where do the villains get the MONEY?

[phydaux]

I need some ideas on how super powered villains get money for their bases, equipment and stuff.

 

See, I have this campaign where all the PCs are villains. They work for a villain master mind, and until he can start to funnel untraceable funds to the PCs, they will have to scrounge for their own bucks.

 

I've got one idea for a museum heist. The master mind will provide the PCs with one million dollars in cash if they can break into the local Met and boost this one famous painting.

 

What the PCs don't know is the master mind has his own plans for the painting. He has this guy who is a genius at copying paintings, but only this ONE particular artist. The master mind plans to have several copies of the stolen painting made, sell them to crooked art collectors and keep the original for himself.

 

Also, the master mind, in his secret ID, owns the insurance company underwriting the museum. So, if the PCs damage the target painting, the master minds plan is ruined (he can sell the copies but not keep the original) and if they damage any other art works his company will be out big bucks.

 

All this is fine for a night or two, but I need more ideas on how super villains get their "operating capital."

 

Any ideas?

[BoloOfEarth]

Depends on the villain(s). Also depends on the realism level of the campaign. Some ideas include:

 

Theft. Best done with cash, precious metals or stones, or other fairly easily-cashed, not-so-traceable stuff.

 

Blackmail/Protection rackets. Get info on somebody rich, or convince a company that "bad things" will happen if they don't fork over some Franklins.

 

Legitimate Twisted Slightly. Like stealing cutting edge tech, then marketing your own high-tech stuff. Or running a company and causing various "accidents" to hinder competitors.

 

Identity Theft. A shapeshifter or disguise master might take a multimillionaire's place long enough to funnel off some cash to Swiss accounts.

 

Counterfeiting. Not just cash, this could include artificial diamonds, magically-created (but short-lived) gold, etc.

 

Just a few ideas. I'd have more if I knew about the characters involved.

[BoloOfEarth]

Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).

 

Another idea, along the weapons line: A scientist type could supply both sides of a gang war (or real war) with weapons and equipment.

[Kevin Scrivner]

I always figured they got it by pulling off a series of smaller crimes, saving up for the big caper that will make them filthy rich and their names household words (at least that was the plan). This structure shapes the plot.

 

For example: The villains begin their crime spree by kidnapping a series of scientists and technicians, forcing them to design The Ultimate Weapon . Once they've got a set of blueprints, the evil protagonists scour the countryside for materials to build it. Once they've got it assembled, they've got to transport it to the firing site without the authorities catching on. Finally, they hack into the city broadcasting and broadband networks to air their big threat, "Pay up or fry!" Having a getaway plan and a means of transporting the ransom is also a good idea.

 

Of course, there are more subtle ways than a spree of bank robberies. Maybe they've got a chain of small businesses that provide capital -- bookie joints, massage parlors, tattoo studios, pawn shops, and the like. They'd have to manage the business, protect their resources, and fend off competitors and the cops. Maybe they've got a sophisticated Internet or mail fraud scheme going. Maybe their master hacker is siphoning off a tiny percentage from innumerable bank accounts.

 

How the group handles its money also depends on its goals. Joker and Riddler types care more about style than profit. They'll blow a hard-snatched wad to pull off some spectacular stunt. Powermongers, Lex Luthor and Obadiah Stane types, will maintain a respectible front while manipulating others from behind the scenes. If they really are into supervillainy for the money, they might be cautious about expenditures, won't sweat over complicated long-range schemes, and will zip off to Monte Carlo once they do land an appreciable amount of cash.

[Carmen]

Kickbacks

 

Some villains probably get kickbacks from certain unscrupulous "news" programs.

[Monolith]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth

Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).

I think these are all good ideas. As far as the base goes, think about what we see in the comics and cartoons: the villian works out of an abandoned building (warehouse, theatre, home, etc). Most of the villains do not have access to everything right off the bat. They need to work their way up just like PC supers would.

 

Let the villains steal everything they need. That way they can make enemies of both the criminal organizations (VIPER, DEMON, ARGENT) and the law enforcement organizations (PRIMUS, UNTIL, MARS), and the superheroes. It's more fun when everyone hates them.

 

Another way for them to get equipment is for them to work for VIPER or ARGENT occasionally as mercenaries, and then accept payment in equipment of various types. So they get a 15 year old VIPER skyshark chopper, but it works and it is free.

[Dog Soldier]

Charities, complete with telemarketers and telethons. They should actually run some orphanages and schools as well. Great places to indoctrinate and recruit followers.

[Armitage]

Originally posted by BoloOfEarth

Oh, and who says you have to *buy* bases, equipment, and vehicles? Hit a VIPER weapons shipment, steal the latest UNTIL stealth surveillance jet prototype, research 30+ year-old VIPER or supervillain bases "shut down" by the heroes (saves tons on excavation costs, though upgrading is a pain).

 

Another idea, along the weapons line: A scientist type could supply both sides of a gang war (or real war) with weapons and equipment.

 

There's also the Justin Hammer method, from Marvel Comics.

 

"I will supply you with all of the advanced technology that you need. In return you will give me 10% of the take from all future crimes until the devices are paid for. You will also work for me whenever I need you and these services will result in a appropriate reduction in your debt to me."

 

And the supplier has enough villains in his debt to serve as a collection agency if anyone tries to stiff him.

[Ghost who Walks]

A couple villains in my campaign have used....

 

City of the Future (Inspired by the Robocpo series): The archvillain is sposoring a series of fires, crime waves, and lack of social services to lower property values. He will the buy up all the property, and construct his utopian city of the future, where only the good and pure" shall live.

 

The point of this is to present the contrast, the villains goals are actually fairly noble, he is attempting to destory the harsh reality of slums an poverty. However, his methods are not noble. The advantage of this is it can be run over several sessions.

 

Alien Printer: If you have any alien in the campaign, the focus of this scenario is to steal their printer (yes that thing that turns pictures on your computer into pictures in your hand). S oadvanced is the resolution on the printer, that it is capable (with the right paper and ink) of printing out currency, false documents, and passports of amazing quality. If no aliens exist, replace the word "alien" with the word "Dr. Destroyer". Of couse, make sure whoever they steal the printer from wants it back.

 

Kidnapping/abduction: this is what secrtet ID's are for, I have done this several times to player's who are millionaires in their secret identities. Find an NPC hero, who is rich in his secret ID. (Defender of the champions works well for this). Kidnap him, hold him for ransom. Imagine your villains surprise when all his friends show up...

 

Crime Camera: One of the villains has a camera mounted on their battle armor. It broadcasts footage from their crimes to a pay-per-view website.

[McCoy]

Originally posted by Dog Soldier

Charities, complete with telemarketers and telethons. They should actually run some orphanages and schools as well. Great places to indoctrinate and recruit followers.

Telemarketing, definitely telemarketing.

 

And stock manipulation. Short a company big time, then attack their facilities. Property damage, bad publicity, loss of production, stock falls, cover the short.

 

How ruthless are they? There's always the Murder, Inc. route. Buy a large life insurance policy on a casual accquantice, preferably double indemnity, then arrange an "accident."

 

Merc work. I'll have to try that sometime, a squad in Viper uniforms but when the shooting starts turns out they have real powers.

 

Anyone can sell protection. Bricks make good Enforcers. Mentalist are good confidence artist. Can you imagine a three card montie game by a Speedster?

[GestaltBennie]

My old PC VIPER campaign group specialized in blackmail, but ran a bingo parlor on the side.

 

Boy were they mad when Black Harlequin replaced their bingo balls with his special exploding sleeping gas balls. :-)

[Chuckg]

You know, in 5e VIPER this would usually lead to Black Harlequin being found with sixteen holes in his body about the size of the beams left by a VB-A4 "Jackhammer" blaster rifle.

 

Addendum -- as you well know.

[wcw43921]

You know, I really don't think it would be that hard for a supervillain to acquire starting funds--

 

STEP 1: Find Automatic Teller Machine(ATM).

 

STEP 2: Break ATM open.

 

STEP 3: Steal cash from ATM reservoir.

 

STEP 4: Get your miserable hide out of there before cops, or heroes, or Marines, or all three, arrive.

 

STEP 5: Repeat as necessary.

 

Alternately--

 

STEP 1: Find convenience store.

 

STEP 2: Break into cashier's booth. Disarm cashier if necessary.

 

STEP 3: Empty cash register. Empty safe where deposits are kept.

 

STEP 4: Get your miserable hide out of there before cops, or heroes, or Marines, or all three, arrive.

 

STEP 5: Repeat as necessary.

 

In both instances, when you make your getaway--Make sure you take the money with you. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough--

 

PC: "All right, I get back to my hideout and count my money--"

 

GM: "What money?"

 

PC: "The money I just stole! What do you mean, 'What money?'"

 

GM: "You didn't say you were taking the money with you. All you said was, 'I'm getting myself out of there.' Now if you had said, 'I'm taking the money and getting myself out of there' then you'd have the money. But you didn't--so as far as I'm concerned, you left it behind."

 

PC: "But--But--"

 

Let this be a lesson to us all.

[Supreme Serpent]

Crime spree away from the major cities.

 

"OK, next on the list - Springfield, Nebraska. Population: 30,000. Superhero population: zero. Nearest PRIMUS Base: 600 miles. Banks in town: 15. It's payday boys, lets get some cash flow."

[umbra]

One of the PC's in our game is making a mint repairing satellites for companies that are quite willing to pay him to do it (he can travel into space and has lifesupport) as he is much cheaper and faster then waiting for NASA. He does have the problem of paying taxes and such (he has a secret ID) but if your a villain.... Also there is arson (no traces of accelerant if you have a flame/fire attack). If one of the villains has magic, you could get paided to curse rivals, foresee the future (great for stock tips), cause rich men/women to fall in love with you and will you their fortunes, etc. Speedsters could deliver money, drugs etc faster and safer then Fedex.

[phydaux]

These are some good ideas. Please keep them coming.

 

So far, I have these ideas planed out -

 

1) The museum heist.

 

2) The PCs will be sent to destory all the fire engines in the city. (While they do this, the master mind will torch several rival companies' buildings;) )

 

3) Kidnap several scientists/engineers and ransom them back to the companies they work for (These scientists & engineers will all work for competitors of the master mind's companies).

 

4) Kidnap a wealth NPC (who happens to be my campaign's Tony Stark rip-off and will summon his super hero friends).

 

I'll also toss in a few things to put tention between the PCs and VIPER, like sending Viperia and a few VIPER goons to put a smack on them. I like the idea of them using an abandon, long-forgotten VIPER base as their base. Think I'll give the base a few dice of Unluck;)

 

BTW, the PCs will not be the only villains hired by the master mind. I'm also going to include Foxbat and Ogre (because I LOVE them both so much!) as well as a mentalist character named Apparition. Apparition is, in reality, a local hero named Mind Maiden who is just using Clairsencience and Images to simulate powers, like Desolidification, without really "being there."

[Ghost who Walks]

Couple more ideas:

1) Perhaps each of the PC's could have a crime specialty? This would be like an occupation in a secret identity, help you establish what they do between scenarios. Robbing ATM machnines, stealing cars, breaking into peoples houses to take their toaster...stuff like that.The money they get from this would be like their pocket money.

 

2) an NPC/DNPC who is an infromant for the FBI/PRIMUS/Food and Drug Administration might be fun

 

For an old base, you can have the former architect (now in prison) sell the plans of the base to their enemies.

 

Pulsar is also a good NPC to have show up.

[Captain Liberty]

Still more money-makers

 

How about selling protection to the Organized Crime mobs? Be a shame if a superfight tore up that drug warehouse...

 

I was in a campaign like this for a couple of episodes. The GM thought it was a neat idea but ended up not really getting that excited about it. The Crime Boss running the operation had poisoned everyone. Only he had the antidote.

[phydaux]

Re: Still more money-makers

 

Originally posted by Captain Liberty

How about selling protection to the Organized Crime mobs? Be a shame if a superfight tore up that drug warehouse...

 

Blackmail the Mob? Boo-Yeah! That's a GREAT idea!

 

Now I just need an Irish-Americian super villain for the mob to hire to track the PCs down and punish them.

 

See, the campaign takes place in and around Boston, and in Boston it's the Irish who run things.

 

Can you say Kennedy?

[Jhamin]

Originally posted by phydaux

The PCs will be sent to destory all the fire engines in the city. (While they do this, the master mind will torch several rival companies' buildings;) )

 

Legend has it that in ancent Rome (which didn't have a public fire department) one of it's most powerful senators made his fortune by organizing a private fire department.

 

Apparently they would wait until someone's house was on fire, then show up and demand an exorbinant price before they would put the fire out.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Re: Still more money-makers

 

Originally posted by phydaux

Now I just need an Irish-Americian super villain for the mob to hire to track the PCs down and punish them.

 

Well, he's not Irish-American, but I'm sure Shamrock wouldn't mind a little extra cash.

 

As far as the whole attack rival companies thing goes, may want to hit a few of his own things to avoid suspicion. Of course, stage it so that there are no significant losses. Steal prototype that wasn't really working anyways, steal money from safes (which can be used to further fund the attacks on enemies, etc.). and so on.

[Battlestaff]

Super-Merc

 

Hiring yourself out pull jobs robbing places for one-of-a-kind items. You can create a profitable niche as super-burglars, with lots of benefits:

1) The people who hire you are usually after one thing from the location, so you can grab everything else and keep it.

2) You don't have to come up with all the plans yourself.

3) And, if you get captured, you always have someone to roll on to reduce your sentence (though this only works once before no one ever hires you again).

[umbra]

Invent a new highly addictive new drug and rake in the money. You can always use your newly addicted victims to sell and distribute it for you. To make the drug even more desirable to people, make it seem to restore youth. Even if the drug ends up killing people in 5 years, some people will take the risk to look better.

 

If someone is a shapeshifter the can get paid to impersonate people ... i.e. If you always wanted to date Superman... Heck you could even start doing Superhero porn. I'm sure there are lots of lonely people out there who would rent/buy stuff like that.

 

Man colds make me evil. Must be the Dayquil.

[FogHat]

Instant Cash

 

Got a brick? Add ATM and a truck. Drive up.. rip out.. repeat.

Not tons of money but hey it is quick, don't even need to get out of the escape vehicle.

 

Banks are a classic - depends on powers. Not high on my risk rewards meter. They expect to be robbed.

 

Armored Cars - Always fun to plan how to take one out quietly. (Or just use the "Heat" method)

 

Sporting events - Hit the collector of all the beer and hotdog cash before it is picked up. (The tickets are most likely pre-bought)

 

Valet park for a fancy party. Use the registration to find out where the guy with the Maybach lives and send the rest of the time to visit before he leaves. Oh yah and you get to keep the tips.

[lemming]

Re: Re: Re: Still more money-makers

 

Originally posted by Supreme Serpent

As far as the whole attack rival companies thing goes, may want to hit a few of his own things to avoid suspicion. Of course, stage it so that there are no significant losses. Steal prototype that wasn't really working anyways, steal money from safes (which can be used to further fund the attacks on enemies, etc.). and so on.

Over insure your own property. That prototype is worth "millions"!