Holly Daye Special - Actual Play

Setup

Gonna try to do this solo play under a format I've used once, but it seemed to help me back then. I'll be writing down things as a mock up dialogue between a GM and the characters, with the PCs being self-aware  (kinda as if the characters were playing as themselves in the RPG). I know it's somewhat schizoweirdo and meta... but bear with me.

The characters are all premade Sentinels but it's assumed they don't know each other yet, though some might have made the news already. Here are the characters used, with a link to their free PDF sheet.


 * Princess (checking out shops for gifts to offer, as Jessica)
 * Kid Robot (with his guardian, Natalie Hallemier, at a Xmas event)
 * The Rook (keeping an eye out for trouble from the roofs of the city)

Check the previous post for the villain write-up.


GM: The story starts a few days before Christmas proper. It is late evening and, considering the time of year the sky is dark already but the streets are anything but. A myriad of lights, neon signs and shiny things can be found everywhere, along with many people wandering about. There's this indescribable festive feel in the air. It is, definitely, Christmas time!
Princess, you are in your civilian identity, going from shop to shop in the hope of finding something for your friends and family.

Princess: Gotcha.

GM: Kid Robot, you are in a big mall where a Christmas event is taking place. Dr Natalie Hallemier is with you. In fact, she was the one who brought you here, you're not exactly sure why. That said, she also insisted on you wearing a rather conceiling jacket with a hoodie.

Kid: But I'm not cold!

GM: She says she knows, but it's meant to protect you anyway.

Kid: Mm'kay. Odd. So where am I at again?

GM: There are a lot of other kids around, with adults, just like you. Everyone seems to be waiting impatiently for something to happen, though you don't know what. You see what looks like a pile of boxes covered by a large white sheet. All the children seem to be looking very intently at it.

Kid: Um, I don't understand. What are we waiting for Nat?

GM: "It's a surprise! You need to be patient and discover it for yourself, it shouldn't be too long now."

Kid: Guess I'll wait then.

GM: All right. In the meantime, Rook, I suppose you're observing the city?

Rook: Of course. I go from roof to roof, looking out for anything suspicious. Not everyone is respectful of these festive times.

GM: OK. So far, you see nothing strange but you keep going. Princess, in your search, you end up at the mall and there's this big crowd gathered here. Lots of children. It seems like they're going to unveil something very soon.

Princess: Is this the same mall as Kid?

GM: Well... not that you'd know, but yeah.

Princess: Eh, guess I can take a second or two and see what this is all about.

GM: Rook, something catches your eye. From above, you spot a large black van driving a bit too fast and parking hapharzardly near a large mall. The back doors open and you see a group of men coming out.

Rook: How many?

GM: Um... Six of them. What's really strange about them is their getup: they dressed in green with little pointy hats and shoes.

Rook: Err... like little elves?

GM: Well, yeah, except they're anything but little. Full human size, some of them possibly even burly. They also seem to be carrying something large... looks like rifles or something.

Rook: Can I try to get a better look? I do have my Cowl's Extended Vision

GM: Ah, good point. In that case, you're easily able to tell that they're not rifles, but still look like some type of gun weapon. Not something you've ever seen.

Rook: OK... I don't like the looks of that. I'm going to glide down to a backstreet as near them as possible.

GM: You do so and they do not notice you one bit. As you fly by, you notice one more of these men coming out of the driver's side, and a woman, in a similar getup, coming out of the other side.

Rook: Do I recognize her?

GM: Um... You do have Well-Informed. What's your Investigation?

Rook: +6

Here I'm going to go with a Routine check to simplify things (and avoid too much randomness). We're looking at rumors, so it's a DC 10 Gather Information check using Investigation, according to p.71. He gets a routine 16, so he makes it.

GM: You remember hearing about someone who fits her description. Ever since the beginning of the month there have been a few cases of assault and property damage in and around various shops. A woman dressed as a Santa elf is said to have smashed down Christmas setups and gotten into fights with some fake Santas advertising for products.

Rook: Were they the same product? Or shops with a specific theme?

GM: Not that you remember. The one theme they had in common was the Christmas one.

Rook: All right. In any case, she might be dangerous... and these visibly armed men don't make me think otherwise. I'm jumping down into the alley and will try to catch one of them to know more.

GM: Mh... OK. The group is heading towards the mall and you're going for a silent grab. Give me an attack check, unless you have something specific for grabbing?

Rook: Uh... I don't think I do. Just an attack roll then. d20 (8) +15 = 23.

GM: Yeah... you're pretty good at that kind of stuff aren't you? Let me roll their resistance check. d20 (7) +2 = 9. Yeah, no surprise there, you catch the guy. You beat him by quite more than 5, so that's at least 2 degrees of success. He's utterly bound. What do you do with him?

Rook: I'll firmly ask him what the hell his litttle group plans on doing here. Intimidation of course.

Again Routine Check to simplify things. He has +8, so a 18 routine. The thug has no Will bonus, nor the Insight skill, so it's an easy one.

GM: He seems too scared to even thrash about and stutters that they're here to fix Christmas.

Rook: "Fix" Christmas?... Are you mocking me? I say that with enough anger so that he understands he should not, if he is.

GM: He shakes his head frantically. "No no no! Too much commercialization! Gifts given to anyone, even the unworthy! It's got to stop!" As for whether he's lying or not... what's your Insight?

Rook: Um, I don't have Insight... so, Awareness?

GM: Yes, please.

Rook: d20 (18) +2 = 20

GM: Good roll. d20 (19) -1 = 18. You think he's telling the truth, as strange as it might sound.

Rook: OK... What are you planning to do exactly then? What's this? I point at his weapon-like device.

GM: Strangely enough, you don't get the answer from him. Instead, a loud noise followed by gasps and some panicked shrieks tell you you might find out yourself. It came from inside the mall. And going back to Kid and Princess. You were waiting for the unveiling when some nice red curtains were pulled apart to reveal none other than... Santa! Well... a Santa at least. The white sheet was pulled up also, revealing a mountain of gift boxes, obviously intended for the gathered kids. How's that, Kid Robot?

Kid: Uhhh... I'm not sure I understand. Who's the fat man in red?

GM: Are you asking the doctor?

Kid: Yeah.

GM: She has a slight pause, a bit taken aback, but then showing a compassionate smile. "I guess I should have briefed you up a bit, uh?"

Kid: Is this a mission?

GM: "Haha, oh dear, no. This -- she point at the man in red -- is Santa Claus. Every year, around this time, he comes to listen to the children's wishes so they may have something they want for the day of Christmas. Do you... understand?"

Kid: Wishes?

GM: "Yes, like... maybe you want a firefighter truck, or a toy robo-- err... toys... things to play with and have fun. On Christmas he'll come on his magical sleigh pulled by his faithful reindeers and bring what you wished for under the Christmas tree."

Kid: Can we ask for anything?

GM: "Well, uh... it's..."

Kid: I'm going to see the man in red.

GM: You tell her that?

Kid: No, I'm going there.

GM: Oh... She tries to catch you but you're already out of the crowd and nearing the man sporting a great white beard and a consequent belly.

Kid: Mister Claus?

GM: The big man looks down at you with a jolly smile. "Ho ho ho! Good evening to you, child."

Kid: I was told I should tell you my wish for Christmas.

GM: He looks a bit embarassed. "Ho ho ho! Well, well, we actually have a pile of gifts for you here." He gestures towards the pile of gift boxes which the other kids are already gathering around and shredding open with squeals of delight. "I'm sure you will find something you'll like in there, go take a look!" He gently pushes you towards it.

Kid: I look back at the doctor with a confused look but don't resist.

GM: She kind of gives a shrug with an unsure smile and gestures you to the pile. You see many children opening boxes with many colors and designs and pulling out miniature trains, cars, dolls... one of the items kinda looks like you. There's also a kid trying to reach one of the higher boxes.

Kid: I look at him and ask him "Do you want the one up there?"

GM: He looks up at you, a bit unsure at first, but then nods bashfully.

Kid: "I got it." I fly up there to get the box.

GM: Oh dear... OK. You activate your force boosters and rise in the air with a woomph, scattering wrappings about and creating a bit of a commotion. Some of the parents are pulling their kids back while others seem to wonder if that's part of the show. When you get back down, the kid who asked for the box is looking at you with wide open eyes and mouth agape. All he manages to say is "Woah..."

Kid: "Um... there you go." I say as I hand him the box.

GM: He takes it but still stares at you in awe. You realize your hood has fallen back when you flew and you see Natalie coming to you with a worried look on her face. She's not the only one: other parents now seem to shield their kid and look at you with what you interpret as something from confusion to fear.

Kid: "I, uh..."

GM: The kid seems to snap out of it and turns to his mother saying "Mommy, I want this one!!", pointing at you excitedly. Princess, you have followed that scene from afar. What's your take on it so far?

Princess: Well... I'm still unsure whether it's a skit or something. Christmas robot maybe? People don't seem to be taking it the right way though.

GM: He did fly in the air...

Princess: Yeah... that might be a bit too advanced for a skit, eh? I'm on my guards in case I need to intervene.

GM: Kid, you notice a strange bunch entering the building. They're dressed in strange red and green costumes with pointy hats and jingling bells attached to their tips. The one in front is a woman and the others are men carrying some strange contraption. It makes you think of those strange energy cannons you've seen in the movies the Doctor showed you.

Kid: Not sure what to make of this. Is this also part of this Christmas thing?

GM: You don't really know I guess. The doctor comes next to you, puts your hood back on and, an arm around your shoulders, pulls you away. "I... think we're done here. I'm sorry about this... I thought you would... I don't know what I was thinking."

Kid: Uh? What? What's going on?

GM: "We should leave..." she tells you. She seems upset, you're not sure why. Before you can think about it too much, you hear a scream. A child is wailing. People turn towards the source of the commotion. Princess, you also see that of course and you notice the bunch that entered the building dressed up as Santa's elves or something, except with big weapon-like contraptions, which is rather jarring.
The wailing comes from a child. It seems like the dressed-up woman has taken his gift box. "Nuh-uh, you have not been nice to your parents this year, no way you're gonna get a gift! That's not how it works!"
From behind, you all can see a few security guards approaching. "Ma'am, you are disturbing the Christmas event, we will ask you to follow us without a fuss now please."
The woman lets out a laugh. "HA! Christmas?! You fools have no idea what Christmas truly is! This is a joke!"
"Ma'am... we're asking nicely..." says one of the guards grabbing her shoulder.
"Unhand me! I'm here to fix Christmas and you won't stop me. Boys!"
Her group reacts to her call, raising their weapons and firing at the guards. Bright blue beams come out of them and hit the guards, covering them in a thick coat of ice. Soon enough they're stuck in place and encased in the frozen matter.

Time for all of you to roll initiative. You too Rook.

Round 1

Princess: d20 (16) +9 = 25
Kid: d20 (1) +8 = 9
Rook: d20 (14) +5 = 19

GM: Holly:  d20 (7) +10 = 17
Not So Little Elves: d20 (9) +1 = 10

We end up with Princess, Rook, Holly, Elves, Kid

GM: Well, Kid, you seem confused by all this.

Kid: Right, I thought this might also be part of that Christmas thing. I guess not after all.

GM: First to act is Princess. What do you do?

Princess: Well, clearly things have turned sour here. Fixing Christmas eh? Maybe I'll fix her nose for making those poor kids scared and... freezing the guards. But I'm a bit concerned by the ones with those... freezing rays. She seems unarmed so far.

GM: Actually I forgot to mention, though not exactly a weapon, she is carrying a giant candy cane as tall as she is, even if she's a bit smallish.

Princess: She's not a kid is she?

GM: No, no, she's a woman, just smaller than average. And as such much smaller than you.

Princess: Hm... I'll still focus on the armed goons I think. I run up to the closest and try to knock him out.

GM: OK, since they are Minions, you can simply do a Routine attack if it's enough to hit. What's your attack bonus?

Princess: +8. That's 18 routine?

GM: Mh... Yeah, that would hit.
They have a Parry of 2, thus DC 12
So he needs to resist your damage... Your attack has a DC of... 27. Yeah, he has no way of resisting that, so he's down, dropping his weapon in the process.

Princess: How many are there again?

GM: Uh... seven, well six now, plus the girl. Rook, you're up.

Rook: I'm still outside?

GM: Ah, yes, you still have the guy in your chokehold. You have just heard some commotion in the mall, what are you doing?

Rook: Can't quite leave him here unattended... and I'm pretty sure he's up to no good. Uh... is there any way for me to knock him out instantly?

GM: Mhh... your grab put him in a pretty bad situation, let me see... He is Defenseless from your Grab, and obviously at close range, so that's supposedly all you need to make a Finishing Attack. Do you want to roll it to try to get a crit?

Rook: Let's try that. I want to make sure he's out in one move. d20 (16) +15 = 31.

GM: Yyyyeah... quite so. Being a crit, this gives you a +5 bonus to your damage DC. Let's see his toughness resistance. d20 (16) +3 = 19 VS DC 18+5... 23. He made a good roll, but that crit definitely helped you. You knock him out. What next?

Rook: Are there many people from here to the entrance of the mall? Can I use my wings to get there quickly?

GM: I'm going to say it's clear enough. And the doors are still open from the group entering.

Rook: OK, I spread my wings and burst forward, zigzagging between people if necessary until I'm inside.

GM: You get there without too much trouble. You see that the rest of the group is here and they have started using their weapons. You see a few guards encased in ice with looks of surprise on their faces. The woman of the group is near a group of children and she's holding a gift box away from a crying child. She has a giant candy cane in her other hand. I totally forgot about this but I guess you would have seen her take it out of the van earlier, too.
Anyway, that's the end of your turn. Let's get to... ah, that peculiar lady!

She's seen one of her allies go down, attacked by a tall girl with a pink shirt with "Princess" on it. And she doesn't look too happy. "Agh! Who dares lay a hand on Saint Nick's elves?!" Without any visible means of propulsion she takes to the air and swoops down on you, Princess. She wields her huge candy cane like a bat and swings it at you.
d20 (8) +12 = 20. What's your Parry?

Princess: Parry is 8

GM: so DC 18. You take the curved part of the cane in the head. Roll your Toughness save.

Princess: I do have Impervious Toughness 8. Does this get through it?

GM: Unfortunately for you, yes. She gave you a pretty strong hit, totally unexpected considering her petite size.

Princess: Darn. d20 (6) +12 = 18. Is that enough?

GM: Unfortunately no, you take a -1 penalty.

Princess: Ouch... but I can take it. I think... I might redirect my attention to that crazy lady next turn...

GM: Sounds fair. For now, it's the turn of the elves. They all turn to you, raising their weapons and they fire.
Elf 1: d20 (12) +1 = 13
Elf 2: d20 (14) +1 = 15
Elf 3: d20 (12) +1 = 13
Elf 4: d20 (8) +1 = 9
Elf 5: d20 (10) +1 = 11

Your Dodge DC is... 18, so none of them actually manages to hit you. How does that go?

Princess: I'm just too fast on my legs and too nimble compared to the time it takes for them to aim and shoot these bulky things. They're not sticking me to the floor anytime soon.

GM: All right! Kid, it's your turn. What do you do? There's quite a battle in progress in front of your eyes and you're pretty sure this is not normal. The face on the good doctor is quite enough to tell you so. She's obviously trying to find a safe way out and still holding you by the shoulders.

Kid: I drop that silly cloak thing and put my hand on hers, gently removing it from my shoulder. "Do not worry. I'll protect you." I activate my force field. Well, make sure it's active, since I probably have it on most of the time. And I step forward, computing everyone's position and starting the charge of my Force Bolts. Those armed people look dangerous. "Everyone get down!" Aim, shoot! I'm using Multiattack to try to get them all.

GM: That's five of them, so a -5 penalty. Do your roll.

Kid: d20 (3) +12 -5 = 10. Err... oops?

GM: Oops indeed. Your shots are rather wild and end up hitting various walls and decorations instead of your intended targets.

Kid: Attack result: failure... Increase attack precision for next attempt.

GM: Sounds like a good idea! You can still move, do you want to?

Kid: Mhh... I'll fly up, this way they shouldn't hit innocents if they target me. And it'll give me a better view of the situation.

Round 2

GM: OK. Next is... Princess!

Princess: Hm... I think I'm gonna try and grab that candy can off her hands. Who knows, maybe it's the source of her power. It ticks me off anyway.

GM: Disarming uh? OK, let's see... that's a regular attack but at -2.

Princess: Here we go. d20 (8) +8-2 = 14

GM: Not even close. She nimbly moves out of the way keeping that cane out of reach.

Princess: Urh... Well I keep after her anyway. At worst I'm keeping her busy.

GM: Works for me. Oh, by the way, can you give me an Investigation roll? or Intelligence if you don't have it.

Princess: Sure. d20 (13) +2 = 15

GM: All right. During that fight, you end up realizing how much she looks like that crazy woman who has made the news this month. Just like The Rook you remember how it's happened all around town, in various stores. Santas were often targeted, but also events such as this one.

Princess: Trying to ruin Christmas for others is she?

GM: Who knows! Anyway, Rook can act now. What does he do?

Rook: It seems it's urgent to take care of those armed goons. I don't know who that kid is (... is he made of metal?!) but he's going to destroy the building instead of helping if keep going like this! Anyway, I was thinking of using one of my Flash Bombs but the radius seems to large.

GM: 30ft radius, yeah... But most people have cleared the area, so I'd say it's possible. Since Princess pursued the crazy lady, she's also moved away. Go ahead with the Flash Bomb if you want.

Rook: Good, I'll throw one in their midst then. They need to resist a DC 13 with Fortitude.

GM: Let's see how that goes.

Goon 1: d20 (9) + 4 = 13
Goon 2: d20 (19) +4 = 23
Goon 3: d20 (6) +4 = 10
Goon 4: d20 (1) +4 = 5
Goon 5: d20 (15) +4 = 19

In retrospect, I totally missed the fact a Dodge roll should have been made before the Fortitude save. Success would have halved the Affliction effect.

GM: Two of them are affected. One of them has two degrees of failure.

Rook: Then one is Vision Impaired and the worst one Vision Disabled.

GM: -2 and -5 on anything requiring vision, got it.

Rook: I'm also going to take to the air and call that flying kid. "Be careful with those shots! Are you here to help or not?"

Kid: I... I am! I'm sorry, I'll be careful!

GM: It's Holly's turn. Yeah, she's called Holly. Can't find a way to give out her name without it being a very corny moment, oh well. She calls out to Princess as she's being pursued: "Why are you interfering? Don't see you what they're doing? They're ruining Christmas! They're ruining Mister Nick's work!" and then she tries to find an opening to make use of her cane. d20 (2) +12 = 14.

Princess: I got a Dodge DC of ... no wait, Parry DC of 18. She misses! I also reply to her. "The only one I see ruining Christmas here is you! What have those poor kids even done to you?!"

GM: She frowns, as if it should have been obvious. "Not all of them have been nice. Bad kids do NOT get presents! That's how it's supposed to be!"

Princess: The hell...

GM: Also, she takes to the air again, getting out of your reach.

Princess: Hmm...

GM: The elves go now. Mhh... They have quite a few possible targets. I think they're going to split -- oh, uh... and I just realized Minions are supposed to take full effect from any attack, so... what's the biggest effect from those Flash Bombs?

Rook: Vision Unaware?

GM: OK, well, I guess that makes those two out of the fight since they can't even recover from that without help or some rest. So yeah, each of the three remaining goons is going to fire at each of you guys.

Goon 1: d20 (1)
Goon 2: d20 (17) +1 = 18
Goon 3: d20 (8) +1 = 9

Oh, um, I should probably define who's attacking who... Let's go by initiative order: Princess, Rook and Kid, respectively. So Princess is off the hook since her goon auto misses. Rook... What's your Dodge?

Rook: The DC is 24

GM: OK, missed. And with a 9 I'm pretty sure Kid's safe.

Kid: DC 18, yes.

GM: Those poor goons won't even touch you at all. Well, Kid, it's your turn.

Kid: I think I'll use my Force Blast, it's the most precise I have for this situation. d20 (1) ... Oh... gaah!

GM: You are not lucky today.

Kid: So ah... I just keep floating in the air then I suppose. Or wait, wait, I'm going to use a Hero Point on this.

GM: OK, go ahead.

Kid: d20 (13) +10 = 23. Haaha! That's better!

GM: Quite so! You totally hit one of the goons. Let's see his resistance. d20 (7) +3 = 10... versus DC 25, yeah, he's toast.

Kid: Whoo! He's pushed in the air and crashes through one of the windows, ending up outside, knocked out.

GM: Still destroying the place uh?

Kid: Meh!

Round 3

GM: Princess, Holly is now flying above you, what do you do?

Princess: Hmm... She seems pretty agile and strong... I'm not even sure I can hit her.

GM: Mmmm... Are you losing your confidence by any chance?

Princess: Uh?... Oh...... my Complication eh? I guess I might be. Though maybe not just yet. One more try and then we'll see. For now, I'll leap in the air to reach her and then place a well aimed punched using Accurate Attack at +2.

GM: Reducing damage effect for accuracy, right. And using your Leaping to get to her. I'm not sure that's exactly how it works, but it sounds fun. Roll it.

Princess: d20 (16) +8+2 = 26! How's that?

GM: Hey, whaddya know, you actually manage to hit her! How well is she going to take it? d20 (5) +6 = 11. What's the damage DC for this? Don't forget the -2.

Princess: Base is 12, so make that 10... and the DC becomes 25.

GM: Ouch... She's got... three degrees of failure! She gets Staggered and a -1 penalty to toughness. Staggered means Dazed and Hindered, so only one standard action per turn for her, and at half speed (-1 rank). I suppose it applies to ground and flight speed, not that it'll matter too much for her Flight I suppose. Very, very nice hit there Princess. Guess you're not losing confidence any time soon after all.

Princess: I rock! Eheh!

GM: I'm even going to say you managed to knock her back down to the ground. She staggers to her feet, visibly shaken by that last hit. Rook, what's your next action?

Rook: "Hey, um... Princess!" I assume I've heard of her, plus her shirt says that, so... "Try using your mean punch of these guys", pointing at the goons. "We fliers will take care of that annoying imp!" I activate the wings with the anti-grav device to rise up to Kid's and Holly's level.

GM: Anything else?

Rook: Gonna use my Taser Talons to hopefully take her out. d20 (18) +13 = 31. Looking good.

GM: No kidding :). Quite above her Dodge so she's hit. Next step is Fortitude?

Rook: Yes, against DC 14.

GM: d20 (18) +6 = 24. She also gets a very good roll and seems surprised but no more affected than before (though she is still dazed).

Rook: Grr...

GM: Her time to act. So, she's dazed... and hindered from her Staggered status. Compared to just being Dazed, this will remain until she gets time to recover. She seems confused and unsure of what to do next. "Get them! Freeze them up! We can't let Christmas... be ruined... urh..." She holds her head for a second, visibly in pain, but focuses again on the Rook, flying to you and trying to get you with her blunt weapon of joy.
d20 (17) +12 = 29

Rook: My Parry DC is 24. I'm hit, right?

GM: Yup, you need to make a Toughness save against 23.

Rook: d20 (3) +6 = 9

GM: Oh my... Wanna use a Hero Point?

Rook: I think I will. d20 (7) . Thats a 17 + 6 = 23. Just saved this time! Phew.

GM: Good, you managed to soften the blow by moving with the flow at the last second. A split second later and you know you would have felt it real bad. Onto the elves now. Three of them left, and they know Princess is gonna come for them, so they all aim at her.

Goon 1: d20 (20) +1 = 21
Goon 2: d20 (14) +1 = 15
Goon 3: d20 (9) +1

Since Minions can't crit non-minions, that first one just gets an auto-hit.

Princess: Which would have hit me anyway...

GM: The two others seem to have missed though. Now to see how well the ray gets you. You resist with Dodge initially, versus DC 13.

Princess: Doesn't look too bad considering I have 8. d20 (20) +8= 28. As I said...

GM: Yeah, there was little chance to begin with, not mentioning a natural 20. While you get bathed in the ray a bit, you're moving too fast for it to hold. It feels rather cold though and the parts end up covered in a thin coat of snow. Kid?

Kid: To that flying elf lady: "I don't really know who you are, but I can't let you do... whatever you're doing." Um... I'll need to work on some catchphrases.

GM: She replies "I'm Holly Daye! Agent of Saint Nick and savior of the Christmas tradition! You seem like a good kid, so stay out of this!"

Kid: "Don't think I can ma'am, sorry!" and I blast her with my force. d20 (5) +10 = 15.

GM: Missed. She's incredibly fast and nimble.

Kid: Gosh... I might have to use my Force Bolts then... and an Accurate Attack I guess. Maybe next round.

Round 4

GM: Princess. Are you going for the goons as The Rook suggested?

Princess: Myeah. I have a beef with that loony but I'm afraid she's a bit too fast for me. And I can't fly like the others. So yeah, gonna try to clear those guys out. Rush in and knock out! d20 (15) +8 = 23. Ha!

GM: Actually could have used a Routine check, but yes, it hits! Considering your damage level and the fact they're minions, there's no point in rolling their Toughness. One of them goes down, wham!

Princess: Cool. I might consider using a Hero Point for Takedown next round.

GM: Rook, what's your move?

Rook: I was thinking of using some Affliction-type attacks but I have the strange feeling it won't do much. She's already staggered after all. I think I'll just fly to her and smack her with my fighting staff. d20 (12) +15 = 27.

GM: Yup, that hits. d20 (2) +6-1 = 7. That's against your staff's DC of 20. Once again, that's a 3rd degree failure for her. Since she already had reached 3rd degree, she's in for the 4th one, that is, Incapacitated! That last hit is just too much for her and she falls to the floor, unconscious. Congrats!

Rook: A good thing done. I'm going back to the floor, joining with Princess. We still have a couple of mooks to deal with.

GM: Speaking of which... They seem to switch something on their weapons and attack again. Being the last two, they seem inclined on being a bit more clever. They wait for the right moment and both shoot their beam at the same time! I'll be using a Team Attack.
Goon 1: d20 (14) +1 = 15
Goon 2: d20 (2) +1 = 3

Nope, none hit DC 18. Team Attack is nice for damage but I forgot their issue was hitting Princess to begin with, eh. That leaves us with Kid for this round.

Kid: I guess I'm going to use those Force Bolts after all, with Multiattack. d20 (12) +12-2 = 22.

GM: They're hit. Let's see their resistance.
Goon 1: d20 (18) +3 = 21
Goon 2: d20 (10) +3 = 13

Nope, none of them makes it. You've cleared the whole group! How do you go about the cleanup?

Kid: First I'll go back to Natalie and make sure she's okay.

GM: She looks shocked but she's not hurt. "I... This is not what I wanted this evening to be like Kid, I'm sorry."

Kid: "I do not believe you are at fault here. I'm just glad you're fine."

GM: She gives a slight smile and hugs you. You can feel she's still shaking but slowly relaxes.

Princess: What about the guards who were frozen?

GM: The ice slowly melts under the many ceiling lights. They're soon freed, but obviously shaken and shaking. It was pretty cold! You do hear the sirens from ambulances and the police in the distance though, so everyone should be taken care of.

Rook: I suppose that's my cue to leave. I'll give a silent nod of appreciation to Princess and Kid and fly out of here. I'll keep an eye out on the scene from a nearby building to make sure everything's wrapped up properly. Might also want to check up on those two.

GM: OK. A few minutes later a lot of new cars have arrived. The guards are being sent to the hospital with some cold burns and the goons arrested. Holly Daye is taken into custody by the meta-department. Everything seems to be going back to normal. Well, except for the property damage and the interrupted events. Some of the kids are still there with their parents, obviously upset, what with the pile of gifts still left inside and not all of it in one piece. Though some of them apparently thought that whole fight was just as cool, if not more!
As people are lamenting the destruction, a strange jingling is heard. People notice some strange glittery snow falling over the scene and soon enough bits of glass and debris fly back to their original position, restoring the place as if nothing had happened to it. All the gift boxes are back to normal and even the guards seem to relax, as if warmed up by some strange energy.
One of the kids points in the air excitedly: "Santa! Santa!". A sleigh pulled by reindeers is seen flying above the buildings and a familiar gentle laugh is heard. Holly Daye can be heard gasping admiratively: "Ohh, Saint Nick!"
And that's when a bunch of TV News vans invade the street.

Princess: Well, time to go!

Kid: Yeah, I'll grab the doctor by the waist securely, wave at the kids and fly ourselves out of here.

Princess: I'll just leave the scene. I'm not Princess anymore so it shouldn't be a problem.

GM: Right, from the moment you stop thinking of yourself as Princess, you're back to being a regular student to everyone. Well, that wraps up this scenario!

Thoughts

Overall this was pretty fun, though it took longer than I expected (multiple hours over two days). I even planned a two-part scenario but ended up kind of mixing all the ideas in a one-scene thing once I realized how slowly it was moving. It was, of course, not easy to play every character and the GM, but I'm still glad with the results. Makes for a nice playtest of the rules if anything.

I really like Holly Daye as a villain, though I wasn't always sure how to play her. She isn't thoroughly evil, just... extreme and "purist" in her ways, so I didn't want her to come off as an utterly horrible woman. That was the intention. In play, I'm not sure I managed to show off her interesting facets that much.
The M&M conversion itself was a first for me when working from something so abstract. I tried to "get" the feel of the character and transcribe it in M&M. And for my own preference, I went with a more agile than strong/tough character. I pictured her flying about like Tinkerbell, very hard to catch. I totally got that feel during the playthrough considering how hard it got to hit her. Of course, once you do hit her, she's rather fragile.
I don't think I got to use all her mechanical aspects either, whether because they did not come up (Instant Up) or because I forgot. It's sad because it seems like I missed most of the interesting bits: her ability to know if you're lying (and how bad it is) as well as her naughty/nice radar for children (well, OK, she did use that last one in her intro).
Also not too sure on making her a PL 10 and maxing out her attack/defense stats. I still have a hard time picturing what PL is really about.

As for her helpers, I didn't expect them to last that long. They might even have lasted longer if I hadn't botched the Rook's flash bomb. Their freezing gun though? Gosh... I wanted it to put the heroes in a bind (more or less literally) and spice things up, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with 'em... And when they did, it had no effect. Since I built those, I have the feeling I should have gone more crazy with the numbers. They might have been Minions, but they might have deserved higher stats.

When it comes to the M&M ruleset itself, all I can say is that I'm satisfied overall. There were a few cases where I thought the characters could do something but the rules, apparently, did not allow it or I couldn't figure out how to do it (I thought of some sort of Interpose with Kid at one point, using his Deflect, but... eh). Most of the time, though, it felt pretty cool. Moving about was barely an issue considering the very short distances in this setup... and flying about was incredibly easy to deal with.
One thing I was disappointed in, but again it might just be my misunderstanding the rules, was how most attempts at Affliction yielded nothing. Maybe I misused the attacks, or misread the rules. But overall it felt somewhat weak and barely worth using up an action to do it. I'm not a power gamer, but I still don't like giving up efficiency.

Holly Daye Special - Write-ups

 The following villain comes from a Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul freebie by Spectrum Games called Christmas Comes But Once a Year. Given the very free-form nature of CCVF (and the fact I do not have the rules) made it a bit hard to come up with something appropriate. In any case, here's my Mutants & Masterminds 3e version of the villain.

Holly Daye (PL 10)

STR: 6, STA: 6, AGL:10, DEX: 3, FGT: 8, INT: 2, AWE: 2, PRE: 4

Dodge: 14 (+4), Parry: 14 (+4), Will: 4 (+2), Fort: 6, Tough: 6

Initiative : +10

Offense
Candy Cane  +12     Dmg 8
Unarmed       +10      Dmg 6
Throwing        +3      Dmg 6

Lifting capacity : 3-6 tons     (lifting Str of 8)
Land speed : 30ft
Flight speed : 900ft/round, 300m/round, 150ft/s, 50m/s


Advantages

Close Combat 2
Defensive Attack
Instant Up
Agile Feint (feint using Acrobatics or movement speed)
Attractive


Skills

Acrobatics +14       (10 +4r)
Athletics +8            (6 +2r)
Close Combat - Candy Cane +14   (8+2 +4r)
Close Combat - Unarmed +12          (8+2 +2r)
Expertise - Legends of Christmas (Limited)   +8     (2 +6r)
Insight +8      (2 +6r from power)
Perception (Lies & Naughtiness only) +18      (2 +16r from power)
Persuasion +8       (4 +4r)


Powers

Naughty / Nice Radar :
    Senses 5
        Detect Lies, hearing, ranged (+1 rank), acute (+1 rank)
            Acute : can tell white lies from rotten lies
        Detect Naughtiness, hearing, ranged (+1 rank)
        Limited to people before puberty (-1/r)

    Enhanced Insight 6
    Enhanced Perception 16, Limited to Detect Lies & Detect Naughtiness


Flight 5
   
Candy Cane of Joy (Device) :
    Strength-based Damage 2
    Easily Removable

Super Strength
    Enhanced Strength 2, Limited to Lifting

Equipment - Pouch full of Coal
Equipment - Satchel full of Goodies



Summary

Offense : Init +10, Candy Cane +12 (Dmg 8;23), Unarmed +10 (Dmg 6;21), Throwing +3 (Dmg 6;21)
Defense : Dodge 14, Parry 14, Tough 6, Fort 6, Will 4
                      DC 24      DC 24               DC 16   DC 14


Complications

• Crazed Imagination
• Delusional
• Explosive Temper

Note: the candy cane is a personal addition. I liked the visual of her using such a thing as a weapon.

Saint Nick's Not So Little Elves  (PL 3)

I thought just having one villain would be a bit sad and too straightforward. So even though the original PDF does not mention her having allies, I figured I'd give her like-minded people as goons. And to make them more than just regular Thugs, I gave them a Freezing Gun. In retrospect, I should have made the Affliction rank much higher... and maybe made the Thugs a bit better at shooting. Oh well...

Regular Thug template plus...

Freezing Gun
    Ranged Damage 5
    Snare (Affliction) (3/r) 3
        Effect : vulnerable + hindered, defenseless + immobile
        Extra Condition
        Ranged
        Cumulative
        Limited Degree
        Alternate Resistance : Resisted by Dodge, then by Damage or Sleight of Hand
   
Offense : Init +1, Unarmed +2 (Dmg 2;17), Freezing Gun +1 (Dmg 5;20 or Affliction DC 13)
Defense : Dodge 2, Parry 2, Fort 4, Tough 3/2, Will 0


Note: the second number for Damage is the actual resistance DC (damage rank+15).

Seraphine the Night Cat - Mutants & Masterminds 3rd ed.

I recently bought Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition (gosh, what a dreary page to introduce this RPG...)

It's funny in a way because I had peeked at the 2nd ed. PDF a long time ago and was all "bleh, d20". I had a weird relationship to the d20 system back then since I had discovered FATE and other more narrative-based games. Since then, though, after quite a few sessions of Pathfinder with a friend, I've learned to appreciate what d20 offers (more on that later maybe).

So maybe it's because of this... or because I just found myself in a superheroic mood at the time (was reading Spinerette quite a bit), but looking into the 3rd edition yielded much enthusiasm. I was surprised. It was d20 all right, but it didn't feel like it. It really felt like a cool superhero simulation system. And maybe most important of all, it seemed to get everything right. Utterly customizable powers? Check. In-genre action rules? Check. Lots of freedom and a focus on reproducing the "rules" of superhero stories? Check!
I spent some time reading up reviews online and forum threads as well as listening to an actual play podcast... then grabbed the PDF to confirm my suspicion... and then finally bought the book.

Admittedly I haven't yet played the game, so I might still be in for a huge disappointment, but I doubt it. There's even some stuff I might bring into Pathfinder, because it fits exactly what I've missed there.

For now, I have tried to create my very own first superhero character. Nothing too original, but hey :)

SERAPHINE, THE NIGHT CAT

(Felicie Amise)

BACKGROUND SUMMARY

(more detailed version follows stats)

Felicie, a brilliant but rather unlucky scientist, was working on a molecular manipulator of her making when her cat, Seraphine, climbed onto the machine. An accident later, Seraphine is nowhere to be found and Felicie realizes she's changing day by day, gaining new abilities and... new feline body parts!
At first distressed by such a development, she then realizes, during a nocturnal stroll, that she's now skilled enough to face bandits. Maybe she can help people this way, under the new identity of...

... Seraphine, the Night Cat!

STATS

Abilities

• Strength : 4
• Stamina : 4
• Agility : 6/2 (when tail and whiskers are "nullified")
• Dexterity : 1
• Fighting : 5/3 (when tail and whiskers are "nullified")
• Intellect : 5
• Awareness : 4/2 (when cat ears are "nullified")
• Presence : 1

Cost : 4+4+6+1+5+5+4+1 = 30x2 = 60


Defenses

• Dodge : Agility + 4 = 6 + 4 = 10
• Parry : Fighting + 3 = 4 + 3 = 7
• Fortitude : Stamina + 0 = 4
• Toughness : Stamina + Def Roll = 4 + 4 = 8/4
• Will : Awareness + 0 = 4

4+3 = 7

Other

• Initiative : Agility + Improved Init = 6 + 4 = 10

Offenses :

• Claws : +11 (FGT+Close Attack+CC Claws = 5+2+4)
• DC 15+3+4 = 22 (Penetrating 3, Crit 19-20)
• Unarmed : +10 (FGT+Close Attack + CC Unarmed = 5+2+3)
• DC 15+4 = 19
• Melee weapon : +7 (FGT + Close Attack = 5+2)
• DC 15+4(str)+? = 19 + wpn dmg

Advantages

• Agile Feint
• Animal Empathy (Limited to cats -- no buy back possible)
• Close Attack - 2
• Defensive Roll - 4
• Evasion I
• Improved Disarm
• Improved Initiative - 1
• Improved Trip
• Instant Up
• Luck - 3
• Move-by Action
• Second Chance - Acrobatics
• Skill Mastery - Acrobatics
• Uncanny Dodge

1+1+2+4+1+1+1+1+1+3+1+1+1+1 = 20

Linked to...
Balancing Tail : Defensive Roll, Evasion, Instant Up, Skill Mastery Acrobatics
Whiskers : Defensive Roll, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge
Cat Ears : Uncanny Dodge

If one of the parts is "nullified", the corresponding Advantages disappear, even if another part linked to them is still "active" (this is meant to simplify things...)


Skills

• Acrobatics - 6/2 + AGL = 6+6 = 12/8
• Athletics - 5 + STR = 5+4 = 9
• Close Combat - Claws - 4 + FGT + Close Attack = 4+5+2 = 11
• Close Combat - Unarmed - 3 + FGT + Close Attack = 3+5+2 = 10
• Expertise - Medecine - 4 + INT = 4+5 = 9
• Expertise - Science - 4 + INT = 4+5 = 9
• Insight - 2 +AWE = 2+4 = 6
• Perception - 6/2 + AWE = 6+4 = 10/6
• Persuasion - 2 + PRE = 2+1 = 3
• Sleight of Hand - 2 + DEX = 2+1 = 3
• Stealth - 6 + AGL = 6+6 = 12
• Technology - 2 + INT = 2+5 = 7

6+5+4+3+4+4+2+6+2+2+6+2 = 46/2 = 23

Powers

Feline Speed: (=4)
   Speed 4 (30mph / 64kmh)

Claws : (=7)
   Damage 3, Penetrating 3, Strength-Based, Improved Critical I (3+3+0+1)

Balancing tail : (=21)
  Movement - Safe Fall, Limited to Distance rank 6 (1) (subtle??)
  Movement - Sure-Footed 1 (2) (subtle??)
  Leaping 5 (5) (subtle??)
    Running Long : Rank 4 (125m, 500ft)
    Standing Long : Rank 3 (65m, 250ft) (base)
    Running High : Rank 2 (30m, 120ft)
    Standing High : Rank 1 (15m, 60ft)

10+3+1+2+5 = 21

Source of : (ability boosts linked to the body part, becomes penalties if the part is "nullified")
Agility +4
Fighting +1
Acrobatics +4

Cat ears : (=2)
  Senses
    Extended Hearing (1) (-1 / 100ft)
    Ultra-Hearing (1)

Source of :
Awareness +2

Whiskers : (=1)
  Senses
    Ranged Touch (1) (Accurate and Radius by default) (-1 / 10ft)
    Limited to Moving objects displacing air (would give back 1 rank but I have nothing else to use it on)

Source of :
Fighting +1

Cat's Eyes : (=2)
  Senses
    Extended Vision (1)
    Low-Light Vision (1)

Cat Scent : (=3)
  Senses
    Extended Scent (1) (-1/10ft, considered "close range" for regular smells)
    Acute Scent (1) (identifies)
    Tracking Scent (1)

4+7+21+2+1+2+3 = 40


Equipment

None for now, but in the future she might acquire/make a special yarn ball, a set of extremely strong wire to entangle foes and bind them.



Total Cost

Abilities : 60
Defenses : 7
Skills : 23
Advantages : 20
Powers : 40

Total : 60+7+23+20+40 = 150


Complications

• Power Loss : Seraphine get all her powers only if her cat ears, whiskers and tail are unimpaired. As such, she is weakened in her civil status (parts squished in disguise) and if an opponent restrains any of these parts.
• Secret Identity : No one knows Felicie is Seraphine the Night Cat, nor that she had the accident and the results it had. Her new feline parts are hard to camouflage and could be discovered if she's not careful.
• Motivation - Doing Good
• Quirk : Cat-like behavior

BACKGROUND

Felicie is a young scientist woman working on a machine design capable of changing molecules, for medical purpose. One day that her female cat, Seraphine, was around (reason TBD -- she either brought her at work, or she lives in the lab), she ran a test on the machine and realized the cat was sitting on the pad, intrigued by the food sample Felicie had put there. The test procedure is somehow impossible to stop now, so Felicie runs to the pad to get the cat out of there, but it's too late, and they're both struck by rays of energy.

When the young woman wakes up, she sees no hint of her pet. She looks for her everywhere, in vain. Did she flee or...? In any case, Felicie is devastated by this loss.

She's also worried for herself and what the rays might have done to her body. Worse! The machine seems to have short-circuited during the test and will need thorough repais. The exact calibration from the test might be lost forever.

In the following days, the young woman slowly notices changes. She does not need to turn on the lights at night and her pupils are dilated, her nails have become especially sharp and long (and soon retractible)... and the worst is when a new pair of feline ears pop up on her head, as well as a cat tail sprouting from above her butt. Her perception and agility have reached inhuman levels in a few days, too, but Felicie is mostly concerned with hiding her unusual looks.

To do so, she takes a few days off to adapt. Everyone thinks it's to mourn her cat, whom she loved very much.

Felicie gets that something happened the day of the accident. Her molecules, or her DNA have been modified somehow, and she's turning into a cat person!
Moreover, she's started dreaming things from a strange point of view. She *is* Seraphine. She recognizes events she's lived with her, but sees them as the cat did. Could... Seraphine and herself have... fused together?
Her mind does seem to be acquiring strange new feline traits: new food tastes, a need to sleep durnig the day and walk around at night, being easily distracted by flies and bouncing balls...

At first panicked, the young woman ends up convinced that her cat did not disappear, but lives through... in her. Woman and animal are now one. As such, her idea to try and reverse the experiment slowly disappears as she fears she might definitely lose Seraphine this time (and herself maybe).

Though this is not easy to live, the scientist accepts her condition. Taken by this new need for nocturnal strolls, she makes a simple disguise with hood and a simple mask, just to be on the safe side, but otherwise relishes at the opportunity to let her cat parts free. She feels like she's fully herself at these times.

One night, she randomly stumbles upon a gangster dealing on the roofs. Immediately being chased after, she's surprised to not only survive the ordeal, but end up with a bunch of knocked out bad guys! Looks like she got some amazing huntress instincts.

That's when she realizes that the accident may be a boon. She's always wanted to help people, which is why she tried to make a machine capable of healing them. But now she could help people while fulfilling her new instincts. Thus, inspired by all the superheroes popping up in the news lately, she decides she'll become one too! And to honor the source of her new powers, she becomes the nocturnal feline...

... Seraphine !

DESCRIPTION

• Her hair slowly took a coloring similar to Seraphine's beige fur, along with cat markings. She hides it under a wig.
• She has a cat tail which she twirls around her leg to keep it hidden.
• She has cat ears in addition to her regular human ears. She hides them under a hat or head scarf, or simply her wig.
• She has whiskers. This was the most annoying for her to hide. Initially she tried cutting them off, but not only do they grow back, it also makes her feel diminished and dizzy at times. She found a way to keep them stuck on her face under a layer of skin-like silicone. It's rather uncomfortable though.
• Her pupils strongly dilate at night and reflect light at some angles. They are also almond shaped, which Felicie hides with special lenses.

She's otherwise of average height or build, though her new powers (and activities) have made her more fit.

PERSONALITY

As usual for me, this part is the least clear so far. I picture her as helpful, though probably introvert, maybe a little naive. She definitely has a heart of gold.

POWERS & ABILITIES

• Sharp and retractable claws (looks like regular nails when retracted)
• Night vision (requires a modicum of light)
• Great agilty and balance
• Super jumps
• Almost always falls back on her legs
• Improved hearing (wider frequencies and better range)
• Air movement detection thanks to her whiskers
• Improved sense of smell
• Great running speed, usually in sprints

Fate Heroes - Part 2 - Gnomes

Follow up to Part 1. We left our hero, Minuteman, victorious over a group of disorganized bank robbers and running to the rescue of Man-o-War, one of his Freedom Force buddies.

Intent : Go to the St Johns church and investigate
d10 (6) : no change (I assume a permanent Chaos Factor of 5 by the way)

For the ones who don't know Mythic, the above is where you declare what the next scene should logically be, then roll a dice which result tells you if it happens as is, or with a twist (scenes can be Altered or Interrupted).

Minuteman reaches the church after a few minutes spent crossing the town.

Are there signs of conflict? No -> The church and surroundings look undisturbed.
Are there people near the church? No -> No one is explicitely at the church... just passersby.

"Odd, it is as if nothing happened!" says Minuteman with suspicion.

He tries to contact Mentor through their telepathic link.

Setting note : Mentor is an alien with mental powers (duh, uh? :p), co-creator of Freedom Force and provider of many technological wonders. For more : http://www.giantbomb.com/mentor/94-1212/

Does he reply? (very likely) Not at all

"Mentor? Mentor?! I... I don't feel the telepathic link at all anymore! What is going on?"
Minuteman is getting worried but decides to at least take a look inside the church before going back to the Freedom Fortress.

Is there something unusual inside the church? Yes
What exactly? (here I tried a random event to get an answer but it wasn't inspiring so I went back to questions)
Is the inside destroyed? Yes -> It didn't look like it from outside but the church is in a bad shape.
Does it look like the results of an explosion or hand-made destruction? No -> Furniture and statues have taken visible hits.
Is there someone visible in there? Absolutely -> There's more than one person!
Are they familiar? No
Do they look responsible for the damage? Yes -> They're still wrecking what's left standing.

What do they look like? (I tried picking a random word from the dictionary but, again, wasn't inspired, so I switched to a set of D&D monster types tables I adapted)
Came up with "Swarm Fey" -> It's a group of small humanoid creatures similar to lawn gnomes in size and garbs. They are crawling over statues, running around, smashing things and cackling. It's quite the chaotic vision!

They look busy enough and Minuteman would rather take them by surprise: he tries to sneak on the side, behind some intact benches.

Stealth vs Alertness : -1 vs 1. Not good for Minuteman!

FATE allows paying Fate Points in these cases and get either a +2 or a reroll. Problem is : you need to tag an appropriate Aspect (either of your character, of the scene or of another character). So at that point, I wanted to know more about the evil gnomes, in a slightly pushy way I admit:

Do the gnomes have an Aspect defining a focus on destruction such as "Destroy! Destroy!!!" (that could be tagged to mean they're not paying attention)? Not at all -> Obviously, it backfired ;)
Instead, they get an aspect for their "sensitive hearing". I also note to give them a few points in Alertness when I start defining their stats. In any case, Minuteman is not making this roll any better...

The steps of Minuteman echo through the church and the gnomes all turn their head at the same time, looking to the source of this noise.

Have they seen him?
Stealth vs Investigation : 1 vs 2

Yes, the gnomes have spotted Minuteman.

Do they attack? (very likely) -> Yes!
Are they 1 or 2 zones away? No -> They're near the altar while our hero is near the entrance, slightly to the side. That's 2 zones away.

Main skill of the gnomes : Melee or Athletics? No -> Athletics

Evil gnomes

Fair (+2) : Athletics
Average (+1) : Melee, Alertness

Aspects :
Sensitive hearing (invoke to notice sounds, can be tagged to confuse them with loud noises)
Creepy little brats (invoke for small size and persistence)

How many are there? 5+d6 (3) = 8 -> Two groups of 4 gnomes (+2 group bonus for each on all actions)

I don't want to go into too much detail for the actual fight, so I'll keep to the highlights. Mythic didn't have any role here, but FATE was there to provide some narrative incentive instead.

It starts with Minuteman lifting the bench he was trying to hide behind and waiting for the gnomes to come closer (2 zones is a bit far to throw items with FATE... not very superheroesy, but I'm planning to fiddle with this rule later). The gnomes all run towards our hero but (failing their Athletics checks) stumble over each other and fail to progress much.

Now that they're closer, Minuteman throws the bench on the bunch (huhu). He barely fails his roll though (gets a total of 0 which isn't enough to deal damage) and has to invoke "Might makes right!" to get some damage done, killing two gnomes (they're groups of minions so attacks "go through").
In their counterattack, none of the groups manages to get anything done to Minuteman. Worse! They fail so much that he gets spin... twice! (it's a +1 on your next attack or defense). Even though no actual damage was done on the gnomes as a result, I described it as them being roughed around, thrown against walls or crushed under boots. Just enough to keep them at bay :)

Next round, Minuteman kills two gnomes again, but has to resort to invoking "For Freedom!" (saving Man-o-War being, in a way, For Freedom... Force!) to get a +2.

Mythic was used here to know if the gnomes were artificial or organic : mechanical lawn gnomes or actual gremlin-like horrors? They turned out to be organic, so more "splortch" than "crack".

Once again, none of the gnomes manages to land a hit. Since they're minions, they can't use Fate Points until they get one through the tagging of one of their Aspects... which never happened, so... no FPs for the gnomeys.

Since the fight was getting a bit long, I really wanted to finish this quickly and used yet another Fate Point (I kept getting 0's for some reason, thanks dice!). This time, two gnomes go flying through the church, landing behind the altar.
Finally, one of the remaining gnomes clings to Minuteman's leg and gets a bite.

But it's their last action as they end up crushed in the ground the next round.

I tried to make the fight as cinematic as possible in my head, acting out status quo and even failures of the dice as positive actions anyway, just not terribly effective ones (and definitely mechanically neutral ones). I've found that doing this helps staying focused on fights (especially long ones) and gives some ideas on how to use Aspects or what kind of Maneuvers to attempts. I haven't used Maneuvers so far, but they're basically the alternative to attacks that allow you to place a new Aspect and invoke it for free once if the roll succeeds. It's especially powerful with a team of PCs.

This said, this is where I stopped so far, a few inches from the end of Scene 2. Next scene should have Minuteman going back to the Freedom Fortress... if Mythic is willing :). I might continue this during my two weeks vacation starting next week, depending on mood and other occupations.

Fate Heroes - Part 1 - Bank Robbery

The adventure proper! All mechanics will be in italics. Descriptions/narration will be in regular text.

To start this adventure, I wanted a quick set up to immediately get into something fun. Mythic (and even Fate actually) works with Scenes. Since I had an idea for how it would start, I just established it and went with it :

Freedom Force (the team of superheroes of this setting) has detected a bank robbery in progress downtown. Minuteman has been sent to deal with it.

That's it. That's my input. From now on, I use Mythic to know what happens. So I start with a bunch of questions to get an idea of the surroundings. How do Mythic questions work? You ask a yes/no question and establish a probability (Likely, No way!, etc...) Then you roll a d100 and look up the results on the Fate Chart (not related to the Fate v3 system). If the number falls under the middle point, it's a Yes. Over it's a No. And to spice things up, extreme results (very close to 0 or 100) get you an Absolutely! and a Not at all!
Let's see how it goes.

Are the bandits already leaving? (50/50) No -> They're still in the building
Is the Police here? (likely) No (double) -> The Police is not here yet!

Here I get a double (rolled 88). Usually you'd compare 8 to a "Chaos Factor" but I don't use it. For me, double = random event, always. Random events are rolled on specific tables. They give you the type and then they give you very vague words that you interpret given the context.

Random event : PC Positive, Be careful / Enemies -> The bandits haven't heard any sirens yet, so they are focusing on gathering money and not looking outside at all. They don't notice Minuteman one bit.

Are the glass doors tinted? (not sure of the word here : I mean hard to see through glass) Not at all -> got an extreme result here. The glass is crystal clear and one can perfectly see what's going on inside.

Are there many bandits in there? Yes. I roll a 2d6 and get 5, 1 = 6 bandits inside.

Do they have an apparent leader? Not at all! -> another extreme result I take as the bandits being terribly disorganized. Some of them might be tempted to turn on their pals if need be.

I get another double (99) on this question which means another random event!

Random event : Remote event, Betray / Investment -> One of the clerks, noticing how disorganized they are, tries to trick them with fake paper money.

(note : I didn't use "Remove event" properly here, as it's supposed to be something taking place quite elsewhere.... but hey, when it fires up your imagination, I call it fair game)

Do the bandits notice this? Absolutely! (double) -> Nearby bandits immediately notice it.

Random event : Ambiguous event, Create / Notoriety -> ambiguous events are meant to be "something rather irrelevant". Also, here I decided to pick a random word from a dictionary (some Mythic players use an encyclopedia or thesaurus) to get an idea about what it was. I ended up with "tour"
-> Out of nowhere, an advertisement van drives past the bank, with a booming announcement of some music band's next tour in town.

Not sure how the bandits might react to this, I ask a Mythic complex question (the Verb/Subject type you've seen for most random events so far) :
How do the bandits react? Oppress / Dreams -> The loud noise makes them jump and puts them on edge. Turning back to the clerk who tried to trick them, they get very threatening.

And that's my cue to act...

Minuteman, seeing things are getting ugly, decides to intervene, and quick! He will try to get the effect of surprise by charging through the glass doors.

Are the doors reinforced? (somewhat likely) Yes -> I use this to decide the glass Quality is not Poor (-1) but Mediocre (0)

Here I finally use FATE to roll skills and such. Crashing through glass doors will be Might (+3) vs Door Quality (0). I roll a +2 (FATE uses Fudge dice and you roll four of them, which gets you a result like so : + . . +, a plus, nothing, nothing, a plus = two plusses). This makes Minuteman's Might at +5 for this roll, against the Mediocre 0... It's a clear success and I even get spin (+3 shifts or higher over the target). Spin means it was a frank success!

Minuteman jumps through the doors bursting into many pieces, with a loud crash. He ends up in the middle of the room, met by a shocked silence. The bandits are so stunned they don't even react.

Minuteman gets a free surprise round thanks to his great roll (my decision).

He charges the thug nearest to the threatened clerk and smacks him with his staff, the Patriot.

Melee (+4) vs Thug's Quality (0) : roll -1 +4 = +3 vs 0

(note : I decided the thugs were just Mediocre, having 0 at all their stats for now)

The thug has no time to react one bit and is struck by the staff, sent rolling over the counter, on the clerk's side, knocked out. The five remaining bandits are finally getting out of their stupor.

(note : I also decided thugs would be Minions, which means they have no stress track ; one hit and they're gone)

Do some of the thugs have machineguns? Not at all! -> Actually, two of them only have knives. The others have regular guns.
Note : I decided guns would be "on par" with superheroes, while machineguns would start giving bonuses. A human with a knife, though, would get a damage malus.

So that makes one group of 2 thugs with knives and one group of 3 thugs with guns.

I roll init and get this order : Minuteman, Knives, Guns

Is one group at a distance? Yes -> random choice : the gun guys are further away


Minuteman runs towards the gun-equipped thugs, judging them more threatening for the citizens in the room.

Melee (+4) -1 (I moved to their zone) VS thug's quality (0) +1 (group bonus) : I get 4 vs -2, which gives 6 shifts for me, which is a spin (and even a double spin!).

The protector of the country moves lightning fast, no giving the thugs any time to defend. The strikes are overwhelming and three bodies drop to the ground, grunting in pain.

Note : when such weak Minions are grouped together, each stress you inflict takes one of them out. With 6 shifts, I could have beaten them up twice :)

Do the remaining thugs insist on taking on Minuteman? No

They look at each other... look at their pitiful blades... and decide a bunch of fresh air would suit them well.

End of fight.

Has the Police arrived since then? (Likely) No

But the Police isn't there yet and Minuteman can't just let these criminals run away : he goes after them immediately.

Since I had double spin on my last action and it couldn't be used in combat, I use it here to say Minuteman is already close on their heels before I even roll for pursuit.

Athletics (+3) vs Athletics (0) : 0 vs 0

The bandits run as if it was their last day on Earth... so much that even Minuteman can only keep up with them. Of course, Minuteman could hold this speed for quite a long time and wait until they tire, but there's no sense in wasting time this way. He raises his staff and energy crackles at the tip. In a wide sway, he launches the projectile, an energy eagle, towards the fleeing criminals.

Minute Missile power (+2) vs Athletics (0) : 4 vs 2 -> 2 shifts
Amusingly, the Minute Missile attack in Freedom Force is a chain one, and so it perfectly makes sense I would get two knock outs from this attack (they're Minions and even though it's not a proper battle, we can consider them grouped, thus damage "goes through" the whole group).

The eagle speeds through the air, smacking the first thug in the head before ricocheting to the second one. Both stumble from the shock and roll to the ground, out. Minuteman unhurriedly catches up and brings them back to the bank after taking off their weapons.

How much time does the Police take to come? I use a base of 1 minute and use the absolute value of 4 Fudge dice (they can yield -4 to +4, so 0 to 4 with the absolute value, with 4 being very rare). I get +3, which means 3 shifts on the time ladder, which gives half an hour.

Since the Police has not yet arrived after five minutes, Minuteman asks the bank employees for help in tying up the bad guys. It's only half an hour later that the first Police car makes an appearance.

"Glad to see you officer! But if you don't mind my asking... what took you so long?"

Complex question : Emprison / Freedom

"We would have been here earlier if we hadn't had to deal with yet another lunatic! One of your teammates got captured as he was fighting him off!"

I asked "is it a man or woman" to know if I should type "him" or "her". Also, I must note here that I first interpreted the complex question differently, thinking "some villain put most of the town cops in their own cells" or something. And then I noticed how "Freedom" could just be "Freedom Force", the team of superheroes... and it seemed much more interesting ;)

"One of my teammates? Who?!"

Here I made a list of heroes from Freedom Force and randomly picked one : Man-o-War. He's a gruff ex-sailor who got super powers as he was dealing with a stowaway on his fishboat, the Man-o-War. Both him and the stowaway, a young girl, got hit by Energy X and gained powers from it (which saved them from a large wave in a timely manner, of course). In the game, he has a Sean Connery like voice.

"It's the old man, err... Mano... Manu...?" replies the officer, unsure
"Man-o-War! I must help him at once! Where did this happen?" asks Minuteman, alarmed.

Complex question : Create / Love

"In front of the St Johns church!"

And so, Minuteman runs to the church, hopping from building to building, after leaving the bank robbers to the care of the Police. Man-o-War captured?! And who is this new villain? All will be revealed... in the next episode!

That's where I decide to end the first scene of the game. And thus, that's when I need to note down a list of open threads and NPCs. The lists are used by Mythic to define who or what is involved in some random events.

Threads : Investigate at St Johns church, Save Man-o-War!, Discover who the new villain is
NPCs : The Police force, Man-o-War, the new villain, the bank robbers

And that's where I'll stop for this post. I'll write up the second scene sometime soon!

Fate Heroes - Part 0b - Minuteman

That's it! I'm finally ready to tackle my Fate Heroes report!

Read this if you don't know what I'm talking about. To sum it up, I will be solo-roleplaying a superhero adventure, playing Minuteman, a Freedom Force character, using the Fate v3 system and Mythic.

Minuteman

Here are the stats for Minuteman. I use the regular Fate ladder that goes from Mediocre (0) to Superb (+5).

Skills

Superb (+5) : Resolve
Great (+4) : Leadership, Melee
Good (+3) : Might, Athletics, Powers (10 pts)
Fair (+2) : Endurance, Alertness, Science, ?
Average (+1) : Ranged, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

Everything else being at Mediocre (0).

• Powers is a skill I use to represent how super powered an individual is. It's specific to my Fate Heroes variation.
• The interrogation marks are skills I haven't decided upon yet. If during the adventure I see I don't have a skill I need to roll for and that Minuteman would likely be at least somewhat good at, I'll add it in these slots.
  

Health : ooooo oo OOO
Composure : ooooo ooooo OOO

I get into a bit more details about the Health and Composure track below but it's not mandatory read to follow the adventure, so feel free to skip if you don't like crunch ;)

The little circles (usually boxes but it's easier to type) represent stress. Each time you get physically diminished, you tick the box corresponding to the level of stress taken. If you take 1 stress you tick the first box. If you take 3 stress, you tick the third box (and only the third one!). If a box you should tick is already ticked, you "roll up", ticking the next free one.
Finally, when no more boxes are left, you get into Consequences, the big circles here. Whenever stress rolls up over your stress boxes, you tick the next Consequence box. While stress boxes merely represent fatigue or little nicks, consequences get more and more serious. You might be out of breath, then have a wide bleeding wound and finally broken legs.
If you still get stress past that point, you're Taken Out. Doesn't have to mean death, but you're still out of the picture.
For the composure track, it's exactly the same but with the mental (fear, keeping your wits about, etc...)

Powers (10 pts to distribute)

Hyper leap (+3) : regular characters use Athletics to run and jump like most people would. The Hyper leap power allows incredible jumps like hopping up to a roof and down from there, or crossing large distances with a single leap (possibly avoiding many land obstacles).
National Guard (+3) : not yet well define. My idea is that it puts a "Protected from bullets" aspect on Minuteman
Minute Missile (+2) : not yet sure either. For now, it's an alternative to the Ranged skill that can be used to damage or to place a "Dizzied" aspect on someone (the Minute Missile is an energy bold in the shape of an eagle that stuns people)

Aspects

• For Freedom!
• I must take care of Liberty Lad
• The Reds must be stopped!
• Might makes right
• Protecting the people of Earth
• The Patriot (his staff)
• Used to conceive H-bombs
• No one left behind
• "I'm tired of these antics!"
• Eternal Vigilance (tag to protect from bullets)

I won't go into too much details as these might change and because you need to know a few things from the Freedom Force game to get some of them. I'll try to explain them when I use them. But as for what Aspects are to begin with, well... here's the official description. To sum it up, it's a descriptor of the character's behavior, beliefs, and things important to him. In game, when a die roll is low, you can pay a Fate Point, invoke an appropriate Aspect and you'll get either a +2 to the roll or get to reroll it. It's a story tool that says "my character should do well on this task because..." the same way movie characters do. For now, let's just say it's one of the best parts of the Fate system as it makes non statistical elements have an effect on the game ;)

Fate Points

They allow me to invoke/tag/compel Aspects (Minuteman's but also others!) to get +2 to a roll, reroll or even force someone to act in a certain way. I get 1 point per defined Aspect (10 aspects maximum), which makes it 10 Fate Points.


There! I think I have it all. That's who I'll be playing through the adventure. Next post, the adventure itself! (never thought it'd take so long to get there)

Fate Heroes - Part 0

Last time on Moni's Catbox...

I finished Freedom Force some time ago and started the second opus a few days later, just giving myself some pause to avoid getting sick of it (I tend to consume media as one would consume his favorite meal). But was it really a pause? I ended up picking up my solo roleplaying and what else but a superhero setting could I choose? :)

I have been spending weeks on reading Marvel Superheroes RPG material and with Freedom Force on top of this, let's just say I'm very much "Supers!" minded these days. I almost went with a custom character but then realized it would be simpler to pick a character I just learned a great deal about : Minuteman, the main hero of Freedom Force.

This first post, titled "part 0", will explain the RPG systems I use to play, without going into details too much. Next post will be the actual adventure.

How I do it

First, I should explain what I use for my solo roleplaying.

My RPG system of choice is Spirit of the Century, by Evil Hat Productions, a pulp pick-up game based upon the FATE v3 system (itself based on Fudge!). I allow myself to sprinkle it with bits of Starblazer Adventures, by Cubicle 7, the space-opera counterpart to SotC. And last but not least, I apply my own variations (which I call Fate Fantasy but it's nothing official) whenever I feel the rules are lacking something or are not to my taste (if there's something I've learned from RPGs, it's the "customize at will" advice!). For this particular superhero adventure, I have started a new set of variants I call Fate Heroes, which follows advice from Marvelous Fate, a Fate adaptation of the Marvel Superheroes rules.

Yes, it's fair to say it's a big mix of ideas, but overall, it's just FATE v3, adapted to a particular setting.

Last but not least, I use the Mythic GM Emulator from Word Mill Games. I know, I know, a GM emulator? Pfah! But you'd be wrong thinking that. It's actually a very simple but incredibly effective mini-system that allows a GM or players without a GM to come up with what happens in an adventure AND still get surprises out of it. While it does have a few tables for random picks, they don't provide anything set in stone and setting specific and rely on one's imagination and interpretation instead, not unlike tarot reading. The main part of the system, though, is based on asking questions (Magic 8 Ball like) and having the dice answer for you.
I won't get into it more than this as it will be more easily explained during the actual adventure write-up.

Well I guess that's it! All I can add is that I currently play by writing what happens in a notepad-like program to keep track of everything.

See you next post!

Freedom Force review

Here is what I have been playing for about a week. It's, simply put, a superhero realtime tactical game with a coat of RPG.

I heard about the game for the first time when they released its sequel, "Freedom Force VS the 3rd Reich" and I tried the demo. I remember not being thrilled by it as it felt clunky and difficult, in spite of a bunch of charismatic characters and a nice superheroic homage feel. I know I wasn't much into superheroes back then either, which probably didn't help.

And then, I read that Steam has a promotional pack with Freedom Force 1 & 2 for a very small price, and I get curious again. I grab the demo again, but of the first game this time! And the little tutorial you get to play (Mission 1, really) was just what I needed to realize how fun the game was (the FF2 demo had tutorial bits too, but they were not enough).

The team takes on some bad guys

How does it play?
You go through a campaign which is a string of short missions (about half an hour each on average). You start with one hero and get additional ones as time goes. You can soon pick which heroes deal with the next mission. A bit later, you can recruit new heroes thanks to the Prestige you have acquired. The squad sent on missions can have 4 members max and sometimes one or two characters are forced upon you because of story requirements.

Missions take place on a single map or are divided in two or three chapters if there is a need for a map change. The game is in real-time but you can both pause it (ala Baldur's Gate / NWN) or slow it down at the press of a key... and it's more than needed as dealing with a whole team in real time is nearly impossible.
Objectives are varied : the usual "defeat all", check points to reach, artifacts to activate, time-limited activities, protect the civilians and/or buildings, etc... What you have to do is usually updated throughout a missions as you learn more about what's going on. We're not talking RPG quests though. It's more like the objectives you'd get in a RTS.

Man-bot and Alchemiss against... a bunch of bad guys!

Now, in all honesty, the game *is* clunky and even hard for various reasons. I didn't really believe the "tactical" part until I got my ass handed to me in one of the early missions.
So yes, it's tactical : there is a lot of friendly fire if you don't watch it. Beams, projectiles, explosions (eek!) and even wide melee attacks are all things you want to consider carefully and you should place your team members where it's safe. Then, there's the fact the game uses a physics engine for a lot of things and maps are not always flat, which makes elevation a good and a bad thing (mainly when it blocks attacks). And I will add that resistances and weaknesses can be the difference between win and lose in some missions. To summarize : it might be a superhero game, but it doesn't mean you fly through as an invincible group, which is nice for the challenge.

Mentor, the "brain" of the team, and his mental powers

About the RPG part. Even though we control superheroes, they are not set in stone from square one. Instead, you get to see them evolve through the campaign. Admittedly, their main attributes (Strength, Speed, etc...) are fixed, but they get new powers and abilities and can upgrade them.
This does mean they get XP, but it's based on a fixed rate : 300 points if they were in the active squad, 200 otherwise. As you can see, the game is not harsh on letting you try everyone out, though you might end up with characters who are not fully developed by the end of the campaign (happened to me).


Overall, it mostly means that you get a sense of accomplishment and reward for going through missions, but it also helps becoming familiarized with initial powers before getting new ones. So it's a rather good thing.

But wait, wait, wait! This is all good but that's not what superheroes are about, right? So let's focus on what makes Freedom Force really fun : mayhem!

Alchemiss sends enemies a-flying

That's what I discovered with the FF demo the second time around : the game does a lot of things to make you feel like you're in a superhero adventure.
First, it provides, through its main characters, many superhero archetypes you would expect in such a game : Minute Man is the usual Captain Something (strong, leader), Alchemiss is the mystical, reality-altering sorceress and Man-Bot is the slow but powerful human-in-a-machine. It's easy to recognize the inspiration for all of them, but the great thing is that they still manage to feel unique : more homage than rip-off if you will.

Traffic light, coming right up!

You also get the powers you would expect : beams of energy or elements, various melee attacks, mental control, regeneration, flying, high-jumpers, jet-fast runners, etc... And for the strong characters, you get the ability to pick up heavy things and either wield them or...

Mind the flying car, robot!

... throw them! Hell yeah! Not only cars of course : trashcans, postboxes, boulders and anything else that is not too incredibly heavy. I haven't tested the very limits of it... There's a bus I'd like to see flying one day :). Of course, what one character can lift, how far and hard he can throw it and how fast he is when carrying it is all dependant on his Strength attribute (melee characters can usually handle posts, strong ones will throw many things around and psy-types will keep to trashcans).

And that's where the physics engine shines. Objects fly, people fly, debris are projected all around, buildings crumble in a billow of dust. Even when you destroy your first building by mistake, it's more of a "woah, I can do that?" than "oh no!" moment. So yeah... the moment you realize you can pickup a streetlight to use as a bat and send three thugs flying... that's when it gets good.
But many other super-abilities give that "super!" feeling : flying around, jumping on tall buildings and crossing the city hopping from one to the other, sprinting like the Flash to avoid an explosion or do some hit & run... it's all there and it's fun!

All the classic themes are here too! It starts with thugs and then you get your first super-powered villain. But it ends with the epic stuff while touching all the usual pulpy stuff in-between (city-destroying robots is one I can "reveal" since it's on the screenshots).

Minuteman's voice is a bit on the "too much" side

The campaign story bits tend to look like the above : in-engine sequences with comics fonts and thumbnails. One thing that is a bit hard to get used to at first is how over-the-top everything is. The actors are good, but it's obvious they push it to make each character's archetype show. Minuteman is all "For Justice!" and "Whaaat is goooing ooon?" with a low-tone voice. It's almost annoying at times and realizing it's all about having fun without looking for something too serious can save the day. That said, the characters tend to be endearing after a while, partly because of that.

It had to be Russians! (aah, clichés...)

The villains fare similarly, with quite a few stereotypes thrown in, but again, they're fun to interact with (interaction being blasting them :D).

The campaign offers quite a few environements to visit, from the basic city and frozen parks to canyon deserts and pocket dimensions. The city is the one to appear the most often, albeit in various forms (snow, night, rubble, ...)

For more superhero goodness, all characters get a "The Secret Origin of" introduction sequence, either in-game or on demand for the heroes you recruit manually. They're all rather well done, using a semi-animated comics style and showing how everyone became what they are.

And to finish this long review, let's talk about... custom heroes!

Le Fantassin est là! (my minimal mod of Minuteman)

Once again, this is something I totally missed when I first tried the FF2 demo : you can create your very own heroes, stat them up, power 'em up and throw them into the fray. Only in skirmish? No sir! You can actually recruit them during the campaign!

Statistics allow you to make a slow Hulk, or a speedy Flash, or maybe you want a magically powerful witch. Then, you create each power individually, choosing which type it is (melee, projectile, beam, area, direct or special) and how it works : does it do electrical damage? Piercing damage? How much? How much energy does it require? Does it stun or knockback the target? How much? Is it accurate? Is a projectile like a grenade or homing? Does it explodes over a large zone? Does it spawn multiple sub-parts in flight? Let's just say it offers choice. And when you're done with this, you can pick the character animation and the associated visual effect.

That's how much you can customize (for projectiles!)

Sadly, the game doesn't come with many models or skins, nor that many effects. Thankfully, it was meant to be an utterly moddable from the very beginning! Making new skins is rather easy (they're TGA files, you just need an image editor and some talent). Making new models is much mode difficult, but there is a very good community which has done a big part of the job over the years :

http://freedomreborn.net/simple/index.php : the main community about the game
http://alexff.com/ : one of the first websites I found with new models, mods and with most basic questions about the game answered in the FAQ.

What did I forget? Let's see... it has multiplayer (though it's mostly skirmish I think), a Danger Room mode where you pick your team and the villains and the map and duke it out. Nice to test custom heroes but I don't think it stays fun for long given the little number of maps given. You can play through the campaign maps with a fully customized cast, though... aaand, that's pretty much it. That's the one "bad" thing for replayability : I hope the campaign will be satisfying with my custom heroes included because otherwise there's little "pick-up yet fulfilling" gaming on the side. Except for mods maybe. I will have to check it all out. Chances are I will go straight to FF2 now, though :)


Conclusion? It's not perfect because of some clunky design and even a few random bugs (stuck carrying a car), but it provides a lot of fun and a setting of its own in the purest superhero fashion. If you can get it on Steam, at the price it's at, there's barely a reason to hesitate (I mean... two whole games for $5!)

Here's the link to the Steam promo-pack : http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1662/