Scaling Villains?

[SuperBlue]

Okay... I plan on running a home brewed adventure (semi-inspired by the Plot Threads forum) featuing Takofanes. However.. I felt that the Undying King needed to be scaled back so I reduced the power of his Scepter, VPP, and Defenses (and some of the stats)... not to mention set his Scepter and Crown as being Independant Foci.

 

While this namely scaled back his cost, it still left him pretty lethal.

 

Anyone scale back other villains? I've started scaling Eurostar back to fit more within my campaign limits (200/150, 50 AP Limit, 10 DC limit, 26 DEF limit).

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Scaling Villains?

 

Well, I did experiment with scaling back Dr. Destroyer for one game. I fitted both his Primary and Secondary Weapons arrays into one 150-pt. Multipower; made his Force Barrier Generator part of his Gadget Pool; and eliminated his Ranged Skill Levels. I ran him against a group of six 500-pt. PCs with attacks of 15-16 DCs.

 

The heroes were merely soundly beaten instead of slaughtered.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: Scaling Villains?

 

Well, I did experiment with scaling back Dr. Destroyer for one game. I fitted both his Primary and Secondary Weapons arrays into one 150-pt. Multipower; made his Force Barrier Generator part of his Gadget Pool; and eliminated his Ranged Skill Levels. I ran him against a group of six 500-pt. PCs with attacks of 15-16 DCs.

 

The heroes were merely soundly beaten instead of slaughtered.

 

Well....beyond a few of the Master Villains....namely Doc Destroyer and Takofanes....most Hero villains don't need to be scaled back. I'd say...more often...they need to be tougher. I usually don't have to do much "tweaking". Most of my scaling....in either direction....comes from adapting 4th edition characters.

 

Rob

[Kirby]

Re: Scaling Villains?

 

However.. I felt that the Undying King needed to be scaled back....

Absolutely! That thing is just grossly powerful. Good for you, I say. Or should that read: "Good for you," I say.(?)

 

Yes, I've scaled back a few villains, but it was more for subplot reasons. The most recent example I can think of was scaling back the 4E Viperia. When the PCs first encountered her, she had been *released* from Malachite. (Basically, she was a preteen child in an 18-year-old body and Malachite didn't want her anymore.) She still had more points than the two characters that showed, though it was really more of a parlay situation than melee. The players actually did good conversation and nearly convinced her to let them help her in her panicked state. Unfortunately, when the police sirens came close, she asked if they could protect her and prevent her from going to jail. They were starting off by saying something like "No, but we can talk to the police for you and help you out," but she only heard the "No," failed her EGO check and fled.

 

In essence, I generally keep the villains as written with minor changes (usually skills) to make them fit. Of course, I give them experience for each visit.

 

...most Hero villains don't need to be scaled back. I'd say...more often...they need to be tougher.

Ack! Say it isn't so! In my experience, there have been very few villains I used that I thought were a bit weaker than their write-up (usually a lack of skills, combat or otherwise) but essentially liked how they were. I've been in games where the GMs have effectively used groups such as VIPER, VIPER teams, COIL, Eurostar, Card Shark, Zodiac -even when doing one-on-one fights, as well as the "lower-end" villains like Howler, Icicle, and Ogre. (These were all in 250 pt. games). While I only have VIPER, CKC and Champions Battlegrounds as resources for 5E villains, I have to say that most of them are high powered compared to 350 pt. character games.

 

On the flip side, I even like it when some villains are purposely low-powered, such as Ack-Ack McCleary (sp?), Thunder & Lighting, Bulldozer.

[SuperBlue]

Re: Scaling Villains?

 

Right now I'm in the middle of Scaling back Eurostar (least the ones that need it). I left Fiacho alone.. but I've had to decrease Duvak's STR to 60. I also lowered their Defenses so they should be about equal to my PC's (Comparitively; Duvak would be the toughest so his Defenses would be at the top; the others would be scaled down from that comparitively).

 

Tho something I never fully understood.. Fiacho is a Cyborg sort yet his weapons are a focus? And why is it his "Arm Band" weapons weren't put into a Multipower or Elemental Control (which is what I did) so save on Points? Guess he didn't really need it... but my goodness! If a PC dispells his armband... wouldn't that wipe all of his weapons? *shrug*

[Agent X]

Re: Scaling Villains?

 

I don't tend to scale back published villains. I either don't use them if they are too powerful or I use circumstances to provide an edge for clever players.

 

For example: I might use Takofanes' vulnerabilities and susceptabilities to good effect. Given a good plot to use Takofanes in, it would be possible to arrange for the heroes to have the means to lure Takofanes to a holy site and, heck, possibly have their attacks augmented to qualify as holy in some sense. Sounds cheesy but it could come across as cool with the right plot behind it.