KnightDisciple

I'm up for this party.

Nevermore literally cocked his head to the side like a confused bird,or perhaps dog. "Thank you? And while I certainly train for strength it is not my only focus." As she tried to elbow him, he twisted slightly, his arm releasing her throat. The strike skimmed past his side, and then was redirected by his now-free arm. Both of their arms were occupied for several long moments. Then, Nevermore quickly maneuvered her in a quick spin that he complimented with his own rotation, his cape flaring briefly. They ended with him somehow pinning both of her arms behind her with just one of his own, and one of his legs keeping hers split up and off-balance. It was a hold that blended a few martial styles in a curiously efficient manner. "I have several things I wish to protect, so I cannot stop training. As for exotic, well, I hope this is not too uncomfortable, but your presence here is problematic. I promise this won't cause permanent harm." What did he-? And then his free hand lashed out, It landed a series of quick jabs at various points on Weaver's body. The pain would be fairly minimal, but if they proved effective her body would start to slow. It seemed to be a sort of nerve strike, though not so immediately effective that true paralysis was guaranteed; this style "merely" worked to wear down the body's effectiveness until the opponent gave up or went unconscious. "I do find myself saddened you are using the talents and gifts you have for petty larceny. Certainly we could help you achieve greater and more noble ends with your abilities. It seems almost shameful we must fight." He seemed intrigued by this girl! Also he hadn't heard Huang's grumblings.

I see her Kung Fu is not as strong as mine! We shall continue the takedown. Note that Nevermore has both Improved Grapple and Improved Pin. Free Action: Maintain the Grapple: 24. I don't like that. HP Reroll: 26. I believe that would actually become a 36 due to the HP. Free Action: Free a hand (because Improved Grapple!). Standard Action: Damage, DC 23 Toughness Save.

Works well enough I suppose. Thank you.

Okay, so I'm leaning most on Gizmo's suggestions and thoughts, as they're the ones that most closely align with my own on the matter. Freedom League -Mission Control: Bowman -Support: Johnny Rocket, Daedalus, Doctor Metropolis -Part-Time: Siryn, Sri Montoya, Pseudo, -Main Roster: Fleur de Joie, Velocity, Gabriel, Gaian Knight, Comrade Frost, others? -Auxiliary: PCs who are "learning the ropes"?, specialized teams? -Affiliate Teams: Barnstormers, West Coast teams, Liberty League?, UNISON/UNIQUE, etc.? Government-sponsored/directed team: ???? This is a super-rough sketch. But it's basically the idea of what things are/could be once we go through all the in-character work to "shake things up".

Thoughtspeed had turned to pay attention to his grandmother when she expressed distress. He took gentle hold of her hand, starting to walk toward the door. "Right. That's fine, Grandma, that's fine. Let's go. Air is good." He saw the track of her eyes, but didn't want to press; this was getting too heavy for him, he just wanted to focus on being there for his family. And then he got the flashes of memory, and for a split second he stopped walking them to the door. For most folks, it was too little to notice. For Anna, it was supremely obvious. Still, he didn't stop, didn't raise a fuss, and didn't seem to be trying to get the attention of other adults as he continued leading her to the door. "I'm sure your head will clear once we're outside for a minute."

This has been itching at my brain for a bit today, in that I'm a guy who likes organization, systems, and lists. I'll see if I can whip up an outline of how the "team status" will end up here after a little while.

Nevermore had felt stronger hits from bullets, but it was still surprising. The sudden presence of a second thief was more surprising. "Hm. Two thieves. One set of tracks. Clever." His movements deflecting the high-tech flashbang were smooth and quick; it was simply that the mysterious girl was just as quick as he was. It was odd, suddenly finding yourself clashing with someone so close to you in style and capability. As the flash of light died down, his free arm lashed out and caught the extended limb, about midway down her forearm. He pushed up, and ducked his head as he slide behind her, using his existing grip to twist one arm behind her back, while his other arm whipped around her throat, and he used his position to try and bend her backwards a bit, putting her off-balance in his arms. "You are well trained and equipped. You are very impressive." Well, that's an odd thing to say in this situation, but it's clear the growl is perhaps a touch softer than a moment ago, and the tone seems sincere. For a costumed protector of the night, anyway.

Reflex Save: 13. ..You know what, let's see what happens with that.

Spend an HP to negate the Fatigue from the Extra Effort (if you didn't already). Standard Action: Melee Attack to initiate a Grapple: 13. NOPE. Hero Point Reroll: 25. Grapple Check: 26. IC will wait on seeing how successful this is!

Confused where the 2nd Rollover post is coming from? If I legit have 2 rollovers, then I'd like the second one on Nevermore rather than Sun Walker.

DC 22 Toughness Save: 28. DC 15 Reflex Save: 15. Well, he more than aces that Toughness Save,but only squeaks by on the Reflex!

Bowman doesn't really seem like a specifically shadowy-slinker type, though. I mean, he's not wearing neo-bright primary colors, but he doesn't seem like he'd hate the spotlight.

...That's....not really what I meant? I...argh. I knew I screwed up the wording. I'm not sure how to better express what I meant. As for the latter, when you're asking about the "narrative role of the League", do you mean the FL, inclusive of both NPCs and PC, or specifically the NPC section of the FL?

Nevemore's jaw actually dropped open at Coach Archer's words. He seemed genuinely flabbergasted, and the overt display of emotion was all the more shocking for how tightly controlled the young man had been up to that point. He blinked, then shook his head as if to clear it, turning to face the other two students. He regarded them for long moments, before he reached up and pressed on his cowl in a way neither of them quite caught. The whole thing seemed to actually loosen a bit, and with a tug, it was completely removed. The young man before them was now quite clearly of Eastern European descent, his skin bearing a bronzed tone to it, even as they can see his dark hair is currently kept in a tightly-wound ponytail. His face breaks out in a soft smile, and when he speaks, his voice is nowhere near as rough and intimidating as it was before. "My name is Aleksander Garn Nakani. It's nice to meet both of you. I'm sorry for the gruffness earlier; that's..." He stops, his thick brows furrowing for a moment before he shrugs it off. "I get that way. When training. Or in the field. So. Yeah. I'll make sure the Headmistress hears about this, but Archer's just a jerk. He's not even scary. Boss Lady, she's the scary one. Anyway, do you guys want to meet in the cafeteria in a bit to talk over ideas for the future?"

Carson's face might as well be carved from granite, with how little emotion he's let physically show. "Then this boogeyman, or group of boogeymen, won't ever harm any children. That's simply how things will go." His tone is simultaneously intimidating and inspiring; Ray and Ellis felt a slight surge of confidence, that, yes, they can and will stop these monsters before children come to harm. And these monsters, they won't like that. "The only beings for whom this is going to get worse are the boogeymen. So. Do we have a place we can or should go to, to...draw them out? I've never encountered one directly, and my own knowledge is sketchy.Also would be good to know how best to combat this particular pest infestation."

Another thought that's come to me is that the NPC members of the Freedom League can serve as a sort of...hm. "Mouthpiece" feels a bit awkward, but essentially they can be the in-character justification for some of the rules and restrictions that might exist for the Freedom League (and similar groups). I like the idea of broadening the scope of the Freedom League to FLU; perhaps instead of all being Freedom League *Something* members, various existing teams could come to associate with the League overall in time. And if that happens, there are likely to be rules and stuff (which is to say, the general rules and standards for Hero Behavior we set here on the board). To place a level of "insulation" between that process and PCs, we offload the "responsibility" to the NPCs. The "senior members" are the RefTeam, as it were. It's not a 100% perfect point but I hope the idea is getting across? I'm definitely not in favor of completely sweeping away NPC membership in the Freedom League. There's always going to be more going on than just what we see in threads with our PCs; there are so many potent groups and villains and threats out there that it's inevitable. The world, the universe, the multiverse, is populated with more than just the few dozen characters we've created here. I don't see why that can't be reflected in the Freedom League as it is elsewhere. Also I'm not comfortable with implicitly opening up the entire FL NPC roster for AA-style murderizing. :-[p>

Nevermore almost absent-mindedly raised a hand to high-five Robin when it was offered. Then, he took a single step forward. "Adequate performance? We were presented with a vastly-altered scenario that we still overcame without receiving any injuries, at all. We just took down a heavily-armed and well-staffed gun-running operation, one run by two highly competent and deceptively dangerous opponents. Who never got a chance to land a single hit on us. None of us received injuries in the entire simulation. Against sets of foes who are at least one step above regular criminals in Freedom City; some were at the level of First World military personnel. I think we need to redefine our definition of adequate." Another step. "Which entirely puts aside the fact that this was supposed to be an easy scenario because it was never about being pushed to our absolute limits, it was about me meeting and working with two fellow students with at least somewhat similar abilities and skillsets. I explicitly scheduled and cleared this scenario, my scenario, with the Headmaster. This wasn't supposed to be a test." His voice was completely calm, but that was some rather aggressive wording on his part.

From a nearby blue car, there was the sound of a slamming door, and then heavy footsteps. If Triakosia could look over and see, she'd observe Cobalt Templar calmly walking over, his cape flapping slowly in the breeze, arms swinging at his sides (for the moment). "That's good to hear. And I'm sure we can manage something for your civilian self. We know how that goes. Sorry it has to be this way, really." Apologetic or no, he moved to stand just a bit behind and to the side of the surrendering heroine, waiting for the others to come over and help restrain her safely.

Carson blinked at the out-loud mention of animal sacrifice, then shook his head wryly. "Tell you what, I'll regale both of you with the story later." He smoothly followed the other man and the earth-bound angel, his expression going serious as they walked. When Ray explained exactly what they were facing, his face darkened into a scowl, and for a moment the other two men caught the barest edges of a fury given near-physical force. "Have children been attacked?"

I actually like Bowman being the "senior statesmen" (assuming the whole NPC Roster doesn't get AA-ed); if nothing else, he's part of a heroic legacy that stretches back longer than almost any other, except for Midnight (though with a more consistent presence on the "hero scene"). Bolt could shy away from being "Captain Thunder" for a while, and then, well, embrace it. *Shrugs* You know, I'm wondering if it would help us to have a thread where we make heads and tails of all the PC and NPC Super-Teams in the US (since we've got 3 cities now)

Hm, lots of thoughts thrown out today! -I'm not in favor of completely axing the NPCs, but I do think I'm on board with shifting them to a background role. I think there's value in having some semi-static background characters "just in case". -As far as some characters not being "allowed" on the FL, I'd agree with AA that I don't think that's really the case. Edge, Midnight, Wander, they all went and helped form the Liberty League, with others, Partly this was because of the low-level antagonism between them (especially Edge) and the League (mainly Captain Thunder, via Bolt). This concept's been evolving organically since then. Other non-FL teams have sprung up pretty organically, as well. -One thing I like about the Freedom League NPCs is the idea of legacy. We've got several heroes who are 2nd or 3rd to hold the name, or in the case of Captain Thunder and Bolt, likely to pass on the name. Now, I'm obviously biased and benefiting from this, because I'm Batman playing a character who, before long, will pick up the mantle of Raven. But I can see value in having at least some possible links for another Bowman or Archer to come into play. We saw it with Foreshadow, as well. I think it's one of the more exciting aspects of our game here, but it also requires keeping an eye on the "open" legacies such that they can be available for "pick up" after a certain point. One suggestion regarding Freedom League vs Freedom League Auxiliary is to make both PC options. The FL slots would, by and large, go to the existing FLA members; regardless of how much they may spend time on Sanctuary, they're clearly well-respected In and Out of Character, and the PCs are all maxed-out or nearly so. Few can question their might! Meanwhile, this opens up the FLA to be a place for newer PCs to come into, or to attach "part time" members (Comrade Frost could be technically FLA because he's weird he's not technically eligible for full membership). As time passed, PCs could become FL members, and both the FL and FLA could grow. Meanwhile, we do our best to give room for other teams, like the Liberty League, the Castle Ladies, and so on to have adventures and flourish, too. In light of that, I don't think having a perfectly-rounded "roster" is critical for the NPCs, but I do think having 6-10 (or so) for-sure members isn't a bad plan. Plus this could give us an easy place to draw from in the future for Legacies (have I mentioned how I think those are cool?). We can leave the question of who else might be on the roster in flux. It also gives us some flexibility when AA gets his Itch For Murder (c) on.

Probably could toss in vignettes where folks deal with limited or offlined utilities, especially power and phones.

I'm not totally against retiring Thunder, or even having him pull a "staged" retirement (sort of like Raven II is doing). At which point, the question becomes who we'd consider the leader/elder statesman for this team? With Lady Liberty, Raven II, and Captain Thunder all in stages of retirement, and Centurion long-dead, that leaves our Not!Justice League with no Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or Captain Marvel (SHAZAM IS THE WIZARD!) on the roster. I guess there's room to argue for Psuedo or Daedalus, but the latter seems to often be portrayed as so world-weary, and more invested in SPACE! stuff, and the former...I don't actually have a good feel for him? I think this is sort of important, because while these aren't PCs, having points of reference like "this guy is typically the one to speak for the group" is important. I would say Johnny Rocket's a strong contender; he hits the sweet spot of age, power, personability, etc. But if he's more of a Wally West/Bart Allen personality (I don't have a good handle on his portrayal in our universe), I could see that as a point of hesitancy. But I'd say, unless we introduce an NPC hero who's both as old or older than Rocket, those 3 (Pseudo, Daedalus, Johnny Rocket) feel like the strongest contenders. Of course, with Thunder retiring too, and the consistency of any particular Star Knight's presence on the League being shaky (due to OMG SPACE!), it leaves the League a bit thin when it comes to Powerhouse/Paragon types. I think maybe we could look at bringing in a few younger heroes to give the FL some "muscle", while letting the less-overtly-powerful but more-experienced heroes take leadership roles.

Notice Check: 24.