"Perfect" Supervillian. Super? Supervillian. erm....lf tips on what makes a 'great' err. 'super' nvm. Bad Guy. a bad guy.

[Snarky]

I am ever in love with being able to create new concepts and explore them in City of...Villains.  Because that is where I feel most at home, and enjoy the most immersion.

 

The current thought running through my head is to mostly solo Redside.  (Not ALL Redside.  Only doing that once a year now.) But really the evilest mission arcs.  The ones where you kidnap Paragon citizens to deliver to the Vahzilok for live experimentation and harvesting.  Really (yes that mission exists) really bad guy stuff.  So I am looking for reminders of what some of those arcs are, and why you think they truly belong in the "you are so evil I dont like you" hall of shame.

 

Also, i have some favorite tropes and AT builds I tend to run.  But I would love any input on what would make a truly evil Super traipsing through the Rogue Isles.  I am always looking for a deeper dive into the vileness.  For instance I have never solo'd a Blaster Redside on story arcs.  I may be ready to do that.  I find Dark / Mental is very well suited to rough play.  I do not blap, I 'joust'  changing ranges and setting up cones (5 at high level!) But why do I find Blasters more 'evil?'  Because they just destroy.  As much as I love the corruptor concept (such a great name) you immediately have to start tending wounds and putting new paint on other peoples robots.  No thanks.  Brutes are of course always there, but I have literally been there and done a lot of that.  Can a Controller be truly wicked solo?  I bet, but concept is king.  How to make it evil.  Powers....etc.  What works.  

 

So, what do you folks think?  What makes for the wickedest Redside Story Arcs?  What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac (who loves cats...most cats...some cats...okay, a cat)

Edited January 25, 2021 by Snarky

[TemporalVileTerror]

Peter Themari's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge arc.

Cap au Diable.  Level 10 to 15.

Failing the final mission intentionally is more evil than succeeding.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, TemporalVileTerror said:

Peter Themari's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge arc.

Cap au Diable.  Level 10 to 15.

Failing the final mission intentionally is more evil than succeeding.

Exactly what I was looking for.  Taking part in destroying someone's world view and turning them into a supervillain.  errr, a bad guy!  Yes!!!!

[The_Warpact]

Westin Phipps...torture, crushing peoples spirits, tasty...

 

I play them differently this is all ATs, but, its dependant upon concept and background.

 

I've had brutes who are serial rapist cannibals, MM who is an undead lich overlord, a defender who was a firefighter that is fighting against policies in their home state, a blaster who is a mutated aid worker from a nuclear plant disaster and now insane, and a controller who is an agent of chaos.

 

Each with a background that defines the why of they are the way they are. I dont rp but I do find that I need justification on why they are the way they are.

 

Ultimately, I find any AT can be as evil, diabolical, depraved, etc and it is only limited by your imagination. But, any AT can be viewed in a negative light, scrappers with claws c'mon thats not heroic cutting up ppl, controllers that use gravity to crush ppl, like I said its all how you view it.

[Nemeroff]

As far as evil AT I wouldn't do Controller because the Secondary Set is support; Kinetics, Empathy...

 

To be truly evil drop the kitten-mittens wishy-washy helper attitude and be a damaging Dominator.

 

Like the Dominator phrase in my sig below.

 

My Dark Control/Stone Melee Dom (mid 30s) is hysterical fun. A Hold followed by Hurl Boulder. Nothing says "Love" like Hurl Boulder to the face 😅

[twozerofoxtrot]

Johnny Sonata's arc starts of with you kidnapping someone so he can force himself on her. It ends with something that can be either hollowing or satisfying, depending on your character's stake in the matter. 

 

I'm personally a fan of Arbiter Daos's stories for both being so dark but also so very possible. 

 

Themari and Phipps as already mentioned are also choice for feeling like a total dirtbag.

 

As far as AT/Powers, I think that's very much a product of each player's imagination. Just about everything can be rationalized as good or bad. Really up to just your take. Personally none of my villains are bad just for the sake of being mustachio-twistingly bad. Most are just thugs.

[Max Firepower]

Tell me Homelander doesn’t really belong in the Rogue Isles... and who can say if others in our pantheon don’t have a ‘red side’ that makes for a good storyline twist?

[Clave Dark 5]

I haven't run it over a year, but I recall that the string of missions from Mr. G end up giving you a "War Criminal" badge.  Even running a rogue at the time, that made me feel sorta of dirty... so, perfect for you ha ha!

 

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Mr._G_(Primal_Earth)

[The_Warpact]

10 hours ago, Nemeroff said:

As far as evil AT I wouldn't do Controller because the Secondary Set is support; Kinetics, Empathy...

You do realize that Corruptors have those sets too right?

You don't think villains wouldn't or couldn't use healers/buffers/debuffers?

Scramble the brother of Madison Jeffries from Alpha Flight was a healer and a villain.

Mister Negative who uses a dark force to heal others.

Healer from the Morlocks, Sister Salvation, etc, etc.

[Galaxy Brain]

Make your guy an IRS agent

[Nemeroff]

2 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

You do realize that Corruptors have those sets too right?

You don't think villains wouldn't or couldn't use healers/buffers/debuffers? ...

Absolutely Villains need healers/buffers. My second-Main Villain is a Vig Def Thermal/Sonic; Alli Oop.

 

But based on what the OP said the role of Corruptor disinterested him.

And after narrowing it down especially after, "What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac," Dom came to mind. Dom's not my favorite AT, can be fun, but kind of squishy; i.e. needs a healer, lol.

 

"As much as I love the corruptor concept (such a great name) you immediately have to start tending wounds and putting new paint on other peoples robots.  No thanks. ...  Can a Controller be truly wicked solo?  I bet, but concept is king.  How to make it evil.  What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac (who loves cats...most cats...some cats...okay, a cat)"

 

[Coyotedancer]

As for "Yeah. That's evil." arcs... There's also that low-level one in Mercy with the ex-Longbow guy. His name escapes me, but that arc ends in a way that's all kinds of skeevy.

[Giovanni Valia]

I'll just post this classic.

 

 

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Galaxy Brain said:

Make your guy an IRS agent

I am tempted to use this somehow.  If nothing else I might be able to shoehorn it in as his pre "super....errr powered bad guy" life.

[Captain_Paragon]

Following for evil arc inspiration. Just Solo'd "a heroes hero" last night all the AVs so feel like I need some heroes to whoop into shape now. 😅

[Snarky]

6 hours ago, Nemeroff said:

Absolutely Villains need healers/buffers. My second-Main Villain is a Vig Def Thermal/Sonic; Alli Oop.

 

But based on what the OP said the role of Corruptor disinterested him.

And after narrowing it down especially after, "What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac," Dom came to mind. Dom's not my favorite AT, can be fun, but kind of squishy; i.e. needs a healer, lol.

 

"As much as I love the corruptor concept (such a great name) you immediately have to start tending wounds and putting new paint on other peoples robots.  No thanks. ...  Can a Controller be truly wicked solo?  I bet, but concept is king.  How to make it evil.  What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac (who loves cats...most cats...some cats...okay, a cat)"

 

I have been thinking about this all day.  I am leaning towards Dominator.  The Villain Alignment powers is just sweet on them and Brutes.  Since I will be soloing mostly and not high end build until many gaming sessions in (no perma...) this would be very nice.  In my mind I am trying to keep an open mind as to what exactly type of Dom it will be.  Part of the fun of this experiment is it shakes up my "requirement for character" that lead me into "most armored" "most ranged" etc and pigeonhole me into the same builds year after year.  This type of "writing assignment" allows me freedom to follow the character and not the numbers.  

 

Your signature tag line adds a lot of weight to choosing Doms.  Thanks.  Now, so many choices.  Off to the Dom page for research.  

 

For the other part of this assignment I am starting to make notes of the suggested story arcs and plan the levelling experience.  It wont be very fast, prob still faster than Praetoria lol.  But it will be drenched in treachery and blood.

[TemporalVileTerror]

Evil Controller?  Easy!
Electric / Traps.

That shit's EVVVIIIILLLL!

 

@Giovanni Valia . . . that's an interesting chart.  List.  Chart-list.  Thing.

I kind feel like we should start a whole thread dedicated to discussing it, honestly.

Question is:  Here or in Roleplay?

[Snarky]

I went with a Dominator: Grav/Dark.  Will be slowly running through lowbie arcs, maybe knock out some serious work this weekend.  Right now getting my 4 DFBs for the bonuses.  Then will use Null to alignment switch and set countdown for Villain Alignment power.  Stopping Exp at 4.  

 

I am thinking Kuzmin and Weber are the first two contacts that interest me as far as being evil.  Kalinda is too political and Burke is the flipside of that same coin.

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 1/24/2021 at 7:02 PM, Snarky said:

I bet, but concept is king.  How to make it evil.  Powers....etc.  What works.  

 

So, what do you folks think?  What makes for the wickedest Redside Story Arcs?  What AT/Powers scream megalomaniacal homicidal Maniac (who loves cats...most cats...some cats...okay, a cat)

Coming at this from the concept angle...

 

Most of my solo gameplay is on redside nowadays.  I still hate the color scheme, but the play is much more challenging there.  And I also have been doing a lot more RPing, at least in my own mind, so your post got me thinking.

 

Most of my redsiders, almost all of them, aren't what I would consider evil at all.  They aren't murderers or torturers, but they *are* thieves and/or megalomaniacs and/or really flawed people.  They're greedy and selfish, sure, but not truly *EVIL*.  For example, I've got a whole gang built around a mastermind bank robber with a heart of gold.  I've got another group who are personifications of the seven deadly sins.  

 

For me, something that is truly evil would be something transcending what I normally understand of the human experience.  I have zero interest in roleplaying a mass murderer, or a tax collector, for example; that's probably too close to what we see as evil on a day-to-day basis*.  But my most evil villain is inhuman insofar as his sole goal is to destroy the world (and himself) in nuclear holocaust.  To me, that's evil in a way that steps outside of what we live with (I hope.  I  *really* hope.)

 

Coming back to your final question, one aspect of evil that resonates with me is an unstoppable force that is coming to get you eventually.  Think Jason Vorhees -- slow but inevitable.  Also, I think of debuff powers as being particularly nefarious.  I'm finding radiation and bio tanks and brutes pretty effective as villains.

 

* I must admit I do have a villain in the planning stages who is a telemarketing bot asking about your vehicle's extended warranty...

[Eva Destruction]

Don't write Corruptors off so fast, Storm Summoning doesn't require you to heal anyone if you skip O2 Boost, and any supervillain worthy of the name has at least considered getting their hands on  a weather machine at some point.

 

[Black Zot]

Two words: Mind Control.  Thinking over the implications of a powerful psychic mucking around inside people's heads with no pesky morals getting in their way is CHILLING.

 

Pair it up with the aforementioned Storm Summoning, Traps, or any dominator secondary and you've got a recipe for "don't ever let this guy out of the Zig".

[Snarky]

53 minutes ago, Eva Destruction said:

Don't write Corruptors off so fast, Storm Summoning doesn't require you to heal anyone if you skip O2 Boost, and any supervillain worthy of the name has at least considered getting their hands on  a weather machine at some point.

 

In a Champions campaign (overt the table books/dice) I was part of for years one of the major NPCs was "The Weatherman"  Whose alter ego, was ...the weatherman at a local TV station.  An alternate version of Los Angeles called Sprawl City.  And man did the weather get crazy there some days....

[Player2]

On 1/24/2021 at 10:50 PM, twozerofoxtrot said:

Johnny Sonata's arc starts of with you kidnapping someone so he can force himself on her. It ends with something that can be either hollowing or satisfying, depending on your character's stake in the matter. 

 

Jezebel Jones' arc, which is about kidnapping a woman for Johnny Sonata.

 

[Nemeroff]

10 hours ago, Snarky said:

In a Champions campaign (overt the table books/dice) I was part of for years one of the major NPCs was "The Weatherman"  Whose alter ego, was ...the weatherman at a local TV station.  An alternate version of Los Angeles called Sprawl City.  And man did the weather get crazy there some days....

Not to hijack the thread, buuuut there's an episode of "The X-Files" where a man claimed he could control the weather, "The Rain King." The mayor of the town thought The Rain King was causing droughts so he could charge farmers money for rain. Victoria Jackson's the GF of The Rain King and the local meteorologist had a crush on her (subplot). When The Rain King proposed to her and it rained as if his gift to the community, as the audience we think SHE might be the one making it rain with her depressed moods.

 

(SPOILER)

The meteorologist's moods were affecting the weather the whole time. At the ending Jackson and the meteorologist are happily married and the weather's always perfect.

 

Scully: Mulder, it is still a huge leap to say that he's manufacturing the weather. [The Rain King]
Mulder: Most people will admit that the weather plays a significant role in the way they feel, right? There's even that disorder...
Scully: SAD....

 

Back in the day I had a lot of fun on Plant Control/Fire.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Nemeroff

[siolfir]

23 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

* I must admit I do have a villain in the planning stages who is a telemarketing bot asking about your vehicle's extended warranty...

Truly vile! At least the one trying to destroy the world in nuclear fire isn't trying to torture everyone.

 

Going back to AT selection, the Defender inherent seems far more "evil" - or at least encourages selfish behavior - to me than the Corruptor inherent. Scourge takes someone that's seriously injured and puts them out of their misery as quickly as possible. Vigilance, on the other hand, encourages the Defender to let their teammates suffer to get an endurance discount, and as a later add-on was updated to even give the Defender more damage when they don't have around portable meatshields to soak up extra damage for them. They also are better at corrupting things (debuffing) than anyone else.