BoloOfEarth

If you combine him with a partner who has several levels of Growth and who used Dead and Buried Man as his marionette, you could have Dead Man Walking.

Here's one I forgot about (long, long time ago).
 
As one or two of you know, I wasn't much of a comic book kid (or adult) but I did have some exposure to the old Captain Marvel comics (the loft over the milk room was packed with lots of things from the childhoods of older relatives, including a couple dozen of those).
 
I always sort of liked the character, so I did an "homage" in the character  The Billy Battalion.  I'll cut to the quick of the origin:
 
In some unremembered military conflict, Billy Johnson was a drafted soldier.  During a firefight that was going horribly against his team, he lost his footing, slipped into a ravine, and came to light in a cave.  In this cave was a Shrine, and it put him in mind of his own rejected Church-filled upbringing, and he began to pray to God, right here before this strange foreign diety, toward the end, he just kept repeating "Help Billy, God.  Please, please, help your poor little Billy...."  And Poof!"
 
The super version was the player character.  He could hang around as long as he wanted to, but when he was ready to stop being Billy Battalion (the schtick was that he was needed elsewhere) or got knocked out cold, "Poof" again and there was some guy standing there.  Or some woman, occasionally.  That guy was invariably named Billy, William, Will, Bill, Willie, and all kinds of really distant permutations.  If there was nothing close to "Bill," then his last name would be something sort of approximating "Johnson."
 
Getting odder:
 
Keep in mind that this was before Multiform and Duplication and anything else we'd look at today to make such a character.  The character was a set of powers and bonuses, period, with 125 pts spent on "Host."  Jim would grab some random NPC out of his file, we'd apply the powers and characteristic bonuses, and Bam!  That was Billy Battalion, at least this time.  While Billy was his own personality with his own memories, he also had the memories of the NPC, and their personalities would have some affect on his own-- not a lot, just enough that he was never _quite_ the same person.  The Host had an effect on how he looked:  Caucasian athlete with a 17 STR?  Cool!  And that +35 to that, it was awesome!  Slender Asian woman with an 8 STR?  Well, he was less than half as strong!  He was also a (not slender, with that +35 STR) Asian woman.  Sometimes he was hispanic, black-- it all depended on the Host, chosen randomly.
 
  The only Skills Billy had were those that the Host brought with him.  (that got really odd for characters that worked with Billy more than once  .)   Most amusing part (at least to me) was a bit Jim (my GM at the time) added:  the NPC host remembered _everything_.  They remembered being "taken over" by Billy Battalion, they remembered the bit of the adventure they participated in (and in great detail), and anything that anyone let slip (like "real names" or where the loot was, etc).  Further, Billy also remembered everyone he had inhabited, flawlessly, and forever.  And he _loved_ them all, which made for quite a fan club.   
 
Oddly enough, during that campaign, Billy became something of a media sensation (though I think that was just to put me personally on the spot every now again to come up with a new angle for the personality during an interview).   The campaign was short (played through in something like a dozen all-night sessions, and the character was never revisited.  Still, it was _lots_ of fun, and that was probably just about the right amount of time to spend with that character.
 
I have no idea why I didn't remember him when this thread first went up.  It was great!
 
 

As a GM, I once created a villain (The Recycler) who ran the city dump and built a giant mech out of junk people had thrown away.  His goal, IIRC, was to punish people who didn't recycle.  Needless to say, he got... wait for it... trashed.
 
One of my current favorite villain teams had a strange out-of-game origin.  I was looking at characters I'd like to put together into a team, and had Ankylosaur, Armadillo, and Airstrike (a flying powered armor guy).  Initially, I was thinking of a bunch of people in powered armor, but then I noticed their names all started with the letter "A" -- and thus, the A-Team was born.  Currently, they have about 8-10 members, and members are allowed to belong to other teams as well.  Their only requirement for membership:  your name must start with "A."

Years ago, one of my daughters typed up something on my computer when I had stepped away.  It amused me enough that I printed it off and saved it.  I recently discovered it, and decided to save a copy here for posterity.
 
I LOVE YOU!  YOU LOVE ME!  WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY!
HIIIII DADDY!!!  I'M SPECIAL IN A SUPER DUPER SPECIAL WAY OF RAINBOWS AND AWESOMENESS THAT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOUR AWESOMENESS!!!
I SHALL RIDE A FEROCIOUS UNICORN WITH A LIGHTSABER HORN INTO BATTLE AND CONQUER YOUR LAME ARMY OF NOT-AS-AWESOME-AS-ME-NESS!
I LIKE COOKIES AND CANDY AND COOKIES.  I ALSO WOULD RIDE A DRAGON INTO BATTLE IF I HAD ONE BUT I DON'T SO I WON'T.
Have a nice day.
 
Hmmm... I have no idea where they got their weirdness... 

Hey, video game and comic book money has to come from somewhere!
 

I'm the same way, but it's not necessarily a comfort-level thing.  I'm just a cheap-a**-b*****d. 

I'm the same way, but it's not necessarily a comfort-level thing.  I'm just a cheap-a**-b*****d. 

I'm the same way, but it's not necessarily a comfort-level thing.  I'm just a cheap-a**-b*****d. 

Regarding the dome -- I did something similar once, with the dome being self-regenerating.  So if enough damage was done, it could open a hole - which would close again relatively quickly.  This allowed the heroes to get inside after making an effort, but they couldn't, say, bring in an infantry division very easily.
 
RP   AP   Sample Gadgets                                                                                                       
25   148   Victor Von Dome:  Barrier 12 rPD / 12 rED, 8 BODY, 6 km Long, 3 km Tall, ½m Thick, Hardened (+¼), Impenetrable (+¼), Stops Teleport (+¼), Megascale (1m = 1 km; +1); Fixed Shape (Globe;   -¼), OAF Immobile Fragile (-2¼), Dome Drops if OAF Destroyed (-½), 1 Charge (-2)

24   100   Dome Repair:  Healing 2d6 BODY, Constant (+½), AoE (4 km Radius; +¼), Megascale (1m = 1 km; +1), Decreased Re-Use Duration (1 Turn; +1½), 0 END (+½), Persistent (+¼); OAF Immobile Fragile (-2¼), Only affects von Dome (-1)
 
This was for a game where the max attacks were about 12d6-14d6.  If you're going to provide a writeup of the dome, feel free to use this or something similar; you may want to increase the size, maybe make it Configurable (+1/4) so the Skull can open and close holes in it, and add Affects Desolid.  Also remove Fragile so the "dome generator" would have a massive rPD / rED itself - instead of 30 rPD / 30 rED, I'd make a GM call to allow it to be 20 rPD / 20 rED, Hardened (+1/4), Impenetrable (+1/4).  Sure, the heroes can figure out where the dome generator is located, but can't easily trash it before the Skull's forces converge.

I totally want to be a contestant on So You Want To Be A Superhero. 
 
The O'Malleys were driving through Nevada on their way to California for Jim O'Malley's mother's funeral, when their car suddenly died.  Then, the doors all locked and the radio began flipping between stations, playing just a word or phrase at a time.  "You... will not... be... harmed... you... will... listen... you... will... decide..."  Then, a bright light shone on the road in front of them, and to their surprise Nana O'Malley was standing there, carrying a large parcel and a small picnic basket.
 
As she walked up to the car, Jim's window lowered an inch.  Nana O'Malley smiled.  "Jimmy, so nice to see you.  And my, how you kids have grown!  What are you, now, Tim, thirteen?  What a handsome young man you are!  I'm sorry I missed your high school graduation last month, Jenny, but I just couldn't travel."  Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Heather, you're looking good."
 
"Mom," said Jim, "what are you... I thought..." 
 
"Yes, I'm dead," she said.  "My own darn fault for smoking all those years.  But these nice alien folks came down and picked me up, said they're going to take me to a better place.  Before we go, though, I need to give you these."  She nodded at the parcel.  "They're suits, with incredible powers.  You need to use them to save the world.  There's going to be a big war if you don't find a way to stop it. I'm not sure how, but the suits will help.  I'll just put these in the trunk." She turned toward the back of the car, then stopped and waved the picnic basket.  "Oh, and I made some cookies for your trip.  I know how much you all like my snickerdoodles.  Heather, I put the recipe inside the basket, not that I expect you to use it.  But maybe Jenny might try it someday."
 
After she placed the parcel and basket in the trunk (which had seemingly opened of its own accord), she walked back to Jim's window.  "Now, you be the brave, strong man I know you to be, Jimmy.  And you kids, listen to your parents and do good.  I'm sure I'm going to be so proud of you."  Another pause.  "Heather, I suppose you'll do as well."  She walked away, ignoring Jim's pleas for her to stop and the family's failed attempts to unlock and open the car doors.  When she got to the center of the beam of light, Nana O'Malley turned back, smiled and waved... and disappeared. 
 
And thus was born The Omicron Family, aka the Greatest American Family.  Thankfully, they didn't lose the instruction manuals. (Well, Timmy misplaced his, but it helped having three other copies.) Using the suits, they managed to stop a rogue Air Force general from starting World War III, and went on to do many amazing things. 

My wife was watching TV, and switched the channel to Dr. Pimple Popper.
 
Me:  Ewww!  How can you stand to watch that?!
Her:  It's medical!
Me:  So is a proctology exam.  That doesn't mean I want to watch one!

Go ahead, reporter boy, laugh it up.  That's what they all do.  Frankly, that's kinda why I chose this ridiculous get-up.  You're a supervillain and you see some guy in an armored battlesuit?  You hit him with everything you got.  Facing off against your local dark avenger of the night?  You use your most lethal attacks, because you know he's not gonna give you an inch.  Guy in a flower costume?  You yuk it up and toss him aside like yesterday's newspaper.
 
Yeah, laugh all you want, but you're looking at one of the few individuals to take down Grond.  I mean, who knew he had such terrible allergies?  Still, it counts as a major win in my book, even if his sneezes did keep blowing me across the room.
 
The name?  Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that.  I'm Flower Child.  No, I wasn't bitten by a radioactive venus flytrap.  Har dee har har.  I'm a botanist who found a way to weaponize flower aromas.  Even ordinary floral scents can leave you mildly dizzy, fatigued, or cause nausea.  Concentrate it up the wazoo and spray it into someone's nasal passages, and you can take someone down.  Doesn't matter to me whether they're sneezing up a storm, hacking up a lung, or are lulled into taking a quick snooze.  Down is down.
 
The only problem is, no superhero team will take me seriously enough to let me join.  Still, I can take down muggers, bank robbers, and minor-league supervillains - which is why I'm here in Toledo instead of a big city like Chicago or New York City.

Pretty sure we all do it; these are the things that make it a living, breathing world.  I like to hear my players groan when they realize the only eatery open this late on this side of town is Truck's Tacos, featuring such delictable deserts as chocolate coated mayonnaise balls.... 
 
Among other bits, of course.  
 
Years ago I think I posted the tale of the werefish..... 
 
 
 
 
Ditto on all counts, for the same reasons, plus:
 
If you want a GM to make this world his own, you have to leave him some room to do it. 

I'd like to start by stating how completely weird it is for suits to have belly buttons, and it verges on creepy when you realize it's just the women's suits.
 
Omni; She was just a normal teenager in the year 2243, well until her powers manifested. And what a doozy that set of powers was. She could channel past lives into new physical bodies. Each past life a superhero in their own right. Sometimes the change was weird, like Andrew, the telepath, could only be channeled as his 10 year old self. She gets flashes of their lives when she shifts, past heroic deeds, successes and failures. These flashes have given her experience far beyond her years in the continuing battle against Mechanon...

If you guys really wanted your own Trump that bad, we could have sent you ours.  Honest.

Hello, all! For people who don’t know me, I wrote a few Champs supplements way back when: Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies, Ultimate Supermage, and Supermage Bestiary. Some villains from those books got adopted into the official Champions Universe (in Arcane Adversaries and The Mystic World); many did not. Our colleague Tiger has shown, through the “Forgotten Enemies” line, that apparently some people like to see revised and updated versions of old characters that didn’t make the cut into the CU. But why should Tiger have all the fun? The esteemed Jason Walters says its okay if I publish new versions of my old characters. I hope I can get at least a few supplements out of this, and maybe supply some useful new/old villains for Champions GMs.
 
Villains risen from the grave, as it were. Summoned from publication Limbo!
 
This is where you come in. I’ll use this thread to propose collections of villains. You give feedback. Does the proposal sound interesting? Do you like the lineup of characters, or would you prefer a different set? How many would you like to see per supplement? If you have any favorites from those old books, let me know and I’ll try to do something with them. Similarly, if you think a character was potentially cool but would benefit from a new and different approach, make the suggestion. Looking back, I see that not every word I wrote was genius. This gives me a chance to do better.
I might also round out collections with a few brand new characters, too. We’ll see.
 
A lot of my old characters were supernatural. (Supermage. Duh.) I figure those can go in a line of “Mystic Enemies” supplements, the way Steve Long produced a few “Martial Arts Enemies” supplements. Non-mystical villains from CoTN can go in a “Horror Enemies” line, though that will of course be much smaller.
 
So let us begin...
 
Dean Shomshak

If you guys really wanted your own Trump that bad, we could have sent you ours.  Honest.

I totally want to be a contestant on So You Want To Be A Superhero. 
 
The O'Malleys were driving through Nevada on their way to California for Jim O'Malley's mother's funeral, when their car suddenly died.  Then, the doors all locked and the radio began flipping between stations, playing just a word or phrase at a time.  "You... will not... be... harmed... you... will... listen... you... will... decide..."  Then, a bright light shone on the road in front of them, and to their surprise Nana O'Malley was standing there, carrying a large parcel and a small picnic basket.
 
As she walked up to the car, Jim's window lowered an inch.  Nana O'Malley smiled.  "Jimmy, so nice to see you.  And my, how you kids have grown!  What are you, now, Tim, thirteen?  What a handsome young man you are!  I'm sorry I missed your high school graduation last month, Jenny, but I just couldn't travel."  Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Heather, you're looking good."
 
"Mom," said Jim, "what are you... I thought..." 
 
"Yes, I'm dead," she said.  "My own darn fault for smoking all those years.  But these nice alien folks came down and picked me up, said they're going to take me to a better place.  Before we go, though, I need to give you these."  She nodded at the parcel.  "They're suits, with incredible powers.  You need to use them to save the world.  There's going to be a big war if you don't find a way to stop it. I'm not sure how, but the suits will help.  I'll just put these in the trunk." She turned toward the back of the car, then stopped and waved the picnic basket.  "Oh, and I made some cookies for your trip.  I know how much you all like my snickerdoodles.  Heather, I put the recipe inside the basket, not that I expect you to use it.  But maybe Jenny might try it someday."
 
After she placed the parcel and basket in the trunk (which had seemingly opened of its own accord), she walked back to Jim's window.  "Now, you be the brave, strong man I know you to be, Jimmy.  And you kids, listen to your parents and do good.  I'm sure I'm going to be so proud of you."  Another pause.  "Heather, I suppose you'll do as well."  She walked away, ignoring Jim's pleas for her to stop and the family's failed attempts to unlock and open the car doors.  When she got to the center of the beam of light, Nana O'Malley turned back, smiled and waved... and disappeared. 
 
And thus was born The Omicron Family, aka the Greatest American Family.  Thankfully, they didn't lose the instruction manuals. (Well, Timmy misplaced his, but it helped having three other copies.) Using the suits, they managed to stop a rogue Air Force general from starting World War III, and went on to do many amazing things. 

I totally want to be a contestant on So You Want To Be A Superhero. 
 
The O'Malleys were driving through Nevada on their way to California for Jim O'Malley's mother's funeral, when their car suddenly died.  Then, the doors all locked and the radio began flipping between stations, playing just a word or phrase at a time.  "You... will not... be... harmed... you... will... listen... you... will... decide..."  Then, a bright light shone on the road in front of them, and to their surprise Nana O'Malley was standing there, carrying a large parcel and a small picnic basket.
 
As she walked up to the car, Jim's window lowered an inch.  Nana O'Malley smiled.  "Jimmy, so nice to see you.  And my, how you kids have grown!  What are you, now, Tim, thirteen?  What a handsome young man you are!  I'm sorry I missed your high school graduation last month, Jenny, but I just couldn't travel."  Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Heather, you're looking good."
 
"Mom," said Jim, "what are you... I thought..." 
 
"Yes, I'm dead," she said.  "My own darn fault for smoking all those years.  But these nice alien folks came down and picked me up, said they're going to take me to a better place.  Before we go, though, I need to give you these."  She nodded at the parcel.  "They're suits, with incredible powers.  You need to use them to save the world.  There's going to be a big war if you don't find a way to stop it. I'm not sure how, but the suits will help.  I'll just put these in the trunk." She turned toward the back of the car, then stopped and waved the picnic basket.  "Oh, and I made some cookies for your trip.  I know how much you all like my snickerdoodles.  Heather, I put the recipe inside the basket, not that I expect you to use it.  But maybe Jenny might try it someday."
 
After she placed the parcel and basket in the trunk (which had seemingly opened of its own accord), she walked back to Jim's window.  "Now, you be the brave, strong man I know you to be, Jimmy.  And you kids, listen to your parents and do good.  I'm sure I'm going to be so proud of you."  Another pause.  "Heather, I suppose you'll do as well."  She walked away, ignoring Jim's pleas for her to stop and the family's failed attempts to unlock and open the car doors.  When she got to the center of the beam of light, Nana O'Malley turned back, smiled and waved... and disappeared. 
 
And thus was born The Omicron Family, aka the Greatest American Family.  Thankfully, they didn't lose the instruction manuals. (Well, Timmy misplaced his, but it helped having three other copies.) Using the suits, they managed to stop a rogue Air Force general from starting World War III, and went on to do many amazing things. 

You can Save as PDF, and then post the PDF.

Good enough.
 
 
Tell me what you think of this, then:
 
Pollutant X, which is ultimately responsible for ninja bear's MuckMan and the start of the investigation for the Raven, is in fact a byproduct of the creation of the super-battery that the Skull is using to power the Dome.  
 
Let's move back ten years.
 
Leonard, who will become The Skull, becomes the owner of a great idea: a revolutionary new super-battery technology.  ---  Break--  How does he get it?  Does he design it?  Does he find it?  Does he steal it?  Is it the result of genius inspiration, or is the an alien artifact he stumbled across while living in the old mines, on the run from the mob some years before?  Even if it is not his design, I believe we are in agreement that he is smart enough to understand the principles behind it and recognize its value and its potential.
 
So he has come here, to Hepzibah, drawn by its reputation as an up-and-coming center for technological advancement, the city's then-new focus on supplementing and eventually replacing their traditional power production with as much "green energy" as possible.   If he can't find backers here, then he won't find them _anywhere_.
 
He couldn't find the backers he'd hoped for.  He was actually quite shocked to discover that none of the tech firms he approached, including up-and-coming high-profile pioneers Company 3 (think Elon Musk's outfit: stay in the public eye, and be as flashy as possible) turned him down cold.  Plans were one thing; anyone could show up with indecipherable plans and claim they yielded a whole new angle on energy storage and retrieval.  Show us something we can _use_.  Explain the science.  Fearful of having the idea taken from him, he refused to explain it, and promised instead to return with a working pro type for testing.
 
Unable to find backing from a populace already used to being taken by "high tech con men," he turned toward the criminal element, and found his funding.  The things he had to agree to do, though....   But this is not that story.  This is Leonard's story.  Upon completion of the first batch of super-batteries, he took them around again to potential users and investors, all of whom were impressed.  Safe to produce and handle (thus far), and capable of storing upwards a thousand amp hours in something the size of a deck of cards with a weight of mere ounces....  Retrieval of the power was equally impressive: the battery would handle any draw up to full and nearly instantaneous discharge, much like a capacitor, with none of the downfalls of that particular device.  There was little doubt that overnight, the electric vehicle industry could be revolutionized!
 
Unfortunately for Leonard, that's just what happened.  But it happened without him.  While he haggled for a partnership deal, the syndicate from whom he had borrowed the money simply seized the remaining batteries and sold them for millions.  Then they sold the plans to an automobile manufacturer for millions more.  The buyer of the batteries, philanthropist by nature, simply divided them up and gave them to each of the interested tech firms in Hepzibah, and a few months later, they were available commercially.  To date, sales are slow, as there is no solid infrastructure yet for any field in which they would be superior to currently-avaliable technology.  A couple of upstart electric car companies are using them, but the price is extremely high, making them novelty items at best.  The Raven's electric motorcycle is powered by one, and carries three others as spares, "just in case."
 
Upon confronting the syndicate, Leonard was met with a thorough beating, and the reminder that he should appreciate having his "debt" paid all at once.  Then he was reminded that "brains is a real good thing to have, Doc.  But brains...  well, brains ain't as good as smarts; you know what I mean?"
 
And that's when he lost it.  That's when he vowed that everyone here-- the syndicate, the tech firms-- the city!  Everyone who stood in his way, who stopped him from demonstrating his genius would be _forced_ to acknowledge it; the stupid and inferior were destined to bow before the genius, and he would move Hell and high water to make sure that the genius to which they bowed would be his.  He would be a king, or he would be dead.  There would be nothing in between.
 
During his work with his prototypes, Leonard realized that the batteries would store not just electricity, but almost any energy-- thermal, kinetic, radiation-- anything.  And they could be configured to release it in any of a wide variety of forms.  He had in his hands a way to store and release, for lack of a better term, "Tabletop Plasma," and with just a little work, he could control and mould it completely.  (it is these changes to the design that result in the toxic byproduct of the batteries he is currently producing.  This byproduct is responsible for his hair loss and gaunt appearance).  Fearing the syndicate would return demanding more batteries (foolish, since they had gone so far as to sell the plans), he fled town and set up a shop in one of the abandoned mines in the foothills.
 
Realizing his need for operating capital, and learning the lessons of the criminal element, he began to manufacture drugs and recruit small time gangs as distributors.  His gaunt face and bald head highlighted by the grime of living in an old mine, combined with his obvious intelligence, the gangs took to calling him "The Skull."  Within no time at all, he had a small empire started, and began to shape his business as work in earnest on his batteries and his plan to break every living person in this city, then the country, then the world.  First, though, he had to finish he exoskeleton.  He wasn't as strong or as fast as those in the syndicate.  Those who had beaten him, humiliated him.  Those who had stolen his rightful recognition as a genius, and possible savior to the modern world.   He wasn't strong enough.  Not yet.  But in just a few more days....
 
 
 
okay, that seems like more than enough for our villain.  Any thoughts? And does anybody want to write him up? Remember that he is the "master villain" of this arc, and with his exoskeleton should be at least a match for two player characters at once; possibly three.    I don't see a reason to do a "lowball" version of him.

Well, for those who don't have Battlegrounds, it includes the following villains (mostly from CKC):
Herculan Lodestone Mirage Utility Ogre Black Diamond Blue Jay Cheshire Cat Foxbat Hummingbird Black Harlequin Holocaust Minuteman robot Stormfront Zephyr Interface As to someone not on that list, I've always been partial to Ankylosaur, Howler, and Lady Blue as villains (not necessarily together).  But really, who is involved should depend on the plot you choose.

"How the shark got on a motorcycle, nobody knows"

Congratulations on being the winner. I was waiting for that one more entery, and got distracted by things. The current distraction is Dome City.
 
Anyways, this group is called The Omegas. Father Omaga is a speedster who can run up walls and across water. Mother Omaga shoots energy bolts from her forehead and can fly. Miss. Omaga is superhumanly strong and nigh invulnerable, which ticks her off cause she wanted something cool and feminine as a power, like force fields and invisability. And finally there is Kid Omaga, who is hyper intelligence and hyper dexterous.
 
This family won there powers from the gameshow So You Want To Be A Superhero. They are contracted to use there powers for the greater good, or they will be repossessed.

I don't know what Neil was talking about.  The only human being involved in that conversation did fine for herself.