Old Notes - Doctor Articulus

[JTwig]

I was going through some of my old sutff (trying to clean up my hard-drive) and found some nots I had written about Doctor Articulus (first mentions in the original 1st printing of the Rifts Sourcebook). I was thinking of using him as a antagonist for a game that never got off the ground. Thought I would post it here for someone else to use or maybe ignite someone else imagination. Placed it here instead of the Rifts forum since its really meant for GMs. Removed all published copyrighted info I notice (such as P.P.E. cost of spells, and weapon game stats), and only left the game stats for the things I made up myself.

Doctor Articulus• Articulus – the joint on a spider, or other arthropods, leg. Implies that Doctor Articulus might be homage to Marvel’s Doc Oc of Spiderman fame.
• Anarchist or Miscreant Alignment? Obviously insane as he listens to and responds to only voices he hears and experiences wild mood swings.
• Cyber-Doc 15th/Rogue Scientist 15th/Techno-Wizard 15th
• Possibly a self-taught 12th level Bio-Wizard? If so must keep himself hidden from the Splugorth who are the sole purveyors of this type of magic and whom guard this knowledge jealously.
• Attributes: IQ 28, MA 22, ME 7, PS 20 (Supernatural), PP 20, PE 20 (Supernatural), PB 8-9, and SPD 22/110 (15mph/75mph).
• Though he started out as a mere mortal, experiments conducted upon himself have turned him into a mixture of machine, flesh, and a creature of magic.
• P.P.E.: 400-600
• Partial Conversion Cyborg:
o Hand and Arm – 60 M.D.C. hand, 100 M.D.C. arm.
o Feet and Legs – 60 M.D.C. feet, and 120 M.D.C. legs.
o Head and Main Body – Despite being flesh and blood, his natural as a creature of magic makes them both M.D.C. His head has 100 M.D.C., while his main body has 220 M.D.C.
o His entire body, both flesh and bionic, regenerate 2d6 M.D.C. every minute (4 melee rounds).
o Sometimes wears TW armor that has 150 M.D.C., -10% mobility penalty, and unspecified TW enhancements (should be suitably impressive though). Should include things like Armor of Ithan and Impervious to Energy at high levels with little or even no P.P.E. cost.
• His most startling modification is the addition of four retractable spider-like legs from an attached housing on his back. These legs have 200 M.D.C. each, regenerate 4d6 M.D.C. per minute, can extend up to 60 feet, have a Supernatural PS of 30, provide him with a SPD of 110 (75mph) over virtually any terrain, and allow him to climb/walk up horizontal and inverted surfaces. A swat from one of the legs inflicts 3d6 M.D., while a jab from one of the tips inflicts 5d6 M.D.
• The “spider” legs are semi-intelligence, though subservient to Doctor Articulus? Granting him an automatic dodge during combat as they independently move him about the field of battle? This of course means that he cannot use them offensively during that time.
• Bionic Features:
o Optic Systems: Cyber-Camera Eye, and Multi-Optic Eye.
o Sensor Systems: Amplified Hearing, Motion Detector, Radar Detector, Radio Ear (basic), Sensor Hand, Sound Filtration System, Ultra-Ear, and Universal Headjack.
o Miscellaneous Systems: Built-in Loudspeaker, Radio Receiver and Transmitter, Clock Calendar, Computer and Calculator, Fingerjack, Gyro-Compass, Language Translator, Molecular Analyzer, and Monitor Jack.
o Weapon Systems:
 TW TK Machinegun (interior right arm).
 TW Firebolt (interior left arm)
 TW Disrupter Gun (right shoulder; retractable)
 TW Nova Blaster (left shoulder; retractable).
o Leaping Legs: Legs modified for greater leaping ability. When combined with his Supernatural PS it allows him to leap 30 feet high and 60 feet across.
o TW Finger Laser: Meant for precision work and not combat. Can inflict 1d6 S.D.C., 3d6 S.D.C., or 1 M.D.
o Finger Needle w/ Drug Dispenser: May inject Antibiotics, Tranquilizer/Pain Killers, or a Paralysis agent.
• Spell Knowledge:
o Level One thru Six: All spells.
o Level Seven: Agony, Animate/Control Dead, Constrain Being, Dispel Magic Barriers, Fly as the Eagle, Globe of Silence, Heal Self, Invisibility – Superior, Invulnerability, Life Drain, Light Blade, Mental Shock, Negate Mechanics, Sonic Blast, Spinning Blades, and Sub-Particle Acceleration.
o Level Eight: Eyes of the Wolf, Forcebonds, Greater Healing, Hallucination, Invincible Armor, Lifeward, Lightning Arc, Magical-Adrenal Rush, Negate Magic, Power Weapon, Shockwave, Sickness, Winged Flight, and Wisps of Confusion.
o Level Nine: Create Steel, Dragon Fire, Illusion Manipulation, Mute, Purge Self, and Transferal.
o Level Ten thru 15: Annihilate, Disharmonize, Energy Sphere, Giant, Ironwood, Meteor, Purge Others, Restore Limb, Restoration, Restore Life, Resurrection, Sanctum, Soultwist, and Speed Weapon.
o Spells of Legend: Doppelganger (Superior).
• Description: A Caucasian human male with stringy white hair. All of his limbs have been replaced with bionic systems, his eyes feature multiple lens that rotate and click into place (plus they give him a vaguely spider like appearance), while his back is reinforced with bionics and features a small raised module that houses four retractable spider-like legs. His entire being, including bionic systems, radiate magic.
• History Notes:
o Native to a dimension with limited magic.
o Started out as a brilliant, but bored genetic and cybernetic researcher/developer for an international company named Bio-Spawn.
o While with Bio-Spawn he developed hundreds of new and innovative means of gene manipulation, but not all his experiments were completely ethical or legal.
o For years the Bio-Spawn board of directors covered-up and hid his excesses due to his obvious genius, but even they could not hide his insanity and depravity forever.
o Eventually drummed out of the scientific community, by then he didn’t care as he had discovered a new type of energy and a means of directing it when he was “experimenting” upon what he thought was an extra-terrestrial, but was in fact a D-Bee.
o This energy manipulation was dubbed “magic” by the D-Bee, and Doctor Articulus convinced it to teach him its secrets and to take him to its home-world in exchange for freedom.