RE: [HOE] BEST Villains

[Patrick Gamblin <b7um@unb.ca>]

>===== Original Message From Robert Holland <robert@macauley.com> =====
>>   Hm, I suppose in HOE I could count Cobra as a villain, since they were a
>>terrorist organization before the War, but the ex-Crimson Guard the PCs have
>>worked with isn't actually a villain.
>
>OK, you have to tell us about this now.
>
>--Robert Holland

   Well, as a certifiable child of the 70s/80s, I happen to be a huge GIJoe 
(the 80's version) fan.
   I also like to 'shake up' a game universe a bit by throwing in stuff from 
outside it. For instance, I have an odd habit of putting one of the versions 
of the Native American deity Coyote into my games, though not HOE or any other 
cowboy-esque ones, for some reason (I put him in Nightspawn and Legend of the 
Five Rings).
   So way back when I had a thought about getting the characters to travel to 
the Tribe 8 world for a session (being that I had just picked up the game and 
thought it was cool). But I needed a way to get them there. Having had an 
ArbCo outlet in the PC's town (in my universe it was S-Mart's main 
competition) I decided a nearby Cobra base had been doing teleportation tests 
and weakened the wall between HOE and Tribe 8 in the base.
   After finding out that the owner/manager of the ArbCo outlet was an 
ex-Crimson Guard (who, when the bombs fell decided he'd gotten onto the wrong 
path and hung up his guns, mostly), the PCs found out about the base by 
sneaking a look at his old files. Being a relatively greedy (though 
well-meaning) bunch, they decided to raid it for everything they could steal.
   Now, the Tribe 8 world they decided was too depressing (this after months 
of HOE) and they refused to ever go back, but they did get out of the base 
with a damaged BAT unit that the Junker converted into a 
butler/maid/assistant.

   Which reminds me of another 'character' that they fear even though it isn't 
a villain. At one point the Junker made a small stove for their apartment. It 
started talking to him, warning him that the eggs were burning. It eventually 
got to the point that the players were totally creeped out and refused to go 
near it (and threatened to destroy it).

   Who says the spirits don't love a good joke too? : }

Marshall Paddy, master of the wierd-out

"As I look back, I see that it had been a mistake to send the letter. If you look far enough back, you will find that everything starts at some minor point. Something small becomes something very big. Something simple becomes complex. A brief moment of time becomes the focus of a tragedy. The letter was the minor point - something of no consequence that became the start of something of... importance." - Paul Thorgrimson, 'River of Blood, Path to Ruin,' October 2001