Robot Viking

At long last, the final vote-off for the Robot Viking Hero System contest. Come read the top three character concept ideas and vote on your favorite. The winner will receive a free copy of the Hero System 6th Edition Basic Rulebook.

The original plan for this contest was that I would stat out the top three character ideas using the Hero System. I did this some time ago, but apparently the voting post got lost in the the spaces between dimensions. I went back to retrieve the info this weekend and discovered that I had done some work on paper, but a lot of it I entered directly into my blogging software. The result was a bunch of notebook pages with semi-incomprehensible notes and formulae. I didn’t have the heart (or time) to go back and redo the stats, so we’ll have to do without and base the contest on the awesomeness of the concepts alone. And you’ll have to take my word for it that Hero System is amazingly versatile and was easily able to handle these ideas (although creating characters was a bit time consuming for someone just learning the system, like me).

All the entries were really cool, it was almost futile for me to try and rank them in any meaningful way. I’d gladly read and collect a comic book series about any one of them. We’ve got some excellent villains and heroes here. Here’s the top 3. You can vote in the poll below.

Captain Jonathan Starling

by guybrush

In 1892, retired British navy captain Jonathan Starling was pressed into service one last time to thwart a fantastic criminal scheme to corrupt the Empire, but the fiendish Dr Magnus Carter had his revenge. He overloaded his “kronoscope”, the device with which he had been transporting prehistoric monsters to London’s sewers, and though Starling managed to push his companions clear he was caught in its last explosion.

Starling vanished, only to appear 19 years later exactly as he was on that day. He fades in and out of time, but always seems to appear when he is needed, using his new gifts of impossibly quick reflexes, perfect recall and an ability to read the past of anything he touches to protect Queen and Country. Armed with his trusty swordcane and revolver, he liaises with a special arm of His (or Her) Majesty’s Secret Service, who watch out for his appearances, knowing they will only come in a time of crisis.

Technorati

by TheDozarian

Mike Wilson was a kid with a strange gift; he understood computers. Not your normal, “Hey look I can program scripts and download torrents” understanding, mind you. He could communicate with them without the need for the mouse and keyboard. He could manipulate electronics on a quantum level. While working with Dr. Singleton to refine his powers he stumbled into a portal at the Defense Research Institute. It sent him back in time with only his laptop and the gear in his backpack. Now, in the old west, Mike uses his abilities to maintain his gear, create new equipment, and works to find a way home. Using his ability to manipulate electronics on the quantum level, Mike has found a way to communicate with Dr. Singleton in the future. With his help and his abilities, Mike has created the persona of Technorati to help him in procuring the things he needs to find a way back home.

Cowboys, deserts, and cybernetics? Sounds like fun. Who knows what or who Technorati will help on his way home. He may even be responsible for inventions we attribute to other people in history…

Roach

by Bailywolf

There’s something to be said for truth in advertising.

Roach is… he’s a giant roach big enough to drive an SUV and make Kafka poop himself a little bit.

Roach is big, shiny, and disgusting. His metabolism is also a runaway train, and he’s constantly snacking on bags of pork rinds and sacks of dollar-menu burgers. He can eat twice his own body weight in meaty protein every day, and still feel hungry before midnight.

Nobody knows if Roach is some kind of freak human, somebody cursed, a shape changer, or a mutated roach grown to enormous size. Roach isn’t talking (usually because his mouth is full).

But other than eating, Roach also like the finer things in life – trash talking on XBox live, grotesquely large sport-utes, and leather sofas (which he can snack on if he’s bored). But he goes through XBox controllers and Sport-Utes, and Leather Sofas pretty fast. He tends to break the first with a rage-quit, rip a chunk out of the third, and then crash the middle one into a bridge embankment while screaming abuse at somebody on his cellphone. This isn’t that big a deal for Roach because he’s as hard to kill as you’d expect him to be, and he’s got a great source of income.

Roach makes things go away.

Specifically, he makes bodies go away.

More specifically, he makes bodies go away into his belly.

Roach can polish off three average mobsters in an afternoon. He’ll take a little longer to gnaw through superhuman flesh, but he can eventually eat anybody if he’s got enough time and barbecue sauce.

Roach doesn’t like to fight, preferring to scuttle away creepy-quick, but if forced to brawl he’s about the dirtiest fighter you’ve ever faced. Seriously, if you have balls, they’re going to get kicked. Watch out for the flesh-dissolving digestive slime too. hit him too hard in the abdomen, and he’ll puke on you.

Roach wears a giant-roach-sized tracksuit cut specially to allow for all his limbs. he’s also got lots of gold chains, and a better phone than yours. He’s always got a better phone than yours, and he can text while fighting (all those limbs are worth something), so when you tangle with him, expect to see tweets like:

dapimproach: totly pwning sum noob cayp bich!!!

He’s got the worst accent you’ve ever heard. Like Steve Buscemi trying to talk street. He makes up slang, when trying to be tough. You can’t really threaten the guy, because he’s a roach, and beyond stomping him, you can’t really make his life worse than that.

Mostly, everyone hates him, even the guys he does snack-jobs for.

Voting

Elements to consider when voting: innovation and originality, how much fun such a character would be in an RPG, interesting powers and abilities, how readily the character concept brings to mind fun and interesting stories or scenarios. You do have to register with Robot Viking to vote. Voting ends exactly one week from today. I’ll get in touch with the winner regarding prize details — make sure your email address is correct in your user registration.

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