#31 Black Cobra VII

Posted by Sage LaTorra on Jan 18, 2011 in Games, Powers For Good | 1 comment

Today I’m revisiting the 30 Character Challenge to take a look at a character Vito was interested to see my take on. It’s also a chance to show off the latest  version of the rules. Here’s Black Cobra VII created by Vito Delsante.

Personality: Cocky Teenager

The son of Black Cobra VI, Devon Collis thinks he can handle being a hero. He’s just started college, and with his mom’s help and the free time that affords him he’s taking to the streets more and more. Just like every freshman, he thinks he can handle a full course load and his extra-curricular activities.

Powers:

• Venom
• Backup Quarterback
• Superhero History
• Hornsby Blood
• Renae Hornsby-Collis

Before I talk about the powers themselves, I should take a moment to say that yes, this is what powers look like now. All you have to do is describe the advantages the character has, the things they use to save the day, and move on. No assigning dice or tags, all that is taken care of in other ways. It’s an idea that stretches my brain a little, since I love assigning dice and tags and that kind of mechanical nailing-down, but this system is probably for the better. Now anyone can make their favorite hero into a character easily, and any writeup (like the Marvel Universe Handbooks, or DC’s Who’s Who) provides all you need to make them into a PfG character.

Venom makes sense, as Renae would be certain to pass down that information to her son. Keeping enough Venom on hand is another matter, since Devon is no longer based at home, leading to the possibility of the classic Spider-man out-of-web-fluid moments.

Trying to keep a low profile, Devon held back through his entire high school football career. I imagine him as being a lot like the backup/replacement quarterback from the beginning of Friday Night Lights: likable and capable enough, but always hiding behind the bigger names when out of costume. Of course that doesn’t mean he can’t land one hell of a tackle when he puts on his tights.

Superhero history and Hornsby blood are directly passed down from Renae. I imagine her quizzing her son on various heroes of the past and their key battles, and the same venom mutation that runs in her blood is in his too.

Whenever he’s in costume, Renae is on the radio with him through a small earpiece. She’s his experience, his researcher, and his line of contact to the larger world of superheroes when he needs help. A little bit like Old Man Bruce in Batman Beyond, Renae is what guides Devon.

History: Discovered that PH, the Master of Acids, is actually Dr. Burke at Upstate College, who teaches Devon’s Chem 101 class.

I hadn’t been listing history statements for the other characters in the challenge, but it is part of character creation (and has been from the start), so I did it here. History statements are a way of gaining advantages and bringing in the continuity aspect of comics at the table.

Since Powers For Good is about team comics, I wrote a starting history that says something about why Black Cobra might be part of a team. After finding out that Dr. Burke is the noted villain PH, Devon decided to seek out the help of a team in bringing him to justice, since he isn’s sure he can do it himself.