MNM Amazing Adventures (Inactive)

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Dottie is not savvy to 21st century tech (the 15 years in prison didn't help) but she would anticipate high tech doohickeys on a Roxxon facility. I agree it's realistic to say that Duke briefed her on what to expect and basic protocols... and it's also realistic that he may have shown her things on an actual, say, i-Pad and the supertech tablet she's handed looks nothing like it and chaos ensues.

As for complications... I've considered if I should make both the "older than dirt" and "arthritis in the trigger finger" to be complications, but so far I had decided not to make them actual complications because the former is something where I want to control what she knows and doesn't know (she is a quick study and some things she'll grasp quickly; while I trust you not to abuse things plotwise, if I have it in my head that she does understand, say, ridesharing and then you say "whoops, she doesn't know what Lyft is," things like that throw me), and the latter is my excuse for my typical die rolling and also not something I want actively used against me; it's just a concession to the sinister whims of the RNG. Right now I think I'll hold off but it's always something I can reconsider later. I Meanwhile my actual complications I've picked for things that can be real surprises and issues I couldn't think of or present on my own--I don't know when Darkforce will emerge, I don't know when the Feds are going to come knocking, and I don't know when the city erecting a statue in honor of Peggy Carter is going to throw Dottie off mission and those are the kind of curveballs I'd rather play with and react to. I hope that makes sense.

So typing this out here to "think aloud" so to speak. I'm torn between being Dottie Underwood, Agent of Chaos, and Dottie Underwood, soldier dedicated to the mission. One one hand, she is a sociopath who has learned over the years to anchor herself in what good people around her would do, and in this scenario, while still grieving over her primary moral compass, the one person she had convinced herself was good (Duke) has turned out not to be, and she may impulsively decide to see what happens when he fails so she can explore what his true colors really are--and or simply want to punish him for not being who she wanted him to be. (And as an aside--while Frank can serve to some degree as an anchor, she also sees him struggling, and so doesn't quite look UP to him as she sees him as an equal.)

On the other hand she is aware of the stakes if they fail, and has committed herself to seeing this whole Darkforce thing through. One of her complications is that she stays on mission unless her life is at risk and her life is not quite yet at risk. At the same time, again, the person she sees as being in charge she no longer respects or trusts, so her sense of what "the mission" is is also shaken. She also doesn't know what the risk levels are, and allowing things to go to pot will allow her to escape if she has to.

The gamer strategist in me says I should spend the hero point and try to salvage the mission, knowing that when the GM asks "are you sure you don't want to spend a hero point?" one should usually sit up and pay attention. The agent of chaos in ME says "trust the dice and see what happens."

The writer/lit nerd in me asks, "If this were really a Netflix show, what would happen?" and the answer would be, "Dottie, in a point where she is grasping for guidance and has none, succumbs to her moral failings and lets things go to s@+~ because that's more dramatic, even if it would make me want to throw things at the screen as a viewer."

And as I write this out and think about it, and acknowledging that we have been trying to stick to a strong genre theme and make this FEEL like a Netflix series...

Eh. No hero point. Let's see what Darque does. Frank, if you want me to do otherwise, say so.

Sticking to what rings true for Dottie makes way more sense. Like you mention, even if the "viewer" in you would be frustrated, the "writer" knows the character and what she's likely to do.

As you said Frank has tried to be an anchor, albeit one whose torn between a mercenary head and a redemption heart. Thus-far doing good has also paid well, but if that is a quandary (as this mission potentially is) will he have the gumption to see it through?

If this is the Season finale as ST has alluded to, then for me, how this plays out will set us up for where the pieces lie in Season 2 (even if its the day after, or weeks/months later). If the S2 consequences are the result of a generous slice of chaos, or self-sufficiency then so be it.

Agree 100% - let's see what Darque does and play what's in-front of us :)

Not to put too many cards on the table, but I'm hoping this episode (for Dottie) is exactly about that dichotomy. And for Frank, the same sort of thing. Everyone has a chance to decide who they are going to be. I can roll with whatever those decisions are, but the characters deserve the chance to make them.

And I completely appreciate staying on brand. I've lost touch with the tone of the Netflix shows a bit as a side effect of watching a years worth of Disney+ shows, which are very different. Trying to reclaim some of that with this set up, though even at that I've gone bigger than the street level setting. This isn't a flying superfortress, but I think it is a step higher on the scale than a Manhattan skyscraper.

Afternoon folks - just a heads up that Storm Corrie knocked out power and comms lines here in the bonnie North East o' Scotland.

As such posting will be limited to when I'm in work and not busy (which is rarer than hen's teeth). Please bot me as required til I'm back up and running (likely mid-weekish).

Stay well and hope all is repaired quickly. We (NE U.S. coast) had our own big storm hit a couple days ago but fortunately our particular region was only lightly affected. These winter storms can give one quite the buffeting!

I know it's almost cartoonish to have the old school Soviet use "filthy capitalist" as a phrase... but then Dottie's probably aware of that and uses it on purpose that way because it amuses her.

Don't apologize. I was totally Red-baiting her with that list. I knew none of those things would appeal to her, but Darque can't really fathom that.

Don't apologize. I was totally Red-baiting Dottie with that list. I know it wouldn't appeal to her at all, but Darque can't really conceive of that.

Dottie is also still holding a 70 year grudge against Howard for not remembering who she was. :) She WORKED on that look, dangit! (I also like to think that, given they built on the joke in season 2, if you told the decades long story of Peggy, Howard, Jarvis, SHIELD and all the others, it would be a running gag that Howard would never remember Dottie no matter how often he saw her. Which should be a compliment to Dottie that she blends in so well, but somehow always irks her.)

BD I had figured this was going to be your lead on this since as a player you're familiar with the terrain and since Dottie really is out of her depth with the tech and stuff. Since we've been separated, I really have no idea what I'm doing and the muse has decided she is going to just have a villain monologue nervous breakdown, so if you have thoughts on next steps I am all ears. We'll see what the bad guys do, but would like to confer.

I am all for Dottie killing this scientist. It makes sense to me.

In case y'all are waiting on me, the villains have a turn before I go again.

I was thinking Frank might want to react to that description of the door. I'll ponder what is happening topside and post soon.

Well darn. The good old boards are at it again - post from earlier in the week eaten and only just noted by me. Apologies.

Just a heads up folks - as you may have clocked in the Eldritch OOC had a couple of rush offshore jobs land of my lap this morning, so might be mid-week before I'm clear enough to contribute. Please bot Frank as/when/if necessary.

Good luck.

I'm going to use the time to ponder my next act wisely. And then my character-muse will have me type something entirely different.

I will post soon, I swear. I am so tired.

Please don't fret about it. I, too, am exhausted. Every day is like a marathon where I run out of juice before I get to the end.

Just a heads up folks I'm positively slammed at work - had a couple of additional jobs land of my lap today in an already busy week and need to do my team's performance review by Friday... also have our works Xmas do on Friday (at the 3rd tilt - covid allowing).

Posting might be pretty spotty until the weekend so please bot Frank as necessary.

Was reading Avengers comics recently. Natasha is in space on a crazy space mission. Stark is lost in the past, but Natasha has brought an armor he designed for her. When she puts it on, she calls herself War Widow, or maybe just the armor is called the War Widow. Comic is from 2020, so our use of the name predates that. Don't know if it appeared earlier.

Sorry ST/DQ - work is a grind at the moment, loads on and not much post shift energy for anything else.

Hoping this weekend will see the load lighten. Meantime please bot Frank as necessary.

Sorry I've been kind of AWOL this week, not sure where the time has gone. Ah, right, besides work, Rune Factory 5. Sorry about that, not really a good excuse.

Never saw that, SuperT! I read Black Widow comics but not a lot of Avengers ones. I am not surprised--it makes sense to have "War Widow" as a cross between "Black Widow" and "War Machine." But obviously I like my name for my war-era Black Widow.

I expect if Dottie were to be tied to a comics character, it would be Alexa Lukin/Volkoff in Ta-Nehisi Coates' run on Captain America. Sadly Alexa is a bit of a bland character (the only letdown in an otherwise excellent comic series)--very "ve must destroy the kapitalist peeg Amerikans" cardboard cutout Russian Villain. She massively lacks Dottie's sass and gift for chaos... or any personality at all, really. But the reason I make the connection is because, apart from looking a lot like Dottie, she is also World War II era and connected to Peggy Carter. In the comics, Alexa recruited Peggy to join the war effort (because of course it was Betty Ross in the super soldier test room, not Peggy Carter), and trained her to join a semi-covert group of female freedom fighters called the Daughters of Liberty who at the time were aiding the Allied Armies (though the Daughters go back a few centuries). They were originally allies, but somewhere along the lines, Alexa remained a loyal Soviet soldier and married Alexander Volkoff, one of the newer Red Skulls who in turn of course remained an enemy of Captain America (and Peggy, resurrected by the Cosmic Cube, is a character in this series). I like the idea that comics version they may have started as friends and ended as enemies, but maybe in the MCU they started as enemies and ended as friends...?

But Alexa was not a Black Widow. Her superhero/villain name is Night Witch, because a) she was a pilot in the war, and b) she is a magic user, hence her longevity into the modern day. I have toyed with the idea since reading this that maybe Dottie could still carry a bit of Darkforce within her and could one day manipulate it (she's just too afraid/stubborn to let it out), making "Night Witch" a decent new name. But right now I'm happy with War Widow and the power level we're at (and I'd rather spend any XP we get on some skills and other things). But I haven't completely ditched the idea either...

I'm thinking from your post that you know about the Night Witches who were Soviet Pilots in WW2. In the interest of not mansplaining, I won't go into it, but if not definitely look them up. I discovered the history while looking for plays to do with large female casts.

Night Witch would be a good code name for a lot of reasons.

I think it was clear, but just to be sure, I wasn't criticizing the War Widow name, just intrigued that something you came up with appeared in print a couple of years later.

And lastly, I just finished the "Enter the Phoenix" arc of the Avengers run, and it was terrible. Five more issues in that series. Hope it ends well.

I hope it does not shock you to know I've read buckets about women's roles in the Soviet Union in World War II as part of getting my head around Dottie, so yeah, I've read up on the Night Witches. :)

And no, not taking your comment as criticism, just waxing on the idea that if War Widow couldn't be Dottie's name, there's other options and segueing from there into comic counterparts.

That's what I expected, just wanted to make sure. I knew nothing about them until pretty recently. Last summer, I guess.

And of course, since we are out here in the multiverse, our War Widow can be whatever we want.

I'm assuming it means you're going to have Tony Stark gift her with a suit. Right? Riiiiiight?

Busy busy operational week folks. Likely be a day or so before I can get some clear air to post. Bot Frank if needbe.

Well, I was having fun for a minute and actually being able to use my skillset, so I guess that couldn't have lasted long. Just my luck, finally get a victory roll and get absolutely nothing for it.

I feel like I need to clarify that I was trying to shut things OFF, not turn things on. Dottie doesn't know of course what is happening down there, but having heard about a gamma area and knowing gamma restricts zero matter capabilities, her presumption was they'd keep low key radiation active to keep the subjects from manifesting their powers in an unwanted way. She was hoping to turn OFF the restriction to create chaos to keep the bad guys busy so they can escape.

And metagame wise I was just trying to get the band back together because in a two player game splitting the party is really no fun at all. I have to admit I thought "Oh, here is a way I can alter things so Frank can use the elevator!" Otherwise there is no reason for this device to be here, I foolishly thought.

I do not want to be negative (no pun intended). I think you've built up an amazingly complex world and situation. I also think I am just way too stupid to be able to handle it. Further I feel like you've built a scene that is supposed to be a solid challenge for Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, and then threw a mob mook and a femme fatale at it. Neither of our skillsets involve brains or tech. I understand the idea of the heros being slightly in over their head and then surging forward to victory, but I feel like we have been set up to fail and die here, which is not the same thing.

I know it is really hard to GM, especially in a complex and rich world as this. I also know when I have GMed I feel like I am being totally obvious about what I think the players should do, and the players have no idea in reality.

I want to make very clear: I truly have no idea what I am supposed to be doing, and for this reason, I am not having any fun. I have found this whole scene extremely frustrating. I had hoped this was going to be a quick information gathering session so we could plan a proper assault on the bad guys later (after all, we only got the sample to our allies the night before and don't even have our weapon to fight the big bads yet). (I was also hoping since I am a femme fatale and all I could have had a chance to do something fun and Black Widow-like like seduce Dr. Darque but Duke had to sabotage the scene before Dottie barely had a chance to talk to her, and then Frank got attacked so Dottie had to try to hold her hostage... And now we're separated and all the fun is where Frank is and I'm tired of having a split party and gah...)

I want to be clear also that the vast majority of this game has been fun, and this is an outlier. I know this game is the product of a lot of very, very hard ongoing work, work that I deeply appreciate. I think there's just something about this specific scenario that I clearly am just too stupid to be able to handle/process/comprehend what to do.

Further Dottie has been given no feedback as to what just happened, so she literally has no clues to lead her to any sort of subsequent action. I can't post anything until she has a direction to go.

Ack! I completely mistook what you meant by "hit the switches for the hab and lab pods. I thought you meant you were trying to activate the system to shut down any Zero Matter that was active.

I think it is easy enough to say that you flip the switches, activating the zero matter countermeasures. Displays show you that happend, and you realize the switches need to go the other way.

I'll ponder the other issues.

Yeah, whoops, I just realized that I had typed something along the lines "turned the switches to off" and then I rewrote my post to edit something else and deleted the "off" part. So that's my bad for contributing to the confusion there.

It is understandable that Dottie was being all "I will end Darkforce everywhere" a minute ago to assume the other way, but she was also trying NOT to kill Frank (even if she acknowledged that was a risk) and knew he was likely whereever their test subjects were based on context clues from various dialogues. (And I the player really don't want to kill Frank because of a misunderstanding.)

To help clear up any further misunderstandings and avoid working at cross purposes for plot advancement:

Dottie's goal right now is to find Frank and leave. Duke botched the mission to get information. They've learned a number of things regardless (the oil rig is a Darkforce experimentation lab, there are other test subjects, Negative was a subject who got out of line and Hale was his handler). Dottie doesn't have the tech skills necessary to get any additional information, so she's considered the mission as complete as it can be, and therefore, it's time for extraction. Dottie does not believe they can do anything permanent about Spot or the other Darkforce users until they can get their Gamma Trap from Sterns and Samberly and moreover knows she does not have enough information or skills to handle whatever this rig throws at her (I admit, I think we both forgot we could use hero points for flashbacks about mission prep, but I also have no idea really how to make good use of that. I need to know what I need to know to spend a hero point to learn it, but since I don't know what I need to know, I can't spend a hero point to find out what I need to know.).

Anyway, Dottie will do everything she can to Frank and get him out, but if she fails and/or finds there is absolutely no way to find/reach him with what she is capable of doing, she will just go back to the helicopter that she has the keys for and leave by herself. (As a player, I don't want to do that, but if I'm out of options, that is what the nature and complications of the character would dictate.)

Dottie does not plan to rescue Duke. He's disappointed her and she's happy to leave him in the hands of his (former?) masters.

I'm not sure what she'd want to do with the rescued test subjects. That's a moment of drama/contention for if and when she reconnects with Frank.

And for something completely different, this has put me in a good mood.

She Hulk actually looks decent - pleasantly surprised!

Just checking if any retconning of posts is happening or am good to go in the game thread. Actually panicked when I read above and mistook it that Frank had been fried! :S

Going away for a little R&R and I am running out of time to put up my posts (I hit the other two games first). Dottie has a plan to
(1)flush Booker down the incinerator tube
(2)don an anti darkforce suit and steal any spares she can carry/stuff into her bag (at least one)
(3) Take photos with whatever spy gear Duke equipped her with (hero point for that if needed)
(4) do a little subtle sabotage to the equipment in the lab, and then
(5)look for where Frank might be coming up. I'd like to give that post proper narrative but if you need to push along, that's the gist. If not maybe the scene can turn over to Frank and the girls trying to leave.

Camping tomorrow through Monday and will only have my phone with me, so I will likely not be able to post too frequently (through I'll check in if I can). Please bot if needed.

Work and RL over last couple of days have emptied my tank folks. Going to get my head down and recharge, will likely be weekend before I'm up and posting again.

Bot me as necessary please.

Work is now insane for me and will be for a few days. Want to post but am too drained. Will soon as I can.

Just a heads up gang - I'm slammed operationally with work at the moment. Have leave booked for Friday but time will likely be sparse before then. Please bot me as required.

I think we are all on board for how this plays out. Not sure I can actually make it work in an RPG, but we'll do our best.

Am back post work crunch and break after work crunch.

I have in my head a "fight to get to the top" montage that at some point somehow Dottie has time to pause and put on her full War Widow gear to fight the baddies while the two girls make a run for it, but I have just not yet had the time or energy. But if now is the time for a montage, let me know. Wagon Fulla Pancakes optional.

And yes, I have a general sense, I think, for where you're going. We'll need BD fully operational for it to work right so hopefully his own work crunch is dying down.

Yeah, the three of us really need to get ourselves together ;).

Yeah, I think what should happen here is that a kickass version of our theme music kicks in and we get a montage of War Widow and Constrictor doing their things (if we want to tag rolls into that, I'm thinking we treat it as more of a skill/combat challenge, a series of rolls to see how well or poorly it goes).

Security forces and just evacuating workers stand against Dottie, Frank keeps his two opponents away from the kids as they get into the elevator core.

Work has continued to ramp up, likely be the weekend before I see any kind of respite.

Apologies to you both, appreciate the patience.

GM when you are available we are waiting on you, I think

Will post by tomorrow. All you, BD.

By the way, I have something (completely inconsequential but fun) I want to do when I take off, but I wanted to stop for any final "WAITS!" before they get the rotors going.

Let's see what Frank wants to do. It would be great is we could finish the scene before Thursday. I'll be out of touch for a while starting then.

Really, folks, this is the end of this part of the story. I don't care at all about rounds and rolls. Feel free to tell the story that you want to tell. I can GM what you need me to, but this can play out in storytelling mode if you want.

BD/Frank--any last words? I have my own (typical to me, overly lengthy) approach to a denouement so I can tie up loose ends and drop in some thematics, but I feel like you need to have a chance to have any final thoughts/scenes/etc.

I know we're wrapping things up; I know it's not quite time to say goodbye yet, but thanks all for a wild ride.

Yeah, I was trying to leave some space there for a final Frank moment. Lovely scene on your end, DQ. Awesome moment and use of music.

Thanks guys - have been creatively struggling of late and also wanted to find the right words for Frank at this bittersweet season finale.

Have had some inspiration today, so will formulate and get a fitting post up tomorrow. Appreciate the patience :)