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View Full Version : Hooded Terror - Kind of stuck (M&M)



Bryan1108
2013-05-31, 11:51 PM
The setting of my game is a "what if people really had superpowers" style setting. Nobody dresses in spandex and it is almost impossible for the heroes to maintain secret identities when the entire population has cameras in their cell phones.

I am having a good time but wanted to create a villain based on the Thrilling Tales Advance Class, Hooded Terror. It is described as:

"The Hooded Terror is representative of the masked and often disfigured psychopathic maniacs who haunted the pulp era with a vengeance. They are the dark unknown that lurks just beyond the light, the inhuman fiend that might lurk deep inside any man. The methods and accoutrements of the Hooded Terror were both theatrical and ghastly, the better to horrify and frighten their victims"

The problem is that costumes and such don't scare people. The idea behind this setting is an element of realism, if that word can be applied to a superhero game.

He needs to be distinctive but not silly. This is going to be my version of the Joker. He specifically doesn't have any powers. He needs to be a supervillain / psycho / gangster without being too gimmicky.

Like I said, I am really stuck.

Rhynn
2013-06-01, 12:01 AM
A combination of Jeffrey Dahmer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer) and Ed Gein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein), but with the superpowers to let him be public about his predilections.

Far ghastlier than any costume.

Bryan1108
2013-06-01, 12:13 AM
Good thought but I've already got several super powered villains that I've thrown at them, including a cannibalistic serial killer, actually :)

I am definitely looking for a non-powered guy as I all of the villains I've used so far have had superpowers and have matched the heroes in raw power. Now I am looking for a non-powered villain who comes at them sideways.

Re'ozul
2013-06-01, 06:49 AM
The problem with that is, purely in my own opinion, that the Joker and similar villains are Batman's enemies usually for a reason.
They engage in battles of wit and smarts, of planning and profiling.
Pitting these against actual superpowered heroes becomes problematic.

There are a few ways I can see this working.
The villain using criminal and civil law against the heroes, needling them with beurocracy. Shoving it in their face that it is him that does this.
Creating situation after situation where the heroes are forced to do as he wants by creating emergencies in far away places or more dangerous situations where the usual modus operandi of the targetted hero will further his own plan, then announcing this openly once back in safety to emotionally break the heroes.
It all depends on how well you can predict what your players will do in a given situation. But if you make plans too elaborate the villain will switch from the Joker to the kingpin as the element of insanity is lost.
Its a hard thing to pull of in most superhero games.

Easiest way might be to not introduce him right away but slowly. Perhaps as a victim of the next two superpowered villains, so the heroes will question his involvement, thinking perhaps that he was targetted by the other villains. Perhaps they would keep in touch with him, not knowing of his true nature, and he could then use that connection and the intelligence he can gather through it to cause them trouble without incriminating himself.

JusticeZero
2013-06-01, 09:58 PM
Well, to devil's advocate..

Having a uniform, in an emergency, lends an immediate aura of respect to you. If you think of the "costume" not as a bit of clownishness but rather as a uniform for purposes of commanding immediate respect, it makes a bit more sense. That said, it wouldn't be skintight outfits. Well, save for those heroes whose powers work a bit like a psychoactive skin or who have destructive powers that originate slightly above their body. instead, it would be colorful loose outfits, probably with armored inserts and pockets with various useful items. More like decorated unique police outfits than spandex.

Alternately, the costumes are there specifically for being worn under clothes, in settings where battles tend to cause clothing damage that the wearers can easily shrug off. Those *would* tend to be more spandexish, given minor superscience; that's actually the justification for the skintights in some settings. "Of course it looks like body paint! It basically IS indestructible body paint. It's less embarrassing after you get hit by a ball of fire to be flying around looking like you're wearing a swimsuit than it is to be flying around looking NC-17."