Amelia Posted August 27, 2019 Posted August 27, 2019 (edited) In Brief: Neo-Nazi Mac Gargan Character: Webmaster (Spider Centaur Form / Normal Form) Power Level: 10 Tradeoffs: -2 Attack / +2 Damage, -2 Defense / +2 Toughness) Power Points: 233 Alternate Identity: Josef Bankowski Identity: Public Legal Status: USA citizen and fugitive Birthplace: Freedom City, New Jersey Base of Operations: Freedom City, New Jersey Residence: Mobile Occupation: Former: Mechanic, Current: Criminal Affiliations: None Family: Olivia Lenkiewicz (ex-wife), Mia Bankowski (daughter), Gabriel Bankowski (son), unnamed brother, sister, parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles DESCRIPTION Age: 27 (Date of Birth: 1992) Apparent Age: 27 Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian Polish-American Height: Werespider Form: 8'6", Human Form: 6'1" Weight: Werespider Form: 1,200 lbs., Human Form: 170 lbs. Hair: Werespider Form: None, Human Form: Blond Eyes: Werespider Form: Black, Human Form: Blue In his human form, Josef Bankowski is tall and lean. Excessive drug use leaves him looking pale with dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. In his "werespider" form, he's a "spider-centaur". From the waist down, he has the body of a giant northern funnel web spider. From the waist up, he's still humanoid, but his flesh is red and covered with black spiky chitinous plates. In his "spider swarm" form, he's a human-sized mass of spiders all coordinated by a hive mind. HISTORY Josef Bankowski's grandparents were devout Catholics who fled Poland in the 1960s, escaping the Communist regime which would control that country for another quarter of a century. They immigrated to America, where they were granted refugee status and, eventually, citizenship. Josef, like his parents, was born in Freedom City, growing up as part of the multi-ethnic tapestry that is Freedom's West End. Josef's father enlisted in the Marine Corps and then worked as an auto mechanic, eventually owning his own shop, where Josef started working as a teen. Josef started doing hard drugs in high school. His already terrible grades got even worse, and by his senior year, he managed to not only flunk out, but also impregnate his 17-year-old classmate Olivia Lenkiewicz, the daughter of family friends. Olivia carried the child to term, and the two were married before her senior year. With no other prospects, and at the urging of his father, Josef joined the Marines, like his father before him. The discipline didn't take. He resumed his old lifestyle, using again and cheating on his wife (both with random pick-ups and with professional sex workers), almost as soon as he got out of basic training, as often as he could make the time for it. The first few times he was caught, he was reprimanded, but let off with warnings or light informal punishments. But eventually, his behavior became too egregious for the Corps to ignore. He made it almost halfway through his first 4-year enlistment term before being arrested, court-martialed, and dishonorably discharged. He spent a year in prison. Olivia stayed married to him for several more years despite his behavior. She was forced to become the primary breadwinner when he proved to be chronically unemployable. Despite his record, he would get various mechanic jobs, but he could never hold them for long before either losing his temper or failing to show up to work on time (or at all) because he was too busy indulging his addictions. He regularly cheated on his wife, spent their money on his addictions, and physically abused both his wife and their two children. Olivia finally kicked him out of their apartment in 2017, getting a restraining order which Josef frequently violated. They were separated for a year before Olivia filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2019. Josef spent the two years after their separation sleeping on his brother's couch, and tumbling down an online rabbit hole of political radicalization. He'd been interested in pick-up "artistry" and "uncensored" anonymous image-sharing message boards since he was a teenager, but after his long-suffering wife left him, he found a ready-made pipeline to an ideology which affirmed that he was the true victim. His political views quickly shifted from reactionary to outright fascistic, buoyed by rabid bigotry. He established his own online presence during those two years, starting a vlog series where he parroted the same bigoted talking points as a thousand other guys just like him, and presented an account of his life which was heavily distorted in his favor. Meanwhile, his addictive behavior continued to escalate. In 2019, after his divorce was finalized, Josef started abusing "super" drugs. After taking a "powerball" of Max and Zoom, he went to his ex-wife's apartment. His own brother called the police on him after he left. After breaking in, he assaulted Olivia, her mother, and her new boyfriend, and took the entire family hostage at gunpoint. On his first outing as a superhero, Octoman intervened, and, with Bombshell's aid, he defeated Josef, though Josef almost beat him to death in the process. After the police took him into custody, Josef suffered multiple organ failure. The super-drugs had taken their toll. With his history, no hospital would consider transplants. He was advised to check into hospice care for what the doctors expected to be the last few weeks of his life. Meanwhile, despite his prognosis, the city, state, and federal attorneys offices all moved forward with indictments. The charges included multiple counts of kidnapping, and, because of the super-drugs in his system at the time, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, and attempted murder. Josef was facing multiple lifetimes worth of prison time alongside certain death, before his thirtieth birthday. Because he no longer had powers once the drugs had left his system, and because he was physically incapacitated, Josef was held in the Freedom City Correctional Facility just outside Hanover, while awaiting the trial no one expected him to live to see. Doctor Cooper Seidel, who had kept Octoman under surveillance ever since the accident which gave Octoman his powers, had observed Octoman's battle with Josef, taking an interest in him. Seidel infiltrated the minimum-security facility and kidnapped Josef, spiriting him away to Seidel's new secret laboratory. Months before, Seidel had genetically altered a group of venomous animals with months of retroviral therapy and nuclear radiation exposure, as part of his continuing quest to refine and enhance the universal antivenom serum which gave him the ability to transform into the monster Goanna. Seidel had lost those animals when he had to pack up his lab to flee the authorities, and his hired thug crashed the truck after swerving to avoid 15-year-old Ben Wang, who had run out into the street to save a dog. During the following few months, Seidel had split his efforts between spying on Wang, who had gained powers after being bitten by the blue-ringed octopus, and combing the sewers with a Geiger counter to recover as many of the experimental specimens as he could. One of the animals Seidel managed to recover was a northern funnel web spider. Seidel injected the spider's venom into Josef, out of pure scientific curiosity. Seidel didn't care whether Josef lived or died. He just wanted to see what would happen. And he told Josef as much. But Josef didn't die. He gained the ability to shapeshift into a giant centaur-like human/spider hybrid, or a human-sized swarm of spiders with his mind as a collective consciousness spread out among them. He escaped from Seidel's lab after his first transformation. Josef quickly parlayed his new powers into a career as a professional criminal. His main sources of income are violent armed robbery, extortion, and murder, both on his own initiative and for hire to other supervillains and organized syndicates. He also occasional commits various terrorist acts for his own gratification, using his superhuman strength to wreck buildings such as community resource centers, restaurants, and nightclubs which are associated with people he considers "degenerates" or "foreign invaders". Some of his earliest "work" was for the national designer drug cartel owned and operated by Cortex (Threat Report, page 24). Along with money, and super-drugs tailored to overcome Josef's enhanced physiology, Cortex provided Josef with a unique form of compensation: He used his world-class tech skills to help Josef maintain and expand his social media presence, despite his fugitive status. With Cortex's help, Josef has been able to continue his vlog series, which has attracted a significant following in a short time among the worst people on the internet. The regressive reactionary politics he advocates in his rambling, drug-fueled hours of recorded hate-speech still aren't any different from what a thousand other men just like him are already saying, but his status as a powered supervillain gives him a level of prestige above and beyond his peers. His videos get taken down from the more legitimate platforms almost as soon as they go up, but they get downloaded and re-posted all over the less reputable parts of the web. Despite multiple active law enforcement investigations, and the more legitimate crowdfunding platforms refusing to get anywhere near him, he has been able to collect regular crypto-currency donations from his fans, which keeps him living comfortably between "jobs". Multiple technologically-inclined heroes have attempted to trace the source of his uploads or cut off his funding, but so far, Cortex has foiled those efforts. Cortex considers it both an amusing intellectual exercise, and another means of controlling a useful but ultimately disposable asset. The moment Josef steps out of line, Cortex can cut off his supply of drugs, donations, and adulation with a few keystrokes. PERSONALITY & MOTIVATION Josef describes himself as "a ladies man", "an alpha male", "a soldier", "a working man", "a patriot", "a man of God", and "a defender of Western Civilization". In reality, he's a coward, a bully, a bigot, an addict, and a blowhard. His ego is inflated and his skin is paper-thin. He loudly, belligerently hates and disdains anyone who isn't a white male heterosexual cisgender Christian-identified native-born citizen who's seeking or already in a nuclear family. Everyone else, he refers to as "degenerates", "parasites", and "globalists". He isn't nearly as intelligent or well-educated as he claims or even thinks he is. He used to have a sort of "bad boy charm" which bought him initial success in his romantic endeavors, but he drowned it in bitterness and resentment years ago. Now he appears at first glance to be the hateful creep he truly is. He doesn't love anyone, but there are people (like his ex-wife and their children) whom he wants to possess. His main priority in life is to secure for himself a never-ending stream of money, drugs, sex, and adulation. His secondary priority is vengeance on everyone who ever "wronged" him, everyone who ever dared to make him feel weak. Goanna, Octoman, and Bombshell are all at the top of that list. A distant third is to promote an ideology which just so happens to state that those things are his birthright. POWERS & TACTICS Josef has limited shapeshifting abilities. He can become a swarm of tiny spiders (a form used mainly for escape and infiltration, though the spiders do have deadly venom), or a giant spider/human hybrid. Every transformation is extremely painful and bloody, driving him to further drug abuse. He "molts" or "sheds" like an arthropod or a reptile. Like them, he can regrow lost limbs. In his "werespider" form, Josef is superhumanly strong and agile. His carapace is hard enough to deflect bullets. He has four arms, each of which can deploy a retractable sword-like claw from the forearm, and eight spider legs, each ending in a similarly sharp claw. The spider legs allow him to climb walls, run faster than a bicycle or an Olympic sprinter, and jump several hundred feet through the air. Despite his size, his spider legs are surprisingly quiet, allowing him to sneak up on his foes. Glands in his forearms can fire streams of sticky webbing which is stronger than steel cable. A pair of glands in his jaw secrete two chemicals into his mouth which become highly acidic once mixed. When he acid dissolves organic matter, he finds the resulting slurry irresistibly delicious. ABILITIES 12PP Strength: 30/12 (+10/+1), 60/12 Lifting (Heavy Load: 50 tons / 130 lbs.) Dexterity: 26/12 (+8/+1) Constitution: 28/12 (+9/+1) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 14 (+2) COMBAT 36PP Initiative: +8/+1 Attack: +8/+9 (+9 Base, -1 Size), +10 Webs Damage: +10/+1 Unarmed/Thrown, +12 Claws, +10 Acid, +10 Webs Grapple: +32/+10 vs one target, +28/+10 vs multiple targets (+8/+9 Melee Attack, +10/+1 Strength, +4 Size, +4 Additional Limbs, +6 Super-Strength) Defense: +8/+9 (+9 Base, -1 Size), +4/+5 Flat-Footed Knockback Resistance: 15/0 SAVING THROWS 9PP Toughness: +12/+1 (+9/+1 Con, +3 Protection, Impervious 8 ) Fortitude: +9/+1 (+9/+1 Con, +0PP) Reflex: +8/+1 (+8/+1 Dex, +0PP) Will: +9 (+0 Wis, +9PP) SKILLS 52R = 13PP Acrobatics 0 (+10/+1) Bluff 3 (+5) Climb 0 (+6/+1) Craft (Mechanical) 8 (+8) Drive 5 (+15/+6) Gather Information 3 (+5) Intimidation 4 (+18/+6) Knowledge (Current Events) 5 (+5) Knowledge (Pop Culture) 5 (+5) Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+8) Knowledge (Technology) 5 (+5) Languages 1 (English [Native], Polish) Notice 0 (+10/+1) Search 1 (+10/+1) Sense Motive 0 (+10/+1) Stealth 0 (+15/+1) Survival 4 (+5) Swim 0 (+6/+1) FEATS 5PP All-Out Attack Distract (Intimidation) Move-By Action Power Attack Startle Enhanced: Uncanny Dodge (Sense Types: Tactile) POWERS 158PP Additional Limbs 4 (+10 Limbs, Feats: Ambidexterity) [4PP] (Descriptors: 2 Extra Arms, 8 Spider Legs, Mutation) Burrowing 4 (10MPH, 100ft per Move Action) [4PP] (Descriptors: Acid, Claws, Mutation) Enhanced Skills 52 (Acrobatics 2, Intimidation 12, Notice 9, Search 9, Sense Motive 9, Stealth 11) [13PP] (Descriptors: Horrifying Appearance, Mutation, Spider Eyes, Spider Legs, Super-Agility, Super-Senses) Enhanced Constitution 12 (Feats: Regrowth) [13PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Regeneration, Super-Stamina, Super-Toughness) Enhanced Dexterity 14 [14PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Super-Agility, Super-Reflexes) Enhanced Strength 10 [10PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Super-Strength) Growth 4 (Size: Large, Size Modifiers: +5ft Reach, +8 Strength [+13 Lifting], +4 Constitution, -1 Attack, -1 Defense, +4 Grapple, +4 Knockback Resistance, +2 Intimidation, -4 Stealth, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Permanent, Feats: Innate) [13PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider-Centaur) Immovable 1 (Extras: Unstoppable) [2PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Legs) Immunity 1 (Own Powers) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Impervious Toughness 8 [8PP] (Descriptors: Carapace, Mutation) Leaping 4 (x25, Running Long Jump: 500ft) [4PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Super-Strength) Morph 1 (One Form, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Metamorph 2 [Human Form, Spider-Centaur Form, Spider Swarm Form], Drawbacks: Action 2 [Standard]) [2PP] (Descriptors: Molting, Mutation, Shapeshifting, Shedding) Protection 3 [3PP] (Descriptors: Carapace, Mutation) Speed 2 (25MPH, 250ft per Move Action) [2PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Legs, Web Swinging) Spider Power 16 (32PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 2) [34PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Base Power: [4PP] (Additional Descriptors: Forearm Claws, Spider Leg Claws) Damage 2 (Feats: Improved Critical [19-20], Mighty, Variable Descriptor [Forearm Claws and/or Spider Leg Claws, Piercing and/or Slashing damage], Drawbacks: Lethal) [4PP] Alternate Power: [31PP] (Additional Descriptors: Acid) Drain Toughness 10 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked [Damage], Secondary Effect, Flaws: Requires Grapple, Feats: Improved Critical 2 [18-20]) [22PP] Damage 10 (Extras: Linked [Drain], Secondary Effect, Flaws: Requires Grapple, Drawbacks: Lethal) [9PP] Alternate Power: [32PP] (Additional Descriptors: Webs) Snare 10 (10 120ft Range Increments, 1,200ft Max Range, Extras: Contagious, Feats: Accurate [+2 Attack], Tether) [32PP] Super-Movement 5 (Sure-Footed 2, Swinging, Wall-Crawling 2) [10PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Legs, Webs) Super-Senses 9 (Danger Sense [Sense Types: Tactile], Low-Light Vision, Radius Visual Senses, Ultra-Vision, Tremor-Sense, Uncanny Dodge [Sense Types: Tactile]) [9PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Eyes, Spider Hairs) Super-Strength 6 (Lifting Strength: 60, Heavy Load: 50 tons) [12PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Abilities (12) + Combat (36) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (13) + Feats (5) + Powers (158) - Drawbacks (0) = 233 Power Points Character: Webmaster (Spider Swarm Form) Power Level: 10 Tradeoffs: None Power Points: 163 ABILITIES 35PP Strength: 01 (-5) (Heavy Load: 10 lbs.) Dexterity: 30 (+10) Constitution: 28 (+9) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 14 (+2) COMBAT 40PP Initiative: +10 Attack: +10 Damage: -5 Unarmed, +10 Venom Grapple: +5, Automatic Escape with Insubstantial Defense: +10, +5 Flat-Footed Knockback Resistance: 5 SAVING THROWS 9PP Toughness: +10 (+9 Con, +1 Protection) Fortitude: +9 (+9 Con, +0PP) Reflex: +10 (+10 Dex, +0PP) Will: +9 (+0 Wis, +9PP) SKILLS 36R = 9PP Acrobatics 2 (+12) Languages 1 (English [Native], Polish) Escape 0 (+10, Automatic with Insubstantial) Notice 9 (+10) Search 10 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10) Stealth 5 (+15) FEATS 0PP [None] Enhanced: Uncanny Dodge (Sense Types: Tactile) POWERS 78PP Burrowing 1 (1MPH, 10ft per Move Action) [1PP] (Descriptors: Claws, Mutation) Immunity 3 (Critical Hits, Own Powers) [3PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Swarm) Insubstantial 1 (Liquid, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Duration [Permanent], Feats: Innate) [6PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Swarm) Morph 1 (One Form, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Metamorph 2 [Human Form, Spider Centaur Form, Spider Swarm Form], Drawbacks: Action 2 [Standard]) [2PP] (Descriptors: Molting, Mutation, Shapeshifting, Shedding) Protection 1 [1PP] (Descriptors: Carapace, Mutation) Spider Power 15 (30PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power) [31PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Base Power: [30PP] (Additional Descriptors: Necrotic Venom) Damage 10 (Extras: Autofire, Alternate Save [Fortitude], Feats: Accurate, Drawbacks: Lethal) [30PP] Alternate Power: [2PP] (Additional Descriptors: Webs) Create Object 1 (Volume: 1 5ft cube, Toughness: 1, Lifting Strength: 5 [Heavy Load: 50 lbs.], Extras: Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Permanent, Range [Touch], Feats: Innate) [2PP] Super-Movement 5 (Slithering, Sure-Footed 2, Wall-Crawling 2) [10PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Legs) Super-Senses 9 (Danger Sense [Sense Types: Tactile], Low-Light Vision, Radius Visual Senses, Ultra-Vision, Tremor-Sense, Uncanny Dodge [Sense Types: Tactile]) [9PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Spider Eyes, Spider Hairs) DRAWBACKS -8PP Disability (Mute, Frequency: Very Common, Intensity: Moderate) [-4PP] Disability (No Hands, Frequency: Very Common, Intensity: Moderate) [-4PP] Abilities (35) + Combat (40) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (9) + Feats (0) + Powers (78) - Drawbacks (8) = 163 Power Points Edited August 31, 2019 by Grumblefloof
TheAbsurdist Posted August 31, 2019 Posted August 31, 2019 Just so I am on the same page, we're imagining the Regrowth Extra on Enhanced Con allowing him to eventually regrow bits on the normal recovery check cadence, yes?
Amelia Posted August 31, 2019 Author Posted August 31, 2019 It's just the power feat of the same name from Healing and Regeneration, yes.
TheAbsurdist Posted August 31, 2019 Posted August 31, 2019 Okay, thank you for that. I think for the sake of streamlining that some things can be just fit into a Physiology/Spider-y Biology descriptor when it comes to like Enhanced skills. But I think the most specific need is what Tier do you see him, like would he be open for anyone?
Amelia Posted August 31, 2019 Author Posted August 31, 2019 Right, NPC tiers. Forgot about those. Whichever tier lets anyone use him but requires that they run it by me first.
Amelia Posted August 31, 2019 Author Posted August 31, 2019 Thanks for pinning those NPC guidelines. This one's firmly Tier 2. I edited the subject line accordingly.
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