Name: Dr. Cyclops Val Char Cost 18 STR 8 14 DEX 12 13 CON 6 10 BODY 18 INT 8 15 EGO 10 20 PRE 10 10 COM 5 PD 1 3 ED 3 SPD 6 7 REC 26 END 26 STUN Characteristic Rolls: STR: 13-, DEX: 12-, CON: 12-, INT: 13-, EGO: 12-, PER: 13- Run: 6", Swim: 2", Jump: 3.5", Lift: 300 kg Cost Powers END/Roll 65 "Shrinking Ray" 10D6 Major Transformation to One-Fifth of Original Size, +1 adv 15" Radius, +1/2 adv Conforming, -2 limit Independent, -1 limit OAF Radium Chamber, -1 limit Immobile, -1/2 limit Full Phase to Activate, -1/4 limit Only vs. Living Organisms, 37 END Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll 3 Acting 13- 3 Bureaucratics 13- 3 Electronics 13- 3 Inventor 13- 2 AK: Peruvian Jungle 11- 2 KS: Medicine 11- 0 Language: English, native 3 Language: Spanish, completely fluent 3 Mechanics 13- 3 Oratory 13- 3 Paramedics 13- 3 Persuasion 13- 2 PS: Mad Scientist 11- 3 Scientist 2 SS: Biology 13- 2 SS: Molecular Biology 13- 2 SS: Physics 13- 2 SS: Subatomic Physics 13- 2 SS: Zoology 13- 3 Survival 13- 3 Tracking 13- 2 Familiar with Small Arms 5 +1 Level with Small Arms 100+ Disadvantages 20 Physical Limitation: Can't See Without His Spectacles, frequently limiting, fully 10 Distinctive Features: Tall, Bald Man with Thick Wire-Rim Glasses, concealable with effort 20 Psychological Limitation: Fears Others Will Steal His Discoveries, common, total 5 Psychological Limitation: Hates Being Disturbed, common, strong 20 Enraged 11- When Thwarted, Recover 11-, common circumstances 5 Reputation 11-: Eccentric Researcher, limited to scientific community 5 Watched 8-: North American Research Foundation, more powerful OCV: 5 (6 with Firearms); DCV: 5; ECV: 5; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12 PD/rPD: 5/0; ED/rED: 3/0 Costs: Char.: 61 Disad.: 85 Powers: + 124 Base: + 100 Exp.: + Total: = 185 Total: = 185 Source: "Dr. Cyclops," Paramount Pictures, Inc., 1940 Quote: "You have succeeded in breaking one of my lenses. Now I am truly a Cyclops!" Background: In 1940, the North American Research Foundation of New York received a request for professional assistance from Dr. Thorkel, a brilliant but eccentric biologist who had moved his laboratory to the Peruvian jungle. A three-member scientific team led by Dr. Bulfinch eventually reached Thorkel's remote compound with the aid of prospector Steve Baker. However, Thorkel politely dismissed his colleagues after having them view and evaluate slides containing a series of tissue samples. He also refused to discuss the nature of his research. Irate at being summoned to the wilderness for such an errand, Bulfinch refused to leave. Meanwhile, Baker determined that Thorkel's camp was sitting on a rich radium mine. Pedro, Thorkel's kennel keeper, let it slip that a feed lot's worth of livestock had entered the researcher's lab never to be seen again while the cat kept growing fatter. And team members stumbled upon miniature hog bones in the compound's refuse pile. When Bulfinch was caught reading Thorkel's notes, the biologist agreed to share his findings with the team. He did, but not in the way they expected. While showing them a device that drew atomic power directly from the earth, Thorkel locked his visitors and Pedro in the test chamber. The five were bathed in intense radiation and awoke to find themselves the size of action figures. Thorkel had devised a method of shrinking living organisms to one-fifth their original size. Bulfinch, referring to the legend of Ulysses, accused Thorkel of being a bully like the Cyclops, a one-eyed giant who had trapped the Greek hero. The group managed to escape Thorkel's bedroom. Bulfinch returned to negotiate and, after being weighed and measured, was killed when Thorkel determined that his human test subjects would grow back to their original size if given enough time. The remaining team members played a literal cat-and-mouse game with Thorkel -- setting booby traps and attempting to steal or break his glasses -- until the mad scientist apparently perished by falling into the mine shaft. But they never recovered the body. Although he's nutty as a Snickers bar, Thorkel is always polite, deliberate and calm. He's so reasonable (even while committing murder) that it may be difficult for adventurers to anticipate his next move. His first response to visitors will be to offer courteous assistance so that they can quickly be on their way. If they pry into his research, the doctor will do his best to prevent them from ever leaving. Thorkel will want to keep the player- characters alive for as long as possible for use in his experiments. Once he's learned all he can -- or if the heroes prove resourceful enough to be dangerous -- Thorkel will attempt to kill them immediately. He usually anesthetizes victims with a drug-soaked cotton swab but isn't averse to feeding them to his pet cat. If they really tick him off by escaping or by attempting to sabotage his experiments, Thorkel will come after the adventurers with his double-barreled shotgun. One could argue that Thorkel's invention is already in the wrong hands but given that he's conducting his studies in South America during World War II things could probably get worse if the German High Command took an interest in what he's doing. His shrinking machine might be used to make troop transport more efficient. On the other hand, having a second set of villains show up might give the good guys a chance to escape. Powers and Abilities: Dr. Cyclops is a brilliant researcher in a variety of fields related to his work: molecular biology, zoology, physics. He's a persuasive speaker, good at disarming the fears and suspicions of outsiders until he can get the drop on them. He's also reasonably athletic for a middle-aged man. While he personally has no paranormal abilities, Thorkel has constructed a room-sized device capable of reducing living organisms to one-fifth their original size. His shrinking process doesn't work on non-living items such as tools or clothing. It's also a one-way trip. He can't restore characters to their original size or enlarge his cat to the size of an elephant. However, a shrunken hero will gradually return to his former dimensions as he heals the BODY damage done by the ray. Characters transformed by the machine effectively have 30 points of Shrinking. They are about a foot tall, gain -6 to Perception rolls, +6 DCV, and +9" Knockback. Their STR is reduced by 15, and their ground movement is reduced by 5 (game) inches. The test chamber has thick, lead-lined walls and features a bulky ray projector similar to that of a hospital X-ray room. Its armored door has a thin viewing slot. A series of knife-switch controls are nearby. Outside the lab, a huge electrode dangles from a winch so that it can be lowered into a vertical mine shaft. It is attached to the lab's power box by thick cables. In Hero System terms, the Shrinking Ray is a Breakable Focus with 75 DEF. The player- characters will probably need explosives to destroy the facility. Although it doesn't have the Requires Skill Roll limitation, a character does need to know what he's doing to run the equipment, and throwing all those levers in sequence takes a full phase. The machine sucks its energy from the radium ore below by an unexplained process, so the 37 END required to run it isn't an issue. Disadvantages: Thorkel's most obvious limitation is his weak vision. He's virtually blind without his thick glasses. He can't stand for his work to be interrupted and fears that others (even those with no scientific background) will try to steal his research. In reality, they're more likely to attempt to steal his radium mine. He's completely amoral; any deed is permissible as long as it advances his studies. Height: cm (6' 2"), Weight: kg (215 lbs), Sex: Male, Race: Caucasian Appearance: No wimpy nerd, Dr. Thorkel is a tall, muscular man in his late forties. He shaves his head, wears incredibly thick wire-rim glasses, and sports the pencil-thin mustache required of all villains of the period. He wears a long-sleeved khaki shirt, trousers, and boots appropriate to the climate of his jungle laboratory but slips on a lead-lined coverall and helmet when he's doing his experiments with radium. =========== Hero System write-up by Kevin Scrivner