Continuing this series with a look at three more villain Archetypes.
Indomitable
Indomitable villains have a d8 status die under all circumstances. They have an average Health bonus and choose two abilities from this list:
Absorb Energy - Defensive reaction that uses your d8 status die, also Boosts you if the damage is completely prevented.
Grab and Drag - Moderate Attack that also lets you choose between a strong Hinder, or a weak self-Defend combined with moving your and the target elsewhere in the scene.
Heavy Duty - Consistent innate damage reduction.
Prepare for the Worst - Strong self-Boost with a persistent and exclusive bonus.
Suppressive Fire - Moderate multi-target Attack bundled with a weak Hinder against the same targets.
Unflagging - Solid Attack bundled with minor healing.
A fairly defensive list with options for damage reduction, a defensive reaction, and three Attack abilities that combine with Hinders or minor Defend or healing options. Also has a strong persistent self-Boost choice that can help make up for the middle-of-the-road status die. Not really missing anything, and it has a unique choice that lets you damage a foe and then drag them to a new location in the scene, which can be very disruptive, especially when combined with mobility powers. Can be combined with any Approach, although probably best for something looking for more durability or one that has a stronger Attack option or two since Indomitable abilities don't have stellar damage output.
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Inhibitor
Inhibitor villains use a 6/8/10 status die spread that increases very quickly the more heroes have penalties on them. This often means their status die varies from round to round, bouncing from d10 back down to d6 them climbing back again. The source of the penalties doesn't matter, which makes ally Hinder actions very useful to an Inhibitor. They well below-average Health bonus, and select two abilities from the following menu:
Area Suppression - Strong multi-target Hinder bundled with a moderate single target Attack.
Overwhelming Syphon - Sacrifices all the penalties in play on heroes to deal them damage equal to the mods' values, while you heal equal to the all those penalties. Can be very strong but wrecks your status die for next round.
Targeted Drain - Either a very strong single-target Hinder, or a slightly less strong one with a persistent and exclusive penalty.
Tethered Life - Moderate single-target Hinder with persistent and exclusive. While the penalty is in play you gain one damage reduction and the target suffers one irreducible damage for each instance of damage. The rider effect stacks and damage reduction is cumulative even if there are multiple heroes with these penalties. Note that mods (especially persistent ones) don't just disappear when a character goes Out, so the damage reduction may still be effect even if the irreducible damage doesn't matter - and many Out abilities suffer from penalties, adding insult to injury.
Twisted Fate - Lets you either invert all bonuses on a nearby target into penalties, or move one penalty from that target to someone else you can see.
Upper Handed Strike - Nasty defensive reaction useable only against someone with a penalty you created, using your status die to both prevent damage and harm the Attacker. This is the only ability that specifically requires you to have created the penalty personally, so allies can't help out with this one.
This list includes three very good Hinder options, another ability that transforms bonuses into penalties or moves penalties around, a defensive reaction that relies on having one of your penalties on the Attacker, and an unusual ability that trades off al the penalties on foes to deal damage to them and heal yourself. In short, it's all about the penalties, particularly spreading around the persistent ones. Inhibitors lack solid offensive options and Boosts. They have no direct defense beyond their reaction, but penalties will debuff Attacks just fine so they effectively get some benefit from there.
When considering Approach combos, remember that Inhibitors need to keep 1-3 penalties in play on different heroes to maintain a solid status die. Persistent penalties help with this, but even they'll get removed and need reapplication now and then. This makes the inhibitor rather action-hungry, so looking for other abilities that combine Hinders with Attacks, Boosts or healing would be helpful, as well as innate abilities or better reaction options. Self-Boosts can be particularly helpful, since they can often let you create larger penalties.
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Inventor
Inventors have a very wide 6/8/10/12 status die spread that increases based on the number of inventions and mods in the scene that they or their minions, lieutenants or twists have created. It's usually quite easy to maintain a high status die if they have any henchmen along, and only slightly more difficult if they're the only one adding to the tally. They have a well below-average Health bonus and two ability choices from the following list.
Capable Creator - Innate ability that increases the size of every bonus you create
Cut Both Ways - Efficient multi-purpose ability that Boosts, Hinders, and makes a weak Attack using all three of your dice.
Empowered Destruction - Requires at least one bonus to use. Insanely strong single-target Attack that uses all your dice and burns all your bonuses to add even more damage, exclusive or not. Players will immediately recognize this as Charged-Up Blast with a different name, and it's just as nasty when a villain uses it, maybe more so since hero Health is generally lower and you could easily get a one-shot KO with hot dice and a handful of bonuses.
Leverage Advantage - Requires at least one bonus to use. Unusual Attack that can target one, two or three foes if you have at least that many bonuses, each target using one of your dice. Very efficient with three bonuses (and targets) but much less so with only one or two.
To Serve their Maker - Unusual defensive reaction that destroys one of your bonuses to use its value to self-Defend against all Attacks until your next turn.
Variable Creating - Double Boost with the option to make one persistent and exclusive or add a weak Attack instead. One of very few ways to put a persistent bonus on another character.
This list has two ways to create bonuses (one of which also Hinders a target) to feed your status die, but it also has two very strong Attack options and a potent defensive reaction that all eat through bonuses when used. There's also an innate option that increases the size of all your bonuses, letting you potentially reach +5 and making +3 quite easy to achieve. Approaches that offer more mod creation through Boosts and Hinders will help prop up your status die, as would Creator's minion/lieutenant creation abilities. Alternately, anything with damage reduction or healing would help with your fragility, and it might be worth grabbing a less expensive-to-use Attack ability and use the Inventor list's other options.
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Continued in Archetypes part 4.
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