From Panel To Play: Viper

CP61 Viper

This time on From Panel to Play we’re taking a look at someone with a really toxic personality: Viper!

Ophelia Sarkissian was one of twelve girls taken in for a special Hydra project, an orphan raised by the notorious Hydra agent Kraken. During her rise, she frequently combatted both Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D., eventually earning her place at the top of Hydra as one of its leaders.

Sarkissian cut all ties with Hydra, setting out on her own course of villainy. Along the way, she assassinated the supervillain Viper and assumed his identity. Under her new name, she has been a toxic thorn in the side of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Punisher, and more, while employing her deadly skills with groups such as H.A.M.M.E.R. as a professional terrorist-for-hire.

The posture of Viper’s miniature captures her as she springs into the battle, her toxic blade at the ready to cut down her target. She embodies swiftness and danger, ready to leap like a coiled snake at the first victim within reach. Viper’s bodysuit is a great place for painters to work with texture and looks great with some strategically placed scale motifs.

As fits a woman of her skills, Viper is a fast-moving and stealthy character. She has several tricks that allow her to move across the battlefield and land powerful, venomous attacks against her opponents.

Every one of Viper’s three attacks has the potential to inflict special conditions on her target. Whether she attacks with her compact Assassin’s Pistol, a poisoned dagger, or her signature attack, Viper Strike, she leaves a lingering debility on her target to remember her by. The most potent of her attacks, Viper Strike sees her leaping or dashing forward near her target to land a Strength 6 toxic strike with the special Venom rule that inflicts the Slow and Stun conditions if she rolls a wild.

Viper Strike pairs well with some of her other abilities. After using it, she can activate her Displacement Ring to teleport away from an enemy counterattack. The Displacement Ring active superpower costs 2 Power to use and allows Viper to be placed anywhere within Range 2 of her current location. This movement is often just far enough for her Stealth innate superpower to take effect, forcing her opponent to use an action to close the distance before they can target her with an attack.

On days when Viper isn’t feeling like teleporting and hiding, her top-tier martial talents can help her out too. She is an experienced fighter and able to strike with blinding speed when she needs to, often fast enough to counter an enemy strike before it can land. Coiled Serpent represents these lightning reflexes, a reactive superpower that allows her to roll 5 defense dice instead of her usual 3. If she manages to block all the incoming damage, Viper responds with a quick counterstrike, inflicting 2 damage on her hapless opponent after the attack is resolved.

That’s it for our first look at Viper. How will you use Ophelia, the ophidian villain? And who’s next to make their transition From Panel to Play? Be sure to check out Atomic Mass Transmissions to find out!