csyphrett

Re: Teen Guardians Wednesday the third Tachyon 1:30 pm Eric wasn't answering his phone. He might be in trouble, in transit, or not wanting to talk to anybody. Patty didn't know a lot about circumstances, but she did know that her adventuring might be in danger with the cops and a reporter zeroing in on her. Then the phone rang again. Who could it be now? The last few hours had been like Grand Central. Patty glanced at the caller ID and then flopped herself in the easy chair before the big TV set, curling her legs up beneath her and adjusting her robe. Keying on the TV, she answered the phone. "Antres residence, Patricia." At this point, she felt like being in the ER at rush hour would've been a better deal. "This is Jared," said the Pusher. "We need to talk. Is everyone else but Eric there? I know he went out swinging somewhere." Patty relaxed and turned down the volume. "No, the cops were here--everybody had to go," she explained, "and now I'm stuck here for a while at least because there's a reporter that's hanging around if he even thinks I've gone..." She shook her head and pushed her hair back up over her shoulders. "Eric was, last time I talked to him, watching out over that Captain's house, and I think he may have headed for the police station too--the detective that talked to me wanted to talk to everybody." She frowned. "Do we have any halfway decent equipment in the team's lab?" "No," said Pusher. "I just got a phone and computer today. I'm at the school looking at the Monday detention list. Do you mind if I stop by and go over it with you. I'm sure our culprit is on that list." Patty nodded even though he couldn't see her. "That's fine, but you'll need to be gone by five-my parents are a bit touchy that way, and be careful--there's this reporter that's hanging around here, and I'm not sure if he knows who I am or not." "He'll never see me," said Pusher. Patty gave him the address and said, "I'll leave the back door open-also, there's a back door to the garage-just c'mon in." If there's nothing more, Patty hangs up and, wrapping her robe around her, sat and waited, watching TV absently while thinking... Pusher materialized out of the floor five minutes later, clad in his black costume and mask. He went to the door, and placed his hand in it, moving down the wall. "It looks like your reporter is gone," he said, voice muffled by the full mask over his face. "What's his name?" Patty stood and stretched while answering. "Carl Kolchak, INS." She shook her head. "He'll be back, I"m sure--I managed to get rid of him by calling my dad and threatening the cops--but that won't slow him down long." Pusher wrote the name down on a pad with pen. He shoved the pad back in his coat. She moved to the kitchen and got a pad of paper and a pen. "Okay," she said, "what have you got-and we need to figure out a way for me to get into a lab somewhere--I was going to do it at school...but all things considered, that's out the window now." "The school's empty," said Pusher. "It's locked up though." He didn't state the obvious that locks were child's play for him to get around. "I have this list from the computer in the office," Pusher said. He handed the print out over. Some familiar names leaped out at Patty as she perused it. Emp 2:05 pm "That would be correct detective." Eric nodded "We met there, it's also where I first met Patty. She's a pretty nice girl." "I'm sure," said Allen. "I talked to your father. He says he hasn't seen you since Monday night. I'm surprised that you apparently ran away, but still made time to go to school." "I might be a lot of things detective but a drop out isn't one of them. I have friends I can generally stay the night with or even homeless shelters. As for my dad, me and him never like each other much. Kinda like groundhogs." Eric had a bit of a colder attitude now it was a subject he'd gone over in his head more than a few times but it didn't make talking about the man any better. "I know the difference between street knowledge and actual knowledge along with skill and I prefer to be someone skilled and knowing what they are doing compared to the dozen or more runaways that do it because they think they are smart enough not to need that education. Now if that's all detective I'd like to leave. I promised Patty I'd come by and check up on her." "Just one more question," said Allen, easing back in his chair. "Dean Martini said they called you Imp. I was wondering how you got the nickname." "Imp? Well, that's an old one. Trouble seems to follow me, thought you said you talked to my dad. He's always following me and dragging me back home and then punishing me for running away and then I run away again. Thus I got the name Imp. Always in trouble. It was one the reasons I don't -HAVE- many friends. Although Patty thinks I should bury the axe with my dad and try to start over." Eric was cool under pressure he had a feeling some people had overheard the others in the detention room so he had to make sure he had a good cover, so he covered with the truth about his old nicknames, course he had more nicknames that he'd been called when he was this age, maybe Imp would stick. "So you and Dean Martini have hung around?," said Allen. "His father is in waste management I have been told. How do you get along with his kid bodyguards?" "About as well as any other teenager at that school. Ignore them, don't harass their meal ticket and everything is hunky dory." "I imagine," said Allen. "If you think of anything else, feel free to call." He handed over a card. "I'm really interested in talking to this Anthony too if you see him," said the detective. HardBall 1:05 pm Anthony spotted a bald rent a cop crossing the parking lot. He could tell from the walkie talkie in the man's hand he was about to get the boot. Nariko 2:15 pm Nariko swallowed hard, obviously *not* looking forward to seeing that nasty dog again. "Okay...here we go..." Gazing at her reflection, Nariko reached deep with herself and then quickly outward, calling upon her power to open the portal between Earth and that strange little no-when that she called her workshop. The mirror glowed a bright reddish-white for a few moments before revealing... A very irritated Fido jumping through the portal, confused by the multiple targets to bite. He went for Nariko, hoping for more girl flesh, but Mr. Four caught him by the scruff of his neck and held him off the floor. "Happy to see you," said the man in blue. She let out a long, relieved sigh. "Will you be able to hold him until the animal control people come?", Nariko asked. "Sure," said Mr. Four. "The hospital won't be too happy. He's a feisty one, isn't he?" The dog was doing everything it could to break his grip, bark, bite the four strangers in the room with it, and drool. It looked like Hooch from Turner & Hooch, without being friendly cute. "What's going on in there?," demanded a voice from beyond the bathroom. "Tell Dr. Foreman we have his dog," said Mr. Miyami. Pusher 1:30 pm Pusher found the detention page on Mrs. Skinner's computer. He printed out a copy, before he reached for the phone and placed a call. It was time to try to round the team up.

Re: The Magistracy's Baby The Domino City game I ran for a while had a bunch of young guys and they were anime fans also for the most part. So most of their time was spent trying to deal with time travel and the Kings of the Underworld. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Baby I tend to write more like the comics I loved when I was a kid, and game these weird massive threats that are horrific. I don't understand it myself. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Baby

Re: The Magistracy's Baby I don't think my wife would approve. Loudly. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Baby I'll rig out something. I have two more things to write down and that will be the end of the set. I'm sure something else will come to me, either for the main characters or some of the guys in the background. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Baby I'll post something. I'm not as good as Mike Surbrook or Chad Reilly, but I guess that's the least I can do. Do you guys have any requests for any more stories after this set is over. CES

Re: The New Circle The Trash 1 Everyone knew something wasn't right down there. People had seen things, tales had been told. Those who could, moved. Those who couldn't, locked their doors and windows. Sometimes a scream echoed like the howl of a lonely wolf. Curtains were drawn tighter against the sound. Omar knew all of the stories, believed none of them. The world was a strange place, but there was no such thing as a trash man. You had to be crazy to think something like that was real, and Omar Reed was anything but crazy. Besides his latest mark was stumbling along in front of him. He didn't have time for a scary bum story. Omar pulled the brick he used from a bag hanging from his shoulder under his coat. The plan was to run up and conk the mark on the back of the head with the brick. It was simple and he had used it before. If he killed the mark, so much the better. Omar raised the brick, preparing to charge and bring the piece of hardened clay down on the mark's head. Then he would pull everything out of the mark's pockets and flee. Simple and easy was the way to go. The problem with Omar's plan wasn't in the plan itself, or in the execution. It was in the thing lurking in the restaurant dumpsters in the alley to his left. He glanced at something coming at him, thought it was a bum, almost screamed at the nonhuman face shrouded with cast off paper, cloth, and plastic. The thief swung the brick at the trash pile coming for him with long hands. He was less than pleased how the homemade weapon just deformed the shoulder he hit instead of the head. The thing pulled him into its body, pulled his clothes off, ejected him on the sidewalk, and then hit him with his own brick. Omar lay in a daze until the police arrived to help him. They discounted his ramblings of a trash monster as they put him in the back of an ambulance and took him to the hospital. After all he had been hit in the head with a brick. The neighborhood where Omar met his hint to go straight has suffered a number of similar incidents. The police think a vigilante has moved in, pressuring the local criminals with a little street justice. The residents know the truth but are afraid to say it. Their trash comes to life. This unlikely hero seems attracted to the local criminals, scaring them out of the twelve block radius where it lives. It leaves the street walkers and gamblers alone for the most part, but gang bangers and violent muggers and carjackers have learned the limits of where they can operate. Those that don't receive a trip to the hospital, one way or the other. The Trash, as the residents call their protector, has helped the Rovers on several occasions. Mostly that help has come in the fashion of a surprise blitz from an unlikely area, dragging several victims into the shadows at once, then vanishing until it can surprise attack again. This noted behavior has caused VIPER and DEMON bases who have dealt with this vigilante menace to burn any waste they produce. That hasn't stopped the Trash from using other things to do what it wants to the criminal headquarters it uncovers. The Trash typically acts alone, even in a team effort with other Rovers. Tim Timmson is usually the only one that is aware the pile of refuse has decided to take a hand in proceedings.

Re: The Magistracy's Baby I guess I could do that when the last two stories are over. I hadn't seriously thought about posting character sheets. CES

Re: Richest Man in the World Disease And sometimes you have to have money to get things done. That's why I spent three points of EXP to get wealth for my character. The campaign is the Teen Guardians that I recap for my group. No one had any money for mundane equipment. None of their concepts allowed for money either since they are all teen heroes who mostly living at home with no jobs, no way to get financial gain, whatever. We needed some basic equipment like a television so I bought the wealth since I can transform things into jewelry and so forth with no penalty. That's paying for necessities. In my opinion from your posts, you have a lot of high tech companies in operation supplying your characters with money and it seems to be a burden on you. If that accessment is right, my advice is don't worry about it because it doesn't really matter. Wealth is only there to help them fix things, get places, bribe officials. It's only important as a background tool, not something that motivates adventures. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Baby 10 Quentin looked around, calculating the odds. Anyone else would have given up. One of his team was down, the other stalemated, and he only had a gap of a few seconds to make a move to get out of the mess. "Switch," Quentin ordered Cano. Quentin leaped away from Luna and Quick, as Cano turned his head. A stream of flame leapt from the maw of the fiery beast as the martial artist landed with both feet on Phaeton's face. His boots caught fire but his momentum had driven the solar hero into a concrete bench. He landed lightly, rolling the flame out as he retreated from the battle. Cano's fire blast scorched the air. It forced Quick to counter it with a fan of air while Luna ducked for cover. Public threw the other concrete trash can, but the stone wolf man knocked it aside as he lit up the room. Flames threatened the building and the valuable display pieces enough to give them some leverage to use to escape without the prize. Quentin moved back, hurling steel stars at the Magistracy as he made his way to the door. He was pleased that Cano was going the other way. Both of them could escape if they moved fast enough. Quentin turned and headed for the stairs. He knew he was easy prey on the roof. His escape route was a tunnel leading to a building across the street. Once there, he could get a disguise and walk away. He felt something coming at him from behind. He started to turn, to dodge whatever attack was headed for him. He wasn't successful. Quick slammed into him, using her velocity to add to the force of the swing of her arm. The super soldier flew into the doorframe, falling to the floor. He rolled to his feet, trying to come on guard as the speedster vibrated in his vision. He wasn't ready to give up. Quentin backed against the wall, limiting options of attack, on guard. Wind pulsed against his skin, hummingbird wings beat on his ears, mist clouded his eyes, but he ignored it as he concentrated on his opponent standing in two places at once. He waited for the attack. She couldn't allow him to escape, or to drag out a stand off when someone might arrive to be a hostage he could use. Quentin spotted the move, like a baseball player waiting for a fast ball. He swung his whole arm in a clothesline. The hope was to crush her throat, and walk away while she suffocated on the floor. His arm swept through air. He tried to use the carry through to flip to another position. His enhanced reflexes weren't enough to handle lightning. Battering punches landed while he was still in the air. Even with protective padding, he knew that some of his ribs had been broken. He landed hard on his back, trying to breathe. Quick put plastic handcuffs on the super soldier to keep him from going anywhere fast. Medical attention would have to wait. She still had a rampaging fire thing to handle. Cano had went the other way, firing jets of flame at anything in reach. The others were on their own until he could find a place to hide and regroup. Hands clamped on his stony hide from behind. "Let's take this outside," said Phaeton, dragging the unwilling monster through a skylight and into the air over Dallas. "Hey!," shouted Cano. "I can't fly. Put me down." "Can you swim?," Phaeton asked. He aimed for the largest body of water he could see from the air and flew into it at full speed. Superheated water and air formed a hot fog around him as he dragged his crumbling captive out of the suddenly empty pool.

Re: Teen Guardians Wednesday the third Tachyon 1:20 pm Patty pulled on her robe and her comfy bunny slippers and padded down the stairs, touseling her hair as though she'd been sleeping. She went to the front door and peered through the peephole... Carl from the morgue and the school stood on her front steps, straw hat in his hands, looking around with raised eyebrows. His light colored suit was out of place with the running shoes he wore. A tape recorder and small camera hung on straps on his shoulder. This was the last person Patty really wanted to see...checking to make sure the door was chained, she opened it a crack and said, "Can I help you?" "Carl Kolchak, INS," said Carl, flashing his press card. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about this morning." "You have to talk to my parents," Patty decided, not wanting to give this guy any rope at all, "'cuz I'm not feeling so good and if you want you can sit out there and wait until my Dad comes home but he works downtown." She pushed the door shut. "Miss Antres?," said Kolchak, trying to peer through the tiny windows decorating the door. "I assure you that other reporters will be here to ask you the same questions soon. If you talk to me first, they will leave you alone." Patty slumped down against the door, her butt finding purchase on the floor. "I won't I won't until my parents are here," she said, wondering why the image of one little piggy and a big bad wolf had flickered to mind. "Are you okay in there?," said Carl. Patty had a delay. "I'm sick, that's why I'm home early, you have to wait for my parents, okay?" She stepped away from the door at normal-person speeds, retrieved the phone and speed-dialed her dad. "Daddy, there's a reporter here that wants to talk to me I told him no that I couldn't talk to anyone until after you got home," the blonde speedster said. "Tell that misery," began Patty's dad. "No. Wait. Let me talk to him." Patty reopened the door, ensuring that the portal was still on its heavy security chain. Placing the phone's handset on 'Speaker', she said, "My Dad wants to talk to you." She held the phone still inside the door but so that the bothersome reporter could still hear/talk without actually holding it in his hands. "Look you misery monkey," said Patty's dad, sounding irate and fuzzy over the phone. "Get away from my daughter before I pound you. We're not doing any interviews with the likes of you. So clear out." "Sir," said Carl. "I'm sure you know the faster a witness talks, the less trouble he or she's in if the malefactor happens to return." "Shut up and get going," said Mr. Antres. "Is he going, Patty?" "Yes, Daddy," Patty said, her eyes flashing, "He is. Thank you!" After hanging up, she said, through the ajar space in the door, "You can talk to the nice detective up at Special Crimes--he knows more than I do, I was just there when the principal exploded." She pushed the door shut. "Thank you," said the reporter, making a sour face. She'd have to talk to him sooner or later, this she knew. The problem was, how to talk to him without giving away her identity--he seemed unfortunately smarter than the average bear, therefore... How should she deal with him... She thought about it for a while, waiting for him to leave-and texted Eric, "Rptr wuz here--gonna haf to tlk to him." The reporter got into his battered mustang and pulled away, but not before taking pictures of the house. Emp 1:50 pm Eric knew the Hall of Justice was the home for central detective squads. There was a small chance he might run into his dad, but it wasn't likely. Allen apparently didn't care about what some narcotics cop thought about questioning his son. That could be very good, or very bad, depending on how he looked at it. Eric thought about his actions as he moved towards the hall of justice, his civies in his backpack so he could change once he was close enough. It was times like this he wished he had better powers than just empathy, at least that part was still mostly in control. He could read people and project a single emotion, although projection was still unable to hold back and still pretty random when it came to effectiveness. Once he was about a block away he changed in a hidden area and swung down to street level before hiding the rest of his costume and moving towards the building to speak with the receptionist. "Hello. My names Eric Drake I'm hear to speak with Detective Allen?" "I'll call him for you," said the desk sergeant. A minute on the phone led to "He said for you to go right up." The sergeant pointed to the elevators on one side of the circular room. "7th floor. Major Cases." Eric walked to the elevators casually His dad might have friends on the force but he at least had a reason to be here and they in turn wouldn't bother him. Besides he had an interesting twist now to his childhood, living it twice might just get his dad off his back without him ending up dead again. Once at the seventh floor he walked out of the elevator looking for Detective Allen. The Major Case Squad took up the whole floor. A small amount of looking enabled Eric to find a name plate. A nondescript sort of man sat at the desk, talking on the phone. He made notes as he went. Eric inhaled deeply and took a seat in front of the officer as his phone vibrated against him. He didn't know who it was but right now he needed to tell this detective what he wanted to know about what he was doing and confirm Patty's story. "Sorry Detective, took me awhile to wrap up a bit. So what is it you need to know really? All I did was go on auto pilot sailed into the principal's office when that weirdo popping sound took place and when I saw Patty scared and trembling I just held onto her thankful it wasn't her." He watched the detective wondering what he was going to do about the call from Emp, granted over the phone or in conversation it sounded like Imp. Hopefully it still had some sort of heroic angle to help the detective to help the sea captain. "Witnesses said another of your friends were present," said Detective Allen. "An Anthony something or another. The witness I talked to didn't know your friend's last name. Just that he rode a motor bike to school." "Friend might be a bit strong of a term, we only just kinda met. I don't know his last name." Eric shrugged "Sorry I'm not more helpful than your other witness when it comes to Anthony." Eric sat back watching the detective, Anthony out of all of them would likely never want to set foot in here so it was up to him to make sure Anthony didn't need too. Detective Allen looked at his notes, flipping the pages slightly. "It seems you and this Anthony, and Patty were in detention together Monday," said Allen. "Is that where you met?" HardBall 1:00 pm Anthony answered his phone. "Hey beautiful, what's happening?" "I just got back from a boat ride and I was wondering if you wanted to eat somewhere later," said his girl, smile coming through her voice. "Why don't you ask your friends along?" Anthony flashed back to yesterday, his covert meeting with Eric. Titan, Lady Flame, and Pusher were in attendance in their secret faces. Titan was at the morgue with Mr. Richards. Lady Flame had not been in school as far as he knew. Pusher might be doing something, but Anthony didn't have a way to contact him without going to the secret hideout and asking if he wanted to horn in on a date with his beautiful rich girl. Lee would say no in Anthony's estimation. "Which friends would those be?" "The ones at the diner," said Talia. "I recognized Eric Drake. He's a hottie. I'm kind of jealous of the Asian girl." "Those guys? I'd hardly call them friends. Eric Drake's a business associate of mine and the other's? I wouldn't be caught dead associating with a jock and a jaded Chinese princess if Ricky wasn't with them. Anyway where do you get off saying he's a hottie after giving me grief last night about talking with said princess?" He joked. "Women can do whatever they want," said Talia. "That's our prerogative." "Whatever" said Anthony "Anyway if you want me to invite the hottie along you'll probably have to put up with his new girlfriend too. That o.k?" "Sure," said Talia. "I know this place. It will be perfect." "It'll have to be quick, I've got a business appointment at 3, but if your up for a quick lunch with me, Eric and his girl then fire away and I'll see what I can do." "Let's make it dinner at five," said Talia. "What kind of business are you getting into?" "Best you not know, dear, let's just say if it doesn't go well I might need to cancel dinner. Anyway I'll see you at five ... whoops I almost forgot, where are we meeting?" "Let's try the Barbecue place on Franklin, honey bunny," said Talia. "It's supposed to be good." Nariko 2:00 pm Nariko's brows furrowed as she tried to remember. but she couldn't recall the house number. " I know what the house looks like and where it is in relation to the convenience store, if that'll help..." "Which way do you think it is from here?," said Mr. Four. He cleared a space so she could look out a side window. Nariko saw that she was heading for the other convenience store she had seen. She recognized the rabbit on the side of the sign. She gestured in the direction of the house. "Down the street a bit more...I'll point it out to you when I see it." When Nariko finally spotted the house, she pointed it out and let Mr. Four know. He nodded, pulling out a small cell phone and gave the address to someone on the other end of the line. "I hope they *catch* them...", Nariko said softly after Four got off of the phone. "If they were smart," said Mr. Four. "They are gone. I'm hoping the people that work with me and your father will be able to find a clue to point to who was really behind your kidnaping." Nariko nodded and sighed, a bit disappointed given her typical teen impatience. "Um...how are we going to get the dog out of my workshop without it biting somebody else?", she asked, deciding to change the subject. "Why don't you keep it?," said Four. "I always heard that girls like puppies for some reason." "Not *this* puppy, Mr. Four!", said the teen with a touch of annoyance. "He still wants a *piece* of me!" "Let's get you to the hospital," said the man in the blue suit. "We'll deal with it after you're fixed up." The ambulance rolled across town to Chance City General, parking in the double lane driveway in the back. The attendants rolled the gurney into the emergency room, advising on what they had found while they worked. Mr. Four was right there by her side, until her parents showed up with relief on their faces. Nariko suffered their treatment of her wound without complaint. When her parents finally arrived, she sat up and bowed politely to her rather traditionalist father, although her light brown eyes suddenly welled up with tears of absolute relief. "We are pleased to see that you are in the best of possible care," said Mr. Miyami. "We'll take you home as soon as the doctors are done, dear," said Mrs. Miyami. "That's *very* good mom and dad..." she said and caught herself as her voice threatened to crack with emotion. Wiping her eyes awkwardly, she added in a soft, heartfelt voice, "I am *so* glad to see you...and Mr. Four's been very good to me..." "We'll have to deal with a dog," said Mr. Four. "We can do that back at the building." "Sonja is looking around at the house after you called," said Mr. Miyami. "She will call if she finds anything." A doctor appeared with Nariko's chart, looking at the gathered adults with a raised eyebrow. "I'm Dr. Foreman," said the medic. "Your daughter suffered a very bad bite, but we've treated her for tetanus and stitched it up. I have a prescription for pain killers, and if we have the dog, we can check it for rabies. Otherwise we'll have to give shots." "Um...how *many* shots?", Nariko asked with a touch of worry. "Fifteen," said Dr. Foreman. "They will be injected in your stomach." She actually turned a little pale. "All at the same *time*?" "Once a day," said Dr. Foreman. "If we had the dog, we could observe it for symptoms and then test it instead. You might not need shots at all if the dog was clean." "I can get the dog for you *immediately* if you want," said the nervous girl quickly, "but I think it might be a good idea to have somebody from Animal Control here when I go get him. He was nasty as *hell* to me..." Dr. Foreman lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "I'll make the call," he said before leaving the room. "The dog is in her pocket dimension," said Mr. Four when he was sure the group was alone. "I can hold him for the animal guys." "He's probably making a big *mess* of my workshop right now...", Nariko added with an annoyed frown. "Let's go in the bathroom and secure it," said Nariko's father. "It should be simple and easy." Mr. Four picked up Nariko in her hospital gown and carried her across the room to the annoyance of the staff. Her parents followed, fending off any nurse who came close before they all stepped inside the cramped public bathroom. "I have the door," said Mom, holding the door shut. "Let's get started," said Dad, gesturing to the wide mirror over the sink. Pusher 1:30 pm Pusher had to wait in the walls until the crime scene unit was done. When the police had left, leaving the school locked up, he started his own search of the office. He was looking for the attendance records for Monday.

Re: xialin showdown Page Eight- "I know he will be mad as hell, and I'm not really sure what I should tell him. I guess I could tell him the truth but he may not believe me if I do," said Jade as she sat there with her eyes closed. "What's not to believe?," said Paul. "Ghost ripping up the tea house. Who wouldn't believe that?" "No, you're right. I'm just tired and sore," said Jade. The neighborhood narrowed down into a walled house taking up a block. The limo paused for the gate to open, then started down the concrete driveway. The house was ornate pagoda style all the way, a combination of brick and wood three stories tall. Guards littered the lawn, on watch.

Re: xialin showdown Entry Nine- The Squid,so named because of his love of exotic sea food and the strange coloring of his skin, gathers information in with his metaphoric tentacles and sells it to whomever he thinks it will benefit most. The Squid operates at the edge of the Chinatown underworld. He keeps a lair near a fish market, and can be found in several of the local places that specialize in the cuinsine that he enjoys so much. His loyalty cannot be bought. He sells whatever he gathers to anyone who can meet his price. Additionally he never uses what he gathers for blackmail. Once he knows a secret, he sells it. Numerous people have tried to kill him at one time or the other. He goes underground for a bit, then goes back in business. When he does, he targets his enemies with anything he can find to use. Some of the oldest crimes in the book have been solved because someone tried to kill the Squid.

Re: Help Me Set up a Pulp Campaign I have a suggestion for powers, but I dont know if this will fit with what you want. A detect possibly monsters, perhaps specifically vampires. A find weakness skill (This monster can be killed by salt). And a HKA to target that weakness with an OAF (Stake in the heart). CES

Re: World at War: Ragnarok! It was the first thing I could think of to fit your problem. Other separate methods could involve intelligence gathering by the Allies, distress calls, so forth. There are a lot of means, but there's no guarantee how your players will react, or whether they'll take any bait at all. CES

Re: Richest Man in the World Disease Personally I felt I had to buy wealth for the Teen Guardians game I am co-gming. None of the player characters have any resources, basic equipment other than their own, essentially got a base by blowing up a supervillain safehouse (with the help of the villain), or even a patron. It was easier to have a character come up with the money to buy those things to smooth things in play. CES

Re: World at War: Ragnarok! This is basically what I was considering. What Kurt Busiek story are you referencing? I've probably got it in my collection, and maybe I can steal... I mean 'make an homage' to it. This is part of the plot to JLAvengers. The JLA and Avengers are told that each want things from the other universe such as the cosmic cube and green lantern's power battery. CES

Re: World at War: Ragnarok! Well to borrow a page from Kurt Busiek, you can tell both sides that the opposite side wants the artifacts. Good players will snap at this easily. Even if they don't, once the bad guys start snatching them, they'll want to get involved. Then all you have to do is plan where each thing is and what it does. The players will help you as far as planning what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. CES

Re: [Warming Rant] GM feeling uninspired QM, Are these tangents out of game stuff going on, or in game disgressions away from whatever is supposed to be going on. Out of game stuff is something you are going to have to talk to them about like hey let's stay on track tonight. That kind of thing. If the tangents are in game, make them the focus of the adventure. I'm sorry if that's not helpful but it seems to me your group likes your style, but are also happy just to socialize. If that's the case, there's not a lot you can do except try to keep on target. CES

Re: Necroscope Hero The E-Branch triliogy was the last one I read. Three vampires make it to Earth and start growing a garden of spores. The psychics start combatting it with a new Necroscope. The spores are released infecting England, and eventually the world. At that point, what's the point of reading any more books in the same setting. It's destroyed. CES

Re: Necroscope Hero I read them but I have never used them for a game. Lumley kind of lost me when the E-Branch lost in the last book and the whole world was infected with vampirism. He wrote another book set before that happened, but I didn't pick it up. CES

Re: Historical Nexus Points Roadmarks is a book by Roger Zelazny as time is a highway that people can drive down. Interfering with events just meant another exit opened on the road. There's a lot more to it than that but that was the basic travel arrangement. CES

Re: The New Circle Appearance: The Phantom Naut, when he is seen, is often spotted wearing what looks like the tattered remains of a space suit. He uses a protective hood as a mask to hide his features. Powers: Shepard has been empowered with a wide variety of abilities in his new role. He is able to live in space, fly, become invisible, and control various energies. He can hear radio waves as well. Character Name: Phantom NautReal Name: Scott Shepard Nationality: American Hair/Eye Color: brown/brown Place of Birth: Key West, Florida Date of Birth: 1/15/72 Height/Mass: 5'9", 185 pounds. Cost Characteristic Value 20 STR 30 30 DEX 20 20 CON 20 28 BODY 24 11 INT 21 28 EGO 24 10 PRE 20 1 COM 12 PD 6 ED 4 20 SPD 5 REC 10 END 40 STUN 49 OCV: 6 DCV: 6 OECV: 8 DECV: 8 Phases: 3,5,8,10,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Full Life Support 45 pts Invisibility to sight group, no fringe 30 pts, only when not attacking (-½) 20 pts Radio hearing/transmission 10 pts Flight 60 pt multipower 6u Regular Flight 30" 60 pts 6u Megascale 10" Flight (1"= 10 million km, +2) 60 pts Energy Powers 60 pt Multipower 6u Force Field 30 ed/30 pd 60 pt 6u Force Wall 12 ed/ 12 pd 60 pts 6u Power Beam 6d6 energy blast, variable advantage (+1) 60 pts 2u Tractor Beam 40 str telekinesis, only to push/pull (-½), affects whole object (-1/4) 22 pts Cost Skills 3 Systems operation 13- 3 TF: spaceships, jets, cars 3 combat driving 13- 3 combat piloting 13- 3 electronics 13- 3 mechanics 13- 3 stealth 13- 3 navigation: space 13- 3 navigation: earth air space 13- 3 PS: astronaut 13- 3 KS: astronaut 13- 3 SS: physics 13- 3 SS: astronomy 13- 3 SS: geology 13- 3 AK: air force bases 13- 3 AK: solar system 13- 3 AK: Cape Canaveral 13- 3 Computer programming 13- 20 Universal Translator 13- 3 Bump of direction 15 combat sense 13- 150 Points Disadvantages 15 Hunted by alien invaders 8- 20 hunted by Viper 11- 10 DF: Torn space suit 10 Reputation: Phantom astronaut 11- 15 Secret ID 15 Psych Lim: protective of space program 20 Code versus Killing 10 Watched by NASA 11- 20 DNPC: NASA space missions 14- 10 Rivalry with other space based heroes 5 Secret: supposedly dead astronaut 237 phantom experience CHA Cost = 168 Total Powers Cost = 327 Total Skills Cost = 92 Total Cost = _587 Plot Hook 1) NASA has launched a new satellite to fly into the oort cloud and count comets. It's a long trip to the edge of the solar system. When the vehicle misses a check in, they turn to the PCs for help in locating their instrument. Plot Hook 2) Instruments from around the world have noticed an increase in activity of some sort approaching Earth. Then a message is intercepted on a NASA radio frequency. The news is not good. Someone has to launch as a vanguard to stopping a fleet of invaders. Plot Hook 3) NASA has decided to establish a base on one of Jupiter's moons. It will take years of planning, but it is hoped that eventually several bases will be built as stepping stones. The problem is someone is sabotaging the planning missions. Warnings have been heard over the radio system but no one is sure what to make of it. GM's Note: This character is slightly based on Space Ghost. Hopefully he will be an okay addition to any space based adventure. The only thing he is missing is the teen sidekicks, a phantom cruiser, and a base. Additional points can go to building one under Mars if the game master is so inclined.

Re: Historical Nexus Points I want to say that is from Roadmarks, but I dont think he was running guns to the greeks. I think he wanted to supply the other side. Of course I may be wrong and I apologize if I am. CES