TEXT:  
   
   
   
   
  DEC 2003 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  In this issue: 
  • Lawyers 
  • Demons 
  • Bikers 
  • Agents 
  • Giants 
  • Charging 
  • Inventing 
  • Gardening 
  
   
   
   
  the secret special page 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  1
  Table of Contents 
   
  HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEERRRRRRRROOOOOOOO        HHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY        
  WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES… 
   
   
  Keep up with the news from Hero Games. 
  This issue – UNTIL:  Defenders of Freedom 
  come to the rescue. 
  2 
  HEROGLYPHS 
   
   
  See how Steve Long himself answers 
  rules questions. This issue – Charge into 
  action with new rules for Charges. 
  3 
  HERO UNIVERSE 
   
   
  The Sentinels couldn’t last a week 
  without their support staff taking care of 
  things back home. 
  6  
  YOU GOTTA HAVE CHARACTER 
   
   
  Robert Hooke was an inventor, an artist, 
  an architect, and a scholar… but by no 
  means a gentleman. 
  15 
  YOUR HOROSCOPE FOR:  LIBRA 
   
   
  You have the right to an attorney, so 
  call Irving M. Probalino, Esquire, for all 
  your supervillainous needs! 
  25 
  BIKER HERO 
   
   
  Strap on your leathers and rev up your 
  engines. Motorcycle riding characters finally 
  get their due. 
  28 
  CCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR        CCCCCCCCOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR        
  CRUCIBLE 
   
   
  A gemcutter has been melded with a 
  succubus, and the result is very pretty, but 
  definitely not nice. 
  57 
  MONOLITH 
   
   
  A Sioux woman is being forced to use 
  her giant stone alter ego on the shady side of 
  the law. 
  61 
   
   
  DIGITAL HERO 
   
   
  Publisher 
  Hero Games 
  Editor 
  Dave Mattingly 
  Authors 
  W. Jason Allen 
  Steven S. Long 
  Allen Thomas 
  Jason Walters 
  W. Ross Watson 
  Darren Watts 
  Artists 
  Robert Hooke 
  Bill Jackson 
  Derrick Thomas 
  Ron Salas 
  Cover Artist 
  Derek Stevens 
  Online 
  herogames.com 
  To Subscribe 
  herogames.com/ 
  digitalhero 
   
  HERO SystemTM ® is DOJ, Inc.'s trademark for its roleplaying system. 
  HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Champions Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Justice Inc., Danger International, Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, and Star Hero Copyright © 2002 by DOJ, 
  Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  No part of this electronic magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic 
  or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or computerization, or by any information storage and retrieval 
  system, without permission in writing from the Publisher:  DOJ, Inc., 1 Haight Street, Suite A, San Francisco, 
  California 94102. 
  Issue #16 (December 2003) 
  HERO SystemTM ® is DOJ, Inc.'s trademark for its roleplaying system. 
  HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Champions Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Justice Inc., Danger International, Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, and Star Hero Copyright © 2002 by DOJ, 
  Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  No part of this electronic magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic 
  or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or computerization, or by any information storage and retrieval 
  system, without permission in writing from the Publisher:  DOJ, Inc., 1 Haight Street, Suite A, San Francisco, 
  California 94102. 
  Issue #16 (December 2003) 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  2 
  When Last We Left Our Heroes… 
  by Steven S. Long 
   
   
  Last month we concentrated on bad guys – 
  monsters, to be specific. This month let’s turn 
  the tables and focus on the good guys… 
  specifically, the men and women of UNTIL. 
   
  About the time you read this (or not long 
  thereafter), we’ll publish UNTIL:  Defenders Of 
  Freedom, the first fully detailed, book-length 
  look at the agents of the United Nations Tribunal 
  on International Law. It’s chock-full of 
  information for both players and GMs; unlike 
  VIPER, it’s not a GM-oriented book. All the 
  secret info is locked away in the GM’s Vault so 
  the players can’t access it, but can still make use 
  of the rest of the book when creating characters, 
  NPCs, and the like. 
   
  UNTIL has seven chapters: 
  � Chapter One, A Union Of Justice, details the 
  history of UNTIL, from its roots in the 
  formation of the United Nations itself after 
  World War II to its activities and current 
  state of affairs as of late 2003. The focus 
  here is on the highlights, leaving plenty of 
  room for GMs to insert their own events into 
  the UNTIL timeline or change things to suit 
  their own campaigns. 
  � Chapter Two, Under One Banner:  The 
  United Nations, details the nature, structure, 
  and purpose of the UN itself. Since UNTIL 
  is an arm of the United Nations, it’s 
  important for you to have some 
  understanding of the organization that 
  controls it. This chapter also covers 
  international law, which affects many of 
  UNTIL’s activities. If you ever wanted to 
  know how extradition works, what 
  diplomatic immunity means, or what a 
  “state” is, this chapter will tell you. 
  � Chapter Three, The World’s Police, 
  describes the structure of UNTIL itself, from 
  Secretary-Marshall Wilhelm Carl Eckhardt 
  down to the agents and squads who fight 
  supercrime in the streets every day. It 
  includes a detailed table of organization so 
  you can figure out exactly which units of 
  UNTIL agents are posted where. Lastly, it 
  discusses UNTIL’s activities around the 
  world. 
  � Chapter Four, The Front Lines:  Agents Of 
  UNTIL, describes the rank-and-file agents 
  who make up the bulk of UNTIL. In 
  addition to covering recruitment and 
  training, it includes Package Deals for 
  twenty different types of agents, with 
  options and variations for many. Also 
  described here are UNTIL’s various “special 
  projects” that focus on a particular threat or 
  menace, such as Project Shiva, Project 
  Hermes, and Project Stargazer. The chapter 
  concludes with some general information 
  about creating UNTIL characters, such as 
  the Fringe Benefit values for UNTIL rank. 
  � Chapter Five, UNTIL Technology, describes 
  the many amazing devices UNTIL uses in 
  its war on supercrime. From blasters and 
  lasers, to high-tech body armors, to 
  computers, to vehicles of all types, UNTIL 
  has an extensive arsenal, and Chapter Five 
  tells you all about it. This chapter also 
  covers UNTIL’s major facilities around the 
  world, including the Guardhouse (UNTIL’s 
  version of Stronghold), the GATEWAY 
  space station, the NAUTILUS undersea 
  base, and UNTIL’s super-submarine, the 
  Aegir. 
  � Chapter Six, Fighting Crime, discusses 
  UNTIL’s tactics and procedures. More 
  importantly for many campaigns, it covers 
  how UNTIL relates to teams of superheroes, 
  and how your PCs can join UNTIL’s 
  Superhero Liaison Program. It also includes 
  descriptions of and character sheets for the 
  members of UNITY, UNTIL’s own 
  superteam. 
  � Chapter Seven, Gamemastering UNTIL, 
  describes how to incorporate UNTIL into 
  your Champions campaign for best effect – 
  or create an entire UNTIL-based game. It’s 
  even got information on using UNTIL in 
  other genres, such as Fantasy, Dark 
  Champions, or Science Fiction. 
   
  Last but not least, UNTIL concludes with 
  several Appendices. The first couple contain 
  information on UNTIL slang, commonly-used 
  UNTIL acronyms, a who’s who list of UNTIL 
  personnel – reference sources that make the book 
  easier to use. The last one contains some pre-
  built UNTIL Agent Templates for the GMs use. 
   
  Thanks to UNTIL, you won’t have to let 
  VIPER run roughshod through your campaign 
  world anymore. Now the thugs in green-and-
  yellow have an enemy that’s their equal – the 
  heroes in blue-and-white! 
   
  — Steven S. Long 
  HERO System Line Developer 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  HEROglyphs by Steven S. Long 
   
  Charge! 
  Expanded Rules For Charges 
   
  Here are a few expanded rules and 
  explanations for Charges, one of the most 
  popular Limitations in the book. Some of them 
  come from the Rules FAQ (but are restated here 
  for clarity), and others are brand new. 
  Using Multiple Charges 
   
  Characters often define weapons with 
  multiple settings, or similar types of devices, as 
  Multipowers (or, less commonly, other Power 
  Frameworks). Typically these Multipowers have 
  Charges for the entire reserve, representing a fuel 
  cell, clip of ammunition, or other “power source” 
  for the entire weapon or device. That raises the 
  possibility of some slots in the Multipower using 
  more than one Charge. For example, if you have 
  a Laser Rifle, maybe slot #3, Overpowered Shot, 
  represents providing extra power to the weapon 
  to create a more powerful beam. This qualifies as 
  a separate Limitation on the slot (not the 
  Multipower reserve) called Requires Multiple 
  Charges. The accompanying table indicates the 
  value of Requires Multiple Charges. 
  REQUIRES MULTIPLE CHARGES 
   
   
   Limitation 
  Number Of  
   
  Value 
  Charges Used 
   
  -¼ 
  2 per use 
   
  -½ 
  3-7 per use 
   
  -¾ 
  8-12 per use 
   
  -1 
  13-17 per use 
  …and so on. 
   
  This chart assumes the character has a fairly 
  high number of Charges – 65 or more – for his 
  Multipower. For each step up the Charges Table, 
  add an additional -¼ Limitation value (though a 
  slot can never require more Charges than the 
  entire Multipower has at full strength). Thus, for 
  a Multipower that has 16 Charges for the entire 
  Multipower, a slot that consumes 4 Charges per 
  use gets a -1¼ Limitation. 
  Conserved Charges 
   
  Sometimes a device, power, or ability needs 
  Charges to represent the fact that it gets used up, 
  runs out of power, or the like — but not every 
  use of the device, power, or ability should 
  necessarily consume a Charge. 
   
  Consider, for example, the macahuitl — the 
  Aztec “sword,” consisting of a sort of wooden 
  club with razor-sharp bits of obsidian set into 
  each edge. The obsidian blades become dull 
  from repeated use, which you can represent with 
  Charges... but not every “activation” of the 
  macahuitl uses up a Charge. Sometimes an attack 
  misses, or cuts through so cleanly that it doesn’t 
  dull the stone. 
   
  In HERO System terms, you can simulate 
  this with Conserved Charges, which reduces the 
  value of Charges based on how likely it is that 
  any given activation of the power will use up a 
  Charge. The reduction listed in the 
  accompanying table is based on a roll – the GM 
  makes the roll each time the character activates 
  the power, and if he rolls less than or equal to 
  that number, a Charge is consumed. 
   
  Alternately, you can define circumstances in 
  which a Charge is or is not used up, and assign a 
  Limitation value to that based on the rolls listed 
  in the table. With the macahuitl, for example, 
  you might define it this way:  activating the 
  power uses up a Charge if the Attack Roll 
  indicates a hit, the Attack Roll misses by only 1 
  or 2, the attack is Blocked, or the circumstances 
  otherwise indicate the obsidian blades have 
  impacted something hard enough to chip or dull 
  them. The GM assigns this a value of ½ less 
  Limitation, similar to an 11- roll. 
  CONSERVED CHARGES 
   
   
   Roll 
  Reduction In Value 
   
  14- 
  ¾ less Limitation 
   
  11- 
  ½ less Limitation 
   
  8- 
  ¼ less Limitation 
  This reduction in value can convert 
  Charges from a Limitation to an 
  Advantage. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  4 
  Adjusting Charges 
   
  Sometimes a character wants to use an 
  Adjustment Power to affect not a power, but that 
  power’s Charges. Examples include a superhero 
  with electricity powers who wants to “juice up” a 
  run-down battery (Aid Charges) or a magic spell 
  that removes bullets from a gun (Drain Charges). 
   
  To do this, the character must define his 
  Adjustment Power properly. First, unless the GM 
  rules otherwise, the Adjustment Power has to 
  work against a particular special effect, and be 
  defined as only affecting Charges:  Aid 
  Electricity Charges; Drain Bullets Charges. That 
  prevents the ability from becoming 
  unbalancingly powerful. Second, the character 
  must apply a +¼ Advantage, Charges 
  Adjustment, to the power. This signifies that the 
  change in Charges doesn’t fade normally. 
  Instead, added Charges remain until used up, and 
  removed Charges remain lost until the character 
  recovers them normally the next day (or 
  physically gets them back, in the case of things 
  like Drained bullets or arrows that remain in 
  existence). 
   
  To determine the “cost” of each Charge in a 
  device or power, divide the Active Points in the 
  power by the number of Charges it has. That 
  gives a “Character Point cost” for each Charge. 
  Then you can apply the Adjustment Power as per 
  normal. 
  Increased Reloading Time 
   
  Clips are a popular option for guns and 
  many other devices that have Charges. Reloading 
  a clip of Charges normally takes a Full Phase. If 
  it takes longer than normal for a character to 
  reload a clip, the character can increase the value 
  of his Charges Limitation, as indicated in the 
  accompanying table. A character with Fast Draw 
  can reduce the increased reloading time by half 
  with a successful roll. 
  INCREASED RELOADING TIME 
   
   
   
   
  Increased  
   
  Value  
  Reloading Time 
  ¼ more Limitation 
  2 Full Phases 
  ½ more Limitation 
  1 Turn 
  ¾ more Limitation 
  1 Minute 
  1 more Limitation 
  5 Minutes 
  …and so on. 
  Recovery Time Issues 
   
  Here are some expanded and optional rules 
  for recovering used Charges. 
  REDUCED RECOVERY TIME 
   
   
   
  As noted in the rules, the default for Charges 
  is that a character recovers them once per Day 
  (unless they are Recoverable Charges, in which 
  case it depends on how long it takes him to get 
  them back). 
   
  Generally, characters should not use 
  Recoverable Charges to simulate a power with 
  Charges that return more quickly than once per 
  day (they’re primarily appropriate for Charges 
  based on physical objects the character can 
  retrieve), but the GM can allow this if he wishes. 
  For example, a character could define his 
  Recoverable Charges as returning per Hour 
  instead of per Day. 
   
  Alternately, the GM can more precisely 
  allow for rapid Charge recovery by reducing the 
  value of the Charges Limitation based on how 
  quickly the character regains Charges. The 
  accompanying table lists the suggested reduction 
  values. 
   
  REDUCED RECOVERY TIME 
   
   
   
   
  Charges  
  Reduction  
  Recover Per… 
  ¼ less Limitation 
  6 Hours 
  ½ less Limitation 
  1 Hour 
  ¾ less Limitation 
  20 Minutes 
  1 less Limitation 
  1 Minute 
  1¼ less Limitation 
  1 Turn 
  Characters cannot reduce the recovery 
  period for Charges below 1 Turn. 
  This reduction in value can convert 
  Charges from a Limitation to an 
  Advantage. For example, if a character 
  has 4 Charges (-1) that recover on per 
  Turn basis (1¼ less Limitation), it 
  becomes a (1 - 1¼) +¼ Advantage. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  5
  INCREASED RECOVERY TIME 
   
   
   
  The Increased Recovery Time addition to the 
  value of Charges is described on page 184 of the 
  HERO System 5th Edition rulebook (as is the 
  Never Recovers addition, which is essentially 
  just an extension of Increased Recovery Time). 
   
  As a default, characters cannot apportion the 
  recovery of Charges with Increased Recovery 
  Time over the course of the defined time – they 
  all come back at the end of the period. For 
  example, if a character has a power with 30 
  Charges and Increased Recovery Time of 1 
  Month (-1), he cannot regain 1 Charge per Day 
  or the like; instead, all 30 Charges come back at 
  the end of the month. However, a GM can 
  choose to allow apportionment if desired, but if 
  he does so, he should reduce the value of the 
  Limitation (or increase the value of the 
  Advantage) by ¼ (or more) to reflect the 
  beneficial change. 
   
  The value of Increased Recovery Time has a 
  cap of -2, since that’s the value of Never 
  Recovers. By definition any recovery period, no 
  matter how long, is less hindering than never 
  having the Charges come back. 
   
  There’s no hard-and-fast rule that limits how 
  many Charges a power with Increased Recovery 
  Time or Never Recovers can have. However, as 
  always, the GM should use his common sense, 
  dramatic sense, and appreciation for game 
  balance issues when evaluating a power with 
  these Limitations. Charges which Never Recover 
  are primarily intended for intriguing power 
  constructs with a small number of Charges, like 
  a magic wand with a restricted “battery” of 
  magical energy, not for more routine powers. 
   
  Generally speaking, a power cannot have 
  both Recoverable Charges and Charges which 
  Never Recover; by definition, the special effects 
  justifying these two Limitations are so 
  incompatible as to be exclusive. A GM might 
  allow a character to combine the two if he felt it 
  wouldn’t cause game balance problems and was 
  justified by proper character/power conception. 
  Multiple-Use Charges 
   
  There are some situations in which a 
  character wants a single supply of Charges to 
  work with more than one power or device. The 
  typical example is a character with multiple 
  weapons that all use the same type of 
  ammunition – if he runs out of bullets for his 
  9mm submachine gun, he can take the clip out of 
  his 9mm pistol and use those bullets for the 
  SMG. For example, in the UNTIL sourcebook, 
  it’s mentioned that all UNTIL weapons of a 
  particular type (e.g., all blasters) can use each 
  others’ energy packs if necessary. 
   
  In some cases the GM can write this off to 
  “special effects” without worrying about it 
  further. But if the GM wants to account for the 
  increased utility of the Charges in this situation, 
  he could reduce the value of the Charges 
  Limitation by ¼ – or possibly even ¼ for every 
  x2 powers/devices the Charges can work with. 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  6 
  Hero Universe by Darren Watts 
   
  Hyvää päivää, assembled Hero fans, and 
  welcome to yet another installment of 
  Champions Universe, where the history of the 
  world is delved every thirty days or so, unless I 
  get into deadline trouble! This month, part three 
  of the deathless tale of the Sentinels, America’s 
  most convoluted supergroup, this time 
  concentrating on the bit players in the early days 
  of their saga.  
  Once the Sentinels had agreed to remain in 
  contact as a team, they quickly decided they 
  needed a central meeting place, much as the 
  Defenders of Justice had maintained a secret 
  headquarters in the Empire State Building and 
  the Fabulous Five were currently operating from 
  an office in Manhattan. Though neither 
  MeteorMan nor Rocketman were willing to 
  move from their home areas full time, they 
  agreed to return to New York on a semi-regular 
  basis for meetings and in case of emergencies. 
  Dr. Phantom volunteered the use of her mansion 
  in Connecticut, and the Sentinels agreed to make 
  it their first formal headquarters. 
  The mansion itself was located in the small 
  town of Berwick, and stood on the shore of Long 
  Island Sound. It had been built in the early 1800s 
  by a local silk importer, but had several different 
  owners before Dr. Phantom purchased it in 1959. 
  (Indeed, one of the owners in the mid-19th 
  Century was an amateur spiritualist named 
  Orford, who frequently performed séances on the 
  property. The house and grounds became 
  “haunted” by the spirit of an evil witch named 
  Amera Cosgrove, who returned in 1963 and 
  several times thereafter to menace the Sentinels.) 
  When Dr. Phantom purchased the mansion 
  she added several security features, including a 
  complete computerized security system with 
  cameras, microphones, and electronic locks, all 
  monitored from a computer panel in the 
  basement. Over the next few years, she and 
  Rocketman added several additional upgrades, 
  including beam-stunners mounted in the main 
  hallway and under hidden panels in the front 
  lawn and steel-fiber nets that were fired from 
  mini-cannons in several locations around the 
  grounds.   
  The mansion itself has two full floors and a 
  smaller basement. The main floor includes Dr. 
  Phantom’s master bedroom, a well-stocked 
  library, full dining room with a massive kitchen 
  across the hall, a veranda, and sitting room. 
  There is also a solarium that Dr. Phantom 
  converted into the official Sentinels meeting 
  room, with a massive table and an experimental 
  videophone hookup connecting the team to the 
  DoD’s Scientific Inquiry main office. The 
  eastern side of the building has two full garages 
  (one two-car and the other housing three) that 
  surround an enclosed garden with a separate, 
  gated entrance. The second floor has another full 
  living room and auxiliary kitchen, as well as four 
  more bedrooms (not including those used by 
  Ruth and Ray). The basement was mostly a wine 
  cellar and laundry room, converted by Dr. 
  Phantom and Microman into a fairly well-
  equipped set of miniature labs.   
  The building itself sits on several acres of 
  woodlands, and about 100 meters from the shore 
  of Long Island Sound. In later years, Microman 
  and Rocketman would add a tunnel running from 
  the basement labs to an underwater mooring 
  where the Sentinels’ minisub was kept. There is 
  also a landing pad in the woods east of the 
  mansion itself, originally designed for Dr. 
  Phantom’s helicopter but later used by the 
  team’s VTOL jet. 
                                                             
  artwork by Derrick Thomas 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  7
  Ruth Willmore 
  Background/History:  Ruth Dawley Willmore 
  was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1905, to a 
  solidly middle-class family (her father was a 
  middle-school principal). At the age of eighteen 
  she fell in love with (and eloped with) Max 
  Willmore, explorer and “professional adventurer.” 
  The two traveled through Europe and Asia 
  together, but broke up after a few years under 
  circumstances neither will discuss (though they 
  finally reconciled in 1965 and remained friends 
  until his death). Ruth returned to America, and 
  eventually went to work for the Army’s 
  Department of Scientific Intelligence as the 
  caretaker of a top-secret facility in upstate New 
  York known as Project Rainbow, which was 
  disguised as a rickety old house but concealed an 
  extensive maze of underground labs and barracks. 
  During World War II, Project Rainbow was the  
  US Government’s primary weapons design facility, 
  and while working there Ruth became friends with 
  the brilliant inventor (and part-time superhero) 
  Michael Maven, and his young daughter Marion 
  (who spent a lot of time in the above-ground 
  house). 
   
  After the war, Ruth traveled the world,  
  paying for her expenses by taking odd jobs and 
  occasionally working as a cook in various 
  restaurants. She remained in contact with Marion, 
  who spent most of the 1950s completing her 
  education and becoming one of the Defense 
  Department’s foremost inventors herself. In 1960 
  Marion adopted the superheroic identity of Dr. 
  Phantom, and asked Ruth to come back to 
  Connecticut to take care of the mansion she had 
  purchased to use as her base in her career as a 
  crimefighter. Ruth, who was tiring of travel, 
  happily agreed. 
   
  Ruth soon made herself utterly invaluable to 
  Dr. Phantom and her teammates in the Sentinels, 
  who adopted the mansion as their first team 
  headquarters. Always referred to as “Mrs. 
  Willmore” by everyone except Dr. Phantom, Ruth 
  kept the house clean and in good repair despite the 
  numerous supervillain attacks, alien invasions, and 
  lab accidents she endured. She used her world-
  class skills as a chef to provide the Sentinels and 
  their guests with amazing meals on a moment’s 
  notice. Almost all of the Sentinels adored and 
  admired her personally, not least for the astounding 
  bravery and resolve she would show when staring 
  down some fearsome beast that had dared to mess 
  up her beloved rose garden out in back. 
   
  Ruth accompanied the team for a brief period 
  when they moved to Sentinels Island, but decided 
  she didn’t care much for life at sea and retired from 
  the team’s service in 1973 (not before personally 
  training her replacement, of course). She moved 
  back to Berwick and the mansion, and lived there 
  until her death (from a heart attack) in 1982. 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  8 
  Ruth Willmore 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   
  5 STR 
  -5 10- Lift 50 kg; 1d6 HTH  
   
  9 DEX 
  -3 11- OCV:  3/DCV:  3 
   10 CON 
  0 11- 
   
  8 BODY 
  -4 11- 
   13 INT 
  3 12- PER Roll:  15- 
   15 EGO 
  10 12- ECV:  5 
   13 PRE 
  3 12- PRE Attack:  2½d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11- 
   
   
  1 PD 
  0 
   Total:  4 PD (3 rPD) 
   
  2 ED 
  0 
   Total:  5 ED (3 rED) 
   
  2 SPD 
  1 
   Phases:  6, 12 
   
  3 REC 
  0 
   20 END 
  0 
   16 STUN 
  0 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  5 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  1”/2” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   
  5 Unflappable: +10 PRE; Only for 
  Defense (-1) 
  0 
   
  9 Keen Senses: Enhanced Perception:  
  +3 to PER Rolls  
  0 
   
   Perks 
   
  6 Contact: The Maven Family 11- (Very 
  Useful Skills or Resources, Very Good 
  Relationship) 
   
  1 Fringe Benefit:  Security Clearance – 
  Cleared by DoD 
   
   Talents 
   
  3 Absolute Time Sense 
   
  6 Combat Luck: 3 PD/3 ED 
   
  3 Lightsleep 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 Bureaucratics 12- 
   
  3 Conversation 12- 
   
  3 High Society 12- 
   
  2 KS: History 11- 
   
  4 KS: The Sentinels 13- 
   
  2 Language: French: Fluent Conversation  
   
  3 Mechanics 12- 
   
  1 Paramedics 8- 
   
  7 PS: Cook 16- 
   
  3 PS: Housekeeper 12- 
   
  3 Stealth 11- 
   
  3 Trading 12- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  70 
   
  Total Cost:  75 
   
   50+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Distinctive Features:  Charming Little 
  Old Lady (Concealable, Not Distinctive 
  in Some Cultures) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Loyal to 
  Marion Maven (Common, Moderate) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Hates When 
  Villains Mess Up Her House (Common, 
  Moderate) 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  75 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Ruth Willmore was an 
  imposing woman despite her diminutive stature. 
  Her manners and bearing were impeccably 
  proper, but when provoked her rage was capable 
  of daunting gods and alien emperors alike. She 
  cared deeply for each of her “charges” in the 
  Sentinels, but was closest to her old friend Dr. 
  Phantom and Microman. 
   
  Quote:  “I don’t care if you are the Avatar of 
  Chaos, you will not take that tone with me, 
  young man!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Ruth Willmore had no 
  superhuman powers, though anyone who tasted 
  her peach cobbler might dispute that. She was 
  careful to stay out of the way if any violence 
  broke out. She was taken hostage occasionally 
  by various of the team’s enemies, an event which 
  infuriated her each time it occurred. 
   
  Appearance:  Ruth Willmore was a small 
  woman, standing just under five feet tall. She 
  wore her graying hair at shoulder length or 
  occasionally up in a bun. She was in excellent 
  shape for a woman of her age. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  9
  Dr. Neil Howell 
  Background/History:  Neil Howell was born in 
  Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1907, and studied 
  medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 
  Upon his graduation in 1931 he joined the Navy, 
  and worked at the Naval Medical School in 
  Portsmouth, Virginia, where he had risen to the 
  rank of Lieutenant Commander by 1938. He was 
  then transferred to Fort McLaughlin in 
  Haynesville, Kansas, where he was one of the 
  top-secret team of scientists studying the 
  “superhuman” phenomenon.  
   
  When the US finally entered World War II 
  at the end of 1941, Howell became part of a 
  classified intelligence unit called Operation 
  Audible, composed of specialists from a number 
  of fields who studied superhumans and 
  paranormal events during the war. While 
  working for Audible, Howell spent a great deal 
  of time in Asia and the South Pacific Theater, 
  and was personally responsible for the capture of 
  the Japanese superhuman Masashimi Brothers. 
  After the war was over, Howell continued to 
  work at Fort McLaughlin until its closure in 
  1946. He then worked for a series of other 
  special government projects until retiring in 
  1957, intending to live a simpler life as a  
  small-town doctor in Berwick, a town he  
  and his friend Michael Maven had lived in 
  briefly during the war. 
   
  He remained in touch with his friend’s 
  daughter, Marion (Dr. Phantom) Maven,  
  and not long after the Sentinels established  
  their headquarters in her mansion Marion  
  called on his assistance in bringing  
  MeteorMan out of a coma induced by  
  the villain Plague in 1963. From that  
  point on, despite his occasional gentle  
  protests that he was trying to enjoy his 
  retirement, Howell became the unofficial team 
  physician of the Sentinels, working alongside the 
  heroes to solve medical mysteries and help 
  injured heroes recuperate. He also began a 
  romantic relationship with Ruth Willmore.  
   
  Howell continued to act as a valued advisor 
  and doctor to the Sentinels until his death in 
  1970, when he sacrificed his own life trying to 
  stop the mad Lemurian called Hoarfrost from 
  killing Hex. The Sentinels created and endowed 
  the Neil Howell Medical Center, a medical 
  research facility located on Long Island, in his 
  honor.  
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  10 
  Dr. Neil Howell 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   10 STR 
  0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH  
   11 DEX 
  3 11- OCV:  4/DCV:  4 
   11 CON 
  2 11- 
   
  9 BODY 
  -2 11- 
   18 INT 
  8 13- PER Roll:  13- 
   13 EGO 
  6 12- ECV:  4 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11- 
   
   
  3 PD 
  1 
   Total:  3 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  2 ED 
  0 
   Total:  2 ED (0 rED) 
   
  2 SPD 
  0 
   Phases:  6, 12 
   
  4 REC 
  0 
   22 END 
  0 
   20 STUN 
  0 
   
    
  Total Characteristics Cost:  23 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2”/4” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Perks 
   12 Contact:  Department of Defense 11- 
  (Access to Major Institutions, Useful 
  Skills or Resources, Organization) 
   
  3 Contact:  The Maven Family 11- 
  (Useful Skills or Resources) 
   
  1 Fringe Benefit:  License to Practice a 
  Profession (Doctor) 
   
  5 Money:  Well Off 
   
  2 Reputation:  Brilliant Medical 
  Researcher (Medium-Sized Group, 11-) 
  +2/+2d6 
   
   Skills 
   
  9 +3 with Forensic Medicine, Paramedics, 
  and Medicine 
   
   
  1 Breakfall 8- 
   
  1 Bureaucratics 8- 
   
  3 Combat Driving 11- 
   
  3 Computer Programming 13- 
   
  3 Concealment 13- 
   
  3 Forensic Medicine 13- 
   
  3 High Society 12- 
   
  6 KS: Unusual Diseases and Paranormal 
  Medicine 16- 
   
  1 Language:  German (Basic) 
   
  1 Language:  Japanese (Basic) 
   
  3 Navigation (Land, Marine) 13- 
   
  3 Paramedics 13- 
   
  3 PS: Country Doctor (PRE-Based) 12- 
   
  3 SS: Medicine 13- 
   
  3 SS: Biology 13- 
   
  3 Survival (Marine Surface, Tropical) 13- 
   
  2 WF: Small Arms 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  77 
   
  Total Cost:  100 
   
   50+ Disadvantages 
   10 DNPC:  Sarah (Daughter) 8- (Normal) 
   10 Hunted:  Haynesville Project 8- (Mo 
  Pow, NCI, Watching) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Can’t Resist 
  a Medical Mystery (Common, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Wants to 
  Retire Peacefully and Live a Normal 
  Life (Common, Moderate) 
   
  5 Unluck:  1d6 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  100 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Dr. Howell 
  maintained a public air of gruffness and 
  complaining, but was at heart the gentlest and 
  most compassionate of souls. He devoted his life 
  both to caring for the sick and uncovering 
  medical mysteries, and was responsible for 
  coming up with cures for half-a-dozen dangerous 
  diseases, viruses, and toxins.  
   
  Quote:  “Don’t you people ever knock? Why, I 
  ought to… what’s that? People are turning into 
  plants on the streets of New York? Well, get out 
  of my way!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Dr. Howell had no 
  superhuman powers or abilities, though he was 
  one of the foremost medical researchers and 
  experts on paranormal medicine on the planet.  
   
  Appearance:  Howell stood about 5’10”, with 
  white hair, a bushy mustache and piercing blue 
  eyes. He generally dressed in ordinary, 
  conservative street clothes, and often wore a 
  white lab coat over them. He was a bit 
  overweight in his later years, largely due to 
  frequent exposure to Mrs. Willmore’s cooking. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  11
  Ray Dillon  
  Background/History:  Ray Dillon was born in 
  Florida in 1932, a small-time thug who 
  alternated between legitimate farming jobs and 
  strong-arming shopkeepers when times were 
  slow. By 1961 he had drifted north and found 
  himself in the employ of Tommy London, one of 
  New York City’s competing crime bosses. While 
  in London’s employ Dillon was part of a gang 
  sent to a downtown museum to steal a new 
  exhibit of Himalayan statues, one of whom had 
  apparently been carved from a strange meteor. 
  Upon touching this statue, Dillon was 
  transformed into the monstrous being called 
  Krogg, and went on a wild rampage that pitted 
  him against the Sentinels and was only ended 
  when Rocketman destroyed the statue itself.  
   
  Dillon was so grateful for being returned to 
  his normal self that he reformed, and committed 
  himself to doing good. Dr. Phantom hired him to 
  be the gardener and groundskeeper for the 
  Berwick mansion, a job he performed with 
  aplomb over the next decade (despite twice being 
  transformed back into Krogg against his will). 
  Dillon remained the gardener for the Sentinels 
  through their eventual move to Sentinel Island, 
  and retired in 1983. He is now married, with 
  three kids and owns a small landscaping firm in 
  Albany that is managed by one of his sons.    
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Dillon remained 
  grateful and loyal to the Sentinels for 
  transforming him back to a human for the rest of 
  his life, and took special pride in his duties, 
  “keepin’ the place lookin’ nice.” In the early 
  days, he still was prone to drink a bit too much 
  and occasionally get into the odd bar brawl, but 
  he eventually grew out of that as well and 
  became an upstanding citizen of Berwick. He 
  was particularly close to Mrs. Willmore, as well 
  as Sentinels like Beowulf, Scarlet Archer, and 
  Iron Maiden, all of whom were “tough” and 
  would occasionally join Ray for a beer and/or a 
  cigar occasionally.  
   
  Quote:  “Hey, you better take dat back or I’m 
  gonna have ta pound ya one.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  In his ordinary human form, 
  Ray had no superhuman powers, though he was 
  fairly adept at hand-to-hand combat and could 
  use a gun when necessary.  
   
  Appearance:  Ray was a large man, standing 
  about 6’3” and weighing over 230 pounds. He 
  had black hair that turned to gray over the years, 
  brown eyes, and a nose that had clearly been 
  broken more than once. He favored white t-shirts 
  and brown slacks, and was usually dirty from his 
  efforts at maintaining the mansion’s extensive 
  grounds. 
  Krogg 
  Background/History:  See Ray Dillon’s story 
  above. No explanation was ever found for the 
  original transformation, or what the Himalayan 
  idol was actually for. Dillon was transformed 
  into Krogg on two other occasions, once when 
  Dillon was exposed to a meteorite, and again 
  when the villain Rictus struck him with a blast of 
  energy.  
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Krogg is 
  temperamental, easily frustrated, and prone to 
  destructive rages. He has the approximate 
  intelligence of a small child, and can clearly 
  understand simple instructions or concepts 
  despite his own inability to communicate. He 
  may be motivated by Dillon’s own horror or self-
  hatred at his transformation; Krogg was once 
  observed flailing wildly at his own reflection in a 
  glassy skyscraper window. 
   
  Quote:  “KROGG!” (Krogg can’t speak. His 
  name comes from Rocketman jokingly asking 
  him what his name was when they first fought, 
  and then attempting to transliterate the resulting 
  roar. Lacking anything else to call the beast, the 
  name stuck.) 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Krogg is tremendously strong, 
  and the horn projecting from his forehead can be 
  used not only as a striking weapon but somehow 
  generates beams of devastating blue energy. 
  Krogg is not very bright, but has a certain native 
  cunning. Primarily the creature simply lashes out 
  at anything that annoys him, but he will use his 
  horn to its best advantage in combat. He also is 
  smart enough to use large objects or pieces of the 
  surrounding environment as weapons.  
   
  Appearance:  Krogg is a monstrous creature, 
  standing over twenty-five feet high and weighing 
  about eight tons. He is covered head-to-foot with 
  a brown furry pelt, longer on his head, arms, and 
  legs below the knees than the rest of his body. 
  Projecting from his forehead is a massive horn 
  over three feet long, which occasionally glows 
  with blue energy and can fire powerful blasts.  
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  12 
  Ray Dillon  
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   13 STR 
  3 12- Lift 150 kg; 2½d6 HTH  
   10 DEX 
  0 11- OCV:  3/DCV:  3 
   11 CON 
  2 11- 
   12 BODY 
  4 11- 
   
  9 INT 
  -1 11- PER Roll:  11- 
   10 EGO 
  0 11- ECV:  3 
   10 PRE 
  0 11- PRE Attack:  2d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11- 
   
   
  4 PD 
  1 
   Total:  4 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  3 ED 
  1 
   Total:  3 ED (0 rED) 
   
  2 SPD 
  0 
   Phases:  6, 12 
   
  5 REC 
  0 
   24 END 
  1 
   26 STUN 
  1 
   
    
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  12 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2½”/5” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
   
   Martial Arts:  Brawling 
   
   Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 
   
  4 Roundhouse +0 
  +2 
  4½d6 
  Strike 
   
  3 Tackle 
  +2 
  +1 
  2½d6 
  Strike, 
  Both Fall 
   
  4 Choke Hold -2 
  +0 
  One Limb, 
  2d6 NND 
   
   Perks 
   
  4 Contact:  Dr. Phantom 8- (Very Useful 
  Skills or Resources, Good Relationship) 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 Climbing 11- 
   
  4 Gambling (Dice Games, Sports Betting) 11- 
   
  3 KS: Gardening and Landscaping 12- 
   
  3 Mechanics 11- 
   
  2 PS: Groundskeeper/Gardener 11- 
   
  3 Streetwise 11- 
   
  3 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, 
  Agricultural & Construction Vehicles 
   
  2 WF: Small Arms 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  38 
   
  Total Cost:  50 
   
   50+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Accidental Change:  To Krogg: Strange 
  Radiation or Chemicals 8- (Uncommon) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Loyal to Dr. 
  Phantom and the Sentinels (Common, 
  Moderate) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Enjoys a 
  Good Brawl (Common, Moderate) 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  50 
   
    
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  13
  13
  Krogg 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  14 
  Krogg 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   70 STR 
  60 23- Lift 400 tons; 14d6 HTH  
   21 DEX 
  33 13- OCV:  7/DCV:  7 
   35 CON 
  50 16- 
   23 BODY 
  26 14- 
   
  6 INT 
  -4 10- PER Roll:  10- 
   20 EGO 
  20 13- ECV:  7 
   23 PRE 
  13 14- PRE Attack:  4½d6 
   
  2 COM 
  -4 
  9- 
   
   33 PD 
  19 
   Total:  33 PD (25 rPD) 
   25 ED 
  18 
   Total:  25 ED (20 rED) 
   
  5 SPD 
  19 
   Phases:  3, 5, 8, 10, 12 
   21 REC 
  0 
   70 END 
  0 
   76 STUN 
  0 
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  250 
  Movement: Running: 
  12”/24” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  14”/28” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   60 Energy-Horn:  Multipower, 60-point 
  Reserve 
   
   6u 1)  Energy-Horn:  EB 12d6 (versus ED) 6 
   6u 2)  Energy-Horn:  HKA 4d6 (8d6 with 
  STR) (versus PD) 
  6/12 
   
   30 General Toughness:  Physical Damage 
  Reduction, Resistant, 50% 
   
  0 
   28 General Toughness:  Damage 
  Resistance (25 PD/20 ED), Hardened 
  (+¼) 
  0 
   39 General Toughness:  Life Support  
  (Immunity: All Terrestrial Diseases, 
  Biowarfare Agents, Terrestrial Poisons, 
  and Chemical Warfare Agents; Safe in: 
  High Pressure, High Radiation, Intense 
  Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/ 
  Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing) 
  0 
   12 Heavy:  Knockback Resistance -6” 
  0 
   
  8 Longer Reach:  Stretching 2”; No 
  Noncombat Stretching (-¼) 
  1 
   12 Long Legs:  Running +6” (12” Total) 
  1 
   15 Enhanced Sense of Smell:  
  Discriminatory Tracking (Smell/Taste 
  Group) 
  0 
   
   Skills 
   24 +3 with All Combat 
   
   
  3 Breakfall 13- 
   
  3 Climbing 13- 
   
  3 Tracking 10- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  254 
   
  Total Cost:  504 
   
   200+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Accidental Change:  To Ray Dillon: 
  Strange Radiation or Chemicals 8- 
  (Uncommon) 
   25 Distinctive Features:  Enormous, Shaggy, 
  Horned Monster (Not Concealable, 
  Extreme Reaction) 
   20 Hunted:  Sentinels 11- (As Pow, Very 
  Easy to Find) 
   20 Physical Limitation:  Inconvenient Size 
  (20’ Tall) (All the Time, Greatly 
  Impairing) 
   20 Physical Limitation:  Largely Mute, Only 
  Knows a Few Words (All the Time, 
  Greatly Impairing) 
   25 Psychological Limitation:  Bad Tempered 
  and Violent (Very Common, Total) 
   15 Reputation:  Destructive Monster 11- 
  (Extreme) 
   20 Vulnerability:  2x Effect from Gasses 
  (Common) 
   154 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  504 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  15
  You Gotta Have Character by Jason Walters 
   
   “Life is lived forwards, but understood 
  backwards” — Kierkegaard 
   
   
   
   
  He was not so much pale as grey, 
  nor so much unhealthy as spectral, nor 
  so much sinister as inhuman. With his 
  sharp, pinched features and arrogant, 
  piercing eyes he couldn’t help but 
  appear perpetually displeased; those 
  unfortunate enough to stray into his 
  field of view invariably found 
  themselves pinned, like some 
  unfortunate specimen, by that 
  unflinching gaze. Though the alchemist 
  had tied his long, lank hair back behind 
  his head using a random bit of brightly 
  colored twine plucked away from some 
  experiment or the other, it did little to 
  dispel his ghoulish air. He was covered 
  from head to toe in dog’s blood; some 
  dry, some still wet and steaming. His 
  once fashionable clothing had been 
  reduced to near rags from weeks of 
  neglect, spills, tears, and burns inflicted 
  in the hellish depths of his 
  unfathomable laboratory. He glared 
  unhappily at his royal guest, obviously 
  unimpressed and eager to return to his 
  ghastly work. 
   
  At least the inhuman screaming had 
  stopped. 
   
  “How does this day find you, my 
  lord?” the gaunt man asked in his usual 
  acrid, fearless tone. 
   
  “Significantly better than it finds 
  the denizens your kennel, Master 
  Hooke,” replied John Comstock, Earl of 
  Epsom and Lord Chancellor of 
  England. He was also speaking in his 
  usual tone, which (in direct contrast to 
  Hooke’s) was both amiable as well as 
  slightly amused. “Now that you’ve 
  thoroughly exterminated West 
  Wickham’s indigent canine population, 
  do you have any plans to march on 
  Oxford? Or should I place an armed 
  guard over my prized fox terriers lest 
  their insides become outsides?”  
   
  Hooke fixed his very best 
  vivisectionist’s gaze upon Comstock 
  before raising a sinister eyebrow, 
  cocking his head even more to one side 
  (he had a very unusual posture), and 
  began to wipe steaming blood from his 
  hands onto the butcher’s apron which 
  he commonly wore over his clothing. 
  While this sight was surely frightening 
   
  enough to cower an 18 stone blacksmith 
  or a toothless prize fighter, it had little 
  effect upon the Earl, who had spent the 
  better part of the previous year on The 
  Continent watching young men’s legs 
  getting inconveniently blown off by 
  Dutch cannonballs. So Comstock 
  waited patiently while Hooke devoted a 
  considerable period of time working 
  hard at being particularly ghastly, 
  dropping various bits of dog into 
  various jars of preservatives before 
  finally dumping the poor creature’s 
  body into a sickly looking box marked 
  “maggot experiment #22.”  
   
  “Are you quite done now Robert?” 
  asked the Earl patiently, “There is the 
  pressing matter of hunting, drinking, 
  and mistress mongering for me to attend 
  to….” 
   
  Hooke snorted derisively; his 
  whoremongering in Whitechapel was 
  the stuff of urban legend. All of his 
  spare time and money were devoted to a 
  devout pursuit of fallen women. A 
  lifetime given over to dissection and 
  death, when combined with an almost 
  bizarrely shaped physique, had given 
  Hooke a rare appreciation of feminine 
  beauty… preferably in bulk, as it were, 
  and paid for in advance. Comstock, on 
  the other hand, was known for being a 
  rather devoted husband. Oh, he might 
  go hunting or take to the bottle for a 
  while, but philandering was simply not 
  in his nature.     
   
  The Earl tapped his chin, as if in 
  deep thought. 
   
  “And there is the small matter our 
  mutual friend with his medical 
  ailments,” he said evenly. “You know, 
  the one who put you up in this hideous 
  pile of Elizabethan stone so that you 
  could be free do to go about your daily 
  business of slaughtering every last one 
  of God’s poor creatures within a five 
  mile radius – dogs, cats, frogs, sheep, 
  and pigeons alike – in the hopes that 
  you might find a solution to his rather 
  serious problem.” 
   
  Hooke nodded solemnly at his 
  friend.  
   
  “So,” he muttered, “the King’s 
  stones are getting worse, are they?” 
   
  “Yes. He can no longer hold his 
  water. Soon he shall have to join his 
  own infant son in the daily ritual of the 
   
  A NOTE ON 
  ROBERT HOOKE 
   
   
   Of all of the varied 
  and fascinating 
  historical personages I 
  have had the distinct 
  privilege of writing 
  about in the pages of 
  Digital Hero, none 
  has given me as much 
  trouble as Robert 
  Hooke. I found 
  myself alternately 
  fascinated, repulsed, 
  enamored, and 
  overborne by him.  
   Eventually, I found 
  myself drowning in 
  him. There is simply 
  too much Hooke to fit 
  into a single, skimpy 
  article. For that matter 
  there may be too 
  much Hooke to fit 
  into a good-sized 
  biography: you 
  quickly find yourself 
  asking, “Where did he 
  find the time to do so 
  many things in his 
  life?” Did he ever 
  sleep? Was he, 
  emotionally speaking, 
  an unfeeling monster 
  or a person of 
  profound emotion? 
  Who, exactly, was 
  this man? As we will 
  never truly know, 
  gentle reader, please 
  forgive my 
  amateurish fumbling. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  16 
  diaper change. Not to fear, however, for 
  within six months of that he will no 
  longer be able to make water at all, and 
  will have to contemplate following his 
  beloved father into an early grave. As 
  neither of the possibilities is something 
  our royal majesty is exactly looking 
  forward to, he has bid me come down to 
  your horrible wizard’s lair to see if you 
  have made any progress in your quest to 
  find a cure. 
   
  “So, what have you discovered 
  Robert?” 
   
  Hooke motioned for his friend to 
  follow him to a long table where a 
  bizarre, segmented copper device lay 
  mounted to a tiny stand. It was 
  surrounded on all sides by a riot of 
  bottles, cans, beakers, boxes, and 
  pouches – like a marble statue in the 
  center of a busy marketplace. He then 
  began searching through his alchemical 
  storage collection, muttering under his 
  breath as he searched. 
   
  Comstock picked up a large, 
  leather-bound notebook from a 
  neighboring writing desk and began to 
  flip casually through the pages. Soon a 
  low whistle escaped from his lips. 
   
  “What?” snipped Hooke irritably, a 
  tiny pot marked SNAIL’S TEETH 
  clutched in one hand while an envelope 
  marked GOLDENSEAL lay in the 
  other. 
   
  “Robert, I had no idea you were 
  such an accomplished artist,” the Earl 
  noted admiringly, “why these fantastic 
  looking creatures seem as though they 
  are about to spring right off of the 
  page!” 
   
  “When my father, may the devil 
  roast his soul, passed away I was 
  apprenticed to a portrait-painter. When 
  he was sober he taught me some small 
  portion of his art.” 
   
  “It’s magnificent.” 
   
  “It’s garbage,” Hooke argued, 
  “anyone can be an artist. You simply 
  stare at an object until you know it 
  intimately, then you draw it onto paper. 
  Any village idiot can do it. The more 
  time I spend at my microscopic device, 
  however, the greater my appreciation 
  for God’s creations. True beauty can 
  only be found in natural forms. All else 
  is clumsy imitation and petty human 
  bungling. Aha! Here it is!” 
   
  With something approaching 
  triumph he pulled forth from his 
  menagerie a small vial filled with a  
   
  yellow liquid. Comstock stared at it 
  curiously as Hooke began dribbling 
  samples into a tiny circular slide.  
   
  “What is it, old man?” 
   
  Without answering the alchemist 
  busied himself over his bizarre copper 
  contraption, peering through its 
  narrower end as he made adjustments to 
  a series of tiny screws located upon its 
  body. With a dash of style unusual for 
  such a dour, consumptive man, 
  beautiful scrolling had been etched into 
  the body of the device, giving it the 
  superficial appearance of an enormous 
  oddly shaped gentleman’s watch. 
  Seemingly satisfied by these arcane 
  adjustments, he slipped the tiny piece of 
  glass into its maw before launching into 
  yet another orgy of incremental 
  corrections.  
   
  “Say, Robert, is that one of those 
  flea glasses made by that clever 
  Leeuwenhoek fellow?” 
   
  Hooke snorted. 
   
  “I bought one of his instruments; 
  but I couldn’t do a bedammed thing 
  with it,” Hooke sneered, “so I built my 
  own model by compounding two 
  viewing glasses together. By making 
  adjustments I can enlarge my subject to 
  a far, far greater level of magnification 
  than Leeuwenhoek can with his toys. 
  Here, look.” 
   
  The Earl bent over, placing a single 
  eye over the devices tiny viewing 
  window. After a moments confusion he 
  was able to clearly make a field of 
  golden diamonds and crystals, 
  glistening in the soft light which was 
  captured by a light amplifying glass 
  attached to the base of the microscope. 
  It was unearthly and magnificent, like a 
  garden of divine riches; for a moment 
  the great man’s breath was actually 
  taken away.  
   
  “I have compared thee, O my love, 
  to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s 
  chariots,” muttered an awed sounding 
  Comstock, “Thy cheeks are comely 
  with rows of jewels, thy neck with 
  chains of gold.” 
   
  “Song of Solomon.” Hooke nodded 
  in agreement, “So thought I the first 
  time I laid eyes upon this Turkish 
  mogul’s horde of riches, glistening so 
  elegant and beaconing in the light of my 
  microscope, so real that I felt as though 
  I could almost reach down its tiny throat 
  to pull them forth. Truly God’s works 
  are marvelous far beyond anything that 
   
  HOOKE, LINE, 
  AND STINKER  
   
   
   “Hooke had 
  barricaded himself 
  behind a miniature 
  apothecary shop of 
  bottles, purses, and 
  flasks, and was 
  mixing up his dinner: 
  a compound of 
  mercury, iron filings, 
  flowers of sulphur, 
  purgative waters from 
  diverse springs, many 
  of which were Lethal 
  to Waterfowl; and 
  extracts of several 
  plants, including the 
  rhubarb and the 
  opium poppy. ‘He is 
  still alive, I see,’ 
  Roger [Comstock] 
  mused. ‘If Hooke 
  spent any more time 
  lingering at Death’s 
  door, Satan himself 
  would have the man 
  ejected for vagrancy.’ 
  Yet just as I am 
  wondering whether I 
  can make time for his 
  funeral, I learn from 
  Sources that he is 
  campaigning like a 
  French regiment 
  through every 
  whorehouse in 
  Whitechapel.” 
  — Neal Stephenson,
  Quicksilver
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  17
  even King Solomon, the wisest man of 
  ancient times, knew; for all of the 
  wealth, those mountains of plates, 
  rectangles, and squares, you see before 
  you in encompassed by just a single 
  drop of our king’s most royal urine.”  
    
  Comstock’s head jerked up as 
  suddenly as if he had been slapped. He 
  quickly recovered himself, though; 
  getting offended by Hooke never got 
  you anywhere. His health was so poor, 
  his nearness to death so total throughout 
  his entire existence that he had 
  developed a soldier’s fearless contempt 
  to his own physical well being. Robert 
  Hooke could not be frightened, nor 
  intimidated, nor bought, nor controlled, 
  nor even apparently poisoned (at least 
  not by himself). Only directed by 
  someone as clever as he, or at least 
  nearly so, and the Earl was as close as a 
  mere mortal man came. 
   
  “If I were to look at a drop of my 
  own fluid would it be as glorious as 
  his?” 
   
  “No, or if it did you would wish it 
  didn’t,” Hooke chuckled, “our majesty 
  would be far, far better off having the 
  undistinguished urine of a papist Irish 
  beet farmer. Its appearance is indicative 
  of his condition; for these are the infant 
  forms of the far larger stone which 
  dwells in his bowels, clogging up the 
  royal plumbing.” 
   
  “Have you found anything which 
  could dissolve the stone so that it can 
  pass out of his system?” Comstock 
  asked hopefully. It did seem as though 
  Hooke really had been putting some 
  thought into the problem. 
   
  “There are various toxic oils and 
  strong acids which can destroy these 
  growths – but I don’t think our Lordship 
  wants any of them squirted into his 
  bowels. No, the only way to cure the 
  King is operate upon his innards.” 
   
  Comstock swallowed. Hard. Hooke 
  motioned dramatically around his mad 
  butcher’s lair at various preserved bits 
  of dog corpse, at assorted anatomical 
  drawings pinned upon its walls, and at 
  the massive tray of sharp surgical 
  instruments soaking in rotgut whisky. 
   
  “Perhaps you thought I was 
  murdering my way through the canine 
  kingdom because I was most cruel. Or 
  you may have thought that I was trying 
  to procure some sort of arcane spell 
  component from the bowels of some 
  poor back alley mongrel. Nothing could 
   
  be further from the truth; I’ve simply 
  been practicing my technique. It will be 
  terribly hard for the King, painful far 
  beyond anything which most men ever 
  endure in their lives if they are 
  fortunate. But he is yet young, strong, 
  and has survived the powder and shot of 
  battle, as well as the needle and thread 
  of the barber surgeon in the field.” 
   
  John nodded. In war the doctors 
  were often more dangerous than the 
  bullets and bayonets men faced. The 
  alchemist grinned his crooked 
  deadman’s grin. 
   
  “It will take a man without 
  compassion, yeah without charity to 
  perform this operation upon another 
  man. I am that fellow; for I am Robert 
  Hooke and I know no mercy.” 
   
  Infamous Baroque-era scientist Robert 
  Hooke may have been one of the most brilliant, 
  irritating, prolific, inventive, perverse, and cold-
  blooded men ever to walk upon the earth. He 
  was certainly one of the greatest experimental 
  scientists of the 17th Century. An artist, linguist, 
  astronomer, microscopist, alchemist, mechanic, 
  architect, civil engineer, chemist, optician, 
  inventor, physician, philosopher, botanist, and 
  anatomist, he served as the first Curator of 
  Experiments for the now infamous Royal Society 
  of London before being appointed Royal 
  Surveyor after the Great Fire of London in 1666. 
  Later he helped design the Royal Greenwich 
  Observatory as well as the now infamous 
  Bethlehem Hospital and Asylum known simply 
  as Bedlam. 
   
  Hooke is remembered as the inventor of, 
  among other things, the iris diaphragm in 
  cameras, the universal joint used in motor 
  vehicles, the respirator, the anchor escapement 
  and balance wheel used in watches (which made 
  accurate timepieces possible), and as the 
  originator of the word “cell” in biology. He is 
  best known for Hooke’s Law of Elasticity, which 
  states that the extension of an elastic spring is 
  linearly proportional to its tension. He also 
  worked out the first correct theory of 
  combustion. Hooke was an important early 
  surgical pioneer, an argent, prolific vivisectionist 
  of infamous, epic proportions, and an architect of 
  prodigious output. 
   
  In his spare time, Robert Hooke laid the 
  groundwork for modern paleontology, postulated 
  a theory of evolution two and a half centuries 
  before Darwin was born, hit upon the theory of 
  petrification, invented the compound 
  microscope, kept his underage niece as a 
  mistress, and slept his way through most of 
  London’s low quality brothels. His was a life 
  unlike any other. 
  PETER LELY 
  (1618-1680) 
   
   
   Peter Lely, the son 
  of an English military 
  officer stationed 
  abroad, was a talented 
  portrait painter who 
  studied at Haarlem in 
  Holland under Van 
  Dyck. In 1643 he 
  moved to London, 
  quickly establishing 
  himself in London as 
  one of the nation’s 
  most important artists. 
  His portraits of 
  Charles I, James the 
  Duke of York, and 
  Oliver Cromwell 
  survive to this day. 
  After the Restoration, 
  the new king, Charles 
  II, appointed Lely to 
  the position of official 
  court painter. Like so 
  many other artists 
  before and since, he 
  died from excessive 
  alcoholism at the age 
  of 62.   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  18 
  Robert Hooke 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   13 STR 
  3 12- Lift 150 kg; 2½d6 HTH  
   18 DEX 
  24 13- OCV:  6/DCV:  6 
   
  8 CON 
  -4 11- 
   13 BODY 
  6 12- 
   27 INT 
  17 14- PER Roll:  14- 
   17 EGO 
  14 12- ECV:  6 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   
  8 COM 
  -1 11- 
   
   
  4 PD 
  1 
   Total:  4 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  2 ED 
  0 
   Total:  2 ED (0 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  2 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  7 REC 
  4 
   25 END 
  5 
   26 STUN 
  2 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  76 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2½”/5” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Perks 
   
  6 Reputation:  Famous Savant (medium-
  sized group; 14-) +3/+3d6 
   
  3 Well-Connected 
   
  6 1)  Contact:  King of England (Access to 
  Major Institutions, Significant Contacts of 
  His Own, Good Relationship) 13- 
   29 2)  Contact:  The Royal Society of 
  London (Access to Major Institutions, 
  Extremely Useful Skills or Resources, 
  Good Relationship, Organization) 14- 
  Talents 
   
  5 Eidetic Memory 
   
  3 Lightning Calculator 
   
  3 Lightsleep 
   
  4 Speed Reading (x10) 
  Skills 
   
  5 Bureaucratics 13- 
   
  3 CK: London 14- 
   15 Cramming (x3) 
   
  3 Cryptography 14- 
   
  3 Forensic Medicine 14- 
   
  5 High Society 13- 
   
  5 Inventor 15- 
   
  5 Mechanics 15- 
   
  2 Navigation 14- 
   
  3 Oratory 12- 
   
  3 Streetwise 12- 
   
  4 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & 
  Rockets, Muscle-Powered Ranged) 14- 
   
   
  3 Jack of All Trades 
   
  2 1)  PS: Alchemist 14- 
   
  3 2)  PS: Architect 15- 
   
  2 3)  PS: Artist 13- 
   
  2 4)  PS: Musician 13- 
   
  2 5)  PS: Surgeon 14- 
   
  3 Linguist 
   
  1 1)  Language:  Dutch (Conversation) 
   
  2 2)  Language:  French (Fluent) 
   
  1 3)  Language:  Greek (Conversation) 
   
  2 4)  Language:  Latin (Fluent) 
   
   
  3 Scholar 
   
  2 1)  KS: Ancient History 14- 
   
  2 2)  KS: English History 14- 
   
  3 3)  KS: History of Medicine 15- 
   
  2 4)  KS: History of Science 14- 
   
  2 5)  KS: Western Philosophy 14- 
   
   
  3 Scientist 
   
  2 1)  SS:  Anatomy 14- 
   
  3 2)  SS:  Astronomy 15- 
   
  2 3)  SS:  Botany 14- 
   
  2 4)  SS:  Chemistry 14- 
   
  2 5)  SS:  Geology 14- 
   
  2 6)  SS:  Geometry 14- 
   
  2 7)  SS:  Microbiology 14- 
   
  2 8)  SS:  Optometry 14- 
   
  2 9)  SS:  Paleontology 14- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  175 
   
  Total Cost:  250 
   
   100+ Disadvantages 
   10 Dependence:  Various Substances in 
  Arcane Combinations, Including Opium 
  Poppies, Quicksilver, Metal Shavings, 
  Rare Herbs, and “Curative” Waters 
  (Difficult To Obtain, 2d6 Damage per 6 
  Hours) 
   15 Distinctive Features:  Bizarrely 
  Crooked Back (Not Concealable) 
   15 DNPC:  Grace Hooke (His Niece/Wife) 
  11- (Normal) 
   
  5 Physical Limitation:  Extremely Bad 
  Posture (Infrequently, Slightly) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Cruel  
  (Common, Moderate) 
   20 Psychological Limitation:  Jealous 
  (Very Common, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Xenophobic  
  (Uncommon, Strong) 
   10 Reputation:  Eccentric, Foul-Tempered 
  Alchemist Most Cruel 11- 
   
  5 Rivalry:  Professional (Christian 
  Huyghens, Rival is As Powerful, Seek 
  to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate 
  Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry) 
   15 Rivalry:  Professional (Sir Isaac 
  Newton, Rival is Significantly More 
  Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or 
  Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of 
  Rivalry) 
   10 Social Limitation:  Definitely Not a 
  Gentleman (Frequently, Minor) 
   25 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  250 
  HOOKE AND THE 
  GREAT FIRE OF 
  LONDON 
   
   
   On a cheery Sunday 
  morning in 1666 a fire 
  broke out in King 
  Charles II’s private 
  bakery on Pudding 
  Lane. Quickly 
  reaching the 
  neighboring inn’s 
  haystack, it spread 
  with startling rapidity. 
  Within five short days 
  the city which 
  Shakespeare had 
  known, indeed all of 
  mediaeval London, 
  was forever gone. An 
  area of almost 650 
  acres lay in 
  unrecognizable ashes; 
  373 acres inside the 
  city walls and 63 
  acres outside. Some 
  87 churches, 
  including St. Paul’s 
  Cathedral, had been 
  annihilated along with 
  13,200 homes. It was 
  a disaster of 
  apocalyptic 
  proportions, 
  destroying both the 
  city’s closely packed 
  buildings and its 
  equally closely 
  packed inhabitants 
  with equal abandon.  
   In the wake of this 
  horrific event, Hooke 
  (ever a devoted 
  Londoner) produced a 
  workable, well-
  thought-out plan for 
  the reconstruction of 
  the city and presented 
  it to King Charles. 
  Though this plan 
  wasn’t adopted due to 
  its high building 
  costs, it did result in 
  his being appointed 
  Lord Surveyor of 
  London. In this 
  capacity he laid out 
  new foundations, 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  19
   
  Background/History: Robert Hooke was born 
  the younger of two brothers in 1635 in the town 
  of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. His father, 
  John Hooke, a curate at All Saints Church who 
  also ran a small school to help supplement his 
  income, undoubtedly hoped that his youngest 
  son would enter the clergy of the Anglican 
  Church, as was normal for all Hooke men 
  (John’s three brothers were all ministers). 
  Unfortunately, as was all too common for 
  English children of that age, Robert suffered 
  from poor health and was thus not expected to 
  reach adulthood. All the same, his parents began 
  to set up his education with the church in mind; 
  but he continually suffered from headaches 
  which made studying very hard. Lacking 
  confidence that he would ever amount to 
  anything or even reach adulthood, Robert’s 
  parents gave up on his education, leaving him 
  largely to his own devices.  
   
  Fortunately for history, Robert was born 
  with uncanny observational and mechanical 
  skills. He carefully scrutinized the plants, 
  animals, farms, rocky cliffs, oceans, and the 
  beaches of the isle. He became fascinated by 
  mechanical toys and clocks, making delightful 
  things for his parents from wood, such as a 
  working clock and a model of a fully rigged ship 
  with working guns. Yet not only did young 
  Robert show talents at mechanical science, he 
  also showed considerable skills at drawing. He 
  befriended a portrait painter who was working in 
  Freshwater at the time; soon he was 
  imitating the way that the painter 
  used pen and chalk. Before very 
  long he was making copies of the 
  man’s portraits. 
   
  Robert’s talent was clear and, 
  after the death of his father in 1648, 
  his family decided that drawing was 
  the best way for the odd, sickly boy 
  to make a living. His father had left 
  him 40 pounds (a sizable amount in 
  those days), as well as his “best 
  joined chest and all [his] books.” 
  He was sent off to London to be 
  apprenticed to Peter Lely, a portrait 
  painter of some repute. Hooke soon 
  realized, however, that not only was 
  he more talented than Lely, but he 
  had no desire to become an artist in 
  any case. Unwilling to waste any 
  more of his inheritance, the 
  precocious 13 year-old enrolled 
  himself in the Westminster School, 
  boarding in the house of eccentric 
  headmaster Dr. Richard Busby. 
  Realizing that he had an 
  extraordinary mind on his hands, 
  Busby intuitively understood that 
  Hooke wouldn’t thrive under a 
  restrictive curriculum. Allowed to study by 
  himself in Busby’s private library, Robert 
  mastered the first six books of Euclid’s Elements 
  within one week, then began teaching himself 
  Greek and Latin. Later, Hooke learned to play 
  the pipe organ, “contrived several ways of 
  flying” through application of mechanical 
  inventions, and gained a profound understanding 
  of the relatively new science of geometry. 
   
  Feeling that he had learned everything he 
  could at Westminster, Hooke entered Christ 
  College in Oxford as a poor scholar in 1653. 
  This was a particularly auspicious time to attend 
  this great historical institute of learning, as 
  Cromwell’s seizure of power in England had 
  resulted in its being largely cut off from 
  continental society (and scientists). To help 
  compensate, many of the country’s greatest 
  minds had gathered at Oxford in a “philosophical 
  college” or “invisible college” to carry out 
  various experiments and swap results. This 
  group included anatomist Thomas Willis, 
  astronomer Seth Ward, chemist and inventor 
  Robert Boyle, mathematician John Wilkins, the 
  ingenious multi-disciplined scientist Sir 
  Christopher Wren, economist, physician, and 
  surveyor Sir William Petty, and now of course 
  young Robert Hooke, who learned astronomy 
  from Ward, impressed Wilkins with his 
  knowledge of mechanics, and assisted Willis 
  with his vivisection experiments. Now deeply 
  involved with the top English savants of his day, 
  adjudicated property 
  rights, set property 
  boundaries, and 
  supervised the 
  enforcement of 
  building regulations. 
  He was responsible 
  for the construction of 
  sewers, paving, 
  bridges, quays, 
  markets, and public 
  clocks. Thus, in many 
  ways, Robert Hooke 
  became the father (or 
  maybe the midwife) 
  of London, one of the 
  greatest cities of the 
  modern world.  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  20 
  he became Robert Boyle’s lab assistant. Together 
  they constructed the first modern air pump, then 
  along with Willis used it in a variety of 
  (exceedingly cruel) experiments on dogs from 
  which they gained a profound understanding of 
  breathing and respiration.  
   
  Now, Hooke was never a man content to do 
  one thing at a time; indeed, he seemed to prefer 
  hopping from one project to the next. At the 
  same time he and Boyle were working on their 
  air pump, Robert was also pondering how best to 
  use clocks to determine longitude at sea. 
  Understanding the inherent weakness of trying to 
  use a pendulum clock to keep time on a pitching 
  ship, he created an accurate, portable watch by 
  inventing two important devices known as the 
  balance spring and the anchor escapement in 
  1660 (though he oddly neglected to publish his 
  findings until 1678). 
   
  Unfortunately, political circumstances now 
  intruded upon the work of the “invisible college” 
  at Oxford. Cromwell’s death in 1658 quickly led 
  to The Restoration, in which Charles II returned 
  from France to assume power. Many of Hooke’s 
  associates at Oxford, who had been appointed 
  due to their Puritan sympathies, lost their 
  positions and moved to London. Indefatigable as 
  ever, these savants were soon meeting once more 
  at Gresham College and, in November of 1660, 
  the previously “invisible” college reconstituted 
  The Society for the Promoting of Physico-
  Mathematical Experimental Learning. Hooke 
  quickly joined them in London where, in 1661, 
  he published a pamphlet describing the basic 
  theories behind capillary action.  
   
  After some considerable backroom 
  maneuvering between Royalists, radical puritans, 
  nobles, businessmen, Anglicans, and Catholics 
  of various stripes, The Society petitioned the 
  King for recognition along with a royal grant of 
  incorporation. Charles II, by all accounts a rather 
  clever, farseeing man, understood the inherent 
  value of keeping a stable of Europe’s greatest 
  scientific minds at the crown’s disposal. Thus, in 
  July of 1662, a royal charter created The Royal 
  Society of London. This charter contained a 
  provision for the appointment of an official 
  Curator of Experiments, a position for which The 
  Society already had Hooke in mind. So, with 
  some assistance from Boyle, he became an 
  employee (and later a fellow) of The Royal 
  Society. It was a position which he was to hold 
  for the remainder of his active life.  
   
  Although this position may, at first, sound 
  like an enviable one, it was in many respects a 
  nearly impossible job, as the Curator was 
  responsible for researching, preparing, and 
  demonstrating at least three experiments at every 
  weekly meeting of The Society. Though this 
  occupational requirement undoubtedly accounts 
  for much of his prodigious scientific output, it’s 
  extremely doubtful that anyone in London at the 
  time besides Hooke could have actually pulled it 
  off. Also, though The Society had promised him 
  a salary of some 30 pounds a year, it was 
  founded during a period of severe economic 
  strain, so he was required to begin work without 
  any reimbursement until such time as The 
  Society had the capacity to pay him. This 
  precarious financial position was somewhat 
  ameliorated in 1665 by his appointment to 
  Gresham College as a Professor of Geometry, 
  where he had a suite of rooms that he, along with 
  his various “housekeepers” and his niece, would 
  live in for the rest of his life.  
   
  In the same year, Hooke published the book 
  for which he is best remembered. Entitled 
  Micrographia, it was a book of elaborate 
  sketches of various objects which he had 
  observed under a compound microscope – a 
  device which he had personally helped to invent. 
  Hooke’s remarkable freehand drawings were 
  accompanied by accessible prose commentary 
  which, among other things, suggested the use of 
  the word “cell” in a biological context, 
  speculated accurately on the origin of the moon’s 
  craters, and suggested the wave theory of light. 
  His friend, colleague, and famed diarist Samuel 
  Pepys commented “[Micrographia is] the most 
  ingenious booke that I ever read in my life.” 
  Later that year when the plague struck London, 
  Hooke, along with John Wilkins, retired to the 
  relative safety of a laboratory in Epsom to 
  continue various experiments uninterrupted by 
  the threat of infection. While there he composed 
  his next important work Cometia, a series of 
  largely accurate observations about the nature of 
  comets.  
   
  When the Great Fire of London struck in 
  1666 (conveniently putting an end to the plague) 
  Hooke and Wilkins hurried back to the city to 
  assist Charles II in its reconstruction. Appointed 
  Lord Surveyor of London, Hooke worked 
  feverishly alongside his friend Sir Christopher 
  Wren in a desperate bid to plan out and then 
  reconstruct some the 650 acres of the ruined city 
  within a period of only two years. They were 
  largely successful, ensuring not only their 
  financial fortunes but the gratitude of, and a 
  lifelong close relationship with, the King of 
  England. Along the way Hooke either designed 
  or oversaw the construction of over a hundred 
  buildings, including Montague House, the Royal 
  College of Physicians, Bethlehem Hospital 
  (popularly known as Bedlam), and about thirty 
  Anglican churches. During this time he also 
  produced his required three to four weekly 
  experiments for The Royal Society, the surviving 
  members of which had reassembled in the wake 
  of plague and fire. 
   
  In 1672 Hooke’s ten year old niece Grace 
  came to live with him in London. Although their 
  BAROQUE 
  FASHION DOS 
  AND DON’TS  
   
   
   Throughout the 
  reign of Louis XIV, 
  also known as the Sun 
  King, France became 
  the leading cultural 
  and political power in 
  Europe. With Spain in 
  decline, Italy in 
  chaos, and Germany 
  bankrupt following 
  the 30 Years War, a 
  sort of vacuum 
  appeared in the 
  continent which the 
  French were only too 
  eager to fill. 
  Correspondingly, 
  their fashions became 
  the standard for that 
  age, known today as 
  the Baroque. 
   During the Baroque 
  period the 
  gentleman’s coat 
  shrank to a tiny, open 
  doublet, its sleeves 
  reaching only to the 
  elbows and its hem 
  ending high above the 
  waist, very similar to 
  that of a modern 
  Spanish Matador’s. 
  The breeches, known 
  as rhinegraves 
  became so baggy that 
  they looked like wide 
  skirts. The trouser 
  legs, so extremely 
  baggy that the wearer 
  invariably looked as if 
  he were about to lose 
  his pants (it’s back, 
  yo!), were gathered 
  below the knees with 
  lace frills known as 
  canions. 
   A long, full shirt 
  was worn between 
  these sagging 
  breeches and 
  matador’s coat which, 
  when properly decked 
  out, became the most 
  important fashion 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  21
  relationship was initially quite properly that of a 
  parent and a child, it grew as the years went by 
  into an odd, incestuous pseudo-marriage that was 
  to last for the rest of both of their lives. Robert, 
  who despite his fame and genius was nervous 
  around women because of his deformities, 
  generally only formed sexual relationships with 
  his housekeepers or with prostitutes. According 
  to his personal diary, he fell in love with and 
  seduced his niece around the time of her fifteenth 
  birthday. Unfortunately his brother John, an 
  ambitious small-time politician working his way 
  up towards petty nobility, wanted Hooke to find 
  Grace a suitably wealthy and powerful husband. 
  She was presumably an attractive girl, judging 
  from the quality and quantity of the male 
  attentions that she received. Much to Hooke’s 
  concerned jealousy, his diary catalogues a 
  number of male liaisons of varying intimacy 
  during their life together. In this manner Grace 
  made her uncle pay for his sins, so to speak, in a 
  ghastly affair which involved the Governor of 
  the Isle of Wight, a child born out of wedlock, 
  and the suicide of Hooke’s brother John. In the 
  end, however, uncle and niece remained together 
  in a caring (if unstable and unfaithful) 
  relationship.  
   
  In 1672 the first of many fights between 
  Hooke and famed scientist Sir Isaac Newton 
  broke out on the floor of The Royal Society. 
  Their first confrontation centered on a paper 
  presented by Newton demonstrating his theories 
  of light and color. Hooke claimed that what was 
  right in Newton’s theory was stolen from his 
  own work in Micrographia… and what wasn’t 
  was simply wrong. Their argument (the first of 
  many) became so severe that only some serious 
  toadying on the part of Oldenburg, the heroic and 
  legendary first secretary of The Royal Society, 
  kept Newton from resigning his fellowship. The 
  two would maintain a bitter love/hate 
  relationship for the rest of their lives, alternately 
  corresponding and collaborating on projects until 
  promising results had been reached, then 
  publicly denouncing, attacking, and accusing 
  each other when those same results were made 
  public. Indeed, one of Newton’s most famous 
  statements, “If I have seen further it is by 
  standing on the shoulders of giants” is a sneering 
  comment on Hooke’s deformity. 
   
  Despite (or perhaps because of) this and 
  other vicious, long running rivalries with 
  different great scientists of the age, such as 
  Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius and Dutch 
  inventor and astronomer Christian Huyghens, 
  Hooke’s experimental output remained 
  prodigious. In the following decade he explained 
  the scintillation of stars, constructed the first 
  Gregorian telescope, attempted to measure the 
  parallax of a fixed star, designed a deadly airgun, 
  perfected a functional (if insanely dangerous) 
  surgical procedure for removing gallstones, 
  made the first observations of a star in daylight, 
  and conducted various experiments dealing with 
  gravity, petrification, and geology. On top of 
  this, he took over the position of secretary of The 
  Royal Society upon Oldenburg’s death. Indeed, 
  his output was so varied and well known during 
  this period that playwright Thomas Shadwell 
  wrote and performed a wildly successful work 
  entitled The Virtuoso which satirized The Royal 
  Society in general and Hooke in particular.  
   
  In 1887 Grace Hooke died of smallpox in 
  Robert’s arms, sending him into a spiral of 
  escalating depression from which he would 
  never emerge nor his health ever recover. Waller, 
  Hooke’s friend and biographer, wrote about the 
  loss he felt: “In the beginning of the Year 1687, 
  his Brother’s Daughter, Mrs. Grace Hooke dy’d, 
  who had liv’d with him several Years, the 
  concern for whose Death he hardly ever wore 
  off, being observd from that time to grow less 
  active, more Melancholly and Cynical.” He 
  began to shut himself away from friends and 
  family for months at a time while conducting his 
  experiments. Even his scientific writing from 
  this last period is filled with bitter comments 
  about life. At the same, he continued to 
  sporadically produce, writing a now-lost 
  “curious discourse” upon the Tower of Babel, a 
  paper which expounded upon Ovid’s 
  Metamorphoses, worked out largely accurate 
  theories on earthquakes, geology, and 
  paleontology, and created a marine telescope.  
   
  Hooke’s final years were filled with little 
  but pain and sickness. Waller commented that he 
  was “often troubled with headaches, giddiness, 
  and fainting, and with a general decay all over.” 
  He had almost certainly become diabetic; his 
  legs were swollen, his eyes went blind, and he 
  was confined to his bed in the final month of his 
  life. But mainly he had lost his will to live. 
  Finally, on March 3rd of 1703, Robert Hooke 
  died where he had lived at Gresham College. He 
  is buried at St. Helen’s Cathedral at Bishopsgate.   
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Robert Hooke is not 
  an easy man to get along with. He is rude, blunt, 
  arrogant, cold, and seemingly unconcerned with 
  the feelings of others. When this generally 
  unpleasant disposition is grafted to an almost 
  frighteningly unattractive physique, a propensity 
  to cut open living things, and a preference for 
  having sex with one’s younger relations, you 
  have what most people would consider, at least 
  at first glance, to be a villain. Indeed, several of 
  his contemporaries, such as Newton, feel that he 
  is a villain of sorts and even his friends, such as 
  Waller, agree that he at least looks like one. 
   
  If you look a bit deeper, however, you find 
  in Hooke a man who is genuinely fascinated by 
  the material world, a world which he desperately 
  item of the entire 
  outfit. When properly 
  assembled, the entire 
  ensemble was 
  decorated with 
  innumerable ribbons 
  at the doublet, 
  breeches, and shoes 
  with most of this 
  manly ruffling located 
  at the waistband of 
  the breeches, the 
  shoulders, and the 
  bottom hem of the 
  jacket. In a surviving 
  Parisian tailor’s list 
  from the 1650s there 
  is a note about the 
  amount of ribbons 
  (known as galants) 
  which are needed for 
  a fashionable outfit: 
  about 500 to 600 
  ribbon bows. 
   
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  22 
  wished to more completely understand. His 
  generation of savants moved Western 
  Civilization almost completely out of the Middle 
  Ages into the modern world by inventing entire 
  sciences, almost whole-cloth in some cases. 
  Although Hooke has had frequent bitter disputes 
  with some scientists throughout his life, he is on 
  genuinely excellent terms with others, such as 
  Boyle and Wren. Although history has often 
  described him as a difficult man, this is harsh 
  judgment; Hooke genuinely feels that others 
  were stealing credit for ideas which he had first 
  put forward. Though he doesn’t like it to show, 
  he genuinely cares, both personally and often 
  financially, for his friends, family, colleagues, 
  and the various women with which he has shared 
  his life. 
   
  To best understand Hooke’s character, 
  consider this comment about his daily life from 
  the introduction to his biography: “He was a 
  brisk walker, and enjoyed walking in the fields 
  north of the City… he generally rose early, 
  perhaps to save candles, and to work in daylight 
  to prevent strain to his eyes…. Sometimes Hooke 
  would work all through the night, and then have 
  a nap after dinner. As well as drinking a variety 
  of waters… he drank brandy, port, claret, sack, 
  and birch juice wine which he found to be 
  delicious. He also had a barrel of Flanstead’s 
  ale and Tillotson’s ale. There are a few instances 
  when he recorded that he had been drunk…. He 
  was a gregarious person, who liked to meet 
  people, particularly those who had traveled 
  abroad….” 
   
  Quote:  “Your experience is merely a 
  hodgepodge of statistics, consisting of those 
  cases that you happen to remember.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Although a lifetime spent 
  medically on death’s door has left him with very 
  little concern for his personal safety, Hooke has 
  no martial skills of any sort. Rather, his abilities 
  lie in the application of his incredible intellect to 
  his not inconsiderable scientific, mechanical, and 
  artistic knowledge. Give him an interesting 
  problem to solve or the funding to embark upon 
  some fascinating research experiment and, given 
  some time, he will bring you back results if they 
  are even conceivably achievable within the 
  framework of 17th Century science… and 
  possibly even if they aren’t. 
   
  Hooke’s intelligence is so great (a 
  superhuman 27!) that there are few limitations to 
  what he can learn in a fairly brief period of time. 
  To simulate this he has been given three separate 
  Cramming Skills so that, for example, if the 
  characters need some advice on a bizarre, arcane 
  artifact which has tumbled from the sky, Hooke 
  might choose fill his slots with xenobiology, 
  nanotechnology, and nuclear science for the 
  period of the adventure… even though these 
  sciences have yet to be invented! Additionally, 
  Robert is an expert in nine separate scientific 
  disciplines, five languages, five professional 
  skills, and five knowledge skills in addition to 
  being an inventor, mechanic, skilled orator, 
  cryptographer, weaponsmith, and forensic 
  pathologist. If this weren’t enough, he also has a 
  photographic memory, speed reads, and is 
  exceptionally well connected. 
   
   
  Campaign Use:  Hooke is the archetypical “man 
  of science” whose entire existence is given over 
  to the cold, clinical dissection of the natural 
  world. Actually, by the standards of the Baroque 
  Are, he is the man of science, one of that 
  incredibly small group of enlightened researchers 
  who lead the mighty stag which is modern 
  knowledge out of the wilderness of mediaeval 
  alchemy. Correspondingly, Hooke is intended to 
  be an NPC science expert for either a historical 
  campaign which takes place in the 
  swashbuckling 17th Century (a fascinating yet 
  much neglected setting), or an urban “low 
  fantasy” campaign in which the “magic” of 
  alchemy is an important plot device. Either way, 
  Hooke is a very busy man, so getting access to 
  him shouldn’t be an easy matter. Characters may 
  purchase Contact: Robert Hooke (Access to 
  Major Institutions, Significant Contacts of His 
  Own, Good Relationship) 13- for 7 points or, 
  failing that, could become members of The 
  Royal Society by purchasing Contact: The Royal 
  Society of London (Access to Major Institutions, 
  Extremely Useful Skills or Resources, Good 
  Relationship, Organization) 14- for 30 points. Or 
  the GM could simply make him available to the 
  PCs via some third party, such as the king. 
   
  Hooke is fabulously xenophobic; there is no 
  record of his ever having left British soil. In fact, 
  he has spent a great deal of time and energy 
  launching attacks upon perfectly respectable 
  Continental scientists over the alleged theft of 
  his ideas. He is, however, also extremely 
  patriotic, so it is not impossible that Hooke may 
  be willing to leave his native land in the service 
  of his country – say on a scientific expedition of 
  some sort or a spying mission where his various 
  skills might be of some use to king and country. 
   
  Appearance:  Robert Hooke is a pale, thin, ill-
  kept man of medium height. His large, intelligent 
  grey eyes dominate a face otherwise given over 
  to a generous forehead and small, tight mouth. 
  The overall effect is cold, quizzical, sensual, and 
  a little cruel. He wears his curly brown hair 
  unusually long; it tumbles about his shoulders in 
  an era during which most men shave their heads 
  so that they can wear either powdered or 
  blackened wigs. His posture is unusually bad, 
  reducing him to a stooped and sideways 
  middling height when he might otherwise have 
  been a tall man.  
  DESCRIPTIONS 
  OF HOOKE 
   
   
   “He is but of 
  middling stature, 
  something crooked, 
  pale faced, and his 
  face but little below, 
  but his head is large, 
  his eye full and 
  popping, and not 
  quick; a grey eye. He 
  has a delicate head of 
  hair, brown, and of an 
  excellent moist curl. 
  He is and ever was 
  temperate and 
  moderate in diet, etc.” 
  —  John Aubrey,
  friend
   
   
  “As to his person 
  he was but despicable, 
  being very crooked, 
  tho’ I have heard from 
  himself, and others, 
  that he was strait till 
  about 16 Years of 
  Age when he first 
  grew awry, by 
  frequent practicing, 
  with a Turn-Lath . . . 
  He was always very 
  pale and lean, and 
  lately nothing but 
  Skin and Bone, with a 
  meager aspect, his 
  eyes grey and full, 
  with a sharp 
  ingenious Look whilst 
  younger; his nose but 
  thin, of a moderate 
  height and length; his 
  mouth meanly wise, 
  and upper lip thin; his 
  chin sharp, and 
  Forehead large; his 
  Head of a middle size. 
  He wore his own hair 
  of a dark Brown 
  color, very long and 
  hanging neglected 
  over his Face uncut 
  and lank….” 
  — Richard Waller,
  contemporary and his
  biographer
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  23
   
  Hooke is far from being a snappy dresser as 
  most of his clothing is quickly ruined by sudden, 
  unsolicited introductions to fire, grease, acid, 
  rare chemicals, and (most commonly) large 
  quantities of blood. He occasionally tries to 
  prevent this by wearing a butcher’s apron over 
  his clothing while working in his laboratory – 
  but it never really works. Hooke is a fashion 
  disaster living amongst some of the most 
  fashionable men in the world in one of its most 
  fashion-conscious ages. When one of his women 
  (a housekeeper or his niece) does manage to 
  produce a decent set of fashionable baroque 
  clothing for him to wear, it always comes out 
  looking wrong:  his rhinegraves fall halfway 
  down his buttocks, his canions end up at his 
  ankles, and a goodly percentage of the hundred 
  or so galants a fashionable man is expected to 
  wear invariably come untied. 
   
  Thus, Robert generally chooses to assume 
  the undistinguished, puritanical clothing of the 
  English working class under most circumstances, 
  even when dealing with the King. This would 
  make him the laughing stock of upper class 
  England… except that he is that much smarter 
  than them and they know it. 
   
                                                             
  artwork by Robert Hooke 
  Bibliography 
  ARTICLES  
   
   
  The Architecture of Dr Robert Hooke FRS, MI 
  Batten, Walpole Society #25, 1936 
  The Role of Acoustics and Music Theory in the 
  Scientific Work of Robert Hooke, Penelope 
  Gouk, Annals of Science #37, 1980 
  BOOKS 
   
   
  Dictionary of National Biography Volume 9, 
  Various, Oxford University Press, 1950 
  Founders of British Science: John Wilkins, 
  Robert Boyle, John Ray, Christopher Wren, 
  Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, J G Crowther, 
  London Press, 1960  
  Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1), Neal 
  Stephenson, William Morrow Press, 2003 
  The Diaries of Robert Hooke, The Leonardo of 
  London, 1635-1703, R Nichols, Lewes 
  Press, 1994 
  INTERNET  
   
   
   
   
  www.angliacampus.com/education/fire/london/ 
  history/greatfir.htm 
  www.roberthooke.org.uk 
  www.rod.beavon.clara.net/robert_hooke.html 
  www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/hooke.html 
  www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/ 
  Mathematicians/Hooke.html 
   
   “Hooke came in. 
  His spine was all 
  awry:  not only 
  stooped, but bent to 
  one side. His long 
  brown hair hung 
  unkempt around his 
  face. He straightened 
  up a bit and tilted his 
  head back so that the 
  hair fell away to 
  either side, like a 
  curtain opening up to 
  reveal a pale face. 
  Stubble on the cheeks 
  made him look even 
  gaunter than he 
  actually was, and 
  made his grey eyes 
  look even more 
  huge.” 
  — Neal Stephenson,
  modern novelist and
  admirer
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  24 
  Appendix  
  BOOKS AUTHORED BY HOOKE 
   
   
  Cometia, a work on the nature of comets 
  De Potentia Bestitutiva or Of Spring, the treatise 
  on elasticity from which Hooke’s Law is 
  derived 
  Description of Helioscopes, with a postscript 
  describing the invention of balance springs 
  Micrographia, a book with elaborate drawings of 
  various objects under the microscope 
  INVENTIONS ATTRIBUTED TO HOOKE 
   
   
  Anchor escapement and the balance springs 
  (major contributions to accurate watch 
  design) 
  Compound microscope (with instrument maker 
  Christopher Cook) 
  Depth-sounding machine 
  Effective “arithmetic machine” or dividing 
  machine 
  Effective air gun 
  First Gregorian telescope 
  The micrometer 
  Modern air pump 
  Refractometer (measures the refraction of 
  liquids) 
  The spiral gear (used to adjust settings of 
  telescopes) 
  Surveying instruments with telescopic sights 
  A “way-wiser” (attached to carriages to measure 
  distances traveled) 
  Wheel, marine, and double Barometers 
   
  Windmill which turned itself to face the wind 
  The universal joint (used in automobiles today) 
  HOOKE’S SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES  
   
   
  Considered “Father of Meteorology” for 
  pioneering work in that field  
  Considered major figure in early geology, 
  especially in regard to fossils and crystals 
  Developed early theory of light (almost accurate) 
  Developed theoretical concepts in regards to 
  music and sound (very accurate) 
  Discovered basic concept of evolution 250 years 
  before Darwin 
  Discovered first binary atar 
  Discovered Hooke’s Law of Elasticity  
  Discovered principle of capillary action 
  Discovered the principles behind combustion  
  Discovered the principles behind respiration 
  First person to comprehensively study 
  earthquakes 
  First person to describe “cells”  
  First person to infer the rotation of the planet 
  Jupiter 
  ARCHITECTURE ATTRIBUTED TO 
  ROBERT HOOKE  
   
   
  Architect for Alderman Aske’s Hospital, Hoxton  
  Architect for the reconstruction of the Bridewell 
  Architect of house for Lord Oxford in Privy 
  Gardens in Whitehall.  
  Architect of Montague House to Bloomsbury 
  Architect of Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, for 
  Lord Conway 
  Architect of St Mary Magdalene in 
  Buckinghamshire 
  Architect of the Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam)  
  Architect of the Royal College of Physicians 
  “Canalized” the Fleet River (with Wren. It was 
  previously an open sewer) 
  Considerable involvement in the alterations to 
  Westminster Abbey  
  Constructed Cheapside and Holborn conduits.  
  Designed a church for Sir John Lowther of 
  Lowther in Westmoreland.  
  Designed a house for Sir Richard Edgcumbe, 
  Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in Cornwall.  
  Designed a house for Sir Walter Young in Devon 
  Designed Londesborough House for Lord 
  Burlington  
  Designed Sherwood Place in Brentwood.  
  Designed the Monument to the Great Fire 
  Designed the Pepysian building for Magdalene 
  College in Oxford  
  Designed the screen for Merchant Taylors’ Hall 
  Hooke was essentially Wren’s junior partner in 
  the building of St Paul’s Cathedral.  
  Involved in the rebuilding of the Navy 
  Victualling Office  
  Involved in the repairs to the Barbers Surgeons’ 
  Hall  
  Set out the Greenwich Observatory (It is unclear 
  whether Hooke, Wren, or someone else was 
  the architect)  
  Suggested and supervised improvements to the 
  north bank of the Thames.  
  Supervised the construction of more than 30 of 
  Wren’s London churches.  
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  25
  Your Horoscope For:  Libra by Allen Thomas 
   
  Have you been charged with a crime? 
  Do you have superpowers? 
  Has the media labeled you a 
  “supervillain?” A menace to society? 
  An evil mastermind? 
  95% of all citizens with superpowers 
  charged with a felony are convicted. 
  Those convicted are face jail time up to 
  200% longer than other criminals. 
  Innocent men and women with 
  superpowers face prejudiced juries and 
  unsympathetic judges. With the system 
  stacked against you, you need the very 
  best in legal representation. That’s why 
  you should call the law offices of Irving 
  Probalino for a free consultation. 
  Call now. He’s here to help. 
  Irving M. Probalino, Esquire 
   
  This installment of Your Horoscope For: 
  presents a lawyer named Irving M. Probalino, a 
  man with uncanny knack of swaying juries and 
  getting his clients of the hook in cases where the 
  outcome shouldn’t be in doubt. The sign of the 
  zodiac, Libra, is often associated with a pair of 
  scales… weighing two things in the balance to 
  determine the weight of each, and then judging 
  their worth. But when Probalino enters the 
  courtroom, the scales of justice swing wildly out-
  of-balance, and when juries deliver innocent 
  verdicts for criminals captured red-handed by the 
  superheroes, what will your PCs do? 
   
  Background/History:  In New Hampshire, 
  there’s a story told about the Devil and Daniel 
  Webster, and about how that great soul and 
  patriot, Mr. Webster, managed out-talk the Devil 
  himself, and even though he faced a judge and 
  jury of damned criminals and murders, he won 
  freedom for the soul of one Jabez Soul. At the 
  end of that story, it states plainly:  “And the 
  Devil hasn't been seen in the state of New 
  Hampshire from that day to this. I'm not talking 
  about Massachusetts or Vermont.” And that old 
  storyteller isn’t talking about your campaign city 
  either! 
   
  Though in the story Mr. Webster’s 
  adversary is called the Devil, it was in truth one 
  of the Devil’s many agents, and men and women 
  in old Scratch’s employ still prowl the 
  courtrooms of America (everywhere outside of 
  New Hampshire that is) turning the justice 
  system on its ear. Now one of those agents, 
  Irving M. Probalino, has hung his shingle and 
  started advertising on television offering his 
  services to supervillains. 
   
  Probalino has humble beginnings, having 
  attained his law degree from a small and 
  virtually unknown university. Considering his 
  grades in college and his LSAT scores, it’s 
  almost hard to believe any law school at all 
  accepted him. But after nearly flunking out his 
  first year, his performance turned around 
  dramatically – right after he sold his soul to the 
  Devil that is. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Irving Probalino 
  embodies every bad lawyer stereotype there ever 
  was. In his arrogant smirk, one can see why there 
  are so many less than flattering jokes about 
  lawyers and the legal profession in general. He’s 
  egotistical, smug, self-centered, condescending, 
  and heartless. His motivation is simple:  to make 
  money. He also derives no small pleasure from 
  perverting the legal system, and often can be 
  found outside the courthouse, after the jury has 
  acquitted his latest client, laughing evilly in the 
  faces of aghast reporters. 
   
  Quote:  “Yes, my client may have been in the 
  bank at the time of the robbery. And, yes, he may 
  have been inside the vault. And, yes, he may 
  have even been holding a bag of money in each 
  hand at the time. But as you will soon see, ladies 
  and gentlemen of the jury, that does not mean 
  this poor, innocent man is a bank robber!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  All of Probalino’s abilities 
  stem from his remarkable skills at oratory and 
  persuasion. He can convince a person the sky is 
  red or the sun is never coming back given the 
  time and the inclination, and he certainly has 
  little trouble convincing a jury there’s reasonable 
  doubt. To confound matters further, thanks to his 
  Luck, prosecutors and witnesses facing 
  Probalino in the courtroom always seem to say 
  exactly the wrong thing at precisely the wrong 
  time. 
   
  In the story of the Devil and Daniel 
  Webster, the Devil loses the case for Jabez 
  Stone’s soul (as well as Daniel Webster’s own!) 
  when Mr. Webster, rather than make hyperbolic 
  statements and grand pronouncements in a 
  display of showmanship, humbly relates to the 
  judge and jury the facts of the case. The same is 
  true of Probalino. When a prosecutor simply 
  presents his case, without resorting to hyperbole 
  or exaggeration – when he simply relates the 
  bare-faced facts of the case, and doesn’t pander 
  to sensationalism – Probalino loses much of his 
  Devil-granted powers and simply becomes 
  another defense attorney. 
                                                             
  artwork by Bill Jackson 
  LIBRAN INSIGHT 
   
   
   Libra is the second 
  of the Air Signs, 
  which also include 
  Aquarius and Gemini. 
  Its symbol is �, and 
  traditionally, the sign 
  is depicted as a pair of 
  scales. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  26 
   
  In the Champions Universe, many 
  courtrooms are guarded by mental detection 
  devices and other gadgets to prevent those with 
  powers from subverting the justice system. Sadly 
  Probalino’s abilities don’t register on those same 
  devices (although PCs with mystic senses might 
  detect his Devilishly compromised existence). 
  Getting Probalino disbarred for using powers in 
  the courtroom is no easy task. 
   
  Like the story, once an honest lawyer has 
  defeated Probalino in court, he and any other 
  agent of Devil who might seek to compromise 
  the justice system is powerless in the state. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Probalino makes a good twist 
  or additional subplot to a scenario involving one 
  of your campaign’s villains who’s facing an up-
  coming trial. The PCs must discover the nature 
  of Probalino’s incredible abilities before the trial 
  begins (obviously the folk tale of the Devil and 
  Daniel Webster is a good source for clues) and 
  then convince the prosecutor to play the case 
  straight. Or maybe Probalino’s existence tests 
  their moral fortitude, as the PCs must struggle to 
  not implement a more “final” solution to the 
  problem the lawyer poses. 
   
  The Devil’s contract that grants Probalino 
  his amazing powers of persuasion ends at 
  midnight on January 1st, 2005. (The Devil is a 
  big fan of short-term investments that turn a 
  quick profit.) As the deadline approaches, 
  Probalino is likely to begin desperately searching 
  for a way to break his contract… and when he 
  does, maybe he’ll come to the PCs for help. 
   
  Probalino isn’t likely to Hunt superheroes, 
  but if a superhero has made himself a pain for 
  Probalino, and finds himself the defendant in a 
  civil suit, Probalino might volunteer his services 
  as a trial lawyer for the plaintiff. Probalino might 
  even go so far as to start a civil law suit against 
  PCs who have been particularly rude or 
  troublesome. And then, the PC had better watch 
  out! 
   
  Appearance:  Tall and thin, Probalino has short 
  black hair and a pale complexion. Even in the 
  courtroom, he wears expensive white suits and 
  black silk ties, and although most lawyers would 
  never get away with such an outfit, no one seems 
  to mind when it’s Probalino. In public, he often 
  carries a black attache case. His most prominent 
  – and irritating! – feature is his devilish, arrogant 
  smile that opens wide to show big, pearly white 
  teeth. 
   
  Irving M. Probalino, Esquire 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   
  8 STR 
  -2 11- Lift 75 kg; 1½d6 [1] 
   10 DEX 
  0 11- OCV:  3/DCV:  3 
   
  8 CON 
  -4 11- 
   
  8 BODY 
  -4 11- 
   15 INT 
  5 12- PER Roll:  12- 
   20 EGO 
  20 13- ECV:  7 
   20 PRE 
  10 13- PRE Attack:  4d6 
   14 COM 
  2 12- 
   
   
  4 PD 
  2 
   Total:  4 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  4 ED 
  2 
   Total:  4 ED (0 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  10 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  4 REC 
  0 
   20 END 
  2 
   20 STUN 
  4 
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  47 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  1½”/3” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   
  9 Not Easily Swayed:  Mental Defense 
  (20 points total); Only Against Mind 
  Control (-¾) 
  0 
   30 Luck of the Devil:  Luck 6d6 
  0 
   
   Skills 
   40 Luck of the Devil:  +8 with Interaction 
  Skills 
   
   13 Bureaucratics 18- 
   23 Conversation 23- 
   13 Intimidation 18- 
   11 KS: Law 20- 
   
  9 KS: The Legal World 18- 
   23 Oratory 23- 
   23 Persuasion 23- 
   
  9 PS: Lawyer 18- 
   
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  206 
   
  Total Cost:  250 
   
   75+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Physical Limitation:  Sold His Soul to 
  the Devil (Slightly, Infrequently) 
   25 Psychological Limitation:  Arrogant 
  Lawyer (Very Common, Total) 
   15 Susceptibility:  Suffer Drain PRE 2d6 
  and Drain Luck of the Devil Powers 5d6 
  when Facing an Honest Lawyer 
  (Uncommon) 
   130 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  250 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  27
  Irving M. Probalino,  
  Esquire 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  28 
  Biker Hero by Jason Walters 
   
  The Mounted Warrior 
   
  According to Jared Diamond’s monumental 
  work Guns, Germs, and Steel, mankind first 
  domesticated the horse around 4000 B.C. This 
  radical new innovation provided man with an 
  ideal animal companion, one able to transport him 
  over long distances, haul his goods, pull his 
  plows, to act as a platform for his military activity 
  in the form of the Mounted Warrior – or, if 
  necessary, to be used as a source of food. Yet, 
  although the horse is undoubtedly useful in all of 
  these respects, it is in the areas of rapid 
  transportation and military conquest that it has 
  had its greatest impact on the course of human 
  history. Indeed, those bands, tribes, and 
  eventually civilizations which possessed and 
  mastered the “technology” of the horse were 
  invariably able to conquer and dominate those 
  around them who did not. So effective was the 
  Mounted Warrior when used against riderless 
  opponents – no matter how brave, cultured, or 
  organized – that history shows us numerous 
  examples of relatively advanced civilizations, 
  who either lacked mounted warriors or a tradition 
  of skilled horsemanship being felled by those who 
  possessed this important innovation. Attila the 
  Hun and his light cavalry sacked the Western 
  Roman Empire in 452 by springs to mind, and a 
  handful of mounted Spanish adventurers 
  destroyed of the impressive and highly militarily 
  competent Incan Empire in 1531. 
   
  Incredibly, it was not until the first World 
  War of the 20th Century that rapid advancement 
  in both automatic weaponry and the internal 
  combustion engine removed the horse from the 
  theater of war – and perhaps then only 
  temporarily. In Afghanistan following the 
  September 11th destruction of the World Trade 
  Center buildings, events which are generally 
  considered to be the first significant military 
  conflict of this Century, the then-rebel Northern 
  Alliance successfully used a massed cavalry 
  charge against a small squad of old Soviet-era 
  tanks manned by Taliban soldiers. Thus, 
  whenever and wherever the relatively new 
  technologies of internal combustion and 
  automatic weaponry are not available or not 
  supplied by a modern manufacturing-based 
  society, our companion the horse seems ready, 
  even in this age of smart-weapons and space 
  flight, to step in as if he had never left us… or, 
  more appropriately, as if we had never left him. 
   
  In light of all of this history it is not 
  surprising that the image of the proud, 
  independent mounted warrior has remained 
  firmly lodged in the collective conscious of 
  Eurasian man – a sort of cultural animus, 
  unimpressed by the passage of time. After all, it 
  was the Mounted Warrior who was responsible 
  for the shaping and spreading of what we now 
  think of as Western Culture through his travel 
  and conquest. He has been with us as long as we 
  have built roads, constructed buildings, and 
  recorded our language in written form. Vital, 
  robust, individualistic, and energetic, he calls to 
  us through the haze of our comfortable modern 
  mediocrity. He has little interest in television or 
  computer games or shopping at the mall. He has 
  little use for our complicated laws, customs, and 
  ideas of proper behavior. From across the mists 
  of time he beckons to us, barbaric and alluring, 
  whispering words of wanderlust and freedom. 
   
  Frightening to many, irresistible to others, 
  the Mounted Warrior has managed to incarnate 
  himself through a new breed of disciples clad 
  this time not in chain-mail but in leather and 
  kevlar, not on horseback but upon the many and 
  various forms of the vehicle known as the 
  “motorcycle.” It is this disciple, this new 
  incarnation of Mounted Warrior, which we now 
  call The Biker  – a maligned archetype who has 
  enjoyed a long, if not terribly distinguished, 
  career in the world of roleplaying games. Unlike 
  his great-grandfather The Knight, The Biker is 
  seldom portrayed in a noble or heroic light. He is 
  often little more than a nameless thug, usually 
  the lackey of some far more qualified and 
  interesting villain, inserted into a game so that 
  the sidekicks and other less powerful characters 
  have someone to kick around while the real 
  heroes are busy saving The World from Evil or 
  The City from Peril or the little old lady from 
  purse snatching… or whatever. 
   
  Well, friends and fellow gamers, no longer. 
   
  Although many “superhero” roleplaying 
  games have sported motorcycle-riding characters 
  in their long and colorful histories, the vast 
  majority of them are but very minor villains – so 
  many in fact that it seems that no fledgling 
  modern day “superhero” could possibly begin his 
  or her career without taking on a bunch of 
  “bikers” in some sort of street fight scene. By 
  and large, this concept of SpandexMan vs. Evil 
  Biker Hoodlums has been borrowed by game 
  creators and their players from the very comic 
  books which inspire the entire genre of super-
  heroic roleplaying games. If you think about it, 
  for a long time now it’s been an accepted norm 
  in the world of comic book writing that you 
  simply aren’t a martial-arts-hero-dark-avenger-
  guy unless you wade your way through at least 
  two “biker gangs” a year – or maybe more if you 
  are feeling particularly peckish. A sidekick just 
                                                             
  artwork by Ron Salas 
  MODERN WAR ON
  HORSEBACK 
   
   
   “If ever there was a 
  mismatched blend of 
  the modern and 
  medieval in warfare, 
  it is in Afghanistan, 
  where billion-dollar 
  B-2s bomb old 
  Taliban tanks, and 
  mounted fighters of 
  the northern alliance 
  go at the gallop. 
   “As vaguely 
  described by 
  Pentagon officials, 
  rebels have been seen 
  ‘riding horseback into 
  combat against tanks 
  and armored 
  personnel carriers,’ 
  their horses fed and 
  watered with U.S. 
  help. 
   “‘These folks are 
  aggressive,” said 
  General Peter Pace…. 
  — Associated Press,
  Nov. 8 2001
   
  CROWDED 
  HIGHWAYS 
   
   
   “I paint (if I may 
  say so) a vivid picture 
  of the Freedom we all 
  Feel, the joy that 
  comes with the 
  eventual mastery of 
  the spirited machine, 
  the sun-soaked run to 
  glory that is Motoring 
  on Two Wheels. 
  Here’s what I say. 
   “I say: Things are 
  gonna happen that’ll 
  scare you and piss 
  you off. They happen 
  because car people 
  are clueless, careless, 
  angry, impaired, or all 
  of the above. Let 
  those things go. Once 
  they’re over, they’re 
  over. 
   “See, things don’t 
  always happen one at 
  a time. While you’re 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  29
  isn’t a sidekick unless he or she can karate kick 
  and judo throw at least three leather-vest-and-
  aviator-glasses-wearing, chain-wielding, Harley-
  Davidson riding greaseballs a page. Indeed, it 
  seems in some comic book universes that large, 
  hairy men with chain whips and droopy 
  mustaches who like to ride chrome-laden, 
  American made chopper motorcycles with 
  extremely loud pipes crowd the poorer sections 
  of most major population areas, constantly 
  spoiling for a fight with nearly any spandex-clad 
  idiot they run across – hence, to be honest, the 
  first of several reasons for this article. The Biker 
  makes a very fine thug in the eyes of many 
  players and GMs. 
   
  Of course, as with most things, if you scratch 
  the surface of this stereotype you find more layers 
  of meaning than there are layers of paint on the 
  tank of an old ’52 Indian Scout. For one, think 
  about the archetypes and social psychology 
  involved in the above scenarios. The dark-
  avenger-martial-artist is almost always a defender 
  of modern society and its values – admittedly, 
  often a maverick and misunderstood defender, but 
  a champion nonetheless of the values which 
  television-shopping-at-the-mall society hold dear. 
  The Biker, on the other hand, represents a modern 
  incarnation of the more ancient and anarchistic 
  values of the Mounted Warrior, values which 
  modern society would like to have brought under 
  control. But modern society just can’t quite 
  morally justify the kind of actions necessary to 
  totally destroy the ancient and revered mounted 
  warrior archetype – for, indeed, forcibly 
  controlling the Mounted Warrior is the same as 
  destroying him. So it’s left up to the dark-
  avenger-martial-artist-anti-hero to get around this 
  ethical queasiness and biannually kick the hell out 
  of a bunch of working class guys having a beer 
  together in their favorite bar after a Saturday 
  morning ride. If not, society as we know it would 
  crumble and anarchy would rule the streets of 
  Lincoln, Nebraska and Iowa City, Iowa and 
  boring shopping-in-the-mall places like that. 
   
  On the other hand, there is something to be 
  said for giving the disreputable a solid thumping 
  now and again. I mean, it’s not like a lot of bikers 
  aren’t petty criminals and they do make mighty 
  fine thugs in any game setting which is modern 
  enough to have motorcycles… and, with a little 
  imagination, possibly those that aren’t. They’re 
  tough (so they can take a punch or two), they’re 
  strong (so they can punch back), they smell funny 
  (motorcycling is a dirty, out-of-doors hobby), they 
  dress differently (wear protective clothing, armor 
  in game terms), they have their own language or 
  slang (motorcycle relevant terms for the most 
  part), and they’re generally rude, crude, and 
  socially unacceptable (they don’t care what you 
  think). So, of course, time for that karate kick that 
  bat-cape-guy taught you. 
   
  Though most biker thugs are generally of 
  the Harley Davidson riding, bandanna wearing 
  variety, a less traditional but equally fun variety 
  of The Biker is the now rather popular youthful, 
  Asian, kung fu using, sports bike riding gangster. 
  He has seen a lot of screen time in action films 
  lately, both in China and the United States, 
  generally dealing drugs, “whacking” reporters, 
  sneering, smoking, and doing impossible martial 
  arts while riding high tech Japanese sports bikes.  
   
  Really, the dark-avenger-martial-artist gets 
  more bang for his buck, so to speak, from this 
  archetype, because he gets to potentially fulfill 
  several deeply hidden ugly needs at the same 
  time. Firstly, he gets to beat up on a member of a 
  slightly threatening foreign culture (the various 
  Asian nations have been giving The West a run 
  for its money economically lately, haven’t they?) 
  who is generally riding an imported motorcycle 
  (dark-avenger-martial-artist is usually secretly 
  patriotic and, aside from the rather slow and 
  expensive Buell, there are no mass produced 
  American sportsbikes). Best of all, it appears 
  from a recent review of my comic book and 
  DVD collections that all Asian teenagers who 
  ride motorcycles also have the ability to “wire-
  fu” around with the best of ’em, kung fu fighting 
  about like low budget superheros themselves, 
  making them much, much more satisfying 
  opponents than some old, hairy, greasy Harley 
  biker with a lead pipe in his hand saying things 
  like “You’re going to get it now, SpandexMan!” 
  Times do change, after all. 
   
  In either case, both versions of The Biker 
  make excellent low-level villains and thugs for 
  any modern day campaign setting which needs 
  them. Which, in my opinion, is nearly all of 
  them. The Biker has certainly been a part of the 
  comic book world for a long time. Within that 
  setting, he has unto himself a long, rich, and 
  varied tradition of running exotic drugs no one 
  has ever heard of, taking over towns, wearing 
  stone-washed jeans (still!), behaving rudely 
  towards women and those who appear to be 
  women, slurring words, drinking, smelling bad, 
  behaving disrespectfully towards police officers 
  and soccer moms, using slang which doesn’t 
  even exist, wearing aviator glasses even though 
  the ’80s are over, flying through the air, 
  sneering, smoking Malaysian cigarettes, riding 
  imported Japanese motorcycles too quickly and 
  domestic motorcycles too loudly, and – perhaps 
  worst of all – getting kicked around by guys 
  dressed in spandex body stockings like Richard 
  Simmons as well as by teenage girls with several 
  months of judo training. 
   
  For these crimes and many others, The Biker 
  may well deserve to get beaten up by your 
  roleplaying game character. 
  fuming, gesturing, or 
  shaking your head at 
  the last guy’s 
  stupidity, the next guy 
  nails you…. 
  — noted motorcyclist
  Maynard Hershon
   
  THE BIKER 
  MENACE 
   
   
   “New Delhi, India -
  — A fifth Indian 
  policemen died 
  Thursday of injuries 
  received when 
  motorcycle-riding 
  gunmen attacked the 
  U.S. cultural center in 
  Calcutta last week, a 
  news report said. 
   “Four policemen 
  had died during the 
  Jan. 22 attack and 16 
  were injured, in 
  addition to a passer-
  by and a contract 
  security guard at the 
  American Center. The 
  fifth policeman died 
  Wednesday, Press 
  Trust of India news 
  agency reported from 
  Calcutta. 
   “Indian police say 
  they have arrested six 
  people, including 
  three Bangladeshis, 
  and killed two 
  Pakistanis whom they 
  accuse of being part 
  of a plot to carry out 
  the attack. 
   “The attack 
  happened during a 
  morning police shift 
  change when many 
  officers were milling 
  around, and long 
  before employees of 
  the center were to 
  arrive for work. U.S. 
  officials have 
  suggested the attack 
  appeared to be aimed 
  at Indian police.... 
  — Associated Press,
  Oct. 22, 2001
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  30 
  B Movie Scenarios 
   
  The Rebel rides into the isolated 
  desert town with a few close and trusted 
  friends, brothers of the road who have 
  kept the faith with him and one another 
  through good times and bad. You can 
  tell by the expression on his handsome 
  face that he’s haunted by the shadows 
  of things that most ordinary people 
  could never understand. He has the look 
  of a man who’s spent his life on the run 
  from the one thing he cannot possibly 
  escape – himself. Even the most casual 
  observer quickly notices the weight 
  which bears heavily down upon his all-
  too-young shoulders, The Rebel in his 
  leathers on his wild machine. It’s the 
  exhaustion which comes from bearing 
  that terrible thing that only he knows 
  how to bear; the knowledge that we are 
  all so terribly alone in this world. 
   
  The townspeople have a problem 
  they cannot seem to solve. Perhaps it is 
  because they are too few or perhaps 
  because they lack courage, but only the 
  strange, rebellious young man and his 
  small band of hard and desperate 
  friends can save them from The Menace 
  now. After a first desperate, unassisted 
  struggle between the heroic bikers and 
  The Menace, the townspeople rally 
  around their saviors and prove their 
  valor in the second fight with The 
  Menace. Really, they could have 
  handled it all along if they’d only found 
  the inner strength to stand up for 
  themselves.  
   
  But this fight is not without a cost. 
  All of the strange, rebellious young 
  man’s friends – each interesting, quirky, 
  and, in the end, heroic in his own way – 
  have fallen to The Menace before it 
  could be destroyed, deepening his sense 
  of loss, woe, and melancholy. To make 
  matters worse, the local misunderstood 
  teenage girl has fallen in love with him. 
  Yet he knows he must leave her for the 
  dusty open loneliness which is the 
  American Highway, for it is the only 
  home he shall ever know. With tears 
  streaming down his hauntingly 
  handsome face, he rides off into the 
  sunset having solved everybody’s 
  problems… except for his own! 
   
  Wow – kind of like a Western with motor 
  oil and leather jackets, huh? Which makes sense 
  when you consider that is was the plot of a bunch 
  of “B” films, all made out in the dusty Southern 
  California desert on a shoestring budget with 
  unknown actors. During the ’60s and ’70s 
  dozens of sleazy exploitation biker films were 
  made by independent low-budget directors, such 
  as the always frighteningly prolific Roger 
  Corman and sexually freakish Russ Meyer. 
  These guys were experts at creating art from 
  pure imagination with minimal preparation, 
  sometimes writing their scripts and recruiting 
  actors as they whipped along on strict shooting 
  schedules. Given a set of rulebooks and a bag of 
  polyhedral dice any of them would probably 
  make great GMs. Don’t you wish you, or your 
  GM, could pound out interesting adventures a 
  mile a minute like that? With this sort of on-the-
  fly inspired thinking, it’s only natural that may 
  of these cheapo biker films are uniquely ripe for 
  conversion into game scenarios by the 
  enterprising (if slightly twisted) GM. Here are 
  some ideas: 
   
  First, there’s always your basic 
  “misunderstood young man and his gang out on 
  a road trip attack (or save) a small Californian 
  town” film. This scenario has been done 
  perfectly in Laslo Bendedek’s The Wild Ones 
  (1954) where Marlon Brando’s “confused hero” 
  Johnny faces off against Lee Marvin’s “surly 
  villain” Chico for control of their gang. Set 
  against the backdrop of a small town, the men 
  look cool on their machines while the teenage 
  girls swoon, police gnash their teeth, and 
  everybody drinks, fights, and ponders the 
  meaning of their restless youthful little lives.  
   
  This is the most simple of all biker scenarios 
  but there are still a lot of good plot possibilities. 
  The characters, as “good” bikers, could show up 
  just in time to help the townspeople face down 
  the “bad” bikers before they wreck the place. Of 
  course the “bad” bikers will be back with more 
  of their friends, so the townspeople and the 
  “good” bikers will have to learn to work together 
  if they are going to stand up to them. Or the 
  townspeople could be a bunch of heavily armed 
  paranoid nut cases who attack the “good” biker 
  characters as soon as they get into town because 
  their pompadours are too big and their girlfriends 
  wear disreputable shoes, forcing them to join 
  forces with the “bad” biker gang (who don’t 
  even have girlfriends) just to survive long 
  enough to get away.  
   
  Now, it stands to reason that if a square ’50s 
  boys’ motorcycle gang can take over a town, 
  then a hip feminist ’60s girls’ motorcycle gang 
  can, too. Or, anyhow, that’s the basic premise 
  behind Herschell Gordon Lewis’ She Devils On 
  Wheels (1968). Queenie, Whitey, Honey-Pot, 
  and the girls have taken over a small town and 
  “B”IKER MOVIES 
   
   
   Moto-Psycho 
  (1965) – Alex Rocco 
  hunts down and kills a 
  gang of depraved and 
  psychopathic moped 
  riding “bikers” in the 
  desert. Russ Meyer 
  should have stuck 
  with making porno. 
   The Wild Angels 
  (1966) – Bruce Dern 
  dies in a motorcycle 
  wreck so Peter Fonda 
  and some Hells 
  Angels assault a 
  nurse, tie up a priest 
  while they have a 
  drugged out orgy in 
  his church, and then 
  fistfight the entire 
  town of Venice. A 
  classic. 
   Hells Angels on 
  Wheels (1967) – Jack 
  Nicholson is tired of 
  pumping gas so he, 
  Adam Roarke, and the 
  real Hells Angels 
  smash up a bar then 
  go to a carnival and 
  fight some sailors. 
  Pretty cool. 
   Run Angel Run 
  (1967) – William 
  Smith sells out to The 
  Man, so he gets 
  chased by angry 
  bikers up and down 
  California’s Highway 
  One. He then 
  becomes a rural sheep 
  farmer. Good stunts. 
   The Losers (1970) 
  – A US presidential 
  advisor is caught 
  behind enemy lines in 
  Viet Nam. So the 
  Army hires gets a 
  bunch of booze 
  drinking, pot smoking 
  bikers on specially 
  constructed choppers 
  to ride into the jungle 
  and rescue him from 
  the evil commies. A 
  must see! 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  31
  are having a pretty good time making the local 
  men stand in “The Stud Line” each night so the 
  winner of that day’s bike race can take her pick. 
  It’s sort of like lady’s choice night at a dance hall 
  except it’s not just their dance-card that gets 
  filled. Everything is cool until this new girl 
  Karen shows up. “We treat men like pieces of 
  meat hanging on a rack at a butcher shop!” she 
  complains, so she has sex with the same man 
  several nights in a row. The She Devils aren’t 
  down with her reactionary anti-feminist 
  behavior, so they drag her boyfriend behind a 
  chopper until he looks like raw hamburger. Then 
  the She Devils’ nubile leader Honey-Pot gets 
  kidnapped by the ugly male gang leader Joey 
  Boy, so they have to go and decapitate him with 
  piano wire. Then everyone rides off into the 
  sunset.  
   
  Now, the best thing that an enterprising GM 
  could do with this scenario is to let the players 
  simply wander into the middle of it without 
  explaining anything! Let them pick sides or, 
  better yet, force them to stand in the dreaded 
  “Stud Line.” You could have them try to save 
  Karen’s unfortunate loser boyfriend from the 
  dreaded feminists in leather cat suits. Have fun 
  and don’t let a lot of plot get in the way of the 
  action. The film’s director Herschell Gordon 
  Lewis sure didn’t!  
   
  Another particularly fun, although perhaps 
  painfully inevitable, variation on the chick biker 
  film theme is the “biker babes versus hordes of 
  undead” film. A fine later example of this genre 
  is Dan Hoskin’s Chopper Chicks in Zombie 
  Town (1989). Wrapped in luxuriously filthy, 
  butt-hugging leather, Rox (Catherine Carlin) is 
  the leader of a mean, brazen, and blow-dried all-
  girl motorcycle gang called the Cycle Sluts who 
  pull into the isolated desert town of Zariah for a 
  “meat break.” But instead of finding man candy 
  to munch on they find an army of flesh-eating 
  zombies who want to be the ones doing the 
  snacking. It turns out that the town has been 
  taken over by the mad mortician Ralph William 
  (Don Calfa) and his mild mannered midget 
  sidekick Bob (Ed Gale) who are slowly turning 
  all of townspeople into mindless undead. To 
  make matters worse, a busload of blind orphans 
  has broken down right near the zombies’ lair. It 
  left up to the chopper chicks to save them in a 
  nightmare blur of neo-feminist violence. 
   
  This is a classic horror theme. Everyone 
  knows that the characters are tough, but are they 
  tough enough to take on an entire town of 
  middle-class flesh-eating zombies? Can they 
  make it to the busload of blind orphans before 
  the zombies turn them into cane-tapping hors 
  deouvers? Perhaps the GM could cruelly add the 
  Cycle Sluts to the mix as a competing group of 
  heroes who are not about to be outdone by a 
  bunch of (yech!) men. After an initial conflict, 
  the Cycle Sluts and the characters could work 
  together to stop the menace of the mad mortician 
  and his horizontally impaired assistant. No 
  matter what zombie parts will fly.  
   
  Another noteworthy B movie jaunt into the 
  world of not-very-likely motorcycle adventures 
  is Michael Nesmith’s (of the Monkees) 
  Timerider (1982), in which flaky motocross 
  racer Lyle Swann (Fred Ward) and his bike get 
  zapped back to the 1870s by some very sloppy 
  Regan-era scientists who have somehow 
  wandered onto the racecourse (funding was 
  pretty easy to get back then). He drives across 
  the dessert for a while until he finds an old 
  Mexican who sees the bike and dies of fright. 
  Swann can’t figure it out – where is everybody, 
  and like, what, the old guy had never seen a 
  motorcycle before? Swann then rides around 
  some more, terrifying the heck out of various 
  cowboys and pioneers until he runs into former 
  ’60s activist Peter Coyote, who really, really 
  wants to learn how to ride. Unfortunately, Peter 
  Coyote is an outlaw so he doesn’t want to bother 
  with those darn C.L.A.S.S. riding lessons and 
  decides to shoot Swan, who still doesn’t get it. 
  Fortunately, incredibly good-looking girl 
  gunfighter Claire (Belinda Bauer) happens along 
  and gives Peter Coyote and his gang the 
  Altamont-style beating they so richly deserve. 
  Then she forces Swann to make love to her at 
  gunpoint, steals his ride, and promptly gets 
  caught by Peter Coyote who isn’t exactly going 
  to take her for a ride on the peace train, if you 
  know what I mean. It’s at about this point that 
  Swann figures out that, wow man, I must be in 
  the past and if I want to be held at gunpoint by 
  Belinda Bauer again I had better go rescue her. 
   
  Now that’s a plot! There are sooooo many 
  ways to work this into various sorts of settings it 
  makes you feel sort of giddy just thinking about 
  it. Maybe your characters are already in an Old 
  West campaign when suddenly this clueless, 
  mullet-wearing flake from the future on his crazy 
  machine drops in their lap. What do they do with 
  him? How will they get fuel for his… what is it 
  called… mo-tor-cy-cle? Why does he talk so 
  funny? Or, if you prefer, drop the biker 
  characters into the old west without telling them 
  to see how long it takes them to figure it out. 
  You might be surprised at just how long that is! 
  When they do figure it out, make them do 
  something very “old west,” like fight it out with 
  the real James Gang or rescue an actual maiden 
  tied up on some actual train tracks. I guarantee 
  that they’ll love you for it. 
  OTHER 
  NOTEWORTHY 
  ZOMBIE BIKER 
  FILMS 
   
   
   Dawn of the Dead 
  (1978) – Zombies 
  have taken over the 
  world, so five people 
  find a mall full of 
  consumer goods to 
  barricade themselves 
  in. Things are going 
  pretty well until a 
  zombie-battling biker 
  army decides that 
  they would like to get 
  into the mall as well. 
  One of George 
  Romero’s very best. 
   Revenge of the 
  Zombies (1981) – 
  Supernatural tale of 
  violence and 
  vengeance, when a 
  biker gang breaks into 
  a house and kills the 
  father of two children 
  with bizarre powers. 
  Also released as “Kiss 
  Daddy Goodbye.” 
   Zombie Bikers 
  from Detroit (2000) 
  – The touching story 
  of two teenage 
  lovebirds from Grosse 
  Pointe who get chased 
  down by a zombie 
  gang from Detroit. 
  Full of blood, guts, 
  and motorcycles. 
   Zombie Cult 
  Massacre (2001) – A 
  three-way battle to the 
  death between trigger-
  happy cult members, 
  rifle-toting bikers on 
  their Harleys, and 
  hungry bug-eyed 
  zombies wearing bad 
  pants. George 
  Romero Meets the 
  Branch Davidians in 
  Sturgis, South Dakota
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  32 
  Bad TV Scenarios  
   
  The insanely good-looking woman 
  on a sleek sports bike pulls up to the 
  front door of the abandoned church in 
  the dead of night. Pulling off her 
  designer full-face helmet, she sweeps 
  her luxurious mane of hair towards the 
  camera before swinging her legs off of 
  the bike in a single, slow motion 
  movement. She then casually tosses the 
  un-scratched, thousand dollar Shoei 
  duo-tech helmet to her right so that the 
  can remove her three hundred dollar 
  designer leather gloves one at a time, 
  revealing well-manicured hands. 
   
  The front doors of the abandoned 
  church open, spewing forth a dozen 
  undead-looking character actors with 
  large bumpy foreheads. She tosses her 
  gloves disdainfully to the left before 
  clutching her tiny little hands into fists. 
  The undead character actors get closer. 
  She sneers at them through her pouting, 
  surgically modified lips. The undead 
  character actors get even closer still. 
  She squares her rather narrow shoulders 
  so that she can assume the popular 
  “L.A. Fu” martial arts stance. The 
  undead character actors begin running 
  into her fists so that they can fly 
  through the air, hit trees, and explode. 
  She moves through them like George 
  Foreman eating his way through a Las 
  Vegas buffet breakfast, only with less 
  interest. 
   
  Suddenly, the insanely good-
  looking woman is silhouetted in the 
  church’s open doorway with the 
  moonlight streaming in behind her. It 
  outlines her surgically perfect figure 
  rather nicely. 
  In front of her lurks a tall man with 
  a black mullet hairdo that has way too 
  much royal crown gel in it. He has 
  white skin, pointy teeth, and is wearing 
  a hand-tailored double-breasted Brooks 
  Brothers suit with one of those really 
  nice London Fog trench coats that you 
  just can’t seem to get here in the States. 
  His yellow eyes move nervously around 
  the room, searching for some means of 
  escape. 
   
  “So Mullet Hunter,” he says in one 
  of those villain’s upper class British 
  accents, “you have found me and 
  destroyed my minions – which, I might 
  add, my took my special effects artists 
  hours to create. But you are too late! In 
  a few moments my infernal pipe organ 
  shall cover Los Angeles in a comforting 
   
  sounds of Henry Purcell’s Fairy Queen, 
  sending your music industry into a 
  thousand year slumber. There shall 
  never be another glam heavy metal 
  album produced in this city ever again!” 
   
  “Not-if-I-can-help-it,” she sneers at him 
  through those surgically altered lips with all of 
  the wooden enthusiasm of a high school 
  production of Romeo and Juliet, “Your-day-has-
  come. You-shall-never-threaten-Columbia-
  Records-or-anyone-else-again….” 
   
  Ah, the comforting and warm beta waves of 
  television. Perhaps the last place you would 
  think to find The Biker in all of his rebellious 
  finery is on nationally syndicated primetime 
  television, but nevertheless there he (or 
  sometimes she) is. Here are a fantastically putrid 
  trio of shows which together contain enough 
  gaming material to keep your players shaking 
  their heads in confusion for months: 
   
  For some inexplicable reason in early 1977 
  executive producer Rick Rosner decided to 
  produce a factual, hard-hitting TV drama about 
  the lives of the only two good looking California 
  Highway Patrol officers ever to serve on the 
  force. This show, known as CHiPs (the “I” was 
  never explained) was also about movement and 
  transportation, so each episode featured a high-
  speed chase of some sort. Usually this involved 
  Eric Estrada and his dopey blond sidekick 
  simply following the bad-guy of the week 
  around downtown L.A. until he got caught in 
  stopped traffic (pretty common even in the ’70s). 
  Then they’d take the “half lane highway” up to 
  the side of his K-car so Eric Estrada could smile 
  at him. Since everyone knows that creepy Eric is 
  a practicing Santaria witch, the bad-guy always 
  surrendered at this point. Nobody wants to wake 
  up with a dead chicken at the foot of his bed. 
   
  Sometimes Eric and big dummy would get 
  off their bikes for a chase scene, but since 
  nobody in L.A. walks, the producers had to find 
  other ways of getting them around. There were 
  roller skating chase scenes, jet-ski chase scenes, 
  dirt bike chase scenes, and even muscle car chase 
  scenes where the bad guys would find the only 
  empty streets in L.A. to flee down. Yep, CHiPs 
  was pretty cool, and making your own ChiPs-
  style scenario is both easy and fun. Start with an 
  amazing crash on the freeway involving a car 
  going through a semi-truck. Of course the car has 
  a screaming baby in it, but that’s okay, because 
  the baby’s mom is really good looking in spite of 
  being unconscious in a burning car. The 
  characters somehow show up within thirty 
  seconds of this wreck so that they can wiggle 
  into the burning car, rescue the hot mom (and 
  even her baby), the run like heck before the car 
  somehow blows up and knocks everybody down 
  in slow motion. Remember, somebody’s seat belt 
  THE BIKER VIGIL 
  AUNTY 
   
   
   The Aunty Jack 
  Show (1972-1973) 
  was one of Australia’s 
  earliest and best-loved 
  TV comedy series. 
  Starring a 
  motorcycling 
  transvestite boxer, 
  Australians of the 
  early ’70s had little 
  option but to tune in 
  under threat of having 
  their “bloody arms 
  ripped off.” The 
  theme song from the 
  series Farewell Aunty 
  Jack reached Number 
  1 in Australia and 
  stayed in their charts 
  for 22 weeks, proving 
  beyond the shadow of 
  a doubt that 
  Australians are a very 
  strange and scary 
  group of people. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  33
  will be stuck for at least a few seconds somehow. 
  For a little variation, use a bridge and a lake 
  instead of a semi truck and fire. It works just as 
  well, even better if mom is wearing a skimpy 
  white t-shirt.  
   
  Then, with no further explanation, have the 
  characters hanging out at the police station (or 
  their base) where there are plenty of hot blondes 
  and brunettes to hit on. After they have done that 
  for a while, cut to a scene where two guys in 
  leisure suits plot a crime which involves a high-
  speed getaway through insanely slow rush hour 
  traffic. If they know how to use a gun, make sure 
  that they don’t bring it along – but if they can’t 
  hit the side of a barn with a machine gun then 
  it’s ok to bring guns along. Next, show the 
  characters nonchalantly lane-splitting through 
  traffic with reflective aviators’ glasses on, 
  periodically grinning at each other. Then their 
  dispatcher (who also sounds like a hot chick) 
  calls them to tell them where a crime is going on 
  so that they can turn on their sirens and drive like 
  bats-out-of-heck down four or five streets that 
  aren’t anywhere near each other until they get 
  there. When they arrive, have an NPC run out 
  into the street and yell “they went that way!” 
  before they can get off their bikes. Then they can 
  high-speed chase the guys in leisure suits down 
  five more streets that don’t connect until their K-
  car hits some trash cans. One bad guy will jump 
  out and make a run for it, so have a character 
  throw his night stick twenty feet between the 
  guys legs so that he trips and falls into some 
  more trash cans. Then, suddenly, the characters 
  are back in their base flirting with redheads. One 
  character makes some lame joke, everyone 
  laughs hysterically in a forced sort of way, and 
  then the characters get individually freeze 
  framed with big cheesy smiles on their faces. 
  Make your players act this out. Roll credits – end 
  of game. 
   
  Repeat each game with slight variation. Hey, 
  it worked for six seasons back in the 1970s! 
   
  Another favorite of the little screen is 
  Renegade, where Lorenzo Lamas is the 
  longhaired ex-cop gone biker named Tulsa or 
  Vegas or something who’s wanted by The Man 
  for his wife’s murder. He’s innocent (of course) 
  but he has to use up five seasons and a lot of hair 
  spray trying to prove it. Of course he is 
  constantly hunted by the crooked L.A. cops who 
  framed him, but they can’t seem to get it together 
  once they leave Tinsel Town and have to spend 
  five years chasing him around the Southwest 
  rather then selling coke or whatever it is crooked 
  L.A. cops do. Lorenzo and his friends wile away 
  the days bounty hunting while being wanted by 
  the law themselves, which is apparently not a 
  problem for bail bondsmen in that part of the 
  country. 
   
  A scenario using this setting would probably 
  go something like this:  one character is rolling 
  through the dessert in style on his Harley 
  Sportster. Strangely, the fact that his sportster 
  only has a one-gallon pea tank doesn’t keep him 
  from going hundreds of miles at a time (this is 
  his special power, so make the player pay for it). 
  The other characters are following behind in one 
  of those mobile homes that’s almost as big as 
  Bill Gates’ mansion. They are all wanted by the 
  law, but somehow this weird parade is 
  inconspicuous so the local police never bother 
  them. Each game starts with a scene of some 
  rough white trash looking guy robbing a gas 
  station (or bank or pawn shop or doughnut 
  store). The characters in the jumbo 
  inconspicuous mobile home get a call on the CB 
  radio telling them that some guy they were 
  already hunting has just committed a crime. 
  They stop so that the character on the Harley can 
  announce that, hey, if we just catch this guy I can 
  prove my innocence! So they go to the nearest 
  biker bar because everybody knows that it’s the 
  first place you go after you rob a gas station. 
  Unfortunately, former punk goddess and biker 
  lesbian Wendy O’ Williams is the bartender, so 
  the characters have just gotta know that this is the 
  wrong bar to be in. They then have to fight 
  everyone in the bar except for the guy they are 
  after so that he can slip out the back door and get 
  away.  
   
  Cut to the next scene:  the Harley-riding 
  character is getting advice from an old Indian 
  medicine man by a campfire. The old Indian is 
  pretty bored, though, so he keeps giving totally 
  inscrutable answers to the character’s questions 
  in hopes that he will go away and leave him 
  alone. No such luck – the players will have to do 
  this every game. In the next scene, the characters 
  are riding down some godforsaken, semi-paved 
  Nevada back road kicking up huge clouds of 
  dust. They pull up to some 1950s airstream 
  trailer where the bad guy’s toothless ex-wife is 
  hiding him. He comes out for a high-noon-style 
  showdown with the characters but generally gets 
  lectured for a while instead. Then the characters 
  shoot him in the right shoulder so that he drops 
  his gun. Between clenched teeth he explains to 
  the Harley riding character that he definitely 
  can’t help him prove his innocence because has 
  absolutely no idea what he is talking about. Roll 
  credits. Repeat following game with almost no 
  variation at all for about five seasons. 
   
  Street Hawk was a short-lived ABC 
  television series that aired back in 1985. The 
  show was about this motorcycle cop (of course) 
  named Jesse Mach (Rex Smith) whose partner 
  gets killed when one of those big delivery vans 
  hit him. The same van also runs into Jesse, 
  shattering his knees so that he can’t ride any 
  more. Relegated to a miserable desk job in the 
  STONE COLD 
   
   
   Stone Cold is a 
  1991 biker film 
  staring the infamous 
  Seattle Seahawks’ 
  linebacker Brian “The 
  Boz” Bosworth. It’s 
  sort of like Easy 
  Rider, only this time, 
  instead of hippies 
  getting blown away 
  by rednecks, it’s 
  outlaw bikers blowing 
  up any Mississippi 
  politicians who get in 
  their way. The Boz is 
  a mean cop who goes 
  undercover to try to 
  bust the bikers’ coke-
  dealing operation. 
  Nine fistfights and 
  three crash-and-burns 
  later, he has his final 
  showdown with 
  veteran drive-in bad 
  guy Lance Henriksen, 
  as cops and bikers 
  rumble through the 
  Mississippi state 
  capitol like Iraqi 
  soldiers in Kuwait. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  34 
  detective department, Jesse is approached by a 
  mad scientist type cop named Norman Tuttle 
  (Murphy Brown’s Joe Regabulto) who has turned 
  a lame 1984 Honda XR500 dirt bike into this 
  really cool bird-of-prey looking café racer. He 
  offers to fix Jessie’s knees up with cybernetic 
  parts if he will join a secret government program 
  and become a superhero – an offer which Jesse 
  quickly accepts. Together they fight crime in the 
  streets of Los Angeles.  
   
  Street Hawk is really a quintessential 
  motorcycle riding superhero. He wears a skin-
  tight black bulletproof outfit with these big tough 
  looking AXO boots and a black, tinted visor 
  helmet (it makes him look kind of like an evil 
  test pilot). He has this non-lethal rubber bullet 
  gun under his left arm that he shoots people with, 
  generally after giving them fair warning. His 
  buddy is in constant communication with him 
  through a radio inside of his helmet, so he’s 
  always finding out background information on 
  people and stuff like that. But it’s the bike which 
  is really the star of the show. The thing really 
  does look kind of cool, kind of like a KTM 
  Duke2 about 15 years before KTM made one, 
  and it has all sorts of special powers. It goes 300 
  miles an hour (?!?) when you hit the 
  “hyperthrust” button (kind of like a space ship), 
  lifts itself over objects with compressed air, 
  shoots explosive rockets, fires lasers, and even 
  blasts away with a machine gun! Best of all, you 
  can still constantly pop all sorts of wheelies on it 
  even with all of this garbage tucked under its 
  tiny front ferring!  
   
  A Street Hawk style scenario would go 
  something like this:  you show the first character 
  running on a treadmill with all of this computer 
  stuff hooked up to him. Then you show this 
  outrageous looking motorcycle being carried out 
  of a dry ice room on a conveyor belt. Next, you 
  show the second character looking at a bunch of 
  outdated computers with blinky lights and green 
  screens. The first character gets his cool super 
  clothing on right before jumping on the bike and 
  leaping out of a secret door in a wall in a 
  nameless sleazy alley somewhere along 
  Hollywood Boulevard (where there is a plentiful 
  supply of sleazy alleys). He flies about 30 yards 
  over the heads of startled bums to land on a 
  street shrouded by thick white fog-machine fog. 
  He then begins doing wheelies in slow motion up 
  and down the street, calling the motorcycle 
  “baby” and “sweetheart.” Meanwhile, the other 
  character – the pencil-necked inventor who 
  created the bike – is getting pretty upset at all of 
  this dirty talk, so tells the fist character to 
  “initiate sequence two” through the first 
  characters’ secret radio helmet. This is so that he 
  can watch all of the action through a camera in 
  the bike’s front ferring without having to ride the 
  silly death-contraption himself. Then the first 
  character has to find another bank of fog-
  machine-smog so he can begin cornering in slow 
  motion. 
   
  After the geek in the control booth is 
  satisfied that the bike can turn corners, he tells 
  the first character to get ready for “hyperthrust.” 
  He begins counting down dramatically 
  9!....8!....7!..  ..6!....5!....4!....3!....2!.... before 
  shouting “Initiate hyperthrust!” Then the camera 
  starts playing its film really quickly while the 
  first character shouts “yeehaw!” and “whoohoo!” 
  a lot so that it looks like he is shooting down the 
  L.A. Freeway at about a zillion miles an hour. 
  After this goes on long enough to give most 
  people in the ’80s an acid flashback, the geek in 
  the control booth announces that the bike is 
  overheating and will have to come back into the 
  shop. Unfortunately, the first character has 
  stumbled across the noisiest and most obvious 
  liquor store robbery in California history, so he 
  has to stop and shoot up the robbers’ car with a 
  laser that pops out of the front of his bike before 
  telling the robbers, “No charge for the tune up!” 
  and flying over the heads of startled policemen. 
   
  Repeat with a surprising amount of variation 
  on the theme of being a biker superhero for 
  around a dozen games before canceling on your 
  players without warning.  
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  35
  Forgotten Comic Book 
  Characters 
   
  The man in ragged leather stands 
  alone atop the high mesa, the wind 
  whipping the black, flame-like mop of 
  his hair into various shapes as it 
  whistles past. For a long time he 
  remains almost motionless save for a 
  slow, almost imperceptible movement 
  of his head as he stares down at the 
  valley below. In the middle of the 
  valley sits an innocuous small town of 
  the sort which periodically dots 
  American Southwest. There is nothing 
  particularly unusual about it. 
   
  “Evil,” says the man. “This is 
  where I sensed the Evil to which I have 
  been drawn, this town in the dust.” 
   
  Extending a leather-clad hand 
  outwards, the ragged man summons the 
  arcane powers of shadow substance 
  which lives amongst the cells of his 
  blood stream to create his Shadow 
  Cycle, an enormous cruiser of unearthly 
  darkness. Its tires seem to be 
  constructed of black flame, while its 
  exhaust pipes emit an angry roar which 
  could only come from the throats of the 
  doomed souls of another world. 
  Wrapping a dusty, well-used scarf 
  around his face and strapping an ebony 
  “pudding bucket” helmet upon his head, 
  the man climbs upon his midnight 
  machine and begins to descend down 
  the mesa’s nearly vertical surface in a 
  mighty cloud of reddish brown desert 
  dust. 
   
  “No matter Evil’s form, No matter 
  Evil’s path,” he cries out in his 
  brooding baritone, “No Evil shall 
  escape the hounds of The Hunteds 
  eternal wrath!” 
   
  It’s good to be a comic book biker. There’s 
  no mechanical failures, no periodic 
  maintenance, no speeding tickets, no helmets, 
  and no physical laws of nature to keep you from 
  flying hundred of feet through the air when you 
  want to leap over villains. It’s like being a 
  modern day cowboy except that you wear black 
  leather instead of a white ten-gallon hat. Best of 
  all, your bike doesn’t leave horse “hockey” all 
  over the place or throw you off while you’re 
  giving your soliloquies. 
   
  Which brings us to our next topic, namely 
  The Biker as superhero. Many, many 
  superheroes have ridden motorcycles in the 
  lengthy history of comic books, as have many 
  heroes of both the big and small screens. 
  Marvel Comic’s Captain America and Ian 
  Fleming’s James Bond are both examples of 
  heroic characters who both occasionally ride 
  motorcycles yet have few or none of the 
  archetypical characteristics of The Biker. This 
  is an unfortunate trend – in fact only a very few 
  fictional characters have adapted the entire life 
  style of The Biker in at least one of his various 
  incarnations. Good examples would include 
  Marvel Comic’s Ghost Rider and the above-
  mentioned Renegade television character. Both 
  of these later two heroic characters use the 
  language of The Biker, wear his clothing, and 
  participate in his culture, as well as riding his 
  chosen means of transportation. The particulars 
  of this language, manner of dress, and general 
  culture we shall touch on in a later section of 
  this work. Here are some examples of some of 
  the motorcycle-riding comic book heroes of the 
  past upon which characters could be easily 
  based: 
   
  Marvel Comic’s Ghost Rider is the 
  quintessential misunderstood biker hero. Things 
  go terribly, terribly wrong when circus stunt 
  rider Johnny Blaze tries to make a deal with 
  The Devil – uh, I mean Mephisto –  to save his 
  best friend Crash Simpson from cancer. The 
  end result is that Johnny must share his body 
  with the eternal Spirit of Vengeance, a 
  supernatural entity designed to avenge the 
  guilty and protect the innocent (pretty much in 
  that order). When the Spirit of Vengeance 
  witnesses wrongdoing or senses evil it takes 
  over Johnny’s body, turning him into this cool 
  looking flaming skeleton in black leather with 
  big spikes all over it. Of course, this is a little 
  hard on Johnny’s social life (there’s a lot of evil 
  around), so he ends up having to take to the 
  road as a wandering lone biker. Johnny drifts 
  into seemingly quite town after seemingly quite 
  town, only to have his alter ego discover that 
  some sort of supernatural evil is afoot. Ghost 
  Rider nearly always manages to save the 
  innocent townspeople from danger, but scares 
  the (dare I say it?) hell out of them while doing 
  it. So after each victory, Johnny Blaze has to 
  take to the road again. 
   
  Ghost Rider has a bunch of cool powers. 
  He has this flaming chain whip that he wraps 
  around evildoers so that they can see every bad 
  thing they have ever done at once, which 
  generally turns them into jabbering, drooling 
  imbeciles for a while (I guess a lot of evil lurks 
  in the hearts of men). He can also summon this 
  crazy looking AMC era chopper with burning 
  wheels by simply extending his hand outwards 
  palm down. He then rides this (dare I say it 
  again?) hellish thing up and down the sides of 
  office buildings, leaving skid marks of flame 
  everywhere he goes. All of this on top of having 
  his head turn into a flaming skull. Not bad!     
  BLOOD ON THE 
  HIGHWAY 
   
   
   
  El Diablo: 
  “You’re bleeding, 
  old-timer. You ought 
  to get that taken care 
  of.” 
   
  The Vigilante: 
  “Aw, the heck with it. 
  Does a man good to 
  bleed sometimes. 
  Reminds him that 
  he’s still alive.” 
  — El Diablo #12
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  36 
   
  Atomic-age Lazarus or post-modern 
  Frankenstein’s monster? That is what Acclaim 
  Comic’s Bloodshot must discover as he searches 
  for the clues to his past that will reveal who, and 
  what, he is. The men who pursue him, 
  presumably the ones who transformed him into a 
  zombie killing machine, say he is (or was) 
  Raymond Garrison, an agent for the quasi-
  governmental Domestic Operations Authority 
  (get it?). His memory tells a different story. He 
  was Angelo Mortalli, a mobster whose career 
  went south – permanently. But men do lie and 
  memories can be wrong, especially after you’ve 
  been dead for a year. Which is the truth and 
  which is the lie? 
   
  Bloodshot is a really buffed Arnie-looking 
  dead guy who has been re-animated by sentient 
  nanotechnology. He’s filled with these millions 
  of tiny robots who all worship him as their 
  god/world. They fix him when gets hurt by 
  turning any organic matter he can find into 
  useful flesh, so he is constantly sticking raw 
  meat from the grocery store into his wounds. He 
  cruises around on this improbably giant muscle 
  bike, looking to get even with those who have 
  doomed him to a tortured half-life. 
  Unfortunately, those who doomed him employ 
  armies of heavily-armed goons who like to blow 
  large holes in zombie killing machines, so 
  Bloodshot seems to spend a lot more time in line 
  at the Safeway meat counter than he does out 
  riding his bike. 
   
  DC Comics’ Jonah Hex, he of scarred face 
  and nasty disposition, finds himself yanked 
  through time from the 19th Century Old West to 
  become part of Reinhold Borsten’s “warrior 
  collection.” Armed with his Smith & Wesson 
  six-gun, his knife, and his lariat, Hex has to 
  make his away across a post-nuclear America on 
  a futuristic “duster” motorcycle with an 
  attractive 16 year-old girl named Princess Elana 
  on the back (O the burdens of heroism!). Hex is 
  trying to take her to the heavily fortified city of 
  Sisco so that she can plead the case of her 
  oppressed dessert nomad friends with her scary 
  father Lord Alcala. To do this they have to ride 
  and shoot their way past legions of mutants, 
  attack robots, giant animals, biker gangs, and 
  futuristic-looking guys in flying cars. 
   
  When he is crime-fighting, DC Comics’ The 
  Vigilante disguises his identity as Greg 
  Saunders, the country singer known as the 
  Prairie Troubadour, by wrapping a red scarf over 
  the lower portion of his face and replacing his 
  guitar with a six-shooter. The Vigilante is a 
  Golden Age comic book character (1940s and 
  ’50s) who tears around either New York or the 
  American Southwest on his Indian motorcycle 
  while somehow keeping his white ten-gallon hat 
  on his head. A lot of his adventures center 
  around attempts to thwart powerful gangster 
  Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, who was then 
  attempting to set the foundations for what would 
  later become Las Vegas. The Vigilante needn’t 
  have bothered:  Murder, Inc. took care of Bugsy 
  rather messily in 1947, and Vegas is doing pretty 
  well today. 
   
  The Vigilante also fell prey to the “sidekick-
  syndrome” that beset many heroes of the era, 
  ending up with Stuff, the Chinatown Kid, who 
  was the grandson of Lin Chou, leader of the 
  White Lotus tong in New York’s Chinatown. He 
  assisted the Vigilante when a Japanese spy 
  known as The Head framed his grandfather for 
  provoking a Tong war. Stuff worked with The 
  Vigilante until his apparent retirement, but 
  typical comic book continuity problems abound 
  with Stuff after this point. He was first shown, as 
  an adult, to have been murdered by The Dummy 
  (a weird Golden Age villain who looked like a 
  ventriloquist’s dummy). His own son, Stuff, Jr., 
  helped The Vigilante bring the killer to justice. 
  He has also been shown very much alive and 
  now the president of the “Greg Sanders’ Round-
  Up” restaurant chain. It has also been revealed in 
  a later attack of retroactive continuity that Stuff 
  was murdered in the early 1950s by Bugsy 
  Siegel. Such is the fate of sidekicks. 
   
  Marvel Comic’s The Thunderiders (also 
  known as Team America) were a world-class 
  motorcycle stunt-riding team who met during the 
  annual Daytona Beach bike week. Five of the 
  Thunderiders’ six regulars  (Honcho, The Wolf, 
  R.U. Reddy, Cowboy, and Wrench) were 
  mutants who possess a special mental link with 
  one another that enabled them to share certain 
  information and feelings as well as project into a 
  host body their combined mental and physical 
  attributes during times of stress. This host body 
  takes on the masked identity of the Marauder, 
  also known as the Black Marauder, the Dark 
  Rider, or the Black Rider (depending upon who 
  was writing the series at the time). When the 
  Thunderiders decided to form Marauder, they 
  chose some lucky stiff within 100 yards of their 
  location and bestowed upon this individual the 
  attributes and skills of Marauder (or Black Rider, 
  etc). The Marauder would then generally save 
  them from peril or confuse the heck out of them 
  or, more often, both at the same time. 
   
  The Thunderiders used motorcycles licenced 
  from the Ideal Toy Corporation in one of those 
  crossover comic book/toy company promotions 
  things that used to happen all the time back in 
  the 1970s. A lot of their stories revolved around 
  stopping environmental disasters, which was 
  kind of a sign of the times (superheroes don’t do 
  that sort of thing anymore). Probably the most 
  memorable thing about this short-lived and 
  rather unsuccessful series was the caption of its 
  last issue which read, “Because you demanded 
  it… the end of Team America!” 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  37
  The Antihero as Hero for HERO 
   
  Now none of the above information has to 
  have any bearing on your campaign world, in 
  which you and your players are free to make The 
  Biker as simple or shallow or complex or deep as 
  you please. Yet there is potential for real and 
  satisfying depth when roleplaying The Biker in 
  your game if you look past his rough exterior 
  and get down to what he really represents in 
  American society – which is, namely, freedom. 
  You can force your Player Characters, and their 
  players, to examine their real attitudes towards 
  those who step outside the norms of society so 
  that they, as men and women in the physical 
  world, can come to more fully appreciate what 
  the word “hero” really means. 
   
  For these reasons as well as a variety of 
  others, The Biker makes a fine roleplaying game 
  character as both a Player Character and a Non-
  Player Character. For many players, The Biker 
  embodies a large number of traits desirable in a 
  heroic PC – he’s physically sturdy, generally 
  independent, willing to face physical danger, and 
  something of an outsider. Many people are in 
  fact drawn to motorcycles for the same reason 
  they are drawn to roleplaying games:  namely, 
  out of a desire for freedom and camaraderie 
  amongst men and women who not only don’t fit 
  into normal society but, in many cases, have 
  little desire to do so. In fact, it is not that terribly 
  unusual for bikers to find their way into 
  roleplaying games as a hobby – or, for that 
  matter, for gamers to get into motorcycling. 
  After all, we’ve got to go outside sometime, and 
  what better reason to set down the dice than to 
  go out for a long ride along a twisty abandoned 
  road on a warm summer afternoon, free and ever 
  so mercifully alone…. 
   
  On a side note, one of the great frustrations 
  of playing the heroic biker character is the fact 
  that the HERO System rules, which possess 
  probably the best vehicle creation system in 
  gaming history, were still not designed by people 
  with a great personal interest in motorcycles. 
  There is an infinite capacity for creation for 
  those with the time and energy to engage in it, 
  but a definite lack of pre-written generic types 
  available for the player. In a later section, dozens 
  of generic types of motorcycles as well as a wide 
  variety of specific historical motorcycles will be 
  rendered into the HERO System 5th Edition rules 
  for easy use. 
   
  Aside from being used as a brutish villain or 
  motorcycle-riding hero, The Biker makes a fine 
  supporting character, usable in a wide variety of 
  capacities. He can be the hero’s best pal, busily 
  punching out thugs while the hero goes after the 
  mastermind behind whatever crime, or he can be 
  the guy whose job it is to fix Captain 
  Stackmaster’s super-cycle every time he bends 
  the forks crashing into super-villains. He can be 
  outlaw with a sense of right and wrong who 
  keeps the heroes in touch with what’s going on 
  in America’s streets, or the voice of working 
  class blue-collar wisdom who urges the 
  characters to “keep it real” and think about their 
  actions. She can be the annoying speed crazed 
  niece of one of the characters who just can’t 
  seem to keep it below 130 mph – but shows up 
  on her souped-up Buell White Lightning just in 
  time to rescue one of the characters. The 
  possibilities for supporting roles are really 
  endless. 
   
  The Biker is an important part of the culture 
  of our country. He’s out there right now, living 
  his larger-than-life existence, savoring the little 
  adventures which spring from his dedication to 
  an elite form of transportation, sneering in 
  contempt at those who choose to get around in 
  four-wheeled “coffins.” You can see him nearly 
  everywhere if you look long enough; taking his 
  vacations touring the back roads of America’s 
  Deep South during its warm (but not too warm) 
  springs and falls, screaming up and down the 
  California coastline like a man possessed, 
  spending a leisurely Sunday morning riding from 
  greasy spoon to greasy spoon with his pals. His 
  life is a song – an ode to freedom, to danger, to 
  escape from the bonds which tie us down to our 
  daily grind. Do you hear it calling?      
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  38 
  New Skills, Modifiers, Powers, 
  Advantages, and Disadvantages 
   
  The Biker has a different set of interests and 
  abilities than other characters in your gaming 
  universe, requiring his own special set of skills 
  and whatnot. Fortunately, HERO’s rule system is 
  extremely accommodating and allows us to 
  derive all of the required nifty special things 
  which allow The Biker to become an interesting 
  part of your campaign world. Most of you could 
  do the same if you had the time to sit down, do 
  the research, and figure it all out – but since you 
  probably don’t, here goes. 
  PERKS 
   
   
  Cost Perk 
   2-4 Member of Outlaw Biker Gang 
   
   Character is a full member (patch holder) 
  in good standing of an outlaw biker club. 
  He can expect the other club members to 
  help him out when he is in any sort of 
  danger or financial need, without any 
  regard for whether his needs are legal or 
  not. His fellow club members will stand 
  by him regardless of whether they feel his 
  actions are right or wrong, and he is 
  expected to do the same. The character is 
  extremely close to his club “brothers” 
  who are, for all intents and purposes, his 
  family. The club is a commercial criminal 
  enterprise as well as a social group, so the 
  patch holder can expect to be employed 
  by the club’s criminal activities. The cost 
  of this perk is determined by the size, 
  power, and wealth of the outlaw club in 
  question. 
   
  1 Member of “Mom and Pops” Club 
   
   Character is a full member of a non-
  outlaw motorcycle club. This is 
  essentially a group of people who are 
  close friends and ride together regularly, 
  although there are often fairly rough 
  customers who belong to “mom and pops” 
  clubs. Members probably wear patches or 
  colors, but Outlaw Bikers will not be 
  offended or angered by this. The character 
  can expect at least some help and support 
  from fellow club members, although 
  generally they will not help him break the 
  law or do anything they consider immoral. 
  A “mom and pops” club is never a 
  criminal enterprise and members always 
  have outside jobs. A fine example of a 
  “mom and pops” motorcycle club is the 
  San Francisco Motorcycle Club, which 
  has a clubhouse in the Mission district of 
  that city. It has been in continuous 
  existence since 1898! 
  SKILLS  
   
   
  Cost Skills 
   2/1 KS: Outlaw Bikers 
   
   The Character has a working knowledge 
  of the general history, customs, language, 
  and characteristics of North America’s 
  outlaw biker culture. He or she is able to 
  blend in when amongst groups of outlaw 
  bikers, although not individual clubs. 
   2/1  KS: Motorcycle Racing 
   
   The character has a general knowledge of 
  the current history of both amateur and 
  grand prix motorcycle racing both locally 
  and around the world. This will include a 
  general working knowledge of all bikes 
  currently being raced as well those who 
  ride them. The character will also have a 
  good grasp of track etiquette and will 
  know how to behave while racing on any 
  given track. In addition, the character will 
  have a good grasp of the interpersonal 
  politics within any given racing “scene.” 
  Given that racers are a gabby, self-
  important folk, this may prove invaluable.  
   2/1 KS: Motorcycle History 
   
   The Character has a good grasp of the 
  entire history of motorcycles, including all 
  models, makes, and important 
  personalities involved. He will know the 
  approximate values of collectable bikes, 
  understand the slow evolution of 
  carburetors, and be able to explain to 
  those few individuals who are interested 
  the engineering progression of the internal 
  combustion engine. An extremely 
  tiresome knowledge skill as far as the 
  other characters are concerned. 
   2/1 KS: The Road  
   
   The character has specific knowledge of 
  the areas which he or she likes to tour, 
  including the location of gas stations, 
  bars, restaurants, available mechanics, 
  road conditions, type and severity of law 
  enforcement, and scenic places to stop. 
   2/1 KS: Motorcycles 
   
   The character has a general knowledge of 
  how motorcycles work mechanically. 
  With this basic knowledge it should be 
  possible to pinpoint what has gone wrong 
  when a bike fails to start, or stops running. 
  This skill can be used in a complementary 
  fashion with the Mechanic skill. 
   2/1 KS: Specific Motorcycle 
   
   Requires the previous purchasing of KS: 
  Motorcycles. The character knows a great 
  deal about the history, mechanical parts, 
  and overall characteristics of a particular 
  model of motorcycle as well as the history 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  39
  of the manufacturer and the gossip and 
  folklore regarding each individual version 
  of the model. Not too surprisingly, this is 
  a fairly common skill amongst real life 
  motorcyclists, who tend to become a bit 
  overly attached to particular models of 
  bike. This is probably due more to the 
  quality of experiences the rider has had 
  while riding a particular bike than the 
  actual quality of the bike itself, although it 
  is rare that anyone admits anything like 
  that about their personal favorite. This 
  skill can also be used in a complementary 
  fashion with the Mechanic skill. 
   
  1 TF: Motorcycle 
   
   The character has the ability to ride a 
  motorcycle under normal conditions on a 
  roll of 8 or less. He or she knows how to 
  properly shift, brake, balance, accelerate, 
  etc. This familiarity must be purchased 
  before Combat Driving can be purchased. 
   
  1 WF: Motorcycle 
   
   The character is familiar with the use of 
  his motorcycle as a cinematic martial arts 
  weapon in the style of Ridley Scott’s 
  Black Rain or John Woo’s Hard Boiled, 
  and is thus able to use his or her 
  motorcycle as a weapon element. 
   
  1 WF: Chain 
   
   The character is familiar with the proper 
  use of a length of chain or “cobra link” 
  cable lock as a weapon while riding his 
  bike and is thus able to use it as a weapon 
  element. 
   
  1 WF: Thrown Chain 
   
   The character knows how to use the chain 
  as a thrown weapon element in an 
  entangle attack. 
   3/2 Trick Riding 
   
   This Agility Skill, which has the 
  prerequisite TF: Motorcycle, allows the 
  character to perform a wide variety of 
  difficult tricks on his or her motorcycle. 
  The ability to perform each of these tricks 
  should be modified by its relative 
  difficulty. Failed rolls will result in a 
  crash, with damage to both character and 
  vehicle being determined by velocity. It is 
  recommended that the character also get 
  the Combat Driving skill as well. Possible 
  tricks to be considered include: 
  � Wheelie:  This is the most basic of tricks, 
  with the rider pulling the front wheel of 
  the bike off the ground while driving 
  forward on the rear wheel. There are no 
  modifiers to this trick because it is the 
  most simple of all stunts; its difficulty is 
  the basis for how other tricks are judged. 
  A rider may travel no faster than ⅔ of his 
  max combat velocity while “popping a 
  wheelie.” A wheelie cannot be “popped” 
  from a dead stop. Requires ½ Phase. 
  � Stoppie:  In this trick, the rider slams on 
  his front brake while accelerating hard, 
  causing his rear wheel to rise into the air. 
  He can then change his hex facing by 
  turning the rear of his bike while it is in 
  the air. This trick must be done while 
  moving and cannot be done from a dead 
  stop. There is a -2 modifier to the 
  character’s Trick Riding roll to complete 
  this maneuver. Requires 1 Full Phase to 
  stop and turn. 
  � Sliding the Wheels:  In this stunt, the rider 
  slides either the rear wheel or the rear and 
  front wheels (at a -2 and -3 to skill roll, 
  respectively) while accelerating into a 
  sharp turn. In this manner the rider is able 
  to “corner” without braking and therefore 
  maintain a constant or nearly constant 
  speed regardless of the sharpness of the 
  turn. For every point by which the 
  character makes his Trick Riding roll 
  (minus the “sliding the wheels” trick 
  riding modifier) he can subtract one from 
  his Turn Mode and thereby turn sharply 
  without slowing down. This is a Zero 
  Phase action. 
  � Touching Your Knee:  Another trick 
  which helps a motorcyclist “corner” at 
  high speeds involves the rider achieving 
  sufficient “lean angle” while turning a 
  corner that one of his knees, generally 
  protected by a leather puck, actually 
  makes contact with the pavement. 
  Successfully completion of this stunt 
  allows the rider to subtract 1 from his 
  Turn Mode. Warning: if the character is 
  not wearing protective knee armor of 
  some sort he will take ½d6 of Killing 
  damage from this trick! This is a ½ phase 
  action with a -1 to the character’s Trick 
  Riding roll. 
  � Riding without Hands:  In this stunt the 
  rider removes both hands from the 
  handlebars (normally, one would only 
  remove the left, or braking, hand) to 
  accomplish a two-handed action while 
  riding.… or maybe just show off. Unless 
  the motorcycle comes equipped with a 
  cruise control (rare, but possible) it will 
  begin to decelerate that Phase! A skill roll 
  must be made with a -5 modifier every 
  turn the character’s hands are off the 
  handlebars. This is ½ Phase action. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  40 
  � Standing on the Seat:  As with the above 
  mentioned Riding without Hands, the 
  character’s bike will begin to decelerate 
  the Phase he stands up. This roll must be 
  made successfully with a -9 penalty each 
  Phase or the character tumbles off and 
  takes velocity damage. It is possible in a 
  cinematic campaign that the character 
  could attempt a Martial Maneuver while 
  standing on the seat, but an Acrobatics 
  roll in addition to the Trick Riding roll 
  should be made after each attack to 
  determine whether or not the character has 
  fallen off while attempting such a feat. 
  This is a ½ Phase action. 
  � Bunny-Hop:  From a balanced standing 
  stop, the character “hops” one hex to the 
  left or right with a -5 penalty to his Trick 
  Riding roll… or at a -7 penalty straight up 
  into the air one hex! This is actually done 
  using very specialized motorcycles in a 
  sport known as Trails Biking. Due to the 
  very, very extreme nature of this trick the 
  bike cannot weigh more than the 
  character’s lift capacity in kilograms (the 
  average bike weighs around 200). This is 
  a ½ Phase trick. 
  � Stunt Jumping:  This stunt represents the 
  rider’s ability to make leaps using small 
  ramps (or a reasonable substitute). To 
  determine the distance which the 
  motorcycle travels once it leaves the 
  ground, add its movement to its strength 
  divided by five. Jumped Distance = 
  Movement + STR/5. For example, a 
  Kawasaki ZX-9 in combat moving 33” 
  (about 40 mph) with a strength of 15 
  could make a jump of roughly 9½” (about 
  19 meters). This is a Zero Phase action 
  because the rider is already taking an 
  action in that he or she is moving. There is 
  a -1 penalty to the Trick Riding roll to 
  make a stunt jump. Stunt jumps can only 
  be made in a straight line.  
  MARTIAL ARTS 
   
   
  Martial Art:  The Chain Whip 
   
  While it is technically possible for a 
  motorcyclist to engage in melee combat while 
  riding, it is at best very, very difficult. Even if 
  we set aside issues of balance, weight, and 
  momentum, it’s really only possible to use the 
  left hand, normally engaged in shifting the bike 
  through its gears, while in motorcycle combat 
  because the right hand constantly controls the 
  bike’s acceleration and front breaks. Since a vast 
  majority of people are neither left handed nor 
  ambidextrous, the problem of fighting with one’s 
  off-hand becomes readily apparent. In addition, 
  it is fairly reasonable to assume that in a combat 
  situation the rider will be engaged in moving up 
  and down through the bike’s lower gears as he 
  circles and engages his foes, thus keeping his left 
  hand engaged as well. 
   
  Still, where there’s a will there’s a way, and 
  if there’s one thing that history has taught us it is 
  that if there is any way to combine violence with 
  transportation someone will try it. To the best of 
  my knowledge the only reasonably successful 
  weapon used by real life old school outlaw bikers 
  (on those rare occasions when they actually 
  fought from the back of their rides) is the humble 
  chain. Commonly used as a way to lock up 
  motorcycles (usually to parking meters or lamp 
  posts), the chain has the advantage of being easy 
  to wrap around a wrist or upper arm. Thus, the 
  chain can be worn around the left arm when the 
  left hand is needed for pulling in the bike’s clutch, 
  then quickly unwrapped for swinging and striking 
  as needed. The character must have purchased 
  Weapon Familiarity: Chain to be able to use his 
  or her chain as a Weapon Element in these combat 
  maneuvers. In a superheroic campaign setting, a 
  basic chain can be purchased as Hand Attack 
  +1d6; HA Lim (-½), OAF (-1) for 2 points, while 
  in a heroic level campaign, the character will 
  simply own one. 
  Chain Whip 
  Recommended Maneuvers 
  Chain Disarm (Martial Disarm, 4 pts) 
  Chain Entangle (WE: Thrown Chain, 1 
  pt) 
  Chain Punch (Passing Strike, 5 pts) 
  Chain Trip (Martial Throw, 3 pts) 
  Chain Whip (Move By with Skill 
  Levels, 4 pts) 
  Special Skills 
  Combat Driving 
  TF: Motorcycles 
  WF: Chain 
  WF: Thrown Chain 
  � Chain Disarm:  The attacker uses the 
  chain to first entangle, and then remove an 
  opponent’s weapon from his grasp. Treat 
  this as a standard Martial Disarm with a 
  +10 STR to the Disarm roll (-1 OCV, +1 
  DCV, ½ Phase). 
  � Chain Entangle:  The character hurls the 
  chain against an opponent at high speed, 
  causing it to wrap itself around its target. 
  First, the character must purchase Weapon 
  Familiarity: Thrown Chain for 1 point 
  before he purchases the chain itself as a 
  Entangle 4d6 OAF with the Limitation No 
  Defense (it’s not that hard to get off) for a 
  total cost of 11 Active Points. A heroic-
  level character would simply have a 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  41
  chain, but treat its effects as above for the 
  sake of simplicity. 
  � Chain Punch:  The character simply 
  punches out with the chain wrapped 
  around the left arm, giving it a little more 
  weight. Treat this as a Passing Strike 
  (STR + V/5) with a +1d6 for the chain 
  Weapon Element. It is a +1 OCV/+0 DCV 
  Full Phase attack that goes off at end of 
  the character’s movement.  
  � Chain Trip:  The character uses the chain 
  to trip his opponent by treating the trip as 
  a Martial Throw in which the attacker is 
  the one with the factored velocity (STR + 
  V/5 +1d6 Weapon Element; Target Falls) 
  in this +0 OCV/+1 DCV ½ Phase attack. 
  � Chain Whip:  The character uses the chain 
  as a whip, striking at an opponent from a 
  distance of up to 2”. Treat this attack as a 
  Move By with a Weapon Element (STR/2 
  + V/5 +1d6) where the attacker takes ⅓ 
  damage as well. Since you don’t have to 
  purchase Move By as a skill, have the 
  character buy at least 2 Combat Skill 
  Levels instead (4 points for 2 levels) for a 
  +0 OCV/-2 DCV with this ½ Phase 
  maneuver. In a superheroic setting, have 
  the character purchase the attack as HA 
  +1d6; HA Lim (-½), OAF (-1) plus 
  Stretching 2”; OAF (-1) for 7 pts. 
   
   
  These five attacks together can be thought of 
  as a tight group for the purpose of purchasing 
  Combat Skill Levels with the triple prerequisites 
  of TF: Motorcycles, Combat Driving, and WF: 
  Chain. For an interesting twist, the character 
  could exchange his chain for a similar yet more 
  exotic weapon, using it as the weapon element 
  instead. Some interesting choices could include 
  whip, flail, cat-o-nine-tails, and morningstar.  
   
  Martial Art:  Motorcycle Foo 
   
  While not generally possible in the 
  workaday world of easily injured people and 
  quickly damaged and expensively repaired 
  machines, the idea of the motorcycle itself as a 
  dexterous and versatile weapon in the hands of a 
  skilled rider is certainly not new to the big 
  screen. For example, both the films Hard Boiled 
  and Tomb Raider feature martial sequences in 
  which special dirt bikes are used to fight 
  opponents on foot. These sorts of maneuvers are 
  generally only usable by characters in a heroic or 
  superheroic campaign setting and can often only 
  be completed after the character makes an 
  appropriate trick riding roll. 
   
  Motorcycle Foo 
  Recommended Maneuvers 
  High Flying Motorcycle Kick (Move 
  By with Skill Levels, 4 points) 
  Stoppie Body Slam (Passing Strike, 5 
  points) 
  Head Slam (Move By with Skill Levels, 
  4 points)  
  Clothesline (Move By with Skill 
  Levels, 4 points) 
  Sidesaddle Strike (Move By with Skill 
  Levels, 4 points) 
  Wheelie Strike (Passing Strike, 5 
  points) 
  Special Skills 
  WF: Motorcycles 
  Combat Driving 
  Trick Riding 
  � High Flying Motorcycle Kick:  The rider 
  must first make a Stunt Jumping roll to 
  get his motorcycle into the air. Then, 
  while in the air, he must make an 
  Acrobatics roll at -2 to pull both of his 
  legs off of the bike and swing his whole 
  body feet first to one side of the bike 
  while still holding the bike’s handlebars 
  firmly. He then kicks his opponent with 
  both legs fully extended in a Move By 
  maneuver for STR/2 + V/5 points of 
  damage. Then, whether or not he hits, he 
  must make another Acrobatics roll at -2 to 
  regain his seat for landing that phase – 
  which he has to make a Combat Driving 
  roll to successfully do! This attack 
  requires 2 whole Phases to accomplish, so 
  the bike will have to remain in the air for 
  at least that long. If any of the above rolls 
  are missed (except the combat roll) the 
  rider has removed his hands from the 
  handlebars – the bike will go one way, he 
  will go the other, and both will take 
  appropriate velocity-based damage. Since 
  you don’t have to purchase Move By as a 
  skill, have the character buy at least 2 
  Combat Skill Levels instead (4 pts for 2 
  levels) for a +0 OCV/-2 DCV with this ½ 
  Phase maneuver. 
  � Stoppie Body Slam:  This attack, used in 
  conjunction with the stoppie Trick Riding 
  maneuver, is considered a Zero Phase 
  action because it simply involves 
  directing the above-mentioned stunt into a 
  target (treat as a Passing Strike for STR + 
  V/5 points of damage). The rider slams on 
  his front brakes while accelerating as fast 
  as he can, allowing the momentum and 
  weight of the bike to carry its rear end 
  sideways into the air. He then guides the 
  rear of the bike in a smooth swinging 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  42 
  motion into the target without losing any 
  of the velocity the bike had before he 
  began the maneuver. Generally succeeds 
  in damaging the bike, target, and rider all 
  at once. Failure to make a successful 
  initial stoppie Trick Riding roll means that 
  the rider has “stacked” and will take full 
  damage himself. This is a +1 OCV/+0 
  DCV Full Phase attack that goes off at 
  end of the character’s movement.  
  � Head Slam:  There is little reason that any 
  sane person, real or imaginary, would 
  want to try this, but here goes:  the rider 
  has achieved the bike’s maximum lean 
  angle, and has successfully made his 
  “touching the knee” trick riding roll while 
  approaching the target as close to parallel 
  to the ground as he can get going as fast 
  as he can manage. He then sticks his head 
  out and allows it to collide with the target 
  (Youch!) in a Move By maneuver for 
  STR/2 + V/5 points of damage. The rider 
  also takes V/5d6 to the head, so a helmet is 
  strongly recommended! The rider must 
  then make a strength check to determine 
  whether or not he has been torn from the 
  seat of his bike after every successful 
  head slam. Failure results in his hitting the 
  ground and taking more velocity 
  damage… with possible additional 
  penalties for being dumb enough to even 
  try this attack. Since you don’t have to 
  purchase Move By as a skill, have the 
  character buy at least 2 Skill Levels 
  instead (4 points for 2 levels) for a +0 
  OCV/-2 DCV with this ½ Phase 
  maneuver.  
  � Clothesline:  Using a long straight object 
  held in the left hand (a telescoping baton 
  or a lead pipe would do nicely), the rider 
  holds his left arm rigidly out at a 90o 
  angle from his body. He then rides as 
  close to his target as possible and attempts 
  to knock the target over – or off his ride. 
  Treat as a Move By with Weapon 
  Element (a 1d6 HA), for STR/2 + V/5 
  +1d6 points of damage, but the target 
  must make a STR Check to stay on his 
  feet or bike. This maneuver is probably 
  realistically possible, except that you 
  would probably break your arm doing it! 
  Since you don’t have to purchase Move 
  By as a skill, have the character buy at 
  least 2 Combat Skill Levels instead for a 
  +0 OCV/-2 DCV with this ½ Phase 
  maneuver.  
  � Sidesaddle Strike:  Leaning as far as is 
  (in)humanly possible to the right, the rider 
  makes a Riding Without Hands trick roll 
  and drops the bike to the left, creating a V 
  shape with himself as the right leg of the 
  V and the bike as the left leg. He then 
  grasps the right handlebar with his left 
  hand, allowing him to accelerate and steer 
  (Combat Driving roll -10; failure indicates 
  that the driver has lost the bike while 
  attempting his maneuver and has hit the 
  ground, taking appropriate velocity 
  damage). The character can then make a 
  Move By for STR/2 + V/5 points of 
  damage with his right hand as he 
  accelerates past his target. It requires a 
  Combat Driving roll -5 each subsequent 
  phase to maintain this pose, and failure 
  results in all sorts of velocity-based ouchy 
  hurt-hurt. Since you don’t have to 
  purchase Move By as a skill, have the 
  character buy at least 2 skill levels instead 
  for a +0 OCV/-2 DCV with this ½ Phase 
  maneuver.  
  � Wheelie Strike:  In this fairly simple 
  attack, the rider makes his most basic 
  Trick Riding roll to Pop a Wheelie, then 
  turns the front tire to the left or to the right 
  for the purpose of striking a glancing 
  blow (treat as Passing Strike for STR + 
  vel/5 points of damage with the target 
  making a DEX check to stay on his feet or 
  bike).This is a +1 OCV/+0 DCV Full 
  Phase attack that goes off at end of the 
  character’s movement.  
   
  There are, in addition to these two (historical 
  and fantastic) mounted and motorized martial 
  arts, several other methods by which an 
  enterprising GM or player could attempt to 
  handle the same problem of creating a biker 
  martial art. For example, if one had a superheroic 
  level martial arts campaign, two characters could 
  conceivably ride into positions parallel to one 
  another, make their Standing while Riding rolls 
  (Trick Riding -9) each round and, as their 
  motorcycles decelerated, fight hand-to-hand 
  while standing on the seats going 70 miles per 
  hour! Or, in a post-apocalyptic heroic level 
  setting, a character could charge into combat 
  wielding an axe in his or her left hand. After 
  making a combat driving roll, he could then 
  swing the axe and compound the base damage by 
  calculating the attack as a Move By. Although in 
  a realistic setting neither of these two maneuvers 
  is possible, in a heroic or superheroic level 
  setting both of them could be possible… and 
  pretty fun, to boot! 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  43
  BIKER SPECIFIC DISADVANTAGES 
   
   
   Pts Disadvantage 
   10 Dependency:  Amphetamine Addiction 
  (Uncommon, 2d6 NND) 
   
   If there is a drug of choice amongst 
  bikers, it’s amphetamines or speed. 
  Widely and commonly used in almost all 
  biker scenes, speed (commonly called 
  “go-fast”) is generally snorted in small 
  lines, or “bumps,” although it can be 
  used intravenously. In game turns, an 
  addicted user must consume at least one 
  “bump” per day or begin to suffer 2d6 
  NND immediately. Note to GMs:  
  amphetamine addicts sometimes go for 
  weeks without sleeping, so any character 
  who buys this dependency is going to 
  suffer from severe sleep deprivation 
  (hallucinations, etc.) before too much 
  time goes by. 
   20 Dependence:  Heroin Addiction 
  (Uncommon, 3d6 NND) 
   
   Unfortunately just as common among 
  bikers as any other group in the 21st 
  Century. Because of its unique effects 
  upon the human body, heroin addiction 
  is perhaps the ultimate drug habit. 
  Almost no one ever comes back from 
  heroin addiction, because over time it 
  removes the bodies’ ability to create 
  endorphin, making withdrawal 
  remarkably painful (to buy this off, the 
  character should pay twice the points 
  received from its purchase). For game 
  purposes, heroin should be taken twice in 
  a 24-hour period or the character will 
  suffer 3d6 NND per Phase beginning 
  immediately. The most common method 
  for heroin consumption to “shoot up” 
  intravenously, but heroin can also be 
  smoked, turned into a consumable liquid, 
  or mixed with water and sniffed using an 
  eye dropper. Remember, GMs, heroin 
  addiction is the ultimate addiction! 
   
  5 Distinctive Feature:  Biker (Easily 
  Concealable) 
   
   The sport of motorcycle riding, by its 
  very nature, demands that the rider wear 
  certain sorts of protective clothing to 
  ensure his or her personal safety. This 
  clothing is in general significantly 
  different from what the average person 
  wears in his or her daily life, making the 
  biker stick out. Common items of 
  clothing include heavy black leather 
  jackets, chaps, leather pants, large boots, 
  kevlar body armor, single piece leather 
  racing suits, and large gloves with armor 
  built in, to name a few. In addition, many 
  bikers choose to wear tattoos, earrings, 
  nose rings, and other unusual piercings 
  as well as having unusual hair and beard 
  styles ranging from western outlaw to 
  punk rock. This sort of thing has been 
  known to make “normal” people slightly 
  uncomfortable. 
  5-20 Hunted:  Hassled by The Man (8 to 11 or 
  less, Mild to Harsh) 
   
   A small but rather noteworthy number of 
  bikers are petty criminals of some sort or 
  the other. For the villainous NPC, being 
  wanted by the law may be normal, but 
  for a heroic PC, it’s rather inconvenient. 
  Maybe the hero was in the wrong place 
  at the wrong time, or maybe he just likes 
  speeding a bit too much for the local 
  authorities’ taste. Few bikers are serious 
  criminals, so the police are usually pretty 
  casual about harassment… but a 
  seriously bored small town cop will have 
  no problem running in a bunch of funny-
  looking bikers for disturbing the peace, 
  no-sir-eee. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  44 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Aggressively 
  Competitive (Uncommon, Total) 
   
   Competitiveness and a serious love of 
  motorcycles often go hand in hand. 
  Many motorcyclists are inordinately 
  concerned with just who owns the 
  fastest, most state-of-the-art Japanese 
  death machine and  just how badly can 
  they whip up on their ass-dragging 
  friends while riding it, anyhow? 
  Alternately, bikers seem put a lot of 
  stock in seeing just who exactly has the 
  most chromed out, collectable, open-
  piped American-made cruiser 
  monstrosity that large sums of money 
  can buy (on a payment plan). It is just 
  this sort of competitiveness that gets 
  motorcyclists killed every year while 
  passing one another around blind corners 
  on California’s Highway One. A real and 
  genuine disadvantage for a biker 
  character. 
  5-20 Psychological Limitation:  Alcoholism 
  (Common, Varies) 
   
   Alcoholism is a constant problem for 
  many of societies’ outsiders… and it’s 
  all that much worse if your chosen 
  method for getting from bar to home is 
  an already questionably dangerous one. 
  Biker drinking habits tend to center 
  around the consumption of cheep beer 
  and bad whisky, but some folks have 
  tastes which are considerably more 
  highbrow, while others like things which 
  are just plain strange (for example 
  Goldschlager, which is a peppermint 
  schnaps infused with flakes of fool’s 
  gold – yech!). There is a theory that 
  conquered or oppressed cultures (and 
  those who feel that they belong to a 
  conquered or oppressed culture, whether 
  they do or not, like “Irish Americans”) 
  tend towards alcoholism more easily 
  than those who do not. African 
  American, American Indian, and lower-
  class white Southern American cultures 
  all exhibit this frustration-based 
  characteristic. Most bikers drink socially 
  at night (well, every night) but some 
  imbibe to legendary excess. 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Arrogant Rider 
  (Common, Moderate) 
   
   
   Riding a motorcycle is a totally different 
  experience from driving a car. People 
  who ride a lot sometimes develop a very, 
  very condescending attitude towards 
  those who simply drive automobiles. To 
  a biker, most drivers appear to be 
  continually half-asleep or half-alert, 
  constantly doing dangerous and half-
  cocked things like drifting into other 
  lanes, making sudden U-turns, and 
  generally being unaware of their 
  immediate environment. On a 
  motorcycle, this sort of behavior will get 
  you killed fast, so to many bikers, people 
  who drive cars seem almost dangerously 
  unaware, and therefore stupid! 
  Regardless of circumstances, characters 
  with this Disadvantage will periodically 
  lecture to, snarl at, and pick fights with 
  characters who drive cars. 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Biker Code of 
  Honor (Uncommon, Total) 
   
   Many bikers adhere to an unwritten code 
  of behavior among themselves. Always 
  help your buddies. Your buddies’ enemy 
  is your enemy. Never forget an insult. 
  Never back down from a fight. Right or 
  wrong, back up your buddies in a fight. 
  Be stubborn – don’t ever give in and 
  don’t ever give up. What’s mine is mine 
  no matter who I stole it from! Never beg 
  from anyone. Don’t ever let yourself be 
  treated disrespectfully.  
   
  5 Reputation:  Bad Reputation (Sometimes, 
  8 or less) 
   
   Most motorcyclists, whether old school 
  American bikers or sports riders, have a 
  rather pronounced lack of respect for the 
  law. To be honest, this usually means a 
  lack of respect for traffic laws, but most 
  bikers are of that school of thought 
  which takes a rather dim view of 
  authority figures in general. In addition, 
  most “outlawish” motorcycle clubs 
  engage in petty drug dealing, gun 
  running, and low-level drug-related 
  prostitution. A few of the very large, 
  very old school outlaw clubs are fully 
  organized crime operations of the 
  modern variety. They engage in big time 
  drug trafficking and transportation 
  (usually from Mexico), run prostitution 
  rings, work as hit men, work extortion 
  rackets – you name it. In some places 
  this is enough to give all bikers a bad 
  name. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  45
  Uncle Bob 
  Background/History:  Uncle Bob (a.k.a. Robert 
  Larson) was born in the small rural California 
  town of Petrolia in the middle of the 20th 
  Century. His father, a World War II veteran, was 
  one of the original outlaw bikers responsible for 
  the now infamously chaotic weekend in 1947 
  when the town of Hollister was taken over by 
  motorcyclists, inspiring the well-known film The 
  Wild Ones. He grew up around motorcycles, 
  stripping and rebuilding old Norton choppers 
  with his father before he was in high school, and 
  making his first cross-country road trip before he 
  was 18. He became a patch-holding member of a 
  motorcycle club before has was 20. 
   
  When his father died in a crash in the late 
  ’60s, Bob found himself feeling both alone and 
  rootless. He joined the army as an infantryman, 
  serving a tour and a half of duty in Vietnam 
  before taking a round from an AK-47 in his right 
  knee. The experience left him both physically 
  crippled and emotionally exhausted. It was years 
  before he could walk properly again, but decades 
  before he fully came to grips with the entire 
  experience of the war. Like many returning vets, 
  Bob was met with little besides hatred and 
  hostility from the very countrymen he had 
  sacrificed his health to protect. However, his 
  outlaw biker upbringing served him well in this 
  regard. After all, how could society re-reject him? 
   
  Returning to his roots, Bob began years of 
  aimless riding around the country, working here 
  and there as a mechanic for spending money and 
  never staying in one place longer than he had to. 
  One hot summer day he got a temporary job 
  working in the garage of Paul “Daredevil” 
  Derkum, an old motorcycle racer. Five years 
  later, Bob still had the same “temporary” job, 
  except that he had married Derkum’s 
  granddaughter and become the garage’s head 
  mechanic. 
   
  A lot of decades have gone by since then, 
  taking Bob’s old boss with them. Now he and his 
  wife run Derkum’s Garage together as a family 
  business. The garage also serves as an 
  impromptu social club for a very odd group of 
  people from various walks of life who share 
  Bob’s love of motorcycles, as well as his odd 
  view of the world. They can be found there on 
  Friday nights, drinking cheap beer, wrenching on 
  bikes, and generally being semi-philosophical. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Uncle Bob is still a 
  little scarred by his war experiences. This mainly 
  comes out in his total distrust of authority 
  figures, but sometimes he gets a bit lost in 
  depressing recollections of friends that died 
  during that conflict. Uncle Bob also has a 
  phenomenal mastery of pointed one-liners, 
  which actually comprise the bulk of his 
  comments which don’t directly involve 
  politicians and engine mechanics. 
   
  Bob is both a benevolent and sympathetic 
  man – in an abrasive sort of way. Although he’s 
  quick to anger he’s also very quick to forgive, 
  seldom holding grudges of any sort for very 
  long. The one big exception to this is Bob’s 
  long-standing loathing of politicians of any 
  party, but especially of former president Bill 
  Clinton, whom he reviles at least once a day. If 
  he gets started on this topic, he will not stop for 
  at least an hour.  
   
  What Uncle Bob mainly does with his time, 
  however, is fix motorcycles. He is willing, even 
  eager, to work on any bike – but the more exotic 
  and strange they are the better. Although he is no 
  mechanical engineer, Bob will be glad to make 
  any modifications to a person’s motorcycle he 
  can manage. The stranger that modification is, 
  the more enthusiastic Uncle Bob will be. 
   
  Quote:  “It ain’t that power always corrupts a 
  man – it’s that a man who’s corrupt always 
  wants power.”  
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Although he’s slowed down a 
  little over the years what with age and his war 
  wound, Uncle Bob can still hold his own in 
  either a bar fight or firefight, although he will try 
  to reason his way out of most violent situations. 
  Although Bob is very handy with a shotgun, he 
  will not kill unless there is an extremely 
  compelling reason to do so, such as a close 
  friend or loved one’s life in danger. He would 
  much rather spend his time doing what he does 
  best – fixing exotic bikes 
   
  Campaign Use:  Uncle Bob is a no-nonsense 
  straight-talking old biker who runs a motorcycle 
  repair shop in the downtown area of your 
  campaign city or town. He is wise in the ways of 
  both men and machines, often having insightful 
  observations to make about the nature of both. 
  His primary campaign use, however, is to be 
  bought by a player (or players) as a skilled 
  contact who is willing and able to repair his 
  motorcycle when it is damaged, or upgrade it as 
  the character has more points (or money) to 
  spend. 
   
  Appearance:  Uncle Bob stands around 5’10” 
  and weighs about 200 lbs. He has a full white 
  beard, thinning hair, pink sunburned skin, and a 
  great big beer belly which sticks out from a 
  leather vest covered in rally pins. He generally 
  wears filthy old jeans and combat boots with 
  leather chaps over them, although he has been 
  known to dress a bit better when his wife forces 
  him. Bob also is known for wearing one of those 
  biker wallets with an enormous length of chain 
  running up to his belt. 
  OTHER GREAT 
  “UNCLES” WITH 
  CHARACTER  
   
   
   Uncle Jesse – 
  Played by Denver 
  Pyle in the now 
  classic television 
  series, The Dukes of 
  Hazard, Uncle Jesse 
  was a former 
  moonshiner with a 
  knack for pulling up 
  in his rusty old Ford 
  F-Series pickup truck 
  just in time to save his 
  two nitwit hot-
  rodding nephews 
  from serious trouble. 
   Uncle Buck – 
  Played by the great 
  comedian John Candy 
  in the film of the 
  same name, Uncle 
  Buck is a messy, 
  disorganized, and 
  excruciatingly clumsy 
  auto mechanic who 
  gets stuck with 
  babysitting his 
  brother’s children 
  during a family 
  emergency. He 
  spends most of the 
  time trying to keep his 
  teenage niece’s 
  virginity intact by 
  scaring the hell out of 
  her boyfriend. 
   Brewster Baker – 
  Played by country 
  musician Kenny 
  Rogers in the 1982 
  film Six Pack, Baker 
  is a down-on-his-luck 
  racecar driver saddled 
  with a half dozen 
  child car thieves 
  whom he turns into a 
  sort of family. Kenny 
  resists the urge to sing 
  even once in this film.
   Uncle Albert – 
  Played by Ed Wynn 
  in the 1964 version of 
  Mary Poppins, Albert 
  is Mary’s hysterically 
  insane uncle who has 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  46 
  Uncle Bob 
  a slight levitation 
  problem. You see the 
  more he laughs, the 
  more he fills with 
  glee, and the more the 
  glee… well, he 
  certainly wouldn’t be 
  the first uncle to get 
  his niece high, but he 
  is definitely the first 
  uncle to get his niece 
  to float up to the 
  ceiling. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  47
  Uncle Bob 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   13 STR 
  3 12- Lift 150 kg; 3d6 HTH 
   14 DEX 
  12 12- OCV:  5/DCV:  5 
   13 CON 
  6 12-  
   10 BODY 
  0 11-  
   13 INT 
  3 12- PER Roll:  12- 
   11 EGO 
  2 11- ECV:  4 
   13 PRE 
  3 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11-  
   
   
  5 PD 
  2 
   Total:  7 PD (2 rPD) 
   
  4 ED 
  1 
   Total:  6 ED (2 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  6 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  6 REC 
  0 
   
   26 END 
  0 
   
   26 STUN 
  2 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  40 
  Movement: Running: 
  4”/8” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Perk 
   
  1 Member of Mom and Pops Club 
   
   Skills 
   
  6 +3 with Shotgun 
   
   
  3 Combat Driving 12- 
   
  2 KS: Motorcycle History 11- 
   
  2 KS: Motorcycles 11- 
   
  2 KS: The Road 11- 
   11 Mechanics 15- 
   
  5 Paramedic 13- 
   
  1 TF: Motorcycles 
   
  1 TF: Pickup Truck 
   
  1 WF: Shotgun 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  35 
   
  Total Cost:  75 
   
   50+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Age 40+ 
   
  5 Physical Limitation:  Limps (Infrequently, 
  Slight) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Biker Code of 
  Honor (Uncommon, Total) 
   
  5 Psychological Limitation:  Distrusts all 
  Authority (Uncommon, Moderate) 
   
   
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  75 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  48 
  Jennine 
  Background/History:  In her short life only one 
  thing has really mattered to Jennine Stanton; 
  how would she survive after the nuclear war? Or, 
  if that didn’t happen, after the plague turned 
  everyone into albino zombies or the aliens 
  destroyed every city on the planet? Raised as a 
  latchkey kid by wealthy but oblivious parents, 
  Jennine grew up watching movies like The Road 
  Warrior, The Terminator, and The Omega Man 
  every day of her childhood (she had her own 
  credit card by the time she was 8). Early on she 
  decided that their post-apocalyptic view of the 
  future would come to pass in her lifetime, so she 
  began to prepare for the coming end times as 
  best as she could. She learned to ride 
  motorcycles, practiced Aikido, and began 
  dressing like a mutant. 
   
  The end result is that Jennine is one of the 
  most disturbing 16-year-old girls to ever walk 
  the face of the earth.   
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Jennine no longer 
  thinks that the end of the world is coming; she’s 
  now so happily delusional that she lives in a 
  world where it has already happened. Her 
  teachers are mutant monsters, her fellow students 
  are flesh-eating albino zombies, and each day is 
  a desperate quest to find water… or gasoline… 
  or toothpaste (it varies from day to day). This has 
  made her the terror of her high school, where the 
  other students are actually quite frightened of 
  her. Nevertheless, Jennine seems to be passing 
  her classes so her school’s feeling is that there is 
  little that can be done about her. 
   
  Jennine is a cheerful, attractive, and 
  enthusiastic young woman who is eager to help 
  “fight the mutants” or “kill the zombies” or “put 
  an end to the plague of radiation vampires.” In 
  spite of being physically rather attractive, her 
  bizarre personality has kept away any potential 
  friends or companions of any sort, so Jennine 
  will romantically fixate on anyone, regardless of 
  gender, who is reasonably good-looking and 
  pays the slightest amount of attention to her.  
   
  Quote:  “Don’t let them fool you; killer robots 
  are at their most dangerous dressed in the living 
  skins of their human victims.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Jennine, a highly competent 
  motorcyclist, is capable of a wide variety of 
  stunts using her 2001 Buell Blast. Although this 
  has no combat value it is pretty impressive, so 
  Jennine will generally approach any violent 
  situation with a series of wheelies, stoppies, and 
  seat stands on her bike (it frightens the viral 
  mutants, you see). When she is off of her bike, 
  Jennine is a pretty competent practitioner of 
  Aikido, with the Throw maneuver generally 
  being her most effective move. Robot time 
  travelers always fall for that one, you know. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Jennine essentially wants to be 
  a sidekick… or girlfriend… or, hey, maybe both 
  (if she is taken as a sidekick the character should 
  pay 20 points). She is designed to get the player 
  characters into trouble, as her behavior can be 
  very erratic. For example, she could be quietly 
  having dinner when she suddenly realizes that 
  the restaurant’s other patrons are all face-eating 
  albino mutant cyborgs that need to be taken 
  down hard! Since she lives in a post-apocalyptic 
  wasteland where “he who holds the gun is the 
  law,” she has little respect for police officers 
  (who are probably mutants disguised as police 
  officers) or property values. Keep in mind that 
  even though Jennine doesn’t care about the age 
  of a Player Character she has romantically 
  fixated on, her parents certainly will, so let 30-
  something costumed Romeos beware! 
   
  Appearance:  Jennine is a healthy, tough, and 
  attractive 16-year-old girl with closely cropped 
  pink hair. She stands around 5’1’’ and has a 
  tattoo of a nuclear warning symbol on her left 
  arm. Jennine dresses in black racing leathers 
  with kevlar body armor sewn in. 
  OTHER 
  ANNOYING GIRL 
  SIDEKICKS 
   
   Batgirl – This 
  character, who first 
  debuted in the 
  January 1967 issue of 
  Detective Comics, is 
  basically the original 
  annoying, unwanted 
  girl sidekick as 
  Batman already had a 
  perfectly serviceable 
  effete companion in 
  Robin. But since she 
  was Commissioner 
  Gordon’s daughter (or 
  niece, depending on 
  the continuity of the 
  week) there wasn’t 
  much he could say 
  about it. 
   Dyna Girl – Played 
  by Judy Strangis, 
  Dyna Girl was Electra 
  Woman’s sidekick on 
  the Krofft Super Show 
  back in 1976. 
  Together in their 
  leggy spandex 
  costumes they made 
  pre-teenage boys 
  across America feel 
  very, very funny 
  every Saturday 
  morning. 
   Gabrielle – Played 
  by Renee O’Connor 
  on the long running 
  Xena:  Warrior 
  Princess series, 
  Gabrielle is a short, 
  vulnerable blond who 
  needs to be rescued 
  about once every 
  episode by tall 
  masculine brunette 
  Lucy Lawless.  
   “Plato” – Played 
  by Sal Mineo, Plato is 
  James Dean’s 
  homoerotic puppy 
  murdering psycho 
  sidekick in the 1955 
  film Rebel Without A 
  Cause. Not actually a 
  girl, but pretty close. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  49
  Jennine 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  50 
  Jennine 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   10 STR 
  0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH [1] 
   12 DEX 
  6 11- OCV:  4/DCV:  4 
   12 CON 
  6 11- 
   15 BODY 
  10 12- 
   10 INT 
  0 11- Per Roll:  11- 
   11 EGO 
  2 11- ECV:  4 
   10 PRE 
  0 11- PRE Attack:  2d6 
   14 COM 
  2 12-  
   
   
  8 PD 
  6 
   Total:  10 PD (2 rPD) 
   
  8 ED 
  6 
   Total:  10 ED (2 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  8 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  5 REC 
  2 
   
   30 END 
  3 
   
   30 STUN 
  5 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  58 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
   
   Martial Arts: Aikido 
   
   Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 
   
  3 Throw 
  +0 
  +1 STR+v/5; Target 
  Falls 
   
  5 Strike 
  +1 
  +3 STR Strike 
   
  4 Dodge 
  - - 
  +5 Dodge; Abort 
   
  4 Escape 
  +0 
  +0 +15 STR versus 
  Grabs 
   
   Skills 
   
  9 +3 with Aikido 
   
   
  5 Breakfall 12- 
   
  5 Combat Driving 12- 
   
  1 KS: Aikido 
   
  1 TF: Motorcycles 
   
  5 Trick Riding 12- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  42 
   
  Total Cost:  100  
   
   50+ Disadvantages 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Overconfident 
  (Very Common, Moderate) 
   20 Psychological Limitation:  The World Has 
  Already Ended (Very Common, Total) 
   15 Unluck:  3d6  
   
   
   
   
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  100 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  51
  Misunderstood 
  Background/History:  Patrick Tassell, Jr. has 
  never looked like normal people. Born in a trailer 
  park near Huntsville, Alabama to impoverished 
  Fundamentalist Christian parents, Pat, Jr. was 
  afflicted from birth with Lamellar Ichthyosis, 
  commonly referred to as “Alligator Man” 
  Disease. His mother, humiliated and embarrassed 
  by her son’s strange appearance, declared him a 
  “child of the devil” and promptly ran off with a 
  truck driver. Pat was raised by his kind but 
  reclusive father, Patrick Tassell, Sr., who taught 
  him to read and write using the Bible, but never 
  allowed him to go to school. 
   
  As Pat, Jr. grew older and entered into 
  puberty, it became apparent that he was going to 
  be an unusually tall and strong man. At age 11 
  he was big enough to ride his father’s Harley 
  Electra Glide, so Pat, Sr. began building him a 
  bike of his own. By the time Pat, Jr. was 14 he 
  and his father were regularly making tours of the 
  Smokey Mountains, spending weeks visiting 
  those isolated communities which dot the mist-
  enshrouded vales and valleys of that sparsely 
  populated range. So that those superstitious folks 
  would not be startled by his son’s unusual 
  appearance, Pat, Sr. would generally introduce 
  his son as a cousin who had been “burnt in the 
  war” and was a bit “touched and misunderstood” 
  because of it. Silent, dressed in goggles with a 
  biker’s winter face-mask even in the sweltering 
  heat of a southern summer day, Pat Jr. became 
  known throughout the region as “that poor 
  misunderstood man” or simply “Misunderstood.” 
   
  In this manner Pat, Jr. grew into manhood – 
  riding, camping, fishing, and occasionally 
  brawling his way across Alabama at his father’s 
  side. It was the life he had hoped to live forever, 
  yet it was a life that was destined not to last. One 
  sunny spring morning, the two Pats were 
  rounding the bend of a windy mountain road 
  when, without warning, two drunken poachers 
  pulled directly into their path. Pat, Sr. was killed 
  instantly while Misunderstood, thrown over the 
  hood of their truck, was merely bruised and 
  scraped. Enraged, he dragged both men from 
  their vehicle and strangled them to death on the 
  spot. 
   
  When he finally calmed down and realized 
  what he had done, Misunderstood buried all 
  three men in unmarked graves near the side of 
  the road, then pushed the truck off of a nearby 
  cliff. After saying a few words over them, 
  Misunderstood got onto his bike and headed 
  west away from the scene of his misfortune.       
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Misunderstood is on 
  the run from his past and himself. He is blindly 
  fleeing west from what he imagines is police 
  pursuit; in reality, nobody has any idea that he 
  has committed any crime or that he even exists. 
  His father’s death has made him even more 
  reticent; Misunderstood will avoid any 
  unnecessary conversation. He flinches at 
  physical human contact and is, at best, uncertain 
  when dealing with others. 
   
  Misunderstood is living off of his father’s 
  credit card and a wad of 20-dollar bills he found 
  in one of the poacher’s pockets. He’s desperately 
  trying to make his way to the infamously tolerant 
  Bay City without using any main highways 
  (where he thinks the police will be looking for 
  him) before he runs out of money or Pat, Sr.’s 
  credit card is canceled. He sees Bay City, with its 
  reputation for freakiness and eccentricity, as the 
  only place where he might fit in. 
   
  Pat, Jr. lacks many of the social skills 
  normal people take for granted, as his father 
  generally did most of his talking for him. If 
  questioned, his responses will be polite but 
  minimal. If threatened, his response will be 
  violent and sudden.   
   
  Quote:  “You people just don’t… understand.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Misunderstood is extremely 
  tough, very strong, and unusually agile – 
  although his abilities are in no way outside of the 
  range of what is possible for a normal human 
  being. Although he has no formal martial arts 
  training, Misunderstood is an accomplished 
  barroom brawler. In a fight, he will defend 
  himself with a combination of haymakers and 
  strikes, generally not stopping until he is sure 
  that his opponents are not going to be getting 
  back up any time soon. Misunderstood has been 
  known to get a little crazy during fights, 
  especially when he thinks that someone he likes 
  or cares about it being threatened, and this has 
  led to several unpleasant instances of property 
  damage. So far these incidents have escaped the 
  notice of the authorities. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Misunderstood is a soul who 
  needs rescuing. With a little effort, he will 
  probably befriend any character who takes the 
  time to be nice to him. Conversely, he will 
  probably befriend any villainous NPC who takes 
  the time to be nice to him as well. As Pat, Jr. is 
  fairly naive, he will have trouble distinguishing 
  between “good” and “bad” people – but no 
  trouble distinguishing “friend” from someone 
  threatening that friend.  
   
  Misunderstood is basically an embryonic 
  hero, but he has the potential to go either way, 
  depending upon who recruits him first. Thus he 
  might be encountered as a henchman to a more 
  powerful villain, an enforcer for a smalltime 
  crime boss, or a sidekick to another motorcycle-
  riding hero. Whatever the situation, 
  Misunderstood will be trying to get to Bay City. 
  If he is doing anything other than passing 
  through he has been sidetracked. 
  OTHER 
  MISUNDERSTOOD 
  BIKER HEROES  
   
   Motorcycle Boy – 
  Mickey Rourke is 
  more of a force of 
  nature than a 
  character in Francis 
  Ford Coppola’s 1983 
  film Rumble Fish. 
  He’s so damn mythic 
  that the doesn’t even 
  need a real name.  
   Linderman – 
  Played by Adam 
  Baldwin in the 1980 
  film My Bodyguard, 
  everyone in the 
  highschool thinks 
  Ricky Linderman is a 
  scary murderer. 
  Actually, he’s just a 
  kid trying to restore 
  an old Honda 650 
  four. Which, frankly, 
  is an activity so 
  frustrating that it’ll 
  make anyone want to 
  commit murder. 
    “The Principal” –
  James Belushi is a 
  baseball-bat wielding 
  psycho biker who 
  becomes the principal 
  of the most violent 
  high school in 
  Berkeley(?!?) in the 
  1987 film with the 
  same name. I’m pretty 
  sure you couldn’t 
  away with this much 
  baseball-bat minority 
  beating in Berkeley; 
  maybe the director 
  had never been there. 
   James ‘Jimmy’ 
  Cooper – Played by 
  Phil Daniels in the 
  1979 film 
  Quadrophenia, 
  Jimmy is a mailroom 
  clerk with a Beatles 
  haircut who goes 
  insane, gets kicked 
  out of his house, 
  fights with a bunch of 
  sleazy bikers, and  
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  52 
  Misunderstood 
  then steals Sting’s 
  silly-looking Vespa 
  scooter so that he can 
  ride if off a cliff.  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  53
  Misunderstood 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   20 STR 
  10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH [2] 
   18 DEX 
  24 13- OCV:  6/DCV:  6 
   15 CON 
  10 12-  
   20 BODY 
  20 13-  
   10 INT 
  0 11- PER Roll:  12- 
   10 EGO 
  0 11- ECV:  3 
   20 PRE 
  10 13- PRE Attack:  4d6 
   
  4 COM 
  -3 11-  
   
   
  8 PD 
  4 
    Total:  8 PD  
   
  8 ED 
  5 
    Total:  8 ED  
   
  4 SPD 
  12 
   Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12 
   10 REC 
  4 
   
   30 END 
  0 
   
   45 STUN 
  8 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  104 
  Movement: Running: 
  10”/20” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
   
  8  Running +4” (10” Total) 
  2 
   15  Bare-Knuckles Toughness:  Physical 
  Damage Reduction 25%, Resistant 
  0 
   
   Skills 
   
  8  +4 with Haymaker 
   
  6  +3 with Strike 
   
   
  3  Combat Driving 13- 
   
  3  KS: Motorcycles 12- 
   
  2  KS: The Road 11- 
   
  1  TF: Motorcycles 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  46 
   
  Total Cost:  150 
   
   75+ Disadvantages 
   15  Distinctive Feature:  Lamellar Ichthyosis 
  –  “Alligator Man” Disease (Easily 
  Concealable, Extreme Reaction) 
   15  Enraged:  Loved Ones Threatened 
  (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 8- 
   20  Psychological Limitation:  Believes He is 
  Constantly Hunted (Very Common, 
  Strong) 
   10  Psychological Limitation:  Biker Code of 
  Honor (Uncommon, Total) 
   15  Social Limitation:  Very Naive and 
  Inexperienced (Frequently, Major)  
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  150 
   
   
  In a Horror Hero campaign, Misunderstood 
  might be mistaken for some sort of monster by 
  the PCs, or by the inhabitants of a small town 
  whom he needs to be rescued from. In a Pulp 
  Hero campaign he could be traveling slowly 
  west with a circus sideshow, using it as a cover 
  while he makes his way to Bay City. In a 
  Champions campaign, the characters may 
  encounter him in a confrontation with the 
  ignorant and frightened inhabitants of a small 
  Midwestern town. Maybe they will have to save 
  him from of a mob of these people – or maybe 
  the other way around!  
  Appearance:  Misunderstood stands around six 
  and a half feet tall and weighs around two 
  hundred and twenty pounds. He is a muscular, 
  well-proportioned looking youth with odd, 
  roughly shaped patterns on his skin that are 
  somewhat reminiscent of an alligator’s skin 
  (although not green). He has short black hair, 
  soulful brown eyes, and a soft, almost girlish 
  voice. He generally wears jeans, a black leather 
  jacket, engineers’ boots, and a biker’s winter 
  facemask with goggles. In this outfit, he can 
  usually pass as a man who has suffered burns 
  over a large portion of his body.  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  54 
  The Hunted 
  Background/History:  Johnny Blackfire was a 
  PRIMUS/VIPER double agent sent to infiltrate 
  DEMON on behalf of both groups (unbeknownst 
  to VIPER). With a lot of trickery and a bit of 
  good luck, Johnny managed to make it as far as 
  the Demon-Warrior level of that evilly sorcerous 
  organization before being found out. Rather than 
  killing him outright, DEMON’s leader Damon 
  Harrington decided to use the hapless spy in a 
  magical experiment, the goal of which was 
  nothing less than the creation of a new variety of 
  undead; the revenant! 
   
  Over a period of months, Johnny’s blood 
  was slowly drained from his living body and 
  replaced with an otherworldly alchemical 
  compound known as The Shadow Substance. 
  Before the procedure could be completed, 
  however, the Demonlair that he was being held 
  in was attacked by a joint PRIMUS/FBI strike 
  force. Accidentally cut loose during the fighting, 
  Johnny Blackfire fought his way to freedom, 
  killing as many DEMON agents as he could on 
  his way out – but not before both PRIMUS and 
  FBI operatives had a good look at him. 
   
  Now Johnny wanders the southwest, 
  pursued not only by his former employers and 
  captors but also by several superpowered teams 
  (one heroic and one villainous) who have had the 
  misfortune of crossing his path. Constantly 
  roaming the dusty, nearly abandoned wasteland 
  of America’s desert states in search of 
  supernatural evil, he never stays in any one place 
  for very long to keep his trackers from catching 
  up with him. He is… The Hunted. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  While not exactly 
  possessed, the months of torture Johnny was 
  forced to endure while in captivity have wiped 
  his memory completely clean, replacing his own 
  personality with the obsessive personality of The 
  Hunted. The Hunted doesn’t even know who 
  Johnny Blackfire is – nor, in all likelihood, does 
  he care. His only goal is that of an undead 
  revenant; namely, revenge! In his case, that 
  means he must continually seek out and eradicate 
  supernatural evil wherever and whenever he 
  finds it. He will neither waver nor bend from this 
  goal; his mind is like a knife completely 
  sharpened around that single point. 
   
  Those months of torment have completely 
  warped The Hunted’s view of things. To him, 
  any sort of supernatural magic appears identical 
  to that of his DEMON torturers. He will kill any 
  evil supernatural entity or any person using 
  magic for evil purposes out of revenge for what 
  he has suffered. He is entirely convinced of the 
  righteousness of his cause; no argument can 
  sway him from his path once he senses his prey. 
  Yet The Hunted does possess a code of honor 
  and a sense of right and wrong. He will try not to 
  kill anyone innocent, even if they are getting in 
  his way, and he does attempt to distinguish 
  between deliberate and accidental evils. It’s just 
  that he doesn’t always do a good job. 
   
  The Hunted is a revenant, an undead 
  creature created to single-mindedly carry out 
  tasks of revenge and destruction. Because he 
  gained his freedom before the process of fully 
  “programming” him could be completed, The 
  Hunted has simply decided upon his own 
  vengeful mission rather than having an assigned 
  one. But the old Johnny Blackfire personality 
  still seems to be present somewhere in the 
  background, so it is always possible that if The 
  Hunted’s memories were to be restored, the 
  Johnny Blackfire personality might gain control 
  of the body which they share. Given a few 
  months, an inspired paranormal psychologist or a 
  talented wizard of some sort might accomplish 
  this task. Yet at this time, despite the best 
  attempts of PRIMUS (and others), no one has 
  been able to capture or restrain The Hunted long 
  enough to attempt this process. 
   
  Quote:  “No matter Evil’s form, No matter 
  Evil’s path, No Evil shall escape the hounds of 
  The Hunted’s eternal wrath!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  The Hunted possesses a varied 
  array of shadow-based attacks. He will generally 
  begin combat by turning on his Shield of Shadow 
  (a force field), then follow that up with Clinging 
  Shadow Bats – a spray of bat-like shapes which 
  totally cover a single opponent, blocking his 
  ability to hear, touch, or see. This attack stays 
  with the opponent wherever he goes. The Hunted 
  will then follow that up by releasing his Deep 
  Down Shadow Hounds, a spray of gnashing 
  wolf’s heads that spring from the outstretched 
  palm to rend and devour their prey. All of these 
  actions are preceded by the same gesture; The 
  Hunted extends his right hand straight outwards, 
  palm down. 
   
  As a revenant, The Hunted is amazingly 
  tough. Not only is he extremely resistant to 
  physical damage, if he is “killed” in any manner 
  he will simply rise back up again in a fairly short 
  period of time. In several instances, an intended 
  target has managed to kill The Hunted 
  repeatedly, only to have him return after each 
  attempt even more determined to slay his 
  attacker. Unless his physical body is completely 
  destroyed he will never, ever stop pursuing his 
  intended prey.  
   
  The Hunted can also summon his Shadow 
  Cycle, an enormous cruiser of unearthly black 
  which gives him tremendous movement both in 
  and out of combat. This too must be created with 
  the same palm downward gesture. 
  OTHER 
  REVENGE-BENT 
  UNDEAD 
  AVENGERS 
   
   Pumpkinhead – 
  When some goofy big 
  city teenagers 
  accidentally kill his 
  son, Lance Henriksen 
  goes to see a creepy 
  old Ozark Mountain 
  witch who turns her 
  scarecrow into a 
  revenant in this 1988 
  film with the same 
  name. Blood, body 
  parts, and religious 
  symbols fly as the 
  demon “revenge” 
  reaps havoc on 
  Cynthia Bain and her 
  looser friends. 
   The Crow – When 
  rocker Eric Draven 
  (Brandon Lee) and his 
  pretty fiancée get 
  killed by some heavy-
  metal gangsters, he 
  comes back from the 
  dead to get stylishly 
  even with them in this 
  1994 film with the 
  same name. Probably 
  the quintessential 
  gothic-zombie-
  revenge film, it was 
  made all that much 
  more memorable 
  when Brandon Lee 
  (son of the legendary 
  Bruce Lee) was 
  “accidentally” killed 
  at the very end of the 
  film’s production, 
  insuring that it would 
  become an instant cult 
  classic. Kind of 
  makes you wish old 
  Brandon would come 
  back from the dead to 
  get the director, huh? 
   The Toxic 
  Avenger – When 
  Andree Maranda gets 
  soaked in radioactive 
  chemicals by evil 
  teenage jock  
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  55
  The Hunted 
  murderers, he turns 
  into an insanely 
  hideous yet noble 
  mutant in the 1986 
  film with the same 
  name. Although not 
  technically undead, 
  The Toxic Avenger 
  does get horrible, 
  brutal, violent 
  revenge on those who 
  have transformed 
  him, so it’s close 
  enough for 
  government work. 
   Ted Danson – 
  What, you ask, the 
  bartender from 
  Cheers is a zombie? 
  Well, in the 
  “Something To Tide 
  You Over” segment 
  of the 1982 film 
  Creepshow, Danson 
  “gets it” from the 
  angry husband (Leslie 
  Nielson) of his lover, 
  who buries him up to 
   
  the neck  
   
  on the 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  beach 
  so that he can watch 
  him drown via remote 
  camera. Later, an 
  undead, seaweed-
  coverd Danson comes 
  back to return the 
  favor. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  56 
  The Hunted 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   10 STR 
  0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH [1] 
   18 DEX 
  24 13- OCV:  6/DCV:  6 
   15 CON 
  10 12-  
   15 BODY 
  10 12-  
   10 INT 
  0 11- PER Roll:  11- 
   15 EGO 
  10 12- ECV:  5 
   20 PRE 
  10 13- PRE Attack:  4d6 
   16 COM 
  3 12-  
   
   10 PD 
  8 
   Total:  25 PD (15 rPD) 
   10 ED 
  7 
   Total:  20 ED (10 rED) 
   
  5 SPD 
  22 
   Phases:  3, 5, 8, 10, 12 
   
  6 REC 
  0 
   
   60 END 
  15 
   
   50 STUN 
  22 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  141 
  Movement: Running: 
  36”/144” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   20 The Shadow Substance:  Elemental 
  Control, 40-point Powers  
  0 
   38 1)  Deep Down Shadow Hounds:  RKA 
  3d6 (Energy), Armor Piercing (+½); 
  Gestures (-¼) 
  5 
   18 2)  Shield of Shadow:  Force Field (15 
  PD/10 ED), Costs END to Start (+¼), 
  Persistent (+½); Gestures (-¼) 
  4 
   20 3)  Clinging Shadow Bats:  Darkness to 
  Sight, Touch, and Hearing Groups 1”, 
  Usable Against Others (+1) 
  4 
   20 4)  Shadow Cycle:  Running +30”  (36” 
  Total), 4x Noncombat Multiplier; 
  Gestures (-¼), Has Turn Mode (-¼), 
  Visible (-¼) 
  4  
   30 Revenant Regeneration:  Healing 3d6 
  (Regeneration; 3 BODY per Turn), 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½), 
  Persistent (+½); Self Only (-½), 
  Resurrection Only (-½) 
  0 
   30 Revenant Protection:  Physical Damage 
  Reduction, 50%, Resistant 
  0 
   11 Revenant Senses:  Detect Supernatural 
  Evil 13-, Ranged (+½) 
  0 
   
   Skills 
   
  8 +4 with Deep Down Shadow Hounds 
   
  6 +3 with Clinging Shadow Bats 
   
   
  4 KS: Supernatural Evil 13- 
   
  4 KS: The Road13- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  201 
   
  Total Cost:  350 
   
   200+ Disadvantages 
   15  Distinctive Feature:  Eyes Bleed Flames 
  of Shadow-Fire, Hair is Pompadour of 
  Shadow-Fire (Easily Concealable, Causes 
  Extreme Reaction) 
   15  Enraged:  Locates Supernatural Evil 
  (uncommon), go 14-, recover 8- 
   10  Hunted:  VIPER 8- (As Pow, Enslave) 
   10  Hunted:  DEMON 8- (As Pow, Kill) 
   15  Hunted:  PRIMUS 8- (As Pow, NCI, 
  Imprison) 
   10  Hunted:  Superhero Team 8- (Mo Pow, 
  Question) 
   15  Hunted:  Supervillain Team 8- (Mo Pow, 
  Kill) 
   15  Physical Limitation:  Amnesia 
  (Frequently, Greatly) 
   15  Psychological Limitation:  Biker Code of 
  Honor (Common, Total) 
   15  Psychological Limitation:  Must Destroy 
  Supernatural Evil (Uncommon, Total) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Seeks His Own 
  Past (Common, Strong) 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points: 350 
   
  Campaign Use:  The Hunted is an essential 
  villainous good guy; his goals aren’t really in 
  question, it’s his methods which often rub people 
  the wrong way. Those heroes who disapprove of 
  killing in the name of justice will want to stop 
  him, while those who approve may want to help. 
  His incredible single-mindedness has made him 
  a lot of enemies, and those players who take his 
  side may very well end up having to save him 
  from those same enemies.  
   
  The best use of The Hunted in your 
  campaign is to have some sorcerous archenemy 
  of the Player Characters show up on the doorstep 
  of their “secret” base, pleading to be saved from 
  the murderous undead biker who just won’t stop 
  coming after him! Then have The Hunted show 
  up a few moments later, Hell-bent on killing 
  their sorcerous archenemy, and let your players 
  decide whose side they are going to take. With 
  any luck they’ll start fighting each other! 
   
  Appearance:  The Hunted is a good looking 
  man of medium build with pale white skin, eyes 
  that burn with shadowy fire, and a pompadour 
  which also seems to be made of that same slowly 
  burning substance. He only has two facial 
  expressions:  wrathful and none whatsoever. He 
  dresses all in dusty black leather with a long, 
  tattered grey scarf covering the lower portion of 
  his features. When he doesn’t want to be 
  recognized, he wears dark glasses and a grey 
  “pudding bucket” type helmet to cover the 
  unearthly nature of his eyes and hair.   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  57
  Crucible by W. Jason Allen 
   
  Background/History:  Thanks to natural talent 
  and her father’s financial support, it only took 
  Felicity Larkin a couple of years to become 
  known for her fine jewelry. Her attention to 
  detail and exquisite craftsmanship made her 
  pieces highly desirable amongst the wealthy. 
  She worked hard to produce as much as she 
  could, refusing to bow to popular consumerism 
  and allow mass production of her designs. This 
  kept her pieces rare, in demand, and highly 
  valuable. Her financial future seemed secure. 
   
  Occasionally, Felicity would accept custom 
  commissions. One of her regular customers, a 
  well-to-do business man from Vibora Bay, 
  brought an old family heirloom to be reworked 
  with new gold, as the original gold workings 
  were tarnished and of poor aesthetic design. 
  The piece appeared to be a large opal, bound 
  with interlocking bands of a dark, almost 
  copper-colored gold. What was unusual about 
  the bands was the engravings on them. They 
  looked like flowing scrollwork, but the lines 
  were broken up at odd intervals, making for a 
  very strange pattern. Felicity could see why her 
  customer wanted the gold removed and redone; 
  the bands were not pretty at all. 
   
  As Felicity attempted to heat the gold 
  enough to remove the bands, using a solder so 
  as to not damage the opal, an odd feeling passed 
  over her, like the creepy feeling one gets when 
  standing in a graveyard at night. She shrugged 
  it off and continued working. The gold wasn’t 
  melting at the proper temperature, so she 
  increased the heat. The first gold band parted – 
  and exploded. 
   
  Felicity was thrown back into the wall, 
  dazed. When she managed to clear her head, 
  she realized her workshop was all but ruined. 
  Surprised to find herself alive, she wondered 
  what had caused such an explosion. Then she 
  saw it. Where the opal had been was now a 
  small vortex of energy, swirling silently in mid-
  air. A dark, shadowy form hovered on the other 
  side of the room, apparently disoriented and 
  confused. Felicity began to flee the room in 
  fear, but it was too late. Two tendrils of energy 
  lashed out from the vortex to strike both 
  Felicity and the shadow. Felicity screamed, and 
  passed out. 
   
  When she awoke, the Felicity that had been 
  was no more. She knew now that the opal had 
  not been bound with gold, but with orichalcum, 
  a rare and magical metal. The opal was an 
  ancient device once used to bind humans with 
  creatures from the Netherworld. Of Felicity and 
  the shadow creature, it had made a creature 
  filled with the desire to corrupt and destroy the 
  innocent, with several demonic powers. Their 
  minds were now one, and completely given to 
  darkness. Calling herself Crucible, she began 
  her nightly reign of terror. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Where Felicity was 
  once kind, if vain and aristocratic, she is now 
  cruel and sadistic. She conceals her personality 
  change, but it is becoming more difficult with 
  time. Her mind and body have been merged 
  with a dark spirit from the Netherworld, turning 
  her into a creature similar to a succubus. 
  Crucible thrills in corrupting people, whether 
  by directly controlling them or by manipulating 
  them into doing what she wants. She feeds on 
  their pain and internal conflict. Then when she 
  has tired of them, she feeds on their life force. 
   
  Crucible thinks nothing of causing pain to 
  others for her own amusement. She will play 
  practical jokes of the most horrid kind, just to 
  watch people cringe. Why not? Humanity is not 
  worthy of consideration. They are weak, 
  pathetic creatures with no reason to be alive 
  other than to amuse her. But, when someone 
  stands up to defend themselves or others against 
  her, she strikes swiftly and without mercy, 
  draining their life away and tossing them aside 
  like garbage. 
   
  Crucible is cold and condescending, certain 
  of her superiority and success. Her ultimate 
  goal is the fulfillment of her every whim and 
  pleasure, both physical and emotional. 
   
  Quote:  “Come here, darling, I have something 
  to show you….” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  The merging granted 
  Crucible several demonic powers, some of 
  which simulate the powers of a succubus. Bat-
  like wings allow her to fly. She can become a 
  cloud of mist, slipping into the tightest of 
  secured areas. Her touch drains away life 
  essence and she can throw a lance of flame. 
  Screaming souls from the Netherworld obey her 
  will, flying about a target to prevent movement. 
  With a sword of spectral flame she can severely 
  injure even intangible targets. She can even take 
  control of a person’s mind and manipulate them 
  directly. 
   
  Crucible prefers to attack from surprise or 
  ambush, but will fight in the open if there is no 
  other choice. She  preys on those who think 
  highly of themselves, such as the rich or 
  powerful, but will gladly victimize anyone. Her 
  most favored targets are flashy, well-known 
  superheroes. 
   
  Crucible’s powers and enhanced 
  characteristics only apply in her demonic form. 
                                                             
  artwork by Bill Jackson 
  AUTHOR’S NOTE 
   
   
   I would like to 
  thank Melissa 
  DePlanche for her 
  gracious permission 
  in allowing me to 
  mutilate her heroic 
  character into the 
  villainess presented 
  herein. All mistakes 
  are, naturally, my 
  own. 
   
  CRUCIBLE PLOT 
  SEEDS 
   
   
   Crucible decides 
  one of the PCs (male 
  or female, she doesn’t 
  care which) is 
  absolutely fascinating, 
  and pursues her target 
  relentlessly, even 
  obsessively. Rejection 
  will certainly have 
  unfortunate 
  consequences for the 
  PC and the local 
  population…. 
   A lone PC 
  interrupts her weekly 
  ‘feeding’ and 
  becomes the 
  substitute entrée. 
  Please pass the salt. 
   The merging 
  between Felicity and 
  the Netherworld 
  entity deepens, 
  eradicating the last 
  remnant of her 
  humanity. 
  Abandoning her 
  identity as Felicity, 
  Crucible enters a 
  feeding frenzy, killing 
  many before the PCs 
  are brought in to stop 
  her. Is this the natural 
  end result of the 
  accident that gave her 
  powers, or is 
  something – or 
  someone – else 
  causing this 
  transformation? 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  58 
  However, as there’s no way to prevent her from 
  changing forms shorts of keeping her 
  unconscious, she does not take Only In Heroic 
  Identity for her powers. 
   
  There are two serious limitation to 
  Crucible’s abilities. First, she must consume at 
  least one life (i.e., drain BODY until death) per 
  week or her own life force will begin to slowly 
  and painfully fade away. Second, any sort of 
  holy aura will repulse her like an impenetrable 
  force wall. The most common holy aura is that 
  of land and buildings consecrated to goodness. 
  This is not restricted to lands consecrated by 
  Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, but includes 
  any religion that consecrates an area with the 
  intentions of protection and peace. She is also 
  repulsed by auras of the faithful. If a good 
  person of strong faith (i.e., the person has a 
  Psychological Limitation to represent their 
  faith) presents an icon of their faith and rebukes 
  her, Crucible and the other person both make an 
  Ego roll, with Crucible’s at a -5 penalty 
  (because of the limitation). If Crucible wins, 
  she can act normally against the person. If the 
  person wins, Crucible cannot physically touch 
  the person, with her hands or hand-to-hand 
  attacks. She can still use ranged attacks against 
  the person, but with a -5 OCV penalty. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Crucible is a consummate 
  seductress, frightening yet irresistible. As 
  Felicity, she could easily be known to heroes 
  who are wealthy or to mages who have others 
  make their foci. She maintains a fairly brisk 
  jewelry business. Despite the wealth of the 
  jewelry business, Crucible has been known to 
  rob banks and jewelry stores, either for extra 
  cash or to bait a trap for a gullible hero she 
  wants to torment or seduce. 
   
  Crucible is most useful as a random 
  element in an otherwise solid scenario. She 
  might happen to be after the witness the heroes 
  are trying to find, or latches onto a convenient 
  DNPC. One of her favorite pastimes is trolling 
  for victims. There’s not a section of town she 
  hasn’t wandered, trying to bait someone into 
  assaulting or propositioning her. She usually 
  does this in Crucible form with an overcoat and 
  hat to hide her more obvious demonic features. 
   
  DEMON has become aware of Crucible 
  and monitors her activities, hoping to learn the 
  nature and origin of her powers in hopes of 
  duplicating the effect. They do not yet know her 
  Secret Identity, but do know she maintains one. 
  The Police, of course, want her for several 
  counts of assault and murder, amongst other 
  charges. 
   
  Crucible is becoming more evil as time 
  goes by, and holds a grudge forever. Anyone 
  who spurns her ‘affections’ or prevents her 
  from playing her games or feeding on life force 
  will earn her enmity. She will play vicious 
  pranks and practical jokes to annoy her target, 
  and when that doesn’t work or her victim fights 
  back, she’ll get brutal. People die horribly when 
  she gets brutal…. 
   
  To increase her power level, boost her 
  Dexterity and Speed, give her Sight Group 
  Flash Defense, add more points to the 
  Multipower reserve, and put a Major Transform 
  (human into willing slave) in the Multipower. 
  You might also add a Summon Demon ability. 
  To lower her power, drop the Multipower’s 
  point reserve, lower her Dexterity and/or Speed, 
  and reduce her Defenses some (Armor, Mental 
  Defense, and Power Defense). 
   
  Appearance:  Felicity’s long auburn hair, 
  green eyes, and impressive figure have attracted 
  many would-be boyfriends, and she has gone 
  through several after her merging. She wears 
  designer clothing and maintains her appearance 
  meticulously. 
   
  One might think that Crucible’s bat wings, 
  short curved horns, and ridged tail would make 
  her decidedly unattractive, but the opposite is 
  true. Her jet black hair, opalescent skin and red 
  eyes also mark her demonic nature, but many 
  still find her unbearably appealing – until they 
  get to know her better. She wears revealing, 
  lingerie-like costumes and has several different 
  designs. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  59
  Crucible 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  60 
  Crucible 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   30 STR 
  20 15- Lift 1600 kg; 6d6 HTH  
   26 DEX 
  48 14- OCV:  9/DCV:  9 
   30 CON 
  40 15- 
   15 BODY 
  10 12- 
   18 INT 
  8 13- PER Roll:  13- 
   21 EGO 
  22 13- ECV:  7 
   20 PRE 
  10 13- PRE Attack:  4d6 
   20 COM 
  5 13- 
   
   18 PD 
  12 
   Total:  18 PD (12 rPD) 
   16 ED 
  10 
   Total:  16 ED (10 rED) 
   
  6 SPD 
  24 
   Phases:  2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 
   12 REC 
  0 
   60 END 
  0 
   45 STUN 
  0 
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  209 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Flight: 
  15”/30” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   60 Demonic Powers:  Multipower, 60-
  point Reserve 
  0 
   6u 1)  Hellfire Lance:  EB 12d6 
  6 
   6u 2)  Hellfire Sword:  HKA 2d6 (3d6 with 
  STR), Affects Desolidified (+½), 
  Armor Piercing (+½) 
  6 
   6u 3)  Essence Drain:  Drain Characteristic 
  4d6, Variable Effect (any one Primary 
  Characteristic; +¼), Reduced 
  Endurance (½ END; +¼) 
  2 
   6u 4)  Screaming Souls:  Entangle 3d6, 5 
  DEF, Entangle And Character Both 
  Take Damage (+¼), Cannot Be Escaped 
  With Teleportation (+¼) 
  6 
   6u 5)  Seduce:  Mind Control 12d6 
  6 
   6u 6)  Mist Form:  Desolidification 
  (affected by magic), Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½) 
  0 
   20 Steel-Toe Stiletto Boots and Spurs:  
  Multipower, 30-point Reserve, all slots 
  OIF (-½) 
  0 
   2u 1)  Steel-Toe Spikes:  HKA 1d6 (2d6 
  with STR), +2 Increased STUN 
  Multiplier (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 
  END; +½); OIF (-½) 
  0 
   2u 2)  Spurs:  HKA 1d6 (2d6 with STR), 
  Penetrating (+½), Reduced Endurance 
  (0 END; +½); OIF (-½) 
  0 
   15 Spiked Gloves:  HA +4d6, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½); Hand-to-Hand 
  Attack (-½), OIF (-½) 
   11 Deceptively Silky Skin:  Damage 
  Resistance (12 PD/10 ED) 
  0 
   60 Demonic Toughness:  50% Physical and 
  Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant 
  0 
   10 Demonic Will:  Mental Defense 14 
  0 
   10 Demonic Form:  Power Defense 10 
  0 
   30 Bat Wings:  Flight 15”, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½), Restrainable 
  (-½) 
  1 
   
  5 Demonic Eyes:  Nightvision 
  0 
   
   Perks 
   
  5 Money:  Well Off 
   
   Skills 
   
  6 +2 with Demonic Powers Multipower 
   
   
  2 AK:  Lower Planes 11- 
   
  3 Breakfall 14- 
   
  2 CK:  Campaign City 11- 
   
  3 Concealment 13- 
   
  3 Conversation 13- 
   
  3 High Society 13- 
   
  3 KS:  Gemstones and Precious Metals 13- 
   
  3 KS:  Jewelry 13- 
   
  2 KS:  Supernatural World 11- 
   
  4 Language:  Demon Speech (native accent) 
   
  3 Persuasion 13- 
   
  3 PS:  Artist 13- 
   
  3 PS:  Jeweler 13- 
   
  3 Seduction 13- 
   
  3 SS:  Gemology 13- 
   
  3 SS:  Metallurgy 13- 
   
  3 Stealth 14- 
   
  3 Streetwise 13- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  324 
   
  Total Cost:  533 
   
   200+ Disadvantages 
   
  0 Dependence:  Must Consume One Human 
  Life per Week or Suffer 3d6 STUN 
  Damage (Very Common) 
   10 Distinctive Feature:  Mystic Aura (Not 
  Concealable; Always Noticed; Unusual 
  Senses) 
   20 Enraged:  Advances Spurned 
  (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 11- 
   15 Hunted:  Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, 
  Limited Area, Imprison) 
   10 Hunted:  DEMON 11- (Mo Pow, 
  Watching) 
   15 Physical Limitation:  Repelled by Holy 
  Auras (Infrequent, Fully) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Corrupts the 
  Innocent (Common, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Prankster 
  (Common, Moderate) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Regards 
  Humanity as Cattle (Common, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Vengeful 
  (Uncommon, Strong) 
   15 Social Limitation:  Secret Identity 
  (Frequently, Major) 
   10 Vulnerability:  2x Effect from Holy Magic 
  (Uncommon) 
   188 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  533 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  61
  Monolith by W. Ross Watson 
   
  Background/History:  Rachel Runningdeer was 
  born into the Lakota Sioux tribe of Native 
  American Indians twenty years ago. Arrow Falls, 
  a small town near the reservation, quickly began 
  to boom during her childhood. One of the locals, 
  Jesse Whiteriver, had begun a popular and 
  prosperous business. The Arrowhead Casino 
  soon employed nearly every Lakota on the 
  reservation, including Rachel’s parents, Richard 
  and Jane.  
   
  South Dakota is a good place to grow up, 
  with plenty of wide-open spaces, beautiful 
  countryside, and temperate weather. The winters 
  can be harsh, but snow never bothered Rachel. 
  She loved the land, and her parents indulged her 
  by letting her run unsupervised wherever she 
  wished on the reservation. 
   
  While out exploring, she discovered an old 
  cave recently exposed by a landslide. Inside the 
  cave Rachel found many ancient Sioux artifacts, 
  including a mysterious carved wooden staff. 
  When she grasped the staff, intending to bring it 
  to her parents, a deep voice spoke in the Lakota 
  language. “You are the Chosen of this 
  generation. Use the abilities of the Chosen to 
  defend your tribe. The powers of the stone spirits 
  are now yours.” 
   
  Rachel fell into a deep sleep and awoke late 
  the next day, feeling very strange and different. 
  Upon her return home, she realized she had 
  become much stronger, faster, and more 
  resilient… but there was no sign of the staff or 
  the cave she claimed to have found. Dismissing 
  her story, Rachel’s parents grounded her and the 
  incident was not spoken of again. 
   
  Eventually, Rachel discovered that by 
  uttering the words “I am the Chosen!” she could 
  transform into a stone version of herself – much 
  bigger, tougher, and stronger than any mortal 
  woman. She experimented with her powers late 
  at night, fearful that someone would find out, 
  and began to assist the local townspeople of 
  Arrow Falls against crime and disaster. 
  Unfortunately, Rachel’s adventures were cut 
  short by her father’s death from a stroke. Her 
  mother, Jane, barely managed to cope, and soon 
  she contracted a form of cancer that attacked the 
  nervous system. 
   
  Jesse Whitewater’s casino, The Arrowhead, 
  thrived on deals with organized crime and money 
  laundering for groups such as VIPER. By chance, 
  the corrupt casino owner observed Rachel during 
  her transformation into her stone body and 
  witnessed her strength as the girl diverted a 
  flooding creek away from the town. Jesse realized 
  that having such superhuman muscle on his side 
  would be a large boon for his business, and 
  arranged for Rachel to be brought to him. 
   
  In his office, Jesse laid out a very simple 
  agreement:  He would pay for Jane 
  Runningdeer’s medical bills and ensure that 
  Rachel’s mother got the best of care. In return, 
  Rachel herself would work for the casino as an 
  enforcer and bodyguard. Jesse made veiled 
  threats against her mother’s health whenever 
  Rachel balked, and she had no choice but to 
  agree. Rachel began calling herself Monolith so 
  that no one other than Jesse Whitewater would 
  know who she really is, for she feels ashamed of 
  the role she is forced to play. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Rachel is not a bad 
  person. In fact, she has great ambitions to be a 
  true superheroine someday, daydreaming of 
  single-handedly saving her entire tribe from 
  poverty and disgrace. Unfortunately, Jesse 
  Whiteriver takes advantage of Rachel’s good 
  nature and uses her mother’s health to control the 
  girl’s actions like a puppet master. 
   
  Rachel is quite adventurous, and enjoys 
  exploring the wilderness, hiking, and spelunking. 
  She has shocked quite a few people in her 
  hometown by joining the local football team… 
  and excelling as the quarterback! 
   
  She’s very proud of her Lakota Sioux 
  heritage, and knows quite a bit of her tribe’s 
  history stretching back many centuries. Rachel 
  doesn’t take well to racial slurs, but she doesn’t 
  discriminate either. The past is the past, she 
  believes, and the future is what’s most important 
  to her. 
   
  Quote:  “My power is the power of the earth 
  herself!” 
   
  “I do not wish to fight you… but I warn you 
  that I won’t hold back.” 
   
  “Sorry about all this trouble. I really have no 
  choice.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Rachel believes that ancient 
  Sioux spirits, perhaps shaman ancestors, have 
  granted her the powers of the earth. Whatever the 
  true source, she can transform herself into a 
  towering woman of solid stone, armed with a 
  mystic staff and defended by mighty spells of 
  protection. Even when she is not in her stone 
  form, Rachel is amazingly strong and athletic, 
  and she has to hold back during her football 
  games to ensure that no one gets hurt. 
   
  In her stone form, Rachel weighs several 
  tons, and has enough strength to lift tanker trucks 
  like toys. She has no need to breathe or eat in 
  stone form, and can survive in any environment, 
  from outer space to the depths of the ocean. 
                                                             
  artwork by Bill Jackson 
  PLOT SEEDS 
   
   
   Heroes 
  investigating the 
  organized crime or 
  VIPER link to the 
  Arrowhead Casino 
  encounter Monolith, 
  who reluctantly tries 
  to scare them off. If 
  the heroes dig up info 
  on the casino’s owner, 
  Jesse Whiteriver, they 
  may discover the 
  plight of Rachel’s 
  family. Monolith is 
  really a very tragic 
  villain… all it would 
  take is a persuasive 
  hero and a viable 
  option for taking care 
  of her ailing mother, 
  and Rachel could 
  easily become a 
  valiant heroine on her 
  own. Any hero 
  involved in the 
  federal or local 
  government of South 
  Dakota may find 
  himself approached 
  by Rachel, seeking 
  assistance for her 
  tribe. Although she 
  won’t mention herself 
  or her mother directly, 
  Rachel’s getting 
  desperate to find a 
  way to escape the 
  hold that Jesse 
  Whiteriver has on her 
  life. In addition, 
  Rachel is sincere 
  about wanting to help 
  her tribe… alcoholism 
  and diabetes are only 
  two of the serious 
  medical afflictions 
  currently threatening 
  the Lakota Sioux. 
   Any corporate or 
  government agency 
  seeking to exploit the 
  Black Hills region of 
  South Dakota will 
  arouse the ire of all 
  Lakota Sioux. The 
  Sioux, while not the 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  62 
   
  Monolith’s Missile Deflection is fully 
  invisible, so it appears that ranged attacks seem 
  to strike her stone form and inflict no damage. 
  Also, her mystic staff grows in size along with 
  her, so that she can reach any hex within 3” of 
  her to deal damage.  
   
  Her martial art is actually a Sioux form of 
  staff fighting, taught to her by older Native 
  Americans on the reservation. The basics of the 
  form are identical to Bojutsu/Jojutsu, so the 
  maneuvers for that style are listed.  
   
  The first Accidental Change Disadvantage 
  transforms Rachel into Monolith when she gets 
  very angry. Sometimes she will blurt out the 
  command phrase without thinking, but Rachel 
  has to be nearly frothing with rage for this to 
  occur, for she is usually very careful about not 
  exposing her secret identity. 
   
  The second Accidental Change 
  Disadvantage transforms Monolith back into her 
  normal human form, as the magical energies 
  sustaining her stone body temporarily leak away 
  before they can be replenished. 
   
  Monolith’s stone form is incredibly hard and 
  sturdy, but she has many fault lines (like the 
  earth itself from which she gains her powers) 
  that can be exploited. Whenever an enemy 
  succeeds with a Find Weakness roll on Monolith, 
  the attack for which the Power Find Weakness 
  applies to double its damage against her as well 
  as lowering her defenses. 
   
  In battle, Rachel tries to avoid killing 
  anyone, but she relishes the opportunity to 
  engage other bricks and let loose with full-
  power blows. She’ll usually begin with her 
  atemi strike, escalating up to the harder blows if 
  she feels like she is in trouble. She often puts 
  her levels into OCV to ensure a hit, relying 
  upon her defenses to keep her from being 
  seriously hurt. She’s very fond of the legsweep 
  maneuver, putting a foe on the ground where 
  she has an easier time striking him. Most of the 
  time she will use the jab maneuver, spinning 
  her staff in complex patterns to score hits on her 
  foes while keeping her DCV high. 
   
  Unlike many “supervillains” Rachel prefers 
  to remain silent in combat in her identity as 
  Monolith. Only occasionally will she speak out 
  around other superhumans, but she normally 
  makes a Presence Attack at the beginning of an 
  encounter as a warning. 
   
  Campaign Use:  It is very unlikely that 
  Monolith would ever find herself Hunting 
  anyone… at least, voluntarily. Of course, if her 
  “sponsor” finds an enemy that he needs dealt 
  with, he may force Monolith to pursue that 
  person. As a Hunter, Monolith is direct and, to 
  be frank, lazy. She has no real desire to tangle 
  with anyone unless they threaten the lives of her 
  family, in which case she would descend like the 
  wrath of God. It’s possible that any corporate 
  developer interested in industrializing the Black 
  Hills region would draw her attention, for she 
  would want to discourage any such plans. 
   
  To increase Monolith’s power, raise her 
  STR in her Hero ID to 75, increase her Armor to 
  25 Resistant PD and ED, and give her a few 
  more hand-to-hand combat levels. To scale her 
  down, lower her STR in Hero ID to 40, remove 
  her hand-to-hand combat levels, and reduce her 
  Armor to 10 Resistant PD and ED. 
   
  Appearance:  In her human form, Rachel is a 
  tall, pretty, Native American woman with an 
  Amazonian build. She has light brown eyes, and 
  her hair is dark and straight, often kept in a 
  ponytail. She often wears casual clothing, with a 
  Native American bead wristband and necklace. 
  She occasionally braids eagle feathers into her 
  hair like a “typical Indian.” 
   
  When she calls upon her mystical stone 
  form, Rachel grows to nearly twelve feet in 
  height, and her body changes to resemble a 
  woman carved from solid gray stone. Monolith’s 
  features appear blank, nearly faceless except for 
  a pair of blazing green eyes, and her Lakota 
  fighting staff magically appears in her hands.  
   
  owners of the Black 
  Hills, consider them 
  to be sacred in many 
  ways. If a supervillain 
  chose that location to 
  build his secret base, 
  for example, he would 
  soon find Monolith as 
  his enemy. A hero 
  who is well-known as 
  a lawyer may be 
  approached by Rachel 
  to become an 
  advocate for the 
  Sioux to reclaim the 
  region as tribal 
  property. 
   The origin of 
  Monolith’s powers is 
  very mysterious. Who 
  gave them to her? The 
  stated purpose of her 
  abilities is to “defend 
  her tribe” but from 
  whom are they to be 
  protected? The White 
  Man, or some greater 
  threat, perhaps a 
  supernatural evil of 
  some kind? Heroes 
  may find themselves 
  helping Rachel 
  answer these 
  questions, especially 
  if they gained her 
  friendship in one of 
  the other campaign 
  uses suggested here.  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  63
  Monolith 
   
  Val Char Cost 
  Roll 
  Notes 
   25+30* STR 
  15 14-/20- Lift 800kg (50 ton); 
  5d6(11d6) [2(5)] 
   
  18 DEX 
  24 
  13- 
  OCV:  6/ 
   18+10# CON 
  25 13-/15-  
  DCV:  6(4) 
   15+3* BODY 10 12-/13-  
   
  10 INT 
  0 
  11- 
  PER Roll:  11- 
   
  15 EGO 
  10 
  12- 
  ECV:  5 
   20+10* PRE 
  18 13-/15- PRE Attack:  4d6 
   
  14 COM 
  2 
  12- 
   
   
   
  8+2* PD 
  0 
   
  Total:  30 PD (20) 
   
  8+2* ED 
  0 
   
  Total:  30 ED (20) 
   
  5 SPD 
  22 
   
  Phases:  3,5,8,10,12 
   
  12 REC 
  6 
   
  40 END 
  2 
   
  * OIHID (-¼) 
   47+3* STUN 10 
   
  # OIHID (-¼) and No 
  Figured Characteristics 
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  127 
  Movement: Running: 
  9”/18” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  5”/10” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   12 Mystic Stone Form:  Elemental Control, 
  30-point Powers; OIHID (-¼) 
   12 1)  Stone Size:  Growth (+15 STR, +3 
  BODY, +3 STUN, -2” KB, 1600 kg, -1 
  DCV, +2 PER, 2m Tall, 1m Wide), 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), 
  Persistent (+½); OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   12 2)  Body of Stone:  Density Increase 
  (1600 kg mass, +15 STR, +3 PD, +3 ED, 
  -3” KB), Reduced Endurance (0 END; 
  +½), Persistent (+½); OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   -1 Body of Stone II:  -2” Swimming, 
  OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   40 Stone-Hard Skin I:  Armor (20 PD/20 
  ED); OIHID (-¼), Visible (her body 
  transforms into stone; -¼) 
  0 
   35 Stone-Hard Skin II:  Missile Deflection 
  (All Attacks), Invisible Power Effects 
  (Fully Invisible, +1); OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   36 Stone’s Durability:  LS: Total; OIHID 
  (-¼) 
  0 
   
   
  6 Earth Connection:  Clinging (normal 
  STR); Only When In Contact With The 
  Ground (-¼), OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   15 Mystic Staff I:  Armor Piercing for 55 
  STR, Reduced Endurance (0 END, 
  +½); OAF (-1), OIHID (-¼) 
  0 
   
  1 Mystic Staff II:  Stretching 2”, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent 
  (+½); Always Direct (-¼), No 
  Noncombat Stretching (-¼), Only To 
  Cause Damage (-½), OAF (-1), OIHID 
  (-¼) 
  0 
   
  6 Improved Athletics:  +3” Running (9” 
  Total) 
  2 
   
   Martial Arts:  Bojustu/Jojutsu 
   
   Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 
   
  4 Bind 
  +1 
  +0 
  +10 STR Bind 
   
  4 Disarm 
  -1 
  +1 
  +10 STR Disarm  
   
  5 Jab 
  +1 
  +3 
  Strike 
   
  3 Legsweep 
  +2 
  -1 
  +1d6 Strike, 
  Target Falls 
   
  4 Shove 
  +0 
  +0 
  +15 STR Shove 
   
  4 Strike 
  +0 
  +2 
  +2d6 Strike 
   
  5 Smash 
  -2 
  +1 
  +4d6 Strike 
   
   Skills 
   12 +4 with Bojutsu/Jojutsu 
   15 +3 with Hand-to-Hand Combat 
   
   
  3 Breakfall 13- 
   
  3 Climbing 13- 
   10 Defense Maneuver IV 
   
  5 Gambling 12- 
   
  4 Language: Lakota (Native) 
   
  3 Stealth 13- 
   
  3 Streetwise 13- 
   
  3 Survival (Plains, Temperate/Subtropical) 11- 
   
  5 Tactics 12- 
   
  5 Tracking 12- 
   
  1 WF: Staves 
   
   
  3 Scholar 
   
  1 1)  KS: Bojutsu/Jojutsu 11- 
   
  1 2)  KS: The Criminal World 11- 
   
  1 3)  KS: Football 11- 
   
  1 4)  KS: Myths and Legends 11- 
   
  1 5)  KS: Native American Culture 11- 
   
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  307 
   
  Total Character Cost:  434 
   
   200+ Disadvantages 
   10 Accidental Change:  Angered 8- (Common) 
   10 Accidental Change:  Magically Drained or 
  Transfered 11- (Uncommon) 
   10 Distinctive Features:  American Indian 
  Woman with Amazonian Physique 
  (Concealable; Noticed And Recognizable) 
   10 Distinctive Features:  Magical Aura (Not 
  Concealable, Always Noticed, Unusual 
  Senses) 
   10 DNPC:  Sickly Mother 11- (Incompetent, 
  Unaware of Monolith’s Secret Identity) 
   10 Hunted:  Jesse Whiteriver 14- (Less Pow, 
  NCI, Geographical Area, Watching) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Must Protect 
  Her Mother (Uncommon, Total) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Enjoys Using 
  Her Powers (Uncommon, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Dreams of 
  Accomplishing Something Great 
  (Common, Moderate) 
   15 Social Limitation:  Secret Identity 
  (Frequently, Major) (Rachel Runningdeer) 
   20 Vulnerability:  2x STUN and BODY from 
  Vibration Attacks (Uncommon) 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #16 
   
  64 
  Monolith 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  20 Vulnerability:  2x STUN and 
  BODY from Attacks that 
  Successfully Find Weakness 
  (Uncommon) 
  84 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  434 
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hero System/DIGITAL_HERO/Hero System - Digital Hero 16.pdf