VOICE List

[Lord Liaden]

VOICE Plot Seeds

 

I thought it might be helpful for people interested in using VOICE in their campaigns to have a compilation of plot seeds. Agent X has already contributed a fine one earlier in this thread involving the Panchen Lama. Everyone else is also welcome to contribute. Here are a few from my past campaign:

 

Payback, With Interest: Graf von Grausom is well known for his hatred of the countries who were part of the Axis and Allies during WW II, whom he blames for his wasted youth. Now the Graf has come up with a scheme for revenge against almost all of them at a single stroke, which will also foster the political chaos that VOICE loves.

 

The annual G-8 economic conference is attended by the leaders of the world's major industrialized countries - the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Canada, Germany and Italy. The conference also draws crowds of angry protestors demonstrating against economic globalization. The Graf intends to use this opportunity to kill all of these leaders at once.

 

Le Maistre will use his mental powers to work the protestors into a frenzy, until they overwhelm the first line of security for the conference (with the help of strategically placed Tongue agents) and storm the conference center itself. This is only a distraction, though; Dr. Photon will use her battlesuit's Tunneling ability to penetrate the conference center from below with the Graf and a VOICE strike team. They will kill all the world leaders while leaving evidence implicating one of the protest groups.

 

The PCs learn of this plot (intercepted transmission, captured VOICE agent or traitor, etc.) and have to rush to prevent a mass assassination. Their efforts may be complicated by having to persuade security to let them through, or by helping to control the berserk protestors.

 

Death from the Sky: A commercial airliner flying over the ocean is hijacked in mid-air by Black Raven and Goshawk, with the help of Carrier who's aboard in his secret ID of respected physician Dr. Pablo Vasquez. The villains overwhelm the crew before they have a chance to send out a distress call.

 

The flying villains have brought aboard a quantity of a deadly new airborne virus developed by Carrier. They intend to spread the virus over the plane's destination city as it makes its approach.

 

However, one of the PC heroes or a DNPC is also aboard the plane, and manages to send a signal to the heroes. They will now have to intercept the aircraft before it can reach its destination and release the virus, without crashing it and/or killing the innocent passengers.

 

Emitted Photon: Dr. Photon's arrogant attitude prevented her from moving up the ranks when she was a member of PRIMUS (although she would never take the blame for that herself). Now that same attitude is blocking her ambition for advancement within VOICE. Frustrated, she negotiates a better deal with another criminal agency (VIPER, ARGENT or the like). Naturally VOICE doesn't take this defection well.

 

If the PCs have encountered Dr. Photon before, they may be surprised to discover her working with this other agency when they attack one of its facilities. They'll be even more surprised when VOICE attacks the same facility in force, trying to silence their traitorous former Jaw. The heroes suddenly find themselves in the middle of a three-way firefight.

 

Assuming Dr. Photon escapes alive, she later shows up at the heroes' headquarters to beg them to protect her from VOICE, offering all she knows about the organization in exchange. If the heroes agree they'll face the full wrath of VOICE.

 

Prodigal Daughter: Blue Eel's kinfolk, the People of the Sea, have long pursued her attempting to retrieve the staff weapon she stole from them. Ironically this has helped bring about the Sea People's worst fear: to stop this harassment, as well as gain the advanced technology that created the staff, VOICE plans to attack and enslave the remaining Sea People.

 

Even though Blue Eel was treated as an outcast by her people, she has no wish to see them harmed, but she can't dissuade VOICE from launching the assault. Desperate, she turns to the PCs for help in mounting an undersea rescue mission. If they don't believe her or don't want to help, she points out how much more dangerous VOICE will be if they gain that technology.

[Lord Liaden]

As I've discussed with Steve Perrin, there are minor inaccuracies in some of the foreign-language names for the villains in VOICE of Doom. I thought I would just point them out here for folks who prefer linguistic accuracy (Steve told me he has no problem with this) :

 

"Le Maistre" is not quite the right rendering of what Steve was going for, which was "The Master." In French that would be Le Maitre with a "^" over the letter "i" (I'm having trouble getting my keyboard to do that).

 

The Italian nationalist slogan uttered by Irredencia from which he takes his name is actually Italia Irredenta, "Italy unredeemed." It refers to territories in other European countries with Italian-speaking populations, claimed as part of a "greater Italy." (BTW I think that "Unredeemed" is a very cool name for a villain.)

 

"Graf von Grausom" doesn't really translate as "Baron of Terror." "Terror" in German is schrecken; grausom or grausam is more "fierce" or "cruel." It's also an adjective - the noun form would be grausamkeit.

 

Also, a graf is higher in the feudal hierarchy than a baron, equivalent to a count. In fact you can translate Graf von Grausamkeit as "Count of Cruelty" and keep that classy alliteration.

 

Lung Hung ("Red Dragon") and La Pulga ("The Flea") are just fine as they are.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Eureka!

 

Congratulations, Bob. That's an impressive lineup, and very international as befits VOICE. I recognize almost everyone there whom you haven't specified as an original creation, but I'm drawing a blank on Ego, Dreamer and Crater. Can someone point me to where I could find their writeups?

 

BTW, there are 4E writeups for three of these villains (Daigon, Scarab and Orb) who were taken from the fine 3E Champs adventure Target Hero, on Charles Brown's fine website, "The Demonlair." They would be much easier to convert to 5E than the original character sheets. The website includes other compilations and updates of past incarnations of DEMON, and is well worth a look:

 

http://members.aol.com/DEMONTh254/

[BobGreenwade]

Ego is from the 3E supplement Atlas Unleashed. Dreamer (IIRC) is a Perrin original. Crater (and all of the other Baby Teeth except Divine Wind) is one of my own.

 

Note taken on the foreign names; I'd certainly want to change them accordingly.

 

I'm also wondering how many of the villains named on my list (not counting the Perrin and Greenwade originals) are owned by DOJ. The only one I recall for sure as being no longer a Hero Games property is Death Rider, and I did get permission from creator Lance Gueck to use him (in fact, he tought it was extremely cool).

[Lord Liaden]

I'm pretty sure that Dennis Mallonee has the rights to Red Rapier (he's used the character in his "League of Champions" comic series), and Steve Long mentioned to me that Lionslayer is still Scott Bennie's character. Don't know about the others, I'm afraid.

[BobGreenwade]

Well, it looks like Red Rapier would have to be replaced (or at least, lose the proverbial serial numbers). I don't think Dennis wants much of anything to do with Hero Games these days (though I'm not sure what the story behind that is -- nor am I sure that it's any of my business anyways).

 

OTOH Scott's pretty cool about this sort of thing, and I've little doubt that he'd agree to have Lionslayer included in a final cut.

[Lord Liaden]

The Leadership of VOICE

 

As I'd indicated in my earlier posts, my concept of VOICE had them being secretly led by other immortal vampiric mutants like Lung Hung. Steve Perrin's elaboration on these mutants has caused me to rethink the way I'd designed them, so I'm not prepared to post character sheets here just yet; but I have taken his remarks into account in revising their backgrounds, so I thought I would start posting the non-game-stat parts of their writeups. Using the examples of Lung Hung and Kirigi that Steve has already posted, it should be relatively easy for anyone wanting to use these characters to write them up.

 

So, let me begin with the only son of the Red Dragon,

 

SUBOTAI, MAESTRO OF THE TONGUE

 

Background/History: The man now known as Subotai was born in northern China in the year 1267 AC. In that year an escaped slave came to the home of a childless peasant couple of her acquaintance. The former slave girl was heavy with child, the product of rape by her Mongol master. Not desiring such a burden, the girl payed the couple with gold looted from the Khan's treasury to help care for her and, when she came to term, to raise her child. She then left to seek her destiny.

 

Gold or no gold, the couple treated their foster son harshly, beating him on the slightest pretext. Suspecting his true ancestry they derided him as a Mongol barbarian. As soon as he was old enough to work they put him into the fields, driving him with little rest. The boy grew to hate his "parents."

 

One day when he was 14 the boy had had enough of beatings and attacked his foster father. In the struggle the boy struck his head and was killed. Wishing to avoid scandal in their village, the couple buried him in an unmarked grave in the woods and told their neighbors that the ungrateful whelp had run away.

 

Three days later the boy revived, filled with anger and hatred, strength such as he had never known before, and a terrible thirst. Digging his way out of the grave he snuck back to his foster parents home, crept upon his father as he slept, tore out his throat with his teeth and instinctively drank his blood. His mother awoke and tried to flee, but he was far too swift and strong for her.

 

After the boy's thirst was slaked he became confused and frightened, unable to comprehend what had happened to him. Afraid of what the other villagers would do to him if they learned what he'd done, the boy fled into the wild.

 

Over the following years he learned more about his new condition. He learned that he had both a need and a desire to kill, and that his enhanced body allowed him to kill with great efficiency. Defiantly taking the name "Subotai" to honor his supposed Mongol heritage, he sought employment as a mercenary and assassin and soon was a highly sought-after killer for hire. As the years stretched into decades Subotai realized that he didn't age as other men did.

 

Subotai had lived this way for nearly a century when he was contacted by the mysterious warlord known as the Red Dragon. Lung Hung claimed to be his true "father" and offered Subotai a place at his side, but Subotai was incensed at Lung Hung for abandoning him and would have nothing to do with his parent. Subotai left his father and China behind, beginning centuries of wandering across the face of the Earth. He learned much, particularly of the arts of war and murder. Wherever he went he sold his services to the highest bidder, and with his skill and power he never lacked for bidders. Eventually Subotai gained a reputation as one of the greatest killers for hire in the world, which approached legendary status as the centuries passed.

 

In the early 1900's Subotai encountered Lung Hung again. His attitude toward his parent had mellowed over the many years, and Lung Hung's organization offered many advantages. Moreover, he found out that Lung Hung had recruited other immortals like themselves. For the first time in his life Subotai felt as though he had a family with whom he truly belonged. Parent and child reconciled, and Subotai placed his tremendous skills at Lung Hung's disposal.

 

When Lung Hung began to organize VOICE in the early 1980's, Subotai was his first and only choice to lead the Tongue.

 

Personality/Motivation: Subotai is a hard, disciplined, and cynical man. He figures he's seen just about everything over his long life and is rarely surprised or impressed by anything. Subotai has been a professional killer for over seven hundred years, and his attitude toward killing is so cold-blooded and pragmatic as to be almost unnerving. In fact he seldom displays any great emotion. Subotai has a dry and mocking sense of humor.

 

One of the few things that he is truly passionate about is his "profession." Subotai takes great professional pride in his skills as a soldier and assassin, and that pride extends to his direction of the Tongue. He plans most of the major field operations involving the Tongue, with or without the supervillains of the Jaws. He also personally trains the agents selected for VOICE's elite squad of assassins, the Silencers. Sometimes Subotai will take the field himself against a particularly challenging target; he usually acts alone, enjoying testing himself against a worthy foe. He also occasionally takes an outside contract just to maintain his reputation. (Subotai has never used another name; clients who have known of him for many years assume the name is just a title passed from one master killer to his successor.) Subotai scrupulously honors the terms of any contract, and will return his full fee if unable to complete an assignment - an extremely rare occurrence.

 

The Maestro of the Tongue will sometimes tour his agents' cells as an anonymous "special trainer," looking for worthy candidates for the Silencers.

 

Quote: "You think to impress me? I've known the greatest heroes in history, and killed most of them."

 

Powers/Tactics: Like his parent Lung Hung, Subotai is a mutant whose mutations mirror some of the classic abilities of a gothic vampire: his physical stats are near or above human limits, his body is incredibly tough and durable, he heals from any injury at an extraordinary rate, and he is virtually ageless. He can move very swiftly, and has senses far keener than any normal human's. Subotai has had little interest in developing mental or mystical abilities, unlike Lung Hung; but he is one of the most skillful and powerful martial artists in the world, rivalling his parent, and is also a master of most known ancient and modern weapons. Subotai has vast practical experience in all types of personal and mass combat, and in the arts of assassination.

 

Like Lung Hung Subotai is dependent on a daily dose of potassium to maintain his health and vigor. He usually takes potassium pills, but has drunk the potassium-rich blood of those he's just killed for so long that the urge is difficult for him to deny.

 

When preparing for a mission Subotai will usually carry some type of advanced ranged weaponry and lightweight body armor. He's a very deliberate planner, and will scout out the target beforehand so as to choose the location and strategy that will give him or his troops the greatest advantage. He always fights intelligently, taking advantage of cover, surprise and potential hostages. Subotai fights to win, by whatever means necessary. He'll retreat and regroup if the fight goes against him, and will even pretend to negotiate or surrender while awaiting a chance to backstab his opponents (in the finest Mongol tradition).

 

Campaign Use: Subotai does not normally take the field personally in open assaults, preferring to keep his involvement with VOICE a secret. The likeliest circumstances for player-characters to encounter Subotai himself would be as targets of covert assassination attempts. He's usually alone on these missions, although he might take backup if expecting stiff resistance. Subotai may also seek to assassinate an individual hero, either because VOICE has determined that hero to be a particular threat, or as an independent contract taken out by another enemy of the PC.

 

If Subotai considers a particular hero, or even a whole team to be worthy foes, he may attempt to kidnap them to a private estate where he will "hunt" them for sport and to test his skills. He might even let them go afterward if they make a particularly good showing; the only circumstance in which he'd let a target live.

 

It wouldn't be a good idea to take Subotai as a Hunter. Subotai doesn't place his enemies into escapable deathtraps while gloating over his Master Plan. Anyone who earned his personal enmity would be terminated as promptly and efficiently as possible.

 

Appearance: Subotai stands about 5' 8" tall, with broad shoulders and a lean but hard-muscled build. He moves with the languid grace of a big cat. He has bronzed skin, black eyes, and black hair worn braided to his mid-back. He looks to be around 30 years old; he'd probably pass for younger if it not for the hard, measuring look in his eyes, and the slight sneer habitually curling the corner of his mouth. His facial features are otherwise rather delicate, strongly resembling his parent's.

 

Subotai normally dresses in whatever clothing is appropriate to where he is, from formal wear to combat fatigues. When relaxing he prefers denim trousers and turtleneck shirts in dark colors.

[Captain Liberty]

Who is Dreamer?

 

Hi everyone,

 

For some reason, I haven't been getting notifications of further additions to this thread. I'm very impressed with the stuff that I have seen (haven't had a chance to read everything) that everyone is doing here.

 

Lionslayer is actually an original VOICE member that I contributed to one of Scott's Enemies books. He was left out of VOICE of Doom because with the Graf and Irredenta, there were already a lot of strong, fast, archaic weapon users.

 

Dreamer is a different sort of VOICE member, mostly a background guy. He is the secret assassin who is almost impossible to track down and stop.

 

Again, the attached character sheet is more or less 3rd-4th edition. I'd be interested in seeing what someone might do to make him 5th compatible.

 

And he being English, there is no need for another name...

[GestaltBennie]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

I'm pretty sure that Dennis Mallonee has the rights to Red Rapier (he's used the character in his "League of Champions" comic series), and Steve Long mentioned to me that Lionslayer is still Scott Bennie's character. Don't know about the others, I'm afraid.

 

If I remember correctly, rights to all characters in Villainy Unbound belong to their original creators.

[BobGreenwade]

Originally posted by GestaltBennie

If I remember correctly, rights to all characters in Villainy Unbound belong to their original creators.

That's my understanding as well -- though I'd forgotten about that particular detail until you mentioned it just here. (I think the same is would be true of any characters from Enemies III -- at least, those not appearing in 4th Ed books, and maybe even those.)

 

BTW: I pulled up what I had managed to reconstruct of "The Corporate VOICE" (the corporate bodies that made up the bulk of the Lips) after the above-mentioned fatal crash -- and unfortunately it ain't much. In fact, as it stands it's nothing other than company names. I'll try to sit down some time over the next week, though, and list off what I can recall of these corporations. I think the folks here will appreciate the twists and turns I made (and some of the "cover identities" I had for Jaws members).

[Lord Liaden]

Hey, Captain Liberty!

 

Nice to see you're still checking out this thread - I was afraid you had lost interest, or that our screwy ideas for your creation had just cheesed you off. I'm gratified that you approve of our efforts.

 

I've been rather preoccupied of late, but I'm continuing to tune up the other vampires of VOICE, as well as some more tech for the organization. Like Bob Greenwade I'll see what I can add this week. (Looking forward to the corporate VOICE, Bob.)

 

Man, Dreamer is nasty! Granted his abilities are limited in actual combat, but when striking from afar he could be deadly to many unprepared heroes. Between this writeup and the "un-watered down" Lung Hung, it seems you and Steve Long have similar notions of what constitute high-powered opponents. Dreamer looks like he would have potential beyond merely assassinating someone, though. With his Mental Illusions he could easily drive someone mad with nightmares, induce paranoia, lead them to believe they receive prophetic visions, or otherwise "gaslight" them out of their mental stability. That can often be a more effective and less messy way to remove an impediment, and might make for a more interesting encounter for PC heroes.

 

As far as I can see Dreamer's writeup is fine for 5E - nothing about the way he's constructed has changed rules-wise, other than in format. Of course with the new point totals he'd have at least 24 more points to play with just to bring him up to 350. I'd suggest the Science Skills Psychology (for knowing how best to attack his subjects) and Electronics (to build and maintain his Dream Helmet). He could use the Passport Perk since he travels extensively when on assignment. Similarly a few Languages would probably help. A Gadget VPP for drugs and gasses would fit his text description.

[Shikarr]

I have greatly enjoyed this thread so far. I have used VOICE in several of my previous games and was just getting ready to introduce them in my present game. I am interested in VOICE and the councel all being elder Vampires in the fact I am getting ready to have an Immortals War sub adventure start up soon in my game. I have greatly enjoyed all the peices and bits you all have come up with and thank you all for the ideas you have helped create for me.

[Lord Liaden]

Thanks for the kind words, Shikarr. I'm glad you're getting something useful out of this thread; that makes the effort of putting this material up here worthwhile.

 

I'm also glad you like the idea of the mutant vampires as the leaders of VOICE. That's one of my favorite innovations as well, and designing them has been a fun and interesting challenge. Unfortunately it's been time-consuming, too. Not only are centuries-old immortals complex to stat out, but since I still use pencil and paper for my character sheets getting them in a state to post here is pretty labor-intensive. I'm afraid I still don't have their stats ready to put up here, but since you're interested I thought you might like a peek at another one. So, here's the background to:

 

TAMAMATSU TOGAN, Maestro of the Throat

 

Background/History: Tamamatsu Togan was born near the city of Kobe, Japan in 1683, first child to a simple farming couple. When Togan was seven years old his parents brought him with them to sell their produce in the market in Kobe, when an earthquake struck the city. Togan's parents were crushed to death beneath falling rubble. The boy survived, but being a stranger in the city with no relatives nearby he was left to wander the streets alone.

 

Togan became one of the orphaned children who begged or stole to survive. He was always hungry and afraid, and often beaten by older boys. When he was twelve one of those beatings proved fatal, and Togan's body was left on a pile of refuse. He was astonished when he revived three days later, not only healed of his wounds but filled with amazing new strength. Togan sought out the boys who had killed him and exacted a bloody revenge. He then used his newfound power to take control of other gangs of youths; within two years he was leader of virtually all the urchins of Kobe. As he grew older his influence extended into other criminal activities.

 

But Tamamatsu Togan knew that he would never gain respect in wider society as a common criminal, and respect was the way to real power in Japan. He began to force legitimate merchants and shopkeepers to become "partners" with him or sell him their businesses, and displayed considerable innate skill at finance. The eighteenth century saw a rapid rise in the importance of the middle class in Japan, and over that period Tamamatsu became a merchant of great wealth and prominence. His apparent agelessness only enhanced his prestige, until he came to have the ear of the Shogun himself.

 

It was during this time that Tamamatsu came to the attention of the Chinese warlord known as Lung Hung. With his powers of the mind Lung Hung learned of Tamamatsu's true nature, and revealed to him that Lung Hung was another like himself. The two immortals saw at once how much they could help each other, and became allies.

 

Although he shared Lung Hung's contempt for the European barbarians, Tamamatsu's was one of the strongest voices in favor of opening Japan to trade with the West in the 1860's. He was in an excellent position to take advantage of the increased trade opportunities, and his wealth grew exponentially. He also urged the imperial court to learn the sciences and technology of the West to make Japan strong, correctly foreseeing that a powerful Japan would lead to instability in the East that Lung Hung's organization could exploit. In the twentieth century Tamamatsu pushed for Imperial expansion in the Pacific and the Asian mainland, and urged the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into the Second World War. Like Lung Hung, Tamamatsu was poised to capitalize on the resulting chaos.

 

Tamamatsu had transferred much of his assets out of Japan before the war, and won many of the contracts for rebuilding and modernizing after the Empire's surrender. However, he decided at that time that an immortal in the modern world would draw too much unwelcome attention. He adopted a new identity as founder of the Ishida Corporation, which is today one of the largest and most diverse multinationals in the world.

 

Upon Ishida's "retirement" Tamamatsu assumed another carefully prepared identity: Daigo Shigeru, the new president of Ishida Corp. As Daigo he has led the corporation for almost twenty-five years. Since the creation of VOICE he has also controled its other financial and research assets as Maestro of the Throat. Tamamatsu has already established an identity to "succeed" Daigo Shigeru as Ishida Corp. president in the near future.

 

Personality/Motivation: Tamamatsu Togan is a very focussed, disciplined individual. He believes that he's earned his current lofty status through hard work and careful planning. (The advantage his superhuman powers has given him is something he conveniently ignores.) Yet despite his vast wealth and power, part of Tamamatsu is still that frightened, starving boy on the streets of Kobe. He remembers feeling weak and helpless and will never allow himself to be placed in that position again. He has devoted his life to becoming strong in body and mind and deep in resources, but he can never feel completely secure, so he always wants more. He's known in the business community as a ruthless competitor who won't let anyone stop him from getting what he wants, and who'll take vicious revenge on anyone who takes what he considers to be his. Tamamatsu is not above using VOICE operatives in these actions.

 

Tamamatsu places great importance on his personal honor and reputation; he'll go to almost any lengths to protect his public image, and to avenge any perceived slight. He follows the traditional social rituals for a highborn gentleman in Japanese society, and has no respect for people who ignore them. In general he shares Lung Hung's contempt for Western culture, although like many Japanese he admires its classical music. In fact it was Tamamatsu who suggested the choral motif which Lung Hung adopted for the reorganization of VOICE.

 

Tamamtsu is grim and humorless, respected but feared by his underlings both in VOICE and in the Ishida Corporation.

 

Quote: "Few things can withstand a focussed and determined will. You are not among them."

 

Powers/Tactics: Tamamatsu Togan possesses the same kind of physical mutations as other mutants of his type: great strength, speed and durability, enhanced senses, phenomenal healing, and agelessness. He also shares his kind's need for potassium, and like Lung Hung has a psychological need to kill and drink the blood of his victims, which he fulfills with derelicts and others whom society won't miss.

 

Tamamatsu been trained in mystical disciplines by Lung Hung and excels at manipulating objects at a distance, and at manipulating the minds of others. He's also trained in the martial art of karate, and is a powerful hand-to-hand combatant.

 

The Maestro of the Throat rarely chooses to soil himself with actual battle, preferring to use the great resources at his command to humiliate a foe or render him impotent. He prefers to use VOICE agents for any fighting that might be necessary, but will not refuse a direct challenge, especially from another martial artist, unless it's obvious that he's outmatched. He never carries weapons or protective devices on his person, believing that relying on such things is a sign of weakness.

 

Campaign Use: There are a number of ways that PCs can run afoul of Tamamatsu Togan. The most obvious is for them to stumble onto VOICE's connection to one of the businesses, laboratories or criminal operations that the Throat controls. A PC or DNPC could work for one of these groups in his civilian identity and discover the link to VOICE. Alternatively, a PC who owns his own company could find himself the victim of a hostile takeover by the Ishida Corporation. VOICE operatives could sabotage his facilities or tarnish his reputation to make his assets easier to take.

 

In any case, Tamamatsu himself should be the culmination of the PCs' climb up the ladder to find the ultimate source of their problems. As they come closer to him Tamamatsu will use more and more overt force to stop them, up to and including calling in the Tongue and the Jaws to kill them. When the player-characters finally confront him, they may be shocked to find that this elderly, reclusive industrialist is actually a superhuman and a match for an entire team!

 

Appearance: Tamamatsu Togan is 5'4" tall, with a stocky, muscular build. His face is similarly square and strong, with narrow dark eyes and deep frown lines. As Daigo Shigeru he wears a neatly-trimmed goatee and mustache, and short hair. Hair and beard are dark brown liberally streaked with grey, making him appear to be in his 60's, but the grey is makeup; without it he would look half that age.

 

Tamamatsu carries himself with great dignity. His whole bearing bespeaks confidence and assertiveness. He carries his head high and shoulders back at all times; he doesn't walk, he strides. Tamamatsu wears severe business suits at work and traditional Japanese robes of the upper classes at home.

[BobGreenwade]

I'm not quite ready yet to delve into the Corporate VOICE, but I can tide y'all over with a brief discussion and the relationships between Lung Hung, Red Dragon, and her other identities.

 

My write-up actually ended with five major identities for the true leader of VOICE. First, of course, is Red Dragon, the leader of the Tongue. He (the identity is male even if the actual person is female) is the master agent, the tactical leader, the Grand Master (and, as it happens, creator) of Red Talon Kung Fu, and the most feared member of that branch. Rarely seen in the field, he is one of UNTIL's most wanted criminals.

 

The identity of Lung Hung is separate from that of Red Dragon. Lung Hung is known as the mysterious leader of the Black Claw Triad, and is known to reside somewhere in the area of Taipei. He is a cloaked figure seen only in shadows, known to have access to great Chinese magics (actually simulated using the latest technology).

 

Then there's Lin Mei, known to be the "consort" (or concubine) to Red Dragon. Here our subject uses her true appearance, though hardly her true personality -- subservient and timid, most believe her to be held as a psychological and physical slave to her master.

 

I don't recall the names I'd assigned to her other two identities. One was supposedly Lin Mei's younger sister, and the lover to Lupus (this had an element of truth, as the true Lin Mei and Lupus are lovers behind the scenes). The other is a major Hong Kong businessman (now relocated to Taipei) who runs many of the corporations under the VOICE purview (in most cases he's the only real connection to VOICE).

 

Lin Mei keeps these identities confused by having Proteus as her bodyguard. For those who don't remember him, Proteus is the shape-shifting android from the "Murder In Stronghold" scenario in Champions Presents #2. When Lin Mei goes in public using one identity, Proteus is often along in another identity, so two of these individuals can be seen together at the same time and nobody suspects that they're really the same person.

 

If you're confused by now... it worked!

[Captain Liberty]

Lupus and the Origins of Lung Hung

 

My character Lupus has been mentioned several times, but he has never actually appeared in print aside from Rogues Gallery.

 

Here he is, along with the heroic Corsair (aka Nemesis of Evil) whose adventures instigated the original appearances of Lung Hung, Lupus, and helped originate VOICE.

 

Again, this is taken almost wholesale from the original RG article, with very minor changes. These are 4th edition character sheets (or maybe 3rd edition) and the regeneration especially needs to be re-worked.

 

Note again that the damage reduction takes effect only AFTER Stun and Death effects have been resolved.

 

On the other hand, all of these mutants should probably have the "regenerate from death" advantage on the power.

[Shikarr]

I have enjoyed all you all have done on this list. Question though now with 5th edition out and the enormous increase in skills available what would lung hung look like now written in 5th. I have done a port myself and brought him/her up to date overall but what does the great red dragon look like from your all end?

[Lord Liaden]

Well, Shikarr, most of us agree that Lung Hung should have a lot of Skills available to him acquired over his long life, but that is of course complex to stat out. (I've been trying, and it ain't easy.) Steve Perrin mentioned that when his group was running Lung Hung they just assumed that he would have whatever Skill he needed at a given time, and didn't bother trying to put it on the character sheet.

 

If you've seen the 4E character sheet that Steve ("aka Captain Liberty") attached to his first post at the start of this thread, that does include more Skills than his original writeup in VOICE of Doom. If it were up to me, I'd add more Languages, lots of Interaction Skills (as befits a master manipulator), and Well Connected with a truckload of Contacts.

 

However, in an earlier post Bartman pointed out that Lung Hung has spent most of the last couple of centuries hunkered down in his castle in China manipulating affairs from afar, and has been waited on by servants for a very long time; so a lot of the Skills he might have acquired through first-hand experience in the past may be outdated or have atrophied from disuse.

[Captain Liberty]

Earlier Lung Hung

 

I have used Lung Hung in historical campaigns

 

In a game set in the 1950s

 

In a game set in 1900

 

Would folks like to see what I thought she could do in those time frames?

 

I also have an early incarnation of the Jaws from the 1950s campaign I could put in, as well.

 

If you all are interested...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Lupus and the Origins of Lung Hung

 

Originally posted by Captain Liberty

My character Lupus has been mentioned several times, but he has never actually appeared in print aside from Rogues Gallery.

 

Here he is, along with the heroic Corsair (aka Nemesis of Evil) whose adventures instigated the original appearances of Lung Hung, Lupus, and helped originate VOICE.

 

Again, this is taken almost wholesale from the original RG article, with very minor changes. These are 4th edition character sheets (or maybe 3rd edition) and the regeneration especially needs to be re-worked.

 

Note again that the damage reduction takes effect only AFTER Stun and Death effects have been resolved.

 

On the other hand, all of these mutants should probably have the "regenerate from death" advantage on the power.

 

Cap, I really like Lupus. The idea that this mutation could also take a lycanthropic form opens up whole new possibilities. Don Ramon (does he have a family name?) is very similar to the character I've been developing to lead the Lips, Lord Adrian Holcroft - an aristrocrat well-known in the diplomatic community. And Corsair etc. fills the niche for a "heroic" mutant vampire to oppose VOICE. Do you think if Lung Hung knew of Von der Magyar's true nature he would try to recruit him?

 

BTW I want to be certain I understand how your Limitation on Damage Reduction for these mutants would work. If I have the sequence right, after an attacker rolls for damage you'd subtract the mutant's applicable Defense, check to see if the damage would be enough to Stun and/or kill the vampire (and allow it to do so), then apply Damage Reduction to find how many STUN and BODY the character takes. Do I have that right?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Earlier Lung Hung

 

Originally posted by Captain Liberty

I have used Lung Hung in historical campaigns

 

In a game set in the 1950s

 

In a game set in 1900

 

Would folks like to see what I thought she could do in those time frames?

 

I also have an early incarnation of the Jaws from the 1950s campaign I could put in, as well.

 

If you all are interested...

 

Can't speak for anyone else, but you can sure color me intrigued!

[Captain Liberty]

Taking damage

 

Lord L, you have it correctly. The Damage Reduction essentially models the instant effects of the character's regeneration. He can be stunned or even killed, but the body immediately reinvigorates (though he is still Stunned in game terms) and rebuilds the body. As I said before, they should all have the Returns from Dead advantage on the Regeneration. The thing that stops the Return from the Dead is, of course, total destruction of the body or a stake through the heart area. However, that stake has to be there permanently. Remove it and the body starts rebuilding again.

 

The older incarnations of Lung Hung are in Metacreator form, so I will have to create rtf files and then zip them. They'll be posted in a bit.

[Shikarr]

Definitely waiting to see what you have done with Lung Hung and all.

[Shikarr]

Hi Guys haven't seen anything else in this thread and was greatly hoping to. Always liked Voice and want to see what you all have done with the characters or with the organization

[BobGreenwade]

Originally posted by Shikarr

Hi Guys haven't seen anything else in this thread and was greatly hoping to. Always liked Voice and want to see what you all have done with the characters or with the organization

I'm glad you bumped the thread up. I was just gearing myself up toward (finally) posting the corporate info I'd managed to salvage, and wasn't looking forward to dredging it up.

 

I'll probably post it sometime today or tomorrow (though no promises there).

[Captain Liberty]

Lung Hung in earlier times

 

Thanks for the prodding, I am now attaching my files for Lung Hung in 1901 and again in 1951. They are both zipped together. I had to do some manipulation. It turned out the last time I used the 1951 version I was still using Wordstar and I needed to reformat.

 

Keep in mind that the 1951 version appeared in a game I ran in 1991 and the 1901 version showed up in a game I ran about two years ago, so there are some definite changes in approach. And both are essentially 4th edition characters.