csyphrett

Re: A campaign idea I dreamed up Sounds like Hero Hotline and Charlie's Angels. The never seen boss of the Hotline was supposedly some retired hero who stayed in business by starting the Hotline and having heroes go out and solve cases. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 22 Alice the Owl drifted across the night sky. She enjoyed the soaring and the wind beneath her wings. Being on the ground made her feel clumsy and slow compared to this arrow flight. She drifted above the building where the trouble was taking place. It looked like any other warehouse she had seen since she had went on the run with Squirrel. The others would be arriving soon, and the only thing she saw that matched what they were thinking was the burned out wreck that had been concealed under some trees and the two guards that didn't look like guards at all to her. Alice circled the building again as silently as drifting leaves. Dropping in on the goons could be done, but she didn't want to get into a rumble and have to run if she couldn't win. That would let everyone else inside know something was up. The baying of hounds attracted her attention. The sound carried but didn't seem to concern the two at the gate. She put it down to them being used to dogs chasing someone in the dark. Alice landed in a tree and looked around as quietly as she could. She didn't want the hounds to catch on to her scent and alert their master she was watching. A movement through the treetops caught her eye. A woman with a round face leaped from tree to tree with the help of her arms stretching out to cross the feet wide gap, secure a grip, then pull her over the drop. The woman wore a black suit, but had lost part of her jacket somewhere. Alice looked back along the path the woman had followed from the warehouse. Three men struggled along in the dark. They followed a pack of hounds made of rock. The strange dogs sniffed the trees and then bayed when they were sure they were still on the trail. Alice decided the woman must be Enforcer's Aylwin. He hadn't mentioned she had powers. Alice took wing, floating through the trees until she was ahead of the woman in the suit. She waited until the woman landed in the tree she had picked out before grabbing her, placing one hand over her mouth. The night flyer made a small shushing sound in the other's ear. The woman nodded. Alice expected one of the three to be in control of the hounds. She didn't know what the other two could do. She didn't want to challenge them head on. She had to be sneaky and get Aylwin away before they found the two of them. She could do that if the older woman cooperated. Living on the run had taught her about having to move without being seen. The night cloaked her as effectively as invisibility. She didn't know how much she could extend that protection to her companion. Alice decided to circle around the trio and head back to the building. Maybe she could lead them into an ambush. The others should have reached the front of the warehouse by now. There was strength in numbers. A roar turned all eyes to block sitting in the dark. The three men turned and started running toward the explosion of sound. The dogs coursed ahead, barking and howling for blood. Aylwin swung down, extending her legs like battering rams. She caught one of the masked men in the back. That drove the masked man into a tree. He hit and went down. The dogs stopped, broke apart, sank into the ground. The other two turned, caught by surprise. The one with the rifle turned to aim in the night. Alice thought he was the most dangerous since even a stray bullet could still kill. He couldn't be allowed to fire. Alice dropped her full weight on his shoulders about half her speed. That was enough to drive him into the ground with her on top. She darted back up into the trees as he tried to throw her off. She didn't want to get close up. She had a feeling she would lose any real fight if she stuck around. The woman in the suit grabbed the last man with his oversize choppers and slab of a jaw. She flung him into a trees as hard as she could, driving the back of his head into the wood. She kept her limbs clear of the wide mouth. He went down with a bullfrog sigh. That left the third man who went for his rifle. Alice dropped on him again. He collapsed. Then he rolled. Alice floated to her feet instead of falling down to the ground. The commando pulled his pistol so he could point it at a hostage instead of an attacker. A long arm knocked the weapon away into the night. "I think this is where you give up, Wolf." Aylwin's voice drifted from the trees. "It's over." "What's next?" Wolf held up his hands. "We put you in the system for attempted murder, and let you have your day in court." Aylwin didn't descend to get close to the mercenary. "That's what we do with criminals." "I'll pass. Jail doesn't appeal to me." Wolf made a flexing motion with his hand. Bright light turned the night to day for brief seconds. When it faded, he had vanished. "Aylwin?" Alice couldn't see. Her eyes were geared for the night. A sudden flare affected her more than a normal human. She decided to stay still in case she ran into a tree by accident. "He's gone." Aylwin looked around for something to tie her two victims up. She decided on utility belts after emptying the contents into her own pockets. No point in leaving anything useful behind. "What do we do now?" Alice blinked several times, feeling tears running from her eyes. "We make a call and let the others know that we're okay and they only have to rescue the four Air Force men trapped inside the building." Aylwin searched the stolen contents until she came up with a cell phone. "We also tell them that a robot is also in there looking for something." "What do we do next?" Alice wiped her face. Her vision was blurred but returning. She looked around, glad that she hadn't moved. Several trees penned her in. "We wait until we get an all clear." Aylwin dialed the number. "We can't let these two getaway like their boss. It means we'll have to sit the rest out, but at least we can get some back up for your team." "I wouldn't say we're a team." Alice blinked the last of the blur away. "We're a loose collection of people." "If you stay with it, you'll be a team." Aylwin hung up, then dialed another number. "Maybe a family." Alice frowned at that. She had left her family behind when she had grown feathers and wings. Squirrel was the closest thing to a family she had at the moment. She couldn't see that expanding beyond the two of them. Aylwin spoke into the phone about troop movements and transportation. She waited for a few seconds. Then she gave a password. She nodded at the answer she received then hung up. "We have a few hours before troops from the Project show up." Aylwin looked at the building. "We should take our prisoners and hook up with the others." "I'll take the guy with the teeth." Alice figured he was the lighter of the two mercenaries. She might struggle but she should be able to drag him through the forest to the warehouse. "See if you can round up some help for us." Aylwin grabbed the two men by the scruff of the neck and started dragging them slowly along. "That would be better than helping me drag these lumps." "I'll be right back." Alice spread her wings, then launched into the air. Alice circled the facility, disappointed that no one was around the brick edifice itself. She expanded her search. She spotted an army of squirrels coming down the road. Squirrel hopped at the front of the still expanding horde, carrying someone on his back. He was just the person she wanted to see. "Hey, Alice." Squirrel waved, pausing in his run. His minions gathered around him. "I bagged one waiting for us." "There's two more behind the place." Alice landed, looking at the rodent army. "I left someone to guard them, but she's alone." "No problem." Squirrel smiled. "Where are everyone else?" "I haven't seen anyone else." Alice shrugged. "They must have gone inside after clearing the outside." "Let's get with this woman and put our prisoners under guard until we have everything straightened out." Super Squirrel chattered for a second. Three of the squirrels broke off and headed for the light reaching from the opened storage site. "Then we can see if the others need any help." "I think they got the rest of this handled." Alice petted one of the squirrels looking up at her. "It wouldn't hurt to make sure." Super Squirrel whistled and led his wild entourage off the road and into the dark trees.

Re: Walking With Strangers 21 Enforcer gathered his strength. He was still as strong as ten men. He hoped it would be enough to get the job done. The werewolf came at the veteran adventurer, drool hanging from his muzzle. Claws reached for the gray costume intent on ripping the hero apart. Wet work was what the Garou was all about. Enforcer knocked the grasping paws away, grabbing for Garou's neck. He hooked a forearm under the monster's chin, clapping his mouth shut for the moment. They struggled for brief moments before the mercenary threw his aged opponent clear with a shrug of his powerful shoulders. A baseball bounced off Garou's head. That knocked the werewolf off his feet. He felt a hand clamp around an ankle and wrenched double to tear the grip away. He almost laughed at the boy holding on to his limb. Then he vanished into the air. Sundog heard his colleague howl on the way up, but he had his own problems. He faced Oz Mike Michealson, Odd Dorfman, and Thia Halmedes. They rode a wave. The water loomed above him like a giant hand. He fired a bolt of fire into the water to try to slow it down. Oz Mike smiled as his friends jumped clear. He rode the wave down, crashing into the fire slinger. Sundog turned the water to steam on impact before he went out like a snuffed candle. Sundog tried to get to his feet. He needed to dry out so he could relight. He should have expected some kind of water user showing up. It was the way his luck ran. A giant hand of neon blue and silver wrapped around his middle. It squeezed. He took a deep breath, but found that air refused to fill his lungs. Then a baseball bat slammed against his head. "That felt good." Thia shook the bat away. "I could really get into this do gooding." "You'll be a credit to the Marines." Odd flexed his hand. A gauntlet covered it, lights flickering around the fingers. Garou slammed into the ground. He hit so hard he dug a crater in the road. He reached for the edges of the hole to pull himself out. No one threw him to orbit, let him crash to Earth and lived. The kid's arm would come off like a chicken wing. "Give it up, dog boy." Enforcer braced for impact. The power gained from Project Z's experiments could let him battle Garou toe to toe for at least a minute. "I'm going to kill all of you and leave your bones scattered across Minnesota." Garou leaped to his feet. He looked over the small group. None of them had the stopping power to put him down. He could keep fighting until he had dealt with them. "I don't think so." Odd held out his gloved hand. The giant hand appeared in the air. He flexed the fingers. "We want you to give yourself up, or we're going to have to pound you. I don't want to do that because I'm a peaceable man, and my wife wants me to be careful about how I exert myself with my lumbago. What do you say, big guy?" "I'm going to kill you first, big guy." Garou leaped, covering the distance in a gray streak. He could rip this guy apart despite his fancy glove. Baseballs flew like meteors. Garou had committed to his charge. The leather projectiles smashing against his back and head threw him off target. He still had enough to get within reach of Oddhat. Then the world turned to bright white. Garou landed in the guard checkpoint. "We should wrap this up." Thia dropped the missile launcher from her shoulder, letting it fade away. "How do we do that?" Trebuchet pulled out another baseball. "This guy is tough as heck." "We just need to wrap him up until we're done." Enforcer headed for the smashed kiosk. "Then we can turn him in to the Project. They'll be able to hold him." Garou smashed out of the wooden wall, grabbing Enforcer by the neck. He went to bite the masked man's face off. Rage blinded him to the back up. He wanted to kill everything that opposed him. Enforcer grabbed his snout and jaws. He pulled on his remaining power, feeling it burn away as he tried to keep the deadly teeth from his face. A switch in grips was called for before he gave out completely. Odd's giant hand reached out. It wrapped around the werewolf. He squeezed his gloved hand, and the energy hand closed on the furry menace. Garou yelped from the pressure even if it didn't hurt him. "I like a workout as much as the next guy." Odd lifted Garou off his feet. "But you are taking this too far." Garou howled in frustration. He tried to wiggle out of the tight grip. That left him snapping at the air. "It looks like we're done here." Thia smiled. "I wonder how that fur coat will look on my bed." "Let's get with the others and deal with the rest of them." Enforcer stretched the kinks out of his arms. "Bring them along, Odd. We can't leave them alone out here." "Billy and Question Man probably have the rest of them wrapped up by now." Trebuchet gathered up the baseballs he could find. Some had bounced off into the treeline. "You know better than that, kid." Thia pulled the out cold Sundog closer to Odd's floating hand. Oz Mike picked up his feet and the both of them lifted him so that one finger could hold him against Garou. "If Billy can find any bystanders and get them out, that will make our job that much easier." Enforcer shook off the sudden weariness he felt. "Let's go." "How do we get in?" Trebuchet took one last look around for his ammo before he joined the others walking through the shattered gatehouse area. "Hopefully my retinas will get us in." Enforcer gestured at his eyes. "If they don't, I got a key." Thia took her belt off. She spun it around Garou's muzzle and tightened as far as she could. "Quiet down, you." A plain delivery van sat beside a truck and a jeep issued to the Air Force beside the block building's loading door. Enforcer walked to the door on the side of that. He pressed his eye to the scanner next to the personnel door and let it do its job. The scanner told him he was denied. "They took my scan out of the system after I retired." Enforcer stepped back. "I guess we go with plan B." "No problem." Thia pulled out the biggest gun she could think of and waited for the man in gray to move back out of the way. "This will be loud." "Might as well attract all the attention our way." Enforcer covered his ears. "Do it." The Strangers backed from the door to give Thia plenty of room. She took aim at the center of the metal facing. A pull of the trigger created a jet of flame that melted a hole through the barrier with a roar vaguely similar to the rush of a jet engine. She paused to examine her handiwork. The door had turned to a puddle, along with part of the wall. "I think we can go in." She replaced the demolisher with her customary rifle. "Let's see if Billy needs any help." "What about the Question Man?" Trebuchet held a baseball as he tried to crowd in behind her to get through the carved out door. "QM can look after himself pretty good." Thia looked both ways before heading into the depths of the warehouse. "We can't let them run amuck." Odd dragged his prisoners through the opening with much bumping of heads. "No, we can't." Oz Mike gathered what water he could before stepping in after his friends.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Speed Racer- The tracks reminded the boy and me of F-Zero but I really liked it. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 20 "I think we need to know what we're getting into here." Enforcer looked at the group. They didn't have a lot of training, but he had no doubt they were formidable as a force. A giant turtle lizard could vouch for that. "Ask me." The Question Man smiled under his mask. He didn't feel the pain from overusing his ability now. "Let's stick with the basics." Enforcer checked his phone again. "Who, what, where, and how. Then we can take them." "Could you be a little more specific?" The Question Man's eyes started to glow. "Who else is out there besides Garou and Sun Dog? Is there anyone else with them?" Enforcer put the phone away. "And where are they?" "Mr. Wolf, Stone dog, and Fenris are at the base trying to find Aylwin. Shadowpup is ahead of us near the road. Garou is at the base's gate. Sundog and Fenris Ulf are inside the base. Mr. R. is in the base somewhere." The glow faded from the masked man's eyes. "Shadowpup is watching the road?" Super Squirrel looked north toward their unknown destination. "He could spot Alice." Squirrel raced into the forest, chattering as he went. He vanished within moments. The group heard the branches of the nearby trees move. Hordes of miniature gray warriors took up the battle cry and followed him. "There goes the element of surprise." Thia raised a long rifle to her eye. "How do we take this Shadowpup guy down?" "We'll need a bright light." The Question Man frowned. "I didn't think to bring one." "I got it covered." Thia's rifle changed a little. "Let's see if we can catch up with our loose cannon." "Anyone have an idea how we're going to do that?" Trebuchet looked around in his helmet. Only Billy seemed to have a way to move around and that only worked when there were doors around. "I do." Oz Mike laughed. "I just need to get to the lake. You guys get something to stand on. Come on, Billy. I need some of your magic." Billy flipped the door of the house open to a snack bar near the lake. Miraculously it had survived Zornwill's rampage from the lake bottom. It had recently reopened for business now that the government had cleaned up the lake. "You heard the man." Enforcer and Odd started talking at the same time. They looked at each other. "We need platforms to ride on." Odd finished. The heroes gathered together fallen logs. Odd produced rope from his emergency kit and they lashed the logs together. It looked like a decent raft. Enforcer wondered what was next, having a good idea what Oz Mike could do. Billy stepped out of the closed door. He gave the others a thumb's up when they looked at him. A wave appeared a minute later. It looked like half the lake made up its body. Oz Mike stood at the crest, holding his arms up. The Strangers boarded their makeshift boat as the water rushed down on them. The wave flowed under the raft and picked it up. The heroes struggled to keep their balance as the water carried them into the road and away from the lake. "This is awesome." Tim laughed. "This is the greatest." "Don't get used to it." Oz Mike pulled on the lake water to keep his wave moving forward. "I don't know how long I can stretch this out. We might have to set down long before we get to where we're going." "Which way is Shadowpup?" Thia had her rifle to her shoulder again. "That way." The Question Man pointed into the darkness at an angle from the road. "Excellent." Thia turned, fiddling with the scope on the top of the rifle. "Let's see if I can give Squirrel a helping hand." Thia looked through her scope, panning it left and right. Super Squirrel and his army of rodents filled a section of the forest heading right where the Question Man said the enemy waited. No way they would be unnoticed the way they were chattering at full volume. Thia shook her head. If he didn't watch out, someone would take him down. Thia rolled the scope to point back on target. She had no idea where the target actually stood. She did have an idea how to fix that problem. Thia pulled the trigger of her rifle. A swarm of darts arced out into the trees. Light exploded along her firing line from the flares. A man in black appeared, but she couldn't tell if he was surprised by the barrage because of his full face mask. Thia smiled. That was all she needed to do. Squirrel plowed through the vegetation with his war cry echoing through the forest. The man in black raced to the nearby darkness to disappear again. The army of squirrels prevented that. They swarmed over him with sharp claws and sharper teeth. Shadowpup went down with one of the rodents trying to rip a long ear off of his hood. He tried to shrug the monsters away so he could step into the darkness again. Super Squirrel leaped across the space. He kicked out. The mercenary went back down. The mutant landed on top, swinging with his squirrel strength behind the blow. The man went down and stayed there. "Take that, villainous scum." Super Squirrel and his squirrels danced with their hands in the air. "One down." Thia put her rifle up. "Now we have to deal with the rest." "The guards on the gate won't be that easy." Odd clutched his bowler to his head with one hand, held his bag of tricks with the other. "They'll see us coming unless Mike shuts his wave down before we get there." "I'll put you down short of the gate." Oz Mike looked around at the edges of his behemoth. "I'll keep some of it to help deal with this Sundog." "We need to find Aylwin and anybody else that might be in trouble." Enforcer cracked his knuckles. "Got it covered." Billy spoke up. "Just get us close to a door." "Us?" The Question Man looked around. "Yep." Billy took his keys off his belt and put them in his pocket with a rubber band to hold them together. "Can't do it without you." "Sounds like we got a plan." Odd laughed. "Let's save the day." "There's the base." Thia pointed. "Two turkeys are waiting out front like the QM said." "Let's do it." Enforcer leaped from the wave. "Stay close, Trebuchet." "I'm right behind you." Trebuchet used his right arm to push off from the raft, baseball dropping into his hand from his ammo bag. Garou saw the two heroes dropping from the giant water hand. His furry side came to the front with his berserker blood heating up. He loved to rip things apart. Why should a bunch of meddlers be different? Sundog activated his own transformation. The night retreated from his fire bursting in the open. He didn't mind burning some guys down if they got in the way. He considered it a fringe benefit. Billy grabbed the Question Man's arm and pulled. He wasn't a combatant. He was a mover. And the Question Man held the key to getting everything done without any loss of life.

Re: Shadow Angelus RIGHTEOUS=RIGHTs Enable Our Unusual Slaves. The first thing that came to mind. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 19 Aylwin had to deal with her enemy, get back to the hostages and free them, and send out a call for back up. Her bullet list seemed easy when she took a second to form it. Getting it done seemed to be the major stumbling block. One thing at a time said her training. Start with your current enemy. Aylwin grabbed Mr. Wolf's rifle with a hand at the end of an elongated arm. She pushed the muzzle away from pointing at her before he could pull the trigger. Her limited stretching would not protect her from bullets cutting through her body. Mr. Wolf grabbed her wrist. He turned, pulling on her already stretched limb. The appendage stopped stretching and started pulling her closer to him so he could fight close in. Aylwin retracted her limb to speed up the process. Mr. Wolf let go of the limb to get out of the way. His reflexes were too slow to avoid the sudden human projectile. They both hit the deck and rolled with the impact. Aylwin jumped to her feet. Mr. Wolf rolled some more, pulling a pistol as he finally came to a stop near some empty shelves. The agent ran down an aisle to get out of the line of fire. The crack of a firearm followed the whiz of killer bees in the air. Aylwin considered her options. Nothing really appealed to her. She could turn to try and deal with Mr. Wolf. She could try to get the hostages. She could try and call for back up to put a stop to this robbery. Everything looked equally dangerous and fraught with risk. The agent paused to look around. She had wandered into a section of the warehouse where some of the equipment still remained on the shelving. She started looking for something that she could use. She needed a weapon if she confronted her current enemies again. Aylwin started moving down the aisle, looking for something that wouldn't blow up a wall, or half of the state. She heard footsteps hurrying along. Mr. Wolf was faster than she thought. Aylwin grabbed the top of the shelf. She pulled herself to the top of the metal rack. She looked around. She could jump over to the other aisles without any problem. She spotted Wolf and a couple of other Canines searching for her. She didn't have to imagine what would happen if she got caught. Aylwin jumped over to the next shelf. Then she crossed to the one after that. She dropped down behind cover before anyone got a shot off. She decided that escape was the most feasible option at the moment. Aylwin knew an exit had been built in the north wall. She needed to get there before the goon squad caught up. She paused to listen. No one was close, but she could still hear faint sounds of movement circling around. Then the baying of hounds reached her to urge to keep moving. They had set dogs loose to find her. Aylwin decided to get more height. That would allow her to orientate herself to point at the door. Then she could try to make it there before the dogs caught up with her. The agent grabbed the nearest rack with her elongated arms and pulled. That was enough to allow her to vault to the top again. She dropped down to the other side after a moment to look around. She had to go to her left. That meant going over every shelf in her way. That wasn't unexpected. Dogs barking told her to move faster if she wanted to get loose before the net closed for good. Aylwin pulled herself up and started running. She jumped the gaps with longer legs. Her stretching had lessened in power over the years but it was getting the job done. Heavy pattering focused her on the pursuit for a second. It sounded like dogs running, but they must be as big as VW beetles from the sounds erupting from the shelves. Aylwin dropped down from the last shelf. The walls were lined with empty racks. She pulled at one of the edges. The furniture moved away from the wall smoothly. A door stood next to a key pad. She dialed the pass code as fast as she could. She pressed the key. The door slid open. Aylwin stepped inside the secret tunnel. A dog made of rock charged forward as she pulled the shelf closed. She winced as it smashed into the metal covering. She closed the exit and started for the other end of the tunnel. Aylwin ran with the knowledge that the hidden door wouldn't slow them down for long. She had to reach the outside before the dogs got through. Her stretching wouldn't help in the confined space of the corridor. She hoped the metal of the cover would hold them long enough for a head start. She knew she wasn't faster than those dogs, much less a bullet. Aylwin reached the other end and opened the door there. She pushed the camouflage away so she could step out under a stand of trees. She looked up at the sky to read the stars long enough to get a direction to move. Marlowe rested in the south. They would expect her to head that way. She needed to head in a direction that would carry her somewhere unexpected so she could loop back to the city and call someone. And she had to be fast about it if she wanted to get a good lead before Wolf's boys broke through to take up the chase. Aylwin grabbed some of the lower branches of a nearby tree and pulled herself up. She pulled herself across to another tree. Once secure in her new perch, she swung across to the next one in line. Let them try to track her now. She hoped they couldn't track her the way she was moving. Aylwin also hoped they wouldn't expect her to head west away from city and lake. Both of those would be the promise of some kind of help. If she fled away from them, and then circled back, maybe she could slip them.

Page 1 London was a large city, filled with lovely goers of Victorian culture, it was foggy the night on the River Thames as always. On the docks their were many a sailors roaming about but we will pay close attention to one particular sailor in this fine Victorian city. His name was Frank White and this is the story of how a man went from simple beginnings to great things. The docks were abroad with many ships and a few taverns and pubs but there was one pub full of sailors where Frank White was a regular. Frank asked around for any ships needing hands down to the coast. He thought once he reached the Channel, he could set sail to other ports Not many were looking for help but a few hands knew of a ship coming in tomorrow that was carrying shipments of fish to distribute to the fish and chips stores. One sailor went on about how sailors have been going missing over the last few weeks. "Missing sailors?" Frank laughed over his pint. "There's always someone jumping ship and moving on." The Sailor who had this long graying beard, sailor hat, striped shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes looking to him as he sat in the corner at a table with a pint in his hand "Yea but this was blokes have been here for years and suddenly they went missing!" "Has anyone talked to the peelers about this?" Frank sipped some more of his drink. "They don't care worth a lick because they look around and just think they went off ship or snuck onto someone's ship and its not thier problem!" The sailor frowned as he took a chug of his pint. "Do any of these sailors belong to the same ship?" Frank felt that a bad captain would drive good seaman away. "That's what I thought too. I just asked around and found that most belonged to other ships and most of them were not from the same ship, most belonged to any ship, it just appeared random but always near the docks when the mist were foggiest." The sailor said and the other sailors just listened. "And no one has seen hide or hair of them since?" Frank put his empty cup down. "That's an incredible story." "Yep, nothing but mist and sometimes at night you could hear screams." He chugged his pint and the sailors all nodded and then went back to their own lives in the pub. Frank paid his bill and left. He couldn't believe no one had done anything. He started toward the docks. There was a scream of a man hidden deep in the mists of the fog, but Frank could not see what was happening. Frank pulled out his pocket watch from under his shirt and pressed the buttons to initiate his change. The button he pressed began a transformation into a different beast for he got this watch from a special place few knew. Frank felt his flesh disappear as his clothes became misty to match the air around him. He jumped in the air, trying to find the source of the screams. Luckily in this ghost form, he would pass through anything in his way. There was a sailor who was being taken by a group of individuals in black robes, trying to muffle his screams as they injected him with something to knock him out. Frank didn't know how much time he had in his transformation. He needed to save the sailor as fast as possible. He flew into the group, trying to knock as many of them aside in his invisible form as he could. They were knocked back and looked to the new ghost like they could see him and they had drooped the sailor going after him as threw punches at him but how could they know where he is? Strangely they did as they punched where he was. (It will become clear soon) Frank wasn't worried. His ghost form passed objects through him without any problem. He picked up the sailor and flew away. The individuals shot beams from the sleeves at the sailor hitting him and teleporting him away. Frank needed answers. He drove one of the robed men off the dock and into the water. The robed individuals shot beams again at Frank the moment he pushed one of them off into the water surmising that he needed to become tangible enough to push someone as one of the robbed men was pushed into the water making sparks fly from the robbed individual as the robe caught on fire. Frank tried to reach into one of them and give him a heart attack. The shooting of the individuals were lousy as their shots missed the ghost and his move to give on a heart attack was in vain. Frank felt around for organs to squeeze. The individuals continued to fire at him to stun him with the beams from their sleeves. There were no organs but there was only metal and electronics and all that generated heat. Frank tried to push the mechanical men into the water. The beams from the mechanical men hit Frank knocking him to the ground as Frank had pushed a few mechanical men into the water shorting them out. Frank looked around to see how many were left, needed some way to find out what they were doing, and he doubted they were going to talk to him. Just then there was a sound making the mechanical men stop and then a man with a receding hairline of brown short hair, a little middle aged, but had nice blue eyes and a fit figure, in a brown stylish winter coat over a long sleeve button up white dress shirt. Also he has on crimson checkered pants that stretch down to right above his ankles. He has brown slip on men's shoes and black dress long socks that stretch up over his ankles up to his calf. He is wearing a dark brown cravat with a yellow sand colored vest. He had a metal looking flashlight but well instead of a head light it was a little metal satellite dish and he looked at Frank. "Come with me if you want to live! Hurry! I can't hold them for long!" Frank pushed the last of the mechanical men off the docks while they were frozen. Now he had a source of information. "You fool! We could have used one of them to track them to the source of them!" he yelled as he walked up to him "Who are you anyway? By the way I'm the Dominie." he smiled extending his hand to him. "If you can track them, we should fish one out of the water." Frank didn't know how much time he had left for his transformation. "They shot the sailor with a beam of light and he vanished. Maybe you can use that." "Hmmmmm." He thought for a few moments and opened his coat looking for a device to see if he can find something "So what is you name, sir?" "Does it matter?" Frank flew down and grabbed one of the mechanical men and tried to lift it on the dock. "What do you want me call you? The Ghost man?" he asked. "Frank is fine." Frank pulled the robe off to get a better look at his dead enemy. The mechanical man had glowing red eyes and a glowing red dome and mechanical hands with little tubes where the lasers would come out. Frank held up a hand to check if the thing was really active.

Re: Pulparize It! I know. When I went to write things down the only thing I could think of was the Universal monsters. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I have to agree. I did do that with the Squeaking Goblin. Nothing like a scary sniper with disappearing bullets to make heroes run for cover. CES

Re: Pulparize It! it was either a giant ape or dinosaur like the beast from 10000 fanthoms. Apple red actually. CES

Re: Pulparize It! Welles's Martian Attack is a lynchpin for alien attacks now but I have to agree that the martians can replace Galaxor. Monsters vs Aliens: The martians attack looking for a energy source and a new home to replace the barren wasteland of their homeworld. Colonel Patton is given the job to repel the menace with the help of some special forces like Count Basil, vegetarian vampire, Shaggy Rogers, reluctant werewolf, Dr. Cavor, mad scientist, and Kang, giant gorilla, and Mary Worth, who accidently absorbs the energy and becomes stronger the madder she gets. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage double header with the Dust of Death and the Stone Man. The Inca in Gray has prolonged a war between two countries for four years with his killing dust. Spad Ames has discovered something that will turn men into statues in a hidden valley. He decides to try and grab the secret from the hidden people protecting it. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I shouldn't have picked up the ten or so I did pick up since I have a number of the old Bantam editions locked away in storage. I even have Escape from Loki and the Will Murray novels somewhere. DC should have hired Murray to write Doc Savage for them instead of letting Denny O'Neill update the character. CES

Re: Dragonia The sailors discovered half of their food supply had been used up. They decided to try and fish for more food. They hooked a giant marlin that began to drag the Doomshark across the ocean. The fish headed for an island shaped like a giant shark. A high speed impact would have wrecked the sub. Sir Donald cut the rope loose after struggling on deck, and falling overboard and grabbing the side of the ship. The sub skidded into the harbor of the Skull Island. The crew decided to explore, leaving Flames to sun himself on deck while they were gone. The crew entered a cave in the ‘mouth' of the mountain and found a metal door. They entered the room beyond and were attacked by beetles. Sid held everyone in the air to escape the biting mites. Dennis dropped a slab of ice on some of them. The scarabs climbed the walls and dropped from the ceiling of the cavern on the adventurers. Sid tried to shake them loose, and dropped Donald and Dennis to the ice slab on the floor. A queen beetle attacked the dragon knight and yeti policeman. After a desperate struggle, Donald immobilized it with his gravity axe and Dennis shot it in the eye with his laser crystal. The smaller beetles scattered out the door. The crew looked the room over and found strange machinery. Dr. Pucca insisted they should examine the devices and see if they could be useful back home. Sir Donald said the machinery should be destroyed. It was obviously a beetle making press. The doctor took pictures and then the knight blasted at the machine. He let loose a wave of gelatin. He used gravity axe and unleashed the whole supply of flesh eating stuff. Dennis blocked off the room while Lil dug a tunnel for the goo to fall into when it broke through the ice wall. They retreated from the cave, heading back to the sub. The flesh eating beetles attacked outside. Dr. Pucca was severely wounded while the others were hurt but able to fight back. Donald healed some of Pucca's injuries so he could keep moving. Lil tunneled away to get Flames. Dennis and Ishiyama blocked more assaults so the rest of the adventurers could make it to the beach. Sid used his magnetism to jump to the sub while carrying Dr. Pucca. Flames picked up the rest of the crew and carried them back to the ship. They dealt with the beetles still chewing on them and then Donald and Flames returned to the beach and fried the bugs they saw on the beach.

Re: Advice on how to gm 9 to 10 players in a Superhero campaign. I think in this case you are going to have to keep things moving no matter what. That will mean having adventure ideas you can put together in the face of such a big cast. Everything will have to be urged forward. CES

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Bolt. The hamster was awesome. No. B-awesome. CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage double feature with the Sea Magician about fraud and historical treasure and the living fire menace with a scheme to find out what powers minerals deep in the earth. CES

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Monsters versus Aliens. It's not a gut busting funny movie but I liked it even if the believe in yourself message was a little heavy at times. CES

Re: Walking With Strangers 18 Odd Dorfman served tea and what he and Kitty called pot luck. She had taken a set of random ingredients, mixed them together, and cooked them in the oven. He marveled at her cooking but he was also used to the great taste, and his weight gain. The others took plates, wanting to get things started and find out what was going on with Enforcer's phone call. Odd's calm manner seemed to make them think and cool down before rushing off. "I know we need to answer the distress call, but first we have to help Quin." Odd looked at his empty plate, wishing he had time for seconds. The adventure stories he read cautioned him against killing too much time. Besides he could get leftovers later if they lived that long. "How do we do that?" Tim also looked at his empty plate. That was the best meal he had ever had. "Hypnotism." Quin smiled. "I can be hypnotized to ignore questions that aren't important." "You know I have just the thing." Odd smiled. "I used it on my nephew." "Do we need to ask why?" Oz Mike frowned. "He was a smoker." Odd headed for the closet. "He was always trying to quit." "So you zapped him?" Super Squirrel found that it was hard for him to move from where he and Alice rested against the wall. Alice nudged him with an elbow. "Sure did." Odd brought out a handgun with a satellite dish around the muzzle. "Worked like a charm." "How is it supposed to work?" Thia looked at the ray gun, imprinting on her memory. She had worked with her powers to expand her repertoire. A hypnotizing ray could be better than a bullet in the right situation. "He shoots me in the face. Then he tells me to ignore any question that seems irrelevant." Quin nodded. "I like it." "Let's see if it works." Odd aimed the ray gun as everyone else cleared out of the way. He pulled the trigger and gave the command as Quin's eyes rolled up in the back of his head for the brief seconds that the beam was on. "How do we know if it worked?" Trebuchet concentrated on Quin's face as it became more mobile. "What is the color of the third bird on any branch in Washington, D.C.?" Enforcer crossed his arms. "You pick the branch." "I don't know." Quin smiled. "I don't know. This is great." "Glad to help out." Odd went back to the closet to put the ray up on the shelf. "Now we have to concentrate on Enforcer's distress call." "I'm pretty sure it's from Aylwin." Enforcer checked his phone again. "She hasn't answered my call backs. The phone sends my calls to voice mail." "So we need to know exactly what's going on." Quin felt his mental hook up come to life. Facts were waiting for the right question. "Why did Aylwin call me?" Enforcer started with the obvious question. More would surface from the answer he was sure. "You're the closest agent of her agency." Quin smiled. His mental screen spat out the answer without the overload he had encountered earlier. "Why did she call at all?" Super Squirrel stood, his tail flickering behind him. "She came under attack by mercenaries." Quin rubbed his hands together. This was definitely much better. "Next?" "Let's focus on the five W's and the H." Oz Mike sipped his tea. "Who did it, what do they want, why do they want it, where are they, when are they leaving, and how do we stop them?" He ignored the looks from the others. He had covered all they needed to know as far as he was concerned. Quin's eyes lit up from within, spilling green fire into the room. The smile he wore told the others he didn't feel the effect that lit his skull from within. "Garou and Sundog caused the call because they were hired to guard a base from intruders. They are leaving when their employer finds what he wants. Garou can be imprisoned as long as we make sure he can't claw his way free. Sundog will have to be put out with fire extinguishers then we can deal with him with ordinary means." Quin's eyes slowly dimmed to normal. "That was pretty concise." Enforcer nodded. "Let's get going. We can figure out the rest on the way." "Hold on." Odd held up a hand. "Where is this base, Quin? Can you put it on the map?" Quin nodded. He searched the shelves until he found an atlas of the Midwest. He turned to the map of Marlowe and its environs. He pointed to a spot on the other side of the lake. "Can you reach out there, Billy?" Odd frowned at the wilderness markings on the page. "I can get us close to one side of the lake." Billy indicated the area he meant. "There's a house I used when Zornwill came out of the water." "There's where we'll start then." Odd smiled. "I'll need some equipment." "I'll need to get my stuff too." Trebuchet indicated the absence of his padding and mask. "I need to call my dad. He's probably freaking right now." "Let's go." Billy went to the door. "The right tools for the right job first." "My stuff is at the school." Trebuchet put his plate aside. "It's on the roof." "No problem, kid." Billy opened the door on starlight and the Marlowe skyline. "That's cool." Trebuchet stepped on the roof of his school. He went to his bag and gathered his equipment. He stepped back into Odd's living room with the gear. "You can change in the bathroom, Trebuchet." Kitty pointed to the room. "Thanks." Trebuchet dragged his bag into the bathroom and shut the door. "Let's go, Billy." Odd gave him an address. "I have just the thing in mind." Billy opened the door on a busy street blocks away from the little apartment. He waited for Odd to step through before closing the gate. They returned after a few minutes. Odd carried a steel case in his hand. "This should help us against the two we know about." Odd adjusted his bowler. "First we reach the house, then we go out to where this base is and look things over." "I can look at it from the air." Alice looked at the others. She didn't know what they expected, but if Squirrel was going into danger, she would go too. "That's a good idea, Alice." Enforcer nodded. "Be careful. If they see you, the game is up." "I can handle it." Alice squared her shoulders. She had been avoiding people for years. A night flight over a secret base should be a snap. "Hurry up, Tim." Enforcer called. "We're leaving." "I'm coming." Trebuchet came out of the bathroom, pulling down his mask. "I'm ready for a no hitter." "Let's go, guys." Enforcer wondered when he became the top kick of a unit. Was he the top kick here? "Let's save the world." Billy opened the door to the house he had indicated was the limits of his range as Quin pulled on his own mask to protect his face. The Strangers walked through, sliding across space in an instant. The super shut the gate, taking a deep breath of cool air. "I'm off." Alice spread her wings, flapping into the air. "Be careful." Super Squirrel moved out into the yard. The trees were close enough for him to use them as a highway to wherever he needed to go. The others would have to find their own way to the fight.

Re: Your takes on a magician detective Well there were some basic types of magician detectives working in the pulp era. There was the stage magician who did sleuthing on the side like Mysto. And then there was the detective who battled magic on the side like jules de grandin. And then there were some magicians who pretended to be stage magicians while fighting the forces of darkness like Zatara and his predecessors. Personally I like the last choice myself. CES

Re: Golden Age Campaign I think its more relevant to ask if this campaign is even active since it's been six years since the original post. CES

Re: The New Circle Character Name: Hotspur Real Name: Karl Witter Nationality: Belgian Hair/Eye Color: bald/yellow Place of Birth: Paris, France Date of Birth: 3/26/75 Height/Mass: 5'8"/140 pounds Cost Characteristic Value 8 STR 18 60 DEX 30 20 CON 20 10 BODY 15 5 INT 15 10 EGO 15 5 PRE 15 -2 COM 6 PD 3 ED 4 20 SPD 6 REC 7 END 40 STUN 34 OCV: 10 DCV: 10 OECV: 5 DECV: 5 Phases: 2,4,6,8,10,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Teleportation 60 point multipower 5u Teleport: 20" 40 pts, no relative velocity 10 pts 50 pts 3u Blinking: +8 dcv 40 pts, costs endurance (-½) 27 pts 1u Crossing the country: Teleport 1" 2 pts Megascale (+1) 4 pts 3u Ranged Killing Attack 3d6 45 pts (OAF-1, blades of opportunity) 23 pts 3u Hand Killing Attack 3d6 45 pts (OAF -1, blades of opportunity) 23 pts 3u Energy Blast 9d6 45 pts Indirect (+1/4), OAF -1, blades of opportunity 29 pts 5u Flight, 30" 60 pts, only along a solid surface (-1/4) 48 pts 3u Extradimensional Movement to the Abyssal Plane, 2x mass 30 pts Prehensile Tail: Extra Limb (1) limited manipulation (-1/4) 4 pts Invisibility to sight, 20 pts, only works in shadows and darkness (-½), 13 pts Damage Resistance: 10 pd 5 pts Cost Skills 2 WF: Swords, daggers 10 + 5 ocv with swords 3 Acrobatics 15- 3 Breakfall 15- 3 Climbing 15- 2 Animal Handler 12- 3 Riding 15- 10 Two Hand Fighting 9 Ambidexterity 3 Stealth 15- 3 Sleight of Hand 15- 3 Lockpicking 15- 2 Navigation 12- 3 Paramedics 12- 3 Shadowing 15- 2 Survival 12- 3 Security Systems 12- 3 Concealment 15- 3 KS: Circuses 12- 3 KS: Circus Performers 12- 3 AK: The world 12- 3 AK: Europe 12- 15 Languages: English, German, Italian, Rumanian (French is native) 3 Oratory 12- 5 Wealth 1 Passport 150 Points Disadvantages 20 Psych Lim: Daredevil 20 Psych Lim: Overconfident 20 Psych Lim: Fearless 30 Hunted by Demon 14- 15 DNPC: The Wapner Circus 14- 25 DF: Horned Pirate Monkey 15 Secret Identity 5 Rivalry with other heroic circus teleporters CHA Cost = 136 Total Powers Cost = 108 Total Skills Cost = 106 Total Cost = ____350______________ Background Information: Karl Witter was born to Belgian parents in Paris, France during a tour by the Wapner Circus. His parents were crushed by his unusual appearance to say the least. Still Jacques Witter put the best face he could on the situation, and began to train his son in the high wire as soon as he was able to walk. Young Karl excelled in his studies, became something of an adopted son by the rest of the circus folks. He became the star attraction in no time as Hotspur, the demon high wire act. When he learned to teleport, he drew in more crowds. The circus kept his connection to the Witters a family secret because the way he looked might cause them problems among the more superstitious where the performers toured. Karl saw his first swashbuckler and decided that was the flamboyant style he wanted to use. He worked in a mock sword fight with the clowns in his act, sharing the wealth and glory. They worked on adding more stunts to the act, trying to take it to ridiculous levels of acting and style. Demon attacked during a performance in England. The crowd thought the sudden interruption was part of the act. Karl was forced to use his teleportation powers to defend himself against the attackers. The arrival of the Watch turned the tide, and drove the masked minions away. The secret that no one but upper echelons of Demon knows is that the Witters had been cursed in the hopes that their son would have the power to open the door to the dark Abyssal Planes to the edge of the Land of Legend. They planned to use him to secure a way to that plane by using him as a permanent gate. Only they lost the baby when the circus moved on and they had no way to find which mother had been successfully cursed until Hotspur started performing. They hope to reboot their scheme, but so far have had no luck in their attempts to capture the horned horror. Quote: "Shall I use two swords, or three?" Personality: Hotspur likes to act as swashbuckler from the movies, gallant to the ladies, willing to play with his enemies. The circus is still his home, and he takes part in performances all over the world, glad to entertain the crowd with his antics. Appearance: Hotspur resembles a hairless monkey with a tail and two short horns on his head that stole a costume from the Pirates of the Caribbean when acting as a hero. He carries three swords as weapons, but also tends to have daggers on his person. He wears sweats off duty, working at the circus, or sightseeing. Powers: Hotspur can teleport, can blink in place, can cross vast distances, can climb almost any surface, and teleport to the Abyssal Plane. He can teleport his swords into a target and back to his hand. Plot Hook 1) Hotspur is attacked during a charity show. He wound up in a hospital. Can the heroes protect him until he recovers? Plot Hook 2) The heroes discover that Demon summoned Hotspur from a netherworld. His purpose is to kill targets as a demonic hitman. There is some evidence that he has done that. Is Hotspur hiding a hidden purpose? Plot Hook 3) Hotspur and another teleporter have engaged all over the city. Collateral damage has been high. Can the heroes stop the war? GM's notes: Hotspur is based on the X-man Nightcrawler created by Wein and Cockrum for the New X-men.

Re: Dumbest Moment Ever in your games I was ina cyber punk game once. I blooped an escape vehicle in the cockpit as it flew at me. The GM ruled the plane came straight down on top of me instead of staying straight. CES

Re: Surprisingly Effective Builds? Bill the Blaster energy blaster with variable special effects. CES