Raveled

@MBCE @Curious Key

Alright, Chrome, Hammer, and Warp are going to have to stop this Hardware Hoodlum Heist! And don't forge to tag where your rolls go.

For rolls and suchlike pertaining to this adventure.

Saturday, February 5th Riverside Savings & Loan, Freedom City It was a sleepy day in Freedom City, the shining face of the Riverside Savings & Loan reflecting the sun off the surface of the river. Officer Morel pulled into the bank parking lot, noting that there wasn't much activity in the bank this Saturday morning. Usually plenty of folks were lined up early in the day to take care of their banking on the weekend. While Morel saw a few cars in the lot -- including a pair of cherry roadsters that looked to be from the 20s or 30s -- he didn't see anyone moving around inside the lobby. That prickled his senses and probably saved his life. The officer turned to reach for his car's radio, saw a glint of metal, and dove behind the engine block. Gunfire roared across the parking lot, rounds glancing off the pavement and exploding against metal. A figure stepped up to the broken bank window and Morel paused the gape at it. The man was dressed in an impeccable pin-stripe suit, wide-brimmed hat, and was balancing an honest-to-God Tommy gun on his hip. What shocked the police officer the most, though, was the face of steel and iron that looked out from under the hat. Another burst of automatic gunfire made Morel hug the ground. "That's right, copper," the metal-faced robber shouted. "Keep yer head down and keep the other flatfoots out of, and no one in here has to get whacked!"

I'm going to be out of town this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Don't expect any posting from me during the weekend.

I'm recruiting a few PCs to go fight that common denominator of crimes, no not the White Knight, I'm talking about a bank heist! Preferably folks around the PL 10 range band and new PCs are totes acceptable. As a note, this idea could be reworked to fit in Emerald City if we end up getting more EC folks on board.

I'm looking for a couple of investigatory PCs or a couple of PCs connected to the criminal underworld for a thread. PL 10 or lower is my preference.

Happy birthday, Thev. Hope you have some time off to enjoy it.

Happy birthday, Alderwitch!

Results 1d20+2: 16 [1d20=14]

"I'm not in the middle of anything," Luthor grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet. "Those damn snake-men came down on a comet and then the lady in the bird get-up came down and... Dammit, I'm supposed to be working right now!" A superpowered battle would probably count as an 'unscheduled break' and it's not like Luthor could go to the city worker's union to complain. "Lena, you shouldn't be in here. This isn't a bunch of thugs pushing over a 7-11, these folks look like they mean business. We should get out of their way."

Happy birthday V.

Luthor Lexington was not happy working in the heart of the city. He didn't have to worry about the city council or the make-work City Manager showing up and noticing him, of course (as if anyone in a suit would recognize a con on the run) but he couldn't help but notice the number of police officers in the area. It seemed like every time he lifted his head another battered cruiser was passing by, the bored officers inside letting their eyes wash over the be-vested and be-mittoned construction crew without really seeing. Or so he desperately hoped, as he shoveled more gravel and blacktop on the roadway. In three more days, this section of the road resurfacing would be done and they'd move on, maybe to someplace up the hill. In any case, farther away from City Hall. He was wrapped in such considerations, ignoring the screams and shouts around him, as a firey rock descended towards him with breakneck speed. He looked up at the last moment and flung himself aside, barely avoiding becoming a smear on the pavement. The big man grunted, scrabbling to make space between him and the lizardmen. Fantastic, he grumbled inside his head. Now we're going to be here all week.

If you need someone tracked down Blue Jay is still available.

Happy birthday, Sailor, and many happy returns.

Tona smiled gently into the night. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any wine," she said, "and I know I don't have any Julia Roberts movies. I do know that I have a hammock," she said, her tone calm and teasing. "A cot that might just be big enough for hammock." That much was certainly a tease; they had tested exactly how much that hammock could hold. She let the quiet hang between them for a few blocks before speaking up again. "You never talk much about the people you knew back on Pandemonium. You never told me that one was here, in Freedom City." She glanced over at her girlfriend, trying to gauge her reaction without walking into traffic. "If you want to talk to him, now's probably the best time. And if we make AEGIS look like fools, hey, bonus."

Luthor pulled back from the big man, breathing hard, hands balled into fists. No one was attacking him, though, which wasn't what he expected. He was wrong-footed, and when Osla stepped in the illusion broke. He wasn't in jail anymore, he wasn't surrounded by hardened convicts and uncaring guards. He was in a bar, there was tinsel and green boughs strung up. The man who had grabbed him wasn't a gangbanger, he was just another guy. Luthor stepped back and forced his fists down. He still didn't relax, still couldn't get his heart rate or breathing under control, but he very consciously stood back onto his heels. "Man. You just... You shouldn't grab a guy like that." He ran a hand over his face and through his beard, trying to calm his body down. "That's not healthy, man."

Luthor was enjoying his beer in quiet when he felt something behind him. He was halfway through turning when a big arm came around his neck and started pulling. He panicked; in a moment he was back in city jail, getting jumped by the Devil Rays. He grabbed the first thing to hand -- his beer -- and turned into the grapple, yelling and aiming his blow square at his attacker's face. He didn't wait to see what the effect was. He ducked out of the grip and turned into the next blow, putting all of his significant weight behind it. Luthor had learned that running away didn't work in prison. You needed to put the other guy down, and hard enough to make everyone else afraid of you. So even though he didn't want to start the fight, he was resolved to end it.

Asli linked her arm through Joe's and allowed herself to be led up the walkway, flashing a smile at the security cameras as they passed. "Hopefully not too much of a show. I could use a chance to just stand around and look good in a dress." She ran a hand down her side, working out imaginary wrinkles in the fabric. "It's not often that I get to show off and wear makeup, after all." There was a quick check at the door and then they were in the hall, with holiday decorations raising the cheer and people moving from conversation to conversation. Asli used her height to good advantage, doing her best to recognize individuals or couples. There was one pair she spotted easily, in complimenting outfits of gold and blue. Mark Lucas seemed an agreeable enough sort, but Asli didn't relish the notion of meeting Nina al-Darsah again. Instead, there seemed to be another group forming around a young woman in her own blue dress. "Let's go make some new acquaintances," she said, steering Joe over to Gretchen and Rose and Dancia.

Luthor banged open the door to the Bar and stumbled in, his hands and face numb from the blustery, cold wind that blew off Lake Michigan. He closed the door firmly behind him and flexed his nearly-frozen fingers, telling himself again that he was going to buy some nice, thick gloves once the winter clothes went on sale. Every year, there was something more important to buy. He walked up to the bar, taking a seat well away from the big white guy with the big white guy beard and the... White Russian? Something involving milk, at least. He pulled a slim and much-folded bill out of his back pocket and tapped it on the bartop. "Just a bottle, man. Whatever you've got behind the bar." The bartender nodded and brought up a brown bottle, leaving it and swiping up the money. Luthor picked it up and didn't bother to check the label before he opened it with a single twist of his left hand. He took a long, slow pull, doing his best to ignore the sour taste and focus on the alcohol. As he waited for the booze to warm him up, he looked around the place. This wasn't the sort of locale that the police would frequent -- which was a big part of the reason he was willing to be here -- but it was always possible that he or Lena had pushed in the teeth of someone in here. In fact, in some neighborhoods it would almost be a certainty...

Cannonade smashed through the skylight and landed in the middle of the garage, sending muscled and grease-stained men scattering. Most of them were long-time citizens of Freedom City; then knew what it meant when someone made an entrance like that and they ran for the exits or tried to hide behind half-dissembled hulks of muscle cars. At first it seemed like no one was going to give even token resistance, but then Cannonade saw the man climbing out of the pit. Fit, shorter than cannonade but with muscles packed on top of muscles, the man casually reached out and picked up a tire iron before bending it straight. "Better have money for that hole in the roof, cape," he said. "Or I'm gonna take it out of your skin."

The Uber driver had to be reassured several times that the address was the correct one; it wasn't every day that someone wanted to go to Freedom Hall and couldn't fly, run, or simply appear there under their own power. Still, he eventually did pull up the sidewalk outside the structure and Asli Saddik pulled herself out of the station wagon. She sighed slightly as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress; she didn't own much in the way of fancy clothes, but after some panicked consultation with Sam she had settled on a simple gown and spring green, an uncomplicated number that hugged her generous hips and dropped straight to the ground. It made the best of her frame, it covered her arms, and it meant she could get by with wearing flats instead of heels. "It's not quite rolling up in a limousine," she said as her date came around the other side of the car. "But I suppose I can overlook it tonight as long as you're here, too."

Outlaw is currently Bound and Helpless. I'm going to hold off on making that Tou save. Queenie's up!

Chrome leapt to his feet, reveling for a moment in the power he felt in his legs, in his chest. Even getting blasted like that only sung like skinned knees, not like getting shot. Feeling wild, he charged straight at the man with the weird, glowing fingers. He attacked without finesse or tactics, just trying to knock him to the ground and missing by a fair margin. "You've got some good moves," he grunted, "but you sort of killed the dance. Probably should've just spiked the punch or something, The hangover would hurt less."

Trade-offs aren't numbers you directly add or subtract from your values, they just affect your caps. So a +2 Def/-2 Tou trade-off on a PL 10 doesn't mean the character gets +2 Def and -2 Tou, it just means that their Def cap is now 12 and their Tou cap is now 8. But by definition, attacks with the +Mental extra are Perception range and can't be blocked with Deflect; Perception range attacks don't need an attack check, so they can't be affected by Deflect.