Zealot Playtest #3

Zealot
Paragon Hero (D8/4[2]); Hits 16; Move 30’; HP 4

Might D8 (4); Mind D8 (4); Power D4 (2); Reflex D10 (5)

Armor (4); Jump (swingline 120’) Melee Weapon (battle staves D10)

Brawl (+2); Infiltration (+1); Stealth (+1)

Gila the Monster

Paragon Villain (D8/4[2]); Hits 18; Move 30’; Villain Points 4

Might D10 (5); Mind D4 (2); Power D6 (3); Reflex D6 (3)

Amphibious; Invulnerable (5); Weapon, Claws (D12)

Brawl (+1); Popularity (+2; lizards/amphibians only); Sneak (+2)

Limitation: -1 shift if he is out of water for more than 24 hours.

I reworked the stat blocks for Zealot and Gila a little bit (just tweaks here and there), and changed the picture for Gila (mirror imaging it) so that he and Zealot aren’t in the same pose. I must really like that pose - I used it twice without realizing it. At least they now look like they’re going at each other.

I’m on a kick at the moment of building street-level villains for Zealot, so I’ll just keep doing that and build a little Rogue’s Gallery for him. I’ve already decided how Sudoku fits in to his ‘story’ a bit, so putting together a few more Batman-level foes (i.e. directly swiped from Batman the Animated Series) is on the priority list.

Anyway, Zealot has defeated three goons and two ninjas, and now is on to the basement. An open sewer grate in the boiler room has muddy tracks leading towards it, with clear claw marks. Zealot recognizes it immediately as Gila the Monster. He drops into the sewer tunnel and calls out for Gila, who emerges from the shadows. “Been waiting for this a long time, Zealot”. He cracks his knuckles and charges…

Round 1: Gila wins (8 vs. 1) and attempts two claw attacks. He misses with a 1 and 3. He spends 1 villain point to bump that 3 (+1 from brawling, +1 from villain point) to a 5. He hits and swipes at Zealot’s head. He deals 12 damage (dang!). Zealot’s armor soaks 4, and this leaves Zealot at -2. He is felled. His head smacks against a pipe, and he crumbles into the thick water. He spits out blood.

Round 2: Zealot rolls a 5, and stands back up, now at 8 hits and on his first recovery. He clicks his sticks together. “You’ve been practicing.” Gila wins initiative again, and hits with a 6+1=7. He deals 6 damage, and Zealot’s armor soaks 4, leaving him at 2. Zealot attacks with a flurry of five attacks, getting 6, 6, 5, 4, 2. With his bonus, these are 8, 8, 7, 6, 4. These all hit. Gila has such low reflex that it still makes sense to go for the extras (since he will hit with a roll of 2 or better). We’ll see about damage… he rolls five times for damage, and gets VERY lucky… 8, 8, 8, 7, 1. The one gets totally soaked, but after invulnerability he deals 3, 3, 3, 2 - so 11 points. Gila is at 7. 

Round 3: Gila hits twice (8+1=9 and 4+1=5). These deal 5 and 6 damage respectively. This drops Zealot for a second time. He tries to stand back up, but rolls a 1. He collapses in the water. Gila laughs as he drags the fallen hero into the lair of the one paying him all that money - Sudoku.

Analysis:

• Well, Zealot lost. I’m not entirely surprised. This would be a tough fight for him at full strength, and he walked into the battle already licking his wounds. It’s okay, because my D16’s just arrived (yay!) so now I’m going to playtest Doc Stalwart. That should be fun. This gives reason for Doc to go in search of Zealot, since Sudoku will now have him in a classic deathtrap. That’s fun.

• I like the synergy between evade and invulnerability. Some foes are easy to hit and hard to damage; others are hard to hit and hard to damage. I think that heroes will need either high evade or high invulnerability for optimal survival. Spidey and Flash will be okay because they have such high reflex. The Thing and Power Man are okay because they have the high invulnerability. Captain America has solid but unremarkable ratings in both, so he can manage. Characters like Magneto and the Invisible Woman are going to need to project force fields to offset the fact that they have no other way to evade or reduce damage. This also feels comic-accurate.