Sunday 3 July 2016

Vampifan's Superheroes and Supervillains 05

This team of five supervillains that I want to show are known as the Fraternity. They originally appeared in the Supervisor's Kit supplement for the old Golden Heroes role-playing game from the 1980's. My figures of them are all conversions of DC and Marvel Heroclix figures. I also converted their stats so that I could use them in my GURPS Supers campaign. What I particularly like about this team is that they all wear the same uniform. This is something you rarely see nowadays. The X-Men used to wear identical costumes when they first appeared in Marvel comics when their line-up consisted of Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl. The Fantastic Four have always worn the same costumes, but I'm struggling to think of any other supergroup who wear identical looking costumes.
I start off at the far left with Fanatic. John Lamb aka Fanatic, is a member of the Fraternity, a group of scientists who have decided to use their knowledge and specially developed abilities to amass power and wealth. Lamb developed a drug which enhanced his body's natural strength to its maximum. However it was not without side effects. The most obvious being he grew in size to 8.5 feet. He also suffers from a berserk rage and bloodlust when in combat. I gave him the following super powers in GURPS Supers - Damage Resistance 20, Enhanced Strength 400, Extra Hit Points +32, Increased Speed level:4, Passive Defence 4 and Regeneration. He cost 1,500 points and was considerably more powerful then his Golden Heroes version. To be honest, all of these supervillains were underpowered in Golden Heroes. I boosted their stats a lot. I wish I could remember what figure I used to convert into Fanatic but my mind is drawing a blank. I know he is a conversion because I recognise that I sculpted his head. The rest of him is too professional to have been fully sculpted by me.
Next up is Firebrand, the leader of the Fraternity. Arthur Firne led a very mundane childhood. He scraped through high school, lived in one of the slum areas of Los Angeles, and eked out a meagre living doing dead end jobs. His life changed forever on his 20th birthday. Some mutant gene kicked in and turned him into a fire-wielding meta-human with genius level intellect. As his powers grew, so did his ego. He believed he was destined for greatness and so sought out partners to share his plans for world domination. He only wanted the very brainiest, so he frequented the bars and lecture halls of UCLA hoping to find a group of followers worthy of his ideals. Four disenchanted students met his requirements and were only too glad to partner him. And thus, the Fraternity was born. Firebrand's super powers for GURPS are Body of Fire, Control Fire, Enhanced Strength 25, Extra Hit Points +4, Fireball level:12. Flame Jet level:12, High Technology +2 (i.e. TL:10), Increased Speed +3 and Neutralise Fire. His IQ score is 19, compared to 18 for Freebird and 17 for the other Fraternity members. 10 is the human average. He cost 1,800 points. His figure is a conversion of the Marvel Heroclix supervillain, Pyro. Please don't tell me that I painted his flames wrong. I now know that flames should go from light to dark. I didn't back then when I painted him.
Third in line is Fistfighter. Alan Hampshire is a brilliant electronics engineer, a skilled athlete and a lethal fighter, specialising in the martial arts discipline of Mu Tau. He is a keep-fit fanatic and is interested in all sports. But, he is callous, greedy, holds grudges and despises all smokers. As his name suggests, he prefers punching his opponents to kicking them. For my GURPS Supers  campaign I gave him the super powers of Damage Resistance 9, Enhanced Strength 80, Extra Hit Points +20, Increased Speed +3, Passive Defence 3 and Regeneration. He cost 1,200 points. His figure is a conversion of the DC Heroclix supervillain, Bane.
Second from right is Fleetfoot. William James studied medicine at UCLA. When he joined the Fraternity, he collaborated with John Lamb (Fanatic) to produce the enhancement drug which granted Fanatic his powers. Seeing the effect that the drug had on fanatic, he carried out further research and perfected a version which would increase the speed at which his body could operate without causing mental side effects. Fleetfoot revels in his powers. He is obnoxious in battle, delighting in his foe's pain and taunting unceasingly. I gave him the GURPS Supers powers of Increased Speed +12, Passive Defence 2, Super Jumping level:3 and Super Running level:4. He cost 1,100 points. For his miniature I converted a Marvel Heroclix superhero of Quicksilver.
Finally, is Freebird, who is in love with Arthur Firne (Firebrand). Jean Walsh worked closely with the other Fraternity members to develop her own super powers. She is a skilled mechanic and her role in the Fraternity is to provide reconnaissance and extra manoeuvrability. She dislikes combat, despite having a black belt in Shorinji Kempo, and believes that the Fraternity's goals can be achieved without violence. If she is struck, however, she will spare no effort to humiliate her attackers. Her super powers include Flight, Increased Speed +4, Passive Defence 2, Super Flight level:3 and Telepathy level:10. She cost 1,000 points, making her the weakest member of the Fraternity but still double the points cost of a starting superhero. Her figure is a conversion of the DC Heroclix superhero, Saturn Girl.
When I started my GURPS Supers campaign in the early 2000's, the Fraternity were the first group of supervillains my hero team went up against. I've shown a fair few of my supervillains in these past posts but next time I will turn my attention to my superheroes, starting with my own team from my GURPS Supers campaign controlled by myself and my two regular gamers. Two of the superheroes will be familiar to you but one won't be.
The illustrations shown below were scanned in to my computer from their Golden Heroes stat cards and then digitally coloured by me.
Fanatic, Firebrand and Fistfighter

Fleetfoot and Freebird

12 comments:

  1. Great work on the Fraternity Bryan. Kudos. :)

    On the same uniform, the original Doom Patrol had their red and white costumes for Elasti Girl and Negative Man.

    In the 90's the rebooted Legion of Superheroes had a design theme running through all their uniforms, even though each was distinct.

    And Marvel's The Order had some design commonalities between members: http://x.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/6/80/51b751a4658ee/background.jpg

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    1. Thanks, Pulpcitizen. I appreciate you telling me about more supers wearing identical costumes. As I lay in bed last night I remembered another supergroup who wore very similar costumes - the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers.

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  2. Nice work on the Fraternity Bryan, don't worry about the flames, that's how I used to do them too! Good thing the Internet came about....

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    1. Exactly, Andy. It was only after reading an Internet tutorial on how to paint realistic looking flames that I realised I'd been doing it wrong. Now I know better.

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  3. Ah, now these ones I'm familiar with... The Fraternity did appear in the main rules, although there wasn't as much background and the illustrations were in black and white.nice to see them in the flesh, as it were.
    Very nice work, Bryan. If you've no objections I might email a link to this post to Simon Burley (author of the rules) so he can see his creations in miniature form. I think he'd be pretty chuffed!

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    1. Many thanks, Jez. Good to know that you are familiar with this team. Please do send a link to Simon. I'm sure he'd love to see what I've done with the Fraternity.

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  4. another perfect post Bry` just as good (in my eyes) as the one before it. I absolutely LOVE the theme, the topic, the conversions, and the painting is magical.

    Me personally, I really REALLY like the flames you`ve done. But you see, I am `old school` in how I play, how I collect, how I think, and especially in how I paint (i.e. I actually WANT my figurines to look like toy soldiers, not works of gallery art).

    Truly excellent post Bryan.

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    1. Thanks, as always, Steve. Heroclix was a godsend to us figure converters. The flames don't look bad but they do bug me, knowing I got them wrong. I put it down to inexperience and being wise after the event. Anyway, I very much doubt if I'm going to change them now. What's done is done!

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  5. Lovely work as always Bryan, I like my super teams in matching costumes. See link...

    https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/doomwatch.jpg

    and of course my all time fav's the "Fantastic Four" all matched, the power rangers are all different colour so don't count for me.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks, Roger. I love your Doomwatch figures, so many thanks for the link. I know the Power Rangers wore different coloured costumes but the style was the same for all of them. The Fantastic Four still remain my favourite superhero group.

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  6. Outstanding stuff Bryan, and a real trip down memory lane for me at no mistake. What a terrific series of postings this is turning out to be, and a marvellous display of your ability to convert minis to boot!! I remember this group particularly as I was always disappointed they were baddies and not heroes; especially Fanatic.

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. I see no reason why with a little bit of tweaking the Fraternity should not be the good guys. Look how often in DC and Marvel how often supervillains become superheroes.

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