Dome City

[steriaca]

So, we upped the number to twelve, all of them with clubs of sorts (even if those clubs look like swords, they are still clubs, bring blunted and covered in plastic and fiberglass).

 

Let's have a roll call again, along with official personalities.

 

Prince A. Pal: Prince of the realm, we never established parents for him. A cartoon parody of generic human prince, he values good morals and hard work at school. His club is his scepter.

 

Lady Beau T. Fullsoul: The prince's girlfriend, she is rather homely looking (but not ugly by all means), and is known for her words of cheerfulness and valuing people's inner beauty. Once they become "of age" they plan on being wed. Her club is her magical "mirror of inner beauty" (only magical in a fake magic way).

 

Wiz(ard) Bang: A young wizard barely out of wizarding school. Looks like a cartoon parody of Harry Potter. Has a hard time believing in himself, and is not confident in most magic. Cast spells by spelling words related in what he wants done and waving his wand around. The spell he has conference in is the Birthday Spell. His club is his wand.

 

Chester D. Jester: The court jester. Says bad puns and dad jokes. Beyond that, has no real personality. His club is his jester staff.

 

Bard Will-Come Waggon: A minstrel of the court who is the official greater of strangers to the court. Joval, he sings and strums his lute a lot. One of the first anamatronic CyberJack made to move beyond the stage, and the only one to do so openly (and "officially" still needs a pathway between the stage and his post by the door). His club is his lute.

 

Sir Real: The knight caring a paint brush and has paint all over his armor. He loves art, both in viewing and creating. His club is his paintbrush.

 

Sir Ton: A heavyset man in armor. A slight cartoon fat person, but made to be more friendly and less a walking insult to fat children. He is a wise councle, and he is curtain of many facts. He is working out with a trainer to get healthy. His club is a turkey leg in his hands. 

 

Sir Face: A slightly scary in a cartoon sort of way suit of armor caring a shield with a face upon it. The shield is alive and can speak his own mind. His club is his talking shield.

 

Sir Cumference: Another roton knight, this guy likes pi. He can say it to the 37th decimal point. His club is a slide ruler

 

Sir Fit: The knight/trainer who is working on getting Sir Ton healthy. Promotes exercise. He bairly has any armor on as it obstructs people from viewing his muscular body. His club is a dumbell.

 

Dame Scroll: A librarian and love instrst to Wiz Bang. Not magical in herself. She represents the lifelong love of reading. Her club is a book.

 

Black Pepper: The do no good knave in black armor and in a dungeon cell near by on the stage, usually. Tends to escape and do mischief of a cartoon villain nature. Has been known to kidnap Lady Beau T. Fullsoul from time to time for, um, reasons. They capture him and put him in the dungeon again. Repeat. His club is actually a sword.

 

Pipsmoke: A small dragon who is great friends with the prince. Designed to look more goofier than frighting. Does not carry a club, but can use his tail as one.

 

And there are our twelve. What do you think?

 

Some standby characters.

 

The serving wenches. Standing near the walls. They serve as eye candy to the adult men who have to drag there children to the show. They sing with the court sometimes, and act like commentary and narrators to the show in some skits.  The one closest to the stage is the only one with a name, Lady Nariata. None of the serving wenches can move far from the wall (pedistalled) but can club people with there tray.

 

The side room entertainment:

 

For adults who are temporary sick of the for kids pun humor can enjoy the side room for a temporary relief. There are two headliner anomatronics there, both pedestaled. One is Sir Vess, the Elvis based knight who sings all of Elvis greatest hits. The other is Sir Don, the Sinatra based knight who sings his greatest hits. None of them were touched by CyberJack. As CyberJack would say, you don't mess with the King and the Chairman of the Board.

[Duke Bushido]

What?  No portly Sir Cumference?!

[steriaca]

3 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

What?  No portly Sir Cumference?!

How would he be different than Sir Ton? We could dump Sir Fit, but what message would that say to the kids?

[steriaca]

In case you need to know, the main Princ A. Pal is situated as it is to be a showcase for thoes looking to buy into the franchise. The owner can show, through floor plans and visiting certain rooms how one can be set up in there home town mall or such, with or without the minigolf, go-kart, and rollercoaster.

[Scott Ruggels]

Kind of think Sir Cumference is a better joke than Sir Ton, though... 

[steriaca]

3 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

Kind of think Sir Cumference is a better joke than Sir Ton, though... 

It is. But we only have room for twelve automatronic goons. So to make room for Sir Cumference, someone has to go.

 

Since there is no pun for Sir Fit, sorry Ar-nold type guy.

[Duke Bushido]

It occurs that the bar patrons could be greeted by Sir Vaysa, but I'm thinking that Sir Vicks crosses some sort of line.... 

 

Perhaps the prize pit where tickets are exchanged for candy and prizes is manned by Sir Tifikit? 

 

 

[steriaca]

19 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

It occurs that the bar patrons could be greeted by Sir Vaysa, but I'm thinking that Sir Vicks crosses some sort of line.... 

 

Perhaps the prize pit where tickets are exchanged for candy and prizes is manned by Sir Tifikit? 

 

 

Not Sir Vicks, but Sir Vess. Vess as in Elvis.

[steriaca]

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

It occurs that the bar patrons could be greeted by Sir Vaysa, but I'm thinking that Sir Vicks crosses some sort of line.... 

 

Perhaps the prize pit where tickets are exchanged for candy and prizes is manned by Sir Tifikit? 

 

 

Oh...forgot that was a pun. No, there is no bar. You order your beer like you order your pizza or churky nuggets (damm renfar turky legs!).

 

And the person maning the ticket to prize counter is a human employee. Yes he has a fake name. It is on his nametag as Lord Tikits. Even if it is a lady maning it, it is Lord Tikits. The servers are all Milady Server. Yes, even the guys. And the janitor is a human referd to as Dave. There is no name tag, so we don't know if the janitor has an offical punny name or not.

[Scott Ruggels]

So, going back a few things.  I think I detect a bit of "silver age' thinking in terms of  the subject of body counts. Films, especially today are not subject to the Comics Code Authority, but instead the MPAA.   Please ditch comics Code thinking. Most of the Super Hero movies are PG  or PG-13. This has no appreciable effect on the  body count of a film. ones, 10, hundreds, it really doesn't matter with the MPAA, as long as it is not overly gruesome.  Because Duke doesn't go to movies unless forced to by circumstance, a Modern Superhero film generally has a lower body count than an 80's action flick, and around that of a late 50's early 60's Western film. I for one, am not squeamish about body counts, and enjoy war films, as well as 80's action flicks. The more important question  is "tone".    this is where things can be screwed up for the audience, in that expectations are  not met, or the Trailer doesn't match the tone of the finished film.  Superhero films today are serious. mostly un-ironic, direct, and aspirational, but the quality of the heroes is often contrasted with the vile-ness of the villains, or in the later Marvel films, opposed goals.   Camp, inappropriate humor, is going to be a serious turn off.  Today's young people are far from stupid, and have very sensitive instincts. As hard as it may be, one has to put themselves into their shooes to figure out the tone, and what is interesting.

 

 

That being said, herding Role-players is like herding cats, and after play is started the group will set it's own tone.  However the presentation of this should be serious, direct, and aspirational, even if some of the villains don't survive until the end credits.

 

As for how things end.  We want this to be something that the players want to return to game after game.  I would vote against the escape of The Skull, because that hollows out the player's victory. If they don't prioritize his capture  when needing to save the town, that's one thing, But if they plan and strategize to bring him down or to justice, which ever, try not to get in their way, because for better or for worse, a solid victory is  a thrill to new players, and that will get them back, until they are accustomed to the game enough that you can pull the villain escapes, trope.

 

Hope this helps.

[Hugh Neilson]

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Give that they are essentially-- and forgive this-- "animated animatronics,"-- this is the way I was already thinking.  A single full-stat "write-up" that represents all the relatively-easy-to-wreck animatronics and a series (twelve, perhaps?  We could have a whole "round table" of these guys) and maybe a few "bards" that welcome people to each section of the establishment, etc.  Then a short list of brief appearance descriptions for the individuals.  I think it might even be fun to have four or five of them "mounted" to pedestals, unable to move (perhaps serving wenches or even the bards), swinging randomly at anyone who passes by.  

 

I just think that lots and lots of "robots running nuts" would create a bigger panic amongst the crowd than would, say, six.  And being animatronics, they aren't too terribly hard to wreck.  The challenge would come from having to destroy these things _completely_-- think zombies-- crawling at you when their legs are smashed, etc, and _not_ hurting the panicking crowds.  Essentially, as the enemies won't be _terribly_ difficult to defeat (but should be some challenge, regardless), this will serve as practice for similar "watch out for civilians" type situations as these players continue to game.  I hope, anyway.  I just assumed, as CJ builds himself a custom body guard, that the animatronics wouldn't gain a lot of special defenses or attacks beyond-- oh, I don't know: STR 15 and a club; something like that.  Again, the assumption could be completely wrong.

 

Minor attack one hit wonders works for a huge crowd scene of enemies.  This is also nice for the novice coming from the movies, where we often see hordes of mooks not really worthy of the hero's time.  One attack from a Super - down.  This may also be a good place for a sidebar on speeding up combats like this one - for example, not tracking robot BOD, just assuming one Super hit takes it down.  A normal hit by one takes, say, 5d6 normal damage - probably Stunned, and a bit bloodied, but we should end up with lots of injuries and no fatalities.  No real threat to the Supers, whose job is to protect the civilians.

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Covered this before with the magnetism / Zoidberg gag.  Granted, the gag was so pants-wettingly hilarious that I can understand how it caused the actual idea to be missed.     I kid, obviously.  I'm just not that funny.

 

 

Short version:  at a signal, magnetic field between the batteries tightens, drawing them closer.  Presumably, the projectors are either located at points  well-within the "critical crunch" radius, or are also mobile but some similar means.  They are also findable with investigation (re: the "this is where the Skull had us dig all those damned holes" comment earlier in the thread).

 

So why was it such a pain to dig them in the first time?  Just dig one big hole in the caves and they can go burrow into position.  This may make more sense - really, no one noticed all these guys digging up the place? Or are they on display and more vulnerable after moving? 

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

While I don't disagree with you, remember that this is "adventure #1."  Because this is adventure #1, unless we're ready to start offing DNPCs, who is this close personal friend?  They don't have one yet.  Every dead guy is a stranger at this point, but unfortunately, we need one or two to make sure the players grasp the severity of this situation.

 

If the death is to resonate with the players, it needs to be a character they have come to know, which is only viable through the events of Chapter 1.  I don't see this as "wow, they are serious", I see it as needless gore.  One of the Skull's hired henchmen, and one who is not very loyal at that, killing a guy for no apparent reason does not give me any feeling that the Skull is a greater threat.

 

How does a dead guy in one of many mobile animatronics further the Skull's plot?  Why should I (player or PC) care about some random NPC?  Without answers to both questions, it's just gore and violence for no reason.  Does the Skull pick someone specific to send a message?  Does the dead NPC provide an opportunity for investigation to advance the plot?  Was he chosen deliberately by the Skull to make a statement, or randomly by CyberJack just to add some mindless gore?

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

And here's the more, or at least an even-briefer encapsulation of his history:

 

Unable to get funding, he turned to the mob for funding, thinking his superior intellect would allow him to control his situation; his (then) naivety, however, proved to be his undoing.  He's no longer on the run from the mob as the next thing he did was kill the majority of that mob (at least locally) by using the last bit of money from the mob to built his exoskeleton (shot down by you, if I recall) and the pro type of his power-boosting helmet.  He used the resources "procured" from this now defunct mob (wiser members of this mob swore allegiance to him and became the "suits--" the more "professional" end of his operation, as his reputation has grown from "pencil neck genius" to "efficient killer who holds a grudge.").   As he continues to winnow the ranks of "disloyals," his reputation as grudge-driven increases considerably. 

 

This makes some sense, making him a crime boss as well as a nutjob supervillain.

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

He began manufacturing drugs, used local gangs at distributors, all to build his resources and work on his "revenge." (it was during this period that he picked up the nickname "the Skull.")  He freely admits to any who wonder who the target is and why that the target is "everyone" and that they will "pay for the mistake of wronging me."  He orchestrated additional crimes for materials, etc, to get his plan up and running-- the manufacture of the drugs, the manufacture of the batteries, etc.  He trained the most loyal of his "suits" into paramilitary-type discipline and offed the others.  He recruited smarter, more reliable gang members into suits or liaisons between suits and gangs.  He finds the gangs extremely useful for distribution and "man on the street" intelligence, grunt work, and not much else.

 

Why "off the others" if they are not disloyal?  Killing the leadership (with maybe one or two on the run) and co-opting their muscle makes a lot more sense than randomly killing goons for the sake of killing goons.  "Those who side with me will be rewarded well.  Those who do not will receive a reward less to their liking."  If, with investigation, our PCs can track down one of the surviving gang leadership, he may be able to tell them how the Skull took down most of the leaders in one night, which his new powers, leaving the few lucky enough to escape with no choice but to hide until they could get out of Hepzibah - no mean feat with all their old muscle looking for them - and a fat bonus for delivering an enemy of the Skull.  Maybe the heroes even have to protect these mobsters from the Skull's thugs.

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Added later: Once he determined how his revenge would take place-- bottling the city and demanding they acknowledge his genius and accept his rulership (helmet and mind-boosting drugs, as well as prior experience with the mob, are costing him _some_ sanity, which has random effects on his foresight)-- he realizes that the energy matrix he has designed to create the Dome will radiate on frequency "origin X," and quietly investigates for those likely to be affected.  Finding random gang bangers likely to be affected, he quickly organizes them into their own gang-- a special liaison group, if you will-- elevated above the normal street gangs, and possibly even the suits themselves.  He explains to him that they will serve a special purpose in his plan; that they will become his direct agents of chaos, and christens them as such (knowing the value that "inferiors" place on a group identity   ).  Given they are little more than hooligans almost incapable of operating with professionalism or with unit tactics, the suits have taken to simply referring to them en masse as "Chaos," as in "oh great.  Here comes chaos." or "We've got this under control; we don't need you're chaos over here mucking things up."  The gang has perverted this distaste into a point of pride, and refers to themselves as "Chaos."  The Dome goes up, within hours, the members of Chaos fall ill.  The Skull sees to their needs (leaving the hospital with power, for example), and within two or three days, the members all have the powers that he predicted they would develop.

 

Have to say I am a bigger fan of him telling them nothing, just arranging for them to be in the right place where their powers develop almost immediately, throwing them into conflict with the PCs.  Perhaps the same genetics that make them prone to super-powers makes them prone to mental instability (the Skull finds similar genetic markers to his own), which is why they have banded together - they are similarly unstable, and work poorly with others outside their little clique.

 

It also feels like we are doing a lot of work to make the Skull a genius chemist when he's mainly using physics (skull blasters and grenades; the Dome) to carry out his plans.  Just having him take over current drug distribution seems like it would work fine (and the mundane chemistry required for a meth lab is child's play for him - he would have at least 'basic' (university level) skills in all sciences.

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

When the dome goes up, it's clear that to his mind, the lives of thousands of people are "just about the right exchange" for having been not immediately seen as a genius and for being embarrassed by the now-dead (or under his control) mob several months back.  Those who notice (or later discover) that he has been experimenting on himself (helmet and drugs) all in the name of a single revenge plot realized both that he is very unhinged and that there seems to be nothing out of bounds to him with regard to "writing" a perceived slight.  Most of all, they notice the absolute intensity that drives him and continues to fuel his quest for revenge.

 

I'd say few get close enough to notice - he keeps even his closest lieutenants at arm's length (and probably competing with each other so they are too busy to consider competing with him, or even what his real plan is). 

 

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

it is my hope that they can eventually discover the following things, if they discover nothing else:

 

1)  the man is an absolute, unquestionable genius, at least with regard to both physics and engineering

2) the man is vain beyond vain, and this was ultimately driven by a quest to fulfill a need for recognition of item 1.

3) the man is using external amplifiers (drugs and helmet) for his personal powers.  He may or may not have the powers without these items, but certainly they will be weaker.

4) he started his operation in the old mines, but now that he "owns the city," he is moving to a more suitable location (toss-up between the hospital or one of the tech firms.  Hospital offers more chemistry labs, of course)

 

Seems like #1 will be pretty obvious, and the combination of 1 and 2 should be determinable from early questioning after the robberies - who could use this junk?  That might be recognizing those they question are not fully forthcoming, and breaking into HR and old research records.

 

#3 - probably the old crime bosses who can provide info on the helmet.  Maybe his old employee records indicate "substance abuse" issues, mainly around stimulants and similar drugs to keep him going, sharpen his focus, etc.

 

#4 - old henchmen will know about the mines, but only those with him after the startup know about his new location.  I think I would keep his main base in the mines - too much hassle to move everything, and too little patience to delay his vengeance to do so.

 

8 hours ago, steriaca said:

Skull should have multiple places as temporary bases. The mob bosses old manor (a sense of living richly). The hospital ("free" drugs and medical supplies). The top floor of the largest skyscraper in the city (best place for the projector to be set up, aiming straight upwards on the roof). His main and final headquarters is the mine, where he started and where his original labs to develop his technology are located.

 

Practically,, I'd keep his bases down to those we want to use in-game, but any of these could be relevant.  The two that jump out for me are the skyscraper where the projector is located (possibly something they can determine if they have a scientist PC; maybe something a former co-worker would realize; etc.) and the mine is where he goes to ground, where the final encounter (assuming he is not captured at the tower) would take place.  Ummmm...what did they mine in Hepzibah?

 

7 hours ago, steriaca said:

And there are our twelve. What do you think?

 

Are we distracting from the game with a dozen or so puns?  Will the GM and players care to track a dozen (or two, or three, dozen - one set on each of a few floors) "slightly different-looking but all playing the same" kiddie characters?  Twelve+ descriptions makes for a big sidebar.

 

Why does CJ stick around once the chaos starts?  Maybe, if the heroes are not fast enough to realize there should be a control room, and get there, he has already bolted, having set events in motion.

 

A final "maybe" - the Skull is a super-genius.  Couldn't he set up his own robots of chaos, pre-programmed, and slip away (perhaps leaving a couple of non-Super techies behind who would try to flee once the action starts - charged with installing the tech they don't fully understand)?  That would reduce the Supers in Hepzibah to the self-created Skull, MuckMan (a side effect of the plot), Chaos (creations of the Skull), our non-Super retired crimefighter and the PCs, tightening up on there not being a Super on every corner.

[steriaca]

18 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

So, going back a few things.  I think I detect a bit of "silver age' thinking in terms of  the subject of body counts. Films, especially today are not subject to the Comics Code Authority, but instead the MPAA.   Please ditch comics Code thinking. Most of the Super Hero movies are PG  or PG-13. This has no appreciable effect on the  body count of a film. ones, 10, hundreds, it really doesn't matter with the MPAA, as long as it is not overly gruesome.  Because Duke doesn't go to movies unless forced to by circumstance, a Modern Superhero film generally has a lower body count than an 80's action flick, and around that of a late 50's early 60's Western film. I for one, am not squeamish about body counts, and enjoy war films, as well as 80's action flicks. The more important question  is "tone".    this is where things can be screwed up for the audience, in that expectations are  not met, or the Trailer doesn't match the tone of the finished film.  Superhero films today are serious. mostly un-ironic, direct, and aspirational, but the quality of the heroes is often contrasted with the vile-ness of the villains, or in the later Marvel films, opposed goals.   Camp, inappropriate humor, is going to be a serious turn off.  Today's young people are far from stupid, and have very sensitive instincts. As hard as it may be, one has to put themselves into their shooes to figure out the tone, and what is interesting.

 

 

That being said, herding Role-players is like herding cats, and after play is started the group will set it's own tone.  However the presentation of this should be serious, direct, and aspirational, even if some of the villains don't survive until the end credits.

 

As for how things end.  We want this to be something that the players want to return to game after game.  I would vote against the escape of The Skull, because that hollows out the player's victory. If they don't prioritize his capture  when needing to save the town, that's one thing, But if they plan and strategize to bring him down or to justice, which ever, try not to get in their way, because for better or for worse, a solid victory is  a thrill to new players, and that will get them back, until they are accustomed to the game enough that you can pull the villain escapes, trope.

 

Hope this helps.

Yes it does.

 

We should not shy away from body counts just because "it's a superhero movie game", but instead give the heros a chance to save people, but if they don't bite the hook, feal free to kill them off. If a normal gets too close ot a anomatronic, he is getting bashed over the head and steped on. And this is a 1 ton metal, plastic, and fiberglass thing. Feal free to shoot up people in the bank robbery if there too slow.

 

And yes, let's plan for the Skull's capture. Depending on the game master's need, he can excape or get lost in transet when needed. Heck someone else can wear the dang helmet if needed. Just because he is captured don't mean we can't use him later.  Even if he dies, he can be reused later.

 

Actually, we should plan for all endings, BUT NOT PUSH ANY ONE ENDING. The game master might like an option. We shouldn't push him twords or away any option.

[steriaca]

This list can easily reduced to a name and a small sentence about how it normally acts when on stage. Nothing too major. Tell the gm that they are free not to use the names outloud. If this was a MCU movie, the names of the automatronic actors would be revealed in the novelization or Prince A. Pal one shot, and there is no need to reveal them here unless the players wish it. Just call them "Midevil Pizza Robot 1" etc.

[Hugh Neilson]

33 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

So, going back a few things.  I think I detect a bit of "silver age' thinking in terms of  the subject of body counts. Films, especially today are not subject to the Comics Code Authority, but instead the MPAA.   Please ditch comics Code thinking. Most of the Super Hero movies are PG  or PG-13. This has no appreciable effect on the  body count of a film. ones, 10, hundreds, it really doesn't matter with the MPAA, as long as it is not overly gruesome.  Because Duke doesn't go to movies unless forced to by circumstance, a Modern Superhero film generally has a lower body count than an 80's action flick, and around that of a late 50's early 60's Western film.

 

I find the MCU films have few deaths, and body counts largely left to the imagination.  The Supers definitely prioritize saving the civilians.  I'd say two types of deaths:

 

(a)  Largely offscreen and left to the imagination (did those rampaging robots in Age of Ultron kill a lot of people, or just put a scare in them, and injure one or two?; same with the alien army in Avengers; the IW and Endgame armies clearly did a lot of damage - injuries if not kills.  We tend to forget that military actions tend to have far more injuries than deaths as well.  Aquaman's floodings are a good example - logically, there were a lot of deaths, but it's never presented in the viewer's face.  Comic book violence - flashy, with damage more to property than people - is the norm.

 

(b)  Plot-driven, or driving, deaths, typically of people the viewer has some attachment to.  Phil Coulson in Avengers; Quicksilver in Age of Ultron; Black Manta's father in Aquaman - deaths that either hit one or more heroes emotionally, or drive the plot forward, maybe both. 

 

No "dead bodies for the sake of dead bodies".

 

33 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

The more important question  is "tone".    this is where things can be screwed up for the audience, in that expectations are  not met, or the Trailer doesn't match the tone of the finished film.  Superhero films today are serious. mostly un-ironic, direct, and aspirational, but the quality of the heroes is often contrasted with the vile-ness of the villains, or in the later Marvel films, opposed goals.   Camp, inappropriate humor, is going to be a serious turn off.  Today's young people are far from stupid, and have very sensitive instincts. As hard as it may be, one has to put themselves into their shooes to figure out the tone, and what is interesting.

 

Scott, how do you see the "kiddieland animatronics"?  I kind of like the scene, but wonder if we are trying too hard to shoehorn it in when it may be a poor fit.  A dozen "quasi-characters" based on puns seems potentially jarring in terms of an otherwise serious, "time is not on our side" tone.  Would it be better to select a more neutral-in-tone site and have a bunch of cyphers - robots with skull faces, for example, or even skull agent mooks - attack the attendees?

 

I question whether this departs too far from the rest of the scenario, especially when we combine the kiddie-show animatronics with a hired gun, rather than the Skull directly, arranging the attack.

[steriaca]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

I find the MCU films have few deaths, and body counts largely left to the imagination.  The Supers definitely prioritize saving the civilians.  I'd say two types of deaths:

 

(a)  Largely offscreen and left to the imagination (did those rampaging robots in Age of Ultron kill a lot of people, or just put a scare in them, and injure one or two?; same with the alien army in Avengers; the IW and Endgame armies clearly did a lot of damage - injuries if not kills.  We tend to forget that military actions tend to have far more injuries than deaths as well.  Aquaman's floodings are a good example - logically, there were a lot of deaths, but it's never presented in the viewer's face.  Comic book violence - flashy, with damage more to property than people - is the norm.

 

(b)  Plot-driven, or driving, deaths, typically of people the viewer has some attachment to.  Phil Coulson in Avengers; Quicksilver in Age of Ultron; Black Manta's father in Aquaman - deaths that either hit one or more heroes emotionally, or drive the plot forward, maybe both. 

 

No "dead bodies for the sake of dead bodies".

 

 

Scott, how do you see the "kiddieland animatronics"?  I kind of like the scene, but wonder if we are trying too hard to shoehorn it in when it may be a poor fit.  A dozen "quasi-characters" based on puns seems potentially jarring in terms of an otherwise serious, "time is not on our side" tone.  Would it be better to select a more neutral-in-tone site and have a bunch of cyphers - robots with skull faces, for example, or even skull agent mooks - attack the attendees?

 

I question whether this departs too far from the rest of the scenario, especially when we combine the kiddie-show animatronics with a hired gun, rather than the Skull directly, arranging the attack.

We can move this to a park, drop the entier anomatronic plot, and just have a few waves of Skull Agents and Chaos members instead. We can even drop CyberJack.l entirely. This changes the tone, of course. But I'm not against the change. Heck, The Skull himself could show up, kill the mayor, then split. (This is the time when it is acceptable for him to get away, not the end of the story.) The thing is his gole is to tell everyone they are never safe, and to have no fun. Cry to him. Fear him. Beg for death as the only release from the hell he set up. (Of course, i'm talking about the citizens. Heros are made of sterner stuff.)

[Scott Ruggels]

9 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

I find the MCU films have few deaths, and body counts largely left to the imagination.  The Supers definitely prioritize saving the civilians.  I'd say two types of deaths:

 

(a)  Largely offscreen and left to the imagination (did those rampaging robots in Age of Ultron kill a lot of people, or just put a scare in them, and injure one or two?; same with the alien army in Avengers; the IW and Endgame armies clearly did a lot of damage - injuries if not kills.  We tend to forget that military actions tend to have far more injuries than deaths as well.  Aquaman's floodings are a good example - logically, there were a lot of deaths, but it's never presented in the viewer's face.  Comic book violence - flashy, with damage more to property than people - is the norm.

 

(b)  Plot-driven, or driving, deaths, typically of people the viewer has some attachment to.  Phil Coulson in Avengers; Quicksilver in Age of Ultron; Black Manta's father in Aquaman - deaths that either hit one or more heroes emotionally, or drive the plot forward, maybe both. 

 

No "dead bodies for the sake of dead bodies".

 

True. The MCU heroes prioritize saving innocents, unlike the DC hero movies. This should be emphasized to the GM, but not yet for the players. Having the hero’s make the choice in play is going to define them. 

 

9 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

 

Scott, how do you see the "kiddieland animatronics"?  I kind of like the scene, but wonder if we are trying too hard to shoehorn it in when it may be a poor fit.  A dozen "quasi-characters" based on puns seems potentially jarring in terms of an otherwise serious, "time is not on our side" tone.  Would it be better to select a more neutral-in-tone site and have a bunch of cyphers - robots with skull faces, for example, or even skull agent mooks - attack the attendees?

 

I question whether this departs too far from the rest of the scenario, especially when we combine the kiddie-show animatronics with a hired gun, rather than the Skull directly, arranging the attack.

It may stall forward motion. I think we are losing the goals do direction with all the minutiae.  Having a “hired gun” mess up the animatronics is one thing. The overthinking of the scene is quiet another. This is starting to feel like the “Giant Mechanical Spider”, from Kevin Smith’s Superman story. We need to put in more effort in the other set pieces as well. 

 

The Skull should have a very, direct and methodical M. O. This animatronic stack feels like a distraction. Threaten the innocents, while another operation is occurring elsewhere. I can see the The Skull following an A plot and a B plot.  A

plot operations are anything involving his main goals to kill the mob bosses and CEOs. The B plot is to mis-direct and bamboozle the authorities and heroes and keep them on the back foot. It may take a capture of a suit or a mercenary to figure out the true A plot.  B plots are carried out by expendable assets. A plot will be The Skull and lieutenants.   Those guys?

[steriaca]

5 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

 

True. The MCU heroes prioritize saving innocents, unlike the DC hero movies. This should be emphasized to the GM, but not yet for the players. Having the hero’s make the choice in play is going to define them. 

 

It may stall forward motion. I think we are losing the goals do direction with all the minutiae.  Having a “hired gun” mess up the animatronics is one thing. The overthinking of the scene is quiet another. This is starting to feel like the “Giant Mechanical Spider”, from Kevin Smith’s Superman story. We need to put in more effort in the other set pieces as well. 

 

The Skull should have a very, direct and methodical M. O. This animatronic stack feels like a distraction. Threaten the innocents, while another operation is occurring elsewhere. I can see the The Skull following an A plot and a B plot.  A

plot operations are anything involving his main goals to kill the mob bosses and CEOs. The B plot is to mis-direct and bamboozle the authorities and heroes and keep them on the back foot. It may take a capture of a suit or a mercenary to figure out the true A plot.  B plots are carried out by expendable assets. A plot will be The Skull and lieutenants.   Those guys?

Ok then. The automatronic attack is still on as a B plot. A plot the heroes have to go to anyways. But maybe not all of them.

 

So, to mention something, what is the A plot going on while this is going on? What is the thing the Skull wants no heroes at?

[Scott Ruggels]

9 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Ok then. The automatronic attack is still on as a B plot. A plot the heroes have to go to anyways. But maybe not all of them.

 

So, to mention something, what is the A plot going on while this is going on? What is the thing the Skull wants no heroes at?

 I would  think that it might be something like  moving equipment around , or a brief opening of a hole in the dome large enough to move trucks full of weapons, or  specilized equipment.  They will be competently guarded, but it would be something that the heroes find out later through witnesses, or by facing military grade weapons head on. Something like that would work.  this might be where the black market stuff starts.

[steriaca]

Ok.

 

Plot A

 

Episold 1.

The Skull domes the city. Also places future Chaos members in position for them to get there powers activaded 

The Skull sends Chaos out to challenge the heroes, the only gole here is data.

(The heroes investgate the dome and try to figure out some facts.)

The Skull sends word out identifying himself.

 

Episode 2

The Skull has to lower dome in an area to let heavy equipment and supplies through.

The Skull's henchmen start a black market for unaligned gangs in effort to increase his agent pool.

Send agent pool and Chaos members to kill targets of his choice. This includes the PCs.

The Skull finally tells the city what he wants.

 

Episode 3

The Skull expects compliance. When nothing comes his way, it must be the fault of his henchmen. Kill some off.

The Skull makes good on his threat by shrinking the dome...slowly.

The Skull makes way to his cave" away from the city and the squishing. Plots to gloat later then excape to another city.

 

Plan B

 

Episold 1

Get information about the heroes. Prosses the information. See if they threaten his plans.

Test heroes with Chaos and his agents.

 

Episode 2.

Kill city VIPs at feal good party. Or at least disrupt it. The message is "your not safe.

 

Episode 3

There is no b plan now.

[Hugh Neilson]

35 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

 I would  think that it might be something like  moving equipment around , or a brief opening of a hole in the dome large enough to move trucks full of weapons, or  specilized equipment.  They will be competently guarded, but it would be something that the heroes find out later through witnesses, or by facing military grade weapons head on. Something like that would work.  this might be where the black market stuff starts.

 

What has he realized he needs, but did not plan for?  To me, he is trying to deal with the one wild card he did not - could not - account for.  This rather large number of heroes which has showed up out of the blue.  He may have accounted for (and discounted) one old, retired crimefighter, but the MuckMan and the PCs are new. 

 

2 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Ok.

 

Plot A

 

Episold 1.

The Skull domes the city. Also places future Chaos members in position for them to get there powers activaded 

The Skull sends Chaos out to challenge the heroes, the only gole here is data.

(The heroes investgate the dome and try to figure out some facts.)

The Skull sends word out identifying himself.

 

At this point in time, the Skull is aware that the PCs are in town, and likely investigating him.  Having Chaos gain their powers right in front of their eyes seems like an info-gathering approach he might take.  It looks random to Chaos, and to the PCs, but not to the Skull.  If Chaos loses, so what?  Does Hepzibah have the ability to contain half a dozen superpowered criminals, if the Skull wants to get them loose?  With the dome up, there are no resources coming from outside to assist in keeping them secured.

 

The heroes do more investigation, and ideally start getting useful information. The Skull remains confident, but this new wild card shakes his plans.

 

2 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Episode 2

The Skull has to lower dome in an area to let heavy equipment and supplies through.

The Skull's henchmen start a black market for unaligned gangs in effort to increase his agent pool.

Send agent pool and Chaos members to kill targets of his choice. This includes the PCs.

The Skull finally tells the city what he wants.

 

What does he need from outside?  He was ready to go with the Dome.  But perhaps, with the PCs interference, he needs more time, so he needs more equipment to maintain the dome longer than he had planned.   Or perhaps his plan was to wait out the city, but now he sees a need to force the issue, and accelerate matters.  He needs new equipment to enable him to contract the dome.  Final possibility is that he needs heavier armaments for his minions, but it seems unlikely he could readily lay his hands on better equipment than he can provide himself.

 

Recruiting of gangs intensifies because he needs more manpower to deal with the PCs than he would have needed to deal with the townsfolk.  His second and third choices are now necessary to his plan.  Maybe he needed supplies to equip this larger force as well.  This is also a chance to target VIPs who have proven a thorn in his side.

 

Now he starts sending his "hit teams" after the Supers, and perhaps city leaders who have proven troublesome.  That councilor who pushes for resistance.  The local media personality/newspaper publisher who continues to speak out against the Skull.  And any PCs whose whereabouts are readily determined.  Meanwhile, if the PCs have been investigating and forming contacts, they can learn about the Skull's targets and move to protect them.

 

2 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Episode 3

The Skull expects compliance. When nothing comes his way, it must be the fault of his henchmen. Kill some off.

The Skull makes good on his threat by shrinking the dome...slowly.

The Skull makes way to his cave" away from the city and the squishing. Plots to gloat later then excape to another city.

 

The "kill off some henchmen" bit seems like the opposite of a calm, methodical planner.  As his resources are whittled away by the PCs, his answer is...voluntarily reduce his forces further, likely encouraging other loyal henchmen to reconsider the side they have chosen?  Maybe put them under more pressure, so they start taking more overt action against the citizenry (with some opportunities for our heroes to block some of these efforts, capture some henchmen with more useful information and, given his desire for revenge more and more clearly is not a desire for profits his minions will share in, maybe more willingness for some to turn.

 

The dome starts to shrink - the Skull's ultimatum to "obey me or die!".  Now the heroes are under time pressure, but the Skull's henchmen have finally become wholly expendable.  Will he waste time killing them?  Probably not.  But will he make any attempt to shield them from the shrinking dome?  Why waste the resources?  Using them against the PCs has clearly failed.  Maybe he provides his top-level minions with some protection - in fact, maybe he gets them out of Hepzibah to lay the groundwork for a second city, and perhaps keeps some with him for the final confrontation.  But any who are of no further use to the Skull - likely including most, if not all, of Chaos?  No resources will be wasted on them - they should have worked more diligently to demonstrate the value in preserving their lives.

 

This, to me, would be the point where, if (and only if) the heroes' other investigations have not borne fruit, someone who knows where the Skull's old HQ is rolls - as he watches that dome getting closer from his cell, and realizes his only hope of survival is if the Skull is stopped.

[steriaca]

Note: while having things which happen that the heroes can't stop is ok and good, it should be done carefully. It is ok to have the dome go up as the heroes are trying to stop a bank robbery, but give tgem no choice in following plot b while plot a is happening is rather stupid. Give the players a choice and let them choose. They may have to thin out the group, so let it be.

 

And if the heroes pick up a plan c you never intended, go with it. Make it a part of something bigger.

[steriaca]

5 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

What has he realized he needs, but did not plan for?  To me, he is trying to deal with the one wild card he did not - could not - account for.  This rather large number of heroes which has showed up out of the blue.  He may have accounted for (and discounted) one old, retired crimefighter, but the MuckMan and the PCs are new. 

 

 

At this point in time, the Skull is aware that the PCs are in town, and likely investigating him.  Having Chaos gain their powers right in front of their eyes seems like an info-gathering approach he might take.  It looks random to Chaos, and to the PCs, but not to the Skull.  If Chaos loses, so what?  Does Hepzibah have the ability to contain half a dozen superpowered criminals, if the Skull wants to get them loose?  With the dome up, there are no resources coming from outside to assist in keeping them secured.

 

The heroes do more investigation, and ideally start getting useful information. The Skull remains confident, but this new wild card shakes his plans.

 

 

What does he need from outside?  He was ready to go with the Dome.  But perhaps, with the PCs interference, he needs more time, so he needs more equipment to maintain the dome longer than he had planned.   Or perhaps his plan was to wait out the city, but now he sees a need to force the issue, and accelerate matters.  He needs new equipment to enable him to contract the dome.  Final possibility is that he needs heavier armaments for his minions, but it seems unlikely he could readily lay his hands on better equipment than he can provide himself.

 

Recruiting of gangs intensifies because he needs more manpower to deal with the PCs than he would have needed to deal with the townsfolk.  His second and third choices are now necessary to his plan.  Maybe he needed supplies to equip this larger force as well.  This is also a chance to target VIPs who have proven a thorn in his side.

 

Now he starts sending his "hit teams" after the Supers, and perhaps city leaders who have proven troublesome.  That councilor who pushes for resistance.  The local media personality/newspaper publisher who continues to speak out against the Skull.  And any PCs whose whereabouts are readily determined.  Meanwhile, if the PCs have been investigating and forming contacts, they can learn about the Skull's targets and move to protect them.

 

 

The "kill off some henchmen" bit seems like the opposite of a calm, methodical planner.  As his resources are whittled away by the PCs, his answer is...voluntarily reduce his forces further, likely encouraging other loyal henchmen to reconsider the side they have chosen?  Maybe put them under more pressure, so they start taking more overt action against the citizenry (with some opportunities for our heroes to block some of these efforts, capture some henchmen with more useful information and, given his desire for revenge more and more clearly is not a desire for profits his minions will share in, maybe more willingness for some to turn.

 

The dome starts to shrink - the Skull's ultimatum to "obey me or die!".  Now the heroes are under time pressure, but the Skull's henchmen have finally become wholly expendable.  Will he waste time killing them?  Probably not.  But will he make any attempt to shield them from the shrinking dome?  Why waste the resources?  Using them against the PCs has clearly failed.  Maybe he provides his top-level minions with some protection - in fact, maybe he gets them out of Hepzibah to lay the groundwork for a second city, and perhaps keeps some with him for the final confrontation.  But any who are of no further use to the Skull - likely including most, if not all, of Chaos?  No resources will be wasted on them - they should have worked more diligently to demonstrate the value in preserving their lives.

 

This, to me, would be the point where, if (and only if) the heroes' other investigations have not borne fruit, someone who knows where the Skull's old HQ is rolls - as he watches that dome getting closer from his cell, and realizes his only hope of survival is if the Skull is stopped.

Killing off his henchmen is to show he is crazy and vengeful. But if this is not how ypu picture him, then ok. Maybe he only kills a spy or two. He has suspected them for some time, and believes they are failing on purpose in order to make the Skull take longer to do his plans.

 

Thing is, the men he kills are not spys at all. Sure, they are not the britest of henchmen, but they don't do what they are doing on purpose. The Skull may be starting to show signes of paranoia.

[steriaca]

The Skull's psychological problems.

Megalomania: Common, Total.

Enraged when plans are faulted or agents do not follow his plans to the letter when he does not plan for it, 11-,11-.

No Regard For Life: Common, Total.

Vengeful: Common, Total

Paranoia: Uncommon, Strong

[Hugh Neilson]

So how does a fellow with all of these problems manage to build a trained army of agents who carry out the initial stages of his plans so perfectly?  He is:

 

 - A megalomaniac -  why does he need all this help?

 

 - Paranoid - why would he believe these numerous agents would be in any way loyal?

 

 - Enraged, combined with lack of regard for life - how has he managed to go this long without killing agents often enough for others to question their allegiances?

 

He was stable enough to create this intricate plot, requiring many moving parts and a lot of activity by his agents.  How did his limitations not affect these preliminary stages?

 

It feels like we have a master planner initially, who descends into madness, with that descent, much more than the efforts of the PCs, foiling his plans.  All we need is a PC prepared to taunt his poor planning (true or not) and his Enraged should take out all of the equipment around him.  Rare, valuable scientific equipment that he took rather a long time to assemble, and which he relies upon to carry out his plans.  Just put it on the radio/TV/the newspapers - becoming Enraged does not require the target of that rage be present. 

 

What do his agents get that would motivate them to risk their lives daily just being near him?  I could see them doing his bidding when they are being well-paid (but he first needed agents when he had no rep, and no resources to pay them), and not horribly treated, but once he starts killing his own agents in cold blood for minor failings, it seems much less likely that he can maintain a loyal cadre of agents, especially when we have established that, once he has been angered, he holds that grudge - keeping out of The Boss's sight for a day or two so he can cool down isn't an option when he will never cool down.

 

It seems like one early target for his wrath should be Chaos, as we have established they do not follow instructions well, if at all.  Using that by arranging for them to obtain super-powers loosed on the Skull's enemies seems like a master planner who can control his impulses easily for long-term benefit.  The basket case suggested by those complications seems unlikely to have suffered Chaos to live long enough to see the Dome rise.

 

[steriaca]

25 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

So how does a fellow with all of these problems manage to build a trained army of agents who carry out the initial stages of his plans so perfectly?  He is:

 

 - A megalomaniac -  why does he need all this help?

 

 - Paranoid - why would he believe these numerous agents would be in any way loyal?

 

 - Enraged, combined with lack of regard for life - how has he managed to go this long without killing agents often enough for others to question their allegiances?

 

He was stable enough to create this intricate plot, requiring many moving parts and a lot of activity by his agents.  How did his limitations not affect these preliminary stages?

 

It feels like we have a master planner initially, who descends into madness, with that descent, much more than the efforts of the PCs, foiling his plans.  All we need is a PC prepared to taunt his poor planning (true or not) and his Enraged should take out all of the equipment around him.  Rare, valuable scientific equipment that he took rather a long time to assemble, and which he relies upon to carry out his plans.  Just put it on the radio/TV/the newspapers - becoming Enraged does not require the target of that rage be present. 

 

What do his agents get that would motivate them to risk their lives daily just being near him?  I could see them doing his bidding when they are being well-paid (but he first needed agents when he had no rep, and no resources to pay them), and not horribly treated, but once he starts killing his own agents in cold blood for minor failings, it seems much less likely that he can maintain a loyal cadre of agents, especially when we have established that, once he has been angered, he holds that grudge - keeping out of The Boss's sight for a day or two so he can cool down isn't an option when he will never cool down.

 

It seems like one early target for his wrath should be Chaos, as we have established they do not follow instructions well, if at all.  Using that by arranging for them to obtain super-powers loosed on the Skull's enemies seems like a master planner who can control his impulses easily for long-term benefit.  The basket case suggested by those complications seems unlikely to have suffered Chaos to live long enough to see the Dome rise.

 

Ok. What would his psy. lims look like? It is a Champions staple that if he can overpower you, a careful push on his psychological limitations is all it takes to get him to defeat himself. If meglo doesn't work, and paranoia doesn't fit, what does? And yes, using his psychological limitations ID a tactic the heroes can use. But what is there to use? Vengeful?