Your basic sinister PMC with some very unpleasant secrets hidden behind a respectable public image. They prefer to rely on manpower and conventional firepower rather than super-technology, backed up with some mid-powered mutant operatives to give them an edge against their competitors.
The Weiss Organization
The Weiss Organization is a private military contractor that provides various security services for corporations, wealthy individuals, certain NGOs and even a few smaller and less stable foreign governments. They also do a brisk but unofficial business in providing "covert force assets" to anyone with the wherewithal to pay. The exact origins and ownership of the Organization are hard to untangle, but the billionaire Innocence Weiss is accepted as the public face of the company and certainly seems to be in overall charge.
The Organization's most noteworthy trait in a field crowded with mercenaries is their open acceptance of mutants in their ranks. They present themselves as a refuge for the genetically divergent, giving them a place where they can go to leave a biased and hateful world behind and find brotherhood and acceptance in exchange for paramilitary service. Recruiters acknowledge that the work is dangerous but downplay the risks, and it can't be denied that they do offer protection from anti-mutant zealots and government pogroms. In exchange Weiss gains a significant edge over competitors who are reluctant to involve themselves with "mutant politics" for fear of repercussions.
Unsurprisingly, things are nowhere near as rosy as they're made out to be. Many mutant recruits without close friends or family who care about them are quietly "vanished" during training, covertly sold off to unscrupulous research programs, mad scientists like the notorious Doctor Mordecai Mentallax, or various governmental "dark" agencies. Better-connected mutants will frequently be "lost in action" and suffer similar fates. Only the most useful recruits will be safe from this sort of trafficking, and may eventually rise high in the Weiss power structure if they prove to be sufficiently loyal and willing to do whatever is asked of them. Lady Weiss' own bodyguard and second in command is a mutant who came up through the ranks himself and often put forward as an example of the company's excellent treatment of the gene-altered.
There is trouble brewing on the horizon for Weiss, though. While the authorities are unlikely to intervene thanks to government complicity in the mutant trade, the mutant rights group JustX is beginning to suspect the company's involvement in multiple disappearances. Furthermore, openly employing super-beings (especially mutants) has drawn the ire of SEVER and it's only a matter of time before their own covert action arm attempts to deliver a lesson. A multi-faction conflict could break out at any time.
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Lady Weiss
Innocence Weiss is heir to a multi-billion dollar fortune whose exact origins remain unclear but definitely date back to 1930s Germany. A shrewd and ruthless businesswoman, the Weiss Organization is just one of several companies she holds effective control over, and uncovering all her assets would be a major project even for an experienced investigator. Her principle motivation is the accumulation of yet more wealth and prestige, although she also relishes holding so much power over so many lives and revels in toying with those she sees as her inferiors.
Lady Weiss is also secretly a mutant herself, although to date she's manifested only the weakest of precognitive abilities that serve to improve her naturally fast reflexes, with her other "powers" being expensive, elegantly-disguised equipment and an overwhelming force of personality. She deeply resents her feeble mutation, regarding it as both unjust and a rare failure on her part. She derives a great deal of pleasure in trafficking other mutants to terrible fates as a twisted sort of revenge on the universe.
It's likely that the Weiss Organization's secret and highly illegal dealings will eventually be exposed, but Innocence has contingency plans for such an occurrence. She expects to be able to pass the blame to scapegoats within the upper management while avoiding responsibility herself, but if that fails she'll most likely fake her own death and vanish with her loyal bodyguard to build a new power base under another identity.
Description: A pale young woman with cold but classically beautiful features, impeccably dressed in a flowing all-white formal dress. Her dressmaker has worked wonders with armored smart cloth, even managing to conceal her holstered pistols from detection. Her speech is cool and commanding, and carries easily even over the din of conflict.
Gender: Female Age: 26 (officially) Height: 5'7" Eyes: Pale Gray
Hair: Snow White, Long, Straight Skin: Ivory Build: Lithe
Approach: Tactician Archetype: Indomitable
Health: 40 + (5 x H)
Powers: Agility d8, Presence d8, Gadgets d6, Precognition d6
Qualities: Leadership d10, Criminal Underground Info d8, Ranged Combat d8, Utterly Ruthless d8
Status: Always d8
Abilities:
Blitz (A) Attack multiple targets using Ranged Combat. Hinder those targets using your Min die.
Demand Excellence (A) Boost using Leadership. Use your Max die. That bonus applies to every ally's actions until the beginning of your next turn.
Don't Fail Me Again (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.
Ice Cold Gaze (A) Boost yourself using Utterly Ruthless. Use your Max die. This bonus is persistent and exclusive.
Upgrades & Masteries (usually in play unless the Weiss Organization has recently suffered major reverses):
Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health. Increase the die size of each of your qualities except Utterly Ruthless by one step (maximum of d12).
Master of Profitability (I) If you have access to great wealth and other resources, automatically succeed at an Overcome to leverage those resources to get even richer, no matter who pays the price.
Tactics
Lady Weiss prefers not to get her own hands dirty, but when she has to defend herself she does so with ruthless efficiency. She generally opens any scene with an Ice Cold Gaze, followed by using Demand Excellence and her Don't Fail Me Again reaction to improve the performance of her employees. Only if truly hard pressed and caught without supporting allies will she resort to Blitz to launch an intimidating flurry of shots at her foes.
Her upgrade and mastery will be in effect unless her company has suffered serious losses (financial or otherwise) recently.
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Beauregard Fortuna
Beauregard Fortuna is the Organization's poster boy for how well mutants are treated within the company and appears in a lot of their publicity. As Lady Weiss's personal bodyguard and right hand man he's fully aware of and complicit in the Organization's shady activities. A borderline sociopath, he has no remorse about the fate of his fellow mutants who fail to be useful to the company, being too self-centered and arrogant to care about his distant kin. Only Lady Weiss really commands his full respect and loyalty. He's not introspective enough to wonder if that might be the result of having come up through the ranks and being exposed to the same kinds of mental conditioning employed on covert ops and many mutant employees.
Inhumanly strong and durable with a healing factor that also feeds hyper-adrenaline into his system when injured, Beauregard is as powerful as many super-beings but has no interest in the "capes" subculture. He and his employer regard most supers as simply insane whether they're heroes or villains, and prefer to pursue power and profit through their business interests, maintaining a facade of legitimacy without ignoring golden opportunities like covert ops and mutant trafficking. If the Weiss Organization's secrets were somehow exposed he knows Lady Weiss has included him in her contingency plans and will follow her lead.
Description: A hulking giant of a man, his carefully-tailored white suit barely concealing his incredible musculature. He wears a pair of high-tech dark glasses with integrated commo and heads-up displays, although they rarely survive long in a fight. His deep voice has a pronounced Louisiana Creole accent, although he rarely speaks in the presence of Lady Weiss.
Gender: Male Age: 28 Height: 7'0" Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Black Skin: Medium Brown Build: Impossibly Muscular
Approach: Specialized Archetype: Bruiser
Health: 40 + (5 x H)
Powers: Vitality d10, Strength d8
Qualities: Fitness d12, Brutal Enforcer d8, Conviction d8
Status: Green Zone Health - d6 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d10
Abilities:
Bodyguard Move (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 per round by taking one irreducible damage for each time past the first.
Brutal Exchange (A) Attack using Vitality. Use your Max + Min dice. Defend yourself using your Mid die.
Delaying Action (A) Defend yourself using Fitness. Use your Mid + Min dice. Recover Health equal to your Max die.
Make It Hurt (A) Hinder one target using Brutal Enforcer. Use your Max die. Attack that target using your Mid die.
Sweeping Blows (A) Attack up to three targets using Fitness. Use your Max die against one target, your Mid die against a second target, and your Min die against a third target.
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 Enforced Order (I) If you have complete control over your surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.
Tactics
Beauregard is a fearless and physically imposing brawler, unafraid to take on even the toughest hero when defending Lady Weiss or overseeing a particularly important field operation. He has a wide variety of options for dealing with enemies, favoring Brutal Exchange to give him some protection when using his Bodyguard Move reaction. Sweeping Blows lets him deal with multiple foes at once, while Make It Hurt lets him cripple any particularly troublesome enemy. If he needs to buy time to continue intercepting Attacks he'll resort to Delaying Action, which can also let him Recover from even major damage very quickly.
His upgrade and mastery are usually in effect when Lady Weiss is present and he needs to be at the top of his game.
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Public-facing Weiss Organization employees are selected for PR-friendly diversity when possible and are easily identified by their distinctive tailored white suits, which are made of bespoke smart cloth. This material is manufactured by one of Lady Weiss' other corporate holding, and not only offers significant protection from injury, it also sheds stains, blood, dirt, and filth to maintain a spotless appearance in the worst circumstances. They serve as obvious bodyguards and security personnel, usually backed up by support agents dressed to blend in better.
Other operatives are assigned to more overtly military roles, often in isolated garrisons or doing counterinsurgency work far beyond the public eye. These combat troops are hard to distinguish from mercenaries employed by other PMCs, although they rarely have much in the way of combat vehicles, relying on mutant troops with effective powers for those roles.
Weiss Public Operative d6 minion
Description: Tall, photogenic men and women dressed in spotless white business suits and dark glasses with subtle HUDs and commo gear wired in. Lightly armed with concealed pistols, their specialized training and hidden body armor make them excellent bodyguards.
Professional Bodyguards: You gain a +2 bonus to Defend and Hinder actions.
Smart Cloth Suits: You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage. Your clothing also stays spotlessly white even in all but the most extreme circumstances.
Weiss Support Operative d6 minion
Description: Dressed to blend in with their surrounding, these agents can easily be mistaken for civilian bystanders. They specialize in threat assessment and battlefield coordination rather than direct confrontation.
Concealed Armor: You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage.
Coordinator: You gain a +2 bonus to Boost and Overcome actions.
Weiss Combat Operative d8 minion
Description: Dressed in camouflaged military gear to match the environment they're deployed to and equipped with a mix of modern infantry weaponry, these troops look much like any group of well-funded mercenaries. Unlike the more public arm of the company they're almost exclusively male personnel, and tend to be less photogenic and appearance-conscious than the "White Suits" are.
Fireteam Tactics: You gain a +1 to actions as long as at least three other Weiss Combat Operatives are nearby.
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The Weiss Organization quietly offers a variety of less publicized services, providing deniable assets for black ops work at premium prices. Their covert operatives are heavily armed and well-trained, and have been mentally conditioned through a combination of drugs and hypnotic compulsions to stay focused on their mission at all costs. Their uniforms are equipped with a "deadman" system that makes it very difficult to take prisoners for interrogation, or even find clues on their bodies.
Weiss Covert Operative d8 minion
Description: Anonymous figures in identical black fatigues, tactical vests, balaclavas and combat boots, loaded down with military-grade weaponry. Their suits incorporate biometric monitors and chemical catalysts that will dissolve any slain troopers in seconds, a function that can also be triggered remotely to prevent prisoners from being taken.
Loaded For Bear: You gain a +1 bonus to Attack actions.
No Prisoners: When you are defeated, you are killed and your body and uniform dissolve into bubbling goo. A hero who's aware of this trait can attempt to disable the self-destruct mechanism when Attacking you by taking a -2 penalty to the action, in which case a failed save against that damage results in a normal defeat rather than certain death.
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Weiss employs a fair number of mutants but the company is careful how it utilizes them. Only those with minimal cosmetic mutations will be put in the public eye as evidence of egalitarian hiring practices, with any interviews carefully managed to emphasize the wonderful opportunities to be had as a Weiss operative. These lucky few generally get "White Suit" security duty, although only with clients that aren't averse to their presence.
More divergent-looking mutants wind up seeing service with the combat arm of the Weiss Organization where they're more out-of-sight, out-of-mind. This generally results in higher casualty rates, although extra effort is made to preserve wounded mutants. Many of these casualties will be quietly sold off as experimental subjects following "unfortunate deaths" from their injuries.
Only mid-power mutants are used as operatives, with weaker ones supposedly "washing out" during training before being secretly trafficked for nefarious purposes. Very powerful mutants rarely get past the application process. When one does slip through they're subdued and auctioned to the highest bidder, or killed outright if that proves impossible. Beauregard Fortuna is about as powerful a mutant as Lady Weiss would ever trust in the long run unless they had some easily exploitable weakness and a phenomenally useful power set for her operations.
Weiss Mutant Operative d10 lieutenants
Description: Many mutants have some visible manifestation of their powers, although Weiss won't employ those with truly extreme alterations to the baseline human form. They're generally assigned to either public ops, support, or combat roles based on their appearance and powers, and are issued equipment and uniforms to match. The effects of their gear are factored in to their die size and lieutenant status, so they don't gain extra abilities from them - although those with "White Suit" outfits still remain spotless and their powers never damage the suit.
Select a mix of one or two different abilities for them from the list below, being careful not choose any ill-fitting combinations (eg Rage Response plus Telekinesis). If you're using a lot of mutants, try to give them distinctive names/appearances so it's easier to remember which abilities belong to each.
Duplicate: You may use your action to roll your die, Hinder yourself using that roll, and introduce a number of minions equal to size of the penalty produced. These minions start with a die size equal to your own minus one (minimum d4).
Energy Feedback: When you fail a save against damage from an Attack, the Attacker takes damage equal to your save result.
Healing Factor: If you roll the maximum result on your die for an action or a save against damage, increase your die size by one (max d10).
Hyperspeed: At the start of your turn you may move to any location in the scene. You may take two different basic actions during your turn. When you do so, roll your die twice and use the lower result for both actions.
Inhuman Power: You gain a +1 bonus to Attack and Overcome actions.
Mental Compulsion: You may use your action to select a hero for temporary mental control. When you do so, roll your die and the target hero rolls their status die. If you roll higher, you may either force that hero to move to a new location or to Attack a nearby ally by rolling their single highest power die.
Rage Response: The first time in a scene you fail to save against damage, your die size increases to d12 rather than decreasing, after which you may only take Attack actions until the end of the scene.
Telekinesis: When you Boost or Hinder a target you may move that target to any location in the scene.
Telepathic Networking: All your nearby allies gain a +1 bonus to all actions, reactions and saving throws against damage.
Unnatural Precision: When you Attack a target, that target cannot benefit from Defend actions or take reactions against your Attack.
Design Notes
The Weiss Organization offers GMs a number of ways to use them, and could be an on-and-off threat for heroes throughout a long campaign - or just a brief story arc where they investigate its dirty dealings and bring the whole company down. The Organization can appear as hired security that just happens to working for covert villains, posing an obstacle to heroes attempting to find evidence of wrongdoing by infiltrating private property under Weiss protection. They can be the source of mysterious and brutal assassins hired by unknown foes, with their covert operatives proving a challenge to trace back their employer. Weiss could get tangled up in mutant politics, or if your campaign doesn't involve such things they could be re-flavored to simply employ any low-powered metahumans who are facing prejudice from groups like SEVER or tyrannical governments. The company's combat arm could appear in almost any conflict zone, as well as being a likely source of guards for illicit facilities worldwide.
While Lady Weiss prefers to rely on her own assets, she has the wealth and connections to hire independent supervillains to deal with meddling heroes who are getting too nosy about her operations. She might also be tempted by any realistic opportunity to gain greater personal power, as her own weak mutation is a source of resentment and might simply be an incomplete manifestation of her potential.
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