After playing in Tony's badass Earth Prime con scenario, I came away with a new perspective on running con scenarios. Previously I'd let players create their own characters and frame the game however we felt like. And these games were fun, but they were often confused and spastic. Then, after a brainstorming session for a Mutants & Masterminds game, I had the perfect con scenario.

All the superheroes are dead. Only the super-villains are left, and the world has been torn apart by their feuds and squabbles. But now, the Cosmic Devourer is coming, putting the Earth that that the villains have fought so hard over in grave peril. Once more, the first time since the villains schemed to kill the heroes, the villains gather to plot and plan and put their powers together for the cause of... good?

I ran this game once for a three total newbies and one vet, and it was a hit. The players latched right onto the villains and the premise and required no coaching. This let *me* free up my energy to explaining rules issues. I am never going into a con game without characters and, this is way important, Exemplar relationships prepared. It was so useful as a shortcut to explaining character relationships and giving the players conflicts they were immediately invested in. So, here's the prep - if you ever run this let me know how it goes.

The Clown

Powers
Chainsaws 5
Breathe Fire 2
Poison Gas 1
Acrobatics 3
Feel no pain 4

Styles
Massacre* 3
Juggle* 1
Bloody mess, but refuses to die* 2

Personality
Insane 4
Homocidal 3
Bloodthirsty 2
Amused 1

Drives
Despair 2
Fear 4
Obsession 1
Power 1
Pride 1

Exemplar
Fear: The First - Make the First nervous.

Lord Fear

Powers
Magical Armor 5
Spells 4
Summon demons 1
Super-genius 2
Inventions 3

Styles
Fusion of science and magic* 3
Scoff 1
Crackle with energy* 2

Personality
Imperious 4
Intelligent 3
Quick to anger 1
Arrogant 2

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 1
Obsession 2
Power 2
Pride 3

Exemplar
Pride: Evolution - Counter Evolution's innate abilities with science and magic.

Parasite

Powers
Climb walls 1
Super-strength 3
Claws 4
Spit poison 2
Large teeth 5

Styles
Talk to self 2
Scuttle* 1
Struggle in vain against parasite personality 3

Personality
Alien 4
Insane 3
Delusional 2
Tortured 1

Drives
Despair 4
Fear 1
Obsession 2
Power 1
Pride 1

Exemplar
Despair: The Clown - Have a friendly interaction with the Clown.

Mastermind

Powers
Super-genius 3
Inventions 2
Wealth 1

Styles
Planned for this* 5
On his bad side 4
Knows your weakness* 3
Big speech 2
Buy anything* 1

Personality
Ruthless 4
Vengeful 2
Calculating 3
Meticulous 1

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 1
Obsession 3
Power 2
Pride 2

Exemplar
Obsession: Conqueror - Get Conqueror to admit *I* actually killed Astroman.

Cosmic Devourer

Powers
Invulnerable 5
Cosmic strength 4
Eye lasers 3
Fly through space 2
Devour planet 1

Styles
Swat like a fly* 2
Ignore astonishing amounts of damage* 3
Casually destroy something huge* 1

Personality
Unimpressed 4
Arrogant 3
Hungry 1
Curious 2

Drives
Despair 2
Fear 2
Obsession 1
Power 2
Pride 2

Exemplar
Despair: Mastermind - Get Mastermind to admit defeat.

Conqueror

Powers
Super-genius 4
Super-speed 3
Super-strength 1
Death ray 2

Styles
Use mathematical formulae for evil* 3
"Bow before me!" 2
Reveal death ray's additional capabilities* 1

Personality
Megalomaniac 5
Power-hungry 4
Arrogant 3
Obsessed 2
Demanding 1

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 2
Obsession 2
Power 2
Pride 2

Exemplar
Power: Cosmic Devourer - Defeat Cosmic Devourer in single combat.

Master Assassin

Powers
Martial arts 5
Sword master 2
Ninja magic 4
Shuriken 1
Stealth 3

Styles
Without a sound* 3
Do something abruptly violent without saying anything 1
Hyper-kinetic* 2

Personality
Calm 3
Silent 4
Self-assured 2
Deadly 1

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 2
Obsession 1
Power 2
Pride 3

Exemplar
Pride: Bomber - Humiliate Bomber for his reliance on technology.

Bomber

Powers
Rocket pack 5
Bombs 3
Super-strength 2
Techno-visor 1
Armor 4

Styles
Fly-by attack* 3
Talk to self 2
Attacks bounce off armor* 1

Personality
Angry 1
Volatile 3
Insane 2
Obsessive 4

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 2
Obsession 2
Power 2
Pride 2

Exemplar
Obsession: Lord Fear - Demonstrate technological superiority.

Evolution

Powers
Mind control 1
Telekinesis 4
Telepathy 3
Precognition 2

Styles
Helpless before me* 3
"We deserve to rule" 4
Extract secrets* 1
Demonstrate human inferiority 5
Psychic blast* 2

Personality
Drive 3
Focused 2
Cold 1

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 1
Obsession 2
Power 3
Pride 2

Exemplar
Power: Master Assassin - Demonstrate limitations of human ability

The First

Powers
Regenerate 2
Grow new limbs 3
Change size 1
Adapt biology 4

Styles
Grotesque shapeshifting* 3
Hiss and snarl 2
"Before your species even existed..." 1

Personality
Arrogant 1
Alien 4
Predatory 5
Hostile 2
Bestial 3

Drives
Despair 1
Fear 3
Obsession 1
Power 2
Pride 2

Exemplar
Fear: Parasite - Get Parasite to back down in an alpha male challenge.

Oh, and styles with asterisks are super-powered Styles.

Bret wrote: Devour planet 1

Oh, and as another addendum, I always frame the first scene in some supervillain's lair with a big table. Oh, and crap! Comics Code:

The Earth cannot be destroyed.
Supervillains cannot die.

When there's an hour of the slot left, the Comics Code disappears. :)

TonyLB wrote:

Bret wrote: Devour planet 1

LOL!  That's beautiful.  "Yeah, yeah, it's not like, a major power, but my guy has the ability to devour an entire planet.  It's just this thing he does."

Bret, I ran a 4 hour session using this scenario at my FLGS yesterday and it was a blast for everybody involved.  Two of the other players had only played a 15 minute demo session before, while the third had no prior experience with Capes.  Afterwards all three said they'd be very interested in playing in a regular ongoing Capes game, and the one who was playing for the first time expressed his intent to buy the Capes book (as well as putting together his own set of poker chips, dice, and laminated click-n-locks). 

We're getting together again sometime in the next few weeks to discuss a monthly game together, so this scenario may have accomplished something I've been trying to do for quite a while now:  putting together regular Capes play.  Yay!  Thanks Bret!

I'm planning on running this again for another group of friends when I visit Memphis in mid-October.  I'm looking forward to seeing how that session differs from this one.

Matt, that's awesome! This made my day. If you post any AP I'd love to see it.

Wow, yeah ... that's a hell of an endorsement for the scenario!

It's also encouraged me to write up another one. I have an idea and it involves cave men.

Great work, Bret! I'm going to run this in a couple of weeks, and I think it'll be excellent for Capes, for all the reasons you cite in your first post.

I get most of these characters, but can anyone help me out with some inspirations for The First, Evolution, Master Assassin, and Conqueror?

Let me see if I remember.

Evolution was a Magneto/Professor X-esque guy.
Master Assassin is a generic ninja.
Conqueror is based on Darkseid pretty shamelessly.
I'm not sure who the First is based on, actually, but the notion is that he's the first sentient organism, predating humans, who can change his genetic structure and whatnot. He's sort of Apocalypse-based.

Thanks, Bret. That locks it all into place for me.

After posting, I wondered if Master Assasin was based on Ra's Al Ghul (the Liam Neeson version).

I'm looking forward to your next one, Bret.  Playing this scenario, plus reading this Capes Shadowrun AP prompted me to write my own Capes Shadowrun convention scenario.  Once I've gotten to playtest it and I'm satisfied, I'll post it for everybody.