Nightlord256 Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I need help with a plot I'm working on. A villain of mine needs to open a vault door (16def/16body Hardened). the only catch? he has no knowledge of demolitions what so ever. so I'm looking for a new novel way to open the door (stealthily if possible) any ideas out there? He has some basic minions and an arms dealer contact, the villain himself is a cobra commander type (just a leader, no actual powers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtelson Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? There's the old standby of capturing the vault owner's family/loved ones/pets and threatening them if they don't open the door. Followed by the get someone inside to open it for them; so if it's storing captured gear or hidden artifacts trojen horse the door. Short term dangerous desolid tech could get somone in and out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? What's the vault holding? Who runs it? The best thing would be to have someone else open it. Call in a tip to the cops that someone is being held there/that stolen merchanise X is in there. Cops come, get owner to open, ATTACK! Does the vault open for regular business, put new things in/take them out? Arrange attack for one of those times, set something up if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Trojan Horse -- give the keepers of the vault something valuable that they want to put in the Vault. So they open it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Grond. (Ok, so thats not so much with the "stealthy") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? I need help with a plot I'm working on. A villain of mine needs to open a vault door (16def/16body Hardened). the only catch? he has no knowledge of demolitions what so ever. so I'm looking for a new novel way to open the door (stealthily if possible) any ideas out there? He has some basic minions and an arms dealer contact, the villain himself is a cobra commander type (just a leader, no actual powers) For fun and traceable, Acid, highly corrosive (Penetrating Killing Attack), volatile (Side Effects) and rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Does the villain have or have access to someone with the Skills, Security Systems and/or Computer Programming? Modern vault locks are all electronic and computerized these days, and while they have very heavy security measures it's well within the capabilities of a comic-book-level electronics whiz to breach them. How advanced are the arms that the villain's arms-dealer contact has access to? Any anti-tank lasers or metal-eating nanobots in his inventory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? You can always go old school, as in the Roman Way. Heat the door a great deal, then hit it with a fire extinguisher, the rapid contraction of the heated metal will cause it to shatter. The Romans tunneled through mountains using a similar technique using bonfires and water barrels. A more subtle way is to use liquid nitrogen and a hammer. If you have the set up time, undermining the foundation underneath the vault can cause the vault floor to split allowing access. Tunnel underneath one side, brace with timbers, exit then burn the timbers. Set up a disturbingly power electromagnet in the center of the vault door to magnetically pull the rods from their sockets. Hostage taking is always a classic, or bribing an inside man. "Depositing" a co-conspirator in the vault a la Ocean's 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Blackrock Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Ever seen the Dark Knight? Disposable thugs, diamond tipped drill, shaped explosives. Keeps in line with your "No actual superpowers" concept. Alternately, someone mentioned freezing the door with Liquid Nitrogen. In keeping with the superhero genre, a blackmailed Ice manipulator works well, and is slightly less expensive than liquid hydrogen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakboy6117 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? hire some one with powers I'm sure plenty of mercenary villains would be happy to do it for the right price. one thing about vault doors they are often the toughest part of the vault maybe he could tunnel through the floor or the wall. recruit a minion with demo training Or kidnap some one who does. if any of your heroes have a past with the military or in the arms or even chemical industries maybe they get a clue when an old friend goes missing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marketeer Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? He's a mastermind type? How does this sound: He buys the building in which the vault is located through some kind of shell company. The theft is revealed after the shell company is gutted of assets, both literally and figuratively. The heroes have to do some investigation to follow the trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Blackmail. Extort someone with access to the vault to retrieve the item either with real dirt or trumped up material. Bonus if its PC's DNPC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? \ the villain himself is a cobra commander type Oh, in that case the answer is obvious. Device a scheme to build a weather control machine which cost thousands more than whatever the item is worth and hold the city hostage until the vault is opened but give several days warning and clumsily leave clues about while gathering the parts for said machine that lead right back to your poorly defended base of operation then proceed to curse your followers incompetence while running for your escape pod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Cobra Commander has something put inside the vault. Either it's a small container with a small man inside who can use the vault's failsafes for people who get trapped inside to open the vault from the inside, or this innocuous looking object is a receiver for teleportation. The bad guy just uses the sender to send himself in to the pad, rob the place, and teleport out back to the other pad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
薔薇語 Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? For something that is really subtle, I have an idea. Have him procure a simi love (or just straight mind control) serum that makes the subject complacent to the agents will. Then use said serum on someone in the upper echelons of the bank who can open the vault. That person then opens the vault and even retrieves the item for you. Then have him use some kind of mind wipe serum that acts on all the memories of the last couple days. The manager knows he is missing time, but doesn't know what happens. What ever valuable item was stolen catches the attention of the PC group and it is then their goal to figure out what happened to him and find a way to retrieve the stolen property. It allows for a theft that is off camera, and an investigation that is on camera for the PCs. Like? Edit in: Benefit is that it doesn't require some long protracted fight to occur to get in, since you did request for a subtle way in. It only requires relatively low lever super tech, after all you are only effecting a normal to do this. This keeps costs down, potential other bad guys (hired supers) out of the loop. If the Agent is competent this will work, and even earn him praise in the ranks. Just my immediate thought, La Rose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightlord256 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Thanks for all your help guys! Very creative ideas guys! I think im gonna go with the liquid nitrogen idea, but thanks for all the other ideas. lets see how the heroes deal with this one :eg::eg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagadorn Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Step 1: Grab minion. Step 2: Shout "COBRA" Step 3: Throw Minion at door. Step 4: Grab another minion, go to step 1, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Just so you know, huge tanks of liquid nitrogen have been lying around the streets in downtown New York for quite a while (about the size of an old enclosed phone booth; if anybody remembers those). They should have more than enough capacity, and are only anchored by 3/4 inch chains and a padlock. Not that I was thinking of nicking them or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Just so you know, huge tanks of liquid nitrogen have been lying around the streets in downtown New York for quite a while (about the size of an old enclosed phone booth; if anybody remembers those). They should have more than enough capacity, and are only anchored by 3/4 inch chains and a padlock. Not that I was thinking of nicking them or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwleisemann Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? I seem to remember the story of some bank robbers who bypassed the whole 'door' issue. They went in through the roof of the vault, drilling through it over a long weekend and hanging out until they'd looted everything. A group in France did the same, going up through the floor, and they held a party inside before they left. These days, often as not, the door's the thickest part, since it's the part that's actually exposed to potential danger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightlord256 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? I had a thought (dangerous i know) one of the villain's minions is braggart who also happens to be the Hvy Wpns specialist. looking over his character sheet i realized that he carries C4 with him, but doesn't have demolitions. It was at this point that I had my thought (accompanied by a grinch like smile). What if he says he can blow down the door. :eg: even though he lacks the skills to do so PROPERLY, he still has the C4 bought, so he knows how to place and arm it. just not important things like... how much is needed to get through the door,... or how to make shaped charges.:eek: This led to a plot idea. the bank robbery is only the hook, the real danger is an over-confident idiot playing around with a lot of C4 he doesn't know how to use. I'm think it could be a fun night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? To quote a classic: "Use enough dynamite there BUTCH!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendou Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? I had a thought (dangerous i know) one of the villain's minions is braggart who also happens to be the Hvy Wpns specialist. looking over his character sheet i realized that he carries C4 with him, but doesn't have demolitions. It was at this point that I had my thought (accompanied by a grinch like smile). What if he says he can blow down the door. :eg: even though he lacks the skills to do so PROPERLY, he still has the C4 bought, so he knows how to place and arm it. just not important things like... how much is needed to get through the door,... or how to make shaped charges.:eek: This led to a plot idea. the bank robbery is only the hook, the real danger is an over-confident idiot playing around with a lot of C4 he doesn't know how to use. I'm think it could be a fun night "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" --Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), The Italian Job (1969) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwleisemann Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? I'm reminded of stories of a guy after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, when it was largely on fire... he wanted to help the city with demolishing buildings to stop the fires, so despite not knowing a thing about demo work he went to town. They figure he blew himself up after taking out over a dozen buildings and starting even *more* uncontrolled fires.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Re: How to open a door? Trojan Horse -- give the keepers of the vault something valuable that they want to put in the Vault. So they open it... I like this one myself. Dramatic, classic, and very likely to work in a comic book universe Nice work, Shrike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.