Another villain originally created for my old 1980s Villains & Vigilantes game. This one's a mystical powerhouse who's essentially a living natural disaster. Well, unnatural, really. My players back in the day beat him up while he was trying to carve his face onto Mount Rushmore, but apparently he's served his prison term and been released to make trouble in the SCRPG now.
While he usually works alone, you might see opportunistic villains or normal criminals taking advantage of the chaos caused by his activities to do a little looting. He might also stir up threats like Gorgiza or other kaiju, either intentionally or by pure accident, but calling them allies wouldn't really be accurate.
Cataclysmo
Vincent Vetters was a professor of archeology until one of his expeditions to the South Pacific discovered an antediluvian ruin belonging to a heretofore unknown civilization. His dig disturbed arcane wards that had held since time immemorial, and the final act he took as a mere human was to cross the threshold of the Vault of Endings.
Now Vincent serves as host to a supernatural power of uncertain nature, granting him the awesome destructive powers of nature unleashed. He can wrap himself in howling cyclone-force winds, conjure up powerful thunderbolts and driving rain, or cause the earth beneath him to fracture, heave and buckle at will. His human personality is still in there somewhere, but his newfound power has turned him into a raving megalomaniac bent on being recognized as a god who must be propitiated by all under threat of certain doom.
He is Vincent Vetters no more. He is Cataclysmo, and all shall kneel before him!
Description: Middle-aged man with neatly-trimmed gray hair and Van Dyke, dressed in a conservatively-cut charcoal gray suit, well-shined black shoes and an enormous hooded cloak made of some unidentified pale leather tattooed with cryptic arcane symbols. He's usually surrounded by howling winds and ominous thunder, which only serve to enhance his deranged ranting.
Gender: Male Age: 82 (looks 40) Height: 5'9" Eyes: Glowing Blue-White
Hair: Storm-Cloud Gray Skin: Weathered Build: Gaunt
Approach: Overpowered Archetype: Guerrilla
Health: 55 + (5 x H)
Powers: Weather d12, Electricity d10, Stone d10
Qualities: Avatar of Destruction d8, Magical Lore d8, Otherworldly Mythos d6
Status: (# of Enemies Engaged) 4+ - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 0-1 - d6
Abilities:
Cyclonic Deflection (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Weather die. Deal that much damage to a target other than the Attacker.
Mocking Contempt (I) At the start of your turn, gain a bonus equal to the number of opponents that Attacked you since your last turn.
Unnatural Disaster (A) Attack multiple targets using Weather. Use your Max die. Hinder each target using your Mid die.
Utter Disdain (I) If you are outnumbered by nearby opponents, reduce all damage dealt to you by 2.
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health. Increase the die size of each of your powers by one step (maximum of d12). Add Elemental Embrace (A) Attack one target using Avatar of Destruction. Use your Max + Min dice. Defend against all Attacks from sources other than that target with your Mid die until your next turn. All Defended damage is dealt to the target of your Attack instead.
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
Fighting Cataclysmo is like being caught in a simultaneous tornado, thunderstorm and earthquake. He generally spams Unnatural Disaster, trying to catch as many heroes as possible each round. He defends himself and piles on more damage using Cyclonic Deflection while using enemy numbers against them with Mocking Contempt and Utter Disdain. He is entirely unafraid of going toe to toe with multiple opponents at once, the more the merrier.
His upgrade improves all his powers to d12, and he can employ any of them with the added Elemental Embrace to use his most vulnerable foe as a human shield. His mastery is very easy to use as well, since all he needs to do is find a way to apply any of his three powers to the Overcome.
It's worth noting that while he lacks mobility powers as such, he commonly employs either Weather to soar through the air or Stone to create rocky platforms that carry him around at considerable speed - and he can and does combine the two when he feels like it, which gives him a ready supply of large heavy things to drop on people if he feels like mixing things up. He can also do Overcomes to move enemies around or pen them in if they're actively trying to avoid him.
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