Villain Design Analysis: Masteries

Continuing on from the Upgrades overview, this will be the penultimate post in the series.  I don't really have much to say about individual villain Masteries beyond the obvious.  They offer a villain an automatic success on an Overcome in certain situations.  They can also take Overcomes that their Mastery doesn't apply to, but that requires a die roll and risks generating twists so they're less likely to do so.

Villains don't normally spend their actions Overcoming challenges the way heroes do, but they could certainly use an Overcome to create a challenge the heroes need to deal with instead.  When doing so you want to be careful about what types of challenges you use, with simple one-success, no-timer ones probably being the best.  Complex multi-success challenges will result in the villain pulling ahead of the heroes in terms of action economy, and timed challenges can put too much pressure on heroes if there are already many things to deal with.  If you want to use the more complex challenge types those are probably best "purchased" as scene elements on their own (although they might stay "off stage" until a villain puts them into play, or the scene tracker hits a certain point, or some other trigger goes off) or as environmental twists.

Another common use for villain Overcomes is concealing oneself - essentially a "Hide check" - or detecting a hidden hero or other target.  This is most common with Predator Archetypes, who have several abilities that key off their foes being unaware of them, but pretty much all "stealth" is a duel of Overcome actions.

Perhaps the most common villain Overcome will be to escape the scene, usually using some kind of Mobility power in the die pool.  Some action scenes will have the villains escape automatically when the scene tracker runs out, but a villain might choose to duck out earlier if they've completed their objectives already, feel seriously threatened, or just want to leave their allies to take the heat because they're backstabbing jerks and figure they'll get more loot that way.  Some Masteries lend themselves to this trick more than others - and a Master of Annihilation is likely to cause quite a mess to cover their retreat if it comes to that.

The eleven existing Masteries are probably plenty, but I'll suggest a couple more to reflect some villain "personalities" that aren't quite covered:

Master Infiltrator (I) If you've had the opportunity to properly study a security system, automatically succeed at an Overcome to bypass or otherwise manipulate that system without being detected.  Villains with this Mastery rarely remain in prison for very long unless special countermeasures are employed to prevent their escape.

Master of Terror (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome to spread fear in a community and weaken the morale of those who oppose you as long as you've made an example of a victim recently.  This primarily affects NPCs, although heroes may suffer indirectly as frightened civilians refuse to co-operate or blame them for failing to stop the villain sooner.  

This series will finish up with one final wrap-up post, after which we'll move on to other subjects. 

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Villain Design Analysis: Upgrades

Continuing on with this series of posts, today we're moving from Archetypes to villain Upgrades.  These are an optional part of creating a villain, and adding one turns a basic villain into a difficult scene element rather than a moderate one.  A villain can be assigned more than one Upgrade if you want to make them an even greater threat, with each extra Upgrade counting as another difficult scene element when designing an action scene.  A GM should consider what grants a villain an Upgrade and whether there might be a way to remove one, perhaps through creating some kind of countermeasure during a montage scene.

Most Upgrades modify a villain's Base Health as well as granting some other benefit.  The core book includes the following ten Upgrades (which, weirdly, aren't in alphabetical order, unlike Approaches and Archetypes):

Mook Squad - This is one of only two Upgrades that don't improve Base Health, and grants the villain an action ability that lets them add enough signature minions to the scene to bring their number up to H, ie the number of heroes in the scene.  Obviously gives the most benefit when you have no minions in play.  While it's nice to be able to spawn more henchmen during a scene, the benefit has to be weighed against using the villain's action for the Upgrade rather than one of their other abilities.  As such, this is often best on a villain with relatively weak die pools or otherwise lackluster abilities.  The lack of bonus Health doesn't help either, and as Upgrades go this is one of the less impactful ones.

If you wanted to make it stronger, changing the ability it grants to allow it to spawn Hx2 minions would help balance quite a bit.  This is more on par with the minion-creation abilities found in the Creator Approach and Legion/Overlord Archetypes, and might be too strong if you regularly play with a lot of heroes.  The danger to going to Hx2 is that you may find the upgrade now outshines Creator, Legion and Overlord villains at the their own game.

Hardier Minions - Grants a very small Health bonus, and the villain gains an action ability that increases the die size of one group of minions in the scene by one step, to a maximum of d12.  The term "group" isn't really defined in the rules, leaving the GM leeway to decide how many are affected by each use of the ability.  I would recommend limiting it to a maximum of Hx2 minions, or simply H if that proves too strong for your particular team.  This Upgrade requires minions in play to do anything at all, so it's best paired with abilities or allies that can create minions.  As with Mook Squad, you also have to weigh the benefits of buffing/healing some minions or using the villain's action for one of their other abilities.      

Group Fighter - Provides a very large Health bonus and gives the villain an inherent ability to use their Mid die to make a free Attack whenever they use an action ability that includes an Attack.  Simple, straightforward increase in durability and damage output, making it a popular "generic" choice on any villain that plans on making Attacks regularly.  Worth noting that it doesn't work with reactions that include an Attack, since you aren't taking an action there. 

Villainous Vehicle - Grants a fairly large amount of extra Health, and adds a very customizable vehicle (treated as a lieutenant mechanically) to the scene with anywhere from two to four of its own abilities from a menu of seven options.  Depending on which ones you take the vehicle may simply add some independent combat power, or it may provide key support synergies for the villain by providing healing, deploying minions, or letting a badly damaged villain escape the scene altogether.  Another Upgrade that can be helpful for almost any villain, although it is likely that players will focus on destroying the vehicle quickly if its abilities are impacting the scene heavily.

While described as a vehicle of some kind, this Upgrade can easily be re-skinned into other autonomous threats such as a living war-beast, steed or "junior villain" sidekick.  Actual mechanical versions of this Upgrade could reasonably be counted toward an Inventor Archetype's status die.    

Power Upgrade - Offers a very large Health bonus and increases the die size of all the villain's powers.  If this would improve a given die past d12, they gain an extra ability chosen from their Archetype's list instead, although only four of the eighteen Approaches have d12 powers to gain that variant benefit.  Most useful on villains who have many abilities dependent their die pools, especially those that Boost or Hinder a lot where die steps make a big difference to generating larger mods.

Quality Upgrade - Offers a very large Health bonus and increases the die size of all the villain's qualities except their d8 roleplaying quality.  If this would improve a given die past d12, they gain an extra ability chosen from their Approach's list instead, although only two of the eighteen Approaches have d12 qualities to gain that variant benefit - and Ancient will gain two extra abilities.  Most useful on villains who have many abilities dependent their die pools, especially those that Boost or Hinder a lot where die steps make a big difference to generating larger mods.

Defense Shield - Doesn't directly improve Base Health, but gives the villain a force field that prevents the first forty points of damage dealt to them by any source except themselves.  That's an enormous bonus to durability, but the field can be removed by three Overcome successes from the heroes, with any minor twists rolled dealing damage to them as a reaction as well as the usual twist effect.  As long as the field is still active, the villain can spend actions removing successes from the Overcome to remove it, or repair damage done to it.  Heroes are usually better off doing Principled Overcomes to remove the field than powering through it with raw damage, but that's still eating up actions in the scene.  Worth noting that it doesn't alter the villain's Base Health, so Bruiser and Fragile Archetypes (whose status die depends on personal Health zone) will be in Green longer than usual.

This is another Upgrade that could be counted toward an Inventor Archetype's status die, at least while it lasts, and the three that follow might also be "inventions' if they're technological in nature.

Calming Aura - Grants a moderate bonus to Base Health and forces all heroes to act as if they were in the Green zone until the aura is removed by three successful Overcome actions.  Minor twists let the villain use a reaction to Hinder the hero in response, which discourages doing another Overcome right away.  Obviously not very impactful at first, but if the players don't get rid of it fast the effect quickly becomes a serious handicap.

Power Dampening Field - Another moderate bonus to Base Health, and a complicated wall of text that basically results in hero power dice being reduced more and more as the scene tracker advances.  Can be removed with three Overcome actions, but minor twists mean the hero loses access to a power completely until this upgrade is removed.

Brainwashing Zone - Nearly identical to the Power Dampening Field above, but it affects qualities rather than powers.  It also has an added rider that means any hero who goes Out while the zone is still in play becomes a mind-controlled villainous minion with a die size equal to their largest power die.  Not really likely to happen unless you really focus down one PC, but it certainly is colorful.

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Ten Upgrades is probably plenty, but it would be nice to have a little more variety so here are a couple of homebrews to consider:

Ability Upgrade - Experience, training and practice has expanded the villain's bag of tricks.

Health +10  You may pick one extra ability from either your Approach or Archetype.

Modest Health bonus, counterbalancing the fact that this opens up a tremendous number of new synergies.  After nearly two hundred custom villains I've lost count of how often I wished for just one more ability choice.  Some villains would be better off with the Power Upgrade or Quality Upgrade above, but this is more versatile if all you want is an added ability.

Amped Up  - The villain is at the top of their game, giving 110% and dialing it up to eleven.

Health +10  On your turn, when you roll your dice to take action you may reroll one die before determining the outcome.

So, moderate Health bonus but a strong dice fixer to go with it.  Most impactful for the few villain abilities that look for doubles or triples, but generically useful for anyone.

This series is nearing its end, with the penultimate post on Masteries.

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Strain Zeta, An Outbreak of Dangerous Macro-Organisms

Flesh-eating bacteria are bad enough, but they're even worse when they're big enough to bite your hand off.

Strain Zeta

Strain Zeta started off as a variety of genetically engineered micro-organisms cooked up in a super-science lab for use as easily tweaked bio-research test specimens.  Then some idiot tested an experimental growth ray on them and turned them into fast-breeding macroscopic omnivores with the potential to depopulate an entire continent in weeks if allowed to get out of control.  The individual Zetas are fairly small and nearly mindless, but they generally form in larger collective pseudo-organisms that display slightly more awareness.  While destroying any given Zeta isn't difficult for a superhero or even a well-equipped human, letting any of them escape guarantees another outbreak at some point in the future.

If you're looking for potential creators of these things, the researchers of SIN are likely culprits, as are the Moseby Twins (with the Zetas being a sort of proto-protoid).  Horde has already had one major failure when dabbling in growth technology and might repeat his mistake, and his cousin Miniac might well have sabotaged any experiment involving embiggening stuff.  And there's always master mega-genius Mordecai Mentallax, who comes up with this kind of stuff in his spare time between doing "real" science and planning to conquer the world.  Might also be the harbingers of an invasion from a hostile microversal civilization, or maybe the whole thing's an accident and the Zetas actually started as a single micro-kaiju shot into our continuum like the end of the first Gamera movie.

Strain Zeta Gestalt

Description: A seething mass of amoebic blobs, about the size of a haystack.  The whole mess is fringed with writhing cilia and lashing flagella, and its interior is dotted with countless organelles and vacuoles.  The only sounds it makes are the burbling squelches of digestive juices as it wriggles about.

Gender: None     Age: Unclear     Height: Variable (Usually About Eight Feet)     Eyes: None

Hair: Do Cilia Count?     Cell Membranes: Translucent Oily Blue-Green     Build: Blob-Like

Approach:  Underpowered                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  5 + (5 x H)

Powers: Part Detachment d8, Elasticity d6, Swimming d6, Wall-Crawling d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Mega-Bacterial Collective d8, Fitness d6, Self-Discipline d6

Status: (# of Legion Minions) 0 - d12 / 1-2 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 5-8 - d6 / 9+ - d4

Abilities:

Cell Division (A) Roll your single status die.  Deal yourself that much irreducible damage.  Create that many d6 Legion minions.

Mass Consumption (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Min die until your next turn.

Mindless (I) Whenever multiple Legion minions all take the same action against the same target, you must roll all their dice at once and use the lowest rolling die amongst them for each minion's result on that action.

Reabsorb (R) When one of your minions is destroyed, roll its die and Recover that much Health.

Resistant Strain (I) Whenever you would be reduced to zero or fewer Health, prevent that damage and reduce all of your power dice by one die size.  If this reduces any die below d4 you are knocked out.

Smother (A) Attack using Elasticity.  If you roll doubles, add that value to your Attack.  If you roll triples, add all three dice to your Attack.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Embiggen (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).

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

Strain Zeta Gestalts rarely stick together long in combat, using Cell Division to break down into minions whenever it can without too much risk of defeating itself - although if it's caught very low on Health and Resistant Strain has already been used it may just deliberately go out one last batch of hungry macrobes.  Their effectiveness is a bit limited by Mindless (even as a collective they're none too bright) but Reabsorb will help keep the Gestalt in action longer.  If a Gestalt is too weak to spawn more minions it has two offensive options to use, with Smother potentially inflicting a hard hit to a single foe and Mass Consumption harming multiple targets while providing some minor damage mitigation.

With its upgrade the Gestalt can also increase the die size of one group of minions.  I'd define a group as "all the ones from a single use of Cell Division" for this ability.  Its mastery makes Overcomes a lot easier while there are minions in play.  

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Strain Zeta Legion Spawn d6 minion (created through Cell Division)

Description: An irregular lump of squirming cilia and translucent blue-green protoplasm, roughly a foot in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Mindless: Whenever multiple Legion Spawn minions all take the same action against the same target, you must roll all their dice at once and use the lowest rolling die amongst them for each minion's result on that action.

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Strain Zeta Macrobe d6 minion

Description: A larger mass of squirming cilia and translucent blue-green protoplasm, roughly two feet in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Basic Organism: As an action, you may sacrifice yourself to either roll your die and restore that much Health to a nearby Strain Zeta Gestalt villain, or to increase the die size of a nearby Strain Zeta Vector lieutenant by one (max d12).

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Strain Zeta Conglomerate d10 lieutenant

Description: A formidable collective of translucent blue-green protoplasm, lashing flagella and squirming cilia, roughly four feet in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Intermediate Organism: As an action, you may sacrifice yourself and remove H nearby Strain Zeta Macrobe minions from the scene, then add a Strain Zeta Gestalt villain to the scene at full Health but with no Upgrade or Mastery.

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Unstable Mass: As an action, you may roll your die to Hinder yourself and add a number of Strain Zeta Macrobe minions equal to your roll to the scene.

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Design Notes:  The "Strain Zeta Gestalt" villain form is about as fragile as a villain can be, but its job is mostly to spawn a bunch of minions before it goes Out.  If it manages to throw (or draw) an Attack or two before it gets finished off that's just a bonus.  Bringing along some Macrobe minions as scene elements will let the gestalt last a bit longer, but you could also just bring multiple Gestalts or create new ones using the Conglomerate lieutenant's sacrifice ability.  Unlike most villains they're definitely not unique, just something that forms whenever enough of the smaller Zetas are around.

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Bodycount, Deceased Serial Killer

This particular villain is extremely dead in my campaign continuity, having never even made an appearance in the game and existing solely as a reference in the post about the other Bodycount.  He doesn't fill a useful slot in my villain collection when I've got the Silent Harvester around, so I wasn't going to bother with going into more detail about him.  Still, villains don't always stay dead, time travel happens, and other folks might want a diabolically empowered serial killer, so here's a quickie writeup.

If he ever does come back, the woman who took his life and his supranym will be quick to hunt him down and vivisect him to figure out why killing him the first time didn't stick. Probably less painful being in actual Hell than dealing with Annabelle Grant's scientific method.

Bodycount

This Bodycount is a supernaturally-empowered serial killer who prefers to prey on mundane victims, particularly conventionally attractive young women.  He's an easily-overlooked nebbish until he strikes at his current prey, at which point he manifests the disturbing supernatural abilities granted to him by the diabolic entities that whisper commands in his head.  His powers let him manipulate shadowy infernal energies a little bit, blanketing a small area with hellish shapes and he can cling to surfaces like some great dark spider, but his signature weapon is the literal demon's tongue in his mouth.  Aside from honeying his words when need be, the thing can extend to absurd lengths, slice the most durable flesh like a razor and even grab and manipulate small objects or strangle a foe.  Not a real terror to supers under normal circumstances, but very dangerous when attacking a lone victim from ambush and far too much for mundane law enforcement to deal with.

What his origin or real name is, or why he was empowered, or what his diabolic masters really want is up to you.  In my games he's dead, and not answering questions.

Description: A blandly unobtrusive figure in civilian garb, barely worth a second glance except for an ever-so-slightly twisted posture.  If you catch him while hunting, he wreathes himself cloying shadow-shapes whose touch burns like acid, scuttles across walls and ceilings like a bizarre humanoid spider, and distends his jaw to unleash an eight foot long prehensile forked tongue.

Gender: Male                   Age: 38              Height: 5'10"              Eyes: Brown

Hair: Oily Brown        Skin: Caucasian        Build: Slightly Crooked

Approach: Leech                     Archetype: Predator

Health: 30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Demon's Tongue d10, Infernal d8, Wall-Crawling d6

Qualities: Fitness d8, Murderous Sociopath d8, Persuasion d8, Stealth d8

Status: (# of Enemies Engaged) 0-1 - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 4+ - d6

Abilities:

Cutting Word (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Demon's Tongue die.  If this negates the Attack completely, use the same roll to Hinder the Attacker and Boost yourself.

Hellish Phantasms (A) Hinder multiple targets using Infernal.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.  If you roll doubles, also Attack one of those targets using your Max die.

Homicidal Instinct (A) Attack using Murderous Sociopath.  Use your Max die.  If the target has a penalty you created or is in the Red zone, use your Max + Mid dice instead.

Stalking Killer (A) Boost yourself using Stealth.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Mid die until the start of your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase the die size of each of your qualities except Murderous Sociopath by one step (maximum of d12).

Master of the Unfathomable (I) If you are in a situation involving eldritch forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of otherworldly entities beyond human concerns.

Tactics

Bodycount prefers to prey on mundane victims, but occasionally his diabolic patrons demands he hunt more dangerous targets.  He's uncomfortable facing multiple foes, and will try to find a way to ambush an isolated foe.  Stalking Killer lets him set up for such opportunities, and when he finds an opening he'll launch his assault with Homicidal Instinct, which he usually uses with Demon's Tongue in the pool but works fine with Infernal or even d4 mundane weapons.  If possible he'll try to establish a penalty beforehand with Hellish Phantasms to enhance his damage, which is also his ability of choice when forced to deal with more than one enemy at a time.  Cutting Word gives him a very strong defensive reaction as long as it completely blocks all damage, so he may accept a strong hit and hope for a weaker one later to maximize the utility of the reaction.

In my continuity this Bodycount was killed before getting an upgrade, but he might have earned one eventually through doing his masters' bidding.  If he was returned from the dead by them they might even grant him the added boon in the process.  His mastery would reflect him meeting the ever-increasing demands of those who empower him.

Even with an upgrade, the other Bodycount will kick his ass reliably.  Her abilities make a laughably bad matchup for him even with a mass Hinder to more than halve the minion damage she'll be dealing out to him.

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Big MAC, Power Armored Hero From An Apocalyptic Alternate Timeline

Another "loaner" hero for the occasional one-shot, with a vague background than can be tweaked to suit the player's tastes.  I'm rather fond of the build because it shows off the way heroes get more potent through the GYRO scale more dramatically than most.

Big MAC

Master Sergeant Barbara "Big MAC" MacReady comes from the same alternate timeline as the Red Colossus ICBM, and was thrown into our timeline by getting caught in the fringe of the same katatron blast as the Soviet juggernaut.  She assisted local heroes in disabling the robot, and (with no obvious way to return home) surrendered herself (and her Mobile Assault Corps suit) to government authorities.  Her next few years were spent being interrogated by disbelieving intelligence agents and scientists, and she came very close to being "disappeared" for good.  Thankfully the supers she'd fought alongside had enough pull and persistence to eventually get her freed after almost half a decade of "retirement" and she was eventually licensed as a federally-supported hero.  Her MAC suit was returned to her after a thorough decontamination process and the removal of its payload of NBC WMDs, and studying its systems led to some major breakthroughs in toxic cleanup technology.  

Description: Out of her suit, a very fit young woman who carries herself with a pronounced military air and a serious mien.  In her MAC suit, a hulking seven foot tall powered armor rig in dull blue-gray, with a prominent energy projector built into the chest plate and multiple underslung tubes on its forearms for deploying neutralizing agents in spray or foam form - the original payload of isotope dusts, war viruses and nerve agents having been removed.  Her detachable MAC-pack thruster array is nearly as bulky as the suit itself, and is usually detached until needed if she expects to be operating in confined spaces.  

Gender: Female          Age: 25           Height: 5'3"          Eyes: Blue

Hair: Buzzcut Blonde               Skin: Pale Caucasian          Build: Thin But Muscular

Background: Retired          Power Source: Powered Suit          Archetype: Armored

Personality: Stoic                   Health (G/Y/R):  34/24/12

Powers: Power Suit d12, MAC-Pack d10, Awareness d6, Momentum d6, Nuclear d6, Toxic d6

Qualities: Leadership d10, Technology d10, Traumatized Atomic War Vet d8

Status: Green (34-25) - d6 / Yellow (24-13) - d8 / Red (12-1) - d10

Abilities:

Green

Alloy Plating (I) Reduce any physical damage your take by one while you are in the Green zone, two while you are in the Yellow zone, or three while in the Red zone.

Atomic Force Field (I) Reduce any physical or energy damage your take by one while you are in the Green zone, two while you are in the Yellow zone, or three while in the Red zone.

Charge and Recharge (A) Attack using Power Suit.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.

Mobile Cover (A) Attack using Power Suit.  Defend another target using your Min die.

Principle of Detachment (A) Overcome a challenge related to duress or fear.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What mechanical device just shorted out?  Major twist: How have you withdrawn from the current situation to cope?  RP: You are detached from emotional situations and always keep your cool.

Principle of the Indestructible (A) Overcome in a situation where you charge headlong into danger.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What goes wrong with your defenses?  Major twist: Who gets hurt other than you as a result of you not being able to take damage?  RP: You ignore damage from unpowered close-combat weapons and attacks (such as clubs and non-powered fists) and basic ranged weapons (such as slings and arrows).

Rocket Ram (A) Attack using MAC-Pack. This Attack ignores all penalties and Defend actions, and cannot be affected by Reactions.

Yellow

Atomic Beam (A) Attack up to three different targets using Nuclear.  Use your Max die on one target, your Mid die on a second target, and your Min die on a third target.  If you roll doubles, either take a minor twist or take irreducible damage equal to that die.

Reactor Overload (A) Boost yourself using Power Suit.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  The bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Red

Armored Rampage (A) Attack multiple targets using Power Suit.  Use your Max + Min dice.  If you roll doubles, either take a minor twist or take damage equal to your Mid die. 

Damn Foolish Heroics (R) When an opponent Attacks, you may become the target and Defend by rolling your single Red zone status die.

Thruster Rush (A) Attack using MAC-Pack.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each nearby opponent using your Mid die.  After using this ability, you and up to two allies may end up anywhere in the scene, even outside the action.

Out

Automated Defense Program (A) Defend an ally by rolling your single Power Suit die.

Tactics

Big MAC is a mobile defensive powerhouse who gets progressively more dangerous the more desperate a situation becomes.  Her combination of Alloy Plating and Atomic Force Field give her solid resistance to energy damage and enormous protection against physical impacts, both of which scale up through the GYRO zones.  In Green, she can use her signature MAC-Pack thruster array to bypass most enemy defenses with a sudden Rocket Ram, provide Mobile Cover to an ally, or Charge and Recharge to steadily restore some of her own energy.  Principle of the Indestructible is easy to use for someone as tough and mobile as she is, while Principle of Detachment lets her shrug off threats and attempts at intimidation.  She's lived through the start of World War 3 in her home timeline, and even the worst supervillains don't impress her much.

In the Yellow zone, she'll usually use Reactor Overload immediately to establish a lasting bonus, repeating if it's stripped away or just rolls poorly on the initial attempt.  She may continue with her Green zone Attacks, or start using the dangerously unstable Atomic Beam to maximize her offense.  The MAC suit's innate damage resistances also double at this stage.

In the Red zone, she'll resort to Damn Foolish Heroics (and her prodigious damage resistance) for a team-wide defensive Reaction, which also works even when she's the initial target.  She also gains access to Thruster Rush for a strong Attack, a multi-target Hinder, and the ability to move herself and two allies anywhere she likes, including out of the fight entirely if there are civilians or injured in need of a speedy evac.  Her ultimate offensive ability is to overpower all servos and thrusters and go on an Armored Rampage, dealing serious damage to every foe that gets within reach as she rockets around.  The ability is dangerous to use since doubles generate either a minor twist or self-damage, but unlike many similar abilities the damage isn't irreducible and she's got six(!) physical damage resistance at this point.  She's also still got potential healing from Charge and Recharge, especially with bonuses to apply to the Min die.

Even when Out, the suit's Automated Defense Program will still maneuver its battered hulk to block attacks on key allies.

Design Notes

Big MAC's d12 Power Suit grants her incredible physical strength and durability, fully sealed life support capable of enduring the worst an atomic battlefield has to offer, and not much else.  Her MAC-Pack d10 Signature Vehicle is capable of propelling her both underwater and in flight, and can manage low orbit altitudes and atmospheric re-entry given time.  The thruster array is semi-autonomous and can be detached when operating in tight spaces, orbiting nearby and returning when called for.  Secondary functions of the suit include a potent if somewhat unstable atomic energy emitter (d6 Nuclear), an array of sensory and communication devices augment by boosters on her MAC-Pack (d6 Awareness), deployable ground mobility units (eg pop-out tracked rollers) in the suit's boots (d6 Momentum), and subsystems for nullifying a wide variety of toxic substances, whether radioactive, chemical or biological in nature (d6 Toxic).

Her Leadership and Technology qualities reflect her military training as a leader of a team of MAC fighters.  She relies on her Traumatized Atomic War Vet for most combat pools, as well as battlefield awareness, intimidation, tactical analysis, and staying cool under pressure.

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Commander Savage, SEVER Assault Leader

SEVER (Superhuman EValuation and ERadication) is a conspiratorial semi-secret organization dedicated to identifying and exploiting the weaknesses of superhuman beings with a long term goal of "freeing normal humanity from the menace of the superfreaks" by any means necessary.   It has international reach but concentrates a great deal of its activity in the United States, which has a disproportionate amount of superhuman activity within its borders.  SEVER has illicit ties to many national governments and law enforcement agencies, providing enough information on supervillains and rogue vigilantes to operate quietly most parts of the world.  Their more extreme work (the "eradication" part of their agenda) requires covert maneuvering and plausible deniability even in the most cooperative countries.  

Any superhuman is a potential target for SEVER, although they tend to prioritize dealing with weaker targets who avoid the media spotlight.  Direct assaults are always a possibility, but the organization is also adept at playing so-called "heroes" and "villains" against one another and mopping up the survivors when the opportunity arises.  SEVER dislikes media attention themselves, and try to remain behind the scenes even when aiding "allied" government agencies in dealing with unsanctioned supers.

Commander Savage

Rico Savage is a former US army captain, and might still be in the service if not for a personal tragedy.  His wife and two infant children were killed during a confrontation between a particularly ruthless supervillain and a team of vigilante "heroes" who chose to prioritize capturing their foe over saving her hostages.  The loss shattered him, and the day after the vigilantes were publicly commended for their actions by the US president he walked away from his former life and straight into the ranks of SEVER.  

His story wasn't terribly unusual in that organization's ranks, but the skills he brought with him were.  In the four years he's worked for SEVER he's risen swiftly through the ranks from mere agent to commander in charge of planning and executing most eradication operations.  He frequently accompanies strike forces to ensure the targeted superbeings are eliminated and minimize losses among his own troops.  If he has any doubts about what he's doing or SEVER Prime's ultimate plans there's no apparent sign of it.  Commander Savage has gone from a loving husband and family man to a cold, calculating machine whose life revolves around fulfilling his current mission as efficiently as possible.

Description: A sturdy, muscular man wearing a baggy olive-green uniform topped with a tactical harness covered in specialized gadgetry for dealing with super-beings and their freakish powers.  He carries a unique three-section staff with concealed multispectrum blasters in each end, which can also lock together and extend a retractable blade to act as a spear.  He has a powerful voice and a marked air of command. 

Gender: Male        Age: 31       Height: 5'11"       Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black, High & Tight     Skin: Weathered Caucasian     Build: Burly

Approach: Tactician                         Archetype: Bruiser

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Gadgets d8, Three-Section Blast-Staff d8, Agility d6, Awareness d6

Qualities: Leadership d10, Self-Discipline d8. Veteran Cape-Hunter d8, Fitness d6

Status: Green Zone Health - d6 / Yellow Zone Health - d8 / Red Zone Health - d10

Abilities:

CQB Drill (A) Attack one target using Three-Section Blast-Staff.  Use your Max die.  Either Hinder that target using your Mid die, or Attack a second target using your Mid die.

Defensive Drill (A) Defend using Self-Discipline.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.

Quick Command (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.

Teamwork Drill (A) Take a basic action using Leadership.  Use your Max die.  One nearby ally also takes that same basic action as their reaction.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain Reinforcements (A) Replenish your SEVER Agent minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

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

Commander Savage generally operates alongside an elite unit of lieutenant-grade agents, sometimes backed up with minions or battle suits.  He'll reserve his Quick Command reaction on the first ally who rolls poorly each round, helping offset the high variability of single-die henchman types.  Teamwork Drill is a versatile ability that improves the action economy of one of his soldiers, while Defensive Drill lets him protect himself or a key ally while also restoring health lost to damage or his own reaction.  He rarely resorts to CQB Drill unless caught without his supporting troops and he can't see a way to withdraw from the action to fight another day.

His upgrade gives him access to reinforcement troopers, which he'll call on when running low on allies.  His synergies still work pretty well on minions, and he needs some forces on the field to use his mastery. 

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SEVER Agents d10 lieutenants and d8 minions

Description: Ordinary humans in baggy olive-green boiler-suit uniforms with snug hoods that leave just their faces exposed.  They carry a variety of Kirby-tech weapons and wear black utility belts hung with gadgetry and restraints designed to deal with superhumans.  Their outfits have the organization's signature "struck-through S" logo on their left chest in white.  Lieutenants have fancier weapons and gear but are otherwise identical.

All Sever Agents have the following ability:

Specialized Restraint Gear: When you Hinder a superhuman target, you may make that penalty persistent and exclusive.

Lieutenants will also have one or two of the following additional abilities:

Call For Backup: Roll your status die and add that many SEVER Agent d8 minions (to a maximum of H new minions) to the scene nearby.  They have the Specialized Restraint Gear ability and cannot act until the next round.

Coordinated Takedown: When you Hinder a target, any number of SEVER Agent minions who haven't acted this round may also roll their die and add them to yours to determine the total for establishing a penalty.  Those minions cannot act until next round.

Rally: When you Boost you may target all nearby SEVER Agent minions, and you may increase each minion's die size by one (max d8).

Whatever It Takes: You may reroll your die when taking an action, but your die size decreases by one after the reroll.

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ACE Rigs d10 lieutenants

Description: Armored Combat Exoskeleton rigs are bulky 7' tall power assisted frames operated by elite SEVER agents and carrying heavy armor plating and oversized weaponry.  The machinery is an overall dark gray with some olive green accents.  ACE rigs are built for heavy combat against superhumans and are only used when remaining covert is no longer an option.

Heavy Duty: When you take an Attack action, you may also Defend yourself or a nearby ally with the same roll.

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Effigy of the God-King Nurom-Ghat-Gaton

One of the classic tropes of the "monster/weird horror" books that Marvel and other publishers used to do in their early days was the "museum display that's actually a slumbering menace" story.  These mostly predated the superhero boom of the Silver Age but overlapped it to some degree, and it still shows up now and then even in modern cape comics.  This villain's a nod to those old tropes.  With some tweaking to its backstory it could appear almost anywhere - superheroes are remarkably prone to stumbling over the remnants of lost civilizations, and villains are prone to collecting strange artifacts that might be better left alone.

Effigy of the God-King Nurom-Ghat-Gahon

The Effigy of the God-King was originally part of a stunning architectural find discovered in thawing Canadian permafrost.  Surveyors found the ruins of a massive stone complex that seemed to be some kind of palace or temple, belonging to no known civilization and dating back to an almost impossible ten thousand years.  The structures were mostly empty, but one chamber contained a shockingly lifelike statue made of an unknown metal alloy, toppled and apparently damaged.  Where the face should have been was simply a void into the hollow interior of the sculpture.  After several years of further excavation and exploration a few more artifacts were found - damaged ornaments, strange coins or tokens, a broken scepter, and an elaborate death mask, all made of the same strange metal.

The whole lot were eventually assembled into displays for a global museum tour to raise funds for further digs on the sprawling site, but it wasn't until the artifacts went on display in [museum in your campaign city] that the true nature of the statue was revealed.  A museum staffer with a touch of true mystic sensitivity fell under the control of the death mask, used its power to bypass the security measures and replaced the mask on the statue, returning the Effigy of the God-King Nurom-Ghat-Gaton to "life" for the first time in millennia.

The re-animated Effigy immediately took steps to alter its surrounding to recreate its antediluvian court, mentally transforming civilian bystanders into properly worshipful subjects and beginning to alter the museum building itself.  Local superheroes managed to stop the wave of change before it spread too far and battered the Effigy into torpor again, eventually separating the mask and statue from one another and leaving both seemingly powerless.  The two have been contained for further study - but the God-King sleeps uneasily now, and soon the Effigy will rise to walk again...

Description: A powerfully-built male figure wearing nothing but a short wraparound kilt in a vaguely Egyptian style.  It wears an elaborate mask sculpted to resemble an impassive, sharp-featured face with a third eye upon its forehead.  The whole thing, clothing, mask and all, is made of some strange golden-bronze alloy despite its graceful organic movements.  Its voice is cold, commanding and stentorian.    

Gender: Male        Age: Unknown       Height: 6'1"      Eyes: Orichalcum

Hair: Flowing Orichalcum Locks         Skin: Orichalcum         Build: Heroically Muscled

Approach:  Ancient                                Archetype:  Indomitable

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Suggestion d12, Strength d10, Vitality d10, Transmutation d8

Qualities: Conviction d12, Imposing d12, Magical Lore d10, Forgotten God-King d8, History d8

Status: Always d8

Abilities:

Certainty of the Godhead (A) Boost yourself using Conviction.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Divine Word (A) Take a basic action using Magical Lore.  Use your Max die.

Enchanted Orichalcum (I) Reduce damage dealt to you by two.

Kneel Before the God-King (A) Hinder multiple targets using Suggestion.  Use your Max die.  Attack each target using your Mid + Min dice.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, but often in effect):

Brainwashing Zone (I) +10 Health.  While the scene is in the green zone, all heroes' qualities of d8 or higher are reduced by one die size.  In the Yellow zone all of the heroes' qualities of d10 or higher are reduced by one additional step (two die sizes total).  In the Red zone, all heroes' quality dice are treated as d4.  Heroes can remove this upgrade with three overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while taking these Overcomes, they lose access to a quality entirely until this upgrade is removed.  If a hero is knocked out while this ability is active, create a new friendly minion with a die size equal to the hero's largest power die to represent the brainwashed hero.

Master of Mysticism (I) If you have access to proper materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation involving harnessing magical forces.

Tactics

The Effigy regards itself as a god-on-Earth, inherently superior to any mere mortal and unaccustomed to being opposed in any meaningful way.  As such, it tends to be unsubtle in the extreme, relying on Kneel Before the God-King to crush opponents' wills and convert them into fawning sycophants.  If that fails to do the job immediately it will employ Certainty of the Godhead and repeat its efforts, relying on Enchanted Orichalcum and a large Health pool to outlast any persistent foes.  Divine Word is used only when the Effigy wants to do something unusual, generally an Overcome to create a Challenge, forcibly transform some NPC into one of its followers, or alter the environment to suits its tastes better.

With its upgrade, foes are even further handicapped by its undeniable might and risk becoming mind-controlled pawns when defeated.  Its mastery makes Divine Word Overcomes much more reliable, letting the Effigy change reality on a grander scale.

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Mask-Bearer d12 lieutenant

Description: A normal human being carrying the death mask of the inactive Effigy.  Most often a hapless museum worker, archeologist, or security guard, but it could be would-be thief or just an unlucky bystander as well.  Mentally dominated by the mask and mostly interested in finding the Effigy's inanimate body and reuniting the mask with it.

Special:  This lieutenant cannot be in the same scene as the active form of the Effigy of the God-King.  The Mask-Bearer is literally carrying the Effigy's face around trying to re-attach it to its body. 

Arise, My God-King!:  If you are within arm's reach of the Effigy's inactive statue form, you may use your action to reunite it with the its death mask.  Roll your die to Overcome.  If your result is 4+ add the villain form of the Effigy of the God-King to the scene at full Health, add a single Devout Subject minion to the scene (representing your disempowered form) then remove yourself from the scene.    

Godlike Stride: At the end of your turn, you may move to any location in the scene, ignoring any intervening obstacles.  Treat this as a combination of teleportation and flight as needed. 

Will of the God-King:  You may use your action to force a nearby hero to temporarily act as your bodyguard.  When you do so, roll your die and the target hero rolls their status die.  If you roll higher, you may force that hero to Defend you against all Attacks until the start of their next turn by rolling their single highest power die.  All damage prevented by that Defend is dealt to the hero instead of you.

Devout Subject d6 minion

Description: Normal everyday human beings transformed into loyal worshippers of the God-King.  They're mostly focused on chanting prayers to Nurom-Ghat-Gaton and violently chastising unbelievers, but if you give them time they may get up to something really unpleasant like arranging human sacrifices.

Freed From Control: Heroes can take an Overcome action to break the Effigy's mental control over you.  If they succeed, roll your die and Boost all nearby heroes using that roll, then you escape to safety and are removed from the scene.

Mentally Enslaved Victims: You gain a +2 bonus to saves against damage from Attacks by heroes who are using non-lethal methods to subdue you.  Heroes can opt to use potentially lethal force to avoid that bonus, but they'll probably regret it in the long run.

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Design Notes:  The Mask-Bearer lieutenant above is included if you want to give the heroes a chance to stop the Effigy from getting animated in the first place, and should generally show up only in scenes where the static statue form is present.  You could certainly use him more independently in a scene where he's trying to locate the stature if it's been hidden away in storage somewhere, or even stolen by some other villain.  A d12 lieutenant is still a pretty respectable threat, and he could bring along a bunch of Devout Subject minions or other suitable allies if it fits your story.  His Godlike Stride ability makes it easy to justify him escaping a scene after he's found whatever clues to the statue's location he might be after.

If you want to make things much more difficult for your heroes, you could have a Devout Subject minion grab the death mask when the Effigy is defeated, transforming into a Mask-Bearer and forcing the heroes to keep him away from the fallen statue form or have to defeat the Effigy all over again.  Players probably won't let that happen, but if it does they'll certainly learn to free/eliminate all the minions first in the future.  If you really want to add insult to injury, a hero who wound up getting turned into a minion by Brainwashing Zone could absolutely be turned into a Mask-Bearer if the timing is right.

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