Robin I (1972 pre-Crisis)

Robin I (historical, early 1970s) v1.1

By Sébastien Andrivet

Source of Character: Batman comics 1970-1973

Helper(s): The history is based on the one in DC’s Who’s Who (the mid-1980s ones) ; Brian Mendus, John Colagioia, Jay Myers, VBTusky

Reasons (1): This is for the Earth-1 Dick Grayson when he was a student at New Hudson University, in New Cartage - but not in the current continuity, whatever that is this week. This is a Pre-Crisis version of the character, as seen in the books actually published in the early 1970s. This specific character (with all the 70s values, speech pattern, brushing haircut, corny detective adventures, Genre Rules, low stats by modern standards, etc.) doesn’t exist in any continuity since 1985.

Reasons (2): All Connections are the Earth-1 version of the character.

Reasons (3): This writeup is mostly based on Robin’s solo adventures in the second half of the Batman comic book. For his appearances in Teen Titans adventures, where he much more routinely confront superhuman opponents, his DEX could arguably be upped to 06 - all other stats and Skills staying unchanged.

Quotes

Robin I (Pre-Crisis, New Carthage/second Teen Titans years)

“…and don’t ever let me catch you stealing again — dig ? I’ll be sending a friend of mine to rap with you tomorrow… a Hudson student named Dick Grayson.”

Game Stats — DC Heroes

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Robin

Dex: 05	Str: 03	Bod: 04	Motivation: Seeking Justice
Int: 07	Wil: 06	Min: 06	Occupation: College student
Inf: 07	Aur: 06	Spi: 06	Resources {or Wealth}: 009
Init: 021		HP: 070

Skills: Acrobatics: 07, Artist (musician): 03, Charisma: 08, Detective: 07, Gadgetry: 06, Martial artist: 06, Military science: 06, Thief: 07, Vehicles (SEAL): 07, Weaponry (melee, missile, exotic): 07

Advantages: Area Knowledge (Gotham City), Iron Nerves, leadership, Lightning reflexes, Rich Friend (Bruce Wayne), Sharp Eye

Connections: Batman (High), Teen Titans (High), Gotham City Police Dept (High), New Carthage Police Dept (High), Haly’s Circus (Low), Wayne Foundation (High), Superman (Low), Batgirl II (Barbara Gordon, High), Jimmy Olsen (High), Alfred Pennyworth (High)

Drawbacks: Secret Identity

Equipment:

COSTUME [BODY 06, Skin armour: 01, Limitation : Skin armour is Partial (vest)]
Batarang + line [BODY 07, Gliding: 02, Limitation: Gliding only to extend thrown distance, note : includes a BODY 12, 4 APs long line. This batarang is solely used as a very fast, very efficient grappling hook for the line]
Pocket radio [BODY 01, Radio coms: 18]
One ABC omni-gadget (6 APs)
Robin’s most common vehicle is his motorbike, the ROBIN CYCLE [STR 05, BODY 03, Flash: 05, Running: 07, R#02, Limitation: Flash only for steady illumination, Note : This is a trail bike, with excellent off-road capabilities]
He also uses the ROBIN VAN [STR 05 BODY 08, Flash: 05, Running: 06, Insta-change, R#02, Limitations: Flash only for steady illumination, Insta-change only for license plates (half-value). Note : The van has revolving license plates (the ones he uses as Robin are “R-1”, a crime lab (for the Clue Analysis skill) and can carry the Robin Cycle in a ready-to-use berth near the back].

The Fine Art of Blindsiding
In vintage Batman stories, knocking out a man from behind is remarkably simple - in fact, by far the most common way to stop the Dynamic Duo and various bat-book protagonists is to get behind them and club them on the head, or throw a brick at them from behind. This is a Genre rule with the following clauses :

Perception check to detect someone attempting a Blindside attack have a -2CS Penalty
Hero Points cannot be used as LDD when being the victim of a Blindside attack
The Opposing Value of the victim is always considered to be a 0 (instead of the normal -1CS)
The attacker receives a +1CS bonus to his AV (nobody ever seems to miss)
Those attacks are always, always Bashing combat

Not the fists of death
Another Genre rules from the bat-books in this period is that Martial Artists substituting for EV or RV do not seem to exist. The Battery and Defense subskills are thus not allowed. In order to be compatible, my writeups for characters from this period do incorporated those Subskills, and it is the Genre that disallows their use.

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Background

Real name: Richard “Dick” Grayson
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: The Flying Graysons (parents, deceased)
Group affiliation: Occasional partner of the Batman, leader of the Teen Titans
Base Of Operations: Hudson University, New Carthage
Height: 5‘8” Weight: 155lbs
Eyes: Blue Hair: Black

Powers and Abilities

In the 1970s, Robin is less adept at fisticuffs than he was in the 1940s - he is written in a much more realistic manner. While in the 1940s the Batman would let him take four or five hoodlums for fun, the older Robin can have problems with three determined thugs with bats, and has occasionally been defeated by a civilian making lucky rolls.

Robin is primarily an extremely perceptive detective with vast deductive abilities (much like his mentor), and a low-cinematic martial artist. He does not uses gadgets much, except for his cool bike and his swing line. He also gets a lot of mileage out of his people skill and INF/AUR - in those days, Batman and Robin were considered a bit like elite policemen outside of the normal chain of command, and treated with great respect by many officials.

Dick can, of course play the folk guitar - *every* young character in early 70s fiction could.

History

When Jack Haly, head of the Haly Circus, refused to pay extortion money to Gotham City crime lord boss Zucco, Haly’s number one act - the Flying Graysons - became targets for the underworld. Young Dick Grayson watched in horror as his parents’ high wire snapped and they hurled to their death.

The Batman, investigating the death of the Flying Graysons, decided to adopt the young acrobat and make him his partner-in-peril. A naturel and professional acrobat, Dick took quickly to the extensive training and soon debuted as Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Over the years, Robin met several other young adventurers and together they formed the first version of the Teen Titans. This early group achieved great success, but eventually disbanded as the teens grew older and found their time limited due to schooling and solo adventures.

A second group of Titans was formed a year after the first group ended - after young heroes defeated Dr. Light I, who was controlling the JLA. This versions was also led by Robin and included Kid Flash, Wonder Girl I, the Herald, Speedy, Aqualad, the Harlequin and the Bumblebee.

Robin also stopped being Batman’s constant partner, as most of his time was taken by his studies in the town of New Carthage. He thus shared his time between the Teen Titans, his studies and being a solo crimefighter on the Hudson U. campus and around it.

Personality

Robin is a serious, proper, popular young man from those times. He upholds strong value, desiring to serve the cause of justice and a peaceful, fair society ; despite his age he is very intense and easily wields authority. His days as the ever-punning Robin the Boy Wonder are far behind him, but he has yet to become Starfire’s lover (that will be in the next version of the Titans).

One of the constant themes in the adventures of the young detective is the social upheaval of the early 1970s, especially as he lives on campus. Robin walks a careful, wise middle line, defending the virtues of dialog and understanding between squares and hippies. Being a 70s youth himself, he speaks those days’ slang - as illustrated in the quote above. Note that the verb “dig” was extremely versatile back then.

Robin is sometimes treated like a young man, almost a kid - and sometimes as a bona fide authority figure. He does not like being underestimated or being called “son”.

Description

See illustration for a period illustration - Robin still wears the green trunks and elf shoes and the like. Although he’s attractive, he’s not big-A Attractive yet.

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