Diana
(New Olympians)
Context
Diana is an obscure opponent of Batman & the Outsiders. She was only seen in one 1984 story.
She’s conveniently generic and undetailed, *and* she’s part of a themed team (Antaeus, Argus, Nox, Proteus, Vulcanus). So having notes for these guys sounds good to us.
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Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: New Olympians.
- Base Of Operations: Unrevealed.
- Height: 5’8” (1.72m). Weight: 130 lbs. (59 Kg.).
- Eyes: Brown. Hair: Brown.
Powers and Abilities
Diana is a mistress :
- Huntress.
- Swordswoman.
- Archer.
She operates with a sidesword, a longbow and a pair of hunting doggos.
History
The New Olympians is a group of mortal supervillains who were given their abilities by the Monitor. They were assembled by Maxie Zeus to assault the 1984 Olympic Games in L.A. , with President Reagan in attendance.
Batman intervened and challenged the New Olympians to compete with his Outsiders in a variety of contests.
Diana herself entered a contest of fencing and archery with Katana, which wasn’t a good idea.
In 2008 the New Olympians were all murdered by Gog (William Matthews).
Personality
Diana seems refined and somewhat aristocratic. She considered Antaeus and Geoforce’s wrestling match to be a crude spectacle, and saw fencing with Katana much more elegant.
She was shocked by Katana’s incredible weapon skills, but didn’t seem to be a sore loser. Although Katana knocked her out before she could really react at the end of the match.
Quotes
“We will use dueling épées – not foils, so as not to blunt the thrill of combat !”
Hunting high and low
The New Olympians were endowed with their abilities by a cosmic source. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean they should be particularly powerful. For instance, the gear of the Demolition Team also came from the Monitor and, well.
Still, that Diana doesn’t seem to have super-powers could be seen as a discrepancy. If you intend to use this character, it’s one angle to develop her.
Some ideas off the top of me head :
- The abilities she was endowed with are simply her Skills. It was, like, one of the possible results on the random endowment table.
- Diana had been disabled in, say, a hunting accident. So what she was actually given was a renewed body plus enhanced skills, which sounds more impressive than just the skills.
- Diana was actually granted a bond with the hunting spirit once associated with Manhunter (Chase Lawler) or a close equivalent. So she does have low-flash, hunting-related enhancements.
- Sticking with the Manhunter theme, it could turn out that her dogs are advanced alien robot impersonators, just like Manhunter (Dan Richards) with his mutt Thor.
- You could research Artemis in your favourite large scholarly tome about Ancient Greek myths, to stick with the Olympians’ vague theme.
- Perhaps she has a pool of skill points. When she designates a prey, she can reconfigure her Skills to attempt to match that person’s ability. So for Katana she developed swordswomanship and archery talents, but she could have completely different skills for a different prey.
- She has magical arrows that can neutralise technology, or maybe psionicsPsionics are sci-fi style psychic powers. Or any power source(s) that weren’t found among the Outsiders roster at that point, explaining why she didn’t use them.
- Her magic sword can turn people into magical animals if it sheds enough of their blood. This becomes permanent if she kills them – the dogs weren’t originally dogs.
- Etc..
Adνеrtisеmеnt
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Diana
| Dex: 07 | Str: 03 | Bod: 05 |
| Int: 06 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 |
| Inf: 05 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 05 |
| Init: 018 | HP: 020 |
Skills:
Animal handling: 07, Military science (tracking, camouflage): 07, Weaponry (melee, missile): 07
Advantages:
Pets (see below), Sharp Eye.
Connections:
Maxie Zeus (Low).
Drawbacks:
None demonstrated.
Motivation:
Thrill.
Occupation:
Mercenary.
Wealth:
004
Equipment:
- Épée [BODY 03, Enhance (EV): 02 (cap is 05), Descriptor: Slashing, Piercing].
- Longbow [BODY 03, Enhance (EV): 01 (cap is 04), Enhance (Range): 03 (cap is 06), Ammo: 01, Recommended STR: 03, R#02, Limitation: Low Penetration, Descriptor: Piercing].
- Arrows [BODY 02, Enhance (EV): 01 (cap is 04), Ammo: 20, Limitation: Ammunition load for a longbow.].
Let loose the dogs of war
Diana is often accompanied by a small pack of hunting dogs.
In her actual appearance, she somehow ended up with just a pair of pointer-type hunting dogs. Obviously, you can dispense with the poodles and break out a quartet of mastiffs instead.
A large bloodhound, Great Dane or similar will have the following stats :
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 03 |
| Int: 01 | Wil: 01 | Min: 02 |
| Inf: 01 | Aur: 00 | Spi: 01 |
| Init: 005 | HP: 000 |
Powers:
Analytical smell/tracking scent: 07, Extend hearing: 03, Running: 04, Shrinking: 01, Super-hearing: 03
Design Notes
The stats are more generous than our normal evidence-based approach.
I don’t remember the specific, but it presumably was a mix of benchmarking her against Katana’s Mayfair stats, and a general feeling that surely she had something more going for her than some martial skills and doggos.
DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Diana (New Olympians) — Averaged PL 7.4
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 03 | 02 | 03 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 05 | 02 | 02 | 01 |
Combat Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Close Attack 4, Defensive Roll 2, Improved Crit 1 (Sword), Improved Crit 1 (Bow), Ranged Attack 4.
Other Advantages:
Equipment 2, Minion 3 (two dogs – use stock wolf stats).
Skills:
Athletics 5 (+6), Close combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11), Close combat (Fencing) 2 (+11), Deception 2 (+3), Expertise (Hunting and animals used to hunt) 9 (+11), Insight 4 (+6), Perception 5 (+7), Persuasion 1 (+2), Ranged combat (Archery) 4 (+11), Stealth 2 (+4)
Equipment:
Sword ● Slashing Damage 3, Improved Critical 1 ● 4 points
Bow ● Ranged piercing Damage 3 ● 4 points
Offence:
| Initiative +2 |
| Unarmed +11, Close, Damage 1. |
| Sword +11, Close, Damage 4, Crit 18-20. |
| Bow +11, Ranged, Damage 3, Crit 19-20. |
Defence:
| Dodge | 11 |
| Fortitude | 07 |
| Parry | 11 |
| Toughness | 03*/05 |
| Will | 05 |
* Without Defensive Roll. All scores assuming that his Power is active.
Complications:
- Merc for Money Diana works for dangerous people – and some, like Maxie Zeus, are unstable.
Powers Levels:
- Trade-off areas. Attack/Effect PL 08, Dodge/Toughness PL 08, Parry/Toughness PL 08, Fort/Will PL 06.
- Points total 94. Abilities 38, Defences 22, Skills 16, Powers 00, Devices 00, Advantages 18. Equiv. PL 7.
Source of Character: Batman and the Outsiders #14-15.
Helper(s): Phil Dixon.