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Baron Blood 1 (deceased)
Powers: * Animal Summoning: in addition to being able to control vermin-like creatures with ease, John can summon them forth to do his bidding, should none be readily available. Such creatures will be those commonly available to the surrounding area, however; wolves rarely, if ever, appear in an urban setting, for instance. This ability also works at intensity 12. Animal Form: John originally had the power to transform his body into both a bat and wolf form, but specialized skin treatments perpetrated on his body by Nazi scientists have changed this. Now, John can only use the bat form described below, but should he eliminate this treatment somehow, he could regain the use of his wolf form. Both variants of this intensity 10 power are described here: * Bat Form: John's only current animal form is that of a bat. This versatile form, if small, reduces John's physical ability scores to intensity 1, but grants him intensity 1 flight, +1 claw and fang attacks, and intensity 5 Sonar, per that power. This, of course, makes up for a bat's downright lousy sense of vision, and is a great way to sneak up on folks not expecting him to take this form... * Wolf Form: instead of merely changing into a bat, John may someday regain the power to transform into a wolf, instead. This more powerful form reduces his physical ability scores to 4, but offers the risen fiend a +3 bite attack (usable in conjunction with the life drain power), and intensity 5 Enhanced Senses / Smell, per that power, allowing John to track a target by scent. Body Transformation / Gaseous Form: John used to have the power to transform his body into a mist-like state, one that reduced him to a Strength level of zero, yet made him invulnerable to Kinetic and Energy attacks launched against him. However, this intensity 8 power was lost thanks to the same process that restrained his animal transformation powers, so he can no longer use this ability. Flight: like many other vampires, John has the ability to fly unaided, regardless of the form he is currently wearing. He can move about with this power at around ninety miles per hour, making it an intensity 4 flight ability. Furthermore, John doesn't really need the weird flaps that come with his costume; these merely add 1 to any aerial actions John must attempt. Immortality: John is essentially an immortal being, in that he no longer ages whatsoever, and will eventually recover from most means of injury that would otherwise cancel the existence of mere mortal folks. However, John isn't vulnerable to the standard means of eradicating immortal folks, really, instead having his own batch of supernatural weaknesses (see hindrances for more on this). Life Drain: the dreaded blood-sucking attack of a vampire, this allows John to, in addition to causing damage with his fangs, inflict additional harm due to blood loss. Possessing this power at intensity 10, John can drain blood from his target if he passes an easy life drain action, opposed by his target's Willpower score, which acts as a defense against this evil power. Now, this level of damage might just drain normal humans dry in but one or two exchanges. Luckily for humans in general, however, this power is bound by the multiple drains limitation, and as such, John must drain a body several times before they'll be transformed into an undead creature like himself. However, he can utilize this life drain power stunt, making such an act easier: * Telepathic Control: John can utilize intensity 13 mind control against persons he has bitten in the past, unless they've recovered all the health (or cards) lost due to his vampiric attacks. Furthermore, John can wield this power at all times against any vampire he has himself created, making such beings generally beholden to him until their 'creator' is slain. Life Support: John wields this power at intensity 15, allowing him to go without food, water, and even air for the rest of his horrid existence. However, this power cannot cover the one thing John truly needs to continue his life: the blood of others. The effect of John's blood lust is covered below, in the hindrances section, along with all manner of other things to ruin his day. Mind Control: this dreadful intensity 10 power, which can be achieved by eye contact, allows John to control the actions of another person if he passes an easy mind control action, opposed by the target's Willpower score. If John commands a body to commit an action diametrically opposed to their morals, John must make another action to reinforce his control, lest his prey break free. Regeneration: highly resistant to conventional injury to begin with, John also has the benefit of healing from attacks that do hurt him incredibly fast. Wielding this ability at intensity 10, this allows John to recover one card (or an amount of health equal to the card number) upon a positive aura reading on each exchange, or a neutral aura reading as long as the card number is less than 10. However, it is important to state that John will not regenerate during an exchange if he has been damaged during the previous one at all. As such, if severely beaten, he will typically retreat until its damage has been recovered, and then launch a secondary attack (and so on) until his foes have been finally vanquished (or he has, mind you). Teeth: John has the dreadful ability to attack his opponents with deadly fangs, which are often a prelude to a life draining attack. These +1 instruments are quite potent, but usually aren't used to lethal effect (again, they're mostly just an opening for a life drain attack, which John can use concurrently with a teeth attack - scary, eh?). Weather Control: few vampires have demonstrated the power to manipulate the weather, but John is one of them. John possesses this power at intensity 8, allowing him to create and modify weather patterns to destructive effect. John knows no power stunts, however, but he does have an eternity to figure them out, of course.
Hindrances: * Addicted - Blood: vampires must feed upon blood to survive. If John goes without drinking blood for over a day, he will be reduced to zero Willpower until he does so. If in such a state, and presented with an opportunity to feed, John must pass a desperate Willpower action (at the lowered intensity) to resist the urge to sate his hunger, should he want to... * Addicted - Home Soil: vampires who hold this hindrance must sleep nightly with several pounds of their home soil within mere inches of their person. If this requirement isn't met, they will be reduced to zero willpower until they recover some. Most vampires will go out of their way to do so, as this state makes them easily vanquished by vampire hunters and various undead foemen. * Fatally Vulnerable - Direct Sunlight: if stricken with beams of light straight from the sun, a vampire will normally take five points of damage (or lose one card) each exchange, against which it has no defense whatsoever. This damage will continue until the vampire either gets under shelter or is utterly destroyed, leaving a pile of ash where it once stood (or was tied down). Thanks to special skin treatments inflicted upon his person by Nazi scientists, however, John is no longer directly endangered by this hindrance. You see, he can survive for up to half an hour under the direct rays of the sun without undue discomfort. Furthermore, he has the ability to move about during the day, at his leisure, without causing himself serious trouble. * Phobic - Holy Symbols: if a faithful person brandishes a symbol or object holy to him at a vampire, he can ward the beast off to firing distance. If John attempts to enter this space, he will suffer an amount of damage equal to the faithful man or woman's Willpower score for as long as he remains too close to said person (which means he has to strike quickly). * Susceptible - Silver Weapons: vampires vulnerable to silver weaponry possess no defense against weapons constructed of such metal, and cannot regenerate quickly from wounds caused by them. John, in fact, cannot even abide the touch of silver, and can be repulsed to firing distance by any opponent that has laid a silver item upon him. * Triggered-Powerless - Wooden Stake Through the Heart: if a foe strikes John with a wooden stake in the heart (at least an average difficulty attack), he will fall to the ground powerless, his ability and power scores reduced to zero. If the stake isn't removed within one exchange, John will die, and be unable to return until the stake is removed.
Skills: Languages / English and German: John is native to the United Kingdom, of course, and as such, can speak proper English naturally. However, after offering his services to the German people for over ten years, John has managed to pick up German as a second tongue. Medicine: after his second ressurection, John pried everything he could out of the mind of Dr. Cromwell, an English physician. This took some time but John can now effectively act as a doctor, should he feel the need to. This could come in quite handy when raiding blood banks, etc... Occult Lore: being a magical monstrosity himself, and having studied the occult for years between the two World Wars, John can be considered an authority on occult matters. Such matters include ancient magical artifacts, beings of power, and magical powers.
Calling:
Costume:
Personality:
Real Name: Lord John Falsworth
Height: 5' 10"
Story: You see, Falsworth believed that Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, was a true account, and thought that if he found the monster that tome described, he could gain a powerful tool for the acquisition of power. However, upon finding Dracula's home, the elder vampire defeated John with ease, and drank all of his blood. Three days later, the younger Falsworth awoke anew as a vampire himself. Under Dracula's control, John was ordered to return to England in order to wreak havoc; the elder vampire's old enemy, Abraham Van Helsing, hailed from there, and Dracula wished to distract this foe for a time. However, John thought it wiser to offer his services to the German government, in order to gain the resources of a nation in his appointed task. Relishing their new, meta human agent, the Germans then dubbed him Baron Blood, gave him a frightening bat-inspired costume, and set him loose as a dangerous spy. During many of his missions against England, Falsworth ran afoul of a team of heroes known as the Freedom's Five, one member of which, Union Jack, was his brother! Battling these lovers of freedom in many nations, John was never able to win in any of these encounters. In fact, Union Jack managed to rout John permanently after assaulting him with silver weaponry, and after this final defeat, he fled to parts unknown until after the war. Between World War 1 and 2, John studied the occult in order to better understand himself and his powers. When the Nazi regime took control in Germany years later, the diabolical Baron saw its leaders as kindred spirits, and gladly volunteered similar espionage services to this new government. This time around, German scientists altered his body to make it highly resistant to the sunlight that would otherwise slay him in seconds. Of course, this boon cost him the use of his shape-changing powers. Nonetheless, John reveled in his newfound freedom of movement, and returned to England to cause havoc anew. However, John was once again opposed by his brother, Union Jack, and a newer team of super heroes, known as the Invaders! This conflict ended with John's first fatality, as he ultimately fell on a silver-laced stalagmite at the end of this conflict. This condition didn't last, however, and John was ressurected some time afterward by the evil Lady Lotus, who had dreams of conquest and wished to assemble a team of super-Nazi operatives to help her achieve her goal. This team, consisting of herself, John, Master Man, Warrior Woman, and the aquatic U-Man, was quite a force to be reckoned with. Lady Lotus' plot ultimately failed, though, and by the end of a battle with the Invaders, John was slain yet again, this time with a stake through the heart. Since he was a member of the English aristocracy, however evil and treasonous he may be, the second Union Jack had him entombed in the Tower of London, as he was technically royalty. John was not fated to remain in this state forever, however. You see, years later, one Doctor Charles Cromwell, at the behest of Dracula himself, managed to collect the remains of John Falsworth and revive them with Dracula's aid. Upon his second ressurection, John learned all he could of Cromwell's medical knowledge, and took control of the hapless man. He then situated Cromwell near Falsworth manor, and transforming the doctor into a vampire, set him loose on the local populace. Meanwhile, John himself began slaying several locals, and then draining their blood afterward, in order to prevent the creation of new vampires and to disguise his own presence. The locals eventually found Cromwell, however, and did him in by burning his house down. John's aging brother, despite appearances, believed his brother to be behind these vicious happenings, and called for aid from Captain America, an old ally. Upon his arrival in England, Cap found out that the skeleton resting in the Tower of London was false, and quickly made for Falsworth Manor. There, he discovered John, posing as the deceased Dr. Cromwell! John's plan, you see, was to wait until his brother was old and decrepit, and then to transform him into a vampire, so he would be forced to live out eternity as a shriveled up monster. Before he could accomplish this, however, Captain America managed to slay the Baron by severing his head with his shield, and then burned his body down to ashes. Making precautions against his further revival, Captain America then buried the piles of ash, one for his head and the other for his other remains, in two separate locations. Believing his brother's menace to be over at long last, the current Lord Falsworth was then able to die in peace, and did so very soon afterward; he'd apparently been hanging on to make sure this had happened.
Using Baron Blood in Other Stories: If Baron Blood is to appear in new tales, at least those set in the present, it is most likely that one of these two fellows would be filling this costume, as opposed to the original. However, if anything, vampires have the most dreadful tendency to come back from their apparent demise over and over, so one may be unable to tell just which Baron is in that suit... until it is far, far too late... |
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