The below is a preview content piece in the upcoming Super Samurai Magazine, a support product for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG and other M&M Superlink products. The magazine is being produced by me and is not affiliated with Mutants & Masterminds or Green Ronin Publishing. It will be released under the M&M Superlink License issued by Green Ronin Publishing. Hopefully it’ll attract more than a hand full of dedicated readers so that I can keep it going. The plan so far is to release 6 issues over the year and see how it goes.

This particular entry is for the “Supers Spotlight” section of the magazine. Art is by artist Emmanuel Xerx Javier, lead artist on my comic Raven Nevermore, and writing is by Jessie Staffler. Jessie turned in a write up for not only the Power Brokers team, but each individual in the teenage angst lineup! They are a set of very unique individuals who work the best as a team. The introduction and rundown for this group is previewed below!

Description: There’s a group like them in every school; a clique of rich and popular kids who act like they’re better than everyone because their parents are loaded. Kids who act like they can get away with anything because their father donated a new dorm to the school last year or because their mother is head of the PTA, kids who enjoy tormenting and humiliating anyone outside their clique in order to establish their own dominance and because it gives them a sick sort of satisfaction.

Super hero schools have kids like these too, only much worse.

The Power Brokers is a team of PL 8 NPC’s which can be fit into a teen super hero campaign which centers around a super-powered school (secret or otherwise), the general tying theme behind these characters is that their powers are based on the manipulation of another superhuman’s abilities, or finding ways to cancel those powers. While they do not look dangerous on paper, against the right kind of opponents, they can be quite threatening.
Also note that the Power Brokers are not villains in the traditional sense; they are not out to kill people or take over the world, they’re just jerks who like to torment their fellow students so they can feel superior to others. While some of them may be on the fast track to super villainy, most of them will throw in with the PC’s if faced with a genuinely evil opponent.

Background: There’s no real major origin story for the Power Brokers; they formed together like any other high school clique; a group of teens with similar interests and backgrounds got together out of a mutual need for companionship. In this case, the kids who made up the Brokers had two things in common; they all came from money, and they all had similar powers. The Power Brokers, as they exist presently, came about three years ago when Cameron “Contradict” Conrad joined the academy. With his powers, he quickly muscled his way into the Brokers and became their leader and began to lead the group into the practice of tormenting their fellow super-powered students. The Brokers have been making the academy a living hell ever since, especially for new students and freshmen.

In addition to Contradict (who wields the Nemesis power), the team consists of Shanghai (who has the power of Power Control), Overload (who can cause a superhuman’s powers to run out of control, sometimes even changing the subject into a hideous monster), Lethe (who can manipulate and erase memories), The Mundane (who is utterly immune to superhuman abilities, can nullify superpowers on sight, and even prevent blatant superhumans from entering her general area), and Catalog (who can detect superhumans and determine what their powers are).

Strategies and Tactics: Like most bullies the Brokers are, at heart, cowards. They prefer fights that are ridiculously in their favor and stand and fight in an even match. When the whole group fights a single foe (their preferred method of engagement), Contradict will do the actual fighting, using his Nemesis power to overpower the opponent while the others prevent anyone from getting involved. If the fight turns against Contradict, the others will use their powers to hinder the opponent in question. If the victim attempts to inform the faculty of this, Lethe simply modifies witnesses memories to make it seem like the victim was at fault.

In fair fights the Brokers fight more defensively; Catalog starts by finding out the most powerful super in the group, whom Contradict engages. Catalog will then stick close to the Mundane for protection while Shanghai uses his powers to mess with random foes, Overload transforms random enemies into monsters, and Lethe uses her memory altering powers to hinder martial artists and other Feat heavy heroes. Of course, the Brokers flee at the first opportunity, and are always the first ones to contact the administration about “brutal and uncalled for attacks on their person”.

Motivation and Goals: The Brokers have only one goal; to enjoy their perceived place at the top of the high school food chain as the ultimate “popular kids” clique. Unfortunately, enjoyment also happens to involve brutally victimizing and terrorizing any students who happen to come to their attention. The Brokers are also extremely petty and hold massive grudges against those who slight them. Once someone has gotten on their bad side, they will do everything to make their life or lives miserable, until they either drive them from the school or force them to have a breakdown. Although they lack the ambition of genuine supervillains, under Contradict they are every bit as cruel and malicious as any costumed criminal.

Adventure Hooks: Here are some adventure hooks to use with the Power Brokers.

• The Dean/Headmaster has grown weary of the Brokers constant troublemaking and has decided to build a case against them in order to expel them. To do this, the Headmaster contacts the PC’s to go undercover and discover incriminating evidence against them. Of course, if they are discovered, it will all be for naught since Lethe will just erase their memories of it, so the PC’s must tread lightly.
• A typical Broker plot: The Brokers are targeting one (or all) of the PC’s, sabotaging their attempts to use their powers in order to publically humiliate them or cornering them when they’re alone and beating them up. This could be because the PC’s did something to upset one of them, or just because they’re being mean. Either way, the Brokers aren’t going to stop until they’re forced too, most likely by the PC’s.
• Overload uses her powers on a new student, only to discover he was more powerful than she previously imagined. Now a super powered brute is rampaging through the Academy, and it’s up to the PC’s to play damage control. To make matters worse, the Brokers are treating the whole thing like a Pay Per View show, and are actively using their powers to hinder the PC’s so Contradict can come in as the big hero and stop the rampaging student.
• A new student with powers similar to the Brokers has attended, and has been approached to join the clique. After he refused, the Brokers have targeted him for their pranks and torments in order to pressure him into joining. Now he’s turning to the PC’s for protection.
• A powerful villain has learned of the Brokers abilities and is blackmailing him into helping sabotage the endeavors of superheroes throughout the city. While Contradict enjoys playing the role of a real villain, the others are becoming increasingly frightened and have contacted the PC’s for help.

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