Genres

The world of Nequam is diverse and varied. While villainy rules the world, the form that villainy takes can be wildly different from place to place. While there is no real overarching authority strictly categorising the various villains, it is possible to describe some broad categories that most nasty ne'er-do-wells fit into.

Genres are largely self-organising. Your genre is less a formal organisation or alliance, and more a description of the social circles you run in. Wizards talk to each other, they shop at the same magic supply stores, they keep up on the latest arcane publications - but they're unlikely to know or care which mad scientist just invented a revolutionary new shrinking technology, or what the stock market is doing this week¹⁾.

Of course there are Villains that don't find themselves particularly fitting in with particular groups. They are dotted about here and there, often getting into a much more niche subculture. There are also villains who find themselves straddling the border between two or more genres - exactly how to classify them might be arbitrary, or depend on what their current prevailing scheme is. There are no hard and fast rules to these things.

Each genre page has a section for the Iconic Villain, which will definitely be present in the game. There are also a number of other “other Villains” which may or may not come up in play, depending on how they fit in with other events going on in the game.

By general agreement, the genres of Nequam are classified as so:

It is well known that the thing that truly makes a Supervillain is presentation. And presentation is a thing that Egomaniacs have in spades. Epicentre is the home of zeppelins, of lasers (with or without sharks), of slow-moving virtually inescapable deathtraps. It is the home of villains who would never expect you to talk, but absolutely expect you to die. The only place with a competitive market in volcano lairs, where trying to take over the world is a nightly activity, and where monologuing is not only encouraged but expected.

White long-haired cats optional. Death rays mandatory.

You're driving through the woods on a dark night, when your car breaks down. You have no phone signal. It starts to rain heavily. Just as you are beginning to despair, you see in the distance a light, beckoning you into the warmth and safety of an old, imposing castle…

Here can be found Villains with a very particular aesthetic. Science is generally of the “fanatical” persuasion, thunder can be relied upon to crash at the most dramatically appropriate moment, and you're fairly sure your host is not drinking… wine. You have entered the world of Gothic Horror, and you may not survive…

High Fantasy is the term for the more magically-inclined or severely old-fashioned sorts of Villains. Here can be found the Overlords, those who would be King (or Queen, or non-gender-specific Monarch). Disputes here tend to be larger scale than elsewhere in Nequam, where arguments are settled by armies rather than thugs, and where you might not be trying to take over the world, but you're definitely out to conquer a country or five.

Malicious monarchs (and their vile viziers), wicked wizards, diabolical demons, evil elves, sinister seers, boorish barons and nasty knights, all of these and more can be found among the Tenebrific Mountains and their foothills.

Capitalist dystopias! Get your capitalist dystopias here!

Not all villainy is the work of individuals. Organisations can be even more efficient at committing atrocities than one person ever could. Theirs is a cold, impersonal villainy, driven by a fundamental lack of concern for life, decency, or anything other than profit. What truly marks out organisational villainy is the replaceable nature of it. Nobody in the structure is irreplaceable, you cannot solve the problem by dealing with one person. The entire organisation is rotten to the core, be it mafia or megacorp.

The truth is out there…

Not all villains reside on Nequam. People have always been curious about what is just out of sight, whether it be above the sky, beneath the sea, or beyond the veil of death. Otherworldly entities are those that don't belong to this world - eldritch entities from realms beyond, and those who follow them. Abandon sanity all ye who enter here.