Wolfbat Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 So my PCs have done the nearly unthinkable in a Champions Millenium City campiaign... They stopped Grond on one of his rampages and did a kindness for him by removing the circuitry in his head. (The control circuitry in his head mentioned in CKC had been crudely reprogrammed to inflict massive pain on him as a means of behaviorial control by a group I shan't name here, in case one of my players happens to read this thread) Now he will more or less do what they ask of him (Sort of like the old fable about the lion abd the mouse). It gets better...they are hiding him from the authorities and trying to "help" Grond find the people who put the mind control circuitry in his head as well as who reprogrammed it to cause him such pain. This is a decidedly strange twist to the plot I was running and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or commentary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 Re: Grond Originally posted by Wolfbat This is a decidedly strange twist to the plot I was running and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or commentary. To make sure that you don't feel unappreciated... Look, this is very, very cool. I can't really add anything more than that. Well done! I wish you were my GM. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 You know that a certain group you will not name are not going to be happy about the fact that Grond is no longer under there control... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrosshairCollie Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 Well, young man, first and foremost, having a pet Grond is a big responsibility. You have to feed it, water it, take it for walks, get him to the vet for shots, clean out his litter box, and discipline him when he goes on a city-levelling berserk rampage. If you can't take care of him, we'll have to take him back to the pound. Back to the point ... the thing with Grond is that he's very stupid. Admittedly, the PCs have done him a colossal favor and he does owe them big ... however, his tiny brain probably can't hold onto that thought for more than a week without constant reminders. ("Grond like Captain Super. Grond like Captain Super. Grond like ... oooh, SHINY!") Anything the heroes do that could be taken negatively probably will be. I'm reminded of an old comic book where The Hulk and Drax The Destroyer (brain-damaged model) were getting along after a fight, and the Hulk did the 'friendly punch on the arm' move, which Drax took as a provocation and slugged Hulk in the jaw. The kind of friendly 'insult-jibing' that friends do with each other could be taken personally, resulting in great carnage. The heroes don't *quite* have a big green bodyguard. Let's also not forget that even without the circuitry, Grond is very ... manipulatable, if that's a word. A clever villain could use Grond against the PCs in a variety of ways ... I, personally, would love to see Black Harlequin through some pepper in a hero's face, and then say, "Quickly, Grond, your friend is choking! You must save him! Slap him on the back as hard as you can!" *CRUNCH* "Oops." You have been given a unique opportunity ... to show your PCs the trials of parenthood in a really TWISTED manner. Exploit it like there's no tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlestaff Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 This could be interesting. Grond as a new team member, when all is cleared up? That could make for an easy war on crime. Are any villains going to mess with the team then? As for comments, I think this is so cool. As the GM, I think it's great that you let the characters do something like this. It's always more fun when the players come up with a solution to a problem beyond "Smash the bad guy and call in Stronghold to pick up," and the GM lets them have the benefit of their thinking. I think the players were also on the ball with this, as long as they knew about the circuits from something in game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 *Imagining a bunch of heroes, hiding Grond in their superhero basement while a bunch of baton wielding PRIMUS goons search for the menace* Sounds great. We all know that Grond really doesn't want to destroy anything...its not his fault everything is made out of tissue paper. Anybody else notice Grond's regeneration vanished with 5th edition? (just noticed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hunter1 Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 I am the Hunter... Ithink the team has to turn Grond into the authorities. Grond is a criminal, and he must be punished. If I were in your universe, I would call the authorities myself. The team has now become criminals, just like Grond, for helping him. In my universe I have been taking down criminals for 10 years. I have no sympathy for them. I "hunt" them down and turn them into the authorities. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tae Kwon Dan Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 @previous post This is a neat idea IMO. I might stea . . . er . . . borrow it when my campaign gets going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Re: I am the Hunter... Originally posted by Hunter1 Grond is a criminal, and he must be punished. Grond's just misunderstood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hunter1 -- if the team wants to do it within the law, and they have sufficient legal sanction, they can try to convince the relevant DA to let Grond stay in *their* custody while proceedings go on... ... and given that Grond genuinely *is* mentally incompetent to stand trial, "proceedings" should consist of the court hearing handing Grond over for treatment... and since they're the only attempted treatment that's shown any success, shouldn't that be...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Jogger Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 It really depends on the campaign. Sometimes the law is alot more forgiving in a Superhero universe, especially when superheroes have the power of a power plant in their tights. There is something about the "He's just misunderstood" that Superheroes love about certain supervillians. There is no greater feeling than reforming those supervillians as much as it is foiling the plans of someone having Doctor in their title or saving the town from the next diaster of the week. "Grond don't know. Grond is just pawn in game of life." - Modified from Blazing Saddles quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Well, Grond *is* 'just misunderstood' -- or, more accurately, he's so brain-damaged that he genuinely doesn't have the ability to tell the difference from right vs. wrong, or to be able to act upon that difference if he can tell it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightray Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I wish you better luck of it than we had when we did it to our GM in a campaign ~14 years ago. It all went wrong because of the evil players -- me, one of them -- and because the GM was at a loss as to what to do. She had thought unstoppable Grond would give us troubles. Not us rules rapists, though. We showed up, Grond was rampaging... And so Phoenix (high PRE fire guy and psychologist secret ID) gets Grond's attention, whereupon I, Enhancer, use my huge PRE Useable By Others on Phoenix. Who then lets loose with a PRE Attack that would have caused Galactus to run away and curl up into fetal position. While Grond was down, Mesmeranda did a deep telepathy scan for all of his psychological limitations. Which Phoenix - psychologist, remember? - then ruthlessly exploited. We kept Grond in our base basement. It was rather bad, really, that she (the GM) let us get away with it. Fortunately it was part of a multi-campaign (several GMs, each with their own city), so someone "took care" of the problem during our next Crossover Adventure bonanza. My advice? Let it work for a while, reward their cleverness, but don't let them get used to the situation before you knock over this house of cards they've built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 ... unless they genuinely do make the obnoxious success on the SC: Genetics or SC: Neurochemistry roll to cure Grond's mental retardation and explosive rage issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fry Daddy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 In my campaign, the heroes were able to calm Grond down enough so he could revert back to his real form (I run him very similar to the rampaging Hulk/Bruce Banner vein). He was hurt, so our resident speedster rushed him to a hospital. While there, mysterious MIBs took him and disappeared..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Not quite the same level as grond, but we had Hideous join our team after one of our characters, an alien who studied xenobiology was able to look at his face without flinching. She honestly didn't see anything wrong with his face! She did read him the riot act over his criminal career though and he went quietly with the police. Found incompetant to stand trial, he was placed in the group's protective custody and was required to spend several hours a day in therapy. He and the alien became friends, but she had a husband offworld and it couldn't go any further. He eventually was given a "new" face by a skilled plastic surgeon that closely resembled his original appearance, and he eventaully joined the team as Valiant. He still wore the silver mask to remind himself of his former obsession with appearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhawk Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Originally posted by Fry Daddy While there, mysterious MIBs took him and disappeared..... No doubt leading to the scene depicted on the cover of USPD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Re: Grond Originally posted by Wolfbat It gets better...they are hiding him from the authorities and trying to "help" Grond find the people who put the mind control circuitry in his head as well as who reprogrammed it to cause him such pain. (PRIMUS agents burst in.) "OK, heroes, where's Grond? We got a report he's here." "He's not in the stove." "Oh, he's in the stove, eh?" "If he were in the stove, would I turn the gas on, like this?" "Hmmm...you might, hero, you might." "If my pal Grond were in there, would I throw a match in, like this?" (BOOOOOM) "OK, hero, you've convinced me. Come on boys, let's go." (PRIMUS agents leave) (GROND, not fond of fire, goes on rampage) NOTE: Works best if one of your heroes has rabbit powers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbat Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 More on Grond I am fortunate that my players in this are all veteran gamers with excellent RPG skills. I don't *think* they plan to make Grond a teammate, the indication seems more like they are trying to find those responsible for "chipping" him as well as perhaps curing Grond of his temper and rage. There is some interesting conflict in the group of a sort, one person was questioned by the police at the scene of the orginal frackus (While the rest escaped with Grond) and when she truthfully answered she didn't know where Grond was being taken, was charged with aiding and abetting a felon as well as reckless endangerment for the use of her own powers. One of the PCs who is wealthy arranged for her bail remotely, however as soon as the characters got back together again, they went to that same PCs "lair" (the wealthy one) which happens to be across the border in Canada. The hero who was on bail, also has code of the hero and was objecting loudly to not involving the authorities already, then only after the fact, realized she had commited felony evasion by crossing into Canada illegally while on bail... Currently they have Grond "stashed" in a wildlife habitat which belongs to that same wealthy PC in Canada. Fun, fun, fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magmarock Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Grond... happy? I love Grond! I use Grond whenever I get a chance, especially at conventions. Because I've been running Champions Battlegrounds for my regular gaming group, I haven't had a chance, lately, but believe me.... soon, yes, SOON! I shall break out the Grond again! (Mwuahahahaha!) Thanks for the ideas... Side note to Enforcer84: Way cool plot for Hideous! I may borrow that sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Originally posted by Enforcer84 Not quite the same level as grond, but we had Hideous join our team after one of our characters, an alien who studied xenobiology was able to look at his face without flinching. She honestly didn't see anything wrong with his face! She did read him the riot act over his criminal career though and he went quietly with the police. Found incompetant to stand trial, he was placed in the group's protective custody and was required to spend several hours a day in therapy. He and the alien became friends, but she had a husband offworld and it couldn't go any further. He eventually was given a "new" face by a skilled plastic surgeon that closely resembled his original appearance, and he eventaully joined the team as Valiant. He still wore the silver mask to remind himself of his former obsession with appearance. Interesting. Hideous is currently played by a PC IMC, after he was cured. Before being cured he was the groundskeeper at the base. Sadly, when Grond was cured he turned into the wicked Doktor Grondicus. Ripper works for the MIB...who do you think cleans up their messes? 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.