Continuing this series with a look at the last three villain Archetypes.
Predator
Predator villains have a 6/8/10 status die spread that decreases the more opponents they're engaged with. Much like Guerrillas, this causes some issues because "engaged" is never clearly defined in the rules, and it's unclear whether hostile lieutenants and minions should be counted as well. If you just count opponents in the same location Predators might maintain a d8 status, but getting to a d10 really requires isolating a single foe, something none of your abilities really allow you to do. They have an average Health bonus, and get the usual two ability choices from this list:
Surprise Trap - Reaction that uses your status die to Hinder an Attacker and deals damage to them equal to the value of the penalty. As villain defensive reactions this is really quite bad, in large part because you'll rarely get better than -2 penalty out thanks to your dreadful status die mechanic. That is a very puny damage debuff and poor payback damage compared to similar reactions.
Hazardous Terrain - Solid multi-target Hinder that also does decent damage to any target that already had a penalty from you on them. You don't have any abilities that produce truly persistent penalties so the only way to get the damage to happen is to manage to exploit the turn sequence to use this twice over two rounds before the heroes get to go, or possibly take a twist when creating a penalty to make it last for two uses.
Hidden Hunter - Innate ability that doubles the value of any mods of your choice involved with taking action against a target that's unaware of your presence in the scene, or has forgotten you're still there. Very, very dependent on GM fiat or Overcome actions to conceal yourself and/or trick foes into thinking you've fled.
Hunt the Weak - Solid Attack that becomes very strong if the target has a penalty from you or is already in the Red zone. The lack of an persistent penalty creation hampers the utility of this ability as well, and it's almost overkill if the target is already in their Red Health zone.
Stealth Approach - Solid self-Boost that creates a persistent and exclusive bonus, bundled with a moderate self-Defend that lasts until your next turn.
Track My Prey - Solid Hinder that lasts until your next turn, so could potentially be used several times depending on timing and target reactions. While the target has this penalty it cannot use reactions or benefit from Defend actions. This is potentially very strong for your allies, but doesn't really benefit you.
This Archetype has issues with its abilities, some of which can be patched through taking the right Approach while others need more work. Any ability that can apply persistent penalties helps make two of the Predator choices much better, and anything that grants you some mobility to reposition and avoid being engaged by too many foes will help improve your status die. You could also opt to take minor twists when creating key penalties to have them last for two uses, but that's a steep price to pay. If you took Hidden Hunter all mods are more useful in theory, although it would help to have a "take any basic action using your Max die" ability to Overcome your way into concealment or a faked retreat as well.
There are still several things I'd advise altering as house rules. Surprise Trap should be reworded as follows:
Surprise Trap (R) When Attacked, roll your single status die. Deal the Attacker that much damage, and Hinder the Attacker using the same roll. The resulting penalty is persistent and exclusive.
This makes an underperforming reaction considerably stronger, as well as providing a way to create a persistent penalty to make your other choices more viable. It still isn't providing much immediate defense, but at least it stings more now and will debuff future Attacks while the penalty remains.
I'd also suggest altering Track My Prey to add some mobility so it has better utility outside of teams:
Track My Prey (A) Hinder using [power]. Use your Max die. The penalty lasts until your next turn, and while a hero has this penalty they cannot use reactions or benefit from Defend actions. Then you may move to any location in the scene.
Mobility of any kind helps avoid status die disasters and makes Hidden Hunter a little easier to use.
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Squad
Squad villains have a 6/8/10 status die spread that gets smaller the fewer allied villains are in the scene. Their status isn't affected by lieutenants and minions. They have a very low Health bonus and two ability choices:
On My Mark - Action ability that lets an ally take an immediate basic action, using their Max die and rerolling any ones that come up. Strongest when used on allies with better dice pools than your own.
My Allies Are My Strength - Innate damage increase for you based on the number of nearby non-minion allies.
Press the Advantage - Solid single target Attack, and if you pass the turn to the target they must Attack you on their turn if possible. If you can take the damage this can be very good. Restricting enemy choices is usually potent, especially if they were needed for Overcomes or Boost support.
Protect My Allies - A rare defensive reaction that protects an allied villain using your status die, and you get to self-Boost as a reward. Really quite good for villain teams but doesn't protect mere henchmen.
Stay In Formation! - Boost any two targets and get a weak self-Defend that applies to all Attacks until your next turn. A solid support option that uses all three of your dice efficiently, and can be used to self-Boost if desired.
Take Point - Solid Attack that provides a good Defend to all your nearby allies until your next turn. Hugely effective team defense move, although it leaves you wide open and you'll likely draw some fire so you can't just spam this move. Does call for your allies to stay rather bunched up though, so beware of multi-target Attacks with enough damage to breach the Defend.
A very versatile list that can provide just about anything, but really needs allies (and particularly other villains) to function well. Depending on your selections you can take a direct hand as a damage dealer while also protecting allies, or as a support character handing out improved basic actions and bonuses, and there's also a very solid defensive reaction to cover for allies. When considering Approaches something with healing might be helpful (it is one thing the list can't provide), but just about anything can work based on what Archetype abilities you focus on.
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Titan
Titans have an 8/10/12 status dice spread that decreases as the heroes Overcome the custom Titan challenge each has, with status dropping to d10 after two successes and d8 after a third. They're tied for the highest Health bonus of any Archetype and can choose three abilities from this list:
Crush All Underfoot - Moderate multi-target Attack bundled with a weak Hinder on each target.
Down the Hatch - Solid Attack bundled with the option either apply an all-three-dice Hinder, or render the target unable to take actions at all until a successful Overcome frees them. Uniquely restrictive, and can be spammed for an almost a guaranteed victory against a single hero unless they escape immediately or have allies to Overcome for them.
Foolish Insect - Reaction that uses your status die to deal damage to a hero that takes a minor twist in your Titan's challenge, in addition to the twist effect.
You Are But Gnats To Me - Insanely high damage reduction that decreases to merely very good as your status die degrades. Practically forces the heroes to Overcome your Titan's challenge in order to do damage to you.
I Will Not Be Defeated So Easily - Reaction that triggers when Attacked with a roll that includes doubles, letting you remove a success from you Titan's challenge, which helps keep you status die up.
The Land Quakes Underfoot - Action ability that lets you trigger an environmental twist in its current zone, no roll required from you. Still restricted to just one use of each Major Twist per scene. Domain villains are better at this trick, but it can still be very disruptive and unpredictable.
The list includes a decent multi-target Attack and Hinder bundle, a single target Attack that either Hinder or apply a unique and very powerful restriction on the victim, two reactions that both interact with the Archetype's unique status die mechanic, incredible damage reduction, and the rare ability to manipulate the environment in your favor. It's very powerful, but benefits greatly from an Approach that offers either a bit more variety (eg Boosts, healing, a real defensive reaction, other ally support tricks) or that leans into whatever Titan abilities you've chosen (eg stacking even more damage reduction or stronger raw-damage Attacks). Titans can be remarkably frustrating for some teams to deal with, and their built-in challenge practically requires spending at least three hero actions, especially if you've taken the damage reduction option. With both offensive options including Hinder riders passing Overcomes on that challenge is much harder as well.
Even without an upgrade, I'd expect almost any Titan to be as hard to deal with as a difficult scene element. They really are a step above the other Archetypes.
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Continued in Upgrades.
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