Saturday, September 3, 2022

Strongarm, Two-Fisted Cyborg

A bionic supervillain who came by his powers involuntarily and has been making the best of it ever since.  Mostly in it for the money and tech support.  Quite possible he's slowly being turned into a something truly inhuman, but he doesn't know that.

Strongarm

Lukman Ali was a mundane henchman for a "mad science" supervillain when he was "volunteered" to be a test subject for some poorly-understood bionic parts that had been acquired through dubious channels.  The original intent had probably been to remove the limbs once they'd killed Lukman, but to everyone's surprised the grafts flourished and within days he'd integrated with them to an extent that safe (for the bionics, that is - the organic henchman was a secondary consideration) removal was no longer possible.  His employer was still mulling over what to do about the situation when his base was raided by a superhero team, the villain was apprehended, and Lukman led a few of his former co-workers in a last-minute escape before they vanished into the criminal underworld.

Since then Lukman has adopted the supranym Strongarm and gone on to become a reliable super-thug for hire, usually working for tech villains and organizations who can offer him some technical support for his bionics.  He lacks any real knowledge of how they work although they seem to be self-repairing and need no maintenance, but he still worries about them failing him and arranges for regular "check-ups" just in case.  Most of the people who've had a good look at Strongarm's bionics just tell him what he obviously wants to hear, but a few have realized how sophisticated they really are and how much they've spread through his body.  Lukman is clueless about all that, but he's been marked for observation by a number of important villains and groups at this point.

On a psychological level Lukman talks a good game but still has some serious self-confidence issues from his time as a mook and involuntary test subject.  That doesn't make him much easier to deal with in a fistfight, though.    

Description: Tall, fit man whose biological parts are dwarfed by comedically oversized cybernetic arms melded to him at his shoulders.  He wears black knee boot and a dark red uniform with white detailing and a white double fist logo on the chest, leaving his arms and head bare.  His bionics are obviously artificial, metallic blue, and have beam emitter ports in the fingertips, palms and forearms.  Despite his height he can still put his palms flat on the ground while standing upright.  When hurrying, he'll use his oversized arms to knuckle-walk or swing along athletically like a gorilla.  Medical examination will reveal more subtle bionics laced throughout his body, including subdermal armor weaves, bone and muscle reinforcements and less obvious upgrades that appear to be slowly spreading and replacing internal tissues and organs.  He speaks English, Arabic, and Lebanese with an Midwest American accent, and has a smattering of Hebrew, German, and Italian as well.  He's been around some, although he was born in the USA and doesn't take kindly to those who assume otherwise.   

Gender: Male        Age: Early Twenties      Height: 6'1"      Eyes: Hazel

Hair: White                       Skin: Swarthy                Build: Trim and Muscular

Approach:  Bully                               

Archetype:  Formidable (Weakness: Fear, Threats & Embarrassment)

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Mighty Metal Arms d10, Presence d8, Strength d8                                  

Qualities: Blustering Badass d8, Close Combat d8, Ranged Combat d8                                

Status: No Weakness Penalties - d12 / Both Bonuses and Penalties - d8 / Only Weakness Penalties - d4

Abilities:

Clinch (A) Attack using Mighty Metal Arms.  Use your Max die.  Defend against all Attacks from that target using your Mid die until the start of your next turn.

Showboating (A) Boost using Presence.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Attack using your Mid die.

Sneering Disdain (A) Boost using Presence.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Remove all penalties on yourself.

Strongarm Tactics (A) Attack two nearby targets using Mighty Metal Arms.  Use your Max die against one target and your Mid + Min dice against the other.  If either target Defends against the Attack, the Defend works against both Attacks.

Upgrades & Masteries:

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.

Master Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome where your payment is at stake.

Tactics

Strongarm's cybernetics give him a real punch (literally and in the form of built-in beam cannons) but he's something of a coward at heart and goes to pieces when seriously threatened or humiliated.  This leads to him spending a lot of time in a fight blustering and putting on a show to hide his weakness, using Showboating to encourage himself and Sneering Disdain to try throw off attempts to intimidate or embarrass him.  When he feels confident he prefers to use Strongarm Tactics when facing more than one foe, or Clinch against a single enemy.

His upgrade makes him more effective against multiple foes (and works with three of his four abilities) while his mastery makes him a more reliable hireling, getting him better pay in exchange.


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