The Circus of Death

[doktorelektron]

Inspired by the What was your first superhero character? thread, I thought I would attempt to revivify an early villain team from my Champions 2nd edition days.

Presenting the mysterious Cirkus di Morta... The Circus of Death!



Featuring:

The Brothers Makarazov - masters of the most death-defying acrobatic stunts!

Romesco - the gipsy knife-thrower who never misses!

Dominion - the sinister ring-master!

Gorgo - the mighty gladiator!

Pantera - mistress of the jungle beasts!


I will update the thread with more detailed write-ups and stats as and when I get the chance.

[doktorelektron]

Dominion

In the middle of the 14th century, the Black Death swept across Europe claiming the lives of millions. None were safe. The great plague took the young and the old, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor.

Young Prince Domotor of Romovia, seeking to deny the ravages of this affliction, sought answers in the forbidden lore of the ancient necromancers. He studied their secrets in dusty worm-riddled tomes and, on moonless nights, performed strange and terrible rituals atop the windswept hills of his homeland.

The good people of Romovia, fearing that these godless revels would bring down even greater calamity upon them, took up their torches and marched to the prince’s castle. They arrived too late, however, for Domotor had already succeeded, after a fashion, in his desire to cheat death. Through his mastery of the dark arts, he had transformed himself into a powerful undead creature. Domotor had become a lich!

The angry and frightened mob burned the castle to the ground and Domotor, taken by surprise, was forced to flee. His curses rose on the night air amidst the smoke and flames, and the fate of his former subjects was thus duly sealed. A pale shadow spread out across the blood red sky and Romovia was consumed by pestilence.

Landless and deathless, Domotor was left to wander. Needing to feed on the vital force of the living in order to sustain himself, he found that if he stayed in any one place for too long suspicions were quickly aroused against him, as one by one people began to disappear. He realized early on that it was better to keep moving and that it would best suit his purposes to maintain the façade of some itinerant trade.

And so the Cirkus di Morta was born. Prince Domotor became Dominion, the ring-master. He quickly found other lost souls willing to join him on his travels and thus has sustained himself to the present day.

And now, guess what, the circus is coming to your town…

(I wanted to post Dominion's write-up first as it reveals how the circus began but I will probably stat him last as he is the most complex build.)

[doktorelektron]

[Darren]

I really like these guy. its good to see a team of villains. well done !

[BASHMAN]

Can I just say I love the "Circus of Death" Concept?

[kroh]

Oooh! Fun!

[doktorelektron]

Hey thanks It's always great to get some positive feedback.

Anyway here's the next sheet...

[/img]

[doktorelektron]

And here's Gorgo...

[BASHMAN]

Very nice! I must say that these are impressive builds.

[Saker]

I like the builds too. It's amazing how many things you can do with 20 points.

I suggest double-checking Romesco. I think you count those throwing knives as 3 points. A 3 Special Attack with Medium Range starts at 5 points, and you can only reduce the cost by 1 no matter how many disadvantages that you add.

cheers

[WaylanderPK]

Nice builds
One thing you might consider is Romesco's special attack. He can just use ordinary knives, you could then up your weapon technique to variable or maybe get paired weapons.

Anyway. great use of 20 points

[MrJupiter]

Excellent characters doktorelektron! This is a really cool idea for a villain team! Great stories for each the characters. I'm looking forward to reading Pantera and Dominion. Also, as has been inferred by others, its great to see more Mystery Men level builds! Great work.

[kevperrine]

Can I just say I love the "Circus of Death" Concept?

So did Stan Lee and Marvel back in 1962.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_of_Crime

I've always loved RINGMASTER!

[doktorelektron]

Thanks for all the ongoing feedback.

I suggest double-checking Romesco. I think you count those throwing knives as 3 points. A 3 Special Attack with Medium Range starts at 5 points, and you can only reduce the cost by 1 no matter how many disadvantages that you add.

You are quite right Saker and for exactly the right reason - I counted two disadvantages as -2 to the cost. I will edit the sheet when I get the chance.

So did Stan Lee and Marvel back in 1962.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_of_Crime

I've always loved RINGMASTER!

That's pretty freaky as I've genuinely never heard of this character before. The Circus of Crime also features identical twin acrobats and Bruto the strongman

Well, at least the Circus of Death has a more supernatural origin than the Circus of Crime. Dominion, when I finish the build, will be a powerful undead lord with a higher point cost than the others. The Ringmaster, as I understand, just as a hypnowheel on his top hat

As I have said before the inspiration for the Circus of Death is an early song by 80s synth pop band The Human League. Really!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDZ3868QWk

"The Circus of Death is approaching,
It's pathway is painted in red,
Before it the frightened and helpless,
Behind it a trail of the dead..."

[doktorelektron]

Hi, finally found time to finish another sheet


[/img]


The tigress uses the big cat stats from the core rulebook, which works out pretty neatly pointwise for a 20pt character's sidekick.

I decided to give Pantera the Fearful Presence advantage since she is almost always seen with her pet Bengal tiger (giving the advantage to the tiger seemed a bit fiddly).

Telepathy 1 can be thought of as having the enhancement "Affects Animals" (I figure it wouldn't normally work on animals) and the limitation "Only Affects Animals" (AKA "Doesn't Affect People") which neatly cancel each other out and bring the point cost back to 1