Amelia

Doktor'd Persephone: 1PP to spend. Please invest another 1PP into her Regeneration powers. Please copy and paste the following, replacing both effects: Regeneration 9 (Recovery Rate: Bruised 3 [No rest], Injured 6 [No rest]) [9PP] (Descriptors: Alien, Plant Body) Regeneration 4 (Recovery Rate: Staggered 1 [20 minutes], Disabled 2 [1 hour], Resurrection 1 [1 week]; Flaws: Source [Sunlight]; Feats: Regrowth) [3PP] (Descriptors: Alien, Cutting, Plant Body) Please add the Action extra and Range flaw to her Environment Control (Light) effect. Please copy/paste the following version in the place of the current one: Environment Control 1 (Light [Level 1]; Area: 5ft radius; Extras: Action [Move]; Flaws: Range [Touch]) [1PP] (Descriptors: Alien, Bioluminescence, Plant Body, Shapeshifting) Please add the Action flaw to her Morph effect, freeing up 1PP. Please copy/paste the following version in the place of the current one: Morph 1 (Broad Group [Humanoids]; Extras: Duration [Continuous]; Flaws: Action [Move], Limited [Plant-People]) [1PP] (Descriptors: Alien, Plant Body, Shapeshifting) Please use that 1PP to purchase the Contacts feat. Please make sure to add "Contacts" in superscript next to the Gather Information skill bonus. Please add the Feedback flaw to the Create Object and Snare APs in her Plant Control array. Please copy/paste the following versions in the place of the existing ones: Alternate Power: [30PP] (Additional Descriptors: Animate Plants, Plant Growth) Create Object 10 (Range: 1,000ft; Volume: 10 cubes; Toughness: 10; Lifting Strength: 50, Heavy Load: 12 tons; Extras: Duration [Continuous]; Flaws: Feedback; Feats: Indirect 3, Progression [Size] 4 [100ft cubes], Selective, Stationary, Subtle) [30PP] Alternate Power: [19 + 11 = 30PP] (Additional Descriptors: Animate Plants, Grasping Branches/Roots/Vines) Snare 10 (Range: 10 100ft Increments, 1,000ft Max; Extras: Linked [Trip]; Flaws: Feedback; Feats: Accurate 3 [+6 Attack], Improved Critical [19-20], Indirect 3, Reversible, Subtle) [19PP] Trip 10 (Range: 10 100ft Increments, 1,000ft Max; Extras: Linked [Snare]; Feats: Improved Throw) [11PP]

Doktor'd Octoman: 2PP to spend. Please invest another 2PP in his Regeneration power. Please copy and paste the following onto his sheet, replacing the current version: Regeneration 5 (Recovery 1 [+9]; Recovery Rate: Injured 2 [5 minutes], Disabled 2 [1 hour]; Feats: Regrowth) [6PP] (Descriptors: Mutation)

Dirge The blue-furred behemoth spoke, as always, in thickly-accented Galstandard. "'TERRA'? BAH!" He guffawed. "THE TRAVELLER has spoken of them. She described a lost Lor colony, where the hairless apes SQUABBLE AMONG THEMSELVES, with no single ruling body to UNITE them. A people bound to A SINGLE WORLD, without even the means to reach the other PLANETS in their own SYSTEM. To call such IGNORANT SAVAGES an 'EMPIRE' is to render the word MEANINGLESS. Were this TERRA part of the HARSAF, THE FRYXUS would have conquered them for their own good DECADES ago. MY people would have dragged them KICKING AND SCREAMING into the MODERN AGE, and in time, they would have been GRATEFUL. But the Lor LACK our MERCY, instead ABANDONING their fellow apes to FLOUNDER IN THE DARK." Dirge followed Starlok to the air lock to meet the Terran visitor, his improvised metal disc hovering beside him the whole way. When they reached their destination, the disc melted into dozens of spikes, each about 30 centimeters long, all of them crackling with electricity and aimed at the visitor's point of entry. "If this APE betrays you, it will be HIS LAST ACT IN THIS LIFE."

That'll work.

OK, five days is a long enough window. Moving forward now. @Heritage feel free to get in on this next round of posting if you still want in. Lets talk logistics. In the next round of posting, please describe how your PC gets to where they're going (presumably the exploding boat, but if you want to go elsewhere I can roll with that too). Each of you are free to get there alone under your own power, or to run into another PC and hitch a ride with them. The ship is about a mile into the bay (which is about an 8 mile by 3 mile triangle pointed at the Gulf of Mexico), in water that's a couple hundred feet deep, so just getting there is going to be a challenge for most PCs. Swimming is technically an option, but probably not the best one. Right now, the Swim condition is "Rough Water", DC15. But even if you can reliably make the check and take two move actions per round, that's only 15 feet per round, which comes out to over a half-hour to go the distance. If you have Flight or Speed, it'll still work under the water, but at a reduced speed, equal to a Swimming effect of the same rank. Since Persephone's Platform Flight is coming from under the water, even though she's above the waterline, I'm holding her to that as well. Leaping will still work under water, but at 1/4 distance, same relationship as swim speed has to ground speed. Nobody has a boat listed among their Equipment. Anyone who wants to commandeer one of the many boats and ships lining the waterfront or already out in the bay can do so in whatever manner they prefer. I'll say all available motorboats will have Swimming 4, 25MPH, and can reach the ship in just a couple of minutes. If you want, you can just use a Hero Point to edit the scene in a way that gives you a boat. You can use an interaction skill (Diplomacy and Intimidation make the most sense) to convince a bystander to loan you their boat. It's a DC25 check, the equivalent of using Diplomacy to shift their attitude two steps, from Indifferent to Helpful. If you have any applicable ranks in the Benefit feat, such as Wealth or Vibora Bay City Defender, then you get a +5 bonus. If you want to steal a boat instead, then give me the relevant skill checks: Bluff, Disable Device, Sleight of Hand, and/or Stealth could all be involved, depending on your approach. If you want to use a power such as Emotion Control or Mind Control to make a bystander loan you their boat, then let me know and I'll roll their saving throw. Sagrado Corazon has Emotion Control, Mind Control, and a Variable Power, so he's got several ways to get his hands on a boat. That takes care of him, and anyone who wants to hitch a ride with him. Persephone has Affects Others on her Flight effect, so she can ferry any one other person who wants a lift. But since her Flight speed is currently 5MPH, it's going to take her 10 minutes to reach the ship, so if someone else offers her a faster ride, she'll take it. Woodsman has a motorcycle, so if he wants to get there under his own power, he has the option of using Extra Effort to power stunt an AP off of it, giving him an equivalent-value boat instead. If Cheval rides in a boat in his metal form, his weight is going to drop that boat's speed by a full power rank, more than doubling its transit time.

GM Just getting to the burning ship would be a challenge in and of itself. It sat about a mile into the Bay from any direction. The water around it, though warm and clear even in winter, were already a good couple hundred feet deep at that point.It would take even a strong swimming over half an hour to get out that far under their own power, and once they did, they wouldn't be much use to anyone else who needed rescuing. None of the assembling heroes owned a boat of their own, but the waterfront and the bay were both full of them. Would the heroes cajole, bribe, or strong-arm the owners into loaning them a craft? Would their superhuman powers allow them to cut this corner like so many others before it? Or would they find some other way to close the gap and render their aid, while there were hopefully still survivors left to benefit from it?

Persephone "Oh my stars in Heaven!" Camellia Blume had been enjoying an afternoon strolling the central boardwalk with her twin brother, her best friend from college who also happened to be her sister-in-law, and their two adorable little not-yet-old-enough-for-school children. They'd wound their way through the Windsong Mall and dozens of other shops and booths, and were still enjoying their ice cream cones when the explosion struck the ship in the middle of the bay. Camellia encouraged her brother's family to leave sooner rather than later, pointing out that whatever disaster had just struck would make traffic to and from The Waterfront a nightmare for hours. But Camellia intended to stay, in case anyone needed her help. They were skeptical at first, until she reminded them, hardly for the first time, that "Psychiatrists are real doctors, too. Went to medical school and everything. I haven't forgotten how to stitch up a cut or set a broken bone." She handed her purse off to them as they left, asking them to lock it in her car on their way out, and then she took off running toward the beach. She transformed into Persephone as she ran, leaving Camellia's clothes amidst the white sands while she summoned some kelp stems up from the salty depths to ferry her across the water.

Dirge "HMPH. PROPER teeth and stomach WOULD set them apart in this galaxy TEEMING WITH DEGENERATE FLESH-EATERS." "If there is metal to be found, I will SENSE it, as clearly as I can see my own SNOUT." Dirge snorted. "I can recite SEVENTEEN GENERATIONS of my family FROM MEMORY, LOR. You need not teach ME the importance of knowing HISTORY." The Fryxian rose from his seat, reached down, and pressed the button on his belt buckle, obscured by his loin cloth. With an audible *POP* his body was covered in a golden enviro-field. "I will go to meet their challenge, and defend your claim to this site." The chair he'd been sitting in a moment ago melted, broke free from its fixture to the inner hull, floated to his hand, and re-solidified into a large disc as he headed toward the nearest airlock.

Persephone The trend of Camellia saying at least ten words for every one of Marcus's showed no signs of ending anytime soon. "Why, thank you! It's not much, just two bedrooms. Well, if I'm being honest, one bedroom and one walk-in closet. But it's cozy. I thought about getting something a little bigger and running my practice out of it too. Would've been cheaper than renting the apartment. I know it seems strange to pay extra to have a commute. But my work/life balance was already hangin' by a thread BEFORE I added 'superhero' to the mix, and working from home would just hammer the final nail in that coffin. Besides, I don't know if you've ever had to have part of a residence re-zoned for commercial use in this city, but it turns out it's the kind of royal pain in the rear-end that could make a preacher cuss. I have a lawyer, but I'm trying to keep the billable hours to a minimum." She laughed. "Well, I do NOW. If I have to be a character from a movie, 'Disney princess' is certainly an upgrade from 'high school mean girl'." She grinned and lightly slapped his hand with the back of her own. "Well aren't you smoother than a gravy sandwich. I swear, when you get going, you can charm the scales right off a snake." "Oh, I can imagine. That sort of thing takes some getting used to for most of us. Plants respond to my thoughts, but they're not always conscious thoughts. It's saved my bacon more than once already when some tree branch swung 'round to take a bullet or three. But when you send roots busting up out of the ground, and if you're not real specific about how you direct their movements, they tend to take the shortest route, and not sweat it if there's a floor or a wall in the way." When their plates were mostly clear, Camellia leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand while her other reached out to gently take Marcus's. "Don't get me wrong, Darlin', I'm happier than a clam at high tide that you're here. But...why did it take so long to GET you here? I haven't exactly been playing 'hard-to-get', and you haven't exactly been discouraging me. So why has this whole thing been moving slower than Sunday afternoon?"

Followed.

The D20 SRD has some info on the D&D3.5 version of Track that M&M left out here. It looks like the usual option of speeding up your task by taking a penalty to the skill check works with tracking in D20 too, specifically -5 to move at full speed while tracking instead of half speed. If that's an option for Octoman here, and if it matters, then I'll take it, since I think 20 would still hit whatever DC he'd need, and 30ft of movement is better than 15ft.

The tracking rules in the core book are fragmented to nonexistent. Here's my best guess at piecing them together: The only mechanic provided by the "Track" feat is that you use the Survival skill with it. Other than that, it just directs you to the "Tracking" extra for Super-Senses. The "Tracking" extra in the core book version of Super-Senses states a base DC10, "modified by circumstances as the GM sees fit" (it does not elaborate), but it doesn't say which skill you're trying to hit that DC10+ with. The Search entry in the Skills chapter specifically says that the skill works in conjunction with Accurate senses. Since Octoman's smell is not Accurate, he wouldn't use Search with it. Notice, on the other hand, specifically covers all of your senses ("Spot" and "Listen" are two listed examples of Notice checks). The base DC for a Notice check to spot something out in the open is 0, but it's 10 to discern fine details, like hearing the exact words reading the exact text. Picking up a trail sounds like the latter. So my guess is that you use Notice with the Tracking extra, and it's no coincidence that the base DC of 10 to pick up and follow the trail is the same as the DC10 to Notice fine details about something. The "Action" section of the Notice skill entry says it's either a Reaction or a Move action, depending on whether the GM calls for the check or the PC takes the time to try to notice something. So I think it's a move action to pick up the trail, and then the normal move action to follow it. I think the penalties to an Investigation skill check to analyze a clue might work for a tracking check as well. The "scene is outdoors" penalty probably shouldn't apply, but the age of the trail and the levels of "disturbance" to the scene might. Assuming I pieced all that together correctly, Octoman's round looks like this: Octoman Free Action: Activate Concealment power. Become invisible. Free Action: Activate Morph power. "Put on costume." Free Action: Activate Additional Limbs power. Move Action: Notice check to pick up the scent trail. Take 10 with Skill Mastery to hit DC25, which presumably passes. Move Action: Follow the trail.

Octoman *SNIFF* Fur... *SNIFF* ...poop... *SNIFF* ...fur... *SNIFF* ...poop... *SNIFF* THERE he is! Lessee, whatta we got here...cheap drugstore soap, no frills. Workin' man, and single. Dude's got no money and he ain't tryin' ta impress anybody. Harsh chemicals...so maybe he's just a janitor who hates kids 'cause we remind him of his squandered potential. ORRR maybe he's a MAD SCIENTIST who's gonna turn the zoo animals into GIANT MUTATED CARNIVOROUS HYBRIDS RAMPAGING THROUGH THE STREETS UNTIL HIS DEMANDS ARE MET! Only one way to find out. In one second, Ben's skin cells analyzed the light reflected from the objects around him and released matching pigments, rendering him invisible. In another second, his tentacles slid out from the pockets in his arms and torso with a quiet slurping noise, while the top layers of his flesh stretched and folded and condensed to change his appearance from that of a casually-dressed 16-year-old boy to the distinctive yellow and black jumpsuit of The Sensational Cephalopod, OCTOMAN! Octoman bent down to immerse his face in the mystery man's scent, and began following the trail. His tentacles floated in the air around him, the thousands upon thousands of suckers flexing as they took in even more olfactory input. With his eyes fixed onto the ground in front of him and his ears useless, he was oblivious to both the humming and the frightened screams of the other attendees.

Dirge "BAH, the Lor are USELESS! It was much the same with me. The Fryxus herds had not yet waged our WARS OF GLORIOUS CONQUEST beyond our native Harsaf system, so the Republic considered Ku'unum to be in 'NEUTRAL space', if they considered us AT ALL. When The Khan INVADED my system, SLAUGHTERED my people, and DESTROYED my planet, some of our vassals among the lesser races of the Harsaf managed to hijack a transport and slip his blockade, at least at first. I was BUT A LAMB then, yet NO LESS EAGER TO DIE IN GLORIOUS BATTLE. But my nursemaid was from one of the lesser races. She did not UNDERSTAND Fryxian honor. So she DENIED me, sedating me and secreting me aboard the ship. To her credit, her fellow refugees would have THROWN BOTH HER AND I OUT THE AIRLOCK if they'd known. When The Khan invaded, the lesser races of the Harsaf showed NO LOYALTY to their RIGHTFUL MASTERS. In her own way, she acted with GREAT COURAGE." "The Lor offered those refugees their precious ASYLUM, but THE COWARDS would not commit their forces to RECLAIMING our lost worlds. And EVEN ASYLUM THEY WITHHELD until the ship reached Lor space ON ITS OWN, which IT WOULD NOT HAVE, not with the Khan's LACKEYS nipping at its heels, had it not been for ONE HERO, that RARE Lor with BLOOD in their veins instead of WATER, that one hero who led their forces into neutral space AGAINST ORDERS, REFUSING to ABANDON us, that one hero who FOUGHT OFF the pursuing Khanate forces, and was CENSURED AND DEMOTED for their trouble. I STILL do not even know that hero's NAME. TO THIS DAY, the Harsaf system remains part of the Stellar Khanate, and the Lor Republic STILL HAS NOT LIFTED A FINGER to oppose its annexation. It will be the same with your succession."

Octoman's Initiative: 17.

Yep.

Dirge "'LIVESTOCK?!' HA! So the half-dead waif has FIRE in her belly after all!" As the blue-furred behemoth shouted and gesticulated, bolts of electricity danced along his body, which was once more surrounded by refracted light and heat ripples. Nearby metal objects such as benches and trash receptacles started randomly hovering in the air or sliding around on the floor. The great coiled chain resting over his shoulder floated as if in water. "I am no mere IDLE CAPTIVE waiting for some FILTHY FLESH-EATER to choose me as his next MEAL! I am KANEMU, Last Lamb of the KRALLOS HERD! Son of DRUGO! He, son of AMANI! I am THE DIRGE OF THE FRYXUS, the TRUE and RIGHTFUL MASTERS of KU'UNUM AND ALL THE LESSER WORLDS OF THE HARSAF! I am THE BANE OF THE STAR-KHAN! Be MY COMRADE or MY ENEMY, MY SLAYER or MY VANQUISHED FOE! I CARE NOT, for they shall ALL earn you IMMORTALITY as my song ECHOES ACROSS ETERNITY!"

Dirge The figure accompanying Paradigm did not appear at first to be flying under his own power. He stood upon a metal disc as it soared through the air. After it came to a stop, he jumped off while it hovered in place a few feet above the ground. Paradigm, The Traveller, and Starlok were all the same height, and when he touched down, he stood head and shoulders above all of them. He appeared to be a humanoid sheep, covered in blue fur and little else. He wore neither shirt nor shoes, simply a scarlet loin cloth which left very little to the imagination. His head was adorned with a massive rack of curved horns. His body was surrounded by a golden glow, which made it appear slightly blurry, as if he were being viewed through a soft-focus lens. When he touched down, he pressed what must have been a button on his belt obscured by the loin cloth, and the golden aura vanished with audible *POP* and *HISS* noises. He held out a meaty three-fingered hand. Tendrils of electricity writhed up and down his arm, and the air around his hand rippled with heat shimmer and refracted light. The hovering disc melted, re-solidified in the form of a coiled chain, and fell into the giant's hand. He heaved it up over his shoulder. The blue-furred giant laughed and bellowed, as much at the ceiling above him as toward any one person. "THIS?! THIS is the one who DARED interrupt our summit?! This EMACIATED WAIF would not SURVIVE the full tour of THIS CITY OF GLORIOUS VICTORY! Take her directly to the SICK-BAY, for she is CLEARLY not long for this world! She HAS, at least, done us a SMALL COURTESY, for she has saved the UNDERTAKERS a great deal of time by arriving ALREADY CLAD in her FUNERAL DRESS! If THIS is the mightiest warrior her herd can muster, then that herd is likely BEYOND the help of even THE INDOMITABLE PRAETORIANS! Nevertheless, the more HOPELESS the cause, the more CERTAIN the DOOM, the GREATER the TALE! Whatever aid this SCRAWNY CASTAWAY requires may be a waste of time for your PRAETORIANS, but it will no doubt serve as yet another verse in THE EPIC DIRGE OF THE FRYXUS!"

The IC: https://www.freedomplaybypost.com/topic/12706-deep-runs-the-dreadnaut-ic/ The OOC: https://www.freedomplaybypost.com/topic/12707-deep-runs-the-dreadnaut-ooc/

@angrydurf @Avenger Assembled @Heritage @RocketLord @Tiffany Korta You all expressed interest in this. Let's set the scene with one IC post from each PC. Describe some or all of the following: The time leading up to the explosion from your PC's perspective; what you were doing on the beach or the waterfront (or nearby); how you react to the explosion; how you approach. After that, I'll move things forward with another GM post describing the scene of the explosion in greater detail, once the PCs get up close.

GM Lightning struck in Vibora Bay. At least, that's what it seemed like at first. There was a sudden flash of light, a great rumble echoing across the harbor, and then there was fire. The coast of Vibora Bay never sleeps. The beaches and waterfronts are active year-round. The water in Vibora Bay was warmer in the winter than it was during the summer in some other beach towns, and even when people weren't swimming, there were still picnics and barbecues. It never got cold enough on land to discourage tourists from all over the world from seeing what the shops and restaurants and nightclubs had to offer. For natives of the Northeast or the Midwest, Vibora winters weren't even jacket-weather. And shipping had always been the life's blood of the Queen City. It was one of the most active ports in the world. This weekend afternoon was no different. Ships had been coming and going constantly, an even mix of cargo freighters, fishing vessels, and pleasure craft. A bulk carrier ship had left the Easton Shore just a few minutes ago. It was about a mile into the water, still a couple more miles until it would have reached the place where the Bay became the Gulf. Now it was on fire, and the flames burned so brightly that, even a mile away, it was difficult to look directly at them. It was like looking into the Sun.

Persephone The young saint arrived just in time to here the green woman mutter "When I asked them to evacuate and lock it down, I honestly didn't expect them to DO it. I guess we have more pull around here than I'd realized...¡Guapito! Well aren't YOU a sight for sore eyes!" She smiled and gave him an enthusiastic hug. "<¡¿How have you been?! ¡You look great! What are you doing here? How did you get inside? Well, I'm glad you're here.>" Her Spanish had improved noticeably since their last encounter. "Not yet, no. That's why I dragged Betsy out of bed at this ungodly hour. You know me, I'm a lady of science. When it comes to things that go bump in the night, I'm about as useful as a trap door in a canoe. But if anyone in this city can tell us why a dead person isn't the right kind of dead, she can. And maybe that same blessing that let you cut the puppet-strings for all those zombies on 'Croczilla Night' will come in handy against whatever did this." Persephone choked and coughed when Betsy pulled the sheet off the corpse and the stench of decay flooded back into the room. "Oh Good LORD." She grimaced as her eyes ran up and down the body. "That was one of the best parts of my residency: No pathology rotation. I never had to do an autopsy. We had to do our time in the E.R. like everybody else, sure, but there isn't really much difference between someone who JUST died and someone who hasn't. And sure, we trained on cadavers, but thirty hours of draining and embalming creates something WORLDS apart from...THIS." Her expression morphed from nausea to melancholy when her eyes ran up to the woman's face. "That poor girl...so much life left to live...her momma and her daddy must both be fit to be tied..." She crossed herself. "So is that what they ALL look like? On the inside?" It suddenly occurred to her that Betsy's examination of the corpse was less formal than expected. "Wait, shouldn't we be wearing gloves, and mas-" She had a latex glove pulled halfway onto her hand when... "...I guess not," she muttered as she crumpled the glove up in her fist and tossed it in the trash. "'Failed rising?' So when one of...THEM tries to...make another one...it doesn't always work? Is that why, after you staked her, she didn't crumble into dust, or, I don't know, explode or something? Do we need to...cut off her head? Or burn the body? Anything like that? Is the medical examiner who inhaled this going to be alright? Do they need to be quarantined?" Persephone let out a half-laugh, half-sigh as she rested her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side, directing both a grin and a raised eyebrow at Betsy. "You know darn well you don't need my permission for anything. I'm not about to let this whole 'City Defender' thing go to my head. It just makes things easier for ALL of us when at least SOME of us appear to be working WITH the proper authorities instead of going behind their backs or over their heads. There's no sense in leaving doors closed that could be open. So yes, Sugar Plum, I'm asking you, pretty-please with whipped cream and a cherry on top, help me figure out how to keep our city from going to Hell in a blood-sucking handbasket."

If the attack hits you, that is. It's a Targeted area.