The Batman Thread

[Heroditis]

Batman is the Pinnacle of Human excellence

To me, the true super-power Batman possesses is his intelligence. Denny O'Neil (chief DC editor and the person who defined the "Silver Age" Batman once stated that given good inteligence and 6 months of preparation, Bats could defeat Galacticus (the most powerful destructive force in the Marvel Universe pre-Dark Phoenix). Remember, for decades prior to being "The Dark Knight," Batman was (and still is) "The Worlds Greatest Detective."

Additionaly, Bats is credited for being the number two martial artist in the world behind Lady Shiva.

The Bluff and Intimidate skills are virtually defined by Bats ability (at least in the DCU)

Also, given that Bats has taken down Supes (who I put on the power level of an ancient Red Dragon) on several occasions BY USING TACTICS, PREPARATION, AND LUCK, I have come up with the following stats/levels:

Bruce Wayne/Batman
Rogue: 20
Fighter: 4
Monk: 6

Str: 17
Dex: 18
Con: 16
Int: 22
Wis: 18
Cha: 20

As for allignment, the measure of morality has a fundementaly different structure than DnD -- which I think leads to the arguments about his DnD allignment. In the mainstream DCU, good and evil are defined heroicaly by if a character will take a human life premeditatedly. If a "hero" takes a human life, he can no longer be "good." So this places Batman's "code" as a defining measure of his "goodness" not his "lawfulness". The question of L vs Ch is about how you define lawfullness. If it is defined by your relationship to the ethics and mores of your culture Bats CANNOT be lawful, he explicitly rejects the laws of society as inadequate and/or currupt. If lawfullness is about your internal consistency and codes, he might be LG.

Just my two cents.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Re: Batman is the Pinnacle of Human excellence

Batman
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 18
Int 18
Wis 18
Chr 18

 

[Chasmodai]

You know, so many of you guys give Batman monk levels, and yet you still argue about whether he's LG, NG or CG.

If he's a monk, then its obvious that he's LG! Monks have to be lawful remember??

 

[drothgery]

You know, so many of you guys give Batman monk levels, and yet you still argue about whether he's LG, NG or CG.

If he's a monk, then its obvious that he's LG! Monks have to be lawful remember??

Ex-Monks don't lose any powers. Giving Batman Monk levels would just mean that he was LG or LN for an extended period, not that he currently is.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

I'm Batman.

 

[Valiantheart]

Batman is not a monk or a rogue or a fighter. He doesnt fight dragons, orcs, or trolls (well usually). He doesnt wield magical weapons or spend most of his time spelunking either.
He is a d20 character with Martial Arts levels.

 

[Morgenstern]

We discussed stating out Batman a while back on the Spycraft boards, and there were some excelent builds presented. Nice thign there is we have the Slueth class which is right up Bat's alley.

I basically settled on Slueth 12/Martial Artist 7/Inventor 1, which makes him an awesome invstestigator, a fearful H-t-H combatant, and the Inventor level gives him a 'utility belt' style ability. Superspies tend to be sort of butt-kicking, so there really wasn't much call for 'epic' levels .

But the main thing we determined is that you could do different builds based on which mini-series or 25-book-run of the comics you wanted to focus on. He's not that consistent from arc to arc.

 

[RangerWickett]

Batman and FCTF

This particular build of Batman is inspired by the animated series, primarily the times he interacts with R’as Al’ghul, and the man who ends up becoming that cool, crotchety bad-ass old guy in Batman Beyond. He’s the ultimate detective, a master of following clues to the source of a crime. This Batman trained his body to improve it beyond what he was as a rich playboy, and has sharpened his mind with years of experience. He trained as a martial artist for discipline and strength, and as a stage magician and escape artist for cunning and agility, but he defeats his foes with his mind long before he ever throws a punch or a batarang. To him, Bruce Wayne is his alternate persona, which he uses to hide his real identity of Batman.

I made him 20th level because it’s a nice round number, and because because I don’t doubt he could kill a Great Wyrm Red Dragon if he was in a four-person adventuring party, consisting of a cleric (Superman), a fighter (Wonder Woman), and a wizard (Green Lantern), all 20th level. I use the Four-Color to Fantasy d20 superhero rules because I wrote them, because they’re meant to mesh with d20 Modern, and because they model things that core classes alone can’t, namely that Bruce Wayne increased his ability scores beyond what they ought to have been naturally. (I mean, have you seen this man’s torso? Huge!)

I built his stats with 28-pt. buy. Note that with his high reputation, he’s likely to get a +4 bonus to Intimidate checks. If he takes 10, he can achieve a 40, enough to intimidate even another 20th level character without having to roll. Also, with the unbalance opponent feat, which lets him designate an opponent who cannot use his strength bonus on attack rolls against him, Batman can dodge most of Superman’s melee attacks.

Batman, Human Strong 2/Fast 1/Smart 3/Dedicated 1/Hero 3/Investigator 10: Male human; CR 20; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 3d8+14d6+3d4+60; hp 133; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 25 ft.; AC 31 (+2 Dex, +13 Defense, +6 tactical vest); Atk +15/+10/+5 melee (1d4+4, unarmed), or +13/+8/+3 ranged (1d4+4, batarang); SA Super powers; SQ; SV Fort +11, Ref +10, Will +15; Str 18, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 12. Rep +10. AP 10. Wealth 38. Massive Damage Threshold 16.

Starting Occupation: Dilettante. Permanent class skill (Intimidate). +1 Reputation. +6 Wealth.

Skills, Talents, and Feats: 150 skill points. Bluff +5, Computer Use +6, Craft (chemical) +6, Disable Device +6, Drive +6, Forgery +5, Gather Information +7, Hide +8, Intimidate +26, Investigate +35, Knowledge (business) +5, Knowledge (streetwise) +8, Move Silently +8, Pilot +4, Profession +18, Read/Write (Japanese), Repair +6, Research +6, Search +6, Sense Motive +14, Speak Language (Japanese), Spot +10, Tumble +2; Savant (Investigate), Plan, Skill Emphasis (Investigate), Extreme Effort, Evasion; Aircraft Operation (batwing), Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), Attentive, Confident, Combat Martial Arts, Defensive Martial Arts, Dodge, Iron Will, Renown, Unbalance Opponent, Windfall.

Investigator Abilities: Profile, contact (low-, mid-, and high-level), nonlethal force, discern lie, sixth sense.

Hero Points: 24.

Heightened Constitution (9 HrPs): Training. Persistent. +6 Constitution. Base rank 3. Increased effect x2 (6 ranks).

Heightened Dexterity (6 HrPs): Training. Persistent. +4 Dexterity. Base rank 3. Increased effect (3 ranks).

Heightened Strength (6 HrPs): Training. Persistent. +4 Strength. Base rank 3. Increased effect (3 ranks).

Wealth (3 HrPs): +6 Wealth. Base rank 1. Increased effect x2 (2 ranks).

(Here are the skills without ability score modifiers and such. Bluff +4, Computer Use +4, Craft (chemical) +4, Disable Device +4, Drive +4, Forgery +3, Gather Information +6, Hide +8, Intimidate +23, Investigate +23, Knowledge (business) +3, Knowledge (streetwise) +6, Move Silently +8, Pilot +2, Profession +14, Read/Write (Japanese), Repair +4, Research +4, Search +4, Sense Motive +8, Speak Language (Japanese), Spot +6, Tumble +5.)

An older Batman probably has more high-tech gadgets (which means more levels of Hero), like powered battle armor.

 

[Werther von G]

Now, how 'bout The Joker?!

How 'bout him?

Well, there's a couple ideas I've got for this one. The first is that, in a superhero universe, "doused by strange chemicals" is probably a template of some sort, resulting in increased CON and resistances.

The second is that the Joker's prime stat has to be Charisma, possibly to an inhuman level. That's why he gets away with most of what he does -- he's the Joker. He's funny -- even when he's got your loved ones in a deathtrap or killing people by the score. He overcomes the natural revulsion at his acts by making us like him in spite of ourselves.

That said, I'd probably send him down the track of the Mastermind from the Urban Arcana web enhancement. Smart/Charismatic Villain.

STR 11 DEX 13 CON 14 INT 15 WIS 6 CHA 17

Or so. Low WIS for being a raving lunatic who's easily baited and taunted into rash acts.

 

[CrusaderX]

I definintely see Batman as Lawful Good. He's all about order, not chaos. Chaos is what took his parents from him. Chaos is exactly what Batman is fighting against.