The Iron Five — Villain Sheets

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
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For the former I think so, by the same “it’s an effect die” reasoning. It’s using a weird predefined single-die pool, but the die is still clearly thr effect.

Heroic Interruption I don’t think so but I can’t point at a rule that says so. There is a die, but it’s more of a cost to using the reaction than the effect of it, which is shunting an entire Attack (including any riders like a “Hinder that target as well”) to any target you like, much like Reactive Field’s static damage reflection (which I think we can agree is unmodifiable). Both of those are unusual abilities that don’t really use a die to determine their effect, although i could see room for argument with HI.

It’s also already a really strong reaction and if you could somehow arrange to lower the d6 you pay for it (which is a lot in Red) it probably breaks something.

Also and tangentially, unless I’m missing it I don’t think the rules ever formally define what “irreducible” means. We probably all understand the intent, but I’m darned if I can find it spelled out anywhere.

Sure, I just meant in SCRPG. This game’s pretty transparent about player information compared to most. Even D&D eventually started officially giving players health status hints with stuff like 4e’s “Bloodied” (ie half HP) status.

Well, having a single d4 in your pool usually only hurts if you’re looking at the Min die. I suppose I might let him get his d10 Intuition for it to represent having a gut feel for what his audience might like. Judging by how thoroughly he trounced Wager Master’s test that one time he must be pretty good at improv poetry. :slight_smile:

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Yep, I’m almost certain that irreducible is never defined. It’s just one of those cases where a word just uses its standard English definition, and doesn’t have a special rule definition. Irreducible damage simply cannot be reduced in any way.

What I take that to mean is that it ignores Defend actions and abilities like Damage Reduction (page #62), but not damage immunity or prevention, as granted by abilities such as Full Defensive (page #109).

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I usually try to look at the intent over phrasing, which is kind of variable. If an ability, action or effect says “reduce damage” it’s clearly not going to work on irreducible damage. You also have Immunity (pg. 57), which just says you take no damage from a give energy/element type, or Techno-Absorb (pg. 64) where you Recover health instead of taking damage. Improved Immunity (pg. 106) is similar- “ignore” rather than “reduce” damage. Those are all probably supposed to work on irreducible damage and don’t use the word “reduce” at all.

But then they do things like Cosmic Ray Absorption (pg. 68) where it specifically tells you to reduce damage to zero and Recover health instead. The ability is probably supposed to work identically to Techno-Absorb, but the different phrasing adds “reduce” and muddles the issue. Energy Immunity (pg. 77) and Energy Alignment (pg. 81) also use “reduce” in their text. Whether that’s a deliberate change and irreducible damage is supposed to cut through those abilities I don’t know - it could just as easily be someone not following the style manual (if there even was one).

If it mattered I’d probably let those abilities work against irreducible damage, but it’s never come up in play. The only cases of actual irreducible damage on heroic abilities I can think of are self-inflicted and don’t involve rolling a die pool that would let you shove in an energy/element power to give it a type.

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There’s Heedless Blast from the Blaster archetype. The odd thing about that one is that it seems obvious that you should combine that with Energy Immunity from the same archetype, but that doesn’t actually work since Energy Immunity requires you to reduce the damage. Best case interpretation, your health is only staying level.

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Oh yeah. How embarrassing, I’ve actually played a character with that ability in the past. That one’s an oddball for using the same die to hurt both enemies and the user, which has some negative synergy with mods. It does seem like it’s intended to be a combo with Energy Immunity and at my table I’d probably treat it as working that way (“reduce” turning into “ignore and heal instead”) but I’d want to playtest it a bit before making that a set in stone house rule. I’ve seen what happens when you do a heal-instead-of-harm combo with Relic’s Harvest Life Force ability and I’m not sure the game needs another one of those.

Heedless Blast would be amazing if bonuses applied to it healed you while simultaneously hurting multiple targets more, so it would be even more of a go-to ability than Havest Life Force.

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So, first I want to say that I love four of the five Iron Five; they’re thematic, interesting mechanically, and fit together into a mean team.

I am unclear as to why Frost is working with any of them, or any of them are working with Frost. The other four members of the team are, to one degree or another, all “I have done a terrible thing in order to theoretically protect and rule my world, and I will join forces with others who understand this to protect and rule every world”, but Frost is portrayed as openly antagonistic to both heroes and the world in general. Why doesn’t Iron Legacy see him as a threat, and why did he choose to join the team?

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Thanks! I’m glad that you think so.

Yeah, I know. Zero’s involvement seems somewhat forced.

What happened was this. When Iron Legacy decided that he wanted to make a team, obviously it had to have alternates of The Wraith, Bunker, Tachyon, and Absolute Zero, he thought. Why, exactly? Well, the obvious meta-reason is just theming/branding, but IL’s reason was never made very clear. Was it just nostalgia for the good ol’ times? Was it because he knew that the five of them worked so well together? Was it because he thought they would make the most powerful team? Was he just a little insane with grief, anger, and frustration at that point? It was probably a little bit of all of the above.

So, after recruiting TachAeon, the Death-Wraith, and Omni-Bunker, Iron Legacy needed his Absolute Zero alternate. So he looked around, and found the Ryan Frost of Universe 58. But this Ryan Frost wanted absolutely nothing to do with any so-called “heroes” or “villains.” He was sick of other people forcing him to do stuff for them. So, he obviously was not interested in joining Iron Legacy’s little group.

But then Iron Legacy said that Frost would be an equal on the team, and that he would be free to do basically whatever he wanted to. And now that this Ryan Frost had developed the power to project a cold aura around himself, and thus did not need a cryo-suit, the Iron Five had no way to force him to do anything. Plus, no one could force him to do things if he had such powerful allies.

And additionally, Iron Legacy told U-58 Ryan Frost that part of the IF’s mission was liberating any peoples who were under tyrannical rule and instead ruling them “benevolently” themselves. (Of course, that’s patently false. It’s true that the team wanted to dispose of any other rulers, but their rulership would be just as dictatorial.)

So, basically, those were all the reasons that U-88 Paul gave Frost for why he should join them. And of course, his natural charisma didn’t hurt either. So Ryan Frost did eventually, hesitantly agree to join the team.

Despite that, Zero was always wary of the other members, and was never as much a part of the team as the rest of them . . .

I hope that helps to answer you question, @FrivYeti.

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It does, thank you!

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What’s this?! You thought that I wouldn’t post any more Iron Five SCRPG material! Well, my friend, you were wrong!

Because now I proudly present this secret surprise post of paragon proportions! For here are the loathsome lackeys, gruesome generals, and malicious minions of the indomitable Iron Five!

Iron Five Minions: The Iron Army!

Iron Guardsman
:d10: Minion

Description
After Iron Legacy conquered Universe 88, he recruited some of his subjects into an elite force of enforcers — the Iron Guard. The Iron Guardsmen are ruthless, and specialize in the hunting and killing of those who oppose their “leader’s” rule.

Abilities
Hero-Killer: Iron Guardsmen have +1 to Attack actions. When an Iron Guardsman Attacks a hero in the Red zone, it rolls its die twice and uses the higher result.

Tactics
Iron Guardsmen go after the weakest-seeming targets first, Attacking and Hindering them. They take no prisoners and fight to kill.

Omni-Bunker Drone
:d8: Minion

Description
Tyler Vance of Universe 76 combined Omnitron drones with Bunker weaponry to create his mechanical underlings.

Abilities
Force Nets: Omni-Bunker Drones have +2 to Hinder actions.

Tactics
The drones’ programming dictates that they must hunt down and imprison any rebellious targets.

Organization Goon
:d6: Minion

Description
These simple thugs worked for the Organization, which means they now work for the Death-Wraith

Abilities
Mob Power: Organization Goons have +1 to all actions while there are at least two other Organization Goons nearby.

Tactics
They use their guns, knives, and fists to pummel whomever the boss orders them to.

Spite Clone
:d10: Minion

Description
During his conquest of Universe 88, Iron Legacy found a Pike Industrial bunker full of clones of the infamous killer Spite. He quickly made use of them in his crusade against evil.

Abilities
Mindless Muscle: Spite Clones have +1 to Attack actions and save rolls. However, they cannot take any actions other than Attacking or Hindering.

Tactics
Not being the brightest, Spite Clones mindlessly attack anyone designated as an enemy.

TachAeon Construct
:d6: Minion

Description
These golden glowing energy-duplicates of TachAeon are created by her Oblivion Shard, and follow her will.

Abilities
Lightspeed Assault: When TachAeon Constructs Attack, they can Attack up to 3 targets in the scene.

Tactics
The constructs do whatever TachAeon wills them to, which usually comprises of eliminating any interlopers who try to interfere with her experiments.

Zombie
:d6: Minion

Description
These shambling corpses were reanimated by dark magicks, and now serve the Death-Wraith.

Abilities
Walking Dead: Zombies have +2 to save rolls.

Tactics
Being mindless, undead servants, zombies typically shamble towards anything alive that their master hasn’t deemed off-limits.

Iron Five Lieutenants: The Iron Commanders!

Death Fist
:d10: Lieutenant

Description
Most of the Dark Watch of Universe 94 were killed by the Death-Wraith for daring to defy her, with only Setback and NightMist escaping. However, the Death-Wraith later decided to raise the slain martial arts master Mister Fixer to use as an elite, zombified enforcer.

Abilities
Harsh Strike: When Death Fist Attacks a target, that target gains a persistent and exclusive -1 penalty.
Unliving: Death Fist has +2 to save rolls.

Tactics
Death Fist brutally tears into his opponents while effortlessly shrugging off their blows.

The Iron Hand
:d10: Lieutenant

Description
Ansel G. Moreau — formerly the villainous hero-hunter Ambuscade — was recruited by Iron Legacy to command his Iron Guard, as the Iron Hand. Moreau quickly put his skills to good use.

Abilities
L’Embuscade: When the Iron Hand Boosts, he also Defends with the value of that bonus. The Defend lasts as long as that bonus is in play.
Stalker of Prey: The Iron Hand has +2 to Attack actions while he is engaged with a single enemy.

Tactics
The Iron Hand works best when he is up against only one opponent. He also prefers to attack with the element of surprise.

Reverse
:d10: Lieutenant

Description
When Omni-Bunker seized control of the city of Megalopolis, the remaining heroes of the city stood up to him and were subsequently captured or forced into hiding, except for the vigilante Parse. Parse and Omni-Bunker agreed to a truce, for they were both ruthless crime-fighters, and she became his lieutenant. Later, during a raid on a Revo-Corp laboratory — one of the last free strongholds — Parse acquired the Revenant suit.

Abilities
Impossible Shot: Damage dealt by Reverse is irreducible.
Reinforced Armor: Reverse has +2 to save rolls.

Tactics
Reverse uses her suit’s weaponry and her own lightning-fast mental processes to strike at any target, no matter how well defended they are.

Wright
:d10: Lieutenant

Description
After the Freedom Five of Universe 70 were defeated when they tried to stop TachAeon’s mad experiments, the Southwest Sentinels travelled to Megalopolis to try to do what the FF couldn’t. But, during the ensuing battle, Writhe was swayed by the temptations of power which TachAeon offered him. He was imbued with a portion of her cosmic power and turned on his former allies, who were defeated by the two former heroes.

Abilities
Shadow Cloak: Once per round when Wright is Attacked and dealt damage, he may ignore that damage and instead treat its value as a Hinder action against him.
Somber Tinker: Wright has +2 to Boost and Defend actions.

Tactics
Although Wright will directly engage enemies on occasion, he prefers to stay to the shadows and aid his allies with his twisted inventions.

Editor’s Notes:
There are ten of the Iron Five’s underlings for you. Six minions, two each for Iron Legacy and the Death-Wraith, and one each for Omni-Bunker and TachAeon. And four lieutenants, one for each of the aforementioned villains.

Yes, Zero doesn’t have any minions. He doesn’t really get along very well with others. (I was originally going to give him some ice golems, but they just felt weird and forced. Plus, that’s not something that his powers can canonically do.)

The Iron Hand was originally the only lieutenant that I was going to post. But then I thought, why not give the others some lieutenants too? So I did. I quite like what I came up with.

It was a bit tough coming up with names for Reverse — which is a portmanteau of Revenant and Parse, in case that wasn’t obvious — and Wright — which is just an archaic word for builder (‘cause Writhe is an inventor) that is spelt/pronounced somewhat similarly to Writhe.

Also, poor Mister Fixer. Is there any reality in which Slim dies and gets to stay at peace, instead of being resurrected by some evil necromancer to be an undead servant?

Okay, now that I’ve posted these minions and lieutenants, surely there is no other material that I will post in this thread . . .

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Looking good. “Wright” can also mean “maker” in the craftsman sense (eg wheelwright, barrel wright) which is also very apropos for an inventor. One of my grand-uncles dabbled in barrel-making, even had a barrel wright certificate.

Slim really does get the short end of the stick a lot. Need a Disparity issue where they try to bring him back as undead and instead he gets possessed by the same entity that gave the original Fanatic her powers. He’d look good with angel wings and a halo, beating the hell out of a very surprised Zhu Long with a pair of big glowing crowbars.

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I love both Reverse and Death Fist as names. :smiley:

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Thanks, @Chief_Lackey_Rich and @TakeWalker!

I lied.

Now, I present to you a most evil environment. It is the heinous headquarters, the blasphemous base, of the dreaded Iron Five — The Iron Tower!

The Iron Tower
Timeline: Universe 189 — The Final Wasteland
Location: The ruins of Megalopolis
Date of Construction: Some time after the fall of humanity
Height: ≈200 meters
Supervillains: 5
Commanders: 4
Minions: Hundreds

After Iron Legacy formed the Iron Five, the team decided that they needed a base of operations from which to launch their conquest of the Multiverse. With TachAeon’s Inter-Reality Transportation Gateway, the team could choose any world they wanted in which to construct their headquarters.

The Five quickly decided on Universe 189, a timeline that had become known to dimensional travellers as “The Final Wasteland.” In this reality’s history, all of humanity had been wiped out when hordes of monstrous cryptids emerged from hiding and ravaged the planet. Now Earth was a desolate husk, where multitudes of cryptids abound.

The Five chose this reality in part because it had no native “heroes” or other meddlesome people to could get in their way, and partly because the myriads of bestial cryptids would act as an additional defensive measure against any invading enemies the team may face.

They quickly began the building’s construction. They used resources from both the ruins of civilization in Universe 189 and from their home timelines. The members’ mighty superpowers, as well as their copious minions, meant that their base was finished within a month.

The Iron Five dubbed the fortress that they had constructed The Iron Tower, for it would serve the Iron Five in the same way that Freedom Tower had served the Freedom Five (despite the tower lacking almost any actual iron in its structure, being mostly built from stone, steel, and exotic dura-steel).

The outside of the tower is surrounded by an unholy combination of Zero’s cryo-blizzard and TachAeon’s energy-storm. Inside, it is protected by magical wards that the Death-Wraith cast, and technological defenses installed by Omni-Bunker.

Additionally, the Iron Five have used TachAeon’s Inter-Reality Transportation Gateway to transport multitudes of their underlings from their original universes to Universe 189, as well as their faithful commanders — The Iron Hand, Death Fist, Reverse, and Wright.

Any heroes who dare venture to the Iron Tower will certainly find themselves in the fight of their lives.

The Iron Tower
The Iron Army :d8:
Techno-Mystical Defenses :d10:
Wandering Cryptids :d8:

Green
Minor Twists

  • Hungry Cryptid: One of the Final Wasteland’s signature cryptids has strayed close to the Iron Tower, and the heroes are looking awfully crunchy to it. Roll the environment dice. Introduce 1 cryptid minion to the scene of a die size equal to the Mid die.
  • Sub-Zero Blizzard: A fierce blizzard caused by Zero’s cryonic nature rages around the Iron Tower. Roll the environment dice. Hinder all targets in the scene with the Min die. Each Hindered target then takes damage equal to its penalty.

Major Twist

  • Oblivion Storm: A catastrophically-destructive energy storm created by TachAeon’s reckless experiments ravages the area around the Iron Tower. Roll the environment dice. Attack all targets in the scene with the Min die.

Yellow
Minor Twists

  • Automated Turrets: Turrets built from Omni-Bunker tech fire electro-restraints at the heroes. Roll the environment dice. Hinder two hero targets with the Mid die.
  • Death Ward: A mystic ward created by the Death-Wraith activates, releasing necromantic energies at the heroes. Roll the environment dice. Attack and Hinder one hero target with the Mid die.

Major Twist

  • Iron Army Squad: A squad of members of the Iron Army arrive and take up position behind cover to defend Iron Tower from the invading Heroes. Roll the environment dice. Introduce a number of the Iron Five’s minions (see above) to the scene equal to the Mid die. Then, Defend those minions with the Min die.

Red
Minor Twists

  • Inter-Reality Transportation Gateway: TachAeon’s Inter-Reality Transportation Gateway activates, teleporting more of the Iron Five’s underlings from their original timelines to this one.
    Disable the I.T.G.
    On each environment turn until the above challenge is completed (including this one), roll the environment dice and introduce a number of the Iron Five’s minions (see above) to the scene equal to the Min die.
  • Iron Commander: An elite lieutenant of the Iron Five’s forces arrives to menace the heroes. Introduce one of the Iron Five’s lieutenants (see above) to the scene.

Major Twist

  • Desperate Charge: The Iron Five and their amassed forces give everything they’ve got in one last-ditch offensive. Roll the environment dice. Attack all hero targets with the Max die.

Editor’s Notes:
Well, I’ve figured out how to color text. I used BBCode in the forum post editor to colour the GYRO zones with the [color] tag. Here’s how I did it:

[color=#00cc00]Green[/color]
[color=#ffcc00]Yellow[/color]
[color=Red]Red[/color]

Which produces this:

Green
Yellow
Red

While I could have used the default Green and Yellow colours, I opted for #00cc00 and #ffcc00 instead, simply because I liked how they looked more.

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Okay, but I see nothing here stating what giant letter it’s shaped like. :V

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Presumably a giant I right? Which isn’t even an implausible shape for a building, assuming it’s a upper case I. If it’s a lower case i and has a hovering spherical penthouse then someone’s showing off. :slight_smile:

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Maybe they got Miss Information as their architect. :smiley:

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Miss Information brings up an interesting question about the Iron Five. Given her origin I have to assume that she’d hate villainous versions of the FF as much as the heroes, maybe even more so. Might be willing to work with them for a while to ruin the heroes’ day, but eventually she’d turn on them, maybe even taking over their organization if she succeeded. Luring them and an iteration of the heroic FF into a mutual deathtrap would be a win-win for her.

In all honesty, I rather like the idea of hovering penthouse sphere/mobile command module/team spaceship over a more conventional skyscraper HQ. Seems like the kind of thing Reed Richards would build, zoning and FAA laws be damned. Still less intimidating than the Sentry’s digs, cloaked or not.

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How could I have made such a grave oversight? My humblest apologies. : )

Yes, despite me never considering this point before.

Well, I would have probably made it an I, but now that you’ve given me the idea to make it an i, it canonically is. I hope you’re happy. : )

We’ll say that TachAeon, the Death-Wraith, and Omni-Bunker did some sciencey and magicy things to get it floating up there.

Yeah, that seems about right.

Okay, I’m actually done posting material here in this thread, for realsies this time, cross my heart and hope to die, and all that good stuff. However. . .

The Future of the Iron Five
So, here’s the thing: I want to eventually actually write the Iron Five story, in some form. Don’t hold your breath, thought, because it’s not happening any time soon.

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