Batman

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 22:21:46 -0800


Bryan asked how to stat up Batman. The actual numbers depend on the level of campaign you want. As usual, most superlatives are ignored.

> "Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot." Traumatized as a boy from
> witnessing his parents' murder, young Bruce Wayne used his vast fortune
> to hone his physical and mental abilities to the absolute peak of human
> perfection. He is universally acknowledged as the greatest detective to
> have ever lived. Likewise, he is a master of several martial arts and
> weapons, an accomplished scientist in many fields, and sufficiently
> skilled in disguise and acting to pass all but the most diligent of
> expert scrutiny. His wealth encompasses multinational corporations and
> has been used to finance the most extensive and complete anti-crime
> laboratory on the planet. His equipment includes the Batcar and a wide
> variety of gadgets that he puts to use in the field.

Here are the abilities:
Thinks criminals are cowardly and superstitious [you could win some arguments using this ability, but it's not terribly useful] Traumatized [sort of a disadvantage, Narrators can make use of this] Wealthy (or call it Vast Fortune if you prefer) Detective [a keyword that gives other abilities, like interrogation, spot clues, etc.]
Martial arts
Weapon [none listed, so improvisational modifiers will apply] Scientist [none of the fields are listed, so improvisational modifiers will apply]
Disguise
Acting
Anti-Crime Laboratory [yes, this is an ability] Batcar
Wide variety of gadgets [again, an ability -- I'd have him roll to see if he has the right gadget]

You might argue for a reputation (as detective).

Bryan, I think you need more practice at creating Hero Wars characters. That's 122 words and you have almost no abilities, having wasted your space saying how great he is (and duplicating wealth). "Physical and mental abilities" is so vague as to be useless (or if you convinced me to allow them, would be so vague as to have huge improvisational penalties because they are so general). You also left out all of Batman's connections -- where is the commissioner and Robin and Alfred? (Allies and followers are vital in Hero Wars.) Where is the Batcave? I'm not up enough on Batman lore to do a better job, but I think you could create a far more interesting character with fewer superlatives and more abilities. Oh, and you should have a character goal.

The actual numbers would depend on the level of the campaign -- I'd put the highest on Detective and second highest on Wealthy. Adjectives are meaningless.

David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein


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