Starting us a thread!
Going to be posting some tidbits on what has changed since the end of the previous campaign in the Campaign Info tab. Guys, it has been a long time since this game ran, so if I get any of the things I post wrong, please remind me so I can adjust it appropriately.
Clearly, this is going to be my own interpretation on the world of NE, and how things have changed since the Dark Legion left its mark on it.
For further information for you guys to work on characters:
You guys WERE recruited by Dr. Destruction prior to the fall of the V'sori and organized into an Omega Cell. However, you weren't in operation very long before the aliens managed to nab you up and lock you away in Star City. You were rescued by another cell during the massive war that raged on the planet's surface and in the stars above, and for the last month or so since the V'sori were defeated (guessing on a good length of time to go stall to begin this game), you guys have remained as a team if for nothing more than mutual protection.
Over-Mind has sufficiently acclimated to this post-body lifestyle and is ready to crush all that oppose him!
I realize some of the things I posted in the description are a bit schtick, but that was kind of intended to maintain the comic book feel.
Brandon, I don't think I'm going to buy gear. Preacha Z has a f&#%load of swag and all the "world conquering" equipment he brought when he was sent to Earth. That stuff I'm intending for you to use for plot purposes. Put another way, I'm not going to use it as a magic bag of "I wonder if something we happen to need just now is stashed with all my alien gear!" He has some of it with him, some in a warehouse, some in a cave somewhere, and most he lost track of while binge-watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Stats are done. Going to fill in his background later.
Going to just drop a line in here to make this easier to find. I still need to read the book and build my character sheet.
This is Mark. Placeholder for now. If I don't change gears entirely, the basic premise is going to be similar to Marvel's Thor: Odin banishes Thrym to Midgard in mortal form, binding Thrym's powers to a weapon (an axe in this case, rather than a hammer). Odin hopes the ordeal will impart enough wisdom and humility to result in Jotunheim being a less volatile neighbor. Or something to that effect.
And for more twisting, turns out Thrym was a Queen.
Undecided on how the V'sori occupation shook things up. Odin could have banished her during the occupation, where Thrym's powers, even so restricted, would have been a great boon. Or maybe she was there before, and the alien invasion just put a huge wrench in things.
Ha...for some reason I thought Nosferatu was Neal and the Preacha was Chip.
Hey guys, this is Jon Lessner (Chip's brother). He invited me to play some SW with you guys, and NE sounds like a fun world. I'm not sure how character creation works in SW, so I might need some guidance. But I've played some other tabletops for a while now, and know that I like support characters. Just wanted to say hi and get started with the fun :)
We promise not to light you on fire.
For now.
NOTE TO SELF: roll up character 'Asbestos Man'
So I've browsed the NE Powers section, and Chip has explained the basics of the stat/combat system in SW.
My basic character concept is this: A guy that was basically a nobody when the alien invasion occurred. He'd already been a tinkerer with robotics, but he found that with some alien tech, he could super-miniaturize his spider bots. I want him to be generally pretty weak, but use a swarm of bots (maybe 50 or so 4 ounce bots), used for stealth recon, poison/toxin debufs, etc. At this point, he's using a sort of silly/sad codename "Spider Steve".
Over time, I want to transition his character into a literal body made of spider/swarm type bots, using the NE Power "Animal Control : Shapechanger". His actual body then would be housed in the Lair, and his swarm avatar would be the thing out on the battle field, controlled remotely by some sort of communications tech (maybe the NE Power "Broadcast"?). I'm thinking of having some sort of degenerative disease (ALS/MS?), and becoming a Lair-dwelling mastermind type, just using his remote "swarm body" to go with the group on missions.
Any help with rolling up stats/skills/powers would be much appreciated.
As you guys finalize your characters, post the Alias here and let me know it is ready.
Also: HERE is the link to the roll20 campaign.
Got the mechanics squared away. I'll get cracking on a backstory and adding it in shortly. Not terribly keen on the forum avatar, but it'll suffice. But I did find a great Chandra artwork from M:tG that's about as close as it gets.
Signed up @ roll20. I think I joined the game, but that site looks like an explosion of nonsense on my phone browser. Will check it out on a PC later.
Reporting for duty and look'n for booty.
I think the only one lacking any statistics in their alias is Chip.
I think everyone else's characters look good to go.
Spider Steve is ready for action. The lair is also complete.
Seeing as we are on the verge of getting this rolling, I'm going to post some formatting tidbits for those of you newer to PBP play, the formatting for which can be found below the typing window in the section "How to format your text":
Use voice alone: "Bold and use quotes"
Use Telepathy alone: Bold Italics with no quotes
Use both Voice and Telepathy: "Bold with both quotes and italics"
Thinking to yourself: italics no quotes.
Descriptive Text: There is no formatting necessary for descriptive text.
Out of Character Text:
EXAMPLE POST:
Darknaut picks up the communicator and finds the contact listed for The Maw, and presses the screen to begin the link up.
As the communicator rings on The Maws end, he picks it up and clumsily opens the connection.
"Maw! How would you like to challenge the leader of an alien race in hand-to-hand combat for the right to rule?"
Silence echoes through the communicator. What the f@++? Did the connection drop?
"Maw? Maw, are you there?" Darknaut asks through the handset.
After another couple of moments, The Maw's voice can be heard in reply, "It's about time."
Darknaut smirks at the answer.
Suddenly, a voice echoes out in Darknaut's head. It will do you no good. You are a failure as a commander, you should have handed over the reigns to me, and this all would be settled already.
Darknaut becomes visibly frustrated. Get out of my head! You're dead!
Should there be any need for a roll, do so as follows:
__________ <- That is just to separate the narrative of your post from the mechanics and out of character text.
Always preview your result, so that you can see if you just so happened to ACE the result of the roll, which is the number within parentheses. As above, you can see that the Wild Die did in fact ACE, and will get rolled again and added to the previous Wild Die value...
For a total of 7 + 2 on both rolls.
At Ember's request, I have added a game room to the lair. Seems like something that Preacha Z and she would both want. That, and the names of the Arcade game systems available as map features in Roll20 amused me.
Actually I'm kind of confused as to how rolling works on here. Is there a virtual dice feature? How do we access that?
Dice rolling is just text commands. Check the "How to format your text" button below the text box for posting.
Additionally, I finally put up Preacha-Z's background. Tis a sad tale.
Well that's just grize
Testing the dice mechanic:
I AM SO SMART
[shooting: 1d6 =]
[Wild: 1d6 =]
[1d6=shooting]1d6[/dice]
[d6=shooting]1d6[/2]
[2d6=shooting]2d6[2d6]
I've been trying to catch up and jump into the PbP, but I've been busy with Misty for the past two evenings and now we're overhauling one of our truck stops. I may be working for 48 hours straight, starting now. If I'm not dead, I'll be joining ASAP.
OJ, what level of control does Steve have over the swarm? Is it a direct mental link? Do you issue commands and they carry them out autonomously?
For right now, it's just a general command interface, similar to controlling groups in Starcraft. Steve has his Tactical Helmet wired up with a bunch of stuff that allows him to get visual feedback from them, and move them as 1 medium group, or 2 small groups. Individual bot-by-bot control will be implemented as he levels up.
So, it's totally plausible that Steve built the hardware and AI, and then recruited Dr. Dalca to create your control interface to accept simple mental commands which it carries out autonomously at first and eventually give you integration to the point where they function as effortlessly as a natural appendage.
That sounds like a good plot device for leveling up the skill. It's a deal. I'm interested in everyone's motivations for being on the team and working with each other. Is it something that should be explicit for each character, or should we just assume that Dr Destruction organized our team?
I'd say that would be up to each character. For mine, you'd know the terms of our arrangement but may not know or even care that my eventual goal was to forcibly evolve the human race. The push-back on that idea would probably be strong enough that Dalca wouldn't just blurt that out to everyone.
So what does Dr Dalca get out of the contract to help Steve with his neural interface research? Is it just something that he's interested in working on?
I think this could also tie into my character since my bio-nanites could help with your evolving the human race. I am a sort of evolved human.
Probably not a good idea to reveal that to Dr. Dalca. After all, he is infamous for his criminally unethical experimentation. So, if you drop the solution to his problem right in his lap like that, he may start plotting ways to dissect you.
I've got tough skin.
Note about the Lair:
It is located in Uptown, hidden beneath Steve's business: Wilmore Innobotics. The building itself is a 7 story facility, one of the original buildings in Uptown.
The only access to the bunker is through the main elevator of the building. However, there is an exit level just above the bunker that serves as a secret entrance/exit to the lair without having to stroll through the Main Lobby of the business. The Bunker and Exit Level are only accessible by Steve Wilmore, and those he grants access to. The Exit level is a tunnel that opens up to a nearby parking garage.
(Jon, if I messed any of this information up, or you had other designs, let me know so I can make the suitable changes).
I think Exile might have an extra Edge/Trait Bump/Skill Points left to spend, giving it a quick glance. As it stands, I count 15 skill points, 2 edges, and no trait bumps. Unless he took extra cash, but that doesn't seem likely at a glance.
Yeah, that Lair exit sounds fine to me. My original concept was that it was a bunker to wait out any government sieges, not really as an active base of operations for a Super Team. So minimal facilities makes sense both in the narrative, and with how few points I spent on it.
Thanks for noticing I have a couple more points to spend. I'll take knowledge explosives and pump my piloting up to d6
Long drive back home from Florida starting tomorrow. Proper updates when I recover.
So...yeah...
I need a direction from you guys that you want to go. Unless you are fine with your current in lair scene, by all means. If you are feeling like we are just twiddling our thumbs here, though, I need a decision on what route to take the game in:
1) Hunt down stuff for lab?
2) Look into the box/threat Red Samurai mentioned?
3) Rob the other research facility Steve suggested?
4) Basically anything?
I just need to know what you guys are doing so I can actually implement it.
Ember is mostly down for pillaging some new toys.
Mark thinks the hero nullifying formula box-thingy probably deserves a followup.
The herocrosis formula seems important. Exile would be interested in stopping that because anyone who could create such a thing would definitely have useful tech. It should appeal to Dr. Dalca too because that reeks of genetic research.
Preacha's big plans have been put on hold, at least until he gets a new cell phone. Until then, he'll follow the majority.
So how are you guys going about looking into this formula? Trying to open the box? Find more leads? Need to know.