KILL-A-TON, Arms Dealer Who Loves Her Own Merchandise

A super-tech arms dealer who's definitely sampling her own wares.. 

KILL-A-TON

Cleo Akamai has loved firearms since she first handled her father's pistol at the tender age of five, and she's only become more enthusiastic over time.  Not content to simply fire them (although that is the fun part) she quickly moved on to use her super-genius intelligence to improve on the and then eventually design her own.  At some point after her college days the expenses for new material and repairs to her workspace exceeded her legitimate income.  Deciding to join the super-crime community was not a difficult decision for the young Miss Akamai.

In the ten years since she's established a reputation for reliability and built a well-paying clientele in the market for advanced weaponry and gadgetry.  Unlike some "tech head" villains she also takes irregular "road trips" operating under the supranym KILL-A-TON.  Her principle goal during these outings seems to be getting an opportunity to shoot her big-ass cannon conduct field testing on her latest upgrades, but she'll usually have some scheme in the works as well.  Whether she's looting exotic materials or technology she can't get otherwise, doing a favor for some villainous ally, or attempting to proactively eliminate some hero that's annoyed her somehow, she regularly varies her approach.  Sometimes it's just her a pack of robot minions or guns-for-hire (often being paid in her own weaponry), sometimes it's another villain, and once in a while she'll show up with a whole team made up of her customers.

KILL-A-TON's casual approach to mass destruction has many heroes looking for her, but she doesn't reciprocate their feelings and has no real nemesis.  The closest she gets to ongoing enemies are the agents of the Science Integration Network (SIN), who have repeatedly attempted to recruit or steal from her and continues to do so despite their failures and some fairly vigorous chastisement from KILL-A-TON.   

Description: Seen outside her power suit, she's a short, lightly built woman of native Hawaiian ancestry, including a slight Islands accent.  When working, all you'll see is a menacing anime-style battlesuit studded with thrusters and auxiliary equipment pods and holding a massive energy cannon that links to one shoulder via an articulated armature.  The gun glows and hums more and more ominously the more it builds up a charge.  The suit is all-concealing and modulates her voice into an obviously artificial tone. 

Gender: Female     Age: 30     Height: 5'2" (6'9" suited up)     Eyes: Dark Brown

Hair: Black, Cut Short      Skin: Golden Tan     Build: Slim

Approach: Mastermind     Archetype: Inventor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Mk. 25 Doom-Cannon d12, Inventions d10, Power Suit d8

Qualities: Ranged Combat d10, Criminal Underworld Information d8, Gun-Crazy Schemer d8, Imposing d8, Science d8, Technology d8

Status: (# of Inventions/Mods) 4+ - d12 / 2-3 - d10 / 1 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

Intimidation Ploy (A) Attack one hero using using Technology.  Hinder all heroes using your Max die.

Overcharger (R) At the start of your turn, if you have no bonuses in play, roll your single Science die to Boost yourself.

Warning Shot (A) Boost using Mk. 25 Doom-Cannon.  Hinder using your Max die.  Attack using your Min die.

You Were Warned (A) Attack using Mk. 25 Doom-Cannon and at least one bonus.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Add all your bonuses to the Attack, destroying them.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Defense Shield (I) You cannot be damaged by anything except yourself until the defense shield is destroyed.  The shield has 40 Health, or can be deactivated with three Overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist working on the shield, you can use a Reaction to Attack that hero by rolling your single Mk. 25 Doom-Cannon die.  Gain Reestablish Shield (A) Overcome using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  On a success remove one success from the deactivation challenge.  Alternatively, instead of an Overcome, use your Max die to Recover that much of the shield's Health.  This ability cannot be used if the shield has been completely removed.

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

Tactics

Unless KILL-A-TON has a strong reason to be subtle about things, she'll happily spend her time cutting loose with her ridiculous powerful energy cannon turn after turn.  That said, she's a decent tactician and does everything she can to make every shot count.  When possible she spends her bonuses as fast as they come so she can get all the mileage possible out of Overcharger.  She often opens a fight with an Intimidation Ploy (using the bonus from her reaction, of course), loosing brilliant, noisy and  confusing micro-pulses while building up her status die with the penalties handed out.  She'll then take a Warning Shot at whatever the greatest threat appears to be, which can generate more mods for status effects if she uses Science or Technology instead of Ranged Combat.  KILL-A-TON follows that up with her signature move, a full-power shot using You Were Warned on the same target, repeating until they've learned their lesson.

Her upgrade significantly improves her durability, either through blocking damage or costing the heroes time doing Overcome actions, the latter of which may also grant her a chance to take a few snap-shots if her reaction is available (in which case she'll at least be less focused on exploiting Overcharger since it's a reaction too).  She has zero qualms about using her mastery when it might help, and is overall pretty casual about killing or seriously injuring innocents and heroes alike.

Trivia

Almost all of the bonuses she generates will be "Ominous Hum" with the number of m's at the end equal to the size of the bonus.  Yes, this is a Schlock Mercenary reference.

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KILL-O-BOT Minion d8 minions

Description: Basic humanoid automaton, not fancy (and certainly not smart) but well equipped and programmed for mayhem.  KILL-A-TON doesn't put much effort into these things, robots aren't really her passion.  They do get issued with her usual high-quality guns, though.

Made Them Myself: Each group of H (or fraction thereof) of these minions counts as an invention for purposes of KILL-O-TON's status die.  You can only take Attack and Defend actions.

Only the Finest In Zap Guns: When you Attack, any rolls of one can be rerolled once.

Blog Content Index

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.       

Blog Content Index

Cormorant, AKA The Reformed Villain Sea Raven

This character started out as a minor maritime supervillain who wound up betraying his allies when they turned out to be more ruthless than he could stomach.  My PCs at the time helped him foil their plans and put in a good word for him with the law, leading to him reforming and (after serving a short prison sentence) becoming a minor superhero on his own.

Including a full heroic writeup for him as a potential PC and both hero and villain lieutenant NPC versions of him.  He was too minor a baddie to ever get a full villain writeup back in the day but I've done a quick and dirty writeup for him here.  He's probably most useful for getting players involved in some kind of seafaring shenanigans, or helping them out of some undersea villain base if they've already gotten involved by being captured or something.  

Cormorant / Sea Raven

A reformed superhuman criminal, Valence Toombs once operated under the supranym Sea Raven and now goes by Cormorant.  As Sea Raven, he operated mostly as an empowered burglar and smuggler, exploiting his natural talents and his family's connections in maritime trade to earn a significant income while keeping a fairly low profile.  That career ended when he got involved with the Seven Sea-Masters as hired muscle.  Faced with the choice between killing in cold blood or earning the wrath of some of the most feared supervillains on (and under) the seven seas, he turned his coat and betrayed their current operations to a super-team who happened to be on a vacation cruise nearby.  After assisting with foiling Doctor Dreadnought's latest scheme he earned himself a much-reduced sentence for previous crimes and, after serving his term, an in to the heroic community where he now acts as a US Coast Guard auxiliary and advisor under the supranym Cormorant.  While he's no great powerhouse by superhuman standards his abilities and past history make him very useful when it comes to dealing with conventional crimes at sea.

Cormorant's powers derive from his genetics, which appear to involve some form of alien hybridization in the last few generations.  He can propel himself at considerable speeds through some form of natural gravitic manipulation, an effect that works equally well below the waves as it does above.  A very nimble flyer, he can outperform most conventional aircraft with ease.  His hybrid physiology can survive comfortably at great heights and underwater even at abyssal depths, shrugging off extremes of cold and pressure and using bioluminescence to make his way in the deeps.  Toombs also possesses inhumanly swift reaction times and a sixth sense that helps guide his movements, both when maneuvering at speed and when fighting in close quarters combat.  It also guides his tongue, letting him subconsciously sense just the right thing to say to pump up his allies and get under the skin of his enemies.  You can count on him to run his mouth in a fight - and outside of it.     

Description: Tall, broad-chested, sharp-featured man wearing a jet black spring wetsuit, with the outline of a stylized cormorant in its wing-drying pose in yellow on the left chest.  The suit is well equipped with pockets for carrying loot and contraband, supplemented with sealable watertight bags for items that need to be kept dry.  His skin is naturally pale blue and his hands and feet webbed, but he can suppress the physical manifestations of his mutations to achieve a more normal appearance.  Speaks with a slight California accent and knows English, Spanish, and Russian fluently, with a smattering of many other languages.  Has a nice baritone singing voice and knows a ridiculous number of shanty songs.

Gender: Male     Age: 29     Height: 6'1"     Eyes: Sea Green      

Hair: Black     Skin: Pale Blue (Caucasian When Suppressed)     Build: Lithe

Background: Former Villain     Power Source: Genetic     Archetype: Flyer

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

Powers: Intuition d10, Agility d8, Flight d8, Swimming d8, Vitality d8 

Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Banter d10, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Professional Mariner d8

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

Abilities

Green

Cautious Approach (A) Attack using Intuition.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Min die until your next turn.

Get Your Game Face On (A) Boost yourself using Banter.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Nimble Flyer (R) When you are Attacked while flying, Defend yourself by rolling your single Flight die. 

Principle of Honor (A) Overcome a situation to maintain your code of honor  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: Your honor has been challenged, how will you answer?  Major twist: Will you choose your honor or your life?  RP: You are governed by a strict code of conduct.  Even under coercion you will not compromise your ideals.

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.

Yellow

Blitz (A) Attack multiple targets using Intuition.  Use your Min die.

Say The Right Thing (A) Boost using Banter.  Apply that bonus to all hero Attack and Overcome actions until the start of your next turn.

Take A Breather (A) Boost yourself using Vitality.  Either remove a penalty on yourself or Recover using your Min die.

Red

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

Hyperactive Metabolism (I) You have no limit on the amount of Reactions you can take.  Each time you use a Reaction after the first one each turn, take one irreducible damage or take a minor twist.

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

Out

Shared Sixth Sense (A) Boost an ally by rolling your single Intuition die.

Tactics

In Green, use Get Your Game Face On to establish a lasting bonus, possibly repeating before your zone changes to fish for a larger bonus (+3, or even +4 with serious luck).  If at all possible try to re-establish a persistent bonus whenever you lose yours, as even a +2 makes a big difference to your effectiveness.  Cautious Approach is the safer of your two offensive options, and can be pooled with either Acrobatics or Banter depending on whether you're mostly relying on precise blows or mockery for effect.  Staying airborne will make you much harder to hurt thanks to Nimble Flyer.  If you can find a chance to use your Principle of Honor you can also get a free move and a second Hero Point with Principle of Speed if you succeed.

Once you reach Yellow, Blitz offers a second offensive maneuver good against multiple weaker targets, and it too can be pooled with Acrobatics or Banter depending on what you're doing.  Say The Right Thing is a modestly effective team support move and will often be your best option when there are three or more allied heroes active.  Take A Breather offers a modest stackable bonus and potentially some healing, but it's most likely to get used for removing a large persistent penalty when needed, or to buy a little more security from going straight Out from Yellow.

Your primary goal in Red is to survive long enough to use Quick Recovery.  Agile Defense gives you a stronger damage prevention reaction that isn't dependent on Flight and can be used to cover teammates in a pinch, and Hyperactive Metabolism lets you use that reaction every single turn until you can get to heal back to Yellow.  You may be forced to take other actions in Red due to the scene tracker, but that's never going to be a great option for you.

Shared Sixth Sense lets you contribute a little bonus support even when Out.

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Cormorant d10 lieutenant version

Description: Same as the full hero writeup above.

Amphibious Flyer: You may move as though you had Flight d8 and Swimming d8.  Gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage while flying or swimming.

Motivational Speech: When you Boost, affect all nearby allies in the same location.

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Sea Raven

Cormorant was a much nastier guy during his days as Sea Raven, but a lot of it was a front and he was still no killer.  He used his sharp tongue to hamper foes rather than aid allies, and was very focused on getting away with the loot rather than fighting foes.  On rare occasions he'd arrange to work with some henchmen to provide support, but usually only for big high-profit heists.   

Description: Same as the full hero writeup above, but the cormorant icon is bright red and he wears a black hooded mask that conceals his facial features and tight black gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints.

Gender: Male     Age: 29     Height: 6'1"     Eyes: Sea Green      

Hair: Black     Skin: Pale Blue (Caucasian When Suppressed)     Build: Lithe

Approach: Underpowered                    Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  20 + (5 x H)

Powers: Swimming d8, Agility d6, Flight d6, Intuition d6

Qualities: Banter d10, Acrobatics d8, Maritime Criminal d8, Fitness d6

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

Abilities:

Cruelty (A) Hinder using Intuition.  Either use your Max + Mid die, or use your Max die and make that penalty persistent and exclusive.

Hybrid Metabolism (I) Whenever you would be reduced to zero or fewer Health, prevent that damage and reduce all of your power dice by one die size.  If this reduces any die below d4 you are knocked out.

Keep On the Move (A) Attack multiple targets using Agility.  Use your Min die to Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn.

Punishing Block (R) When Attacked by someone with a penalty you created, Defend by rolling your single status die.  The Attacker also suffers that much damage.

Trust To Luck (A) Attack using Intuition.  If you roll doubles, add that value to the Attack.  If you roll triples, add all three dice to the Attack.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, very rare):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain Grab the Loot, People (A) Replenish your Petty Criminal minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

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

If he can't escape a fight, Sea Raven's usual opening move was to use Cruelty for a lasting penalty, improving his status, followed by using Keep On the Move against crowds or Trust To Luck versus single enemies.  If he has the time he'll try to put out more penalties to make Punishing Block easier to use, and his Hybrid Metabolism will give him time for one more attempt to flee a losing battle.

His upgrade and mastery only show up for the biggest jobs when he's willing to divide the profits with his backup.

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Sea Raven d10 lieutenant version

Description: Same as the full hero writeup above, but the cormorant icon is bright red and he wears a black hooded mask that conceals his facial features and tight black gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints.

Amphibious Flyer: You may move as though you had Flight d8 and Swimming d8.  Gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage while flying or swimming.

Talks A Good Game: When you Hinder, affect all nearby enemies in the same location.

Petty Criminal d6 minions (see Grab the Loot, People above)

Description: Nondescript henchmen who are more interested in loot than getting in a fight.

Perfect Fall Guy: You may sacrifice yourself to allow a villain or lieutenant to escape the scene.

Blog Content Index

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.

Blog Content Index

Bearfoot Bill, Backwoods Cartoon Baddie

Since I did a cartoon environment yesterday, I figure another cartoon villain is a good addition to the rest of the animated characters on the blog.

Bearfoot Bill, Backwoods Bandit

Bearfoot Bill ("It's joke, 'cause I'm a bear and I don't wear shoes anyhow!) is a character who appeared in the 1930's "Clown Town" theatrical cartoon series.  A stereotyped hillbilly bully who just happened to be a bear, he was a minor villain who appeared in half a dozen shorts as a bandit, bushwhacker, bank robber and bootlegger (dealing in fermented honey, of course).  Sometimes he worked alone and sometimes with a gang of smaller bear-bandits but either way he was inevitably sent running back to the hills after being bonked by the series' hero, KO Clown.  Some of his shorts were black & white, others were late enough for color.

The signature elements of Bill's character design were his enormous furry, clawed feet ("They just keep growin' when ya don't wear shoes, and I don't wear shoes 'cause I'm a bear!) and his shotgun, Old Faithful.  This double-barreled sawed-off boom stick was a bit character in and of itself, and sometimes argued with him about when to shoot and who to shoot at.  In some of his cartoons Bill was also able to conjure up jugs of fermented honey, and his empties would litter the ground around him.  

If you're running into him, you've either been pulled into his cinematic reality (using the term loosely) or there's a dimensional breach somewhere and cartoons are getting into the real world.  Thankfully, Old Faithful continues to follow the rules of its own setting no matter where it currently is, so its shells produce cosmetic damage and ink staining rather than horrific injuries.  If confronted with the effects of real firearms on real targets, even Bill will be appalled ("There's red ink and gizzards everywhere!") and Old Faithful will spit out its ammo and flatly refuse to be reloaded until he's had some time to think about what he's been doing with his life.

Description: A chubby anthropomorphic cartoon bear, dressed in worn denim overalls with a red handkerchief in one hip pocket and a battered straw hat on his head.  Carries a double-barreled sawn-off shotgun nicknamed Old Faithful, which speaks in a voice like a rusty hinge.  Often found with a big jug of fermented honey marked with an XXX, which he can conjure from nowhere when he wants a swig.  He speaks with a backwoods Appalachian accent in a gruff, growly voice.

Gender: Male     Age: Public Domain Character     Height: 6'6"     Eyes: Black

Fur: Brown       Skin: Covered In Fur       Build: Portly Cartoon Bear-Man

Approach: Bully                     Archetype: Predator

Health: 40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Old Faithful d10, Presence d8, Strength d8

Qualities: Banter d8, Cartoon Bandit-Bear d8, Imposing d8

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

Abilities:

Both Barrels (A) Attack two nearby targets using Old Faithful.  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.

Don't You Try Nothin' Funny (A) Hinder one target using Presence.  Use your Max die.  The penalty created lasts until your next turn, and while it lasts the target cannot use reactions and cannot benefit from Defend actions. 

Scary Bear (A) Boost yourself using Presence.  If there are any heroes with Health in the Yellow zone, use your Mid + Min.  If there are any heroes with Health in the Red zone, use your Max + Mid + Min dice.

Take A Swig of Liquid Courage (A) Boost yourself using Banter.  Use your Max die.  This bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Mid die until the start of your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain Get In There, Boys! (A) Replenish your Bandit-Bear minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

Boss Bandit (I) As long as you are in command of your own forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to seize an area or capture civilians.

Tactics

As a bandit Bearfoot Bill is mostly after valuables, although as a cartoon hillbilly bear his definition of "valuable" includes honey, moonshine, other folks' livestock, and pretty much anything in a bag with "swag" or a dollar sign on it.  He prefers bushwhacking lone victims when possible, but he's both greedy and a knucklehead so tackling a whole team of superheroes isn't out of the question.  He'll usually start a scene by using Take A Swig of Liquid Courage, which he'll repeat whenever the buzz wears off due to the persistent bonus being removed.  After that he'll try threatening a victim with Don't You Try Nothin' Funny (which sounds really menacing to his fellow cartoons) followed by unloading on them with his double-barreled sawed-off shotgun using Both Barrels.  Once his opponent(s) are worse for wear he'll use Scary Bear to Boost himself further, using bonuses for comedic Overcomes as the opportunity arises.

Bearfoot Bill sometimes shows up leading a band of fellow bear-bandits that help him on heists, which are represented by both his upgrade and mastery.

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Bandit-Bear d6 minion

Description: Cartoon bear-people dressed like hillbillies.  At bearly three feet tall they'd be kind of adorable if it weren't for the comedically oversized firearms they're brandishing menacingly.  Good thing they fire cartoon bullets, but the ink stains are hard on costumes.   

Way Too Much Gun For A Little Bear: Whenever you take an Attack action, gain a +2 bonus.  Then, reduce your die size by one.  If this would take you below d4, you are defeated.

Blog Content Index

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.

Blog Content Index

DOOM, A Mystical Terrorist Conspiracy

As long as I was rummaging through old campaign notes for Hugo Hellbinder and company I figured I might as well do a writeup for the organization that was behind him in my game.  These people (and things, in some cases) were the primary antagonists in one of my 2022 games, where they operated as a kind of magic/supernatural-themed mashup of Marvel's Hydra, GI Joe's Cobra, and your generic occult conspiracy.

DOOM

The organization known as DOOM is an international terrorist organization of occultists who share a common hatred of modern civilization, blaming it for marginalizing the practice of magic in favor of science and technology.  The group is decentralized, operating as as a bewildering array of sinister cabals, dark cults, hidden orders and sinister sects, most of whom have little connection to one another beyond their agreement with DOOM's destructive agenda.  Individual sub-groups vary wildly in terms of membership size, mundane and magical resources, and overall power, but all are united in despising the existing world order and all those who accept it.

There's no such thing as a "typical" DOOM cell, but almost all of them have an inner cadre of fairly accomplished magical adepts supported by less talented (and more expendable) acolytes.  Some call on the powers of eldritch entities, others perform the darkest of ritual magics, some concentrate on crafting arcane artifacts, and a few even toy with the balance of life and death through necromancy.  Their plots invariably revolve around magical terrorism meant to destabilize modern society.  A favorite approach is to cause a showy mass casualty event followed up by extortion, threatening to repeat the attack on a grander scale if their demands aren't met.  Those demands are often quite strange and often impossible, but usually display either an anti-technological bent or a desire for artifacts and obscure books.

Most cells are divided into two broad tiers of membership.  Low-powered apprentices make up the bulk of most cells, while the more potent leadership positions are occupied by adepts.  Individual adepts rarely rival actual superhumans (like your PCs) in raw power, with those who do reach such levels of mastery breaking away from (or being driven out of) DOOM to pursue their own schemes from then on.  Instead, you'll generally find a group of adepts working together, aided by larger numbers of apprentices and often accompanied in action scenes by multiple magical challenges to deal with - including Doomsday Devices in the form of rituals, strange alchemical substances, etc.  

Heavier support capable of matching a superhero is usually in the form of magical constructs (see Brazen Idol below) or wielders of the most potent mystical relics available (see the Larva Vesparum below).  DOOM cells are also capable of creating entities like Corpsefires or Silent Harvesters, empowering murderous pawns like Bodycount or summoning and binding more demonic reskins of Gadfly to harass victims they don't wish to destroy outright.

On rare occasions a DOOM cell may employ more mundane mercenary villains, but the organization is seen as too extreme and unreliable by the supercrime community for that to happen often.

One notable quirk of the organization as a whole is that while everyone agrees that DOOM is an acronym, no two cells agree on what it stands for.  Some examples include:

• Dread Order of Mystics
• Directorate of Occult Mayhem
• Dark Overlords of Mankind
• Devotees of Obscure Magics
• Doleful Orchestra of Malice
• Deepest of Occluded Mysteries       

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Individual cells within DOOM vary widely, but these two writeups reflect the most basic rank-and-file and roughly average leader-tier members.  It wouldn't be uncommon for either or both to have another ability to reflect unique specialties, and other types of minions with magical themes (eg animated corpses or bound spirits for necromancer cells, summoned devils for diabolists, etc.) are fairly common as well.

   

Servants of DOOM d8 minions

Description: Whether they're called apprentices, acolytes, cultists or something more exotic, these are human occultists who've learned just enough magic to be truly dangerous with it - both to themselves and others.  They rarely carry weapons as such, but some might have wands or staves, usually more for show than anything.  Different cells have different accoutrements, but in general you can expect to see a lot of robes and hoods, often in dark colors that don't show blood stains as badly. 

Dangerous Magics: Whenever you roll the maximum possible result on your die, add +2 to that result and then reduce your die size by one step.  If this would take you below a d4, you are defeated.

Adepts of DOOM d10 lieutenants

Description: Adepts, masters, sages or some other title, these (mostly) human occultists have the mystic might to have clawed their way into the leadership ranks of their DOOM cell.  Their magics are potent indeed, rivalled only by their ruthless ambition.  Most rely purely on their spells but a few might carry ceremonial implements for the aesthetics.  Their ritual costumes are more impressive than those of their servants but still lean toward robes and hoods.    

Master and Apprentice: You are accompanied by a d6 minion with no abilities that represents a personal apprentice or familiar.  They always act immediately after your turn, and cannot be chosen to take their turn at any other time.  If you are defeated, so is your personal minion.

Serve Your Master: Whenever you roll your die, you may remove one nearby allied minion from the scene to roll their die and add it to your result.  You can only use this ability once per roll you make.

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Brazen Idol

Brazen Idols are broad category of magical constructs designed to give their spellcasting creators some raw physical might to draw upon.  Optimized for combat, they're fairly thick-witted otherwise and often play the role of sentry in DOOM strongholds or other wizards' lairs.  While rare, they aren't unique and variant models are fairly common, but the writeup below is fairly typical.  Other versions might trade out the detachable flying fists for flame-breath, gouts of toxic smoke, or exotic melee weapons. 

Description: A towering brazen statue in the shape of a six-armed demon-thing, with short, thick legs and an apelike posture.  Its snarling visage is lit from within by an unnatural flame that glows through its eyes and grated mouth.  The thing's movements are smooth and organic despite being sculpted of metal.  The only sounds it makes are ringing footfalls, the crackling of it internal fires and the clang of its powerful blows landing home on its victims.

Gender: None     Age: Antique     Height: 7'10"     Eye: Hollow Pits Lit With Flame

Hair: Spiky Brass     Skin: Polished Brass     Build: Squat, Hunched, Six-Armed

Approach: Bully                  Archetype: Indomitable

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Strength d10, Momentum d8, Part Detachment d8

Qualities: Battle Construct d8, Fitness d8, Self-Discipline d8                                     

Status: Always d8

Abilities:

Brazen Juggernaut (A) Attack one target using Momentum.  Either Hinder that target using your Max die, or Defend yourself using your Min die and you and the target end up elsewhere in the scene.

Enchanted Brass (I) Reduce damage dealt to you by 2.

Grasping Hands of Doom  (A) Attack two nearby targets using Part Detachment.  Use your Max die against one target and your Mid + Min dice against the other.  If either target Defends against the Attack, that Defend applies to both Attacks.

Relentless Bludgeoning (A) Attack one target using Strength.  Use your Max die.  Until the start of your next turn, use your Mid die to Defend against all Attacks from that target. 

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 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

This version of Brazen Idol is simple but efficient fighter, although it will require careful instructions to deal with much outside of a fight.  It prefers to use Brazen Juggernaut to drag a single foe away from allies.  It can then use Relentless Bludgeoning to keep them from resisting effectively while it pounds on them - something it can also do at range by hurling a barrage of debris or its own detached fists at targets.  If faced with multiple ranged foes it uses Grasping Hands of Doom to send a pair of its own hands magically flying off to deal with them, smashing their victims together if possible.  While the Brazen Idol lacks reactive defenses it is inherently quite durable thanks to being made of Enchanted Brass.

More important, powerful and wealthy cabals will upgrade their Idol(s) to make them even more efficient fighters, which is usually obvious thanks to the addition on a fourth pair of arms and often a second or even third head.  Its mastery is reflects the thing's limited mentality even when upgraded.  

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Larva Vesparum ("Mask of Wasps")

The Larva Vesparum ("Mask of Wasps" in English) is a self-aware magical artifact dating back to the time of the Roman Empire, and may be even older than that.  It takes the form of a face mask with insect-like jeweled eye coverings.  Any who don the thing become part of an inhuman gestalt consciousness.  Strong-minded people (like our heroes) can resist, retaining their autonomy and eventually fight off the mystical "infection" but for most the bond is permanent, lasting even past the point of physical death.  The hive mind behind the mask has access to an ever-growing body of knowledge and memories going back thousands of years.  Its precise goals are unclear, but like DOOM the thing is no fan of modern civilization and its often found working with (or even quietly controlling) a cell full of cultists dedicated to recruiting more to wear the Mask of Wasps and join with the collective intelligence.

The relic has been separated from its current wearer and confined in high-security facilities for study on several occasions, but winds up either being stolen or tempting some dupe into putting it on sooner or later.  Mystics and psychics who've managed to contact the gestalt entity without losing themselves to it report an extremely alien core mentality that's evolving as it absorbs more and more human minds.  The thing is inhumanly patient, content to spend long dormant periods exploring its own inner mindscape between bouts of activity when it has a living bearer again.  Former bearers lapse into a comatose state while it's dormant, but revive as puppets if the thing becomes active - which has sometimes been the first warning that some new fool has donned the Larva Vesparum.  

Description: A self-adhering domino mask with distinctive compound eye-lenses, worn by a strangely indistinct humanoid figure.  Anyone with mystic senses can immediately detect that this is  a powerful artifact with a will of its own that connects to a much larger mentality that has exists across other times and dimensions.  Regardless of who wears the thing it's always that mask that draws your attention and stays in memory afterward.  This is especially true when those bejeweled eyes are firing eldritch rays of dark magic, of course.  The thing speaks rarely, but when it does it sounds like a chorus of voices all at once.

Minions of this thing are visually identical, but it's somehow apparent even to the most mundane observer that their masks are mere magical reflections of the true one.   

Gender: Male            Age: Late Teens?           Height: 5'11"           Eyes: Green, Bloodshot

Hair: Black Buzzcut              Skin: Sickly Pale           Build: Gangly

Approach: Creator                   Archetype: Indomitable

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Infernal d10, Awareness d8, Duplication d8, Suggestion d6

Qualities: Magical Lore d10, Gestalt Magical Sapience d8, History d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Self-Discipline d8

Status:  Always d8

Abilities:

Collective Awareness (R) Defend by rolling your single status die.  If this reduces the damage to zero, Boost using the amount of damage prevented.

Hive Mind Summons (A) Use Gestalt Magical Sapience to create a number of minions equal to the value of your Max die.  The starting die size of these minions is the same as the die size of your Min die.

Massed Eye-Beams (A) Attack using Infernal.  Use your Max die with a bonus equal to the number of minions you control.

Unnatural Durability (I) Reduce the amount of damage dealt to you by two.

Upgrades & Masteries:

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 Mysticism (I) If you have access to proper materials, automatically succeed at an Overcome in a situation involving harnessing magical forces.

Tactics

The current wearer of the Larva Vesparum acts as the focus of a mystical hive mind composed of all who've ever worn the mask, living or dead.  Hive Mind Summons lets them conjure former wearers to the scene as inhumanly coordinated minions, adding to the strength of their Massed Eye-Beams and taking independent actions as well.  Collective Awareness is a very versatile defensive reaction that should be used against relatively low-damage hits (including on allies) whenever possible to maximize the chances of triggering the free Boost rider, while Unnatural Durability helps keep your primary form in action.  You can also take Overcomes with Suggestion + Magical Lore to "infect" a suitable target that's gone Out and force them to don the mask, leaving them open to manipulation by the hivemind in the future, setting up future narrative complications.

With its upgrade the gestalt intelligence now has more direct influence on those around them, and can more easily infect others and immediately transform them into wasp-masked minions.  Its mastery reflects growing magical prowess as more and more of the hive mind's attention is focused on the immediate situation.

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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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