Name: Atom Man Val Char Cost 15 STR 5 20 DEX 30 20 CON 20 18 BODY 16 13 INT 3 14 EGO 8 18 PRE 8 18 COM 4 8 PD 5 8 ED 4 4 SPD 10 7 REC 40 END 36 STUN Characteristic Rolls: STR: 12-, DEX: 13-, CON: 13-, INT: 12-, EGO: 12-, PER: 12- Run: 10", Swim: 2", Jump: 3", Lift: 200 kg Cost Powers END/Roll 75 Energy RKA 5D6, +1/2 adv Armor Piercing, -1/2 limit OIF Metal Mesh Gloves -- 11 END from END Reserve 41 Energy RKA 1D6, +1/2 adv Armor Piercing, +1/2 adv Damage Shield, +1/2 adv Invisible Power Effects (Normal Sight and Hearing); +1/4 adv Time Delay -- 4 END from END Reserve 20 END Reserve (200 END), -1 limit OAF Electronic Converter on Throat, REC 30, -3 limit Requires Fresh Transfusion of Kryptonite Serum, extremely rare and dangerous radioactive element 8 +4" Running (Total 10") Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll 3 Acting 13- 3 Concealment 12- 3 Conversation 13- 3 Disguise 11- 2 KS: American Culture 11- 2 KS: Chemistry 11- 0 LS: German, Native 4 LS: English, Idiomatic, Native Accent 3 Persuasion 13- 2 PS: Journalist 11- 2 PS: Soldier 11- 3 Streetwise 13- 3 Tactics 12- 2 Familiar with Small Arms 2 Familiar with Common Melee Weapons 8 +4 Levels with Primary RKA 100+ Disadvantages 20 Hunted 11-: The Police, more powerful 20 Hunted 11-: FBI, more powerful 10 Watched 11-: Nazi Agents 15 Extreme Reputation 11-: Wanted Nazi Agent 20 Super Patriot (for Nazi Germany), total 15 Overconfident, common, irrational actions 10 Hunts Superman (or campaign's primary patriotic American hero) 11- 15 Secret ID: Heinrich Milch, German soldier; Henry Miller, reporter 20 Normal Characteristics Maxima 10 Enraged 11- When Thwarted, Recover 11- 47 Berlin Berserker Bonus OCV: 7 (11 with RKA); DCV: 7; ECV: 5; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 3, 5, 9, 12 PD/rPD: 8/0; ED/rED: 8/0 Costs: Char.: 113 Disad.: 155 Powers: + 189 Base: + 100 Exp.: + 47 Total: = 302 Total: = 302 Source: "The Adventures of Superman," Mutual Broadcasting System, 1945; "Atom Man vs. Superman," Columbia, 1950 Background: Superman's first brush with Kryptonite (and with a villain powerful enough to kick his butt) occurred not in the comic books but on radio in the closing days of World War II. Reporter Clark Kent went to interview Dr. John Whistler of the Metropolis Museum about a recently recovered meteorite and nearly collapsed when he approached the specimen. As Superman, he attemped to persuade Whistler to destroy the metal fragment. The scientist declared that the highly radioactive material was too valuable to destroy, but he did agree to lock it in the museum safe. When Whistler died a month later, Kent warned his editor Perry White of the danger the meteorite presented. Lois Lane couldn't resist printing the story, and the Kryptonite was promptly stolen by the ruthless mercenary Scarlet Widow. She planned to sell pieces to Superman's enemies for $1 million each. Instead, Nazi physicist Der Teufel seized a fragment when Superman attempted to break up the auction. Der Teufel smuggled the Kryptonite into occupied Germany and contacted a band of Nazi holdouts. In their hideout, the physicist and chemist Ernst Milch dissolved the Krytonite into a solution which they then injected into Milch's son, Heinrich. Der Teufel promised that the experiment would transform young Milch into an Atom Man capable of restoring the Third Reich. The elder Milch panicked when his son lapsed into a coma; Der Teufel shot him. However, the boy soon awoke with radioactive energy pulsing in his veins. Milch, who had studied journalism in the United States before the war, travelled with Der Teufel to Metropolis and secured a reporter's position at the "Daily Planet" as Henry Miller. Frustrated by Kent's frequent absences, White hired Miller to replace him. The Atom Man used his friendship with Jimmy Olsen to lure Superman to a secluded beach, where he easily defeated the Man of Steel and left him for dead. He then quarrelled with and slew Der Teufel. Olsen witnessed these events from a distance and reported Der Teufel's murder to the police, who began hunting Miller as both a spy and as a murderer. Meanwhile, the Atom Man returned to Metropolis intending to raze the city. He was alarmed to discover that his powers had been depleted. Miller's Metropolis contact, an overly cultured obese dandy known only as Sidney, bought another portion of Kryptonite from the Scarlet Widow and refreshed the Atom Man's powers. He hoped to use Miller to make himself even richer. Sidney deduced Superman's secret identity when Miller reported that both the Man of Steel and Clark Kent had became ill in his presence. When the "Daily Planet" reported that Superman had been found and rescued by a pair of hunters, Sidney got a battered but ambulatory Kent to come to his house by hinting that he had uncovered the secret. Miller emerged from a lead-lined bathroom and again quickly incapacitated Superman. Sidney planned for the three of them to remain in a hidden apartment beneath his garage until the unconscious Kent starved to death. Miller, however, became dangerously restless after three days, fearing that the delay would prevent him from achieving his schemes for conquest. When Sidney pulled a gun on him, the Atom Man killed him just as he had Der Teufel. He then left Kent sealed in the room while he went to annihilate the Metropolis Stadium. Once Miller departed, Superman awoke but was too weak to break out of the underground apartment. When the mayor refused to fly the Nazi flag over the courthouse despite the stadium's destruction, Atom Man vowed to destroy Metropolis that evening. He eluded police and military patrols organized to stop him and made his way to the forested country near the Metropolis Reservoir Dam, intending to destroy the dam and flood the city. Meanwhile, White and Olsen went to Sidney's house to question him since he was the last person to see the missing Kent. They were about to leave the empty dwelling when Kent rang the phone from an extension in the hidden room. Freed and fed, Superman recovered part of his strength and began patrolling the city in ever-widening circles, hoping to spot Miller from the air. He did, just as the Atom Man's energy bolts gouged craters mere yards from the dam. Superman began a dangerous game of aerial tag with Miller, distracting the Nazi from his goal and swooping ever closer in an attempt to snatch the electronic controller from his throat. Superman ultimately succeeded in seizing Atom Man and carried him thousands of feet into the sky while the Nazi champion sprayed him with lethal energy. Superman passed out, and both men plummeted to earth. Superman survived the fall. Milch, in the serial, didn't. While he was created specifically to defeat Superman (the Golden Age, pre-All-Star Squadron version), the Atom Man will be delighted to incinerate American heroes from other publishers' universes or from the Game Master's own campaign. His goal of restoring the Third Reich makes him a universal foe, and his radioactive powers are deadly whether his opponents are from another planet or not. A particularly vicious GM might even throw him against a team of pulp adventurers. Milch's lopsided powers would make him a challenging but not undefeatable enemy for normal player characters. Powers and Abilities: Milch uses an electronic converter box and gloves of platinum-thorium mesh to activate and focus blasts of atomic energy that arc from his fingertips like green lightning bolts. He's highly radioactive even when his gloves are not in use and can incapacitate Superman merely by coming within ten feet of him. It isn't that Kryptonite is harmless to normal humans; it just kills Superman more quickly. The Atom Man's Damage Shield represents the lingering effects of radiation poisoning. Victims won't feel or see anything when exposed to it, but the damage will show up later. The Kryptonite dissolved in Atom Man's blood is depleted as he uses his powers. He has to have additional transfusions of the radioactive metal to recharge them. Milch's elitist Nazi handlers tend to regard him as a stupid pawn, hired muscle. He is actually a clever and dedicated secret agent who successfully convinced the entire "Daily Planet" staff that he was an honorably discharged U.S. serviceman eager to return to civilian life. Milch was becoming quite chummy with both Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen before his first attack on Superman. And he was able to escape undetected by both the police and by newspapermen who were familiar with his appearance as he systematically began to destroy Metropolis. Because both Kent and Superman became ill in his presence, Milch has figured out that they are the same person. Disadvantages: On the other hand, he is a known Nazi agent wanted by the police, the FBI, and Superman himself. His loyalty to the dying Nazi cause increasingly leads him to hasty and ill-conceived actions as he learns that his heroes are being put on trial for war crimes, that the Allies are destroying German factories, and that U.S. scientists are researching (naively, it turned out) a defense against atomic power. Milch's destructive ability has made him overconfident. Although he's a tough and capable saboteur, he has no superhuman defenses or movement powers. He has to catch a cab or the subway to get around town and can be cut down by a policeman's bullet just like an ordinary thug. Which brings up the question of what Atom Man's powers are doing to him. Assuming the player characters or the authorities don't kill him first, what effect are these infusions of radioactive material doing to his mind and body? Will the radiation preserve him, since germs can't live on his body? Will the energies trapped within ultimately overwhelm him, driving him mad or causing him to vanish in a fiery atomic burst? Will he suffer a grisly sudden decomposition as cumulative radiation damage kicks in all at once? Or, if the heroes succeed in capturing him, will the authorities be forced to store him in a lead-lined cell while he awaits execution? It's up to the GM to decide. Height: cm (5' 8"), Weight: kg (136 lbs), Sex: Male, Race: German Appearance: Heinrich Milch aka Henry Miller is a slim, handsome blond man in his early twenties. As Miller, he appears to be a friendly, cheerful, all-American boy glad to be home from the war. As Milch, he is tense and driven, and exultant about his lethal abilities. To use his powers, he attaches a small metal box to his throat over his jugular vein and dons a pair of metal mesh gloves. He conceals the atomic converter box with tall collars and scarves. When he turns on the converter, his boyish voice deepens and develops a harsh metallic quality. Although the movie serial depicts the Atom Man in a heavy full helmet and green robe, Milch wore no special costume in the original radio serial. After all, he's an enemy agent in a hostile country. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself. ============== Hero System write-up by Kevin Scrivner