ooc Red Death Redemption (OOC)

[Amelia]

Meanwhile, Doctor Aparo's Medicine skill check to stabilize the older cop with emergency surgery, henceforth known as Officer Thomas Molloy (DC15): 19. Now he's just Disabled.

 

[Amelia]

Oh hey, if Dead Head is power stunting on his Teleport, instead of a Progression rank, he could do an AP, and hold onto it for the whole scene, so he could come back for Strix and his infected thralls, saving them the trouble of stealing an ambulance (the hospital only has 6, only 4 of which are operational).

 

[Dr Archeville]

Good catch.  Okay, I'mma do that.

 

HP to burn off the fatigue from last round's Extra Effort.

 

Extra Effort for an AP on his Teleport.

[Amelia]

Since the Disease Transform effect is Incurable, per the modified version of that power feat in Ultimate Power on the "Disease" power, none of Strix's tending to his patients with his Medicine skill will give them any kind of saving throw bonuses. But he's still going to try.

 

[Amelia]

@Avenger Assembled Please have Wadjet make a DC15 Will save against the house's Mind Reading effect, and DC20 Will saves against its Illusion and Emotion Control effects.

EDIT: She also gets a DC20 Notice check to pick up on the presence trying to pry into her mind.

 

@Dr Archeville I assume from the IC dialogue that you're having Dead Head use the library for some Knowledge checks Anything in particular?

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[Avenger Assembled]

Okay, let's see. 

 

Will save DC 15 = 12

Will Save DC 20 (Illusion = 16

Will Save DC 20 (Emotion Control) = 22 

[Dr Archeville]

On whether or not undead who've had their souls completely removed can be redeemed -- either restoring their souls (like was done with Angel), or just getting them to be somewhat decent despite not having a soul anymore (like happened with Spike) -- or if they're a lost cause that needs to be put down like a rabid animal.

 

Dead Head Taking 20 on a Knowledge (Arcane Lore or Theology & Philosophy) check gets 30.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[Amelia]

@Avenger Assembled Sorry, can I also get a DC20 Notice check to see if Wadjet notices the prying into her mind?

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Notice vs. 20 

21

[Amelia]

@Avenger Assembled Since she made her Notice check, feel free, if you want, to have Wadjet react to the sensation of having her mind invaded and read like the pages of a book in her next IC post. I'll save the illusions and fear for the next GM post.

 

@Dr Archeville 30 on a Knowledge check tells Dead Head the following:

 

Whether or not a vampire or any other undead creature retains its soul or is capable of being "good" varies from one type to the next, and vampires come in a wider variety than just about all other undead put together. Some of them literally and immediately lose their souls, while others lose them a piece at a time over the centuries, gradually desensitizing until acts they once considered unthinkable become routine. Sometimes it's really "you" in that undead body, sometimes it's a monster who just has your face and memories, and sometimes you're trapped in there with a monster who's calling all the shots.

 

In this case, once Dead Head and Strix have a chance to compare notes, Dead Head will recognize the specific symptoms and manifestations they've both witnessed as indicating that these vampires belong to a bloodline known as "The Red Death". Red Death vampires don't have souls. The conversion process ends with the real person's soul being consumed and hollowed out. The vampire has their old memories and sense of self, but they're really just echoes. You're not looking at the person, you're looking at the thing which killed them. The victim's soul doesn't go on to any afterlife after the conversion. It's just destroyed.

 

Red Death vampires are basically a highly contagious and sentient supernatural disease, functionally similar to ebola. The infection spreads through any fluid exchange, most commonly the vampire's bite. Once infected, it takes three days for the victim to transform into a vampire, whether they survive the infection or not, and they will be contagious the entire time. If they do survive the initial infection, then the conversion process will kill them, body and soul, at the end of the three-day gestation period. At the end of the three days, their body will "crash out", violently expelling geysers of infectious blood from every available orifice. If they are killed during the initial infection or after, then three days after the initial infection, then there will be no "crashing out", but their soul will still be consumed and they will rise. Roughly 0.1% of those infected will not crash out or turn after the three days. They will survive, and acquire a lifelong immunity, their body and soul having successfully fought off the infection.

 

Red Death vampires are driven by instinct to feed and to spread their curse. They give no thought to issues of ecological balance. They do not care about reaching a point where they outnumber their prey. They are not solitary apex predators like Strix. They are a virus, and like any other virus, they wish only to feed and to spread. Fortunately, as the heroes have already observed, Red Death vampires are far less resilient than Strix's bloodline. They have basically all the weaknesses Strix has, except that decapitation and stakes through the heart kill them instantly instead of just incapacitating them.

 

In game terms, the Red Death vampire curse is a Continuous (Lasting) duration Transform effect, at a power rank equal to the vampire's power level, with the Disease extra and the Incurable feat.

 

[Amelia]

@Avenger Assembled For the Mind Reading: What things does Wadjet fear?

 

[Avenger Assembled]

I'll hold off on posting IC till Strix or Dead Head can intervene - so feel free to tag there, folks! 

[Amelia]

Actually, I'm gonna do a slight retcon of the lore. I slept on it and decided it was too bleak, even for me, even for Bedlam. The person's soul is released to their afterlife after the vampire conversion is complete, or after they die if they're killed before the conversion is done. The soul isn't consumed by the conversion process.

 

[Avenger Assembled]

 

Quote

 

 

You're standing in the Hammer of Justice's headquarters. 


You see his face. 

 

He tells you about the real work - about how being a hero is about defending the people, and that means defending Stark Hill and "the other decent neighborhoods" from "the element", doing "whatever it takes." 

 

You're not stupid. You'll be sixteen next month. You've seen the cache of drugs he has, the guns, and you've heard him talk about the "future perps" he's put down. You know what he's really talking about. You'd do anything to get the hell out of your mother's house in Hardwick Park. You're not too surprised at what happens next after you tell him that. 

 

And the worst part is, even after he turns on you like a rabid dog, even after he leaves you broken and bleeding on the street to try and test Lady Horus, the worst part is knowing that when he told you all this, after you did all this, you felt nothing until you realized you needed revenge if you were ever going to look yourself in the mirror. You're not a hero, you're not even a proper thug. You're nothing. 

 
 

 

 

[Dr Archeville]

Thinking of something like this as a stunt off Dead Head's Necromancy Array

 

Nullify 11 (“curse eating”; all magic effects simultaneously; Extra: Duration [Concentration]; Flaws: Limited [to necromantic magic effects], Range [Touch]; PF: Selective)  {12/17}

 

(with his +9 on melee attacks, that's works out to PL 10.)

[Amelia]

There's no need for an attack roll, so I'm gonna say the Nullify effect is going to be capped at 10, not 11, everyone's effective PL in Bedlam.

 

Go ahead and roll a Nullify 10 power check.

 

[Dr Archeville]

Alrighty

1d20+10: 12 [1d20=2]

Oof

 

Using an HP (I believe he's at 3 now) to reroll that

1d20+10: 27 [1d20=17]

Much better.

 

He's fatigued from using Extra Effort (to stunt the Nullify effect), with 2 HP.

[Amelia]

Opposed power check for the Red Death infection: 11.

That's a natural "1".

 

[Amelia]

Let me know if anyone wants to get one last IC post in before I move things forward to the shelter (or if one of you wants to go somewhere else while Strix heads over there).