Samuel Hakes, aka The Black Miasma, Massive Murder-Cloud

This villain is almost a guaranteed mass-casualty event if he gets into a populated area, so don't let that happen if you can.  If he's feeling mean he might decide to take hostages to toy with, although there's not much he wants that the world can give him. 

Samuel Hakes, The Black Miasma

Samuel Hakes (Prisoner #761-176) was facing a life sentence in prison without parole after being found guilty of multiple spree murders, so volunteering to participate in a research trial for better living conditions seemed like a risk worth taking.  Besides, everyone had heard rumors of another con who'd been granted superhuman strength and durability in a similar experiment.  Maybe Hakes would get lucky too.

Instead, he was exposed to an exotic chemical that led to an irreversible physical transformation, robbing him of his humanity and part of his sanity but also allowing him to escape and resume his killing spree.  The authorities dubbed his new form the Black Miasma - a reasonable description of his new form - and were forced to call in multiple heroes to finally contain him in an airtight portable cell.  Several of them died in the process, giving Hakes a reputation as a hero-killer as well as a mass murderer.

Despite being moved to a max-security super-prison the Black Miasma has escaped several times since then, albeit always for brief periods.  He's even been set free by other villains on occasion, either as a deliberate distraction or in hopes of making an alliance with him for some scheme.  A few have even succeeded in convincing him to cooperate, although others have perished in his deadly haze for their trouble.  While he's largely motivated by murderous rage and hatred toward everyone who still has a physical body, he'd be quick to listen to any plausible offer to assist him in regaining his original form.  He doesn't want to give up his powers in the process, but being able to transform at will would be ideal for him.

Description: A shifting, formless cloud of dark particles.  In its base state it appears to be a sooty haze about fifty feet in diameter (large enough to envelope or fill many buildings) that flows from place to place of its own volition.  At maximum compression it can squeeze itself down to a globular mass about eight feet in diameter with a consistency akin to thick, black bank of smoke, or it can disperse to a maximum diameter of just over one hundred feet.  It can vary its density independent of its total volume, ranging from an almost invisible dark mist to a slimy mass of fog slightly thinner than water.  The being can adopt more structured forms to flow through openings or passages, or throw out pseudopods to pursue a fleeing foe, but a humanoid form is beyond it, only fragments of one like a huge menacing face or a single reaching hand.  Its voice seems to come from nowhere and sounds like a susurrus of falling ash.

Gender: Moved Past It    Age: 31    Volume: Variable, Base Diameter ~50'    Eyes: None

Hair: None                    Skin: None                    Build: Amorphous Cloud

Approach: Relentless

Archetype: Titan (Status Challenge: Analyze Cloud Structure 00  Locate Prime Nexus 0)

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Density Control d10, Size-Changing d8, Intangibility d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Convict Test Subject d8, Stealth d8, Fitness d6

Status: Titan Challenge Start - d12 / Stage 1 Completed - d10 / Stage 2 Completed - d8

Abilities:

Amorphous Form (I) Reduce all damage you take by 6 (at d12 status), 4 (at d10 status), or 2 (at d8 or less status).

Deadly Miasma (A) Attack multiple targets using Density Control.  Hinder those targets using your Min die.

Focused Hate (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Use your Max die.  If the target does not Attack you on their next turn, Hinder them using your Mid die.

Roiling Vapor (R) When Attacked by a roll that includes doubles, remove one success from the Titan's challenge.

Vindictive Pursuit (R) When an opponent moves away from you, you may follow them and Hinder them by rolling your single status die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Annihilation (I) If you can cause massive collateral damage without regard for casualties, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation where a show of overwhelming force would help.

Tactics

The Black Miasma is a murderous but straightforward opponent, often concentrating more on inflicting mass casualties to innocents and mundane law enforcement than defeating the heroes.  His go-to ability when there are victims within the cloud that makes up his being is Deadly Miasma, otherwise he's quick to resort to Overcomes with creative power uses to get at targets cowering from him in supposed safety.  His Amorphous Form lets him shrug off a lot of damage, and Roiling Vapor helps keep his defenses at peak.  If a single hero manages to get his attention (often by applying penalties to him, which hurt his offense and Overcomes a lot) he'll use Focused Hate for payback.  Targets fleeing from him will also draw a Vindictive Pursuit reaction, which is his primary mobility trick.  

His upgrade makes him much more durable and reflects him adapting to his transformation over time.  His mastery leans hard into his homicidal nature and cruelty.

Trivia

The Black Miasma's combination of powers and Titan archetype reflect his status as a gigantic ever-shifting cloud of dark mist.  While not quite fully insubstantial, he can seep through anything short of an air-tight barrier in short order, as well as varying his opacity and overall shape considerably.  His version of Density Control not only affects him, when in contact with solid matter he can slowly penetrate its substance and break it down on a molecular level, effectively disintegrating objects and people.  The process is swifter with organic matter, but even metals and ceramics can gradually be worn down and even a pinhole breach will let him slip through a formerly impenetrable barrier.

He's also remarkably hard to damage due to his makeup and considerable size, although his consciousness is somewhat concentrated in a smaller prime nexus which offers a weak point if it can be located.  Black Miasma's principle limitation is his lack of mobility.  While able to flow about at will even in face of fairly strong winds (anything less than hurricane force) he does so at roughly walking pace and can't actually fly or swim as such.  He can "climb" a building or "walk" across the surface of water, and dropping off a height in low-density form won't hurt him at all, but even a civilian can escape him for a while by running fast enough.

How his senses function is unclear, but he's known to be able to see, hear and feel everything within the confines of his volume, as well as perceiving nearby areas about as well as a mundane human could.  He has to concentrate on a smaller area to really notice details (like the identity of who's moving within him) but has a general sense of what's going on near or inside him.

Meta-textually, Samuel Hakes is (or was, depending on how you look at it) an African-American and "the Black Miasma" is a nod to often-problematic naming practices in comics.  He despises his supranym and using his real name might get you a break when talking to him, or it might enrage him as a reminder of his past depending on his mood.

Blog Content Index

Doctor Whirligig, Colorful Gimmick Villain

A "silly gimmick" villain (notably, spinning, and making other people spin) worthy of the Martian Manhunter, or perhaps Golden Age Flash.  Mechanically effective, but visually absurd and based on science so bad that even a grade school reader would question it.  

Doctor Whirligig

Wallace Washington Topman is a self-trained physicist and electrical engineer who claims to have discovered a new principle of physics that lets him directly transform linear momentum into rotation, producing what he insists on calling a "green shift" (or for lower energy states, a "yellow shift").  He can also directly invert the momentum of an object approaching one of his "gyrolight" gadgets, causing a "red shift" that repels the object.  Absolutely none of this should be possible according to our current understanding of physics.  He explains this via his inspiration for his discovery - the study of UFOs he describes as spinning metallic saucers emitting green, yellow or red light as they raced over his house one night.

It's worth noting that every extraterrestrial individual questioned about this "gyrolight principle" insists it's utterly impossible and no known alien technology employs anything like it.

Despite this, his absurd technology does work, letting him casually manipulate momentum to defend himself and move at incredible speeds with apparent freedom from the limits of inertia, spinning wildly the whole time.  How he does it and why he isn't rendered helpless by his own high-speed rotation remains unclear, but he does it.  Projectiles are sent wildly off course or stopped in their tracks, melee attackers find the momentum of their blows turned against them as they go reeling away in dizzying circles.  He can even "ram" victims with the fringes of his "gyrolight field" and transfer part of his momentum destructively to a target, or send everyone within sight spinning madly away.  This would all be a fantastic scientific breakthrough - if anyone but Wallace could reliably re-create his results, or even explain how to operate the more sophisticated examples of his genius.  Despite being more than willing to explain at length how the "gyrolight principle" works to anyone who'll listen, Topman just can't make anyone else understand, and is widely seen as a fraud or a madman in scientific circles.  

Embittered by this steadfast rejection, Topman has adopted the supranym Doctor Whirligig and set out to gain fame and fortune as a super-criminal, spinning down the same path taken by so many other tech-villains in the past.  Admittedly, most of them looked significantly less ridiculous while doing so.

Description: A rather thin man wearing a reflective silver full-body "retro-spaceman" suit with accordion joints, moon boots, sturdy gloves and a snug hood that leaves only his face exposed.  The suits is studded with small gem-like "gyrolight" lenses.  Three larger hooded lenses are arranged in a vertical column on his thin chest, giving him an unfortunate resemblance to a traffic light.  When his powers are active all the lenses emit bright rays of green, yellow or red light depending on his current power level.  While surrounded by his gyrolight aura he also spins constantly at high rates of speed with his boots just off the ground, darting erratically from place to place like...well, a whirligig.  His tenor voice sounds odd, as though he were speaking into a fan - or spinning wildly with his mouth facing away from the listener most of the time.

Gender: Male        Age: 32      Height: 5'9"       Eyes: Brown

Hair: Light Brown, Pencil Mustache     Skin: Caucasian     Build: Lean, Large-Headed

Approach: Generalist                     Archetype: Fragile

Health:  20 + (5 x H)

Powers: Gyrolight Suit d10, Momentum d8, Speed d8, Inventions d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Banter d8, Criminal Inventor d8, Acrobatics d6

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

Abilities:

Building Momentum (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Use your Max die.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.

Gyrolight Curtain (R) When an ally is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single Gyrolight Suit die.  Boost yourself using the same die roll.

Spinning Away (I) Whenever your personal zone changes, you may immediately move elsewhere in the scene.

Strobing Gyrolight (A) Hinder multiple nearby targets using Gyrolight Suit.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Whirling Whirligig (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Use your Max die.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn using your Min die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health  Include a Gyrolight Spinner-Car d8 lieutenant with the following abilities in the scene.  Bombard (A) Attack all heroes with this vehicle's roll.  Use this ability only if the vehicle is below its starting die size or if the scene is in the Red zone. Escape Plan (R) If the Villain is Attacked roll this vehicle's die.  If it rolls higher than the villain's current Health, both the villain and the vehicle escape the scene.  Recovery (A) Roll the vehicle's die.  The villain Recovers that much health.  Sturdy (I) When rolling a damage save, add +2 to the result.

Master of Mad Science (A) As long as you have access to materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome by using scientific principles and inventions.

Tactics

Doctor Whirligig never stops moving during a fight, spinning in place like a top even when not zooming around.  His mouth never stops either, so expect a lot of monologs whether you want them or not.  He'll use Strobing Gyrolight regularly throughout the scene, as well as his Gyrolight Curtain reaction at every opportunity, then re-invest the resulting bonuses in his other abilities.  Against groups Whirling Whirligig is his main offensive move with a strong defensive rider (often pumped up with bonuses).  When injured or facing single foes he'll use Building Momentum instead for healing, again increased with bonuses.  He can move for free with Spinning Away whenever his personal Health zone changes, including when it increases from healing, so expect him to go zipping around the scene quite a lot as long as he lasts.

With his upgrade he's accompanied by his custom vehicle piloted by a trustworthy henchman with a very strong stomach, which (like its creator) has a lot of bells and whistles but isn't the toughest thing in the world.  His mastery reflects his mad science talents.

Trivia

Doctor Whirligig was inspired in part by fjur's color-coded villain Sirrush, although I'm pushing the concept to its silliest by having this guy literally glow in the GYRO colors as his power reserves (Health) drop - or climb, if his healing tricks work.  When he's defeated his lights literally go out, and it's very appropriate for him to go spinning wildly out of control to smack full-tilt into a wall and knock himself silly.

Because of the way his powers work he absolutely fails at any attempt at stealth unless his opposition is blind.  If quizzed about why he doesn't fill out his ROYGBIV bingo card, he'll be quick to explain that pushing beyond the "Blue Boundary" (much less reaching for indigo or violet) is obviously impossible and would rupture the fabric of spacetime by turning everything into antimatter with negative atomic spin.  Orange, well, he just doesn't like the color orange.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Doctor Whirligig happily works alongside other villains, but his goofy schtick means he's usually seen as a bit of a loser and can only find D-listers willing to work with him.  To compensate he often has a cadre of henchmen equipped with his rather questionable technology backing him up.  They rely on conventional vehicles (usually stolen cars or trucks) to get around, since riding in the Gyrolight Spinner-Car makes them puke their guts out in short order.

Topman's Top Men d8 minion

Description: Doctor Whirligig's signature henchmen, dressed in very similar retro scifi outfits (albeit without the spinning thing or the chest lenses) and carrying scifi weapons that vaguely resemble the offspring of a pistol and a traffic signal.  Doc has a mild phobia about conventional firearms based on an early experimental failure, which is why his long-suffering lackeys use his unreliable inventions rather than simple guns.  Between that and the goofy suits they're very well paid to humor him.  

Spin-Pistol: When you Hinder a target you may reduce the penalty you inflict by one and move the target to an adjacent location in the scene.

Stupid-Looking Protective Suit: You gain a +2 bonus to saves against damage unless you roll a one.

This Stuff Works Better For Doc: Whenever you roll a one on your die, treat the roll as a zero and (if it wasn't a save against damage) gain a -2 "Spinning Helplessly" penalty.

Blog Content Index

Father Cobweb and Attercop, Ruthless Vigilantes With A Paranoid Streak

A pair of ruthless vigilante antiheroes who've recently come to your campaign setting.  They might seem like useful allies against supervillain and mundane criminals at first, but their extreme methods and willingness to kill will likely see them clashing with both the law and your player characters before long.  They're also deeply paranoid and will target the heroes if them show even the slightest signs of potential betrayal.   

Father Cobweb

Nothing definite is known about the origins or true identity of the man called Father Cobweb, although there are suggestions that he may actually have been a member of the clergy at some point rather than merely disguising himself as one.  A ruthless vigilante antihero with a particular hatred for street gangs and mobsters, he isn't shy about resorting to terror tactics backed by deadly force, a viewpoint shared by his partner Attercop.  What he does when not hunting criminals is unknown, and it's quite possible he's obsessive enough that his vigilantism is his life.

The origins of his powers are equally unclear, but they're most likely some kind of natural or experimentally-induced mutation.  His unique metabolism gives him superhuman reaction time and great strength, but his signature power is the ability to exude organic webbing from his skin at will and in great quantities.  This webbing is extremely tough and versatile, and Father Cobweb can swiftly stretch and weave it into a variety of shapes for various uses, varying its adhesion and density as desired.  It's most commonly formed into impromptu nets, lashes, whips and snares, imprisoning shrouds or thrown grappling lines that let him swing around urban areas and attach himself to vertical surfaces with ease.  He can create webbing that has caustic effects on living tissue, causing great pain to those who come in contact with the stuff.       

Description: A tall, thin bald man wearing a traditional Catholic clerical garb - conservative black shirt, shoes and trousers with a priest's collar.  When "working" his head will be tightly wrapped in his own webbing, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed.  Damaging his clothing will reveal similar wrappings over his whole body, serving as light body armor.  He has a deep, commanding voice with a slight Midwestern US accent and no sense of humor at all.  

Gender: Male        Age: Thirties?        Height: 6'2"        Eyes: Black, Red-Rimmed 

Hair: None, Usually Covered in Webbing     Skin: Caucasian     Build: Slender

Approach: Adaptive                           Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  25 + (5 x H)

Powers: Swinging d10, Agility d8, Wall-Crawling d8, Strength d6                         

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Acrobatics d8, Frightening Vigilante Antihero d8, Stealth d8

Status: (# of heroes with penalties) 0 - d6 / 1-2 - d8 / 3+ - d10

Abilities:

Blinding Webs (A) Hinder multiple targets using Swinging.  Use your Max die.  Attack one of those targets using your Mid die.

Inhuman Speed (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Agility die.  Also Boost yourself using that roll.

Practiced Trickery (A) Use an action ability of one of your allies.

Prey On Vulnerability (A) Each hero loses Health equal to the total penalties on them.  Recover the same amount of Health.  Remove those penalties.

Stalking Hunter (I) On your turn, whenever you Attack a target that you haven't dealt damage to yet this scene, also Boost yourself using your Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

Father Cobweb favors a mobile, acrobatic combat style that concentrates on hampering foes with his caustic webbing.  He tries to Attack a new foe each round to maximize the benefits of Stalking Hunter, using the resulting bonuses in as cunning a way as possible.  When facing multiple enemies or fighting alone he relies heavily on Blinding Webs, although he may use Practiced Trickery to imitate Attercop's Caught In My Grip ability using his webs instead.  When facing a single target, Practiced Trickery also gives him access to her Weaving Limbs ability, again using his webbing in place of her cyborg limbs.  Once injured or if his foes are smothered in penalties he'll use Prey On Vulnerability to harm all of them at once while healing himself at the cost of all the penalties in play.  His Inhuman Speed reaction makes him hard to hurt and harder to stop.

His upgrade improves his dice pools considerably, amplifying his Hinders quite a bit while also helping his mobility and durability.  When using the core book's masteries he revels in being a unpredictable foe.  If using the homebrew masteries below he's equally likely to have either of them, usually the same one as Attercop.   

_____________________________________________________________________________

Attercop

Nothing definite is known of Attercop's origin, although she's most likely the product of some mad science experiment or perhaps an illicit super-soldier program.  She certainly reserves her greatest hatred for tech-villains, but no criminal is safe from her and she's quick to resort to lethal force even against mundane thugs and petty crooks.  Her closest human connection seems to be her partner Father Cobweb and they usually "patrol" together when stalking evildoers.  If she has a life beyond "the hunt" it's a complete mystery.

A partial-conversion cyborg, she can just barely disguise herself as a normal human with loose, full coverage clothing and some kind of head covering, and even that ruse fails on close inspection.  Her head and torso sport extensive dermal armor, her eyes have been replaced with clusters of camera lenses, and both legs are braced and reinforced with metallic struts and musculature that run up her spine as well.  Both her organic arms and shoulder have been removed completely, replaced with two complex arrays of four multi-jointed spider-like limbs on each side.  These limbs are deceptively strong and tough, and each of them ends in a three digits that can grip with bone-crushing force or link together and revolve at high speeds like an impromptu drill.  Even more remarkably, she can use all eight of her deadly arms simultaneously with inhuman speed and precision.      

Description: When disguised, she favors a modified Catholic nun's habit that conceals as much of her features as possible, worn over black workout clothing and oversized combat boots.  If she keeps her head lowered you might even miss her cybernetic eyes at a distance.  When revealed (usually after her habit has been shredded) she's clearly a cyborg, hairless and sporting heavy dermal plating.  Her arms have been replaced with eight over-long, vaguely insectoid limbs tipped with triple gripping claws, which move restlessly with inhuman grace.  She uses concealed speakers and an obviously artificial machine-voice program, never moving her lips or jaw to speak.

Gender: Female        Age: Thirties?        Height: 5'10"        Eyes: Mechanical Red Lenses

Hair: None        Skin: Pale, Large Plates of Dermal Armor        Build: Cyborg

Approach: Ninja                         Archetype: Guerrilla

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Bionic Upgrades d10, Vitality d10, Agility d8, Leaping d8, Speed d6

Qualities:  Close Combat d10, Conviction d10, Acrobatics d8, Frightening Vigilante Antihero d8, Stealth d8

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

Abilities:

Caught In My Grip (A) Attack one target using Close Combat.  Use your Max + Min die.  Defend against all Attacks from targets other than that target with your Mid die until your next turn.  All Defended damage is dealt to the target of your Attack instead.

Cyborg Augmentations (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Vitality die.  Also Boost yourself using that roll.

Too Many Eyes, Too Many Limbs (I) If you are outnumbered by nearby opponents, reduce all damage dealt to you by two.

Weaving Limbs (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Hinder that target using your Max + Min dice.

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 Total Chaos (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

Attercop is a frighteningly effective close quarters fighter, relying on her extensive Cyborg Augmentations and Too Many Eyes, Too Many Limbs for defense.  She's at her best in the thick of a fight, picking off one foe after another using Caught In My Grip to protect against her victim's allies.  When facing a single foe she pins them down with her Weaving Limbs instead, greatly hampering their counterattacks.

Her upgrade increases her durability and damage output considerably.  If sticking with core book masteries she exploits her unpredictable nature to gain the upper hand.  If not, she's equally likely to use either of the homebrew masteries below.

_____________________________________________________________________________

As mentioned above, these two villains are likely to share the same mastery when upgraded, with several options to reflect their current plans in your campaign.  Master of Chaos is from the core book, while the other two below come an earlier post here on the blog.  Master Infiltrator is most appropriate when they're facing off against a criminal's stronghold, or planning to "discourage" your heroes by ambushing them in their headquarters or homes.  Master of Terror suits best when they've been allowed to carry out their ruthless vigilante activities for too long, turning even the most law-abiding citizens' opinions against costumed supers and the violence that accompanies them so often.

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.

Blog Content Index

Savant, Criminal Engineer & Technological Plagiarist

A formidable specialist in all things technological.  Just don't tell him magic is real too.  He gets all twitchy.

Savant

Waldo Barrymore is infamous in supercrime circles as a masterful freelance engineer and gadgeteer, but he's looked down upon by many other "mad science" types for his lack of originality and real grasp of fringe science.  An ingenious specialist, he's quite capable of  refining and improving on almost any technology he's allowed to work on but doesn't have the creative spark to truly innovate with all-new designs.  This puts him in an odd position where he gets hired to create or optimize all manner of exotic tools and weaponry by less technically adept villains, but rarely interacts with his intellectual peers.

Operating under the supranym Savant, Barrymore is often found working with the likes of SIN and SEVER although he's not formally part of either organization.  He also freelances for other villains, often taking examples of stolen technology to re-engineer in place of fees.  On rare occasions he'll call in some favors from former clients to get access to a particularly intriguing new device he wants to play with, sometimes even taking to the field himself to ensure he gets what he wants.  He's particularly fond of alien technology and relics of lost super-science civilizations.  While mostly content to remain in his lab, his influence is widespread and running into his clients, his proxies, or his gadgetry is surprisingly common in the course of a hero's career.

The only part of the criminal underground he won't have anything to do with are supernatural types.  Savant neither understands nor believes in so-called "magic" or ghosts, demons, elder gods and the like.  In his eyes it's all just fakery or some form of technology he simply hasn't figured out yet, and he doesn't like being confronted with things that conflict with that world view.  Ironically, he and Syzygy keep crossing paths, much to their mutual consternation. 

Description: A heavyset man with florid, fleshy features.  He wears a dull green boiler suit, sturdy black boots and tight black gloves.  All that is overlaid with a network of metal cylinders connected by back cables, with the cylinders laying along his arms and legs, clustered in a "belt" of sorts at his waist, and filling a bandolier covering much of his torso.  These cylinders form his personal arsenal of inventions and include force field generators, versatile energy projectors, sensory mechanisms and adjustable engineering tools.  His voice is deep and his speech slow and somewhat slurred.   

Gender: Male     Age: Forty-something     Height: 6'1"      Eyes: Watery Blue

Hair: Bald, Walrus Mustache     Skin: Caucasian     Build: Portly

Approach:  Specialized                                

Archetype:  Formidable (Weakness: Magic & Other Supernatural Effects)

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d10, Deduction d8

Qualities: Technology d12, Conviction d8, Monomaniacal Engineer d8

Status: No Weakness Mods - d12 / Both Bonuses and Penalties - d8 / Only Penalties - d4

Abilities:

Cautious Strike (A) Attack using Inventions.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Defend yourself using your Mid die.

Deflection Field (R) Defend against an Attack that only targets you by rolling your single Inventions die.  One other nearby target takes damage equal to the amount of damage prevented.

Determined Strike (A) Attack one target using Conviction.  Use your Max + Min dice.  The target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack.

Swift Recalculation (A) Boost using Deduction.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Remove all penalties on yourself.

Tuned Strike (A) Boost using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Attack using your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Superiority (I) As long as you are manifesting an effect related to a power you have at d12, automatically succeed at an Overcome involving usage of those powers.

Tactics

Savant dislikes taking a direct hand in the any fighting, preferring to let others test his creations rather than risk his own skin.  If forced into combat he'll try to end it as quickly and efficiently as possible, always keeping an eye out for a convenient escape opportunity.  He'll usually open with Tuned Strike to establish a lasting bonus for himself while testing an enemy's defenses, then switch to relying on Cautious Strike to focus down a vulnerable target.  Anyone displaying potent defensive reactions will draw Determined Strike Attacks instead.  His Deflection Field gives him a solid reaction of his own, and he'll put its feedback damage into his primary target whenever possible.  If affected by penalties related to his weakness to magic and the supernatural he'll immediately shed them using Swift Recalculation, which he might also use to maximize his bonuses for a key Overcome (most likely to escape the battle).

His upgrade significantly improves his already-strong die pools and lets him use his mastery for Overcomes using Inventions, which should be pretty common for him given his limited selection of powers to choose from.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Savant's abilities and powers represent his more portable personal gear, but it's common for him and his allies to bring some of his other creations to a conflict.  Some examples are shown below as challenges of various complexity.  These would count as their own scene elements. 

Barrier Field Tripod complex challenge (moderate scene element)

Description: A four foot tall metal tripod frame topped by a glowing orb.  It projects a selective force field that covers the nearby area, protecting anyone with an attuned identifier tab and keeping unauthorized personnel out.  These tabs are quite small and usually worn in an unobtrusive location or sewn directly in to a uniform's fabric. 

This challenge starts in play, set up in single location with any number of villain targets within its force field.  Hero targets cannot enter the force field without taking an Overcome action to bypass or force their way through the barrier, which takes their full turn and does not count as a success for ending the Challenge.  All targets within the field reduce any damage sources originating outside the field by twice the number of successes still needed to Overcome the challenge.

Disable Barrier Field 000

A hero may be able to locate and steal a locator tab from a defeated foe or imitate one's signal, either of which requires a simple Overcome.  Once they've done so the tripod treats them as villain targets for purposes of movement.

Grav-Cage complex timed challenge (moderate scene element)

Description: A small metallic sphere about the size of a baseball, meant to be thrown at a target or concealed and then remotely triggered when a foe draws near.  Its power cell is short-lived but very potent while it lasts.

Start challenge when a hero moves into a location with a villain target.  That hero cannot move or be moved and suffers a -2 to persistent penalty.  Attack and Hinder actions against that hero suffer the same penalty.  These restrictions and mods end when the challenge is fully Overcome or its timer runs out.

Breach Grav-Cage 000  Timer 000

Mindbender Box complex challenge (difficult scene element)

Description: An armored metal cube standing on four short legs, about two feet across and four feet in height.  Its effect is purely psionic and does not require line of sight to function, so it's commonly deployed someplace relatively safe where it can interfere with movement and actions without being an easy target.  The locus of the effect is easily determined even when the box is hidden (you can feel it pushing you away) but it may be difficult to reach or attack.

This challenge starts in play, set up in single location.  Any hero target that starts their turn nearby can take basic actions normally, but must take a minor twist to use any action or reaction ability or to move closer to the Minderbender Box.  This challenge can be dealt with using brute force (treat the Box as having 20 Health and ignore the first two points of damage it suffers from each Attack) or through Overcomes performed by a hero in physical contact with the box (two successes needed) or using psychic powers to interact with it (three successes needed). 

Dismantle Mechanism 00

or

Cancel Out Mindbender Signal 000

_____________________________________________________________________________

Trivia

If I've kept count properly, this marks my 200th different villain Approach/Archetype pairing on this blog, leaving me with a "mere" 52 more to go till I've covered every possibility.  Yay, milestones.

Blog Content Index

Brutallo & Brutalla, Violent Cosmo-God Twins

A pair of largely-identical spacefaring thugs, inspired by Kirby's Eternals and New Gods, various smugly superior alien beings from all across scifi, and a dash of the Wonder Twins as seen through a funhouse mirror (these two get weaker together, not stronger). 

Brutallo & Brutalla

The cosmo-gods are a pantheon of immortal starfaring beings who occasionally amuse themselves by toying with lowly mortals, even those with superpowers.  Some of them claim to embody universal physical principles, philosophical concepts, or moral imperatives.  None of this seem to make them any more compassionate or comprehensible to lesser beings, and their appearance frequently presages disaster.  

Others are underachievers.  Brutallo and his twin Brutalla are underachievers.  They're little more than bullies with a hunger for power and attention, coupled with terrible tempers and the attention span of a toddler.  Their plans usually involve violent intimidation for the sake of proving their raw power, followed by establishing themselves petty tyrants with an entourage of locally-recruited toughs and bullies.  They rarely work with actual peers including each other, although when one of them shows up to terrorize a world the other will often make an appearance shortly thereafter - usually to compete with their twin in displays of gratuitous violence.

Driving off these space thugs with violence can be difficult for non-supers, and even heroes will find them a challenge to capture since they tend to dissolve into raw cosmic energy when soundly defeated.  Fortunately they do get bored easily and are likely to depart of their own accord after they've broken everything interesting they can find and grown tired of being kowtowed too.  They'll happily accept (or demand) offerings of local valuables but have no actual interest in trophies and will usually destroy their accumulated hoard when departing - leaving their followers out of luck and on their own.   

Description: A tall, athletically proportioned human figure (male or female depending on which twin it is) dressed in a skintight white unitard that leaves only their face and hair exposed.  Both wear their flaming hair long, and Brutallo sports a wild flowing beard and mustache that contrasts sharply with his dark blue skin as well.  The twins are invariably surrounded by a aura of yellow-orange Kirby crackle that dims as they take damage.  They both speak bombastically in booming voices.     

Gender: Male (Female)     Age: Eternal     Height: 6'2"          Eyes: Blazing White Orbs

Hair: Flowing Locks of Orange Flame     Skin: Navy Blue     Build: Perfectly Sculpted Physique

Approach:  Ancient                 Archetype:  Loner

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Cosmic d12, Agility d10, Strength d10, Flight d8

Qualities: Close Combat d12, Ranged Combat d12, Imposing d10, Conviction d8, Immortal Cosmo-God d8

Status: (# of Other Allied Villains) 0 - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 3+ - d6

Abilities:

Above Mortal Concerns (R) When you would be Hindered, reduce the penalty to -1.  When an Attack would reduce you to zero Health, reduce the damage to one.

Cosmic Might (A) Hinder multiple targets using Cosmic.  Use your Max die.  Attack each target using your Mid + Min dice.

Immortal Nature (I) If you would be reduced to zero Health and don't have a penalty on you, roll your single Cosmic die and become that Health.

Triumphant Rage (A) Attack using Strength.  Use your Max die.  Recover Health equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Upgrades & Masteries (usually active unless something has weakened them):

Cosmic Shield (I) You cannot be damaged by anything except yourself until the defense shield is destroyed.  The shield has 40 Health, or can be deactivated with three Overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist working on the shield, you can use a Reaction to Attack that hero by rolling your single Cosmic die.  Gain Reestablish Shield (A) Overcome using Cosmic.  Use your Max die.  On a success remove one success from the deactivation challenge.  Alternatively, instead of an Overcome, use your Max die to Recover that much of the shield's Health.  This ability cannot be used if the shield has been completely removed.

Master of Annihilation (I) If you can cause massive collateral damage without regard for casualties, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation where a show of overwhelming force would help.

Tactics:

Brutallo and his twin share the same straightforward, aggressive style in combat.  They rely on their Cosmic Might first and foremost, especially against multiple opponents, leaving them reeling and snared in bonds of searing cosmic energy.  If a single foe draws their ire by resisting, they'll employ Triumphant Rage against them, either battering them in melee or hurling projectiles and debris as the mood takes them.  As cosmo-gods they are Above Mortal Concerns and difficult to hamper or truly defeat, and their Immortal Nature makes winning even a temporary victory difficult.  Even if apparently destroyed they'll eventually reform from the background radiance of the universe.

Unless something has actively weakened them, cosmo-gods will usually be protected by an aura of cosmic power that must be overcome to even attempt to harm them.  Brutallo's true nature is reflected in his destructive mastery, and Brutalla is even meaner.

Trivia

In keeping with the tradition of silly hyphenated alien names in comics, their supranyms are actually mispronounced versions of their actual names, Bru-Tal-Lo and Bru-Tal-La.  It's remotely possible that one or both of these cosmic lunkheads might decide to be "clever" and adopt an alias using alien tech and cosmic power to alter their appearance for one reason or another.  This will almost invariably fall apart when they use their real name anyway, although they might be able to briefly fool a preschooler.  Canny heroes might decide to play along to figure out what they're up to, of course.

"Ambasador Bru-Tal-Lo of the Galactic Federation, you say?  And you've come to invite the world's leaders to a conference on the far side of this interstellar warp gate?  And they're welcome to bring all the superpowered bodyguards they'd like?  Well, let me just get to work sending out all the invitations, then."

Blog Content Index

Pharaoh Robo-Tet, Star of "The Curse of the Mechanical Mummy"

Celebrating the start of October with a cousin of the Hollywood Vampire, this time a cinematic villain from the camp scifi genre.

Pharaoh Robo-Tet

Pharaoh Robo-Tet is fictional even within the context of the game, being a character drawn from the cult classic 1951 B movie "Curse of the Mechanical Mummy!"  He's most likely the result of some mad scientist or a reality warper like Super-Fan, but however he's manifested the mad robot has a villainous script to follow and intends to carry it out - and he's got the raw power to do it if the heroes don't intervene.

Robo-Tet happily monolog about its origins to anyone who hasn't seen the film, explaining that he was built for planetary conquest on the planet Vulcan 65 million years ago.  Caught in its explosive destruction of his home planet during the final war with the Martians and thrown into space, he eventually fell to the primitive planet Earth and became trapped under countless tons of rock.  He was briefly awakened in 2580 BC by ancient Egyptians quarrying stone for the pyramids and immediately began his program of conquest, installing himself as Pharaoh Robo-Tet and beginning to train his new subjects as an army.  Sadly, the primitives were quick to learn the rudiments of his own pyramid-powered technology and managed to return him to stasis, entombing him like one of their inferior organic leaders.

But now his rest has been disturbed again by foolish modern scientists.  Pharaoh Robo-Tet has risen to claim rulership of the Earth again!   

Description: A thoroughly unconvincing robot, easily mistaken for a cheap costume and mostly concealed by a layer of sagging bandages like a mechanical mummy.  The top of its cylindrical head is pyramid shaped, and its face consists of a blank visor and speaking grill that flickers erratically with light when speaking.  Clearly native to a cheap black & white film, it has no color to it at all, only shades of gray.  Its voice buzzes with distortion but still manages a recognizable West Coast accent.     

Gender: Presents Male     Age: 65 Million Years     Height: 6'2"     Eyes: Blank "Metal" Visor

Hair: None     Skin: "Metal" Mostly Hidden By Mummy Wrappings     Built: On Vulcan

Approach: Ancient                   Archetype: Inventor

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d12, Lightning Calculator d10, Teleportation d10, Robot Body ("Power Suit") d8

Qualities: Science d12, Technology d12, Deep Space Knowledge d10, History d8, World-Conquering Alien Robot d8

Status: ( # of inventions & mods) 4+ - d12 / 2-3 - d10 / 1 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Computed Cunning (A) Boost using Lightning Calculator.  Use your Max die.  Boost again using your Mid die, then either make one of those bonuses persistent and exclusive, or Attack with your Min die.

Emergency Displacement (I) If you would be reduced to zero Health and don't have a penalty, roll your single Teleportation die and become that Health.

Sub-Atomic Curse Emitters (A) Hinder multiple targets using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  Attack each of those targets using your Mid + Min dice. 

Superior Alien Technology (R) Discard one of your bonuses to Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn, using the bonus value as the value of the Defend.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Dampening Field (I) +10 Health.  While the scene is in the green zone, all heroes' powers of d8 or higher are reduced by one die size.  In the Yellow zone all of the heroes' powers of d10 or higher are reduced by one additional step (two die sizes total).  In the Red zone, all heroes' power 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 power until this upgrade is removed.

Master of Mad Science (A) As long as you have access to materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome by using scientific principles and inventions.

Tactics

The Pharaoh Robo-Tet is a fictional alien automaton from a black & white 1950s monster movie, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous.  In a confrontation he relies heavily on cycling between Computed Cunning to generate bonuses to fuel his Superior Alien Technology reaction and his stunningly effective array of Sub-Atomic Curse Emitters for offense.  If saddled with lasting penalties he'll generate new bonuses to clear them as efficiently as possible, preserving his Emergency Displacement ability for a final defensive measure.  If defeated he usually self-destructs in a somewhat unconvincing special effect, but he might easily return in the future using another copy of his film.

Robo-Tet will only have his upgrade if he comes from an exceptionally good print of Mechanical Mummy, possibly a fan re-master.  In this form he gains a new passive means of hampering heroes, as well as more freedom to improvise with the script employing unused footage.

Design Notes

While fully as tongue-in-cheek as the Hollywood Vampire, Pharaoh Robo-Tet is a much greater threat even to a team of supers and needs to be taken more seriously.  He might show up in a scene with other celluloid menaces from his own movie or others.  Other likely elements include challenges representing his fictional but weirdly effective reality-warping technology, most of which has a vague Hollywood-Egyptian theme and a pyramid aesthetic.  Players might be able to weaken his hold on reality by confronting him with original props, film crew or actors from the movie - or Robo-Tet might be able to empower itself further by increasing the "view count" of both "Mechanical Mummy" and himself.  Rumor in the lost media community says there may be an uncompleted sequel out there.  What chaos might "Bride of the Mechanical Mummy" wreak upon the heroes' plans?   

Blog Content Index