Professor Muerte, I presume?

[Rechan]

Okay, who is Professor Muerte? I've seen two references thus far. So um... who is he? Where can I find info on him? I'm new to Champs, so... help?

[Hermit]

Well, officially, in the 5th Edition Champions Universe... he's dead. He was the leader of a now disbanded group known as Terror Inc. Feurmacher and Scorpia betrayed him and slew him, before going to join Eurostar (a very nasty group in Conquerers, Killers, and Crooks).

 

Now, in 4th Edition, he was very much alive. He was often considered (For good or ill) the "poor man's Dr. Destroyer". His powers were chiefly forcefield related, and their source was his high tech armor . A write up was in the 4th Edition Classic Enemies book.

 

Hope that helps.

[Rechan]

Oh, I have Champs CKC all right. Just wondering... who he was. Mm. Professor Muerte. I like the name.

 

Now, finding the old books would likely be a challange. c.c

[death tribble]

Muerte first appeared in the second Enemy's book (I believe) as the head of Terror Inc. He worshipped Dr Destroyer.

 

His associates were Feur, Scorpia and Giganto. Giganto was a brick. They were based in South America.

[Crimson Arrow]

The group had lots of terrorist agents; it wasn't just a superhuman group. They seemed a little like SPECTRE from the James Bond films in terms of motivation, but maybe that was just me. Mind you they also struck me as having certain similarities with the Fantastic Four.

 

Giganto was (is) a hulking, monstrous Brick, who bore a passing resemblance to a certain blue-eyed hero. Feuermacher is rather like the Human Torch (he used to be simply "Feuer"). The analogy falls down with the other two, although Professor Muerte was a scientist and Scorpia is a woman.

 

death tribble is right; they first appeared in "Enemies 2".

[Uncle Shecky]

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

... Mind you they also struck me as having certain similarities with the Fantastic Four.

 

Giganto was (is) a hulking, monstrous Brick, who bore a passing resemblance to a certain blue-eyed hero. Feuermacher is rather like the Human Torch (he used to be simply "Feuer"). The analogy falls down with the other two, although Professor Muerte was a scientist and Scorpia is a woman.

...

 

Yeah, I always thought they were sort of a "What if Dr. Doom had created the Fantastic Four?" team.

 

In 1st/2nd edition, this was my favorite Champions villain team. I never saw Muerte as "Dr. Destroyer-lite" because there was no Dr. D in our games. In 1st/2nd edition, Dr. D only appeared in a couple of modules, not the Enemies books. We didn't have those modules, so our armored, uber-villain was Muerte.

 

Once I finally saw Dr. D (in the more powerful BBB version) it was clear why Muerte wasn't that impressive to most people. But the Prof still had lots of potential if used properly.

 

And while it's been annouced that Muerte won't be officially returning in any HERO products, Steve Long left enough room in the story of his death to allow for Muerte's return. There are a few threads around here devoted to that subject.

[Lord Liaden]

Hernan Cortez grew up believing he was destined to rule the world. This interest drew him to the colony of expatriat Nazis in Buenos Aires, where he met Dr. Albert Zerstoiten who was just becoming known as "Dr. Destroyer." Hernan came to idolize Zerstoiten, to the point where he set his face on fire to match the injuries the Doctor had received at the end of WW II.

 

Destroyer made Hernan his protege and instructed him in the sciences, but Hernan's own ambitions clashed with his mentor's and he eventually struck out on his own. Creating a suit of powered armor like Destroyer's, Hernan styled himself "Professor Muerte." Deciding that the most effective way to rule was through fear, he created a group of mercenary agents and villains which he called Terror Incorporated, with the intention of causing enough random destruction and slaughter of innocents that the world would have to surrender to him. Terror Inc. would also sometimes hire themselves out to other criminal or terrorist groups as enforcers or assassins. Professor Muerte had an on/off partnership with Dr. Destroyer: they might join forces for some scheme, but eventually clash and part company again.

 

Terror Inc. maintained a secret island base off the coast of Brazil. Scorpia was the trainer and commander of Muerte's agents, and his sometime-lover. She had joined with the intention of taking control of Terror Inc. from the Professor, but apparently grew tired of waiting and persuaded Feurmacher to help her murder him and join her in Eurostar.

[rjcurrie]

If I remember things correctly, the bad Professor and his friends were originally created back in one of the original Enemies books for 2nd edition Champions by Steve Perrin. Steve based them on a set of miniatures created by a company of Heritage which were based on Doom and the Fantastic Four. I believe the original description of them made reference to their long "heritage" of crime.

 

Rod

[Lord Liaden]

I always got a kick out of Pat Zircher's illustration of Prof. Muerte in Classic Enemies, because Muerte's armor had very thick-soled boots that made him look like he was wearing platforms.

 

It would figure that Hernan Cortez was overcompensating for something.

[Tech]

I'm not dead yet...

 

In my campaign, Terror, Inc is very much still alive and kicking. A few minor alterations on the Professor's armor and viola. I stayed with the Enemies II picture, superior to later renditions of the Prof. Heh, it always amazed the players that Giganto could be DCV 3 and still smack high DCV heroes around.

[levi]

I asked Steve Long at the DunDraCon in San Ramon last February about the removal of Professor Muerta and he pointed out to me that the character had not been killed and that some aspiring author could revive him if there was want.

 

In Fuermacher's History it says that he dropped Muerte into the ocean after fusing him into his armor. In the grand tradition of comics, Muerte could rise from the "dead" perhaps more powerful than ever and exact his revenge on Scorpia and Fuermacher. In fact, if those of you who play in my local campaigns are reading this...you can count on it.

[Lord Liaden]

Interesting point, Tom. Although Giganto's 10 DEX was a little too low for my tastes, his massive defenses certainly made him a true damage sponge. For his points (293, which as far as I can tell would be the same in 5E) Giganto is a combat monster. His max OCV of 8 would be all but useless against martial artists and similar speedy types without throwing something large, but most of those could scarcely hurt him anyway. With 35 DEF and 80 STR he's devastating against other bricks, though.

 

OTOH, he's not really a good example of a well-rounded character. To use him as a template he really should have a much broader range of Skills.

[tiger]

When I get my campaign on ther way, just have to find players in hero h*ll, I plan on not only having him come back but having the heroes end up in the middle of his revenge.

 

When he decides the time is right to get his revenge on those who thought they killed him the heroes will have the "great luck" to be fighting them at the time.

[levi]

If I were going to re-vamp Muerte, I would definitely include a re-vamp of Giganto, perhaps making him spikey like a certain nephew of Petunia's was at one point. Or possibly having Muerte attempt to amp up the formula and make Giganto larger (to uh...live up to his name).

[tiger]

Originally posted by levi

If I were going to re-vamp Muerte, I would definitely include a re-vamp of Giganto, perhaps making him spikey like a certain nephew of Petunia's was at one point. Or possibly having Muerte attempt to amp up the formula and make Giganto larger (to uh...live up to his name).

 

 

ssshhhssshshhh...can't give it all away. I plan on adding some other characters that were killed by Hero.

 

Their deaths were inaccurately reported

[Tech]

Originally posted by levi

If I were going to re-vamp Muerte, I would definitely include a re-vamp of Giganto, perhaps making him spikey like a certain nephew of Petunia's was at one point. Or possibly having Muerte attempt to amp up the formula and make Giganto larger (to uh...live up to his name).

 

Giganto with growth would overdo it, IMHO. Ya gotta admit, the picture of Giganto does make him huge in size, compared to a normal human or superhuman. I'd put him in the size group of the Hulk. Fleshing out some skills, adding various new powers, perhaps Power Defense, Flash Defense and/or Lack of Weakness, maybe Superleap and so on can easily make him tougher.

 

Back in Enemies II, I figured out a way to give Giganto 1 more CV level, without increasing the cost. He had:

15 pts - 5 Levels with Punch

9 pts - 3 Levels with Grab

 

I changed them to this:

15 pts - 3 HTH Levels

9 pts - 3 Levels with Punch

[Enforcer84]

I always thought that Prof. Muerte fit the Invisivble woman role. He had the forcefield based technology.

 

btw Giganto has always been one of my favorites. I brought him back as a henchmen for the as yet unnammed Spanish Monarch for my Divine Right organization.

 

Fore the record, Terror Incorporated's name has been appropriated by the German Monarch, Baron Terror.

[Rechan]

Man, Muerte and Giganto sound great. I feel sort've left out, coming in as late as I did. c.c

[Armitage]

Originally posted by Tech

Giganto with growth would overdo it, IMHO. Ya gotta admit, the picture of Giganto does make him huge in size, compared to a normal human or superhuman. I'd put him in the size group of the Hulk.

 

The following cartoon was in "Murphy's Rules".

[Lord Liaden]

Yeah, Classic Enemies lists Giganto's height at 5' 8", but his weight is over 300 lbs.! Guess it depends on your definition of "giganto".

[Starcorp Man]

Yeah I was/am a big fan of the professor myself. I expanded his write up from 4E, since a lot of the Classic Enemies conversions were pretty much skill lighter then I liked.

[Lord Liaden]

You know, for someone who wants a revived Prof. Muerte to renew Terror Inc. without violating current continuity, I believe Pantera and White Flame are currently unemployed...

[Magnetron]

I just thinking that in the CKC Destroyer never scared his face with fire ... if so the Doctor Muerte will lack this feature right now ... or maybe He will lack it before Feurmacheur treatment ...

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by Rechan

Man, Muerte and Giganto sound great. I feel sort've left out, coming in as late as I did. c.c

 

If you'd ever like to see what villains from 4th Edition didn't make it into the new Champions Universe, a copy of the Classic Enemies villain compendium isn't that hard to find. It often turns up used on eBay, the online auction site, usually for less than its cover price. And used game retailers may have copies too - if you'd like I can recommend several good online ones who carry quite a bit of Hero stuff.

 

IMO it's a fine collection of villains, many of whom were never revamped for 5E . Even those who were often have significant differences from their earlier incarnations, which might interest you. And 4E writeups are very easy to convert from.

[Rechan]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

If you'd ever like to see what villains from 4th Edition didn't make it into the new Champions Universe, a copy of the Classic Enemies villain compendium isn't that hard to find. It often turns up used on eBay, the online auction site, usually for less than its cover price. And used game retailers may have copies too - if you'd like I can recommend several good online ones who carry quite a bit of Hero stuff.

 

IMO it's a fine collection of villains, many of whom were never revamped for 5E . Even those who were often have significant differences from their earlier incarnations, which might interest you. And 4E writeups are very easy to convert from.

 

I'd love that. Sure, suggest away! And a collection of villains is good, even if I have a nice amount for my campaign. There's always new campaigns and such.