Fun with Thugs and Mooks

[BoloOfEarth]

Okay, we've all run agents and other mooks, but most of the time they seem to be two-dimensional props thrown in. "Okay, VIPER agent #3 fires his blaster rifle at you..." How do people here give them some personality, some life?

 

I've done the following:

 

1) A PC hero breaking into a base belonging to the Ultimates overheard a discussion between some hired thugs on the various supervillains they've worked for. "If you gotta hire on temp with a cape, go for a fanatic. They're more interested in some 'loftier goal' and generally let you have a bigger cut of the cash." "Yeah, but avoid the psycho ones. I worked for Black Harlequin once. Once. Never again. That psycho gutted Ralph as a lark!"

 

I can't claim credit; I think I got this idea from an article in Digital Hero, or maybe a post on these boards.

 

2) A PC hero overheard two thugs talking, and one managed to mix up half his words. "What am I, some kinda persona au gratin? They treat me like I'm some kinda idiot. I know how to read, I'm not illegible!" When the thug mentioned the new supervillain group he was working for, the hero had to translate the names from "Phil-speak".

 

Can't claim total credit here either. It's a variation on a Capitol Steps comedy routine.

 

3) A mook about to get pounded by a male hero asked him to "cut him some slack" so he could look good in front of the hot supervillainess. Basically, take into consideration something going on at the time.

 

So, what have you done to make your mooks a little more interesting? Any tips I can steal... I mean, borrow?

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I had a player who had a DNPC: little sister on a 14- so I needed ways to get her into the game at times. I took into consideration the fact that the hero really did nothing but patrol, he needed a babysitter.

 

The next door neighbor was always home so the hero had the next door neighbor, who had a daughter the same age as the lil sis, babysit.

 

It just so happened that the neighbor was a former Viper agent on parole. He had a job that kept him out of trouble and reason to stay out of jail.

 

Did I mention that the hero had a Hunted by Viper? I got the reputation as a GM who will screw you over with your disads.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I don't know about adding it to game but the Monarch's henchmen from "The Venture Brothers" on Cartoon Network sound just like your first example.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I typically diversify my mooks, VIPER style. Instead of five guys packing blasters, you get a couple of guys with big guns with limited shots, but other guys have vari-blasters with flashes and entangles in MPs along with more standard fare.

[Shaft]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I posted a few tables to add variety to my mooks and thugs:

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61950

 

I also have a short article on mook tactics:

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1607010#post1607010

 

Hope this helps.

[Narratio]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I usually throw in a random event or two. A guard suddenly having to abandon his post for a toilet break (And having a base with toilets!). Or having the agents partake in 'boring' conversations, usually RP'd by a couple of players who had nothing else to do at the time.

 

My 6 favourite boring conversations include;

Where are you going on your holidays this year?

What was that mess served in the canteen yesterday? (Make sure base has a canteen)

My boots are killing me

Does your uniform ride up like mine does?

Why did the boss only give us one magazine of ammo each?

These upgraded (somethings) aren't as good as the old ones.

 

The last gives the players something to marvel at as they invent outlandish names for that 6d6 blaster they tote and comment upon it.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I don't understand why more GMs don't give agents brief soliloquies during a battle. Supers of both persuasions do it all the time. Nothing grandiose like those of the megavillains that would slow down combat, but just colorful little interjections that you think people like this might actually say to the opposition, or each other, in the heat of the moment. If you don't feel you're up to improvising that many character remarks at once, write up a little list as things strike you that you can refer to during game. Just a few examples:

 

"Twenty bucks to the first one draws blood on the cape."

 

"Damn! I know that blaster's comin' outta my pay."

 

"Eat hot plasma, freak!"

 

"Hey Rick, you aimed a lot better in practice."

 

"No way you're gettin' between me and my promotion."

 

"Hell, I'm not paid enough for this!"

[Enforcer84]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

Once:

"Oh Crap! Captain Blaster! You were my hero when I was a kid!....I-I'm sorry I have to do this."

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

Tex Jones from my Pulp/Superhero campaign, ran into Moose and Rocko while infiltrating a gangster's compound (I forget the specific illegal activity the Gangsters were engaged in). Tex caught 'em by surprise, laid them both out and disarmed them before they could act. He subsequently gave them a "You guys should turn ovewr a new leaf" speech and maxed out his PRE dice. They ran away, only to turn up later at Tex's Chicago factory/workshop, looking for work. "We was thinkin' over whut ya's said to us last week and we was wonderin' if you needed some watchmen?"

[Hermit]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

I don't understand why more GMs don't give agents brief soliloquies during a battle. Supers of both persuasions do it all the time. Nothing grandiose like those of the megavillains that would slow down combat, but just colorful little interjections that you think people like this might actually say to the opposition, or each other, in the heat of the moment. If you don't feel you're up to improvising that many character remarks at once, write up a little list as things strike you that you can refer to during game. Just a few examples:

 

"Twenty bucks to the first one draws blood on the cape."

 

"Damn! I know that blaster's comin' outta my pay."

 

"Eat hot plasma, freak!"

 

"Hey Rick, you aimed a lot better in practice."

 

"No way you're gettin' between me and my promotion."

 

"Hell, I'm not paid enough for this!"

 

This is how I go with it, especially with VIPER agents. They are a world of fun to step into the shoes of. I have even dented the fourth wall with them and showed they are not entirely unaware of the genre tropes/cliches against them.

 

VIPER Agent 1- "Stagger Shots on this guy"

VIPER Agent 2- "Gotcha!"

VIPER Agent 3-"Right, he's only one man!"

*Pause*

Agent 1-"Great, Frank, you jinxed us!"

Agent 2- "never EVER say that..."

Agent 3 (Agent Frank)- "Sorry guys, It was an honest..." *Whump, Frank goes down from the hero's attack *

[Narratio]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

Another thing I've seen sometimes is to have the goons be far smarter than the villain they're supporting. They're being this guys goon to make money so they can pay next semesters tuition basically.

 

So I've heard the players who are RP'ing the goons hold discussions / soliloquies on particle physics, the combat they are in being examples of revenge and retribution, man's basic inhumanity to man etc. Or, in one wierd case, what they were going to do once they got trounced. The guy doing the RP for the thug just ran him out in front of the hero screaming "Hit me, hit me!" This stopped the hero cold as the thug explained that he had a paper due in a week. If he was arrested now, he could be processed and out on bail by the next day, which was just enough time to submit his paper on Dystopian Societies in a post Cold War ethos. Soon after the rest laid down weapons without firing them and offered themselves up for arrest. This took so much time that the bad guy escaped.

 

I game with wierd people.

[Graywolf777]

Re: Fun with Thugs and Mooks

 

The one I've always had fun with is the random thug that makes an amazing roll, and thus pulls off something no one was expecting them to. I've often fleshed out one like this to make them an unanticipated recurring villain.

 

For example, about a year back in a Shadowrun campaign, one of my players got involved in a mob war (A prime example of why you never hand your GM a contact list without names and short descriptions) The first incident that involved this player in the war involved a group of Mob thugs sent to "rough him up." Now the character in question , Rocko, was a 9 foot tall 500 pound Troll street samurai that specialized in hand to hand combat. The mob thugs used a generic template straight out of the book.

 

So Rocko, fairly predictably, takes out about half the thugs fairly easily, but when he goes for the next thug he rolls relatively poorly. Probably wouldn't have mattered, except this thug manages to roll all successes. Next thing I know this generic mob thug throws a 500 pound Troll over his shoulder and into a parked car. Rocko still wins the fight, but he's hurt far more severely than I had planned.

 

I ended up using that particular mobster a couple more times, unfortunately, I never really gave him a proper name before the campaign fell apart.