Fastball

Fastball v1.1

By Sébastien Andrivet

Source of Character: DC comics

Helper(s): One illustration detoured at rapsheet.co.uk

Reasons: This entry assumes that you’ve read our Overmaster’s Cadre main article, which has all the context.

Quotes

Fastball

“In the Cadre, they call me Fastball. Wanna see why ? Catch this… sucker !” (KWHOOOM)

“That was my slow ball. Back in Tampa, when I wasn’t much older ’n you, I used that one for warm-ups. Overmaster wants me to find out how good you really are, though… so let’s get down to it, okay ? This here’s my curve ball. You just watch. It’s all in the wrist.”

“You heard the man… let’s get it done !”

(As one of Skyrocket’s batteries explodes) “Ha ! She broke ! Big bad super-hero broke !”

Game Stats — DC Heroes

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Fastball

Dex: 04	Str: 03	Bod: 04	Motivation: Mercenary
Int: 04	Wil: 03	Min: 04	Occupation: Mercenary
Inf: 04	Aur: 03	Spi: 04	Resources {or Wealth}: 004
Init: 013		HP: 020

Skills: Charisma (Legwork): 04, Vehicles (Land): 03, Weaponry (Firearms): 04, Weaponry (Thrown balls): 07

Advantages: Expertise (Baseball lore), Familiarity (Mob lore)

Connections: Cadre I (Low), Underworld (Low)

Drawbacks: MIA toward monetary gain

Equipment:

BODY ARMOUR [/BODY/ 06, EV (Area of effect 0 APs): 10, Range: 02, Shade: 01, Limitation: EV requires a Projectile Of Opportunity to be charged with explosive energy. It is usually used on baseballs — EV might not work as well with larger or smaller items, or items not used as projectiles, Limitation: Range is added to the throwing Range (using normal maths), but only for things that can be thrown with one hand.]
His second costume (the mostly black one) likely had one more AP of Shade and 03 APs of Kinetic Absorption (Structural Damage Only), given its appearances and some bits of dialogue.
It is likely that the large glove on his left hand could be used to Block projectiles, but this was never demonstrated. If you think Fastball could do that, something like Acrobatics (Hard target): 07 with two Limitations (Only vs. slow projectiles and Must wear a catcher’s glove with BODY equal or higher to the attack’s EV) is a possibility.
Skyplate [BODY 05, Flight: 06, R#02] - basically a flying skateboard.

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Game Stats — DC Adventures

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Fastball — Averaged PL 7.4

STR	STA	AGL	DEX	FGT	INT	AWE	PRE
01	02	01	03	02	00	00	01

Devices

Body Armour ● 19 points (Removable) for the second costume
- Protection 3, Enhanced Fortitude 4
- The second costume reportedly added Protection 4 (Limited 2 to Structural Impact) and Second Chance (Structural Impacts)
- Throws-enhancing arms brace — Enhanced Range 2 (applicable to all one-handed throws)
- Charges metallic balls — Explosive Damage 8 (thrown like a baseball, small explosive radius)

Skyplate ● 5 points
Flight 5 (Platform Flaw)

Powers

Catcher ● 2 points (Removable - requires a sufficiently tough catcher’s glove) ● Descriptor: Skill ● Note: This Power seems likely but wasn’t actually demonstrated
Enhanced Dodge 6 (Limited 2 to projectiles he can credibly block with his glove)

Combat Advantages

Defensive Roll 2, Improved critical (Thrown weapons), Throwing Mastery 2

Other Advantages

Benefit 1 (Cadre member)

Skills

Athletics 2 (+3), Close combat 3 (+5), Deception 2 (+3), Expertise (Mob assassin) 5 (+5), Expertise (Baseball) 8 (+8), Expertise (Streetwise) 6 (+6), Insight 4 (+4), Perception 3 (+3), Persuasion 1 (+2), Ranged combat (Firearms) 2 (+5), Ranged Combat (Thrown weaponry) 8 (+11) (Limited 1 to baseball-like objects), Vehicles 2 (+5) (Limited 2 to common land vehicles)

Offense

Initiative +1

Unarmed +5, Close, Damage 1

Thrown explosive ball +11, Damage 10, Critical 19-20

Defense

Dodge	12**/6	Fortitude	9**/5
Parry	5	Toughness	7*/4/2
Will	4

* Without Defensive Roll
** With body armour and catcher’s glove, Dodge is only boosted against some projectiles

Complications

Greed Fastball is prone to attempting unreasonable schemes to get rich quick

Power levels

Trade-off areas Attack & Effect PL 11, Dodge/Toughness PL 7, Parry/Toughness PL 6, Fort & Will PL 7

Point total 86 Abilities 20, Defences 14, Skills 20, Powers 2, Devices 24, Advantages 6. Equiv. PL 6.

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Background

Real name: John Malone
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Group affiliation: Cadre
Base Of Operations: Formerly the Overmaster’s mountain base
Height: 5‘11” Weight: 180 lbs
Eyes: Unrevealed Hair: Unrevealed

Powers and Abilities

Fastball is an expert baseball pitcher, and can throw suitable projectiles with great power, speed and accuracy. We’ve also assumed that he had some typical hitman skills from his days as a killer.

His costume includes braces along his throwing arm, augmenting his speed and power. Furthermore he has metallic, explosive baseball-like projectiles to hurl at his ennemies. Since he never ran out of projectiles even after having been cut off from the Overmaster, this writeup assumes that the costume is charging ordinary metal spheres with alien energy.

It is possible that it’s the balls who possess the explosive qualities, though - since his costume was modified and he acquired a small flying platform, Fastball obviously has technological contacts who might build new projectiles for him. One possible such contact would be Fixit, from Vanity (OR).

History

The first Fastball apparently had a career as a minor league baseball pitcher in Florida, then became a criminal and a syndicate assassin. In the mid-80s, he was recruited to become a member of the Cadre, and thus a minor super-villain.

He was the first member of the Cadre sent by the Overmaster to meet the JLA, and engaged Steel in Detroit to gauge his prowess. Fastball was surprised by Steel’s superhuman power and nearly got crushed under a large piece of pavement, but the Overmaster teleported him away, leaving a medallion as a calling card.

The first Fastball was also among the assembled Cadre when they fought the JLA in the Overmaster’s base, and was again seen with the team many years later when they worked for, then betrayed, Doctor Polaris. During the Brother Eye/OMAC crisis of 2005, Fastball was butchered by an OMAC unit.

Changeup

The Cadre apparently recruited a new Fastball, who seems to have the same skills as his predecessor. This man was spotted during the Final Crisis. He also helped Black Mass and Shatterfist II rob a truck stop, though they were stopped by the Flash (Wally West).

Description

Fastball I liked to chew and spit a lot of tobacco, though he hasn’t been seen doing that since the 1980s. Fastball II has used both the yellow and the black Fastball costume (including the skyplate), though he seems to favour the yellow one. Perhaps the black one was wrecked during the Final Crisis.

Personality

Fastball I was a confident jock, with a very casual attitude about his criminal activities and the violence they imply. He was a slightly flippant talker, as illustrated by his (typical) quotes, and liked to spit cooly threatening banter along with his tobacco.

Fastball seemed to be happy being a follower and rent-a-thug, and was okay with killing people when necessary. He occasionally used baseball references in his speech.

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