Let’s cut to the chase, because this build is all about speed. The Speedster has been around since the 40s with the creation of the Flash, and later Quicksilver, Whizzer, Speed Demon, and so on. To me, a Speedster’s role is to even the odds by taking extra Turns each Round and using their increased movement rate to allow them to be everywhere at once. It’s akin to having two or three extra heroes on the battlefield. First let’s review the best Abilities a Speedster can buy: Super Speed (for extra turns), Speed (increased movement rate), Heightened Initiative, and Heightened Cool. Recommended Ability Modifiers are: Activation Power, Reduced Power Cost, Fast Acceleration, Water Running, and Body Part. While this archetype might seem very straightforward, there’s no reason we can’t take it in a new direction.
My concept for this Speedster is an unstoppable pursuer that isn’t hindered by the usual obstacles. V&V has no shortage of mobility Abilities, and while most V&V veterans think of Flight and Teleportation as being the premier ways to get around the battlefield, they would be mistaken. When your character can run nearly 200 miles per hour across water and up walls or through them, those other modes of travel will seem a bit tame. I’ll start with the core of our build. These Abilities are non-negotiable, and as such they will be maxed out at 20 CPs for this Standard Level hero.
Next, I’m going to fill out my character’s “Go Anywhere” suite of Abilities and Modifiers before moving on to offensive and defensive powers. The Speed modifier “Water Running” allows the character to run across the surface of liquids and the Physical Ability “Wall Crawling” allows our character to travel along sheer vertical or inverted surfaces; a bargain at only 5 CPs. That covers up and over, but what about through? That’s where Tunneling comes in. Tunneling allows a character to move through solids by opening a tunnel in front of them. The maximum SR (Structural Rating) of matter that the character can tunnel through is determined by how many CPs they spend, as is their maximum tunneling speed. Lastly, there is a Tunneling Damage bonus that you may apply to one of your character’s Attack Abilities. My Speedster digs with her hands, so I’m associating this bonus with their unarmed Punch attack. Let’s look at our Abilities thus far:
Super Speed
Speed
Wall-Crawling
Tunneling
Now that we have our mobility worked out, we need some offense, defense, and utility. With the Tunneling Damage bonus to her unarmed Punches she has a good offense, but I want to make sure she can land those hits. I’m choosing to go with Heightened Expertise. Normally I would choose Natural Weaponry, but we already have extra damage. The Power cost of her Super Speed is rather steep, and I want her to be able to Push her Punch damage and Tunneling Speed, so I’m choosing Armor for defense. It provides a good amount of flat damage reduction at no Power cost. For utility I want to support her Super Speed and Tunneling. Heightened Initiative grants a bonus to every Initiative Roll, and when you get three Turns per Round (three Initiative Rolls), this bonus is effectively tripled! Lastly, I don’t want her tunneling blindly with no idea where her quarry is, so she’s getting some X-ray specs in the form of Heightened Senses penetrating vision. Here’s the final loadout, Core Abilities in Bold as usual:
Super Speed with the Activation Power modifier. This doubles the cost of an Ability, but after the initial Activation, it costs 0 Power to use. If a combat lasts more than two Rounds, this Ability will pay for itself.
Speed with the Body Part modifier (I’m choosing legs, naturally) which refunds 5 CPs, which I’m spending on both Water Running (2.5 CPs) and Fast Acceleration (also 2.5 CPs). This allows my character to move across the surface of liquids and doubles their Acceleration Rate to 256”/Turn. Eat your heart out, Teleportation.
Wall-Crawling
Tunneling
Heightened Expertise
Heightened Initiative
Heightened Senses – Penetrating Vision with the Gear Modifier.
Armor with the Gear, Ablative, and Heavy Partial Coverage modifiers for a whopping 15 CP refund. Gear makes her armor breakable, Ablative causes it to lose Protection as it’s damaged, and Heavy Partial Coverage allows her enemies to ignore her armor by making a called shot at -6 To Hit, and it only provides ½ protection vs Area Effect Attacks. These may seem like large disadvantages but being able to max out her Protection is worth it.
Weaknesses: Can’t Hold Back because she never learned to pull her punches, and Compulsion—if she has Power left, she won’t stop chasing her quarry until she captures them or collapses from exhaustion.
I’ll go run the numbers and be back in a flash. Let’s meet Pursuer, the Speedster.
