Brainstorming European bad guys?

[Great Beyond]

So having just spent 2 weeks in Berlin, Prague and Vienna, I was thinking of of course setting a game over there somewhere (you cant do that kind of field research without putting it to use!), and I was brainstorming some bad guys (or at least antagonists) for a big fight.

 

So far I've got:

* Iron Curtain - A pretty straight forward tank with a communist motif.

 

* Stasi - a mentalist (The Stasi were the secret police and intelligence organization of the German Democratic Republic. All the nasty stuff that the KGB gets credit for? The Stasi did it too and worse, but didn’t get nearly the press the russians did.)

 

* The Golem of Prague - created in the 16th century by Rabbi Judah Loew, the Maharal of Prague, to defend the Prague ghetto of Josefov from Anti-Semitic attacks.

 

According to the legend, the Emperor made an edict proclaiming that the Jews in Prague were to be either expelled or killed (depending on the version of the story). A golem could be made of clay from the banks of the Vltava river in Prague. Following the prescribed rituals, the Rabbi built the Golem and made him come to life by reciting special incantations in Hebrew. The Rabbi's intention was to have the Golem protect the Jewish community from harm. As Rabbi Loew's Golem grew bigger, he also became more violent and started killing the Gentiles and spreading fear. (Some versions also add that the Golem turns on his creator and attacks either his creator alone or the creator and the Jews as well).

 

In the face of the strength demonstrated and violence perpetrated by the Golem, the Emperor begs Rabbi Loew to destroy the Golem, and in return he would promise that the persecution of and violence towards the Jews would stop. The Rabbi accepted this offer. To destroy the Golem, he rubbed out the first letter of the word "emet" or "aemaeth" (God's truth) from the golem's forehead to make the Hebrew word "met" or "maeth", meaning death. It was made clear to the Emperor that the Golem of Prague's remains would be stored in a coffin in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue in Prague, and it can be summoned again if needed.

 

* Vengeance of a million murdered jews - does what it says on the tin. The holocaust memorial near the Brandenburg gate was more than just 2,711 concrete slabs, but a powerful relic for drawing in and focusing psychokinetic energy from all over Germany and manifesting it into one powerful spirit. Originaly designed to serve like the Golem and prevent something nasty like the Nazis from happening again, the control Macguffin fell into the hands of Evil and the spirit is forced to do not nice things in the service of the bad guys.

 

And of course I might have to bring out an old WWII artifact or two - in classic golden age style, you know a 200 foot tall steam powered robo-nazi mecha will have to make an appearance.

 

Anyway, I havent put together any numbers for these guys yet - I'm really still just in the brainstorming stage (heck, I only have a vauge notion of a game, so everyone may not make the cut). Which is where I'm hoping I can draw upon you guys and your amazing imaginations to help ponder german/communist bloc/east german heavys.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Brainstorming Euopean bad guys?

 

There's a church in Prague or somwhere in that area that has all of its decorations made out of actual bones - chandeliers made of bones and skulls, etc. A villain perhaps with an origin tied back to that place with the power to animate and control bone? Don't let him get to the Museum of Natural History!

 

Of course Eurostar and (yeah, yeah) European Enemies could serve as inspiration, even if you don't use any of the characters themselves. Same with Red Doom.

 

Howabout a kooky Swiss theme villain with all sorts of clock and clockwork-based gadgets?

 

Partition - twins with Rogue-like power-theft abilities. Must both target same person, then split their powers between them.

[Great Beyond]

Oh man - the Kostnice Ossuary! How could I have forgotten about that?!? That's a damn sweet idea! (the one stop in Prague that I deeply regret not getting to. I would have LOVED to have seen that church).

 

***edit***

Is European Enemies out of print? I didnt see it listed for sale in the store.

 

***edit 2.0***

Oooh, never mind - I found some discussion about it via google. It was that bad of a train wreck, huh?

[Vann the Red]

Re: Brainstorming Euopean bad guys?

 

Friedrich der Grosse - Thor-esque hero that is the famous king reborn as per legend

 

VtR

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

***edit***

Is European Enemies out of print? I didnt see it listed for sale in the store.

 

***edit 2.0***

Oooh, never mind - I found some discussion about it via google. It was that bad of a train wreck, huh?

 

Yes, EE is out of print (although various used game retailers still have it), and yes, it's almost universally accepted as the worst Hero Games book ever. Nonetheless there were a few decent (or at least redeemable) villains in the collection, and Susano did yeoman service "debugging" and updating the characters to Fifth Edition on his website: http://surbrook.devermore.net/revisedhero/herorev.html

 

There are also several fine international villains in the old 3E adventure VOICE of Doom, also out of print; but again, Champions fans have updated them to 5E: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27274 . The collection includes a German, an Italian, a Spaniard, and a Frenchman among others.

 

You might also consider the recent Champs supplement Champions Worldwide, which is in print and available from the Hero online store. It's a collection of villains, and heroes, from around the world. It includes two villains each from France and Germany, one villain each from Italy and Finland, and five from Russia.

[tribe]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

We've got tonnes of European characters over in Uberworld. You can do a search on the website based on location (just tag Europe).

[Metaphysician]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

There's this supplement for 4e that might help. . .

 

*runs away*

[gmurie]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

If no radiation accidents have happened at CERN then it's just not supers game world now is it?

 

Just gotta steer it away from that mystical stuff. Also, with a culture based on precise engineering shouldn't there be Power Armor types throughout Germany?

[Fedifensor]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

* The Golem of Prague - created in the 16th century by Rabbi Judah Loew, the Maharal of Prague, to defend the Prague ghetto of Josefov from Anti-Semitic attacks.

 

According to the legend, the Emperor made an edict proclaiming that the Jews in Prague were to be either expelled or killed (depending on the version of the story). A golem could be made of clay from the banks of the Vltava river in Prague. Following the prescribed rituals, the Rabbi built the Golem and made him come to life by reciting special incantations in Hebrew. The Rabbi's intention was to have the Golem protect the Jewish community from harm. As Rabbi Loew's Golem grew bigger, he also became more violent and started killing the Gentiles and spreading fear. (Some versions also add that the Golem turns on his creator and attacks either his creator alone or the creator and the Jews as well).

 

In the face of the strength demonstrated and violence perpetrated by the Golem, the Emperor begs Rabbi Loew to destroy the Golem, and in return he would promise that the persecution of and violence towards the Jews would stop. The Rabbi accepted this offer. To destroy the Golem, he rubbed out the first letter of the word "emet" or "aemaeth" (God's truth) from the golem's forehead to make the Hebrew word "met" or "maeth", meaning death. It was made clear to the Emperor that the Golem of Prague's remains would be stored in a coffin in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue in Prague, and it can be summoned again if needed.

 

* Vengeance of a million murdered jews - does what it says on the tin. The holocaust memorial near the Brandenburg gate was more than just 2,711 concrete slabs, but a powerful relic for drawing in and focusing psychokinetic energy from all over Germany and manifesting it into one powerful spirit. Originaly designed to serve like the Golem and prevent something nasty like the Nazis from happening again, the control Macguffin fell into the hands of Evil and the spirit is forced to do not nice things in the service of the bad guys.

 

I really like these two, especially the Golem. The only problem with the Vengeance is that it kind of treads the same ground that the Golem does, so you'll have to work to make it different and unique. Maybe there is one Jewish spirit stronger than the others that takes control, seeking out vengeance while the other spirits (including several unwilling ones) are carried along. Maybe the spirit in control changes from moment to moment, so you can never predict exactly what it's going to do...

[ScrewySquirrel]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

some possibles:

 

L'Empereur -- A villian with delusions that he is the reincarnation of Napoleon, and must conquer the world. Has armies of blunderbuss-equipped minions. Perhaps he has powerful psionic abilities.

 

Dykeman -- a water projector from the Netherlands.

 

Baba Yaga -- an obvious Russian grey-level villian

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

My favorite (and only) villain duo from a short-lived hero game that I ran:

 

The Nihilist - German existentialist with high-level energy projection powers: basically powered by negative cosmic energy. Think of the Nihilists from The Big Labowski (euro-trash German accents, constant harping about the utter meaninglessness of the universe, etc.) This is mainly an excuse to indulge in a funny accent and constant whining. Even the other villains in my game consider The Nihilist to be a putz.

 

Quote: "Zis money? Why do you cling to it so? It is nothing. Shall I show you the nothing? I think not. That would be an effort. Now come, we must leave. Kraftwork is playing in Munich."

 

Reginald Smythe - another stereotype: this one of the hyper-competent British butler. In this case, he's actually a professional Loyal Lieutenant: he keeps the rest of the servants (ie, the henchmen) in line, drives the getaway car, and in general ensures that his master's plans actually have a decent chance of succeeding. Why does he do it? Tradition, of course - his family has been in the henchman business for generations. In my campaign, he was working for the Nihilist when the heroes encountered him.

 

Quote: "Very good, sir."

[st barbara]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

"Zeitgeist" : German criminal with desolid, drain , ghostly type powers. Perhaps even has some political agenda i e he/she believes that metahumans are the "coming race" and should rule etc

[Great Beyond]

Re: Brainstorming European bad guys?

 

If no radiation accidents have happened at CERN then it's just not supers game world now is it?

 

Oooh, I didnt know about that facility! Perfect! I needed an Institute for Advanced Science somewhere in that neighborhood anyway, to have an excuse to get the team's Super Genius character involved in the eventual plot. That's made to order!

 

*heads off to Wiki to read up on the facility*

 

Just gotta steer it away from that mystical stuff. Also, with a culture based on precise engineering shouldn't there be Power Armor types throughout Germany?

 

Heh - power armor Volkswagons.

 

I really like these two' date=' especially the Golem.[/quote']

 

While I'd love to take credit for writing that up, the Golem is an actual, real life legend from Prague. I've been there and seen the Synagogue it was suppose to be in.

 

Still doesnt make it any less cool, tho.

 

The only problem with the Vengeance is that it kind of treads the same ground that the Golem does, so you'll have to work to make it different and unique. Maybe there is one Jewish spirit stronger than the others that takes control, seeking out vengeance while the other spirits (including several unwilling ones) are carried along. Maybe the spirit in control changes from moment to moment, so you can never predict exactly what it's going to do...

 

I think - and mind you this is only just brainstorming, since I have put numbers to paper yet - that Vengeance is going to be more mental attacks and overwhelming presence than physical strength and power like the Golem. Conceptually the two are the same, sure - but Vengeance was going to be sort of a Total Perspective Vortex (to steal a concept from Hitchhikers Guide). A successful attack is an overwhelming sense of guilt and despair - basically every emotion from a concentration camp compressed down to one big ball and poured into a character's mind.

 

My favorite (and only) villain duo from a short-lived hero game that I ran:

 

Ok, I am SO stealing those two. I love the "We would fight, but I must now dance!" quote (I'd have to watch some old SNL with the Sprokets skits to get the right accent down ). You wouldnt happen to have the numbers for them hanging around somewhere, would you?