[20:24] <Black_Bolt> Let's do the shuttle. Nice and quiet, less chance of being followed.
I just want to highlight the part where he says ‘Nice and quiet’. Remember that.
[20:25] * Elsa clears her throat. "Black cardholder plan. Find one, take 'em out, then take out the hired help and jack their ship."
[20:25] <Elsa> "We get on-site, open up a few other ways in."
[20:25] * Elsa glances at BB at that.
[20:25] * Black_Bolt nods. Can do.
[20:25] * Shatterstar takes his own advice and refrains from pointing out that /he/ got created by interdimensional!Rupert Murdoch and /he/ turned out alright.
There’s presumably a Shatterstar in this universe’s Mojoverse, I wonder what he’s up to? Probably humping something.
[20:25] <Ghost_Rider> "Again, no innocents must be harmed."
[20:26] <Shatterstar> "...Define 'harmed'. Like permanent damage?"
[20:26] <Ghost_Rider> "In any way."
[20:26] <Black_Bolt> It'll be easy enough, we can have Ghost Rider penance stare somebody to figure out if they're innocent or not
this is actually one of those plans that’s brilliant in its simplicity.
[20:26] <Echo> Echo brushes some blood flecks off her face. "Unless there happens to be a black cardholder that likes to drink blood, we're going to have to go back to 'civilization' first."
[20:26] * Elsa rolls her eyes at all this "innocents" talk. Let's just blow stuff up already.
[20:27] <Timebroker> The Vulture laughs and grins, displaying red-stained teeth. "Very good. A cardholder, then. Easy enough to find - we simply look for the tallest buildings, the cleanest air."
[20:27] <Hawkeye> Elsa is a very simple woman.
[20:27] <Elsa> look, i'm here to kill monsters and make explosions
[20:27] <Echo> "Don
[20:27] <Echo> 't smile."
[20:28] <Shatterstar> "...weeeeeee will uh"
[20:28] <Echo> "It's disturbing."
[20:28] <Shatterstar> "Take care of it. And call you when it's ready."
[20:28] <Shatterstar> "You're busy and all organizing the assault."
[20:28] * Elsa notices a sniper scope slowly popping out of one of her rifles as it wanders in the Vulture's direction, slaps it down.
Elsa is drawing attention to her weapons because Spiza spent some xp during the break, he’s got even more crazy Machine Man stuff going on and he’s itching to try it out.
[20:28] <Shatterstar> "We can handle the details here."
[20:28] * Black_Bolt disdains the Vulture and flies upwards a bit to look for a target of opportunity.
[20:29] <Timebroker> He turns his head to the side as he looks at you, a very bird-like movement, actually. Not one you've seen him make before. "Very well. I shall cry havoc in the streets, and keep the Eye from gazing on you."
[20:29] <Shatterstar> "We appreciate it."
[20:29] * Shatterstar says as he unconsciously rubs his own neck.
[20:29] <Hawkeye> "The /Eye/?"
[20:29] <Echo> I don't think he likes that
[20:29] <Echo> "Police."
[20:29] <Shatterstar> "Public Eye."
[20:30] <Shatterstar> "They're the police."
Well, they’re the corrupt law enforcement of this city in the future, totally in the corporation’s pocket. So, yeah, the police.
[20:30] <Timebroker> His wings flex again, sending more droplets spraying, and he launches in the blink of an eye, headed back towards the core of the city.
[20:30] <Hawkeye> "For a second I thought this place contracted Sauron for security duty."
[20:30] <Hawkeye> "The book guy, I mean. Not the dinosaur."
[20:30] <Echo> "We aren't in New York anymore."
[20:30] <Ghost_Rider> "I assume we're headed back for the city?"
[20:30] <Echo> "...Not really."
[20:30] * Ghost_Rider climbs atop his motorcycle
[20:30] <Elsa> "Yep. Shall we?"
[20:31] <Ghost_Rider> we shall?
[20:31] <Timebroker> Above the streets, BB, you can get some idea of the layout of the city - there's the old downtown area, where you are now, and a few other similar spots scattered around, where the skyscrapers are worn and beaten or entirely nonexistent.
[20:31] <Black_Bolt> let's
[20:31] <Shatterstar> "I'll...ride bitch :["
[20:31] <Shatterstar> "Again."
[20:32] * Echo ...walks?
[20:32] * Shatterstar also climbs atop Ghost Rider's motorcycle.
[20:32] * Elsa extends a hand out to BB, only for one of her rifle barrels to suddenly detached, cock to the side and start spinning around the grip, Inspector Gadget-style.
[20:32] <Elsa> "...Oh, come /on."/
[20:32] <Timebroker> In the direction you came from last night, you can see the city center, and just barely in the distance you can spot a massive grey shape that doesn't seem attached to the rest. The buildings in the core are plastered with logos of all shapes and sizes, and they give it a weird glow even through the smog.
[20:33] * Black_Bolt nods approvingly, grabs Echo instead.
[20:33] <Timebroker> There's another cluster of skyscrapers, comparable to the city core, off to the north. They're unadorned, and it's hard to make out the details through the cloud.
[20:33] <Black_Bolt> ...oh, right, superhuman strength!
[20:33] * Black_Bolt grabs Hawkeye with the other arm.
[20:33] <Echo> pfft
[20:33] <Shatterstar> *hahaha*
[20:34] <Timebroker> To the west, the city gradually turns into a brown wasteland, and to the south there's a lot of squat buildings with smokestacks and heavy machinery attached.
[20:35] <Hawkeye> "Oh, woah, woah WOAH"
[20:35] <Shatterstar> Hrm...city center's probably still on alert/too hot for us
[20:35] <Shatterstar> We /did/ kinda like trigger a massive city wide alert
[20:35] <Black_Bolt> yeah
[20:35] <Black_Bolt> Northward is probably our best bet
[20:35] <Shatterstar> yeah
[20:35] <Ghost_Rider> let us go north
[20:35] * Black_Bolt rockets into the sky
[20:35] <Shatterstar> Onward noble flaming steed
[20:36] <Black_Bolt> if nothing else, maybe Coca-Cola HQ will be there
It seems like he’s joking. Maybe.
[20:36] <Timebroker> Alright then! Whatever Vulture's people are doing, it's got the entire city in a bit of a mess - you can hear sirens and you can see Public Eye racing by, but they're all ignoring you for the moment because you don't seem to be actively destroying anything right now.
[20:37] * Echo catches her katana before it falls into the smoggy city below.
[20:37] <Hawkeye> i want to buy a refreshing can of coca baja blast
[20:37] <Timebroker> The streets are still busy, but not nearly to the same extent as they were in the core, and the only neon in sight as you head north is the eerie glow of vending machines on every corner.
[20:37] <Shatterstar> We can pick up a couple bottles of whatever from the gift shop on our way through
[20:38] <Elsa> 
[20:38] <Timebroker> It seems like you probably made the right choice, heading North - the streets are getting progressively cleaner and quieter, and there are even some visible enclosed gardens and the like.
[20:38] <Shatterstar> Have you ever been there! They have like fifty flavors of coke from around the world, it's great.
[20:39] <Hawkeye> and in the future, none of them are cherry
[20:39] <Timebroker> The air isn't so heavy, but it is filled with a persistent sort of *whirr* sound from what are probably purifiers built into every building.
[20:39] <Shatterstar> noooooo
[20:39] <Echo> ...damn it, now i want orange coke
At this point there’s a brief aside where we all discuss our experiences with strange flavors of Coke.
[20:41] <Black_Bolt> ...now I want coke and peeps, but have neither, so I'm going to take this out on the nearest rich person. What's the highest skyscraper in the area and does it have a large window that we can bust through on the top floor
[20:41] <Shatterstar> Please be the coke building
[20:42] <Elsa> YES
[20:42] <Shatterstar> Let's rob the coke building
[20:42] <Elsa> ^^^
[20:42] <Hawkeye> it'll be like raiding the slurm factory
[20:42] <Timebroker> "forget valhalla, there's a giant slug in here!"
[20:42] <Black_Bolt> yes
[20:42] <Shatterstar> so completely worth it
[20:42] <Echo> 
[20:42] <Black_Bolt> if only we raided with dante, el exterminador del demonios
[20:42] <Shatterstar> hahahahohgod
[20:43] <Timebroker> There's uh
[20:43] <Timebroker> no visible Coke building
[20:43] <Elsa> 
[20:43] <Elsa> noooooo
[20:43] <Shatterstar> /dammit/
[20:43] <Shatterstar> My dreams
[20:43] <Shatterstar> dashed
[20:43] <Timebroker> but there is one skyscraper with a big sign on it that said 'Sponsored by Coca-Pepsi', soooooo I guess that's where you're headed!
[20:43] <Shatterstar>
[20:43] <Elsa> IT'S JUST NOT THE SAAAAAME
[20:44] <Ghost_Rider> let's crash through the top window!
[20:44] <Black_Bolt> yes, let's!
[20:44] <Timebroker> It looks a bit like this, but more bottle-like:
[20:44] <Shatterstar> haha
[20:45] <Elsa> XD
[20:45] <Ghost_Rider> that building looks like it does drugs
It’s the grim future, of course that building does drugs. It’s one giant public service announcement, except produced by the same companies that make the drugs, so it makes them look awesome.
[20:45] * Black_Bolt rises up to window level and, rather than potentially cause a ton of collateral damage or use one of his teammates as a weapon, lets Ghost Rider do the smashing.
Note the aversion to collateral damage.
[20:45] <Timebroker> Sure enough, the upper floor windows all directly lead to high-end apartments, the sort of rich thing that takes up an entire floor
[20:45] * Echo left her breaking and entering kit at home, sorry.
[20:46] <Timebroker> They're heavy, but entirely breakable for a being with the power of a demon or whatever, so let's not worry about a doom pool roll
I’ve been reading Ghost Rider lately and it seems like he’s half the time a demon and the other half an angel, hence ‘or whatever’. It’s a very complicated backstory, but there are some neat ideas at work in the more recent stuff. Sadly the art is… questionable, for a big part of the longest run in the last decade. If you can get past that, though, it’s not a bad read.
[20:46] <Shatterstar> We've got a Ghost Rider, it's fine
[20:46] * Ghost_Rider 's motorcycle breaks the laws of physics, jumps in the air and crashes into the top-most window
[20:46] <Ghost_Rider> good, i could imagine both ghost rider and shatterstar crashing into the window, then falling down into their doom :/
They have had some *terrible* rolls.
[20:47] <Shatterstar> haha
[20:47] <Elsa>
[20:47] <Timebroker> The apartment itself is split between the level you came in on and one above it, with a private elevator. The winds up here are pretty intense but you still manage to hear a surprised "What the shock?" from a little bit farther within
Authentic 2099.
[20:48] * Elsa follows in after them.
[20:48] * Black_Bolt sets the ladies down, and then just grabs the wall and tears it down.
[20:48] * Shatterstar (somewhat shakily) swings his leg over the motorcycle and staggers off.
[20:48] <Black_Bolt> OH YEAH
[20:48] <Shatterstar> hahah
[20:49] <Timebroker> rounding the central support, you come across a scene very much like this:
Less-than-authentic 2099.
[20:49] * Hawkeye finds her legs for a moment. "Thanks. For that."
[20:49] <Timebroker> They're making for the elevator as fast as their hoverchairs will carry them, which is not very fast at all. The rich don't rush.
[20:49] <Elsa> "All right, ladies and gents, THIS IS A ROBBERY. "
This is literally a home invasion.
[20:49] <Elsa> "Now, please inform us which of you are Black Cardholders, so we can avoid providing undue abuse towards the Better Members of Society."
[20:49] <Shatterstar> "...Oh come on people."
[20:50] <Elsa> "Those with cards, raise your hands."
[20:50] <Timebroker> "Hurry, hurry, they're catching us!"
[20:50] * Shatterstar paces ahead of them and puts his boot on the edge of one of the future luxury segways
[20:50] * Black_Bolt beholds the weak softness of Earth's future, makes the tails gets trolled face.
[20:50] * Ghost_Rider grabs the nearest... handicapped person
[20:50] <Timebroker> They seem to have no real conception of what's going on, which is fair enough. Their hundredth-story window just blew in and a bunch of costumed superbeings are shouting about robbery.
[20:50] <Elsa>
[20:50] <Black_Bolt> thanks, spiza
[20:50] <Elsa> ^^
[20:51] <Ghost_Rider> "I can sense your guilt!"
[20:51] <Timebroker> "AAAAAAAH wait guilt? Is this a legal thing?"
[20:51] * Ghost_Rider spins the nearest person around and looks into their eyes
[20:51] <Ghost_Rider> whoops
[20:51] <Timebroker> "Are you the world's most dedicated bailiffs or-ooooh"
[20:52] <Ghost_Rider> "Feel the pain you've inflicted on others for your own comfort!"
This is the Penance Stare, it’s a Ghost Rider staple. Generally leaves the victim catatonic or horribly depressed.
[20:52] * Echo debates the efficiency of giving them all a couple scrapes.
[20:53] <Echo> soft squishy rich people in hoverchairs? a paper cut will call for an ambulance
[20:53] <Black_Bolt> quite
[20:53] * Shatterstar 's still locking the other solid gold luxury stroller in place with his foot, holding onto the other one just in case.
[20:53] <Shatterstar> "Heyo."
[20:53] <Elsa> it would probably also create a blood fountain, considering the blood pressure on these folks
[20:53] <Timebroker> Okay, well, *relatively speaking* the poor guy isn't a *terrible* person - he actually donated a tiny fraction of his paycheck to a charity of some kind. That said, he litters, he's got not one but two mistresses in addition to the wife you've found him with, and he occasionally throws things off the balcony for fun, secretly hoping it'll land on someone.
Everybody’s guilty of something, right?
[20:54] <Ghost_Rider> hahaha
[20:54] <Black_Bolt> i feel like that's at least worth a mild scrape
[20:54] <Shatterstar> Two mistresses
[20:54] <Shatterstar> god that's...an image
[20:54] <Echo> stop. my brain.
[20:54] <Shatterstar> like two beached whales
[20:54] <Echo> its weakened from chem finals
[20:54] <Shatterstar> complete with noises
[20:54] * Ghost_Rider looks rather flabbergasted, then slaps the evil-doer across the face
[20:54] <Shatterstar> /hahahah/
[20:55] <Elsa> *blood fountain*
[20:55] <Black_Bolt> like two balloons rubbing together, making that staticy scrunch noise
[20:55] <Black_Bolt> ...i'm sorry
[20:55] <Shatterstar> oh god
[20:55] <Shatterstar> hahah
[20:56] * Echo lightly draws her katana across a couple fleshy arm bits - enough to draw blood. "Enough."
[20:56] <Timebroker> "Eeeeeeek!" screams the wife, and promptly passes out.
[20:56] <Elsa> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ON7KuzCl_s
[20:56] <Shatterstar> "...So anybody know the response times on these things?"
[20:56] <Shatterstar> oh god /dammit/ elsa
[20:57] <Elsa>
[20:57] <Shatterstar> why
[20:57] <Shatterstar> hahahaahohgod/why/
[20:57] <Black_Bolt> fuuuuuck
[20:57] <Ghost_Rider>
[20:58] <Echo> spiz and i have a mutual agreement not to click each others links :p
Something something spiders something something.
[20:58] <Elsa> Yyyyyyup
[20:59] <Timebroker> The response time is, in fact, extremely quick - they might just be responding to the shattered high-story window, but before long there's a Public Eye unit hovering outside, accompanied by a pitch-black Ambulance
[20:59] <Timebroker>
[20:59] <Black_Bolt> let's poke that eye
[20:59] <Elsa>
[21:00] * Shatterstar removes his boot from the front...fender? of the floating beanbag and flicks out his blades.
[21:00] <Shatterstar> There's a muted keen
[21:00] <Shatterstar> or maybe a *wubwubwubwub*
[21:00] * Ghost_Rider lets go of the evil-doer, turns to face the newcomers
[21:00] * Echo flicks the blood off her blade. "I'll take the ambulance."
[21:00] * Black_Bolt crackles with terrigen energy.
[21:01] * Elsa cracks her rifles back into form. "And I the Eye."
[21:01] <Timebroker> Alright! Shatterstar, as usual you're the quickest
Initiative in MHRP is typically determined by either the way the scene is playing out or by the one with the hghest reflex die. It’s usually going to be Shat. Hollow bones and whatnot.
[21:02] <Shatterstar> Hrmmm
[21:02] <Shatterstar> I wiiiiiil
[21:02] <Timebroker> There's a squad (5d8) of public eye, and the ambulance, which will take doom pool rolls to get into
[21:02] <Shatterstar> Oh good I'll help with the public eye
[21:02] <Timebroker> you have the scene distinctions/assets: Spider-Man d8, Smashed Glass d4
[21:02] <Shatterstar> Nearest one
[21:03] <Shatterstar> heh
[21:03] <Shatterstar> hrm
[21:04] <Timebroker> (incidentally if you didn't all see the channel topic when you came in, I'm going to point to it now)
It was: “Today on Exiles: ASSAULT ON VALHALLA. Unless you do something totally different. So probably not.”
[21:04] <Timebroker> in the world of 2099, mugging is truly the best way to accomplish objectives
[21:04] <Elsa>
[21:05] <Timebroker> So, Shat, what's the plan?
[21:05] <Shatterstar> Team d8 with everyone else to coordinate (yaaaay teamwork), Sonic Blast 8, Enhanced Speed d8, Doubling Combat Master 2d10, growing doom is in effect, and broken glass to (which will shortly be impromptu shrapnel) and god I hate you
[21:05] <Shatterstar> oh and Warrior born
[21:06] <Timebroker> I'll buy the d8, take a PP
[21:06] <Shatterstar> kk
[21:06] <Elsa>
[21:07] <Echo> ahh
[21:07] <Shatterstar> and I will...you can buy another effect die with a PP yeah?
[21:07] <Black_Bolt> yes
[21:07] <Shatterstar> right putting the one I just got towards another one (guy behinds the target sets dubstep and glass to the face)
[21:07] <Shatterstar> and a second on the seven
[21:07] <Shatterstar> 23 d10, d8
This is his best roll ever. It pays off.
[21:08] <Timebroker> Alright! given that they're just arriving on scene, the PE aren't really sure what to expect beyond 'catastrophic damage', so they're still a bit disorganized. Some of them are disembarking to survey the damage while others are hovering outside next to the ambulance.
[21:09] <Timebroker> Team 5d8, Loyal to Alchemax? d8, Body Armor d8, subsonic flight d6
[21:10] <Shatterstar> shatterstar's not aiming to kill but he's not exactly being cautious either, they're just mooks nobody really important either way
[21:10] <Timebroker> Hrmmm.
[21:11] <Timebroker> No way I can beat that without spending like, the whole pool
[21:11] <Timebroker> so just like that, the first two off their bikes are pushed back into the gaping hole in the building!
Shatterstar just kicked a couple of guys off a hundredth-story balcony. Sufficed to say I did not expect this to take long.
[21:12] <Shatterstar> heh
[21:12] <Timebroker> If it weren't for the rushing wind, you're sure you'd hear a Wilhelm or two
[21:12] <Shatterstar> oh right kicking it off tooooo
[21:12] <Shatterstar> Echo!
[21:12] <Shatterstar> so we can start work on the van
[21:12] <Shatterstar> er ambulance
[21:12] <Echo> :p
[21:13] <Echo> Said ambulance is outside, yes?
[21:13] <Timebroker> It is. Hovering a couple of feet away from the building.
[21:14] <Echo> Okay. She gets a running start, leaps out the window and onto the ambulance, then swings down inside.
[21:14] <Echo> solo d10, crazy horse d8, mimic d10, enhanced durability d8, acrobatics master d10, spiderman (as a muse) d8
[21:15] * Shatterstar whistles
[21:15] <Shatterstar> nice
[21:15] <Echo> using a PP to string a 3rd in, 24 d10
[21:16] <Echo> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-f44FhhdaY
[21:16] <Timebroker> Jeeeez. Okay, doom pool responds:
[21:16] <Shatterstar> oh sweet
[21:17] <Timebroker> Yeuch
[21:17] <Elsa> ahahahahah
[21:17] * Echo looks at the EMTs. "Take you stuff. Get out."
[21:17] <Timebroker> Alright, Echo makes it look easy - one quick move and she's on board the ambulance!
[21:18] <Echo>
[21:18] <Timebroker> (those EMT's will take a second roll )
The original plan here was for either the ambulance to take two doom pool rolls or the Public Eye squad to get wiped out, either one would move things along.
[21:18] <Timebroker> Who's up next, Echo?
[21:18] <Black_Bolt> what if i just shake the ambulance vigorously in midair while echo holds on, will that vacate it
[21:18] <Timebroker> ...that would certainly do it
[21:18] <Echo> Hawk -- pft. I'm okay with a second roll
[21:19] <Timebroker> (would also take a roll, they're trained PE's inside)
[21:19] * Echo has a counter-based sheet, would like to see them try.
She does, it’s gross, and she’s got a ton of xp stored away for upgrading. Next session Echo’s going to be much more dangerous, I suspect, and she’s already pretty dangerous.
[21:20] <Echo> (also, AJ is moaning miserably about how he really wishes he were in this. ;p)
[21:20] <Timebroker> Spider-Man is well-suited to mugging people at high altitude
[21:21] <Shatterstar> d'aaw
[21:21] <Elsa>
[21:21] <Black_Bolt> i will use spider-man on my turn so he can be here in spirit
[21:21] <Echo> microsoft just updated their new patches or something with no version number, he's about ready to throw his laptop across the room
[21:23] <Echo> Ghost Rider
[21:23] <Ghost_Rider> ooh
[21:23] <Black_Bolt> speaking of LA, if we have Kate Bishop I'm gonna have to bring out Nico Minoru for one of these and continue The Rivalry
[21:23] <Elsa>
[21:23] <Timebroker> hah
[21:23] <Ghost_Rider> so there's still more public eye hovering outside?
[21:23] <Black_Bolt> i think there's three left
[21:24] <Timebroker> There's three of them, yeah.
[21:24] <Ghost_Rider> or are they all within the building
[21:24] <Echo> brb
[21:24] <Timebroker> the other three are hovering outside and training weapons on you - Shat took care of the two who'd come inside
[21:24] <Ghost_Rider> they all have those hovercycles?
[21:24] <Timebroker> They do
[21:24] <Ghost_Rider> okay
[21:24] <Shatterstar> you stop that :[
[21:25] <Timebroker> (imagine X-Force Shatterstar talking like William Shatner. It's kind of amazing.)
I can’t help it, it is!
[21:25] <Elsa>
[21:25] <Ghost_Rider> i shall anchor the chain to the wall, then drive out of the hole, swinging like tarzan and grabbing two of them and tossing them inside
[21:26] <Timebroker> my instinct is to blaspheme here but I feel like that would be tempting fate
[21:26] <Ghost_Rider> Team D6, Spirit of Vengeance D8, Superhuman Durability D10,
[21:26] <Ghost_Rider> Battering Ram D8, Menace Master D10, Spiderman D8, Smashed Glass D4
[21:27] <Shatterstar> >:[
[21:27] <Timebroker> Alright, roll it!
[21:28] <Ghost_Rider> ouch
[21:28] <Elsa> oh dear
[21:28] <Timebroker> I'll buy the d8 and step it to a d10, take 2 pp
When a player rolls multiple opportunities, the GM has the chance to get an extra-big doom die, basically. It’s kind of awesome.
[21:28] <Coppertop> D:
[21:28] <Ghost_Rider> lets see
[21:30] <Ghost_Rider> ill spend a pp to tie three together: 17, d10, ill apparently just grab one of them
[21:30] <Timebroker> Alright! Team 3d8, body armor d8, subsonic flight d6, Loyal to Alchemax? d8
[21:31] <Ghost_Rider> and im dead meat
[21:31] <Timebroker> I'll spend a doom die to bring in a third, 23 d8, and another doom die to make it a counterattack
I have a pretty substantial doom pool built up, may as well get some use out of it.
[21:32] <Timebroker> your effect die is higher so mine steps down, d6 physical stress as the Public Eye manage to avoid your tarzan swing and even get a few shots off at you as you pass them by!
[21:32] * Ghost_Rider looks like swiss cheese as he returns back inside
[21:33] <Timebroker> in this timeline we OBEY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS
Not really, but it was fun to say.
[21:33] <Ghost_Rider>
[21:33] <Timebroker> Who's up next? haha
[21:33] <Ghost_Rider> the coppers can have their turn
[21:33] <Black_Bolt> The Lord of Physics rules this domain
[21:33] <Timebroker> Alright, Public Eye it is!
[21:34] <Timebroker> They seem to have dealt with this kind of situation before - they adopt a kind of circular formation that lets them keep up their fire even when one or more is reloading.
[21:34] <Timebroker> well, not this kind of situation, but y'know. Situations in general.
[21:34] <Timebroker> Area attack, targeting all of you!
[21:35] <Shatterstar> D:
[21:35] <Elsa> oh dear
[21:35] <Ghost_Rider> ... they seemed to have dealt with this before?
[21:35] <Timebroker> they have hoverbikes and basic training!
[21:35] <Timebroker> they're doing the cantabrian circle, in uh, Total War terms
[21:36] <Black_Bolt> nice imagery, nerd
[21:36] <Timebroker>
[21:36] <Timebroker> team 3d8, future guns d8, subsonic flight d6
[21:36] <Timebroker> plus 6d6 for the area attack
[21:36] <Ghost_Rider> do public eye have swat teams
[21:36] <Timebroker> Not that you've encountered so far :3
[21:36] <Black_Bolt>
[21:36] <Ghost_Rider> a-ha
[21:37] <Timebroker> Spending two doom die to include extras
I get an absolutely solid roll here, but keep in mind it’s all d8’s and d6’s. If this had been the Public Eye swat team, which *is* statted, it would have been much more dangerous.
[21:38] <Timebroker> 27 with two d8 effect dice against... Echo and Elsa, d6's for the rest of you
[21:38] <Elsa> D:
[21:38] <Hawkeye> So everyone reacts?
[21:38] <Shatterstar> D:
[21:38] <Shatterstar> yeah
[21:38] <Timebroker> Yup
[21:39] * Shatterstar 's got his pool together
[21:39] <Timebroker> Go for it, SS
[21:39] <Ghost_Rider> so have i
[21:39] <Hawkeye> me too
[21:39] <Black_Bolt> ditto
[21:39] <Echo> give me a moment
[21:39] <Shatterstar> No I'm Brian
[21:40] <Shatterstar> solo d10, Weapon d8, Sonic Blast d8 PP'ed (whole big whirling cocoon-thingy of sound and blades), Superhuman reflexes d10, Warrior Born d8 (equal parts showman and holy fuck don't die), Acrobatic Expert d8
[21:40] <Shatterstar> Down to one PP
[21:40] * Shatterstar crosses his fingers
Shatterstar proceeds to roll nothing above a 4, and only one die even hits that.
[21:41] <Shatterstar> ...oh wow
[21:41] <Shatterstar> ow
[21:41] <Timebroker> ...Well.
[21:41] <Shatterstar> ...sooooo
[21:41] <Timebroker> it uh, it was a d6 effect die
[21:41] <Timebroker> I'll buy your d8
[21:42] <Shatterstar> heh
[21:42] <Timebroker> which leaves your total at like... 8?
It was 7, I can’t math.
[21:42] <Shatterstar> I'll spend both on the other threes
[21:42] <Timebroker> 13 then?
[21:43] <Shatterstar> so 13 so only double exed
[21:43] <Shatterstar> instead of tripled
[21:43] <Timebroker> Indeed. Ouch. Okay. That brings your physical stress up to d10
[21:43] <Shatterstar> yeah
[21:43] <Shatterstar> 13 d10
[21:43] <Shatterstar> it goes a bit like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEuw8F8cpE
[21:43] <Elsa> ahahahah
[21:43] <Elsa> WHO'S NEXT
[21:43] <Shatterstar> "God /DAMMIT/"
[21:44] * Hawkeye will go next, if no one minds.
[21:44] <Timebroker> GR next!
[21:44] <Timebroker> ooooor Hawkeye
This is the aforementioned slight lag. I’m pretty sure there are a few things happening out of order as a result, but it doesn’t interfere too badly.
[21:44] <Ghost_Rider> let hawkeye go next
[21:44] <Ghost_Rider> ill go last, since i already had by moment of glory
[21:44] <Ghost_Rider> my
[21:44] <Timebroker> hehe, fair enough
[21:45] <Hawkeye> Team, Dangerously Brave, Enhanced Reflexes, Enhanced Durability (ow ow ow WELTS ow), Acrobatics Expert
[21:46] <Hawkeye> I'm gonna pop a PP (I assume I start with at least 1?) and.... well, I can't beat the guard's total. 20 d8?
[21:46] <Black_Bolt> i would lend you one if i could, i start with 5 per session
[21:46] <Timebroker> You can
[21:47] <Black_Bolt> In that case, I will give Hawkeye a PP
[21:47] <Hawkeye> That would make my total 25, which is, ah, still not enough to beat the total, but at least it's not an ex-success!
[21:47] <Timebroker> Okay, d6 physical stress! Future weapons hurt.
[21:48] <Black_Bolt> the time cops are kicking our asses
[21:48] <Ghost_Rider> they are not too old for this shit
[21:48] <Timebroker> glass cannons!
[21:49] <Timebroker> so, next reaction - Black Bolt?
[21:49] * Elsa is ready whenever.
[21:49] <Hawkeye> "That was my /kicking/ leg, you disco rejects." Kate hisses.
[21:49] * Black_Bolt uses Spider-Man to weave a protective web shield, and charges it up with electron energy.
[21:50] <Timebroker> Nice. Spider-Man contributes!
[21:50] <Black_Bolt> Team d10, Inhuman Monarch d8, Electron Energy Blast d10 (spending a PP to step up with Electron Boost), Cosmic Expert d8, Spider-Man d8
[21:50] <Black_Bolt> spending another PP to tie together into 22 with a d8 effect die
[21:51] <Black_Bolt> which should step the ex-suc back down to a d6, mitigating the damage a bit
[21:51] <Timebroker> It does indeed
The Public Eye are actually doing something. It’s kind of a surprise given that as soon as they appeared two of them got Wilhelm’d off a building.
[21:51] <Timebroker> Alright, Elsa?
[21:52] <Elsa> Elsa goes into a defensive crouch behind one of the unfortunate Fat Men Trolleys. Her guns attempt to form into a shield, but she clocks them against one another to obey her actions - then hooks them into the trolleys' exhaust pipes, turning them into an enormous ad-hoc wheelbarrow.
[21:52] <Elsa> And she charges.
[21:52] <Elsa> Ahead of Black Bolt's Spidey Shield.
[21:52] <Timebroker> :O
[21:52] <Elsa> I've Seen Worse d8, Buddy d8, Superhuman Durability d10, Machine Man Rifles 2d10 thanks to Five Rounds Rapid, Combat Expert d8, Spider-Man d8, Falling Glass d4, for a total of 2d10+4d8+1d4
[21:53] <Elsa> Discarding a 7 for 5RR
[21:53] <Elsa> And using a PP for 22, d10.
[21:54] <Timebroker> :O
[21:54] <Elsa> I believe the effect die cancel each other out?
[21:54] <Timebroker> Sorry, just picturing it, heh
[21:54] <Elsa>
[21:54] <Timebroker> Yeah, your effect is higher so mine steps down
[21:55] <Elsa> WORKS FOR ME
[21:55] <Ghost_Rider> you can chain four dice together with pps?
[21:55] <Timebroker> brings it to a d6, which... Wow. Meatshields are a theme.
[21:55] <Timebroker> If you have the PP to spend, yeah
[21:55] <Ghost_Rider> good to know
[21:55] <Timebroker> You can manipulate them however you like, pretty much
[21:56] <Timebroker> ...remind me to tell you about Godthab Omega later
Godthab Omega, true believers, was the planet Venom and Songbird knocked out of orbit in universe 420. They fixed it eventually, but the ‘Days Until Godthab Omega Falls Into the Sun:’ countdown sign got to like, 2. All because Songbird didn’t want him to eat a guy literally named ‘Ravenous’.
[21:56] <Elsa> hee hee hee
[21:56] <Black_Bolt> >:|
[21:56] <Timebroker> okay Echo, you're being shot at by futuristic weapons, how do you respond?
[21:56] <Ghost_Rider> by autocountering
[21:57] <Echo> :p
[21:57] <Black_Bolt> "It Is Presently 25 Days Until Godthab Omega Falls Into The Sun"
[21:59] <Echo> Katana baseball returns - it's one thing to fight cops, but there was a reason she told the EMTs to get their stuff and get out. So she's gonna try and protect the ambulence crew and deflect the bullets ala sword
[21:59] <Echo> solo d10, marked by the hand d8, enhanced reflexes d8 w/Quick Study, weapon d6 w/ deadly counter, combat master d10
[22:01] <Timebroker>
[22:01] <Elsa>
[22:01] <Echo> :p
[22:01] <Black_Bolt> i wonder why nobody's ever statted the hood for mhr
[22:02] <Black_Bolt> he'd be a fun villain
[22:02] <Timebroker> He'd be great. Could do the Hawkeye thing with different powersets for different stages.
[22:02] <Echo> oh, and spiderman would probably approve of protecting the medical guys, so, uh, extra d8
[22:02] <Timebroker> Dormammu Hood, Norn Stones Hood, borrowing Red Hood's Hood Hood etc
[22:03] <Black_Bolt> haha
The Hood is a really cool guy, honestly. I’m hoping he comes back in some substantial way later on, though that would probably take some finagling considering the end of Siege. Even so.
[22:03] <Timebroker> Echo I think the future police are not falling for your sword tricks
[22:03] <Echo> can i use 2 PPs to use four dice, instead of one to use 3?
[22:03] <Timebroker> Yep
[22:04] <Echo> 21d10
[22:04] <Black_Bolt> good god, the violence inflicted on our protagonists
[22:04] <Timebroker> this is even more successful than squirrel girl
[22:05] <Timebroker> that's d8 stress, Echo
[22:05] <Black_Bolt> we're playing out the last thirty seconds of the new walking dead episode
[22:05] <Timebroker> which brings us to Ghost Rider!
[22:05] <Ghost_Rider> hahaa, i shall use almost all my weapons
[22:05] <Timebroker> ...who's probably the Darryl, in that scenario, for all sorts of reasons
[22:05] <Ghost_Rider> Solo d10, Spirit of Vengeance D4 (Not much avenging here),
[22:05] <Ghost_Rider> Superhuman Durability D10, Enhanced Speed D10 (Speed Demon, Step up the lowest die in the doom pool to step up ES)
[22:05] <Ghost_Rider> Menace Master D10, Spiderman D8, Smashed Glass D4
[22:06] <Timebroker> that is an appropriately scary pool from the flaming skull guy
It’s the biggest pool yet, in terms of die size.
[22:07] <Ghost_Rider> i'll work with spidey, make a line with spidey's web and my chain to trip the motorcycles
[22:07] <Ghost_Rider> ...if i succeed the roll
[22:07] <Timebroker> Right, you're one of those autocounterers, hehe
I say ‘hehe’ but I am doing this:
[22:07] <Black_Bolt> spider-man is our assist character, a la mvc
[22:07] <Ghost_Rider> hahaha
[22:08] <Hawkeye> i'd much prefer hidden missiles
[22:08] <Black_Bolt> we don't want hidden missiles on this adventure
[22:08] <Elsa>
[22:08] <Black_Bolt> we are on doom's bad side
[22:08] <Ghost_Rider> what was the score to beat?
[22:08] <Timebroker> 27, d6
[22:09] <Black_Bolt> which makes me think of the time i told aphin to play nova but just have him talk like yipes at all times. why didn't you do it, aphin, you're the worst
[22:09] <Timebroker> hahah
[22:10] <Ghost_Rider> what was the extraordinary damage thingie limit
[22:10] <Echo> 5
[22:10] <Ghost_Rider> ok
[22:10] <Timebroker> right, if the attack die is higher by 5 than the defense, it steps up the effect
[22:11] <Black_Bolt> "Nova, what was your strategy for defeating the sentinel just now?" "My strategy was to stay in that culo so that he couldn't call the drones." "...I see."
[22:11] <Ghost_Rider> does it step it up everytime it goes over 5?
[22:11] <Black_Bolt> it does
[22:11] <Timebroker> It does, yeah
[22:11] <Ghost_Rider> ok
[22:12] <Timebroker> (this is exactly what happens when someone uses cantabrian circle in rome total war, for the record!)
But not Rome 2. What a mess that was/is.
[22:12] <Ghost_Rider> ill spend a pp to tie three together, 19, d10
[22:13] <Timebroker> Alright! Your higher effect die negates the step-up from the ex-success, so it's d6 stress, which adds to the bit left from earlier to leave you at d8
[22:13] <Black_Bolt> the nerds are stuffing us in the locker
[22:14] <Timebroker> So! Now that the timecops have had their day in the sun... Black Bolt! It is your turn!
[22:14] * Black_Bolt takes a deep breath.
[22:15] <Timebroker> eep
[22:15] <Black_Bolt> "Enough."
[22:15] <Elsa> oh /shit/
[22:15] <Black_Bolt> Team d10, Voice of Doom d8, PP uses Electron Boost to put Hypersonic Voice at 3d12, Combat Expert d8, and area attack adds 2d6
[22:15] * Timebroker starts writing up a collateral damage description
One way or another, there was going to be collateral damage.
[22:15] <Black_Bolt> #roll 2[1d6]
[22:15] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Black_Bolt [2[1d6]]: 5 6 >
[22:15] <Echo> ...
[22:15] <Black_Bolt> #roll 2[1d8]
[22:15] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Black_Bolt [2[1d8]]: 7 3 >
[22:16] * Elsa dives for cover.
[22:16] <Black_Bolt> #roll 1d10
[22:16] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Black_Bolt [1d10]: 5>
[22:16] <Shatterstar> oh my
[22:16] <Black_Bolt> #roll 3[1d12]
[22:16] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Black_Bolt [3[1d12]]: 7 3 9 >
[22:16] <Black_Bolt> I'll use the last PP left to tie three together into a 23 with effect dice of d12, d12, d10.
[22:16] <Timebroker> :O
I left that roll in for obvious reasons.
[22:16] * Echo sees lips moving that don't normally move. Huh.
[22:17] * Shatterstar 's propped his bullet splattered carcass up just in time to see the fireworks
[22:17] * Ghost_Rider has even more holes in him
[22:17] <Shatterstar> And potentially get caught in the backblast
[22:17] <Timebroker> okay... team 3d8, loyal d8, body armor d8, and subsonic flight d6...
[22:17] <Timebroker> #roll 5[1d8]
[22:17] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Timebroker [5[1d8]]: 1 1 3 1 2 >
[22:17] *** -RPGServ- <Roll [5[1d8]]: 1 1 3 1 2 >
[22:17] <Timebroker> #roll 1d6
[22:17] *** -RPGServ@#MHRPExiles- <Roll for Timebroker [1d6]: 5>
[22:17] *** -RPGServ- <Roll [1d6]: 5>
For those who haven’t gamed with me, there’s a running theme: My rolls are generally ‘Knock a Planet Into the Sun with a Sneeze’ good or ‘Collapse Into a Ball of Tears’ bad. Not a lot of in between. That’s carried over into my GM’ing to hilarious effect.
[22:17] <Ghost_Rider> hahaha
[22:17] <Timebroker> Well.
[22:17] <Black_Bolt> Well I don't know what I was worried about
[22:18] <Black_Bolt> (if I miss with that I put 2d12 in the doom pool)
2d12, for the record, is enough for the Watcher to spend to immediately end a scene with whatever result is appropriate. In this case it could have been anything from Public Eye reinforcements in overwhelming numbers to the building collapsing entirely. That roll was literally make-or-break.
[22:18] <Shatterstar> ...oh my god
[22:18] <Echo> ahahaha
[22:18] <Elsa> ...oh my /god/
[22:19] <Elsa> those guards just BUGGED THE FUCK OUT at his voice
[22:19] <Black_Bolt> Oh, I am not doing physical stress, just for flavor's sake
[22:19] <Echo> head expolsions
[22:19] <Black_Bolt> I am inflicting Blasted Into The Horizon as a complication
[22:19] <Timebroker> It's the word heard round the world. Across the city of New New York, glasses shatter, windows break and electronics fizzle. Neon lights burst, anything remotely breakable collapses into tiny pieces, and the shockwave resonates even beyond the audible effect. Valhalla shakes in the sky.
Remember how he was trying to avoid collateral damage earlier?
[22:19] <Echo> Mind Crush
[22:20] <Shatterstar> "@@"
[22:20] <Timebroker> Most of the time, things in front of Black Bolt when he speaks just disintegrate. He's been known to rip holes in the space-time continuum just by shouting. The Public Eye, to their credit, are quick enough to get their bikes between them and the blast
He actually did rip a hole in the space-time continuum with a shout. War of Kings. Read it.
[22:21] <Timebroker> It's enough to keep them from dying, but they're carried off into the distance by the shockwave alone, in what would surely be a very profitable surfing experience were Black Bolt inclined to market it.
[22:21] <Black_Bolt> now all of us understand why that power is not meant to be used willy-nilly
[22:21] <Elsa> /jeeebus/
[22:21] <Echo> Poor spidey's symbiote is probably having coniptions
[22:22] <Elsa> and this is why spidey really wasn't here today
[22:22] <Echo> hehe
[22:22] <Timebroker> somewhere in the 2099 universe, an entire planet of symbiotes cried out in pain and was silenced.
I assume they have a planet. It seems like the current run of Guardians of the Galaxy is going to make that clear, one way or another, where Earth-616 is concerned, but in this universe the symbiotes have (or, well, had) a galaxy-spanning empire. Take that, 2099.
[22:22] <Echo> and Echo's just looking around at all the effects and being like...wha?
[22:23] * Black_Bolt steps up to the edge as the dust clears, and motions to Echo in the ambulance as if to say 'it's all yours'.
[22:23] <Timebroker> the ambulance was going to take one more doom pool roll *or* the eradication of the guards with it, so uh
[22:23] <Timebroker> it's all yours!
[22:23] * Shatterstar 's blades have finally stopped acting like enormous tuning forks and he's just giving Black Bolt the wariest of wary looks.
[22:23] <Echo> "So..okay. What just happened?"
[22:24] * Elsa crawls out of some convenient wreckage.
[22:24] * Hawkeye picks at her ears. "I think a sudden case of tinnitus."
[22:24] <Ghost_Rider> "He talked."
[22:25] <Elsa> "That...is the reason Charades here keeps his mouth shut."
[22:25] <Echo> "Ah."
[22:25] * Elsa clears her throat, directs everyone toward the ambulance.
[22:25] <Black_Bolt> just envisioning hawkeye doing this now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tekhh7Iy-sM
[22:25] <Elsa>
[22:26] <Elsa> "MOP"
[22:26] <Elsa> "MOP"
[22:26] <Shatterstar> hahaha
[22:26] * Black_Bolt proceeds wordlessly to the ambulance.
I think we can all agree that Black Bolt being wordless is not the worst thing that could happen.
[22:26] <Echo> "Deafness is a blessing it seems." Echo drops the stunned EMTs into the building, and gets behind the theoretical wheel
[22:26] * Shatterstar piles into the back.
[22:26] <Timebroker> It's more of a control panel than a wheel
[22:27] <Timebroker> Looks like the EMT's were surprised enough that they didn't get a chance to lock it down
[22:27] <Timebroker> The controls are surprisingly intuitive, and there's even a brief tutorial.
[22:27] <Ghost_Rider> ill shut down the bike for one PP, then climb on the ambulance
[22:28] <Echo> Huh.
[22:28] <Shatterstar> "Please don't turn the ambulance all spiky and fiery and bechained."
[22:29] <Echo> "That's his shtick" and she nods towards Ghosty
[22:29] <Shatterstar> "Just in case he was tempted."
[22:29] * Ghost_Rider stands quietly in the corner, hellfire blazing from the holes in his leather jacket
[22:29] <Timebroker> This is a brief transition scene, so all stress will step back once
[22:30] <Elsa> woooo
[22:30] * Echo wrinkles her nose. Burning leather.
[22:30] <Timebroker> That's enough to clear BB, Hawkeye and Elsa. The rest of you have some left, in varying amounts.
[22:30] <Ghost_Rider> i can spend my exp, right?
[22:30] <Timebroker> You can spend xp here, yeah
[22:30] <Ghost_Rider> wohoo
[22:30] <Ghost_Rider> more pp
At this point there was a thunderclap that shook my house.
[22:30] <Timebroker> actually it does sound like the storm is getting closer here, should prooooobably call it a bit early tonight just in case
[22:31] <Black_Bolt> fair enough, we don't want you to get electrocuted
[22:31] * Echo glances down at her side, where there's now a bloody patch. "Someone hand me some stitches."
[22:31] <Echo> yeah, lets not have that happen
[22:31] <Hawkeye> oof
[22:31] * Black_Bolt shakes it off, as Inhumans do with their enhanced healing.
[22:32] * Elsa tosses back her comically (haw) long hair. This seems to do the trick.
[22:32] <Timebroker> So uh, well done, everybody! You've hijacked an ambulance and destroyed all the glass in NNYC, and are well on your way to attacking the ominously-named Valhalla
[22:32] <Elsa> WOOOO
[22:32] * Ghost_Rider is still riddled with holes, yet does not seem to care
[22:32] <Echo> :p
[22:32] <Hawkeye> Sadly I did not get to use a boomerang arrow today.
[22:32] <Black_Bolt> It'll come back to us eventually.
[22:33] <Timebroker> hahah
[22:33] <Ghost_Rider> that glass was evil, it needed destroying
[22:33] <Shatterstar> haha
[22:34] <Black_Bolt> they'll just make more now that the budget will have something other than valhalla to go to
[22:34] * Shatterstar will pass Echo the needle and thread when he's done with it.
[22:34] <Timebroker> take 5 xp for hijacking the ambulance, plus whatever you get from triggered milestones etc
[22:34] <Shatterstar> Heh
[22:34] <Hawkeye> I am going to spend uh
[22:34] <Hawkeye> all of it
[22:34] <Hawkeye> on PP
Never a bad strategy, really.
Anyways, that concludes this week’s fairly short session, which went nothing at all like I expected but was a hell of a lot of fun to GM regardless. Obviously I did not die in the subsequent storm, but the power flickered a couple of times so it was probably a good thing we called it early, and that transition scene was well-timed.
Next time, on Exiles: ASSAULT ON VALHALLA. Or the Coca-Cola building. Maybe. Depending what these lunatics do. Right now they’re multiversal petty criminals, what with the mugging and home invasion and grand theft auto, so who knows what’s going to happen!
Statistics: Posted by Khaskadahg — 15 May 2014, 18:05