Megalopolis: Archer: A Bow to a Powers Fight

Location: Center City near midnight

“By the sacred bones of Yi’, that’s it. I’m tired of stepping around every corner in this city and running into another meta … and this one destroyed the bike Craftsman gave me”, thought the Archer.

Archer used half his movement to “tune” his spatial awareness to Vibron’s vibratory defense. As the bike shook apart and crashed Archer rolled with its momentum, came up in a crouch, bow loaded with a set of arrows. Without uttering a word he charged the posturing villain. Ducking, dodging and weaving, at the last second Archer leapt into the air using a nearby dumpster as a vault and climbed up, parkour style, the fire escape as high as possible. Hanging upside down with his knees curled around the balcony, Archer fired two arrows from above and behind the colorfully costumed killer.

Ffstt! Ffstt!

The arrows pasted harmlessly through the back of Vibron. Vibron watched them exit his front. The arrows bounced off the cement road and clattered on the street.

{GM Note: Archer with his efforts was able to maximize his to hit amount. He needed a 14 or less to hit. 15 and 18 were rolled for the attempts}

Vibron turned to face Archer. He raised his hand with his fingers stretched wide and his palm toward the Mystic Bowman. Vibron closed his hand into a fist and Archer felt a force grab his body. He could not see the force, it was invisible but since it was a type of solid energy the Mystic Bowman could “see” it with his spatial awareness.

Archer was pulled from the balcony his was hanging from. To a witness it would appear that David floated toward Vibron, but Archer could see the Psionic energy coming from Vibron’s fist. It appeared as a tendril like jelly stretching from the fist to enclose him from his shoulders to his ankles.

Archer still had his bow in his hand and his quiver on his back. He couldn’t move his arms to use them.

Vibron brought Archer to where they were helmet to face. He had held David’s body floating in the air in a prone position. It reminded David of the Monastery where the priest made him to do pushups with his head up so his eyes were always on the sacred symbol.

Vibron looked Archer in the eyes, “So who are you? Are you going to be one of those silent ones who refuse to speak?”

“How am I to rue the day I first meet you if I don’t know your name? I guess I could look at your Superhero License but that isn’t very dramatic is it?”

“Mine is Vibron, so now it is your turn, what is your name?”

“Aw c’mon please tell me your name?”

“So you have decided we can’t be nemesis’s is that it? Please don’t be hasty to decide, I might surprise you and do something unforgettable”.

“HahahaHa. Unforgettable … Nemesis. Get it! Hah!”

“Okay, I am going to call you Foolish Fletcher. The Foolish Fletcher who brought a bow to a powers fight.”

“You made a big mistake. Center City belongs to the Crushers. You are welcome to do your normal business here in your civies but no crime fighting. Interfere with the Crushers and you will be crushed!

Today is your lucky day Foolish Fletcher. Hauntress would kill you for your interference. Centurion and Manstar would beat you to a pulp. Me, I am going to let you run away. All you have to do is agree to leave Center City and never come back again.”

“Well, Foolish Fletcher, do you … agree?”

{GM Note: Vibron has Archer in a TK Hold. I am using the Hold rules from V&V 2.1 section 8.10, with a slight change. Archer will not have to make a STR save roll against 1d20 or 1d100. It is Archer’s strength versus Vibron’s TK Strength. So if you have Archer’s action to be an attempt to break the hold it will be Archer’s HtH die vs. Vibron’s TK Capacity HtH die. Both rolls are without damage modifiers. So it would be Archer’s 1d10 vs. Vibron’s TK HtH of 1d8.}

Current Conditions:

Archer Hit Points: 53 Power Points: 65

Blunt Head Arrows: 16

Broad Head Arrows: 8

< Due Date: September 14th, Actions, Goal, Replies>

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OOC: Aww crap!!! Daredevil just got caught up in an Avengers Annual

Tom, Could we pretty please go over those rules for Evasion again. They suddenly became extremely relevant.

Thanks (crap really? Vibron, Centurion, please tell me that is not Supernova, and whose the chick and batboy?)

John (up shit creek) R

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Evasion: you have the choice to use an action and it will last for an additional turn or evade and attack at the same time as a dual action. As a dual action it will last only for that turn, cost 2 PP and applies a minus of # to hit to the attack (# is equal to their accuracy bonus from base stats). For Archer using the dual action choice he will get an additional -4 to be hit and a -4 to hit for the turn.

I think that is fair because any character with Agility of 14 or less would have had to use Evasion as their only action for the turn under the only method. For the Dual Attack it shows the impact that fighting defensively is harder to hit than attacking all out to strike.

Player Knowledge only: No it is not Supernova, It is Manstar. The chick is Crater and batboy is Shortstop.

Best,

Tom

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Ok thanks Tom

The higher minus for a character with higher agility "seems" counter-intuitive, but if you think it’s that best way to maintain game balance then that's ok by me pal.

Crap ... knew I should have guessed Shortstop Thank you oh thank you, I've always liked Supernova's character, but never wanted to face him not that Manstar's a wimp exactly. That's an interesting collection of bad guys you got there. Still no clue who Crater is, must be from a book I haven't been able to get my hands on.

Street Patrol/Crusader team-up is looking like a cool story - wish I’d known the Crusaders were showing up at the back-up ambush I wouldn't have left the boys with Trashman.

Should be a blast

John R

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Hey Tom

Dude I need to go to bed but had to read the Street Patrol Issues first.

Teach me to go running off - man my bike - seriously, that's cold.

Okay all goofy whining to the side the Question!!!

You mention that if Archer uses half his movement his spatial awareness can get a "lock" on Vibron through his Vibratory Defense.

If he does this, will he thus negate the effectiveness of the Vibratory Defense?

I can't/won't use a Luck Point for this and his 1 Inventing Point is already dedicated to the Tazer Arrow.

If it can awesome, if not I understand that too. Evading should be a decent defense versus Vibron and Archers chances to hit even with his defense isn't impossible merely difficult.

Thanks

John R

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No it won't negate Vibron's vibratory defense, it means that Archer is aware of where Vibron is without having to see him with his eyes. So no from the side or behind attack bonuses for Vibron and Archer is always aware of Vibron's attacks so the Heightened Defense is always effective.

Best,

Tom

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Lol well it was an interesting ideal - I thought.

Well this will teach me to go running around like I know what's going on or have a plan (no it probably won't, but felt humility required me to say it ).

This is going to hurt isn't it?

Okay time to strategize,

***Hey any chance getting plugged into the Crusaders storyline since Archer and they are on the same scene?*** Might feel need to communicate with them or visa-versa

Thanks Tom this is exciting story

John R

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***Hey any chance getting plugged into the Crusaders storyline since Archer and they are on the same scene?*** Might feel need to communicate with them or visa-versa

Sure, how fast can you run?

Yes you can evade and run full movement for the turn.

I am thinking that Archer would be stretching spatial senses forward and to the sides (not sensing backwards much). On his motorcycle, he was using its movement so he could stretch it to 84" semi-circle less the 14" getting off the roof and to his bike would be 70" outer range, so what do you think 50" forward and 10" to each side.

So I am thinking the patrol car is 50" away from Archer and he can move 60" straight line. So with the appropriate zigging and zagging, He should make it to the patrol car next turn or somewhere nearby of Archer's choosing.

Good Luck

Tom

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Wow I must really be thick in the morning

First I totally overlook Crater in MW3 every time I read it I guess. I’ll take a look for fun thx

Second I think the Home Rule for Evasion is excellent - always have - by counter-intuitive, I merely meant the rule "feels" like its penalizing Spiderman's to hit roll when he's evading more than sat Thor - when they use the Dual Attack rule for Evasion. I assume there is no penalty if they evade and not attack (with dual attack rule?) till the following turn.

Okay here's the really thick headed part

I thought Archer could visually see the Dragon and other Crusaders, so thought I'd ask to see their story intro for this issue - if possible. I should have realized when Centurion used the radio to tell Vibron happy hunting he and I were too far out to communicate verbally with the Crusaders. So Archers in an alley scarp with Vibron - cool - sort of - I get nervous every time he's around real metas

Happy Hunting Indeed - and yes if I down Vibron I’m using that line when I see Centurion.

John R

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I assume there is no penalty if they evade and not attack (with dual attack rule?) til the following turn.

Correct. If they evade this action and the next turn makes a dual action there is no penalty but evasion is still in effect.

Spiderman is the hardest character to simulate in any role playing game. Some of it is because of how the writers over the years have varied what he is capable of (Defeats Firelord without tricks but can't one punch Kingpin).

The way I see spidey in mid career when he would fight 10 normals at once. He has Heightened Defense and at level of somewhere to 4 to 6. So he would be leaping around avoiding being hit but attacking back each turn as well.

When he is fighting Doc Ock, He is in full evasion mode either single or dual action. That is why the fight lasts for so long. Spidey is rarely hitting.

On the penalty be worse for Spidey instead of Thor that is only because Thor’s bonus is less to begin with. So if normally Thor has +1 to hit and 0 to be hit then when he fights defensively (evades as dual action) Thor is now 0 to hit and -1 to be hit.

So when Archer fights with his bow he is normally +12 to hit and -4 to be hit but when he fights defensively he is +8 to hit and -8 to be hit.

So while it feels like Archer is getting a big negative when you consider his big bonus as well, it shouldn't feel wrong. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you decided to have Archer fight defensively all the time except when he is able to get in a sniper position.

Thanks

Tom

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Hey Tom

Okay that's cool I see where your coming from. Although I think a flat penalty would be even cooler (obviously - lol) But the ideal that a guy who is moving and twisting and dodging faster than the other guy makes it that much harder to focus on his ability to hit makes good sense.

Spidey beat Firelord? Geez, but then again Hawkeye beat the Collector, so maybe Archer could handle Doctor Apocalypse - no f-ing way (lol)

(Crap it just occurred to me Doc A should be high(est?) on the list of movers and shakers who might be behind this Domain Invasion)

Archer: To Evade or To Not Evade? - that is the question.

And a good question too. I think it comes down to a number of factors, first of which is his opponents ability to hit him. Right now I'm going with, if a guy can do decent damage but needs a 8 or less to hit him, take the chance and don't Evade. 9-11 to hit really is going to depend on the damage potential, and 12 of higher, most likely will be Evading, unless the guy is a total putz damage-wise.

Some fights he'll just have to walk away from. Even with Dual Attacks, Archer doesn't have enough damage potential to fight someone like DarkStar on his own. It would never get through his Invulnerability. Its one factor in skipping out on the Trashman fight. If we had been a team then you can overcome things like that, but Archer doesn't have a clue to the concept of fighting as a team member (yet) He just saw the slug bounce off Trashman;s head and was like crap it's Invulnero all over again. Given the right info from someone or circumstances permit, he will learn to overcome that but til then I think it’s in character - especially for a guy who didn't grow up in a world full of metas.

Thanks for expounding on the reasoning behind the rules Tom

John R

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My Bike!

Initial Responses to: Archer Issue 13

<Archer: IC Response> By the sacred bones of Yi’, that’s it. I’m tired of stepping around every corner in this city and running into another meta … and this one destroyed the bike Craftsman gave me.

<Archer’s Action> Archer will use half his movement this Turn to “tune” his spatial awareness to Vibron’s vibratory defense. The other half he will use to . . .

. . . As the bike shakes apart and crashes Archer rolls with its momentum, coming up in a crouch, bow already loaded with a set of arrows. Without uttering a word he charges the posturing villain. Ducking, dodging and weaving, at the last second Archer leaps into the air using Vibron’s own shoulder as a vault and parkours up the fire escape as high as possible. Hanging upside down with his knees curled around the balcony, Archer fires two arrows from above and behind the colorfully costumed killer.

<Archer’s Goals> It’s my opinion that, in comic books or real life, no one takes the guy with a bow seriously. I’m hoping to use this trope and the shock of actually being charged by a guy who just recovered from rolling off his bike to put a shock into Vibron. I don’t necessarily think I can get an advantage for shooting him from behind but hoping to get one for shooting from an elevated position.

Since my “genius” ideal of using spatial awareness to “see” through the vibrational defense isn’t an option (righty so without using an inventing or luck point) I’m looking for any tactical advantage I can find to improve Archer’s chance “to hit”. Archer doesn’t have the strength of Vibron’s super powers going for him, but his skills (Heightened Defense and Heightened Expertise) should make Archer harder to hit and more accurate.

Archer will make a dual attack using two blunt head arrows. That will change if he runs into an opponent who is using lethal force. (side note – do you realize how many characters would be on scene using Disintegration Rays if Meltdown was in the game?) Archer would make a special attack on Vibron’s head but with a roll of 12 to 16 (not sure if you’ll give it to him or what bonus he gets from an elevated position) He’ll have to settle for standard attacks for now. Plus I think I want his helmet as a souvenir if things work out.

OOC: You have your wish by the way. With DarkStar (or most any past heroes I’ve played) Vibron wouldn’t be scary. With Archer, I feel he has a chance to win, but I’m still very nervous about the possible outcome – same for when taking on multiple opponents. Congratulations. (This has a Daredevil versus Shocker feel to it, but I think Vibron might be tougher.)

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Quick clarification on my interpretation of the different defenses in V&V.

Lightning Defense - Electrical Field surrounding character.

Force Field Defense - Physical Solid Field surrounding character.

Telekinesis Defense - Moving particles semi-solid field (like wind gusts) surrounding character

Magnetic Defense - Moving Ions semi-solid field (like lightning but metallic) surrounding character

Flame Defense - Fire surrounding character

Non-Corporal Defense - Body is insubstantial, any physical damage is disruption to maintaining cohesiveness.

and

Vibration Defense - Character's body is moving fast and out of sync with itself creating a partial non-corporal effect.

I know it was a bit long winded way to say that Archer can vault but I will have to make a to hit roll for Archer to successful vault of a solid piece of Vibron. It won't cost an action, only movement but there is a chance he misses thereby instead of vaulting he jumps through Vibron.

Thanks

Tom

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uhm okay, so the vault ideal wouldn’t work well versus any of those defense would it?

I think a "hit would mean he penetrated the defense, a miss means he was stopped by the defense???

How about I change that just a touch then? Instead of vaulting off Vibron he vaults off a nearby dumpster at the last second?

I can rewrite and send or if you want that’s cool to

John R

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In a the case of vibration defense, a hit would mean he hit something solid and a miss would mean it pass through him without touching of him. Think of the issues where the Flash vibrates through a wall or a window. That is how Vibron defense acts. So if Archer misses with an arrow, it isn't stopped by the defense, it would pass harmlessly through Vibron.

The change to a dumpster is fine. You can make the changes if you still have it saved on your computer, if you don't I will make the change instead of you having to retype it.

Best

Tom

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Hey Tom

Thanks for the chance for the quickie revise.

Archer Issue 13

<Archer’s Action> Archer will use half his movement this Turn to “tune” his spatial awareness to Vibron’s vibratory defense. The other half he will use to . . .

. . . As the bike shakes apart and crashes Archer rolls with its momentum, coming up in a crouch, bow already loaded with a set of arrows. Without uttering a word he charges the posturing villain. Ducking, dodging and weaving, at the last second Archer leaps into the air using a nearby dumpster as a vault and parkours up the fire escape as high as possible. Hanging upside down with his knees curled around the balcony, Archer fires two arrows from above and behind the colorfully costumed killer.

Since my “genius” ideal of using spatial awareness to “see” through the vibration defense isn’t an option (righty so without using an inventing or luck point) I’m looking for any tactical advantage I can find to improve Archer’s chance “to hit”. Archer doesn’t have the strength of Vibron’s super powers going for him, but his skills (Heightened Defense and Heightened Expertise) should make Archer harder to hit and more accurate.

Archer will make a dual attack using two blunt head arrows. That will change if he runs into an opponent who is using lethal force. (Side note – do you realize how many characters would be on scene using Disintegration Rays if Meltdown was in the game?) Archer would make a special attack on Vibron’s head but with a roll of 12 to 16 (not sure if you’ll give it to him or what bonus he gets from an elevated position) He’ll have to settle for standard attacks for now. Plus I think I want his helmet as a souvenir if things work out.

John R

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Archer: A Bow to a Powers Fight - Issue 14