The Standard's page

Stan was in a hurry. Once the custody transfer was complete, he asked Link for an update. "Anything on that water system analysis yet?"

Jogging back to the group he said "That's it. At some point in the next 48 hours, each of you needs to come give a statement to an investigator." He handed out business cards. "Just call this number to arrange to have someone from our metahuman division meet up with you, or just walk into a field office if you feel comfortable with that. Also, here's my number, in case you need to get a hold of me for anything."

"I'm going to keep trying to find Shocker and Hydroman. Any of you that want to help, I'd appreciate it. I'm waiting on a lead right now."

"This isn't permanent. It's just to keep you from being detained by the police. Later, we can talk about what you want to do now that you've decided to put on the Cape. You shouldn't be punished for trying to help. They might try."

The only thing that irritates me so far isn't your fault. It' just a fluke of the rules.

I Hate how defensive actions work in this system. It's completely counter-intuitive, takes an action, and even if you successfully dodge or evade, there's a pretty good chance that you'll end up getting hit anyway just because you weren't defending against the right kind of attack.

I'm going to have to have Standard pick up combat precognition (call it "reading body language" or something) in order to be able to roll my defenses in reaction to attacks, rather than trying to anticipate and preempt them.

The Standard looks around. "As of right now, all of you are Special Deputies to the US Martial's office, deputized for the purpose of responding to this event. Yes, it's retroactive. Sometimes it has to happen that way. We'll handle the paperwork later. I don't care who you used to be. You saved people and put your lives on the line to deal with all this. That's good enough for me. The police are going to arrive and act like you're the bad guys. Don't let them get to you. This park is a national historic landmark, so it's considered a joint task force area, and federal agents have jurisdiction in all terrorism related incidents."

The Standard looks down at the Scorpion and thinks for a moment. "What do you want?"

"Mornin', Sunshine." Stan says conversationally as the Scorpion comes to.

"I'm going to cut right to the chase. If you cooperate right from the get-go, I'll put in a good word for you. Have you been to the Raft before? The quality of the holding cells varies a lot. Cooperative people get nicer accommodations."

"All I want to know is where your pals went and why you decided to trash the park."

Right. Nevermind.

"Link, I'm running out of ideas here. You got anything on Hydroman that might be useful?" Stan says into his earpeice while looking at the dome of water and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Omni-Knowledge: 1d100 ⇒ 74 yellow

Stan pulled himself from the woods and started running back as fast as he could, talking into his earpiece. "Link, I'm fine. I know you cut the feeds again. Knock that off. Full accountability, remember? Even if I'm getting my ass handed to me, you don't cut that feed. Get me back on line."

Endurance: 1d100 ⇒ 12

Dammit...

"Yeah. I have trouble understanding stupid criminals. It's a challenge I struggle with every day."

Guess that last roll becomes an evade

oh goddamnit. So tired of wasting amazing rolls. >.<

Can I knock scorpion out of the barrier and drop down the grate after Shocker? That would get me clear of Hydroman.

"Perfect!"

Stan snaps his wrist, shortening his staff to the length of a cane, running headlong into the shadowy pipe while barking into his earpiece again.

"Link, I'm still waiting..."

Stan makes a B-line for Shocker, swinging his club, hoping to stun the yellow-clad villain long enough to give Stan a chance to aim those gauntlets at Hydroman
Assuming I see him. I'm really hoping not to waste another turn. :)

Omni-Knowledge: 1d100 ⇒ 21 (white. Link must be busy...)

Fighting IN, trying for Multiple Actions: 1d100 ⇒ 87 (red, three actions!)

Fighting IN, +3 CS, Staff attack to Shocker: 1d100 ⇒ 57 (yellow, possible Slam)

Fighting, force him to blast Hydroman: 1d100 ⇒ 79 (yellow. No idea how this resolves.)

Yes.

nevermind then.

"You!" Stan yells to the hooded person making the shadowy forms. "Part those waters for me!"

Blacklight, do you think you could make a big tube or something that could get me past the wall?

Is there a power line anywhere near down that I can yank down and feed to water boy?

GM, will you please post this link in the Campaign Description section of the campaign info page?

That will put the table at the top of the game page. Super handy.

Here's the unlinkified version if you want it-

http://www.classicmarvelforever.com/cms/assets/files/other_stuff/updated_un iversal_table.jpg

"Thanks Link. Now give me everything you got on Hydroman. He's giving me problems." Stan muttered into his comm piece. Suddenly he had a lot less to worry about. Focusing on Scorpion's attempt to dive into Hydroman, he snarled "No you don't!" and stepped in like a major league batter, swinging his staff toward the green-armored villain. The staff lengthened by nearly five feet increasing it's leverage and momentum...

Omni-Knowledge (EX): 1d100 ⇒ 37 (white)

Fighting (Slam attempt!) (IN): 1d100 ⇒ 80 (yellow result. 36 Damage. I'd like to spend Karma to bump the result. With the +3 column shift that puts me 6 points away from a red result. I really want to send him flying.)

Well, yeah.

Damn, can't see him.

Fighting, Defense: 1d100 ⇒ 9

Whichever kind of defense is the one that will let me not get hit by another blast from water boy, that's what I'm rolling.

...not that it matters with that roll. What a waste of a turn.

I have rapid healing 10, but I don't remember how it works in combat. I seem to remember having to roll for it or some such. (im on my phone at the moment and can't access the book)

Bill can you give me a quick reminder?

Stan cursed under his breath as his taser shorted and he took another hammering blast of water. He tossed the taser aside while his mind whirled.

What the hell is Shocker doing in there?

Intuition (TY): 1d100 ⇒ 21

"Shocker! Right..." he muttered to himself, looking deeper, dodging to the side.

Would it be possible to strike the Shocker in such a way as to discharge his blast into Hydroman?

Stan rolls to his feet, responding to his earpiece. "Go for it."

Omni-Knowledge (EX): 1d100 ⇒ 74 (yellow result)

Stan squints, pulls out his service issue taser, and lunges at the watery figure.

"Stand down, Hydroman. There's no way you're getting out of this."

Fighting (IN), Taser: 1d100 ⇒ 95 (red result)

Thanks.

I'm gonna need to upgrade that at some point. Titanium at least.

Bits and pieces of how the system works are coming back to me.

Can't you sacrifice your next action to get an emergency defensive maneuver, or something like that?

We never determined what the material strength of the pole was. All I know is that I spent points on it to have it. The rules don't cover special weapon costs if there isn't a power associated with them. You never told me it's properties.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks. Isn't my damage just my strength rank? Yellow result is a potential stun, but i don't think that makes the damage any higher.

(it's been a few years since I've played this game)

So, I'm aware that I posted out of order, and then got hit by the water guy, but did that somehow negate my action altogether?

Doesn't Body Resistance reduce that to 35? Also, what happened to my Dodge?

Dodge: 1d100 ⇒ 81

I forgot about that. Always seemed silly to do defense rolls preemptively. In what kind of fight do people decide to dodge or parry before they notice what kind of attack is headed their way?

Initiative: 1d10 ⇒ 4

The shakes his head and sighs. The hard way it is. Wonderful.

Pulling his helmet off and letting it fall to the ground, Stan pulled a silvery rod from it's sheathe at the small of his back. He snapped it like a police baton and it extended to a length of seven feet and a flag unfurled. he marched forward with purpose as he responded.

"The Standard. Please enjoy the butt-kicking you are about to receive, courtesy of the US Government."

Springing into action, Stan juked past the Scorpion's tail and slammed his staff out towards him.

Attempting Multiple Actions
Fighting (IC): 1d100 ⇒ 72 Yellow, success

Attacking, holding the other action in reserve for Defense
Fighting, Staff Attack (IC, +2 CS to MN): 1d100 ⇒ 55 Yellow=Slam. Stan can slam regardless of strength/size differences (martial arts A)

I put in another vote for the Legion of Doom (Utah Chapter)!

So, Mormons?

I'm pretty sure I'm finished. Anything that you see that isn't done?

Reporting in!

I'll have the adjustments made soon.

At this point, I think there's a small enough crowd that anyone has a shot if they make an interesting character. I think the GM will be making an official recruitment thread in the next few days.

Think more comic-booky.

Diseases and poisons only come up if it's plot related, and then, yeah, if you aren't human you probably won't be effected.

Mind control is a little trickier. You aren't necessarily immune unless you buy it as a power.

Take a look in Ultimate Powers for an expanded list of origins.

You may want to take a look at Vision's stats to see what is listed regarding androids. They're listed in the characters section of the site.

I don't think so. It didn't do anything to mine. Just do a thorough check after downloading just in case there's been a file added to piggyback the PDF. It's probably just that it's an old format that your security program doesn't like.

As a player, the only book you really need is the Player's book (Ultimate Powers is cool too, and adds a lot more options)

The most important thing in the book is the green-yellow-and-red chart on the last page. That's the table that determines every result. You may want to save an image of it elsewhere for ease of reference.

Here. All the books you need.

If you take a look at the character creation section, robot is one of the options.

Cap's strength has varied a lot through the years, mostly depending on who was writing him, but generally yeah, spiderman is quite a bit stronger.

Cap can throw a motercycle (excellent). Spidey can throw a car (incredible). Beast can throw a truck (remarkable). Thing can throw a tank (monsterous). Hulk can throw a battleship (unearthly).

Magneto can do all that at the same time, with his brain (shift X).

Great!

If you're looking for an Avengers feel, that's the kind of theme this character was built around. Looking forward to this.

I'd love to reprise this fellow. The game he was created for didn't last long, but I love the classic marvel system.

He's pretty close to the power scale you've listed, but might need bumped up a bit. He's right around Iron Fist level right now with low level powers but really really high combat prowess.

He's a hero with a public identity who still works as a US Martial (basically the Martial's send him to deal with super powered problems that fall under their jurisdiction)

If the idea of a public hero with a fairly normal job doesn't fit your game concept, let me know. I a darker themed hero I'd love to try out.

It really is just a matter of playstyle. If you are having fun, great.

I'm not though. I think I've made my reasons pretty clear. I feel I have created the wrong character for this story, and I've felt railroaded and blindsided, so I'm going to remove him.

I'll stop polluting the discussion thread so the rest of you can get on with your bank robbery.

Have a good game folks. Sorry about making a mess of things.

I'm not talking about controlling what people think of you (even thought that's exactly what Anthem'sa power does), I'm talking about Quantifying it. That's the Popularity score. Mine is MONSTEROUS. I'm a well loved national celebrity. That's what that score means. Even if I was walking around with Ebonclaw as my date, people would still love me, because her popularity isn't negative.

Also, "people can't look at a one person in a group as amazing and another one a monster" is patently false. See the Avengers. Cap and Hulk. Same team. No one thinks Cap is a monster by association.

It's fine that you want to do a Spiderman-style story. I just really wish you would have made that clear at the beginning so we could have built characters appropriate to that story. Nightstrike would have fit right in there.

Standard doesn't.

Honestly, I think Anthem and I, and anyone else interested in working with the establishment, are just playing the wrong characters for this game.

You want Spiderman, Batman, Daredevil types. Some of us are playing Cap, Superman, Wonderwoman types.

Personally, I feel like I've been the victim of a bait-and-switch con. What I expected from the game is drastically different than what it has quickly become.

It may be that the players just didn't understand your vision for the game enough to make characters that were appropriate to the story. It might have just been a misunderstanding.

Unfortunately, the weight of that still falls on the GM. We aren't butthurt. We're upset because we feel railroaded and like we are being played against instead of played with.

I just don't think I agree with your assessment of realistic.

The game has a mechanic for how well liked you are. It's Popularity. I'd have to roll really low for the police to even dislike me, let alone shoot at me (usually "shoot on site" is reserved for negative popularity characters, like The Punisher or Villains. Not even Spiderman gets that treatment)

I also asked you if it was ok to have a public identity. If you didn't want me to do it, you should have just said so. Suspending me because people know who I am is both asinine and backwards.

I think I'm going the way of Breakneck and Anthem. This isn't the game for me.

Please remove me from the active characters list.

Case in point...

The POLICE, who are dealing with a HOSTAGE SITUATION are shooting at us because we happen to be there. What the f%+$?

I don't think this game is what we thought it was. It seems Darvis wanted a bunch of covert ops anti-heroes hated by the law, and most of us made characters in the vein of superman and captain america.

I think the GM and the Players are playing different games.

So my only question is, Darvis, why didn't you tell us what kind of story you wanted to tell? I think you could have gotten it, but now everything has gone to hell.

Seriously? We're being shot at? By the police? Near the civilians? I don't even...

Wait, what? I've actually been suspended? By some woman in a trenchcoat who isn't even a federal agent? Just like that?

As far as I understood, I was a federal agent who's job was to deal with super-crime. I'm pretty sure everything that happened was exactly within my job description.

I didn't even use any powers. I didn't jump around all crazy. I hit a robot with a stick and got thrown into a closet. That's all.

Also, I'm really, really popular. I'm almost as famous and well known as Captain America in the normal Marvel cannon. I'm really not sure how anything I've done in this game would suddenly undo that.

You say that it's the difficulties and challenges that make this game fun, but I think you're misunderstanding the difference between an interesting challenge and difficulties that come from GM decisions that seem questionable and arbitrary.

That isn't fun. Maybe we, as a group, just aren't getting your vision for the game, but so far everything that has happened has seemed forced and choiceless. I was willing to go along with it for the sake of the story, but at this point I'm starting to wonder when that is going to end.

A bank robbery with hostages seems pretty awful to me. I'd have a hard time handling it on my own.

Anthem though, this is basically where her power shines. It's good to have teammates.

"Or each other. Feels like a bit of a trial by fire. Normally I'm fine with that, but not when there are hostages involved."

"My guess is that he has some kind of contingency in place in case we screw this up."

I think having Anthem say something like "Don't Shoot, we are sending in a negotiator" over a megaphone would work pretty well, actually. It's ok if other people overhear. It means they won't shoot either.

The Standard nodded. "Pretty sure we don't need a megaphone with you around, hon. Your voice carries."

Looking over to the shapeshifter, he thought for a moment. "I'd rather see if we can get you inside posing as a hostage. First thing I need to do is find out if this is a Federal bank. If it is I have jurisdiction, assuming the FBI aren't already here. If it isn't, the best I can do is ask the local cops if there's anything I can do to help. Let's go talk to them, see if we can get more information about the situation. Let Anthem or I do the talking. We've managed to make a lot of people like us lately."

The Standard makes his way to the nearest officer and says "Stan Service, US. Marshal. Can you point me toward the officer in charge?"

Is this a federal bank?