Board 8 > Inviso Also Also Also Ranks Their Top 52 Characters in Scarlet's DC TTRPG

(+) Yeah! (+)

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37. Ramsey Robinson

Like with Half-Life, this is a personal choice that I know probably doesnt resonate with very many other people. There are times when Im trying to have a nice little scene with Ramsey and just have some low-key slice-of-life content, and I worry that its not interesting to read, or even interesting to RP for Scarlet. But after a rocky start between our two characters, Ramsey is just a character Ive picked up as one of Peppers surrogate family members, and I enjoy his story. I KNOW theres going to be more to his character, and if I keep picking at that rock, I feel like Im going to unveil a true diamond in the rough. I just hope Im right and its not like a certain character from campaign one that I got really invested in, to the detriment of the overall enjoyment of all involved.

Ironically enough for their placements on the list, Ramsey first appeared, like Radio Tuner, during a mission to Los Angeles. A trip to Graumans Chinese Theatre ran us into Joe Hollywood (R.I.P.), Fake Firefly Dylan Battles, and a very REAL incarnation of Firefly who proceeded to burn the shit out of the famous theatre and chase us away with Dylan in tow. Dylan wound up leading our squad to a base of operations at the house of Kate Spencer, where we found several NPCs who would later become prominent figures around Zonn Zorr, namely due to their connection to existing superheroes. In addition to Dylan (who isnt a villain in his own right, but provides technical expertise and services to villains, hence how he got his hands on the Firefly suit), you have Damon Matthews (boyfriend of Obsidian), Peter/Ramsey Robinson (the ex-husband and son of Kate Spencer, aka Manhunter), and Thor (Ramseys robot dog). In other words, its a whos who of L.A. superhero liabilities.

Though we wound up safe at this house, something seemed rather off about the whole setting. It was all just a bit too nice and quiet and pristine, given how chaotic and destructive Darkseids invasion had been to major cities like Los Angeles. An investigation revealed that the house was bugged and had camera feeds watching them, which was unsettling in and of itself, until we added in the OMAC lenses. Early on in the campaign, we discovered the hard way that OMACs had the ability to camouflage themselves as normal people, and strike at inopportune times. As a result, we began using special contact lenses to check whether certain people were infected or not. And in a creepy setting like the Spencer House, those lenses led to us checking Peter and discovering the worst-case scenario.

It was still relatively early in the campaign at that point (only week 24, so not only half a year had passed), and our experience with OMACs hinged largely on two events. While wed certainly met OMACs early on, the formative scene with them, Id say, was our first trip to Mesa Verde, where we discovered the possibility of sleeper agents that could infect people and pretend to be normal humans, while still working against humanity itself. That whole sequence was terrifying, and it really highlighted the threat that the OMACs posed to our party. But that was within the first month of the campaign.

Far closer to the events of the Spencer House, wed had our second mission to Tampa, successfully infiltrating a power plant and freeing the meta-human imprisoned there. During the break-out, we first came into contact with Brother Eye, who was an offshoot of the A.I. in control of the OMACs. He was rather mysterious in that first encounter and made for an unsettling character to interact with, since he knew a lot more about us than perhaps wed want him to know. He didnt exactly stop us from fleeing after the successful mission, but that was still this lingering question in the air about whether Brother Eye was trustworthy or not, since we didnt get a TON of information from him at the time.

All of this: the introduction of Brother Eye and our knowledge of how dangerous covert OMACs could be, came to a head with Peter Robinson. Infected with OMAC nanites, he was a threat to us, and then we learned of his connection to Brother Eye. It turns out, Brother Eye was monitoring the entire household, both through his various security system, and through a sleeper agent in the form of Peter Robinson. Its still unsettling to think that Peter effectively became a meat puppet for a robot master, as Brother Eye tried to explain himself. But yeah, Brother Eye seems mostly harmless compared to Mother Miracle (the OMAC queen bee), and was even open to working with us.

At the time though, we had very little information to work with, and wed only met Brother Eye in difficult circumstances, so as a result, when he finished up his explanation and told us you can do whatever you want now, but just know that if Im ever taken down, Mother Miracle will control Peter and that might be dangerous, it raised some red flags. In retrospect, Im sure he meant it more as a Im your friend, and its beneficial to work with me, but theres still that needling to treat Peter like a potential threat as well. At that point, wed been RELATIVELY good about keeping Zonn Zorr hidden from the Society as well, so we certainly couldnt take Peter back with us, under any circumstances. It just raised a lot of questions, and we didnt have a lot of time to make a decision.

This is where we come back to Ramsey. As I mentioned earlier, Ramsey is the son of Peter Robinson and Kate Spencer (aka Manhunter), and his parents are divorced, in large part because Kates job (and her job) make for a less-than-ideal spousal relationship. This also means that Peter largely got custody of Ramsey, with Kate getting occasional weekends and whatnot. As a result, the family dynamic is very standard to what one might expect from a fictional family of divorce. The only difference is that the gender roles are flipped; Peter is the steady personality who raises Ramsey, while Kate is the cool parent who sees him on weekends and gains all the praise for being cool (and a superhero on top of everything else!) Its actually kinda sad when you think about it, especially given Peters impending fate.

Basically, we had this conversation with Brother Eye/Peter, with the ominous threat/non-threat of Peter being converting into a murderous OMAC by Mother Miracle, and most of those present are aware of this. Peter was tied up for fear of him becoming an OMAC, but he was largely unconscious and unaware of everything that just happened. Our party began debating what we needed to do, questioning whether we could risk bringing him back to Zonn Zorr, or risk leaving him to his own devices in Los Angles, or what our options were. Ramsey cleared that shit up REAL quick.

You see, Manhunter isnt one of those superheroes with some moral compulsion to leave criminals alive. No, she became a hero specifically to deal with people who manage to skate around the law. And as such, shes got a fuckton of weaponry around her house. And as her biggest fan, Ramsey knows where all the instruments of death are kept. He comes into the living room and pulls a gun on his own father with every intention of pulling the trigger. Our party only barely managed to talk him down, I believe, because at the end of the day, hes still just a fourteen-year-old kid, and its still his dad. But, knowing that Ramsey was willing to do that, even without us actively deciding to eliminate Peter as a variable, he really did make our decision for us.

Even if we chose to leave Peter alive and do something with him, there was a distinct possibility that Ramsey would just take matters into his own hands and kill Peter himself. The party hemmed and hawed about this for a bit, but this is kind of why Ramsey ranks on MY list and probably no one elses. We were still in that portion of the campaign where I think we were playing fast and loose, and not necessarily taking half an hour to make a decision. And wed recently come off the heels of losing our first PC in two campaigns as a result of Peppers actions. She (and me) had a had a lot of guilt built up, and she looked at this kid and thought I cannot let him kill his dad. That will destroy him inside. Its better than he have me as a target to hate instead.

So, she did it. Pepper killed Peter Robinson in a rather violent and painful fashion, but she got the job done. It is one of the moments of the campaign that I think has defined Pepper the most, because its the one moment that she can look back on and unequivocally say This was murder. This was an innocent person, and I killed him because we were afraid of what he could do. Despite all her bravado and efforts to be stronger so she can pass herself off as bad, Pepper largely hasnt been forced to DO anything evil. Except with regards to Peter Robinson. Shes a murderer because of him, and it eats at her (and shes reminded of it on a daily basis), but the one upside is that Ramsey does not have to bear that burden himself. I should also point out thoughwe brought Ramseys robot dog back to Zonn Zorr with us out of guiltand then it turns out he was transmitting our location back to Brother Eye as wellthus making Peters death completely pointless. More guilt.

Ive now used over fifteen hundred words on what is basically backstory to set up a character entry. Obviously, in the wake of Peters death, Pepper felt a lot of guilt and she avoided Ramsey like the plague for a while, because she couldnt bring herself to look him in the eye. She viewed herself as a villain in his story. But when she finally confronted him, she got a much different response than she expected. Ramsey very much respects his mother and her philosophy on superheroing, and Kate Spencer always did what needed to be done, regardless of how morally gray it may have been. Imagine my surprise when Ramsey looked at what Pepper did, and actually created a positive association with his mother. Pepper stepped up and made the hard decision, and at least for now, Ramsey respects her for it, rather than hating her.

Since this epiphany, Pepper has taken Ramsey under her wing. Were talking about a kid who lost his dad and his mom is a Fury (one of the superheroes Darkseid had brainwashed into his employ). He doesnt have anyone else, and without Pepper, I feel like hed easily get lost in the shuffle among all of the characters we have around Zonn Zorr. I try to have scenes with him on a regular basis, largely trying to watch over him and help him with his goals. With a superhero mom and a general desire for revenge against the people that have severely fucked up his life, he wants to be the kind of hero his mom is, complete with killing and just generally punishing the bad guys. He and Pepper work out together, which I think is a fair pairing; were talking a fourteen-year-old boy and a smaller, nineteen-year-old girl. I think they have a reasonable comparison as training partners in that regard.

Really, I just appreciate the storyline of Peppers one real guilt-ridden moment leading to her feeling compelled to serve as a big sister for this kid. Hes someone who I feel, in other circumstances, could have gone the Robin route as a sidekick or something, but these arent normal circumstances. Pepper wants to help Ramsey achieve his goals, and hes even gone so far as to sign up for her Society infiltration task force. Thatd mean sending him out into danger in the field, but I think thats what he wants, and by proxy, thats what Pepper. I just enjoy their dynamic, and Ramseys a fun little buddy for Pepper to have around. I can only imagine how Manhunters gonna feel about a semi-criminal/semi-hero like Pepper influencing her son though. Well see how it works out, because were getting closer to Manhunters return every day.

Hint for #36: Has been put in-charge of a section of Zonn Zorr.

Has been put in charge implies that action took place during the campaign, so Jesse

I don't think we talked Ramsey down, I think we straight-up just physically stopped him. But yeah, for killing a person, Pepper's melting through his neck to reach his spine to melt it to take his head off was probably not the most painless way.

Pepper likes melting through peoples' necks.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Has been put in charge implies that action took place during the campaign, so Jesse

I don't think we talked Ramsey down, I think we straight-up just physically stopped him. But yeah, for killing a person, Pepper's melting through his neck to reach his spine to melt it to take his head off was probably not the most painless way.

Pepper likes melting through peoples' necks.

I mean...she's also gotten better at headshots with her finger guns now. That's how she became a crime boss in Vegas.

I'll go with Ferdinand

Spirit

I'll go with L-Ron

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Pepper needs to tell Half-Life an interesting story of her past when her high school friends were total bitches but she doesn't realize it

I really need to prep some actual stories of things Pepper's bitchy friends did in high school. Or some of her training excursions with Lagoon Boy.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Half-Life is too old for Pepper anyway. Cute? More like cradle robber. He was like 40 when she was in diapers

You could call Tali a cradle robber by that logic, with several different characters.

Jesse Custer

Hmm

Mento

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36. Father Jesse Custer

Father Jesse was a fan favorite in campaign one, serving as a territory leader after we deposed a church leader in charge of human trafficking. Despite being one of the strongest candidates for city leadership, he declined the offer (a fact that made him even better as a candidateseriously, if youre someone who doesnt WANT power, then youre exactly the person who should wield it properly). But regardless, Jesse was a great character and I think he made most of our top tens for campaign one, as he had this gruff, no-nonsense attitude, while still being kind and caring and effectively portraying how perhaps all religious people should behave. Also, he banged Huntress. Thats not pertinent information, but it does explain how he lost his eye, so there you go.

Coming back for campaign two, Jesses personality is largely the same, and the only reason he falls so low on this list is because campaign two is so jam-packed with characters, and theres only so much time for people to make an impression. Still, Jesses managed to get back on the list largely by his own merits (I fully admit there are some campaign one returnees that make this list with a heavy weighting of their initial appearance on top of what theyve shown in campaign two thus far), and hes once again serving as the preacher in Zonn Zorrs cathedral. Hes certainly found his niche, thats for damn sure, and hes good at it.

Now, Jesses introduction to the campaign doesnt really warrant a lengthy explanation the way that some other characters do. He showed up during a mission to Warpath (which was memorable forlets just say OTHER reasons), and we were just glad to see him again. And after we successfully escaped a Society incursion with only one major casualty, Jesse decided to come back with us to Zonn Zorr, where he quickly took up residence as the preacher in our vacant chapel. Its honestly somewhat strange, since so many other characters have major roles within the sessions they first appeared, but Jesse seems to have largely coasted on the back of his pre-established lore, since he was simply one of a large collection of characters that joined us via Warpath and the overarching Convoy storyline.

Once he settled into Zonn Zorr though, thats when Jesse came into his own as a campaign two character. A lot of the returnees have experienced dramatic change in the four years (campaign one was wallpunched from 1999 to 2004) since we last saw them, and Jesse is no different. He was an extremely overpowered ally in campaign one, sticking with us just about to the very end of the No Mans Land year of hell, because his Word of God power was so darn useful. But come campaign two, Jesses faith has been shaken, and he no longer has access to the very ability that set him apart from mere mortals in the first place. On top of that, the reason why he lost his divine gift is because he claims to have killed God Himself (or as we later learned, he set in motion the events that led to the killing of God via the Saint of Killers). Needless to say, theres something very interesting about a man of faith who no longer has that faith himself.

As a character in Zonn Zorr, Id say Jesse has been defined largely by his connection to two PCs. First, you have Rozetta, who knew him back in campaign one. Only this time, she has her adoptive daughter Susie in tow, creating a fun little dynamic with Jesse (or Father Jsse, as Susie calls him). Rozetta, even back in campaign one, was a big believer in Hronmeer (the Martian god of death), but in campaign two, shes passed that praise on to her daughter. Now, Susie visits Jesse on a regular basis, for religious education. It works out well that Jesse has lost his faith somewhat, because I feel like it allows him to slip more easily into discussions of deities from other religions. And of course, Suzie is enamored with this preacher who feeds into her affinity for death and the overall macabre.

Most importantly to THIS write-up though, I feel like Jesse has a decent connection with Pepper. As I mentioned above, he ranks somewhat low because its hard to keep up with each and every character I want to chat with in Zonn Zorr (there are so many, including several I still havent gotten one-on-one chats with), but still, our few scenes have been great. Pepper (or more specifically, her true identity: Alyssa Davenport) spent most of her life either ensconced within the Mormon Church, or later ensconced within the Protestant Church. Admittedly, playing a religious (and a scientist) character has proven difficult to maintain from an RP angle; I often times feel like I can maybe do one scene with Jesse about faith, or one scene about science and/or faith with Mr. Terrific before I start struggling to come up with new conversation hooks on the subject.

Still, when I talk with Jesse, I do enjoy the discussions we have, because Jesse has lost faith and generally lost conviction in his belief in God. Killing the Man will do that. Meanwhile, Pepper very much believes in divine predestination. Shes definitely questioning her faith, but she either truly believes, or warps herself into believing that everything that happens to her happens for a God-given purpose. Being afflicted with her acid powers is punishment for her scientific hubris, but at the same time, that punishment was used as punishment for someone else who ran afoul of Pepper during her first metahuman manifestation. As such, having this girl who somewhat believes herself as an instrument of Gods justice (especially since weve recently come across Wally the God Boy, who is the reincarnation of Jesses slain God) creates a fun dynamic for philosophical discussion.

Hint for #35: The roommate of a PC.

Parch!

Canary

Called it

Also saying Canary

no way Starsa drops this low

it's got to be Demon of the Poster

Canary.

Inviso posted...

before I start struggling to come up with new conversation hooks on the subject.

If you ever want to chat with a Christian who is a strong believer in science feel free to PM me. I can probably give you some convo ideas.

Snapper?

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35. Sarah Washington

Sarah Washington is a OMAC. Not AN OMAC. Never AN OMAC. But yeah, Sarah Washington began her role in the campaign as the central figure of Hub City, Illinois. We arrived in the city and soon found ourselves split between four different factions, each controlling a section of the city itself: the Society, the OMACs, the evil counterpart to our Oblivion Bar, and one sect of the Church of Blood. The city was in a constant state of upheaval as the mages, OMACs and Society all jockeyed for powerthe Church largely just kept to themselves and let the others fightwith only one thing uniting them all: Sarah Washington. All four factions wanted Sarah Washington for one reason or another, and it fell to us to track her down.

It turns out that this little girl had hidden herself away, yet apparently everyone in the city was completely incompetent, since we were easily able to track her down as a small group of five random newcomers. As we soon learned, Sarah was infected with the OMAC nanites, yet they werent able to take hold of her the way they could with everyone else wed come across. Sarah was effectively immune, and it was because of this that the city desperately sought her out. Everyone wanted to find a way to reverse-engineer the blood of this little girl, either to serve as protection against the OMAC menace, or to successfully find a workaround to prevent her immunity from being passed along to others. Also, Im not ENTIRELY sure what the Church of Blood wanted, exactly, since we only really found out their intentions for Sarah after wed already executed a plan to get everyone off her back, and thus my memory doesnt register it that well.

Anyway, we eventually managed to convince Sarah to come back to Zonn Zorr with us, faking her death and causing an all-out war between the mages and the Society that solidified our Society ally in power, while driving off the mage and OMAC threats in Hub City. Sarah, having demonstrated some sass with her haughty Yeah Pepper line, quickly became Peppers roommate. The goal was to keep an eye on her until we could go back to Hub and rescue her mother from the Society, but we hit a complication as Casey Washington had already been transported to Highland Land, into the nest of the Court of Owls. Were still working on that one, even though were certainly taking our sweet time (as of the time of this write-up) to get there.

Something that I think is important to note is that Pepper has a relatively large family, and for several reasons, she has been unable to seek them out in the campaign thus far. In fact, she went missing prior to A-Day, so her family (if theyre still alive and unequated) might very well believe shes dead herself. As such, Pepper has developed a compunction for finding surrogates for her various family members. She has several equivalents to her little sister, Hannah (including Ramsey, despite his Y-chromosome), but Sarah very much fills the roll of her littlest sister, Nessa. Sarah started out very precocious and independent, and she fits the age range, so it only makes sense that Pepper might find herself drawn to the young girl, keeping an eye on her.

What I like about the relationship is that Pepper does not want to be Sarahs mom, but rather just a big sister. She very much wants to find and rescue Casey Washington, specifically so Sarah can have her real mom back. This is in large part because doing so allows Pepper to maintain hope of finding her own mother, and I think some emotional breakdowns (due to Peppers fragile psyche earlier in the campaign) have conveyed as much to Sarah. However, Pepper also wants Casey to like her when she arrives, and as such, Pepper tries her best to keep Sarah focused and get her to do standard stuff. As a scientist, Pepper wants to impart the importance of schooling and education on Sarah, but Sarah gets bored with planned lessons, and just wants to play more Prince of Vlatava.

Efforts to assuage Sarahs loneliness via play dates resulted in the hilarious mismatch of Maxine Baker and Sarah (the only two little girls around Zonn Zorr for a time) outright hating each other for seemingly no reason. Sure, she found some friendship with Milagro Reyes, but Sarah still found herself retreating into her computer games. It turns out that despite her brave face, Sarah very much misses her mommy, and it brings Pepper guilt every time she makes a promise to bring Casey back, and is unable to deliver. As such, whether intentional or not, Pepper often caves into Sarahs desires to play video games at the expense of more productive endeavors.

Sarahs isolation has changed, somewhat, in recent days though. Susie took one of her weird death-related interests in Sarah, contemplating the possibility of weaponizing the OMAC nanites, and theyve been largely inseparable ever since. It gets a LITTLE weird and uncomfortable at times, but at least it makes things interesting with the two little girls as a duo. Plus, its fascinating to see the dynamic between Sarah and her alpha bestie, which is not dissimilar from Pepper and her own alpha bestie. Its thats a fun little coincidence of personalities working in sync with one another.

Hint for #34: A dog.

I would guess Rover, yet again.

Pretty sure you're mistaken, there aren't any dogs in this campaign

get her, sarah!

Rex

Rover

My random thought for today, how do y'all decide what locations/missions to prioritize? I've lost track of the number of locations that have been mentioned in these lists.

Cody11533 posted...

My random thought for today, how do y'all decide what locations/missions to prioritize? I've lost track of the number of locations that have been mentioned in these lists.

We have a Google spreadsheet with all of our preferences on them and another with our availability for the upcoming week, then Han finds whatever pairings work and we discuss from there

Cody11533 posted...

My random thought for today, how do y'all decide what locations/missions to prioritize? I've lost track of the number of locations that have been mentioned in these lists.

Absolutely same

Cody11533 posted...

My random thought for today, how do y'all decide what locations/missions to prioritize? I've lost track of the number of locations that have been mentioned in these lists.

Ohhh hahaha this is a lot to bite into. Let me get home and if I have time before session, I'll get into this glorious complicated conundrum.

Tldr I work hard to try to make people happy

He fails. I'm miserable all the time. Grr.

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34. Rover

I know I said I was pausing the comic relief characters for a bit, but Rover was originally higher than this and I realized I couldnt really justify him ranking that highly, so I bumped him down, and now hes much closer to the block Radio Tuner/Dewormer/Mike the Rooster/Toyman. Anyway, Rover is a good boy. Perhaps the best boy. Whos a good boy? Rovers a good boy. And Rover (aka Dumbass, a loving nickname provided by his owner, Alice) is always great for a laugh, or just an injection of emotionality into a scene. Alice is a rough customer, and shes had some bumps and bruises over the course of the campaign thus far, so its good to have a pet that it fiercely loyal and loving, no matter anything else.

But a pet is one thing. Weve got Data 7, who is a talking dog and is able to have various scenes with the numerous animals in the campaign. And with Rover, maybe Alices little nickname isnt entirely inaccurate. RoverGod bless him, hes trying his best, but hes a bit slow. Hes a classic dog, and he loves to play ballbut he doesnt like the version of ball where said ball is thrown, and you have to retrieve it. Instead, he prefers just having the ball and holding it, and thats how he plays ball, passing it back and forth to himself. Data 7 enjoys teasing Rover by shrinking down and curling up into a ball himself, and frustrating the hapless dog by refusing to play ball the way Rover likes playing. Also, Data 7 used Rover once to try and make Pixie (another dog) jealous, which only served to make her think Data is gay. Rover, of course, he no idea what was going on. Hes adorable.

Beyond just interaction with Data though, Rover is a beloved mascot of the campaign almost. Hes close with Alice, and Alice has a lot of interactions with PCs, so therefore Rover is usually around. Pepper especially loves Rover, because she has a dog back home, and Rover is very much your standard dog (a little dopey, but sweet and good-intentioned). His loyalty to Alice, particularly when shes sad and lonely, is so sweet, and Pepper wishes she had something like that; shes kind of latched onto Rover in that regard. As mentioned with Half-Life, having a sense of normalcy in that regard is very soothing in an otherwise chaotic campaign.

But beyond his presence as a lovable goofball, I have to mention one of my favorite Rover moments with regards to Pepper. In the very first session of the campaign, Pepper found a Superman frisbee as a weapon, and that partially influenced her efforts to become proficient with thrown weapons. But when interacting with Rover, if hes a normal dog, then you can play frisbee with him and have a great time, right? Well, Rover didnt like the offer and instead shied away for some reason, making Pepper sad. However, this is all explained by a Data 7 conversation. Beyond Rovers thoughts on ball, he also believes that a frisbee is only a frisbee in the park, and anywhere else, its a lie. So thats a callback where Peppers trying to play frisbee in the hallways of Zonn Zorr, and Rover is incapable of thinking this is a true event happening to him. His most memorable quote comes either from this, or from another Rover misinterpretation as a result: Its a mistake.

Hes just such a wonderful doofus, and every time he shows up alongside Alice, he makes for adorable scenes. Whether hes keeping watch outside Alices room when shes upset, or keeping watch at her bedside when shes in the hospital, or getting left behind because hes too slow to make it into the elevator in time, Rovers just provides great, brief moments of physical comedy. Plus, even though hes a dumbass, I think he helps soften Alice and humanize her a little bit, which in turn improves her character as well.

Hint for #33: Has the same name as another character in the campaign, and makes me confused whenever that other character is the one referred to instead.

Tali-essen

Err, I mean, Thom Kallor

Woops I should have refreshed

I assume Rover plays Frisbee by having you throw a Frisbee directly to him so that he doesn't have to chase it?

Maniac64 posted...

Woops I should have refreshed

I assume Rover plays Frisbee by having you throw a Frisbee directly to him so that he doesn't have to chase it?

No one knows. Rover is too terrified of it being a trick to play frisbee anywhere but a park.

Sarah and Susie is such a great pair

and I feel compelled for someone to say Vortex, so Vortex

Oops, I also needed to refresh. In the words of Rover: It's a mistake

Hmm.. Gonna go with Enchantress since we have a couple of Junes

Richard

Inviso posted...

No one knows. Rover is too terrified of it being a trick to play frisbee anywhere but a park.

You know, I just assumed you guys took him to a park at some point.

Mr. Terrific

Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

Does Zonn Zorr or the surrounding city not have one park?

Cody11533 posted...

Does Zonn Zorr or the surrounding city not have one park?

Z'onn Z'orr is a base made by beings that live on Mars, which is not well known for wildlife, and both it and Castling are under the ice of Antarctica.

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33. Blackbat (Cassandra Cain)

I fully acknowledge that Blackbat is probably the least prominent character to make this list (aside from White Lightning, who largely made the 52 spot as a statement more than anything else). She appeared at the end of one session in Boston, serving as a cliffhanger, since obviously two of the party there already knew her, and then appeared briefly at the start of the next session. I wasnt even on that particular mission, and thus had no personal interaction. But Cassandra Cain, aka Orphan, aka Batgirl 3.0 (4.0?) was my favorite character in campaign one, and I fully acknowledge that there is a certain bias that comes with that territory.

In campaign one, I played Talirah Isiset, an Egyptian princess with severe daddy issues, since her father abused her and just generally treated her less like a daughter and more like a tool for his own legacy. Meanwhile, during No Mans Land, there was a plotline shortly after we wrapped up the Patchwork (a section of Gotham that wound up being pieced together from fifteen different universes), where a sniper began picking off various individuals from throughout the city. It happened again and again and again, and it became a real problem that we needed to deal with, especially since he tried (and failed) to assassinate Harvey Bullock, only to catch Jim Gordon in the crossfire.

So, we began to investigate the shootings, and they led to a series of sites where we discovered that an expert marksman was able to bank bullets off of buildings in order to attack targets well beyond the scope of a straight line. Arriving at the shooting locations, we began running into this strange, black-clad girl who seemed desperate to tell us something, yet could not speak the words she needed to say. We werent sure exactly what her purpose or her goal was in meeting with us, and she didnt seem all that certain either. It often times seemed like she couldnt decide between wanting to help us investigation, or wanting to hinder us from investigating further. Eventually though, after getting viciously outmatched in melee combat and seeing our tank get his butt kicked, we managed to take her down and knock her unconscious for interrogation.

It was at that point that we learned that this girl was Cassandra Cain, a mute not because of any psychological impairment, but rather because her fathers assassin training saw no need for her to learn how to speak. It was never made ENTIRELY clear why she decided to turn away from David Cain and help us (beyond an innate realization that the treatment she received from him was inhumane), but nonetheless, she became an ally. Cassandra led us right to Cains hideout, and we managed to break in and neutralize him. Our party was gunshy about killing him, and we couldnt risk imprisoning him (since everyone knows that prisons in Gotham City get broken out of even at the PEAK of the citys infrastructure), so eventually, we had to settle on teleporting him out via Nightshade.

During the interim period between meeting with Cain and removing him from the city however, is when Tali and Cass developed their bond. As mentioned, Tali was abused by her father, and out of concern, she found herself seeking out Cassandra after Cain effectively banished her from his family for her betrayal of his trust. It was here that she witnessed Cassandra sitting outside her fathers base and trying several times to sneak back in, only to become more and more bruised and battered with every attempt. She just wanted his love, and to be treated like a father SHOULD treat his daughter, yet Cain would have none of that. In that regard, Tali found a kindred spirit.

Soon after this all went down and Cain was gone for good, Batman took Cass under his wing, christening her the new Batgirl. For the rest of the campaign, Batgirl lived with us in the clocktower, curled up in a little hidey-hole at the base of the buildings elevator shaft. She also took up guard dog duty, protecting the clocktowers residents (and becoming rivals for the role of Batman protg with Spirit). Also, she had the cutest little Batmannerisms, namely how Batman (and Robin, and Spoiler, and Batgirl 2.0) would grapple off into the sky to depart a scene, but Cass didnt have a grapple gun. Soshe would just aim her fist to the sky and then run off. Its just cute, okay?

Anyway, Tali continued to make inroads with her, learning Cass punch language and (alongside Rozetta) teaching Cass to speak English just a little bit. She became Talis closest ally in Gotham, joining her on two separate occasions when it came time to face down Talis father, and finally understanding the bond that Tali felt upon seeing Cains cruel treatment. The pair wound up facing Pharaoh down in one final battle to help save Gotham (but really, it was Cuesh who saved Gotham). And of all the people Tali befriended and bonded with during the year of No Mans Land, Cass was easily her closest relationship. She was the little sister Tali never had.

I mention all of that campaign one backstory for two reasons. One, Cassandra means a lot to me from campaign one, so even if shes had a severely-reduced role thus far, Im incapable of not overinflating her placement on this list out of sheer bias on my part. But two, and more important for ACTUALLY justifying her placement on the list, campaign one needed to be explained, because over the course of the year (campaign time, not real time) in No Mans Land, those of us in the Clock Tower at the very least (Spirit, Fastbreak, Rozetta, Obrov and Tali) became Cass family, just as much as she became ours. We were all part of the Clocktower Bat Family together, and there was love and camaraderie there that Cass never got from her assassin father and warrior mother.

That closeness was what made it all the more heartbreaking for Cass when that family drifted apart. Obrov left Gotham to live with the Doom Patrol. Rozetta left Earth entirely out of disgust for what became of the Lex Luthor administration. Fastbreak became deeply tied with Cluemaster, aiding in his political ascent. Tali joined up with Max Lords new Superbuddies team, becoming the pop idol equivalent of a superhero more than anything else. And Spirit, though he never left Gotham behind, still left for a time, to go to college and get his M.D. All of Cass family that she loved and cared for, and who cared for her, left her behind. While I personally think Tali would never have forgotten her little sister, I can also imagine the distance being difficult, given the lack of technological knowhow between the two girls. Plus, Tali wound up being the only known P.C. death between the two campaigns, thus further isolating Cass and making the bonds she formed feel like nothing more than lies.

Its with this knowledge in mind that we come to Boston. Much like the investigation that led to Cass during No Mans Land, the mission kicks off with a murder that the party needed to solve, lest they suffer an unfortunate fate. And said mission sent the party off to investigate the highest point in the city, from which an appropriate sniper shot could be fired. That point? Titans Tower East. The group arrived and ran afoul of a handful of teen supervillains (or misguided superheroesagain, I wasnt on the mission and am VERY sad I didnt get to be a part of this), with the big reveal being that Deathstrokes little collection of young warriors included a cast adrift Cassandra Cain, now going by Blackbat.

Both Spirit and Rozetta happened to be on this mission, and of the nine party members from campaign one, they were the two (after Tali) who had the closest connection to Cassandra. Yet she was having nothing of their attempts at reconnection and friendship. Blackbat is a woman scorned, with that bitterness and anger nurtured by one of the Societys highest leaders. Rozetta and Spirit both tried to reason with Cass and reconnect with her, but she gave them a warning: shed let them leave, having finished their investigation of the tower, but if she ever saw them again, she wouldnt hold back. This is a girl who was birthed of two killers and trained by several more, so her words carry weight.

But the saddest moment of that whole scene, for me, was the inherent sorrow when she actively had to spell out Talis name, because despite still having learned to speak, a small part of her reverted and couldnt manage to mouth her big sisters name. Thats another arrow of guilt, stabbed directly into my heart, because I loved Cass and I know Tali would never have wanted to hurt her. Yet here we are, with the entirety of the Clocktower Crew on Blackbats shit list. And with Tali dead, I dont know if theres any way to repair that hurt. I really want to get out there with Pepper though. I feel like mingling with Cass, but also with the handful of other villainous/gray area teens at Titans Tower would be really enjoyable for me. Heres hoping I get the chance some day soon.

Hint for #32: Uses magic.

Traci 13??!?!?

Traci sounds good.

Bump off Traci, here comes LEROY

Probably Patch here

Probably

Patch makes my life magical so it counts

Constantine

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/3/AAOJ0pAADcrp.png
32. Traci Thirteen

Traci is a really hard character to properly rank, because I feel like no one in the campaign (PC or NPC) has really gotten to know the real her. Whenever someone interacts with Traci (and many of the PCs have at this point), I feel like she does her best to adapt to the person and what she assumes they want to hear. Because of this, while shes a really interesting character, it is somewhat difficult to grasp whats real, and whats just an act with her. Plus, it doesnt help that Ive only recently had my first real heart-to-heart with her after however many weeks it was of us being somewhat at odds with one another.

As with many of the characters from the El Paso/Convoy storyline (which was more collective in its characterization outside of the two central figures), Tracis time in the voiced sessions isnt necessarily vital to her character. Ill cover the basics all the same though, because the circumstances behind her introduction to the campaign DO inform her closest PC relationship out of all of us. To put it bluntly, Traci is a young mage and thus immediately has a connection with the magic portion of the campaign. This isnt necessarily MY cup of tea, but for the pair of mages in our party, Traci is a kindred spirit. And while the first time we heard tell of Traci was as part of Jaimes coyote exploits, trying to help her escape the U.S. into Mexico, Traci quickly became a much higher priority for all involved.

As I mentioned in the Half-Life write-up, the big bad early on in El Paso was a drug lord named La Dama, and on top of all the other evil things she was responsible for, we found out that she had kidnapped Traci while we were away, having taken Jaime back to Zonn Zorr to deal with his new superpowers. Fully aware of Tracis mage powers, La Dama had begun siphoning her magic away, and due to the conflicting opinions of our party, we didnt immediately bust into the prison to stage a breakout. We certainly could have, but we instead opted for discretion, leaving Traci imprisoned while we tried to instead work a deal with La Dama to secure her release. When this news got back to Zonn Zorr however, Saoirse didnot take kindly to it.

Brennus was on the field team for that mission, but Saoirse is certainly the PC most attuned to the magic aspect of the campaign. Hearing that a young mageat a time when she was trying to cobble together a group of all the Eighth Agers (of Magic) that remained fully empowered in the wake of a new shake-up in the magical orderwas being held and tortured, Saoirse insisted on leading the charge to get Traci out as soon as humanly possible. And so we did: La Dama kept her word, we made good on our deal, and we freed Traci from captivity, only slightly worse for the wear. She came back to Zonn Zorr with us, reuniting with her familiar, Leroy, and for the most part, she was just a very bright and chipper character. She seemed to bond well with PCs and NPCs alike.

It's weird discussing Traci, because I feel like we got to know her personality long before we really got glimpses of the backstory which informed that personality. I also think (and this is just my interpretation, so it might very well be wrong) that is took a little while for Scarlet to dial into the voice for Traci. At the onset of her time in Zonn Zorr, I think she was very much just trying to be nice and friendly with everyone and struggled to really stand up and make her opinions known. She got pulled into a sisterly relationship with Saoirse as a fellow mage, and theyre obviously close with one another, but still, I would say early Traci was still very standard in her characterization.

Ill fully acknowledge that this is a very self-centered view on things, but I think having Pepper in the campaign pushed Traci onto a path that has served her well in becoming a memorable and interesting character. On-paper, Traci and Pepper share a lot of similarities: they both put on this mask of aggressive niceness that may or may not be completely genuine; they both have relatively recent awakenings of their innate powers (which put them at odds with their fathers); they both aggressively seek companionship and camaraderie at the end of the world out of desperation for human connection (but only on their terms); and theyre both very ambitious, believing themselves to be clever and smart enough to stand out among their peers. In a way, Ive long considered Traci the magic equivalent of Pepper in this campaignand Traci even feels like a developing character on par with the campaigns PCs.

That desperation for human contact I mentioned? Early on, Pepper attempted to gather the various teenagers wed picked up on our travels into the Zonn Zitans. She was able to justify this was passing along her own experience in training with Lagoon Boy as a way for the youths of Zonn Zorr to train together and find their strength as fledgling heroes. But in reality, this was largely an attempt to cobble together a friend group by a frightened girl who was WAY out of her element in the early campaign. Peppers whole deal is that shes the most rookie member of the party (at least in terms of being involved in the superhero or metahuman community), and the circumstances of the campaign (getting kidnapped and held in stasis for months before awakening to the apocalypse) have been more terrifying for her than most. The original Zonn Zitans may not have had the most unified goals, but Pepper just desperately needed the calming effect of companionship to provide a sense of normalcy.

While the original Zonn Zitans consisted of Pepper, Brennus, Spirit, Freddy, Jaime, and Alice, there was never any intention of excluding future additions. And naturally, with her magical abilities, Traci was invited to join the team without question. But in the Zitans first (and really ONLY) full outing, the flippant attitude of the team sparked Freddys ire, which at least partially scared Traci away from the group. More than likely though, Traci was never fully onboard with a team cobbled together by circumstance, rather than genuine interpersonal chemistry. And as such, she became the first person to really accept the stupidity of the Zonn Zitans concept in general, and began actively fighting against it. Admittedly, it was also funny how of all people, she railed against Freddy the most for getting angry one time, when hes the most mature and rational of the bunch.