BoloOfEarth

Disney is forced to sue themselves for the inevitable and innumerable instances of plagiarism, intentional or accidental, that have occurred throughout history, in order to protect their copyrights. NT: Crazy new candidates announcing they're running for US President in 2016, and their wacky campaign platform. (Difficulty: Can't be an actual politician.)

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All of the music is rap (because, y'know, Raptured). Oh, and the wireless coverage sucks.

Though in fairness to rjd's conversions, Death Commando was 23 DEX in the 4ED Champions Universe book. To be clear, I wasn't saying his (or anyone else's) decision to keep DC at 23 DEX is wrong. I was just pointing out a possibility, where DC "plays the system" to eke out a few more points. (He always seemed to me like the type to find and take advantage where he could.) In case I do fail to make the distinction clear, most of my suggestions are simply that: suggestions, not corrections. I'm sure that when my players face Deathstroke, my 6ED versions will differ from rjd's versions, adding my own flavor to them

I like the bumper car idea, with a twist. Hero comes out of a maze into a bumper car room. Say this one is for a non-flying PC, so he can't just avoid the floor, which is of course electrified. Two exits: one just large enough for a person to slip through (leading to the final goal), and the other big enough to allow bumper cars to exit the room. A dozen or so other bumper cars are tooling slowly around the room, each with a bound civilian or two duct-taped to the seat inside. Another (empty) car waits for the hero's use. Each time a car hits the wall or another car, the passenger receives a shock. (The longer it takes to clear them out, the stronger the shocks.) And every now and then, steel spikes shoot down from above. It's just a matter of time before one comes down and skewers a civilian. The Prankster's voice comes over the PA, saying that the hero has to "bump" the civilians out of the room using the provided bumper car. The larger exit slopes down to safety. The Prankster promises it's safe (and you can trust him, right?). If the hero cheats, the exits will close and the Prankster fills the room with poison gas. Cheating includes: removing civilians from cars, somehow stopping the spikes, moving the cars to the exit by means other than bumping, and being not at least this tall to get on this ride.

I believe it's straight out of the 4ED version of the character, but I think they had it as Common rather than Very Common, which would fit with just punches (not kicks or other physical blows). On reflection, I think I was considering it "physical blows" rather than just punches. To me, that Vulnerability on Scatterbrain seemed like one of those 4ED "we need more disad points, how about a Vulnerability?" things. I don't recall anything specific in her background to explain it. I think she got her powers by messing with some experimental drug or virus or something that her mom brought home. Perhaps that changed her physiology and gave her brittle bones and sensitive nerves? In which case "physical blows" seems more applicable. At least, that's my viewpoint. YMMV.

Finishing off Songs of Summoning (for real this time) Maker is outside, worried about taking on the creature. Shadowboxer: (points to a series of arced lines on the map) Just hide under one of these balconies. Malarky: Those aren't balconies. They're curved walls. (turns his PC around to show a satellite overhead view of the back side of the club and smiles at the GM.) Don't you just love Google Maps? (proceeds to get the street view from that alleyway) Here, Maker, this is what you see back there... Circe goes outside and tries mind-blasting the creature, exposing her to its Insane Thoughts (a mental damage shield that drains her EGO and PRE). Circe: Ewwww! You would not believe what is going on in that thing's mind! I am not doing that again! The creature grabs Maker and Circe with its tentacles, but before it can try to eat either one, Pops teleports them back into the club. Maker begins flying back outside to confront the creature. Pops: Remember, just one save per person! Go back out there at your own risk. Back inside, Screech had put up a force barrier around the stage, with himself, Ted, and Heavy Metal inside, protected from the heroes' attacks. Nexus: We need to get past that barrier. Honey Badger: Easy. (Makes rude gestures and disparaging comments at Ted, who proceeds to smash a hole through the barrier to take on the hero brick.) See? Problem solved. Once most of Road Kill was down, the heroes were trying to figure out what do to against the creature. Most of their attacks were bouncing off. GM: (to Nexus) Aren't you going to try attacking it? Nexus: If Honey Badger throwing a dumpster at it didn't hurt it, my puny elemental magic blast isn't going to do much. GM: (looks down at creature's character sheet, where the Damage Reduction has the limitation "Doesn't work vs. Magic" and shrugs) Your choice. Nexus finally blasts it, causing it to scream in agony. Nexus: Hey, guys! It's vulnerable to cold! Should I try fire next? Several other heroes: NO!! Freeze the #$&@!&@#! The heroes figure out that someone gave the "lyrics" (summoning incantations) to Heavy Metal, and they try to figure out how to keep Road Kill from unintentionally summoning more other-worldly creatures in the future. Malarky: Could Circe mind-control them not to play those songs ever again? GM: Maybe. She does have a Mind Control with Cumulative on it. But they're contrary enough that dropping those songs might not be something they're inclined to do, so the control may break at some point. Malarky: Any way I can alter the magic so the summoning just wouldn't work? GM: I suppose Circe could mind control Heavy Metal to "fix" some of the lyrics... Malarky: (smiles) Yeah. "Those new songs are good and all, Heavy Metal -- but couldn't you come up with better lyrics on your own?"

Also FYI, rjd, I got a lot of fun use out of Road Kill in the last adventure I ran, which used your conversions (tweaked by me to fit better with my game's PCs). I expect to get similar good use out of your conversions of Deathstroke.

FWIW, though I've converted a number of characters from 5ED to 6ED since the books came out, I've only recently started actually running in 6ED (like, last month). My players had equated meters with inches when drawing up their characters, whereas I had created the villains with the distance difference in mind. And the villains were practically running rings around the PCs, movement-wise. I've used a 1" (2m) hex map for decades, and figured to just halve all the distances for movement and range mods. When a later battle was in a smaller space and I drew the map at 1m hexes, it went better. However, I don't see any outdoor battle map working well with 1m hexes. Not sure how I'm going to resove it all. I hope you're not irritated with the rest of my feedback. My intention is to be constructive, not nitpicky.

As far as the writeups are concerned, some constructive feedback. First, a few general notes: I've noticed that a lot of 6ED conversions keep the original DEX, OCV, and DCV in their original lock-step. Also, a fair number of 4ED and 5ED characters had higher-than-necessary DEX's, most likely simply because it was more cost-effective. I'd take advantage of 6ED's greater granularity and break them out a bit. For example, Death Commando originally had DEX 23, OCV 8, DCV 8. I'd have made him 18 DEX (for -12 points), then add +1 with Breakfall, Climbing, and Stealth (+3 points), Lightning Reflexes +5 DEX with All Actions (+5 points). Put the 4 points saved into +1 DC with his Commando Training. Also, it seems like your conversions equate Movement meters with the former "inches" (where 1" = 2m). If the original character had +10" Running, to remain the same the 6ED character would need +20m Running. Now, on with specific character feedback. Death Commando - note that the 4th edition character is 393 points, which for 6th edition would probably translate into about 450 points, so I realize a 400-point version would need considerable power reduction. Personally, since DC was much more powerful than his teammates, I'd have bitten the bullet and made him 450 points. Which would mean boosting his Running, Flight, armor, and other things. If extra PRE is defense only, his PRE attack should still be 2d6. But honestly, I'd have dropped the limitation and made him a straight 20 PRE, for both attack and defense purposes. His background and personality would justify a higher PRE. I don't see why you have Reduced by Range on his SMG, except to shave off a few points. I'd have added Range Limited by STR limitation to the smoke grenades. UNTIL and VIPER Hunteds should include NCI. I'd use the extra points to ditch the DNPC sister (getting the other 5 points from another d6 of Unluck). She's never mentioned in any of the character writeup, and seems to me to be one of those "oh, crap, we need 15 more points" kind of Disads. Shockwave I'd have made his Shockwave attack an Area of Effect 50m Radius Explosion (+3/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4) on up to 40 STR, Only vs. Targets on the Ground (-1/4). If I'm correct, that should drop by 1d6 per 6m, and only cost 32 points. If you want to boost it to 9d6 in the center area, that would be a 56m Radius Explosion (still +3/4) on up to 45 STR, and cost 36 points. The original character had 28 PD (of which 15 was Resistant), 24 ED (of which 15 was Resistant). The 6ED conversion has Always On (is that really a limitation on defenses?) and Only Works on Common Attacks (???), and boosted the total defenses considerably beyond the original 28 PD, 24 ED. Better IMO to just buy Resistant (+1/2) on 15 PD, 15 ED of his original PD/ED. Or Resistant (+1/2) and Hardened (+1/4) on 10 PD, 10 ED. Saves points, and is more in line with the original character's defenses. I like that you gave him actual skills, but he should still have KS: Organized Crime. All Mental Powers would be a group of Uncommon attacks, so that Vulnerability should be 20 points. I'd keep that, and drop the Watched and the Unluck. Stinger I think you read the 4ED version's 70 STR Clinging as +70 STR. It should only be 70 STR, not 110 STR, saving 11 points. Use those points to restore his Gliding, which is notably absent from the 6ED version. The 4ED version's HKA was from hard, bony fingers, not poison. I'd drop his HKA to a more appropriate level (say 2d6+1, or 4.5d6 w/ STR), and turn his Blast into a smaller, Constant, Uncontrolled NND poison (defense is HKA does no BODY or has appropriate LS vs. insect poisons). Vulnerability -- 2x STUN from Common attack = 20 points, 1 1/2xBODY from Common = 10 points. However, I'd say poisons and chemical attacks are Uncommon, so these should total out to 15 points (10 + 5). To make up the 5 lost points, I'd increase the Enraged to 11-. Scatterbrain The 4ED version had 26 EGO, which seems done mainly to get the 9 ECV. No real benefit for that over, say, 23 EGO. I'd drop EGO to 23 and increase OMCV by 1. +4 with Mind Control would cost 8 points, not 4, so that should probably be +2 w/ Mind Control. I'd drop both CSLs and put the points toward OMCV. Again, not seeing how Always On is a valid limitation on Mental Defense. If she was on a team of mentalists, I'd maybe allow a -1/4 limitation on it, but even that's doubtful. The original character didn't have any Mental Defense, but I like the idea of "scatterbrain" being more than just her name; perhaps her mind scatters mental attacks against her, so I approve of adding some sort of mental defenses. That said, I'd drop Mental Defense from the writeup entirely, and add Damage Reduction (50% Mental) as her actual "mental defense". With a 23 (or 26) EGO, that should keep most Mental Illusions, Mind Controls, and Mind Scans from having appreciable effect on her, and take the bite off most Mental Blasts. The 4ED version's Force Field cost END (actually, it cost 4x END!), so it would be appropriate to have this one's Force Field cost at least normal END. Put the points saved into boosting her DCV, OMCV, and DMCV. If you're going with Very Common for Punches (I happen to agree), then 1 1/2 x STUN and BODY Vulnerability would be 30 points, not 15. I'd ditch the Hunted by mom, Unluck, and Vain.

Woot! I got a lot of use out of Deathstroke back in the day, during our Silver Phoenix campaign. Two of the PC heroes really had it in for Death Commando (they still call him Dead Commando) - IIRC, they tattooed "Silver Phoenix Fan Club" on his buttocks, then left him on a deserted island in the South Pacific with a Swiss Army knife and a Boy Scout survival manual. I might need to dust Deathstroke off for my new campaign.

Finishing up Songs of Summoning: In my games, I ask each player to provide at least 5 NPCs to flesh out their own world a bit. These aren't DNPCs; the only dangerous situations they get into are typically off-screen. I allow the PCs to use them as pseudo-Contacts, just like you would any friend or family member. And I use them to advance the plot at times. Nexus and Circe each provided way more than 5 NPCs, and Nexus (who plays and sings in a band) decided that her four bandmates were all low-level supers. (The band is named Paranormal.) If she was trying to get her own mini-super team to help fight crime, she's going to be disappointed... Nexus arrives at the Paradise Rock Club, approaching the back door, and sees her bandmates running away down the alley/street, screaming in terror. She stops the last one. Nexus: Stop! Calm down! What's wrong? What's going on? Bandmate: We showed up to set up... and they were there already! He... he's huge! I thought he was going to rip my arms off!!! (screams in terror and runs off) Nexus: (shakes her head sadly) My band is a bunch of pansy-boys. Circe walks in the front door to see the patrons of the club all standing around staring at Road Kill up on stage as they launch into their hit song (topped the charts at #546), "I Say Screw You." GM: What they lack in quality, they make up for in 'loud.' Circe: (turns one of her regular club patrons to face her) What is going on here? Misc. Person: (drooling slightly) Band. They good. GM: (OOC) Game-wise, you're looking at the effects of an area-effect Drain of INT, EGO, and PRE. Circe: So that's how they get fans. GM: Which might also explain Nexus' bandmates running away when Ted glared at them. Honey Badger: Running away like pansy-boys. (When Nexus glares at him) Hey, you're the one who said it. I'm just repeating what you called them. Pops teleports to the Paradise Rock Club, sees that only half the team there, and disappears to collect the rest. He starts with Malarky, who is riding his bicycle there as fast as he can pedal. Pops: I appear next to Malarky, grab him off the bike, and teleport both of us back to the club. Malarky: Hey! What about my bike! Pops: Oh, boo hoo. If it gets stolen or wrecked, I'll buy you a new one. Honey Badger arrives at the back of the club. Honey Badger: I pick up the guitar one of Nexus' pansy-boys left behind. Nexus: Hey, that doesn't belong to you! Honey Badger: It does now. As Road Kill finished up their song, to scattered applause from the brain-numbed audience, Honey Badger walks up to the stage with the guitar in hand. Screech: Hey, we already told you twerps, we're rockin' the Paradise tonight! Honey Badger: Oh, Honey Badger doesn't play. Honey Badger was wondering if you guys would sign this guitar. Road Kill is one of Honey Badger's favorite bands. (under his breath) To beat up. The band members are all more than happy to sign the guitar for a fan. (Well, Ted just puts a big "X" on it.) It works as a nice distraction so the rest of the team can start herding out the audience and reduce the number of innocent bystanders. But before too long... Heavy Metal: Aright, folks, we're going to do one of our new numbers, we're sure you're going to like it. It's called The Bazaar. (The band launches into a haunting, vaguely creepy song.) Shadowboxer: Watch out, everybody. It was during their new songs that creatures started popping up. (The heroes redouble their efforts to get the audience outside.) GM: Is anybody attacking Road Kill? Honey Badger: Not yet. We want to get the people out of here first. GM: Which way are you sending them -- out the front, or out the back? Malarky: Out the front. We don't want to take them past Road Kill. (getting suspicious) Why? Do I see anything out the front windows? GM: No. But anybody toward the back of the club will hear screaming from outside. (pulls out 5" tall cardboard character standup with a picture of a Flying Polyp printed on it, setting it on the map outside the club's back door. The heroes begin attacking the members of Road Kill, even though the summoning is complete. GM: Anybody going outside to deal with that? (points at the Flying Polyp) Pops: Hell no. I already fought one of those. Circe: No, you fought one of these. (picks up normal-size character standup of the Star Vampire) That (points to the Flying Polyp) is Big Momma, wondering what happened to Junior. Pops teleports Axeman outside, where the guitarist is promptly picked up by the creature. Screaming in terror, Axeman hurls his guitar/axe at it, somehow managing to miss it entirely. The creature responds by trying to stuff Axeman down one of its sharp-toothed maws. Malarky: He prooooobably should have kept that. Might have been useful. Pops: Well, now the beastie has a chew toy. (Drat. Work interrupts. Will try to finish tonight or tomorrow)

Boston Champions - Songs of Summoning (cont.) The heroes learn that most of the summoned creatures didn't do much more than scare a few people before popping back to wherever they came from. Curious about the one that Pops fought (which had specifically targeted the grocery store manager while ignoring pretty much everybody else around it), some go to the hospital to see how the mauled man is doing. Unfortunately, he's still in a coma. After establishing that they're working with the Boston PD... Malarky (to the ICU nurse): Can I maybe try a wee something that might help perk him up? Nurse Ratchet: I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to touch my patient. (walks away to treat another patient, but keeps an eye on Malarky) Nurse Nice: (walks up) You're one of those new supeheroes, aren't you? I saw something about you in the news. Malarky: Aye, that's us. I'm Malarky, a bit of a junior mage. Nurse Nice: Magic, huh? So, you can heal him, with one touch? Malarky (realizing his Healing spell is Area of Effect): That I can. Don't really need to touch him, though. (pauses) Say, do you mind if I stand over there in the corner for a bit? Won't be a bother. (smiles impishly) And if you should happen to move any really sick patients within, oh, a dozen or so meters of me in, say, five minutes time, who's to say what might happen? Needless to say, there was some miraculous healing that day in the ICU at Mass General. Malarky: Wonder if I can get a date with that nurse... Other heroes go to check the mauled man's apartment. Honey Badger: Maybe he was dabbling in the black arts... Enters the apartment to find it a mess -- furniture trashed, possessions destroyed, walls sliced as if by claws, and overly large maggots squirming all over the place. Honey Badger: ... and it got away from him. Circe tries reading the man's mind, but he's just as clueless as they are. Mr. Goodman (walking around a mental construct of his trashed apartment): Would you look at this mess? Why me? What did I ever do? I'm a law-abiding guy, try and keep the peace. Serve on the neighborhood watch. Try and keep things nice in my neighborhood, call the police when people aren't being civil. And this is what happens? Unfortunately, they didn't catch the clue and so they didn't ask if he had made any complaints against neighbors lately. Instead, they start checking out the bars near where some of the creatures appeared. Malarky: You guys realize I'm not allowed in a bar, don't you? I'm only 18. Pops: Wait, don't you use booze for one of your spells? Malarky: That's different. It's not alcohol, it's a spell component. Shadowboxer listens in on a few conversations between patrons. Guy #1: Hopefully they'll have a better band tonight. Guy #2: Yeah, those guys last night were horrid. I mean, their early stuff was alright, I can dig some good metal, but then they started on their 'new' stuff. Talk about dark and depressing... Shadowboxer: Excuse me. Couldn't help but overhear. Do you remember what the band who played here last night was called? Guy #1: Something like Road House, wasn't it? Guy #2: No, it was Road Kill. (players groan in agony. Ah, the lamentations of players are like nectar to the GM!) Circe: That was the band that tried out at my club last week, wasn't it? (smugly) Good thing I refused to book them. They won't be trashing my club. GM: Funny you should mention that... (pulls out the game map and begins laying it out)

Our group now alternates between my Champions game and a D&D-4 game. However, the D&D DM texted me a few days before our normal game day asking if I could run instead. I didn't really have anything prepared, so I threw something together. But I did take the time to put together a weekly news page. One article mentions the "newly-formed team of superheroes, as yet unnamed". Nexus: Does that mean we have to come up with a team name? You know we suck at that. (That's true -- past team names have included THEM (The Heroes of Eastern Michigan) and S-Squad (because all the team members names began with "S") GM: If you don't come up with a team name, the editor of the Heronet Herald will give you one. This is the same guy that came up with "Earth-818" for the alternate world. So, not very creative. You'll probably end up with something like Boston Area Super-Heroes. Maker: BASH! I like it! You know, that's actually the kind of name we'd come up with. Maker's player looks through the prior week's news, which included a Name That Dimension contest,with appropriate hokey prizes, to come up with a better name than Earth-818. She then passes the GM a note: "Maker wants the Foxbat inflatable punching bag and submits Ogygia for Earth-818." Another article in the current news talks about Pops taking down a misshapen creature attacking a supermarket, so I started the night off with that encounter. Pops is on his way home to get ready for a hot date. Pops: Why are you picking on me? You know that if I saw something happening, I'd probably just teleport the other direction. Nexus: Hey, at least you know up front you're going to win! The creature is a star vampire, which is normally invisible but becomes temporarily visible after feasting. GM: As Pops teleports into the store, he sees a badly maimed person lying on the ground, with several other people apparently fighting something invisible, which tosses them aside like gnats while it sucks blood from the maimed guy. As Pops watches, the creature becomes visible as the blood it's drinking circulates through it's body. (Shows Pops a picture of the creature. Pops: Okay, that's just wrong. I don't do tentacles. I don't even like anime. That's more Honey Badger's or Circe's thing. After a few phases of combat... GM: You notice that, as the blood it drank is being absorbed, the creature is starting to fade away. You figure it'll be invisible again by the end of the Turn. The creature grabs Pops and latches a tentacle onto his throat to begin sucking his blood. Pops: Well, at least it'll be visible a bit longer. Pops eventually defeats the creature and turns it over to PRIMUS. He then pays a visit to his teammate Malarky. Pops: You know that healing thing you did while fighting the Boston Commons? Could you do that to me? (points to his neck) I have a date tonight, and I don't want her to see this hickey. The heroes investigate, and discover that odd-looking creatures have been popping in and out of existence all over town. Some pop up in the afternoon, but most show up from about 9 pm to 2 am. None are reported between 2 am and noonish. Shadowboxer: I map out all the appearances and look for patterns. GM: You actually see two groups -- the afternoon appearances are in one part of town, near some apartment buildings and warehouses converted into condos, that sort of thing. The late evening/early night appearances are in a different part of Boston. Most of them have been pretty close to a number of lower-grade bars and other dives. Shadowboxer: That would explain the appearances ending by 2 am. That's when the bars close up. Malarky: So basically, we're looking for a drunk summoner. (More to follow)

I'm taking Comic's notation about "celebrities" to heart, so I'm going with a real celebrity. My apologies in advance to Mr. Walken. Christopher Walken has known about his sonic powers ever since he was a teen, but has carefully kept them hidden. Even as a member of the Hollywood Blacklist, he carefully disguises himself and pretends that his powers come from a souped-up smartphone. (It's actually a prop cell phone with some sci-fi doo-dads glued onto the case to make it look impressive.) As Cel-blow, he is one of Blacklist's ranged combatants.

So if it's an Android phone, do you have to buy that with Automaton powers?

Flash Group 1d6, Constant (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Trigger (target moves; activates as an Action that takes no time, resets automatically; +1); Extra Time (Full Phase at initial activation; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Requires a Roll (-1/2), OAF (Enchanted flash powder; -1). Since it only costs 1 END, he could pour 8 END into it and make a 4 SPD character's life miserable for two Turns. Every time he moves to take aim, FLASH!

Telepathy 1d6, Cumulative (16x maximum = 96 points; +1 1/2), Invisible to Mental (+1/2); Concentrate (0 DCV; -1/2), OIF (mystic charm; -1/2), Extra Time (full phase; -1/2), Requires a Roll (-1/2). The character can sit across the tavern from somebody, enter a trance, and read the target's mind to his heart's content (assuming the target has minimal or no Mental Defense). Sure, it takes a while to build up to full power, but a 3 SPD person should still be able to get there in a few minutes. Start as the guy's walking in the door, and you should be good to go by the time he's finished his first glass of beer. Teleportation 2m, Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4), Area of Effect (2m Radius; +1/4), Constant (+1/2), Usable Simultaneously (self plus 2 others; +3/4); Gate (-1/2), Requires a Roll (-1/2). Who needs to unlock doors? Just step right past 'em! (But be prepared for nasty GMs to start putting pit traps and other things on the other side of the door...) X-Ray Vision (Fully Penetrative to Sight Group). In the right (or wrong) hands, this can make the GM's life miserable.

Rioting in the streets, every time Facebook goes down for more than 5 minutes. NT: My teenage daughter's very first boyfriend is meeting my wife and I for the first time. How should I greet him to make the right first impression?

My old job has had some problems with the A/C for the server room last month -- the economizer got stuck open (whether intentionally or unintentionally by plant services is up for debate) with the blowers on continuous, and on some nights the temp in the room dipped below 40 F. I guess they figured the colder, the better, and we shouldn't worry about the possibility of frost forming on the computer equipment.

I consider Teamwork an Everyman skill, so everybody has at least an 8- chance to coordinate an attack with someone else.

Yep. I was laughing so hard it took me a few minutes to continue the game. I let them go ahead and coordinate the attack without a roll. It just seemed the right thing to do after that.

Curious, Shadowboxer asks Timmons to see the entire will. The Last Will and Testament of Patrick J. McGinty I, Patrick Joseph McGinty, being of sound mind and body (no matter what those fooking friends of mine may say, and who the Hell are they to be throwing stones anyway?) do hereby distribute my estate as follows: To my long-suffering and dedicated wife Susan, I leave the bulk of my estate beyond that specified elsewhere in this Will, with the provision that all of it reverts to charity if she remarries an Englishman after I’m gone. Dead or no, I’ll not be having no fooking Brit living high on the hog off money I fought damned hard to take and keep. To my business partner Paul Rondale, in the unlikely event he survives me, I leave my entire interest in Rondale & McGinty's Automotive & Electrical Repair Shop of Arkham, Mass. And damn me, since he’s the more responsible of the lot still breathing, I leave him the objects in my office and workspace to dispose of properly. (You know the things I’m talking about, Paul.) Or if he wishes, he can keep them and bid adieu to his sanity, not that he has much left at this point. Paul should be made aware that I’ve already taken care of storing my private library for the posterior of future generations. To my friend and driver Aldous Quinn (if Rondale and company ever get off their lazy arses and get Aldous up and moving again), for his loyalty and invaluable assistance dealing with the damnable New England Shit Vortex over the years, I leave my Dusenberg J towncar, a bottle of neat whiskey, and a packet of cigars, that he may drive out to the coast, have a smoke, and tip a glass in my memory. I instruct my lawyers to use funds from my estate to purchase a carnival fun-house mirror (the type that makes you look skinny) to bequeath to Prof. Deborah Einstein of Harvard University. I’d have gone for the type that makes you look fat, but they don’t make them that blasted large. I leave my phonograph player and collection of jazz records to Dr. Alicia McPool of Radcliffe College, in the hopes that it might help her cope with the incessant screaming. To my associate Amy Wells of Arkham, Massachusetts, I leave my little black bag of “medical tools” and the glass jar that formerly housed our associate Col. Lancaster. To agent Landing of the ONI, I leave my journals and notebooks, so he’ll finally know everything we have been up to these past years and can have a proper stroke. As to my campaign manager Norman J. Plaski, who insisted he be mentioned in my will: Hello, Norm. To my lawyer of record (at this writing, Edward Wade Poole of Crane, Poole & Schmidt) I leave my lucky pocket watch, with the instruction that it is to be passed on to succeeding lawyers of record upon each preceding lawyer’s retirement or death. This watch is to be kept within the possessor’s earshot at all times until the completion of the Corbitt proviso and final disposition of the properties listed therein. I instruct my lawyers, money-grubbing lot that they are, to hold and maintain the property at 15 W. Haven Street, Boston, Mass., along with that detailed in the Corbitt proviso. Trust funds have been established for the properties’ annual taxes, care, and maintenance (and if I find you shysters skimming off the top, don’t think I won’t come back and haunt your greedy arses). The lawyers may, if they wish, rent out either or both properties in the interim to save money on taxes and maintenance until final disposition detailed below and in the attached Proviso. But if either place gets destroyed, they should know that it’s coming out of their damned hides. On or shortly after December 30, 2014, the property at 15 W. Haven Street, Boston, Mass., and all its current contents are to be turned over to Shadowboxer, along with the balance of the trust fund established for that property’s taxes and maintenance. At 12:17 am on the above-noted date, Shadowboxer may be found on the 4th floor of the Ronald McNair Building on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon signing over the deed to the Haven Street property, the lawyer of record shall also give Shadowboxer the accompanying sealed envelope, with instructions not to open the envelope nor read the contents until well within the grounds of the Haven Street property. And don’t think I’m not laughing my arse off at my own cleverness. Upon transfer of the property above, I also bequeath four bottles of neat whiskey and two boxes of cigars to Shadowboxer’s associate Sugar Beaver to distribute to his teammates as he sees fit. He’d damn well better care about it, too, as I’m leaving him good Irish whiskey, not watered-down American piss-whiskey like he’s used to drinking. And the lasses had best not start spouting any of that “smoking and alcohol are no good for you” crap. The boys can light up and drink as they please. As they prepare to take on the tasks at hand, I tip a glass in their honor and wish them the best of luck. Better them than me, says I. - - - - Timmons insists that, as far as he knows, that is the entirety of the will. So, where is McGinty's library? And how long is it going to take the heroes to find it?

(finishing the Boston Champions adventure; again, McGinty appears with prior permission from Drhoz and McGinty's player) The battle done, PRIMUS is called to cart off the captured supervillains. As the heroes wait for PRIMUS to arrive... Byron Timmons: (enters the room and almost walks into the bramble/briar patch) Oh, my! Maker: Who is it? George Takei? Byron Timmons: (heads toward Shadowboxer, completely nonplussed at the trashed robots and unconscious supervillains scattered about) Mister Shadowboxer and... (inclines his head to Honey Badger) Mister Honey Badger? I am the lawyer of record of an estate for which you are both named beneficiaries. (Hands each of them his business card) If you would be so kind, please call my secretary and arrange an appointment so that we may distribute your portions of the estate. Thank you, and good day. (He climbs back out the hole in the wall and continues on his way as if this is a completely normal situation.) The two heroes go to the offices of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt (seeing one lawyer who bears a striking resemblance to William Shatner) for the reading of the will. Shadowboxer: Whose estate are we beneficiaries for? Byron Timmons: This is the estate of Patrick J. McGinty, former governor and late of Boston. He disappeared from the public eye in 1929 and was declared legally dead in 1936. The will was signed shortly before his disappearance. (pause) I should warn you, Mr. McGinty apparently considered himself quite the smart wit. (disapproving sniff) Timmons reads the relevant portion of the will. Timmons: "I instruct my lawyers, money-grubbing lot that they are (another disapproving sniff), to hold and maintain the property at 15 W. Haven Street, Boston, Mass., along with that detailed in the Corbitt proviso. Trust funds have been established for the properties’ annual taxes, care, and maintenance (and if I find you shysters skimming …" well, what follows are some… rather colorful instructions as to the properties’ care and maintenance. "On or shortly after February 13, 2015, the property at 15 W. Haven Street, Boston, Mass., and all its current contents are to be turned over to Shadowboxer, along with the balance of the trust fund established for that property’s taxes and maintenance. At 11:17 pm on the above-noted date, Shadowboxer may be found on the 4th floor of the Ronald McNair Building on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology." "Upon signing over the deed to the Haven Street property, the lawyer of record shall also give Shadowboxer the accompanying sealed envelope, with instructions not to open the envelope nor read the contents until well within the grounds of the Haven Street property. And don’t think I’m not laughing my arse off at my own cleverness." (another disapproving sniff) "Upon transfer of the property above, I also bequeath four bottles of neat whiskey and two boxes of cigars to Shadowboxer’s associate Sugar Beaver…" -- I assume this is more of Mr. McGinty’s famed ‘wit’ and that he means you, Mr. Honey Badger, unless you (looking at Shadowboxer) have a Sugar Beaver associate of which I am unaware. "… to distribute to his teammates as he sees fit. He’d damn well better care about it, too, as I’m leaving him good Irish whiskey, not watered-down American piss-whiskey like he’s used to drinking. And the lasses had best not start spouting any of that “smoking and alcohol are no good for you” crap. The boys can light up and drink as they please." "As they prepare to take on the tasks at hand, I tip a glass in their honor and wish them the best of luck. Better them than me, says I." Honey Badger: Aw, man! I was looking forward to meeting Sugar Beaver! I was sure that was a girl! Think about it... Sugar Beaver... Sounds like a hottie, doesn't it? Shadowboxer has one of the magic-using heroes check out the envelope, who verified it has a minor enchantment to preserve the paper and keep anybody from peeking at the letter inside, but nothing dangerous. They check out the house and grounds; in addition to the old Victorian home, there's a garage (formerly a stable), an old stone well, a rose-trellis arch leading to a hedge maze, and a gazebo. Honey Badger: Is there an arrow in the gazebo? GM: No, but there are three bullet holes in it. Inside the house, Shadowboxer opens and reads the letter. Well, lad, we’ve had a few interesting conversations over the past few years, but it seems time’s running out for this old man. I guess you can’t spend years beating back a shit vortex without getting a wee bit of muck splashed on you. And in our line of work, you’re doing well if the muck doesn’t do quite a bit more than just stink. But I dug my fooking hole, so I guess I’ll have to lie in it eventually. I’m counting on you lot to keep fighting the good fight. You’ve got a rough road ahead, lad, but you’ve got friends to protect your arse – and they’ve got you to protect theirs. True, they’re an odd lot, especially that Syrup Otter lad. I can only hope they’ll get the job done. Heaven knows stranger things have happened in this old world. I wish I could offer you more than some well-read books and a pat on the back, but my days of being much help are well behind me. It’s up to you lot to find a way to win the day. Beat the blackguards back and kick some monster arse for me. And when you find yourself swimming underwater in a whirlpool of shit, well, lad, just keep looking for a crack in the crust. A final word of advice: you’ll find a splash of whiskey and a walk in the sunshine might help you keep your sanity. Well, what little sanity you might have, given that you’re crazy enough to get into our line of work. Your friend, Paddy McGinty P.S. Please pass on my apologies to that Malarkey lad for our first meeting, and I hope everything grows back well enough. (Note that none of them have yet met McGinty.) The heroes take a tour of the house. Timmons assures them that all of the furnishings and everything in the house had been put into storage in the 1930s, and brought out (and restored, where necessary) about a month or two ago. One thing the heroes notice: There are no books to be found anywhere in the house.

(Continuing the Boston Champions game...) The heroes get a full description of Marathon, and learn that the other-world version also had a spear and a shield, but no such items were stolen. The spear allowed Marathon to teleport himself, or his teammates. Maker: Maybe he kept some for his private collection. Shadowboxer: Or sold them for someone else's private collection. Remember, that's why the university stopped letting him go on digs. The heroes get all deductive and stuff. Pops: Maybe the Professor got his hands on the spear from this world, and is using it to teleport his lab around every time PRIMUS gets too close. Honey Badger is keeping an eye on the building while the rest of the team assembles costumes to disguise their identities. (He's the only one who has done any real crimefighting, and does so publicly.) While doing so, he notices someone else keeping an eye on the building: a very neatly-dressed man - almost obsessively so - sitting in a car. GM: He's mostly reading papers, making some notes on them with a red pen, and glancing every now and then at a pocket watch. Honey Badger: Pocket watch - you don't see those every day. What is this guy, a professor, grading papers? Hey, maybe he's The Professor. GM: Watching his own lab from across the street? Besides, he strikes you more as an accountant. Or a lawyer. Pops: That's even worse. Shadowboxer uses his shadow-sight to see what the papers are the guy is reading. They're pages from a will, some guy setting up a living trust for his wife and kids. Shadowboxer: Anyone we know? The heroes turn their sights on getting into what they're pretty sure is the Professor's lab. Since Shadowboxer's shadow-sight can't see inside, Nexus sends her spirit Contact to scout it out. When he doesn't return after a half hour, and she can't locate him by spell, they get worried and decide to break in. Honey Badger: We'll enter from the roof, drop in through the skylight... Maker: What if there's no skylight? Honey Badger: There's always a skylight. GM: Even if there is a skylight, there's also the point that this is a 5 story building and the lab you're heading into is on the 4th floor. Dropping in through a skylight only puts you into the room above the lab. Honey Badger: So we give the 4th floor lab a skylight into the room above it. As the heroes are planning and arguing, the Boston Commons make their move, entering the building under one of Sense's Veils right under the heroes' noses. Since the heroes captured the villains' shapeshifter/mimic earlier that day (he was supposed to mimic Attache to get them into the Professor's lab), Whitey mind controls Attache to open the doors for them. Pops teleports the heroes into the hallway outside the lab, but the villains are already inside, having closed the door behind them. Pops: So, do we break in and jump into the middle of a fight, or wait for the noise to die down and mop up whichever side won? They hear what sounds like a howitzer go off inside, and see the wall next to them crack. The plaster on the hallway side falls, revealing badly damaged armor plating. Honey Badger: We should probably go in. He rips a hole in the wall and climbs through, followed by several other heroes. They see the Boston Commons facing off against a bunch of robots. Two rolling robots similar to Johnny Five from Short Circuit. Two more flying robots like the ones they fought earlier. And over a half-dozen lab robots similar to the ones that worked for/with Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. Plus two human lab technicians, who have grabbed up prototype weapons for an impromptu field test. In the middle are five racks full of various equipment, all wired into an ancient-looking spear. Honey Badger: Are any of them shooting at Honey Badger? 'Cause that's Honey Badger's job. And Honey Badger don't care. Marathon runs across the room to get the spear. Maker flies in with a stealth field on, zips over to the racks, and does a Move-By Grab on the spear, flying back with it toward the hole in the wall. Gerrymander nearly crit-fails a Tactics roll, and puts a Barrier wall around Marathon and the racks, not realizing Maker is already outside that area. Shadowboxer: That's not so bad. He didn't know she was already outside that area. GM: Smarter would have been to put a Barrier over the hole in the wall so she can't get out. Shadowboxer: True, there is that. As Marathon gets upset over being walled up, albeit temporarily, things get temporarily political. Common Man: Just like a true conservative - throw up walls and block things, just to prove you're in control. Malarky casts a spell to catch most of the Commons in a field of brambles and briars (AoE Entangle), including four alt-selves of Common Man that were there at the time. Gerrymander turns desolid and walks out. As he passes by a trapped Common Man: Gerrymander: Just like a true liberal - completely ineffective. Pops teleports across the room, ending up beside one VIPER technician holding a tiny pistol. Circe uses her TK to disarm the tech (Chad). Pops: (grinning at the disarmed technician) Hiya. Chad: (picks up various components on the nearby lab table and holds up one finger) Just a minute. I'll be right with you. Pops: No problem, take your time. (OOC:) How many Phases is it going to take him to get whatever that is together? GM: Like he said, a minute. Maybe two. Honey Badger picks up a roller bot and squeezes, causing considerable damage to it. Honey Badger: Look at that. Cheap Chinese construction. (Every lab robot and roller bot in the lab stops what they're doing to give Honey Badger the bird.) Maker flies out the hole, and Circe decides to follow her just in case she needs backup. When Gerrymander tries to stop her, Circe mind-blasts him, so he grabs her and squeezes. Malarky responds by hitting Gerrymander with his drunkenness spell. Gerrymander: (finally getting a good look at Circe) Hey, you're pretty hot. What say we blow this joint, go hit a club. Circe: Um... yeah? Sure? Honey Badger goes out to back Circe up in case she needs any help. Sizing up the situation, instead of attacking, he walks up to the other side of Gerrymander and puts his arm companionably around the villain's shoulders. Gerrymander: Hey, dude, back off. She's totally into me. Honey Badger. Oh, no problem, pal. But if you're taking my friend out, I just wanted to give you a few tips. (looks significantly at Circe). One, you make sure you act like a gentleman. (Gerrymander nods, while Circe continues to look mildly baffled) Two, you have to make sure she gets home safe afterward. (As Circe's player continues to look confused) And in case you (looking at Circe) haven't figured it out yet, I'm TOTALLY trying to coordinate with you here, so Three (rolls dice)... Circe: Oh. OH!!! (grabs dice, then looks at the character sheet) Do I even have Teamwork skill??? Honey Badger: (facepalming and shaking his head) Apparently not.