Continuing Nineties Week here on the blog, we have a predictably edgy supervillain that would have been very popular with many of the less consistent artists of the era.
Savager
Drew Fields was a petty criminal and drug addict until he sampled the latest batch of Supe and wound up with an incredible morphic physique and some serious mental issues. Quickly re-inventing himself as the mercenary supervillain Savager, he's garnered a reputation as sadistic but effective muscle willing to do anything at all for money - including performing in a number of extremely unpleasant underground pornographic films under the moniker Mister Phantastic. His new form requires much larger doses of his drugs of choice to reach the highs he's after, and most of his new-found income goes toward feeding his addictions.
Meta-textually, Savager was the creation of an artist whose inability to stick to character models was as well-known as his lousy anatomical drawing skills. A villain whose look changed from panel to panel and never had to look quite human was the perfect solution to these inadequacies. Making Savager an edgy sadomasochisic porn star that was also an obvious jab at a competitor's hallmark character ensured him a degree of popularity with some readers. Following the collapse of the Speculator Boom, Savager's creator spent the next few years earning a marginal living self-publishing the adults-only "Savager XXX" and "Lady Savager Gone Wild" books and drawing commissioned art of his most successful characters ever. He eventually left the industry altogether, moving on to CPA work after being bankrupted by a lawsuit over the "Mister Phantastic" thing.
Description: Never looks quite the same from moment to the next, and even when passing for a normal human his anatomy looks weirdly off, with skewed proportions and unnatural posing. In combat he's a nightmare of bony spurs, flashing claws and snapping jaws in places there shouldn't be jaws. His arms lengthen and divide into squirming tentacles while his size fluctuates from merely large up to a hulking brute the size of a panel truck. His voice is the only real constant, speaking in a surprisingly high-pitched tenor with a tendency to giggle uncontrollably when hurting people.
Gender: Male Age: Twenty-Something Height: Variable, base 6'4" Eyes: Variable
Hair: Variable Skin: Variable, base Caucasian Build: Wildly Variable
Approach: Bully Archetype: Guerilla
Health: 45 + (5 x H)
Powers: Shapeshifting d10, Elasticity d8, Size-Changing d8
Qualities: Acrobatics d8, Alertness d8, Bloodthirsty Maniac d8
Status: (# of Enemies Engaged) 4+ - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 0-1 - d6
Abilities:
Constrictor Coils (A) Attack one target using Bloodthirsty Maniac. Use your Max + Min dice. Defend against all Attacks made by anyone but that target with your Mid die until the start of your next turn. All damage prevented this way is dealt to the target of this Attack.
Double Trouble (A) Attack two nearby targets using Shapeshifting. Use your Max die on the first target and your Mid + Min dice on the second. If either target Defends against the Attack, that Defend works against both Attacks.
Mutable Physiology (I) Reduce all damage dealt to you by 2.
Three-Way Blitz (A) Attack using Bloodthirsty Maniac. Use your Max die against one target, your Mid die against a second target, and your Min die against a third target. If you Attack three targets the damage is irreducible.
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 Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome when your payment is at stake.
Tactics
Savager's fighting technique relies on rapidly changing size and shape while sprouting natural weaponry and defenses in the form of spurs, fangs, claws, scales and armored plates. Mutable Physiology makes him very durable and he has no qualms about engaging multiple foes at once. Against mobs Three-Way Blitz lets him push damage past even the best defenses. Double Trouble delivers hard hits to two targets at once. Constrictor Coils is his preferred move against single foes, letting him deal with one enemy while using their allies' efforts against them.
His upgrade ramps up his damage output even further, while his mastery represents an unusually large payout for his murderous services.
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