N is for Ninja! Super Atomic Ninja!

First Appearance
One day we decided to make a family team for City of Heroes. There was much discussion over how to theme it but we finally decided to go with "Ninjas". To keep the cheese factor high I insisted that each character had to have the word "ninja" in the name. This led to a large crop of appropriately comic-bookish ninja characters running around: Crimson Lotus Ninja, Super Rifle Ninja, Super Neon Ninja Girl, Super Cyborg Ninja, Jade Falcon Ninja, etc. The kids had a lot of fun with it. One of my favorites, and the one I'm working up for today, was Super Atomic Ninja.

Not his normal prey

Origin
Once just an average ninja warrior of his clan, the man who would one day be Super Atomic Ninja was sent on a mission to eliminate a troublesome Soviet naval officer. He ended up hidden in place on a nuclear submarine and though his mission was successful he found himself trapped on a damaged nuclear sub and there are few good outcomes in that situation. His clan added his name to the scrolls of duty and considered him expended.

After a brief time, a man swam ashore near where the sub had gone down - a glowing man. Somehow the ninja had survived radiation, drowning, and the crushing depths of the sea, and emerged as a changed being. Cared for by an old blind fisherman, the ninja quickly discovered that while he retained his ninja skills he also had developed entirely new powers - powers that would make him an even deadlier warrior than before. Some discreet inquiries revealed that his clan considered him dead, and he resolved to become a free agent, beholden to no clan, or perhaps a one-man-clan!

But it must be stopped!

Personality
The Super Atomic Ninja is a man of few words, communicating mostly through signs and gestures though he is not mute. He is very concerned with maintaining the mystery around his identity and is afraid speaking too much will give it away to a determined enemy. His early missions gave him enough wealth to live quite comfortably and so his chief goal in life is to do good deeds and set things right. An Asian-American man in his 30's, he appears to be just another wealthy citizen, with no notable features, habits, or vices. He lives in a penthouse dwelling downtown granting him some privacy and an easy secret exit for one of his talents. Out of costume he is an affable, easygoing person. Once he suits up though he is a cold, determined operator waging a one-man war on organized crime. He does brush up against the occasional supervillain foe, but his main targets are the gangs and organizations that choke whole sections of the city - the system he was once a part of is now his primary foe.

 Super Atomic Ninja for ICONS

PDF is here

Attributes

Prowess: 7 (Incredible) - he is trained and experienced super-ninja

Coordination: 6 (Remarkable) - right on the edge of human capability

Strength: 4 (Good) - stronger than some but not super-strong

Intellect: 4 (Good) - smarter than some but not super-smart

Awareness: 7 (Incredible) - he is hyper-aware of his surroundings

Willpower: 6 (Remarkable) - ninja mental-conditioning techniques

Stamina: 10

Determination: 1

Origin: Transformed (+2 to Awareness)

Specialties: Stealth Master

Powers:

Strike 6 (Bashing) - Atomic Fist!

Blast 5 (Blasting) - Atomic Burst!

Leaping 4 - Ninja Leap!

Life Support 3 (Breathing, Radiation, Toxins) - Ninja training and atomic nature

Qualities:

Motivation : "Justice!" - Individual villains are like bad weather and can be dealt with as they come, but organizations perpetuate evil in a systematic way and gain power over time. To defeat them they much be attacked systematically, hit at weak points, and destabilized. This is his philosophy

"Ninja!" - training, culture - this was his job and his family for decades before he became a superhero.

Challenges:

"Radioactive" - he is a low-level source of radiation that could be tracked if his enemies discovered it. 

Notes: At 55 points Atomic is over the book standard but I don't think he's overly powerful for most campaigns. In a game he has two things he's good at: sneaking around and hand to hand combat. He needs that stealth because he has no invulnerability, unlike most of my characters. That makes him a fairly simple character compared to some but he goes beyond the standard ninja template to add in his blast power and the whole radioactive thing which adds an angle most ninjas do not have to worry about. That came about because I liked the conflict of the radioactive ninja in the glowing green costume and wanted to carry it over to ICONS mechanically somehow.

In a more complex system like Champions I might give him and Endurance reserve to represent his atomic energy and have it fuel his atomic powers. Then I could tie his detachability to his energy level so t hat he could exhaust his battery to lose that extra energy signature. I would also make it a multipower and give him some extra tricks. ICONS isn't really geared toward that type of design, and I'm too rusty with Champions to get it done efficiently, but let's see what I can do with M&M:

"My work here is done'
"Thank You Super Atomic Ninja!"

 Super Atomic Ninja for Mutants and Masterminds (3E)

PDF sheet here

Super Atomic Ninja - PL 10

Strength 2, Stamina 4, Agility 5, Dexterity 4, Fighting 10, Intellect 2, Awareness 10, Presence 3

Advantages

Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Benefit, Wealth 2 (indepently wealthy), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3,

Evasion 2, Improved Critical: Ninja Strike, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Languages 1, Power Attack,

Skill Mastery: Stealth

Skills

Acrobatics 7 (+12), Investigation 3 (+5), Perception 2 (+12), Ranged Combat: Atomic Burst: Blast 8 6

(+10), Stealth 10 (+15)

Powers

Atomic Burst: Blast 8 (DC 23; Affects Insubstantial: half ranks)

Atomic Fist: Damage 10 (Alternate; DC 25; Affects Insubstantial: half ranks)

Atomic Vision: Senses 1 (Infravision)

Ninja Breathing Techniques: Immunity 2 (Environmental Condition: Radiation, Suffocation: Hold Breath )

Ninja Leap: Leaping 2 (Leap 30 feet at 8 miles/hour)

Offense

Initiative +5

Atomic Burst: Blast 8, +10 (DC 23)

Atomic Fist: Damage 10, +10 (DC 25)

Grab, +10 (DC Spec 12)

Throw, +4 (DC 17)

Unarmed, +10 (DC 17)

Defense

Dodge 13, Parry 13, Fortitude 8, Toughness 7/4, Will 12

Complications

Motivation: Justice

Radiation Signature: Atomic registers as low-level radioactive

Languages

English, Japanese

Power Points

Abilities 80 + Powers 23 + Advantages 16 + Skills 14 (28 ranks) + Defenses 17 = 150

Notes: In keeping with the ICONS version the Fist is stronger than the Burst and he is a pretty formidable hand to hand combatant. I added in infravision as an enhanced sense but otherwise is largely the same as his other incarnation. His skills are a little broader and his Advantages give him quite a few options in combat, though he could use more toughness. One Advantage also covers his wealth.

Compared to the stock Martial Artist character he has a little less finesse but he hits a lot harder. Also a  little less toughness, but he has a much stronger Will defense, so it all evens out.

He has the basics in Abilities and Advantages for a solid combatant with some useful skills outside of combat. Upgrades or changes in the future IMO would center around increasing his radiation-based powers. I can see a Nullify option being a good idea, an Affliction makes some sense, perhaps as an alternate power on the blast. Energy Aura, Energy Absorption, even a Healing power could probably be explained under comic book radiation traits. I also toyed with a level or two of Super Speed but held off for this version - the Power Level 12 version of Atomic would probably have that and some of these other powers too.