Board 8 > Scarlet Ranks 52 Characters from 52 Sessions of the DCRPG Campaign: Part II

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Why is Roz'etta so stinky?

Cody11533 posted...

Why is Roz'etta so stinky?

It started as Scare memeing that she was a stinky alien.

Then, when Roz'etta was trying to comfort Oracle back in campaign one, we found out that the natural scent of a Saturnian is like a fresh thunderstorm and o-zone, which triggered PTSD from when the then-retired from heroing Batgirl got shot by The Joker.

Patrokolos and Artemis-2 just don't like this scent.

It's very mean.

I latched onto it since Artemis has a very strong sense of smell and Rosetta, being an alien, just smells "different" to him. So he jokes and calls her stinky.

Pepper and Tali think Roz'etta smells lovely.

While we're on the topic of PC jokes, Pepper's eyes are too far apart. Unless they're too close together.

#1 - Black Canary
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/0/4/AAJ38fAAEGNU.jpg
The chairwoman of the Justice League.

Black Canary entered this campaign on the back of the stunning, unexpected loss of her fiance, Green Arrow, to the insidious claws of the Justifiers. Now Equated, Green Arrow stands in complete opposition to Black Canary. Powerless to stop his conversion, she was forced to watch on while glass lacerated her throat, nearly killing her thanks to a teleportation event gone awry. Returned to Z'onn Z'orr, her powers, her future husband, her friends and family- hell, the entire world - had been stolen from Dinah Laurel Lance.

All of that is prelude to say that, when she was able to sit up on her own once more, Black Canary came back with a vengeance. Diving headlong into the files of Checkmate's field teams, she began to question their decisions, study their tactics. She didn't shy away from criticizing them, providing tips and new direction to those around her. Despite the overwhelming sense of loss that Dinah must be feeling, she truly IS the leader of the World's Greatest Heroes. She's direct, to the point, and ready to roll up her sleeves and fight back. She has a wedding to ensure happens, after all.

Of course, this hasn't exactly meant easy sailing for all involved. Lush snuck into Canary's room almost immediately after her arrival in Z'onn Z'orr - this ultimately resulted in Lush's ass being well and truly kicked for the crime of a rather avoidable B&E - and Canary was ready to do worse, given that Lush has been stealing from Canary and harrassing Arrow for sometime. This drama eventually reached the ears of Saoirse - who was told by Lush in no uncertain terms that she'd done nothing wrong. Saoirse felt the need to try and run interference for Cyndi, but the upshot of this was that Canary had far more stern words of Saoirse than for Lush, laying into the Irish witch for becoming too attached to the notion of fighting Lush's battles for herself. Canary knows what Lush is capable of; she's a grown-ass woman. Saoirse has taken those comments personally, however, and she stands defiant against Canary.

You might think that this character is dividing more than uniting, but you'd be wrong. Dinah is a very human, very opinionated woman, but she's also a hero. The sort of hero that stood up for her best friend, Barbara Gordon, to defend her from Roz'etta - ultimately, through her tough-as-nails attitude, convincing Roz to finally hash things out with Barbara. Canary can force fences to be mended if need be. Or she can encourage a young teen like Spirit to fight for what matters to him - family. When Spirit seemed directionless, Canary inspired in him a conviction to rescue his long-languishing brother, going so far even as to promise to travel on that mission herself.

But my favorite Canary scene is a small, probably forgettable one. When Brennus came to Canary for advice, he sought help in preparing for the battles to come - Whisper, his mother, and more. Canary took him into the hall, and she had him turn three directions for just a few seconds at a time, memorizing what he saw. Then, Brennus was to close his eyes and repeat those details. Canary may very well hone Brennus' otherwise legendarily terrible Perception, but her style of teaching is entirely Canary. Still to the point, yet soft, encouraging. Of course, Brennus does have a history with Canary, so there's a bit of a different tenor to their relationship, but still, I think it defines who Canary is.

She's the Justice League, well and truly, for the heroes of Z'onn Z'orr.

And now, she's finally found purpose. After spending days poring over every mission, every dossier and debriefing, every rumor, Canary knows what her next mission will be.

She's going to be the one to land a punch on Darkseid - the first one on Earth. Alongside a new line-up of Justice League, perfectly conjured for the purpose of messing with Darkseid's head, Canary wants to be the one to prove that Darkseid can bleed.

He took her Ollie. Pretty Bird wants vengeance.

Honestly, as I look forward, I see Canary as the character who may very well fulfill the role of Oracle in the first campaign more than Waller, even. Black Canary is the wartime Oracle. Oracle was a soft, encouraging, occasionally conflicted sister and mother to the first Campaign's domestic challenges. Canary is a consigliore, a wartime, militant one, rooted in the discipline necessary to lead - but also with wisdom enough to foster growth in so many PCs, across so many disparate, interesting, fascinating relationships. Every single one will be different. Every one so far has been excellent. She brings out the best not only of the PCs, but the players as well.

I just finished a scene with Canary a little bit ago. Spirit got new info about who took Jack, and Canary was the first person he thought to go to.

Cody11533 posted...

Why is Roz'etta so stinky?

It's a joke gone TOO FAR

Canary can very easily have a hand in every single PC and how they operate

Canary is the only person who Roz'etta would let get away with calling her a bad friend of Barbara's.

That includes Barbara.

Canary was interesting - Saoirse is not someone who has managed friends well in her life. She is close to Lush though, and knows there was some bad blood between her and Canary, and wanted to just give a heads-up that Lush would not be herself. Which is all completely true, to some degree.

But when Saoirse came back asking for advice, from this strong woman that she felt at least some sort of bond with for helping her survive after the teleporter incident and having to watch Ollie Justified, from this person who she trusts to be a great hero - she kind of ripped into Saoirse. And Saoirse's a fuck-up who happens to be a lot more fragile than she puts on given the way she hides her emotions and her past, but Canary really hammered on her self-esteem, especially calling her a bad co-dependent friend to Lush. In a way, it would mirror greatly the sort of stuff she was used to from her mother in her past - sort of callous and dismissive in a way. And Saoirse has been approaching and circling around acceptance that her mother was wrong about her - this sort of brought her back to a ground floor level.

Of course, best friend Roz'etta was kinder and Lush rejected some of Canary's notions, and their reinforcement sort of made Saoirse accept that, yeah, she might be co-dependent, especially with Starsa saying so too, but that just means she has to adjust how she is in the field with Lush, and that she'd rather be co-dependent with a best friend facing down the end of the world than otherwise.

And then Saoirse ended up going to Waller, who despite her role as Queen has managed to completely allow Saoirse her own freedom acting within the organization - and Waller even gave a complete dismissal of Saoirse's mother. It turned out well.

It's all very interesting because Saoirse has been flying towards a heroic side this campaign, heading that direction far more than I intended originally, getting close with Hal and being inspired to do good... and Canary perhaps pushed Saoirse more towards Checkmate instead than anyone else had to the point.

Cody11533 posted...

Why is Roz'etta so stinky?

It's okay, Rosetta isn't the only one as sensitive smellers also recognize that Minerva smells like fish. Which especially turns all the cats into the bane of her existence.

WickIebee posted...

It's okay, Rosetta isn't the only one as sensitive smellers also recognize that Minerva smells like fish. Which especially turns all the cats into the bane of her existence.

ahem minerva is churljenkins' best friend

I WOULD be curious to see a write up from Scar on Artemis-2 without him interrupting! Would be cool to see his thoughts!

Tomorrow is a session, but I'll be happy to do it Thursday.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Canary perhaps pushed Saoirse more towards Checkmate instead than anyone else had to the point.

Honestly, Canary would be okay with that.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

It's a joke gone TOO FAR

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/4/6/AAS3NhAAETWm.png

and that's not counting voice

WickIebee posted...

It's okay, Rosetta isn't the only one as sensitive smellers also recognize that Minerva smells like fish. Which especially turns all the cats into the bane of her existence.

Obrov and Bloodfruit both got some hazing over their ratty mask and wrist binding, respectively.

nowhere near Rozetta though

scarletspeed7 posted...

Honestly, Canary would be okay with that.

well nobody asked her!

Everyone that's not War is playing with fire. You don't want both Artemises picking on you next!

Thanks again for sharing the list Scarlet. These are always a joy to read.

I can't believe the past 6 months were so girl's name heavy.

If you liked this one, just stay tuned here, Cody. I promised the group a Top 100 for the entire campaign!

Exciting! Will that one also have high stakes?

You can bet your ass there will be big time prizes.

scarletspeed7 posted...

Alongside a new line-up of Justice League, perfectly conjured for the purpose of messing with Darkseid's head,

Who is on this team?

The Ray, Lady Quark, Breach, and Nightshade. Four people he's after in order to access parallel Earths.

I promised Ermine an Artemis-2 write-up, and I haven't forgotten! Just a little too busy today.

I forgot

Random thought I had today, does DC have any animal-led series? Which major hero is closest to Data 7?

Cody11533 posted...

Random thought I had today, does DC have any animal-led series? Which major hero is closest to Data 7?

Animal Man was Data's friend, and Data even lived with him for a long time.

Cody11533 posted...

Random thought I had today, does DC have any animal-led series? Which major hero is closest to Data 7?

Animal Man was said (ol' Buddy Baker has his hands in a lot of pots!), and there is of course Krypto who we met briefly last campaign.

Rex the Wonder Dog had a solo series!

Draft time for the Top 100 at the end of the week!

Is the draft order randomized? And is it serpentine?

Cody11533 posted...

Is the draft order randomized? And is it serpentine?

Yes, although Scare gets first pick as his reward from the previous draft.

Draft order is set for Sunday!

If only someone could help me figure out who to draft...

Fastbreak posted...

If only someone could help me figure out who to draft...

Draft the fodder from Metabrawl

I can offer some freelance, slightly informed opinions.

No refunds though.

Cody11533 posted...

I can offer some freelance, slightly informed opinions.

No refunds though.

These are the best opinions

Less than 24 hours until the draft begins!

The prizes include free solo sessions...

No one necessarily demanded it, but this post kicks off the beginning of another long meandering list - this time of my personal Top 100 NPCs in the campaign so far. Because, you know, who doesn't enjoy witnessing a Board 8er arrogantly diatribe over his use of copywritten and trademarked characters created by someone else and written dozens of someones-else (it's like attorneys-general) for express purpose of earning that mon-ee for a large, soulless corporation?

When the first campaign began, I had honed in on specific thematic elements that would differentiate one territory in Gotham from another. There needed to be an overarching connectiveness, a similar tissue that made Gotham what Gotham was in each locale, but for each leader, there was a different style of governing, a unique makeup of political and cultural thought. One could philosophize over the virtues of each territory in Gotham - even, hopefully, the most miserable, disturbing places. As a player, one had to concede that Victor Zsasz was supremely successful in holding his land for months on end, after all. But it would be in the clash of ideologies that the players would forge their own opinions. While some truths in Gotham were easy, common understandings to come by, it would be the more bitter pills that some of you found difficult to swallow. Perhaps none moreso than trying to find the virtue in ending a war between two otherwise reasonable leaders. Decisions had consequences, actions had repercussions, and all of those hung in a net of characters anchored by specific thematic elements. Fear, love, loss, pride.

The second campaign began under the umbrella of one single question: "What does 'the end' mean?" Perhaps more specifically, the large overarching theme in Campaign 2 has been this - "When faced with the prospect of the Apokolips, how does one react?" As a result of that larger question, one of death, the afterlife, of survival, dozens of others begin to spin out. What is valuable - tangible or otherwise - to those burdened with recognizing that they exist at the precipice of the end of civilization as a whole? Denial of the end carries with it a certain unglued optimism or naive stupidity. Acceptance of inevitability might simply crush one's very spirit. Or, there can be will enough to fight back; and in that decision, another otherwise difficult puzzle is posed. What motivates one to fight, knowing that even in victory, a win comes at the price of a world turn to ash. Rubble, a kingdom. Ozymandias, king of the ruins.

This second list won't be recounting events - for the two readers who have followed along thus far, I apologize. Instead, I just want to present some poorly organized musings on the characters which I think have laid a foundation for a campaign I've been quite proud of so far. To witness our players and their characters shift, change, stretch, even bend to the point of breaking as they contend with the Day Evil Won, the Final Crisis, has been an immense pleasure. Hopefully, this list and the rewards attached to it for those players who managed to predict it accurately, will be worthy of all of the effort you've put into what has been the most enjoyable and rewarding part of the last two and a half years of my life.

One additional note - the absolute veritable myriad of characters we've run across in the party's journey so far is ridiculous. Certainly, the number is over 2000. This is a very small sample size, and while I stand by this list containing the 100 truly superlative NPCs thus far, the ones I will admit allow me to puff my chest with Artemisian (or Artemisian-2) pride the most, that does not mean that there is anything more than an arbitrary cut-off point with the 100 number. For me, there could have been another hundred more added and I'd still admit there were some absolute bangers left off the list. I say this only to emphasize that if someone you love roleplaying with failed to make the cut, that isn't a sign you should just drop the thread altogether. No! I guarantee I enjoy roleplaying with them just as much! And perhaps, by the time we drop the campaign wrap-up ranking, they'll have earned their place in this highest echelon. Anyways, to business.

Tag-- wait

Hype

I kind of want Cody and Maniac to just make 10 character lists of their own, they'd probably end up with more points than the actual players since they don't have to share a draft pool and can just take a bunch of heavy hitters

scarletspeed7 posted...

One additional note - the absolute veritable myriad of characters we've run across in the party's journey so far is ridiculous. Certainly, the number is over 2000.

I was going to ask if you had a number of eligible characters. It goes without saying, but that's a very large number of unique voices to portray.

hombad46 posted...

I kind of want Cody and Maniac to just make 10 character lists of their own, they'd probably end up with more points than the actual players since they don't have to share a draft pool and can just take a bunch of heavy hitters

1. Bobo Benetti

I feel like Scarlet has been dropping subtle hints in these topics, but I picked up on them.

I think you're imagining things.

hey