Dr Archeville

Alrighty, one more small thing before I recap: Shaen, it's a separate opposed Mind Control vs. Will roll to command the hellhound to attack Vulture, since that's an act it is strongly opposed to doing. Doggie got a 15.

You are reading it right, Sand, which means the "Impervious Toughness" part of Absorption (which is Impervious Toughness + Reaction Boost or Heal) doesn't work the way Impervious Toughness normally does. Unless it's been errata-ed. Which, from what I see here, it has not. Slaven, you bring up an excellent point. I was assuming it did, but on closer reading I could see it go either way. I'll ask around.

So... just moving this round, not attacking anyone, right? Please post in the IC thread.

Cyroa, you still with us?

Alright, so for the Ember Throw-Down, it's: Ember Jos Iniquity CyberGoon That works quite nicely. :twisted: Ember knows the Cyber-Goon saw him, but has no idea Jos & Tabitha/Iniquity did. So Ember can react to knowing a cyborg with twin retractable guns in his chest knows he's there. Ecal, your focus is going to be split since Geckoman is dealing with both High Note and Quark.

Geckoman & Quark, the Tuesday evening before (Sept 22nd), the Riverside Piers Geckoman and Quark slowly make their way back to the docks. As they make their way back, Geckoman can tell that the passage of time is eroding the trails, so his chances of tracking down one of the other two is slim. But, he does take some small comfort in knowing that there were three distinct trails, and if he happened upon the individuals who left them in the street he could probably tell who they were. It also meant that when the time came, there'd likely only be three guys (and maybe a dog or two) to contend with. Quark's mind drifts back to the ad he saw online, the one quite probably linked to the docks that Geckoman dragged him out to explore. Part of him wondered if he, or both of them, should try and contact the man, to see just what was up. The article made brief mention of a "protection" racket that was being set up by some thugs, but nothing about what was in the shipment that the thugs were out to steal or destroy. High Note (and Shadow Man?) and Geckoman, the Thursday before (Sept 24th), Riverside Park "Geckoman?" the assistant, a middle-age balding man in glasses, repeated. "Now, let me see... I know a Beck O'Mann... and an Ackerman... but I can't say I know a 'Gecko-Man'. Must be some sorta, whatchcallit, nickname you kids use among yerselves. You might wanna try askin' the students." At that moment, Chris Kenzie ran by, looking to get a quick bite to eat. He did overhear the mention of "Geckoman." Tabitha Connely & Jos Terhune (and a snoopy Ember), early Sept 28th, at the Fens The pup is here. Interesting. Has he been following me, or is this mere coincidence? If he's following me, why? Is there some link between him and the book Vulpes has? If it's coincidence, how? Has the pup chosen this area as his hunting grounds? Jos kept his smile on as he peered through the portal Lady Iniquity created, and gives her a curt nod. "You know, it is a bit of a pity I was not able to see you perform under real combat conditions. Using powers on a group of cowed homeless vagrants and the losers of underground street fights is one thing, but seeing you in actual battle conditions would be quite another." He gave a slight sigh, "Still, I am sure that, in the very near future, you will have ample opportunity to show just what you are made of."

Works for me. Now I just need to know what Slamdance is doing in this opening round!

No, that'd be 27 on Stealth. Your upgrade requests haven't been okayed yet, so you still use what's on your sheet.

To post. Everyone's posted this "round" except you.

I'm gonna say it does -- Attractive helps because Ember's not exactly looking at Tabitha's face. And now, I believe, we just need High Note. Kavos, Delemental, go ahead and roll initiative for your characters for... well, for whatever happens starting next 'round'. Jos -- 18! One Cyber-Thug outside (the one Ember Paw saw gun down the two people; he does see E.P., and is not even trying to hide the fact) -- 2!

Your PCs might be Underpowered if... ... the little old lady the villain is Mind Controlling kicks their collective ass without breaking a sweat. ... their the sum of the team's Toughness save equals your shoe size. ... they consider Rant & Rave the Master Villains of the campaign. ... they consider a wet newspapar roll a considerable threat. ... they needed a lung transplant when last peppersprayed. ... they cower in fear at a Jack in the Box. Either the restaurant or the toy. ... they have to push their Strength to pick up their costume. ... your base is a cardboard box with the word "Transmagorifier" on it.... and you fear Calvin wants it back. ... you consider a shaken soda can lobbed at you a 'Doomsday device'. ... you consider a wet paper bag a death trap. ... during Overshadow's latest plot, the other hero teams send yours out to get pizza. ... and getting the pizza back to the rest of the heroes is a challenge. ... your mightiest blows won't dent a house of cards. ... there's an entire wing of the emergency ward devoted to them, and on permanent standby. ... a papercut sends your brick to the ER. ... Supro, your sidekick dog, cowers in fear from the Mailman. .... your evil twin was captured by the police and they didn't bother to call the STAR Squad to transport you. Nor did anyone consider Blackstone. ... your team uses the Chuck E Cheese "Two and Under" Ball Pit as its Danger Room. ... your +20 Charisma is bought with the Flaw "Only at bedtime" and is in an Easy to Lose Device ("Special Blankie"). ... if Bowman and Siren have both publicly questioned the usefulness of your powers. ... your team's Fighting Codes and Signals manual has thirty seven different codes for "Run Away". ... you change into your supercostume and you get less respect now than in your Secret Id. ... your team's tactic is "He'll get fatigued before he can defeat all of us!" ... your team beats up a SHADOW agent for his armor. ... and blaster. ... and commlink. ... if your brand new power is "owns a gun." ... your Team Transport runs on a 9-volt battery. ... this is the third time that the villains laugh, beat you up, and break your devices. ... this adventure. ... your PC's nickname is "Ol' One-Punch." And it ain't because he's knocking people out. ... the only way you can damage your opponent is if they get a hernia while attacking you. ... you & your team can lose gunfights... to an equal number of six year olds with squirt guns. .... they get beaten up by the Shadow Academy's kindergarten class. (All taken from here.)

Alright. Avenger, I need a Stealth check, assuming he's being at all stealthy when approaching Vulture. I also need you to tell me what you're rolling in those two rolls in the IC thread. The first roll has +11, and the second's at +18, but I'm not seeing a +11 or +18 anywhere on your char sheet. Unless you're taking a +2 cheating bonus on your melee attack roll & grapple check. (Sneak Attack increases the Damage, not the chance to hit.)

I've heard others say that. I don't see where they're getting it. From the world's perspective, Manhattan was last seen teleporting away to Mars, upset over the cancer allegations. Then, he nukes cities. That doesn't say "grow up, stop the threat of nuclear war, play nice or I'll nuke you again" or "no, I'm not solving any more problems for you, do it yourself." That says, "I'm an inhuman god who nuked cities after people made me angry (one of the few human traits I still retain) by accusing me of causing cancer (and you have no idea if or when I'll do it again)." Ozy would need a faked message from Manhattan delivering a "you're on your own, grow up/be good or else" speech -- or something to indicate he wasn't just striking out like a blind idiot god -- in order to have the "parent" part of "demonizing the parent."

Except from yourself. And when you use it, you don't remove their fatigue or exhaustion from the target, you transfer it to yourself. *is itching to play some more*

The things they saw will still be in the backstory and adventures your character built up while he/she/it was played. It was determined that this would be the fairest way for all the non-Gold folks -- you're already getting a big award by being allowed to play two PL 10 characters, while everyone else gets one PL 10 and one PL 6.

Alright, sounds acceptable to me. Here's your second (re-)approval.

The Daring (?) Due continue on, down the dark and dank corridors. All is quiet save for the occasional drip of water, which is somewhat odd since one would expect to hear the odd rat here and there. Going down the bend in the tunnel, the path goes straight for a bit longer, then comes to a cross intersection. You can keep going straight, or head left or right. [ Notice checks, please. ]

I'm rescinding my approval pending the answer to one final question: just what are his beliefs?

Jos spies Ember Paw. Jos is trying to hide this fact. Now the question is, does Ember Paw notice that he's been noticed? Kavos, make a Sense Motive check vs. Jos's Bluff (DC 16). Delemental, please make a Notice check (DC 15) to see if Iniquity notices the fox-man. If she does spot him, and wants to play it cool, that'd be a Bluff check, too.

A smile spreads across Archeville's face, "I should very much like to see dat, Herr Cale. It is de suit, ja? De von ve discussed earlier, from your thickest notebook?"

Archeville's strokes his chin in thought for a moment. "Vell, mitout having taken a thorough look into your device, your 'PDA,' I cannot really say, as I do not know vhat you haff to vork mit. Und, I vould understand if you did not vish to reveal all your secrets to me, especially not in our first real collaboration. If you did not vish to reveal all de vorking to me, I can certainly whip up some schematics for a miniaturized ultr-MRI, and leave de incorporation of it up to you."

As long as this guy's kept closer to the Silver/Bronze Age tone we try and maintain here, and less Iron Age-y, I'm fine with him. Approved. Please be sure to put a link to the char sheet in your .sig.

Aside from "why is there a giant naked glowing Smurf"? I thought the Giant Squid fit perfectly -- Watchmen's a deconstruction of most superhero comic tropes, so why shouldn't they address "Alien Invasion"?

Yeah, but even Moore's original ending has some serious flaws. While not on the same scale, 9/11 showed us that one attack from an outside force can't sustain unification of all involved for very long.

Archeville paced down the length of the table and back up, hands clasped behind his back, looking back and forth between Micheals and where Benjiro had been seated. He then stopped, raised one hand to his chin, and stroked it thoughtfully. "I zhink..." he began, then switched to the accent-less tone he'd revealed earlier that day, "that Benjiro is a very talented businessman, with connections and contacts that would compliment the ones Darts has developed quite nicely, and has, to be frank, a greater amount of resources, all of which is hard to ignore. And if what he says about giving you a largely free hand in things, it seems -- to me -- a quite tempting offer. But, this is your company, these are your people, so ultimately it is a choice you must make on your own." Archeville got a bottle of water from a nearby table, then sat, in the same seat he'd been in earlier. "There are, however, two Achilles Heels in Ares Macrotech that I perceive, which you may not have considered. First is their 'spokesman,' Shinken. Whether it is one man in a suit, or a rotating roster of men in the suit, the fact remains that it's a very visible suit, a widely known public face. If the individual in that armor went on some sort of rampage, either due to some outside influence - mind control, possession, or someone knocks out the wearer and dons the suit himself -- or because the wearer just snapped one day, that could do a great deal harm to Ares' public image. As a corollary to this, if Shinken were to ally himself with other superheroes, and one of them snapped, Shinken's relationship could lead to a damaging backlash against Ares. This is one reason I came to you -- Darts does not have a 'mascot' like that, so those dangers aren't a factor." "Second," he said between sips of water, "is Benjiro himself. I have studied not just the physiology of... " again he paused a moment, as if searching for the right word, "of Metahumans, but also their psychology. As I'm sure you know, there is a strong indication -- though I've yet to fully corroborate it -- that Benjiro lost both parents during a bank robbery attempt by Devil Ray; according to these same reports the nerve gas the villain used is the cause of his persistent neurological problems. He is quite determined, very strong-willed, and... well I would call him a genius at mechanical engineering, but I am in the room." He smirked and took another sip, then continued, "Point is, if he were to put his mind to it, there are many ways he could use his considerable resources to... well, I doubt he would make a custom suit of powered armor for himself and zip around beating supervillains up, doubt he would endanger himself like that... but I'm sure there are many more avenues he could pursue. Not that I'm saying that he has done so or is doing so, especially given his corporate schedule, but such actions are, given certain elements of the psychological profile I've assembled, a definite possibility. And, as I see it, a potential liability, should he be harboring some deep-seated resentment towards Devil Ray, which could lead him to opposition with the entire Crime League, or to super-villains as a whole, as his focus would be deeply split. On the other hand, it could also be a great boon, if your government ever decided to go through with one of the Metahuman Registration Acts that pops up in Congress every few years, and they look to Ares Macrotech for new technologies; he may have been studying Metahumans for some time, developing technologies to neutralize them, so he may have a leg up on you in that department." Archeville took another long sip of water.