Hermit Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Okay, assuming the Powered Armor is the sort that can be used by anyone with a little practice, and, again assuming, that most villains spend some time in Stronghold or jail... What happens to the Power armor that some of them were wearing? It's unlikely it would be easy to get back after all. And, well, why doesn't the CU United States (and other nations) Govt have a whole NPC team of Powered Armor Agents, each in different suits that once belonged to villains? For that matter, some super heroes are ..uhm bold enough to strip a villain of his armor, and then keep it as a momento. What's to keep them from handing it off to Johny NPC and go "Here, welcome to the team?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Well I handled this years ago with the handwaving answer of "Cybersensatives" a thus far undetectable mutation or talent that make Iron man able to buy DX and speed OIF...an ordinary joe in Iron man's suit is a very well equiped normal/agent not a super hero.......it would be cool if a villian built a Hypno-device into his/her armor to brainwash it's new owner to rescue him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Ah... but is the power armor independent? I would go with the assumption that: 1) it was so badly damaged in the fight that the government was unable to recover much 2) it has become the center of a top-secret area-51-style research project that will take years to gain reverse engineering benefits from 3) the villain had a "burnout" or "self-destruct" protocol in place in the event of capture 4) the suit, which may have been stolen from a government research lab in the first place (Armadillo comes to mind) is returned to the project, which may have been such down in the previous disaster - its mothballed and sealed away in some dusty top-secret warehouse and forgotten, like the ark of the covenant in ROTLA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 In my campaign you can't necessarily trust the government. If they got their hands on a great suit of armor, they're likely to copy it and put two of these guys out in the field, working for the Gov's purposes, not the heroes'. Now they come across two of these guys next time! As for the villain. If he gets away, being an NPC, I'd have him create a newer, more devious suit of armor, and come back as badguy version 2. ("That armor was childsplay compared to this".) ...hey, wait. I've been trying to think of a character name all day and I just got it. Childsplay. To the character generator!!!.... [cue batman music] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterdeath Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Re: The Government went and took my Power Armor- A villain's lament Originally posted by Hermit What happens to the Power armor that some of them were wearing? It's unlikely it would be easy to get back after all. Well, firstly, it's evidence in a court case. That means that it gets locked up in the courthouse evidence room until after the trial, and probably a little while longer than than to allow for appeals. What happens next depends on how the municipality treats it's contraband. Most places destroy it, IIRC. So, poof Armadillo's armor goes into the crusher. And ARGENT makes a fast buck on selling Armadillo a new version of his armor. Good thing he contracted with them early, huh. They got to scan his armor to be able to make a copy, he's got a backup when he gets out of the slammer. Or, perhaps, depending on the state of corruption, the same suit of armor. If a super were to get one, and keep it, and use it, that might jeopardize the case against the villian "what powered armor suit. You might get me for indecent exposure, but you've got no proof that it was me in the suit other than that guy packing it under his shoulder saying it was me." In the CU, I can see PRIMUS requisitioning the stuff after the trial is over, and ripping it apart for new ideas. But, fundamentally, Powered Armor is a type of Illegal Weapon, and would probably fall under the same laws. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Gadgets acquired by any government agency have a tendency to either disappear altoghether or being stolen again and again. Never forget Ankylosaur got his power armor by writing his address on an UNTIL crate. Gadgets stashed away in your typical trophy room, on the other hand, are an endless source of trouble and often make good starting points for a subplot. So your heroes give Armadillo's armor to their Joe J. Janitor DNPC to turn him into a superhero? Well, first thing you should penalize them for not showing proper respect to Hallowed Genre Rule #23, Superheroes Conveniently Forget Anything In Their Trophy Room. This game's all about genre conventions. Then, I'm confident enough you'll be able to make them regret their choice. How about a cybervirus that drives to madness (read: villainy) anyone wearing the armor? An undetectable tracer leading VIPER to the armor as soon as it's powered again? The Harbinger mistaking poor JJ Janitor for the original Armadillo and killing him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Originally posted by Solomon Gadgets acquired by any government agency have a tendency to either disappear altoghether or being stolen again and again. Never forget Ankylosaur got his power armor by writing his address on an UNTIL crate. Best Origin...Ever! The way I deal with this in my campaign is the power sources. Solar powered armor is frankly silly. If we have a small enough power source to power armor, why not power a tank instead? Never needs refueling... So what I did was the problem was getting enough energy. No one has yet found a way to make micro-power generators, but there are some pretty good batteries. Most of the armor energy sources come from aliens. IMC, Defender is powered by an energy crystal left behind by the Roswell aliens. It doesn't produce energy, just stores a bunch of it (endurance battery). This also provides a reason why no one has massproduced armor. I had the PRIMUS Iron Guard get followed around by these generator trucks...to charge their batteries. They had a bout an hour of power, max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Re: The Government went and took my Power Armor- A villain's lament Originally posted by Hermit Okay, assuming the Powered Armor is the sort that can be used by anyone with a little practice, and, again assuming, that most villains spend some time in Stronghold or jail... What happens to the Power armor that some of them were wearing? My view is that, even if the government confiscates the armor, the government's "Top Men" will examine it for a while, scratch their heads, and when asked how it works, say "Hell if I know." Not to mention that as far as I'm concerned powered armor is like any other high-tech military toy. It requires a lot of maintenance to keep it operating, and not just anyone can operate it. (No, no low-IQ morons operating powered armor in MY universe.) Even if the government can find somebody to operate it, it will soon break down and become useless without the tender loving care of its creator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phydaux Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Guys! You're forgetting something - Turtle Armor! Turtle Armor Inc. is a feature in my CU. UNTIL, the Feds, practicaly everyone (including Viper via back channels) gets their powered armor from Turtle Armor Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Watcher Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Originally posted by D-Man Ah... but is the power armor independent? I would go with the assumption that: 1) it was so badly damaged in the fight that the government was unable to recover much 2) it has become the center of a top-secret area-51-style research project that will take years to gain reverse engineering benefits from 3) the villain had a "burnout" or "self-destruct" protocol in place in the event of capture 4) the suit, which may have been stolen from a government research lab in the first place (Armadillo comes to mind) is returned to the project, which may have been such down in the previous disaster - its mothballed and sealed away in some dusty top-secret warehouse and forgotten, like the ark of the covenant in ROTLA 5) The neuro-interface used to control the power armor is keyed to to the villain's brain patterns. The armor will not respond to anyone else who puts the suit on. 6)The Government has been giving captured power armor to their people. It's just that no one has realized it because they usually give the suits a paint job and general cosmetic overhaul before turning it over to the next government sanctioned wearer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koshka Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Re: The Government went and took my Power Armor- A villain's lament Originally posted by Hermit And, well, why doesn't the CU United States (and other nations) Govt have a whole NPC team of Powered Armor Agents, each in different suits that once belonged to villains? They'd either have to rebuild the armor (at least mounting all the mechanics in a different "shell") or risk their agents being mistaken for the original villainous wearer. Unless all the power armor is coming from the same source, rebuilding will be a couple skilled techs working full-time on each suit -- assembly line procedures won't work. The "we'll announce Ankylosaur's suit is being worn by a good guy now" option is just loaded with plot potential for the GM. I may have to dig up a country that would be willing to try this and ship my heroes off to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted November 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Thanks for the input guys. Excellent points all. Though, I have to confess, the idea of Joe schmoe getting in over his head after uhm borrowing some villain's spare suit, and trying to use it for good just strikes me as darkly amusing. There might be a PC concept in that. Wheee... Hunteds made easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Re: The Government went and took my Power Armor- A villain's lament Originally posted by Hermit And, well, why doesn't the CU United States (and other nations) Govt have a whole NPC team of Powered Armor Agents, each in different suits that once belonged to villains? USSR in DCU had the Rocket Red Brigate... It probably wasn't as effective as, say, a flight of MIGs while costing a lot more on maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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