BoloOfEarth

Re: Help me fill in the plot holes I agree with Red Eagle about outright KO'ing and capturing the PCs, and really, you don't need to go that far. This can work equally well if the heroes are lured to the cult HQ (by clues left by Blackstaff), and they sneak past security far too easily. Eventually, they enter a room where an armored wall drops over the door they came through, the opposite door is fake, and then a side wall raises to reveal a (nearly unbreakable) transparent wall, behind which is the cult leader. Cue the big reveal, after which the room becomes a classic death trap (begins filling with water, or gas, or the ceiling begins to drop, or combinations thereof). Now, as to getting there... In addition to using the same PC heroes, are you also playing with the same group of players from college? If not, I'd include info on Blackstaff being a laughingstock. (Cops might say, "You're working with Barf-staff?!") Nothing too blatant, but lay the groundwork. Blackie is ultimately upset at his teammates, but don't forget Skunk's contribution. If he's not going to be a part of the campaign, maybe he went straight in prison and wrote a "tell-all" book (proceeds to charity, naturally, and the book also helped make Blackstaff a laughingstock), and Skunk came out smelling like roses (pun intended). But Skunk is then found dead, also apparently killed by the cultists, with info implicating him in the theft of materials for the bomb, and info in his apartment pointing to the cult HQ location. It's cliche, but Blackstaff could also fake his own death, also at the hands of the cultists. Make it Levin, then Skunk, then Blackstaff, then maybe a reporter looking into the cult (who, incidentally, added to Blackstaff's looking foolish years ago). All tie in overtly to the cult, but they're also related to Blackstaff being a super-joke. Each death leaves a clue that eventually gets the heroes to the cult HQ. Hidden in Levin's bionic arm is a strip of film (why not digital photos - because Blackstaff is a screw-up) showing cult activity at various warehouses across town, each a different company. Skunk's apartment has (planted) blueprints and guard shift info where the nuclear materials were stolen -- and the guards were gassed during the breakin. Blackstaff's journal details his "investigations" with Levin, including an observation that he saw Levin meet with Skunk, dated prior to the nuke theft -- but Blackie is "too good of a friend to seriously think his teammate is dirty." And the reporter has notes showing the different companies are all secretly owned by one mystery company (HQ where Blackstaff wants the heroes to go).

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Foxbat's serenade to Witchcraft: "It Must Be Magic ('Cuz Sapphire's Hotter)"

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From last night's Champions game: A DEMON Morbane, using a magical staff, turned two of the five heroes of S-Squad into stone (along with Rubicon, a solo NPC hero the PCs have gotten help from with magical stuff). The heroes got the staff, but the Morbane teleported away -- after saying that the petrification becomes permanent in three days. The remaining three heroes -- none of whom have any magical powers, skills, or knowledge -- were trying to figure out how to return their teammates to normal. Squeeze: Normally, we'd go to Rubicon for help on this... GM: He's a statue right now. Squeeze: ...so he won't be much help. Squeeze (OOC): This globe on the end of the staff…is there anything in there? GM: The globe is filled with a smoky-white liquid. Moving the staff around, you can see that there *is* something in there. Sentinel: Like a basilisk’s eye? GM: (to Sentinel) Maaaaybe. (to Squeeze) So, are you checking it out? Squeeze: Um… no. The heroes were contacted by and met with a lawyer (Irving Probalino, Esquire) of a magic-using supervillain (Codex) that S-Squad put into Stronghold a few months ago. The meeting took place at a restaurant, and PRIMUS (suspecting one of Codex’s teammates in the Alexandrian Order might be there) sent a bunch of agents there undercover. Probalino recognized one of the PRIMUS agents. Probalino: I find it worrisome that PRIMUS seems to be here in force. Squeeze: They were at our base when you called. We couldn’t do anything about it. Probalino: (Opens his menu) Ah, well, we might as well order dinner… Serendipity: (Opens her menu, sees a note inside reading “Go to the bathroom”) Well, *apparently* I have to go to the bathroom.” In the bathrooms, the heroes discovered that the mirrors were (temporary) magical portals to the Alexandrian Order’s base. There, they met with Codex, who offers to help cure their teammates in exchange for the “Staff of the Basilisk”. Sentinel: Aren’t you supposed to still be in Stronghold? Codex: (smiles) Squeeze: Astral projections are wonderful things, aren’t they? GM: He looks solid enough. (Serendipity reaches over and touches Codex’s arm) Codex (looks down at her fingers on his sleeve) It’s silk. Doesn’t it feel nice? I bought this suit in Italy the last time I was there. Sentinel: So, after you cure Synergy and Styx, you’ll go back to Stronghold? Codex: As far as PRIMUS is concerned, I’ve never left. Sentinel: How’d you pull that trick off? Codex: (smiles smugly) Trade secret. Squeeze: So, how long will it take to turn them back to normal? Serendipity: …because the Morbane said we only have three days. Squeeze: Thanks a lot. I was trying to trick Codex into verifying if there really is a deadline. (Looks at Codex while shaking his head, like ‘see what I have to work with?’) Codex: (aside to Squeeze) I have Torg on my team. His *sword* is smarter than he is. Consider yourself lucky. The heroes refused Codex’s offer of help. Sentinel did some research on basilisks, and the team called Witchcraft (from the Champions). Sentinel: Can you tell us how to use the staff to cure our friends? Witchcraft: It’s not something I can teach you over the phone. It’s not like you can just “swish and flick” (said disdainfully). If you can find the incantations, I might be able to assist you. I can’t make any guarantees, as I also have time-sensitive issues to deal with. Squeeze: (OOC) Of course. Can’t be simple, can it? (to Witchcraft) Can the staff be destroyed? Witchcraft: Method of destruction varies with the magical artifact. Some must be destroyed in a specific way, such as being tossed into an active volcano during a full moon. Others can be destroyed by brute force, although their magic often makes them much tougher than normal. (Squeeze is contemplating his 2x Penetrating HKA Squeeze attack) Witchcraft: Of course, the release of magical energy can have sometimes catastrophic effects upon the environment… Squeeze: The heroes discovered that a scroll was stolen from an Athens museum, and surmised the scroll has info on the Staff of the Basilisk. They also eventually found out the location of the Morbane, reconnoitered, and then called in PRIMUS to help. Sentinel (to PRIMUS): Oh, and they have a basilisk in the shed southeast of the main building, so bring mirrors. The heroes rushed into the main building and fought the Morbane and DEMON Initiates, while PRIMUS took on the DEMON guards outside. Sentinel (using her x-ray vision): Four people just popped into the room on the southwest corner. I think they’re from the Alexandrian Order. (to GM) Is the basilisk still in the shed? GM: You don’t know, you’re not looking in that direction right now. (evil grin) Do you want to? Sentinel: Would a basilisk gaze still affect me through x-ray vision? GM: Dunno. Nobody’s ever tested that. Want to give it a try? Sentinel: Ahhhhhh… no. Squeeze: The Order’s after the scroll. (to PRIMUS): We need you to lob some flash-bangs into the southwest corner room. PRIMUS Agent: We’re a little busy out here, fighting a damn basilisk! (Sound of gunfire) It got Johnson! Oh, crap! Sentinel: You *did* bring mirrors, didn’t you? PRIMUS Agent: Do you have any idea how hard it is to target with a mirror? Whatta ya think we are, trick shots? Squeeze: Use grenades. Lots and lots of grenades. GM: You hear a loud animal hiss. Sentinel (to PRIMUS): Oh, their hiss is supposed to be deadly, too. You did bring earplugs, didn’t you? (to GM) I did warn them about that, didn’t I? (GM shakes head no) Sentinel (to PRIMUS): Sorry. My bad. The Morbane, Greekfire, hit Torg with a flame attack (Continuous, Uncontrolled). Torg: Ow! Toga man hit Torg with fire! Torg not like fire! Squeeze: Ooo, in that full plate mail… he’s gotta be like a baked potato in tin foil. Torg (swings his sword at Greekfire and misses): Cutter missed toga man! Torg’s sword: My name is Cuthbain! Torg: Cutter! Torg’s sword: Cuthbain! Torg: Cutter! Torg’s sword: (mutters) Moron… Torg: Codex told Torg to get mister string man. Squeeze: But that guy in the toga, he set you on fire and then ran upstairs. The bad toga man! Don’t you want to help us get him instead? Torg (mentally derailed): Toga man bad. Torg not like fire. Maybe Torg *should* stop toga man… Serendipity: I’m sure that’s what Codex would tell you to do. Torg (back on track): Oh! Codex say Torg need to get silly string man! (swings his sword and war hammer at Squeeze) Squeeze: Greekfire was eventually cornered upstairs by Sentinel and Squeeze, while PRIMUS was moving in on the main building. Greekfire: I’ll make you a deal. I cure your friends, for my freedom. Squeeze (thinking about how little time remains): Crap. Okay, fine. You’re going with me. (Swings away with Greekfire) Greekfire: I’ll need the staff to cure them. Squeeze: (gives him the ‘I wasn’t born yesterday’ look) We’ll *both* hold the staff. The heroes were cured (and the Morbane teleported away). Squeeze: Now we just need to destroy this staff. GM: Are you going to Squeeze it? Squeeze: Nah. I’ll give it to Synergy; he can throw into Mount Pinatubo during the next lunar eclipse.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, Barfs all over your favorite wig. Spins a web, made of twine, He's our favorite super-swine. Look out! It's the Spider-Pig!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat They forgot to remove the price tag and the "Inspected by" sticker.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Yes Sir! That's My Tribble! No Sir! I Just Won't Quibble! "Tonight, on Entertainment Tonight, Paris Hilton says something intelligent!"

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Hey, Superman, can you give me a lift across town?" (sigh) "Sure think, Kryptonite Kid."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Watch a world with normal weather, in... The Day Before Tomorrow

Re: Your Local Generation VIPER I had a VIPER-run school in my Champions game. Let's see what I recall... Staff-wise, the Phys Ed teacher was a former long-time agent (he'd seen it *all*, had +20 PRE only for Defense and great rolls for Tactics and Teamwork) who had been volunteered for a super-agent program. He was a low-level brick (named Pugilist) for a time, was injured in the line of duty and walked with a limp, semi-retired to teach at the school. The art teacher (Prism) had light powers; her Images were something to see. Impulse, the Chem and Physics teacher, had control of kinetic energy. And Silver Spectre, a compulsively flirtations telekinetic, taught Biology (as well as all Sex Ed classes). As to the students, I had them all pretty much normals with attitudes (excessive ones even for teens ). If I was making some super teens, I'd mostly go against stereotypes. For instance: Telepathic/MC jock (quarterback, BMOC, etc.), reading the other team's minds during the game, or to steal the girl away from the PC teen hero, or find out dirty secrets and reveal them. Shapechanging cheerleader, disguising herself as a PC's friend at Horizon Academy and spreading rumors that make the PC miserable, or doing something illegal and getting a PC blamed for it. Someone with a grudge (a male PC wouldn't go out with her, or a female PC stole her guy, or any PC made her look bad) would work best IMO. Drama student with sonic powers (Hearing Images, NND EB, maybe even subliminal mind control), suggesting a "drama-club team-up musical for charity" then making the Horizon Academy students look bad on stage. Slacker type who is actually a perpetual teen. Former student to a medieval alchemist and caught in a lab accident, he's now immortal and incredibly regenerative. Unfortunately, he's also incredibly immature. He has centuries of knowledge and experience, plus more money than he knows what to do with (thanks to the magic of compounding interest, plus some chemistry breakthroughs under a variety of pseudonyms). Imagine the players' faces when they find out the main stockholder of Megacorp is actually a 14 year old punk. Just a few ideas, hope they help.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Oops, forgot one more from the D&D game: The heroes had some Strength drained away during the battle. In the process of re-calculating weapon damage, Aren's player pointed out that Yllek's player wasn't calculating his damage correctly, and in fact had the normal weapon damage incorrect on the character sheet. Yllek (OOC, pissed at himself): But that means I should have been doing one more point of damage for every hit! For *months* I've been doing less damage than I could have! Months!!" Ryan (OOC to DM): All those orcs that Yllek plugged full of arrows -- they're all a little bit deader now."

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From our D&D game: Our stalwart heroes are being sent off on what might be a suicide mission... Il'Marcum: How about a nice Blessing before we go? Dwarven cleric: (chanting) Oh, you poor bastiches, you're going to diiiiieeee... Y'llek: I need to get enough gold together to commission some Arrows of Spell Storing. Leila: What would they do? Y'llek: Well, if Il'Marcum is far away and hurt, I could fire an arrow at him with a Cure Serious Wounds spell on it. Leila: Let me get this straight. To cure him, you're going to *shoot* him?! Devlyn tries to use a lightning want to attack some hobgoblins, but fails her Use Magic Device roll. Aren: No, it's (waving an imaginary wand and imitating Hermione Granger) "Wingardium Levi-OOO-sa!" Y'llek and Devlyn become surrounded by about a dozen hobgoblins. This is seen by sorcerer Il'Marcum, flying overhead. Il'Marcum: (smiles apologetically to Y'llek and Devlyn, then turns to DM) I cast a fireball, centered on Y'llek and Devlyn. Later in the fight, the big bad boss appears and attacks Il'Marcum. Devlyn: What should I do? Y'llek: (waving an imaginary wand) Swish and flick!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat A fishtank with potatoes swimming in it.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

Re: Help with a magical contract Okay, here's the current contract (changed due to everybody's fine suggestions): The undersigned members of S-Squad do hereby swear a sacred oath to refrain from revealing anything about any and all members of the Alexandrian Order to anybody other than each other or members of the Alexandrian Order. This restriction applies both to the words and deeds of the undersigned, as well as their actions and inactions. Furthermore, the undersigned members of S-Squad agree to allow members of the Alexandrian Order to keep all magical artifacts, devices, items, and/or materials used to find and/or produce a cure for the Curse of the Basilisk. The undersigned members of S-Squad do also swear a sacred oath to refrain from revealing the existence or details of this pact to anyone other than themselves or members of the Alexandrian Order. Again, this restriction applies both to the undersigned's words and deeds, as well as their actions and inactions. [space for heroes to sign] In exchange the undersigned members of the Alexandrian Order will provide all magical and mundane assistance needed to cure the Curse of the Basilisk, provided such assistance does not directly harm any member or follower of the Order nor result in their incarceration. [space for villains to sign] All restrictions enforced by this magical contract shall automatically cease sixty (60) days after signing, or should both copies of this pact be destroyed.

Re: Help with a magical contract I'd like a second way for the contract to be broken, otherwise I can bet the players won't even consider signing it. I now think I'll keep it Fragile, but have two copies (one for the heroes, one for the villains), and specify in it that the pact is broken if *both* copies are destroyed. IOW, either both sides need to agree to break the agreement, or one side needs to get their hands on the other side's copy. The "curse" doesn't spread, however. It's a Transform attack that two of the player character heroes get hit with, along with a solo hero that the PC heroes often go to for mystic help. (IRL, two of my players will be out of town when I next run, so I'm making an in-game reason why their characters are unavailable.) I'm assuming the other heroes will capture the Basilisk Staff, but none of them know squat about magic, and their healer's powers won't undo the Transform. Of course, the heroes *could* use the captured staff to turn other people to stone just to keep the Order busy curing them. ("Okay, here's the staff. Now fix Styx and Synergy. Oh, and when you get done with them, there's a few hundred people, spread across the country, that we kinda turned to stone, just testing out the staff, y'know? I figure it should take you two months to travel around and cure all of them. Happy trails!") That's hardly heroic, though I must admit it would be amusing.

Re: Strange Hero Concepts: Discuss Your Own! JD: A formerly normal-human bounty hunter, his body was destroyed but his brain saved and put into a jar, mounted atop a robot body. He could detach from this body, which could fight independent of him. Metar: Alien nano-swarm. Subliminal: Team mentalist and the sixth member of S-Squad. Actually, Subliminal doesn't exist. He's a figment of the PC heroes' imagination, invented to make foes *worry* about a never-seen mentalist. They drop his name every now and then, in battles or during interviews, just to keep everybody guessing. If one of the heroes is asked directly about Subliminal, that hero gazes at nothing with a blank expression and say in a dull, hypnotized-type voice, "Subliminal? I have no idea who you're talking about."

Re: Help with a magical contract Well, I could remove "Fragile" from the OAF. Since it's about a 90-point power, that would give it 18 DEF, making it much more difficult to destroy. As to the second part, yeah, I meant it as "among themselves," though "each other" would probably be clearer. If Squeeze and Sentinel both sign the contract, they can discuss it without a problem. Thanks for catching that.

Re: Istvatha V'han - why can't she conquer Earth? Why can't Istvatha V'han conquer Earth? Well, y'see, Foxbat built this toll booth, and V'han had to send back to her home dimension for a s***load of dimes.

Re: Help with a magical contract By the way, thank you for the great feedback and suggestions. I've already repped Hugh and Pinecone, and tried to rep LL (but apparently I already did so too recently). I'll rework the contract and re-post it tomorrow. I also had a thought about the Power for the contract itself, since heroes' Mental Defense would be problematic for a small Mind Control. How about a 3d6 Mind Control, NND (Defense is signing against your will or signing a name other than one by which you're known), Cumulative (4x Max = 72 points), Continuous, Uncontrolled, 0 END, Trigger (signing contract; automatically resets), Difficult to Dispel; OAF Fragile, Effect ceases if contract is torn in two or otherwise destroyed.

Re: Help with a magical contract Hmmm... I should change the word "needed" to "used" or something similar, since Codex would suspect a non-magical approach may exist, and he would definately want to close that loophole. And if the heroes don't *ask* about some way other than using the staff, well, he can't be blamed... Keep in mind that this is all pre-planning for next week; I have no idea if the heroes will even entertain the idea of a deal with the Order. But regardless I'd like to have the contract ready for them to sign (and like you said, I think there's some great roleplaying opportunities in this scenario).

Re: Help with a magical contract Good call on that. I'll change it to that, but with "... harm any member of the Order or cause such member(s) to face likely incarceration." One could argue that being locked up isn't necessarily harmful, and he doesn't want to be forced to, say, break into Stronghold to steal something in their evidence vault. Codex is willing to take that chance; he is rather greedy about acquiring magical items and artifacts. (Even villains have to deal with Psych Lims.) If he makes it too one-sided, the heroes won't sign it and then hand over the staff, so he doesn't mind them thinking, "It's okay, we'll just get it back later."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Rename all the players to match the Abbott & Costello "Who's on First" routine. NT: Who really is on first?

Re: Help with a magical contract The heroes will be signing their Super names; I've decided that it actually only prohibits them from revealing info while they're in their hero IDs. In secret ID, they can call PRIMUS and reveal anything they want without breaking the contract. Absolutely. The affliction can be removed using the staff, but there's also a way it can be removed using non-magical materials. If the heroes figure that out, they don't have to give the staff to the Order after all. Interesting and devious idea. I'm not sure how I'd implement it; the heroes don't know that type of details about the villains; but I like the idea. As to the first point, Codex actually has no problem with helping the heroes (he has a Code against Killing), so he's not going to try and weasel out of his side of the bargain. On the second point, Codex will send a teammate away with the contract before starting to help the heroes. But if the heroes can find it, yep, they can tear it up easily. Time or dimensional travel shouldn't come into play at all. As to the beat-down, that was intentional from a GM standpoint, and sloppy thinking on Codex's part. But while nothing precludes the heroes beating up members of the Order (or vice versa), the heroes should still be prohibited from calling PRIMUS or the police afterwards, at least until 60 days have passed. Of course, that could be interesting. (Pound, blast, thump) "Sorry we have to keep beating on you, but since we can't turn you over to PRIMUS for another 56 days..." (pound, blast, thump) "... well, we can't have you running around loose..." (pound, blast, thump)

In a little over a week, I plan to set up a situation in my Champions game where the heroes might end up turning to a villain group (the Alexandrian Order) for help curing two of their teammates from a magical affliction. In the process, the heroes will likely discover some information about certain Order members that the Order doesn't want out just yet. To this end, I plan to present the heroes with a contract for them to sign. Signing it will magically bind them to abide by the terms of the contract. I don't mind if the contract has a loophole or two that the heroes might exploit (actually, I'd prefer at least one), but nothing too obvious. The leader of the Alexandrian Order, Codex, is not a lawyer but is pretty intelligent (20 INT). He wants the magical staff that was used to afflict the unfortunate heroes, and which the heroes will likely have in their possession. Codex also suspects the staff will be needed to reverse the affliction. Thus far, I've come up with the following for the contract: The undersigned do hereby swear a sacred oath to refrain from revealing anything about any and all members of the Alexandrian Order to anybody other than themselves or members of the Alexandrian Order. This restriction applies both to the words and deeds of the undersigned, as well as their actions and inactions. Furthermore, the undersigned agree to allow members of the Alexandrian Order to keep all magical artifacts, devices, items, and/or materials needed to find and/or produce a cure for the Curse of the Basilisk. The undersigned do also swear a sacred oath to refrain from revealing the existence or details of this pact to anyone other than themselves or members of the Alexandrian Order. Again, this restriction applies both to the undersigned's words and deeds, as well as their actions and inactions. [space for heroes to sign] In exchange, the undersigned members of the Alexandrian Order will provide all reasonable magical and mundane assistance in removing the Curse of the Basilisk from any and all affected individuals. [space for villains to sign] All restrictions enforced by this magical contract shall automatically cease after a period of sixty (60) days from signing has passed. Just in case, I'd also like some help in designing the Power of the magical pact. I'm thinking a 4d6 Mind Control, Cumulative (4x maximum = 96 points), Continuous, Uncontrolled, Trigger (signing contract), 0 END; OAF Fragile (the contract itself), Target must sign of own free will (-1?), Effect ceases if contract is torn in two or otherwise destroyed (-??)

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat A rousing game of d20. (Before people shout "kill the heretic!", it's just to remind ourselves how great the HERO system really is.) NT: Things that make an NGD board member a heretic (other than pointing out that Gillian Anderson only looks "kinda nice").