Penny Dreadful
Context
Penny Dreadful is a member of the Helix super-team/dysfunctional family.
For more context about Helix, you’ll want to first read the Mister Bones character profile.
Helix is now a somewhat obscure team, since they were primarily seen from 1985 to 1988 in Infinity, Inc.. But they can be useful, since the DC Universe doesn’t have that many low-to-mid-powered bands of potential opponents.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: Helix.
- Base Of Operations: Formerly the outskirts of L.A. (a ghost town in the desert near Bakersfield), then an abandoned mall in L.A., then Terminal Island (off the L.A. coast).
- Height: 5’7” Weight: 125 lbs.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: Red
Advertisement
Powers and Abilities
Penny Dreadful can absorb energy and release it as powerful blasts. Her body is not simply a conductor, though. It considerably enhances the power of the current that flows through her. She has claimed that this amplification was by a thousand-fold, but this is an exaggeration.
Still, she can easily generate dangerous bolts (in DC Heroes RPG terms two, possibly three APs) from a small battery-powered gadget such as a Walkman™ .
Penny eventually developed the ability to modulate her lightning discharges. This allowed her to lock the muscles of her target, making it very difficult to move. In DC Heroes RPG terms that’s Snare – she does not have enough power and control for Paralysis. However, sh emay have learned to enact a full paralysis since she was last seen.
History
See Mister Bones’s character profile for a full history of Helix.
Advertisement
Description
The metallic disc over her chest is a giant American penny.
Personality
Helix members were raised outside of conventional morality. Until their late teens, they only knew about the world through television. They entered into contact with the world as rowdy teens, which led to considerable trouble and further sharpened their clan-like mentality.
Penny Dreadful behaves as the oldest Helix member after Bones. She view him more as a peer than as a father figure. Like Bones she has a us-versus-the-world slant, and has grown to enjoy being a criminal and a thief.
She helps him maintain order among the turbulent Helix members. Like him she increasingly had to resort to physical intimidation (chiefly electrical shocks) to keep the brats in line for a while, but it sorted itself out.
Other traits
Penny is easily annoyed, and would prefer if Arak and Mister Bones stopped with their cornball routines. And if Mister Bones stopped smoking. And anything she can nag other people with, Helix being a rather dysfunctional pseudo-family.
She normally comes across as stern and bossy. However, she also seems to be the most emotional member of Helix once she lets her guard down.
Penny seems to have a relationship with Mister Bones. Thus, she was the most affected by the various separations between Bones and the rest of the Helix “family”. She generally seems to be the most sentimental about the Helix “family”, and even regretted their decision to kill Dr. Love.
Quotes
(Having stolen the Fury’s engagement ring) “Nice lookin’ rock, Fury. It’ll look even nicer on me !”
“Tao ! Arak ! Stop that fighting — right now !”
“The name’s Penny Dreadful, shades… and like any good copper penny, I make a damn good electrical conductor !”
“Pull in your claws, pussycat, and brace for a shock… and not the AC/DC kind that’s my speciality. Worse. You’re one of us ‘sociopathic freaks’.”
(Touching a boom box) “The Top 40 can wait ! Time for Penny Dreadful to juice up !” (ZZAPP)
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Penny Dreadful
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 05 | Motivation: Mercenary |
| Int: 05 | Wil: 05 | Min: 03 | Occupation: Helix member |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 03 | Resources {or Wealth}: 004 |
| Init: 012 | HP: 025 |
Powers:
Energy absorption: 08, Lightning: 00, Snare: 00, Power Reserve (Lightning, Snare): 08
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Energy Absorption feeds Power Reserve, but is limited to electricity.
- Energy absorption can drain a surprising amount of power from mundane sources of electricity — add 2 APs to your estimates when Penny Dreadful drains a wall socket, a small electrical appliance, etc. (+1).
- Snare can be countered with effects that increase resistance to electricity (such as Lightning Immunity).
- Snare only on subjects with muscles that operate through electricity – some weird life forms might be immune, and some technology might not.
- Power Reserve can only be fed by Energy Absorption, is zero otherwise.
Skills:
Accuracy (Lightning, Snare): 06
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
Helix (High).
Drawbacks:
None demonstrated.
Source of Character: DC Universe .
Helper(s): Ethan Roe ; one illustration from rapsheet.co.uk .