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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Angel Arrow, Cyborg Operative of SIN

An archer-themed villain with an angelic motif, and yet another asset for the Science Integration Network.

Angel Arrow

The cyborg known as Angel Arrow was once merely Agent D6745308 of SIN, part of Hell-Hawk's cadre of airborn assault troops.  She was horrifically injured by a flame-wielding super during an operation, and the medical experts at SIN HQ were ready to declare her a lost cause - permanently disabled by burns and showing minimal brain activity following injuries from a multi-story fall.  That might have been the end of her story, but her former commander Arno Wells felt a twisted sympathy for her, having suffered serious burns in a childhood airplane crash himself.  Working with SIN's cybernetics experts he saved her life if not her mind, rebuilding her as an advanced cyborg operative that melded his own aviform flight systems with hyper-advanced exotic munitions technology, integrated sensor arrays and cognitive assistance software to replace lost brain functions.

Angel Arrow is a technological and aesthetic work of art, but her humanity is gone.  Only marginally more free-willed than a true robot, she obeys directives from her masters at SIN without question.  If she ever recovers any of her memories or personality that might change - but odds are the mad scientists of SIN would regard such a development as a glitch in the system to be corrected rather a belated recovery.  For now she's usually found working alongside Arno when he takes the field as Hell-Hawk, but sometimes gets assigned to missions with other SIN assets where her mobility and hard-hitting, low-signature weaponry are most useful.      

Description: A female angel, plated in shining silver cyber-armor with gleaming metal wings.  She carries an ultra-tech longbow, drawing her arrows directly from her own pinions as needed.  She rarely speaks, but when she does her voice is cold and clear with a mechanical lack of inflection.

Gender: Female     Age: Mid-Twenties     Height: 5'9" (14" wingspan)     Eyes: Blank Silver

Hair: Flowing Black   Skin: Pale, Burn Scarred, Hidden By Silver Plating   Build: Angelic

Approach: Specialized                   Archetype: Inventor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d10, Flight d8

Qualities: Ranged Combat d12, Alertness d8, Cyborg Servitor d8

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

Abilities:

Adjusted Subroutines (I) Whenever you Attack a target that you have dealt damage to at least once already in this scene, gain a +1 persistent and exclusive bonus against that target.

Graceful Archer (A) Attack using Ranged Combat.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Defend yourself using your Mid die.

Supercharged Shot (A) Attack using Inventions and at least one bonus.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice and add all your bonuses, destroying them.

Targeting Programs (A) Boost using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  Boost again using your Mid die, then either make one of those bonuses persistent and exclusive, or Attack with your Min die.

Volley (A) Attack up to three targets using Ranged Combat.  Use your Max die against one target, your Mid die against a second target, and your Min die against a third target.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

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

Tactics

Angel Arrow is an airborne archer and does her best to stay clear of melee combat or getting hemmed in by tight terrain.  She looks for a chance to run Targeting Programs early on, usually establishing a persistent bonus on herself and improving her status die.  She might repeat the move to maximize her status if she has time, and will generally sit on her bonuses until she takes a Supercharged Shot.  When facing multiple foes she relies on Volley to spread damage around, switching to Graceful Archer if she's facing much counterfire.  In all cases she'll select targets to best exploit Adjusted Subroutines, stacking up the small exclusive bonuses (which are pretty pointless if she has a better one from Targeting Programs) to eventually fuel a bigger Supercharged Shot.

The improved hardware and software from her upgrade improves her dice pools and durability quite a lot.  Her mastery can only be used when she has a mod in play that was created using Inventions, which usually means one of the bonuses generated by Adjusted Subroutines after damaging a target for at least the second time.

Design Notes

There are a number of rules clarifications that GTG needs to make for some of her abilities and their interactions, but here we are at the end of 2023 and still no FAQ document.  Specifically:

• Supercharged Shot (originally the Inventor ability Empowered Destruction) functions as a villain equivalent to the hero Red ability Charged-Up Blast, but the wording here fails to include the text specifically calling out that the ability consumes all your bonuses regardless of exclusivity.  My assumption is that it does, so every bonuses gets added and then destroyed.
• Adjusted Subroutines (originally the Specialist ability Known Target) produces tiny persistent and exclusive bonuses every time you damage a given target beyond the first.  Those bonuses can only be used against that specific target, much like the Marksman hero Green ability Sniper Aim.  In both cases, it's unclear whether the Empowered Destruction/Charged-Up Blast abilities are meant to be able to consume these target-specific bonuses to improve damage against a different target.  My assumption is that they can (and must) do so, since the mods aren't being used normally, they're being destroyed as part of the ability.
• Adjusted Subroutines/Known Target also raises some question about exactly how the bonus is being generated for purposes of an Inventor's status die mechanics.  If you make an Attack that triggers the ability and includes either Inventions or Science or both in the pool, do the bonuses count toward status or not?  They're actually the result of an entirely different ability that doesn't use a die pool at all, after all.  My assumption is that they do count, but it would be nice to sure of the designer intent.

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General Tiger Devil and the Green Devil Army

A "generic" evil paramilitary group and their fanatical leader for use as needed.  They could be thuggish warlords operating out of a remote fortress stronghold, antigovernment rebels hiding out in the rural countryside, a narco-lord's personal army, a really well-armed urban gang, a covert group of traitors backed by a foreign power plotting a coup, or "just" dupes of a villainous mastermind.  Adjust to fit your campaign as desired.    

The Green Devil Army

The Green Devil Army is intended to be an archetype rather than a specific organization, letting you plug it into your campaign as needed regardless of time period, geographical location or other factors.  As such, the details of the force should be adjusted to suit your campaign's use of them, including weaponry, uniform colors, total numbers, ethnicities of the troops and the languages they use.  There might be enough of them to seriously threaten even a superhero team, or they might be a relatively minor threat that relies on cunning, ruthlessness and possibly supervillain allies to provide a challenge for the PCs.  They do share a few traits regardless of when and where they appear, those being:

• They are a paramilitary militia force, possibly legal but probably not, and are always opposed to the local government to some degree.  They are not heroic freedom fighters, and civilians in their areas of operation will regularly be terrorized, bullied and robbed by Green Devil troopers.
• Their armaments are military grade but far from cutting edge, and they rely on foot troops and guerrilla fighting styles rather than being line infantry.  If suitable, they might have some vehicular support, either outdated or captured military vehicles or home-built technicals.
• Unless on a covert mission, they wear uniforms as a sign of pride, although they're often rather shabby and ragged compared to real military forces.  Body armor is rare or unheard of.
• The entire unit wears decorative face paint, using shades of green camo to make themselves up in frightening devil faces.  If the climate is suitable, they might use balaclavas with devil faces printed on them instead, which are faster to put on or remove when wanting to conceal themselves.
• They are quite fanatical about whatever cause fits them, including just plain "we're a bad-ass militia that no one can tell what to do" at the most basic level.  This doesn't really make up for generally poor training and equipment, but they certainly think it does.
• They are always lead by General Tiger Devil, who acts as a focus for the group and makes most of the decisions for it.  As much a cult leader as a paramilitary commander, this a is a position, not an individual, and different people may hold it over time.  It's even possible for one Tiger Devil to be struck down in the heat of combat only for a nearby trooper to take up the General's signature blade and declare themselves the new leader on the spot.     

General Tiger Devil

Description: He (or she, in some cases) will look much like his men, carrying similar gear and wearing the same style of uniform.  He stands out mostly due to to being prodigiously muscled, wearing more elaborate tiger striped face paint (or a similarly-decorated balaclava) and carrying a much-used but well-maintained officer's sword, the Green Devil Army's symbol of command.  He's also equipped with an array of gadgetry ranging from simple IEDs and demolition charges to black-market super-tech - whatever fits the overall narrative.

Gender: Usually Male     Age: Mid-Thirties     Height: Varies, Usually Tall     Eyes: Varies

Hair: Varies                      Skin: Varies                           Build: Powerfully Muscled

Approach:  Ninja                      Archetype:  Overlord

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Presence d10, Tiger Devil Sword d10, Intuition d8, Gadgets d8, Strength d6

Qualities: Imposing d10, Leadership d10, Close Combat d8, Fanatical Militia Commander d8, Ranged Combat d8

Status:  (# of Minions & Lieutenants) 9+ - d12 / 5-8 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 1-2 - d6 / 0 - d4

Abilities:

Fierce Glare (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Imposing die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

General's Commands (A) Boost using Leadership for all your minions until the start of your next turn.

Green Devil Army (A) Use Fanatical Militia Commander to create a number of minions equal to the value of your Max die.  The starting die size of for those minions is the same as the size of your Min die.

Lead From the Front (A) Attack using Tiger Devil Sword.  Use your Max die.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until the start of your next turn using the number of your minions. 

Lost In the Ranks (I) If you take an action during your turn that does not include an Attack or Hinder, also use your Min die to Defend against all Attacks against you until your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Fervent Speech (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).

Master of Conquest (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

General Tiger Devil is, at the end of the day, a normal human and not here to fight superheroes directly.  He's here to lead their paramilitary troops, motivating them the way only a true fanatic can.  He'll rely heavily on on General's Commands when there are five or more troopers nearby and Green Devil Army to summon more forces when their numbers dip below that threshold.  When doing this he benefits from Lost In the Ranks, and can get further protection from Fierce Glare when faced with a powerful foe.  If victory seems close or defeat inevitable, the General with gather his troops and launch a glorious personal assault using Lead From the Front.

With an upgrade he can issue a Fervent Speech that improves the performance of even the greenest troopers, while their mastery displays their full military genius.

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Green Devil Army Trooper d4 to d12 minion (see Green Devil Army ability above), usually d8

Description: Paramilitary militia soldier in a shabby uniform with a mix of civilian and slightly outdated military weaponry.  Noteworthy mostly for their fancy "devil mask" green face paint and fanatical morale. 

Don't Disappoint the General: When saving against damage, you gain a +1 bonus if General Tiger Devil is nearby.

Run-Down or Homemade Combat Vehicle d8 lieutenant 

Description: Either a home-built "technical" with some improvised armor and weaponry bolted to a civilian vehicle, or a badly-maintained and outdated military vehicle that may still show signs of battle damage from previous actions.  

Junkheap: When saving against damage, if you roll a one you are removed from play regardless of your current die size.

Blog Content Index

Klass K, Trainee Villains On A Field Trip To Your Dimension

A long organizational post with some light worldbuilding sketched out.  Includes five supervillain writeups, a reason for them to work together, and an alternate universe where the most immediately noticeable difference is the total lack of a hard "c" in English.  "Kays" all the way down, folks. 

The Klassroom Program

The multiverse contains many realities, some very different from your campaign's.  One of them (let's be Terracentric and call it Earth-K) features a different world where super-being activity is more widespread and more organized than our own.  The heroes of that world work closely together on a global scale to oppose all manner of supervillainy, and those villains have grudgingly organized in return to avoid facing defeat in isolation.  This state of affairs has continued since their version of World War Two, although both groups have become much more internationally-minded and unwilling to serve as military assets to nation-states.  A de facto Cold War exists between the two sides in the conflict at this point, with small clashes largely staying below the radar of the masses of mundane humanity.  

Both meta-groups expend a great deal of effort tracking down and recruiting new super-beings to their cause.  The heroes have the advantage of recognition by most governments and law enforcement agencies, but they're limited by their own ethical standards.  The villains have to rely on more covert methods to find likely new prospects, but they can also be as ruthless as they like in the hunt, and think nothing of mentally indoctrinating particularly attractive candidates.

These new supers receive far more actual training than our own before they're fully recognized as a part of the greater community.  Heroes come up through actual academies as well as the old traditions of sidekicking and junior team affiliations.  Villains rely more upon the Klassroom Program, a worldwide covert recruitment, assessment and training program that also doubles as an introduction to the underground super-crime community and its major players.  

When they've mastered their powers and learned the unwritten rules that keep inter-villain conflict to a minimum, students are formed into groups to do some actual field work before "graduating" to independent status.  This used to be a risky stage of a villain's development since the odds of being captured on during such excursions were quite high and unproven villains were unlikely to be rescued by a organized jailbreak the way established supercriminals are.  Thankfully for the Klassroom Program, a neighboring reality was found with a far lower population of super-beings, especially heroes.  

While cosmic stresses made it impossible to remain in the other reality for long before being cast back to Earth-K, there was enough time to make short "field trips" with small groups of students and a single instructor/observer to assess their performance.  The relative rarity of super-heroes made for less punishing testing, and even when captured the students would soon be forced home anyway, vanishing from even the most inescapable prison cell.

The writeups below represent Klass K on a field exam to your campaign world.  They can be used as a one-shot, or might make up a collection's worth of story if their current test is a complex one.  The same group can recur multiple times until they finally graduate.  Their membership may change over repeat appearances as some studens move on or are "flunked out" (often directly into some mastermind's experimental labs) while others are held back.

If you feel ambitious, your heroes might find a way to follow a Klass back home, but they may not like what they find.  It would be disastrous if the legions of super-beings on Earth-K found a way to transit to your campaign world en masse and settle their differences where your PCs call home rather than wrecking their own planet.

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Klass K

Kommander Konquest

Quiriel zan vi Martiana has been a villain for a very, very long time by human standards, having first attacked Earth in 1939 under the title of Kommander Konquest.  While still in the prime of her life (only a few Terran centuries old), she's taking a break from interplanetary raiding to act as a senior instructor for the Klassroom Program, ensuring that the heroic opposition doesn't gain a numerical edge that might endanger established villains and their schemes.  The fact that it also lets her size up potential allies, catspaws, and competition before they've attained real power hasn't escaped her, of course.

In "field trip" mode she leaves behind her usual legions or Martian soldiers and war machines, relying on using her personal reality-bending cosmic powers to stay safe from any irritating local heroes who get past her students.  The Kommander can also casually warp the more pliable spacetime of your campaign's reality to complicate the tests she's putting her students through.  Unless very hard pressed (in which case her whole Klass is getting failing grades) she's unlikely to take much of a direct hand in a fight, and could reasonably be treated as a "powerful entity" twist menu instead of a full villain writeup if the GM likes.        

Description: A very typical Martian warrior queen from an alternate reality.  Tall, well-built humanoid with bright green skin and a slightly oversized head topped with a crown of six motile antennae.  She's garbed in ceremonial (and weirdly revealing) Martian armor that adds a good bit of height and bulk thanks to its stiletto heeled boots and impressive shoulder pads - all while leaving her midriff and thighs bare.  She rarely bothers to speak out loud, relying on natural telepathy instead. 

Gender: Female     Age: Gentlemen Don't Ask     Height: 5'11" (6'2" in armor)    Eyes: Black

Hair: Bald, Crown of Antennae        Skin: Vibrant Green                Build: Powerful

Approach: Generalist                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  55 + (5 x H)

Powers: Presence d10, Cosmic d8, Teleportation d8, Telepathy d6

Qualities: Imposing d10, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Veteran Villain d8, Deep Space Knowledge d6

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

Abilities:

Barely Worth Saving (R) When an ally is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single Teleportation die.  Boost yourself using the same roll.

Beyond Your Reality (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

Careless, Hero, Very Careless (R) When Attacked, redirect the Attack to an environmental minion.

Toying With Your World (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone or one zone closer to the Red.

You Have My Attention (A) Attack using Veteran Villain.  Use your Max die.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.

You Insects Annoy Me (A) Hinder multiple nearby targets using Presence.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually only for the Final Exam):

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 Presence die.  Gain Reestablish Shield (A) Overcome using Cosmic.  Use your Max die.  On a success remove one success from the deactivation challenge.  Alternatively, instead of an Overcome, use your Max die to Recover that much of the shield's Health.  This ability cannot be used if the shield has been completely removed.

Master of Enforced Order (I) If you have complete control over your surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.

Tactics

Kommander Konquest is here as an observer and instructor for Klass K, not to get in pointless brawls with heroes she doesn't even know.  Given her druthers she's content to find a good vantage and leave the students to it, using Toying With Your World to create "interesting" situations.  She's far Beyond Your Reality so dangerous environmental effects (and local residents) mean nothing to her.  If pestered by heroes she'll discourage them with reactive teleports causing them to target innocent civilians using Careless, Hero, Very Careless.  She might also intervene to preserve a trainee villain with Barely Worth Saving, although she'll be quick to express her displeasure about it.  Only if seriously pressed by multiple heroes will she resort to using You Insects Annoy Me, while a single persistent nuisance might draw an actual Attack from You Have My Attention.  If things have gotten to that point and her students are still active she'll be quick to order them to get it together and deal with the local supers, otherwise she'll start planning a getaway herself.

She'll generally only have her upgrade and mastery for the final exam, at least while acting in a "schoolteacher" role.

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Kid Klotho

Kora Raphti inherited a talent for magic from her mother's family, a lineage that had produced low-tier villainous super-mages during the past World Wars and was already on the Klassroom Program's watch list.  Young Kora was quietly "collected" at the tender age of nine and proved to be an apt student over the course of her apprenticeship.  As Kid Klotho she serves as Klass K's expert in mystic matters and is one of the group's most ambitious members, with a knack for manipulating others that may well see her graduate at the head of the class.

Her unique magical style revolves around generating glowing blood-red strands of energy that she can use to bind victims on both a physical and metaphysical level.  Kid Klotho's threads can also be used more subtly to influence people's thoughts and emotions, as well as offering the physical mobility to avoid the worst melee threats.

Description: A young woman of Grecian descent, dressed in a medium-red bodysuit uniform under a  loose black tunic that bears a prominent yellow "k" on the left chest.  Her feet are usually bare, and her long, flowing hair is tied back with the same magical red threads that she uses for most of her magic.  More thread is wound loosely around her wrists and ankles, and stray loops and strands twitch and drift randomly around her even when the air is still.  She speaks slightly-accented English from her home dimension.

Gender: Female           Age: 18           Height: 5'7"           Eyes: Black

Hair: Flowing Black                Skin: Light Brown                 Build: Elegantly Slender

Approach: Tactician                          Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Agility d8, Swinging d8, Awareness d6, Suggestion d6                                        

Qualities: Magical Lore d10, Persuasion d8, Trainee Villain d8, Acrobatics d6

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

Abilities:

Interwoven Souls (A) Hinder using Swinging.  That penalty is persistent and exclusive.  As long as that penalty is in play, reduce damage dealt to you by one and whenever you are dealt damage, the target with this penalty takes one irreducible damage.

Pulling Strings (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.

Puppetry (A) Take a basic action using Magical Lore.  Use your Max die.  One nearby ally also takes that same basic action as their reaction.

Red Threads (A) Hinder using Swinging.  Use you Max + Mid dice, or use your Max die and make that penalty persistent and exclusive.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually when near Graduation Day):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Quality dice sizes except Trainee Villain by one (max d12).

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

Tactics

Kid Klotho is Klass K's mystic, relying on fate-weaving magics that manifest as luminous red threads of energy.  Her usual tactics involve binding as many heroes with Interwoven Souls as possible, then singling out the biggest threats with Red Threads - especially if they've shrugged off the previous penalty.  She also provides some support with her Pulling Strings reaction offering some dice-fixing to allies, and Puppetry letting her improve action economy for things outside the team's usual wheelhouse.  Of all the Klass she's the most likely to improvise with unexpected Overcomes and unusual dice pools.

Her upgrade and mastery both represent Kid Klotho growing into the full potential of her unique style of magic as Graduation Day approaches.

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Musclemind

The creature known as Musclemind was recruited for the Klassroom Program relatively late in life after an anonymous college undergraduate developed powers during a biochemical mass-casualty event of which he was the sole survivor.  Whoever this thing was originally is a moot point, with the new entity displaying one of the most stereotypical cases of supervillainous megalomania ever observed.  Powerful but deeply delusional, it's unclear if Musclemind even knows they're in training and their performance is under review, but (after some initial friction) they've adopted the rest of Klass K as their loyal henchmen while the rest have decided to simply humor him for the time being.

Musclemind possesses staggering physical strength backed up by enormous psychic abilities but lacks the experience (and, some would argue, sanity) to fully utilize his great potential.  Whatever knowledge and specialized skills he had in his former life are gone, replaced by largely instinctual responses backed by an overwhelming sense of superiority.  He refuses to acknowledge any inconvenient facts that might get in his way.  What he makes of himself once he graduates Klassroom remains unclear, but he's powerful enough as-is that he's unlikely to wind up as a mere lackey of more established villains.    

Description: A hulking humanoid, almost as broad across the shoulders as they are tall and rippling with muscles.  They have almost no neck, with their bulging oversized head clearly showing elaborate cortical convolutions beneath their nigh-impenetrable skin.  That brain sprawls down the rear of their head and merges, hunchback-like, with the creature's upper spine.  Occasional sparks of purple-white energy crawl across its massive frame.  The thing wears nothing but a pair of oversized black shorts with a prominent yellow "k" on the front of the left thigh.  Their voice is a bellowing roar full of brag and bombast, and their telepathy is equally unsubtle.       

Gender: Male          Age: 21          Height: 7'0"          Eyes: Icy Blue

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

Approach:  Mastermind                      Archetype:  Squad

Health:  25 + (5 x H)

Powers: Strength d12, Telepathy d10, Telekinesis d8

Qualities: Conviction d10, Awareness d8, Close Combat d8, Fitness d8, Ranged Combat d8, Trainee Villain d8

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

Abilities:

Behold My Awesome Power and Tremble! (A) Attack one hero using Conviction.  Hinder all heroes using your Max die.

Revel In My Invincible Might! (A) Boost using Conviction.  Boost another target using your Max die.  Use your Min die to Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn. 

That One Is Mine, Hero! (R) When another villain is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single status die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

Your Efforts Amount To Nothing, Fool! (R) When Attacked, Boost yourself using the Attacker's Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually when near Graduation Day):

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 Conquest (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

Musclemind is convinced that he's in charge and the rest of the Klass are merely his henchmen, which is delusional but at this point the rest of the group generally just humors him to save on arguments.  He'll mostly do whatever catches his fancy in a fight, which provides a good distraction once he starts in with Behold My Awesome Power and Tremble! if nothing else.  If he starts drawing a lot of attention he'll use Revel In My Invincible Might! (which at least helps out an ally in the process) and pump any handy bonuses into its Defend rider.  He prefers to use Your Efforts Amount To Nothing, Fool! to reactively Boost himself whenever possible, but he might deign to save an ally instead with That One Is Mine, Hero!  He tends to generate a lot of bonuses and spend them as fast as he gets them to grandstand.   

Musclemind is fond of building "creative" dice pools and making Overcomes that show off his incredible strength of mind and body, so basic actions are always a possibility.  His Conviction quality sees a lot of use, since it reflects his utter certainty that he can't fail against such inferior opposition.

His upgrade tunes his mental might up to the point where the weak-willed might believe he's as awesome as he thinks he is, while his mastery reflects a growing talent for bossing around minions.

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Troublemaker

Jo Torrant was only eleven years old when he gained modest electricity-generation powers during a freak thunderstorm that destroyed his family home and left him an orphan.  He was quickly swept up by recruiters for the Klassroom Program, and soon discovered an aptitude for science and engineering.  Assigned to Klass K as their primary tech-support operative, he's gotten a reputation for being a scrappy if somewhat overconfident fighter.  He's not great at taking orders until he's in over his head, at which case his cocky facade drops and he starts yelling for help.

His signature inventions to date interact with and amplify his personal energies.  They include a pair of hover-boots that let him "skate" over most surfaces and make short jet-assisted leaps, and a wide variety of small gadgets he calls "juicers."  These are designed to clip on to a target and feed them a spectrum of bio-electric energies to enhance or degrade performance.  Troublemaker can also short them out to drain all their power at once to produce some potent electrical discharges.

Description: A young African-American man wearing a medium-red bodysuit uniform under loose black trunks, with a prominent yellow "k" on the left chest.  He has odd metal boots with obvious thruster ports on them, and there are dozens of metal nodules clamped to his outfit and even in his hair, all vaguely beetle-like in appearance and varying from thumb-sized to others that would fill the palm of his hand.  His voice is a deep baritone with a faint but unfamiliar accent and an intermittent undertone of electrical buzzing. 

Gender: Male     Age: 19     Height: 6'0"     Eyes: Dark Brown With Flickering Sparks

Hair: Black Zigzag Cornrows        Skin: Medium Brown        Build: Lanky

Approach: Underpowered                   Archetype: Inventor

Health:  20 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d8, Electricity d6, Leaping d6, Speed d6

Qualities: Science d10, Technology d8, Trainee Villain d8, Finesse d6 

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

Abilities:

Arcing Discharge (A) Attack using Electricity and at least one bonus.  If you have multiple bonuses, you may Attack a second target using your Min die and one other bonus, and may also Attack a third target using your Max die and a third bonus.

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

Gimcracks (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Inventions die.  If your roll reduces the damage to exactly zero, use that roll to Recover that much Health, Boost yourself, and Hinder the Attacker.

Gimmicks (A) Boost using Science.  Use your Max die.  Hinder using your Mid die.  Attack using your Min die.

Self-Defibrillation (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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually when near Graduation Day):

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

Tactics

Troublemaker is Klass K's primary "tech guy" but isn't afraid to get mixed up in a super-fight.  He's pretty aggressive at first, relying on his Gimcracks reaction for defense and hoping to get a lucky roll to give him the big rider effects from it.  He'll alternate between Gewgaws and Gimmicks to Boost himself until he has three bonuses stacked up, then roll them all into a big Arcing Discharge move.  Jo continues with that pattern until he's forced to use Self-Defibrillation, after which he switches to more of a support roll and handing out bonuses to allies with his various abilities for the rest of the fight - or as long as he lasts, anyway.

His upgrade does wonders for his damage output since his three action abilities all potentially benefit from it, while his mastery reflects growing tech-expertise.  You might even swap Leaping for Flight at that point as he improves his jet-boots for sustained output.

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Twofold

Jon-Jak Morven was born with an extremely atypical neurological structure, almost as though two brains had been physically conjoined within a single skull.  As a child they suffered from a variety of mental health issues that were misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic disorder that developed into a an entirely separate personality over time.  This lead to their father (their mother having died in childbirth) to abandon them to the care of a pediatric asylum.  

When their somato-psionic powers manifested at age 13 it became apparent that Jon-Jak was not only two people sharing the same body, they were capable of modifying that body to better suit their needs.  The Klassroom Program had contacts within the psychiatric facility and were quick to spirit the child away for their own purposes, barely escaping ahead of a mob of "anti-superfreak" bigots bent on killing the youth.  Jon-Jak now prefers to remain in their more powerful four-armed form, although they can revert to their original humanoid body when need be while both personalities remain in joint control.

Twofold's role in Klass K is as a frontline fighter, with low-level superhuman strength, speed and durability combined with perfect coordination between all four limbs and extensive close quarters combat training.  Both Jon and Jak are stereotypical gym bros in terms of interests.  They're very competitive with each other and even more so with others, eager to prove their physical superiority and perfectly willing to resort to violence to do so.

Description: In their "combat" form, a very tall, well-muscled semi-humanoid.  They have four powerful arms and a broad chest and shoulders, making them look rather top heavy.  Their head sports two sets of eyes (alternating blue, green, blue, green) as though the strangely distorted face divided in two just above the nose.  The outlandish figure wears a medium-red bodysuit uniform under loose black trunks, with a prominent yellow "k" on the left chest.  They accessorize with two pairs of fingerless leather gloves with metal-studded knuckles and steel-toed spiked boots.  Their voice is a powerful bass with a faint, unfamiliar accent and sometimes seems to have a faint echo as though a second person were speaking.  

Their civilian form is about five inches shorter and somewhat less athletic, and the lack of extra arms and eyes make it hard to see the connection between the two identities.

Gender: Male (Plural)        Age: 19        Height: 6'4"        Eyes: Blue-Green Heterochromia

Hair: Buzzcut Blonde                Skin: Caucasian                 Build: Variable, Always Very Fit

Approach: Underpowered                   Archetype: Guerrilla

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Morphic Physiology d8, Speed d6, Strength d6, Vitality d6 

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Fitness d8, Trainee Villain d8, Alertness d6

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

Abilities:

Comeback Kid (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.

Four-Fist Boxing (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn using your Min die.  

Infighting Tricks (I) If you are outnumbered by nearby opponents, reduce all damage dealt to you by two.

Slip That Hit (R) Defend against an Attack by rolling your single status die.  Deal that much damage to a different nearby target.

Windmill Wallop (A) Attack using Morphic Physiology.  If you roll doubles, add that value to your Attack.  If you roll triples, add all three dice to your Attack.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually when near Graduation Day):

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.

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

Tactics

Twofold is a brawler, plain and simple.  Their Morphic Physiology's ability to swap to a mundane form is occasionally useful for schemes and scams, but mostly they act as a distraction and lightweight muscle for the rest of the Klassroom.  In a fight they'll try to crowd in on multiple opponents to use Four-Fist Boxing, their Slip That Hit reaction (which can redirect Attacks on allies if need be) and Infighting Tricks to their best.  If facing a single very tough opponent they'll gamble on Windmill Wallop instead.  Comeback Kid will save them from their first KO and pushes them toward going outright berserk.

Their upgrade improves their damage output and durability a fair bit.  Their mastery reflects how unpredictable they can be when a plan falls apart and they're pushed to the wall.  They might even snap out of it and make a getaway, perhaps by slipping out of sight and adopting their "civilian" form to play at being an innocent bystander.

Blog Content Index

Strain Zeta, An Outbreak of Dangerous Macro-Organisms

Flesh-eating bacteria are bad enough, but they're even worse when they're big enough to bite your hand off.

Strain Zeta

Strain Zeta started off as a variety of genetically engineered micro-organisms cooked up in a super-science lab for use as easily tweaked bio-research test specimens.  Then some idiot tested an experimental growth ray on them and turned them into fast-breeding macroscopic omnivores with the potential to depopulate an entire continent in weeks if allowed to get out of control.  The individual Zetas are fairly small and nearly mindless, but they generally form in larger collective pseudo-organisms that display slightly more awareness.  While destroying any given Zeta isn't difficult for a superhero or even a well-equipped human, letting any of them escape guarantees another outbreak at some point in the future.

If you're looking for potential creators of these things, the researchers of SIN are likely culprits, as are the Moseby Twins (with the Zetas being a sort of proto-protoid).  Horde has already had one major failure when dabbling in growth technology and might repeat his mistake, and his cousin Miniac might well have sabotaged any experiment involving embiggening stuff.  And there's always master mega-genius Mordecai Mentallax, who comes up with this kind of stuff in his spare time between doing "real" science and planning to conquer the world.  Might also be the harbingers of an invasion from a hostile microversal civilization, or maybe the whole thing's an accident and the Zetas actually started as a single micro-kaiju shot into our continuum like the end of the first Gamera movie.

Strain Zeta Gestalt

Description: A seething mass of amoebic blobs, about the size of a haystack.  The whole mess is fringed with writhing cilia and lashing flagella, and its interior is dotted with countless organelles and vacuoles.  The only sounds it makes are the burbling squelches of digestive juices as it wriggles about.

Gender: None     Age: Unclear     Height: Variable (Usually About Eight Feet)     Eyes: None

Hair: Do Cilia Count?     Cell Membranes: Translucent Oily Blue-Green     Build: Blob-Like

Approach:  Underpowered                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  5 + (5 x H)

Powers: Part Detachment d8, Elasticity d6, Swimming d6, Wall-Crawling d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Mega-Bacterial Collective d8, Fitness d6, Self-Discipline d6

Status: (# of Legion Minions) 0 - d12 / 1-2 - d10 / 3-4 - d8 / 5-8 - d6 / 9+ - d4

Abilities:

Cell Division (A) Roll your single status die.  Deal yourself that much irreducible damage.  Create that many d6 Legion minions.

Mass Consumption (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Min die until your next turn.

Mindless (I) Whenever multiple Legion minions all take the same action against the same target, you must roll all their dice at once and use the lowest rolling die amongst them for each minion's result on that action.

Reabsorb (R) When one of your minions is destroyed, roll its die and Recover that much Health.

Resistant Strain (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.

Smother (A) Attack using Elasticity.  If you roll doubles, add that value to your Attack.  If you roll triples, add all three dice to your Attack.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Embiggen (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).

Master of Enforced Order (I) If you have complete control over your surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.

Tactics

Strain Zeta Gestalts rarely stick together long in combat, using Cell Division to break down into minions whenever it can without too much risk of defeating itself - although if it's caught very low on Health and Resistant Strain has already been used it may just deliberately go out one last batch of hungry macrobes.  Their effectiveness is a bit limited by Mindless (even as a collective they're none too bright) but Reabsorb will help keep the Gestalt in action longer.  If a Gestalt is too weak to spawn more minions it has two offensive options to use, with Smother potentially inflicting a hard hit to a single foe and Mass Consumption harming multiple targets while providing some minor damage mitigation.

With its upgrade the Gestalt can also increase the die size of one group of minions.  I'd define a group as "all the ones from a single use of Cell Division" for this ability.  Its mastery makes Overcomes a lot easier while there are minions in play.  

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Strain Zeta Legion Spawn d6 minion (created through Cell Division)

Description: An irregular lump of squirming cilia and translucent blue-green protoplasm, roughly a foot in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Mindless: Whenever multiple Legion Spawn minions all take the same action against the same target, you must roll all their dice at once and use the lowest rolling die amongst them for each minion's result on that action.

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Strain Zeta Macrobe d6 minion

Description: A larger mass of squirming cilia and translucent blue-green protoplasm, roughly two feet in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Basic Organism: As an action, you may sacrifice yourself to either roll your die and restore that much Health to a nearby Strain Zeta Gestalt villain, or to increase the die size of a nearby Strain Zeta Vector lieutenant by one (max d12).

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Strain Zeta Conglomerate d10 lieutenant

Description: A formidable collective of translucent blue-green protoplasm, lashing flagella and squirming cilia, roughly four feet in diameter and dripping with digestive enzymes.

Intermediate Organism: As an action, you may sacrifice yourself and remove H nearby Strain Zeta Macrobe minions from the scene, then add a Strain Zeta Gestalt villain to the scene at full Health but with no Upgrade or Mastery.

Shapeless: You may move as though you had Swimming d4 and Wall-Crawling d4 and can slowly ooze through small openings, under doors, and similar tight spots.

Unstable Mass: As an action, you may roll your die to Hinder yourself and add a number of Strain Zeta Macrobe minions equal to your roll to the scene.

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Design Notes:  The "Strain Zeta Gestalt" villain form is about as fragile as a villain can be, but its job is mostly to spawn a bunch of minions before it goes Out.  If it manages to throw (or draw) an Attack or two before it gets finished off that's just a bonus.  Bringing along some Macrobe minions as scene elements will let the gestalt last a bit longer, but you could also just bring multiple Gestalts or create new ones using the Conglomerate lieutenant's sacrifice ability.  Unlike most villains they're definitely not unique, just something that forms whenever enough of the smaller Zetas are around.

Blog Content Index

Commander Savage, SEVER Assault Leader

SEVER (Superhuman EValuation and ERadication) is a conspiratorial semi-secret organization dedicated to identifying and exploiting the weaknesses of superhuman beings with a long term goal of "freeing normal humanity from the menace of the superfreaks" by any means necessary.   It has international reach but concentrates a great deal of its activity in the United States, which has a disproportionate amount of superhuman activity within its borders.  SEVER has illicit ties to many national governments and law enforcement agencies, providing enough information on supervillains and rogue vigilantes to operate quietly most parts of the world.  Their more extreme work (the "eradication" part of their agenda) requires covert maneuvering and plausible deniability even in the most cooperative countries.  

Any superhuman is a potential target for SEVER, although they tend to prioritize dealing with weaker targets who avoid the media spotlight.  Direct assaults are always a possibility, but the organization is also adept at playing so-called "heroes" and "villains" against one another and mopping up the survivors when the opportunity arises.  SEVER dislikes media attention themselves, and try to remain behind the scenes even when aiding "allied" government agencies in dealing with unsanctioned supers.

Commander Savage

Rico Savage is a former US army captain, and might still be in the service if not for a personal tragedy.  His wife and two infant children were killed during a confrontation between a particularly ruthless supervillain and a team of vigilante "heroes" who chose to prioritize capturing their foe over saving her hostages.  The loss shattered him, and the day after the vigilantes were publicly commended for their actions by the US president he walked away from his former life and straight into the ranks of SEVER.  

His story wasn't terribly unusual in that organization's ranks, but the skills he brought with him were.  In the four years he's worked for SEVER he's risen swiftly through the ranks from mere agent to commander in charge of planning and executing most eradication operations.  He frequently accompanies strike forces to ensure the targeted superbeings are eliminated and minimize losses among his own troops.  If he has any doubts about what he's doing or SEVER Prime's ultimate plans there's no apparent sign of it.  Commander Savage has gone from a loving husband and family man to a cold, calculating machine whose life revolves around fulfilling his current mission as efficiently as possible.

Description: A sturdy, muscular man wearing a baggy olive-green uniform topped with a tactical harness covered in specialized gadgetry for dealing with super-beings and their freakish powers.  He carries a unique three-section staff with concealed multispectrum blasters in each end, which can also lock together and extend a retractable blade to act as a spear.  He has a powerful voice and a marked air of command. 

Gender: Male        Age: 31       Height: 5'11"       Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black, High & Tight     Skin: Weathered Caucasian     Build: Burly

Approach: Tactician                         Archetype: Bruiser

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Gadgets d8, Three-Section Blast-Staff d8, Agility d6, Awareness d6

Qualities: Leadership d10, Self-Discipline d8. Veteran Cape-Hunter d8, Fitness d6

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

Abilities:

CQB Drill (A) Attack one target using Three-Section Blast-Staff.  Use your Max die.  Either Hinder that target using your Mid die, or Attack a second target using your Mid die.

Defensive Drill (A) Defend using Self-Discipline.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.

Quick Command (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.

Teamwork Drill (A) Take a basic action using Leadership.  Use your Max die.  One nearby ally also takes that same basic action as their reaction.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain Reinforcements (A) Replenish your SEVER Agent minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

Master of Conquest (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

Commander Savage generally operates alongside an elite unit of lieutenant-grade agents, sometimes backed up with minions or battle suits.  He'll reserve his Quick Command reaction on the first ally who rolls poorly each round, helping offset the high variability of single-die henchman types.  Teamwork Drill is a versatile ability that improves the action economy of one of his soldiers, while Defensive Drill lets him protect himself or a key ally while also restoring health lost to damage or his own reaction.  He rarely resorts to CQB Drill unless caught without his supporting troops and he can't see a way to withdraw from the action to fight another day.

His upgrade gives him access to reinforcement troopers, which he'll call on when running low on allies.  His synergies still work pretty well on minions, and he needs some forces on the field to use his mastery. 

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SEVER Agents d10 lieutenants and d8 minions

Description: Ordinary humans in baggy olive-green boiler-suit uniforms with snug hoods that leave just their faces exposed.  They carry a variety of Kirby-tech weapons and wear black utility belts hung with gadgetry and restraints designed to deal with superhumans.  Their outfits have the organization's signature "struck-through S" logo on their left chest in white.  Lieutenants have fancier weapons and gear but are otherwise identical.

All Sever Agents have the following ability:

Specialized Restraint Gear: When you Hinder a superhuman target, you may make that penalty persistent and exclusive.

Lieutenants will also have one or two of the following additional abilities:

Call For Backup: Roll your status die and add that many SEVER Agent d8 minions (to a maximum of H new minions) to the scene nearby.  They have the Specialized Restraint Gear ability and cannot act until the next round.

Coordinated Takedown: When you Hinder a target, any number of SEVER Agent minions who haven't acted this round may also roll their die and add them to yours to determine the total for establishing a penalty.  Those minions cannot act until next round.

Rally: When you Boost you may target all nearby SEVER Agent minions, and you may increase each minion's die size by one (max d8).

Whatever It Takes: You may reroll your die when taking an action, but your die size decreases by one after the reroll.

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ACE Rigs d10 lieutenants

Description: Armored Combat Exoskeleton rigs are bulky 7' tall power assisted frames operated by elite SEVER agents and carrying heavy armor plating and oversized weaponry.  The machinery is an overall dark gray with some olive green accents.  ACE rigs are built for heavy combat against superhumans and are only used when remaining covert is no longer an option.

Heavy Duty: When you take an Attack action, you may also Defend yourself or a nearby ally with the same roll.

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Rush & Crush, Agents of SIN

Two partnered villains and the secretive organization that created them.  Hell-Hawk is another member of the conspiracy, with his own unique minions and lieutenant.

Science Integration Network (SIN)

The Science Integration Network maintains a low-profile front as a global initiative to share scientific research data for the good of humanity, but its true nature is much darker and better fitted to their SIN acronym.  A largely secretive conspiracy of would-be technocrats and fringe scientists, their ultimate goal is to dominate the world through the power of superior technology and free researchers from the stifling bonds of ethics, morality and other superstitions.  Their goals are appealing to many technically-oriented super-geniuses, although most of them are too megalomaniacal to cooperate with others long enough to advance SIN's agenda much.

The organization has two main divisions, the Operations Directive and the Novel Engineering Research branch.  The SIN/OD specializes in industrial espionage, internal and external security, and direct action against rivals.  They employ cutting edge military-grade equipment when secrecy isn't a priority, and spy-fi gadgetry when remaining covert.  SIN/NER concentrates on developing and testing new technology, including conducting research into the nature of super powers of all kinds.  Most often found field testing experimental devices as part of the organization's overall goals, SIN/NER agents have also been known to hunt supers (both heroes and villains) for use as experimental specimens and test subjects.       

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Agent of SIN d8 minion

Description: Colorfully-garbed human operatives carrying a variety of scifi "blaster" weaponry, powered restraint auto-lashes and humming shock batons.  SIN/OD agents wear navy blue jumpsuits with snug red hoods, gloves and boots, while SIN/NER agents wear identical garb with the colors reversed.

Agents have the following ability by default:

Sidearms & Shockers: You gain a +1 bonus to Attack and Hinder actions.

Optionally, about one agent per group of H minions will replace their default ability with one of the following abilities based on their division:

SIN/OD Plasma Jet: Target up to three nearby enemies whenever you make an Attack action.  If you roll an even number, one nearby ally is also targeted by the Attack.  

SIN/OD Bunker Blaster: When taking Attack actions you gain a +2 bonus and ignore Defend effects.

SIN/NER Auto-Lashes: When taking Hinder actions the penalty you create is persistent and exclusive.

SIN/NER Dazzlers:  When you take a Hinder action, Boost yourself with the same die roll.

"Deadly SIN" Operative d10 or d12 lieutenant

Description: They share the overall look of lesser agents, but their uniforms are quartered between the blue/red color scheme, with contrasting boots and gloves and the hoods vertically divided to contrast with the bodysuit's shoulders.  The more eccentric of them skip the hoods altogether and go bare-headed.

All operatives have the following ability:

Operational Commander: Nearby Agent of SIN minions gain a +1 bonus to all actions as long your current die size is at least as large as theirs.

Many operatives will also have one of the optional abilities available to regular agents, or one of the following abilities:

Call In Backup: Roll your status die and add that many d8 minions (to a maximum of H new minions) to the scene nearby.  They have the Sidearms & Shockers ability and cannot act until the next round.

Prideful: Whenever you roll a save against damage, use the result of the save to Boost yourself whether you pass or fail.

Wrathful: When you take an Attack action, also Hinder the target using the same die roll. 

H = the number of heroes in the scene.

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Rush

Raymond Maxwell and his brother Jason were once mere foot soldiers in the service of SIN, recruited straight out of college.  After volunteering for a surprisingly successful empowerment program they've become two of the organization's more reliable superpowered operatives.  Ray (now operating as "Rush") gained phenomenal reaction time and running speed as well as general metabolic improvements.  He's learned to leverage his speed to produce short-ranged sonic booms with finger snaps, and is a deadly shot with the small osmium balls he uses as signature ranged weapons.  He can also share power with others to accelerate their own reactions for brief periods.  The exotic Q-radiation that he and his brother were exposed to seem to have set up a permanent resonance between the two, and both of them are at their best when in proximity to each other.  Part of their loyalty to SIN stems from an honest belief in the vision of a technocratic world, but they've also been told that regular doses of Q-radiation are required to stabilize their powers.  How they might react if that turns out to be untrue remains unclear.

Description: A handsome, athletically-built man with a shaved head and a thin blonde mustache.  He wears a snug single-piece bodysuit that covers everything but his head, the left side in navy blue and the right side in dark red.  He has a tenor voice with and speaks with a pronounced New Jersey accent. 

Gender: Male             Age: Twenty-Something           Height: 5'10"              Eyes: Blue

Hair: Shaved, Blonde Mustache          Skin: Caucasian          Build: Trimly Athletic

Approach:  Ninja                      Archetype:  Squad

Health:  25 + (5 x H)

Powers: Agility d10, Speed d10, Speedballs d8, Sonic d8, Vitality d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Ranged Combat d10, Alertness d8, Crush's Partner d8, Science d8

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

Abilities:

Accelerated Ally (A) One ally makes a basic action now using their Max die.  They may reroll all ones they roll as part of this action.

Evasive Volley (A) Attack multiple nearby targets using Ranged Combat.  Then end up anywhere in the scene.

Hyper-Speed Brawler (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Use your Max die.  Use your Mid die to Defend yourself against all Attacks until the start of your next turn.

Shared Acceleration (A) Boost using Alertness.  Boost another target using your Max die.  Use your Min die to Defend yourself against all Attacks until the start of your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, only when working with Crash, Crush or Lash):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Accelerate the Gang (A) Upgrade a number of your minions equal to the number of heroes in the scene by increasing their die size by one (max d12).

Master Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome when your payment is at stake.

Tactics

Rush is used to working with Crush and is a lot less confident if caught without him as backup, usually trying to escape rather than staying to fight.  When Crush is present he'll usually open by Boosting both of them with Shared Acceleration, then alternating between Hyper-Speed Brawler and Evasive Volley to dish out damage while avoiding as much return punishment as he can.  If he starts getting low on Health he'll switch to letting Crush take extra actions using Accelerated Ally, which he can do from a safe vantage point.

If he has his upgrade (which he usually will in a fight) he may also use Accelerate the Gang to augment any minions still active in the scene.  He and Crush make good, reliable muscle-for-hire thanks to their shared mastery but don't perform so well alone.

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Crush

Jason Maxwell and his brother Raymond were once mere foot soldiers in the service of SIN, recruited straight out of college.  After volunteering for a surprisingly successful empowerment program they've become two of the organization's more reliable superpowered operatives.  Jay (now operating as "Crush") has become a physical powerhouse, strong, tough and nearly unstoppable.  His accelerated metabolism lets him heal quickly from any harm he does suffer, and he happily blocks hits for more fragile allies, particularly his speedy partner.  He's capable of leaping vast distances and can produce potent shockwaves with a handclap.  The exotic Q-radiation that he and his brother were exposed to seem to have set up a permanent resonance between the two, and both of them are at their best when in proximity to each other.  Part of their loyalty to SIN stems from an honest belief in the vision of a technocratic world, but they've also been told that regular doses of Q-radiation are required to stabilize their powers.  How they might react if that turns out to be untrue remains unclear.  

Description: Tall, very muscular man with a long fringe of blonde hair and a small scar over his left eye.  He wears a snug single-piece bodysuit that covers everything but his head, the left side in dark red and the right side in navy blue.  He has a booming voice and speaks with a very slight lisp that he's downright touchy about.

Gender: Male             Age: Twenty-Something           Height: 6'1"              Eyes: Blue

Hair: Balding Blonde, Worn Long          Skin: Caucasian          Build: Weightlifter Physique

Approach: Ninja                         Archetype: Bruiser

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Strength d10, Vitality d10, Leaping d8, Momentum d8, Sonic d6

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Fitness d10, Ranged Combat d8, Rush's Partner d8, Technology d8

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

Abilities:

Stay Behind Me (R) When a nearby ally would be Attacked, you may become the target of that Attack instead.  You may use this reaction any number of times in a round by taking 1 irreducible damage for each time past the first.

Swinging Fists (A) Attack using Close Combat.  Use your Max die against one target, your Mid die against a second target, and your Min die against any target.

Tank That Hit (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Vitality die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

Tough As It Gets (A) Defend using Fitness.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, only when working with Crash, Lash, Rush):

Group Fighter (I) +20 Health.  When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die. 

Master Mercenary (I) If you have a contract for a specific task, automatically succeed at an Overcome when your payment is at stake.

Tactics

Crush doesn't like fighting without Rush around for backup, and will generally try to escape the scene by leaping or smashing through buildings if caught without his partner.  When the two are fighting together he covers for Rush and other allies using Stay Behind Me, resorting to Tough As It Gets if he starts getting beaten up too rapidly.  If directly Attacked Tank That Hit gives him a strong defensive reaction.  He's an effective but inelegant fighter who relies on Swinging Fists to brawl with multiple foes at once.  Crush isn't half bad at making basic throwing Attacks if he has to but prefers to leave ranged enemies to his allies.

His upgrade ramps up his damage output a fair bit, and like Rush his mastery represents the two of them being more reliable paid super-thugs than either is alone.

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