Steve

Browns Island looks like it would make a terrific place for a hidden base from which to stage assaults on the city. VIPER could set up shop there, perhaps starting out with a submerged base underneath the river and then tunneling into the island to create a major complex.
 
Alternatively, there could be one or more bases left over from the Golden or Silver Ages out there. Such a base could be accidentally discovered by a hero or villain and appropriated for their own use. Perhaps it still exists because it has an automated repair system that is maintaining and maybe has even been continuing to expand the facility on its own over the past several decades.
 
An entire secret history could be built up around such a base. Recent readings of “earthquakes” in the area could lead to its discovery. If it’s VIPER doing it, they could stage cover stories to keep people away, something like a superhuman version of a Scooby Doo or Johnny Quest mystery.

Pathfinder : In Hell’s Bright Shadow : All Dead, All Dead
 
Civilla’s player has been statting out members of her future coven - it includes an NPC that can use fire as healing magic. That includes fire in the form of Incendiary Runes.
 
Civilla's player: "And here's some that I prepared earlier."
Ayva's player: It doesn't even damage the item so pages of "Stop getting injured you dumbass" would stack
 
GM: I see no issues with her, or her inclusion in the party. An aquatic changeling with a phoenix bloodline is a bit "Who the hell were her parents", but it's mechanically sound.
 
The lack of a cleric in the party is a serious problem for us - we still have nothing that can reliably hurt those Wretchghosts (let alone all the other undead down here) and no way to drive them off for good. And our investigations may have given them access to the surface, so we can’t just go find a priest.
 
Terzo OoC: Well we CAN just wander off and deal with it later, we just have to find a way to blame it on Thrune.
 
Civilla: One of us opens the door and the other one has a Readied Action to close it again depending on how bad it looks on the other side.
Terzo: Another dozen Wretchghosts.
Civilla: *sob*
Ayva: In that case we come back with a priest and a holy flamethrower.
 
It’s actually a room with dead bodies and some brightly coloured paving stones.
 
Rajira: *sarcastically* Oh GREAT, it’s a colour trap, those are always fun.
 
Light weights don’t trigger anything, and Detect Magic doesn't reveal anything on the floor, walls, or ceiling. Civilla Summons a lemur to stand in for a Minefield Sheep.
 
Terzo OoC: Prosimians being expendable, of course.
Avya’s player: A man-sized lemur would be terrifying.
Terzo’s player: They used to be.
Rajira's player: Until quite recently - well into historical times.
 
Something alarming and very far from humanoid or prosimian emerges from the floor and reduces the lemur to tasty nuggets. Rajira suspects she’s figured out the key to crossing the room safely.
 
Civilla: Although that assumes the same key works for whoever goes in next.
Terzo: After you.
 
Terzo: How much do you bet we have to use the other key coming back?
Civilla: No bet.
 
Civilla: Over here, Terzo, I need something to hide behind.
 
GM: Kudos for checking every door for traps, like a good adventurer.
 
The next room has some interesting portraiture, although some Prestidigitation (Cleaning) and Mending will be necessary before we can loot them.
 
Ayva: Civilla’s Cleaning Service.
 
She also finds a Dagger of Venom.
 
Civilla: Rajiiiiraaaa… how would you like a self-envenoming dagger?
Rajira: I’d prefer a self-envenoming kukri but I’ll take it.
Ayva: I can always duplicate the enchantment if we have the original.
 
We also find ledgers, records, blackmail info, lists of enemies, and maps of secret routes the Grey Spiders used to traverse the undercity. Handy. And a poem by a halfling poet recently banned by Thrune. It seems likely it’s a clue to a suspiciously valuable-looking statue and capstone in the next room. Which has multiple bodies piled up around it, which Ayva’s Deathsight immediately pegs as undead. Fireballs would appear to be in order.
 
GM: Well, there WERE six ghasts in that room.
 
Unfortunately it also triggers the big trap, and releases the creature under the capstone. Biologically, it’s pretty interesting, but not if you’re remotely phobic about certain vermin. Or at all vulnerable to some remarkably nasty venoms. Rajira’s Dexterity ends up reduced to merely human levels.
 
Rajira: I’m… NORMAL
 
There is indeed a lower tunnel revealed on those maps we found - unfortunately it’s completely flooded. Consulting our allies, Lictor Octavio can provide us with a Wand of Water-breathing.
 
Civilla: Well, if it’s only a loan we don’t have to pay for it.
GM: The shrine wants a donation of 250GP per charge.
Ayva: ‘Donation’.
 
Happily Ayva can use her abilities to cast it on us herself, without actually knowing the spell first - or, for that matter, combine her abilities to turn it into a magical tattoo.
 
Civilla's player: Yes, I know a lot about the Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon lore.
Avya’s player: Yes, that’s why we have the start of a Sailor team.
Terzo's player: Does that make me Tuxedo Mask?
GM: “My Job Here Is Done” “But You Didn’t Do Anything”
 
Terzo's player: Of course I’m the only one with a transformation sequence.
Ayva's player: There’s half-a-dozen Archetypes that can give you a transformation sequence. Isn’t Magical Girl an official Pathfinder character type?
Civilla's player: Yes they’re a kind of Vigilante. That’s why I suggested we all play Magical Girls. Instead we’re playing three young women and Terzo, so we're paying magical girls anyway. Argh.
 
Rajira thinks we need to meet her cousin Mahat, a Vishkanya Slayer. He’s a bit of a shock.
 
Civilla: Wow, really, you didn’t know? Rajira isn’t human. Didn’t either of you know?
Terzo: I may have noticed her unusual eye colour, but I was too polite to comment.
 
Civilla: I should introduce you to my friend Shimza. My good… friend… Shimza.
Rajira: Are you sleeping with her?
Ayva: Rajira, you can’t just SAY questions like that - you just burst into their bedroom in the middle of the night when you think you hear something.
 
Shimza is a Witchborn Brine May of Varisian descent and Blood Arcanist with the Phoenix Bloodline. Ayva has a friend that might be useful, too - Portia Underbough is an Inquisitor-Infiltrator of Irori.
 
Civilla's player: Wait, Portia is a Changeling too? FFS, that makes three in the party.
 
It’s certainly an interesting mix of religious beliefs in the party - it’s going to be a full-time job for Terzo to keep the friction at a minimum.
 
Ayva: Revenge isn’t the only domain of Calistria
Rajira: So I’ve been told but we’re first cousins so we’re avoiding that.
Civilla OoC: Yes, Rajira and Mahat have not been written by GRR Martin.
 
Civilla's player: There you go, Terzo, you’re not as outnumbered as you were.
Terzo's player: Yes, but if I’m Tuxedo Mask what does that make Mahat?
Ayva's player: …. I’ll get back to you.
Civilla's player: One of the Sailor Stars.
 
GM: How many of you can breathe underwater?
Terzo OoC: I did get some compliments on my ability to hold my breath when I was a much younger man.
GM: Oh dear.
 
Perhaps the flooded tunnels connect to the ones that Civilla discovered under the Victocora estate that lead to the Hall of Records. Not that she ever told us about that, and probably won’t until her family has finalized the purchase of the ruins.
 
Ayva: Here you go, Terzo, this enchanted mithril shortsword is for you.
Terzo: Ta muchly.
GM: And no It doesn’t glow in the presence of orcs.
Terzo: But does it glow in the presence of accountants?
Civilla: You know, there’s a spell that’s used to identify members of your own faith - you could use that as the basis of, for example, lighting up the sword when followers of Asmodeus are nearby.
Rajira: But in Kintargo that would mean it goes off all the time.
 
Shimza is wearing an Ornate Corset of Black Silk, Silver Brocade with Azurite insets.
 
Terzo: Ah… I have to inquire, young lady, if that is entirely appropriate attire for our expedition?
Shimza: Oh, absolutely.
Civilla: For one thing you can quite easily represent the symbol of Nocticula, the Redeemer Queen, with the inserts.
Terzo: … Ah.
Civilla: As arcanists, we have to cheat.
 
The new assists from Mahat, Portia, and Shimza will hopefully prove invaluable against the Wretchghosts, although do lead to one pant-wetting moment, because nobody told Ayva about the way Shimza’s burning flames actually heal.
 
Portia: I hit them, I hit them!
Civilla: What?! How?!
Portia: I think it’s because I *really* need a smoke right now!

I'd like to amend my earlier statement.  I originally gave a solid "meh" for the Fantasy Hero meta setting.  I admit this was a knee-jerk to seeing all of the usual tropes that you find in pretty much all such settings.  I have since more deeply delved into the material and find myself liking it quite a bit.  So much so that I will be running a game at my local shop using said material. I also agree with Lord Liaden that pre-done settings an give a lot of inspiration.

Another possible funding source are those video casino game arcades.  Those seem to be everywhere--convenience stores, laundromats--heck, I passed by one set up in a double-wide trailer on a road out of town.  You would need someone to make change and sell drinks and snacks, and cash in the occasional big winner--but again, that's a job for your resident genius gadgeteer.

One of the major supervillains in Drew Hayes' Forging Hephaestus is a HIGH end gadgeteer.  He invents a lot of everyday tech...then spends time dumbing it down so it can actually be made by his company, and it'll work for normals.  STILL works better than anything any normal R&D puts together.  He's basically Microsoft and Sony rolled together.
 
And in both of Hayes' universes (this, and the Super Powereds universe)...merchandising.  In the SPU, supers first appeared in the late 50's.  Since then, they've reshaped pop culture greatly.  Heroes have to be licensed...which is a point I like...and get paid...not great, but they do get paid.  They own all the NIL rights, tho.  In Forging Hephaestus, on the heroes' side, there are all kinds of kickbacks and control things...in some ways, it's like The Boys and their corporate handlers in that regard.  And supers are fawned over.  On the villains' side, it's actually organized...it's a guild.  They offer support services behind the scenes, and take a cut.  

When my heroes ended up in Japan I ended up having them meet Zen Squad from the old 4e Allies book.  I'm actually a power rangers fan so the part where they are all employees of a big company that somehow work at an orphanage & fight evil in color coded suits was right up my alley.

I like the idea of using one or more laundromats as a funding mechanism.
 
It gets bonus points for also being a potential draw for organized crime types looking to sell the new business owner protection.
 
I think most heroes would steal from criminals rather than commit forgery. I could see them committing Leverage-style scams though.

Maybe a "Dark Net" site. A hangout for pro-Vigilante types with an otherwise innocuous Patreon-style system.

She is an absolute despot, and she does not tolerate any challenges to her rule.
 
Any. Challenges. At. All.
 
She has destroyed entire worlds full of people out of frustration. That’s pretty scary, and it puts a serious damper on this whole benevolent ruler facade she wears. She is only benevolent as long as you toe the line and obey.

She’s kind of a cross between a Princess of Amber and a Time Lord, so yeah, alien.

Foxbat, definitely.  Also, every "dark hero's" favorite adversary--a group of pseudo-anarchists who livestream themselves destroying things for the sake of destroying things.  Then the hero shows up, and that's usually the last thing they livestream.
 
I can't really see heroes doing something like that--maybe in a four-colored campaign, but not in the "grim-and-gritty" world of Dark Champions.  Same with a Patreon page, or a GoFundMe campaign.  ("Help me avenge my family's death by freeing me up to beat crooks with my bare hands!")

It sounds like a form of Extra Time to me.

It sounds like a form of Extra Time to me.

For the skill roll, I like the idea of using the god as a Contact. Narosia used this and had rules for casting, and I like the logic of it. It gives a different feel than an INT or EGO-based skill roll. Using a skill roll feels more like a wizard thing, and a Contact feels more like a cleric.

I'd considered running a game where the "super-gene" appears at age 12 in humans and has potential of burning out by the time they hit 20. Think Strikeforce Morituri meets Teen Titans. In the concept, I was going to start it on Day One. No experience with the gene, the players would be the first heroes who could inspire the future. Each year of the campaign would be a year in real time, so they had potentially 7 years to solve the gene issue. Too bad it never went forward.

She’s kind of a cross between a Princess of Amber and a Time Lord, so yeah, alien.

Actually, a campaign set in the days after she is gone could be very interesting. If there is a struggle for power, PCs could become quite important, what with Tyrannon and other multiversal threats pressing on the borders of the empire and all the internal chaos that would be going on.
 
Yet, she is a time traveller. I can’t recall, do her powers render her always unique? Or might temporal echoes of her exist even after her supposed death?

That’s not quite accurate. God will chasten even His most devout and pious followers, which can involve suffering, but it’s to try and instill greater humility and holiness within them. People also often get into trouble all on their own due to their own poor choices and then blame God for their problems.

Back in 1990, author and RPG designer Allen Varney contributed an adventure to the Fourth Edition Champions book, Champions in 3-D, titled, "Horror World." This remains the most brilliant and effective translation of Lovecraftian cosmic horror to the supers genre that I've ever seen, in large measure because the threat isn't something that can be defeated by brute force, hence even superheroes feel helpless. It was based on the premise of an alternate Earth in which the heroic pulp-era investigators fighting to prevent the manifestation on Earth of nightmarish elder horrors from beyond... failed.
 
With Hero Games' permission, Allen Varney put the entire text from his adventure on his personal website, under the title, ANOPHELES: Atrocities From Beyond . That webpage includes the adventure proper, stats for its NPCs and monsters, and 4E Power constructs to model Lovecraftian sanity-blasting effects. (Fair warning -- it's not for the faint-hearted. Seriously.)

She is an absolute despot, and she does not tolerate any challenges to her rule.
 
Any. Challenges. At. All.
 
She has destroyed entire worlds full of people out of frustration. That’s pretty scary, and it puts a serious damper on this whole benevolent ruler facade she wears. She is only benevolent as long as you toe the line and obey.

She is an absolute despot, and she does not tolerate any challenges to her rule.
 
Any. Challenges. At. All.
 
She has destroyed entire worlds full of people out of frustration. That’s pretty scary, and it puts a serious damper on this whole benevolent ruler facade she wears. She is only benevolent as long as you toe the line and obey.

I haven't read Book of the Empress, but this passage in CV1 imight be worth remembering:
 
"Istvatha V'han carries herself with a regal grace at most times, but her facade sometimes cracks when her followers let her down, or someone challenges or insults her. She doesn't tolerate frustration well, and if sufficiently angered may lash out in a fit of destructiveness that obliterates entire planets." (CV1, p. 60)
 
I think a reasonable person, even seeing all the benefits that Istvatha V'han's rule brings most of the time, might balk at having the survival of their entire world in the hands of an absolute monarch with no curb on her temper tantrums.
 
Though for some people, that erratic temper may enhance their reverence.
 
Dean Shomshak

“Unlimited power is the ideal thing when it is in safe hands. The despotism of heaven is the one absolutely perfect government, and earthly despotism would be the absolute perfect earthly government if the conditions were the same; namely the despot the perfectest individual of the human race, and his lease of life perpetual; but as a perishable, perfect man must die and leave his despotism in the hands of an imperfect successor, an earthly despotism is not merely a bad form of government, it is the worst form that is possible.”
― Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Even in the New Testament, when an Agent of God (e.g., an angel) appears, in almost every case the first words out of its mouth are "Fear not."

Actually, a campaign set in the days after she is gone could be very interesting. If there is a struggle for power, PCs could become quite important, what with Tyrannon and other multiversal threats pressing on the borders of the empire and all the internal chaos that would be going on.
 
Yet, she is a time traveller. I can’t recall, do her powers render her always unique? Or might temporal echoes of her exist even after her supposed death?