FTJoshua

Re: End of an Era
 
Please forgive me, Heroes. We've been engaged this entire time. We are now entering turn Three of the final battle, and here's the score:
 
We have lost three PC's to legit deaths, and a fourth to unconsciousness and being teleported back to his home world. That leaves us with 6 PCs, all of whom are badly hurt but still swinging.
 
The combat has been taking weeks because there were 10 PC's and 11 Demons total (so far); one fight was 10 PCs vs. 4 demons, which the PC's won after a long fight. Then they went to see where the others were, and it turns out they were outside Darius's lair waiting for us. Phase 12, turn 1...that was a couple of weeks ago.
 
There are at least 4 demons still alive, maybe more. If we can keep our one PC who has Aid alive through this, we might have a chance.
 
The best death goes to Phadrae, a transplant from a fantasy campaign, thrown into the regular campaign world against his will. His entire focus has been getting back to his own world, where he was trying to rescue not only his lost love, but his entire world as well. He and one of my PC's, Felix, a heavy-hitter who is 15 playing-years old, were standing over Felix's best friend, Pathos, another 15-year vet, who was unconscious. A demon was bearing down on them, and Felix needed to get Pathos out of immediate danger in the hopes our medic, Seb, could Aid Pathos. (Seb was also out at the time.) Felix turned to Phadrae - worth about 369 points - and said, "Can you handle this one?!" Phadrae glanced at the demon, then faced Felix, and said, "Yes." Felix grabbed Pathos and superleaped out of danger, trusting Phadrae to take care of himself.
 
Except Phadrae knew - barring a terrible roll by the GM - that this was his last stand. Sure enough, the demon attacked Phadrae instead of Felix, and killed Phadrae instantly by a Killing Blow to the head. It turned out that Phadrae knew he didn't have a chance, but had to help Felix and Pathos survive (since they are two of the four heavy-hitters). He died to give Felix that one extra phase he needed to get to safety. It was truly an honorable, heroic death. I am proud to have witnessed it.
 
And the tragic, weepy part of the story: One phase later, the demon who was the key to getting back to his own world was killed, instantly teleporting Phadrae and his friend, Axis, back to their fantasy dimension. Phadrae missed this event by one phase.
 
Felix also lost his brother, Decemitri, to a demon's attack. It was, ironically, Decemitri's first legitimate "street fight." He had trained his entire life to be a martial artist like Felix, but this was the first application of his skills. He was a new addition to the team, and knew very little about the situation; all he knew was that the others believed in something good, and that he would help them to his last breath. Which he did. Another honorable exit.
 
Finally, Pharaoh, a five-year vet, was also killed. He went down swinging like the others, but was overwhelmed. Still, like Phadrae, he bought the others time they needed to regroup and and make a second attack which is what ultimately turned the tide and dropped four demons. Pharaoh will be remembered.
 
So the odds are still stacked against the PC's at the moment, but there is a slight ray of hope still gleaming. There's at least one more session of hardcore combat, plus probably another of storytelling/wrap-up. I will post the details when they occur.
 
Sorry for the delay; none of us appreciated how long it would take to GM and play more than 20 high-powered Champions characters.
 
Thanks, everyone.

I just needed to vent a little, or rant, or ... talk.
 
This coming Sunday, our 4-man group which has essentially been campaigning together for 15 years, faces a physical/combat challenge that almost certainly is going to result in some, many, or all PC deaths. It's all for a good cause - saving the world, naturally - and everyone, including all PCs and their players, know the risks. We have known for a couple of years that this day may come. We knew the ultimate evil would have to be faced, and that the costs might be dear. But now it's starting to sink in; we may not win. Then again, maybe we will. Only the dice and how well we fight will determine the outcome. There cannot be any GM intervention, no miraculous saves. We either fight and defeat the bad guys, or we fight and die.
 
It's an interesting feeling. We've faced death before, but really, for as brutal a campaign as we run, there have only been a few deaths, and even many those have been legitimately (in-game) reversed. That won't happen this time around.
 
It's empowering in its fearfulness. We have always valued character and story over rules and powers. Our best sessions have been those where not a punch was thrown. I am amazed that, over the course of all these years, we've come to know these PCs so well that we know they are doing exactly what they would do - meaning, they are fully prepared to die to save this pale blue dot. And the kicker: if we win, there won't be crowds of happy normals there to thank us. Quite the opposite; they'll go on hating us mutants no matter what happens next weekend. Yet our PCs will fight to the bitter end believing that their cause is just, that any sacrifices made will not be in vain. That, as one PC put it years ago, "Maybe what counts is that two men faced insurmountable odds to fight for a world that had turned its back on them; maybe in that, we will finally find our place."
 
Yeah, it's just a game ultimately. And if we lose, naturally we'll build a new campaign and keep on keepin' on. I just marvel sometimes what this game has taught us all about ourselves as we've played it. How it's shown where our hearts really are sometimes, how we define right and wrong. How it makes us ask, "What would I do?"
 
I honestly don't know if I, a player, could do what my PCs are about to do. And hopefully I never will. This is a post about a game, nothing else, otherwise I'd post it in the non-gaming forum. I just wanted to say that it's been fun, no matter what happens; that win or lose, this will be a climactic ending to an epic that literally spans half our lives. That whatever the result, somehow, it will be what had to happen. That this cooperative story will, for us, be one of the best ever spun because we lived it, not just read it. So thanks to all the players, writers, and designers who made it all possible. And thanks to the various players, GMs, and PCs who've come and gone over the years, enriching our campaign and giving us something to do with our Sunday afternoons. And finally, if I ever did have to face anything even remotely similar to what our PCs face, there aren't any other people I'd rather face it with than those who will be there Sunday.
 
It'll be great. Thanks for listening. Comments or stories from anyone whose been there always appreciated.
 
"Phase 12..."