Archetype teams

[Mr. R]

I was musing on this while walking home from school. In the old Hi-tech enemies they had the Destruction Company (all power armour). Sons of the Dragon has the Sons of Doctor Wu (all Martial Artist). Villians Unlimited had the Masters of Speed (all speedsters and the book's only real memorable feature IMHO). I have even seen references on the net to teams that are all Weapon Masters. And let us not forget PSI (all mmmmee....I forgot).

 

SOOOOO.... what is your archetype team? How do they function? Any interesting tidbits?

 

Jerome

[Tamashii2000]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I was musing on this while walking home from school. In the old Hi-tech enemies they had the Destruction Company (all power armour). Sons of the Dragon has the Sons of Doctor Wu (all Martial Artist). Villians Unlimited had the Masters of Speed (all speedsters and the book's only real memorable feature IMHO). I have even seen references on the net to teams that are all Weapon Masters. And let us not forget PSI (all mmmmee....I forgot).

 

SOOOOO.... what is your archetype team? How do they function? Any interesting tidbits?

 

Jerome

 

 

I used to use an all Female terrorist team, althrough they were a mixed batch when it came to power types.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I have an all-female supervillain team, Force 10. All of its members come from countries and/or cultures where women are oppressed and/or second class citizens. Thus far the team consists of:

 

Jokyoshi; a crippled Japanese mentalist and cyberneticist (Team Leader)

Scarab; a Egyptian powered-armor brick and computer expert

l'Lynx; an 800 year old Mayan MA/sorceress

Plasma; a British* noblewoman EB and the team's financier

Jetstream; a Mexican flying EB/speedster

 

Rumors of an as-yet unidentified additional member can be neither confirmed nor denied.

 

* Admittedly the British don't oppress their women; in Plasma's case it was more a matter of familial domination than cultural.

[death tribble]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I freely admit to adopting the Masters of Speed for Champions and some of the Toolmaker's minions.

 

Home grown are Femme Force the all female group. Originally promoting women's rights and oppressing men they have become more like Nether's Pagan group from European enemies.

 

The Pentacle are all evil wizards and witches led by the Warlock, one of the first campaign villains.

 

We had the Four Horsemen of Dr Apocalypse as well.

 

Just now working on the Red Brigade (Etherio's Project 13) and Etherio's Star Chamber. But the latter needs more members.

 

We also had the Chemical Compound. Elements and Compounds based on the Chemical Elements and compounds thereof. The first ones were Carbonate, Hydroman, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Iron and Magnesium.

 

Eventually there were about 4 teams of them.

 

One of them Arsenic was blown apart by one of the heroes and returned as the villainous Master Spite who worked for the Pentacle.

[winterhawk]

Re: Archetype teams

 

Let's see...

 

You forgot the travelling show of all Bricks from Allies, I forgot what they were called.

 

I have an all powered armor strike team that works for ARGENT. Hard Science: Erg, Angstrom, Watt, Kelvin & Tesla.

 

One of the more unusual teams I have are all Patriots per Champions random character generator. The work for DOSPA. Team SPIRIT (Superhuman/Paranormal Interdiction Rescue & Investigation Team): American Dreamer (Mentalist), Lady Eagle (EB), Flagstone (Brick), Red Rocket (Speedster), Burst (PA), Rattler (MA), Yankee Rose (Weaponmaster), Everyman (Metamorph), Twilight (Mystic).

[Lightray]

Re: Archetype teams

 

We also had the Chemical Compound. Elements and Compounds based on the Chemical Elements and compounds thereof. The first ones were Carbonate, Hydroman, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Iron and Magnesium.

 

Eventually there were about 4 teams of them.

 

One of them Arsenic was blown apart by one of the heroes and returned as the villainous Master Spite who worked for the Pentacle.

I had the Elementals. Originally, Dr. Azoth made Mercury, Carbon, Lead, Iron, Chlorine, Uranium.

 

After most of them were captured, Dr. Azoth made Bromine, Iridium, Beryllium, Oxygen. In the jailbreak, Oxygen died when Mercury arranged to have Chlorine throw him into Fire Angel, one of the heroes. The explosion took out most of the heroes, and allowed half the Elementals to escape.

 

When the heroes tracked down the escapees, they met Cadmium and his dogs - made out of radium. Dr. Azoth was busy transmuting herself into a living Philosopher's Stone, but the heroes stopped the process and she's stuck as Adamantium (she'd almost made it to Orichalcum).

 

They're really my campaign's signature villain group.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Archetype teams

 

Let's see...

 

You forgot the travelling show of all Bricks from Allies, I forgot what they were called.

 

The Braverman Foundation, IIRC. They were fun.

 

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Classic Elements team (Air, Earth, Fire, Water), which has been a time-honored classic since the Fantastic Four debuted (Mr. Fantastic=Water, Invisible Woman=Air, Thing=Earth, Human Torch=Fire, duh).

 

The Zodiac is another classic theme to build a team around, of course.

 

And, apparently a common obsession among Hero enthusiasts, I have also had a team of all female supervillains running about, who I dubbed Hell's Belles.

[Pegasus]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I'm currently working on a team of bricks ala Marvel's wrecking Crew, a favorite villain team.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Archetype teams

 

Let's see...

 

All Hallow's Eve, made of monstrous villains: Crypt Thing, Fenris, Patchwork Man, Pumpkin Jack, and Shadowspawn.

 

The Blades, a team of non-powered martial artist assassins specializing in bladed weapons: Katana, Scimitar, and Stiletto.

 

The Card Sharks (Ace of Spades, Blackjack, Dead-Man's Hand, Royal Flush) are a team of playing card-themed villains.

 

The Four Winds: Flurry, Hurricane, Sirocco, and Tornado, each with a variant on "wind powers".

 

Gaea's Children are my "elemental villain" team. Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.

 

The Iron Legion is a team of power-armored mercenaries, each color coded and named after the color of the spectrum they wear. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green... and so on)

 

Playtime (Bongo, Harlequin, Mister Giggles, Slapstick, Toybox, Yo-Yo) is my version of Clown, though much less funny and much more lethal.

 

The Prime Movers (Gyro, Ramjet, Ricochet, and Velocity) are my "speedster only" supervillain team.

 

Prime 8, a team of criminal super-apes: Brass Monkey, Bushbaby, Cyberangutan, Dr. Simian, Howler, Kong, Monkeyshines, and Spider.

 

Red Scare (Hammer, Sickle, Bolshoi, Pravda, Molotov, and Proletariat) are a team of Russian bad guys who want to bring back communism.

 

Roar (Cheetah, Bengal, and Pride) is a trio of cat-themed villains.

 

The Serpent Syndicate is the de riguer snake-based villain team (Diamondback, Naga, Python, Rattlesnake, Sidewinder)

 

Tarot (which is more of a Viper-like criminal organization, but which has a team of high-powered supervillains named after the cards in the Major Arcana).

 

The Web (Black Widow, Funnelweb, Spinnerette, Tarantula) is a band of spider-based villains.

 

The White Knights are a "hero team" sponsored by the KKK and made up of white supremacists who fight crime. (Aryan Nation, The Grand Wizard, The Puritan, Rebel Yell, and Valkyrie)

 

 

And to top it off, I've got two different Psycho-Women teams:

 

The Furies: Angelfish, Gargoyle, Hardbody, Mustang, and Umbra.

 

The Vandolls: Cheesecake, Knockout, Peekaboo, Penny Ante, and Snapdragon

 

 

Yes, I do love theme teams.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Archetype teams

 

You can count me among the all-female team makers. (I wonder what this says about male RPGers.) In my case it was the Eumenides, essentially a harem/bodyguard created and controlled by Malachite, the 4E precursor to Teleios. They were kind of a byproduct of his quest to find the "perfect mate."

 

I've recently been using an original team of mercenary supervillains called the Ravagers, who all come from Latin America and use names and motifs from that region. They work for drug lords, dictators, terrorists, revolutionaries, and anyone else who'll meet their price. They're also inspired by members of a well-known comicbook superhero team, which should be obvious from their names and descriptions:

 

The Cartel Commando, a trained soldier with physical abilities enhanced by a refined derivative of cocaine;

 

The Golden Man, powered-armor wielder;

 

Thunder, avatar of the Inca storm god of the same name;

 

Killer Bee, shrinker with insect powers;

 

Andes, growing brick;

 

Atlatl, skilled at using that traditional Aztec dart-thrower to hurl gimmicked projectiles.

 

In a similar vein, I developed my version of a hero group mentioned in the first edition of Champions Universe (for 4E) called The Right Hand, who protect the Middle East; they are all supposed to be devout Muslims. Again, I used names and motifs from the region:

 

The Mahdi is a figure from Arab folklore who will arise to defend Islam from internal or external threats. My version wields powerful magicks that he believes are a gift from God.

 

Hannibal is a martial artist and master of many weapons, and the team's battle commander.

 

Kaaba is an Arabic word for a square building, and also the site in Mecca housing the sacred Black Stone. This character is the main "brick" for the Right Hand.

 

Hegira refers to the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina; my character is a super-speedster.

 

Shamshir is a curved Oriental sword from which we get the word "scimitar." The hero of that name is cybernetically enhanced with armor and attached bladed and ranged weapons.

 

Sahat is the Moroccan word for the hot southern desert wind which is called a "scirocco" in Italian. Sahat the hero is a flying energy projector with heat-based powers.

 

Sharia means "the way" or "the path," and is the name for the code of Islamic law. The heroine Sharia is a mentalist mind-controller and clairvoyant.

[FTJoshua]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I used PSI for a couple of years with great success; they ended up being blown to bits and almost killing a PC. Good fun.

 

I've also used a traditional Yakuza family quite a bit as a Hunted for one of the PC's.

 

And all of our GMs have used International Mutant Police (IMPs...is that from a comic book?) Which were all normals with high tech weaponry, most notably a high level entangle gun for snaring even the most powerful mutants.

 

But reading the thread, I realize I was lax, and must create a supervillainous female team!

[Mr. R]

Re: Archetype teams

 

Well first off I must thank everyone for their quick responces. However I think some people misinterpreted my question. I asked for archetypes not themes. All female is a theme. All ape is a theme (though I really like the idea of Prime 8). All mutant is a theme.

 

To me all archetype is the following:

All brick-Wrecking Crew

All blaster-?

All mystic-Warlock's crew mentioned above

All mentalist-PSI

All whatever....

 

So far I have seen all speedster mentioned, all power armour, all mentalist, and all mystic. Oh and all patriot.

 

How did those specific teams work out? Good/ Bad? Anything to recommend if we decide to make a similar team of our own?

 

Also lets try to fill in the blanks:

 

All blaster

All martial artist

all weapon master

all metamorphs

all bricks

all gadgeteer

 

Jerome

[McCoy]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I used PSI for a couple of years with great success; they ended up being blown to bits and almost killing a PC. Good fun.

 

I've also used a traditional Yakuza family quite a bit as a Hunted for one of the PC's.

 

And all of our GMs have used International Mutant Police (IMPs...is that from a comic book?) Which were all normals with high tech weaponry, most notably a high level entangle gun for snaring even the most powerful mutants.

 

But reading the thread, I realize I was lax, and must create a supervillainous female team!

Currently using a team from P.S.I., all mentalist (and about half one-trick ponies like Medusa).

 

Several all martial artist superteams.

 

My all female super vilian team were bricks, Martial Artist, and energy projectors, but did share a common theme of being all parapaths ("psychic vampies") stealing END, STUN, and BODY from their victims.

[death tribble]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I did have an all ebergy blast team called Wavelength. Based on anything you could have as waves. The initial members were Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Light, Sound, X-Ray and the boss Doc Spectrum.

 

It works well enough but you have to be careful of those immune to EBs. Or posessing Missile Deflection/Reflection.

 

Wavelength were colour co-ordinated having a sort of powder blue uniform.

Examples are in the Superhero Images thread.

 

I later added Dark Wave, Gravity Wave and Delta (Mind) wave. Which disqualifies the EB side.

 

I also had a power armour group who were members of SPEAR (Super Power Eradication And Research). A sort of Genocide. As they were not mutants they needed armour to give them powers. So you had Cold Lord, Wind Lord, Fire Lord, Radiation Lord and Laser Lord. To name the initial members.

 

On the physical side the Zoo Gang. No EBs. No Mind powers. All martial arts or brick powers. Included the Rhino, Tiger, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Warthog.

It makes life tricky when you could take someone out with an EB but can't.

[Tech]

Re: Archetype teams

 

Sadly, I can't think of even one archetype team of mine. I think I'll steal some ideas from those who've already posted their teams. You guys have some very interesting teams!

[Doug McCrae]

Re: Archetype teams

 

My all female super vilian team were bricks' date=' Martial Artist, and energy projectors, but did share a common theme of being all parapaths ("psychic vampies") stealing END, STUN, and BODY from their victims.[/quote']Parapaths - that's a good word.

[austenandrews]

Re: Archetype teams

 

That's the kind of superteam I prefer. Especially in campy & golden age games. Man, I don't know if I can remember all the ones I've used, though. I remember a team of mountain-based nazis (a skier, a snowy guy, etc.). I think they were the Alpine Invaders. There was a team of stone bricks called the Manoliths (heh). Does an army of teleporting superagents count? I once had a team of uber-Image-style villains, if that counts as a theme, with Thrill Kill Kult music to drive my players mad. I've had sky pirates, robot teams, mummy teams, you name it. I couldn't possibly bring them all to mind.

 

-AA

[st barbara]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I have come up with a couple of "themed teams" in the past, but never used them. First there was "The Pack" who took their names from types of dog ("Wolfhound" : sonic powers, "Bulldog" : brick, "Samoyed" : cold powers, "Terrier": Earth control powers, and "Mongrel" : martial artist with a bad attitude). After that I got much more ambitious and created "The Gemstones" I won't go into these as I have lost my notes concerning them, but there were quite a few of them with powers based on the mystical abilities of various precious and semi-precious stones.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: Archetype teams

 

I had an archetype team that was composed of Powered Armor / Weapons Masters called Heroes of Humanity. Mostly the former (five) and a few of the latter (two). They were one of those teams that fell in between villains and heroes. They were all anti-mutants/paranormals/superhumans, whatever. They frequently fought villains with superpowers, and they frequently fought heroes with superpowers. They were 'good' people, with good values (most had codes against killing (against killing nonsupers), but thought mutants were inhuman and little more than animals, and needed to be exterminated.

 

They were a great group to have around, because one week, they'd interrupt a fight the PCs were winning and help the villain, the next weekend, when the PCs needed a distraction so they could escape from the Pit o' Doom, the villainn would be distracted by Heroes o' Humanity attacking his base and have to run upstairs and fight them off, allowing the PCs to escape.