This villain is a mechanical experiment in simulating the "bowman with gimmick arrows" trope by taking advantage of the free-form Overcome rules to simulate more exotic tricks as well as offering a variety of element/energy types to Attack with.
He's also very much a team player and is better with allies around to either copy their abilities (conceptually, more gimmick bolts) or encourage them to do things better than he can personally. Fits pretty well with the way both Green Arrow and Hawkeye work in team books, although they're both very different when they're in solo stories. I've included a second writeup with a different archetype and altered abilities to reflect him when he's less team-focused, giving him different abilities to make him more versatile personally and better at dealing with foes when outnumbered.
Crossbolt
Vance Martin was born to US expatriates in Egypt. He spent most of his adult life as a mercenary soldier working on the African and South American continents before transitioning to working in the supers community. He was on several intelligence watch lists before becoming a known supervillain, and has old connections to the shadier parts of the US government that have probably kept him out of prison to date. These days he's moved on from shooting regular people to shooting superheroes, usually as a hired gun working for a villainous mastermind or conspiratorial criminal organization. His extensive military experience makes him much better at leading and organizing henchmen than most supers, and unlike many mercenaries he's unafraid to confront powered heroes. His motivations seem to be a combination of money and thrill-seeking.
Vance has adopted the name Crossbolt mostly because having a proper supranym earns him a bigger paycheck, but hasn't really embraced the whole supervillain lifestyle. His "costume" barely qualifies as such, and he relies on gear commissioned from [arms-dealing super-tech villain/organization of choice - he might easily have connections to SEVER or whoever's behind the Pentagram] and natural talent rather than innate powers. His fighting style manages to be showy and pragmatic at the same time, full of acrobatics and swingline moves coupled with a hail of crossbolt fire. His signature weapons are both hard-hitting and versatile, especially when working with allies where he can copy their powers to some degree.
Description: A weathered-looking middle-aged man wearing unmarked urban camo combat gear, a black hooded cowl, and double bandoliers of his signature bolt ammunition. He carries a pair of customized weapons that look like a cross between a chunky handgun and a high-tech crossbow, although they propel their stubby bolts with an electromagnetic reaction rather than a bowstring.
Gender: Male Age: 38 Height: 5'9" Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Salt-and-Pepper Skin: Heavily Tanned, Multiple Old Scars Build: Fit
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Crossbolt (team player version)
Approach: Adaptive Archetype: Squad
Health: 20 + (5 x H)
Powers: Swinging d10, Cold d8, Electricity d8, Sonic d6
Qualities: Ranged Combat d10, Acrobatics d8, Fitness d8, Veteran Mercenary Soldier d8
Status: (# of other Villains) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6
Abilities:
Acrobatic Evasion (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Swinging die. Boost yourself using the same die roll.
Do It Now! (A) One ally makes a basic action now using their Max die and rerolling any ones during that action.
Gimmick Bolt (A) Use an action ability of one of your allies.
Squad Tactics (I) Increase damage you deal by the number of nearby non-minion allies.
Variable Ammo (A) Lower two of your powers by one die size each. Increase one of your other powers to d12, then take a basic action using that power.
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Villainous Vehicle +15 Health. Add a Boltmobile d10 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene: Bombard (A) Attack all heroes with this vehicle's roll. Use this ability only if the vehicle is below its starting die size or the scene is in the Red zone. Escape Plan (R) When Crossbolt is Attacked, roll this vehicle's die. If it rolls higher than Crossbolt's current Health, both he and the vehicle escape the scene. Reliable (I) When this vehicle makes an Attack on its turn, roll twice and use the higher result.
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
Crossbolt is all about swashbuckling around the battlefield on grappling lines while pumping a rotating menu of special ammunition into enemies, helping allies, and making weird overcomes to cause unexpected problems. Acrobatic Evasion gives him a solid defensive move that grants a free bonus to boot, which he tries to reserve for future reactions or Overcomes. Do It Now lets him give an ally a much-improved immediate basic action, and Gimmick Bolt lets him fire a custom bolt that copies an ally's ability - usually something another villain can do, but it could include his own Boltmobile Bombard ability if he has his upgrade and it's still functional and meets the other use conditions. Variable Ammo is his go-to offensive ability, and he'll always choose to lower two of his three element/energy powers while turning another power into a d12 before using it in a basic action. Usually this will be an Attack or Hinder with the newly-maximized power, but he could also maximize his Swinging and then (say) Overcome to create some kind of challenge or to make an escape. He'll cycle through different ammo during a fight by using the power repeatedly to attack with the new d12, and gets extra damage from nearby allies with Squad Tactics.
His upgrade gets him a tricked-out armored vehicle loaded with weaponry, concealed jump-jets and smoke launchers that are perfect for a quick getaway. His driver bears a remarkable resemblance to Bruce Lee for some reason. His mastery reflects his years of experience as a more conventional mercenary.
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Crossbolt (independent operator version)
Approach: Adaptive Archetype: Guerrilla
Health: 35 + (5 x H)
Powers: Swinging d10, Cold d8, Electricity d8, Sonic d6
Qualities: Ranged Combat d10, Acrobatics d8, Fitness d8, Veteran Mercenary Soldier d8
Status: (# of enemies engaged) 4+ - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 0-1 - d6
Abilities:
Acrobatic Evasion (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Swinging die. Boost yourself using the same die roll.
Swashbuckler (A) Boost using Swinging. Use your Max die. Attack using your Mid die. Defend using your Min die.
The Odds Are In My Favor (I) At the start of your turn gain a bonus equal to the number of opponents that Attacked you since your last turn.
Variable Ammo (A) Lower two of your powers by one die size each. Increase one of your other powers to d12, then take a basic action using that power.
Versatile Fighter (A) Attack up to three targets using Veteran Mercenary Soldier. Use your Max die versus one target, your Mid die against a different target, and your Min die against a third target. If you Attack three different targets all the damage is irreducible.
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Villainous Vehicle +15 Health. Add a Boltmobile d10 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene: Bombard (A) Attack all heroes with this vehicle's roll. Use this ability only if the vehicle is below its starting die size or the scene is in the Red zone. Escape Plan (R) When Crossbolt is Attacked, roll this vehicle's die. If it rolls higher than Crossbolt's current Health, both he and the vehicle escape the scene. Reliable (I) When this vehicle makes an Attack on its turn, roll twice and use the higher result.
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
Crossbolt is all about swashbuckling around the battlefield on grappling lines while pumping a rotating menu of special ammunition into enemies, tackling groups of foes without fear of the odds against him. Acrobatic Evasion gives him a solid defensive move that grants a free bonus to boot, which he tries to reserve for future reactions or Overcomes. Variable Ammo is his go-to offensive ability, and he'll always choose to lower two of his three element/energy powers while turning another power into a d12 before using it in a basic action. Usually this will be an Attack or Hinder with the newly-maximized power, but he could also maximize his Swinging for use with Swashbuckler. He'll cycle through different ammo during a fight by using the power repeatedly to attack with the new d12. The Odds Are in My Favor grants him bonuses just for being Attacked, and he can deal with multiple foes at once using Versatile Fighter (which works fine in both ranged and melee combat) to punch through any defenses.
His upgrade gets him a tricked-out armored vehicle loaded with weaponry, concealed jump-jets and smoke launchers that are perfect for a quick getaway. His driver bears a remarkable resemblance to Bruce Lee for some reason. His mastery reflects his years of experience as a more conventional mercenary.
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