Amelia

DC20 Notice check for Octoman to catch any of what Bankowski is screaming at him after that first punch (the -5 "distracted" penalty definitely applies): 28. Caught ever word.

Strix's Sense Motive: 19. @Avenger Assembled If you want Horus to hear what's going on in the downstairs part of the townhouse, feel free to make a Notice check. It's through solid floors and walls, so it's DC15 to hear "noise", DC25 to hear specifically the words being said and actions being taken. Alternately, @Dr Archeville, Mutt can just tell her what Dead Head is telepathically telling him about what's going on inside. Javier Delgado gets a surprise round, which he spends attacking the older cop, whom he catches flat-footed. That puts the cop's defense at +1 for being flat-footed, -2 for being surprise attacked, total of -1, DC9. Javier is using Improved Grab to both inflict damage with an unarmed attack (his bite, Strength damage 9) and to initiate a grapple. Javier Power Attacks for -2 attack / +2 damage. The cop's a minion, so Javier takes 10 on the attack check, getting 17. Older Cop's Toughness save (DC26, Lethal) : 19. He fails, and he's a Minion, so he's Dying. Javier's Grapple check: 23, 25 with the Power Attack. Older Cop's Grapple check: 19. Javier wins by 5+, so the older cop is Bound (Helpless), and Javier's rank 9 (11 with Power Attack) Requires-Grapple Drain Constitution effect goes off. Older Cop's Fortitude save (DC21): 18. Tough old bastard. He only loses 3 Con, putting him at 10. OK, now we'll go into Initiative. Dead Head and Lady Horus each get a Hero Point for prioritizing the safety of the bystanders. Lady Horus: 40, Uninjured, 2HP Mister Strix: 26, Uninjured, 1HP Javier Delgado: 25, Uninjured Older Cop: 17, Dying, Bound Younger Cop: 17, Uninjured Dead Head: 6, Uninjured, 3HP Mutt: 6, Uninjured @Avenger Assembled Horus is up.

GM Upstairs "¡PERRITO!" Little Esteban practically jumped out of his bedroom window to embrace Mutt in a full-body hug. He squirmed and climbed until he was sitting on top of the spectral hound, riding him like a pony. "I don't wanna go see ANY of my family!" he replied to Lady Horus. "Papa will find me. He'll eat them, too." Downstairs Dead Head wasn't the only guy in this house who knew his way around a shovel. He'd met a lot of liars in his day, and Javier Delgado was one of the worst. Every word out of his mouth was a lie. They were the kind of lies that are easier to tell because they're based on something true, but they were still lies. "I'm afraid my son's already asleep," Javier Delgado assured the cops. "He's had so much trouble sleeping these past couple days, I'd hate to wake him." The older cop raised an eyebrow. "...Uhhh-HUH." The younger cop glanced back toward the dining room and kitchen. "Did you hear something?" The older cop dismissed him. "Probably a rat. Park's full of 'em. Look, Mister Delgado, technically, the kid made a fake 911 call. I'm not gonna slap an eight-year-old in cuffs, but that IS a misdemeanor. Two-hundred dollar fine. But you can take care of it right here and now if you like." Javier stared at the cop, expressionless, then replied "Of course we can take care of it now. I don't want to waste any more of the Bedlam P.D.'s precious time. I don't have that much cash on me, but if you'd follow me to the nearest ATM, I'd be happy to make a withdrawal." "We'll take you," the older cop said. "But take out an extra twenty. Convenience fee." The noise from the kitchen got louder. This time, both of the cops spun around, their hands jerking toward the guns on their belts. "You sure there's no one else in here?" the older cop asked. Both cops were already slowly walking toward the back of the townhouse, guns drawn. "No one else should be here, Officer," Javier stated flatly. "But a stray cat might have gotten in through the dog door in the kitchen." The older cop turned toward Javier and raised a finger to his own lips, then kept advancing forward. The younger cop, in front, saw Dead Head's hand skittering under the table. "What the...?" That saved his life, at least for the moment. Behind him, Javier grabbed the older cop's face and pulled him backward, pressing their bodies together and holding the cop's arms down with his other hand as the fangs unsheathing from his jaw pierced the skin on the cop's throat. Blood gushed and sprayed from what was left of the older cop's neck, rimming Javier's mouth in shiny red wetness. The younger cop turned around, then kept turning back and forth between Javier and the disembodied hand, pointing his gun at each in turn. "WHAT...WHAT..." He repeated the panicked shout over and over again.

Octoman's Notice check to read Bankowski's lips: 16. Just barely makes it. Octoman's Notice check to read Bombshell's lips: 27. Loud and clear, even if I apply the -5 penalty to Notice checks for being "distracted". Octoman: Full Action: He initiates a grapple against Bankowski, picks him up, and throws him. He'll Power Attack for -2 attack / +2 damage. Octoman's Attack check (DC20): 14. Absolutely not. Reaction: Octoman will burn a Hero Point for a re-roll. Octoman's Attack check (DC20, Hero Point re-roll): 27. That's more like it. Octoman's Grapple check: 53. Bankowski's Grapple bonus is only +20, so even with a natural 20 he'd still lose by more than 5. Bankowski is Bound (Helpless). That breaks Bankowski's grip on Lenkiewicz. Bankowski is about 200 pounds, a heavy load for Strength 15. Octoman's lifting Strength is 41. 41 - 15 = 26. 26 / 5 = 5.2, rounded down to 5. Octoman's lifting Strength is 5 increments of 5 higher than what's needed to throw Bankowski 5 feet, so his throwing distance goes 5 steps up the Progression table. 5ft to 10ft, 10ft to 25ft, 25ft to 50ft, 50ft to 100ft, 100ft to 250ft. Octoman throws Bankowski 250 feet. For funsies, I'm gonna say that Octoman's tentacles are not elongated to anywhere near their full length, and he's not gonna let go, so he gets dragged along for the ride. Within the first 100 feet, Bankowski is going to hit the building across the street. We'll call it Toughness 5, equivalent to "stone". Inanimate objects take 10 on Toughness saves. Thrown objects inflict your Strength bonus as damage. Octoman's is +8, so with the Power Attack, it's +10. Stone gets 15 on a Toughness save, failing the DC25 throwing attack from Octoman by 10, enough to be Disabled. When it comes to walls, that means that Bankowski knocks a Bankowski-sized hole through the wall and keeps going. I'm just gonna go ahead and give him the same damage the whole way. I'm gonna call the interior walls Toughness 3, equivalent to "wood", so he's gonna bust through those, too. 250 feet is far enough for Bankowski and Octoman to fly out of Lenkiewicz's apartment, through the building across the street, across the next street, through the next building, and halfway across the next street before they lose momentum and fall to the ground. Lenkiewicz's apartment is on the fifth floor, so I'll call that 50ft up in the air, falling damage 5. Once they're falling, Octoman will release the grapple, and make an Acrobatics check to decrease his effective fall distance. Octoman's Acrobatics check (DC5): 24. That exceeds the DC by 19, so his fall is effectively 50 - 19 = 31ft, Damage 3. Octoman's Toughness save against the fallling damage (DC18): 20. He's good even without the Acrobatics check. Bankowski's got a mess of Toughness saves to make. Building #1: First exterior wall (DC25): 20. He fails by 5, so he's Bruised, and Dazed for 1 round. I'm gonna use the knockback rules as a guideline and say that, after that first impact, he takes damage equal to the Toughness of the obstacles, since it's lower than the throwing damage on that first attack. That way, Octoman doesn't effectively get a dozen attacks against him. First interior wall (DC18): 16. That's a second Bruise. (Think I mislabeled that as Octoman's save, oops.) Second interior wall (DC18): 16. That's a third Bruise. Second Exterior wall (DC20): 15. That's a fourth Bruise. Building #2: First exterior wall (DC20): 16. That's a fifth Bruise. First interior wall (DC18): 14. That's a sixth Bruise. Second interior wall (DC18): 23. He finally makes one. Second exterior wall (DC20): 11. That's a seventh Bruise. Bankowski's Toughness save against the fall (DC20): 17. Eight Bruises and one Injury, but he's still kicking. That leaves both Octoman and Bankowski Prone in the middle of the street two and a half blocks away from Lenkiewicz's apartment. Free Action: Octoman will make an Acrobatics check to try to stand up. Acrobatics check (DC20): 28. He's standing up. Bankowski: Reaction: Use GM Fiat to clear his Dazed condition. Octoman gets a Hero Point. Move Action: Stand up. Standard Action: Charge Octoman. Charging gives him +2 attack, and -2 defense until his next action. He'll All-Out Attack for another +2 attack / -2 defense, and Power Attack for -2 attack / +2 damage. That puts Bankowski at Attack 12, Damage 12, Defense 6 (DC16), Toughness 2 (10 base minus 8 Bruises). Bankowski's Attack check (DC22) : 31. Reaction: Bankowski uses GM Fiat to gain the Improved Critical feat for a round, so that natural 19 becomes a critical hit, +5 damage. Octoman gets another Hero Point. 31 beats 22 by 9. 9 / 2 = 4.5, rounded down to 4. So Autofire gives Bankowski +4 damage. Damage 12, +4 Autofire, +5 crit = 21. That's a DC36 Toughness save. Octoman's Toughness save (DC36): 9. Natural 1. Octoman will spend a Hero Point to re-roll that. Octoman's Toughness save (DC36, Hero Point re-roll): 22. He fails by 14, so he's Bruised, Injured, Staggered, Disabled, and Dazed for 1 round. Since Octoman failed the Toughness save by 5+, not counting the Autofire or the crit, now it's time for Bankowski to inflict some knockback of his own. Damage 12 minus KB resist 4 = 8, so he knocks Octoman back 250ft. The same distance he got thrown. Turnabout is fair play. I'm gonna say he knocks Octoman back toward the building they just crashed through. After the first 50ft or so, Octoman is going to hit the exterior wall, Toughness 5. The object's toughness is lower than the KB result, so Octoman takes 5 damage. The wall takes 8, the KB result. Octoman's Toughness save (DC20): 23. The wall takes 10 for 15, failing its DC23 Toughness save by 8. The wall is Injured, effectively only Toughness 4, now, but it's not Disabled, so Octoman doesn't break through it. He lands Prone in front of it. Octoman: 16, Bruised, Injured, Staggered, Disabled, Dazed, Prone, 4HP Josef Bankowski: 13, Bruised x8, Injured Bombshell: 12, Unharmed, 3HP Bankowski is at Defense 6 (DC16) until his next action. Bombshell is up. EDIT: I just realized that Octoman burned 2 Hero Points inside the same combat round for re-rolls, which is illegal, since you can only burn one HP per use per round, not per character action. I stripped away one of his Hero Points, basically giving the villain a free Fiat use, and I'm calling it even there.

GM Octoman didn't hear it, but the air was filled with honking horns as cars from both directions skidded and swerved to avoid the two people who had just fallen into the middle of the street. Octoman belatedly remembered that Bankowski had taken both Max and Zoom as the angry blur rushed toward him. Bankowski was so fast that Octoman didn't register the movement until the first fist smashed into the side of his face. The first of many. "I'M GONNA STOMP A MUD-HOLE IN THAT SMART MOUTH OF YOURS AND WALK THAT SUCKER DRY YOU LITTLE PUKE!" Bankowski's clothes were shredded. He was covered from head to toe in bruises and lacerations. Splinters of wood and shards of broken glass stuck out of his skin in a dozen places. He didn't seem to notice. It didn't seem to slow him down as he pounded on Octoman over and over again. The first punch left Octoman reeling, dizzy, his vision blurred. A hundred more followed. Any one of them could have pulverized concrete into powder. If Octoman still had bones, they'd all be broken. With each new scrape of Octoman's skin, his three powerful hearts sent syrupy purple blood squirting in streams. By the last punch, both Bankowski and Octoman were covered in Octoman's viscous violet blood. That last punch sent Octoman flying back across the street the way he came, but at ground level this time instead of five stories up. His back slammed against the brick wall, cracking it in a dozen places. He fell flat on his face on the sidewalk in front of him.

Octoman Octoman watched Bombshell pull the gun toward herself as Bankowski pulled the trigger, felt the vibration from the tiny explosion, watched the bullet tear through her shoulder, and he felt like time froze. Oh no I killed Bombshell Oh no I killed Bombshell Oh no I killed Bombshell Then he saw her lips moving. She had kept talking, even while being shot. So he did, too. His tentacles lashed out at Bankowski in a flurry, wrapping around him and squeezing. Bankowski lost his grip on Lenkiewicz's throat. "I'm gonna call you 'CHRIS BROWN' now, 'cause you like to beat up girls half your size and you're singin' an overplayed song. You should be on a PODCAST sellin' fake BRAIN-pills to BASEMENT-Nazis, not up in here ruining this nice family's day. So pick up your TRIFLIN', LOW-DOWN, NO-GOOD junkie self..." He heaved his tentacles and hurled Bankowski back around toward the window. "...and GET OUT!" Bankowski went flying through the broken window, and Octoman turned back toward Bombshell and the family. "We'll get medics up here right aw-URK!" Octoman's tentacles were still wrapped firmly around Bankowski's body, so after a short delay, when Bankowski went flying, Octoman got dragged along with him. They both soared out the window, over the street. "I REGRET THIS!" Octoman shouted right before they smashed into the next building. Into it, and through it. And over the next street, and through the next building. Bankowski's body crashed through wall after wall, pulling Octoman after him. They finally lost their momentum and fell down toward the asphalt in the middle of the third street. Octoman panicked, let go of Bankowski, and started somersaulting through the air while his tentacles flailed wildly around him. Bankowski hit the street like a sledgehammer, carving a human-sized divot out of the asphalt and sending rubble flying around him. Octoman's body made more of a wet, squishy sound when it landed, like slapping a ball of silly putty against a wall. That...didn't actually hurt. Nice. His tentacles braced against the asphalt, half pushing, half pulling him as he jumped to his feet. "You ready to tap out, Chris Brown? Or do you wanna catch ALL these hands?"

Cops Sense Motive checks: 18, 6.

Javier Delgado's Bluff check: 13.

Cop Notice checks: 7, 11.

Actually, while we're at it, everyone who wants to can go ahead and make Sense Motive checks if they want, to see if Javier Delgado thinks he's telling the truth or not.

@Dr Archeville Go ahead and make a Stealth check for Dead Head.

Nah, that's fine, you and your sidekick can both go on the same Init.

Cool. Bombshell takes some action, any action, to which Bankowski responds by taking a Reaction to fire, which Bombshell responds to by taking Reactions to gain Interpose with a HP and to use it, taking the shot, it's DC19 lethal, she fails by 2, she's Bruised and Injured, and Octoman's up after her IC post.

Alrighty. Octoman: 16, Unharmed, 4HP Josef Bankowski: 13, Unharmed Bombshell: 12, Unharmed, 3HP Octoman: Move Action: Octoman will try to Taunt Bankowski. Octoman is at -5 Bluff. Octoman's Bluff check: 20. Bankowski's Sense Motive check: 18. Bankowski is Shaken, -2 to all rolls, for 1 round. Standard Action: Disarm Bankowski. Octoman will Accurate Attack for +2 attack / -2 damage. Octoman's Attack check (DC20): 28. Octoman's Disarm check: 18. Wait, I forgot to include the +3 he gets from his Super-Strength, per the House Rules. That makes it 21. Bankowski's Disarm check: 25. Unfortunately, even if Octoman were to burn a Hero Point to grab the House-Ruled version of the Improved Disarm feat, that +4 to the check would still only tie Bankowski's roll, and he needs to beat him to disarm him. Bankowski keeps his grip on the gun. Josef Bankowski: Free Action: Bankowski will maintain the grapple he has on Olivia Lenkiewicz. Standard Action: Bankowski will Cover Lenkiewicz (see Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition, page 156). It's just a ranged attack specific Ready action. He would normally get to roll his attack check in advance, but since he's got her in a grapple, he won't need to roll to hit her. He can fire as a Reaction at any time before his next action comes up. Move Action: Bankowski will try to Demoralize Octoman. Bankowski is at -5 Intimidation. Bankowski's Intimidation check: 15. Wait, no, 13, forgot about the -2 from being Shaken. Octoman's Will save: 20. The Demoralize attempt fails. Mechanically, the only ways to prevent Bankowski from taking the Reaction to shoot Lenkiewicz are 1) distract him with a Bluff or Intimidate check (and Intimidate gets a -2 penalty, since he's the guy with the gun), 2) create some other distraction that could reasonably force him to make a Concentration check, or 3) spend a Hero Point to do an instant counter as a Reaction, which would be an opposed power check, with some fluff explanation for how your power is preventing him from shooting her in the head. Octoman: 16, Unharmed, 4HP Josef Bankowski: 13, Shaken Bombshell: 12, Unharmed, 3HP Bombshell is up.

GM Bankowski jammed the nose of the pistol against Lenkiewicz's temple. His grip tightened on her throat. Her face was turning purple. He started screaming again, spraying the room with spittle. "YOU DON'T THINK I'LL KILL HER, YOU SMART-MOUTHED LITTLE TWERP?! SHE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! HER AND BIG DADDY GOVERNMENT AND LOVERBOY OVER THERE! YOU THINK I'M GONNA LET SOME HOOD-RAT RAISE MY KIDS?! I'LL PAINT THIS WHOLE PLACE WITH HER BLOOD! THEN I'LL PUT ONE IN YOUR SKINNY LITTLE GUT! I'LL WATCH YOU CRY AND MOAN WHILE YOU BLEED OUT AND I'LL LAUGH! I'LL MAKE POPCORN!"

Octoman "YO, CHARLIE SHEEN, your dealer sold you some bad tiger-blood! I'll have your refund sent to the prison commissary!" Octoman's tentacles shot out toward Bankowski, grabbing for his pistol. Bankowski batted most of them away, but a couple did get a firm grip on his arm and the gun. Octoman and Bankowski both tugged back and forth a few times, but Bankowski, buoyed by the super-drugs, seemed to be stronger. He jerked his arm a couple times and broke the tentacle's grip on both his forearm and his gun. Octoman gulped, and the white eyes of his mask somehow widened, noticeably. YA DONE GOOFED. Now we're all gonna die and that vlog is gonna be someone's Fail of The Week.

GM The window Octoman and Bombshell had bursted in through was attached to the living room of Olivia Lenkiewicz's apartment, and the entire family appeared to be present. The African-American man who was presumably the "new boyfriend" mentioned by the patrol sergeant was laying motionless on the floor, covered in blood and bruises. A woman in her fifties or sixties, presumably Olivia's mother, was sitting beside him, using some kind of cloth to wipe blood from his face. The older woman had a fresh bruise on her own face, and her nose was intermittently dripping blood. Two children of grade-school age were huddled in a corner, half-hidden behind a couch, the older girl holding the younger boy close to her, both crying and trembling. The center of the room was dominated by an adult man and woman, both in their late twenties to early thirties. The woman, presumably Ms. Lenkiewicz, was kneeling on the floor, clawing and grabbing at the man's hand around her throat. The man, presumably Josef Bankowski, was half-standing, half-crouched, holding a semiautomatic pistol in his other hand, pointed at Ms. Lenkiewicz's head. His eyes were wide, red-rimmed, and bloodshot, with large dark circles around them, suggesting he hadn't slept in a long time. His polo shirt exposed his arms, where his veins were bulging so much it looked like they were going to explode, as did the veins running up his neck. His knuckles were covered in blood. He had been screaming in the woman's face when the heroes crashed through the window.

OK, no, second thought, I edited the GM post and turned the clock back about halfway through it. Lady Horus has a chance to stop the kid if she wants. He's already seen his father feed once, so he's not gonna get more traumatized than he already is. And it's no huge surprise that Dad's a vampire. Hold on to the Init rolls.

Mister Strix's Initiative: 26. Javier Delgado's Initiative: 25.

Yeah, that's fine, I never mind handing out Hero Points. Feel free to have Lady Horus have followed the kid as far out as you want. With her movement speed, she can be anywhere in the house at any time, so I'm not really worried about keeping track of her positioning.

I don't expect this to be a long fight. Josef Bankowski is high on a lot of particularly potent Max and Zoom which may be cut with other stuff, so I'm handwaving him as having enough superhuman strength and speed that's gonna put him at a blanket +10 to just about everything. Initiative! Josef Bankowski: 13. Octoman: 16.

At this point, I suspect Initiative rolls are in order.

GM Mutt quickly replied to Dead Head that he'd already checked every room, and neither the woman nor the dog were anywhere to be found. Little Esteban Delgado whispered to Lady Horus. "Papa, he ate Pacho...he tried to eat Mama...he's gonna eat me too..." Then he heard the police come in. "They're here!" He started scrambling to his feet. "The police-man will save us!" The older cop glanced around while he talked with Javier Delgado. "Anyone else live here, except your wife and the boy?" "No, just us" Javier replied. "Like I said, this is all a misunderstanding. Our family was in a car accident earlier this week. Esteban, my son, and I, were both fine, just some minor bumps and scrapes, but my wife, Carla, she got the worst of it, her and our dog, Pacho. Carla's in the hospital, and poor Pacho, I had to have him put down. It's all been too much for Esteban, so he's been acting out and telling stories. I'm sure you know how it is with little kids and trauma." The younger cop spoke up, chuckling. "The kid said you'd turned into a monster and were trying to eat him." The older cop turned and glared at his younger counterpart. Then he turned back to Javier. "It's probably nothing, but we should get a look at the boy, just for our report. You understand."

Mister Strix After he slipped inside the Delgado townhouse, the man in white put his back to the wall, and then started crab-walking backwards up the wall, his hands and feet clinging to it. He went up the wall, and then further up to the ceiling, where he rested above Javier Delgado and the two patrol cops. He quietly sniffed the air, and listened. The most of the scents he picked up were familiar ones. That must be the boy. Dead Head's in here somewhere, good. And is that...? The sound of her whispers above him confirmed it. Lady Horus. She really does seem to be everywhere at once in this town. His gaze washed over the room while the men below him spoke. That must be Mrs. Delgado in the pictures. She and the dog have both been here recently...but not that recently. Not for at least a couple of days. Where did they go? If they're dead, he's not hiding them here...no putrefaction...I'd have been choking on that before I walked through the door...

Octoman's got Well-Informed, Online Research, and Computers +18. He can take 10 and get everything on Bombshell's rep chart. So he did.