Watcher Datafile: Muse

Hey all, it’s been a while!

I’d like to get back into posting for Marvel Heroic, but getting these datafiles put into a specific format can be tricky, so I’m going to start sharing the Datafiles I’ve been working on, and at a later point, we may see them in the format.

I’m behind on Daredevil: Born Again, but have been working through the series. I REALLY liked Muse, so I started going back through the comics to find out more about this psychotic serial killer.

Muse is an Inhuman serial killer who treats murder as grotesque art, turning crime scenes into staged installations meant to horrify, provoke, and be understood. His sensory-distorting powers make him almost impossible to perceive directly, even by heroes with enhanced senses. He best as a terrifying Watcher villain whose greatest weakness is his need to leave a pattern behind.

MUSE

Solo d8
Buddy d6
Team d4

Distinctions

Macabre Visionary
Invisible to the Senses
Every Murder Is a Masterpiece

Power Set: Sense-Devouring Inhuman

Enhanced Strength d8, Enhanced Reflexes d8, Enhanced Stamina d8, Leaping and Climbing d8, Sensory Void d10, Enhanced Speed d8

SFX: Vanish from the Panel: When Muse uses Sensory Void to avoid detection, spend a doom die to step up or double Sensory Void for one action. If the action succeeds, create a Lost Track of Muse complication equal to the effect die.

SFX: Even Daredevil Can’t Find Him: Against opponents relying on enhanced senses, radar sense, scent, hearing, thermal imaging, motion tracking, or similar perception methods, add a doom die to Muse’s dice pool. On a successful reaction, step up the opponent’s complication or stress.

SFX: Strike from Negative Space: When attacking a target who has a Lost Track of Muse, Where Is He?, No Clear Shot, or similar complication, step up or double Enhanced Reflexes. Remove the complication after the action.

SFX: Inhuman Burst: Before making a physical attack, Muse may step up Enhanced Strength or Enhanced Reflexes for the action. Afterward, shut down that power until he takes an opportunity or activates a transition scene recovery.

SFX: Unreadable Body: When Muse resists emotional stress, interrogation, intimidation, or attempts to read his motives, add Sensory Void to the reaction pool. On a successful reaction, convert the opponent’s effect die into an asset for Muse: Nothing Behind the Mask.

Limit: Distinctive Work: Muse cannot resist leaving behind artistic evidence, symbolism, or staged scenes. When the heroes study one of his works, activate this limit to add d6 to the doom pool and give the heroes a Pattern in the Madness d8 asset.

Limit: Compelled to Escalate: When Muse has an opportunity to retreat safely but can instead pursue a more dramatic, cruel, or public “statement,” add d6 to the doom pool and have Muse choose the spectacle.

Limit: Unstable Focus: Shutdown Sensory Void when Muse is overwhelmed by fire, bright light, concussive sound, mass panic, or an environment that floods the scene with chaotic sensory input. Recover it by taking an action against the doom pool.

Power Set: Murder-Art Savant

Artistic Installation d10, Improvised Weapons d8, Terror Tactics d8, Urban Mobility d8

SFX: Crime Scene as Attack: When Muse reveals a prepared installation, mural, body arrangement, or staged clue, add a doom die to his pool and create an emotional or mental complication on all present heroes, such as Horrified d8, Guilty d8, or This Was Made for Me d10.

SFX: Found Materials: Muse may create a temporary asset from the environment, such as Razor Wire d8, Blood-Slick Floor d8, Blackout Hallway d8, or Hostage Rig d8, without needing a separate setup action. Add d6 to the doom pool after use.

SFX: Gallery of Fear: When Muse targets a hero who has already taken emotional stress in the scene, step up Terror Tactics. If he inflicts emotional stress, step it up once more.

SFX: The City Is His Canvas: When Muse is in dense urban terrain, abandoned buildings, tunnels, rooftops, alleys, scaffolding, galleries, subway stations, warehouses, or construction sites, step up Urban Mobility.

Limit: Needs an Audience: Muse’s crimes are meant to be seen. When his work is ignored, hidden, destroyed, or publicly misunderstood, convert his highest asset into a complication against him and add d6 to the doom pool.

Limit: Monstrous Pattern: Whenever Muse’s artistic signature gives heroes a clear lead, add d6 to the doom pool and create a Traceable Pattern d8 complication on Muse.

Specialties

Acrobatics Expert d8, Combat Expert d8, Covert Master d10, Crime Expert d8, Menace Master d10, Psych Expert d8

Watcher Notes

Muse should rarely begin a scene in plain sight. Start with the aftermath, the mural, the victim who should not have vanished, the hero who realizes their senses skipped over something. He is most effective when the players know he is present but cannot reliably locate him.

Don’t make him unbeatable. His weakness is pattern. He wants to be understood. Every crime should give the heroes something they can use, even if the clue is disturbing, symbolic, or emotionally manipulative.

Complications for Muse scenes include:

No One Saw Him Leave d8
Blood on the Walls d8
The Room Is Part of the Trap d10
The Public Is Watching d8
Hostages Hidden in the Installation d10
Daredevil Can’t Hear Him d10
The Mural Is a Map d8

Suggested Doom Pool Use

Spend doom dice to:

Reveal Muse was already in the room.
Split the party by forcing a rescue choice.
Create a citywide panic complication.
Have police, media, or civilians misread the scene.
Turn a hero’s successful investigation into a horrifying discovery.
Escape at the end of a scene through sensory misdirection.