Search the Community

Let's have initiative and Fort saves, everybody!

GM El Chopo Colonia Guerrero, MexicoSaturday, September 17th, 2016 11:00 AM Much like every Saturday afternoon before it, the open street market was filled to the brim by the thousands. Every youth subculture under the sun was represented. From the head bangers to the hardcore street punks. To the naked eye, it was just the start of another weekend. But, at least two tourists knew of something more sinister for sale in the flea market this week. Hidden in the deepest depths of the darknet there was chatter of an alien black market auction. The interested buyers weren't megalomaniacal supervillains in need of the latest super bomb. No, the sale was targeted towards mundane organized criminals looking to outfit their footsoldiers for a leg up on the competition. That was if they could even find the auction in the first place.

All good things must, one day, come to an end. But sometimes, that ends comes sooner than one thinks. Such is the way of the Mantle of the Raven, one of Freedom City's most iconic heroes. The Batman of the Freedom City setting, one that passed from Father to Daughter, and now is soon to pass from Master to Apprentice. Currently, Raven II/Callie Summers is the one actively holding that legacy. Aleksander Nakani, aka Nevermore, is slated to take up the mantle sometime this summer (after his graduation from high school!). But just passing on the cape and cowl because he graduated, that feels a bit lame. So instead, I'm going to try to run a thread or three to pass the torch. I've hashed some initial ideas out, and I'm laying out the framework here. What I'm looking for is input on the NPCs, especially villains, to be involved, and then some PCs to have assist Nevermore. My general thought on the setup is that Raven has been tracking some faint trails of clues that lead her to, I dunno, a warehouse or something with an electronic message left there. It's a taunting message from Dr. Sin, her grandfather, all wrinkly and evil and stuff, taunting her that she never faced him directly because she knew she would lose, and now she's getting old too. She keeps mopping up the scraps from his table. Can she leave him be? So the Raven goes after him...and runs right into a group of cowl-type villains (the likes of Blackbird, Fear Master, Red Death, Warden, Silencer, and/or others) led by a much-younger-looking Dr. Sin. Via some magic or super-science or something, he has not only maintained his life and health, but reversed his aging to be in the prime of his life (physically he looks maybe 30), and even granted himself some minor metahuman powers (probably just a light Paragon package or some such). The combination is too much, even for Raven, even wearing her most cutting-edge powered armor suit. It turns out that Sin chose this moment to strike because he believed that before long, her advancing age would prompt her to create a suit powerful enough this plan wouldn't be guaranteed to work. But he had to wait until now to let age do some of the work. It was a delicate balance! So she's captured, imprisoned, etc., not sure yet what he's going to do with her (probably taunt her father for a while, then brainwash her and give her the same rejuvination treatment he used, make her his chief lieutenant). Before he can taunt anyone, an automated timer and message alert Nevermore to what's going on. Queue the Recruitment Montage! Nevermore takes an entire team to fight these guys, just enough that everyone gets a one-on-one matchup, and he gets to take on Dr. Sin one-on-one, and manages to beat him (dice willing!). Callie's been hurt and worn down enough by all of this that, while she can function in her civilian life well enough, it's too much of a risk to take up the Cowl again. So the story ends with Aleksander standing on a rooftop.... As the Raven. What I'm looking for: Bit of help refining the ideas here. Suggestions on which NPCs to have as additional villains. Suggestions on pre-made sheets to use for everyone, and adjustments as we think necessary. Help figuring out who a good PC team to assist would be! I'm really wanting and hoping to keep this as a primarily-Cowl endeavor. That's not to say that no one on the mission can have any powers, just that I'm wanting this to be more the skill-y characters than the likes of our biggest, flashiest, most powerful heroes steamrolling the bad guys. Motivation among the Cowls is probably to "keep it in house"! So this is a combination of "putting the idea out for refinement" and "recruitment drive". I'd be looking for 4, at most 5, other heroes. This won't all happen at once; I'm thinking maybe 1 "setup" thread, and 1 "action" thread. Time-wise, I'd like this to be built up a bit, so the 1st thread probably happens in a month or two (and is forward-set a bit), and the next one after that one's wrapped. Maybe starting it in...April-ish? May, if that's how it shakes out.

Friday, August 26th, 2016 Roberta Isles Garden, Claremont Academy, Bayview 8:01 PM It was the last weekend before school started again. A great time for all those who still wanted to spend a lot of time on Freedom City’s streets to do just so, before the troubles and pains of school would return. Of course, there also was the Kick-Off dance happening at the gym, but not everybody felt like attending that, for one reason or another. Among those deciding to head out was Aleksander Nakani, or, as he was known in costume, Nevermore. In costume was what he was right now. He had been walking towards the garden, it offered a nice and not too obvious exit, preferable to the school’s main entrance in most cases. As he walked, he came by the Zen Garden, currently looking better than it had in a long time, one of the freshmen that had arrived earlier this month had spent a lot of time there. However, as he walked, he noticed something. Something out of the ordinary, something that shouldn’t be as it currently was. The carriage house, something about it was off. As Nevermore moved closer, he realized just what it was. The access to the subbasement. It had been used, broken into. It was not a big trace, only a slight misplacement. But Aleksander had seen these entrances many times, he knew when something was off, even if it only was by an incredibly small amount. While Aleksander was taking a closer look at the entrance, hidden but apparently not hidden enough, it just so happened that Jack Huang Faretti entered through the garden’s entrance up north, quickly spotting Nevermore, in full costume, doing something with the entrance to the subbasement, but from the current distance he could not tell just what the cowl was doing.

09/11/2016 12:35 PM Downtown Freedom City When a professional group of vault hunters shows up in your city, the local law enforcement take notice. Granted, it's usually fairly hard to actually track them down, once they go to ground - but you can generally assume a spectacular heist is in the offing. AEGIS was well familiar with this procedure; having long set up protocols in the event of notable criminals popping up on the radar at the Freedom City airport - and they'd released the names and faces to the FCPD and (surreptitiously) to more than a few of their known heroic contacts. That or 'conviniently' left the information on unsecured servers where any (hero-type) person might find them. It was an old game, and one the Midnights and Ravens of old had played very well. The group in particular this month was called the Self-Preservation Society; a band of British movie buffs who'd taken up the mask and black bag years ago. They'd started their careers with blag jobs working armored convoys in the UK, graduating to larger-scale heists across France and Germany once their rep had grown. Four men, each world-class drivers, who'd made their bones on some of the scariest (and fastest) roads on Earth. They'd never pulled a job in the good old U.S. of A., but records were made to be broken - and given piles of these world-class drivers had kept popping up arriving one way or another in Freedom over the last few weeks, then dropping off the radar - something was in the works. That something finally came up when every alarm system Midnight had started screaming red. Three heroes in question were on patrol in the City Centre when the alarms hit - and a quartet of Mini Coopers souped up to frightening levels tore out of the front lobby of the First National. They moved as one in eerie synchronicity through the streets, moving towards an unknown destination - leaving wreckage of hot dog stands, newspaper stalls, and leaping bystanders in their wake!

Gentlebeings, start your engines!

GM Holt Hotel Midtown, Freedom City, NJWednesday, September 28th, 2016 12:00 PM The terrific Holt Hotel blends comfortably into the downtown area of Midtown's residential district. Despite being considered a budget hotel, the warmly decorated rooms seem to have a sleek almost futuristic furnishing style. Bathroom's are oasis inspired with a splash of color. Room service was closed after 8pm, but while active the food was a passable mix of American cuisine. Despite the fantastic amenities, at the end of the day it is still a value hotel. Far less luxurious than the sort of place one would expect multiple time bestselling author to hang his hat. Much less kill a woman. Yet a cursory glance of Enest Steinbeck's hotel room in the Holt Hotel had a story to tell. A story of a beheaded woman, her head nowhere to be found, posing on the bed. An eerie and outright disturbing scene that was quite literally a recreation of Steinbeck's first novel's big murder scene. No one had an account for Steinbeck's whereabouts. Steinbeck's last novel was released a decade ago. Coupled with his well known recent drinking habits, the media circus had already painted a villain. Except, there was absolutely no trace of the author. And no visible signs that he had ever left the room.

Doom Room, Claremont Academy May 5, 2016 School was almost out, even at the rather unusual educational facility known as Claremont Academy. Then again, even heroes-in-training needed a break. Assuming they were the sorts who believed in "taking breaks". Some, like the three in attendance here, didn't quite get that idea, at least not all the time. Woodsman and Nighthawk, who often practiced various scenarios in the Doom Room alone, as a pair, or with their friends anyways, were in here on the request of Headmistress Summers. She somehow managed to mix "as stern as a mountain" and "concerned about your education" into one frightening package. In this case, she had "strongly suggested" they undergo a training exercise with a student-hero who they may or may not have heard of, let alone seen or met, but who would give them good practice working with other more...subtle...hero types. They were currently in the control room of the Doom Room, apparently by themselves. The control screen showed a few potential scenarios, with the settings listing 3 combatants. And the difficulty was set...pretty high. Not horrifically so. Certainly not at the locked-down "Wander" level. But not "newbie" level, either.

Just in case, adding an OOC for this thread. wherein Nighthawk, Woodsman, and Nevermore get up to some sort of Cowl shenanigans or another. If there's a demand we may add others in after things get going, but I'm sure we can go fun places just with these three!

So, as stated elsewhere, I'm working on coming back to the forums/the game (IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GAME....AND HOW YOU PLAY IT!!!!). And my top priorities are Thoughtspeed (sheet here) and Nevermore (sheet here). But complicating matters is the news that we've shifted how rewards are done? And now the highest reward is applied to all characters, if desired? I'm still a bit fuzzy on how it works...Gabriel is my highest-reward/"level" character. I believe he was at Gold or Platinum when I went inactive (sheet says progress to Impervium...). So I'm not sure what that means for TS and NM? I guess this thread has 2 purposes. 1.) Help me understand how the Reward Level interacts with these 2 characters in particular, especially in light of me likely not bringing Gabriel back for a bit yet (not saying he's permanently retired, though). 2.) Help/insights/suggestions on breathing a bit of life into both sheets (without completely remaking them). Both characters have been given some time to go off and train and grow and such. So I've got room for some work there. Thoughtspeed is probably okay mostly as-is, I'm sure when I get to actually looking at him I'll tweak him, but still. Nevermore, though, is a bit more complicated. I've got a vague idea of what to get him to eventually. I know what he drives now, will drive, will fly, and where he does/will take roost. Ultimately, this guy will be Raven 3/4 (depending on how we count Geckoman!Raven. But he's not there yet, and I want to preserve that while maybe giving him a bit more to work with. I'm not trying to make other people do all the work (obviously the fluffy stuff is done, and any "but where has he been!" can be answered easily enough, especially as with Nevermore it could just be said "watching. waiting. planning." without too much irony). As a note, Thoughtspeed's going to be graduating this May, but Nevermore won't graduate until next year.

Saturday, March 28th, 2015 Millennium Mall, Freedom City, New Jersey Afternoon The Millennium Mall was a huge place, filled with shops of every description, and packed with roving crowds of shoppers, families, and couples. Ami Rask was indistinguishable in the crowd, and it was only partly because of her height. In the crowd she was just another young, pretty girl, holding big bags and with a hot credit card in her purse. She had been shopping for most of the morning; with the weather turning, it was time for her to update her spring wardrobe. It’s not that she didn’t have anything from the last couple years. It was just that she didn’t have anything new. Ami dropped into a heavy leather chair, one of the sets placed strategically to help exhausted shoppers rest and recuperate. As she breathed, she watched the crowds passing around her. A woman eight or ten years older than she was, pushing a stroller with a sleeping baby in it. An older man, with gray in his hair, walking hand in hand with a bald man. A harried man carrying his toddler in a baby bjorn, while texting. The displays of affection made her smile as she rested, a window into the lives of normal people. More people came by and she watched them, growing more pensive. A young couple, his arm around her waist, window-shopping. An older pair, with kids running around their feet. It made the young girl acutely aware that she was shopping, all alone, for herself.

Dakana International Airport, Dakana 16th February 2015, 13:00 EAT (GMT +3) It wasn’t often that Claremont asked it’s students to travel halfway around the world, even if it was school holidays, but it wasn’t often that the request came on behalf of an actual King. The request was rather enigmatic but seemed to come from an official source of the Kings household. After rather lengthy discussion it was decided that one of the schools semi-official teams, Next-Gen, would have the honor to travel to Dakana. Flight BP66 one of the very modern Airbuses lands almost on schedule at the airport in a long but comfortable flight, whilst you were travelling economy the flight had very generous legroom. With the correct paperwork in hand you breezed through immigration to pick up your luggage that had travelled as diplomatic bags. Everything had been carefully prepared to make thing runs smoothly. Soon you were in the ultra modern clean airport lounge looking for whoever was here to greet you to this small African country.

Rolls and suchlike involving

OOC for >this thread.

GM Abandoned Warehouse The Fens, Freedom City, New Jersey 8:00 PM Friday, January 16th, 2015 A recent string of assaults on Terminus empowered mutants had drawn the attention of the local media. Some calling it a paranoid hate crime after the recent alien invasion. After Gorge, a student at the illustrious Claremont Academy, was attacked Nevermore sought to personally uncover the mystery. Nevermore's investigation drew him through many twists an turns until finally he found himself in a small shipping warehouse near the waterfront. Stalking and taking out multiple gang members on his own Nevermore eventually found himself in the center of the warehouse. Surrounded by six armed thugs holding a variety of firearms the heir to the Raven was in a hairy situation. Apparently the gang had planned for his arrival judging by the ticking bomb that was currently sitting on the opposite end of the room. It was a good plan. If only Nevermore had chosen to fly alone this night. They might have stood a 1% chance of taking him out in their odd murder suicide bombing. As it stood, kneeling in front of that bomb was the boisterous Glamazon. The bullet holes in her clothing showing that somewhere along the line the men had simply given up on attempting to shoot the demigoddess as it was getting nowhere. The clock continued ticking as Thaelia declared her lack of understanding of the explosives.

OOC for >this thread.

GM Alleyway between two Dive Bars (Adrenaline, and The Wasteland) The Fens, Freedom City, New Jersey Monday, March 26, 2014 8:20 PM Detective Valerie Archer was a proud member of Freedom's finest. Her spotless record, and military background put her in good graces with her superiors. Her habit of practically 'living at her desk' has lead to more than one person worrying about her personal life. But Detective Archer's record is exemplary. A long time lover of the law and what it stands for, Archer was aghast when she found a discrepancy in the amount of cash filed into evidence from the actual amount found at crime scenes after being partnered with a detective named Robert Grayson. In fact, she noticed this discrepancy in many of the cases Grayson and two others had been assigned for the past six months. Setting up her own sting operation. She sent an email from Grayson's computer setting up a meet between the three of them. And took a recording device to gather evidence. Unfortunately the detectives were on to her, and upon finding Detective Archer gunned her down. And if she were an ordinary detective, Valerie Archer would have died that day. But Detective Archer's record is exemplary. So exemplary she already gave her life for the job once. There was a new distributor attempting to spread his own strain of Zombie powder on the market. The dealer actually lined his bullets with the stop. Figuring any police that came after him that survived a gunshot wound would be hooked on the product, or die in defiance. Valerie Archer chose the latter option. And die she did. For all of six hours that is. Rising from the dead, Detective Archer found her body felt different. Her sense of touch numbed. Taste lessened. Everything could be willed into working order for sure. But for all intents and purposes she was undead. Very few people have become privy to the knowledge of her condition. Not even her fellow police officers knew. And if it wasn't for some unfortunate footage of her leaving the abandoned lot, the dirty cops would have left her for dead. But they knew Archer was alive, and set about forging evidence against her. Valerie Archer was now a fugitive overnight. Like many of Freedom City's other well kept secrets the Raven was of privy to Detective Archer's secret 'condition'. She even agreed, through secret messages, to help Detective Archer clear her name. Noting if she turned out to be guilty Raven would personally bring her in. But it wasn't the Raven whom showed up for the secret meeting in the alleyway between two dive bars.

GM A tropical rainforest Somewhere probably not Kansas anymore. 6:12 AM Friday September 5th, 2014 Oskar was visiting a small German town which had its annual circus. A throwback to his prewar youth, he wanted to get caught up in the nostalgia decades after the fact. If only the bear hadn't gotten lose. The raging grizzly attempted to attack the audience. But it was quickly wrestled by Oskar whom promptly sedated and captured the beast without harm. Aside from the unexplained scratch on his shoulder, shortly followed by a loss of vision. Until finally the interstellar safari hunter had fallen unconscious. Alek for his part had finished a long night of tracking down a weapons smuggling ring to the base of its operations. The Yakuza in Atlantic city had control of it. At least until Nevermore had finished dismantling it. En route back to Freedom City the Talon suddenly began to die. Upon coming to a complete stop there was a sudden surge of electricity that jolted into his body and Alek was out. Vonnie's night was a little more low key. If you count a rooftop chase with a thief as low key. Having used his wrist mounted grapnel's as a snare Vonnie had the thief dead to right. If he had made that last jump he would have been well on his way home to finish packing before his return to a semester at Claremont. In fact, Vonnie knew that he should have made that last jump. Everything just got hazy after he felt a sharp sting on the side of his neck. When they awoke the trio were left in the middle of a massive forest. Handcuffed to one another. Nevermore left in the unfortunate position of being stuck in the middle. No sign of civilization immediately abound. Most of their equipment had gone missing, the only weapon left behind was Oskar's cybernetic hand. Their masks had gone missing replaced with animal skulls and paint. Alek's costume had been replaced wholesale by some sort of tribal outfit. On the ground there was a note which read:

Paige smiled at the receptionist as she signed in at the Nicholson front office, a familiar procedure by now. Making the transition from West Coast to East Coast had been odd in many ways, but living near her daughter's new school had at least made it easier to volunteer for all the normal mom-things. Today, though, she was not here to chaperone a field trip or bring in treats. She felt Holly's surprised brush of recognition across her mind, sent back a wave of affection and an assurance she would pick her up after school. "We're in Counseling Room Two today?" "That's right, it's all set up," the receptionist told her. "They should be here any minute." Paige nodded and thanked her, then headed down the brightly-colored hallways that always smelled faintly of crayons and school lunches. She'd never attended a school like this, but still managed to feel a quick burst of nostalgia. Counseling Room Two was on the southwest corner of the building, a cozily-sized room with windows on two walls and a long-strip of one-way mirror that could be blocked with a partition for privacy. There were a couple of comfortable chairs, a giant beanbag in one corner, some books and toys on a shelf, and some framed pastoral art prints on the remaining wall. It was a comfortable room, that generally had to be used in uncomfortable moments. Paige wondered exactly how uncomfortable this was going to be.

OOC for >this thread. This is a classic Batman Cold Open, so can just narrate Nevermore taking out the surrounding gunmen. There will be plenty of time for Initiative antics when in Mexico.

OOC for >this thread

GM Leaf Fields Inc. Hanover, Freedom City New Jersey Monday, June 23, 2014 8:48 PM Leaf Fields Inc was far from an industry leader in any field. With the only real significant technological advancements they have made being found on television ads. The sheer number of products that LFI was able to engineer had at least made their profit margins very profitable. Then came their first real breakthrough. The Gravimatrix armor. A power armor that was designed to allow the wearer to manipulate gravitons to control the force of gravity within a limited radius around the suit. The potential applications were numerous. LFI would have been put on the map. If only the suit hadn't been stolen two weeks ago. There wasn't a single shred of evidence of whom the thief was. And they had made sure to completely wreck the R&D lab in the process of stealing the suit. The Freedom City police were on the case of course. Ever vigilant in their search. But, no one had so much as found a breadcrumb leading back to the robber. Then the robberies started. Several members of Freedom City's morally questionable yet sufficiently affluent elite found their homes broken into. The signs of a tremendous force ripping even the most tremendous safe apart as if it were thin sheets of paper. Anything stolen could not be reported to the police, thanks to the legal ramifications that the owners would face. Those with the right ear to the ground noticed a sudden influx of anonymous donations to the Freedom City orphanages and various charities after every robbery. The LFI only focused on the fact that they could easily recognized the signs of their own technology at work. With the police at a dead end, they began to seek assistance elsewhere. Letting it be known through more unsavory elements that they were willing to pay for the return of their suit. Whereas, those whom had the insult of being stolen from had more ruthless intention. Going so far as to hire out criminal elements to eliminate the thief and any competition in the pursuit of recovering all their profits and sending a message. The situation soon became hard for AEGIS to ignore tasking a field agent on to the case. Samantha Vance, otherwise known as Kit, had found out. And Nevermore had come upon the knowledge while making a grown man realize the forgotten sensation of pure terror from several stories above the pavement.

Claremont Academy Headmaster's Office Thursday, September 4th, 6:00pm Aleksander Nakani was not a troublemaker, the sort to get called in to the Headmaster's office for a fight or prank or the like. But neither was it an unfamiliar place. When you're training to take up the mantle of the man who sits in that room, it is perhaps inevitable that you meet with that man. Or his daughter. Who is also your boss in the field. Not exactly the easiest position to hold, even for a disciplined teen like Alek. Still, Headmaster Summers had called for a meeting with him, and he was far from refusing. Of course, he had paused for a moment when he walked in, seeing not only Headmaster Duncan Summers, but also his daughter Callie Summers, and a young man he didn't recognize. The former was seated in the big chair behind the big desk; his daughter stood to one side of him, the stranger to the other. Alek closed the door to the office and walked to a spot a few feet in front of the desk, where he had a clear view of all 3 adults in the room. He gave them all assessing looks for a few moments before speaking up. "Per your request, Headmaster, I'm here."

Since you've been approached, in secret, only a few months ago you’ve all been training to become the newest version of Claremont’s own super team the Next-Gen. The seven of you have been training to operate as both a full team and as two smaller teams imaginatively called Team-A and Team-B. And now both teams have been assigned their own mission. Team-B Moffat Morphology Headquarters, Hanover 10:00 Wednesday 2nd July 2014 Moffat Morphology is one of those companies that seems to exist mostly in Freedom City. Using a combination of advanced polymers and nanotechnology they have developed technology that allow creation almost any tool imaginary with only simple computer control. Recently however there have been several baffling breakins of other hi-tech companies where the only evidence left on the scene was a polymer similar to that developed by Moffat’s. Helpfully the company is proud to offer tours of it’s facilities for budding young students so you’ve been assigned to investigate to find out if the company is in anyway involved in these robberies. Next-Gen isn’t the only one investigating this company for possible criminal activity. In one of those strange coincidences Alexandria Watson, aka Somnium, is also investigating the company after a half remembered mention of possible dubious activities connected to her families collapsed criminal empire. Detail are hazy beyond the simple mention of there name, it could be nothing... A small group of students, including yourselves, are gathered in the lobby of the company where you are met by a rather keen young woman in a sharp business suit, her red hair done up in severe bun. “Hello there and welcome to Moffat Morphology. I’m Gillian and I’ll be your guide to today’s trip. If you’d just like to follow me...â€

GM 8.25 PM, March 4, Tuesday, 2014. Waterside Bayview, corner of McCulloh & Grant Freedom City's three-hundred and eighty-third year had slid into its third month without much incident. The few rumbles in January and February had been largely relegated to within the super-set, the first anniversary of 2013's tragic event had come and gone with somber remembrances, and the world's far-off turmoils seemed especially distant as snow blasted through New Jersey, few things seeming as important as the by now much-loathed storm. But there were always those looking to exploit the misfortune of the innocent, and the icy march of winter did little to deter them. Luckily, there were also those willing to step forward and defend the guiltless, and a little snow didn't stop them either. Polarity, Solvrytter and Nevermore had found a good waiting place on their roof, between two mighty fans whose housing blocked the howling north wind and stood tall enough to catch most of the snow that didn't blow over it, leaving a more or less bare and windless spot. The rooftop business wasn't particularly necessary, most Freedonians and foreigners huddling by without the customary glances up, but tonight was their first one out as a group. That and the area along the river had become a bit of a trouble-spot. Rumors had spread about a gang with unusually advanced technology on the edge of Bayview. There weren't many of them, but their mark, a sleek stylized silver dragon, was spreading quickly, and the scorches on walls and loss of power on streets during their most recent fights with the encroaching Los Diabolos Rojos were making them an increasingly dangerous nuisance. That would have been reason enough for the new generation of supers to be there, but it wasn't the only reason. Headmaster Summers had mentioned at his and Aleksander's last meeting that while self-sufficiency was important, every crime-fighter needed allies. He'd dropped a casual hint about two students Nevermore might want to get to know, and while he didn't openly condone them testing themselves in the real world he did say it would be a shame if evil went unchallenged... They had been waiting almost an hour, and there was still no sign of the Dragons.