Flight of The Cuckoos (OOC) [Closed]

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This thread lays some of the groundwork for BH's later purchases of the Connected and Contacts feats.

Dennis Konroy used his resources and detective skills to learn that movie starlet Nikki Stevens (based loosely on the character of the same name from The L Word) is secretly a lesbian, and he offered to be her "beard." Neither she nor her agents are aware of his true motive - they think he's either secretly gay, or just using her to increase his own fame.

Both "T.J. Mackey" and his book are fictional. He was a character portrayed by Tom Cruise in the film Magnolia, and he's loosely based on real-life "speed seduction guru" (and sexist bastard) Ross Jeffries.

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"Happy Housekeepers" is an Expy of "Merry Maids," a real-life housekeeping service.

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"Chez Pierre" is the snooty French restaurant frequently mentioned but rarely shown on Daria.

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The PL1 Reporter template in M&M2E can't possibly hope to win an opposed Stealth or Disguise roll against The Black Hand's Notice. He allocates 1PP from his Polymath pool to Skill Mastery and takes 10. End of story.

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Admittedly, some of the NPCs acted the way they did because I said so. Screw the rules, I have plot! 8-)

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The Black Hand's HQ has Concealed 3. That's a -20 penalty to locate it by any means. None of these PL0 bystanders are going to stumble onto it outside of some serious GM Fiat.

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Polymath Allocation:

Skills: 40 Ranks = 10PP

Knowledge (Business) 7 (+10)

Knowledge (Civics) 7 (+10)

Knowledge (Current Events) 7 (+10)

Knowledge (History) 7 (+10)

Knowledge (Streetwise) 12 (+15)

The Black Hand takes 20 for the following Knowledge checks:

Business

Civics

Current Events

History

Streetwise

He hits DC30 on all of them, except for Streetwise, where he hits DC35. As per usual, each check takes about an hour.

Then he shifts the Polymath allocation:

Skills: 16 Ranks = 4PP

Computers 15 (+18)

Notice 1 (+16)

Feats: 4PP

Hide Tampering* 2

Second Chance (Computers)

Skill Mastery (Computers, Notice, Sense Motive)

*"Hide Tampering" is a Challenge from the Masterminds Manual. 2 ranks of it is enough to negate the entire -10 Computers penalty for hiding any trace of your activities.

Computers check to crack the Miami PD network: 31. The Black Hand uses Second Chance for a second attempt, and uses Skill Mastery to take 10. He's using a Masterwork Computer which gives him +2 to his skill check. And he takes an hour to write a program to help him with this specific task beforehand for another +2. So his total skill bonus is +22.

Computers check to crack the FCPD network: 37.

In both cases, the computer network for a city police department is DC25, "Average Security," so he passes with room to spare.

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"Little Tony Brasco" is a combination of Joseph D. Pistone, the eponymous real-life inspiration for the film Donnie Brasco, and "Little Tony" Leung Chiu-Wai, the Hong Kong actor who portrayed the undercover cop in the film Hard Boiled.

Polymath Allocation:

Skills: 16 Ranks = 4PP

Disguise 15 (+18)

Gadgets Allocation:

Masterwork Disguise Kit (1EP)

The Black Hand takes 20 on his Disguise check. The Masterwork kit gives him a +2 circumstance bonus. It takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to apply, and any attempts to penetrate it are at DC40. Neither the Bystander, Criminal, Thug, Gang Leader, or Crime Boss templates have a prayer.

Before he leaves his HQ, he re-allocates his VP again. When gathering intelligence on the streets, he uses the following configuration:

Polymath Allocation:

Skills: 16 Ranks = 4PP

Gather Info 15 (+18)

Feats: 6PP

Discrete Inquiry* 4

Second Chance (Gather Info)

Skill Mastery (Gather Info)

*Discrete Inquiry is a Challenge from the Masterminds Manual. At 4 ranks, it negates the entire -20 penalty for making Gather Info checks without taking any chance of alerting the targets.

Gather Info check on Freedom City Mafia: 37. He learns everything that counts as "Protected" information, or anything that would rank DC35 or lower on a reputation table, as the plot permits.