I’m dusting off the ol’ Archive for this special day. Below you’ll find an environment that I hope will make fools out of your players.
Lair of Trickery
Many villains of the Multiverse are masters of trickery, misdirection, and deceit—Miss Information, Glamour, Biomancer, Apostate, and others have confounded brave heroes with their fiendish wiles time and time again. This environment is designed as a lair for such devious masters of deception. This perilous locale features all manner of devious deceptions, ranging from a familiar face with a hidden agenda to a twisting labyrinth of reflections. Whether it’s used as a headquarters for a villain’s nefarious schemes or a death-trap to lure the heroes into, this environ will surely baffle and bewilder any costumed do-gooders foolhardy enough to enter.
Lair of Trickery
Can You Trust Your Own Eyes?
Subtle Misdirection
Twisting Layout
GREEN
Minor Twists
- Bewildering Distractions: Raucous lights and noises impede the heroes’ efforts. Roll the environment dice. Hinder all heroes with the Min die.
- Tempting Treasure: One hero finds a useful-looking item that is secretly rigged to backfire after being used. Roll the environment dice. Boost one hero with the Mid die. After that hero uses the resulting bonus, they gain a penalty and take damage equal to the value of the bonus.
Major Twist
- A False Ally: A good, trusted friend of the heroes appears, claiming to have either been abducted by a villain or come to aid the heroes. This “friend” is actually a facsimile loyal to the heroes’ enemies. Introduce 1 False Friend lieutenant (see below) to the scene.
YELLOW
Minor Twists
- What Do You Fear?: The heroes’ greatest fears materialise in front of them. Roll the environment dice. Hinder each hero with the Min die. The resulting penalties are persistent, and can only be removed by the completion of the below challenge.
Face your fears
Each hero must Overcome this challenge individually, and doing so removes that hero’s penalty. - Why Don’t You and Them Fight?: Be it through visual illusion or mental compulsion, two heroes are tricked into clashing against each-other. Two heroes each roll their highest power die as an Attack against each-other.
Major Twist
- Maze of Mirrors: One or more villains have taken refuge in a maze of reflections. Until the below challenge is completed, heroes cannot Attack or Hinder those villains.
Smash the mirrors
-OR-
Detect which villains are the real ones
Overcome actions taken to complete the second option take a -2 penalty.
RED
Minor Twists
- Foes from the Past: Replicas of enemies the heroes have previously faced appear to menace them. Roll the environment dice. Introduce a number of Facsimile Foes to the scene equal to the Max die.
- Obscuring Architecture: The villains use the lair’s baffling features as cover. Defend all villains with the Max die.
Major Twist
- A Decoy All Along: It turns out that the heroes have only been fighting a decoy of a villain the whole time, and when the decoy is defeated, the real one makes itself known. Note one villain’s current health. When that villain is reduced to 0 health, restore it to the noted health value.
Lair of Trickery Threats
Facsimile Foe
Minion
Description
These all appear to be enemies that the heroes have faced before.Ability
Replica: The Facsimile Foe has +2 to Attack actions, but -1 to save rolls.Tactics
These foes attempt to swamp the heroes with their numbers.
False Friend
Lieutenant
Description
This person appears to be a trusted friend of the heroes, but is actually an agent of villainy.Abilities
Deceptively Helpful: The False Friend has +1 to Boost actions targeting heroes.
Shocking Betrayal: On the first Attack action that the False Friend takes against any hero, it rolls its die twice and uses the higher roll. The False Friend then Hinders all heroes with the lower roll.Tactics
The False Friend comes along with the heroes, aiding them in their endeavours. However, at a suitably dramatic moment, it will reveal its true allegiance by attacking the heroes.
Editor’s Notes
My intent for the False Friend lieutenant is that it is added early in the scene (likely in the Green zone), and stays with the heroes for most of it (likely ‘til Red or the end of Yellow), before revealing its true colours. Also, the Hinder from its Shocking Betrayal ability is meant to represent, well, the heroes’ shock at its betrayal.
The actual means by which the various deceptions and misdirections of this environment come to be depend very much upon which villain or group of villains has constructed it. The False Friend, Facsimile Foes, and Villain Decoy could be robots, illusions, shapeshifters, energy constructs, mystic golems, just really good disguises, or any of many other possibilities—but it’s a good idea to figure out which one. Likewise, the What Do You Fear? and Why Don’t You and Them Fight? twists could be magical, chemical, technological, psionic or something else in nature.
That’s all. I hope you’ve enjoyed this, and have a good (and safe!) April Fools’ Day!