BoloOfEarth

NT: We've discovered the first exoplanet within 75 light years that we know can support human life! What do we call it?

A-shame-we'll-never-get-funding-to-send-anything-there.  Either that or Bob.

NT:  What is Santa going to use instead of the sleigh and reindeer to deliver presents this year?

Instant Cubicle Walls:  Barriers with fairly low PD/ED and low BODY, but many, many meters.  I'd make it a maze.  Perfect to hinder ground-bound speedsters.

I'd change Log-Man's Shrinking UAA power's name to You've Been Downsized.

I'd Like That in Triplicate:  Duplication (2 copies)

How about Five for Fighting's Superman (It's Not Easy)?

Land, Ho, Ho, Ho!

NT: Signs that the current storm situation is really the work of a Super Villain.

The snowflakes are glowing green, register as slightly radioactive, and you can take out a world-class hero with a snowball.

New Topic: Why is it so (redacted) cold outside?!

My ex-girlfriend uncrossed her legs.

The Lions won a football game on Thanksgiving.  This cold spell is a side effect of Hell freezing over.

NT:  Foxbat has stolen all the Christmas trees to try and hijack all the Christmas presents!  (BWA-HA-HA-HAAAA!!!)  What are you going to put out instead for Santa to put your presents under?

Sapphire wants some noise-cancelling headphones for when Defender feels the need to sing.  Seriously, the guy can't carry a tune in a bushel basket.

NT:  Subtle signs during the interview that you're not getting that job.

Move the device to Wally's computer.

Bolo:  given his powers are also electrical in nature, Bolo would likely relish the idea of training a sidekick.  Though like Scaredy Cat, I doubt the kid would find it "cool" to hang with Bolo and be an associate member of the Ann Arbor People's Justice Co-Op.  (Not exactly Avengers-level rep, y'know.)

Actually, I believe Candy Striper was Enforcer84's creation.  I happily stole borrowed her because I thought she would be a fun counterpoint to Sentinel's medical background.  Worked like a charm.

I don't have an HD file of her, but I'll attach a PDF of her character sheet from Creation Workshop. 

Candy Striper.pdf

Heh.  Loved this thread the first time around, and never did post here how I eventually used them.

Over a number of sessions I ran a bunch of solo hero-vs-villainess fights, matching each PC to one of Adonis' ladies whose powers or personality fit that character (or in one case, the player herself).  Neither the PC heroes nor the players had any idea the ladies were all connected in any way.

Then, one of the female PCs was investigating a "religion" that her boyfriend's secretary was getting involved in.  When two of the PCs went to investigate the Temple of Aphrodite, they were quite surprised to find a collection of their foes living there.

My favorite part was when I added Candy Striper to Adonis' group and pitted her against a PC superheroine (Sentinel) who worked as a paramedic in secret ID and whose paramedic partner (Charlie) had an unrequited crush on Sentinel.  (Sentinel had no attraction to Charlie whatsoever.)  But when CS started flirting with Charlie, and he flirted back, Sentinel got quite upset.  And in later sessions when Charlie started crushing on Candy Striper instead of Sentinel, the player got royally pissed off.

I played in a game where frequent PvP fights led to the GM pulling a "Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies" scenario, ending the entire campaign.

I've also run Champions campaigns where, for one reason or another, a player character ended up battling his/her teammates.  (Not often, but a few times.)  Those were always approached carefully, and there were no long-term hard feelings.

Once, a female PC (Tempest) apparently died saving a bunch of civilians.  I contacted the player a few days later and laid out what I wanted to do:  Tempest didn't actually die, but would be thought dead and be out of commission for a while.  Meanwhile, the player drew up a (temporary) new character to run until Tempest's return.  The player herself didn't even know until the big reveal that a supervillain had found an amnesiac Tempest, got her a new costume and name, and manipulated her into a fight against her teammates.  The best part was seeing the other heroes try to take Tempest down without really hurting her once they finally figured out what was going on.

I've also had a player run a doppleganger imitating that player's PC (I allowed the player to have the doppleganger make minor mistakes imitating the PC, trying to give the other PCs clues that something was amiss).  When that big reveal came, the player didn't fight the others with kid gloves, either.  I think the other PCs having to rescue that player's character from a deathtrap immediately afterward helped remove any sting from the actual fight.

I think the main thing was that in each case, the player fighting against his/her teammates ultimately wanted to lose the fight, even if the actual character doing the fighting didn't want to lose. (In the case of the doppleganger, the player just wasn't going to make it easy for the others.)  In the end, any player anger got re-directed at the villain behind the subterfuge.

So I guess if the PvP stuff is constant and petty, yeah, it can tear things up.  But if it's done as a one-shot with careful forethought, it can work without noses getting bent out of shape.

Dr. Blaine Ottendore was experimenting with technology to tap into other dimensions when he developed the "blackout generator."  This device taps into a dimension of preternatural darkness, allowing some of the inky darkness to seep into his own dimension.  Unfortunately, this darkness is sometimes accompanied by semi-immaterial... things that lurk in the dark and strike terror into the hearts of humans they encounter.  Luckily, reversing the field caused not only the darkness but also the terrifying beings to be pulled back to their dark world.

Shortly after Dr. Ottendore first encountered one of these dark shades, he developed a suit of high-tech armor to protect the wearer from the shades' touch, and an electrified sword capable of harming the shades. A history buff, he based the armor's appearance upon old Roman centurion armor and the sword upon a Roman gladius.  He also incorporated the blackout generator into the armor. 

Dr. Ottendore now operates as Night Knight (he's a fan of bad puns), self-proclaimed "caller of the Eternal Night and commander of the Dark Legion."  (He doesn't publicly admit that he doesn't actually control the shades in his darkness field.)

NT: Things to do on Black Friday that are worse than shopping.

Work in the retail sector, and have to deal with the Black Friday shoppers.

NT:  How is Foxbat going to ensure he gets everything he's looking for on Black Friday?

Front for Eco-Resistance and Animal Liberation

NT: Aliens are settling on the planet! How are you going to stop them from taking over? (Difficulty: no violence)

Stop them from taking over?  Could they possibly be any worse than the people we already have in charge?  I say we throw them a Welcome to Earth party.

NT:  Okay, so maybe the aliens are worse.  What horrible thing(s) did they do immediately after taking over the earth?

NT: Subtle signs that Napoleon Bonaparte was reincarnated after all and is now your cat.

The sideways hat and French accent were a dead giveaway.  Though the "Ziggy Piggy" sticker was a surprise.

NT:  The local radio station has thankfully decided to stop broadcasting the far-too-early Christmas carols and instead inexplicably puts a few "Thanksgiving carols" on the air.  Name them.

Lt. Gavin Browne was a member of one of the very first SEAL teams in the Vietnam War.  His teammates thought he had died on a particularly difficult mission, but he was actually injured and captured by the enemy.  Held as a POW in an overgrown temple deep in the forest and tortured daily, he was trying to escape one night when he pulled a stone out of the cell wall to discover a long-hidden scroll rolled up and threaded through a tarnished ring with a strangely-glowing blue stone.  He put the ring on and discovered that he could now read the scroll. 

Whatever magic was on the scroll or ring has transferred to Lt. Browne, giving him the ability to open any door and, if no door is available, create a temporary opening in any wall.  It also made him effectively immortal (he doesn't appear to age) and nearly invulnerable (most attacks seems to pass through him, even AoE attacks).  Obviously, he escaped from his imprisonment.  Unfortunately, something about the scroll or the ring also drove him slightly insane, so he didn't return home or to his Navy service.

Taking the nickname Seventh SEAL, he worked for decades as a mercenary, rarely using his abilities in obvious ways.  (His near-invulnerability is not a conscious action.)  He recently joined the Wetworkers as their infiltration specialist.

Yesterday there was an attendance-mandatory session on what to do in the event of an armed, actively shooting intruder.

 

Predictably with our hopelessly messed-up tech infrastructure, the presenter had problems with his Powerpoint, which led to an exchange I found amusingly apropos for the intended topic:

 

"Escape out of it."

 

"It's not responding."

 

That first line was, of course, meaning "press the escape key to abort whatever it thinks it's doing," but...

I'm imagining the irony if someone had pulled out a handgun and shot the computer...

Who is right, Superman or Punisher?  Personally, I don't think we should get into politics outside the NGD threads. 

Oh, that's not what you meant by "right."  My bad.

New Topic: Things Foxbat is thankful for this Thanksgiving.

His DCV is finally higher than Skippy the Wonder Dog.

NT: Truly bizarre things to bring to the office Thanksgiving pot-luck. Must be, at least in principle, edible.

Tofu lasagna.  (Though I'm not positive that meets the last criterion.)

What are the odds of that happening?  It's almost like some god of mischief took a hand in it...

That's 8, Black Ops.  Time for a new team name, theme, and number of members.

The man known as Terminus is an Olympic-class gymnast who uses his reflexes and quick eye to make him an expert trick shot.  Carrying two finely-balanced, exactingly calibrated .22LR automatic pistols, he relies on perfect round placement to make up for the reduced power of his handguns.  He is far from the fastest shot on the team, but he may be the most accurate.  (The others would argue that point, and often do.)