TheSerpent Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Hi there everyone. First let me say that I already post here under another ID. The reason for all the subterfuge is that I want to ask about a new organization without my players seeing it. If they don't know it's me, they won't bother to look at the post. On to the question. I am looking for a replacement for Viper. Not that there is anything wrong with them, especially since the new Viper book came out, but I want to post some things about my campaign on a website I am working on, and I don't want to step on any of DOJ's I.P. And I want to be able to take my snake-based organization in whatever direction I want without worrying about what the "official" version is doing. So, I need something to take the place of Viper/Cobra/Hydra in my campaign, but with a different enough twist to make it my own. Well, when I started working on an acronym, I kept plugging in random words until I got something that sounded pretty good. But it didn't really "mean" anything. (Like most Comic Book Acronyms;)) Then I came up with the following concept. First let me state that I am in no way anti-religious. I consider myself a Christian. This organization is considered to be a group of fanatic nuts that got started around the same group of centuries that the Inquisition and Witch Hunts were considered good ideas too. It is not intended to reflect on any actual Church, Religion, Group, etc. It is no more representative of any real Religion, than Timothy McVeigh is representative of the average American. Now, with no further delay, May I present: S.E.R.P.E.N.T. ! SERPENT is the: "Secular Ecclesiastic Rectification Program Ensuring Natural Transition" What? Let's go through it, shall we? Secular - Not bound by monastic restrictions Ecclesiastic - Consecrated to the service of the church Rectification - The act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake Program - A system of projects or services intended to meet a public need Ensuring - Making sure or certain Natural - Established by moral certainty or conviction Transition - The act of passing from one stage to the next So what does all this add up to? Basically a group of powerful religious figures, in the fairly distant past, grew tired of waiting for the Second Coming of Christ. Since the Second Coming was intended to make all things right, it was the duty, they believed, of good Christians to try to make sure that all things happened in their "due time". But there was a catch. The Second Coming was not supposed to occur until the proper Signs had been observed. But it seemed that something was causing a delay. Surely the world was intended to end exactly 1000 years after the Birth of Christ. No doubt Satan was at work. He was keeping the world just pure enough, just stable enough, that the Signs were not coming to pass. Satan was using God's own ways against the world. He was doing just enough good to prevent the decline that would ultimately lead to Rebirth for mankind. What were Good Men to do? They must fight Satan! They must fight him using his own tools. So they founded an organization that would increase the level of sin and chaos in the world to the point where the Signs could finally come to pass, allowing the world to be Cleansed. They would use Satan's tools against him, tipping the scales in favor of Evil, so that Good could finally triumph! Even though the mission was Holy, it had to be carried out by men who were not members of the Christian clergy. After all, some Clergymen might not be able to recognize the necessity of the Holy Mission. And, if they were exposed, the Christians of the world might be confused by their actions. So, this must be a separate organization of its own. And since they were using Satan's own ways against him, they would take his symbol for their own. They would become Serpent! Their campaign function is much like Viper or any other similar organization. They want to sow chaos, doubt, hatred, fear, etc. They think they are doing it for a "good" reason, but that makes them no less vicious than any other group. They do have some restrictions, that clever players may eventually notice. They will not attack churches of any sort, or religious figures. Some they respect, and some they consider the "false prophets" that are supposed to be building up. This may throw off the players a bit, since they are a "religious" organization that will have absolutely no interaction with "religion" in the campaign world. Okay, let's hear your opinions. The Serpent By the way, if anyone figures out who I actually am, (not really trying to conceal it, other than from a search on "member name") please don't say anything in this thread. Send me a P.M. or an email, and I will be glad to satisfy your curiosity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. If they don't know it's me' date=' they won't bother to look at the post.[/quote'] Your players are weasely scoundrels that only roam these boards to read your posts and sneak a peek on your scenarios? I'm speechless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackerjacker Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. a very interesting idea that I would be interested in seeing how it and it's agents manifest in the modern day times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Interesting idea. Mind if I steal it? This reminds me somewhat of a conspiracy of renegade priests in Barry Sadler's Casca series. If you'll recall the christian legend, Casca was the Roman centurion in charge of crucifying Christ. Jesus cursed him with the words "As you are, so shall you ever be, until my return." Thus Casca is damned to walk the Earth as a soldier until the Second Coming and his eternal torment ends. (The last Casca story I read had him fighting in World War Two.) The renegade priests are trying to hasten Christ's return, so thinking that Jesus will return only when Casca dies they continally try to murder Casca. I wish I could remember the name of this group, but Casca might be an interesting NPC to add to the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Sounds cool. I would definitely keep it where the Holy Mission aspect was only known to the inner circle. But of course there would be a branch that would deal harshly with those that step out of line and harm churches, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSerpent Posted May 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Your players are weasely scoundrels that only roam these boards to read your posts and sneak a peek on your scenarios? I'm speechless. No! My players are just not immune to the temptation of finding out what is going on behind the scenes in the campaign, considering that I can be a bit secretive. And, I want to avoid undue temptation. I am not at all positive that they have ever done such a thing, but I would hate to go through the process of creating a major campaign organization only to have one of my players "accidentally" find out all the details that should come out in the course of play. Actually there is one particular player I would be more concerned about than the others. It may be coincidence, but there have been times when this one person has seemed to have a bit of an "inside track" when it came to things I had posted here. So, why not take precautions? Besides, now that I have a new ID for "campaign sensitve" posts, I won't have to go through this again. The Serpent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. This is, IMHO, a brilliant concept for a villainous organization's motivation. Very cool acronym, too. Also IMHO, you are missing some of the potential of this group if you have them acting too much like a standard superterrorist group. Even though they are disguising their true objectives, it would help their distinctive flavor for some of their schemes to diverge from what might be expected... in a way that allows for perceptive players to connect the dots and ultimately realize what they're dealing with. To that end, I'd suggest something more overt than just avoiding or favoring certain religious figures/churches. Some of their schemes may actually have some basis in religious doctrine, such as attempting to fulfill (or avoid) biblical prophecies. They may also use more overt religious symbolism in some branches of the organization. They could have legitimate front groups, such as political lobbyists, businesses or "cults," ready to take advantage of the chaos SERPENT sows and channel it to further their own ends. There were some discussion threads in the Old Forum Archives which discussed these topics (in fact I thought of them when I read your initial post). May I suggest, first of all, this exploration of religious-based plots as a potential source of ideas: http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/000698.html Here's another snake-themed group suggested by a poster as his own alternative to VIPER, which developed a method of operating that you might be able to adapt for your own group: http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/001810.html This religious-based villain organization has a background that can give SERPENT specific antique roots, agent motifs that might work for you, and the basis for a truly nasty megavillain leader, should you desire one: http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/002165.html I hope there's something there you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSerpent Posted May 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Interesting idea. Mind if I steal it? This reminds me somewhat of a conspiracy of renegade priests in Barry Sadler's Casca series. If you'll recall the christian legend, Casca was the Roman centurion in charge of crucifying Christ. Jesus cursed him with the words "As you are, so shall you ever be, until my return." Thus Casca is damned to walk the Earth as a soldier until the Second Coming and his eternal torment ends. (The last Casca story I read had him fighting in World War Two.) The renegade priests are trying to hasten Christ's return, so thinking that Jesus will return only when Casca dies they continally try to murder Casca. I wish I could remember the name of this group, but Casca might be an interesting NPC to add to the mix. It took a little digging, but that group would be the "Brotherhood of the Lamb". I read a couple of the Casca books a few years ago, but I didn't remember the group until you said something about it. (They were in the last one I read, "Casca The Persian", that's where I dug up the name.) Well, like they say, there is no such thing as an original idea. That must have been rolling around in cold storage in the back of my brain. Now I have to decide if I should put them in to my group or not. I also have to think about the whole "Casca" issue. Oh.well. I guess I shouldn't beat myself up about "originality". I am trying to come up with a replacement for a group (Viper) that Champions "borrowed" from G.I. Joe (Cobra), which "borrowed" them from Marvel (Hydra),which, according to http://www.toonopedia.com/shield.htm was a derivative of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s "T.H.R.U.S.H.", which, as we all know, was a knock off of "S.P.E.C.T.R.E." Sheesh! Anyway, thanks for helping me remember where the seed for this came from, it may help me dig up some more background. TheSerpent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_eagle123 Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. I actually used the organization mentioned in one of Lord Liadon's links, specifically the A.S.P. group. The way I used them was this: Viper already existed in my world, but since the PC's were new to the whole hero'ing thing, they were only aware of them by name. This new group shows up and starts trying to copy their equipment and such, and they ran into them a few times. Eventually it was revealed that there were three parts to the A.S.P. organization (with lots of other little sub-organizations). The three main parts could be described thusly: Military: These were the troops running around in green jumpsuits shooting at our heroes. Their primary goal was to be seen as much as possible and raise as much of a public ruckus as they could. Scientific: Typically clad in blue, this branch wasn't discovered for awhile. They were researching all sorts of genetic mutations and attempting to artifically replicate said mutations. Political: These were politicians planted or subverted to the will of A.S.P. They were put in place to pass certain laws. The whole goal of this organization was this: Founded by a coalition of European CEO's, they wanted to get America to start paying for the repeated rampages of Eurostar. However rather than ask for the money, they decided to make America pay by inserting loopholes into rapidly created laws to battle out of control supers. How do they get these laws passed? By creating monsters and terrorist organizations to trouble the public as much as they can (with as much public destruction as possible). There was also a side A.S.P. organization that dealt out super hero insurance, at a high premium. Between the legal loopholes and the insurance company, more than enough money was being made to the corporations back in Europe that they could make 'Donations' to the European governments and be seen as national heroes for their help. A bit convoluted, but it worked out pretty well once things started falling into place for the heroes. The downfall of ASP was one of the players first real victories in the game, and they're always asking if ASP is coming back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSerpent Posted May 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Sounds cool. I would definitely keep it where the Holy Mission aspect was only known to the inner circle. But of course there would be a branch that would deal harshly with those that step out of line and harm churches' date=' etc...[/quote'] You know, Lemming, I hadn't really thought about that part yet, but that is a really good idea. Occasionally a group of "Specialists" from the central command could show up to "correct" branches that had "gone astray". The Players will be really confused when the group seems to be attacking itself. TheSerpent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSerpent Posted May 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Lord Liaden, Just wanted to say thanks for the great ideas and also for digging up the links. TheSerpent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. You know' date=' Lemming, I hadn't really thought about that part yet, but that is a really good idea. Occasionally a group of "Specialists" from the central command could show up to "correct" branches that had "gone astray". The Players will be really confused when the group seems to be attacking itself.[/quote']Any good evil church group would logically have an Office of the Inquisition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. I would do some research on the Brethren of the Free Spirit and examine how their organization worked in the Middle Ages, to the extent info is available. They were a heretical order within the church that is nothing like what you described but worked certainly covertly in pursuit of their own (bizarre) interpretation of Christianity. As to your organization, sounds outstanding! I've run some things with the Catholic church - one thing I have found handy is that as the Confessional is sacred and unwritten, it is a great way for passing information via sympathetic conspiring priests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Great concept and even the acronym leaves wide open to change their ideals and tactics to suit any changes required by the game plot. Any group engaged in furthering the "true" goals in the face of "corrupted" mainstream church or societal "heresies" will have infiltrated all levels of society, of course. Any parallel with the Illuminati would be purely coincidental, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted May 15, 2004 Report Share Posted May 15, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. Any good evil church group would logically have an Office of the Inquisition. LMAO!!! "good evil church group"... Please don't hurt me like that again!... John T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted May 15, 2004 Report Share Posted May 15, 2004 Re: New Villain Organization. Please comment. And, I want to avoid undue temptation. This from a guy who calls himself the Serpent? Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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