where do the villains get the MONEY?

[phydaux]

I need some ideas on how super powered villains get money for their bases, equipment and stuff.

See, I have this campaign where all the PCs are villains. They work for a villain master mind, and until he can start to funnel untraceable funds to the PCs, they will have to scrounge for their own bucks.

I've got one idea for a museum heist. The master mind will provide the PCs with one million dollars in cash if they can break into the local Met and boost this one famous painting.

What the PCs don't know is the master mind has his own plans for the painting. He has this guy who is a genius at copying paintings, but only this ONE particular artist. The master mind plans to have several copies of the stolen painting made, sell them to crooked art collectors and keep the original for himself.

Also, the master mind, in his secret ID, owns the insurance company underwriting the museum. So, if the PCs damage the target painting, the master minds plan is ruined (he can sell the copies but not keep the original) and if they damage any other art works his company will be out big bucks.

All this is fine for a night or two, but I need more ideas on how super villains get their "operating capital."

Any ideas?

[BoloOfEarth]

Depends on the villain(s). Also depends on the realism level of the campaign. Some ideas include:

Theft. Best done with cash, precious metals or stones, or other fairly easily-cashed, not-so-traceable stuff.

Blackmail/Protection rackets. Get info on somebody rich, or convince a company that "bad things" will happen if they don't fork over some Franklins.

Legitimate Twisted Slightly. Like stealing cutting edge tech, then marketing your own high-tech stuff. Or running a company and causing various "accidents" to hinder competitors.

Identity Theft. A shapeshifter or disguise master might take a multimillionaire's place long enough to funnel off some cash to Swiss accounts.

Counterfeiting. Not just cash, this could include artificial diamonds, magically-created (but short-lived) gold, etc.

Just a few ideas. I'd have more if I knew about the characters involved.

[BoloOfEarth]

Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).

Another idea, along the weapons line: A scientist type could supply both sides of a gang war (or real war) with weapons and equipment.

[Kevin Scrivner]

I always figured they got it by pulling off a series of smaller crimes, saving up for the big caper that will make them filthy rich and their names household words (at least that was the plan). This structure shapes the plot.

For example: The villains begin their crime spree by kidnapping a series of scientists and technicians, forcing them to design The Ultimate Weapon (tm). Once they've got a set of blueprints, the evil protagonists scour the countryside for materials to build it. Once they've got it assembled, they've got to transport it to the firing site without the authorities catching on. Finally, they hack into the city broadcasting and broadband networks to air their big threat, "Pay up or fry!" Having a getaway plan and a means of transporting the ransom is also a good idea.

Of course, there are more subtle ways than a spree of bank robberies. Maybe they've got a chain of small businesses that provide capital -- bookie joints, massage parlors, tattoo studios, pawn shops, and the like. They'd have to manage the business, protect their resources, and fend off competitors and the cops. Maybe they've got a sophisticated Internet or mail fraud scheme going. Maybe their master hacker is siphoning off a tiny percentage from innumerable bank accounts.

How the group handles its money also depends on its goals. Joker and Riddler types care more about style than profit. They'll blow a hard-snatched wad to pull off some spectacular stunt. Powermongers, Lex Luthor and Obadiah Stane types, will maintain a respectible front while manipulating others from behind the scenes. If they really are into supervillainy for the money, they might be cautious about expenditures, won't sweat over complicated long-range schemes, and will zip off to Monte Carlo once they do land an appreciable amount of cash.

[Carmen]

Some villains probably get kickbacks from certain unscrupulous "news" programs.

[Monolith]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth
Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).
I think these are all good ideas. As far as the base goes, think about what we see in the comics and cartoons: the villian works out of an abandoned building (warehouse, theatre, home, etc). Most of the villains do not have access to everything right off the bat. They need to work their way up just like PC supers would.

Let the villains steal everything they need. That way they can make enemies of both the criminal organizations (VIPER, DEMON, ARGENT) and the law enforcement organizations (PRIMUS, UNTIL, MARS), and the superheroes. It's more fun when everyone hates them. :)

Another way for them to get equipment is for them to work for VIPER or ARGENT occasionally as mercenaries, and then accept payment in equipment of various types. So they get a 15 year old VIPER skyshark chopper, but it works and it is free. :)

[Dog Soldier]

Charities, complete with telemarketers and telethons. They should actually run some orphanages and schools as well. Great places to indoctrinate and recruit followers.

[Armitage]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth
Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).

Another idea, along the weapons line: A scientist type could supply both sides of a gang war (or real war) with weapons and equipment.

There's also the Justin Hammer method, from Marvel Comics.

"I will supply you with all of the advanced technology that you need. In return you will give me 10% of the take from all future crimes until the devices are paid for. You will also work for me whenever I need you and these services will result in a appropriate reduction in your debt to me."

And the supplier has enough villains in his debt to serve as a collection agency if anyone tries to stiff him.

[Ghost who Walks]

A couple villains in my campaign have used....

City of the Future (Inspired by the Robocpo series): The archvillain is sposoring a series of fires, crime waves, and lack of social services to lower property values. He will the buy up all the property, and construct his utopian city of the future, where only the good and pure" shall live.

The point of this is to present the contrast, the villains goals are actually fairly noble, he is attempting to destory the harsh reality of slums an poverty. However, his methods are not noble. The advantage of this is it can be run over several sessions.

Alien Printer: If you have any alien in the campaign, the focus of this scenario is to steal their printer (yes that thing that turns pictures on your computer into pictures in your hand). S oadvanced is the resolution on the printer, that it is capable (with the right paper and ink) of printing out currency, false documents, and passports of amazing quality. If no aliens exist, replace the word "alien" with the word "Dr. Destroyer". Of couse, make sure whoever they steal the printer from wants it back.

Kidnapping/abduction: this is what secrtet ID's are for, I have done this several times to player's who are millionaires in their secret identities. Find an NPC hero, who is rich in his secret ID. (Defender of the champions works well for this). Kidnap him, hold him for ransom. Imagine your villains surprise when all his friends show up...

Crime Camera: One of the villains has a camera mounted on their battle armor. It broadcasts footage from their crimes to a pay-per-view website.

[McCoy]

Originally posted by Dog Soldier
Charities, complete with telemarketers and telethons. They should actually run some orphanages and schools as well. Great places to indoctrinate and recruit followers.
Telemarketing, definitely telemarketing.

And stock manipulation. Short a company big time, then attack their facilities. Property damage, bad publicity, loss of production, stock falls, cover the short.

How ruthless are they? There's always the Murder, Inc. route. Buy a large life insurance policy on a casual accquantice, preferably double indemnity, then arrange an "accident."

Merc work. I'll have to try that sometime, a squad in Viper uniforms but when the shooting starts turns out they have real powers.

Anyone can sell protection. Bricks make good Enforcers. Mentalist are good confidence artist. Can you imagine a three card montie game by a Speedster?

[GestaltBennie]

My old PC VIPER campaign group specialized in blackmail, but ran a bingo parlor on the side.

Boy were they mad when Black Harlequin replaced their bingo balls with his special exploding sleeping gas balls. :-)

[Chuckg]

You know, in 5e VIPER this would usually lead to Black Harlequin being found with sixteen holes in his body about the size of the beams left by a VB-A4 "Jackhammer" blaster rifle. :)

Addendum -- as you well know. ;)

[wcw43921]

You know, I really don't think it would be that hard for a supervillain to acquire starting funds--

STEP 1: Find Automatic Teller Machine(ATM).

STEP 2: Break ATM open.

STEP 3: Steal cash from ATM reservoir.

STEP 4: Get your miserable hide out of there before cops, or heroes, or Marines, or all three, arrive.

STEP 5: Repeat as necessary.

Alternately--

STEP 1: Find convenience store.

STEP 2: Break into cashier's booth. Disarm cashier if necessary.

STEP 3: Empty cash register. Empty safe where deposits are kept.

STEP 4: Get your miserable hide out of there before cops, or heroes, or Marines, or all three, arrive.

STEP 5: Repeat as necessary.

In both instances, when you make your getaway--Make sure you take the money with you. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough--

PC: "All right, I get back to my hideout and count my money--"

GM: "What money?"

PC: "The money I just stole! What do you mean, 'What money?'"

GM: "You didn't say you were taking the money with you. All you said was, 'I'm getting myself out of there.' Now if you had said, 'I'm taking the money and getting myself out of there' then you'd have the money. But you didn't--so as far as I'm concerned, you left it behind."

PC: "But--But--"

Let this be a lesson to us all.

[Supreme Serpent]

Crime spree away from the major cities.

"OK, next on the list - Springfield, Nebraska. Population: 30,000. Superhero population: zero. Nearest PRIMUS Base: 600 miles. Banks in town: 15. It's payday boys, lets get some cash flow."

[umbra]

One of the PC's in our game is making a mint repairing satellites for companies that are quite willing to pay him to do it (he can travel into space and has lifesupport) as he is much cheaper and faster then waiting for NASA. He does have the problem of paying taxes and such (he has a secret ID) but if your a villain.... Also there is arson (no traces of accelerant if you have a flame/fire attack). If one of the villains has magic, you could get paided to curse rivals, foresee the future (great for stock tips), cause rich men/women to fall in love with you and will you their fortunes, etc. Speedsters could deliver money, drugs etc faster and safer then Fedex.

[phydaux]

These are some good ideas. Please keep them coming.

So far, I have these ideas planed out -

1) The museum heist.

2) The PCs will be sent to destory all the fire engines in the city. (While they do this, the master mind will torch several rival companies' buildings;) )

3) Kidnap several scientists/engineers and ransom them back to the companies they work for (These scientists & engineers will all work for competitors of the master mind's companies).

4) Kidnap a wealth NPC (who happens to be my campaign's Tony Stark rip-off and will summon his super hero friends).

I'll also toss in a few things to put tention between the PCs and VIPER, like sending Viperia and a few VIPER goons to put a smack on them. I like the idea of them using an abandon, long-forgotten VIPER base as their base. Think I'll give the base a few dice of Unluck;)

BTW, the PCs will not be the only villains hired by the master mind. I'm also going to include Foxbat and Ogre (because I LOVE them both so much!) as well as a mentalist character named Apparition. Apparition is, in reality, a local hero named Mind Maiden who is just using Clairsencience and Images to simulate powers, like Desolidification, without really "being there."

[Ghost who Walks]

Couple more ideas:
1) Perhaps each of the PC's could have a crime specialty? This would be like an occupation in a secret identity, help you establish what they do between scenarios. Robbing ATM machnines, stealing cars, breaking into peoples houses to take their toaster...stuff like that.The money they get from this would be like their pocket money.

2) an NPC/DNPC who is an infromant for the FBI/PRIMUS/Food and Drug Administration might be fun

For an old base, you can have the former architect (now in prison) sell the plans of the base to their enemies. :)

Pulsar is also a good NPC to have show up.

[Captain Liberty]

How about selling protection to the Organized Crime mobs? Be a shame if a superfight tore up that drug warehouse...

I was in a campaign like this for a couple of episodes. The GM thought it was a neat idea but ended up not really getting that excited about it. The Crime Boss running the operation had poisoned everyone. Only he had the antidote.

[phydaux]

Originally posted by Captain Liberty
How about selling protection to the Organized Crime mobs? Be a shame if a superfight tore up that drug warehouse...

Blackmail the Mob? Boo-Yeah! That's a GREAT idea!

Now I just need an Irish-Americian super villain for the mob to hire to track the PCs down and punish them.

See, the campaign takes place in and around Boston, and in Boston it's the Irish who run things.

Can you say Kennedy?

[Jhamin]

Originally posted by phydaux
The PCs will be sent to destory all the fire engines in the city. (While they do this, the master mind will torch several rival companies' buildings;) )


Legend has it that in ancent Rome (which didn't have a public fire department) one of it's most powerful senators made his fortune by organizing a private fire department.

Apparently they would wait until someone's house was on fire, then show up and demand an exorbinant price before they would put the fire out.

[Supreme Serpent]

Originally posted by phydaux
Now I just need an Irish-Americian super villain for the mob to hire to track the PCs down and punish them.

Well, he's not Irish-American, but I'm sure Shamrock wouldn't mind a little extra cash.

As far as the whole attack rival companies thing goes, may want to hit a few of his own things to avoid suspicion. Of course, stage it so that there are no significant losses. Steal prototype that wasn't really working anyways, steal money from safes (which can be used to further fund the attacks on enemies, etc.). and so on.

[Battlestaff]

Hiring yourself out pull jobs robbing places for one-of-a-kind items. You can create a profitable niche as super-burglars, with lots of benefits:
1) The people who hire you are usually after one thing from the location, so you can grab everything else and keep it.
2) You don't have to come up with all the plans yourself.
3) And, if you get captured, you always have someone to roll on to reduce your sentence (though this only works once before no one ever hires you again).

[umbra]

Invent a new highly addictive new drug and rake in the money. You can always use your newly addicted victims to sell and distribute it for you. To make the drug even more desirable to people, make it seem to restore youth. Even if the drug ends up killing people in 5 years, some people will take the risk to look better.

If someone is a shapeshifter the can get paid to impersonate people ... i.e. If you always wanted to date Superman... Heck you could even start doing Superhero porn. I'm sure there are lots of lonely people out there who would rent/buy stuff like that.

Man colds make me evil. Must be the Dayquil.

[FogHat]

Got a brick? Add ATM and a truck. Drive up.. rip out.. repeat.
Not tons of money but hey it is quick, don't even need to get out of the escape vehicle.

Banks are a classic - depends on powers. Not high on my risk rewards meter. They expect to be robbed.

Armored Cars - Always fun to plan how to take one out quietly. (Or just use the "Heat" method)

Sporting events - Hit the collector of all the beer and hotdog cash before it is picked up. (The tickets are most likely pre-bought)

Valet park for a fancy party. Use the registration to find out where the guy with the Maybach lives and send the rest of the time to visit before he leaves. Oh yah and you get to keep the tips.

[lemming]

Originally posted by Supreme Serpent
As far as the whole attack rival companies thing goes, may want to hit a few of his own things to avoid suspicion. Of course, stage it so that there are no significant losses. Steal prototype that wasn't really working anyways, steal money from safes (which can be used to further fund the attacks on enemies, etc.). and so on.
Over insure your own property. That prototype is worth "millions"!

[DocMan]

What ever happened to pulling bank jobs?

Sometimes the classics still work, ya know!

Doc

[phydaux]

I gave a reality conflict with Supers pulling bank jobs.

You're likely to only get 2-3 thousand dollars per teller on duty. If you stay to clean out more than 2-3 tellers then you're almost garenteed that the super heros will show up.

Bank jobs are too high risk/low reward.

ATM jobs, however, seem cool. An ATM, particularly in a highly travelled area, can have upwards of 50 thousand bucks in it.

Although I think banks would start protecting them with NND gas and sonic booby traps if things got too out of hand.

[Chuckg]

> You're likely to only get 2-3 thousand dollars per teller on
> duty. If you stay to clean out more than 2-3 tellers then
> you're almost garenteed that the super heros will show up.

a) From the DM's point of view, that's not a bug -- that's a feature. :)

b) If the villains really must get through a bank job w/o superhero response, then the answer is "pick a city without superheros, like Cleveland".(*)

(*) And yes, I'm aware that some people set campaigns in Cleveland. :)

(Which leads us to the time-honored question 'What blithering idiot *EVER* chooses to rob a bank in Metropolis, when they can just go a couple hours' drive down the Interstate and execute a much more likely-to-succeed bank robbery in Philadelphia?"

Of course, some criminals are idiotic enough to get into police stand-off situations in Gotham City, as well...)

c) The main reason that most bank robbers just do the teller windows and don't go for the vault is because they can't get it open before the cops show up. Any villain team with a decent brick or powerful energy blaster obviously doesn't have that problem. :)

[DocMan]

Originally posted by Chuckg
c) The main reason that most bank robbers just do the teller windows and don't go for the vault is because they can't get it open before the cops show up. Any villain team with a decent brick or powerful energy blaster obviously doesn't have that problem. :)

Exactly. And if you're after the vault, you have the luxury of going after it at night when there's fewer people to push pesky alarm buttons. Even better if you've got someone with half a chance of bypassing the security system.

Doc

[johnflang]

In our campaign where we were super villians we did the following:

1) Drug dealers have lots of cash cant go to police to report stolen goods
a) Steal from him
b) Impersonate him and steal his laundered money

2) Heist 100 million in gems from a diamond repository in New York fence as you need cash.

That pretty much solved our money problems and ended the campign since we did not feel like commiting any more crimes.

[phydaux]

Originally posted by johnflang
That pretty much solved our money problems and ended the campign since we did not feel like commiting any more crimes.

Ha! Your GM just wasn't trying! The campaign hasn't even started and I ALREADY have four differant ways to screw over the PCs.

[Chuckg]

> 1) Drug dealers have lots of cash cant go to police to report
> stolen goods
> a) Steal from him
> b) Impersonate him and steal his laundered money

Without even trying...

a) Have your bank freeze the account and confiscate the money when the DEA because they followed the money trail from a known drug dealer's account to yours.

b) If you tried to withdraw it... *shudder*. Do you know what happens when you try to suck more than $10,000 in cash out of a bank at once? See above, and add the IRS to the mix.

c) The above are the merciful options. Having Mechassassin, Lazer, Steel Commando, Shamrock, and Hazard show up saying "The cartels were *really* pissed about that last one, so they told us that if we can kill you, we can split whatever you stole". (Add other mercenary supervillains if the above aren't enough.)

d) Same as above, only it turns out that the drug dealer was a VIPER front, and instead of various super-mercs you're getting Oculon, Armstrong, and a hand-picked crew from Dragon Branch.

(While it is true that crooks can't go to the cops when ripped off, they have their own ways of getting their own back.)

> 2) Heist 100 million in gems from a diamond repository in
> New York fence as you need cash. [snip]

Have your fence rat you in to PRIMUS in return for a slap on the wrist and a 10% settlement from the diamond repository's insurance company. :D

[Dog Soldier]

A few years ago there were some 'pirates' that cleaned out several drug dealers. They had some inside knowledge of when the dealers would have a large amount of cash on hand and hit them then. If you had a team of super villians that sort of thing would be right up their alley.

[OneSmallGod]

"The game depends on the card you're dealt." (Absolute Zero, a villain from a campaign in which I played.)

AZ, who obviously had wicked cold powers, specialized in hitting vaults. He and his partner Shockwave could drain security systems and then shatter bank-vault doors. Their average in-and-out time was less than three minutes, and when they included a mass-and-range teleporter named "Scotty" in their crew, they raked it in for quite a while. Their favorites were loose cash from gambling casinos and tracks, and bearer bonds from corporate holdings. With the latter, the secret is to create as much chaos as possuible to delay an accounting of what's missing, and have your fences ready to take possession instantly after the heist, before the cops are looking for the stolen merchandice. More hoobs have been caught trying to shop a chance-grabbed trinket around town for a good price, ginving the Recovery Specialists a chance to close in!

"Small-timers grab the money themselves. Big-time operators have the mark
give them the money." The Organizer

All The Organizer did was make introductions. He's the one who introduced Scotty and Shockwave, for example. He set a price on his help, and the crew paid happily. The Organizer threw business to other people, but he never handled merchandice himself - only the finder's fees. He also worked with folks in the recovery business, helping to recover those priceless paintings or other valuable items, for a small commission and a finder's fee. (And since he helped set up the heist in the first place, he got paid by both sides...)

Have you considered an evil genius who has invented an operating system which is pretty good and widely marketed, but also allows him to issue Mind Control instructions to people staring at the screen for hours on end? You know, it plays videogames really well, too!

[Mephron]

Originally posted by umbra
If someone is a shapeshifter the can get paid to impersonate people ... i.e. If you always wanted to date Superman... Heck you could even start doing Superhero porn. I'm sure there are lots of lonely people out there who would rent/buy stuff like that.

In the game I'm in, there's someone who has a minor transform that allows them to change someone's appearance.

He kidnaps women - just one at a time - changes them to look like superheroines, and then films BDSM movies with the women. It's very much an underground thing, but people who are into it talk about how 'real' the performances by the actresses are, how great the makeup is...

...most of them don't know that this is a low-grade supervillain basically filming his own rape fantasies and using them to make money.

We just found out that he kidnapped a college girl, and he's hired a real super to play the attacker in the next movie. He's a brick....

Our team, which is mostly women, was motivated to find him before. We're wondering if Manniquin will be able to walk and feed himself when this is over.

(And guys? This is a great thread. It gives some of us new ideas of things to run for players to have to deal with.)

[Mephron]

Originally posted by phydaux
ATM jobs, however, seem cool. An ATM, particularly in a highly travelled area, can have upwards of 50 thousand bucks in it.

Although I think banks would start protecting them with NND gas and sonic booby traps if things got too out of hand.

In our campaign, our characters have their base at the top of a skyscraper (all of the PCs either fly or have abilities to not have to worry about the height). The top 8 floors are ours. The next 8 floors are empty and heavily reinforced, but with charges so that, if there's a problem, it can separate our base from the rest of the building in order to keep it safe.

On the first floor, at street level, is a bank. someone tried to ROB the bank by ripping out the ATMs and carrying them off. At noon on a Wednesday.

You'd think that the sign 'Home of the San Diego Knights!" on the building that was put up would warn these people. But no...

Bulldozer was very, very unhappy that day. And swore he'd get even with (and I quote) "that stupid chop-socky Jap broad!" (Yes. He was taken down by the team's martial artist.)

Never underestimate the ability of a supervillian to come up with an unexpectedly brazen (see also: really stupid) plan....

(Interestingly enough, we also found out that there were two other supers planning on doing the exact same thing an hour later, but when they saw Bulldozer being taken away, they decided to give up. That's a plot for you! Your supervillian team goes to commit a crime and finds out that either someone else is doing it at the same time... or that they did it half an hour ago! So, what do you do about it?)

[korovan]

Legend has it that in ancent Rome (which didn't have a public fire department) one of it's most powerful senators made his fortune by organizing a private fire department.

Apparently they would wait until someone's house was on fire, then show up and demand an exorbinant price before they would put the fire out.

That was Gaius Licinius Crassus (yes, the one from Spartacus).... he did exactly as you said, but he also had another trick: he would rush (with his fire brigade) to the site of a fire, and then offer to buy the property on the spot... for a fraction of its value. The panicked home/business owner, facing the loss of the building's entire value (in those days before insurance) would often agree.. and THEN Crassus would order his firemen forward to save the place, thus making a big profit even after the cost of the repairs...

[korovan]

Blackmail could be a very lucrative crime for some mentalists or metamorphs.

A telepath could uncover the dirty secrets of the wealthy and shake them down for either a big payoff all at once or a slow-bleed every month...

A mind-controller could force the mark to do illegal/immoral/fattening things on camera, and then threaten to expose them ("So, Ms. Jolie, unless you want your little ... performance... with the Bolivian soccer team and their mascot to hit Youtube, you will kindly cough up 100,00 dollars each month...)

A metamorph could mimic Ms. Jolie on camera, and then make the same threat.

A different kind of mentalist could alter Ms. Jolie's memories to make her think/remember that wild night as actual fact, and pay to cover it up.

A memory-eraser could steal the happy memories from someone, and then demand money for their return ("So, you don't recall the last twenty years of you life? Your marriage? Your children? Would you like to?")

I could keep this up all day...

[FenrisUlf]

Legend has it that in ancent Rome (which didn't have a public fire department) one of it's most powerful senators made his fortune by organizing a private fire department.

Apparently they would wait until someone's house was on fire, then show up and demand an exorbinant price before they would put the fire out.

Didn't that happen in19th century American cities too? I know it happened in NYC, anyway.

[McCoy]

I gave a reality conflict with Supers pulling bank jobs.

You're likely to only get 2-3 thousand dollars per teller on duty. If you stay to clean out more than 2-3 tellers then you're almost garenteed that the super heros will show up.

Bank jobs are too high risk/low reward.
I saw an interview with a RL bank robber whose day job was with a brokerage firm on Wall Street. He had a coke habit and was desperate for cash. He was laughing at himself as he recalled counting the take from his first job and realizing that he had made more than that legitimately as a bonus the week before.

[Major Tom]

Lure a superhero (or superheroine) into a trap, render him/her unconscious
somehow, and put him/her up for sale on vBay (just like eBay, only for your
fellow supervillains).


Major Tom :sneaky:

[Maelstrom]

You know, in one of the Parker books, the protagonist indicates that the best place to get a lot of money fast was a check-cashing place. They're not as heavily-guarded as a bank, and not a federal beef, either.

[zaras]

Where do the bad guys get funds?

The respective Governments of the nations in which they reside; terrorist/freedomfighter, superhero/supervillan.

Of course there is always that rumour about the Metamorph with Duplication that represents practically the entire welfare demographic...;)

[zaras]

Lure a superhero (or superheroine) into a trap, render him/her unconscious
somehow, and put him/her up for sale on vBay (just like eBay, only for your
fellow supervillains).


Major Tom :sneaky:

Consider that stolen. Just what ever reputable villanous org. needs for the digital age. :thumbup:

[The Weapon]

One thing that supervillains could do well is protection rackets. After all if you've been seen going toe to toe with a superhero the local pimps, casino operators and other criminal enterprises would rather not annoy you. Don't bother to intimidate the local legitimate businesses, just tell the racketeers who do they owe you 10%.

Of course you should make sure no supervillain is already doing this and that the local gangs don't have a supervillain on the payroll. Or you could simply offer to work for the local protection racket on a "make the occasional appearance and be on call" basis. Either way it should be good for routine expenses while you plan the big heist that actually makes your profits.

[Major Tom]

You know, the villain group could always do what COBRA did in one of the old
G.I. Joe episodes to raise funds: run a TV telethon.


Major Tom :D

[FenrisUlf]

I saw an interview with a RL bank robber whose day job was with a brokerage firm on Wall Street. He had a coke habit and was desperate for cash. He was laughing at himself as he recalled counting the take from his first job and realizing that he had made more than that legitimately as a bonus the week before.

That sounds like some things I've read about criminals myself. For a lot of them in the end the money/power/whatever is less important than pandering to a dangerously narcissistic ego.

[moquif]

If you want to have a long term villain, start him out as a henchman. As the campaign progresses he saves enough money to become a master villain on his own and hire his own lackeys.

But for world-class villains you can have rich parents who meet a mysterious demise.

[FenrisUlf]

But for world-class villains you can have rich parents who meet a mysterious demise.

That reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago. An older man and a younger one are standing in front of a large open bay window, its lower frame reaching the floor, and gazing out at a gigantic factory. The older man is throwing his arms out wide and saying to the younger one: "Son, someday all of this will be yours!"

In the next panel, we see the younger man walking off whistling while behind him, the window frame is empty -- save for a pair of feet (wearing the same shoes as his father) just about to vanish from sight at the bottom outside the window.

[The Weapon]

I think these are all good ideas. As far as the base goes, think about what we see in the comics and cartoons: the villian works out of an abandoned building (warehouse, theatre, home, etc).


"It's in the abandoned warehouse district."



Most of the villains do not have access to everything right off the bat. They need to work their way up just like PC supers would.

Let the villains steal everything they need. That way they can make enemies of both the criminal organizations (VIPER, DEMON, ARGENT) and the law enforcement organizations (PRIMUS, UNTIL, MARS), and the superheroes. It's more fun when everyone hates them. :)

Another way for them to get equipment is for them to work for VIPER or ARGENT occasionally as mercenaries, and then accept payment in equipment of various types. So they get a 15 year old VIPER skyshark chopper, but it works and it is free. :)

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Crime pays, but only if you have 'market penetration' -- like the mob, or the yakuza, &c. Supercrime really doesn't pay; you need to get your cash from somewhere else. IMO, stock market cunning and manipulation is the best place to get it from; other stuff takes too long, comparatively. But a couple of ATM heists can get you the seed cash, if you need it.

Otherwise, at least IMO, 'because I needed the money' tends to be a less-than-effective way of going about it.

[Great Beyond]

Valet park for a fancy party. Use the registration to find out where the guy with the Maybach lives and send the rest of the time to visit before he leaves. Oh yah and you get to keep the cars.

Fixed that for you. :)

[moquif]

"It's in the abandoned warehouse district."

Where are the abandoned luxury penthouses?

[Log-Man]

You're missing the most obvious source... inheritance! the idle rich thief is a classic trope. I was also particularly impressed by Luthor's scheme in Superman Returns. :thumbup:

[ParagonAlpha]

Year ago, when I was young and Hero Games had just published Champions II, I played in a villain game.

We funded our operations with bank heists and armored car robberies. We then started a corporation (villains have Secret ID's too) all legal like.

It was priceless when our GM decided to make the teams leader sweat it out when another corporation tried a hostile takeover. Megalomaniacs have a hard time with that. Needless to say the other corporation had a hard time staying around when a group of villains decide that their employees, holdings and assets are fair game.

[FenrisUlf]

Year ago, when I was young and Hero Games had just published Champions II, I played in a villain game.

We funded our operations with bank heists and armored car robberies. We then started a corporation (villains have Secret ID's too) all legal like.

It was priceless when our GM decided to make the teams leader sweat it out when another corporation tried a hostile takeover. Megalomaniacs have a hard time with that. Needless to say the other corporation had a hard time staying around when a group of villains decide that their employees, holdings and assets are fair game.

And now I'm wondering what could happen in a game when the PCs start taking a villain's assets apart, only to discover that his corporation is the major local employer in an otherwise-depressed area...

[Peregrine]

And now I'm wondering what could happen in a game when the PCs start taking a villain's assets apart, only to discover that his corporation is the major local employer in an otherwise-depressed area...

What else? Buy said corporation out and run it themselves (in Secret ID, of course).

[FenrisUlf]

What else? Buy said corporation out and run it themselves (in Secret ID, of course).

For Batman, okay, but when your character is closer to Spider-Man in terms of (lack of) wealth that's going to be difficult.

Which is why it pays to keep a friend like Iron Man around. :D

[ParagonAlpha]

For Batman, okay, but when your character is closer to Spider-Man in terms of (lack of) wealth that's going to be difficult.

Which is why it pays to keep a friend like Iron Man around. :D


Yeah but Iron Man went all "George Bush" and Spidey just made a deal with a devil to forget his past.

[Drhoz]

One of the PC's in our game is making a mint repairing satellites for companies that are quite willing to pay him to do it (he can travel into space and has lifesupport) as he is much cheaper and faster then waiting for NASA. He does have the problem of paying taxes and such (he has a secret ID) but if your a villain.... Also there is arson (no traces of accelerant if you have a flame/fire attack). If one of the villains has magic, you could get paided to curse rivals, foresee the future (great for stock tips), cause rich men/women to fall in love with you and will you their fortunes, etc. Speedsters could deliver money, drugs etc faster and safer then Fedex.

Zero, my character in Weldun's City On The Edge campaign, is a telepath. He spends his extended lunch hour down in the business district, near the stock exchange.

Cash flow problems, solved.

[Major Tom]

Zero, my character in Weldun's City On The Edge campaign, is a telepath. He spends his extended lunch hour down in the business district, near the stock exchange.

Cash flow problems, solved.


Zero's a hero, right? So, wouldn't using telepathy near the stock exchange be
considered to be something along the lines of insider trading -- and therefore
highly illegal?


Major Tom :confused:

[Log-Man]

It's only illegal if you get caught. ;)

[Doctor Agenda]

Bank jobs are too high risk/low reward.

ATM jobs, however, seem cool. An ATM, particularly in a highly travelled area, can have upwards of 50 thousand bucks in it.

Although I think banks would start protecting them with NND gas and sonic booby traps if things got too out of hand.

In my Desperate Measures campaign, Power X, the paranormal representation agency, has contracts with most of the city's banks to monitor their cameras and quickly alert several highly-mobile combat-worthy paranormals of any bank robberies or ATM shenanigans. So far it's the ATM heists that have kept them busier. One time they caught up with a Brick who had run off with the whole machine.

[Drhoz]

Zero's a hero, right? So, wouldn't using telepathy near the stock exchange be
considered to be something along the lines of insider trading -- and therefore
highly illegal?


Major Tom :confused:

It's not as if he's going to *tell* anyone. Plus he works though a number of brokers, throws in the occasional deliberate mistake, and frustrated the attempts of another psyker to deliberately manipulate the market whilst he was there. A few 1000 a week is a small price for the brokers to pay, even if they don't realise they are :D

[Watchdog]

A lot depends on how much the rest of your campaign world has "adjusted" to the presence of superpowers. Without adjustments:

1 STR TK, fine manipulation, invisible power effects, would allow you to do a lot of damage at the roulette or craps table.

4d6 telepathy, invisible power effects, would be enough to make you the best no limit holdem player in the world.

So it depends how prevalent the countermeasures are. Casinos aware of superpowers need some detection capabilities. And those sunglasses favored by so many of the top poker pros would probably have an expensive but much needed 10-20 points of mental defense.

[Silbeg]

For the super-intelligent villains... especially ones with some beef on the dole (read bricks)...

1) Go to Vegas/Reno/Gambling Mecca of your choice...
2) Play Blackjack, with the extraordinary perception skills (and eidetic memory) to count cards.
3) Rake in the winnings.

If the casinos try to muscle you, out muscle them.:bmk:

[FenrisUlf]

Maybe (if you're talking about a desperate supervillain who lacks super-genius powers) he ciould just knock over half a dozen crack houses or so to swipe their money?

After all, it's not like street gangs or bikers will be calling up the cops to demand the return of their drug money.

[DusterBoy]

Legend has it that in ancent Rome (which didn't have a public fire department) one of it's most powerful senators made his fortune by organizing a private fire department.

Apparently they would wait until someone's house was on fire, then show up and demand an exorbinant price before they would put the fire out.

Yeah, his name was Crassus. Hence the word "crass". The same guy to whom a certain G. Julius Caesar owed 25 tons (yes, tons) of silver when he invaded Gaul.

[Mike W]

Traditional:


1. Crime pays.(Beetle)
2. Own a business and don't leave a trace(Lex Luthor, Justin Hammer)
3. Government lackey(Crimson Dynamo)
4. Idle rich/I own my own country(Dr. Doom)

Other ideas:

Day trader with one heck of a business rating(as long as he doesn't have a record)

Writer/Artist/Songwriter

Movie Producer - all you really have to do is sell the script, get the director and put up the cash. Other people do all the real work.

Invented something. Probably really mundane, maybe even corny(beer hat, singing fish) but you sold a TON of them and now have more money than god and no need for a job.

Created a character/toy line that became hot: can you imagine how much the guy who created the Ninja Turtles is worth, or the Bratz dolls?

[FenrisUlf]

Other ideas:

Created a character/toy line that became hot: can you imagine how much the guy who created the Ninja Turtles is worth, or the Bratz dolls?

So Bratz were invented by a supervillain? That explains so much.

And now I have this image of the villain activating his army of skankbots, with the heroes going down under a pile of robotic life-sized Bratz dolls... :angst:

[Drhoz]

So Bratz were invented by a supervillain? That explains so much.

And now I have this image of the villain activating his army of skankbots, with the heroes going down under a pile of robotic life-sized Bratz dolls... :angst:

Oh god, Rule One Violation, Rule One Violation! Weldun's already hit us with Scare Bears, Furbinators, the plot from the GI Joe Movie, and worse - do you want us to suffer Bratz Attackz too?

[mirage]

For the super-intelligent villains... especially ones with some beef on the dole (read bricks)...

1) Go to Vegas/Reno/Gambling Mecca of your choice...
2) Play Blackjack, with the extraordinary perception skills (and eidetic memory) to count cards.
3) Rake in the winnings.

If the casinos try to muscle you, out muscle them.:bmk:

Wouldn't the Casinos already be owned by super-intelligent villains? :D

[wcw43921]

For the super-intelligent villains... especially ones with some beef on the dole (read bricks)...

1) Go to Vegas/Reno/Gambling Mecca of your choice...
2) Play Blackjack, with the extraordinary perception skills (and eidetic memory) to count cards.
3) Rake in the winnings.

If the casinos try to muscle you, out muscle them.:bmk:


Wouldn't the Casinos already be owned by super-intelligent villains? :D


May I suggest to you (and everyone else reading this thread) that you check out issues #28 through #30 of PS 238 for Aaron Williams' version of Vegas in a superpowered universe. Very useful, I think.

http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ps238/index.htm