angrydurf

Ace With a smirk Ace shrugged his shoulders at Talyas question, "I have it on good authority everyone needs a little more glitter in their lives." he countered and slowly turned to face the outraged necromancer and ensure the 'women and children' made it through first. Slanting a glance to his old soviet ally, enemy, and now friend he let out a small laugh, "Still got a way with the ladies I see." he remarked with amusement. Turning his full charm on the vampiric sorceress standing before them he softened his features, "Sorry love. It would never work out between us." he apologized earnestly earning an even more outraged glare as the sorceress vampire queen summoned a growing sphere of necrotic darkness between her hands. Turning on his heel to make a stylish exit he slipped in some of the pooled blood and tumbled forward knocking his rescuers through the portal and hopefully to safety as the Dark Phantom Queen unleashed an unholy armageddon upon the the castle they had been in moments before.

Kanunu looked down at the captain and shrugged, "I can get you foa da shore for sure." he said with a nod, "But no good put the boat dere." he implied he'd have to carry the crew to sore on the waves, "You all solid ground here now and might be betta waitin for da guard show up?" he offered but left it to the captain if he felt emergency evac to the shore was in order. Looking out at the overcrowded ship of fools he quirked a brow, "Don look like they here for an evac tho." he said and glanced to his aunt then back to the boat full of crazy people. "Show you what now?" he boomed incredulously, "Hey dis boat here in a bad way you all got room for rescue or just here to make with the yellin?"

Kimo walked up the beach from his own tower where he'd quickly traded out the lifeguard reds for black board shorts with a bright slash of neon green down the sides and an unbuttoned and garish floral print aloha shirt. pulling the band form his hair as he dropped his bag near the firepit and checked the cooler where the nights meal and refreshments chilled. He steadied himself as the ground shifted around them at his aunts whim and set to examining the boards she'd managed to gather for her friends. "Much more betta than diggin out Auntie." he replied with a smile as he observed her handiwork. "I get the surf goin now yea?" he suggested and planted his feat as he moved through an almost dance like sway abck and forth as he drew the choppy clashing waves of the shore to rolling curls more suited for their planned activities. "So how many guys you got commin?" he asked curiously as he looked over the sizeable stack of firewood she'd assembled, "Big party den?"

Savant Power Level: 8/15 (207/230PP) Unspent Power Points: 23PP Trade-Offs: +5 Attack / -5 Damage (unarmed), +3 Attack / -3 Damage (Collapsable Baton) , +4 Defense / -4 Toughness In Brief: Memetically enhanced genius atoning for the wrongs done while controlled by Labyrinth Catchphrase: Theme: Redemption Song Alternate Identity: Xavier Steadman, Subject 24005 Birthplace: Unknown Residence: Bedlam City Base of Operations: Bedlam City Occupation: Private Eye Affiliations: The Fix Family: Unknown Description: Age: 45 (DoB: 1971) Apparent Age: Also 45 Gender: Male Ethnicity: African American Height: 6'2" Weight: 210 Eyes: Grey Hair: Black Xavier is a dark skinned, broad shouldered man of middle years, Dark grey eyes peer out from a heavy brow with an intensity bordering on unsettling. He keeps his hair closely shorn in a no nonsense easily maintained style. He normally dresses in a dark grey woolen suit though varies his outfit as needed for a job. When disguising his identity he opts for a heavy indigo scarf and dark grey fedora in the style of mystery men of old, though this is less sentimentality than pragmatism, even in disguise being able to bled into a crowd is just sound survival policy in Bedlam. History: His history is largely a blank slate. Until his escape in his early thirties Xavier was under lock and key in a Labyrinth run facility as part of 'Project Savant' an attempt to unlock the mind's potential through intensive hypnosis and memetic training. He was a rare success, most minds buckled under the strain of the deep hypnotic states and the assault of the memetic learning programs, the results were varied some crippled, some catatonic or driven to psychotic breaks. Subject 24005 as he was labeled also began the process earlier than most, he was taken or given up by his parents shortly after birth and even his enhanced recall techniques can not summon a memory a time before the project. By the time he was twelve he had outstripped most of his tutors and phase two began. Rather than focusing his capabilities toward any specific goal he was brought in to troubleshoot problematic research or operations for the organization. His ability to rapidly bring himself up to speed on any given subject and bring in disparate knowledge made leaps in both technologies but more often methodologies. Initial projects were presented as further tests and puzzles though the change in faces and the time pressure did not go unnoticed by the young Savant. Nor did he miss the clear discomfort and sometimes hostility his suggestions were met with by older experts. By adulthood he realized his simulations and tests were all too real and that his choices would impact real people though his conditioning kept him from outright rebellion he began to quietly plot and plan a way out. It took him nearly ten years to work his way free of the memnetic controls. More time still of active effort to plot an escape, he knew he'd get but one chance. Once they realized his programming was compromised he'd be a liability. He made his escape though not as efficiently as he'd have hoped, they'd be looking for him in the likely refuges and it was uncertain his efforts at reform would be met with anything but scepticism by the heroes of the world. Subject 24005 took the name Xavier Steadman, and made for the one place he knew they'd not suspect him to go after all, no one came to Bedlam voluntarily. But in this wretched hive he could vanish and work at erasing his trail, and maybe begin to atone for the wrongs he'd been part of. In Bedlam a false identity was easily enough crafted, a disgraced investigator, working PI jobs for his meager wages snapping shots of cheating spouses and fraudulent insurance claims. A small fish in a small pool, unremarkable but for a stalwart refusal to do the gangs or mobs dirty work. A clean PI trying to make due, slowly earning a reputation as one of the rare good guys in Wolverton. Not someone to make waves but someone of integrity and a distant cold kindness. Personality & Motivation: Xavier is driven by shame and fear. Not of death or pain, such things can be managed and are perhaps what he deserves in the end, but he fears the shackles of the mind returning and putting his brilliance once more to used for nefarious ends. He fears being weaponized again, turned to his former master's greater plans. Yet beyond that fear and shame is a desire to try and make right in some small way what his genius had put wrong. His actions are subtle and long term, a file mailed anonymously, a tip on a fraudulent lien. He wants to do more, but lacks the resources to take on his former masters on their terms so he works at the edges growing cracks and fissures, weakening, wearing them down. If his memetic enhancements hold through old age he might just survive to see some of his work bear fruit. Powers & Tactics: Savant has little in the way of flashy powers, he'd not even consider himself 'Super' though he knows his enhancements put his intellect in a frame rivaled by only a handful. He is an efficient and tactical fighter using terrain and situation awareness to his advantage to strike exactly where he needs to when he needs to. To ruthlessly exploit any weakness he uncovers and to always have a backup to his backups. He prefers to avoid confrontation but when unavoidable he'll strike fast and sure with his collapsible baton or fists to end the fight as quickly and quietly as possible. He understands the power of guns but refuses to rely on such means, they are usually more liability than benefit with the work he does. Power Descriptions: Savant has no obvious powers, his abilities are in the planning and execution of the plan, and always being ready with another, always seeking a weakness to exploit. Complications: The Good: Xavier is trying to make right the wrongs he was part of while under labyrinth control. He head is full of memories of the wrongs done and aspects coudl pop up and drive him to go further than is wise on a job. The Bad: Labyrinth wants him back or possibly just eliminated. Taurus hates loose ends. The Ugly: Xavier is a black man in Bedlam trying to to the right thing, the Mobs and Cops will target him for 'stepping out of place' and the Wolverton gangs will see him as potential threat to their power. Man with No Name: Xavier Steadman is a fabrication, there may be records of the infant that became subject 24005 somewhere in some dusty city hall waiting to be digitized but for all intents and purposes Savant has no Official past. Abilities: 6 + 0 + 8 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 44PP Strength: 16 (+3) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 18 (+4) Intelligence: 30 (+10) Wisdom: 20 (+5) Charisma: 10 (+0) Combat: 22 + 24 = 46PP Initiative: +10 Attack: +13 Unarmed, +11 Base Defense: +12 (+12 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed Grapple: +14 Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 4 + 5 + 5 = 14PP Toughness: +4 (+4 Con) Fortitude: +8 (+4 Con, +4) Reflex: +8 (+3 Dex, +5) Will: +10 (+5 Wis, +5) Skills: 68R = 17PP Bluff 4 (+4) Diplomacy 4 (+4) Gather Information 10 (+10) Investigate 10 (+20) Knowledge: Tactics 10 (+20) Notice 10 (+15) Search 10 (+20) Sense Motive 10 (+15) Feats: 16PP Ambidextrous Attack Specialization: Unarmed 1 Beginners Luck Eidetic Memory Equipment 1 Improvised Tools Jack-Of-All-Trades Luck 2 (4 Total) Master Plan 2 Power Attack Speed of Thought Teamwork 3 Equipment: 1PP = 5EP Collapsable Baton (Damage 2, Improved Crit (19-20), Mighty, Subtle) 5 Powers: 9 + 15 + 41 + 5 = 70PP Comprehend 4 (Polyglot; Codes, Language: Understand, Language: Speak One at a Time, Language: Read; Power Feats: Innate) [9PP] (Savantry) Luck Control 4 (Plan M; Spend HP for others, Grant HP to others, Negate Fiat, Force Reroll; Power Feats: Innate, Luck 2) [15PP] (Savantry) Probability Control 10 (Polymath; Power Feats: Innate) [41PP] (Savantry) Device 1(Earbud; Flaws: Hard to Lose, Power Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Communication Link 4(Other Earbuds; Radio; Power Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 18 Toughness Damage Collapsable Baton Touch DC 20 Toughness Damage Totals: Abilities (44) + Combat (46) + Saving Throws (14) + Skills (17) + Feats (16) + Powers (70) - Drawbacks (0) = 207/230 Power Points

TEACH'D BY HGM Phalanx 4PP spent 2PP Remaining Skills 8 ranks 2PP 5 Ranks Profession(Teacher) 5 total 1 rank Notice 10 total 2 Ranks Sense Motive 10 Total Feats 2PP +1 Luck to 5 total +1 Improved Initiative to 2 total (Initiative +8 total in combat block)

Kannunu sprung from the water to land heavily on the deck wincing slightly as the ships compromised hull groaned under the strain. With a sweeping gesture he set the water around the boat to a glassy calm amid the North Atlantics choppy swells. "How many crew?" the large hawaiian asked as he peered off toward the shore and tried to guess if the boat would hold together for him to try to bring it in or if the crew would need to brave the possibly frigid waters, "coast guard should be in soo-" he broke off as the odd boat made for the foundering freighter, "Well you might just have a ride, but you'll probably have to take some pamphlets." he suggested with a grin and looked to his Auntie with a shrug he had no real idea what the odd boat was on about but he was pretty sure it was going to be at least mildly offensive Haole nonsense and hoped they didn't set off Volcanics temper.

That'll work! There are several roughly ten foot diameter tunnels being bored by van sized digging machines heading toward the surface they should emerge all around the plaza in short order, there is one tunnel that looks to be angling for a bit further afield, up to maybe five blocks away on current trajectory.

You have time to discuss/prepare/get in costume/investigate if you so desire before the main event begins.

that is worthy of moar detail! The buzzing is right on the border of infrasound, everything in the plaza is vibrating at infrasonic levels causing some of the vibrations to shift into the audible spectrum dependant on ones sensitivity.

So how intact should powers be for vignettes? Like are super strong characters still super strong, durable? Does a character that flames on still go all fiery as felt or are there burning wool smells and screaming (ok that is probably a bit dark for the theme)

The OOC for Lost in the Supermarket DC 30 Notice checks to notice the buzzing as more than an ominous disquiet. DC 20 With Tremorsense.

Tuesday July 12th 2016 The Streets at Midtown Mostly sunny, 84F The sun shone down on the crowds taking advantage of the mild summer day to explore the pedestrian byways of the upscale 'Streets of Midtown' and it's fine bistros and boutiques. While 'The Streets' were certainly over budget for Leilani they did offer the benefit of being much more open and less crowded than the more populist Millennium Mall, and Kimber knew just the person to bring along to assuage any budgetary concerns. As the troupe made their way from one shop to the next they could enjoy the dappling of the sun along the tree lined walks, the fragrance of floral vines on the decorative arbors spaced along the brick paths. The noise of the city was dulled by the architecture and landscaping giving the shops a peaceful suburban feel in the middle of hte towering skyscrapers and busy streets outside the plazas and paths. The otherwise Idyllic environs made the faint but persistent buzz almost felt more than heard all the more unsettling as it slowly came to the attention of our heroines.

Phalanx recoiled at the image presented to his mind shaking his head to clear the offer, or threat from his hijacked vision. With a deep breath he slowly drew himself up and declared boldly, "No." Squaring himself against the thing at the old crime lords bedside the powerful young paragon shook his head solemnly, "We are here to put a stop to this, you'll not take another life today." he looked to those at his sides, "This farce ends here and it ends now." Phalanx intoned with confidence determination and took a step forward, "Stop this or we will be forced to stop you." Even now his steely tone offered a final peaceful solution, "You can end this." he said firmly, believing somewhere there might be a part of this creature that desired redemption while prepared to put a stop to it if given no choice.

Vahnyu Vahnyu: see, i like my meat same as i like my men. Smoldering hot and with an impecable sense of humor. And canadian 4:02 PM Vahnyu Vahnyu: Am i talking about Ryan Reynolds or Nathan Fillion? Yes 4:03 PM Ecalsneerg Ecalsneerg: I assumed you meant Gizmo

Well most of the population is as good as anywhere, they just don't have the resources or power t do much about the problems. There is also alot of factional stuff going on in the city that undermines any real attempts to fix anything. The deep seated racism of the neighborhoods means that even charitable attempts that try to cross those lines are met with suspicion and the criminal elements on both sides are likely to intervene and cause trouble. The Police don't really have an interest in protecting what they'd at best consider pointless endeavors, like if you go to that neighborhood and get robbed of course you did what were you thinking. One thing that is true though is that within the neighborhoods not crossing those racial lines there often is low level charity work going on it's just not enough to turn the city around and often reinforces rather than breaks down the kinda tribalism that splits the populace. Not getting permits is less likely to be due to corruption than just plain high fees charged by a early bankrupts city government or a service that got shut down due to lack of funding. Some charities are also used as fronts for the gangs and mafia groups too. Or just for smaller scale terrible people. There is one self styled 'Pope' that is using a scam like that for some nefarious junk. I only skimmed his stuff as I wasn't planning on using it for anything I run personally.

The Danger Mobile Squealed to a stop in an artful glide just behind Cannonade as Ace Danger arrived on the scene. Stepping out of the car he looked down the street with some consternation at the remaining tornado, "Don't tell me you're winded already, we're just getting started." he teased in a friendly way and walked calmly to the trunk to pull out a large barreled tripod mounted weapon of some sort lit up with lights and dials all down the sides. Resting the device on the trunk he glanced to his fellow hero and explained with a smile, "Vortex Cannon. Had it on loan to the smithsonian." it was sheer luck his family had him retrieve it to be displayed at the Hero Museum for the Jungle Patrol Gallery they were assembling. Twistign a few knobs the contraption bussed to life with a whizz of high speed fans as it kicked over. Carefully watching the gauges Ace tweaked the aiming carefully, "See you hit it in just the right spot and it should come right apart." he offered with a smile adding under his breath but still audible over the fans, "If only I'd listened to the Doc about how exactly to calculate that point." with s shrug he crossed his fingers, "Nothing ventured and all that right?" he called out as he pulled the trigger and unleashed a torrent of swirling air down the street directly at the spinning mass of wind.

Ok Gonna set his VP to, Trip 10(Vortex Cannon; Extras: Area(Line), Knockback, Flaws: Action(Full), Range(Touch)) [10PP] (Wind, Tech) We'll try a counter with that on the last tornado, 1d20+10=22 Well lets see if it's enough.

GM The royal guards formed up in a protective phalanx around a diminutive woman in a deeply cowled robe of scintillating purple, even to the uninitiated she pulsed with magical power and dread sorceries of undeath. Though her skin was pallid it remained trim in a kind of unearthly beauty. She floated into the room cloak billowing behind her screaming in outrage, "What is the meaning of -" Before the words left her lips Aces explosion of magical dust filled the room and she cried out in pain, "How DARE YOU!" Eric could feel the fell energies of the realm gathering to her will to strike them down in her indignant fury. As the deep cowl fell away it was clearly a much less full of life Taylor Chun who ruled this realm through her potent mystic gifts. As she reached out to strike them she saw the portal snap open and her eyes grew wide, "NO! This power will be mine!" her voice boomed as if coming from all sides at once as she knocked aside her guards to try and unravel the magic that had been wrought here.

Ace Danger Ace plucked the ornate box from where it sat on the floor discarded when its contents were revealed and with a deft gesture folded it neatly flat to tuck away in his coat. He flashed a too white smile to Eric, "Almost thought you were gonna let him get a hit or two in first." he half joked as he eyed the doorway and Dimitris nearly finished workings, "Thanks." he finished earnestly and took a step forward in front of Erik now, "Sorry about the next bit, but can't let her catch sight of what our icy friend is up to." he apologized with a half shrug as he pulled a small sachet of some silken material bulging with a lightly glowing powder that pulsed with magical potential to those sensitive to such. "But hey just remember your happy thought and remember second star on the right and straight on till morning." Ace suggested with a smile and turned as the guards outside the door formed up around their queen. As she crossed the threshold the immortal adventurer flung the pouch into the air and with lightning reflexes drew and fired an old revolver the slug blasting the fairy dust throughout the room in a flash of magical energies. Twirling the pistol one Ace returned it to a hidden holster and called out, "Alright then time to go my old friend!"

GM The masked vampire let out a hiss of pain and outrage as the swashbuckling swordsman's blade scored deep and twisted in his undead flesh. Straightening the mask displaced by the fencers booted foot good hand the dark avenger of the night growled low, "This isn't over." eyes full of malice, eyes all too familiar to Erik Espadas though he knew this man as a friend, at least of sorts. His form slowly grew hazy as this worlds Jack Faretti called upon his vampiric legacy and faded to a floating pool of mist. His growled warning hanging in the air as he beat a hasty retreat his vaporous form carried up and out of the room on silent winds. Around the room roughly half the fallen masked vampires followed suit as they staggered to their feet only to fade to mist and float away into the eternal night.

Alright and Ace is up. Ace sets his VP to Dazzle 10(Sense Magic; Extras: Area(burst 100') Flaws: Range(Touch)) [10PP] and will ready an action to use said power when the dark queen arrives. going to Fiat Altvenger shaking off the Dazzle so HP to JoAB and Altvenger will assume mist form and float away to fight another day. Guards form up around The dark queen as she enters and Ace's ready action goes off DC 20 Reflex save for everyone with a detect magic type sense. 1d20+0=8 Fail by 12 for her so she loses her magic sense for now. And then the portal will spring open for everyone to hop through.

Save Vs. Drain 22 with power attack thats a fail by 4. Toughness Save 1d20+13=19 aaaand that should be + 11 durp. So a 17 total fail by 12 Disabled, and Dazed, possibly staggered? He's thoroughly stabinated.

So having given the book a more thorough read I've noticed a few things that we may want to address. As I mentioned above the statted characters are uniformly high PL for a street crime level setting. If you can face off against one of the big bads the mafia soldiers and gangland thugs are not going to be much threat even in mass. Alot of them strike me as trying too hard to be grim and coming out as comic evil instead of gritty as well so we might just want ot focus on making our own Bedlam rogues gallery more tied to whatever PCs end up there and just tie those into the well designed mafia families and gangs. The bigger issue I've noticed is that there is a certain degree of inconsistency to the world design. While they are clearly going for industrial decay and corrupt government with high crime and unemployment it lacks development in the realms of the division of haves and have nots. I get the feeling that's the intended purpose of the Stone Ridge community, and the couple of high society families mentioned but even those are mostly listed as being in decline if not outright broke. Effectively the Economic 'Winners' of Bedlam are absent or woefully underdeveloped. This leaves the setting to me feeling a little more flat and seems to lack the nuance of the dirty streets below the shining towers that makes up your usual urban dystopias and gives characters something more to interact with. I think they try to counter this a bit with the Meadows and Airport area being an actual growth sector and the shift to Greely point for shipping leading to some growth there. But how Air freight is growth industry and shipping isn't is not well defined nor are any players that are not actively criminal in the economic scale. The old money families and mafia cozy up in Stone ridge sure but there is no real room for the cutthroat executives or shady corporate security guys to be taking advantage of the situation. The easy tie in I think is the city manager. He's already a part of the privatizing of government going on in Bedlam and his Corporate overlords are listed as an aerospace company. Perhaps instead of the air freight being the growth industry for airport and meadows region the boom is the opening of some aerospace manufacturing and a small R&D wing near the airport. The Redevelopment commision could have pushed for massive tax breaks and land use easements to entice the company in and it's interests are monitored by the city manager. Meanwhile the old Mafia families have a brewing battle over those sweet construction contracts and the take on shipping through Greely or Rook Island and trying to get their fingers int he pie of any growth happening to support workers in those areas. The Aerospace execs might be in Stone ridge or maybe a recently repossessed corporate owned and patrolled skyscraper in downtown. It's not enough to really improve the lot in life of hte average Bedlam resident and the distance to work at the new aerospace factory is a real problem for residents across the river in Bedlam proper but there is some flashy new money in town to draw the divide between the haves and have nots more sharply. This is just off the top of my head as I looked through trying to tie in new characters to the setting and figure out what kind of threads might run out of Bedlam. I may be misreading the intent of hte setting and it's just supposed to be closer to a post apoc dystopia than urban one so I'm open to be corrected if I missed the tonal goals here.

I'd vote Green Bay. Easier to justify big seagoing style container ships off the great lakes than the MIssissippi or Missouri, and the climate is more northern. And cleveland is already on a hellmouth Bedlam is the terrible place down the road from a NORMAL city

Well having looked through the Bedlam stuff finally my main suggestion/request is that we don't put in the Avatar of the red pill subreddit in at PL 17 but "Under the radar" of supers outside bedlam. Overall really the stated NPCs probably need to be toned down particularly if we're trying to keep things more street level in Bedlam. I think the more restrictive moore era - esq laws in wisconsin might make for a good reason other heroes don't dive in to help out certainly.