RECURRING ORGANIZATIONS - EASY ADDS FOR GAMEMASTERS

 

Comic book universes are full of organizations who have massive resources to bring to bear against the heroes and their enemies. Often, these are meant to be recurring, high stakes enemies that are constantly harrassing the protagonists at every turn. Other times they are a looming threat, popping up just when it's most inconvenient.

We see the latter with the Sentinels in the earlier days of the X-Men comics where they seemed ot pop up all the time. Other groups that tend to do this in more recent years are groups like SHIELD and HYDRA who frequently show up as part of long-running stories. Other organizations, such as The Hand or AIM seem to pop up less frequently, showing up when the twisting coils of the protagonists's lives bring them back into conflict, then dispappearing back into the shadows again when the latest plot twist is finished. 

Many times these enemies float from title to title, often connecting along themes such as martials arts, spy thriller, or simply mutant team members but no organization need be limited to their original or intended adversary. The Hand certainly came into conflict with the X-Men through both Wolverine and Psylocke and SHIELD shows up to deal with any superpowered threat. Organizations such as AIM or HYDRA might seek to capture a member of a team for their uses and Sentinels are notoriously dumb and innefective, often confusing non-mutants for mutants or even getting hijacked by other villains for their own uses. 

The use of recurring organizatons in games is a crucial tool for a GM. Not only do they make convenient, easily insertable opponents for your players but they also help you, the GM, establish a sense of place and world. Ruccuring enemies are like landmarks in a game, they remind players where their character are. They can guide players toward particular conclusions or they can be used to subvert the players' expectations. The Hand may be trying to kill the players at one time but later show up to save them, thus creating a strange dichotomy that keeps the players guessing. Even seemingly beneficent organizations such as SHIELD can suddenly be turned against a heroic team, either over some misunderstanding or even as fallout for the heroes' actions.  

It is important to distinguish these recurring enemies from the named teams and villains that heroes tend to encounter. Almost every team has a roster of named villains that the clash with in a seemingly endless loop of conflict. Organizations are great because they do not require you to come up with complex reasons for them to clash with the heroes. Simple goals and motivations are the trademark of these organizations. That is not to say that they don't even have deeper goals and they most certainly do, but you can throw a mob of ninjas or hi-tech agents at the heroes and give it the most basic reasoning andh ave it fly. Your players will enjoy a chance to throw agents around and break expensive equipment without having to pull too much strategy out of their hats to defeat a more complicated enemy.

Another thing to rememeber about organizations is that encounters with them are easily scaleable. you can have a hand full of agents show up, a single ninja, or a strike team with battlesuits, flying cars or mega-lasers. You can even scale on the fly if the fight goes too easily. That initial tactical team sent by SHIELD may quickly be handled and call in backup. The single ninja, leading the team on a merry chase may have only been the lure to get the heroes into an ambush situation. Organization encounters also scale into encounters with named enemies. Sure you may have started fighting AIM agents but next thing you know the Super-Adaptoid shows up and amps up the fight. We've all see nthe classic ninja fight where a mob of ninjas it thrown all over the place, only to have the music change, a door open, and out steps  much more impressive martial arts opponent, this time with special powers or techniques. 

When it comes down to using organizations as enemies, you should never feel hesitent to do so. Like anything else you do in your games just make sure it makes sense but also remember that what makes sense in comic book universes is a very broad and often ill-defined, so be cool with yourself. I find that, in the beginning, it is best to stick to a single organization as their primary organization to encounter. This will allow you to establish the teams connection to the organization as well as their rivalry. It's still okay to throw in other groups but do so sparingly until the first organization seems like it may be losing effect. But, once you get a few into rotation, you can mix and match as you like. Just remember. Anything can happen in comic books.

What are some organizations you have used in your games?

How have your players responded to recurring appearance by organizations?