KnightDisciple

It's working now, but that was a good 30 minutes of saying Chat was too full. Which was extremely odd. Just an FYI.

So, just tried to open chat, getting this error: Oops! Something went wrong! [#CSTART-6] The IP.Chat room limit has been reached. You will not be able to join the chat room until some users first leave. Need Help? Our help documentation Contact the community administrator Anyone else getting this? My tab at the top says only 4 people are in chat, that seems low for a limit...

(GM Post) Remote Laboratory Facility, Mountains, Sweden, Europe Monday, November 11, 6pm Local Time Anyone who knew Baron Katastrof wasn't truly shocked at what had happened. The man was methodical, safety-conscious, detail-oriented when needed, and demanded rigorous testing standards. He was also young, hideously intelligent, occasionally obsessive, and had a near-fanatical need to prove himself "worthy", not just of his place as head of his father's company, but also his place as a "super-scientist" in a world already brimming with them. Miss Americana had heard he'd been on the polar expedition to the remains of the Curator's ship. Archetech had had representatives there, and the Doctor himself had teleconferenced in. It wasn't known to the world, but basically everyone who had high-end scientific know-how and the trust of most of the world had been there. The place was a near-literal goldmine of data, materials, and technology samples. There'd been so many "dead" Curator drones you could practically build an office building out of them, and they were physically intact. Everybody had taken quite a few home, and Katastrof and Sorenson Technologies was no exception. They'd been careful, of course; all the Curator tech was set up in a couple of isolated lab buildings in the mountains, purpose-built a few years ago for handling "dangerous samples". The two sites were connected by 1 single tunnel with multiple security doors, and each site had internal and external airlocks, negative-pressure air systems, and a whole host of other standard and esoteric features. In the last couple of months, the primary site (where all the actual tests occurred, rather than storage at the connected site) had even received an extra dose of security in the form of magical wards, with the secondary site slated to receive them in a few weeks, thanks to discrete efforts from some contact or another of the Baron's. Which was all well and good, until one day every drone in the secondary site woke up and started moving on their own power, and suddenly the evacuation was underway and complete within 20 minutes. The staff was all set to use the emergency measures (which was to say, special explosive charges that would reduce both complexes to ash-filled holes in the mountain without disturbing anything else) when they realized one critical thing. The Baron had visited that morning and was not outside. That was Friday. On Sunday, the company had had no success penetrating the even-more-upgraded security, and, not wanting the matter to make regular public news (and thus strike a terrible blow against the reputation of KST), they made a couple of discrete calls. Which was why a small group of intelligent, talented heroes who focused on metal and wire technology found themselves standing on a tarmac at the foot of a mountain, the sun sinking below the horizon, and armed guards standing nervously to one side.

OOC thread for Miss A, Dragonfly, and Harrier going to help the Baron out after he gets in too deep thanks to SCIENCE!!! >Here is the IC thread. Feel free to ask questions. If you want to have made a check or two beforehand, let me know, and I'll tell you what might have worked out.

Gabriel takes in the scene, trying to figure out what's going on. At first, nothing really makes sense beyond "fear and resignation". Then a couple little things added up. The smell. The cups. Their expressions. His face blanched, and immediately his voice echoed out to the agents on the street. "I need medics in the safe room, now! Whatever they've got that can deal with poison, likely cyanide! Possibly taken as soon as the darkness fell, or sooner! Ingested as liquid!" He didn't know much about medicine, but those seemed the relevant facts. His voice became normal, and he gave Carol a pained look as he took a single step forward. "No. I will not murder you. Please, everyone, try to remain calm. Help is on the way."

Cobalt Templar seems much relaxed when not just STAR Squad, but Captain Thunder showed up. 'Seems like he can be a jerk sometimes, though.' No matter. At the elder hero's question, CT glanced at the others before speaking up. "Well, Stratos made an entrance with a big lightning bolt to land in the bank. I didn't catch everything, but he was trying to play himself as Zeus out looking for cash or something. Starchaser here came in first, I was right after, and Glow backed us up after that. Banter back and forth in character, then I tried to punch him and told him to "get off this planet". He flipped out, which I guess is my bad, and tried to fry everything. We managed to contain it, though my hair's a bit crispy under the helmet." He was at the proverbial ground zero for that one. "The woman with him, playing Hera, made some comment about how he was off the Crime League before getting out of Dodge. I tried to punch him again, Stratos stood there feeling sorry for himself, and Starchaser held him down. And, uh, here we are." He gives a shrug, surveying the scene and his fellow heroes. "Honestly? Whole thing was pretty weird. Not going to lie."

Notice Check: 27. Sense Motive: 32.

"Come on in!" bellowed down the hall when the doorbell rang. Corbin was in the kitchen, just finishing the cooking. He raised an eyebrow at the state of Trevor and Erin as they walked in, a slightly-amused smile creeping up on him. "Sounds like a win for the home team to me." He tilted his head to the side a bit, a thoughtful look on his face for a moment. "If you guys want to rinse off and change, Trevor ought to find some of my older stuff fits decently, and you should be able to get into something of my mom's, Erin. She's about an inch shorter and can't bench-press a semi, but it shouldn't be too bad. It'll give the meat time to cool down, and you can toss the clothes in the washing machine. It runs pretty quick, so you shouldn't be stuck here all day or anything. Worst case you could just bring the clothes back later anyways." 'Assuming you want to ever speak to me again or are otherwise not creeped out.'

As soon as Stratos was properly grappled and restrained, Cobalt Templar reverted to his normal (though still large) form, a frustrated expression on his face. It was likely he'd wanted to punch Stratos and have it actually do something. It was that kind of day, after all. Still, he gave the bank manager a smile as he shook hands, though he did lean down to whisper in their ear. "Get the cops here ASAP and make sure they know who we've got." Then he went back to schmoozing with the crowd. Lots of polite smiles and handshakes, all while keeping a bit of his attention on Stratos. The whole matter didn't sit right with him, but perhaps it was just a falling-out from Stratos having been even MORE crazy the last year or so.

Gabriel returned the hate-filled gaze of the Erote with nary a twitch. His response was a single word. "Unlikely." When they were gone, he turned and walked over to Harrier, concern on his face, before turning to the AEGIS agents. "Do any of you have medical training? If not, could you get an ambulance here? My friend will need attention, and Agent Dumfries will likely need a thorough checkup. His pacemaker went out for a moment a little while ago." He turned to the shadow paragon and her companions, frowning. "I didn't catch your names. Or a better description of where you're from, or just why you were here. Or how those two convinced you this was a good move."

Cobalt Templar >Reunions and Waffles: 2 IC Posts >Swan Fever: 4 IC Posts Total: 6 IC Posts Gabriel >After the End: 9 IC Posts Fenris >Shadows of History: 1 IC Post Gabriel's posts roll over to Cobalt Templar.

Baron Katastrof's own sleeves were rolled up, having helped out with a couple things, though somehow he'd stayed fairly immaculate. He grinned at Jessica's enthusiasm. "Yes, well, that's how one learns to remote pilot an autonomous humanoid robot, isn't it? Falling down a whole lot. But I think they'll pick it up quickly. They're all bright kids, and you've made an excellent user interface. It'll smooth out soon enough. I'm just glad you had so many rolls of the aircraft-grade duct tape. I shudder to think how little the cheap store stuff would do to help us."

The giant made of fire was breathing heavily, a couple of sparks leaping from his feet to the ground before he settled down for a moment. Then Stratos had the sheer, unmitigated gall to complain because he was too crazy for the Crime League. The sheer disregard for human life...the overflowing ego...the flash of light...the noise. The knight in fiery blue armor saw red. All of the sudden he was in Stratos's face, his bulk between the villain and the crowd. His huge arm was rocketing forward even as he roared out with his booming, slightly echo-y voice. "You can fall down you waste of space! I'm tired of garbage like you threatening people! FALL!" It was almost like he was starting to go somewhere else, at least for a moment there...

So, huzzah! Civilians saved! But that was pretty intense, and Cobalt Templar's not been in a lot of super-fights since he got back from where he was. So now he's on edge... Enough to attack! Free Action: All-Out Attack 5. Defense Bonus is now +2, Attack Bonus is now +12. Standard Action: Giant Punch to Stratos! Free Action: Yell at Stratos! Move Action: Keep CT between Stratos and the civilians. Attack Roll: 24. DC 32 Toughness Save!

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 prefer a mix that tends toward an even split, as this isn't a no-rules freeform game. We have rules and stats for a reason! That said, some variance is fine. 70-30 Story-Game, or 60-40 Game-Story, are about what I'd say would still be fun. What's more fun for me is doing the crunchy game stuff, then giving my own fluffy story-character spin in the IC thread. 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'm pretty okay with my hero taking a beating (poor Gabriel used to get near-killed in every other vignette or solo thread or whatnot). A villain escaping is just another chance for plots later! Humiliation's a bit trickier, and I think it'd depend on what kind of humiliation (so it'd take a discussion first). "Calamity" is kind of vague; a villain not only escaping, but getting the gizmo/plan/document/money/jewels/whatever they wanted? Sure, that can happen. Villains taking over a country should probably be a discussion with Refs. Deaths, be they of bystanders or loved ones, should be pretty darn rare, and in the latter case very thoroughly discussed. I'd say 10-20% overall "failure" rate. 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) I myself believe that Good and Evil are definite concepts, so I like stories that lean more that direction. I don't mind varied, complex backstories and motivations, but "good guy fighting good guy" (assuming it's not Mind Control or EVIL ROBOTS) should, in my mind, always end up being a team-up thread (in classic comic tradition). Someone like Magneto has some sympathetic ideas, but is ultimately not a good guy, because of what he does to try and achieve those ideas. As well, heroes shouldn't be so bad you're questioning why they aren't working for bad guys. That said, reformed villains are a pretty awesome hero idea, so genuine new-leaf-turning is always cool! 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 like a mix of all those ideas. Taking Gabriel for example, he can investigate (by talking around and getting clues from what people have heard and seen), social (dimplomancing, as well as getting a read on people), and also fight. Not every thread needs to do all 3, but I like to do all 3 with any character if possible. I don't need combat in every thread, but if there is combat I generally like at least a few rounds of it unless the dice are incredibly generous or harsh. Subtle approach avoidance is fine, especially since the option being there doesn't mean it gets taken, or can get taken, every time. 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 seeing my heroes work with other heroes a lot. I lean toward preferring at least part-time membership on teams, as I find they are great vehicles for having a group working together. I also like to see an attitude that all our characters are awesome in their own ways, and steps taken to make sure everyone can pitch in in a thread.

Corbin's eyes widened as the electricity built up. In that moment, some would say he "made the right choice", but in his mind, there was never any choice at all. 'Just like falling on a grenade. Only this is going to sting.' With that bit of morbid humor, Cobalt Templar's body was suddenly sheathed in flames as he grew to be a (small) giant. Instead of punching Stratos (not enough time), he actually seemed to start wrapping himself around the weather-wizard. As more tongues of flame roared out from his enlarged body, he yelled at the other two heroes. "Reinforce the box! Don't let anything through! No matter what!" And then a slightly translucent cube of blue fire came into existence around hero and villain alike even as electricity began to push against the inside of the construct. Already a couple of cracks started to appear, but hopefully it would last the critical seconds necessary for the other two heroes to help save the civilians in the bank. Cobalt Templar would be fine in the box, though. Right?

Right then, before I go up to play Batman some more. Free Action: Switch Holy Fire Control to Giant's Strength. Free Action: Shout at the others! Standard Action: Use Fires of Creation to create a box of material around Cobalt Templar and Stratos before that blast goes off. It's a Rank 1 CO, but my understanding is that it's an amount of material equivalent to a solid 5ft cube of material, so a hollow box big enough to contain those two (especially if CT is hunching inside the box) is doable.

Okay, my thought: Cobalt Templar switches to giant form, and "hugs" Stratos. This can be fluff for the rest. At the same time, he uses his Create Object to enclose himself and Stratos in a box. However, his CO isn't super-powerful. But maybe Glow and Starchaser help reinforce the box? That way, CT takes some damage but doesn't likely get KO'ed, and all the damage is contained inside the box. But he can't maintain the box entirely on his own! If that's not workable, my second idea is a shield around the civilians. But part of me likes the idea of trapping the blast in a box with CT. We could even say he takes a guaranteed Bruise no matter what, and the Toughness Save is instead to see if he takes an extra Bruise, or gets even worse status effects piled on him!

The whole situation was spiraling out of control, and while Gabriel wasn't really stressed by the idea of "super combat", he didn't really like the numeric odds. Only one of the attackers had been sidelined by his "trick", and while the others seemed a bit shaken, they seemed well enough to enter the fray. He felt a bit heartened when Harrier completely beat down one of the Erotes. It was a touch brutal, perhaps, but clearly non-lethal. Maybe it would send a message to the others and make them rethink- "Harrier!" Apparently it just made the others mad. Gabriel's eyes narrowed, and his coat flapped in the breeze generated by the sonic waves lashing around his body. His friend was hurt, and it was all the fault of these blasted servants of Hades. One of them was unconscious, but the other.... "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM, SERVANT OF HADES! I FORBID IT!" His voice echoed a bit, but at the center of that admonition was a core of sonic power that just managed to slam into the winged woman. It was a sloppy shot, but it was a moving target, so he'd take sloppy if it got the job done.

Gabriel is going to bank on the apparent mind control ending if both the instigators are down and out. He can't heal Harrier, unfortunately, so he's just going to have to take down the opposition. Free Action: Switch Sonic Control to Blast. Standard Action: Ranged Attack vs Erotes...uh, whichever one is still up and running. 20. Blarg. So that hits but likely doesn't engage the Autofire, so DC 27 Toughness Save.

Cobalt Templar really didn't have the patience to deal with deific incursions on the best of days. This was nearly a "best day", in general, but this wasn't some god trying to warn people of danger, or fight a monster, or anything sympathetic. This was the supposed King of Olympus slumming it in the Fens, trying to rob a mortal bank for petty cash. Something didn't add up, and something about both of them was bugging him as familiar, if he could just- And then the one claiming to be Zeus threw a ball of condensed air at him. It struck Templar dead-center on the chest...and did absolutely nothing. The glowing armored hero slowly looked down at where the windy projectile had struck, then back up at the intruding Greek deity. "That tickled." He really hadn't felt much beyond a "light" shove. But, such an action couldn't be allowed to stand. He took a couple steps forward, blue fire running down his arms, until over-sized gauntlets formed, running all the way up to his shoulders, making his arms seem half again as thick as they had been. They seemed to be styled like they were forged from metal, and all along the arms, large, obvious lightning bolt patterns adorned his new weapons. And then there was a rush of air and fire, and Cobalt Templar was right in front of Zeus. A savage grin lit his face. "Get. Off. This. Planet." And then his massive right hand slammed home right into the face of the Lord of Lightning.

Right, let's do this thing. Move Action:Get up in "Zeus's" face (melee range). Free Action: Switch Holy Fire Control to Unlimited Blades power (aka Strike). Standard Action: Melee Attack! Result: 30. That'll be a DC 27 Toughness Save.

Grapple Check: 47. Initiative: 24.

It had been such a nice day. A nice breeze. No clouds. Seagulls were further south. Nobody really watching the skies (except the airport and government but that was standard anyways). All in all, a perfect excuse to go on a flight. After all, it wasn't like Corbin had class or anything. Boy had that been an argument. But for all that he was suddenly (to this place) almost 50, being back her made him feel kind of like a 20-something (no way did he feel like a teenager). Which meant his parents getting upset he was "skipping" a semester was a daunting conversation (made hilarious to Quo-Dis when she viewed the memory due to how much larger he was than his parents). Him explaining it as a combination "ring quest" and "readjustment period" didn't help, much, but explaining that he needed to figure out what classes to take first (so he could basically ace them) did. With him planning a full-on dual major, it was going to be a bit more complicated than he'd first though. On the plus side, it wasn't like they were that tight for cash. So when a lighting bolt nearly hit Cobalt Templar in the face, he had to pull a hard stop and blink the light from his eyes (he needed shades like Trevor or something). Hearing the commotion down at the bank, a scowl marked itself across his face. "A bully. I hate bullies." And then in a streak of blue fire, there was an armor-clad paragon of blue walking into the room, looking about and taking the whole scene in. The fallen guard made the scowl deeper, and Cobalt Templar moved to the new guy's right side and slightly behind. A clear stance to provide backup to the other hero. Then the fire-flinging half-giant spoke in a slightly rumbling voice. "What does Mighty Zeus need with petty cash?"

Notice Check: 30. CT sees EVERYTHING. Knowledge: History: 14. Knowledge: Arcan Lore: 28.