The Legend Of Doctor Bedlam--Who She Is, And How She Came To Be

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(Original Character By Steven S. Long--5^th Edition Character, 5^th Edition Champions Universe)

Those of you who are familiar with the character of Hypnos (CK&C, pgs. 92-93) knows that he is the son of “the notorious supervillainess Doctor Bedlam,” who was formally introduced in the 5th Edition supplement Everyman (pg. 103), albeit in a non-powered, relatively non-threatening version—meant as more of a nuisance than a genuine adversary. I have taken it upon myself to write up the supervillain version of that character as she might have appeared in an official HERO Games publication—although I must state that this write-up is by no means authorized by HERO, and should not be considered the official version of the character. This is just my attempt to “fill in the blanks” about one little bit of the 5th Edition Champions Universe, and I hope that players with campaigns set in that universe can find a use for her.

 

And now, without further ado---

 

DOCTOR BEDLAM

Characteristics

 

10+40 STR 0 11-/19- Lift 100 kg/25 tons; 2D6 (10D6)

18 DEX 24 13- OCV: 6/DCV: 6

15+15 CON 10 12-/15-

10 BODY 0 11-

10 INT 0 11-

23 EGO 26 14- ECV: 8

25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5D6

6 COM -2 10-

10 PD (2) 8 Total: 48 PD (38 rPD)

10 ED (3) 7 Total: 48 ED (38 rED)

5 SPD (2.8) 32 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

10 REC (5) 10

60 END (30) 15

40 STUN (23) 17

 

CHA Total=162

 

Movement: Running: 9”/ 36”

Flight: 30”/ 120”

Powers

 

30 Mental Powers: Elemental Control, 60 pt. Base

30 1) Strength Of Will: +40 STR, +15 CON, Requires EGO Roll (-1/2) No Figured Characteristics

(-1/2) 4 Continuing Charges 5 minutes each (-0)

37 2) Psychokinetic Energy Bolt: 12D6 Energy Blast, ½ END (+1/4) (3)

67 3) Mind-Warping: 12D6 Mental Illusions, Area Effect x2 (12 “ radius) (6)

45 4) Psychokinetic Energy Shield: Force Field +30 PD, +30 ED, Zero END (+1/2) (0)

35 5) Psychokinetic Flight: Flight 30” x4 Non-Combat (+5 Pts.) (6)

15 Indomitable Will: 15 pts. Mental Defense (25 pts. Total)

15 Can Handle Her Liquor: +15 CON, Only To Resist The Effects Of Intoxication (-1)

11 Fast Runner: +3” Running, x4 Non-Combat (+5 Pts.)

16 Armored Lab Coat: +8 PD, +8 ED OIF (-1/2)

5 Walther P-38: 1D6+1 RKA OAF (-1) Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam Effect (-1/4) STR Minimum 8,

Doesn't Add Damage (-1) 8 charges (-1/2)

Martial Arts: Brawling

Maneuver OCV DCV Effect

4 Punch 0 +2 4D6 (12D6) Strike

4 Dodge --- +5 Dodge, Abort

5 Roundhouse -2 +1 6D6 (14D6) Strike

4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 2D6 NND (1)

4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, +20 (+60) To Roll

3 Throw 0 +1 2D6 (10D6) + v/5; Target Falls

Skills

 

15 +3 w/ HTH Combat

6 +3 w/ Psychokinetic Force Bolt

10 Defense Maneuver IV

5 Conversation 15-

3 Disguise 11-

2 KS: Motorcycles 11-

2 PS: Cooking 11-

2 PS: Sewing 11-

3 Seduction 14-

5 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 14-

2 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles

1 TF: Two-Wheeled Ground Vehicles

2 WF: Common Melee Weapons

2 WF: Small Arms

 

Powers & Skills Total=393

 

Total=555

 

200+ Disadvantages

15 DNPC: Magda Abramowitz (Sister, Normal, 11-)

20 DNPC: Brian Van Der Schaaf (Child, Incompetent, 11-)

20 Hunted By Peacekeepers (More Powerful, NCI, 8-)

5 Hunted By Triumphant Five (As Powerful, Limited To Area, 8-)

20 Psych Limit: Devoted To Her Son (Very Common, Strong)

15 Psych Limit: Loves To Fight (Very Common, Moderate)

15 Psych Limit: Determined Not To Be Caught (Common, Strong)

15 Social Limit: Secret Identity—Wanda Van Der Schaaf (Frequently, Major)

230 Experience Points

Origin/Background: Growing up in the less savory neighborhoods of Milwaukee, Wanda Abramowitz decided long ago that if she couldn't be the prettiest or most popular girl on the block—which she wasn't--she would be the toughest. She taught herself to fight, and spent most of her school years picking fights with the pretty and popular girls, then beating up their boyfriends whenever they came to defend them. After graduation she managed to get a job at a chocolate-making factory, but her actual career path seemed to be “habitual criminal.” She would hang around biker gangs, seduce their leaders, then beat up their girlfriends when they objected.

 

It was one time when she came out a little worse than usual after one of these fights that she met Dr. Bernard Van Der Schaaf. A man of questionable background and scruples, Van Der Schaaf was well known as someone who wouldn't ask too many questions when treating a knife or gunshot wound, or could get whatever prescription drug someone asked for if they could pay his price. Bernard and Wanda saw something in each other they liked, and they started seeing each other socially. The relationship deepened until one day he made an offer, and she accepted---and Wanda Abramowitz became Mrs. Wanda Van Der Schaaf.

 

On their first anniversary, Bernard offered Wanda a unique gift---a scientific process he had “brought with him” from his former employers. It was designed to amplify and speed up neural processes, which would in theory unlock latent mental potential. It had taken him time to develop the process and work out the details, but he believed it was ready to be applied to a human subject. Trusting her husband completely, Wanda agreed, and allowed him to inject the special formula and strap her into the electroshock machine. A flip of the switch and a few agonizing moments later, Wanda found out—after she regained her senses--that she had, indeed, acquired mental powers. She could affect others' perceptions so that they would see, feel, and experience whatever she chose. She could channel her mental energy into physical force, for attack, defense or even flight. She could even channel her mental energy into her body, making her stronger and more resilient than ever before. Both Wanda and Bernard were elated at her transformation, and a month later Bernard tried the process on himself--with much less fortunate results.

 

Wanda contemplated her life without her beloved husband. Between the insurance and the money Bernard had “brought with him” from his former employers, she could have lived comfortably—albeit modestly—for the rest of her life. But then again, her life had never been about being “comfortable.” And there was another thing to consider—Bernard had left her one last gift—a child. Determined to give her son Brian as good a life as possible, and to follow in her husband's footsteps—or what she thought were his footsteps—she convinced her sister Magda to move in with her and help look after Brian, then came up with a costumed identity that people would come to recognize instantly—and fear. No longer was she merely Wanda Van Der Schaaf—now she was Doctor Bedlam.

 

Throughout her villainous career, Bedlam, while a dangerous and violent enemy to anyone who challenged her, she was never considered a threat on the same level as Doctor Destroyer or VIPER. Despite this, she was considered a success as a villain—because she was never caught. This was largely because she rarely committed any crimes in the Milwaukee area, going by the old adage, “You don't trash where you eat.” Many of her crimes were committed in Chicago and its suburbs, which attracted the attention of Chicago's hero team, The Peacekeepers. She also tangled with a few of Chicago's solo heroes, including The Hawk--”the Master of Winds in the Windy City”--and Max Master, a sonic-powered hero. She also committed a number of crimes in Rockford, Illinois, where, initially expecting to find no super-powered resistance, she tangled with a group of teenage superheroes calling themselves The Triumphant Five. After one defeat after another at their hands, she came up with a plot for revenge—but that didn't turn out as well as she'd hoped. She also hit a number of banks and other high-end targets in Detroit, Michigan—one of her last crimes was committed just before the battle that leveled the city.

 

Meanwhile, her son was growing up. Having been conceived in the month between the acquisition of her powers and the death of her husband, Bedlam suspected that Brian might develop powers himself, and was delighted when he did. She tried to teach him everything she could about fighting and being a career criminal, and when he decided he was ready, she sewed up his first costume. He took the supervillain name Hypnos (CK&C, pgs. 92-93) and embarked on his own career—with less than stellar results. That, Bedlam thought, is what he gets for not listening to his mother.

 

After nearly two decades as a villain, Bedlam's powers gradually gave out on her. She put aside the costume and returned to life as just Wanda Van Der Schaaf, confident that the money she had accumulated from a life of crime would be sufficient to keep her awash in beer and bratwursts for the rest of her days. But then her health started failing as well, the inevitable result of a lifetime of hard fighting and hard living. After a few bad falls at home, her son got her admitted--”locked up” in her words—to the Morningdale Heights rest home, where she resides presently. (Everyman, pg. 103) She'd like to live the life she used to—heck, she'd settle for the life she had before superpowers, hanging out in bars and picking fights with pretty girls. But it seems that life is beyond her as well—and that leaves her feeling more than a little bitter.

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Re: The Legend Of Doctor Bedlam--Who She Is, And How She Came To Be

 

Personality/Motivation: While the name Doctor Bedlam may indicate someone with designs on metropolitan, national or global domination, most of her schemes aren't much more than basic smash-and-grab robberies. This is born out of two main desires—to get as much money as quickly as she can, and to get away from the crime scene as quickly as possible. While she doesn't shy away from a fight—and will violently disagree with anyone who suggests such a notion—she is thoroughly devoted to her son, and wants to remain free so she can continue to care and provide for him. Anyone and anything that comes between her and Brian—whether it's bank or jewelry store employees, local, state and federal police, or superheroes—will get stomped, and stomped hard.

 

Quote: “You want a piece of me, you caped bozos? I'll mop the floor with all of you! I'll crush you like bugs! You'll regret the day you got your tails kicked and your faces smashed in by—Doctor Bedlam!”

 

Powers/Tactics: After carefully choosing her target—a bank, a jewelry store, a racetrack or concert venue, or anywhere with a lot of easily removed cash or valuables—Bedlam will enter the place after activating her Energy Shield and Strength Of Will, then demand that all the money or other goods be handed over to her at once, usually accompanied by a display of violence. If smashing a display counter or wrenching a door off its hinges doesn't work, she'll use her Mind-Warping powers to scare people into compliance. When fighting heroes or law enforcement she likes to use her Mind-Warping, along with extensive use of her Force Bolts—and she loves going hand to hand with someone who thinks they're tougher than her, especially if they're female.

 

Bedlam dearly loves to scare people with her Mind-Warping power. One of her favorite illusions is to pull her helmet off to reveal either a skull, a medusa's head, an oversized lamprey's mouth, or something equally monstrous. She also loves to have flames sprout up from the floor, or down from the ceiling, or have swarms of monstrous insects or worms come out of nowhere to overwhelm her victims. Turning people and things into monsters, or deafening screams or laughter—anything that can leave her victim a squirming, quivering, whimpering mess curled up on the floor is more than good enough for her.

 

Campaign Use: Doctor Bedlam is meant as a recurring villain who can give the players a decent fight, yet not kill them outright or be easily defeated in battle. Players will have to use teamwork and ingenuity to defeat her and especially to find her, as she does not live in the heroes' campaign city. Bedlam does not Hunt heroes unless they've especially ticked her off, as she's concerned that too much conflict with law enforcement might lead to her being separated from her son. To increase her power, add more slots to her Elemental Control (Mind Control is a good fit, as are Ego Attack and Telekinesis), or apply Reduced Endurance (Zero END) to all the slots in her EC. To decrease her power, apply Increased Endurance to all her EC slots, or decrease the Area Of Effect for her Mind-Warping power.

 

Appearance: In her prime, Wanda stood about 5' 9” tall, weighed about 105 pounds, and was often said to be built like a scarecrow—by those who usually came to regret such comments. Her hair was dark, and she had a severe, sharp face that always looked like she was scowling. As Doctor Bedlam she wore a sugarloaf-style medieval helmet, an old-style doctor's lab coat that buttons at the shoulder and sides with a Germanic-style eagle emblem on the front, a large black cape and leather gloves, motorcycle chaps and boots. The costume covered her so completely that no one ever suspected that Doctor Bedlam was a woman underneath. Although she rarely used it, she carried a Walther P-38 automatic pistol in a holster belted to her waist—a wedding gift from her late husband.

 

 

Plot Seeds: (1970s) Two federal agents offer to help the heroes capture Doctor Bedlam; in reality they represent Dr. Van Der Schaaf's former employers who are looking to recover their lost technology. Should they find that Bedlam destroyed it in a fit of anger following her husband's death, they will take her alive—if possible—to experiment on her so they can reverse-engineer the process. The players must not only deal with Bedlam, they must discover, one way or another, what the agents are truly planning.

 

(1970s) A hostage situation at a museum suddenly turns critical when Doctor Bedlam shows up and attacks the hostage takers. What has happened is that Bedlam's son Brian is visiting there with his Aunt Magda, and Bedlam is attempting a rescue. The heroes must deal with this unexpected turn of events while keeping the hostages safe.

 

(1970s) A string of robberies takes place where a lone male traveler is approached by a very beautiful woman, who seduces him, accompanies him to his hotel room, then makes off with his cash and credit cards while he sleeps off a drugged drink. This is Doctor Bedlam using her Mind Warping to make herself look as beautiful as possible to her victim. The heroes can get involved in uncovering her scheme if she approaches one of them while in his Secret ID, or if she decides to frame or blackmail a friend of the heroes.

 

(Modern Era) A member of the Triumphant Five, long since retired and de-powered, believes he has discerned the true identity of Doctor Bedlam, and has come to the heroes for assistance to finally bring her to justice. If the players agree to help, they will find Wanda as she is today (Everyman, pg. 103). Will she come quietly, or put up a fight? And what will the retired hero do when he finds her?