The Prodigal Son: Zak

If Slab is my Hulk wannabe, then Zak presents all of the problems that Batman brings to the table. He’s really good at everything. This makes him especially good at one more thing – messing up my game system!

I kid. But only a little.

I know from the outset that I’m going to need to be able to squeeze every single point out of Zak that I can in order to make him fit the system. I see him as Level 6, although that may not give me enough points. I see Sarge as Level 8, Zak and Gunner as Level 6, and Slab, Vince and Phil as Level 4 (maybe only 3… we’ll see when we get there). I see the allies like Honeydew, Pierre and Solo as Level 5s. I could almost justify pushing Zak to Level 7, but that’s probably where he ends the Year of the Ant, not where he begins it. I’ll try Level 6 and see how I do… this gives him 36 CPs to build with.

He’s a commando, and he needs some decent attributes. I will go with:

- Body D6 (1 CP)

- Mind D6 (1 CP)

- Prowess D10 (6 CPs)

- Spirit D10 (6 CPs)

So far, not too bad. He’s only spent 14 CPs of his 36, leaving 22 for traits. He has to have:

- Aim (he’s a great shot). This has to be at least +3 (4 CPs)

- Explosives (he’s been the one to set them). At least +2 (2 CPs)

- Melee (he entered a martial arts contest!). At least +3 (4 CPs)

- Mysticism (he’s got Potato Bug training). At least +2 (2 CPs)

- Nature (he’s been able to track and survive in the wild). At least +2 (2 CPs)

- Security (he is an escape artist). At least +2 (2 CPs)

- Stealth (he’s one sneaky dude). At least +3 (4 CPs)

My ‘must have’ list spends 20 of the 22 CPs I have. Wow. That went quick. I want more stealth, but he will get the commando bump for that to +4, so I can live with that. I feel like melee and mysticism should both be higher. As far as mysticism goes, he has not yet learned any of the abilities (I need to find a better word for those before this goes to press) linked to mysticism, so he doesn’t need +3 here to unlock them. At +2, he has some training and experience, but he’s still not an expert. I’d say that this is where he makes gains during the Year of the Ant, so we can leave it at +2 for now. He gets that free Moxy bump that all ants get, and between that and the +2 mysticism he has three chances to modify dice rolls each encounter. That’s fair. His high Prowess and Spirit offset the somewhat conservative aim and melee ratings. I’d almost bump his Body to D8 – and in fact I may need to to emulate the comics. He’s been able to sustain some severe physical punishment (which you could explain through his mysticism), but he’s also been able to wield two UZs at once – which by rule requires a Body D8. I can live with all of the other traits as they are, so I’m going to put that extra 2 CPs into Body, bumping this to D8.

As far as gear goes… we’ll place him pretty far into Level 6 (let’s say 250 XP). He’s a Specialist 6, so he’s earned an additional 120 clout, for a total of 270.

As a commando, he starts with: AM-10 SMG; boot knife +1; basic aid kit (D4); satchel; basic provisions; bedroll; entrenching tool; standard fatigues (olive drab); basic flashlight (3 cm).

He would have traded in his standard issue weapon (AM-10 worth 15 clout) for a pair of UZs, and he’d have some throwing knives and a set of grenades as well as some plastic explosive. He needs night fatigues, a bola (or two) and he’d probably carry caltrops (although he’s never used these in the comics). After the trade-in, he has 285 clout to spend.

- 2 UZs (35 each; 70 total clout)

- Night Fatigues (15 clout)

- Binoculars (10 clout)

- Rope, 10 cm (10 clout)

- 2 Silencers (30 clout total)

- 2 Field Grenades (5 each; 10 clout)

- 2 Fragmentation Grenades (10 each; 20 clout)

- 2 High Explosive Grenades (10 each; 20 clout)

He has spent 185 of his 285 clout, leaving him some room to move. He will also carry:

90 points of plastic explosive (60 clout)

4 improved fuse detonators (12 clout total)

3 improved remote detonators (12 clout total)

After all of this, he has 16 clout remaining. He will buy an extra boot knife (5 clout) and a bola (5 clout). He spends his last 6 clout to get a grapple, since he used one in issue one! As far as hits go, he has 6D8 hits; this would be an average of 27 hits, but he’s not your average ant. If we figure he gets about 5 per roll, that puts him at 30 hits. I’ll go to 33 because I like him!

Zak	Level 6 Commando (S-6); Hits 33; Feat +3
Attributes	Body D8; Mind D6; Prowess D10; Spirit D10
Traits	Aim +3; Explosives +2; Melee +3; Moxy +1 (+1 ant shift); Mysticism +2; Nature +2; Security +2; Stealth +4 (4 CPs/+1 shift)
Gear	- 2 B-UZs (D6+3; range 4) with silencers - 2 Field Grenades (D6+D6; radius 1 cm) - 2 Fragmentation Grenades (D6+D8; radius 2 cm) - 2 High Explosive Grenades (D6+D10; radius 1 cm) - 2 Boot Knives (D8+1 damage) - 1 Bola - 90 points of Plastic Explosive with 4 improved fuse detonators, 3 improved remote detonators - Binoculars; rope (10 cm); basic aid kit (D4); satchel; basic provisions; bedroll; entrenching tool; basic flashlight (3 cm) grapple.