Who is in Your Character's Rogues' Gallery?

Folks who've been watching my social media feed have no doubt noticed that I'm moving over a lot of my old Pathfinder character conversions. From horror shows like Jason Voorhees and Ghost Rider, to Badasses of History like Harriet Tubman, my hope is to get the majority of my guides freshly updated, and secure in their new home over in my Vocal archive.

However, it's while I was updating two of the most popular Marvel favorites Captain America and Spider-Man that something occurred to me. Something that I'd never thought of before in the context of character design, but which struck me as a great way to figured out who your character is, and what they stand for.

Give them a rogues' gallery, and see who crops up.

This block... yeah, this is where they put my guys.

What Is A Rogues' Gallery, And How Can It Help You?

If you're a comic book fan the concept of the rogues' gallery is no doubt already familiar to you, but we'll lay it out for folks who may not have heard the term before. Generally speaking, the term refers to a collection of photographs of people who have been arrested as criminals. Whether it's a group of Wanted posters on the wall, a collection of mug shots, etc., the idea is that you get all your villains in one place so you can really take them all in.

As a story construct, though, a rogues' gallery helps you figure out more things about your character. Because if you've ever taken a stand for something, chances are good you've made yourself a few enemies here and there. Even if you don't wear your underwear on the outside (and if you're curious as to why so many costumed crime fighters do that, you'll find the answer in Why Do Superheroes Wear Their Underwear on The Outside?).

"Billy and me... we got what you might call a history."

 

We've all had those characters who swore vengeance on some unspecific enemy. You know, the one who said they were going to slay dragons because a dragon burned down their village, or to hunt down bandits because their father was a merchant killed on the road by an outlaw gang, and so on, and so forth. But how often has a character had specific sworn enemies, with names, histories, and lives of their own?

And, more importantly, how often have you seen a PC that had specific enemies, but whose life wasn't entirely consumed by those enemies?

That, you see, is the kicker. For while a rogues' gallery can be an important element of who your character is, it shouldn't be the entirety of their character. The character needs to stand on their own, while this adds a little spice to their story.

It's Possible To Have Too Much of a Good Thing

Think of famous characters with prominent rogues' galleries. Batman. The Flash. Spider-Man. Dick Tracy, if we want to get one of the OGs up in here. While their antagonists lent them character, and contributed to their stories, they weren't the entirety of their characters.

Rather, villains can be used to show different aspects of a character, and to give us a deeper look into who they are, and why they do what they do.

And sometimes, it gives us fun, recurring antagonists.

 

For example, putting a character like Two-Face against Batman helps show the inherent dual nature of the crime fighter/child of privilege. Darkseid is an individual for whom might makes right, and opposing him is more a battle of morals than of thews for Superman. Every time Spider-Man has clashed with Venom, it's like looking into a blackened mirror at something he could have allowed himself to become.

You get the idea.

However, you don't have to get that deep with it. Just remember that your villains should highlight something about your character, and flesh out some part of their story. Perhaps your sorcerer used their powers to smash the influence of a cult in their town, but many of the black robes escaped and have sworn vengeance on them. Maybe your fighter came from common stock, and though they're strong and skilled, they've made enemies of the Silverchaste family, who hide behind their noble births and knighthoods to cover their own shady dealings. Your barbarian might have double-crossed Red Johnny Hack, and though he didn't swing from the gallows, the bandit king has been plotting his revenge from behind the stone walls of Stillbarrow.

Because who your villains are is only part of the story. Why you oppose them, and how you defeated them (through guile and cunning, skill and strength, by refusing to compromise your ideals, etc.) is just as important.

Well, that, and they give the DM something to work with when adding important NPCs to help tie your character and your story to the campaign. Especially when you consider that your enemies are part of your reputation and history. More on that in Character Reputation in RPGs: The Small Legend, for those who are interested.

Looking For Some Inspiration?

If you're looking for some villains to add to your character's rogues' gallery, and you find yourself coming up dry, might I suggest glancing through the following supplements by yours truly?

- 100 Random Bandits to Meet: From big-named bandit lords to small-time highwaymen, this collection's got a little bit of everything. It was also my second supplement to go Silver, if that tells you anything.

- 100 Pirates to Encounter: From seabound necromancers to cannibal buccaneers, there's all sorts of scalawags and scoundrels in this one. Bad fellows to fall afoul of, and plenty of enemies for those who've ever been through a port town.

- 100 Prisoners For a Fantasy Jail: If your rogues' gallery is currently behind bars, then there are all sorts of villains to choose from here. Illicit alchemists, crazed killers, depraved assassins, and one individual possessed by a demon. Can't go wrong, here!

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That's all for this week's Fluff post. If you've used alignment restrictions to create interesting story results, tell us how in the comments below!

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How To Keep Up As A Gunslinger in Scion

White Wolf was best known for the World of Darkness, but one of the most popular titles outside that particular setting was Scion. The premise is that the titans have escaped from their prisons, and the Godwar has resumed. What's your part in this? Well, you are the children of the gods, and as they awaken the ichor in your veins, you need to step up to stop the titans from tearing the world down to its foundations, and burning away everything you've ever known in an apocalyptic inferno.

No pressure, though, no pressure. 

Scions are gifted with extraordinary powers, and they're capable of epic feats. They can lift loads of several tons, leap to the heavens, wrestle giants, and instantly heal from grievous wounds. These are the main tools in their fight against the titans and their spawn... but for players who like to mix the modern with the mythic, it can feel like there's a small hiccough when it comes to weapon choice.

The Scaling Problem of Guns in Scion

When you start off in Scion, guns are going to be your best friend. Pretty much every attack, except for grappling a foe, is your Dexterity plus your relevant skill (Brawl, Marksmanship, Thrown, or Melee). Then, if you successfully overcome the opponent's defense, you roll your damage. Your damage pool for a firearm is made up of the damage dealt by your weapon, and the number of threshold successes you achieved (one die for every success you beat the opponent's defense by), plus one. However, your damage with melee weapons, thrown weapons, or your fists is that, but you also add bonus damage dice to your pool equal to your Strength score (with additional successes from epic Strength factored in).

So, while it might take a little while to invest the necessary points to get both a high Dexterity to actually hit your target and a high Strength to deal a lot of damage, the guy throwing javelins, or the woman swinging the sword, is capable of doing a lot of harm once they hit their stride. Which leads some players who have invested in firearms wondering how they are going to keep up.

Don't panic... seriously, you've got this.

Piercing, Increased Damage, And Threshold Successes

The first thing to remember about guns is, well, they're guns. A firearm allows you to keep some healthy distance between you and an enemy, ensuring that unless they have eye lasers, or the ability to throw a semi-truck a few blocks (not uncommon in Scion), that you might be able to poke them in the eye without them poking back. This is particularly useful if you can turn yourself invisible, or if you want to shoot from behind cover while you and your fellow godlings are trying to take down a rampaging frost giant.

Tactical benefits aside, there are some good reasons to use guns. The first is that they all inherently have the piercing quality, which cuts the damage soak from armor in half unless it has the bulletproof quality. Guns all have a bonus to damage, ranging from +3 to +7 lethal, as well. This allows you to bypass all that bashing damage malarchy, and the traditionally higher damage soak that comes with bashing damage. To compare, no melee weapon offers a higher starting bonus than +5 lethal, even if the wielder could use their Strength to increase the damage.

And when we crunch the numbers...

Where you get money for value with firearms is in your threshold successes (the number that you beat your target's defense value on). Well, that, and because you can't parry bullets without some very specific abilities, which means the target has to use their dodge defensive value. So, in order to deal the biggest amount of damage with your gun, you need to make sure you hit your enemy's sweet spot every time.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have the highest Dexterity, epic Dexterity, and Marksmanship scores possible (easy enough to do). As a starting character, it's possible to have 10 dice (5 Dexterity and 5 Marksmanship), plus one automatic success to throw around in that setup. Then you add in your weapon's accuracy rating, which for a gun will typically give you another +1 to +3 (though not all guns give you more accuracy to your attack). So, you could potentially be rolling 13 dice, with 1 automatic success from epic Dexterity. If you take the Aim action, that adds between +1 and +3 bonus dice to your attack, or a +2 to a +6 if you have the Trick Shot knack.

So, if you need to make that big shot on the rampaging titan, you could have a dice pool of 19 plus one automatic success with the right skill, attribute, knack, and weapon. Not too shabby. Then, if you want to add on to your pool, a relic firearm can have increased accuracy, which allows you to get even more bonuses to your shots. You could also spend a Willpower to add a number of bonus dice equal to an applicable virtue, which can bulk up your dice pool substantially.

However, if you're an unlucky player, even an attack pool of 20 with a free automatic success might not net you more than 7 or 8 successes. Which is enough to hit an enemy, but not really enough to get you a lot of threshold successes (assuming you're fighting titanspawn who are slightly tougher than a beefy scion). That's why you need to take advantage of defensive value penalties on your target.

The More You Do, The Lower Your Defense

Your defensive values are your dodge, and your parry. However, those values will change depending on the circumstances you're fighting in.

As a good example, if your target is unaware that combat has been joined (or simply can't see you, in many cases), then they can't apply their defensive values against your attack. That means if you quick draw your widowmaker, or squeeze that trigger from 200 yards out, the target won't be able to apply their defensive values against that attack without some kind of power that lets them. In that case, you only need one success to hit them, which means those 7 or 8 successes now nets you 6 or 7 bonus damage dice on your shot.

However, even if your target is aware of you and on the defensive, you can still take advantage of timing and environment to hit them when they're vulnerable. If a target does pretty much anything (like attack, or cast a spell, etc.) that action will give them a defensive penalty. Not only that, but if the target is getting attacked, then they'll be subject to an onslaught penalty as well (receiving a number of attacks equal to Legend rating + 1 before their next action) which reduces their defense by -1. If the target is wearing bulky armor, that reduces their dodge and mobility. If there is poor footing, they're slogging through mud, or some other environmental negative, then their defense goes down even further. This is a great reason to take the Aim action, and wait for your friends to smack the bad guy around. After all, you can interrupt your Aim at any time to take your shot.

One And Done

Godlings are tough, and titans are tougher, but it's important to remember that if you can get past their defensive values, and punch through their soak, they don't have all that many health levels. A scion has 7 health levels, and if you fill all those levels up with bashing, their lights go out, and they're down for the count. You fill it up with lethal, and unless they get some medical attention in a big hurry, they're dead. While titans might have more health levels, or just be harder to hurt because of increased soak, doing even a few lethal damage is not nothing. You put two or three of those "small" holes into them, and they aren't long for this world.

That's all for this week's Crunch topic. Figured folks could use a break from Pathfinder, and for those who want to give Scion a try, it's time to lock and load. For more content from yours truly, check out my Vocal archive, and head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio to take a listen to skits, world building, and advice videos that several talented gamers as well as myself make. If you want to stay on top of all my releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. To help support Improved Initiative so I can keep bringing content right to you, consider dropping some change over at The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. It really helps, and as little as $1 a month gets you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you.

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