Riot Black

Riot Black

________________________________
Dex:   5   Str:   6   Body:    4
Int:   4   Will:  4   Mind:    4
Infl:  5   Aura:  4   Spirit:  4
Initiative: 14  Hero Points:  25

Skills:
Artist (Musician): 4
Scientist (Analysis): 3
Vehicles (Land): 3

Advantages:  Connection: Street (Low); Expansive headquarters (his club); Scholar (Online promotion, cybernetics)

Drawbacks: Serious Irrational Attraction to bullying; Strange Appearance; Uncertainty

Alter Ego: Unknown
Motivation: Mercenary
Occupation: DJ, Online Edgelord/Blackmailer
Wealth: 5

Equipment:
CYBERNETIC IMPLANTS [Body: 1, Recall: 8, Security Systems: 4, Telepathy: 4] Bonus: Recall allows images and other data to be transferred to other devices (computers, etc...); Limitation: Telepathy only works on wireless electronic devices (laptops, cell phones, etc...); Note: His Left eye is a cybernetic digital camera, that can store images in his neural implant, which is essentially a wireless computer inside his head.



Source: adapted from Writeups.org
foe of: Batgirl




Ed's Notes: I really need to check out the "Burnside" era of Batgirl. I like it when comics take a breaks from the "Nearly omnipotent gods saving the multiverse" storylines and get back down to more personal, and at times socially topical, stakes. In Fugue, for example, the writers can delve into the role that gaslighting plays in an abusive relationship. In Riot Black, you have a villain that represents the worst kind of internet troll and online bully imaginable; someone who is a pointlessly cruel, thoroughly irredeemable, narcissistic edgelord with a following of despicable subculture that can't get enough of his content. He's a DJ with #MadSkillz (and presumably enough showmanship and charisma to legitimately entertain a crowd) who pays thugs and low-lifes for compromising information on people who he then blackmails. When they don't pay-up, the pics and/or videos (or whatever else) get posted on his website, the Black Book, to be consumed by his followers. This can be anything from naked pictures, to photos of extremely sick people, to embarrassing secrets. Early on a lot of this came from from stolen cellphones and laptops, sometimes from meeting people on Tinder-like apps, going on a single date, and then just making off with their tech at the first opportunity; Or just from swiping laptops from people in cafes. He's also physically tough and imposing, so he's very much a bully IRL as well, who can handle himself against most non-hero level opposition. (It is suspected, though not confirmed, that his Strength may be low-level super-human or even cybernetically enhanced.) Between that and his online presents, it's not surprising that very few even try to stand up to him. Much like Fugue, he's not out to take over the world - just to rule his little corner off it like an absolute dickhead. But with his MO, he could make for a unique and potentially very personal caper for low-level heroes.

I changed up the Writeups entry a bit. I made his "Powers" inherent to his implants, and adapted them to fit within 3rd Edition DCH rules. I also gave his them the "Telepathy" Power to represent his later incarnation, after he went "wireless." This means he doesn't have to steal laptops or cell phone anymore, he can just connect with any that lack sufficient protection. Strange Appearance was a little bit of a stretch. They gave him "Creepy Appearance," which doesn't exits in DCH 3rd Ed. And while the robotic eye and tattoo-covered body don't necessarily make him monstrous looking, that, combined with his abhorrent personality, could reasonably have the same effect, in-game, of penalizing Persuasion attempts, while giving a bonus to Intimidation Attempts. 

First Appearance: Batgirl #35 (December, 2004)

Fugue

Fugue

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Dex:   4   Str:   3   Body:    3
Int:   5   Will:  5   Mind:    4
Infl:  3   Aura:  3   Spirit:  4
Initiative: 12  Hero Points:  25

Skills:
Gadgetry: 3
Military Science (Demolitions): 5
Vehicles (Land): 3
Weaponry (Firearms): 3

Advantages: Area Knowledge (Burnside); Connection: Street (Low), Underworld (Low)

Drawbacks: Serious Irrational Attraction to getting revenge

Alter Ego: Vinton Burwell
Motivation: Mercenary
Occupation: Bank Robber
Wealth: 6

Equipment:
SUBSONIC PROJECTOR COSTUME [Body: 4, Mind Probe: 8, Hypnotism: 9, R#3] Bonuses: Mental Powers gain -2 CS Bonus to OV/RV if the target is sleeping, or has neural, cybernetic implants. (-4 CS Bonus for both.); Limitations: Hypnotism only usable to implant false memories in the target.



Source: adapted from Writeups.org
foe of: Batgirl



Ed's Notes: This could be a tough one to run, and the stakes with him will rarely be more than "personal" but he's so cool and creepy that I just couldn't pass him up.


Basically, his suit allows him to dig through a person's memories and to implant false ones. In this way he can find out a person's secrets, benefit from their knowledge, and also GASLIGHT THE LIVING HELL OUT OF THEM, Which is what he did to Batgirl: Figured out she was Barbara Gordon, and then basically MOVED IN with her, implanting false memories of him being an old friend of hers. (In reality he was a small time thug she busted a while back.)

Writeups does note that this could be a hard villain to run in a campaign. And...  it CAN be, but I see him not so much targeting the PC's/Heroes as maybe their friends, co-workers, families, etc...  those AROUND them. He IS a *small time* villain. He's never going to take over the world, but he could be quite a nuisance on a personal level, either in the main game or in a sub-plot. One thing is apparent, to me anyway: You can't just wing it with a guy like this. You need to have a very clear idea of what he plans to do, AND it will really only work if you have PC's that are willing to play along, and roll with it, if they themselves are given false memories. In any case, while certainly challenging, it could be a lot of fun. He could also pair up nicely with a more established psychiatric-style villain like Scarecrow or Hugo Strange.

One other thing... I interpreted his suit VERY differently from Writups. They include a paragraph about why they avoided using Hypnotism as the main power. Something about how it worked in reality, and that not be Occam-legal? Meaning the simplest way to accomplish the effect I guess? Which I find HILARIOUS, that they would have a rule like that, since IMHO Writeups tends to overcomplicate the SHIT out of EVERYTHING. Plus, as I read it, Hypnotism kept striking me as EXACTLY how the suit worked. In game terms, success on the initial role would indicate that the memory had been implanted, and then whenever applicable, or if the PC tried to fight through it, and rid themselves of the false memory, the RAP's of the initial roll would kick in and that subsequent role would indicate if the memory held. The PC would of course have to willing to play ball a bit, as I mentioned before, but to me THAT is the simplest way to do this.

First Appearance: Batgirl #45 (December, 2015)

Slash

Slash
________________________________

Dex:   6   Str:   3   Body:    4
Int:   5   Will:  4   Mind:    5
Infl:  4   Aura:  4   Spirit:  5
Initiative: 17  Hero Points:  25

Skills:
Acrobatics: 5
Detective: 5
Martial Artist: 5
Thief (Stealth): 5
Weaponry (Melee, Missile): 6

Advantages: Connections: Mrs. Wells (Low)

Drawbacks: Minor Irrational Attraction to trusting women; Minor Irrational Hatred of macho-sounding men.

Alter Ego: unknown
Motivation: Mercenary
Occupation: Assassin, Vigilante
Wealth: 4

Equipment:
Knifes (so many!) [Body: 5, EV: 3] Notes: Knives are balanced for throwing. Their Range is equal to the user's Str.



Source: Adapted from Writeups.com
foe of: Batgirl



Ed's Notes: An assassin who originally only took jobs targeting those men who had committed crimes against women, she teamed up with Mrs. Wells (husband of famed hitman Cormorant) and eventually just because a lethal vigilante who killed men who had abused women and for whatever reason were not behind bars.  A good villain to run if you need a more sympathetic, yet still law-breaking, antagonist for your campaign. If any of the PC's are women, they might also find her message of female empowerment to cause them at least some internal conflict and hesitation... until she breaks out the knives and starts dual-wielding anyway! It would do well to play up the stories of the victims she'd avenged, and how horrible the stuff was that was being done to them before she stepped in. If the GM is doing their job right, at least one PC should be pretty close to, "Meh, fuck it, let's just let her go!" by the end of it.

First Appearance: Batgirl Special #1 (May, 1988)

Batgirl IV

Batgirl IV
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Dex:   7   Str:   3   Body:    4
Int:   7   Will:  6   Mind:    6
Infl:  4   Aura:  3   Spirit:  6
Initiative: 22  Hero Points:  40

Skills:
Acrobatics: 8
Artist (Musician): 4
Martial Artist: 6
Medicine (First Aid): 3
Scientist: 4
Thief (Stealth): 6
Vehicles (Land): 6
Weaponry (Melee, Missile): 8

Advantages: Area Knowledge (Bristol Township); Expansive Headquarters; Connections: Red Robin (High), Batman (Low), Nightwing (Low), Oracle (High), Black Canary (Low), Gotham City Police Department (High), Supergirl (Low), Knight & Squire (Low)
  
Drawbacks: Secret Identity

Alter Ego: Stephanie Brown
Motivation: Thrill of Adventure
Occupation: Student
Wealth: 2

Equipment:
BATGIRL COSTUME [Body: 5, Cold Immunity: 1, Extended Hearing: 4, Flame Immunity: 3, Radio Communications: 8, Sealed Systems: 7, Thermal Vision: 9, X-Ray Vision: 5, Ultra Vision: 9] Bonus: Radio Communications are scrambled.

Swingline [Body: 7, Snare: 5] Line is 3 AP's long 

Night-Vision Binoculars [Body: 4, Telescopic Vision: 5, Ultra Vision: 10] Bonus: Can relay information through the COSTUME'S Radio Communications


Collapsible Staff [Body:8, EV: 3] Bonus: Staff makes an eery wail which distracts foes in combat, giving Robin a -1 CS OV Bonus.

Black Batarangs (x15) [EV: 3, Body: 5, Gliding: 3] 

White and Red Batarangs (x10) [Body: 4, Ice Production: 8, R#: 2] Limitation: Ice Production has No Range

Grey Batarang (x10) [Body: 4, Fog: 12, R#: 2]

Orange Batarangs (x12) [Body: 5, Bomb: 8, EV: 3, Gliding: 3, R#: 2]

Burgundy and White Batarangs (x6) [Body: 5, Bomb: 8, EV: 3, Cling: 1, Gliding: 3, R#: 2] Note: for placing remote-detonated charges

Grey and Yellow Batarangs (x9) [BODY 03, Lightning, 8] Limitation: Lightning has No Range

White and Green Batarangs (x9) [BODY 03, Glue: 8] Limitation: Glue has No Range

8 AP AB Omni-Batarangs (x2)

RICHOCHET [Str: 04, Body: 6, Int: 1, Running: 7, Vehicles: 4, R#2] Note: Is self-driving.



Source: Adapted from Writeups.org
also see: Spoiler, Robin IV



Ed's Notes: This entry comes just about whole cloth from Writeups. I did the usually adaption from Blood of Heroes to Mayfair 3rd Ed that I always do. And I tried to keep in mind that this is the third part of a Character that 's been building off of Spoiler and then Robin IV. So there were cases (like her Musician Skill) where Writeups would drop something off, but I figured I'd just keep it one, even if at just the same AP level.  Two thign about Writeups... Hoo-boy... They went BATSHIT INSANE with both the CONNECTIONS and the god-damned BATARANGS!  So... I may come back and trim some of the connections. Their philosophy seems to be that you get a low-level (at least) connection with every character you ever appeared with or went on a single mission with. It's too much. I trimmed some of Spoiler's Connections, and I may do the same here. As for the god-damned batarangs... LMAO... OK, so I kept them all, and used the quantities that they did. (Where the fuck does she KEEP them all?!) I did however adjust and SIMPLIFY (and holyfuckinshitballs did they need some simplification!) them, using equivalent gear from either Captain Boomerang or Green Arrow as guidance. But overall, I like this character and while Babs will ALWAYS be Batgirl in MY book, this one could be a lot of fun to play.

First Appearance: Batgirl Vol 3 #1 (August, 2009)

Oracle

Oracle
________________________________
Dex:   2   Str:   2   Body:    2
Int:   7   Will:  8   Mind:    8
Infl:  6   Aura:  5   Spirit:  5
Initiative: 17  Hero Points:  50

Powers:
Recall: 12

Skills: *linked
Artist (Actor): 6*
Charisma: 6*
Detective: 7*
Martial Artist: 7
Thief: 7
Vehicles: 5

Limitations: Miscellaneous: Use of Amrtial Artist Skill is limited to her arms and upper torso; Miscellaneous: Thief Subskills needing full mobility are considered at 2 AP's.

Advantages: Connection: Batman (Low), Gotham City Police Department (High), Street (Low); Suicide Squad (Low); Intensive Training; Scholar (politics, computers); Sharp Eye

Drawbacks: Traumatic Flashbacks; Uncertainty; Catastrophic Physical Restriction: paralysis of both legs.

Alter Ego: Barbara Gordon (formerly Batgirl)
Motivation: Seeking Justice
Occupation: Librarian
Wealth: 6

Equipment:
COMPUTER [Body: 6, Int: 6, Detective: 6, R#: 2]

WHEELCHAIR [Str: 3, Body: 4, Running: 1]



Source: Who's Who, 3rd Edition; Batman Sourcebook, page 31

Ed's Notes: As a huge fan of Batgirl, I've never been very fond of the Oracle character, who can only exist when Batgirl does not. For a while the character did start to grow on me, as I realize the potential for some really strong representation for people with disabilities in Superhero comics... BUt all to often the ham-fisted writers at DC end up making the character more tragic than empowering. Granted, most of the source material I've read is older stuff, so younger readers may have an entirely differrent take. I just can helop but see BOTh characters, Oracle and Batgirl, as wasted or lost opportunities for better material.

Second Edition leaves off her Martial Artis Skill completely, as well as the Suicide Squad Connection.  Just as I did with Batgirl, I feel like she should have the Weaponry skill (linked at 7*) and even more so here: Richard Dragon himself trained her in Escrima! So she should have the sticks, and use that skill in place of Martial Artist. 

Joker

Joker
________________________________
Dex:   5   Str: 4/5   Body:  3/6
Int:   9   Will: 12   Mind:    5
Infl: 10   Aura:  7   Spirit:  7
Initiative: 23  Hero Points: 120

Skills:
Artist (Actor): 5
Charisma: 10
Gadgetry: 11
Vehicles: 5
Weaponry: 7

Advantages: C0nnections: Arkham Asylum (Low), Underworld (High); Miscellaneous: Whenever Joker succumbs to his Psychological Instability, his Str & Body increase to values 5 & 6 shown above.

Drawbacks: Serious Irrational Attraction to practical jokes; Catastrophic Psychological Instability

Alter Ego: Unknown (possibly Arthur Fleck, Jack Napier, Jerome Valeska or Joseph Kerr)
Motivation: Psychopath
Occupation: Psychopath
Wealth: 6

Equipment:
Acid Flower [Body: 2, Acid: 5, R#: 2] Limitation: Acid has range of 0 AP's

Electric Joy Buzzer [Body: 4, Lightning: 9, R#: 2] Limitation: Lightning has no range.

Joker Venom Ring [Body: 5, Poison Touch: 8, R#: 2] Limitation: Killing combat. Bonus: When it kills, it leaves victim's lips in a contorted grin.



Source: Who's Who, 3rd Edition; 3rd Edition Rulebook, page 167
also see: 2nd Edition, Mooks
foe of: Batman
affiliation(s): Injustice Gang, Legion of Doom


Ed's Notes:  My all time favorite villain, my all time favorite comic book character.

First Appearance: Batman #1, (Spring, 1940)

Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker Joker 

Batgirl

Batgirl
________________________________
Dex:   7   Str:   3   Body:    4
Int:   7   Will:  8   Mind:    8
Infl:  6   Aura:  5   Spirit:  5
Initiative: 22  Hero Points:  50

Powers:
Recall: 12

Skills: *linked
Acrobatics: 7*
Artist (Actor): 6*
Charisma: 6*
Detective: 7*
Martial Artist: 7*
Thief: 7*
Vehicles: 5

Advantages: Connections: Batman (High), Gotham City Police Department (High), Street (Low); Intensive Training; Scholar (Politics, Computers); Sharp Eye
  
Drawbacks: Secret Identity

Alter Ego: Barbara Gordon
Motivation: Seeking Justice
Occupation: Librarian
Wealth: 6

Equipment:
UTILITY BELT [Body: 4]

Bat-Rebreather [Body:1, Sealed Systems: 12, R#: 2]

Bat Shuriken [Body: 6, EV: 2]

Bat-line and Grappling Hook [Str: 5, Body: 4, Claws: 3] Line is 3 AP's long

Infrared Flashlight and Goggle [Body: 1, Thermal Vision: 12]

Bat-Torch [Body: 2, Heat Vision: 9, R#: 5] Limitations:  Range is 0 AP's and if used on another character, the user automatically enters Killing Combat

Miniature Cassette Bat-Recorder [Body: 1, Recall: 12, R#: 2] Recall only records audio information.

Miniature Bat-Camera [Body: 2, Recall: 12, R#: 2] Recall only records visual information.

Plastic Explosives [Body: 1, Bomb: 7] Note: Batgirl will be injured if with the range of detonation.



Source: Who's Who, 3rd Edition; Batman Sourcebook, page 31; Batman RPG, page 133-134
Rogues: Batman Villains, Fugue, Riot Black, Slash
Also see: Oracle





Ed's Notes: The Who's Who seems to conflate the Thermal Flashlight with the Bat-Torch. So I've separated them out, and filled in the blanks, based on Batman's similar equipment. The 2nd Edition books all rate her Charisma at 7.  The Batman RPG omits her Acrobatics and Martial Artist skills entirely and gives her:

Drawbacks: Traumatic Flashbacks; Uncertainty

...which I would think apply more to Oracle, but there you go. And shouldn't all versions include:

Drawbacks: Secret Identity...?

The second edition books omit, or list largely different equipment, all of which I would consider allowable (see below).

Batcycle [Str: 4, Body: 7, Running: 6, R#: 2]

Batarang [Body: 7, Gliding: 2]

Smoke Pellets [Body: 1, Fog: 8]

And neither the Batarang, nor the Bat-Shuriken make any sense to have without House Rules granting her:

Skills: *linked
Weaponry: 7*

Finally... Why list the Utility Belt? All is has is Body: 4.  Isn't it just assumed?  Should it also have Str: 1, Limitation: Str only usable for holding up pants?