A very silly villain in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day.
The Purple Picaroon
The Purple Picaroon (true identity and origin unknown) appears to be severely delusional, perceiving reality as a strange mix between the real world and some kind of elaborate nautically-themed stage show in which they're acting the lead. Their ability to project psionic illusions lets them share the madness with those around them, as well as helping them escape capture in the even of being defeated.
Thankfully, they seem to fairly harmless as supervillains go, with little interest in truly harming people as long as they play along with the "show" being acted out. That doesn't stop the Picaroon from looting businesses of their "pieces of eight" or seizing "merchantmen" (or buses, trains, and aircraft they perceive as such) to steal booty and take hostages for ransom. Many such hostages are quietly released once the "scene" ends and they're safely "off-stage" but sometimes the Picaroon stays focused long enough for a kidnapping to become a real issue. Few other villains are willing to work with this lunatic, but occasionally lesser criminals will tag along opportunistically, playing at being sailors in hopes of being able to do some plundering of their own in the confusion.
The possibility that the Purple Picaroon is secretly much more rational than they act can't be completely dismissed, and the fact that they've been operating for years without a single "capture" sticking long enough for a trial is rather worrisome. But maybe they're just very, very lucky, and nothing more sinister is going on.
Description: A rather androgynous figure dressed in a over-the-top theatrical pirate captain's outfit, all in shades of purple and including an implausible flowing cloak. Heavily armed with what might be prop weaponry, including a brace of flintlock pistols, a pair of belaying pins, and an intimidatingly large knife all shoved into a waist sash. Even their cutlass flickers with violet light as they brandish it. They spout a steady stream of stereotyped nautical gibberish in a clear alto voice.
Their Legion minions follow a similar nautical, purple-tinted aesthetic but vary considerably in appearance, from youthful powder boys to burly shirtless sailors covered in tattoos to lower ranking ship's officers. Their voices are identical though, and they all have equally fake mustaches in various styles.
Gender: Presents As Male Age: Early Twenties Height: 5'4" Eyes: Cornflower Blue
Hair: Short-Cropped Blonde, Obviously Fake Mustache Skin: Tanned Build: Lithe
Approach: Tactician Archetype: Legion
Health: 15 + (5 x H)
Powers: Agility d8, Illusions d8, Leaping d6, Swinging d6
Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Delusional Stage-Show Swashbuckler d8, Finesse d8, Fitness d6
Status: (# of Legion Minions) 0 - d12 / 1-2 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 5-8 - d6 / 9+ - d4
Abilities:
Ahoy, Mateys! (A) Add two Legion minions to the scene. Their starting die size is one smaller than your current status die.
Divided Attention (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.
Follow Me, Sailor! (A) Make a basic action using Delusional Stage-Show Swashbuckler. Use your Max die. One nearby ally also makes that same basic action as their reaction.
Glorious Death Scene (R) When one of your minions is destroyed, roll its die and Recover that much Health.
Stage Directions (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Brace Up, Lads! + 5 Health. Gain Embolden (A) Upgrade one group of Legion minions in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).
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
The Purple Picaroon is a theatrically flamboyant fighter but not a very bloodthirsty one, favoring non-lethal blows further enabled by their psychic power letting them inflict "imaginary" harm even with apparently-deadly weapons. Fighting them is a rather surreal experience, much like being an involuntary member of the cast of a badly-written stage show. When a scene starts, they'll usually begin by using Ahoy, Mateys! to create a pair of strong minions, repeating as desired but generally avoiding putting out more than four minions at once. They'll follow that with Follow Me, Sailor! to double up the most suitable basic action with one of their crewmen - usually an Attack or Hinder, but anything's possible. That includes impromptu duets or dance numbers. Note that the ability doesn't require using the action on the same target, so they can spread them around if desired. When an ally rolls poorly they'll use Stage Directions to give them another chance at putting on a better performance. If a minion is destroyed while the Picaroon still has a reaction available they'll use Glorious Death Scene to ham up the defeat and heal some damage. Their minions are somewhat hampered by Divided Attention, but there are rarely many minions in play so it's not too much of an issue.
With their upgrade their minions can easily have their die sizes improved, letting them focus on quality henchmen rather than quantity. Their mastery lets them focus their minions on "seizing the enemy bridge" or carrying off captives for ransom - or whatever their current delusion thinks is going on.
Design Notes: If you're thinking "Mister B Natural" from MST3K but dressed up as a purple pirate, you've got the mental image about right here. The concept is absurdist, but mechanically they're no joke at all, and can make for a tough (if silly) scene when backed up with some actually mean-spirited thugs who've come along for the ride and some suitable challenges. Super-Fan thinks the Purple Picaroon is the bestest villain ever and may arrange an "introduction" for your heroes in the hopes they become nemeses.
Note that despite the nautical theme, The Picaroon has no die in Swimming, and in fact gets seasick rather easily.
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