TheTemplar

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... DEFENDERS CONGREGATE Quotes.. LIVE as they happen! Secret Service Agt. Haysbert: You say that you are aware of what has happened. How did you come to your conclusions? Rampant Lion (in a British accent): Because *I* have a very high deduction roll. __________ Warforge: "It only takes one metamorph to screw it up for everybody." __________ Wonderboy: "What the Hell do I do with a Pterodactyl?"

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Sorry.. I had been doing these at work and that's taken a turn for the busy lately. I'll try to squeeze in a little more log time here and there.. that or I'll start bribing players w/ XP to do it for me.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] That fixed it. Gracias, fellas!

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] So here's a sticky wicket... trying to login at Hero Central (which I had no problems doing a couple of days ago) and now all I get is a blank page. Can't even log in. Attached a screenshot. I have the latest version of JRE. Any other thoughts?

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] Ok... all setup over at HeroCentral now. User ID is TheTemplar, User Display is Dr. Impossible, so shouldn't be too hard to find me.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] I don't but if it's anything like NWN and NWN2, Print Screen should work. Check your CoH main directory folder and see if there's a pic saved there. If you're lucky, it'll save as a jpg, unlike NWN... stupid Targa format.

Re: [Worst Ever...] Reasons to be a superhero "YOU try finding work in the pro ping-pong circuit when some no-talent hack neglects to draw YOUR wrists!"

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Yep, we've had one session since then, but we had to end it about an hour or so before the end of the story arc. So, I'm trying to get the rest of the story arc wrapped up via PBEM, but some players aren't responding.... not that I'm naming names... *ahem* WARFORGE *ahem*.... Anyhoo, once this part is totally wrapped up, I'll be posting the whole thing.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] Hee hee heeee! Again, sorry for the autofire character sheet creation. I think I've fiddled with him at least a dozen times.. maybe more.. and every time I fiddled I discovered more glaring holes either on the sheet or in the backstory. I THINK I've finally got all my bases covered now though, so it's all contingent on whatever changes you need me to make.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] Dr. Impossible Player: TheTemplar (Trent) Val Char Cost 14 STR 4 16 DEX 18 20 CON 20 13 BODY 6 22 INT 12 21 EGO 22 19 PRE 9 16 COM 3 3/16 PD 0 4/18 ED 0 5 SPD 24 7 REC 0 40 END 0 30 STUN 0 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 2 1/2" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 118 Cost Power END 56 Mental Powers: Multipower, 70-point reserve, (70 Active Points); all slots Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 3u 1) Believe In The Impossible: Aid 3 1/2d6, any Characteristic one at a time (+1/4), Ranged (+1/2) (61 Active Points); Costs Endurance (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 6 4u 2) Melatonin Surge: Ego Attack 6d6 (Human class of minds) (60 Active Points); Power Blocked By "Life Support [Character Does Not Sleep]" (-1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 6 4u 3) Not What You Think You Are: Drain 2d6, any Characteristic one at a time (+1/4), Ranged (+1/2), Based On EGO Combat Value (Mental Defense applies; +1) (55 Active Points); Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 5 4u 4) Mind Over Matter: Telekinesis (30 STR), Fine Manipulation (55 Active Points); Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 5 5u 5) Telepathy: Telepathy 13d6 (Human class of minds) (65 Active Points); Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 6 4u 6) Telekenetic Blast: Energy Blast 8d6, Indirect (Any origin, any direction; +3/4) (70 Active Points); OAF (Object Of Opportunity) (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) 7 40 Telekenetic Shielding: Force Field (13 PD/14 ED), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (40 Active Points) 0 20 Telekenetic Levitation: Flight 10" 2 11 Strong Willed: Mental Defense (15 points total) 0 Powers Cost: 151 Cost Skill 3 Bureaucratics 13- 5 Conversation 14- 3 Cryptography 13- 3 Deduction 13- 3 Gambling 13- 3 High Society 13- 2 AK: Millenium City 11- 3 KS: The Superhuman World 13- 4 KS: Modern Psychology 14- 2 KS: State/ Federal Criminal Law 11- 2 KS: State/ Federal Criminal Procedure 11- 2 Language: Latin (English is native) (fluent conversation) 3 Oratory 13- 3 Paramedics 13- 3 Persuasion 13- 3 Power: Mental Powers 13- 4 PS: Psychologist/ Author 14- 4 SS: Psychology 14- 3 SS: Criminal Psychology 13- 1 Shadowing 8- 3 Teamwork 12- Skills Cost: 62 Cost Perk 10 Money: Wealthy 3 Fringe Benefit: Federal/National Police Powers 6 Contact: U.S. Government/ Agencies (Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (6 Active Points) 8- Perks Cost: 19 Total Character Cost: 350 Val Disadvantages 5 Dependent NPC: Mrs. Victoria Sharpe 8- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills) 10 Distinctive Features: Mutant (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses) 10 Enraged: When Innocents Are Harmed Or Threatened (Common), go 8-, recover 14- 20 Hunted: The Institute For Human Advancement 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture) 10 Hunted: U.S. Government/ Agencies 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching) 20 Psychological Limitation: Code Vs. Killing (Common, Total) 15 Psychological Limitation: Sanctity Of The Mind (Very Reluctant To Use Powers To Forcibly Read The Thoughts Of Others) (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Heroically Motivated (Common, Strong) 15 Social Limitation: Secret Identity (Dr. Remington Sharpe) (Frequently, Major) 10 Unluck: 2d6 20 Vulnerability: 2 x Effect Drains (Common) Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 Rule Of X: 14 + 5 + [(16+18)/2], + 7 + 7 + 0 = 50 Background/ History: "Suggestion. What the mind perceives is not always what is. What the mind conceives is bound by what limitations we are taught. Suggested. But what if all we have been taught is faulty? What if these limitations, battered into our minds by society over a span of centuries are nothing more than Suggestion? These limitations, these perceived notions of what man can or cannot do are based on beings that, on the whole, use only ten percent of their true cognitive potential. Ten percent! How can we say what is impossible with 90 percent of our resources yet untapped? These are the questions that keep me awake at night. My name is Remington Sharpe... and I can do the impossible." Remington Sharpe, or "Remy" to his friends, was born on December 17, 1968 in Detroit, MI. He grew up in the home of a renowned surgeon and his loving wife, and had 2 siblings - an older brother and a younger sister. He was always an intelligent boy, but his father taught him early on that his intellect was a gift, and that he should use it to help others, and not lord it over them or brag. In 1981, when Remy was just 13 years old, he and his then 10-year old sister were riding their bikes home from school in their upper class suburban neighborhood when they were stopped by a haggard-looking man... homeless by the look of him. He ambled toward Remy's sister, Rachel, and asked her for some money. Rachel stopped. Something about the man's look rubbed Remy the wrong way... as he stared hard, he realized he could still hear the man speaking.. but his mouth wasn't moving. No sound was coming out of the homeless man's lips! Still, Remy could hear him clear as day, "Gimme some money, little girl! Gimme some money or I'll kill you!" Remy felt his eyes drawn to the homeless man's right hand, which was shoved in his coat pocket. But Remy was still able to catch a glint of sunlight off the hilt of the knife the man was clutching in his concealed hand! "No! Rachel! Get away from him!" Remy cried out. Rachel sped away from the man just as he lunged at her, knife in hand. As Remy and Rachel sped home, the homeless man got up and ran in the opposite direction. "How did you know?!" Rachel asked as they breathlessly parked their bikes in their garage. "I... I don't know..." Remy stammered. As Remy continued through adolescence and high school, he discovered much moreof what he could do with just the power of thought. He could not only read the thoughts of others when he focused hard enough, but he could also manipulate their brainwaves - even stimulating the part of the brain that produces melatonin, the hormone that causes sleepiness, to accidentally cause one of his classmates to fall asleep in class. The student woke up 18 hours later with no idea what had happened. Remy went on to study Psychology and Criminal Psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he graduated with highest honors in 1989. While studying there, he realized how precious and rare his gift was.. and just as his father taught him about intelligence, Remy also knew that he should use this gift to better mankind. He also decided that the mind was so precious and valuable a gift, that for him to invade the privacy of others by reading their thoughts without their permission or using his powers on them for fun or for self-benefit would be wrong. While in college he also discovered a love of card games, especially poker. But he stuck to his convictions and never used his powers to give him an edge. He enjoyed the challenge of winning without his superhuman abilities. After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Remy went on to earn his masters and doctoral degrees from the Stanford University School of Psychology in Palo Alto, CA, arguably the most prestigious school in the field. He tried to find ways to use his powers to help mankind. He wrote several highly successful books such as "Understanding You: Keys to unlocking your potential" and "Mind Crime: A New Look At Criminal Psychology," both of which helped people not only better themselves, but also to give law enforcement new tools to keep people safe. After shattering all pre-conceived notions of what was possible by becoming the youngest person to ever earn their Psychology Doctorate from Stanford in 1991 (He was 23 at the time,) he married his college sweetheart, Victoria Harmon. He decided it best that she not know about his incredible powers at that time. He began to unlock even more abilities as time went on. He discovered that with his mind, the power of suggestion was so strong that he could actually empower others to be better.. faster.. smarter. In theory, the opposite also had to be true. He could move objects, even some heavier than he could lift physically, with just a thought. He even discovered that if he focused hard enough, he could even levitate. Just a few feet at a time at first, but then further.. and faster. He received his true calling in 1992. Dr. Destroyer had held the entire world hostage with an enormous asteroid headed for Earth. He finally explained everything to his wife, showed her what he could do, and told her that he couldn't just stand by any longer. He had to help the Earth's Heroes defeat Dr. Destroyer. It was then that he created the costumed superhero alter-ego, Dr. Impossible. He was badly injured at the battle of Destruga, and was rushed to a nearby hospital in Spain. His wife flew to be with him (It was then that she learned that Remy was actually Dr. Impossible) and thus both were spared when Dr. Destroyer's nuclear-powered beam cut its swath of destruction through Detroit as his final act of terror. The two returned to Detroit and pledged to be key figures in the building of Millenium City, and have resided there ever since. Dr. Impossible received his Federal Sanctioned status shortly after his arrival in Millenium City, in honor of his deeds during the Battle Of Destruga. He has stood against the Institute for Human Advancement on several occasions, both as Dr. Impossible fighting against their Minutemen Robots with other heroes and as Dr. Sharpe, pointing out the flaws in their doctrines and practices in his various publications. Unfortunately, it was on one particular occasion while he was fighting the inhuman supercriminal known as The Leech, that he also discovered his particular mutation, which heightened his neural activity to unheard of levels, also weakened his metabolic processes and other physical attributes. The supervillain used his unusual powers to drain Dr. Impossible's physical abilities so badly that he was left temporarily unable to even move, allowing The Leech to escape. Since then, Dr. Impossible has followed a strict physical excercise regimen, and is in excellent physical shape. However, his mutation still makes him succeptible to any sort of physique-altering drain attack. Personality/ Motivation: Dr. Impossible believes that in each person lies the capacity for greatness, they only need someone to help them open the door. He strives to be this person, whether by his example in using his abilities to defend peace, innocence, and civilization, or more directly, by his writings or even just helping other superheroes overcome their own obstacles. This, he believes, is why he was given the gift that he has, and because of the values instilled in him at an early age by his parents, he continues to live this way today. Personality wise, he is a blending of such infamous elements as Dr. Fate, Professor X, Martian Manhunter, and Doctor Strange. He is often seen as cryptic or vague - the kind to answer a question with another question, all to encourage deeper thought and to hopefully help the asker find the answer himself. He also believes that physical health is every bit as much a part of unlocking your potential as mental health, and therefore exercises rigorously, as does his wife (hence his higher than normal physical attributes.) Quote: "Believe in the Impossible!" Powers/ Tactics: Dr. Impossible is a veteran by most superhero standards, though not as powerful as most veteran superheroes of his age or generation. If he is in a solo confrontation, he will use the powers of his mind to slow down or otherwise weaken his opponent, and then try to put them to sleep with his Melatonin Surge power. He prefers to stay out of melee range, as his Telepathic Barrier is relatively weak and he can't take too many direct hits before being KO'ed. If he is with other superheroes, like on Destruga, he will use his powers to increase their abilities and make them more able to take on their foes, then he will use his flight to maneuver around the field of battle, weakening their opponents with his Drain and Ego Attack powers. His powers of Mind over Matter are most helpful in situations where he can't reach an object, or against opponents that cannot be directly affected by his mental powers - such as robots or aliens or other things that fall outside the "human" class of minds. In these situations, he falls back on his Telekenetic abilities, holding his opponents for others to strike or attacking them himself by hurling objects at them with his telekenesis. Dr. Impossible's powers are caused by a mutation of his brain cells that dramatically increase his brain activity, unlocking parts of the mind that allow him to do things that are, for all intents and purposes, impossible. He holds the mind in especially sacred regard, and thus will not use his Telepathy power on an unwilling target unless it is a critically urgent matter of life and death. The only thing he holds more sacred than the mind, is the sanctity of human life, and thus would never take any action that could prove fatal for another human being - meta or otherwise. Campaign Use: Dr. Impossible is primarily a support character in combat. His abilities are mostly geared toward team fighting, though if he had to fight an opponent solo, he would. His skills, personality and years of experience make him a good candidate for a leadership position, but he would gladly support someone with more qualifications if that were the case. Appearance: Ht: 1.86m (6'0") Wt: 82kg (180lbs.) Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown Remington Sharpe is a 42 yr. old male of caucasian descent. He wears his brown hair short and he has distinguished streaks of grey along the sides. He wears a short moustache/goatee that he keeps neatly trimmed, and typically dresses very nicely. He is in excellent physical shape, and both he and his wife are strong advocates of good physical (as well as mental) health. As Dr. Impossible, he wears a blue and yellow suit with a half-star design on the right side. His boots and high-collared cloak are yellow, and his gloves and cowl, which covers his eyes and nose, are blue. Props to Storn A. Cook for drawing the Secret Id shot as part of another character.

Re: Hooligan_X and Proditor Present: "The Third Semi-Annual Great HERO Figure Contest Ya, that is good. The last thing we need is a recreation of the "wrestling" scene with Hooligan and Durak... (I still can't sleep at night.)

Re: Hooligan_X and Proditor Present: "The Third Semi-Annual Great HERO Figure Contest Ok... for my entries in the Published Teams Group and in the Published Solo group: Eurostar and Ripper. Recipes available upon request, but I think most of these are fairly obvious.

Re: HERO figure contest update, and a question. One of my gaming buddies is an insurance adjuster, so he has a pretty good digital camera that he's bringing over tonight. I'm trying to set up a good, well-lit spot to get the shots and hopefully I'll have them up tomorrow if not later tonight.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Heh... Well.. if you've never seen the formerly-WB-now-CW TV series 'Smallville' based on the high-school/ college years of one Clark Kent, then it's important to understand that anytime Lana Lang (played by Kristin Kreuk) comes on the screen, any sort of plot development that was going on grinds to a screeching halt and we get treated to a super-teen-angsty "I just can't trust you Clark" session for about 5 or 6 minutes.. until the scene mercifully changes to show us Lex becoming more and more evil by the millisecond. It really is a good show.. but Lana is not one of its highlights. That's pretty funny, Kirby. I've been posting about Jack "Nighthawk" Kirby (not to be confused w/ the CU Nighthawk) and Frank "Fantastic-Man" Miller for almost a year now and you're the first person to notice.. or at least the first person to mention it. Ironically, the first NPC we met (back when I was a player and Frydaddy was the GM) was named Stan Lee.. or so we thought. Unfortunately, it was actually Stanley. Stanley Jacobsen. And he went on to screw us over bigtime. Anyhoo, we now return you to your regularly scheduled greatest thread ever.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] Sorry to keep hitting you w/ so many questions... but since this isn't a strict CU game, did the Destruction of Detroit/ building of Millenium City occur? Working on bg.

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] Oh, what about skill rolls and skill point totals? Any suggestions/ requirements?

Re: [interest in a HeroCentral game] I've never done the HeroCentral thing, but it sounds interesting. Sounds like you're looking for a 4-color feel. Anything else to be aware of thematically? CvK appropriate/ required/ discouraged? Any banned and/or discouraged powers (other than SPD 10 w/ 35 pts. of Kung Fu?) I've got a mentalist concept that I've been kicking around forever... I'll get it fleshed out a bit more and let you see if you think he'd be a good fit.

Re: WWYCD: GRAB infilitration The Tornado! : would probably be all over this. A) He loves GRAB - their hijinks amuse him. In the Defenders Universe, Icicle is part of GRAB and she's a proverbial thorn in T!'s side. Putting her away would be icing on the cake (no pun intended.) Given the fact that he's a super speedster, he'd probably come up with a speed-based villain alter-ego - maybe get a new helmet with some little horns on it, maybe a forked tail added to his costume, and a recoloring and call himself "Speed Demon." Then he'd knock on the door of their headquarters, walk in with bags full of gems and jewelry, drop them on the ground and say. "I'm signing up." They'd probably laugh until he turned on the news reporting half a dozen jewelry stores all over town have just been robbed within seconds of eachother, at which point GRAB would have to recognize that the kid is just good for the bottom line.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Just One Man The Defenders Season V: "Evolution" Issue 3 Cast Fantastic-Man: Team Leader; World’s Greatest Hero; Brick with Flight and Density Alteration Powers Nighthawk: Mega-bajillionare playboy; super-detective; Martial Artist/ Gadgeteer La Espijisma: Team Doctor; Infiltration specialist; Metamorph with the ability to mimic Superpowers of others Warforge: Mystical construct created in Vulcan’s Forge to battle evil; Brick w/ multi-weapon Arm Tomorrow Boy: Teenage uber-genius from the future with telekinetic powers; Gadgeteer Rampant Lion III: Legacy hero with a taste for adventure and the spotlight; Martial Artist/ Weapon Master _______________ Act I: "Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?" Fantastic-Man had had a rough week. After the events at Paragon Hills High, it seemed like the World's Greatest Hero had been bombarded with more and more bad news. First, there was the disgusting turn of events in the trial of John Black (aka The Black Paladin) and Pamela Duquesne (aka Talisman.) The two had been apprehended while trying to help the Dragon usher in a new Dark Age... literally (Seas IV, Finale.) But, with the aid of a high-priced super-lawyer from the Blackmon & Hale Firm, the two managed to convince judge and jury that they had been under the powerful control of the Dragon the entire time - just as the superhero The Tornado! had been, and were allowed to go free. To make matters worse, UNTIL had been hit hard by the four free members of Eurostar - Scorpia, Durak, Ultrasonique and Feuermacher. Not only was the attack, an attempt to rescue their captured comrade Mentalla, successful but to make matters worse, the Defenders' ally Field Marshall Fors Fagerstrom was killed in the attack, and Secretary Marshall James Wellington had been badly injured, and had been moved to L'Institut Thoth for treatment. Finally, as if all that wasn't enough, Noelle Peterson, the team's long-time receptionist and girlfriend of their former teammate The Tornado! had resigned. Graham (The Tornado!) had hurt her pretty badly when he just took off without so much as a good-bye, and there were just too many memories for her to go on working with the team. Fantastic-Man told her to keep her communicator, and to call him if she ever needed help. All in all, a bad week for the good guys. Tomorrow Boy had apparently had a busy week as well, as the young man was scarce to be seen around the halls at the team's temporary base at Stronghold, which made sense considering that another school year was drawing to a close. A small ray of good news was shining through the dark skies over Paragon City, though. Thanks to substantial contributions from Jack Kirby, CEO of Omnitech, the new base now dubbed "The Citadel" was rapidly nearing completion, and was estimated to be about a month away from being ready for use. In the heart of downtown Paragon City, on the 60th floor of Omnitech World Headquarters, Jack Kirby (aka Nighthawk) sat at his desk, waiting for his 8:30 meeting with Hiro Takamura, director of Omnitech's Tokyo operations. The two were meeting to discuss the current climate in the Asian markets, where Omnitech had been performing very well of late. Takamura sat down and set his files on Jack's desk. After some brief small talk, Jack's secretary entered. "Can I get the two of you anything? Coffee? Tea? The usual for you, sir, I assume." Jack nodded, and Mr. Takamura requested some hot tea. The secretary returned a short time later and placed the steaming hot tea in front of Mr. Takamura, and a cup of black coffee in front of Jack. "Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?" She asked with a warm smile. "No, that'll be all," Jack replied and the attractive blonde woman turned and exited quietly. As Jack and Mr. Takamura drank and looked over the end of year numbers, Jack noticed Takamura was sweating and looked feverish. The man suddenly collapsed and fell out of his chair, sprawled out on Jack's lush carpeted floor. Jack tried to stand, but couldn't move. As he started getting lightheaded, his office door opened, and the young blonde secretary strolled in, though this time her warm smile seemed cold and cruel. "Is there anything else I can get for you sir?" She asked in a light Irish brogue that Jack recognized instantly as she stripped off her blonde wig allowing red locks of hair to tumble down around her shoulders. As darkness began to overtake him, Jack new that if Scorpia was here, it was likely that the rest of her team was too... and then all faded to black. Fantastic-Man sat in his office, finishing up the paperwork for the DEMON/Samhain incident at the Paragon Hills High Prom, when the Stronghold Trouble Alert sounded. Fantastic-Man brought the display up on his screen and discovered that there was a video message awaiting him. He opened the video file. It was Scorpia, Mentalla, and Durak, standing in what he immediately recognized as the lobby of Omnitech's World Headquarters. To make matters worse, Durak was holding an unconcious Jack Kirby up off the ground. "Good morning, Fantastic-Man.." Scorpia began. "As you can see, we have taken control of Omnitech... and we have hostages. About a hundred and fifty employees altogether..including your good good friend, Mr. Jack Kirby. You're going to meet our demands or else your Defenders are going to suddenly find themselves without a wallet... and I don't think that pretty new base of yours is going to finish building itself." As Fantastic-Man tried to respond, Scorpia kept talking, and Fantastic-Man realized this was a recorded video, and not live two-way. "Our leader... Fiacho... has been taken by the vile dogs of VIPER (Seas IV: "Eurostar Rising"). You and your friends are going to free him and return him to us. If you or any of your Defenders approach this building, the hostages will die. If you attempt to make contact with anyone inside this building, the hostages will die. If you refuse to comply or fail in your.. mission.. the hostages will die." The image of the three supervillains faded and was replaced with a map of the North Atlantic. "Now that I've got your attention, we have learned that Fiacho is being held at an island VIPER nest 150 miles south of Greenland. You will no doubt have to contend with the snakes to get Fiacho out. Once you have secured Fiacho and are in the clear, contact me at this frequency:" the numbers appeared on the screen, replacing the map of the VIPER nest island. "You have six hours to contact me with a report of success. If you fail to do so.. the hostages die.. starting with Mr. Kirby." Fantastic-Man assembled the Defenders, and within minutes, the D-Jet was off the ground and streaking at supersonic speeds toward the VIPER Island Nest. _______________ Act II: "Maybe you guys should broaden your horizons..." Jack Kirby awoke with a throbbing headache. As he looked around, he realized he was in one of his conference rooms, and according to the clock on the wall, he had been out for over 4 hours. He was seated at the far end of a conference table, and standing by the door on the opposite end of the room was Feuermacher. Jack recalled from Warforge's account of the Defenders previous run-in with Eurostar that Feuermacher was probably the weakest link of the otherwise highly threatening villain team. "So they stuck you with guard duty.." he began chuckling. "Guess they don't want you doing any... important work." As Feuermacher grew more and more hostile, Jack kept pressing his buttons. Finally, in a fit of rage, Feuermacher jumped up on the conference room table... getting him close enough to the sprinkler in the room for the heat eminating from his body to set off the fire control system. The burning supervillain screamed in pain as the water poured down all over him, and though it still didn't put out the unquenchable flames that covered his body, Jack saw this as his chance. He sprang to his feet and grabbed the chair he had been sitting in as a fiery blast from a distracted Feuermacher grazed his shoulder, then swung the chair as hard as he could, knocking Feuermacher out-cold. Jack realized he had no way of subduing Feuermacher and hoped that the active sprinkler would keep Feuermacher from recovering. He jumped up onto the table, pushed aside one of the ceiling tiles, and crawled up into the infrastructure of his own building. Meanwhile, the D-Jet was on final approach to the unmapped Island Nest of VIPER where Fiacho was being held. It soon became obvious that they had been spotted when the D-Jet sensors indicated that they had been locked onto. Fantastic-Man banked and rolled out of the way as laser burst sizzled through the cool North Atlantic air toward them, narrowly dogding them before engaging the Cloaking field around the D-Jet. As they emerged through a thick cloud, they saw the island on full alert, agents running to battle stations and the large, dome shaped energy barrier covering the island. After a quick reconfiguration of the D-Jet's cloaking shield by Tomorrow Boy, the D-Jet slipped through the energy barrier unharmed and The Defenders sprang into action. Back in Paragon City, Jack had made his way up from the 57th floor to the ceiling above his office on 60. He heard someone in his office and carefully pulled up the ceiling tile above his desk so that he could see who was there. It was Scorpia and she was searching the files on his computer for something when she received what appeared to be an unexpected call on her communicator. "What is it? What do you mean a situation? No, Mentalla. I'll be right down." As Scorpia rushed out of Jack's office, Jack soundlessly dropped through to the floor and crouched behind his desk. Once it was clear she wasn't coming back, Jack looked at his screen. Scorpia had been looking for access codes to the Omnitech vault, but had been unable to find them. Then Jack heard the faint beeping. To someone who didn't know what it was, they would've thought it was just normal background office noise. But Jack recognized it as the Trouble Alert in the hidden area behind his bookshelf. He pulled the correct sequence of books and the wall panel slid aside, revealing a small room containing a spare Nighthawk costume and a small computer system. Jack acknowledged the Trouble Alert and viewed the same video that Fantastic-Man had seen. Realizing that Nighthawk's appearance in the building would put the hostages in undue jeopardy as well as run the risk of revealing his own secret identity, Jack put on his lightweight body armor underneath the business suit he had been wearing all day and re-sealed the hidden room, leaving all his spare gadgets behind. Jack crept out into the hallway toward the elevator shaft. Once he had pried open the doors, he grabbed one of the cables and started to slide down. He had made it down about 15 floors when the elevator began ascending toward him. He ducked out of the shaft on the 45th floor and waited as the elevator passed. However, a tingling sensation in his mind as the elevator passed made him realize that he had been discovered. The elevator stopped on the 46th floor and then started to come back down. Jack pulled himself back up into the ceiling as the doors slid open and Mentalla stepped out, speaking into her wrist communicator. "No.. I still haven't heard back from Feuermacher. I was on my way up to him when I thought I detected someone on the 45th floor... I don't see anyone, though. Alright.. I'll check it out. Mentalla out." Jack fought hard to mentally resist the dangerous beauty's mental scannings, and apparently it worked, because she continued on down the hall, apparently focusing her attention on the offices down the hall from the elevator. In a blinding flash, Jack performed an acrobatic flip, using the edge of the ceiling tile as a swing bar, and dove down out of the ceiling space, driving his feet into Mentalla's back. The shocked mentalist got off a blast of mental energy that hurt Jack badly, but not enough to prevent him from closing in on her and knocking her unconcious with another punch. He dragged Mentalla's unconcious body into a nearby office and bound her to the ceiling using plastic packaging strips. He then took her wrist communicator and returned to the elevator shaft. Nearly halfway across the world, on a small island south of Greenland, The Defenders had made a clearing through VIPER's defenses and were standing in front of a large structure. Warforge removed the door and the five heroes entered a large hangar - easily large enough to house the Quetzacoatl-class Gunship that had attacked them at Eurostar's Chalet when Fiacho was captured (Seas IV.) They had no sooner entered the hangar than the outside on the opposite side of the hangar rocked with explosions. The far wall burst open with an overpowering burst of wind, and as the dust, smoke and rubble cleared, The Defenders were face to face with NextForce. NextForce - the new superhero team that had been embroiled in conflict with VIPER since their first appearance a couple of months ago - consisted of the tall, beautiful Cateran, Lodestone with the power to control and manipulate magnetic fields, the mysterious metamorph Menagerie, and the hulking Gargantua. Their charismatic leader was Stormfront, who with his power to control the weather had obviously been the cause of the wind blast that blew the hangar wall down. "Hey... what's this?!" Shouted Gargantua. "The hot-shot pretty boys are trying to horn in on our collar!" "We don't have time for this..." Tomorrow-Boy protested. "Too many lives are at stake." "That's right," Fantastic-Man agreed, shaking his head in condescending disapproval at NextForce. "We don't do this for glory... we do it to help people. You can't do that by just fighting VIPER all the time. Maybe you guys should broaden your horizons..." "Great idea..." growled Gargantua as he pounded his large fist into his other palm threateningly. "You all go on... find the target and finish the mission.." Fantastic-Man instructed the others as he strode across the hangar floor toward the five superheroes of NextForce. "I'll take care of this." Stormfront covered the door leading further into the base with a thick sheet of ice. "Oh no... We're ALL staying." Tomorrow Boy knocked Stormfront out of the air with a powerful telekenetic blast as Warforge attempted to smash through the ice with his axe-hand. Meanwhile, Menagerie had shapeshifted into a small rat and crawled up on Gargantua's shoulder as Cateran closed in toward Fantastic-Man, La Espijisma and Rampant Lion. Gargantua grabbed the rat Menagerie and hurled her through the air toward Fantastic-Man. Just before impact, however, the small rat became an enormous elephant! However, the two had underestimated the strength of the Worlds Greatest Hero, and Fantastic-Man withstood the powerful attack without even stumbling backward. The elephant fell to the ground dazed and soon reverted to Menagerie's human form. Stormfront, meanwhile had recovered from Tomorrow Boy's opening volley and had countered with a powerful burst of lightning that sent the young hero flailing through the air. Rampant Lion pulled out his rapier and blocked Cateran's blade as it fell on Fantastic-Man. His eyes narrowed as he studied the young woman's features. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked, as he held her weapon in check with his own. "Perhaps.." she replied with a coy smile. "Maybe THIS will jog your memory!" With amazing speed and fantastic power, the tall, beautiful woman landed a powerful punch on Rampant Lion's jaw, knocking the newest Defender onto his back. Fantastic-Man meanwhile had closed in on Gargantua and Lodestone. "So... what is it that you do, exactly?" he taunted Loadstone. "This.." Loadstone replied with a smile as he lifted the massive Warforge up off the ground and brought him high up to the ceiling just over Fantastic-Man's head before slamming him down to the ground at the World's Greatest Hero. Fantastic-Man barely had time to shift his molecular density to his desolid form to allow Warforge to pass through him before the hulking Titanium Titan crashed into the hard hangar floor, only to be stomped further into the floor by the enormous boot of Gargantua, who was now nearly fifteen feet tall. Things were going about as well for Jack Kirby. He had continued down the elevator shaft when he heard Scorpia cut in on the communicator he had stolen from Mentalla. "Report." Scorpia commanded. "Progressing as planned..." Ultrasonique replied. "Another thirty... maybe forty-five minutes and I should be through." "Excellent." Scorpia replied. "Mentalla?" No reply. "Mentalla? What did you find out? What happened to Feuermacher?" No reply. "Ultrasonique?" "According to her communicator signal, she's in the main elevator shaft.. about the 38th floor." "Durak! GO!" Scorpia commanded. "Da." Jack barely heard the massive Russian's reply before the communicator went to static. They had apparently cut him off. He wouldn't need it to hear Durak's approach, though. BOOM The elevator shaft shook all around Jack. BOOM He got to the doors on the 38th floor and opened them, and dove into the hallway, looking for a place to hide. BOOM Suddenly, the elevator doors ripped open, and standing in the doorway was the hulking form of Eurostar's superstrongman, Durak. "DURAK VILL BREAK YOU!!!" yelled the enormous supervillain as his giant fist swung toward Jack Kirby's head. (END OF SESSION) _______________ GM Notes: It was getting pretty late and there was still a lot of session left, so I went ahead and called this one in the middle of combat. I typically hate doing that because it's very difficult to get back into it where you left off. But, like I said, it was late, and I didn't want to start losing people because there was entirely too much cool stuff going on in this session to let fatigue ruin it. After we play again in 2 weeks, I'll finish this record and move on from there. I think as a GM, much like a movie director or an author, there are somethings that you do because they make sense. There are other things you do because they advance your plot and push you toward the resolution. Then there are things that you just do out of whimsy. I can't really explain why I wanted to see the 2 big-name superhero teams of the Defenders Universe throw down. Maybe it's just staying true to the genre - where two hero teams meet for the first time, they have to fight. Maybe I just thought it would be cool. I don't know. But, it's proving to be a pretty good fight so far. This one should go down as one of my faves. Mad props to Nighthawk. Nights 2 Eurostar (minus Fiacho and working under the assumption that Jack Kirby is just a normal rich dude) 0.

I'm having trouble getting a good picture of my figs... any suggestions? Using a digital camera but the shots all come out either very blurry or very grainy.

Re: Today's Bad Idea Demonic power from the kitchen supplies aisle, notorious for stealing perishables and keeping them fresh in the refrigerator: Dark Seran-Wraph Bumbling leader of the aforementioned Eurotrash whose plans always take an 80's sitcom-style turn for the worse: Fiasco Metamorphic Shriner: Zag-A-Zig-Zag (Not to be confused with motivational speaker metamorph Zig-Zaglar)

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! The Defenders will return in.... Season V, Issue 3: Just One Man

Yeah.. first round of photos turned out pretty bad. Going to try again.

Re: Which characters would you enjoy playing? Heroes: Not sure. Kinetik might be fun for personality. Defender and Ironclad would be fun to fight with. Villains: Black Harlequin. The dude rocks. Release your inner Hamill. After him... Yeah. 4 arms worth of Clobberin' Time!

Re: Need an organization name NORTHSTAR (National Organization for the Realization of Tomorrow for Humanity, Space Travel, and Astronomical Research) And you could have propoganda ads like "NORTHSTAR... Tomorrows Realities Today" or "Shining the light on the Future of Mankind."