Suggestions for a "Shadow" villain

[Tech]

I have a villain who's a living shadow now due to a scientific accident. I'm pulling the supervillain out of retirement & I'm looking to update him now. Other than Desolidification and a cold HA, any other suggestions?

 

As for his PD & ED, I've gone back and forth: on one hand a shadow doesn't have much substance so originally I opted for a low PD but high ED. On the other hand, a shadow can't really be hit so a high PD (or Damage Reduction) may be better with a lower ED since energy can hit him. Sooooo, what do you think?

[Lord Liaden]

Well, just glancing through the Champions Powers book (which I highly recommend for character build inspiration and speedup) at the "Darkness Powers" category, I see a variety of projected Darkness builds; a brace of ranged damaging attacks including those that blind a target or render them unconscious; bindings or barriers of "solid shadow"; induced fear in someone touched by the darkness; becoming Invisible when in shadows; Teleporting between areas of shadow; and Clairsentience out of areas in darkness.

[steriaca]

Depends on what you want.

 

I thought up a villain who is basically a 'shadow boxer's. Boxing martial arts, extra limbs (the shadow torso, arms, hands, and head) and stretching. The special effects are that he has total control over his own shadow. He can't separate his shadow from himself yet, but his shadow can be semi-solid.

[Ninja-Bear]

I’ve used teleportation. But I didn’t have it only through shadows.

[Badger]

I know Marcus Impudite had created a Shadow Lord villain few years ago.  Might can search for that thread for ideas

[steriaca]

Marvel Comics has this thing called the Darkforce. Mostly it is a thing made out of "solid darkness". Blackout, Cloak, and Shroud can tap into this dimension and pull stuff out of it and shape it. That is where most "solid darkness" stuff comes from.

[Lord Liaden]

13 hours ago, Tech said:

As for his PD & ED, I've gone back and forth: on one hand a shadow doesn't have much substance so originally I opted for a low PD but high ED. On the other hand, a shadow can't really be hit so a high PD (or Damage Reduction) may be better with a lower ED since energy can hit him. Sooooo, what do you think?

 

Personally I'd go with solid Defenses for both Physical and Energy (probably incorporating Damage Reduction or Negation), but add a Vulnerability to Light-based attacks, which is pretty traditional for Darkness characters.

 

42 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Marvel Comics has this thing called the Darkforce. Mostly it is a thing made out of "solid darkness". Blackout, Cloak, and Shroud can tap into this dimension and pull stuff out of it and shape it. That is where most "solid darkness" stuff comes from.

 

FWIW the official Champions Universe has something similar. In the universe containing the Earthlike world Lythrum, its "dark matter" appears to be naturally infused with magic, which the Lythrumans can utilize in many ways. Both their magicians and even their scientists draw upon this dark matter, as Lythruman technology incorporates magic in ways Terrestrial science doesn't understand. The superhero Black Rose, leader of the Sentinels team, who is half-Lythruman, can pull that dark matter from Lythrum and shape it for several effects, with the appearance of "solid darkness."

 

Lythrum's dark power can have a "spiritually corrosive" effect on its users, gradually turning them evil, but people of strong will can resist that effect. (Black Rose is written up in Champions Universe: News Of The World, which first describes Lythrum; but Lythrum is further defined in Book Of The Empress.)

 

Other CU characters with Darkness powers are purely magical/spiritual, but at least one mutant also displays such abilities, so their SFX can vary.

[Ninja-Bear]

6 hours ago, steriaca said:

Marvel Comics has this thing called the Darkforce. Mostly it is a thing made out of "solid darkness". Blackout, Cloak, and Shroud can tap into this dimension and pull stuff out of it and shape it. That is where most "solid darkness" stuff comes from.

Don’t forget Darkon! From Enemies III! He has Blast, flash, darkness and force wall.

[Sketchpad]

I always lean a bit on fear powers when it comes to shadows. Maybe a PRE boost, or Mind Control (Fear Only) that's linked to Darkness. I've used an EGO Drain in the past that represents the shadows bringing out doubt and despair in a target as well. One of my favorite darkness abilities is using Mind Control (Based on CON) to bring out the darkness in a target. 

[steriaca]

Marvel also has the Lightforce Dimension (see Dagger from Cloak and Dagger, and Mister Negative who uses both Lightforce and Darkforce).

[BoloOfEarth]

A hero PC in a past campaign had darkness powers.  He got a lot of use of his "Shadow Sight" (Clairsentience Sight and Hearing, only from POV of shadows).  Combine that with Teleport only through shadows, and you can spy on and then get into lots of places.  For a villain, it can explain him knowing a lot of stuff and getting into locked rooms, etc.

 

His defenses included 4 levels of Damage Negation - SFW was shunting part or all of the attack into the "shadow dimension".  Of course, the Damage Negation didn't affect light-based attacks.

 

The player based some of his powers on the shadows of others.  For instance, he had a Shadow Rend (RKA AVAD vs. Power Defense) where he attacks the target's shadow and the target takes the damage.  He also had Multiform with a Shadow Mimic form that made him look like a shadow of someone else, with a VPP to mimic that person's powers. 

 

He eventually ran into a villain who had similar powers - plus the ability to Summon a shadow creature to do his bidding.  I highly suggest such a thing for your villain, Tech - they make great throw-away minions, and you can have them be as creepy as you want.

[Sundog]

I think the obvious way would be Desolid, affected by light-based attacks, or even with the limitation doesn't work in bright light. Make him a literal shadow, without substance.

 

[Ninja-Bear]

@BoloOfEarth I remember watching (on YouTube) an episode of the ‘60’s Spider-Man cartoon. In it there was a scientist villain. His invention was able to make shadows come to life and he had animal shadows attack Spider-Man.

[Sketchpad]

23 hours ago, BoloOfEarth said:

The player based some of his powers on the shadows of others.  For instance, he had a Shadow Rend (RKA AVAD vs. Power Defense) where he attacks the target's shadow and the target takes the damage.  He also had Multiform with a Shadow Mimic form that made him look like a shadow of someone else, with a VPP to mimic that person's powers. 

 

I had a villain who used the shadows of others as an attack. The shadow would reach up, grab the person casting it, and pull it into the shadow, causing a damaging effect that was AVLD (Light/Shadow-based Defenses). The person would pop out of a random shadow, which added a limited teleportation effect to it. Made the villain quite creepy at times.

[unclevlad]

Why does he really need PD and ED?  He's desolid.  Doesn't Protect Against Damage isn't a favorite of mine because you still have to buy Affects Physical World on everything, or go with Selective Desolid, which is VERY expensive.  And you're presumably going with Always On, so an additional -1 limitation doesn't save you that much.  The vulnerability would be to Light attacks.

 

Something that's really rude...a blackout, sense denial power defined as a Mental Entangle.  Did a somewhat similar character...wasn't a full-time shadow, but his 'hero form' was that way.  The SFX are more "you feel Death's Hand on you" than pure shadow but hey...

Multipower, 56-point reserve,  (56 Active Points); all slots Linked (Energy Shift; -1/2) 
Whisper of the Grave: Entangle 1d6, 1 PD/1 ED (Mental Defense (+10 Def)), Mental Paralysis Entangle (+1 1/4) (56 Active Points); Requires A Roll (Skill roll; -1/2) 
Touch of the Grave: HA +9d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (56 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Reduced Penetration (-1/4) [Notes: vs. ED, cold based]
Death's Touch: HA +6d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Power Defense; All Or Nothing; +1/2) (52 Active Points); HA (-1/4)
Death's Grasp: HA +4d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Power Defense; All Or Nothing; +1/2), Does BODY (+1) (55 Active Points); HA (-1/4) 

 

Note that, as written, that mental Entangle is VERY, VERY nasty.  It is NOT Dismissible...which is actually my bad cuz this is supposed to be for a hero-type.  But for a villain, hey, leave it as is.  Breaking it is HARD for most.

 

The AVADs can also be taken straight across.  I use it to represent forcing the target's body to shift...call it, if you will, Desolid, usable as attack, with the effect of a lot of stun.  The justification works great for teleporters, extra dim movement, desolid, etc.  Alternately, NND vs LS: Cold.

[Tech]

Thanks for the various suggestions. I am not going to make him always Desolid, which is a nuisance not just to the players but to me.