The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

[Karmakaze]

I considered thread necromancy on The Champion Protocols (ie how to take down your character) and decided I'd rather start a new thread.

 

The original thread referred to a plotline in Justice Leage wherin Batman had files on how to remove the other members of the League* from action and posed something of a WWYCD as to what protocols would work on our characters.

 

It occurred to me on that thread after I posted that pretty much everyone (myself included) posted from the perspective of "If the GM wanted to set up a combat where he could be reasonably certain of taking out my character in straight combat/roleplay, how would he need to set up the scene..." That's certainly a reasonable perspective, but I realized that in the Tower of Babel plotline, the stragems used to take out the Leaguers didn't really flow naturally from what would be on their character sheets so much as "what would be a narratively interesting way of taking this character out of action". (For example, in a game, if you can get a villain into a PC's bedroom while he sleeps, manipulate his OIF, and plant post-hypnotic suggestions, you can take him out in a much more straighforward way with a lot less effort.)

 

In a game though, I think the situation maps better to The GM and I have agreed we should take my PC out for a bit; what would make a good setup for that? -- So, from a story perspective, what Protocol would you use to temporarily remove your character from action (say you want to play another PC for a bit, or will be missing games, or you just though it would be a fun plot to play out)?

 

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* from Wikipedia

The contingency plans for the current leaguers are as follows; Green Lantern Kyle Rayner was given a hypnotic suggestion that he was blind, which then used the ring to make it real for Kyle. Martian Manhunter became infected by nanites that had magnesium in them, thus causing him to burst into flames in open air. Wonder Woman, shot by a Virtual Reality bullet, causing her body to believe she was fighting an even, never-ending battle, from which her heart would eventually give out. Flash Wally West was shot in the spinal column by a vibrating projectile, which caused super-speed epileptic seizures (To the result that the twenty-two minutes he was unconscious seemed like days). Aquaman was exposed to a fear toxin giving him aquaphobia, rendering him weak as he was terrified of the water that he needed to live. Plastic Man was frozen and shattered, temporarily disabling him until the Flash could piece him back together and allow him to 'wake up'. Superman was exposed to a synthetic Red Kryptonite which had lasting effects on him, making his skin transparent, super-charging Superman and causing him pain in the process since the sunlight is blazing right into his body without being filtered by his skin, upgrading his powers to a degree that nearly made him explode with power

[Karmakaze]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

I reply to my own post (makes for cleaner chunks)...

 

I had a case like this wherin the GM and I decided it would be fun for me to NPC a villain infiltrating the team for a time. Playing two PCs at once can get messy, so we agreed that it would make sense for another PC's Hunted to target Dragonfly as a percieved romantic rival (the hunted was, among other things, a jealous ex)... Dragonfly, being a brick, was actually pretty hard to take out quickly enough to prevent her from calling in the attack, although some of her defenses were bought OHID. We decided that she was upset enough about some other things going on in the story to want some time alone, so I had her hit a beach alone, after telling the other PCs to give her some space. Having her sunbathing/dozing in public alone made an ambush plausible where it wouldn't have been otherwise.

[Zed-F]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Soulbarb has historically been a solo heroine, so taking her out of the story would just be a matter of starting a new campaign. If she were in a team venue and needed to take a break, the easiest thing to do would have her find out about some mystic threat and go off to investigate it alone, ala Batman.

 

Sylph is in a sort of non-team team right now, where everyone mostly does their own thing. So just having her disappear entirely for a while would work well. One way to accomplish that would be to have her get sucked back into the Land of Legends for a while. The last time she was there was to rescue a foolish mortal woman who invoked Zeus without realizing what she was doing, but there are any number of possible reasons Dionysus could want her there, at least temporarily.

[Karmakaze]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Soulbarb has historically been a solo heroine' date=' so taking her out of the story would just be a matter of starting a new campaign. ...[/quote']

 

Although in that case there's still the possibility of deciding that a plotline wherinher powers are largely crippled might be interesting...

[6-Sided_Buddha]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Sinew, a world renowned meta-paramedic and shapeshifter extraordinare, is incredibly sensitive to cold. To remove her from action for a time, merely expose her to a sudden blast of intense cold. In extreme cold, her metabolism begins to slow down, and her normally alterable form begins to harden and solidify. Once brought to a chill, she remains aware yet unable to move. Keep her chilled, and you have a nice statue of a world renowned meta-paramedic.

 

Oh, and don't really worry about her fighting back. Her throwing her fists at someone would be like throwing a grape at them.

[MilkmanDan]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Electron is basically a walking superbattery. Water = bad. She doesn't lose her powers in water, so hit her from behind then toss her in the river.

 

I should probably add "Supreme Serpent, forget you just read that."

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Jake the Troll - let him find some alternate dimension based on a television show that he likes; probably Stargate: SG1 or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He'd spend enough time exploring that he'd probaby miss something important. Alternately, someone could convince the Norse Pantheon that he's going to be responsible for bringing about Ragnarock, and so they'd be hunting him down to prevent that from happening.

 

Icon - Have her mother find out the secret ID's of the rest of the team, and threaten to expose them unless Icon stops being a superhero and comes to live with her. (Her own secret ID is kept for convienence; if it came down to it, she'd "out" herself, rather than be blackmailed by anyone.)

 

Shinji Miromoto - Have the Dark Congress bring up a request for his unique talents; he was trained by them, and thus owes them some consideration. As they're not stupid enough to ask him to do something that would go against his moral code, (such as to try to take over Tokyo or something), it would probably be a request to train up one or more young Dark Energy users. This is the situation that led him into a life of minion-hood, so he'd probably try to stop it from happening to anyone else.

[massey]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Am I the only one who found the actual Tower of Babel schemes to not only be uninteresting, but also needlessly complex and/or likely to fail?

 

I know this is completely off-topic, but these are the schemes I'd have used on each Leaguer.

 

Superman - A fake Lex Luthor plot - one that leads him in circles. Or a distress call from somewhere in outer space. You'll keep him gone (or busy) for days. You don't really want to kill him - you just want him out of your hair. Or, if you're really hard up, trap him in the Phantom Zone.

 

Wonder Woman - You know, a real bullet would have been more effective. Since her powers vary from writer to writer (tying up doesn't work anymore? damn...there goes THAT plan...), go with something that'll work regardless. You're Batman - you've got magical friends. Bribe Zatanna to take away her powers.

 

Kyle Raynor - Give him a box that says "for instructions on how to keep an idiot busy for hours, turn box over". It says the same thing on the other side.

 

Flash - Tough to deal with him without killing him. Maybe kidnap Linda and hide her in a high-energy physics lab. When Flash comes to rescue her, you turn on the equipment and he's catapulted into another dimension ('cause you know his vibrational frequencies and stuff) - a dimension without the speed force.

 

Aquaman - I dunno, he's friggin' Aquaman. Who cares? Dump a barrel of oil in the ocean or something. He's hot-tempered enough ('cuz he's trying to be like Namor) that he'll react stupidly and violently. Prompt him into aggressively attacking some organization or group that will stomp him.

 

Plastic Man - "Here's $5000 and a ticket to Vegas. Have fun."

 

Manhunter - Well, umm, magnesium doesn't burn upon contact with air, but... He's the one you use the fear gas on. He doesn't actually have to BE on fire, just believe he is.

[Karmakaze]

Re: The Champions Protocols -- Story-focused version

 

Am I the only one who found the actual Tower of Babel schemes to not only be uninteresting' date=' but also needlessly complex and/or likely to fail?[/quote']

 

Needlessly complex is kind of a stock villain tactic though . Some of them I found more workable than others...

 

What I was going for in this thread was what (I think) they were trying for in the comic book - how do you take out a superhero character while still allowing them screentime[1]. In a RPG setting, it's not "how do I take out a character in a fight" but rather "how could you disable a character and still leave them functional enough that the player has something to do." [2]

 

Wonder Woman - You know' date=' a real bullet would have been more effective. Since her powers vary from writer to writer (tying up doesn't work anymore? damn...there goes THAT plan...), go with something that'll work regardless. You're Batman - you've got magical friends. Bribe Zatanna to take away her powers.[/quote']In current continuity, she's (sort of) a golem - she was made out of clay and then given life. I'm sure there's no end of mayhem to be found there.

 

Kyle Raynor - Give him a box that says "for instructions on how to keep an idiot busy for hours' date=' turn box over". It says the same thing on the other side.[/quote']Heh. Isn't that kind of what they did?

 

Flash - Tough to deal with him without killing him. Maybe kidnap Linda and hide her in a high-energy physics lab. When Flash comes to rescue her' date=' you turn on the equipment and he's catapulted into another dimension ('cause you know his vibrational frequencies and stuff) - a dimension without the speed force.[/quote']Given how often speedsters get swallowed up by/lost in the speed force, another dimension isn't even absolutely necessary.

 

Manhunter - Well' date=' umm, magnesium doesn't burn upon contact with air, but... He's the one you use the fear gas on. He doesn't actually have to BE on fire, just believe he is.[/quote']I think that's been done, I just can't place the episode.

 

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[1] Of course, 'screentime' in comic books can much more easily be soliloquies or solo scenes than can be done in tabletop rpg

[2] with the understanding that the issue will be resolved eventually