Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH Damage [1] 12 DEX 6 11- OCV: 4/DCV: 4 10 CON 0 11- 10 BODY 0 11- 16 INT 6 12- PER Roll 12- 12 EGO 4 11- ECV: 4 10 PRE 0 11- PRE Attack: 2d6 10 COM 0 11- 2 PD 0 Total: 2 PD (0 rPD) 2 ED 0 Total: 2 ED (0 rED) 3 SPD 8 Phases: 4, 8, 12 4 REC 0 20 END 0 20 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 24 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 133 Animal Powers: Variable Power Pool (Mimicry Pool), 100 base + 33 control cost, Limited Power (Only to duplicate powers of animal Byth is shapeshifted into; -1/2) 21 Trance Gun: Mind Control 10d6 (Human class of minds), Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2), Area Of Effect (16" Cone; +1); 1 Charge (-2), Based on CON (Defense: ED; -1), OAF (pistol; -1), No Range (-1/2), Set Effect ("Do Not Notice The Passage Of Time"; -1/2), [1] 19 Krotan Pill: Shape Shift (Sight, Smell/Taste, Touch and Hearing Groups, any animal), Instant Change; Affects Body Only (-1/2), Limited Power (Only animals Byth has studied in person; -1/4), END 3 Perks 15 Gang Leader: Followers 1 Reputation: Expert and daring thief (Thrill Thieves of Thanagar) 14-, +1/+1d6 Skills 3 Acting 11- 3 Concealment 12- 3 Conversation 11- 2 CuK: United States 11- 3 Inventor 12- 0 Language: Thanagarian (idiomatic) 4 Language: English (idiomatic) 2 Language: Thanagarian Thieves' Sign Language (fluent conversation) 3 Mimicry 12- 4 PS: Thief 13- 3 Security Systems 12- 3 Stealth 11- 7 Streetwise 13- 2 TF: Personal Use Spacecraft, Small Motorized Boats 3 Scientist 3 1) SS: Biochemistry 13- 3 2) SS: Biology 13- 3 3) SS: Chemistry 13- 3 4) SS: Earth Zoology 13- 4 5) SS: Thanagarian Zoology 14- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 250 Total Cost: 274 200+ Disadvantages 15 Hunted: Hawkman and Hawkgirl 11- (As Pow, Harshly Punish) 15 Psychological Limitation: Conceited (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Thrill-seeker (Common, Strong) 10 Reputation: Daring and dangerous thief, 14- (Known Only To Thanagarians) 10 Social Limitation: Illegal alien (Occasionally, Major) 9 Experience 274 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Byth was born and raised on the planet Thanagar, which hosted an advanced humanoid civilization. Thanagar was a post-scarcity society, where poverty and disease had been eliminated eons ago. Indeed, there had not been war or crime on Thanagar in so long that the very concepts were only known to historians. But one problem that had never been fully eliminated on Thanagar was boredom, and Byth had that in spades.
When Byth was in his teens, bandits called the Man-Hawks attacked Thanagar, robbing and plundering at will. Having no police or military, the Thanagarians were initially helpless. But Paran Katar, a noted scientist, developed some of his discoveries into weapons to battle the raiders. Afterwards, the Thanagarian government created a police/defense force called the Hawkmen, based on those same weapons.
But Byth and some of his fellows were inspired by the Man-Hawks in a different way. They began to steal for kicks, spurring each other to more daring and "impossible" thefts. Battling against the Thrill-Thieves became the primary occupation of the Hawkmen.
Eventually, Byth learned of the work of one Krotan, who was developing a pill that would allow a human to assume the shape of any living thing. Krotan planned to use it to aid field observation of animals. Byth overpowered Krotan, accidentally killing him, and stole the pill. For reasons not clear in the narrative, Byth chose to move off-planet to Earth to continue his criminal career.
Using Thanagarian technology in his spacecraft, Byth learned English from Earth transmissions, and upon arriving spent some time familiarizing himself with both the local culture and Earthly wildlife. He committed petty crimes to get Earth clothing and money to better blend in.
Unbeknownst to Byth, by the time he felt ready to commit the daring crimes he'd come to Earth to perform, Katar and Shayera Hol of the Hawkmen had traced him to the planet and found cover identities for themselves. Byth and his pursuers clashed several times before Hawkman and Hawkgirl were finally triumphant. They shipped the criminal back to Thanagar, where his shapeshifting ability was removed.
But the Hawkmen had not counted on Byth's cunning. He'd already used his own scientific knowledge to reverse engineer the Krotan pill, and used sign language to communicate with a confederate, who then smuggled in the necessary chemicals. His powers now restored and shared with his gang, Byth carried out robberies on Thanagar until Katar and Shayera Hol (who themselves had returned to Thanagar) figured out how to track and trap the thieves.
Personality/Motivation: Byth is easily bored and desires "thrills," which he finds most pleasing when he uses his wits and powers to perform daring thefts. He's a bit too in love with his own cleverness, and likes being praised by his thrill-thief peers. While he's perfectly willing to kill in the course of his crimes, it is never the point of them—he just places no particular value on human life. He can easily be goaded into taking foolish chances if it will net him the kind of prestige he desires.
Quote: "This is the kind of challenge I've been waiting for! The actual value of the Star means nothing to me! All I want is the thrill of stealing it!... Against 'impossible' odds...!"
Powers/Tactics: Byth is an enthusiastic amateur thief and a surprisingly skilled scientist. Under the influence of the Krotan Pill, Byth can change his shape to that of any animal he's carefully observed. (Theoretically, he could also imitate any given person, but Byth never demonstrates this facet of the power.) Since Byth has made an extensive study of both Thanagarian and Earth animals, he has a wide selection to pull from. While in an animal's form, he possesses all the natural abilities of that animal.
Byth has also created a Trance-Gun, which causes its victims to fall into a state where time passes too fast for them to perceive. While the gun's effects are invisible, it exhausts itself after one firing, so is of limited usefulness.
As a thief, Byth's preferred tactic is to break in and steal things, then get away. His ego, however, means that he must do so in surprising and unusual ways. He prefers never to repeat a shape or trick he's already used recently. If forced into combat, Byth will pick a form that seems suited to the situation, and use its powers intelligently. He has no compunctions about fleeing if outmatched, tired, or injured.
Campaign Use: Byth first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34, Creature of a Thousand Shapes! by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert.
Byth makes a good challenge for a versatile solo character, or a low-powered team. If he needs to be more powerful, up the value of his VPP, and give him a couple of combat skill levels If he needs to be less powerful, confine his ability to Earth animals.
The Iron Age version of Byth was a Casual Killer drug pusher, but honestly that version kind of sucked. For something closer to the spirit of the Silver Age version but still modern, make him an "extreme sports" fanatic for whom the Krotan pill represents a whole new level of stupid stunts to pull.
Appearance: Thanagarians, as it happens, look exactly like Caucasian humans (Go figure). Byth is bald, making him look older than he actually is. He's slim, and usually has a sly look on his face even when not actually planning anything. He doesn't have a costume as such, but will dress flashily for the culture he's currently in.
(Byth created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, character sheet created by Scott Jamieson)
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