Supercape

1d20+4=14 its down. Rene will now respond by wrapping one in chains... for questioning! Taking 10 to hit is an automatic hit. Reflex save vs 18 1d20+5=24 Yoikes! he dodges that, and takes a swipe back at Rene 1d20+3=9 Missing. Marcus is up again. If you choose to swipe him, I have noticed it cannot make toughness save, so you can automatically KO the last beast!

Nicks death sense is tingling! There is an old graveyard "out back" with more corpses than headstones... many unmarked graves from the civil war. For info, Rene is going to try bribing the barman for info. Wealth 2 will give him +4 to the Roll. 1d20+10=16 Thats enough for some basic information. Nick is welcome to try some tactics too, we shall see who gets best results - (you may try intimidate for instance!)

Rene entered the Bar with Nick, and true to his word, it was full of slumped drunkards of all ages, and a barely less drunk bartender. The place smelt, as Nick had guessed, of whisky, and not the expensive stuff. And not just whisky, but sweat and odours that spoke of all the dressings that come with the down and out drunk. Rene and Nick hardly fitted in, but the customers could hardly be bothered, and neither could the barman. If people paid up, they were fine by him. "Two whisky's, garcon, siv vou plait. " asked Rene politely, with a Smile, slapping down far more money than was necessary. "And the pleasure of your conversation".

"Got who?" replied Slick "...I mean, who was she?" He dropped the wooden sword he had been brandishing. Fat lot of good it had done. But then, dealing with Ghost's was not his thing. If a ghost she was, which was yet to be determined. Don't jump to conclusions, he told himself.

"Fiddlesticks" muttered Supercape, shocked at the force of the boulder, but also noting the creature was able to adapt and improvise - presumably it had some basic intelligence. Whilst he would dearly love to have tried to communicate with the creature, having rocks thrown at him wasn't the best start. The thing needed to be rendered safe first. Again, he reached out with his mind and started to unpick the molecules of the creature, searching for some weakness he could exploit - the thing was so dynamic in form it was no easy task. And he couldn't help but notice the ominous sounds that grew nearer and nearer...

OH dear, something underground me fancies - I knew I should have got penetrating on my Radar Senses! Anyway, I'll try that Drain Toughness attack again. Seems the best bet. DC 20.

Rene cursed himself for not paying more attention. He had been enjoying grumbling too much. In truth, his hips were twinging a bit. And now, one of the man-beasts had clonked him over the head with a powerful swipe and had sunk his teeth into his arm. Fortunately, his protective Talisman flared reactively, its mystic power warding of tooth and fang. If not, an altogether different type of claret would be decorating the forest. His young friend had been much more keen and alert, and his staff had been equally keen - the blow sending one of the beasts sprawling into a tree, nearly splitting it with the force, and knocking the creature out cold.

Well, its easy enough to hit them! You can actually take 10 to automatically hit. 1d20+4=10 And its down! The two others: one will attacks a flat footed Rene 1d20=12 +3 is 15, +2 for flat footed is 17, which hits... 1d20+8=28 Rene shrugs off... thats the kind of roll I could use later on! The other Man Beast swipes at Marcus 1d20+3=14 and misses! Marcus is up again

Rene was already taking a look inside the bar with his Mind's eye. "Several drinkers, some ne'er to do wells. The barman and maids look little better. It looks a little rough, but they are going to be too drunk to do much. I cant see our nemesis, but as you say, he may well have shielded himself against scrying. " He hopped out of the car. "Perhaps we should buy everyone a drink? hmmm.... what is the poison of choice at these establishments?" he brought out his wallet - which was fortunately full (Rene was a wealthy man) - and started to walk into the Bar.

Once again, Rene felt the crushing forces on his body wane, and this time they did not reappear. He would have plummeted to the ground were it not for the robe of mists he wore, which let him glide like a zephyr. Still incandescent with his adversary, Rene summoned forth an equally furious bolt of fire from the ceiling of the circus that arced towards the Juggler, sweeping past him and circling round. A bit reckless of me... he noted. He was perhaps distracted not so much by his predicament but by the words of the performers. Or, he wondered... one performer. Was it a group mind?

Its not going to be anything flashy, another bolt of Fire... This time I will shift it +2 Damage, -2 Attack... 1d20+6=8 Misses. I will reroll 1d20+6=8 is 18, not much better but I will see how it does - even if it misses, it can home in next round.

"Yes indeed" replied Supercape. He wasn't quite sure how to address the visitor. Personally, he was a fairly staunch anti-royalist, despite being English. It didn't sit too well with his socialist and humanitarian philosophical principles. On the other hand, his visitor was Swedish... the home of socialism that worked. "The Lab receives funding from pretty much everywhere. Governments, companies, institutions, charities. Its remit is pretty simple - protect and serve. We protect the world from bad science, or from problems needing a scientific solution, and we serve the world in trying to further science, applying science to try and improve the conditions, security, and livelihood of the planet". "This is just the Expo hall. The first few floors are public. Mainly PR, but with meeting and business rooms for all our public work, some low key science and engineering equipment mainly for demonstration. The real work is done in the upper levels and lower levels and is restricted. Here, you will need a pass..." he gave the visitor an electronic key card to wear round his neck.

Arc is up first then: Suprise round, so a Standard action only, although the man-beasts are in melee range (and are minions)

At the "Dead Good" Bar Rene appreciated the car. The automobile, as he informed Nick, was one of the finer points of the twentieth century. He even liked the smell of petroleum. And, he conceded, Nick's ride had class. Not to his personal taste of course - but he appreciated the thing had artistic merit. The bar itself was as run down as a bar could get. The sign was hanging off, and only half the letters were illuminated in cheap Neon. It was all dust, rot, and cheap electrics. A bar for the down and outs. It was probably well named, as its resident drunkards wern't far away from being dead themselves. "Merde! what a hovel! I love it!" smiled Rene "I wish I had my easel. It would make a fine painting!"

GM "Wha..." was Kunckles only response. The ectopasmic fist caught him squarely on the jaw. A normal uppercut he would have dodged, and a normal uppercut he would have probably shrugged off, but the mystic force behind Nick's weird talons was more than any boxer was trained to counter, and his eyes rolled back. He slumped to his Knees, and then fell face forward, unconscious.

1d20+4=14 I think thats KO!

Supercape wondered what to wear. On the one hand, whilst in the Lab, he normally wore his "Super Lab" costume, a brilliant white lab coat instead of his cape, with the normal blue and white motif of mask and body coverings. He could always go in full Supercape costume. The visitor today looked more business like. He briefly experimented with a white suit, his costume shimmering and altering form in a blink of an eye. He eventually settled back on the Superlab costume. Well, he was representing the Lab, after all. Taking the Lift, after deciding that teleporting would be disorientating for all involved (including himself) he briefly studied up on his visitor. Intelligent, fluent in several languages (Supercape couldn't speak Swedish, although he had visited there for the Nobel prize) and aristocracy none the less. He stepped out to the ground level, the massive expo hall. A few other visitors were there, who pointed excitedly at him. He nodded politely, and made his way to greet the newest visitor the to Lab. "Baron Magnus Vilhelm Katastrof! welcome to the Lab!" he said with a broad grin, offering his hand.

Initiative Rolls then please! 1d20=19 for Rene, forgetting to add his +2, makes 21. Enraged Werewolves [Werwolf Template, with Rage feat +6 STR, +3 Fort/Will, -2 Def lasts 10 rounds] Attack +3, Damage +6 [bite], Defence +0, Toughness +4, Fort +9, Reflex +5, Will +5, Initiative +6 1d20+6=15 for the lesser beasts!

Just tossing this one up for thinking about. I emphasise thinking about rather than doing! so thoughts please! FC now has quite a few active mystic characters by which I mean characters whose powers are magic and actually use magic as per magicians / sorcerers / whatevers rather than just have "magical" as descriptors: as far as I can tell its Nick C [Trollthumper] Rene DeS [Myself] Marcus / Arcturus [Granspear ZX] Warlock aka Kid Cthullu [Lonestar] Etain [Aioroo] I may be missing some - or more! I was wondering if there was any millage in having these characters meet up at some point for a social thread, in a manner similar (not identical) to Dok A's Braniac Brunch? Any thoughts or ideas?

Rene huffed and puffed but was able to keep up as Marcus followed some kind of trail. Of course, he took the oppurtunity to moan about every ailment he could think of, both real ones and ones he made up. "These hills, they are playing devil on my chicken-swahili disease, you know... I'm an old man...." Enjoying himself as he was - the view was magnificent, the exercise invigorating, and the making up of imaginary ailments amusing, he was distracted, and didn't pick up on the threat. His mind's eye would normally have detected the ambush. A rustling, a roar, and three man-beasts, all fur, fangs, and claws, jumped from the foilage at the heroes!

Quentin finally spied someone he recognised - probably everyone recognised him - Doktor Archeville. He wandered off to greet the scientist, nodding politely to some guests as he did so, wondering if he knew any of them in alternate identities: as heroes who regularly saved Freedom City. Something about Archeville's accent always made him mindful to speak in German himself, he wasn't quite sure why, perhaps he thought the Doktor would find it more comfortable, although he seemed fluent enough in English (and probably half the dialects of the world, given his intellect). "" he greeted the scientist in German. " He obviously knows their 'other' identities...

Ok its ambush time! Both Rene and Arcturus have Danger Sense so if you could make a notice roll DC 15 1d20+8=12 Fail for Rene, he will be surprised...

"Very wise!" agreed Supercape "Powering the simulator suite down then" he said, as the room entered a dimly lit state that indicated its inactive, power-conserving mode. It looked like a scene from TRON. With a wobble and blur, Supercape suddenly appeared before Marcus, and shook his head briefly. He always found teleportation a little disturbing to his orientation. "Well, there you go. A grand tour of the Lab! lots of other stuff too, but its all science mumbo jumbo and you strike me as a more practical kind of student. We are always aourd to help the Students of Claremont for field trips and the like - its a welcome distraction sometimes".

The creature looked like it could eat radiation for breakfast, noted Supercape. He changed tactic a little, honing down his perception to the molecular structure of the thing, and tugging away at the atomic forces that bound the creatures molecular structure, loosening them slightly. If he could find a crack in its armour, he could at least slow it down before some idiot Frat boy got swallowed up and became fodder for the core. And the situation was looking more serious by the minute, if the noise and commotion he could hear in the distance was any indication...

Ok I'll see what we get from a Drain Toughness ATtack 10. Again Perception Range, DC 20 this time Rules, unfortunately, do not make it clear which would "Ping" first, the secondary effect of blast or the Drain Toughness (clearly the drain first would be more advantageous, but I would guess the secondary effect might take precedence - I'll leave that for you to call).