The Rogues Gallery
While the organization was founded sometime in 1971 the Rogues Gallery only gained notable power some time after the Battle of Detroit, as indicated by the number of known supervillain associations with the Gallery taking a rapid increase in 1993 and steadily rising since. In fact, it is believed the sudden rise of the organization was triggered by UNTIL being permitted to operate within the United States, creating opportunity for the Rogues Gallery to cater to the secrecy and material needs of supervillains as the country entered a heightened state of alert in the wake of Dr. Destroyer’s infamous attack.
The Rogues Gallery initially supplied criminals and self-proclaimed supervillains with weapons and networking among like-minded felons, operating exclusively in the United States from the mid 70s until the early 90s. From the mid 90s onward the organization gained a sudden international presence, with UNTIL records showing Gallery associations with supervillains found in Central and Southern Asia, South America, the Pacific Rim, all of Europe, the Middle East and parts of central Africa. The Rogues Gallery at that time also seemed to evolve the scope of its operation, counting magical experts and information specialists among its assets while simultaneously shifting from a profit-driven enterprise to an intricate system of “quid pro quo” among its members that covers services and favours in addition to cash payments.
As of this report the Rogues Gallery has an impressive amount of resources at the disposal of its members in the form of manpower, materials and expertise, organized through countless safehouses across the globe and all connected via an incredibly sophisticated communications network known as RogueNet. With the continued success of its members working through the organization and its decentralized infrastructure able to keep functioning even after losing several hideouts, the Rogues Gallery may remain a factor in supervillain activities for many years to come.
Quid Pro Quo - The Rogues Gallery operates on an meticulous but ultimately very straightforward system of “a favour for a favour:” Aside from whatever spoils a villain may come across during a mission, the group’s administration keeps track of all work that its members do for the Gallery and their fellow Rogues whether in the form of resources, expertise or manpower. When a member wants something from the Gallery, the organization makes arrangements among its contacts and other Rogues to ensure that their schemes are well taken care of. This working relationship among its members ensures that no bad deed goes unrewarded, while helping tie Rogues together if not as comrades then as quasi-professionals.
Honour Among Thieves - One may think it’s a mistake to expect any sort of honour or trust among individuals who make it their business to break the rules of society but the Rogues Gallery insists on a level of respect among its members, if for no other reason than to keep things professional. The three golden rules of the Gallery are...
1. No Betrayal: While the Gallery knows it’s enabling supervillains for what are most likely selfish endeavours and it doesn’t expect all of its members to appreciate one-another, it is unacceptable for any Rogue to betray another Rogue for personal gain, revenge or any other reason. Trust is a fickle thing and if a Rogue cannot be trusted to do what is expected of them during a mission then they cannot be counted on to work through the Gallery.
2. No Killing One-Another: Supervillains tend to be an egotistical and abrasive lot, so it is no surprise that tempers will flare among Rogues. While arguments and skirmishes are inevitable, it is forbidden for any member to kill a fellow Rogue. Of course if one feels the death of a fellow Rogue is necessary, they may approach the Gallery on the topic: Should their case have merit, the offending Rogue may find themselves a non-member and therefore fair game...
3. No Destroying the World: As far as things go, destroying the world is extremely counterproductive to most everyone’s goals and is generally a very rude and selfish thing to do. Destruction, chaos and strife is often the side-effect of a supervillain’s ambitions but if one’s master plan is the elimination of everyone and everything then the Gallery will have nothing to do with them. It is important to note that world conquerors are fine so long as their new world order has a place for the Gallery, be it in the open or hiding in the shadows.
(OOC NOTE: A character who’s ambitions fall under this category can be a member of the Rogues Gallery so long as they keep their goals a secret, and the player needs to be comfortable with their villain being removed from the supergroup if/when they are discovered.)
RogueNet - Communication among Rogues is maintained via RogueNet, an incredibly complex system of encrypted data and signals secretly piggybacking on existing global communications infrastructure. RogueNet allows supervillains and criminals within the organization to coordinate operations, call for aid or simply socialize, while a constantly shifting series of encryption protocols and proxy pathways guards against eavesdropping from law enforcement and superheroes. In many ways RogueNet provides the same utility for villains that the Respond & Protect Channel (CRP) does for heroes.
Access to RogueNet is gained through a specialized comm device given to members. These devices are technological in nature but magic and psionic-reactive devices can be provided to Rogues when it would make for ease of use (someone who can only communicate via telepathy, for example.)
Safehouses - All across the globe the Rogues Gallery has safehouses - secured locales which provide a place for Rogues to rest, recuperate, hide and resupply. These locales can be found in practically any sort of environment - from icy subterranean bunkers in Nunavut to lavish Millennium City penthouses to tropical caverns on Monster Island - and are made open to any Rogue operating in the area. While many safehouses are maintained by the Gallery itself there are also many that are secretly made available by business partners and allies of the organization, such as ARGENT’s Monster Island Hunting Lodge and Sweetland’s Restaurant in Vibora Bay.
Commando Corps - While the majority of their manpower comes in the form of member Rogues and supervillain allies of the organization, the Rogues Gallery maintains its own personnel for administration, transportation and security. Most notable among their assets is the Commando Corps - expert soldiers proficient in a wide array of skills including infiltration, sabotage, demolitions, electronics warfare, jetpack operation, SCUBA and even spacewalking. The Commando Corps supplements the schemes of member supervillains with their expertise and are trained to operate on a need-to-know basis, ensuring mission security in the event that they are captured.
((Coming soon!
Out of Character
Why the Rogues Gallery?
Every good hero needs a dangerous adversary to push them. Whether trying to physically eliminate the hero, destroy the things they care about the most or challenge the very beliefs that drive them to fight, an effective antagonist can define the hero in ways nothing else can. The Rogues Gallery exists to enable this critical narrative foil to the superhero genre - the supervillain - for the roleplayers of Champions Online.
People have been playing the supervillain for joint narratives on Champions Online well before the Rogues Gallery existed, whether by placing a new costume over their existing character or detailing an event from the villain’s point of view in a forum post. So, why bother making a group about supervillains when the game’s focus is clearly on superheroes?
Because the Rogues Gallery wants to explore what these antagonists do when they aren’t providing immediate danger to the story’s protagonist.
Roleplaying a supervillain outside of dramatic showdowns or stirring monologues can define that character just as much as those key moments, maybe more. How a supervillain behaves when recuperating from their latest scheme, interacts with other supervillains and the work (or even play!) they do in-between major events adds a layer of depth to the opponents of their heroes that players don’t normally get to see in Champions Online. The Rogues Gallery exists as a device that enables players to explore the unseen life of their supervillains, providing a backdrop for them in a game that only accommodates superheroes (for now!)
The Criminal Code
We are Respectful and Courteous. The golden rule, bar none. People play Champions Online to have fun with friends, not to be jerked around by assholes. Members of the Gallery who abuse other players verbally, mechanically (purposely disrupting the play of others) or otherwise for whatever reason will be removed from the supergroup. The Rogues Gallery intends to spread misery and strife in game, not in real life.
We Do Things in Moderation. The superhero genre typically casts the heroes in a very reactive role, waiting to spring to the defense of the world when the supervillains strike. This puts the player of a supervillain in a position to initiate events which, if not handled carefully, can cause abuse and frustration without even realizing it. A non-stop series of disasters and crisis exhausts the patience of participants and people organizing other events, especially if the villains consistently get away to do the exact same thing again tomorrow with no inhibition. Members of the Rogues Gallery must know when to act and when to wait, cooperating with the roleplay community to make the actions of supervillains interesting, not annoying.
We Play Nice. Roleplaying in Champions Online is a joint storytelling experience and cooperation among all participants is critical, so members of the Rogues Gallery need to avoid unfair assertions of actions (godmodding) or character knowledge (metagaming) while interacting with players and other members. The grand majority of online roleplay is give-and-take between players and you cannot force another to acknowledge the merits of your character in the story, only try to persuade them. By playing fair with others we encourage others to play fair in kind, knowing that they are interacting with people who want to write an interesting scene and not “win” the roleplay with the least damage taken and the greatest bodycount.
We Aren’t Afraid to Lose, But We Aren’t Punching Bags. In the superhero genre it’s expected that, while a supervillain may win the battles, they will ultimately lose the war. Someone playing the villain of the story has to understand that, as the antagonist, there will come a point where they must suffer a severe defeat for the good of the story. By that same token, it has to be FOR THE GOOD OF THE STORY. The Rogues Gallery does not exist so players can harass and belittle its villains for the sole purpose of looking tough, and no member will be expected to put up with disrespect or abuse because they’re scheduled for a fall.
We Don’t Force Player vs. Player. Whether it’s character concept vs. “flavour of the month,” sportsmanship, or in-game effectiveness vs. imagined capabilities or “power level,” the use of Player versus Player combat (PvP) as a roleplaying tool is a constant hot-button issue in the Champions Online community and everyone has an opinion. The Rogues Gallery resolves all of its narrative conflict via text and uses PvP duelling FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT ONLY (using powers on one-another with the intent of creating an interesting scene instead of winning) and ONLY IF BOTH PARTICIPANTS CONSENT. The Gallery realizes that this stance won’t please everyone, but we believe this policy is the best way to enable effective narrative with roleplayers who chose the powers they feel best represent their characters regardless of whether or not they can use them to win a duel.
Contact Us!
Do you have an interesting supervillain that would flourish in a group like the Rogues Gallery? Are you the kind of mature, responsible roleplayer that can take the part of the antagonist and make things enjoyable and fun? Have an idea for a cool roleplay event? Just have some questions about the Rogues Gallery in general? We’d love to hear from you!
For recruitment, event organization, questions, comments and concerns:
in Champions Online - Send a /tell or in-game email to @mrbits
on CORP - Send a message to user mrbits
