Morpheus Unbound | Supporting Cast | Hero System
White Dwarf Character created 1984 by Ken G. Solo
Background/Personality: Todd Berrymore was born and raised in Galiston, Texas. His young life was relatively typical for a middle class family. He dealt with school bullies, first loves and teenage angst. Through the last year of high school he dated Becky Jo Rigger. Todd went to truck drivers training school and took a job driving for a local company. B.J.’s family was slightly more well to do and she went to college to study medicine.
While B.J. was earning her degree, Todd worked very hard, determined to buy his own truck. B.J. and Todd wanted to spend a few years driving all over America, then eventually find a place to settle down.
B.J. surprised Todd shortly after her graduation by putting a huge down payment on a tractor trailer rig. It became their home.
One evening Todd was hauling a load alone through the southern California mountains, having left B.J. to visit family, when his world exploded. A meteor that refused to burn on atmospheric entry chose Todd’s rig to crash into. To make matters worse, his cargo was not what he had been told. Todd thought he had been hauling soap to a packaging plant, instead he was pulling illegal radioactive bio-waste material. His patron had been looking to save a few thousand dollars by not reporting the transportation of the waste. There was only one witness to the crash, a young woman who had chosen to exile herself in the remote wilderness. She later became Esper.
The radiation level of the wreck site was such that the Army was called in with full hazard gear to clean up. They were astonished to discover Todd’s body still intact after the tractor trailer had been shredded. Even more so when he was found to still be alive. Several hours of surgery removed dozens of pieces of shrapnel, but it was decided that his condition was to delicate to go after the thumb sized piece of meteoric iron that had lodged behind Todd’s sternum. Todd lay in a coma for weeks, recovering. The government storehouse where the Army was keeping the recovered meteor’s pieces was raided by the forces of Dr. Destroyer
When Todd had physically recovered enough, a second round of surgeries removed the remaining shrapnel and the meteoric rock. But the forces attached to that rock had already effected changes to Todd. He kept the piece of meteor, which does glow in the dark, on a chain worn around his neck. Over time he discovered his powers and assumed it was the possession of the rock that granted his abilities. He took the name White Dwarf and made a costume.
Insurance got him the down payment for another truck, and Todd went back to work. He entrusted the secret of his powers only to B.J. for fear of the public’s reaction. Since the beginning of his career so many people have discovered his real identity, he has all but abandoned the White Dwarf identity now. Anymore he does not particulary care who knows his name.
White Dwarf moved to New York and founded the Challengers in 1984. He led the group on many adventures, and frequently crossed paths with Genocide, H.E.L.L. and their rogue monster Cyborg, and Lomax Kijarat’s New Conquerors. White Dwarf is reported to have died twice now. Once at the hands of the assassin Deathgrip, and again when he piloted the Challengers’ Ultra Sonic spacecraft, The Executioner into a New Jersey hillside during the teams final fight with Cyborg. He had managed to escape both deaths, and each time he was eventually found in a trucker’s bar with sections of memory missing.
After the spaceship crash he wandered for years with absolutely no memory of who he was or what he could do, except that he always won at arm wrestling. This was how he lived, by wagering on tests of strength, or menial labor for money. Until a trucker recognized him, and brought him back to New York.
B.J. Rigger had stayed in contact with Remedy of the Challengers. When Todd surfaced in New York, B.J. rushed there. Remedy and B.J. and the surviving Challengers tried to restore his memory. His new personality was built on what his friends told him it is.
Todd and B.J. rekindled their romance and began trucking again. All was well enough for about a year and a half, Todd’s old self was even beginning to show itself. When they drove through a storm at the New Mexico border. The storm was being caused by major disturbance in the barriers that separate Earth from other dimensions. It took the couple days to realize they were not on their world. There were no super beings on this world. Actually, B.J. realized the difference, Todd suffered a relapse of memory loss during the storm.
Increasingly dependent on B.J. for his own identity, Todd decided to not try to find their way back. He reasoned that he lot would be better if he avoided super beings. Unfortunately, Fate had other plans. He was contacted by a man who said he had need of White Dwarfs super strength. Todd had been careful to not use his powers at all since they realized they were on another world, so this man was very suspicious. White Dwarf followed the man to the desert, where it was explained that he worked for Replicon, an old foe. It was Replicon who engineered the dimensional travel of Todd’s truck. And now he had a set of bombs that would turn this Earths atmosphere to methane so that Replicon may leave his buried hideout. White Dwarf was tricked into hurling the a bomb into space, which is what activated it. Realizing his mistake, he destroyed the other bombs, despite the aliens strange effect on his powers, and defeated Replicon. But the bomb transmuted so much methane that 22,000 people died in the south west united states. White Dwarf fell into a severe depression.
In an attempt to return to normalcy, B.J. convinced Todd to return to work. They traveled to Milwaukee to major food store. While waiting for the receiving dock to open, with B.J. sleeping in the truck, Todd was seduced away by an incredibly beautiful woman. She then attacked him with a weapon built to replace her hand. Her laser cut through his force field and dazed him. While he was helpless, the woman, calling herself Caress, punched White Dwarf through the grocery store. She then inserted the barrel of her shotgun in his mouth and unloaded her ammo. B.J. came running to his aid only to be casually killed by the assassin. The police found and stabilized him, and many hours of reconstructive surgery saved his ability to talk, mostly. When he learned of B.J.’s death, literally his only friend in the world, the normally vengeful White Dwarf vowed to not rest until Caress is brought to Justice.
There were some superbeings on this world, as evidenced when White Dwarf fought and lost to a woman, called Tank, who was stronger than he is! He tried to get back into superheroing, capturing some terrorists in Las Vegas. Then as he was squaring off against Tank for the second time both fell into a hole in the air and landed in the middle of a medieval battle. Here he met a magician who explained that Todd is in a world of magic and knights and dragons and kings. The magician wants to turn White Dwarf into a great knight. Todd wants to get back and find Caress.
Quote: "Don’t push me. You can’t push like I can!"
Powers/Tactics: The most visible effects of White Dwarfs powers is when he releases the Ionic energies stored in his body. When he flies, a white energy trail marks his path for several seconds, and those nearby can hear a subsonic humming noise. He can fire a blazing white beam of energy from his eyes, or surround himself with a glowing white nimbus of energy for protection.
After suffering a career full of defeats, and for fear of the effects of his own immense strength, White Dwarf tends to enter combat cautiously. He will stay at a distance with full defenses up to gauge his opponent. He knows that his force field at half strength will protect him from all conventional weapons, so he keeps his multi power split between flight and force field. When he has to hit some one he will start out with soft blows (4-6d6) and escalate from there if his opponent seems to be unaffected. White Dwarf is pretty conscientious of collateral damage, so he tries to not break any thing during battle, but if he needs to he knows that ocean freighters make spiffy area effect attacks.
Appearance: Todd is 6'2" and solidly built. He is not by any measure massive, and certainly does not look like he would be able to lift aircraft carriers from the water. He is fourtish with thinning blond hair. His lower face bears the scars of having his jaw blasted off by buckshot, then surgically replaced. His slow Texas drawl is no marred by the difficulty he has forming certain words. His eyes are most noteworthy; they have become all black, with white flecks. While some people find looking into his eyes disturbing, others have found great beauty, like a perfect reflection of a cloudless summer night sky.
110 STR [100] STR roll: 29-, 22d6 Strike 11 DEX [3] DEX roll: 11- OCV: 4 DCV: 4 20 CON [20] CON roll: 13- 17 BODY [14] 10 INT INT roll: 11- 10 EGO EGO roll: 11- ECV:3 10 PRE 6 COM [reduced because of campaign activities] 22 PD 4 ED 4 SPD [19] PHASES: 3,6,9,12 26 REC 80 END [20] 82 STUN CHA COST: 176
Powers:
112 Ionic Multipower (112 pt base)
Skills:
1 Transport Familiarity: Large Ground Vehicle (Tractor-Trailer)
2 PS: Independent Over the Road Truck Driver 11-
4 +2 Combat Levels with Strike
POWERS & SKILLS COST: 185
CHA COST: 176
Total Character Cost: 361
100 pts + Disadvantages
5 Distinctive Feature: Eyes are black with white flecks (easily conceal able)
15 Accidental Change: When within 8" of extraterrestrial being or object, 14- (uncommon)
10 Reputation: Super strong super being, 11-
20 Psych Lim: Code against Killing (Common, Strong)
20 Psych Lim: Moody (Very Common, Strong)
10 Psych Lim: Vengeful (common, moderate)
— Physical Lim. False Teeth, slurred speech
15 Physical Lim: No memory of life before dimension storm (All the time, slightly impairing)
15 Psych Lim: Hunting Caress, his girlfriends killer (common, Strong)
15 Berserk: Enraged at Caress 14-, common, recover 8-
15 Watched by Merlock the Magician, 14-, (More Power, watching)
10 Hunted by Replicon 8- (As powerful, kill)
111 Experience points spent