Thursday, July 22, 2010

TMNT: ICONS in a Half Shell!


So Adamant Entertainment recently released the ICONS RPG, a superhero RPG written by Steve Kenson and inspired in no small part by the old Marvel Classic roleplaying game.  It's a very rules lite RPG, (almost too lite for my tastes in some places) but is still pretty cool.  It even has random character generation, which has inspired more than a few ideas for me that are likely to wind up in comic books down the line.  That said, I got the bright idea to write up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in ICONS, inspired partly by the fact that my kids are HUGE fans of the Turtles.  My ICONS Turtleverse is taken from the bits of each Turtleverse I like best, and so the write-ups are kind of a hybrid of the various Turtles incarnations.

Leonardo
Origin: Transformed

Prowess: 6
Coordination: 4
Strength: 4
Intellect: 4
Awareness: 5
Willpower: 5

Powers
Katanas: Strike (Slashing) 5
Turtle Shell: Invulnerability 3

Specialties
Acrobatics
Leadership
Martial Arts Expert
Stealth Master
Weapons (Blades) Master

Qualities
"Leonardo Leads..."
Connections: Splinter, April O'Neil
Spiritual Connection to Master Splinter
Motivation: To be the Perfect Warrior

Challenges
Sibling Rivalry: Raphael
Gah!  Snakes!
Impossible Standards
Trusting to a Fault
Enemy: Shredder

Stamina: 9
Determination: 3

Leonardo is the leader of the Turtles, the most spiritual as well as being the strongest fighter.  His Qualities are pretty self explanatory, but his Challenges include a healthy fear of snakes, constant personality clashes with Raphael, a somewhat naive outlook on other beings and a tendency to hold himself to such exacting standards that it not only impacts him, but his brothers when they fail to live up to Leonardo's lofty ideals...though Leonardo himself never actually holds that against his siblings.

Donatello
Origin: Transformed

Prowess: 5
Coordination: 4
Strength: 4
Intellect: 6
Awareness: 4
Willpower: 4

Powers:
Bo Staff: Strike (Bashing) 2
Turtle Shell: Invulnerability 3
Quick Thinking: Wizardry (Gadgets) 4
     Dimensional Travel, ESP

Specialties
Acrobatics
Computers
Drive
Electronics
Martial Arts Expert
Mechanics Expert
Pilot
Stealth Master
Weapons (Bludgeons) Master

Qualities
"Donatello does machines..."
Connections: Splinter, April O'Neil
Second in Command
Brainiac

Challenges
Doesn't "Get" Humans
Pacifist
Unexpected Glitch

Stamina: 8
Determination: 1

The brainiac of the Turtles, Donatello loves tinkering with machines, computers, you name it.  At home with a motherboard or a van engine, he relishes the opportunity to work with his hands.  Given a few minutes and some materials, he has a knack for bashing together all kinds of wacky inventions, though they sometimes go awry.  The second in command of the Turtles due to a maturity level second only to Leo's, Don is the quietest but steadiest Turtle.  Don is the least aggressive of the Turtles.  That's not saying he WON'T fight, especially if his family is in danger, just that he will work harder to avoid conflict in any situation and is harder to move to action than any of his brothers.  He also has a hard time relating to people, not really understanding human cultures the same way his brothers (especially Michelangelo) do.  Also, as mentioned, his devices often go on the fritz at the worst possible time.

Michelangelo
Origin: Transformed

Prowess: 4
Coordination: 6
Strength: 4
Intellect: 3
Awareness: 5
Willpower: 4

Powers
Nunchuks: Strike (Bashing) 3
Turtle Shell: Invulnerability 3

Specialities
Acrobatics Expert
Art (Writing)
Athletics
Martial Arts Expert
Stealth Master
Weapons (Bludgeons) Master

Qualities
"Michelangelo is a Party Dude!"
"I Love Being A Turtle!"
Hopelessly Optimistic
Empathetic
Connections: April O'Neil, Leatherhead and Splinter

Challenges
Comic Relief
Undisciplined
The Little Brother

Stamina: 8
Determination: 3

Michelangelo is pure, energetic spirit among the Turtles. The most outgoing of the brothers, he is always the one to look on the brighter side of a situation, or reach out to a stranger in need...no matter how strange, such as in the case of the mutated crocodile Leatherhead.  His enthusiasm can be infectious, to the point that he can even make Raphael crack a smile.  While he is the least skilled fighter of the Turtles, he is also the most athletic as well as being the most poetic.  Michelangelo, in addition to being a warrior, is also an author in his free time.  However, he is much less disciplined than his brothers, which can grate on them, and his constant jokes can even make Splinter and Donatello snap at him.  Michelangelo also does less than the others because he is almost "babied' by them, being treated as less capable than the rest.

Raphael
Origin: Transformed

Prowess: 5
Coordination: 4
Strength: 5
Intellect: 3
Awareness: 4
Willpower: 6

Powers
Sais: Weapons (Slashing) 4
Turtle Shell: Invulnerability 3

Specialties
Acrobatics
Martial Arts Expert
Stealth Master
Weapons (Blades) Master
Wrestling

Qualities
"Raphael is cool but crude"
Fiercely Loyal
Connections: April O'Neil, Splinter and Casey Jones
Secret Identity: Nightwatcher


Challenges
Gah!  Bugs!
Sibling Rivalry: Leonardo
Explosive Temper

Stamina: 11
Determination: 3

Bullheaded to the very end, Raphael often clashes with his brothers, ESPECIALLY Leonardo.  He doesn't follow orders well, and it irks him to no end that Leonardo has Donatello as his second in command and Splinter agrees with that.  Raphael is ALMOST as good as Leonardo...his biggest problem being his temper, which can cause him to make mistakes or say and do things he regrets later.  Though he sometimes moonlights as The Nightwatcher, which gives him the freedom that being a member of the Turtles doesn't, it is something he has to keep secret because the other Turtles, especially Donatello, would not approve of his methods.  All that said, Raphael is fiercely loyal to his brothers, Michelangelo most of all, and would not hesitate to give his life to save them.  He is more than a little creeped out by insects, though.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Origin: Transformed
Members: Leonardo (Leader), Donatello, Michelangelo & Raphael
Mentor: Master Splinter

Team Determination: 6

Qualities
"Turtle Power!"
We Strike Quickly and Fade Away
Heroes in a Half Shell

Challenges
Targeted by The Foot Clan and the Purple Dragons
Must Hide Our Existence from the World

8 comments:

  1. Thanks!

    I'm pondering whether or not to keep expanding, or just leave this and move on.

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  2. Please continue with at least Shredder and Splinter.

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  3. Consider it confirmed here:

    Next batch will be Shredder, Hun, Bebop and Rocksteady.

    I'll catch at least Splinter, April and Casey Jones in the third batch.

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  4. What a cool idea! Thanks.

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  5. I especially love how you incorporated each turtle's tag lines from the original theme song as qualities. Brilliant!

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  6. It seemed like the obvious thing to do...=)

    ReplyDelete