Another of the newer characters in the Argonauts that I came up with in Volume II is Titan. A fairly expected name for a larger than human super strong brick. My one sketch is done when had only a handful of colored pencils available, but it at least gives an idea of what was in my head.
System Notes
For the most part, designing a brick or tank character is really straightforward! They need to be strong and they need to be tough. This is often easily accomplished in superheroic systems. In Mutants and Masterminds, the first thing to look at is the Strength and Toughness Attributes! Building out our standard brick will get us to a 13 Strength and Toughness with the attributes being otherwise unremarkable because we are spending the points elsewhere. Trust me.
For standard and expected Brick powers, I am going to add in 2 ranks of innate growth for an
obvious superhuman size and weight that makes a secret identity impossible. That boosts the Strength and Toughness by 2 each as well, but does knock down the dodge and parry defenses. We will make the 15 Toughness an Impervious Toughness so that any attacks below 8 ranks are just completely ignored – this is the power advantage that is for the bullets literally bouncing off the brick’s skin with nary a scratch! In Mutants and Masterminds, the enhanced traits can be purchased as either the traits themselves or as powers separately. If you purchase them as powers, you can push them and it can help define what special effect is the bases for the powers. I bought Titan’s attributes flat out in the character creation, but put a few “naked” modifiers to apply to all or part of his Strength and Toughness in his power set, like the Imperviousness for his Toughness or the Array of Super Strength maneuvers he likes to use.
Now we start to make this Brick a little bit more distinct. I added a little speed and quickness to Titan to simulate to enhanced running speed their strength allows and added the de rigeur Leaping for faster travel. The image of the brick making the “superhero” landing on one knee with one fist down and the earth cracking beneath them is too classic not to build in.
One thing I really like to do is build a suite of power effects in a “Brick Tricks” category of ways the Brick can use their strength. In Mutants and Masterminds, that means using an Array of Alternate Effects! First, I know that I want to add 5 ranks of extra strength only for lifting to have the truly monumental efforts but also so that the hero can push that strength as a power which you can’t do as just the attribute. Next, I throw in a Gorgon Stomp which is an area burst damage with a linked inexpensive Control Environment – Earth to create movement penalties with some side effects of actually tearing up the ground. To counteract his low chance to hit, a bull rush clothesline of an attack is getting added which creates an Area of Effect for his strength in a line! If he is indiscriminate, he can just barrel through people with his strength and body. I pretty much skipped the Advantages part of this build because of how utterly Strength loaded Titan is. For his skills, I focused on Athletics and a few more ranks of combat skills to help him out. I added his Expertise in Accounting and Telecommunications as befits his background.
Finally, as the character notes will explain, Titan has been manifesting some thunder and lightning based abilities. They are very minor compared to his strength right now, but important to some of his complications and to his overall character and story development. It amounts to approximately the difference between a Power Level 10 and a Power Level 11 character.
The Complications from Mutants and Masterminds blend the nature between the crunch of construction and the incoming character notes. Every starting character has a Motivation and one other Complication which, if they come up in a session, may allow for Hero Points to be earned. Titan’s Motivation is Doing Good; he truly does see his powers as a way to protect the weak and vulnerable literally standing between them and harm. Meanwhile his Complication is his Family! As an over 8 foot tall and nearly 8 foot wide CPA, it is hard to hide who he is which means that his friends and family are often in harm’s way. As a Power Level 11 character who has been through at least one volume of the comic book, he also has the added Complication of Temper – His temper is beginning to grow more and more powerful and he is struggling to keep it under control or understand where this sudden increase in ager is coming from.
Character Notes
Titan, or Babatunde Olawaye, grew up in Nigeria while it was under a military control. It was a time of predators, both swathed in official titles and not, who took advantage of many of the Nigerian people. Babatunde was born after his father was one of the people who died at the hands of the lawless who took advantage of Nigeria’s political state. A precocious child with a distinct sense of right and wrong, he grew quickly and by the time he was ten, had easily broken 6 feet tall. It was then that his powers were realized, when he stood in front of a jeep and stopped it with one hand.
It was not the time to question how or why these powers were blessed upon Babatunde, as he had people and family to protect. It was a thankless job for several years, but the Global Commonwealth Agency eventually stepped in. When the ruling junta decided to expand it’s borders, it ran afoul of GCA jurisdiction and it was something that could be addressed. Babatunde saw this and saw that there was good in the world. People could be better.
Chastened by his family, though, Babatunde only continued his heroics in disguise and in the time he could take away from his studies. His mother was skeptical or his desire to change the world, and seemed more interested in his completion of his studies and moving to the capital for a quiet job.
It’s hard, though, for an 8 foot tall super strong, super tough person to have a quiet job. Even in Lagos, he stood out. Hired into a Telecom as a CPA, his company knew there was more to him, and quietly turned a blind eye to his being late to work and sometimes disappearing. He humble demeanor and infectious laughter were his excuses … little did Babatunde know his “secret” had never been a secret. It was around this time The Argonauts became public knowledge and Babatunde again saw the GCA saving people. He knew what was next in his life.
When Shining KNight had taken a leave from The Argonauts, and others had died, Babatunde took a chance that his growing exploits in lagos, and Nigeria, would be enough to help him help others through the Argonauts. He was right.
Titan revealed himself publicly, though most of Lagos shrugged as it was the worst kept secret in the country. His mother worried and fussed. His company was glad to take the publicity of having an honest to gosh Hero on the payroll for years. Babatunde himself felt proud to stand against the evils of the world and to protect even more people than he had before.
Lately, though, Babtunde’s gregarious laughter has lately grown darker. He has felt his anger beginning to rise up in the back of his throat, and a streak of viciousness is forming. At the same time, a crackle of lighting will play across his skin when he is under extreme duress, and a clap of thunder to deafen those around him has left him as shocked as his opponents. It was in a recent battle with Totem that has given Titan the most pause. Totem smiled, in the way only the animated and fanged head of a dead animal can, and told Titan to ask his mother if the deal she made with Sango has come due.
Argonauts Overview Here.
Titan Character Sheet here.
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Imagery created with Hero Machine 3.
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