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

(+) Yeah! (+)

That divergence was the first real hint of Traci coming into her own, but the second pertained to her connection with Jaime Reyes. With several characters in this campaign, weve seen instances of established comic storylines colliding with PC desires, and Traci/Jaime is certainly one of those. From some brief research, Traci 13 is one of several romantic interesting Jaime has had during his time in DC comics, and she was originally part of his campaign storyline as well, having been one of the characters he was helping to coyote into Mexico before he got Blue Beetled and she got kidnapped by La Dama. As such, there is that natural storyline hook of Traci being Jaimes romaence partnaer. But, Pepper got in the way, and I think THAT really started Traci down her current path.

For reference, Jaime was helping coyote people, and we picked him up in week nine of the campaign, drawing him away from his duties and effectively allowing Traci to get captured. Perhaps if wed gone back right away and dealt with that plot early, we would have returned her to Zonn Zorr and she wouldve been smooching Jaime within a month of meeting him. However, due to the constraints of accommodating ten different people with ten different schedules and ten different sets of priorities, we didnt go back to El Paso until week sixteen, at which point we learned for the first time that Traci had been captured. And ultimately, after taking three or four more trips to the Texas/Mexico border, we finally rescued Traci at week twenty-nine. Thats twenty weeks, or almost half a year of real time between extracting Jaime and extracting Traci back to Zonn Zorr.

During that time, Pepper and Jaime began a slight flirtmance with one another, and despite Peppers inherent prudishness, she still had a big head start on Jaimes canon love interest (well, both of them, since she also got plenty of alone time with him apart from Brenda as well). But as I mentioned above, Traci is very ambitious, and shes all-too-willing to work for what she wants. So having Pepper be this pretty girl that Jaime likes, and she likes him back, provided circumstances for a rivalry. And Traci was very good at working that rivalry in her favor (though Pepper admittedly didnt do herself any favors due to general awkwardness in the field of flirting). It seemed like there was a certain period where Traci had just snatched Jaime away, and anything she did was meant to isolate him and pry him from Peppers clutches.

I played Pepper at this point like she was completely oblivious to Tracis intentions, instead viewing Traci as the sweetheart she purported to be. But once she became aware that Traci was a threat (after Pepper had already fought to overcome her fears of intimacy with the opposite sex and set her sights on Jaime), Pepper prepared the nuclear option. But there was Traci, ready and willing to counter that attempt, and the scheming little witch (not derogatory, since she is scheming, and little, and a witch) pulled a masterstroke of mean girl manipulation that fucked Jaime over TO THIS DAY, and sent Pepper (and me by proxy) spiraling for about a week thereafter.

Traci basically took her ball and went home. Pepper was somehow winning the war for Jaime, so rather than give her any sort of satisfaction (because Traci had it in her mind that Pepper was some sort of queen bee who always got her way), Traci decided to flip the board so no one could wind. In a platonic not-a-date, Pepper and Jaime went to a newly-opened burger joint, and Traci joined them, bringing Misty along as her plus one. And with some general coercion, Traci got Pepper away from Jaime long enough for a brain-addled Misty to start making out with him, under the believe that he was Hal Jordan. This shocked Pepper, but Traci acted up a storm, treating this make-out session like the ultimate betrayal. And that attitude somewhat infected Pepper, leading to general curtness from her, which led to Jaime torpedoing whatever relationship they may have had.

From this point on, Traci had her character. She is a schemer, and she is manipulative as heck. She has goals, either in terms of hooking up with Freddy or Kid Eternity or whoever (mirroring Peppers own romantic efforts, since she also attempting to land with Freddy), or rising in the ranks of Checkmate (much like the Rook state Pepper takes pride in), or just getting on whatever field team she wants. She has had RP conversations since then with Brennus, Saoirse, Lush, and now Pepper, and in every instance, she comes across as playing EXACTLY into the expectations of the person shes talking to.

Saoirse wants to protect Traci and treat her like a little sister, so Traci plays into that role, and uses Saoirses affinity for her own gain (getting onto the field team to Tokyo, to satisfy her tremendous weeb status). She plays nice with Brennus, disarming him with falsified fears of being taken advantage of by a guy (and claiming hes faking being gay to get in good with girls), and that leverages her power over him. With Lush, she seems less successful since Lush is very stubborn, but still, shes convinced Lush to look after Saoirse for her, despite a general level of disdain. And even Pepper has (falsely or otherwise) been drawn into Tracis web, with Traci playing up their similarities and claiming guilt to instill guilt of her own in Pepper.

Traci is a fascinating character because shes so inherently charming, and everything about her persona is designed to play off a general understanding of peoples psychology. This makes sense, when you consider shes Traci Thirteen, daughter of Dr. Terrance Thirteen, who makes a living debunking paranormal activity. Tracis investigative abilities have been honed to seek out bullshit, and that in turn gives her a great deal of insight into other people and what she can use against them to get what she wants.

But at the same time, that familial connection creates some problems, because Traci is a mage, and shes born to a father who outright denies her existence. Now, this could be complete bullshit designed to appeal specifically to Pepper, but Traci has shown ire for her father forcing her to remain closeted as a mage in this regard. Magic isnt real, so either shes wrong or lying, according to him. It certainly would explain her desire to strive for power, since thats the same mindset Pepper has. But again, this could be a lie in its own right; whos to know? Traci is just a big ol question mark, and I think she has a lot of potential to rise on this list once some more of those gaps keep getting filled in.

Hint for #31: A member of the Society.

For the record, Brennus also did not take kindly to the deal with La Dama to release Traci. I said multiple times that session that we needed to just fight our way to her and get her out. After Bloodfruit and Pepper made the deal with La Dama, I yelled at the whole group in character for trusting her and putting Traci's life at risk. It wasn't just Saoirse who didn't react kindly to that news.

I think you're not giving Scar full credit here in that one. I think Traci showed from the get-go that manipulative side. From the beginning, her attaching to Jaime was based on comics canon and stuff, but her big smile combined with how she used "ultra nice" to gain ground had that clever ploy from the beginning.

I think she also was playing Saoirse early on to get attached to someone important for protection and whatnot. That said, I think we've also seen a lot of the real her as well. On her own determination, sure, but I do think there's genuine connection between her and Saoirse, and maybe somewhat Brennus as well. And I think she's been mostly genuine concerning Lush too (though she plays it against Saoirse a bit).

There's also something to be said for the influence ON Traci - Saoirse says something to her, Traci returns the next convo and takes that thing too far, then Saoirse has to course correct or assist. It's led to this weird balancing act where Saoirse wants to influence Traci, but in a positive way, but not control her, and I think Traci is torn a bit between using Saoirse as her champion and caring for her on that close personal level.

Additionally, Saoirse helped push Traci away from Jaime, but so did Pepper. I don't think it was scorched Earth so much as Traci thought that Jaime+Pepper was no bueno, so yeah, she hurt Jaime and Pepper in a way that put her on the same side as Pepper and put all the blame on Jaime because she's a clever little bitch.

But you're also right that she's usually scheming. In her recent talk with Pepper, that was oozing with manipulation, and I'm just excited to always see where she goes and what sort of walls and plays she puts up.

She's so complicated! Very guarded, but lets the truth out often enough to let you know who she is and why she is how she is.

Everyone should RP with Traci more.

guess is Nite-WIng

Traci is one of my favorite characters to insert into any plotline. From the moment she came back to Z'onn Z'orr, she was already building her platform for success.

Actually, before that. Don't forget that Leroy, her familiar, also demonstrates a level of manipulation in his activities!

Traci Thirteen has been one of my favorite characters to read about, I love the scheming.

Cody11533 posted...
Traci Thirteen has been one of my favorite characters to read about, I love the scheming.

There's also this element to her where she's just generally likable. She oozes personality.

Saoirse will approach, hair down casually, sporting her usual outfit. "Oi, Traci. Yeh have a minute?"

"Saoirse!" she exclaims, and she rushes forward, lunging at you with a hug. "I've finally settled my room. It's soooo lovely. Really."

"Ah! Hey, caerful!" She holds the small bowl of crisps aside as she wraps a hand around Traci herself. "I'm ah, glad yeh like it. Get a chance ta try the bat' yet?"

You hear the sound of your chips cracking and crunching, and the bowl becomes much heavier.
Traci pulls back. "I hadn't had a shower in so long. Sponge bathing... blech."
Traci feigns a look of disgust, sticking out her tongue.

Saoirse looks at the bowl as she leans down from the weight. "Right? Don't know if anyone gave yeh the story, but a numbaer o' us waer trapped in t'ese tubes filled wit' some suspension gel. Woke up aftaer a few mont's, and then had ta trudge t'rough Got'am's sewers. Me wit'out shoes."

"Oh, grody!" Traci gives a warm giggle before grabbing your wrist. "Come in, come in! Don't be so distant, Saoirse!"
Leroy looks up from the bowl, several chips on his scaly lips. "Don't be so distant," he communicates as he munches.

That was like, first convo stuff after bringing her back.

I disagree on the front end that the PCs don't know the real her. I think Lush has a good grasp of who she is. And I think you recalled events backwards since it was Lush sending Traci to help out Saoirse after Twiggy got snapped. And I think Traci has been consistent since moment one. Squinty smile shady af

My pick for next one is 666

Oh I forgot to guess - Nite-Wing

Cheshire

This could be Patch as well tbh

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/6/5/AAAe4tAADqGR.jpg
31. Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad)

Before Cassandra, Nite-Wing spent a LONG time atop my character rankings in campaign one, much to Scarlets chagrin. He was just such a fascinating character to me, because the No Mans Land campaign revolved around a Gotham City divvied up into various sectors and territories, and just about every territory had some major player in Gotham at the helm. Two-Face, Black Manta, Scarface, Jim Gordon, Ventriloquist, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Mister Freeze, Black Mask, Zsasz, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Maxie Zeus, Azrael, Cluemaster, Mad Hatter, the Falcone crime familywe had a ton of power players all jockeying for control of the city. And yes, there were a few smaller names on the field, but the LoBoyz and Street Demonz were always destined to be early campaign fodder to help teach us the ropes. We just happened to put it off for a long time due to choice paralysis.

However, caught right in the middle of all these big names, there was a small patch of land: Robinson Park. And within the borders of Robinson Park, a girl named Magpie reigned supreme. Well, on-paper she reigned supreme. Magpie had a mental disorder that rendered her very flightly and otherwise obsessed with trinkets and shiny things. Thus, the actual work of running and protecting Robinson Park fell to her (non-canon?) brother, Nite-Wing. Not Dick Grayson; thats the whole point. No, Nite-Wing, from what I can tell, was a very minor character in DC lore, brought into No Mans Land as a character from right around the time that the in-universe events would have occurred. And to me, he became a stand-out personality.

Every villain (or the police) in Gotham City wanted to amass greater power. They already controlled one territory, so why not go further? Why not take control of more territories and push their specific ruling ideologies on the masses? But not Nite-Wing. No, Nite-Wing wanted no part of any authority of rigid political structure. He was an anarchistlargely in the sense that he found the way the world worked pre-No Mans Land to be a failure, hence the edict coming down in the first place. With Robinson Park, he just wanted to protect his people and protect his allies and build a microcosm of society that would be better and more equitable than the real world. Also, he had a chip on his shoulder against the police, since he knew that several police officers had abused his mentally ill sister when shed been arrested. Thats enough to explain his defiance of authority, thats for sure.

My character in campaign one, Tali, had a complicated relationship with Nite-Wing. Seeing a leader so selfless and devoted to protecting his people, stood in stark contrast to the desire for power that shed witnessed corrupt her father. Plus, as a nave girl transplanted out of time, she found his mannerisms and attitude cute, not to mention her affinity for blonde hair. Nite-Wing developed a crush on Tali that she was too oblivious to see, which led to a sad falling out when she undertook a political marriage that she believed would be for the good of the city. Still, she tried to rebuild their friendship at that point, but the way the campaign shook out (giving power to the very police Nite-Wing despised) was never going to end well. He grew so disillusioned that he wound up abandoning his sister as well, and he and Tali had a major falling out with his decision to flee the city, instead of being the vigilante hero he purported to be.

This leads us to campaign two, and Ive already mentioned Hub City with regards to us finding and rescuing Sarah Washington. Something Ive touched on less thus far in these write-ups (because so many of them are about characters we interact with in Zonn Zorr) is the fact that just about every mission we go on sends us to a city or town that has a Society cell in charge of it. Some of these cells are headed by big name villains who have no interest in talking, and want to kill any intruders; some are headed by more malleable criminals who we can prop up. In Hub City, imagine my surprise when we ran into the leader of the citys Society cell, and it was none other than my boy, Nite-Wing. Accompanied by a handful of goons and losers from No Mans Land, no less. He doesnt quite fit the role of the malleable patsy, but hes far closer to that line than that of a violent ideologue leader.

After Tali spent all of campaign one trying to get Nite-Wing to step up and lead Gotham, he winds up falling ass-backwards into a leadership position in Hub City. Thats the thing about Nite-Wing; hes JUST villainous enough that you can understand why he would be inducted into the Society, but he also thinks of himself as a hero, in the same vigilante vein as Batman. As such, hes actually a perfect Society leader, even beyond Peppers personal strategy to try and get in good with the Society in order to manipulate them from within. Nite-Wing just wants to lead and be in charge, but hes not malicious or ideological about it the way that some other leaders weve met have been. Hes certainly not a book-burning Nazi, or a bloodsucking vampire, thats for sure.

Honestly, seeing Nite-Wings depiction in this campaign, its one of the major reasons I think I wouldve been better off flipping my two characters. Pepper feels like she would have fit perfectly in Gotham City during No Mans Land, and she has a bit of an anti-authority streak that would have meshed well with Nite-Wing in a way that perhaps Tali was always doomed to fail to achieve. Meanwhile, Tali wouldve been far better in a grander setting like the Final Crisis. But whats done is done, and I think theres still a great deal of potential for Pepper (or rather, her villain alter ego, Biohazard) to work well with Nite-Wing. She definitely agrees with her ideology, based on campaign one, and hes personable as a leader. We eventually want to consolidate Society leadership, so who knows? Maybe THIS time, Nite-Wing is exactly who we need to run things on a grander scale.

Hint for #30: Has been part of Zonn Zorr since the beginning.

He's... Terrific

curious where Vis would've ranked Campaign One Nite-Wing

I have so much fun with Nite-Wing in this campaign.

Terrific seems right.

T'inker

Nite-Wing I am thinking will have a bigger role in the campaign as we go (maybe next week even?)
Campaign 1 one of the things that I really enjoyed doing was pushing Nite-Wing to align with Huntress

See Huntress was anti-whack job- the inmates running the Asylum made no sense. The Harvey and Duela Dents of the world weren't fit to lead this city. They should be locked away. At the same time her trust in the police was shattered, and the fact that they were her neighbors were not helping matters. Oh, did I mention that she was pretending to be Batman for months? Yeah, the real Batman showing up and firing her from the Bat Family made things worse for her.

The thing is Nite-Wing shares just about all of those views. And dammit if I didn't push the limits of what we could do in our downtime (I probably could have died out of session a handful of times when that wasn't something possible) I could not leave Huntress alone. She hated us but we wouldn't leave her be. Because to my character she was doing what needed to he done. She was the Batman we needed that Bruce wouldn't be for us.

So why shouldn't Huntress, the Batman we need, have her own Robin? Nite-Wing fit the bill of a Robin so much that it was a pairing that I couldn't resist helping turn into reality. Tad would travel to where Huntress was staying and get his ass kicked over and over and he loved it because he saw what we saw- Huntress could save the city. And he welcomed that baptism by fire.

The question this campaign is if he's willing to be the Robin he was destined to be and step up? Or will the pressure be too much again.

Across both campaigns, I've never met Nite-Wing.

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30. Thinker (Clifford DeVoe)

If this ranking took place within the first ten or so weeks of the campaign, Thinker wouldve easily made it to the top ten. He is an ever-present force in Zonn Zorr, serving as our A.I. (though not ACTUALLY an A.I., since hes a fully cybernetic human consciousness) and security system for all of the base. As such, Thinker has had a lot of interactions with most of the PCs, and almost every time he pipes up, hes funny. Unfortunately, hes one of those characters thats just so ever-present that it feels difficult to just go strike up a conversation and have new interactions and new backstory and whatnot. Thats not to say that Thinker is in any way bad; hes just been surpassed by more prominent characters since the beginning of the campaign.

Most of Thinkers best work comes from his interactions with others, rather than his personal story. At least based off of the content weve gotten thus far, hes not the most complex character in the campaign. He was a villain, but he rejected the offer to join the Society, and then when A-Day hit and computer systems the world over were flooded by the Equation, he managed to air gap himself and avoid getting infected. Since then, hes a bit of a prankster, but is otherwise a completely reliable member of the Checkmate organization. There is a certain personality that shines through though, because as a character who had his human form converted into digital code, Thinker is someone who very much respects two things: intelligence, and deference to himself. If youre smart and play by his rules, Thinker wont give you any problems; otherwise, youd better watch out.

Pre-campaign, Minervas big moment was basically being the Aquaman fangirl equivalent of Star Wars kid, and having a video recorded of her in a cape, waving a sword around her garage and yelling out Im Aquaman, Im Aquaman. Its adorable, but also deeply embarrassing. Naturally, Thinker has this video, and reminds Minerva of this whenever she begins coloring outside the lines, as one might say. Meanwhile, with Lush, for a long time she was kind of a self-centered B, and caused problems around Zonn Zorr that Thinker had to deal with as chief of security and the general base mainframe. So when Lush, wanting to do better, asked for Thinkers assistance in providing her notes from debriefings, he did exactly that. HUNDREDS of pages of EXACT actions from debriefings, including (but not limited to), various bodily functions, nervous tics, and just general unimportant motions. In her effort to try and better herself, Thinker absolutely does not make it easy.

Before I get to the big PC interaction, I do feel the need to address a few minor NPC interactions that help to flesh Thinker out. We, the party members, absolutely love both Susie Thompkins and Pixie, but they are objectively bratty characters in the context of the campaign. And while we tend to either humor that brattiest impulses, its good to have an NPC that will not take any of their shit. Now granted, Im not sure if Thinkers reaction to Pixie is an understanding that Pixie is a brat, or if its just him messing with Lush again, but regardless, he has gone out of his way to make her life more difficult by refusing to operate Lushs door like an automatic door for the hapless doggo that just wants to retreat to the safety and comfort of her bed baskie. And as for Susie, its funny to see her constantly bark orders and act like the Queen Bee of everyone else, and then Thinker just completely no-sells her. She demands something and he simply refuses, because SOMEONE needs to set boundaries.

But the greatest moment of Thinkers time in the campaign comes from his interactions with Brennus. Brennus is, and I say this with love, a himbo. In terms of outright intelligence, I believe hes one of the lowest of our PCs (alongside Data 7 and MAYBE Silhouette/Lush?) But in true dump stat, min-maxing fashion, Brennus is very charismatic and outgoing, which can be a very dangerous combination. I only bring this up to perhaps explain why Thinker might develop animosity towards the hyperactive Brennus. Well, aside from the cleanliness issues. But as I stated above, Thinker is very much in favor of intellect, and its only reasonable that he might take issue with this blonde boy running recklessly around Zonn Zorr. Now granted, Brennus is also quite gullible, and Thinker tried to take advantage of that early on, only to be thwartedso he may have overreacted a bit in retaliation.

Thinker, being a villain at heart (who saw fit to avoid joining the Societybut still a villain), cant help but try underhanded schemes whenever he so desires. So he tried to coerce Brennus into helping hack into Mister Terrifics computer network. Brennus, still very much in his heroic boy scout phase, ratted Thinker out to Terrific, perhaps forgetting that Thinker has audio/visual access to the entirety of Zonn Zorr. What followed were a series of increasingly harmful pranks to Brennus sanity, including dousing him with the sprinkler system, and having him labeled as a level four security threat. Early on, when the campaign was still rather dark and gritty, Thinkers rivalry with Brennus (one-sided as it was, since Brennus couldnt compare), brought some much-needed levity.

However, the pranks eventually made life too difficult for Brennus, and he begged Thinker for a reprieve. Thinker knows no mercy, however, and lulled Brennus into a false sense of security with a plea for help. In the equivalent of the Janitor eating a bite of laxative-laced pie just to trick J.D. into also eating some of that same pie, Thinker convinced Brennus that he was suffering and needed to be put out of his misery. Thinker walked Brennus through the steps of sneaking into his mainframe and deactivating it, conveniently going radio silent after a certain point, so Brennus would seem to have been acting alone. Brennus then sabotaged Thinkers mainframe, putting Zonn Zorr into a state of panic and making himself public enemy number one as a traitor and a spy.

Eventually, everything got sorted out, and Thinker got a stern talking to from Waller (as did Brennus, because gullibility is a liability for field work), but still, it was just a great demonstration of the lengths Thinker would go to fuck with someone who wronged him. Since then, hes largely mellowed out, but he still has his moments (see treatment of Susie/Pixie). And hes always good for a little bit of comedic smugness (like sending Peppers medical records to Brennus, exposing how much damage her powers do to Zonn Zorrs plumbing system, just as an example). Hes just a fun, ever-present character to have around.

Hint for #29: A member of the Secret Six.

Deadshot

Called it

Calling this one as Catman

Have to point out a few things:

Brennus isn't low intelligence. I think his stat is at 5, and he's more sheltered and over eager than stupid.

Additionally, you left out the part where Waller was involved in Thinker pranking Brennus. It was all staged

Brennus's knowledge stat is 3, and the average human has attributes at 2 or 3 so Brennus is about as smart as an average person.

Oops!

Cheshire

Thinker. Truly will be the death of all of us.

Gonna go with Bane

Hell yeah Knowledge 3 club

If 2-3 is roughly average, how high do stats the go?

10

Yep, the max is 10. For reference Spirit's stats are
Reflexes 9
Coordination 4
Physique 1
Knowledge 9
Perception 6
Presence 2

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29. Fiddler (Isaac Bowin)

Weve had a lot of named characters die in the campaign thus far, either by our own hands in combat, or just running afoul of the forces of evil that reign supreme across planet Earth. And while some have certainly made an impression (Standing Bear, Joe Hollywood, Star Sapphire, Xlex), theres really only one for me that had such a strong showing that I cant help but include him on this list. Fiddler isnt the most impactful death for me, mind you (those would be Peter Robinson and our lost PC, Taliesin), but in terms of just a beautiful character arc and scene, I cant not include him on this list in some fashion. Yes, he was lost so early on in the campaign, but his presence will forever be felt by all of us in Zonn Zorr.

Fiddler was one of the original six in the aptly-named Secret Six. Im not entirely sure on the timeline, but I know one mission ended with the party finding the Secret Six, then there was a second mission to work with them in Canada, and then Pepper was only on the third and final Secret Six mission, which was originally intended to be just another field mission that sent us to a nursing home for old and infirm supervillains. It says a lot, in my opinion, that Pepper only really got to interact with Fiddler the one time, and he still managed to leave his mark on her soul all the same. I cant really comment on the Port-A-Demon mission, so Im going to unfortunately have to leave that out for the time being, and instead Ill focus solely on the parts of Fiddlers story that I was privy to.

The Secret Six (and Ill keep this brief, since several of them will be making appearances higher on this list) was a group of six supervillains who did not throw in with the Society (or perhaps left the Society when they realized it wasnt the greatest organization), and instead came under the employ of a mysterious benefactor named Mockingbird. Mockingbird made each of them an offer they couldnt refuse, so they worked for him or her as a sort of covert ops mercenary group. Now, for most of the group, you have dark, gritty personalities that come across as total badasses in one way or another (or theyre murderous psychopaths). But with Fiddler, he just felt different. Yes, he was still a supervillain, but he was an old-school villain. He wasnt some master marksman or knife-happy maniache was a kindly old grandpa villain, if anything.

Both Brennus and Pepper had friendly conversations with him about how he wanted to repair his legacy and just generally go out more heroic than his past might imply. It was a nice dream, and even though it was just as personal as the rest of the team, it just felt a little more positive than the drive for revenge, or even the desire to protect their children. Of course, redemption came a bit sooner than Fiddler anticipated, as Cheshire betrayed the team and sold out their location to the Society. After being overwhelmed by enemy forces yet again (seriously, in the first ten weeks of the campaign, it became almost a running theme of missions ending with swarms of Society, OMACs, Equated, or just the Spectre ending Peppers sessions in a definitive manner), it seemed like all hope was lost, and there was little we could do to escape the Secret Sixs hideout, unscathed.

Making true to his word however, Fiddler stayed behind, offering up his personal vehicle, the Fiddlermobile, as a means of escape. And as we drove off into the night, we were soothed by the melodic sounds of fiddle music, his musical powers holding the Society at bay long enough for us to flee. He played and played and played, and then the music fell silent, and we knew that our friend and ally had fallen to the might of the Society. Prior to that point, wed had instances of OMACs wrecking us in Mesa Verde, or the Society wrecking us in Quad Citiesbut this one hit home a bit harder.

This was a case of a villain defying his stereotype to stand up and sacrifice himself for the good of the group. Weve only really gotten that one time since (that I can remember off the top of my head), and Clayface/Lady Clayface just didnt have as much time to leave a positive impression as Fiddler did. Call me a sap, but if theres something in fiction that will always get me to cry, its a father/child relationship where a dad who had a hard life finds common ground in a child he gets to mentor. But after THAT archetype (which has nothing to do with Fiddler and was more a fun non sequitur about me), I love seeing a scenario where the chips are down, and even the baddest dudes realize where their loyalties lie. A villain having a change of heart to save the day will always be better than the heroes just powering out. Granted, Fiddler was straddling the line between hero and villain by this point, but still, he made for the noblest of sacrifices, and for that, he gets the twenty-nine spot on my list.

Hint for #28: A participant in the Las Vegas storyline.

As much as I wished it was Roulette, I'll guess it's probably Squeak.

Oooh. Miracle Molly time?

Ohhhh, that's probably it. Switching.

Roulette

That green guy

Squeak

HanOfTheNekos posted...

That green guy

His name is Jeff Winger

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28. Miracle Molly (Mary Kowalski)

Las Vegas was a crazy session. For all of us, really, but for Pepper, it wound up being a really good time to start putting the pieces in place to get her drug empire plans up and running. After all, the goal of Peppers Operation High Society is to use drugsone of the major commodities in a world ravaged by an invading, alien forceto get in good with the Society and weaken them from the inside out. Whether said weakening is a result of drugging up the countless mooks and goons working for their supervillain bosses, or just putting us in a position to bend the ear of those who think themselves power players within the Society itself, Peppers drug business is an ideal scenario. Hell, by the time Vegas rolled around, shed already started manufacturing her own brand of narcotics, just to have something new and unique to offer any interested buyers.

Peppers drug plans put her in contact with many of the factions vying for control of Las Vegas: Mayor Deperto wanted to get in on the drug trade himself, and give Pepper a vast sum of money to kickstart her venture (which she was drunk off her ass and couldnt remember anything); Clawhammer specifically wanted her to bow down and serve him as a supplier, since he wanted to be the only drug lord in the game; the Royal Flush Gang, by way of Jack of Spades, offered a partnership that was sealed with a kiss. But the faction that most intrigued me was the Unsanity Collective. We were introduced to them early on via Vaudevillainess and her sales pitch/catch phrase of Hungry? Thirsty? Horny? Try Daizee Haze. Apparently, Pepper wasnt the only one in Vegas offering designer drugs.

After Clawhammer turned out to be a massive dick, and after Peppers hangover subsided enough to get her bearings, she opted, sight unseen, to try striking a deal with the Unsanity Collective. Surprisingly, we had a secondary in beyond Peppers drugs, since during Rozettas drunken bender, shed come into possession of Mollys daughter. Though it took us a while to get there, we eventually made our way to the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, and gained an audience with Miracle Molly herself. And the girl certainly knows how to make an entrance, lets put it that way.

For starters, Im not sure whether we made the best first impression by returning Squeak, because on the one hand, yes, we brought Molly her daughter backbut on the other hand, what the fuck were we doing with her daughter in the first place. Regardless, we glossed over that rather quickly as Pepper tried to launch into her plans and desire for a potential partnership with the Unsanity Collective. This led to Molly turning an offered handshake into a very French back-of-the-hand kiss, at which point she started getting REALLY creepy about wanting to absorb Peppers powers into herself. And right after that, she called Pepper Alyssa, setting off a TON of red flags and terror at yet ANOTHER person out in the world knowing Peppers secret identity. This happenedas the session wrapped for the night, giving us yet ANOTHER classic cliffhanger to stew over for the rest of the week.

We spent the whole week fretting over that cliffhanger, because its important to note that Mollys appearance is that of a girl with a weird speaking cadence and a cybernetic eye, and she knew personal information about Pepper. Wed already had an incident in Gotham, earlier in the campaign, where a secret OMAC slipped up and revealed himself by calling Pepper by her name, when she hadnt offered it. As a result, even with the reveal that she had a motherbox, our minds did not immediately go to Mister Miracle as a possible connection. No, we thought Molly was a walking vessel for Mother Miracle, the A.I. in charge of the OMAC fleet. So we had all these contingency plans ready to goonly to get in session and Molly was offended that wed think she was connected to Mother Miracle. No, she was the daughter of Mister Miracle (one of the New Gods from New Genesis instead of Apokolips) and a random Vegas waitress who has a chip on her shoulder against Big Barda for stealing away her father.

Naturally, we all wanted a piece of this delightful lunatic, and since she was a chemist, putting together her own drugs for distribution throughout Vegas, Pepper naturally wanted in with her. A like-minded businesswoman? Yes, please. We wound up recruiting Molly and the Unsanity Collective into our big, Vegas heist, and her people played their partright up until everything went to shit, and the whole mission turned into a big ol free-for-all between all the factions of Vegas. But hey, Pepper protected Molly and Squeak, and got to blow a hole through Clawhammers head in the process, effectively reducing the drug trade in Vegas down to just Molly and her crew. We have a business deal in-place now, but alas, Vegas is a territory we cant easily return to, since Zazzala swooped in to take over while everyone else was licking their wounds. Still, Molly was an integral part of giving flavor to Vegas, and shes still fascinating as a potential New God in her own right. I cant wait to have the chance at meeting up with her again.

Hint for #27: Regularly attends debriefings.

Paul McCartney

Bobo Benetti

King Faraday

Thom Kallor

Scandal Savage

patch?

Chimp "The Uncle" Bobo

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/5/2/AAOJ0pAADX-s.jpg
27. Jack Cross

Jack is another character, like Thinker, who made a big splash early on, but admittedly has fallen a bit by the wayside, what with the expansion of Zonn Zorr (and the general diminishment of amphitheater debriefing scenes as opposed to magic scenes in Oblivion, or space scenes in Oa). Still, that big splash made a very strong impression at a point when we were still largely dealing with more down-to-Earth narratives and mission planning. Having a snarky character that lacked any real desire to play by Amanda Wallers rigid idea of how Checkmate should operate created a unique opportunity for a character who is mature enough to know how one should behave, and still choosing to go a more chaotic route.

Early in the campaign, we woke up after being kidnapped and held in stasis, to discover that all of the PCswho had previously had metahuman or magical abilitieshad been sapped back to normalcy. We were informed of an agent in Mesa Verde who might have an answer to our problem, or at least some connective information regarding the OMAC threat (which hadnt truly established itself as dangerous at that early point in the campaign). So, off to Mesa Verde we traveled, and its residents were, for the most part, what you would expect of an off-the-grid and abandoned pueblo ruin. There were a pair of native American superheroes, a handful of older survivors, and even an outdoorsy trapper. Beyond them, there were only two NPCs that stuck out against the desert backdrop: Rocker (a Checkmate agent from Denver who surprisingly was NOT our contact), and Jack Cross.

Here's the thing that stands out about Jack Cross (and I do need to go on a little bit of a tangent here). The whole campaign revolves around an apocalyptic scenario where Darkseid has taken over the Earth and were one of the last handfuls of a ragtag group of survivors, trying to cobble together a resistance for the good of everyone on the planet (and the solar system, reallyif not more, given recent developments in the campaign). The NPCs we interact with largely fall into one of three categories: good-natured people, just trying to survive; villains that may or may not want to boost their profile in the eyes of the Society; or lunatics with bizarre fixations that render them unable to comprehend the more serious issues at hand (think the psychopaths from the Dead Rising franchise). Jack does not fit nicely into any of these categories.

What I enjoy about Jack Cross is how openly and blatantly self-interested he is. From the first moment we met him at Mesa Verde, he had his angles, and he stuck to them ferociously. Were part of a resistance group trying to save the world, and we cant get our powers back without the technology he managed to secure? Well then wed better keep him safe until we get him back to our base, because fuck the field team compared to his personal survival. Lo and behold, when the shit hit the fan and the OMACs started attacking, we got Jack to safety at the expense of literally every other survivor Mesa Verde had. Granted, several of them were already goners, but we couldve at least saved Chindi. Im still annoyed that we didnt realize we COULD get Chindi to safety. But whatever; Jack was what mattered, and thanks to him, we got back to Zonn Zorr in one piece, and regained our various superpowers.

From that point on, Jack continued to serve a very special purpose among the denizens of Zonn Zorr. You see, Checkmate has always been this shadowy, extranational organization, pulling strings and controlling world events without any sort of oversight. Under the current circumstances, having some semblance of structure to fight back against Darkseid is useful and comforting. However, Jack has a bit of a problem with authority, and hes not entirely comfortable with just laying down and letting Checkmate take over. Darkseid might be far and away the worse option, but that doesnt mean he has to like Checkmate. As such, there was a lengthy period of the campaign where wed have debriefings on our various field missions, and Jacks sole role was to sit in on those meetings and just crack jokes and talk shit about the missions (namely teachers pet Pepper). It provided some much-needed levity to an otherwise very serious situation.

Finally, I cant end a write-up on Jack without mentioning his extracurricular hobby. I dont know WHY this is a character trait Scarlet gave him, but its hilarious all the same: Jack is writing a science fiction novel. Its a BAD science fiction novel, but he IS writing it. Essentially, the character of Jack Cross is writing the in-universe equivalent of Mass Effect (no judgment towards, Scarlet, btwtheres a reason I always use existing songs in my writing, rather than trying to write something of my own when the need arises). Its completely cheesy, and every so often, one of us will ask Scarlet to give us another page or two from Jacks novel, and its just awful in the best way. Hes even started incorporating Rozetta, our resident Saturnian, as the inspiration behind some of his characters. The whole thing is just a comic character trait to further flesh out this interesting personality thats stuck with us since the early days of the campaign.

Hint for #26: Has a catchphrase.

This is a tough clue, so I'll probably miss it, but maybe this is Pixie?

Halfway through the list!

HM. Honorable Mention OR Harry Matthews
52. White Lightning
51. Ice Sickle
50. Nightshade (Eve Eden)
49. Lono
48. Misty Kilgore
47. TNTeena
46. Shiny Happy Aquazon (Kim Kimura)
45. Carmen Leno
44. Toyman (Hiro Okamura)
43. Dewormer
42. Till'all
41. Mike the Rooster
40. Radio Tuner
39. Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
38. Half-Life (Byron Stark)
37. Jesse Custer
36. Ramsey Robinson
35. Sarah Washington
34. Rover
33. Blackbat (Cassandra Cain)
32. Traci Thirteen
31. Nite-Wing (Tad Ryerstad)
30. Thinker (Clifford DeVoe)
29. Fiddler (Isaac Bowin)
28. Miracle Molly (Mary Kowalski)
27. Jack Cross