The T-Verse [Earth 75]: Dragon Mandarin, Ninjas, & Naginatas, the Storms, Black Fox, Scorpion, Toad

[MacynSnow]

Nice to see The OG 1e MnM setting represented. I always personally liked Arcadia and wanted 'em to do more on it (like they did Freedom City), but all we got was the Crooks!/Meta-4 world book.Wonder what stopped 'em?.I also found it intresting you turned it into the T-verse version of New Orleans with Slaughter Swamp as a neighbor.....

[Tattooedman]

Nice to see The OG 1e MnM setting represented. I always personally liked Arcadia and wanted 'em to do more on it (like they did Freedom City), but all we got was the Crooks!/Meta-4 world book.Wonder what stopped 'em?.I also found it intresting you turned it into the T-verse version of New Orleans with Slaughter Swamp as a neighbor.....

From what I recall Super Unicorn found making Superhero RPGs to be too expensive and difficult to generate enough interest to cover their costs and make a good profit and moved on to other venues (no idea what that ended up being or how they are doing at this point),

I do have a copy of CROOKS! floating around my house somewhere (in the basement bookshelf I believe, I'll have to go check later). It was one of the first books I picked up for M&M (just to age me, I discovered the system right after 2e came out) and I really enjoyed a lot of the characters and ideas CROOKS! used and I thought Arcadia was just a cool sounding name for a city so I used it as the main city in my 1st M&M game. Since this setting has been using (what I think to be) my better ideas over the years I reused Arcadia as a city name. It's becoming a stand-in for New Orleans came from something one of my former PCs said about the city sounding (to him) like it should have been placed as part of the Southern states and I always liked how a lot of the fictional cities in DC were stand ins for real places so I decided to do my take on that idea complete with a small tribute to DC's New Orleans with the reference to Black Bayou.

[Ian Turner]

From what I recall Super Unicorn found making Superhero RPGs to be too expensive and difficult to generate enough interest to cover their costs and make a good profit and moved on to other venues (no idea what that ended up being or how they are doing at this point),

Erik Mona, of Super Unicorn, is one of the big poobahs over at Paizo, makers of Pathfinder, so he landed on his feet, at least.

I think Arcadia was intended to be the faux Seattle expy, but New Orleans is as good as any! (And M&M has now got Emerald City as it's faux Seattle, anyway.)

I loved the idea of the Statesmen, and a hero from every state being intended to be on some big national team (including fun notions like a Jersey Devil and an Old Man of the Mountain) but it never quite working, since that sounds like how it would happen in the real world.

It was fun seeing the heroes from the first M&M book like Marathon, Pugilist, Minotaur and Inferno interacting with villains from the Crooks book, like Undine, Toreador and Player Two. (Alas, poor Mindcrime. We'll never know what his powers were. Not radiation immunity, obviously...)

[MacynSnow]

I liked how META-4 was organized & set-up, so i made it my World's version of the CIA while AEGIS became the FBI. I even had 'em compete for Powered Agents....

[Tattooedman]

From what I recall Super Unicorn found making Superhero RPGs to be too expensive and difficult to generate enough interest to cover their costs and make a good profit and moved on to other venues (no idea what that ended up being or how they are doing at this point),

Erik Mona, of Super Unicorn, is one of the big poobahs over at Paizo, makers of Pathfinder, so he landed on his feet, at least.

That's good to know.

I think Arcadia was intended to be the faux Seattle expy, but New Orleans is as good as any! (And M&M has now got Emerald City as it's faux Seattle, anyway.)

I believe that was the case as well with Arcadia, but I'm not using Emerald City in my setting.

I loved the idea of the Statesmen, and a hero from every state being intended to be on some big national team (including fun notions like a Jersey Devil and an Old Man of the Mountain) but it never quite working, since that sounds like how it would happen in the real world.

Yeah it was a cool idea, but I don't think it'd ever have a full roster.

[MacynSnow]

With a max of 50 members, the Statesmen would be a pretty huge team if it was just one. If you break it up by timezones, that's 12 members each with Maybe the Washington Hero(Uncle Sam, if i'm not mistaken) as Overall Commander.

[Davies]

Yeah it was a cool idea, but I don't think it'd ever have a full roster.

I suspect that they paraded as a team exactly once, in 1976, and thereafter acted more as a information exchange -- 'the guy based in Alaska ran into this fellow a few months ago, so now I'm prepped to defend Montana against him, and if he flees into South Dakota I'll be able to warn the lady who's posted there ", for instance, with team-ups being more common among tri-state areas.

[MacynSnow]

Yeah it was a cool idea, but I don't think it'd ever have a full roster.

I suspect that they paraded as a team exactly once, in 1976, and thereafter acted more as a information exchange -- 'the guy based in Alaska ran into this fellow a few months ago, so now I'm prepped to defend Montana against him, and if he flees into South Dakota I'll be able to warn the lady who's posted there ", for instance, with team-ups being more common among tri-state areas.

That'd make a lot more sense & jive's with what they put in the Book. Still think the whole Timezone thing could work out.

[Tattooedman]

Yeah it was a cool idea, but I don't think it'd ever have a full roster.

I suspect that they paraded as a team exactly once, in 1976, and thereafter acted more as a information exchange -- 'the guy based in Alaska ran into this fellow a few months ago, so now I'm prepped to defend Montana against him, and if he flees into South Dakota I'll be able to warn the lady who's posted there ", for instance, with team-ups being more common among tri-state areas.

That'd make a lot more sense & jive's with what they put in the Book. Still think the whole Timezone thing could work out.

Still, 12 team members is a fairly large roster. I do like the idea, though I'd probably do it more like the early JSA stories where the team would split off into smaller groups to address different threats - such as sending 5 members here, another 3 there, and the last 4 going elsewhere with teams being assigned based on what the threats were.

[MacynSnow]

Still, 12 team members is a fairly large roster. I do like the idea, though I'd probably do it more like the early JSA stories where the team would split off into smaller groups to address different threats - such as sending 5 members here, another 3 there, and the last 4 going elsewhere with teams being assigned based on what the threats were.

Especially if one of those members sent was from the State it was happening in....

I think the writers of the book were going for a Justice League International feel for the team, especially since it mentioned the current Presidents using the new Team that replaced 'em(The Front) to spread a "political message" of sort's in Membership. It was a really intresting World Setting that sadly never got picked up by GR.

So who was your favorite Villian from it? I liked Iron Kross(but then, i adored the concept they had for Everyman) myself...

[Tattooedman]

Especially if one of those members sent was from the State it was happening in....

I think the writers of the book were going for a Justice League International feel for the team, especially since it mentioned the current Presidents using the new Team that replaced 'em(The Front) to spread a "political message" of sort's in Membership. It was a really intresting World Setting that sadly never got picked up by GR.

I got that feel for it too.

So who was your favorite Villian from it? I liked Iron Kross(but then, i adored the concept they had for Everyman) myself...

For me the Beastiary was my favorite, specifically Chimera. I thought his powers were interesting.

[MacynSnow]

If i wasn't already doing the Palladium Studios stuff, i'd be sorely tempted to run an Arcadia game involving Dracula....

[Tattooedman]

Photon:
PL: 10
Strength 2
Stamina 2
Agility 2
Dexterity 2
Fighting 4
Intellect 0
Awareness 0
Presence 1

Skills: Athletics 3 (+5), Deception 7 (+9), Expertise [Criminal] 5 (+5), Expertise [Military] 3 (+3), Insight 5 (+5), Perception 5 (+5), Persuasion 5 (+6), Ranged Combat [Firearms] 4 (+6), Ranged Combat [Photonic Generation Array] 8 (+10)

Advantages: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Close Attack 4, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack [Ranged; Cover], Taunt

Powers: Photonic Generation Array:
Photonic Field: Light Damage 6 (Extra: Reaction [Being touched])
Photonic Shield:
Enhanced Dodge 5 (Flaw: Sustained)
Enhanced Parry 5 (Flaw: Sustained)
Protection 8 (Flaw: Sustained)
Photonic Propulsion: Flight 8 (Flaw: Noticeable)
Photon Immunity: Immunity 10 [Light Effects]
Laser Beam: Ranged Light Damage 10 (Extra: Penetrating); (Feat: Precise)
-Blinding Beam: Ranged Affliction 10 [Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware; resisted by Dodge/Fortitude] (Extra: Cumulative); (Flaw: Limited [1 sense only (vision)])
-Blinding Burst: Affliction 10 [Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware; resisted by Dodge/Fortitude] (Extras: Area [Burst], Cumulative); (Flaw: Limited [1 sense only (vision)])
-Dazzling Burst: Affliction 10 [Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated; resisted by Dodge/Fortitude] (Extras: Area [Burst], Cumulative); (Flaw: Limited [Sense Dependent (Sight)])
-Dazzling Strobe: Affliction 10 [Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated; resisted by Will] (Extra: Area [Burst], Cumulative); (Flaw: Limited [Sense Dependent (Sight)])
-Pulse Laser: Ranged Damage 10 (Extra: Multiattack)

Offense: Initiative +6
Melee Attack +8
Ranged Attack +2 // Firearms Attack +6 // Photonic Generation Array Attack +10

Defense: Dodge +10*/+5 [*Photonic Shield]
Parry +10*/+5 [*Photonic Shield]
Toughness +10*/+2 [*Photonic Shield]
Fortitude +8
Will +7

Costs: Abilities 26+ Skills 16+ Advantages 10+ Powers 86+ Defenses 17= 155 pts.


Real Name: Greg Medlocke
Height: 6’
Weight: 200 lbs
Hair: Brown
Eye Color: Brown


Complications:
Prejudice: Criminal Alpha.

Reputation: Photon is considered to be a “jobber” amongst the supervillain community.


Background: Greg Medlocke was a high school dropout who quickly discovered that he had a strong dislike for taking orders, which would lead to his dishonorable discharged from the Army. Having few other options for employment he became a mercenary where at least the pay was better for taking orders (and those were open ended enough that Greg could have some fun). It was while working in South America that Greg manifested his powers and decided to use them to make even more money as a supervillain.

After familiarizing himself with how his powers worked, Greg made his debut as Photon and has become a common sight in the supervillain scene. Sometimes involved with schemes of his own, sometimes working for others, he’s fought most of the superheroes in America, and a lot of the minor ones. Greg has done precious little winning, though. Somehow things just don’t seem to go his way. But he keeps telling himself that his next job, it’ll be the one to go perfectly.

Art by Phil-Cho, on DeviantArt.com

[Tattooedman]

Hammersmith:
PL: 8
Strength 2
Stamina 2
Agility 3
Dexterity 3
Fighting 2
Intellect 2
Awareness 1
Presence 2

Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+6), Athletics 3 (+5), Close Combat [Energy Hammer] 6 (+8), Deception 8 (+10), Expertise [Criminal] 6 (+8), Expertise [Science] 5 (+7), Insight 6 (+7), Intimidation 6 (+8), Perception 8 (+9), Ranged Combat [Energy Hammer] 5 (+8), Sleight of Hand 6 (+11), Stealth 6 (+9)

Advantages: Cunning Fighter, Defensive Roll 4, Evasion, Improved Critical [Energy Hammer] 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Luck 2, Power Attack, Takedown 2

Powers: Hammersmith Belt: (Removable –18 pts) [27 pp]
Bring The Hammer Down: Affliction 8 [Hearing & Visually Impaired, Hearing & Visually Disabled, Hearing & Visually Unaware; resisted by Fortitude] (Extras: Area [Burst], Extra Condition 3) 45
-Hammer Block: Immunity 40 [Attacks targeting Dodge or Parry] (Flaw: Limited [Must be aware of incoming attacks], Increased Duration [Continuous])
-Hammer Burst: Light Damage 8 (Extra: Area [Burst])
-Hammer Hit: Light Damage 8 (Extra: Penetrating); (Feat: Improved Smash)
-Hammer Slam: Affliction 8 [Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated; resisted by Fortitude] (Extra: Area [Burst])
-Hammer Shot: Light Damage 8 (Extra: Area [Line])

Offense: Initiative +7
Melee Attack +2 // Energy Hammer Attacks +8
Ranged Attack +3 // Energy Hammer Attacks +8

Defense: Dodge +10
Parry +10
Toughness +6*/+2 [Defensive Roll]
Fortitude +7
Will +7


Costs: Abilities 34+ Skills 22+ Advantages 15+ Powers 27+ Defenses 26= 124 pts.


Real Name: Luther Hicks
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 225 lbs
Hair: Dark Blonde
Eye Color: Blue


Complications:
Motivation ~Recognition: Hammersmith wants to be regarded as the best he is at what he does.

Prejudice: Criminal Alpha.

Reputation: Hammersmith is considered to be a “jobber” amongst the supervillain community.

Weakness: The technology the Hammersmith uses is susceptible to magnetic attacks. It suffers an extra degree of success against attacks using that descriptor.


Background: Luther Hicks worked for C.A.S.T.L.E. trying to better understand how Alpha powers worked, but he only saw others with power he could better use himself. Deciding to finally do something about it, Luther devised a belt that could harness photonic energy and turn it into a weapon he could use.

Calling himself Hammersmith, Luther became a supervillain. While he’d finally found the power he craved, Luther really just wants money as he grew up poor and only managed to attend college on a scholarship and his job due to his taking part in an intern program the company used. He made decent money, but it just covered his bills and nothing more. Now with his custom weaponry Luther can take whatever he wants (as he sees it) and would like to work for a mastermind styled supervillain (assuming the pay was good and he’s treated well).

Art by Gaston25, on DeviantArt.com.

[Tattooedman]

Titania:
PL: 10
Strength 12 (5)
Stamina 5
Agility 2
Dexterity 2
Fighting 4
Intellect 0
Awareness 1
Presence 1

Skills: Expertise [Criminal] 6 (+6), Insight 5 (+6), Intimidation 6 (+7/+16*), Perception 5 (+6), Ranged Combat [Thrown Objects] 7 (+8)

Advantages: All-Out Attack, Close Attack 4, Improved Initiative, Improvised Weapon, Power Attack, Startle, Ultimate Effort [Toughness Checks]

Powers: Titania Size:
Enhanced Strength 7
Enhanced Skill 3 [Intimidation +9]
Feature 1 [120 ft tall]
Feature 1 [Body Mass x4]
Protection 7 (Extra: Impervious 12)
Speed 2

Giant Fists & Feet: Strength-Based Damage 0 (Extras: Area [Burst] 10)

Offense: Initiative +6
Melee Attack +8
Ranged Attack +

Defense: Dodge +8
Parry +8
Toughness +5/+12* [*Impervious (Full Height)]
Fortitude +8
Will +8

Costs: Abilities 40+ Skills 9+ Advantages 10+ Powers 50+ Defenses 20= 129 pts.


Real Name: Joella “Jo” Cugini
Height: 5’10” (120’ at full height)
Weight: Unknown
Hair: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue


Complications:
Broken Legacy: Titania is the daughter of former Vanguard member Behemoth and Firefly.

Motivation ~Make The World Pay: Titania lashes out because of the deaths of both her parents.

Prejudice: Criminal Alpha.

Vulnerable ~Easy to Hit: When Titania is fighting at Full-Sized, any opponent may be treated as having the Power Attack Advantage, allowing them to go +5 to damage as she is such an big target.


Background: Joella “Jo” Cugini was the youngest child of Kevin and Kristen Cugini (nee Davis), who were members of the fifth iteration of the Vanguard who came out of retirement to fight against the threat of Ahriman and his Daevas. Unfortunately, they gave their lives in doing so and Jo was taken in by her mother’s cousin while her brothers, Alex and Adam, were sent to live with their father’s brother.

During her youth, Jo never displayed any hint of possessing any of the powers her parents did (a fact that made her foster family very happy), however Jo secretly was angry over how her parents were forgotten so when she manifested her growth powers, she hid them from her family while training herself in how to use them in secret (most of this “training” was Jo convincing her family that she needed to join a martial arts dojo where she learned an impressive amount of Jeet Kune Do). Upon turning eighteen she left the quiet Ohio town where she’d grown up for Capital City where she made her supervillain debut as Titania and did a considerable amount of damage to the recently formed West Coast expansion of the Vanguard.

Despite her being outnumbered, Jo’s aggressiveness in combat and revealing her connection to the organization allowed her to impressively hold her own against the heroes and make her escape. That notable first outing brought Jo to the attention of several mastermind styled supervillains who all have, by this point and time, hired her at one point or another. For Jo, it’s simply a matter of lashing out at the world that took away her family while also earning a wage to support herself.

Art by Ram Artwork on ArtStation.