"They stole several devices from the lab the other night," Ashby said.
"You're kidding!" Mason shook his head. "What happened to beefing up security after the other guy?"
"Good question." Ashby glances at his notebook. "Police are doing a search of all abandoned warehouses in the city."
Mason smirked. "There seem to be a lot of those."
"Anyway," Ashby continued, "I was hoping you could search from the rooftops. I have a feeling you'll have better luck than the police."
Mason nodded. "I'll see what I can find out."
Last time, I ran just a dialogue session to get ideas about what was going on. This time, however, there's definitely some action. In fact, I rolled some of it ahead of time, instead of as I write, to get an idea for how to write it.
Here's how it works:
1. You can spend as many Hero Points as you want to shift the odds in your favor, when rolling an Ability check or a Clash. Once you spend them, they're gone.
2. You cannot gain a Hero Point for a successful roll in which you spent a previous Point, even if it had no effect.
3. You can change the odds of a roll before making the roll, but you cannot change the result. For example, you can change the odds of a Clash from Likely to Very Likely, but No still means No!
4. If you're helping someone performing a roll, you cannot gain a Hero Point, but your ally can.
Although he already had some adventures, I'm starting Vyper at 0 Hero Points for now. Also, I might change the name because the abbreviation, HP in a roleplaying game can get confusing. Maybe Hero Token.
Later that night, Mason, in his Vyper gear, flew in hops from building to building. Occasionally, he moved to the edge and looked down into the street or alley for anything. In the distance, he saw a bunch of lights on one rooftop. Turning invisible, he flew to an adjacent building to get a better look.
I didn't roll here because I just wanted to set up the scene. Pretend I succeeded with my rolls 😉
On the nearby rooftop, he heard music and saw some of his classmates singing and dancing. He remembered them mentioning a party that night and even a few of them invited him. But Mason claimed he was working, which seemed plausible enough. A number of people bowed out of the party for the same reason. Plus he had more important things to worry about, though he was never much of a part person himself.
Leaning over to glance down into the alley, Vyper heard an explosion, followed by screaming. But it was all coming from the rooftop with the party. Looking up, he saw three people in costumes attacking his classmates.
Running to the edge of the building closest to the other rooftop, he heard the three attackers announcing themselves to the terrified partiers.
The first one, wearing a metal exoskeleton, wielding helmet, and a large cannon attached to the belt, spoke in a booming female voice. "Foolish children, bow down to Torc!"
The second person, a muscular male with what looked like tree trunks for hands, waved his arms around like clubs. "Feel the brutality of Dreadwood!"
The third person, who wore a metallic backpack, pointed a strangely shaped fan at the people. As the fan spun, the people began to cough and choke. "Having breathing problems, are we? Well you have encountered DeBreeze!"
I already rolled up these three characters and their powers and abilities, using both the Creature Crafter, and the streamlined CC, while also asking questions to fill in the blanks (I also came up with the names at 4 a.m. so cut me a little slack there!). Here they are:
1. Torc: Lvl T Villain
B: 0, A: +1, M: +1, T: 0, H: +1. Torc uses a mounted cannon that fires fist-sized rocks. They are powerful, but she suffers a -2 to Agility when attempting to move. Also, she has Armor +1.
2. Dreadwood: Lvl T Villain
B: +2, A: +1, M: -1, T: 0, H: +1. Dreadwood has wooden clubs attached to his arms. They add +1 to Damage in melee combat.
3. DeBreeze: Lvl 0 Villain
B: 0, A: +1, M: 0, T: 0, H: -1. DeBreeze has a portable wind turbine on his backpack that can generate electricity. He can also use it to either create a closet-sized vacuum bubble or launch tiny wind needles at opponents.
Interesting mix of characters. At first, I was leery of a carrying out a 1 on 3 fight, not because of the danger but from all the rolling and deciding who struck whom. Then I reread the Clash rules, particularly the part where when fighting multiple opponents, you take the opponent with the highest Combat Skill and add 1 RS for each ally within 2 Ranks from the first.
Well Dreadwood has the highest with +2 Body. Torc has +1 Agility for her cannon while DeBreeze has +1 Agility for his wind weapon. This brings Dreadwood to +4. Vyper has +3 for his Force Field powers, which means he will roll -1 on the Clash.
(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (-1 means Unlikely) Yes (but Barely!)
Now it's time to determine Damage. Vyper's power is +3. Torc's Toughness (Body + Armor) is +1, so she suffers -1 RS. Dreadwood's is +2, so he also suffers -1 RS. However, DeBreeze has 0. Since this is 3 less than Vyper's Power, he suffers a total of -2 RS.
So Vyper narrowly wins the Clash, while causing minor damage to Torc and Dreadwood and major damage to DeBreeze.
Let's see how that plays out:
Leaping into the air, Vyper landed on the building before the three. Deepening his voice, he tried to come up with an intimidating line. "Party crashers must die."
"It's the Vyper," Torc cried (What's with adding 'the' each time with these people?). "Get him!"
DeBreeze stepped forward and pointed his fan. "Can't breathe, hero?"
Vyper stumbled and his vision blurred, but luckily the filter in his mask created enough of an air bubble so that he could keep going.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Torc fired her cannon, launching a fist-sized rock at Vyper. But he was coherent enough to throw up a force field barrier. The rock bounced off and struck DeBreeze, knocking him off his feet.
Vyper turned to face Torc when something slammed into his head and he fell to all fours. Standing over him, Dreadwood laughed. "Who's bad now, Vyp-meister?" He raised his arms and brought them crashing down over the masked hero's back.
Suddenly, Vyper rolled onto his back. Pointing his palms at his opponent, he fired a force field blast that caught the big man right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to stumble into Torc.
One clash down. Now it's time for the next one. Vyper's Heart is still +3. Torc, suffering a -1 RS, now has Agility +1. Dreadwood, with -1 RS, now has Body +1. Meanwhile, DeBreeze, with -2, now has Ability -1. Both Torc and Debreeze are still within 2 ranks of Dreadwood's so he still gets the +2 RS, making his combat skill +3, the same as Vyper. This means he now has a 50/50 chance.
(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (50/50) Yes. (This time, more decisively)
Looking at Damage, we have Vyper's +3 vs. Torc's 0 (+1 Armor, -1 RS from previous Clash). Since this is 3 Ranks difference, she suffers -2 RS for a total of -3 RS, triggering a roll for Incapacity. Dreadwood has Body +1 so he's now down to -2 RS. DeBreeze was at -1 Body but suffers another -2 RS for a painful total of -4 RS. This also triggers a roll for Incapacity.
To check for Incapacity, you start with the attacker's Damage (in this case, Vyper's +3 Heart) and subtract the victim's modified Toughness (In this case, Body and RS dmg). Torc's Body: 0 is modified by the 3 RS damage, bringing the total to +8. DeBreeze's Body: -1 is modified by 4 RS damage for +9 total.
Finally, I decided that Vyper is using Low Lethality. We'll give him some time before he starts offing people. However, this may change with Exceptional results, considering they are on a rooftop.
(Incap) Is Torc Incapacitated? (+8 means Certain) Yes + Random Event.
(Random) "Object," "Enemies."
(Incap) Is DeBreeze Incapacitated? (+9 means Certain) Yes.
Vyper fired another force field blast that struck Torc. Spinning in place, she lost control and fired her cannon right at Debreeze, connecting with his head. both of them fell to the ground. Dreadwood managed to avoid some of the blast, but a speck of it caused him to lose his footing, and he grabbed the wall for support.
Now Dreadwood is on his own against Vyper, but with a -2 RS. I wonder how confident he is.
(Q) Does Dreadwood charge forward? (I'm going to count the -2 RS, making it Very Unlikely) X-No + Random Event.
(Random) "NPC, "Surprise."
To me, this sounds like a new NPC, so I rolled one up.
As Dreadwood got to his feet, they both heard a change in the breeze. A man with the top half of his face covered and with flapping wings of a cloth-like material, landed.
(Q) Does he let the villains go? (50/50) Yes.
"That's enough out of you," he said to Dreadwood. "Drop your stolen gear this instance, and I may consider sparing you this time."
After removing his arm clubs, Dreadwood ran over to his allies. Helping them to their feet, they removed their gear and headed for the fire escape.
Vyper started after them but the winged man stopped him. "Let them go. This equipment is more important, especially to the safety of anyone ."
"Fine," Vyper said, "You deal with the equipment, and I'll go after them."
(Q) Does the winged man agree to this? (Again 50/50. I don't know how he'll act) No.
The winged man shook his head. "As you are the Vyper, you already have the police after you. I suggest you leave as well before the police arrive."
(Q) Is he at least friendly with Vyper? (Likely, if they're both heroes) X-Yes.
The other man stuck out his hand. "I am known as Wing Guard. Mr. Willard inquired of my ability to help him retrieve his equipment before any innocents find harm."
Vyper ignored his hand. "I have a hard time believing he actually cares about innocent people."
"Believe as you wish, I respect that." Wing Guard saluted. "For now, thank you citizen, for your help. Perhaps our paths shall cross again soon."
(I don't know about you, but I'm not buying it!)
Hearing sirens, Vyper turned invisible and flew away. As he returned to his apartment while planning to report to Ashby, he thought about the evening's events. How did those three break into the lab if they had just buffed up security? How did they figure out the gear so quickly?
And what's up with the masked dork?
Oh, and Vyper definitely earned his first Hero Point this session!
Until next time . . .
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