BoloOfEarth

Not being familiar with the Aristocrats joke, I apologize in advance if this doesn't fit the theme. Sir Reginald (almost universally called Reggie, even by members of his family, to Reginald's eternal aggravation) is the eldest son of the clan. He has such a stiff upper lip that his whole body is rigid. Others have joked that he can't bend over because of the stick stuck so far up his rectum. His extreme rigidity can be extended to others. With a single disapproving glare, he can cause a target to become stiff and unmoving (Mental Paralysis) until they either break free on their own or someone slaps the person across the face. He also has the inexplicable ability to get people to instantly do non-dangerous things simply by making the appropriate pronouncement or commanding it as if it's his God-given right. ("UNTIL agents! You're fired! Drop your weapons and run away home, you curs!"

There was a scene preceding the trial that I forgot to include: an NPC hero flying brick (Major Justice) with nearly two decades of experience applied to join Just Cause. Nexus: (looking over his resume) Flying Thunder, Longhorn, Lieutenant Freedom, Captain Incredible, Stalwart... he's certainly had a lot of superhero names. Pops: That's not a good sign. They contact the last team he was an "associate" of: S-Squad Nexus: We're checking references on Major Justice... ah, he went by Stalwart when he was working with S-Squad S-Squad office manager: Oh, yeah, how is ol' Crash Bandicoot doing? Let me get one of the S-Squad heroes to talk to you. Subliminal explains that Stalwart / Major Justice is a good guy, he just has a little problem with knockback. Subliminal: Synergy explained it once; his repulsion field makes him almost indestructible, but as it repulses damage, it pushes him away. He'll take a huge hit, and then spend the next few minutes flying back to the fight. Players from my prior campaign are discussing the NPC's personality with the newer players. Malarky: (OOC) He's a real Dudley Doright type. No shades of gray. Pops: Well, he is not going to fit in with this bunch. The heroes tell Major Justice that they'll get back to him. Also, before continuing with last Sunday's quotes, I should summarize a scene from the week before that I forgot to include. Nexus (in secret ID) was walking down the street when she saw a ghost of a woman, pleading in vain for passersby to help her. (Nexus can see and communicate with dead people.) The ghost told Nexus that she had just been killed by her ex, who was now going to either kill or take away their child. Nexus followed the ghost up to the apartment (with the ghost passing through the wall beside the door before Nexus got up to the door). When Nexus stepped through the door, she found herself in a spooky swamp, near an old bloodstained stone altar. Scattered around were bones that weren't quite human. And of course the door she just passed through is gone. More troubling, the Mind Link she always has with Circe cut off as soon as she stepped through the door, since she actually traveled to another dimension. There, she meets Charles Aching (those of you who read Drhoz's quotes of his Call of Cthulhu campaign may recognize him), who had previously given Road Kill some "music lyrics" that summoned various horrors including star vampires and a flying polyp. He offers her a very binding mage pact: she procures something for him, and he will bring her long-lost brother safely home. Lots of conditions that should have made her rather nervous -- he won't tell her what the item actually is until she agrees to the pact, she can't reveal her interest in the item to anybody at any time, she can't work or aid in any way (including inaction, such as letting Circe read her mind) any attempts to take the item back from him after she gives it to him, etc. To my complete surprise, she agreed. (Being the evil little GM I am, I played this all out in front of all players, except revealing what Aching is after: an ancient tome that McGinty and crew had acquired back in the 1920s. Just sowing a little dissension in the ranks.) Back to last Sunday's game. Nexus, Malarky, and Pops go to the prosecutor's home to see what's up with Carson's wife. When Nexus sees the woman, she also sees the spirit possessing her: the same ghost that led her to her meeting with Charles Aching. Nexus: That b**ch! She's going down! Malarky: Okay, what's the plan? Because I don't think Pops or I have anything that will affect her. Pops: And if we take her down, how are we going to hold her? Nexus: [expletives deleted] Shadowboxer: (OOC) Anybody know the number for the Ghostbusters? With Circe (whose mental powers might help capture the ghost) and Maker (who might be able to build a gadget to contain the ghost) both stuck at the trial, the heroes try to come up with ways to delay the trial's conclusion until the next day to buy them time. Honey Badger: Pops, can you teleport a big ol' cobra into the courtroom? Then I can point and yell, "Aaaaah! Cobra!" That should do it. Pops: I am not teleporting a cobra into the courtroom. They'll know it was me, and arrest me for contempt of court. (Pause) If you want, I can borrow a cobra from the zoo, and you can come out of the courtroom long enough to get it and bring it in with you. HB: How am I supposed to sneak it in? Pops: Stuff it down your pants. You're immune to snake venom, aren't you? HB: I'm big and all, but a giant cobra might be a bit conspicuous. GM: Plus, there's getting it out once inside. "Hold on, everyone, while I whip this out. (ziiiip)" Eventually, they have little choice but to let the trial run its course, resulting in Wight being found not guilty and walking free. As soon as the verdict is read, Carson's wife gets a phone call, after which the ghost leaves the body and flies away. The heroes meet with Carson and his wife, vowing to capture the ghost and keep her from ever messing with their lives again. That's two events down -- public appearance and a trial -- where the players fully expected a brawl, but nothing happened. So they're almost relieved when TJ forwards a video file that was just emailed to him. They see Ankylosaur, helmet off and smoking a cigar, sitting in the PRIMUS base's security monitoring room kicked back and relaxed. In the background are noises of things getting demolished. Ankylosaur: Howdy do, Lost Cause. Thought you'd like to know that there's a party at PRIMUS, and you're the guests of honor. (puffs on cigar and smiles) Don't you love it when a plan comes together? (more to follow)

That A-Team adventure was actually two Sundays ago. I was planning to have two weeks to prepare for my next game (our gaming group alternates between my Champions game and a D&D game), but on Friday evening the other GM texted, asking if I could run that Sunday instead. Eep! I decided to have a few non-combat events -- an NPC applying to join the hero team, a public appearance at a high school, and a trial of a supervillain captured a while back -- followed by a gratuitous combat. Not wanting to map out a new location, I looked through my old paper maps and found one of a PRIMUS base. Perfect. Bit of background: in my game, captured villains are typically taken to the PRIMUS base and put into holding cells until they can be transported to Stronghold. In addition to capturing most of the A-Team, the heroes had previously captured a handful of the New Gods, a set of androids passing themselves off as various Greek gods and mythical heroes (Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Heracles). The New Gods all have the Physical Complication that they can be turned off, so I figured PRIMUS had them deactivated and stored in their vault. I told the players at the start of the evening that I had thrown that evening's adventure together on short notice and hadn't even had time to draw out a map, but that basically the bulk of the adventure would be a super-brawl. Circe: (reading from the weekly news) "PRIMUS Detective Williams... said Just Cause was instrumental in helping PRIMUS stop the attacks and capture the villain team." Pops: Wait, he actually complimented us? I think you may need to check if that's really him. Or maybe he's been mind controlled. Another news item is on the upcoming trial of Wight (who is Maker's Hunted and attacked Maker's mother a few adventures back), aka Russian cosmonaut Andrei Vyelov. Circe: (reading that article) "Irving Probalino, Vyelov's lawyer, insists that his client is innocent. 'He is just as much the victim here, and I intend to prove that in court.'" Malarky: Probalino? Isn't he that pain-in-the-a** lawyer with all the luck? Pops: You guys have run into him before? Malarky: Yeah, in a prior campaign. GM: He's a high-priced lawyer who seems to win most of his cases, even against incredible odds. (pause) His six dice of Luck helps out a lot, though. (Probalino appeared in a Digital Hero #16, courtesy of Dave Mattingly) The team's PR face, T.J. O'Rourke, passes along a request for a public appearance by the team. TJ: They mainly want Maker because of her gadgets, but they'd like the other female heroes to attend. It's part of a statewide program to get girls more interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). You'll speak at the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts. Nexus: Aw, crap, that's the school my sister attends. GM: Gee, I wonder whose DNPC made the roll to appear... The male heroes also plan to attend (expecting a supervillain attack based on my "super-brawl" comment). Circe: Maker, you can demonstrate various gadgets on Honey Badger. 'Cause Honey Badger don't care. Honey Badger: (leers) What kind of gadgets are you going to use on me? Maker: "... and this little beauty can project flames up to fifty feet!" Woosh! Honey Badger: (shrugs) Eh, I regenerate. Honey Badger: (to Maker) Just put on a fancy light show, maybe some holograms, fly your drone around... Malarky: Your stolen VIPER flyer bot? Maybe not a good idea. Honey Badger: ...tell the girls that there's better things in life than shopping and fashion. Circe: (a rich girl with KS: Fashion) Hey!!! Contrary to the players' paranoia, the presentation goes without a hitch. Afterwards, there are photo ops with the heroes doing a meet-and-greet with the students. Teen girl: (to Circe) Ooo! You're my favorite. You always look great, so collected, and with-it. Can I get a selfie with you? Circe: Sure! (picture taken) So, how are you doing? Girl: Okay, I guess. Parents are always pushing me to do stuff. Speaking of which... (she pulls a paper out of her purse and hands it to Circe) You've been served. (smiles wide) Thanks for the pic! You're still my fave! (flounces off to show her friends the picture) Circe: Why didn't the prosecutor just ask me? GM: This is from the office of Irving Probalino, Esquire. Circe: He wants me to testify? For the defense? GM: Maybe about your visit to Wight at the PRIMUS base. Circe: Oh, when I asked him for info about that Carrier Pigeon? GM: Just Pigeon, but yeah. Wight gave you the info that helped you locate Vermin and stop that mutated disease from spreading. Circe: Crap. On to the trial. Maker's mom (Dr. Hu Jenkins) is lined up testify, and wants her daughter to be there as moral support. Maker: Do I have to? Dr. Jenkins: No, I suppose you don't. I'll just be there, all alone, by myself. Don't you worry about me... Maker: Since when did my Chinese tiger-mom become a Jewish grandmother? She should be all, "Yes! You be there! I say so!" Again, the heroes expect a fight there and make plans. However, there won't be one. Instead, Honey Badger notices that the prosecutor (Doug Carson, who went over HB's testimony the day before and seemed fairly confident and together) seems very out of sorts, stumbling over what he's saying, looking nervous, and making a lot of stupid mistakes. GM: A few times, while Probalino is cross-examining witnesses, he takes things a bit far, and the judge looks at Carson expecting an objection, but he doesn't. In one case, even Probalino looks like he's expecting to get smacked down, but Carson doesn't say anything. Honey Badger: Maybe he's being mind controlled. (to Circe) Can you check his mind? Circe: There's psionic scanners in the courtroom, remember? They'll lock me away. No thanks. Finally, during the lunch recess outside the courtroom, Circe uses some Telepathy and learns that Carson's wife told him that he'd better allow the defense to win the case or she'll kill their 2 year-old son. And if he goes to PRIMUS or the heroes, she'll just wait until things cool down, and maybe their son will run into traffic one day. Circe: (to GM) Is she being possessed, or Mind Controlled? GM: Strangely, Carson doesn't know. Not being a mentalist and all. You're reading his mind, not hers. (more to follow)

Twin Shadow is the mentalist of the Shadow Seven. He is a PI who can turn himself into a living shadow that, if he attaches to another person, can mentally possess that person. He can only do this for up to an hour at a time, and for the duration of the possession the target will have an additional shadow.

Actually my stupidity - you're correct, but I mis-spoke at the time.

Plan Comes Together, Part 3 The heroes seem incredulous that the villains are calling themselves the A-Team. GM: Really? You knew Ankylosaur, Agrippa, and Armadillo were involved. You researched known associates and found Airstrike, Augur, and Abyss. Plus some actor named Adam radiation powers that Ankylosaur saved from mutant hunters last week. (lays out the Google Map printouts that had been handed to the players before each encounter) Every single location they hit was right where streets formed a nice big "A." Granted, the one at the fire museum was kinda a stylized "A," but still! The address for the soup kitchen is 87 A Street. And you didn't see this coming? The heroes act quickly. They've already pre-evacuated the area, replacing many locals and homeless people with undercover cops. Nexus uses a gate spell to get the mayor to a safe vehicle quite a ways away, while her teammates search the skies, rooftops, and streets for the villains. Finally, they spot four Vietnam-era choppers approaching from the north, about 100m up. (Note that the week's news included an item where somebody stole a pair of Hueys getting prepped for an air show, flew them around for a few hours, and then left them in a field for the state police to find.) Pops: I could teleport one of you into one of the helicopters to take the controls, and teleport the pilot out. Maker? Maker: I don't know how to fly a helicopter. Just small space planes. Pops: How about one of the PRIMUS agents? GM: Sure. Master sergeant Ross says he knows how to fly a Huey. (grins) So, you're going to teleport Sgt. Ross up there? Maker: Wait a minute. I don't trust that smile. I'm going to fly up and check them out. She flies closer to discover that all four look exactly the same, down to the rocket pods and the crew manning the miniguns. Maker: What, do they have Duplication? Shadowboxer: More like holograms. GM: Are you still going to teleport Sgt. Ross up there? Abyss (an alien mentalist scientist studying humans) shows up on a nearby rooftop and hits Pops with a mental illusion. He sees a truck going out of control, barreling right at him, Malarky, and the squad of PRIMUS agents. Pops: Sorry, Malarky, you and I are going to have to take our chances. I'm teleporting the agents to safety. Somewhere off the street, like... (puts the squad up on the roof about 4m from Abyss) ...right there. One of the heroes sees Augur and Agrippa step out of a building, and then Agrippa casts a shrinking spell and the hero loses sight of him. Nexus: Wait, I have a spell to do a Mind Scan. How do I use that to find him? GM: You make an attack roll, your OMCV vs. his DMCV, minus modifiers for how many people are in the area. If you hit, you roll the dice of effect and I compare the results to his EGO. Nexus rolls, and misses. CIrce, the team mentalist, finds out Nexus only has a 3 OMCV. Nexus: Hey, I said I had the spell. I didn't say I was good at it. Circe (disguised as a bag lady) begins scanning for Agrippa, but her scan is only 3d6, Cumulative. Meaning that it's going to take a while. It also means she has to drop her Mind Link, so the heroes can't instantly communicate with each other. Pops: So, is Circe planning to help us out any time soon? Nexus is inside the soup kitchen, alone, when Armadillo pops up through the floor. Armadillo: Hey babe. Just you and me, eh? Nothing personal, wouldn't want to hurt that pretty face, but I've got to take you out. (blasts her, doing a little STUN but nothing major) I mean, you're only #4 on our hit list, but I'm more than happy to dance with you all on my lonesome. Nexus: Number 4? Who's #1? The mayor? Armadillo: (scoffs) No, Circe. Pops: (OOC) Sure, because mentalists are evil. Armadillo: And then Pops, he's #2. Pops: Wait... what?! GM: Hush. You're not there, and without the mind link, you're not privy to any of this. Nexus and Armadillo trade energy blasts, and Nexus is afraid he's going to take her down. Nexus: He's in powered armor, right? Is there any way I can push some buttons, shut him down? GM: (looks at Armadillo's Psych Comp: Sucker for a Pretty Face and thinks about Nexus' 3 levels of Striking Appearance) Not the buttons you're thinking of, but yeah, you could push his buttons. The villains do some damage to the heroes (taking two of them just a few points shy of unconsciousness), and Agrippa casts Silence on Malarky (effectively nullifying him, since all Malarky's spells require Incantations) and then Dispels his Mass Stone Skin spell. Meanwhile, the heroes take down Abyss, Ankylosaur, and Augur. Pops: Circe, have you found Agrippa yet? 'Cause we're about to get our butts kicked. GM: What...?! How? Half the villains are KO'd, and all of you are still standing! Eventually, Nexus gets outside the soup kitchen and flags down Silver Avenger Melanie Flannagan to tell her Armadillo is inside. Flannagan discovers Armadillo has gone tunneling again and follows him. When she catches up to him, instead of attacking she plays him like a harp. (I couldn't possibly beat you in that big, tough armor, etc.) SA Flannagan: (Keys her radio microphone, on the assault team's frequency) Instead of fighting, Armadillo, why don't we go someplace else? There's a bar just up the street, Williams Tavern. Why don't you and I go up there, to Williams Tavern. My assault agents won't even know we're there. We can have a few drinks, get to know each other, just you and I... Nexus: (monitoring the frequency) Really?! GM: I said you could push his buttons. Not my fault you didn't pay attention during the briefing, and she did. Of course, the heroes prevailed, as they are wont to do. Five A-Team members carted off to the PRIMUS base's holding cells.

Plan Comes Together, Part 2 The heroes smell a rat with the reporter, Petersen, always on the scene and hounding them, so Malarky "borrows" Petersen's cell phone (with a teleport assist from Pops). Flipping through Petersen's texts, he discovers that someone has been texting the attack locations and times ahead of time. With Maker's help, he clones the sim card from Petersen's cell phone. The heroes (along with the Boston PD and PRIMUS) camp out at the firehouse for Engine Company 39, waiting for 3 am to roll around. Come 1 am, Malarky's clone of Petersen's cell phone gets a text, telling him to be at an intersection about a mile away from Engine 39's firehouse. The hero team splits up -- one group goes to Petersen's place to mess with his car, while the other group goes to that location, where they discover it is across the street from the Boston Fire Museum, housed in the former firehouse for Engine 39. They also notice a car parked across the street, with PRIMUS detective Williams inside. CIrce runs to a nearby coffee shop, then comes back. Circe: (knocks on Det. Williams' window) Anything happening? (holds out a cup of coffee) Williams: Not yet. (takes coffee) Thanks. (nods toward the Fire Museum) So you capes also think it might go down here? Circe: Yeah. Pretty sure. Shadowboxer uses his ability to look and listen through shadows to check out the inside of the fire museum. Nobody at all inside, but he (eventually) notices that someone has replaced all the real fire extinguishers with fake ones. Teleporting in, he gets one for Maker to check out, and they learn that the fakes are actually fuel-air bombs with timers set to go off at 3 am. He also discovers a tunnel into the basement, dug by Armadillo. In the tunnel he finds a bulk-food can of cream of mushroom soup, a ladle, a pamphlet for a south Boston church, and the now-familiar sticky note. To Do: Wednesday 3:00 - Hot time at the Fire Museum. Hope Just Cause brought marshmallows. Thursday 4:00 - Feed Hizzoner and Just Cause their teeth. Discussing what to do with the fuel-air bombs. Maker: Can I deactivate them? GM: Do you have Demolitions skill? Maker: Um... no. Can I maybe use my Gadgeteering roll? GM: (evil grin) Maaaaybe. Want to make a roll? After all, what could possibly go wrong? Pops: We should put 'em in Petersen's trunk. Or his house. (Eventually they dump them in the river where they can just cause a bunch of gaseous bubbles.) Honey Badger: So, we turn over the ladle, pamphlet, and note to Williams. GM: What about the can of soup? Honey Badger: (belches and wipes his lips) What can of soup? It doesn't take long for the heroes to figure out that the next attack is going to take place at 4 pm during a soup kitchen opening that the mayor is attending as a photo op. GM: Are you going to coordinate with PRIMUS? Honey Badger: It all depends. Are they bringing soup? Circe calls the team's liaison with the city. Honey Badger: (shouting in the background) Make sure they're bringing soup! And none of that generic crap! Some of the heroes go into the sewers and discover that someone (*cough*Armadillo*cough*) has dug a bunch of tunnels all over the place under and around the soup kitchen. Malarky (whose player works for the local water company) makes plans to deal with that. Malarky: I'll buy an inflatable raft and get it set up near the downstream end of the sewer. Tie the raft up so when it's inflated, it'll completely block everything flowing through the sewer. Figure a half hour should be enough to fill the sewer line and Armadillo's tunnels. The mayor and his entourage arrive for the soup kitchen opening. As soon as the mayor sees Honey Badger, he holds up a large can of tomato soup. Honey Badger: (thumbs up)! Four o'clock comes, then 4:05. Then 4:10. Shadowboxer: Maybe this was all a plot to keep us busy while they hit somewhere else. GM: Or maybe their plan got delayed because somebody filled the tunnels with sewage. Malarky: (giggles like a little kid) Finally at 4:15 pm, hidden speakers all over the area kick on, with the sound of martial music and helicopters. And then the voiceover: Ankylosaur: In 2014, various supervillains were sent to prison by a federal court for crimes they probably committed. These men recently escaped from a maximum security superprison to the New York City underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem with superheroes, if no one else can help, and if you have enough money, maybe you can hire… The A-Team. (GM cues playing of the A-Team theme music) (more to follow)

A month or so back, I was trying to come up with a new supervillain team for my Boston Champions heroes to face. Looking through character art, which of course was sorted by name. Ankylosaur. Airstrike. Armadillo. Hmmm... it occurred to me that I could create an entire team of villains whose names begin with "A." (Hey, last campaign the PC hero team was known as S-Squad, with all members' names starting with "S.") And thus, The A-Team was born. Mercenaries to the core, they specialize in taking out or distracting those darn pesky superheroes, as well as PRIMUS, UNTIL, the police, etc. so their client is free to commit crimes. I decided they'd be a new team, and taking on the PC heroes would be their first public appearance. (Their coming-out party, as it were.) I designed the adventure to be a series of city-wide property damage attacks by an unknown, unnamed group of villains, to culminate in the attack on the hero group. The villains left a clue at each attack, hinting at the target for the next attack. They also passed along the attack location to a reporter (Joshua Petersen) who is not a fan of the heroes, so he could make the PCs look bad if they don't figure out the clue and head off the next attack. First attack was on the A-7 District police headquarters, with Ankylosaur lobbing firebombs at the building before leaping away. (Side note: The Google Maps satellite view of the area shows nearby streets forming a very distinctive "A." This became a feature of all four A-Team attack locations -- and even though I handed out a printed aerial view for each, none of the players caught it.) GM: John (Honey Badger's player), you're always saying "We go to Paris, France," so when I saw it was on Paris Street, I knew that was the spot. And it being at 69 Paris Street, well, I knew you'd appreciate that. The heroes go to where Ankylosaur was spotted and find a Revolutionary War-style candle lantern, a cigar stub, and a book of Longfellow's poem, with a sticky-note To-Do list marking the page where Paul Revere's Ride begins: To Do: Monday 1:00 - See how hot the Boston Police are. Tuesday 2:00 - Give 'em a history lesson they won't soon forget. Malarky: (doing some research on his PC) At 2 am, Paul Revere would have been across the river and to (nearby town). Maybe they're planning to attack there. GM: You guys are giving Ankylosaur waaaay too much credit in the intelligence department. You're assuming he even read the whole poem. Nexus: Does it say 2 am? GM: Nope, it just says 2 o'clock. Neither AM nor PM. (smiles) They narrow the potential targets to either the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung for "one if by land, two if by sea") or the Paul Revere House (just a handful of blocks away), and decide to wait at the church. Two a.m. comes and goes without incident. They gather again at the church in the afternoon, and right after 2 p.m. hear police reports of "huge stone men" menacing people on the same street as the Paul Revere House. Actually, it's three men and one woman, all stone elementals summoned by the mage Agrippa. Rocky: (holding aloft a man) Where Paul Revere House? Opal: (grabbing a man on the street) Where I find Revere House? Jaspar: (grabs a passing limo and begins shaking it, shouting at the driver inside) Where Jaspar find Revere house? Stoner: (hand resting on a man's shoulder like a hundred-pound weight) Duuuude. Where's Revere's home? Honey Badger punches Rocky. Rocky: You hit Rocky. Summoner say now Rocky can hit you! HB takes down Rocky. Rocky: (in Stallone voice) Adriaaaaannn! Malarky (himself a college student) finds himself facing Stoner. Stoner: Dude! Got any munchies? Malarky: Munchies? Stoner: Y'know. Peat gravel. Quartz chips. (whispered aside) I just finished off a dime bag of talc powder, dude! Malarky: No, what you want is pizza! Stoner: What's pizza? Malarky: Food of the gods, man. Start with a nice flaky crust, something that'll melt in your mouth... Stoner: Like limestone? Malarky: Sure, if that's what you like. Then some sauce, nice and hot... Stoner: ... lava! Mmmmmmm! Malarky: But the toppings are where it's at! Stoner: What are toppings? (They spent the rest of the fight discussing possible stone pizza toppings, from grated tin and iron spices to granite slices and chopped hematite.) Once the elementals are dealt with, the heroes figure out that they were summoned underground; a roadway tunnel runs just under the street in front of the Paul Revere House. Teleporting down there, they find an abandoned car blocking traffic; inside is an antique safety lantern, and old fireman's helmet (for Engine 39), with a sticky note: To Do: Tuesday 2:00 - Won if by land -- literally! Wednesday 3:00 - Don't want firefighters feeling left out, do we? Honey Badger: (grabbing fireman's helmet and putting it on) Ooo! I got a new hat! (More to follow)

We'll say five members. I originally called them the Florist Five, but changed the name to FTD and forgot to set the membership.

What is the android's Class of Minds? I'm getting the impression he's affected by Human, Robot, and Alien. Not understanding this bit. Are you saying that the attacker has to be either alien or robot for this to apply, or that the attack itself has to affect either the alien or robot group? If the latter, I think the way to do this is actually split it, thereby getting rid of the second "variable" and the "variable limit". Personally, I'd say the character has a Physical Complication (Affected by Human, Robot, and Alien Class of Minds) and then buy: Mental Defense 17 points, Hardened (+1/4); Not vs. attacks to Robot class of minds (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4). 12 cp Mental Defense 17 points, Hardened (+1/4); Not vs. attacks to Alien class of minds (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4). 12 cp If the attackers powers only affect Human minds, he has 34 points MD, hardened. If they affect Robot minds (but not Alien minds), he has 17 points MD, hardened. If they affect Alien minds (but not Robot minds) he has 17 points MD, hardened. If they affect both Robot and Alien minds, he has no MD against the attack. - - - - If you're looking for at least some protection, you could go with: a ) Mental Defense 11 points, Hardened (+1/4); Unified Power (-1/4). 11 cp b ) Mental Defense 10 points, Hardened (+1/4); Not vs. attacks to Robot class of minds (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4). 7 cp c ) Mental Defense 10 points, Hardened (+1/4); Not vs. attacks to Alien class of minds (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4). 7 cp If the attackers powers only affect Human minds, he has 31 points MD, hardened. (a+b+c) If they affect Robot minds (but not Alien minds), he has 21 points MD, hardened. (a+c) If they affect Alien minds (but not Robot minds) he has 21 points MD, hardened. (a+b ) If they affect both Robot and Alien minds, he has 11 points MD, hardened. (a)

Why not both? Despite being only 12 years old, Anna Gold is a brilliant mechanical and electrical engineer (though rather lacking in ethics and social skills). She builds incredible little remote-controlled toys that she uses to perform various crimes. (They often also serve as "vehicles" for the other Microoks.) Fearful that the others wouldn't accept her, she communicates with them solely through a Transformers robot that refers to itself as Animatron. - - - - - - I'll plant the next seed and expect people tulip into action and, when all is said and done, know that you rose to the challenge. The Floral Theft Directive (FTD) all are either named after, have powers related to, commit crimes involving, or are otherwise thematically related to flowers.

Grant Tinkerton was once known as Gigantor, for he could grow to 25 times his normal height. His size and strength went to his head, and he went on a crime spree that, not surprisingly, ended in his capture. Unfortunately, the authorities don't have prison cells 150 feet tall, and Grant refused to shrink down to go into a normal cell. Finally, a gadgeteer hero built a shrinking ray to force him back down to size. Trying to avoid getting hit, Grant began to reduce his height at the same moment that the shrinking ray hit him. And shrink he did, all the way down to 3 inches high. This allowed him to escape, but he's mad as heck about his new height. Oh, he can still grow -- allowing him to become about 6 feet tall, with the strength of a moderate-level brick. But his normal height makes him a midget even to Maestro. Worse yet, a TV news reporter called him Tiny Giant, and despite his efforts to be known by practically any other name, that moniker has stuck.

One way to deal with the loot building mentality is to use in-game rewards. In the past, I've awarded the players Favors or Contacts appropriate to a given adventure - a favorite was getting a Favor from Weird Al Yankovic for saving him from Road Kill. They actually called that one in to help get Foxbat off their backs. I've also given them free points toward their Base, Vehicle, or Followers. ("In appreciation for stopping the Ultimates from trashing their east coast factory, IntellGen is offering your team free use of their prototype computer system. All you have to do is provide monthly user feedback.") Of course, my players tend to get paranoid about such gifts. Can't imagine why.

The morning my family was readying to leave for vacation, my youngest turned down my request to help finish off the chocolate cake she had made a few days before. Her: I haven't had breakfast yet. You can't eat cake for breakfast. Me: I have three words for you: Va-Ca-Tion. (pause) And before you point out that is just one word, I'd like to point out that my brain is already on Va-Ca-Tion.

Hmmm... If the potential sidekick is currently a DNPC, unless the PC is planning to both pay off the DNPC Complication and pay points for the Follower, it sounds like the sidekick is probably going to remain a DNPC. So point totals are entirely up to the GM, and the character will continue to be a Complication (so, more hindrance than help). I'm reminded of the Black Cat, who originally had no real powers and wanted to work alongside Spider-man, but he feared she would get hurt or killed. So she went behind Spidey's back and got powers on her own -- from the Kingpin, as it turned out, though she didn't know it until after the deed was done. Perhaps the DNPC in your case could do something similar -- in her eagerness to get back into the superhero game, she goes to someone on the gray side of the law to speed up the process. Maybe whatever that person does allows her to instantly learn what the PC is trying to teach her (so training takes weeks instead of years), but there are side effects. That would explain the surprises and novelties. It's up to the GM whether the person helping her did this intentionally with a darker purpose, or if those side effects are completely unintentional, based on her previously having powers. (Maybe her powers weren't completely gone, just inaccessible and maybe altered slightly, and the speed-up process unlocks them somewhat.) Just my thoughts on the issue.

There was a product, Champions Battlegrounds, which had a number of separate adventures that IIRC could fit together into a long-term plot arc. And Blackwyrm Games (www.blackwyrm.com) has put out several excellent books that similarly contain multiple individual events that could be run as one-shots, or combined into a longer plot arc. (I'll let mattingly or Balabanto toot their own horn there.)

In 6th, I'd say a 200-point Follower would be bare minimum. Even slightly increased Characteristics (15 STR / DEX / CON, 3 SPD, etc.) will cost 50 points at least. Personally, I'd shoot for 250 to 275 points. I'd want the Follower to be at least moderately effective. As a GM, if the player pays the points I would disagree with having the Follower not be around or not work well with the hero nearly all of the time, and am not fond of using one as a DNPC. After all, 40-55 points is a pretty hefty investment. If the character put 50 points into a VPP gadget pool, would you summarily say, "Sorry, your gadgets are out for the night" or "You can't have a hologram generator right now - you're going to have to make do with a pack of smoke grenades and a flight belt"? (Of course, putting Limitations like "Can Only Change in a Lab" into play is permissible to keep the player from altering the makeup of his gadget pool, but that's different from making the VPP completely unavailable.) That said, in past campaigns I have given several PCs sidekicks, free of charge. In those cases, I have had the sidekick unavailable at times, or occasionally work at cross purposes with the hero, or fall into the DNPC role. And in all cases, I've written up the sidekick character with only moderate input from the player, and played the sidekick to be roughly equal parts helpful and hindrance.

Wasn't Iron Man's "armor in a briefcase" similarly touted as completely implausible? They managed to find a way to not only make it work, but to also make it totally cool. I'm not a follower of Dr. Strange in the comics -- does he always wear the traditional outfit no matter what, or has he used some sort of disguise spell to make it appear as normal clothes? If the cloak and Eye of Agamotto are magic items, he'd need them around. Couldn't some sort of spell (presumably with cool SFX when turning it on/off) allow him to walk around in his traditional outfit, but be seen by most people as in normal clothes?

The first link just points to this (Hero Games) forum page.

Is each from a different universe, or all from the same universe? I'm assuming the former, otherwise only the first person gets to post info on the universe they escaped. - - - - GammaFlux braced himself as another tremor shook the PRIME lab. As soon as things calmed down, the chief scientist continued his spiel. "We've nearly completed work on the device to reverse the damage done to the Yrth's orbit and rotation, and should have it ready by the time you return. We'll need at least 100 kilos of Fosgoodium-249 for it to work properly, but we've found an alternate Yrth where it's not quite as rare as on our world, though it is still fairly rare there. It may take you some time to collect enough. With your powers, you should be completely safe from Fos-249's radiation." A general stepped forward. "If you pull this off, Flux, the President will grant you a full pardon and you'll be reunited with your wife and children." GammaFlux glared at the general. "I should at least be able to say goodbye to Jen, Mark, and Toby before I leave this dimension." "We promised you if you'd do this, your family would be evacuated to safety," the general said, ignoring the look on the chief scientist's face. "At this point, the only truly safe place is in orbit, and they're on their way now. Unfortunately, we can't wait any longer if we're going to get you safely to the other dimension." The chief scientist handed GammaFlux a handheld device. "This will signal us to open a return portal once you've acquired the necessary Fos-249. Good luck, GammaFlux." After another brief tremor, all preparations were complete and the dimensional portal was opened. GammaFlux activated his radiation shield and flew through the portal. The scientist waited until the portal had closed again before turning to the general. "I still think it was wrong not to tell him. He has a right to know." The general sighed. "If he knew his family died enroute to the launch site, he never would have gone. Like it or not, he's our only hope."

I think Roxanne Ritchi pretty much sums it up: I had been thinking of creating a thread on abusive builds, but I decided not to because I figured it would degenerate into exactly this kind of back-and-forth bickering.

"Darn it, how the heck do you wrap 20 experience points? He'll finally be able to dodge Biff the Wonder Dog's attacks!" NT: Foxbat being Foxbat, what is he actually going to purchase with those 20 XP, instead of a higher DCV?

I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

That all presupposes that Barney Brick is as bright as Barney the Purple Dinosaur, has no allies with mental powers / decent ranged attacks, and they're fighting on a featureless, uncluttered plain. "Line of sight, isn't it? So let's duck behind this wall / car / whatever and continue to pound on Marvin's pal. If Marvin can't see me, he can't target me, unless he has Mind Scan of course. In which case he'll still have to blow a phase scanning, and I get a breakout roll, so maybe that works for Marvin and maybe it doesn't. Meanwhile, I move around that building and run down the alley to get closer to Marvin..." All of that said, I fully agree with your points about mentalist snipers. Of course, that has to apply to the GM as well as the players -- if he/she allows the bad guys to play sniper mentalist all willy-nilly, there's no room to complain if the player mentalist uses the same tactics.

Interesting idea. Maybe if the group (as one unit) rolls less than half what they need to hit, have the attack be Penetrating instead of adding extra DC? Or just give the option of either extra DC or Penetrating regardless of the roll? Either one might work.