Decorating the VIPER's Nest

[Cassandra]

Trap doors that lead to pits filled with snakes.

[Cassandra]

27 minutes ago, BoloOfEarth said:

 

I missed this post the first time through. 

 

I could have the ouroboros snake-biting-its-tail (figure-8 style) incorporated into the backs / seats of chairs.  That might actually look kinda cool. 

 

I'm not too big on poison gas, though knockout or strength-sapping gasses might be good.

 

Copperhead used this gimmick on Wonder Woman in a 1960s The Brave and the Bold. 

[dsatow]

For flavor, be sure to have Poison/White Snake playing in the background of the base and on the tv screens, you can have the agent watching Snakes on a Plane.

[BoloOfEarth]

Thus far, for the Hall of Fame I have:

• Agent Amorkca:  “In recognition for kidnapped Majel Barrett Rodenberry to provide the voice for the Nest’s computer system”
• Professor Steriaca (hacked selfie):  “For making his Computer Programming roll by 4 to hack into the Boston VIPER’s Nest.”
• Agent Sketchpad:  “In recognition of bravery in facing off alone against Just Cause to allow his compatriots to evade capture.”
• Agent Cowan:  “In recognition of exemplary information gathering that opened new doors into the Boston and Cambridge police departments.”
• Agent Big Steve:  “In recognition for hacking into a PRIMUS Jump Jet’s nav system mid-flight and redirecting it into the Mystic River.”
• Agent Cassandra:  “In recognition for developing a new power system for the Mech-Vipers that increased efficiency by 45%.”
• Agent Dsatow:  “For increasing morale (and Nest income) by developing the Roving Beverage and Snack System.”

If any of you have something you'd prefer, I can easily change any of these.

 

Cassandra's comment about trap doors reminded me of something from years ago, when my budding supervillain daughter was watching me hexmap a day care center that a group of supervillains was going to attack.  She asked me where the "poison pit" was, and I pointed out it was a day care center.  Though I did concede that it had a ball pit, and they never clean those, so it's probably fairly dangerous.

 

Good idea on the music and movie, dsatow.   I should put together a playlist for the game session.  I think one of the info screens will display a list of movies being shown in the briefing room over the coming weeks:

• Snakes on a Plane
• Anaconda
• Conan the Barbarian
• Mega Python vs. Gatoroid
• Piranhaconda
• Silent Venom

[Cassandra]

4 minutes ago, BoloOfEarth said:

Thus far, for the Hall of Fame I have:

• Agent Amorkca:  “In recognition for kidnapped Majel Barrett Rodenberry to provide the voice for the Nest’s computer system”
• Professor Steriaca (hacked selfie):  “For making his Computer Programming roll by 4 to hack into the Boston VIPER’s Nest.”
• Agent Sketchpad:  “In recognition of bravery in facing off alone against Just Cause to allow his compatriots to evade capture.”
• Agent Cowan:  “In recognition of exemplary information gathering that opened new doors into the Boston and Cambridge police departments.”
• Agent Big Steve:  “In recognition for hacking into a PRIMUS Jump Jet’s nav system mid-flight and redirecting it into the Mystic River.”
• Agent Cassandra:  “In recognition for developing a new power system for the Mech-Vipers that increased efficiency by 45%.”
• Agent Dsatow:  “For increasing morale (and Nest income) by developing the Roving Beverage and Snack System.”

If any of you have something you'd prefer, I can easily change any of these.

 

Cassandra's comment about trap doors reminded me of something from years ago, when my budding supervillain daughter was watching me hexmap a day care center that a group of supervillains was going to attack.  She asked me where the "poison pit" was, and I pointed out it was a day care center.  Though I did concede that it had a ball pit, and they never clean those, so it's probably fairly dangerous.

 

Good idea on the music and movie, dsatow.   I should put together a playlist for the game session.  I think one of the info screens will display a list of movies being shown in the briefing room over the coming weeks:

• Snakes on a Plane
• Anaconda
• Conan the Barbarian
• Mega Python vs. Gatoroid
• Piranhaconda
• Silent Venom

 

Don't forget Venom with Oliver Reed.

[death tribble]

There is also Ssssss with Dirk Benedict (people are being transformed into snakes0 and of course Raiders of the Lost Ark (why did it have to be snakes ?).

[death tribble]

But I thought that the Viper's nest was decorated with the blood of its agents ?

[Cassandra]

20 minutes ago, death tribble said:

But I thought that the Viper's nest was decorated with the blood of its agents ?

 

They tell them it's the blood of UNTIL agents.

[BoloOfEarth]

Soooo...

 

Due to player illnesses and what-not, I still have yet to run the players through the VIPER Nest, and tonight's game was just cancelled.  This is giving me WAY too much time to prepare stuff.  I currently have about 8 pages worth of notes for this adventure:  the MST3K schedule (see below), motivational posters, HR notices, etc.

 

More robots have been added.  I can't believe that nobody (myself included) thought of the robots from MST3K.  My sister pointed that out.  So I added Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo - in the back of the briefing room / auditorium, naturally - as well as Gort, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Robocop (to go with ED-209), and Bender (by popular demand).  Given the addition of Crow and Tom Servo, I've changed the movie listing to be Thursday night Mystery Snake Theater 3000, and went for a campier snake movie list (e.g. I replaced Snakes on a Plane with Snakes on a Train, and they're showing the 2011 Conan instead of the 1982 original). 

 

It occurred to me that there's really no need for agent barracks, since this Nest is located under an apartment building which VIPER owns and rents solely to its agents, scientists, VIP guests, etc.  But I'm keeping the barracks in anyway, for on-duty personnel.  (The actual building is at 33 Rogers Street in Cambridge: Axiom Apartment Homes.  It has a central courtyard where I can put the Flying APC entry hatch - concealed, naturally.  I love Google Maps - the satellite view even shows the place under construction, though the street view shows it all finished.)  But I did remove the VIP quarters (figuring they'll be given apartments above-ground).  This allowed a more realistic-sized physical plant area, as well as a conference room and a private dining room (plus storage for extra chairs, tables, etc.)

 

Somehow, I doubt the players are going to have as much fun running through it as I've had putting it all together. 

 

Anyway, thank you all for your help.  The suggestions have been great.

 

Here is an updated version of the map:

[Cassandra]

The Masks of Deceased Heroes on display.

[BoloOfEarth]

I finally was able to run the heroes through the VIPER Nest last night.  Overall, it was a lot of fun, though they didn't explore as much of it as I would have liked. 

 

The heroes disguised themselves as VIPER agents to sneak into the Nest, which allowed them to walk around a bit and see some stuff, though they were pretty mission-focused and bypassed about half the base. 

 

They loved the movie / TV robots -- the others had to restrain the gadgeteer from stealing them along the way - and had the right reaction to seeing the plaque by the Dalek and Cyberman (who had been given to the Professor as gifts by Viperia).  One player said, "Would YOU want to tell Viperia they aren't actually robots?"

 

They didn't order any snacks or drinks from the Roving Beverage and Snack robot, figuring (correctly) that they'd have to pay for them using IDs that they didn't actually have.

 

When they checked out the interactive map they got a chuckle out of supply closets and Mech-Viper charging stations being re-purposed into bathrooms -- and totally missed that the presence of other non-bathroom charging closets meant that Mech-Vipers were stationed around the base, behind remotely-opened doors.  So their assault on the command center, which they thought was a cake-walk, suddenly had them facing four of the big killer robots, with four others making their way to the blast doors separating the secure section of the Nest along with a bunch of roller bots and flyer bots.  Knowing that they were soon going to face an overwhelming robot horde, the heroes grabbed the kidnapped person they were after, stole the Cockatrice Flying APC, and took off (calling PRIMUS to let them know about the Nest). 

 

Since they didn't give PRIMUS advance notice, this gave the Professor time to evacuate the base - with human agents squeezing into the Chimera Battle Pods and going out via the underground waterway along with Mech-Vipers and Roller Bots, while Flyer Bots went up through the Flying APC hangar hatch.  One hero (Shadow Boxer) did stay behind invisible and desolid to watch the evacuation, then hitched a ride out on one of the Chimeras, so I figure the heroes can still capture that one once it finds a spot to hide.

 

Thanks again for all the great suggestions.