Black King

Maxwell Lord is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. A shrewd and powerful businessman, he was very influential in the formation of Justice League International.

Character history

Initially, Lord worked behind the scenes to establish the League, while under the control of a villainous computer created by Metron (a later retcon would say that this was actually the villainous computer program Kilgore, which had taken over Metron’s machine). The computer wanted Max to set up a worldwide peacekeeping organisation, as part of its plan to dominate the world.

Lord’s ruthlessness at this time was illustrated when he set up a disturbed would-be terrorist as a villain for the League to defeat, resulting in the man’s death. (The would-be terrorist believed he had a bomb connected to his heartbeat, but in fact, Max had disconnected it.) Later, however, he rebelled against the computer and (seemingly) destroyed it.

Amoral businessman

Once free of the computer’s influence, Lord was portrayed as an amoral businessman, but not a real villain. During the time that Giffen and DeMatteis were writing the Justice League the character was shown struggling with his conscience and developing heroic qualities, though he would remain a Constitution-artist; however, more recent changes to his character by different writers seem to contradict these previous characterizations.

Newfound power

Originally a normal human, Lord was one of many on Earth gifted with super-powers during the Invasion crossover, when a Gene Bomb was exploded by alien invaders. This bomb activated the latent metagene present in a small percentage of Earthlings. Lord gained the ability to control the minds of others, albeit at great difficulty.

After he was shot and placed in a coma, at the start of the 15-part JLAmerica/JLEurope crossover Breakdowns, Dreamslayer, a supervillain who, with the aid of the Extremists, a team of robotic servants, had once destroyed all life on their planet, took over Lord’s body
and “supercharged” this power, allowing him to control thousands of minds at once. Using Lord’s body and power, he caused the JLI to lose its charter, and almost forced them to disband. Finally however, while it forced the JLI to battle itself, the mortally-wounded Silver Sorceress managed to contain Dreamslayer and held it within her mind as she died, taking it with her, and while Lord was freed, his power was burnt out.

Originally Posted by Kain Darkwind of the Dicefreaks forums.

On this Thread

Maxwell Lord, Black King
Medium humanoid
Wounds	13 WP, 45 VP (10d6+10)
Initiative	+2
Speed	30 ft.
AC	12 (+2 Dexterity) touch 12, flat footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple	+7/+8
Attack	Gun +9 melee (2d6 /x2)
Full Attack	Gun +9 ranged (2d6 /x2)
Space/Reach	5 ft. /5 ft.
Special Attacks	Mind Control
Special Qualities	None
Saves	Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +10
Abilities	Strength 13, Dexterity 15, Constitution 13, Intelligence 20, Wisdom 17, Charisma 24
Skills	Bluff +25, Computer Use +18, Diplomacy +24, Gather Information +20, Knowledge (business) +18, Knowledge (technology) +18, Sense Motive +16
Feats	Double Tap, Master Manipulator, Negotiator, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus (Bluff)
Climate/Terrain	Any
Organization	Solitary (unique)
Challenge Rating	6
Treasure	Equipment
Alignment	Lawful Evil

Mind Control At will, Black King can force a creature within sight of him to submit to his will as a suggestion. (Will DC 27 negates) Each failed save gives a cumulative -1 penalty to future saves against the power. Each use of this power (successful or not) deals 1 point of vitality damage to Max and causes his nose to bleed.