Ari

Basic plot Idea: Some heroes/heroines are on a bus traversing Freedom City in Midtown. The bus is stolen by an entity who submits the heroes aboard to a series of riddles and tests.

Where: Midtown.

When: Thread begins as soon as we get enough players(Edit'd). In-universe it takes place in early May.

What: Very light Skill/heavy Social thread with no combat planned.

Who: \\PL 7-10 EDIT: Actually, five is good, maybe even too many. We'll see, but I'm going to close recruitment here and start it up.

Why: To provide a platform for launching relationships among players who may not have met or were only recently established.

Players Joined: Arichamus(GM/PC), felicitousFolly(PC), Quotemyname(PC), Azuth65(PC), Cubist(?)(PC)

PS. Edit: Requests for entry should be directed to the OOC thread.

Also, I should mention that any suggestions, criticisms and corrections on points of the rules, wrongful appraisal of the background of the campaign setting or just random facts I ought to be aware of are appreciated and encouraged.

Anyway, Second Round of Combat!

Kingy attempts to Intimidate the group of wrong-doers into ceasing the conflict, with a -3 circumstance modifier due to him suffering my poor implementation of his abilities skills and powers in the previous rounds. Anyway, he rolls (17+2) = (19)

The Thugs Will Save, collective :(7) = (7) success.

So...Combat Ends!

Glad to know you're safe!

An idea finally occurred to him: an attack from above would be much more difficult to defend against than of he charged them from the horizontal. If he could get to a place where he could strike them without their being aware, he could easily wipe the floor with them. He then rapidly sketched out a plot that went roughly as follows: he would climb to the top of a shelving unit near the table and leap down from there, using the momentum from the blow to incapacitate the man called 'Larry', and then go down what he presumed to be the rough ranking system that usually grew within gatherings of humans. The shock of losing their commander(s?) would then hopefully lead to the quick surrender from the subordinates. That done, he would then use his sudden and potentially fearsome appearance to scare some information out of them as to any other groups like them. That aside, he knew full well the adage of plans never surviving contact with the foe, so he spent the last few minutes of his plotting considering how he'd escape from a turn-around like having one of his strike's blocked.

Jumping with eerie silence onto a nearby shelf, he avoided climbing and simply jumped from one third of the way up the rack to the top, then leaped from one rack to the next until he was practically overhead the table. Then, gathering himself into a spring he set his heels against the shelf, recalled his plans, and launched himself at the man with blue hair.

Master Plan check, DC 10 as always

(11+7) = (18)

Excellent!

KoS's Stealth check,

(7+10) = (17) +2 due to Master Plan so 19.

The Thug Minions' collective Notice check(gonna get this moving along, staid still long enough!)

(15) = (15)

Great! Now the Acrobatics check, DC 10, to get closer to the table.

(2+6 = (8) +2 due to Master Plan so 10. Activates Empowerment Array.

So, within attack distance, so Marcy strikes! Initiative rolls will be collective for thugs to save time.

Thugs: (4+1) = (5)

Kingy: (2+7) = (9) +2 " " so 11.

Surprise Attack aiming for Thug #2(Larry).

(18+5) = (23) +2 " " so 25.

Defence for Thug #2 is negated by 2 due to surprise, so (18-2) = (16) still one-hit K.O. for minion-level enemies, so blue hair is down.

Takedown Attack on Thug # 1(Mike): [10,5) = (15) +2 " ", so 17.

Defense for Mike: (1+2) = (3) Still surprise attack, so 1. Down.

Takedown for Thug #3( Jonas) (6+5) = (11) +2 " ", so 13.

Defense for Jonas (18) = (18) Misses.

Jonas strikes at Marcy with his sword of magic(K?). (16+2) = (18)

Marcy's defence is (13+4) = (17) +2 " " so 19. Misses.

Thugs 4-8 Attack. Thug #4(Charles 1): (19+2) = (21) Marcy Def: (11+4) = (15) +2 makes it 17, still hits, so Damage DC is 17. Now for Toughness on Marcy's part:(16+10) = (26) +2 makes it 28, huzzah!

Thug #5(Raphael) Strikes :(9+2) = (11), and Marcy's Defense, (1+4) = (5) +2 makes it 7, hit. Damage DC is 17 and Marcy's Toughness: (4+4) = (8) +2 makes it 10, KoS is now Bruised(1).

Thug #6(John)'s Strike (5+2) = (7), and Marcy's Defense is (9+4) = (13) +2 makes it 15 due to Master Plan so miss.

Thug # 7(Adrian) attacks (2+2) = (4), Marcy's Defense (17+4) = (21) +2 due to Master Plan is 23 so miss.

Finally, Thug #8(Paul) attacks with (13+2) = (15) and Marceau defends with (10+4) = (14) +2 makes it 16 so a miss.

Thus endeth ROUND ONE.

KoS: Bruised (1).

Mike: Out Cold.

Larry: Out Cold.

Jonas: Active.

Charles: Active.

Raphael: Active.

John: Active.

Adrian: Active.

Paul: Active.

KoS Notice check: (7+2-2) = (7) Blah.

Initiative check: (18+2) = (20) Yay!

I would like to use the spare point KoS has to buy 4 ranks in Notice please.

Doktor'd!

Marceau soon left the campsite,wandering over to a stretch of clear sand near the water's edge and lying down on it, little caring about the small pebble boring into his back. He felt acutely self-conscious over his abruptly jolted memory, and was uneasy over what the brief spell might be forecasting in the realm of his generally peaceful mind.

His rumination was short-lived due to the close rhythm of the water, which sent him swiftly into a peaceful black void bereft of fears of any kind. Awakening a few hours before sunrise, he practically jumped into a run around the building site, went into his exercise routine with gusto, and by nine in the morning had caught at least a half dozen large fish which were soon sizzling over the re-kindled fire.

At Blueshift's question, Marceau shrugged "Not so much insomnia as being out of practice in sleeping outside, forgotten how jarring sounds out here, when there isn't a constant thrum of sound to even out the noise level." He caught sight of the star map, and a quick glance showed him the stars portrayed in the sand had no relation to the ones above, he guessed they had something to do with Blueshift's upbringing. Light pollution and lack of time had cut down heavily on stargazing. In fact, the nights he'd been out in Freedom had almost always been clouded anyway, which confused him deeply until he realized that the city was right next to the sea.

"Anyway, this was such a beautiful night, with the sky so clear, that I figured it'd be a shame to waste all of by sleeping, haven't seen the stars in years now." he paused to search the sky for Crux again, though this time he was so out count he gave up quickly. "Which stars would those be, Mz.? I don't recognize them.". It was then that he head the sharp, metal-striking-metal noise nearby. Having no real idea of what the sound was, his imagination was given a blank check and ordered to "Make something terrifying". It happily obliged.

In a flash, he was back in Cambodia, the jungle pressing in around him like a dimly-lit green cage, with every step potentially ending in a hail of gunfire, and he'd just heard the tell-tale 'kla-chck' of a warlord's minion in the brush, readying his firearm. Unprepared for sudden action so soon after waking, Marceau's attempt to jump into action simply meant he fell over. Recovering hurriedly, he got back up blushing with embarrassment. Mumbling "Sorry 'bout that, I get jumpy at night", he brushed the sand from his coveralls, returning to his previous position and speedily regaining his composure.

Just one last post 'round the campfire for me, after Push, then ready to get back into action. ED: Thanks Cubist, never occurred to me KoS'd suffer flashbacks like that, but now that I think about it, it does make sense.

For his part, Marceau lay stretched out on the sands, arms behind his head for a pillow, without so much as a futon or a stretched tarp over him. After two years of being slowly suffocated in the city, sleeping out under the stars was an incredibly refreshing experience. That said, the nearby forest still lingered in his thoughts even in sleep, filling his dreams with visions of him stealthily creeping through the jungles of Cambodia, ears alert for the least sound, jumping nearly out of his skin at every wandering binturong or foraging banteng that walked past without warning, while all around he could hear the rumbling growls of ravenous tigers, and every now and again a flash of a green eye would warn him away from some patch of dense brush.

Briefly awakening at some imagined sound, he watched the stars above, still muddled by sleep. Deciding he might as well refresh his memory, he silently recited the contsellations, tracing their paths about the sky. He'd got confused by a seemingly misplaced Crux, and was about to start over when he saw Push walk over to the fire and start in on some leftover chili. Figuring a jot of conversation wouldn't hurt, he got up, brushed the sand from himself, strolled over to the fire and sat down next to Push. Smiling politely to him he asked with evident concern "Trouble sleeping, Mr. Push? I sympathize."

While Wisp explained the criteria by which she gauged the energy needed after each teleport, Marceau kept a careful ear on her exposition, while watching Blueshift present Jubatus with the thought-operated glove. Shaking his head slightly in amazement with a look of sadness on his face, he commented to to Wisp that "With such devices all but springing from her head, your teleportation skills, your" he nodded to Push and Jubatus "Ability to levitate, and your incredible speed, I must confess to feeling a mite superfluous." He kept the dour look for all of three seconds before bursting into booming laughter like a drunk sea lion, at last needing to sit down unsteadily on the sand. After he'd finished, he wiped away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks, saying as he did "In all seriousness, thank you for coming to help. This would have been an arduous and dangerously time-consuming process otherwise." He fell silent for a short time.

After a moment, he glanced up at Blueshift. "Mz. Blueshift, where are we starting the next construction phase, by which I mean where in relation to the Command Center will the other structures go?"

King of Suits

(how not)To Catch a Thief (Solo) 3 IC posts.

Habitat for Metahumanity 7 IC posts.

Wayward Transit 5 IC posts.

GM

Wayward Transit 1 post.

(how not) To Catch a Thief 2 posts.

Total this Month: 15 IC posts. 3 GM posts.

This response was utterly unlike what he had been expecting, and there was a long pause before Marcy spoke again, digesting this(to him) deeply important piece of information. Its importance in his eyes was bound up in his expectation that one of the first things most powers did was try and discover the source of their abilities. While he had admittedly not the foggiest idea how his worked, it wasn't due to lack of trying. On the other hand, he realized that someone who got powers because a certain series of stars were placed in a certain fashion so as to visible in a certain section of sky on one solitary planet was pretty difficult to explain itself. Wisp's were probably perfectly explicable.

After clearing a bowl or two of chili(which flowed into him with a feeling like liquid love and charity), he turned to Wisp and said: "Have you found any direct relationship? as in, one teleport of yourself takes so much energy, while you and another takes such and such, and so on?" Turning to Push, he added earnestly "Good chili, mind telling how its made? there are a lot of guys back home who'd love this stuff."

Marceau had stared in amazement as Wisp and Jubatus dug and built an outhouse in a matter of minutes. Setting himself to the task of putting together the Command Center, he glanced every now and then to them, in evident awe. Once the Center was built, and the assembled workers were gathered around the fire, he decided to try and strike up a conversation Wisp, seeing as Jubatus seemed a bit touchy about questions regarding his condition, and he'd often wondered...

"S'cuse me, Mz. Wisp, Marceau Suvou, I've often wondered how teleportation works. Is it bending space or something? most reports of it I've read are oddly vague." He took a hefty bite of chili, adding after swallowing noiselessly "By the way, thanks for digging that pit. It would have taken ages to dig a respectable latrine hole in the sand, our being past the tide-line or no."

Marceau smells like a variety of explosive mixtures, mainly nitroglycerin, as well as metal cleaning oil, sweat and vague fear. The smell of fear intensifies whenever he so much as glances at the nearby forest. Also, his beard is a bizarre medley of various scents, mainly tuna and a lilac-like scenting oil.

Marceau gestured to Wisp, setting off at a brisk pace towards her to belie his unease. He called back to Jubatus as he went, his deep, resonating voice incongruous coming from his narrow frame: "About there, far enough to keep the smell from being a nuisance and close enough to get to quickly for the none superfast or teleporters here. I'd suggest a few air-holes placed under the eaves of the roof, to allow quicker air displacement to keep the smell from being too much of an issue." He surreptitiously hoisted a stack of lumber over his shoulder, careful to keep the weight centered on his arm.

I'd like to add the Subtle power feat to my Enhancement Array, and buy 4 ranks in Drive and the Stun Attack feat.

Doktor'd, though this puts you 1pp over (but you earned 2pp for April 2011)

The inventing of Blueshift and the arrival of the hammer-wielder called Push seemed to have constructed a sort of net around Jubatus, temporarily collecting the four into a space where several incongruous events were beginning at once. Deciding that it would be his best bet to guide the lot of them back to their original purpose, rather than allow the highly inappropriate sight of the volunteered heroes jawing on the beach, he cleared his throat and began at once in his accustomed reverberating baritone:"Ahem, sorry to interrupt but my my estimation, there are at least four or so things that need doing before we can hang about and introduce ourselves at leisure: first, the placement of the pegs, in which Mr. Jubatus(here he bowed slightly to Jubatus) clearly bests us all in speed and efficiency. Second, the assembly of the building materials that have just arrived into the base we'll be operating out of for our stay here, which I cannot stress enough the importance of. Third, the building of the outhouse, which should be a tremendously simple and easily accomplished task for any two of us. Fourth, the gathering of our personal stock and supplies to the base house and our divvying up of the floor-space for sleeping and personal space purposes. Fifth, I guess, can come introductions, offers of gadgetry and conversations while standing still".

He glanced from one to the other, quite unconscious of Wisp's presence."I apologize for the abruptness of this, but please remember our errand of mercy. I beseech you to set aside for a little whatever quarrels and disagreements you may have or be generating at this moment, and set your minds, hearts and muscles to the task at hand" He paused and scowled; "I'm sorry, let me put it this way: I think we should, at least until a bit later, get straight to work". He then took the bag of stakes from his shoulder and politely offered it to Jubatus.

King of Suits AKA Marceau Suvou.

King of Suits

Streetwise

DC 10 Marceau Suvou is a janitor at a small office building in Midtown, and lives in a run-down apartment complex called Monkey Towers in the Fens.

DC 15 Marceau is a French national, and is an enthusiast for sculptural, chemical, historical and tactical subjects. Apparently he's led a very exciting life in his native Europe and is close-mouthed as to why he left it.

DC 20 Marceau is somehow involved with the vigilante known as the King of Suits, and there are persistant rumors that they look vaguely similar.

Gather Information:

DC 10 The King of Suits is a costumed vigilante rumored to operate primarily in the Fens of Freedom City, who seems to mainly use weapons disguised as ordinary playing cards.

DC 15 The King of Suits is an unpowered crime-fighter who uses the adopted costume and weaponry of an obscure European supergroup, operating downtown and preferring stealthy movements.

DC 20 The King of Suits is a member of the pan-European super-group called the House of Cards(sometimes the House of Suits), who was involved with a highly-publicized trial and conviction of a beloved French politician for colluding with known supervillains. He's known to be one of the group's founders, but has mostly been in the shadow of the much more flamboyant and photogenic Ace of Suits.

Drat it all, I completely forgot the extracurriculars! I'll skip over there and remedy that.

EDIT Heis: Almost done: Reputation post to be up at around 9.00 A.M.

EDIT Dos: Sorry about the delay. Reputation posted, such as it is.

Deeply relieved that he'd worn civvies(olive coveralls) instead of his unwieldy heroing garb, Marceau halted at the voice of the cheetah eh,good thing it isn't a talking cheetah on all fours, that would be just terrifying. Turning to Jubatus, he gave him a genial smile to disguise the unease he felt in his gut. "My name's Marceau Suvou, Freedonian volunteered worker. Who would you be? a nature spirit?". He did his best to sound more nonchalant and jaded than he actually felt, assuming the creature before him wouldn't want to have to reassure yet another uneasy human of his benevolence.

He gestured to the ocean behind them "By the way, do you know if its high or low tide now? it would be a great help to know."

Marceau thought for a moment, wondering vaguely if it wouldn't be a better idea to build the outhouse first. "Well, miss, may I assume this house will be peaked with a sloped roof? 'cause if so, no further questions.". He briskly rolled his beard into a short braid, sliding a series of metal rings around it to keep it in line, putting the remaining three three rings onto the central fingers of his left hand.

That done, he then took up the bag he'd placed on the ground and trudged off in the direction towards the treeline and away from the beach, waving politely to the newly arrived heroes just disembarking."A good day to you, friends! the starting structure will be 100ft away from the beach, 200 from the treeline, 40 feet by 40 feet according to Mz. Blueshift, with an outhouse placed more closely to the " he suppressed a shudder of fear "the forest."

Should have checked this first...anyway, playing KoS, obviously.

Marceau jumped awkwardly out of the the jeep he had been carried in, a similar bag of stakes over his shoulder. He'd signed up for the job in his civilian identity, not wishing to attract more notice than he had to, what with his alternate identity being a near-total unknown.

He surveyed his surroundings with a sinking feeling, noting with slight surprise the general lack of trees. He'd heard stories told by some of the other janitors about how Haiti was a tropical island, covered in dense rainforest where vicious predators lurked. Last time I tell ANYONE I'm afraid of forests unasked he thought. He looked to the heroine Blueshift: "Where abouts should we start staking, Mz. Blueshift?" he rumbled. "What's the plan, in general terms?".

He fervently hoped that there was in fact a plan of some sort in place. Years of travelling without so much as an idea of what he was doing had told him the problems of making things up as he went along, though by all accounts the tech-heroine was a master of that. He also hoped he would have a chance to dispose of his armor somewhere, the heat beat down like a hammer, bringing with it a deep pang of homesickness.