Fjur's Villain Archive!

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#25

And now, here’s the fourth Checkmate Gangster. (Hmm, I don’t know how I feel about that term.)

The Knight
“Your feeble power cannot withstand the might of the ancients!”

Alias: Doctor Joan K. Night
Approach: Prideful
Archetype: Bruiser

Health: 45 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
Leaping :d10:
The Mace of Wayland :d10:
Mechanical Steed :d10:
Power Suit :d8:

Qualities
Bounding Battler :d8:
Close Combat :d10:
Fitness :d8:
History :d10:
Magical Lore :d8:

Status: Health
Green zone :d6:
Yellow zone :d8:
Red zone :d10:
Calculate the Knight’s GYRO zones using the table on page 239 and her final health value, adjusted for :h:.

Abilities

  • :attack: :hinder: Airborne Swing (A): Attack using Leaping and use your Max die. Either Hinder that target with your Mid die or Attack another nearby target with your Mid die.
  • :attack: :boost: Glorious Strike (A): Attack one target using The Mace of Wayland and use your Max+Min dice. If that Attack causes the target to change zones, Boost using your Mid die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
  • Knight’s Armour (I): Reduce damage taken by physical and energy sources by 1 while in the Green zone, 2 in the Yellow zone, and 3 in the Red zone.
  • :attack: :defend: Mecha-Charge (A): Attack one target using Mechanical Steed. Use your Max+Min dice. Defend against all Attacks against you by all other targets until the start of your next turn with your Mid die.
  • (U) Ancient Power (I): Increase all of the Knight’s power dice by one size. (When using this upgrade, the Knight has 20 additional Health.)
  • :overcome: (M) Master of Mysticism (I): If you have access to proper materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation involving harnessing magical forces.

The Knight
Alias: Doctor Joan K. Night
Gender: Female
Age: 40s
Height: 5’6”
Eyes: Amber
Hair: Brown
Skin: Light
Build: Fit
Costume/Equipment: A suit of black and white techno-plate armour with a chess knight symbol on the breastplate.
Approach: Prideful
Archetype: Bruiser

Biography

Dr. Joan Night was an accomplished archaeologist. She had spent countless hours of work on her historical and anthropological studies, and was rewarded by numerous accolades. One day, while out at a dig site in Germany, Dr. Night uncovered a very peculiar artefact. It appeared to be the head of a mace, but it looked completely new, seemingly entirely unaffected by what must have been centuries buried in the earth! Mystified (and against her better judgement), the doctor grasped the mace head, and a voice as deep as the mountains and as ancient as the earth spoke to her mind. It said that this mace was crafted by the legendary smith Wayland, who had forged arms for the likes of Beowulf and Charlemagne. The mace told how it had lain dormant for centuries, and how it now demanded be wielded once more in battle!

The Mace of Wayland cause a handle for itself to materialise out of thin air, and Dr. Night took it up. It compelled her to go forth and find worthy opponents with which to do battle. So Joan went to the nearest town and cried out a challenge on the streets, daring anyone to confront her. Luckily, a heroic superhuman was nearby, who managed to defeat Joan and turn her into the authorities.

The Mace was separated from Joan, a fact that she was grateful for, as she despised being turned into an instrument for violence by it. However, even when separated, Joan could still hear its voice in her mind, coercing her to take it up again. A few months later, Dr. Night gave in again, and once again took up the Mace. Again she was defeated by heroes, and again she lived a time uninfluenced by the ancient weapon. Unfortunately for Joan Night, this cycle would continue for some time.

During one such outing, Dr. Night crossed paths with another super-criminal, an ambitious American speedster named Jenn Victors. Later, Jenn—now calling herself the Queen—would seek out a mace-influence Joan a second time with an offer to be the second member to join the Checkmate Gang, a criminal crew that she herself had recently joined. Joan, urged on by the Mace, gladly accepted the new opportunity to seek out and do battle with more foes. Thus she was dubbed the Knight. She also suggested another recruit for the gang: a fellow academic that she had worked with, who had also turned to villain after exposure to a strange phenomenon; a physicist named Prof. Jeremiah Crawford.

Capabilities and Motivations

The mystical Mace of Wayland conferred a number of extraordinary traits to Dr. Night. It granted her increased strength and toughness, the ability to leap great heights and distances, and knowledge of battle and of mystic matters.

After joining forces with the other members of the Checkmate Gang, the King constructed two pieces of technology for the Knight to augment her combat capabilities. The first was a suit of techno-plate armour, which could shield Joan from attacks and increase her strength. The second was a robotic horse, which served as the Knight’s mount during battle.

Upgrades

Normally, the Mace of Wayland only augments the Knight physically and mentally. However, in times of dire need, it can enhance her with a magical aspect, increasing her power and might tenfold.

Editor’s Notes

Yeah, I’m sure that there have been countless characters with the “K. Night” pun in their names, but, eh… Also, she’s called Joan after Joan of Arc, the first historical lady knight that I thought of.

Knight probably got the most reworked from her original design out of all the Checkmate Gang. I first had her as a Predator, not a Bruiser, on the basis that she did one-on-one duels with people, because that’s a knightly thing to do. But then, after writing the part about the mace compelling her to fight a bunch in her bio, I thought it odd that it would limit her to one foe at a time. So I changed it. (I also originally had her with the Power Dampening Field, not Power Upgrade.)

Hmm, there are a number of unintentional similarities betwixt the stories of the Knight and the Bishop. They’re both venerable academics who stumble upon some supernatural thingamajig, which then influences their behaviours in a way that causes them to start conflict. Again, none of this was intentional; it just kinda happened.

Relatedly, I’d view that both the Knight and the Bishop could fairly easily be redeemed—you just have to remove the supernatural influence from them. For the Bishop, it would be pretty tough to actually do that; meanwhile, for the Bishop, it’s easier to remove the mace from her (although I imagine that it would have to be kept separate for a little while for the influence to wear off), but the influence eventually calls back out to her, urging her to find and claim it again.

Also, I just noticed that half of these crooks have names that begin with the letter J: Jenn, Jeremiah, and Joan. Weird.

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#26

The first female knight that comes to mind for me is Britomart from Spenser (and the old AvHill game Mystic Wood) but that’s not exactly a common modern name compared to Joan. Still, it might explain why someone would become a historical anthropologist, although you’d probably go by “Brit” as a nickname. Or not. Maybe you’d insist on the full name all the time. Either way “Britomart Knight” would be stunningly on the nose. I’d give her a brother named Lancelot or Percival or something.

But Britomart would break the J theme, which clearly needs to continue. :slight_smile:

I had an old V&V baddie with a very similar origin, although he was a mild-mannered librarian who kept getting possessed by a generic sword & sorcery barbarian warrior after touching the wrong mysterious ancient battle-axe while dusting some display cases. Almost entirely the result of an old “Conan the Librarian” cartoon from…I think Bloom County? I liked the idea of a weedy little guy casually waving around a ludicrously huge fantasy great-axe. He was mostly a nuisance villain - really powerful but kind of dumb and lost all his powers the moment you got the axe away from him, so easy to beat when you knew what to do. Redid him later in Champions with everything tied to an OAF. In Sentinels…hmmm, maybe Bully/Formidable?

Speaking of Avalon Hill, Wayland the Smith is statted up in their old Lords of Creation RPG. IIRC he’s one of the most powerful NPCs in the game even among his fellow Lords of Creation (it’s a level title) and can casually defeat lesser entities like, say, Zeus or Tiamat if they get lippy with him. Pretty sure Britomart’s in the game too, albeit at a far less extreme power level. The game’s “Book of Foes” monster manual is a serious head trip in terms of genre mashups.

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#27

Well, the Rook doesn’t really have a name, Vasiliy already broke it, and the Pawn won’t follow it, so…

Or Focused / Fragile, mayhaps. The paltry 10 + (:h: × 5) health could just represent getting the axe away from him, rather than beating him unconscious. (And, of course, the :d12: power would be his axe.)

#28

The Rook
“I obey.”

Alias: None
Approach: Generalist
Archetype: Formidable

Health: 50 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
Stone :d8:
Strength :d10:
Transmutation :d6:
Vitality :d8:

Qualities
Alchemical Guardian :d8:
Alertness :d6:
Close Combat :d8:
Conviction :d10:

Status: Mental or Magical Penalties
Any penalties and no bonuses :d4:
Some penalties and some bonuses :d8:
No penalties :d12:

Abilities

  • :boost: :defend: Castling (A): Boost using Stone. Use your Max die. Defend with your Mid die.
  • Dependable Servant (I): Whenever you roll a 1 on a die, reroll that die once.
  • Indomitable Loyalty (R): Ignore all penalties on you for your action. Take irreducible damage equal to the total of those penalties.
  • Skin of Stone (I): Reduce physical and energy damage dealt to you by 1 if the scene is in the Green zone, 2 in the Yellow zone, or 3 in the Red zone.
  • Versatile Servitor (A): Take any basic action and use your Max die.
  • (U) Enhanced Intellect (I): Increase all of the Rook’s quality dice by one size, except for Alchemical Guardian. (When using this upgrade, the Rook has 20 additional Health.)
  • :overcome: (M) Master Minion (I): If you have been given an order to perform a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation where the difference is accomplishing the task and failing to do so.

The Rook
Alias: None
Gender: None
Age: 124
Height: 9’0”
Eyes: Two glowing pinpricks of crimson light
Hair: None
Skin: Obsidian
Build: Massive
Costume/Equipment: The Rook wears nothing, save a white chess rook symbol that has been painted onto its chest.
Approach: Generalist
Archetype: Formidable

Biography

Over a century ago, a powerful alchemist crafted a servant for themself. The alchemist moulded clay, stone, and arcane reagents into the shape of a towering humanoid figure, before imbuing their creation with the breath of animation. This golem served the alchemist well, performing all tasks asked of it. Eventually, though, the alchemist’s time on Earth came to an end. But even after their passing, their creation remained animate. At first, the golem wandered the city where the alchemist had lived, but the folk there were fearful of it. Thus it eventually found its way into the catacombs beneath the city. There, in the catacombs, the golem remained, dormant, until the day in which it would be claimed by a new master.

In the present day, the nefarious Checkmate Gang had set up a temporary headquarters in those same catacombs while laying low and trying to avoid attention from the local police and superteam after a failed plot. While scouting around the area, the Queen stumbled upon the dormant golem. After she alerted her teammates, the Knight used the mystic powers of her mace to awaken the creature. Its eyes flared to life, but it remained perfectly still. Nothing the Checkmate Gang did could effect action in the stony being, until the King discovered an old inscription in Akkadian on a nearby stone. Quickly deciphering it, he spoke the words, and the golem moved for the first time in over a hundred years. In a deep, stony voice, the creature inquired what the King wished it to do. The King swiftly decided to make the golem the sixth member of his new criminal crew, dubbing it the Rook.

Capabilities and Motivations

Due to the Rook’s mineral composition, it possesses great strength and durability. In addition, it is able to call to the earth and stone around it, and reshape them to fit its needs. Further, remnants of the alchemical magicks that were used to create it still linger in its form, which it can harness to transmute substances.

The Rook is convicted to helping its master or masters, which it defines as anyone who has spoken its command phrase. However, the being’s rudimentary mind can be easily confused by magical, psychic, or particularly-compelling mundane mental attacks.

Upgrades

The King has ordered the Knight and the Bishop to use their mystic talents to work on improving the Rook’s capabilities. So far, they’ve managed to temporarily increase the cognitive and reasoning abilities of the golem, which in turn increase its skills and ability to perform tasks.

Editor’s Notes

The Rook is a golem made of stone because the rook in chess is represented by a stone tower. So there.

“Master Minion” is the first custom Mastery I’ve made. Master Mercenary was the base for it that I modified. I think it’s pretty okay; it may be a touch more flexible than Mercenary, or it may not.

The Rook’s bio doesn’t detail what happened to the original inscription that contained its activation phrase; presumably the King committed the string to memory before destroying the original, thus preventing anyone else from getting it. However, an interesting plot that could occur would be a psychic hero trying to wrest it from his mind.

Also, since the alchemist who created the Rook died, they obviously didn’t find / create the magnum opus / philosopher’s stone / elixir of life / panacea. (Alchemy sure did have lots of different names for alchemical immortality.)

#29

It was either that or a robot, I suppose. Although a golem mode of ivory would be a pretty chess-like thing.

I think it’s fine. A Merc can and will be a lot more creative about getting their paycheck (which, amusingly, extends to collecting from a client at the end of the job), while the Minion can do practically anything but has to be ordered through it step by step rather than doing the problem solving themselves.

We can’t all be the Scholar. Or Guise, thank goodness. :slight_smile:

That said, they might also have had the Stone and decided not to use it, either immediately or after living long enough to grow tired of life (if you can buy into that old chestnut…I’ll believe eternal life and good health become insufferable when it happens to me and not one moment beforehand). Whether they did or not, there might well be a copy or two of the command phrase in the alchemist’s effects or correspondence with his fellow scholars, which could have wound up in a museum, some private collector’s private archives, or perhaps confiscated by the Catholic church and tucked away with other forbidden texts on magic.

Or, since “over a century ago” is now as late as 1922, by Europe’s other noted pillagers of occult knowledge, the Nazis during WW2. King could be in for an unpleasant surprise if he runs into some villainous holdout from Hitler’s regime who recognizes Rook from something he read in the old days and casually takes control of the big lug.

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#30

And now, here’s the final member of the Checkmate Gang.

The Pawn
“You’re outnumbered.”

Alias: Private Patricia Pond
Approach: Adaptive
Archetype: Overlord

Health: 30 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
Absorption :d8:
Duplication :d10:
Nuclear :d6:
Shapeshifting :d8:

Qualities
Army of One :d8:
Close Combat :d8:
Fitness :d8:
Self-Discipline :d10:

Status: Minions
9+ Minions :d12:
5-8 Minions :d10:
3-4 Minions :d8:
1-2 minions :d6:
0 Minions :d4:

Abilities

  • :boost: :attack: :defend: Atomic Power (A): Boost using Nuclear and use your Max die. Attack with your Mid die. Defend with your Min die.
  • :boost: :attack: Coordinated Charge (A): Roll all your minion dice and combine the result to Boost. Attack using Duplication and use that bonus.
  • Defensive Formation (R): Reroll any number of minion saves against the same Attack.
  • Instant Horde (A): Use Army of One to create a number of minions equal to the value of your Max die. The starting die size for those minions is the same as the size of your Min die.
  • Polymorphic Promotion (A): Use an action ability of one of your allies.
  • Sacrificial Gambit (A): Take :d6: irreducible damage. Increase all your powers by one die size each until the end of the scene.
  • (U) Hivemind Expertise (A): Choose one group of minions in the scene. Upgrade all their dice one size (maximum :d12:). (When using this upgrade, the Pawn has 5 additional Health.)
  • :overcome: (M) Master of Conquest (I): As long as you are in command of your own forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome involving seizing an area or capturing civilians.

The Pawn
Alias: Private Patricia Pond
Gender: Female
Age: 20s
Height: 5’4”
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blonde
Skin: Light
Build: Athletic
Costume/Equipment: A black and white costume resembling army fatigues with a chess pawn symbol on its chest.
Approach: Adaptive
Archetype: Overlord

Biography

Patricia Pond enrolled in the United States Army when she was in her early twenties. She served in [the most recent war] as a private. She had a difficult relationship with her commander, as Pvt. Pond often acted recklessly and contrary to her commander’s orders. On one mission, Patricia and her squad raided an enemy laboratory. After driving out the enemy scientist, the squad fanned out to ensure that they had all fled or been killed. Pvt. Pond came across a strange-looking machine powered by a glowing blue orb. The machine certainly looked dangerous, so Patricia decided that she ought not let it fall back into enemy hands. So she opened fire on the device, which—as she really should’ve suspected—caused it to erupt in a massive explosion of energy.

Pvt. Pond was recovered from the explosion by her squadmates and taken to an infirmary. After regaining consciousness, she was told that her reckless destruction of the machine—which turned out to be an atomic reactor—had also injured a number of her fellow soldiers. After recovering, she was subjected to a court martial and then dishonourably discharged for unnecessarily endangering the lives of ally soldiers.

Once off duty, Patricia became restless. She missed the action and the fighting. So she found work as a mercenary, fighting for whoever had the deepest pockets. On her first job, she got surrounded by a group of heroic supers. She thought that she was done for, until—somehow—she split into a group of six identical duplicates of herself. With this newfound power, she fought off the supers and completed the job.

After several more years of working as a superpowered mercenary, Pond was contacted by an associate she had worked on a job with before—Jenn Victors. Jenn told Pond that she was now part of a team—the Checkmate Gang—and that she wanted her to join up. Patricia accepted, and was dubbed the Pawn.

Capabilities and Motivations

In addition to her military combat training, the Pawn possesses a number of fantastic powers that the King’s and the Bishop’s studies of her revealed to come from her exposure to atomic energy from the strange machine she destroyed.

The Pawn’s most-used power is her ability to split herself into identical duplicates of herself. The duplicates all share her knowledge, experience, and powers, and can communicate betwixt themselves via a telepathic hivemind. There is also no one “main” duplicate; the Pawn’s consciousness is evenly split betwixt them all. In most circumstances, the Pawn can only create eight duplicates at once, but she has gone over that threshold on the rarest of occasions.

Besides her power of duplication, the atomic explosion she was subjected to granted the Pawn other abilities as well. She can reshape her form to mimic that of others, and she can absorb and then re-emit any type of energy. Together, these abilities allow the Pawn to effectively copy the powers or abilities of anyone, whether they’re physiological or energy-based.

Lastly, the Pawn is able to direct the atomic energy stored inside of her, which she can use both offensively and to bolster her own physicality.

Upgrades

Every duplicate of the Pawn has access to her combat experience and skills, which can make each and every one of them a challenging opponent.

Editor’s Notes

I chose the Pawn’s surname just 'cause it kinda sounds like “Pawn,” but with an extra D at the end. And her given name just comes from me wanting her to have Added Alliterative Appeal. (Which is also where her rank of Private comes from.)

In her bio, I said that the Pawn “served in [the most recent war]”—this is an instance of Floating timeline / Comic-Book Time / Sliding Timescale, just like with Bunker.

Oh, and getting caught in an atomic explosion is totally a way to get superpowers, and definitely won’t kill you.

So, the order in which I posted the members of the gang isn’t actually the order in which they were recruited. This is confusing, I know, and I don’t really have any excuse besides “I wanted to post them based on where the pieces start on the chessboard.” So, here’s the actual chronology:

  1. The King is inspired to start the team.
  2. The King meets the Queen, and recruits her.
  3. The Queen contacts a fellow criminal, the Pawn, and recruits her.
  4. The Queen contacts another criminal, the Knight, and recruits her.
  5. The Knight contacts a former colleague, the Bishop, and recruits him.
  6. The team stumbles upon the Rook in the underground catacombs.

Well, there you have it. I’ve posted all six members of the Checkmate Gang here; I hope you’ve enjoyed this coterie of chess-themed crooks. Look forward to some more villains here sometime in the future!

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#31

Unless the setting has a very different history than real life in regards to women serving in frontline combat positions, she’s much more restricted in what wars those could be than Bunker would be. She could have enlisted in the army as early as 1948, but it took until 2013 for the “no women in ground combat” rules to finally be officially removed, and 2016 until female combat troops were fully integrated into their new units. Her origin pretty much restricts her to combat duty no earlier than the last seven to ten years, and not even that if she’s still just in her twenties.

Of course, you could tweak your history to be much less restrictive about women serving in the military, perhaps aided by some early supers. What if the first super-soldier serums were incompatible with owning a Y chromosome, eh? I like that idea a whole lot. “Get to safety, Private Rogers. The Ladies of Liberty will handle these Ratzis.”

Jumping Christmas, that’s a lot of options when the whole crew is present. She probably can’t make sensible pools for every ability (even using the owner’s fixed P/Q die, which I assume come with the ability like similar PC imitation tricks) but there’s still some good options on everyone, and as long as she keeps her minion count up her status die should be good-to-great. Standouts look like:

  • All of King’s action abilities, letting him do one of the ones Pawn didn’t and amping up the team support enormously
  • Both of Queen’s options, depending on whether Pawn needs single or multi-target damage
  • Bishop’s Clarity and Radiance are both solid, and Babbling is okay multitarget if Queen’s not around for that instead
  • Knight’s Glorious is an easy way to hit hard and get a free P+E bonus when timed right, and Mecha-Charge is good offense and global defense - if Pawn can narratively explain how she’s imitating a move that calls for riding a robotic horse :slight_smile:
  • Rook’s her worst partner overall, but he still lets her take Max die basic actions at will, which is real helpful for Overcomes when she can’t apply a Mastery instead

That’s a spicy meatball of choices there. Good thing she needs to keep spawning replacement minions to support her status die or it could really get out of hand. :slight_smile:

The timeline for recruitment makes me wonder if King was starting to get all OCD about finding a Rook for the team. Was there a point where he considered paying the Hippo to to work as a temp while wearing a stupid-looking castle parapet hat? :slight_smile:

Fun team overall, the theme comes through strongly while having more variety in styles and motivation than (say) the Wrecking Crew or Royal Flush Gang.

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#32

Hmm, yeah, I didn’t think of that. Stupid sexist army. I think I’ll just handwave it as Artistic License.

True, although I think that the whole crew being present wouldn’t really happen super often; there are six of them, and most hero teams don’t have six members, so the whole group would usually be at least a Hard scene, and that’s without any environments, challenges, or minions, which would be fairly dull. I think at least roughly half the time the gang would be faced in at least two waves of 2 and 4 or 3 and 3.

I assume the same. Although the Pawn’s Absorption and Shapeshifting powers (and to a lesser extent her Fitness and Self-Discipline qualities) are meant to be able to be used with her imitation ability, which should make it fairly flexible.

Hah, that’s fun. : ) Although I do wonder if the Hippo would be willing enough to forsake his own theming for that . . .

Thanks! Yeah, part of my goal was to make them each have a unique villainous identity independent of the team, instead of just being a bunch of unpowered faceless mooks in chess-themed costumes.

I imagine that the Checkmate Gang first appeared as fairly silly adversaries in the Silver Age, where they were much less fleshed out, before getting more serious stories later on that gave some details on their backstories and unique capabilities.

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#33

It is probably best to tweak it to much earlier for a comic book setting unless there’s a compelling story reason not to do so (like dealing with discrimination and sexual harassment in the services). It would be nice if a world full of superheroes was actually better than our own in some tangible ways - they ought to be doing something more than punching villains and saving the world, and encouraging more respect and equality for women is a fine option IMO.

This is true. Although you could do a difficult scene with a the highlight villain(s) as difficult elements (probably King if he’s there, and/or a couple of others) with their upgrades, and the rest as moderate elements with just their base stats. You get a 2:1 trade down that way, leaving some room for an environment and a challenge or something. Alternately, maybe do lieutenant-grade writeups for the team for those times when they’re playing a more minor role in the story.

Oh yeah, she could shapeshift into a mecha-horse, couldn’t she? Forgot about that.

Looking them up, I see the original gang is about two months older than I am, having come out in March 1966. They used the clubs suit for their first few outings, and were all childhood friends who decided to form a costumed gang after Amos Fortune (the original Ace) developed an energy source called “stellaration” which he used to charge up playing cards for everyone allowing luck-manipulation and limited mind control (I think - details hazy). He left the group shortly after their second defeat, whereupon they adopted spades as their suit and got a new Ace. Amos operated with other teams and solo for a while, then eventually came back and killed his old partners while fighting JL Detroit - only Jack escaped.

There have been at least two people behind each “card” over the years. It looks to me like their best stories have been in the DCAU rather than in print, particularly the revamp in Batman Beyond where they were multi-generational family of legacy villains using the the same motif with more grounded gadgetry - and Ace was now an android powerhouse - I think that used to be Ten in some iterations instead.

Oh, and in their debut appearance, they whup the JLA twice before the team decides to fight stellaration energy with stellaration energy and empowers Snapper Carr as “the one card that beats all others” - the Joker. So yeah, the Joker has canonically been the team sidekick of the JLA. Just not that Joker. Being beaten by Snapper is even more humiliating than losing to plain old Jimmy Olsen in one of those brief moments when he hasn’t manifested some gonzo superpower.

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#34

That becomes even more ironic when one recalls that the real Joker later brainwashed Snapper Carr and turned him against the League.

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#35

I think I actually had that issue - or has Joker used that John Dough alias elsewhere?

Returning to their base to try and figure out how to track down John Dough, they are taken by surprise when they find out that he’s been hiding out in their base the whole time.

That sounds like something straight out of Flaming Carrot, who eventually discovered his nemesis had been staying in his spare bedroom for months.

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#36

And now, after all that team-ery, here’s a solo villain for a change of pace.

Lord Vulcanus

Alias: Count Magnus Sethlans
Approach: Bully
Archetype: Legion

Health: 20 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
Magma :d8:
Magmarian Control :d10:
Presence :d8:

Qualities
Domineering Will :d8:
History :d8:
Insight :d8:

Status: Magmarian minions
9+ minions :d4:
5-8 minions :d6:
3-4 minions :d8:
1-2 minions :d10:
0 minions :d12:

Abilities

  • :boost: Arrogant Ego (A): Boost yourself using Presence. If there are any heroes with their Health in the Yellow zone, use your Mid+Min dice. If there are any heroes with their Health in the Red zone, use your Max+Mid+Min dice.
  • Incomplete Control (I): Whenever multiple of your Magmarian minions all take the same action against the same target, you must roll all of their dice at the same time and use the lowest rolling die amongst them for each minion’s result on that action.
  • :attack: :defend: Pyroclastic Gout (A): Attack using Magma and use your Max die. Defend against all Attacks from that target using your Mid die until the start of your next turn.
  • :recover: Steal Essence (A): Remove any number of your Magmarian minions. Roll their dice and Recover that much Health.
  • Summon Servitors (A): Add two Magmarian minions of size equal to one die size lower than your current status.
  • (U) Empowered Thralls (A): Choose one group of your Magmarian minions in the scene. Upgrade all their dice one size (maximum :d12:). (When using this upgrade, Lord Vulcanus has 5 additional Health.)
  • :overcome: (M) Master of Enforced Order (I): If you have complete control over your immediate surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.

Lord Vulcanus
Alias: Count Magnus Sethlans
Gender: Male
Age: 40s
Height: 5’9"
Eyes: Amber
Hair: Black
Skin: Light
Build: Staunch
Costume/Equipment: A bright-red set of fine, old-fashioned nobleman’s clothes, including breeches, a coat, and a bright-orange cravat. His Sceptre of Vulcan is wrought from black iron and surmounted by a glowing orange crystal.
Approach: Bully
Archetype: Legion

Biography

Magnus Sethlans was born to an incredibly wealthy family. At a young age, though, his parents taught him a very important lesson: riches alone would not guarantee people’s obedience—for that one must assert a dominating presence and rule through fear. Magnus took their teachings to heart and cultivated his force of personality till he possessed indomitable willpower. Thus Magnus Sethlans became a respected member of high society, even after his parents’ deaths. More recently when Count Sethlans was travelling through Europe, he discovered a ruined shrine dedicated to the ancient Roman God of Fire, Vulcan, on a small island near Sicily called Vulcano. Inside the shrine, he uncovered an ancient artefact of great power. Soon after he clutched the item, several Magmarians rose up from underground. Count Magnus Sethlans soon learned that the relic gave him dominion over the molten creatures. Now, with the control of these fiery underlings, Lord Vulcanus no longer needed to be satisfied with the power his heritage and his presence could afford him, for he could seize whatever he wanted!

Capabilities and Motivations

The Sceptre of Vulcan gives Lord Vulcanus mental control of all Magmarians near him, and the ability to send out a signal that can reach all the way down to the subterranean realm of Magmaria to summon Magmarians to him. The relic also enables him to melt stone into lava or magma and then manipulate the resulting material, which can provide an effective offensive attack. Further, the Lord’s force of personality is immense, and he is very adept at intimating, persuading, and leading others. He’s also learnèd in history, and skilled at discerning the emotional states of others.

Lord Vulcanus has ownership of his family’s hereditary manor, which coincidentally happens to be perched on the edge of an active volcano. And in addition to his Magmarian thralls, Count Magnus Sethlans certainly has the means to hire mundane muscle on occasion.

The plots of Lord Vulcanus vary; sometimes they consist of acquiring more wealth or burgling rare art objects, while other times they entail seizing control of entire cities or even larger areas, or perhaps simply retaliating at an upper-class acquaintance who slighted him in the past.

Upgrades

Occasionally, Lord Vulcanus can channel even more of the sceptre’s power into his Magmarian minions, greatly increasing their potency and strength.

Editor’s Notes

Ya know, I don’t think it’s ever really established where or what Magnus Sethlans is “Count” of. (Presumably if he was asked what he’s Lord of, he’d say something like "The entire world is my domain!")

His surname comes from Vulcan’s Etruscan counterpart.

I seriously considered listing his Magma power as Magma / Lava, simply to satisfy geology pedants, before deciding against it. : ) His Magmarian Control power is simply a more narrow version of the Suggestion psychic power.

See pages 411-412 and 426-427 of the core rulebook for more information on Magmarians, their home of Magmaria, and their minion stats. Magmarians added to the scene by Lord Vulcanus’s Summon Servitors ability will probably be Inner Core Tunnelers or Crystal Collectors, while those acting as scene elements can also be Seismic Defenders or Ember Shamans.

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#37

Lord Vulcanus has some pretty lofty ambitions, so here’s another villain whose goals are much more down-to-earth.

Hench
“I’m the best in the business, mate. If you want a minion, you can’t do better than me.”

Alias: Henry Hengstmann
Approach: Skilled
Archetype: Indomitable

Health: 35 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
Awareness :d6:
Deduction :d8:
Strength :d10:

Qualities
Alertness :d8:
Criminal Underworld Info :d10:
Fitness :d10:
Henchman Extraordinaire :d8:
Leadership :d8:
Technology :d8:

Status: Constant
Always :d8:

Abilities

  • :boost: Analytic Preparation (A): Boost yourself using Alertness and use your Max die. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
  • :defend: Counterstrike (R): When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Fitness die. Deal that much damage to another target.
  • :recover: Jack of All Trades (A): Take any basic action using your Max die. Recover Health equal to your Mid die.
  • Tough Minion (I): Reduce damage dealt to you by 2.
  • (U) Criminal Associates (A): Replenish your minion squad up to :h:.
  • :overcome: (M) Master Mercenary (I): If you have been given a contract to perform a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation where the difference is getting paid and not getting paid.

Hench
Alias: Henry Hengstmann
Gender: Male
Age: 30s
Height: 6’1"
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Black
Skin: Light
Build: Muscular
Costume/Equipment: A black-and-white striped shirt, black trousers and suspenders, and a black bowler hat.
Approach: Skilled
Archetype: Indomitable

Biography

Henry Hengstmann started out his criminal career as a fresh-faced new recruit in a small-time street gang. Things started to go well for the gang, they pulled off a number of robberies, and Hengstmann started to climb the ranks of the gang. But that was all shattered when the gang was rounded up by police and jailed. After Hengstmann got out, he decided to start his own gang, with him as the boss. He reasoned that the only reason his old gang got caught was because the boss was incompetent. He wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

Hengstmann gathered several crooks, and his new gang began to take shape. Under Hengstmann’s leadership, they managed to pull a number of successful heists, and things were once again looking up. But being the leader of such a successful outfit put a target on Hengstmann’s back from both law enforcement and rival criminals. That mounting stress proved to be a hindrance to Hengstmann’s efficacy and made him paranoid. And his paranoia resulted in his gang getting taken apart by a rival gang. Only Hengstmann escaped.

Hengstmann had had enough of gang-work. It was too risky, being tied down to one place and one group like that. Plus he didn’t like having someone else be his boss and not let him go about operations the way he wanted to, and nor did like having to deal with all the stress of being a boss himself. So Henry Hengstmann turned to mercenary work, taking the moniker of Hench. This, being a henchman for hire, suited him far better. He could stay on the move, making him a hard target to catch, and he was free to go about jobs the way he wanted, and without worrying about being in charge.

Capabilities and Motivations

Hench is a consummate henchman. His skills are very versatile, and he is possessed of a muscled physique, a sharp mind, and alert senses. He is equally adept at breaking legs, hacking into automated security systems, leading groups of minions, and using his criminal underworld contacts to get anything his employer needs. This versatility is often his main selling-point for employers, as he is neither dumb muscle nor a frail genius, but the best of both.

Upgrades

Hench’s extended workings with the criminal underworld have caused him to make many associates and acquaintances, many of whom owe him. Hench doesn’t hesitate to call on these crooked acquaintances when his employer has tasked him with a particularly difficult job.

Editor’s Notes

Hench is designed to be the quintessential Genius Bruiser. That was pretty much my whole inspiration for him: he’s the best henchman ever 'cause he’s both strong and smart. His combat heuristic is fairly simply, at first glance:

  1. On the first round, use Analytic Preparation to get a big persistent bonus.
  2. Use Jack of All Trades every round thereafter.

(I suppose a possible exception would be if the heroes destroyed his persistent bonus, he might want to make another.)

But the complexity of Hench comes from which basic actions he decides to take, which will depend on his goal. Overcomes for stealing or infiltrating, Attacks for fighting, Defends for bodyguarding, Boosts for leading, etc.

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#38

Versatile baddie who could easily become a recurring villain the heroes get used to seeing, maybe even turning into a frenemy.

Comparing it to my own Skilled Indomitable villain, it says a lot about the system’s versatility that we share two of the four ability options and still wound up being pretty much completely different in terms of style.

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#39

Indeed. That is the nice thing about mercenary types; they are very easy to justify being in a story.

You’re talking about Shift X, right? Yeah, one’s a compelling shapeshifter, the other’s a tough-and-smart henchman.

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#40

Yep. In hindsight they’re a bit too close to Mystique in terms of concept, although I did try for a much more mysterious alien mindsight in their background fluff.

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#41

I mean, the parameters that you had to work within—mutant shapeshifter—were pretty narrow to begin with, so I don’t think anyone can really blame you. But I do think that the enigmatic and mysteriousness go a long way towards differentiating them from Mystique, as (despite being a shapeshifter) she’s really not that unknown; we know a fair bit about her background, motivations, and capabilities.

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#42

Sirrush the Warrior

“Ha ha ha! Your puny weapons can do nothing against the might of Sirrush!”

Alias: The Destroyer of Sumer
Approach: Specialized
Archetype: Bruiser

Health: 40 + (:h: × 5)

Powers
The Blade of Ninazu :d10:
Vitality :d8:

Qualities
Close Combat :d12:
Otherworldly Mythos :d8:
Warrior Spirit :d8:

Status: Health
Green :d6:
Yellow :d8:
Red :d10:

(See page 239 of the Core Rulebook to determine Sirrush the Warrior’s GYRO zones based on his Health and the value of :h:.)

Abilities

  • :defend: Battle Incarnate (R): Defend against an Attack where you’re the only target by rolling your single Warrior Spirit die. One other nearby target takes an amount of damage equal to the damage reduced.
  • :attack: Primordial Cleave (A): Attack using Close Combat against one target with your Max die, another with your Mid die, and a third with your Min die.
  • Relentless Ravaging (I): Whenever you Attack a target that you have dealt damage to at least once already in this scene, gain a +1 persistent and exclusive bonus against that target.
  • :boost: Thrive on Battle (R): When Attacked, use the amount of damage taken by the Attack to Boost yourself.
  • :attack: Warrior’s Strike (A): Attack using The Blade of Ninazu. If you are Green status, use your Max die. If you are Yellow status, use the Max+Min dice. If you are Red status, use Max+Min against one target and Mid against another.
  • (U) :attack: Ancient Fighter (I): When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die. (When using this upgrade, Sirrush the Warrior has 20 additional Health.)
  • (M) :overcome: Master of Annihilation (I): If you can cause massive collateral damage without regard for casualties, automatically succeed at an Overcome where a show of overwhelming force can solve the problem.

Sirrush the Warrior
Alias: The Destroyer of Sumer
Gender: Male
Age: 8,000 years
Height: 8’2"
Eyes: Solid orange
Hair: None
Skin: Varies from blue, to purple, to red
Build: Massively muscular
Costume/Equipment: A brown skirt with blue and red detailing is the only clothing that Sirrush wears. The Blade of Ninazu is a bronze scimitar set with crimson gemstones in the handle.
Approach: Specialized
Archetype: Bruiser

Biography

Sirrush the Warrior is an ancient battle-spirit that hails from the earliest human civilisations of Mesopotamia. Not even the most learned of sages know his origin, though several possible explanations have been offered; he could be an otherworldly daemon or a once-mortal warrior; he could have been a servant of a war god such as Nergal or Ishtar, or the creation of a powerful mortal mage. But what is known is that Sirrush is a being of battle incarnate. He is also effectively immortal; he does not age, and on the rare occasions when when his physical form is somehow destroyed, his essence retreats back into his weapon, the Blade of Ninazu. Then, the next time the sword is touched by a living being, Sirrush consumes that being’s lifeforce (slaying it in the process) and uses the energy to recreate his form.

Thusly, Sirrush has existed throughout most of human history. In his lifetime, he’s fought countless foes, including Mongols, samurai, centurions, an immortal Maori, knights, and modern-day superhuman champions. He’s also taken part in numerous wars, including the Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the World Wars, and the Thorathian Invasion of Earth.

Capabilities and Motivations

As Sirrush is a being whose very essence is conflict, it is difficult to defeat him with physical violence alone. The more that Sirrush is attacked, the stronger he becomes. If he’s damaged enough, he can destroyed, but not before gravely wounding his foes. Finding a way to mystically trap his essence in his blade, or restrain him in some other way, are always viable alternatives.

Sirrush’s Blade of Ninazu is a vicious weapon in his hands, able of cleaving through stone, steel, and durasteel with equal ease. Sirrush’s durability is also remarkable, as it takes a very significant amount of force to vanquish him. Further, Sirrush is a master combatant, having millennia of experience in battle — his skill is almost unparalleled in this field. Also, Sirrush seems to possess knowledge of otherworldly planes and powerful magical beings.

Sirrush’s hide’s default colouration is that of a dark azure. However, when he becomes more wounded in battle (and thus more powerful), his skin shifts to a purple colour. Finally, when he is at his most damaged and most powerful, his hide becomes a menacing crimson hue.

Sirrush the Warrior’s motives have never been entirely clear. All that is known is that his only goal seems to be to fight. To what ends, though, it is likely only he knows.

Upgrades

As mentioned, Sirrush the Warrior is a paragon of battle. When he strikes, he strikes hard, and fast, and with singularly unstoppable might.

Editor’s Notes

The name of “Sirrush” comes from Mesopotamian mythology, as does “Ninazu.” However, as is often done in comics, those actual mythological beings have practically nothing in common with this character here; the names have just been ripped by a comic writer.

The genesis of this guy came from a pretty simple seed of an idea — some kind of daemon-monster thing that gets stronger the more you fight it. The Bruiser Archetype — and the Thrive on Battle / Bring It On! ability specifically — are both really great for this kind of thing. And he’s Specialized because he’s just really good at fighting.

Although Sirrush’s description mentions some things specific to the Sentinel Comics Universe — such as Haka, Thorathians, and durasteel — he can of course be used in your homemade setting with no difficulty.

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SCRPG Resource Blog Updating Again
#43

Good straightforward iconic character design, and he could even be used as a (very dangerous and untrustworthy) ally of convenience. Plenty of villains out there can offer him a good fight too, after all. The dual reactions work well with one another, giving you something to use whether you’re facing multi-target Attacks or not. Also like the fact his current health is color-coded. :slight_smile:

Once again interesting that your Specialized Bruiser build is so focused on unrelenting offense, where mine wound up being a more defensive bodyguard type. Interesting how much variation you can with just a 6x6 matrix of abilities to choose from.

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#44

Certainly! You know, the more that I think about him, the more that Sirrush seems like an Evil Haka. They’re both immortal warriors who’ve existed throughout history and enjoy fighting, but Haka fights to stop innocents from getting hurt, whereas Sirrush fights just to hurt people.

Heh, yeah. I was originally just going to give him a red complexion, but then I started considering other colours, before getting the idea to link it to his GYRO, as he is all about getting stronger the more hurt he gets.

Yeah, it is certainly a dramatic juxtaposition. : ) The Villain building blocks are really fantastic in this way; you can have the same Approach-Archetype combo but with entirely different playstyles. This kinda makes me want to intentionally try to build two different villains with the same A-A and make them as completely different as possible.

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