Happier Times (OOC)

[Skysong]

This is the OOC thread for "Happier Times", in which Zakitaj learns about, and gains permission to take up the mantle of, his old mentor Physicus. He then encounters the gruesome but good-hearted Dead Head; what will happen when magic and technology meet?

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head introduces himself with his Fearsome Presence 12... which does nothing to the Fearless Physicus. ;)

[Dr Archeville]

Heroes getting into fights when first meeting due to comical misunderstandings? 'tis a fine tradition!

Any particular plan for who's in the grave Zak got the film from? The occupant's identity will flavor some of my post.

[Skysong]

Nope, entirely your call. It was just a hiding place; the grave's actual owner wasn't considered, though he or she should be from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century given the age of the headstone.

This will be interesting.

[Dr Archeville]

During the full round Physicus takes to activate his battlesuit, Dead Head strikes. (Don't worry, he'll pull his punch some )

Question is, does he do so before Zak can fully react? I.e., is Zak flat-footed?

That's what initiative is for

Dead Head has a mighty initiative (1d20+2=18)

[Skysong]

Indeed it is.

The fast-acting Zak has a 25. I knew Improved Initiative and that high Dex bonus would pay off.

[Dr Archeville]

Annnd I almost critical you: Attack w/ shovel (vs. Zak's Defense 20); pulled his punch, so it's only a DC 20 Toughness save (1d20+11=30)

[Skysong]

Well, good thing he pulled his punch, or poor Zak would practically be pushing up daisies. Didn't quite make the save as it was.

[Dr Archeville]

18, fails by 2, so 'tis but a Bruise.

Oh, wait: DH hit while Zak was putting the armor on, so he wouldn't get the +10 Protection his armor grants. (If his armor was up, he wouldn't have taken any damage anyway due to his Impervious Toughness, which is higher than the damage of DH's attack.) Which'd mean he fails by 12, putting him at Stunned & Staggered.

Since attacking while his armor wasn't up is most assuredly a setback, I'd be perfectly happy to give you a Hero Point (HP), which you could use to re-roll the Toughness save (and remember that on a re-roll, you add 10 if the die result is 10 or less, so the least you can get is 11, which means at worst DH's attack would Bruise Zak & Stun him for one round).

And I'll give another HP for Zak's Reputation complication. ;)

[Skysong]

You're right! I'm sorry, that totally slipped my mind. Poor Zak is in quite a bit of trouble without his armor.

New save: stunned and bruised with a 15. Since Zak is stunned, I should probably edit my post, given that he can't actually take any actions. He didn't do anything significant except speak, but technically he shouldn't be able to do that, either. Your call.

[Dr Archeville]

In the interests of doing as little backpedaling as possible, I'm fine with saying DH looks on as Zak reels (stunned) for a few seconds, and when Zak snaps to he acts as you'd already posted. And by "looks on" I mean trying to ask the grave's inhabitant what's going on; when Zak snaps to, it will look like the madman is talking to the grave again.

[Skysong]

Okay, sounds fair. I'll make a quick edit to give a little reeling time.

Sorry about the mix-up.

[Dr Archeville]

No problem.

*eagerly waits to see how Zak will attack the obviously deranged madman*

[Skysong]

Well... that could have gone better. I've now burned the starting hero point and the one for the reputation complication in a single round.

1 hero point spent to re-roll a truly pathetic first attack roll showing (got a 4 for a total of 16, or just short of DH's defense), and one spent to gain Snare as an alternate power for 1 round.

The result: Snare attack roll of 29 (7 roll + 2 aiming + 10 ranged attack bonus + 10 epic fail below 10 roll hero point bonus). DH will need to make a DC 20 (10 automatic + 10 power rank) reflex save or take -2 defense, -4 dexterity, and half movement speed. Failure by 5 or more immobilizes him. Given the way the Snare is being deployed (a la the power descriptors involved), I felt it wasn't fair to say that it was anchored to the ground, so we'll leave it at that.

Zak's fingers are crossed.

EDIT: realized I should probably link that roll in the OOC as well as the IC.

[Dr Archeville]

Reflex saves, my own weakness!

Reflex save vs. Snare (DC 20) (1d20+6=12)

That fails by 8, so he'd be immobilized.

Question: is the Snare going to be an airtight bubble of kinetic force, or bands of force? I can do fun things with either; bands lets him show off his "insubstantial" (or anatomic separation), while an airtight bubble would let him fake being suffocated.

EDIT: nevermind, I see it's compressed air. Very clever.

(And don't forget everyone starts with 1 HP, so you do still have one if you need it!)

[Skysong]

Thank you; I'm just glad I was able to come up with an at least comic-book science explanation for the alternate power I was looking for.

Since I've now spent 3 hero points in this thread (1 for toughness re-roll, 1 for attack re-roll, 1 for alternate power), though, and only been awarded two, I think I am out. Did I miss something?

[Dr Archeville]

Ah, no, you're right.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head's actually worried now, since he thinks Zak is an air manipulator and his next move is going to be to fling him up, up and away. DH is opposed to that -- not because of the fall, or the sudden stop, but because of the walk back. And who knows what this purple-and-silver graverobber would do while he's trudging back?!

Standard Action to activate Insubstantial.

Extra Effort to surge and gain another Standard action; HP to nix the fatigue.

Full round action to escape; Escape Artist check, DC (20 + Snare's rank), or DC 30, but his Insubstantial lets him automatically succeed at any Escape Artist check.

[Skysong]

Wow... that was quite the description, Doc. I was disgusted just thinking about it. Nicely done.

After seeing that, Zak is pretty sure nothing he can do will keep Dead Head down. He's willing to try another tactic.

[Dr Archeville]

Creepier now that I went in an added a bit I'd accidentally left out.

And through it all, through every bit of it, his eyes never once shut, never blinked. They just stared at Zakitaj.

;)

[Skysong]

*shudders*

[Skysong]

Nicely done again, Doc. I just wish I could actually have Zak react to Monty Python. He's so culturally deprived...

[Dr Archeville]

DH can recommend some great sci-fi movies ;)

[Dr Archeville]

Had an idea for a way to prove DH can talk to the dead: have Physicus (the first, now dead, one) pass on a message to Zak via DH. And include something that only the two of them would know (which Zak may simply attribute to mind reading).

[Skysong]

That's brilliant, Doc!

Zak doesn't have Physicus's body with him, of course, but the prospect of actually talking to his mentor, even if offered by a madman, would be irresistible. If DH makes the offer, Zak will gladly lead him to where the old man presently lies.