WWYCD?: The Ultimate Schmuck Bait.

[Marcus Impudite]

Overnight, all over Campaign City, someone has set up several kiosks in public places. Said kiosks feature only a large, red button and sign over it that reads, "WARNING: DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON." If pressed, the button triggers a hidden spray nozzle that sprays the person with a (non-toxic, soap and water washable) bright orange dye and then plays a digital recording of mocking laughter from a hidden speaker. At each kiosk, a web cam is hidden nearby, constantly streaming to a popular video hosting site (the URL for each kiosk's video stream is in small print at the bottom of the sign). Who is behind this? WWYCD?

[Hermit]

Many of my characters would, sadly, push the button.

 

Then swear terrible Revenge... I mean, justice.

 

 

[Hermit]

Eel would not press the button, but when he learned it got a team mate would try to look into it but detective work isn't his thing.

 

Pinprick would push the button then move fast.. he's permanently shrunk and might avoid it. Victory, as ever, goes to an archer!

 

Tornado would totally push it, then end up using detective work to track down who put these things up etc.

 

Lady Obsidian would hack the system one way or another and have the best chance of tracking whoever down particularly with Mabel's help (She's an AI)

 

Arctic Fox would indeed swear terrible vengeance.. if she couldn't freeze it in time. 

 

 

 

 

[Marcus Impudite]

2 hours ago, Hermit said:

Eel would not press the button, but when he learned it got a team mate would try to look into it but detective work isn't his thing.

 

Pinprick would push the button then move fast.. he's permanently shrunk and might avoid it. Victory, as ever, goes to an archer!

 

Tornado would totally push it, then end up using detective work to track down who put these things up etc.

 

Lady Obsidian would hack the system one way or another and have the best chance of tracking whoever down particularly with Mabel's help (She's an AI)

 

Arctic Fox would indeed swear terrible vengeance.. if she couldn't freeze it in time. 

 

 

 

 

I imagine Fox might laugh if her Ex, Jerry, was the one who fell for this. 😉

[dsatow]

I could see one person with luck pressing the button and rolling 3d6 of luck to have nothing happen.  The next person to look at the button getting a face full of spray without pressing the button (like a party teammate).

[assault]

This is a job for... the Police!

[Tjack]

  This has got C.L.O.W.N. Written all over it.  It would make more sense for people to keep going back if say one out of five times a  random amount of cash came out.  As low as two dollars, as high as a thousand.

   This way it becomes more of a social experiment.  “What are people willing to put up with for money?”

[megaplayboy]

It's a bit too low-key and obvious work for The Smirk, the World's Greatest Practical Joker, to have done it.  Probably a copycat of some kind.  Vigilance would probably blow it off unless it gets more sinister/harmful.  TechWiz would try to find the culprit.  

[Sundog]

Fireflash would probably be the first person to find one (3d6 Unluck)...but given her status as Only Sane Man in Quadrant, would probably refrain from pushing it. Don't worry, either Scooter or Hardlight wouldn't be able to resist.

 

[Mister Trent]

Pick a kiosk, wait around to see if anyone comes by to refresh its dye reservoir, and then follow them. Human nature being what it is, lots of people will probably walking around covered in orange dye by the end of the first day.

[steriaca]

Sunburn: Wouldn't get near to it, thinking it might be something reality warped by MetaGuard's old foe dexniJ.

 

Lady Heart: Depends on how it looks and presented. If it is "otaku enough" s/he will press the button. Otherwise...

 

Paradox Timely: *blink and blink* Is it written in the history books that she pressed the button? Is it written in the history books that someone pressed the button? If so, she is pressing it. Also, is it bondagiffic? An instant tie up machine? No? Well, it didn't cause much harm, did it?

[Badger]

So what happens if I just chuck an explosive energy blasts at it?  Asking for a character.

 

 

[steriaca]

23 minutes ago, Badger said:

So what happens if I just chuck an explosive energy blasts at it?  Asking for a character.

 

 

It is the Case, and summons the Infini-t Force. Unfortunately they think your going to kill Emi and steal the Case, so have fun fighting Ken the Eagle, Hurricane Polymer; Tekaman, and Casern. And maybe Joe the Condor from the Infini-t Force movie.

[Badger]

hmm, I guess I am either stuck fighting cross-universe heroes or finding a quick getaway (possibly using a hopefully harmless distraction).  Depending on their levels.

 

 

[Drhoz]

On 4/24/2020 at 11:58 AM, Sundog said:

Fireflash would probably be the first person to find one (3d6 Unluck)...but given her status as Only Sane Man in Quadrant, would probably refrain from pushing it. Don't worry, either Scooter or Hardlight wouldn't be able to resist.

 

I dare say that's accurate.

 

Jrska, of course, would slam that button the moment she saw it, but I wouldn't want to be any Eldar Harlequins she ran into in future, since her idea of a suitable retaliatory prank isn't printable. 

 

Vitus would be too suspicious to fall for it, which is just as well since his revenge would be bloody. 

 

Zero would probably guess the nature of the prank and wave at the cameras, and would warn off his teammates, but leave it in place for the next schmuck.

 

Felix from Shadowrun would be traumatised if any of that paint got on his custom-tailored stupidly expensive clothing. 

 

Ripper K would press it out of curiousity, and probably be quite amused by the result. 

[DusterBoy]

Ripper K has a sense of humour?

 

i mean, one that doesn’t involve extreme violence on civilians and terrified screaming?

[Pariah]

On 4/23/2020 at 4:49 PM, Tjack said:

  This has got C.L.O.W.N. Written all over it.  It would make more sense for people to keep going back if say one out of five times a  random amount of cash came out.  As low as two dollars, as high as a thousand.

   This way it becomes more of a social experiment.  “What are people willing to put up with for money?”

 

* Pariah furiously scribbles notes. *

[Drhoz]

6 hours ago, DusterBoy said:

Ripper K has a sense of humour?

 

i mean, one that doesn’t involve extreme violence on civilians and terrified screaming?

 Sure - he might look like an 8ft tall anthropomorphic orca, but he's a cheerful guy that doesn't hurt civilians and would rather end a fight with one hit than terrorise people. Even better are the missions where he can be in and out in seconds without hurting anybody. Seduction also works, but takes longer. 

[Duke Bushido]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:23 AM, Marcus Impudite said:

 WWYCD?

 

Hotrod would disassemble it with astounding speed, and leave it for the owners (or whoever) to find.  If it was doing the cash-dispensing option, he'd take whatever money was in it and donate it to a homeless shelter, figuring that helping to restore dignity is far, far more proper than paying someone to strip themselves of it.

 

The Good Guy would spray it with ammo until it fell to pieces, even if he had to go home and get more: clearly this orange colorant is marking victims to be found later by the werewolves.

 

Martin Power would have get annoyed, see the humor, and laugh it off.  Investigating the machine, he would find the URL and contact the "owners" of the machine, providing them the current location and inviting them to come it at X date and time.  In the meantime, he would watch whatever videos he could find, track down as many victims as possible, and invite them to same appointment.  If everything goes right, he'd tell the owners that they'll get it back when they make restitution for ruined clothes.  Barring that, he'd offer to let them have it back for free, after they watch him crush it.  If there was cash inside of it, there will still be cash inside of it.

 

Fish Guy (Sorry, Hermit:  long story, but I actually had a short-run character named Fish Guy.  GM insisted we have a water guy for a particular adventure, and no one wanted to be "some stupid fish guy," so I opted to do it-- mostly because I was inspired by the complaints to name him Fish Guy.    For what it's worth, he was nowhere near as cool (or useful) as Eel.  For what it's worth, he didn't talk to fish, either ) ) wouldn't get it, even if he tried it two or three times  (assuming it's nontoxic, mind you: he took extra damage/effect from skin-absorbed toxins).  If it's dispensing money, he'd play until he had enough money for a double-burger, chili tots, and cup of coffee at Truck's Tacos, then walk off to get a double-burger, chili tots, and a cup of coffee at Truck's Tacos.

 

Projectile: determine if it was harmless.  Then determine if it was patented.

 

Wind Splitter: paint it up to look like an ATM and randomly move it around town.

 

The others: call the police and report a nuisance and possible health hazard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DusterBoy]

16 hours ago, Drhoz said:

 Sure - he might look like an 8ft tall anthropomorphic orca, but he's a cheerful guy that doesn't hurt civilians and would rather end a fight with one hit than terrorise people. Even better are the missions where he can be in and out in seconds without hurting anybody. Seduction also works, but takes longer. 

Sorry, I got confused with the VIPER villain. The one with all the cybernetics.

 

Also, I think the only one of my characters who would actually care about this from a legal perspective is Ghost, aka Donald Rischer, my Nick Fury knock off, since he’s a federal agent. 

[Pariah]

Thunderstrike uses a small jolt of electricity to disable the device. He then rewires, reprograms, or otherwise repurposes it to spray whoever shows up to fix it.

 

Magnetite uses her powers to dissemble it to its component parts, from a distance of no less than ten meters.

 

Jack Diamond, who has been falsely accused of having no sense of humor whatsoever, finds this just amusing enough to make it his current pet project. He sets up a stakeout and does 2-3 days' worth of observation, followed up by a thorough investigation to determine 1) who is responsible for it being there and 2) whether the responsible entity needs to be shut down, or just pranked in return.

 

Pariah might use his magic to determine the kiosk's true intent and purpose...or he might just pick it up and throw it into low Earth orbit. Maybe both.

 

Knight Owl II: "I haven't got time for this. There are real crimes going on in this city."

 

Morningstar: "'Do not press this button', huh? Well, what if I just smash it with a mace?" *whack*

[Pariah]

This reminds me of an old xkcd comic:

 

[BoloOfEarth]

On 4/21/2020 at 12:40 PM, Hermit said:

Pinprick would push the button then move fast.. he's permanently shrunk and might avoid it. Victory, as ever, goes to an archer!

 

I don't see why Pinprick wouldn't use an arrow to push the button from afar, thus proving the superiority of archers.

[BoloOfEarth]

Being the over-cautious sort and the least powerful member of the Ann Arbor People's Justice Co-op, Bolo would either not push the button, or at worst convince his teammate Slash to use his stretching plus the tip of his sword to push the button.

 

The kiosks were, of course, put up by Foxbat as another step in his Master Plan (tm).  Didn't you recognize that maniacal laughter?

[archer]

ATW's power is to analyze and memorize technology. So he would look at it, figure out what it does, then find someone who he doesn't particularly like to lure into pushing the button.