[Supers] GURPS Unofficial Handbook to the Marvel Universe, Reboot Edition

[Phantasm]

and it seems I missed this one the first time around:

CASSIDY, BLACK TOM

Real Name: Thomas Cassidy
Occupation: Professional criminal, former soldier of fortune.
Identity: Publicly known.
Legal Status: Citizen of Ireland with a criminal record in many nations.
Other Aliases: "Irish" (a nickname given to him by Cain Marko).
Place of Birth: Cassidy Keep, Ireland.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Parents, older brother, names unrevealed; Theresa Rourke (alias Bainsidhe, cousin).
Group Affiliation: Occasional partner of the Juggernaut.
Base of Operations: Mobile.
History: Thomas Cassidy was the second son born to a lesser Irish noble house. Bored with the role of a wealthy gentleman of leisure, he left home at an early age (reports conflict over the age; both 16 and 18 have been mentioned), ultimately becoming a soldier of fortune in Africa. While there, he became friends with another mercenary by the name of Cain Marko. It is not known when he discovered his mutant abilities.

After serving in a few campaigns in Africa's war-torn interior, Cassidy started committing crimes in Europe, more as a means of avoiding going home to boredom than from any real desire to obtain more wealth. More than once, he was deported back to Ireland.

Seeking new frontiers (and barred from entering most of Europe), Black Tom traveled to New York City, where he encountered his old friend Marko, now transformed into the superhuman powerhouse Juggernaut, in a bar on the west side (see Juggernaut). The two then joined forces to take on the X-Men (see X-Men). While he was taken into custody, he soon escaped. His future plans are currently unknown.
Height: 6'.
Weight: 200 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: Black leather bodysuit with a large red symbol resembling a stylized bat or leather-winged humanoid on the chest, red gloves, red boots, red belt.
Strength Level: Black Tom possesses the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engages in regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Black Tom is a mutant who is able to produce intense bolts of energy from his body. To date, he has been observed producing both concussive force and intense heat. Normally, he channels his power through wooden objects; on one occasion, however, he was shown to be able to produce his energy without it, but this energy was much stronger and less controlled than normal. This has led the Beast to hypothesize that he uses the wood as a kind of resistor rather than a conductor (see Beast).
Other Abilities: As a former soldier of fortune, Black Tom has received training in all modern conventional firearms and some unarmed combat.
Weapons: Black Tom carries a wooden shillelagh, a three foot long staff or cane of Irish design. He has fooled many people into believing the shillelagh is a high-tech energy weapon, rather than a focus for his powers.

Willow: He says he's enjoying being a gentleman of leisure.
Buffy: "Gentleman of leisure." Isn't that just British for "unemployed"?
– Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4.01

290 points
Attributes: ST 11 [10]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 11 [20]; HT 11 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-1/1d+1; BL 24 lbs; HP 11 [0]; Will 11 [0]; Per 11 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 5.75 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 9.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Irish Gaelic (Native) [6].
Cultural Familiarities: Bantu Africa [1]; Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Appearance (Handsome) [12]; Burning Attack 5d (Increased 1/2D Range ×2, +5%; Increased Range ×2, +10%; Uncontrollable (Mitigator: Wooden Focus, -60%), -12%; Variable, +5%; Elemental: Heat/Fire, -10%; Mutant, -10%; Alternative Attack, ×1/5) [5]; Charisma 2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Crushing Attack 5d (Increased 1/2D Range ×2, +5%; Increased Range ×2, +10%; Uncontrollable (Mitigator: Wooden Focus, -60%), -12%; Variable, +5%; Mutant, -10%) [25]; Fashion Sense [5]; Fit [5]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Social Chameleon [5]; Status 2 [5*]; Wealth (Very Wealthy) [30].
Perks: Courtesy Military Rank 1 [1]; Dirty Fighting [1].
Disadvantages: Addiction (Tobacco) (Cheap; Highly Addictive; Legal) [-5]; Code of Honor (Gentleman's) [-10]; Overconfidence (9) [-7]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5].
Quirks: Agnostic [-1]; Chauvinistic [-1]; Hidden Scar (Abdomianl Scarring) [-1]; Not Until My First Cup! [-1].
Skills: Acting (A) IQ+0 [2] – 11; Area Knowledge (Congo/Zaire) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 11; Area Knowledge (Northern Europe) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 11; Artillery/TL8 (Cannon) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 11; Boating/TL8 (Motorboat) (A) DX+0 [2] – 12; Brawling (E) DX+3 [8] – 15; Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8] – 14; Camouflage (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Climbing (A) DX+0 [2] – 12; Current Affairs/TL8 (High Culture) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Driving/TL8 (Heavy Wheeled) (A) DX-1 [1] – 11; Driving/TL8 (Tracked) DX-1 [1] – 11; First Aid/TL8 (Human) IQ+0 [1] – 11; Forced Entry (E) DX+1 [2] – 13; Gambling (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Games (Card Games) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Gesture (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Grenade Launcher) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13; Guns/TL8 (Light Anti-Armor Weapon) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13; Guns/TL8 (Rifle) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13; Guns/TL8 (Submachine Gun) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13; Hiking (A) HT+0 [2] – 11; Holdout (A) IQ+0 [2] – 11; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+4 [12] – 16; Literature (H) IQ-1 [2] – 10; Observation (A) Per+1 [4] – 12; Running (A) HT+0 [2] – 11; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Savoir-Faire (Mafia) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Smuggling (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Soldier/TL8 (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Stealth (A) DX+1 [4] – 13; Streetwise (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Survival (Jungle) (A) Per+1 [4] – 12; Survival (Plains) (A) Per+1 [4] – 12; Survival (Woodlands) (A) Per+1 [4] – 12; Tactics (H) IQ-1 [2] – 10; Wrestling (A) DX-1 [1] – 11.
Starting Spending Money: $79,995 (20% of Starting Wealth, minus the cost of of a Light Club/Shillelagh).

* Includes +1 from Wealth.

[Kenshiro]

About "Daredevil" you can add the "body control" advantage, and for "Mister Fantastic" you can add a few levels in "Stretching" too.

[JCurwen3]

Are there any good builds for the symbiotes - Venom, Carnage, etc.?

I couldn't find them in this thread.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

Are there any good builds for the symbiotes - Venom, Carnage, etc.?

I couldn't find them in this thread.

You won't find them. I'm not really sure how to do the symbiotes, for one, and they're kinda hard to work into a Year One reboot. You have to remember that the original symbiote came from the Beyonder's mashed together Battle Planet in the 1985 Secret Wars series; it was a byproduct of a company-wide crossover event. The insanity and attempted bonding with Spidey came later, before it latched onto someone with a massive rage-on for Spidey, producing Venom.

I'm not really sure how I'd work it into the reboot universe just yet.

[Phantasm]

Taking a break from the X-folks to flesh out something for a friend.

AIM

AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) is a subversive organization dedicated to creating a worldwide technocracy – or rule by scientists. As far as the public at large is concerned, AIM is a legitimate munitions corporation with a sizable research and development department for advanced experimental technology, albeit one that has a shady reputation for questionable ethics. In fact, the United States government agency SHIELD is a known client of theirs (see SHIELD).

Secretly, AIM is the number one supplier of advanced technology to the criminal element. A number of costumed villains have purchased technology from them.

By all reports, AIM was founded in the aftermath of World War II by Dr. Arnim Zola, a German scientist who became disillusioned with what he saw as the limited vision of the future entertained by the Nazi elite and willingly defected to the United States during the final year of the war (see Zola, Dr. Arnim). Zola started AIM with the idea of creating a super-intelligent ruling elite. At first, Zola recruited fellow German scientists, most of whom had originally worked with him with the Nazi Hydra science division (see HYDRA). Other scientists were soon recruited from Soviet work camps and American universities, where their own ideas were considered too radical and/or impractical.

Some of AIM's projects netted the organization a good deal of money, legally and illegally, through patents and black market sales. Other projects were much more secretive. Several of these projects would have sparked an apocalypse, if it hadn't been for the timely intervention of espionage agents from various agencies worldwide. The most recent was a series of orbital seismic wave generators that would have caused earthquakes and volcanic eruptions all over the world; this attempt was thwarted by Nick Fury and Natasha Romanov, working for the CIA (see Black Widow; Fury, Nick).

Unknown to the world, Dr. Zola is still the Head Scientist of AIM, due to having transferred his mind into a younger cloned body. However, the recently created being code-named MODOK has assumed control of a number of AIM's plants and secret bases; Zola rightly fears that MODOK is after his position (see MODOK).


Game-Mechanic Details
AIM is the primary supplier of TL 9 and 10 weaponry for a number of other subversive organizations and villains – and the occasional anti-hero who doesn't question who he's buying his guns from.

Typical AIM Soldier
The common soldier employed by AIM is commonly a mercenary. Because AIM does not fully trust their own soldiers, the soldiers are implanted with a cortex bomb at the base of the skull.

85 points
Attributes: ST 11 [10]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 11 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-1/1d+1; BL 24 lbs; HP 11 [0]; Will 10 [0]; Per 10 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 5.5 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 9.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Fit [5]; High TL +2 [10]; Military Rank 0 [0].
Perks: Energizer [1]; Full Tank [1]; Off-Screen Reload [1]; On Alert [1]; Suit Familiarity (NBC Suit) [1].
Disadvantages: Duty (to AIM; Involuntary (Cortex Bomb) (15) [-20].
Skills: Beam Weapons/TL10 (Rifle) or Guns/TL10 (Rifle) (E) DX+2 [4] – 13; Boxing (A) DX+1 [4] – 12; Computer Operation/TL10 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 10; Driving/TL10 (Heavy Wheeled or Tracked) (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Fast-Draw (Ammo) (E) DX+1 [1] – 12*; First Aid/TL10 (Human) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 10; Gunner/TL10 (Beams or Machine Gun) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Guns/TL10 (Grenade Launcher, Gyroc, or LAW) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Hiking (A) HT+0 [1] – 11; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; NBC Suit/TL10 (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Savoir-Faire (Military) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 11; Soldier/TL10 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 10; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 11; Throwing (A) DX+0 [2] – 11.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
Other Traits (Not part of the package): Squad leaders would have Military Rank 1 [5]; higher ranking soldiers would have higher levels of Military Rank (see Appendix: Rank and Status Tables).
Typical Equipment: Laser Pulse/Beam Rifle (UT116, UT118-9); Underbarrel EMGL, 25mm (UT141-2) or Underbarrel Gyroc, 15mm (UT144-5); Small Vibro-Knife (B272, UT164); Reflex Tactical Vest (UT173); Combat Infantry Helmet (UT180), w/ Hyperspectral Imaging Visor (×2 magnification, UT61), Small Radscanner (UT63), Memory Augmentation AR (UT56), and Visual Enhancement AR (UT56). All assigned by AIM.

Typical AIM Scientist
These are the scientists and engineers employed by AIM to come up with new and exciting technologies.

88 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 10 [0].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 10 [-10]; Per 12 [0]; FP 10 [0]; Basic Speed 5 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 8.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
Advantages: Administrative Rank 1 [5]; Gadgeteer [25]; High TL +2 [10]; Mathematical Ability 2 [20]; Natural Scientist 2 [20]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10].
Disadvantages: Combat Paralysis [-15]; Obsession (Prove My Theories Right!) (9) [-12]; Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]; Secret (Subversive) (Imprisonment) [-20]; Workaholic [-5].
Quirks: Attentive [-1].
Skills: Beam Weapons/TL10 (Pistol) or Guns/TL10 (Pistol), both DX+0 [1] – 10; one of Bioengineering/TL10 (any) or Pharmacy/TL10 (Synthetic), both IQ+0 [4] – 12, or Engineer/TL10 (any) (H) IQ+2 [4] – 14*; Computer Operation/TL10 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Electronics Operation/TL10 (Scientific) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Electronics Operation/TL10 (Sensors) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Mathematics/TL10 (Applied) (H) IQ+2 [1] – 14*†; Physics/TL10 (VH) IQ+2 [2] – 14*†; Weird Science (VH) IQ-1 [8] – 12.
Starting Spending Money: $8,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
Other Traits (Not part of the package): Scientists with more seniority or who have come up with even more bleeding edge technology will often be given higher levels of Administrative Rank, up to level 5 (see Appendix: Rank and Status Tables). The higher rank scientists will also have an increase in Wealth as well.
Typical Equipment: Laser Pulse/Beam Pistol (UT116, UT118-9); Nanoweave Vest;

* Includes +2 from Mathematical Ability.
† Includes +2 from Natural Scientist.

Typical AIM Technician
These are the men and women hired by AIM to build and maintain the technologies developed by the scientists. Most of them are hired by AIM's public front, and only moved into the secret subversive organization should they pass a number of secret tests. The template below represents one who has made the shift to working for AIM's secret cause.

42 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 11 [20]; HT 10 [0].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 11 [0]; Per 11 [0]; FP 10 [0]; Basic Speed 5.25 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 8.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
Advantages: Administrative Rank 0 [0]; Artificer 2 [10]; High Manual Dexterity +2 [10]; High TL +2 [10];
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional's) [-5]; Combat Paralysis [-15]; Duty (AIM) (12) [-10]; Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]; Secret (Subversive) (Imprisonment) [-20]; Workaholic [-5].
Quirks: Attentive [-1]; Devout Believer (Technocratic Ideals) [-1].
Skills: Beam Weapons/TL10 (Pistol) or Guns/TL10 (Pistol), both DX+1 [2] – 12; Weird Science (VH) IQ-1 [4] – 10; Computer Operation/TL10 (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Four of the following: Armoury/TL10 (any), Electrician/TL10, Electronics Repair/TL10 (any), Machinist/TL10, or Mechanic/TL10 (any), all (A) IQ+3 [4] – 14*, or Forensics/TL10 (H) IQ+0 [4] – 11, or Mechanic! (WC) IQ+1 [12] – 10† and one of the previous 4-point skills.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).

* Includes +2 from Artificer.
† Conditional +2 from Artificer when duplicating one of those skills.


EDIT: Altered the AIM Soldier's gear, replacing the Tacsuit with a Tactical Vest.

[naloth]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Typical AIM Soldier

Far from being a horde of mooks that a well trained spy or super soldier can wade through, these guys seem like a very credible threat. DR 30/15 protects them from most normal ST attacks. Dodge 9 and good skills make them highly trained professionals bordering on the cinematic. Full TL10 gear is just nasty: 6d(2) RoF10 lasers. +1d AP/3 AP/5 or AP/10 knives.

I never considered them this dangerous or advanced. I wouldn't intend for PCs to face hordes of them such as when you see Black Widow, Captain America, and other super normals jumping into groups of 20+ of these guys.

[Dunadin777]

Originally Posted by naloth

Far from being a horde of mooks that a well trained spy or super soldier can wade through, these guys seem like a very credible threat. DR 30/15 protects them from most normal ST attacks. Dodge 9 and good skills make them highly trained professionals bordering on the cinematic. Full TL10 gear is just nasty: 6d(2) RoF10 lasers. +1d AP/3 AP/5 or AP/10 knives.

I never considered them this dangerous or advanced. I wouldn't intend for PCs to face hordes of them such as when you see Black Widow, Captain America, and other super normals jumping into groups of 20+ of these guys.

I would add that any cinematic mook--especially a comic book one--should have Perception of less than 10. It's really easy for anyone of credible mindset to get past a half dozen patrols of these guys. The only true test of skill is whether they get caught once inside or not, but by then the hero has already made it past at least a dozen guards' notice.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by naloth

Far from being a horde of mooks that a well trained spy or super soldier can wade through, these guys seem like a very credible threat. DR 30/15 protects them from most normal ST attacks. Dodge 9 and good skills make them highly trained professionals bordering on the cinematic. Full TL10 gear is just nasty: 6d(2) RoF10 lasers. +1d AP/3 AP/5 or AP/10 knives.

I never considered them this dangerous or advanced. I wouldn't intend for PCs to face hordes of them such as when you see Black Widow, Captain America, and other super normals jumping into groups of 20+ of these guys.

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

I would add that any cinematic mook--especially a comic book one--should have Perception of less than 10. It's really easy for anyone of credible mindset to get past a half dozen patrols of these guys. The only true test of skill is whether they get caught once inside or not, but by then the hero has already made it past at least a dozen guards' notice.

To be fair, my RL friend wanted them to be credible threats for the players. He told me he wanted professionally-trained soldiers, not incompetent mooks. He was also planning on having us face squads of 4-6 of the soldiers at a time, as opposed to hordes of 20+. Mind, too, we're dealing with 400 point PCs working for the CIA (Fury, Widow, and Phil "his first name is Agent" Coulson so far; I'm playing Coulson), so the PCs will be no slouches in the sneakiness department.

So, I figured for the Reboot, AIM will be a bit more credible a threat than before.

[naloth]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

To be fair, my RL friend wanted them to be credible threats for the players. He told me he wanted professionally-trained soldiers, not incompetent mooks. He was also planning on having us face squads of 4-6 of the soldiers at a time, as opposed to hordes of 20+. Mind, too, we're dealing with 400 point PCs working for the CIA (Fury, Widow, and Phil "his first name is Agent" Coulson so far; I'm playing Coulson), so the PCs will be no slouches in the sneakiness department.

So, I figured for the Reboot, AIM will be a bit more credible a threat than before.

Sure, they should probably be credible threats rather than the fodder they are used as. Giving them all Combat Reflexes and 13ish skills might be overdoing it a bit though. Of course, like you mentioned above they shouldn't be available in the same quantity either. Filling out a platoon of highly trained merc with above good stats should be harder than finding average grunts that you hand a rifle and armor after a brief intro on how to shoot your shiny new TL10 rifle.

My concern would be that you've started by giving them armor that will make them virtually impervious to many modern weapons (DR30/15 is will bounce many assault rifles and completely ignore pistols) and normal human range melee attacks (again, "human" melee types typically do under 5d per strike and w/o AP they can't injure these guys at all since they have full body protection). Even without such good armor they are pretty well skilled and heavily armed. TL10 military gear (high RoF w/AP and good Acc lasers, AP/5 or better +1d cutting melee weapons) already makes them nasty deadly.

Given that this is a Supers game, I would price their equipment as gadgets instead since that gives me a better feel of the actual worth of the guys. Dropping 10 points on High TL and not charging full cost for the gear (isn't it like x2 per TL above normal per item?) and still portraying them as a 85ish point character doesn't quite capture their threat level. Of course, it's not really necessary assign them a point value, I just figure if you're going through the effort to stat them out you want some reasonable comparison to the heroes you'll be squaring them off against.

[B9anders]

Originally Posted by Hannes665

In some comic versions he can read street signs, posters and even news paper text from a distance. For example he could read Punisher skull sympol on his T-Shirt.

-50 disad for blindness were he can not see anything at all is worth -50 pts. He has a 360° "vision" via his radar, he even seems to have a type of enhanced time sense since he can see bullet flight (but it seems to be build into radar). He can´t see color - so he is color blind.

Color blindness -10 pts.

This is a classic case of over-interpreting the passage about disadvantages having to be disadvantages to get a discount. You just need to put it in the right order to see that he is disadvantaged:

standard 0-point character - has vision
takes blindness - has no vision, gets 50 points.
Buys alternative sensory advantage worth 50 points. Works as well as vision, but still has no vision.

That doesn't mean blindness should give less point any more than odious personal habit should give you less points simply because you have advantages like Charisma and Appearance that "cancel out" the negative effects of OPH. You still paid the full cost of cancelling those negative effects.