Help me with a villian

[Dreadnought]

I've been coming up with a new champions campaign, and I was designing adversaries for my players. The campaign is one in which the PCs are the first superheroes, set in the modern day, as the world rapidly changes from our world into the peak of the superhuman era.

 

My problem is that I'm trying to design a villain team for the PCs to face off against. It's a four person team, and I'm having trouble filling the last slot. The team is called Smash (the alternative to Grab), and they're fairly straightforward as teams go. So far, the team consists of:

 

Wardog: Mutated dog-man brick, not very bright and extremely loyal and destructive

Iron Angel: The bio-mechanical flying demi-brick/blaster with metal wings.

Arc Angel: Electricity blaster. I'm thinking about renaming her since I added Iron Angel, but I haven't seen any names I like as much as her current one. I might just leave the team with two angels (I though about making it a theme, but got rid of that)

 

I want to give the group a leader. I've been trying to think of a good powerset or name for him, but so far, I haven't gotten anything interesting.

 

So now, I turn to you. I'm hoping that the oh-so creative people of the Champions boards could come up with better ideas than me. I'm hoping for any ideas you think could help me, be they names, powers, or whatever else.

[Pariah]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

May I humbly recommend someone like this:

 

* Martial Artist - It's one of the most common archetypes not accounted for in the group so far

* High EGO and PRE - Necessary to keep the others in line and useful for inspiring them to new heights in villainy

* Tactical skills - Someone's got to be the brains of this outfit, and it doesn't look like Wardog's gonna cut it

 

Put all of that together, and you come out with something like a villainous version of Captain America.

[Grimble]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

The leader of the supervillian team I'm using to give my PCs hell right now is Mr. Perfect. A super-genius gadgeteer. He's got mad skills (I've given him several of the Universal Enhancers from th Ultimate Skills book), a jet pack, various energy weapons and power armor. He's also got a gadget pool that changes between encounters with the PCs, so they are never sure what he'll throw at them.

[McCoy]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

Going with the Wardog/Iron Angel/Arc Angel theme, I'd continue the mythological theme. Mars, ares, or some other war god, maybe. But I'd go with Nephilim, the offspring of a fallen angel by a mortal woman.

 

If you've got the points, a martial artist/mentalist hybred. Telepahty, mind link for the group, levels with tactics and leadership. Maybe healing, keeps the group loyal to him, and a mind control, only to trigger a berserker rage in others. You've already got a flyer, combat teleport? Seems to work well with martial arts.

[Dreadnought]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

Going with the Wardog/Iron Angel/Arc Angel theme' date=' I'd continue the mythological theme. Mars, ares, or some other war god, maybe. But I'd go with Nephilim, the offspring of a fallen angel by a mortal woman.[/quote']

 

An interesting idea, but Nephilim is already the name of the mentalist in our other Champions game.

 

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of a Cap-like villain. I'll try that, hopefully he turns out well. Some gadgets would help keep the party on their toes.

[Pariah]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

And if the Iron Angel / Arc Angel name thing is still a problem, you might go with Iron Eagle. Just a thought.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

Alright, I'm gonna go crazy and revamp the whole team cause I think you have a cool idea started. Use what you like (if anything) and toss the rest as you see fit.

 

I see a natural link between two of the character already, the "dog" and the "bird". This makes me think of a "Hunting Animals" theme.

 

Wardog is already a cool name for a Hunting Hound based character so I would leave him as is (although I would add some super-tracking if he doesn't have it already.)

 

I would Change Iron Angel to Iron Falcon or Iron Hawk after Falconry. I would make him a flying speedster, using diving Move By's and Grab By's as his attacks.

 

I would change the third character altogther as you alreay have an "angel". I would make him a Ferret based character after Ferreting. He would be your stealth/ skill monkey character. I would give him super-tunneling to further make him mysterious and "Ninja" like.

 

Finally, I would make the leader a Big Game Hunter and call him the Huntsman or the Master of the Hunt. His powers would include a Hunting Rifle Multipower and maybe some other hunting related super-gadgets like Traps and a Stealth Suit.

 

The motivation of this team could simply be that they hunt superheroes for sport. Have the Hunstman rig the final battlefield area with a few Traps (like an Invisible Triggered Entangle, ect.) to make it a real challenge.

[KA.]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

I like the group so far, and have a few suggestions.

 

This is all off the top of my head, so take it with a pinch of salt.

 

Why not make it a family?

 

Start with a brilliant, but somewhat crazy scientist.

He has no powers of his own, other than high intelligence, but is obsessed with creating superheroic children.

He invents a serum that he tests on his wife, without her knowledge.

She becomes pregnant with a set of fraternal twins (brother and sister), but there are some complications.

He invites members of the superheroic community to his lab to witness the birth, without explaining what they are being invited for.

(You could use this to tie one of your players' characters in, if any of them have a superheroic parent.)

Due to some sort of major crisis, none of the invited superheroes show up.

As the time of the birth draws near, his wife begins suffering serious problems.

Rather than admitting he may have made a mistake and taking her to a hospital, he does his best to save her in his own lab, but she dies giving birth.

 

Between his grief and his ego, he decides that it is not his fault.

If the so-called superheroes had shown up like they promised (they didn't, but he is making up his own story now) his wife would have lived.

 

He continues to experiment on the children during their childhood, carefully screening everything they see and hear to make sure they understand what 'superheroes' are really like.

 

At some point he realizes that he cannot continue his research and watch over two powerful and unruly children at the same time, so he decides to create a fierce, loyal, and obedient protector for them.

 

By combining the DNA of some of the fiercest canines available (Pit Bull, Rottweiler, etc.) with the finest possible human DNA (his own, of course!) the scientist creates Wardog.

 

An unfortunate accident occurs during the DNA gathering process.

One of the dogs bites off his right hand.

However, he uses his engineering skills to create a robotic hand that is superior to the original.

 

As he sees his children grow, in both age and power, develops a battlesuit and weaponry of his own, both to battle the 'superhero scourge' and to keep his children, whose powers are mostly inborn, from seeing him as 'inferior'.

 

When Iron Angel and Arc Angel are finally old enough, the scientist decides that the time has come to take the fight to the superheroes of the world to show how weak and pathetic they really are.

 

Taking the name Lord Tyr (which not only means 'father of gods' but also refers to a god whose hand was bitten off by a wolf), he and his group set out to make life miserable for superheroes everywhere.

 

Why do I like this?

 

Making them a family will give them a cohesion that most villain groups lack.

They may snipe at each other, especially the brother and sister, but they will always watch each other's back.

Also, having a manipulative father figure can create some moral dilemnas for your team.

After all, if Arc Angel and Iron Angel don't really realize they are doing wrong, how badly do you really want to hurt them (assuming they aren't cold blooded killers)?

Also, Wardog can be both dangerous and pathetic.

He will protect his 'family' to the point of his own death if necessary, but like most dogs he will also become upset when the family argues with each other.

 

I think this could work.

 

KA.

[Dreadnought]

Re: Help me with a villian

 

I think I have group pretty much finalized, thanks for all the help.

 

They were the product of Project Zenith, a secret military attempt to create a supersoldier. Iron Falcon, Arc Angel and Wardog were failed attempts to create something akin to Captain America. They were considered failures not because they lacked superpowers, but because they wouldn't follow orders. The three of them wee locked away and studied until one day, Wardog broke free and managed to kill five Zenith personnel before being subdued. The program was officially declared a failure and the three subjects were to be terminated.

 

One of the scientists on the project had finally had enough. Using all that he had learned from the studies of the first three, he finished the serum and injected it into himself. He broke the other three out and escaped from the base, introducing himself as Firebrand. When the first three learned that he was one of the scientists, it took all of his persuasiveness to convince them that he wasn't the enemy, and that he wanted the same thing as them.

 

All three of the original subjects recognize that Firebrand is a natural leader. He accepted the role, and they all began training. They would need it if they were to get back at the government that ruined their lives.