Ready-Made Villain Bases

[DShomshak]

Thinking about villain bases today…

 

Not every supervillain has the resources to build his or her own Secret Lair. The problem lies in the condition that the lair be secret. If you’re a villain, you don’t want the law finding your base before you finish building your superweapon or complete your Master Plan.

 

The same goes for heroes who don’t want their enemies blowing up their HQ, if they aren’t lucky enough to have a convenient cave under their home or somebody willing to pay for a private satellite.

 

So if you want a secret base but lack the money or powers to build one from scratch, what options do you have? What structures might already exist that are either unknown to the authorities and general public, or sufficiently disguised that people won’t realize it’s a base?

 

Assume that you can arrange for some ordinary, real-world improvements such as adding plumbing and lighting, but nothing that requires specific super-powers. So, no extradimensional spaces, invisibility fields, or stuff like that.

 

Well, there are plenty of abandoned factories and warehouses. However, too much of that gets boring. Are there other options that might be more interesting?

 

* I’ve heard an urban legend that in New York City, entire subway stations have been walled away as lines shifted and been virtually forgotten. Even if the station is just a big empty box with subway tracks running down the middle, it probably still has bathrooms and light fixtures. Put in some partitions and you have a base for an entire team, with space left over for labs and stuff.

 

Some other large, older cities might have lost subway stations as well. London? Almost certainly.

 

Actually, ancient European cities probably have a wealth of secret spaces, from Roman and Parisian catacombs to Byzantine cisterns in Istanbul. It’s almost too easy, there. So let’s limit ourselves to locations that aren’t so convenient – unless the campaign is set in the Old World, taking over the Phantom’s lair under a Paris opera house is sort of like finding a cave system under your family mansion.

 

* A speakeasy. During Prohibition, mobsters had the time and money to seal off parts of buildings or build secret subcellars. I have read of people discovering secret basement rooms in their homes or businesses, once used for illicit alcohol. Many speakeasies were pretty small, but it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a full-size secret nightclub and casino. Let it keep its Jazz Age décor, and you have a really classy Secret Lair.

 

* What is hollow and big as a building but not a building? Maybe you could convert one of those huge tanks or silos you see on waterfronts or in industrial districts. One of those big, flattish circular oil tanks could become a snug apartment for a villain. A grain silo could become an unusual lair if you divided it into floors, though going up and down the interior ladder or narrow spiral stair would be tiring. (Not an issue if you can fly.) Also a bit snug, though. Back when my home neighborhood had its own water company, though, there was a green water tank on the hill that was, I would guess, about 30 feet in diameter and 40 feet high. Dividing such a tank into floors and rooms, with plumbing and wiring, would be quite a fixer-upper project but wouldn’t require any unusual abilities or resources. The biggest issue might be arranging a covert way in and out. Maybe a short tunnel to a nearby building, or a secret door to a shack abutting the tank with service records and similar disguising documents tacked to the walls?

 

That’s what I have so far. Can you think of more ready-made, or nearly ready-made,  villain bases?

 

Dean Shomshak

[Amorkca]

What about a mobile base built into the back of an 18 wheeler?  Constantly on the prowl, easy to hide in plain sight...

[Lord Liaden]

If your campaign home base is near the water, an abandoned ship would seem to have potential. Often totally neglected, offering privacy; lots of living space and infrastructure; plenty of parts and raw materials to scavenge for building gadgets and vehicles. In many cases they can be bought for a relative song, or donated by the creditors for a function hiding the base's true purpose.

[Nothere]

Well I'll have to think about a list, but right off to improve on your silo idea. Lighthouses. Already split into floors, designed for occupancy, and technology is making them more and more abandonded.

[steriaca]

Well, if a cave system is good enough for a certain bat themed superhero, why not have one for supervillains as well?

 

If your villain is a businessman, why not hide it in plain site inside your skyscraper?

[assault]

A Flower/Toy/Pet shop. The premises are a bit too large for the actual shop. The shop just happens to be related to the villain's theme. (Some historical organised crime figures have operated "legitimate" businesses in this way.)

 

Above/behind a tacky disco. (What a Way to Go-Go!) Its regular clientele of underworld figures tends to discourage casual visitors, but the latter are tolerated. (Real World note: nightclubs have been used as fronts for illegal gambling, drug distribution, prostitution, etc. Usually protected by corrupt law enforcement officials.)

 

Having innocent bystanders around can be convenient when superheroes come crashing in. And not all the "innocents" are necessarily innocent.

 

Naturally, moving out of town can be a good idea. Old farmhouses, perhaps with a barn or other shed(s), are relatively easy to come by. Undeveloped land works too. You could end up building some kind of compound.

[assault]

Access is a major issue. Building superweapons can require lots of stuff. That means traffic.

 

A relatively remote location helps there, although it's not impossible to find locations that can be approached discreetly. Alternatively, construction sites can have lots of traffic. See the next paragraph...

 

Abandoned buildings can be highly suitable. "Haunted" sites are even better, whether the haunting is real, fake or both.

 

That includes mansions, old churches, graveyard crypts, hospitals (especially mental hospitals!), prisons, mines, schools, shopping malls, military bases (missile silos!), light houses, amusement parks, radio/tv stations (reconnect the satellite access and/or transmitter), zoos....

 

A lot depends on the particular villain or villains, naturally.

[freakboy6117]

Civil defence shelters might be a good option equally other war time secrets often get lost as institutional memory fails check out a few urban exploration sites.

 

http://www.forbidden-places.net

 

http://www.bcd-urbex.com/

[BoloOfEarth]

How about a re-purposed missile silo?  http://www.hardenedstructures.com/bunkers-for-Sale.php

 

If you're looking international, your villain could buy some land that happens to include part of the Maginot Line.  I had a fun plotline where the villain built a "corporate retreat" on the surface, with the secret underground base being the fixed-up tunnels and forts for a section of the Maginot Line.

 

Plenty of closed-down military bases that could be purchased by corporations that are fronts for your villain or criminal organization.  A "private airstrip" that used to be a USAF base could have ammo bunkers or bomb shelters.

 

A pharmaceutical company that fell on hard times could have sold one of their secure labs.  No reason some of the labs can't be underground for security's sake.

[BoloOfEarth]

What about a mobile base built into the back of an 18 wheeler?  Constantly on the prowl, easy to hide in plain sight...

 

That was exactly the base for the Masters of Speed, a villain group from Palladium Books' Heroes Unlimited.  They had a tandem trailer that they would run in and out of when necessary. 

[dsatow]

Here are some others

 

Missing ship or plane:  Jumbo jet or ship missing at sea.  A supervillain might have taken it and converted it into a mobile base.

Ghost Town: just take over an entire abandoned town.  A bit of a fixer upper but then the villain controls just about everything.

 

There are a lot of factories where its busy but people don't want to go.  What about a base at a sewage treatment plant?

 

 

Want to throw the players really for a loop?

A supervillain themed restaurant or amusement park.  A villain buys the place for a song and runs it well with good food and attractions.  He's constantly expanding.  And most of the strangely dressed people are cosplayers or actors!  Meanwhile, his own activities go noticed but ignored.  That huge cannon?  It's the Death Ray Cafe expansion.

[DShomshak]

A villain-themed restaurant, run by an actual villain (sort of, it's complicated), was central to the latest Astro City storyline.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was thinking more of "places no one knows exist at all" (like the speakeasy) and "places not recognized as places" (the silo/storage tank), but "places believed to be something innocent" certainly has many options.

 

Dean Shomshak

[freakboy6117]

It kind of depends on what you need to do with your base.

 

If you just need a space to plan and store your gear then a squating in a derelict house, a self storage unit or a no tell motel might work.

 

If you need to train a bunch of guys or test high tech weapons your going to need more space and no nosey neighbours an abandoned warehouse or abandoned subway system salt mine or something.

 

If you need access to high tech machinery and utilities then you might need an abandoned utility basement under a power plant or some sort of factory or industrial unit.

 

Breaking bad might be a good example of different wealth levels of starting with a rolling lab in a winnebago then when they encounter a much wealthier villain they work out of the high tech super lab under a laundry complete with secret passage entrance.

 

Unrelated but if I was a super-villain I would build my supervillain lair under a self storage yard it's perfect people visit at all hours and are expected to be loading and unloading stuff people store vehicles etc. Storage units are usually a bit out of the way so not many neighbours to spot noises etc.

 

The other benefit is that you can launder money through the business any empty or units you use for nefarious can be used as a means of cleaning your ill-gotten gains.

[freakboy6117]

Another under appreciated location for evil would be a business or industrial Park slap up a sign saying something like

 

innovative solutions

 

providing excellence

 

With a vague logo and you could pretty much do what ever you wanted.

 

if anyone asks you are a supplier of specialists parts and equipment for certain government and defence industry requirements and everything is very hush hush don't want to go to jail for espionage etc.

 

One of my heroes has an interesting take on the base he has several autonomous vans with smart paint to change their appearance each Van contains a surveillance suite a small armoury with replacement costumes and Equipment and his highly flashy motor bike he uses while in action.

 

When he needs to escape pursuit he can simply drive inside one of the vans and vanish amongst every other transit on the road. His main base is under a run down appliance repair shop.

 

Where the noise of his high tech lab will be unnoticed as will deliveries of electronics and high power consumption.

[Christopher R Taylor]

You know... now that you bring this up, honestly I think there's a market for a villain lair pdf at least.  Some classics (the one under the city in the abandoned subway lines - and yes, they exist in NYC - the volcano, the orbital base, the skyscraper businessman, the castle, the embassy-dwelling foreign dignitary, etc.  Plus you could have some really wild ones that aren't typical, and then some scenario ideas for each base.  Nothing too big or expensive, but something that makes it quick and easy for GM's to just drop into their game.

[bluesguy]

In Minneapolis there are a lot of office buildings with limited or no occupancy.  It wouldn't be hard to rent an entire floor or two.  And office buildings have loading docks and freight elevators.

[Marcus Impudite]

Assuming the villain has Life Support against radiation, Chernobyl might be worth considering...

[bluesguy]

Also I have noticed most large metro locations have large 'storage warehouse' rental facilities.  Why not buy one of them, use a small portion for criminals to use to help pay for upkeep and use the rest for your supervillain lair.  There is usually plenty of traffic in and out of a place like that.  It might have guards, fence and security cameras.

[DShomshak]

Speaking of business/industrial parks, I recently read an article saying that many are in trouble. The Millennial-led migration back to the cities brings a corresponding migration of business centers -- people don't want to commute out to the boonies. So, many of these parks are hungry for occupants and the buildings are going cheap. (Also, many of the structures built in the boom of the '80s-'90s are showing their age, so a new owner rebuilding a structure for new uses would attract no attention... except maybe from business journalists wanting to write a puff piece about economic revival.)

 

Dean Shomshak

[dsatow]

One I just thought of would be a quarry.  You could bury some of the building and camouflage the entrance.  Plenty of trucks going in and out and people bustling about.

[Marcus Impudite]

In Minneapolis there are a lot of office buildings with limited or no occupancy.  It wouldn't be hard to rent an entire floor or two.  And office buildings have loading docks and freight elevators.

And if the rest of the building is occupied by legitimate businesses, the authorities and the heroes can't just go in guns blazing without it ending in tragedy.

[freakboy6117]

One possibility for a wealthier villain would be to own a office building and structure your equipment in such a quick you can quickly relocate to another floor.

 

When the super heroes return with the police to shut down the lab they escaped from you will find it empty and

Applied Dynamics just a disposable front no one would think to check 3 floors down where Dynamic Applications is processing weekly internal employee net earning reports for a number of Midwestern sales companies. (dynamic applications are very serious about Giving you an accurate picture of your W.I.E.N.E.Rs, Why does everyone laugh when we say that.) and no one asks questions about why the back offices are sound proofed and the people who work there don't come to the pot luck or Friday night drinks at Applebee's.

[Hawknight]

Let's not forget about Springfield (not the Simpsons but G.I.Joe) a small town with values run by the biggest terrorist organization in the world. Little league base ball, charity bake sales, no crime and everyone ready for Cobra Commander's call to arms. An agent family in every home with secret armories and garages throughout the town

[assault]

Let's not forget about Springfield (not the Simpsons but G.I.Joe) a small town with values run by the biggest terrorist organization in the world. Little league base ball, charity bake sales, no crime and everyone ready for Cobra Commander's call to arms. An agent family in every home with secret armories and garages throughout the town

 

The Simpsons version of this would be awesome.

 

Of course there was the episode with Hank Scorpio.

[assault]

Thinking some more:

 

A villain that can't afford a decent base probably can't afford a decent death ray* either. Not having the big machines reduces the access problem. That makes the smaller base options more likely.

 

It would also increase the likelihood of fund raising crimes to enable the true Master Plan. This makes superheroic (PC) involvement more likely.

 

 

 

* Or doomsday weapon, giant robot, vehicles...