Werehawk Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 I opened a post earlier about a campaign involving a group of so-called "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" who've somehow arrived in the present day and are in charge of their own parahuman teams based on their various fields of expertise. They are Captain Nemo (the seas), Mina Harker (the occult), The Time Traveler (what else?), Robur (the skies), David Innes (the subterranian world), and Professor Cavor (space). What I would like to do at some point is to have the groups (or maybe just the LXG's and their team leaders) confront a master villain from their time period that is also alive and well in the 21st Century. The only one I have come up that could take on most of them in their elements is H. Rider Haggard's Ayesha aka She-Who-Must-be-Obeyed or just "She". The idea being that her immortality is wanning and the "Blue Flame" that is her source needs to be either restored or a new source needs to be found. Since she is in survival mode, so nothing is going to stop her which has the undivided attention of all the LXG's (although Cavor would be a stretch). What other classic steampunk villain from classic sci-fi and adventure literature would be bold enough and adaptible enough to take on our time displaced adventurers in the 21st century? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Moriarty was a Maths prof. Secret master of social media? segerge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Phantoma could have a desendant as a secret crime boss/supa genius... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Ming the Merciless, access to super-technology & weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Even though his debut in literature was a little later than some of these (1913), I'd call Dr. Fu Manchu an obvious candidate. Practically the definition of "master villain," Fu possessed an immortality serum which could easily extend his life into the modern era. Moreover, it's often implied in the novels that Fu was much older than he looked even in his earliest appearances, so he might very well have fought your LXG heroes in the 19th Century. Further to that point, in the original LXG comic the League was recruited to stop a gang war between Dr. Fu Manchu and Prof. Moriarty. segerge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 I am not sure if pinecone is referring to Fantomas, the French master villain. He had nine lives. Dracula is also from this time as is Frankenstein's monster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segerge Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 I saw the references to "Fantomas" out of the corner of my mind and immediately thought "The Phantom of the Opera" I'm not sure how much of a master villain he'd be to the heroes, but he is a gadgeteer with a massive Presence score and a flair for the theatric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 11 hours ago, Tech said: Ming the Merciless, access to super-technology & weapons. Inlcuding the abiltiy to read out Flash drives from a distance. As flash drives are any USB stick, SD card, SSD and even some Bios/UEFI chips, this could be quite the dangerous power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Some guys which comes to mind... Dio (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure). While linked to the Joestar family, his "Heaven Plan" continues after his destruction. Assuming Father Puchi was defeated early, he might have another pawn he trusts with this. And he might of also secretly survived his sun bath in the 80's. Kars (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure). Nothing says horror than a man shaped meteorite landing, then strange monsters developing from pieces of said meteorite. And if someone revives Kars, can your heroes stop an immortal vampire god who is unaffected by the sun and can control life itself, even if he is now nothing more than a mindless beast. Rasputin. Russian mystic who has died, but probably can't be stopped by death. A more literal villain which has yet to be said is Svengali, Russian music obsessed master hypnotist. Montag the Magnificent, "The Wizard of Gore". The original movie never explained his origin, let alone his final plans, nor how old he truly is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 18 hours ago, death tribble said: I am not sure if pinecone is referring to Fantomas, the French master villain. He had nine lives. Dracula is also from this time as is Frankenstein's monster Yeah thats the one, the OG anti hero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcw43921 Posted November 23, 2018 Report Share Posted November 23, 2018 Spring-Heeled Jack could be a good adversary for a campaign like this. Is he fiction--or something more? Is he human--or something else? Is he a villain--or a hero in disguise? Only time, and the heroes' investigations, will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted November 23, 2018 Report Share Posted November 23, 2018 On 11/21/2018 at 5:54 PM, death tribble said: I am not sure if pinecone is referring to Fantomas, the French master villain. He had nine lives. Dracula is also from this time as is Frankenstein's monster Dracula might also be a hero or think he is one BTW doesn't this thread belong in the other gernes forum ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted November 23, 2018 Report Share Posted November 23, 2018 4 hours ago, bubba smith said: Dracula might also be a hero or think he is one BTW doesn't this thread belong in the other gernes forum ? The LXG are superheroes, just without costumes and an explanation of "right makes might" for there "superpowers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaximander Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Dr. Moreau, master of genetics. The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, master of poisons and traps and the black arts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 4 hours ago, Anaximander said: Dr. Moreau, master of genetics. The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, master of poisons and traps and the black arts. There is already a Dr. Moreau in the Champions Universe, the original's grandnephew. As for the original...ask the Keeper of the Law. Just keep away from The House Of Pain. Anaximander 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Since you're bringing in Cavor, perhaps H..G. Wells's Selenites were conquered by Wells's Martians, who are using the Moon as a staging area for a renewed attack on Earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Matt Forbeck used Houdini as a villain in one of his modern novels (Vegas Knights, I think). He'd become a vampire and faked his death, and now he secretly runs much of the spellcasting underworld as a hidden kingpin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 14 hours ago, mattingly said: Matt Forbeck used Houdini as a villain in one of his modern novels (Vegas Knights, I think). He'd become a vampire and faked his death, and now he secretly runs much of the spellcasting underworld as a hidden kingpin. This must be the first time I have ever seen Houdini used as a villain. I have seen him used to teach Spawn how to survive, help Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, thwart a ghost eating madman, and oppose renegade industrialists with Tesla and Charles Fort. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 Diabolik, "The King of Terror", later than the League, of course, but someone they could conceivably oppose in the 21st Century. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Sundog said: Diabolik, "The King of Terror", later than the League, of course, but someone they could conceivably oppose in the 21st Century. Diabolik is an anti-hero at best, a villain who helps others if it helps him at worse. Lupin the 1st might still be semi-retiered, enjoying the actions of the young French-Japanese man who calls himself Lupin the 3rd. But he might be more gentleman than thiet. And...I can't think of anyone else. Evil master of disguise Twenty Masks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werehawk Posted December 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 On 11/21/2018 at 5:54 PM, death tribble said: Dracula is also from this time as is Frankenstein's monster I'm avoiding Dracula for the time being although I have Lucy Westenra making life miserable for Mina Harker and the Scarlet Order. I have also played with the idea that a repentant Lucy would lead the team and Harker would be the pain in the neck (no pun intended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 I'd like to propose someone from history your heroes might have had reason to oppose, who could secretly still be alive today: Cecil Rhodes, autocrat, robber baron, imperialist, white supremacist. Some of the businesses he founded, such as De Beers diamonds, continue to operate lucratively in the present. Rhodes supposedly died in 1902 at age 48; his body was buried in the African territory named for him, Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe). At the time Rhodes was in political disfavor, so faking his death might have seemed expedient. He would have had more than enough money to purchase a little pulp or Nazi weird science to extend his life. In that case he could have contributed to some of the worst race-motivated exploitations of the 20th Century: Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, apartheid, African tribal wars, ethnic cleansing, right-wing nationalism; all with an eye to expanding his wealth and influence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted December 5, 2018 Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 a group could oppose them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmastergm Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 In my own Victorian superhero game, Otto Von Bismarck has become "The Iron Chancellor" a steampunk cyborg with plans to make Germany the dominant power in the world. He's probably the most powerful villain. You could also have The Mechanical Turk become sentient, similar to Ultron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.