Megalopolis: The Quest: The Tide Turns

GGGRRRRR!!!!

That is all that Samhain says but it says it all. His opponents are tiring and some are even getting a little frustrated. What this team of adventures has thought would be a simple ‘snatch and grab’ assignment has been anything but that. They are here to bring a Dragon Statue to Dr Arcane. The Dragon does not want to leave or more specifically those that have enchanted it don’t what it to be moved. The protections placed on the Temple Idol have been formidable.

The Temple is showing signs of the great battle between the two forces that are fighting for the right to the Dragon. Occult is unconscious and Chainsaw is floating in the sea. There are holes in the walls and part of the roof has cave in. A rumbling sound is heard and the pile of debris starts to shift. The largest fragment of the roof starts to rise up from the pile. It is being lifted by two powerful arms. Adamas frees himself. Whoosh, he throws the fragment at Samhain. CRASH! The stone smashes into pieces against Samhain.

Agent America smiled despite all the chaos, or maybe because of it.

The Chinese peasant said in English: "Mind your backs, Rose and pirate. The Huntsman is still unaccounted for. I'd hate for him to acquire our target after everything we've gone through."

Then he leapt up again, tumbling as he cut through the air. He landed at the left hand of the sinister Samhain, facing him. The agile agent provocateur attempted to throw Samhain into the teleportation field that engulfed the Dragon statue!

Seeing what the Man from MEDUSA was about to do DarkStar yells too late, "Agent! ABORT ABORT, If you toss him into the Dragon's shield it'll teleport you 4 miles away". Agent America executes a perfect judo throw, sending Samhain into the Dragon. Samhain strike the barrier surrounding the Dragon. The barrier is paler in color and it ripples from the blow.

A bolt of magical energy erupts from the barrier striking Samhain. He roars in pain.

As he focuses his thought on his link with Arcane, a plan forms in the Titan of Transport mind. Doc! What the hell have you got us into? I threw a 2 ton boulder at that barrier, and all it did was giggle and zap me with some silver beam, which teleported me out of the damn Temple again! Doc, I'm about to do something really stupid. If I don't see you again it's been a pleasure you grouchy old bastard. Maybe your next bunch should have a bit better knowledge of the occult”

"Agent, Windblown, evacuate the Temple NOW! Adamas I need a favor buddy. You ever been bowling? No? Well here's your chance. I'm going to teleport us out of the Temple. I need you to fly at your fastest non-hyper speed and throw me into the barrier protecting the Dragon. You've already shown you can smash through these temple walls so escaping the blast shouldn't be a problem." Well, we have our first and probably last "team combat maneuver" maybe when this is all over they'll call it Omega Strike

Dr Avery's voice is heard by all, "What is happening. I thought Occult and the Revenant have been removed from the picture and there is still time to get the Dragon. Can someone tell me what they see is happening with the Statue's shields? I have chosen the right people.

Be aware your power is unlimited but Magic is not, especially enchanted items. You should be seeing changes in the barrier. Is the color changing to a different color, getting paler, or size? This isn't Dr. Arcane's protection spells but an enchantment by Ameodeus. But he doesn't have the power to place unlimited Teleportation Ray spells charges. He will have a few and then switch to different, cheaper protection spells. Is there any sign that it has run out of charges yet?

"Keeping hitting it. Every use as a defensive barrier uses up a spell charge. Keep at it, don't give up hope. You are winning!"

Adamas seeing Samhain getting up and heading toward Agent America attacks him. He swings at the monster and misses.

Agent America was the calm in the eye of this metahuman-fueled storm. He touched his amulet and thought: "We read you, Doc. All fine here. Shield is weakening in color. Now discharging blasts instead of 'porting targets. We're almost through." Then, through the amulet to the strike team: "If it burns a charge with every contact, the answer isn't one big slam. It's multiple attacks."

Adamas looks at DarkStar who is beckoning him to get plan Omega Strike started. He nods affirmatively and moves to pick up Occult.

Once Agent America sees that Adamas wants to relocate half the team to the other side of the island, he says:

"Star, Adamas, I don't want to be relocated. Our resident occult expert just told us that the force of the impact doesn't matter, it's the number of impacts that does. Why are you proceeding with this? Do you think you know more than Doc about 'magic'? We're making progress. Let's keep together!" Hearing that Agent America and Dr. Arcane suggest differently, Adamas stops performing the NUKE plan.

DarkStar responds, Thanks for the info Doc. "Okay Agent, we'll do it your way and stay the course. We probably can do without the People's Republic investigating the possibility of a nuclear explosion on one of their islands anyway." . . . but if anyone besides me or Adamas is teleported out of here, I swear by Einstein, I'll bring this place down like a house of cards in the middle of a hurricane. "Cybil! Run a search program for any omega mil-sats with a trajectory within weapon's range at this time" Christ, it's the Khyber Pass all over again. Crap intel, and shit for pre-mission planning. When this thing is over with I'm borrowing half of Avery's Library, spending a couple weeks on the beach at Sarrisa's, and become an expert on the occult if it kills me

"Well if it's all about the number of impacts, why didn't he say so before?" Windblown shouts over the battle.

The disguised Somali pirate spreads his arms and summons a gale force wind into the Temple. The wind picks out the rubble and debris from the broken walls and roof. Swirling them around in a miniature tornado, Windblown launches the rubble at the statue. The barrier protects the Dragon from the smaller pieces then WHAM! the barrier ripples and wavers. Bam! the barrier is hit again. It is pale to the point of almost no color. BOOM! the barrier shimmers, ripples, wavers and then is gone. The remaining sound is of rock and debris pinging off the statue.

“DarkStar! Now!” Dr Avery screams in their heads, “The Dragon’s protections are gone! Grab it!”

DarkStar runs to the Dragon and grabs it. WHOUMP!

The portal closes and the air is quiet with the exception of Samhain’s snarl.

Realizing the battle isn’t over yet, the American Superspy runs toward the monster launching into a flying kick. He strikes Samhain full in the chest. The monster lets out a grunt of pain and is knocked back across the room into the temple wall.

Appearing at the hilltop spot he started this island adventure; Cmd Rose calls Dr. Avery, “I am half spent. I can’t get the Dragon to you and back here. I am still needed here. Have Pietor open up a portal and I will toss it to you.”

Samhain pulls himself from the impact he left in the wall. He charges Agent America. As Samhain swings at the disguised Chinese peasant, Agent flips over the murderous atrocity and out of harm’s way.

Samhain didn’t see until it was too late that behind the Superspy, Adamas was waiting. With the equivalent damaging power of an autocannon, the alien hero smashes his fist in his foe. The force of the blow sends Samhain flying across the Temple crashing into the far wall.

The magical creation of evil rises from the floor. He staggers toward the stalwart heroes. Windblown summons the force of a tornado as launches at Samhain. The tornado misses and the monster continues forward.

WHOUMP

DarkStar appears on the run. With the force of an electrified Linebacker, he smashes into Samhain. The blow lets out a crash that is heard on the other side of the island. The pilot of a Bell Helicopter Long Ranger smiles at the sound of his boss at work.

While the Blue Man Mountain may be an irresistible force, Samhain is not an immovable object. The blow launches him backwards. He growls with pain when smashes through the inner wall. He impacts the outer wall. His shoulders and head are imbedded in the wall. Samhain is defeated.

< Due Date: Feb 9^th, Actions, Replies>

GM Note: Next turn is a down time turn. So Actions and Replies can be for: on the Island, at Dr Avery’s Mansion, and at the PCs home, work, or friends.

This is also a good time to make changes. If this PBeM is not what you expected or the Quest isn’t your style, now is the time to drop out. The same is true if you don’t have time to play.

All players are meeting my expectations for input in the game. So don’t feel like you are not keeping up your end of the game. One email which provides a few sentences for actions, goals and a little dialogue is all that is required. If that is fun for you then our objective is being met. I am having a lot of fun.

Current Conditions:

Agent America Hit Points: 83 Power Points: 90

Windblown Hit Points: 6 Power Points: 80 Telekinesis Defense active

Adamas Hit Points: 34 Power Points: 53 Invulnerability: 24

DarkStar Hit Points: 248 Power Points: 41 Armor: 105

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DarkStar Reply

Afternoon Tom

I hope I didn't stray too much from your intent as GM.

I'd have probably had kept focused on the Portal's barrier, especially considering I or Adamas are probably the only ones that can continue to stay in the fight once it teleports it's attacker away, but we can work with this

Confirm this action please: A silver thread reaches out and teleports DarkStar away after he threw a boulder into it? Is that right? So either attacked hth or at range and the attacker goes poof, right? If so Plan B went out the window a half step after Plan A.

This keeps DS is going to star feeding hit points into his power points. Not a good thing

I'll be sending my first set of "official" IC and OOC tonight and tomorrow. Need to confer as a team before we declare our next actions.

Thanks for your hard work

John R

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DarkStar Reply

Hey Guys

OOC: I don't know how knocked out Occult, I assume Windblown - good job, hopefully she stays that way. I see from the map is Adamas is back - yahoo!

OOC: Well Jeff, with Occult down and Samhain taking one of DarkStar's best punches, we can put that whole is he an illusion ideal to the side.

OOC: Portal's still our primary objective. Needs to grab the statue. DS is losing Power quick, but the damn thing apparntly even teleports him away when using a ranged attack. Maybe Adamas can barrel into ti full speed and overload it? I'm running out of energy and ideals. Just want to make sure we're all on the same page as the Portal's due to open up in another 4 Turns (60 seconds?) if I've done the math right? Tom (Arcane) can you confirm that?

I'll be posting DarkStar's initial IC stuff either tonight or tomorrow. Til then Arcane Knights (or whatever the hell we end up calling ourselves)

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Agent America Reply

OOC: Hi everyone. Great issue, Tom!

IC:

Agent America smiled despite all the chaos. Or maybe because of it.

The Chinese peasant said in English: "Mind your backs, Rose and pirate. The Huntsman is still unaccounted for. I'd hate for him to acquire our target after everything we've gone through."

OOC:

This isn't a strike with a knockback effect into the field. Instead, he's attempting to use the monster's strength against him and Judo throw him into the field.

He'll attempt this with both of his actions, unless he succeeds with the first attempt. In that case, he'll save his second action and monitor the cave entrance for Huntsman and the unconscious Occult, while his partners attack the field around the Dragon. If Occult or Huntsman make a move, he'll use his saved action to intercept it.

Thanks.

Best,

Jeff

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GM Reply

That is correct. DarkStar was hit with a Teleportation Ray and its visual effect is a sliver thread.

GM Hint: be sure to inform the Doc on what is happening. He can hear but can't see what is happening and I placed visual clues in the narrative.

Thanks

Tom

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DarkStar Reply

Ha!

Thanks, that'll teach me to overlay my assumptions on top of a supergenius. I just chalked it up to a more advanced arcane defensive mechanism. DarkStar being a info-junky at heart should have kept on drawing upon the Doctor as a resource.

Gracias Amigo

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DarkStar Reply

Hey Guys

OOC: I'm hoping to coordinate DarkStar's attack with Adamas (and maybe Windblown). As Adamas and DarkStar have the capabilities to return to the scene "almost" instantly. We're the two logical attackers of the Dragon's protective barrier. It teleported DarkStar even when he threw a boulder into the thing so it "appears" anything attacking it gets the boot. Windblown's ranged attack as powerful but unless he's in physical contact with someone I'm afraid he might end up in a different location unable to return to the fight in a prompt manner - of course it's magic so even keeping int physical contact might not guarantee he stays with who he was in contact with - pff magic (As you read you'll see I changed DarkStar's ideal on the fly)

<DarkStar's Goals> Same goal as before we entered the Temple. At AT ALL COST, acquire the Dragon and destroy or neutralize, before it opens a portal to the Domain. If this means making himself an easy target for the bad guys then so be it. He has and will pass up any opportunity to effect the battle in any other way. You get the picture. If I was Adamas hmmm? (Tom I need some help here. If this isn't possible given the situation or whatever let me know please - I'm fairly certain Commander Rose could do the math in his head almost instantly but I'm not a super-genius. Plus it requires Adamas cooperation.)

<DarkStar: IC> "Agent! ABORT ABORT, If you toss him into the Dragon's shield it'll teleport you 4 miles away" Focusing on his link with Arcane, a plan forms in the Titan of Transport mind. Doc! What the hell have you got us into? I threw a 2 ton boulder at that barrier, and all it did was giggle and zap me with some silver beam, which teleported me out of the damn Temple again! Doc, I'm about to do something really stupid. If I don't see you again it's been a pleasure you grouchy old bastard. Maybe your next bunch should have a bit better knowledge of the occult

<DarkStar: still IC> "Agent, Windblown, evacuate the Temple NOW! Adamas I need a favor buddy. You ever been bowling? No? Well here's your chance. I'm going to teleport us out of the Temple. I need you to fly at your fastest non-hyper speed and throw me into the barrier protecting the Dragon. It's big (about 10ft if I'm looking at the dimensions in the picture right - Tom?), so you can't miss (a luck point might be necessary here - if it is, it's my ideal, use mine Tom - dammit I promised myself not to use those things). You've already shown you can smash through these temple walls so escaping the blast shouldn't be a problem." Well, we have our first and probably last "team combat maneuver" maybe when this is all over they'll call it Omega Strike.

<DarkStar: 1st Action> After Adamas grabs DarkStar in such a way that he can "toss" him into the Dragon's protective barrier, he'll teleport them the shortest possible distance +10% that will allow Adamas to reach max velocity of almost 500mph.

<DarkStar: 2nd Action> If he's alive, and if he's conscious, he'll grab the Dragon statue and teleport it back to Arcane's Gazebo portal location point and head to the mansion. He should have enough power points for that. If it was legal he's use hit points to push the teleport all the way back to Arcane's location.

OOC: I made a joke a few e-mails back about Adamas hyper-flighting into the barrier. Of course even with his Invulnerability that would probably be a very bad ideal for our resident ET On the other hand right after it occurred to me that Agent America is likely to get the same teleporting treatment DarkStar got if he throws Samhain into the Dragon's barrier (I mean does it care if it's getting hit with a rock or a dead body? Probably not) It occurred to me that while he can't fly, DarkStar "probably" could survive smashing into the thing at Adamas's flight speed. Hey we all read the X-Men, right? This is just a twist on the old Colossus/Wolverine "fastball" maneuver. At Adamas's fastest non-hyper speed (no one want to figure the math at that speed and then DS would be guaranteed dead) DarkStar should hit the barrier at almost 22,000 inches per turn, doing 8d10 damage. Add DarkStar's weight of 750lbs as a thrown brawling weapon, that's an addition 1d8, and finally add in Adamas's damage bonus of +5 (sorry buddy thrown brawling weapons don't seem to add your Basic HtH damage. We get a damage range of 14-93. Looking in the V&V rulebook (right across from the Projectile Velocity chart) that would put us doing damage on par with a Small Nuclear Bomb! The math says DarkStar can probably do this twice, maybe three times and live. On the other hand even Adamas is going to have issues with this just once, so DarkStar gets to play the role of battering ram.

I asked everyone to clear the Temple because I'm not sure what Tom is going to have the effect of that kind of concussive impact be, but I'm betting half the Temple might not exist after the blast. So it's a good ideal AA and WB clear the area asap. If anyone wants to pick Occult up on the way out feel free. Screw Samhain. Bastards just gonna do a Jason on us anyway I'd highly suggest someone e ready to respond if DarkStar goes unconscious. His armor should take the blast fine, but I never expected a silver beam from the damned barrier either. Who knows the thing might just go kaboom when it gets hit like this and take DS out with it? Either way if Huntsman is smart enough to keep his distance, and the electronic eye tells me he is. We need someone (AA and WB) to intercept him while Adamas flies in and grabs the Dragon. Crap i meant to mention that earlier but "Hey Adamas buddy, just in case I go down. Your next up for handling the Dragon. I'm sure you'll do great".

That's Plan C. Let me know what you think

John R

PS: I just reread my post and I sincerely hope no one thinks I'm being "bossy". I just occurred to me this might be our best chance to knock down the barrier and grab the Dragon. I don't think anyone would ask DarkStar to do this (if you did that would be fine - he's kind of got a phobia about failure) and I know he wouldn't ask anyone else. You know, normally, I really picture him as a Pym/Stark kind of guy, sit back add a suggestion here and there while the red white and blue guy leads the team. I think I'm feeling frustrated at his inability to knock the barrier down due to the whole eminent demonic invasion thing. Hey Tom thanks for starting the rookies out with a "Save the World" scenario. No pressure
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Adamas Reply

Adamas OOC: Well, that certainly didn't go as planned...

Since the damage Adamas has taken did not exceed his Invulnerability, I'm guessing he's still standing as it were where he was. I was wondering if he could do some kind of stunt, either with his strength or breath powers to blast his way from beneath the rubble, sending a large portion of it flying in the direction Samhain was last seen?

Once Adamas is free of the debris, he'll be happy to work with Darkstar on his Human Cannonball idea. I just hope he's not being thrown into the frying pan...

Jon

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GM Reply

yes, this is standing/kneeing. His strength is enough that he can do exactly what you suggested. I will treat as a very dramatic throwing of a Brawling Weapon (+3 to hit, 1d12 damage) at Samhain.

This will be your held action so it will be first. You will still have 2 actions after that.

Regards

Tom

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DarkStar Reply

Okay then

<DarkStar: OOC:> I obviously misinterpreted the picture of Adamas back at the Temple incorrectly. Hey I said I wasn't a super-genius, this proofs it. Don't you love the Fog of War? Tom said Adamas still has two Actions so I assume we can still pull off the Human Cannonball (what? Omega Strike not comic book enough? ) Small change in plans though. I missed a decimal point figuring Adamas's velocity. We'll need him to hit Mach 10 in order to create the damage quotient DarkStar is looking for. That'll give us a base 9d10 damage, it's looking more and more like I'll need to spend the luck point to make sure we knock down the Dragon's barrier.

<DarkStar: IC> So that's where you are. What the hell's been going on in here?

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GM Reply

"I have chosen the right people to be Arcane's "Knights" [Not sure if that is the name everyone had agreed on or not]. Beware your power is unlimited and Magic is not. Especially enchanted items. You should be seeing changes in the barrier. Is the color changing to a different color, getting paler, or size?

"This isn't Dr. Arcane's protection spells but a enchantment by Ameodeus. But he doesn't have the power to place unlimited Teleportation Ray spells charges. He will have a few and then switch to different, cheaper protection spells. Any sign that it has run out of charges yet?

"Keeping hitting it. Every use of the defensive barrier uses up a spell charge. Keep at it, don't give up hope. You are winning!"

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Agent America Reply

Agent America was the calm in the eye of this metahuman-fueled storm.

He touched his amulet and thought: "We read you, Doc. All fine here.

Shield is weakening in color. Now discharging blasts instead of 'porting targets. We're almost through."

Then, through the amulet to the strike team: "If it burns a charge with every contact, the answer isn't one big slam. It's multiple attacks."

OOC: Continue with AA's original action orders. If he succeeds in slamming Samhain into the barrier, he'll spend 2 PP to quickly hit the deck in case the barrier tries to blast him and not Samhain.

Still save action in case Occult or Huntsman move.

Thanks,

Jeff

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Adamas Reply

Well, I knew DS was waiting on me, but I was kind of waiting to see what would happen with my initial action.

After exploding out of his rocky refuge, Adamas wants to make sure no one will be killed by DS going atom bomb on the place. AA, Windblown, and the unconscious Villainess all need to be relocated, at which time he'd be game to playing a little dodge ball with the Dragon.

So one action to get out, one super speed cleanup, and out and back if that works. If DS changes his mind or AA crashes the barrier first, he'll follow their lead.

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Agent America Reply

IC:

Once Agent America sees that Adamas wants to relocate half the team to the other side of the island, he says:

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Windblown Reply

<IC> "Well if it's all about the number of impacts, why didn't he say so before?" Windblown shouts over the battle.

<OOC> GM: My intent is to create a wind aimed at the dragon, gathering up as many small objects as I can in the process (rocks, pebbles, dirt, etc.). Hopefully, dozens of small impacts will have the desired effect.

Trying to get back in the game, guys. Sorry for the absence.

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Adamas Rely

OOC: I missed that, all I saw was that the "Nuke" attack would succeed in accomplishing the goal of closing the gate and destroying the dragon statue. I think I'm crossing my PBEM games... seem to be dealing with a lot of forcefields relatively recently. OK, with this information...

Adamas will stop with the NUKE plan, and provide support. Assuming there is still Samhain to deal with, he'll focus on him. After the initial landslide attack (Hopefully with some of that rubble striking the shield, he'll proceed to either take Samhain apart, or join his companions in defeating the shield probably utilizing his eyebeams. He will continue to save one action for any surprises.

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DarkStar Reply

<DarkStar: IC> Thanks for the info Doc. "Okay Agent, we'll do it your way and stay the course. We probably can do without the People's Republic investigating the possibility of a nuclear explosion on one of their islands anyway." . . . but if anyone besides me or Adamas is teleported out of here, I swear by Einstein, I'll bring this place down like a house of cards in the middle of a hurricane. "Cybil! Run a search program for any omega mil-sats with a trajectory within weapon's range at this time" Christ, it's the Khyber Pass all over again. Crap intel, and shit for pre-mission planning. When this thing is over with I'm borrowing half of Avery's Library, spending a couple weeks on the beach at Sarrisa's, and become an expert on the occult if it kills me.

<DarkStar: OOC> yahoo Windblown re-enters the fray. Nice call on the trying to plink the barrier to death. I was trying to figure a way to suggest AA do something similar with his ball bearings, but DS doesn't have that knowledge. With any luck Samhain will teleport out - not counting on it though.

<DarkStar: Action One> If for some reason both Agent and Adamas fail to smash Samhain against the Dragon barrier, DarkStar will use his college football skills as a linebacker and tackle Samhain, driving him into the barrier hopefully damaging both. If Samhain is well in hand then he'll try to stay out of the way of Windblown's rock storm and find the biggest pieces of rubble he can find, launching the first into the Huntsman's electronic eye. It is still there right? I figure whoever is controlling the thing will be caught off guard. Until this point DarkStar's used any and all types of attacks on the barrier. If it takes too long to hack it, just destroy it. If it's not there then he'll use his actions to toss huge pieces of rubble at the barrier til it goes down. Once it goes down, refer to Action Two.

<DarkStar: Action Two> If everyone is still in the Temple, and the barrier is still up, DarkStar will use his 2nd action and launch another boulder size piece of rubble into the Dragon's Barrier. If any of the others besides Adamas are teleported away he'll try to talk Adamas back into the Nuke It stratagem. If the barrier is down he'll grab the Dragon. Teleporting it to the team's arrival point and step back through the Gazebo portal or drop it into a live volcanoe, whichever Doc thinks is best. Leaving AA and the others to intercept Huntsman or other possible third parties.

<DarkStar: IC> "Can someone keep an eye on the woman?"

Whew it's getting tough to try and cover all the possibilities - especially having the slowest Initiative and going last.
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Monday, March 14, 2011

The Quest: The Tide Turns - Issue 6