Sorry to disappear for a moment. Dealing with 3 months of rainfall in 3 days. Elderly parent's basement flooding and my own problems.
Sorry here as well, not been feeling so well and needed a brake.
Hey gang, I'm going to drop out of this game.
The biggest reason is that work and kids' activities are just taking up too much of my time and attention, so I'm not able to keep up with all of my PbPs. The idea of falling behind and then having to catch up and ALSO having to try and figure out this system to make a build that makes Benjamin more useful is not appealing.
Plus, I don't feel like Benjamin's contributions have made much of an impact on the story. (Insert Invisible Man joke here.)
Anyway, thanks for the game GM, thanks to everyone who helped me out with my build when we were starting, and I hope this game lasts a good long time.
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Sorry to hear that Andostre. I was excited to see how Griffin's family redemption arc would play out.
Sorry things didn't work out.
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Hey gang, I'm going to drop out of this game.
The biggest reason is that work and kids' activities are just taking up too much of my time and attention, so I'm not able to keep up with all of my PbPs. The idea of falling behind and then having to catch up and ALSO having to try and figure out this system to make a build that makes Benjamin more useful is not appealing.
Plus, I don't feel like Benjamin's contributions have made much of an impact on the story. (Insert Invisible Man joke here.)
Anyway, thanks for the game GM, thanks to everyone who helped me out with my build when we were starting, and I hope this game lasts a good long time.
Very sad to see you go, but always appreciate it when folks simply say something rather than disappear (not that I'd otherwise expect that from you).
FWIW the system takes some getting used to but it is always possible to tweak things. You had a great character, I thought.
On a different note, I have no interest in leaving, but I *am* having trouble tracking the plot so far across different people's posts. (Being away for a week or so awhile back didn't help). There's a LOT of information here and a lot of characters to track of. The slides have images of the characters but not their relationships.
Did we figure out who is actually killing the women?
Are we sure they are not still in Boston before we leave for the Amazon?
I get that Wells was doing genetic experiments and there are clones and I think the women are clones and Foley are clones and then Quan was also working for Wells and was mutated. And there was something going on in a scene I wasn't in during the week I had to be away for a family emergency that had to do with a ghost computer or something. And there's something to do with water monsters in all of this. And viruses but also plants and genetic mutations? And apparently an idol?
But I really have no idea how it connects. I recognize the problem may just be that I am really stupid, but I'd appreciate a summary.
Also, can we track our findings on the slides to make it easier to follow as we proceed?
I was thinking that talking those things out would be interesting, but that hasn't seemed to engage people.
I'm going to go back a bit to the beginning and the campaign concept and Mutants and Masterminds adventures as they are usually written, just to get my thought process on "paper" and out in the open.
Published adventures for this system tend to just consist of a series of scenes, sometimes linear and sometimes branching and looping to let the scenes happen in variable orders.
I've written this scenario in much the same way, with a set of background facts and some scenes prepared. Some of those scenes we have missed because they were character oriented. I had imagined a forensic investigation by Hyde and Tori that included some grave digging, which seemed like a fun genre reference. But we lost Tori and that didn't scene never happened. I suppose Hathaway's people could provide that info if you have reservations about the killer still being here.
I had also imagined that Hyde would be intrigued by the genetic engineering aspect, and would get into some lab work with this plant that keeps turning up. The plant was originally used as packing material in a crate that contained a sculpture or idol that represents an amphibious humanoid. In fact, the plant is "infected" (though that isn't quite the right word) with a retrovirus. This virus has no negative impact on the plant, but when humans are exposed to it, it rewrites their DNA. Dr. Quan is an example of this mutation.
There is evidence that Wells and Foley might also be infected, though possibly they are just using the virus.
The murdered women are genetically related to Dr. Wells, though they are not clones of her. She used them to test the effects of the virus on people with DNA that was similar to hers.
None of this was intended to make too much sense or be very accurate, but to be more in the style of a fun popcorn movie. It is hard to balance "turn your brain off" movie style vs. "give enough information for the players to make connections to lead them in the right direction." I was hoping to riff on whatever you guys came up with, but there hasn't been as much chatter as I was hoping for. I totally take ownership of that. It is the GM's job to keep things interesting and keep things moving, and I haven't done a good job of that.
I'm still interested in the story. Unfortunately, my character is not a scientist... just a detective.
I think we've enough to head to Brazil for a jungle cruise! Worst case, we can always return, because Hathaway has effectively unlimited resources.
Cheers
Yeah, I don't think saying it's your or anyone else's fault is a good idea. There's just a lot of moving parts and since we are in a large group where we've been in split scenes (totally sensible)--and some days we are more active than others--we just need a summary somewhere of what we have learned so far (not necessarily what we should have learned). We could track it ourselves even (like I did with Dottie's string board in our Marvel game) but we just need to get started.
Like what are the key points we know about Wells? Can we summarize what we know about the women's deaths? (Like, we know Summer died in the river and there was a flower nearby).
I'm also in the position of being interested (both in player and an in character) but not having anything to contribute to the science side.
Which is NOT an issue at all, to be clear. I've got my niches and I'm quite happy with that.
I am happy with all of this,
It looks like all players are getting to do things that want,
I was lost there for a bit but now we are heading to Brazil
I think we can get into the much more Darker side of things.
Heart of Darkness
Meets
Island of Doctor Monroe
here we come.
1. This weekend I've been drawn into a truly crazy situation involving lots of law enforcement and Child Protective Services interactions with trying to get help for a former student. That has left me completely unable to address DQ/Mummy's Bride's desire for clarification. I had planned to work on that today and it just couldn't happen.
2. I need a bit of a vote/guidance from the group. My thinking was in the line of what I think Lord Hathaway was thinking, a boat trip up a river into peril and darkness. That said, you probably have the resources to do something like a HALO or LALO jump and get right to you destination. Sort of this campaign's version of Scry and Fry. Do we have a preference?
Harker votes boat trip.
Definitely prefer the boat trip.
1. Yikes, hope that resolves itself as best it can.
2. Boat trip seems the most genre appropriate. :)
River it is!
Sorry for the delay. My life has sort of blown up this week. I'll keep us moving as much as I can, but it may be bumpy for a bit.
River it is!
Sorry for the delay. My life has sort of blown up this week. I'll keep us moving as much as I can, but it may be bumpy for a bit.
Sorry your RL is not cooperating. Wish you smoother waters ahead
Take care, SuperT. If you need a break, we'll be here.
I have some fun ideas for this journey, but if there are any Complications you want to invoke along the way or any tropes you want to see, let me know.
I have nothing I necessarily *want* to invoke but you are always welcome to have Amunet hijack Helen if it suits the story.
What’s the captain’s reaction to Quan? Were we able to hide it?
Hathway finds a barth, and sets up his luggage, taking out a camping table, seat solor charge for the star Link Sky-link.
A T-Rex? Can we meet a T-Rex please? I mean, what kind of journey through the jungle is complete without a T-Rex?
Just in case it wasn't obvious:
:-) :-) :-) :-)
What’s the captain’s reaction to Quan? Were we able to hide it?
I answered this in Gameplay. Let me know what you think.
A T-Rex? Can we meet a T-Rex please? I mean, what kind of journey through the jungle is complete without a T-Rex?
Just in case it wasn't obvious:
:-) :-) :-) :-)
Jurassic Park is a Universal movie. I don't think there will be a T-Rex in this adventure. But I do have a Jurassic Park adventure already written that would work really well with this group.
Jekyll: I had thought that you were a little more focused on Weird Science. I think that was Tori and I just moved it to you without realizing it. I have reviewed your build and will do better. Treatment and Technology should cover everything you need here.
What’s the captain’s reaction to Quan? Were we able to hide it?I answered this in Gameplay. Let me know what you think.
Perfect. So, the captain is Controlled by Harker's Gaze.
Mummy's Bride: I think my reasoning for the Comprehend Languages is that a Universal Translator power that lets you understand and be understood is only 4 points. I'm not all about optimizing (especially in this campaign), but the fact that you have more points in languages than that, combined with the fact that there isn't really any way to "pick up a language" with quick study, makes me lean in that direction.
You could always add a limitation (requires time to study/prepare) or a skill check to activate.
That's fair, but I also don't have 4 points! Especially bearing in mind I also forgot to buy any Dodge or Parry...
Great posts, everyone. Bad headache tonight. Not going to get a post up I don’t think.
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I'm going to be out from next Tuesday (April 29) until the next Sunday (May 4). We are making a trek down to Disneyworld and I will not be able to respond to posts. I should be okay to respond until that time. If I am in your game, please bot me as necessary. If you are in my game, sit tight and I'll pick up when I return (though as I said, I should be able to post up until Tuesday).
Sorry for the delay.
I'm going to be out from next Tuesday (April 29) until the next Sunday (May 4). We are making a trek down to Disneyworld and I will not be able to respond to posts. I should be okay to respond until that time. If I am in your game, please bot me as necessary. If you are in my game, sit tight and I'll pick up when I return (though as I said, I should be able to post up until Tuesday).
Have a great time. Haven't been since the beginning of the pandemic. I was there the day they announced they were closing.
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Thank you. This is actually our 33rd trip (or so). We go every November/December because my wife's eye doctor is in Tampa, and she has to go see him once a year. We're going this month because a friend has to go to Orlando for a medical procedure, and my wife wants to experience the Flower and Garden Festival. Besides, we just became DVC members and we could stay for "free" using our points.
Just FYI I will be very busy the next couple days and may be a little slow, but I will check in when I can.
I'll be travelling with my middle school students this week. No idea how much time I'll have to attend to games, but I'll post when I can.
Mostly as an aside, I would like to note that I re-watched the 1997 Anaconda for the purposes of running this encounter. This may have been the most difficult research I've ever done as a GM.
Mostly as an aside, I would like to note that I re-watched the 1997 Anaconda for the purposes of running this encounter. This may have been the most difficult research I've ever done as a GM.
hahahah
Glad to see that you're making sure everything is TOTALLY realistic, says the avatar of Sehkmet :-) :-) :-)
Relevant to the interests of this game, Channel Awesome (home of the Nostalgia Critic) is doing retrospectives on Universal's most famous movies, including many of the monster films, this month.
Hey folks, working on a rebuild for Mummy's Bride as she's not quite clicking for me. I need to remove some points before I add abilities back.
Being big strong melee is pointless with both Sekhmet and Hyde in the group. I'll keep some of her strength, because it makes sense for the mummy myths, but toning it down a bit. I might also get rid of the fearsome gaze because it just seems pointless with what Harker can do. Yeah the Boris Karloff stare into the camera with his face lit is iconic to the Mummy... but it was also a direct ripoff of a similar scene with Bela Lugosi in Dracula, so...
I'm also looking at her healing ability. I built it up to be pretty powerful to be able to heal anyone in the group... including two of our members that have now left. I think most of you have self-healing capabilities and have no need for a healer, usually. Is it okay if I tone down the healing ability and/or remove the ability to heal the undead/flesh golems? I might keep a weakened version of it to heal NPCs but I don't need as many points as I have in it.
Aiming for some stuff like turning into sand and infiltrating places and summoning animals instead. Maybe some "sacred word" magic to go with her linguistics, but I don't really want to be a spellcaster in the traditional sense. Thoughts are appreciated.
I've also got healing abilities so no issue there.
If you want I could also tweak Sehkmet a bit instead to reduce overlap. Also quite happy if you make changes, not trying to steal your thunder ot anything
I like the idea of her being able to turn into sand for infiltration purposes. It borrows from the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, but there's nothing wrong with that! Summoning animals could also tie in very well, and there's the potential for a complication with Sehkmet if that includes snakes.
Yeah, the sand thing comes straight from that version of the Mummy. "Helen Wise" is named for the woman victim/heroine in the original Karloff film (the character's name was Helen Grosvenor) and for Rachel Weisz. :)
Re: animal summoning, with Isis it's more likely it'd be stuff like birds and cows or something. Now Helen's interest in funerary rites... I guess she might call on Nehekau who is a "good snake" in Egyptian myth for something specifically to do with rites of the dead. But otherwise Helen herself is not fond of snakes as they are more often associated with Apep, the destructive god of darkness and disorder. Our recent fight actually resembles an ancient Egyptian drawing in the Book of the Dead where Set defends Ra's ark from Apep's (a giant snake's) attack. Replace Set with Sekhmet and Hyde. :)
I've also got healing abilities so no issue there.
If you want I could also tweak Sehkmet a bit instead to reduce overlap. Also quite happy if you make changes, not trying to steal your thunder ot anything
Nobody's stealing any thunder; after all we proposed our characters not knowing everyone was going to get in.
I am feeling useless. That is not your fault. And given you are the one built more as a primary melee character, where as I am just support with infinite lives, it makes more sense for me to make some changes.
One thing I hope to accomplish is killing the folks who can come back. That is a fun power.
I feel like we are not moving forward, and I'm not sure why. I know I sort of sidelined Harker, which is unfortunate, though he has some ways to participate.
I need to give you guys some info with this scene so you aren't blindsided by the endgame. I am fast tracking some information here because we are moving so slowly.
I’ve a way to participate? Umbrella? Radio?
Seriously, I’ve been reading and waiting.