Go-Go Girl and the Groovy Gadget-Man, Swinging Sixties Super-Foes of Sorts

This hero and villain pairing were a direct result of filling in the background of another hero character I used in a one-shot last month.  They're an interesting non-couple but man, did he have some issues.

Go-Go Girl

Go-Go Girl was a Silver Age speedster hero active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Her powers were the result of exposure to radiation from US nuclear testing, with both her parents having been contaminated by fallout in separate tests and the whole family catching another dose shortly after her birth.  Rather than contracting cancer like her relatives eventually did, she was imbued with fantastic speed, agility and reaction times as well as an "atomic metabolism" that granted phenomenal endurance and the ability to heal rapidly from injuries.  Her career was a fairly brief one, spanning only seven years before dying heroically in 1974 while while rescuing an entire town from a disastrous dam collapse.  Go-Go Girl's civilian identity was never publicly revealed, although the US government is believed to have access to that information in the Top Secret files of the FBI's Superhuman Affairs section.

She generally worked as a solo hero with a focus on crimes and violence targeting members of the so-called "hippie" counterculture, as well as actively supporting the civil rights, women's rights, and anti-war movements of her day.  This earned Go-Go Girl considerable disapproval from some older, more established heroes but made her very popular with her younger peers who were starting to emerge from the Baby Boom in ever-greater numbers.  She also clashed with a number of peer supervillains, many of whom shared some of her beliefs but not her overall altruism and optimism.  The most notable of these was the techno-villainous heister known as the Groovy Gadget-Man, who would go on to create an artificial duplicate of her in later years as an homage to his favorite enemy from his youth.  

Description: A slender, athletic young woman who looks more than a bit like Anne Francis.  She favors a snug silver body suit with knee-high boots for active hero work and various "flower child" fashions otherwise, often accessorizing with peace symbol jewelry in either role - which double as a calling card left behind on baddies she's defeated.  She has a mezzo-soprano voice and can carry a tune almost as well as she dances.   

Gender: Female            Age: 18           Height: 5'3"            Eyes: Deep Blue

Hair: Honey Blonde                  Skin: Tanned Caucasian             Build: Svelte

Background: Performer     Power Source: Radiation     Archetype: Speedster

Personality: Cheerful                   Health (G/Y/R):  28/21/10

Powers: Agility d10, Speed d10, Momentum d8, Vitality d8

Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Creativity d8, Flower Child Superhero d8, Alertness d6, Finesse d6

Status: Green (28-22) - d10 / Yellow (21-11) - d8 / Red (10-1) - d6

Abilities:

Green

Good Karma (I) Whenever you roll a one on one or more dice, you may reroll those dice.  You must accept the results of the reroll.

Groovy Moves (A) Attack multiple targets using Acrobatics. Use your Min die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Principle of Speed (I) When you successfully Overcome, you may end up anywhere in the current environment.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What physical drawbacks do you suffer from going too fast?  Major twist: What critical detail did you speed past earlier that is now coming back to haunt you?  RP: You're fast and don't like to waste time.  You like to keep moving.

Principle of Youth (A) Overcome in a situation where your age or size is an asset.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies gain each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: Who has been put off by your overconfidence?  Major twist: What person that you would hate to let down is now very disappointed in you?  RP: Innocent and cheerful, you can slip into many situations that adults would have trouble with.

Put On A Show (A) Boost or Hinder using Agility.  Use your Max die.  If you roll doubles, Attack using your Mid die.

Yellow

Practiced Routine (R) After rolling during your turn, you may take one irreducible damage to reroll your entire pool.

Ram-O-Rama (A) Attack multiple targets using Momentum.  Use your Max die against one target and your Mid die against each other target.  If you roll doubles, take irreducible damage equal to your Mid die.

Take A Quick Breather (A) You may remove a penalty on yourself.  Then, Boost yourself using Agility.  If you didn't remove a penalty, Recover using your Min die.

Red

Atomic Metabolism (A) Hinder yourself using Vitality.  Use your Min die.  Recover Health equal to your Max + Mid dice.

Step Up The Pace (I) You have no limit to the number of Reactions you can take.  For each Reaction after the first you use in a round, take one irreducible damage or a minor twist.

Timely Heroics (R) When an opponent Attacks, you may become the target of that Attack and Defend yourself by rolling your single Acrobatics die.

Out

Watch Out! (A) Boost an ally by rolling your single Agility die.

Tactics

Go-Go Girl is a fairly basic speedster with the usual high mobility, some strong multi-target abilities and solid dice-fixing tricks, backed up by strong defensive and healing options in a crisis.  In Green she has access to a strong and versatile mod generator with Put On A Show, an offensive multi-target ability in Groovy Moves and die rerolls from Good Karma.  Principle of Speed makes her very mobile when taking Overcome actions as well as potentially earning two hero points at a time if she can also use her somewhat narrow Principle of Youth.

Yellow sees her add another dice fixing trick with her Practiced Routine Reaction.  Her Ram-O-Rama ability is her primary offensive move for dealing raw damage, and her dice manipulation reduces the risk of rolling doubles to harm herself.  Take A Quick Breather gives her a modest Boost option combined with good penalty removal or minor self-healing.

In Red Go-Go Robo she gains a very strong group defensive Reaction with Timely Heroics, which is made even better with Step Up The Pace.  This helps her stay in action until she can use her Atomic Metabolism to do a big Recovery and hopefully get back in the Yellow where she's more comfortable. 

When Out, her appropriately-named Watch Out! ability lets her provide a continuing source of bonuses to her team.

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The Groovy Gadget-Man

Roger Thomas Markson (aka the Groovy Gadget-Man) was a Silver Age villain mostly active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, dropping out of the supercrime scene to serve almost half a century of prison time starting in late 1973.  He was a child prodigy with a natural talent for miniaturized technology using light and sound to manipulate human senses and mental states.  He took to a life of crime after rejecting government attempts to recruit him as a weapons designer in his teens, cutting ties with his parents (who were insistent he take the offer) at the same time.  While active he specialized in heist jobs, robbing banks, payrolls, large chain stores and the occasional millionaire's mansion.  He was scrupulous about using non-lethal weaponry and gadgets, leaving his victims temporarily unconscious or in an altered mental state but physically unharmed.

As his supranym suggests, Markson was deeply involved with Sixties counterculture, with workshops hidden in communes across the country.  He was often accompanied by large numbers of his so-called "hippy heisters" during his thefts, most of whom held to his "no killing" code with a few ugly exceptions.  While it was never proven, the authorities suspect a large fraction of his total take was secretly donated to various progressive social movements of the day.  Even so, it would be  a mistake to think he was some kind of Robin Hood character, and he never undertook a job unless there was money in the offing and plenty of it.

Markson crossed paths with several superheroes during his career, but his recurring nemesis was the speedster Go-Go Girl.  The two had a complicated relationship in many senses which ended when she died in the spring of 1974, just a few months after capturing the Groovy Gadget-Man for the last time.  He was just starting a lengthy prison sentence at the time and to everyone's surprise, chose to serve it quietly for almost 50 years before eventually being released in the early 2020s.  A few years later he resurfaced one last time, staging a classic bank heist that was quickly foiled by a new superhero - Go-Go Robo, a gynoid automaton that he'd built himself and equipped with the memories of his old foe.  Markson died peacefully of cancer while in custody awaiting trial, but his homage to an old frenemy is still carrying on her legacy in 2024.

Description: A thin young man with a deep tan, dressed in sandals, tan bell-bottoms and a wild paisley vest without a shirt.  Always wears oversized glasses whose lenses are marked with dollar signs that glow and/or shift to a hypno-spiral when he's using his powers.  He's festooned in New Age and hippie jewelry that conceal his numerous gadgets.  Often has one or two brightly-colored plastic energy pistols worn on a cowboy-style gun belt - examples of his non-lethal "love gun" technology.  His strong baritone has a slight Californian accent and he tends to mix Sixties slang with abstruse technical terms.  

Gender: Male              Age: 23                Height: 5'8"                Eyes: Brown

Hair: Light Brown, Worn Long        Skin: Suntanned Caucasian        Build: Slender

Approach: Dampening                   Archetype: Inventor

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d10, Presence d8, Remote Viewing d8

Qualities: Science d10, Creativity d8, Silver-Tongued Super-Crook d8, Technology d8 

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

Abilities:

Groovy Gadgets (A) Boost using Inventions.  Hinder using your Max die.  Attack using your Min die.

Jive Talk (A) Attack one target using Silver-Tongued Super-Crook.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each opponent that can see or hear your target using your Min die.

Negative Waves (R) When a nearby hero that you can see invokes a twist, roll your single Inventions die to Hinder them.

Positive Waves (R) Discard one of your bonuses and use its value to Defend against all Attacks against you until the start of your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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 Profitability (I) If you have access to great wealth and other resources, automatically succeed at an Overcome to leverage those resources to get even richer, no matter who pays the price.

Tactics

The Groovy Gadget-Man is in it for the cash and prefers to avoid violence, using non-lethal inventions that leave targets confused, confounded or just plain tripping out rather than physically harmed.  Against crowds his go-to maneuver is to use Jive Talk to single out the biggest threat and send them reeling with psycho-sonics and hypno-shades while spreading some soothing vibes across their allies.  He also has a wide variety of other Groovy Gadgets with versatile effects that he can use as needed, usually Boosting himself to fuel his defensive Positive Waves reaction.  If he sees an opening to use Negative Waves he's quick to take it, and you bet he takes advantage of his Remote Viewing to do so.

His upgrade seeds the area with aerosol "recreational" chemicals and hypno-projectors, leaving people half out of it to start with.  His mastery reflects his monetary motivations.

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The Groovy Gadget-Man occasionally works with other like-minded supervillains but prefers to rely on a mob of his relatively good-natured minions for support.

Hippie Heisters d8 minion

Description: They look like flower children, they act like crooks.  Most rely on non-lethal "love guns" provided by the Gadget-Man, leaving their victims peacefully blissed-out while they make off with the boodle.  A few know some kung fu.  Once in a while their ranks will include some cycle gang members who've crashed the scene with less painless weaponry and much worse intentions, which is a real bummer but what can you do?

Pick one or two abilities from the selection below for each minion group.  Only one ability can be used per turn.

Cheerleader: You gain a +2 bonus to Boost actions.  If you Boost the Groovy Gadget-Man, that bonus increases to +3 instead.

Hell's Angel: You gain a +2 bonus to Attack actions but can never take a Boost or Defend action.

Kung Fu Fighting: If you Attack or Hinder a close target, you gain a +2 bonus.

Love Gun, Baby: When you Attack a target, also Hinder them using the same roll.  When using this ability your Attacks never inflict physical harm and are strictly non-lethal.

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The Un-Being, Endangering Reality Itself

Came up with this one due to Major Twist in an older campaign, and it's been trying to unmake my shared universe ever since. 

The Un-Being

The Un-Being is difficult to describe and impossible to fully understand.  What is clear is that the thing isn't part of reality and seems to damage and degrade its fabric simply by existing within it - if "existing" is even the right term.  Those who've studied the aftermath of its occasional appearances claim that it erases whole swathes of space-time if given enough time and freedom of action to do so.  Even when stopped before the process is complete it leaves scars in the form of dimensional breaches, unreliable local physics, and gross physical distortions of the environment.  Several supers have managed to briefly contain the Un-Being but neither communication nor greater understanding have resulted before its inevitable escape or return to whatever non-real state it originates from.  It's quite possible that the Un-Being is not a unique entity, but to date no more than a single specimen has been encountered at a time.    

Description: A wavering distortion in space roughly in the shape of a human being, visible as a sort of colorless, featureless silhouette that's painful to look at directly.  It doesn't seem to truly be part of reality, silently stalking through objects as though they weren't there as it goes about its inexplicable activities.  Anything its form overlaps for an extended period slows fades away, growing cold, colorless and brittle as it does so.  It does not or cannot speak, and telepathic probing reveals nothing but a hole in the universe. 

Gender: Uncertain        Age: Unknown        Height: Unstable        Eyes: Unseen

Hair: Uncut            Skin: Uncovered            Build: Unnatural

Approach: Dampening                      Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Unravel Reality d10, Intangibility d8, Remote Viewing d8 

Qualities: Otherworldly Mythos d10, Alertness d8, Conviction d8, Unmaker d8

Status: (# Heroes With Penalties) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Attacking Emptiness (R) When Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, Defend by rolling your single status die, and the Attacker suffers that much damage.

Bound To Nothingness (A) Hinder using Unravel Reality.  Use your Max die.  This penalty is persistent and exclusive.  As long as this penalty is on the target, reduce their highest power die of your choice by one die size.  Attack with your Mid die.

Gaze of the Abyss (A) Hinder multiple targets using Unravel Reality.  While a hero has this penalty, reduce all their power dice by one size.

Witness Your Mistakes (R) When a nearby hero you can see invokes a twist, roll your single Unravel Reality die to Hinder them.

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 the Unfathomable (I) If you are in a situation involving otherworldly forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of unknowable entities beyond our reality.

Tactics

The Un-Being's goals are inscrutable and there's some doubt as to whether it's even sapient rather than some form of unnatural anomaly, but its actions are actively harmful to the fabric of reality and everyone within it.  Sufficient effort can disrupt the thing, causing it fray at its edges until it withers away to nothing - if it was truly there to begin with.  If interfered with it will first use Gaze of the Abyss to sweep the area with an eyeless glare, then spread Bound To Nothingness penalties around as many targets as possible - quite possibly including those who mistakenly believe it to be their allies.  It reacts to simple aggression with Attacking Emptiness while watching for openings to use Witness Your Mistakes.

Note that its Remote Viewing power represents the fact that objects, people, and even distance are largely meaningless to whatever passes for sight to the Un-Being.  Neither walls nor smoke nor darkness can hide you from the Gaze of the Abyss, and if you have its attention it can Witness Your Mistakes from almost any vantage point.

Its upgrade reflects its activities weakening the fabric of reality itself, while it mastery is the best reflection of its otherwise unknowable goals.

Design Notes

This thing (or possibly un-thing) was the result of a Major Twist coming up during a clash with the villainous group known as the Odds in my second-to-last campaign.  Specifically, the villain Vestige got hit with the Final Wrath ability, and while the damage did put her Out it wasn't long before the Un-Being manifested where she'd fallen.  While it was apparently hunting for her (she was being carted away to a supers detention facility at the time) it was doing immense damage as it did so and the heroes were forced to confront it.

The Un-Being made a couple of return appearances in the next campaign.  It was apparently hunting the former campaign's hero team, who made cameos as NPC lieutenants interacting with the new set of PC heroes.

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Paycheck, Trust Fund Villain

Proud offspring of some of the worst people to come out late-stage capitalism, the only redeeming feature this villain has is that he's too disinterested to have political aspirations.

Paycheck

Nigel Wake is the scion and sole heir of four generations of highly successful white collar criminals, each of whom added to the family fortune through embezzlement, tax evasion, and a bewildering variety of fraudulent dealings, all without ever serving more than a few years now and then in the most comfortable of prisons.  It was expected that young Nigel would follow their footsteps, but once he inherited his trust fund at 21 he decided to pursue a different path, one more suited to his tastes than sitting in an office manipulating the books in his favor.  He would become a supervillain, and simply steal a new fortune.  Thus Paycheck was born.

Of course, there was no reason not to take advantage of his resources to do so, nor does a gentleman of his social standing do the grunt work.  No, he invested wisely in some defensive gear while exploiting family contacts in the criminal underworld to hire a team of the most reliable villainous allies money could rent before staging his first heist.  That success led to more, and while his contracted crime spree was eventually stopped and most of his hirelings arrested, Nigel himself got away scot free.  Covert legal assistance kept his temporary allies' jail time to a minimum and left Paycheck with a reputation in the supervillain community as a reliable employer and uncommonly rational mastermind type.

Nigel doesn't feel pressed to "work" more often than his (expensive) lifestyle calls for, but when he does Paycheck will recruit a new team, launch another series of financially lucrative crimes, then fade away again to enjoy the fruits of others' labor.  

Description: An anonymous male figure in a sleek suit of fully-enclosed black-and-gold battle armor.  While stylish and visually impressive the suit doesn't seem to actually do much, lacking integral weapons, mobility aids, or heavy armor.  It provides good environmental regulation, modest personal protection and seems to have a potent communication array, while also supporting a bandolier of minor gadgets - none of which, oddly enough, are technically illegal, although some of the self-defense chemical sprays and flashbangs tread pretty close to the line.  The helmet includes a voice modulator and amplifier, usually producing a powerful baritone when ordering around his allies.  

Gender: Male        Age: Early Twenties        Height: 5'11"        Eyes: Chestnut Brown

Hair: Medium Brown, Curly     Skin: Perfectly Tanned Caucasian     Build: Lithely Athletic

Approach:  Tactician                     Archetype:  Squad

Health:  25 + (5 x H)

Powers: Enormous Wealth d8, Presence d8, Gadgets d6, Power Suit d6

Qualities: Persuasion d10, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Dilettante Supervillain d8, Insight d6

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

Abilities:

Exploitive (I) As long as you have at least one ally nearby, you may reroll all ones on your dice.

I'm Management, Not Labor (A) One ally takes a basic action now, using their Max die and rerolling all ones rolled during that action.

Time To Earn Those Bonuses (A) Boost using Persuasion.  Use your Max die.  That bonus applies to every ally's action until the start of your next turn.

You Owe Me One (R) When another villain is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single status die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, but usually in effect if there's any plausible way for his vehicle to be present - walking to a heist is for the poor):

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health.  Add a Chauffeured Getaway Vehicle d12 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene:  Escape Plan (R) When Paycheck is Attacked, roll this vehicle's die.  If it rolls higher than Paycheck's current Health, both he and the vehicle escape the scene.  Recovery (A) Roll the vehicle's die.  Paycheck Recovers that much health.

Master of Profitability (I) If you have access to great wealth and other resources, automatically succeed at an Overcome to leverage those resources to get even richer, no matter who pays the price.

Tactics

Paycheck's not interested in getting his own hands dirty during a job, and rarely takes direct action against heroes himself.  He tends to rely on motivating his villainous "contractors" with Time To Earn Those Bonuses at first, selectively switching to I'm Management, Not Labor to grant extra actions to key personnel (or the last ally still standing) when the time seems right.  You Owe Me One helps keep other villains (but not minions or lieutenants) in action longer while rewarding Paycheck with bonuses of his own, while Exploitive offers some dice fixing as long as he has some assistants nearby.  If he finds himself alone in a scene he'll usually simply surrender, expecting his high-power lawyers to keep him from ever seeing the inside of a prison.

His upgrade will be in effect unless there's absolutely no way for him to have an escape vehicle along, and since he can afford super-tech equipment like flying cars, personal submersibles, and even spacecraft he has a lot of options there.  Regardless of its exact form, its abilities play an important part in keeping Paycheck safe and it will usually concentrate on healing or protecting him when possible.  His mastery reflects his skill at picking lucrative targets for villainy, upholding the family tradition of accumulating obscene wealth by shady means.

Design Notes

Of the villains currently on this blog, likely villainous "contractors" for Paycheck to sign up include Ascendant, the Brute Squad, Dead-Beat, Firebug (with or without his daughter in tow), the Mighty Bullfrog, Orb-Master, the Purple Gang, Southpaw, Strongarm, Ultrashock, possibly the Hooligans Three (if they can convince him they're not too young for the job), and the duo Hare & Tortoise.  Paycheck rarely uses mere minions or lieutenants, preferring quality over quantity.

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Musclemind Maximus, An Empowered Menace

When I used the alt-universe villain group Klass K in my last campaign my heroes wound up victorious in the final clash but it was a close thing, with a city-wrecking Doomsday Device being disarmed at the very last moment and even then only by accepting a Major Twist.  Kommander Konquest escaped on her own, while Kid Klotho, Troublemaker and Twofold were all defeated and arrested but vanished before trial, involuntarily hurled back to Earth-K as their time on the campaign Earth ran out.  Musclemind was believed dead, having been chucked into a vat of boiling chemicals when defeated - not that anyone else on the team was sorry to see him go.  However, I had plans for that Major Twist, and a good villain never stays dead.

The campaign wrapped up before I got around to working in his return, but I did write up a new form for him as seen below.  Turns out the chemicals he fell into were similar enough to the ones that had originally given him his powers that his battered body assimilated them, not only growing in both power and stature but also freeing himself from the dimensional stress issues Earth-K residents normally suffer from.  This world was now his to toy with...or would have been, if we were still playing.

Musclemind Maximus

The creature known as Musclemind Maximus was originally native to the Earth-K alternate universe, where he was the sole survivor of biochemical mass casualty event that granted him staggering physical strength backed up by enormous psychic abilities while costing him whatever knowledge and specialized skills he had in his former life.  He also developed a textbook case of supervillain megalomania and is now driven largely by instinctual responses backed with an overwhelming sense of superiority.

While formerly a "trainee supervillain" in the Klassroom training program, he never accepted the role and regarded the other Klass K villains as his lackeys - lackeys who ultimately failed him, and will pay for their failure should their paths cross his again.  With his further empowerment he no longer cares to rely on such flawed tools, and fully intends to conquer this new Earth through his own might.  He might just have the power to do so, since he's now a fifty foot tall juggernaut of unstoppable physical might with cosmic-level mental powers.  Only his shaky sanity and poor planning skills stand in the way - and your heroes, of course.

Description: A towering humanoid standing almost fifty feet tall, almost as broad across the shoulders as they are tall and rippling with muscles.  They have almost no neck, with their bulging oversized head clearly showing elaborate cortical convolutions beneath their nigh-impenetrable skin.  That brain sprawls down the rear of their head and merges, hunchback-like, with the creature's upper spine.  A web of arcing purple-white energy crawls across its massive frame.  The sexless thing wears nothing but an aura of power.  Their voice is a bellowing roar full of brag and bombast, and their telepathy is equally unsubtle.       

Gender: Male          Age: 22          Height: 49 feet tall         Eyes: Icy Blue

Hair: None        Skin: Purplish-Blue        Build: Inhumanly Massive and Over-Muscled

Approach:  Prideful

Archetype:  Titan (Status Challenge: Overload Mental Barriers 00  Disrupt Nervous System 0)

Health:  55 + (5 x H)

Powers: Strength d10, Telekinesis d10, Telepathy d10, Momentum d8 

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Conviction d10, Fitness d8, Ranged Combat d8, Raving Megalomaniac d8

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

Abilities:

Psychokinetic Tempest (A) Attack multiple targets using Telekinesis.  Hinder those targets with your Min die.

Hapless Gnat! (A) Attack using Strength.  Use your Max die.  The target can either be Hindered using your Max + Mid + Min dice, or be unable to take actions other than using an Overcome to attempt to escape.

You Will Be First To Fall! (A) Attack using Conviction.  Use your Max + Min die.  Defend against all Attacks against you by other targets until the start of your next turn with your Mid die. 

Psychic Crush (A) Hinder using Telepathy.  Use your Max die.  That penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Mental Barriers (I) Reduce all damage taken by you by 6 (if your status is d12), 4 (if your status is d10), or 2 (if your status is d8 or less).

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, but usually in effect unless recently defeated and still recovering):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  All power dice increase one step in size.

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

Musclemind Maximus is a solo threat, usually accompanied in a scene only by environmental effects and challenges, including Doomsday Devices he's gotten ahold of or copied after some telepathic spying.  Any other villains appearing a scene will be less allies than opportunists, and are as likely to draw his ire as heroes if they attract his attention.  In combat, he'll seek to eliminate foes as rapidly as possible while reveling in his own might with a variety of attacks.  He'll usually open by using Psychokinetic Tempest to size up his foes.  He then selects a key target to cripple with Psychic Crush and then renders them helpless to do anything but make Overcomes to escape with Hapless Gnat!  If the victim fails to escape, Musclemind Maximus will attempt to finish them off while ignoring other Attacks with as many uses of You Will Be First To Fall! as required.  Otherwise he generally repeats the three-step process as often as he can, relying on his Mental Barriers and high Health to outlast his foes while running out the scene timer.

Musclemind Maximus is fond of building varied dice pools to reflect different ways to use his abilities.  For example, Hapless Gnat! might be Strength + Close Combat to represent an actual grab, or Strength + Ranged Combat if he hurls a mass of wreckage that pins the target beneath it.  You Will Be First To Fall! might use any power, from Strength or Telekinesis to for a crushing physical or mental grip to Telepathy for an agonizing psychic assault or Momentum to trample a foe into the ground.     

His upgrade will almost always be in effect unless he's recovering from a recent defeat, and his mastery reflects his fondness for extortion schemes involving apocalyptic Doomsday Devices.

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Othar Kurst and His Devil's Dozen

An immortal villain who's grown tired of eternity, inspired by the protagonist of the dreadful Casca novel series mashed up with the Michael Moorcock's fallen Eternal Champion Prince Gaynor the Damned.

Othar Kurst

The man known today as Othar Kurst was once a bloody-handed reaver in a past so distant even he can't recall it clearly.  After leading a particularly egregious massacre he attracted the attention of something that passed for a god, resulting in being cursed to live a life of war until the final judgement arrived, never knowing peace and doomed to see all those around him age and die.  In the many centuries since then Othar has never found a way to escape his living damnation, but his attempts to do so have made him the plaything of even darker entities on many occasions.  These shadowy masters have granted him the ability to summon an arsenal of eldritch weaponry at will, taught him foul magics to supplement his fighting prowess, and given him the ability to cross the world through unnatural paths in service to their schemes, but never a hint of peace or hope.

Having fought in countless pointless conflicts, Othar the Curst has resigned himself to the futility of his existence.  In the modern day he plays at being a supervillain but his heart's rarely in it.  He fights mostly for money to fund the debaucheries that let him forget his woes for a few hours or days, but occasionally his unearthly masters will drive him to carry out more arcane tasks or make inexplicable alliances with other villains.  The only thing that might motivate him to show real enthusiasm is a hint of something that might break his curse - or a real possibility of the world itself ending and freeing him at last.

Description: Tall, dark and handsome, but exuding a palpable aura of menace that keeps most people at arm's length.  He's worn many uniforms over the years, and currently favors paramilitary gear suitable to his environment when in the field and tailored suits when "relaxing" or on covert ops.  Even in uniform he rarely carries weaponry, preferring to rely on conjured melee weapons and bolts of dark magic when need be.  His cold, deep voice is tinged with weariness and cynicism, and there seem to be few languages (living or dead) that he isn't familiar with.      

Gender: Male     Age: Centuries At Least     Height: Six Feet Exactly     Eyes: Dark

Hair: Raven Black     Skin: Swarthy, Weather-Beaten     Build: Muscular, Broad-Shouldered

Approach: Ancient                     Archetype: Squad

Health: 35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Vitality d12, Eldritch Arsenal d10, Teleportation d10, Infernal d8 

Qualities: Fitness d12, Imposing d12, History d10, Magical Lore d8, Eternal Warrior d8

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

Abilities:

Accursed Onslaught (A) Attack using Eternal Warrior.  Use your Max die.  Defend all nearby allies using your Mid + Min dice until the start of your next turn.

Bad Company (I) Increase the damage you deal by the number of nearby non-minion allies.

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

Unearthly Foresight (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll the dice pool of someone Attacking or Hindering them.

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 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

Othar Kurst is quick to resort to violence but no longer finds much thrill in combat.  He'll try to remain close to any important allies (particularly his fellow Devil's Dozen lieutenants) so they can benefit from his curse drawing attention to him when he uses Accursed Onslaught and he can deal extra damage from Bad Company.  He tends to reserve his Unearthly Foresight reaction for Hinders that would apply a -3 or larger penalty, although any spiked roll is also likely to draw its use.  Keeping penalties off himself is important due to Living Damnation, but he'll rely on his allies to accomplish that most of the time rather than using his own actions doing basic Boost or Overcome actions.

His upgrade improves his durability and damage output, and represents a bout of unusual determination in pursuit of a grudge or outside supernatural forces empowering him.  Such forces often want something in exchange, which his mastery makes easier to accomplish.

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Othar Kurst is usually accompanied by a hand-picked cadre of veteran mercenaries with the best gear dirty money can buy.  He almost always has at least three of them with him, and there might be as many as a dozen if at full strength.  They're deadly fighters, and have been specially trained to help Othar (and other villainous allies) operate at the peak of their capabilities.

The Devil's Dozen d10 lieutenants (12 of them at maximum strength)

Description: Throughout his long life Othar Kurst has made a habit of surrounding himself with a coterie of hardened killers to serve with him on the battlefield.  He selects only the best of the worst, as it were, recruiting new warriors with promises of obscene wealth and the chance to indulge one's battle-lust without restraint.  None of them tend to last long, either dying in combat, through internecine strife and treachery, or deserting when confronted with the horrors their jaded employer takes for granted.  In the modern day Othar's "Devil's Dozen" are armed with the best military-grade gear and weaponry the black market can provide, a far cry from the disgraced knights and berserk raiders that once served him.

Best of the Worst: You gain a +2 bonus to Attack actions as long as at least one other Devil's Dozen lieutenant is nearby.  This increases to a +3 bonus if Othar Kurst is also nearby.

You!  Get Me Out Of This!: At the start of your turn, you may remove one penalty from a nearby villain target.  Reduce your die size by one step if you do so.

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Design Notes:  As tough as Othar Kurst and his allies are to deal with, this is actually the "restrained" version of the character, deliberately using sub-optimal die pools to represent his ennui and lack of enthusiasm for yet another meaningless fight.  If you want to see what he was like centuries ago when he was more motivated, change his powers, qualities and abilities as follows:

Powers: Eldritch Arsenal d12, Vitality d10, Infernal d10, Teleportation d8 

Qualities: Close Combat d12, Imposing d12, Fitness d10, Cursed Immortal d8, Magical Lore d8

Abilities:

Ancient Blades (A) Attack using Eldritch Arsenal.  Use your Max die.  Hinder a target dealt damage this way using your Max + Min.

Bad Company (I) Increase the damage you deal by the number of nearby non-minion allies.

Eternal Malice (A) Attack using Imposing.  Use your Max die.  Defend all nearby allies using your Mid + Min dice until the start of your next turn.

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

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Sentinel Comics RPG Gameplay Overview Part 2: Putting A Session Together

The previous post in this series talked about the types of scenes that will make up most of session - Action, Montage, and Social.  This one's going to look at how to mix and match them in play and what else goes on outside of the framework of scenes.  

Basic Structural Considerations

As a general rule, you don't want to have two scenes of the same type play out back to back.  The mechanics of Health Recovery also dictate that you want to try to include at least one Montage scene between every two Action scenes.  Keeping that in mind, when prepping for a session you'll want to consider how to lay out scenes to tell the story you have in mind - but don't get too fixated on sticking to plan or you'll wind up railroading the players, which no one really wants.  

Start At The Beginning

The easiest (and arguably most important) part of a session to plan is the beginning, which will do a lot to sent events in motion and determine tone.  Everything after the first scene or two is increasingly likely to be derailed by player actions and wind up surprising you to some degree.  It's fine if that happens as long as everyone's enjoying themselves, so don't worry about it.  

That "everyone" does include the GM, so keep that in mind if the players are pulling you into something you really don't want to pursue right now, like hunting for an old foe when an unrelated current crisis is right in front of them.  It's better to make note of their interest and tell them up front that you'll address it in the future but show them that there's something more urgent to deal with at the moment.  Most players will be pretty cooperative about that sort of thing as long as you keep faith and do actually follow up when an opportunity arises - perhaps next session, perhaps in an improv scene later in this one.

As to why you might feel the need to nudge the players like that, you won't always be up to improv something for them right away, or you might have planned events that will do what they want but they don't (and can't) know that yet.  And if we're being honest, sometimes you have an climactic scene that you really think they'll enjoy but won't come off if the team pursues a side issue this session.  It's okay to want to show off something you spent effort on once in a while, just as it's okay for individual players to get the spotlight to themselves now and then.  Everyone deserve some moments of awesomeness, even the GM.

Climaxes Do Matter

The other part of a session that's worth some extra planning effort is some kind of climax.  These are usually Action scenes, but don't have to be.  A powerful Social scene where characters reach an emotional catharsis or uncover deeply hidden secrets can be just as effective as a showy set-piece battle or the most desperate chase, and they require less prep time as well - just some notes about key points that need to come up, NPC motivations and perhaps some light dialog scripting.  Action scene climaxes can be uncommonly difficult or elaborate but don't always need to be, sometimes just soundly thrashing some rival villains is plenty good enough.  

One thing you want to watch out for is budgeting time for your big scene.  They often come late in a session and most groups are playing on some kind of a real-world clock.  You can really wreck an otherwise-terrific climactic scene by having it interrupted with people having to leave midway through to get to work, your play venue closing or similar issues.  If you expect your scene to run an hour and a half and you've agreed to end in thirty minutes, do everyone a favor.  End on a cliffhanger and run the climax first thing next time instead of risking going over or trying to speed-run things.  It's not ideal, but it might actually work out better since everyone will be rested and ready to go next time you play.  

I'd even argue that it's a good idea to run your big scene no later than the middle of a session when people are still fairly fresh and you have plenty of time, then fill in the rest of your time with a proper denouement and perhaps teasers for next time.  If you want to really be radical about narrative structure, plan your "finale" as part of the beginning of the session (which you know you're going to get to) and let the rest of it play out as denouement and a build-up to a cliffhanger that lets you start next session with another climactic scene.  This wouldn't work well at all in most media, not even comic books, but roleplaying is its own type of entertainment and operates by different rules.  Many people are suffering some play fatigue by the end of a session, which is a problem if you're committed to having your climax as the end of things. 

Getting From Point A To Point B

With a beginning and a climax planned out, getting from one to the other is likely wind up needing some improv unless your players are uncommonly predictable.  You can and should still lay out basic ideas for the other scenes but they don't need as much detail since they may get revised or even discarded entirely depending on how things play out.  Most of them will be relatively simple Montage and Social scenes anyway, so this is the "easy" part of session prep.  

While it's entirely possible to add more Action scenes (which will require more effort as usual) into this part of the process, you really need to think about your time budget when doing so.  Many groups struggle to do even two of them is a play session, although there are so many variables involved you really have to learn to judge for yourself what your group is capable of.  I'll discuss time budgets further in the next post in this series.

Pacing And Tone

So how do you open a session?  It may be a good idea to do a brief synopsis of last session's events, although I prefer to leave that up to the players to actually do.  If nothing else listening to the things they misremember can be amusing, and you may get some ideas from them, perhaps even retconning events to fit - this is a game about comic book tropes, after all.

After that, that beginning scene you planned comes into play.  Consider your options:

Starting with an Action scene immediately throws the PCs into some crisis situation.  Things are urgent and they need to act now.  It's a good way to get players engaged in the session from the very start, lets them roll some dice and use their cool abilities, and helps remind everyone of the mechanics at the same time.  It also means the heroes are likely to take some damage early on, making an immediate follow up Montage scene more meaningful, or you could plan a Social Scene to provide some information about what just happened and then do a Montage as the heroes follow up on that info.     

There are many ways to fit this kind of in media res opening into your game.  A few examples include:

• The team is suddenly assaulted by old enemies.  If victorious, the heroes have a Social scene where they can interrogate defeated foes briefly before they're carted off by the authorities.  If they lose, the Social scene consists of being taunted by their enemies until they're driven off by police or other allies, but they might trick the bad guys into revealing something they shouldn't have.  Either way, a Montage scene follows where the heroes can heal or act on information gathered to gain bonuses.
• The heroes are out with their supporting cast when they get caught up in a disaster and opportunistic looting.  The scene is complicated by the need to get civilians to safety and minimize damage to the surrounding area.  Follow up with a Social scene with very different tones depending on whether they succeeded or failed.  A Montage scene follows where the heroes can heal or investigate the cause of the disaster.
• The session begins with the heroes in a "Danger Room" training session, which might or might not go horribly awry.  When they've finished, start a Social scene where they can review their performance with NPC observers, then run a Montage scene showing how they process lessons learned or patch up their bruises and deal with any humiliations they suffered.
• The scene is a hot pursuit of fleeing criminals, loaded with challenges to cut off escape routes and overtake them and an environment that defines the chase route.  This leads to a Social scene where the heroes can interact with their prisoners (if any), police, news reporters or bystanders, some of whom will offer enough assistance (medical or otherwise) to move into a Montage Recovery/Boost scene.

Alternately, you could start out with a Social scene.  This is a good way to provide opening exposition, perhaps reviewing earlier events or highlighting a new menace that will be the focus of this session.  You might flow from there to a Montage to let the players prep bonuses going forward, or throw them straight into an Action scene - or even move to a different Social scene if that's where the players want to take things.  Social scenes are the "safest" scene type to run back-to-back but you'll still want to make them as distinct from one another as possible, eg go from a government briefing room to talking to your informants in a dive bar.  Social scenes may or may not involve Overcome rolls, so they may generate early twists for the players to deal with.

Examples of an opening Social scene include:

• The session opens with an official recruiting the heroes to investigate a strange phenomenon in a distant locale, with opportunities to negotiate for more freedom of action and time to work on site.  Twists result in greater oversight and tight time limit before other (possibly disastrously misguided) methods are employed.  This leads to a Montage scene as they travel to the site and review reports and data or employ their own unique abilities to gather info for bonuses, most likely leading to an Action scene either at the site or when they're intercepted by mysterious foes.
• A whistleblower approaches the team with news of corporate or government corruption.  After delivering some info, they abruptly drop dead, either by stealthy assassination or slow poison.  This can lead to a second Social scene where they're attempting to gather more info from contacts associated with the corrupt organization, which will be interrupted at some point by an Action scene where assassins try to stop the heroes from getting any farther.
• The team is making an appearance at a civic event when villains appear to settle a grudge.  The heroes can use the stage's sound system to to encourage the crowd not to panic and disperse safely while others delay the villain with banter or persuasive arguments.  A really successful Overcome might even convince the enemy to take the fight somewhere that collateral damage won't be an issue.  One way or other there's going to be an Action scene and a fight, but if the heroes were successful in the opening scene they may have an easier time of it and they'll find the eventual Montage scene more beneficial, with defeated villains giving up info for bonuses more easily and victorious ones helping with Recovery and congratulating them for putting up a good fight even if they take the heroes prisoner.
• The heroes meet with another hero team to discuss an impending crisis.  As they talk it becomes clear that something's wrong with the other heroes.  Twists when attempting to discover what's wrong will trigger an Action scene as the other team (mid-controlled?  evil doppelgangers?  android duplicates?) attacks.  If combat isn't triggered the PC heroes may get a Montage scene to prep themselves for the inevitable betrayal, otherwise they get the usual opportunity to heal and examine the defeated not-heroes for Boosts.      

Finally, you could open with a Montage scene.  This is a little more unusual, but is good for giving bonuses to heroes so that they can handle a harder scene that's coming.  In rare circumstances you might not allow a full heal-up between sessions (usually when it would make no narrative sense due to some kind of cliffhanger ending last session), in which case a Montage will also let the Recover some Health immediately.  Usually you'll go from an opening Montage straight to an Action scene, but putting in a Social scene in between is possible too.

Possible Montage scene openings include:             

• The last session ended just before the heroes were going to confront a major foe who's challenged them to a final battle.  They have the opportunity to prepare, Boosting themselves using their experiences from past fights with the same villain.  They'll have a Social scene before the battle starts as the villain boasts about how doomed they are.  Successful Overcomes might throw the enemy off and give the heroes initiative first round, let them spot and potentially avoid an environmental hazard, or even alter the next scene tracker by removing a Green zone box and adding a Red.  Then the Action scene begins.
• The team is part of a joint strike force facing a planetary invasion.  They can use their Boost opportunities to help ready themselves or their allies before confronting their foes.  Once the action scene plays out another Montage occurs, with allies returning the favor by aiding hero Recovery if needed or providing morale or equipment based Boosts.  This might be followed by a Social scene as they force is debriefed, or it might roll into another Action scene if the pressure is really on.
• Last session ended with the heroes battered and barely victorious after a hard fight, but enemy reinforcements are closing in fast.  They keep their Health and personal Status from that session rather than healing to full, and have just enough time for some quick Recovery or to Boost themselves by setting up an ambush.  The following Action scene may be brutal, but the GM could do several things to adjust the difficulty - allowing the heroes to both Recover and Boost in a single Montage, for example, or adding a Social scene with the commander of the reinforcements that might bluff or intimidate them into delaying their a assault for a second Montage opportunity or degrading the die size of their minions.
• The heroes are preparing to testify at the trial of a criminal they captured.  They can use Boosts to ready themselves by practicing their testimony with the prosecutor, buying a decent suit if they aren't appearing in costume (or patching up their costume if they are), studying the defense attorney's past trials to look for tricks and traps they like to use on witnesses, or just watching a lot of Perry Mason if their die pool is d4, d4, d6 here.  The trial itself is probably a Social scene or series of them as different witnesses take the stand and evidence is presented.  How much of the session is occupied by legal procedure depends on how much your table enjoys that sort of thing, and you could experiment with the players temporarily roleplaying the prosecutor, other witnesses or even the judge when they aren't on the stand themselves.  Alternately, there might just be one relatively Social scene where each hero testifies, followed by an Action scene of some kind.  Perhaps there's an escape attempt aided by villainous allies, an attempted assassination of one or more witnesses or even the defendant ("He knows too much and must be silenced!"), or for something more unique a mentalist villain might assault the courtroom telepathically, sucking the jury into his mindscape to tamper with their minds and accidentally pulling teh heroes in as well if they don't have  away in themselves.    

  

The next post in this series will address a few other considerations for GMs and then we'll turn to more player-facing subjects.

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Sentinel Comics RPG Gameplay Overview Part 1: The Basic Ingredients

Seems like it would be worthwhile to look at the actual gameplay of the SCRPG.  Most of my readers have probably played already, but there are always new folks looking to get a feel for the game and sometimes explicitly spelling things out will be helpful even for veterans.  Every group's "normal game session" will vary from the next, but there are enough commonalities to make some generalizations.   

So what does an actual session consist of?  Gameplay is largely going to be divided between the three types of scenes - Action, Montage, and Social - with the mix of those types defining that session's focus and tone.  In most cases you don't want to use two scenes of the same type back-to-back, especially for Action scenes.  Spacing out the different types will help make each more memorable as well as offering more variety for players with different preferences in gameplay.  

Its worth noting that none of the scene types have strictly defined durations, lasting as long as they need to to support the narrative.  Most Action scenes will be fast and frenetic, but you can use their mechanics for dealing with any event that has a clear ending point like a lengthy political campaign, an attempt to cure a character of a terminal disease, or a natural disaster that sprawls over days or weeks.  Montage scenes are usually slower-paced and fast forward through "the boring stuff" by racing through hours, days or even months of time, but they can be compressed into a few minutes of desperate pep talks and recovery in between waves of alien invaders assaulting the White House.

Action Scenes

Action scenes are the most mechanically complex and for most groups will probably take up at least half of your total play time.  Session lengths vary enormously from group to group, and individual scenes are equally variable depending on many factors, but in my experience you can expect to do anywhere from 1-3 Action scenes in a "typical" session of 3-5 hours.  Action scenes require the most work to assemble, and you should probably prep at least two of them if you can.  It's certainly not hard for an experienced GM to improvise an Action scene right at the table if you need to, but having some ready to use (often with minor tweaks for events earlier in the session) can't hurt.

As the rulebook notes, an Action scene doesn't have to include any combat at all, although most will do so.  The defining aspect of any Action scene is a sense of urgency, reflected mechanically by the use of a scene tracker.  No matter what the players do the scene will end sooner or later, and if the tracker "times out" there are always some kind of repercussions, often (but not always) negative for the heroes.  This can be anything from the villains making a successful getaway to the heroes being rendered unconscious and starting their next scene imprisoned in a death trap.  Most Action scenes will also have some kind of GM-defined "win condition" that the heroes can achieve to end things early, the most common of which is "defeat all the villains" or something similar.  "Winning" a scene avoids any issues that might occur if the scene tracker would run out, and usually requires any challenges to be completed to avoid their own "time-out" effects. 

You can find detailed discussion of Action scene construction in earlier posts, including a full example in two parts and a closer look at scene elements.

Montage Scenes

If Action scenes are defined by urgency, Montage scenes are defined by the lack of it.  They represent a break in the action of the story, whether its a few moments for the heroes to take a breather between crises or days of training, research and preparation while waiting for the villain's next move.  Even more so than most scenes they last as long as they need to in universe, and are one way to model the common comic book trope of a time skip.  They also act as a "clean-up phase" with various effects from the previous scene ending - specifically, you remove all mods (even persistent ones), end all minor (but not major) twist effects, and end any other temporary effects or conditions that might be in play.  The only notable exception is that effects based on the previous scene tracker running out usually persist, as do major twist effects if applicable.

The rules are rather explicit about what can be done during a Montage scene, with each character having three choices:  You can Recover Health yourself, help another hero Recover Health, or take a Boost action to establish a bonus that can be used during the next scene.  Recovery doesn't require any kind of die rolls, just some kind of narrative justification (which could be as basic as a pep talk or as elaborate as field surgery).  Boosting also requires description and functions the same way it would in an Action scene, building a die pool and rolling for effect.  For simplicity's sake I'd recommend just making it a basic Boost action rather than getting abilities involved, although opting to take a minor twist to make the mod last for two uses per the normal mod rules is probably okay since the twist effect will carry into the next scene so the player isn't getting something extra for nothing.

Social Scenes

The third scene type, Social scenes have the fewest mechanical elements to them and focus on roleplaying instead, either between PCs and NPCs or just PCs interacting with each other.  This is the principle spot where things like investigation, negotiation, planning and debate play out, as well as dramatic scenes where characters confront their emotions and principles.  The GM may call for Overcome rolls to determine how well things turn out and what twists might come into play, but its entirely possible not to roll any dice at all during a Social scene if little or no uncertainty is involved, eg heroes agreeing to a plan for foiling a villainous scheme, or deciding to go out for pizza after their nightly patrol.  Participating in a Social scene can earn the whole team a Hero Point if the scene is sufficiently dramatic in the GM's opinion, or if an Overcome is made using a hero's Principles, but (unlike an Action scene) the group can never earn more than one HP per Social scene total.

Of course you can and should be roleplaying throughout the session, not just in Social scenes, but these scenes push the game mechanics to the sidelines, encourage players to focus down on their heroic Principles while rewarding them with Hero Points, and provide worldbuilding through the NPCs.  Players can call for a Social scene whenever they want, and assuming it makes sense the GM should accommodate them - although you generally won't be able to interrupt an Action scene to have a heart-to-heart talk.

So that's the basic ingredients of a session.  The next post in this series will take a look at how to best use the different scene types in a session and some other elements of the gameplay loop.

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Other Sentinel Comics RPG Online Resources

People occasionally bemoan the fact that there's no good guide to SCRPG resources and discussion online, so I'm doing my part by posting links to the ones currently know of.  There are certainly others out there but I either haven't stumbled on them yet or I'm not personally familiar with them (like the Sentinels Discord, and at least one Facebook group - I'm not a big social media user).  

If anyone would like some help signal boosting for something I've overlooked, feel free to contact me in the comments and I'll see about adding them the roster below.

Publisher-Related Links - Most readers are probably well aware of these already, but if you aren't these are officially connected to GTG.

Greater Than Games RPG Forum - This is the official publisher forum for the game, although there's little to no input from actual employees here.

Sentinel Comics Wiki - Very little RPG-specific content, but if you're using the canon setting it vastly expands on the pre-Oblivaeon lore, particularly through the Letter Page podcast episode writeups.

Letters Page Editor's Note #42 - This is probably the closest thing to a unified FAQ that exists at the moment.  It's years old, predating the finalized print release, but still better than nothing.  You'll find some other questions in Editor's notes #33-41, but the sections are comparatively brief and you're probably better off reading teh show notes on the wiki link.

Noteworthy RPG.net Threads - This forum seems to be the most active online community for the game, and there are quite a few other threads to be found with some searching.  The links below are my somewhat arbitrary choices for most useful or interesting or at least recently updated, barring the History of Venture Comics thread (which is mirrored in the GTG forums link above).  If you've got other suggestions, let me know in the comments.  

DC/Marvel/other conversions Thread - Exactly what it sounds like.

Friv Is Inventing Homebrew (and you can too!) - Dedicated thread for homebrew rules ideas. 

FrivYeti Reads Sentinel Comics Adventures - Extensive read-through and discussion of the published stand-alone adventures up to Terror Forms (at present).  Spoilers, obviously.

Let's Read: Sentinel Comics Core Rulebook - Full read-through and commentary on the game's core book.  Good for folks who are trying to decide whether they want to buy in to the game.

(Where I Read) Sentinel Comics: The Guise Book - Full read-through and commentary on the Guise Book.  Really, what did you expect?

Sentinel Comics: Crackerjacks! - The in-character thread for an ongoing play-by-post game.

Sentinel Comics: The Pivotal Point Guard - Another ongoing play-by-post game.

Sentinel Comics RPG General Thread - Huge sprawling thread amalgamating discussion going back to 2020. 

YouTube Videos - Links contributed by Sea-Envy over on the GTG forum, and my thanks for the assistance. 

A Player’s Introduction of the Sentinels RPG (youtube.com)

Guide to Creating Characters in the Sentinels RPG (youtube.com)

A Quick Look at Playing and Running the Sentinels RPG (youtube.com)

GTG Actual Plays - All three seasons have links in the show notes at this link.

Audio Actual Plays - For anyone who wants to listen to real gameplay, these are some of the better ones I've listened to.  There are more, although most are much shorter one-shot test plays.  There are more APs on YouTube and Twitch but those are in video format and fairly easy to search for on their respective sites.

Critical Hit: Major Spoilers - First episode of their actual play series from back in 2022, which ran for a total of eleven episodes including one dedicated to a recap and final thoughts.

One-Shot Podcast: Sentinel Comics RPG - First episode of a five-part series that ran in 2021.

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Tirade, A Villain Who Wants To Share the Real Truth With Everyone

Another villain that I've used in a few one-shots over the last few years.  He's pretty versatile in terms of who he might be found working with and what his immediate goals might be, and can vary a lot in terms of tone from borderline goofy to tragically deluded to downright sinister.  

Tirade

The demented villain known as Tirade gained his psycho-sonic powers at the same catastrophic Supersonic concert that empowered the Loud Crowd and many other supers.  Unlike most of those involved, he wasn't attending the show because he liked the band.  His sole interest was in making illicit live recordings that would let him prove that subliminal obedience messaging was layered under the songs.  To this day he's convinced the accident that created hundreds of (mostly) temporary supers was a botched assassination attempt aimed at him because he was getting too close - and he'll be happy to tell you that.  At length.

In fact, he's happy to tell you lots of things whether you want to hear them or not, and his powers make his rambling conspiracy theories actively harmful to listen to by most people, leaving them confused and uncertain and even potentially inflicting neurological damage from lengthy or concentrated exposure.  Tirade is largely devoted to his demented agenda of "spreading the truth" far and wide, but occasionally works with deluded followers to gather cash to fund his anti-conspiracy activities.  Other more rational villains find him easy to manipulate and useful as a temporary ally/sacrificial distraction as well.

It's worth noting that despite being arrested and briefly incarcerated on several occasions Tirade's true name remains unknown.  He refuses to give a civilian identity besides "John Smith" and seems to have made a major effort to stay "off the grid" even before gaining his powers.  This put him a leg up on many new supervillains, as he had a surprising number of bolt holes, safe houses and hideouts from word one, as well as connections with other criminally-minded conspiracy nuts.

Description: With his trench coat, conservative civilian clothing and unimpressive physique he could be confused for a innocent bystander - if it weren't for the snug, strange-looking silver helmet that he wears everywhere, which provides protection against orbital mind-control lasers and includes omnidirectional speakers that help amplify his message to the masses.  He has a hard time keeping his mouth shut (especially around crowds) and lapses into ranting about the secret conspiracies that manipulate the world with little or no provocation.  His voice has an ugly grating quality to it that makes it unfortunately hard to ignore him.

Gender: Male            Age: 44           Height: 5'10"           Eyes: Brown

Hair: Dark Brown, Thinning        Skin: Slug-Belly White        Build: Scrawny, Large-Headed

Approach: Bully                   Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Weaponized Delusions d10, Gadgets d8, Sonic d8                                       

Qualities: Banter d8, Imposing d8, Deranged Conspiracy Theorist d8

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

Abilities:

Never Shuts Up (I) Whenever you or your nearby allies Hinder, increase the penalty created by 1.

Open Your Eyes, You Fool! (A) Attack using Weaponized Delusions.  Use your Max die.  Hinder the target using your Max + Min dice (if the target's status die is less than d8) or your Max die (if the target's status die is d8) or your Mid die (if the target's status die is greater than d8).

Wake Up, Sheeple! (A) Hinder multiple targets using Weaponized Delusions.  Use your Max die.  Attack one of those targets using your Mid die.

Your Truths Are Lies! (R) When Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, Defend by rolling your single status die and the Attacker suffers that amount of damage.

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

Tirade's abilities revolve around using his super-powered voice to push his deranged conspiracy theories on those around him, which is distracting at best and downright dangerous to the sanity of the weak-willed.  Worse, he can focus on resistant targets to deal raw damage via psycho-sonic resonance.  If faced with multiple foes he'll rely on Wake Up, Sheeple! to hamper as many as possible, fueling his Your Truths Are Lies! defensive reaction.  Vulnerable targets and major threats will be singled out for Open Your Eyes, You Fool! whenever Tirade starts a turn with at least a d8 status die.  All the penalties he and his allies hand out are made worse because he Never Shuts Up.

His upgrade reflects getting some technological assistance in the form of an even bigger stupid-looking speaker-helmet and some other toys, usually bought on the black market or provided by a villainous ally.  This also lets him use his mastery with his signature Weaponized Delusions power.

Design Notes

The writeup above doesn't go into details on exactly what conspiracy theories Tirade is obsessed with, which leaves the GM free to use whatever suits their needs at the moment.  There's no particular reason for him to be consistent from one appearance to the next, although you can assume he's generally at least a vaguely anarchist, anti-status quo, antigovernment type and build from there.  Be careful what real-world conspiracies you use though.  It's one thing to jab at patently counterfactual stuff like Flat Earth Theory and faked Moon landings, but denying war crimes should be completely off limits.

 

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