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Visitor :  Dice Roller| Game Info| The Cast |
| AA #4C: "...That Star-Spangled Banner Yet Burns..." Posted by Watcher. | Group: 0 |
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| Author | Message | Page: 5 4 3 2 1 [all][bottom] |
A voice rises from the midst of a thick plume of smoke filling the center of the upper floor of the Avengers Tower. The sound is perhaps more familiar than a loving father but the tone is an unsettling noise that would cause concern for even the steeliest hearts. “I would say ‘welcome’ but you have rarely been far from me and this place in recent times," comes the voice. "Nevertheless, hail to your servitude or what is left of your existence.” The smoke clears barely enough to reveal a man standing near the center of what was once the grand meeting room in the penthouse of Stark's building, now shattered and smoldering throughout, leaving a few patches of supported floor on which to stand, over a steep drop into the thick smoke and the interior of what is now formerly Avengers Tower. The man is dressed in a crisp, black suit, its sharpness betraying the ragged destruction around him. He is a being without outward supernatural alteration, but a person who would attract attention on the street purely by his body’s solid build and posture of extraordinary confidence -- a physical self-assurance that could only belong to one man. The visible features of his face and his blond hair are also familiar, as well as a mouth recognizable from an opening in an equally familiar mask, and from it a voice that has lent courage to those following it into the greatest of battles. Any stomach would flip at the realization that though this looks like Steve Rogers -- the mighty Captain America -- before them, the voice betrays any semblance of that being fact. The face is partially obscured by an unearthly crimson hue around his head, but clearly there is a smile that could once be familiar from the end of a hard-won battle but is now perverted into a sinister grin, and a mouth that grinds its words, distorting a sound once comforting but now holding a dark premonition solely from its resonance. He also holds the iconic, patriotic shield, gleaming any less than usual perhaps from being obscured by the curtains of smoke around it or from now being possessed by the essence of evil. “And another step of the grandest plan finally comes to fruition. Patience, as always, brings success to the victors. Now you assemble here once again, Avengers and hangers-on, on the remnants of what once was but will be once again, refashioned in the ultimate and grander power. And I have you to thank, self-serving champions, in aiding me more than I could have ordered directly. You took your orders every step of the way, without fail, as the pieces on a chess board you have always been. In destroying the refuge of Hydra to cover my exploits to bringing the fight to my own enemies to providing the means to not only destroy my greatest enemy but to take all that he ever had from him to freeing valuable allies. For that you have my gratitude. To reward you, I shall allow you to serve on the front-lines and continue to bring forth this new world.” Add Roter Kapitänschädel Behind the man who appears as the most popular hero of all time is a cadre of superhumans, hovering in the air or standing mightily and ready for action. One is a super-looking man, wearing a domino mask and a red and yellow costume with a trail of a golden cape; a woman appearing wondrous by her arms and legs thick and lean with a presence as imposing as any opposition; a man obscured by a drab, natural gloom reminiscent of bats but truly carrying a darkness around him; another man hovers higher and shines brighter than the rest, as if leading with a lantern, resplendent of colors not just green but an entire spectrum, each hue bringing with it a power more substantial than the last; and a streak of light who appears to be a man when it stops long enough to register, but moving too quickly to be followed by a human eye. There could be others behind them but like everything else outside of the center of the room, they are obscured by thick, itchy smoke. They stand behind their leader, fists clenched, teeth gnashed, crouching slightly in action-ready poses. Add Hyperion, Nighthawk (alternate version), Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Blur As outside, a multitude of Iron Man armors fly about propelled by repulsors, scurrying around with the urgency of commanded task but flying out of sight before it can be observed what those tasks are, their number appearing greater as they are condensed in a smaller space. Their orbit seems to have the sinister man as its center but while they do not make contact or interact with him, they frequently fly in front of and behind and around him, their armors catching what rays of sunlight come through the shattered walls of this large room, and their flight disrupting the shapes of the smoke but never diminishing it. Tony Stark, in his most powerful suit of Iron Man armor, is strung up with thick wires and cables, some of them spurting electricity, his body hanging from a fragment of a ceiling held up by a portion of wall that barely withstood the destruction of the building. Within a helmet shattered to shards, his head droops, hopefully only unconscious. At the far end of the room, Clint Barton -- once Hawkeye -- lays immobile in a ball, constricted by chains, his back to those who have entered the area. Near him, a man familiar enough to other Avengers even out of costume as the Falcon, lays prone, wearing a green, torn hospital gown and his birds’ wings and covered in blood. Behind the assembled foes is a large bank of machinery, perhaps in a laboratory adjacent to the room that has become the hub of the events transpiring, but it is difficult to discern through the smoke that is even heavier in the distance. Add Iron Mob 3d6 Spider-Man, Machine Man, Storm present as potential PCs She-Hulk, the Wasp, Shang-Chi, Human Torch (possibly Taskmaster)</i> present as NPCs</i> Anyone not interacting with the main action may choose their Affiliation for their first action in this Scene. Otherwise, everyone should assume to be at Team. Scene Distinctions: The Remains Of The Interior Of Avengers Tower Plumes Of Thick, Hot Smoke Severed Cables With Live Electricity Doom Pool: 2d6, d10 New, Available FX: * High Stakes: Borrow a die (d10 or below) from the Doom Pool to add to your own dice action. At the end of the action, return the die to the Doom Pool stepped up by 1. * Lack of Leadership: Earn a PP by taking d4 for your Affiliation in a dice action. * Strong Leadership: As a free action, spend a PP to give another PC a d10 for their Affiliation for their next dice action. (A die used from Strong Leadership cannot be used in the same dice action as Lack of Leadership.) * Remember that every post with a dice pool must have the current tally of Plot Points and a choice for next action if it's your turn. * PP tally rolls over from the previous chapter. * Also remember that all Opportunities rolled are automatically bought, at a rate of 1 PP per dice pool (to be translated into Doom Pool dice). * The maximum amount of Plot Points a hero can have at any one time is 5. This message was last edited by the GM at 06:24, Wed 13 July 2022. | |||||
Danny jabbed a finger straight at the Cap impostor. "Here's your only warning. You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Danny had been there for most of what the Skull had mentioned. He remembered the devastating explosion of the HYDRA base and the collateral damage it had wrought. He still had bruises from the battle with the Wrecking Crew, the fight snowballing into a duel with Dr. Doom at the nearby Latverian Embassy. The team's stinging defeat at the monarch's hands had been made all the more painful when they traded him their own survival for a future debt. And Danny would certainly never forget being flung forward through time to be brought face to face with Kang the Conqueror. The master of time's cryptic warnings about this day and what it would bring were still ringing fresh in his head even now. "Listen up, everyone. Everything we've been through, from HYDRA, to the Wrecking Crew, to Kang-- all of it-- it all comes down to this." Danny had known in his gut that it was all leading up to something, and here it finally was. He was sick of chasing his own tail as the group encountered one unsolvable mystery after another. And he was tired of megalomaniacal mad-men prattling on about what might as well have been string theory to his ears. For too long now, he had felt a need to get back into his own element-- the middle of a fight. And now the person he had to assume was responsible for all that the team had recently endured was right here in front of him, goading he and his friends into a physical confrontation-- the Iron Fist's bread and butter. The Skull might not know it, but he had just offered up exactly what Danny was looking for. He cracked his knuckles as he walked to the head of the group. Danny had never much been one for speeches, in fact avoiding them in his day job at Rand. But the sickening sight of the corrupted Captain America brought the righteous anger bubbling up from inside, and he had to channel it somewhere. He turned to the team. "Look, we've had some kinks to iron out with this team. Some of us have been too reckless. Others, too cautious. A few of us have checkered pasts. And, hell, for some of us, this is our first day Avenging. But none of that matters now. What matters now is saving our friends-- and maybe the whole freakin' world-- from that psycho over there. And he already threw the first punch. So let's do this. Together." As Danny walked forward, he didn't need to check if the others were following. He trusted they had his back. Golden Chi lit up his palm as he ran into the ruins and leapt at the Iron Mob, prepared to strike a blow for justice against the Skull and the evil that his army represented. "AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!" Spending 1 PP to use the Strong Leadership SFX and give Venom a d10 Affiliation on his next action. Team d6 The Remains Of The Interior Of Avengers Tower d8 Enhanced Strength 2d8 (from Iron Fist SFX) Combat Master 2d8 02:57, Today: Iron Fist rolled 3,4,3, Total: 9 Effect: d8 Opportunities: 0 PP's: 0 Next: Yellowjacket This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Wed 13 July 2022. | |||||
Small, but strong, Yellowjacket grabbed up one of the crackling cables and flew it at Nighthawk, the only member of the Squadron without powers. He was a brilliant strategist, though — the brains of the crew — and needed to be taken out quickly. Hopefully his diminutive size would make it hard for Nighthawk to defend. Team d8 Severed Cables With Live Electricity d8 Stunt: Zap with cable d8 (-1PP) Shrinking d10 Combat Expert d8 Yellowjacket rolled 5,2,7,9,1 using d8,d8,d8,d10,d8 ((5,2,7,9,1)). Total: 16 Effect: d8 Opps: 1 PP remaining: 1 Next up: Venom This message was last edited by the player at 15:43, Wed 13 July 2022. | |||||
Team 3d8 Constructed By Tony Stark d8 Swarm d8 Superhuman Durability d10 Iron Fist Mental Stress d10 Iron Armor mob rolled 7,4,6,4,3, Total: 16, Effect: d10 As per Iron Fist SFX, on an unsuccessful attack, Iron Fist’s Enhanced Strength shuts down Add d6 to Doom Pool from Yellowjacket's Opportunities * Defend from Yellowjacket's physical attack* on Nighthawk, Total: 16, Effect: d8 (msg #3): Team d4 A Dark Knight d8 Enhanced Reflexes d8 Combat Master d10 Yellowjacket Mental Stress d10 Nighthawk rolled 2, Total: 11, Effect: d8 1 Opportunity (available first to Yellowjacket) (* Presumably. Always note the clearest intention of your dice action.) Doom Pool: 2d6, d10 +d6 3d6, d10 Next Action: Venom Iron Fist jumps into the fray but the martial artist doesn’t oppose faceless minions that can knocked down with a few BIF!s and POW!s -- these are suits of armor created by Tony Stark himself, each and every one intended to be the ultimate tool in saving the world (and himself). Stark may not have gotten to mastery over artificial intelligence, but each is a mechanical masterpiece so complex that it would appear their own life, even if it still necessitated some form of control. The most random one that Iron Fist strikes -- the first red-and-gold version, with the points on the front of the helmet and the ability to fly -- takes the blow straight on. The attack sends it deep into the building's smoke to obscure the result, but it is instantly replaced by another suit to seem like they did nothing like suffer a loss. BZZT! A tendril of electricity snakes from calbe held by the tiny Pym to the decidedly un-diminutive Nighthawk, with enough power to knock the foe to what is left of the floor. The man on the receiving end stays down for longer than a combatant should, still and smoldering from the attack. After a moment he raises his head and looks up, with a certain clarity not present previously. The smoke swirls around him as he pulls himself up to a knee and clenches his fist. With chaos erupting around him, the man in the suit with the shield does not flinch. Instead, his head draws back and his smile widens, revealing more of a pearly-white contrast to the scarlet glow around his skull. “Finally you begin to see the light,” the man says. “That it has taken so long as to be painful is only a benefit to me.” He chuckles a sound like grinding bones. “That you are so eager to make the first strike instead of asking the most pertinent questions is what has made you so incredibly easy to manipulate. I can suspect that this will only be simpler than I would have dreamed, Avengers.” The laugh becomes louder, the head drawn back more. | |||||
I think I will buy that Opportunity to shutdown Nighthawk's Gear (Limit). Fried in the attack, we can say. | |||||
Step up Doom Die Doom Pool: 3d6, d10 (-d10/+d12) = 3d6, d12 The Wasp flits around the area as is her manner, then circles around whatever Yellowjacket is doing after his successful strike. “Pym, you moron!” she cries. “If this situation isn’t what it seems, he might have been the only one to help us figure it out!” She comes to a stop in the air near Pym. “If you were competing for the smartest person in the room, you just went to the bottom of the pile! Even Venom is thinking first! Now he -- “ She points to the empty spot where Nighthawk was considering his next move just a moment ago. “Where’d he go?” Her voice shrinks as her body would. “That’s probably not going to be good.” | |||||
"What is this about? Why are we attacking them?" | |||||
"And once again, all you're ever willing to do is criticize. If you're so damned smart, how about a suggestion instead of a complaint?" Hank had never been more tired of his ex-wife than he was for this misadventure. She seemed only willing to point out his every flaw or failing (ignoring the rest of the team, of course), and did nothing to help resolve situations. "Do you think we're going to save our friends lives by talking?" 1 XP when you try to make yourself feel better by pointing out the shortcoming of a loved one. | |||||
He pointed at the Skull, gesturing with the other hand to the fallen Avengers in their midst. "You think you can blow up Avengers Tower, attack our friends, and then host a friendly little Q&A? No. I'm done talking to you," he warned the villain. "You-- Squadron! Tell us what made you sink so low as to join up with that lowlife. Then I'm gonna punch his red skull so hard it turns purple." | |||||
Mac vanishes as Venom raises to his full height mouth impossibly wide with likely extra teeth as he drools out, "Number one would we be allowed to eat our foes on this front line? And number two, when we get tired of your rambling and devour you does your red skin mean you taste of apple or cherry?" OOC: Next Action: Roter Reaction: Roter Total: 10 ED: d4 Opps: 1 PP: 2 (1+1 Opp purchase, -1 purchase extra dice into total) Desired outcome: Mental stress on the red one that talks to much. Solo d10 Unrelentingly Savage d8 Shapeshifting d6 menace Expert D8 19:42, Today: Venom rolled 6,2,1,2 using d10,d8,d6,d8 with rolls of 6,2,1,2. Attempting cause emotional aka fear stress on ze Crimson Captain. – This message was last edited by the player at 01:47, Tue 19 July 2022. | |||||
SWAK! The Wasp disappears from the air just as if she had vanished. Only the after-image of a streaking form remains, and that is gone in an instant. The literal blur who struck her from the air is instantly on the other side of the room, then another, then another, only visible for a fraction of a second when it halts at random spots around the place. Whatever is left of Janet's body is dispersed elsewhere in the room, out of sight. Emotional attack (scaring) on Yellowjacket: Team d4 Hesitant d4 (step up Doom Pool die) Yellowjacket Mental Stress d10 Blur rolled 4, Total: 13, Effect: d4 No physical powers can be used to defend this attack. Only defending Specialty is Menace The Wasp knocked out Doom Pool: 3d6, d12 (-d6/+d8) = 2d6, d8, d12 Reaction Needed: Yellowjacket | |||||
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Sun 17 July 2022. | |||||
As Storm floated down to land on the remnants of the tower, she jutted her chin toward the crimson source of evil. "You are not welcome here. Leave or face our wrath." She looked over toward Iron Fist and nodded her approval of his response. Talk was cheap and it was time to pound some villains. He could see her eyes fade to white as the clouds overhead swirled and flashed menacingly. Creating an asset: Storm-controlled Cyclone Overhead Dice pool: Team d10, Strong-willed leader d8, Weather Supremacy d12, Mystic Expert d8 Total: 14 Effect: d12 17:50, Today: Storm rolled 10,4,4,2 using d10,d8,d12,d8 with rolls of 10,4,4,2. Create Asset. | |||||
Team d8 Epic Guilt Complex d8 Yellowjacket rolled 8,3 using d8,d8 ((8,3)). Total: 11 | |||||
Bishop still didn't have a firm grasp of the situation. He didn't know who they were fighting. He hardly knew who he was fighting with! And how could he know he wasn't playing right into 'Kang' hands? He was way over his head, and he knew it. There was no way for him to figure it out, so he might as well do what he always did. Survive. Bishop's power was contingent on how much energy he could absorb to power his own abilities. With enough of it, he could become nigh unstoppable. He noticed the exposed power cable lying around, and after picking it up with his bare hands he wrapped it rightly around one right arm for a constant surge of Power "Who wants some?" | |||||
* Defend from Venom's emotional attack, Total: 10, Effect: d4 (msg #10): Team d8 In the Body of Captain America d4 (step up Doom Pool die) Enhanced Stamina d8 Menace Master d10 Venom Emotional Stress d8 Red Skull rolled 3,2, Total: 6, Effect: d8 Higher reacting Effect die steps acting Effect down, to 0 1 Opportunity (available first to Venom) * Yellowjacket takes Emotional Stress d4 * Doom Pool (2d6, d8, d12) reaction to Storm's attempt to create Storm-controlled Cyclone Overhead Asset, Total: 14, Effect: d12 (msg #13): Storm Emotional stress d12 Watcher rolled 6,3, Total: 15, Effect: d8 While no other human in existence could call up a weather event like Ororo, the mutant's mind is too scattered to focus on a force great enough to combat the oppressive heat and humidity of this New York summer day in the high afternoon. A trail of rain is summoned but it dissipates into steam before it reaches the building from the sky. Though the smoke from inside Avengers Tower coalesces around Venom to give his form an ultimately terrifying cast, the man with the red glow about his skull and the shield does not flinch. Instead, his sinister smile grows. “Yes, yes, how delightful,” he says. “Punch my head to bloody dust. Devour my entire body so that it never resurfaces in this mortal realm. Please. I encourage you. I can fetch a silver tray to aid in offering it to you. Destroy this body and complete the revenge on my greatest foe by finally and utterly obliterating him! Be my accomplice to hurry along the accomplishment of the last step of my great master plan! Ha!” His laughter is, of course, replaces any mirth only with evil. Red Skull Grandstanding adds d10 to Doom Pool The Skull holds out his hand to collect some spots of what little rain comes from the sky in his palm. “Your impotence is appropriate. I have been in this building longer than you, mutant.” He spits the last word. “You have less right to be here than I. I claim this place and will insist that you leave. You may stay as it serves my purposes, but if you must scurry away before meeting the fate about to befall you, do so now. Stay and serve. Fight as I know you must, but should you survive, prepare to kneel.” Doom Pool: 2d6, d8, d12 +d6 (-d6/+d8) +d10 = 2d6,2d8,d10,d12 Next Action: Bishop This message was last edited by the player at 07:09, Tue 19 July 2022. | |||||
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Hated being the affect of some over-arching game she didn't understand. And leagued only with those who themselves couldn't explain it to her, in spite of how long they might have been playing it. But there was evil and there was evil. The first kind didn't bother her...reckoning she might forever have a toe in it. The latter sort...it stood before her now, she'd no doubt of that. For the sake of any world worth living in, this guy had to be stopped. But as her gaze flicked again over the opposition, her instincts and common sense all yelled that wasn't going to happen here. She had committed to the Avengers...mostly. The leader of whom had made an entreaty for them to Assemble and face the foe. He seemed so earnest, so nobly intended...the very sort of virtues that were not going to win the day. Even Storm's awesome power was inconsequential here. It was the final underscore Karla needed to make her decision. She stepped forward and said to the enemy: "You must be really f--king proud of yourself. I know I would be. Listen, how about a deal; I'll leave the field of play, and leave you to it. All I ask in exchange is him." She pointed to the chained up Clint. "One of the weakest Avengers, and no one much likes him. Not much of a hostage for you, exactly. But as it happens, I owe him one. So how 'bout give him to me, then I'll just get out of here?" | |||||
"Disgusting," he sneered. "You're a disgrace. Trust me: I know." Years ago, Hank had disgraced himself as an Avenger, and the taint still clung to him like tar. But he had never backed down from a challenge. Whoever this was wearing Carol's suit dishonored it, and the Marvel name. Besides, Clint was one of his oldest and dearest friends, one who had helped him through some of his lowest moments, and he wouldn't tolerate him spoken about in that manner. | |||||
His ill-considered attack on Nighthawk being an example. And his inability to recognize a bluff when he heard one. It was good, though; if anything, it added credibility to her ploy. She smiled. "Why don't you go beat Jan, Pym. It's about all you're good at it. You'll save these guys some work." | |||||
His best friend right now was the loose power cable. In a few seconds he would have enough power to put someone out. He really didn't care who at this point. It was going to work on the 'first come, first served' policy. Bishop rolled 6,6,2,7 using 1d10,1d8,1d8,1d8 with rolls of 6,6,2,7. create an 'energy battery' asset. Durability 1d10, Severed Cables With Live Electricity scene distinction 1d8, combat expert 1d8, team 1d8. Total 15 (spend PP to add extra die to total), effect 1d10. Current PP: 1-1=0. | |||||
Bishop Distracted Complication d6 Watcher rolled 2,4,4,4,2, Spend d6 from Doom Pool to add third die to Total Total: 11, Effect: d12 Higher reacting Effect die steps down acting Effect, to d8 Doom Pool: 2d6,2d8,d10,d12 -d6 = d6,2d8,d10,d12 Bishop grabs the cables at his feet -- some snaking around on their own accord, propelled by the wild electricity flowing through them -- and his power starts sucking the energy from them. It's not as much as he thought -- there must be more than a few of the power conductors going to Stark's laboratory, and he wouldn't have a lot bundled together to the same destination. Still, it's enough to power-up the energy-wielding mutant, and perhaps to get that insect-woman off his mind. As annoying as she is (was?), she has (had?) a bewitching nature about her. Next Action: Ms. Marvel or villain This message was last edited by the GM at 16:30, Wed 20 July 2022. | |||||
Though the man hovering and bathed in his own glow is closer to Bishop, he turns his attention elsewhere. Instead, the woman with the massive body structure bursts over the craters underfoot headed straight toward the energy-absorbing mutant. The attack lacks any grace that a warrior woman could be presumed to have -- just a charge and a punch, without the ingenuity that combatants often throw in to garnish such a crude move -- but she makes up for it in might, and even victory if the one punch does its intended task. Physical attack on Bishop: Team d6 Hesitant d4 (step up Doom Pool die) Multipower/Supersonic Flight d8 Multipower/Godlike Strength d10 Combat Master d10 Bishop Mental stress d6 Power Princess rolled 6,3,4,10, Total: 16, Effect: d10 Doom Pool: d6,2d8,d10,d12 (-d6/+d8) = 3d8,d10,d12 Reaction Needed: Bishop | |||||
Team 1d8, Unflinching Distinction 1d4, Superhuman Durability 1d10, Combat Expert 1d8 Bishop rolled 6,2,7,8 using 1d8,1d4,1d10,1d8 with rolls of 6,2,7,8. Reaction roll vs Power Princess. Spending PP to add a die to the total. Total 8+7+6=21, effect 1d4. PP:0+1-1=0 |
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