Y'all saw in the Eldritch game thread but I'll be away for a few days; bot me if needed. :)
Apologies both - slammed at work again - weekly rusher. Should be back on track by Friday.
I'll be travelling this week. Not sure what my internet situation will be, so if I disappear don't worry, I'll be back on Saturday.
Have a good trip!
I saw Black Widow, soooo good... I wish there would have been a nod/flash to Dottie but it wouldn't have fit in the story. But they did show the Red Room trainees being brainwashed with cartoons like in Agent Carter, and you could even see the main plot background as seeded by Dr. Fenhoff in the 40s.
Won't spoil anything for now but man if we ever have a chapter 2, there is potential for follow up with Dottie's story (in this game I mean).
It is irrelevant to our plot but I am just noting for the record that I have decided that Dottie (as SHIELD's Agent Delta) and the Red Guardian definitely faced off in the early 80s and she won (by tripping him up using his ridiculous overconfidence against him).
Enjoy the trip Chief.
Good to hear some decent reviews for Black Widow DQ, stuff I've heard seems to range from "meh" to "another a-typical Marvel movie".
Without getting into spoiler territory - does the Winter Guard/Soviet Super Soldiers get a mention? Was always a fan of the Russian version of the Avengers as a kid.
So I only started really watching the Marvel movies after I saw Natasha show up in Iron Man 2 (which a friend forced me to watch on DVD), and basically watched all the Avengers movies just for her ("The Avengers" was the first MCU film I went to see in the theater and I started seeing them from there after that). I'm invested in many of the other characters enough now I may watch some of the movies after this (like after Wandavision, which to my delighted surprised I loved a lot more than I thought I would, and so I really want to see Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, even though I really don't care for Dr Strange himself), but it won't be the same now that this is Natasha's last movie. She was always my biggest motivation to see the films; otherwise I would have stuck with the Marvel TV shows, as they are much more at my level of enjoyment. And my favorite kind of superhero stories in general are ones that are lower-powered and meld with a lot of spy, noir, detective, or street/gang level themes. I just like ridiculous costumes and space aliens and super-strength mixed with my spies and detectives.
So I LOVED the movie, but it was EXACTLY the kind of story I love, starring my most, most, most, most favorite Avenger. So bear the bias of that in mind.
No direct mention of Winter Guard as a whole, although the Crimson Dynamo gets name-dropped and there is a character who very briefly shows up named Ursa, but he is not actually a bear. Given what they did with the Red Guardian, I expect we will see more of him in another movie or D+ series and learn more of the program that produced him, which well may tie into a Winter Guard type story. We see the Red Guardian late in his career in this story, and it's very clear he has a whole backstory that Marvel is likely to want to tell if the opportunity arises.
People who found the story "meh" fall into two categories--the kind of people who want big cosmic battles and superpowers and pretty men named Chris flexing, and people who were intrigued by the movie but mainly because they had a hard on for Taskmaster, who, while I personally thought was handled really well, does not have the screentime some were hoping for and had a different backstory from the character in the comics.
Watching Black Widow, when she repeatedly fell distances without harm, all the way up to the climactic mega-falling, I kept thinking of how we went back and added that ability for Dottie. It hasn't come up much, but it is clearly the sort of action movie thing Dottie should be able to do.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the movie. I hate to talk about suspension of disbelief in an MCU movie, a universe where there are wizards and nanite armor and Mysterio, but there were a few moments where I was wishing the movie was slightly more like a Mission Impossible movie. Somehow, those tend to make the crazy things the characters do seem right at the edge of possible. Some of that is just Tom Cruise actually doing crazy things like climbing on the Burj Khalifa. I much preferred the Budapest scenes to the
I wish there had been one pure Black Widow movie and then this one with her passing the torch. Natasha and Johansson both deserved at least that much.
Won't spoil anything for now but man if we ever have a chapter 2, there is potential for follow up with Dottie's story (in this game I mean).It is irrelevant to our plot but I am just noting for the record that I have decided that Dottie (as SHIELD's Agent Delta) and the Red Guardian definitely faced off in the early 80s and she won (by tripping him up using his ridiculous overconfidence against him).
There is definitely something to be said for a chapter 2 and threads from Black Widow. I don't have a plot in mind, but so many good connections with an MCU Winter Guard. Frank and the coils tie into Crimson Dynamo/Ivan Vanko. Darkstar is out there wielding Zero Matter, Dottie vs Red Guardian.
Since Vanko wasn't Crimson Dynamo, I'd go with Galina Nemirovsky as the MCU Crimson Dynamo.
** spoiler omitted **
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the movie. I hate to talk about suspension of disbelief in an MCU movie, a universe where there are wizards and nanite armor and Mysterio, but there were a few moments where I was wishing the movie was slightly more like a Mission Impossible movie. Somehow, those tend to make the crazy things the characters do seem right at the edge of possible.
They never seem to want to come out and say it, but they do show the girls getting injected with something during the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sequence. It would make sense seeing how Nat and Yelena seemed to bounce back from injury that they've got some kind of low-grade treatment that at least helps them resist pain and heal faster. There is no slowed aging, based on Melina (Rachel Weisz is a gorgeous woman who looks her age). But it's quite possible, for our story's purposes, Dottie's version was more potentially deadly (involved radiation treatments) and they stopped using it. I also had it in my head that maybe Dottie's version only worked on women, so they discarded it, and a newer version might be given to all Russian/Dreykovian special ops.
Some of that is just Tom Cruise actually doing crazy things like climbing on the Burj Khalifa. I much preferred the Budapest scenes to the ** spoiler omitted ** scenes.
Sorry, I LOVED that scene, especially as it seemed like a nod to the opening scene in Mark Waid's Black Widow miniseries a few years back. Which if you have not read it, I strongly recommend it. Best Black Widow story I've ever read (although Kelly Thompson's current series is quite good as well).
I wish there had been one pure Black Widow movie and then this one with her passing the torch. Natasha and Johansson both deserved at least that much.
I do too, but Ike Perlmutter was in charge too long for that to have happened. Not to mention most of the other starting-showrunners and Feige are not as enlightened as they like to pretend to be. But yes, there will always be a sad tint on the movie as one thinks of what Might Have Been.
At the same time, at least she got THIS movie, and it was a good one with a good cast that Johannsson enjoyed working with.
Won't spoil anything for now but man if we ever have a chapter 2, there is potential for follow up with Dottie's story (in this game I mean).It is irrelevant to our plot but I am just noting for the record that I have decided that Dottie (as SHIELD's Agent Delta) and the Red Guardian definitely faced off in the early 80s and she won (by tripping him up using his ridiculous overconfidence against him).
There is definitely something to be said for a chapter 2 and threads from Black Widow. I don't have a plot in mind, but so many good connections with an MCU Winter Guard. Frank and the coils tie into Crimson Dynamo/Ivan Vanko. Darkstar is out there wielding Zero Matter, Dottie vs Red Guardian.
I like Frank's suit tying to the past with Vanko's tech, even if it wasn't Vanko wearing the suit.
Not to mention, if you want a woman who can keep up--or surpass--Dottie, Yelena and Melina certainly fit the bill. And the whole movie takes place right before Dottie escaped the Raft, so Yelena is out there right now looking for Black Widows to free... she could quite likely hear of the "War Widow" and think Dottie is one of Dreykov's subjects who somehow managed to go rogue on her own.
Also, since YOU introduced the Bratva into this story, one of the things the Bratva does is human trafficking. I know we want to be sensitive about going into subject matter like that, but the opening sequence shows that clearly they seem to get some of their Red Room subjects through trafficking circles and Dreykov mentions the easily accessible "commodity" women are (although the fact that Natasha was picked due to genetic superiority countermands this, although I guess she was still trafficked since she was purchased from her parents). It seems highly likely Dreykov picked some of his trainees from the Bratva's "business." So they may have recently lost business, which may feed into how easily they were subsumed by the Shadow Dragon, and their trying to find new clients could feed into future tales (and clashes with Dottie, who while not a compassionate person, I don't think wants to consign any woman to the fate she lived through or to be treated like a product in general. Especially since while Dreykov's Red Room was horrific, I have to think the one operated by Leviathan under Stalin during the Depression was even worse).
Speaking of Raft escape, Black Widow actually sets it up that Nat organized the Raft breakin with Cap (earlier films seemed to imply Cap did it by himself, but frankly it makes much more sense if they did it together). Which if we want to retcon, would mean Dottie did get to meet her, if very briefly. Because I'm a nerd I've been writing a story that covers that scene, which I can share when I am done if you are interested. If not I will not be hurt.
On another note, I've thought about it and decided that it was Red Guardian who crushed Dottie's hand and arm and that's why she's got the arthritis problem. Mind you, that detail has always been just my anticipating that the die roller will be cruel, but it also makes sense for a 93 year old operative, even if super-serum enhanced, to have a few lasting issues from wear and tear.
There is definitely something to be said for a chapter 2 and threads from Black Widow. I don't have a plot in mind, but so many good connections with an MCU Winter Guard. Frank and the coils tie into Crimson Dynamo/Ivan Vanko. Darkstar is out there wielding Zero Matter, Dottie vs Red Guardian.
I like Frank's suit tying to the past with Vanko's tech, even if it wasn't Vanko wearing the suit.
Prophetically I created this snippet in Frank's MCU Background:
In 2011, with the rewards outweighing the risks, Frank joined the fledgling Project: Ouroboros and was outfitted with a battle suit incorporating technology theory utilised in the armour of the rogue Russian physicist Ivan Vanko [aka "Whiplash"] and the Constrictor device designed by Howard Stark, housed in the form of two Cogmium coils. S.H.I.E.L.D. then provided him with the new identity of Frances “Frankie” Schlichting - complete with rap sheet and underworld credentials and the codename of Constrictor.
:)
Yeah, I was factoring that link from Frank's backstory in. Depending on what happens with Armor Wars, Galina could use Vanko's tech to power a suit of her own construction to become Crimson Dynamo.
But that is getting a little more super than might be good for our protagonists.
Just a heads up, on Monday I will go on vacation for a couple weeks. While will have Internet access on and off, I'll be focused on other activities and am looking forward to a bit of a break, so I may not be on my games much. Starting Monday, please bot my character as needed.
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But that is getting a little more super than might be good for our protagonists.
A) You can build a PL 8 power suit, it may just not compare to the version in the comics. But that might be fine for our purposes.
B) Especially since this would be a hypothetical chapter 2, you can always just give us enough XP to expand our "powers" through better gear/training/supersoldier abilities reawakening/mysterious abilities developing due to contact with Darkforce.
Apologies ST & DQ - battered at work. Abnormal service should resume in a day or so. Please bot me as/when/if required.
Just noting that in Dottie's running dialog, the idea that she thinks Frank even might succeed is mad praise.
Bridget Regan was been cast as Poison Ivy... (SQUEEEEE!)
... in the CW's Batwoman (*sigh*).
You may have already seen this in the Eldritch game, but I am going away tomorrow for about a week. I will likely have my laptop and Internet access where I'm going, but how much downtime I'll have is uncertain (it may be tons, it may be none). Please bear with me if I am slow. I figure if you let Dottie split up with Frank for a minute, Frank can do his thing and we can resolve anything Dottie needs to do when I get back. (At the same time I understand if you don't want to split the party, but it's appropriate she would avoid getting near Negative if she can, and she does see a legitimate need to gather additional information and close loops at the house).
Safe travels.
I'm good with splitting the party here. I think I understand now how to pull all of this together the last two episodes.
Thinking of giving Frank new Complication: Partially Deaf? - checked out some online reports citing that armed forces personnel that experienced hearing loss due to close proximity of Claymore mines (deep dive I know).
Thoughts?
Well, since BD was having fun in the other game with HeroForge, I had to go ahead and make this...
Thinking of giving Frank new Complication: Partially Deaf? - checked out some online reports citing that armed forces personnel that experienced hearing loss due to close proximity of Claymore mines (deep dive I know).
Thoughts?
Yes, that sounds good.
Apologies ST/DQ - as posted in the Eldritch game, work this week (bunch of offshore call-offs, meetings about aforementioned call-offs) and conducting my teams appraisals has stymied me and emptied the energy reserves.
Hope to get a post up tonight/Saturday morn.
Cheers
PS - @DQ: Dottie HeroForge looks ace.
PPS - @ST: Cool. I'll add the partial/temporary hearing loss as a Complication :)
I was pondering the idea that we are following noir detective tropes with Frank. He is constantly getting beat up/beaten down and bloodied but keeps pushing through. At the same time, Dottie is more elusive, which is fitting for her character. But that got me wondering if there are examples of women taking these noir style beatings and keeping on keeping on. I can think of one modern fantasy series called Greywalker that beats up the heroine a fair amount. And the Stumptown comic and series follow some of those tropes. I think the Jessica Jones series does this is a more emotional way. She takes more of a mental beating, though also some physical ones.
Not that I'm looking to send Dottie that direction, just wondering.
To answer your question: a lot of human level women in contemporary superhero series do this. Peggy Carter does a lot (just being on PrimeTime ABC meant she had very little injury makeup); a lot of the SHIELD folks did this male and female (albeit with Simmons often forcing them to get at least some treatment), especially very gritty and stoic May; many of the women in the Berlantiverse (Batwoman (both Kate and Ryan), White Canary, Black Canary, among others). I don't think this is a positive development.
You actually hit one of my pet peeves about how injuries are depicted in action pop culture, so I hope you forgive a bit of venting which is entirely directed toward television/movie writers and not toward you. Also I have a master's in English lit where I focused on feminist literary interpretations and took a film studies class once so I really got going rambling. All of this is observational and none of this is intended as a criticism to either of you (I don't think either of you do this stuff):
Further, people seeing folks on TV shrug off an injury that in real life takes months to heal and can have life-long affecting consequences does often lead to people underestimating an injury. I don't know how many times I have heard someone say on TV, "Oh, I just have a concussion," and they go about their business moments later like nothing's wrong. I actually used to think concussions were a mild thing based on seeing how they are extremely frequently mentioned in pop culture. Then I got one--stupidly, from trying to fix a printer under a desk and coming up and whapping the back of my head. I was dizzy for three days, suffered extreme agitation and irritability for several days, sensitive to light and screens for a week, and had a seriously nasty headache where I couldn't lie on my back for two months. And that was a mild concussion. I met people who couldn't read... at all... for three months. And of course there's the folks like American football players who suffer severe brain damage after receiving multiple blows to the head and transform into often violent, mentally ill individuals who are a physical danger to themselves and their families. I think action writers are being deeply socially irresponsible to treat head injuries in particular they way they do do.
I would pay lots of money to see an action show or movie where someone gets severely injured and they actually follow the doctor's advice. I realize that would have to happen with correct timing so that it doesn't impede the action/flow of the plot, but I would kill to see it. Heck, I'd love one where the hero actually dies because he was too stupid to listen to his doctor (but still heroically saves the day first). (More on timing in a minute).
I actually thought it was great that BD decided his character should have some consequences of being next to an explosion by taking on the (hopefully temporary) complication. Ruptured eardrums can happen easily and can take up to 3 months to heal. Yeah, I think it is in his character and likely a part of his background to have bought into those "macho" values and believe he has to tough it out, but to show that has some consequences is super cool. It keeps things gritty and realistic.
Dottie's attitude toward injury and pain is very different--and of course here we have her capable of regenerating so she literally is much less likely to have long term consequences. But Dottie doesn't believe so much in having to "tough it out" so much as "I was basically in constant pain my entire childhood so pain is just background noise to me." Her extraordinarily scrambled and tortured brain does not have a normal human response to pain (and this should be seen as tragic, not a strength). It's less about proving herself and more that it takes an incredible, Darkforce level of assault to actually make her think, "Wow, that really hurts; I should avoid that thing." But being a survivalist, she also isn't going to run around with a collapsed lung or something. She wants to do what it takes to survive. That includes seeking help or taking time to rest once she is able to. If she's toughing it out she has no choice. She is lucky that it does not take long for her to heal.
In Agent Carter, I always found it interesting to see Agent Carter deal with serious injury usually fairly well (in ONE episode)--but with Peggy trying to "tough it out" because that is what a woman in her role at the time would be pressured to do. She would feel she has to be "like the men" and do things "better than the men," and that includes having a nearly suicidal cavalier take toward pain and injury. But when she got the severe abdominal impaling, they were good... for about an episode... about showing what that injury would do to someone--she was limping, struggling to move, and when she pushed herself too hard she popped her stitches. of course they took the injury seriously for an episode because they needed to have an excuse to bring Dottie in--as if you need an excuse! ;)--but it was amazing to see them handle that so well... for one episode. Then suddenly a day later she's fine and a week later she's playing tug of war with an interdimensional rift. I had a surgical hole in my belly once and I'm pretty sure doing what Peggy did would have ripped my incision right open and my guts would be spilling into the street. I'm pretty sure her rebar injury would have resulted in worse consequences realistically. It's annoying as f!#& to me they did really well... and then once Dottie (the need for the injury) was successfully brought in the plot was dropped. Really irresponsible IMO. The only other explanation is off screen Peggy was given a super soldier serum, healed, and is immortal, and the old lady was just a clone that was buried and she's off saving the world elsewhere, as far away as she can get from mopey old "constant self-pity party" Steve.
Jessica Jones leans extremely heavy on noir tropes, and yes, this is very common in noir--which traditionally has a male lead and is referential in general to very patriarchical structures and roles (the Gritty Hero, the Crooked Cop, the Law Abiding Cop, the Helpless Damsel, the deceptive Femme Fatale). Jessica has noir detective qualities but they are clearly qualities traditional societies identify as "masculine." Jessica is Sam Spade with loss of male privilege--and therefore instantly gets things like "rape victim" added to her history--but she still will in most cases act as Sam Spade would, including shrug off getting shot in the spleen and drinking a case of bourbon after walking home from the hospital having discharged oneself AMA. And of course she is also superhuman so it takes a lot more to hurt her and she /can/ eventually shrug off many afflictions... Even so we see Jessica suffer consequences of her poor decisions (passing out in the street after she leaves the hospital because she's pushing too hard and drinking too much). We probably wouldn't see Sam do the same, somehow he'd just be fine even though he never should have left the hospital, and that's the problem.
I did like that Daredevil brought in Claire Temple, and that she was used in the Netflix shows a good deal. It's understandable why heroes can't always go to the hospital in these stories, but I liked that the show acknowledges mostly-human heroes are going to need regular medical treatment. The heroes often acted infuriatingly stubbornly and never did as she said, but at least she existed to explain why the heroes were surviving. Batwoman can be a very hit or miss show with the writing, but I love that one of their series regulars, Mary, also plays this role and makes sure all of the base-human characters are getting regular medical treatment which realistically they should be.
I recognize that in action shows and especially in RPGs like this, the prospect of having people endure real consequences to injury slows things down to the point of halting or severely disrupting the plot. But I think in writing you cna take care as to what kind of injuries somebody has--don't give someone a concussion unless you're planning to have them stumble and react to bright light for the rest of the story. Maybe a torn ear would be a better idea. Etc.
Heck, I love reading Ian Fleming's Bond books and come to think of it, while he muscles through injury the way all such heroes are expected to, generally they are treated constantly and consistently. The narrative often refers back to pain from an injury and ignoring something usually as consequences for Bond. For example I remember a scene where Bond is tortured and someone breaks his finger. His escape makes frequent mention of his not being able to use his hand the way he usually would; he gets home and sets it and ices it. It becomes a (minor) liability for the rest of the story. Fleming doesn't forget the injury and makes use of it. Bond is being a Patriarchical Icon gritting through the pain, yes, but the injury is also real and has consequences. He is also careful with HOW he injures Bond. He is sure he gives him injuries that raise the stakes and creates impediments, but of course he doesn't have Bond shot in the heart and then has to have him get up the next day feeling fine because otherwise there is no story without him. If you don't want your character dead and need them to be able to act tomorrow, don't get them shot in the chest. Have them graze a limb and make it harder to use that limb and make the likelihood they can survive the next scene lower, but don't just have them get up from a gaping chest wound after 8 hours rest saying, "i feel fine." There is a way to write injury responsibly (and still even have your gritty macho heroes).
RPGs are harder because the dice may decide to kill you. I appreciate in M&M 3E you can't easily kill someone, which suits the comic book genre. You have to either knock someone to "dying" or wait until they are otherwise "Helpless" and then you have to make a conscious decision to kill them. You can't accidentally kill someone with a lucky/unlucky die roll which I think is important when you have some human-stamina-level heroes. I appreciate that recovery times for multiple wound levels takes time--it's enough time to show that somebody really got hurt but no one is usually in the hospital for weeks, which would wreck the flow of the plot. It is possible to have consequences--it may not be fully realistic but there's SOMETHING that can happen to remind the human characters they are human. Still I recognize if you're planning to have your next plot event happen in three hours and someone dropped a 1 on their Toughness save and now they need hours to days of recovery time, this can screw things up. It is in fact often why I create M&M heroes with self-healing or other-people-healing abilities. Still I think a GM who is willing to wing it can make do. I think it also highlights the importance of using a lot of mooks and only really deeply statted, harder to fight villains for major encounters. Challenges that don't involve fighting can also come in handy. (I am not telling ST what to do, I'm thinking aloud about how as a GM I might think about these things.) The option of adding a complication also helps create an opportunity for consequences--I cleared my penalties to saving throws, but I've got this new disability that illustrates my character's mortality.
Anyway, I think it's great to illustrate consequences to injury, and I think more characters who try to grit their way through often debilitating injuries should more often face more realistic consequences to their extraordinarily foolish and selfish actions. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Dottie's been lucky so far to evade real injury--and of course she is built to be evasive--but between die roll luck and whatever else comes it's only a matter of time where she gets really slammed hard. I expect to follow her code/complication: survival first, mission second, all else last. If her injury is a survival risk, she will pragmatically withdraw and wait to heal. If the injury does not impede her mission, she will get the mission done first and deal with the consequences later. She won't show pain, but that's a survival technique learned in the Red Room (showing weakness got you killed), not a matter of something to prove to herself or anyone else.
Sorry you two. Have an audit this week at work which is stymieing my creativity.
Loved your post above DQ - very insightful and deserving of a far better answer than I can muster at the moment.
*pokes game* Everything ok?
I think at one point I was waiting for Frank to chime in and then I just forgot what I was doing. Which is good, because I now realize I didn't at all understand what Dottie was doing with that last post and now rereading it I do.
I'm not sure what Dottie was doing with that last post, so I'm glad you do.
I hadn't noticed that she was trying to bring Dukes into the circle, to let him know that she knows things, and he could share the things he knows, and everyone could combine what they know.
Of course, his paranoid self went a different direction than I did, but I'm sure that will all get worked out.
Ah yes. She was. But Dottie's manner is at the best of times, "Sure I want to help you, but I am also plotting at least twelve ways to kill you in case I need to as we speak," so I forgive his jumpiness.
Sorry my bad also, was allowing the drama of Dot and Duke's interplay to occur before gatecrashing the conversation :)
Waiting for Frank to check in.
Wow, this got away from me.
So I have this crazy idea. Let me know what you think. What if we start an episode with you arriving at the platform-helicopter, deception, strong arming, whatever.
As we go through that scenario, you have hero points that you can use for flashbacks that let you set up "the plan." In my head, this would look like a Mission Impossible movie or an episode of Hustle or Leverage. Also the Oceans 11 etc. movies, I guess.
Looked at the rules for this in the Leverage RPG, which I have never played. (why do I collect games I'll never play?) They are essentially just like the use of Hero Points to edit a scene.
This might be too big a narrative challenge, though. Maybe we should come up with a basic outline of how we got there?
We could play the whole thing out, but it doesn't seem high stakes enough for this moment.
Sounds a plan - makes sense from a narrative and "episode" theme. Lots of slow-mo flashback montages lol.
I like it - a departure from the norm, but in an interesting way :)
Think if we work the basic "storyboard" out collaboratively then get the wheels in motion.
I am game to try but I am not sure I understand what we are doing and what the benefit of the flashbacks are (given they will cost a hero point to generate).
I'm also definitely fine with saying "let's jump to the oil rig and handwave how we got there" whether it's combined or not with something else.
As far as plans go, I liked Frank's idea of just stowing away aboard a standard supply run. It's appropriate to the fairly low tech team and doesn't require the GM to play any more NPCs. It requires the massive coincidence that a supply run happens to be going out at a time convenient to us, but heck, I'd be happy to spend a hero point to create that convenience. I know Duke shot it down so part of me thinks the GM doesn't want us to do it that way, but I feel like Roxxon knows my, Frank's, and Duke's faces so pretending to be VIPs just isn't going to work.
I hear you on the frustration of getting into systems you know nobody else will play.
My thinking for Duke being opposed was that it took control of the timeline out of your hands. He is feeling time pressure.
I'm not sure exactly how to explain the flashback thing, and I haven't been able to find a scene with a great example.
This scene from Ocean's Eleven has one example where we flash back to Danny slipping a phone into Tess's jacket.
So, just as a possible example, I was planning to have Jessica call you and dole out some info. Instead, here, we would say that conversation happened, but not actually dramatize it yet. Then you can flash back to the conversation to gain a benefit it the scene.
It really is already built into the rules as editing a scene with a Hero Point. It is intended to make your characters look like they have made excellent preparations without you having to actually prep for any contingency.
I was planning to give you some Hero Points that you could use for that or for normal purposes.
I think the idea is very cool. (I've only ever seen Ocean's Eight, which probably comes as little surprise, but they use similar tropes of course.) I am not sure I will be very good at using it. On one hand I can certainly contrive reasons why someone might do or have a thing, but I tend to think linearly using what I already know (shows that use a lot of flashbacks, like the early days of Arrow drive me crazy). I am willing to give it a shot, but I expect I will disappoint you with how I make use of it.
Also--for stuff like information that we have learned, are we going to make that up or do we say "I spend a hero point for more information about x" and then you give us the flashback?
I would give you the flashback. In fact, I'm happy to take on the lion's share of flashing back if that sounds better.
Let's say that we are going to fast forward to the arrival of a helicopter delivering supplies to the rig. You are stowaways on the helicopter.
What do you need to have done before then? What are you taking with you for sure?
Dottie will not take the sniper rifle--it's too much bulk and she figures large caliber firearms and oil probably don't mix well--but she'll have the rest of her kit. Some general information is good. If we can swipe some Roxxon IDs/access keys. That kind of thing.
Speaking of flashbacks... nothing to do with this, but I finally finished (as finished as I am allowing myself to call it) the story of Dottie's rescue from the Raft. Ever since I saw Black Widow and saw that Natasha was going to be part of Steve's rescue at the Raft I felt like drafting their meeting. It is hokey as heck, but if you're bored, feel free to take a look.
Hey folks - first off on the chopper, most it delivered on these is typically Alu (Aluminium) Boxes, Offshore Kit Bags or Pelicases (like the one Frank keeps the Constrictor suit in).
So from a practicality point-of-view we could probably stow equipment required onboard ahead of the flight. Its nigh on impossible to "stow away" onboard, but an easy cover would be Inspection Engineers (most offshore installations require spot inspections to ensure their structural integrity is still up to scratch. If we'd secured a couple of IDs for Inspectors then we'd essentially have the run of the place.
However if we're going for total subterfuge, then stowing away on a cargo only chopper makes the most sense :)
@DQ: Read it. Loved it. Nuff said :)
I'm going to spend a Hero Point to say that Duke can manage through his contacts to get you on a chopper with inspector IDs. He is supposed to be a former corporate intelligence officer who still knows people in the company. This may lead to some trouble if someone gets wind of it, but that just makes it more fun.
The platform is about 120 kilometers off of the coast in water 1000 ft deep. (This is fudging the numbers of reality, but there aren't real platforms there anyway.)
As for the fiction, DQ, it made me really happy. Sitting right in the middle of my favorite era in the MCU, tying together some of my favorite characters into Dottie's story, and doing a good job with their voices. I read every line in their voices and everything read true.
The only thing I might change, and this is just because it is what happened in my head before I kept reading, is when Dottie takes the helmet off the soldier and bashes his head, she cartwheels to another soldier and takes his gun. I'd have her toss the helmet at the soldier and knock him out. That isn't at all a criticism, just what happened in my head when I was reading before I kept reading.
Just out of curiosity, where is this rig? How far from New York?
Maybe we figure out when some inspectors are on their way, knock'em out, and take their IDs? Dottie would still be paranoid about cameras recording and identifying them but if stowing away is not possible, it's not possible. She would try to be sure Duke and Frank have some obvious changes to the way they move/look. Glasses, scarf, mole drawn on with makeup, put a pebble in someone's shoe to give them a limp. Or of course following MCU tradition we can all be inspectors in ball caps and sunglasses.
Thank you all for the kind words. I expect were this really filmed in the MCU the focus would not be so much on Dottie, but it was a good opportunity to flesh out more of her backstory as well. It's been challenging to imagine what 70 years of working as a spy looks like. I'm sorry I couldn't think of better lines for Wanda than "what is going on?" but I figure she would mainly be trying to understand what they were doing and otherwise trying not to draw attention to herself around a stranger.
SuperT, fabulous idea on the helmet, that flows much better. Thanks for the feedback.
You're welcome.
I watched Black Widow today for the second time. I enjoyed it more than the first time. The tone of the third act didn't bother me as much as it did the first time. I still wish we had gotten an espionage thriller with BW, but I'm not going to hold that against the movie we got any longer.
And one more note. I think you had Steve carrying the shield, but that isn't true, right? Doesn't he give it up at the end of Civil War, and this is shortly after that?
The platform is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) off of the coast in water 1000 ft deep. (This is fudging the numbers of reality, but there aren't real platforms there anyway.)
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Are we ready to go? I'm hoping to stick the landing here with the end of season 1. Little nervous.
You're welcome.
I watched Black Widow today for the second time. I enjoyed it more than the first time. The tone of the third act didn't bother me as much as it did the first time. I still wish we had gotten an espionage thriller with BW, but I'm not going to hold that against the movie we got any longer.
In an ideal world, we would have had a BW movie sooner and gotten that proper MI/Bond style action piece that was largely just about Natasha. We don't live in an ideal world. As it is there is a lot good about the movie, more than many seem to want to admit, and it is a lot of fun. I don't mind the third act apart from the silliness that the whole thing was in a flying fortress, but I think they just wanted to make an excuse to recreate the Widow falling scene from the Black Widow monthly from a few years ago (by Mark Waid if I recall correctly).
If you enjoyed Black Widow, make sure you're watching Hawkeye. Great stuff. And tonally relevant to our own game, I think.
And one more note. I think you had Steve carrying the shield, but that isn't true, right? Doesn't he give it up at the end of Civil War, and this is shortly after that?
Whoops, you are right. I forgot he got the funky Wakanda shield in Infinity War. I'll have him deflect bullets with a torn off prison door.
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Yep, I'm ready. I'm sure as soon as we get going I'll remember something I wish I did, but that would happen regardless. ;)
I'll have internet access over Christmas but expect to be busy with some family stuff, so my posting may be intermittent. Happy Holidays, all!
Happy Holidays to you too DQ. Hope the festives are good to both you and our esteemed Tumbler!
Cheers
BD
I'm torn between fun vs sensible - I want to spend a hero point to access the tablet/maintain my cover.
Sensible: Flashback to being given a fake credential code to get acceas (or a SIM card Dottie could surreptitiously insert to hijack it).
Fun: Dottie uses her powers as a 92 year old to somehow completely lock up the tablet, which then open an opportunity to take her to an office to get a back up.
What do you think?
Glad you enjoyed the Easter eggs, BD.
DQ, when I handed you the tablet, I was intending to play on Dottie's lack of tech savvy. We talked earlier about how iPhones were a novel device to her, and while this isn't Tony's clear phone or a holographic interface, it is still beyond real world tech, and should be a problem for her.
I am always trying to write these things with an awareness of the genre and (for this campaign) trying to think of watching this whole thing as a viewer. As the audience, I'd be laughing when Dottie is handed this thing. Not that I want to make her a joke, but she is an older lady, and the notion of her fumbling with the tech appeals more to me.
Realistically, Duke would have knowledgeable enough to prepare you for this, so the SIM card makes sense.
Maybe the best answer is both? Flashback to Duke briefing the two of you on how to use the SIM to hack the thing, but Dottie somehow fails at the tech. That way it is true to both her competence and her weakness.
Maybe being 92 should be a Complication?