Biggs' & Higgs' Wonderous Whirling Wheel, A Complex Environment

This environment is written with an eye toward using it with fairly low-powered supers without a lot of flyers (although even they may struggle a bit).  If your campaign is accustomed to power levels where heroes casually rescue falling jumbo jets and catch toppling skyscrapers with ease, you probably want to use something that fits your game's scope better.  Street level (literally, in this case) heroes or Golden Age mystery men with less flashy physical powers will be a better fit for this.

The Overall Layout

The whole scene is centered on a large Ferris wheel near the base of an entertainment pier jutting out into the local city's neighboring lake/ocean, with some lesser shoreside attractions (food stalls, amusements, curio sellers, etc.) scattered around a large cleared area around the wheel itself.  How big is it depends on the era, but at 200-250' is reasonable for most time periods.  This is a big permanent setup rather than a little mobile carnie wheel, and a landmark in the city.

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Locations

For purposes of movement and positioning, the Ferris wheel itself is divided into four locations.  There's also a boarding stage location at the bottom of the wheel, and a combination ticket booth/equipment shed next to it, each of which is its own location.  The whole setup is surrounded by a patch of clear ground (a seventh locations) where civilians can be found strolling around (potentially providing cover for lurking criminals or disguised supers).  Supers capable of flight can also move to an "airborne near the wheel" position, which is treated as an eighth location.

Some locations have specific rules:

The Ferris wheel proper has four locations, each of which has several semi-enclosed passenger cars attached to it.  You can cram as many as six adults in each car, but there are only safety restraints for four.  Characters can also clamber around on the wheel's support arms or climb between cars, changing locations using the usual rules.  Anyone not seated safely or possessing a suitable power like Wall-Crawling runs a risk of slipping though.  If you roll any ones on your dice, you take "Slip Damage" based on how high up your part of the wheel currently is, which can narratively be physical bumps and bruises and a perhaps short fall before you catch yourself, or the psychological impact of a dangerous near-fall.  NPCs (particularly minions) who go Out from this damage usually plunge to their doom, barring some kind of heroic intervention.

Going clockwise from the "noon" position, the quarters of the wheel are either:

• At The Top - Slip Damage d10
• Going Down - Slip Damage d8
• At The Bottom - Slip Damage d6, and you can move to the Boarding Stage location from here even if the wheel is in motion
• Going Up - Slip Damage d8    

As long as the wheel is spinning, each round at the start of the environment turn each wheel location moves one step clockwise.

Characters in the Boarding Stage location may move to whatever section of the wheel is currently At The Bottom, risking Slip Damage if they do so.  Characters with suitable powers like Leaping can try to move higher, reaching the Going Up or Going Down sections of the wheel, again risking Slip Damage.  You can also move to the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shed location or the Surrounding Grounds from here.  There are likely to be some people waiting to ride on the stage, although they'll flee screaming at the first sign of danger.  A single harassed Carny Worker minion is here helping people on and off, and will react badly to anyone starting trouble or trying to ride without a ticket.

Characters in the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shed can loot the till as an action, or they can turn the wheel on or off, either starting or stopping its rotation one round later (momentum delays the effect a round, which might give someone else a chance to reverse the controls).  You could also Overcome to permanently disable/destroy the workings.  Twists are likely to start a fire-related challenge.  There will generally be a pair Carny Worker minions here, who will try to keep intruders from messing around with things to the best of their ability.

The Surrounding Grounds are just an open grassy area with some paved walkways running through it.  It might be thronged with civilians enjoying a night out, but they'll quickly scatter if danger threatens.  Characters can flee the scene altogether from this location, losing themselves in the nearby streets or attractions.

Flying characters can position themselves in the sky near the wheel.  This may put them at risk from some environmental twists.  They can attempt to land on the wheel itself - either landing in a car or grabbing on to the support frame - but if their die pool includes any ones on the turn they do so they suffer Slip Damage from mistiming their approach.  They can also escape the scene entirely from here, vanishing into the clouds overhead.  

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Biggs' & Higgs' Wonderous Whirling Wheel environment

Unsteady Footing d10, Innocents In Danger d8, What Safety Inspection? d8

Green Zone

(Minor Twists)

Greasy Mess: Oiling the machinery is messy work, be careful where you put your hands.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero on the wheel or in the Ticket Booth/Equipment Shack using the Min die.  This penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Guy (or Gal) With A Gun: A sudden glint of gunmetal!  Add one Armed Patron environment minion riding the wheel.

(Major Twist)

Sniper!: A shot rings out from nowhere!  Roll the environment dice.  Attack one hero target using the Max die.

Yellow Zone

(Minor Twists)

Ominous Creaking: An entire passenger car is working its way loose!   Accident, sabotage or hit by a stray attack?  Start a timed challenge.  Pick an occupied car to be at risk.  Re-Secure Assembly 00  Timer 0  Expires: Start a Falling Car challenge.  Safely Catch Falling Car 00  Timer 0  Expires:  The car and its occupants crash to the ground with dangerous force.

Precarious Position: A civilian has slipped and is in danger of falling!  Start a timed challenge.  Pull To Safety 0  Timer 00  Expires: The civilian falls from the wheel, with results varying based on how high up they were.

Sudden Gust: The wind surges for a moment, throwing people off balance.  Roll the environment dice.  Hinder one hero and one non-hero target currently on the wheel using the Mid die.  Also Attack one target flying near the wheel using the Max die.

(Major Twist)

Old Foe: A familiar face, but not a welcome one.  Add one lieutenant to the scene anywhere you like, representing an old enemy of one or more of the heroes.  If you don't have one in mind that makes sense in context, use the Fanatical Cape-Hunter lieutenant below.  Roll the lieutenant's die and deal that much damage to one hero target.

Red Zone

(Minor Twist)

Second Wind: If the lieutenant from the Old Foe twist is active in the scene, increase their die size by one step (max d12).  If not, add them to the scene with a d8 die size.

We Can Handle This...Right?: Roll the environment dice.  If there are any active challenges in the scene, Hinder all heroes using the Mid die.  If not, Boost all heroes using the Mid die and make those bonuses persistent and exclusive.

(Major Twist)

This Is Getting Ridiculous:  Start three challenges from the list above.  Extend the scene tracker by adding one extra Red zone box.

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Armed Patron d8 environment minion

Description: A civilian dressed for a night out, armed with a pistol.  They might be a paranoid criminal who's decided the heroes are after them, an off-duty police officer or just a drunken citizen who's panicked, but for whatever reason they brought a gun and they're going to use it.  Usually an indiscriminate danger to everyone around them, although actual police might be a little more selective depending on how they feel about masked vigilantes. 

Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!: You may only take Attack and Hinder actions, and can't change locations unless your gondola is at ground level to allow you to disembark.

Carny Worker d6 environment minion

Description: Your basic ticket seller, ride operator, and all-purpose roustabout.  Usually unarmed but still pretty scrappy and doesn't take any guff from the patrons, even super-patrons.  Always has help within shouting distance.

Hey, Rube!: Whenever you have to save versus damage, if the result after mods is 2-3 add one Carny Worker to the Surrounding Grounds location.  If the result is 4+ add two Carny Workers instead.

Fanatical Cape-Hunter d10 environment lieutenant

Description: A trenchcoated figure, armed to the teeth and out for blood.  Hero blood.

At Any Cost: After you roll a save versus damage from an Attack, you may opt to automatically fail.  If you do so, deal the Attacker damage equal to the result of your save.   

Implacable: Whenever you would gain a penalty, reduce the size of that mod by one.

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Building An Action Scene With All This

Given that you want to focus attention on the Ferris wheel and give the players a reason to interact with it, one way to set things up is for the heroes to have learned about a planned meeting between two criminals on the wheel itself.  This gives them some isolation for privacy, but also limits their escape options.  A perfect time to take them in for their evil deeds!  

Spend your budget on a couple of villains (upgraded or not, depending on how difficult you want things to be) and have them start the scene in civilian guise in one of the passenger cars.  Add the environment itself, and spend the rest of the budget on the villains' minions and/or lieutenants, who are also passing as civilians riding the wheel and in the crowds below.  

Spotting the villains is automatic but requires you to be on the same section of the wheel that their passenger car is on or flying nearby, or for you to be on the Boarding Stage when the villains' car is At The Bottom of its rotation.  Unless all the heroes are in disguise, each environment turn that there are no active villain targets, H villain minions or H/2 lieutenants will panic and Attack the heroes, revealing themselves.

Once spotted the villains will shed their disguises and begin hostilities, with one trying to escape on the ground (possibly robbing the till and wrecking the wheel's motor in the process) and the other doing their best to reach and stay At The Top of the wheel.  Their minions will assist as best they can, providing distractions and extra Attacks.  The heroes win the scene if they KO both villains before they can escape.  If the scene tracker runs out, the villain who was climbing the wheel will escape, carried away by a flying craft (zeppelins are very appropriate for Golden Age games) that makes an unexpected appearance from the clouds above.  If the villain attempting to escape on foot is still in the scene, they'll be cornered by arriving police and surviving heroes, letting them be interrogated about the meeting.

This is just one possible way to use the setting, of course.  You should edit as desired to fit your own campaign, or come up with something else entirely.  Hostage-taking schemes, using the wheel as a flashy distraction from another crime, stealing the wheel and other civic landmarks for ransom, or wiring the wheel up into a superscience dimensional portal are all obvious possibilities. 

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Agent Augur, Telepathic Team Leader

Seventh and final member of the Syracuse Seven hero team, who are finally done being ported over from the Tiny d6 Supers system.  Telepathic team leader, at least officially speaking.  He certainly does all the paperwork. 

Agent Augur

"John Smith" had his old identity officially erased when he volunteered for the enhancement program that made him into Agent Augur, and there's little room in his new life for anything but his work now.  That work was meant to be as an intelligence agent, a super-spy who could use his induced telepathy to ferret out secrets and detect hostile schemes before they could come to fruition.  That plan went by the wayside.  He was still finishing his training when several new international agreements were signed and his kind of "work" was officially banned and disavowed.  

Making the best of a bad deal, the shadowy agency that had recruited him gave a new task - acting as government liaison and coordinator for the hero team he now works with.  This put him in the awkward position of needing to fight alongside (and against) supers who could bench press a car, throw lightning and bounce bullets off their chests, something all the mind-reading in the world wouldn't help much against.  Still, he keeps his head down and does his best, usually dealing with henchmen or squishier villains while his allies deal with the bigger threats.  He's also a good "face" for the team, dealing with local law enforcement, politicians and new media with some aplomb thanks to his casual and quite unethical mind reading.

Agent Augur habitually uses his telepathy to say and do the right thing in social situations, but it's debatable how much of that stems from a desire to be liked and how much is just manipulation.  Whichever it is he's pretty subtle about it, although if he's ever forced to work without his psionic edge his teammates may wonder why he seems so "off" all of a sudden.  With villains and criminals he's much more open about his prying.

Description: Tall, powerfully built man of Irish descent, usually dressed in nondescript clothing appropriate to the setting.  He looks good in anything from a tuxedo to a old flannel shirt, but does his best to avoid drawing attention when he can.  When working with his hero team he adopts an unmarked set of urban camo fatigues with black combat boots.  He has a deep but soft voice normally, although he can do a fine "drill sergeant" routine when he needs to.

Gender: Male            Age: 32            Height: 6'1"            Eyes: Green

Hair: Red                   Skin: Caucasian, Heavily Freckled              Build: Athletic

Background: Military     Power Source: Cosmos     Archetype: Psychic

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

Powers: Suggestion d10, Telepathy d10, Animal Control d6

Qualities: Alertness d10, Self-Discipline d10, Investigation d8, Leadership d8, Psychic Super-Spy d8, Technology d8

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

Abilities:

Green

Mental Demand (A) Attack using Suggestion.  Hinder the target using your Min die.

Principle of Exorcism (A) Overcome entities or elements from another dimension.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What is (literally or figuratively) coming back to haunt you?  Major twist: What has been allowed to enter the world?  RP: You can detect the subtle indications of otherworldly influences and disembodied intelligences in an event.

Principle of Self-Preservation (A) Overcome to get yourself out of immediate danger.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: Who suffers because of your caution?  Major twist: Are you willing to lay down your life to save others?  RP: You value your own survival more than most superheroes.  You will never be caught fully unaware in a situation where your life is at stake.

Synchronized Actions (A) Boost using Telepathy.  Until your next turn apply that bonus to all hero Attack or Overcome actions.

Yellow

Offensive Synchronization (A) Attack using Telepathy.  Until your next turn Boost all nearby heroes using your Min die.  Apply that bonus to all Attack or Overcome actions they take. 

Contact Control (A) Boost or Hinder using Suggestion.  Apply that mod to multiple close targets.

Mind Crush (A) Attack one target using Telepathy.  Use your Max die.  Hinder that target using your Min die.  That penalty is persistent and exclusive.

Domination (A) Attack a minion using Suggestion.  If that minion would be defeated, you control its next action and then it is removed.  Otherwise, Hinder that minion using your Min die.

Red

Inversion Response (I) At the start of your turn, change any penalty into a bonus.

Lasting Domination (A) Select a minion.  That minion is now entirely under your control and acts at the start of your turn.  You may release control at any time, and also lose control if you are defeated.  At the end of the scene, that minion is defeated.

Synaptic Acceleration (A) Boost another hero using Telepathy.  If that hero has already acted this round, use your Max die and that hero loses Health equal to your Min die.  That hero acts next in turn order.

Out

Subconscious Demand (A) Hinder an opponent by rolling your single Suggestion die.

Tactics

Agent Augur has been trained not to throw his life away needlessly and has very realistic expectations of his chances of winning a physical fight against your average supervillain.  He's glad to let his more powerful teammates do the brawling while he supports them with psychic powers and team coordination.  In Green Synchronized Actions is his go-to support ability, amping up the whole team on offense and heroic Overcomes.  He can also use Mental Demand to harm and hamper a foe when caught alone, or his Principle of Self-Preservation to get out of that kind of situation and find help.  His unusual sensitivity to disembodied intelligences is represented by Principle of Exorcism, making him strong at opposing such entities and their eerie influences.

The Yellow zone grants Offensive Synchronization, a variant team Booster that lets him deal some damage of his own while trading off some reach and raw power.  Mind Crush is an upgrade of his Green offensive ability.  Contact Control is a versatile multi-target mod generator that serves as a close combat move, usually pooled with Psychic Super-Spy to represent his training in martial arts.  Domination lets him briefly turn defeated minions against their allies as he puppets them around.

Once in the Red zone "John" essentially stops fighting personally and relies on both his allies and enemies instead.  Lasting Domination lets him seize control of minions, potentially building his own squad if given time to do so.  Synaptic Acceleration Boosts another hero and lets them immediately take a second turn in the round.  Inversion Response lets his mental meddling turns penalties to bonuses for free.  His lackluster Health and lack of defenses and healing make it hard to last long in Red, although he may be able to slip away from danger using Principle of Self-Preservation.

Even when Out embedded suggestions continue to hinder his foes with Subconscious Demand.     

Design Notes

The original Tiny d6 Supers Agent Augur was very much a one-trick pony in combat, and it wasn't even a very good trick because the Controller archetype is just plain bad at what it's meant to do.  The SCRPG port is a bit more versatile but still mostly revolves around single-target Attacks and group mods.  Probably most useful doing team Boosts, and can turn minions against their allies pretty efficiently if the Seven's sweepers don't just KO them all.  The build has a real durability problem and lacks reactions, but the guy's supposed to be avoiding the worst of the fighting and helping his teammates do the hard fighting.

Worth noting that his "Arrogant" personality might be better described as painfully overconfident, as he does his best to channel the spirit of James Bond - or perhaps Derek Flint - when he can.  He can also be a little too quick to order people around due to his official connections, whether its his team, law enforcement, or civilians endangering themselves.  His Principle of Self-Preservation isn't as cowardly as it implies, he's just not willing to sacrifice himself in a futile display of bravado when slipping away might let him foil the villain later.  His espionage training is all about accomplishing the mission, not glory-hunting.  

Augur also has a painful sensitivity to disembodied intelligences.  Whether they're astral projections, ghostly spirits or beings of pure energy, immaterial mentalities are a jarring discordancy to his psionic senses.  He complains of headaches and nosebleeds when such entities are in the vicinity (which may give away their presence) and his Principle of Exorcism makes him good at dealing with them and their associated phenomena.  Artificial intelligences hosted on hardware like a computer or a robotic body don't cause him problems, though.

As an aside, I'd like to make note of the fact that the Psychic archetype grants an Esoteric principle, but the category has few if any choices at all that feel like they were written with mentalists in mind.  Inner Demon is passable at best, and Future might work for a precognitive, but that's kind of it for a plain old modern-day human with psychic powers.  This is definitely a case where I'd happily let a player create their own Principle or take one from a different category if they needed to to fit a character concept.

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Justifier, Mysterious Shapeshifting Crimefighter

Sixth member of the Syracuse Seven hero team, who are gradually being ported over from the Tiny d6 Supers system.  A mysterious shapeshifting gangbuster with some shady connections. 

Justifier

Justifier is largely a mystery even to their teammates, and to criminals they're a terrifying legend.  Whoever they are, their ability to infiltrate all but the most closely-knit gangs and operations drives crooks to a paranoid frenzy that probably does more damage to them than anything the vigilante could accomplish alone.  Much more of a lone wolf than a group player, Justifier does maintain a tentative membership on the local hero team for times when they've finished their investigations and decide that some backup is needed to deal with a supervillain threat or an unusually large or well-equipped gang.

It's pretty common for Justifier to vanish for long periods of time, and is really more of an associate team member at best - or shady ally at worst.  Most likely has other things going on outside of the local area.  Agent Augur may know more details (he's hard to keep secrets from) but isn't saying anything other than to vouch for Justifier as reliable. 

Description: Can look like anyone, anytime.  Uses stealth and imitation to infiltrate the enemy until ready to strike.  May mimic another hero to confuse and intimidate foes.  Often duplicates whoever they're speaking to.  Has a multitude of other forms for use as disguises, ranging from inconspicuous civilians to uniformed police to costumed criminal henchmen.  No one knows if there's a "real" form behind the masks.

Gender: Unknown            Age: Unknown           Height: Variable            Eyes: Variable

Hair: Variable                   Skin: Variable             Build: Variable

Background: Law Enforcement     Power Source: Unknown     Archetype: Shadow

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

Powers: Shapeshifting d10, Intuition d8, Gadgets d6

Qualities: Criminal Underworld Info d10, Stealth d10, Finesse d8, Insight d8, Investigation d8, Undercover Crimebuster d8, Fitness d6

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

Abilities:

Green

Evade & Counterattack (R) When you would be dealt damage, roll a die based on your current GYRO zone.  Use a d4 in Green, a d6 in Yellow, and d8 in Red.  Reduce the damage you take by that roll, then Attack another target using the same roll.

Principle of Stealth (A) Overcome to infiltrate somewhere or avoid detection.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What evidence of your presence did you leave behind?  Major twist: What just happened to identify you as an obvious threat?  RP: You always know the most efficient method to enter or leave a location.

Principle of the Underworld (A) Overcome a problem related to your knowledge of the criminal underworld or using one of your contacts.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What shady detail causes others to distrust you?  Major twist: Are you guilty of what you're being arrested for?  RP: You have a variety of contacts within the criminal underworld and organized crime.

Shadow Ploy (A) Attack using Stealth.  Remove one physical mod, Hinder a target using your Min die, or maneuver to a new location in your environment.

Yellow

Face-Changer's Combo (A) Attack using Shapeshifting.  Use your Min die on one target, your Mid die on a different target, and Boost using your Max die.

Seen Their Records (A) Attack or Overcome using Criminal Underworld Info.  Boost yourself using your Min die.

Shared Info (A) Boost all nearby allies using Gadgets.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Hinder yourself using your Min die.  

Red

Decoy Husk (I) Once per issue, if you would go to zero Health, roll your Shapeshifting + Stealth + Red status die.  Your Health becomes that number.

I Know Your Secrets (I) When taking any action using Criminal Underworld Info, you may reroll your Min die before determining effects.

Practiced Moves (I) When you use an ability action, you may also perform any one basic action using your Mid die from the same roll.

Out

Distraction (A) Boost an ally by rolling your single Stealth die.

Tactics

Justifier is an expert infiltrator and investigator with many contacts on the shady side of the law, but their talents don't lend themselves to fighting powerhouse supervillains head-on.  Despite that, they do have a lot of versatile abilities available right from word one.  In Green, Shadow Play gives them a broad menu of useful options while handing out some damage, and Evade & Counterattack is an excellent defensive reaction that also delivers some damage out of turn.  Principle of Stealth makes Justifier very good at avoiding notice while sneaking around, and Principle of the Underworld helps locate elusive criminals and uncover their plans before they begin.

In Yellow they have Face-Changer's Combo for combined offense and bonus generation, which can easily deal with a minion or two while also granting a strong Boost to Justifier or an ally.  Their Boost game is even stronger when using encrypted commo bugs with Shared Info, and Seen Their Records offers another multipurpose Attack/Overcome option plus a small self-Boost - although it usually requires a solid bonus or two to really be effective.

In Red, Justifier adds three inherent abilities.   I Know Your Secrets makes any ability with Criminal Underworld Info in the pool far more effective.  Decoy Husk is a once per session second chance to stay in a fight. Practiced Moves offers even better action efficiency.

Distraction provides a steady supply of bonuses even when Justifier has been knocked Out of action.

Design Notes

The Tiny d6 version of Justifier actually ported over pretty well, although I'm not sure they'd be great to play in the SCRPG without some harder-hitting allies (which the Syracuse Seven does include).  I did manage to build a hero who models all the original's traits though, and if anything this one is even more versatile, with much better Shapeshifting and a solid array of Overcome options.  Their dice have a radical skew toward qualities instead of powers, while their three powers are all quite broad and easy to justify in many pools.  Conceptually, their Gadgets are mostly small, easily concealed spy-fi toys like shared commo bugs for team coordination, trackers and tracers, signal interceptors, decoders and wiretaps.  Intuition is just that, gut feelings and subconscious cues from years of experience and healthy paranoia.  Shapeshifting lets them quickly adopt new forms and maintain them long-term, although they're best at human shapes (including specific individuals) and rarely use animal or inanimate forms for more than a momentary trick.

Justifier acts as the team's primary investigator and intel-gatherer, as well as planning and executing any stealth missions the group needs to carry out.  They're also fond of Overcoming to duplicate the appearance of minions, lieutenants or even villains during combat to confuse things, and may imitate a teammate as a further distraction in a pinch.  Justifier also has a fearsome reputation amongst the criminal subculture, especially mundane groups like organized crime families and gangs.  Despite their law enforcement background, it's not clear if they were (or are) an actual police officer or if they just display extensive familiarity with police procedures and protocols.  It's quite possible Justifier has simply infiltrated various departments and agencies the same way they've penetrated criminal organizations and derives their knowledge from there.

Their most exploitable weakness is the drive to protect the innocent at all costs, even if it means a criminal must go unpunished for now.  Justifier is pretty bad at dealing with hostage situations and must always try to rescue endangered civilians.  Criminals get no such consideration, and can simply be left to their fate.

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Scintillator, Versatile Slightly Supernatural Blaster

The fifth 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.  She's slightly the youngest and newest hero on the team, and provides strong ranged support with a some decent bonus generation as well.  Her Principles also help fill some gaps in the group's Overcome spectrum.

Scintillator

Asterope Jones is new to the hero scene, having begun developing her energy-based powers at age 17.  She spent the last four years growing into them under the aegis of a federal training program for young supers that also offered educational support in exchange for a tour of duty with a sponsored hero team.  Asterope had planned to go into community services and social activism after college anyway, but this seems like it might be an even better path for her.  The idea of it being dangerous hasn't fully sunk in yet, and maybe it never will.  She's growing in power daily and the examiners who tried to categorize her were uncertain what her peak levels might turn out to be.  Her power source is definitely magical in nature, but it seems to be some kind of recessive heritage thing rather than the usual spell-and-scroll stuff, which Asterope has zero talent for.  Maybe there was a storm deity in her family tree or something?  She likes that idea.  Asterope has also been outfitted with an array of experimental gadgetry - sensors, advanced commo gear, security/hacking multitools, and concussion grenades for crowd control - all of which rely on her personal electrical output for power, making them small and easy to disguise as innocuous jewelry and fashion accessories.

To date her only real complaint is her supranym, which wasn't her first choice.  She'd planned to use her own first name (which is really on point for her power set) only to be informed that another US super was already using it - and her real name was Karen, of all things.  So unfair.  Scintillator isn't bad and sounds pretty catchy, but she still stumbles over it sometimes and tends to slip and use Asterope when she's not concentrating.  To put it mildly, she doesn't have a secret identity, and really isn't cut out for it.

Description: A lean, muscular young woman dressed in a snug red sleeveless bodysuit, white trunks and ankle boots, and a short white vest.  She accessorizes heavily with rings, bracelets and earrings, all of which are concealed gadgets.  Her eyes literally give off sparks and she's accompanied by a faint smell of ozone.  She has a strong, clear voice with a faint Brooklyn accent, although you can sometimes hear an electrical buzz underlying it.

Gender: Female            Age: 21            Height: 5'8"            Eyes: Sparking White

Hair: Shaved Scalp                 Skin: Mahogany                    Build: Extremely Fit

Background: Upper Class     Power Source: Supernatural     Archetype: Blaster

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

Powers: Electricity d10, Gadgets d10, Radiant d10, Teleport d8, Awareness d6

Qualities: Conviction d10, Ranged Combat d10, Alertness d8, Good With Electronics d8, Persuasion d8

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

Abilities:

Green

Forked Lightning (A) Attack multiple targets using Electricity. Use your Min die.

Penetrating Light (A) Attack using Radiant.  Ignore all penalties on this Attack, and it cannot be affected by reactions or Defend actions.

Principle of Magic (A) Overcome against a mystical force.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: What weird curse is now following you around?  Major twist: What mystic backlash has changed your life?  RP: You are attuned to an otherworldly force and can feel the mystical energies of the area.

Principle of the New Girl (A) Overcome a challenge that has already flummoxed a more senior teammate.  Use your Max die.  You and your allies each gain a Hero Point.  Minor twist: Which hero has to rescue you from your current predicament?  Major twist: What serious lesson that you ignored is now getting you into big trouble?  RP: You always seem to be where the trouble is; you're never too far away when a crisis strikes your group.

Yellow

Dynamo Heart (I) If you would take damage from Electricity, ignore it and instead Recover that much Health.

Guardian Halo (A) Boost or Hinder using Radiant.  Apply that mod to multiple close targets.

High Voltage (A) Boost yourself using Electricity.  Use your Max die.  That bonus is persistent and exclusive.

Sheer Brilliance (A) Attack using Radiant.  Use your Max die.  If you choose another hero to go next, Boost that hero using your Mid die. 

Red

Crowd Control (A) Attack multiple nearby targets using Gadgets.  Use your Max + Mid dice.  Take irreducible damage equal to your Min die.

Electrocution (A) Attack up to three targets using Electricity, one of which must be you.  Assign your Max, Mid, and Min dice as you choose among those targets.

Out

Lingering Glow (A) Boost an ally by rolling your single Radiant die.

Tactics

Scintillator is a ranged combatant with a sideline in mod creation.  In Green, Forked Lightning gives her a multi-target minion sweeper right out of the gate, and Penetrating Light offers a workaround for many defensive tricks as well as her getting buried in penalties.  Her Principle of Magic reflects her power source and may come as a surprise to supernaturals who were expecting an easy ride against a seemingly mundane blaster and gadget-user, while Principle of the New Girl (renamed from Sidekick) reflects her being marginally the youngest and newest of the Syracuse Seven - and makes her very good at cleaning up challenges her allies have failed to finish.

In Yellow she really comes to life, with her picking up a very strong persistent bonus from High Voltage and turning all electrical damage into healing via Dynamo Heart.  Offensively she gains Sheer Brilliance for a strong radiant hit that can also aid an ally.  She also gets the versatile but short ranged Guardian Halo, which can either augment multiple allies at arm's reach or hamper anyone crowding her in close combat.

Once she hits Red Scintillator can either quickly heal herself while handing out some damage as well with Electrocution, or accept some damage by draining her reserves to use a bunch of her concussion grenades for Crowd Control.  

Lingering Glow lets her continue to aid allies while Out.

Design Notes

Compared to her Tiny d6 version, the new Scintillator is a bit more versatile and experienced.  She now does more things with Radiant power in combat and added a whole new sideline in using custom self-powered gadgets for more Overcome versatility and a very strong Red Attack that doesn't rely on an element/energy type.  Her SCRPG version also has some great healing, either in Red with Electrocution or by exploiting environmental elements like downed power lines in Yellow.

She's still very much a ranged combatant but has an easier time escaping melee thanks to adding Teleport, and Guardian Halo gives her some reason to get close to people.  Her team role is applying damage to the whatever target(s) are highest priority and she has a wide range of options to deal with different categories of foes and types of defenses.  Unlike the Tiny d6 Scintillator she's not primarily responsible for minion-sweeping, as there are others who rival or even excel her at that task.

Scintillator is slightly vulnerable to getting soaked with water.  Whether she's actually immersed or just wet to the bone, she suffers painful feedback that seriously handicaps her until she dries out.  Habitually keeps an eye on weather forecasts and carries an umbrella when expecting rain, sometimes has a tote full of towels along for missions.  She also takes very quick showers, which is part of the reason she shaves her scalp.

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The Master-Rat, A Murderous Urban Myth

An unpleasant urban horror that's not as mythical as you'd like.  Very likely either a competitor or ally of King Kockroach and his own army of vermin.  

This post also marks the end of my long-running project to do one of each possible pairing of villain approaches and archetypes.  All 252 of them.  Whew.  That was some work. 

The Master-Rat

The origins of the Master-Rat are unclear, but urban legends of things like him go back over a century and appear in large cities across the US and Europe.  It's possible he's not not a unique entity at all, merely an exceptional specimen of his kind.  The rats who invariably infest an area he frequents don't appear to be the same species at all, merely unnaturally large and prone to random mutations.

Despite his animalistic appearance, the Master-Rat can speak, mostly to taunt foes or threaten prey.  He identifies himself as Jenkin Brown, which suggests some familiarity with H.P. Lovecraft's writings and a sense of irony.  His motivations seem to be a mix of spite, territoriality and greed.  Jenkin intensely dislikes most humans.  Anyone who enters the urban hunting grounds he currently claims are seen fair game for him and his rodent followers, and he's even more vicious toward those who intrude upon his lair.  He also has a lust for human wealth even if he has trouble benefitting from it, and enjoys hoarding physical tokens like jewelry and antiques even more than cash.  He and his rats can get in almost anyplace, although their infiltrations are usually pretty unsubtle and leave signs of their presence in the form of gnawed holes, hair and droppings.

Description: A horrid freak of nature combining the worst elements of man and rat.  It has an ugly, sharp-toothed human face attached to a human-sized rat's body.  Each limb ends in a twisted human hand, and the thing shifts uneasily between a quadrupedal stance and an awkwardly hunched two-legged pose.  It stinks of filth and decay, and its voice has a grating squeaky quality to it.  

Gender: Male         Age: Uncertain         Height: 5'6"          Eyes: Bloodshot Brown

Fur: Mangy Dark Brown                     Skin: Caucasian                  Build: Horrible Rat-Thing

Approach:  Relentless                          Archetype:  Domain

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Animal Control d10, Vitality d8, Agility d6

Qualities: Stealth d10, Fitness d8, City Rat d8, Criminal Underworld Info d6

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

Abilities:

No Escape From The Rats (R) When an opponent moves away from you, you may follow them and Hinder them by rolling your single status die.

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

Rabid Swarms (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Attack every target in the scene except yourself with those dice.  Remove those minions.

Rats In The Walls (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone or one zone closer to red.

Savage Vermin (A) Attack and Hinder using Stealth.  If the target status die is d4 or d6, use your Max + Min dice.  If target status die is d8, use your Max die.  If target status die is d10 or d12, use your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

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

Tactics

The Master-Rat is strange mix of cowardice and savagery when confronted, and prefers to let the swarming rats around him do the brunt of the fighting.  He can call them up in large numbers using Rats In the Walls, then either let them act independently, callously drive them into combat with Rabid Swarms or sacrifice them for his own survival using Psychic Cannibal.  No mater what, there are always more of them.  When he takes a more personal interest, he'll single out a low status-die victim and use Savage Vermin, either by himself with Agility in the pool or with lesser rats using Animal Control.  Anyone attempting to avoid him will at least be hampered by No Escape From the Rats, and Master-Rat will happily attempt Overcomes to restrict the movement of high-mobility heroes or ground flyers.

Jenkin rarely has his upgrade unless he and his rats have gone too long without a proper feast, at which point desperation will drive them to cunning hunting strategies using his mastery as well.

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Whenever Jenkin Brown is present and an environmental twist would introduce minions or a lieutenant to the scene, the GM may opt to replace whatever the normal options would be with his themed minions below.  These are automatically hostile to heroes and allied to Master-Rat as long as he's still active, but are removed immediately if he flees or is defeated.

Savage Rats d6 environment minion

Description: A dozen filthy vermin, each the size of a small dog and far more vicious.  They are frenzied beyond any sense of self-preservation.

Suicidal Savagery: Whenever you would take a saving roll against damage when your Attacker is close to you, you may opt to fail before rolling.  Instead, roll your die and deal that much damage to the Attacker.

Giant Mutant Rat d10 environment lieutenant

Description: A freakish rat-mutant the size of a grown man.  It may sport twisted extra limbs, tails or tiny heads, but however many eyes it has they all gleam with mad hate.

Frenzied Rat-Mutant: You receive a +2 bonus to Attack actions, but cannot take Boost or Defend actions.

Suicidal Savagery: Whenever you would take a saving roll against damage when your Attacker is close to you, you may opt to fail before rolling.  Instead, roll your die and deal that much damage to the Attacker.

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The Visitant, A Ghostly Gestalt

A ghostly monstrosity spawned by an a ritual from long ago, still haunting the lonely places of the world after 160 years. 

Visitant

The ectoplasmic entity known as the Visitant is believed to be the product of a botched ritual attempted by a circle of Confederate spiritualists in the 1860s.  The desiccated bodies of the seven members of the group were found by Union troops as the Civil War ran down, but their spirits appear to have been bound into a gestalt being that continues to haunt the world to this day.  The creature exists to solely prey upon the living, apparently hoarding the energies derived for some even more dreadful entity that exists beyond the veil.  Fortunately, it barely qualifies as sentient by human standards and spends much of its time lurking in lonely places marked by death, old or new.

The Visitant is composed entirely of flowing ectoplasm, which can vary its consistency from a ghostly vapor capable of oozing through solid objects to a repulsive viscous jelly that can constrict or smother a man.  Its principle form of attack is to interpenetrate a victim's flesh, causing spiritual agony and nerve trauma in the process.  The main mass can subdivide to create free-acting versions of itself, and can perceive the world through them as though they were still connected.  These smaller entities sometimes seem to pursue their own incomprehensible goals, suggesting that they may represent the vestiges of the original ritualists when not bound into the gestalt.       

Description: A swirling cloud of pale ectoplasm, about seven feet in diameter.  It has no fixed form, although patterns of light and shadow suggest something like a huge gaping maw and anywhere from two to thirteen vague eyelike shapes.  It groans and wails incoherently and is accompanied by a wintery chill and a faint smell of death.

Its minions are identical but proportionately smaller based on their current die size.

Gender: Unsure   Age: Dead Eight Score Years   Height: Varies   Eyes: Mere Hints of Shadow

Hair: None                     Skin: None                  Build: Amorphous Mass of Ectoplasm

Approach:  Relentless                                Archetype:  Legion

Health:  15 + (5 x H)

Powers: Intangibility d10, Remote Viewing d8, Part Detachment d6

Qualities: Imposing d10, Ectoplasmic Mass d8, Otherworldly Mythos d8, Stealth d6

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

Abilities:

Ectoplasmic Predation (A) Attack and Hinder using Intangibility.  If the target status die is d4 or d6, use your Max + Min dice.  If target status die is d8, use your Max die.  If target status die is d10 or d12, use your Mid die.  

Eerie Schism (A) Add two minions of size equal to one size lower than your current status die.

Empowerment (R) When one of your allies Attacks an opponent, roll your single Ectoplasmic Mass die and add that much damage to the Attack.

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

Mixed Intent (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.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

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

Master of 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

Visitant is an animalistic predator but still surprisingly cunning when it comes to stalking prey.  It takes full advantage of its surroundings and its powers to keep its main mass safe while sending out its minions with Eerie Schism to hunt and feed.  The thing is particularly fond of battling in graveyards where it can lurk safely below ground inside coffins, using Remote Viewing to time when to emerge using Intangibility.  It can augment damage from such safe hidey-holes using Empowerment when its minions Attack or heal when needed with Flowing Unity, although observant heroes may spot ectoplasm streaming to or from its main mass when it uses those reactions.  Visitant rarely spawns more than four minions at once to minimize the limitations of Mixed Intent and to keep its status die high for the moment where it lunges into view to use Ectoplasmic Predation on a hero with a weak status die.

Its upgrade reflects being gorged with life energy which it will seek to transfer to whatever otherworldy entity it serves with its mastery. 

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Riot, Malicious Wild Card Villain

A wild card villain who just wants to see the world burn and chaos reign.  Bit like a much more malicious Johnny Crisis, albeit operating on a less cosmic scale.

Riot

Riot's true identity (if ze even has one) remains unknown, as does ze's motivations beyond an obvious love of chaos.  Ze seems to just show up at other villain's more high-profile jobs at random, as well as appearing at public events of all kinds.  Ze has a special fondness for protests but doesn't seem to actually support any cause, social, political or otherwise.  Ze is all about chaos and opposing organized efforts to accomplish anything.

To date Riot's observed powers include the ability alter perceptions, implant mental suggestions in human minds, and change zir own physical form within a broad range of adult human characteristics.  There's some debate about whether there's also degree of reality shaping involved, based on apparent manipulation of the local environment.  Either that or ze is impossibly lucky and people become very prone to psychotic breaks in zirs presence.

Description: Who knows?  This villain is a shapeshifter and can look like any reasonably adult human, albeit not a convincing duplicate of any specific person.  Illusions similarly conceal whatever real clothing is worn, and alter zir voice to whatever desired.  Some exotic senses may partially defeat the disguise, but otherwise even identifying zir is difficult. 

Gender: Variable (Ze/Zir)           Age: Variable            Height: Variable           Eyes: Variable

Hair: Variable                               Skin: Variable                                 Build: Variable

Approach: Leech                   Archetype: Domain

Health:  45 + (5 x H)

Powers: Illusions d10, Suggestion d8, Shapeshifting d6

Qualities: Conviction d8, Criminal Underworld Info d8, Subtle Psychic Violence d8, Stealth d8

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

Abilities:

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

Innocent Victim (R) When Attacked, redirect the Attack to an environmental minion.

Mind-Meddler (A) Hinder using Suggestion.  Use your Max + Min dice.  Boost using your Mid die.

Mob Violence (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Attack every target in the scene except yourself with those dice.  Remove those minions.

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

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 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

Riot just wants to see the world burn and laugh while it happens.  Ze doesn't really do the "tactics" thing, much less strategy.  Zir favorite trick is to Stir The Pot repeatedly, building up the number of environment minions available to play with.  They fuel zir Innocent Victim reaction if ze's spotted by heroes or the law, and even small numbers of them can cause catastrophic damage when spurred on to Mob Violence.  Ze also finds it amusing to use Mind Meddler to hand out mods almost at random, and often Boosts environment targets or Hinders whichever hero or villain has annoyed zir most recently.  Heroes struggling to deal with challenges in a coordinated fashion will likely draw a use of Agitator, especially if they're trying to bring down Riot's upgrade (if in play).

Zir's upgrade can be pretty crippling for heroes' Overcome actions, and zir's mastery is exactly what you'd expect it to be - a bit of predictability Riot would be deeply annoyed about if zir realized it.    

Design Notes

Riot is designed to fit with any environment where there are twists that introduce regular humans (so not alien planets, exotic dimensions, etc. - although they might work with a human's dream or mindscape environment) and act as a third party who just wants to see chaos run amok.  They're more likely to oppose heroes than they are most villains, but a real control freak or pompous mastermind might draw their ire as much as even the most civic-minded hero.  Riot doesn't really have plans as conceived, and is likely to slip away quietly when a scene starts to bore them - usually after leaving the whole place in ruins after one last use of Mob Violence.

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