Doctor Babylon
From C2Wiki
| Doc Babylon | |
|---|---|
Cold War Criminal Scientist | |
| Concept | Mid-Level Armored Mastermind |
| Status | At Large |
| Alts | |
| Vitals | |
| Real Name | Uday Talfah |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair | Gray |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Height | 5'7" |
| Age | 70 |
| Profession | Engineer and Arms Dealer |
| Characteristics | |
| Notable Aliases | Babylon |
| Alliances | None known |
| Base of Operations | Unknown |
| Abilities | None naturally. Doc Babylon's armored suit allows him to fly, wield superhuman strength, fire beams of force, resist comventional weapons, or monitor his surroundings with various sensors. He can interface with computers and survive in hazardous environments. |
This is a character in progress. Please do not edit this page. Questions or comments regarding this villain can be made in the Discussion page.
Character Created By: Caterina
Contents |
Background
The world is full of many mad geniuses; Uday Talfah is not one of them. He is neither mad, nor a genius. He is, however, a clever scientist and casual killer who is wanted for international arms dealing and other crimes over several decades. He is known to the intelligence community as ... DOC BABYLON.
Uday was never the first in his class. Born in Iraq in 1942, he got his early education in Baghdad and was likeable enough to manage a scholarship to MIT in 1960. Iraq was an American ally in the Mideast in those years, and Uday was attracted to the large US burdget when it came to blocking Soviet Russia and its ally Iran. He wanted to develop a new weapon system to sell to the US Army, but his experiments were fruitless. However, one of his fellow scientists had more luck ... so Uday smashed his head in with a fire extinguisher tank one night and stole the man's research. He got away with the murder and a government contract.
This set the pattern for Uday's future, as he traveled the world looking for promising lines of research, exterminated his rivals, and stealing their work. He soon betrayed both his CIA masters and the KGB and became the target of a multi-national manhunt that kept him running for his life. He spent a lot of time in China, as that government seemed especially willing to pay top dollar for his pirated designs. The high-point in Uday's career came when, in 1991, he closed in on the brilliant Canadian weapon designer Gerald Bull. Bull was the lead scientist in Saddam Hussen's Project Babylon which would have constructed an artillery piece powerful enough to launch satellites into orbit through the barrel of a gun. Related breakthroughs were already promising to give Hussein artillery pieces and Scud missiles more accurate than the US Army. As Bull was entering his Baghdad hotel room, Uday shot him five times in the back of rhe head with a silenced pistol.
Uday made off with the most important records of Bull's "Project Babylon" research, and by this point the Cold War was over. The US was too busy invading Iraq to pay much attention to a middle-aged science thief, and Uday moved to Pakistan where he was given shelter and room to conduct his experiments. Over the next several years, he spent most of his time enjoying the fruits of his criminal life, raking in large amounts of money, marrying a few times, and indulging his passion for amateur archeology. He was forced to admit by the turn of the century that he wasn't on the radar any more and his best days were behind him. Or so he thought.
Uday was as interested in the Crucible comet as anyone else, but it was only after the Ring of Destiny formed and costumed super-people began to appear that he began to imagine his big comeback. Retreating into a lab in China, he began assembling his many stolen inventions and combining them into a single super-weapon which would allow him to stride the field of battle like a god. The Babylon Array, as he dubbed it, was a suit of armor equipped with dozens of inventions Uday stole from others. Although he's just celebrated his seventieth birthday, Uday feels like his life is just beginning. The world is once more full of brilliant and fragile scientists, their wondrous inventions, and governments who will pay for power. He's back in business.
Stat Block
Doc Babylon
Power Level: 10
Abilities: Str 10/34 (+12), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12/34 (+12), Int 24 (+7), Wis 18 (+4), Cha 20 (+5)
Skills: Bluff 8 (+13), Computers 12 (+19), Craft (electronic) 8 (+15), Craft (mechanic) 8 (+15), Diplomacy 8 (+13), Disable Device 12 (+19), Drive 4 (+6), Gather Information 8 (+13), Intimidate 8 (+13), Investigate 4 (+11), Knowledge (history) 4 (+11), Knowledge (physical sciences) 8 (+15), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+15), Knowledge (technology) 12 (+19), Languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, Persian, Russian), Medicine 4 (+8), Notice 8 (+12), Pilot 4 (+6), Search 8 (+15), Sense Motive 8 (+12), Sleight of Hand 8 (+10), Stealth 8 (+10)
Feats: Benefit 3 (Wealth), Connected, Distract (Bluff), Eidetic Memory, Elusive Target, Equipment 4, Improvised Tools, Jack-of-all-Trades, Master Plan, Minions 6 (10 rank 3 soldiers), Power Attack, Precise Shot, Well-Informed
Powers: Device 22 (Babylon Array, hard to lose, 108 points)
Babylon Array: Blast 12 (Force Beams; AP: Enhanced Strength 24), Communication 5 (radio, 5 miles, AP: Datalink 5), Enhanced Constitution 22, Flight 6 (500 MPH base speed), Immunity 9 (Life Support), Impervious Protection 8, Mind Shield 4, Super-Senses 10 (Blindsight – radio, extended, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Infravision, Radio, Time Sense), Super-Strength 6
Headquarters: Underground Lair, 17 equipment points
Combat: Attack +8, Grapple +14 or +26, Damage +12 unarmed or +12 Blast, Defense +8, Knockback -10, Initiative +2
Saves: Toughness +12 (8 Impervious), Fortitude +12, Reflex +6, Will +8 (and Mind Shield 4)
Drawbacks: Normal Identity (Doc Bablyon must don his armor to gain his powers; this is a full-round action, -4 pp)
Abilities 38 + Skills 41 + Feats 23 + Powers 88 + Combat 32 + Saves 8 – Drawbacks 4 = 226 points
Appearance
Uday Talfah is an elderly Arabic man in good physical condition for his age. His black hair has gone gray and he has a black mustache. He avoids suits, and prefers to relax in black turtlenecks and black linen pants. He always has expensive shoes and is seldom without a cell phone and gold watch.
Doctor Babylon's armor is metallic blue and gold with leonine styling, and is aethetically modeled on the Ishtar Gate -- a colossal entrance to the city of Babylon and one of the ancient wonders of the world. The outer skin of the armor is made up of rectangular reflective tiles less than half an inch long which together form an intelocking mesh. The effect resembles a mosaic, though these tiles are extremely resilient and only the outermost level of protection which the armor boasts. Gleaming gold trim is marked with starbursts while the faceplate is that of a golden lion mask. A rich blue cape trimmed with gold is affixed to broad shoulder plates. The powerful gauntlets are spiked.
Knowledge Table
| DC | Knowledge (Streetwise) |
| 10 | Babylon was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world; its ruins lie in modern day Iraq. |
| 15 | "Project Babylon" was a super-gun designed by a Canadian scientist for Saddam Hussein. The designer was assassinated in 1991; the killer was never found. |
| 20 | Uday Talfah is an Iraqi-born scientist with American training who sells arms technology to governments around the world. He was christened "Babylon" by western intelligence services, but insisted he preferred "Doctor Babylon" since "I didn't go to MIT for eight years for nothing." |
| 25 | Talfah was very active from the 70s through the 90s but then dropped out of sight in Pakistan. He is believed to have stolen the research of many scientists over the years, usually murdering the scientist in the process. |
| 30 | Doctor Babylon's personality profile suggests he seeks wealth and power and is completely amoral. Since he is now seventy years old, he may be seeking a way to extend his own life. |
Capers
A few adventure hooks are provided here for those who would like to use Doc Babylon in their own plots.
Lo, the Transmogrifier!
Babylon's recent depredations have allowed him to refine a machine which grants temporary and low-level superhuman powers to otherwise normal people. He decides to use this to create a quick and dirty army. He does not actually intend to use this army to take over the city, though that is the line he feeds them. Instead, he unleashes the mutant army and then uses it as cover for another crime -- like stealing millions in gold buillion or the newly completed prototype to a super-weapon.
Use the PL 6 Sidekicks stat blocks in the back of Instant Superheroes for your mutant army. Most PCs should be able to handle four or so of these sidekicks at once, especially if they are made Minions. The drama in the scene comes when the mutant army eventually realizes Babylon is not showing up to rescue them, and they have been abandoned. Then their powers flash out, and Babylon has gotten away with the goods.
Witness the Power of My Super-Gun!
Using designs he stole from Saddam Hussein's engineers, Babylon completes the construction of his "Super-Gun," an artillery piece capable of delivering nuclear or chemical rounds at up to 1,000 miles. Of course, such a gun is useless without satellites to spot for it, so he needs to plant a worm into commercial satellites in orbit around the Earth. Rather than attempt such a risky proposition, he decides to blackmail a hero into doing it for him.
This plot requires a hero to be manipulated. Those with a public identity are easily pushed around, since Babylon can kidnap someone dear to them. Secret identity heroes are a bit harder, but an innocent victim still usually does the trick. Babylon has put his virus into an auto-loading flash drive which will activate automatically if plugged in. The hero targetted must carry this drive into the Air Traffic Control tower at Port Liberty airport, then plug it into the command center computer. It is up to the hero to find a way to do this.
If the hero complies, Babylon will release the victim, but only in such a way that the victim will still perish in minutes if the hero does not immediately go to the rescue.
Doctor Liebowitz, I presume?
A scientist is revealing some fancy new prototype at an Academic Conference or Engineering Department party, and Babylon shows up to make off with it. His ten soldiers will be in the area, weapons hidden under long coats. When the item is revealed, Babylon will stage a smashing entrance through the nearest window or wall and his men will let loose with plenty of bullets to cow the crowd.
Heroes will be present and certainly can act, but there will be a lot of guns in a small area and civilian casualties are likely. The safer approach is to let Babylon flee the scene and then follow, possibly luring him to a park or other open area where violence will not result in harm to innocents. Saving the item he stole will also be a goal; make sure the creator shouts out, "My life's work! It's irreplaceable!"
Creator Notes
Doc Babylon was created as a foe for Atalanta. As she is young, female, and devoted to self-excellence, Babylon was created as an aging man who demonstrates the power of mediocrity -- instead of being a genius, he's stolen the work of other geniuses. Babylon's Persian connotations also reacted well to Atalanta's more traditionally superheroic Greek theme.
When I discovered that Saddam's Super-Gun program (which I had always intended to tie into this character) was named Project Babylon I knew I was really onto something. Gerald Bull's mysterious assassination became my villain's crowning achievement. His civilian name is taken from Saddam's son Uday and his uncle Talfah. The picture for Doc Babylon is that of Saddam's advisor Ali Hassan al-Majid, aka "Chemical Ali."
Functionally, Doc Babylon is a good antagonist for PrPs and player-run TPs. While clever, dangerous, and goal-driven, his power level is well within the range of what PC heroes can be expected to handle. He has a history of working with flunkies, allies and minions, so he could easily hire other supervillains to assist in capers. He seeks money and power rather than destruction or mass murder, making him relatively low-impact when it comes to damaging the setting. As a man who preys on super-scientists and who is eager to prove he still has what it takes in a superhuman world, he's easy to find plots for.
Categories: NPC | Villain
