Here are some facts characters and NPCs might know about Durak if they succeed with an appropriate Skill Roll: N/R: Durak is a super-strong villain who’s a member of Eurostar; he’s some- times referred to as “the fist of Fiacho.” His real name is Igor Sterankov; he used to be involved in Russian organized crime. K/R: Durak’s said to have gotten his powers from being involuntarily experimented on by the KGB; he certainly has a fierce hatred for Russians and Russia.
-1: As “bricks” go, Durak is on the upper end, able to life approximately 400 metric tons.
-2: Durak is basi- cally a crude thug with super-strength; he particularly loves to fight, and treats non-superpowered people with contempt.
Val Char Cost Roll Notes
70 STR 60 23- Lift 400 tons; 14d6 HTH damage [7] 18 DEX 16 13-
40 CON 30 17-
13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 10 EGO 0 11-
25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6 8 OCV 25 8 DCV 25 3 OMCV 0 3 DMCV 0 5 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 30 PD 28 Total: 30 PD (30 rPD) 30 ED 28 Total: 30 ED (30 rED) 20 REC 16 80 END 12 20 BODY 10
76 STUN 28 Total Characteristics Cost: 326
Movement: Running: 12m
Leaping: 48m
Cost Powers END
17 Super-Strong Muscles: Reduced Endurance
(½ END; +¼) on 70 STR 0 15 Super-Tough Skin: Hardened (+¼) for 30 PD/30 ED 0 37 Super-Tough Skin: Resistant (+½) for 30 PD/30 ED 0
Hardened (+¼)
3 Mask Lenses: Sight Group Flash Defense (5 points) 0
OIF (-½)
14 Bracing: Knockback Resistance -14m 0 27 Super-Strong Legs: Leaping +44m (48m forward,
24m upward), x4 Noncombat 3 6 Wrist Radio: Radio Perception/Transmission
(Radio Group) 0
OIF (-½), Affected As Hearing Group As Well As Radio Group (-¼)
Perks
6 Contacts: Russian organized crime 11-
Skills
32 +4 HTH 3 Climbing 13- 3 Interrogation 14- 1 KS: European Politics 8- 2 KS: Russian Organized Crime 11-
1 Language: English (basic conversation; Russian is Native) 1 Language: Esperanto (basic conversation)
3 Teamwork 13-
Total Powers & Skills Cost: 171 Total Cost: 497
400 Matching Complications (75)
10 Distinctive Features: smashed, scarred face (Conceal- able With Difficulty; Noticed And Recognizable) 25 Enraged: in combat (Very Common), go 11-, recover 11- 15 Enraged: when fighting Russians (Uncommon), go 11-,
recover 11-
25 Hunted: New Knights Of The Round Table (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)
25 Hunted: UNTIL (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Capture) 20 Psychological Complication: Loves To Fight (Very
Common, Strong)
15 Psychological Complication: Hates Russia And Russians (Common, Strong)
15 Psychological Complication: Contempt For Normal Humans (Common, Strong)
15 Social Complication: Public Identity (Igor Sterankov) (Frequently, Major)
33 Experience Points Total Complications Points: 75 Experience Points: 97
Champions Villains Volume Two: Villain Teams n Eurostar 103
Powers/Tactics: One of the strongest superhu- mans in the world, Durak is a powerful hand- to-hand combatant who delivers punches that can penetrate tank armor and shrugs off soldiers’ gunfire as if they were kids with peashooters. He has little grasp of tactics (though he knows how to team up with other Eurostar members to maxi- mize their effectiveness); he prefers to just leap into the middle of battle and begin swinging his fists. He’s surprisingly fast and agile for someone of his size, which sometimes takes his opponents by surprise. Given a decent chance of success, he’ll plant his feet and prepare to unleash a Haymaker on his opponent.
Durak’s biggest weakness is his low EGO; he’s an easy target for heroic mentalists or mystic supers with mind-controlling spells. If this becomes too much of a problem, Fiacho will design a Psychic Shield for his mask (i.e., he’ll buy some Mental Defense on a Focus).
Campaign Use: Durak is really nothing more (or less) than major muscle for Eurostar; he has all the depth of a wading pool.
If Durak is too strong and powerful for your game, reduce his STR to 60, get rid of his Super- Strong Muscles power, and reduce his defenses to 25. If he’s not tough enough to go toe-to-toe with PC bricks and have at least an even chance of beating them, increase his STR and defenses until he’s on par.
Appearance: Nearly seven feet tall and weighing over 350 pounds, Durak is an enormous mass of super-strong muscle. His costume is a grey bodysuit with red highlights (including a D on his left breast) and a half-face mask (with protective lenses to shield his eyes from bright lights). His lower right face is permanently mis-shapen and scarred due to the beating he received from the KGB agent.
Background/History: Hanz Zeldte was once a mercenary with a well-deserved reputation for taking on any job, no matter how reprehensible or dangerous, if the pay was good. A mysterious employer offered him a small fortune to obtain samples of an experimental fuel called “X-53” from a French research corporation. Zeldte didn’t know what X-53 was, but for that much money, he didn’t care. He took the job.
The mission went perfectly at first. He and his team penetrated the company’s security, got inside, and found the lab without any problem. But it took so long to find the X-53 that the guards spotted them. Grabbing the container of X-53, Zeldte ran for it. A stray bullet from one of the guards’ pistols shattered the container, dousing Zeldte with the fuel. To his horror, he burst into flame! He fell to the ground screaming, rolling in the dirt to try to put the flames out... only to discover, a few seconds later, that he was on fire, but not feeling any pain at all. Then he passed out from shock.
He awoke in a special hospital, one maintained by L’Institut Thoth to help people with unusual superhuman conditions. He was in a bed — a bed with asbestos sheets, because his body was still on fire! In fact, according to the doctors, he was going to remain on fire permanently. Somehow the X-53 had interacted with his cellular structure to cause an instantaneous, irreversible mutation.
As Zeldte tried to come to terms with his new body, he was contacted by the evil mastermind Professor Muerte. Muerte thought Zeldte would be a perfect addition to his Terror, Inc. villain team — and the pay was excellent. Zeldte had had enough of the hospital anyway, so he took the Professor up on his offer. Christening himself
Feuermacher (Firemaker), he became a part of the
Superhuman World.
Over the next several years, Feuermacher fought against the likes of the Sentinels, the Justice Squadron, and plenty of other heroes — usually on the losing end. He became more and more disgusted with Professor Muerte’s “leadership”; the man was dangerously insane. It was time to find a better job, with a better class of people. It was about then that his teammate Scorpia approached him about the possibility of getting rid of Muerte and joining Eurostar — a villain team with a much better reputation in Feuermacher’s eyes. He jumped at the chance. A few weeks later he dropped Muerte’s body, encased in the ruins of powered armor he’d melted into a solid cocoon of slag, into the deeps of the Pacific. Then he and Scorpia set out for Switzerland, and
he’s been doing great ever since.
Personality/Motivation:
Feuermacher carries a lot of rage and bitterness around with him over his condition — which keeps him from interacting with ordinary people in any meaningful way, and often makes day-to-day life difficult — but he masks it through a combination of professionalism and wise- cracking. Only in battle does he really give vent to his anger, and even then he tends to joke around a lot (though his opponents rarely find his jokes amusing). He shares Durak’s contempt for ordinary people (another defense mechanism). If given the chance to reverse his condition, even if it meant risking his life, he’d take it.
Since he knows he’s cut off from many types of entertainment, Feuermacher is willing to spend prodigious amounts of money on those types he
can enjoy (like buying recorded music or movies
by mail order). Despite making so much money as part of Eurostar, he’s perpetually strapped for cash, and sometimes pulls “side jobs” on his own to keep his pockets lined.
Here are some facts characters and NPCs might know about Feuermacher if they succeed with an appropriate Skill Roll:
N/R: Feuermacher is a fire-manipulating villain who’s a member of Eurostar. His real name is Hans Zeldte; he’s a German who used to be a mercenary.
K/R: Feuermacher can’t turn off his fiery form; he’s always ablaze.
-2: Feuermacher can create “shapes” out of fire and use them to attack a target from nearly any angle.
-4: Like many fire-using superhumans, Feuermacher is more strongly affected by Water-based attacks than most people.
-6: The constant blaze of Feuermacher’s body makes it difficult for him to see, hear, and smell things.
-8: Feuermacher sometimes seems to be a little protective of Scorpia in combat.
-10: Feuermacher resents the way his condition cuts him off from other people and would love to find a way to reverse it... or better yet, alter his powers so he can turn his “Fiery Form” on and off at will.
Val Char Cost Roll Notes
10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [1] 21 DEX 22 13-
25 CON 15 14-
18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 10-/8- 15 EGO 5 12-
18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3½d6 8 OCV 25 7 DCV 20 3 OMCV 0 5 DMCV 6 5 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 6 PD 4 Total: 22 PD (16 rPD) 10 ED 8 Total: 34 ED (24 rED) 7 REC 3 50 END 6 10 BODY 0
36 STUN 8 Total Characteristics Cost: 168
Movement: Running: 12m
Flight: 40m
Cost Powers END
67 Fiery Attacks: Multipower, 67-point reserve
6f 1) Fiery Blast: Blast 10d6 2
Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)
6f 2) Melting Blast: RKA 3d6 2
Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)
6f 3) Fireball: Blast 8d6 6
Area Of Effect (18m Radius Explosion; +½)
6f 4) Fiery Shapes: RKA 2d6 2
Indirect (Source Point is always Feuermacher, but Path can alter to can strike target from any angle; +½), +1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)
4f 5) Fiery Prison: RKA 2d6 0
Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Targets Only Take Damage If They Touch Cage Or Move Into/Out Of The Affected Area (see APG 134; -½)
60 Fiery Wall: RKA 2d6 3
Area Of Effect (25m long, 4m high Line; +¾), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); No Knockback (-¼)
33 Fiery Form: RKA 2d6 0
Constant (+½), Area Of Effect (personal Surface — Damage Shield; +¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+¼); Always On (-½), No Range (-½), Unified Power (with other Fiery Form powers; -¼)
48 Fiery Form Flight: Flight 40m 0
Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power (with other Fiery Form powers; -¼)
48 Fiery Form Protection: Resistant Protection
(16 PD/24 ED) 0
Unified Power (with other Fiery Form powers; -¼)
4 Fiery Body: Life Support (Safe Environments: Intense Cold, Intense Heat) 0
Skills
15 +3 with Fiery Attacks Multipower 3 Climbing 13-
2 AK: Africa 11- 2 AK: Europe 11- 2 AK: South America 11-
2 KS: The Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World 11- 2 KS: The Superhuman World 11-
2 Language: English (fluent conversation; German is Native) 1 Language: Esperanto (basic conversation)
3 Shadowing 13-
4 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical) 13- 3 Tactics 13-
3 Teamwork 13- 3 WF: Small Arms, Blades Total Powers & Skills Cost: 341 Total Cost: 509
400 Matching Complications (75)
25 Hunted: New Knights Of The Round Table (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)
25 Hunted: UNTIL (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Capture) 30 Physical Complication: only has a Sight PER Roll of 10-,
and all other PER Rolls are 8- (All The Time, Greatly Impairing)
15 Psychological Complication: Spendthrift (Common, Strong)
15 Psychological Complication: Contempt For Normal Humans (Common, Strong)
15 Social Complication: Public Identity (Hans Zeldte) (Frequently, Major)
10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN from Water attacks (Uncommon) Total Complications Points: 75
Champions Villains Volume Two: Villain Teams n Eurostar 105
Feuermacher has a little bit of a crush on Scorpia. He knows nothing can ever come of it, but he still looks out for her a little more in combat and would protect her before any of the others if he had to make a choice.
Quote: “Things getting a little hot for you, hero?”
Powers/Tactics: Although not as powerful or versatile as the likes of Firewing, Feuermacher possesses a useful suite of fire-based superpowers. He can fly, generate various types of fire-bolts, surround his foes with walls or cages made of pure fire, and melt or deflect incoming attacks with the fiery mantle that surrounds his body. Perhaps his most unusual ability, the one from which he takes his name, is Fiery Shapes — the ability to sculpt flame into semi-solid objects before using it to attack. For example, he might create a fire-hawk that swoops around to hit an opponent in the back, or a fire-disk he can arc over an enemy’s Barrier.
Feuermacher’s body is on fire permanently, making it dangerous for other characters to touch him (or let him touch them). His flames only go out if there’s no oxygen to support them, and they return as soon as they have access to oxygen. Eurostar’s headquarters and equipment include fireproofed sections able to withstand his flames so he can try to live a quasi-normal existence. Unfortunately, the flames interfere with his ability to perceive things, and make it impossible for him to wear a wrist radio like his teammates do.
Campaign Use: If Feuermacher is too powerful for your game, get rid of his Melting Blast and Fireball Multipower slots, and then move Fiery Prison and Fiery Wall into the Multipower (increasing the reserve as needed to accomodate them). If you need him to be more powerful, give him some additional Multipower slots, and increase the strength of his Resistant Protection.
Appearance: Feuermacher looks like a tall, athletic man sheathed in flame from head to foot. Sometimes he shapes the flames into boots, gaunt- lets, and a sort of mask at the appropriate places, just to give himself a little more visual defini- tion. Sometimes, particularly when he’s using his powers intensely, the flames around his head and hands take on more of a butane-flame blue color than a typical orange-red.
Background/History: A daughter of the Medinas of Spain, and twin sister to the world-infamous Menton, Isabella Medina comes from a rather distinguished lineage (see CV1 118 for details). When she was young, her parents turned her and her brother over to Dr. Destroyer to become experimental subjects in his psionics program. Destroyer unlocked the twins’ psionic potential, making Menton extremely powerful and Isabella, code-named “Mentalla,” less so — but still quite powerful in her own right.
Mentalla served Dr. Destroyer as a spy and assassin for many years. After his “death” in 1992, she decided the time had come to strike out on her own. She didn’t share Rakshasa’s faith that the master would one day return, and in any event she was tired of serving him faithfully only to be repaid with harsh punishments for even the slightest failure. But she needed somewhere to go, and someone to help protect her from Destroyer’s other servants, if they decided to seek vengeance for her “defection;” unlike Menton, she lacked the raw power to do that on her own.
That’s when she thought of Eurostar. Destroyer had once assigned her to investigate the group and assess its danger to his overall plans, and Mentalla had been struck by how much she had in common with Fiacho. Like him, she was intrigued by political philosophy and social theories, and to some extent she sympathized with his desire to lead Europe. She abandoned Destroyer’s faltering organization and sought out Eurostar to apply for membership.
At first the group was highly suspicious of her, especially given the nature of her powers. But she never did anything to justify their worries, and it quickly became apparent just how useful her psionic abilities were to the group. By 1995, she’d been removed from provisional status and made a full-fledged member.
Personality/Motivation: The first impression Mentalla gives is a good one — she seems smart, reasonably friendly, and self-confident. Get to know her a little better, though, and her true personality emerges. Self-assured to the point of arrogance, and completely disdainful of those around her, she thinks nothing of manipulating the minds of others as she sees fit. To her, they’re just toys to keep her amused... until she decides to break them. The only person she truly seems to love and respect is Menton, though she enjoys having political discussions with Fiacho.
Quote: “Don’t mind if I do.”
Powers/Tactics: Mentalla has powerful psionic and psychokinetic abilities — not nearly as powerful as those of her brother Menton, but stronger than those possessed by most other mentalists. She’s particularly good and taking a person’s willpower and reducing it to next to nothing; the victim won’t recover for hours. While in this “mindwiped” state, a victim is even more