The Great Super Villain Contest (2.0)

[quozaxx]

For those that have been here a while, you probably heard of The Great Super Villain Contest.  It was one of the first Adventure supplements for champions.  I thought it was pretty good (considering how small it was), but it got me to thinking.  Now that we have TONS of villains to choose from. Who would you include in the contest?

 

For example, I would use Herculan from Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks.  He loves to fight and love to challenge others.  He'd probably care less about the prize (sorry no spoilers).  He'd be in it JUST to challenge the heroes.  

 

So, use any book.  (just be sure and say which book they are in) and let me know who'd you put in the contest if it were run today.

[steriaca]

Foxbat, because man, he is FOXBAT. He doesn't care about the prize, only the title of G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time).

 

Book: current writeup Champions Villain Volume 3: Solo Villains.

[death tribble]

Ankylosaur and Wyvern from Enemies are possibilities. I might personally use Rainbow Archer.

Panda and Raccoon are again possibilities.

 

But if you want some fun how about Grond ?

[Ockham's Spoon]

Utility from Champions Villians Vol. 3: Solo Villains seems an obvious pick for his obsession with besting heroes.

 

Any number of magic-based villains might be interested in the prize, the Emerald Eye of Azog, which would bring in the likes of Black Paladin and Zoran the Articifer (also both CV 3: Solo Villains).  I could see various member's of the Devil's Advocates, Circle of the Scarlet Moon, Syvestris, or Vandaleurs also participating (CV2: Villain Teams).  If I were to use any of the teams, I would lean toward the Syvestris and Vandaleurs because they are more independent of their relative groups which lets them fit into the Contest better but also lets some of the villain group dynamics come into play.

 

But my choice would be Alchemica from CV3.  She is underpowered relative to most other villains, so one could easily see her desiring the prize to boost her power.  But she also isn't really powerful enough to pose a serious challenge, so I see her coming to one of the heroes and offering to help them bust up the GSVC by playing along with the Contest until they find the Crimson Claw.  Would the heroes help train her in tactics and the use of her powers to make her a more credible contestant with the idea that she is really reforming?  If they don't, will she see that as not trusting her and drive her toward villainy?  Does she betray the heroes when she gets a chance to get the Emerald Eye, or will the heroes be able to sway her to the side of justice?

[archer]

Being one of the first Adventure supplements for Champions, the idea of organizations wasn't well developed and there weren't many supervillain teams published.  So The Great Super Villain Contest didn't deal much with how such groups might interact with the idea beyond just some members participating.

 

I'm terrible with names and don't have access to my books at the moment. But a PSI group hoping to grow might use the contest to scout out mentalist villains to recruit and/or brainwash. Or use the Contest as a way to take out mentalist heroes (those who might be too powerful for them to deal with on their own) by manipulating other villains to attack them.

 

Every mastermind villain ever printed might enter the contest hoping to network and find some supervillain minions.

 

Genocide might slip in a ringer hoping to identify and eventually target mutant villains. But in the meantime, the ringer would be trying to convince fellow villains to target certain heroes (who just incidentally happen to be mutants).

 

VIPER would be looking to update its "known powers of superbeings" database. VIPER-sponsored villains in the contest could also be looking to network in order to recruit villains for future VIPER operations. And VIPER might try to gather intelligence so they could hijack a villain after he's defeated a hero but before the hero gets turned in for credit. VIPER could then whisk away the hero to use for their own nefarious purposes (particularly any heroes who have advanced tech). And of course VIPER would be trying to uncover the secrets of the sponsor of the Contest and trying to figure out if they could steal the prize early in the event.

 

One of the strengths of The Great Super Villain Contest is that it can be short or can be as long as you want it to be if you want to throw in a lot of subplots.

[Lord Liaden]

It could be amusing to run a couple of encounters with third-string villains who are convinced they're actually the biggest deal around, and who believe the power of the Emerald Eye will finally give them the respect they deserve. Examples from Champions Villains Volume Three include Bulldozer, Buzzsaw, Exo, Foxbat, Pulsar, and El Salto.

[quozaxx]

Would you change anything?

[Lord Liaden]

I would doll out the info about what's really going on more gradually over the course of the adventure. Heroic telepaths could really spoil the payoff if the first round of mooks know too much. Let them have heard rumors of a supervillain ranking based on how many heroes the villains beat, with big rewards for the winners. No clear idea of who's behind it or how credible he/she/it is, but a lot of baddies are hoping to get in on it if it's real. With each round the villains advance to, they learn more about the contest and the real stakes, until the full reveal at the Crimson Claw's arena.

 

I'd also consider making the Crimson Claw a cover identity for the real mastermind, who has his own purpose in running the contest. My personal preferred mastermind would be the Examiner, from Champions Beyond. This scheme would perfectly fit his motives, and he has the power to grant whatever reward he promises. But perhaps Dr. Destroyer seeks to eliminate potential superhuman obstacles to his plans, by letting them bump each other off; or Teleios wants to gather tissue samples from multiple supers to aid his research; or the Institute for Human Advancement hopes to lure the most powerful mutants to where they can all be killed at once.

[steriaca]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

I would doll out the info about what's really going on more gradually over the course of the adventure. Heroic telepaths could really spoil the payoff if the first round of mooks know too much. Let them have heard rumors of a supervillain ranking based on how many heroes the villains beat, with big rewards for the winners. No clear idea of who's behind it or how credible he/she/it is, but a lot of baddies are hoping to get in on it if it's real. With each round the villains advance to, they learn more about the contest and the real stakes, until the full reveal at the Crimson Claw's arena.

 

I'd also consider making the Crimson Claw a cover identity for the real mastermind, who has his own purpose in running the contest. My personal preferred mastermind would be the Examiner, from Champions Beyond. This scheme would perfectly fit his motives, and he has the power to grant whatever reward he promises. But perhaps Dr. Destroyer seeks to eliminate potential superhuman obstacles to his plans, by letting them bump each other off; or Malachite wants to gather tissue samples from multiple supers to aid his research; or the Institute for Human Advancement hopes to lure the most powerful mutants to where they can all be killed at once.

So Malachite exists in your world? How does he deal with the fact Tellos exists? I'm sure it is "everything I can do, he can do better" thing.

[Hugh Neilson]

I never used GSVC (didn't really like Claw and never had the inclination to revise the backstory).  However, it is the type of scenario that could be going on in the background for a long time, only occasionally popping out to a PC related scenario as they go about other adventures.  In the comics, this would attract a bunch of B-villains looking for a powerup.  The A-listers might get involved, more likely in later stages as the power offered becomes more clearly real.

[Lord Liaden]

2 hours ago, steriaca said:

So Malachite exists in your world? How does he deal with the fact Tellos exists? I'm sure it is "everything I can do, he can do better" thing.

 

Sorry, slip of the keys. I meant to write Teleios, but they're so similar I sometimes cross them in my aging brain. ☺️

[steriaca]

2 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Sorry, slip of the keys. I meant to write Teleios, but they're so similar I sometimes cross them in my aging brain. ☺️

Still, well, I think there is room for Malachite as a lesser genetics genius ("pore man's Teleios").

[Lord Liaden]

Or the other way around. Malachite rules his own island kingdom, while Teleios confines himself to hidden labs and factories.

 

But while I have used Teleios in my own games, I did add some of Malachite's gimmicks to him: his Devolution Gun, his VPP of personal temporary mutations, and his Waxmen slaves.

 

But the CU has a healthy roster of "the poor man's Teleios(es)" -- notably Doctor Moreau, the Overbrain, and King Cobra. Even Dr. Destroyer gets into the gene-act from time to time.

[steriaca]

7 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

But the CU has a healthy roster of "the poor man's Teleios(es)" -- notably Doctor Moreau, the Overbrain, and King Cobra. Even Dr. Destroyer gets into the gene-act from time to time.

So true. Like there are a lot of "the poor man's Doctor Destroyers", but don't let him hear you listing them.

[Dkap]

Mercs like Lazer would be interested in it if money or gain is in it.I can see Bulldozer losing and complaining that everyone else is cheating.If Fire Wing is in it he would be one of the top favorites.

[quozaxx]

The eye enhances anyone's powers/ stats.  Can you imagine Grond or Firewing with enhanced powers?

[quozaxx]

On 8/5/2019 at 7:55 AM, death tribble said:

Ankylosaur and Wyvern from Enemies are possibilities. I might personally use Rainbow Archer.

Panda and Raccoon are again possibilities.

 

But if you want some fun how about Grond ?

Who are Panda and Raccoon?

[steriaca]

9 minutes ago, quozaxx said:

Who are Panda and Raccoon?

Check the Forgotten Enimies Valentine Special. They were one of two couples from Classic Enemies from 4ed which they didn't bother to port over to 6ed.

 

Panda is a mentalist, born a pore and improvish mutant who gained her name because of her ears. Racoon is a mutant from a rich family, well loved but isolated from the world, who has a furry tail. Together they are Panda and Racoon.

[quozaxx]

Forgotten Enemies?  Not sure if I have that one.

[archer]

5 hours ago, Dkap said:

Mercs like Lazer would be interested in it if money or gain is in it.I can see Bulldozer losing and complaining that everyone else is cheating.If Fire Wing is in it he would be one of the top favorites.

 

 

The thing about the Contest is that you don't have to specifically opt-in to become part of it, if I remember correctly. If you're a supervillain, you're automatically racking up incidental points just for doing your normal supervillain activities which attract heroes to stop you. It is to the organizer's advantage for every supervillain on the planet to become aware of the Contest as rapidly as possible.

 

One of the things which having the Contest running would do would be to dramatically increase supervillain activity of all sorts...because if you pull off your plan now rather than later, you rack up Contest points in addition to accomplishing your other goals. And if you incidentally face off and beat some big-name heroes, you might earn enough points to put you toward the top of the leaderboard and have a real shot at winning.

 

Example: The Megaton Marauder has been thinking about raiding Exoti-Tech and forcing the scientists there to use their breakthrough tech to give his energy blasts some added power and accuracy. But Exoti-Tech is located just a few blocks away from the HQ of the Lakeside Guardians and the Megaton Marauder has been lying low since his last caper (not wanting to risk going back to prison). He knows that eventually the Guardians will leave town (or the planet) and give him a free shot at Exoti-Tech. But with the existence of the Contest, the calculations change. The tech upgrade might give him a real shot at winning the Contest if he acts now and facing the Guardians head-on gains some additional appeal since it might earn him Contest points in addition to getting the satisfaction of giving the Lakeside Guardians a good pounding.

 

 

So regardless of whether any supervillain is deliberately taking part in the Contest, he could get drawn into it if he manages to be successful at ANY other plan and earns some points.

 

 

When it comes specifically to mercs, the Contest rules allow for groups of villains to take on groups of heroes (or even single heroes) in order to win points. So any supervillain who is serious about trying to win the Contest will at least consider whether it's worth his time and resources to recruit some help in order to take on more difficult targets. As long as that supervillain doesn't hire the same merc over and over for the entire contest, the supervillain is likely to gain points faster than any of the mercs he's hired, even if the merc becomes interested in trying to win the overall Contest prize himself.

 

A supervillain could even hire a couple of mercs with the intention of allowing the mercs to be captured if the fight goes badly. Fighting without losing only earns the villain half of the possible available points but later helping the mercs escape custody would earn him an additional one point per escaped merc. So it's a viable points-gaining strategy to hire merc villains just to travel from city to city to knock over banks: the bank money pays for the mercs and the crime attracts heroes to fight.

[steriaca]

3 hours ago, quozaxx said:

Forgotten Enemies?  Not sure if I have that one.

There 3rd party e-books written by Tiger and are sold in the shop.

[archer]

Most any villain with "Fearless", "Overconfident", or "Loves a Good Fight" could fit in because even if they had no chance to win, they'd never be able to admit it to themselves. I particularly like the idea of villains who have those complications who get their powers from their supersuit. Someone like Goshawk from V.O.I.C.E. of Doom, for example.

 

Goshawk has 26 DEX and a winged suit which gives him a strong RKA (thrown "feathers"), HKA, enhanced STR, body armor, enhanced vision, and a great deal of Flight. He's good and he knows it. But he doesn't know he isn't that good.

 

You also need some top tier threats in the Contest, people who any hero is going to pause and think to herself, "I'm going to have to face that?"

 

If you want some top threats who aren't well-known, from Wrath of the Seven Horsemen you could use Fear and/or Destruction.

 

The Seven Horsemen were created using the Worm Scepter which is an artifact left over from era of the Lovecraftian horrors who used to rule our dimension. The Scepter looks into the essence of a person, determines that person's defining characteristic, and transforms him into a unique avatar of that characteristic.

 

Fear is a mentalist who has 43 PRE, some special defenses, and a 240 point multipower with such gems as EGO drain with a delayed rate of return and a large amount of Mind Control. (As for Mind Control, that power opens up some interesting ways to gain "humiliates a hero" Contest points in an era which has Twitter and Youtube. Though it isn't Fear's style, as the rules are written, a mentalist could even do something as simple as mind control a civilian to throw crap or goo on a hero then post a video of it.)

 

Destruction is a lady who dresses much like Mary Marvel and who glories in large-scale destruction (breaking things as opposed to necessarily trying to rack up a body count). She's got an always on 1d6 RKA damage shield which makes most normal things crumble at even slight contact. Her multipower includes a 12d6 explosion attack, an 11d6 area effect straight line energy blast, and a 9d6 NND blast. She's got awesomely huge PD/ED, both Power & Ego Defense, movement powers, regenerates from BODY damage, and enough STR to take on Grond in hand-to-hand combat. She's not quite Superman re-written as a Champions villain, but she's closer to that than most PC's would care to face.

 

(Note that both V.O.I.C.E. of Doom and Wrath of the Seven Horsemen are from 3e and would need some updates to run for more recent editions.)

 

[death tribble]

7 hours ago, quozaxx said:

Who are Panda and Raccoon?

They were in the first Enemies book. If I recall correctly Raccoon worked for Viper and Panda worked for PSI. Panda was sent to kill Raccoon and instead fell in love with him. Viper tried to kill her and Raccoon kiled them instead and the two ran off together.

[archer]

Enemies: Villany Unbound (3e)

 

Terastar - tunneling brick who loves a good fight

Emerald - low-powered telekinetic whose power manifests as Missile Defelection, PDr/EDr, or a barrier. 3d6 Luck. Overconfident.

Borealis - very high-powered light themed villain. Multipower includes Desolid, Teleport, Entangle, RKA, and blasts. Has all the defenses. Overconfident with good reason.

Lionslayer - racist native African warrior. "Loves to stalk prey" complication"

Mentallax - low-powered, unlucky "Spider-Man villain of the month" type. Multipower with various attacks and flight. Overconfident and hunts anyone who has ever defeated him.

Citadel - former hero who is now compelled to humiliate heroes. Multipower: Growth, Teleport, Invisibility. Flight, Life Support, and a variety of defenses.

 

 

[archer]

Enemies (1e? 2e?)

 

Sunburst - megalomaniac energy projector (updated in Classic Enemies)

Cobra - human/snake hybrid geneticist who'd like to experiment on heroes

Firewing (updated in Classic Enemies)