The Cogitator Supreme and His Mighty Mentomaton, Extensions of the Master Intellect

A nod to the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, Professor Ivo and Amazo, and all the other "Big Brain" villains out there with signature artificial henchmen - albeit with a creepy twist of their own..

The Cogitator Supreme and His Mighty Mentomaton

Wilson Waterman was once an important figure in the shadier part of the import/export field, specializing in obtaining artwork and historical artifacts of dubious provenance for private collectors.  That was before he first saw the diadem, supposedly an relic of a lost prehuman civilization that one of his agents had "acquired" on speculation.  Captivated by the thing, he placed it on his head - and found himself in direct contact with the Master Intellect, the combined mental essence that was the final evolution of that ancient species.  Wilson was transformed in a flash of psychic energy, becoming the Cogitator Supreme, a physical extension of that otherworldly gestalt on the material plane.

While Waterman retains some vestige of free will, he now exists primarily to serve the Master Intellect's interests.  The group entity seeks to harvest the mental energies of these newly-evolved "humans" to further empower itself, as well as seeking opportunities to satisfy its cold curiosity about these strange new "superhumans" that have appeared since the Intellect achieved their current form.  He can remove the diadem to revert to his original form while still retaining a partial connection, letting him use the resources of his civilian identity to track down other useful relics like the Mighty Mentomaton.  Even so, he prefers to spend his time as the Cogitator Supreme when possible, reveling in his augmented intellect and dreaming of full acceptance into the Master Intellect itself .  To date none of his grander schemes have come to fruition, but he's a slippery customer and it's only a matter of time before he returns to siphon the sapience out of an entire city for his inhuman controller.

Description: A scrawny figure with an enormously oversized, distorted cranium that almost conceals his facial features beneath its overhanging brows.  Usually dressed in a loose, pale blue robe that conceals conservative business attire.  A lightweight triple-tiered diadem made of some unknown pale yellow metal rests upon his oversized head.  He "speaks" using coldly superior and dismissive telepathic tones.

Gender: Male                   Age: Late Forties              Height: 5'7"              Eyes: Watery Blue

Hair: Balding Blonde              Skin: Spotty Caucasian              Build: Weedy, Macrocephalic

Approach: Mastermind                     Archetype: Predator

Health: 35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Telepathy d12, Deduction d10, Teleportation d8

Qualities: Conviction d10, Augmented Intellect d8, Criminal Underworld Info d8, History d8, Imposing d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8

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

Abilities:

Cold Confidence (A) Boost yourself using Conviction.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until the start of your next turn using your Mid die.

Improbable Outcomes (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll your dice pool on your turn or the dice pool of a hero Attacking or Hindering you.

Inhuman Intellect (A) Hinder all opponents that can see or hear you using Imposing.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Mental Supremacy (A) Hinder multiple targets using Telepathy.  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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

Extension of the Master Intellect (I) If you are in a situation involving an otherworldly mentality, automatically succeed at an Overcome to carry out its machinations.

Tactics

The Cogitator Supreme has no interest in conflict unless he's supported by allies, preferably including his mighty Mentomaton and any weak-willed minions or powered stooges available.  With others to protect his hide, he'll usually open by using Cold Confidence for a lasting bonus and some extra protection, then use Inhuman Intellect repeatedly to impair as many foes while analyzing their weaknesses.  Whenever he sees an opening to deal some damage with Mental Supremacy (usually requiring the turn order to go in his favor between two rounds) he'll switch to that instead.  As long as he's fairly healthy and his allies are keeping multiple opponents from focusing on him, he'll use his Improbable Outcome reaction on his turn if his dice go cold, otherwise he reserves it for heroes who spike a roll against him.

His upgrade makes that "supreme" in his name a lot more accurate as a result of a closer connection to the extradimensional Master Intellect that empowers the Cogitator.     

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The Mighty Mentomaton

The Mighty Mentomaton was "found" in a bogus archeological dig sponsored by "importer" Wilson Waterman.  An artificial servant/warrior created by the entities that became the Master Intellect, the ancient construct retains a connection to them even in their immaterial form.  It now serves as a potent protector of their mortal servant the Cogitator Supreme, Waterman's alter-ego.  The thing lacks true sapience and obeys commands from him and (more distantly) the Master Intellect itself without hesitation.  

A product of prehuman science that can't be re-created in the modern day, only one functional Mentomaton has been found so far, but there may be more out there awaiting discovery.  It's possible that the construct apes the long-abandoned physical form of the species that became the Master Intellect, although even the Cogitator Supreme is unsure about that.  His access to the gestalt is still fairly restricted until he proves himself further, something that galls what's left of his independent personality.

Description: A hulking anthropoid shape made of some coarse, dark gray substance.  Its head is a featureless cylinder sitting atop massive shoulders that lead down to ape-like arms, giving the thing a vaguely simian overall appearance.  When in combat it extrudes dozens of short metallic blaster barrels from its torso and arms, and may re-shape its four-digited hands into crushing bludgeons and hammer shapes.  

Gender: None        Age: Prehistoric        Height: 7'4"        Eyes: None?

Hair: None          Skin: Dark Grey, Rough          Build: Inhumanly Massive

Approach: Ancient                         Archetype: Guerrilla

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Integrated Arsenal d12, Strength d10, Vitality d10, Teleportation d8

Qualities:  Close Combat d12, Ranged Combat d12, Imposing d10, Fitness d8, Synthetic Servant d8

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

Abilities:

Amplified Threat Response (I) At the start of your turn, gain a bonus equal to the number of opponents that Attacked you since your last turn.

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

Perfect Obedience (A) Take a basic action using Synthetic Servant.  Use your Max die.

Unrelenting Barrage (A) Hinder multiple targets using Integrated Arsenal.  Use your Max die.  Attack each target using your Mid + Min dice.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Brainwashing Zone (I) +10 Health.  While the scene is in the green zone, all heroes' qualities of d8 or higher are reduced by one die size.  In the Yellow zone all of the heroes' qualities of d10 or higher are reduced by one additional step (two die sizes total).  In the Red zone, all heroes' quality dice are treated as d4.  Heroes can remove this upgrade with three overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while taking these Overcomes, they lose access to a quality entirely until this upgrade is removed.  If a hero is knocked out while this ability is active, create a new friendly minion with a die size equal to the hero's largest power die to represent the brainwashed hero.

Master of 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 Mighty Mentomaton will usually be found alongside the Cogitator Supreme, acting as bodyguard and a massively dangerous distraction.  It might be sent out on independent errands, but only with instructions to withdraw if faced with strong opposition.  The thing's tactics are very simple.  Blaze away with Unrelenting Barrage at every opportunity (sprouting some melee weapons as well as blasters if crowded in melee) while trying to draw Attacks to itself to improve its status die and benefit from Amplified Threat Response.  Only if it needs to accomplish something else (usually under orders) will it resort to Perfect Obedience instead.  The Mentomaton will try to use Compulsion to redirect a foe's strike once per round, either protecting itself or the Cogitator as need be.

Its upgrade vastly improves the vestigial connection to the Master Intellect that's normally represented by its Compulsion ability.  Master of Annihilation reflects its brute force approach to problem solving.

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Corpsefire, Horrifying Supernatural Killer

More of a monster than a conventional villain, and definitely not a unique entity even if they usually appear only one at a time.  Metafictionally, they first appeared in Golden Age horror stories, occasionally being opposed by mystically-inclined mystery men and early supers.  Several writers re-used them in the late 40s and early 50s with them re-imagined as more "scientific" creatures, vengeful corpses animated by radiation rather than the supernatural.  The Comics Code eliminated them for decades, but in the late 80s and 90s they made a return in various dark and edgy stories with magically-inclined heroes and villains.

Worth noting that "corpse fire" is a reasonable synonym for "will-o-the-wisp" when talking about mythological entities that might just be balls of luminous swamp gas, but it sure sounds a lot more badass.

Corpsefire

A corpsefire is a reanimated body, often one that was unjustly slain and has returned to unlife to exact revenge its murderer(s).  They're always bent on pursuing one or more individuals, killing them horribly and presumably claiming their souls in the process.  Most such corpsefires simply burn to ash after their goal is achieved, but the number of victims they may require before they rest is unpredictable.  They also show no concern for the harm they may do while pursuing their vengeance, which makes stopping them ASAP a priority. 

Some corpsefires are the product of cult ritual, using sacrificial victims to create deadly assassins of those who oppose the cult.  These are no less dangerous than the other variety, and more likely to be assigned to hunting innocent targets rather than murderers.

The "scientific" version of a corpsefire rises spontaneously when exposed to radiation and toxic fallout, drawing motivation from vestigial activity in their re-activated nervous system.  Their minions are explained away as vortices of atomic force duplicating those same motivations.  This form of corpsefire swaps in Nuclear in place of Infernal wherever it occurs, and Atomic Revenant for Burning Hell-Zombie.  They otherwise behave much the same, although you're more likely to see multiples of them appear at once.   

Description: A shambling, decaying body shrouded in an unnatural green flame and trailing thick plumes of toxic smoke shot through with eerie green cinders.  They vary from appearance to appearance, but most were adult human males in life and wear little more than tattered, charred pants or sometimes corpse-windings - just intact enough to preserve modesty.  Women and children are rarer but not unheard of, and occasionally one of the bodies may have recognizable features that make identification possible - usually to the dismay of those it pursues.  They do not speak, but constantly emit the sound of crackling flame.

Gender: Usually Male     Age: Unclear, Usually Adult     Height: Varies     Eyes: Rotted Pits

Hair: Burned Off              Skin: Wreathed In Green Fire        Build: Decaying Corpse

Approach:  Focused                      Archetype:  Overlord

Health:  30 + (5 x H)

Powers: Infernal d12, Toxic d8

Qualities: Imposing d10, Burning Hell-Zombie d8, Conviction d8 

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

Abilities:

Blazing Zombie (I) Ignore all damage from Infernal.

Burning Miasma (A) Attack one target using Toxic.  Use your Max die.  That target cannot use reactions or Defend against this Attack.  Attack multiple nearby targets using your Min die. 

Searing Grasp (A) Attack using Infernal.  Use your Max die.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until the start of your next turn using the number of your minions. 

Smoking Corpse-Thing (A) Use Burning Hell-Zombie to create a number of minions equal to the value of your Max die.  The starting die size of for those minions is the same as the size of your Min die.

Surging Corpsefire (R) Defend against an Attack that targets only you by rolling your single Infernal die.  Boost yourself by the amount of damage reduced.

Thickening Fumes (A) Boost using Imposing for all your minions until the start of your next turn.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Hardier Minions + 5 Health.  Gain Blazing Cinders (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 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

A Corpsefire is a remorseless foe bent on tracking down its victim regardless of opposition.  As a Blazing Zombie the thing is utterly immune to hellish flames its shrouded in, which can flare up to provide provide a sudden defense with Surging Corpsefire.  As a Smoking Corpse-Thing it can create clouds of deadly toxic minions and empower them with Thickening Fumes.  When a Corpsefire takes more direct action, it either gathers its minions around it and closes in to use its Searing Grasp, or smothers an area in a toxic Burning Miasma instead.

With its upgrade the thing can further enhance its smoking minions, and its mastery grants a more direct connection with whatever otherworldly power created it, making a more effective threat to the doomed fools it pursues.

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Smoking Soul d4 to d12 minion (see Smoking Corpse-Thing)

Toxic Vapors: You may move as though you had Flight d4 and Intangibility d4.

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Dead-Beat, C-List Freelance Team-Support Villain

A basic team-support villain, about one step beyond being a D-lister thanks to decent ability synergies.

Dead-Beat

Nick Wackerhut is one of a surprising number of former henchmen who gained powers as the result of accidental exposure to strange radiations during a fight between supers, and has gone on to a modestly successful career as a minor villain under the self-chosen supranym Dead-Beat.  Yes, he chose that name.  Nick is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but his experience at henching did instill a healthy respect for powered heroes and he has surprisingly realistic expectations about him winning any one-on-one fights with other supers.  He'll almost always be found as part of an ad-hoc team of other villains, and has a good reputation for being reliable and easy to work with (by villain standards, anyway).

As Dead-Beat, he's got moderate-to-strong super-strength and (after some practice that involved smacking face-first into walls and pavement for a while) knows how to use it for unexpected mobility.  His greatest power is general-purpose broad-spectrum energy manipulation, making him very good at absorbing, dampening, and redirecting all manner of attacks, including purely kinetic energy and even psychic powers - at least when he can detect them.  Dead-Beat can also re-purpose absorbed energy to enhance himself and his allies and provide some limited self-healing.

He's more of a defensive support guy than an offensive powerhouse, but most groups of villains can find a spot for him on a job.  Just don't count on him to do any planning.  He works best with clear instructions and predetermined objectives.

Description: A young man, perhaps of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent, rather average looking if wearing sunglasses and civilian clothing.  If dressed for "work" he has snug black bodysuit with white cuffs, collar and rectangular white panels on the limbs and torso, accessorized with white boots and loose trunks.  His head is left bare, revealing both his unnatural black eyes and his glorious mullet.  Speaks with a slight Northeastern US accent in a strong baritone.  Thinks he can get by in Spanish almost as well as English, but he's wrong.

Gender: Male        Age: Mid-Twenties        Height: 5'9"        Eyes: Black Voids

Hair: Black Mullet        Skin: Olive        Build: Average, Well-Defined Muscles 

Approach:  Leech                      Archetype:  Squad

Health:  20 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d10, Strength d8, Leaping d6

Qualities: Fitness d8, Close Combat d8, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Energy Manipulator d8

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

Abilities:

Dead-Beatdown!  (A) Attack one target using Strength.  Use your Max die.  Hinder that target using your Mid die.  Recovery Health equal to your Min die.

Energy Rerouting (R) When another villain is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single status die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

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

Reverse the Polarity (A) Boost using Energy Manipulator.  Boost another target using your Max die.  Defend yourself against all Attacks until your next turn using your Min die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase the die size of each of your powers by one step (maximum of 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

Dead-Beat really isn't interested in fighting other supers without some villainous allies along, and will concentrate on making a getaway if caught alone or if his partners have been KO'd or bailed.  With backup he's a pretty good team player, using Reverse the Polarity regularly to hand bonuses to more aggressive villains and his Energy Rerouting reaction to protect his allies.  If directly Attacked Power Tap gives him a very strong self-defense reaction, and he'll usually respond by giving his Attacker a Dead-Beatdown! in return.  He always tries to use one of his reactions every round, and tends to use the bonuses he racks up as fast as he gains them - frequently by rolling them into the next reaction or the healing rider on his one offensive move.

He'll usually only have his upgrade if he was just glutted with absorbed energy recently, which also gives him a mastery that functions with any of his Absorption-based bonuses.

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Roughhouse, Psionic Brawler

A psychic villain-for-hire who actually wants to get in a brawl for a change.  If you're using any of the Syracuse Seven stuff on the blog, he's a minor nemesis of fellow mutant super Meteoric, who was a classmate at the same training academy a few years back. 

Roughhouse

Vinson "Call Me Vin" Barlowe is a young mutant whose powers manifested about five years ago, leading to a brief petty crime spree and him being remanded to mandatory attendance at a specialized academy in upstate New York.  He didn't take well to the training and left as soon as he'd satisfied his legal requirements.  From there he gleefully took to a life of super-crime under the supranym Roughhouse, acting as a muscle for hire for mundane criminals or a useful distraction for other, more experienced villains.  He hasn't been back in a courthouse yet, but it's really only a matter of time.

Roughhouse's power set is a bit of a rarity as a physically-oriented psychic who enjoys getting into a fistfight.  He has quite potent telekinesis that he uses to protect himself and add a great deal of hitting power to his blows, but it doesn't project well beyond five or six feet.  Many of the common TK tricks (like manipulating things at a distance) are beyond him because of this.  He can easily lift a car, but not from a block away.  He can also manage modest self-levitation through his TK, which is mostly used for reaching airborne foes.  For mobility Roughhouse relies on fast, accurate teleportation, which he's practiced until he can employ it alongside his TK in a variety of surprising and effective combat moves.  

Description: A well-tanned young man sporting an impressive mohawk and rather a lot of body piercings.  He generally wears plain biker leathers, spiked gloves and boots when "working" and conceals his facial features with a combined bandit mask and face cloth held in place with his telekinesis.  He has a slight Pennsylvanian accent, and saying the word "ask" properly is apparently just too much to "axe" of him.  Speaks Spanish very, very badly.

Gender: Male        Age: Early Twenties        Height: 5'11"        Eyes: Hazel

Hair: Black Mohawk, Tipped Green     Skin: California Tan      Build: A Little Thin

Approach: Leech                         Archetype: Guerrilla

Health:  35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Telekinesis d10, Teleportation d8, Flight d6

Qualities:  Acrobatics d8, Banter d8, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Psionic Mutant Brawler d8 

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

Abilities:

Assault, Battery and More Assault (A) Attack using Psionic Mutant Brawler.  Use your Max die against one target, your Mid die against a second target, and your Min die against a third target.  If you Attack three targets, the damage is all irreducible.

Displacement Cascade (A) Hinder multiple targets using Teleportation.  Recover Health equal to your Min die.  If you roll doubles, also Attack one of those targets using your Max die.

Sucker Play (A) Attack one target using Psionic Mutant Brawler.  Use your Max + Min die.  Defend against all Attacks from targets other than that target with your Mid die until your next turn.  All Defended damage is dealt to the target of your Attack instead.

TK Block (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Telekinesis die.  If this negates the Attack entirely, also Hinder the Attacker and Boost yourself using that roll.

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

Tactics

Roughhouse fights for kicks as much as he does for money and really enjoys showing off his combat moves.  He tends to be overconfident about being able to escape with a timely teleport if things go wrong.  If he wants to single someone out from a team he'll use Sucker Play to deliver TK-enhanced punches and then use teleportation to blink around his victim at short range in hopes of misdirecting foes so they strike his target.  Against multiple foes he'll pile on the damage by teleporting between them rapidly and striking them from unexpected angles using Assault, Battery and More Assault.  He'll use TK Block selectively, trying to maximize his chance of fully preventing damage to get the big rider effects off the reaction.  Displacement Cascade is a mostly defensive maneuver, porting around the battlefield telekinetically shoving foes off balance while also popping some painkillers and looking for an opening to land a big hit.

His upgrade makes him even better in a brawl, and his mastery reflects getting an extra-big paycheck for motivation.    

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Meteoric, Biometallic Flying Speedster/Brick

Fourth member of the Syracuse Seven hero team, who are gradually being ported over from the Tiny d6 Supers system along with their friends, family and supervillains.  Every team wants a flyer, a speedster and a super-strong brick, and she's the whole package rolled up in one.

Meteoric

Justine Cross is a young mutant whose powers manifested about five years ago, resulting in a permanent transformation into her biometallic form.  Her bigoted family immediately turned their back on her, but high school teachers and friends helped her find counselling and support, culminating in several years of training in a specialized academy in upstate New York.  Since graduation she's gone on to join a small local super team as part of an outreach program intended to improve mutant relations with the broader supers community.  She's pretty well adjusted considering everything she's gone through and gets along well with her teammates.  They've become found family for her along with her former academy classmates.  Justine has become wary about involving her old high school connections with her new life out of fear they'll be targeted by villains and anti-mutant extremists, and has nothing to do with her biofamily.

Description: A slender young woman made of metal?  A robot built with a feminine human form?  Some kind of iron golem?  It isn't immediately clear.  Her voice is surprisingly deep with mechanical overtones, which just further confuses the issue of just who and what she is.  She wears a pair of biking shorts and a snug tee shirt with the Syracuse Seven's "S7" logo on it when heroing, and civilian clothing when off duty. 

Gender: Female            Age: 20           Height: 5'4"            Eyes: Gunmetal Blue

Hair: None                  Skin: Dull Metallic Gray             Build: Boyish

Background: Tragic     Power Source: Nature ("Natural Mutation")     Archetype: Speedster

Personality: Sarcastic                   Health (G/Y/R):  32/24/11

Powers: Flight d10, Strength d10, Speed d8, Vitality d8, Agility d6

Qualities: Acrobatics d10, Close Combat d10, Young But Well-Trained d8, Banter d8

Status: Green (32-25) - d8 / Yellow (24-12) - d8 / Red (11-1) - d10

Abilities:

Green

Biometallic Beatdown (A) Attack using Strength.  Use your Max die.

Blur of Motion (A) Attack multiple targets using Close Combat. Use your Min die.  Hinder each target using your Mid die.

Positional Advantage (A) Boost or Hinder using Flight.  Use your Max die.  If you roll doubles, Attack using your Mid die.

Principle of Great Power (A) Overcome a situation using one of your highest rated powers.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: How do you restrain yourself from unleashing your full power?  Major twist: What major damage do you do in the process of saving the day?  RP: Your powers are so strong they can even scare you sometimes, but you work hard to control them.  You can wield those powers to intimidate others.

Principle of Speed (I) When you successfully Overcome, you may end up anywhere in the current environment.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What physical drawbacks do you suffer from going too fast?  Major twist: What critical detail did you speed past earlier that is now coming back to haunt you?  RP: You're fast and don't like to waste time.  You like to keep moving.

Yellow

Get In Their Face (A) Attack one target using Strength.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Boost yourself and the target using your Mid die.

High Speed Maneuvering (A) Attack multiple targets using Flight.  Use your Max die against one target and your Mid die on all others.  If you roll doubles, take irreducible damage equal to your Mid die.

Momentum (R) When you defeat a minion, roll that minion's die to Boost yourself.  Use the resulting bonus on your next action.

Red

Interception (R) When an opponent Attacks you may become the target of that Attack and Defend yourself by rolling your single Red zone status die.

Maximum Speed (I) When you use an action ability, you may also perform a basic action using your Mid die on the same roll.

Out

I've Had Worse (A) Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Banter die.

Tactics

Meteoric is a speedy flying brick who prefers to keep moving during a fight rather than get into toe-to-toe slugfests.  In Green, she's got strong single target damage from Biometallic Beatdown, excellent multitarget control with Blur of Motion and a solid mod game from Positional Advantage - assuming she has the room to use Flight.  Her Principle of Great Power leans into using her physical might and graceful flight to solve problems, and Principle of Speed gives her strong mobility and extra HP when she does Overcome.

The Yellow zone has a potent if somewhat double-edged single-target Attack and Boost from Get In Their Face and an incredibly hard-hitting multi-target Attack from High Speed Maneuvering, albeit at the risk of some self-damage from collisions.  The Momentum reaction gives her an easy source of bonuses as long as there are minions to deal with.

Once in Red she has access to a versatile defensive reaction with Interception, and improves her action economy with Maximum Speed.  She's still going to be relying on her potent Yellow abilities, but her options get better along with her status die.    

Her I've Had Worse Out ability is fairly weak, but lets her mouth off to her heart's content even after a trouncing. 

Design Notes

Meteoric hasn't changed much from Tiny d6 Supers to the SCRPG in terms of style, although she's a bit more offensive (especially against multiple enemies) and less evasive due to the way her abilities work and the weird lack of a defensive reaction on the Speedster archetype.  I went with Natural as a power source because Genetic just gets boring when every mutant has it, and a "natural mutation" is one perfectly valid way to interpret the ability set.  Speedsters are traditionally land-based sprinters but (as the build here shows) there's no reason they have to be.  She's still a very fast runner - but she flies even faster and has the Acrobatics quality to use her Flight well.

Justine's abilities are borderline ridiculous when compared to other hero builds, with everything at least good and several (Blur of Motion, Positional Advantage, Get In Their Face, High Speed Maneuvering) so strong they could easily have been up in the next GYRO zone.  Some are a little risky, but that fits her character well.  I somewhat deliberately tried not to optimize her Red zone choices to compensate - she mostly gets more versatile when hard-pressed rather than seeing the big jumps in raw power many heroes do.  Her biggest mechanical weakness is probably her narrow focus - all her powers are Athletic or Mobility, and her qualities are mostly aimed at pooling well with physical tasks.  If she has to Overcome social or intellectual challenges she's likely to struggle to build good pools, making her the team's combat monster a lot of the time.

Her role on the Syracuse Seven is to give the team a real flyer (KO Clown and the Leaping Lizard are pretty mobile too, but they're jumpers and have to come back down sometime) who's also got solid offense, and she's a very strong crowd controller in the SCRPG as well as having good single-target hitting power.  Meteoric is also very good at providing an aerial taxi service (sometimes involving the four "pokey" team members stuffed in an actual taxi she's carrying) when needed, as well as evacuating civilians or getting injured victims to a hospital ASAP.

Meteoric has a minor weakness to electricity.  Her biometallic form is an efficient electrical conductor, which causes pain and spasms even when she resists actual physical injury.  She needs to be careful around power lines when flying.

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Zero Justice, Cold-Hearted High-Tech Sniper

A hired assassin with a real hate for the legal system, but weirdly prone to take the law into his own hands when that system fails to deliver justice.  Also, cryo-guns.  Lots of cryo-guns.

Zero Justice

The hired killer known only as Zero Justice employs a variety of high-end super-science gear on his jobs, which seem to have been acquired from a variety of sources - SIN and Savant foremost, although his signature cryo-guns are rumored to have come from SEVER in exchange for several assassinations.  Where he got the money to start his career is still unknown, but he certainly doesn't have problems earning a healthy income now.  He's an ambush sniper by preference, using a potent cloaking device to achieve near-perfect invisibility along with a stealth flight pack and climbing claws to reach the perfect firing position unnoticed.  His cryo-guns project silent, invisible heat-cancelling beams than can be adjusted to cause anything from crippling chills (useful for the occasional "take them alive to be interrogated" job) to instant frostbite to literally freezing a human body solid.  His arsenal also includes several traps and "cryo-grenades" using similar principles.  Zero Justice is also smart, wealthy and connected enough to hire other villains-for-hire for backup, acting as distractions while he focuses on getting the kill. 

He specializes in disposing of witnesses, whistleblowers and turncoats before they can testify in court, including super-heroic types (for an suitable extra fee, of course).  Zero Justice has an apparent grudge against the legal system in general (one of the few things you might get him ranting about during a job) and will happily take the rare contract on DAs, judges, and police officers, especially ones with a hint of corruption about them.  Weirdly, he's also been known to do "charity work" by taking token payment in exchange for eliminating or "punishing" (usually with limbs lost to frostbite or worse) those he sees as having escaped justice.  Legal trickery, privilege, botched investigations, corruption and especially qualified immunity preventing bad cops from facing the law all make him very, very angry.  It's not clear if he'd treat a former employer this way if push came to shove, but it might make an interesting story if he had to make that choice.

Worth noting that he regularly demonstrates familiarity with law enforcement procedures, suggesting he may be a former policeman gone very, very bad.

Description: If he was ever seen out of costume, he'd be revealed as a man of Hispanic descent, in good shape but otherwise rather average aside from a shaved scalp that reveals a nasty scar starting just above his right eyebrow.  In costume, he's completely unseen a lot of the time thanks to his light-refraction cloaking web, but you might catch a glimpse of a black-clad figure in an unmarked paramilitary uniform hung with webbing loaded down with various gadgets.  He wears a balaclava mask with integrated visor, gloves and boots with retractable climbing claws, a compact whisper-silent flight pack, and a pair of holstered cryo-pistols as backups for his much larger sniper cryo-rifle. 

Gender: Male                   Age: Mid-Thirties              Height: 5'11"              Eyes: Brown

Hair: Shaved                    Skin: Light Brown                Build: Leanly Muscular

Approach: Ninja                     Archetype: Predator

Health: 35 + (5 x H)

Powers: Cryo-gun Arsenal d10, Invisibility d10, Gadgets d8, Flight d8, Wall-Crawling d6

Qualities: Ranged Combat d10, Stealth d10, Alertness d8, Hired Killer With An Agenda d8, Investigation d8

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

Abilities:

Ambush Hunter (I) Double any mods of your choice involved with taking action against a target that is unaware of your presence or distracted from remembering you're still around.

Chilling Shot (A) Attack using Ranged Combat.  Hinder the target using your Max + Min dice.

Finishing Shot (A) Attack using Ranged Combat.  Use your Max die.  If the target has a penalty you created or is in the Red zone, use your Max + Mid dice instead.

Vanish & Reposition (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Stealth die.  Boost yourself using the amount of damage reduced.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase the die size of each of your powers by one step (maximum of 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

Zero Justice prefers to ambush targets while they're alone and off guard, but if he's forced into a less unfair fight he'll try to stay on the fringes and snipe while his allies provide a noisy, obvious distraction for him.  He'll open with Chilling Shot, then either repeat it next round or switch to Finishing Shot if his victim hasn't shed the penalty yet.  Note that he's very likely to take a minor twist to get two uses out of penalties from Chilling Shot so he has more chances to use his other abilities to full effect.  Once a target drops into Red he'll just hammer away with Finishing Shot until they drop, then move on to new prey.  He'll protect himself with Vanish & Reposition, saving the resulting bonuses for when he can increase their effects with Ambush Hunter.  If pressed by more than one hero at close range they'll use movement and Stealth Overcomes to slip away and go into hiding again, trying to re-establish a good ambush position.

His upgrade makes him much more effective all around, as well as enabling his mastery so that he can automatically succeed at slipping back into hiding.

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The Awesome Agglomerator, Mysterious Alien Robot

This villain is the occasional nemesis of the superhuman Long family (Longhair, Knack, and their son the Leaping Lizard) thanks to the use of miracle metal in some of their technology.  As an uncompromising alien robot it can show up as a more general-purpose villain seeking to recover lost fragments of itself from other sources or to carry out the next stage in whatever mysterious plan its creators programmed into it.

The Awesome Agglomerator

An apparently-alien robot composed entirely of a morphic super-substance dubbed "miracle metal" by the authorities.  This exotic material's origins remain unknown, but it appears to some form of inorganic pseudo-life that responds to certain coded electromagnetic stimuli.  The stuff can assume a wide variety of properties, create more of itself from other forms of matter, generate its own electrical current through what appears to be direct mass conversion - in effect, it's a perfect medium for super-science gadgetry.  Unfortunately the Agglomerator's primary priority is to recover loose samples of the stuff no matter who's using it, followed by creating more of it for use in building much larger alien devices whose purposes remain unknown since the hero community has managed to keep any of them from being fully completed - so far.  One ruined structure appeared to be a signaling device meant to reach across dimensional barriers, which suggests that keeping any of them from being finished might be a Good Thing.

The Agglomerator doesn't appear to be built as a dedicated war machine, but even so it can adopt a fairly efficient combat form by modifying its robot body, giving it great strength and durability, limited energy weaponry and short-ranged flight capacity.  Being made of miracle metal also lets it generate significant electrical charges, slowly transform other materials (metals work best) into more of the alien substance, and reanimate any fragments torn from its frame as backup helpers, although re-integrating them requires significant downtime for re-programming.  While it usually operates alone or with specialized constructs of its own creation, it has been temporarily "hacked" by tech-savvy villains for their own purposes in the past, occasionally resulting in some unlikely team-ups.  

Description: A very tall humanoid robot with three-digited hands and feet.  The curved surfaces of its frame are faceted like a geodesic sphere.  While not a true shapeshifter its bulk varies considerably based on its current Power Suit (which represents its robot body's capabilities) die size, ranging from very thin with a 20" shoulder span and spindly limbs up to 5' shoulders and massively armored appendages.  Damage that spawns legion minions will tear jagged pieces out of the thing's frame, which will swiftly form into smaller, less complex versions of the main body and resume the fight independently.  It speaks very little, but when it does so it sounds like a badly-programmed TTS device.     

Gender: None     Age: Unknown     Height: 6'10"     Eyes: Dull Silver

Hair: None                    Skin: Dull Silver                   Build: Robotic

Approach:  Adaptive                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  10 + (5 x H)

Powers: Absorption d10, Electricity d8, Transmutation d8, Power Suit d6

Qualities: Conviction d10, Close Combat d8, Miracle Metal Man d8, Ranged Combat d8

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

Abilities:

Energy Conversion (R) When Attacked, Defend yourself by rolling your single Absorption die.  Boost yourself using the same roll.

Limited Synchronization (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.

Miracle Metal Body (A) Boost using Power Suit.  Use your Max die.  Attack using your Mid die.  Defend using your Min die.

Miracle Metal Minions (I) Whenever a Legion minion with a die size greater than d4 rolls a save against physical damage, instead of the normal effects if it succeeds it splits into two minions, each of one smaller die size, and you take 1 irreducible damage.  If it fails its save, it is only reduced one die size rather than being destroyed.

Priority Optimization (A) Lower two of your powers by one die size each.  Increase one of your other powers to d12.  Then take a basic action using that power.

Shed Fragment (R) When you would take physical damage, prevent that damage and create a 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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional, usually in effect unless recently reduced in size & mass):

Quality Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Quality dice sizes except Miracle Metal Man 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

The Awesome Agglomerator's tactics are dictated by its programmed priorities (represented by the Conviction quality), which start with recovering lost fragments of miracle metal (by force, if need be), then creating more of it with Transmutation- and Electricity-based Overcomes and finally using it to construct various supertech alien gadgets that will no doubt endanger the world.  Against heroic opposition, the first move will be to use Priority Optimization to switch to "combat mode" and increase its Power Suit power to d12 while lowering Transmutation and Electricity to d6 each, usually taking a Boost or Attack action as it does so.  If hit with physical damage, it always opts to use Shed Fragment to produce a minion, which suffers from Limited Synchronization but benefits from Miracle Metal Minions.  Energy Conversion provides a solid reaction against other damage types, and it might use an action to increase it to d12 if facing major threats, dropping Transmutation and Electricity to d4 in the process.  When not adjusting its power dice, Miracle Metal Body gives it a very versatile all-purpose action ability.  The Agglomerator usually has at least one bonus to work with each turn, which will usually be employed to minimize damage (either on Energy Conversion or the Min die of Miracle Metal Body) unless the enemy is using mostly physical damage so it can safely improve an Attack instead.

Its upgrade will usually be in effect unless it recently suffered major damage, which will reduce its physical size and mass as well.  It mastery is very, very easy to employ if it has a bonus from any power it maximized already.  If it isn't facing major opposition it may even maximize Transmutation at some point and Overcome to start making more miracle metal before "jump-starting" it with Electricity.

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The Agglomerator is often accompanied by smaller masses of miracle metal shaped into simplistic humanoid forms and used as assistants and a self-transporting supply of material for larger projects.  They've been pre-programmed for adaptability and quick integration into more elaborate constructions - including the Agglomerator itself. 

Miracle Metal Minions d6, d8, or d10 minions (usually d8)

Description: Very basic humanoid robots varying in size from four to six feet tall.  They share the same geodesic sphere faceting their master uses.  Their simplistic self-defense programs rely on clubbing blows or electrical discharges in combat. 

Programmed For Rapid Integration: You may sacrifice yourself to roll your die and the Agglomerator Recovers that much Health if it is nearby.

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