Ghost who Walks

Not to get all technical and boring but this could actually happen quite a lot with killing supervillains. Remmber that "No unusual pain and suffering bit?" Criminal Justice has played with all sorts of ways of executing people. Lawyers usually get them labeled cruel and unusual. Gas Chamber/Drugs may not work against many people with powers. Electric Chair? Durak would be cooking for quite a while. In order not to have the villains lawyer filing endless appeals and stays of execution, the death would have to be quick and painless. But the guy who can shoot an equivalent of a bazooka out of his hand? How much damage would he do if the target was lying on a table, and a doctor was pointing out exactly where to hit? So far as my players...they would jump at the oppertunity, actually. If he exists in the campaign, I can easily see "Power Crusher" getting a pardon, and a new job at Stronghold...

Glad to help, let us know how it tursn out. I've gotten interested. A good way to do play out something routine and ordinary (like a trial), is to make the lawyers and judge slightly "off". Depening on the state, these guys can serve on the bench a long time... It depends on your campaign, but high profile cases shouldn't be ordinary. Everyone involved in it is going to write their book afterwards, after all. Don't forget to have some enemy of the player come back, and try to influence the jury (hadn't seen anyone suggest that one yet) If you go with the "possessed by soulfire" plot, introduce it gradually. Have the player get these blackouts, miss sleep, and vanish during fights. Money vanishes from his bank account, and their is that strange woman who keeps canting him to call her back...

Give Grond a DNPC..."Psychiatrist" He speaks in a thick Austrian accent (as a homage to a zillino Nazi villains) He claims to be able to successfully control Grond, via a combination of drugs, hypnosis, and cookies. Only he can do it. Pertinent Skills: K.S. : Psychiatry >20 (I refuse to list it as a science) K.S. : Grond Control Methods, <18 Sci: Psychology <16 He has a 2d6 NND attack, continous, Only vs. Grond. He has a small remote control to activate it. (IIF: Implanted Electric zapper) Should combat be expected, he will don his bulletproof vest, hook a portable spycam to Grond's head, and follow his movements with his laptop. Quote: "Grond! I command you to turn left! Pick up the Bad Man! Good Boy! Grond, throw the Bad Man into Orbit! Have a cookie Grond!" Lastly, put Grond in a camouflage outfit. Note: The government must never do anything in a logical way. It violates the genre.

Can't resist commenting again... 4-Color way: Professor Fabulous cryogenically freezes the entire city. Everyone in the city is frozen, and their brainwaves are stored in his megacomputer-wristwatch. He then shrinks himself down to the subatomic level, and neutralizes the radioactive material in the bombs. Red Ink way: The children are all picked up telekinetically, and airlifted to Dr. Destoryers island. The good Doctor must overcome the latest threat from the wicked players, or be destroyed.

Number 1 Good Idea: Buying a no range explosion, linked to teleportation. Bad Idea: Exploding, and teleporting straight up. Worse Idea: Buying tempermental and impatient for the character. Worst Idea: Riding in an elevator with said character, on the way to a fight. Number 2 Good Idea: Building a martial artist with gliding, linked to a flying kick maneuver. Bad Idea: Jumping out the window of a 25 story building, gliding to the ground to deliver a 27d6 attack, to a thug. Worse Idea: Buying side effects for the gliding, with the result being that you break your leg. You then notice the thug you just brained has 30 friends with tire irons. Number 3 Good Idea: Wearing clean underwear, before a fight. Bad Idea: Wearing clean underwear, as part of your costume. Worse Idea: Claiming that this is instant change to your GM.

I'm glad you started this as a topic. In my own campaign, the first group were a bunch of 200 point panzies, with a dark champions flair. They knew there were more powerful villains in the campaign, who would not hesitiate to kill them. Stronghold, or an alternative, did not yet exist. There was no 'magic' tech that could take away someone's powers. (Other than pumping them full of drugs) So, villains did get killed. I was influenced heavily by Dark Champions at the time, and the heroes were just as vulnerable as those they killed. (They once had a long discussion about if they should kill an unconcious Le Sone...the police arrived in time to 'save' him) Some of the villains they killed, maimed, or tortured included the guy who harvested organs from metahuman children...I was in a rather bad mood when I ran that one. I treated it as a roleplaying exercise at the time. If they wanted to be true vigilantes (who by defenition, take justice in their own hands), they had to do it right. This included stuff like getting rid of the bodies, and dealing with somerather corrupt police officers. Having played through this, I realized I was losing something. Namely, the reacurring villain common in the comics. The game had become a tactical exercise, rather than an actual RPG. So I toned it down a bit. In the game, this was reflected by the characters all passing exams and becoming deputy sheriffs (the sheriff had a rivalry with the city police, who disliked superpowered types) Having said that, most of my players do have a body count. In some cases, the deaths were justifiable. (Insane alien shapeshifter kidnapped ones wife) In other cases, it was because they were ordered to. It all depends on the campaign that is being run. While I enjoy four-color as much as anyone, the reality is most of the comics being produced are not that type. the majority of players have a bachground reading them. There have also been a variety of villains written up for Champions, and some of them are rather nasty. Lets face it, do you really want the cast of 'Murderer's Row' showing up every play session? Some villains are made to be arrested, others to be masterminds, others to turn good, and others to be cannon fodder. I will say that every type a player has killed someone, I used it as a method to either advance the plot, or the character. Same way as if they lock the guy up, actually. 1) Insane alien shapeshifter left behind a son, who the player now raises as his own. 2) Le Sone persuaded Bora to send a storm to ravage the campaign city, for what the heroes attemptred to do to him. Innocent people died in this artificial storm. 3) The metahuman organ harvester became part of the campaign focus for a while, as their is significant anti-mutant/metahuman prejudice in my campaign (For everyone who has a useful power, there are 10 who can do things like have a non-prehensile tail, have hair that grows really fast, or can make their urine change color) Another method I used, that was surprisingly effective. I ran a "alternate Earth" storyline, where several of the villain types were heroes. None of the big guys (like Dr. Destroyer) were involved, just the small fry. Settling up the idea that the difference between hero and villain is a matter of oppertunity, direction, and how you grow up is a big thing. Batman and Superman don't usually kill because of how they grew up, not just because they are heroes. Wolverine and Punisher kill because they think it solves problems. (yet even in their own comics they have to keep doing it, proving its cyclical nature) Of course, sometimes you will get a player who just likes to break stuff and kill NPCs. Life can be a bitch sometimes. I usually make them co-GM's, and give them a couple of villains to run. It usually solves the probelm, as they are seldom interested in long-term character development. (Sorry for the long post, but I've been thinking about this topic all day)

Bleh. When did Champions become LA Law? *Begin Rant* First rule, never, ever, have your players in a courtroom. They are boring IRL, and even more boring in a game. Only play it if a fight is going to happen, an alien is the judge, or if Dr. Destroyer is the surprise witness. Court cases drag on for monthes, and then the trial starts. The whole reason, in most campaigns that people are flying around beating up criminals is because the LEGAL SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK! *End Rant* Way I would end this, without a trial. PSI, mourning for their dead member (Make sure everyone can buy 'Remember Soulfire! bumpersstickers), decides to capture the hero who killed him, and brainwash him into helping them. The player continues to control his character, but is limited in what actions he can do. He meets the people who knew Soulfire during this time, and finds out there are those who miss him. He also commits several crimes, in his mind-controlled state. Ordered to bring in the now rampaging PSI (who are stealing money to build the 'Soulfire Memorial'), the players team captured the group (temporarily, at least). The brainwashed hero is recovered, and enough doubt remains in the case, the charges are dropped. (police are unsure if PSI had him under their control when the murder was committed) In the end, the player is free. Everyone thinks he was mind controlled. Deep down however, he knows the truth. Or if all that is to much trouble, just have him haunted by the Ghost of Soulfire, who takes over his mind and body occasionally. (Accidental change, when struck by Psionic attack)

Interesting question, especially considering the Demonic aspect. Couple of thoughts. 1) Are demons recognized as having the same rights as people? Remember we live in a world where the law is used to divide and control the populace. In my own campaign, the first alien on Earth was not conisdered being a 'person', until he appeared before the Supreme Court, met with the Pope, and was gotten out of the maimum security prison President Carter put him in. After he got out, he of course marketed his name and image across the world...marketing thousands of products. 2) If he gets convicted, and the player is willing, he could become a secret agent for the Vatican. They are who fight demons in my campaign. He would get plastic surgery, a new identity, and could rejoin his team under another name. His death would be faked in prison. He would get a contact: 'Commando Nuns answering only to the Pope'. 3) The Hero team could break into the DA's office, and steal the evidence. Serves them right for getting caught on tape. 4) Let the guy off, but make it look obvious that the case was rigged. (Look at any high-profile court case for examples). The player is free, but it is due to the actions of a government organization that wants him to perform a task for them. Thay way, you get a scenario out of it. character gets a new reputation: 'Murderous Hero who beat the Rap'. Also a rival, 'dead teenagers grandmother'. One point I should mention, my players disadvantages change on occasion, based on their actions.

Chain Gang would work. Other possible names: 1) Executive Sanction 2) Parole Posse I had a group similar to this in my own campaign. They were run by PRIMUS (who are a bunch of jerks in my campaign, who want to control all non-government metahumans). They were called Project U-Turn, were run by two Silver Avengers, and operated out of New York. PRIMUS used them to do frontal assaults on villain bases, among other things. Of course they had a full media campaign says how they were "reforming" criminals. The logical members for it would be any villains the players in your campign capture/maim. Ultimates would work as a core. The original Suicide Squad story line was one of the more interesting ones DC had. It had several heroes on it, in addition to the baddies. Most of the heroes were ones who were tired of doing things the "legal way". Amanda Waller was the perfect government operative...mainly because there is nothing the heroes could do to stop her. She of course, answered to the President. So far as adapting it to hero scenarios: #1: An obvious way was done in the early issues (first 12). Batman discovered a bunch of villains he has captured are walking the streets against (they got pardons from the government). Batman travels to Louisiana, to infiltrate the prison the Squad is based out of. He gets discovered, and Batman gets to run around trashing all the comics "heroes". Easy to adapt. #2: At the time, the Squad was a lot more realistic than other comics. they killed people regularly, and were fighting terrorists 15 years ago... They could be used to go after villains, in a campaign where most of the heroes are goody too-shoes types. #3: Again, in the first 12 issues. There was one storyline where they had a 3-way battle, between the Suicide Squad, Justice League, and the Russian supers. What was interesting was that they all kind of blundering into each other. The Squad was infiltrating russia to get out a defector (as I recall), they get spotted by the russian heroes, who call in the Justice League as backup. (which was "international" at the time). Gneral mayhem ensued, and the Batman hospitalized one of the Squad

The question you have to answer, when dealing with mystical objects...is it the object that is evil, or the wielder? I tend to think that any power is going to eventually corrupt. Gold Crown: The idea of it at some point bieng used by Central Americans springs to mind. Used by the Mayans, stolden from them by the Aztecs, and plundered by the Spaniards. Shadow Crown: At some point in its history, it needs to be used by a hero from the 1930's. His name..."The Shadow!" Obsidian was used heavily by Central Americans for weapons and tools. It would be difficult to make a crown out of it, without magic (as it is stone, not metal) Ebony might also be fun. A wooden crown...there are several medieval African kingdoms you could use, about which very little is known today. Having them spend most of their history on Pacific Islands, where their wielders were hailed as gods, might also be fun. Put Lumeria in the Pacific, and you are done. Another fun thing to do, for giving the crowns history. Pick a stage in history when monarchs waged wars across Europe. The Italian City State wars, any time in Germany, Napoleonic Wars, and World War I work well. Give each monarch involved a crown...if they can get enough people killed, their dark desires are realized. Of course, in the past, and unlikely collection of bizarre individuals banded together to stop them, and scatterd the crowns. Have players discover journal of one of the people who fought them before.

I find this idea interesting. If the government can detect the powers before they develop, with a "scan", then it must be happening on the genetic level. What is causing these changes? Why is it happening so quickly? Is it a threat to the government? You could go with the Marvel Mutant theme of "Rapid Evolution" (which I always disliked) See if you can find the old comics, "D.P. 7". Its was part of Marvel's "New Universe line" a number of years ago. It dealt with a normal world suddenly changed when people got superpowers. The fun thing about it, all the people were very normal...just with powers. Possible reasons for the change: (sorry, this theme interests me) 1) Aliens are manipulated humankind, for reasons of their own. Perhaps they want to destabilize the planet before an invasion (supervillains are very destabilizing). Or maybe another race is sending an invasion, and they are attempting to create a defense force for the planet? Perhaps they just want to "Serve Man" Note: I like Alien Invsions. 2) Some kind of villain is responsible, an evil genius type. He is doing it as part of a complicated scheme to create an uber-army to destroy the world 3) Government accidently released some kind of agent (bio/nano/Energy X) into the environment. Faction of the government (ones responsible) is doing a cover up. 4) Similar to #2, but the Nazi's did it. They can be blamed for almost anything. If you are feeling creative, say the Japanese Biowarfare Corps did it, back in WWII 5) A psionic Alien spacecraft crashed on the moon 3 million years ago. Since that time, it has been trying to find a way to get repaired. Using its incredible psionic powers, it has been manipulating the evolution of the planet Earth, leading to the rise of mankind. Now its systems are getting close to failure, and it needs somoone to rescue it...so it has stepped up its mutation process. Course, a lot depends on your players, and what they like.

I had Pulsar get cured during the course of the campaign. I was forming a team of government militaryheroes, called "Joint Force". Has a member from each of the armed services on it, including the Coast Guard. Pulsar used to be a marine...and I needed a ranged attacker. Anyway, it got revealed that Pulsar had a split personality occur when he got his powers...as long as he takes his medication, he stays in his orginial personality (a gung-ho energy blasting jarhead, with explosive skill) There is also a powerful, Heroic psionic in the campaign (menton's daughter, Menton I made older). She is able to reprogram villains to be heroes...generally she does this through a from of psionic counseling, helping the villain deal with the reason they became a villain in the first place. Of course, there is the moral question...she is very powerful, and says she is always right... Stronghold was built during the campaign (I stuck it on Alcatraz island, perfect location and reputation). Before it was built, several superhero teams had recruiting drives, some would offer to take minor villains on, in order to boost their ranks. Several NPC's joined the team this way, none of them were from the books though. I once had an alien invasion, where the government offered pardons to 11 villains, if they would make a suicide attack on the alien space ship. An ex-military PC hero was drafted to lead it. It was used partly to kill off some of the villains I disliked, and to get pardons for Durak and Bora. Bora became a member of the Italian Parliament, and Durak runs a weapons export company in the Republic of Georgia. They are both still villains of course, now they just have real power. Grond turned out to be an alien with brain damage, some other aliens came along and fixed him. Now he runs around with his 30 intelligence, ridiculous amont of science skills, and tries to take over the planet. "The name is...Doctor Grondicus."

Occupation #1: She has a sleazy lawyer (also a DNPC) who is currently suing the University, for a ridiculous amount of money. In return, the lawyer givves her money to live on while the case goes through court. This also gives her a hunted: Deranged Graduate Student who caused her accident! Occupation #2: Tests out radiation suits for the government/corporation. Sound silly? Then how would YOU test a radiation suit? Walk int a reactor? More fun if someone is shooting energy blasts at you. Occupation 3: The local power pant hired her to work make nuclear waste inert. That's right, she works for Mr. Burns. Occupation #4: Cable repairwoman! Hello...I'm here to fix your cable... Bleh, all I can think of for now.

Keep money/resources available to heroes at a minimum. Firefly heroes were in debt, on the run, criminals, or all of the above. Money was a motivation for many scenarios (but they never really spent much of it...must have happened off screen) A lot could be done with reputations...certain characters had some on certain "worlds." Great way to do a backstory, make sure all characters come from somewhere, and make sure they go home sometime. Obviously, some characters had secret identities, from other characters. Nice thing about a firefly campaign, is the huge number of scenarios you could adapt to play. They ran the genre from Aliens, Hard Sci Fi, Western, to Cyberpunk. If you put in anyone with "Heroic Powers", they should have major limitations in store for them. Maybe "Heroic Disadnvantages?". You could have it provide him with something...Have the cyber-limb provided by some former employer. Insert hidden explosive device within, then have former employer contact player, demand he do something for him. Sure, the character could just remove the limb...but finding a replacement will generate another scenario. Write them up as perks. Some of Riven's ""Skills", could have just been cramming and a smarty brain. Also, remember that she was in a confined environment (the ship). With so few minds around, her powers may have been increased (were very familiar, might just be a form of minlink and mind scan).

~"Prodigal Children" (Christian reference) ~"Wilson's Warriors" (reference to Woodrow Wilson, President who dreamed up the League of Nations, which became the United Nations) ~"Arcadians" (Name they go by in my campaign...trying to create paradise on Earth, they are) ~Le Guarde Fantastique (my French sucks, but you get the idea. Name doesn't have to be in English. In my campaign , the largest superhero team is in France...they are also the most annoying)

First off, I think most of these mega-plots are really good. Hears the one I've been running (inbetween more normal adventures) Back History ~a million years ago, uber-tech aliens visit the Earth and take genetic material from the human race. They use this to create a race of psionic warriors to protect themselves (note: the psionic warriors look like homo erectus...) ~Wanting to make sure no one else finds out where their new guards came from, the uber-tech aliens sig a mutual protection pact twith the inhabitants of the second planet in the solare system (Venus, a race of Saurians). Earth, and its primitives, become an alien protectorate. ~300-100K years ago. Another race of aliens (intergalactic capitalists) from another dimension decide to invade this one. Massive war results, and the dimensional portals are sealed. Ubertech aliens vanish, taking their Dyson Sphere with them. their Psionic warrior race settle several worlds, and forget their origins. ~50K Interdimensional aliens invade again, this time by sponsoring another race with advanced technology/information. This race becomes the source for the myths about "demons." The destoy Venus and its guardians, and conquer the Earth. They begin numerous gene-engineering projects to produce "pets" from the human populace. They also trade with the evil capitalists from another dimension, who they are massively in debt to. ~25K years ago: A young member of a race of timetravellers, known as Al, (with the ability to timetravel) becomes disturbed by the injustice in the universe, in particular on Earth and the other worlds in the "Demon Empire". He aquires several thousand human children, trains them and gives them superpowers, and unleashes them against the demons. They become the source of the legendary Titans, and mount a millenia long guerilla war. ~20K years ago: Rivals of the interdimensional aliens, jealous of their monopoly on this dimensions trade, form a coalition of this demensions alien races and mount a campaign against the "Demon Empire". Just as they are about to proclaim victory, Al (the time traveller), appears with a court order from their home dimension ordereing them to desist (long story, but interdimensional invasions were illegal where they came from). Al does this without approval of his race, who reluctantly agree (they are like the Marvel Watchers, with time travel). Earth and the other worlds of the Demon Empire are allowed to fend for themselves, while the court case goes on. ~Present: The former allies of the alien coalition which freed the Earth are becoming active again. They are making moves against worlds near Earth, and aliens on those worlds are abducting Earth's metas to go and fight them. (damn crop circles). In general Earth blunders along, not knowing at all its history, or the ongoing legal battle (in another dimension). Only a few people know, and most of them are regardes as crazy. Some of the Titans of 20K years ago are still around (to give the campaign a really old guard) ~The Future: the trial is thought to be coming to an end, and it doesn't look good for the Blue-white marble. Can humanity clean up its act, and prove that they deserve to continue to exist? Or will they go down as just another vanished race. Note1: As you might guess, the theme of my campaign is mostly philospohical, entire episodes revolve around "what it means to be human." And "do we have a right to exist" Over all, I like it as a theme, because often non-humans are more noble than humans. (Humanity has a millenia old reputation among other species for...cannibalism. They are regarded as the interstellar equivalent of Haiti) Note2: Also, most of this history was only revealed through time travel, as players became aware of the back story. It allows me to use supplaments from virtually any game system, which I like. Note3: The fun part about the campaign is that no matter how powerful the heroes and villains are, there is a higher authority which is judging them. It takes the "save the world" theme to an extreme height, I suppose Note4: Remember that "Demon Empire"? Seems they were just experimenting with time travel...and one of their scientists travelled to our time. A couple of the players have finally learned that she is Dr. Destroyer. Note5: One of the goals of the characters is to try to find a way to gather allies, for the court judgement is expected to go against them. The allies are many, most of them are other worlds or really powerful immortal beings. Some of them use magic, and have taught it to Humans in the past (usually to their regret)

I would go with an astonomy theme. "Red Shift" seems to work for me. Make it radiation/thermal projection. Put her in agroup with other astronomy/astophysics named characters. They were just your average faculty members of yourt typical midwestern college until they boarded the spaceship the football coach had built and became...The Faculty! Faculty...Roll Call! ~Red Shift: Can project radiation. Likes puppies, walks on the beach, and hurting criminals. Former teaching assistant ~Corona: Can create a flaming, radioactive damage shield around himself. Hates any display of weakness, pity, or lack of strength. Football coach who claims he built the spaceship but actually won it by betting on a game with some aliens. ~Solar Wind: Can expel hard radiation in all directions (NND Killing Attack), when excited. Fear of commitment. English Literature professor. ~Nova: Can turn a normal thermonuclear reaction into an unstable one. Cautious around nuclear power plants, hunted by the Nuclear regulatory commission. Secretary at the college. ~Professor Orbit: Telekinetic with long range, can place objects into orbit. Dislikes Dirt, hippies, and long hair. College administrator. ~Mr. Crater: Can fire energy blasts capable of hitting the moon. Supergenius, No enhanced vision. Fear of being confined. Janitor.

"V.O.I.C.E., of Doom", without a question. Not only was it one of the early scenario modules (1987!) But it presented not only an outline of a Hero team, but a large villain team as well! While the scenario itself was a little basic, back then I didn't really have a good idea of how to make characters (early Champions books had almost no examples) Even better, they were mostly foreign metahumans. I liked International enemies, for the same reason. Many of the villains inside it are stil lactive in my campaign, in particular Photon, Black Raven, and Blue Eel. Szybko was altered so that he could teleport naturally. When he was killed by a police sniper, the villains cut out his brain, and built the "Syzbko Box", so they could continue to teleport... Recently though, I picked up two of the "San Angelo" books, used. I love the detail they have, and urge anyone to pick them up who can find them, and needs a campaign city.

Religions: I use a mixture of Real world, and some comic stuff. I have had so many different gods of various type show up over the years, I have trouble keeping track of them. I never did them the way they are done in the comics, though. An example is the Greek Pantheon existed, in history, and mythology...but they were founded by a time traveller (who happened to be a PC). Kronos/Saturn = God of time, get it? Odin of course, was a human turned into a cyborg by aliens, millenia ago. One eye? Super senses? Magical knowledge? Can travel to other worlds? Claims that the world will be destroyed (Rangarok, the aliens could see the future, of course.) Conventional religions are also present. One character statred off as a moderate muslim, but then kept running into evil magic-using types. For some reason, the exil magic users seemed to be common in protestant countries. He became practically an islamic militant, so far as fighting magic was concerned. Another character has conections to a secret Catholic order of nuns, who travel around fighting occult menaces with automatic weapons. (What can I say, 2 years of Catholic school) I once had an alien invasion, where as part of the terms of the treaty, the invaders were baptized by the Pope. Why? In my campaign, some governments claim that extraterrestrials aren't entitled to the same rights as humans (So they can lock them up and steal their stuff) There are also a couple of ancient dragons around, who have cults. They claim to be able to grant magical powers to their faithful. It was one of the ways you can get magic in my campaign. I never cared much for the "comic book demon" from "dimension X". Religion should never be portrayed as a certain, defenite thing, in my opinion. Best religious character in the Hero Universe is Brother Bone, of the Devils Advocates (Horror Hero)

The Man in Black shall live forever! The worst conception I recall, I did myself. Was about 15 years ago, for another superhero game called Superworld. Japanese electrician named Sulu Recieved his powers upon waking from a coma, with amnesia Powers: A gadget pool (Gun, jetpack, forcefield) Duplication, could create 5 of himself. and a little martial arts. Ont the first scenario he went on a little gem called "Return of the Elokians, in a book called HAVOC), he found out he was getting his ass kicked by the oppostion. So he turned into kamikaze hero. He would duplicate (also duplicating the gadget pool), take off in his jetpack, and do a move through the villain. Repeat as necessary. If I did him today, he would have regeneration. As it was, 1 duplicate died, and the others were hospitalized. Not that I GM, everytime the heroes visit a graveyard, they see one of his graves...

Just have to say...I'll be using these this weekend.

I don't have the new Viper book either... But thinking about your situation gave me some ideas of my own, so I may "borrow" your idea for a NPC of my own. First, their are many ways to "hunt". I usually use it as random method to determine if that person/group will show up at all, even if its only for one "panel". 1. Unknown to her, the android is equipped with a wireless modem. The wife of the slain inventor has the access codes, and is able to "see"through the androids senses. She sells this info to VIPER, or puts it on her pay website. Heroes secrets get revealed, they have to find out how. 2. Similar to #1. The wife is able though to regain remote control over the android, and sends it out to commit crimes. Perhaps she has some agenda of her own (replace the local nest leader perhaps, with herself). The android has an alter-ego it is unaware of, and may even hunt this "other android". VIPER may also try to kidnap the PC android, to get information on some obscure part of the contruction. They could also try something like have her walk though some kind of scanning device. (picture the scanner from the MIB headquarters, from the movie) Lot of factors here. Was it only one nest invloved, or were other nests involved in the research? In my opinion, the key to VIPER is that they are highly variable. There is a reason they are greedy, and always doing money-making schemes. They use that money to hire supervillains and buy nifty gadgets, to attack heroes with. This is whats fun about them. One question: Why build the android in the first place? One other possiblity that springs to mind is that the androis may physically look like a famous person (desiged to replace them). That could open up cases of mistaken identity, and even give the android some new disadvtages: Reputation: Looks like celebrity, people expect her to act like that celebrity Hunted: Adoring fans/media Another possibility (more fun). Don't know if they will have the serpentine network in the new VIPER book (it was originally the secret VIPER internet, impossible to crack). If it is, perhaps she was built to be a part of it? This opens up later scenarios if you want her to have all sorts of info on VIPER. (which she gets when she accesses the secret files, after she gets the password...) If you ever get bored with VIPER chasing the android around, have them sell "ownership" in the android to another villain group. All they have to do is collect their property...

Teleportation tubes A freeze/cold Pistol! A section on gadgets that could be just handed out to flunky thugs might be nice. They would probably all have activation rolls... So a gadgeteer villain could quickly equip his minions.

Couple thoughts 1. An open rebellion might be cover for another operation (a big diversion, basicly) 2. In the modern world, population centers aren't very important to controlling an area. Have VIPER target transportation centers (to control food shipments), and power generation, and they can control the populace. 3. VIPER may use blackmail or ethics charges against politicians to neutralize of remove them. 4. If the goal is theft, remember that "paper" currency is essentially worthless (especially during a revolt/rebellion). Anything they steal will have to have real value (Gold reserves, stocks, gemstones, inventions, junk like that) 5. The big advantage VIPER should have, is that they are able to apparently ship stuff around secretly around the world. (smuggling VIPER outfits and gear everywhere) This might get them allies with other groups, that may not have such a developed network (I doubt Destroyer does) 6. Use local supervillains as "strongmen" for cities/countries they get control over. A return to dictators, with themselves pulling the strings, would sit very well. I once did something like this, for NYC a numbe of years ago. The local VIPER baddie (King Snake), staged a massive breakout of all the supervillains on Rikers Island (where they held supervillains and normal criminals). He then loaded all the villains into a bus, and had them assault the local PRIMUS HQ. Street gangs he had recruited did drivebys on local police precincts, and neutralized the police. The nearby military base was raided (a navy base), and nuclear weapons were stolden. King Snake then proclaimed himself the "King of New York", proclaimed the independence of Long Island, and held the UN delegates hostage until they recognized his nation. (This would neutralize UNTIL, but I never used them in my campaign) He also held a fun press conference, where all the real world news anchors were forced to ask him predetermined questions, live, on national TV. One of the players just happened to be a reporter...he was forced to ask King Snake's position on Health Care. He was defeated when the supervillain he had hired to steal the nukes took them home instead (Ah, Shamrock). The heores also got help from VIPER, it seemed the Supreme Serpent didn't care for Mr. King Snakes new popularity with the other nests. This amounted to a number of phone calls, where an anonymous voice addressed them in a serpentine voice. Regarding villains fighting villains...I once had a villain in my campaign, dress up as Dr. Destroyer, and sieze control of the UN. Destroyer then delivered a speech to the assembled delegates, where he delivered his manifesto (along with global nuclear disarmament, he callled for reducing global population by 95%, and the extermination of the Irish) A gadgeteer villain once built a dozen robots that looked like Destroyer, and had them engage in petty larceny across the city. The good Doctor was not amused.

In the Champions Universe writeup (4th edition), American Eagle, AKA Steve Hall, had various equipement. Body armor, anti-Flash goggles, and wings that allowed him to fly. He also had a baton, and martial arts. His skills consisted of +2 Overall levels, and +2 levels "with any use of Wings" His first appearance was in "Voice of Doom". (3rd edition? or 2nd?) It looks like his 4th edition wtiteup was a direct translation to me, there is no change in them from 3rd to 4th. He has no "patriotic or code vs killing" in this writeup. His secret ID was Steven Hall, an illustrator specializing in Historical reproductions. (I love how specific that is) Funny, the others seemed to have gotten skills when they were converted, he didn't. When I used him I gave him some military type skills, and some detective skills. (just cause he has been doing it forever). I had him carry his army pistol, when he expected serious trouble.