Raveled

Ironclad felt a cold, sinking sensation steal over her mind, cooling her rage and bringing her anxieties, and the horrors she had seen, to the fore. She curled into a ball and slowly descended to the transparent viewport. Soon enough she was curled into a fetal position there, utterly frozen by indecision and the scale of the death before her; death she had been utterly unable to stop. She was terrible; she was useless; she was a failure as a hero, as an engineer, as a basic human being. She was alone. The best thing she could do was to wait for the Terminus to swallow this station and this universe whole. Better yet, she could deactivate her armor and wait for Granny to finish her -- so she did just that. As the powered suit dissolved and disappeared in a flash of light, banished again to the interdimensional hiding place, the cold air of the station brushed against Jessica's skin for the first time. It was a shock and enough of one to startle her out of her stupor. She looked down at her hands and saw the silver ring there, twisted where it was supposed to lock in with another band. Of course someone loved her, and cared for her! This Terminus-empowered psychopath was turning her own worst fears against her! That suddenly realization shattered Granny's last hold on her mind, and the heroine armored back up and sped to the top tier once again. "You're in for a surprise," she told the old woman with the bloody hands. "I'm not some shrinking violet of a research assistant, or an old man who's spent his entire life working in a lab! I'm Jessica Parker. I'm Ironclad. I'm barely an adult and I've handled worse terrors than you. I live in a world where gods and monsters walk among mortals, and I designed and built a suit of armor to make me the equal of any of them. If you think I'm going to lay down and let you walk all over me, lady, you've got a hell of a wake-up call coming!" The heroine brought her gauntleted hands around and let loose with a powerful blast from her wrist guns. It caught Granny full on the chest and slammed the old woman back against the wall, where she slid to the ground and sat there, head lolling loosely.

I've been collaborating with Archy and KD with this, but I figure I'd throw it open to the boards. During the events of the month, Archeville's submarine research station the Fjolnirskraft has been invaded and taken over by Deep Ones! Ironclad and Gabriel are going on a mission to rescue the hostages aboard and make sure the super-tech can't be used by the twisted Atlanteans; anyone else up for some underwater mayhem?

GM As Myrmidon stepped out of hiding, several of the thugs along the rim of the basin shifted their aims up. Their thoroughly unprofessional shooting didn't manage to even graze the solider, but it did put his eye off. Rather than sweeping the bums from the top of the water tower, he only managed to glance a couple. Those two weren't even knocked back, merely dazed by the high-powered weapon.

Animus -- Injured x1 -- HP x0 Thug 1 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 2 -- Daze -- GM Thug 3 -- Stun -- GM Thug 4 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 5 -- Uninjured -- GM Lord Steam -- Uninjured -- HP x2 Thug 6 -- Out! -- GM Thug 7 -- Out! -- GM Thug 8 -- Out! -- GM Thug 9 -- Out! -- GM Thug 10 -- Out! -- GM Thug 11 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 12 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 13 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 14 -- Uninjured -- GM Thug 15 -- Uninjured -- GM Myrmidon -- Uninjured -- HP x4 Thug 16 -- Out! -- GM Thug 17 -- Out! -- GM Thug 18 -- Out! -- GM Thug 19 -- Out! -- GM Thug 20 -- Out! -- GM

I'm gonna say that gets 3 of the 5 up there. Reflex and Fort saves for 3 Thugs. (1d20+1=14, 1d20+4=24, 1d20+1=12, 1d20+4=11, 1d20+1=16, 1d20+4=8) One pass, one daze, one stun.

GM Ludwig was taken aback by how easily Blake took his hardest hit and was doubly confused when the hero simply disappeared from the fight. He spun around, making sure that Warlock wasn't simply trying to sneak up on him, but the mystic hero had vanished without a trace. The long john-clad thug hurled his stick into and through a nearby wall, stomping hard on the floor. "You bratchny! This toss-up ain't half finished! Get back here and I'll beat you krovvy!"

GM As Dragonfly moved deeper into the temple, she expected the daylight to fade and leave her in total darkness. She was half right -- a few turns away from the entrance and the light from outside was cut off. Surprisingly though, she could still see, even without her suit's sensors enhancing things. She couldn't determine a particular source of the light; it seemed to come from everywhere, from the stones and the air itself. No doubt it was some magical residue, some kind of arcane spill-over from the dimensional rift. With the pervasive glow aiding her Dragonfly moved deeper into the complex. Most of it seemed to be triangular passages cut into the stone of the mountain, seven or eight feet tall. The short heroine moved through them easily, though it would've been a tight squeeze walking shoulder to should with anyone. Occasionally she moved through much larger chambers, perfect hemispheres fifty feet across. Each of these were decorated in odd designs that didn't seem to be art but certainly weren't any language she knew. In the center of each was a large prism and an intricate gold stand; on the ceiling was a pentagram made of two overlapping triangles with a man-sized central opening. It was likely some precise mystical arrangement, beyond Dragonfly's ken of arcane ritual. The young genius could make a guess, though, that the frame was supposed to be upright, not knocked into a corner; that the crystal was supposed to be in the stand and, from her experience with magic, probably glowing. Each one she saw was a dull, milky white like scuffed quartz, and they all had some long crack or some part of themselves shattered. The heroine wandered through the temple, unable to divine any internal pattern to the placement of the chambers but finding each one similarly vandalized. In time she heard a noise other than the humming of her suit or her own metal boots scuffing against the stone. It was coming from far ahead, a high, atonal whine or humming that danced on the edge of audibility. She edged forward and peered into the next large chamber. This one was different from the others -- the stand was intact, the crystal was properly placed, and the whole spectrum of light (and other electromagnetic energy) was shining from it. There was one other difference that took the heroine a minute to notice. A squamous slimy thing was shuffling around the edges of the chamber. It seemed to be, impossibly enough, all tentacle, just a sluggish ball of pseudopods that glistened wetly in the light of the central crystal. It was the source of the atonal whining, and unless Dragonfly missed her guess the thing was basking in the energy.

GM Ludwig stamped forward and retreated, trying to catch Warlock off balance. He swung the stick easily in one hand, a smile creeping over his face as they danced. "Tell ya what, millicent, if you just lay down a loggy, we'll bung off for a chai and a ptitsa, maybe a bit of the ol' in-and-out, what do you say?" He suddenly jumped close to the hero and grabbed the back of Blake's head, slamming the other man's face into his knee. "Or I can just ooblivate your gullivar, what do you say?"

Ludwig's melee attack, w/ full Power Attack, vs Warlock's Defense. DC 30. (1d20+5=22) Oh, WTF IC?

There was a low growling from the chamber before them and the three Claremonters formed up again, marching into the room. It was a huge place, a stone cylinder many feet deep and many across. Some rudimentary scaffolding had been set up to form several rough levels and walkways, stretching across the entire space. The heroes could see what looked like crude chemistry labs on at least two different levels. A loud hissing came from above and they looked up to see Goanna clinging to the ceiling. The lizard monster dropped to the top-most level, making the entire structure tremble. "Stupid heroes," he growled. "You shouldn't have come here. Now I'll chew on your bones and suck out the marrow." He hissed again, crouched on all four limbs, and charged them! Glowstar flared his force field and stepped forward, deliberately putting himself between Goanna and the girls. "Dr. Seidel! That mixture you gave Dr. Marks isn't working like you thought it would! She's dying, and we need your help if we're going to save her." Unfortunately, the poor doctor didn't seem to be open to rational discussion; he roared again and headed straight at the young hero.

I think we can keep the same initiatives for the heroes. Goanna spends his first turn Raging and taunting. Goanna's Initiative. (1d20+4=23) Goanna -- Uninjured -- GM Glowstar -- Bruised -- HP x5 Wisp -- Unhurt -- HP x2 Changeling -- Unhurt HPx3

Ironclad could go sub hunting. Right now I have a tentative idea for a Lab Vignette, but since it seems that Gina will be otherwise occupied (truehax) that's not looking too hot.

Rerolling Ironclad's Will save, vs DC 20. (1d20+8=28) THAT is fantastic. Ironclad's Blast, using full All-Out Attack and full Power Attack, vs Granny's Defense. DC 30. (1d20+15=20) That... That had better just barely hit. Granny's Toughness save, vs DC 30. (1d20+10=17) Bruise + Stun! Yeah!

Will save, vs DC 19 Drain. (1d20+6=25) No drain there! Will save, vs DC 27 Damage. (1d20+6=23) And he goes down the count anyway.

Defense 20, and taking 10 on an attack Wisp would hit that exactly so there's no addition from the autofire. Minion A & B's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+10=15, 1d20+10=27) One survives.

All adds up. I'd point out that a 36 Wis is a +13 modifier, not +12. +5 base Attack is 10 PP, not 5. Looking at his Feats, I'm guessing that KC really has 9 ranks in base Defense and no Dodge Focus? I'd drop a ranks of base Def and grab a rank in DF. It'd be the same mechanically. Also, Knockback needs to be refigured. I... Don't know how you came up with those Toughness and Fortitude saves, but they're both off by 2. Looks good here. Just fix the modifiers for his Wis bonus and note which skills have SM. Ah, so Defensive Roll is where you're getting that +2 to his Toughness. Still needs to be noted. I don't know why you don't have all 11 ranks in that first Mental Blast, since he can afford it. Other than that.... Swimming as a movement power? Really?

Reflex save, vs DC 19 (1d20+5=6) Nope! Again! Will save, vs DC 19 (1d20+6=24) Still not a thing.

GM Ludwig batted Blake's hand away at the last moment and the dust went flying harmlessly. "You're the one trying to protect the dorogoys," he said, wagging his finger at the wizard, "and you go tossing around a bunch of grazhny! Now do you have the keeshkas for a proper bitva, or are you gonna let me shalga put you down right proper?" He demonstrated by leaping to the side, grabbing up his cane, and then charging the young hero again, impromptu club slicing the air with menacing sounds. Apparently his lack of skill was a ruse, though, because he stepped forward lightly and rapped Blake on the top of the head, causing stars to burst in front of the young hero's eyes.

Ludwig's Reflex save, vs DC 19. (1d20+5=9) Yeah, that's... not so much. Ludwig's Will save, vs DC 19. (1d20+6=25) Still not going down! Man! Melee attack roll, vs Warlock's Defense. (1d20+10=30) Ouch. I'm gonna go with the additional effect rule, and put a rank 10 Stun effect on that; give me a DC 20 Will save on top of the DC 25 Toughness, please Warlock.

The trio of heroes trudged through the sewer, flashlights cutting through the murk and the gloom better then Glowstar's powers could. They took what turnings they recognized, trying to puzzle over the worn markings the construction crews had made when the tunnels were first put down; another thing Mr. Archer's eclectic training sessions had covered. They were putting the information to good use now, helping them navigate the subterranean maze. Suddenly, they heard sounds ahead, like claws scraping on stone; the quality of the sound changed, too, almost like it was coming from a much larger space. Glowstar clicked off his flashlight and turned to caution the two women -- that's when the walls exploded in a flurry of flashing claws and lashing tails! Three human-sized beasts threw themselves at the heroes, skin textures changing at the last moment, from an imperceptible match to the pebbled brick to angry orange and bright green stripes. Rather than Goanna and lizard-Mark's scaly forms, these were slick to the touch, almost slimy -- more like amphibians than lizards. Still, they tore into the heroes with uncommon strength. Glowstar found himself overborne and carried to the ground, where his head bounced off a metal pipe. Stars swam before his eyes as the hideous creature tried to bite into his neck, but the teen's sparking force field saved his life. At the very least, it kept him alive long enough to gather some of that ruddy energy into his fist, which he struck into the slick monster with a karate yell. It went flying across the cramped space, impacting wetly on the far wall and sliding to the ground.

Uplifted Minion's attack, first round. Vs Wisp, Changeling, and Glowstar's Defense. (1d20+10=22, 1d20+10=25, 1d20+10=30) Oh god. At least they can't crit. Actually, both Wisp and Changeling are unhit. Only Glows gets smacked around in the first round. Uplifted Minion's attack, second round. Vs Wisp, Changeling, and Glowstar's Defense. (1d20+10=29, 1d20+10=22, 1d20+10=13) Second round, both Wisp and Glowstar get hit. That's it, Uncanny Dodge for Glowstar next month. Okay, one DC 25 Toughness save for Wisp and two for Glowstar. Glowstar's Toughness save, vs DC 25 (1d20+10=29) Glowstar's Toughness save, vs DC 25 (1d20+10=21) Only a Bruise for two very nasty hits. Nice. Initiative order is: Minion A -- Unhurt -- GM Minion B -- Unhurt -- GM Minion C -- Unhurt -- GM Glowstar -- Bruised -- HP x6 Wisp -- Unhurt -- HP x3 Changeling -- Unhurt HPx3 Since Glows is up, he's gonna smack the one on him. Entropic Strike attack roll, vs Minion A's Defense. DC 25 (1d20+10=19) Oh, fff--! Gonna spend an HP on that one, and with the reroll it automatically hits. Minion A's Toughness, vs DC 25 (1d20+10=12) It is down for the count, and Glows is down an HP. Wisp is up.

Initiative for Uplifted Minions. (1d20+30=46, 1d20+30=43, 1d20+30=36) Yes, that's +30. Blame AA, this is his build. Initiative for Glowstar. (1d20+6=21) Not quite good enough.

Roo, can I get a Notice check for Changeling? Glowstar's Notice check. (1d20+8=26) IC continues to love Glows. Stealth check for Uplifted Minions. (1d20+20=40) Yowza.

Okay, idea for Neo-Gen: Protecting the Claremont Campus from an incoming army of Metaceptors! Thoughts, guys? Remember, we have to do this quick!

For this fight, Granny will be using a modified version of Terminus Hero build. No Teleport, but a couple ranks of Flight to let her keep up. Ironclad's Initiative. (1d20+3=7) Granny's Initiative. (1d20+7=11) Owch. Hope those rolls aren't indicative of the whole fight. She starts off with Emotion Control. Feel the fear of the coil! Ironclad's Will save, vs DC 20 (1d20+8=12) Thanks a lot, IC.