Wormhole Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 The reward offered for a certain Infamous Middle East Terrorist Leader had been doubled again recently and, according to news reports, a well known super mercenary and a cadre of his buddies (a bunch of shade-of-gray types) have left for the M.E. looking to collect on the bounty. Over a month passes with only a couple of reports of them shaking down individuals and/or groups alledged to have connections to said IMETL. Then finally, on the day the President of the United States is in town (i.e. your campaign city) for a speech/press conference/whatever, the super mercs show up dragging the IMETL with them (who, BTW, looks like he very recently had the living sh*t beat out of him) and the ringleader of the mercs publicly addresses the POTUS, demanding/asking for the reward money. WWYCD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... A point to remember is that while they're here to transact legitimate business today, that does not change the fact that they're still wanted on outstanding warrants. And if they were stupid enough to try for a direct hand-off in the middle of DC instead of discreetly dropping the dude off at a CIA safe house or embassy overseas, well, that's not *your* problem. Then again, it would hardly be the first chance where failing to resist the impulse to grandstand got a supervillain caught. It's sort of like being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list and trying to collect the reward for another one on the list -- if you show up at the FBI building to do it in person, all that happens is, they arrest both of you. If they're feeling really generous, they might mail the money to your wife while you're in the slam. Probably not, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wormhole Posted August 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... All true, but we wouldn't have much of a senerio if they were that smart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Oh, quite. Just reminding those who might have posted 'My character doesn't arrest them because they have a right to be here today' that, umm, really, they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Of course, this assumes that the mercenary in question and his crew /are/ out-and-out villains. If it's somebody who's ethically shady and yet still isn't an actual wanted criminal, like, oh, Bullet and the Raiders from 4e Classic Enemies, then my characters' various options all boil down to "gnash their teeth in envy". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wormhole Posted August 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... If it's somebody who's ethically shady and yet still isn't an actual wanted criminal' date=' like, oh, Bullet and the Raiders from 4e Classic Enemies, then my characters' various options all boil down to "gnash their teeth in envy". [/quote'] Ah..now that sounds more like what I was going for. Thanks. (off to edit opening post accordingly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Well, for how the post is now (I don't see anything about the mercs being wanted; I presume that's what was removed), my character(s) would just try to make sure they're either in-between the mercs and the Secret Service, were flanking them, or directly above and behind them. Let's see, Checkmate would be in-between the mercs & the Secret Service because he's a h-t-h martial artist. Caliber -advanced tech pistol/weapons master- would flank them so as to somewhat set up a 'pre-emptive ambush' if they threatened to use force against the POTUS, and Cobalt -Guy Gardner homage- would be directly above and behind them rudely pointing out how big the bunch of idiots were to try such a stunt in 'his turf.' He'd probably stoop to their level and put a force wall around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Trent Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Trent would lurk in the shadows, watching. He would ask his glass hand computer if it had any relivant historical data on the events unfolding and then go see what trouble Consuela's managed to get herself into this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marketeer Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Blackberry has serious reservations about the whole "end justifies the means" mentality, as well as the alarming tendency of shades-of-grey types to send the wrong message to the general public. She'd definitely write a piece, maybe several, for publication on the matter; as a minor celebrity known for being able to cleanly articulate her thoughts, her work gets published regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... "St Barbara" stands there, doesn't actually do anything, then delivers a lecture about how this person should be tried in the International Court, not in a "Military tribunal" where the outcome is pre-ordained while contacting UNTIL and asking them to make a case to the U S for jurisdiction in this case ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... "St Barbara" stands there' date=' doesn't actually do anything, then delivers a lecture about how this person should be tried in the International Court, not in a "Military tribunal" where the outcome is pre-ordained while contacting UNTIL and asking them to make a case to the U S for jurisdiction in this case ![/quote'] It would be things like this that cause Checkmate and Caliber (both former Navy SEALS) to roll their eyes at St Barbara's ignorance and Barb's self-imposed righteous to spout off such nonsense. Cobalt would just create a seesaw under St. Barb and drop a 1600 ton on the other seat sending SB out of there with a "Go back down under." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Well, St. Barbara can /say/ whatever she feels like, but actually attempting to /act/ on the idea would require her to, well, attempt to single-handedly bodyjack Terrorist Mastermind Dude from the US, starting from right in front of the President, and carry him off to thousands of miles away. Which, unless you happen to be a mega-scaled gatemaker, is not a practical idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Oh, yeah, she can say pretty much whatever she wants, but she can't prevent the two former characters from rolling their eyes (and with one wearing a helmet, no one could tell anyway), but Cobalt could probably get away with the 'superleap usable on others' especially if he followed up with a "Do you have a VISA?" punchline. He is a Guy Gardner homage, so he's nowhere near politically correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iuz the Evil Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Adamant: Adamant's actions would depend on the status of the 'shades of gray' types. If they're wanted in a signatory state's jurisdiction by any of the U.N. branches, say... well they're going down fast. Checkmate and the Global Guardians have extradition treaties with every major global power, and he'd be enforcing them lickety split (while ensuring the safe evacuation of the POTUS from the combat zone - I would think in conjunction with the Secret Service). Likely with the assistance of whatever Global Guardians are on site or readily avaliable via megascale teleport. Given that 'Terrorist Mastermind Dude' is wanted by the U.S., one of the signatory states in question - he would certainly honor their arrest of the criminal in question and defer to the local authorities. Equal treatment of all member nations, after all, and however he got there the criminal is in U.S. jurisdiction now. Besides, if the bad guy is all that nasty he's probably going to end up in a U.N. detention facility anyway. Or working for the Damocles Directive, but Adamant wouldn't know that... If the mercs have been operating legally, however shady their style, he'd roll his eyes at the poseurs and ignore their grandstanding. Adamant's got nothing to prove to anybody, and given that he's nigh indestructible (a tactical-sized nuclear device won't do the job) he's unlikely to allow explicit or implicit threats to sway his actions. He'll do what he feels is right as a representative of the Global Guardians, weighing the outcome carefully and preferring non-violent solutions whenever possible. Chemo: As a Chilean, Chemo would have no reason to be in the presence of the POTUS. He'd certainly not interfere with the activities of these goons, up in Los Estados Unidos, and would return to South America asap. Norte Americanos make him nervous, and when he gets nervous he tends to change his chemical composition randomly causing all manner of mayhem ('oops, didn't mean to set that futon on fire, lo siento senor!'). Singularity Would ignore them, he generally doesn't start conflicts. If they get abusive, he'd leave via 'wormhole' teleportation. If they threaten anyone, he'd try to talk them down, failing that he'd ramp up his mass and get to opening a can of whoopa$$ on those sorry chumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKJAM! Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Rock Bottom: If solo, discreetly moves to a position where he can rush the mercenaries if necessary. More likely, however, he'll be with the Baltimore team, and follow instructions from the leader. If it gets down to violence, Rock will help protect the President, even if the man is a homophobic jerk. Calculus: Is not at all thrilled that these peabrains are interrupting President Reagan's speech (I forget, who was the top Middle Eastern terrorist leader in 1981?) but will try to see to it that the situation resolves itself peacefully without him having to reveal his presence. Mask of Justice: This needs some major revision, since it's WWII where he's at. I don't think there were any actual criminal bounties on the Axis leaders, either. If the mercenaries actually are just there to show off their catch, Nick Philips, ace reporter, will write a blistering piece about their lack of manners. Real heroes don't do it for the money and fame, after all. Kira Midori: As a member of the NYPD, Kira's first priority would be making sure civilians were safe. She'd use her abilities to make sure that the mercenaries weren't a distraction for an attack, then politely inform them that they'll have to follow normal bounty procedure. Talion: The terrorist leader suddenly straightens, smiling. "Ha! Fools, you have played right into my hands! Death to the Great Satan!" He then explodes, taking out a three-block radius. Talion will have started moving towards the terrorist the moment he stirred, but his body will only slightly protect the people behind him. When Talion comes to, there's a new President, and the mercenaries are immortalized as the stupidest bounty hunters ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... I like your twist with the Talion one Skjam:thumbup: Anyway, for Badger, well he is kind of a "shade of grey" type (at least in the past). He probably will stay out of it unless the situation promises to give him a challenging fight. Considering his feeling on terrorists, he would be smirking over the fact that they beat the #### out of him. And may even make a casual "Good work" quip. Though he would advise the nearest generic Secret Sevice agent to get the Prsident out of there just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... It would be things like this that cause Checkmate and Caliber (both former Navy SEALS) to roll their eyes at St Barbara's ignorance and Barb's self-imposed righteous to spout off such nonsense. Cobalt would just create a seesaw under St. Barb and drop a 1600 ton on the other seat sending SB out of there with a "Go back down under." You mean "Go back to Denmark" don't you ? What do you think that the see saw and the 1600 ton weight are going to do, except get a puzzled look from "St Barbara". Naive she might be at times, certainly altruistic, but she believes in the United Nations and the right of every criminal to a fair trial in an unbiased court. Note please that she is NOT stopping any of you from handling the matter in whatever way YOU see fit If you are so thin skinned that you can't take a lecture then fine. If attacked she will fight ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... Addendum "Cobalt's" reaction seems excessive to me and his "Superleap useable on others" wouldn't have much effect. I am more interested in the reaction of the President than in a couple of hotheaded American supers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... You mean "Go back to Denmark" don't you ? What do you think that the see saw and the 1600 ton weight are going to do' date=' except get a puzzled look from "St Barbara". Naive she might be at times, certainly altruistic, but she believes in the United Nations and the right of every criminal to a fair trial in an unbiased court. Note please that she is NOT stopping any of you from handling the matter in whatever way YOU see fit If you are so thin skinned that you can't take a lecture then fine. If attacked she will fight ![/quote'] Is it 'thin-skinned' to roll your eyes when somebody tells you to your face that she doesn't believe that somebody can get a fair trial in your nation, *and* that she thinks that your national sovereignty is irrelevant and the UN should have first jurisdiction in their own turf? Especially when the time and place picked for such a lecture is a) directly in the face of that nation's head of state, and when an infamous-on-a-world-scale criminal is being brought in for justice? If your 'st. barbara' character is /supposed/ to have the Social Lim: Obnoxious, you're RP'ing her enormously well. If not, you might want to consider having her discover tact. Because out of all the characters I have, only one of them wouldn't at least /consider/ delivering her a good smack (whether physical or merely verbal) for this, and that's because Starguard has a patience for which the word "saintlike" is a vast understatement. This is if you're only speaking in character, mind. If /you/ seriously believe what you just said re: international politics, as opposed to merely your character saying it, then we have entered take-it-to-NGD territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iuz the Evil Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... I disagree with your characterization of St. Barbara's actions. Firstly, it would depend on whether in the campaign world her character is in the terrorist leader could get a fair trial in the U.S., it's entirely possible this is not the case. Secondly, the role of the United States on the world stage likely also varies wildly between campaign settings - ranging from 'only just and responsible world superpower fighting the good fight' to 'reckless loose cannon bunch of cowboys throwing their weight around'. Heck from what I've read on the GGU board it seems they are largely suborned by the world's largest criminal organization (Tarot) in that setting and that the POTUS is a figurehead. Also, there's a great deal of difference between 'rolling their eyes at her' and 'trying to blast her into orbit'. The former is something I'd expect one to ignore... the latter invites any level of response up to and including fighting back. The former seems reasonable and appropriate from those holding disparate viewpoints, while the latter is an exercise in juvenile 'my character can beat up your character because I don't agree with what you're saying'. If the PCs in question don't occupy the same campaign setting, it would be better just to not respond to statements you disagree with, since they don't exist in your campaign universe - or take it to NGD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... > I disagree with your characterization of St. Barbara's actions. Firstly, > it would depend on whether in the campaign world her character is in > the terrorist leader could get a fair trial in the U.S., it's entirely > possible this is not the case. I take the position that if it were not the case, it would have been mentioned in the original post setting forth the WWYCD scenario. In the absence of information to the contrary, we go with 'default settings' -- i.e., the US of the gameworld in question is as much like the one we're all familiar with now, except it has superpeople in it and the reasonable effects thereof. Alternately, as this is a WWYCD, we could go with 'the US your character is talking about is the one he/she is currently living in' -- which wouldn't be much of a change on my part, as all of my chars live in gameworlds where the US is not that effed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... You mean "Go back to Denmark" don't you ?[/Quote] I might, but Cobalt wouldn't. Considering he's a bit arrogant, he could have said "back to Mexico," except that he considers Australia the other side of the world and that rude foreigners should go there, or France. What do you think that the see saw and the 1600 ton weight are going to do' date=' except get a puzzled look from "St Barbara".[/quote'] Um, that would be the SFX of his megascale superleap on others (i.e. tossing St. Barbara out of the area - I really thought that was self-evident; maybe it wasn't clear enough, though I can understand a "puzzled look" as she goes flying through the air). Naive she might be at times' date=' certainly altruistic, but she believes in the United Nations and the right of every criminal to a fair trial in an unbiased court.[/quote'] See this is why she got the reactions from my characters that she did. She's babbling in her self-righteous mode that a US military court is unfair from the start. And to think that she believes in the UN, well, here's their reactions: Cobalt - The UN? They're panty-wearing wusses making suggestions all day long. (He's not really eloquent.) Caliber - You believe in the UN? Such as the oil for food scandals? The business orgies? It's an impotent organization that thinks it's important. Checkmate (and Caliber) - One word: Rwanda. If you are so thin skinned that you can't take a lecture then fine. If attacked she will fight ! I think you're confusing 'lecture' with 'accusation.' Addendum "Cobalt's" reaction seems excessive to me and his "Superleap useable on others" wouldn't have much effect. Do you even know who Guy Gardner is? (He's the one I said Cobalt was an homage to.) Of course it's excessive, that's his way. He's a jerk on an 8-. (Okay, maybe an 11-.) Though I'd be interested in a write-up that would make superleap UAO not work, something more inventive than 'desolid'. It's also a bit difficult to distinguish from what your character is saying and what you are saying, because it feels like just you, especially with this: I am more interested in the reaction of the President than in a couple of hotheaded American supers. First off, Cobalt is one person not a couple (a couple is 2), unless you consider "eye rolling" to be hotheaded, but then, that would be three people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... As for my character's reactions: Starguard -- "Are you saying America isn't fair? They caught him fair and square, shouldn't they keep him?" Dr. Pain -- "Oh yeah. Let's let the Oil-For-Food, Saddam-should-go-free people try this dude. He'd be back on the streets in a month." Baron von Darien -- wouldn't be here, this is far too social (and brightly lit) a venue for a master vampire. OTOH, if he were consulted for his opinion, it would be 'Well, if we're truly all fortunate, the man will simply die in jail and save us all the bother. Are you... desiring of such a circumstance?' (DM's NPC) Silver Avenger Falswell -- "He's under arrest here... and if you try to interfere with that, so are you." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iuz the Evil Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... I'm confused... are St. Barbara, Cobalt, Caliber, Starguard, Dr. Pain, etc. in the same campaign? 'Cause if the assumption is that all the supers responding to the thread are present, that all their reactions are occuring at once, I'd have to go with the instant "Get the President to safety! These hotheads are going to go postal any second!" reaction. Anytime you've got 15+ superhumans arguing in a public venue, the genre convention of 'large scale super-battle' is only a couple panels away.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 Re: WWYCD: We're here for the reward money... This is a WWYCD -- it's basically discussing how your characters would react if the situation occurred in this campaign. Shortly into the thread, it digressed into discussing how our characters would react if confronted with each other. Basically, each separate possible interaction is it's own "What If?" variant of events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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