This Looks Like A Job For: subSPUF! (Inactive)

Game Master Rynjin

"It's been tried."

Dmitri shrugs. "The Illuminati kills you if you try to permanently transmute valuable materials."

"I've got a plan then. We spread the rumor that it's totally cool to transmute valuable materials, then when the villains do it, the Illuminati comes and kills them. Bam-we clean the streets and get the Illuminati to do it for us at the same time."

So, are you following up on the Femtotech thing or just going back to busting street crime?

"I'm sure they wouldn't catch on to that plan."

Dmitri gives Amoeba a meaningful glance.

"Anyways, I think we should pursue this further and track down some Femtotech execs."

"Agreed. Let me see if I can discern where these canisters came from..."

Investigation: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Likely, from the company that is labeled on the side of the canisters...

Though, the VIN numbers indicate they may have shipped from a specific distribution center on the other side of town.

"I'm always up for ripping Femtotech a new one. Let's get going, shall we?"

"I've only been awake for four minutes, but I feel refreshed and ready for action! Let's go, boys!

Are we all refreshed, gameplay-wise?

Yes.

So, how are you going about this. Any preparations?

"I think it would be wise to do this as stealthily as possible. If Femtotech knows we are investigating them, it will be much more difficult to gather information on their plans."

"At Doctor Madd's hideout, our attempts at stealth were foiled by security cameras. Simply destroying them is just as bad as if we walked right up to them, smiling and waving. We need a way to get past cameras and guards undetected. I believe some sort of cloaking device would accomplish this."

"In addition, we should keep a lookout for scientists. They will know more about Femtotech's schemes than the ordinary workers, and I can easily incapacitate them and probe their minds for such information. However, my mind control cannot influence memories, so they will simply sound the alarm once my control ends. We should find a way to erase their short-term memories, or make them believe that they have witnessed nothing of interest in the last, say, ten minutes."

I'll do the math for this stuff later. I'm not even sure if there's an "erase memory" power, but I'll keep looking.

Well, you could go the roundabout route (an Illusion generating machine that puts a different image in the person's head, making all of them think they were attacked by a different superhero team or demons or something), or I could come up with a "memory erasure" power if you prefer that. But it would probably be a bit more expensive.

The mental illusion route would be better if there was a way to make it permanent instead of sustained. Even the Independent extra requires a free action to maintain, which implies the machine has to keep doing...something. At some point it will deactivate or break, and then all our victims will suddenly be like "Oh wait, my mistake, now I remember EXACTLY what those guys looked like!"

Huh? That's not how that works. When the illusion machine stops working, it stops generating the illusion. It doesn't retroactively re-write their memories so that they never saw the illusion at all.

I read it as the illusion being actively "projected" into their minds, same as if it were a visual illusion being projected into the room.

But I mean, if you're okay with it I won't complain.

Well yes, it's actively being projected into their minds, I'm just not understanding why you think it would work that way.

Put a box in a room. It generates an illusion of an empty room. You walk through the empty room unnoticed, the guards don't see you. The illusion shuts off...the guards do not suddenly go "Egad! There were people in that room!"

Ah...I thought we were talking about erasing their memories after they had already seen us, like the Men In Black thing.

No, an illusion wouldn't be able to do that at all. But it can make you look, sound, and smell like someone or something else. If you make yourselves look like, say, 5 guys in black combat gear and ski masks, carrying assault rifles, they won't be looking for a sentient puddle, a mad scientist, DuelJey, and Roger Rabbit.

How specific is the illusion stuff? Could we dress up as say, Madd and his thugs? Although his arrest was probably all over the news...nvm. But disguising ourselves as specific people could work very well. Nobody wants to stop the boss of their boss's boss.

DuelJey

do u taek me 4 a full? i c hwo u spel mi naem

How specific is the illusion stuff? Could we dress up as say, Madd and his thugs? Although his arrest was probably all over the news...nvm. But disguising ourselves as specific people could work very well. Nobody wants to stop the boss of their boss's boss.

But if we disguise oureslves as Totally Nondescript Individuals™, think of how funny that will be when they're brought in for questioning!

"Did the suspects have any distinguishing features?" "Hmmm...nope." "What did they look like?" "Just...like...whatever, y'know?"

But if we disguise oureslves as Totally Nondescript Individuals™, think of how funny that will be when they're brought in for questioning!

"Did the suspects have any distinguishing features?" "Hmmm...nope." "What did they look like?" "Just...like...whatever, y'know?"

But if we disguise as someone real, the chances of a moment where the real guy has to go "Shoot anyone who looks like me!" are super high, and let's be real here-in that situation it's like a 75% chance that he gets shot himself. Because minions.

But we don't want anyone to get shot.

idk, I kinda want the bad guys to get shot...especially if they're Femtotech execs.

But then they can't tell us what they know.

Dmitri will craft a ring of greater invisibility. Autopass.
- 8 Point Invisibility

He will also make a Potion of Kung-Fu.
- Attack 6: Kung-Fu Punch
- Defense 4: Parry
- Defense 4: Dodge
- Close Attack 2
- Skill 2: Acrobatics 2 Athletics 2
- Flaw -2: Standard Action to Activate

Autopass.

How long does it take you?

About two hours for the designing and twenty-four more for the crafting.

Also, I wasn't sure what flaw to give it, but I want the potion to have like fatigued after use and temporary, like two or three minutes.

Both of those should work.

So, anything from the rest of you?

I'm set, I think.

Cogito begins designing the Cogitative Audio/Visual Cortex-Reprogramming Unit.
Illusion: +2/rank affects sight and sound, +1/rank Selective, -1/rank Will Negates; Will DC 15 = Rank 5, 10 points.
Take 10 with -5 penalty succeeds, so designing takes 5 hours, and construction takes 20.

When placed on a flat surface, the CAV-CRU will use electromagnetism to alter the sensory impulses of everyone in the room (except Cogito and his teammates), causing them to perceive the Grand Slams as four completely unnoteworthy workers.

Nice.

That leaves Amoeba. Any prep?

I don't think so, no. Don't really have any of those fancy building know-hows.

Assuming you do some recon:

The outside of the distribution center looks fairly normal, though the barbed wire at the top of the fence, and the fact that the security guard at the front gate is very alert and paying attention to the surroundings belie that something is going on beneath the surface.

The back of the center is impossible to clearly see, containers block the view of what you suspect is the loading bay. Vehicles come in and out fairly reguarly through the gate.

Perception checks?

Perc: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

Cogito's eyes turn into miniature telescopes with radar scanners attached. They home in on an unmarked black van sitting across the street. Two men in pseudo-military gear, carrying gunssit in the front. There may be more in the back.

When this happens, Dmitri will start back in shock and say, "What the hell, Cogito?"

"Oh, these? Just a little side project I've been field testing."

The telescopes retract back into his eyes, and he takes out two silver-tinged contact lenses. "Cogitative Ultra-Optic Contacts. A plethora of observation equipment stored right against the eyeball. Unfortunately, the activation process is rather unreliable, as the nerve impulse used to activate them is only recognized about 5% of the time."

"Anyway, the guys with the van must be working for Femto. We should exercise caution."

"I can loan you my invisibility ring, and you could sneak up and mind-control them."

"Actually, I only need line-of-sight to do that."

Cogito tries to mind control both guys, one at a time. Will DC 16 for each.

If successful, he orders them to behave normally, but ignore the four superhero guys lurking around.

2d20 ⇒ (16, 17) = 33

Both seem to have surprisingly resilient minds. They begin looking around for the source of the mental disturbance, but don't see you yet.

"Damn. You guys look for a place to hide - it might take longer than I anticipated to pierce their mental defenses."

Once the others are hidden, Cogito puts on the Ring of Invisibility and tries again.

2d20 ⇒ (20, 3) = 23

One of the men is dominated.

The other gets out of teh car and starts looking around.

Everyone but Cogito (who is immune to sight, hearing, and smell of all sorts) roll me Stealth checks.

Cogito directs his newest minion to distract the alerted one, while he keeps trying to dominate him.

Get your colleague's attention, then point in the opposite direction from me and say you saw something over there.

They still need to make Stealth checks, but that will work next turn.

Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

As he passes the ring to Cogito, a significant arcanopsychic charge forms in Dimitri, and is violently released as a snapping crackle of energy.

"Oops."

Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

SATURDAY MORNING attempts to hide behind a nearby thin lamp post.

Cogito drops the CAV-CRU on the ground when he gets the feeling that his teammates aren't going to be very well hidden.

Does it only do the one illusion?

The rules seem to imply it can be any type of illusion I want, but for now the default "unnoteworthy workers" seem like the best option. We just need to buy some time to dominate the other guy, and make sure he doesn't recognize us before then.

Regardless, it takes an action to activate, and you already used your Standard to Dominate.

The one remaining guy locks on to Dmitri.

"Hey! What are you doing over there?" he yells, and runs closer, gun in hand.

He fires a shot at Dmitri.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

A bolt of blue energy flies over Dmitri's head, and sizzles a fist sized hole into the container beside him.

Well, that didn't take long.

Forget about the illusion for now, we need to put this guy out before he draws more attention.

Cogito, still invisible, keeps trying to dominate the guy.

Just this once, don't roll a good save.