The House of Lords?

[Bleys]

Im working on the main European Villian Team for our superheroic game.

They are called the House of Lords.

Well, not so much a team. Its more of a social group and Minion swapping club for 600 point, or so, Villians.

 

They need to each be powerful ,ambitious Villians each with access to there own Minions.

Most Important though is that the must be distinctly "European."

 

The only one Im definitly set on ,is an Incarnation of Hern the Hunter that follows a Brittish "Foxhunter" theme.

 

If anyone has any inspired ideas for other european arch-villians then please let me know.

Thanks,

Bleys

[zornwil]

Somebody should be the "nouveau riche" of the group, maybe even Euro-trashy. The Swelegant Swinger?

 

A Count Dracula type from Eastern Europe, the mysterious stranger who doesn't connect too much with the group but is known to have horrible, unGodly powers.

 

A French arty type who sits in his mansion plotting zen-like, affecting the world by moving a puzzle piece. Patient and plodding, but supremely - and serenely - confident.

 

Just a couple quickies...

[Lord Liaden]

Well, a Central European vampire count is practically de rigeur.

 

Let's see: for Italy, how about The Imperator, using powered armor with a Roman motif.

 

For France, Charles Martel ("the Hammer"), brick claiming descent from the famous Frankish hero.

 

For the Netherlands, Van Diemen, bonded to a supernatural demon.

 

For Spain, Flamenco, king of the gypsies of Andalusia and master of their magics.

 

I'll see what else I can think of.

[Killer Shrike]

I would recommend that unless you are going for a high-cheese campy game that you avoid going with a bunch of stereotypical pastiche type characters.

 

I would recommend instead making your characters normally, and then tying them into recent European history. The last 50 years have seen huge fluctuations in Eastern Europe particularly, between WW2, the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the balkanization of many nations. Etc.

[Bleys]

Can Anyone think of the names of any traditional European dragons other than Fafnir or Nessy?

[Ghost who Walks]

Here are some ideas:

~ A french telepath who acts superior to everyone.

 

~A finnish brick named Poro (Reindeer)

 

~Beowulf, as a confused time traveller. You can even giv him an enemy as the dragon which "killed" him

 

~A french mime who is invulnerable to all attacks

 

~A turkish wizard who wants to rebuild the Ottoman empire

 

~As a counter to the "Dracula vampire idea", how about a 500 year old sorceror who is actually Vlad Tepes? His goal is to drive out all moslems from europe and defend Romania, same as its always been.

 

To make a european villain, what I usually do is take some current issue in european politics, and make the villain the representation of that issue.

 

Can Anyone think of the names of any traditional European dragons other than Fafnir or Nessy?

Take a normal word, and translate it into Latin or Greek.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by Bleys

Can Anyone think of the names of any traditional European dragons other than Fafnir or Nessy?

 

Let's see, there are a couple of French ones: the Gargouille (Old French for "throat") was supposed to live in the Seine River - it's one of the sources for the modern word gargoyle. There was also the Tarrasque, but I can't remember all the details for that one offhand.

 

In Scandinavian myth Nidhog was the dragon who gnawed at the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil.

 

If you stretch the definition of "dragon" to included great serpents, then of course you have the Midgard Serpent, Jormungander, and Python who was slain by Apollo at Delphi.

 

There are few other dragons that are part of traditional stories, like the one Beowulf fought and the one that guarded the Golden Fleece, but AFAIK those were never given names.

 

That's all I've got, sorry.

[tomd1969]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

There are few other dragons that are part of traditional stories, like the one Beowulf fought and the one that guarded the Golden Fleece, but AFAIK those were never given names.

 

That's all I've got, sorry. [/b]

 

Actually, the dragon that fought Beowulf was named Grendel. Sorry, Northern European myths and legends is a favorite subject.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by tomd1969

Actually, the dragon that fought Beowulf was named Grendel. Sorry, Northern European myths and legends is a favorite subject.

 

No need to apologize, I'm the same way. Thing is, my understanding of Beowulf's story is that Grendel and the dragon were different beings. Beowulf slew Grendel in his youth, but in later years he faced the dragon in battle, and they killed each other.

 

Here's an online reference source which seems to support my recollection:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/beowulf.html

[tomd1969]

Is there time to amend my original statement?

 

Can I cover by saying that I hadn't actually read the saga in over 15 years and had somehow melded Grendel with the dragon? But then, I had said that Northern European myths were a favorite subject. This sets up a dangerous paradox. Maybe I can then cover this by saying that while I said that it was a favorite subject, I never claimed to be an expert?

 

There; that works.

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Killer Shrike

I would recommend instead making your characters normally, and then tying them into recent European history. The last 50 years have seen huge fluctuations in Eastern Europe particularly, between WW2, the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the balkanization of many nations. Etc.

Bo-o-oring

[Doug McCrae]

The Lord of Misrule - Lord of a small Scottish island which has reverted to paganism. The Lord of Misrule uses pagan magic to overthrow Christianity and bring about a return to the Old Religion.

 

Gallowglass - Irish brick. 'Gallowglass' is an old Irish word for a foot soldier.

 

Thor - Scandinavian scientist who developed a means (possibly cold fusion) to generate vast amounts of electrical power.

 

Sephiroth - Spanish wizard who discovered a horde of kabbalistic lore among Moorish ruins.

 

Cataphract - Greek engineer who built a flying steed and suit of power armour resembling the old armour worn by Byzantine knights.

 

Archer X - Masked descendant of William Tell. Uses high tech arrows.

 

Balor - Leader of a gang of British mutants known as the Fomori. Balor himself has eye-beams like those of the X-Men's Cyclops.

[Tim]

Wow DOug, those where great. Tied into national origon without being trite.

[Doug McCrae]

Rusalka - Genetically engineered Russian merwoman. Her base is at the bottom one of the many lakes in western Russia, near the border with Finland. She's basically like Aquaman/Namor, but evil. Seeks to extend her power by any means necessary.

 

The Spirit of '76 - A spirit of knowledge, whose true name is Aiwass, first contacted by Adam Weishaupt in 1776. Aiwass became head of the Bavarian Illuminati, having wrested control from its master. It has vast occult knowledge and can possess the bodies of others, usually taking over a brick or Superman type.

 

Reynard the Fox - French master criminal. No superpowers but highly skilled and well connected.

 

Iron Claw - In WW2 Captain Karl Schmidt's hand was blown off by a grenade. He replaced it with a hand fashioned out of metal and became known as the Iron Claw. Over time most of his body was replaced by metal parts. Surviving the war, Scmidt escaped to South America from where he hoped to mastermind a Fourth Reich. Old now, most of Iron Claw's remaining flesh has grown weak or decayed. Having returned to Germany he leads diminishing bands of neo-Nazi thugs in pursuit of his mad dreams.

 

Vesuvius - Italian Human Torch

 

The Erl King - A man-eating alien exiled to Earth that has dwelled in the Black Forest in Germany for hundreds of years.

 

The Pile From Prague - A massive junk pile on the outskirts of Prague somehow developed a form of animating intelligence. The Pile is made out of old bits of furniture, cars, factory machines, bricks, concrete, ropes and twine. When interacting with humans it will mimic the human body, forming mouths and faces but its shape seldom remains constant.

 

Experiment 54/45 - A humanoid mass of plasma held in place by magnetic fields. Experiment 54/45 was created by a lab accident at CERN in Switzerland.

 

The Owl - Athenian with enhanced intellect.

[Lord Liaden]

Doug, I think you have the makings of a new European Enemies here, only done right this time. Mind you, I'm not sure if all of these would be appropriate for the mastermind villain role that Bleys was looking for, e.g. the "Pile from Prague."

 

BTW, should anyone be interested, "Iron Claw" in German would be Eisernklaue.

[Bleys]

Wow folks, thanks for all the input.

 

Here is an idea for the Frenchmen, Its an amalgamation of the the psychic and artist of thieves ideas.

 

NAME ; Gallery of Dreams(French translation here)

 

POWERS; Pyschic based dream manipulation.

 

MINION METHOD; Transform Sleeping people into

Sleepwalkers (Normal people programed to become his army of art theives when they sleep)

 

MOTIVATION; To replace artistic masterworks with forgeries and put the originals in the hands of the only man on earth who can truly appreciate them, His own.

 

One of his powers is going to be a retrocognition, only thrue dreams, power which requires a artistic masterwork as a focus. He will be psychologically addicted to the use of this power.

 

as long as yall dont mind ill be continuing to post my ideas for discussion.

Please let me know if you think any of them are particularly lame.

[Enforcer84]

Neat thread, now we need writeups....

[Lord Liaden]

"Gallery of Dreams" is an excellent concept, and an original modus operandi. I'd be interested in seeing how you envision his Powers working; e.g. how does he Transform people into Sleepwalkers?

 

BTW in French that would be Galerie des Reves (with a "^" over the first "e" in "reves").

[Solomon]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

Let's see: for Italy, how about The Imperator, using powered armor with a Roman motif.

 

Originally posted by Doug McCrae

Vesuvius - Italian Human Torch

 

Assuming you don't need more than one character from each country, the two above concepts can be easily blended.

 

Volcano was the Roman god of the forge, similar to the Greek god Aephestus. Romans revered him not only as the divine smith and craftsman, but also as a god of fire - he was said to reside in the Vesuvius volcano. If you want to use him as a villain, play up his negative traits. He was ugly, malformed, sometimes jelous of the tipycal beauty of most Greek/Roman gods. This often led him to be spiteful and envious.

 

Fire and metal would be the primary themes for his powers. In his own time, he also was a god of technology, so it would be quite fitting to have him adapt to modern technology. You can have his powers be technological in nature insted of mystical.

 

He had cyclops for servants. If you go with the "modern technology" option, large one-eyed mechanical servants might do the trick.

[Rechan]

The three monsters in the Beowulf story are Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and the Dragon. The Dragon is never named.

 

The Guillotine - A French powersuiter or a Metal-kinetic who's powers focus on projectile saws, blades, and otherwise sharp and nasty things.

 

Zero - A Russian mathmatician who's mind is so advanced, it can compute formuli fast enough that he knows the exact trajectory for richocette, can spot the weakest point in structures for whatever effect, the exact place or way to move to avoid an attack, etc.*

*this could also be a British mastermind by the name of Professor Moriarity.

 

William of Discord - A Victorian noble Gentlema who sold his soul for a comfortable place in Hell, William is now on a vacation from the foul pits. William is the epitome of the English Gentleman: Prim, Proper, Polite, Intellectual, Malicious and Cruel. His powers are demonic, but very subtle and low key - no fire and brimstone, but he is a master manipulator, a corruptor, and a mastermind. He delights in games of cat and mouse, torturing and taking what he wants. His justification, like the Upper Class of old: if he acts like a gentleman, he can do as he wishes.

 

Count Rebellion - A man of the Eastern Block (Romania, the Checks, Hungary, etc) who has the ability to whip people into a frenzied mob, playing with their emotions, and swaying them towards his side, or revolt against order and law.

 

The Black Plague - A creature or person with the power over disease. Likely also rats, parasites or the dead.

 

Hex - An Irishwoman who is the spider of fate's strands. Her mere presence is a sap on the good fortune of others, and she has ways of ruining it all in the most indirect of fashions.

[Bleys]

Attatched is the HD2 file for the 1st draft of Gallery of Dreams,

Please let me know what you think.

 

As an aside, weve been using a condensed skill list(So Characters dont need to spend 150 pts on skills to be diverse)

So if you see a skill that you dont recognize, just figure that it does what you think it does.

 

Im still mulling over all the Suggestions and will be replying to them shortly.

Once again, Thank you all for your input.

[Bleys]

Zero - A Russian mathmatician who's mind is so advanced, it can compute formuli fast enough that he knows the exact trajectory for richocette, can spot the weakest point in structures for whatever effect, the exact place or way to move to avoid an attack, etc.*

 

Thanks Rechan, I realy Like this one, I think he/she might work well as a Protege of Nikola Tesla.

William of Discord also seems pretty neat.

 

Volcano was the Roman god of the forge, similar to the Greek god Aephestus.

 

Unfortionatly our gameworld has already placed most of the Greco-Roman Gods. Most of them are "grey" Corporate characters and members of the Janus Society.

I Would like to use the Cyclops robot idea for the Socity though.

 

Rusalka - Genetically engineered Russian merwoman. Her base is at the bottom one of the many lakes in western Russia, near the border with Finland. She's basically like Aquaman/Namor, but evil. Seeks to extend her power by any means necessary.

 

I realy dig the hell outta this one as well.

My Russian mythology is a little weak but I think Vodyonoi is also a valid name. although that might just be for a male vesion.

 

Iron Claw - In WW2 Captain Karl Schmidt's hand was blown off by a grenade. He replaced it with a hand fashioned out of metal and became known as the Iron Claw. Over time most of his body was replaced by metal parts. Surviving the war, Scmidt escaped to South America from where he hoped to mastermind a Fourth Reich. Old now, most of Iron Claw's remaining flesh has grown weak or decayed. Having returned to Germany he leads diminishing bands of neo-Nazi thugs in pursuit of his mad dreams.

 

The Eisernklaue is Perfect! I needed a face for the 4th Reich and this guys "Dr No" apeal is excellent for it.

(Thanks to Lord Liaden for the translation)

 

The Lord of Misrule - Lord of a small Scottish island which has reverted to paganism. The Lord of Misrule uses pagan magic to overthrow Christianity and bring about a return to the Old Religion.

 

Thats a really fun oppertunity to make Lord Argyle( Christopher lee from "The Wicker man") But I think one of our heros is using that angle.

 

Let's see: for Italy, how about The Imperator, using powered armor with a Roman motif.

 

I like the ideas of a Villian tied to a classical Empire, but my Roman portfolio is a little crowded. So here is an amalgam idea that i think might work.

 

 

NAME; The Macedon

 

POWERS; Super Stratego with Nationalistic Presence Powers

 

MINION METHOD; Loyal Guerillas and low profile military hardware, men and machines capable of waging his shadow war.

 

MOTIVATION; The Macedon, though technically exiled from his country , Views himself as a patriot of Macedonia and the inheritor of Alexander the Greats Legacy.

He uses his powers and influence to destabalize Macedonias

most agressive and hungry neighbors (namley Greece and Turkey) He was also active in the Serbo-Croation conflicts, looking to his homelands "unoficial" Interests.

 

This Guy is PROUD. he will have drawbacks like "Overconfident" and "Enraged when anyone refers to Alexander the Great as a Greek".( I actualy went to school with some folks who had the latter Psych Lim)

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Bleys

Thats a really fun oppertunity to make Lord Argyle( Christopher lee from "The Wicker man") But I think one of our heros is using that angle.

Spot on, Bleys, I was ripping off The Wicker Man. I think Christopher Lee's character was called Lord Somerisle.

[Bleys]

I think Christopher Lee's character was called Lord Somerisle.

 

ah yes, your quite right.