Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

[BlueBuddha]

Okay guys, I'm asking for a favor here. I have some rough idea (more than some games I've gone into with) for my first full game with my new group (all brand new to Champs). I'm using some ideas from a adventure hook I read somewhere... Here it is in a nutshell:

 

The heroes respond to an attack on a small mystical/occult shop. The owner called 911 when DEMON brothers crossed a simple magical rune alarm. The DEMON brothers made off with some supplies for making brazen wands and other simple magical items, as well as a painting ("Untitled" by the villain Cloaca from the DEMON sourcebook), and a book.

 

The PCs will likely chase down the Demon Brothers and fight a group of them and/or possible a morbane (should I save a morbane for later?) and take a few in. The store owner tells the PCs about the magical gear, because the police don't care about magic. If they can prove it's DEMON, it'll probably be handed over to PRIMUS, and the police probably won't mind saving the paperwork.

 

The next day, the store owner thanks the PCs for retrieving the book. The catch is- they didn't. It mystically returns to him. If the PCs take the book from him, it'll return to him. Turns out he has to willingly give it away (specific wording might be needed). DEMON will probably come back for the book, finding this interesting. Hopefully the PCs will figure this out. If not, he'll disappear. They'll have to get him back. DEMON will have him strung up, as they try to decide if they can simply kill him to take his book.

 

I'm not sure what other twists I should throw in. I also want to have an unrelated villain fight across town. Any suggestions for that? The group is 3-5, 350 pt characters. None are mystics. Any help you can offer would be awesome. Thanks guys!

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

The book thing was my idea. Not sure if it will help you with this, but in my game the "owner" of the book has horrendous nightmares, robbing him of sleep and making him miserable, sick, and eventually suicidal. He got it from an estate sale, where the previous owner killed himself. Luckily, the storekeeper gave the book to one of the PCs who (IIRC) didn't require sleep.

 

The book was the Book of Krim (among other things, it mentioned how the various crowns could be destroyed) and of course the Crowns of Krim came for it -- putting the heroes between DEMON and the Crowns. It culminated in a battle in a church (you know DEMON and the Crowns were hating that) while a priest cast an exorcism on the book to destroy it. Heroes taking shots aimed at the priest, and a mentalist (who tapped into the priest's mind to learn how) finishing the exorcism when the priest took a hit and couldn't finish.

 

Very fun to run.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Given the power level and number of PCs you mentioned, I'd either keep it just DEMON, or only have one Crown of Krim show up. That's if you wanted to follow the way I ran it.

 

As an alternate idea, you could have the book go to one of the heroes (if the bookstore owner handed it to one of them to look at) if DEMON kills the owner. Make it only readable by that person -- the other PCs see gibberish. To creep them out, it could fortell events in a roundabout way, not details to help them too much, but enough clues to tip them off (perhaps leading to the battle across town).

 

The big thing you need to decide is what the book really is. It could contain key information, or a major spell, or perhaps it's actually a mystical being transformed into a book. I kinda like that last idea.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

I guess I should think before hitting Submit...

 

Following the idea of the mystical being transformed into a book, it could be a witch (good, naturally -- gotta love those Charmed babes...) who turned herself into a book (indestructible) to protect herself from DEMON, and linking herself to an "owner". As further protection, she can only be un-transformed by somebody *without* magical prowess (the hook to make the PCs a key part of the plot). Once they've figured it out and returned her to normal, she can be a useful NPC to consult on matters mystical.

 

Of course, you may have your own ideas, or twist some aspect of mine. Hope all this helped. Let me know how it all turns out.

[hooligan x]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Once they've figured it out and returned her to normal, she can be a useful NPC to consult on matters mystical.

 

 

Of course, she might also be a threat to the world so great she was bound in a book centuries ago, the shopowner being one in a long line of unwitting jailers. Now the PCs have released her, they must battle Demon, the evil thingies the witch calls up, and the witch herself all while trying to stuff her back in a book.

[Dino]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Two things:

 

1) why don't the police care about magic? If magic is know in the world, then the cops would at least want to make sure someone quailied was on the case (which the heroes clearly aren't).

 

2) If none of the PC's are mystics, then who is? Smart players will want to find a mystic hero to consult with (as will the police I would imagine). You should probably have someone on standby, or a reason no mystic heroes are available.

[BlueBuddha]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Two things:

 

1) why don't the police care about magic? If magic is know in the world, then the cops would at least want to make sure someone quailied was on the case (which the heroes clearly aren't).

 

Well, these cops don't. Obviously, they believe in superhumans, but they are skeptics when it comes to magic. The game takes place in Vibora Bay, and I want to play up the conflict between the believers and non-believers.

 

2) If none of the PC's are mystics' date=' then who is? Smart players will want to find a mystic hero to consult with (as will the police I would imagine). You should probably have someone on standby, or a reason no mystic heroes are available.[/quote']

 

I'm thinking of having Black Mask drop in and say hello while they're investigating and refer them to an NPC mystic I've made for just that reason. I'm thinking of making him their mystical go-to guy and occasional teammate.

[BlueBuddha]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Oh, and thanks a lot, BoloOfEarth. That particular plot seed really caught my eye. I think I'll use most of those suggestions in one way or another.

 

I should mention that having a group of strictly non-mystics in Vibora Bay might be complicated. One of the PCs is a Extra-dimensional alien with an artifact that his Hunted (DEMON) is after. You can think of it as a sort of techno-magic device that to him is only a tool that he uses with his dimensional manipulation powers, but that mystics see as an artifact that can greatly aid in summoning or teleportation. Between that and the mystic NPC, they should be able to at least get involved in some of the more interesting mystic plots in VB.]

 

And thanks again to everyone. I think I have enough material to work with for tomorrow.

[hooligan x]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

So, don't keep us in suspense BB. Tell us how it went!

[BlueBuddha]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Overall, it went well. The guys are still new to the system, and I noticed a little ways into the game that they were struggling a bit with some of the concepts. They were making minor tweaks to their characters, and one guy showed up halfway through the first encounter and had to have the rules explained to him during the combat.

 

I ended up simplifying the adventure a bit, which I didn't really like at first, but they seemed to be enjoying the game enough that they didn't notice, and I was okay with it.

 

So... I went with Bolo's idea of the book being instructions for "undoing" the crowns of krim (not killing them, neccisarily). A morbane stole the book from a bookstore and teleported away before the PCs could stop him. The next day the shop owner thanked the heroes for returning the book, even though they didn't...

 

They investigated the book with the help of a local mystic and discovered what the book was for. Then 2 of the Crowns of Krim (Phoenix and Temblor) showed up for the book. The heroes won. Now all they have to do is figure out what to do with the book.

 

I think I'm going to have to have the remaining crows return to retrieve the 2 captured. They're too cool a villain group to be out of the picture just yet.

 

I learned quite a bit about how tough of villains the heroes can handle. I have a much better idea of what they can handle, and who can get away. Luckily, they're too busy having fun to notice my lack of experience

 

Thanks again guys!

[hooligan x]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

As a Champs player and GM since 1983 I have played with at least 50 newbie Hero players, one of whom is still playing in my campaign after 14 years. My advice is to use this adventure as a shakedown period and allow the players to rebuild the characters afterward. Don't worry about continuity, contradictions in continuity are genre appropriate to comic. I allow all newbies to rebuild and have a standing "If you haven't used it in game you can change it" rule for everyone else.

 

This forum can be very helpful when you're stumped for ideas or you've painted yourself into a corner. But you know that now, don't you?

 

Cheers and good luck with your new Hero fanatics!

[hooligan x]

Re: Last minute ideas for Sunday's game

 

Oh, and Rep to you just for reminding me how fricken awesome Big Trouble is!