Saturday, November 19, 2011

Phantom: Friend or Foe - Issue 16

Location:Center City near midnight

On the other side of the fight a silent figure flew in. It came to where the location of the prone Centurion, trapped in his own battle suit.

The Humanoid Bug hovered over him.

The Shortstop continued to run back and forth across the street. {GM Note: Shortstop is evading}

He turned running toward pulling out 2 spiked baseballs.

Whiff! BAM!

“He hits one off the Green Monster!” He yelled as the streaked back into the street.

“Only one of us can control the darkness. Now embrace your fate.” Hauntress reached to deliver her death touch to Black Orchid and misses.

Black Orchid said "Nice try! Looks like you got caught with your darkness down. Starbolt, let's finish her before she tries something like that again."

Manta Man sailed backwards and higher to scope out the whole fight. {GM Note: Manta Lad’s trick fools Phantom into believing Manta Man has arrived}

"Identify yourselves!" he shouted to everyone.

The Mysterious Matter Manipulator reached out with his TK and attempted to "grab" the insect's wings. The Wraith planned to hold them still with the hope to make the Sinister Cicada drop to the ground.

The Humanoid Bug’s wings were too fast causing The Wraith to miss his grab.

Archer grabbed a handful of shafts as he made his way to the corner of the rooftop; Archer surveyed the scene before him. Vibron was down on the street to his left, and what was apparently an apparition, which his Spatial Awareness could not sense, to his right. Across the intersection a dragonfly looking clad criminal was hovering above a downed armored figure, and a short speeding sports figure had his back turned to both of them.

Archer said, “Dragon Man! Gently put the police cruiser down or face the consequences.”

The Emerald Dragon turned to show the Archer he was holding a delivery truck. He told the mystic bowman that the police cruiser had been safely removed from the area.

The Archer knocked an arrow and aimed at the dragonfly criminal. He held his shot waiting to see what Humanoid Bug did next.

Caught off guard for a split second by the rounds going straight through his target, Phantom says to himself,” . . . time to kick this up a notch!”

A high pitched metallic *Click* sound emits from his weapon as his finger slips deftly down to the fire selector switch and sets it to ‘full auto’. Giving no thought to Vibron's life or well-being, Phantom immediately lets loose with a hail of bullets at the villain.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! CLUNK.

Phantom cursed when his gun jammed. He had hit Vibron 2 or 3 times. He hadn’t been able to do much damage but he planned on emptying the entire clip to take him out. Now he had to spend time clearing the jam or he had to change weapons.

{GM Note: I ran a dual action attack to get the max shots which could still do damage with was 20 shots total.  On the 18th round a 20 was rolled.}

Emerald Dragon had dispatched Crater, at least for the moment; he turned his attention to Shortstop. He lifted higher into the air, still holding the wrecked truck as a shield. Emerald Dragon unleashed his acid spit again, looking to send Shortstop to the locker room for an early shower. 

Shortstop deftly evaded the acid spray and ran away from the Winged Titan.

{GM Note: Shortstop gets two actions every turn. He has spent his first action evading every time. He is very hard to hit. On the Acid (Chemical) attack Emerald Dragon needed a 1 to hit. Try looking for someone to team attack with. Attacks on the same phase when combined get either a +4 bonus to hit}

Vibron raised his hand and pointed it at Phantom.

ZZBBEEMMM

A vibratory beam blasted the Avatar of Vengeance. {GM Note: 12 damage, -5 to Invulnerability, -5 to PP, and -2 to HP}

“How’s that for a little shake, rattle, and roll, Whitey? I bet I loosened at least 4 fillings in your teeth.”

Midnight Bug identified himself as a friend to Manta Man.

Black Orchid and Starbolt released a vacuum blast and star bolt at the same time.

VRROOM! ZWALT! 

The vacuum blast missed but the star bolt struck Hauntress. She screamed in agony as she was knocked back 5 feet. She looked at Starbolt with the look of death itself.

The Archer switched targets after Midnight Bug identified himself. He focused his mind and body, calling on the venerable ancestors to guide his shot.

THWP! THWP!

Both arrows struck Vibron! The first hit him in the head. His helmet absorbed the majority of the blow and the second struck his shoulder. Vibron reached for his shoulder in pain. “So Foolish Fletcher you have not yet learned your lesson. I believe now is the time for class to be in session.”

{GM Note: Used 1 luck point. You would have missed both shots without it. The helmet statement was flavor only, the roll on damage was low enough he was able to roll with all the damage, so the bonus for a head attack never came into play.}

Manta Lad was thrilled that his deception has worked. Knowing who all the players were, he fired on the Shortstop.

SHAKOW!

The Lightning blast missed.

<Due Date: October 21st, Actions? Replies?>


Current Conditions:
The Wraith                     Hit Points: 10    Power Points: 43           Telekinesis Defense Active
Archer                           Hit Points: 53    Power Points: 62           Blunt Head Arrows:   13
                                                                                                Broad Head Arrows:   8
Phantom                       Hit Points: 21    Power Points: 54           Invulnerability: 0           
                                                                                                Right FN Five-seveN Pistol: 20 rounds
                                                                                                Left FN Five-seveN Pistol: 20 rounds
                                                                                                AR-57 Assault Rifle: 27 rounds
                                                                                                M406 High-Explosive Round Grenades: 3

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Archer

Hey Tom

OOC: (roflmao) See, see, I told you man jinxed (lol).

Scattered arrows aside, I do believe you took quite a lot of pity on the apparently karma poor Asian Archer with Vibron throwing him on the roof.

Archer still had his bow in hand but the landing caused some of his arrows to fall out of the quiver, scattering across the rooftop, one even falls off the roof.

<Archer: IC actions> Grabbing a handful of shafts Archer rolls to the corner of the rooftop. Staying in a low crouch, he surveys the scene before him. Vibron was down on the street to his left, and to his right, apparently an apparition, which his Spatial Awareness could barely sense. Across the intersection a dragonfly clad criminal was hovering above a downed armored figure, and a short speeding sports figure had his back turned to both of them.

<Archer’s actions> I’d like Archer to hold his “Action” as long as possible. He’ll keep his Spatial Awareness tuned for the return of Crater, while he’s evaluating the scene at the intersection.

I’m not sure what the Archer’s knowledge is of the participants in the battle on the street. I could assume knowledge from TV, newspapers, the internet, but David's not what you call a meta-human fan boy. You did describe the arrival of the Crusaders in a previous issue of Archer so he should have some concept. Honestly though I've gotten abet confused with all the interacting storylines and just want to make sure I have my facts straight before he makes a definitive move.

<Archer’s goals> protect the police cruiser that has Dr. Morrow and the police officers in it.
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Street Patrol: Issue 15: Lets Do This!


> PHANTOM’S IC RESPONSE <

The Wraith and Phantom appeared on a street corner. The Wraith surveyed the scene. Wraith caused a nearby manhole cover to suddenly come spinning toward Vibron's head.

WHOOSH!

The manhole covers sailed right through his head without harming him.

The Phantom fired 3 rounds of his readied weapon at Vibron.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The first two rounds went harmlessly through Vibron the third stuck solid matter. Vibron twisted from the impact but showed no signs of pain.

Caught off guard for a split second by the rounds going straight through his target, Phantom says to himself,” . . . time to kick this up a notch!”

A high pitched metallic *Click* sound emits from his weapon as his finger slips deftly down to the fire selector switch and sets it to ‘full auto’. Giving no thought to Vibron's life or well-being, Phantom immediately lets loose with a hail of bullets at the villain.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! . . .


> PHANTOM’S GOAL(S) <

At the moment the only goal Phantom has is stuffing Vibron ass-deep into a hurt locker!


> PHANTOM’S OOC RESPONSE <


Phantom is just going to go all out on Vibron – spend as many rounds on him as you want Tom – he’s not going to stop firing until he either runs out of ammunition or Vibron drops to the ground like a sack of old boots.

By the way – did I see that correctly? Has Jack Herman come to Megalopolis?


Talk to you all soon,

-Kev
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GM

By the way – did I see that correctly? Has Jack Herman come to Megalopolis?

Why yes you did.

Tom
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Phantom

Is he the Midnight Bug that was on the game map? I only ask because I think it’s great that he joined up - can't wait to see him in action =)

-Kev
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Archer

Hey Tom

Taking my initial response and finalizing Archer’s options

Archer still had his bow in hand but the landing caused some of his arrows to fall out of the quiver, scattering across the rooftop, one even falls off the roof.

<Archer: IC actions> Grabbing a handful of shafts (a couple broad-heads the rest blunt-heads) as he makes his way to the corner of the rooftop, Archer surveys the scene before him. Vibron was down on the street to his left, and what was apparently an apparition, which his Spatial Awareness could barely sense, to his right. Across the intersection a dragonfly looking clad criminal was hovering above a downed armored figure, and a short speeding sports figure had his back turned to both of them.

<Archer’s initial actions> I’d like Archer to hold his “Action” as long as possible. He’ll keep his Spatial Awareness tuned for the return of Crater, while he’s evaluating the scene at the intersection.

<Archer’s response>“Dragon Man! Gently put the police cruiser down or face the consequences.”

<Archer’s optional responses> In order of target priority
a)    If the Green Dragon attacks Archer or makes an overtly aggressive move to or with the police cruiser he’ll plug him with two arrows, making a special attack with each to his wings.
b)    If the Dragon doesn't’t come across as a threat to the police cruiser, Archer will switch his attention to Vibron and the Midnight Bug. He’ll try to interrupt the action of whichever of the two moves first under the following circumstances.
c)    If the Midnight bug tries to attempt to evac Centurion, he’ll shoot two arrows across the intersection, making a special attack with each to his wings.
d)    If Vibron attacks Phantom and/or Windblown he’ll shoot two arrows making special attacks to his head.

I’m declaring the use of his one Luck Point if he has to target either the Midnight Bug or Vibron.

<Archer’s goals> I’m hoping that Green Dragon appears to be protecting the police cruiser
and that Phantom and Windblow can handle Vibron (better than he did). I placed the options in order of importance to the character. Hid primary goal will be to protect the police cruiser that Dr. Morrow and the police officers are in. All other declared actions become moot if someone attacks the police cruiser first.
Options a) through d) are like the quarterback reading the progression of his receiver options and the defense reaction to the ongoing play. The last sentence in “Goals” is the quarterback reading the blitz and making a hot read and passing off to his outlet receiver.

OOC: Hey … if my Colts and Irish are getting their butts kicked every week maybe some luck finally rub off on Archer – even if he has to spend a Luck Point to do it. Maybe I’ll get real lucky and just have to plug Crater if she comes zipping back into the field of play attacking the police cruiser. I doubt it though.

I have no clue how you organize all the movements and reactions – I’m curious … do you consistently use Initiatives to track who does what when? I assumed so after the description on the Destroyer battle – which is why I declared holding his Action unless a particular event triggered a response. Just curious

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The Wraith

OOC:  I confess, I don't know very much about the other characters.  My schedule really hasn't let me check the blog (in fact, I'm not sure I still have the link...Thomas, mind sending it to me again?) and I know next to nothing about the Crushers and the Crusaders, other than what I read in the adventure included in the original V & V manual, all those years ago.

So I'm assuming that the Crushers are villains, and the new character on the scene with insect wings is a Crusher.  With that in mind...

IC:  David looks up at the Ignoble Insect closing in on the scene.  A Crusher.  Flying must be nice, David thinks to himself, almost becoming philosophical in the heat of battle.  As long as whatever is propelling you through the air doesn't simply...stop.

And with that, the Mysterious Matter Manipulator reaches out with his TK and "grabs" the insect's wings, holding them still, and hoping to make the Sinister Cicada drop to the ground.

OOC:  Again, this is assuming the bug is a villain.  If I'm confused and he's a villain, The Wraith will simply whiz the manhole cover at Vibron again.

Patrolling the Streets,

Greg

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Archer

ROFLMAO
Holy Freaking Cow!!!

Hey Greg, why do I have this creepy feeling you haven't read the "options" I sent Tom as part of Archer's turn this Issue. Oh . . . and when I say creepy . . . I mean freaking awesome. lol

Regardless how Tom ends up interpreting the Turn, it ought to be an interesting Issue. Between the possible accidental teamwork between our characters and Phantom letting loose on Vibron, I can't wait to see how it really turns out.

Later Street Brother
John R

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