A group of supervillains is hired to kill the world's greatest super-hero.

Premise

Paragon has been a thorn on the side of criminals everywhere, from would-be world-dominators to arrogant crimelords and delusional supercriminals. Sure, he saved the planet a few times from alien invasions, but what has he done for the poor and disenfranchised? He is actually a tool of the system, a way to maintain the status quo. And most important of all, Paragon is a cap on the profit margin of some very important people and they have decided that won't do any more. Paragon must die. However, instead of just throwing a dozen crazy costumed lunatics against him, they will hire a small group whose sole goal will be to assassinate the hero. They will study him, discover his weaknesses and then strike the fatal blow.

Who are the PCs?

Supervillains, of course. They should probably be mid to low-level - why would a group of Black Adam-level supers need to resort to skullduggery to attack Superman? They can be regular villains of the setting, like Electro or Captain Cold, or relative unknowns (new characters created specifically for the adventure).

In any case, the PCs should not be gung-ho crazies who attack heroes willy-nilly - you know, usual four color supervillain behavior. Even if that was their modus operandi before, now they have to behave. The group financing the operation has paid them a large sum of money to be cautious, to follow a plan. Basically, to think.

You can also have the PCs be normal criminals. In this case, they won't have the edge superpowers would provide. Their only assets will be their skills and the technology their employers provide them. For them, information will be even more vital.

Establishing common ground

As Scribbler points out in the Kill Superman thread, the very first thing you have to do in this adventure is establish what is publicly known about Paragon. Does he have a public identity? Is his identity secret, but everybody knows he carries a torch for Lucy Lawless, intrepid actress? Is Paragon's weakness to colored isotopes common knowledge? Are there multiple colors of this isotope?

You get the idea. I'm not saying the PCs must know everything - some details, like the existence of red paragonite, may be secret. But the players have to have a good grasp of what the regular person on the world knows. Otherwise, they might come up with a clever plan based on information they thought they had, because they read Paragon's comic book, only to find out that in the adventure's setting, these data are not available to their characters. That can spoil the fun very quickly.

Play up the logistics

For example, the PCs' recruitment could have been held overseas. In fact, some of the characters, or all of them, might be foreigners. Since Paragon lives in the US (or wherever you want to put him), the first goal of the group will be getting to the hero's country.

Depending on the setting, supervillains trying to cross the border might run into all sorts of trouble. Even if they do it legally, with a passport and plane ticket, airports might have superpower detectors. If the PC hasn't declared his metahuman nature, he will find himself detained by one of the usual four-color law enforcement organizations, such as SHIELD or Checkmate.

What about power armor villains? How do they get their tech through customs? If they decide not to take their gadgets with them and instead build them at their destination, how do they get a hold of the components they need? They will probably be controlled by law. After all, there aren't that many microfusion reactors on sale at Radio Shack.

If they opt for illegal border crossing, how are they doing it? Is one of the characters a teleporter? What if the SHIELD equivalent has monitoring stations or satellite grids that can pick up energy spikes from teleportation jumps?

That's just a few of the things that have to be taken into account. So the first part of the adventure will be investigating infiltration alternatives and choosing one. Don't forget that the group doesn't have to choose just one - they can split the group: some go the legal route, others choose the teleport express, while the rest tunnel through the earth, for example.

This part can be fun, but it can also turn into a chore. Gauge the level of interest at the table and when you think the players are becoming fed up with it, move on.

Welcome to the jungle

Next is where the real meat of the adventure is: data mining. Using the common ground as a basis, they will start lines of investigation, trying to obtain the maximum amount of information possible on Paragon.

Is Lucy Lawless Paragon's romantic interest? Let's tail her, bug her phone and stake out her apartment. Has billionaire Lucas Lancaster always opposed Paragon? Let's hack his private files, infiltrate his company and invade his lab. Has Paragon been a member of the Revengers for, like, forever? Let's pick skirmishes with a few of the heroes (probably, the less powerful ones), maybe lure them to a place where the telepath can try to pick up valuable information from their thoughts.

That's just a few of the things they can do. Other examples include roughing up Paragon's rogues gallery or rummaging through his private life and family affairs, if he has a public identity.

Don't forget that certain superpowers can make the PCs' life easier. I already mentioned telepathy. Pre- or postcognition and machine control or interface can also lend a hand to them. Just make sure the characters don't have stratospheric levels in these abilities, otherwise the mission may get to easy.

Time is not on your side

You see, despite what we read in comic books, where heroes appear to exist in a social vacuum in terms of the existence of other superpowered people, cities have an ecology of their own. A group of supervillains (or normal operatives) working at attaining a specific goal will cause ripples in the pond. And all sorts of individuals and agencies may notice that.

So you should create a tally, assigning a point-value to every mission the PCs carry out in their ongoing investigation, be it doing legwork on a rough neighborhood or invading Lucascorp. Most jobs should have a base value of 1, like the former example, but more complex work, such as the latter example, can be ranked at 2 or even 3.

This is a value for attempting the mission. If they fail, that's how much is added to the tally. If they succeed, add another point on top of that, or maybe two, if the job was completed in a particularly flashy way. You will use this tally to activate opposition to the characters.

For example, when the tally reaches 3, a local law enforcement division may start to notice a pattern. At 6, a minor hero becomes involved. At 8, the SHIELD equivalent assigns someone to take a look and at 10, the setting's greatest detective hero, a Batman analogue, realizes something is rotten in the city of Paragon.

Of course, your tally can be completely different, emphasizing super-heroes at the lower levels. Particularly evil GMs may put the Batman NPC at 3, increasing the pressure on the PCs. If they take too long, they will have to confront other super-heroes and even law enforcement organizations. They might escape them, but they will probably lose the element of surprise

By the way, the characters should become aware of these developments through word on the street, news media etc.: "Did you hear? The Night Avenger is in town. I don't know about you, but I'm taking a vacation from our... err... business".

PvP

This can happen in two ways: before the start of the adventure or during play. In the first case, the player will probably tell you his intention to play a mole for one of the law enforcement agencies or even a hero in disguise. Accepting this may cause complications or improve the game.

You have to gauge what would be the reaction of the other players. They might not have any problems with it and actually enjoy the reveal, but others might feel betrayed, assuming the premise should have prevented that kind of situation - the crimelords would have made sure to hire operatives that can work together.

During play, a turncoat might not be so problematic, since this kind of reaction can arise from the interaction of the characters, who, let's not forget, are not nice people. As the intraparty tension rises, treachery becomes a real possibility and the PCs may act accordingly, adding more drama to the adventure.

Even if something like that happens, it might not derail the adventure. In the one I played, my friend's character used his mind transfer power to steal the bodies of some of the PCs. Eventually, he realized he wasn't going to get away and detonated the robotic body he was in, achieving the goal of the mission.

Showdown!

I know I said this is more a spy adventure, but it's still super-hero related and set in a four-color world. So the showdown should be a glorious slugfest with Paragon. Not a fully powered Paragon, mind you. If the PCs did their work, they will be fighting a weakened by paragonite/subdued by magic/tactically disadvantaged due to uncovered information hero.

The idea is that the PCs' actions will reduce the power level difference between them and Paragon or cancel any other advantage that he may have, in case in your campaign he's more like Captain America.

Paragon's support group

Depending on where the characters decide to take the fight to Paragon, the super-hero might receive help more easily. If they attack him in his home city, chances are someone will show up early. If they are fighting in the middle of the Sahara desert, that might be more difficult.

Based on the location, you can assign a per-round (start with the second turn) probability for the arrival of help. It can vary from a high value, say, 40%, for a fight in the city, to 5% for an isolated place. Help need not be other super-heroes - government agents, automated defenses and even regular people can show up to lend Paragon a help.

In the end, Paragon's fate will depend on how efficient the PCs are.

I hope you liked the adventure. It can serve as a change-of-pace episode for your campaign, giving the players a new perspective on the game world.

As always, share any comments, suggestion and criticisms on the forum. If you ever use the Kill Paragon! adventure, let me know.