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.

Blog Content Index

The Odds, A Diverse Group Of Unfortunate Villains

A diverse group of villains, each with desperate needs of their own but at least temporarily sharing the same goal.

The Odds

Countless individuals have received superpowers (accidentally or otherwise) from exposure to mad science experiments over the years.  Some of them have gone on to become well known heroes or villains, having won fate's lottery and received potent abilities with few drawbacks - or such vast power that any accompanying drawbacks seem worth the cost.  Not everyone's a winner though, and the Odds are a diverse group of villains who got the short end of the stick when it came to things.  They've banded together in part to support one another's driving needs, although some are more desperate (and more open to manipulation) than others.

Oddment is the group's nominal leader, and they all current follow his goal of acquiring technology for growing them new bodies and transferring their consciousnesses to them.  He knows he's on the clock with a collapse into psychosis impending, but generally puts on a good show of being cool and in charge.

Vestige has devolved from a skilled scientist to a predator desperate to continue her existence by any means.  When well fed she's stable enough to contribute some useful knowledge about the legal side of the scientific community, although bioengineering and mind transfer are far outside her field.  She's discovered an odd resonance with Afterglow's powers, which serve to keep her from fading away more efficiently than others she's encountered.

The Homunculoid is a lost and monstrous bioengineering project.  Oddment has made it promises that it may not even care about.  The thing's motivations are its own and probably not rational at all, but something keeps it with the group.  The others suspect its creator may come looking for it eventually, a creator with obvious skills in genetically engineering new life forms that might help with their long term plans.

Afterglow is more innocent victim than the villain she's been cast as, but she's also immensely dangerous to the civilian population and suffering from extreme mental fragmentation.  Her rare moments of clarity might lead to connections in the shadier parts of the medical research field, which are only a short step away from mad science clone masters and experimental mind transfers.  Her radiation output is hard to keep damped down to even semi-safe levels, but Vestige's reality drains seem to help keep it under control, making them a symbiotic pair. 

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Oddment

Harrison Odell was once the mad science villain Cyber-Maker, a specialist in augmenting ambitious criminals with cybernetic upgrades that would make them true superhumans - and which included backdoor access that he could use to control them, slowly building a veritable army of cyborg muscle.  A coalition of several heroes and villains twigged to the scheme and cooperated to bring him down, destroying his secret mountain lair and catching him in an explosion no one could survive.  Unless, of course, one was a genius villain who had pre-programmed his robotic surgical assistants to preserve his life at any cost.

That cost proved to be the loss of his entire organic body and large parts of his once-great brain.  What remained was augmented with a digitized recreation of his old personality, installed in a life support capsule implanted in the sturdiest combat cyborg chassis available in the ruined base's emergency backup shelters.  No longer either Harrison Odell or his Cyber-Maker alter ego, the new hybrid of organic and digital minds took the supranym Oddment for itself and assessed its new existence.  Odell had always avoided creating "full-conversion" brain-in-a-tank cyborgs because they went unstable too quickly to be of use, and now he was one himself.  His artificial memory overlays would keep what was left of him rational for longer than most, but eventually the collapse would come.  The only solution was to find a way to create an organic host body before the inevitable, which was not something he could manage on his own.  He would need allies with similar end goals...or at least useful pawns for his pursuit of bioengineering and mental transfer technology.

Description: A large mechanical humanoid covered in variegated black, umber and tan scales over a dull metal chassis.  Its human head sits deep in an armored collar atop the chunky torso, although this is an android fake - the real brain and its life support system are deep within the the chest in a separate armored capsule.  The oversized forearms conceal a mix of cognitive modification mechanisms, while the chunky "boots" and backplate conceal jump jets for short bursts of speed.  His strong baritone voice sounds quite natural, even when coming from concealed speakers after his decoy head has been destroyed.

Gender: Male        Age: 48        Height: 6'4"        Eyes: Brown

Hair: Light Brown     Skin: Titanium Alloy, Variegated Scales     Build: Cyborg

Approach: Generalist                Archetype: Inventor

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Power Suit d10, Deduction d8, Inventions d8, Robotics d6

Qualities: Science d10, Combat Cyborg d8, Technology d8, Criminal Underworld Info d6

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

Abilities:

Augmentation Mechanisms (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.

Decrementation Mechanisms (A) Hinder multiple nearby targets using Inventions.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Intercession (R) When an ally is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single Power Suit die.  Boost yourself using the same roll.

Simple Brute Force (A) Attack using Power Suit.  Use your Max die.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.

Superior Technology (I) Whenever you create a bonus, increase the value of that bonus by one.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

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

Tactics

Oddment prefers to let his allies to the fighting while he observes his foes and tunes his mechanical  body for optimal performance against them.  He'll usually open with Augmentation Mechanisms, taking a persistent bonus for himself and sharing the other with an ally.  He uses Intercession reactively to protect an ally every round he can, further Boosting himself in the process.  He may continue building up bonuses or handing them out if he's being ignored, or he may switch to Decrementation Mechanisms to debuff multiple enemies while collecting yet another personal bonus.  All of his Boosts will be improved by Superior Technology.  If his Health is getting low he'll switch to Simple Brute Force, possibly piling his accumulated bonuses into the Min die for a big Recovery or onto the Max die to land a big hit and take out a particularly problematic foe.

His upgrade comes from spending time optimizing his internal processors and improves both durability and dice pools, which is particularly helpful when he can bundle in a big d12 Science die with his two mechanisms abilities.  His mastery reflects his ability to carry out scientific and technological tasks quickly and reliably under pressure.

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Vestige

Once a respected dimensional science theorist pursuing the dream of a functioning FTL drive, Tatiana Roman had no idea she'd attracted the attention of SIN's Operations Directive until one of their acquisitions teams interrupted an experiment at a critical moment.  The resulting malfunction consumed half the research complex in dimensional collapse, pulling everyone there into a null-reality state.  Everyone but Tatiana.  She resisted the pull through sheer force of will, but was left as a living anomaly, constantly being drawn toward un-being.  Tatiana quickly discovered that she could stave off oblivion by siphoning some vital element of reality itself from others around her.  

Only other humans could provide what she needed, and most of them were simply too fragile and weak-willed to endure even a single feeding before fading away - but her first encounter with superheroes investigating the catastrophe taught her that they were far better sources of what she needed, even if they were also more dangerous prey.  And prey is what they were.  Dubbing herself Vestige, Tatiana determined to survive no matter what it required to do so.  She would endure until she found away to reverse the accident that had created her, and if others had to perish so be it.

Vestige was contacted by Oddment while she was on the run after her powers first manifested, offering her potential salvation by transferring her intelligence to a new form free from dimensional instability.  The fact that his last recruit Afterglow proved to be able to "feed" Vestige's hunger safely for extended periods has further cemented her otherwise-dubious loyalty to the group.     

Description: A ghostly image of middle-aged woman dressed in a white lab coat over a gray dress and low heeled shoes.  Her natural colors seem faded and the entire figure is nearly translucent when the light is behind her.  She does seems to shine faintly in actual darkness as though caught in moonlight, adding to her phantasmal appearance.  Her sharp features are twisted with frustration and anger, and her hollow voice seems to come from far away.  When using her powers to feed swirls of cold purple-blue energy seem to flow from her victims into her form.

Gender: Female         Age: Early Fifties         Height: 5'2"          Eyes: Faded Blue

Hair: Faded Gray          Skin: Fading Into Transparency              Build: Stick-Thin

Approach:  Specialized                         Archetype:  Domain

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d10, Intangibility d8

Qualities: Conviction d12, Close Combat d8, Fading From Reality d8

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

Abilities:

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

Destructive Grasp (A) Attack one target using Close Combat.  Use your Max + Min dice.  The target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack.

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

Focused Hunger (A) Hinder one target using Conviction.  Use your Max die.  Attack that target using your Mid die.

Sacrificial Energy (R) When Attacked, redirect the Attack to an environment minion.

Siphon Reality (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice and Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions,

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, only if Vestige has been feeding in one area for at least a few days):

Mook Squad +0 Health.  Gain Call Fodder (A) Replenish your Depleted Fodder minions up to the number of heroes in the scene.

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

Tactics

Vestige's foremost concern is continuing her existence at any cost, but superheroes offer so much more "reality" to draw on than everyday people that fighting them is well worth the risks involved.  Against a single foe she'll rely on Focused Hunger (usually pooled with Absorption) at first, shifting to Destructive Grasp (often with Intangibility) if they display strong reactions or Defend abilities.  Against a group she'll reach out for as much energy as she can with Endless Need while using Sacrificial Energy to reactively use a minion for protection against Attacks.  Her sizeable base Health lets her hang tough in combat while accumulating environment minions with the occasional use of Call Victims for a single big Recovery using her Siphon Reality healing ability.

If she has her upgrade she may use Call the Fodder rather than rely solely on the environment for minions to victimize, although they're fairly inefficient "food sources" when used as such.  Her mastery reflects her jumping at any opportunity to cling to reality, even as a pawn of the terrible things that lurk beyond it.   

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Depleted Fodder d6 minion

Description: They can look like a female human of any age, ethnicity or occupation, but all are strangely faded, almost colorless and translucent as though they weren't fully real.  Obviously unnatural, they move like shambling phantoms.  Their touch is chilling, and their hopeless stare leaves victims feeling hollow and hungry.  

Last Dregs: You count as an environment minion for Vestige's Sacrificial Energy and Siphon Reality abilities, but your dice always count as rolling a one for Health Recovery or for saving against any damage inflicted when resolving those abilities.

Reality Leech: When you deal damage to a target with an Attack, the target also suffers a -1 penalty.

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Homunculoid

The creature known as the Homunculoid is an escaped bio-construct crafted from some horrific and utterly unethical manipulation of the human genome.  Who created it and what purpose they had in doing so remains unknown, lost behind memories of fire and chaos.  The thing knows only what it has gleaned from the minds that open to its telepathy, and takes its guidance only from the fleeting visions that run wild in its distorted psyche.  It literally latched on to Oddment when he accidentally encountered the Homunculoid in the ruins of another scientists lair, and has stuck with him since then.  Sometimes it dreams of having its mind transferred to a new, human body as Oddment has promised.  Other times it knows that promise was a lie, and is tagging along solely for the joy of the chaos his "ally's" plans will bring.    

Description: A clearly inhuman creature with a distorted human-like head over 18" across, set low between two powerfully-muscled shoulders leading to a pair of three-foot long arms that carry its weight.  An absurdly small humanoid torso in a red and green body-stocking dangles beneath that huge head, trailing two useless vestigial legs.  It mouth gapes open menacingly, equipped with teeth like crooked tombstones and panting steadily.  It speaks only telepathically, where its "voice" is an irritating shriek.  For all its awkward-seeming physique the thing is surprisingly nimble, bounding about on its powerful hands with ease.  

Gender: None (uses he/him)   Age: Unknown   Height: 3'2"   Eyes: One Blue, One Green

Hair: Stubbly Black                 Skin: Sickly Grayish-Blue              Build: Bizarre

Approach:  Tactician                          Archetype:  Fragile

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Intuition d8, Telepathy d8, Agility d6, Leaping d6

Qualities: Alertness d10, Acrobatics d8, Murderous Bio-Construct d8, Stealth d6

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

Abilities:

Gestalt Awareness (A) Boost using Alertness.  Use your Max die.  The bonus applies to every ally's action until the beginning of your next turn.

Mindripper (A) Attack using Telepathy.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Hinder yourself using your Min die.

Surprisingly Agile (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single status die.  If the damage is reduce to zero, you may move to anywhere else in the scene.

Vindictive Behavior (R) When a nearby ally makes an Attack, you may also Attack the same target by rolling your single Murderous Bio-Construct die. 

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Quality dice sizes except Murderous Bio-Construct 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

The Homunculoid is a pretty unstable combatant who undergoes radical personality shifts as he suffers damage.  While mostly healthy he concentrates on supporting his allies with Gestalt Awareness while evading strikes and staying mobile using Surprisingly Agile.  Once he reaches about half Health he switches over to making Mindripper attacks against whoever has hurt him most, throwing out more damage when allies Attack using Vindictive Behavior if he has a reaction left when the opportunity arises.  If he somehow winds up being the last villain standing he'll do his best to flee even if the opposition is looking pretty rough as well.

His upgrade relies on getting access to booster drugs tailored to his unique biology, while his mastery represents his quirky, erratic flavor of problem solving.

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Afterglow

Mary Curry was once a research assistant in fringe nuclear medicine before her unethical employers chose to use her as a test subject for their latest drug.  The chemical was designed to allow human tissues to absorb and metabolize even hard radiation without harm, and it succeeded spectacularly after a fashion.  Mary became a living atomic reaction, generating impossible amounts of some heretofore unknown exotic radiation and thriving upon it.  Moreover, the process seemed to be dividing her very being on some quantum level, causing her body and mind to partially fission over and over again before collapsing back in on itself.  Unfortunately for such a promising research project, her endlessly fragmenting mentality led her to take violent action that resulted in the termination of all involved staffers, the destruction of the lab facilities involved, and the irradiation of entire site.

That feat earned her the supranym Afterglow in the news media, and she's now widely regarded as a villain rather than a victim.  Even if she was stable enough to explain the situation as she understands it, she can't control her dangerous radiation output and remains a menace to everyone she encounters.  If Oddment hadn't offered her a haven after following the Homunculoid's cryptic guidance to the site of her first "destructive spree" she'd be in a government containment facility already, and quite possibly scheduled for euthanasia in the hopes it would end her out-of-control reaction.  Instead, she's stumbled into allies who might grant her a second chance at life in a new body - and she and Vestige serve to help stabilize one another's erratic powers through some unexplained resonance.

Description: A buxom woman glowing with neon green radiation, wearing a similarly glowing halter top, knee-length shorts and ankle boots.  As she moves she continually leaves afterimages trailing behind her, blurring into one another and making one person look like half a dozen or more.  She usually hovers casually just above the ground but can fly faster than most people can sprint.  She has a rich contralto voice that echoes with reverberations of her duplicate selves.

When she spawns independent legion minions they share her radioactive glow but don't leave a blur of phantoms behind them the way she does.

Gender: Female     Age: Early Thirties     Height: 5'6"     Eyes: Glowing Green

Hair: Flowing, Glowing Green        Skin: Glowing Green        Build: Curvaceous

Approach:  Skilled                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  10 + (5 x H)

Powers: Duplication d10, Nuclear d8, Flight d6

Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Imposing d10, Fragmented Mentality d8, Medicine d8, Ranged Combat d8, Science d8

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

Abilities:

Divided Mind (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.

Fleeting Images (A) Hinder multiple targets using Acrobatics.  Use your Max die.  If you roll doubles, Attack each target using your Mid die.

Full Separation (A) Add two Legion minions to the scene.  Their starting die size is one smaller than your current status die.

Furious Response (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Imposing die.  Deal that much damage to another target.

Merge Energies (A) Remove any number of Legion minions from play.  Roll their dice and Recover that much Health.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

Afterglow is well aware of her relative fragility and her tactics attempt to compensate for it.  She'll usually rely on Fleeting Images (using Duplication) to hamper as many heroes as possible with a short-lived swarm of duplicates, and can even inflict some real damage with them if she rolls doubles to keep them stable long enough.  Her Furious Response reaction both prevents and deals some damage, and can be a major source of damage output, especially with bonus support.  Once she loses even a small amount of Health she uses Full Separation to spawn a pair of d10 legion minions, ideally letting them act before her next turn before removing one or both of them with Merge Energies to heal.  Like all legion minions their actions are a bit limited by Divided Mind, but with only two of them in play they can generally avoid suffering its ill effects.  She almost never spawns more than two minions at once, preferring to cycle them in and out of existence to maintain as much healing as she can while still getting some further mileage out of them.  A lot of her effectiveness will depend on how initiative goes and how much support she gets from her allies.

Her upgrade reflects her getting either a significant charge of nuclear energy in the recent past or building up a charge over a day or two of relative inactivity, while her mastery draws upon the confusing nature of her multiple duplicate afterimages.

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Afterglow Duplicate d4 to d10 legion minion (usually d10, rarely d8)

Description: Physically identical to Afterglow, although their minds seem more focused and their psychic signature lacks the fragmented nature of their creator.  They share her flight and signature radioactive glare.

Exact Duplicate: You may move as though you had Flight d6, or d8 if Afterglow has her upgrade.

Blog Content Index

White Steel, Martial Arts Monomaniac

An obsessive martial arts weapon master out to prove his skills against worthy foes - whether they like it or not.

White Steel

The man known as White Steel is a mystery to all but a few.  A martial artist and weapon master almost without peer, his only motivation seems to be testing his skills against those he deems worthy challenges.  This doesn't equate to him being an honorable duelist, merely an egotistical one.  He has no qualms about crippling or killing even the most unwilling of opponents, he won't take "no" for an answer, and other concerns (like an ongoing disaster or battle with a different villain) are no excuse to delay a contest of skill.

Worse, he's got a ace in the hole he holds in reserve at first.  While he proudly displays his teleportation and related weapon-summoning tricks at once, he'll let a fight go on long enough to give his foe some hope before revealing his trump.  He can conjure up a wave of what he calls essential energy (and what other practitioners might call chi) in an eyeblink to not only totally block a physical strike, it can then be congealed into a perfect duplicate of its creator.  These copies are capable of fighting on their own, and depending on how the fight has gone he may either have them stand clear and finish an interesting foe himself, or he may step back and let them deal with anyone he regards as a disappointment.  Many melee fighters will struggle to deal any damage against this ultimate defense, but it matters little to White Steel.  If they're too weak to challenge him properly, so be it.

Heroes that rely on their teammates for aid will earn White Steel's contempt, but they may suffice to drive him off temporarily.  He'll return again eventually to "chastise the cowards" by arranging to force his kind of fight by ambush, taking hostages, and/or recruiting villainous allies to occupy attention while he carves up his chosen prey.  Getting him to back off for good requires either defeating him and arranging for his imprisonment despite his teleportation abilities, or making the darker choice and killing him outright.

His powers let him teleport both himself and his collection of attuned melee weapons almost instantly, although each individual jump is limited to somewhere around 3-4 miles range.  He can travel farther,  but it takes much longer to focus for a long jump to one of a few similarly-attuned locations across the globe.  He can also use his "essence" to empower his strikes and throw up defensive shields that he can then form into independently-acting copies of himself.

Description: A lithely muscular man of uncertain ethnicity with pronounced albinism, barefoot and wearing only dark red hakama (the flowing pants favored for kendo practice, for the uninitiated).  He may appear unarmed, but his powers let him draw any of hundreds of attuned melee weapons from thin air in the blink of an eye, and banish them back to their arsenal just as easily.  He speaks proudly in precise, unaccented English, boasting of his fighting prowess and deriding foes who fail to impress him with their own - which is usually the case.    

Gender: Male        Age: 31        Height: 5'10"        Eyes: Very Pale Blue

Hair: White, Worn In A Short Queue     Skin: Very Pale     Build: Lean & Athletic

Approach:  Specialized                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Attuned Arsenal d10, Teleportation d8

Qualities: Close Combat d12, Acrobatics d8, Out To Prove Himself d8

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

Abilities:

Divided Essence (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.

Essential Defense (R) When you would take physical damage, prevent that damage and create a legion minion with a die size equal to your status die (after creating that minion).  You may use this reaction more than once per round, but each use after the first deals 1 irreducible damage to you.

Inescapable Edge Style (A) Attack one target using Close Combat.  Use your Max + Min dice.  The target cannot use reactions or Defend against this Attack.

Merciless Cut Style (A) Hinder one target using Close Combat.  Use your Max die.  Attack that target using your Mid die.

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

Whirlwind Style (A) Attack up to three targets using Acrobatics.  Use your Max die against the first target, your Mid die against the second, and your Min die against the third.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain  Channel Essence (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

White Steel is obsessed with defeating other talented close-combat fighters, preferably one-on-one but he's confident enough to tackle a whole group at once.  He actively avoids confronting "dishonorable" foes who rely on long-ranged shooting, mental powers, and exotic distance attacks, none of whom represent worthy opponents.  In a proper melee he'll test his prey's defenses with Whirlwind Style, then assault anyone with strong defenses using Inescapable Edge Style.  Hard-hitting foes will be hampered with Merciless Cut Style.  Any physical damage will be entirely prevented with Essential Defense, blinking out of harm's way while spawning a legion minion as well.  While his minions are limited by Divided Essence they also grant him healing through Reunited Essence.

If badly hurt or facing multiple enemies with energy and exotic attacks he may play cagey and vanish to safety, then damage himself to spawn a minions that he can feed into a fight and heal off of when destroyed, repeating this until he's restored enough to resume taking a firsthand role in things.  Note that his spawn reaction triggers on physical damage, not Attacks.  He could create multiple minions over a round in response to environmental damage, deliberately moving through dangerous terrain (eg diving through a plate glass window or falling five stories) as well as just cutting himself.  Given preparation time he'll also use this trick before combat, creating a starting supply of minions as support (which are "bought" as scene elements of their own, but should still be treated as legion minions for White Steel's abilities).  Note that his legion minions don't share his powers and are "just" very dangerous martial artists with pale imitations of his personal arsenal.  He can only maintain them for a short period, perhaps an hour at a stretch, but they'll certainly last long enough for any normal action scene.

His upgrade lets him Channel Essence to make a his minions more potent, while his mastery lets him use them more effectively to kidnap hostages and dominate an area so he can get fights on his terms.

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Savant, Criminal Engineer & Technological Plagiarist

A formidable specialist in all things technological.  Just don't tell him magic is real too.  He gets all twitchy.

Savant

Waldo Barrymore is infamous in supercrime circles as a masterful freelance engineer and gadgeteer, but he's looked down upon by many other "mad science" types for his lack of originality and real grasp of fringe science.  An ingenious specialist, he's quite capable of  refining and improving on almost any technology he's allowed to work on but doesn't have the creative spark to truly innovate with all-new designs.  This puts him in an odd position where he gets hired to create or optimize all manner of exotic tools and weaponry by less technically adept villains, but rarely interacts with his intellectual peers.

Operating under the supranym Savant, Barrymore is often found working with the likes of SIN and SEVER although he's not formally part of either organization.  He also freelances for other villains, often taking examples of stolen technology to re-engineer in place of fees.  On rare occasions he'll call in some favors from former clients to get access to a particularly intriguing new device he wants to play with, sometimes even taking to the field himself to ensure he gets what he wants.  He's particularly fond of alien technology and relics of lost super-science civilizations.  While mostly content to remain in his lab, his influence is widespread and running into his clients, his proxies, or his gadgetry is surprisingly common in the course of a hero's career.

The only part of the criminal underground he won't have anything to do with are supernatural types.  Savant neither understands nor believes in so-called "magic" or ghosts, demons, elder gods and the like.  In his eyes it's all just fakery or some form of technology he simply hasn't figured out yet, and he doesn't like being confronted with things that conflict with that world view.  Ironically, he and Syzygy keep crossing paths, much to their mutual consternation. 

Description: A heavyset man with florid, fleshy features.  He wears a dull green boiler suit, sturdy black boots and tight black gloves.  All that is overlaid with a network of metal cylinders connected by back cables, with the cylinders laying along his arms and legs, clustered in a "belt" of sorts at his waist, and filling a bandolier covering much of his torso.  These cylinders form his personal arsenal of inventions and include force field generators, versatile energy projectors, sensory mechanisms and adjustable engineering tools.  His voice is deep and his speech slow and somewhat slurred.   

Gender: Male     Age: Forty-something     Height: 6'1"      Eyes: Watery Blue

Hair: Bald, Walrus Mustache     Skin: Caucasian     Build: Portly

Approach:  Specialized                                

Archetype:  Formidable (Weakness: Magic & Other Supernatural Effects)

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Inventions d10, Deduction d8

Qualities: Technology d12, Conviction d8, Monomaniacal Engineer d8

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

Abilities:

Cautious Strike (A) Attack using Inventions.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Defend yourself using your Mid die.

Deflection Field (R) Defend against an Attack that only targets you by rolling your single Inventions die.  One other nearby target takes damage equal to the amount of damage prevented.

Determined Strike (A) Attack one target using Conviction.  Use your Max + Min dice.  The target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack.

Swift Recalculation (A) Boost using Deduction.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Remove all penalties on yourself.

Tuned Strike (A) Boost using Inventions.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Attack using your Mid die.

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

Savant dislikes taking a direct hand in the any fighting, preferring to let others test his creations rather than risk his own skin.  If forced into combat he'll try to end it as quickly and efficiently as possible, always keeping an eye out for a convenient escape opportunity.  He'll usually open with Tuned Strike to establish a lasting bonus for himself while testing an enemy's defenses, then switch to relying on Cautious Strike to focus down a vulnerable target.  Anyone displaying potent defensive reactions will draw Determined Strike Attacks instead.  His Deflection Field gives him a solid reaction of his own, and he'll put its feedback damage into his primary target whenever possible.  If affected by penalties related to his weakness to magic and the supernatural he'll immediately shed them using Swift Recalculation, which he might also use to maximize his bonuses for a key Overcome (most likely to escape the battle).

His upgrade significantly improves his already-strong die pools and lets him use his mastery for Overcomes using Inventions, which should be pretty common for him given his limited selection of powers to choose from.

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Savant's abilities and powers represent his more portable personal gear, but it's common for him and his allies to bring some of his other creations to a conflict.  Some examples are shown below as challenges of various complexity.  These would count as their own scene elements. 

Barrier Field Tripod complex challenge (moderate scene element)

Description: A four foot tall metal tripod frame topped by a glowing orb.  It projects a selective force field that covers the nearby area, protecting anyone with an attuned identifier tab and keeping unauthorized personnel out.  These tabs are quite small and usually worn in an unobtrusive location or sewn directly in to a uniform's fabric. 

This challenge starts in play, set up in single location with any number of villain targets within its force field.  Hero targets cannot enter the force field without taking an Overcome action to bypass or force their way through the barrier, which takes their full turn and does not count as a success for ending the Challenge.  All targets within the field reduce any damage sources originating outside the field by twice the number of successes still needed to Overcome the challenge.

Disable Barrier Field 000

A hero may be able to locate and steal a locator tab from a defeated foe or imitate one's signal, either of which requires a simple Overcome.  Once they've done so the tripod treats them as villain targets for purposes of movement.

Grav-Cage complex timed challenge (moderate scene element)

Description: A small metallic sphere about the size of a baseball, meant to be thrown at a target or concealed and then remotely triggered when a foe draws near.  Its power cell is short-lived but very potent while it lasts.

Start challenge when a hero moves into a location with a villain target.  That hero cannot move or be moved and suffers a -2 to persistent penalty.  Attack and Hinder actions against that hero suffer the same penalty.  These restrictions and mods end when the challenge is fully Overcome or its timer runs out.

Breach Grav-Cage 000  Timer 000

Mindbender Box complex challenge (difficult scene element)

Description: An armored metal cube standing on four short legs, about two feet across and four feet in height.  Its effect is purely psionic and does not require line of sight to function, so it's commonly deployed someplace relatively safe where it can interfere with movement and actions without being an easy target.  The locus of the effect is easily determined even when the box is hidden (you can feel it pushing you away) but it may be difficult to reach or attack.

This challenge starts in play, set up in single location.  Any hero target that starts their turn nearby can take basic actions normally, but must take a minor twist to use any action or reaction ability or to move closer to the Minderbender Box.  This challenge can be dealt with using brute force (treat the Box as having 20 Health and ignore the first two points of damage it suffers from each Attack) or through Overcomes performed by a hero in physical contact with the box (two successes needed) or using psychic powers to interact with it (three successes needed). 

Dismantle Mechanism 00

or

Cancel Out Mindbender Signal 000

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Trivia

If I've kept count properly, this marks my 200th different villain Approach/Archetype pairing on this blog, leaving me with a "mere" 52 more to go till I've covered every possibility.  Yay, milestones.

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Deadeye Mouse, Another Cartoon Villain

Have I mentioned I'm a big miniatures painter as well as dabbling in TTRPGs?  This fine villain is directly inspired by an old TOON miniature released way back in 1985.

Deadeye Mouse

Deadeye Mouse is the result of one of Mister Mean's schemes that didn't get quite as completely foiled as usual.  While he failed to turn the city's population into mice as planned, one of his human henchmen was permanently transformed into a cartoon mouse in the process, scrambling his mind quite thoroughly in the process.  He still works with Mister Mean pretty regularly, although he's also been seen in the company of petty criminals and former fellow henchmen.  Some of the less stuck-up mastermind-type villains have also hired him as muscle in the past.  La Chatarrera is particularly fond of him and considers his manically destructive sense of humor an absolute scream.  He's very economical as hench-villains go, owing to taking cheese as payment.

Unlike Mister Mean and his nemesis KO Clown, as a modern creation Deadeye mouse never goes monochromatic out of nostalgia.  He's still bound by the same cartoon logic and physics they are, and his formerly human mentality (such as it was) has been largely lost.  Despite packing a very large gun the violence he employs it for is strictly comedic with no lasting harm done to living beings.  Given the amount of damage he can dish out your heroes will probably be happy about that, and regular police are even more thankful about it  He can cause quite a bit of property damage though, and in a pinch he can conjure up cartoon dynamite and other nonsense just like his animated creator can.      

Description: An anthropomorphic albino cartoon mouse, wearing a pair of red gloves and smoking a cigar.  His absurdly huge revolver is ever-present except when it's funnier for it not to be.

Gender: Male            Age: Unkown            Height: 3'6"         Eyes: Pink

Fur: White               Nose: Pink              Build: Anthropomorphic Mouse

Approach: Specialized                     Archetype: Fragile

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Cartoon Handgun d10, Agility d8

Qualities: Ranged Combat d12, Acrobatics d8, Former Criminal Turned Into A Cartoon d8 

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

Abilities:

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

Cheese It! (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single status die.  If the damage is reduced to zero, you may move anywhere in the scene.

Deadeye Shot (A) Attack using Cartoon Handgun.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Hinder yourself using your Min die.

Shoot and Scurry (A) Attack using Ranged Combat.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Defend yourself using your Mid die.

Tricky Little CENSORED (A) Attack one target using Acrobatics.  Use your Max + Min dice.  That target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Double Tap (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

Deadeye Mouse is a classic "glass cannon" type that pumps out damage fast but falls to pieces even faster if he starts getting hurt in return.  Against multiple foes he'll spam Blazing Away at first before switching to Shoot and Scurry to concentrate on whoever seems most vulnerable.  If a hero displays strong defensive tricks he'll use Tricky Little CENSORED to bypass them while relying on Cheese It! to minimize the damage he's taking.  He usually won't use Deadeye Shot until his Health reaches the Red zone where the self-Hinder will be minimized, although he might panic and use it in Yellow instead.  There's really not much to running him, just a damage race between him and the PCs.

His upgrade ramps up his damage quite a lot and lets him either spread damage around more or focus down one target faster, and his mastery reflects the fact that he's become a cartoon and increasingly thinks like one, blazing away at scenic targets to produce implausible but amusing chain reactions.

For what it's worth, Cheese It! is the first rulebook ability I've ever skipped on renaming.  I'm sure you can see why.

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Villain Design Analysis: Approaches Part 8 - Skilled & Specialized

Continuing from yesterday's post, more villain Approaches:

Skilled

Skilled villains have barely average Power dice but stronger and more numerous Quality dice, slightly below-average Health and the usual two ability choices from the following list:  

Best in the Biz - Solid self-Boost bundled with a minor Hinder.  Despite the name, a rather weak villain ability.  If you want to make it more attractive, adding "This bonus is persistent and exclusive." to the boost effect would do the job nicely.

Dodge and Weave - Defensive reaction that stops damage and deals the same amount to another target.

Consistently Capable - Unique innate ability that reduces the size of penalties you take by one.

Flexible Expertise - Versatile ability to take any basic action using your Max die, bundled with moderate healing.  The best of this style of "wild card" basic action abilities.

Incomparable Inequity - Strong persistent Hinder.

Misdirection - Solid multi-target Hinder that adds a moderate Attack on each target if you roll doubles.

Something of a jack-of-all-trades list, the standout features are probably the innate penalty reduction option and the "do anything well and heal" trick.  It also has a solid reactive option that both blocks and inflicts damage and two good Hinder abilities, one multi-target with an unreliable Attack rider and one persistent.  The sole Boost ability is pretty lackluster, but I've suggested a homebrew patch for it above.  There's not much in the way of reliable damage dealing here, so you'll probably want to look for an Archetype that offers some. 

Not sure this needs any homebrew help beyond that one patch, in part because I struggle to see what the theme of the Approach is.  Hindering, I guess?  Versatility?

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Specialized

This is something of the inverse of the Focused Approach, with narrow arrays of both Power and Quality dice but good die sizes.  Health is average and it gets three ability choices, only two of which can use the strong d12 Quality die.   

Active Cover - Defensive reaction that deals damage to a nearby target equal to the amount of damage prevented.  Unusually, it only works on Attacks that only target you.

Cleaving Slash - Efficient Attack that uses all three of your dice on three different targets.

Focused Attack - Strong Attack bundled with a moderate self-Defend.

Known Target - Unusual innate that gives a small persistent and exclusive bonus whenever you Attack a target you've dealt damage to before in the scene.  This effectively can't be removed once triggered since a new bonus will be created each time you Attack a valid target.  You could generate a lot of +1 bonuses at once in a short time with repeated multi-target Attacks, but since they're all exclusive it doesn't help much to have multiples of them per target - unless your Archetype has a way to burn bonuses with an ability (see Inventor for an example).  

Neutralizing Strike - Strong Attack that the target cannot Defend or use reactions against.  Their allies aren't restricted this way, so watch out for their reactions.  It also doesn't ignore actual damage reduction, just Defends.  

Tangled Torment - Decent Hinder bundled with a same-target Attack.

Another list with a reaction that blocks and inflicts damage, three fairly strong Attack options with varied extras and a Hinder/Attack bundle.  The sole innate ability is decent for an aggressive villain but doesn't feel overly impactful most of the time.  The most outstanding aspect is getting to choose three of these instead of the more common two.  The big d12 Quality die will help with two of those abilities, but only two.

The only thing I could see adding as a homebrew is an ability that could use duplicate exclusive bonuses your innate ability might generate so it's a more viable choice without an archetype combo.  This might work:

Take Every Advantage (A) Attack one target using [Power].  Use your Max die.  Increase the damage dealt by one for every bonus on you and every penalty on the target.

A simple damage dealer that can get very strong if there are a lot mods on you or the victim.  Since you're just counting (rather than using) the mods, exclusivity and the restrictions of Known Target don't matter.  And of course you can still apply bonuses using the normal rules.

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Continued in part 9.

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The Weiss Organization, Perfectly Legitimate Security Contractors

Your basic sinister PMC with some very unpleasant secrets hidden behind a respectable public image.  They prefer to rely on manpower and conventional firepower rather than super-technology, backed up with some mid-powered mutant operatives to give them an edge against their competitors.

The Weiss Organization

The Weiss Organization is a private military contractor that provides various security services for corporations, wealthy individuals, certain NGOs and even a few smaller and less stable foreign governments.  They also do a brisk but unofficial business in providing "covert force assets" to anyone with the wherewithal to pay.  The exact origins and ownership of the Organization are hard to untangle, but the billionaire Innocence Weiss is accepted as the public face of the company and certainly seems to be in overall charge. 

The Organization's most noteworthy trait in a field crowded with mercenaries is their open acceptance of mutants in their ranks.  They present themselves as a refuge for the genetically divergent, giving them a place where they can go to leave a biased and hateful world behind and find brotherhood and acceptance in exchange for paramilitary service.  Recruiters acknowledge that the work is dangerous but downplay the risks, and it can't be denied that they do offer protection from anti-mutant zealots and government pogroms.  In exchange Weiss gains a significant edge over competitors who are reluctant to involve themselves with "mutant politics" for fear of repercussions.

Unsurprisingly, things are nowhere near as rosy as they're made out to be.  Many mutant recruits without close friends or family who care about them are quietly "vanished" during training, covertly sold off to unscrupulous research programs, mad scientists like the notorious Doctor Mordecai Mentallax, or various governmental "dark" agencies.  Better-connected mutants will frequently be "lost in action" and suffer similar fates.  Only the most useful recruits will be safe from this sort of trafficking, and may eventually rise high in the Weiss power structure if they prove to be sufficiently loyal and willing to do whatever is asked of them.  Lady Weiss' own bodyguard and second in command is a mutant who came up through the ranks himself and often put forward as an example of the company's excellent treatment of the gene-altered.

There is trouble brewing on the horizon for Weiss, though.  While the authorities are unlikely to intervene thanks to government complicity in the mutant trade, the mutant rights group JustX is beginning to suspect the company's involvement in multiple disappearances.  Furthermore, openly employing super-beings (especially mutants) has drawn the ire of SEVER and it's only a matter of time before their own covert action arm attempts to deliver a lesson.  A multi-faction conflict could break out at any time.

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Lady Weiss

Innocence Weiss is heir to a multi-billion dollar fortune whose exact origins remain unclear but definitely date back to 1930s Germany.  A shrewd and ruthless businesswoman, the Weiss Organization is just one of several companies she holds effective control over, and uncovering all her assets would be  a major project even for an experienced investigator.  Her principle motivation is the accumulation of yet more wealth and prestige, although she also relishes holding so much power over so many lives and revels in toying with those she sees as her inferiors.

Lady Weiss is also secretly a mutant herself, although to date she's manifested only the weakest of precognitive abilities that serve to improve her naturally fast reflexes, with her other "powers" being expensive, elegantly-disguised equipment and an overwhelming force of personality.  She deeply resents her feeble mutation, regarding it as both unjust and a rare failure on her part.  She derives a great deal of pleasure in trafficking other mutants to terrible fates as a twisted sort of revenge on the universe.

It's likely that the Weiss Organization's secret and highly illegal dealings will eventually be exposed, but Innocence has contingency plans for such an occurrence.  She expects to be able to pass the blame to scapegoats within the upper management while avoiding responsibility herself, but if that fails she'll most likely fake her own death and vanish with her loyal bodyguard to build a new power base under another identity.   

Description: A pale young woman with cold but classically beautiful features, impeccably dressed in a flowing all-white formal dress.  Her dressmaker has worked wonders with armored smart cloth, even managing to conceal her holstered pistols from detection.  Her speech is cool and commanding, and carries easily even over the din of conflict.

Gender: Female                Age: 26 (officially)           Height: 5'7"          Eyes: Pale Gray

Hair: Snow White, Long, Straight                Skin: Ivory               Build: Lithe

Approach:  Tactician                        Archetype:  Indomitable

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Agility d8, Presence d8, Gadgets d6, Precognition d6

Qualities: Leadership d10, Criminal Underground Info d8, Ranged Combat d8, Utterly Ruthless d8

Status: Always d8

Abilities:

Blitz (A) Attack multiple targets using Ranged Combat.  Hinder those targets using your Min die.

Demand Excellence (A) Boost using Leadership.  Use your Max die.  That bonus applies to every ally's actions until the beginning of your next turn.

Don't Fail Me Again (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll an ally's dice pool.

Ice Cold Gaze (A) Boost yourself using Utterly Ruthless.  Use your Max die.  This bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Upgrades & Masteries (usually in play unless the Weiss Organization has recently suffered major  reverses):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase the die size of each of your qualities except Utterly Ruthless by one step (maximum of d12).

Master of Profitability (I) If you have access to great wealth and other resources, automatically succeed at an Overcome to leverage those resources to get even richer, no matter who pays the price.

Tactics

Lady Weiss prefers not to get her own hands dirty, but when she has to defend herself she does so with ruthless efficiency.  She generally opens any scene with an Ice Cold Gaze, followed by using Demand Excellence and her Don't Fail Me Again reaction to improve the performance of her employees.  Only if truly hard pressed and caught without supporting allies will she resort to Blitz to launch an intimidating flurry of shots at her foes.

Her upgrade and mastery will be in effect unless her company has suffered serious losses (financial or otherwise) recently.

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Beauregard Fortuna

Beauregard Fortuna is the Organization's poster boy for how well mutants are treated within the company and appears in a lot of their publicity.  As Lady Weiss's personal bodyguard and right hand man he's fully aware of and complicit in the Organization's shady activities.  A borderline sociopath, he has no remorse about the fate of his fellow mutants who fail to be useful to the company, being too self-centered and arrogant to care about his distant kin.  Only Lady Weiss really commands his full respect and loyalty.  He's not introspective enough to wonder if that might be the result of having come up through the ranks and being exposed to the same kinds of mental conditioning employed on covert ops and many mutant employees.

Inhumanly strong and durable with a healing factor that also feeds hyper-adrenaline into his system when injured, Beauregard is as powerful as many super-beings but has no interest in the "capes" subculture.  He and his employer regard most supers as simply insane whether they're heroes or villains, and prefer to pursue power and profit through their business interests, maintaining a facade of legitimacy without ignoring golden opportunities like covert ops and mutant trafficking.  If the Weiss Organization's secrets were somehow exposed he knows Lady Weiss has included him in her contingency plans and will follow her lead.   

Description: A hulking giant of a man, his carefully-tailored white suit barely concealing his incredible musculature.  He wears a pair of high-tech dark glasses with integrated commo and heads-up displays, although they rarely survive long in a fight.  His deep voice has a pronounced Louisiana Creole accent, although he rarely speaks in the presence of Lady Weiss.

Gender: Male                Age: 28               Height: 7'0"           Eyes: Hazel

Hair: Black                    Skin: Medium Brown                   Build: Impossibly Muscular

Approach: Specialized                           Archetype: Bruiser

Health:  40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Vitality d10, Strength d8                                        

Qualities: Fitness d12, Brutal Enforcer d8, Conviction d8

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

Abilities:

Bodyguard Move (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 per round by taking one irreducible damage for each time past the first.

Brutal Exchange (A) Attack using Vitality.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Defend yourself using your Mid die. 

Delaying Action (A) Defend yourself using Fitness.  Use your Mid + Min dice.  Recover Health equal to your Max die.

Make It Hurt (A) Hinder one target using Brutal Enforcer.  Use your Max die.  Attack that target using your Mid die.

Sweeping Blows (A) Attack up to three targets using Fitness.  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):

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

Tactics

Beauregard is a fearless and physically imposing brawler, unafraid to take on even the toughest hero when defending Lady Weiss or overseeing a particularly important field operation.  He has a wide variety of options for dealing with enemies, favoring Brutal Exchange to give him some protection when using his Bodyguard Move reaction.  Sweeping Blows lets him deal with multiple foes at once, while Make It Hurt lets him cripple any particularly troublesome enemy.  If he needs to buy time to continue intercepting Attacks he'll resort to Delaying Action, which can also let him Recover from even major damage very quickly.

His upgrade and mastery are usually in effect when Lady Weiss is present and he needs to be at the top of his game.

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Public-facing Weiss Organization employees are selected for PR-friendly diversity when possible and are easily identified by their distinctive tailored white suits, which are made of bespoke smart cloth.  This material is manufactured by one of Lady Weiss' other corporate holding, and not only offers significant protection from injury, it also sheds stains, blood, dirt, and filth to maintain a spotless appearance in the worst circumstances.  They serve as obvious bodyguards and security personnel, usually backed up by support agents dressed to blend in better.

Other operatives are assigned to more overtly military roles, often in isolated garrisons or doing counterinsurgency work far beyond the public eye.  These combat troops are hard to distinguish from mercenaries employed by other PMCs, although they rarely have much in the way of combat vehicles, relying on mutant troops with effective powers for those roles.     

Weiss Public Operative d6 minion

Description: Tall, photogenic men and women dressed in spotless white business suits and dark glasses with subtle HUDs and commo gear wired in.  Lightly armed with concealed pistols, their specialized training and hidden body armor make them excellent bodyguards.

Professional Bodyguards:  You gain a +2 bonus to Defend and Hinder actions.

Smart Cloth Suits:  You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage.  Your clothing also stays spotlessly white even in all but the most extreme circumstances.

Weiss Support Operative d6 minion

Description: Dressed to blend in with their surrounding, these agents can easily be mistaken for civilian bystanders.  They specialize in threat assessment and battlefield coordination rather than direct confrontation.   

Concealed Armor:  You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against damage.

Coordinator:  You gain a +2 bonus to Boost and Overcome actions.

Weiss Combat Operative d8 minion

Description: Dressed in camouflaged military gear to match the environment they're deployed to and equipped with a mix of modern infantry weaponry, these troops look much like any group of well-funded mercenaries.  Unlike the more public arm of the company they're almost exclusively male personnel, and tend to be less photogenic and appearance-conscious than the "White Suits" are. 

Fireteam Tactics:  You gain a +1 to actions as long as at least three other Weiss Combat Operatives are nearby.

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The Weiss Organization quietly offers a variety of less publicized services, providing deniable assets for black ops work at premium prices.  Their covert operatives are heavily armed and well-trained, and have been mentally conditioned through a combination of drugs and hypnotic compulsions to stay focused on their mission at all costs.  Their uniforms are equipped with a "deadman" system that makes it very difficult to take prisoners for interrogation, or even find clues on their bodies.       

Weiss Covert Operative d8 minion

Description: Anonymous figures in identical black fatigues, tactical vests, balaclavas and combat boots, loaded down with military-grade weaponry.  Their suits incorporate biometric monitors and chemical catalysts that will dissolve any slain troopers in seconds, a function that can also be triggered remotely to prevent prisoners from being taken.

Loaded For Bear:  You gain a +1 bonus to Attack actions.

No Prisoners:  When you are defeated, you are killed and your body and uniform dissolve into bubbling goo.  A hero who's aware of this trait can attempt to disable the self-destruct mechanism when Attacking you by taking a -2 penalty to the action, in which case a failed save against that damage results in a normal defeat rather than certain death.

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Weiss employs a fair number of mutants but the company is careful how it utilizes them.  Only those with minimal cosmetic mutations will be put in the public eye as evidence of egalitarian hiring practices, with any interviews carefully managed to emphasize the wonderful opportunities to be had as a Weiss operative.  These lucky few generally get "White Suit" security duty, although only with clients that aren't averse to their presence. 

More divergent-looking mutants wind up seeing service with the combat arm of the Weiss Organization where they're more out-of-sight, out-of-mind.  This generally results in higher casualty rates, although extra effort is made to preserve wounded mutants.  Many of these casualties will be quietly sold off as experimental subjects following "unfortunate deaths" from their injuries.

Only mid-power mutants are used as operatives, with weaker ones supposedly "washing out" during training before being secretly trafficked for nefarious purposes.  Very powerful mutants rarely get past the application process.  When one does slip through they're subdued and auctioned to the highest bidder, or killed outright if that proves impossible.  Beauregard Fortuna is about as powerful a mutant as Lady Weiss would ever trust in the long run unless they had some easily exploitable weakness and a phenomenally useful power set for her operations.       

Weiss Mutant Operative d10 lieutenants

Description: Many mutants have some visible manifestation of their powers, although Weiss won't employ those with truly extreme alterations to the baseline human form.  They're generally assigned to either public ops, support, or combat roles based on their appearance and powers, and are issued equipment and uniforms to match.  The effects of their gear are factored in to their die size and lieutenant status, so they don't gain extra abilities from them - although those with "White Suit" outfits still remain spotless and their powers never damage the suit.   

Select a mix of one or two different abilities for them from the list below, being careful not choose any ill-fitting combinations (eg Rage Response plus Telekinesis).  If you're using a lot of mutants, try to give them distinctive names/appearances so it's easier to remember which abilities belong to each.

Duplicate: You may use your action to roll your die, Hinder yourself using that roll, and introduce a number of minions equal to size of the penalty produced.  These minions start with a die size equal to your own minus one (minimum d4).  

Energy Feedback: When you fail a save against damage from an Attack, the Attacker takes damage equal to your save result.

Healing Factor:  If you roll the maximum result on your die for an action or a save against damage, increase your die size by one (max d10). 

Hyperspeed:  At the start of your turn you may move to any location in the scene.  You may take two different basic actions during your turn.  When you do so, roll your die twice and use the lower result for both actions.

Inhuman Power:  You gain a +1 bonus to Attack and Overcome actions.

Mental Compulsion:  You may use your action to select a hero for temporary mental control.  When you do so, roll your die and the target hero rolls their status die.  If you roll higher, you may either force that hero to move to a new location or to Attack a nearby ally by rolling their single highest power die. 

Rage Response:  The first time in a scene you fail to save against damage, your die size increases to d12 rather than decreasing, after which you may only take Attack actions until the end of the scene.

Telekinesis: When you Boost or Hinder a target you may move that target to any location in the scene.

Telepathic Networking: All your nearby allies gain a +1 bonus to all actions, reactions and saving throws against damage.   

Unnatural Precision: When you Attack a target, that target cannot benefit from Defend actions or take reactions against your Attack.

Design Notes

The Weiss Organization offers GMs a number of ways to use them, and could be an on-and-off threat for heroes throughout a long campaign - or just a brief story arc where they investigate its dirty dealings and bring the whole company down.  The Organization can appear as hired security that just happens to working for covert villains, posing an obstacle to heroes attempting to find evidence of wrongdoing by infiltrating private property under Weiss protection.  They can be the source of mysterious and brutal assassins hired by unknown foes, with their covert operatives proving a challenge to trace back their employer.  Weiss could get tangled up in mutant politics, or if your campaign doesn't involve such things they could be re-flavored to simply employ any low-powered metahumans who are facing prejudice from groups like SEVER or tyrannical governments.  The company's combat arm could appear in almost any conflict zone, as well as being a likely source of guards for illicit facilities worldwide.

While Lady Weiss prefers to rely on her own assets, she has the wealth and connections to hire independent supervillains to deal with meddling heroes who are getting too nosy about her operations.  She might also be tempted by any realistic opportunity to gain greater personal power, as her own weak mutation is a source of resentment and might simply be an incomplete manifestation of her potential.    

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Sir Needler, Septuagenarian Knight of the Netherworld

An oddball villain and not much of a direct threat to heroes in combat, he still needs stopping before he ruins the lives of a lot of people in the name of his own selfishness.  

Sir Needler

Jacob Michael Jones spent sixty years in a tailor shop, first as a delivery boy and gofer, then as a journeyman and finally as the owner of his own business.  Never terribly successful, he still kept his head above water while quietly pursuing his other passion - participation in a small and secretive cult of devil worshippers his parents had inducted him into.  His last fellow cultist died of old age last week, and an embittered and isolated Jacob decided to make one final call to the dark powers he'd wasted his life worshipping.

To his surprise, he was answered for the first time.  His patron asked what price Jacob wanted for his soul and his years of devotion, and was pleased when the predictable mortal wanted a second chance at youth and wealth and a chance to pay the world back for all his petty travails.  The demonic entity offered him a bargain.  It would provide him with power so that Jacob could take all those things, but he would earn it by spreading suffering and misery to other mortals.  The more he hurt others, the faster his youth would return and the greater his opportunities would become.  The selfish old man didn't think twice before accepting.

Laughing, the demon picked up a tool of the tailor's trade and transformed it into a symbol of their pact, dubbing his new servant Sir Needler, the newest knight of the netherworld. 

Description: A thin, hunched elderly man with a twisted smile and a strange light in his eyes, wearing an old-fashioned but well-fitted black suit and moving with a surprising spring in his step.  When acting overtly he conjures up a comically oversized two foot long sewing needle that glows gently with an ominous crimson light and positively reeks of sulfur and brimstone.  His voice is strangely grating even when he's trying to be pleasant.  Which isn't often.

Gender: Male              Age: 74            Height: 5'7"                Eyes: Glittering Red

Hair: Mousy Brown, Thin and Graying           Skin: Wrinkled           Build: Bony

Approach: Specialized                           Archetype: Inhibitor

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Cursed Needle d10, Presence d8                                        

Qualities: Banter d12, Finesse d8, Satanist Hipster d8

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

Abilities:

Deadly Insult (A) Hinder one target using Banter.  Use your Max die.  Attack that target using your Min die.

Devil's Own Luck (R) Defend against an Attack that only targets you by rolling your single Banter die.  One other nearby target takes an amount of damage equal to the amount of damage reduced.

Misfortune (A) Select a nearby target.  Either turn all bonuses on that target into penalties, or move a penalty from that target to another target you can see.

Soul Puncture (A) Attack one target using Finesse.  Use your Max + Min dice.  That target cannot Defend or use reactions against this Attack.

Verbal Abuse (A) Hinder using Presence.  Use your Max + Mid dice, or use your Max die and make the penalty persistent and exclusive.  

Upgrades & Masteries (in play unless the players have previous experience with Sir Needler):

Harmless Old Man? (I) +10 Health.  The heroes act as being in the Green zone for status die, ability access, and all abilities.  Heroes may remove this ability with three Overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while attempting these Overcomes, you may use a reaction to Hinder them by rolling your single Presence die.

Master of the Unfathomable (I) If you are in a situation involving eldritch forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of eldritch entities beyond human concerns.

Tactics

Needler is quite mad with his newfound power and nowhere near as harmless as he might seem.  He's rewarded by his diabolic pact when he hurts people either physically (stabbing) or mentally (Hinders), and if left to his own devices he'll happily ignore the heroes in favor of preying on hapless civilians.  If it comes to a fight he'll open with a bitter tirade of criticism using Verbal Abuse, which isn't immediately obvious as  a threat while his upgrade is in effect.  If heroes gain bonuses from any source he'll use the equally unobvious Misfortune to invert them, and might move penalties around to improve his status die.  If his facade has been seen through (via a suitable Overcome) or his upgrade isn't in effect then he'll drop his pretense of harmlessness, employing Deadly Insult at range or stabbing victims with Soul Puncture.  When Attacked he'll use Devil's Own Luck to bait his enemy into accidentally striking a friend by sidestepping at the last moment.

His Harmless Old Man? upgrade continues to limit hero actions until removed even once he's been detected as a threat, as there's some understandable reluctance about socking a senior citizen in the face no matter what vile things they're saying.  His mastery is mostly used to conjure up escape routes via diabolic portals or vanishing in clouds of sulphurous smoke, and only functions if his patron demon is feeling well-disposed to him.

Design Notes

This villain was inspired by a random name drop by Adam on the Letters Page podcast on Fashion Foes, because "Needler" is way too good a name to not use as a chump villain for a clothing designer/supermodel-themed superhero.  I've made my version a literal demon-worshipper, but swapping in Gloomweaver as his patron in the Sentinels universe and turning him into a Fashion enemy would be trivial.  He's an old-fashioned and not very successful tailor by trade, you can bet he'll have issues with the modern fashion industry - and since he's rewarded for making people feel bad about themselves, he'll be quick to speak his mind on the subject.  And with Deadly Insult, his words can literally kill if suffering isn't enough.  Or he can just stab you with his magical needle.  That's always an option.

Note that he's not very powerful as villains go, and is best used with just two or three heroes alongside a nasty environment (he loves starting trouble in crowded public places when he can) and a challenge to keep them preoccupied.  Alternately he might wind up in a team-up with someone like Malicien or a reskinned Gadfly, and he's more than hateful enough that he might be willing to work with one of these racist idiots.

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