Vyper Fights - Mythic Supers #11

 When we last left our hero, Mason Dean, aka Vyper, found out that the villain Armand Ricker is working with Charles Willard. not only that, but they murdered Mr. Ashby, Mason's contact and only friend. Ricker knows Mason's face but luckily not his identity. 

We'll continue from there.

Mason avoided Ashby's funeral over the threat of running into Ricker again. In fact, he didn't even leave his apartment for days. However, he knew he couldn't hide forever, and looking over his shoulder wasn't an option, so Mason decided instead to take the fight to Ricker himself. In his Vyper gear, he set out that evening, flying over the rooftops in search of this new villain.

.I honestly have no idea how to get this session started so we'll see if a few random rolls work.

First, let's check to see if the see plays out normally:  No Doubles. Vyper flew over the rooftops without opposition.

(Q)  Does Vyper see anything suspicious?  (Likely, only because I want to get things started)  No.

(Ugh, it's going to be one of those sessions!)

Seeing Wylltech not far away, Vyper landed on the rooftop of the nearest building and gazed around.

(Q)  Does Vyper see anything suspicious now?  (Likely)  Yes - Random Event.

(Detail)  What does he see?  "Official," "Reassuring."

Vyper noticed a number of security guards wandering the grounds of Wylltech. In addition, blinking lights from cameras and roaming spotlights covered the building's walls. Either Willard upped his security, or he's creating the illusion of doing so.

But wait! We have a random event. Let's see what that is.

(Random)  "Enemies," "Surprise."

(Q)  Is Ricker attacking Vyper?  (Likely)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Delay," "Betray."

I think I know where this is going, so a couple more questions.

(Q)  Is Wing Guard attacking Vyper?  (Very Likely)  X-Yes.

(Q)  Will what happens next be what I think it will (Very Likely)  Yes.

I'll explain that last one tin a shortly.

Noticing all the security, Vyper determined a straightforward attack on Wylltech wouldn't be possible at the moment. As he turned to leave, something slammed into him, and he crashed onto the rooftop of a nearby but smaller building. Looking up, he saw Wing Guard standing over him.

(Q)  Is Wing guard angry?  (50/50)  No.

(Q) Is he scared?  (Likely)  No.

(Detail)  How does he seem?  "Dirty," "Ruined."

Wing Guard's suit was torn and covered with dirt, like he hadn't taken it off at all since their last meeting.  His eyes were cold.

"Let me guess," Vyper said, "this is revenge for last time."

"Not revenge," Wing Guard answered. "I am under orders. If I don't crush you, Vyper, Willard will expose me. I'll lose everything, my scholarship, my job, my career, all of it."

"You can expose him." Vyper said, standing. "I already gave the police a recording that can put Willard away. Help me and we can end this."

For this I'll make an Ability check for Vyper. His Talk is +1, but so is Wing Guard's.

(Ability)  Does Vyper succeed in convincing Wing Guard?  (50/50)  No.

Wing Guard shook his head. "I'm afraid, there's only one way out of this."

"I don't want to hurt you," said Vyper, remember this was one of his classmates.

Wing Guard gritted his teeth. "Unfortunately, I must."

This will be a Clash between the two. Vyper will use his powers (+3 for Heart), while Wing Guard will attempt to swoop in and attack hand to hand. (Agility +2 +1 for Martial Arts Skill).

(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash?  (50/50)  Yes.

Vyper has Heart +3 versus Wing Guard's Body +1, so WG suffers -1 CS for Damage.

With an attempt at a growl, Wing Guard leaped upward. There was a sound of gears grinding as his flying apparatus took him into the air as he threw a flying kick. But Vyper held out his hands, deflecting the attack with a force field that sent his winged opponent cashing into the ground.

First Clash is done. Let's see what happens next.

(Q)  Does Wing Guard try again?  (Likely, considering his demeanor)  Yes.

Wing Guard stood back up again.  "We're not through." Leaping, he lunged again.

This time, Wing Guard has a -1 because of the previous Clash, bringing him down to +2.

(Clash))  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (+1 means Likely)  No.

Vyper held up his hands again, but this time, his winged foe soared over him. Then, Vyper felt a foot striking him right in the back of his head, and he tumbled forward.

Wing Guard's Damage is +1 versus Vyper's Body of 0, so he suffers -1 CS this time. Now both are back to even ground.

Rolling on the ground, Vyper groaned, as Wing Guard stalked towards him.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (50/50)  Yes.

Leaning over Vyper, Wing Guard began throwing punches at his masked face. "There . . . is . . . only . . . one way . . this is  . . . going to . . . end."

Opening his palm, Vyper sent a force field blast that caught his foe right in the chest, and he fell backwards.

Wing Guard is now at -2 CS.

(Q)  Does Wing Guard keep fighting?  (Unlikely)  Yes.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (Likely)  No, but barely.

Wing Guard attacked again, and Vyper braced for another kick, but this time the metal wing itself sliced across his shoulder and head. Dropping to one knee, he felt his shoulder and saw blood.

"I know your weakness now," Wing Guard said. He grabbed Vyper's wrist with one hand and his collar with the other. "All your powers, those little bubbles you make, but behind it all, you're still a weak little man."

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (Back to 50/50)  Yes.

Vyper punched with his free hand, but this time aimed for one of the metal wings themselves. The force sent his foe spinning, and he released Vyper and fell, his face colliding with the wall.

"But you," said Vyper, "are a weak little man even with all your tech."

Wing Guard is now at -3 CS so I'll check to see if he's still conscious.

Vyper's Damage is +1 (+3 Heart -2 CS for damage) versus Wing Guard's Body +1, -3 CS for Damage. This makes the roll +3.

(Incapacity)  Is Wing Guard incapacitated?  (+3 means Nearly Certain)  X-Yes.

Now Vyper wasn't using lethal damage, but remember how I said I'd explain a previous roll later on (well I used the word 'shortly,' but close enough)? Remember, I the word was 'Enemies.'

Wing Guard managed to sit up, but with a great deal of effort. Seeing he was no longer a threat, Vyper turned, and sat down on the ledge. "We're done here," he said.

As he slowed his breath and tried to calm himself, he heard Wing Guard gasp, followed in a split second by the sound of cracking, and then a thud. Spinning around, he leaped to his feet and saw Armand Ricker standing over Wing Guard, who now lay on the ground with his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

"Mr. Willard warned him," Ricker said. Then he looked up. "But you and I, my young friend, we are just beginning."

Although exhausted, Vyper held out his hands and prepared for another fight.

Vyper's Heart is currently +1 (+3 -2 CS for damage). Armand Ricker has Heart +3. So for this Clash, Vyper will be at -2.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (-2 means Very Unlikely)  No.

Before Vyper could blink, Ricker vanished, reappearing behind him. Grabbing Vyper's arm, Ricker twisted it and jabbed his elbow into the hero's back. Vyper collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, with his vision blurring.

Vyper is now at -3 CS which means rolling for Incapacity. If he's incapacitated, then the next session will be him being captured and held prisoner. Ricker's Heart is +3, versus Vyper's Body -3 (0 -3 CS) means +6.

(Incapacity)  Is Vyper incapacitated?  (+6 means Certain)  X-No.

So Vyper is still able to continue, and with the Exceptional result, I'm granting him +1 CS on his next roll. 

(Q)  Is Armand attacking again?  (50/50)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Communicate," "Positive."

Coughing and shaking his head to clear it, Vyper struggled to get to his feet. 

To his surprise, Armand just stood there."You are a worthy adversary, my young friend," Ricker said, flipping the medallion back and forth in his hand. "However I believe you would make an even greater ally. You and I, we stand in the clouds, far above the mundane souls who wallow in the dirt. We should take our place as their lords."

"What about Willard?" Vyper asked, wondering where this was going.

"Mr. Willard is one of us as well," Ricker answered. "I mean he hasn't been gifted with our abilities, but his intellect, leadership, and resources place him by our sides."

 So at this point, Vyper is way too worn out to fight Ricker. He needs to buy himself time. But he also may have a way to get to Willard. Now Vyper may have his powers, but through concealing his identity all this time, Mason has gained some impressive skills in bluffing. This might be his way out.

Mason has Talk +1 with Bluff +1, giving him +2. Unfortunately, the -3 CS brings him down to -1, which we'll attribute to injury and exhaustion. He also has the +1 from the Exceptional result previously, bringing him to an even 0. Ricker has Mind +2. Which means Vyper's chance to Bluff would be -2. 

Time to use Hero Tokens!

Vyper has 4 Hero Tokens. I'm using 2 of them right now. This still brings him to 0, but at least it's a chance.

(Ability)  Does Vyper successfully Bluff Ricker?  (50/50)  X-Yes!

Staring at the old man for a long moment, Vyper finally nodded. Pointing back to the city, he feigned anger. "If they knew me, they'd hate me. Heck, the police keep trying to arrest me even after I helped them. No matter what, to them, all of them, I'm nothing but a crook."

Ricker nodded and smiled. "I understand, my young friend, but to me, you are so much more. so what shall it be?" He held out his hand.

"What about him?" Vyper inclined his head in Wing Guard's direction. "How am I any different?"

"Oh he was weak and already broken, long before I arrived," Ricker answered, "but you are vastly different and far superior. And I can show you how, if you allow me."

"I want it." Vyper took the man's hand.

"Good." Ricker grinned. "I'll inform Mr. Willard. Meet me at the labs so we can begin."

"I need to rest first." Vyper groaned slightly.

"You have two days," Ricker said. "I'll leave you a message at your school."

With a nod, Vyper flew away.

With the fight ending, Vyper automatically recovers 1 CS. The two days will allow him to recover the other two. Now if this were a movie or TV show, I'd keep Vyper's bluff a secret, but for the game, we know ahead of time what he's up to. And the Exceptional result will be a +1 on his very next roll.

Next time will be the finale. Vyper has 2 more Hero Tokens left plus a +1 on his first roll. I'm not awarding him any tokens this time because he spend 2 of them.

Next time:  The Finale!

The Plot Thickens - Mythic Supers #10

 Last session, Mason met a new enemy, a mysterious old man named Armand Ricker, who could somehow move short distances in record speed through some kind of location shifting. Ricker also killed the 3 villains whom Vyper had fought before, though Wing Guard's fate is still unknown at the moment.

But first,

I'm adding a rule from the Main Mythic rules, specifically concerning Altered Scenes and Scene Interrupts. These modify the scene of your session before you start. 

Altered scenes change how you expect a scene to turn out. Maybe the bank robbery you're trying to stop already happened long before you got there or the crooks are using laser guns. Interrupts stop scenes in their tracks, taking them in new directions.  Using the previous example, your hero might be on the way to stopping the robbery when a new villain blocks your path.

In the original rules, you'd start by rolling 1d10 versus the Chaos Factor (which determines how much or little control you have over a scene). If you roll equal to or less, you trigger one of the above. However, since One Page Mythic doesn't use a Chaos Factor, I'm going to do something a little different. Instead, I'll roll 2d10. Rolling Doubles will trigger either an Altered Scene (if each # is Odd) or Interrupts (if each # is Even).

Finally, I kind of rolled ahead for some of these because I knew this scene would be less story-orientated with less game play elements. We'll see how it turns out.

To start, I want Mason to talk with Ashby about what happened with Armand Ricker. That seems like a good place to start.

Let's check first to see if the scene starts normally:  33 - Odd - Altered Scene.

So they're not having a face-to-face conversation.

(Q)  Is Mason at home?  (50/50)  No.

I'm deciding that Mason is at school.

(Q)  Is he texting with Ashby?  (Very Likely)  Yes - Random Event.

(Event)  "Information," "Official."

Sitting at a picnic table at lunch, Mason munched on his sandwich when his phone beeped. Glancing at it, he noticed Ashby had finally replied to his text sent the night before. Mason had asked if Ashby knew Armand Ricker.

(Q)  Did Ashby know Ricker?  (Likely)  Yes - Negative help. (I'm interpreting to mean he only knew of Ricker but not in person.)

The reply came; "He works as a speaker for Wylltech. You met him?"

"Yeah," Mason replied. "Apparently he's got some weird powers because he teleported or something and chased me through the mall. I barely got away."

"You found him scary?" Ashby asked.

"He's an old man," Mason texted back, "but something about him creeps me out. Plus I think he killed those three that I fought before."

"Why do you think that?"

"They were killed quickly but without wrecking anything in the alley," Mason replied in the text. "This guy, I can't explain it, but it seemed like it vanished and then reappeared closer. I won't know if it's super speed or teleporting."

"Might be a little of both."

 "What else do you know about him?" Mason asked.

"He does speeches for the company. The teleporting, apparently is a new one."

"Do you know where he is now?" Mason wondered if maybe he could find out more about the guy, well, from a distance.

(Q)  Does he know Ricker's current location?  (Unlikely if he doesn't know him well)  Yes - Random.

(Random)  "Enemies," "Expectation."

I'm going to interpret this loosely because I have an idea.

The reply came. "Possibly."

"Where?" Before Mason got a reply, someone approached and slowly took a seat across from him. Annoyed, he raised his eyes to glare but instead fought the urge to open them wide as he saw the person sitting before him.

"You are quite a challenging fellow to locate," Armand Ricker said with a smirk. "Which is little matter for I enjoy challenges."

Mason closed his hand into a fist and it started to glow.

"I would recommend against that," Ricker said, glancing around. "I assume you prefer to keep your anonymity."  Seeing Mason speechless, he let out a chuckle. "Oh don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Really quick, I'm just going to see if Mason can seemingly keep his cool or will Ricker see right through him and know the young man is terrified. I'll use Mason's Talk +1, along with his Bluff +1 for a +2 total. I'll use Ricker's +2 Mind.

(Clash)  Did Mason hide is true emotions from Ricker?  (50/50)  Yes.

Mason opened his hand, keeping an even stare. "What do you want?"

"You know I did notice you in the sign's reflection during my speech," Ricker replied. "Everyone else listened to me either in fascination, emotional captivation, or curious fear." He pointed. "You on the other hand reacted with disinterest and even scorn. Yes, I saw all too well you rolling your eyes."

Mason stiffened. "So you're ticked because I brushed your little speech off?"

"On the contrary, my friend," he replied, "I found your reaction both peculiar and refreshing." He leaned closer. "You see, you and I differ from the rest. We stand above those around us. Together we can accomplish more than you can ever dream."

Mason had heard enough. Tossing his sandwich wrapper into a nearby trashcan, he stood, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "No thanks. This is me rolling my eyes again." He started to walk away.

(Q)  Does Ricker stop him?  (Very Likely)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Fight," "NPC."

Hmm, interesting.

(Q)  Does a fight break out right there and then?  (Likely)  No.

(Q)  Did this fight already occur?  (Likely because of the previous Q)  Yes.

(Q)  Did Ricker do what I think he did?  (Likely)  Yes. (see Below)

"So headstrong and determined," Ricker said as Mason turned away. "Not like the others."

"Don't worry," Mason said as he started to walk away. "The police'll get you for killing those guys in the alley."

"Just the alley?"

Mason paused.

"Oh here, you might want this." He held out a cell phone. "Go on, take it."

Turning back, Mason glanced at the cell phone. It was on text. And the last text received read, "Where?" Then he recognized it as Ashby's phone.

"It would seem your friend found me after all," Ricker said. 

As Mason took the phone, Ricker stood and walked away. Pausing, he said, "Oh, there's a video for you to watch, but I suggest you do so in private."

(Q)  Does Ricker know Mason’s name?  (Likely)  No  

Mason glanced down at the phone and felt relieved that Ashby had labeled him ‘Kid’ in the text instead of by name. But he still wondered what happened to Ashby.

(Remember the question above? Here goes.)

Going to the top floor of the library, Mason sat in an alcove. After putting on headphones, he found the video and hit Play.

The picture started out dark until he realized the camera was pointed at Ashby's leg as he probably tried to hold his phone in a subtle manner. The mic worked though as he spoke with Charles Willard.

"I heard they arrested that winged guy," said Ashby.

"Yes, such a pity," Willard replied. "The young man worked here as an intern as he went to classes. The boy had a future."

"Not to mention his three friends who were killed."

"Some friends," Willard said. "They robbed me blind. I may not agree with the other boy taking my wing technology but at least he returned everything. Not like your friend, Vyper."

Ashby was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry."

"Nice try," said Willard, "but I know you've been speaking to him, and somehow you even got him my technology. Now who is he?"

"I didn't give him anything," Ashby said, "but the wing guy told him that you paid his friends to steal the equipment to test it so you wouldn't be responsible if something went wrong. Then he'd pretend to retrieve it for you."

"He said that?" Mason couldn't tell if Willard deliberately sounded full of it or if he really was surprised. "That's too bad."

 "What the - "

There was a sound of something snapping, followed by a huge thud, and Ashby's phone clattering to the ground.

"Another pity," said Willard. "He was once a loyal worker."

"My apologies, Charles, for having to discipline yet another," said Armand Ricker. "I know how little you tolerate disloyalty. "

"No kidding," Willard said. "First the three I paid to 'steal' my tech and test it got cold feet and almost went to the police, and now I find out Ashby's been going behind my back this whole time. Now I need to know how he was communicating with the Vyper."

"Who?" Ricker asked. 

"Some masked lunatic who keeps interfering with my plans," Willard replied. "I don't know how he got his powers, but apparently he can fly and turn invisible."

Ricker paused before replying. "I know this boy."

"What do you mean boy?"

Well perhaps young man is more accurate. At the mall the other day," Ricker replied. "I followed a rather unusual boy but he vanished into thin air."

There was a small clinking sound, most likely of Ricker's amulat tapping the phone. Then he picked it up and Mason had to fight the urge to tremble as Ricker's face filled the screen. "Perhaps something here can assist us in finding this Vyper, especially if Mr. Ashby communicated with him."

"You think you can find him?" Willard asked.

Ricker smiled right into the camera. "Oh I believe I can. There is that university nearby. I'll see about meeting our young friend."

Mason shut down the video and turned the camera off. Dropping the phone in his lap, he covered his face with his fingers as tears streamed from his eyes. Ashby had become the closest thing he had to family. And now because of that maniac, he was gone. 

After several minutes, Mason wiped his eyes and stared down at the phone. Then another thought struck him. What if Ricker had given him the phone so they could track him? Here at the school was one thing, but if they followed him to his apartment, they could learn everything about him. Turning the phone back over, he turned it on. While not a tech wizard, he hoped he could find something if it was hidden in the phone.

Mason is going to perform a Mind Ability check to search the phone for a tracker. I have no idea what the difficulty will be so I'm going to make that my first question.

(Q)  Is the Difficulty +2?  (Likely as it may be higher but probably not lower)  Yes.

So the Difficulty is +2. Mason's Mind is +1 so he'll be rolling with a -1.

(Ability) Does Mason find the tracker?  (-1 means Unlikely)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  NPC Burden

Mason couldn't find anything indicating the phone had a tracker on it. Unfortunately, he just wasn't tech savvy enough. However he did find pictures of Ashby with friends and family over the years, including with him, Mason, and Mason's parents. Back before everything went downhill.

Turning off the phone, he considered this. He didn't have proof of a tacker, but he did have proof of Ricker committing murder on Willard's orders. Ashby deserved some kind of justice, and Mason decided he would get just that.

After placing the phone in a paper bag, he buried it under a tree at the college. Then he went home and changed. Returning in his Vyper gear, he sought to retrieve the phone.

This is technically a new scene, so I rolled 2d10 first.No Doubles, so it played out normally).

(Q)  Is the phone where he left it?  (Very Likely)  

Finding the phone still buried under a tree, Vyper dug it up but kept it in the bag. Then he flew around looking for a police officer.

(Q)  Does Mason find a police officer?  (Likely)  X-Yes.

(Q)  Are they on foot?  (50/50)  Yes.

(Q)  Are they both male?  (50/50)  Yes.

Vyper spotted two male officers patrolling the college grounds. He landed a bit away from them so they hopefully wouldn't be startled.

(Q)  Are they startled?  (Unlikely, as in hopefully not)  No, but barely.

Both officers dropped their hands to their holsters as Vyper approached. Good, they were cautious but not in a dangerous sense.

"Stop right there," said the first cop.

"It's the Vyper," said the second.

"I have a cell phone here," said Vyper. "The owner was murdered and it was all recorded."

"What's it to you?" asked the first cop.

"He was my friend," Vyper replied.

I'm going to treat this as a Clash, with Vyper trying to convince the cop that the phone contains valuable information. If he fails, the cops will become hostile instead. Vyper has +1 Talk while both officers have 0 Talk. They're cautious but not hostile (yet) so I'll keep the Difficulty at 0.

(Clash) Does Vyper convince the cops to take the phone?  (+1 means Likely)  Yes, again but barely.

The second cop slowly took the phone. "How do we know this isn't a trick?"

"The code is 1701," Vyper answered. "The phone belongs to Martin Ashby. You'll see everything in the only video there." He turned away but paused. "Be careful though. They went after the last people who knew too much. Hopefully they're not dumb enough to mess with cops."

(Q)  Do they try to stop Vyper from leaving?  (50/50 because I'm not sure)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random)  "Harm," "Conclude."

The first cop pulled out his gun. "You know there's a warrant for your arrest, right? We can't just let you walk away."

"I was afraid of that," Vyper said. He held up his hands. "I don't want to fight you, but I do want to stop those two who killed my friend."

"We don't need no vigilantes around here," said the second cop.

"Then think of this," Vyper replied. "There are still powered people going around hurting people. Do you think you can take them on?"

I'm making another check here. However this time, since the cops are wanting to bring Vyper in, I'm raising the difficulty by 1.

(Clash)  Does Vyper convince them to leave him alone?  (50/50)  Yes.

The first cop holstered his pistol and motioned his partner to do the same. "We'll pretend this conversation never happened, but just this once."

"Thank you." Vyper took off into the air, hoping the cops would do the right thing, and more importantly, survive doing so.

Since Vyper succeeded with 3 separate rolls, I'm going to award him another Hero Token, giving him 3 total. Trust me, he's going to need them!

A New Threat - Mythic Supers #9

 Last time, Mason Dean, known as the masked hero Vyper, learned a new danger had recently entered the city. Easily dispatching three others with little effort, Mason begins searching for answers as to the identity of this person.

For the record, I know who the person is. I originally came up with the idea from a dream I had years ago, when he scared the **** out of me. In fact, I'm using Mythic to recreate the scene. However, this time he won't be facing a scrawny human but someone with powers. I will however be setting up the situation ahead of time and seeing what happens from there.

Also, I decided after everything he went through, Vyper earned not 1 but 2 Hero Tokens last time. Let's hope he doesn't burn through them too fast.

A month later, Mason wandered through the mall. It was a quiet afternoon and he had finished classes for the day. Having healed from the battle against Wing Guard, he decided finally to go out and about. 

(Q)  Was the mall busy?  (Likely, I mean, it is a mall)  No, but barely.

Today, the mall was quiet, except for small clusters of people in various locations, whether in the food court or near stores. Walking along the second floor, Mason searched for the book store, figuring he deserved a little pampering in the form of a bag full of books.

"The attack on the noble labs of Wylltech ended on tragedy and tested the very security of the company"

The voice, over a loudspeaker, could be heard at the center of the mall. 

"But I assure you, the company has taken all means within regulation to avoid future transgressions."

Curious about the speaker, Mason wandered along until he could looked down over the railing.

(Q)  Is a large group of people listening?  (Likely)  Yes.

Several dozen people crowded the area to listen to the speaker. Some looked curious and attentive while others seemed genuinely disturbed.  But all of them seemed captivated by the speaker.

Mason then noticed the speaker. An old man, with a crown of hair atop his head, and wearing a button down short, bow-tie, and dress pants. Despite seeming shorter than average, his voice boomed to the point where he might not have even needed the microphone.

Glancing around, Mason looked for a sign identifying the person.

(Q)  Does Mason find a sign telling him the old man's identity?  (Very Likely)  X-Yes.

Mason then spotted the sign:

"Armand Ricker, PHD,

Philosopher of Technology."

He continued, "I understand some within Wylltech have suffered losses that could never be replaced, but they have been tended to and Wylltech has taken all available steps to aid these men, women, boys, and girls."

Mason rolled his eyes. Yeah, like you 'aided' my mother?

"Now some of you may fear the dangers of technology," Armand said, "and in some cases you probably should. Electronics, chemistry, quantum mechanics, these are treasures beyond one's wildest dreams, but only for the strong at heart."

Some people nodded, while others remained frozen in place.

"And therein lies the problem. All your life, you have been told that all men are created equal. However, I must inform you that this simply is not true. Human beings actually are a diverse species,  and diversity breeds deviation in the balance of nature. This, by the way, is not a matter of race, gender or otherwise. Nature simply chooses the elite while science chooses the rest."

Mason shook his head. Great, another quack. Turning away, he decided to leave the mall. 

"One day you shall see the results," Armand said, "and hopefully you shall embrace it. For even among those below the means of equality, life benefits those who embrace their natural path."

(Q)  Is Mason near a mall exit?  (50/50)  No.

(Q)  Are the parts of the mall not near the center busy?  (Unlikely)  X-No, Random Event.

(Random)  "Emotions," "Strange."

(Q)  Is Armand's voice having an effect on Mason?  (Likely by the Random Event)  No.

Mason could hear Armand's voice even as he walked away. It echoed along the walls and ceiling, though that could just be from the speakers. Still, he found the old man's voice unsettling. Spotting the hallway leading behind the mall stores and leading to the offices, he went through the doors and down the hallway. Finally the voice faded.

"Once humanity learns to blend organic life with science, those already above the measure of equality shall find an entirely new definition of superiority."

Mason froze. He shouldn't be able to hear the man's voice anymore. He sped up his pace.

(Q)  Is there a corner of the hallway to turn on?  (Likely)  Yes.

Now, I'm going to make a roll here, specifically a Clash, but I'm not going to say what kind of Clash just yet. Let's just say Mason is using his Agility (0) to quicken his pace.

(Clash)  Does Mason win the Clash?  (0 Agility vs. ?)  No.

Reaching the corner, Mason turned and quickened his pace. Then, behind him, he heard the doors from the mall to the doorway swing open.

And he heard Armand's voice again. "Nature is rather humorous. It deludes humanity in believing in balance when truly some beings exist in a state of superiority over others."

(Q)  Is there another corner up ahead?  (Likely, or rather hopefully)  Yes.

Let's see if he makes it.

(Clash)  Does Mason gain a lead on Armand?  (0 Agility vs. ?)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Delay," "Distant."

In his rush, Mason tripped and fell to the ground. As he started to rise, he heard Armand's voice grow closer. It was no longer through a microphone and over a speaker, but just a normal voice. Yet the voice echoed off the floor, ceiling and walls.

"The question each member of humanity must ask itself is are you of the mundane stock?"

Reaching the corner, Armand turned and continued walking towards Mason. In his hand, he held what looked like a medallion that he flipped back and forth over his wrist.

Then his body shimmered and suddenly he appeared a few steps closer. He took a few more steps, but then he faded and again appeared closer to Mason.

"Or are you one of superiority." A slight smirk appeared on Armand's lips as he suddenly faded even closer.

Reaching his feet, Mason bolted around the corner. 

(Q)  Is the a door to the outside nearby?  (Likely - like oh please, please!)  X-No.

(Q)  What about Alcoves?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

Mason looked around. At the far end of the hallway was another corner, not something he could reach in time. He did notice several doors to stores. He tried some of them but they were locked. He then managed to open one, but hearing the footsteps get closer, he got an idea. Spotting an alcove not far away, he threw the door open so that it would slam shut. Then he leaped into the alcove and turned invisible.

Let's see if this works. This time it's Mason's Heart +3 versus Armand's power.

(Clash)  Does Mason evade Armand?  (+3 vs. ? means ?)  Yes.

Mason heard the footsteps walk past the alcove. They stopped at the door as Armand opened it and looked into the store. Footsteps then faded into the store and the door closed behind them. With a sigh of relief, Mason left the alcove and continued down the hallway.

(Q)  Does Mason make it to the end of the hallway before Armand realizes the truth?  (Likely)  No.

Mason almost reached the end of the hallway when he heard the door behind him open.

"Those who embrace their roles in inferiority shall welcome their own treasures, even while as  minute," Armand continued, with a voice that echoed again. "Those who do not - " And he shimmered and appeared much closer. "Those who do not, shall find their very spirits shattered," his voice suddenly growing low and sinister, "to pieces."

(Q)  Around the corner, is there a door to the outside?  (Likely)  Yes.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Mason flew through the hallway to the door.

(Clash)  Does Mason escape?  (?)  X-Yes.

Flying through the doorway, Mason turned invisible and took off into the air. As he flew away from the mall, he glanced back toward it. Armand exited the mall and took a few steps, shimmering into the parking lot. Stopping he slowly turned his head from right to left and then upward. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. Then he turned and walked back into the mall.

Mason flew home, where he showered, tried to eat, and flopped onto his couch. But even as he closed his eyes, the voice of Armand Ricker found its way up his spine, poking repeatedly into his brain.

So that's our new villain. You'll get to see more of him in the future. I'll post stats next time.

 

Not seeing an exit in sight, Mason

The Rematch - Mythic Supers Game

 Several months had gone by since the last big battle (I figure my hero needs a break every now and then), and things were rather quiet. No major crimes in the city other than occasional muggings, robberies, and petty thefts, but the police had those under control.

During the time, Mason attended all of his classes without incident and continued to write for the newspaper. However since nothing major was going on, his articles mostly covered events at the college, sales at various stores, and smaller holidays. Fortunately, his boss didn't seem to mind, considering they were a small paper and bigger stories usually also meant bigger danger.

The upcoming event was the spring festival, which covered the entire weekend. The city fairgrounds was covered with carnival rides, games, and various exhibits. Mason's job was to cover the chocolate chip cookie baking contest, which meant he got to sample the products (lucky duck!)

The night before however, Mason got a text from Ashby; "Another break-in at the lab. Same items stolen."

Knowing this could mean another attack, Mason wore his Vyper gear under sweatpants, a loose-fitting pullover, and an oversize jacket. He carried a backpack which held his notebook and camera, but also his mask and gloves. 

Time to set the scene.

 (Q)  Is it morning?  (Likely)  X-Yes

The festival hadn't started yet; people were still setting up. Attendants tested the rides. The baking contest wouldn't start for a few hours. Still, it was nice out so Mason wandered around the place.

(Q)  Does Mason see anything out of the ordinary?  (Likely, because I want to get this moving)  No

The place was quiet. Even the police seemed pretty calm. Still, Mason kept his eyes on the outskirts of the fairgrounds, in case anyone arrived for less than friendly reasons.

(Q)  Are a lot of people there yet?  (Unlikely)  Yes.

Apparently the spring festival was quite popular because people showed up even before it started, gathering in various groups to talk and laugh.

(Q - Description)  What does Mason see when he looks around?  "Full," "Rustic."

Apparently the horseback riding circle was already opened because kids stood excitedly in line. The horses seemed calm, which meant no danger yet. Mason's eyes then lifted as he glanced at the areas just past the fairgrounds.

(Q)  Are there any buildings just outside the fairgrounds (Likely)  No.

Outside the fairgrounds were nothing but clearings. 

(Q)  Is there anyplace nearby where someone could launch an ambush?  (Likely)  No.

Mason noticed that the openness of the fairgrounds made ambushes rather difficult.

(Ugh, I need to figure out how to jump-start this session.)

(Q)  Has the festival started yet?  (50/50)  Yes

After a little while, the festival officially started. People gathered to jump on the rides while others sampled the various foods. Still others just conversed in groups.

(At this point I'm just going to ask a bunch of questions, hoping to trigger a random event.)

(Q)  Has the cookie baking contest started?  (Likely)  No.

Mason glanced at his phone. He still had some time before the baking contest began. Logging online, he checked to see if anything suspicious was taking place in other parts of the city.

(Q)  Is anything suspicious taking place somewhere else but still nearby?  (unlikely)  No.

The news apps were all quiet. Maybe the lab thieves were lying low. He sent a text to Ashby. "Did the police check any of the warehouses?"

(Q)  Well did they?  (I'll say Likely because I can't see why they'd ignore them.)  No.

He got a reply a few minutes later. "No, they think the thieves left town because they can't find a trace of them."

With a shrug, Mason continued wandering around the festival.

(Q)  Does Mason see any of his classmates?  (Very Likely)  No.

Oddly, he suddenly noticed that none of the people he knew from the college had attended the festival, at least those he knew on a first name basis.

(Q)  Is anyone else from the newspaper covering the festival?  (Likely)  Yes.

(Q)  Is it more than one person?  (50/50)  Yes.

Mason did see a few people from the newspaper taking pictures and conducting interviews. No one he talked to on a regular basis but people he recognized. At least he got to taste some delicious cookies and earn his paycheck with his pictures and notes.

(Q)  Are Mason's classmates being fashionably late (Very Likely)  X-Yes.

Hmm, the Exceptional part is odd.

(Q)  Did they show up at the very end in the evening?  (Likely)  No - Random Event.

YES! Finally!

(Random)  "Information," "Create."

(Q)  Do they have information about the thieves?  (Likely)  No. (UGH! Come on, work with me!)

(Description)  What is the information?  "Help," "Cold."  Random!

(Random)  "Official," "Good."

Hmm, maybe that winged guy has something to do with this.

Mason got another text from Ashby:  "The guy who calls himself Wing Guard found the crooks."

Well that was quick. Mason texted him back. "Did they get away?"

(Q)  Did the crooks get away?  (Likely, so they could cause more trouble later)  No.

"I don't know," Ashby replied. 

"Where did he find them?"

(Description)  "Rough," "Healthy."

"On the rooftop of a building on the corner of Smith and Rose."

Mason nodded, though then remembering Ashby couldn't see him. "On it."

Sneaking behind a tent, Mason changed into his gear. Stuffing his clothes into his backpack, he slung it over his shoulders and took off to find the location Ashby mentioned.

I'm going to make an Ability check to see if Mason successfully flies away. His Heart is +2, but he gets a -1 Penalty for flying while invisible.

(Q) Does Vyper succeed in flying while invisible?  (+2 means Very Likely)  X-Yes.

Mason, now in his Vyper gear, cloaked himself in a field and took off away from the festival. On the way, he stopped and dropped his backpack on the patio of his apartment. Then he continued on his way.

(Q)  Are the police headed in the same direction?  (Very Likely)  X-No - Random!

Far below, Vyper noticed police cars parked in front of an alley. A number of officers walked carefully in and out of the alley.

Hmm, maybe they just found the crooks. But first . . . 

(Random)  "NPC," "Danger."

(Q)  Are the NPC's the crooks?  (50/50; either them or the cops)  Yes.

(Q)  Are they injured?  (Likely, if they're in danger)  X-Yes.

Uh Oh.

(Q)  Are all 3 dead?  (Unlikely, since Vyper himself struggled with them)  Yes.

As Vyper lowered himself to the rooftop, he gazed down into the alley. The cops surrounded the bodies of the three Vyper had fought months ago. 

(Q)  Did they look like they were killed by physical means?  (50/50)  Yes.

The three lay in the alley at bizarre and unnatural angles. Although he was too far away to hear the entire conversation, Vyper thought he heard the phrase "broken neck." 

So now we know why they didn't get away. Problem is the Wing dork didn't seem to be that violent. Time to confront him and find out.

Flying up higher, Vyper tried to spot Wing Guard.

(Q)  Does Vyper see Wing Guard?  (I'm going with Likely to push the story forward).  Yes.

(Q)  Is he fleeing the scene?  (50/50)  No.

(Q)  Is he flying towards the lab?  (Likely)  Yes.

Vyper decided to continue to where he had been directed. Reaching the street corner, he found himself atop a gym that had recently closed down. Looking around, he spotted something flying slowly in the direction of the labs. He set off to intercept him. 

This is not a chase, so I'm only giving Vyper a slight penalty to catch up.

(Q)  Does Vyper catch up to Wing Guard?  (+2 means Very Likely)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Distant," "Object."

(Q)  Did Wing Guard drop something from the lab?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

Vyper saw something shiny fall and land on a rooftop. Changing his course, he landed and picked it up. It looked like a piece of DeBreeze's fan.   

(Q)  Does wing Guard notice he dropped it?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

"I'll take that, citizen."  

Vyper looked up to see Wing Guard landing before him on the rooftop. The nerve of this guy, caring more about the equipment than the three people he killed. Maybe there was more to this.

"Why don't I just hand this over to the police? They're not far away."

 

(Q)  Does Wing Guard go along with that?  (50/50)  No - Random Event.  

(Random)  "Start," "Fears."

"That's not necessary." Wing Guard's voice faltered slightly. 

Vyper caught onto that quickly. "But they are the law. Wouldn't the correction act be to - "

"I said," Wing Guard moved closer, "that I'll take it from here."

Now things are getting interesting.

"You know what?" Vyper said. "I don't think anyone should have this." And he smashed the fan against the concrete.

(Q)  Does Wing Guard react to this with hostility?  (Very Likely)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random)  "Attain," "Conflict."

"NO!" Wing Guard lunged forward throwing a kick directly at Vyper's face.

I'll use Wing Guard's Agility +2 to attack and damage since he's making a diving strike. This is versus Vyper's Agility 0 as Vyper is just trying to get out of the way.

(Clash) Does Vyper avoid Wing Guard's attack?  (-2 means Very Unlikely)  X-No.

OUCH!

For Damage, it's Wing Guard's +2 versus Vyper's 0 Body, +1 for the Exceptional result. Meaning Vyper immediately suffers -3 RS.

The kick caught Vyper right in the jaw, and he fell to the ground, his head spinning.

(Incap)  Is Vyper Incapacitated?  (Certain)  No.

Vyper rolled to the side and shook his head to try and clear it. Seeing another attack coming his way, he threw up a force field.

This time, Vyper is using his Heart, which is +3. Unfortunately, he suffers -3 RS from the previous strike, but I'm also spending his Hero Token (I prefer that to Hero Points), reducing it to -2 RS. This gives him a +1 versus Wing Guard's +2. In addition, he's also using his force field as Damage to counter the flying strike.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (-1 means Unlikely)  X-Yes.

Vyper's +1 Heart (from -3 RS but with the Hero Token) is less than Wing Guard's Agility, but because it's an Exceptional result, it counts anyway. Wing Guard suffers a -1 to his Agility.

Vyper threw his force field up, slamming it into Wing Guard, who bounced off it and fell to the ground, stunned. 

That's it for Vyper's Hero Tokens, so unless he scores another Exceptional result, he isn't causing anymore damage. Instead, he's going for a result.

Spotting the broken fan on the ground, Vyper got an idea. As Wing Guard charged again, Vyper threw a force field arround him

The purpose of this is to neutralize Wing Guard without causing damage. It'll be Vyper's 0 Heart (+3 but with the -3 from earlier) versus Wing Guard's +1 for a -1 total.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (-1 means Unlikely)  Yes.

Vyper caught Wing Guard in the force field and held him in place. Then he slowly drained the air from it, not trying to kill the other man, just trying to weaken him.

This'll be another Effect roll, but with Vyper performing 2 separate Effects (holding his opponent and weakening him), so he suffers another -1 RS for a -1 Heart. Fortunately, Wing Guard already has a -1 Heart, and with the -1 RS it becomes -2. This actually gives Vyper a +1 to his roll.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (+1 means Likely)  Yes.

Wing Guard pounded frantically against the walls of the force field, but Vyper held it in place. After several minutes, though, he slowed his punches and dropped to a sitting position.

"Why are these items so important to you?" Vyper asked him. "What's really going on?"

Vyper is performing a Questioning, which I'm treating as another Clash. Vyper has a Talk +1 with an additional +1 for his Question Skill. I'm also granting him an additional +1 RS for trapping his opponent. Unfortunately, he still suffers a -3 RS from injury, bringing him to Talk 0. Wing Guard has Talk +1, but with -1 RS, it's also a 0. 

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (0 means 50/50)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random)  "Conflict," "Benefit."

Hmm, I wonder.

(Q)  Were Wing Guard and the other 3 working together?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

(Q)  Was Charles Willard paying them?  (Likely)  Yes.

"He paid us!" Wing Guard finally blurted out.

Vyper dropped the force field. "Willard?"

Wing Guard, gasping for air and struggling to sit up, nodded. "He dropped the security so Chell, Hank, and Bob would steal the stuff. Then I'd show up and bring it back."

Vyper leaned closer. "Why?" 

"To test it," Wing guard answered.

The voice sounds familiar, Vyper thought, so he tore off the man's mask.

(Q)  Does Mason recognize him?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

Vyper saw the face of one of his classmates but fought the urge to blurt out the name as he wasn't supposed to know it.  "So then you killed your friends to take all the money?"

(Q)  Is that what happened?  (Likely)  X-No.  (No?)

The young man slowly looked up. "What?  They're dead?"

Vyper was taken by surprise. "They're found by police in the alley.  You didn't do that?"

He shook his head, covering his face as tears started to stream. "I retrieved the gear and started back to the lab. They were supposed to run and hide."

Vyper stood up, hearing approaching sirens. "Someone probably saw us. You're on your own if they catch you."

Nodding, the young man took off for the door to downstairs.

Staring at the remaining gear, Vyper decided it should not be returned.

I was going to have Vyper lift the stuff up and drop it all, but he's already pretty tired. Instead, I'll have him just push it all off the ledge. I'll make it a Body roll, with a -3. and although he won't get hurt for failing. After the third try, I'll see if the police arrive.

(Ability)  Does Vyper succeed?  (-3 means Nearly Impossible)  X-No.

Okay I'll take that to mean I'll check for the police after the next roll.

(Ability)  Same attempt:  No.

(Q)  Do the police arrive?  (We'll start with 50/50)  X-No.

Down below, he heard shouting.  "Hands up, now!" The police apparently caught the kid. That should delay them a few minutes.

(Q)  Same attempt:  No.

(Q)  Again:  X-No.

Crap.  Hearing footsteps approaching from stairs, Vyper flew off.

(Ability)  Does Vyper turn invisible and fly away?  (-1 means Unlikely)  Yes.

The next day, Mason sat in his apartment, nursing his wounds as Ashby talked with him

The older man handed him an ice pack. "I'm glad you're not hurt. Maybe you should focus on little on getting in better shape."

"Agreed." Mason took the pack and applied it to his head. "What'd the guy say?"

"He told the police everything he told you," Ashby said, "along with his fight with Vyper."

"So Willard let them steal the stuff so they could return it?" Mason shook his head. "Am I missing something."

Ashby leaned back in the chair. "My guess is Charles Willard wanted them to test the equipment. If they succeeded, the wing kid would return it. If they failed and got injured, or worse, Charles wouldn't have to pay them anything because they stole the items from him."

"But then he sent someone to make sure they didn't talk." Mason glanced out the window.

Ashby nodded. "I heard they all had their necks and some of their limbs broken."

"But who could do all that when facing three opponents?" Mason asked. "And if it was someone incredibly strong, wouldn't the damage be worse?"

"Possibly," Ashby answered. "This sounds like calculated strikes, especially considered nothing else in the alley was damaged. So that rules out brute force."

"But that does mean," Mason said, "that Charles Willard has a brand new weapon."

"And he could be aiming it right in Vyper direction." Asby's eyes went wide as Mason's face went white.

Well that session went in a completely different direction. I originally planned on, as the title suggests, a rematch between the 3 and Vyper. Instead we have a new threat. And going back over a supers rpg from years ago, I have just the guy. And he even gave me nightmares!

Battle on the Rooftops - Session #7 for Mythic Supers Game

"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.

Also, I'm going to try out a new rule, called Hero Points. You gain Hero Points for successfully completing 3 Ability checks or winning 3 Clashes total (Thanks to Visible-Hunt-3541 on the Mythic Subreddit for the idea).

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 . . .

Supers Session #6 - So Many Questions

 This will be a less action-oriented session because I want to do a little world building and learning more about what's going on. 

What we know so far is Charles Willard has been performing illegal experiments and working on dangerous technology for some time now. Once such experiment nearly killed his son, John. When his wife tried to go to the police, he arranged for her to have an 'accident.' Willard's assistant, Mr. Ashby, hid away Charles' son, faking the boy's death. Later, did the two learn that the boy gained the power to create and manipulate force fields. Giving the young man a new identity, Mason Dean, and setting him up in the city in an apartment and attending college, Ashby hid the young man right under his father's nose while secretly collecting information against him.

After foiling a robbery, Mason used pieces of lab gear to fight off other threats in the city. The news began calling him The Vyper (or just Vyper) because of his dark green gear and dark yellow visor. 

Recently, Vyper rescued several kidnapped girls from a man who turned them to stone to, in his own words, protect them. The question is, where did he get this power?

We'll start the session there. And by the way, I'm well aware that Mythic creator Tana Pigeon has suggested in multiple books that you should interpret as much as you can and only ask questions to fill in the blanks. I get that; it makes perfect sense, especially considering it increases the chances of Random Events. However, I don't listen well and tend to ask a lot of questions. If a bunch of random events pop up, oh well. I'll deal with them when the time comes.

Mason and Ashby sat at the table in the young man's apartment. 

"Thank you again for saving those girls," Ashby said. He handed over an envelope. "Consider your rent paid."

(Q)  Just out of curiosity, is it more than one month? (50/50)  No - but Random Event.

(Random) "Distant," "Control."

As Mason opened the envelope, he spotted some receipts. 

"Oh," Ashby added, "also your phone and utilities. It's the least I could do since you helped my friend."

"Thanks." Mason put the envelope aside. "Does your friend know?"

(Q)  Well does he?  (Very Unlikely)  Yes (uh oh. That's what I get for asking too many questions.)

Ashby paused before answering. "He told the police that he spoke to a lot of people and this Vyper character probably overheard it somewhere." He smirked. "Don't worry. He's smart, but he's also smart enough to stay quiet."

Mason nodded. "As long as you trust him, I'm good." He took a bite of his pizza and thought for a moment. "So did anyone figure out where that Suave guy came from?

Another good question. I could make something up, but I'll let Fate (heh heh) decide. I will start with the idea that he did work at the company and go from there.

(Q)  Was Suave a scientist?  (I'm going with very unlikely. He just doesn't seem like one).  No - Random Event

(Random)  "Obstacle," "Good."

Ashby shook his head. "Fortunately no. From what I understand, he did try to get a job in the labs at Wylltech, but they didn't think he was qualified."

(Q)  Did he work an office job?  (very likely, as an alternate job)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random) "Communicate," "Negative."

"Instead," Ashby continued, "they gave him a job in the office, doing paperwork and stuff. He seemed to handle that well enough, until he got fired for getting a little too friendly with his female coworkers."

Mason nodded. "Makes sense. So he broke into the place later then."

"He must've found paperwork on the experiment used on you," Ashby replied, "which was how he knew how to get to it."

Mason frowned. "But a paper-pusher knowing how to break into the lab? And knowing how to use the device? Do you think he had help?"

(Q)  Did Suave have help breaking into the lab? (Likely)  X-No.

"I doubt that," Ashby answered. "Nobody liked him. From what I understand, he even got into a fight with a couple techs in the lab when he went there to, in his words, 'observe.'

"It just seems weird that he could break in so easily." Mason stared at the wall.

"Agreed," said Ashby. "I'm not completely convinced, yet I haven't found anyone I would suspect."

(Q)  I'm curious. Is Suave in jail now? (Very Likely)  Yes.

"At least he's behind bars for now," the man said, "although his lawyer is trying to say that any evidence is moot because you broke illegally into his home."

Mason blinked. "Seriously? He kidnapped and tortured those women, and he's complaining that I broke the law?"

Ashby smirked. "Don't worry. They have the testimonies of all the young women though they're having trouble proving he actually did break into the lab."

(Q)  Was the security system in the lab working?  (Likely)  No.

"What about all the cameras in the lab?" Mason asked.

Ashby shook his head. "They didn't pick up anything."

"Did someone tamper with them?

(Q)  Good question. Well?  (I'm going with 50/50 because of the last question)  No.

"Not that anyone could find. However he did it, he covered his tracks well."

"That sounds suspicious itself," Mason said.

"Agreed." Ashby looked up. "Oh, by the way, there's apparently a warrant for Vyper's arrest."

Mason's eyes went wide. "For what, oh let me guess; breaking and entering, even to save those women's lives."

"Pretty much," Ashby responded. "At least they don't know his identity."

(Q)  Are the police actively searching for Vyper?  (Likely)  X-No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Create," "Danger."

"Are they looking for me?" Mason asked. "I mean, him."

Ashby started to answer when his cell phone when off. "Just a moment." He answered the phone. "Ashby. Yeah, I'm out eating dinner. What? Again? I'll be right there." He hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Mason asked.

"There's been another break-in," Ashby answered.

"I thought Suave was - "

(Q)  Was it Suave?  (Nearly Impossible; he's supposed to be in jail)  No.

(Q)  Was it more than one person?  (50/50)  X-Yes.

(Q)  Anyone specific?  (Unlikely)  No.

"It's not Suave," the older man said. "This time whoever broke in made no attempt to hide it, only their identities."

"Identities," Mason repeated. "So it's more than one person."

"The cameras picked up three or four individuals," Ashby answered, "but no details like faces or whatever." 

Mason felt his throat tighten. Suave was dangerous enough. Three or four people just like him could be a nightmare. "Please tell me they didn't all get zapped."

(Q)  Well, did they?  (50/50. If No, then they stole tech instead)  No.

"The machine was disabled," Ashby responded. "But they stole a bunch of devices, small ones, but I doubt that makes them safer." He stood up. "I'm going there to find out what I can. I'll keep you updated."

So 3-4 people broke into the labs and stole some tech. The next session should be an interesting one.

Until next time . . . 

A New Mystery - Mythic Supers Game

The four classmates boarded the bus that led from the college to the a apartment complexes that most of the students used. 

One guy pulled out the local newspaper. "Look guys, Tim's robot rampage made the front page!" He showed them the article. "The second page has Maria article about Tim's rivalry and why he fixed up his bought before it went nuts."

Maria glanced at the paper. "Hey, Mason, your article made the front page."

Mason Dean looked where she pointed. "Good, my rent is due."

The fourth person, Dirk, stood on the tips of his toes so he could see over their shoulders. "That Vyper guy's becoming a local hero."

"Are they sure it was Vyper?" Maria asked. "Nobody actually saw him."

Johnny, who held the paper, shrugged. "According to this, the robot had no bullet holes and no power surges from electricity. Whatever knocked him down, nobody could see."

"That's what happened to the mugger who attacked me," Maria added. "I didn't see anything, but I heard a thud and the guy flew back into the wall."

Johnny smirked. "Well, Mace, looks like your buddy, Vyper saved the day. Think you can get an interview?"

"I'd hardly call him my buddy," Mason said, "especially since the most he ever said to me is 'move.'"

"That's too bad." Maria smiled and fluttered her eyelids. "That'd be so cool if you were friends with a superhero."

Tempting, Mason thought, but he need to keep this whole thing a secret for as long as possible. Instead, he simply shrugged. "Sorry."

"Then how'd you write the article?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah," Dirk added. "You're out cold the whole time, but Mr. Bose still thought you wrote the best article. How'd you pull it off if you're not buddies with that guy?"

I realize I haven't done any gaming to this point, and this looks like the perfect spot for a Bluff check.

Mason looked from Johnny to Dirk. "I watched the online videos and I talked to people who Were there. It's called research, you know, our job?"

Mason's Talk + his Bluff is +2. I'm making the Difficulty a -1 RS because they're actively interrogating him. That still leaves it as +1.

(Q)  Does Mason succeed with his Bluff?  (+1 means Likely)  Yes.

"He's got a point," Maria said. "I mean a dozen of us all wrote articles. Mr. Bose just chose Mason's for some reason."

"Considering Mr. Personality here," Johnny gave Mason a wry look, "I'll go with luck."

"Agreed," Mason responded, to their surprise.

So Mason's first challenge of the adventure was to throw off suspicion while avoiding be tempted by popularity and pretty faces. Neither of those are easy challenges. And that isn't even the adventure yet.

Speaking of which . . . 

This adventure is different in that I know the who and why, but my character does not. The challenge will be in discovering the rest.

As Mason returned to his apartment, he saw Mr. Ashby waiting outside, holding a briefcase. "I tried texting you," he said.

Mason glanced down at his phone. "Sorry, it's on silent. What's wrong?"

They entered the apartment and Ashby set his briefcase on the kitchen table. Opening it, he pulled out some pictures of several young females. "Do any of these look familiar?"

Walking over, Mason glanced at the pictures. "I think I've seen a couple of them around the campus, why?"

"Recently they disappeared, one by one," Ashby answered. He lifted one picture. "This young lady's father is a colleague of mine. He said she went to the movies last night but never came home."

"Have you called the police?" Mason asked. "They can probably help more than I can. I'm not a detective."

"They're working on it," Ashby said, "but there's something else going on." Reaching into his briefcase again, he revealed an electronic scanner. "We pinged her phone this morning and got nothing. Then he told me her phone has a sensor so she can he located in case of an emergency."

Mason rolled his eyes. "He tracked his daughter's phone?"

"To be fair," Ashby said, "he did that to all of their phones, even his own. He said they couldn't be too careful nowadays." He pointed to the scanner. "Now with this we were able to trace her phone and the path she took." He pressed a button and a map appeared of city streets. A blinking dot appeared and moved first slowly down the street, then it paused, and then it moved faster."

Mason nodded. "She was kidnapped."

"I think so." Ashby suddenly went grim. "What bothers me is this." He showed the scanner and suddenly the blinking dot vanished.

"So her kidnapper found her phone," Mason said, "and destroyed it."

"It's not so simple," Ashby responded. "It's a tiny chip. Even if the phone was destroyed, it could still be traced. This is like it vanished completely."

Mason looked up. "And you think she did as well."

Ashby nodded. "The police are trying, but I'm afraid this might be a job for Vyper."

Mason frowned. "For the record, the newspaper named me that. I had nothing to do with it."

"Nevertheless, we could use his help." He held out the scanner.

Mason thought about it for a moment but then took the scanner. "I'll see what I can do."

That night, Mason suited up and flew to the rooftops. Taking out the scanner, he studied it, trying to match the map on it to the streets.

This time, Mason is in full Vyper gear, but he's still trying to be careful. Let's see if he finds anything. His Mind is +1 and I'll give him another +1 for the scanner. Because the trace went pretty far, there's a good chance the kidnapper didn't notice the phone. Therefore, I'm making the challenge 50/50.

(Q) Does Vyper locate the location?  (+2 means Very Likely)  Yes.

The blinking down had moved along several streets. Vyper followed it until it came to a stop, or rather moved in very short spurts, like someone moving within a building. 

(Q)  Is it a house?  (Unlikely. Kidnappers who have multiple victims need something bigger than a house.)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random)  Mundane Goals.

Vyper found himself before a single story house. As he approached, the garage door opened. ducking behind the wall, he watched.

"I'll be back lady, my lovelies." he heard a voice say.

Turning invisible, he tried to sneak in before the garage door closed. 

I'll admit, I know the villain's stats already, and his Mind is +1. I'll use that to see if he notices Vyper, who'll use his +3 Heart to turn invisible and sneak inside. This gives Vyper a +2. I'm also treating both as Effects.

(Clash)  Does Vyper sneak inside the garage?  (+2 means Very Likely)  X-Yes.

Vyper slipped easily into the garage, and the man drove past him without pausing. Behind him, the garage door shut.

(Q)  Does Vyper see anything suspicious inside the garage? (Very Unlikely. Too easy to be seen.)  X-No

With the light from outside shining through the window, Vyper saw the garage seemed mostly empty. Maybe a few basic tools, especially for cars or trucks, but nothing that stood out. He decided to try the door.

(Q)  Does the door have an alarm?  (Likely but hopefully not)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Gain," "Setback."

He reached for the door to the house, but it was locked. He had never tried an incredibly small force field before, but maybe he could use one to trick the lock.

This would be an incredibly difficult attempt. i'm going to say Nearly Impossible. That, combined with his +3, makes the challenge 0.

(Q)  Does Vyper trick the lock?  (50/50)  Yes.

Concentrating, he peeked into the lock and pictured a small field entering it. It slithered along the parts of the lock, pushing up until the mechanism clicked. Turning the knob, he opened the door, closing and locking it behind him.

Now here, I'm might be asking some rapid-fire questions to get an idea of where he is and what he sees. This could trigger more than one random event, which makes sense because the villain could be back at any time. However, I will ignore questions if the answer seems pretty obvious.

Vyper found himself in the laundry room. Walking past there, he entered the hallway. He listened for voices but didn't hear anything.

(I know why he doesn't hear any voices so I'm not even rolling here.)

Looking around the living room, he searched for clues.

(Q)  Does Vyper find anything suspicious in the living room?  (Unlikely)  Yes

(Meaning Description)  What does he find?  "Helpful," "Beautiful."

On the coffee table, he spotted a folder. Opening it, he found pictures of several young woman. Most of which he recognized from Ashby's notes. So he had been stalking these woman. But who is he?

(Q)  Does Vyper find anything with the villain's name?  (Likely)  X-Yes.

On the kitchen counter, he found several envelopes, most likely bills, with the name Dyron Zavve. Underneath the envelopes he found a notepad with his name and under it, several attempts ot modify it. The last one, underlined, was Sire Suave. Doesn't this guy think highly of himself?

So far though, he still hasn't located the missing young women. It's kind of hard to hide several of them in a house. Unless . . . 

(Q)  Does Vyper find a door to the basement?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

In the kitchen, he found a door and opened it, seeing stairs going downward. Slowly, he followed them until he was in the basement. 

(Q)  Does he find the missing women there?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

Finding a light switch, he turned it on. Then he froze. The women were definitely down there, but they were all statues. Each one with faces frozen in terror. What was this guy doing? Walking around them, he found the daughter of Ashby's coworker. If she were trapped in stone, he phone would still ping. Did the person actually turn them into stone?

Racing up the stairs, he searched for a phone?

(Q)  Does he find a phone?  (50/50)  Yes.

Finding a phone on the wall, he grabbed it dialed for the police.

"What is your emergency?" asked the voice on the other line.

"The missing woman are all in this house," Mason answered. "They were kidnapped."

There was a pause. "Who is this? What is your address?"

Mason cursed himself. In his rush, he forgot to check the street and house number. "You can trace this call, right? Just send the police here." He deepened his voice. "And pray they get to him before I do."

(Clash) Did Vyper succeed?  (+1 Talk means Likely)  X-Yes.

Mason knew the police took most threats seriously. Not waiting for a response, he hung up the phone.

I'm not sure what the Exceptional result means so I'll ask. 

(Q)  Did the police arrive immediately? (50/50)  No - Random

(Random)  "NPC." "Fears."

Seeing headlights outside, he noticed the van had returned. Ducking into the basement, he went downstairs and hid in the back, remember to turn the light back off. 

A few minutes later, the door opened, and he heard footsteps. A large man, a little over 6 feet tall, dragged a gagged woman down the stairs. He turned the light on, and when the woman saw the statues, she screamed through her gag. Leading to an open spot, he lightly covered his mouth with her fingers. Then he removed her gag. 

"Please, please." She shuddered.

"Shhh," he said softly as he removed his gloves, "I'll keep you safe." 

He touched her face, and she screamed before turning into stone.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "nothing will harm you now."

(Q)  Are the police here yet?  (Likely)  X-Yes.

His eyes shot up as he heard pounding on the front door. "Police, open up!"

"Police?" Suave looked around. "How'd they know?"

Vyper then stepped out. "I told them."

Suave's eyes went wide. "You're him. You're the Vyper."

"And you," said Vyper, "are a sicko." 

Suave is a Level T Villain. For Abilities, he has +1 Body, -1 Agility, +1 Mind, +1 Talk, and +1 Heart. His power is that he can turn people to stone with a touch.

Vyper will launch a force field bolt at him (Damage). Suave has no way to counter so I'll use Escape to avoid the attack. Both will use Heart, so it's Vyper's +3 vs. Suave's +1.

(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash? (+2 means Very Likely)  No - Random.

(Random)  "Change," "Fight."

"Wait!" Suave held up his hand. "I've seen what you can do. Do you really want to fire what when you can hit one of them?" He motioned to the young woman. "And if you kill me, I cannot bring them back."

Just then, they heard footsteps and police officers stormed downstairs. "Freeze!"

"Don't shoot him," Vyper said. "He turned the woman to stone, and you might need him alive to reverse it."

The cops looked from Suave to the statues. "You sick son of -"

"You!" One cop pointed his gun at Vyper. "Step forward."

Suave may have had a point about using force fields around the statues. Raising his hands, Vyper slowly stepped forward. "I'm the one who called."

"He broke into my house," said Suave, "Arrest him!"

"Both of you, shut up!" The lead cop pointed. "Now stand over there."

This seems like the perfect time to attack. Now the cops know they need Suave alive so he can take a few risks. And Vyper is within reach.

(Q)  Does Suave attack Vyper?  (Nearly Certain)  Yes.

Before anyone could react, Suave reached out and touched Vyper's shoulder and head. "One less obstacle in my path."

This is a reverse of the previous Clash, with Suave's +1 vs. Vyper's +3. Suave will go for an effect (turning Vyper to stone) while Vyper will go for Damage (blasting Suave at close range, safely away from the women).

(Clash)  Does Suave win the Clash?  (-2 means Very Unlikely)  X-No!

Suave touched Vyper but nothing happened. 

"Must be the clothing," Vyper said. Then he shoved Suave in the chest with a blast that sent him flying against the stairs.

Suave suffers -2 RS.

(Q)  Do the police react?  (Very Likely)  No.

Vyper looked around. The police were frozen in terror. Taking matters into his own hands, he started forward.

(Clash)  Does Vyper win the Clash?  (+2 means Very Likely)  Yes.

-3 RS.

(Incap)  Is Suave Incapacitated?  (+3 Damage vs. +1 Body -3 RS for +1, or Certain)  Yes

Vyper caught Suave as he bounced off the stairs. Grabbing the man's wrists, he pressed them against the first female statue.

(Q)  Does the woman turn back from stone?  (I'll say Likely because Suave is still alive)  Yes - Random.

(Random)  "Help," "Competition."

The stone faded away, and the woman returned to normal. Falling to all fours, she let out a scream. Cops pushed past Vyper and helped her to her feet. One by one, Vyper freed the women from their prisons while the cops assisted them.

(Q)  Is anyone arresting Suave?  (Very Likely)  Yes - Random Event.

(Random)  "Decrease," "Communicate."

The cops put Suave in handcuffs, but the man remained groggy and made no effort to fight back.

"Cover his hands," Vyper said, and they did so.

(Q)  Is anyone trying to arrest Vyper?  (Very Likely).

One cop pointed his pistol at Vyper. "You, hands up, and take off your mask."

Vyper raised his hands. "I can't. I need my mask to breathe."

Let's see if this bluff works.

(Q)  Does Vyper bluff the cop?  (+2 vs. the cop's 0 Talk means Very Likely)  Yes.

"All right, then just come with me," said the cop, "and no funny business."

The walked up the stairs and through the front door. Vyper say in the openness of the area and the night, he had his chance.

This will be a Clash to see if Vyper escapes. I'll use his Heart, but with a -1 since again he's turning invisible and flying away. I'll use the cop's +1 Agility, leaving Vyper with +1. But since there are multiple cops in the area, I'm giving him another -1.

(Clash) Does Vyper win the Clash?  (0 means 50/50)  Yes.

As the cop's attention waned even slightly, Vyper vanished from sight. Leaping into the air, he flew over the house and buildings before anyone could respond. Returning to his apartment, he snuck back inside his building, changed, and then stood in the shower, trembling from the nightmare of that night.

School's Out - A Mythic adventure

Here is the next adventure for my hero, Vyper. In this one, he is at the college, walking across campus while between classes, when trouble occurs. What kind of trouble? Good question.

But first, let's level up our hero. Vyper started as a Level T Hero with 3 Ability points and 0 Skill points. Now he is Level 1, gaining 2 more Ability points and 2 Skill points. His new set-up is this:

Body 0 (Still doesn't stand out physique-wise).

Agility 0 (Still average)

Mind +1 (Still above average, but not a genius).

Talk +1 (While still not a people person, he's learned to communicate better).

Heart +3 (His other point goes here as Mason has spent a lot of time learning about his power).

Skill points work by modifying part of an Ability. If going by the Clash rules, those would normally be Damage, Escape, and Effect. Some may be different, such as computer use for Mind or Charm for Talk.

For Mason, I'm giving both Skill points to Talk, with +1 to Bluff (He is trying to hide his identity) and +1 to Question (He is a writer, so he's good at research).

Now, onto the adventure!

I'm know that I want something to attack the college while Mason is out there, but the question is what. Rolling on One Page Mythic's Meaning Description chart, I get:

"Mechanical," "Rough."

Mason walked across the campus, holding his backpack over his shoulder. As he contemplated what to eat for lunch, a crash and some screams stopped him in his tracks. Nearby, a robot emerged from the rubble that had once been the wall of a science lab.

Hmm, what does this robot look like? Let's ask the Simplified Creature Crafter:

"Stone," "Insect-like"  (I'll admit I rolled a few times because things like 'beautiful' and 'furry' didn't seem to fit a robot.

It stood about a foot shorter than a human, but with multiple legs. Its back seemed to be solid, as if made from stone. Raising the front part of its body, it revealed two glowing red eyes and swatted anyone nearby with its legs, which also seemed to function as arms.

(Q)  Is it being controlled? (50/50 because I feel it could go either way)  No - Random Event

(Random Event)  "Communicate," "Break."

Behind the robot, two students appeared with one fiddling with a remote control. "Deactivate! Deactivate!"

Instead, it spun around and swatted the man, who flew through the air. His friend raced over to help him and they took off. "Run! We lost control!"

I'm curious.

(Q)  Was this a bot they created for robot fighting? (seems Very Likely)  Yes.

So apparently the students built a robot to enter into a combat match, but for some reason they lost control. Now let's see how strong it is.

Since it's a basic design that recently broke free, I'm making it a Level T Villain, which gives it 3 Ability points.

(Ability) Is its Body a +2? (Seems likely)  X-Yes: Its Body is +3.

(Ability) Is its Agility +2? (Seems Unlikely because of its previous Ability)  X-Yes: Its Agility is +3.

That means I have to subtract 3 from its other Abilities. 

(Ability) Is its Mind +1 (Likely because of its Independence) X-Yes: Its Mind is +2.

(Ability)  Is its Heart +1 (Unlikely with the other Abilities)  No: Its Heart is 0. No powers.

This leaves Talk. With 4 extra Ability points, that makes Talk -4. There's no way to communicate with it. Not much of a disadvantage anyway. 

(Q)  Does it have a ranged weapon? (I'm going with 50/50 here)  Yes.

(Q)  Is it a flamethrower? (Very Likely)  No - Random Event.

(Random)  "Heavy," "Incomplete"

So the robot has a catapult attached to its back that launches scrap metal. Fortunately, it only has enough scrap to fire one or two shots, hopefully.

(Q) Does it use Agility to fire its catapult (Likely, but if not, then it'll use Heart)  No, so Heart it is.

(Q)  Is Mason close to the robot?  (Unlikely as he was walking in a clearing)  Yes.

Before Mason could react, the robot noticed him. Closing the distance with lightning speed, it swung its arms to attack.

The robot has a +3 Body for fighting melee. Mason doesn't want to reveal his powers so an all-out attack is out of the question. Instead, he'll try to create a force shield (+3) to cushion the attack (Effect).

(Clash)  Does the robot win the Clash (50/50)  No - Random.

(Random)  "Gain," "Distant."

As quick as he could act, Mason summoned a small shield at intercepted the robot's arm. It connected, sending Mason flying. He landed in the grass near another building, not hurt, but his head was spinning. 

He started to raise his hand to attack back, but then he remembered he didn't have his suit with him. After all, he wasn't some super hero out to save the world so why wear it all the time (Plus it was uncomfortable under his clothing). If he was to fight this thing, he'd have to be a little more subtle. 

(Q)  Does the building near him have multiple floors?  (Likely)  Yes.

(Q)  Does it look like people are inside?  (50/50)  No.

Mason glanced up and noticed he was near the storage tower that also had the historical clock at the top. Rushing inside, he ran up the stairs and searched for a window where he could strike from hiding?

(Q)  Does he find a window?  (Likely because I'm hoping so)  Yes.

Mason discovered a window with a wooden shade. Opening it, he found himself on the third floor, looking down at the robot as it circled, searching for another target. Around it, people screamed and ran for cover. Luckily, no one noticed the figure in the tower.

This time, Mason will be launching a force field bolt at the robot.  I'll also assume whether it hits or not, the robot will return fire with its catapult, which means using both Heart stats (+3 vs. 0). However, since Mason is firing while trying to hide, I'll give him a -1 penalty.

(Clash) Does Mason win the Clash?  (+2 means Very Likely)  Yes.

The Damage for the bolt (Heart) is +3, and so is the robot's Toughness (Body). Since it's at least equal, the robot suffers -1 RS.

Taking aim, Mason summoned a baseball sized force field and hurled it at the robot. It struck the robot's head, dropping it prone for a moment. Then it looked up. Mason ducked back just a scrap metal bounced off the tower walls, with a few pieces making it through the window, but still missing. 

(Q)  Does the robot now enter the tower? (Very Likely so it can attack)  Yes.

Mason peeked out the window and saw some people pointing in his direction, but he ducked back into the shadows. Then he heard people screaming, warning him that the robot was coming after him. Backing to the stairs, he waited. Since he was out of sight of the people, he didn't need to be subtle anymore. 

A minute later, the robot ascended the stairs. Tilting its head for a moment, it regarded him. Then, raising the front part of its body up, it charged forward. 

This time, the robot will be fighting melee (Body) against Mason's force field attacks (Heart). However, because of its -1RS, the robot now fights with only a +2 vs. Mason's +3.

(Clash)  Does Mason win the Clash?  (+1 means Likely)  X-Yes + Random Event.

This means Mason struck the robot and scored an additional -2 RS Damage (The usual -1 and -1 for the X-Yes result). I'm curious about the Random Event though.

(Random)  "Flight," "Harm."

The robot doesn't have any flying abilities, but I'm counting calling as that. Now for Incapacitation.

(Incap)  Is the robot Incapacitated?  (+3 Damage vs. +3 Body -3 RS = Nearly Certain). Yes.

Mason caught the robot with a blast that sent it backwards, right through the wooden railing behind it, where it plummeted down the stairs. Mason cringed as he heard a large crash, followed by some smaller thuds (possibly from rolling down the stairs), and then one final crash.

Then he heard voices. "What did you do to my robot?"

Looking around, Mason didn't see any other way out except the window. He'd have to sneak out.

I'm going to have Mason use his power to turn invisible and fly out the window. Now there are multiple people outside but they're probably looking more towards the doorway not up at window. Therefore, while I treat this as a Clash, it'll be Mason's +3 Heart vs. 0 for the Awareness of those down below.

However, since Mason is using two different effects (Effect for turning invisible and Escape), he gets a -1RS.

(Clash)  Does Mason escape? (+2 means Very Likely)  Yes.

Flying out the window, Mason circled behind the building. Then, he lowered himself to the ground. Laying himself against the wall, he closed his eyes.

Mason now has to pretend he was knocked out the entire time. He'll use his Talk (Bluff) for this. First I made the Difficulty a Fate Question.

(Q)  Is the awareness of whoever finds him normal?  (Likely)  Yes, so a 0.

(Clash) Does Mason bluff whoever finds him?  (+2 Talk vs 0 mean Very Likely).  Yes.

"Hey, there's someone over here!" Mason heard the voice and heard people approaching him. "It's Mason Dean," the person said. He leaned closer. "Mason? Can you hear me?"

Mason pretended to slowly open his eyes. "What happened?"

The kid, one of his classmates, helped him to sit up. "That robot hit you pretty hard. We better get you to the nurse."

Using the wall for support, Mason slowly stood. "Is it still around?"

The other person shook his head. "It went into the storage tower but then they found it in pieces. Something destroyed it. Did you see anything?"

"Yeah," said Mason, "the sky as I went flying. Not much after that. Where's my backpack?"

After finding his backpack, and with his classmate's help, he walked back the way he came, in the direction of the nurse's office. Glancing back, he saw the two students from earlier, their expressions low as they carried their creation out in pieces. Around him, people speculated as to what had fought the robot, but luckily no one suspected him. 

At least he didn't need to lie about his headache. That part was definitely real.

A fun adventure that I wrote while rolling the dice. The next one will be interesting as it has Vyper solving a mystery and looking for missing persons.