The area around having been sufficiently flooded, Undertow clenched her fists and it all came back to her in a rapid pulse inward. The clawmark in her side and the cracks on her hands started to heal as she was suffused with water, and she only had to sidestep a little to avoid the flying robots as the inwardly rushing waves yanked the robots into nearby walls and the metal corpses of their fellows.

00:05, Today: Undertow rolled 6,8,1 using d8,d10,d12 with rolls of 6,8,1.  Yellow+Ranged+Weather vs 2 Minions.
Healing 6, back up to green.
Saves (The one attacking undertow, then one attacking Starblaze (14))
00:10, Today: Undertow rolled 5,5 using 1d6,1d6 with rolls of 5,5.

Nepthys looked around at the assaulting creatures and considered the situation. This did seem like an excellent chance for the group to learn a bit about how they all operated. For her part, Nephthys opened her hands skyward and intoned some words of power that had been all but lost to time. The ankh symbol that hung against her bronzed skin between neck and chest glowed a menacing red color before shifting to purple and then fading.

Those that can see such things would note that Nephthys' soul and psyche were no longer 'alone'. She apparently had some help, or at least everyone can hope that it is 'help'.

OOC: Nepthys will cast Ancestral Blessing with her first action to boost anything using Conviction. Please let me know if I can take her second action

Infernal + Conviction + Green (d10,d10,d6) --> Mid die is 4, which provides +2 Conviction boost.


13:23, Today: Nephthys rolled 4,7,1 using d10,d10,d6 with rolls of 4,7,1.  Ancestral Blessing.

Freya has super-strength, so she's not going to bother cleaning the webbing off her.  She's just going to attack again, ripping the webbing off as she hits the closest robot.

OOC: Your fight is with me!

16:54, Today: Freya rolled 4,6,3 using d6,d8,d10 with rolls of 4,6,3.  Your fight is with me!

That's 4 - 2 = 2 damage against the bot.

16:56, Today: Freya rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  bot resistance.

Stupid quality robots. :P

Captain Harp, having not been persuaded by Dead Eye to boost his allies, directed his attention to the second robot in front of him.  Strumming his imaginary harp again he blasted the robot with telepathic power, using the boost from Nephthys.  Dead Eye privately cursed but could do little about it.


OOC:
Using Pychic Assault for arttacking one spider.

17:58, Today: Dead Eye rolled 1,8,4 using D6,d10,d10 ((1,8,4)).

Damage 6, Hinder 1.

18:00, Today: Dead Eye rolled 5 using 1d6 with rolls of 5.  Robat defence.

18:02, Today: Dead Eye rolled 5 using 1d8 with rolls of 5.  Dead Eye defence.

Rune knight struggles against the webbing and then changes tactics. The armor over his elbow pops open and he slots the sword into it. He holds that arm out towards one of the spiders shooting at him and then runs his other gauntlet over the opposite bracer. A line of runes ignite with white light as the gauntlet passes and the sword shoots our from his wrist attached to a chain scribed with white runes.

The sword spears at the first spider but the webbing throws off his aim and it bounces off its carapace. Just as it does Rune Knight alters the position of his gauntlet and continues to smoothly run it over the bracer but now the runes that it leaves behind are red. The sword bounces from the first spider, the chain links glowing red, and slams into the head of the second just as his gauntlet reaches the end of his gauntlet.

Having run out of chain rune knight draws his gauntlet back down his bracer and the chain and sword pulls back into this forearm.

14:53, Today: Rune Knight rolled 4,4 using d6,d6 with rolls of 4,4.  Spider 10 and 11 resistance.

14:52, Today: Rune Knight rolled 6,9,1 using d8,d10,d6 with rolls of 6,9,1.  Something for Everyone, Power Suit, AncientMysticKnight, Green.

Successful save on the spider 10 take out spider 11.

Note I do have IronSkin. -1 damage to each hit on me in Green, -2 orange, -3 Red

Warp flings one robot into the other but the second robot is too swift, dodging to the side so its companion bot just skids on by before smashing to the ground. As he considers his maneuver the robot he nearly knocked loose spins around pierces upwards with its laser eye, cutting right through Warp's jacketa!

OOC: I didn't see anything about accepting minor twists to enhance an attack. It might be there somewhere so let me know where you saw that and I'll take a look.

Also 1 damage.

Starblaze blasts a robot into molten metal but the other two continue to put pressure on him, firing their lasers to full effect.

R14 Boosts -> 5 -> +2 R15 Attacks -> 3+2 = 5 damage.
Starblaze drops to yellow!

Undertow uses the waters around her to blast away at two of the robots. The last one in front of her jumps on her stabbing at her with its claws and trying to skewer her with its hydraulic limbs.

4 damage.
Undertow drops to Yellow!

Nephthys prepares her spirit for combat however this temporary delay opens her up to a series of webbing and laser attacks as the robots start firing at her.

R7 - Hinder -> 3 = -1. R8 - Boost -> 4 = +2 R9 -> 6 +2 = 8 damage

Freya continues to slug it out but finds that the robots are particularly durable, especially when she is being impaired by the webbing. The trio of robots is proving to be quite a capable foe!

R4: Hinder -> 4 = -2 ; R5: Boost -> 3 = +1 ; R6: Attack -> 3+1-1 = 3 damage

Nephtys' spiritual aura empowers the ghostly apparition of the dead hero allowing it to manifest physically enough to blast apart a robot. As Deadeye consider his handywork he is almost caught full on by a laser blast but luckily Captain Harp nudged Deadeye out of the way so a direct hit was only a graze.
R2: attack -> 6-5 = 1 damage

Rune Knight engages two robots and takes down one while the others continue to try and peel away his armor. The upside is the two are too close to engage their webbing. The downside is that the two of them continue systematically dismantling his body!
R11: Boost -> 4 = +2 ; R12: Attack -> 4+2-1 = 5 damage
Rune Knight drops to Yellow!

Combat Tracker

"Thanks for the backup!" Starblaze calls out to Undertow just before one of the remaining robots hits him with a laser. Starblaze grunts in pain, and suddenly his vision of the world shifts. Everything around him appears to move in a haze, surrounded by ghostly visions that telegraph where they are going, what they plan on doing, and what will happen next. As he adjusts to his change in perception, the residual energy from the robot's attack gets blasted back at any enemy close by---seeking them out with uncanny accuracy.

Starblaze streaks toward the robot that fired at him, lining up another photonic boom at the robot. While the attack merely rattles the robot's armor. As he passes his target, Starblaze slingshots around Undertow. The Light provides her with a slight glimmer of its glimpse into the future...

OOC:

Moving to Yellow triggers Reflexive Burst (hits all targets at close range, and I'm not sure if that includes anything)
22:20, Today: Starblaze rolled 6 using 1d8 with rolls of 6.  Reflexive Burst Attack.

22:28, Today: Starblaze rolled 2,1,1 using d10,d10,d8 with rolls of 2,1,1.  Imbue with Element.
22:29, Today: Starblaze rolled 3 using 1d6 with rolls of 3.  Robot #15 Defense.

@ Undertow: Take a +1 boost

This fight is proving harder than Freya expected.  Maybe it's just a lack of real world experience?  Still, she's a brick.  Punching things is what she does.  Maybe this time, attacking the robot will work?

OOC: Your fight is with me!

18:37, Today: Freya rolled 3,5,10 using d6,d8,10 with rolls of 3,5.  Your fight is with me!

That's 5 - 2 = 3 damage to a bot

18:38, Today: Freya rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  bot resistance.

That d6 is mocking me. ;)

Backing off from the robot attacking her, Undertow stared down at the three-inch-deep hole in her midsection. She'd never get used to not bleeding. Or the weird after-images that started to invade her vision ever since she'd starting working with Starblaze.

"What are friends for?"

Grinning widely, she used some rough foreknowledge of the drones' movements to cause jets of water to erupt from underneath them, where they hopefully weren't as protected. One of the ones attacking Nepyths proved a little more resilient, but the crowd drawn to Freya was quickly cut down to a duo.

Still drenched from her last maneuver, she breathed a sigh of relief as the hole in her t-shirt remained, but the wound closed up.

07:33, Today: Undertow rolled 1,10,4 using d8,d10,d12 with rolls of 1,10,4.  Yellow+Ranged+Weather vs 2 Minions (add 1 to effect from boost).
Healing 5 back up to green, doing 5 to #4 and #7
07:35, Today: Undertow rolled 4,6 using d6,d6 with rolls of 4,6.  #4, #7

Warp appears behind one of the robots attacking Rune Knight. He bashes the thing with his cane, but only dents it. "Damn it, I should have carried the 7 in my calculations!" He says, and as the Robot turns around and seems about to blast Warp, he vanishes into another portal.

OOC:
11:23, Today: Warp rolled 3 using 1d6 with rolls of 3.  Robot 12 Defense.

11:22, Today: Warp rolled 11,3,2 using d12,d10,d6 with rolls of 11,3,2.  Hit & Run-Self discipline, teleport, status vs Robot 12.

Robot 12 is now a d4, and Warp gets Defense 2 vs all attacks.

Starblaze blasts apart a number of robots but there seems to always be more taking their place! He directs a blast at one with another boom but these robots are incredibly resilient!

Freya continues to slug it out with the three robots but they are pressing her hard and she can't seem to get her feet planted and hit one with a solid punch.

Luckily from over her shoulder Undertow blasts a bot into pieces giving Freya some much needed breathing room.

Warp opens up a portal under one of the robots and it disappears...and doesn't reappear. For a split second Warp is confused but then he starts getting red readouts! Alarms from his lab! Somehow the portal connected back to his home base instead of high into the air and now the robot was rampaging through his lab. He was sure his defense systems would take care of it but the clean up would be extensive given the damage reports he was seeing already!
My apologies about missing the reckless action rule from before. Minor twist set and robot has been "eliminated."

---

The two remaining robots continue to slug it out with Freya. One pins her down while the other one jumps on her back. While each individual jab and laser blast aren't too terrible for her supernatural toughness standing and slugging it out with a horde of robots is starting to take its tole on her.
R5: Boost -> 4 = +2. R6: Attack -> 4+2-1 = 5 damage

Another robot clinging to the side of a building zaps at Starblaze blasting him with its laser beam.
R15: Attack -> 3 = 3 damage

Meanwhile as Undertow focuses on helping out her teammates she continues to take stabs over and over again from the robot although the washing waves continue to seal the wounds it leaves creating a stalemate between the two.
R18: Attack -> 3 = 3 damage

Combat Tracker

Warp keeps trying to bash one of Rune Knight's robots, but it keeps dodging and weaving as the cane keeps missing it. "WILL! YOU! STAND! STILL!" Warp grunts, each missed blow linking to one of his words.

OOC-Warp attacks Robot #12, robot dodges.

Warp has defense 2 vs all attacks this round.

11:01, Today: Warp rolled 5 using 1d6 with rolls of 5.  Robot #12 defense.

11:01, Today: Warp rolled 5,4,2 using d12,d10,d6 with rolls of 5,4,2.  Hit & Run-Self discipline, teleport, status.

Starblaze glows brighter as the spider-bot strikes him with a laser blast. The his light oscillates with the beam, absorbing the attack and reinvigorating the light-based hero. He starts to glow brighter and brighter, and shines beams of soft white light at each of his allies...

OOC:

Energy Immunity: Recover 3 points of health to go from 15 to 18
22:11, Today: Starblaze rolled 7,1,6 using d12,d10,d8 with rolls of 7,1,6.  Area Alteration: Boost all allies.

Giving all allies a +7 boost

Invigorated by Starblaze's strange energy, Undertow stills herself for a moment before unleashing a massive wave towards the robot in front of her and one of the many crowding Nepthys. As the water receded from her, some of her assailant's most recent attacks still remained unhealed, and the fact that it had evaded her blast actually had her a little worried.

19:12, Today: Undertow rolled 2,2,12 using d6,d10,d12 with rolls of 2,2,12.  G+Ranged+Weather vs. 2 minions (add 2 after the fact for boost).
19:15, Today: Undertow rolled 5,1 using d6,d6 with rolls of 5,1.  4 damage to #18, 4 damage to #7.
Taking 4, back down to yellow. I only kill the one on Nep.

One of the biggest issues Freya has had since gaining powers is learning to mete out her super-strength.  She has to play it safe, lest she break things she doesn't want to.

These robots, she's taken their measure, and they can handle her strength.  Time to take it up a notch.  She takes a moment to wind up for a full-strength punch to the nearest spider-bot.

OOC: Haymaker

16:41, Today: Freya rolled 6,2,8 using d6,d8,d10 with rolls of 6,2,8.  Haymaker.

8 damage to one of the bots.  I do believe that it goes straight to the scrap heap and does not pass go.

Warp, Starblaze, Undertow and Freya work together to clean up the rest of the robots. The few remaining ones quickly retreat, skittering down alleyways or climbing back down into the sewers leaving the super hero team a brief moment of respite to consider their first fight as a team.

It was nothing like the training or simulators. For a moment it looked like they were going to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and just as things were starting to turn in their favor suddenly all the remaining robots disappeared in different directions.

Or at least the robots directly engaged with them on this block. Judging from the sounds and screams what had just happened here was happening all over the city!

Just here alone the group sees downed powerlines, collapsing walls that had taken too many laserbeam shots, and even a family trapped inside a broken van, the top and sides heavily dented trapping them inside!

"Well done, team. Though it sounds like we've got some more cleaning up to do! Let's get to it!"

Nephthys looked around to see if there was anyone in the immediate vicinity that could use a hand. If not...the sounds of screams and machines should be a good guide for their next stop.

"Emily, link into the local networks and give me video/audio please." Warp says, tapping his goggles as the HUD screens pop up around him. They are projections of light that only he can make out via the goggles. Mostly as a security precaution-but they are quickly visible for his teamates to see.

"Proceeding to display audio and video data." The Cane says in her neutral voice. She then attempts to show the locations of any robot attacks that can be spotted via any local cameras in the area, including phones, weather they are on or off.

Undertow lifted a flap in her t-shirt's midsection that one of the robots had made stabbing her.

"I know I wasn't enthusiastic about the whole 'costume' thing, but maybe after this I should talk to the science folks..."

Continuing to step forward as she spoke, she spied the family in the overturned van, but realized she couldn't do much for them. Without a heartbeat for high-voltage electricity to interrupt, though...

"I got the power lines, just need to find the box so these wires don't stay live."

While the immediate vicinity is clear it is clear this is just part of a much larger attack. What they just fought is happening all across the city. Warp's vision fills with video, more than he can process and even maxing out his AI's bandwidth. In almost no time she finds hundreds of attacks and conflicts happening at the same time.

Just then the comm links activate and the silver-smooth voice of the Argent Adept, leader of the Prime Wardens, calling the team (although techno-savvy heroes would note that he actually called Unity who redirected the call to them).

"Hello? This is Argent Adept. I'm at the base of Akash'Flora and there are robots...they're everywhere. They're swarming up out of the sewers and..."

The voice stops talking and then a second letter the group hears a voice with perfect pitch start to sing a melody but the song is cut short as the note turns into a cry of pain as Argent Adept screams. The call cuts out shortly afterward.

Unity quickly picks up the dropped call.

"I'm tied up by the docks and can't get...watch it...I'm pinned down. I've gotten report that a group of robots are causing damage by the main power exchange. If they take it down it could cause a feedback loop triggering explosions all across the city. A few of you go protect the exchange while the rest of you head towards Adept's position. It should be somewhere around here..."

On their personal devices a map is sent with a ping indicating the west side of the giant city-wide Akash'Flora tree. A second ping puts the power exchange on the outskirts of the city forcing team to split into two and head in opposite directions. In the end it is decidded that Rune Knight and Dead Eye will go protect the power grid while the rest of the team moves in to rescue Argent Adept.

Warp creates a portal for Rune Knight and Dead Eye. Once they go through, he seals it with a gesture and makes another. "Argent Adept awaits..." he says, gesturing to his swirling energy opening.

Rescue personnel arrive on the ground to help secure the area. Medical personnel from RevoCorp are able to give preliminary first aid to anyone injured while the rest of the heroes push on to the center of the city...and the heart of the robot invasion.

Anyone who desires can choose to stay behind and get healed up. This sacrifices your first turn of action but lets you heal up to full HP.

---

The heroes arrive to see all sorts of pandemonium erupting in the city. Hordes of spider bots are swarming over the giant Akash'Flora tree using their lasers to slice away pieces of bark and leaves. While a tree the size of multiple city blocks would seem almost indestructible the sheer scale of robots swarming over it appears to be a significant threat to the health of the mighty tree.


Meanwhile all around downtown area innocent civilians have been caught in the webbing of the spiders and strung up like decorations all over the area. While the civilians are safe, if quite uncomfortable in the webbing, having them stuck to the sides of buildings or hanging from light poles will severely restrict the ability of heroes to cut loose to fight the robots until the area is secure.

To make matters worse, spiders have climbed up into the skyscrapers in the downtown area and have built themselves hardened snipers nests where they are firing down on the few law enforcement personnel still in the area.

The streets meanwhile are full of roaming swarms of spiders that are looking to web civilians and stop any would-be heroes from interefering.

Finally it seems the source of the spider invasion has presented itself. Climbing out from the river and entering Legacy Park is a gigantic spider ten times the size of the smaller robots swarming around. Before the heroes eyes they see the giant spider pause, lower itself to the ground, and then when it raises up it leaves behind a cluster of metallic looking eggs. A few seconds later the eggs "hatch" by reconfiguring themselves into more spider bots!

---

Alright unlike the first round this one has A LOT going on which is pretty typical. Heroes are very powerful and can smash their way through most obstacles but they can't be everywhere at once so teamwork and coordination will be key! Here I will break down the mechanics of the situations you are facing:


Horde of Harvestors
The spider bots swarming the trees are too numerous for individual attacks. What is one punch versus hundreds of them? Instead this will be a problem that will need to use an Overcome action with a properly good idea for clearing the bots away.

These bots are too busy to attack but when they take a turn they will harvest Akash'Flora and advance the scene tracker thus shortening the amount of time you have to deal with everything else.

Webbed Human Shields
The trapped civilians means every robot you attack takes -2 damage as the heroes have to hold back to avoid collateral damage. This can be avoided via Overcome actions. Each successful Overcome (with an appropriately good idea) will reduce the penalty by 1.

Armored Snipers
There are 5 sniper nests. They have cover so they save at +2 unless an Overcome is taken to destroy their cover.

Roaming Robots
There are 5 roaming spider bots. You can deal with them by attacking as usual (they save on d6)

Spider Mothership
The mothership is a d10 lieutenant. This means that if it fails a damage save it isn't destroyed but the die is just reduced (d10 -> d8 -> d6 -> d4 -> destroyed). On its turn it will create more spiders.

Locating Argent Adept
A powerful hero is hereo...somewhere. There are no visual signs of him among the chaos but Overcome actions can be taken to try and find him.

---

Combat Tracker

Undertow eagerly rushed through the portal, but for a moment, she wished she hadn't. The scene was absolute chaos, with so many problems causing so many others.

"The tree is their goal, we can't let them destroy it. I'm gonna head down, make it real messy. Someone find the Adept, this is all a bit too much without a heavyweight like him."

Running down near the tree itself, she kicked the valve off of an overturned fire truck and started sending gouts of water at the tree, hoping to wash the harvesters off of the branches without damaging Akash'Flora further.

08:39, Today: Undertow rolled 2,6,4 using d6,d10,d12 ((2,6,4)).
I'll take the success with the minor twist.

Warp moved to get the hostages out. Of course, he had trained many times in the lab for this type of situation. Create a warp portal behind or under the hostage, have them fall through and land someplace nice and safe. It did work, and hostages began to be removed from the robots. However, Warp did not take into account the rapid computer programing each combat bot was capable of, and after some hostages where taken the Robots where precise enough to blast into the portal and strike Warp in the shoulder.

"I told you not to underestimate the computer." His cane said...almost sounding smug. However, his AI Emily had no emotions to be smug with...right?

OOC:

11:01, Today: Warp rolled 1,3,4 using 1d10,1d12,1d6 with rolls of 1,3,4.  Principle of tactician .

Principle of the Tactician
-(Action)Overcome when you can flashback to how you prepared for this
exact situation. Use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a
hero point.

Minor Twist: What one variable did your plan not account for?
-Robots don't want to lose hostages=Loses health equal to mid die=3

Status is now yellow.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Wed 08 Sept 2021.