Board 8 > Scarlet Ranks 52 Characters from 52 Sessions of the DCRPG Campaign: Part III

(+) Yeah! (+)

Thom's fourth wall antics are pretty amusing, especially during RP bingo. The reveal that he was trying to prevent his row from being completed to protect Jack Knight was touching.

Xanadu would be great! I didn't draft her because I felt like I was the only one that ever goes to her for more than just the initial visit, if that.

Thom has been all over the place - he started out in our jail, but after some work from Saoirse, got to be more exposed to ZZ and eventually allowed to live in a room. Then, eventually cleared for field duty. He was a handful in Japan, but in spite of that, Saoirse recently sent him to San Fran (under Jack Knight's insistence).

He's gone from having really sweet personal moments to blowing up seriousness at points - one thing's for sure, he's never boring or predictable.

hombad46 posted...

Thom's fourth wall antics are pretty amusing, especially during RP bingo. The reveal that he was trying to prevent his row from being completed to protect Jack Knight was touching.

To make this clearer, Thom was worried that the row, with the mysterious reward 'A Knight's End?' meant the death of Jack Knight, so Thom did all he could to prevent it from completing to save Jack.

...What it actually meant was Jack Knight opening his store, Knight's End.

#55 - Lizzie Hexam
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/4/6/AAUHRBAAESeW.jpg

Here's another character from the last list, so I cheated again this time and only added a little update with what's happened since:

Our mutual friend. Everybody hates Lizzie; after all, through deception, trickery and poisoned Turkish delight belonging to some poor, dead soul, she's managed to kidnap more than a dozen refugees and Checkmate members and send them hurtling towards an imaginary place for as-yet not entirely clear reasons. But for Lizzie Hexam, this path was put in place a long, long time ago, and carrying out each step of her mysterious plan might be merely performative now.

Lizzie Hexam should be fictional, very well might even actually BE fictional, but her perhaps taps into reality itself. By unveiling event after event through the train cars of the Story Line, Lizzie pushes a train northward through Darkseid-controlled Scottish territory. Inch by inch, story by story. When questioned, Lizzie rarely if ever provides answers. When confronted, Lizzie remains stone-faced and defiant. Make no mistake; the woman who pilots this one-way trip to the imagination is just as easily the villain of this tale as the hero - perhaps even moreso. With eyes ever aimed towards her destination, the sacrifices of the journey mean little at all to Lizzie. She has her reasons; she has her methods. Anything else is merely a stumbling block, an obstacle on the path towards Hogwarts.

As for the party's reactions to Lizzie, they've been almost uniformly those of hostility and anger. In particular, Saoirse has demonstrated a significant animosity towards her captor. In fact, the push and pull between begrudging subservience to Lizzie's demands and angry self-righteousness has really added another layer to Saoirse's personality. But there's also curiosity there as well, and learning the truth about her familiar Twiggy has put a little bit of conflict into Saoirse's mind - at least that seems to be the case through our first three sessions on the Railway to Hogwarts. Saoirse's natural inquisitive nature and unbridled curiosity has always weighed significantly on her own morality - and I think the entire party has become fascinated as to what great changes their every action has on the course of history.

As for Lizzie, the engines churn on, and the train lurches forward, pistons firing, stacks pumping steam - and if she gets her way, Lizzie Hexam's captives will propel her to the end of the Story Line... all the way to Hogwarts itself.

UPDATE: Even more callously, Lizzie recently revealed that Lush's purpose on the train was to bring out the mindwiped personality of the real Cynthia Redford, Ros. By manipulating a particularly fragile memory of Lush's high school senior prom, it became convincingly clear in rapid order that the entire affair had been manufactured wholesale from Zatanna's machinations. And Lizzie first provided consolation - then a warning: bring Ros along next time, or else. A simultaneous mixture of tenderness and terror came about in a tiny scene which, for my money, has been Lizzie's best yet. She's driven only by her mysterious goals, and she will stop at nothing, NOTHING, to get what she wants.

No one drafted #54, which really left me turned on my head.

I'm still not sure how on 'our side' Lizzie is. We'll find out as we keep chasing the story through the cars of the Railway, I suppose.

As for this spot...Oracle?

Let's just keep guessing Oracle for all the unranked

I'm always a little unsure with Lizzie because I read the series she's from, along with Tommy Taylor, so for th emost part, I'm just along for the ride. Still, Saoirse thinks she's awful and should stop being mean to Lush.

That scene with Lizzie was so good. She comes across like she does feel bad, but there's shit to do and no time to mourn.

Man we have a handful of heads... Robotman, Red Tyrant. My guess is Red Tornado?

Alternatively this is a very very cruel hint and he lied about only being one missed mention and this is Max Lord

Scare bringing up the possibility that this is a cruel hint makes me think 'Bruce Wayne'.

...Or Mitchell Hundred. Scar if it's Mitchell Hundred I will be laughing for a long time.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

I'm always a little unsure with Lizzie because I read the series she's from, along with Tommy Taylor, so for th emost part, I'm just along for the ride. Still, Saoirse thinks she's awful and should stop being mean to Lush.

Yeah, I know it's tough to parse the characters or maybe even to reconcile that my version of the character has some significant departures from the original. But I think, in terms of Lizzie if she was a part of DC canon, I'm happy with how she's turned out.

#54 - Stargirl
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/4/AAUHRBAAEbRw.png
The shining star of the next generation.

Courtney Whitmore is a young legacy heroine who is a member of the Justice Society of America. Originally, she operated as the Star-Spangled Kid, using both the original Kids Cosmic Converter Belt. But when Jack Knight retired, he left Courtney his Cosmic Staff, which convinced her to change her identity to Stargirl. As A-Day struck, infecting some of Stargirls family, Courtney and her stepfather, Pat Dugan, decided that the better part of valor was to carefully infiltrate the new organization of Furies, pretending to be one of their recent converts. For weeks, Stargirl lay in wait, fighting the corruption of Goth until Checkmate assisted her in retaking her Cosmic Converter Belt and her fathers uniform. Along with Bob Crane, the original Robotman, the pair returned to Zonn Zorr.

What happens when the stars in the sky die out? The insoluble truths that held self-evident, winking out of existence, one by one by one? For Courtney there was no grand strategy, no master plan for vengeance in Blue Valley. There was only survival - survival and a gnawing, biting, painful reminder of inevitability. In the pit of her stomach, it grew like a cancer - the immutable realization that reality would someday set in, and those things she pretended transplanted by a wholehearted embrace of Goth's corruption. So when hope sprang from the unlikeliest of sources, and once the adrenaline of escape wore off, Courtney had to wrestle with the fact that she was ready to go to the dark side.

That's the crux of the young Stargirl in this campaign - Courtney has been a hero born and bred, every single thread of her grander tapestry laid to reflect the idea that, someday, Courtney might be the leader of a generation of superheroes. But Courtney had never been pushed too far - it had always been fun and games to the former Star-Spangled Kid, and now, for the first time, she had been tested and found wanting. The psychological toll that takes on someone who has essentially led a charmed life to that point is incalculable. Not even Pat, I don't think, can really pull Courtney back from this existential threat, and as Courtney continues to battle on, we'll have to watch her, together, to understand where she's going, and what a no longer self-assured destiny does to the brightest girl on Earth.

You people were remarkably quiet when it came to any discussion about drafting #53.

In retrospect, no picking Stargirl is an odd choice. You've always sung her praises, and I really wish I'd picked her over Vicki Vale. I don't know why I overlooked her in the moment though.

Stargirl is great. A little dissappointed she's been on the infiltration team, I feel like we're missing a team of young heroes together and she would be a fit for that

Oh yay! Pleasantly surprised to see her this high. Love her.

Next... Hush?

Also i shouldn't have made hombad check previous lists for me and just picked her when i thought of it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/1/4/AAcguBAAEbR6.jpg

I very strongly considered taking Courtney instead of Squire, and instead of Jack Cross, and really any of my last 5 picks could have easily been Courtney. She was #1 on my undrafted board! She and Susie have really hit it off, and Susie questioning how Courtney would know she wasn't going to kill her, that Susie would kill Pepper first, was a great moment to read.

...That said, for this pick....The Spectre?

well Stargirl last time was closer to a 'yay she's not actually evil' moment than her doing anything

also I'm now realizing #53 is probably undrafted as opposed to a quiet drafting and...Jesse?

#53 - Hush
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/5/3/AAJ38fAAEFSt.jpg
He's your Bruce Wayne now, Spirit.

Thomas Tommy Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who, out of jealousy, decided to take him down, using the moniker of Hush. In fact, Hush blames Thomas Wayne for being physically abused by his own father and for the state of his mother after his father was killed in a car accident. Hush returned to Batmans life as Tommy Elliot and carefully orchestrated an elaborate revenge that nearly put the entire Bat-Family through their paces, driving them to their psychological limits. In the end, Hush was forced to retreat, evading capture. He has since resurfaced, masquerading as Bruce Wayne after a series of plastic surgeries calculated to give him a perfect artificial face of Bruce Wayne. With the resources of Simon Hurt at his disposal, Hush traveled to Leesburg in an effort to gather kryptonite for the Court of Owls. There, he took over the small town with the assistance of Furies, Equated, the Society and OMACs, all of which ultimately proved for naught when, during the Battle of Leesburg, Checkmate made its first surprise assault against Darkseids forces, taking Hush unaware and collapsing his burgeoning empire. Tommy now languishes in Zonn Zorrs holding facility under the watchful eye of Sasha Bordeaux.

But there IS a caveat to that - soon enough, thanks to a savvy plan enacted by Amanda Waller and involving Spirit's work as both a heroic partner of sorts to the Bat-Family as well as his growing renown as a surgeon, Hush may soon be... Bruce Wayne again. After working alongside his entire team of medical experts, Spirit has removed large tumeric growths caused by the close contact exposure to kryptonite radiation that riddled Hush's body with cancer. Hush knows that this didn't come free; and he has begun to delight in the notion that his Bruce Wayne facade allows him certain advantages, such as the idea of being offered a house arrest deal that will involve faking the presence of Bruce Wayne in Z'onn Z'orr. The idea that one of the richest men on Earth and Lex Luthor's business rival is siding with Checkmate will bolster the spirits of every refugee entering Castling - and Waller sees a value in that.

So, what we have here is an opportunity for Spirit to finally insert himself in the deep, unrepentantly sticky muck of Checkmate's mission - deceit, secrets on a scale unimaginable, an entire new infrastructure dedicated to manipulating the people of Z'onn Z'orr. An inspiration built around a lie.

Hush loves it. Hush cannot possibly be more excited to get everything he ever wanted. He'll be Bruce Wayne. And the world is going to love him for it, even as the real Bruce Wayne languishes in the bowels of Darkseid's capital.

#52 - 52! 52! We get back to draftees with a pick that was very close to perfect draft value!

Hrm... the closest in draft value is Lex Luthor, at 1 away.

Hush is one of the creepiest allies in the campaign.

As for this pick...of course Lex would be 52.

TotallyNotMI posted...

Also i shouldn't have made hombad check previous lists for me and just picked her when i thought of it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/1/4/AAcguBAAEbR6.jpg

Stargirl debuted as a Fury that no one really interacted with and thats when she would have been eligible. We didn't return for a long time so probably her development came on the next list time frame. There's a reason I used a previous reward to get a write up for her!

Dang, I was really considering Hush! I just thought he hasn't had enough time yet to place this high. I'm looking forward to getting that tower built when we can

I will die on the hill that Lex drops top 10

(Until he falls at 52)

I know very little about Hush from comics stuff. I know he was a big threat to the Bat family and maybe has ties to Riddler? His reveal in Leesburg was really cool and immediately made him feel very important. Interested in seeing what he has up his sleeves.

#52 - Lono
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/9/3/AAAe4tAADosF.png
A wolf in wolf's clothing.

The wild and untameable Lonos origins are shrouded in mystery, but one thing is for certain - he is absolutely, unequivocally dangerous. With more knowledge than he lets on, Lono found himself amused with the plight of Checkmate agents and decided to play along with their stabs at resistance. Pushing around his new acquaintances and roughing up Snapper, Lono offered to help Checkmate in their bid to destabilize Tampa, but he appeared to have brought down significant heat upon himself, with most of Tampa looking to cut his throat.

From here, the party was forced to go in hot, taking down a couple dozen Society mercs as they raced through a flooded parking garage, looking to rescue Lono and speed him to a hasty retreat. When they found him, however, they witnessed Lono in the throes of throttling more than one higher level villain, dispatching them with ease. Lono took control quickly, and soon enough, the party was driving to Miami, where they met Lono's employer, Constance von Hagen - a member of the Trust (thirteen families which largely control the world's financial community. However, with the Mobius Chair in Detroit a prize for so many factions, betrayals are inevitable, and Lono seems willing to play ball with Checkmate for the right price - which PATCH of all people discovered, offering Lono the equivalent of $20 million in weaponry and missiles (!) for help rescuing a cat named Isis.

So that's concerning.

There's no greater feeling that galloping spark of inspiration that drives a minor NPC into a position of prominence for me. I guess the excitement is similar to Linus as he describes playing his own character (Lenny Peppridge) in Ocean's Thirteen: "I am him." When you can see every mannerism, every microexpression, that's when you've got something special. Lono, for me, is the character that fits like a glove. Certainly, it helps that he's the sort of scenery chewing amoral mercenary that can thrive in a world like Earth during FInal Crisis, but, more than that, Lono lingers always on the precipice of unraveling. He's tightly bound and ready to burst, only containing himself with his sheer willpower. I like that restriction that almost feels like the opposite - the element of danger makes Lono one of my personal favorite characters that isn't at Z'onn Z'orr... yet.

#51 closes out the bottom half with a top-half draft pick.

Lono feels dangerous. Certainly looking to be a late game player, but the steps he would take to get there who knows if he's someone we want to ally with long term. He certainly makes you question a lot of things, excited to see his role expanding

Lono is both easy and impossible to get a read on.

I like Lono not being in Z'onn Z'orr. He is a great ally to have, if uneasy, in the field. But I feel like bringing him home to domestication is not a good fit.

Seems like we'll carry him around for quite a bit longer - have to see how the new revelations with the Trust tie in to things. Lono expressed taking out members of the Trust - but so did our new friend, Megan Dietrich. But neither of the two know about the other yet.

We'll have to see where that all goes. I am curious to see how Miami develops (though some PC's need to invest in ranged weaponry first imo)

Going to guess Eve Manners with this pick.

My guess here is an Aquazon.

I feel like this could be an Arisia drop

#51 - Arisia
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/5/5/AAOJ0pAADZsH.png
Hi, humie!

Arisia Rrab is the Lantern of Sector 2815, making her, as she refers to herself The Lantern Next Door to Earth. Her father, Fentara served as Green Lantern before her, as did many other members of her family line, which is considered to be a bloodline that passes along great willpower hereditarily. Arisias race, Graxosians, have life spans that are roughly one-quarter that of humans, with a fast development, making her one of the youngest members of the Corps. Arisia became a Green Lantern as a teenager - or what is considered a teenager in her species, and served with distinction alongside Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner and even Kyle Rayner.

Look, you don't open a door to an absolute emerald wonderland without the right wide-eyed unstoppable force of every-present awe that is the eternally youthful Arisia. I could have kicked it off with more of the ol' G-Gar, maybe a little Hal to rally the boys. It's Arisia that kicked off the space experience in earnest, and that's because she's just so damned likable, right? The Corps is just that much better for her existence. Innocent yet experienced. Wholesome and yet complicated. Arisia straddles the line between young and old, hopeful and jaded, clad in jade all the way - green, that is, of the Lantern variety. An ally to hu-mans across the planet, whether it's the dog humans or the Martian humans or just plain old humies, it doesn't matter to Arisia. She loves you all. I mean, look at her - she's a humie roomie, even if there's a loomie doomie coming throughme. Arisia is the breeziest, easiest cover girl of the Corps, and to RP with her is like eating an ice cream cone. It's just so damned sweet.

Whether you're playing sexy time big muscleman action figures with her or gifting her a "NINTENDO!", Arisia's doe-eyed optimism and constant enthrallment with the simplest of child's toys is a perfect juxtaposition to her fast-grown maturity in the field, making her accessible and easygoing, but also reliable - and one of the Corps' mainstays.

We're back to a few Honorable Mentions before we break into the Top 50, and here's one that, had she had ONE more session, easily could have breached the Top 90.

THIS one I'm guessing is Blackbat.

fucking CALLED IT

scarletspeed7 posted...

We're back to a few Honorable Mentions before we break into the Top 50, and here's one that, had she had ONE more session, easily could have breached the Top 90.

clearly we're finally getting fright

My action figure rp with Arisia was one of the dumbest things I have ever done and it was amazing

Hmm... My guess for this is Tala even though I keep thinking of Evvie

Arisia is one of the characters in the 'if you want to feel good about your character, talk to them' tier, because she will be in awe of your humieness.

This...my gut says Eve?

Honorable Mention: Lady Shiva
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/7/1/AAJ38fAAEEZL.png
The woman who would be #116.

Lady Shiva is considered by many to be the most skillful hand-to-hand martial artist in the world, perhaps even capable of besting Batman in one-on-one combat. Her intimidating presence is borne from her legendary grapples with the Earths leading brawlers and fighters, and that reputation drew the attention of Deathstroke. Before he left from Boston on his mysterious Society mission, Deathstroke placed Shiva in charge, keeping her in close proximity to her oldest daughter - Cassandra Cain. Shiva has aspirations to expand her influence beyond Boston, to take down the cells around her, and to destroy her largest rival, Tobias Whale.

Lady Shiva is the boss of Boston, a ruthless and calculating leader with few weaknesses. Shiva was handpicked by Deathstroke to control his favored city and serve as guardian over her own daughter and a band of not-so-merry Titans cobbled together for purposes unknown, yet Shiva clearly has her own aspirations. But whether it's a focus on Cassandra or her younger daughter, Sin, Shiva clearly has certain ambitions that either tie directly to Deathstroke's orders or stand in opposition to them. Either way, Shiva is ready to expand, one of the few cell leaders in the Society that has demonstrated that sort of craven lust for power and prominence in the organization. Shiva is naturally deadly, and I think every single action she takes exudes a bit of the danger that continued existence in her presence creates. Ultimately, I hope that the return trips to Boston continue to build and enhance the party's relationship with the most deadly woman in the world. Who knows? Maybe Fastbreak will tag along with them. That's a reunion I think all of us long to see.

Honorable Mention #2 of this batch - a midrange draftee!

I feel like Iolande hits HM territory

Shiva is such a force that it only added terror to the effortless way Cassandra handled her. Whether it's because Shiva held back due to it being Cassandra, Cassandra being that good, or both, I can't begin to say, but none of them are good news while Cassandra hates us.

But we do need more Boston and Shiva in the campaign.

As for this...L-Ron?

Johnbobb posted...

I feel like Iolande hits HM territory

not a fucking change bruv

Also, it's confirmed that everyone in the top 5 rounds is a correct pick

I think this could be Kobra or Lex

I'm very beside myself on if I should take Xander or Lush to Boston. I feel Lush would mesh very well in the world of Shiva, Deathstroke's Titans, and Tobias Whale. ...But Xander already has enemy Shiva and enemy Blackbat. It's very tempting!

I almost guessed Shiva over Tala... Oh well.

For this I'm between Animal Man and Vostok

I'll die if it's Lex

Shiva is really cool - I'm excited to see her again when we head back for Hartford. And to get my dog!

Vostok feels right

I didn't say anything about Arisia, but she is adorable and a hoot. And, honestly, a little unnerving sometimes. Combining the childlike innocence with the, well, matured adult, by rights makes her relationship with Hal et all better, but it's still a little uncomfortable!

Which is, of course, great.

Honorable Mention: Valentina Vostok, the Negative Woman
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/5/0/AAQcMAAADjL2.jpg
The woman who would be #115.

A former member of the Doom Patrol, the extremely negative Valentina Vostok maintains a firm grasp on the Command Center in Zonn Zorr, wielding her banhammer with reckless abandon. Vostok has a cool disposition, but beneath that frosty exterior, she really is a frigid bitch. Although, some claim that, secretly, Brennus is her favorite.

Everything you do is wrong, and Vostok is here to remind you that you are NOT Checkmate. At least, not the Checkmate she's been expecting. It's important to realize just how wrong you are sometimes. There's always an alternative to every decision, a better use for resources, a better time to make an appearance, a better path to victory. Without someone like Vostok to question, question, question all of your decisions, where would you be? Probably celebrating hollow victories at the expense of deeper, lingering problems. A Russian to the core, there is no good enough. There is no value in the effort. There is only right and wrong. And guess which one Vostok thinks you managed?

Look, there's no right way to deal with Vostok - only degrees of wrong ways. Just so long as you don't call her "Val", you're probably doing okay.

An undrafted honorable mention up next!

I wasn't expecting Vostok to not make it, though i guess there are sides to her that we do not quite get to exploring. She's such a mainstay that it's hard not to think of her among the upper echelon of our NPC's.

Guessing Tanya.