The Difficult Life of the Costumed Henchmen

Most villains have them: themed, costumed henchmen who aid them with their fiendish heists and dastardly plans. They may appear faceless behind their masks, but those henchmen have lives, too. And their lives can be difficult. They have to put up with crusading heroes, the cackling madmen who employ them, and poor working conditions. It's tough work, for which they get little respect. Something has to be done about this! It's time for the costumed henchmen to unionize.

Tonight select henchmen in the employ of the city's most prominent villains have gathered to decide how they should proceed, and what collective demands they will make to their employers. Will this be the start of a new era? Or, like those of so many villains, will their plans be foiled?

Long Description

Most villains have them: themed, costumed henchmen who aid them with their fiendish heists and dastardly plans. They may appear faceless behind their masks, but those henchmen have lives, too. And their lives can be difficult. They have to put up with crusading heroes, the cackling madmen who employ them, and poor working conditions. It's tough work, for which they get little respect. Something has to be done about this! It's time for the costumed henchmen to unionize.

Tonight select henchmen in the employ of the city's five most prominent villains have gathered to decide how they should proceed, and what collective demands they will make to their employers. Will this be the start of a new era? Or, like those of so many villains, will their plans be foiled?

The Difficult Life of the Costumed Henchmen is a 4 hour secrets and powers LARP. Players will take on the role of a henchman in the employ of a themed, notorious supervillain:

• The Genteel Shadow - a disgustingly rich madman who is always seen dressed in a designer suit, with a monocle, top hat and a twirled mustache. His insane mind has lead him to attempt any number of nefarious schemes, from robbing banks to robbing trains. The Genteel Shadow is nothing if not old fashioned. He makes his henchmen always dress up in suits, and refer to themselves as either “Mister” or “Madam.”

• Professor Machiavelli - a mad scientist with the ability to generate electricity from his hands. He continually invents new secret weapons or doomsday devices, and uses them in his cunning plans to extort money and changes from the city fathers. His henchmen aren't allowed names, just numbers, and he dressed them in cutting-edge lab outfits.

• Overlord Xor - a would-be alien conqueror from a distant planet. He wants nothing less than to enslave the entire city! While he is humanoid, he has had difficulty understanding the workings and motives of the people of Earth, as they are quite alien to him. He tries to dress his minions to “blend in” but is less than successful at the “blending in” part. He employs henchmen that are both human and alien.

• Colonel Sinister - a nefarious military man gone rogue. The way he sees it, society is a chaotic mess without a clear chain or command, and personal liberty is threat to everyone's security. He would remake society under in own view of military efficiency. But first he must break the will of city, the same way the will of new recruits are broken during basic training. Naturally, his henchmen are made to wear fatigues and are assigned military ranks.

• The Maniacal Magister - an evil magician. She works through magic and misdirection, pulling firearms from her hat and making bank vaults disappear. She can cast spells to do any number of things, from hypnotizing individuals to making herself vanish in a poof of smoke. She dresses her henchmen as magicians' stage assistants, and always with some visible red (her trademark color).

The majority of the larp will take place at a meeting to try and unionize for better working conditions. Characters may have differing opinions on which issues are important to them, or may even have alternative reasons for being at the meeting! Either way, there will be plenty of time for wheeling and dealing. Any combats that may break out will be resolved with a variation on rock-paper-scissors, and will likely be run by GMs.

Costuming is not required, but it is encouraged to wear something that matches the theme of their villain group. GMs can provide some help with costume pieces if need be.