Gizmo

Ouch. Okay, Jack will throw out a DC 26 Taunt as a move action, then make another Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=25) Same deal as before, probably making full Autofire again with his Offensive Stance taken into account.

Ha ha, yeah, no. Jack pops his new HP to double his dodge bonus, putting his total Defense at 39 for a turn, and avoiding the smashing.

Alright, Jack swings in as a move action and makes a Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=24) That's DC 27 plus whatever he gets from Autofire, up to DC 31.

"I'm sorry, the superhero team you are trying to contact is unavailable," came a shout from up above. Greatcoat billowing behind him, Jack of all Blades swung into the scene on his newly minted grappling hook, retracting the line to tumble past the giant alien's head. He'd been out testing the gadget amidst the taller buildings of the city when the Meta-Grue had started raising a fuss. His free hand already held a crackling electrical blade pulled from the city's power grid on the way down. Alright, let's see if your ready for prime time, Jack, he thought to himself. Aloud he continued, "If you'd like to get your butt kicked please wait for the tone. Beeeep." Sound effect still of his lips, the swashbuckler swiped at the villain.

Jack of all Blades: Initiative (1d20+9=23)

Well, I'll give you a +5 circumstance bonus for their distraction (even though, with twelve of them there, they're probably not all paying full attention to her), but the Broan's have a +10 Notice to begin with. Normally I wouldn't warn you, but for the sake of a dramatic entrance, do you still want to go for the full -20?

Erik clinked his glass against the other two if only to placate Billy. "You bet your glamoured behind I'll be wearing my mask." A quick swig finished off his drink and he set down the empty cup. "I'm guessing a detective would be able to make the intuitive leap between 'Grimalkin's friend with the wacky sword powers' and everyone's favourite dashing daredevil. Besides, I am known in the community out of costume. I've lived here more than two decades; you tend to meet people."

Well, doy. Why d'you think I picked Broan in the first place? Sky, assuming Physicus responds appropriately to our tusked buddies, he gets an extra HP right off the bat. If you guys want to post arriving at the clearing, feel free. We're just waiting for Atlas to actually start combat.

Erik raised an eyebrow. "Wait, she one of those Colbys? Damn, Lynn, when you get a contact on the force you don't mess around, huh?" The name was a familiar one to the acrobat, who'd grown up on stories from the FCPD. The Colbys had a long history of proud service, but Eric hadn't made the connection until his diminutive friend mentioned the West End. "Well, if she's in the 'End... we could just walk."

IN SPAAAAACE! IC IN SPAAAAACE! OOC

Despite the weather, Jack of all Blades had been patrolling the northeast edge of the West End when the fantastic vessels appeared overhead. Even as the first ship began its descent, the swordsman was leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the site of its inevitable collision. He reached the clearing just in time to watch one of a good dozen massive, hunched creatures with russet hides and protruding tusks and wielding dangerous looking staffs dispatch a man with deep, aquamarine skin and defiant red eyes. The smaller alien collapsed to the ground, joining a handful of others around the boarding ramp to the felled craft. It’s sole remaining defender, a bright blue woman with long, shock white hair and small antennae, cried out in anguish and unleashed a blast of the potent electricity rippling across her upper torso. Jack didn’t have the first hint of an idea what was going on, but on his planet, twelve to one odds was no way to treat a lady. Forming a lightning blade from the ample static in the stormy air, he charged forward with a raucous laugh.

The skies above Freedom roiled with dark grey clouds, distant thunder rumbling ominously. As the city's residents listened below, the booming grew louder and more distinct, and flashes of light appeared just above the stormy curtain. Suddenly, a sleek form burst through the clouds, the roar of engines and the ozone smell of heavy laser fire filtering down to the city streets. Long and narrow, with broad fins jutting from the rear at ninety degree angles, the gleaming vessel was soon joined by a second craft, made of darker materials and bristling with weapons. The pursuing spaceship fired, white-blue light arcing out from multiple points to strike the smaller ship. It shuddered, electricity surging across its surface, then began to plummet with dangerous speed. The ground shook as it crash landed just outside of Parkside, near Lantern Hill. It’s attack followed, hovering above its victim.

Roll initiative! Tempestian Lady - Initiative (1d20+5=25) Jack of all Blades - Initiative (1d20+9=13) Broan Soldiers - Initiative (1d20+1=13) I'm going to say Jack goes before the Broans, just for simplicity's sake.

Maybe if Jack's threads pick up! I need points! Wargh!

Hearing the rain stop, Jack looked over his shoulder to see the youth with the headphones returning to the scene of the break in. The swashbuckler hadn't been paying the kid much mind, but he'd noticed him displaying a startling array of abilities. Curiosity aroused, Jack focused his energy awareness on the young hero. He picked up guitars and maracas, which didn't tell him much, though he was mildly surprised to find the usual synthesia of his metahuman sense translating solely as audio for once. Shaking his head as he turned back to the hole in the warehouse wall, Jack muttered under his breath. "Teenagers with powers..."

So, I've spent some time looking around at a few different starship/vehicle combat rules, and I'm not exactly in love with any of them. But since Ecal's worried I'll hurt Ben Grimm's feelings or something, I'm going to crib a bit more from the Saga Edition rules, and say that the pilot can make a DC 20 check as a standard action to basically use Defensive Attack, giving the ship +5 to Defense and imposing -5 to Attack on all the gunners. Flying the ship in general takes a move action each turn. I'd get fancier than that, but like I said, it kinda seems like a waste when then one doing the piloting in an NPC, and it's only gotta work this one time anyway. Beyond that, I guess I'll say that you can Aid with a DC 10 Computers or Knowledge (tactics) check, since, doy, that's the DC for Aiding. Opposed Bluff or Intimidate checks will allow for the usual slew of Feinting, Demoralizing and so on; it's space pirates, so that sort of thing should be prominent, I think, and I'll make sure the opposing captains are suitably prepared for such. Okay, so, they're quick and dirty but I think those should serve our purposes pretty well. Most of the combat will be up close and personal anyway.

Alright, cool, Geez. Let me know if you want to use this as an opportunity to reveal anything in that vein, or not. For the time being, I'll assume nobody makes the connection immediately. 'Size modifiers', Ecal? Pshaw! That sounds way too much like more numbers to me! But, for the sake of argument, where are you finding those rules? The write-up for Pilot in the core rulebook is basically, "Harder maneuvers have a higher DC! Durr." Oh Saga Edition, voiding all my source books. Grr, argh. Grr, argh indeed. The original version of WotC's Star Wars RPG was where I cut my teeth stating characters from scratch and learning the ins and outs of the d20 system. Admittedly, the starship combat rules there were sort of a pain; it's not hard to imagine the Saga Edition improving on them. The pilot is stated out, just need to fill in some fluff for her, then work up a few bad guys to have ready. Anybody have a link to an example of running a fight with minions? I get the idea, but I'd feel better if I had something to base it on.

It just strikes me that Jester turns a regular superhero thread into something hilarious, but if the story's already got a specific spin on it... Well, I'd go with Atlas, anyway. I might by biased 'cause I think Atlas is freakin' awesome, but there you go. Speaking of which, what's the current deal with Atlas's 'Grue-ness'? Is it something he knows about, or something that's apparent to people familiar with the Grue, or is it still under wraps?

What, they're both royalty! It works! Anyway, a ship will be provided (I'm not sure whether or not Physicus's ship would need to be properly paid for with Equipment or Device to be used in-story). I've been working up an NPC pilot, and some quick-and-easy starship combat rules. How does this strike you guys: Pilot check DC 25 to use the pilot's Defense for the ship for one turn. Ranged attack to use the ship's weapons. Computers check DC 20 to Aid an attack or confer an equal bonus to the ships shields (read: Toughness) for one turn. Bluff, Intimidate or Knowledge (tactics) check opposed by the enemy captain to Aid an attack or confer an equal bonus to the ship's Defense for one turn. Craft (mechanical) jury-rigging check DC 20 to remove 'Bruised' conditions from the ship. I think that should give everybody something meaningful to do, and simulate a classic 'bridge crew' situation.

Aw, I'm just giving you a hard time, man. I agree, it'd be pretty weird for him not to go after her, especially since the Doktor and Grim have the old man taken care of, and 'Star would have the easiest time getting up and over the alley walls. If he gives Jack a lift, it even saves me a turn of running and jumping to catch up to her.

That'd by Dark Star. *sigh* I gotta say, 'Star could have reasonably taken out the thugs, healed the old guy and caught the mysterious woman all on his own, without any need for the rest of us to be here. Kinda makes you wonder why we bother. Well, if he's going after her, could he at least pick Jack up along the way and give him a lift?

Erik shrugged, smirking broadly. "Jack's not; 'Erik' is," he explained enigmatically, his emphasis clearly placing quotation marks around the name he'd chosen to go by in public. The remaining Interceptors were left with a reminder of just how much their swashbuckling teammate kept hidden even from them. "Tomorrow night's fine; I'd just as soon get this over with." Erik rubbed the bridge of his nose, willing a nagging weariness away.

I think I'm going to go for an Abin Sur Special on this one, with shades of R2-D2's recorded message, Doc, but I'll keep it in mind. So, post-chat it looks like we're looking at: Jack of all Blades Gossamer Jester Physicus Arrowhawk Geez, how determined are you to have Jester in this? I only ask because I can see his whimsical insanity clashing a bit with the genre conventions we're going for here. I'm not heavily opposed to him or anything, but it seemed worth bringing up. If Atlas was interested, we could always use a Ch'od stand-in. (Hmm, Jack as Corsair, Gossamer as Hepzibah, Arrowhawk as Raza Longknife, Physicus as... Lilandra?) There's some time to think about it, since I have to work up the NPCs and refine the plot a bit first. I'll let you guys know when things are ready to get rolling.

It's pretty much ridiculous that Jack and Gecks haven't met up yet, so absolutely. I think five people should be a good, round number; I'm thinking there will be an NPC to provide exposition and a ship. I'll start nailing down some things now that I know there's interest. Heritage, you mentioned in chat that you were thinking about swapping out Grim for Gossamer - come to a decision?

Brushing debris from the warehouse wall off of his coat, Jack cracked his neck painfully. Noting the fallen forms of Strong Man and Burn, he clucked his tongue in annoyance. "I guess two out of tour isn't bad, but it's a little embarrassing," he remarked. It irked the swordsman that his dance partner had been evacuated by Dash; speedsters were always tough to handle without a similar power set. Not much to be done about it now, he reflected with an annoyed sigh. Sauntering over to the whole in the wall, he peered inside. "Anybody have any idea what they were after?" he called to the variety of heroes who'd turned out. "'Cause if they were storing a top secret death ray or something here, I'm just gonna be ticked."