Spider-Woman Hero
Real Name: Jessica Drew.
Occupation: Private investigator.
Identity: Secret.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Unrevealed.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Jonathan (alias Araneus, father, deceased); Merriam (mother, deceased).
Group Affiliation: None.
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: SENSATIONAL SPIDER-WOMAN #1.
Origin: SENSATIONAL SPIDER-WOMAN ANNUAL #1.
History: In the 1980s and '90s, Jonathan Drew was active as the costumed adventurer Araneus, one of the first adventurers to go public after the disappearance of the American team called the First Line. His full history and origin are unknown, but it has been hinted that he was mutated to superhuman status by the enigmatic High Evolutionary, who he had worked with for years prior, as well as adventuring with a team known as the Shadowguard, whose full membership is not known. In the early '90s, Jonathan married a British woman, Merriam, and the two settled in San Francisco, California, to raise their daughter, Jessica. After Jessica's birth, Jonathan returned to his first love, biology, and got a job at a research firm in the Bay Area, eventually retiring his Araneus identity altogether.
As Jessica grew older, it became apparent that she had inherited many of Jonathan's abilities. Knowing that Jess would eventually get involved in adventures of her own, Jonathan trained her as best he could in the unique combat style he'd developed earlier and instilled in her a desire to use her abilities to help others.
Recently, however, an old enemy of Jonathan's called the Spider-Wasp kidnapped Mirriam and Jessica in an attempt to gain revenge on Araneus for putting him in prison. While Jonathan, donning the guise of Araneus for what would be the final time, and Spider-Wasp fought, Jessica used her own abilities to free herself and her mother from Spider-Wasp's death-trap. At the end of the fight, however, Merriam was killed by a stray blast from Spider-Wasp's poisoned projectiles, and Jonathan sacrificed himself to ensure that Spider-Wasp went down for good; both died when the warehouse they were in exploded.
Seeking a change after losing both her parents and not wanting to stay in an area where everything reminded her of them, Jess relocated to Los Angeles, where she soon took the identity of Spider-Woman for her own adventures, basing her outfit on a variation of her father's. For a short time she worked in a larger private investigation firm, but after earning her investigator's license she quit the firm to open up her own private investigation office. She inevitably dons her Spider-Woman identity during her cases, as they often involve superhuman and supernatural adversaries.
Jessica was recently visited by a ghost who identified himself as Magnus and who claimed to have known her father decades ago. Magnus claimed that his old mentor, the fabled sorceress Morgan La Fey, was looking to escape from her ages old prison, and not able to find her father sought her out for assistance instead.
Age: 20.
Height: 5' 8".
Weight: 135 lbs.
Eyes: Green.
Hair: Black, worn loose down to her hips.
Uniform: Red bodysuit with a white spider design on the chest, red gloves, red boots, red half-mask with mirrored eyes.
Strength Level: Spider-Woman possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) roughly 10 tons.
Known Superhuman Powers: All of Spider-Woman's powers she inherited from her father.
In addition to her enhanced strength, Spider-Woman possesses superhuman durability, enabling her to withstand superhuman blows. Her agility is many times that of a normal person's, bordering on the superhuman. Her fingers and toes secrete a near-invisible adhesive substance which enable her to cling to most surfaces, and her leg muscles have been altered to enable her to leap tremendous distances. This enhanced musculature also gives her a perfect sense of balance. Her physiology and metabolism is such that she has a near immunity to radiation and toxins. In addition, her senses of hearing and smell are extraordinarily acute.
Spider-Woman's body also produces an inordinate amount of bio-electricity, which she can discharge from her hands in what she calls her "venom blast". She is able to modulate her bioelectricity in order to merely stun a person or cause them pain, or push enough power in order to electrocute her target.
1,240 points
Attributes: ST 22/112 [20*]; DX 18 [40†]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 14 [40].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 2d/4d (12d/14d); BL 97 lbs (2,509 lbs.); HP 22 [0]; Will 13 [5]; Per 13 [5]; FP 14 [0]; Basic Speed 8.00 [0]; Basic Move 8 [0]; Dodge 15.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Spanish (Accented) [4].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Acute Hearing 4 [8]; Affliction (Venom Blast) 5 (HT-4; Damage Modifier: Surge, +20%; Increased 1/2D Range (×5), +10%; Alternate Enhancements (Irritant: Moderate Pain, +20%; Irritant: Severe Pain, +40%; Irritant: Terrible Pain, +60%), +72%; Selectivity, +10%; Elemental: Electrical, -10%; Super, -10%) [96]; Appearance (Beautiful) [12]; Burning Attack (Venom Blast) 3d (Armor Divisor (3), +100%; Damage Modifier: Surge, +20%; Increased 1/2D Range (×5), +10%; Variable, +5%; Elemental: Electricity, -10%; Super, -10%; Alternative Attack, ×1/5) [7]; Clinging (Super, -10%) [18]; Discriminatory Smell (Super, -10%) [14]; Enhanced Dodge 3 (Super, -10%) [41]; Enhanced Parry (All Parries) 3 (Super, -10%) [27]; Enhanced Time Sense (Super, -10%) [41]; Extra DX +6 (Super, -10%) [108]; Flexibility [5]; Hard to Kill 3 [6]; Hard to Subdue 3 [6]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction /10 (Super, -10%)) [135]; Legal Enforcement Powers 2 (Informal, -50%) [5]; Perfect Balance (Super, -10%) [14]; Radiation Tolerance (PF 1,000) (Passive Biological, -5%) [43]; Rapid Healing [5]; Resistant to Poisons/Toxins (+8) [7]; Super Jump 3 (Super, -10%) [27]; Super ST +10/+100 (Super, -10%) [390]; Very Fit [15].
Perks: Accent (British) [1]; Disarming Smile [1]; Generator [1]; High-Heeled Heroine [1]; License (Private Investigator's) [1]; Sexy Pose [1]; Skintight Uniform [1]; Sure-Footed (Uneven) [1].
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Hero's) [-10]; Enemy [FNORD] (Equal in Power; Hunter; Unknown) (9) [-15]; Guilt Complex [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]; Secret Identity (Utter Rejection) [-10].
Quirks: Broad-Minded [-1]; Careful [-1]; Congenial [-1]; Devout Episcopalian [-1]; Not Until My First Cup! [-1].
Skills: Acrobatics (H) DX+0 [2] – 18‡; Artist (Drawing) (H) IQ-1 [2] – 11; Body Language (Human) (A) Per-1 [1] – 12; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4] – 20; Breath Control (H) HT-2 [1] – 12; Climbing (A) DX+3 [1] – 21†§; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Criminology/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Current Affairs/TL8 (Headline News) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Current Affairs/TL8 (Los Angeles) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Detect Lies (H) Per-1 [2] – 12; Escape (A) DX+2 [2] – 20§; First Aid/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Forced Entry (E) DX+0 [1] – 18; Hiking (A) HT-1 [1] – 13; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+2 [4] – 20; Intelligence Analysis/TL8 (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Interrogation (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Intimidation (A) Will-1 [1] – 12; Judo (H) DX+2 [12] – 20; Jumping (E) DX+2 [4] – 20; Knot-Tying (E) DX+0 [1] – 18; Law (Los Angeles Criminal) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Lifting (A) HT-1 [1] – 13; Observation (A) Per+0 [2] – 13; Running (A) HT-1 [1] – 13; Savoir-Faire (Dojo) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Savoir-Faire (Police) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Shadowing (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Stealth (A) DX+0 [2] – 18; Streetwise (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 14; Throwing (A) DX+0 [2] – 18; Tracking (A) Per+1 [4] – 14; Wrestling (A) DX+2 [8] – 20.
Techniques: Breakfall (Acrobatics) (A) def+3 [3] – 21; Drop Kick (Brawling) (H) def+1 [2] – 20; Evade (Acrobatics) (A) def+3 [3] – 21; Kicking (Brawling) (H) def+2 [3] – 20; Slip Handcuffs (Escape) (H) def+2 [3] – 17.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +10/+100 from Super ST.
† Includes +6 from Extra DX.
‡ Includes +1 from Perfect Balance.
§ Includes +3 from Flexibility.
Role-Playing Notes:
Jessica is feeling rather alienated right now, as she is in a new city with few friends and a growing number of enemies.
Design Notes:
1. Spider-Woman's origin marks her as my first "legacy" character. I altered her origins immensely, pretty much giving her father the origin laid out for her in her OHOTMUDE #4 entry.
2. It's entirely possible that her father and his nemesis, the Spider-Wasp, survived the explosion that appears to have killed them. After all, what Marvel character ever actually died in an explosion? ;)
3. I took some liberties with the outfit, combining the mainstream (Earth-616) and Ultimates imprint (Earth-6160) Jessicas' uniforms. Jessica-616's red and yellow uniform doesn't exactly scream "spider", while the full face mask for Jessica-6160's uniform doesn't quite work for me. I took Jessica-6160's uniform and made it a half-mask like that worn by Jessica-616. I hope it works for y'all.