Abyss, A Living Void In Spacetime

A powerful ally for a team of supervillains or gang of more mundane agents, but not so hot operating solo.

Abyss

Jebediah Wills was an unassuming astronomer who had the misfortune of attracting the attention of a wandering cosmic entity during one lonely night at the observatory.  The being's attempts to communicate left him physically transformed into a walking hole in spacetime and pushed his mind into something that was no longer merely human.  While struggling to adapt to his new state of being Jeb unintentionally inflicted enormous property damage on his surroundings, leading to a confrontation with local superheroes and law enforcement, all of whom treated him as a monster rather than a victim of chance.  

He escaped, but was tracked down by several supervillains who'd been attracted by the chaos.  They treated him better than the heroes, although they were unable to reverse or even fully understand his transformation.  Accepting his new state of being Jeb adopted the identity of Abyss, a powerful villain with a grudge against so-called "heroes" who'd attacked him in his time of need.

Whether Jeb is irredeemably villainous or might follow another path in the future is unclear, but for now he offers his allies strong support with his ability to siphon away energies of all kinds, warp the fabric of space and emit devastating amounts of hard radiation. 

Description: A slender humanoid shadow, entirely featureless, surrounded by an aura of swirling red-orange Kirby crackle.  His voice is hollow and accompanied by hissing static.

Gender: Male               Age: 34                 Height: 5'11"                Eyes: None

Hair: None          Skin: Void Black, Haloed In Red-Orange Energy       Build: Slim

Approach:  Overpowered                      Archetype:  Squad

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d12, Nuclear d10, Teleportation d10                                     

Qualities: Living Void d8, Ranged Combat d8, Science d6                                        

Status: (# of other Villains) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Gamma Ray Burst (A) Attack using Nuclear.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Gravity Lens (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Absorption die.  Deal that much damage to a different nearby target.

Warped Space (A) Boost using Living Void.  Boost another target using your Max die.  Use your Min die to Defend against all Attacks against you until the start of your next turn.

Yawning Void (A) Attack using Living Void.  Use your Max die.  Defend all nearby allies with your Mid + Min dice until the start of your next turn.  

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Dampening Field (I) +10 Health.  While the scene is in the green zone, all heroes' powers of d8 or higher are reduced by one die size.  In the Yellow zone all of the heroes' powers of d10 or higher are reduced by one additional step (two die sizes total).  In the Red zone, all heroes' power dice are treated as d4.  Heroes can remove this upgrade with three overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while taking these Overcomes, they lose access to a power until this upgrade is removed.

Master of Superiority (I) As long as you are manifesting an effect related to a power you have at d12, automatically succeed at an Overcome involving usage of those powers.

Tactics

Abyss is a walking hole in spacetime surrounded by swirling energies being drawn into his bottomless depths.  He's very much a defensive team player, relying heavily on Yawning Void (usually with Absorption) to protect his allies by drawing Attacks away from them.  Gravity Lens is his main defensive ability with a strong secondary offensive role.  If hard pressed he'll switch to Warped Space (usually with Teleportation) to offer more support via multiple Boosts while Defending himself.  If fighting alone or truly desperate he'll resort to Gamma Ray Burst against the most dangerous foe, attempting to escape the scene via a Teleportation-based Overcome when he can't take any more of his own self-inflicted damage.

With his upgrade he cripples heroes' power dice and forces them to spend time on Overcomes to remove the debuff, while his mastery lets him automatically succeed on most Absorption-based Overcomes.

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Midas, Mini-Maxed Metallic Master Minion-Maker

Another hero design experiment inspired by some online complaints about the Minion-Maker archetype being mechanically weak and uninteresting to play.  Also a rare flirtation with trying to mini-max dice pools just to see what it's like.  I've only gotten to use this hero once in a one-shot but I certainly didn't find it weak in play, and I didn't find myself stuck in "make a minion every round" mode to remain effective.  Not really sure what the issue with the archetype is for some folks.  Maybe just a bad pairing with their power source.

Name: Midas

Origin: Project Midas was intended to create nanomachines capable of cleaning up environmental pollution including atomic waste, toxic chemicals, and even biological hazards.  The first field test was took place in CLASSIFIED, a former atomic testing ground in the American Southwest.  For reasons that remain unclear, the nanobot mass that had been deployed stopped sending normal status reports at midnight on October 31st, 2019.  When the concerned project engineers re-established communications at dawn the next day, they were shocked.  Project Midas had unintentionally created an AI, an AI that informed them that it was now host to the unquiet spirits of those who had been buried in the tainted land it was processing.  Some were soldiers, their lives thrown away in a callous and unsafe testing program.  Some were murder victims, buried in unmarked graves where no one should ever have found them.  Some were members of the First Peoples, dating back before the United States even existed.  And a few were far older than that, claiming descent from civilizations unknown to the modern world.  

Midas announced that its new purpose was to help its ghosts find peace again, a project that overrode its core programming.  It then ceased communications and departed the site of the field test, resurfacing several months later in Las Vegas in its current golden humanoid form.  Its mission there was to bring the murderer of one of its spirits to justice, leading to a tense confrontation with police when it forcefully apprehended a minor political figure and attempted to turn him over for prosecution.  The situation was defused with the help of several local supers who found evidence supporting Midas' charges.  Midas found that the supers community was more accepting of his unique nature than conventional authorities, and has become an active (albeit rather peculiar) "superhero" while still pursuing his tasks for the ghosts who haunt him.  Both technological and occult supers are fascinated by Midas, which has both opened up opportunities and caused problems in the past.     

Description: An abstract human shape made of golden metal, much like a six foot tall living Oscar award statue.  Its surface seems to ripple like water at times.

His minions are generally duplicates of himself in varying sizes, although ones created for specific purposes may display radically different features.     

Gender: None (uses he/him)   Age: Undefined Term Detected    Height: 6'0"     Eyes: Golden

Hair: None                          Skin: Golden                 Build: Statuesque

Background: Created       Power Source: Cursed        Archetype: Minion-Maker

Personality: Naive                   Health (G/Y/R):  28/21/10

Powers: Transmutation d12, Metal d10, Toxic d10, Intangibility d6                                     

Qualities: Technology d12, Haunted AI Nanobot Network d8, Medicine d6, Science d6

Status: Green (28-22) - d6 / Yellow (21-11) - d6 / Red (10-1) - d12

Abilities:

Green

Augmentation Protocol (A) Boost another hero or one of your minions using Metal.  Either use your Max die, or use your Mid die and make that bonus persistent and exclusive.

Create Subordinate Node (A) Create a minion using Transmutation.  Reference the minion chart to see what size of minion it is.  Choose which one basic action it can perform.  It acts at the start of your turn.  You can only use this ability with a supply of matter to transmute into nanomachines.

Principle of the Gearhead (A) Overcome a technological challenge.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What mechanical device just shorted out?  Major twist: What machine just went terribly off the rails?  RP: You always know the general state of repair and functions of an item of technology.

Principle of Whispers (A) Overcome against a challenge that involves knowledge you have no real way of knowing.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies gain each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: How did the voices in your head just distract you?  Major twist: What are the voices demanding of you now?  RP: The voices tell you things, which might be true or false, but they certainly do seem to know a lot.

Stable Performance (I) You may reroll any ones you roll.  You must accept the result of the reroll.

Yellow

Mass Support Protocol (A) Boost all nearby allies using Metal.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Hinder yourself using your Min die.

Self-Augmentation Protocol (A) Boost yourself using Toxic.  Then, either remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.

Upgrade Subordinate Mode (A) Boost one of your minions using Transmutation.  You may also upgrade that minion to your Max die size, replacing its current form.

Red

Emergency Repair Protocol (A) Hinder yourself using Intangibility.  Use your Min die.  Recover Health equal to your Max + Mid dice.

Mass Replication (A) Use Transmutation to create a number of d6 minions equal to your Mid die.  Choose the one same basic action that they can each perform.  They all act at the start of your turn. 

Nanite Reconfiguration (R) When you are Attacked and dealt damage, you may ignore that damage completely.  If you do, treat the value of that damage as a Hinder action against you instead.

Out

Aggressive Fragmentation (A) Hinder an enemy by rolling your single Transmutation die.

Tactics

In Green, Midas focuses on using Create Subordinate Node to make minions for specific tasks, but it isn't his only trick.  Augmentation Protocol is quite a good Boost for other heroes as well as his minions, and Stable Performance is great for avoiding whiffs on his weird die pools and slightly improving his average numbers.  His Gearhead principle is pretty easy to use, and Whispers offers  a lot of coverage for times when he's operating well outside of his wheelhouse.

Once in the Yellow, Midas will often take a minor twist immediately to use Mass Replication to flood the scene with weak minions.  He'll follow this with Mass Support Protocol to buff the other heroes and his minions at the same time, and can shed the resulting penalty while boosting himself with Self-Augmentation Protocol.  More often he'll either repeat the mass Boosting or use Upgrade Subordinate Node to start turning his weakest minions into very strong ones, as well as creating more if he needs them to perform some specific action.  Deciding what to have your minions do is tricky, and while Attack is an obvious choice you may get more use out of Defend (assigning one to each hero and even Defending themselves while awaiting upgrades), Boost or Hinder actions.

In the Red, Nanite Reconfiguration is a very strong reactive protection trick that can buy time to use Mass Replication repeatedly.  Emergency Repair Protocol is an amazing healing trick with a modest penalty as a cost.  Midas has ways to shed those though, not least of which is using Boost or even Overcome minions to do the job for him.

Outside of an action scene, Midas is a newborn AI that's being haunted by dozens, possibly hundreds of ghosts.  To put it mildly, he has a hard time dealing with "normal" and a bizarre skill set.  His expertise with technology is nearly unequalled and he has a fair grasp of scientific principles and biological functions stemming from his original programming, but everyday human interactions are something of a mystery.  Midas can frequently get information from either the internet or his legion of ghostly companions, but using that information appropriately is a hit-or-miss thing.  His die pools will frequently be atrocious outside of a crisis, with the rare opportunity to generate a d4, d4, d6 pool when he's really stretching things.  Great for generating twists, even with rerolls on ones.  On the other hand, given a little time he prefers to carefully craft specialized Overcome minions who can actually roll a decent-sized die with Boosts from their creator, so unless Midas is rushed he can actually do just about anything by proxy.

Conceptually, the minions he creates will use aspects of his powers to perform their functions.  Attack minions will use Metal to create bludgeons, blades or projectiles, although Toxic gasses or liquids are also a possibility.  Hinder minions will be more likely to use Toxic to create anesthetic compounds, or Metal restraints to inhibit foes.  Boost minions employ Metal to layer their allies with ablative armor or Toxic/Transmutation to make obscuring smoke.  Defend minions simply get in the way of attacks, using their sturdy Metal frames and enhanced self-repair protocols to tank hits.  Overcome minions are the most varied, using specialized info search systems and Transmutation to create optimized tools to solve problems.  Any of them might have form augmentations purchased with bonuses, although only ones crafted with Create Subordinate Node have that option.

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Devil Diver, the Triphibian Man (Also, A Musing on Powers)

A high-mobility villain writeup, followed with a brief word about a "missing" power.

Devil Diver

The so-called Triphibian Man is a mutant from the subsurface civilization of Underland, but has left his homeland (and enforced military service) behind for a life of super-larceny on the surface.  Well, on, under, and over the surface.  His true name is unknown and he prefers to go by the supranym Devil Diver, although the news media saddled him with the "Triphibian Man" moniker during his early career and it's been hard to completely shake off.  If you want to make him angry, go ahead and use his older name.

Devil Diver's mutations grant him incredibly varied mobility as well as great strength and toughness.  He can fly at great speeds via some kind of psionic effect rather than obeying any sort of aerodynamic principles, swim faster than many small watercraft and endure the deepest depths with ease, and even burrow through stone, soil, and concrete at a remarkable pace, or slightly slower if he wants to leave behind a passage for allies.  He uses his powers almost exclusively for crime, favoring heists for cash but occasionally cooperating with other villains (usually members of the Legion of Dread) on more grandiose projects - but always in exchange for cash.  It's not cheap living a life of luxury in the criminal underground when you look like Devil Diver does.    

Description: Tall, muscular humanoid creature covered in large scales like a pangolin.  He sports small fins on his calves and forearms, sturdy blunt claws on his fingertips, and retractable webbing on his hands and feet.  Wears a black wrestler's singlet and snug dark red belt with a communicator concealed within its round golden buckle.

Gender: Male           Age: Unknown            Height: 6'2"          Eyes: Light Gray

Hair: None                Skin: Pale Blue-green, covered in pangolin scales         Build: Powerful

Approach: Ninja                      Archetype: Indomitable

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Flight d10, Strength d10, Swimming d8, Tunneling d8, Awareness d6

Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Close Combat d10, Alertness d8, Fitness d8, Jaded Super-Criminal d8

Status: Always d8

Abilities:

Mighty Strike (A) Attack using Strength.  Either Hinder that target using your Max die, or Defend yourself using your Min die and both you and the target end up elsewhere in the scene.

Mobile Strikes (A) Attack multiple targets using Acrobatics.  Then end up wherever you want in the scene.

Nigh-Invulnerable (I) Reduce all damage dealt to you by two.

Nimble Strike (A) Attack using Acrobatics.  Use your Max die.  Defend against all Attacks against you until your next turn with your Mid die. 

Upgrades & Masteries:

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health  Include a Triphibian Omni-Racer d10 lieutenant with the following abilities in the scene.  Escape Plan (R) If the Villain is Attacked roll this vehicle's die.  If it rolls higher than the villain's current Health, both the villain and the vehicle escape the scene.  Recovery (A) Roll the vehicle's die.  The villain Recovers that much health.  Sturdy (I) When rolling a damage save, add +2 to the result.

Master Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome where your payment is at stake.

Tactics

Devil Diver is a super-strong melee fighter whose moves emphasize his supremely versatile mobility, while Nigh-Invulnerable makes him hard to hurt.  Nimble Strike lets him hit a single target hard while dodging return Attacks, while Mobile Strikes damages multiple foes and then lets him reposition anywhere in the scene.  Mighty Strike is a versatile damaging power that lets him either seriously Hinder his target or move himself and his enemy anywhere in the scene.  He can fly, swim, and dig through the earth with ease, and will try to exploit whatever mobility type his enemies lack, moving ground-bound enemies into deep water or precarious elevated positions, dragging flyers underwater or underground, or stranding aquatic foes on or under dry land or hauling them into the sky.

His Awareness power includes extremely sharp hearing and eyesight, echolocation both in and out of water, and a "tremor sense" that lets him navigate underground with ease.

With his upgrade he's invested some of his ill-gotten gains to pay for a unique custom vehicle that shares his own amazing mobility and toughness, as well as incorporating a purple energizing ray tuned to Devil Diver's unique physiology.  He'll often have his Triphibian Omni-Racer lurk below ground, under water or up in the clouds near the scene of action and call it in only when he needs it, since it also provides a strong escape option for him if things go wrong.

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As you can see above, Devil Diver has a power called Tunneling that doesn't actually appear in the rulebook.  If it did, it would be a Mobility power whose description would read something like "You may burrow through earth, stone, concrete and similar substances at will.  You may opt to create an open passage behind you for others to use or let the ground collapse to travel faster and make it harder to follow you."

Now, does the game need a Tunneling power?  The designers didn't think so, despite the fact that some villains are themed around being burrowing menaces (eg Marvel's Armadillo or the Mole Man with his subterranean creatures) and many heroes have had subterranean adventures where they're seen tunneling by one means or another.  And they're right to a degree.  You can emulate an actual Tunneling power with many other options.  Many burrowers use Technological powers, some use sheer Strength or Self-Control or Materials powers.  A Signature Vehicle or even Weapon could dig through earth and stone, and most Energy/Element powers can blast their way through.  Some real powerhouses (eg Superman) seem to force their way through the ground with Flight sometimes.  Even less obvious powers might work in an Overcome pool with the right justification.

Moreover, Tunneling is very much a villain thing.  Heroes do it as well, but it's not an ability they're known for rather than a creative use of some other power done in a pinch.  So that's an argument against it being vital to the game.  I get why it's not there in the book.

But adding it to your game as a custom power?  That's not going to hurt anything, at least as long as you keep in mind that there are many other ways to go burrowing if you need too.  Having Tunneling just gives you a convenient shorthand for "can move through the ground and maybe leave a path for others" rather than having to think about how to do the same trick with different table dressing.  Really no different than Leaping, another power that could be reasonably emulated with many other powers.

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FourEver, A Mystical Hero

Taking a break from villainy to do a sample hero build using the Form-changer archetype, which is one of SCRPG's more complex options.  It was built for a one-shot using the constructed method, but has had a couple of other outings since.  Seems fairly effective without being overwhelming, and has a nice range of mobility and self-control powers spread over its four forms.

FourEver, aka Fourfold Everness, Eternal Guardian of the World

Origin:  An immortal incarnation of all four mystic elements in a single entity, bent on protecting the world from any who would threaten it.  Has existed since the before the planet cooled enough to permit life, and has taken many forms over the long eons in pursuit of their duties.  In the modern day they find a human seeming convenient, in large part because the greatest threats to the planet stem from human (or at least human-like) supers, with alien invaders and other-dimensional horrors close behind.  Doesn't like to admit it but they've gotten rather fond of humanity, who have been a lot more interesting than than most of the other life forms that have infested what was once a nice, clean, lifeless planet.  Accordingly, they've expanded their guardianship beyond "keep the planet reasonably intact" to showing some concern for the current crop of organic things dwelling there.  That might change with time, but for right now humans are still novel enough that they're worth the effort of preserving just for the entertainment value.  Despite this FourEver is reluctant to get close to any individual human, as their mayfly lifespans have led to heartbreak in centuries past.

Description: As a potent shape-changer, FourEver can look like anything or anyone, although they do have some limits (see below under Powers).  They generally stick to humanoid shapes even when manifesting a particular elemental form, favoring a red-haired, green-eyed, long-nosed, big-eared seeming when passing as a human, often dressed in styles decades or centuries out of date.

Gender: Androgynous      Age: As Old As the World        Height: Varies (Usually ~5'8")

Eyes: Usually Glowing   Hair: Elemental (Flame Orange, Sea Green, Earthy Brown, Sky Blue)

Skin: Varies (Usually Nut Brown)            Build: Slender

Background: Tragic          Power Source: Nature             Archetype: Form-changer   

Personality: Stoic                                     Health (G/Y/R):  30/22/11

Powers (Base Form): Fire d10, Shapeshifting d10, Intangibility d8, Leaping d8, Transmutation d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Magical Lore d10, Self-Discipline d8, Eternal Guardian d8

Status: Green (32-23) - d6 / Yellow (22-12) - d8 / Red (11-1) - d10

Abilities:

Green (All Forms)

Elemental Might (A) Attack using Shapeshifting.  Use your Max die.

Principle of Great Power (A) Overcome in a situation using one of your highest rated powers.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: How do you restrain from unleashing your full power?  Major twist: What major damage do you inflict in the process of saving the day?  RP: Your powers are so strong they scare even you sometimes, but you work hard to control them.  You can wield those powers to intimidate others.

Principle of Immortality (A) Overcome in a situation involving your physical condition.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: You take the long view of things.  How does that cause you to be too slow to act?  Major twist: What important attachment must you shed?  RP: You do not age and will not be affected by mundane ailments.

Rekindled Flames (A) Attack using Shapeshifting and Recover Health equal to your Min die.  Then adopt your base form.

Transformation (A) Take a basic action using Shapeshifting, then adopt any available form.

Yellow (All Forms)

Awaken Elemental Mote (A) Gain a d8 minion.  It takes its turn before yours, and vanishes at the end of the scene.  You may only have one such minion in play at a time.

Elemental Fury (A) Attack using Shapeshifting.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Then Boost yourself and the target of the Attack with your Mid die.

Red (All Forms)

Draw On the World's Power (A) Hinder yourself using Shapeshifting.  Use your Min die.  Recover Health equal to your Max + Mid dice.

Immortal Ward (R) When you are Attacked, Defend against that Attack and Boost yourself using your single Shapeshifting die.

Sudden Shift (R) When attacked change to any available form before resolving the Attack.  Take a minor twist.

Undying Guardian (I) Once per issue, if you would go to zero Health, roll Shapeshifting + Magical Lore + Red status die.  Your health becomes that number.

Out (A) Defend an ally by rolling your single Magical Lore die.

Alternate Form Powers (base form is Flame)

Green

Sea Form (R) When an opponent would Attack you in close combat while you are in this form, you may Attack or Hinder them first by rolling your single Momentum die.  Powers: Momentum d10, Shapeshifting d10, Elasticity d8, Swimming d8, Strength d6

Stone Form (I) Reduce physical and energy damage you take by 1/2/3 while you are in the Green/Yellow/Red zone.  Powers: Strength d10, Shapeshifting d10, Density Control d8, Size-Changing d8, Wall-Crawling d6

Yellow

Sky Form (A) Attack multiple targets using Flight.  Powers: Flight d12, Intangibility d10, Shapeshifting d10, Invisibility d8, Elasticity d6

Powers

Fourfold Everness has a lot of different powers between their four forms, some of which merit further explanation.  Their version of Shapeshifting lets them adopt more-or-less normal natural forms but they're always kind of generic looking, individual people or animals or plants don't register enough to copycat them.  They can also manifest their true elemental nature with it, with tongues of flame, howling winds, jets of water or stony fists.

In the base Flame form, FourEver can throw fire around, become as intangible as a flickering flame, leap from place to place with inhuman speed, and eventually turn just about anything to ash or slag with Transmutation.

Stone form is highly resistant to most types of damage, very strong, and can alter its size and density from a living monolith of the hardest stone to a modest pile of sand and gravel.  Its limited Wall-Crawling ability works by partially melding into stone, steel, concrete or even glass, but won't function on wood or alien metals.

The Sea form is strong, builds up tremendous inertia as its waves crash over foes, can suddenly lash out in response to attacks, and is predictably swift in and below the water.  Its Elasticity lets it reach up onto the shore or the deck of a ship with ease.

Sky form flies with great speed and can expand or contract itself, pass through most barriers, and become unseen at will.  Pretty much ideal for infiltration and evasion, plus it can spread itself wide to attack multiple foes at once and hits shockingly hard, mostly by throwing debris or slamming foes into obstacles at high speed.

All of the forms can do significant damage with Elemental Might and Elemental Fury, with the narrative effects and appearance of the attack based on their current elemental manifestation.  Any minion they create will also reflect their current form's element.

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BG Gruff, An Anomalous Entity

BG Gruff

Origin: BG Gruff's are as mysterious as it gets, although several possibilities suggest themselves.  He might be an other-dimensional visitor from some fantasy world.  He could be an mad science experiment that's gotten loose.  His diabolic looks might indicate a hellish origin, or perhaps he's some kind of fey creature.  Might even be a mutant or victim of a magical curse.  His behavior is erratic by human norms, but he seems to be an agent of chaos and demonstrates a consistent dislike for officers of the law.  In the criminal underworld he's known as an enthusiastic but unreliable potential ally for less subtle heists, and he's tough enough to be useful against police and street level supers.  What he does between jobs is as much of an unknown as his origin, although he does seem to like hanging out in the kinds of bars where the staff don't question their clientele.

Don't call him Billy, much less Goat.  He doesn't like that.  Gruff will do, or BG if he likes you.

Description: A tall, athletically built hybrid between goat and man, mostly covered in dirty white fur.  His head is that of a horned goat and he has goat-like legs complete with cloven hooves.  He's incapable of human speech but seems to have a malign intelligence and clearly understands what's said to him.  Depending on his origin and the setting he's encountered in he may be naked, dressed in a long trenchcoat and slouch hat that do a poor job of concealing his physique, wearing stereotypical street gang attire or even jammed into a tuxedo.

Gender: Male         Age: Indeterminate          Height: 6'4"        Eyes: Creepy Yellow Goat Eyes

Fur: Dirty White                  Skin: Pinkish, Covered In Fur                 Build: Muscular

Approach:  Underpowered                          Archetype:  Indomitable

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Momentum d8, Speed d6, Strength d6, Vitality d6

Qualities: Imposing d10, Close Combat d8, Reeking Goat-Man Hybrid d8, Fitness d6

Status: Always d8

Abilities:

Head Butt (A) Attack using Strength.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Take irreducible damage equal to your Min die.  If you roll doubles you cannot use this ability again for the rest of the scene.

Ramming Speed (A) Attack one target using Momentum.  Either Hinder that target using your Max die, or Defend yourself using your Min die and you and that target end up elsewhere in the scene.

Stubborn Like A Goat (I) Whenever you would be reduced to zero or fewer Health, prevent that damage and reduce all of your power dice by one die size.  If this reduces any die below d4 you are knocked out.

Terrifying Bleat (A) Boost using Imposing.  Use your Max die.  Hinder using your Mid die.  Attack using your Min die.

Unnaturally Tough (I) Reduce all damage dealt to you by two.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.

Master of Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

BG Gruff is mostly a brawler, although he'll often use Terrifying Bleat as an opening move against his next intended target.  He favors Head Butt for offense until he rolls doubles and cracks a horn, after which Ramming Speed becomes his go-to move.  Unnaturally Tough and Stubborn Like A Goat help make him tougher to take down than you'd expect, but he's still no powerhouse.  With his upgrade his damage output and durability increase quite a bit, and his mastery highlights his arbitrary behavior.

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SEVER, An Anti-Superhuman Covert Organization

SEVER (Superhuman EValuation and ERadication) is a conspiratorial semi-secret organization dedicated to identifying and exploiting the weaknesses of superhuman beings with a long term goal of "freeing normal humanity from the menace of the superfreaks" by any means necessary.   It has international reach but concentrates a great deal of its activity in the United States, which has a disproportionate amount of superhuman activity within its borders.  SEVER has illicit ties to many national governments and law enforcement agencies, providing enough information on supervillains and rogue vigilantes to operate quietly most parts of the world.  Their more extreme work (the "eradication" part of their agenda) requires covert maneuvering and plausible deniability even in the most cooperative countries.  

Any superhuman is a potential target for SEVER, although they tend to prioritize dealing with weaker targets who avoid the media spotlight.  Direct assaults are always a possibility, but the organization is also adept at playing so-called "heroes" and "villains" against one another and mopping up the survivors when the opportunity arises.  SEVER dislikes media attention themselves, and try to remain behind the scenes even when aiding "allied" government agencies in dealing with unsanctioned supers.

SEVER's more overt paramilitary operations are planned and often executed by Commander Rico Savage, who works closely with SEVER Prime. 

SEVER Prime

Dominic Strom was orphaned at the age of sixteen when his parents became casualties of a battle between [major hero team in your setting] and a group of their nemeses.  He swore that he'd revenge himself on the "superfreaks" whose violent conflicts slaughtered so many "real people" and went on to devote all the resources of his multi-billion dollar inheritance to accomplishing that goal.  He built up SEVER from a rabble of disorganized extremists with compatible viewpoints while researching the weaknesses of known super-beings and investing in the development of technologies designed to counter a their unnatural abilities.  Eventually fringe scientists in his employ came up with a process that could grant its subject the ability to drain off a wide spectrum of energies, both exotic and conventional.  

Strom underwent the process himself and became SEVER Prime, the organization's ultimate trump card against super-powered beings and bizarre alien technologies.  He exterminated the scientists and destroyed all records of the process afterward, determined to ensure that no others would be tempted to duplicate his sacrifice.  He was now SEVER's greatest weapon, but he'd become a superfreak himself in the process.

SEVER Prime's powers let him detect and draw off a broad spectrum of the energies used by super-beings and advanced technology, which his altered physiology uses to grant him incredible resistance to harm and rapid healing if he is injured.  In battle he uses a levitating Kirbytech throne with concelaed weaponry, all powered by his own life energies.  

Description: Fit-looking man in his thirties with sharply chiseled features and piercing green eyes, dressed in a trimly-fitted dark green uniform with a shell jacket and black boots.  He sits securely in a high-backed thronelike grav-lift mechanism made of dull silver metal.  His throne has obvious controls on both armrest and panels and ports for a variety of concealed weaponry.

Gender: Male            Age: 31          Height: 5'10"           Eyes: Green

Hair: Dark Brown                            Skin: Caucasian          Build: Broad-shouldered

Approach: Disruptive                   Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d10, Vitality d10, Awareness d8, Grav-Throne d8                                       

Qualities: Conviction d10, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Leadership d8, Superhuman Scholar d8

Status: ( # of Heroes with Penalties) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Focused Drain (A) Hinder using Absorption.  Use your Max + Mid dice, or use your Max die and make the penalty persistent and exclusive.

Impairing Drain (A) Hinder multiple targets using Conviction.  You and any nearby allies Defend using your Max die.

Revitalizing Drain (A) Hinder using Absorption.  Use your Max die.  Recover using your Mid + Min dice.

Wracking Drain (A) Hinder multiple targets using Absorption.  Use your Max die.  Attack one of those targets using your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Boost (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Superiority (I) As long as you are manifesting an effect related to a power you have at d12, automatically succeed at an Overcome involving usage of those powers.

Tactics

SEVER Prime concentrates on keeping heroes struggling with "power siphon" penalties as he drains their powers away, which makes him a bit of a narrow combatant.  While his Absorption can interfere with technology and magic and other superhuman abilities, his penalties can't be applied against dice pools that only use "powers" that are the result of training or aren't otherwise superhuman.  Which powers fall into that category is a judgement call, but basically he can mess with Superman or Iron Man just fine, but at best he can maybe affect some of the fancier toys used by Batman or Hawkeye.  Mundane opponents just laugh at his drains (although he can kill your cell phone battery) but with a d10 Vitality and a flying chair he's still pretty tough to deal with.

Assuming he's got actual powered foes to deal with, he uses Impairing Drain to keep himself and his allies safe or Wracking Drain to deal a bit of damage himself, both of which target multiple heroes with penalties.  Single foes who attract his attention get hit with Focused Drain, taking the persistent penalty option when his Max die is high enough to reach a -3 mod or better.  When his health starts getting low SEVER Prime will use Revitalizing Drain against whoever's hurting him most while also healing pretty fast, but he'll also be looking for an escape route.  His upgrade and mastery dovetail with each other, and make all his abilities very strong.  

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SEVER Agents d10 lieutenants and d8 minions

Description: Ordinary humans in baggy olive-green boiler-suit uniforms with snug hoods that leave just their faces exposed.  They carry a variety of Kirby-tech weapons and wear black utility belts hung with gadgetry and restraints designed to deal with superhumans.  Their outfits have the organization's signature "struck-through S" logo on their left chest in white.  Lieutenants have fancier weapons and gear but are otherwise identical.

All Sever Agents have the following ability:

Specialized Restraint Gear: When you Hinder a superhuman target, you may make that penalty persistent and exclusive.

Lieutenants will also have one or two of the following additional abilities:

Call For Backup: Roll your status die and add that many SEVER Agent d8 minions (to a maximum of H new minions) to the scene nearby.  They have the Specialized Restraint Gear ability and cannot act until the next round.

Coordinated Takedown: When you Hinder a target, any number of SEVER Agent minions who haven't acted this round may also roll their die and add them to yours to determine the total for establishing a penalty.  Those minions cannot act until next round.

Rally: When you Boost you may target all nearby SEVER Agent minions, and you may increase each minion's die size by one (max d8).

Whatever It Takes: You may reroll your die when taking an action, but your die size decreases by one after the reroll.

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ACE Rigs d10 lieutenants

Description: Armored Combat Exoskeleton rigs are bulky 7' tall power assisted frames operated by elite SEVER agents and carrying heavy armor plating and oversized weaponry.  The machinery is an overall dark gray with some olive green accents.  ACE rigs are built for heavy combat against superhumans and are only used when remaining covert is no longer an option.

Heavy Duty: When you take an Attack action, you may also Defend yourself or a nearby ally with the same roll.

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Blog Content Index

This index and the connected sub-indices will be updated regularly as new posts go up.  Please use the comments to let me know if any of the hyperlinks are broken.  

Clicking on each category listing will take you to the appropriate sub-index, which should make locating individual posts easier than hunting through the whole master listing at once.

 

Superheroes

Supervillains

Teams and Organizations

Lieutenants

Minions

Environments

House Rules

Maunderings

The Watcher At the Breach, Mysterious Gatekeeper

This is the kind of opponent and environment that a group of heroes might encounter while dimension-hopping, and could also appear as a third party who winds up fighting against both heroes and villains bent on tampering with the reality breach they watch over. 

The Watcher At the Breach

The Watcher At the Breach is more of an archetype than an individual, something that manifests near spots where the fabric of reality is worn thin.  They are not necessarily supernatural beings, but are definitely connected to foreign dimensions and strange environments.  Their main motivation seems to be keeping firm control over the the rift they oversee, preventing passage beyond or meddling with the breach itself.  It isn't impossible to convince a Watcher to stand aside for a time, but no one can predict what cost there may be for their cooperation, or how long it might last. 

Description: A figure only vaguely seen at the best of times, as though concealed by great distances in a direction humans can't fully comprehend.  Perhaps it's a man concealed in a robe and cowl, but it seems taller and thinner than any man should be.  Even its color is indefinite, like a shade mortal eyes can't properly perceive.  If it has a voice none have heard it, at least not outside dreams and nightmares.  

Gender: None?        Age: Uncertain       Height: Variable      Eyes: Maybe?

Hair: None                  Skin: Probably Not                 Build: Cloaked In Mystery

Approach:  Bully                          Archetype:  Domain

Health:  55 + (5 x H)

Powers: Presence d10, Intangibility d8, Invisibility d8

Qualities: Imposing d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Unearthly Watcher d8

Status: (# of Environmental Targets & Challenges) 3+ - d10, 1-2 - d8, 0 - d6

Abilities:

Aura of Terror (I) Whenever you or your nearby allies Hinder, increase the penalty created by one.

Converging Energies (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Attack every target in the scene (other than yourself) with those dice.  Remove those minions.

Open the Breach (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone or one closer to the Red.

Siphon Ghostlight (I) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover Health equal to the total of those dice.  Remove those minions.

Unearthly Resilience (I) Reduce all damage dealt to you by two.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health.  Add a Unearthly Moon Overhead d12 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene:  Distance Attack (I) To Attack this vehicle, the Attacker must make an Overcome in order to get close enough to reach it.  Minion Deployment (A) Add a number of minions equal to half the die size of this lieutenant to an existing minion group.  The dies size of these minions is equal to the largest die size in the group.  If this lieutenant has a mod applied to this action, increase or decrease the number of minions created with the value of that mod.

Master of the Unfathomable (I) If you are in a situation involving eldritch forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of eldritch entities beyond human concerns.

Tactics

The Watcher is difficult to detect until it takes action, usually in response to someone tampering with the reality breach it oversees.  When it does react, it will use Open the Breach to trigger They Come From Beyond environmental twist, repeating until the scene is well-stocked with Ghostlight minions.  The minions will initially rely on Hinders to benefit from Aura of Terror, gradually shifting to more and more Attacks as time passes.  Unearthly Resilience will reduce the damage the Watcher takes, and when it reaches the Red Health zone it may expend some of its minions to heal with Siphon Ghostlight.  It usually holds off on doing a big Converging Energies strike till later in the scene, preferring to use the environment against its foes instead.  

Its upgrade produces a phantom moon in the skies overhead (even indoors, where the ceiling recedes to an impossible distance as reality twists) which proceeds to vomit more minions into the scene as reinforcements, using other actions only when that isn't an option.  Don't use this upgrade unless you're confident the heroes can handle the situation without it becoming a walkover.  The minions here are the major threat, both in and of themselves and as ammunition for the Watcher's strongest abilities.  Keeping their numbers under control is vital for the heroes.      

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Ghostlight d6 or d8 minions

Description: Balls of pale light about two feet in diameter, with the consistency of cold fog and accompanied by a eerie susurration. 

Not of This Earth: You may move as though you had Flight d4 and Intangibility d4.

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A Breach In Reality 

This environment represents the effects found in the vicinity of a dimensional breach, a soft spot in reality.  They have many origins, some mystical, some the result of fringe science, and a few are apparently the result of natural stresses of the multiverse.  Some breaches remain in the same physical space on our world, although their other ends may wander in both space and time.  Others are more transient and may appear and disappear irregularly or according to some cryptic pattern.  Most breaches are largely quiescent, but if one is appearing as an environment in an action scene then something is probably going to pass through if and when the scene tracker runs out.

Eerie Sounds d8, Ghostly Lights d8, Unexplained Phenomena d10

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This: Roll the environment dice.  Start challenge.  Raise Morale 0 Hinder all heroes with the Min die until this challenge is Overcome.

Shroud of Darkness: Roll the environment dice.  Start challenge.  Pierce the Shadows 0  Hinder one hero with the Max die until this challenge is Overcome.

(Major Twist)

Reality In Flux: Each environmental challenge in play requires one extra success to Overcome.  

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Scything Rifts: Roll the environment dice.  Attack all hero targets using the Min die.

They Come From Beyond: Roll the environment dice.  Add Mid die Ghostlight minions to the scene.  They cannot act until next round. 

Visual Distortions: Roll the environment dice.  Start a challenge.  See Through the Veil 00  Defend all non-hero targets against all Attacks with the Min die until this challenge is Overcome.

(Major Twist)

Surging Unreality: Set all Ghostlight minion dice to d8. 

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

The Breach Gapes Open: Roll the environment dice.  Add Max die Ghostlight minions to the scene.  They cannot act until next round.

(Major Twist)

Hasten the End: Advance the scene tracker by one.

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The Mighty Bullfrog, Amphibian Muscle

The Mighty Bullfrog

Created by a botched military project that was attempting use retroviral enhancement to create super-soldiers, Bullfrog had his memories and morals thoroughly scrambled in process, as well as being turned into a giant green man-frog superfreak.  On the other hand, he also gained inhuman strength, the ability to breathe underwater and swim at incredible speeds, and a knack for leaping incredible distances at great speed and with surprising precision.

When the project was shut down and its backers attempted to make its failures disappear permanently, Bullfrog escaped and found sanctuary and a market for his new talents in the criminal underground.  He's spent the intervening years as a super-powered thug doing piecework for various employers.  His memory is still scrambled, and his past and even his real name (Frank Arnold?  Arnold Frank?) remain a mystery that he spends a great deal of his pay to uncover.

Description: A hulking amphibian hybrid with massively oversized frog-like legs and muscular arms that only look small by comparison.  His hands and feet have retractable webbing between their five digits.  The head is hairless and lacks external ears.  His face is human-like but with a very wide mouth, broad and flattened nose, and extremely wide-set bulging black-and-yellow eyes that resemble a bullfrog's.  Generally wears custom-fitted black swim trunks and an elaborate harness loaded with watertight pouches (which usually just hold his wallet, cell phone, and keys).  In cold weather or when he's attempting to go incognito he wears a tailored overcoat and fedora which do nothing to make him less conspicuous.

Gender: Male             Age: 22 (He thinks.  Maybe.)           Height: 7'2"                Eyes: Creepy

Hair: None                      Skin: Mottled Green                  Build: Hulking

Approach: Bully                   Archetype: Bruiser

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Leaping d10, Strength d8, Swimming d8

Qualities: Acrobatics d8, Fitness d8, Mercenary Superfreak d8

Status:  Green Zone Health - d6 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d10

Abilities:

Bounding Beatdown (A) Attack using Leaping.  Use your Max die.  Either Hinder that target using your Mid die, or Attack another target using your Mid die.

Hop Frog (A) Attack using Leaping.  Use your Max die.  Defend against all Attacks from that target using your Min die until the start of your next turn.

Sudden Leap (R) When a nearby ally would be Attacked, you may become the target of that Attack instead.  You may use this reaction any number of times in a round by taking 1 irreducible damage for each time past the first.

Thick Hide (I) Reduce all damage dealt to you by 2.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.

Master Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome where your payment is at stake.

Tactics

The Mighty Bullfrog is primarily a tough, high-mobility brawler who uses Hop Frog when facing a team or Bounding Beatdown when concentrating on just one or two targets.  His Thick Hide (and scrambled psychic structure) makes him very resistant to harm of all kinds, something he takes advantage of when using Sudden Leap to protect his allies.  With his upgrade and mastery he makes a very reliable henchman and excellent bodyguard.

 Blog Content Index

The Triple Threat Gang, Street-Level Foes

The Triple Threat Gang are foes for low-powered street-level heroes, and even then they're kind of pushovers unless they have numbers or a home field advantage working for them.  Basically an independent neighborhood gang, noteworthy for being led by the three young low-tier supers the gang is named for.  Their powers come from unexpected reactions to Supe (or Soup, or Campbell's), a new drug that's taking the city by storm.  There's probably a criminal syndicate or dodgy corporation or even a conspiracy behind the stuff, and they may take an interest in the Triple Threat when they notice them.

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Streetwise

Joe Manson is an out-and-out sociopath, and gaining psychic superpowers has let him "share" the darkness in his mind with the rest of the world.  He's an alarmingly powerful telepath and specializes in coercive mental contact, although his fine control is badly lacking and pushing his powers to the limit leads to burst blood vessels in his eyes.  Spending even a little time sharing his thoughts is a traumatic experience for most people, and long-term exposure has rendered previous victims catatonic.  He's a better planner than the rest of Triple Threat and might even go on to full-scale supervillainy at some point, but for now he's content to be a big fish in a very small pond.  

Description: A thin young man invariably dressed in grubby sweat pants and a classic rock tee shirt (he favors the Rolling Stones and the Who).  Seems nondescript until you feel his mind prying into yours, forcing the sewer of violence and hatred he keeps in his head into your memories.  His only ink is a small "3" on his right temple. 

Gender: Male              Age: Late Teens             Height: 5'7"           Eyes: Brown, Bloodshot

Hair: Brown                       Skin: Pale Under the Acne           Build: Slim

Approach:  Mastermind                              Archetype:  Fragile

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Telepathy d12, Awareness d10, Deduction d8                                      

Qualities: Conviction d10, Banter d8, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Insight d8, Psychic Powerhouse d8, Persuasion d8

Status: Green Zone Health - d10 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d6

Abilities:

Brainstorm (A) Hinder all opponents that can see or hear you using Conviction.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Get Clear (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single status die.  If the damage is reduced to zero, you may move to anywhere else in the scene.

Quick Thinker (R) At the start of your turn, if you have no bonuses in play roll your single Conviction die to Boost yourself.

Mind Break (A) Attack using Telepathy.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Hinder yourself using your Min die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain  Loyal Crew (A) Replenish your Triple Threat Ganger minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

Master of Conquest (I) As long as you are in command of your own forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to seize an area or capture civilians.

Tactics:

Streetwise wound up with psychic powers rather than physical ones, which led him to manipulate his way into a leadership role at the top of the gang rather than fighting his way there.  That said, he's quite capable of of inflicting crippling mental harm with Mind Break, especially when amped up with bonuses.  When using Brainstorm for mass Hinders he tries to use the resulting bonus on his Get Clear reaction before his next turn so he can still benefit from Quick Thinker.  With his upgrade he can telepathically call more gangers to the scene, and his mastery lets him exploit them for easy smash-and-grabs and kidnappings.

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Tik Toxic

Mack Michelson gained truly superhuman strength and durability from his exposure to the Supe drug, but also had his biochemistry altered so his bodily secretions and even breath are dangerously toxic to normal humans.  His appetite has been similarly altered and he can often be found chewing on technically inedible substances like tire rubber or rusted metal to satisfy his weird cravings.  Unsurprisingly, he's got a huge social media following under his supranym and may even pause in mid-fight to try to take some images of himself and his opponents. 

Description: A heavyset kid dressed in a tank top and torn jeans.  His skin is grayish and unhealthy-looking, covered in a web of bulging reddish blood vessels, while his eyes are pure red.  He has a "3" tattooed on his right shoulder, and a collection of skulls inked over most of his left arm that he claims are kill markings.  

Gender: Male              Age: Late Teens             Height: 5'9"           Eyes: Blood Red

Hair: Black            Skin: Sickly Gray, Prominent Blood Vessels       Build: Stocky

Approach:  Dampening                              Archetype:  Fragile

Health:  20 + (5 x H)

Powers: Toxic d10, Strength d8, Vitality d8

Qualities: Ranged Combat d10, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Fitness d8, Savage Street Fighter d8

Status: Green Zone Health - d10 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d6

Abilities:

Brutal Attack (A) Attack using Savage Street Fighter.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each opponent that can see or hear the target of that Attack using your Min die.

Crippling Toxins (A) Hinder using Toxic.  Use your Max die.  This penalty is persistent and exclusive, and while it is in effect reduce the size of target's highest power die of your choice by one die size.  Attack using your Mid die.

Get Clear (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single status die.  If the damage is reduced to zero, you may move to anywhere else in the scene.

Toxic Fumes (A) Attack using Ranged Combat.  Use your Max die.  Defend against all Attacks against until your next turn using your Min die. 

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.

Master of Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics:

Tik Toxic's powers manifested as superhuman strength and durability while also turning his biochemistry into something deeply toxic to normal humans.  He uses Crippling Toxins both in melee and (by spitting) at range to apply lasting debuffs to whichever hero has annoyed him most and Toxic Fumes to exhale choking clouds of poison that obscure him from sight.  Get Clear lets him avoid the worst of an incoming attack while hopefully repositioning at the same time.  Brutal Attack showcases his dirty fighting style, landing a hit so nasty even onlookers can feel it.  

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Mad Lad

Jackie O'Bryan is marginally the oldest of Triple Threat's supers, and his powers grant him Olympic athlete levels of physical performance, rapid healing, and the ability to harmlessly metabolize many types of energy, including kinetic, thermal, electrical, and EM spectrum emissions.  He mostly uses the latter to pull stupid party tricks like sucking on live wires or messing with cell phones.  His brain has also been rewired so that what should be pain registers as pleasure, which has led to him adopting a fighting style that involves blocking for his allies as often as possible.   

Description: An athletic looking young man with bright orange hair and striking blue eyes, wearing torn-up casual street clothing, usually with visible dried blood stains.  He has a fair amount of ink on display, mostly faux tribal markings.  His forehead and both his palms have prominent "3" tattoos on them.

Gender: Male       Age: 21, Says So Right On His Suspended License     Height: 5'10"    Eyes: Blue

Hair: Carrot Orange                  Skin: Heavily Freckled                    Build: Athletic

Approach:  Underpowered                          Archetype:  Bruiser

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d8, Agility d6, Strength d6, Vitality d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Imposing d8, Pain-Fueled Lunatic d8, Criminal Underworld Info d6

Status: Green Zone Health - d6 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d10

Abilities:

Get In the Scrum (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat.  Defend against all Attacks against you until your next turn using your Min die.

Laugh It Off (I) Whenever you would be reduced to zero or fewer Health, prevent that damage and reduce all of your power dice by one die size.  If this reduces any die below d4 you are knocked out.

Scary Kind of Crazy (A) Boost using Pain-Fueled Lunatic.  Use your Max die.  Hinder using your Mid die.  Attack using your Min die.

Suck It Up (A) When a nearby ally would be Attacked, you may become the target of that Attack instead.  You may use this reaction any number of times in a round by taking 1 irreducible damage for each time past the first.

Take Your Best Shot (A) Defend using Close Combat.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  Recover using your Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Boost (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

Mad Lad recklessly throws himself in the path of Attacks using Suck It Up, often multiple times per round as he chases a better status die.  He uses Get In the Scrum for offense and some damage mitigation, shifting to Take Your Best Shot when he starts getting too beaten up.  Scary Kind of Crazy gives him a versatile way to gain bonuses for offense, defense or healing, and he'll often save them for the ideal moment.  Laugh It Off gives him one chance to survive a knock-out blow if he misjudges things, and his upgrade increases to two chances while also greatly buffing his health.

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Triple Threat Gangers d6 minions

Description: Petty street criminals with a random mix of illegal handguns and mostly-concealable melee weapons.  They're truly awful shots and mostly good for carrying loot and distracting heroes.  They usually have a "3" tattooed somewhere prominent.

Firearm Safety Is A Foreign Concept: If you roll an unmodified one when taking an Attack action, you deal no damage and instead remove one other friendly minion of your choice from the scene if possible.

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Triple Threat Street Soldiers d8 lieutenants

Description: More experienced thugs with slightly better weaponry.  They're only slightly better shots but that doesn't stop them from trying.  They're better at spotting danger in time to duck, and help the lesser gang members stay in the fight as well.  Their "3" tattoo is usually larger and fancier than regular gang members.

Firearm Safety Is A Foreign Concept: If you roll an unmodified one when taking an Attack action, you deal no damage and instead remove one friendly minion of your choice from the scene if possible.

Get Down: You and any nearby allied minions may reroll saves against damage.

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Mean Streets 

This environment represents the urban territory controlled by a street gang, in this case the Triple Threat Gang.  It could be used for other groups by changing which minions appear or benefit from the twists.  A more dangerous neighborhood would have larger die sizes, while a less dangerous one might have smaller dice or twists reflecting law enforcement or neighborhood watch assistance. 

Winding Alleyways d6, Derelict Buildings d8, Crime Dens d10

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Aggressive Drunks: Roll the environment dice.  Add the Min die worth of hostile d6 minions to the scene who takes their turns immediately.  They each Attack a random hero each turn until knocked out or Overcome to put out of action as a simple challenge.

Innocent Bystanders: Roll the environment dice.  Start challenge.  Evacuate Civilians 00  Hinder all heroes with the Min die until this challenge is Overcome.

(Major Twist)

Sniper: Roll the environment dice.  Deal damage to one hero using the Max die.  

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Human Shield: Roll the environment dice.  Start a challenge.  Free Hostage 0  Pick one villain and Hinder all Attacks against them using the Max die until this challenge is Overcome.

Trouble Comes Along: Roll the environment dice.  Add the Mid die worth of Triple Threat Ganger minions to the scene.  They cannot act until next round.

(Major Twist)

Hail of Debris: Roll the environment dice.  Hinder all heroes using the Mx die, then Attack all heroes using the Min die.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Home Turf: Roll the environment dice.  Boost all Triple Threat members using the Max die, then Hinder all heroes using the Mid + Min dice.

(Major Twist)

Escape Route: Any active villains may successfully escape the scene and any immediate pursuit.

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Krude, A Disgusting Mess

Krude

The man that became Krude was an industrial saboteur, and a good one.  He'd spent his life arranging accidents, stealing trade secrets, disposing of troublesome executives, and coercing researchers.  That all ended during a job for [evil oil company of choice] to introduce an experimental bio-contaminant into the oil reserves of a competitor.  He was caught by site security just as he was about to act, and during the scuffle the sample was shattered and splashed over him, searing his flesh and knocking him unconscious.  When he woke weeks later in a high-security lab his humanity was gone, consumed by the retroviral contaminant.  What was once a man had been transformed had into the mass of biological sludge now called Krude.

There's still a human mind in there somewhere, but it's been twisted and warped by his accident.  Where he once was a subtle and skilled operative now he's a raging engine of destruction, and his mercenary loyalties have been replaced by an abiding hatred of corporate America and the society it parasitizes.  A few fools have made the mistake of assuming his terroristic actions against Big Oil and other large companies show an interest in ecological conservation causes.  They've learned to regret it.  Krude doesn't care about nature, or climate change, or anything beyond tearing down the system he once served.  He'd gladly burn the world and leave nothing but ruin if given the chance.   

Description: A vaguely humanoid mass of some stinking oily black substance, taller and bulkier than most humans.  It leaves a sticky trail of tar-like goop wherever it goes, including walls and ceilings.  Its voice is deep and full of bubbling and hissing sounds as it vents internal gases.     

Gender: Male            Age: 42           Height: 6'8"           Eyes: None Evident

Hair: Tarry Black Thatch            Skin: Oily Black          Build: Unstable

Approach: Overpowered                   Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Toxic d12, Density Control d10, Wall-Crawling d10                                        

Qualities: Conviction d8, Industrial Saboteur d8, Fitness d6                                             

Status:  (# of heroes with penalties)  3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Caustic Ooze (A) Hinder one target using Toxic.  Use your Max die.  Attack that target using your Mid + Min dice.

Deadly Fumes (A) Attack multiple targets using Toxic.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Sticky Glop (A) Hinder using Toxic.  Use your Max + Mid dice, or use your Max die and make the penalty persistent and exclusive.

Toxic Sludge (R) When Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, Defend yourself by rolling your single status die, and the Attacker also suffers that amount of damage.

Unique Quirk: Flammable (I) You can be set on fire if exposed to sufficient heat.  While on fire, replace your status die with a differently-colored d12.  Each time you roll that die in a pool, in addition to any other effects you deal yourself and another nearby target that much Fire damage.  If your special status die comes up a 1 the fire goes out and you revert to your normal status mechanics in future turns.  The fire can also be extinguished with an Overcome action, or due to appropriate environmental effects (eg falling or diving into a body of water).   

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health.  Add an Armored Tanker d12 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene:  Sturdy (I) When this vehicle makes a damage save, add +2 to that roll's result.  Recovery (A) Roll the vehicle's die and the villain Recovers that much health. 

Master of Annihilation (I) If you can cause massive collateral damage without regard for casualties, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation where a show of overwhelming force would help.

Tactics

Krude is all about handing out penalties and some damage on the side.  Caustic Ooze splashes one target with reeking fluids, Deadly Fumes sprays searing chemical fog everywhere, and Sticky Glop layers its victim in adhesive gunk.  If someone struggling with one of his many penalties attempts to strike back, Toxic Sludge makes sure they pay for even trying.

With his upgrade Krude brings an armored tanker truck to the battle, complete with a load toxic chemicals for him to feast on mid-battle.  The tanker can also perform some very messy basic actions by spraying their cargo around the scene.

Krude's form is Flammable although it doesn't catch fire easily.  While burning he damages both himself and nearby targets splattered with flaming sticky goop.  It's possible for burning Krude to set an otherwise normal environment ablaze mid-scene, adding the existing modifications.

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Fiery Outbreak (add to existing environment twist options, if any)

If there's no existing environment in play, use a d8/d8/d8 dice pool when called for by these twists.

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Choking Smoke: Roll the environment dice.  Start challenge.  Clear the Air 00  Hinder all heroes with the Min die while this challenge is in effect.

Growing Flames: Start a timed challenge.  Fight the Fire 0  Timer 0  If the timer expires, advance the scene tracker by one.

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Dangerous Flames: Roll the environment dice.  Two targets in the scene take Fire damage equal to the Mid die.

Spreading Flames: Start a timed challenge.  Contain the Fire 00 Timer 00 If the timer expires, advance the scene tracker by one and trigger two different environmental twists.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Blazing Inferno: Roll the environment dice.  Each target in the scene takes Fire damage equal to Mid + Min dice.

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Trivia:  Krude is canonically a mid-Nineties character, hence the "poor literacy is kewl" spelling and edgy nihilistic personality.  If he could find a way to wear pouches he'd certainly do so.

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Cinnabar Red, Sorcerous Tattoo Artist

Cinnabar Red

Cinnabar Red claims to be from another dimension, one where mystical phenomena are the norm and our conventional laws of physics are more like mild suggestions.  She found her way to our world by accident, and has decided to take advantage of general local ignorance of the magical arts to harvest resources that will further empower her once she returns to home plane.  Red is principally interested in collecting enchanted artifacts, mystic relics, new spells and charms, and even directly stealing the magical power from other practitioners of the arts.  To date she hasn't run into anyone she can't handle and is pretty contemptuous of our world's spellbinders but it's just a matter of time until she overreaches.  If she's lucky she'll get beaten by a mystic hero and wind up in detention while the authorities try to figure out what to do with her.  If she isn't, there are much worse costs for meddling with the wrong sorcerous villain or otherworldly creature.

Description: A young woman with close-cropped black hair and blood red eyes, wearing a pair of abbreviated shorts, halter top and sandals.  Her pale skin is literally crawling with animated dark red tattoos of nightmarish creatures.  When animated her tattoos become man-sized horrors worthy of Hieronymus Bosch, all in monochrome red.  She speaks with a strange, literally unearthly accent.     

Gender: Female              Age: Twenties              Height: 5'6"           Eyes: Red

Hair: Black Buzzcut            Skin: Porcelain White, Shifting Red Tattoos            Build: Petite

Approach:  Creator                                Archetype:  Inventor

Health:  25 + (5 x H)

Powers: Part Detachment d10, Awareness d8, Intuition d8, Agility d6                                       

Qualities: Creativity d10, Inkblood Sorcery d8, Finesse d8, Magical Lore d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8

Status: (# of bonuses in play created with abilities) 4+ - d12 / 2-3 - d10 / 1 - d8 / 0 - d6 

Abilities:

Awaken Tattoos (A) Use Creativity to create a number of minions equal to the value of your Max die.  The starting die size of those minions is the same size as the size of your Min die. 

Surging Sorcery (A) Boost one of your minions using Part Detachment.  Use your Max die.  If it is your only minion, also Boost yourself using your Mid die.  If not, Boost all of your other minions using your Min die.

Whispering Blood (A) Boost using Intuition.  Use your Max die.  Then Boost using your Mid die.  Either make one of those bonuses persistent and exclusive, or Attack with your Min die.

Writhing Sanguine Ink (R) Discard one of your bonuses to Defend against all Attacks against you until your next turn, using the value of that bonus as the Defend result.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Empower Tattoos (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).

Master of Conquest (I) As long as you are in command of your own forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to seize an area or capture civilians.

Tactics

Cinnabar Red relies almost entirely on her animated inkblood creations during combat, with new artwork arising on her skin constantly.  She invariably opens with Awaken Tattoos and repeats it whenever her minion swarm runs low.  If she starts her turn with at least a half-dozen in play she'll use Surging Sorcery to Boost the lot of them.  With smaller numbers she'll try to use Whispering Blood to establish a strong bonuses to use with future minion creation rolls, almost never choosing the option to make an attack herself.  Her bonuses can also fuel Writhing Sanguine Ink, her defensive reaction - but more often she'll rely on minions to take Defend actions against her.  She'll also use her minions to Boost her and Hinder foes as well as Attacking, keeping her status die high by putting out lots of mods.

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Bloody Ink Monster variable, usually d6, d8, or d10 minions

Description: Nightmare creations of a deranged mind made real, all sketched on reality in shades of bloody red ink.

Seeping Ink: You may move through any barrier that isn't water-tight, and cling to surfaces as though you had Wall-Crawling d4.

Design Note

By the rules, Inventor status dice are determined largely by mods created with Inventions or Science as well as separate inventions (including robot minions and lieutenants and the like), but that's far too restrictive for magic-based characters like Cinnabar Red.  Letting her count her minions toward the status die would be a bit too easy, but counting any bonus produced by one of her abilities or her animated tattoos leaves her with reasonable a reasonable die size most of the time, especially if the minions are allowed to get out of controlled. 

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Super-Fan, Annoying Interdimensional Cheerleader

Several variations on the same concept, that being a "helpful" imp from another dimension who's your hero's biggest fan despite being three feet tall.  I'm including writeups for the character as an NPC pseudo-villain bent on making the heroes' lives more interesting, a lieutenant version of who's just there to help the baddies a little bit, a swarm of minion-grade duplicates to be an annoying distraction, and even as a potential PC hero.

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Name: Super-Fan

Origin: Used to be an "irritating cosmic imp" style villain who'd show up from another dimension every ninety days to annoy whatever super they were obsessed with that month.  After getting banished back to their native spacetime a few dozen times they decided heroes were awesome and they were now determined to help by being the best sidekick ever.  Most heroes would rather have less of that kind of help.

Description: Looks like a caricature of whichever super they're currently cosplaying as.  There's rarely only one of them.  Sometimes they'll duplicate a whole team so you can get parodies of several heroes at once.  When in their "secret identity" they go by Naf-Repus and generally try to act like their idea of a cub reporter from the 1940s, dressed in an ill-fitting green suit and orange bowtie.  It wouldn't be a very convincing act even if they weren't three feet tall and remembered to consistently pay attention to gravity.

Gender: Just Faking It (and not very well at that)   Age: Transfinite   Height: Three Foot Nothing

Eyes: Usually   Hair: Sometimes   Skin: Almost Always   Build: Cartoonish Imp

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Villain Form

Approach:  Disruptive                         Archetype:  Legion

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Duplication d10, Presence d10, Flight d8, Illusions d8

Qualities: Creativity d10, Banter d8, Conviction d8, Extradimensional Imp d8

Status:  # of Legion Minions: 0 - d12 / 1-2 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 5-8 - d6 / 9+ - d4

Abilities:

Having Fun Yet? (A) Hinder using Presence.  Use your Max die.  Recover using your Mid + Min dice.  

Not In the Face! (I) Whenever a Legion minion larger than a d4 rolls a save against physical damage, if its save is successful it splits into two dice of one smaller die size instead of being reduced by one die size and you take 1 irreducible damage.  If it fails its save, the minion is only reduced by one die size instead of being destroyed.

Sic 'Em, Boys! (A) Roll your single status die.  Deal yourself that much irreducible damage.  Create that many d6 minions.

Utter Chaos (A) Hinder multiple targets using Creativity.  You and any nearby allies Defend using your Max die.

Who's In Charge Around Here? (I) Whenever multiple Legion 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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hard To Take Seriously (I) +10 Health.  The heroes act as being in the Green zone for status dice, ability access, and all abilities.  Heroes may remove this ability with three Overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist, you may use a Reaction to Hinder them by rolling your single Presence die.

Master of Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

This version of Super-Fan shows up alongside more serious villains and "helps" make the heroes' exploits more "interesting" by swarming the scene with duplicates of themselves and causing general mayhem.  They're not really on anyone's side most of the time, and may mess with the actual villains as often as the heroes.  They'll open with Sic 'Em, Boys! to pump out Legion minions until there's a dozen or so of them, then use Having Fun Yet? to heal up and mess with whoever seems most uptight.  They rely on Utter Chaos for further amusement, and may arbitrarily change their definition of "nearby ally" each time they use the ability.  Not In the Face makes their minions quite a bit harder to remove with physical damage, but Who's In Charge Around Here? means those minions are going to want to spread out and mess with as many targets as possible, Boosting, Hindering, Defending or even Overcoming (very, very badly) as the whim takes them.  If you ever make an actual Attack with an NPC Super-Fan or any of their minions, you're doing it wrong.

Feel free to have irate villains waste a turn stomping Super-Fan and their duplicates flat out of sheer annoyance, although I wouldn't bother actually rolling dice for NPC vs. NPC fights.  Maybe if you've got a hero who's out you could have their player make the roll for the villain?  Otherwise just narrate what happens (probably just some Super-Fan clones getting squished and the rest leaving in a huff).

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When you want an NPC Super-Fan to be less important a feature in a scene, use the following lieutenant writeup instead.  More than one of them might show up at once, and they might be further accompanied by the minion versions below.  Make sure you bring some other villains for them to work with.  You could also bring some along to a scene where there's a full villain version of Super-Fan around, where they're most likely to sacrifice to give their "big brother" version extra actions over time.

Li'l Super-Fan d8 lieutenant (average, could be anywhere from d6 to d12)

Description: Looks like whatever Super-Fan looks like at the moment, or like something else if they feel like it.  They're entirely (some might say excessively) free-willed, and their original doesn't control them at all.

Gravity Is For Chumps: You may move as though you had Flight d6.

Harmless But Annoying: You gain a +2 bonus to Hinder actions, but cannot take Attack actions.

Your Turn At Bat: Sacrifice yourself to let a villain (or hero) take an action during your turn.

NPC lieutenant versions of Super-Fan will often be accompanied by minions who use the following stats.  It's probably best not to bring these to scenes where the full villain form of Super-fan is in use, since they'll cause no end of confusion with the Legion minions that form spawns.  

Super-Fan Copies d6 minion

Description: They look like whatever Super-Fan looks like at the moment, or like something else if they feel like it.  They're entirely (some might say excessively) free-willed, and their original doesn't control them at all.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Whenever you make a save roll against damage, if you succeed, sacrifice yourself and put two d4 minions into play.  If you fail, put a single d4 minion into play instead then leave play.  These d4 minions may move as though they had Flight d6 but have no other abilities.

Gravity Is For Chumps: This minion may move as though it had Flight d6.

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PC Hero Form

Background: Former Villain         Power Source: Extradimensional        Archetype: Gadgeteer

Personality: Cheerful                  Health (G/Y/R):  28/21/10

Powers: Presence d12, Duplication d10, Illusions d8, Flight d6                                    

Qualities: Conviction d10, Banter d8, Creativity d8, Extradimensional Fanboy d8

Status: Green (28-22) - d10 / Yellow (21-11) - d8 / Red (10-1) - d6

Abilities:

Green

Drag 'Em Down! (A) Hinder using Duplication.  Use your Max die, or use your Mid die and the penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Principle of the Sidekick (A) Overcome a challenge that has already flummoxed a more senior teammate.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: Which hero needs to rescue you from your current predicament?  Major twist: What serious lesson that you ignored is now getting you in big trouble?  RP: You always seem to be where the trouble is; you're never too far away when a crisis strikes the group you sidekick for.

Principle of Voices In Your Head (A) Overcome against a challenge that involves information that you have no real way of knowing.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies gain each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: How did the voices in your head just distract you?  Major twist: What are the voices demanding of you now?  RP: The voices tell you things that may be true or false, but they sure do seem to know a lot.

Rah-Rah Sis Boom Bah! (A) Boost using Presence.  Use your Max die, or use your Mid die and the bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Watch It, Pal (R) When you would take damage that would change your personal zone, Defend against that damage by rolling your single Conviction die.

Yellow

Funhouse Mirror (A) Turn any bonus into an equivalent penalty, or vice versa.

Get 'Em Boys! (A) Attack multiple targets using Duplication.  Then take irreducible damage equal to the number of targets hit.

Take That, You Big Jerk! (A) Attack using Presence.  Use your Max die.  Hinder the target of that Attack with your Mid die.  Hinder yourself with your Min die.

Red

Reschedule Your Appointments (R) Boost another hero using Presence.  If that hero has already acted for the round, use your Max die and that hero loses Health equal to your Min die.  That hero goes next in the turn order.

There's More Where They Came From (A) Hinder yourself using Duplication.  Use your Min die.  Recover Health equal to your Max + Mid dice.

Your Can Count On Me (I) When taking any action using Presence, you may reroll your Min die before determining effects.

Out

You Can Do It! (A) Boost an ally by rolling your single Presence die.

Tactics

Super-Fan is usually plural thanks to Duplication, pretty much ignores gravity thanks to Flight, tends to "doodle" on his surroundings with Illusions, and radiates a reality-warping aura of cheerful optimism with their cosmic-scale Presence.  Taking damage will frequently KO some of the duplicate fanboys, often accompanied by hammy death scenes and Wilhelm screams.  

In a crisis they'll aid the other heroes with Rah-Rah Sis Boom Bah and annoy the heck out of bad guys by swamping them with clinging duplicates using Drag 'Em Down!  If they get beaten on Watch It, Pal will help keep them going a bit longer.  When things start getting serious he'll lighten the mood with Funhouse Mirror or help even the odds against minion swarms with Get 'Em Boys!  If a villain seems to be singling them out for attention they'll repay the favor by crushing their will with comedic yet devastating attacks using Take That, You Big Jerk!  In really dire straits Super-Fan gets more reliable (a low bar, to be sure) thanks to You Can Count On Me and will often use Reschedule Your Appointments to let their favorite hero really shine.  If not, they'll take a moment to flood the scene with more duplicates and restore their Health with There's More Where They Came From.  Even when they decide they're taking a break for a while they'll cheerlead from the sidelines with You Can Do It!

Outside of an action scene, Super-Fan is remarkably bad at dealing with "normal" situations and people and seems to take positive glee in making things "interesting" by generating twists with Overcomes they really shouldn't be doing.  On the other hand, they can generate some pretty good dice pools if they're imaginative about using their powers - Illusions and Presence have a lot of uses and they can always have a lot of hands to do any job that needs doing.  As an Extradimensional Fanboy they know endless trivial factoids about the entire supers community (some of it even accurate), know more about nearby dimensions than most Earthling physicists, and can often sway people with sheer enthusiasm.

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