Grandmaster Non-Villain Antagonist
Real Name: En Dwi Gast.
Occupation: Gladiatorial arena owner, gamesman.
Identity: The Grandmaster's existence is known to the general populace of the galaxy at large, though he is currently unknown on Earth.
Legal Status: Resident of Port Nowhere.
Other Aliases: The Master of Games.
Place of Birth: Unrevealed.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: Elders of the Universe.
Base of Operations: Port Nowhere.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: CAPTAIN MARVEL #
History: Like those of all the Elders of the Universe, the Grandmaster’s origin is lost in early history of the universe (see Elders of the Universe). It is known that he is one of the oldest living beings in the universe; like other Elders, he is the survivor of one of the intelligent races that evolved in one of the first galaxies to form after the "Big Bang". Although his race became extinct and even his native galaxy died as the ages passed, the Grandmaster, like the other Elders, lived on, having become virtually immortal. As the relatively few survivors of the earliest period of the universe, the Elders regard each other figuratively as brothers.
The Grandmaster has spent his extraordinary long life in pursuit of amusement through the playing of games. He has traveled throughout the known universe studying many civilizations' forms of games and playing them to the point of mastering them. He then began to devise his own types of tournaments and contests, challenging various opponents to games of skill and chance for high stakes.
It is unknown how long the Grandmaster has been a resident of the interstellar free port known as Port Nowhere, but it's claimed that he has been there longer than living memory, which for some species can be a very long time. At Port Nowhere, he runs a gladiatorial arena, which is not necessarily a deathmatch (though fatalities have been known to happen). He is also reputed to engage in various "contests of champions" with other Elders and certain other beings, pitting teams of chosen pawns against each other in various contests, including but not limited to "scavenger hunts" for powerful objects.
At some unknown point in the past, the Grandmaster came into possession of a primordial gem of power, the Time Gem, one of the six Infinity Gems. As the keeper of the Time Gem, he has come into conflict with the being known as the Magus as well as the aggressive Universal Church of Truth; the Magus was seeking to possess the Gem while the Church sought to destroy it. He briefly aided the ragtag team brought together by Adam Warlock against the Magus, all the while deflecting the issue of where he kept the Time Gem.
Age: Indeterminate.
Height: 7' 1".
Weight: 240 lbs.
Eyes: Red, no visible pupils.
Hair: White.
Skin: Blue.
Uniform: None.
Strength Level: The Grandmaster appears to possess strength equivalent to that of a humanoid who engages in moderately little regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: The Grandmaster posses a cosmic life force which grants him a variety of superhuman traits, including a virtually immortal body, immunity to aging and disease, and virtual imperviousness to conventional injury through near-instant regeneration. In addition, the Grandmaster can utilize his cosmic life force for a variety of effects, including levitation, the projection of energy blasts, and travel through space and alternate dimensions. He is also capable of transforming and rearranging matter on a planetary scale, and he can cause death to others just by wishing it.
He is also capable of mentally computing diverse low information probabilities to the tenth decimal place with ease, and to retain vast amounts of data. He also possesses certain abilities of mental perception, which enable him to receive information about his environment through extrasensory means. He also maintains a psychic link with the highly advanced computers of Port Nowhere, which extend and enhance his mental abilities.
Using the Time Gem, the Grandmaster is able to travel through time, bring beings from other times into the present and return them to their native times, and even reverse time locally to restore a recently deceased person to life.
Other Abilities: The Grandmaster possesses a vast knowledge and comprehension of games and game theory far beyond present-day Earth, as well as encyclopedic knowledge of thousands of exotic games played throughout the universe.
20,666 points
| ST: 10 [0] | HP: 10 [0] | Speed: 8.00 [5] |
| DX: 11 [20] | Will: 16 [0] | Ground Move: 5 [-15] |
| IQ: 16 [120] | Per: 16 [0] | Air Move: 8 [0] |
| HT: 20 [100] | FP: 20 [0] | Space Move: 8 [0] |
| SM: 0 | ||
| Dmg: 1d-2/1d | BL: 20 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 12 | Parry: 9 | DR: 0 |
Languages: Ancient Galactic (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Charter Confederation [1]; Kree Empire [1]; Port Nowhere (Native) [0]; Shi'ar Empire [1]; Skrull Empire [1].
Advantages: Affliction (Death) 16 (HT-15; Heart Attack, +300%; Malediction (Long-Distance Modifiers), +200%; No Signature, +20%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [992]; Burning Attack (Energy Blast) 4d×10 (Cosmic: Irresistible Attack, +300%; Guided, +50%; Increased 1/2D Range (×10), +15%; Increased Range (×100), +60%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [1,050]; Control All Matter 60 (Collective, +100%; Extended Duration (Permanent), +300%; Persistent, +40%; Super-Effort, +400%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [16,920]; Crushing Attack (Energy Blast) 4d×10 (Cosmic: Irresistible Attack, +300%; Guided, +50%; Increased 1/2D Range (×10), +15%; Increased Range (×100), +60%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%; Alternative Attack, ×1/5) [210]; Elder of the Universe [400]; Enhanced Time Sense (Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [45]; Flight (Slow (Basic Speed), -25%; Space Flight, +50%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [50]; Gamecrafter 6 [30]; Intuitive Mathematician [5]; Jumper (World) (Can Carry Objects: Light Encumbrance, +10%; Reliable +10, +50%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [160]; Merchant Rank 4 [20]; Regeneration (Heals Radiation, +40%; Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [35]; Regrowth (Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [40]; Ultrapower (Power Cosmic (Tier 5), +0%) [50]; Wealth (Multimillionaire 4) [150]; Xeno-Omnilingual [80].
Perks: Controllable Disadvantage (Callous) [1]; Rules Exemption (Talents Can Exceed Four Levels) [1].
Disadvantages: Compulsive Gambling (6) [-10]; Oblivious [-5]; Obsession (Playing Games) (6) [0*]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Xenophilia (9) [-15].
Quirks: Habitual Cheater [-1]; Must See The Game Through To Conclusion [-1]; No Sex Drive [-1]; Rules-Lawyer [-1].
Skills: Body Language (Humanoid) (A) Per+2 [8] – 18; Connoisseur (Games) (A) IQ+14 [32] – 30†; Current Events/TL12 (Sports) (E) IQ+10 [12] – 26†; Detect Lies (H) Per+0 [4] – 16‡; Expert Skill (Game Design) (H) IQ+9 [16] – 25†; Gambling (A) IQ+14 [32] – 30†; Games (A) IQ+14 [32] – 30†; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+9 [32] – 20; Mathematics/TL12 (Statistics) (H) IQ+9 [16] – 25†; Observation (A) Per+4 [16] – 20; Professional Skill (Game Designer) (A) IQ+9 [12] – 25†; Public Speaking (A) IQ+0 [2] – 16; Research/TL12 (A) IQ+2 [8] – 18.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000,000,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Included in the Elder of the Universe racial package; each Elder has a different Obsession.
† Includes +6 from Gamecrafter.
‡ Defaulted from Body Language.
Role-Playing Notes:
The Grandmaster is one of those characters who is best used sparingly and as an NPC, either as a Patron or Enemy for a campaign arc, depending on whether he or his opponent is using the PCs as pawns in a game. He will cheat when he can get away with it to give himself as big an advantage as possible, justifying it as "cheating is part of the game", but his obsession with the games is such that he will always see a game through to conclusion, even if it's become clear that he is losing.
| DX | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Punch | 1d-3 cr | C | 9 | – | – | 10 | |
| – | Kick | 1d-2 cr | C, 1 | n/a | – | – | 10 | |
Design Notes:
1. The Grandmaster's racial High TL (from the Elder of the Universe racial package) and Starting Wealth are calculated for a TL8 campaign, as would be encountered on Earth. In a more cosmic campaign, the native TL would be TL 11; as such, he would lose three out of four levels of his High TL trait, lowering his point value by 15 points, and his Starting Spending Money will increase from $4 billion to $15 billion.
2. The Grandmaster is one of the few characters in this document which breaks my self-imposed "No House-Rules" rule. In this case, it was applying my "Condensed Specialties" rule, reverse-engineered from the Optional Specialties rule in the Basic Set, to the Games skill. In short, a skill with a lot of specialties can condense all (or most) of them into a single skill with no specialties by raising the skill difficulty by one; in the case of Games, it boosted it from a multiple-specialty IQ/Easy skill to a single IQ/Average skill.