Powerful Mystic Villains- Ideas?

[Hermit]

On another thread, Agent X brought up an interesting (to me) comment. I hope he doesn't mind me taking this and running with it for a new thread.

 

Originally posted by Agent X

Frankly, powerful mystical villains seems to be a weak spot for Champions. They come off pretty plain jane, vanilla - nowhere near as stylish as Baron Mordo and Dormammu.

 

Now, we could debate this one, but I don't wanna... what I want to do is ask the forumites to step up to the plate and present what they think would be stylish, exciting, powerful mystical villains. Either just the concept, or the whole write up, whatever you're willing to do.

 

In exchange, you will recieve the never coveted Nada Prize; Your only reward the possible accolades of your peers and the sense of a job well done (and maybe a smug satisfaction that your imaginings will soon be infecting other campaigns not your own).

 

The guidelines (because if we had rules you guys might want more than a Nada Prize) I would suggest are as follows...

 

1. Mystic villain must be powerful, able to threaten a city if not a nation or world.

2. Try not to overlap with existing characters too much.

3. Don't just bring back a character from the ealier Editions, however cool he/she/it was.

4. He can not be named "Fru Fru, the fallen Bunny Shaman"

 

Have fun...

[Klytus]

I was thinking about this, but then I realized that we already built the coolest (IMHO) mystical villain of all on this board. Let me jog your colelctive memories:

 

Torquemada.

[Susano]

In my Silent Mobius Zeta game, I used a Chinese dragon as a mystic villian. Most everyone saw only the human size -- which was a tall, dark, Chinese gentlemen with long tapering fingers.

 

Only once did our heroes meet the dragonas a dragon -- in the middle of a raging thunderstorm -- and he zapped one of their police crusiers with a bolt of lightning called down from the sky.

 

Fairly memorable as I recall.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Klytus

I was thinking about this, but then I realized that we already built the coolest (IMHO) mystical villain of all on this board. Let me jog your colelctive memories:

 

Torquemada.

 

Agh, ringing bells, but the details of the Inquisition inspired fellow are eluding me... was that on one of the older boards?

[Lord Liaden]

Torquemada was indeed on the pre-DOS boards, and he turned out to be a very cool concept, albeit one that is not completely mystical. The religious angle plays well, though. Word of warning: Mr. Vimes wanted this character to play a big part in his campaign, so if you are one of Vimes's players DO NOT LOOK!

 

http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/Champions/002165.html

 

I know Hermit asked to avoid a debate (and I'll be good after this ), but I really have to dispute the assertion that Champs mystical villains are bland. Granted, the 5E versions published to date, like Talisman and Takofanes, are more in the vein of straight supervillains, but there were many distinctive and flavorful ones published in 4E books like Mystic Masters, Creatures of the Night, Watchers of the Dragon and The Ultimate Supermage. I would expect to see quite a few of these in 5E eventually since they've already been mentioned by name in new Champions books: Tyrannon the Conqueror, Dr. Yin Wu, the Vandaleurs, Skarn the Shaper, the Silvestris, Li Chun the Destroyer, the Kings of Edom, the Death Dragon, and so on.

 

As for coming up with a new mystical villain, frankly it's hard to develop a completely original concept after everything that's been done in the field over the years. However, I do have one villain from a past campaign built as I often develop villains for my superhero games - taking concepts from various Champions books and weaving them into a new whole:

 

Miguel Mictlan, major illegal drug smuggling kingpin in the Mexican organized crime world. Actually an ancient vampire and powerful sorceror, he was once worshipped by Mesoamerican cultists as Mictlantechutli, god of death. The blood sacrifices of his worshippers granted him great power, but he was bested during the day when his power was at his weakest by Coatlicue (from To Serve and Protect) and buried beneath a great step pyramid.

 

Accidentally restored to life in the modern era by inquisitive archaologists, he has developed a new identity and route to power through organized crime. His drug distributors are part of a new death-cult which seeks to draw vulnerable addicts to the worship of Mictlantechutli and rebuild his mystic power. Miguel Mictlan also has ultra-nationalist followers at the highest levels of Mexican society; he has appealed to their Utopian views of "traditional" Mexico, and dreams of overthrowing the Mexican government and establishing a bloody empire like that of the Aztecs, with himself as its living god.

 

I based Mictlantechutli's character sheet on that of the ancient vampire Baron Jean De'Lear fromThe Mutant File, with appropriate changes to Skills plus a large VPP restricted to darkness and death magics.

[Killer Shrike]

Not to plug, but I recently posted Lord Eldritch an interesting (IMO) antagonist in the character posting thread. He's a member of an ancient race called the Sidhe () that mastered manipulation of "dimensional energies" millenia ago; he is in fact the current Magus Maximus of the Sidhe's dimension. Sadly, that dimension has been conquered by Istvatha V'han, and he has come to Champions Earth to discover the secret to defeating her. He can be either an ally, a mentor, a Mr Johnson, or a villain depending on circumstance.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3205&perpage=20&pagenumber=6

[astralfrontier]

Mystic suggestion: the Summoner

 

I don't have time (inclination?) to work up a full sheet at the moment, but here's a character I think could fit the bill: a summoner, with Gate-type Extradimensional Movement and hefty Summons powers. No other major inherent powers, although certain minor magics are possible.

 

Beyond the cast of extradimensional henchthings and weird combatants this sort of person could throw at a party, the possibility of having your PCs gated into a very alien world, and having to negotiate (or fight) their way back home exists. A radical change of pace for some campaigns, the magic equivalent of being stranded on a deserted island, and lacking Flight powers.. If the Summoner is the only Terran human the powers of these other worlds know, he may have provided them with some very slanted information, and by showing their current "hosts" the truth, the party might be able to break him of his power and defeat him.

[Rechan]

Here's something I was pondering.

 

A Fate-Spinner. Imagine someone with a Tarot card deck, and they manipulate this deck, so that what they lay down, is the outcome that will happen. And they make it happen by manipulating the deck. Not so much as 'He will miss when he shoots me' but more like 'He will face me, there will be much bloodshed, he will suffer great pain afterwards'. A DNPC could be horribly wounded in this fight, or the PC make an accident that costs innocents lives, he could be unmasked and the reprecussions, etc etc.

 

That may not be the only power, but it's surely one that can be quite vicious, when indirect. Imagine this guy as your Hunted.

 

Or how about something that feels VERY occult. Something dark, that you'd be chasing around, who'd cause things like symbols to burn into bodies but no other evidence, make things happen, but he doesn't 'cast spells'. Or perhaps he doesn't, but it's not OBVIOUS.

 

Mental Illusions, 20d6, Reduced END, Persistent, Uncontrolled, Area Effect (on a given area only). Then link 'Transform (Extra time)'.

 

He creates mental illusions, but over a period of time, the illusions become real. The walls weep blood? Well, with mental illusions, they very well could, but with this, there would be stains of blood on the walls, etc.

 

Of course, this type of guy needs a Weakness, for instance his powers cannot be used in Daylight or under an open sky, or in the presence of mirrors, etc etc. That way he's not a constant GM fiat by making anything he wants happen, and constantly gets away.

[Hermit]

Nice ideas, and it occurs to me I really ought to put input on the threads I start more often. So, putting my own money where my mouth is... here's Aud Tvalbard, First Accoylte of the Void.

 

My real concern is he's far too weak to be a city destroyer, but one could just up his VPP, or have him rely on long complicated rituals and nasty ancient treasures with the Independent Limitation

 

EDIT: Personal Note: I feel a bit like a moron for screwing up his quote. Hopefully got it now.

 

Another EDIT: Changed the name to the more masculine Audun...thank you Trencher

[Hermit]

Audun Tvalbard

 

[b]Audun Tvalbard, First Accolyte of the Void[/b]

Val	Char	Cost	Roll	Notes
15	STR	5	12-	Lift 200 kg;3d6 HTH damage
23	DEX	39	14-	OCV: 8/DCV: 8
20	CON	20	14-
10	BODY	0	11-
24	INT	14 	14-	PER Roll 14-
24	EGO	28	12-	ECV: 8
25	PRE	15	14-	PRE Attack: 5d6
10	COM		11-

6	PD	3	Total: 21 PD (15 rPD)
6	ED	2	Total: 21 ED(15 rED)
5	SPD	17	Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12
7	REC	0
40	END	0
28	STUN	0	Total Characteristics Points: 143

Movement:	Running:	6"/12"
	Teleporation: 		20"/40

Cost	Powers		END
25	[i]Undoing[/i]  Elemental Control, 50-point powers
50	1)[i]The Mantle of the Void[/i] Drain BODY 3d6, Continious (+1) Reduced Endurance (0 END,+1/2)	 0
25	2)[i]Fleeting Freedom[/i]  Teleportation 20",  Reduced Endurance (Half END,+1/4)	1
54	3)[i]Feeding the Void[/i] Transfer 3d6 any Char (one at a time;+1/4) to END Reserve, Ranged(+1/2)	8
25	4)[i]Kill the Light Darkness[/i] to Sight Group 4" radius, Personal Immunity (+1/4)	5

30	[i]Warding field[/i] Force Field (15 PD/15 ED)	3
30	[i]"Be Not"[/i] Missile Deflection (all ranged attacks), +5 to roll
15	[i]Void of the Soul[/i] Mental Defense (20 pts total)
10	[i]Void's lessons[/i]  Power Defense (10 pts)
20	[i]The Strength of the Void[/i] Endurance Reserve (100 END/10 REC), feeds all powers

74	[i]The Many Paths to the Void[/i] Variable Power Pool (Void Magics Pool), 60 base + 30 Control,
Powers can be changed as half phase action (+1/2), 
No Skill roll required (+1), Only Nihilistic effects (-1/2)

[b]PERKS[/b]
20	[i]Believers[/i] up to eight 25 pt followers at any one time
[b]TALENTS[/b]

[b]SKILLS[/b]
2	Cryptography, (translation only;-1/2)	14-
2	AK: Scandinavia	11-
2	AK: South America	11-
5	KS: Philosphy	16-
3	KS: Occult	14-
3	KS: Theology	14-
3	Language: English (completely fluent; Norweigian is native)
2	Language: Spanish (fluent)
2	Language: French (fluent)
2	Language: Greek (fluent) 
1	Language: Latin (basic)
3	Oratory	14-
3 	Persuasion	14-
3	Stealth	14-

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 412
Total Cost: 555

200+	[b]Disadvantages[/b]
5	Hunted:  By Witchcraft 8- (Less Pow,  Capture)
20	Hunted: By DEMON  8- (More Powerful.NCI, Use or Kill)
20	Psychological Limitation: Seeks to undo all any way he can (Com, Total)
10	Psychological Limitation: Afraid of immortal existance (Uncommon, STR)
10	Reputation: Psychopathic Nihilistic with Power,11-
5	Unluck: 1d6
10	Vulnerability: x2 Stun from creation attacks (Power Cosmic, GM's definition) (Uncommon)
475	Experience Points

Total Disadvantage Points: 555

[Hermit]

Audun Tvalbard, Part II

 

Background/History: A native Norwegian, Audun Tvalbard grew up with a great love of philosphy right from the start. He was more interested in the whys than the hows, and science, while intriguing, always seemed too limiting to him. Even before earning his degree in Philosphy, he was out traveling and learning about his universe's funny quirks. He consulted those other philopshers often failed to. Local shamans, priests of odd sects, freemasons, historians with pet theories: None escaped his good natured curiousity.

By the time he had earned his doctorate, it would seem life was perfect. Audun had a beautiful wife who he loved very much, and two fine children. He often took his family with him, seeking to his very best to stay close to them. However, this was not enough, and his wife began to have not one, but many affairs behind his back. This went on for sometime before Audun found out about it. When he confronted her, she lamented her weakness, and begged forgiveness. Audun, with great difficulty, did so.

In the mean time, he had come across interesting notes from various cultures. Each culture, it seemed, had some disidents or nihilistic sects that proclaimed this universe flawed from its original primal state. While not a religious man, Audun wondered at the precepts. The symbols varied, but they all seemed to be agreeing at the core: this world was imperfect. Tvalbard wrote his now acclaimed book, The Universal Disatisfaction. Much to his surprise, this book gained not only the attention of his peers, but of various occultists who, it seemed, threatened him not to pursue this. He was "getting too close, and ill prepared." While a respecter of many beliefs, Audun inwardly scoffed at this.

Then his youngest developed leukemia. Audun was devastated, and tried to comfort his child at every turn. His wife again sought her own comforts, and like Job being tested- It all fell apart. Stressed from his child's death, he alienated his peers, and his professional life also suffered. When he caught his wife this time, she said she couldn't help herself... that no one was perfect.

She did not live to see the light of the next morning, and Audun Tvalbard was long gone by the time anyone found her corpse. Audun had gone mad. The universe was flawed, and men doubly so. There was only one perfection- The Void, the nothingness from which it sprang. Audun Tvalbard began to delve into the empty magics of undoing. Three years after his wife's death, he made his appearence. Claiming to be "the first accolyte of the void", he attempted to open a gate between this world and all others, even the Qliphotic realms. It was his tear filled hope that this clash would erase all of existance. If not for a band of super heroes and the sacrifice of one of their number, the scheme might have succeeded.

No worries, he would try again.

 

Personality/Motivation: Audun Tvalbard is mad, a Nihilist of infinite degrees. He would take his own life, but he fears that he might continue as a spiritual entity. Only Oblivion can end his pain, and he, kind man that he is, wants to share that cure with the rest of the Universe. He is an empty wretched shell of a man.

Those meeting him might at first be impressed by his obvious education and intelligence. At the start of a conversation, he seems quite charming. However, as he continues to talk, the smiling mask cracks, then breaks. He becomes increasingly vocal about his cause, and increasingly aggitated when others don't see how 'obvious' it is.

 

Quote: "When you make an error in a tapestry's weave, you have to go back and restart or the stray threads just go more and more off... the universe is the same way! I'm right, IT is what's wrong."

 

Powers/Tactics: Audun would not call his powers "spells". He merely thinks of it as 'drawing on the void' or as a 'complete understanding of the way the world was meant to be'. However complex his reasoning, the effects are dangerously simple. He unmakes things, people, places. Tvalbard does not merely transform them, he disolves them from existence. This often makes his powers seem brutally offensive, but he has learned how to destroy creatively- oxymoronic as that may seem. He can cause darkness by devouring light. He can suffocate a room by destroying the air. Audun's defensive magics obliterate incoming attacks. The more he develops his knowledge, the more versitile he becomes.

Audun has few qualms about slaying an opponent outright. Only two things really prevent it. One is the thought that somehow, a soul might escape and continue- Despite his studies, the destruction of an individual soul still eludes him. The other is envy. How he longs to 'be not', and he maybe reluctant to let another have which he is denied. The irony of it being easier to destroy whole cities or even realities than a single soul is not lost on Tvalbard. He's working on it.

His tactics can be a bit grandoise... yet one area he does not triffle with directly is the Infernal. Oh, he may break down barriers that release such, but he wants nothing to do with them, seeing such beings as merely something else that should be wiped out, however old their pedigree. Indeed, he sees the infernal as rivals or foes. After all, they want to corrupt what he seeks to save by destroying.

 

Appearance: Audun does not really bother buying new suits anymore, but prefers the formality of them. This has lead to a tattered gentleman look for him. His now patchwork outfits hang loosely on his increasingly thin frame.

While only 45, Audun's once peppered hair has gone completely gray and his irises dark black. He stands roughly five feet, nine inches; yet seems much taller to those who have encounted him. Ironic, that his drive to un-be has made him seem more there.

[Klytus]

I love his origin. Its entirely believable, his reactions are believable, he seems like a human being to me. All of which makes him all the more scary as a villain. Its easy to fight bad-guys who just want to steal everything or blow $hit up for no reason. But I feel for this guy. If I were a hero in your game, and knew about his past, I'd be spending as much time trying to save him as I would be in thwarting him.

[Hermit]

Thanks Klytus. Redemption is certainly an option. Mostly I wanted to get away from the infernal sorcerer type. I thought 'fallen priest' but frankly, that's often overdone; so I decided to go with the fallen part... but picked philospher

 

If any of you like this guy, in whole or part, please feel free to tweak and use him as fits your own campaigns.

 

Now, ignoring my own creation for a moment...

 

Susano- I did a chinese dragon/sorcerer in one of my campaigns as well. Great minds think alike I guess

 

Lord Liaden- Thanks for the link to that thread. You've got a few points about the difficulty of making something new. Mictlantechutli seems like a good start though, besides, anything connected to 'To Serve and Protect' gets my vote.

 

Killer Shrike- Yup, some beauts there. I forget to check sometimes as I don't have HD

 

memesis and Rechan- Both of those sound intriguing. Thanks

[BlackCobra]

One of my favorite villains (and my players' favorites) of all time is from my very fist Fantasy Hero campaign -- and believe me, he'd work well in Champions.

 

He was known as the White Lord - a Necromancer of unparalleled power. Those who had seen him (and lived to tell) were few, but they all agreed that he was very tall and extremely pale (thus the name). He commanded thousands and thousands of undead troops and was a terrible threat to the living nations.

 

Standard Liche stuff, right? Well, my players spent a lot of time collecting anti-undead artifacts and magic. Along the way, they found out that a powerful Crown had turned up -- and that the White Lord wanted it badly. They raced to the scene, encountered the White Lord in person, and immediately let loose with the anti-undead magic (acorns that disintegrated the unliving).

 

They bounced off. What my players didn't know is that the White Lord was an escapee Fey - whose race had been imprisoned by the Dragon millenia ago. He was building up the Undead army to eventually win over the Dragons (who were also pretty Bad) -- and was a normal Fey (elf/sidhe) himself. The trick was that the undead were immune to the kind of mental control the Dragons exerted.

 

Don't get me wrong, though. He was still Bad. Or Ruthless, anyway.

 

How's that for a mystical supervillain? I imagine that in the Champs universe, he'd be crossing over into our world to swell the ranks of his armies. And he'd have LOTS of Summoning.

[Bazza]

RE: Audun Tvalbard

 

Hermit:

 

I could help but think while reading his background that he sounded quite similar to the defrocked priest / philosopher Giordano Bruno. Perhaps the two ran into each other at philosophy school, Bruno being one of his former peers and now he is hunting Aud as their philosophies clash. Is P.E.E.R. also hunting Aud?

 

P.E.E.R.: Philosophically Enlightened Enigmatic Recluses

[Enforcer84]

I had a villain that I was never able to thrust upon my poor players. He was a mystical version of Marvel's Collector. I called him the Harvestor, he had a run scythe as a weapon, and saw himself as a sort of "Noah" he had a dimensional seed that he had set up as a "game preserve" and he was capturing all sorts of mythical and mystical beings to inhabit it.

 

He had some summons, a VPP for on the fly combat, and of course his scyhthe. He was a tough bastard to boot, claiming to be the seventh son of the actual Noah (it wasn't true, but he was nigh immortal and not afflicted with Vampirism).

[megaplayboy]

I recently ran an adventure for my campaign involving the Cthulhu mythos. I created a custom antagonist for the PCs:

Professor Vinson Prize, a scholar of parapsychology and "ancient languages". Prof. Prize is effectively the evil equivalent of a "sorceror supreme", complete with mystic mansion, summoned servants, and so forth. He is more of a power broker than anything else, making deals with evil entities in exchange for dark knowledge and dark powers.

His last encounter with the PCs resulted in his apparent demise, but he'll be back;)

 

 

I won't say what actor the character is modeled upon, but let's just say he's a real "thriller":D

["V"]

When Harry Potter hits puberty we'd better all hope he doesn't get mood swings along with acne.

[Trencher]

Aud Tvalbard is a very good villan, very "Norway" in style.

But there one -small- flaw : The name Aud is a womans name a man would be named Audun, just a minor quibble.

I really like your character consept I actually made a entropy mage myself once, not with equally good backstory but the players liked (or is that liked hating?) him.

[Hermit]

Opps

 

That's what I get for trusting a name search engine. I actually typed in "empty" and let it search meanings...it brought up Aud as a Norweigian (and I thought male) name. So either I didn't read it right or whoever made it needs to talk to some real people from Norway Thanks for the catch.

 

The Tvalbard came about because I noticed there was a real place in Norway: Svalbard. I just changed the S to a T and hoped it wouldn't be a totally stupid word

 

Though I suppose his first name could explain his becoming a bad guy in a "Boy named Sue" kind of way

[Trencher]

So are you going to change his name to Audun or are you going for a boy named Aud

When you mention it.. The name Tvalbard does not sound totaly stupid but it sound somewhat aritficial, however some Norwegian famelies does miks and match words just like you, so it is oddly aproiate You could change Tvalbard to Tvalberg if you wanted

[Hermit]

Mystic Villains are us

 

Changed it to Audun.

 

So, anyone else want to make one?

[Blue]

Depends on if you include religion as part of mysticism. Generally, GMs do. In which case, I have this...

 

--> Avert your eyes, all ye who are insulted by sacrilege <---

 

Black Pope (Real Name Unknown, Reign 304-308 AD)

In 304 AD, Pope Marcellinus (Now St. Marcellinus) ended his reign as pope. History records a four year gap in during the era of Diocletian in which there was no pope, until Pope Marcellus I was appointed. But there was another, a forgotten pope whose reign was covered over so as not to mar the image of the papacy. His name is lost to history.

 

During his reign he performed executions, tortures, had operatives in all of the world's major cities, spying and gathering information. He did it in the name of god, and perhaps he believes that. In the end he was poisoned, but not sufficiently enough to kill him. Instead he lay paralyzed, unable to speak, as they entombed him in a secret local far from the catacombs of the Vatican. And his hatred for the church grew in the darkness. How dare they prevent him from weilding the might of God? That was when he began to show signs of many of the saints, only in a twisted, reverse symbology.

 

His powers grew over the centuries until his release during excavation in a remote section of Italy many years ago.

 

Powers include: Transformation attack (Gives them the Disadvantage "Fearful of God's Wrath"), the Killing attack that only works against those who believe in God, called "Stigmata"--during which they spontaneously begin to bleed in his presence, and an Invisible Area Effect EGO and PRE drain that slowly bends men's wills for as long as they hear his words.

 

 

 

 

"I'm a nasty pope, I'm a nasty pope!" -Sam Kinison