Viva Vibora!

[Heritage]

So we need to start generating some ideas here, lads and lasses! Strong, virile ideas to make the heavens SHAKE! I haven't read through the entire VB book, but are there any cool villains in it that we should start converting to our local 2e Homebrew? Or FCU ones that would be a good fit?

 

Torque is up for anything!

[Avenger Assembled]

Sign me up for anything I don't have to run!

 

We should do the stuff with the local gangs getting more supernatural - especially now that so many heroes are active. Vampires, werewolves, etc. 

[Amelia]

I'd really like to get staff clarification as to which changes between the 5E Vibora Bay book and Champions Online we're using, if any.

 

[Amelia]

Like I said when AA first brought up the possibility of importing Vibora Bay: I'll play there, but I'm not planning on GMing there. That's due to lack of time and cognitive resources, not lack of interest. I quite enjoy playing my VBPC, and I feel like I've got a decent handle on the setting. But GMing more than I already am takes more than I have to give at the moment.
 

Persephone is, like Torque, up for pretty much anything.

 

After the events of "Storm of The Century", there is a murderer at large. Persephone would like to track them down and bring them to justice.

To that end, after the meeting in "Rough Draft", she's planning to head up to the swamp north of the city where Croczilla came from, to see if the plants there have any useful information.

 

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We should do the stuff with the local gangs getting more supernatural - especially now that so many heroes are active. Vampires, werewolves, etc. 

 

Agreed. Vampires and werewolves are a lot cooler than a bunch of interchangeable nonpowered thugs, which is what all the Vibora gangs are in the book.

 

Here's one possible hook:

 

Persephone's origin story specifically involves having destroyed a handful of New Shadows gang members who had already been transformed into vampires. I kept it vague: I did not specify how they became vampires, how long they had been vampires, or whether or not any of the rest of the gang knew that they had been vampires. The gang doesn't know her secret identity, but they have put together that a handful of their brethren were killed and that Persephone is the one who did it. They currently have a standing bounty on the street for information about her. They haven't put a price on her head, because, for now, they want to avenge themselves. But if they try and fail enough times, they might swallow their pride and enlist outside aid of some sort.

 

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Are there any cool villains in it that we should start converting to our local 2e Homebrew?

 

There are a couple whom I think would make good imports, and who don't have existing Freedomverse equivalents that I'm aware of:

 

Dead Man Walkin': Undead assassin, ex-military. Like a revenant version of Deathstroke The Terminator. Loves to kill, but only does it when he's getting paid for it.

 

Mister Gemini: Shapeshifting duplicator mutant crime boss. Sort of a less ambitious version of Mister Zero from Paragons.

He's the leader of the "Gemini Gang", named after himself. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, he has the power to make one identical duplicate of himself. But he can actually make dozens, and he can make them look like different people. His "gang" is secretly made up entirely of his duplicates. The other gang bosses in Vibora Bay tolerate him and even hire his crew sometimes, because he hasn't shown any overt signs of being their competition. He hasn't tried to claim his own territory, and it seems like he doesn't have a stable gang, instead hiring new people for each job (actually he just has his duplicates change their appearance periodically).

 

The San Sebastien Swamp & The Skunk-Ape: Not really a "villain", but potentially an antagonist or a complication. The entire swamp north of the city is a single intelligent and sentient entity, one of many local oddities caused by the magical effects of just being near the fallen angel Therakiel, who's been hiding in Vibora Bay since before humanity existed. The Skunk-Ape, which is both the most famous local cryptid and Swamp Thing with the serial numbers filed off, is a temporary puppet that the swamp constructs for itself when it wants to interact with things on a more "human" level. I doubt it's necessary to stat up the Skunk-Ape extensively, if at all, since, while it can be destroyed, that doesn't really do anything. Given time, the swamp can just make another one. In fact, it can make more than one.

 

Valerian Scarlet: Mix of the classic "jumped-up dabbler" and "vain sorceress" archetypes. Angstagoth teen wannabe finally learns a spell that works, summons a demon, and makes a deal. Now she's a superhuman sorceress and semi-secretly the owner of one of the hottest nightclubs in town, The Minefield. Most people know that it's a goth/metal/techno club, but they don't know that Valerian Scarlet secretly siphons off some of the life force of the crowds inside to feed to her demonic patron so she can keep her power and immortality. In the book, she doesn't know about Therakiel or his plan to cause the Apocalypse, while in Champions Online, she's a knowing and enthusiastic collaborator.

 

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Or FCU ones that would be a good fit?

 

VIPER, which is to the Champions setting what Cobra is to G.I. Joe (though VIPER came first!), does have a covert presence in Vibora Bay. I think it would make the most sense to just swap them out for SHADOW.

 

If we go with the leader of the Sovereign Sons being ridden by the loa Baron Cimitiere as he is in Champions Online, then we can probably just copy/paste Baron Samedi's stats for him.

 

Aside from that, pretty much any villain from the books, 2E or 3E, who doesn't have one of the other cities specifically listed as their base of operations would work, and even if they are canonically Freedom or Emerald locals, if no one else has plans for them, you could probably move them down to Florida. Because Therakiel is hiding in Vibora, it's a supernatural hot spot, so those types of villains are the most obvious fit. There isn't a huge tech industry in Vibora, so high-tech villains aren't as natural a fit, but there is some. If nothing else, NASA's launch sites are only a couple hundred miles away. Any villain with an interest in smuggling or trafficking of any kind would be attracted to Vibora, since it's a major shipping hub, and if they're after weapons specifically, the city hosts factories and warehouses for two major arms manufacturers.

 

[Amelia]

Figured I'd check in since it's been about a week. Anyone have any plans for anything in Viboray Bay?

 

[Heritage]

Soph and I have an idea for a thread where our two characters meet; we still need to figure out the details.

[Amelia]

@Avenger Assembled Of the plot threads you've dropped so far, have you decided which ones you're going to pick up yourself and which ones you want to hand off to other people?

 

[RocketLord]

I'll be adding in some ideas for Mayombe and some other foes I've considered for Cheval. I'm considering running some things, but I'll need to finish up some other threads first.

[Avenger Assembled]

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