Black Mask Trophy Room Contents

[Jhamin]

As my Teen Champions game progresses, the PCs have been invited to spend a few days at the Black Mask's family ranch in Montana.  (The PCs have "befriended" Black Mask X's daughter at school and Jennifer Ward insists they spend some time there over spring break.  Son of El Espectro is also coming...)

 

To set some context, I've advanced the timeline a bit in my universe.  Jenifer Ward has retired and passed the cowl to the current Black Mask Amy Jo Woods (her former sidekick Silhouette).  David Ward has passed on and the family Ranch is being cared for by Sharon Ward (David's Sister) while Jennifer and her Husband continue to live in Vibora Bay.

 

So I'm thinking the Ranch was originally purchased by Marvin Carr (Black Mask VI) in the 1890s and has been in the Black Mask "Family" ever since.  Something big and rambling "up above" with a hidden crime fighter's lair somewhere protected from casual visitors.  As it hasn't been actively used as a Black Mask HQ for 100 years, the stuff there is mostly unused, but I'd love to put together an old-school crime fighter "trophy room" for it.  Something that would have originally dated to Black Mask VI, but that has been added too since then by his successors (including Jennifer and probably Amy Jo).  I'm looking for the Black Mask's equivalent to Batman's Giant Penny!  I'm pretty sure nothing has ever been done about this officially, so I'm looking at this as a brainstorming exercise.

 

As the only Black Mask other than Jennifer who is detailed officially is Jeffrey Ward, Black Mask VIII from WWII I'm thinking he would have added a piece of a Martian Tripod and several trophies from Nazi Supervillains from his time in the Defenders of Justice.

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Edited June 10, 2023 by Jhamin

[Lord Liaden]

Well, the Fifth Edition of Champions Universe did detail, and provide a character sheet for, John Ward, the very first Black Mask who fought in America's revolutionary war, so it might be nice to have some mementos from him preserved by the Ward family. Black Mask I carried a rapier, a whip, and a pair of customized matchlock pistols. I'm thinking the pistols would make a particularly nice trophy. Or, since Ward worked alongside many American heroes of the war (although they never knew his true identity), he might have been given a gift of thanks, such as a silver trophy crafted by Paul Revere.

 

During the American Civil War the fourth Black Mask, Matthew Ward, fought on the Union side, often against a similar masked combatant for the Confederates, the Grey Ghost; although their clashes were never conclusive. Matthew might have picked up a piece of the Grey Ghost's costume, such as a hat, and kept it out of respect for his foe.

 

The origin of the current official Champions villain, the vampire called Stalker (Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains) is that he was "turned" in 1878 by a vamp named Carraway, an enemy of Black Mask VI, as one of a pack Carraway created to attack Black Mask. Stalker escaped being staked and burned by Black Mask like Carraway and the rest of the pack. Perhaps Marvin Carr kept some reminder of Carraway, e.g. the stake he used on him, or even his fangs pulled from his skull before the rest of his body was burned. (That last might be potentially dangerous, as it's possible Carraway could be regenerated even from such a small body part.)

[Lord Liaden]

During WW II Black Mask VIII worked with the Freedom Battalion, the non-powered mystery men who fought behind enemy lines. One of his comrades was Bulletproof, who wore a costume of an experimental, highly-resistant fabric. Bulletproof abandoned that protective suit after he gained true superpowers, but Jeffrey Ward might have wanted to preserve it, particularly after his friend was believed to have been killed in 1947. (Someone might be interested in taking up his legacy?,,,)

 

Regarding souvenirs from Axis supers of WW II, I would suggest at least one part of an Eisenmensch powered-armor suit, e.g. a helmet or gauntlet with weapon mount. If it was completely non-functional (very possible by the end of the war), Ward might have gotten away with an entire suit, or assembled it over time. Not quite a giant penny, but not bad.

 

Another striking trophy would be the massively horned helmet worn by Der Rind. Distinctive but not otherwise special, so there was probably no bar to private ownership of it.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[Lord Liaden]

Oh, since we're on a ranch, here's a precedent for you: the famous "singing cowboy" movie/TV star Roy Rogers had his equally famous horse, Trigger, professionally taxidermied after death and mounted in the museum dedicated to the memorabilia of Rogers' career.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[death tribble]

Or Gene Autry. He was a singing cowboy as well. And underneath his ranch where he had to sing each day to keep the contract and the ranch was the hidden realm of Murania. This was scientifically more advanced than the surface world. A bunch of scientists are trying to find Murania and are trying to get rid of Gene so they can look for the realm in peace. It is currently on TV in Britain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Empire

 

One thing you could have is a cowboy hat which belonged to a villain or a hero. The origin is now unknown.

You could have something related to giant wildlife as the 50s were the heyday of monster movies like Them!, It Came from Beneath The Sea and the Fly.

And alien life for the same reason as the first two Quatermass films had alien life trying to get to earth and take over (unlike the buried spaceship of Quatermass III aka Quatermass and the Pit) but you also had The Thing from Another World, The Blob and 20 Million Miles to Earth

[Scott Ruggels]

I would think there would be Confederate officer's sword. Proclamations and certificates signed by Abraham Lincoln, Regimental battle flags, A deck gun pulled off a WW1 U-Boat, The rudder panel from a unidentified air craft. A set of Hanafuna (sic) cards liberated from the San Francisco cell of Japanese spies around the time of Pearl harbor, make up/ disguise kit from a female German Saboteur, experimental helmet for a supersonic flyer.  Sorry, no giant pennies.

[steriaca]

Humm...

 

Paintings of various famous masked cowboy heroes, i.e. The Lone Ranger, and a silver bullet. Of course there will be more painting of other western heroes, Tonto, Bat Masterson, the Mavrick brothers and there English cousin Beau, Bell Star, my own creation for Western Champions by the name of...drat I forgot what I called her...

 

...I remember now. Lady Buckskin.

Edited June 11, 2023 by steriaca

[Jhamin]

These are all great suggestions, please keep them coming!

(I had another "Black Mask" question, but I think I'll start a different thread with it)

Edited June 11, 2023 by Jhamin

[Lord Liaden]

All right, let's look at what was going on in the real world, and on Champions Earth, in those eras. Black Mask II would have been active throughout the Napoleonic Wars between France and Britain, which were mainly focused on Europe but also had significant spillover in the Americas, culminating in the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.

 

Per Arcane Adversaries, and now Champions Villains Volume Two, the late Eighteenth Century was when many of the occult conspirators of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon established themselves in America to escape the French Revolution, and began their conflict with the nascent Trismegistus Council.

 

The late Nineteenth Century was an era of remarkable works of adventure fiction, featuring the supernatural and/or "weird science." Think of the stories of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, H. Rider Haggard, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and others. Plenty of adventure ideas there; and many of their fictional characters actually existed in the CU. (See the history section in Champions Universe.)

 

Moreover, per VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent, it was also the era when the Unholy Order of the Grand Reptile, direct predecessor to VIPER, was covertly accumulating financial and political power. They intensively searched for the location of the serpent-god Nama and relics derived from him. The Order also patronized radical scientists such as the original Dr. Moreau; the eccentric clockwork roboticist Professor Myron Klaus; and Victor Vulcaine, who is to the field of sonics what Nikola Tesla is popularly believed to be to electronics.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[DShomshak]

The Black Mask(s) of the 1920s and '30s would surely have clashed with sinister cults. Some cult leaders would use advanced (for the time) science and hypnosis to feign supernatural powers; others might have had real magic. The trophy room includes at least one set of hooded robes the Black Mask used to infiltrate a cult ceremony, and perhaps a few items of ritual paraphernalia such as an ornate dagger or a grotesque little idol. Possibly confiscated because they *did* have real power that the Black Mask didn't want falling into the wrong hands, whether amitious would-be magicians or disbelievers who wouldn't understand the danger. But they've sat in the trophy case for nearly 100 years. Time enough, perhaps, for the magic to recharge and reach out to ensnare an unwary guest or make the warning label disappear...

 

Dean Shomshak

[DShomshak]

Trophies of the giant penny ilk would come from battles against non-powered Theme Villains of the 1960s and '70s, though I suppose they could have continued in the CU. They did in my campaign, resulting in the Avant Guard team recieving these "trophies" for their base (salvaged from the bases of dead or captured villains by the professional HQ construction firm called the Landlady, which wil work for anyone):

 

* The whiteboard of the Coach of Crime, still marked with the "game plan" for his last heist, and a few team jerseys from his thug minions.

 

*A fake marble bust of Marcus Aurelius, with hidden compartment for knockout gas. Used by Caesar, a Classics professor who went mad and bacame a Master Criminal with a Roman theme.

 

* Costume of the Rhinestone Cowboy, a villain of the 1970s. Shockingly gaudy, even with the laser jewels removed.

 

* Oversized blue-ring octopus in a jar of formaldehyde, bred by a new-forgotten criminal biologist.

 

* A giant credit card. C'mon, pennies aren't worth diddly anymore.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, DShomshak said:

The Black Mask(s) of the 1920s and '30s would surely have clashed with sinister cults. Some cult leaders would use advanced (for the time) science and hypnosis to feign supernatural powers; others might have had real magic. The trophy room includes at least one set of hooded robes the Black Mask used to infiltrate a cult ceremony, and perhaps a few items of ritual paraphernalia such as an ornate dagger or a grotesque little idol. Possibly confiscated because they *did* have real power that the Black Mask didn't want falling into the wrong hands, whether amitious would-be magicians or disbelievers who wouldn't understand the danger. But they've sat in the trophy case for nearly 100 years. Time enough, perhaps, for the magic to recharge and reach out to ensnare an unwary guest or make the warning label disappear...

 

Dean Shomshak

 

DEMON started in the 1920s, so they would fit that role admirably. D:SOD has a section on the activities of the cult during that era, including a number of plot seeds.

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, DShomshak said:

Trophies of the giant penny ilk would come from battles against non-powered Theme Villains of the 1960s and '70s, though I suppose they could have continued in the CU.

 

 

Champions Universe throws out a bunch of names of villains who appeared during the 1960s, only a couple of whom have been given any background at all. P. 13 does say that some of these villains were "comically inept or bent only on humiliating their foe, others deadly serious and menaces to all of society." The names could be used as the basis for theme villains of someone's devising, part of Black Mask's rogues gallery.

 

The names of unidentified villains are: the Gargoyle, Rockslide, Bookworm, Humbug, Cyrax the Conqueror, the Guru, the Mocker, Jack Flash, Typhoon, and Plague (not the current official villain by that name). Several of those sound like they would fit the desired category.
 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[Hermit]

On 6/11/2023 at 2:24 PM, Scott Ruggels said:

I would think there would be Confederate officer's sword. Proclamations and certificates signed by Abraham Lincoln, Regimental battle flags, A deck gun pulled off a WW1 U-Boat, The rudder panel from a unidentified air craft. A set of Hanafuna (sic) cards liberated from the San Francisco cell of Japanese spies around the time of Pearl harbor, make up/ disguise kit from a female German Saboteur, experimental helmet for a supersonic flyer.  Sorry, no giant pennies.

 

The timeline in 6th Ed Champions Universe has this : 1861-1865: The American Civil War. Matthew Ward, as Black Mask IV, fights alongside the Northern Army, while the mysterious Grey Ghost aids the Confederates."

 

So I would suggest the Grey Ghost's hood and sabre

[Lord Liaden]

Earlier on the thread I suggested the Grey Ghost's hat, something that could have been casually lost. Hood and saber imply that Black Mask beat him, and their conflicts are described as "inconclusive."

[Doc Democracy]

A huge skeletal claw, reputedly from a giant Japanese lizard.

[Hermit]

On 6/17/2023 at 4:20 PM, Lord Liaden said:

Earlier on the thread I suggested the Grey Ghost's hat, something that could have been casually lost. Hood and saber imply that Black Mask beat him, and their conflicts are described as "inconclusive."

Ah, sorry about that, LL! I did indeed miss that