Ideas for Teen Villains for a Teen based game

[Evil Toki]

Just looking to spark discussion for a Teenaged based game, where the characters are members of a chool for superheroes, paranormals, metahumans whatever... what kind of villains would you make and why... perhaps some examples from PL 8 to PL 11 would be best...

[Lord_Anthrax]

How about turning the abused nerd/geek on his head and giving him super-strength and toughness while keeping him looking scrawny and puny and geeky? The bullied becomes that which he hated most..a bully.

[Evil Toki]

How about turning the abused nerd/geek on his head and giving him super-strength and toughness while keeping him looking scrawny and puny and geeky? The bullied becomes that which he hated most..a bully.

interesting idea... any ideas for supervillain team of teens?

[Lord_Anthrax]

How about a group of gang members that all underwent some mad scientist's experimental process and got super-powers?

[Casper]

Teams are /easy/. Pick a social grouping and build a villiam team out of it.

The Chess Club, socially backwards but tactically adept students stumble onto a mystical chess set and use thier super powers for evil. King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, and Pawn. Vary the power levels slightly to account for the varied value of the pieces.

The Pep Squad, cheerful and agile criminals who stage daring robberies while spreading pro school graffitti in thier wake in an effort to bolster school spirit.

Howabout a team of extreme sports fanatics? You could have a BMX guy, a skateboarder, a person who fights with bungee cords, etc.

The White Boyz, a gang of suburbian white boys who want to be gangsta rappers.

Take classic stereotypes and run with them. It's easy, makes your villians very user friendly, and your players will be able to easily visualize and get into what you have in store for them.

Casper

[Evil Toki]

I like the Chess Club... I like them indeed

[Lord_Anthrax]

How about the Stoners, a bunch of drug-fiends who took some killer stuff and are now permanently high and REALLY power-tripping!

[Sketchpad]

I'm a big fan of the teen group ... when I work on games I always reference Teen Titans/Titans issues, as well as the occasional Young Justice, New Mutants, New Warriors and Gen 13 issue

Having a "Junior Squad" of adult heroes is a fun ... as well as a bunch of punk kids forming together because they're "as good as any of the big league".

[Thain]

Of course the classic tricks in a Supers game still apply for villian teams:

'The Doppleganger Gang' (please dont' actually use these names! ) where the baddies are nothing but thinly disguised reversals of the main team: Super-Flying Guy vs. Super-Flying Bad Guy, Speedster v. Dark Speedster, et al. (Examples: Earth-2's anit-JLA the Crime League or America (or similar, I forget its exact name) is a canon example.)

'The Antithesis Squad' take the strengths of each hero,and build someone with the exact opposite strenghts and/or the ability to counter them. Hero Fire-Elemental, meet Evil Icy Chick... Super-strong hero, prepare to face the Evil Smart-Guy! (Examples: Numerous. Batman's Joker, and Supes' Lex Luthor are extreme (if subtle) examples. The old Namor/Human Torch rivalry is a more primal one: water v. fire.)

'The Traitor' an oldie, but a goody, have an NPC or ex-PC that has been close to the party for a period, and have some Personal Tragedy of Major Impact© hit them hard... causing them to join forces with the enemy! Can turn any minor enemy group into a huge nemesis. NPC love intrests or popular PC characters (now retired to NPC status) work best. (Examples: (ex-PC) X-Men's Colossus joinign the Acolytes after his sister's death. (NPC) Harry Osborne becomes the second Green Goblin. (NPC) Any story-arc where Sue Storm/Lois Lane is brainwashed, or otherwise coerced into become a super-villaness. (Bonus points if heros/reader are convinced that it is because she truly loves the villian!))

'A World Which Hates And Fears Them' nothing quite clicks with teenagers better than that feeling of alienation- this is why the X-Men sell, and always have at least one teen-team book, afterall. The plight of mutants as metaphor for Blank-ism has held up for 40+ years... witch hunting baselines with quasi-governmental funding (and maybe Robots... No! Make it Giant Robots!) are always a popular option. Hordes of mooks, handful of henchmen, and a mastermind with a glass-jaw and diplomatic immunity.

[Thain]

And let's not forget Nazis.

Com'on its Comics!, everyone likes to beat up on a Nazi.

They are the only, A-okay, 100%, Totally Legit, and Totally Deserving group that eveyrone on the planet is allowed to hate!

Besides in the Real World they wore skulls on their uniforms, ecouraged cult-like worship in their minions and developed over-the-top super weapons. If this was what they did in reality, the heights you can take it to in comics can practiacaly be absurd!

No matter the genre, if its based on comics, you can use a Nazi villian.

[MasonsDad]

And let's not forget Nazis

I, for one, would never forgot Nazis. My group is playing a 1930's era Pulp game just so that we can beat up on a Nazi every now and then. Well, that's not the only reason, but it is a darn good one.

[lord_irial]

Teen villains, huh? Lets see, there's Choir, Band, the Jocks, the French Club, the Nazis, the Punks, the Gangstas, JrROTC, FFA/4-H, the Preppies (aka the Yuppie-spawn), the Druggies, the Goths, Drama/Thespians, the Yearbook Staff, the Car Club, the Swim Team...

At my high school, they were all villains (though Drama had both heroes and villains). Your mileage may vary.

My bf is also gearing up to run a teenage meta-human academy sort of game, but the only villains I know of so far are the parents of one of the characters. He also runs a Buffy RPG game, and a lot of things we've had to deal with are other high-schoolers bumbling around ineptly with magic.

[Bubba242]

I would have thought with a teen super hero team that one of the more obvious villains doens't have to be one in costume.

Its anyone who is in a position of Authority.

In the New Mutants and Generation X, the kids were always getting up to schemes behind tyhe backs of the teachers. In Teen/ New/ Whatever-they're-now-called Titans, they were generally trying to prove themselves to their mentors. Even the new warriors were together because they were trying to prove something to the super heros in charge.

So the teen super scamps may have to first figure out a way to get past their x-ray visioned house master before they can go out and figure out the bad guys evil plan. Or they have to convince their mentors that they are the only ones able to defeat the oncoming mutant hordes.

I just bring it up for the interesting possibilities that it offers for role playing for the players and the GM.

[Evil Toki]

These are all awesome ideas, I can incororate into the game thank you, keep them coming, and of course there will be Nazis, cause well... who cares

[Blackhawk]

In my opnion, one of the best teen "villain" teams was the original Hellions. While they ended up opposed to the New Mutants on occasion, the two teams also interacted on a personal level because, really, who else did they have anything in common with.

A great supplement for a teen game if you can find it is the GURPS Supers adventure, "School of Hard Knocks."

I like these archetypes for a "villain" teen team.

The Honorable One- He either is a part of the team due to loyalty to his friends, or perhaps a specific problem with the benefactor of the hero team. (Thunderbird is a good example of this. He joined the Hellions because he blamed Prof. X for his brother's death, but he held no grudge against the New Mutants. He was a hard guy not to like or at least respect.)

The Tragic One- Her powers are out of control and the villain team have the only way to help her. Loyalty can also be a strong motivation here. Or a boyfriend/girlfriend on the "villain" team immune to their powers. (A permanent Energy Shield is the most common.)

The Endebted One- Slightly different from the Honorable one in that they owe the "villain" team benefactor either their life or perhaps just plain old money. (Jetstream of the Hellions is an example. He needed cybernetic parts to control his mutant powers.)

The Fun One- Just a fun-loving character looking to control/enjoy their powers but not be a "hero." Or maybe they want to "reform" their friends from the inside. It could be hard to tell.

The Innocent- Simply has no idea they are one of the "bad guys." A big dose of Naive is needed. (Catspaw of the Hellions.)

The Disillusioned One- It's all about controlling their powers. This "hero" talk just pushes their buttons. This slightly crosses over with the Tragic One, but the tragedy isn't from their powers but their past.

The Evil One- This one is bad. Pretty much simply a Super-Villain in training. But to work within the team, they generally have to be the cunning, subtle kind of villain. Though occasionally, their ego writes checks their powers can't cash. (Empath of the Hellions.)

There they are. It also works to make these guys have powers similar to the heroes as has been mentioned before. In the Hellions, Jetstream was an opposite number to Cannonball, Catspaw to Wolfsbane, Thunderbird to Sunspot, Empath to Mirage or Karma (I can't remember), etc.

Hope this helps!

[Evil Toki]

I like those ideas Blackhawk... now here is the question.. the big bad, another teen hero.. or perhaps someone just slightly out of their powerscale, older and more powerful, and perhaps end up in conflict cause the meddling kids just won't stop their meddling...

[Blackhawk]

I like those ideas Blackhawk... now here is the question.. the big bad, another teen hero.. or perhaps someone just slightly out of their powerscale, older and more powerful, and perhaps end up in conflict cause the meddling kids just won't stop their meddling...

I went a couple of different ways. One was the "benefactor" of the "villain" teens named Mastermind. Kind of like Ozymandias and Dr. Doom. He was the "arch-enemy" of the super-hero team that was sponsoring the PC team. He was hard not to respect too. He treated his charges firmly but fairly, and honestly did help them. Plus when an assassin team struck the super-hero sponsors (and a small group hit the "satellite" operation, i.e. the teen team's headquarters), they successfully killed one of the superheroes. It turned out to be the genius member who played chess with Mastermind. Let's just say that Mastermind found the assassin who actually killed him and saved some heroes a somewhat hard decision is what to do with him.

Obviously, some of the secondary villains were the enemies of the sponsoring team. That worked out pretty well because it made sense for villains that didn't have the power to strike at the main team to try to get at them through the teen team. These guys would also be a good fight for the junior members (Well, not all of them. I had to throw in some truly pathetic villains just for a little humor.)

Probably one of the best though is the "meta-villain." Not "meta" as in powers, but as in over-arching. This is someone who is opposed not only to the teen heroes, but generally the teen "villains" as well. One idea is simply the anti-powers group with huge robots. But another is the faction within the government, some other government, paramilitary group, corporation, hidden aliens, or whatever that wants to capture the young supers to indoctrinate them into warriors for their cause. It's a whole lot of fun when the heroes have to go save the "villains" or end up owing their life to the "villain" after being saved by them.

Follow that up with the hero and "villain" meeting at a school dance, and you've got some interesting roleplaying. Especially if they're attracted to each other.

[Evil Toki]

I like the idea of rival teams, perhaps petty crime or something for kicks, running afoul of the heroes because well they like to get into stuff, and well be troubled teens with lots of power... hmmm

And then leave room for a more evil, and overarching villain... hmm the ideas

[drake113]

Well, I had a teen villian duo named Blitz (a football themed brick) and Teen Spirit (his cheerleader partner/girlfriend who could fly, phase, and fire energy bolts). Also, don't forget the classic nemesis: the evil(tm) teacher-- mean spirited school librarian who happens upon a book of the dark arts, perhaps, or the grumpy science teacher who's been working on a little something on the weekends that will finally earn him the respect he deserves. Finally, just as your team may all go to the same school, it stands to reason that other, rival schools might have similar groupings who are itching to show who's school is the best.

[mrfusion]

Nicoteen aka Cecelia Robertson, age 16 PL 8

Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 12 Cha 20 [cost 20]
Dmg 2 Fort 2 Refl 3 Will 6

Def 21/18 Init 7 Melee -1 Ranged 3 [cost 16]

Attractive, Darkvision, Identity Change(Normal teen), Immunity(Suffocation), Improved Initiative [cost 10]

Drive 4, Hide 14, Innuendo 6, Move Silently 14, Spot 9, Taunt 11 [cost 43]

Obscure 8
extra: Suffocate
stunt: Obsure Scent
flaw: Partial coverage for Obscure
sfx: Fills area with cigarette smoke [cost 18]

Teleportation 8
stunt: Super Teleportation
sfx: Disappears/appears in a puff of smoke [cost 18]

Amazing Save (Will) 5 [cost 5]

Disturbing - Hair is long smoky tendrils, reeks of cigarettes [cost -10]

Background:
Cecelia, although very popular, always envied the uber-popular superteens at her school. Due (probably) to a lack of self esteem, she began smoking cigarettes in the "pit" with the stoners, which led to her getting powers of her own. However she *knows* that smoking is bad, and therefore her powers have destined her for a life a villiany. Well... why wait?

[Kenpo Wolf]

Being a fan of teen based comics, I love this thread. Keep the ideas coming

[Harlan Quinn]

Mentalists:

Angst - able to project or amplify feelings of worry and anxiety
Dude - Hallucinations "Duuuuuuude...do you see what I do? "
Drama Queen: Projective Empath
Ditz - Ability to lower opponent's IQ
Klutz - Ability to change opponent's physical stats (Ditz and Klutz are probably siblings)


btw: What about placing this game in Sunnydale, California? Do your heroes have powers because they're needed to fight the Big Bad or did the Big Bad give them powers to take care of the Chosen One?

[Evil Toki]

Actually my current teen game, deals with newly powered teens, learning to use their powers, they were all transported to a school in Africa, the Sahara actualy, which has been terraformed and is now a lush though hot environment...

I have a bully amidts the "elite", my term for superheros, students and a few ideas for some villains, but I alsp wanted to see what other ideas people had, and then of course use them because many are really good

[The Fifth Wanderer]

Keep this thread alive! Teen angst and superpowers, woo-hoo!

And yes, I used to be a big Generation X fan.

[Evil Toki]

Well here is a challenge, what kind of stories would you run, to mix the nagst, the youthfullness, and well the fun of being a teen hero in a world dominated by adults... where you can destroy a tank, but you still have to sneak out of the house, or school to meet the gang...