Omegavolt, A Self-Defeating Dynamo

A specialist villain today, this one quite deliberately built to be a fearsome threat but prone to overloading himself so badly he practically defeats himself with self-inflicted damage.  If your heroes can hold out long enough he becomes a pushover to finish off, but he hits mighty hard until then.

Omegavolt

Ramon DaSilva was an unremarkable lab assistant in the OmegaCorp High-Energy Testing Facility until the accident that left him supercharged.  Possibly unhinged by the incident, or perhaps just greedy and amoral, he was quick to adopt the villainous persona of Omegavolt and go on a spree of robberies until confronted by a team of heroes who tricked him into overloading himself.  He's proven to be difficult to contain long-term, and has repeatedly broken out of prison to repeat his crimes, often with more tactically-minded allies.

As Omegavolt he displays remarkably potent control over electricity, which he can also leverage to create stunning blasts of thunder or propel himself through the sky by "riding" lightning bolts.  He's surprisingly vulnerable to the same kind of energies, although he can (and usually will) simply power his way through such hindrances with a costly display of his own might.  His impulsive personality and hot temper are even more of a drawback, and many of his defeats have effectively been self-inflicted.  

Description: Muscular man of Hispanic descent, wearing a matte-black bodysuit with only his hands and head exposed.  His costume is covered in metallic cabling that helps him direct his powers, and he sports a short black half-cape with an omega symbol on it.  Has a powerful baritone voice and likes to use it to deride anyone who gets on his bad side.    

Gender: Male     Age: 27     Height: 5'11"     Eyes: Brown, Full of Sparks

Hair: Black     Skin: Dark Hispanic Tone, Crawling With Lightning     Build: Burly

Approach:  Overpowered

Archetype:  Formidable (Weakness: Electrical or Sonic penalties, including his own)

Health:  60 + (5 x H)

Powers: Electricity d12, Flight d10, Sonic d10

Qualities: Arrogant Powerhouse d8, Imposing d8, Science d6

Status: No Weakness Penalties - d12 / Both Penalties & Bonuses - d8 / Only Weakness Penalties - d4

Abilities:

Beyond All Hindrances (R) Ignore all penalties on you for your action.  Take irreducible damage equal to the total of those penalties.

Crashing Thunder (A) Attack multiple targets using Sonic.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

There Is Nothing Beyond My Power! (A) Take any basic action using your Max die.

UNLIMITED POWER! (A) Attack using Electricity.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

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

Tactics

Omegavolt is tremendously powerful, but he's held back by his own overconfidence, impatience and lack of restraint.  He always intends to fight intelligently, taking some time Boost himself with There Is Nothing Beyond My Power! and then softening up multiple foes with repeated uses of Crashing Thunder before finishing them off one by one but that never happens.  Someone will Attack him, put a penalty on him, or just make him angry by being disrespectful (possibly by not bothering to Attack or Hinder him) and BAM!, he'll immediately use Beyond All Hindrances and UNLIMITED POWER! to teach them a lesson, and then continue to use his reaction over and over rather than letting his accumulating penalties bleed off naturally.  This results in a death spiral of mounting damage exacerbated by his own hardest-hitting ability.

He just doesn't have the self-control to play smart, and will wind up draining himself to the point of collapse far quicker than he ought to.  Doesn't mean he won't take a hero or three down with him, but he does tend to underperform for his Approach/Archetype combination.

Omegavolt's upgrade isn't much help (it won't improve Arrogant Powerhouse any, which he uses for most offensive abilities) either, although the added Health might buy him another round or two in action.  His mastery reflects his hot-headedness, and rarely gets used for anything really productive unless his allies can get him to stick to some kind of plan.

Trivia

For unknown reasons, Ramon deeply objects to being called "Sparky" and tends to fly off the handle if taunted with that nickname,  This has led to several "incidents" with fellow supervillains.

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Ang-Gorr, A Shameless Ripoff

Our next installment in Bad Nineties Week is another staple of the era, the dreaded transparent ripoff.  When you can't get the actual owners of a character to let you work on their book, the next best thing is to make a thinly-veiled copycat and go to town with it, calling it an homage when confronted about it and maybe changing a name or a few details when the C&D letters start coming in.  This happened often enough that I had trouble finding a way to parody it without imitating an actual example, but in the end I settled on this hulking fellow as a reasonable approximation.

Despite probably being considered a hero by the publisher, I've done him up using villain rules since: 

• He's phenomenally destructive
• When he shows up in a scene he's likely to be confused about who's on his side anyway, so fighting both heroes and villains is a likely outcome
• He's marginally more useful for a regular campaign where you aren't parodying 90s trash this way

Ang-Gorr

Once a timid and unassuming nuclear physicist, Bradford Weiss was transformed into the hulking rage-monster Ang-Gorr after being caught in the test explosion of an alien WMD recovered from one of the wrecks stored at Area 51.  As Ang-Gorr he's working off decades of repressed resentments and feelings of inadequacy while living out his long-suppressed power fantasies, only rarely cooling off enough to revert to his original persona.  While Brad spends a great deal of his (linited) time as a mere mortal bemoaning his fate and denying that he has any control over his brutish alter-ego, he seems suspiciously quick to put himself in situations where his adrenaline will spike again and cause him to transform back into Ang-Gorr.  Of course, that may stem from the fact that both versions of himself have a massive price on their heads from various interested parties, and Ang-Gorr is much better at surviving confrontations with bounty-hunters, jumpy lawmen and mysterious men in black suits than some bookworm of a scientist.

Metatextually, Ang-Gorr is a blatant ripoff created by an artist who mostly wanted to draw big dumb fights and spectacular destruction without having to waste too much time on character development, dialog, plot, or any of the other boring stuff.  This led to him churning through writers for several years before finally taking up the job himself, which led to ever-shaky sales tanking completely and him abandoning the book for greener pastures.  This was followed by a brief period where a pair of A-list creators unexpectedly took over the character and managed to do a shockingly good homage to the original hero behind the ripoff.  While the "new" Ang-Gorr was widely praised for displaying a loving grasp of comics history and sales skyrocketed to unheard-of levels, things couldn't last.  Jealous, the original creator came storming back, demanding to take over again before the new guys "loused things up" any further.  He got his wish - and the series was cancelled for good within six issues.

Description: A hulking over-muscled brute, lantern-jawed and broad-shouldered, glowing from within with a brilliant green light that intensifies as his anger mounts.  He wears nothing but a tattered pair of denim shorts and his roaring voice is nearly incoherent with rage.

Gender: Male     Age: 45     Height: 7'2"     Eyes: Bloodshot Red

Hair: Jet Black     Skin: Glowing Firefly Green     Build: Musclebound Hulk

Approach:  Overpowered

Archetype:  Formidable (Weakness: Calming Down By Any Means)

Health:  60 + (5 x H)

Powers: Strength d12, Leaping d10, Nuclear d10

Qualities: Close Combat d8, Hulking Menace d8, Fitness d6

Status: No Weakness Penalties - d12 / Both Penalties & Bonuses - d8 / Only Weakness Penalties - d4

Abilities:

Blind Fury (A) Attack using Strength.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Rad-Spike (A) Boost using Nuclear.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Remove all penalties on yourself.

Rage Radiation (A) Boost using Nuclear.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Also, Attack with your Mid die.

Shockwave (A) Attack multiple targets using Strength.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Contagious Wrath (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 enraged and irrational hero.

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

A straightforward brawler, Ang-Gorr augments his incredible physical power by amping himself up using self-generated Rage Radiation and shedding any attempts to calm him down with a quick Rad-Spike.  Once good and mad he uses Shockwave to deal with groups of enemies, and anyone who seems particularly resilient drives him into a Blind Fury.  Ang-Gorr's radioactive energy can also instill berserk rage in others, but he rarely spares the time and attention to aid his allies this way - and many of them have no desire to be driven into a furious rampage anyway.

When his energies are at their peak they can bleed mind-altering rage into all those around him as represented by his upgrade.  His mastery reflects his peerless physical might.

Trivia

There are so many different ways to misspell "anger" already being used for existing published characters I had to resort to hyphenating one of them for an original supranym, and even at that I'm not positive I managed to avoid duplication.  At least this variant will sound pretty good if the character gets revived for a story where he's randomly a barbarian or gladiator or something - but what are the odds of that? 

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Hugo Hellbinder & the Horror Within, A Doomed Fool and His Terrible Destiny

These two villains were used in an older magic-focused campaign that ran for a few months in 2022, with Hugo being a dupe of the sinister organization behind most of the game's action.  My heroes did manage to stop the Horror Within without it detonating, although it was much too late for poor Hugo.

Hugo Hellbinder

Hugo Schramm was a fairly minor player in occult circles until recently, but after undergoing an arcane binding ritual he's become a very big deal indeed as Hugo Hellbinder.  He now believes he's on the road to godhood and intends to carry out further rituals to accelerate the process - rituals that call for mass human sacrifices and various ancient artifacts, among other things.  That would be enough to attract attention pretty quickly by itself, but the vast power now barely contained within him serves as a beacon to mystic senses and supernatural creatures for miles around.

Unknown to Hugo, the rituals are all a trap.  His newfound power comes from being implanted with an alien spore that gestates within him even now.  Whether he completes the rest of his rituals or not the Horror Within will soon devour him body and soul, bursting forth as a apocalyptic menace that will briefly wreak havoc before overloading itself in a magical explosion rivalling the power of a small nuclear warhead.  Hugo Hellbinder is a walking weapon of mass destruction, and his clock is ticking.    

Description: A slender, wild-haired man dressed in voluminous layered "wizard robes" in somber hues of black and umber.  They start off pristine but become more tattered and charred as a fight goes on.  He wears a dozen golden rings marked with arcane sigils, which are likely to melt or vaporize as he damages himself during combat.  He speaks in a surprisingly deep voice for his light frame, displaying a faint Swiss-German accent emphasized by the odd German word.

Gender: Male     Age: 37     Height: 5'10"     Eyes: Gray, Wild Disturbing Stare

Hair: Black, Makes Rasputin Look Well-Groomed     Skin: Pale     Build: Thin

Approach: Overpowered                            Archetype: Fragile

Health: 30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Infernal d12, Absorption d10, Teleportation d10                                      

Qualities: Conviction d8, Deluded Demonologist d8, Otherworldly Mythos d6 

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

Abilities:

Surging Energies (I) Whenever you roll a one on a die, reroll that die.

Step Beyond Space (R) When Attacked, Defend by rolling your single status die.  If the damage is reduced to zero, you may immediately move anywhere on the scene.

Unrivalled Power (A) Attack using Infernal.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Vanishment Charm (I) Whenever your personal zone changes you may immediately move elsewhere in the scene.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

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

Tactics

Hugo Hellbinder is convinced that he's fully in control of the vast energies within him, and plans to use it to achieve true apotheosis by continuing the series of rituals that empowered him in the first place.  He's wrong, but by the time he realizes it will be much too late to matter.  Until then, he'll deal with interfering heroes by hammering them with his Unrivalled Power one after another, always opting to maximize his output by using Surging Energies even when it harms him.  He relies on Vanishment Charm and Step Beyond Space for defense, and will always try to relocate himself to a safe place to continue his rituals Overcomes in peace, requiring heroes to split up or hunt him down each time.

His upgrade makes him more durable and further increases the damage he can dish out, but his mastery is the really dangerous bit since he can automatically succeed on Overcomes to achieve his destiny and release the horror within him. 

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The Horror Within

This thing is more of a pseudo-biological weapon of mass destruction than a living creature, dispatched from some otherworldly dimension to wreak havoc on its environs before detonating in an eruption of uncontainable eldritch power.  Fortunately they're quite impossible to directly transfer to our universe in their "primed" mature form, instead relying on magical rituals to transfer a parasitic spore to a misguided or fanatical adept.  This spore grants great power while it feeds on its host's soul and innate magics, but eventually consumes them from within and bursts loose their gigantic final form.  

Description: A massive alien form vaguely like a sea anemone crossed with an octopus.  Its dozens of sickly translucent white tentacles end in clusters of wormlike growths.  The thing seethes with eldritch energy that it can focus in enormously destructive gouts of purple-black flame so potent they wither and burn the limb(s) used to project them.  It produces a cacophony of obscene burbling and piping sounds and sprays gouts of milky ichor when damaged.     

Gender: Irrelevant     Age: Eternal     Size: ~90' Core Diameter     Eyes: None

Limbs: Dozens     Integument: Maggot-White     Build: Mass of Thrashing Tentacles

Approach: Overpowered

Archetype: Titan (Status Challenge: Ritual Counter-Magic 00  Final Banishment 0)

Health:  65 + (5 x H)

Powers: Infernal d12, Elasticity d10, Strength d10                                        

Qualities: Apocalyptic Menace d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Alertness d6 

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

Abilities:

Apocalyptic Damage (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone.

Lashing Abomination (A) Attack multiple targets using Strength.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Magical Backlash (R) When a hero takes a minor twist in the Titan's challenge, in addition to the chosen twist, roll your status die and deal that much damage to that hero.

Resurgent Energy (R) When Attacked by a roll that includes doubles, remove one of the successes from the Titan's challenge.

Torrent of Power (A) Attack using Infernal.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).  Gain Engulfed By Unnatural Flesh (A) Attack using Elasticity.  Use your Max die.  The target can either be Hindered using your Max + Mid + Min dice, or be unable to take actions other than using an Overcome to attempt to escape.

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

The Horror Within is an eldritch parasite that transforms into a rampaging engine of destruction when released from its host.  Largely mindless but unrelentingly hostile to mortals, it uses its size and power to wreak Apocalyptic Damage to its surroundings unless opposed by someone or something potent enough to get its attention.  Against multiple threats Lashing Abomination leverages its enormous physical might, while a particularly dangerous singular foe will be targeted with a Torrent of Power.  Attempts to weaken the magics that allow it to exist in our continuum risk Magical Backlash, and more direct attempts at removing it from existence are likely to trigger its Resurgent Energy reaction.

With its upgrade in place the Horror Within is even tougher to deal with, and gains another option for dealing with priority targets using Engulfed By Unnatural Flesh.  It's mastery makes it even more efficient at wreaking havoc and endangering civilians before it inevitably overloads itself and burns out catastrophically.

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Design Notes

When I used these two, only Hugo (with upgrade) started the scene in play with the Horror Within "unhatched" as yet.  There was an urban environment representing a small city that produced a mix of mystic effects and potential sacrificial victims as twists, divided into a number of magically significant locations that the action could move between - Hugo has a lot of repositioning tricks that make him hard to pin down.  He also had a few sets of hapless cultist minions scattered around to help out.  Hugo himself could take Overcome actions to try to "complete his apotheosis" and if he managed H successes (IIRC that was either five or six in this case) he'd be removed from the scene and replaced by the Horror No Longer Within, which trashed the location it was now in in the process.  The Horror also popped up if/when Hugo was defeated, but it wouldn't have its own upgrade if the ritual hadn't been completed.  Regardless of how the Horror entered play, the scene immediately went to Red, and some extra Red boxes were added to the end of the tracker I think I used three, which might have been a little generous, two would probably have been okay since they finished Hugo at the bottom of Yellow.  If the heroes failed to defeat the Horror by the time the modified tracker ran out it counted as a Doomsday Device going off.

Both these villains could be decoupled from one another and used separately with some reskinning.  Hugo's inevitable self-destruct and de facto suicide ritual could be ditched entirely, turning him into a more typical glass cannon baddie who'd probably operate with other, more durable mystic-themed villainous allies.  The Horror is a little more work, but it could come boiling out of a dimensional rift in response to a summoning ritual as a sort of magical kaiju.  It isn't terribly durable as Titans go and would need other elements to avoid being focused down - maybe a bunch of "endangered civilians/infrastructure" challenges that start as it arrives.  The Horror Within isn't technically a unique entity but no more than one will appear in a given scene.

Alternately, you could use a less powerful host for it - probably a lieutenant with some kind of timer mechanic - and have it erupt the same way it does with Hugo.  Something like this might work:  

Host of Horrors d12 lieutenant (one per scene, max)

Description: A hapless dupe of a cultist implanted with a mystic spore that's swiftly growing to maturity.  They are crackling with energy barely contained energy and anxious to embrace their supposed destiny as a god through further ritual magics.

Impending Apotheosis: Start a timer with (8-H) boxes (minimum 3).  At the start of each of your turns mark off one box.  You may take an Overcome action during your turn to mark off another box following the usual rules for lieutenant Overcomes (pg. 156).  If you complete this timer you are immediately removed from the scene and replaced by the Horror Within with its upgrade.  If you are defeated while this timer is incomplete, the Horror Within immediately appears in your former location without its upgrade.  In either case, add two more boxes to the scene tracker and the entire track is now considered to be in the Red zone.  The Horror Within doesn't take a turn until round after it appears.

Overwhelming Power: You gain a +4 bonus to Attack actions, but each time you Attack your die size decreases one step at the end of your turn.  When the Horror Within first appears, remove all minions in its location and then deal d10 damage to all remaining targets there. .

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Lash & Crash, More Agents of SIN

Two more supervillains from the labs of the Science Integration Network's SIN/NER division.  This pair aren't quite the successes that Rush and Crush were, but with those two they do round out a four-man supervillain team for larger operations.  I'm sure they'll shake down into a cohesive group eventually.

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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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Lash

An argumentative and sour individual, Mateo Abarca Villalobos was never a perfect fit as a SIN/NER agent, which eventually led to a disciplinary review.  When offered the choice between a chemical mind-wipe and permanent discharge from service or signing up for an empowerment program to "make something useful of himself" he grudgingly took the latter option.  Better than waking up in a gutter somewhere with no idea what he'd been doing for the last five years.  

He was one of the lucky ones, gaining the ability to project crackling whips of energy from both hands.  These could drain a wide spectrum of exotic radiations, weakening most "superpowers" and interfering with advanced technologies as well.  The absorbed energy was metabolically converted into vastly improved strength and durability or channeled back into targets to cause disruptive feedback.  He quickly learned to use his whips for acrobatic maneuvering and even fine manipulation at a distance as well, adding to his versatility.  He was also informed that he'd need regular treatment with the Q-radiation used to empower him to keep him from suffering a "catastrophic metabolic collapse" - ensuring his reluctant loyalty to SIN going forward.

SIN assigned Mateo the supranym Lash (which he quietly despises) and generally uses him alongside other success stories from the same series of experiments.  He'd rather work solo or in charge of regular agents so that he isn't constantly having to restrain himself from siphoning his unwanted allies' power, but his superiors rarely trust him that far.  Lash isn't a happy man, but that's pretty much his normal state of being anyway.

Description: A tall, broad shouldered man of Hispanic descent.  He wears a single-piece bodysuit that covers everything but his head, with the upper half in navy blue and the lower half in dark red, and will often be found puffing on a cigarette.  When his powers are active lashes of crackling yellow energy project from one or both hands, moving with impossible precision and extending several hundred feet at maximum. He has a raspy smoker's voice with a mild Costa Rican accent.

Gender: Male     Age: Twenty-Something     Height: 6'0"          Eyes: Muddy Brown

Hair: Brown Buzzcut     Skin: Light Brown     Build: Broad-Shouldered

Approach:  Dampening               Archetype:  Loner

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d10, Strength d8, Swinging d8

Qualities: Close Combat d10, Acrobatics d8, Finesse d8, Grumbler d8

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

Abilities:

Scourging Siphon (A) Hinder multiple targets using Absorption.  While a hero has this penalty, reduce all their power dice by one size.

Stroke of the Lash (R) When a nearby hero that you can see invokes a twist, Hinder them by rolling your single Absorption die.

Unimpressed (R) When you would be Hindered, reduce the penalty to -1.  When an Attack would reduce you to zero Health, reduce the damage to one.

Vicious Thrashing (A) Attack multiple targets using Absorption.  Hinder each target using your Max die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, rarely when when working with other villain allies):

Power Dampening Field (I) +10 Health.  While the scene is in the green zone, all heroes' powers of d8 or higher are reduced by one die size.  In the Yellow zone all of the heroes' powers of d10 or higher are reduced by one additional step (two die sizes total).  In the Red zone, all heroes' power dice are treated as d4.  Heroes can remove this upgrade with three overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while taking these Overcomes, they lose access to a power until this upgrade is removed.

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

Tactics:

Lash would really prefer to work without other powered allies around so that he doesn't have to restrain his energy-draining abilities to exclude them from the effects, but SIN often sends him out as part of a team whether he likes it or not.  Against heroes he'll usually alternate between Scourging Siphon to weaken their powers and Vicious Thrashing to harm and hamper them with painful feedback.  He'll use whichever reaction triggers each round as soon as possible, either making twists even worse with Stroke of the Lash or largely shrugging off Hinders or KO damage with Unimpressed.

On the rare occasions when he has his upgrade it will further weaken opposing heroes and might draw extra Stroke of the Lash reactions as heroes attempt to remove the field.  His mastery makes him a very efficient leader for teams of standard agents and "Deadly SIN" operatives.

Unique Optional Mechanic:  Lash frequently suffers from being a Loner forced to restrain his flailing multi-target abilities around allies, resulting in a low status die.  If his Health reaches the Red zone and he's still at a d6 status the GM can decide he's had all he's putting up with and have him cut loose.  If he does so, his status die becomes d10 until the end of the scene, his upgrade (if he has it active) now affects villains as well as heroes, and whenever he uses Scourging Siphon or Vicious Thrashing he automatically includes any eligible allied villains as targets of those abilities.  Friendly minions and lieutenants aren't affected unless the GM decides Lash has gone totally berserk, as their lower (or nonexistent) power levels don't interact with Lash's Absorption tricks as violently.  How his allies react to this is up to the GM, although they're likely to stay focused on their mission and deal Lash after the heroes.

Lash will suffer serious repercussions from his masters at SIN if this happens, and might wind up making a clean break and becoming a rogue villain rather than face the music.   

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Crash

Louis Balland was a SIN/NER agent before being recruited for the division's ongoing empowerment experiments.  He was thoroughly enthusiastic about the prospect of gaining super-powers, and while the physical changes that came with them were more severe than anyone expected there's no denying that he gotten some major power in exchange.  As Crash he's become a human rocket, capable of propelling himself at incredible speeds with fiery jets projected from his hands and feet and surviving full-speed collisions with even the hardest targets.  Those same jets can be used as impromptu weapons or tools as well, spraying blinding flames over a wide area as he spins overhead (the so-called "Gamera maneuver") or focusing down to cut like a blowtorch.  Like other successful products of this program he's absorbed a massive dose of Q-radiation that resonates in a positive feedback loop with similarly-empowered superbeings, and his personal charge is the strongest to date.

Description: A very tall man with strange proportions, seemingly stretched out vertically with over-long limbs and a cone-shaped head.  He wears a single-piece bodysuit that covers everything but his head, hands, and bare feet, with the upper half in dark red and the lower half in navy blue.  He has a slight Californian accent and tends to shout to make himself heard over his rather noisy powers.

Gender: Male     Age: Twenty-Something     Height: 6'8"     Eyes: Green

Hair: None     Skin: Ruddy Caucasian     Build: Distorted, Vertically Stretched

Approach: Overpowered                    Archetype: Predator

Health: 50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Flight d12, Momentum d10, Fire d10

Qualities: Human Rocket d8, Imposing d8, Alertness d6

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

Abilities:

Blazing Jets (A) Hinder multiple targets using Fire.  Use your Max die.  Attack any target that gains a penalty this way that already had one penalty from you using your Mid + Min dice.

Jink (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Flight die.  Deal that much damage to a different nearby target.

Prep For Launch (A) Boost yourself using Human Rocket.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Defend yourself against all Attacks using your Mid die until the start of your next turn.

Rocket-Propelled Ram (A) Attack using Momentum.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Deal Mid + Min dice damage to yourself.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect when working with Crush, Lash or 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 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

Crash is a straightforward fighter, and an enthusiastic one.  He usually opens a scene with Prep For Launch to establish a lasting bonus for himself, then hurls himself at one target after another using Rocket-Propelled Ram until the fight is won or he KOs himself.  Jink gives him a very strong reactive defense that also throws out some non-Attack damage (making it harder to protect against).  He'll break from this pattern only if he sees an opening to go late in one round and early in the next, setting him up to use Blazing Jets back-to-back before the heroes can shed the penalties from the first usage, which can set him up to do a lot of damage and apply big penalties to multiple targets.

His upgrade amps up his damage and lets him spread it around a bit more, as well as letting him survive more rams.  His mastery reflects his talents perfectly.

Blog Content Index

The Masters Family, Superpowered Rulers of Herralund

My campaigns have been lacking in the kind of villain-led fictional nations that show up in comics - Doctor Doom's Latveria and Sentinels' own Mordengrad, for ex - so here's a lengthy fix for that.  Rather than go with a single super-dictator this place has a loosely-related family and a civilian population who are kept at least partially mollified by the possibility of their own children winning the genetic lottery and becoming part of the ruling elite themselves. 

The Masters Family

The Masters family are the de facto rulers of the Domain of Sovereign Herralund, a tiny island nation found off the coast of Iceland.  The history of the place is somewhat nebulous (there's a suggestion that it may not have existed prior to the 17th century, and it may not have always been exactly where it is now) but the UN recognized it as a sovereign state in 1950 after it was putatively granted independence by Norway (who seems to have been unaware they even had a claim to the place).  A minor player in international politics, the island's superhuman rulers give it more pull than it would otherwise have, and it has significant investments and interests abroad - some decidedly shady in nature.  With a population barely in the six digits, Herralund is a hypothetically direct democracy that that elects a ruling Council to manage its affairs.  Official languages are English and a local variant of Icelandic, with 91% of the population bilingual. 

That Council has consisted entirely of superpowered members of the Masters family for as long as the current system has existed, and any relative who manifests powers (usually in their late teens) will be inducted into the Council once they reach their majority at age 20.  The Council normally has six to ten members active at a time, making the current group the smallest and youngest in recorded history - a matter of some concern to its members.  The family tree is a sprawling convoluted mess, and most residents of the island can lay claim to some degree of relation at this point, with the attendant chance for their children to manifest powers.

The lineage shares a number of common traits, including superhuman durability, longevity, and the the ability to bend others to their will through sheer mental strength.  They also enjoy an inexplicable ability to twist local reality to serve their needs, particularly within the Domain they lord over.  This manifests largely as incredible good fortune that lets them avoid mishaps or even turn bad luck against their foes, and renders the weak-willed almost incapable of voluntarily harming them.  In dire situations they can extend this further to actively drain the life energies of those nearby to restore themselves, leaving victims enervated, comatose, or worse.

Individual Family members also manifest a personal ability to control some elements of their environment, ranging from the geography of the land itself, the region's climate, or even local flora and fauna.  These powers are strongest within their familial domain but remain quite potent even beyond those borders.  Under most circumstances such traits are unique but may recur in future generations, with only one "Holder" of each power active at a time.  Family records show two occasions where there was a duplication - once involving identical twins and another a pair of cousins who were born at exactly the same time.

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Majestra Masters

Majestra is the oldest member of the currently active Family member, and one of the most effective at manipulating Council politics in her favor.  She sees herself as a long-term planner, cautiously pursuing schemes to ensure the growing prosperity of Herralund and her own personal wealth and power.  Her unique Holding is Landheart, which grants her the ability to command the flora and fauna of the Masters Domain, which (along with her shared Family presence) lets her exert her will on every living thing on the island, although she rarely tests herself against her relatives.  Her Holding has also influenced her personal interest in biosciences and the nature of the Family's superhuman gifts, a subject she regularly collaborates with Magnus about.

Of her younger cousins, she's closest in temperament to Minerva who shares a similar Domain-first mindset.  Most of her time on the Council has been shared with Marcus and she has a soft spot for his blunt nature, but that doesn't stop her from reigning in his sledgehammer response to problems when she can.  Magnus may be the newest to join the Council but she acknowledges his talents, both political and technological.  As long as his recklessness is kept under control the Family will certainly benefit from his work, but the risks need to managed carefully.  Mordecai has always been a disappointment and she expects him to remain one, leading to a real coldness toward him even though she supports Minerva's efforts to find a use for the layabout.   

Description: A tall, dignified, regal woman in her late thirties.  She favors elaborate hairstyles and elegant gowns in black silks and velvet.  Radiating an aura of cold confidence and determination, she rarely needs to raise her delicate voice to command attention, even around her Family members.    

Gender: Female        Age: 39        Height: 5'8"           Eyes: Ice Blue

Hair: Raven Black            Skin: Pale            Build: Statuesque

Approach: Disruptive                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Plants d10, Presence d10, Animal Control d8, Vitality d8

Qualities: Leadership d10, Medicine d8, Science d8, Eldest Cousin d8

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

Abilities:

Interposition (A) Hinder multiple targets using Leadership.  You and any nearby allies Defend using your Max die.

Magnificent Indifference (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

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

Mortal Obligation (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

You Will Obey Me (A) Attack using Presence.  Use your Max die.  A target dealt damage this way Attacks an ally by rolling their single largest power die. 

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect within the Family domain):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes 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

Majestra is a thoughtful but imperious combatant who habitually uses others to do the fighting for her.  Interposition is extremely versatile, and can be paired with Plants, Presence or Animal Control to hamper foes and protect herself and allies using whatever resource is most appropriate - animated greenery, loyal Companions and innocent bystanders, or swarms of wildlife.  You Will Obey Me crushes the psyche of one foe and uses their powers against another.  She also shares the family abilities of Magnificent Indifference (making her immune to environmental damage on the environment turn), Master the World (allowing her to trigger environmental twists at will), and Mortal Obligations (which lets her draw the life energy out of those nearby to restore herself).

Her upgrade amps up her power and durability considerably, especially within the Family domain, while her mastery reflects her casual control of all life around her. 

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Marcus Masters

Marcus is one of the most potent Holders of Storm in Family history, but he's come to rely on raw power over skill or creativity when employing his talents.  Bold, brash, and quick to resort to violence, he's a great asset in a fight but full of braggadocio and lacking the usual subtlety of a Council member.  He's considered a major national defense asset unto himself, which is often used as an excuse for keeping him from travelling abroad where there might be...incidents.  Majestra and Minerva both keep a cautious eye on his activities, especially when he's hanging around with Mordecai or Magnus.

Given the opportunity, Marcus will happily pick a fight with foreign supers to test himself against them.  He's fairly good natured about it even when losing (which is rare) and tries not to kill or seriously injure such foes, although his raw power can lead to unfortunate mistakes.  He's very good about sending flowers to the hospital or the funeral if things do go awry.  Actually beating him one on one in what he regards as a fair fight will earn his respect, which is not an easy thing to do otherwise.  

Description: Big, burly, and wind-blown, he looks more than a bit like a very muscular Count Dracula, especially in the black suits and flowing capes he favors.  His booming voice carries well even over the driving winds that usually accompany him, although it tends to be a bit alarming at formal receptions and quite dinners.

Gender: Male        Age: 34        Height: 6'4"        Eyes: Deep Blue

Hair: Black, Pronounced Widow's Peak   Skin: Weather-Beaten   Build: Muscular

Approach: Overpowered                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  65 + (5 x H)

Powers: Weather d12, Presence d10, Vitality d10

Qualities: Imposing d8, Living Tempest d8, Banter d6

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

Abilities:

Apocalyptic Whirlwind (A) Attack using Weather.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Magnificent Indifference (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

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

Mortal Obligation (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

Raging Storm (A) Attack multiple targets using Weather.  Use your Max die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect within the Family domain):

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

Marcus is an blunt instrument in combat, throwing out vast amounts of damage with little regard for his own safety or those around him.  Raging Storm is his primary offense, and he's often careless about who he targets with it.  Anyone who draws his ire through particularly strong resistance or showing disrespect will be singled out for a strike from Apocalyptic Whirlwind, often followed by using Mortal Obligations to heal the self-damage inflicted.  He rarely uses Master the World unless a particularly destructive twist is available, or if he needs to add more environmental minions to fuel his healing trick.  Remember that Magnificent Indifference only prevents damage during the environment turn, although Marcus is likely to accept some harm from a twist on his turn if it will hurt his foes worse.

His upgrade pumps up his damage output even more, and his mastery perfectly reflects his personality and general approach to any opposition.

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Minerva Masters

Minerva is the Family's intelligence expert, a traditional position for anyone inheriting her Holding of Demand.  An unusual gift in that it has no clear direct connection to the land itself, in theory it reflects the ruler's inherent right to call on the obedience of those who dwell within their domain.  In practice, it's more often used to manipulate foreigners these days, forcing them to speak the full truth when interrogated and forget that they've done so.  While any Family member can use their overwhelming presence to produce short-term obedience to some degree, Minerva is capable of much more precise and lasting effects when given time to properly condition subjects.  Even in the heat of battle she can make a single foe nearly unable to offer resistance or compel entire groups to hesitate or even turn against one another in ideal circumstances.

Her cunning and unique talent make Minerva a major power player in Council politics.  Fortunately for everyone, she has a more realistic (some would say paranoid) grasp of the potential dangers of the outside world and is the least likely member of the Family to put her own interests ahead of Herralund as a whole.  This causes her to come into conflict with the rest on occasion but she can usually justify her actions in hindsight, particularly when she prevents Marcus from doing something drastic or deflects the consequences of Magnus making an unwise alliance with some foreign super-villain.  If the Family Council were ever to fall, Minerva is the most likely to survive and rebuild a power base elsewhere. 

Description: A perfect china doll of a woman, easily mistaken for being a decade younger than she is.  She accentuates the effect with a wardrobe of rather girlish fashions (still black but less formal and severe than the Family norm) and a practiced school-girl speaking style that she only drops around the Family - or victims she doesn't plan to let live much longer.  She has the usual Family gift of presence, but her unique gift lets her dial the effect on individuals or small groups up or down considerably.      

Gender: Female           Age: 27            Height: 5'1"           Eyes: Pale Blue

Hair: Black, Very Long                Skin: Very Pale                 Build: Waifish

Approach: Skilled                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Suggestion d10, Presence d8, Vitality d6

Qualities: Insight d10, Persuasion d10, Conviction d8, Espionage Training d8, History d8, Self-Discipline d8

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

Abilities:

Enduring Compulsions (A) Hinder using Suggestion.  Use your Max + Min dice.  That penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Magnificent Indifference (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

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

Mortal Obligation (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

Serve My Will (A) Hinder multiple targets using Suggestion.  Use your Max die.  If you roll doubles, also Attack each target using your Mid die. 

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect within the Family domain):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes 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

Minerva's approach to combat revolves around getting into the heads of her foes and manipulating their actions.  While her kinfolk can produce similar short-term effects with Presence, her personal Suggestion power lets her embed Enduring Compulsions in a victim, as well as offering more precise control with Serve My Will turning foes against one another in ideal circumstances.  As with the rest of her family Magnificent Indifference protects her from environmental damage and Master the World lets her manipulate her surroundings, usually to bring more minions into play as fuel for Mortal Obligation.

Like most Masters, her upgrade makes her more durable and potent while in her homeland, and her mastery reflects her skill at manipulating the weak-willed.

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Mordecai Masters

Mordecai is the second youngest member of the Family Council, and by far the least respected.  This stems largely from his surprisingly weak powers, something that makes him something of a disappointment to his relatives.  He inherited the Holding of Stone, which has traditionally been a very potent part of the Family's superhuman arsenal with past Holders able to raise new land from the sea, move the island itself and perform similarly stunning feats.  Mordecai pales in comparison, although he can still crumble a (small) building, raise a modest hill with time and effort, or casually reshape small masses of stone and metal.  He actually earns the Family coffers quite a bit of money selling his sculptured artwork under an alias abroad.

While his relatives largely see him as something of a court jester and rarely listen to his advice or desires, Mordecai is secretly as prideful as any of them, perhaps more so.  He seethes with rage about his status but conceals it quite well most of the time, and when it does boil over he's careful to direct it at his inferiors (like mundane humans) rather than any of his relatives.  Only Minerva suspects his real feelings, and she's careful about not letting him get her alone in a position where he might have the advantage.  She also sees more potential in him than the others, and often arranges for him to have a (carefully monitored) role in Family diplomatic and economic endeavors where his knack for being entertaining and affable provides a useful distraction.  Mordecai is a little too self-absorbed to realize she's acting as a de facto patron for him, for better or worse.

Description: A very short, slightly built young man, badly in need of a shave and a decent haircut.  He wears the same conservative, formal black outfits favored by the rest of the Family but somehow it always looks rumpled and ill-fitting on him.  He's still strangely likeable in a raffish sort of way and usually tries to act like an affable joker, but you might catch a gleam of real hatred in his eyes if you catch him at the right moment - usually when looking at one of his relatives.  He has a pleasant baritone voice and is an accomplished singer and musician.

Gender: Male           Age: 25            Height: 5'2"          Eyes: Watery Blue

Hair: Black, Scruffy             Skin: Spotty Caucasian               Build: Weedy

Approach: Underpowered                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Stone d8, Metal d6, Presence d6, Vitality d6

Qualities: Creativity d10, Banter d8, Secretly Furious All the Time d8, Acrobatics d6

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

Abilities:

Magnificent Indifference (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

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

Mortal Obligation (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

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

Unleashed Rage (A) Attack multiple targets using Secretly Furious All the Time.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn using your Min die. 

Versatility Over Power (A) Boost using Creativity.  Use your Max die.  Hinder using your Mid die.  Attack using your Min die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect within the Family domain):

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

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

Mordecai prefers to avoid violence unless he's confident that he's gotten the upper hand through scheming or treachery.  If forced into combat he'll usually be looking to escape as soon as possible, using Master the World to trigger any twists that might help with that and Magnificent Indifference to avoid harm from damaging environmental effects.  If cornered by multiple enemies he'll react with Unleashed Rage out of desperation.  Against single targets he might use Taking Chances to try for a lucky KO but he prefers to use Versatility Over Power to set up bonuses to use on Overcomes for escape attempts or further distractions.  If hurt he'll resort to Mortal Obligations without a second thought for its effects on bystanders, showing that weak or not he's as ruthless as his relatives.

His upgrade and mastery do a great deal to improve his capabilities, and encourage him not to travel abroad without finding a way to retain his "home turf" advantage.  

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Magnus Masters

The youngest member of the Family Council, Magnus is also the least traditional and most openly ambitious.  Unlike his siblings he has a broad interest in science and technology and relies less on his innate powers, perhaps because his unique Holding of the Mist is regarded as one of the weakest inheritances.  He has a bond with the fogs that often blanket the land, allowing him to dissolve into an insubstantial grayish haze at will, something that really doesn't further his desire to drag Herralund into the modern day very well.  To compensate, he's managed to employ obscure scientific principles not only to augment his power levels but to briefly copy the Holdings of any other relatives nearby.  He's also got far more solid ties to the broader world of supercrime than anyone else on the Council, although to his chagrin he's regarded as a bit of a dabbler within the mad science subcommunity. 

The rest of the Family is rather nonplussed by Magnus and his behavior.  Majestra regards him as something of an upstart, although she concedes having a Family member with real technological skills is extremely useful.  Marcus sees his "toys" as an amusing novelty, a typical miscalculation on his part that Magnus is happy to take advantage of.  Minerva keeps a very close eye on his activities, particularly in regard to any dangers his criminal connections (some of which she quietly shares) may bring to Council operations.  Mordecai plays at being his friend, a fellow "young blood" in the Council ranks, but his real hope is that Marcus will offer him similar improvements on his own fairly weak powers.

Description: A short fireplug of a man, quite young and with the same magnetic personality his whole family shares.  Usually dressed in sedate black clothing unless he's working in his lab, in which case he adopts more traditional mad science garb.  All of his outfits feature a lot of carefully-concealed pockets filled with a variety of his inventions.  One of his eyes has been replaced with a red-lensed mechanical implant, and he has the faintest of scars around that eye socket.  When distracted he tends to manifest his personal talent, partially blurring into a pale, cold mist around the edges.   He has a commanding voice and a real knack for monologuing.

Gender: Male      Age: 22      Height: 5'4"      Eyes: Left Penetrating Blue, Right Cybernetic

Hair: Close-Cropped Black             Skin: Artificially Tanned               Build: Sturdy

Approach: Adaptive                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d10, Intangibility d8, Presence d8, Vitality d6

Qualities: Criminal Underworld Info d10, Imposing d8, Megalomaniacal Mad Scientist d8, Stealth d8

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

Abilities:

Emulation (A) Use an action ability of one of your allies.

Fine-Tuning (A) Take 1d6 irreducible damage.  Increase all your power dice by one size until the end of the scene.

Magnificent Indifference (I) Ignore damage from environment sources during the environment's turn.

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

Mortal Obligation (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

Wonderful Toys (A) Boost using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  Attack using your Mid die.  Defend using your Min die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect with access to Family resources and backing):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Quality dice sizes except Megalomaniac Mad Scientist by one (max d12).

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

Magnus is the family's outlier, relying more on his scientific discoveries than his own innate power to dissolve into eerie mist.  At their most basic, his personal arsenal of Wonderful Toys give him a versatile combat option.  He can also use Fine-Tuning to improve all his powers, making him increasingly potent as time goes by at the cost of time and energy - energy he often callously restores with Mortal Obligation.  He's also developed a way to scientifically augment his blood ties and employ the abilities of his relatives with Emulation, giving him incredible potential when fighting alongside the rest of the family.  Like all Masters, he shares their immunity to environmental damage through Magnificent Indifference, and can manipulate nearby events using Master the World.

His upgrade is notably different than most of his relatives, reflecting the ability to draw on diplomatic connections, social pull and simple wealth rather than a raw power increase that Fine-Tuning already provides him.  Similarly, his mastery reflects his personal "hobby" and technological proclivities.

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Like most VIPs, no member of the Masters family goes anywhere without a security detail.  In their homeland, these "Companions" act as uniformed military personnel, who may also make an appearance on diplomatic outings.  Almost all Companions are also trained to operate as covert operatives when a less obtrusive presence is called for, and these will invariably be nearby awaiting the call to action.  Supremely loyal thanks to lifelong exposure to the family's commanding Presence, they're happy to lay down their lives - which is fortunate, given how quick the family is to use Mortal Obligation when facing real danger.

To reflect this, add the following minor twist option to any environment where a group of cleverly disguised security guards could conceivably make a sudden appearance, remembering that comic logic often makes the impossible possible.

Call the Companions!: Roll the environment dice.  Add a number of Companion Guard environment minions to the scene based on the current scene tracker (even if activated with Master the World).  Use the Min die in Green, Mid die in Yellow, and Max die in Red.  These minions are allied to any Masters family villains in the scene and prioritize protecting them and following their orders.

Companion Guard d8 environment minion

Description: When operating openly, they appear to be a military honor guard in stylish dress uniforms and carrying energy rifles and pistols (no doubt tuned to stun, of course).  When maintaining a low profile they're nearly indistinguishable from local civilians until you get close enough to notice the concealed weapons, commo rigs and vaguely Scandinavian accents.    

Trained Protectors: You gain a +2 bonus to Defend actions targeting members of the Masters family. 

Blog Content Index

Villain Design Analysis: Approaches Part 6 - Ninja & Overpowered

Continuing from yesterday's post, more villain Approaches:

Ninja

This Approach has an incredible mix of Power and Quality dice with both strong dice and plenty of them, average Health and the usual two ability choices.  Their abilities are:  

Deadly Blink - Multi-target Attack that lets you reposition to anywhere in the scene.  An excellent mobility trick.

Defensive Dash - Solid defensive reaction with a self-Boost bundled in.  Not unique but quite useful.

Fade From Sight - Innate ability that gives you a Min Defend against everything for a whole round if didn't Attack or Hinder on your turn.

Rising Winds, Crashing Waves - Strong Attack that uses all your dice to hit two or three targets depending on how you divide them. 

Sever the Tendons - Mediocre Attack with a strong same-target Hinder.

Shadow's Blade - Decent Attack with a Mid die self-Defend that lasts until your next turn.

With four Attack ability options the Ninja has plenty of offense, and three of them also have some way to protect yourself through positioning, penalties or actual Defense to boot.  There's also a good defensive reaction available if they want.  Their innate defensive ability has terrible synergy with the rest of the list, making it hard to use unless your Archetype has some non-Attack, non-Hinder abilities, at which point it becomes pretty handy.  The list is very much about hurting foes and getting hurt less yourself, with very little help for allies or healing and the only self-Boost being tied to a reaction.

The one thing I could see adding as a homebrew is some ability that meshes with Fade From Sight so it isn't wholly dependent on having the right Archetype to even use it.  Something like this:

Marked Target (A) Hinder one target using [Quality].  Boost yourself using your Max die.  This bonus is persistent and exclusive but may only be used against the target of this ability.

Not bad without the innate ability, but with it you're also getting a quite efficient defense.

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Overpowered

This Approach has very strong Power dice, the worst Quality dice in the game, the highest base Health of any Approach, and two ability choices off this list:

Do Not Dare to Touch Me - Strong defensive reaction that also damages a nearby target.  Your big die sizes make this better than many similar abilities.

Face My Full Might - Incredible Attack that uses all your dice on one target, but also applies a serious self-Hinder and damages you.

Fear My Overwhelming Power - Efficient Attack and Hinder ability that uses all three of your dice.

Raw Power - Innate ability that provides basic die fixing, lets you reroll ones.  Good for preventing whiffs, but it struggles to stand out on this list.

Rejoice, My Followers - Boost plus big healing for you, minor healing for villain allies, and die size restoration for damaged minions and lieutenants.  Encourages your allies to stay nearby.  One of very few ways to restore lost die steps to minions and lieutenants.  

You Are Not Worthy of My Power - Strong multi-target Attack and Hinder combo, very good at taking on teams.

Overpowered villains are aptly named not just for their big Power dice (which are partly offset by their poor Quality dice) but for the sheer potency of their ability options.  Their innate die-fixer and defensive reaction are the closest things to average abilities on the list.  They're backed up with three excellent Attack abilities, one with incredible single-target damage and the other two combing strong Attack and Hinder bundles - including a multi-target version.  There's also a unique Boost and healing ability that's immensely good at supporting lesser allies.  If the list has a problem, it's how hard it is to only choose two of these options.

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Continued in part 7.

Blog Content Index

Synchron Supremacy Marshal, Alien "Diplomat" & Warlord

Another potential alien invader, this one from a culture with technology far beyond the need for anything as primitive as a fleet of invasion saucers.

Supremacy Marshal

The Synchron Supremacy is an expansionistic interstellar superpower whose expanding frontiers are gradually nearing Earth.  Galactic politics have mostly kept the major powers out of our stellar neighborhood thanks to it being a buffer zone between the Supremacy and its two main rivals.  That could easily change if an opportunity arose to seize a forward base in the region, either through diplomacy or invasion.  A Supremacy Marshal is the kind of leader that would be sent for either mission, negotiating at first but quick to resort to force if given the slightest pretense.

The Supremacy has advanced interstellar-range teleportation capabilities that can route a seemingly endless supply of troops and war material through the nexus gates on board their larger starships.  Because of this a mission to Earth would likely include only a single, very large capital ship to impress the locals without seeming overtly aggressive, while still leaving the marshal with access to plenty of military support on short notice if need be.  Defeating him would be the key to stopping an invasion, as only Marshals and other high-ranking leaders can directly access the teleportation network.  The Supremacy would be likely to repudiate the actions of their Marshal following such an embarrassing defeat on a backwater world, letting them save face on the galactic scene.

Description: An imposing male humanoid with vaguely feline features.  He wears a black armored harness, boots and gauntlets over his lightly-furred hide and carries an elaborate command staff.  When manifesting his cosmic powers he's surrounded by an aura of intense Kirby crackle.   

Gender: Male               Age: 102            Height: 7'2"           Eyes: Black, Yellow Irises

Hair: Black Leonine Mane         Skin: Golden Brown          Build: Hulking

Approach:  Overpowered                      Archetype:  Overlord

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Teleportation d12, Cosmic d10, Vitality d10 

Qualities: Alien Warlord d8, Technology d8, Diplomacy d6                                       

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

Abilities:

All Out Effort (A) Attack using Cosmic.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Boundless Might (A) Boost using Vitality.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.  Each of your nearby allies Recovers Health equal to your Min die.  Each of your nearby minions and lieutenants whose dis sizes have been degraded increase their die size by one.

Hold Steady (R) Reroll any number of minion saves against the same Attack.

Interstellar Gateway (A) Use Alien Warlord to create a number of Synchron Supremacy Troops 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.

Phalanx Formation (A) Attack using Cosmic.  Use your Max die.  Defend yourself against all Attacks made against you until the start of your next turn using the number of your minions.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Villainous Vehicle +15 Health.  Add a Mobile Gateway d12 Lieutenant with the following abilities to the scene:  Escape Plan (R) When the Supremacy Marshall is Attacked, roll this vehicle's die.  If it rolls higher than the Supremacy Marshall's current Health, both he and the vehicle escape the scene.  Minion Deployment (A) Add minions to an existing group equal to half the vehicle's current die size.  These minions are of a size equal to the highest die size already in the group.  If the vehicle has a bonus or penalty adjust the number of minions by that amount and then remove that mod. 

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

The Supremacy Marshal has considerable personal power but prefers to let his army of alien troops do his fighting for him.  Interstellar Gateway lets him summon countless troops from across the Supremacy's territory and his Hold Steady reaction makes them more durable.  Pausing to use his Boundless Might heals himself and other villainous allies nearby, restores the die size of damaged lesser allies, and Boosts him as well.  Once he has a good number of troops in action he'll use Phalanx Formation to fight from within their ranks.  He only resorts to All Out Effort if driven to a frenzy through insults or imminent defeat, although he's more likely to flee the battle than fight to the end if things are going badly.  His troops are expendable.  He is not.

He'll usually have his upgrade, giving him a hovering Mobile Gateway to add even more troops to the field and provide an easy escape route in an emergency.  His mastery reflects his military ambitions.

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Synchron Supremacy Troops

When using Interstellar Gateway choose from the following minion options in whatever mix desired based on your Max die.

Description: Mostly-humanoid aliens conscripted from worlds across the Supremacy's Reach.  Their weapons, armor and equipment vary, but all wear the signature synchro-suits of Supremacy troops.  These all-covering tight black suits provide basic life support regardless of atmospheric conditions, sensory enhancements and filtering, and mentally link them to the Central Control Network which subordinates their own will to that of their officers.

Dreg Cannon Fodder d4 or d6 minion

Description: A motley miscellany of low-quality troops armed with basic energy pistols and simple shock batons.    

Inhuman Shields: When an ally close to you is targeted by an Attack, you may sacrifice yourself to roll your die and reduce the damage by that amount.

Synchron Soldier d8 or d10 minion

Description: Well-drilled troops equipped with light body armor and armed with advanced power staves that act as both ranged and melee weaponry.

Well Trained & Well Equipped: You receive a +1 bonus when taking Boost or Defend actions.

Supremacy Shock Trooper d10 or d12 minion

Description: Aggressive elite troops in field-reinforced armor with augmented power staves.

Hard Hitting & Hard To Stop: You receive a +1 bonus when taking Attack actions and when saving against damage.

Coordinator Agent d12 minion 

Description: Slender, large-headed humanoid in long silvery robes, carrying a ceremonial power staff.

Central Control Node: When you take a Boost action, you may target all other nearby Synchron Supremacy minions.

Leader, Not A Warrior: You suffer a -2 penalty when you save against damage or take any action besides Boost.

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Supremacy Heavy Support Asset d10 or d12 lieutenant

Description: Any of a variety of high-tech vehicles, ranging from grav tanks, orbit-capable gunships, and armored walkers to mobile artillery platforms, massive combat robots and hovering field generators.  Most are crewed by two to five organic organic lifeforms, although some are fully autonomous AI, remotely operated, manned by thousands of tiny eusocial organisms or even bioengineered monstrosities.

Select one of the following abilities for each lieutenant:

Boosted Screens: When rolling a save against damage, you may reroll your die once.  If you do so you, Hinder yourself using that roll. 

Full Strike Payload: When you make an Attack action you may target multiple enemies.  If you do so, Hinder yourself using the same roll.

Grapplers: When you Hinder a target, you and the target may move to another location in the scene.

High Mobility: On your turn you may move to any location in the scene and then take a basic action.  If you do so, you may Defend yourself using the same die roll. 

Rapid Fire Weaponry: When you make an Attack action you may roll your die twice and use either result.  If you do so, Hinder yourself with the roll you chose to use.

Sensor/Jammer Array: When you make a Boost action, you may also Hinder one target.  Increase the value of the resulting mods by one (max +5).

Shield Projector: When you Defend yourself, you also target all nearby allied minions.

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Professor Pusher, Unsubtle PSA Messaging Villain

This ludicrously named villain was inspired by the old Superworld adventure Bad Medicine For Doctor Drugs.  If you're a fan of adding a "publishing history" metatext to your games, he would have started appearing in 1971 (a nod to the real-world "Snowbirds Don't Fly" story in Green Lantern/Green Arrow) and was dragged out in later years whenever the publisher wanted to make a show of warning readers about the dangers of drug abuse, particularly in the 80s.  The Professor probably appeared alongside Nancy Reagan and McGruff the Crime Dog at some point.

Most of his stories were awkward borderline PSAs, but there were some attempts at edgy 90s stuff that played him as a more "realistic" villain.  The post-2000s saw deconstructions trying to give him an actual backstory and more believable motivations.  The best of those would probably mirror Jekyll and Hyde's themes mashed up with Timothy Leary's advocacy of psychedelics.

In a game his whole schtick might be a very touchy subject, so check with your table before using him as either awkward camp or a more serious threat.  Drug addiction and abuse are not subjects to be taken lightly.  If you do use him he'd work well in a story arc with the Triple Threat Gang, who gained their powers from a drug called Supe that might easily be one of his creations.

Mechanically, there are two different writeups for the Professor.  The first uses the Inventor archetype and is more of a team player, willing to cooperate with other full-blown supervillains when their motivations align.  The second is a Loner, and only voluntarily works with those he deems his inferiors, all of whom are invariably users of his drugs in one form or another.  

Professor Pusher

Professor John Drummond is a proponent of better living through chemistry in its most extreme form, with a real genius for brewing up wonder drugs with all manner of metabolic effects.  Moreover, he's as aggressive about exposing others to his concoctions as he is about self-experimentation, and if that leads to some bad reactions or addiction that's just the cost of progress in his eyes.  His "Professor Pusher" supranym started out as a nickname invented by students of his college courses while he was still employed in the teaching field.  He's fully embraced it since transitioning into full-time "unconventional pharmacological research" as he calls it.  Most people would say it's mad science and outright supervillainy.

In addition to a boundless array of drugs and toxins capable of a wide variety of effects, Professor Pusher has experimented on himself extensively.  At this point his own body is capable of synthesizing and combining chemicals internally, resisting and regenerating physical damage, and exuding all manner of helpful and harmful substances at will.  He also has access to large numbers of "customers" addicted to his recreational substances and aid from minor villains created through his dabbling in super-solider empowerment serums.

Description: A bald middle-aged man with coke-bottle glasses, wearing a white lab coat and armored black gloves with super-tech needle spitters, chem sprays and injectors built in.  He has a wavering falsetto voice and gives off a strange, sweetish chemical scent.  Disarming him is harder than it looks, since his metabolism has been altered to the point where he's his own pharmacopoeia.

Gender: Male        Age: 55        Height: 5'10"        Eyes: Watery Blue, Thick Glasses

Hair: Bald        Skin: Caucasian, Chemical Stains On Hands        Build: Stoop-Shouldered

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Professor Pusher (enthusiastic cooperative version)

Approach:  Overpowered                      Archetype:  Inventor

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d12, Toxic d10, Vitality d10                                    

Qualities: Master of Mad Pharmacology d8, Persuasion d8, Science d6                                        

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

Abilities:

Chemical Savant (A) Whenever you create a bonus, increase that bonus by one.

Dangerous Overdose (A) Attack using Toxic.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Shared High (A) Boost yourself using Inventions.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.  Each of your nearby allies Recovers Health equal to your Min die.  Each of your nearby minions or lieutenants whose die size has been degraded at all increases their die size by one step.

Take Your Medicine (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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

Tactics

This version of Professor Pusher concentrates on supporting his allies, whether they're other full-blown villains, lieutenants like gang leaders or weaker hired supers or mobs of junkie minions in his thrall.  He relies heavily on Take Your Medicine to amp up allies and his own status die while Chemical Savant makes all his Boost actions more effective.  He'll selectively use Shared High to Boost himself and heal his entire team as needed, resorting to Dangerous Overdose only when hard-pressed and running out of allies to support.

His upgrade limits heroes pretty badly, and makes the risk of going Out much worse for them while in effect.  The Professor might even throw a Dangerous Overdose attack or order massed fire from allies at a vulnerable-looking target to spawn a free brainwashed minion.  His mastery works mostly with chemical science, but he's also dabbled in nanotech to emulate pharmacological effects in artificial or exotic lifeforms.

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Professor Pusher (sneeringly superior version)

Approach:  Overpowered                      Archetype:  Loner

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d12, Toxic d10, Vitality d10                                    

Qualities: Master of Mad Pharmacology d8, Science d8, Leadership d6                                        

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

Abilities:

Dangerous Overdose (A) Attack using Toxic.  Use your Max + Mid + Min dice.  Hinder yourself using your Max die.  Take damage equal to your Mid + Min dice.

Metabolic Tolerance (A) Attack using Toxic.  Use your Max die.  Recover Health equal to your Mid + Min dice.

More Where They Came From (A) When a non-minion ally in this scene is defeated, roll your single Science die to Boost yourself. 

Shared High (A) Boost yourself using Inventions.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.  Each of your nearby allies Recovers Health equal to your Min die.  Each of your nearby minions or lieutenants whose die size has been degraded at all increases their die size by one step.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

Tactics

This variant of Professor Pusher won't tolerate working with other proper supervillains, relying on masses of addicted minions and lieutenant-grade minor supers he's empowered himself for protection.  He'll still support them with Shared High but is more likely to resort to Dangerous Overdose early, then heal up with repeated Metabolic Tolerance attacks before repeating.  Defeating lieutenants (or other villains, if he's being forced by circumstance to work with them) just helps him out with More Where They Came From.  He has a lot of self-healing as a Loner, and will tend to put any bonuses he accrues into Recovering Health even faster.

His upgrades and masteries don't change, but his higher damage output and more aggressive play style will make getting a brainwashed hero more likely.

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Professor Pusher will almost always have some allies around for an action scene, ranging from low-quality minions to minor supervillains.  Their one unifying trait is that they've all sampled his drugs in one way or another, and most will be addicted to them.  He always includes chemically-triggered "kill switches" in his formulas so that he can counteract their effects at will, depowering supers he's created and putting "recreational" users into a life-threatening withdrawal. 

Pathetic Addict d6 minion usually, might be d8 if well-armed or using actual combat drugs, or d10 if high on a super-drug that enhances strength or agility beyond human limits.  Those are usually reserved for lieutenants, though.

Description: They can look like anyone from any walk of life, although long-term users become increasingly sickly-looking and often get careless about maintaining appearances.  Some people insist that there are always telltale signs of a user, but they're kidding themselves.  It's far too common to go real far down that road before anyone catches on. 

Desperate For A Fix: Whenever you roll the maximum possible result on your die, treat the result as two higher.  Whenever you roll a one, count the result as zero and reduce your die size by one step.  If this would reduce your die below a d4, you are defeated.

D-List Supervillain d10 or d12 lieutenant

Description: These are minor-league villains who've gained their limited powers from Professor Pusher's experimental super-serums, doing his bidding either to get their next hit or because he's got them under chemical mind-control.  They're as likely to be wearing civilian clothing as not, and when they do have costumes they tend to be pretty obviously home-made or repurposed from Halloween costumes.  Their powers tend to be pretty limited, although most all of them show superhuman resistance to pain and injury. 

Hard To Stop: You gain a +1 bonus to saves against damage.  In addition, at the start of your turn you may remove any -1 penalties on you.

Sort Of Super-Powered: Use the rules on pages 287-289 to select one or two abilities from an appropriate clone archetype to represent your powers.

Empowered Addict d8 or d10 lieutenant

Description: Almost as varied as pathetic addict minions, but they tend to be drawn from the ranks of overtly criminal groups and often display gang colors, tattoos, and similar marks of allegiance.  A few may be corrupted police or other authority figures, and may attempt to confuse the issue about which side they're actually on.  All display inhuman strength and tend to slip into a berserk rage at the drop of a hat.

Berserker: Whenever you roll a save against damage, whether you pass or fail Boost yourself using the same die roll.

Desperate For A Fix: Whenever you roll the maximum possible result on your die, treat the result as two higher.  Whenever you roll a one, count the result as zero and reduce your die size by one step.  If this would reduce your die below a d4, you are defeated.

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