Plot ideas needed for Dissidents

[BoloOfEarth]

I've decided to introduce the Dissidents to my Champions campaign, set in San Francisco.  The premise of my game world is that it was very similar to our own world until about 3 years ago when an event (called the Paranormal Flux) caused a number of people to get superpowers.  A small number (say, a fraction of 1%) got full suites of powers, while significantly more (say, 5%) got minor powers (5 STR TK) or only one useful power (like, say, 30 STR or x-ray vision).  So now the world is turning more and more into a comic book-style world, with megalomaniacal superhumans trying to carry off plots that are "sheer elegance in their simplicity" (which is often utter BS).

 

The Dissidents were a supervillain team from 4th edition, introduced in the Champions Universe and made up of characters from 1st through 4th edition.  For those who aren't familiar with them:

• Lady Blue (from Classic Enemies) - team co-leader, female; magnetic/force field powers from a self-designed battlesuit make her a flying brick with an energy blast, has Code vs. Killing and a concern for the poor and homeless
• Cold Warrior (from Classic Organizations) - team co-leader, male; cold / ice powers from self-designed battle armor; Russian expatriate; Protects innocents and Hatred of war/military
• Titaness (from 3E Enemies: Villainy Unbound) - female growth brick with limited-use electrical attacks; determined to destroy society
• Dragonfly (from 4E Corebook / BBB) - male scientist transformed into bug-man; has flight and bioelectric sting; metes out "justice" and hates his bug-like appearance
• Mongoose (from Classic Enemies) - male martial artist, fun-loving swashbuckling showoff
• Rainbow Archer (from Classic Enemies) - female speedster archer with trick arrows; has Code vs. Killing and Overconfidence, robs from the rich and gives to the poor... and herself
• Bluejay (from 4E Corebook / BBB) - female with flying battlesuit and sonic powers; has Code vs. Killing and won't endanger innocents; since my world's VIPER-analogue is only just starting out, I removed them from her background and just made her Greedy.
• Flower (from 3E Enemies: Villainy Unbound) - female hippie able to transform into a ball of energy that can fly around bashing targets has Code vs. Killing and an urge to correct every wrong, sees all issues in black and white
• Echo (from 3E Enemies: Villainy Unbound) - female former Russian spy with mental powers based on making the target remember past info or relive past events; mirrors traits/desires of those whose minds she's read

 

To quote from 4th edition CU:  "The Dissidents have begun working together to attack what they see as the real enemies of the world - the military/industrial complex and major business conglomerates. They often clash regarding methods (some are definitively more blood-thirsty and/or careless than others), but all in all, they get along."

 

I'm seeing them as an overly-aggressive socially-conscious group, and already introduced them in the news, having attacked a Northrup Grumman facility where they're building replacements for the Minuteman III ICBMs.  While I could easily go the environmentalist / eco-terrorism route with the Dissidents, I'd rather avoid that as I already have two other supervillain teams that run along those lines.  

 

Other than attacking defense contractors, any idea what other plots I could use the Dissidents for?  I'm trying to think of some multi-part plot but am drawing a blank on anything I haven't done before.  

 

I thought of the Dissidents kidnapping a company's CEO / executives / major stockholders and demanding the company redistribute some wealth to the poor / divest itself of factories in poorer countries who employ children / cease creating dangerous or addictive Product X.  However, the wealth of Code vs. Killings above means they can't exactly threaten to kill their hostages, so what could they threaten them with?

 

Has anyone used the Dissidents or these characters in the past?  If so, what sort of things have you done with them?

 

I'm open to any ideas people might have.

[BoloOfEarth]

In case it helps, the hero player characters in my campaign are:

• Angel - female actual angel with wings and martial arts skills, also Streetwise (and a bit of Wealth, for some strange reason)
• Escudar - male Hispanic martial artist with Code vs. Killing and gets enraged at people harming the weak and innocent; sneaky but no real streetwise or investigative skills yet
• Flux - female interior designer with vibration powers (blasts, flight, vibration-based radar, has Conversation skill
• Jack Frost - the "Face" of the group, a male attention hound with cold/ice powers and major musical talents
• Rainbow Warrior - non-gendered public ID (is on the Board of Supervisors for the city) with light powers (blasts, teleport, invisibility, holograms), has Bureaucratics, Conversaton, Persuasion, and Streetwise skills
• Techtronic - male technopath with cyberkinesis / electrokinetic powers (taser-style Entangle, machine psionics, camera vision), has Electronics and hacking-type skills
• Thumper - male brick able to manipulate his own size and density (so, growth and shrinking, density increase, desolid), very wealthy with minor noncombat skills (Conversation, Stealth) but not much in the investigative field

They have an "office manager" (Wally Burke) who has the metahuman talent that he can frequently (but not always) hear local police band transmissions - from about 15 minutes in the future.  So the team often gets a heads-up when things are going on, with enough notice to hopefully arrive in time to save the day.

[steriaca]

Well, it seems the standard thing is the Decedents decided that someone or something is socially evil and must be taken down a peg in the only way they know how. They slip into the standard "rich is evil, authority is evil" mindset. Many actually want to do the right thing, but what they believe is the right thing is not actually correct. 

 

Feel free to have them go after the PCs for their perceived wealth or authority power. Nothing gets the players attention as being the target.

[Lord Liaden]

Instead of having the Dissidents target the manufacturers of weapons, why not go after the weapons themselves? Sabotage military bases, armories, ammo and fuel dumps, missile silos. Destroy tanks, planes, ships, artillery, infrastructure and communications. Interdict legal shipments of weapons to nations they disapprove of.

 

Nothing will get the attention of any government faster than successfully degrading their military capabilities. Particularly if the Dissidents' actions go international, threatening relations with their allies. And calling on superheroes to take down supervillains would be an appropriate response.

[Opal]

The Dissidents ideals seem a little behind the times.  They could update to anti-globalization, anti-"fascist," de-platforming, defund/de-militarize police...

 

...and some old issues are back on table,  like abortion.

 

They could take down media/internet infrastructure to silence anything from right-wing rallies or a campus lecture, to advertising campaigns.  

 

Several of the heroes could catch their attention.

A real Angel? A woman, at that? What's her stance on abortion?  

Thumpers secret ID could be targeted for kidnapping, blackmail, or some more elaborate plot.

Rainbow Warrior and Escudar might be targeted for recruitment.  You could have the Dissidents (or just some of them) come in and help them against a villain with military or corporate ties or who espouses the right ideology to draw their ire.

[Sundog]

Say you have a bad guy company, something like the old Union Carbide. And they are responsible for an event, like Bhopal. 

Now, have the Dissidents target the company. Kidnap executives and ransom them back to the company, especially in developing countries. Blow up machinery. Sabotage building sites and infrastructure.

Best part? How conflicted the PCs will be about stopping them...

 

[death tribble]

Use various series like NCIS for ideas.

Government ministers gather. Have them embarrassed or make it appear that a foreign government wants them killed/out of power. This works for a lot of officials.

Someone could be carrying sensitive data that leaks from said meetings.

Again this could work with corporations.

Echo could make someone repeat something from their past on television or radio which would embarrass their employers.

Fake News. A government official/corporate executive has something taken from them which embarrasses their employers but it is all a plant. The stuff has been faked but it would take time and effort to prove.

[IndianaJoe3]

The Dissidents look like they're easy to manipulate. Who is pushing their buttons, and why?

[Scott Ruggels]

Based in San Francisco?   Most of the companies in and around San Francisco these days are internet based, biotechnology, or finance, though with a jump in state taxes, the HQs are one by one moving out of state.  Most defense contractors are in Southern California these days. The soft on crime/defund the police city prosecutor has been turned out by the voters last June, but the city is still a bit lawless. The failed theory of restorative Justice has yet to be replaced.

 

The big issues were formerly, anger of city residents at tech companies pushing up rents. Now it’s the current lawlessness, and the lack of sanitation. The population of the city is slowly shrinking, as people are moving to areas with lower taxes, and a working criminal Justice system.

 

California proposition 79, reclassified many crimes as misdemeanors, and misdemeanors as nothing. This has resulted in organized groups of shoplifters and flash mob that empty store shelves with no fear of consequences, and the goods showing up to be sold on eBay, or on spread out blankets near Union Square. This has national chains closing most of their stores, and many Mom & Pop businesses. Can’t think of a place more needing someone to break a few limbs in the service of Justice.  

[BoloOfEarth]

Many thanks, everybody, for lots of great ideas, as well as things to think about overall.

 

FYI, I altered some of the villains' backgrounds and origin stories to fit the whole Paranormal Flux thing, as well as modifying some of their powers somewhat (particularly the 3rd edition characters to bring them up to 6th edition, plus some tweaks to make some of them a bit more useful or rounding them out a bit).  So if I mention something that doesn't match the original character 100%, that's why.

 

Regarding Southern California, I don't want to have too much going on down there that might involve the players' hero team (the Golden Gate Guardians, by the way), since LA has their own NPC hero team (Angel Force), with whom the PC heroes have made an effort to have a pretty good working relationship.  But I can always have goings-on down there appear in the news, with things eventually tying into something going on in the San Francisco area.

 

Since the Guardians have recently gotten official sanctioning from the city of San Francisco, that alone could make them "tools" and targets in the eyes of the Dissidents.  And Rainbow Warrior being on the Board of Supervisors give her extra "stooge" status.

 

I've had the heroes accompany a prisoner transfer from the High Desert State Prison in upstate California down to Alcatraz Prison (it's being turned into a super-prison, and the refurbishment is partially complete).   If the Dissidents attack legal weapon shipments, the government might ask the Guardians to accompany a future weapons shipment, particularly if it's bound for another country and sailing out of San Fran.

 

I didn't think about the Dissidents wanting to recruit any of the heroes but that's a good idea.  (In a past campaign, VIPER tried to recruit one of the PC heroes.  That was a blast to run.)  And with Echo around, the Dissidents can figure out if the hero tries to play along just to set up an ambush.  Could be quite interesting...

 

I like the idea of the Dissidents going after a San Fran-based biotech firm - they have Dragonfly (who was transformed by a lab accident and hates being a 'freak'), Flower (who is convinced she got her powers from a covered-up leak at a nuclear reactor when a different supervillain team stole some fuel rods.  There wasn't a leak, but good luck convincing her of that.  It's all a cover-up!) and Titaness (who lost a lot of friends due to a company dumping toxic waste near their commune).  Maybe target that company, kidnap some scientists and steal equipment / chemicals / other supplies to try and restore Dragonfly and Flower to normal.  (Not sure whether Titaness would want to give up their powers, though.)  If the heroes learn about the toxic waste dumping, that even ties into Sundog's idea of adding some mental conflict for the heroes.

 

For the future, I like DT's idea of mining NCIS for ideas.  It's been a while since I watched the original NCIS, and didn't really follow either NCIS-LA or New Orleans, but I can do some research online.  From what I recall of the original I should be able to find an idea or two to steal borrow with appropriate alterations.

 

As to someone manipulating the Dissidents, I do have some demons who are trying to make life difficult for Angel, and already manipulated another metahuman group (Divine Right, a group of fortunetelling supes, not quite villains but not quite heroes either) into facing off against the Guardians.  Tricking the Dissidents into doing the same sounds like it would be up their alley.

 

Again, thanks, everybody, for some great ideas.