NUELOW Heroes and Villains: Dumbfounder

Here's another superhero for your gaming pleasure, Dumbfounder. He was originally created by Carter-Ethan Rankin and released into the public domain for every creative soul to play with. In a similar spirit, I am releasing this post under the Open Gaming License, and everything in it except the the characters of Black Bat, Dr. Steelface and Zombots (which are product identity, as defined in the license) is Open Game Content. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller.

Dumbfounder (aka Franklin Stein)

DUMBFOUNDER (Male)
(aka Franklin Stein)
Brawn 28, Body 14, Brains 7
   Traits: Honorable, Super Power (Personal: Super Strength, no extra bonus), Unstoppable
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Double Strike, Furious Fists, Signature Move
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Massive Club (large melee weapon, deals 5 points of damage).
   Special Character Note: Dumbfounder has the ability to seize control of a Zombot within his line of sight with a successful Brains ATT check. He may use one action each round to direct the creature. The Zombot will follow simple commands on its own until the action is finished, such as "Attack him until dead" or "Break down that door."

Origin Story
Career criminals like Franklin Stein are not known for making good life choices. Franklin made his final bad choice when he returned to the secret lab of his boss, Dr. Steelface, without the enriched wonderinum that Black Bat had prevented him from stealing. He had assumed that Dr. Steelface would give him a couple Zombots and a death-ray gun to go take revenge on the meddler... but instead, Frankin was made the subject of Steelface's latest experiment in the reanimation of dead bodies via soul transfers.
   Steelface's theory was that when properly channeled, the spiritual energy of the human soul could bring a recently dead body back to life, the same was a defibrilator restarts a stopped heart. He was proven right--when he shot the captured soul of a Mormon missionary, who had been unfortunate enough to known on his door last week, Franklin's dead body sprang back to life, even stronger than before.
   But Steelface's experiment worked too well. Instead of the super-Zombot he had hoped for, Frankin rose not as a mindless creature who could be controlled remotely via cybernetic implants and mad science but as a man with a new-found concience and a desire to make the world a better place. He escaped from Steelface's lab (after trashing it and beating Steelface himself within an inch of his life), and he has been traveling the world fighting oppression and thwarting the schemes of mad scientists whereever he finds them. (And he finds them quite often, because, as a former minion of Steelface, he knows where some of their bases are.)
   Franklin took the name Dumbfounder, because heroes and villains alike are dumbfounded when he turns out to be one of the good guys.

Powers
Dumbfounder has superhuman strength and increased resistance to injury. He also has the ability to mentally seize control of a single Zombot in his vicinity thanks to the psychic-cybernetic implant that was supposed to make him a puppet of Dr. Steelface.

Enemies and Allies
While anyone who's had their facilities trashed by Dumbfounder is his enemy, Dr., Steelface is particularly devoted. Hewants Dumbfounder captured and brought back to his lab so he can determine what went wrong with his experiment, but if that proves too difficult he is okay with Dumbfounder being brought back dead. He has yet to develop any allies, but continues to wander the world in his one-monster crusade.

Note
You can find more information on Dr. Steelface and Zombots in ROLF!: Mad Scientists Gone Wild.

NUELOW Heroes and Villains: Blaxplosion

It's time for another write-up of a hero created by Carter-Ethan Rankin and placed in the public domain -- allow me to introduce Blaxplosion into the ever-growing rogues gallery of NUELOW Heroes and Villains. (The artwork and character of Blaxplosion are public domain, but the rest of this post is presented under the Open Gaming License. Copyright 2013 by Steve Miller.)
   Blaxplosion was created using rules found in ROLF!: Mad Scientists Gone Wild and ROLF!: Bullets to the Head.

Blaxplosion (aka Pam Coffey)

BLAXPLOSION
(aka Pamela "Pam" Coffey)
Brawn 20, Body 15, Brains 11
   Traits: Coldhearted, Dead Eye, Mad Scientist (Fire-based weapon/death ray gun in exchange for 3 Combat Maneuver slots), Stone Cold Killer, Super Power (Item-based: Flight, no additional abilities).
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Bitch Slap, Battle Cry, Dodge, Sure Shot, The Look, Withering Insult
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Superhero Outfit (Armor, absorbs up to 2 points of damage), Fire Gun (fire-based "death-ray gun" modified with Body ATT Damage and +3 to Base Damage). Rocket\Pack (provides Flight superpower).

Origin Story
Pamela Coffey never did understand why her stepbrother Dwayne gave up on being a superhero (see DMC for details)., but she decided that she would fight crime even if he would not. Since she had no special powers, Pam instead devoted herself to mastering science and engineering disciplines, pushing herself so hard that by the age of 24 she had doctorates in both mechanical engineering and chemistry. She secretly used her advanced knowledge to design a variety of gadgets that she put to use in her own costumed identity--Blaxplosion.
   In her normal identity, Pam is the youngest tenured professor at Guardian State University. She is unfailingly soft-spoken and polite, except when her intellectual abilities are challenged in any way--then whoever is so bold needs to watch out.
   As Blaxplosion, she is brash, loud, and talks like she just stepped out of a 1970s blacksploitation film, a genre which happens to be her secret guilty viewing pleasure.
   Blaxplosion is a hero for hire, and her services don't come cheap for those who can afford it. For others, she charges what she thinks they can afford and makes up the difference by stealing cash and other valuables from the evil-doers she battles. (Maintaining a arsenal of hi-tech, flame-based gadgets is neither easy nor cheap.)

Powers
Blaxplosion has no powers, but instead replies upon her various weapons and gadgets.

Enemies and Allies
Just about everyone whom Blaxplosion has defeated can be counted among her enemies--if they're still alive. Blaxplosion doesn't just beat her foes... he goes out of her way to insult and humiliate them. Then, to add further insult to injury she robs them.
   Blaxplosion can call upon her brother for help, but is unlikely to do so, because she still resents that he walked away from what she has always seen as his responsibility the defenseless people in the world. She has also provided Hot Shot and other members of P.A.N.S. with gadgets or upgrades, so she has a friendly relationship with that superhero association. (She can't join, however, as she's Canadian.)
   Blaxplosion recently teamed up with the mysterious American superheroine Wildfire. Their shared love of fire will undoubtedly lead them to work with each other again in the future.

Available now: 'Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. HIM!'

NUELOW Games's second installment in the Film Fun Comics series, "Black Cat vs. HIM." is now available at all the usual outlets. Click here to see previews and to get your own copy.

Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. HIM features artwork by Joe Kubert and Lee Elias, as they bring to glorious black-and-white life seven tales of the original Black Cat's exploits during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The book also includes ROLF! game stats for some of Black Cat's friends and foes, as well as a brand-new fiction piece by writer and series editor Steve Miller, whose previous credits include tie-in fiction for the Star Wars and Dragonlance settings.

In addition to the previews at DriveThruComics.com, DriveThruFiction.com, and DriveThruRPG.com, you can get a taste of what's the book in this post at the Shades of Gray blog, by clicking here.

We hope you decide to get a copy of Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. HIM. Please let us know what you think of it, either here or by leaving a rating on the listings page.

NUELOW Heroes & Villains: Rock God

Finishing up the soon-to-be-released second volume of "Film Fun Comics" has absorbed my time the last couple of days, but. at long last, here's another character write-up based on a creation by Carter-Ethan Rankin. The display illo and character names Rock God and Dominic Kostopolis are public domain, but all text in this post is published under the Open Gaming License. Copyright 2013 by Steve Miller,
   Note: Rock God was created using the rules for divine beings found in ROLF!: Angels, Demons & Death.

Rock God (aka Dominic Kostopolis)

ROCK GOD (Male)
(aka Dominic Kostopolis)
Brawn 28, Body 20, Brains 8
   Traits: Agent of the Divine, Wings, Unstoppable
   Combat Maneuvers: Battle Cry, Dance Move, Debate Philosophy, Fly, Seduce, Spelling (Song of Finality), Strike Pose,Yodel
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Guitar of the Apollo (Large Melee AND Ranged Weapon. Deals 5 of melee damage OR 3 points of ranged).

Origin Story
When the Greek god of music Apollo recently returned to Earth to do some catching up, he was appalled at the state of popular music and the lack of musical education among the supposed cultured and elite members of the various civilizations.
   Apollo briefly considered striking down 90 percent of musicians, performers, and groupies with a real "Beiber Fever" but chose instead to imbue struggling guitarist Dominic Kostopolis with divine powers to be an example to other musicians and spread good music across the globe.
   Dominic is presently in the third year of a hugely successful, non-stop tour with his band Sons of Icarus; it will eventually rival that of the Grateful Dead in length. While he mostly focuses on performing and teaching young musicians the way of real music, he has more than once entered a night club to stop musical crimes under the guise of "dub-step."

Enemies and Allies
Sonic Wave, superpowered mercenary and founder of the Vanilla Ice fan club back in the day, has been hired by talent agents and music industry executives to stop Rock God before his messages reaches too many. The two have yet to clash, but Sonic Wave is getting ready to make his move.

NUELOW Heroes & Villains: Jimnast

Here's another superhero character background based on a character created by Carter-Ethan Rankin and released into the public domain. The character name and illo is free for all to use, but the rest of the material in this post is presented under the Open Gaming License. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller.

Jimnast (aka James "Jim". Nast)

Jimnyst (Male)
(aka James "Jim" Nast)
Brawn 23, Body 14, Brains 5
   Traits: Dumb, Martial Artist, Sense of Honor
   Combat Maneuvers: Backflip, Basic Attack, Kung Fu Face, Murderous Mitts, Signature Move
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded:  Superhero Outfit (Armor, absorbs up to 1 point of damage). Reusable shopping bag full of purchases (Medium Melee Weapon, deals 3 points of damage).

Origin Story
James Nast was working as the personal trainer of Texas cattle-heiress Kate Crawford when a dropped cell call changed his life forever.
   He was on his way to Kate's ranch for their weekly session when she called him on his mobile. "Jimmy, I need you to stop [garbled] and pick up [garbled]. Got that, dar[garbled... silence]." The message shouldn't have made any sense, but somehow Jimmy knew that Kate wanted him stop by several stores for a variety of food items, bandages,ammunition, feminine hygiene products, and to collect her dry cleaning.. Jim, happy to please a nice client, all the errands... and was greeted with amazement when he arrived at Kate's mansion.
   "I wasn't sure if you actually got my message," she said. "And all I wanted you do to was pick up my dry cleaning."
   "You did want me to get these other things?" Jim asked.
   "Well, yes. Well, a friend--"
   "Don't worry, Ms. Crawford. It happens all the time. I guess I have a knack for knowing what people need me to get for them from the store. But I;m wrong, I'll be happy to keep the stuff. Although I don't know what I'll do with these bandages. Or all these bullets."
   "Jim," Ms. Crawford said after looking thoughtful for a moment, "there is someone I would like you to meet. I'll call him up and he'll be here by the time we're done with our session."
   To Jim's amazement, that "someone" was American Eagle, the leader of Patriotic American Native Superheroes (PANS). He scanned Jim with an odd device and then stated that Jim had the oddball superpower of knowing what a person wants him to get from the store without even being told. To Kate Crawford, American Eagle said, "You're right. He's exactly what we need."
   That's when Kate revealed her secret identity as Texas Hellion to Jim, and stated that she and other select members of PANS wanted to hire him as their personal shopper. "It's really hard to get to the store when you're constantly saving the world," she said.
   "We'll provide you with a vehicle, an expense account, and a wage above prevailing market norms," American Eagle added.
   "Do I get to wear a superhero costume?!" Jim asked.
   "If you must," American Eagle responded. "But--"
   "Excellent! It'll be yellow with silver boots! I'll be.... The Shopper!"
   "I think Jiminey or the Jimmenest might be even better," American Eagle replied curtly.
   "Hush," Kate said.
   But Jim didn't notice American Eagle's coolness. "It's clever because it's a pun!" He exclaimed with excitement. "Gymnast! It's perfect! Instead of advertising what my powers are, it obscures them. And it keeps it open for if I ever need to branch out into other super-stuff."
   "Which you will never need to," American Eagle stated firmly
   "You sketch up a costume idea, and fax it to this number, Jim," Kate said. "That's the designer PAN works with, and he'll do you right."
   Next week, after Jim completed his first personal-shopping job for Texas Hellion, he arrived at her house in his new superhero costume.
   "Here you do, Hellion. Or do you prefer Tex?"
   "Kate when I'm not in uniform." She looked at Jim wonderingly. "Did you decide against Gymnast?"
   "No ma'am. The Gymnast that's me!"
   "Then what does the 'J' stand for?"
    Now it was Jim's turn to look wonderingly. "For Gymnast."
   "Gymnast? J for Gymnast?"
   "Yeah. J-I-M-N-A-S-T." Then he looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kate. Do you have trouble with spelling? I didn't meant to make you feel bad. I know what it's like. I'm not very good at it myself."
   "You don't say?" Kate responded.
   Jim now travels throughout America, keeping the homes of PAN members well-stocked with basic essentials (and even picking up their dry cleaning at time)
 
Powers
Jimnyst has a very limited precognative ability: He knows what a targeted person needs from the store, perhaps even before that person does. He has no powers that are useful in combat, although he is a highly trained martial artist.

Enemies and Allies
No supervillains have yet seen fit to target Jimnyst, and they may never do so--who would want to invite the wrath of the entirety of PAN by messing with their personal shopper? Meanwhile, he has become fast friends with Texas Hellion, Hot Shot, and Butts Pirate, so he is often available to lend an extra hand on their missions and they're often nearby if he should be in trouble.

(For ROLF! game stats for American Eagle, Butts Pirate, Texas Hellion, and 15 other heroes and villains, check out POTS vs. PANS.)

NUELOW Heroes and Villains: Unveiled

Here's the write-up for another character that Carter-Ethan Rankin came up with and released into the public domain. This display image and character is available for all to use. The text in this post is published under the Open Gaming License. Copyright Steve Miller 2013.

Unveiled (aka Soraya Jirrah)

Unveiled (Female)
(aka Saraya Jirrah)
Brawn 22, Body 14, Brains 10
   Traits: Improv Master, Nimble, Sense of Honor, Super Power (Item-based: Super Strength, Super Speed, Flight, Furious Fists)
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Debate Philosophy, Disarm, Dodge,
   Important Stuff Worn/Weiled: Scheherazade's Wrap (Armor, absorbs up to 6 points of damage [Self-repariing, every dawn, source of super powers]). Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points of damage [for when all else fails]).

Origin Story
Soraya Jirrah was studying for her doctorates in archeology and ancient Mid-East history at Guardian University in the United States when terrorists killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11/2001. She watched in horror as the madman in charge of her country proceeded to taunt the already-angry Americans and then with sorrow as America invaded Iraq and predictably proceeded to completely mismanage the ensuring occupation.
   Even before she had been formally granted her PhDs, she approached the American government for a job with the State Department to help catalog and prevent the theft of the artifacts in the various Iraqi museums. She was hired, and she returned home to find her country in a far worse state than it had been when her parents sent her to the United States.
   Women had never been in a good place in Iraq, but the Americans had let Islamic extremists of the magnitude they proclaimed they were fighting ascend to positions of power and begin to implement systematic oppression of women and legalize rape and sexual abuse in a fashion to rival that in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and even Afghanistan.
   One night while working late in the Baghdad museum, she interrupted a theft being undertaken by Black Lion, a Baghdad pimp turned "Islamic militia leader devoted to Jihad" under the Baghdad occupation. His men attacked Soraya, and he was about to rape her when her had grasped at a piece of cloth and she found herself filled with amazing power. She not only defeated the thieves, saved the life of the American soldiers they had wounded, but also stopped two terrorist strikes against Baghdad neighborhoods that night.
   The item Soraya had grasped was a cloak that Scheherazade had wrapped herself in while spinning stories for her psychopathic, misogynist husband to forestall her murder at his hand for 1,001 nights. When she wears it, it grants her the wondrous powers of characters in legends and fairy tales.
   From that night forward, Soraya dedicated herself to defending the innocent from those who would oppress them. Unlike most costumed heroes, she never hides her face--and is very pointed about not doing so, as she hopes to serve as a symbol to women throughout the Muslim World who are letting themselves slip further and further into intolerable domination by misogynistic religious fanatics.

Powers
Unveiled's abilities are derived from the ancient garment she wears.  She can possess and use any supernatural or fantastic ability attributed to a character in the 1,001 Arabian Nights stories. The cloak only works from sun-down to sun-up.

Enemies and Allies
If you name a group of  women-hating Islamic terrorists, or many governments in the Middle East and North Africa, you will be naming one of Unveiled's enemies. Her main ally is Colonel Harold Dunbarr, a U.S. Army Intelligence officer who covertly provides her with access to the rapid transportation and vast information resources of the American military, but she also frequently works with the Daughters of Aisha, a growing secret society of women dedicated to giving women rights equal to that of men across the Islamic world. Unveiled also recently shared an adventure with Gadaffi's Angels, and they made her an honorary member of their team.

NUELOW Heroes and Villains: DMC

Another super-character for your enjoyment (and, I hope, use in your ROLF! games). Once again, the character concept and the display illo were originated by Carter-Ethan Rankin and released into the public domain. The write-up here is presented under the Open Gaming License. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller.

DMC (aka Dwayne Matthew Charles)

DMC (formerly Fasttrack) (Male)
(aka Dwayne Matthew Charles)
Brawn 23, Body 15, Brains 7
   Traits; Dead-Eye, Improv Master, Nimble, Sense of Honor, Super Power (Natural Super Speed)
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Double Strike Run Away
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Super Outfit (Armor, absorbs up to 2 points of damage). Asp (Small Melee Weapon, deals 2 points of damage).

Origin Story
Toronto-born Dwayne Matthew Charles began his superhero career as a kid-sidekick to the Canadian superhero duo of Mountie and Redcard under the codename Fasttrack; at the age of 10, he was bitten by a radioactive coyote and gained superhuman speed. He did not, however, care for the stressful life of a masked crime-fighter, and he had retired from the superhero game before he turned 16. He rarely used his super-speed after that.
   Dwayne had a great love of basketball--and a talent for the game. He went to college on an athletic scholarship and was being courted by recruiters for top basketball teams while he was still a sophomore. When he graduated, he stepped onto what looked to the the fast-track to basketball super-stardom.
   Fate had different plans. While walking to the corner store, he saw an elderly woman about to be hit by a bus--and he used his super-speed to rush her to safety. Dwayne had hoped no one would notice his super-rescue, but unfortunately, his action was caught on nearby security cameras and on the cellphones of bystanders. His face was instantly recognized, and when enterprising webizens compared the footage to that of Fasttrack in action, Dwayne's long-held secret was out. Within hours, reporters from every conceivable media outlet were on his doorstep.
   Dwayne explained that he wasn't Fasttrack and didn't want to be Fasttrack; if people couldn't use his name, they could always call him "DMC," he said. But by the end of the day, Dwayne was fired from the basketball team and proceedings were underway to have him blacklisted from professional sports for not revealing his super-abilities. That, in turn, let to online petitions to have him reinstated and to stop bigotry against the supra-abled. To top it off, the Mountie's old enemy Beaver Beater, showed up and challenged Dwayne to a fight--and in the chaos, his housed burned down.
   Jobless, homeless, and the face of a cause he really doesn't want to be the face of, and celebrated as the hero he didn't want to be, one of the fastest men alive found himself with nowhere to run. Reluctantly, he took on the mantle of superhero again. He is currently using DMC as his code-name, but he still holds out hope of returning to his career as a professional basketball player.

Powers
DMC has the ability to move at superhuman speeds.

Enemies and Allies
Beaver Beater has never forgiven DMC for the humiliating defeat he dealt her during his very first appearance as Fasttrack; she remains committed to crushing him to a bloody pulp. The Mountie and Redcard remain ready and willing to help DMC in any way he might need, if he asks. His sister, who entered the costumed hero-business under the name Blaxplosion, also stands ready to help him if needed.