The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

[Lemurion]

The rotation has come round to my turn again, and I've started a Pulp Supers game set in Hudson City. We often play semi-convention style, so I built a handful of characters which the players selected at random. All the characters are designed as essentially homages to Golden Age characters.

 

The roster for Episode 1:

Captain Lightning: Speedster with a shield (defense during those move-throughs)

Red Lensman: Alan Scott Green Lantern type, energy projector with TK

Doctor Faidon: Mystic/Mentalist (invisibility/mental attacks)

Devilcat: Blind boxer (a cross between Wildcat and Daredevil)

Elasto the Rubberman: A Plastic Man type.

 

The session opened with a disturbance downtown. Captain Lightning (in his reporter secret ID) was hustled out of the precinct, all radio in the city was shut off, and a giant tripod war machine landed downtown, crushing Gacy's department store. Very shortly thereafter the heroes arrived. (Elasto the Rubberman had a front page view as his newsstand that he runs in his secret ID was right across the street).

 

Devilcat (with no real movement powers) was on the ground and the only one to notice that people were moving in to the bank across the street that the Tripod had just blasted. (I used the probe from Villainy Amok). Elasto and Captain Lightning jumped aboard the Tripod while Doctor Faidon tried to block it with force walls and Red Lensman blasted it with force-bolts. Meanwhile, Devilcat followed the people into the bank.

 

Elasto tried to wrap around the Tripod's legs, but that had no effect save a searing pain in his side as he wasn't strong enough to hold it. Captain Lightning, realizing he was useless against it jumped back down and tried to enter the bank.

 

Meanwhile Red Lensman and Doctor Faidon tried to contain the creature with force walls and entangles. Elasto finally found a way in, but when he tried to wreck it from the inside, all he did was shock himself silly (and force a DEX roll from the Tripod, which failed).

 

Back in the Bank, Captain Lightning made a sweeping entrance, tripping on the wet floor from when the janitor dropped her bucket, and went slamming into the vault door. Devilcat then apprehended the four robbers (which is what the were) and retrieved the burn ray they were using on the vault.

 

Outside the characters were dealing with the now grounded menace. It no longer had access to its own ray-gun but it was still dangerous. Elasto recovered and slithered out, while Red Lensman tried to dome it over with force walls. Devilcat turned the burn ray on the downed robot, and Doctor Faidon, seeing the similarity headed inside for a telepathic interrogation.

 

It soon became obvious that Devilcat was the only one able to damage the Tripod, and that its self destruct device was armed. Devilcat almost completely destroyed it, draining every last erg from the burn ray. With seconds to go, Elasto went back in searching for the plug that had eluded him (stretching only his body and eyes inside while Captain Lightning held the rest of his body for a high speed escape).

 

He disarmed the device in the nick of time (Phase 3, on his DEX, the explosion would have gone off on the Tripod's DEX in the same phase).

 

Doctor Faidon returned and picked up Devilcat, telekinetically, broadcasting telepathically that the Tripod had been dropped by the bank robbers' employer. Red Lensman gathered up the other two characters and followed a few moments later.

 

Moments later, their target came into sight: the Z100 a Zeppelin the size of Hindenburg with a rack beneath it holding a second Tripod.

 

End of session 1.

 

The second session was short because I had gone out of town for the weekend and was still 150 miles away three hours before we were due to start. (For those who know Vancouver Island I was in Campbell River and the game was in Victoria-- I also had to make a stop in Qualicum to see my parents). So this session turned into the assault on the Z100.

 

This was pretty much a combat session like the first (most of my players aren't that familiar with the genre or with HERO) but again they had a great time. They entered the Zeppelin from a rear landing stage and defeated the guards there-- only to be asked to come forwards by the mastermind who was in the forward compartment.

 

Red Lensman went forwards outside, and attempted to talk to the mastermind that way, but he would have none of it. Meanwhile, the rest of the group worked their way up inside the Zeppelin to the rear door of the bridge compartment. When the mastermind issued an ultimatum, Red Lensman tried to blast him, but failed to shatter (though he did weaken) the armored glass. The villain pushed "the black button" and fired the ray gun from the Tripod below the Zeppelin. It staggered Red Lensman, but didn't quite knock him out, though it did shatter the armored glass at the front of the cockpit.

 

Grabbing his shield, Captain Lightning went after the villain, attempting a multiple move-through on the door and then the mastermind. (I gave the player two options, he could treat the door like a force wall and add its DEF/BODY to the villain's defenses or he could try to break it with "casual move-through damage" which would be roll half his dice and if he went through he got to apply his full damage to the villain. If he didn't he got to apply his full damage to himself). He shattered the door and slammed through into the villain. Then he had to stop himself, and didn't. Both Captain Lightning and the villain went flying out through the hole in the gondola.

 

End of Session 2.

 

I get to run Session 3 on Sunday night

[Threnody]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

This is very pulp. Love it!

 

BTW, why don't you put a thread on the Pulp Hero board, pointing to this thread? I'm sure the Pulpsters would dig it.

[Lemurion]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

Last night I ran the third session. A new player joined, as Oceanus, an Aquaman homage character. This was more of a role-play than combat sesson though it did start off with a bang.

 

As Captain Lightning and the Mastermind plummetted towards the ground, the good Captain discovered that what he was fighting was a robot as a maniacal laugh started issuing from its speakers. Red Lensman dove after them, but rolled a natural 18 on his PER and lost them completely against the city below. Dr. Faidon and Devilcat's players hadn't arrived (Devilcat's didn't arrive at all though Dr. Faidon's did later) so those two characters simply bailed out of the Zeppelin. Below, Oceanus saw the two falling from the Zeppelin (did NOT roll an 18 on his PER) and moved to try to catch them. As the sirens went off in the Zeppelin, Elasto the Rubberman once again realized that he had been left alone with a Tripod that was about to blow up. (He's just lucky that way I guess).

 

The crew bailed out of the Zeppelin, and Elasto (seeing that the Tripod was attached by one of Red Lensman's Entangles) tried to steer it out to sea before it exploded. (Yes it was a hydrogen filled dirigible) Captain Lightning leapt off the robot just before they hit the ground (hoping to avoid a terminal velocity impact) but only succeeded in making it harder for Oceanus to catch him. The characters regrouped on the docks of Pierpoint, only to leave as the police approached.

 

Captain Lightning tried to find the mastermind's robot, but it had vanished by the time he thought of checking.

 

A couple of days later, the city was rocked by the news of a gangland style killing where some of the Torccones had walked into Mama Luisa's ristorante and gunned down some of the Veronteses in cold blood; leaving only a set of mechanical teeth at the scene and saying it was for Joey.

 

Oceanus went undercover at the Torccone section of the docks in Bayside, while the rest investigated. Red Lensman looked for clues as to what had been able to shut down all radio when the Tripods attacked, and Captain Lightning searced for the robot that had escaped them. Oceanus was able to discover that the Torccones had attacked the Verontese because Joey Torccone had been foully murdered at his wedding by a set of mechanical teeth that had leapt out of a box that was a gift from the Verontese falmily.

 

Captain Lightning was able to get into the evidence room and take a photograph of the teeth, which he brought to the group's next meeting. After a bit of thinking, Red Lensman, Captain Lightning, Doctor Faidon (invisible) and Elasto all went to the precinct to see if they could find out about the teeth. Doctor Faidon was able to find them (invisibility and telepathy can be a powerful combo) and memorized their appearance for future images.

 

They then confronted a police lieutenant about Joey Turccone's death, only to discover it had not been reported, and the police did NOT have the body. Back at square one, they did some more research and were able to discover that the Zeppelin had been designed by Dr. Victor Thone (an HCSU grad from ten years before) who had since dropped out of sight. As to the robot, it had been picked up by a cab, taken to the airport and boarded an autogyro.

 

After some more research they were able to discover that Joey had indeed been murdered right after his marriage to Maria Maretti (her family runs another section of the docks) and she was sent back to the old country while his body went in the river in an attempt to keep it quiet. By the end of the session they had retrieved his body, and discovered that the only person who had been opposed to the wedding was the bride's brother: Rinaldo Maretti.

 

Everyone had a blast and they're looking forwards to the next session. Lots of good roleplaying.

[Threnody]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

...Joey Torccone had been foully murdered at his wedding by a set of mechanical teeth that had leapt out of a box that was a gift from the Verontese falmily.

 

Killed by mechanical teeth?!

 

 

Man, you've got a terrific campaign going! Thanks for telling all about it.

 

I'm gonna rep you for this here recent-most post.

[bubba smith]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

bubbamancy repped

[A_Pail_Rider]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

Superheroes + Pulp = The Roxxor!

 

[A_Pail_Rider]

Re: The Vigilance Society of America: Pulp Supers

 

Superheroes + Pulp = The Roxxor!