NotAHoneyBadger

Temperances Gather Info Check: A few eyewitness reports detail that the robbers are surprisingly non-violent. They not only refrain from pulling out firearms or any kind of melee weapons, they also allow shoppers and staff to flee. The robbers rarely, if ever, try to break into any safes or vaults on the premises, but rather make do with whatever is on display and leave, long before police can arrive. A few witnesses described the bikers as having yellow eyes and as behaving in a feral manner, such as growling and snarling at them. One eyewitness reveals the information that the bikers all have claws on the ends of their fingers. As far as Temperance can ascertain, none of the gang members have actually slashed anyone with them, or even injured anyone beyond some nasty bruises. (Which is immediately rendered obsolete with the newest DM post. One person has been injured.) The next few days I should be around often, and can answer questions for Fantoni in (hopefully) rapid succession. After that I am planning on posting a new DM post roughly once a week, give or take a day. I hope that is enough time to avoid rushing anyone. And of course, if everyone has replied to a post and seems to be ready to move on, I will update sooner than one week if I am able.

April 25th, 10:17 a.m. West End, Sid's Cafe With the entire group assembled and pleasantries just exchanged, the knock on the door from Detective Fantoni is extremely timely. He pushes open the door a crack and announces his arrival again before entering, clearly giving anyone who wishes a chance to put on a mask. The detective is dressed smartly in a cream-colored suit and a red tie. While the clothes themselves are impeccable, the man himself seems ragged, with unkempt, dirty-blond hair, 5 o'clock stubble, and bags under the eyes. He does his best to give a warm smile nevertheless. "Good to see you all here. I'm Detective Fantoni. I'm surprised at the amount of interest this string of robberies has garnered. I know a couple of you already... Terrifica." He gives a nod. "Regardless, I'm not here to step on toes. I truly appreciate the help." After introductions conclude, the detective steps up to the table and tosses a folder onto it. "Down to business, I've got bad news and worse news. The bad news is they struck again. Granted, that means there is a fresh scene to examine, but still..." Fantoni flips open the folder and slides out a couple of pictures. One shows the storefront of a place called The Galerie, while the rest are pictures of the damage inside, smashed display cases, splintered wood, and... a frightful bloodstain on the sidewalk out front. "The worse news is that they've just put a cop in the hospital. Fantoni leans onto the table and lets out a sigh before continuing. "Officer Curtis Reagan, 21. Graduated from the academy less than two months ago. The poor kid wanders up as part of his beat, notices the robbery taking place, and tries to intervene. To the kid's credit, most rookies would either panic and freeze or pull out their service weapon and open fire. This kid at least has the good sense to call it in, then grab his taser rather than risk shooting a civilian fleeing the store. From what little Officer Reagan was able to tell us before he passed out, he tagged one of the robbers, which did nothing except piss the guy off. Next thing Reagan knows, he's got claws buried in his chest, teeth around his throat, and he's being thrown into the side of the building, two stories up." The detective shakes his head. "They don't teach you about that in the academy. Reagan collides with a second-floor window, tumbles down onto the pavement. Backup and EMTs arrive minutes later, and the kid is taken to the hospital. No one else was injured, but Reagan is in critical condition with... well, I'll spare you the details. Lots of broken bones and cuts, plenty of internal damage. He's in critical condition now, and it's a flip of the coin on whether he'll make it. The detective stands up and looks around the room, taking in reactions and faces, before finding himself a chair to sit in. "So, these robbers were low priority before, just because they didn't hurt anyone outside of a couple bruises. Now they're on the top of ever district's most wanted for touching a cop. I'm afraid the next time they're sighted by a cop, it's going to be a shooting gallery. Not only will the robbers get killed, but we're running the risk of some gung-ho, wannabe Clint Eastwood in uniform tagging a few civilians in the process of getting revenge. We're on a time crunch. Now, I've got to get back to the office and try and sort this out before some rookie with something to prove stumbles into these guys. Hopefully you guys can capture the robbers before that happens. Any questions?"

All right, let's try doing this from my phone. Sorry for the wait, people. I'm thinking about moving the IC thread forward a little by having the detective show up, and letting heritage join when he is ready, as he hasn't shown up yet. I'm not particularly familiar with the average post rate on this site, so if that's normal, let me know. Replica only manages to do the most cursory amount of research before she is called in to work on an emergency. Some careless researcher forgotten to turn off some running computers, overheating and alarms occurred, and people panicked. It was brutal (slightly hilarious). Regardless, all Replica learned is that werewolves are weak to silver, and that she couldn't find any evidence that the bikers were particularly infamous in the underworld. Temperance finds a plethora of "imaginary friends" with a lot of insight on lycanthropy. Classical werewolves (those that transform) are usually tied to the moon, although not necessarily. These are the only lycanthropes weak to silver. However, because the attacks happen in daylight, Temperance confirms LittleMissTerrific's assumption that these aren't the types of werewolves they are dealing with. No, it is more likely that the bikers are men imprinted with an animal soul. The imprinting can be natural, something from birth, or the result of a ritual that "forces" the spirit of an animal into a human body. Neither have any particular elemental weaknesses, but neither are particularly resistant to damage either. Punching them into submission or unconsciousness would work just fine. That said, both types are skittish towards loud noises and fire. They are difficult to intimidate... but not to frighten into fleeing or confusion. The main benefit of an animal soul seems to be enhanced physical strength and speed, enhanced senses like hearing and smell, and sometimes the ability to aqcuire natural weapons like fangs and claws. The latter type, those that have had a spirit forced into a human via ritual, can have the magic undone by another ritual. It would take Temperance some more time to research this ritual, however. The final piece of information that Temperance learns is that those with wolf souls can form packs, making them unwaveringly loyal to each other, and also allowing them to communicate silently, using visual cues or noises not audible to normal humans. Phone is hard to use. I'll edit this to give you your Gather Information results, but they overlap with Terrifica's anyway.

That would be up to you lovely folks. Terrifica has already arrived in costume. Would Replica show up in superhero attire as well? Showing up out of costume would not risk your identity except to the other heroes, but bear in mind that a detective will arrive. Showing up in costume would draw attention from patrons, but not in any adverse sort of way. After all, heroes gotta eat, too. Terrifica manages to get a hold of the security camera footage of a couple of locations that were hit. In it, she discovers that there are seven gang members in total. From the footage you find that the gang members eschew firearms entirely, or at the very least, refrain from drawing them. At first glance they appear to use mindless smash-and-grab tactics, but closer inspection reveals that they are employing tactics to minimize any injuries. They not only freely allow customers and clerks to flee, but encourage it by driving them out the door. While three bikers deal with that, three more take whatever they can get their hands on. They seem to focus on speed rather than monetary value when selecting what to take, smashing display cases rather than trying to break into the back. One biker always stands outside the shop, both as lookout and extra "encouragement" to keep the runners running. The gang never stays more than one or two minutes, often leaving behind plenty of valuables for the sake of speed. As a result, the only law enforcement the gang has had to deal with are guards within the shops themselves, all of whom were simply rushed and pinned to the floor before they could react. Because witnesses are sent running immediately as the robbery begins, eyewitness accounts tell little not apparent in camera footage. However, a few witnesses described the bikers as having yellow eyes and as behaving in a feral manner, such as growling and snarling at them. One eyewitness reveals the information that the bikers all have claws on the ends of their fingers. As far as Terrifica can ascertain, none of the gang members have actually slashed anyone with them, or even injured anyone beyond some nasty bruises.

Just limit yourself to one or two for the time being. There will be ample opportunity for these kinds of checks in the future. You can make a gather information check to do something like learn eyewitness testimonies, or even just a precise number of bikers. Or make a check using any knowledge skill you think may be appropriate. Something like Arcane Lore to study lycanthropy, but if you can make a case for another knowledge check, you can use that. An example would be using Tactics to derive information about the thieves based on any strategy (or lack thereof) that they use when raiding stores. I suppose a better way of putting it is that the only details you know so far is what is in the original IC thread. If you are dying to learn a detail that has not been mentioned, or want to extrapolate more from a known detail, make a case for a skill and roll the dice.

Are you talking about contacting the detective? No roll needed, he's eager to get outside help. If you're talking about the knowledge checks, they'd be for learning more about lycanthropy, or learning more about the robberies, or maybe about what was stolen. It's up to you really, if and where you want to direct your energies before arriving.

OOC thread for this thread. To start off, anyone who wants to have done digging the night before can roll for Gather Information or any Knowledge Check you believe may be appropriate. Also, because Terrifica provided a phone number to a detective on the case, let me know if you want to have contacted him to meet you at the cafe.

GM April 25th, 10:00 a.m. West End, Sid's Cafe After a few more messages sent back and forth, a meeting time and place had been set for Sid's Cafe. It had everything the heroes could want, ranging from coffee and baked goods to cider and salads, but most importantly, it had a small, second floor dining room that they could reserve. With four walls, a closed door, and creaking stairs leading up, it provided ample privacy to discuss their business while also satisfying the desire of some for a public meeting place. Arriving at Sid's gives a warm welcome in the form of tempting aromas. Judging from the crowd of people in the bottom floor happily chatting as they sip their coffee, brunch seems to be a busy time for Sid. Thankfully for those who order food, the staff behind the counter keep the line moving quickly and efficiently. The decor is precisely what one would expect from a highly modern cafe. None of the tables are of the same design, nor are the chairs. The only common thread between them is that they are wooden. The restaurant has a purple wallpaper decorated with fleur-de-lis, although hardly any remain visible under the mass of pictures and various idiosyncratic junk mounted on the walls. Regardless of one's tastes towards the design choices, the second floor proves adequate for the heroes' devices, sequestered away from the customers downstairs. The table in the middle of the roof is large enough to accommodate eight, although on one side it has a long, purple sofa instead of chairs. Along the walls of the room are three more tables, all designed to seat two people. Along one wall and leading out onto a veranda are a pair of french doors letting in the majority of the room's light. Judging from the hum of muffled conversation from below, it is apparent that the walls are thick enough to keep a quiet conversation within the room.

In that case I'll get to work on putting up Case 3 and its OOC thread later today / early tomorrow. It looks like I've got Heritage (Miracle Girl), Pheonix (Terrifica), Tiff (Miss Grue). and Trollthumper (Temperance) (and possibly Cubismo's Replica, depending on which case he decides to join). And I think just to get things moving, I'll take Temperance's suggestion from the IC thread and start you fellas off at a cafe to meet, unless someone voices an objection between now and then. Since Pheonix doesn't have any particular direction for the case he needs me to accommodate, I'll use the opening introductions to, you know, finish making it up

I mean... I don't mind running two at once. I've got the time. That being said, I'm not going to complain if you guys want to lighten the load Also, I think it's fair to assume Kai is MIA at this point? Should we start without him, or wait a little longer?

I'd be grateful if you or another could GM case #1. I don't mind taking on the other two, though. 3 games is just a little much at once, and I'm not a fan of being both a GM and a player in the same game.

So far it looks like I'm GMing all three.

Honestly, I'd just rather not run the game that I am in (Case #1). If we can get one person to take that case, I'll run the other two, if need be. Just, uh... keep in mind that I haven't run M&M in a fairly long time. Anyone in a game I am GMing should double check my work for errors.

Micah's face fell as the group brought up stealth. She would have problems in that department. The student tried sitting back again, and again almost fell off her stool. "Son of a..." That was that. With no more pancakes to eat, Micah relocated to the living room, where there were plenty of chair with wonderful, wonderful backs to slouch against. Once she was comfortably curled up, Micah returned to typing messages. As for case #3, Micah had already mentioned that she felt it was less pressing. Besides that, she had no knowledge of magic or anything like that. Several members had mentioned they were well versed in the supernatural, so she felt it would be best to leave such work to them. Despite that, Micah couldn't help but reminisce over the first crime she had stopped, which had also been a matter of dealing with some jewel thieves. "Ahhh... good times... except, you know, the part where I got shot. And the whole "burning down my dorm" thing. And the sickening terror and panic. And the horrible, excruciating pain of transforming, and you know what, actually everything about that night kinda sucked. Screw stopping gem thefts." Boom. Sent. Butterflies held a party in Micah's stomach. She was really doing this. She was actually going to meet up with an actual superhero and actually save a kidnapped child. "Holy crap, what do I do? I can't let them know who I am. How do I hide that? Do I meet them in Wharton, so no one sees me transform? How will we recognize each oth- oh, right, glowing rock monster." At least that was easily sorted. "Ugh... I should have planned more than not at all..." There was no going back now. Micah sat waiting, panicking, utterly enraptured with the computer screen until someone replied to her.

Micah understood almost nothing of what NiceIceQueen just said. Micah took that as a sign that she knew plenty about mystical phenomena. Micah was mostly curious to see what the genius of the group would surmise that the rest of them hadn't. "How did she describe it? She could out-perform super-computers... right." Micah couldn't help but feel jealous. If only she had gotten such intelligence from the accident, instead of... what she did get. She would have been able to continue her studies in peace, excelling far beyond anything she had previously done. She wouldn't have to worry about how others would look at her. There wasn't much use in grumbling about it, though. Micah was stuck with what she had gotten, and she had to deal with it, make the most of it. It occurred to Micah that she didn't actually know how much damage she could cause. She had held back quite a bit against the jewel thieves she took out before. Out in Wharton State Forest, testing her powers, she still didn't push herself, and she had managed to make her own clearing. Although, it looked less like a clearing and more like a warzone. Micah decided that if she got the chance, she would be a good idea to head out to her usual spot and really let loose, just to see what kind of damage she could do, rather than test it out in the streets of the city.