MNM Amazing Adventures (Inactive)

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Sorry folks. I contracted Covid-19 a week a go and that has kept me from keeping us moving.

I'm starting to feel better.

Damn. Take the time you need, certainly. I understand even mild cases can have unexpected ups and downs so take it easy and I hope you recover soon.

Ach - not good, echoing DQ in the sentiment of healing, taking your time and looking after yourself until your ready and able.

Not finding the detail I want in the 3rd edition resources, so I'm going back to 2nd edition Agents of Freedom for more info about weapons. Surprisingly, Agents has more info about conventional (and more sci-fi) weapons.

I'm thinking Dottie wants distance and stopping power, so something like a Barrett M82 50 caliber sniper rifle is probably the way to go.

Combining some stats from 50 caliber machine gun and sniper rifle, we get something like damage +7, range increment 250 ft. A scope gives Improved Aim (+5 at those kind of ranges).

I'm thinking Carbonadium bullets (or Judas) should just do the same damage as the gun firing them with Penetrating. Maybe Carbonadium nullifies some of his defense as it cuts through the radiation?

Frank needs a gun as well, right?

Or are you just buying bullets for the others to use?

Just buying bullets for the common good GMST :) Although a nu-alias of ReCoil would be cool lol.

Carbondadium rounds would be cool if they disrupted or nullified some of his defences.

Re: Dottie's armoury I'm guessing the Dragunov SVD would be one she's highly familiar with? It's the Soviet cold war era sniper weapon of choice, am sure Turk could get his paws on one :)

I actually thought about the Dragunov. It is a very distinctive gun and would tie into Dottie's background. Wasn't sure if she would prefer "old and busted" or "new hotness." I'm good either way.

For equipment, 3rd edition I think mostly figures you will design what you need using the powers system as a basis -- roughly the EP something costs would be equal to its power cost (including the -4 for easily removable)--it's just not a power/not something you can pull from at all times. So think of how powerful/how many ep something costs and calculate what it would take to build that as a power and there you go.

Just a reminder that, contrary to popular belief, in real life I am not a highly trained Russian assassin, but a dorky middle-aged chocolate-loving Quaker. Yes, a Quaker who loves spy fiction and superhero stories and plays violent video games (a "Death Quaker" if you will), so I've picked up some various random information on what kinds of guns exist out there, and I even seem to know more about stuff like, say, trigger discipline than some of the gun-waving yahoos I've seen in the media as of late... but in the end of the day, as a pacifist trained in conflict mediation and civil disobedience rather than fighting I really don't know or genuinely appreciate the difference between a Glockenspiel X93-3000 and a Sterling-Remington Double-Barreled Poopenshooter 12. For RPGs, I'm more about "give me the stats and I will trust you wrote them up fairly" than giving me the name of a specific gun manufacturer and its model.

But just for fun and your reference, the gun nuts who contribute to the MCU Wiki have identified the actual sniper rifles she used in Agent Carter, namely a custom Henry 1860 and an M1D Garand (I believe the former is really a hunting rifle, but the one she used was partially disassemblable and had a scope). In my headcanon, she did join the sniper units of the Red Army during World War II after Lyudmila Pavlichenko was removed from battle due to injury (because it lines up with her age/timeline right--Pavlichenko was wounded in '42 which is when Dottie was first seen in action), so probably did use a Dragunov or something similar (if Dragunovs are post WWII). (ETA: Actually, looks like Dragunovs were first made in '58 so she may have NOT used one, typically; in official canon she was trapped in the U.S. from 1946 on, cut loose by Russia, and in our personal canon Dottie was a SHIELD agent by then--she joined in '55--Peggy felt safer to recruit her after Stalin died.)

As I see it, Dottie wants a lightweight, disassemblable sniper rifle that can shoots high caliber bullets to a very far-away accuracy--and yes, preferably including the carbonadium bullets or Judas bullets we're hoping to get. I don't think she cares about brand name or the year it was first developed as long as it reliably delivers the impact she is seeking. As a 92 year old and yet still in her physical prime assassin (trigger finger arthritis aside) she is doubtless in her own life and with SHIELD has trained with a very large number of firearms. I'm sure like many gun-havers, she has her favorites, those which suit her style of fighting and build best, but I think part of the "superpower" of being a Black Widow is she can pick up any weapon (or baseball bat or dentist's drill, etc.) and use it to a beyond-competent degree.

The MS-74 was the sniper rifle of choice post 1948, however it was developed (as per the article linkified) throughout WWII.

Would make sense that "special ops/sniper units" may have used prototypes in the field (most likely developed the weapon in a sense).

SVT-40 (sniper configuration) is another she's likely familiar with.

But this being the MCU, and like DQ says Dottie isn't bound by historical familiarity. Getting a modular rifle for the job at hand would be more atypical of her modus operandi.

I think I tend to think of DQ as one person and Dottie as a different person. In my head, they are friends, probably, but definitely different.

I think that the Barrett M82 makes the most sense in that it is the most modern, and she just wants the best and can use anything.

Oh sure, you think so, but the others... ;) I'm just noting that a lot of the finer points of gun talk goes over my head. :)

I'd like to think that if Dottie had to kill me, she'd do it quickly and painlessly. If was lucky, she might use the Sweet Dreams lipstick first.

Re: my in game query on Frank being known as Constrictor, as a former (and ahem current) costumed mob enforcer, was just checking it wasn't common knowledge in all circles.

Constrictor is a nom du guerre that Frank's assumed (or been assigned) when he took to wearing the battlesuit. It's not a street name like Diamondback say. So makes sense that Turk know's Frank but not his alias.

Its these sort of minor details that creep into my thoughts as I post lol...

That really is perfect for her.

I vacillated between one of the blue jumpsuits form 70s agents of SHIELD, a surplus leather trenchcoat that should have gone to Fury, and this. The other two were fun, but this felt more like a moment for badass than a joke.

ST/DQ, just a heads up that my posting might be erratic this week. Got a bunch of RL stuff that is stymieing my creative flow and has frankly ground me down mentally...

I’m still missing my boy terribly, and while we’ve discussed getting another rescue pup of late, a sense of “replacement guilt” has weighed on me heavily. Additionally while gym's reopen in a week’s time here in Scotland, but it's been a long time coming, and that lack of “iron therapy” has been acutely felt of late in my mental wellbeing.

Lastly, but not least, I often set myself up as a defacto union rep in my workplace. Lately there’s been some issues that have put me at loggerheads with upper-management, whilst trying to do right by co-workers and the small team I’m responsible for. Sleepless nights and frustration has ensued, which has also contributed to my headspace being less than stellar.

I’ve taken Friday off, to bookend a bank holiday this weekend. Hoping to use the time to recharge and deload. If my posting is off, or I go awol for a day or three hope you’ll understand why in light of above.

Thanks ahead of time for your collective patience and understanding.

Gary/BD

Take your time, we all need space to decompress, especially in the times we're living in right now.

Decompression and chilling has been had, feeling mentally and physically recharged.

Thanks for the patience and understanding folks - much appreciated.

Posted in game :)

I'm going to award each of you 3 power points. That will let Dottie pay off her new equipment if she wants to make it more long term. And I feel like we are all learning somethings, exploring our limits, maybe some of us are reawakening old habits.

I will do so.

Is the coat still some form of ablative Protection?

I've been thinking about my build, as I've been practicing builds again. I aimed in her build to be Superior Human just about, so I avoided powers for the most part (outside of her Black Widow Serum stuff). But I am wondering if I should combat rebuild a bit, to throw in a "sneak attack" -- a Strike power limited to when target is Vulnerable or worse. And likewise rejigger skills to be replaced by low levels of Leaping/Movement. There is stuff in those that she SHOULDN'T be able to do that would require limitations and yet I think it's possible to actually save PP by building more abilities as Powers than building up Skills (this game is weirdly geared toward making it hard to be skillful but easy to be powered). OTOH, Skills are so often used for various things she may be best as is.

I know we've been playing for like... gosh, I think a couple years now. And it's sort of silly to propose a rebuild this late in the game. But it's something I was thinking about, especially since the Heroes are Getting Their New Costumes (TM) that we're moving into a new arc, that it would be a good point to implement a rebuild if I was going to do it.

If no that is totally okay.... she was built to be street level and this is supposed to be a street level game. Just spitballing. (Plus once I actually crunch the numbers they may not work out the way I think they will.)

Yeah, I think a rebuild is fine. In a sense, for me at least, we are getting to the scenes where the heroes really lean into their hero selves. Until now, you have been somewhat resistant, sort of skirting the challenges, but now you are really leaning in.

And Frank is, I guess, getting ready to give up some of his coils? I wasn't expecting that, but it is certainly a new direction.

I think ablative is the coolest way to use the coat. In the sense that it has plates in it. So it is ablative by encounter. You can swap out the plates between encounters.

I'm open to other thoughts.

Okay. I'll enter in the coat, etc. while I am at it. I agree that makes total sense, was just checking to be sure you still had that in mind even when the shape changed. (I still LOVE that coat btw. It wasn't what I had envisioned at all, but it is PERFECT.)

If I find a minute I may try to draw her in her new look (bearing in mind my drawing skills are rusty as heck). Bridget Regan is a big proponent of mask-wearing so there's conveniently good pics of her wearing masks that cover her lower face. (And also yay COVID-19 safety.)

We've earned 5 XP (PP) in all, right?

BD I failed to say welcome back soon enough. Hope all remains well.

Toyed around with a rebuild, this is what I came up with. I decided to redo her kit as a Utility Belt (alternate equipment array) and had a couple equipment points left over so I added flash bangs to the utility belt. Weirdly, when I tried to build them (the Excel sheet I'm using I needed to custom-make the equipment and assign abilities manually), I got flash bangs as a 4 point piece of equipment rather than 16 point. I'm not sure how they calculated that out. Comparatively, my calculations for the jacket, sniper rifle, etc. came out correctly.

I threw in 1 rank of leaping, which is a 15 foot jump, with a limitation of "near surface"--the idea being is she is somersaulting over people, grabbing onto light fixtures and swinging, kicking off of walls, etc. And I in turn lowered Athletics and Acrobatics (and removed the Skill Mastery advantages, which I may regret later) since part of what I use those skills for are maneuvers like that. I added the gear and the sneak attack Otherwise everything is mostly the same. Sleight of Hand took a hit; we'll say her arthritis is acting up.

No worries DQ :) So far so good, am still easing myself back in posting and all my games, so might be slower than usual for a week or so.

Re: Frank, makes sense for him to give up some of his coils. Not sure if that will effectively reduce him to one coil or reduce the "reach" of both? Former seems more realistic given there is likely internals on the coils that would also be spoiled in stripping the housing material.

I'm toying of rebuilding him based off the similar villain Whiplash/Blacklash who has several similar abilities to Frank as Constrictor... but am open to suggestions as creativity is a luxury at the moment lol. :)

Reading your character sheet... given you never had a multiattack or extra limbs trait on your coils that I can see, your powers could be refluffed as "one coil" easily enough. Alternately the reduced reach might make sense... I'd make him less like Whiplash, honestly, and more like, well, a snake--get close and you get wrapped.

As I look at your sheet, and I'm sorry I never thought about this before... I am wondering why you have both snare AND the array of grab-based feats attached to your coils. Grab is a normal attack that, if it succeeds, the target is either restrained (immobile and vulnerable), or with two or more degrees of success, bound (defenseless, immobile, and impaired).

Snare is a form of an affliction attack, and leaves the target either hindered and vulnerable, or defenseless and immobile. It's basically a Powered (and as designed, ranged) form of grab--while the conditions it causes are fewer than grab, it is superior in that there are fewer ways to resist it. Wouldn't it make sense to have one or the other? A grab designed attack or a snare-designed attack? I apologize if I am missing something here. But as far as I can tell, you've designed a power that requires you to grab someone so you can grab them.

(The grab-based flaw is supposed to apply to different sorts of powers, like a vampire has to grab a target before applying a weaken/drain attack.)

If you designed the coils as an Affliction attack (I wouldn't start with Snare, which is a pre-built Affliction that is actually designed to be ranged and your attack is a close attack), that deals the conditions hindered, immobile, and incapacitated. (Or limited to just hindered and immobile if you want to save a pp per rank.) Decide whether it's resisted by Fortitude Save of Dodge; either is way better than how targets resist grab. You get the same result either way and actually give your target fewer ways of being able to escape your grasp while saving six or more power points (which you could throw into multiattack).

I'm also not getting the limitation to touch only since you also have reach? Seems like your ability would work as intended with just a straight up Affliction (which is by default a close attack), limited to two degrees of failure but an added stun, and have it avoided by dodge. That's 8 points. (9 with the carbonadium feature.) Then more could be poured into things like extra limbs, multiattack, and the electricity attacks.

Hey DQ - hah, no problem. To be honest I built his power set off of a previous build on the old Ronin Army boards where Marvel conversations were to be had.

Probably didn't dig into the ramifications of how those powers actually operated to be honest - with hindsight and a better understanding of how the system runs, likely that Constrictor 2.0 will make more sense...

Though I can't guarantee my mojo will be up to the task at present - might be more slow and steady, but I appreciate the input and insights :)

I agree that one coil would be cool, whether it stays attached or becomes more of a whip. But I think this raid gives us a good opportunity to fuse aspects of Frank as enforcer and agent.

I'm happy to end the episode with the two of you eating Dominican eggrolls and have the next episode open in the middle of the raid, I don't think there is too much narrative ground to cover in between those. But I can imagine there might need to be some eggroll conversation. And obviously you want to get your power points spent.

I'm good with a wrap up conversation and then moving into the next scene. What are we raiding again? I remember we were checking out a couple other leads and being sure loose ends were tied at the ice house but I may have forgotten something. Was Lou putting something together?

Any thoughts/suggestions on the proposed rebuild?

Lou is putting together a "team" to take the fight to Negative. If you want ot check on loose ends and the ice house I'm good with that too.

I like the powers in the rebuild. The only thing that stands out to me as strange is the handcuffs in the utility belt. You handcuff someone and suddenly can't use your pepper spray, but that is a very minor quibble

Ah yes! The only reason the Ice House was on my mind was it would be in Dottie's nature to create herself a safe house if they needed to leave, and if the ice house is abandoned that would be a good resource--plus they can check for any clues left behind by Cheung (with Dottie's plan of trying to psych-war Negative if all else fails). But it sounds like you're ready for the raid so why don't we do that. Unless BD has other ideas?

Fair point, I can actually take them out and the EP will still add up because it's only a 1 point item. I was building quickly and was just throwing everything but the coat in the array.

First off - thanks to the pair of you for bearing with me, been a slow road and your collective patience is much appreciated.

Okay - onto being Frank:

Alternately the reduced reach might make sense... I'd make him less like Whiplash, honestly, and more like, well, a snake--get close and you get wrapped.

More I think about this, more I like it - a rebuild like this would be more literal - a Constrictor. Grapple (with Strength enhancement extra on holding them) - would make sense for his depleted coils. Would draw some inspiration from another lesser know villain - Anaconda.

If he gets hold of you, its tough to get away... With his suit being insulated against electricity, the shock grapple becomes a pretty cool coup de grace.

Plot Thickeners:

Like the notion of us coverting the Ice House into some kind of base of operations for us - means we don't have Duke being endangered also. Ultimately the work with Joe and the Maggia will turn sour, so using their resources is only a means to an end...

Regardless - think my mojo is on the up, will try my hand at a redesigned Constrictor and see what pops.

I strongly recommend a Snare power rather than a grab-based ability, so there are fewer ways to resist. (I say this with a grab build, but I think Frank's super-suit coils should be better at holding onto things than Dottie's human limbs.)

Let's take a quick detour to the ice house while you finalize any build decisions.

Apologies for my lack of attention this previous week. Teaching has been sucking all of my energy lately. I'm teaching with half the students in the classroom and half at home, and have hours more supervision duties than usual. I'm also finishing up a "3 week" renovation that started mid July and has taken 9 weeks.

I kept trying to get it together enough to make good posts, and couldn't. I hope things will be better this week, but life is going to stay tough for a while.

All my friends who are teachers are getting very drained by the current situation, whether it's full remote teaching or hybrid. If you need a break, say so. We can be here when this is a fun escape and not a creativity drain.

My wife is teaching all online, and to a much more at risk population than I, but man, this is hard.

The sad thing is that these games are life-line to sanity, but most nights this week I was too tired to even watch tv, much less be creative.

Appreciate the candor and feel for you ST.

Have friends and family who are teachers, and am hearing the same, that its very draining - and also as DQ notes, difficult to maintain that balance between face-to-face and online.

Think this whole pandemic world order is taxing on us all, appreciate its the way of things now, but definitely played a huge part in my own recent malaise.

If things slow considerably, we'll still be here - gives me time (and no excuse) to get Constrictor 2.0 build done!

Hang in there - we're here as as escape as much as anything else :)

BD any thoughts on next steps?

Sorry RL and work have been stymieing me yet again.

I'll try and get something up...

Slight tweak to the rebuild but I think I am done. I got rid of Daze--it seems appropriate for Dottie but at a standard action just to make someone lose a move action, it just doesn't seem efficient. I threw the freed up power point into 2 points of Persuade... she's had to make a few meaningful speeches lately.

Apologies - Work has wiped me out this week folks, been a long weekend of duty calls and after action meetings. Likely to be closer to Friday before I'm in position to post. Please bot me as/when required.

Sorry too last week was really busy and I lost track. I am still really into this game so very happy to move when everyone else is. I'mma post something and when BD can that's fine with me for continuing.

Yep, I figured we were waiting for Frank. :) No problem, just posting when I can. My rate of busy-ness spikes from quite high to low depending on work projects so I post when I can

Hey folks - apologies for my absence over the last week, as I touched on previously was burned out with work.

Bad news is things are continuing to ramp up over the next month here in my Ops role, and I’ve a bunch of front loading to do ahead of my planned seasonal family vacation to Dubai for 2 weeks from 12-29 Dec.

Knock on has been I’ve been mentally wiped and struggled for motivation and impetus. I’ve always taken pride in being a player who didn’t just post for postings sake, and enjoy the role-play as much as the roll-play.

As a result I’ve taken the very, very tough decision to cut back on the games I play in, and run, and try and focus on those games I’ve belonged to longest. Next few weeks will tell if a reduced game load will help and allow me to manage my input whilst tempering it with RL demands.

So in short I’m still here, and hope to be a productive player, but would ask that the huge level of patience and understanding you’ve all already granted to me is extended for a few more weeks.

I’ll try and post whenever possible, but if my creative funk continues please bot Frank to keep the impetus or have him potentially take a background role for the time being.

I replied in Netherwar, but I'll expand here:

I think we are all three struggling with work and life at the moment. I'm happy to take things as slow as we need to. No pressure, no burden. There are times in other campaigns when I am frustrated by the lack of progress, but that hasn't happened here. If anything, I'm probably most frustrated with how complex I've let the plot get.

Tumbler, you WERE going for a Netflix feel, so you were at least building true to your aspirations. ;) Still if you wanted to erase a plotline and pretend it never happened I think both of us would be happy to go along. I certainly have plotted myself into a tangle before so have no interest in seeing another GM--one who is generally a more skilled GM than I--get stuck if there's a way out of it. I also know the nature of GM plans vs player also means there's probably threads we haven't picked up on and/or other threads we've over-focused upon, and encourage adaptation for your own sanity's sake. :)

BD, hope you get the relaxation and respite you need. If you need to take a formal break, I encourage it. I have sometimes taken breaks, both from GMing and from playing on PBPs, just for the sake of taking a break, which has often saved me from burnout. If you're fine pruning down on games and that also helps, awesome, but much as I enjoy having you around to play with, don't want you in any sort of funk and would rather you do what you need to so when you do show up to play, you feel energized and ready to go.

A lot of PBPs I've been in are slowing down. Even though all of us are at our computers more due to COVID, it's a literally traumatic time and lots of upheaval is going on; here in the U.S. the election is also a massive source of strife, anxiety, and depression. So trying to focus on these pretendy funtime games amid screen exhaustion I dig is a difficult and exhausting thing. I admit I've been put in a bit of a catch-22. With my new editing job I am staring at a screen all day long and if I want to stare at screens longer at that I am drawn toward something mindless, simple video game playing or bingewatching. Yet I rely on PBPs for some casual social contact--though rest assured friends, family, and community is accessible via phone, email, text, and Zoom--especially as I've cut almost all other Internet interaction out of my life. Casual interaction on the boards, here or elsewhere, just seems to inevitably lead to my neuroses being triggered by misunderstandings and Internet Jerks (TM); whenever I have just spent a lot of time in conversation online I always end up furious often for little sensible reason, so it's better for my sanity to just not interact. At the same time, I live alone, which while has normally worked fine for my uber-introverted self, has become sanity-eroding in COVID times. Because PBPs we're all trying to work together to make this game work, I think there is a better likelihood to have some good interaction and a guaranteed smaller group where it is easier to work out misunderstandings. So in short, on one hand, I totally understand why folks are burned out (and I am too) by PBP and can't put themselves into it and yet I also see a support scaffolding for myself falling away. I wonder if some kind of simpler online game or small group interaction might be more fulfilling for everyone. IDK. This is pre-caffeine rambling. Y'all do what you need to to take care of yourselves. I've got to get on to a too-early work meeting.

I enjoy the complexity, and I think you guys generally do as well. And all of the threads are woven into the same tapestry. That part is all fine, the story is working pretty well, and you guys have fun things to do, people are getting to use their abilities to feel special, so I think those aspects of the game are good.

Complexity just is hard in PbP sometimes, especially when our everyday lives are so complex.

All of my games have slowed down as well, and a couple have either died or come to a natural end.

Pbp discussions are pretty much the only place that I engage folks on the internet. I've learned a lot just "hanging out" with the two of you.

Thanks you two - the kind words and understanding are very much appreciated.

A formal break might well be the way to go to be honest - or in the current Covid-speak a "circuit breaker".

As I touched on work is now a matter of frontloading what I can to save my sanity and firefighting down the line.

I'm very much in the same boat, where PBP has offered a lifeline of conversing with likeminded, creative smart peeps (you two a firmly in this bracket :) and somewhat of an oasis in a crazy world. Hence my quandary and vex'edness of being burned out and feeling like I'm barely engaging in something I actually enjoy.

I'll likely not post this week, but will keep you both in the loop on how I'm going.

Massively appreciate the kind words and kudos - feel exactly the same way (and am often in awe of the pair of you regards the creativity you bring to the "table").

Well, we can always chat here even if there's a pause on the game. You're the only people who tolerate me yammering on and on about Dottie. ;)

I'll more than tolerate your yammering about whatever. Aren't we a bunch of fan folks of each other!

First time I've heard of a circuit breaker (in this context). So I'm learning more all the time.