Houston GM

Be polite to everyone. The next person you meet might be a world-class supervillain in their secret ID. Even in a world with superpowers, knowledge is power. Everyone has their kryptonite. Mine is cupcakes. Spandex is a privilege, not a right. Superscience has built powered armor suits that can fly and fire lasers without needing to be recharged ... but our smartphones still crap out before we get the chance to recharge them. The worst part of being a superhero is the slash fanfic.

Quotes from Owlcon - part 5 Drama Dice 2.0 "Avengers: Little Girl Lost" While the core members of Team Maximum were tracking down the kidnapped daughter, the Team Maximum reservists (inside Team Maximum's ship, Axis Mundi) pursued Loki. But why did his trail lead them to earth? Avengers roster Iron Man / Tony Stark The Hulk / Bruce Banner Thor Black Widow / Natasha Romanova Wasp Quicksilver / Pietro Maximoff Scarlet Witch / Wanda Maximoff Reed Richards warned Iron Man of an impending incursion from the Negative Zone. It could be Annihilus and his army. Iron Man immediately called the Avengers to assemble in the mansion's ready room. GM (ooc): Banner walks in, instead of the Hulk. You're not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Iron Man (ooc): It's a good thing. I don't feel like redecorating. Quicksilver (ooc): The mansion? Iron Man (ooc): No. New York City. There was a horrible noise in the sky over Manhattan. A large vehicle, ten miles tall and six miles in diameter entered from the negative zone. Four spheres, the size of large buildings, orbited the ship. Objects rained down from the ship, all over Manhattan. One of the objects landed on the lawn of the Avengers' mansion. It appeared to be the headless body of Annihilus. The other falling objects appeared to be thousands of insectoid corpses. Iron Man: "Well, that's one problem we don't need to worry about." A huge hologram of a blue, crystalline woman broadcasted that they were searching for something that was lost. Anyone in their way would be dealt with harshly. Iron Man made two attempts to communicate with the ship. The first attempt was ignored. The second was blocked. Jarvis: "S.H.I.E.L.D. is calling. They are most insistent." Iron Man: "Put them through." The connection was made. Iron Man: "S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark here. Little bit busy right now." Nick Fury: "Stark, there's an incursion over Manhattan. Do everything in your power to stop it." Iron Man: "What do you think we're busy doing?" The ship sent out a worldwide pulse, which reacted to Thor's hammer, and some more distant items. The ship immediately responded by unsuccessfully trying to wrest Mjolnir from Thor's hand. Black Widow: "S.H.I.E.L.D. has some Asgardian artifacts at its local headquarters. Maybe that's what they're looking for. Should we give the artifacts to them?" Iron Man: "Let's wait until they tell us what they want. I don't want to just start handing them artifacts, hoping they'll go away." A powerful force field surrounded the ship. Wasp flew through it, apparently unnoticed. Hulk wanted to get through the force field too, but couldn't break through on his own. Hulk: "Hammer man hit wall. Hulk hit wall. Smash through." GM (ooc): "You know, I actually understood that." With Thor's help, Hulk smashed through the force field, onto the exterior of the ship.Scarlet Witch fired a hex bolt through it, causing one of the enormous spheres to malfunction and crash into the side of the ship. Iron Man: (broadcasting again) "Are you ready to tell us what you're looking for, or should we continue breaking your toys?" Several superhumans teleported into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Manhattan headquarters, apparently to retrieve the Asgardian artifacts from the vault. Black Widow, Iron Man, Quicksilver and Thor headed to S.H.I.E.L.D., while Hulk, Scarlet Witch and Wasp continued to deal with the ship. Wasp entered the ship through the large hole caused by Scarlet Witch. Upon entering, she found herself in a park where several children were playing. Wasp: (growing larger so she can be seen) "Children, it's not safe here. Follow me and I'll take you to shelter." Little Girl: "It's a pixie! Mine! Mine! Mine!" Roots shot from the ground near the girl, trying to entangle Wasp. Little Boy: "No! It's mine! Pixie! Pixie! Pixie!" Darts shot from the boy's hand, narrowly missing Wasp. Wasp: (with a horrified look on her face) "These children will be fine on their own. My work here is done." Four Avengers arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. Black Widow: "I think they're heading for the vault." Quicksilver: "I'm guessing the trail of destruction won't be hard to follow." Four superhumans reached S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vault. Iron Man squared off against WarTalker, who had skill mimicry like Taskmaster, wore nanocrystalline armor made by The Imagineer, and could use his armor to create solid light objects like Green Lantern. Iron Man: "It's not the quality of the suit that matters ..." Iron Man remotely hacked WarTalker's suit, then shut the suit down. Iron Man: "It's the quality of the man inside of it." As Scarlet Witch flew near the ship, a magic portal opened. Witch Girl flew out and attacked Scarlet Witch. Scarlet Witch: (flying past Witch Girl and into the ship) "Thanks. Bye bye." Scarlet Witch closed and sealed the magic portal behind her, trapping Witch Girl outside. Witch Girl: "My mom is going to kill me." WarTalker managed to grab the Tiara of the Enchantress and escape. Thor recovered the Wrecker's crowbar. Thor also recovered one of Loki's staffs, which appeared to be the target that the superhumans were after. Upon grasping the staff, Thor heard Loki's voice in his head, taunting him that he was about to lose all he cared for. Thor: "I think this staff was a trap for S.H.I.E.L.D. left by Loki. I believe he was using it to spy on S.H.I.E.L.D." Iron Man: "Can I see it for a second?" Iron Man attached a tiny speaker to the staff. Thor: "What is that?" Iron Man: "It's a little vibrating speaker. It plays an endless loop of 'The Girl from Ipanema'." Black Widow: "Nick Fury doesn't seem too happy that Thor found out about the Asgardian artifacts, but I don't think he's going to make a big deal about it." Thor gave Black Widow a dark stare. Iron Man: "Well, Thor doesn't seem too happy that S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping a few Asgardian artifacts. Hopefully he won't make a big deal about it either." Scarlet Witch opened a magic portal from the inside the ship, allowing the four Avengers to travel from S.H.I.E.L.D. to the interior of the ship. Scarlet Witch examined Loki's staff and discovered that it broadcast a mystic signal, making it appear that Loki was at that location. Iron Man, meanwhile, found an open data port and hacked into the ship's PA system. Iron Man: "I'm in your ship, touching your stuff. Are you ready to talk to us now?" The Avengers managed to quickly reach a truce with Maxine, the blue, crystalline woman. Then a loud explosion echoed from elsewhere in the ship ... and it wasn't the Hulk. Maxine: "Perhaps you could help us with an enemy. Especially since if you don't, everyone on your planet might die." Quicksilver: "You say that like it's a rule: Superhero groups have to fight each other before they team up."

Quotes from Owlcon - part 4 Drama Dice 2.0 "Team Maximum: Little Girl Lost" Team Maximum is the Justice League of their universe. That level of power, but without the squeaky-clean image. The core members of Team Maximum El Bombastico: the toughest man in the world, Em's husband Em: a powerful witch, El Bombastico's wife Ghost: the deadliest man in the world, ex-special ops with high-tech gear Mach: the fastest man in the world, a flying speedster Madame Raven: the supreme sorceress Fox: the world's greatest shapeshifter The Imagineer: the world's smartest man, wears nano-crystalline powered armor While selecting characters. Player: "Em has a signature spell called 'Find MacGuffin'." El Bombastico and Em have a daughter. Loki kidnapped her. El Bombastico: "I'm going to shove my boot so far up Loki's ___ that he's going to be tasting shoe leather for a year." The daughter's trail led to Asgard. Loki's trail led to Earth-616. The core members followed the trail to Asgard. Asgard was shielded and ready for war. The group opened a small hole in the shield and snuck through. Em used her illusions to disguise Madame Raven as the Enchantress. Em disguised the rest of the group as normal Asgardians. Madame Raven made the illusion look more complete by charming two valkyries. The group used the disguises to reach Odin's throne room unopposed. Em: "As we walk into Odin's throne room, I'm going to drop the illusion." Mach: "Why not leave it up and try to fool him?" The Imagineer: "We will be facing Odin, on his throne, at his center of power." Madame Raven: "There is no illusion powerful enough to fool him." The Imagineer: "That's his thing." The Imagineer, Mach and Fox were of Atlantean descent, so they decided Odin would be more receptive to having them speak on the group's behalf. Fox assumed a large, imposing, regal, draconic form for the meeting. The Imagineer: (to Odin) "Odin All-Father, we apologize for this intrusion into your domain, but we do so only under the utmost duress. The daughter of two of my companions was stolen from them, and the trail led here. As a father, I'm sure you understand the lengths someone would go to to protect their own child." Loki: (stepping out from the shadows behind Odin's throne) "Father, they are telling you lies...." Fox: (interrupting) "I see you have a serpent too." Loki: "If what they are saying is true, then why have they weakened our defenses and allowed our ancient enemies to attack?" Loki paused. Nothing happened. Loki: (yelling loudly) "Why have they weakened our defenses and allowed our ancient enemies to attack?" Sounds of battle erupted outside. This was followed by an explosion as Surtur, king of the fire giants, smashed through the wall of the throne room. El Bombastico, Mach and the Imagineer forced Surtur out of the throne room, off the bridge and into the lake. GM: "Surtur is standing in 20 feet of water, but he's 50 feet tall." Fox: (describing actions) "As I stalk out of the throne room and onto the bridge, my scales shift to a silvery-white color." GM & various players (ooc): "Oh my god. I don't believe it. He's a white dragon." Fox blasted Surtur with his frost breath, leaving Surtur's legs pinned with ice. Surtur was alive, but ashen-skinned, with only a few small flames still flickering around him. Fox: "Surrender ... or die ..." Fox inhaled. Surtur surrendered. Loki fled the throne room during the battle. Afterwards.... The Imagineer: (to Odin) "Hopefully we have demonstrated that we are not your enemy. But we cannot leave without my companions' daughter." Odin: (nods) "Follow me." Em: (quietly) "I'm glad he didn't say, 'Walk this way.'" The group caught up to Loki in the vault and rescued El Bombastico and Em's daughter from him. Daughter: "Mommy! Daddy! You came! I missed you!" El Bombastico: (sweetly, to daughter) "Look away honey. Daddy has some business to attend to." (not so sweetly, to Loki) "Prepare to taste some boot leather." Fox: (cheerfully, to Loki) "Bend over and cough." If Loki was in Asgard, why did his trail lead to Earth-616 ... ?

Quotes from Owlcon - part 3 Drama Dice 2.0 "Witch Girls - Wyrd High" Set in and around Wyrd High School, Strangeville, Nebraska First animals started disappearing. Then people started disappearing. Finally someone important enough to matter has disappeared. Sissy, head cheerleader, daughter of the Sheriff was missing from her room this morning. Upon the principal's recommendation, the Sheriff grudgingly agreed to let a group of students help out with their own parallel investigation. Ross: a normal with minor psychic senses, leader of the group Beowulf: Ross' dog (no, he's not a great dane) Wakiza Sunwalker: an immortal, incredibly strong and fast Jake Cult: werewolf Hakim: efreet, has power over fire Tammy: studious witch, specializes in alteration magic Stephanie: dark elf with pink hair, necromancer, sullen and suspicious Xavier: vampire, heartthrob, has power over shadow Upon meeting the teens, the Sheriff insulted them collectively, then insulted each one directly. Xavier: (to the Sheriff) "Are you sure you're done? Because I think you missed a few racial slurs. It seems like you're on a roll, and I don't want to spoil it for you." Tammy: "Someone needs to investigate Sissy's bedroom, and someone needs to talk to the cheerleaders." Xavier: "I'll chat up the cheerleaders." Stephanie: (glaring at Xavier) "And I'll go with him to keep him out of trouble." Ross, Jake and Hakim decided to investigate Sissy's room. Tammy decided to accompany Xavier and Stephanie. Tammy: "And Wakiza needs to decide whether he'll check out the room or talk to the cheerleaders." Wakiza: (pretending to think about it) "Hmmm. Do I want to check out the room, or do I want to check out the cheerleaders...." Xavier: "Life is full of tough decisions." On Sissy's computer, Ross discovered a website that promised to teach people how to do real magic. Ross: "I'm going to text Tammy a link to this website, so she can tell us what it does." (After thinking for a minute, he added as an afterthought) "And I'm going to warn her that the website will try to take over her mind." The boys discovered other clues in Sissy's room - a token doll, a pumpkinhead minion which attacked them... Jake knew they weren't experts in this kind of magic, so he decided to send the information to someone who was more likely to understand it. Tammy: "Jake took a selfie with a destroyed pumpkinhead minion! And he sent it to me! WHY ?!?" Tammy discovered that the "real magic" taught by the website wasn't real magic at all. It would allow a person to summon a minor shadow spirit. That shadow spirit could animate a pumpkinhead minion. It could also consume small amounts of soul energy from people and animals in order to do other things. Xavier and Wakiza interviewed the cheerleaders without learning anything important ... until ... Jenny the cheerleader: "Xavier, could I speak to you ... privately?" Xavier: (smiling) "Of course." Stephanie: (under her breath, to Xavier) "Jerk!" Xavier followed Jenny into a back room. Stephanie snuck up to the door to eavesdrop. Jenny turn to face Xavier, her eyes and mouth filled with dark shadows... Jenny, the possessed cheerleader: "Fool. You should have left things alone. But you had to keep asking questions." Xavier smiled broadly at Jenny. Jenny, the possessed cheerleader: "Why are you smiling?" Xavier used his powers to lock the shadow spirit into place. Xavier: "Because you are a minor creature of shadow, and I am a major creature of shadow." Stephanie burst into the room and used her necromancy to banish the shadow spirit. Jenny the cheerleader: (looking confused) "What are you doing? Get away from me you weirdo." Stephanie: (to Xavier) "HA! She rejected you!" Xavier: (shrugging) "It was bound to happen sooner or later." Right before Jenny walked out of the room, she looked over her shoulder and winked at Xavier. Stephanie: (to Xavier) "I hate you." After regrouping at the school, the teens continued their investigation. Hakim and Stephanie decided to search the library. GM (ooc): "What's your favorite manga?" Hakim (ooc): "Full Metal Alchemist." GM: "As you walk through the manga section of the library, a copy of 'Full Metal Alchemist' falls of the shelf. The pages start tearing themselves out of the book, flying into the air, and forming into the outer layer of a figure that looks like a suit of armor." Stephanie (ooc): "Good thing you're not a fan of Van Helsing." The clues pointed to Mary Danvers, formerly a school librarian, currently a unaging necromancer at least 100 years old. Ross: "I called the Sheriff and told him that Mary Danvers was a suspect." Nancy, Wakiza and Xavier: "Why?" Ross: "He seemed really concerned about his daughter, and I wanted to let him know we were making some progress." The teens raced to Mary Danvers house in an attempt to get there before the Sheriff got slaughtered. Xavier and Wakiza decided to enter the house, while the rest followed the trail into the pumpkin patch. As they reached the middle of the patch, a giant pumpkinhead erupted up from the middle of the patch with the Sheriff entangled in its torso. Giant Pumpkinhead: (bellowing) "You spoil everything!!" Tammy: "Good!" Meanwhile, the noise could be heard up at the porch of the house. Xavier: (to Wakiza) "Oh joy. Look what they just woke up." Wakiza pulled the sheriff out of the pumpkinhead's torso, causing it to shrivel up. Ross: "Someone must be out of their gourd." The group entered the house and ganged up on Mary Danvers, the necromancer. Jake had pinned her and slashed her throat. Xavier swooped in for the kill. Xavier: (pausing and whispering to Mary Danvers) "They say the first taste is free."

Quotes from Owlcon, part 2 Champions 3rd Edition "School Holiday" Some supervillains and mercenaries took over a local junior high school. Strike Force was called in to rescue the students and faculty. GM: Theron Strike Force roster Phosphene: teleporting martial artist Lightrune: flying brick, can manifest an energy sword Plasma Ranger: energy projector Shadow Walker: ninja La Panthere: enhanced human martial artist Sammael: shapeshifter with 4 distinct forms (monkey, hawk, gorilla, allosaurus), uses a neural whip While players were picking their characters... Player: So, Night Walker is kind of like a ninja? GM: No. He's exactly like a ninja. Plasma Ranger jammed the mercenaries' radios. Phosphene: "They're playing your song." Sammael: (switching to gorilla form) "I'm a gorilla with boobies." Phosphene: "I need to scrub my brain with bleach." Strike Force quickly dispatched the mercenaries guarding the larger group of students and teachers. A smaller group of students and teachers was being held in the basement cafeteria by the supervillains and more mercenaries. Supervillain roster Denier: demon, leader Briareus: 4-armed brick, unintelligent construct Flare: fire projector Sliver: martial artist, also used flechettes Scanner: mentalist As Phosphene teleported the members of Strike Force into the cafeteria's kitchen, the supervillains began to suspect that something was going wrong. Flare: "Sliver, Briareus: go check out the gym. There's a problem upstairs." Lightrune: (yelling from the kitchen) "No there's not." Denier: "Impudent mortals! You will pay for this!" Plasma Ranger: "Do you take credit?" Sammael, back in gorilla form, slashed Denier with her whip. Then she turned to the mercenaries and made an exceedingly lewd gesture. Sammael: "Who else wants a piece of this?" Phosphene: "I need to scrub my brain with bleach ... again." Lightrune slammed his fist down onto Sliver, knocking her out and cratering the floor beneath her. Phosphene: "You knocked her into the sub-basement." Night Walker: "There is no sub-basement." Phosphene: "There is now." Night Walker's player had forgotten to take his ADHD meds ... and talked non-stop. Sammael (ooc): "You're the noisiest ninja I've ever met."

Quotes from Owlcon - part I Pulp Hero "The Fiendish Plan of Dr. Mephisto" The Sentinels of Justice investigated the mysterious disappearance of a skyscraper. GM: Theron Dirk Morgan: a newspaper editor Huan Ju Morgan: Dirk's Chinese adopted sister, a martial artist Dr. Diogenes Sinclair: a jungle doctor "Pat" Garrett: an Arizona cowgirl Jeremiah "Sparks" McGee: a mad scientist Eugene Bullard: a black American fighter pilot who fought in French Foreign Legion during the Great War The Amazing Bosco Patterson: an acrobat and brawler A 27 story skyscraper was under construction. Then it disappeared. All that remained was the foundation. Dirk: "I could have sworn that I parked it right here." Elmo, a homeless man, was the only witness. Bosco: (to Elmo) "There's a drink in it for you." Elmo: (slurring) "I don't touch the stuff." Bosco: "You don't touch it ... but you will drink it." The Sentinels of Justice were attacked by a group of mooks. Huan Ju: (catching a mook's fist in her hand) "Denied." Pat tried to climb a fire escape to reach a gunman. The fire escape wouldn't lower, which left her hanging from the bottom rung. Pat: "Could you give me a boost?" Sparks threw his wrench at the mechanism, freeing it and allowing the fire escape to deploy. Sparks: "I used my science." The Sentinels of Justice tracked Dr. Mephisto down to his dirigible. While Eugene flew the plane, the rest parachuted onto the top of the dirigible, then climbed down through the superstructure. When they were attacked by mooks, Pat lassoed one of them and pulled him so he was dangling by one leg. Dr. Sinclair: Piñata time. While the rest of the team climbed down through the superstructure, Eugene discovered that the dirigible had a "trapeze": a mechanism which allowed it to deploy and retrieve a small fighter plane. The Sentinels' seaplane had a hook, allowing it to make use of the trapeze. Even though the seaplane was too large for this trapeze, Eugene managed to catch the seaplane's hook on the trapeze, wedge the seaplane up into the dirigible's hangar, climb out of the seaplane, fight off two mooks and sneak onto the dirigible. Eugene coincidentally entered the dirigible just as the rest of the group climbed down out of the superstructure. Dr. Sinclair: (to Eugene) "It took you long enough." Eugene: "I had a hard time finding a place to park." Bosco: "Parking is hell in New York." Eugene: "I nearly got towed."

Explosive Decompression: Have a plan for what happens when PCs/NPCs start punching holes in the fuselage. Everyone has heard of explosive decompression. The Mythbusters tested it once. A bullet won't cause explosive decompression. (The air will leak out the hole, but the hole won't expand.) A larger hole (the size of a window) will cause explosive decompression. When I used combat on an airplane, I kept the entire fight low (under 10,000 feet), so there were fewer issues to complicate things. What's the goal? If it's a simple assassination attempt, the villains might just blow the tail off the plane, then attack any PCs who make it out of the falling plane. Planes are fast: Even if your PCs can fly, most don't fly at the speed of most planes. Assume the plane is going between 65 hexes and 128 hexes per segment. That's very hard to keep up with, especially if you're using powers that are 60-100 points. When I ran a scenario with a plane, the first major problem to solve was how to catch it. (I was nice. They started out ahead of the plane, so they only had to figure out a way to catch it as it shot past.) Other options: Instead of starting the encounter with the plane being attacked, start it with the PCs getting a warning: "Villain group is going to attack your plane in the air." Suddenly you've given them multiple ways to try to solve the problem.

Character #1: Red Dwarf White Dwarf Brown Dwarf These combine his height, his density increase and his background as an astronaut. Character #2: In his alien pantheon, he is known as Mayak-Kel. Like Thor, he can use that as his "hero name." However, his fame as a demigod has spread far beyond his alien planet. The stories about him have spread (and changed) into all sorts of myths and legends throughout the galaxy. Word of him has even spread to earth. But on earth, the stories describe him as an archangel: Michael to the Christians/Jews, Mikhail to the Muslims. For that reason, in his secret ID, he could call himself Michael.

This will depend upon the jurisdiction. I researched the issues for Texas, but these answers may not hold true for other locations. Privacy Law: Since Previsor looked into an area where Ms. Shapely had an expectation of privacy, he has violated her right to privacy. In addition, the "Disorderly Conduct" statute which covers the actions of Peeping Toms would cover his actions. This Ms. Shapely her the right to sue him in civil court. I'm reminded of the legal truism, "You may not take the fall, but you sure can take the ride." A jury may acquit Previsor, but that doesn't protect him from the difficulty associated with fighting the lawsuit. Tresspassing: According to Texas law, your entire body must enter the property. Previsor is in the clear on that one. Good Samaritan Laws: In Texas, these only apply to health care provided. Previsor's actions (which proactively prevented harm) would not be covered. Damages: Even though Ms. Shapely can't specify an amount of damage that she deserves compensation for, she still could seek exemplary damages (also known as punitive damages), which would punish Previsor for his "wrongdoing." Would there even be a lawsuit? Lawsuits are about money. The chances of winning this case are small. (Do you think a jury wants to punish Previsor for saving Ms. Shapely's life?) While lawyers like publicity, they're less fond of publicity that shows them getting whipped in court. A lawyer isn't going to take this on just for media exposure. (Previsor, on the other hand, has a much better chance of getting a lawyer to offer to represent him pro bono.) Ms. Shapely may have enough money to pay the lawyer's rate. But if she's rich, she has to worry about negative publicity. This is the sort of lawsuit that every late-night comedian would use as fodder for jokes. Rich people are generally more concerned with their reputation than poor people. If she can afford the money, she may not be able to afford the negative publicity. Despite these two strikes, there still could be money in a lawsuit ... if Previsor is wealthy. If Previsor is wealthy enough, Ms. Shapely might be willing to endure the public humiliation in order to win a big payout. And if Previsor is wealthy, then a lawyer may be willing to take the case on contingency. A lawyer doesn't need to win in court to collect his contingency fee. He can get the same fee for a large enough settlement. Will Previsor's ability to look into showers harm his reputation? If so, he may be willing to settle the case quickly and quietly. If Ms. Shapely can afford the damage to her reputation and Previsor can't, there will be a lawsuit. Otherwise, this lawsuit will never be filed.

I live in Texas, which is known for being extremely open-minded about weapons laws and concepts like "self-defense." Even here, the laws are a bit stricter than "follow the Geneva conventions."

Does your jurisdiction consider any of the following to be reasons for justifiable homicide: trespassing, criminal trespassing, breaking and entering? If not, using bullets on an intruder would be considered homicide, unless you had reason to believe the intruder was bulletproof. Even if the target is bulletproof, using bullets would probably result in reckless endangerment charges (if not negligent homicide), unless there's some mechanism stopping the bullets from leaving the property. Maybe just a few issues. I would use a paired neural stunner / death ray instead. That way I could use the death ray and claim that the neural stunner malfunctioned.

Case No 9 The Crimson Ghost will first need to prove his identity to the district attorney (and there will need to be adequate corroborating evidence of the officers' crime) before charges are filed. (And the charges may be attempted murder instead of murder, unless he can prove that he actually died.) He doesn't actually need to prove his identity in order to testify in court. The judge could leave that determination up to the jury. "First you must decide whether you believe the Manhattan Mauler is actually the Crimson Ghost. If you believe he is, you may then consider part or all of his testimony against the defendants." Generally speaking, "prior bad acts" can't be admitted as testimony, because it is considered prejudicial. That officer can be tried, but the prosecution can't mention his arrest/conviction. (There are a few exceptions to this rule. Very few.) The defense attorney will probably try to claim that the Manhattan Mauler is trying to smear his client's name because his client is running for office. The attorney will be allowed to state that in court and question the Manhattan Mauler about it when the Mauler testifies. And that tactic may end up having some influence on the jury. Case No 10 Criminals are not allowed to profit from criminal ventures. Selling computers (new or used) is not a criminal venture, as long as the computers were legally obtained. Selling memorabilia can be a different situation, because the memorabilia may have gained value due to the notoriety surrounding the crime. If the computers were used in the commission of a crime, and were seized as evidence against the criminals, the authorities can sell the confiscated good. (This may vary state-to-state.) The proceeds go to the state coffers. The criminal's authorization is meaningless. Part 2: I bake some pies and put them on sale. Anyone can buy them. Can someone stop their sale on the grounds that I may benefit financially and use the money to further my criminal schemes? Of course not. There's no evidence that I have criminal schemes. Even if I did, I'm still allowed to make money selling the pies (unless they're part of the criminal scheme). Making money is not a crime. If you interfere with my attempts to make money, I can probably find a way to sue you in civil court. Does the inventor of the fembots have a patent (or multiple patents) protecting his invention? If so, he can file a lawsuit and request an injunction to prevent someone else from selling his invention. Occasionally the court will grant an emergency injunction up front, but typically the inventor would have to win his case (a process which takes roughly 2-3 years) in order to get his injunction. But the manufacturer won't necessarily get to profit for those 2-3 years. They'll still have to pay money to compensate the inventor for those 2-3 years of sales. Case 11-1 and 11-2: Partly this depends on whether this is treated as a criminal or civil matter. If it's a civil matter (any type of contract violations), the company isn't going to be able to get the cybernetic body back. (You just won't get a jury who will give that kind of ruling.) The cyborg will have to financially reimburse the company for what he stole. As a criminal case (only the theft is actually a criminal matter), this gets more interesting. The company won't stand a chance of getting the cybernetic body back until the case is finished (and the appeals are exhausted). If I were the criminal , however, I would argue that I did not steal the cyborg body. I built it. I stole the parts. I stole the use of the lab. Therefore, the company doesn't deserve to get my property back. Case 12: Due process applies to the accused, not to the witness. A dashboard camera can act as a witness. It is not considered human, nor does it have the same rights as a normal citizen. Lack of humanity is not an obstacle in and of itself. This will probably be heavily argued in motions before the trial, but I think most judges would allow it because the undead can be cross-examined, and does can be charged with perjury if it lies. The only historical precedent I can think of that's similar is black slaves. Blacks were not allowed to testify against whites, but they could (and did) testify against other slaves. If anything, the parallel to slavery would guarantee that the undead would be allowed to offer testimony.

Base: I did a campaign based on a UN team a few years back. Some of my ideas/resources could be adapted to your campaign. In my campaign, there were five bases worldwide, and each base was paid for by the country where it was located. Therefore, my bases ended up in countries that wanted a UN team present for some reason. Some wanted the increased visibility on the world stage. (For example, Venezuela sponsored a base for this reason.) Others wanted the base to counter the implied threat of a larger, interfering neighbor. (For example, Ukraine sponsored a base in order to counter Russia's influence.) However, since the host country paid for the base and the non-essential staff, the countries had to have enough wealth to support the cost. I put a base in Jakarta, Indonesia, and that would certainly work for you. However, I could see Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia all offering to be the host country for the base. China would strongly object to the base being in Taiwan. South Korea and Japan might try to prevent each other from trying to get the base. Australia is a little too far away. Indonesia is a good compromise. And if your campaign also has jihadist supervillain terrorists, Indonesia would gain an additional benefit to having a handy resource to counter them. Story seeds: I plundered the following thread for every idea that I could adapt to my campaign. I changed the locations and villains as necessary to fit my campaign. http://www.herogames.com/forums/index.php?/topic/2788-from-little-plot-seeds-mighty-games-do-grow-share-your-ideas/?hl=seeds There's more material in this thread than you could pack into a multi-year campaign. Name: Ring of Fire It has a nice ring to it. It focuses on the geography. There's no objectionable subtext contained in the name. Members: You could have a caucasian, Australian ninja who runs around bare-chested, wears white pants and .... nah ... that would be too silly for anyone to take seriously.

I'm assuming Armature is in the same campaign, so the details of the world are reasonably accurate. The laws are American laws. The U.S. is one country. This is one government / population against a powerful minority population. The sensible option is for the mutants to seek allies outside of the country. If I were a mutant, I'd be seeking asylum with other countries who would treat me better. A lot of Jewish scientists escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to the U.S. when they saw the way the wind was blowing. The U.S. benefited greatly from this brain trust. Germany suffered the consequence of this brain drain. A smart country would offer all law-abiding mutants asylum as a way to boost their own power on the world stage. In addition to offering asylum, offer the mutants jobs based on their powers. A smart (and powerful) mutant would point out these advantages when seeking asylum with other countries. After establishing this kind of relationship, you can establish an underground railroad to help mutants escape to this country. The country would seek plausible deniability ("It's not our mutants running the railroad. Ours are here. Those are your mutants.")

I would either follow L Marcus' suggestion (Computer in an IIF), or I would build it as a contact. If the spirit guide/A.I. mentor always responds when called, the former is probably the best suggestions, even if it sometimes chooses not to provide assistance in the manner Tristan would prefer. If you're envisioning something closer to Obi Wan Kenobi's ghostly presence, that's more easily represented as a contact.

Possession power aren't the problem. I allowed a player to have them before, and it wasn't an issue (though it could be overpowering in the right circumstances). Don't allow villainous PCs in a superhero campaign. The psychopath has five Hunteds, and he can't take them all at once. The NSA is willing to assist the FBI in finding him. Both organizations are good at covert investigations. The FBI can form a joint task force which includes PRIMUS, UNTIL, the New York superhero group (and the NSA as a covert participant). PRIMUS and UNTIL can provide special technology to nullify his possession powers, and whatever other power he has that might allow him to easily escape (like Desolid). Smart, organized and well-prepared Hunteds can stop anyone. After they capture him, PRIMUS can put him in a special cell that nullifies his powers. Since his character will spend the rest of his life in prison, tell him to create a new one or leave the game. Next time, don't let him play a sociopath or psychopath unless you're running a supervillain campaign. And if he starts to act like a villain again, slap him down much sooner. Handling the other players: Why did the other players (superheroes) let him act like a criminal for so long? When he's thrown in prison, tarnish their reputations. Let them know that the public holds them responsible for what they let him do. Picket their base. File civil lawsuits against whatever points in wealth they have. Let them know that his actions have negative consequences for them. The next time he jumps out of line, they'll put him in his place. If you are running a supervillain campaign: Sociopaths and psychopaths are allowed, and sometimes encouraged. In that case, don't have his Hunteds stomp him all at once. Let them continuously harass him until he's forced to be a lot more cautious and discreet. Similarly, if the other PCs start getting hunted as his accomplices, they'll encourage him to be a lot more discreet.

The most memorable criminal I ever used was the Idiot King (I think he was published in the "Underworld Enemies" sourcebook). He certainly had an unusual motivation (his escapades always were intended as social commentaries -- from his own demented point of view). He was a supergenius. He had whatever mundane skills were required for his current escapade. He had enough wealth to obtain whatever mundane resources were needed (like thugs). And he left clues. He wasn't trying to avoid getting caught. He was trying to see how quickly the heroes could catch him through his clues. And he always announced his presence to the media at the beginning of an escapade, so the press was always watching (putting a different sort of pressure on the team). He wasn't vicious or murderous. Just cheerfully and criminally nuts.

I prefer to have my flaws fit an overall character concept. I had an armored brick who had high PRE & COM and a fair number of PRE skills (acting, persuasion, seduction, streetwise, etc.). In order to investigate crime, he moonlighted as a generic minion/goon in his secret ID. As one would expect of a big, strong, attractive, charismatic man, he was quite popular with the ladies. Some of his disadvantages: PsychLim: weakness for attractive women (for example, he would sometimes date villains, and he was reluctant to fight attractive women) Generic DNPC: current girlfriend (as powerful, useful skills ... since he would sometimes date heroines and villains at his own power level) Generic Hunted: stalked by jealous/possessive ex-girlfriends (some of his exes would periodically show up; they wouldn't try to kill him ... but they showed less restraint with his current girlfriends) Reputation: lady's man (in his secret ID) Romantic rivalry: any man dating an attractive woman Hunted: wanted by the police for questioning for his activities as a minion SocLim: secret (the villains who employed him didn't know he was a hero) SocLim: secret (the heroes didn't know that he moonlighted as a minion) Distinctive Features: very attractive man These weren't flaws that villains intentionally exploited.But it still gets a little awkward when a superheroine ex-girlfriend shows up hoping to see you "once more for old times," just as you are about to have a romantic afternoon with a lovely supervillain who believes that you're a career criminal.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life. On PBS last night, Charlie Rose was interviewing billionaire Warren Buffett. Charlie Rose: "The Republicans say that Obama's tax plan would create class warfare. Do you believe they're correct?" Warren Buffett: "There's been class warfare for years. My class is winning."

Re: I made the GM cry.... The following is an exerpt from one of my favorite gaming websites. All credit goes to Ian, the owner of said website: Superhero campaign. The usual array of eccentrics labelled a superhero team, with Ian's character being Backlash, a high-powered Energy Absorber and Projector. That adventure called for the group to bust into a supervillain's underground lair and fight him. The Referee had thoroughly scripted out the adventure beforehand, including days of work on an elaborate maze of booby-traps for the group to fight their way through. The Referee had bragged about this repeatedly, so the players knew it was going to be tough. Having watched Star Trek II just before the session, Ian was imbued with the idea of "...if you don't like the game, then change the rules...". So, when facing the entrance to the Ref's funhouse maze, he opted for a surprise move. Backlash utilized his powers to soak up a huge amount of electrical energy from the base (stuck his finger in a convenient power outlet - kiddies, don't try this at home). He then unleashed the absorbed power in one humungous Energy Blast that blew a twenty foot wide tunnel right THROUGH the maze and into the guts of the base! Good ol' Backlash didn't have enough amps left to zap a ladybug, but it didn't matter. Instead of spending several hours battling through the maze, the group strolled inside the base within ten minutes. Given that the bad guys suddenly had a lot less time to prepare their interior defenses, and that the group had arrived in good condition, it did not go well for that villain.

Darwin Award waiting to happen The light rail runs down main street on both sides of the median. The rail stations are located on the median between the rails. As I was waiting at the station for the southbound train a man walked up to the station from the wrong side. There's a barricade preventing people from entering the platform there (they want people to use the crosswalks, where it's safer) so he was standing on the northbound railroad tracks as we had this conversation. Panhandler: Can you help me out with a cigarette? I think I can get around the system by asking from here. Ya see, they gave me a ticket for $175 on the way down here and... Apparently the police give tickets for panhandling at the rail station. Me: I think ... (I leaned over the barrier to look down the rail) There's a train coming! Bum: Could you help... Me: It's right there! Do you want to get run over? Get the hell off the track! The bum dashed back to the sidewalk and seconds later the train rolled past. As soon as it was gone, he walked back onto the rail and up to the barricade. Bum: Could you help me out with a cigarette? Me: I just saved your life. I kept you from getting run over by a train. I think I've helped you enough. Bum: But is that real help? Me: I think if you asked most people which is more help, a cigarette or keeping them from getting run over by a train, they'd go with the "not getting run over by a train" option as being more helpful. Bum: Do you think it's illegal for me to be asking for a cigarette from here? I'm trying not to get a ticket. I'm trying to buck the system. Me: I think you can get a ticket for hanging out on the railroad tracks. And you can get run over by a train. Bum: I think ... maybe I need to stop thinking. Me: Maybe you need to start thinking.

Re: Here's the scenario I like this scenario, since there are a lot of ways different characters could solve the problem. 1. Presence Attack, as Lucius suggested. It's available to lots of characters. 2. Entangle based on ECV and EGO. The Mentalist's EGO may exceed Cheetah's DEX, and nothing in the scenario indicates that his EGO (as opposed to his Mental Defense) is anything special. 3. Similarly, an EB that targets using ECV but is resisted using ED. (Sounds strange, but a PC in one campaign built her primary attack that way.) 4. A lot of altitude with a long-range attack (line-of-sight or megascale range). If you can sit 2 miles up and plink him from above, he's going to need to get under something to avoid you. And then he's effectively cornered. Call in some allies while he's trapped. 5. If you have a megascale movement power, flush him out into an open area, then run him down. One speedster of my creation could do a Passing Strike (or similar maneuver) on any target between him and the horizon. If he misses (due to NCM penalties), he could turn around and do it again. 6. If you've flushed him into the open (with nobody around), that also opens up the possibility of using megascale AoE attacks. If the area is 1 km (or wider across), that reduces the effectiveness of Cheetah's Dive for Cover. 7. Cheetah may perceive the character, but not recognize them as a threat. If you're a shapeshifter appearing to be something harmless (or friendly), he may have no reason to run. A truly skilled shapeshifter won't catch him in the alley. He'll be in the bank or jewelry store disguised as the loot. 8. Investigative powers can allow a character to find Cheetah after he gets away. Tracking Scent is one possibility. Another is using N-Ray Vision and Speed Reading to read the address of his driver's license as he runs by. Criminology and Deduction might work. Sufficient levels of Luck work too. The investigative powers allow you to catch him later when he's asleep. 9. For most characters with reasonable investigative skills, catching Cheetah in box alley isn't the plan. You're expecting him go first and run past you. But when he does run past you, that's when he hits the real attempt to catch him (like Vitus' Grease spell). Between the PCs that I've GMed for and the PCs/NPCs I've created, I've seen every single one of the possibilities mentioned above. There are plenty of characters who don't have a way to catch him, but most teams have some option.

Maybe it's an IQ test The breakroom TV was showing Fox News. Conservative Talking Head: Instead of spending billions of dollars to chase these illegals throught the desert, they should spend some of that money to build a fence, a wall, and another fence. Me: (To coworker) That will stop every illegal immigrant who can't figure out how to use a wirecutter and a ladder. Are they trying to keep illegal immigrants out, or just the ones with IQs under 50?

Re: overmentalizing If I were an evil mastermind ... ... wait a minute, I am one. I played in a campaign where one of the major nasty bad guys managed to successfully impersonate one of our allies, so we told him (more specifically, I told him) our entire plan for taking down the bad guys. Shortly thereafter, we discovered that our ally had been eliminated prior to the meeting. The following in-character discussion ensued: Brother Vincent: "We're screwed! The enemy knows the entire plan!" Nero: (grinning ear-to-ear) "This is perfect. We finally have an advantage." Brother Vincent: "What are you talking about? YOU told him the plan." Nero: (laughing) "Yes, I did." Brother Vincent: "The REAL plan." Nero: (laughing harder) "That's right. It's perfect." Brother Vincent: "You're insane. There's no way this helps us." Nero: "Think about it. This entire time we've been hampered because we didn't know what our enemy knew. For the first time, we know exactly what information they have." Brother Vincent: (nearly hysterical) "They have the WHOLE plan!" Nero: (suddenly calm, quiet and completely serious) "And now we change the whole plan, and then they won't know any of it." ---------------- Following the same line of thought, if I were a mob boss who just had an important mook captured, I'd figure out what the three most incriminating pieces of information that he knew were. 1. The incriminating evidence would get moved. 2. The location would be booby-trapped. 3. Private investigators would be hired to surreptitiously watch each location and call in if/when the PCs showed. The people in the organization who were known to the mook would be instructed to drop off the radar and stay in locations that the mook didn't know about. Whatever upcoming heist the mook knew about would be immediately rescheduled. The team doing it would be put on standby, and they would hit the target when the private investigator called to say the PCs were at the booby-trap. This doesn't require any planning in advance. It's completely reactionary. Any bright enemy could make the plan and execute it while the mentalist investigator was going through the mook's brain. And unlike the other suggestions, you're not penalizing him for using his powers. You're penalizing him for being slow and obvious about how he uses his powers.

Re: Conceptual Idea: A world full of supers