Rumbler

Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Crossfire (i): his pride and joy, the Crossfire is a small and heavily armed vehicle that can actually keep up with Earl-Bob's destructive nature. It's a high-speed, off-road vehicle with numerous special features, all of which are described in its own vehicular entry.

Helmet (s): Earl-Bob usually wears this sturdy head gear while at work - he drives like a maniac, after all! It provides Earl-Bob his Strength +2 protection against head-based physical attacks - at least, those that don't actually strike him in the face.

the Joe-Com (i): this is a new device given to all Joes since the group's reactivation. This high-tech wristband functions as an audio/video transceiver with various other goodies built in to help a soldier on the go, and is described in greater detail in its own equipment entry.

Knife (s): you never know when you're going to have to cut something - or someone - in the field. As such, Earl-Bob always carries a blade with him on the job, which can be used to inflict his Strength +2 damage in melee, or to cut through items of up to m.s. 12.

Machine Gun (a): his main weapon, Earl-Bob always has this trusty device with him on missions. It can be fired to inflict a single shot for his Agility +4 damage, a short burst for his Agility +5 damage, and a full auto spread for his Agility +6 damage.

Semi-automatic Pistol (a): a handy back-up should his main weapon fail him, Earl-Bob carries this small hand cannon on him at all time. Earl-Bob can fire this weapon to inflict his Agility +4 damage in a single shot, or his Agility +5 damage in a semi-automatic burst.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Boxing (s): an ability picked up fighting tax evaders, Earl-Bob can easily defend himself should he find himself without weapons. He may divide his pre-cardplay action score between two unarmed melee attacks, the last of which occurs as a contingent action.

Law Enforcement (w): before he enlisted in the Army - at his employer's request - Earl-Bob was originally a fully fledged I.R.S. agent. He had the power to hunt down and arrest tax evaders, stamp dodgers and moonshiners, and learned most of his other skills in the process of this work.

Marksmanship (a): a skill everyone picks up in the military these days, Earl-Bob can easily operate most conventional firearms. Whether he's handling a standard, semi-automatic or fully automatic rifle or pistol, Earl-Bob may do so at a reduced difficulty level.

Military / United States (w): though he didn't originally want to join the Army, the federal government asked him to - if only to save them money. This skill describes how Earl-Bob knows the S.O.P. like the back of his hand, and how he can easily function in a military environment.

Vehicular Combat (a): a talent that Earl-Bob has been honing since his days with the I.R.S., this skill shows how well he can fight in high speed, mechanized confrontations. Whenever he attacks (or is attacked) behind the wheel, Earl-Bob may make applicable actions at a reduced difficulty.

Calling:

Soldier, with a secondary calling of Demolisher: Rumbler doesn't live to destroy things - that's just a pleasant side effect of his time in government service. He enjoys his work with or without the mayhem however, doing what he does out of a sense of service to his country.

Costume:

Earl-Bob's Gi Joe uniform is a simple and practical one. It consists of a brown leather jacket over a blue collared shirt, beige trousers, grass green leather boots and gloves, a beige leather belt, a brown shoulder holster for his firearm, and a brown helmet.

Personality:

Earl-Bob has a certain propensity for fast and reckless driving, which is kind of why he was drummed out of the I.R.S. in the first place. He's something of a roving chaos magnet, and wherever he goes disorganization and bedlam seems to follow - usually for the bad guys. Usually.

Real Name: Earl-Bob Swilley, Grade E-4
Occupation: fast attack vehicle driver
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: Gi Joe

Height: 5' 10"
Hair: light brown
Eyes: brown
Weight: 180 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Earl-Bob wears a truly heroic moustache at all times.

Story:

Earl-Bob wasn't originally militarily minded, oh no. He got his start working for the I.R.S., doing his part to put a lid on moonshiners and tax stamp dodgers. Earl-Bob hated to let a tax evader get away though, and would often total his current ride in an effort to prevent this.

A good seven smashed up federal vehicles later, the powers that be decided that Earl-Bob might be better suited for work in a different branch of government, one with sturdier rides. Also, it'd give him targets who were less inclined to sue the government after he ran them over.

So, Earl-Bob was introduced to the U.S. Army. He went through Basic with ease and naturally gravitated towards a job driving things for the military. His history and natural skill behind the wheel managed to get him a job on the Gi Joe team, who always needs new vehicular combatants.

Not that they use theirs up fast, so much as Cobra has countless hordes of vehicles to commit their terrorism with. Finding himself right at home, Earl-Bob, as the erratic Rumbler, would prove to be a serious thorn in Cobra's side - though this was mostly because of how he was deployed on missions.

Knowing how he tends to cause mayhem everywhere he goes, the Joes typically will drop him off in his Crossfire behind enemy lines, and watch as all kinds of chaos erupts. When the Cobras are trying to recover, the rest of the Joes then step in to finish the job.

Though he didn't get to see a lot of action with the Joes, Earl-Bob did his part in the fight for freedom, and continued to do so until the Joe team was disbanded back in '94... at least for a little while. When Cobra's activities forced their reactivation, Earl-Bob eventually returned to the job.

Seems he was almost uninsurable in the civilian driving market. Earl-Bob was thus on hand to help with the Joes' major operations against Cobra, including participation in the second Cobra Island Civil War. He also fought Cobra in Syria during World War III itself.

With Cobra on the run, the Joes can naturally use someone with Earl-Bob's skills to hunt them down. He'd been doing this kind of work before he joined the team, after all, and he's very good at sniffing out scofflaws... and then sticking it to them when they try and run!

Extra Goodies:

Gi Joe directories featuring a version of Rumbler: