The Project Begins: Making MHR Characters: Damon Dran (ANOHotMU #4)

I’m beginning the process of creating my first Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game Event, and as part of it, I’m going to be building a lot of obscure characters. That’s because the idea of this game is, “What happened to everyone who wasn’t a cosmically powerful character who was caught up in the Annihilation Wave?”

Well, the logical thought is that they were consumed by a giant horde of ravenous bugs, but where’s the romance in that? Well, somewhere in the alimentary tract of a giant beetle, but that’s getting ahead of things.

Anyhow, apart from the heavy hitters - Nova, Quasar, Super-Skrull, Phylla-Vell - the lesser characters either get eaten off-stage or aren’t seen at all. Now, these are characters like Razorback, the lesser Spaceknights and the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. They aren’t especially well-known, and their appearances are either infrequent or don’t give much indication of their character. So, I’m grabbing my copies of the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, selecting a random issue, and writing up MHR stat blocks for every character in the book that gets a stat block of its own.

The goal here isn’t necessarily to be faithful to the character so much as to make an interesting and useful character, and one that sensible fits the theme.

Starting with . . . Damon Dran? Who the bejeezus is Damon Dran. Well, he’s this guy. Ugh, what a genuinely terrible entry. I mean, that’s a pretty awful wiki most of the time, but they aren’t usually that directly contradictory.

Anyway, his entry in the Handbook basically paints him as this guy who absorbed the powers of a doodad called “the Globe” that made him indestructible. He works with a bunch of minions who aren’t part of any named organization and regularly gets his tail kicked by Black Widow and SHIELD. So, we’re building a megalomaniac you can’t down with force.

I’m seeing him as being a little like those main boss guys in JRPGs who look so deadly, dangerous and badass that you try to take them down and ignore the horde of minions around them that are the actual problem. He won’t actually be attacking the heroes much at all, but will instead be marshalling small armies of troops (not pictured here).

If I were to use him in a scheme, I’d give him a second, gadget-centered Power Set. Maybe just blasters and jet boots (giving him an Attack and Flight power), but hopefully something more interesting than that, unless he’s an underboss. This will also give the players something with a Limit they can target - the Globe Power Set is nifty, but not so useful for someone who likes to lead from the back.

Damon Dran

Affiliations Solo 1d8 Buddy 1d6 Team 1d10

Distinctions Hatred of SHIELD

“I’m Unstoppable!”

“Minions! Get Them!”

Power Sets

Globe Powers

Enhanced Strength 1d8

Godlike Durability 1d12

Godlike Stamina 1d12

SFX: Indestructible. Pay one die from the doom pool to ignore any physical stress.

SFX: Shake It Off. Pay one die from the doom pool to recover your physical stress and step back your physical trauma by -1.
Limit: Giant Ego - Step up mental stress and add 1d6 to the doom pool when his pride is wounded.
Specialties: Business Expert 1d8, Covert Expert 1d8, Crime Expert 1d8, Menace Exper 1d8, Tech Expert 1d8