The Watchtower Report

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/Watchtower_R&D: Cam Banks, Jason Corley, Jack Norris,

and Josh Roby

/Watchtower_Editorial: Amanda Valentine

/Watchtower_Graphic_Design: Tiara Lynn Agresta

/Watchtower_DC_Comics_Liaison: Christopher Cerasi

and Shawn Kittelsen

/Watchtower_QA_Testing: Chris Czerniak, Tony Delgado, Morgan Ellis,

Will Huggins, Colin Jessup, Judson Lester, Ryan Macklin, Sarah Miller, Mike Olson,

James Ritter, Meghann Robern, Benjamin Roby, Seth Roby, Sonja Roby, and

Mark Vallianatos

/Watchtower_Stakeholders_and_Support: Adrian Agresta, Jessica Banks, the

Bear Swarm, Christi Cardenas, Town of Cloverdale, Kim Corley, Erica Durance,

Cassidy Freeman, Justin Hartley, Susan Kesser, Diana Pearson, Brian Peterson,

Meghann Robern, Source Comics & Games, Kelly Souders, Starkville House of El,

Clark Valentine, Margaret Weis, and Tom Welling

/This book is dedicated to all of the game hackers, bloggers, podcasters,

fanfic writers, cheerleaders, and supporters who continue to spread the

word and save the world. Stay out of the Phantom Zone.

Based on the SMALLVILLE Roleplaying Game created by Cam Banks, Roberta Olson, and

Josh Roby with Tiara Lynn Agresta, Joseph & Mary Blomquist, and Amanda Valentine

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

SMALLVILLE and all related names, characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics

© 2011. All rights reserved. CW logo © 2011 The CW Network, LLC. All photo images © and TM

2011 WBEI. Margaret Weis Productions, the MW Logo, Cortex System, the Cortex System Logo

(and derivatives), and Project K are trademarks of Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. © 2011.

FOLDERNAME: The Watchtower Report

™

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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

THE VIEW FROM UP HERE 5

Looking at the Rules . . . . 6

Looking at the Opposition . . . . 6

What’s in this Book? . . . . 6

EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS 7

The Role of the Villain . . . . 8

Villainous Archetypes . . . . 9

Antagonists at the Table:

Villainous Leads . . . . 12

Minor Features: Bad Made Easy . . . . . 14

The Casefiles . . . . 15

CASEFILES:

BELLE REVE SANITARIUM . . . 16

Alicia Baker . . . 17 Eric Summers . . . 18 Ian Randall. . . 19 Tim Wescott . . . .20 Tina Greer . . . 21 Tommy Lee . . . .22 The Twins . . . .22

EXPANDING PATHWAYS 23

Introducing New Leads . . . . 24

Variations on Pathways . . . . 26

Quick and Dirty Features . . . . 30

DISTINCTIONS CHART

32 CASEFILES:

BLACK CREEK, MONTANA . . .33

Betty Sans Succi . . . .34

Eva Greer . . . .35 Leslie Willis . . . .35 Neutron . . . .36 Rudy Jones . . . .36 Linda Lake . . . 37 Sebastian Kane . . . .38

EXPANDING RESOURCES 97

Variations on Resources . . . . 98

CASEFILES:

ZONERS & ALIENS . . . 102

Aldar . . . 102 Baern . . . 103 Bizarro . . . 104 Dr. Hudson . . . 105 Faora . . . 106 Gloria . . . 108 Titan . . . 108 Zod . . . 109 Zor-El . . . 111

THE STORY SO FAR

113 Season Ten . . . .114

SEASON TEN

FEATURE UPDATES

132 NEW SEASON TEN FEATURES 135

Booster Gold . . . .135

Cat Grant . . . .136

Conner Kent . . . .136

Deadshot . . . .137

Desaad . . . .138

Emil Hamilton . . . .139

General Slade Wilson . . . .140

General Sam Lane . . . .141

Gordon Godfrey . . . .142

Granny Goodness . . . .143

Harriet . . . .144

Isis . . . .145

Jaime Reyes . . . .146

Lieutenant Trotter . . . .147

Lucy Lane . . . .147

Mera . . . .148

Rick Flag . . . .149

EXPANDING PLAY 39

THE ROLE OF WATCHTOWER 40

Collaboration Vs . Competition . . . . 40

Watchtower Resources . . . . 41

SIDELINE EPISODES

43 Parallel Stories and Sideliners . . . . 43

Identify the Sideliners . . . . 44

Identify the Leads and Traits Targeted

by the Sideliners’ Actions . . . . 44

Create the Sideliners and Situation . . 44

Identify the Key Decision for

Each Sideliner . . . . 46

Play the Episode . . . . 46

Play Out the Key Decision in the

Tag Scene . . . . 46

But They’re So Cool! . . . . 46

What Do We Do in a Parallel Game?—

Identifying the Goal . . . . 47

Kitty Brennan . . . . 47

Katrina O’Brien . . . . 47

Deirdre C . Loudermill . . . . 48

Holly Brennan . . . . 48

Create the Situation . . . . 48

Advancement . . . . 48

CASEFILES: LEVEL 33.1 . . . . .49

Daniel Kim . . . .50 Jed McNally . . . .50 Lowell Wilson . . . 51 Moira Sullivan . . . 51 Mikhail Mxyzptlk . . . .52 Molly Griggs . . . .52 Nick Yang . . . .53 Tobias Rice . . . .54

EXPANDING DRIVES

55 VALUES 56

Variations on Values

56 RELATIONSHIPS 60

CASEFILES:

LUTHORCORP PROJECTS . . .64

PROJECT 1138 Buffy Sanders . . . .65 PROJECT ARES Wes Keenan . . . .66 PROJECT GEMINI Grant Gabriel . . . 67 PROJECT INTERCEPT . . . .68 PROJECT MERCURY . . . .68 PROJECT PROMETHEUS . . . .69 PROJECT SCION . . . 70 PROJECT STARKHAWK Typical DDS Agent . . . 70

EXPANDING ASSETS

71 DISTINCTIONS 72

Variations on Distinctions . . . . 72

New Distinctions . . . . 74

Fighting Styles . . . . 77

Metamorph Heritages . . . . 79

ABILITIES 81

Variations on Abilities . . . . 81

New Abilities . . . . 82

GEAR 84

Variations On Gear . . . . 85

New Gear . . . . 86

CASEFILES:

VERITAS SOCIETY . . . .90

Dr. Bridgette Crosby . . . 91 Laura Queen . . . 91 Robert Queen . . . .92 Dr. Virgil Swann . . . .93 Patricia Swann . . . .94 Edward Teague . . . .95 Genevieve Teague . . . .96

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/Smallville has been a prominent part of my life for a few years now.

Throughout my involvement with the show, I have been gifted with the

responsibility of playing Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow – I even had a

chance to be part of writing an episode. I have learned countless things

from my time on the show, but perhaps none more important than the

following: the green suit is hot in the summer and cold in the winter –

who would have thought. Also, I’ve experienced that once you become

a part of Smallville, in any capacity, you inescapably become a fan of the

story of Clark Kent, and his hard fought journey to become Superman.

The character is fascinating, and so is the way the writers tell Clark’s

story. I’m not going to lie to you, probably like any other fan, there are

times when I wish the story had taken another turn, or that something

had or had not happened in a given script… or that I was Lois – that’s one

lucky girl. Well, now is my chance – yours, too. You can become a part of

Smallville by taking its storytelling to the limits of your imagination. Step

inside our world as your own character – find out how your Smallville

story will begin, how it will end…

or how Oliver looks in a pencil skirt.

/Thanks for watching. It’s truly

been a joy to be part of such a

special show, surrounded by

wonderful people – from the cast

and crew, to the fans. Now, enjoy

“your” Smallville. And let’s see if we

can make Clark fly!

…Justin Hartley

FOREWORD //

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All of Metropolis spreads out beneath our feet; you can see Smallville off on the horizon. These monitors are hooked up to CCTV, security cameras, and traffic cameras—not all of it exactly legal—but you can more-or-less see everywhere. And over here are the hook ups to government databases, bank records, and…well, everything else with an electronic network that can be peeked into. So basically from here, you can see everything.

You can work from up here, manipulating things to poke and prod the people down below to amuse yourself. Let me tell you, though—that gets a little hollow over time. The real fun comes when you invite them up here to join you.

And that’s sort of the idea for this book. Sure, the cover of the book says Smallville: The Watchtower Report, but it isn’t the Watchtower book, only for Watchtowers. This book is for everyone at the table, written from Watchtower’s vantage point. When we say “you” it usually directly addresses Watchtower—Play Advice boxes and Antagonists at the Table: Villainous Leads being notable exceptions—but you players know not to let that put you off.

This book takes the Smallville Roleplaying Game apart from the top down, fiddles with all the parts and whirring gears, and then puts it back together—possibly in a completely different shape than when it started. It also goes behind the scenes a little, revealing more about the nature of antagonists and throwing obstacles in the path of the Leads. But this book also touches on the way that even Leads can be bad guys, because Lex is just as important to the Smallville story as Clark.

Are you ready? Good. Let’s get started.

Looking at the Rules

This book talks about rules a lot. It expands the rules chapters in the Smallville RPG, from Pathways to People, adding optional and variant approaches to existing game mechanics. The reason for this is simple—roleplaying games are fun to tinker with. The Cortex Plus rules, especially, are open to a lot of hacks and mods; Smallville’s already a kind of drama toolkit, so it makes sense that you might want to add more tools.

In Smallville, the rules exist to help you tell dramatic stories about people who come into conflict with each other and with the forces that seek to drive them apart. You’ve probably noticed by now that they don’t necessarily represent real world physics any more than the Smallville television series does. Instead, the Smallville rules step in and help you wrestle with that same kind of script logic that powers all cinematic narrative, the one that emphasizes motivation, connections, ambitions, and desire. The expanded rules in this book go to greater lengths to help you achieve that, but there are also tweaks and options to make it easier for you to justify those real world physics, even if it’s just for the sake of clarity and good stories.

There are also basic expansions that take existing rules and push them a bit further. Resources that use more than 2 dice, for instance. Or new Distinctions and Abilities, some with new benefits or drawbacks. This is the core of most RPG supplements, and that’s all here, too.

Finally, we sprinkle a lot of troubleshooting advice throughout the book in the form of Play Advice and Watchtower Alerts. Want something clarified from the SmallvilleRPG? Curious as to how to add something into your game without throwing it off? Don’t understand what we meant by something? Many of these boxes directly address actual feedback and questions we’ve had since the

SmallvilleRPG was published. With any luck, your questions are all answered here. And, if not, it should at least get you started on figuring out the answers yourself.

Looking at the Opposition

This book also talks a lot about the bad guys—the antagonists and opposing forces that make Smallville a real drama of conflicting ideals and ambitions. Casefiles between each of the chapters cover important (or just interesting) Features from the past ten years of the Smallville series, and Expanding the Story So Far catches you up on Season Ten’s new characters.

The Casefiles are an important part of the Watchtower’s repertoire, even if you don’t use them as written. Each meteor freak and malevolent alien included in the Casefiles is an example of how to create wedges between the Leads, or force them to come together to overcome an obstacle they can’t take on alone. Some of Clark’s foes over the years have been truly frightening (just look at Brainiac in the Smallville RPG) while others are more significant for how they created tension between Clark and Lex, or Clark and Chloe, or any other tense relationship. You can use them as inspiration for your own Features or as fuel for antagonistic Leads. Go crazy.

The antagonists in this book are also here for much the same reason that new and expanded game rules are here—it’s always fun to see how game rules represent characters and situations from TV or movies. Because characters are always changing, and new developments in the plot are always happening, you might decide that the Value statements for Isis or Zod or Booster Gold don’t quite match how you’ve always seen them. The good news is that you can change any or all of those aspects of a writeup—we can assure you that you’re not going to break the game.

What’s in this Book?

▼

▼ The View From Up Here: That’s this bit. Listed here purely for

completists.

▼

▼ Expanding Antagonists: More rules and suggestions for

running—and playing—villains and bad guys in Smallville. Casefile: Belle Reve, Kansas Inmates of this infamous institution.

▼

▼ Expanding Pathways: Advice for creating and modifying

Pathways charts for variant spinoff campaigns.

Casefile: Black Creek, Montana Some of the subjects of this secret site.

▼

▼ Expanding Play: Twists and turns on the rules of the game for

Watchtowers and players alike.

Casefile: Level 33.1 Lex and Lionel Luthor’s little-known laboratory location.

▼

▼ Expanding Drives: More ways to describe what motivates and

empowers you in the world of Smallville.

Casefile: LuthorCorp Projects Extra experiments of evil.

▼

▼ Expanding Assets: Additional Distinctions, Abilities, and

Gear, with some variant rules to go with them.

Casefile: Veritas Society A cabal of the Krypton-curious.

▼

▼ Expanding Resources: New spins on Extras and Locations.

Casefile: Zoners Jor-El’s Phantom Zone freaks and affiliated alien fiends.

▼

▼ Expanding the Story So Far: Updates for Season Ten,

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EXP

ANDING ANT

AGONISTS

EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS

A hero is defined by his villains. Without antagonists to fight, banter with, and occasionally seek to redeem, protagonists are just guys who stand around and wish there was something to do. Villains define heroes and other characters by being what they aren’t. This contrast emphasizes important qualities of the characters in a story and makes them seem more real, fun, and interesting. In other words, you need good bad guys.

But antagonists are tricky. They need to be active credible threats, but they can’t overshadow everyone else. They need to be dangerous, but if they just massacre everyone around there’s no more story. They need to be believable and compelling, but your players still need to feel good about beating them and foiling their plans. And since there tend to be more antagonists in most stories than protagonists, they need to come in various shapes, sizes, and flavors.

None of this is particularly easy. But if you can create the right villain or antagonist, the result is worth it. People remember the truly great bad guys at least as much as they remember the heroes who opposed them and the supporting characters they menaced.

Smallville has had some really great villains. Scratch that—they’ve had some of the most famous and best villains of all time. Anyone who knows about Superman or Clark Kent likely has heard of Lex Luthor, his bald-headed, super-genius arch-nemesis. People know you kneel before Zod. Doomsday

isn’t just a monster; he’s a walking tragic event. These guys are some of the nastiest, scariest, and most interesting antagonists around. And they’re not alone.

The following section includes many of the types of bad guys Clark and friends have faced over Smallville’s ten season run. They range from cold-blooded alien killers to the misunderstood meteor-infected. But that’s not all. We’ve also included advice for playing villains as Leads, rules for Minor Features, and a list of secret projects and locations primed to produce even more threats for your spinoff campaigns.

Ready? Let’s bring on the bad guys.

The Role of the Villain

We’ve touched on this a bit already, but let’s really talk about the roles of the villains in your spinoff. A villain isn’t just everything the good guy isn’t. Even baddies like Bizarro, who are supposed to be the hero’s opposite, aren’t just flipped copies of the hero. They have their own desires, beliefs, and personality. The more the villain shows up in a story, the more important these things become. A purse-snatching thug can be a thin character with a few distinguishing features. But the long-running or prominently featured bad guys should be more than that. They’re often the reason the heroes and their allies are getting involved in various events. So they need to be interesting and you need to know why they’re there.

Interesting villains are the ones you care about. That doesn’t necessarily mean you like them. You might hate them. You might despise what they represent, yet you want to reform them. The exact emotions a good villain evokes do matter, but it’s more important that they evoke some emotion. For the right story, even pathetic, funny bad guys are entertaining. Of course, you want the villain to hit the right notes. A funny loser is only a good villain when you want a funny loser. If you wanted a terrifying monster? That’s a problem.

VILLAINS ARE THEMATIC

So how do you make the right villain for the right story? You look at your Leads, their Values, Relationships, and other Traits. You look at your major Features and the overall feel of your stories. You find a theme or idea that resonates with all those things and select a villain that touches on that. You can use an existing villain or create your own to accomplish this. Either way, you’re looking for a character that will drive wedges between your Leads, inspire them to action, and hopefully be someone they care about. A villain might have the coolest powers, name, or backstory around, but if he doesn’t motivate and inspire the Leads then he’s a bad fit. Making this work isn’t always easy, but it’s very rewarding.

VILLAINS ARE FOILS

Most villains are also foils for the other Leads. This isn’t universal, but it’s pretty common and effective. Thus, when adding a villain to your story, try to figure out what aspects of another character you want to contrast and emphasize. Maybe your villain is greedy to help showcase the charity of a Lead. Or maybe he’s also charitable, but that virtue actually springs from a selfish desire that a more heroic character lacks. The differences

FROM: MERCY@Watchtower

TO: ARCHER01, BOYSCOUT, SEAKING, JJMARS, JSA_ALL,

RUNRUNRUN, CYB_VIC, MISS_ZZ, EMILH

SUBJECT: Casefiles

I am distributing updated casefiles on the LuthorCorp projects and major metahuman threats you have faced in the last few years. Some of this was acquired at great risk to me from LuthorCorp archives and government task force databases. Chloe put the rest together. With the recent VRA problems and increased scrutiny, this information is encrypted content with rotating security seeds to keep prying eyes away from what we know. That said, I know some of you like to keep this on your handhelds or laptops or whatever. Talk to me about protocols to make sure those don’t become a liability. Best practices, people. Best practices.

I know there are some gaps here. To be honest, I’m surprised we have this much after several core breaches, cover-ups, and mass file stripping. If by chance any of you have more to add, let me know. But it’s not a wiki. I hope most of you know what I mean when I say that. Victor, this reminds me. I think there are some recognition templates we can synch you up with later. Let’s dialogue about that and make it happen.

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EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS

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between the villain and others can be subtle or blatant, minor or major, important or trivial. All these variations tell something about all the characters involved and can produce even more ideas for scenes, conflicts, and plots.

THE LEADS LEAD THE WAY

One good way to approach villains is to decide what they’re going to do, give the Leads a fair chance to find things out, and then have them do that unless stopped by the Leads. This is especially good for Smallville, where the focus is more on story and drama than traditional victories. For example, if a villain is funding a revolution to generate defense contracts for his corporation, give the Leads clues and hints that this is occurring. If they don’t notice or care? Start the revolution. It isn’t necessary to have a Feature come in and fix things because that revolution will likely be just as interesting and dramatic as if the bad guy is stopped. After all, that’s what you’re looking to the villain for: interesting drama. It also reinforces the idea that the Leads are important. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean villains always succeed in their plans if not directly opposed by Leads. Sometimes one Lead alerting the right person will do the trick.

VILLAINS LOSE

Finally, your villains should usually lose. At least they should lose when Leads really try to stop them. This defeat doesn’t necessarily come fast or easy. But ultimately, after dramatic effort, most bad guys should go down. In the end, the whole reason the villains are here is to showcase what makes the Leads so great and to know the sting of defeat—at least until the next time.

Villainous Archetypes

Villains fall into many categories, from Assassins to Zealots. These villainous Archetypes aren’t meant as strict classifications that can never be changed, altered, or adapted. Instead, they’re general roles to look at when making your own bad guys or choosing suitable Wedges and plots involving existing villains. Some villains are a mix of villain types, but they usually tend to favor one Archetype over the others.

The following list of Archetypes is by no means complete. Feel free to add your own. Each Archetype entry consists of a brief description of the Archetype, examples from Smallville

and other sources, recommended Assets and Resources, what purpose the villain often serves in the story, and whether such a villain usually makes a good Lead.

ASSASSIN

This villain kills for profit and he rarely makes it personal. In many ways this just makes such a Feature more despicable, as there are few emotional ties between his victims and himself. To the Assassin, a dead body is just a paycheck. An Assassin may be paid in money, favors, promises of power, or anything else he values. If he fails in his mission, he might become obsessed with finishing the job. Most Assassins operate in secret and avoid media exposure, though many use signatures or gimmicks like Deadshot’s “bullet with your name on it.”

Examples: Deadshot (Smallville), Cameron Mahkent/ Icicle (Smallville), Colonel Sebastian Moran (The Return of

Sherlock Holmes)

Recommended Assets: Marksman, Martial Artist, Sneaky, and Weapons Master. Metahuman Assassins favor Abilities or Gear that allow them to quickly kill a target or escape detection.

Recommended Resources:Assistant, Order/Guild of Assassins, Safehouse

Story Purpose: To show the emptiness of a life of violence and greed, to menace an important Extra or Feature, and to force a Lead to choose between saving a victim or stopping another threat designed as a distraction.

Lead Suitability: Without motivations outside killing for profit, Assassins usually don’t make good Leads. An Assassin out for revenge after being betrayed or a killer trying to reform or retire might make a suitable Lead.

POWER BROKER

This villain represents ambition taken too far. The Power Broker usually has money, power, and everything most people would want. Of course, he wants more. Maybe he wants to have superhuman abilities, to be president, or to rule the world. He might even convince himself he’s serving a higher cause, but his ruthless methods tell a different story. He will lie, cheat, and murder to get what he wants. Also, this guy is so used to winning that he can easily become fixated on those who foil his schemes.

Examples: Lex Luthor (Smallville), Amanda Waller (Smallville), Richard III (Richard III)

Recommended Assets: Manipulative, Mastermind, and Wealthy are staples. Backhanded, Connected, Cosmopolitan, Fixer, and Vicious are also common.

Recommended Resources: Corporate Holding, Private Estate, Private Security Team

Story Purpose: To show the dangers of power lust and amorality, to buy out and shut down important Resources, and to use their underlings and intellect to uncover important secrets.

Lead Suitability: C’mon, it’s Lex flippin’ Luthor. Of course Power Brokers make good Leads.

DARK MIRROR

This villain is a twisted reflection of a hero. He resembles the hero in some way, physically or otherwise. However, his methods and goals are so twisted that he’s a misguided and dangerous duplicate. Most Dark Mirrors want something unsavory from their heroic counterparts. They want to destroy them, replace them, or torment them.

Commonly, Dark Mirrors actually are the hero in some sense. They might be the hero from an alternate reality where the hero went mad or became evil. They might be a deranged clone or a long lost evil twin.

Examples: Bizarro (Smallville), Clark Luthor (Smallville), Doomsday (Smallville), Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

Recommended Assets: Dark Mirrors typically have a mix of very similar and vastly different Assets from the heroes they reflect. Many Dark Mirrors share the Abilities and Heritage of the hero they resemble.

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EXP

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Recommended Resources: Dark Mirrors have whatever Resources best reflect the differences and similarities between them and their heroic counterparts.

Story Purpose: To replace the hero without others knowing, to frame the hero for a crime the villain committed, and to use abilities similar to a hero in evil ways to show how careful the hero must be to not become a monster.

Lead Suitability: Dark Mirrors make interesting Leads, as their mix of similarities and differences with their counterparts creates natural conflicts. A Dark Mirror’s skewed interpretation of the hero’s motives and goals can add depth to the story.

EVIL ALIEN

This villain is a threat from beyond. He might be from another planet, dimension, or an extremely remote place on Earth. He’s not entirely human and might actually represent a form of life unlike anything we’re familiar with. These differences are central to the villain and often give him great and strange powers, but that’s not why he’s dangerous. No, what makes him dangerous is how he uses those powers. For whatever reason, the Evil Alien is…well, evil. He wants to conquer, destroy, or terrorize humanity and he must be stopped for the good of all. Many Evil Aliens are terrible tyrants and criminals on their own world. Some are unfathomable entities of evil, impossible to reason with.

Examples: Darkseid (Smallville), Aldar (Smallville), Titan (Smallville), Cthulhu (Stories of H.P. Lovecraft)

Recommended Assets: Criminal, Mastermind, and Tyrant are common. Various Abilities or a Heritage to reflect

strange aliens powers is almost a must. Many Evil Aliens are the Lastof My Kind.

Recommended Resources: Alien Technology, Fanatical Followers, Home Planet, Spacecraft

Story Purpose: To unite the Leads against the great threat they pose, to kidnap Features and Leads for food or breeding stock, and to reveal something important about the world they come from. They usually stay behind the scenes for a long time before confronting the Leads face to face.

Lead Suitability: More civilized and sophisticated Evil Aliens make decent Leads, but many are too violent or possess habits and customs too hostile to socializing for this to work.

KILLER MACHINE

This villain symbolizes technology gone wrong. It might be a killer cyborg from the future, an insane supercomputer, or a genocidal robot. The Killer Machine is either emotionally twisted or has no emotions at all. It often uses cold calculations and ruthless efficiency to deal with obstacles. Its overall goal is usually embedded in its programming, giving it a drive that—mixed with a lack of emotion—can be very unsettling.

Examples: Brainiac (Smallville), John Corben/Metallo (Smallville)

Recommended Assets: Gearhead, Genius, Hacker, Mastermind, and On a Mission are common, as are Abilities such as Invulnerability, Super-Strengh, and Technopathy. Many Killer Machines use Gear as well.

Recommended Resources: Advanced Technology, Constructed Minion, Secret Facility

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EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS

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Story Purpose: To caution against the use of technology without morality, to contrast an emotional Lead or Feature, and to be programmed to eliminate or menace Leads, Features, and Extras.

Lead Suitability: While cyborgs and even robots make decent Leads, a Killer Machine usually doesn’t. If the other Leads can reprogram it or give it a “soul” of moral understanding, then it’s a good choice.

MAD SCIENTIST

This villain shows the danger of science unfettered by morality. He might be an unethical researcher out to make a buck, a geneticist trying to breed a killer virus or army of monsters, or a well-meaning kook too insane to see how dangerous he’s become. This villain usually can’t punch it out with a hero, but he can provide a constant stream of science-based threats. A Mad Scientist’s overall goal varies science-based on what he uses his genius for, whether it’s profit or enforcing social change from behind the barrel of a death ray.

Examples: Winslow Schott (Smallville), Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein), Dr. Moreau (The Island of Dr. Moreau)

Recommended Assets: Genius is almost required, and Clever, Gearhead, Hacker, and Mastermind are common. Some Mad Scientists might carry Gear, possess

Extraterrestrial Knowledge, or develop a way to give themselves Abilities.

Recommended Resources: Assistants, Laboratory, Secret Lair

Story Purpose: To show the dangers of knowledge used improperly, to create strange and dramatic threats to be stopped, and to seek revenge on those who foil their plans. Also an excellent source of Wedge Gear (described in Chapter 6: Expanding Assets) that makes the Leads’ lives complicated.

Lead Suitability: Mad Scientists can be great Leads, especially if they keep their twisted experiments secret or seem to be trying to help mankind.

SUPERNATURAL MONSTER

This villain represents the fear of mortality and the supernatural. From vampires to zombies to the spirits of the dead, a Supernatural Monster is a terrifying foe. This villain’s usually lost much of its humanity, though it might try to cling to relics of its human life for stability and comfort. Even if it isn’t inherently evil, it usually has bestial urges, inhuman hunger for blood or flesh, or other traits that make it extremely dangerous. In many cases, the Supernatural Monster must be destroyed utterly or it’s just going to return repeatedly to menace the living.

Examples: Silver Banshee (Smallville), Dracula (Dracula), Grendel (Beowulf)

Recommended Assets: Varies depending on the type of creature. For example, vampires would have the Thirsty

Heritage and related Abilities. Many Supernatural Monsters have some way of either possessing the body of a Lead or Feature or turning a Lead or Feature into a creature like them.

Recommended Resources: Ancient Crypt, Human or

Animal Minions, Old Spooky House

Story Purpose: To instill fear in those it attacks, to threaten Leads and Features with conversion into a terrible creature, and to attempt to spawn an army of monsters to conquer the mortal world. Time to break out the Empower rules.

Lead Suitability: Unless they just can’t be around people without always trying to harm them, many Supernatural Monsters make surprisingly good Leads. After all, morally conflicted vampires, unjustly murdered ghosts, or reluctant werewolves are no different from metahumans or meteor-infected. Right?

ZEALOT

This villain is completely, utterly, and dangerously devoted to his cause. This might be a political movement, an ideal, a religion, or even a person. Even if he isn’t devoted to worshipping dark gods or destroying the planet, he still takes his beliefs to dangerous extremes. The Zealot might seem normal at times, but when the subject of his fanaticism is raised you can see the hint of madness in his eyes.

Examples: Zor-El (Smallville), Gordon Godfrey (Smallville), Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)

Recommended Assets: Fanatic and On a Mission reflect the villain’s zealous nature. Many Zealots are Manipulative, Vicious, or even Savage. A Zealot may be a Pariah, cast out for his views.

Recommend Resources: Followers, Religious/ Political Institution, Sacred Site

Story Purpose: To show how blind devotion to even positive ideals can be dangerous, to push a Lead to question his beliefs, or to menace Leads, Features, and Extras the Zealots see as obstacles to their cause.

Lead Suitability: Zealots are hard to make into Leads unless they can mask their fanaticism very well or they come to it gradually through play. A former Zealot who is now a

Conscientious Objector to his cause could be an interesting Lead, villainous or otherwise.

What’s in a Name? Everything!

A villain’s name says a lot. It’s the name your heroes will be cursing and that Extras and Features will be uttering in fear, terror, and loathing. So make it count.

Alliterative names are popular. They stick in the mind and roll easily off the tongue. Just ask Lex Luthor. Or Lionel Luthor. Or Linda Lake. Or…well, you get the picture. Short punchy names also work, especially for aliens and the like. Zod uses this method. If you don’t like those options, try a name that turns into a good nickname. This could be ironic, like Mercy. Or it might be very appropriate, like The Wall. In any event, take a moment to consider a good name for your bad guys. It’ll be worth it when the hero is screaming it at the top of his lungs.

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of villainy, but how it applies to both a roleplaying game and a good story. What’s more, you need to deal with the fact that you’re a villain and a Lead. Unlike a “freak of the week,” you’re in this for the long haul. Your Lead may be a major antagonist, but you’re also part of the group. And that’s tricky.

So how are you going to figure all that out? Fear not, evildoers; the following section will help you be the worst you can be. From how to craft a really Class-A evil persona to the art of losing gracefully, the key elements of playing a villain lie ahead.

STEP ONE: EVIL, NOT VILE

Villainous Leads are still Leads. They can’t just conjure up the worst atrocity they can think of, unleash it on someone, and then call it a day. Sure that works once, but after you’ve forced a hero to watch as you kill and eat his grandma, that’s pretty much the end of nuanced and complex social interactions. Likewise, finding some real-life trauma and mimicking that in play isn’t cool either. None of this is particularly interesting, classy, or fun—and good villains should be all three.

So what to do instead? Be subtle. Be complex. One veiled threat often carries you farther than ten terrible acts. Work with the other players to menace, stymie, and frustrate their Leads in ways that don’t sever your Relationships in fun-killing ways. Sure, every group is different; but if within a few episodes one or more Leads want to just kill your villain and be done with it? You’re probably doing it wrong.

This also means that when you finally do decide it’s time to kill that Feature or blow up that Resource, it’s going to have real impact. Spamming wanton acts of terror and torment gets old pretty quickly. A surgical strike at a pivotal moment can be the high point of an entire series.

Example: As monstrous as Davis is inside, he doesn’t go around slaughtering the Daily Planet Bullpen or burning down orphanages. When he finally crosses the line and Jimmy dies? He leaves the series.

STEP TWO: YOU’RE NOT THE BAD GUY ALL THE TIME

Your Lead might be a black-hearted rogue, but you’ll get more mileage out of him as a character if he’s not pure evil. Look at the various villainous Leads in Smallville. From Lex to Zod, they all have their moments of helping others, trying to reach out to other Leads in friendship, and even trying to reform. What makes them villains isn’t that they never do this stuff. What makes them villains is that they suck at it.

So save the occasional puppy. Or have a code of honor that you never break. Maybe be nice to old people and children. Find a few laudable things about your Lead and bring those up occasionally. These virtues make your more nefarious actions seem all the worse and it’ll keep the heroes from writing you off. They’ll want to help you. They’ll try to find the good in you. Hey, they might even succeed—but probably not.

Example: Lex tries to be more like Clark for years. These efforts are twisted, selfish, and poisoned by Lex’s ego, but he still keeps trying. When he finally gives up? He soon ceases to be a regular Lead, dies, and is replaced by Tess.

ARCHETYPES IN PLAY

If you want to add a mechanical element to villain Archetypes, you can treat them much like a Distinction. Some Archetypes, such as Evil Alien or Killer Machine, might have somewhat different triggers based on the specific background of the character. For example, an Assassin Distinction might look like this:

ASSASSIN TRAINING

You’re a trained killer who knows how best to track, study, and eliminate a target. Roll this Distinction’s die when attacking your chosen target, studying targets for weaknesses, or planning an assassination.

d4: Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when you refuse to quit a difficult contract.

d8: Spend a Plot Point to Gain a d8 Relationship for the episode with your target or a related Lead or Feature. d12: Spend a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble to Increase your Injured or Exhausted Stress pool two steps against your chosen target only.

Antagonists at the Table:

Villainous Leads

So you want to be a bad guy. Why not? Villains can have a lot of fun and good bad guys are as memorable as the heroes they oppose. Lex Luthor is nearly as famous as Clark Kent despite his lack of incredible powers, and Zod has such a great catchphrase. However, given the nature of Lead dynamics, being bad can be tricky. Some types of villains just don’t work well in Smallville and others require thinking in atypical ways.

So how do you do wrong right? That’s an excellent question, and one that requires an answer in several parts. Super-weapons, secret bases, and henchmen might be a good place to start, but there’s more to being a great villain than an army of fanatical super-commandos. You need to understand not only the nature

Alternate Realities and Bad Guys

A great trick to showcase a villainous Lead is to run an episode set in an alternate reality. This can be a dream, alternate timeline, or possible future. You can set this up with a question like “What if our evil Lead wins?” These episodes are usually bleak and perhaps prophetic. They serve to motivate the heroes to stop the bad guy by showing just how bad things can get.

It also lets the person playing the villain take center stage and have fun relatively consequence free. He still shouldn’t be too despicable, but such episodes can give everyone a chance to see the why the bad guy needs to be stopped in your regular continuity.

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13 STEP THREE: WORK THE SYSTEM, LITERALLY

Plenty of bad guys just show up and cause trouble. This is fun and cool, but it lacks the staying power a Lead villain requires. You don’t need to run your own corporation like Lex, Tess, or Zod—though it helps—but you need Resources and Assets that help you drive the plot forward in compelling ways. Look for opportunities to drive a wedge between your fellow Leads and Features. Find ways to make Leads challenge Relationships and Values based on your actions. Exploit the Limits of other characters’ Abilities. And definitely work those Stress pools. As a bad guy with precious few true friends and hordes of potential enemies, the rules are your friend. They exist to make a smart rich guy like Lex as powerful as a hero who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. And you’re keeping the drama real.

Example: Lex is always using LuthorCorp Resources to manipulate, push, and spy on Clark, Chloe, Oliver, and others. Several of the Casefiles are devoted to the villainous Features and secret projects Lex brought into the story. Tess later does the same.

STEP FOUR: YOU GOTTA HAVE GOALS

Heroes can afford to be reactionary. They can wait for the giant gorilla to attack and then rush to the rescue. Villains need to be the ones unleashing the gorilla. Great villains have big plans, whether they’re overarching ambitions or very particular plots. Either way, they’re the lens through which many Relationships and Values in the story are viewed. Villainous Leads need to step up and make things happen even more than normal Leads do.

Villainous goals are often about gaining power, but not always. Many things can be twisted to provide great inspiration for a bad guy. For example, every Value in Smallville has a dark side. Power is the obvious choice, but Glory, Love, and even Duty, Justice, and Truth can be perverted to inspire evil acts.

Example: Zod didn’t stand around and wait for Clark to help the Kandorians adjust to life on Earth. He sought allies and resources to help him develop powers and pass those powers to his loyal followers.

STEP FIVE: THE ART OF LOSING GRACEFULLY

Despite what the bad guys might tell you, the role of the villain is usually to be a credible threat and then lose. They are antagonists, not protagonists. Playing a bad guy means accepting this and making it work for you. Sure, you could just create that death machine and conquer the planet, but then what? If you win, the game’s over—perhaps literally. It’s often better to concentrate on being a fantastic menace and providing a lot of interesting scenes before the heroes squeak out a win. Sometimes you can even let them win to show your superiority or because it’s just more interesting that way.

This is really different from how most characters are played. Usually you want to win, beat the threat, and so on. Even in roleplaying games like Smallville, most Leads are trying to push their characters into a better place and keep them there. By contrast, villainous Leads want to be cool, interesting, and fun, but not necessarily victorious. They have much more invested in the early stages of a plot, when plans are revealed and threats are engaged, than in the end result.

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Note this does not mean you never win or try to win. A villain who never beats anyone is a joke. You need to occasionally best the hero, corrupt the occasional innocent, and so on. Just keep the eventual final victory out of reach—aim to win several battles, but lose the war. Also, don’t forget two things. First, a plan you never really expected to succeed that you’re just using to enable some later scheme isn’t really a failed plan. Second, avoiding a final victory doesn’t mean you can’t push things to the absolute limit. You can even conquer the planet—as long as you eventually give it back.

And remember—even when you lose, there’s always next time.

Example: Zod manages to give powers back to the Kandorians and he plans to conquer Earth. The battle involves Clark and various other heroes. But in end, he’s defeated and sent away.

Minor Features: Bad Made Easy

Sometimes you don’t need a full Feature. Maybe it’s a “freak of the week” that probably isn’t coming back. Maybe it’s someone important enough to warrant Feature status, but who will always interact with the Leads in a particular way. Maybe you’re just pressed for time. If you want the general staying power of a Feature in a character who’s more like an Extra, then what you want is a Minor Feature.

Minor Features are represented by two broad groups of Traits: Defining and Depth.

Defining Traits are central to the Feature. They’re the Traits you focus on during a session when using the Feature and they’re the Traits the Leads are likely to notice. Mechanically, they work like the Traits you already know. For example, Defining Relationships have statements and die ratings. A Minor Feature usually has no more than one to three Defining Traits in any category (like Distinctions or Abilities). Otherwise he would be a regular Feature and built as such. These cover most situations that will pop up in the limited number of scenes where a Minor Feature appears. For everything else there’s Depth.

Depth is a pool of dice that can be used for situations where the Minor Feature is involved, but Defining Traits don’t fit or they need to be augmented. It’s somewhere between the Trouble pool and a Resource. Depth is written up like a statement that describes what the Depth pool represents (like Angry Cheerleader or Rapacious Appetite) and it has two or more dice, just like Extras and Locations do. Depth can be used to fill in for Resources, Assets, Relationships, or Values. Watchtowers who use these dice for rolls far outside the Depth statement should give a Plot Point to the Lead in such Contests—if it turns out that a Minor Feature with Angry Cheerleader 2d8 is able to use her athletic talents like a martial arts champ, then give a Plot Point as an award for the mess you dumped on the guy trying to restrain her. Each time a die is used from Depth it’s gone for the episode.

Now let’s go through the steps for making a Minor Feature with a handy example.

STEP ONE: CONCEPT

You won’t get anywhere without an idea. Minor Features don’t need to have complex or fully formed concepts. They

usually aren’t around long enough or in enough scenes to require a detailed backstory. Usually, a short description will do it.

Example: Tiara, who’s pulling Watchtower duties, needs an escaped criminal to menace the Leads for her next episode. She doesn’t need a full Feature, just a scary guy to mess with things for a while. She considers for a moment and decides to create Albert Earl Holmes, a twisted serial killer.

STEP TWO: DEFINING VALUES

Select as few as three to as many as all six Defining Values for the Minor Feature. Assign a die rating for each. These aren’t necessarily Values with high ratings; sometimes a character is just as noteworthy for what he doesn’t care about. Then assign a statement for each Value. Values of d12 are exceptionally rare for Minor Features.

Example: Albert is defined by his desire to exert power over others. He kills to show he’s superior and to feel in control. In an interesting twist, Tiara decides Albert thinks he gains power with each person he kills because he believes he’s struck a bargain with a demon. She gives him the Defining Value of Power d10 with the statement “I must feed souls to my master.” She also figures Albert is quite loyal to this “demon” which gives him Duty d8 defined as “I will serve

my master unto death.” Love is markedly unimportant

to Albert, so she gives him Love d4 with “All I need is the approval of my master.”

STEP THREE: DEFINING RELATIONSHIPS

Pick a few Relationships. These are the focus of the Minor Feature’s interactions in the story. These can be Features or Leads, though it’s usually a good idea to include at least one Lead Relationship.

Example: Tiara figures that Albert wants to hurt the Hero in her game, seeing him as a threat to his “master.” She assigns this Relationship d10 and the statement “He must be stopped!” She also figures that Albert views the series’ most villainous Foil as a kindred spirit and adds a d6 Relationship “Doesn’t know she serves the master.”

STEP FOUR: DEFINING DISTINCTIONS AND (OPTIONAL)

ABILITIES

Pick a few Assets that are central to the Minor Feature— ones that are likely to come up in most or all scenes involving him. These are rarely die ratings of d12, but exceptions occur.

Example: Since Albert is a crazy killer, Tiara adds Savage

at d8. She also figures he’s a Fanatic in his beliefs and adds this at d8 as well. She wants him to be a meteor-infected who thinks his powers come from his demonic patron, so she adds Paralysis at d10 representing Albert’s metahuman Ability to render his victims helpless but still aware.

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EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS

15 STEP FIVE: ADD DEPTH AND FINISHING TOUCHES

Select a statement and die rating for Depth. Dice are usually added in groups of two. A d6 is the standard. However, d4s can represent a Minor Feature without much going for him except his Defining Traits; d8s and higher suggest a lot of training or Resources. Generally, any Feature who warrants lots of Depth or high die ratings probably isn’t a Minor Feature and should be fully developed. Though Depth might simulate the die rating of a Distinction or even an Ability, it doesn’t have triggers or Special Effects. After Depth is determined, add any last details and you’re done!

Example: Tiara doesn’t see Albert as having much going for him aside from his Defining Traits. She figures he knows a few crazy occult types and is decent at staying off the radar. She selects the statement “Sneaky occult kook” and assigns it 2d6. If Albert ends up sticking around longer than his few upcoming scenes, maybe his “demon” isn’t quite so imaginary. She makes a quick note of that to remind herself later and gets ready to unleash Albert on her Leads.

PROMOTING MINOR FEATURES

If a Minor Feature becomes popular or important to the story, then make him a full Feature. Since this can happen quite easily during a game, you should make notes on interesting talents, facts, and whatever else your Minor Features display as the story develops. This doesn’t need to be a novel—just a few notes to help with fleshing out the character later.

The simplest way to turn a Minor Feature into a Feature is to use the Quick and Dirty Features creation guidelines (see page 30). This is much easier than building them with Pathways since they already have some Traits. Depth is discarded once a Minor Feature is promoted.

The Casefiles

Throughout this book you’ll find Smallville RPG writeups for a number of foes who have menaced Clark and his allies over the years. Some of them worked for bad guy Leads like Lex, Tess, and Zod. Others were independent threats ranging from disturbed teens to alien mass murderers. A few isolated cases were simply unfortunate enough to have powers and draw the attention of the wrong people. For example, the worst thing Daniel Kim did was cheat at bowling. In any case, these Features are here for you to use in your games either as bad guys or as inspiration for new antagonists.

Most of these Features aren’t suitable Leads for many of the reasons discussed in this chapter. After all, most groups can’t easily accommodate a cannibal killer or psycho shapeshifter. On the other hand, characters like Grant Gabriel or Linda Lake could become Leads in your Smallville spinoff—assuming they somehow survived their on-screen deaths. To use them as Leads you should recreate them using Pathways since all of these writeups were created to model their appearances on the show; as written, they may be over- or underpowered for your group of Leads.

Features are categorized according to where they were locked up most often. Information on these facilities is also provided unless it has been already; for instance, the Phantom Zone was discussed in the Smallville RPG. Some of these characters are written up as Minor Features, usually because their role isn’t as significant as that of other Features, or because they’re really just a step up from Extras, or because there’s room for you to flesh them out in your own spinoff campaign.

Casefile: Belle Reve Sanitarium page 16 Casefile: Black Creek, Montana page 33 Casefile: Level 33.1 page 49

Casefile: Luthorcorp Projects page 64 Casefile: Veritas Society page 90 Casefile: Zoners page 102

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the problem isn’t so much that the sanitarium can’t contain dangerous metahumans but more that it often just doesn’t. This is good news for Leads who find themselves imprisoned, but it’s less encouraging if they’re looking for a secure place to lock up bad guys.

Some of the most famous and troublesome Belle Reve inmates are listed here. They can be used as they’re written or they can serve as models for designing your own threats. Note that not all the inmates have Belle Reve as a Resource, just those already locked up when they first appeared or who received actual helpful treatment.

Types of Scenes: Escape attempts and backroom deals involving prisoners are probably the most common. Therapy sessions may reveal some interesting opportunities for character growth and self-realization. Relationships can be challenged or built if a Lead finds himself imprisoned by a trusted friend or hated foe. Despite nominally being a sanitarium, Belle Reve generally isn’t that useful for rest and recuperation, though it’s not impossible it could be used that way.

Specialties: Confined, Experiment, Guarded, Medicine, Red Tape, Shady, Therapy, Unreliable

Extras: Doctors, Security, Staff

Leads and Features: Alicia Baker, Bette Sans Souci, Eric Summers, Ian Randall, Lex Luthor (temporary inmate and occasional behind-the-scenes operator), Lionel Luthor (former inmate), Randy Klein, Tim Wescott, Tina Greer, Tommy Lee, The Twins, The Weather Girls

Sporting the ironic French name meaning “Beautiful Dream,” Belle Reve is a combination mental hospital and government metahuman supermax prison. Many of the meteor freaks Clark fought and put away over the years end up here. This is nominally to treat them for their various mental problems, but honestly the success rate is pretty low. Due to corruption and security breaches—not to mention the fact that many of the inmates have powers beyond mere mortals—escape or recruitment into some secret project is a better bet for release. This makes Belle Reve a who’s who of superpowered crazies and villains. Both Lionel and Lex Luthor were temporarily incarcerated here—usually because the other one got him committed.

In addition to the inmates, many of Belle Reve’s staff are pretty shady. Actually, they’re really shady. They become obsessed with their patients, they forge admission and releases for money, and they use prisoners for various illegal activities. More than a few of these folks are willing to work for villainous mastermind types like Lex Luthor. Several already do. At one point an underground fight operation was grabbing its fighters from among the inmates. Recently, Tess has recruited certain inmates for her Injustice Gang (see page 34).

Despite this, Belle Reve isn’t exactly a revolving door. The facility employs trained security guards and cutting edge technology. These are often effective. However, human error, corrupt staffers, and the unpredictable nature of superpowers mean there are many cracks to slip through. Ultimately,

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CASEFILES: BELLE REVE SANITARIUM

17 C A S E F I L E S

B E L L E R E V E S A N I TA R I U M

RELATIONSHIPS

▼

▼Chloe doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does d6 ▼

▼Only Clark understands me d10 ▼

▼I know Jonathan and Martha don’t approve d4 ▼

▼Lana is in my way d8

RESOURCES

▼

▼Belle Reve (Confined, Guarded) 2d6 ▼

▼Dr. William McBride (Medicine, Therapy) 2d6 ▼

▼Smallville High School (Education, Socialize) 2d4

ASSETS

Impulsive d8

▼

▼ Earn a Plot Point and Add a d6 to Trouble when you

act rashly.

▼

▼ Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to Interfere in a

Contest.

Kryptonite Psychosis d6

▼

follow your base instincts to the point of hurting or threatening others.

On a Mission (Clark) d8

▼

foolishly pursue your mission despite the risk.

▼

▼ Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die in a roll that directly

contributes to your mission.

Teleportation d10

Limits: Lead (can’t teleport through or when in contact with)

Spend a Plot Point to…

▼

▼ Join a scene or switch to a new scene regardless of

distance.

▼

▼ Quickly teleport away to escape from a scene. ▼

▼ Take another character with you.

Alicia Baker was a student at Smallville High School. She met Clark on a field trip where the two discovered they both had superpowers. This secret grew into romantic interest and they dated briefly. This was stymied by Clark’s shyness and Alicia’s stalkerish obsession. She was unwilling to share Clark with anyone, which prompted the pretty blonde to attempt to murder Lana. Clark blocked her powers with lead and Alicia was sent to Belle Reve.

Eventually, Alicia was believed cured and she was released. She and Clark went out again; he enjoyed being with a pretty girl who actually knew his secret. Things were fine until Alicia grew unstable again. She exposed Clark to red kryptonite to break down his inhibitions and the two almost married. Though angry with Alicia, Clark forgave her after she literally took a bullet for him when her own crazy stalker, Dr. William McBride, tried to shoot Clark. Despite Clark’s wariness of his sometime unstable girlfriend, this act convinced him to give Alicia another chance.

Alicia’s tragic story came to an end when fellow student Tim Wescott attempted to frame Alicia for murders he’d committed. Alicia asked Clark to reveal his own powers to show people she wasn’t alone, but he refused. Alicia discovered Wescott was the true killer just before she became his next victim. Clark blamed himself for her death because he hadn’t believed her and wasn’t there to protect her.

Current Events: Alicia is currently deceased and probably isn’t coming back. She could easily appear in a game set earlier in Smallville’s history or an alternate reality where she didn’t die.

Classified: Before her powers became public knowledge, Alicia was fiercely protective of her secret. Even afterwards, she didn’t exactly flaunt them—though she would use them to help Clark or save people. She also discovered Tim Wescott was a murderer, but she was killed before she could do anything with this knowledge.

Note: Alicia has essentially the same Relationship with both Jonathan and Martha Kent, so they’re listed together on her writeup. This technique is discussed in the Smallville

High School Yearbook and it’s a good way to summarize what amounts to a single Relationship with a pair of individuals.

ALICIA BAKER

Teleporter • Obsessed Girlfriend • Tragic Teen

VALUES

d8 Duty I want to be everything for Clark.

d4 Glory I just want a normal life.

d6 Justice Life is so not fair.

d10 Love Love means always being together.

d8 Power I must be careful with my abilities.

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RELATIONSHIPS

▼

▼I need Clark’s power to make me special d8 ▼

▼Holly should be with me d6

RESOURCES

▼

▼Mr. Summers (Knowledge [geology],Vicious) 2d6 ▼

ASSETS

▼

▼ Add a d10 to Trouble and Reroll any die when another

character attempts to talk you down.

Pariah d4

▼

▼ Earn a Plot Point and Give your opposition a d6 when

your disgraced status stymies you.

Power Leech d12

Limits: Requires electrical charge and meteor rock, Kryptonians only

▼

▼ Gain an Ability possessed by another Lead or Feature

by touching them (which may require a Contest). The die rating is the lower of the Ability and Eric’s Power Leech. May Spend multiple Plot Points to leech several Abilities at once. The target suffers a Shutdown of any Ability Gained by Power Leech whose rating is equal to or lower than the Power Leech rating. Eric Summers, son of Smallville High’s geology teacher,

was a quiet kid who was in love with a pretty girl named Holly. Of course his dad constantly berated him and Holly barely realized he existed, but it wasn’t anything that unusual—then Clark rescued him after an accident with lightning and meteor rock and Eric ended up with Clark’s Kryptonian abilities.

At first things were great. Eric helped people, stopped crimes, and did the whole super-hero thing. Chloe even wrote about his “Super Boy” act for the local paper. Unfortunately, like so many other meteor-infected, Eric’s sanity began to slip. He lost control and drove off everyone he cared about. When he tried to beat up Holly’s boyfriend, Clark stepped in—and then stepped out a moment later when Eric used his borrowed powers to flatten him. This triumph was temporary, as Clark figured out that Eric must have his weaknesses along with his abilities. Using the same combination of kryptonite and electricity, Clark subdued Eric and regained his powers. Eric was sent to Belle Reve.

Now powerless, Eric hatched a plan to steal Clark’s powers. Working with Ian Randall and Van MacNulty—a non-powered inmate who wanted to kill metahumans and developed kryptonite bullets—he captured Clark and once again stole his powers. Using the tried and true electricity and meteor rock combo, Clark defeated Eric and restored his powers. Eric was returned to his cell.

Current Events: Eric is presumably still locked up in Belle Reve and has not been seen for years.

Classified: Eric obviously knows about Clark’s abilities, having stolen them twice. In fact, he probably knows Clark’s powers more intimately than most, though he didn’t possess them long enough to develop any particular skill in using them. It seems he possesses these abilities until the process is reversed using a large electrical shock and green kryptonite. It’s unknown if Eric can steal non-Kryptonian abilities; Eric’s writeup assumes he can only steal Kryptonian abilities.

B E L L E R E V E S A N I TA R I U M

ERIC SUMMERS

Power Parasite • “Super Boy”

VALUES

d4 Duty I owe it to myself to be happy.

d10 Glory I’ll show everyone I’m special.

d6 Justice I’ll make my life fair.

d8 Love I want people to love me.

d8 Power Power is mine for the taking.

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CASEFILES: BELLE REVE SANITARIUM

19 C A S E F I L E S

RELATIONSHIPS

▼

▼I deserve a hottie like Chloe d6 ▼

▼Clark is a real pain in our butts d4 ▼

▼I also deserve a babe like Lana D6 ▼

▼I need Lex to help my future plans d6

RESOURCES

▼

▼ Luthor Scholarship Program (Red Tape,

Resources) 2d6

▼

▼ Smallville Community College (Education,

Research) 2d4

▼

▼ Smallville High School (Education, Socialize) 2d6

ASSETS

Clever d6

▼

▼ Earn a Plot Point when you Choose to show off your

smarts in some annoying or frustrating manner.

Duplication d8

Limits: Number (only one Dupe at a time)

▼

▼ Merge the original and a Dupe together, sharing

memories.

▼

Likeable d4

▼

▼ Give your opposition a d6 to Reroll a die in a

Likeable roll. Ian had the useful ability to split off a duplicate of himself,

which he used to push through school at an alarming rate. Already highly intelligent, Ian’s powers let him achieve even more than your average A student. Unfortunately, his powers and out-of-control ambition led to his downfall. Ever the overachiever, Ian killed a teacher at Smallville High who endangered his hopes of a scholarship at a top college and he also tried to date both Lana and Chloe at the same time. Clark started to get suspicious of Ian; with help from Pete Ross and Lex, Clark figured out Ian’s double life. When Clark managed to prevent the murders of Lana and Chloe, one Ian fell to his death and the other was sent to Belle Reve.

Ian remained at Belle Reve until he was part of a plan with Eric Summers (see previous page) to steal Clark’s powers and bust out. Ian annoyed Eric enough that he killed him, which suggests that maybe Ian wasn’t as bright as he thought he was.

Current Events: Ian’s dead. But then, part of him died before, suggesting he might be able to come back. To date, however, this hasn’t happened.

Classified: Right before he died, Randall learned some of Clark’s secrets. He might not have known all about Krypton, Jor-El, and the like, but he knew Clark wasn’t a normal Kansas farmboy. He was also smart enough to figure out a lot, if given the opportunity.

B E L L E R E V E S A N I TA R I U M

IAN RANDALL

Diabolical Duplicator • Obsessive Overachiever

VALUES

d8 Duty So what can you do for us?

d8 Glory I’m headed for success, no matter what.

d6 Justice It’s not fair to stop my success.

d6 Love Romance is fun as long as it doesn’t get in the way.

d8 Power My future is more important than anything.

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C A S E F I L E S

RELATIONSHIPS

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▼Alicia needs to be removed d10 ▼

▼Clark is blind to the evils of this place d4 ▼

▼Jason is immoral d6 ▼

▼Lana is a harlot d8 ▼

▼Lois seems like a nice upstanding girl d6

RESOURCES

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ASSETS

Body Transformation (Sand) d10

Limits: Heat

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▼ Turn into sand and escape through a crack. ▼

▼ Hide by scattering across the floor. ▼

▼ Become a cloud of sand, ignoring Injured and

Exhausted Stress.

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▼ Form fists into super-hard sand and knock another

character out of the scene.

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▼ Add a d10 to Trouble and Reroll any die when another

character attempts to talk you down.

On a Mission (Purify Smallville) d8

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foolishly pursue your mission despite the risk.

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▼ Spend a Plot Point to Reroll a die in a roll that directly

contributes to your mission.

Sneaky d6

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▼ Spend a Plot Point to Reroll any die in a Sneaky roll.

Tim Wescott was a meteor-infected whose Kryptonite Psychosis manifested in a deadly way. Tim’s father strongly believed that Smallville was a great place until the meteor shower ruined everything. After his dad died, Tim took this view to extremes. He decided it was up to him to “fix” everything that was wrong with his town. Rather than save some trees or run for public office, Tim decided the best way to fix things was the brutal murder anyone who—at least in his twisted mind—was corrupting the morality of Smallville. He started by trying to kill Lana Lang because he disapproved of her relationship with teacher Jason Teague. Then he decided to frame Alicia Baker by attacking Jason and making it look like Alicia was responsible. Alicia managed to figure this out, but Tim murdered her and made her death seem like a suicide.

Tim might have gotten away with his plan if he hadn’t revealed too much of himself to Lois during a fairly disastrous first date. Lois shared her suspicions with Clark that Tim, not Alicia, was responsible for the attacks. Feeling guilty and angry about Alicia’s death, Clark confronted Tim and severely injured him; Clark stopped just short of killing him—partially due to Lois’ intervention. His crimes revealed, Tim was shipped off to Belle Reve.

A meteor-infected with the power to turn into living sand, Tim was profoundly and totally bonkers. He was a self-righteous zealot too far gone to realize he’d turned into a wannabe serial killer. He wasn’t at all sorry for the harm he caused and was more than willing to kill or frame innocents so he could keep killing.

Current Events: Presumably Tim is still locked up in Belle Reve. Unless he’s gotten some serious help, that’s probably where he belongs. Should he break out and return to Smallville, there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t return to his murderous civic reform.

Classified: Tim’s big secret was his criminal behavior. With this exposed, it’s unlikely he has other major secrets. In a game where his secret is still unknown, Tim would kill to hide his twisted desires and strange outlook.

TIM WESCOTT

The Sandman • Moralistic Serial Killer

VALUES

d8 Duty I have to do what’s right for Smallville.

d4 Glory I seek purification, not recognition.

d10 Justice I must punish the wicked.

d6 Love I’d like a girl who understands me.

d8 Power I must use my powers for my cause.

d6 Truth I can’t be discovered until my work is done.