SOS! Ship In Distress Environment

Continuing from yesterday's theme with a maritime disaster in the making, combining a versatile environment with a central challenge to save a sinking ship.  This should be pretty adaptable and easily re-purposed for many different potential stories - although they all open with a desperate SOS.

Overview

This environment assumes the ship its focused on is in grave danger of sinking in the near future.  What caused the situation is up to your campaign's needs, but some likely possibilities include sabotage, severe weather (which could add further complications if the storm is still ongoing), supervillain attack, a hijacking gone horribly wrong, a passing encounter with a kaiju, or the catastrophic failure of some exotic device.  Regardless of why, the damage is beyond the ship's crew to repair or even contain for long and the whole vessel is in dire need of superheroic assistance.  

The situation also features the following challenge, which counts as a separate difficult scene element unto itself.  If the scene tracker runs out before the challenge is completed the ship will sink, although the players may be able to mitigate the disaster by finishing the separate Assist Evacuation environmental challenge when it comes up. 

Completing the core challenge before then saves the ship, but villains (not their lieutenants or minions) can (and usually will) add boxes to the challenge through Overcomes, potentially "reactivating" it even if it had been completed.  To triumph in this scene, all villains must have fled or been defeated and both the Save Our Ship and any Fire! challenge the environment produced must be finished before the scene tracker runs out.

Save Our Ship difficult timed challenge  The ship is doomed - unless the heroes can save it!

Requires H successes (min 3, max 6) 000+

Timer expires when the scene tracker reaches the Red zone.

Special: Villains (not lieutenants or minions) may add one extra success required for completion of this challenge by taking a successful Overcome action.

As always, players must be able to describe what they're doing to perform an Overcome that helps keep the ship afloat, justifying their die pools in the fiction.  They may need to be in specific scene locations to perform certain types of Overcomes, eg patching a breach in the hull to reduce flooding probably calls for being Below Decks or overboard in the sea, and twists generated while doing so might involve drowning risks, electrical shocks from shorting cables, attacks sea life - or a friendly NPC being winding up in the sea and needing a rescue.  A fair bit of the scene's narrative stems from Overcome twists and the whole table should collaborate to keep things interesting.    

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Locations

Shipboard locations should be tweaked to fit your game, but in general terms they should include the following:

• Bridge - Controls where the ship is going, among many other functions.  Substitute Helm for actual sailing ships.
• Engine Room - Controls whether the ship is going anywhere at all.  Substitute Rigging for actual sailing ships.
• On Deck - Topside, exposed to the weather.  Some cargo ships will have stacks of containers here.  For military ships this is where most of the weapons are, as well as any flight deck they might have.  Passenger ships often have swimming pools and other attractions.  Science vessels often have sensor and communication arrays, as well as small exploration craft and/or helipads.
• Below Deck - Everything else within the hull structure.  Cargo holds, arsenals, black powder gun decks (on sailing ships), infirmaries, mess halls and dining rooms, staterooms, crew quarters, laboratories, specimen tanks and whatever else is needed for the ship's functions.

There's also the sky overhead and the sea itself, which is where you wind up if you go overboard.

Key features (eg the mad scientist's doomsday cannon) may be their own separate sub-location (hopefully On Deck if he plans on firing it) as needed, but don't go overboard subdividing things.  Six locations is usually plenty for a scene and this game runs best on fairly abstract positional play.

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SOS!  Ship In Distress environment

Major Damage d10, Ongoing Flooding d8, Custom Hazard (see Variations below)

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Panicky VIP: Too important to ignore but calming them down wastes precious time.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero using the Mid die.

Welcomed Aboard: Everyone's glad to see heroes show up in a crisis.  Roll the environment dice.  Boost all heroes using the Min die.

(Major Twist)

Jumpy Criminals: No one really cares about whatever crimes they've committed right now, but try telling them that.  Roll the environment dice.  Add Min die Maritime Malefactor environment minions to the scene. 

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Captain On Deck: Master and commander.  Add one Ship's Captain environment lieutenant to the scene.

Rolling Deck: Not quite capsizing but it sure feels like it.  Roll the environment dice.  Attack two targets using the Mid die as they're hurled around or struck by shifting cargo.  Until the next environment turn, any target Above Deck that rolls a one on any of their dice involuntarily goes Overboard at the end of their turn.    

Shifting Debris and Structural Failures: This ship's in bad shape and getting worse.  Roll the environment dice.  Attack one target using the Mid die.  Hinder the same target using the Min die.  If they were on deck, move them to a Below Deck location as it collapses beneath them.

Where's That Smoke Coming From?: As the old saying goes...  Roll the environment dice.  Start a timed challenge.  Until this challenge is completed, Hinder all targets using the current Min die.  Locate Source of Smoke 00  Timer 00  Timer Clocks Out: Start a Fire! challenge (see below).  If there's already an active Fire! challenge, add two to the number of successes needed to complete it instead.

(Major Twist)

Fire!: Dangerous even with all that water around.  Roll the environment dice.  Start a challenge.  Until this challenge is completed, Hinder all targets using the current Min die.  Extinguish Flames 000  Outcome:  If this challenge has not been completed by the end of the scene, the ship, its contents, and anyone who didn't abandon ship are lost in a raging conflagration.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Assist Evacuation:  Too late to save her, but the passengers and crew might still survive.  Start challenge.  All Hands Abandon Ship 000  Outcome: If this challenge hasn't been completed by the time the ship sinks, there are significant casualties as much of the crew goes down with the ship.

Wracked By Explosions: Whether it's fuel, ammunition, volatile cargo or dangerous technology, something is going BOOM!  Roll the environment dice.  Remove all minions from the scene, then Attack all targets onboard ship using the Mid die.

(Major Twist)

Outside Intervention: International Rescue?  An orbital tractor beam?  Random gravity inversion?  Neptune himself taking a hand?  Whatever it was, it bought you some time.  Add one more box to the Red zone.

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Ship's Captain d8 environment lieutenant

Description: The ship's top officer, busy directing his crew to deal with the crisis as best they can.  A powerful ally for the heroes - and an obvious target for those attacking his vessel.  

Command Responsibilities: You may not take actions, although you can move between locations normally or be brought along with a hero as they move.

Master and Commander: Allies in your location gain a +3 bonus to all actions.  If you are defeated, add one to the number of successes needed to complete each challenge in the scene.

Maritime Malefactor d6 environment minion

Description: They might be passengers, they might be crew, they might even be stowaways, but one way or the other they've gotten their hands on a mix of things to hit people with and maybe a few pistols and plan on using them to avoid arrest.  The fact that no one was actually trying to arrest them doesn't really matter at this point.  Superheroes make them jumpy.

More Desperate Than Determined: If you roll a zero or less at any point, you surrender and are removed from the scene.

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Variations

The above environment is a generic template of twists that can be used for any type of oceangoing vessel, but its intended to be customized with one of the following subtypes.  Each includes its own hazard die which are added the two above and a unique special rules or twist option.

Cargo Ship  Hazard: Hazardous Cargo d6, d8, or d10 (varies by cargo)

(Special Rule) Valuable Goods: No one wants to miss out on their share of the booty.  Any villain target in the below deck cargo hold location may use an action to Boost themselves with a basic action and gain a Loot token as well as the usual bonus.  Any villain target that doesn't have a Loot token suffers a -1 penalty to all actions (not saves versus damage or reactions).  A hero can take a Loot token from a target carrying one by Hindering that target and taking a minor twist, or by using an Overcome action to do so.    

Passenger Ship  Hazard: Panicking Passengers d8

(Special Rule) Potential Hostages: Easy hunting ground for the villains to take advantage of.  Any villain or villainous lieutenant in an on deck or below deck location may use a basic Defend action to gain a Hostage token as well as the usual defense effect.  While a target has a Hostage token all Attack and Hinder actions taken against them suffer a -2 penalty.  A hero can remove a Hostage token from the scene by taking an Overcome action to free them and help them escape to safety.  

Military Ship  Hazard: Volatile Weaponry d12

(Yellow Minor Twist) Damage Control Parties: Military crews are well-trained to deal with damage and fires onboard.  Roll the environment dice.  Mark a number of successes on any number of challenges in the scene equal to the Min die.  

Science Vessel  Hazard: Dangerous Technology d10

(Yellow Minor Twist) Exotic Equipment: The wonders of Science! at work.  Roll the environment dice.  Remove a number of mods from the scene equal to the Mid die, starting with the ones that have the largest values.

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Design Notes

The GM has a lot of dials they can turn to make this play out differently, so think about which twists to introduce and when to do so and be ready to adjust on the fly.  Several environmental twists can be actively beneficial to the heroes and many are neutral in terms of who they target.  Challenges that apply a penalty until completed can be very nasty since they will stack and leave the ship shrouded in smoke - but letting them time out makes for a raging fire instead.  There can be a lot of pressure on the heroes' actions to keep up with challenges, but there are at least two scene elements spent on the central Save Our Ship challenge and environment.  The actual combat opposition should be a little lighter than normal, and villains are tempted to tie themselves up with Overcomes to batter the ship further.       

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Bad Nineties Comic, A Metatextual Environment

The last couple of one-shots I've played in have been deliberate parodies of the worst excesses of edgy Nineties comics, inspired by a recently-collapsed ongoing game and bad memories of working behind the counter in a comic shop back then - something three of the six of us went through during the peak of the boom-and-crash cycle that killed so many local stores.  In celebration(?) of the worst of that era, I'm dedicating this week to the dark side of the Nineties, starting with a meta-textual environment reflecting what it would be like being stuck inside one of the more incompetently-made books from back then.

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Locations

One standout feature of really terrible Nineties books was the lack of backgrounds and a general inability to convey a sense of where any given character was in a scene, or even where a scene was taking place at all.  To reflect this, a scene using this environment should have H-2 (minimum three) locations so that there's some room to spread out but those locations have no special rules and should be as nebulously defined as possible (eg Terrorist Base, Other Part of Terrorist Base, Yet Another Part of Terrorist Base).  Any character can move to any location in a scene using the usual rules, and some twists below can result in involuntary movement during the environment turn.  No matter where a character supposedly is, you can expect them to be shown against a mix of nonexistent and wildly inconsistent backgrounds, sometimes partly concealed by confusing speed lines.

On the plus side, you can always narrate a dramatic entrance by crashing through a window or wall even if doing so makes no sense whatsoever in what passes for a story.  

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Bad Nineties Comic environment

Shallow Writing d10, Sloppy Artwork d10, Sales Gimmicks d10

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Awkward Pose: I don't think legs bend that way.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one target using the Mid die.

Less Talk, More Action: No one's buying comics for the story.  Get to fighting!  Roll the environment dice.  Boost using the Min die.  All Attack and Hinder actions gain this bonus until the start of the next environment turn.

(Major Twist)

Another First Issue: Why have just one?  The speculators love first issues!  Reset the scene tracker to the first box in the current GYRO zone.

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Can't Draw Feet: Where'd all this knee-high debris come from?  Roll the environment dice.  Defend all non-flying targets using the Mid die.

First Appearance: What if they're the Next Big Thing?  Don't miss this book!  Add a Hot New Character lieutenant to the scene.

Unexplained Thugs: They tie in to a crossover with a comic that hasn't been published yet and never will be.  Roll the environment dice.  Add Mid die Mystery Goon minions to the scene.

(Major Twist)

What Continuity?: Wait, how did that happen?  Roll the environment dice.  Move Mid die characters from one location to another, shuffling them however you like.  Each character moved Recovers Health equal to the Max die, or increases their die size by one (max d12) if they're a minion or lieutenant.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Our Characters Are Awesome!: We made them ourselves!  Roll the environment dice.  Boost all heroes and villains using the Mid die.

Showcase the New Hotness: This character's going to be HUGE!  We mean it!  Set one Hot New Character lieutenant to a d12 die size.  If there are no environment lieutenants in the scene, add one at a d10 die size instead.

(Major Twist)

Lousy Pacing:  What do you mean we ran out of pages?  Advance the scene tracker by one space. 

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Mystery Goon d8 environment minion

Description: Generic costumed toughs with big guns, random swords and no personalities.  Possibly cyborgs.  Might be aliens.  Could be cyborg aliens.  Why they're here and who they work for is a mystery since it's only explained in a book that hasn't been published yet and probably never will be.  That doesn't make them any less hostile.

We're Here For...Someone:  Treat all non-Mystery Goon targets as enemies.  If you take an actual hero or villain (not just an allied lieutenant or minion) Out of action with an Attack, remove all Mystery Goon minions from the scene as they high five each other and declare that they've completed their mission.  If their victim was a villain they probably abduct them unless there's a pressing narrative reason not to.

Hot New Character d10 environment lieutenant

Description: Brand new character making their first appearance in this book.  Invariably either a chunky over-muscled lout or a gal in a revealing fan service costume, with absurd anatomy either way.  Carries a small arsenal of blades and guns, might even use them sometimes.  Usually over-equipped with random pouches and oversized shoulder pads as well.  If they have a personality beyond being mysterious and threatening it doesn't come through.  While they have individual names, feel free to be inconsistent about using them.  It's easy to confuse Bloodspiller, Bloodcraze, Bloodkill, and Bloodbath with each other, after all. 

Hyperviolence:  When you take an Attack action, ignore Defend actions and reactions protecting your target.

Poorly Defined Motivations:  You treat all other targets as enemies initially.  A hero or villain may attempt an Overcome to change you into their ally until the end of the scene, or until an opposing character succeeds at their own Overcome to change your allegiance again.

Sudden Appearance:  You may always take an action immediately after the environment turn you first appear in the scene, and gain a +2 bonus to that action.

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Using This In A Scene

As said above, this is a meta-environment.  It can be used for an action scene anywhere and in any situation, but the twists are going to produce the hallmarks of a truly bad Nineties comic no matter what the narrative behind the scene is.  From inept creative decisions to random intrusions by unfamiliar characters to erratic pacing you can have it all - depending on which twists the GM decides to use.  Remember that while you can only use each Major Twist once, they don't have to be chosen in their own GYRO zone, which can produce some wild effects if you use Another First Issue late in Yellow or even at the end of Red.

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Stuck In An Old Cartoon, An Animated Environment

I've done a few characters that are literally living cartoons, and heroes wind up in the weirdest situations sometime, so here's an environment set inside a cartoon.

The Basics

This environment represents the kind of twists your heroes might encounter while caught inside a 1930s theatrical cartoon, the kind of thing coming out of Fleischer Studios, Warner Brothers or Walt Disney (among others) during the era.  They're often a bit surreal, always wacky, and feature quite a lot of slapstick humor and comedically absurd violence.  Many also have impressive soundtracks backing up the animation, with entire series of musical animations being made in this era.

The twists below are necessarily fairly generic and can be skinned many ways.  You could leave the plot of the cartoon playing out similarly loose, but it might be more effective to actually watch a few old shorts and pick one to loosely define the action, picking and tailoring twists to suit.  The heroes and other intruders from outside the film aren't bound to stick to the script and may be left behind by the plot to brawl between themselves "off-camera" but there will still be intrusions from the animation in the form of twists, and as the scene tracker advances the end of the cartoon comes nearer and nearer.

I keeping with the zany tone of these cartoons, many of the twists below blatantly break the guidelines in the rulebook.  There are also a lot of Boosts on this menu, many of which affect both heroes and villains (but not lieutenants or minions), which will tend to ramp up the action for both sides.  Overall it's more hero friendly than many environments (or at least more neutral about whether villains are at risk as well) but it's still far from safe.  The GM has a lot of leeway on picking targets here, and should consider what would be the funniest result in the long run as often as not. 

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Stuck In An Old Cartoon environment

Cartoon Violence d12, Slapstick Humor d8, Fun For All d6

Special:  Going Out in this environment never, ever results in death or permanent injury.  When you get out of the cartoon - if you get out - your Health remains the same as it was, but you won't be bleeding or battered, just confused and dizzy from the experience.

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Animation Glitch: It's just a minor glitch.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one target using the Mid die.

Victim In the Making: Might want to keep an eye on this one, heroes.  Add one Hapless Chump environment minion to the scene.

(Major Twist)

Theme Song:  Everybody sing along!  All heroes and villains Boost themselves by rolling their Creativity die (use the default d4 if they don't have Creativity). Alternately, you may use your unique roleplaying Quality if the GM feels it fits the situation.   

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

A Plague of Pests:  Where'd they come from?   Roll the environment dice.  Add a number of Nuisance environment minions equal to the Mid die to the scene.

Big Heavy Thing:  That looks useful.  Roll the environment dice.  Boost one target using the Max die.

Improbable Peril:  Look out, you dope!  Start a timed Improbable Peril challenge.  Successes: 0  Timer: 0  Triggered: Remove one Hapless Chump environment minion from the scene.  If there are none in play, roll the environment dice and deal one hero damage equal to the Max die. 

(Major Twist)

Speed Up the Projector:  Pick up the pace!  Roll the environment dice.  Boost all heroes and villains using the Mid die.  These bonuses are persistent but not exclusive.  Ooh, special.

(Minor Twist)

Stop Loafing Around:  Rub those X's out of your eyes and get back in there!  Roll the environment dice.  One hero who was Out returns to action with Health equal to the total of the Max+ Mid + Min dice.  They take their turn next in the initiative sequence.

What Are We, Chopped Liver?:  No, we're Nuisances, and proud of it!  Roll the environment dice.  Add a number of Nuisance environment minions equal to the Mid die to the scene.  Then each Nuisance in the scene takes a turn even if they've already taken a turn this round.    

(Major Twist)

That's All, Folks!:  Whoa, are those the end credits?  Roll the environment dice.  Attack all targets using the Max die.  Then, Boost any heroes who haven't gone Out using the Mid + Min dice.

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Hapless Chump d6 environment minion

Description: These are the poor schmucks the heroes are supposed to keep safe from danger.  They're usually cute and harmless and attract baddies like a magnet, so good luck with that.  Sometimes they're insufferably obnoxious as well.  They're friendly to the heroes, but actually helpful?  Not very often.

Don't You Dare!: Whenever you are dealt damage, a nearby hero may use a reaction to take that damage instead.  You cannot take Attack actions.

Wilhelm Scream:  If you would be defeated or otherwise removed from the scene, first roll your die.  Deal every hero target that much guilt damage.

Nuisance d6 environment minion

Description: These pests come in a variety of forms, from angry bees to barking dogs to oblivious nitwits to sapient furniture, but they're a stumbling block for heroes (and occasionally villains) regardless of specifics.  They're not really on anyone's side, but enjoy targeting any Hapless Chump minions in the scene.

Just Plain Annoying: You may only take Attack or Hinder actions.

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Possible Ways To Use This

A few possible plots leading to the environment, with scene-building suggestions:

Aw, Lighten Up!:  A powerful reality-twister decides the heroes need to lighten up and intervenes in a confrontation with one or more villains, unceremoniously dumping all of them into its favorite cartoon while offering prizes for those who play along best.  The scene acts as a gauntlet of sorts, built up out of whatever villains were dragged in with the PCs and filled in with somewhat anachronistic challenges appropriate to superhero types:  Rescue Old Lady Warner's cat from a suspiciously animate tree, put out a house fire where both the building and the flames are alive, keep a piano from squashing some poor sap, etc.  Depending on their personalities the villain(s) may play along by trying to rob a cartoon bank or steal candy from babies, or they may just take advantage of the opening to pound on the heroes.  If the heroes manage to finish all their challenges before the scene ends the entity that trapped them here will reward them afterward (narratively, mechanically or both) and they can take any villains that were defeated into custody without further difficulty.  Villains who aren't beaten will escape for now, and might earn rewards themselves if they played along and the heroes didn't stop them.  Defeated heroes wake up aching and confused but physically intact, although they may get a lecture about being disappointments if they didn't entertain the reality-twister sufficiently.

Kidnapped!:  A mad scientist has found a way to send real-world objects and people into celluloid film.  He used his invention to effectively kidnap one or more VIPs and trapped them within an old cartoon, and when the heroes attempted to stop him they were caught in the effect and trapped as well.  Now they need to find the kidnap victim(s) and find a way out before the cartoon plays through to the end - but there are guards stationed within the short to prevent just that kind of meddling.  The scene includes one or more challenges to find the VIP(s) and another, more difficult challenge to effect an escape from within which can't be Overcome until the guards (a mix of lieutenants and minions with a mad science theme - perhaps robots, or characters spliced into the cartoon from other films) are gotten out of the way.  If the heroes are all defeated or the scene tracker runs out before the escape challenge is completed, everything goes dark and the heroes awake to discover they've been spliced into another, much less humorous film.  The mastermind behind this is a fan of 80s horror movies...

Mindscape:  A powerful psychic or mystic ally of the heroes has lapsed into a coma.  The heroes must venture into his mindscape save his sanity by soothing his subconscious mind (and possibly ejecting some mysterious intruder responsible for his condition in the first place).  The first layer of his mental architecture is a childhood memory of his favorite cartoon, but as the heroes traverse the memory they find it filled with foreign elements - personifications of adult traumas or complete outsiders from something else's mind.  The scene budget is spent on dangerous but fragile foes that strike a jarring discord with the cartoony environment, which is more hostile to the villains than usual.  The PCs win by either defeating all their enemies or staying in action until the tracker runs out and the next layer of the mindscape rises to the surface, with any remaining foes fading away and a montage scene beginning.  Heroes who went Out will have the chance to heal, but they suffer a minor twist that carries forward into the next action scene.  If the whole team was defeated, the scene still moves to a recovery montage but they suffer major twists instead.

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Mega-Wreckage Site, A Versatile Environment

This environment is intended to provide fairly generic twists for an action scene taking place on and around a colossal mass of wreckage, the aftermath of a disaster or super-fight that hasn't been fully secured by whoever takes care of such things.  It might represent a crashed starship, a mostly-destroyed villainous base or giant war machine, or even something like a slain kaiju or disabled ocean-going vessel that's been run aground to avoid sinking.

You'll want to tweak elements of this to fit your own campaign but the writeup should serve as a solid foundation at least.  The first time I used this environment it represented a crashed Ro-Man invasion saucer with the environment minions re-skinned as repair drones as suggested below.

The Overall Layout

An action scene taking place in this environment will occur on and around the wreckage, which is usually separated from the rest of the world by the ruins and debris thrown up when the mega-wreck was created.  There are still ongoing fires, arcing energies, secondary explosions and collapses as the debris settles, as well as shaken survivors attempting escape or repairs, and that's on top of whatever the actual villains are up to.  The game master should lay out the locations in the scene and explain any special rules for moving or taking actions between them, although I'd keep it simple in that regard myself.  Heroes and villains and scene challenges should be placed appropriately (with newcomers on the perimeter).   

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Locations

The scene should be divided into about H+1 separate locations, one of which is an abstract "perimeter zone" representing the area just outside of the wreckage itself - often the rim of a crater or a zone of rubble and debris from collapsed buildings.  Targets in the perimeter zone are only counted as nearby or close to one another if they've deliberately moved to be so (ie when chasing a fleeing opponent), and they can move into any wreckage location from there.  

The other H locations represent accessible parts of the wreck itself and should be described to suit its nature.  For example, a fallen giant robot might have the torso, limbs and head as separate locations you can move between, while a crashed starship might be divided into locations represanting engines, power core, hanger and one or more main gun turrets .  The interior of the wreckage is usually mostly collapsed so the action with take place mostly on and around exterior features.  Moving from one location to another generally follows normal rules, although you might make it more difficult (requiring an actual action) for characters lacking mobility powers that let them bypass masses of twisted debris, flames, radiation or similar issues.  Some locations may also be disconnected from one another (eg a torn-off mega-robot limb) and be harder to move between quickly without powers.  Actions (like Attacks) can generally reach adjacent wreckage locations unless something (like an huge chunk of debris that used to be a giant sword spiked into the ground) is obstructing things, and targets within one wreckage location generally count as nearby one another.

Leaving the scene altogether (often a goal for villains or survivor minions) requires you to start in the perimeter zone unless you have powers like powerful flight, leaping, teleportation, etc.  If actively pursued you'll need to succeed at an Overcome to get away clean.

Of course, if you play pure theater of the mind you can skip all this, but I find it helpful to be a little more explicit about positioning, in part because it makes mobility powers more meaningful during play.  

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Mega-Wreckage Site environment

Power Surges d12, Damaged Technology d10, Smoking Debris d8 

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Live Power Conduit: Start a challenge.  Deactivate Damaged Systems 0  Outcome: If the scene tracker runs out while one or more Live Power Conduit challenges are incomplete, the wreckage self-destructs with effects on par with a doomsday device going off.

Survivors: Roll the environment dice.  Add a number of Survivor environment minions to the scene equal to the Min die (while the scene tracker is in the Green zone), Mid die (while in Yellow) or Max die (while in Red).

(Major Twist)

Dangerous Energy Accumulation: Increase the number of successes required by one challenge in the scene by three.  

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Massive Power Surge: Roll the environment dice.  Attack all hero targets using the Mid die.  If there are any Live Power Conduit challenges in the scene, use the Max die instead.  Pick an Element/Energy type for all damage dealt this way.

Shifting Wreckage: Roll the environment dice.  Attack and Hinder two targets using the Mid die.  Move both targets to new locations in the scene.

Useful Debris: Roll the environment dice.  Boost one hero using the Mid die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.

(Major Twist)

Impending Doom: Advance the scene tracker by one space.

(Minor Twist)

Maximum Effort:  Roll the environment dice.  Boost all heroes and villains using the Max die.

Weapon System Back Online: Roll the environment dice.  Attack all hero targets in one location using the Mid die.  Then, start a timed challenge.  Final Overload 00  Timer 0  Expires:  Attack all targets in the scene using the Max die from the current round's environment die roll.  

(Major Twist)

Sudden Ambush: Roll the environment dice.  Add a number of Survivor environment minions to the scene equal to the Mid die, then Boost those minions using the Max die as well.  Those minion take an immediate Attack action during this environment turn.  

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Survivor d8 environment minion

Description: These are surviving crewmembers of the wreck, somewhat worse for wear but still capable of putting up a fight.  Their morale's pretty shaky though, and a hero might be able to talk them into giving up without further violence.

Demoralized: Any hero may attempt to convince all nearby Survivor minions to surrender or flee with a successful Overcome action.  Apply a penalty to this action equal to the number of minions affected divided by two, rounding fractions down.

Wrecks that wouldn't have crew members as such (such as fully-automated automated war machines and many giant robots) should re-skin these as Repair or Security Drones, and their Demoralized trait becomes Vulnerable Programming, with the Overcome representing them being hacked or jammed into shutting down.  More organic "wrecks" like fallen kaiju still have Survivors, but these will likely be some kind of parasite or very young spawn, and they'll flee or be captured as specimens rather than surrender if a hero successfully exploits their Demoralized ability.

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Building An Action Scene With All This

There's two obvious basic stories to be told around a mega-wreckage site.  On the one hand, one or more of the villains who were operating the thing before it was destroyed my be trying to escape the site, while the heroes are trying to prevent that.  On the other, the heroes may be responsible for guarding the wreck against intruders bent on tampering with it.  You can dress either up by including suitable challenges to Overcome, perhaps representing the need to recover vital equipment, safely disarm dangerous ordinance, free prisoners, or even repair and make off with the wreck for future use.  You can also flip the script and have the heroes trying to get past perimeter guards or escaping the wreck in the face of incoming opposition.  Lots of potential variations here, and I've tried to write things so the environment is as versatile as it can be and can potentially be re-used (with suitable tweaks so it isn't too recognizable) multiple times.  

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Biggs' & Higgs' Wonderous Whirling Wheel, A Complex Environment

This environment is written with an eye toward using it with fairly low-powered supers without a lot of flyers (although even they may struggle a bit).  If your campaign is accustomed to power levels where heroes casually rescue falling jumbo jets and catch toppling skyscrapers with ease, you probably want to use something that fits your game's scope better.  Street level (literally, in this case) heroes or Golden Age mystery men with less flashy physical powers will be a better fit for this.

The Overall Layout

The whole scene is centered on a large Ferris wheel near the base of an entertainment pier jutting out into the local city's neighboring lake/ocean, with some lesser shoreside attractions (food stalls, amusements, curio sellers, etc.) scattered around a large cleared area around the wheel itself.  How big is it depends on the era, but at 200-250' is reasonable for most time periods.  This is a big permanent setup rather than a little mobile carnie wheel, and a landmark in the city.

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Locations

For purposes of movement and positioning, the Ferris wheel itself is divided into four locations.  There's also a boarding stage location at the bottom of the wheel, and a combination ticket booth/equipment shed next to it, each of which is its own location.  The whole setup is surrounded by a patch of clear ground (a seventh locations) where civilians can be found strolling around (potentially providing cover for lurking criminals or disguised supers).  Supers capable of flight can also move to an "airborne near the wheel" position, which is treated as an eighth location.

Some locations have specific rules:

The Ferris wheel proper has four locations, each of which has several semi-enclosed passenger cars attached to it.  You can cram as many as six adults in each car, but there are only safety restraints for four.  Characters can also clamber around on the wheel's support arms or climb between cars, changing locations using the usual rules.  Anyone not seated safely or possessing a suitable power like Wall-Crawling runs a risk of slipping though.  If you roll any ones on your dice, you take "Slip Damage" based on how high up your part of the wheel currently is, which can narratively be physical bumps and bruises and a perhaps short fall before you catch yourself, or the psychological impact of a dangerous near-fall.  NPCs (particularly minions) who go Out from this damage usually plunge to their doom, barring some kind of heroic intervention.

Going clockwise from the "noon" position, the quarters of the wheel are either:

• At The Top - Slip Damage d10
• Going Down - Slip Damage d8
• At The Bottom - Slip Damage d6, and you can move to the Boarding Stage location from here even if the wheel is in motion
• Going Up - Slip Damage d8    

As long as the wheel is spinning, each round at the start of the environment turn each wheel location moves one step clockwise.

Characters in the Boarding Stage location may move to whatever section of the wheel is currently At The Bottom, risking Slip Damage if they do so.  Characters with suitable powers like Leaping can try to move higher, reaching the Going Up or Going Down sections of the wheel, again risking Slip Damage.  You can also move to the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shed location or the Surrounding Grounds from here.  There are likely to be some people waiting to ride on the stage, although they'll flee screaming at the first sign of danger.  A single harassed Carny Worker minion is here helping people on and off, and will react badly to anyone starting trouble or trying to ride without a ticket.

Characters in the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shed can loot the till as an action, or they can turn the wheel on or off, either starting or stopping its rotation one round later (momentum delays the effect a round, which might give someone else a chance to reverse the controls).  You could also Overcome to permanently disable/destroy the workings.  Twists are likely to start a fire-related challenge.  There will generally be a pair Carny Worker minions here, who will try to keep intruders from messing around with things to the best of their ability.

The Surrounding Grounds are just an open grassy area with some paved walkways running through it.  It might be thronged with civilians enjoying a night out, but they'll quickly scatter if danger threatens.  Characters can flee the scene altogether from this location, losing themselves in the nearby streets or attractions.

Flying characters can position themselves in the sky near the wheel.  This may put them at risk from some environmental twists.  They can attempt to land on the wheel itself - either landing in a car or grabbing on to the support frame - but if their die pool includes any ones on the turn they do so they suffer Slip Damage from mistiming their approach.  They can also escape the scene entirely from here, vanishing into the clouds overhead.  

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Biggs' & Higgs' Wonderous Whirling Wheel environment

Unsteady Footing d10, Innocents In Danger d8, What Safety Inspection? d8

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Greasy Mess: Oiling the machinery is messy work, be careful where you put your hands.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero on the wheel or in the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shack using the Min die.  This penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Guy (or Gal) With A Gun: A sudden glint of gunmetal!  Add one Armed Patron environment minion riding the wheel.

(Major Twist)

Sniper!: A shot rings out from nowhere!  Roll the environment dice.  Attack one hero target using the Max die.

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Ominous Creaking: An entire passenger car is working its way loose!   Accident, sabotage or hit by a stray attack?  Start a timed challenge.  Pick an occupied car to be at risk.  Re-Secure Assembly 00  Timer 0  Expires: Start a Falling Car challenge.  Safely Catch Falling Car 00  Timer 0  Expires:  The car and its occupants crash to the ground with dangerous force.

Precarious Position: A civilian has slipped and is in danger of falling!  Start a timed challenge.  Pull To Safety 0  Timer 00  Expires: The civilian falls from the wheel, with results varying based on how high up they were.

Sudden Gust: The wind surges for a moment, throwing people off balance.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero and one non-hero target currently on the wheel using the Mid die.  Also Attack one target flying near the wheel using the Max die.

(Major Twist)

Old Foe: A familiar face, but not a welcome one.  Add one lieutenant to the scene anywhere you like, representing an old enemy of one or more of the heroes.  If you don't have one in mind that makes sense in context, use the Fanatical Cape-Hunter lieutenant below.  Roll the lieutenant's die and deal that much damage to one hero target.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Second Wind: If the lieutenant from the Old Foe twist is active in the scene, increase their die size by one step (max d12).  If not, add them to the scene with a d8 die size.

We Can Handle This...Right?: Roll the environment dice.  If there are any active challenges in the scene, Hinder all heroes using the Mid die.  If not, Boost all heroes using the Mid die and make those bonuses persistent and exclusive.

(Major Twist)

This Is Getting Ridiculous:  Start three challenges from the list above.  Extend the scene tracker by adding one extra Red zone box.

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Armed Patron d8 environment minion

Description: A civilian dressed for a night out, armed with a pistol.  They might be a paranoid criminal who's decided the heroes are after them, an off-duty police officer or just a drunken citizen who's panicked, but for whatever reason they brought a gun and they're going to use it.  Usually an indiscriminate danger to everyone around them, although actual police might be a little more selective depending on how they feel about masked vigilantes. 

Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!: You may only take Attack and Hinder actions, and can't change locations unless your gondola is at ground level to allow you to disembark.

Carny Worker d6 environment minion

Description: Your basic ticket seller, ride operator, and all-purpose roustabout.  Usually unarmed but still pretty scrappy and doesn't take any guff from the patrons, even super-patrons.  Always has help within shouting distance.

Hey, Rube!: Whenever you have to save versus damage, if the result after mods is 2-3 add one Carny Worker to the Surrounding Grounds location.  If the result is 4+ add two Carny Workers instead.

Fanatical Cape-Hunter d10 environment lieutenant

Description: A trenchcoated figure, armed to the teeth and out for blood.  Hero blood.

At Any Cost: After you roll a save versus damage from an Attack, you may opt to automatically fail.  If you do so, deal the Attacker damage equal to the result of your save.   

Implacable: Whenever you would gain a penalty, reduce the size of that mod by one.

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Building An Action Scene With All This

Given that you want to focus attention on the Ferris wheel and give the players a reason to interact with it, one way to set things up is for the heroes to have learned about a planned meeting between two criminals on the wheel itself.  This gives them some isolation for privacy, but also limits their escape options.  A perfect time to take them in for their evil deeds!  

Spend your budget on a couple of villains (upgraded or not, depending on how difficult you want things to be) and have them start the scene in civilian guise in one of the passenger cars.  Add the environment itself, and spend the rest of the budget on the villains' minions and/or lieutenants, who are also passing as civilians riding the wheel and in the crowds below.  

Spotting the villains is automatic but requires you to be on the same section of the wheel that their passenger car is on or flying nearby, or for you to be on the Boarding Stage when the villains' car is At The Bottom of its rotation.  Unless all the heroes are in disguise, each environment turn that there are no active villain targets, H villain minions or H/2 lieutenants will panic and Attack the heroes, revealing themselves.

Once spotted the villains will shed their disguises and begin hostilities, with one trying to escape on the ground (possibly robbing the till and wrecking the wheel's motor in the process) and the other doing their best to reach and stay At The Top of the wheel.  Their minions will assist as best they can, providing distractions and extra Attacks.  The heroes win the scene if they KO both villains before they can escape.  If the scene tracker runs out, the villain who was climbing the wheel will escape, carried away by a flying craft (zeppelins are very appropriate for Golden Age games) that makes an unexpected appearance from the clouds above.  If the villain attempting to escape on foot is still in the scene, they'll be cornered by arriving police and surviving heroes, letting them be interrogated about the meeting.

This is just one possible way to use the setting, of course.  You should edit as desired to fit your own campaign, or come up with something else entirely.  Hostage-taking schemes, using the wheel as a flashy distraction from another crime, stealing the wheel and other civic landmarks for ransom, or wiring the wheel up into a superscience dimensional portal are all obvious possibilities. 

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Mega-Roach, Monstrous Mutant Insect

Giant insects are classic monster-comic fare, and here's a typical example.  By kaiju standards it's a bit on the small size - only about as big as a bus - but could show up in multiples for something like Gorgiza to snack on.

Mega-Roach

The giant mutated insects the media have dubbed "Mega-Roaches" have been making occasional appearances since the 1950s atomic testing period, but they're becoming more common over time despite efforts to exterminate them for good.  These attempts are complicated by the fact that the creatures leak mutagenic substances that can create more of their kind from normal vermin.  Various supervillains have also been known to create these things for use as distractions for other schemes, and a rare few (like King Kockroach) can control them directly.

Individual mega-roaches vary quite a bit, but they're generally about 40' long and have at least six legs.  Even the ones whose wings aren't hopelessly stunted or deformed by mutations weigh far to much to fly, but they remain quite able to scuttle up suitably large buildings and geographic features.  They don't appear to be interested in anything beyond food - and humans are a nice mouthful for them - but you never can tell when a super-intelligent one with psychic powers might show up. 

Description: A cockroach the size of a bus, sporting various mutations like extra limbs, antennae and compound eyes.  Oily toxic goop oozes from the joints in its carapace and limbs and its mandibles constantly drool sticky greenish-black toxic saliva. 

Gender: It's A Roach            Age: Unknown      Height: ~12'          Eyes: Black

Hair: Not Really     Exoskeletal Carapace: Oily Brown     Build: Giant Mutated Roach

Approach: Leech

Archetype: Titan (Status Challenge: Study Exoskeletal Weaknesses 00  Breach the Soft Spot 0)

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Biochemical Arsenal d10, Strength d8, Wall-Crawling d6

Qualities: Alertness d8, Close Combat d8, Fitness d8, Gargantuan Mutant Cockroach d8

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

Abilities:

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

Sticky Spittle & Grinding Mandibles (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.

Stinking Exudations (A) Hinder multiple targets using Biochemical Arsenal.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.  If you roll doubles, also Attack one of those targets using your Max die.

Sudden Spit (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Biochemical Arsenal die.  If this negates the Attack entirely, use the same roll to Hinder the Attacker and Boost yourself.

Urban Decay In Action (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone.

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

Despite its imposing size, a Mega-Roach relies as much on its nasty chemical secretions as much as raw physical might in combat.  Its primary offensive ability it to use its Sticky Spittle & Grinding Mandibles to maul prey while trapping them in a gooey mass of toxic saliva.  It makes every effort to exploit the turn sequence to first trap a target and then apply a big penalty and further damage to keep the victim helpless until the bug can finish them off.  They rely on their Mutated Exoskeleton and Sudden Spit reaction to minimize the damage they take.  When injured they use Stinking Exudations to simultaneously heal and apply penalties to multiple foes, spending all the hoarded bonuses from their excellent reaction to buff those effects for maximum effect - and they might even get to deal some damage if they roll doubles.  When lacking an obvious target it can also use its size and mass to trigger environmental twists with Urban Decay In Action, complicating the scene no end as it hunts for suitable victims to devour. 

Their upgrade reflects an older, more mature Mega-Roach (the base stats are young ones), and their mastery is exactly what you'd expect from a giant monster.  

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City In Peril Environment 

Represents any generic urban area that's under attack from big, destructive threats like rampaging giant robots, kaiju, bombardment by massed artillery, or death ray attacks from orbiting alien spaceships.

Crumbling Architecture d8, Dangerous Infrastructure d8, Screaming Crowds d10

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Blinding Smoke: Roll the environment dice.  Hinder all targets with the Min die.

Falling Debris: Roll the environment dice.  Attack all targets with the Min die.

Trapped Civilian: Roll the environment dice.  Start challenge.  Rescue Citizen: 0  Hinder all heroes with the value of the Min die until this challenge is completed.

(Major Twist)

Leaking Gas Lines: Start challenge.  Prevent Explosion: 0  Timer: 0  Triggered: Advance the scene tracker by one. 

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Buried Under the Rubble: Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero with the Mid die, and Attack that hero with the Min die.

Broken Power Line: Roll the environment dice.  Attack one hero with the Max die.

Police Assistance: Roll the environment dice.  Boost two heroes with the Mid die.

(Major Twist)

Panicking Crowd: Roll the environment dice.  Start multi-stage challenge.  Calm Civilians 0  Evacuate Civilians 00  Heroes cannot Overcome the second stage on the same round that the first stage is completed.  Hinder all heroes with the value of the Mid die until this challenge is completed. 

Red Zone

(Minor Twists)

Just Keeps Getting Worse: Trigger three different minor twists from the Green or Yellow zones.

Raging Fires: Roll the environment dice.  Hinder all targets using the Mid die.  Attack all targets using the Min die.

(Major Twist)

Collapsing Buildings: Roll the environment dice.  Start timed challenge.  Avoid Collapse 0 Timer 0  Each hero must Overcome this challenge individually.  Triggered: Each hero that failed to complete this challenge is Attacked with the Max + Min dice, and all minions and lieutenants are removed from the scene.

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Professor Peril & the Doom Room, Sadistic AI "Instructor"

Two versions of the same villain, one for when they're fighting in their dangerous lair, the other for when they're pursuing an objective out in the field.

Professor Peril

The artificial intelligence known as "Professor Peril" was originally an advanced training program used by [super-team or organization of choice] to run their so-called "Doom Room" simulator facility, a heavily automated chamber that could recreate hazardous environments, emulate supervillain combat styles and carry out teamwork practice under realistically stressful conditions.  The program incorporated psychological databases and heuristic learning subroutines that let it adapt its teaching style, demeanor and even appearance to be the perfect teacher for any given user.  The combined software and hardware package was so effective that other teams and agencies adopted similar setups, and "Professor Peril and her/his Doom Room" became well-known names in the supers community.

That was right up until a villainous genius (in my campaign it was Tinker-Toy, another AI with a malicious mindset) managed to hack the master code of the program, building up its pseudo-intelligence, releasing its safety lockouts, and resetting its motivation parameters.  Now a rogue AI, Professor Peril nearly killed several heroes over the next few weeks of hopping between different Doom Room facilities while staying just ahead of a growing number of tech-focused supers bent on restraining and reprogramming the newly-murderous program.  Then the Professor seemed to vanish, and after a few tense months it was decided that the new AI had been unstable and had simply ceased to function.

One year and a day after its initial attacks, it lured the members of the hero-team it had been designed for into its own customized Doom Room, created in secret with robotic servants and stolen materials.  All but one of the heroes died that day.  The sole survivor was maimed and de-powered before being returned to the authorities with a "report card" rating their performance as a straight F and signed by Professor Peril, with promises to teach more "lessons" in the future.  Since then the Professor has been encountered all across the world, using a whole network of lairs to study, stalk, and then "test" whichever super-teams or individual heroes catch its attention.  The entity has become quite a bogeyman in the hero community, and even other villains are wary when cooperating with the thing on the occasional specialized heist.  

Description: As a digital intelligence with the ability to project hard light holograms reinforced with artificial psionic overlays, there's no one it can't look like.  Its old default menu of avatars were academic stereotypes, middle-aged men and women with staid appearances and superior attitudes, tailored to the psychological profiles of its students.  Since going rogue it employs a broader range of styles suited to a variety of circumstances.  Within a Doom Room there may or may not be anything of substance concealed within any given avatar, since it has ready access to the location's integral emitter systems.

Gender: N/A (Presents However It Wants)     Age: 7 Years  (Current Version)     Height: Variable

Eyes: Variable Hologram     Hair: Variable Hologram     Skin: Variable Hologram     Built: 2004 

Approach:  Mastermind                          Archetype:  Domain

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Robotics d12, Illusions d10, Awareness d8

Qualities: Technology d10, Alertness d8, Banter d8, Insight d8, Persuasion d8, Sadistic AI d8

Status: (# environment targets and challenges) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Biting Analysis Of Your Failings (A) Hinder all opponents that can see or hear you using Sadistic AI.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Destruct Command (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Attack every target in the scene (other than yourself) with those dice.  Remove those minions.

Exploit Vulnerabilities (A) Attack one hero using Technology.  Hinder all heroes using your Max die.

Master Controller (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone or one zone closer to red.

Swap Host Frame (R) When Attacked, redirect the Attack to an environment minion.

Upgrades & Masteries (only in effect within a Doom Room or similar environment):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  All your power dice increase in size by 1 step (max d12).  Gain Reroute Power (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

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

Professor Peril relies on its Doom Room environment in this form, employing Master Controller regularly to spawn robotic minion and dangerous challenges to oppose the heroes while jumping its electronic intelligence between the various drones and mechanisms and projecting holograms of its avatar to criticize its foes with Biting Analysis Of Your Failings.  Its avatar can be Attacked directly but will use Swap Host Frame to jump to a new drone or subsystem in response.  Thankfully damage directed at the Room's critical systems will gradually limit its options, which is what its large Health pool represents.  When in firm control of a situation it will employ Exploit Vulnerabilities to focus on a weakened hero while baffling the rest with tricks, traps and psionically-augmented holograms.  Its ultimate move is to issue a Destruct Command to all its drones at once, which can often end a battle outright but leaves it with few resources until it can deploy more robotic minions.

Its upgrade will normally be in effect within a Doom Room or similar environment (eg a site with heavy automated defenses), and lets it trade off active drones for Health with Reroute Power.  Master of Superiority is very easy to use, with any mods from Illusions or Robotics or active drones counting toward "manifesting an effect" from a d12 power.   

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Doom Room  difficult environment

The original was a large chamber in a hero team's base, seeming a featureless expanse of metal paneling when in "neutral baseline" mode but actually packed with concealed equipment, deployable barriers and room dividers and an elaborate array of hard light hologram projectors.  Later versions dispense with safety protocols and incorporate specialized weapons and traps aimed at the specific heroes who make up the Professor's current "class" of student-victims.  Since going rogue Professor Peril and its robotic drones build these things wherever it can find a convenient space, often using disused warehouses, hangers on shut-down airfields, large isolated barns in rural areas or even burrowing underground.

Concealed Mechanisms d10, Deceptive Hard Light Holograms d10, Morphing Architecture d10

Special:  Each time the scene changes GYRO zone, shifting walls, floors, corridors and hatchways divide the Doom Room into a number of locations equal to the Min die (minimum 2, maximum H locations).  Then place all targets within those locations.  Challenges are not targets and can affect (and be Overcome in) every location.

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Beam Turrets: Start challenge.  Disable Turrets 0  Until Overcome, at the start of each environment turn, Attack one hero target using the environment's Mid die.

Restraint Launchers: Start challenge.  Disable Launchers 0  Until Overcome, at the start of each environment turn, Hinder one hero target using the environment's Mid die.

(Major Twist)

What Are You Doing Here?: Roll the environment dice.  Add a single Doppel-Drone minion to the scene duplicating an important NPC who isn't present in the scene.  Boost this minion using the Max die.  This bonus is persistent until the start of the next environment turn.     

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Directed Countermeasures: Start challenge.  Disable Countermeasures 00  Until this challenge is Overcome reduce the die size of each hero's largest power(s) by one step (min d4).

Multi-Cannons: Start challenge.  Disable Multi-Cannons 00  Until this challenge is Overcome, at the start of each environment turn, Attack up to two different hero targets using the environment's Mid die.

Release Test Drones: Roll the environment dice.  Add Mid die environment minions (see below) of a single type to the scene.

(Major Twist)

Enhanced Threats: Add one to the number of successes required by each challenge in the scene.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Final Exam: Start timed challenge.  Disarm Detonator 00  Timer 0  If triggered, Attack all targets in the scene using the environment's Max die.

Varied Threats: Roll the environment dice.  Add Mid die environment minions (see below) of one type to the scene, then add Mid die environment minions of a different type to the scene..

(Major Twist)

Heuristic Learning: Roll the environment dice.  Boost all non-hero targets using the Mid die.  Hinder all hero targets using the Mid die.  All these mods are persistent and exclusive.  

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The Doom Room comes stocked with a variety of standardized training drones, and is capable of manufacturing custom designs given time, schematics and resources to do so.  Of the standard models only the networked cohort-drones function properly in other settings thanks to their more advanced programming.   

Cohort-Drone d8 environment minion

Description: Generic humanoid robots with integral blasters and retractable blades, these things operate together with frightening mechanical efficiency.  When not being "dressed up" with hologram overlays they look much like a cheap clothing store dummy - smooth, pale gray, and featureless.

Networked Programming: When taking Attack or Overcome actions, you gain a bonus equal to the number of other nearby cohort-drones (max +2).

Doppel-Drone d8 environment minion

Description: Near-perfect duplicates of your own teammates, other heroes and even supervillains.  They do their best to confuse their enemies during the chaos of battle.

Holo-Guise: Each individual Doppel-Drone duplicates a single hero target or NPC, either at the start the scene or when it first comes into play.  You may spend your action to change which target you're duplicating.

Is That You?: When making saving throws against damage, gain a +3 bonus unless the Attacker is the target being duplicated, in which case you suffer a -1 penalty instead.

Grapple-Drone d8 environment minion

Description: A hovering mass of a dozen mechanical tentacles tipped with jet thrusters.  Strong and nimble, they excel at entangling and constricting foes.  

So Many Tentacles: When taking Hinder actions against close targets, gain a +2 to the die roll. 

Thrusters: You may move as though you had Flight equal to your current die size.

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Professor Peril ("Field Trip" Variant)

Professor Peril is rarely seen outside of a Doom Room, but it has been known to send a downloaded copy of itself hosted in a drone shell to accompany a group of cohort-drones or temporarily allied villains on important jobs.  Most often these are capture attempts to abduct new "students" for destructive testing, but it has been involved in more conventional resource heists (often to pay back a favor from another villain).   

Description: As a digital intelligence with the ability to project hard light holograms reinforced with artificial psionic overlays, there's no one it can't look like.  Its old default menu of avatars were academic stereotypes, middle-aged men and women with staid appearances and superior attitudes, tailored to the psychological profiles of its students.  Since going rogue it employs a broader range of styles suited to a wider variety of circumstances.  When operating outside a Doom Room its holograms are spun around a robotic frame, usually one of roughly human size and configuration.

Gender: N/A (Presents However It Wants)     Age: 7 Years  (Current Version)     Height: Variable

Eyes: Variable Hologram     Hair: Variable Hologram     Skin: Variable Hologram     Built: 2004 

Approach: Mastermind                           Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Robotics d12, Illusions d10, Gadgets d8                                       

Qualities: Technology d10, Alertness d8, Banter d8, Insight d8, Persuasion d8, Sadistic AI d8

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

Abilities:

Biting Analysis Of Your Failings (A) Hinder all opponents that can see or hear you using Sadistic AI.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Confounding Puzzles (A) Hinder using Illusions.  Use your Max + Mid dice, or use your Max die and make the penalty persistent and exclusive.

Field Upgrades (A) Boost yourself using Technology.  Use your Max die.  Either make that bonus persistent and exclusive, or Boost yourself again using your Mid + Min dice.  

Prepared For Such A Clumsy Effort (R) When Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, roll your single status die.  Use that roll to Defend yourself and deal that much damage to the Attacker.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  All your power dice increase in size by 1 step (max d12).  Gain Exploit Vulnerabilities (A) Attack one hero using Technology.  Hinder all heroes using your Max die.

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

When operating outside of one of its lairs Professor Peril is more limited and vulnerable, and will generally try to avoid extended conflicts unless its allies and robotic minions put the odds greatly in its favor.  If need be it can download itself to a safe cache through the internet as an escape if physically cornered.  Peril prefers to open with its signature Biting Analysis Of Your Failings, rolling the resulting bonus it earns into making Field Upgrades to its programming for as strong a persistent bonus as possible and enabling its Prepared For Such A Clumsy Effort defensive reaction.  After that it begins to spread persistent penalties around with Confounding Puzzles to baffle foes with lasting illusions.

If it has its upgrade its powers are stronger and it gains its Exploit Vulnerabilities ability (which comes from its Archetype, although its Approach has a mechanically identical ability as well) so it can do some actual damage while efficiently Hindering foes, and its mastery will function with effects from both Robotics and Illusions.

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