Speedball for Champions
''Don't strain yourself, pops! I'm a lot harder to hold than I look!'' - Speedball warns Mister Fantastic in Fantastic Four #356, September 1991.
Real name: Robert Baldwin
Other known aliases: Robbie, the Masked Marvel.
Occupation: Full time hero.
Current group affiliation: New Warriors
Past group affiliations: He was turned down by the Avengers.
Major enemies: Psionex, Force of Nature.
First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22
Origin: Speedball #1
Description: Robbie is a young man standing 5'6'' tall and weighs 133 lbs. He has long blonde hair and blue eyes. As Speedball he stands 5'10'' and weighs 170 lbs. and wears a blue and yellow suit that is surrounded by blue and yellow bubbles.
Characteristics
6/11 STR -4
10/20 DEX 0
10 CON 0
10 BODY 0
13 INT 3
10 EGO 0
8/13 PRE -2
12 COM 1
7/ 8 PD 6
7 ED 5
4 SPD 10
3/ 4 REC 0
20 END 0
18/21 STUN 0
Characteristics Cost: 19
Powers, Skills and Equipment
24 +10 DEX,Only In Hero ID(-1/4)
20 EC (20),"Kinetic Aura"
25a) 12/12 Armor,x1 Hardened(+1/4)
16b) 75% Damage Reduction (ED),Not vs. magic.(-1/4)
32c) 75% Damage Reduction (PD),resistant,Not vs. magic.(-1/4)
39d) 9D6 EB,vs physical defense,Only In Hero ID(-1/4),
Concentrate(-1/4),Double Knockback(+3/4) 8
17e) 29" Superleap,Only In Hero ID(-1/4),0 END(+1/2) 0
5 Instant Change
11 10" KB Resist,Concentrate(-1/2),constant concentration,Only
to negate knockback caused by his Vulnerability.(-1/4)
24 32 Mental Defense,Only In Hero ID(-1/4)
4 +5 PRE,Only In Hero ID(-1/4)
4 +5 STR,Only In Hero ID(-1/4) 0
3 Acrobatics 13-
3 Breakfall 13-
2 SC: Physics 11-
2 Radio XMIT/REC,"Communicator Pin",OAF(-1)
Powers Cost: 231
Disadvantages
Base Points: 100
15 Accidental Chg,"If hit, changes to hero ID.",uncommon,occur
14-
10 Distinctive,"Has inhuman voice in hero id.",easily
concealable,major
10 Distinctive,"Bouncing bundle of kinetic fun.",easily
concealable,major
20 Hunted,"Various super villains.",as powerful,non-combat
influence,harsh,appear 11-
10 Psych Lim,"Juvinile antics.",common,moderate
20 Psych Lim,"Code vs. killing.",common,total
5 Rep,"Super hero",occur 8-
15 Secret ID,"Robert Baldwin"
15 Susc,"Takes knockback when knocked into something.",very
common,effect is instant,1D6
30 Vuln,"Knockback",very common,x2 effect
Disadvantages Total: 150
Experience Spent: 0
Total Points: 250
Explanation of the conversion:
History: It all started with an experiment. Robbie Baldwin worked at
Hammond Labs, in Springdale, CT, as a gofer. He was curious about the top
secret experiment that was going on and decided to sneak in and watch, as
did Dr. Benson's cat, Niels. Unfortunately, the energies involved went out
of control and washed over Robbie and Niels, changing Robbie's life forever.
The extradimensional energy gave Robbie a permanent field of kinetic
energy around him, protecting him from many forms of harm, including any
sort of physical attack and extreme heat. Of course, there was a down side to all of this. Robbie now
found himself avoiding any sort of physical contact, because almost the
slightest force would send Robbie bouncing uncontrollably, which gave him
and gave him his costume and altered voice (Speedball #1).
During a trip to New York he ended up helping Spider-Man and Daredevil stop the Purifiers of the High Evolutionary (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22).
He has also confronted the Feathered Felon (Marvel
Comics Presents #14).
Robbie then approached Captain America and tried out for membership with the Avengers. Alongside Blue Shield, Galdiatrix and the Mechanaut, he briefly fought Darkstar, Ursa Major and Vanguard during his tryouts. Speedball and the other perspective Avengers were turned down for Avengers membership (Captain America #352).
Robbie Baldwin happened to be nearby when the villain
Terrax the Tamer was reborn from the radioactive dirt where he had died.
Along with Firestar, Marvel Boy II, Namorita,
Night Thrasher and Nova they defeated him. The Avengers then popped up
and took the credit in their eyes. Taking a que from a reporter Robbie
suggested they call themselves the New Warriors (New Warriors #1).
Alongside his friends in the New Warriors they aided Thor in battle against
the Juggernaut during the Acts of Vengeance
(Mighty Thor #411-412).
Speedball was attacked by an evil doppelganger of himself during the Infinity War (New Warriors #27).
Speedball participated
in the assault on the home
of the Gamesmaster in the Alps where he was attacked by Sena Blaze. He
saved himself and his friends from her by blocking her attack with his
kinetic field (New Warriors #46).
Speedball and the other New Warriors teamed up with the Thunderbolts, Heroes For Hire, Spider-Man, Darkhawk, the Swordsman and Magdalene in protecting the city from the Elements of Doom II (Thunderbolts #8).
He aided the Warriors and Avengers in a fight against an AIM weapons depot and Lord Templar (Avengers III #13).
Alongside Rage, Darkhawk and the Black Cat he unsuccessfully attempted to subdue Wolverine who was possessed by an alien and went on a rampage (Wolverine #134).
Recently it was seen that his costume has returned to it's original form (Nova #1).
He decided he had to reorganize the Warriors if they were to remain a team, gave himself a new uniform, and contacted a number of members.
Former members Rage and Zero-G turned him down, although Zero-G's sister Energizer wanted to be a member, Robbie decided she was too young. He eventually did get Nova, Namorita and Turbo to rejoin, and they added Bolt II and Aegis to the roster during a fight with Blaastar at the Genetech labs (New Warriors II #1).
He was among the heroes incapacitated by Graviton when he attempted to take over the Earth once again (Thunderbolts #57).
Trivia: Other beings who have had Speedball's power include an evil doppelganger from the Infinity War, a clone from the future that impersonated him, the mutant power copier Gideon, the Absorbing Man and Robbie's pet cat Niels, who was also exposed to the same accident that gave them to him.
What other people have said about Speedball: ''Hope ya like the west coast Charlie... That's where yer gonna land
after I drop kick ya inta orbit!'' The Thing - Fantastic Four #356,
September 1991
Powers: Speedball can create a kinetic field around himself that
makes him virtually invulnerable to attacks and allows him to redirect
and increase his momentum allowing for amazing leaps and bounces.
When he activates his power he changes form and wears a blue and yellow
costume. Sudden impacts can cause him to change into Speedball. Since
joining the Warriors, Robbie has gotten a lot more control over his
powers. He's gone from bouncing uncontrollably, to bouncing controllably,
to using his powers to punch much more powerfully than a normal human, to
using his speedballs as a distance attack. He also seems to be able to
hold the Speedball effect in better. The kinetic aura also seems to protect Speedball from psychic intrusion.
Links to other Speedball pages:
Character created by Marvel Comics.
Champions rules conversion by Mathew R. Ignash - mathewignash@comcast.net.
Last Updated - December, 2002
- Back to Matt's Champions Page.-
