Tower
(Edward Pasternak)
Context
Tower is a minor X-people mercenary opponent. He appeared in 1986, and the bulk of his appearances took place then.
He’s straightforward muscle-for-hire with a straightforward super-power, but more experience and cunning than most would expect. So that makes him useful in games.
Background
- Real Name: Edward Pasternak.
- Known Relatives: Unnamed mother.
- Group Affiliation: Former member of the Alliance of Evil.
- Base Of Operations: Mobile.
- Height: 5’8” (1.72m). Weight: 182 lbs. (83 Kg).
- Eyes: Blue. Hair: Blond, to the shoulder.
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Powers and Abilities
Tower can shrink to the size of a large insect.
Or he can grow to become more than 15’ (4.6m) tall, with attendant strength and durability.
His brawling technique seems adequate, and nobody ever comments about him being particularly fast. And yet. And yet he could consistently punch or soccer-kick difficult targets such as the Beast, a flying Angel, or an aircraft created by Whiz Kid and flying at high speeds.
Growth tactics
Tower occasionally throws cars, to compensate for the uneven ranged firepower of the Alliance. But this is a relatively slow-moving and imprecise attack.
When he’s near his maximum height, Tower can stomp his foot to create a big shockwave.
But he does not seem to do this as part of the Alliance, even when it would have been useful. I suspect there have been incidents where his foot-stomping affected other Alliance members, and Frenzy forbade him to do it again.
History
Tower is a mutant mercenary — a powerful thug-for-hire.
He made his first known appearance as a agent of Doctor Carl Maddicks. Maddicks retained him to capture his former research colleague, Henry McCoy aka the Beast.
After some crude detective work, Tower located McCoy at a friend’s house. Tower charged in and clobbered McCoy, swatting aside Vera Cantor and Robert Drake (secretly Iceman).
X-Factor
However, after he brought his quarry in, Tower was promptly betrayed by his employer. Maddicks sicced X-Factor on him.
What Maddicks didn’t know was that X-Factor was a cover for McCoy’s mutant friends, who already were looking for Tower.
X-Factor engaged Mr. Pasternak as he was moving from his current safehouse. Although he fought fiercely, they soon took him out.
The wily Tower offered to make a deal with them. To prevent that, Carl Maddicks’ mutant son attempted to remotely mindlock him.
Tower then told X-Factor everything. Probably out of spite after the telepathic assault he had just endured.
Alliance of Evil
Shortly after those events, Tower joined the Alliance of Evil. This was a group of mutant thugs assembled by Apocalypse just before his first encounter with X-Factor.
The Alliance members received a power boost from mutant Michael Nowlan. But they soon discovered that this had strong addictive effects. And was thus keeping them in thrall to their master.
Tower was sent to press mutant Rusty Collins, then a guest of X-Factor, into the Alliance of Evil. Though he cased the site, Pasternak did not realize that X-Factor were the same mutants he had already fought, and were thus familiar with him. He only managed to flee by shrinking.
The Alliance’s field leader, Frenzy, scolded him and threw him into a dumpster. Then took charge of the operation and brought Collins in.
Inferno
In 1988, Alliance members were affected by ambient demonic magic during the Inferno . They rampaged through New York City to protest against the Mutant Registration Act.
They were eventually defeated by X-Factor and their students.
In 1991, the Alliance was hired by A.I.M.. They helped Harness (Erika Benson) power Piecemeal (Gilbert benson) up by swatting aside any opposition. During one such fight, Tower (now able to grow taller than ever before) stomped on Whiz Kid (Takeshi Matsuya), leaving the youth with multiple fractures.
The Alliance was later defeated by X-Force.
South of the border
Tower was next seen in an undisclosed Latin American country, in a village called San Miguel. He had been hired as superhuman muscle for some revolution.
But he hated the job and got stinking drunk in San Miguel’s bar, terrorising the locals. Ranting about how he hated his job, the inebriated Tower seemed about to rape the waitress.
That’s when he was murdered by the X-Cutioner (Carl Denti). The killer used some sort of incendiary weapon to burn Tower to a crisp before he could react.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
1,001 nights of the living dead
Much later, a giant, dead, reanimated mutant was used by the Vanisher as security for his “designer gene” drug cartel.
Though some think it was the animated body of Tower, I’m not convinced.
- This mutant was much bigger than Tower.
- The Vanisher described him in a way that doesn’t match Mr. Pasternak.
- The corpse wasn’t charred.
In any case, the giant mutant zombie was incinerated by a huge energy blast from Chamber (Jonothon Starsmore).
Genosha
In 2009, Tower was clearly identified as one of the techno-zombies serving the Black Queen (Selene).
She had been using necromancy to develop her own strain of techno-organic virus.
Description
Officially, Tower is 6’2” (1.88m) and 355 lbs. (161 Kg.). But that seems wrong – he was considerably shorter than Frenzy, and did not seem that bulky.
Personality
Tower is a hooligan. He’s brutal, rude, intellectually and socially limited. His fighting style is like his grammar — a Saturday Night bar fight thing.
He’s a bully. And has a endless list of stupid nicknames for everybody he comes across, rarely using the same twice in a row.
However :
- He’s curiously canny, in a streetwise way. Sometimes he’ll just reach correct conclusions or come up with appropriate tactics, as the situation happens to match his reasoning patterns.
- He’s disciplined, and reliably follows orders.
- He’s been around the block. Sometimes, a situation will resemble a previous experience he’s had, allowing him to unexpectedly anticipate enemy action.
Quotes
“I’ve looked for you a long time, furball ! Now get ready to be smashed by Tower !”
“Let’s do it the tough way, wimps !”
“OK wiseguy, you asked for it ! I’ll just use your overgrown popsicle against you and the girlie !”
“I’m startin’ to get the picture ! I’ve been set up to take a fall ! Well, I’m no dummy ! You guys ain’t no cops or nuthin’ ! If you want the blue boy… yer gonna have ta make a deal !”
(Intervening in front of a camera during a live TV broadcast) “Like Frenzy said ! We’re gonna teach the city what mutants can do. Especially mondo mad mutants ! Hi, mom !”
“Right behind ya — just gimme a minute t’reach a com’frt’ble tail-kickin’ size…”
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DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Tower
| Dex: 05 | Str: 04 | Bod: 04 |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 05 |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 |
| Init: 014 | HP: 020 |
Powers:
Shockwave: 08, Growth: 08, Shrinking: 10
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Shockwave is Contingent Upon Growth.
- Tower can only deploy as many APs of Shockwave as he has active APs of Growth.
- Shockwave can serve as its own AV.
- Shrink can also affect carried items if he concentrates. That *might* be Minimal Marginal.
Skills:
Detective (Legwork): 03, Martial artist (AV): 09
Bonuses and Limitations:
- There might be a relation between how much he can increase his hand-to-hand combat AV and how many APs of Growth are active. But there isn’t enough material to say.
- Martial Artist probably cannot be used to do Criticals or Devastatings. It simply models his ability to keep hitting high-OV targets.
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
Alliance of Evil (Low), Mercenary scene (Low).
Drawbacks:
MIA toward Violence.
Motivation:
Mercenary.
Occupation:
Mercenary.
Wealth:
004
Equipment:
Tower’s costume is made of unstable molecules. And thus adapts to his size changes by itself.
Nowlanhanced
When receiving a boost from Michael Nowlan’s power-enhancing mutant ability, Tower did not seem to increase his Growth.
Rather he boosted his STR by four APs beyond its normal level, and his BODY by one.
Compounding Growth
During his confrontation with X-Force, Tower was growing taller than ever before. Perhaps 40’ (12m).
That meant a Growth of about 12 instead of 08. Yet that proved useless since Shatterstar slashed his right tendons with his special sword, incapacitating Tower.
It is likely he still had that level of power when he died.
Design Notes
Detective (Legwork) is there for campaigns with rules about Unskilled Character Interaction.
He has an AV of 04 with thrown cars, and an EV equal to his current STR minus one. No formal function about that yet, just eyeballing.
DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Tower — Averaged PL 10
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | 02 | 02 | 01 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 08 | 00 | 01 | 01 |
Powers:
Size-shifting ● 43 points ● Descriptor: Skill
– Growth 9, Quirk (can only use 1 Rank of Defensive Roll if he engages 4+ Ranks of Growth).
– Enhanced Parry 4, Enhanced Dodge 2 (Limited 1 – only to compensate Growth penalties).
– Shrinking 16.
– Stomp my little foot – Burst-Area Affliction 9 (Dazed, Prone) (Limited Degree), Quirk (needs to stomp solid ground), Quirk (needs as many Ranks of Growth engaged).
Combat Advantages:
Close Attack 4, Defensive Roll 2, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown.
Other Advantages:
None demonstrated
Skills:
Athletics 2 (+5), Close combat (Unarmed) 2 (+14), Deception 1 (+2), Expertise (Thug for hire) 4 (+5), Insight 3 (+4), Perception 3 (+4), Persuasion 1 (+2).
Offence:
| Initiative +2 |
| Unarmed +14, Close, Damage varies. |
Defence:
| Dodge | 07 (base) |
| Fortitude | 06 (base) |
| Parry | 08 |
| Toughness | 02*/04 (base) |
| Will | 05 |
* Without Defensive Roll.
Complications:
- Mercenary He’s a thug for hire.
- Mutant As well as a mutant.
Powers Levels:
- Trade-off areas. Attack/Effect PL 13, Dodge/Toughness PL 09, Parry/Toughness PL 10, Fort/Will PL 10.
- Points total 110. Abilities 36, Defences 13, Skills 8, Powers 43, Devices 0, Advantages 10. Equiv. PL 8.
Notes
PLs assume 9 Ranks of Growth being active.
When receiving a boost from Michael Nowlan, Tower had four more Ranks in Strength, and one more in Stamina.
During his X-Factor appearance, he had two more Ranks of Growth (or 4 if you use the uncapped scale).
Source of Character: Marvel Universe.
Helper(s): Bil.