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Mastermind Tropes

Started by KidKourage, April 24, 2020, 08:36:54 PM

KidKourage

For this year's anniversary, I feel the need to share the last of my thoughts and ideas about City of Heroes. 
Mind Control Mastermind
So the two most common Mastermind tropes that people will likely recall from comics are the charismatic and the manipulator varieties.  The charismatic is able to convince people to do things they know they should not; the manipulator can force them to do so, by blackmail, fear, or even by direct mental control. 
Either way, both of these represent the Mind Control Mastermind exemplified by The Puppet Master.  The Henchmen are common people, and there's not really much to upgrade; so 3 summon and only 1 upgrade power, plus a power similar to Gang War.  Your 4 remaining powers are Mesmerize, Total Domination, Confuse, and Terrify.  While the Henchmen would appear to make this set weaker than average, one thing I would love to see, which I think would help balance things out, is to replace the Confuse power with a special version called 'Manipulation'.  The idea is that when you target a foe for which you have the Gladiator badge, you take control of that character, replacing one of your henchmen.  If you don't then the power activates like normal Confuse.
Replicating Mastermind
Another very popular Mastermind would be the replicating Mastermind – a la Dr. Aeon! This Mastermind can duplicate him/herself many times over.  The henchmen get the same power sets as you do, but their summoning powers are replaced with powers from the fighting pool, and the lower level henchmen obviously do not get the full power sets.  Your other four powers are all short ranged attack/mez powers: a zap, a slow, a knockback, and a stunner.
This one in particular seems like something that could be proliferated to Scrappers and Stalkers (thinking of Billy Numerous and The Multiple Man here).
Affiliation Mastermind
I have to admit, I always thought it would be cool to play a character much like Nick Fury as a unit commander for a game organization like Longbow, Vanguard, or Arachnos.  Gimme a handful of troopers, a couple specialists, and a right hand man like Dum-Dum Doogan (or Contessa).  But honestly, almost any of the game's organizations could use a good leader that could be reliably counted on to lead a tactical situation; from a Family Underboss to a PPD SWAT commander to a Sky Raider Captain to a Chaos Mage from the Circle of Thorns.
I'll grant it would be very difficult to pull it off.  The templates exist for all the henchmen you could want, but what do you do for the other Mastermind powers?   Exchange/customize them by organization?  It'd be a lot of work for a tiny fragment of the character population, but it would be so cool! 
Other Masterminds
I'm also left to wonder how close other mastermind sets were to existing.  With Stoney and Frosty as top tier and Fire Imps at the low end, they might have been close to an 'Element' master.