FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - HIGHRISE

Those familiar with Champions nd the Hero System will recognize the stat block to the left on the image above. This is Highrise. He's a villain that I originally drew during our Marvel days but who was officially statted up for Champions as that is what the collective group was playing at the time I statted him up. Like many of my characters, he began with a random idea and a drawing, tucked away until I had an idea or need of a write-up. This is another character that was drawn in the 90s and who's costume and appearance reflects the style of the times. 

Presented here are MSHRPG stats for him, as that is what I will more likely be playing. If you would like to use him in your Champions games, you can go straight off the page. 


HIGHRISE

James Ryan, Altered human

F    GD (10)

A    PR (4)
S    UN (100)

E    MN (75)

R    TY (6)
I      TY (6)

P    GD (10)

Health: 189

Karma: 22

Resources: PR (4)
Popularity: -75

Known Powers:

Body Armor: Highrise's body has Incredible (40) resistence to physical and energy attacks.

Protected Senses - Vision: Hi eyes have Remarkable (30) protection from bright light. 

Regeneration: Due to the natura of his altered physiology, Highrise regenerates damage at Good (10) rate. 

Weaknesses: 

Huge Size: The science that created Highrise's powers and altered his body also made him incredibly tall. He stands 52ft tall, making him very easy to hit. All attacks against him made by enemies small than he is are at +2CS to Hit. 

Sonic Sensitivity: His large ear canals make him vulnerable to sonic attacks. All sonic attacks are +2CS in their intensity against him. 

Lack of Fine Dexterity: Highrises massive platform feet and chunky hands make it difficult for him to engage in any fine manipulation leaving him to clumsily graps and kick and stomp things. 

Talents: Martials Arts L

Contacts: Highrise has no contacts.

Background: 

Chronically down and out, James Ryan never ammounted to much of anything on his own. A high school dropout with no goals, motivation or dreams, he struggled through life, fired from one job after another due to his generally unpleasant personality. While this was likely a result of his upbringing and own lack of self worth, it nonethless gauranteed he'd be unable to hold any job. Even the most basic, menial positions seems to end with him mouthing off to the wrong person or getting into squabbles and even outright brawls with coworkers and, on more than one occasion, customers.

Over time, his innability to support himself through work led to him constantly falling on hard times, often homeless and engaging in minor petty crimes like shoplifting or mugging. Repeatedly spending time in jail and eventually sentenced to a short prison stay for his repeated crimes, he was approached by Dr. Noah Burstein, still working on his human enhancement project. The doctor offered Ryan an opportunity to improve himself, potentially even taking on a role as a hero. Ryan, always feeling he'd ammounted to nothing, jumped at the opportunity to make something of himself, even though he didn't fully grasp the decision he was making.

Dr. Burstein subjected James to a process to similar to that which he had used in his other experiments, this time using an experimental growth hormone derived from an unknown source. The experiment seemed to be an initial success with Ryan seeming to gain substantial muscle mass and physical hardening. With this clear success, Dr. Burstein had Ryan released from prison and remitted to his care for observation at Stark Labs. While Ryan wasn't overly keen on trading one prison for another, he couldn't argue that the accomodations would be better and so was transfered, without issue, to the Stark facility. 

As time went by, it became clear that the process, while seemingly successful, had not stabilized as it seemed it had. Ryan's body continued to gain mass, growing in size at a rate that wa measurable daily. Burstein determined that the cause must be the growth hormone that he had worked into the process. As the growth continued out of control, Ryan became more and more hostile, believing that the transformation had been intended and thinking the doctor had betrayed him. 

Lashing out, he broke free of the facility, rampaging across the campus as his still-growing body awkwardly moved and handled objects. Iron Man responded to the escape, but due to the damage to some building had to divert his attention to rescue rather than recovery. In the chaos, Ryan was able to slip away int othe surrounding area.

Over the course of the next few days, Ryan's body continued to grow and change, becoming the towering, stump-footed goliath he now is. Frustration and rage took over as his immense size made it impossible for him to carry on with any semblance of a real life. He took to hiding by day where he could, moving by night where his 50ft body could have some concealment. He tended to stick to rural ad outlying areas where he could steal livestock or ambush food deliveries to sustain himself. 

His current whereabouts are unknown.

FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - COLD FRONT

 

Cold Front was a team that I made in the 90s as can be seen by the lovely 90's style random geometric shapes on Ice Age's costume. This was done, I believe, at  time where I was really playing with drawing whole teams at once, often with a strong theme. The theme here, of course, is "cold".

This team was never fully developed at the time I drew it as was often the case. I would draw random characters and save them for later, writing them up when I planned to use them or when I had an idea for how exactly I wanted their powers to work. What I will do here is attempt to present stats for them, based on my memory of how I envisioned them. These will be short form presentations so as to not explode the length of this blog post too much.

WINDCHILL 
Anya Bremitz, mystic altered human

F        GD (10)
A        Ex (20)

S        TY (6)

E        RM (30)

R        EX (20)

I          EX (20)

P        IN (40)

Health: 66

Karma: 80

Resources: EX (20)

Popularity: -20

Known Powers: 

Wind Generation/Control: Windchill has the ability to generate winds of up to Incredible (40) rank force. She can manipulate these air currents to move objects, push, lift and even mannipulate more rudimentry devices and mechanicsm such as levers or buttons. 

Flight: Using her generated winds, Windchill can lift and propel herself at Remarkable (30) speed. She can do this while using her wind powers for other effects. 

Shield: By focusing her winds into vortexes of cohessive air, she can create shields of air that provide Excellent (20) protection over an area up to 2 areas. 

Temperature Control: The air around Windchill is constantly cooled to Excellent (20) intensity cold. 

Cold Immunity: Windchill has Incredible (40) immunity to cold and cold-based attacks.

Talents: Martial Arts A & B, Occult, Pilot, Computers

Contacts: Numerous occult dealers the world wide as well as several occult circles. 

Background:

Anya Bremitz is an American born heiress and occultist with a lust for power and prestige. Using gathered mystical and occult knowledge she managed to attain cold and wind-based powers which allowed her to further her endeavors to amass the the required magic and resources to bring about the coming of an ancient ice demon. She used her knowledge to free and bind the prehistoric winter spirit now known as Ice Age to her service.

KILLCICLE

Gregor Petrovski, altered human

F    RM (30)

A    EX (20)

S    EX (20)

E    RM (30)

R    GD (10)

I     EX (20)

P    IN (40)

Health: 100

Karma: 70

Resources: RM (30)

Popularity: -40

Known Powers:

Adamantium Spear: Killcicle's primary weapon is his "Killcicle", a long, pointed staff made of pure Adamantium. The weapon is made of Unearthly (100) material strength material and inflicts. While the weapon only inflicts Excellent (20) damage, it ignores any sort of armor of Unearthly (100) or less. 

Admantium Pauldron: Worn on his left shoulder, Killcicle has a detachable pauldron made of Adamantium. He has trained himself to use this as a shield to great effect, often resorting to impressive acrobatics to do so. the pauldron is of Unearthly (100) material strength and can be used when blocking. It can also be detached quickly and used as a thrown weapon, inflicting Good (10) blunt damage. 

Insulated Bodysuit: Icicle wears an insulated bodysuit that gives him Remarkable protection from heat, cold, radiation, electricity, fire, and corrosives. It also provides a filter of Excellent qualitty against airborn toxins. 

Talents: Martial Arts A, B, C, D & E, Edged, Blunt and Thrown Weapons, Security, Pilot, Drive, Computers

Contacts: KGB, Black Widow, Darkstar

Background:

Gregor Petrovski, former KGB assassin, no operates as an independent killer for hire, spy, and operator. He has engaged in esspionage for governments, corporations and organizations across the world but now focuses most of his time on providing the security and skill for Cold Front. He has clashed with the likes of Black Widow, Omega Red, Wolverine, The Winter Soldier as well as the Soviet Supersoldiers

ICE AGE

Real name unknown, demon

F    IN (40)

A    EX (20)

S    MN (75)

E    AM (50)

R    GD (10)

I     RM (30)

P    IN (40)

Health: 185

Karma: 80

Resources: RM (30)

Popularity: -45

Known Powers: 

Body Armor: Ice Age's demonic body gives him Monstrous (75) protection from physical and energy damage. 

Immunities: Ice Age's demonic form Has Class 1000 resistence to cold, poison, disease, and radiation.

Ice Breath: From his mouth, he can disgorge a deluge of Amazing (50) intensity cold and ice that blow with Monstrous (75) intensity force and inflict Incredible (40) damage. Those hit by the flurry must also make Remarkable (20) intensity resistence check or be temporarily blinded. 

Weaknesses:  

Talents: Martials Arts L, N, Q, and R. Occult. 

Contacts: The demons of the Cold Realm.

Background:

The ancient demonic spirit, now known as Ice Age, hails from a Hell dimensions known as the Cold Realm, a place of endless, hungry, devouring cold and misery. He was trapped in stone ages ago in the steppes of what is modern Kazakhstan but freed and bound to service by Windchill. While he serves her obediently, he does not do so loyaly and is disdainful of being beholden to a mortal and only following her direction due to his bond and their shared goals of bringing the Cold Realm's lord to Earth.

Thermal

Dr. Poul Nakisos, altered human

F    PR (4)
A    RM (30

S    SH-0 (0)

E    UN (100)

R    RM (30)

I     RM (30)

P    IN (40)

Health: 134

Karma: 100

Resources: RM (30)

Popularity: 0

Known Powers: 

Energy Body: Due to his body having been transformed to pure cold energy, Thermal is unharmed by physical attacks (slugfest, blunt) and energy attacks, as they lack physical substance. He remains susceptible to magical, psionic, and plasma-based attacks. He can be trapped in special storage batteries.

Flight: As living energy, Thermal does not need to walk or even touch a surface to move. As long as there is an atmopshere, he may flight at Remarkable (30) speed. 

Heat Vampirism/Regeneration: Thermal must feed off the ambient heat of living creatures to sustain himself. He drains life away at Good (10) rate each turn her is in contact with a living creature. The Health he drains from them restores his own lost health. 

Phasing: His energy body has a limited ability to phase through solid objects. As thicker, more sturdy material often provide more insulation from temperature, he can only phase through materials of Excellent (20) Material Strength or less. 

Weaknesses: 

Vacuum Vulnerability: Thermal's living cold body requires an atmosphere to maintain cohesion. If he is subject to a vacuum, he will take Good (10) each turn until he either dissipates/dies or is freed. It is unknown if dissipation is a permanent death for Thermal or not. 

Talents: Cryonics, Bio-Physics, Energy and Particle Physics, Genetics, Immunology, Physiology, Radiology.

Contacts: Dr. Henry Pym, Reed Richards, Stark Industries

Background: 

Formerly and independantly contracted scientist working for Stark Industries, developing new cooling systems he secretly dabbled in strange sciences around cryonics with a goal of improving the human condition through the application of cold. Funding his personal projects was done by siphoning funds from his grants and endowments as well as the theft of key piecs of technologies from his employer.

His research went pourly and he realized too late that he had exposed himself to a degenerating sort of cryonic energy that was sapping the life from his cells and killing him. While he attempted to reverse the effects, his criminal actions had left him hesitant to reach out for aid and he eventually perished. What should have been death, however, was nerely the shedding of his physical form, leaving only living cryonic energy behind.

He was forced to live a live as a predator, feeding his need for thermal energy by preying on the homeless, unwanted, and forgotten. Often his victims appeared to perish from exposure and so these murders went unnoticed. He was later encountered by Killcicle while he was on a mission where the two clashed as heat vampire attempted to feed off the assassin. While they initially fought, Killcicle recognized the potential in the desperate being and recruited him to Windchill's team where his immaterial form has served them well.

TEAM BACKGROUND: 

Cold Front is a force of killers and criminals recruited by Windchill for the purposes of furthering her own lust for power and riches. It is Windchill who discovered and freed Ice Age from his mystical prison and who hired Killcicle as long-term muscle and expertise. Later, Thermal was discovered, having become hopeless and feral, feeding on vagrants to sustain himself. 

Most of the team's activities focus on thefts of artifacts and treasures that can further Windchill's mad pursuit to bathe the world in eternal Winter, making way for the coming of an ancient demon lord from a Hell dimension known as the Cold Realm. 

The team is based out of Windchill's Rhode Island estate where she maintains several civilian vehicles for use by the team or her agents. She also owns a private jet which se keeps hangared at a nearby airport. She has a small network of agents, paid for information, muscle, and other support roles. Each team member has their own room in the mansion, though Ice Age and Thermal have more utilitarian spaces in the sub-levels.