-24. Even in a stat normalized context (which an IQ 18 Batman does not exist in), ST 16 might be a bit low.

Not a huge deal though. I think Id be more concerned with no Fast on Gadgeteer.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Batman isn't among the strongest humans in the DCU, though his strength is greater than average. An ST in the 16-18 range seems about right for him, IMO. It's his ST + DX + HT + Advantages that gives him his edge. I'd be willing to give him additional Striking ST, though; he hits harder than his body ST would indicate. Striking ST +1 (ST 17) isn't going to do much; I'd put his Striking ST at 20+.

I like that argument. Lifting ST in the 16 range, Striking ST much higher. That feels right.

As for his gear, he has from time to time employed others to make gear for him or adapt technology from WayneTech's R&D department. And with today's rapid prototyping/3D printers, he can make parts faster than he could by hand. Maybe Fast Gadgeteer (Accessibility: Only When Adapting Others' Technology); he's not making new stuff from scratch, just using it in other manners.

Ill admit, most of my Batman is cross over stuff, so I wont press the point too hard. He really ISNT Reed Richards, so an accessibility or even takes extra time (to get Fast Gadgeteer back to hours and days instead of seconds and minutes) could work.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

I'd say he should also have seriously powered up Common Sense, Danger Sense, Empathy and Intuition

This is very much a matter of opinion. I see Common Sense as only taken by players who are naturally reckless and want to play a sensible character, naturally sensible players don't buy it.

I see Batman as having very high Per, but not Danger Sense. Danger Sense suits people like Spiderman, but Batman just hears the creak of a floorboard, sees a flicker of shadow, or gets a whiff of BO.

Similarly for Empathy and Intuition. Most of Batman's Empathy or Intuition-like abilities are really just very high skill levels. Things like Body Language, Detect Lies, or Intelligence Analysis.

[Railstar]

For Bats:

Possibly negative Reputation in some circles as well? Most uses of Batman tend to imply a less than stellar public image.

Lots of psychological issues at quirk-level, maybe even outright Fanaticism & Stubbornness (Batman tends not to be the most compromising fellow), or Workaholic (with "work" defined as his Batman role rather than his Bruce Wayne identity).

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

I'd say he should also have seriously powered up Common Sense, Danger Sense, Empathy and Intuition

I think IQ 18 would count as powering those up pretty high, although I have to question giving Common Sense to a man dressed in a giant rodent costume.