I'm using this thread to post Jack Herman's original translations of the New Teen Titans. These were published in Different Worlds magazine in 1983, not long after Terra joined the Titans in issue #26 of their newly relaunched series.
You'll not that Cyborg and Raven are both 7th level (27,000-34,999 xp). If we operate under the assumption that they joined the Titans at 1st level, then Jack Herman was giving the Titans a hefty 1000 xp per issue.
This means that militaristicly 10th level Starfire joied that Titans at 7th level (with 27,000 xp).
It also places Changeling (Beast Boy) was approx. 5th level when he joined the team (he's 9th level in the write-ups).? And that Kid-Flash and Wonder Girl were 8-9th level when they joined (they'r 11th in the write-ups).
Good ol' Dick Grayson is 17th level in the write-up, so he would have been 16th level when he reorganized the group.
SF, thanks. I've got A Titans file loaded with scans of the original article, hosted on the Yahoo V&V massage boards, but I've never seen the article on the X-Men. Anyone here ever seen it?
Here goes Robin and Starfire.
Jack Herman didn't mention Kory's ability to learn languages through touch. It was easy to overlook at this point. After sucking the English out of Robin, she didn't use the ability for some time.
Nothin' against Starfire, but I always thought Dick Grayson would have fallen for someone a little more intellectual than her. Maybe after all those years gettin' dissed by librarian-savant Barbara Gordon, and the cold-shoulder from Wonder Chick, he gave up on Earth girls.
Her 10 points of Invisibility should be 10 points of Invulnerability (yet another sign of the girl's ongoing identity crisis)!
Her strength turned out to be much higher than listed here, but this write-up was based on evidence available in the comics at the time.
Jack Herman gave Donna Troy a vulnerability classically associated w/Wonder Woman--just in case she happened to have it too. It was a best-guess that I'm not sure panned out in the comics. It's probably more accurate to say that she simply loses her Heightened Defense if her writs are bound. As an aside, I happen to like my take on Wonder Woman's bracelets a little better than Jack Herman's take on them as Heightened Defense. Of course, I had 25 more years to think about it.
And here is Wally West!
I was surprised Changeling's stats were so low. He has only 6 hit points! I like the guidelines that he can transform into creatures w/20 basic hits or more for only his endurance turns.
Raven's "telempathy" is interesting--because it could have been listed as Psionics.
5F485E56443D0 wrote: I was surprised Changeling's stats were so low. He has only 6 hit points! I like the guidelines that he can transform into creatures w/20 basic hits or more for only his endurance turns.
Changling/Beast Boy, has never been portrayed as someone who could take a lot of damage. If he's not in an animal form, he's got a bit of glass jaw.
5F485E56443D0 wrote: Raven's "telempathy" is interesting--because it could have been listed as Psionics.
I've always wondered why Jeff and Jack chose not to go with an extended list of mental abilities in 2nd edition. At the time it was published, there were quite a few characters with psionic abilities, especially on the Marvel side of the house. Powers like Raven's Empathy, ESP, Clairvoyance, Mind Blasts, etc. had been portrayed in comicsand TV for years.
Jack also translated Terminator, but I don't have those stats. I believe he was 20th level.
Cyborg's a good example of a guy who was redundant powers. Okay, who needs a finger laser when you also have Power Blast. Incidentally, it was interesting of Jack to say that his sonic blast really acted like Power Blast instead of Sonic Abilities--it just makes a lot of noise!
awesome thank you for posting... can you post robin and star fire too? man i love this site
4445444B474F2A0 wrote: awesome thank you for posting... can you post robin and star fire too?? man i love this site
The former-boy-wonder and Starfire are up at the top. You can get the pdf by clicking on the red square in the bottom-left corner of the post. (That also goes for Donna Troy and Changeling/Raven in their respective posts.)
I'm not up enough on Aqualad to piece together a translation for him--and Jericho wasn't a Titan during his period--but using the stats for the other Titans makes it relatively easy to construct Roy Harper!
SPEEDY
Identity: Roy Harper
Sex: Male
Level: 9 (match Changeling)
Speedy was the first new recruit into the original Teeen Titans (basically replacing Aqualad)--giving Speedy less experience than Kid-Flash and Wonder Girl. Then he made only guest spots w/the New Teen Titans (gaining little experience during that series).
1. Heightened Expertise: + 4 w/arrows
2. Special Weapon: bow (+3 to hit) and trick arrows:? cable arrow, smoke arrow (obscures vision), explosive arrow (as grenade), and some goofier ones that he stopped using at the end of the Silver Age.
3. Special Requirement: Speedy is a former heroine addict. He continues to focus on his recovery.
Weight: 180 lbs. (per Who's Who in DC Universe, 1st ed. and consistent with the way Perez drew the guy compared w/Robin and Kid-Flash)
Basic Hits: 4
Strength: 17 (match Robin)
Endurance: 16 (match Robin)
Agility: 22 (match Kid-Flash)
Intelligence: 15 (match Kid-Flash)
Charisma: 18 (match Changeling)
Hit Mod. (1.4)(1.8)(2.2)(1.2) = 6.6528
Hit Points: 27
Power Points: 70
Healing Rate: 1.6/day
Accuracy: + 4 (+11 w/bow)
Damage Mod.: +3
Carrying Capacity: 587 lbs.
Basic HTH Damage: 1d8
Movement: 75" ground
Det. Hidden: 12%
Det. Danger: 16%
Background: (American) Sports, Social Work/Charity.
wow thanks did not see it, this is a really good post
SF, did you ever see the version of Speedy that was posted to the old boards? And Dr. Foom, posted some very decent arrow write-ups.
002B292D2A2D353121440 wrote: SF, did you ever see the version of Speed that was posted to the old boards?
002B292D2A2D353121440 wrote: SF, did you ever see the version of Speed that was posted to the old boards?
What "old boards"? Did Jack Herman go back and do an official Speedy. That'd be great to see!
Meantime, several good Green Arrow arrows appear on Tim Hartin's emporium. You could use those as a start for a four-color Speedy.
