The Book of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)

[A3n]

Are you saying that impartially???

He holds masters in several Martial Arts disciplines, & has a high-level of acrobatic skills that he uses in his fights.

It was also stated (I think it was at his funeral) that was smarter then Batman just that people did look at him to notice it.

[Lord Pyre]

I'm fine with the SA, personally.

I like the lower stats, and would much prefer his Secret Identity to be just Ted Kord. Otherwise it's good!

And yeah, I've been waiting a long time for him, too!

[johnny139]

I was kind of hoping he'd get a Utility Belt... but I can live without it.

I agree that the Special Attack seems a bit inorganic though.

[IAmBatman]

Not sure you saw this, A3n. My main beef with the special attack is the wording (though I also wouldn't mind swapping out the extra skulls for OM removal.

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Looking at precedent from current powers, I'd go with something like this, personally:

BEETLE GUN SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 4.
Choose a figure to attack. All figures adjacent to the chosen figure are also affected by this special attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately. If Blue Beetle inflicts one or more wounds on a small or medium figure with this special attack, you may choose to place that figure on any space within one space of its original placement. A figure moved by this special attack never takes any leaving engagement attacks and cannot be placed closer to Blue Beetle than its original placement. A figure moved by this special attack can receive any falling damage that may apply. After all affected figures have been placed, roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 16 or higher, remove one unrevealed Order Marker at random from each affected figure's Army Card.

I'm totally fine with Blue Beetle coming off as smarter than Batman. But I just don't think he's really been consistently represented as being as good of a fighter as Batman. Is this a biased impression? Probably. But I think it's one shared by the majority of the comic book reading public, so it's worth keeping in mind.

I prefer just "Ted" as well, fwiw.

[Scapemage]

Just Ted please, as we've done it with everyone else (Tony Stark, not Anthony for example).

I'm fine with the intelligence level, but there is no way that he's a better fighter than Batman. Maybe it is just the general consensus, but Batman is hands-down the best fighter in DC comics, or at least that's what I've perceived in any account I've ever read or heard of.

[quozl]

He's supposed to be the ultimate master of strategy, IIRC.

How's this look for a simplified version that emphasizes strategic thinking?

STRATEGIC SHOT SPECIAL ATTACK
Range 5. Attack 4.
Choose a figure to attack. All figures adjacent to the chosen figure are also affected by this special attack. Roll attack dice once for all affected figures. Affected figures roll defense dice separately. One at a time, roll the 20-sided die for each figure that took one or more wounds from this attack. If you roll 16 or higher, remove one unrevealed Order Marker at random from that figure's Army Card.

[IAmBatman]

"took" should be "received" but I definitely like that.

[Spidey'tilIDie]

No. No he is not equivalent to Batman as a fighter. If you have read Watchmen, he has basically always been similar to Niteowl II, who was based upon him in the comics. The movie batman-ed Niteowl up. Just like Ted, he inherited the mantle from a much more physical guy and added the tech part himself to compensate for his lower ability at fisticuffs. (Niteowl I was a cop and Dan Garrett was a world adventurer/ archeologist like Indiana Jones or Doc Savage.) If you read somewhere that he is on Batman's level that must have been in reference to his Charlton Comics days. (A company which I seriously doubt anyone else here could even have named.) For most casual fans they will know him from either Giffen and Demateis' run on JL or on Superbuddies, not from the old stuff from Charlton.

[Lord Pyre]

I could have named Charlton comics. Mainly because I'm a huge Watchmen nerd and know where all the characters came from.

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

I could have named Charlton comics. Mainly because I'm a huge Watchmen nerd and know where all the characters came from.

Ditto, though it might have been a tough pull for me.

But, yeah, either way, he's no Batman. Thanks for the back-up, Spidey.

[A3n]

SP updated. Any more comments before sending it off to ERB?

[IAmBatman]

Like the changes.