PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 163

 

From Dragon Mist:

DM looks at Wild Heart. "There is no decision to make. I have to follow

the leads to my sister. I will take Crusader, and Cowboy as originally

offered to work with Greyspirit, if she is available."

 

To Mirv's information, DM looks at Masque and says: "Can't you send us

back to the time right before we left? It would help to keep my lead

warm. And while you're at it, why don't we just go back to the time when

the Yahoda clan was about to strike." No matter how off the cuff it may

sound, DM looks at her for an honest answer. With such a time delay,

even adjusting for time zone, DM is starting to think that the long

distance teleport which she sent them through, may not have been an

actual teleport.

 

From Speedball:

"An hour, huh? Well, then unless you've got something for me to do, 'Heart,

I'm taking me a swim."

Unless Wildheart comes up with something for Joe to do, he'll strip down to

his shorts and run down to the beach. You all get the feeling that its been

a long time since he's had a vacation.

 

From Crusader:

< "An hour, huh? Well, then unless you've got something for me to do,

'Heart,

I'm taking me a swim." >>

 

Crusader watches Speed wistfully, remembering a lost childhood near the

Pacific coastline of Washington State.

"Aw hell...." Armor latches start popping (from the inside), until

Crusader seems to be shedding his armored skin. "Hey, Speed! Wait for me!"

Piles up the armor neatly on the beach and flies across the sand down to the

water.

 

To the others, Crusader is tall, 6'4", and cut. Light brown hair, close

cropped. But the main feature is that there are little silvery ports,

designed to integrate the armor plating grafted into his muscles. The look

like circular I.O. ports, but are anywhere from an inch to a 1/2 inch in

diameter.

They do not protrude past the muscle tissue, in fact the skin seems to

grow right up to them.

 

From Speedball:

"Hey Cru--you jump in this water and you'd better have some rustoleum handy

or yer not gonna be able to get back inta yer suit."

 

From Cowboy:

Cowboy blinks at Masque as she explains the reality

thing, then shakes his head to clear it. "Lady, I

ain't got no friggin' clue what the hell you just

said. But, as long as you unnerstand it..."

 

He then takes off his boots, rolls up his pant legs to

the knees and heads over to the water. At the edge,

he looks around, then looks at each person, then

sighs, and shrugs out of the coat. Dropping it on the

dry sand, he then walks out into the water, till it

reaches his knees.

 

Under the coat, he looks a little on the scrawny side.

However, now that the bulk of the jacket is no longer

hiding him, it looks like he has VERY well defined

muscles. They even look kind of hard and angular.

His forearms look most strange, with what looks like a

rigid plate embedded under his skin.

 

"Hey, Crusader, c'mere fer a sec." If Crusader

approaches him, he motions for him to turn. "I wanna

check out that 'ware ya got." He looks the ports

over, and goes, "Huh. Never seen the like. What is

it, some kinda new Hitachi, or EisenWare? Hell, that

looks kinda like some sorta crystal. What's yer

interface, Sabishi or NeuroCal? I got the NeuroFiber,

myself. Really cranks up the reaction time."

 

He tightens his right hand into a fist, and jerks it

up to the side really fast. "Stainless JointMods for

an added bit o' speed!"

 

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will wait near the door, holding a phase to activate flight

(if holding a phase still works in this system). As he is moving closer

to the door to watch, he will stop the host as he passes, and say "would

you ask my dinner guest (points to Robinson) to join me over here?

Thanks.

 

He will just continue to watch, as it seems like the police have things

well in hand. He is curious, though, as Masterson was supposed to me us

here (correct me if I am wrong).

 

-Ilan and Nick

 

-----

 

From GM:

 

Note: (Sorry about the delay. It's been getting tough to maintain this game, regularly. I'll try to do better as we go. Unfortunately, there's not much for everyone to be doing right now.)

 

>>>The Island: There is a relaxed atmosphere for twenty minutes or so. Speedball tears around in the water, and Crusader and Cowboy exchange cybernetic/tech lingo while the waves lap around their ankles. Wild Heart chats with MIRV and Killinger before she kicks back herself and stretches out on the sand to get some sun. "Enjoy it while we can," she says before shutting her eyes and relaxing in the heat.

Dragon Mist, a little perturbed that The Masque didn't answer him when he questioned her about the possible time travel, is left to his own devices, noticing after a few minutes that Impetus is gone from the beach. Large imprints from his gravitational field lead back into the island interior.

 

Arcsivler, New York: Turning to ask the host to alert ADA Robinson you see her approaching you, briefcase in hand, speaking into her phone and looking intently out of the front window. A uniformed police officer comes into the restaurant saying, "Please, everyone, back away from the window. This is official police business and we are concerned for you safety!" Being New Yorkers most people don't listen to him, but instead start pressing forward to see what is happening. Outside, more police have appeared trying to clear the street of bystanders. At least eight heavily armed cops, including Masterson, are surrounding the car, shotguns, pistols, and a couple of HK 52 submachine guns focused on the sedan interior. Masterson shouts for the persons inside to throw out their weapons and come out of the car with their hands empty and raised in the air. The others maneuver to maintain clear lines of fire as well as making sure they aren't going to hit each other if they have to shoot.

Everyone twitches and there is a slight gasp from onlookers as the car doors pop. The cops tense, straining, as black gloved hands reach out of the four doors. The driver position lets drop a Glock 17 automatic handgun, and the persons coming out from the rear doors are extending, butt first, black matte assault rifles, bullpup style, possibly modified Steyr AUGs. The front passenger seat shows a pair of female hands in cutoff gloves with no weapons.

Slowly, four people emerge from the car, hands raised. They are all wearing casual street clothes and jackets. The driver is Asian, the two men in back Caucasian. They all have a hard, possibly military look to them. The woman is in a simple wind breaker and jeans, brown hair pulled back in a short pony tail and wearing sunglasses. She has no weapon, but when she turns to look around...

... you recognize her, Arcsilver. That little wench who cracked you open with a curling bar. Wild Heart's psycho little sister. Out of her leather costume, but it's clearly her. Nails. (Yes, you have a held action.)<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

This was initially sent just to Ferrett as a set of side posts for his character. As the player, he could choose to have it then sent to all the other players so they could read it. I wanted to minimize this kind of thing as I think all players should be the audience for all play, as engaged in other character's stories as much as their own, but sometimes it is liberating to keep it personal. I honestly can't remember if this was ever sent to the other players or not. This is fun for me, because I've forgotten a lot of the details I get to reread now.

 

-----

 

Post 164

 

From GM:

Note: (Wanted to do this off-line, to give you the choice about whether or not to post this for everyone.)

 

>>>Impetus: After The Masque walks away and Speedball and Crusader begin gallivanting in the surf, the others each step off to their own actions. You are left alone for the moment, wishing you could get home as soon as possible, when a quiet voice comes to you. "Impetus you call yourself," says the soft female voice. You turn, looking around, but see no one and realize the voice is inside your head. "I would speak with you privately if you don't mind. You are a rarity and I suspect you have little knowledge of what you are." The voice is at first unfamiliar but then you realize it is the faux Solitaire, The Masque, Elaine King, without the raspy hoarseness of her damaged vocal chords. "If you wouldn't mind speaking with me, please just follow my footsteps into the dunes. Such telepathic contact doesn't allow me to rest as I should."

A quick glance around shows that no one else seems aware of her voice and no one is really watching you. Wild Heart is talking with MIRV and Killinger. Cowboy is sitting under a tree with his hat over his eyes and Dragon Mist is watching Crusader and Speedball in the water.<<<

 

From Impetus:

Privately.

 

He'll go, checking to see if anyone looks at him (especially Speedball),

then will wander off into the woods. If anyone should ask, he'll say he's

off to "do some business in th' woods" and he'll be right back.

 

He'll meet her with crossed arms and an arched eyebrow and a, "You brought

me out here, but if you got any info on what th'hell I am, then mebbe it's

worth it. Speak."

 

From GM:

>>>Impetus: You walk away with only the most casual glances from anyone. Moving over the sand your "footsteps" make interesting forms as your field pushes the loose grains away in swirling, circular patterns. Coming through the trees you see Elaine King sitting on a well worn rock in a small clearing. The palms sway around her as she sits in a lotus position, her cloak folded under her as a cushion. Her arms are bare and pale, her face turned up to the sun. Her smooth, porcelain mask lies in her lap, and as you approach you can see that the part of her face that it normally covers is disfigured with what looks like a series of claw marks. They have left livid scar tissue down the right side of her face. Her right eye, normally covered by the mask with no eye hole there, is a milky, unseeing orb.

Turning to look at you as you come into view, her mask floats up out of her lap to settle gently in place, but you are able to get a clear view of the carnage before it is covered. "Not pretty is it?" she rasps, without any obvious embarrassment. At your abrupt comment she simply nods, adjusts her position and then looks at you, scrutinizing you. Her eyes flash... literally, with a deep purple light, and you can feel her, again literally, peering into you. As tough as you try to be there is something very disturbing about this... creating a very unfamiliar feeling of vulnerability.

 

Then she stops, smiles... the spell, if that's what it was, broken. Reaching into her robe she pulls out a small, multi-faceted ball, rolls it on her fingers and palm and says, "You are newly born, I see. Thus still quite vulnerable..." she gestures at your wound. "Dragon Mist was correct. The blade that cut you was enchanted. Such things inherently disrupt the natural order. They inherently disrupt YOU as you are now part of that natural order. Be wary of such magics," and she snaps her fingers.

There is a tiny purple spark and suddenly your field vanishes. You drop an inch to the ground, feet sinking in the soft sand the cool breeze and warm sun suddenly sharper and unfiltered by your force field. "Magics like mine, as you see, can eliminate your powers, or bypass them." Almost immediately, you feel your energy begin to power up again... seemingly unchanged, but simply shut off for that brief second.

"Now I know what I'm doing, so it would be very unlikely to meet someone in this continuum that could effectively shut you down like that, but don't be over confident. Magic is still relatively rare here, but it poses a clear threat to you."

She stands up coming over to you, her footsteps seem a little unsteady and she puts her hand on your arm for support. Standing close to you, she seems diminutive as you tower over her, but she seems unfazed by your presence. Looking up into your face she says, "You probably don't know it, but..." and she reaches up and lightly touches your forehead with her finger, "...you've got a miniature black hole in your head." She smiles again, suddenly looking much younger, livelier, and prettier. "Pretty cool, eh?"<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 165

 

From Dragon Mist:

Marveling at his effect on women, Dragon Mist raises his eyebrows in an "Whoa"

expression and sighs. He then teleports the short distance to WH, where she's

sun bathing, and says: "Wild Heart, I know that we really don't have much

choice in the matter, but you seem awfully relaxed right now. Do you know

something I don't? Because I'm not quite comfortable with this masque

character and she's obviously not telling us everything."

 

From Crusader:

Not much for Crusader to do, except squeeze sand between his toes....

Viper life was like this, a lot of waiting around, followed by moments of

sheer terror.

 

--storn

 

From Cowboy:

Having cooled his feet off, Cowboy moves back to sit

under a tree in some shade again, stopping to get his

coat, boots, and hat. He relaxes against the tree for

a bit, then puts his hat back on and walks over to sit

near WildHeart.

 

When there is a pause in the conversation between

DragonMist and WildHeart, he says, "So, chica, whats a

nice lookin' girl like you doin' hangin' out wit'

these guys?"

 

From Speedball:

Speedball, having been swimming for something like three days, drowns.

ok, just kidding. But it does seem like a while since we've busted any

heads.

 

After swimming for a little while, Speedball will walk up the beach to where

'Heart and the others are sitting and flop down on the sand still wet, but

unmindful of the sand that will stick to him. "Ok, 'Heart, since you wanted

to work with me when we get back to NYC, can I assume you've got some sort of plan to get the job done when we go looking for the Kid?"

 

Hope you all had a good weekend. I graded tests. Two out of 30 kids wil be

passing this one. *sigh*

 

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will do a double take, muttering "holy hip-breakers, batman!"

He will then turn and walk right up to Robinson, stopping so close that

his mouth is right next to her ear (so that no one hears what hesays).

Quickly and clearly, he will whisper this: woman in the wind-breaker

outside is suped up - she can do what Wildheart can, and last time she

was part of a team. Let me know if you need me. You smell good."

 

He will then step away from her, putting on his sunglasses and allowing her to question him further or head outside. If she does the latter, he

will follow her outside and find an out-of-the-way place to stand. If he

gets the chance, he will palm his Mavericks radio, and bring it to his

mouth, saying "Hey 'fire, you out there? I'm on the corner of (insert

here), and am watching the police arrest Nails and some other goons.

Could use help, but come quiet, 'cause I think our presence might disrupt

things. Arcsilver out."

 

Should any violence erupt, Nick will take advantage of the confusion to activate flight, but will hover as quietly as possible out of the way,

until it seems like an officer's life is in danger.

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Island: Wild Heart replies to Dragon Mist without opening her eyes. "Killinger and MIRV have communicated with some folks that might be able to reach us in about six hours, if Miss Masque can't get us off the island, like she said. I realize you are worried about your sister. I am too, and I didn't even know you HAD a sister." At this her eyes open, and she gives him a questioning look. "It's just that we are a long way from home, and there isn't much I can do at this very moment. If there was anything I learned from Crusader... the original Crusader... it was to take the peaceful moments when they come, because they are few and far between. If Masque can't get us back in the next hour, then we'll get worried."

 

As Cowboy drops down, he asks, "So, chica, what's a nice lookin' girl like you doin' hangin' out wit' these guys?" Wild Heart looks at him with amusement, saying, "Y'know Cowboy. Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself the same thing."

 

When Speedball flops down in the small ring she looks about with even a greater degree of wryness, shakes her head and then says, "We have got to get more women on this team. Huffhh." To Speedball directly, she says, "The Kid was being kept in a private hospital, very exclusive. They owed us some favors. I checked up on him from time to time but even another psi who tried to work with him didn't seem able to reach his inner mind. Total catatonia resulting from some event a few years ago. Tied in with China nuking itself and... so I've heard... the death of Mentalla. Whatever it was, it shut him off like a light. Now you are saying he appeared to you. That makes me think we need to check him out and I'd like you along, since you say you saw him. The hospital is in a private building on FDR Island."

More minutes pass in that weird tension between action and relaxation. After fifty minutes, Wild Heart asks everyone to get ready and Crusader suits up again. A few minutes after that, The Masque and Impetus come walking out of the interior talking quietly. They finish their conversation out of earshot and approach the group. Impetus has a somewhat introspective look to his normally harsh demeanor. "Thank you for your patience," says Masque. "I hope you found some peace here, though the abruptness of the journey may have spoiled it for you."

Masque spreads her arms and a faint pink aura emanates from under her heavy cloak which billows outward slowly. Looking at Dragon Mist she says, almost as an after thought, "Time travel as you describe is not impossible. Cowboy is proof of that. It is simply highly disruptive and counter to what I'm doing here. Traveling to the future is easy. We all do it with every heartbeat. I simply sped the process up for us. Breaking the Reaction Cascade works best if you distance yourself... take time off as it were. Yes it was a risk... but necessary, I feel. Going to the past is another issue all together. I doubt I could do it and it would cause even worse upheavals in the stream. I'm sorry."

Then, with that said, her arms spring outward, hands splayed, and the pink glow becomes brighter and brighter, surrounding all of you and drowning out the sun and sand and ocean.

 

Arcsilver, New York: ADA Robinson listens intently as you whisper into her ear, nodding, and looking intently at Nails. She seems just about to say something into the phone, when you finish with "You smell good." (LOL at that line, by the way.)

She starts, and almost drops the phone, eyes wide, looking at you in utter surprise.

 

You aren't sticking around, though. The police officer saw you with Sally Anne and doesn't move to stop you as you go outside. You are easily able to blend with the crowd moving a few meters to the side. You sub-vocalize to Darkfire, over the radio and get a, "Roger that. I'm twenty minutes away, though. Heading out now." Just as he clicks off, you realize that he won't make it. The following happens almost simultaneously...

The police have moved in, kicked the dropped weapons away and are busy patting down the three men and Nails. She has a familiar wry grin on her face, normally seen around the breakfast table at HQ but with a touch of malice not seen in her sister. Just as the cops are starting to pull arms back and slap on the cuffs, you see Masterson straighten up, look startled, listening to his ear radio. You realize that he has just been relayed the info on Nails, probably from Sally Anne. He is just beginning to shout something when Sally Anne steps out of the restaurant with the uniformed cop, and into the view of Nails.

Nails grin turns truly evil, and she shrugs... hard. The cop with his hands on her arms goes flying back with a yelp, into the officer behind him. Instinctively you flare you flight energy and electricity sparks out of your feet along the sidewalk. Several bystanders jump at the sight, but Nails doesn't seem to notice, her attention on Sally Anne and snarling, "So you're the big bad momma, huh? Don't look like anything special to me. I'll pop you like a zit!" and she looks ready to spring.

 

Initiative: Arcsilver, Nails, cops, thugs, Arcsilver (2nd)

 

Note: (Howdy all. Busy weekend, and busier work days. I'm going to try to get the beached group going again this week. Sorry about the delay, but Arcs is going alone for the moment. Hope you all are doing well.)

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 166

 

From Impetus:

((("Not pretty, is it?" she rasps, without

any obvious embarrassment.)))

 

"No," he says. "But ah seen worse."

 

He listens to her, looking with mild astonishment at his force field going

away like that, then hiw brow furrows. "But if ah'm a part o'natcha, then

why doan mah powers alluz work on command? Ah can't fire predict'bly;

sometimes it jes' cuts out. Dat cause'a some stray floatin' Magic, or is

dat cuz'a some otha' reason you ain' told me about? An' why DID you bring

us out heah, anyways?

 

He thinks for a moment more, then his face softens. "An is..." he

hesitates, which is unusual for him. "An' is there some way y'all can give

me dat cut-off magic in a ball o'a necklace o' somethin', so ah can turn it

off when ah want insteada bein' two tons alla time?"

 

From GM:

Elaine responds, "While your power may be natural forces the manipulation of them is a skill you have to learn, no matter how integrated your physical form becomes through use. It's a matter of practice and time, plus, I would think that your physical form is transforming... becoming capable of withstanding the stress of channeling such forces."

As she talks her head bows, letting her hair spill around her face. Slowly she rotates her neck, stretching. "As to your mass gain, that is partly essential to your body's ability to cope with your powers. You are stronger and tougher and your localized gravitational field has been increased. It my be possible to create a charm that would negate your energies but it would take some time to construct, and I'd imagine the long term effects would be... well... complete implosion. You and a big chunk of reality around you." She smiles, a bit drawn and tired, "I wouldn't recommend it. That black hole in your head may be only a Planck length in diameter, but without your energy field counteracting and controlling it's nearly infinite gravitational field..." she looks a little queasy. "Ugh. I wouldn't want to watch you get swallowed up. Right now you are maintaining a quantum level event horizon around that hole. I wouldn't be too eager to do anything that would let it possibly expand."

Suddenly she looks directly into your eyes and you see real compassion there, a softness and level of caring you aren't used to. Her hand is hot on your bare bicep. "I truly hope you can survive and master your abilities. With you, I think I might actually succeed here. It would be nice to get to know the man behind those powers." There is a great amount of pain and a sense of age and exhaustion in what is an other wise young and beautiful woman (sans the scars).

 

From Impetus:

((((She smiles, a bit drawn and tired, "I wouldn't

recommend it. That black hole in your head may be only a Planck

length in

diameter, but without your energy field counteracting and

controlling it's

nearly infinite gravitational field..." ))))

 

Impetus wonders what kind of planks SHE'S seen -- the ones on the

construction site are usually five or six feet long -- but hey, who knows

when it comes to gravity? It's probably a very squeezed plank.

 

((((("I truly hope you can survive and master you abilities.

With you, I think I might actually succeed, here. It would be nice

to get

to know the man behind those powers." There is a great amount of

pain, and

a sense of age and exhaustion in what is an other wise young and

beautiful

woman (sans the scars).<<<))))))

 

He cocks his head and looks at her, not moving away from the hand on his

rocklike bicep. His expression deepens for a moment, staring straight into

her eye, as he evidently makes some kind of decision about Elaine.

 

"Take the mask off," he says.

 

It is a command, but an oddly soft one for Impetus; not the half-brutal

tones he uses while talking to everyone else, but spoken with a quiet

reassurance, and an implicit guarantee that he won't hurt her in any way.

There is just something that he needs to see, if she wants him to know her.

It's a gesture of trust on both parts that he's asking for.

 

Assuming that she does (if not, then things spin a bit differently), he'll

look at the clawmarks, gazing deep into them -- not out of freakish

curiosity, but simply to see how bad they are, maybe get some idea of what

happened. There is compassion in his eyes -- faint distant compassion, but

the beginnings of some understanding.

 

And then, with her mask off, he'll look into her eye and look at what he

sees there. Is it fear? Bravery? Simple wondering?

 

Whatever the look, that's what determines what happens next. Reply soon,

and I'll respond today. We DO have literally a half-hour to talk, according

to your timeline.

 

When Impetus gets back, he does two things:

 

1) He gets Crusader and Wild Heart to one side, then asks for a piece of

paper and a pen. Assuming he can find it, he writes down his pager number

and hands it to them. "Doan han' dis t'anyone else, if y'please," he says.

"Ah got people who'd love to three-oh-seven me, an' it wouldn't be too hard

t'find out who ah am from dis numba. I trus' you, so doan blow it in

return. An' SPECIALLY doan give it t' Killinger, awri? You page me, I come

as quick as ah can, but until y'all can put me on some kinda sal'ry, I gots

t''keep mah day job. If it's sumpin where it's worth quittin' fo' -- like,

someone's life is in danga an ain' nobody else gotcha back -- you put a

double-eight in fronta it."

 

2) He looks at Cowboy, assuming nothing else has happened that I've missed.

If it's the right time of the evening, Impetus looks at Cowboy and says,

"You seem like d'type. Feel like goan f'a beer t'nite befo' we head backta

mah crib?"

 

From GM:

>>>After a moment looking up at you Elaine simply reaches up, no fancy levitation, and takes her mask off. Four, evil looking, perpendicular scars trace from her lower right forehead, just above the right eye, down through the eye, across the cheek to the jaw bone. You've seen plenty of knife wounds and any one of these looks like what a hard slash from a very sharp blade would make. Whatever did this must have had razor sharp claws, or it was some kind of four bladed weapon. One cut took her right eye, leaving only a white, sightless orb. All of the cuts must have cut to the bone.

Her reaction isn't apparent at first... she is still, face placid... then a small smile creeps into the corners of her mouth, not mocking but somewhat pleased. You suddenly feel her hand trace down your bicep to chest and then your stomach. Her fingers lightly trace your patched wound. "There is an intimacy to revealing your scars. My first love taught me that. Few people realize it... and fewer still act on it." Then her hand comes up, tracing one vivid line down her cheek. "These are the least of mine." Her eyes turn away then, not afraid, but again, distant and sad.<<<

 

From Impetus:

"Where ah come from, we never had a choice."

 

After a moment of staring into her eye, assessing what he sees there, he

continues. The words seem to stumble out of his lips, unusual in a man who

speaks with such surety.

 

"Either you showed nothing, or you showed every'thin..." he continues,

looking a bit distant and isolated himself, "An' there was nothin'

in-between. Enemies or frens, shootin' or drinkin'... you had no choice.

An' sometimes, t'do the right thing, you wound up makin' some choices that

ripped yo' life in half."

 

He takes her hand in his, gently, drawing her attention back to him. "But

you know that, don't you?"

 

From GM:

>>>Masque simply nods at your words, and then says, "What keeps me up at night is thinking about all the enemies I ended up drinking with... and all the friends I've killed. Dying for a cause is easy..." her face becomes hard for moment. As hard as any stone cold banger... the light in her eye gone... flat... unnerving. " The question is always who are you willing to sacrifice to it?"

She holds your eyes like that for a moment, then the ice breaks and her light and sadness and humanity come back. Frustration adds even more hoarseness to her rough voice. "I'm just sick of the death. And there will be more. It is not easy..." she brushes her hand against your arm..."to constantly meet those who will likely not survive." She shakes her head, looking down. "I am most afraid of becoming used to it."

She leans in, then. Her head suddenly resting against your chest. A warm, intimate contact. "Thank you," she whispers.<<<

 

From Impetus:

Impetus puts his arm around her shoulder, holding her close for a moment.

He looks off into the sunset, eyes flinty and remote, thinking for a moment.

 

 

"I know what you did," he says flatly -- but before she can respond, he

says, "I done it too. Long as you worried about it, you doan get used to

it."

 

He looks down at her, his face a mixture of judgement and tenderness. "Ah

ain' never had to make th' choice to kill or not, 'cause I always foun' a

way to avoid it. But ah know what you go through. Smaller scale, mebbe,

but I los' mah sister to it, I los' all mah frens, and next thing ah know

the macks who called me 'blood' are tryina kill me. It ain' easy.

 

"But you do what you can. 'Cause you know what's right. An' you do," he

says with calm surety, pinning her with his gaze -- almost daring her to

deny it. "Question is, do you have the strength t'keep yo' humanity AN'

your cause alive?"

 

He listens to her answer patiently, then -- whether it's denial or agreement

or confusion -- he leans down and gently kisses her on her forehead. "Put

yo' mask back on," he says. "Time to go back. But same offer I made to

Cowboy, I make t'you -- 'cept he sleeps on the couch. You c'n stays

anywhere you want. Fo' as long as you need. Even if it's only f'a little

while. Y'unnerstan?"

 

From GM:

As you walk back, Elaine says, "I have others to find... and some research to do. I may be gone for some time, but I will come back, and take you up on that."

Just as you come into the clearing, she whispers to you, "Perhaps... in the future... if we succeed... the two of us can return to this island." She looks at the crowd waiting at the beach, and says, "JUST the two of us..."

 

And soon after that, you are gone.

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 167

 

From Cowboy:

Cowboy groans slightly, and shakes his head. "Man,

what th' hell IS this, my day fer travellin'?

Keeeee-ripes, man..."

 

From Speedball:

Hopping on one foot and sending sand flying, Speedball puts his crappy old

running shoes on over his socks, already wet and sandy from the beach. "Ok,

let's get the carny rolling. 'Heart, I'm more than happy to check out this

hospital with ya. I hope the Kid's still there. From what I saw I wouldn't

be surprised if he'd disappeared...or worse. But wouldn't the hospital have

called you or something if his condition had changed? Course, I can only

say I saw some guy who *called himself* Kid Fantastic. Never met the guy

b'fore, so I can't say its true. Does it sound like something he'd do?

Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since we need to check it out anyway."

 

From Crusader:

Crusader has big concerns. LIke slapping cybernetic gear and then living

with the sand under his armor.

Definitely need a shower.

 

From Dragon Mist:

Due to all that's going on currently, Dragon Mist does the troubled ninja routine and broods. He's not even aware of the fact that he's striking a pose.

 

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will take advantage of Nail's failing to see him, and streak

through the street (2 levels in turn mode, one in OCV), attempting an

10d6 move-by on her (hopefully, this will be a surprise attack). Just

after he hits her, he will say "hey scooter! Guess who?"

 

I assume that I am no more than 10" away from Nails and crew, and my

intention is to end up 16-18" away, at an altitude and direction that

will focus their/her attack away from the crowds. Just after he has hit

her (or missed!), he will switch to a police band, shaking a hurt fist

and saying quietly "I'll try to distract her as long as I can, Masterson,

can you get Robinson out? I don't know how long I can hold her at

bay..."

 

-Ilan

 

PS FYI, Neil, I assume that the radio is small enough to go in Arc's

pocket, but he would have left the suit and the high quality boxing wraps

at home. As a result, he does not have any force field (the suit focuses

his EM emissions into a hard shell), nor does he have that extra PD vs

move-by/through (ouchee!!).

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (This is just for Ilan to respond to, but for you all to enjoy. We'll see how quickly this fight goes since I didn't realize that Arcsilver is basically defenseless. Ick. Could be messy.)

 

>>>Arcsilver: Nails never sees you coming. So focused on going for Sally is she, combined with your speed, that your fist impacts her jaw as her feet have just left the pavement. Her head spins sideways and her body lurches from it's normal trajectory as she splays wildly, slamming into a newspaper box on the street side with a loud crash.

Your hand hurts like hell as you zip past and turn. Looking back, you see the cops wheeling, the crowd crying out and surging away in a spreading circle from the impact sight. Though you call to Masterson, he doesn't respond and you see him shouting and yelling to his fellow officers, doing a dive side roll over the black sedan, shotgun held perpendicular to his body, coming toward Nails.

One of the agents, the driver, uses the sudden distraction and whirls on the officer behind him taking him across the jaw with a vicious elbow strike.

Nails stands, up. Looking up at you she glares a happy, twisted grin yelling, "Oh yeah! It's super skinny dude! Comin' back for more punishment! Glad you ain't wearing that stupid spandex. I was gettin' sick watching your bony ass!" She jumps up on a parked delivery van, coming toward you.<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 168

 

From Arcsilver:

> Nails stands, up.<

 

Arcsilver's thought bubble: "uh oh..."

 

>Looking up at you, she glares a happy, twisted grin

>at you, yelling, "Oh yeah! It's super skinny dude! Comin' back for

>more

>punishment! Glad you ain't wearing that stupid spandex. I was gettin'

>sick watching your bony ass!" And she jumps up on a parked delivery

>van, coming toward you.<<<

 

Arcsilver will wait until she is as close as possible (finishes her move), and then execute another move-by, but this time on the agent who just decked a cop, I'm looking for 8d6 out of this one. He will continue the move in an arc upwards, so that he will end above Nails. He will finish his round with a PRE attack: "Big talk, half-pint. You think you can keep up with me now that there isn't anyone to give you a toss (see 2 issues ago)?"

 

Arc has danced this dance before, and hopefully has some idea of how far she can jump. He is trying to play this as safely as possible, and stay out of her reach.

 

-Ilan and Arcsilver

 

From GM:

>>>Using your amazing speed to your advantage, you flash around the battle field faster than most people can follow. The police are just turning toward the escaping agent who has taken barely two steps from where he'd been standing when he's mowed down by your blazing fist and strong garlic breath from the Chinese food. You hammer him in the ribs and feel the thickness of body armor under his jacket. He goes down hard though, on his butt, surprise and shock on his face as the air rushes from his lungs.

Then you are up and over the battle scene yelling down at Nails. You see the police officer from inside the restaurant pulling Sally Anne back inside, away from the battle scene. Masterson and the rest of the cops are now trying to orient on where Nails has gone. Below you she smiles that wicked grin. "Ooooh. Pick on the norms, Arcy. That's always fun, ain't it? They make such fun squishing noises when you hit them don't they?" Her grin turns even more wicked, "I heard you iced a guy this morning. No high quite like that is there?!"<<<

 

Initiative: Arcsilver (1st), Nails, Cops, badguys, Arcsilver (2nd)

 

From Arcsilver:

She said:

 

>"Ooooh. Pick on the norms, Arcy. That's always fun, ain't it. They

>make such fun squishing noises when you hit them, don't they." Her

>grin turns even more wicked, "I heard you iced a guy this morning. No

>high quite like that, is there?!"<<<

 

Arcsilver grits his teeth for a split second, fighting back an anger that he is unaccustomed to. He then zips an and around Nails and out again, trying to lead her away from the crowd and the police (and Sally!). He still wants to stay out of HTH range, and will use his second 1/2 phase (moving only 15") to try to unleash a tendril of lightening near her face, momentarliy blinding her. While zipping around, just out of reach, Arcsilver will reply: "I don't know, half-pint, you were a little squishy yourself. Maybe time to jazzericise, no?" For his second, he will attempt another move-by, using his full 30" so that he can come around her and still end up out of her reach moving in the same direction. I'm looking for 11d6 out of the attack, will all levels in OCV (makes that OCV14 I think).

 

Neil, you never let me know how much damage I took from that first move-by. That's fine, but just let me know if he is in danger of knocking himself out with one of these moves. If it seems likely, Arc will do something else.

 

-Ilan

 

From GM:

Note: (Whoops, sorry. Arcs took 7 stun after his 4 PD from that move-by.)

 

>>>Arcsilver: As you speed down and around Nails' position you see her rotating on the balls of her feet, tensing her legs, lining herself up for a leap at you. Before she can spring though, your hand outstretches and unleashes arcing flashes of light right at her. Instinctively she bobs down, thinking she is avoiding an impact blast and instead finds herself staring directly into the white hot intensity of your arc lightning.

"AHHH F*%K!" she screams, stepping backward with surprise and sudden flash blindness. One hand slaps to her eyes and she nearly steps off the top of the delivery van on which she is standing. She seems totally disoriented and unstable as you gleefully turn and line up for a return strike. At that moment you suddenly hear Masterson yell, "FIRE!" followed by the Boom! of a shotgun and the crisp "Kpok! Kpok! Kpok!" of an assault rifle.

Nails jerks and twitches as Masterson and a fellow officer with an HK-94AR light her up from below. Her wind breaker shreds as lead shot and 5.56mm rounds tear into her. Scarily she doesn't go down, though she's hit multiple times. It only seem to enrage her as she yells out, "I'm gonna tear your f*#%ing balls off and make you f*#%ing eat them you f*#%ing pissboys!" and whirls unsteadily in their general direction... leaving her back to you in a wide open target.

Freeze frame, three panel split. First panel showing Arcsilver's fists in close perspective, zooming towards Nails standing on the delivery van. Second panel, same fists, closer now, and Nails' rantings over the tops of the cops heads suddenly cuts of in mid "^!)*# @ #$ $#*^#..." Third Panel, fists right behind Nails and her head cocks backward, eyes still blinking from the flash, small type in her word balloon saying, "Oh shi..."

WHAM!! You impact solidly into her back with both hands, slamming her forward and down off the van. She looks like a normal woman... but as you've felt in the past, hitting her is like punching a truck. Your right wrist buckles and you hear a "pop" upon impact. Pain shoots up your arm. (You take 9 stun and 1 body after defense.)

Nails flies forward and down, through the air a good ten meters, and smashes into one of those goofy three wheeled garbage scooters that putt-putt around the city streets, stinking to high heaven. It goes over with a crash, glass and garbage strewing onto the sidewalk. Bystanders shriek and pile backwards into each other... and you see Nails, pushing herself up out of the mess, a smear of garbage all over her clothes. Somehow over that cacophony, you somehow hear her growl, "Oh you f#*%er, you are SO dead!"<<<

 

Note: (God I LOVE the chaos of a good paranormal battle. HEE HEE!)

 

From Arcsilver:

<< Nails said:

 

>you

>somehow hear her growl, "Oh you f#*%er, you are SO dead!"<<<

 

Arcsilver, zipping to a safe distance about 10" away, will say "that may be, Scooter, but you're covered in trash." he will then extend one hand, and release tendrils of electricity at Nails, trying to direct as much of the charge at her as possible (4d6 NND). If he hits with this, he will follow up with "take some of that! Who's your daddy?" As he is expending the last of this electricity, he will say into his comm (still set to the police band) "Masterson! I don't know how long I can keep her busy! I'm soft without my suit, and if she hits me, I'm done for! Get Robinson out of here and bring in some big guns!"

 

-Ilan and one as-of-yet-lucky Arcsilver

 

From GM:

>>>Arcsilver: Pressing you advantage you unleash your multiple static charges in a spray of thin, silvery bolts. Nails, just pushing herself up from the garbage, does a spastic dance as the electricity shoots through her.

Still blinded she shouts stuttering curses in the wrong direction, as her hair stands straight up on end.

Then your bolts cut off and there is a moment of stillness as she wavers, knees buckling, whisps of smoke pouring from her clothes. She drops to her knees, arms limp at her side, her mouth opens and some sparks "spack!"

out as she tries to cry, "You f#$*er..."

And a second fulsilade of gun fire from Masterson and the second officer, slam into her. Masterson double taps her with two shotgun blasts to the head and chest, as the SWAT man walks rounds right up her torso. It is brutal and final, slamming Nails to the ground. Most anyone else would be smoking red paste after such inflicted punishment, but as she lays in the garbage, most of her clothes blown off, she looks relatively uninjured aside from scorch marks and some bruises. She lies still, but her chest rises and falls with steady breathing.

"Christ on a crutch!" says Masterson, as the police begin closing in around her, ten guns pointed down, the enemy agents down and being cuffed and covered by five others.

You massage your wrist, already the pain is leaving it as you can feel the energy surge through it, reshaping the torn tendons. Below you, Sally Anne looks up from the doorway, as do many of the bystanders, looking

at you. She makes a small gesture, tracing her finger around her eyes (outlining a mask maybe?), and shaking her head with a negative, pointing at you.<<<

 

Note: (Oh man. That flash just HOSED Nails. She was going to be blind for five actions, was essentially a zero DCV to any ranged attacks, was getting hammered on all fronts. That last zap attack took her to Zero stun and then Masterson's and the SWAT guy's shots put her out. Most of the bullets were doing none or minimal damage, but Masterson's last shot did something like 64 Stun. Since she was a zero, whatever got through was doubled. UGH. La La Land!)

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver feels for his sunglasses, and then slowly smiles at any members of the crowd who are looking up at him (which I assume is most of the people). He then zips up, so that he is hovering above the crowd, and (assuming that no one is hurt and no immediate emergencies are apparent, he will say, with a smile: Well, never let it be said that a Maverick would let his identity get in the way of lending a hand when he could! Now I hope that you will all keep my little secret!" With that, he rockets off, waving as he goes. He will hang out in the clouds for a little while, until it is clear that Nails is subdued, and then head back towards his apartment to change into the suit and not take it off for a long while. As he is going, he will radio again to Masterson (Why doesn't anyone ever answer Arcsilver's incessant radio chatter?): Sorry to take off, Masterson, but I've got family to protect and I can't afford the camera's getting a picture of me. I'm going to hold above your position until Nails is under wraps or until Darkfire has reached your position, which should be in about 20 minutes, just call if she starts to come around. And tell Ms. Robinson that she owes me a dinner!"

 

Assuming that she doesn't come back around, Arcsilver will zip back to his apartment, calling Darkfire to tell him what happoened and ask him to help out where he can and get the skinny on what they were doing there (was it a hit on Robinson? On me?).

 

Once changed and at the base, Arcsilver will sleep with his radio on, waiting for any sign of the group. Assuming that he hears Wildheart's call, he will repond "hey, Wildheart, good to hear your voice! Where ARE you? Do you need any help?"

 

From GM:

Note: (Last quick one for Ilan alone, which should hook him back up with the group.)

 

>>>Arcsilver: You receive a lot of whoops and yells, all very positive and supportive actually, from the crowd of bystanders as you fly off. Soaring upward, you watch as the police swarm over Nails unconscious form. From the back of an unmarked car,you see an officer pull an emergency meta-suppression kit, which basically amounts to heavy steel manacles with a leverage bar that holds hands and arms locked in a position behind the back so that it is difficult to get any leverage and bring enhanced strength to bear. This is supplemented by an industrial strength hypo of what amounts to a sophisticated elephant tranquilizer. "The Dose" as it is called, along with the restraints, are a controversial police tool with many civil rights types arguing that they are unconstitutional, but nearly all police departments use them because paranormals are too active and problematic not to.

Nails is quickly dosed, restrained, and wrapped in blankets. Masterson responds to your call saying, "Glad you were here, Arcs. We owe you one on this. These guys have been following ADA Robinson around for a few weeks now and we've been planning this sting to nab them. We know they are monitoring our department, so it's been slow going. Your impromptu lunch with Robinson gave us the chance to jump these guys with you around in case they had paranormal help." He pauses, then, "Uh, you seemed to know this woman, and I have to admit she looks a hell of a lot like Wild Heart. Freaked me out for a moment. Care to fill me in, or does Darkfire know what's up?"

 

After your answer you see that Darkfire is only a couple minutes away, and will tag along with the cops in making sure Nails gets properly incarcerated. They have local Stronghold agents, and a few meta-lockdown cells where she can be held. You head back home and then to headquarters.

The rest of the day is long and boring, with you and Yuri getting nowhere in trying to track down where your compatriots might be. There is a lot of buzz about their disappearance coupled with the alleged RE-appearance of Solitaire... or someone who looks like her. Unfortunately, there are no answers that day. Finally, late that night, you and Yuri crash. He in the Winnebago, and you in your room. After an exhausting day, you turn off like a switch...

... and slowly blink into consciousness, realizing you've heard something. Your clock flashes 5:23 a.m., the next morning. You hear it again... clump, clump... and realize it is the familiar sound of MIRV walking around the warehouse HQ in his armor. You are just swinging up and out of bed, when your comm goes off, and Wild Heart makes her call saying she is on FDR Island.<<<

 

Note: (That should put Arcsilver right back in the time line with everyone else. Any questions, please let me know.)

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 169 (This was consecutive with the last part of the Arcsilver battle... as noted by Ilan's comments.)

 

From GM:

Note: (Well, Arcsilver survived the fight, so I can at least go ahead with the Mavericks return to New York. Exactly where Arcs is during the following, I'm not sure, but he'll catch up quickly I have no doubt. Sorry for the long delay, work has been hellish and it's been difficult to find time to continue.)

 

>>> The hazy pink light fades as another jaunt across the world ends, somewhat anti-climactically. Immediately each of you realize that the group is not together any longer, but in a quickly lost sense of connectivity each of you hear The Masque's voice, soft and without the rasp, saying, "Be unpredictable. Be unmerciful. Be prepared to sacrifice. The one who loses most, most often wins."

 

And then you are home.

 

Impetus: You are standing in your living room. The wall clock shows five twenty-two... you guess a.m., not p.m. You've lost a day at least, and...

... there is somebody right behind you. Spinning to look you hear the soft jangle of what can only be spurs, and you see Cowboy standing by your couch, looking around the room over the tops of his dark glasses. The crunch of sand is audible under his boots as he shifts his stance to give you an appraising look. His eyes are alert but you notice that there are circles under them, and his beard scruff is getting patchy and haggard looking.

 

Cowboy: The room is stuffy, clearly without air-conditioning. Old, plain furniture sits in the dark. A faded couch faces what you can only guess to be an ancient flat-vid... hell is that screen convex???... television. A truly antique laptop... has to be a good twenty centimeters wide, with an actual screen, rather than holographic projection capabilities... sits on a desk. It is so retro that you feel, not for the first time, like you've stepped into an old movie. Impetus is in front of you and turns to see you there. His face is still weathered, hard and angry looking, but has a gray cast to it. Dried blood still coats his stomach and legs. Outside you hear distant cars honking and voices of what are likely pedestrians on the street, though you can't see outside because of closed curtains. You aren't sure what time it is, what day it is, or even exactly where you are and you begin to feel really exhausted, like it's been a week without sleep... and as far as you know, it just might have been.

 

Crusader: You are in your room at headquarters. Simple and clean, your bed made and everything looking as you left it. The digital clock flashes 5:22 a.m.; the date is the next morning. Though you feel like you've only been awake for a few hours, clearly nearly twenty four hours have passed.

Your inner thigh is chaffing as well. Didn't quite get all the sand out of the armor before you put it back on. Quickly you look out into the open rooms and the place seems empty, until you hear Yuri's distinctive snoring coming from the mobile home in the garage area. Then there is a shuffle, and a clank, and the door to MIRV's room opens up and he steps out, rifle humming, looking at you, saying, "Are we all here? You ok?"

Just then, your armor's com-unit beeps, and Wild Heart's voice comes across. (see below.)

 

Dragon Mist: Home. Your loft. The faint light of a soon to be rising sun comes through the large, grimy window facing out over the East River. You instinctively put the time at a little after five in the morning... which makes it nearly twenty four hours later... a day since the battle with the ninja. A full day since your sister was taken.

Movement, unheard, unseen, simply sensed from the bedroom. No threat. The door slides open soundlessly, Grey Spirit stands there, unmasked, in simple black cotton tank and underwear, barefoot on the cold floor. Her distinctive Oni tattoo runs down her arms and shoulders. Her right hand holds a tanto knife, your own weapon from beside your bed, poised along her forearm, but casual and relaxed. Her dark eyes are luminous, if tired looking.

"I'm pleased you have returned," she says quietly, with a slight bow of the head. Her face relaxes, showing even more of it's inherent beauty and striking smoothness. "I had no doubt you would come back, but to see that you are unharmed is gratifying." She steps into the room, closer to you, non-plussed by her near nakedness. She bows more formally, extending the blade pommel first, and says, "I wish to thank you for saving my unworthy life. How may I assist you?"

Your comm unit beeps. (see below)

 

Speedball: You are outside. It's cold. I mean, it was just really, really warm, and you were still dripping saltwater into your sneakers and trying to sneak a look at Wild Heart's butt as she bent over to pick up her jacket... and now it's friggin' freezing, your juice feels like it's at low ebb, and your balls are trying to climb into your stomach to get warm! Gray, early morning light has replaced the bright sunshine. You are in a small courtyard, old trees and grass and some benches, a couple sets of lawn furniture, all of it looking cold and abandoned. There is frost on the grass. The courtyard opens out of a beautiful old house, brick and white wood work, three stories high. Soft lights come from some of the downstairs windows.

Looking up, you can see the Manhattan skyline which, after a quick estimate, puts you somewhere in Queens... except that Queens doesn't usually have nice places like this. Not that you've ever seen.

Wild Heart's voice makes you turn and look as she says, "Where the hell are we, Speedy?? Oh, wait..." She laughs, looking at you, and shrugging into her jacket. "Damn. That Solita... er, Masque, or whatever she calls herself... is good." She notices your confusion. "She sent us to that hospital I mentioned. On FDR Island," she explains. She starts heading for a patio door, lifting up her headset out of her coat pocket and triggering it.

"Wild Heart to all Mavericks. Any Mavericks receiving, please respond. I'm on FDR Island, with Speedball. No threats... doing fine. Except Speedy looks like a drowned rat. Anyone out there? You guys ok?"<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 170

 

From Cowboy:

Cowboy groans softly, and puts a hand to his face. At

the same time, he slumps, and his butt hits the sofa.

 

"Oooooh, man... shit. I don't think my jacked nerves

like bein' tossed about like that..."

 

He rubs his eyes under his sunglasses, and then slaps

his cheeks a few times. "I'm up, I'm up. Yo, nice

pad, man. Way retro. Where the fuck we at, Esse?"

 

(Since I never mentioned it while on the island, I am

assuming, Neil, that Cowboy never got his radio set to

pick up the Maverick's broadcasts. D'oh.)

 

From Speedball:

"wwwwelll ffffffUCK, its cold! She couldn't have put us inSIDE?"

Speedball looks around, a little nervous and a lot cold. "umm, I know I

should've thought about this while we were on this island, but I could use a

bathroom and a, uh...(looking down at his shoes) couple'a towels."

When given the chance, Speedball will go into a bathroom, grab a towel (or

some papertowels, if he has to) and quickly dry off as much as possible).

He will also use the ampule that he keeps in his inside pocket, quickly

locating the vein on his right underarm and shooting the strangebrew. He

will then flush the toilet, tossing the ampule in when the water begins

flushing.

when finished he'll walk out, adjusting his track pants and should look

visibly refreshed, though still cold. "Ok, 'Heart. Let's get cracking, find

a nurse and check out the Kid's room."

 

From Impetus:

(((Cowboy groans softly, and puts a hand to his face. At

the same time, he slumps, and his butt hits the sofa.))))

 

And smacks into a solid steel girder, lying underneath a half-inch of VERY

compressed fabric.

 

((((He rubs his eyes under his sunglasses, and then slaps

his cheeks a few times. "I'm up, I'm up. Yo, nice

pad, man. Way retro. Where the fuck we at, Esse?"))))

 

"Ain' retro," he says wearily, grabbing a roll of bandages off of the coffee

table in the living room. "You futro." Impetus hasn't noticed your

discomfort; Cowboy notes the fact that a bunch of bandages and hydrogen

peroxide has been left next to the table, as well as a now-warm Miller that

HAD been laid in a bucket of ice, now lukewarm slush. He begins to wind a

set of fresh bandages around his wound. "Dis's all current within three

years or so. Wish I had the money to get a better PC, though. Thass a

frickin' three-eighty-six."

 

You probably have no idea what he's talking about, but the idea's pretty

clear from his voice: It's a piece of crap.

 

"Right now you on the upper side'a the Bronx, on Bainbridge Avenue.*

Assuming th'lanscape ain't changed too much in the futcha, we about two

blocks up from Holy Nativity Church, within walkin' distance of the Bronx

River Parkway, though I wouldn't advise it unless you want a dustup. Gangs

roun' here are pretty tight." He walks into the kitchen. "You want a beer?

You look like a beer man."

 

Irregardless of the answer, he definitely walks out with a frosty one in HIS

hand.

 

"I'd suggest we both go out f'a beer or sumpin, but you look as tired as I

feel. Here's the deal, Cowboy; you get the couch, 'cuz you doan' want the

bed -- I welded it together outta solid steel so it could support my weight

when I'm sleepin. Half the couch is like that too, but you put y'legs on

the metal part and you should be awright.

 

"I'ma call in sick to work tomorrow and kiss some SERIOUS ass to not get

fired -- but don't worry, issa union job. I don't care WHAT kinda future

you got in Enn Why Cee, th' las' thing lef's gonna be cockroaches and

unions, and I ain' sure the roaches ain't gonna form unions by th' time

everything's done. We both get some doze, then t'morra we get up, I take

you aroun' town and you tell me what's changed, and hopefully we get some

kinda buzz from Wildheart. She got my pager. I told her to get me.

 

"By th' way, my real name's Shek -- whass yours?"

 

From Cowboy:

"Steel, huh? Hell, I slept on worse," Cowboy says,

giving a few experimental bounces till he finds a more

comfortable spot on the sofa.

 

"Hell yeah, I'll take a beer!" He gladly takes the

offered bottle (can, whatever). His movements seem a

little more jerky than before, not as fast and smooth.

Also, his hands are shaking a bit, which causes him

to curse under his breath.

 

"Damn... hate it when I get this worn out. My nerves

start actin' overtime an' shit. Bronx, huh? That

puts us in th' bad parta Hell." He rests his head on

the back of the sofa, breathing quietly for a few

moments, the beer bottle sitting in his lap.

 

"Heh, Unions. Shit, yeah, I know Unions. They's just

like gangs, only more money. Can't take a shit

without a Union card."

 

When Impetus asks for his real name, Cowboy looks a

bit uncomfortable. "Cowboy. That's th' only name I

gone by inna loooong time. Only one that fits

anymore."

 

From Impetus:

(((("Damn... hate it when I get this worn out. My nerves

start actin' overtime an' shit. Bronx, huh? That

puts us in th' bad parta Hell." ))))

 

"Basic'ly. Ah ain' rich, though, so ah can't afford t'move anywhere else."

 

((("Heh, Unions. Shit, yeah, I know Unions. They's just

like gangs, only more money. Can't take a shit

without a Union card.")))

 

"Sure makes f'a decent livin' when y'work for 'em," he says, raising a beer

in silent toast to the power of unions.

 

(((("When Impetus asks for his real name, Cowboy looks a

bit uncomfortable. "Cowboy. That's th' only name I

gone by inna loooong time. Only one that fits

anymore.")))))

 

Impetus raises his hands in a "no prob" gesture. "Shek wasn't the name I'z

born wid either. You go by Cowboy, you Cowboy t'me. At leas' y'dress the

part, man." He finishes the beer, then stands up, walks over to that

flatscreen thing, and says, "I'm gonna assume you can read enough t'work the

buttons on this thing. You wake up early, try channel 37; that's See Enn

Enn, a news station. Oughtta get you a little in touch wid yo' hist'ry.

And with that said, I'm goin' ta bed. Night, Cowboy. Sleep well, man."

 

And Impetus, chest still throbbing so badly he has to take about twenty

aspirin for it to calm down to a dull roar, falls into a deep and dreamless

sleep.

 

From Dragon Mist:

A few moments of shock pass while DM assimilates all of what both Grey Spirit and Wild Heart have just said. Then, with an apologetic look, he holds his hand up to Grey Spirit to pause her, turns, and says into his comm link, "Dragon Mist here. I'm in my loft and fine. Yuri can pick you up. I'll call in tomorrow.". With that DM turns off his communicator, and looks back at Grey Spirit.

After removing his half mask he takes the offered tanto and sheaths it. "I am glad you made such a fast recovery, the last time I saw you, you weren't doing so well. As for assisting me, well they still have my sister and I need your help finding her. In case you didn't notice, the clan's taken to new traditions, a new set of rules. Now we need to retrace our steps and. . . " He stops talking, looking at her for a few quiet seconds, realizing that he never stops being the ninja, and then says: "Don't ever say that you're unworthy." With that DM turns out the lights.

 

(Sorry for the schmaltz)

 

From Arcsilver:

To Masterson... "Well, glad to help, but next time give me a clue! I was lucky not to

get cleaned out there - I didn't have any of my equipment, and it could

have been a lot uglier..."

 

"Uh, you seemed to

>know this woman, and I have to admit she looks a hell of a lot like

>Wild Heart. Freaked me out for a moment. Care to fill me in, or does

>Darkfire know what's up?"

 

"What? Like Wildheart? Come on, Masterson, are smoking the evidence?

Wildheart is way hotter. I tussled with her when we were ambushed at

Onyx's gym. Remember that? She broke my hip with a curling bar."

 

>You are just swinging up and out of bed,

>when your comm goes off, and Wild Heart makes her call saying she is on

>FDR Island.<<<

 

"Hey 'heart! Good to hear your voice, I'm on the way!" Unless she tells

him otherwise, he will zip out there, wanting to make sure that the group

is OK, and to hear what happened. He also wants some alone time with

'Heart to give her the skinny on her sister.

 

-Ilan and Arcsilver

 

From Crusader:

<< "Wild Heart to all Mavericks. Any Maverick's receiving, please respond.

I'm on FDR Island, with Speedball. No threats... doing fine? Except Speedy

looks like a drowned rat. Anyone out there? You guys ok?"<<< >>

 

Cue the com; "Crusader here. I'm at HQ with MIRV and a sleeping Yuri.

Alls well on our end."

Take a shower! Then rest. Clean the armor. Then I want to check in

with DragonMist, possibly late afternoon.

 

--storn

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (Cowboy and Impetus (and likely Crusader) will be sleeping through the following, and Dragon Mist otherwise occupied, but it shouldn't take too long... respond as you feel appropriate.)

 

Arcsilver & Crusader: Just as Crusader signs off and thinks about hitting the hay, Arcsilver bustles out of his room, adjusting his uniform, and calling to Wild Heart. MIRV looks over, calling out, "Hey, Arcs. Everything ok?" He pops his face plate, looking about, tired, strained, but looking relieved to be on familiar ground. Crusader heads for his room, and with a quick "Hi guys! Bye Guys!" Arcsilver zips out the access hatch which runs through a blind alley, letting him out many blocks away from the HQ. He zips up to a thousand feet, heading across Manhattan, literally like a flash.

 

Speedball: You zip ahead of Wild Heart (as she takes the replies) through the patio door, into what looks like a group dining area. Four or five round tables covered in white cloth in an otherwise empty room. You immediately run out an open door, into a carpeted dimly lit hallway, and then into a small, well adorned lavatory marked MEN. It takes a couple minutes for you to relieve yourself, dry off a little, and give yourself the jolt of stuff. You realize that swimming really burned up the juice faster than running, but it had been a blast to skim along the waves like that and almost catch darting fish with your bare hands. Exhausting, but exhilarating... but you could tell you were running on fumes until right about now. A quick glance at the mirror, slick back the hair, and you pop open the door. You are just about to call out, when a steel vise clamps around your mouth and jaw.

Wild Heart whispers in your ear, "Quiet. Don't go running off again. Something isn't right here. I can't find anyone, in the office, kitchen or front desk. It's really quiet... like NO human movement at all. Stay with me, and stay quiet!" And then she releases your mouth and gestures you to follow her, heading toward two oaken swinging doors marked "The Roosevelt Ward."

Whispering into her comm, she says, "Arcsilver, this is Wild Heart. If you are headed this way, go to ground. Don't come barging in, or draw attention to yourself, we might have a situation here."

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 171

 

From Speedball:

Speedball stays quiet and stays behind 'Heart, just like she said. Taking out his juggling balls, he's ready to abort to a missile deflect or to whack the first ninja that pokes his hear around a corner.

At the next opportune moment, he'll whisper to Wildheart "uhh...you want I

should take a quick look around? I can run through these walls pretty fast

to figure out where the heck everyone is." Pausing for a second, he

continues "I saw this movie once called Hard Boiled. The bad guys had a

secret base in basement of this hospital with all kinds of crazy shit.

Think maybe that's what's going on here? Or a hostage situation.

Definitely a hostage situation." Wildheart, if she stopped and thought about

it, might expect the next words out of Joe's mouth to be "I'm a very good

driver."

Speedball, while happy to make suggestions, will stop talking at the first

evil look from 'Heart. He will also immediately comply with any orders she

gives.

 

From Arcsilver:

Sorry to backtrack like this, hope it doesn't screw things up too much.

 

Seeing MIRV in the HQ with Crusader, Arcsilver will stop and talk with

them, asking "geez, guys! Where the hell WERE you? We were sure worried

here?" When Wildheart tells me to come in on the ground, he will key the

comm, saying "I'm still at base with Crusader and MIRV, Wildheart, but it

sounds like something is going on. Do you need backup or a lift off the

island?"

 

From Crusader:

Crusader will be stripping off his armor. "We were sent to some tropical

island by the Solitaire wanna-be. Her code is Masque. Massive T-Port

Y'know, the misty energy stuff?"

 

Armor gets a quick solvent wash.

 

"She just wanted to talk things over beyond prying ears. She had

Killinger with her, head of the Philly Viper Nest." Crusader continues;

"Seems Killinger is not fond of this Warlord. Who might be the Nest Leader

of L.A., codenamed: Style."

 

Crusader steps into the shower in corner, washing himself down. Raises

his voice to talk over the spray.

 

"I think everyone made it home." {after hearing Wild Heart's query}.

"We've decided that Dragon Mist and myself are going to look into his

sister's disappearence while the rest of you are going to put the screws to

Warlord."

 

Drying himself off, turns on the heat air drying unit for the armor.

 

"We have a new player in town, a guy named Cowboy. Cybered. Was with Killinger, but I'm not sure if he has made the transit back. And that pretty much brings us up to speed."

Not knowing about Nails and dinner, Crusader remarks; "How about you?

Bet it was pretty mundane and boring compared to our last 24."

 

{If crusader hears 'Heart thru his comm, helmet on table. Or thru the

communications bank in the warehouse which shouldn't be too far away. Or if

Arc mentions it.. Cru will move to communications bank and comm quietly back;

"'Heart? Do you need back-up, Arc is with MIRV and me at HQ."

IF not, just ignore.}

 

-----

 

From GM:

Arcsilver & Crusader: Wild Heart comes back just as Crusader is beginning to clean out his armor, saying, "Ok, stay tuned, but don't bother heading out. We should be able to handle anything, but if you don't hear from me in five minutes send in the cavalry. Wild Heart out." And with that, the comm goes silent.

 

Speedball: You hear Wild Heart whisper the above into her mike, then she looks back at you, nods and moves forward. Low and smooth she pushes open the heavy doors into the Roosevelt Ward and steps inside. You come in right behind her and find yourself in a dimly lit corridor, wide and spacious, that would look like a hospital corridor if it was shorter, more comfortable, and done up in expensive woods, carpeting and natural lighting, rather than glaring fluorescent bulbs, and sterile institutional walls. Well tended ferns line the hallways and the nurses station is a beautiful cherry wood desk with a computer on top. It is eerily silent. No one is about... but after a few steps, Wild Heart stops, and picks up a Styrofoam cup from the desk.

She sniffs it then says, "Coffee, filmed over, and cold." At that point you notice a half eaten danish on a napkin at the other side of the computer and looking even farther over the desk you see a sheaf of papers spilled on the floor. Other than that you see no sign of any struggle or reason for things being vacated like this.

Pointing farther down the corridor Wild Heart moves on and you follow, watching the doors along the hallway. None are open, and nothing moves.

Then two things happen... both of you hear a muffled, "Hello... cough! cough! Hello? Is someone there?" from a ward room just across from you (Rm 103). At the same time, literal chills run down your spine. You see it happen to Wild Heart as well, as you both give an involuntary shiver. Seemingly a cold, chilling breeze suddenly blows down the corridor from the rear of the building where you were headed. Wild Heart points at you and then the room where the sound came, while she turns, silently watching the corridor as if looking for the source of the cold breeze.<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 172

 

From Speedball:

"Man, I got a baaad feeling about this."

Turning insubstantial long enough to run through the wall next to the door

of room 103 and assess the situation, Speedball investigates. He is feeling

paranoid, but realizes that chances are good that the voice came from a

civilian.

If it is a normal and doesn't seem to pose a threat, Speedball will make

sure s/he's ok and try and get some sort of idea where the staff disappeared

to, questioning the individual very quickly and very quietly.

If there's a threat, Speedy hopes that being insubstantial will buy him

enough time to respond appropriately and warn 'Heart.

 

-----

 

From GM:

Speedball: You phase through wall, stomach tight, wondering what you'll find...

... and are relieved to see simply an old man in a large, comfortable looking hospital bed, looking at you wide eyed. His skin is thin and translucent, and he seems to have trouble moving his arms. You then notice that the large bed is very deep, and looks like there is some kind of tub as the bottom. The man is lying, comfortably, half in, half out of this. A low whirring sound comes from the basin where his legs must lie, but he is covered in blankets, and you can't see anything.

Fearfully, he stammers, "Wh-wh-who a-ar-are you?" Feebly clutching at his sheets. There is a slightly foul smell in here, which you realize is stale sweat, and probably human waste.

"Where's Nurse Rhindani? Where's the doctor? I haven't seen anyone in hours!!" he starts to sound a little hysterical. "What are you? Are you a ghost?" he limply laughs, liver spotted hands clearly shaking.

You are just starting to try and calm him down, becoming solid and apologizing for startling him. The sound of your voice, normal and easy, starts to calm him when suddenly that cold chill runs back down your spine. You instinctively turn back toward the closed door to the hallway... and hear Wild Heart say, "What th... Kid? Is that you? Kid?!?!" and then there is a sound like a howling wind that drowns out her voice and the sudden panicked cries of the old man.<<<

 

From Speedball:

"Sir, my name is Speedball and I'm with the Mavericks and we're the good

guys. We're going to make sure everything's ok. Stay here and stay quiet

until someone comes to get you. It shouldn't be long."

 

With that, Speedball does an about face and zips out of the room, ready to

help 'Heart with what ever the heck is out there.

 

From GM:

>>>Speedball: You run back out into the hallway, only to run smack into a howling, hard, biting wind, that nearly stops you in your tracks. You are confused for a second, thinking that somehow you accidentally stopped vibrating and became solid, but then you quickly realize that the strange tingle of the buffeting wind is the fact that whatever this force is... you look around and notice that no papers or cartons or any loose items are flying about... is somehow affecting you in your phased form.

Wild Heart is nowhere to be seen. You squint down the hall, disoriented by feeling like you are staring into a wind but the ferns and items of the hallway are unmoving and undisturbed. There are four more doorways on either side of the hall, likely more hospital rooms, but at the very end you see an open door, light shining out of it, that you know wasn't open before.<<<

 

From Speedball:

"Damn...Why didn't I get one of those radios?" Recognizing that being

insubstantial isn't doing him any good, Speedy will go solid. He'll gun up

as much speed as possible to run towards the open door. If the wind

prevents further movement in that direction, he'll turn 90 degrees towards

the closest external wall and try and go around on the outside (I'm assuming

we're still on the first floor here, Neil--if not let me know and I'll

repost). The object of going outside is to avoid the wind and still make

progress towards the source of the wind (and where I am assuming Wildheart

will have gone).

 

"I STILL have a bad feeling about this. Ninjas, mind-freaks. whatever

happened to the thugs with guns? I liked them."

 

From GM:

Note: (Just to clarify... the current scene really is only for Geoff/Speedball, and while I hope you guys are interested, your characters just aren't involved, right now. Only two minutes or so have passed since the return to New York. Crusader isn't even done cleaning his armor, Cowboy and Impetus are just dozing off, and even if Arcsilver started to fly across Manhattan, the scene would likely be over before he got there. Again, sorry for the delay, but I want to finish up this scene with Speedball, before we go with the whole group.)

 

>>>Speedball: You turn solid... and everything suddenly reverses. In a gut wrenching heave the "wind" blowing at you, is suddenly sucking away from you, dragging you headlong down the hallway especially since you were already trying to push in that direction. Almost anyone else would find the tumbling speed impossible to deal with, but you are different. You are used to moving at these speeds and with your superhuman reflexes you touch your feet down, maneuver with the pull and dodge into the doorway. Anyone else would probably have been slammed against the wall or door jam, and you notice, in a nano-second of perception, that a chunk of the jam has been smashed away probably where Wild Heart hit it coming through... then...

 

White Light. Stillness. No movement. No wind.

 

Nothing. No objects, no bed or chairs or medical equipment. No Wild Heart or anyone else. Empty white...

 

...then a smell, crisp, clean, warm... clean sheets with the heady odor on top of it of light perfume and pure female...

 

A voice... half asleep... soft... familiar...

 

"mmmhhh... Joe? What?... Joe? Is that you?"

 

Rustle of sheets, the feeling of a body next to you, rolling over... you feel your eyes open...

 

Dark eyes peering out from dark, mussed hair, sleepy but surprised, and growing more so.

 

Molly.

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 173

 

From Arcsilver:

Sorry for the delayed reply, Arcsilver will wait for the call, ready to fly out there, but relaxed and talking with Crusader as he suits down, getting the details of the trip. He will then relay what happened with Nails, explaining everything more or less as it happened, except that in his mind the date was "going really well."

 

-Ilan

 

From GM:

Heh.

 

-----

 

Note: Think I missed one post from Geoff in between here, but not much... just his description of Speedball's startling. Molly says something like Kid Fantastic brought her here.

 

From GM:

Note: (Whoops, meant to leave this last post as the end of the current issue. Kind of a cliff hanger ending that I hope will lead right into the next piece of the story. Everyone gets 3 EXP for their characters. Let me know if there are any big changes planned. Consider Geoff and Ilan's posts as the first of the new issue. Again, sorry, I meant to put this at the bottom of my last post (see below) but forgot.)

 

 

<< Speedball: You jump up from the bed, legs partly tangled in the sheets, feet sinking into the overly soft mattress almost making you stumble and fall. Molly pulls back from you, her eyes wide coming even more awake and a little scared. She puts her head up against the wooden headboard, pulling her feet and knees up a bit... just like she would always do when excited, or laughing, or scared... on the couch watching a horror film, or trying to get you to pay attention when she told you the latest lame joke she found incomprehensibly funny. You stop. It's so real. The late morning sun coming through those old shades... yep, still coated in dust because neither of you would ever clean them... damn! There's that old bare patch of worn carpet that you tried to hide with the cheap dresser... you'd forgotten all about that, and the stupid fight you'd had with Molly because it seemed to symbolize everything you felt was wrong with your life. How the hell did the Kid make you remember that???

"I didn't think you were going to show up," says Molly, quietly. You look at her as she sits there, tucking the sheets around her. "This isn't a dream, is it Joe?" she says in the calm way she got when she was trying to control herself, not get "all weepy" as she would say.

"Where are we?" she says again, even more quietly. "Why did he bring me here?"

 

Cut scene: Maverick's HQ. Arcsilver, MIRV and a half dressed Crusader look at the clock, noticing the five minutes has just passed since Wild Heart called. You all start to move, to make a call, armor up, get ready to head out... when the com goes off. MIRV picks up, putting it on speaker broadcast. "Wild? This is MIRV? Everything all right?"

It isn't Wild Heart's voice that comes back. Instead, another female voice... older, abrupt... almost abrasive... says, "This isn't Wild Heart, and no..."

 

Second cut scene: Top angle shot over the hospital room, interior view.

Hospital bed empty except for a glowing rainbow fluctuating sphere. Around the bed, floating inches off the floor, straight and rigid as if standing at attention are a dozen people. Most look like nurses, doctors, medical techinicians, a patient and maybe a janitor. Wild Heart and Speedball are there as well. Standing in the doorway in a charcoal gray, long woolen coat, is a woman, fiftyish, with severely cut salt and pepper hair. Stylish, black gloves and boots, the coat open to reveal a conservative gray business suit. She holds a small radio/cell phone unit in one hand, saying into, "...no, everything is not alright, but I'm going to see if I can fix that."

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 174

 

From Speedball:

"Molly. Listen to me very carefully: both of us are in a lot of danger. I don't know how you got here--or even if this is really you, but I *can* tell you that we aren't where we seem to be. We're in a hospital and I think we're really fucked. I need for you to be very calm and do everything I tell you to. Now, I think a friend of mine named Kid Fantastic brought you here--probably to help. I need you to explain exactly what happened."

Speedball actually has no frigging clue what's going on. This isn't what he signed on for; he figured there'd be some punching, some kicking, maybe goons with guns or swords. this is out of his league. He needs help.

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will hesitate for only a moment, looking for some hint of recognition from Crusader or MIRV. Seeing that they don't recognize the voice either, he will mutter "I'm in the air, will relate recon when I arrive." With that, he is on his way, top speed, but will circle when he arrives.

 

From Crusader:

Crusader will nod to Arc; "Go. But be extremely careful. Call us when you get there. MIRV and I will follow if necessary."

 

With that Crusader will hurry up his prep of the armor.

 

-----

 

From GM:

Arcsilver: You blast out of the HQ, down the sheltered alleyway, and out over the river in less than twelve seconds. MIRV seems to be trying to reestablish contact with the woman on the other end of the radio, but she either isn't answering or is off line. Going full speed, you head over Manhattan.

 

Speedball: Molly reflects your confusion, obviously scared and not sure what is going on. You try to rush around the room, to the window... the old door with the cheap, busted lower panel... and though you can move you don't move any faster than a normal human. There is no sense of energy inside you, no juice... but no hunger either, no craving. You stop, pausing to try and understand this feeling... this normality that you can't even remember feeling in real life. Then you feel Molly's hand on your arm.

 

Burning warm and familiar and you are caught in between wanting to fall into her completely and wanting to pull away and run, and run, and run, and never look back.

 

"Joe? Joe!" she grabs your arm, taking the decision away from you, turning you toward her... so close, her scent overwhelming, you look into those familiar brown eyes... noticing for the first time some differences. Little crows feet in the corners, her lips a little chapped, her face a little thinner... god the details are so real... you wonder what you look like to her...

And then she puts her arms around you, pulling you close, "This is so weird... so weird," she says, over and over, holding you close. And then, totally incongruously, she says, "Verdi Square on 74th."

 

She pushes you back to look into your eyes, "This Kid. He told me something. Verdi Square on 74th. What does that mean?" Then her eyes start to mist, and she touches your cheek, saying, "Is this real Joe? I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

 

Arcsilver: In under two minutes you are flying down toward the East River, homing in on FDR Island. Coming in on the southern tip, you start flying north along it's length trying to remember where that damn place was. You only visited once... it was really boring just watching the Kid sleep... and now you can't quite.... Whoa!

You see a row of larger, brick and wood estates... yeah, yeah... that looks right... you fly up higher, circling, trying to figure out which one is the right one... they all look the same... and... is that Harvey?

 

Below you a silver sedan, parked in front of one of the buildings, opens up and, yes, Agent Harvey Wells steps out looking up at you He is on his cell phone and waves to you to come down. As you start to drop you get your bearings, and recognize that he is parked outside the hospital you were looking for. It's still very early in the morning and no one is around. The front gate in a low stone wall is open and up on the front porch you can see another fibee in suit and dark glasses standing at the open front door. As you land Harvey says, "Well Nick, why aren't I surprised to see you here?"<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 175

 

From Speedball:

Does Verdi Square and 74th mean anything to Speedball? Does his streetwise tell him anything about the neighborhood and what usually goes on there?

 

Assuming I don't get any additional info, this is my post. I'll resubmit if needed when I get your answer.

 

"Molly...Its wonderful to see you again and...I didn't think it would ever happen either." He gives her slightly chapped lips a long, slow kiss.

"Tell me what this kid looked like. Where were you when he found you? What was the last thing you remember?"

Joe has become convinced that this isn't the real world. Its some kind of dream...or attack. Molly isn't real--and neither is anything that happens here. But the address might come in handy.

"Why did the Kid tell you about that address, Molly? Its very important.

It might make all the difference in the world."

 

From Arcsilver:

>> As you land, Harvey says, "Well Nick, why aren't I

>surprised to

>see you here?"<<<

 

As Arcsilver is landing, he will radio back to the team "Hay, that's my FBI guy, Harvey! He'sgoing into our building, I'm going to drop down and see what he's up to."

 

Then, to Harvey. "Something weird is happening, Harv. What are YOU doing here? Who and what is inside?"

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Arcsilver: As you ask your question, Harvey looks at you then glances up at the house and his partner waiting by the door and then back to you. A heavy sigh comes out of him and then he starts talking as he walks with you, slowly, toward the building. "Kind of a long story, Nick, but... well... First, we've got a specialist inside. One of our own who has a lot of experience in the psychic arena... and with the Mavericks. She picked up something yesterday, after your group disappeared, and we've been trying to track it down. Don't ask me to explain... it's some psychic, psionic, whatever thing. Anyway, we tracked it here just a few minutes ago... and well, like I said, I shouldn't be surprised to find out that you guys are somehow involved."

The two of you go up the front steps and reach the door and Wells asks his partner whether or not there has been any word. "Sorry, Harvey. Still nothing. She told us not to go in, y'know." The dark haired, young agent, Medson or something like that you remember, smiles and says, "I really don't want to get on her bad side." Harvey nods in response, saying, "Yeah. I don't think I believe her when she says she's lost all her powers. After what she's been through, I think she just wanted to retire... and who wouldn't?"

At that point, Harvey looks back at you, and notices the confused look on your face, saying, "You never met her, did you? Your predecessor?" He jerks his thumb toward the private hospital. "That's who's in there. Special Agent Morse. You know... the infamous Mindshadow?"

 

Speedball: Verdi Square and 74th is on the west side of Manhattan. Broadway and Amsterdam is it's southwest corner. (Note: Looks to me like part of the Theatre District, or at least right next to it. Correct me if I'm wrong, you NY City specialists.) Speedball doesn't know anything about it, unless he takes in a lot of off Broadway shows.

 

Molly mumbles through the kiss, "...must be dreaming... dreaming..." but responds, passionately... and in this surreal place time seems to stop...

 

Then you break and focus, and realize that something has to be done. Molly thinks for a second, then says, "I don't know where I was... I really thought I was dreaming... this Kid came to me... in the kitchen... I was making a chicken sandwich and couldn't find the bread... and... that HAD to be a dream... my refrigerator isn't black..." She shakes her head. "Anyway, anyway, this Kid was just there, all of a sudden... and I didn't feel threatened by him... even though he looked kind of rough... like an old school punk rocker..." she laughs. "He just said some things... saying he was sorry but I was the safest place... and then..." She looks directly at you, "He told me to go back to bed, but not to forget to tell Joe, 'Verdi Square and 74th' He repeated that. A few times. Then he was just gone."

She looks at you to see if this makes any sense on your end, adding, "I think he was in pain... really, hurting... I'm not sure why... like maybe he was sick or something."

Then suddenly the room gets very cold. Both of you shiver... neither dressed in much... and the ambient light dims. Looking around, you see a strange, smoke like substance, dark... inky blackness... seeping under the bedroom door from whatever is outside this place.<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 176

 

From Speedball:

"Yeah, that sounds like the Kid. He sent you to tell me where he is because he's in trouble. He knew I'd trust you. But listen: we've got to get out of this now because I don't like the looks of the stuff that's coming under that door. I want you to try your hardest to wake up now. Think about the fact that you're probably already late for work. You need to go to the bathroom. Anything. Just wake up. And, in advance: I'm sorry." With that, he winds up and slaps her across the face. Not hard enough to knock her down, but just enough to scare her. If it doesn't work...well, he's got some 'splainin' to do.

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (I'm going to go ahead, though Arcsilver is there, he wouldn't be able to do much at this point. )

 

>>>Speedball: Molly disappears. With tight gutted guilt, your hand smacked across her face, her eyes widened in shock and surprise... and then she's gone. No sudden fade nor any sound or movement. Just there one second, empty air the next. Your hand still tingles from the impact, and the scent and taste of her... so familiar, but thought long behind you... still lingers.

And the room starts to dissolve. Looking around the walls and floor and bed and dresser... the old gray socks on the thread bare carpet all start to waver, to fade... but the chill and cold increases. The inky blackness coming under the door now pours through it as it disappears. The blackness is still solid though, impenetrable in it's darkness, a living, writhing ball. It begins to coalesce into a form, still undulating with no hard edges, but quickly forming a somewhat humanoid shape... actually more like a disembodied cloak or something, pure black, floating there.

Suddenly a voice comes out of it. Female... old... powerful... "What have you done, boy?" For a moment you get the hint of a body under the floating cloak shape... the voice clearly emanating from the hooded specter. "Damn. You broke her out! That took some real stones, kid... and she should thank you. Unfortunately it means I can't be easy on you." And the cloak lashes out. For a second you get an idea of what it must be like for the poor shmoes you take on when you're juiced because it's SO fast you barely register the striking tendril of black before it imbeds itself in your forehead like a knife through butter...

 

... and you scream, agony, the worst pain you've ever felt... your hands clutch your forehead, instinctively fearing to find a gaping hole through your skull as your head snaps back... "KLUNK!" Hard, painful, something behind you... oh crap, now it hurts all OVER your head...

... you realize you are lying down... hard... cold surface... antiseptic smell... pain lessening... someone speaking to you... you blink through your hands... warm yellow light... warm, strong hands on you... "Hey Speedy!"... female voice... whoa, pain really going away now... except the back of the head... that hurts... "Speedball? Joe? You hear me?"... really strong arms suddenly lift you up... smell of leather and sweat and salt and a hint of perfume... you crack your fingers open more, looking up into the smiling face of Wild Heart. She is stepping through... the hospital... you're back... you lean up, looking into the room as you leave, WHOA!, empty bed... glowing sphere of energy floating just above it... a dozen people held in a floating halo around the bed... and a woman, older, in conservative, business skirt and jacket, her hands on the sphere, her face tilted up... eyes full of that same black, inky, darkness.

Wild Heart looks at you again, saying, "Wild ride, eh, Speedy. You ok to stand up?" In the distance, back toward the front of the building, you think you hear voices, male, talking as they approach.<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 177

 

From Speedball:

Speedball is all business and looks like he could keep ice from melting in his mouth. "I'm fine. Wildheart-when this is over you're going to explain to me *real* slow and *real* simple what the fuck just happened here. But right now we have to get to Verdi Square and 74th and I mean NOW. I'm pretty sure that Kid Fantastic is there and he's in trouble. Big trouble--like the kind you don't get rid of without help. Call in the troops and let's get moving."

Hopping off the table, looking sideways at the other people in the room and hitching his thumb towards them he continues "I assume that since you haven't already bounced these people off the walls, they're here to help."

If 'Heart tries to calm Speedball down or seems to equivocate about taking off immediately, he will cut in at the first passably polite moment, adding "'Heart, this is the second time that the Kid has gotten into my head. I *know* he's a dead man if we don't show--and soon. I don't think either of us want his blood on our hands ('no matter what kind of manipulative fuck he is,' he murmurs). I know we're supposed to try and be unpredictable, but...this isn't the time for strategy. Sometimes you just have to take a hit for the team. Well, shit--look who I'm talking to--you know that."

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Speedball: Wild Heart gets real serious, real fast, letting you finish you comments. She actually looks like she wants to cut you off, but your sudden hard edge gets her attention. As you finish, behind you, you see three men walking slowly into the long hallway where you are standing. One is Arcsilver, and he's chatting it up with another, older guy with dirty blonde hair in a conservative cut, wearing a plain, dark suit. The third is another MIB, younger, with dark glasses, and is on a cell phone.

"Ok, look," says Wild Heart, "Obviously something happened to you in there that didn't happen to me, but Roberta said you were the primary target of the Kid's little mindbomb so I'm going to take your word on that. Arcsilver!" she yells, waving him over. Behind her there is a flare of energy from the hospital room. Wild Heart glances then back to the two of you.

"Arcs. Go with Speedball here and check out Verdi Square on..." she pauses, thinking, "West 74th, if I'm not mistaken, not just 74th. Over by Broadway. He'll explain on the way. I'll see if I can have anyone else from the team meet you there. Something's happened to Kid Fantastic and we have reason to believe he's being held there, or something. You guys go ahead. I'd just hold you up." She looks back at the glowing room again, "I want to make sure my old friend is ok, in there." She gives both of you a light push which is like a normal person's shove, saying, "Now go!"

 

Crusader: Five minutes after the first call, you are talking to a barely awake Yuri, as another call comes in and MIRV picks it up. "You're ok?" he asks, then "Good, good. Mindshadow? Really? Ok... ok... Verdi Square... on W. 74th... got it... and.... wait a sec, hold on Wild." You notice MIRV do the cockeyed stance that he gets whenever he is scanning something on his internal HUDs, and then he says, "Killinger's list. One of the addresses he gave us. It's 151 W. 74th St., which puts it right in the center of the block you are talking about. Database says it's a theater... stage theater. The Red Aisle Theater, to be exact." Longer pause, then, "I'm ready to go. I'll see if Crusader can join me." Then MIRV looks to you, half in half out of your armor as you were re-donning it.

At that moment, Yuri suddenly comes to life, and muttering in Russian he lurches back into his work area in the garaged winnebago, grabbing a large black object from under the bench. He jogs back, pulling an oiled rag along a sleek black armored shield with a stylized star on it. "I am being finished, John! Molybdenum alloy with exotic plastic fibers. Extremely light, but most brittle. This will reduce and displace the impact but because of it's thin structure, you should be being prepared for it to become broken with use. I have molded many replacements, if this is to be happening. Please to buckle it on, eh?"<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 178

 

From Crusader:

I will put on my helmet and trigger my comm, pick up Wild Heart's comm frequency (which I have, I was just talking to her). "'Heart, I would like to bow out of this one and find DragonMist. Do you feel like you need me on this one? Speedball, Arc, MIRV and yourself is a pretty strong strike force."

To Yuri; "Wow, Yuri, great job! I like the "C" on the front. So will Darkfire, although he will probably insist on a 'tm' symbol near it."

 

If I get the ok to stay out of this mission, I will first call Dragon Mist on the phone, then if I don't get anything I will try Maverick frequencies... he might already be out and about...

 

Neil, if this throws a weird monkey wrench in your plans, I can certainly scramble to Verdi square. But I feel that DMist's sister is priority and that was my mission assignment upon discussion at the island.

One that John Spencer has real emotional stake because it is Dragon Mist...

who is a friend, not just a team mate.

Note: I have no way of contacting Cowboy. I have no idea that he is with Impetus. I'm not even sure if I have a way of contacting Impetus, can't remember. But I do have an ambivilent feeling towards having Cowboy assigned to this mission (sorry Eric, has nothing to do with you !), he is just a total unknown for Mist and myself.

 

From Speedball:

(Neil--a NYC note--nobody ever specifies West or East when you give a cross street. Its not needed)

 

"OK, Arcs, let's go. We've gotta save the Kid's life...so I can kill him myself. Race y..."

 

And with that, he's gone in a blur

 

Note: This was an interesting point in the game... logistically. To keep players involved when their characters were NOT together might require some "time fluctuation" in the game. I figured online could probably handle this, but wanted to get everyone's opinion, plut make sure we were on the same page about timing and events in game. Very easy to have miscommunication.

 

From GM:

>>>Crusader: Wild Heart comes back quickly, with, "Do what you need to.

>>>I'm not sure what we'll find at this theater. MIRV and Arcs and

>>>Speedy should be ok, and I'll back 'em up. Your call... there are a

>>>lot of different priorities right now."<<<

 

Note: (Just a quick fill in, to make sure everyone is on the same page...

1. It has only been 20 minutes since the return from the island. Crusader never even got into the shower, let alone rested and everything else. Speedball's actions are really pushing the original time line, here.

2. Wild Heart was given a number to call Impetus, but again... he and Cowboy are just starting their sleep over, and it's true that no one knows that Cowboy is with him. It should be noted that Wild Heart's decision to put Cowboy with Dragon Mist and Crusader was more of a "someone needs to keep watch on this hotheaded gunman, and putting him to work with you guys is the best we can do... and he might be useful." So, yes, it's not the best idea, but there might be just as much risk in letting him run off on his own, which Wild Heart isn't comfortable doing.

3. Dragon Mist specifically stated that he was turning off his communicator, and that he would be unavailable for some time. We won't go into detail about exactly what he's doing, but it does involve the half dressed Grey Spirit. Crusader is the one person who knows where D.M.'s place is, and could head over there... but the "Search For The Sister Plan" initially was to rest for part of the day, and start in the afternoon.

4. I'm happy to have different characters doing things at different times, but that will absolutely limit player interaction, and might make things even more confusing.

 

Just please consider these things before deciding on a course of action. I'll go with whatever decisions you guys make.

 

-----

 

Also... Geoff sent this e-mail unsolicited. Using the game as an outlet for some creative writing exercises. This kind of stuff is cool and provides depth of character often missing in FtF games.

 

Guys,

 

Nothing at all in the story below makes it required reading. Just got to writing on a train back from CT and thought I'd share. Enjoy if at all possible. Mostly its just character background for Neil to work in if he wants.

best,

Geoff

_____

 

It is the early fall of 1990 and Joe Dellasandro has brought home his fourth consecutive failing grade of the young school year. It needs a signiture, this red 'F,' to signal some minor lesson learned in place of the subject matter--some responsibility taken. Joe demurs, knowing that the lesson he will learn is just when to duck the swing and the shiny blue topaz set into his father's high school ring. The ring has always een a point of pride to Joe's father. The first in his family history to graduate, in better days Joe senior promised to give his young son the ring should he graduate himself.

Joe thought about the many times his father had recited the promise. But puberty left Joe thin and without his father's linebacker physique, bringing a gradual halt to the the tales of glory on the grid-iron (never just a football field, since it was to Joe Sr. a kind of holy anvil on which souls were shaped). Still, Big Joe held on to the idea that little Joe might be a running back or receiver. Neither has the respectability of a hard-working lineman, but it was still football and Big Joe, the Lord knew, was used to being thankful for small favors.

This reduced dream had intially borne fruit. His son was fairly fast and it seemed he could catch anything in the air. The problem was what he did once he got hold of it. From early on the boy had a strange fixation on the circus--particularly juggling. For the boy juggling became a nervous habit.

Joe Sr. rejectted his son's equation of jugging with the older man's habit of biting his fingernails which were consistently gnawed down into bloody deformities. The varsity coach who tolerated the young boy's anticsboth because of Little Joe's talent and because Big Joe has played for him nearly 20 years before, had lost his patience when Joe had been blindsided while showboating, resulting in a fumble. He had called the the Dellasandro house before leaving the fieldhouse and told his former linebacker that his son had been cut for the season because he had just cost the school the game.

Joe jr. arrived home near midnight thanks to a long busride back to town and the failure of any of his former teammates to give him a ride from the school parking lot. Early fall in Northern Arkansas is not cold, but it can be damp and Joe, having no desire to feel either the weather or his aching pride, bought a bottle of the cheapest bourbon he could find from a clerk who knew the boy wasn't even close to 21.

Neither the younger nor the older was in a talking mood whenthe flimsy screen door screeched open. Both were drunk. The door hadn't even slammed shut when the topaz cut into the boy's eyebrow and sent him, already unsteady from drink, twirling down at the cheap table which splintered when he hit it. Working himself into a lather by pacing over the prone body of his son with the ball peen hammer he used in his occaisional construction work, he slurred words that began at angry and quickly worked their way towards menacing. Deciding he'd said his uncomprehensible piece to the now semi-conscious poor excuse for a son below him, Big Joe knelt on the boy's right forearm, gripped the hand at the wrist and brought the hammer down on fingers that would never fumble a football again. The force of the blows, even as innacurate as they were, made a puddle of the younger man's hand and after a dozen or so simply exhausted the old drunk.

This was the end of what Joe later called the "good old days."

When Joe got back from the county hospital a week later with a huge bottle of painkillers and, the hand in a cast that would remain there for months, his father accused the boy of 'faking it for attention.'

Almost a year later now, Joe puts his his test with its big red 'F' on the mail pile. His father will find it eventually, but by then Joe jr. will be long gone. He has decided to light out for the circus even though every time he thinks about it in those terms he rolls his eyes at how ridiculous it sounds. Thankfully he won't have to exaplain it to anyone else--there isn't anyone in town worth exaplining it to. Running upstairs to grab the bag of clothes and stolen painkillers he packed the night before, he turns and without a last look around, he nearly rips the screen door off the hinges in his hurry to start walking to the county fair grounds.

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 179

 

From E/Cowboy:

And since I completely forgot about it, and I think

that Cowboy would have too, he never synched his own

raido up with the Maverick's, so there is no way to

contact him at the moment, aside from, as Neil said,

through Impetus, which, as Neil also pointed out, no

one knows Cowboy is with Impetus.

 

So, Cowboy snores on, blissfully unaware. As usual. =)

 

From I/Arcsilver:

Sorry to take so long to respond -

 

When Arcsilver arrived, he would have been friendly and polite, but

would have insisted that he be admitted to the place, "mindpuddle or

not..." Assuming that this occured without any problems, he would have

been chatty and friendly, if in a bit of a hurry as he walked through the

hospital, looking for Wildheart. Seeing her and Speedball, he says "hey

guys, everything Alri-" interrupted by Wildheart.

 

In response to Speedball's:

>"OK, Arcs, let's go. We've gotta save the Kid's life...so I can kill

>him

>myself. Race y..."

 

Arcsilver will take off, saying "a race, huh? Mr. Turtle?" He will

then hit his top speed, trying to fly right alongside Speedball. He has

30"x4 noncom=120", and will push on the straightaways, using all three

levels of turn mode to stick with him. If he IS able to match his speed

and maneuvering, he will strike various poses (head wresting on hand,

flying on back with hands behind head, etc.) and give a yawn, saying

"when did you want to start RACING?"

 

If he cannot keep up with him (no idea what Speedy's speed is), then he

will go high, and try to beat him as the crow flies, gaining the

advantage of not having to follow streets.

 

As they get close to the detination, Arc will pull up, and circle the

area, scouting the area from the air quickly before they attempt

anything. After this, he will land and (assuming this was not possible

in transit) he will ask what the mission is).

 

From F/Impetus:

Mostly true. I did say that I would take Cowboy in and that he could crash at my apartment, and a bit of guessing could indicate that maybe he was t-ported back with me -- and Impetus did leave his pager on, which both Crusader and Wild Heart have access to. However, whether anyone would take the time to really think about it might be a different matter.

 

The Ferrett

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Arcsilver & Speedball: Speedball is halfway to the bridge, when Arcsilver gets up to speed. More maneuverable and with slightly better reaction time, Speedball is able to dodge and wind up the narrow streets toward Manhattan but Arcsilver is right on his tail. On the first straight-away, it is no contest. Arcsilver has the pure thrust and velocity... and with unrepentant glee, he lets Speedball know it. It isn't pretty.

 

Once across the East River and into Manhattan, Arcsilver has to go higher to avoid traffic and avoid causing too much of a disturbance with his blazing passage. Speedball stirs up some serious wind, and maybe lands a dent or two in the hoods of a few cars as he literally skips over the traffic, but Arcsilver is waiting, presumably with a smart ass remark, when Speedball pulls up a dozen seconds later.

 

74th is the northern border of Verdi Square. The square itself is a number of small theaters, restaurants, and apartments, all from renovated warehouses. It's New York's mix of grimy glitz. The location of some of the larger, upper floor apartments is likely to cost some serious money, while the street level is much more wide ranging, from grungy greasy spoons to fine dining, pawn shops to elegant theaters. The Red Aisle is nothing fancy, but not a hole either. It's maybe a two thousand seat place with a clean, but faded facade and nice Marquee. It is shoehorned between The Plugged Nickel pawnshop, and a Korean grocery. Mayby not surprisingly, the sign out front says Closed For Renovations. The marquee has a "Coming Soon..." sign of a play neither of you have ever heard of.

 

It is still early and all the businesses are closed, except for a 24 hour mini-mart at the far west end of the block. There are cars on the streets and a few pedestrians. All of them stop or slow to watch as Arcsilver lands. (From above there were only the flat, cramped rooftops with large air conditioning units marking the theater's roof. Nothing looked out of place... and even scanning with Arcs' super vision doesn't show anything obviously out of the ordinary.)

Over the radio, MIRV's call comes in with, "I'm two minutes out. Arcs? What's the situation?"<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 180

 

From Speedball:

"Here's what I think: you and I go in right now--hit them as fast as we can

and look for the Kid. By the time MIRV and Wildheart get here, they should

be able to pick off anyone we can't handle ourselves. That sound ok, Arcs?"

If Arcs gives assent, Speedball will head straight for the closed doors,

turn intangible, and go right through them. First priority is locating the

Kid. He will avoid anyone who looks tougher than goon-level unless that

person stops Speedy from getting to the Kid. He knows that there may be

some heavy hitters in there--this is a rescue mission, not a brawl.

If Arcs doesn't agree, Speedball will say "OK, I admit I'm not much for

plans. But we've got to get in there fast and get the Kid out--that's why

Wildheart sent us. What's your plan?"

 

From Arcsilver:

As Speedball arrives, Arcsilver is in the middle of a street-dog from a

local vendor. Swallowing, he says "sorry for the misunderstanding! I

thought we were in a _hurry..._"

 

>"Here's what I think: you and I go in right now--hit them as fast as

>we can

>and look for the Kid. By the time MIRV and Wildheart get here, they

>should

>be able to pick off anyone we can't handle ourselves. That sound ok,

>Arcs?"

 

 

Arcsilver holds up his hands, furrowing his brow. "Waitwait, what?

Who'se in there, and what are we doing here? Wildheart just said to go

with you. What's going on?"

 

After the explanation, Arcsilver will see reason for the urgency.

"Gotcha, brother. Neither of us is what I might call a "heavy hitter,"

but I can keep a couple of guys busy at once, and my field can keep the

bullets off me. I'm going in the front, and I'll engage as many of them

as I can find. You find another way in, and try the evac. How does that

sound?"

 

(I can't remember if Arc has seen Speedball go desolid, but this would be the plan either way).

 

If Speedball agrees, Arcsilver will crank up the force-field, wait a

second, and then do a move-through on the front door of this place (doing

however many dice will do the job and not kill him...) As he does this

he speaks into the his com. "Arcsilver and Speedball engaging in rescue

operation, sorry we couldn't wait for you, guys. Come when you can!"

 

From Speedball:

"That sounds fine, Arcs. Give me a three second head start to get me through the door before you knock it down." With that, Joe runs at full

speed toward the theater. Once through the door, actions are as planned out in my last email.

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Speedball: You zip inside. Ghosting through the tinted glass door, to find yourself in an empty foyer opening out into a dusty theater lobby. You slow down immediately as it is somewhat dark and difficult to see. Phantom shapes rear up which you realize are old white sheets covering the concession stand and lobby furniture. The coat room stands closed. The ticket booth boarded up. A ladder sits in the middle of the room, extending up into the ceiling panels which have been removed and stacked on the floor. Old electrical wiring dangles from the ceiling. A pair of sawhorses and some lumber block further progress, but you phase through them, to take a glimpse into the interior of the theater. Suddenly there is an enormous crash and the room fills with the blue white glow of Arcsilver, as he careens in behind you. Though difficult to see, not being lit from within, you get a sense of a big empty space, no movement and only dim exit signs for illumination. The theater itself seems to be empty.

 

Arcsilver: Speedball runs right through the door without damaging it at all. Your entrance is much more dramatic but you find only the same, empty, under construction area that he did. No agents appear with guns blazing, no high tech defense systems. Just sawdust and that old, moldy smell that theaters can get when the seats have gone too long collecting moisture, grime, sweat and all the other things that build up over the years. Aside from the rattle of splintered wood on the ground and the constant sparking of your propulsion field, it is quiet. Up ahead, Speedball heads deeper into the theater itself and out of your view. To your left are bathrooms and to your right the stairs labeled "Balcony."

 

Speedball: You rush down the main isle, past rows and rows of empty seats. At the front you stop before the small orchestra pit and glance back, up toward the balcony, which is also empty. A scaffolding hangs from one wall, where it looks like either a new paint job is going up or an old one is being stripped. The stage is hidden behind an old style, thick red velvet curtain. It stirs slightly as the wind from your accelerated movement hits it. Your eyes adjust slightly to the dark but you don't see anything else. It looks like what it purports to be; a theater under renovation. A quick guess says that there are definitely rooms behind the stage and maybe on the right side of the building... yes... there is a door labeled Staff Only over there, just off the side of the stage.<<<

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

First Note: An apology. While our group doesn't mind the use of in character swearing and vulgarity, I realize that these boards are public. What I did NOT realize was that the auto-censor was no longer functional on the boards. I never really went and read the posts after posting... at least not so much that I noticed the "F-word" appearing in all its glory. Sorry about that. I'll edit that before posting in the future. WHOOPS....

 

Second Note: As I reread these posts, I do wince at my mistakes as GM. In this case, I posted a short series of "PCs run around trying to find stuff and nothing happens" posts... something that I intended to set a solid scene inside the theater and make the players go "Hmmmm... what are we missing?" and brainstorm up solutions. This happens all the time in FtF games, though too much of it is antithetical to dramatic story telling. In and online game, a very little can easily be too much. I realize now, looking back, I should have kept things out of combat and just described the theater as they run through it... then left Arcs and Speedball with, "You don't see anything obviously wrong. Think about what you might have missed or what you might try differently and give me some various actions you'd attempt." Instead I left the players twiddling their thumbs and feeling like, "C'mon already... gimme something to work with here!" In a FtF game, that moment might have lasted a short minute. In a PBeM game, this was DAYS. Bad, bad, BAD GM...

 

Oh well, live and learn.

 

-----

 

Post 181

 

From Speedball:

I'll check for secret doors. My elvish abilities give me a 1 in 6 chance...

oh, wrong game. sorry.

 

Speedball waves Arcs towards the Staff Room while he heads for the rooms

behind the stage, again at top combat speed and ready to try a deflect when

necessary.

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will fly over to the staff room, and open the door, hiding

behind the door frame and glancing in quickly. If anything come at him

he will attempt to dodge. If this turns up nothing, he will find

Speedball and say "this is creeping me out, let's stick together and

watch eachother's back until we know what we are doing here."

 

-Ilan

 

-----

 

From GM:

Arcsilver: You pull open the staff door, glancing inside, and seeing only a wide hallway that obviously doubles as a maintenance closet, with big push brooms and mops and buckets lining the way. It extends to your left, and you can see that it turns, likely going behind the stage. Two doors down the hall to your right are closed. One says "Cast Rooms" and the other "Office." You are just turning around to speak to Speedball when you see him vanish through the big curtains over the stage which rock in the wake of his passage.

 

Speedball: You flash back into the stage exits, quickly noting it is empty with only some old stage lights lowered to the floor. No sets, no costumes, no props. To your right there is an EXIT labeled doorway. To your left is a larger empty room most likely used for cast and crew during a production, but mostly empty but for a couple folding chairs and coiled ropes and pulleys. A thin layer of dust is over most of it. Ducking back behind the back of the stage you do find a damp corridor and a labeled emergency exit. From your position in the building you are sure this opens up on the central Verdi Square. It is wired as a Fire Exit though, so opening it might set off an alarm. Finding nothing, you shoot over to the right exit into a long wide hallway, and looking right see Arcsilver at the doors at the far end.

 

Arcsilver: Trying to move quickly you push open the "Cast Rooms" door, and see a lounge with two more doors off of it. One marked Men, the other Women. It is dark, barely illuminated from your energy field and smells of sweat and old talcum powder. An old refrigerator hums in a small kitchenette, but everything else is still and quiet. Suddenly behind you, Speedball appears muttering something about "tapping the floor with a ten foot pole..." and "...always listen at doors before you open them... don't you know anything?"<<<

 

-----

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will shift to EM vision, looking straight up and trying to see

where the electricity in the building is heading, if there is any. I

assume that most of the areas we have been in are not electrically lit at

the moment, as the place is shut down. While glancing around for wiring,

etc., he will say "Well, Fastball, I don't know where you got your info,

but this place sure seems clean. Did you check the rest of the place

with that funky phasing thing?"

 

From Speedball:

"I'lltaketheofficeyoutakethebathrooms.

Andfindouthowlongtilleveryoneelesegetshere!"

 

Speedball zips off to the office area, hoping that he finds something to

make this all worth while. He's going to feel like a big jerk, otherwise.

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (It's only been a few seconds since you guys ran inside. You move so fast that you can search this place (which I think is about a 500 seat theater, not a 2000 like I said previously) in no time flat. MIRV's still on his way.)

 

Speedball: You leave Arcsilver standing staring around the darkened rooms, and shift through the office doors. Into a pitch black room. No lights, no windows, stuffy air. You are just about to go solid and go for the light switch when you realize you have no way of knowing whether you are in open space, air only, or perhaps your foot or hand, or god forbid you head, is partially inside an object. You can't see a damn thing...

 

Arcsilver: You shift your perceptions, and scan the room and hallway. The dark turns a hazy purple, highlighted by bright lines punctuated by brighter nodes representing electrical lines and outlets, bulbs, etc. You look around. Yeah... yeah... normal... refrigerator and toaster over, radio "boom box", outlets, fluorescent lights, elevator, recessed lighting, space heater,... wait... elevator?

You look again. Switching between the normal, visible spectrum, and the far ranges of the EM field. In the first you are looking at a scuffed and dirty wall with an old bulletin board on it, and in the second you see the outlines of a small light weight elevator, powered and running, behind a wall that doesn't seem to have any doors in it. It is directly across the room from you in the lounge. To your left are the doors to the men's and women's dressing rooms.

 

Speedball: You cautiously back out of the room into the hallway, where Arcsilver is still standing, staring into the lounge. You go solid and try to open the Office door manually... and it clicks open. You push the door open, and let the dim light of hallway show you a small administrative office with a dinged up old desk, two rows of filling cabinets and a stained, old Mr. Coffee. Some old posters line the walls, including one for the "Pirates of Pensance" but nothing looks out of the ordinary.<<<

[zornwil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

(snipped)

 

Second Note: As I reread these posts, I do wince at my mistakes as GM. In this case, I posted a short series of "PCs run around trying to find stuff and nothing happens" posts... something that I intended to set a solid scene inside the theater and make the players go "Hmmmm... what are we missing?" and brainstorm up solutions. This happens all the time in FtF games, though too much of it is antithetical to dramatic story telling. In and online game, a very little can easily be too much. I realize now, looking back, I should have kept things out of combat and just described the theater as they run through it... then left Arcs and Speedball with, "You don't see anything obviously wrong. Think about what you might have missed or what you might try differently and give me some various actions you'd attempt." Instead I left the players twiddling their thumbs and feeling like, "C'mon already... gimme something to work with here!" In a FtF game, that moment might have lasted a short minute. In a PBeM game, this was DAYS. Bad, bad, BAD GM...

 

Oh well, live and learn.

 

 

This might break the flow here too much, and if so please feel free to move to another thread, but it's always interesting to me hearing and sharing things one wishes one had done differently, so if you have others, especially upon such a long and in-depth campaign, please do share. You shouldn't beat yourself up about it, of course, but those lessons learned are interesting, especially this one, to me, since it is particularly relevant as you say to PBEM GMing, something that I probably wouldn't have thought of for much the same reasons (it works okay in F2F, not a real issue, doesn't become apparent in PBEM until days have already gone by).

 

Thanks for keeping these up!

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Actually, I was hoping these threads would spark more of the "Why did you do things like that?" questions and comments on the style, logistics and play dynamics of the game. I'm glad folks enjoy the story, but I was hoping to get some "actual play" discussions ongoing. (Actually, when I first started posting I did get a few more comments like that from folks. Just not since I restarted the posts.)

 

Note: Actually, in this post, Ilan did exactly what I was hoping he'd have Arcsilver do... only I recognize it took way too long in PBeM format to get to this point. Again... in FtF, this would have been a 30 second no-brainer scenario. In PBeM I drug it out too much. It is a tough line to walk in terms of getting good narrative and description and detail vs. logistical speed and game momentum.

 

-----

 

Post 182

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will speak loud enough for Speedball (not sure if this is a yell, or could be just speaking) "Hey Speedbox, you check out the bathrooms, I gotta see about something..."

 

He will then zip over to the wall, and rip down the poster on the wall, trying to find an entrance to the elevator. If he fails to see any secret doors or openings, he will fly around and try to find the other side of the shaft, and look for a way in all around.

 

From Speedball:

Speedball pauses for a moment with a raised eyebrow, trying to figure out what Arcs is up to, then shrugs and heads for the bathrooms. He mumbles, "sure. leave the sh!^^ters to me...figures." Assuming he finds nothing out of the ordinary, he'll return to where he last saw Arcs and wait for him to return and share info.

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Arcsilver: You pull down the bulletin board and it hits the ground with a clatter. Speedball zips off, grumbling under his breath, as you scan the wall. There is no way to go around this wall. It is a flat, plain, cinder block painted a dingy white as far as you can tell in the dim light. You shift back to your EM vision... getting the outline of the power cables, the switch box on top of the elevator... there is no way you could be getting this detail, no matter how faint, if this wall was really as thick as cinder block. You peer more closely... there! A crack with a faint heat signature... that's where the door is... now... how to open it...

The rooms behind you explodes in a splinter of wood and the flailing shape of a sprawling figure...!

 

Speedball: You run into the Women's room first. Always wanted to scam a women's dressing room... but it's a bust. (no pun intended.) Dusty and empty there is a row of four light tables for makeup, three empty clothing racks, some torn vinyl chairs, a shower stall and two toilets. A real disappointment with only the stale smell of old talc to give any sense of previous life. You skip through the drywall separating this from the Men's room... expecting and finding a similar dark and dingy room... until one of the shadows unfurls and grabs hold of your throat in a movement so sudden and unexpected you find yourself gasping at the viselike pressure ... doubly shocked because you are still phasing! Nothing should be able to hold you!

The shadow takes form, black, metallic, massive. Deep violet sparks dance along the ebony gauntlet that holds you. A powerful voice growls from the depths of the shadow saying, "So you are the positive response Tac user. Interesting. It seems a shame to waste such a rare experimental success... but you are too much of a wild card at the moment. Unfortunate... for you," and the mailed hand flares a brighter violet and you feel your speed drain... your body solidify... and you are shoved backward through the door in a violence of splinters and pain. (take 36 stun, 10 body... minus defenses means you take 25 Stun and 1 body from the stun damage and you are Con stunned. This was the badguy's surprise action, plus his first action during the first combat round.)

 

Initiative: the badguy already went his first action... so then Speed ball (1st), Arcsilver (1st), badguy (2nd), Speedball (2nd), Arcsilver (2nd).

 

Speedball's 1st action has to be "recover from being Con stunned" but after that, it's wide open.

 

-----

 

From Arcsilver:

> The rooms behind you explodes in a splinter of wood, and the

>flailing shape of a sprawling figure...!

 

For the first action Arcsilver will instinctively dodge and look around, trying to see exactly what has happened. While doing this he will key his com, saying "someone just smacked Speedbag, people! As soon as you can get here..." His next action will be to try to run interferance for Speedball. If there is any target near to him, Arcsilver will try a multiple move-by, putting levels in turning, and trying to end up back where he started (I'm looking for 8d6 on these unless I can see that this guy is armored, in which case something more like 11d6).

 

If there are a lot of enemies, or none that he can see, he will zip in through wherever Speedball came out, and travel 15", zig-zaging the whole way (trying to take the attention off of the 'Ball).

 

 

-Ilan

 

PS. sorry for all the play with the name, just earning those points I got for "rivalry with any other fast characters..."

 

From GM:

Note: (Real quick addition, since I haven't heard from Geoff today...)

 

>>>Arcsilver (1st action): You dance sideways, as Speedball dumps to the ground with a crack and a groan. Splinters from the cheap press board door spin and 'spack!' around the room and dust plumes outward. You call into the radio your hasty report and then notice that Speedball is hurt but not out. He groans again, moving slightly and clutching his throat on the ground.

Just as you are about to move to look into the dressing room from which Speedy was so hastily expelled you see a large shape, bulky and shadowy... and very menacing... slide silently out of the door. It's presence seems to fill the room, and you get the hint of black armor, heavily cloaked with a dark cape, but it's hard to make out. Even with your EM vision you don't get a clear outline, instead only traces of ionization around his left arm, and otherwise only a strange shimmer in the normal background radiation shows he is there. Deep violet spots glow where his eyes should be. A voice, stunning in it's command and tenor rumbles, "Arcsilver. Just the two of you, I see. This should be... interesting." The form seems to shift, becoming slightly more solid looking, and clearly in a relaxed, but prepared stance.<<<

 

Ok, that leaves Arcs second action... and Speedball's... REC from Con stun done, but now only has 10 stun.

 

Attached is a pic of the Warlord... first time he is seen.

[zornwil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Actually' date=' I was hoping these threads would spark more of the "Why did you do things like that?" questions and comments on the style, logistics and play dynamics of the game. I'm glad folks enjoy the story, but I was hoping to get some "actual play" discussions ongoing. (Actually, when I first started posting I did get a few more comments like that from folks. Just not since I restarted the posts.)[/quote']

 

I'll try to come back to it with that eye, thanks.

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 183

 

From Speedball:

Neil,

I'd relpied to your email yesterday. Apologies if something went wrong and

you didn't get it.

Essentially what I said was this:

1st action: "ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow"

 

2nd Action: if I'm up and there're enough space, Speedy, coughing, calls out

to Arcs "We don't have to beat him, we just need to find the Kid! Any idea

where he might be?" Hoping that Arcs then points out the door, Speedball

says, "can you keep him busy long enough for me to get to the Kid and get

him out of there?"

If he assents, Speedball will go desolid and run through the door with the

expres idea of getting in and out as fast as possible and without getting

the shit kicked out of him.

If Arcs seems nervous about being left alone, Speedball will try and move

around to the figure's back and try to attack from that angle.

 

From Arcsilver:

>"Arcsilver. Just

the two of you, I see. This should be... interesting."

 

Arcsilver, still hovering in a combat pose, will unleash an array of

blinding-white lightning so that it arcs in front of this guy's face, and

say "'interesting?!' Not unless you think you think its 'interesting'

having my foot in your a$$!" And then into the com, under the sound of

the attack "how about an ETA, guys? This mother looks big and mean..."

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (Below is Geoff's response. It never came through on either my work, or my home e-mail. It doesn't look like you got it either, Ilan. I'm going to go ahead, and chock it up to the chaos of combat...)

 

Arcsilver: You blast away at the figure, faintly aware of the kid on the floor gasping something about, "...don't... find the Kid... where?" You are too busy watching your lightning illuminate the dark armor of this figure... as he strides right through your blast, blue white light glinting off a menacing and high tech faceplate that gives no hint to the person beneath it. Then the figure raises his hand saying, "Nice light show. Very pretty. But lets keep this just between us, shall we?" and there is a sudden high pitched whine through your ear piece ended by a loud "pop" and the smell of burning plastic. Your headset sags hot and emanating stinky smoke around your face.

 

Speedball: Arcsilver doesn't seem to hear you, blasting at the big guy and not seeming to have much effect. You see red sparks, different color than Arcs' normal hue, pop around his ear and his com go up in smoke. All the black figure did was raise his hand. Shaking your head and trying to focus, you slide around to your feet trying to get behind or to the side of the big guy. In doing so you try to get a good look at the enemy, blinking because either you're still shaking off the knock to the head or you really need glasses, because it is just not working. While you get hints of his menacing armor, and the occasional sense of a heavy cape... he is mostly shadow, nebulous, flowing with the dark shadows of this dimly lit room. You think you might have a shot at him... but it's really weird... hard to pin down exactly where he is...<<<

 

Initiatives: Speedball has half action if he wants to try an attack, then... next round...

Speedball (1st), Arcsilver (1st), badguy (1st), Speedball (2nd), Arcsilver (2nd), badguy (2nd)

 

From Speedball:

"Arcs--We're just here to get the Kid! Any ideas where he is? We don't

need to beat this guy--Wildheart and MIRV'll kick the crap out of him when

they get here...and second now."

Is going to take a recovery as his first action. If Arcs tells Speedy where

the concealed door is, he'll say "can you keep him busy for a minute?" and

assuming consent, take off to find the Kid at top speed and remaining

insubstantial until he considers it safe not to be. If he still gets no

indication that the door is there or if Arcs doesn't want to be left alone

with this guy (understandable), for his second action Speedball will attempt

a moveby from behind, which will leave him as far away from this guy as

possible.

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver will yell to Speedball "roger that, turtleboy! Check the

secret panel behind the poster!" (he will gesture towards where he was.

For his action, Arcsilver will go as fast as he can, using all levels in

turn mode, and fly in around the shadowy form, dodging the whole way. He

will want to end his move in another direction than the secret

whatever-is-it and Speedball.

 

From Speedball:

With a quick nod and a look that says 'good luck,' Speedball is off to find

the Kid as fast as he can.

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Clarification of the setting since we're dealing with speedsters and fliers. This is a relatively small, interior room. You're lucky if it's 5" across at it's widest. You aren't out in the open theater but in the cast lounge/lunchroom. Flying around will be difficult, and you'll never be that far away from the enemy.

 

Speedball: You burst across the room, your path cris-crossing Arcsilver's as he blasts toward the enemy. In the split second it takes for you to move, you see only a blank wall where Arcs pointed. You hear a crash from an impact behind you as you take a breath, hope, and phase through the wall.

You pull up short, immediately, finding yourself not in a room... but an elevator. It is lit by small lights ringing the top and bottom. Warm clean air very different from the room outside. In fact... it's very quiet, sealed off, insulated. Definitely no Kid in here, though.

 

Arcsilver: As you blast around the dark shape, you grit your teeth realizing you aren't in your element. Too tight, too cramped... and he's big! Seems to fill the room, while at the same time it's very difficult to draw a bead on him. He seems to blend with the shadows... shifting away whenever you try to focus on him. Shifting away... without seeming to actually move.

Then he does move... fast. His black bulk lunges... there is the audible sound of his boot scraping linoleum tiles and the ripple of his cape... and he grabs you. He actually grabs you! Tight, by the neck. You thought you were skipping cleanly to the side of him and then his massive gauntlet is around your throat. Your electrical energy sparks off of the black, obsidian metal. And "CRUNCH" he has you pinned to the wall. (no damage, just a hold).

"Very brave... facing me alone," the enemy rumbles. "Foolish... but then that is your modus operandi, isn't it? Playing the fool?" Suddenly purple/violet sparks of energy flash along the gauntlet and arm... illuminating it somewhat, though even this close, the man's visage is hidden in clinging shadow. You feel a numbing tingle run through you and suddenly, your deflection field diminishes... his gauntlet hums and you feel your energy draining into the man's armor... and his grip tightening around your throat.

 

Speedball: You hastily shove your phased head through the opposite side of the elevator and only sense dense, closed in, wall and machinery. You pull back realizing that the only way to go is down. You see a small panel opposite the door. A key pad, and six unmarked buttons below that. Who knows what it takes to make this box move. (What do you do... second half action.)

 

Arcsilver: Though pinned by the throat, your arms and legs are free. Your force field is quickly dimming... leaving you more and more at the mercy of this bruiser... but he hasn't really injured you yet. (You have a full action.)

The enemy speaks again. "So you came here looking for Kid Fantastic? Interesting. Killinger must have shared quite a bit of information with you... but how did you know to look in this place specifically for my headquarters?" The rumbling basso has a casual, conversational tone to it... incongruous with the death grip around your throat.<<<

 

I'll wait for Arcsilver's and Speedball's second actions before I continue.

[RDU Neil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

Post 184

 

From Speedball:

Speedball looks under the elevator for the emergency access ladder that is found in most elevator shafts. If there isn't one, Speedball makes a

desperate move. Phasing through the floor, he attempts to use his

contortionist and acrobatics skills in such a way that he moves down the

elevator shaft in a reasonably controlled fashion. If he slips, he will

attempt to grab something to stop himself from falling too far. If he can't

stop himself from falling, he will simply turn insubstantial before hitting

the floor and then hope he can run up to ground level before he runs out of

air.

Once he gets to the bottom floor (assuming he isn't dead!), he'll phase out

of the elevator shaft and start poking around. Any thugs he encounters will

find Speedball in a foul mood.

 

This should be interesting...

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver, flailing at the grip of this monster, will attempt a smile

and choke out "is it too late to talk about this? Your not mad about

that 'foot in the ass' comment, are you?"

 

He will then try to hit him as many times in the gut as possible, all

levels in punch. That's OCV 14, 8 1/2 dice autofire.

 

-Ilan "ouch! my trachea!"

 

-----

 

From GM:

>>>Speedball: Concentrating, you phase downward. This is not something you've ever had to do before and it is very strange. Moving vertically doesn't seem to be as easy as typical horizontal motion, as if you are still somewhat affected by the gravitational forces, even when phased. Still, you stick your head beneath the elevator into the open shaft below... and find it dark... no real light. Blinking, you try to adjust your eyes...

 

Arcsilver: You gasp out your joke to no affect on your adversary, and then go for the more physically persuasive measure. Your hands lash out in blistering attack. Multiple punches and kicks slamming into the solid black of your opponents mid-section.

 

Only one seems to land solidly and he barely grunts at that. The others seems to glance of the angles of what feels like armor and your kick seems to get caught in his billowing cape. (By the way, you only have an 11 OCV with punches and the like... your levels for flying maneuvers only.)

His hand tightens around your neck and he threatens, "I am the Warlord. Your powers are nothing to me. If you wish to live even a moment longer, tell me how you came looking in this theater specifically for Kid Fantastic!"

 

Speedball: Dimly you think you see the outline of an access ladder just a couple feet away, and you struggle to turn your body toward it, reaching out. Moving through the air, even while phased, is very hard without any momentum. But you think you've reached far enough...

... you turn solid and begin dropping even faster than you were before, your hand grasping for a perch. You fall about a foot... just enough for your stomach to lurch and twist, when your palm smacks a metal rung and your fingers close around it. Momentum carries your body in a swing into the side of the shaft, where you smack your knee hard and your shoulder wrenches a bit, aggravating the bullet wound. (take 2 stun.) You are on a ladder though and can start downward at pace.<<<

 

Initiative: Warlord (1st), Speedball, Arcsilver, Warlord (2nd) (uhmm... sorry guys... this is looking grim)

 

 

From Speedball:

As before, I'll head downward as quickly as possible. When I see a door

(there should be a crack of light) I'll poke my head through to check it

out. If I see nothing, I'll go down to the next level. If nothing is

immediately apparent by the time I get to the bottom, I'll make a more

detailed investigation, floor by floor.

 

(Sorry to have left you, Arcs!)

 

From Arcsilver:

Arcsilver's mix of ADD and the ability to regenerate make it very hard

for him to admit defeat, even when he should...

 

>His hand tightens around your neck, and he threatens, "I am the

>Warlord. Your powers are nothing to me. If you wish to live even a moment

>longer, tell me how you came looking in this theater specifically, for Kid

>Fantastic!"

 

 

"NGGGKK...Kid...Fantastic?" Arcsilver says, trying to look surprised as

he grabs the overlord's armored hand. "Don't...know what you're

talking...about. Hckk...I came here to see "Cats."

 

With that, he will attempt a last-ditch, hail Mary maneuver. Thinking

that these powers are coming from the armor and that the energy for the

powers might be transmitted electronically (even if they begin as

something else), he will use his suppress to try to inhibit the flow of

power into that part of the armor. He is specifically trying to stop the

drain but the super grip would be nice as well.

 

-Ilan

 

-----

 

From GM:

Note: (Ok, Ilan. You've been spouting some funny stuff, lately, but the "Cats" line was the best so far. I've been cracking up all day over that one.)

 

>>>Speedball: Scampering down the ladder you almost pass the first elevator door before you realize it. Quickly you vibrate up to speed, and shove your head through the metal... to see nothing. It's pitch black. You get the sense of room opening up a bit... but can't see a thing. No light at all. Pulling out, you clutch the ladder again, then head down, because the next floor down (there were six buttons, remember) clearly has light illuminating an outline around the sliding door. Coming down to it, you can hear muffled sounds of movement, and warm air comes through the cracks as well. Voices, distorted by the thickness of the walls and door can be faintly heard.

 

Arcsilver: It may be the last thing you ever do... but you think you got him. For a moment the Warlord hesitates. A twitch of his heavy helmet and an involuntary spasm... and was that a chuckle?? a suppressed guffaw?? You may never know... because you use the nano-second hesitation to grasp his thick armored forearm and in a huge flash of blue white light, send ripples of charges into his armor.

 

The drain ebbs. The Warlord stares at you and your hands. His grip doesn't falter. "Controlled electromagnetic pulse? Fascinating. I had no idea you had such control." His voice has a clear note of being impressed. Then the purple sparks flare around his gauntlet and you feel the power start to drain out of you again... though less so as if you're suppression field was fighting it. The Warlord says, "You could be a serious threat... if I let you live long enough to actually develop. That won't be the case... unfortunately for you." And his grip tightens around your weakening force field, which sputters and dims.<<<

 

Next initiatives: Arcsilver (1st), Warlord (1st), Speedball (1st), Arcsilver (2nd), Warlord (2nd), Speedball (2nd)

[zornwil]

Re: PBEM - RDU: The Mavericks - Example & Discussion

 

RDU N. - have you had players ever troubled with the lack of mechanical feedback? Just curious, and curious how you handled it. Just for example, Speedball's player mentions that he will use acrobatics and contortionist skills, and there's no real feedback as to how those were applied. BTW, I"m not suggesting you should do that at all. But I am curious if you've had issues with it? I have seen a few players who just can't stand not knowing those precise details - it seems to somehow add to their experiencing the world, even though that might seem contradictory in that the mechanical explanation is so grounded in system and not immersive game-world terms, but that's the way I've seen it. Similarly, of course, someone from a more purely gamist approach might balk, I would imagine.