The Penitent
Real Name: Unknown, First Appearance: Campfire Terrors #12, February 1940
Background: Academic, Power Source: Mystical, Archetype: Close Quarters Combatant
Personality: Stalwart, Principles: Mastery, Veteran
Status Dice: Green d8, Yellow d8, Red d10. Health: 34 [Green 32-25, Yellow 24-12, Red 11-1]
Qualities: Self-Discipline d12, Close Combat d10, Magical Lore d8, Imposing d8, Mysterious Stranger d8
Powers: Awareness d10, Relics (Gadgets) d8, Presence d6, Infernal d6
Green Abilities:
- The Old One-Two [A]: Attack one target using Close Combat. Attack a second target with your Min die.
- Spellcaster [A]: Take any two basic actions using Magical Lore, each using your Min die.
- Terrifying Presence [A]: Attack a minion using Imposing. Whatever that minion rolls as defense Attacks another target of your choice.
- Principle of Mastery [A]: Overcome in a situation in which you use your powers in a new way and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
- Principle of the Veteran [A]: Overcome a tactical challenge using knowledge of a previous conflict and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
Yellow Abilities:
- The Darkness Within [A]: Attack using Awareness. Ignore all penalties on this Attack, ignore any Defend actions, and it cannot be affected by reactions.
- Dark Evocations [A]: Boost or Hinder using Infernal, and apply that mod to multiple nearby targets.
- Runic Lore [A]: Overcome an environmental challenge using Awareness. Use your Max die. Either remove any penalty in the scene or Boost equal to your Mid die.
Red Abilities
- Dangerous Artifacts [A]: Attack multiple targets using Relics, using your Max+Min dice. If you roll doubles, take a minor twist or damage equal to your Mid die.
- Mystical Awareness (I): When taking any action using Magical Lore, you may reroll your Min die before determining effects.
Out
- Defend an ally by rolling your single Awareness die.
Background
The Penitent was introduced as a mysterious masked figure in a tattered suit who intervened in a demon summoning to save its innocent victims, condemning the cultists themselves to the flames. His name was not revealed in the Golden Age, but his backstory was laid out as having been an academic who delved deep into forbidden texts in search of wisdom, only to come to the attention of a terrible force that offered him all the knowledge he craved in exchange for his soul. Regretting his decision, he sought to stop other demonic forces from intruding into the world.
The Penitent quickly became a popular character in the pages of Campfire Terrors, appearing as one of the main stories in roughly half of its issues during the Golden Age. He gradually picked up a supporting cast that included a plucky reporter threatened by the dark forces she frequently investigated and a newsboy who was targeted as a human sacrifice in an early story, then stuck around to help the Penitent find cases, but he mostly wandered from location to location fighting largely nameless cultists and demons or saving an innocent from using a magical relic they didn’t understand, occasionally showing up as a surprise in a story that was otherwise heading towards a bad end to save the day.
Behind the Scenes
I considered building into a Gadgeteer instead of a Close Quarters Combatant, and then I realized that this is the Golden Age and we want a character to be good at absolutely everything, so instead of a relic-based Doctor Strange we got some kind of magic brawler who I kind of love.
The Penitent is halfway between a superhero and a classic pulp hero, which seems fitting for the first big hero of the line. I was also kind of shocked that there is no major superhero by that name!