A long time ago, Billy Jackson was a 98-pound pacifist. But one day, his best friend convinced him to play a violent arcade game in a thunderstorm. Billy’s life changed that day when lightning struck the Karate Knock-Out!! machine. His best friend was turned into a cat, and Billy gained all the powers of the karate master from the video game. From that day forward, he would be known only as KO Ken.
Cursed to never read another book for the rest of his life, KO Ken vents his frustration by beating old cars into scrap parts. Our heroes have made KO Ken’s shop their home base in the fight against Mondo City’s seedy underbelly…
Welcome to Mondo City
I’m gearing up to play in a one shot with the Windy City Savages, which may turn into a short series of adventures. The idea is a tongue-in-cheek 1980s action tale. As the GM, Daniel Harkins, put it:
In the 1980’s, greed and neon rule and no where else is this more apparent than Mondo City. A twinkling gem of a city on the shore where corruption abounds, the alleys are dark, and the citizens don’t know whether they can trust their leaders or each other. Do you have the guts to be their hero? Or will greed and the promise of power overcome you as well? Welcome to Mondo City, please enjoy your stay.
About 10 minutes into our session zero, it became clear that this session would be oddball in the extreme. One of the other PCs is a Japanese ninja who moonlights as a delivery boy for a Chinese takeout restaurant. Another is a small man who fights with the incredible power of ectoplasm. With that in mind, I knew where I needed to look for inspiration.
KO Ken, the Karate Chosen One
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Armor d10, Smite d10, Driving d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d4, Streetwise d6, Shooting d4
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 7 (2)
Edges: Arcane Background (Super Powers), Brawler, Martial Artist, New Power (Armor)
Hindrances: Arrogant (Major; “I’m the chosen one.”), Big Mouth (Stating the Obvious), Illiterate (“Arcades turned my brain to mush.”)
Powers: Armor (“Recovery Blink!”), Smite (“Pixel Power!”), 20pp
Gear: Karate (Str+d4+2), Uzi (12/24/48, 2d5, RoF 3, 32 shots, AP 1, Auto), Switchblade (3/6/12, Str+d4, -2 to Notice if hidden), Orange Flak Jacket (Torso Armor +2/Torso Armor +4 vs. Bullets), Backpack, Cellular Phone, Flashlight, Lighter, Hiking Boots, Normal Clothing
Ever since KO Ken was electrocuted by that arcade machine that got struck by lightning (the same accident that turned his best friend into a cat), he has known all the secrets of karate. He’s also got all the powers of a video game hero. Whenever he takes a punch from some goon, there’s a chance his whole body will blink with invulnerability for a short while afterward. When he gets really steamed, his limbs turn into laser-blue pixelated fury. And in the darkest moments of Mondo City, he can share this Pixel Power with his fighting friends.
It’s a bittersweet life for KO Ken. The arcade machine gave him a rad, orange bomber jacket for his trouble, sure, but the machine also turned his brain to mush. He’ll never read another book again, and his best friend can’t even talk to him as long as he’s morphed into a cat. To take out his frustration, KO Ken hangs abandoned cars from the ceiling of his warehouse, and beats them down into scrap metal.
I took a quick trip around Wikipedia and found out a few things:
- Punch-Out!! debuted in arcades in 1984.
- The Dragon Ball manga debuted in 1984.
- Street Fighter and Double Dragon both debuted in 1987.
This is a street-level supers game using only the Savage Worlds core rules. We started off at Seasoned rank, but there wasn’t much room to make a character too powerful. In other words, I had my fingers crossed for flight and energy blasts, but at the end of the day I think a “power up and beat down” build is a little more iconic of the video games of the era. This guy is a decent bruiser right out the gate, but his powers (especially their d10 skill dice) allow him to go nova both in terms of defense and offense. With a raise on the Smite casting and the Fighting check, KO Ken deals 1d8+1d6+1d4+6 damage!
The first game should be in the next few weeks. I can’t wait to take this guy for a test drive.