Matt Adams 259's page

I would like to add Sibog Fensweb, a half elven Samurai/Druid, to the running. Before I finalize and submit the build though, I have a couple of questions.

1. Would you allow him to take the
Order of the Scorpion from Frog God Games? The flavor of the order is a protector of holy sites. Sibog's is a kind of divine bounty hunter that was called to the battle to aid an old friend of his lord and mentor. Or perhaps his lord and mentor is engaged in the battle in some way, and Sibog is here to assist them.

2. I want him to have a bug motif, but don't want to have too many companions running around. Would you be okay with substituting a Giant Spider Vermin Companion as the Samurai's Mount feature and taking a domain on the druid side?I would use the samurai mount abilities instead of the druid companion abilities. I think the biggest difference there is no share spells on the Giant Spider. And Samurai don't get as many mounted abilities as a cavalier's so I'm not worried about losing out on riding my companion.

3. This is just flavor, but would you be okay with his hide armor being made from the exoskeletons of giant beetles?

Sibog Fensweb is primarily a frontline fighter. His nature magic will be used for battlefield control to make sure enemies are fighting him and buffing himself to better fight the enemies. As a druid, he'll also be able to provide wand healing at the very least, and probably more if we can figure out what the enemies can do beforehand.

Doctor Night is able to easily get past the outer walls and the security gate. Siphon manages to sneak her way past as well. Baxter and Brisk hang back with Sahara who keeps an eye on the rest of the team with her earth sight. You know that Brisk deposited the eggs on the roof. Doctor Night could clear that easily, though Siphon would be hard pressed to follow.

The hour passes without a call. Baxter figures that the little beasts are more skittish that he anticipated, but hunger will draw them out soon. Another hour passes, then a second. Baxter thinks that maybe the bugs found a food source in a low population area.

Brisk Stealh: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Brisk dashes to the flat roof and deposits the eggs amidst the ventilation pipes. He makes it back to the group to let them know it went off without a hitch.

When Brisk runs over the wall, he is easily able to dodge the barbed wire and enter the vicinity. His superspeed senses pick up the facility grounds in slow motion. There are people practically standing still, though instinctively he knows that they are simply walking at their own pace. They are all dressed in business attire. One person is walking out of the lobby doors, leaving the entrance hanging open.

Brisk where were you going to deposit the eggs? You could make your way to the roof easily. You could also get in through the main lobby, though you don't know what to expect inside.

Spending the hero point is a good idea. I'll have brisk make a DC 16 Athletics check to avoid the barbed wire. Failure will just result in a DC 16 toughness check.

The drive up to the facility a few tense hours, but you get there without issue. The pharmaceutical complex is surrounded by a wall topped with barbed wire. There is only a single gatehouse for vehicles to enter and exit.

"Let's get them loaded up on your van," Sahara says. "It shouldn't take long for you to get a call once the staff find these monstrosities."

Ah. That makes sense.

Sahara is a bit dubious about actually using killer bugs, but with no better alternative, she agrees. After about a week of working double time, Baxter calls the heroes together to present his new creation. When they arrive at his house, they see a group of 4 eggs each the size of a basketball. They are surprisingly warm to the touch, with a slight pulse inside like a heartbeat.

Sahara is visibly grossed out. "What are these going to become?" she asks. "And how long until they hatch?"

I'm getting a different number than you.

Summon is 2 points/rank for 8 total at rank 4. -4 points for Uncontrolled give a 4 point total. Now we can multiply that total by 4 for 16 points.

That give a design check of 26 with 16 hours design time and a construction check of 26 and 64 hours of work. Time isn't a factor here, so you can take your time with construction.

Let's just move on. I think I have a feel for how these bugs are going to operate.

If no one else objects to the plan so far, I just need Bug Hunter to let me know what kind of bugs he's going to genetically engineer for this mission.

All right. So the question now is, why kind of infestation are you looking to cook up?

I was actually going to suggest the same thing. What would you like to do? If you want to build bugs to fight crime with on the regular, I would suggest the Inventor advantage. If you think this is just a one off, then obviously using a Hero Point is best.

Personally, since you've all ready described Bug Hunter as a kind of experimenter, I would go with Inventor.

If you do go that route, then Expertise: Biology would replace Technology for the skill checks.

Sahara thinks for a minute. "Hmmm. This place doesn't talk to the FDA, but there still seems to be some kind of research going on. Doctor Night, is your name legitimate? I mean, do you have any medical experience? I'm thinking that we could insert you as an employee to get the rest of us inside."

"There are three floors above ground, but some of the reports mention a basement complex as well. I can't find much in the way of security, but I expect it's tight."

"The building is at the top of the coast, near the New Hampshire border. I have to imagine that I was targeted for capture instead of killed for a reason. Even if the experimentation is a hoax, pharmaceuticals don't just not apply for patents or testing trials and still get funding. Something fishy is going on. I want help in finding out what. And do some rescuing if we can."

Brisk is the first to arrive at Bug Hunter's house in a blur speed. Next, the Doctor leaps to the area before shifting out of his natural camouflage. Sahara is the last to arrive as she rises silently from the ground. Bug Hunter invites you all inside.

The house is cluttered with equipment and supplies, some with very vague or ominous labels. However, Baxter assures you all that it's harmless, as long as you don't touch it. He also says not to disturb the renters in the back room, and definitely don't put your fingers in any cages. At Sahara's request, he clears off a spot on a table, mostly by just shuffling things to another table., and she spreads out a collection of freshly printed papers. They contain write-ups of an offshoot of a company called the Northeastern Institute of Health and Medicine, NIMH.

"After the attempted abduction, I had a computer friend look into some kind of reasoning behind it. The best they could find was a NIMH holding called Juan Leon LLC. At first glance, it didn't seem to be anything special, just you're average pharmaceutical company researching ways to increase life expectancy. However, they also found out that there are no registered patents. No applications to approve testing. Most of the funding comes from an outside company called Black Court which is basically a blank slate. We found nothing on it. Anyway, we've found some unverified reports about Juan Leon using metahumans for some undocumented research. All of the subjects had some kind of mutation that affected their biology or aging. You know, powers like mine."

Glad to hear it Brisk.

Magic is taught formally at some universities. In fact, one of the early drop outs for the campaign was a magic college student. I wouldn't force you into having a formal education in Alchemy if you prefer it to stay independent study, though.

You guys can definitely carry cell phones in your hero identities. It feels odd for you to not have them.

Doctor Night-I know that John is a biochemistry student. What is the topic of his thesis? Does alchemy play a part in his main education or is it independent study?

Brisk-What kind of high school friend group does he typically hang around?

The next week passes by rather uneventfully. Valerie settles into her role as a junior exterminator in Baxter's employ. The work so far has only included your normal everyday kinds of bugs and rodents. The two of them stay busy, however, as the early May weather brings the vermin out of hibernation, revealing infestations customers didn't know they had. True to their word, the teenage girl hasn't had any contact from her parents. In the meantime, Doctor Night continues to make progress on his graduate thesis in between classes and tutor work, and Brisk is preparing for school finals. You all start to get accustomed to your routines, with Brisk not encountering much more than low level street crime on his patrols, but even that is becoming less frequent as the basic criminals realize that local heroes are back in play.

About a week after the incident at the warehouse, Baxter's gets a call from Sahara "A friend of mine was doing some digging and we think we found something. Do you think we could meet up? Bring your other hero friends as well."

"The Sapphire Samurai was interested in acquiring your unique talents, but obviously we weren't going to just hand you over. I guess he decided to take a more direct route to get what he wanted. So, he attacked you, some bottom of the barrel do gooders showed up and you took their side. I guess I can't blame you for that. Still, we need income." Valerie's mother thinks for a minute. "Valerie, your father and I are going to stay here. We don't have the funds to establish a new safehouse right now. You're going to have to stay elsewhere. If the samurai comes, it's important that we don't know where you are. If he still wants to use your powers, he'll have to negotiate with us. Keep your cell phone close, but minimize contact. We'll try to call when we can, but if we have to text, we'll start the message with Honey Bear. If those words are missing, the text isn't from us. In the meantime, see if you can get a job working with this Bug Hunter. A paycheck would be nice, and it would be good to know if you can absorb non human DNA."

"Val, Val, Val," her mother says shaking her head. "If you're going to lie, at least get good at it. You're telling me that you have no descriptions, no estimations on their skills, no product to deliver. You just turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble. There are two issues with that. First, if you were truly that incompetent, we wouldn't even be able to do business with anyone." At this point, she pulls out a tablet computer. On the screen is Bug Hunter's work van still parked outside the house. "Second, our cameras saw you get out of the van that's watching our house. It's linked to a small-time mercenary specializing in non-sentient elimination, one of the few do-gooders that's worthwhile to keep around, but it looks like he's stepping up his game. Recently, he got involved in disrupting a school terrorist attack. Now, I know that long term thinking isn't exactly your strong suit, but I need to know the exact circumstances of how you ended up in that vehicle."

"A third party intervened. Interesting. Could you describe them? How did the fight pan out? Do you think they were hero scraps or a rival faction? And how did you react when the fighting broke out?" Valerie is assaulted by the barrage of questions. Control freak that her mother is, she doesn't react well to unexpected variables and will go on a manhunt to learn everything she can about the situation.

"Is it your job to worry about how we get paid, Valerie? No. It is not. You're job was to capture Sahara. So I'm going to ask you again. What. Happened." Her mother's voice holds a cold edge that she has rarely heard before.

Crazy week is done. I'm going to try to get back to a regular posting rate.

"Valerie, could you come in here please?" Her mother's voice answered her call through the house. She can tell it is coming from the dining room. Upon even a cursory glance, she can tell that her parents haven't even started to pack or ditch the house.

When she gets into the dining room, she is met with her mother's stern glare and a surprisingly concerned expression on her father. "Would you kindly explain to me what the hell happened out there tonight?" her mother asks.

Those are fine purchases.

Have fun.

Would the Move-by Action and Takedown advantages suit your needs?

I believe I did say that I would allow multiple small leaps, as long as they added up to your leaping speed or less. What else are you looking from the power?

Valerie can tell her parents are still inside the house. She her dad has never left his precious car behind before, and she sees no reason why he would now. It doesn't even look like they've started to load it up, yet.

This is the hideaway Valerie's parents had pick out for the family.

It doesn't take long before Baxter pulls up to the front of a rundown home in the less attractive part of the city. Aside from beat up, but classic, corvette in the driveway, from what you can tell, no one seems to be here. The windows are boarded up. There's no furniture on the porch. Even the lawn is overgrown and forsaken.

What were you looking to buy, doctor?

@Matt Adams 259 - Did we earn an additional character/power point for foiling Samurai Sapphire's plans (so a total of 2 points earned including the school chapter)?

You did get the extra character point. I forgot to include that in my last post. Sorry.

The warehouse is void of anything interesting beyond the dead henchmen. It was abandoned of wares and machinery even before it became a battleground.

"I have some things to take care of on my end, but I'll be in touch. Be careful, you guys." Sahara creates an disk from the street asphalt and heads into the skies away from the scene. The rest of the group departs before they can see the lights of the distant sirens.

Returning to the warehouse to collect Baxter's truck, you find the henchmen laying in pools of blood. Their throats had been slashed as they lay unconscious. The exterminator's vehicle, however, luckily remains intact.

As the team is driving to the scene, Siphon gets a text from her father. What happened? Why did the samurai run away?"

Looks like this "episode" is wrapping up, so we can do a hero point reset. Also, you all get a second hero point for the next adventure. Chasing down the hovercraft when half of you couldn't keep up was a bit beyond what I thought you would do, so congratulations and good work.

And just to clarify, the team is going to follow Siphon to her house and bring her parents to Bug Hunter's house?

"It's good to meet all of you. Here take this," Sahara hands the group a couple of cards with a phone number on them. "It's a line I keep specifically for this line of work. Look, we've all chosen a dangerous profession, and it just got a lot riskier. If there's ever a time where I can repay your kindness today, just give me a call."

@Doctor Night: I did see your comment. She would be scattered across the pavement otherwise.

"Siphon? What happened? Your mom just got a weird text." her dad asks.
Siphon Awareness: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
He seems surprised to hear from her, but she also thinks she hears happiness in his voice.

Brisk Thousand Strikes Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Brisk runs into the craft, but doesn't see anyone until he gets to the cockpit. There, the Sapphire Samurai has shoved his energy blade into the back of the chair and through the torso of the pilot. The teenager tries to knock out the ex-hero, but a moment of hesitation causes the warrior to teleport again before he makes contact.

"He was inside," Sahara quickly corrects the doctor. "He just teleported again, feels like he killed the pilot on the way out." She closes her eyes in concentration, but curses in frustration. "He's outside the range of my seismic sense. I've lost him. Sorry." She holds out her hand. "Thank you for the help. My name's Sahara." She then points to Siphon, "And this is my friend VampGirl. Siphon feels a nudge in her earth body as Sahara silently tells her to play along.

The sand that was Sahara's lifeless body pulls itself together. "What happened?" she asks as she regains consciousness.

Just as Siphon is about grab hold of Sapphire, he vanishes in another flash of blue light. The doctor is able to pick up his voice inside the crippled vehicle, however. "The mission has been compromised. I'll take care of the loose ends and return to base."

Hoverjet Toughness: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Hoverjet Toughness: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

While Siphon's makeshift projectiles slam harmlessly against the armored hull, Baxter's attack has more luck. The dart gets sucked into the last engine and it explodes in a shower of fire and smoke. With no other method of suspension, the hovercraft dives for the ground. The transparent enclosure hits the ground first, Sahara and the Samurai get caught up in the shower of glass.

Sahara Toughness: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Sapphire Samurai Toughness: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Sahara's body crashes hard into the ground, unconsciously shifting into her sand form and spilling across the street just outside the warehouse district. The samurai makes a short teleport jump to land harmlessly on the ground just before the hovercraft slams into the ground, and skidding past the road and into the grass.

Hovercraft Fortitude: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Bug's little projectile hits the vehicle and explodes in a shower of sparks, but doesn't seem to have any effect.

The hovercraft returns fire against the two riding of the stone platform.
Hovercraft Attack vs Siphon: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Hovercraft Attack vs Bug Hunter: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Siphon Toughness: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 vs DC 22
Siphon maneuvers the platform so that it protects them from the gunfire.

The Sapphire Samurai strikes at Sahara inside the glass prison.
Sapphire Samurai attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
Sahara Toughness: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Sahara is hit hard by the energy blade. She screams in pain, until finally, she passes out. You all see her collapse onto the floor of the transparent prison.

Everyone go!

From what I've read, I think the intention is that a full power standing jump takes you a distance over ground equal to your jump rank minus two. A running jump should double that. I feel like multiple smaller jumps should be possible as long as they don't go over your normal running distance, but it should let you change direction by like jumping off the corner of wall or something.

Yes, it's slower than taking the speed power, but it also gives a kind cheap pseudo flight.

Anyway, you could still use a Hero Point or extra effort the keep up the pursuit.

Just checked leaping again and that is correct. I guess the Doctor could use a Hero Point or extra effort to keep up.

Hovercraft Toughness: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Sahara's sand missile gumps up one of the two engines of the hovercraft. It sputters and dies, but the vehicle remains in the air. It seems, much like airplanes, the craft can propel itself with only a single engine.

Hey Siphon, did I ever send you a power set for absorbing Sahara? I know I made one up, but I can't find it in my PMs, and it seems to have gotten deleted off my phone.

Since Brisk is going on vacation, I'm going to have him make a power attack against the hovercraft.
Brisk Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 DC 21 Toughness
Hovercraft Toughness: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Doctor Night manages to keep up with the hovercraft by jumping across the roofs of the warehouses.

Meanwhile, Brisk is able to easily catch and pass the vehicle. He winds for a powerful throw with a marble from his bag, and when it passes overhead, he releases the little projectile at supersonic speeds. The glass shatters with enough force the blow a shotgun sized hole in the metal plating.

Bug Hunter expresses concerns about being able to keep up, but thinking quickly, Siphon is able to form a platform beneath herself and the strange insect hero. The stone warps around their feet, holding them in place as she propels them after the others.

The hovercraft increases it's speed to try and lose the pursuing heroes.
Double move at rank 4 to move 1000ft.

Everyone can go.

I would allow a hero point for Sahara to do the floating sand disk thing with enough movement to keep up. She could also carry Bug Hunter along since while his truck probably has the speed to keep up, I think he might have trouble following a flying vehicle if he still has to use streets and he wouldn't be able to engage and drive at the same time.

You all see that the hunter has refrained from giving chase. Are any of you planning to pursue the hovercraft?