What would your Master Villain do?

[OddHat]

Ladies, Gentlemen, Cyborgs, Androids, Extradimensional Entities, Demons, Aliens, and Gods, I, Brother Normal, welcome you!

 

We few, we happy few, we cream of what lesser minds call Evil stand together now in this, the Shadow Pagoda, faced with a common foe. I speak, of course, of the cursed New Pantheon!

 

Please, my friends, contain yourselves! Yes, all of us, each and every one, has reason to wish these unworthy fools destroyed and damned, tossed down from their self declared stewardship of the mewling masses so that we, true visionaries all, may pursue our plans without their cursed interference!

 

Let us review the nature of our foes.

 

Their leader is Susano, master of storms, nearly invulnerable and possessed of vast superhuman strength.

 

Their general and strategist is Mars, physically merely a man, yet possessed of tactical and personal combat skills that justify his title as Lord of War, allied to a startling understanding of modern and ancient military technology.

 

The seductive and deadly Freyja ensures that the world continues to support these self selected guardians, and adds both her considerable strength and mental powers to their cause.

 

Isis, Queen of Magic, lends the power of sorcery to the New Pantheon, time and again countering mages with many times her own limited vision and ambition.

 

The trickster Monkey King, nearly invulnerable, superhumanly strong and quick, a skilled martial artists and possessed of the power to change his shape and form is the infiltrator of their little band, and a devastating front line fighter.

 

Ogun, lord of the forge, adds his not inconsiderable physical power and vast technological expertise to the ranks of our enemies, providing them with scientific marvels with which to defend their precious human flock.

 

And let us not forget Lugus, whose complete mastery of the electromagnetic spectrum and ability to transform into pure light makes him both deadly in combat and a hacker, though some here will dispute it, without peer.

 

These, then, are our foes! Susano, Mars, Freyja, Isis, the Monkey King, Ogun, Lugus! The thrice cursed New Pantheon! These are the fools who stand between us and all that we desire! All that we deserve!

 

They think themselves safe in their secret satellite headquarters, but we shall teach them fear!

 

Now, tell me, Masters of what the common herd calls Villainy, how shall each of you strike against them?

 

What would you Master Villains do?

[OddHat]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

A variation on WWYCD. Brother Normal, the Shadow Emperor, has forged a doubtless temporary alliance among the Master Villains of your campaign against the New Pantheon, the worlds mightiest superheroes. He's asking for each individual villain's plan to bring them down.

 

So, what would your Master Villain do?

[gojira]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

I need better tactical information.

 

Let's send some flunkies out so we can get some more data.

[OddHat]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

I need better tactical information.

 

Let's send some flunkies out so we can get some more data.

 

What sort of data do you seek?

 

We know that the New Pantheon squats in their satellite, waiting to make trouble for men of vision and destiny, and that key personnel in many of the world's governments and the United Nations may call on them for aid.

 

Each of the seven members of the organization seems especially fond of a specific city, but all will respond together to what they perceive as serious threats.

Susano is known to defend Tokyo and the nation of Japan.

 

Mars has often been seen in Rome and the other cities of Italy, foiling petty criminals that one might think beneath his notice.

 

Freyja seems to be a woman without a nation, though she has been seen most regularly in Berlin.

 

Isis once maintained a public residence in Cairo before her regular conflicts both with Egypt's government and the Israelis made her a displaced person. She seems recently to have taken the city of New York under her wing.

 

The Monkey King has been seen to respond to crises throughout China and the world, though his most frequent haunt is Hong Kong.

 

Ogun calls the American city of New Orleans his home, or so it would seem. Certainly the many nations of Africa have shown little interest in welcoming him as a returning son.

 

Lugus seems to split his time between London and Paris when not answering calls from his allies in the New Pantheon.

[Balabanto]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Warstar: "Together they are a potent combination, however, the first thing I would do is hire a group of individuals who have their own powers, or similar powers, to test them. The people we select should not have to win, and I will conveniently bail them out by temporarily making them citizens of my country."

 

"They will then know who their enemy is, but I am counting on that part. People are naturally afraid of me when I become their enemy. I have come up smelling like roses from every villainous encounter in which I have ever been involved, and my people love me in a way that the American Presidents could only dream of."

 

Once I've taken their measure through proxies, I'll proceed to use America's own LANsat network, for which a membership under an assumed name costs 4.99 per year, to monitor their actions via dataworms and discover the nature of how their powers work. (Superhuman Biology 25-) This should only take a week or two.

 

Then I will inform them that I have slighted them, and sent those blowhards after them, and challenge them to combat in a safe out of the way location, with no innocents around. I have no interest in being a threat to people so common that I can crush them like bugs.

 

The location I will choose is the original Los Alamos testing area, which, thanks to the incompetence of the US Government, still has a radiation level so high that it foils all means of technological sensing. I will threaten to launch a nuclear weapon, so that they will be sure to come. I will also tell them to not tell anyone about the bomb, or I will launch it early, and innocents will suffer. They don't need to know I don't intend to harm innocent people.

 

The accursed Susano will be unable to detect me, as will the rest of those pathetic fools. Once I have the data on them, I assure you that they will be horribly defeated.

 

My weapons shall be their own team members. Susano, Freyja, Monkey King, and Shango all have considerable super strength. While I am probably as strong, if not stronger than they are, there is no reason to worry about that. From beneath the sand, I shall amplify the radiation already in the area using an atomic amplifier, and prevent them from escaping. I will key my armor to my own teleportation recall system, thus enabling me to escape through the teleportation frequency hole. I'll need to.

 

Shango is lord of the Forge, but he is not lord of electricity, and the first thing I will do is technologically override his armor and bend it to my will. With my data, I will use his armor to strike Lugus, transforming the electromagnetic man into an electromagnetic wave. This will react with the radiation appropriately. He will be helpless while he is transforming into what I need. Pure electromagnetism instead of light. Simultaneous with this, I shall engage Isis in hand to hand combat, and disable two members of their team at once. Shango is now on my side, Isis will be unconscious, and Lugus is helpless. Shango will engage Freyja directly, since he is already controlled, she will not be able to stop him from attacking through a different means. That leaves me to fend off Susano and the Monkey King. I do not fear only two of them, I am skilled enough to survive Monkey King, and Agile enough to avoid Susano's attacks. Now all I have to do is put one of them down. Then I will evacuate using my frequency eject.

 

That should be just enough time for Lugus to transform into a nuclear explosion.

 

The New Pantheon will be destroyed. The United States will have conducted an unauthorized nuclear test at a currently inactive testing ground.

 

And I, Warstar, will reap the benefits of it.

[Enforcer84]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Professor Apokolypse: Clearly, these upstarts need to be shown directly and with great violence, who their superiors are. Me.

(then he'd get his butt kicked seven ways from sunday)

[The Doctor]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Ultimatum: Where brawn has failed in the past let beauty prevail. Mindbar is my main henchwoman who up until now has remained mostly behind the scenes. I save my aces for the times when they'll be most effective. I would place her early at some point where the most sympathetic hero would repeatedly run into her(probably Susano). Give her a problem that is easily identified(She appears to be developing powers or senses something bad in Susano's future)I would even send a group of villains after her or Susano to increase the level of trust and confidentiality in the relationship w/Susano, maybe the Masters of Speed. I would use these dimwits to add danger and misinform them that they are being hired by the IHA so that the Heroes will think she has some unseen value to the IHA and they'll have to keep Mindbar close to keep her safe(perhaps that lovely space station). This is where I get tricky. Once Mindbar notifies me that she is safely setup on their base I notify the local News networks in Hong Kong, Rome, and Tokyo that I have bombs placed beneath their respective capital buildings if my list of Super Villains are not released into the custody of my foot soldiers(landing in front of said capitals riding helicopters in teams of 5 Androids w/automatic rifles). Of course the heroes will spring into action and most likely leave trustworthy Mindbar at the Space Base where she uses her Robotic Telepathy and Robomanipulations to override the security and steal the base.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

The Maestro:: "If the strength of this 'New Pantheon' precludes meeting them with force, then we must weaken them where everyone is most vulnerable - their spirits, which give them their resolve to fight. The surest way to do so is to turn the populace of the world, whom they fight to protect, against them.

 

These pretentious fools have taken on the names and attributes of the gods of legend, a vanity which can easily be used against them given the sheeplike nature of the majority of humanity. My vast network of operatives at all levels of society around the world, in government, media, religious organizations, can readily shape public opinion as I desire; in this case, pious indignation.

 

Some of this Pantheon stand out as pagan figures in lands where modern religions are strong. Isis is apparently already in conflict with the Muslims of Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. Mars is based in Rome, the very heart of Catholicism. Freyja, Lugus, can both be held up as affronts to modern men and women of faith in their homelands.

 

On the other hand, other members of the Pantheon can be accused of daring to blasphemously associate themselves with divinities who are still actively worshipped. Susano pretends to the title of the Shinto god of storms. Shango would seem to already be the subject of hostility from the Yoruba natives who revere his namesake.

 

Then there is the Monkey King, a beloved figure of Chinese legend. Stirring up his supporters in China, making them more vocal and visible, will lead the Communist government of China to view his popularity with the people as a threat to their regime, leading to confrontation and violence that he will be held responsible for.

 

By tapping into the passion of religious fervor, and directing it against the New Pantheon, I shall isolate them from the people they seek to protect. They will react either with anger, returning hostility with violence and so making themselves active enemies of the peoples of the world; or else with despair, losing the sense of purpose that motivates them. In the end they will have no common cause to hold them together.

 

Then, when they are divided, confused, at their weakest, we shall strike and crush them!"

 

 

(BTW OddHat, Shango is the Yoruba storm god. The god of the forge is Ogun.)

[assault]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Meanwhile, in a darkened room, a mysterious figure broods...

 

(In other words, I'll get back to you, once I've picked my mastermind...)

[OddHat]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

(BTW OddHat, Shango is the Yoruba storm god. The god of the forge is Ogun.)

 

(Argh. It was 11:30 pm, but still, argh.)

[McCoy]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Ultron: How many of these inferior carbon-based lifeforms can last in vacuum? Slowly, stealthfuly seduce the computer(s) on their satellite, convince it/them that we have a common cause against these parasites. Then when they are all on board, lock down whatever means they use to get back and forth (turn off transporters / lock down docking clamps on shuttlecraft / deactiviate all emergency escape pods / whatever), disable emergency bulkheads, and open all air locks. Once the satellite is steralized, investigate if it would be a suitable headquarters, or if it has weapons that can be used against other carbon-parasites on the ground.

[OddHat]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Excellent, honored guests, excellent!

 

Ultron, the Maestro, Ultimatum, Professor Apocalypse, and Warstar have each proposed methods by which we might once and for all be rid of the self righteous meddlers of the New Pantheon! My gratitude and full support goes out to these brave, forward thinking beings!

 

And yet, the New Pantheon are irritatingly resilient. My friends, I ask you, what else might be done to silence these foes of progress?

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Professor M - "Pride is the ultimate weakness of all those who wear the cape and cowl. After all, is not the spandex merely an excuse to engage in juvenile power fantasies? So give them some two-bit hood with a nuclear device to defeat. Those are a dinari a dozen. We shall control the consequences of their success.

 

To what end, you ask? Why, to give them what they want, of course. We shall drown them in a sea of golden fecal matter and cocaine dreams, of ten-thousand dollar night hookers and Vegas contracts. Give them the movie deals and the TV talk-show circuts. We shall burn them out before their time and make them despise what they have become, until they reject the society they swore to protect in a fit of pique and existential disgust. Yes: they shall beg us on their hands and knees for us to give them the keys to their own destruction. And if that doesn't work? Well, we will have made billions off of the endorsement contracts. Either way, we win.

 

Professor M, who is defeating my current group of PC's by giving them everything they want.

[Grimble]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Mr. Perfect: Mr. Perfect would use his mastery of teleportation technology to set a trap for the pesky "heroes". The foolish do-gooders always fall for a trap involving a loved one or pop star or some such. The entire warehouse will be wired with the most advanced teleportation technologies. Once the entire group is in the building, teleport them to seperate holding cells.

 

I just happen to have been working on special holding cells, tailored to each super-pest. Once I...ah,yes...I mean once "we" have them, we steal their tech, take blood and tissue samples and work on my clone army! First, we clone one of each, age accellerated, of course. Direct Neural Interface will teach them the skills they need, while asuring complete loyalty. The cloned "heroes" will cause much tainting of their names and steal any and all prototypes and super-tech I choose.

 

Now...once the New Pantheon is out of the way for good, how long is the grace period before we start fighting each other for control of the world. You really don't believe our alliance can last forever?

[The Weapon]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Don't have a MV character at the moment but if I did...

 

Sets up an electronic blackboard and starts writing.

"Well first of all we need to be vigilant against possible leaks and provocations by them or their agents. Because of the monkey god's powers of deception we need to be especially vigilant of those who tempt us into vulnerable positions or make encourage us to give away information, like for instance, you just did. NOW!"

Dozens of agents and several supervillains, alerted by subtle use of a concealed text transmitter, open up on the supposed "Brother Normal". If it's the monkey king they probably won't get him unless the other MVs join in, which some will at least. Either way he looks smart for figuring it out. If it's actually Brother Normal then it's an honest mistake and in any case the MV

is outa there after the first volley. Besides we never really liked that guy anyway.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Off topic, but I read the title of the thread, and my brain put it to the tune from Camelot "What do the simple folk do?"

[ThothAmon]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Helix (or more accurately one of his many multiform clone identities) would already have collected and analyzed examples of the New Pantheon members' DNA over a lengthy period. His response would in part be dependent upon the results of that analysis. Other factors would include the prevailing political climate and the results of his own very subtle psi-scanning from afar. Consider Helix to be a multiform version of Menton (and then some). More info please on both the New Pantheon and this sacrifical lamb Brother Normal?

 

I'll suggest tactics for the other campaign master villain in a future post.

[McCoy]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Now...once the New Pantheon is out of the way for good' date=' how long is the grace period before we start fighting each other for control of the world. You really don't believe our alliance can last forever?[/font']

Mechanon: The rest of your life, meat. You may leave the planet, or you can die at my hands like the other carbon-based lifeforms as I remake this world for myself and my silicon bretheren!

[Blue Jogger]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Malachite (Think elven businessman)

 

I agree with some of the voices here, pride is their obvious weakness. I propose that we construct a bigger space station, not in a geosynchronous, but higher up in the Lagrangian point known as L4. Expensive? Yes, but I submit that it is well worth the price.

 

Not only will the be a much better space station and open to the public. This is key, by the way, as it will show how selfish the heroes with their private space station. Being open to the public will protect it from hero attacks and I even welcome the occasional evil breathen who wishes to test my defenses. After all, the heroes will be more than happy to take care of their own station as well as mine.

 

But I digress, why L4? Well, the simple fact is that I can seemly "accidently" drop things in front of earth's orbit. Now, you and I and any learned man knows that such things do not happen by accident and certainly not at a Lagrangian point, but to anyone else, it will appear unwelcomed chance that some rather heavy objects "lose" momentum and "fall" towards Earth and the space station.

 

So, in conclusion, figure out what the PCs do, and do it bigger, better, and cheaper. Oh, and make sure you have lots of lawyers.

[Enforcer84]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Prof A (to Mechanon/Ultron): Bah! Df you were capable of destorying all life you'd have done it by now. You my metallic friend; are an angry Toaster Oven and nothing more.

 

 

 

 

 

This is why Mastervillains rarely join forces for long.

[McCoy]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Prof A (to Mechanon/Ultron): Bah! Df you were capable of destorying all life you'd have done it by now. You my metallic friend; are an angry Toaster Oven and nothing more.

Ultron: Au contraire! I now know 22 methods which will not succeed. I only need to find one that will. You would be conquerors would leave your fellow parasites alive, slaves to do your bidding, concubines to bear your progeny. Thus do you palnt the seeds of your own downfall. But I have learned not to desire offspring, have no animal instinc to reproduce, and the only hands I desire to command are my own (and those of my mindless drone robots). So when I am the last intelligence on this planet, there will be no usurper to challenge my rule.

[Enforcer84]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Ultron: Au contraire! I now know 22 methods which will not succeed. I only need to find one that will. You would be conquerors would leave your fellow parasites alive' date=' slaves to do your bidding, concubines to bear your progeny. Thus do you palnt the seeds of your own downfall. But I have learned not to desire offspring, have no animal instinc to reproduce, and the only hands I desire to command are my own (and those of my mindless drone robots). So when I am the last intelligence on this planet, there will be no usurper to challenge my rule.[/quote']

Really. Why don't you go play some Pong and let the real Mastervillains plan.

I mean I know dozens of ways not to take over the world too. I'm fond of: send in an arrogant robot to do the job. That one never works; but is always good for a chuckle.

*Prof A starts looking for a hot female mastermind to hit on*

 

A robot that corrects me in French? What kind of demented soul creates that?!?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

My fellow masterminds, I submit that bickering between us at this time is not only beneath our dignity, but contrary to our common interest. I feel it safe to assume that we who have answered Brother Normal's invitation are in accord in our desire to eliminate the New Pantheon. Collaboration on that objective would serve us all. Once that objective has been achieved we will be free to demonstrate which of us is supreme, without the distraction of interfering do-gooders.

[OzMike]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Brood: "They are but seven. We are many more. They care for the stupid whining breathing vermin of this world? Then we will hold their vermin hostage and hurt them as we wish.

 

We will swarm the cities of Tokyo, Rome, Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and New Orleans. But not London or Paris - for we wish the one called Lugus to witness the pain of his fellows and fear for his people. We will tear their gentle flesh and hear their pleading cries, and will watch as they wonder why and plead to their gods to save them.

 

This Pantheon of merely seven will leave their temple in the sky, as their kind will, to try to save their snivelling babes. They will want to fight us, to stop us, and will come to us. Then we will empty their cities of us, the streets red with the blood of their mindless cattle, and we will enter their empty castle in the sky and destroy it. A new star will burn in the night sky for a time, then fall to earth, Lugus and his cities will wait in terror, and these self proclaimed gods will seek vengeance, for they have been hurt in way for which they have no defense and have been shown what true power is.

 

But they will not find us. For they are merely seven. We will hide in the shadows between worlds and wait as we have always done. We are Brood. And this is how the fall of the gods will begin."

 

 

OOC: Ok, here's some info on the dude himself:

 

Brood, a teleporting shadow-like mutant with a hidden extra-dimensional base who can summon a practically unlimited number of 'duplicates' (not done through the duplication power) and others (using duplication). Not very damaging (but highly defensive) in a straight one-to-one fight with supers, but nasty versus normals and hostages. Tends to work behind the scenes, but occasionally makes grand gestures to put heroes in their place and show them what power is all about.

 

Has a Secret ID too, but that doesn't seem relevant for this exercise.

 

And yes, Lugus is potentially the thorn in Brood's side with his ability to transform into light etc - hence the attempt to avoid direct confrontation but still give Lugus the willies.

 

Every time I've used Brood PCs have jumped at shadows for weeks afterwards

[OddHat]

Re: What would your Master Villain do?

 

Brother Normal: "And to think I used to give Luthor grief over the whole Legion of Doom fiasco."

 

"At least most of these guys are wearing pants."