Taskmaster's amount of self-pity is exactly zero. It doesn't pay. He just thought this was going to be more fun. Iron Man has turned out to be just as witless as everyone says he is. That "Skeletor" line is older than Devil Dinosaur. At least my mask has a nose, he thinks. I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way. Shoulda taken 'im down when I had the chance. Oh well.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:06, Sun 31 Jan 2016.

Tony suddenly becomes acutely aware of the fact that he's ignored the two remaining Hydra soldiers with rifles on the catwalk with him. He whips around, the suit's targeting system locking in on the hands holding the rifles. It's like Rhodey always says: "Aim small, miss small."

I'm activating Taskmaster's opportunity and spending a PP to create a stunt die: Aim Small, Miss Small d10

Dice Pool: Team d8, Cutting Edge Tech (Overconfidence) d4 (+1 PP), Cybernetic Senses d6, Repulsors d8, SFX: Area Attack d6 (+1 effect die), Aim Small, Miss Small d10

23:30, Today: Iron Man rolled 5,2,2,2,3,5 using d8,d4,d6,d8,d6,d10.

Spending a plot point to pull a 3rd die into my total.

Roll: 10, Effect: d8, d10

Next Action: Captain Marvel
Reaction: Hydra Rifle Soldiers A
This message was last edited by the player at 07:34, Sun 31 Jan 2016.

After his strike against Zola, T'Challa's leap carries him up and atop one of the cracking canisters, hopefully out of the reach of any of Zola's counterattacks.

Next Action:  Sentry
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Sun 31 Jan 2016.

As energy blasts pulse past her, making her feel vaguely like she was at one of the raves in her party days, before joining the Airforce. Now that their shooting is so wild she's able to indulge in pointless nostalgia...now it the time to strike.

Carol is going to punch Hydra Rifle Soldiers B so hard they will eventually indulge in pointless nostalgia from a time before the punch.

Team d10
Take-Charge Attitude d4 (She's maybe getting cocky)
Superhuman Strength d10
Combat Expert d8 (though it should be Vehicle Expert d8, 'cause she's coming like a freight train)

Captain Marvel rolled 7,10,6,2 using d10,d10,d8,d4 ((7,10,6,2)).

Total:16 Effect:d10

Reaction: Hydra Rifle Soldiers B

Next Action: Hydra Rifle Soldiers A

"Fools!" Zola's voice, now only slightly more than static, falls under the sound of the screaming klaxon, with the flashing red lights now dominating the disconcerting visual nature of the environs.

The liquid inside the tubes seems to churn and fill to the top and the bubbles inside that were previously so active come to a halt. The tubes themselves seem to tremble and the floor rolls slightly. The cracks in the glass expanding then noticeably creaking only emphasizes that a great pressure is building inside. The eyes on the faces of the men inside grow to cartoonish levels and their mouths gape in horror and pain. Only an instant later, the pressure inside the tubes becomes far too much and the glass gives way, the cracks finally bursting open. The green, toxic sludge from inside floods out, a thick ooze that spills across the floor and up to the ankles of those standing on it. Black Panther, perched atop a tube, avoids this until there is nothing to support the top of the container and he falls into the mess of sludge and computer equipment as well.

The four men from the tubes, recover and stand then step out of the carcasses of the tubes. Their attentions focused on the Sentry, they make their ways slowly to the hero, arms outstretched and their mouths forming some kind of words but issuing no sound. They shamble forward, still attached to a mechanism inside the tubes by a foot-wide cable running out the back of the apparatuses around their mid-sections. The sludge drips from them but is soon replaced on each by a stream of sweat from their bodies, and quickly they are washed clean of the toxic junk by it. Just as they are about to reach the Sentry, to embrace him in their soaked arms, the features on their faces fall off, melting down their necks and chests, then the rest of their bodies melt as well. Mere inches from the Sentry, their bodies become a thick pudding on the floor, coalescing into each other, seeming to gain more mass, and rising from the floor into a shiny, pink glob. The texture of the monstrosity is something between flesh and plastic, gaining enough volume to eventually block the doorway to the room, overcome Arnim Zola himself, and approach the apparatus with the trapped man who is giving off circular energy. Within the creature floats the features of the four men -- eyes, shapes of ears, a random hand or foot, fingernails, clumps of hair -- until a face, or a simulation of one, seems to form in the center. A makeshift mouth appears and still seems to try to make words but no sound, and the eyes are as sad and desperate as before. Yet the thing creates tendrils of itself to snake up the heroes' legs just as it rises as a mass before them, instants away from collapsing itself upon them.

From somewhere in the back of the room, now filled with the blob, comes Zola's now-unmistakable cry: "My greatest creation has been ruined! Ruined! And now it is unleashed and cannot be controlled!" until he, himself, is engulfed by the grotesquerie.

Grandstanding: Add d10 to Doom Pool

Adding Bioplasmagenic Blob as character

Adding Green Toxic Sludge to Scene Distinctions, -d8 from Doom Pool

Doom Pool: d8 -d8, 8d10 + d10 = 9d10

Next Action: Sentry

Reaction to Iron Man's attack (msg #190) , Total: 10, Effect: d8:
Team    2d8
Trained Soldiers    d8
Hydra Armor    d6
Combat Expert    d8

Hydra Rifle Soldiers A rolled 8,3,3,1,6 using d8,d8,d8,d6,d8

Hydra Rifle Soldiers A rolled 2,4,8,3,6 using d8,d8,d8,d6,d8 ((2,4,8,3,6)).
(Rerolled because of getting the wrong dice pool initially.)

Total: 14, Effect: d8
1 Opportunity available, add to Doom Pool

Status: 2d8 Team

Doom Pool: 9d10 + Step = 8d10, d12

The Hydra soldiers sidestep the repulsor blast as Iron Man misses big. Repositioning themselves on the catwalk, they redouble their aim on the Avenger and all Avengers.

(Post edited to revert to original roll, which was changed due to an error that turned out to not be wrong after all.)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:08, Tue 02 Feb 2016.

Reaction to Capt. Marvel's attack (msg #192) , Total: 16, Effect: d10:
Team    3d8
Trained Soldiers    d8
Hydra Armor    d6
Combat Expert    d8

Hydra Rifle Soldiers B rolled 4,5,8,1,1,3 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d6,d8 ((4,5,8,1,1,3)).

Total: 13, Effect: d8
Capt. Marvel's attack succeeds, eliminating 1 from the Team
2 Opportunities available

Status: 2d8 Team

One of the Avenging Marvel's blasts hits full-on, striking one of the Hydra agents and sending him flipping over the catwalk rails then falling to the floor.

One of the members of their small squadron lies at their feet but the other two know that if there was any time to strike, it is now.  Their shots lined up, they focus and pull triggers.

Physical attack on Iron Man:
Team    2d8
Ranged Weapons Specialty   d8
Focus: Hydra Rifle/Combat Expert    d10
From Doom Pool    d10

Hydra Rifle Soldiers A rolled 1,7,2,8,8 using d8,d8,d8,d10,d10 ((1,7,2,8,8)).

Total: 16, Effect: d8
1 Opportunity available

Doom Pool: 8d10 -d10, d12 +d6 = d6, 7d10, d12

Reaction: Iron Man
Next Action: Hydra Rifle Soldiers B

The rifle soldiers on the other catwalk take no time lamenting their fallen comrade. As Capt. Marvel rushes toward them, they carefully track their target, knowing this is the time for guts, and, soon, glory.

Physical attack on Capt. Marvel:
Team    2d8
Ranged Weapons Specialty   d8
Focus: Hydra Rifle/Combat Expert    d10
From Doom Pool    d10

Hydra Rifle Soldiers B rolled 5,1,6,10,4 using d8,d8,d8,d10,d10 ((5,1,6,10,4)).

Total: 16, Effect: d10
1 Opportunity available

Doom Pool: d6 + Step, 7d10 -d10, d12 = d8, 6d10, d12

Reaction: Capt. Marvel
Next Action: Hydra Soldier Army
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

Newly confident after their blows visibly damaged the God of Might, the Hydra army surge forward, their truncheons striking with fresh vigor but no greater organization.

More Soldiers in the Army addition:
Hydra Soldier Army rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).
Hydra Soldier Army now 18d8, but Area Attack used on them (including the reaction roll) can be rolled with extra d8s instead of d6s.

Physical attack on Hercules:
Team    18d8
Followers (mindless, disorganized goons)    d4
(add to Doom Pool)
Power-Truncheons    d8
Swarm    d8
Hercules physical stress    d8

Hydra Soldier Army rolled 1,4,7,8,5,8,1,3,5,8,8,2,4,2,4,4,8,5,2,2,5 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d4,d8,d8 ((1,4,7,8,5,8,1,3,5,8,8,2,4,2,4,4,8,5,2,2,5)).
Hydra Soldier Army rolled 1 using 1d8 ((1)).

Total: 16, Effect: d8
3 Opportunities available

Doom Pool: d8 + Step, 6d10, d12 = 7d10, d12

Reaction: Hercules
Next Action: Taskmaster (new round)

Reaction to Hydra Rifle Soldier B's attack: Total:16 Effect d10

Team d10
Homeland Security Hero d4
Superhuman Durability d10
Combat Expert d8

Captain Marvel rolled 5,8,5,4 using d10,d10,d8,d4 ((5,8,5,4))

Spending a PP to add another die to my total: Total:17 Effect d10

Carol, having sped by and punching the crap out of a Hydra Soldier, gave them a chance to blast her. She can feel the blasts fly past her, the heat of the lasers making her want to reach out and touch the energy. It takes her back to the days of being Binary, consuming stellar energy and flying out into the space between the stars.

Maybe one day, she will again. Today she has to kick some Hydra butt.

Trapped in a room, filling up with toxins and goop, Sentry decides the most immediate danger is the overflowing Bioplasmagenic Blob. Needing to contain the fluid, Sentry analyzes the consistency and characteristics of the blob, observing a  low viscous appearance. Considering the property, Sentry beings to fly in a  circular pattern in the middle of the room. Travelling a such an intensity, his speed creates a contained vertex in the middle of the room, creating such intense centripetal force that the low-density could be sucked in- yet not so fast that the metal or people in the room would be sucked in as well.

Dice Pool:
Buddy d6
Golden Guardian of Good d8
Using SFX: Multipower (Use two or more Power Of A Million Exploding Suns powers in your dice pool, at -1 step for each additional power.) on Superhuman Strength and Superhuman Speed
Using SFX: Unleashed (Step up or double any Power Of A Million Exploding Suns power for one action. If that action fails, add a die to the doom pool equal to the power die you unleashed.) on Superhuman Speed
Superhuman Strength d10 -> d8
Superhuman Speed d10 -> d8 -> d10
Combat Master d8

23:18, Today: The Sentry rolled 6,5,4,9,6 using d6,d8,d8,d10,d8.  Containing the Blob.
Using 1 PP to add 6 (d8) to total
9(d10) + 6 (d6) + 6 (d8)= 21
Using d8 to create Containing Complication on Bioplasmagenic Blob


PS:00 MS:00 ES:00 PP:01 XP:00


Next Reaction: Bioplasmagenic Blob
Next Up: Black Panther

Hercules' advantage quickly evaporates as the soldiers crowd more closely around him.




Reaction to Hydra army:

Team d6
Prince of Power d8
Superhuman Durability d10
Combat Expert d8
Area Attack d8 (+1 effect die)

13:56, Today: Hercules rolled 1,3,1,5,4 using d10,d8,d8,d8,d6.  Reaction to army.

ugh. Total 9, effect dice d8 and d4 and two opportunities.

Although the blob creature needs to be dealt with, T'Challa also realizes the danger of allowing a mad genius like Zola free rein in his laboratory.  As the evil HYDRA scientist reels from the Black Panther's previous strike, several darts of Wakandan manufacture strike, each with a electromagnetic disruptor designed to further wreak havoc with Zola's tech.


Dice Pool:

Buddy d6, Advanced Biochemical Laboratory d4, Weapon d6, Enhanced Strength d8, Combat Master d10, Security Feed d6, d8 Blinded complication

Black Panther rolled 4,3,5,1,8,2 using d6,d4,d6,d8,d10,d6 ((4,3,5,1,8,2))
VToday: Black Panther rolled 7 using 1d8 ((7)).

Total:  15.  d6 Effect Die to increase Blinded Complication on Arnim Zola.

1 Opportunity.

Next Reaction:  Arnim Zola

Next Action:  Bioplasmagenic Blob

Reaction to Sentry's Containing Complication attempt (msg #200) , Total: 21, Effect: d8:
Team  4d8
Senseless Creature    d8
Horde    d10

Bioplasmagenic Blob rolled 6,2,3,2,7,5 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d10 ((6,2,3,2,7,5)).

Total: 13, Effect: d10
Extraordinary Success but reacting Effect die goes over acting Effect die, so they cancel each other out
Sentry's attack succeeds, creating d8 Containing Complication

Somehow the Sentry is able to whip up enough suction in the cramped and cluttered room to contain the blob, but to what end?  The thing still moves and burbles and shifts and spills everywhere, even seeming to gain mass, so this containment might only be temporary, and dangerously so.

Reaction to Black Panther's attack (msg #202) to increase Blinded Complication, Total: 15, Effect: d6:
Solo    d6
Laboratory (trapped in the chaos going on)    d4
(add to Doom Pool)
Superhuman Durability    d10

Arnim Zola rolled 6,2,2 using d6,d4,d10 ((6,2,2)).

Total: 8, Effect: d10
Extraordinary Success but reacting Effect die goes over acting Effect die, so they cancel each other out
Black Panther's attack succeeds; Blinded Complication increased to d10

Doom Pool: 7d10, d12 +d6 = d6, 7d10, d12

Even amidst the chaos of the Sentry flying around the room, Black Panther's dart hits its mark, right on Zola's hide. Immediately after the mad scientist is engulfed by  the roiling blob and he goes under, only his hand rising above, as if to grip some kind of safety that is not there.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

Meanwhile, back in the main room, the Taskmaster raises his sword anew above the din. "Rise up, men! We are close to victory! Eliminate one of them and the rest'll fall!" The fact that he has ceased his maniac laughter could indicate that his confidence in his charges has sunk or, more likely, that he has new and even more deadly focus on leading these soldiers to finally ending these heroes once and for all.

Grandstanding: Add d10 to Doom Pool

Doom Pool: d6, 7d10 +d10, d12 = d6, 8d10, d12

Next Action: Hydra Rifle Soldiers B
This message was last edited by the player at 00:08, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

The rifle soldiers have new courage: they know their shots got close. Another barrage and surely they can take down this accursed hero!

Physical attack on Capt. Marvel:
Team    2d8
Ranged Weapons Specialty   d8
Focus: Hydra Rifle/Combat Expert    d10
From Doom Pool    d10

Hydra Rifle Soldiers B rolled 5,4,8,10,6 using d8,d8,d8,d10,d10 ((5,4,8,10,6)).

Total: 18, Effect: d10

Doom Pool: d6, 8d10 -d10, d12 = d6, 7d10, d12

Reaction: Capt. Marvel
Next Action: Hydra Rifle Soldiers A (once Iron Man rolls his reaction)

Reaction to Hydra Rifle Soldiers B Total:18 Effect:d10

Team d10
Homeland Security Hero d4
Superhuman Durability d10
Combat Expert d8

Captain Marvel rolled 5,3,6,4 using d10,d10,d8,d4 ((5,3,6,4)).

Total:11 Effect:d10

Carol, spinning and jinking, finally has her luck run out. A blast sears through the air and slams into her, causing her to falter and finally fall.

IS THIS THE END OF CAPTAIN MARVEL!?!

Reaction to the attack of Hydra Rifle Soldiers A in msg #196

Dice Pool: Team d8, Cutting Edge Tech d8, Superhuman Durability d10, Supersonic Flight d10

17:07, Today: Iron Man rolled 7,7,2,8 using d8,d8,d10,d10.  Reaction to attack by Hydra Rifle Soldiers A (2d8).

I'll spend a PP to hold a third die in my roll.

Roll: 22, Effect: d10

I'll spend another PP to use my effect die on Hydra Rifle Soldiers A, in the form a physical stress. My roll of 22 makes it an extraordinary success which kicks the d10 of stress up to a d12.

Tony, still a little irritated that he missed with his last counter, sees the Hydra Goons coming...but it matters not. Their shots fail to hit any of the vulnerable parts of the suit and he counters again, this time thrusting forward and slightly up to connect the suit's knee with the closest goon's face."Two down...one to go" he sneers, after landing back on the catwalk, eyeing the final soldier of the former threesome.

Hercules: Buying your 2 Opportunities (from msg #201), for d6 to Doom Pool and +1 PP for you. Also, their attack was an Extraordinary Success, pushing their Effect die to d10, to be your current physical stress level, though if it had been lower it would have pushed it up to the same.

Capt. Marvel: The Hydra Rifles Soldiers B had an Extraordinary Success on their roll, so the Effect die steps to d12 for your physical stress. And to answer your question from the Status Tracker thread, your Effect die would have to be higher than theirs to step it down.

Doom Pool: d6 +d6, 7d10, d12 = 2d6, 7d10, d12
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:09, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

Back in the upper offices, Sentry and Black Panther look up to the plastic-like, fleshy blob that towers above them, seeming to be twice the size it was when it first constructed itself, knocking over computers and, from the sound of it, threatening the integrity of the walls that it is pushing against, already blocking the exit from the room, and certainly spilling over the restraints of the containment set against it. Its mismatched, deformed eyes look down at the heroes as it finally releases itself and the wave that is its monstrous body splashes and crashes down upon the hapless inhabitants of the laboratory.

Attempt to create Swimming Inside Creature complication on Sentry & Black Panther and eliminate Contained complication:
Team  4d8
Out of Control    d8
Biogenic Creations: Enhanced Strength    d8
Biogenic Creations: Horde    d8
SFX: Area Attack    d6
From Doom Pool    d10

Bioplasmagenic Blob rolled 8,2,5,8,8,2,2,2,10 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d8,d6,d10 ((8,2,5,8,8,2,2,2,10)).

Total: 16, Effect: d10, d8
Attempting d8 Swimming Inside Creature complication
d10 Effect die eliminates Contained complication

Doom Pool: 2d6, 7d10 -d10, d12 = 2d6, 6d10, d12

Reaction: Black Panther, Sentry
Next Action: Arnim Zola
This message was last edited by the player at 23:37, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

Samuel Jans graduated at the top of his class. If that class had been in a scholastic institution or the armed forces, that could have been a great achievement but instead it was in training for Hydra. Either of those other directions might have been acceptable in the real world but Hydra promised better pay, especially for when they finally dominate the Earth. Not only that but Hydra offered many chances to handle firearms, for which Samuel Jans always had a certain talent. It stretched from when he was a young boy and learned to hunt, on that first day when he so-accidentally had to shoot his father in the shoulder, to the bank heist job that went bad, leading him to flee from that annoying Spider-Man. Hydra offered the sanctuary he needed... and all the guns he could shoot. He quickly excelled at the Hydra shooting ranges and received praise from his instructors. Just lead him to a target and he could shoot it from any distance, reasonably close to a bulls-eye. And so he uses those talents now. With the other two in his squad taken down, it's up to him. But he's already tried to shoot this accursed Avenger. Perhaps there is another way. Perhaps it doesn't have to be a shot from this rifle that will take down the do-gooder. Maybe his comrades, those peons who couldn't stand the pressure of Hydra training and instead were given a simple weapon and told to engage face-to-face, those now on the training floor in a chaotic swarm. If only the Avenger would get closer to them, they would do all the work and Samuel Jans could once again rise to the top of his class and be recognized by the great fathers of Hydra. Once more he aims and squeezes the trigger, with even greater purpose than ever before.

Attempt to create Knocked Into Hydra Soldiers Army complication on Iron Man:
Solo    d8
Ranged Weapons Specialty   d8
Hydra Rifle    d8
Combat Expert    d8
From Doom Pool    d10

Hydra Rifle Soldiers A rolled 3,6,2,5,10 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d10 ((3,6,2,5,10)).

Total: 16, Effect: d8
Attempting d8 Knocked Into Hydra Soldiers Army complication

Doom Pool: 2d6, 6d10 -d10, d12 = 2d6, 5d10, d12

Reaction: Iron Man
Next Action: Hercules

Reaction to attack by Hydra Rifle Soldiers A in msg #211

Hydra Rifle Soldiers A's Total: 16, Effect: d8

Dice Pool: Team d8, Cutting Edge Tech d4 (overconfidence; +1 PP), Superhuman Durability d10, Supersonic Flight d10 Repulsors d8.

11:05, Today: Iron Man rolled 2,1,3,8 using d8,d4,d10,d10.  Reaction to Hydra Rifle Soldiers A in msg #211.
19:59, Today: Iron Man rolled 2 using 1d8.  Removal of Supersonic Flight from reaction dice pool.

Roll: 4, Effect: d10
1 opportunity for the Watcher (+1 PP)

I activate the Limit on my Weapons Platform power set, and shut down Supersonic Flight. (+1 PP)

Reacting to what he surmises will be another shot, Tony throws his arms back, with his palms facing back, expecting to thrust forward. That's when the shot arrives, hitting the suit's power core. A surge flows through the suit, triggering the thrusters in the suit's left leg, sending Tony, and the suit, into a cartwheel over the railing, and down to the training floor below. As he falls, the suit's AI chimes in: "Mr. Stwaaaaark...flight systems...inoperative."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:46, Tue 09 Feb 2016.

Iron Man plummets from the catwalk and hits the floor. His fall is cushioned by the bodies of a few combating Hydra soldiers but he also finds himself in the middle of a plethora of them, a number of them who turn to them from the group piling on Hercules, though there are plenty to make up a division, and more to come to add to the mountain of soldiers.

Iron Man: You have a d10 Knocked Into Hydra Soldiers Army complication. (I don't know whether the higher Effect die is compared before or after the Extraordinary Success is applied so I sided with the hero until I can find out which goes first.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:04, Tue 09 Feb 2016.