Masks: A New Generation of Heroes

Game Master Cwethan

Not to Gainsay the GM, but Alexandra could also loose ground against the doom... she was just exposed to the eye.

That definitely could be the case, but in a "GET OUT - IT'S COLLAPSING" scenario, seems likely to show up that way too...

Maybe if the Provoke was to bring her one of the Eyeblighted? Since they have the most fleshy bits of anything Balor-infused to synthesize a cure from? Has to be in some sort of foolhardy/negative way though...

So what's the Alexandra verdict?

Yeah. I'll roll to save herself, and I was going to take advantage of influence on Wing to inflict a condition. this roll is gonna be -4...this is gonna hurt

On the bright side... If I live, I level.

but honestly... like, after that chain of rolls... yeah

I'm not entirely certain if you saw my last post, but Alexis was in fact trying to save Alexandra there. If you prefer the narrative as it is, that's cool, just that they weren't going to leave you there without trying.

Nah, I'm not, like, set on her losing here, just open to it. but if that roll is to save Alexandra from the collapse, that seems defend-y, which makes it a 7. plus whatever giving ground means.

If its a 7, that means its still a success, but Alexis will likely have exposed themselves to danger. But the way I interpreted it, if Alexandra was taken out by the TaPB and went unconscious, it would be within the narrative for Alexis to be able to scoop her up with their enhanced strength and follow the Eyeblights out, without her giving ground or lashing out.

But that also means Alexandra would be out of the scene and unconscious for the big finale - so, the question I'm posing to Alexandra: Do you want to retcon and have her be taken out?

The question to Cwethan: Will the roll from my last post stand to help bring Alexandra out to safety, or does Alexis need to make another roll to try and defend her?

True... it's in the weird wobbly-space.

And I misunderstood, Thouyght you meant retcon the defend/unleash away and let the course of events take place. Nah. I like Alexandra being pretty much beaten and broken (ad Bran's TaBP might remove those 5 extra doom track) but I want her vaguely conscious.

Alexandra, you're once more finding yourself next to someone brought up to be a Living Weapon who maaaayyyyyyy not be in their right mind. So uh... let that guide you in your next moves...

Need a verbal punching bag? Need to get all those emotions out? Try Shouting at Wingblade(tm)

* Shouting at Wingblade is not recommended for those who are pregnant, have a heart condition, or have trouble clotting. Ask your physician if Shouting at Wingblade is right for you. Side effects may include, evisceration, disembowelment, or loss of limb.

So at this point Silver Shadow (and Mercy too now that I think of it) essentially have 'initiative' over Wing since they're capable of things like thought and planning.

Also, I feel like we've neglected the doom track up to now. where the heck are we, bcause that was, even negating that TaPB (I rolled a -1 and a 16 in the same battle, it's awesome) I rolled 2 fails and 2 10+ TaPB's...

I should C&S Merc...

Wingblade in the Red is something of an indiscriminate killing machine. The good news is, she could probably be given a different target.

Hint hint.

Well not every miss should be adding Doom, but I'll review and see if there are any that should probably have been doomier.

Not being someone who's good at the whole reaching out to others empathically deal, Alexis deals with this the way they've always known: With unadulterated violence.

Smashing the Brute out of the sky will hopefully get Balor out of their hair long enough to snap Wingblade out of it - though Alexis may be eviscerated before then...

Nah, that's legit, just wanted to be on top of that. (Sorry, I have a whole thing about being okay with character death, and that means it feels hypocritical if I don't say to pull the trigger when it's mine in the crosshairs.)

Bumping the assault on Balor over to Directly Engage. He doesn't have an Artificer Field up, (which would make harming him with that kind of assault impossible) but aside from that is in no way "Vulnerable" (a very important word in that Move).

Sorry then, I was under the impression that Alexis had done enough damage to it previously that it was now vulnerable.

If that's the case, then Alexis will elect to Avoid Blows, and Take Their Means Of Flight away from them.

That makes sense, but one of the earlier Directly Engages was while it was explicitly impervious, so even though the shield was knocked offline, the mech beneath wasn't hurt. And later with the goop... honestly that just didn't seem like enough to actually damage a Brute, so I mainly dealt with that as an Unleash to free yourself... (especially since the Opportunities from Directly Engage are normally for your teammates, not yourself)

Could've been more explicit there though, so sorry for the confusion.

Hmm... Reading Wing's post about the timing of the attack more, I'll work the hit on Balor in a bit more though. At least take away his flight... Let's make sure going forward with Overwhelm though that the "Hurt them more than you intended" is a downside instead of a "CRITICAL HIT! YEEEAAAAHHHH!" though :-p (I plan on hitting Wing for hers against the Eyeblighted later when she's in a place to have emotions)

Oh, and this is a bit of a weird one, but I'm going to lock Superior at a +1 with the MoT

Hmm... Reading Wing's post about the timing of the attack more, I'll work the hit on Balor in a bit more though. At least take away his flight... Let's make sure going forward with Overwhelm though that the "Hurt them more than you intended" is a downside instead of a "CRITICAL HIT! YEEEAAAAHHHH!" though :-p (I plan on hitting Wing for hers against the Eyeblighted later when she's in a place to have emotions)

Oh, don't worry. Wing was going to be dealing with ramifications from that Overwhelm choice even if you weren't going to bring it up.

(Though maybe not in the way you'd expect.)

I think I missed something - who are you defending, Alexandra? Defend for yourself doesn't quite work I don't think (putting yourself in danger to remove yourself from danger, getting influence over yourself etc. Plus I feel like Savior is really supposed to be a Label that's focused on others). Or is this meant to encompass a Kaoru rescue mission?

Oh, I just figured getting to Kay would require a roll. Used judgement. What should I have rolled?

I think Defending K is still a reasonable tack to take, but hey, lemme think out loud here for a sec :-)

So Alexandra's goal in what she's trying to do here is to find K. K's not in like, a great spot, but also isn't in imminent peril, so I don't have to automatically cut over to Defend. The active threats in the scene are pretty much down to Wingblade and the Balorized Brute, but lingering Eyeblighted-twitchers are still possible... Moreso than the active threats are kinda the passive ones, shifting stones, dangerous equipment, and of course, finding a very small car buried beneath a lot of rubble...

I kinda talked my way into an Unleash - Find out how it's Temporary/Unstable or Condition?

Legit. I'll go with unstable/ temporary

Current Team Pool is at 2 btw

Wow, I didn't think we had that much left in the pool! 1 now though.

Lotta successful Provokes off of Taking Powerful Blows ;-)

Hoping to get a cut down to Alexandra's search before resolving the up-top moves :-)

Sorry. School + work occasionally eats my life. plus a new book I've been waiting 2 months for just released. (Funny, actual, The eye of Balor/Balor's Daughter are major macguffin's/Characters in it)

Would those books be authored by a certain butcher?

('Cause I'm reading them too!)

I'm done with it already. It's so Good

I'm savoring it like fine wine.

I enjoyed it like Box Wine

Mine arrived while I was at work today :-p

I've been expecting a Balor appearance for **years** so I was thrilled (even with it being quite different than I'd pictured)

And absolutely no worries - I just wanted to signal that I wasn't planning on resolving all that collateral till Alexandra'd had a moment!

Yeah. plus it's so nice to have my Favourite Ship be Canon. (Also, I'm done with it cause I was on 1:1 for 9/12 hours last nights shift, and the Pt was asleep)

And I know the whole "We said it was Effy, not Manwydan on comms" but I'm gonna say Watsonian: "She was too sick and hyperfocusing Balor." and Doylist: "This is more amusing to me."

So, fun facts: 1.) I level.
2.) This is actually level #6
3.) I had like 6 things I forgot existed.
4.) that includes -Never Give Up, Never Surrender which, frankly, I should be using more.

5.) Given all the facts laid out, I'm considering switching playbooks or retiring.

I'll have the full write up of it soon anyways, but there's a pretty strong lean towards Legacy in Bron's future :-)

Thinking Protege with Matrix if that's the direction you go?

(I'm personally not particularly bothered by Playbook doubling up once the campaign's been going on long enough for all the characters to feel different anyways)

Well, okay:

Protégé crossed my mind, and I agree about doubling up playbooks, but Wing and Alexandra having mentors on the same team feels... iffy.

The Brain isn't a perfect fit either, but she's already a gadget/intellect hero. Beacon is similar. she's too strong for a beacon, but not by much.

Delinquent is in the same category as Protégé... okay fit, but overlaps too much.

and I think that's the possibility space for Alexandra, sans a big story thing. So I'm mulling those over.

Hoping for Alexis to get back into the scene after Bronwyn and Shayera touch base with Camila. Let me know when it's appropriate for them to climb out of the wreckage.

I'm just about maxed out on my advancements, so switching playbooks is an inevitability, since I'm not ready to retire. So don't feel reluctant to take on a mentor and be a Protege at this point. We won't have two mentors for long.

As she is not there yet like I had assumed, disregard the "Multiple Bronwyn's" comment. it was just unny to imagine Alexandra givign the "You suck for lying" to the wrong B.

Sorry, swamped all weekend. Mostly unburied today though so expect a post by tonight.

No worries here, Alexis still has to regrow a spleen and a pinkie! Looking forward to them talking to Bronwyn finally...

Sorry, that should have said "Cousin" not "Sister". and I just found it amusing to think Alexandra had bribed her at some point during her month and change of stalking Bronwyn

That'd be such a Silver Shadow thing to do...

:D

Makes more sense than Alexandra trying to dig up dirt on little Noe :-p

I mean, Camila doesn't have the most finely-tuned Stranger-Danger senses in the world, so sure!

[If interviewed before she met Wingblade]

Um, she met Wingblade yesterday.

Makes more sense than Alexandra trying to dig up dirt on little Noe :-p

I mean, she probably did that too.