It’s nice seeing a Villain “team” where there’s really just one real Villain and the others are essentially über-Lieutenants. I’d wager that folks might forget that that’s a possibility from time to time.
2 Likes
Yes, and I’m very glad the biggest guy isn’t the leader. 
Life got rather away from me, and you might think that killed the project, but I am back! Only four sets of villains to go, and I will get them all up. As we run down the list, here comes our solo villain for History’s Mysteries.
Step 1: Decide on Approach and Archetype
We’re opening our Approach with a bunt, with a 1 and 2 giving us access to Ancient and Generalist. Let’s take an Ancient, they’re always interesting.
For our Archetype, 4 and 1 gives us Bruiser or Loner, and… well, I have some feelings about using Loner for a villain who literally appears alone, which I’ll discuss when I get to that villain (next time, actually, I’m almost out of choices.)
Step 2: Decide on Qualities and Powers
So, what does our Ancient Bruiser like to do with their time?
A Quality result of 2 and a Power result of 10 mean that, after cascades, we’re looking at a Social Quality and a Mobility Power. Our only remaining Social is Banter, and there’s one choice on the Suggested list that we don’t have yet, so we’re looking at Banter d12, History d12. For Powers, I’m going to take Teleportation d12 and Presence d10 (every Suggested option is taken, so I’m free to do whatever.)
We still have a d10 and d8 Quality, and a d10 and d8 Power, because Ancient is wild. I’m going to go with Close Combat d10 and Investigation d8, along with Postcognition d10 and Vitality d8. This is a villain with an array of tricks; strong social skills, the ability to delve into dark areas, and some solid punching to fall back on.
Step 3: Abilities, Status Dice, and Health
The Ancient can use teleportation to attack and hinder someone in a bad way, or take basic actions with their History and use their Max Die. They can move to the defensive, putting together a big Defend action that also Recovers to buy time, and use attacks against them to Boost.
Our buddy has 65 Health, and that’s adjusted for a three-person team so they’re actually decently beefy.
Step 4: Upgrades and Masteries
In their upgraded form, our Ancient gets a Quality Upgrade, pushing even more dice to d12 and giving another Ability. In this form, the Ancient has a massive area-effect Hinder and Attack move. They also become a Master of Total Chaos, remaining unflappable as everything collapses around them.
Step 5: Background
So hey, meet Curator Varras. Curator Varras is an ancient member of an alien species known as the Cal’Tarn, who have watched civilizations rise and fall. Varras is an admirer of the art and culture of a thousand worlds, and believes that rare and inspiring works belong in a museum. A private museum, in a different star system. And Earth has so many rare and inspiring works.
Sometimes Varras works on commission, and sometimes he works for himself, but his goal is always the same – acquire Earth’s unique treasures to prevent them from being damaged or misused by the primitive humans who don’t know what they’ve got. He’s had several run-ins with different groups of heroes who feel differently, and he would like them all to go away and leave him to his work.
Varras gets the RP Quality of “Alien Archaeologist”, which works a bit like his History but over a much broader scope of civilizations and technologies, giving him a bit of deep space knowledge and technology when it’s in his field.
Step 6: Tactics
Curator Varras is a hell of an enemy to try to face directly; he starts off effective and only gets more dangerous the more he’s attacked. Fortunately, facing him directly isn’t usually the goal. He generally appears in situations that also involve complicated environmental challenges and goals that need to be dealt with, and fighting him is a race against time to recover whatever he’s try to steal before he can, or before the situation gets so bad that everyone loses.
In combat, Varras uses his teleportation to evade obstacles and deal with environmental problems, and does his best to knock heroes out of the running, but tends not to focus on taking them out entirely. His Ideal Actions are often used for Overcomes, while if someone gets in his way he’ll teleport them into danger and hurt them in the process. When he gets punched, he gets stronger, and if he gets too badly hurt he’ll take a moment to defend himself and heal up, giving his enemies a chance to get ahead.
Villain: Curator Varras
Approach: Ancient, Archetype: Bruiser
Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10
Health: 65 (adjusted for 3-player team) [Green 65-45, Yellow 44-18, Red 17-1]
Qualities:
• Banter d12
• History d12
• Close Combat d10
• Investigation d8
• Alien Archaeologist d8
Powers:
• Teleportation d12
• Presence d10
• Postcognition d10
• Vitality d8
Abilities:
• The Classic Methodology (A): Take a Basic Action using History and use your Max die.
• Out Of My Way (A): Attack using Teleportation and use your Max die. Hinder a target dealt damage in this way using your Max + Min dice.
• Fall Back (A): Defend using Banter and use your Mid + Min dice. Recover using your Max die.
• You Made Me Bleed ®: When Attacked, use the damage taken by the attack to Boost yourself.
Upgrade:
• Quality Upgrade: Increase Close Combat to d12 and Investigation to d10. Add +20 Health when using this upgrade.
• Devastating Monologue (A): Hinder using Presence against multiple targets and use your Max die. Attack each using your Mid + Min dice.
• Master of Total Chaos (I): If you are in a situation in which everything is spiraling out of control, automatically succeed at an Overcome to accomplish a task by throwing out the rules.
Aftermath:
My only regret is not actually getting an Ability called “It Belongs In A Museum!”
In all seriousness, Evil Alien Indiana Jones seemed like an obvious choice for History’s Mysteries to face off against. He embodies some of their ideals, but in all the wrong ways, and he might be persuaded to help out against bigger threats in order to keep cultural artifacts from being destroyed, even if he will definitely try to steal them afterwards.
Ancient remains wildly powerful compared to most other Villain Approaches, and because of that Varras is routinely rolling two d12s as part of his die sets. It’s encouragement to put him into situations where he’s not just pummeling heroes, because that would be a bit unfair.
One thing that I’ve been noticing while building villains is that I don’t think it would be hard for an inexperienced GM to grab a set of powers that look really powerful, and to accidentally end up with a villain who is not fun to fight. For example, if the Devastating Monologue was Varras’s primary trick without upgrades, and he had damage reduction instead of that “fall back and heal” trick, you could easily build a loop where he gives everyone a nasty penalty, hurts the whole party, and then uses that penalty to impede attacks and hinders against himself while also reducing any damage they can deal, making it so that he is hurting the players faster than they are hurting him while also having more health. If the goal of a scene was to actually knock him out, that could get frustrating in a real hurry.
3 Likes
This is great. : D
Too true.
When I first read this sentence, before reading the rest of the paragraph, I imagined a wizened old (Earth) museum curator.
2 Likes
Time for a duo. I have a very rough angle that I’d like to do for this one, complicated by the fact that I already know several traits that will be appearing – someone is going to be connected to the criminal underworld, and we’re going to have a Loner and a Squad working together. So here we go…
Step 1: Decide on Approach and Archetype
We’re not rolling for Archetype this time, because there are only two left, but we will roll for Approach. Our first villain gets 8 and 4, and our second gets 6 and 6, so we’re looking at Generalist or Prideful for one, and Prideful or Relentless for the other.
So let’s do this thing. Our first villain is a Prideful Loner, and our second villain is a Relentless Squad.
Step 2: Decide on Qualities and Powers
We get a 6 and a 3 for our Qualities. Our Loner is taking two off their Relentless list, and our Squaddie is taking Criminal Underworld because it’s the only thing left. For Powers, results of 4 and 2 mean that the Loner has a Material ability, and the Squaddie has an Energy Power.
For our Loner, we’ll take d10 Imposing, and d10 Close Combat, along with d10 Stone and d10 Awareness. Our Squad gets d10 Criminal Underworld and d8 Ranged Combat, along with d10 Fire and d8 Speed.
Our Loner also has two d8 Qualities and a d10 and d8 Power, and our Squaddie has a d6 Quality and a d6 Power. I’m going to give the Loner d8 Magical Lore and d8 Self-Discipline, along with a d10 Signature Weapon and d8 Remote Viewing. Squaddie just gets a d6 Otherworldly Mythos and a d6 Vitality.
Step 3: Abilities, Status Dice, and Health
Our Loner focuses on slowing enemies down and taking their strength. He can use powerful blows against one target and Boost if he hurts them enough, Hinder groups and heal a little, or Hinder them and attack them. When people end up too close to him, he drains their power.
Our Squaddie is a helper. She can use her knowledge of criminal tactics to give herself and her allies Boosts while defending, or her keen eye to shoot people and force them to fight her or take a Hinder. When she’s attacked, she can use her buffs as penalties or force the attacker to spend two penalties, and when her allies are attacked she can defend them and Boost herself.
Choose Abilities for each villain, referencing any other villains on the team for a stronger total group. Note down each Villain’s Health (based on the team that they are being constructed to oppose.)
Our Loner has 50 Health, and our Squaddie has 40.
Step 4: Upgrades and Masteries
Our Loner is just stronger, with his Power Upgrade giving his d12s and d10s to play with. He also becomes a Master of Annihilation, using his ability to shake the earth to devastate the area.
Our Squaddie develops a mystical shield that protects her through entropic resonance, which can be disabled through raw force or by draining its energies safely. She also becomes a Master of the Unfathomable (I have a plan!)
Step 5: Background
So, let’s meet a couple of people.
First, some background. Centuries ago, four sacred knights held the line against demonic forces, dangerous monsters, and evil wizards. Each knight held a magical rune-inscribed weapon, allowing them to control the energies and matter of the world. All of these weapons have been lost to time, either buried with their owners, lost in ruins, or passed into myth.
Leo Hollybrook is a descendent of one of these knights, Sir Rolant the Bold. He was raised on stories of his family’s heritage, and how his noble upbringing made him superior to the rabble. He spent vast amounts of money and time, made connections with criminal organizations, and searched for his ancestor’s ancient Runeaxe. Leo was pushed and encouraged by his assistant and family valet, Juliet Tramer, who helped him uncover details about the Runeaxe and also drew him in with stories about the powers he can harness with it.
With Juliet’s help, Leo discovered the axe, and as promised has developed awesome powers. Calling himself Landgrave, he’s now on a hunt for the other three weapons. One made him powerful. Four will make him invincible…
But there’s a little wrinkle in Leo’s plans, and that wrinkle is Juliet. Centuries ago, the runic weapons were used to seal away a terrible demonic force, and they are still the key that could unlock it again, either through proper use or by being destroyed. Juliet worships this dark god, and believes that Leo is fated to become Its vessel. She would die for her god, and keeping Leo safe is critical to this.
The axe has been found. And Juliet has just discovered that the sword has risen again, in the hands of some history channel has-been…
Landgrave gets the RP Quality “Wealthy Scion” and Juliet gets “Devoted Cultist”.
Step 6: Tactics
Landgrave and Juliet are a mostly straightforward team. They might be trying to claim Runesword’s weapon, or digging for another tool that will help them on their quest, but when they fight they tend to fight hard. Landgrave barely pays attention to his allies, and is strongest when he can unleash his full fury, while Juliet works to defend and protect him. Early in the fight, Landgrave attacks and Hinders groups, and Juliet gives Landgrave Boosts, draws fire away from him, and protects him when people attack him anyway. When she’s attacked, she uses the penalties he creates to protect herself. If the situation turns bad for the pair, she will try to encourage Landgrave to leave.
Once Juliet goes down, Landgrave goes all-out, using the Runeaxe to weaken people and healing through the power, and using overwhelming attacks against people he can effectively weaken to gain Boosts. He’s not likely to think big or tactically, just go for what he wants over and over.
Villain: Landgrave
Approach: Prideful, Archetype: Loner
Status Dice: d8 while Juliet is alive, d10 if alone.
Health: 50 (adjusted for 3-player team)
Qualities:
- Imposing d10
- Close Combat d10
- Magical Lore d8
- Self-Discipline d8
- Wealthy Scion d8
Powers:
- Stone d10
- Awareness d10
- The Runeaxe d10
- Remote Viewing d8
Abilities:
- Crushing Blow (A): Attack one target using Close Combat and use your Max + Min dice. If that attack causes them to change zones, Boost using your Mid. That bonus is persistent and exclusive.
- Field of Doom (A): Attack multiple targets using Stone. Hinder each target with your Max die.
- Clash of Souls (A): Hinder multiple targets using Imposing. Recover Health equal to the number of targets Hindered this way.
- Drain Life ®: If an opponent ends their turn near you, you may roll your single Runeaxe die as a Hinder against them.
Upgrade:
- Power Upgrade: Increase Stone, Awareness, and the Runeaxe to d12, and Remote Viewing to d10. Gain +20 Health.
- Master of Annihilation (I): If you can cause massive collateral damage without regard for casualties, automatically succeed at an Overcome in which a show of overwhelming force could solve the problem.
Villain: Juliet
Approach: Relentless, Archetype: Squad
Status Dice: d8 while Landgrave is alive, d6 if alone.
Health: 40 (adjusted for 3-player team)
Qualities:
- Criminal Underworld d10
- Ranged Combat d8
- Otherworldly Mythos d6
- Devoted Cultist d8
Powers:
- Fire d10
- Speed d8
- Vitality d6
Abilities:
- Pinning Fire (A): Attack using Ranged Combat. Use your Max die. If the target does not Attack you on their next turn, Hinder them using your Mid die.
- Shifty Tactics (A): Boost using Criminal Underworld. Boost another target using your Max die, and use your Mid die to Defend against all Attacks against you until your next turn.
- For My Master ®: When another villain is Attacked, Defend against the Attack by rolling your Status die. Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.
- Knows Your Stuff (I): Whenever a nearby opponent would Attack you, you may destroy a bonus on yourself or a penalty on that opponent to reduce the Attack by the value of the destroyed mod.
Upgrade:
- Defense Shield (I): Cannot be harmed by heroes as long as her entropic shield is in place. The shield has 40 Health, or can be broken by three Overcomes. If a hero takes a Minor twist overcoming the Shield, she can Attack as a reaction by rolling Fire.
- Restablish Shield (I): Overcome using Otherworldly Mythos. Use your Max die. Either remove one success from the deactivating challenge, or Recover the Shield with your Max die. This cannot be used if the shield is gone.
- Master of the Unfathomable (I): If you are in a situation involving eldritch and disturbing forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of a being beyond human concerns.
Aftermath:
So, in general I like the idea that resulted from this; I had a feeling that I was going to end up with something from Sir Teylor’s past, and the stuff that I generated didn’t really account for “ancient lich” as well as it did this. I also had that Unfathomable Mastery sitting around needing to be used, and I wasn’t sure I would get a chance at a good cultist for the last team, so here it goes!
I’m going to take a moment to discuss a minor failure, though – the core nature of Loner and Squad both kind of don’t work for my creation, largely because they only pay attention to full Villains, rather than to non-minion allies.
Theoretically, I could just throw a Loner into a fight alone, but Loners aren’t actually interesting alone. Loners are interesting when they’re getting stronger as their allies go down, using their defensive abilities to be the last one standing and getting better dice and more boosts. I’d actually like the “Boost when a non-minion ally goes down” ability to be Inherent, rather than a Reaction, even. The sad thing is that Loners don’t adjust their status dice for non-minion allies, so you need a lot of villains around for them to be weak.
Squad is the same thing, but the other way around. You need to have a full four supervillains on-scene for them to be at maximum status dice, which is kind of massive. Some of their abilities affect all allies, but others only affect villains. I’d have liked Squad to also be based on non-minion allies, because, for example, you can’t build Sergeant Steel as a good Squad villain since his agents would be lieutenants and he’d be stuck with a d6 Status die. That seems off.
Regardless, the effect of all this is that Juliet isn’t as strong as she could be, but the pair still work together. Calling it a win.
1 Like
I think this is one of your best ever! 
Getting a Squad and Loner to work together was fantastic all by itself!
Thanks! They have a surprising amount of synergy, to be honest. Combining the two of them with a third person who doesn’t care either way might be an interesting step, but as a duo they are pretty neat. And speaking of pretty neat…
Our final solo! We’re dealing with Fair Play now, which means that we’re looking for one of the mysterious criminal masterminds who runs the city of Kesonee, someone appropriately different from existing criminal masterminds in-setting. So let’s get started…
Step 1: Decide on Approach and Archetype
Every Archetype is back on the table! Rolling 10 + 6 for Approach gives me a choice between Tactician and Underpowered for our mastermind. You know what, I think I am developing a plan. Our criminal boss is Underpowered. She is out of her depth and knows it!
3 and 7 for Archetype gives us access to Formidable, Indomitable, and… Legion. As hilarious as an Underpowered Legion character would be (25 Health against a team of four!) I’m going to try something different and make her Formidable. She seems powerful, until you trip her up and make her fall.
Step 2: Decide on Qualities and Powers
Qualities have reset, so that’s wide-open. Powers are still limited. 4 for Qualities and 8 for Powers means a Social Quality and a Self-Control Power.
I’m going to give her Size-Changing d8 and Gadgets d6 for Powers, and Imposing d10 and Criminal Underworld d8 for Qualities. This boss talks a big talk, and plays a big game (literally!) but doesn’t have a lot under the tank.
Our boss has two d6s for Powers and a d6 for Qualities. I’m going to go with Presence d6 and Deduction d6, for general minion-wrangling, plus a d6 in Close Combat. She can do a bit of fighting, but it’s not her preference.
Step 3: Abilities, Status Dice, and Health
I feel like as a rule, the Boss isn’t going to be doing a lot of attacking. She has other goals. So…
Generally, the Boss can avoid death-blows by getting weaker, and evade damage and potentially do amazing things if the evasion is exactly the damage taken. She can make a weak attack with a slim chance of being an overwhelming attack, give herself and her allies boosts, and take any basic action with her Max die.
Despite being Underpowered, the Boss has 55 Health thanks to also being Formidable.
Step 4: Upgrades and Masteries
Our boss is a master of distraction. Their upgrade gives them a Calming Aura that forces heroes to stay in the Green zone unless they can make Overcomes to stop the conflicting events going on. With that comes a Mastery of Profitability, letting the Boss use their money to succeed automatically.
Step 5: Background
Let’s meet Helen Tolliver, the Expansionist and head of the Tolliver Syndicate. Helen Tolliver learned the workings of the criminal underworld at her father’s knee, but her gangs were being outmaneuvered by costumed villains wrecking shop.
So Helen spent her family fortune acquiring villainous tech, some purchased from Revocorp, some stolen from alien crash sites, and some gathered from the site of hero-villain conflicts. Most of the tools that she acquired were single-use or poorly understood, but she played it off like she was a new source of regional power, and used that reputation to hire a few superhumans of her own and create enough layers of support that her very limited supply of supertech won’t be a liability.
Most of Helen’s lieutenants are angling for the big chair, and she knows it. She spends half her time turning her minion’s schemes against each other, and the other half solidifying her control over Kesonee by offering uses of tech to locally powerful people, while hinting that there is more where that came from. Her entire operation is a house of cards, but she hopes that if she can keep it going, she’ll end up with enough real power that she’ll be able to fortify, and maybe expand across the area…
Step 6: Tactics
The Expansionist tries to avoid direct fights, in favour of sending her people to handle things for her. When she gets cornered, it’s probably because someone has attacked one of her lairs while she’s on site, or because she’s found a power source too valuable to risk her agents taking first. As such, in a fight her goal is to get something and/or get out, while doing enough fighting to make it look like she’s not a pushover. She’ll rely on Boosts to her minions and lieutenants present and Overcomes to manipulate the environment and solve things, occasionally falling back on her mediocre combat presence. If beaten, she will do her best to flee, knowing that if she’s arrested her syndicate is likely to fall apart before she can get out of jail.
Villain: The Expansionist
Approach: Underpowered, Archetype: Formidable
Status Dice: d12 with no penalties, d8 with penalties and bonuses, d4 with penalties and no bonuses.
Health: 55 (adjusted for 4-player team)
Qualities:
- Imposing d10
- Criminal Underworld d8
- Close Combat d6
Powers:
- Size-Changing d8
- Gadgets d6
- Presence d6
- Deduction d6
Abilities:
- Blow Up (A): Attack using Size-Changing. If you roll doubles, add both dice to your Attack. If you roll triples, add all three dice.
- I’m The Boss (A): Take any basic action and use your Max die.
- Have Some Toys (A): Boost yourself using Gadgets and use your Max die. Boost a nearby ally with your Mid die and another ally with your Min die.
- Last-Ditch Effort ®: When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling Size-Changing. If the roll reduces damage to exactly 0, Recover equal to the damage reduced, Boost yourself using that amount, and Hinder your attacker using that amount.
- Second Wind (I): When you would be reduced to 0 or fewer Health, ignore the damage and reduce your Powers by one die step. If this reduces a Power below d4, you are Knocked Out.
Upgrade:
- Schemes Aplenty (I): The heroes act as if in the Green Zone for status dice and all Abilities. Heroes must overcome three challenges representing minions creating distractions to stop this effect. If a hero rolls a minor Twist, you may use a Reaction to Hinder them with your “Gadgets” die.
- Master of Profitability (I): If you have access to wealth and resources, automatically succeed at any Overcome to use them to get even richer, no matter who pays the price.
Aftermath:
Well, well, well. This is definitely someone different from the Chairman. She plays at being a big fish with a lot of power, but it’s all showmanship and misdirection. She’s a big presence among her minions, knowing that one misstep could bring it all down.
A story that uses Helen heavily is probably going to end with what happens when she goes to jail, and her lieutenants start fighting over the resources that they all think someone else has stolen from her armories. She might even ally with her captors to try and regain control, only to become a threat again.
I think Helen is the only “top” power that Fair Play is up against; everyone else is a lieutenant with aspirations to overthrow her, and the team will have to balance taking them out against setting off a gang war…
2 Likes
Alright, our grand finale is another trio, three criminal up-and-comers to face off against Fair Play. Our last enemy was heavily on the criminal side, but I also established that most of Fair Play’s enemies are part of the same crew. So these three are probably one of the major factions in the Expansionist’s organization. Let’s see what they’re like…
Step 1: Decide on Approach and Archetype
There’s no roll for Approach this time, as we are at the end. Our trio are made up of the Generalist, the Skilled, and the Tactician.
For Archetypes, our Generalist gets 6 and 1 for Bruiser, Guerrilla or Indomitable, our Skilled gets 8 and 4 for Inhibitor or Overlord, and our Tactician gets 2 and 5 for Domain, Fragile, or Indomitable. Let’s take a Generalist Bruiser, a Skilled Inhibitor, and an Indomitable Tactician.
Step 2: Decide on Qualities and Powers
Our Generalist gets a 6 for Qualities and a 6 for Powers**,** the Inhibitor gets a 2 for Qualities and an 8 for Powers, and our Tactician gets 5 for qualities and a 9 for Powers.
So! For the Generalist, we’ve got Close Combat d10 and Conviction d8, with Leaping d10 and Strength d8. Our Skilled has Investigation d10 and Stealth d10, plus Invisibility d10 and Lightning Calculator d8. Finally, our Tactician gets Technology d10 and Insight d8, with Suggestion d8 and Intuition d8.
The Generalist also has a d6 Quality and a d8 and d6 Power, the Skilled has three d8 Qualities and a d6 Power. Our Tactician gets a d6 Quality and two d6 Powers. For our Generalist, I’m going with Imposing d6, Toxic d8, and Presence d6. For our Skilled, Ranged Combat, Criminal Underworld Lore, and Leadership d8, with Speed d6. Finally, our Tactician has Ranged Combat d6, Remote Viewing d6, and Deduction d6.
Step 3: Abilities, Status Dice, and Health
The Generalist is a smasher. It’s what he does. He has general damage reduction and can take hits for his team, he can attack and heal, he can unleash with an attack that gets stronger the more he’s hurt.
The Skilled uses precision and stealth. She can use sneak attacks to create massive, persistent Hinders by hitting pressure points, or Hinder groups of people by putting them in dangerous positions, and take advantage of those Hinders when people come after her. She can also heal a bit while taking basic actions.
Finally, the Tactician is aggressive. They can take a Basic Action and let an ally do the same, they can jump in on an attack when an ally is already attacking, they can give themselves a major boost, and they can slow every enemy down with area attacks that apply mild Hinders.
The Generalist has 65(!) Health. Our Skilled has 45 Health, and the Tactician has 60 Health.
Step 4: Upgrades and Masteries
I’ve only got five Upgrades and seven Masteries left, so this should be both very easy and very hard.
Our Generalist gets a Brainwashing Field, which acts as taking control of people’s bodies through their blood. That’s how they do their Toxic, I think. They are also a Master of Annihilation, unleashing terrifying collateral.
Our Skilled gets Skill Upgrade, which seems obvious. They’re also a Master Mercenary, focusing on the contract.
Finally, our Tactician has their own Mook Squad, with access to mob enforcers in a pinch. They are a Master of Enforced Order, taking advantage of situations in which they’re already out in front.
Step 5: Background
So, we have a very interesting team of three. But what’s their background?
Well, first let’s meet Derrick Vale, formerly known as Citizen Waste. Years ago, Derrick was a Citizen of the Sun in training, a blood-manipulator hating every day of harsh training and cult behaviour. The only bright spot in his life was his prospective partner, Citizen Haste, and he imagined a life with her away from all of this. He was gutted when she and her family were killed in the invasion of Megalopolis, and his anger at the Citizens turned into anger at the world as a whole. He became more violent, and eventually abandoned the Citizens to make his own way in the world. A few months back, a chance job took him to Kesonee to join the Expansionist’s growing superhuman forces as the villain Wasteland, where he met Officer Shirley Young.
Officer Young was a corrupt cop. A few months ago, an arms deal she was working security for went bad, infecting her with alien spores that allow her to fade from sight, and she took up the name Blindspot and began working secretly as a hitman in the evenings, while keeping her day job as a cop. She worked with Derrick on a hit and was impressed by his power and wit, and the two quickly became friends.
Looking for a way to grow their power base, and perhaps even challenge the Expansionist for control of the city, the two formed an alliance with Max Lundsey. Max had recently taken over a local charity, skimming money off the top and using his mastery of hypnotism and collection of minor tech skimmed off the top of the Expansionist’s hauls to set himself up as a local boss. Max needed muscle, and Derrick and Shirley needed connections, and between the three of them, they discovered that they made an amazing team.
What the three don’t know is that the series of unlikely coincidences that brought them together were anything but. Each of the three is connected to one of Kesonee’s superheroes, although none of them know it yet. And Wager Master thinks that an amazing followup to his award-winning heist movie would be a story in which Breakguard’s teenage companion, Fernwick’s patrol partner, and Bedrock’s new boss come face to face with their nemeses…
Step 6: Tactics
When all three of our villains are working together, they’ve settled into a solid pattern.
Wasteland takes point, slamming into enemies and pulling out their own blood to turn into weapons against them, and reshaping his internal organs to heal from the strain of over-pushing his own muscles. He interrupts attacks with his mobility, slamming into anyone who dares attack someone other than him, and generally heals at a slow drip throughout the fight when he’s not launching overwhelming attacks or throwing people into each other.
Max generally opens up by holding back, figuring out the tactical field, and then setting up a big, persistent Boost, followed by shifting between group attacks and Hinders, and making powerful attacks against single targets while inviting Wasteland to take part (or vice versa, jumping in when Wasteland hammers someone to get in an extra blow.)
Finally, Blindspot lives up to her name. She goes invisible and starts dropping persistent Hinders on people, then shifts to moving into groups and attacking from surprise while leaving everyone off-balance. If her targets come after her she counter-attacks, and if she does get hit she can shift to basic Boosts and Attacks while healing up a bit.
Villain: Wasteland
Approach: Generalist, Archetype: Bruiser
Status Dice: Green d6, Yellow d8, Red d10
Health: 65 (adjusted for 4-player team)
Qualities:
- Close Combat d10
- Conviction d8
- Imposing d6
Powers:
- Leaping d10
- Strength d8
- Toxic d8
- Presence d6
Abilities:
- Wasteland (A): Attack using Toxic. If you are Green, use your Max die. If you are Yellow, use your Max + Min dice. If you are in Red, use your Max + Min against one target and your Mid against another.
- Heavy Hitter (A): Attack using Close Combat. Use your Max die. Recover using your Min die.
- Throw Hero (A): Attack using Strength and use your Max die. Either Hinder that target with your Mid die, or Attack another nearby target with your Mid die.
- Jump In ®: When an ally is attacked, Defend them by rolling your single Leaping die. Boost yourself by that amount.
- Roll With It (I): Reduce physical and energy damage by 1 in Green, 2 in Yellow, and 3 in Red.
Upgrade:
- Area Blood Control (I): While the scene is in the Green zone, all heroes’ quality dice at d8 or above are reduced one size. In the Yellow zone, all heroes’ quality dice at d10 or above are reduced two die sizes. In the Red zone, all heroes’ quality dice are treated as if they are d4. While using this Upgrade, Wasteland has +10 Health.
- Heroes may remove this ability with three Overcome successes against Wasteland’s blood control. If a hero takes a minor twist, they lose access to a quality entirely until this ability is removed. If a hero is knocked out while this ability is active, you may create a new minion using the hero’s highest power die to represent the puppeteered version of that hero.
- 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.
Villain: Blindspot
Approach: Skilled, Archetype: Inhibitor
Status Dice: Based on heroes with penalties. None d6, 1-2 Heroes d8, 3+ Heroes d10
Health: 45 (adjusted for 4-player team)
Qualities:
- Investigation d10
- Stealth d10
- Ranged Combat d8
- Criminal Underworld d8
- Leadership d8
Powers:
- Invisibility d10
- Lightning Calculator d8
- Speed d6
Abilities:
- Pressure Point Strike (A): Hinder using Stealth and use your Max+Min dice. This penalty is persistent and exclusive.
- Exceptional Training (A): Take any basic action and use your Max die. Recover equal to your Min die.
- Wolf Among Sheep (A): Hinder multiple nearby targets using Invisibility and use your Max die. Attack one of those targets with your Mid die.
- Weak Points ®: When you are Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, Defend by rolling your single status die, and the attacker suffers that much damage.
Upgrade:
- Skill Upgrade: Investigation and Stealth are boosted to d12, and Ranged Combat, Criminal Underworld, and Leadership are boosted to d10. While using this Upgrade, Blindspot has +20 Health.
- 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.
Villain: Max
Approach: Tactician, Archetype: Indomitable
Status Dice: Always d8
Health: 60 (adjusted for 4-player team)
Qualities:
- Technology d10
- Insight d8
- Ranged Combat d6
Powers:
- Suggestion d8
- Intuition d8
- Remote Viewing d6
- Deduction d6
Abilities:
- Got A Tool For That (A): Take a basic action using Technology and use your Max die. One nearby ally also makes the same basic action as a Reaction.
- Figure Out The Field (A): Boost yourself using Insight and use your Max die. This Boost is persistent and exclusive.
- Sow Confusion (A): Attack multiple targets using Suggestion. Hinder those targets using your Min die.
- Flanking Trick ®: When another basic ally makes an Attack, you may attack the same target by rolling your single Technology die.
Finally, the Tactician is aggressive. they can give themselves a major boost, and they can slow every enemy down with area attacks that apply mild Hinders.
Upgrade:
- Hired Goons (A): Replace your Goon Squad minions up to the number of heroes.
- 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.
Aftermath:
Our final villain team!
I think the seams were starting to show here, but it worked out. They’re a hungry gang of up-and-comers and they have some real potential to be a disaster for our heroes. Plus, the idea of Wager Master trying to set up a sequel is pretty hilarious to me.
2 Likes
Ditto. : )
Congrats on making it through! Next, stop, Friv makes thirty-seven environments!
No, I’m gonna go do my thread now. When I have a minute.
2 Likes