Raveled

"I don't know! I was on my home, in the chier Terminus, and then I was here. I didn't expect to be underground!" She looked around, breathing heavily as she calmed down. "Wait, is this a graveyard?" A voice shouted in the distance, and the girls turned to see a figure in a heavy robe hurrying towards them. Cerys recognized it as one of the village's guards, noticing the stranger and responding. Tona noticed the figure soaring far ahead, angling in to swoop lower. A figure in red, spiky armor, wielding a strange, glowing spear.

Tona followed Sam, falling a bit behind as the former(?) thief rushed ahead. It seemed an odd mindset, to let go of one's victories so easily -- and then to let those victories be displayed somewhere else, by the person you stole them from! The young archer could only liken it to someone claiming a kill she had made, and touting it as the greatest victory in history. She certainly wouldn't stay quiet if that happened to her! And then the whole world seemed to catch up with them. Mr. Landis tried to set a schedule (and had Tona remembered her watch?) but soon there were brown-uniformed security guards rushing the group. Tona tired to step between their weapons and Sam, but before long they were surrounded. Her mind immediately flipped into combat mode; Mali can take three, don't know about Elias and Serge. Assume one apiece. That leaves... too many for me. Okay, new plan. Get shadows, Sam gets everyone away...

Blue Jay felt the air above her whipped back and forth, as the black knives danced down the hall and the stun shells thundered in return. She managed to get her legs underneath herself and sprang to her feet, landing with her bowstring already at full draw. One, two, three arrows were loosed before she made a break for it, not too proud to duck behind cover. There was a flurry of sparks, and silence. Jay stuck her head out again and noticed the autogun hanging limply from its mount; after a moment, she noticed several severed strips of circuitry hanging loose, severed by her arrows. With that threat neutered, Jay approached the elevator again. She fished the stone out of her pocket and held it up her mouth, speaking into it. "Crow. Thanks for the save, but a warning is better."

Okay. Using Skill Mastery to get Instant Up. Using Arrow Flurry w/ All-Out Attack and Power Attack, then running behind cover. Vwee hee hee! Blue Jay's ranged attack w/ +2/-2 All-Out Attack and +5/-5 Power Attack, vs Turret. DC 25 + Autofire (1d20+13=30) Damn straight.

Jay's Fort save, vs DC 22. (1d20+8=21) RIGHT IN THE EYE!

Happy Birthday, HG. May Dionysus bring the party favors, may Apollo bring the guests, may Athena bring the presents, and may Zeus and Hera overlook your actions today.

Blue Jay examined the inside of the elevator, not wanting to be caught out by a trap or camera if she could avoid it. She cursed when the guns dropped out of the hallway behind her; she was already inside of a trap! Now she just had to be good enough to avoid. She almost was. The agile archer pushed off the side of the elevator, getting every last bit of speed she could. As the turrets fired she was already airborne, twisting and presenting the thinnest profile she could to the automated weapons. One volley of darts passed under her, but the other caught her square in the midsection, stitching a line up her ribs. She was prepared for the pain, but she wasn't prepared for the electrical surges through her body, causing her muscles to spasm randomly. She landed wrong, too heavily on one side because the opposite leg was curled up underneath her. She tried to correct, failed, and bounced her head off the floor. The room went fuzzy, and her limbs felt like they were a world away. Nevertheless the young woman focused, trying to fight through the pain, aware that if she was too exposed, another attack could finish her.

Jay's Fort save, vs DC 22. (1d20+8=16) Whelp. Using HP to get a -- Jay's Fort save, vs DC 22. HP Reroll (1d20+8=10) WHELP! At least it's a minimum of 19, so it's only a Daze.

Also getting the too-full error. As I understand it our chat is hosted on a separate server, so I don't know how much Sorus can do for this.

"Not autonomous," Jessica reminded him, staring out over the water. "Remotely piloted humaniform drones. If they were autonomous, this would be a lot easier." In the middle of the cluster of tents, a half dozen young people reclined in padded chair/beds, and were suddenly much more aware of the ungainly movements of their robotic dopplegangers. Jessica was nevertheless animated, moving from monitor to monitor as she tried to watch all the feeds at once. "Fraydel, don't move too fast, you're making too much silt. Oded, watch that ridge. You don't want to have to right the unit underwater." Even as she was speaking, her eyes were straying to the steps left by the drones. "Baron," she called over, fingering her bracelet. "Can you watch this group?" There was a flash of light, and suddenly Ironclad was shining in the bright sunlight. "I want to watch things more closely."

GM "You will thank me one day," said a voice in his ear. El Heraldo propelled himself through the air, cutting through the clouds over the crystal-clear waters, following the curve of the islands to his homeland. As he neared, however, he couldn't help but notice the clouds thickening, growing heavier and darker. Invisible pressure built up around him, and in the space of a few minutes he was flying through a thunderstorm. Even his limited experience told the young paragon this was outside the realm of nature; was this part of the Atlanean's plans?

Tona let herself be pulled along by Sam, glancing at the exhibits but not really taking much in. Museums seemed to have so much reading in them, and so little experience. She would rather be out in the world, being around something alive, than crawling through a building full of dead things. Something did catch her interest. "If you had all this stuff before," Tona asked, temporarily putting on the breaks, "why do you want to see them now? Didn't you see enough of them when you owned them?"

I'd like greater clarification on exactly what Detect Weather means. Weather is, technically, all around us at all times. It sounds like the only way this would be useful is out in the vacuum of space, to detect planets.

Ironclad Blue Jay >Field Trip: Chicago >In the Shadow of Sin (Gold) >Changing Times, Changing Minds >Good Food, Good Friends GM

"Ice cream is dangerous," Tona pointed out, resisting the urge to smile at Sam's purposfully goading of the teacher. Not the smartest decision, probably, but Dupont did seem to be overstating the danger. "Don't worry about tracking them. I'm here, I can stay with them." Or destroy them, as needed. Tona wasn't sure what this exercise would actually show. Elias and Sam had abilities she didn't that much was true, but would they be useful against things that weren't alive, that didn't have minds to trick? Well at least Sam would be able to get them close to wherever the robots were sttacking, that would be useful.

1. If one views a role playing game as mix of role-playing (story telling focus) and game (tactical challenge focus), what kind of mix do you like? I really like the tactical element; I blame early exposure to D&D. I do recognize that without story stuff, though, there isn't much point to do the tactical stuff. I suppose it'd be a pretty even split. 2. Our site operates a policy that no PC should die without player permission. Failure, however, is another matter. A villain could get away, an innocent (or beloved) could die, calamity could happen, your PC could get the snot beaten out of him and humiliated (publicly or privately). How do you feel about the prospect of failure? What chance of failure would you like, and what type of failure would you tolerate, expect, or indeed wish? I am fine with the villain getting away, even as a result of bad dice rolls. If it's a result of bystanders getting hurt or dying, I'd prefer to discuss it beforehand. I'm okay with it happening, but I don't want it coming out of the blue. 3. Superheroes have great power, the power to impose their will upon the world. This can mean the chance to escape the moral complexities of the world, or it can mean even greater moral complexities. What do you want? Do you like your antagonists as well defined, clear-cut evil, or your antagonists (and protagonists) to be more ambiguous, greyscale and three dimensional? (we should note that this site does not condone vigilantes or the like) At the end of the day, I don't want to worry and angst over whether or not my PCs beat up a good guy. I don't necessarily mind antagonists whose motivation is in the grey, but their actions, at least, should be clearly reprehensible. 4. This site is unambiguously about superheroes. However, within those parameters, there is a fairly wide canvas. Three main categories that formed are the combat focus, The investigative focus, and the Social focus (which does not necessarily mean just chatting and making friends, but social conflict too). There are other themes and sub-themes, too many to mention here. Do you have any thoughts or preferences about themes? How much combat would you like in a thread, for instance? How would you feel if combat could be avoided by a subtle approach? I view everything that involves a dice roll or a challenge on the road to success to be an Obstacle. I don't mind how Obstacles are structured or presented, as long as it is something the PCs can overcome. 5. Finally, do you have any other comments on what your priorities or preferences are in playing a RPG, and more specifically, a superhero RPG? I like huge displays of power. While there can be good stuff in a fist-fight between normal humans, I'm really drawn to the over the top action set-pieces; Superman using a UFO as a bludgeon against a kaiju, or the Flash running through a city to disarm a dozen bombs in the space between clockticks.

The vehicles pulled up to the impromptu encampment and Farber waved to several of the young people, and as soon as the car stopped Jessica was out and looking at the equipment under the tents. Computer towers and flatscreen monitors, though there were several digital oscilloscopes stacked next to each other. The young girl rubbed her hands, her eyes dancing at the sight of so many toys. "Okay. Let's get set up." "No no, you need to keep the waveline above five hertz. We're transmitting through water on a wireless signal, we need a strong carrier." "Arm actuator needs to be blown out and reset. Find me a fifteen millimeter hex-head wrench and a can of WD-40. Just be very careful about which bits you spray." "Well, if it's cracked use some duct tape." "Ooo, lumbar support. I approve." Hours later, five students were sitting in office chairs with glasses over their eyes and gloves on their hands. Their hands twitched, and five robots stumbled and lurched in the vague direction of the water. Jessica watching it all, beaming like a proud parent. She turned to Magnus and pushed a lock of hair out of her face, absently smearing herself with grease. "Well, that was a good start," she said. "Now we'll just have to see how much they fall down once they're underwater!"

"Mr. Golding also can't kill with a look," Tona pointed out. "You have to forget what you think you know about him. If you keep treating him as an insurance agent, he might just kill you." She unshipped her pack and pulled out a thermal blanket, which she made sure to lay on a stretch of dry floor. "Make sure to get something between you and the ground, or you'll wake up cold and sore," she added. She sat on the ground, glad for a moment to stretch. "So do you usually go into the wilderness to track people down?"

"Fire can also be seen," Tona pointed out. "Rule of thumb, a light can be seen from twice as far away as it helps you to see." She looked up at the sky, frowning into the storm. "We could do something, though." The archer cast about for a bit, and eventually called Cord over to what looked like any other snowdrift. She plunged into the powder-dusted underbrush and quickly came out in a cave. There were a few ramshackle chairs scattered about and a broken table; in warmer months, this would be a very handy hideout for young children, but for now it served to keep them out of the cold. Tona reached into her pocket and pulled out an LED flashlight, being careful to point it at the floor when she lit it. "No fire," she said, "but it's out of the wind." She stamped around, doing her best to stay warm. "No one should find us, even if they are looking for us." She was quiet for a moment before continuing. "So... do you hunt for people a lot, Agent Cord?"

Tona rolled her eyes at the tactics on display. Rigid strategy could win through overwhelming numbers and firepower, but it could also be undone by surprise and subversion. And they had a telepath, an illusionist, and herself on the job. "Do we know where the 'bots are going to attack next? It's a big city, and there are a lot of banks around." Mentally she was already planning out an attack, given what was known; attack the joints and locomotive centers of the bishops and get the whole operation hung up. Get other 'bots between themselves and the kings, try to catch the enemy in their own traps.

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield." Deflect seems to be one of those powers that new players are drawn to, and in a way it's easy to see. Captain America, one of the most iconic modern superheroes, has reflecting attacks off his impervious shield as a major part of his powerset, not to get into stories of martial artists deflecting bullets with their weapons or their bare hands. It's a powerful image, and powerful images can be a good thing to start you building a character. It's just too bad that Deflect is terrible at its job. "All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield!" This is not a discussion on the applicability of negating attacks by redirecting the energy. This is strictly a mechanical look at the Deflect power. So let's start crunching some numbers. For one PP per rank, Deflect allows you to attempt to negate an attack made by melee attacks, slow ranged weapons (arrows, thrown weapons), or fast ranged weapons (energy bolts, bullets). Additional damage types can be bought as a +1 Extra apiece, so if you want complete coverage Deflect will cost you 3 PP/rank. Deflect requires you to take a standard action to 'ready' it on your turn, robbing your character of the chance to attack, or buff his allies, or debuff the opposition, or protect bystanders, or a whole lot of things. Buying that cost to a Move action is a +1 Extra; a Free action is a further +1 and lets you take both a Move and Standard action on your turn, but you still have to declare that you are using Deflect. Buying Deflect down to a Reaction lets you use it whenever you're not surprised, even if you haven't declared it yet, and costs a further +1. Further, the mechanics of Deflect is that you are essentially making an opposed roll, of your power rank vs. the attack bonus of the enemy. To get a Free action Deflect that covers all damage types is 5 PP/rank, and a Reaction Deflect is 6 PP/rank. Ten ranks of that is 60 PP, more than a third of a starting PL 10 character's budget. Reflection is a further +1 PP/rank, bringing Captain America's shield up to a total of 60 or 70 PP, depending on whether he could run with shielding himself or not. "If he's led to a fight and a duel is due..." An expensive option, and one with a very viable alternative. Reflective is a new Extra for Toughness that was introduced in Ultimate Power. Reflective requires Impervious Toughness, so worst-case scenario it is 2 PP/rank, up to your PL or Toughness bonus, whichever is lower; let's assume you have +10 Toughness. How Reflective works is, if you are hit by an attack which does not overcome your Impervious, it is immediately reflected back at the attacker, who has to save against half the effect (so a Rank 10 Damage effect becomes Rank 5). However, like Deflect, Reflective has a bit of a higher buy-in if you want it to cover everything. Reflective at +1 PP/rank only covers ranged or melee damage (or another suitably broad descriptor, like fire or weapons). To get coverage from all damage requires +2 PP/rank. On top of Impervious, that makes it +3 PP/rank. With Toughness 10, that's 30 PP. "The red and the white and the blue come through!" In conclusion, with Deflect you are paying 60 or 70 PP to have the chance of making a power check to maybe reflect an attack back at its source. With Reflective Toughness, you are paying 30 PP to do send the attack back automatically, albeit at half strength. I don't think a full-strength attack is worth more than one-third of a character's starting budget. So there you have it. Deflect vs. Reflective Toughness. Now, if you want Deflect over Reflective, all to the good -- it's ultimately your character, and as long as all the points line up with our house rules and the official rules, no one can tell you that you can't play your character a particular way. But hopefully this little discussion will get you rethinking how to build that vibranium shield. "When Captain America throws his mighty shiiiiiiiiield!"

A super-soldier generally has excellent physical stats, so it's odd that this guy has only 14s in those. His exotic saves are pretty low. In general a character's exotic saves should average out to PL - 2, but some archetypes bump them up higher. Deflect is a useless power. I can do the points breakdown if you'd like, but suffice to say that Reflective Toughness gets the job done a thousand times better. In conclusion, a first pass would drop Deflect and the energy blades for some Enhanced Str and Con. Bump those up to about +7 or +8, and fill out the rest of the caps either with trade-offs or maybe some Devices.

"There you go. Find someone who can throw me across the city. Then I'll wear a dress." For a challenge like that, Tona probably would go far enough to wear a dress. Not without complaining, of course, but she'd wear it. The cards certainly seemed to be turning against the young archer. She drew a steady stream of Alien Invaders and fed them into the claws of Kristen's dinosaurs and the blades of Sam's ninjas. She managed to get a Wench down and secure a spot, but her deck was feeling colder and colder. She sat back and fixed Sam with a glare. "I am not betting against you, unless it's under a spot-light."

Tona squirmed at her full name, and began dreading the assignment almost immediately. Dupont was no one's favorite teacher, and he seemed about ready to talk them straight through the mission rather than let them actually do it. Thankfully, he eventually wound down -- not without dropping a cryptic maybe-threat, though. That made the archer bristle, and she folded up he paper without even reading it. "Go into town. Find robots. Break robots. Break the guy who makes robots. I can do that, yeah."

"Don't have to spend money to get me in a dark room, you know," Tona said, half-jokingly. Internally she was conflicted. This was Sam's city, and spending more time with Sam was of course a good thing, but plays always seemed rather flat to her when they studied them in school. How in the world could someone like Shakespeare write in the same language as everyone else and be so hard to understand? Wait. Ballets were fancy, right? "Hm. Only really have jeans and shirts." She shot Sam a sideways look. "Is this just an excuse to make me wear fancy stuff?"