[M&M] Come up with plots involving Freedom City Villains

[DigitalMage]

I hope to run one shot M&M 2nd Ed games as filler for my weekly group when some players can't turn up. I would like to use Freedom City as the setting with the PCs possibly being the Next Gen.

I like the concepts for all the villains detailed in Freedom City 2nd Ed, but I wish there had been a few suggestions of the villainous schemes those villains would conduct.

So, for any of the Freedom City villains outline some schemes they could be involved in!

Thanks!

[Steve Kenson]

For starters, check out the free adventure support (http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/gimmicks_gadgets/cat_mutants_masterminds_second_edition.php) on the M&M website (http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com) and our fine adventure products, including Time of Crisis (http://www.greenronin.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1001&Product_Code=grr2004), Time of Vengeance (http://www.greenronin.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1001&Product_Code=grr2511), and A More Perfect Union (http://www.greenronin.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1001&Product_Code=grr2516).

For a follow-up, some of these should help...

Argo
Argo See, Argo Do: After mimicking the powers of the heroes (rather than the Freedom League), the heroes’ buried desires and feelings begin to influence Argo. He begins acting out things the heroes might want, but would never do, or acting according to their normally-controlled feelings about things, but without restraint or a moral code. After a few incidents, the heroes should get an idea of what is causing the android’s unusual behavior and have to confront an embodiment of their own dark sides before he can do some real damage.

Baron Samedi
Bring Me My Horse: A young (high school or college-age) African American mutant with superhuman strength and constitution contacts the heroes. He’s on the run from strange Voodoo cultists. Suddenly, the call is interrupted. The young man is the target of agents of Baron Samedi, who is wearing out his current host-body. He believes that possessing a superhuman “horse” will combine with his own mystic powers, making him even more powerful than before. The heroes have to rescue the would-be host from the Baron and his cultists before the rite of transference can take place in a graveyard at midnight.

Blackstar
In Blackest Night: Blackstar places a massive screen between the Earth and the Sun, creating a permanent eclipse. During the perpetual night authorities are stretched thin dealing with rising crime. Meanwhile, Blackstar demands a rare massive black opal in order to return daylight to the world. In truth, the stone has certain mystical properties and a prophecy about how "three days of darkness" will awaken them. Blackstone plans to combine the mystic shadow powers of the opal with his shadow bands to increase his own power immensely, enough so he can assault the Star Citadel and overcome the Star Knights once and for all.

Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign
Rock and Roll Nightmare: The goth band Kings in Yellow (see Freedom City, page 74) is actually made up of members of the Brotherhood. They have worked mystical chants to the Unspeakable One into their music and are planning to use their major concert at the Liberty Dome as part of a profane summoning ritual. Heroes are alerted to strange incidents of madness and violence associated with the band's performances, and an investigation turns up their links with the cult. Can the heroes prevent the appearance of the Unspeakable One in front of a crowd of thousands of screaming fans?

Captain Kraken
The Prince's Bride: Captain Kraken kidnaps the daughter of one of Earth's royal families from a diplomatic function. Taking her on board his ship, he leaves Earth to bring his victim to a distant star system. There the ruling prince, enamored of Earth women, has paid Kraken for a suitable human bride to rule as his queen. The heroes might stow away on board Kraken's ship, or have some means of traveling through space on their own to follow him. They have to get past the prince's guards and stop the wedding ceremony. The prince may have some powers of his own; he may even be someone like Star-Khan!

The Collective
Pest Control: The Collective begins showing up in several places around the city. Each time the heroes defeat or drive off the creature, it shows up again shortly thereafter. There's no apparent pattern to the appearances. It turns out the Collective has actually split into multiple creatures. The only advantage the heroes have is the different Collectives are quickly becoming hostile toward each other. If they're brought together in the same area (perhaps lured there by the heroes) they immediately attack and destroy each other in a fighting frenzy.

Conundrum
A Bird in the Hand: Conundrum finally succeeds in luring Raven into a trap even she cannot escape. Fortunately for the dark-cloaked detective, Conundrum doesn't know about her father, Duncan Summers. He contacts the heroes about mounting a rescue mission. The difficulty is diverting Conundrum's attention away from his revenge scheme and holding it long enough for a rescue to succeed. To do so, the heroes are going to have to beat the Prince of Puzzles at his own game. This adventure offers an opportunity for the heroes to team-up with the Next-Gen.

The Cosmic Mind
Red Menace: An amazingly coordinated revolution overthrows the government of a small third-world country, instituting a rigid totalitarian regime. Unusually, there’s little or no resistance, and a strange sort of peace quickly settles over the small nation. The other nations of the world maintain diplomatic relations and superheroes are expected to stay out of internal politics, but then information reaches the heroes that the nation is building a substantial army made up of nearly every able-bodied person, and an investigation reveals the “revolution” was engineered by the Cosmic Mind, which has expended its influence to the whole country and plans to begin bringing her “gift” of communion to the rest of the world as well.

Crime League
Crime Unlimited: Dr. Simian realizes the expansion of the Freedom League threatens the long-term survival of the Crime League and its operations. So the villainous ape decides to re-organize the group along lines similar to the Freedom League, creating a worldwide loose-knight organization of super-criminals working together to achieve their common goals. The new Crime League establishes a secret headquarters of its own (perhaps using teleportal technology from the Foundry, see Freedom City for details). Dr. Simian stresses cooperation among the new members of the team: providing technological enhancements, having Medea grant enchantments and magical gifts, having Wildcard go along incognito to improve members’ luck, and so forth. The heroes start to notice unusual levels of cooperation among their foes and have to track the new and improved Crime League back to Simian’s lair to break up the organization.

The Heights of Hubris: The Crime League sets off a series of "natural" disasters to empower a spell cast by Medea to allow them to storm the gates of Mt. Olympus and steal the powers of the Greek gods (Dr. Stratos = Zeus, Devil-Ray = Poseidon, etc.). The heroes can follow the villains to Olypmus but must face a vastly more powerful Crime League. Captured and imprisoned in Tartarus, they must escape (possibly with the aid of Persephone and the other deposed gods) and use one of Zeus' thunderbolts to reverse the spell.

The Curator
Collect Them All!: The heroes' fame has stretched across even the vastness of space, so the Curator decides to add them to its collection. It may arrange a fake emergency to lure the heroes into a trap or simply confront them and offer them this golden "opportunity." The Curator might even cut a deal with the heroes' arch-enemies, who are more than eager to see the heroes out of the way. Alternately, the Curator might abduct other heroes from Freedom City, with the player characters trying to rescue them. This is a good way to explain the sudden disappearance of some heroes in the campaign.

Dr. Simian
King Simian: Dr. Simian comes up with a way to make himself a giant both physically and intellectually. He builds a "growth-ray" transforming him into a colossal super-ape (with Growth +16, Continuous). Increase Dr. Simian's physical capabilities accordingly. The giant ape rampages through downtown Freedom City, challenging the heroes to stop him, if they can. Once he has defeated them, he intends to claim control of the city, destroying anyone else who dares oppose him. The fight can culminate with Dr. Simian climbing to the top of Pyramid Plaza (Freedom City, page 49), with flying heroes buzzing around him. The heroes may find a way to reverse the effects of the growth ray. Alternately, they might be able to use it on themselves, becoming giants equal in statue to Dr. Simian to fight him directly!

Dr. Stratos
Fair Weather Friend: Dr. Stratos surprises heroes by showing up in broad daylight in Freedom City. However, when they try to apprehend him, he claims that he has diplomatic immunity! In fact, it turns out that Stratos does have diplomatic status from a small African nation formerly plagued by drought and starvation, that is, until Dr. Stratos began manipulating their weather. Do the heroes honor international agreements and let Stratos go, and what is he up to other than securing legal immunity for himself? Perhaps Dr. Stratos’ weather manipulations have unforeseen consequences, or he might be positioning himself close to Dakana in order to set up some foul weather as a cover for a daka crystal theft.

Downtime
To Infinity, and Beyond!: Downtime sets up a particular trap for a speedster character (or even just a hero with super-flight). He uses his Time Control to boost the character's speed to such a tremendous level the hero is catapulted out of the universe altogether! Most likely the hero breaks the light-barrier and enters an alternate universe of some kind. From Downtime's perspective, it doesn't overly matter, since the hero is out of his way and has no way of getting back home. This can lead to the disappearance of a number of fast heroes and a new crime wave in Freedom City. The banished heroes must survive and find a way back home while the heroes who remain behind have to deal with Downtime, without the aid of the faster members of the superhero set.

Fear-Master
A Cowardly Lot: During a confrontation, Fear-Master sprays the heroes with a chemical mist that seems to have no effect (have the players make Will saving throws, but announce the mist doesn't work on them). Afterward, the heroes discover everyone they come into contact with is terrified of them. Initially it works great on criminals, but it also has an impact on the heroes' relationships with the public, their allies, and their loved ones. It may also seriously endanger their secret identities. They are immune to the effect, as is Fear-Master, who offers to provide the counter-agent, but only if the heroes get him out of prison.

The Foundry
Foundations: A construction crew digging a tunnel for a new water main in northeastern Hanover uncovers a previously unknown set of subterranean chambers. The crew finds hundreds of discarded robot parts, antiquated robots, and other defunct equipment. With the Freedom League out of town, scientists from H.I.T. take over the site to study it...just in time to become hostages to a score of Myrmidons and two score Charibdrones who fly in on a radar-cloaked transport ship. The drones work at SCYLLA's commands to build a teleplatform to reclaim these old prototypes from the 1930s, the Myrmidons try to isolate any humans from the Foundry technology.

Hades
The Cult of Death: Working through human agents, Hades has built up a cult of followers in Freedom City and elsewhere. The cult might be entirely new or it might use an existing group or organization as cover (such as the Pinnacle Path or the Midnight Society from Freedom City). The members of Hades' cult serve as his agents in the mortal world. Their goal is to bring the Earth under the dominion of Tartarus. They're under the impression they will be spared and given positions of power and influence in the death-god's new regime (they are sadly mistaken, of course). The death cult can be a source of new villains and plots, as the heroes try to track down its leaders and headquarters to shut it down once and for all.

Kaiju Island
Return to Kaiju Island: AEGIS asks the heroes for help transporting one or more captured monsters to Kaiju Island (Freedom City, pgs. 90-91). Naturally, transporting a giant, and usually rampaging, monster isn't easy. The monsters are kept in special containment cells, probably sedated or otherwise restrained. AEGIS plans on using a tanker ship to transport them, although they're open to suggestions if the heroes have other means. The operation is top-secret, but word of it leaks to one or more criminal factions, who have an interest in seeing the monsters released, or captured for their own use. Villains like SHADOW, the Terra-King, Talos, or Mastermind might try and hijack the monsters, or simply turn them loose as a distraction for some other plot.

The Mayombe
Captain Zombie: A user of zombie powder dies, but he has a latent mutant physiology that interacts strangely with the mystical drug. The former drug-addict becomes one of the undead, but not under the influence of anyone else. Instead, he is virtually indestructible: super-strong and unkillable. "Captain Zombie" (as he calls himself, after one of the Loa of the dead) takes up a one-corpse crusade against the criminals he holds responsible for his death; in hopes he can balance the scales of justice. How do the heroes deal with this new vigilante "hero" in the city, especially when they discover he's legally dead?

Megalodon
Deadlier Than the Male: Megalodon returns, menacing shipping and swimmers, and stealing materials from marine research facilities and hospitals. Suspicion naturally falls on Connor Kirkstrom, who goes on the run from the law. When the heroes confront him, however, Megalodon shows up and attacks! It turns out Susan Kirkstorm, in an effort to find a cure for her husband, only succeeded in accidentally turning herself into a shark-human hybrid. Now the new "She-Megalodon" wants to kidnap Kirkstorm in order to transform him into his man-shark form and mate to spawn a new race of shark-hybrids! Connor Kirkstrom has been struggling to create an antidote to cure his wife. He was very close to success. If the heroes can keep him safe long enough, or if they can complete his work, they have a chance to prevent a terrible new threat to humanity.

Rant & Rave
Bad Trip: In a failed attempt to increase their powers, Rant and Rave end up losing control over them. A growing field of twisted perception begins to spread out over the city, accompanied by ultra-sonic frequencies causing irrational behavior. People in the affected area can't tell which way is up and some are driven almost to madness. Can the heroes track the rouge villains down and disable them? To make matters worse, Rant & Rave are not particularly right in the head, and still capable of using their Disintegration power to defend themselves.

The Silver Scream
Nightmare Theatre: A horror film festival in Freedom City draws the Silver Scream's attention. She uses her powers to trap the filmgoers - including some prominent Hollywood personalities - in a terrifying illusion of her making. Anyone who enters the theatre also falls under the spell of her illusion, making it almost impossible for the authorities to move in to rescue the trapped victims. It's up to the heroes to brave the Silver Scream's "nightmare theatre" to banish the vengeful ghost, if they can. The Silver Scream creates a world where nothing is exactly as it seems, and the heroes cannot be entirely certain if they are facing an illusion or a real danger. What if some of the "monsters" they encounter are innocent theatergoers, concealed by the ghost's illusions?

Warden
Who's the Warden?: Warden takes control of one of the security corridors and holds all the guards and four other prisoners hostage using a jury-rigged device in the common room. He wants to negotiate his release in exchange for not killing the prisoners or harming his hostages, but first he wants to prove that he—not Abby Wallace—is the better designer of prison technologies by taking over the prison.

X-Isle
Hidden Invasion: X-Isle begins abducting people from Freedom City and replacing them with replicants. Ideally, it plans to replace enough key people in the city to execute a takeover and ship the remaining people to the Terminus to take up residence as its new inhabitants, where it will make them happy and content for all time. The heroes may notice strange behavior on the part of people like the mayor, police commissioner, STAR Squad commander, and so forth. Perhaps X-Isle even replaces some NPC heroes (or villains). If the player characters are away from Freedom City for a while, the invasion could be well under way when they return. After a number of strange incidents, the heroes' friends and allies turn on them and attempt to trap them. The heroes have to discover the source of the replicants and free the real people who believe X-Isle is their real home.

Enjoy your visit to Freedom City and have fun playing M&M!

[Dirigible]

Wow.

Three cheers for Steve and his awesome, out-of-left-field adventure-blizzard!

[DigitalMage]

Wow! Thanks Steve, as ever you are never one to go out of your way to help others enjoyment of the hobby (you once provided me details of your Earthdawn campaign along with a scan of a hand drawn kaer map).

I will likely use some of those plots, but am still looking for more "street level" plots I guess for the players as the Next Gen to tackle. I am thinking of scenarios around youth culture like:

Maestro using nightclub music to hypnotise people, the team stumble onto it when the older brother of a classmate steals something from his work whilst hypnotised.

I guess I need to go and re-read Freedom City (and Hero High) :)

[Obsidian]

Thanks Steve! Not only did you write my favourite game, you're always so generous with your ideas and feedback on these forums - it's much appreciated.

I'm starting up a Freedom City game too, and I'm trying to figure out where to get the players started. A couple of them are new to M&M, so I don't want to overwhelm them with top-level villains to start. I'm leaning toward doing something with lots of gangsters to beat up for starters, just to let the players have some room to play and test their powers before hitting a major threat. I also want to give them the feeling of being the "new kids in town" -- working their way up to being major heroes.

Obsidian.