The NEW Vanguard - LIONHEART Issue #3 - The Mission, Part 1

The door buzzed, and the voice spoke up. "Follow the illuminated corridor to the lift and from there the route to my flat will be lit."

Kayleigh looked at Lionheart then shrugged. "Best to be out of sight, so I guess we have nothing to lose."

The interior of the building was sumptuous and spotless. The lights along the corridor did indeed light the way. Lionheart was aware of being observed with every step by multiple cameras. It seemed the tenants of this exclusive building were careful about their security.

Finally at the door, he was about to knock when it opened. Inside a statuesque woman, over six feet tall and of athletic build, stood in t shirt and cut off jeans, black hair tied back in a pony tail. She looked Lionheart and Kayleigh up and down, then stood back to offer entrance. The studio apartment was open plan and decorated with antiques that looked grecian, mixed with occasional technology, flat screen panels and the like.

The door clicked closed and the woman stood with arms crossed. "When I retired I expected to actually, you know, retire. That means not being pestered." Her accent was hard to place. Possibly from southern Europe, though diluted from years of living in America. "However, be that as it may, you bear words I had not expected to hear again, and a name to whom I owe a debt. Name then, that which I can do for you that will go in some way towards payment of that debt. I am Thunder Woman, and I honour my debts." she added, simply.

Admin wrote:The door clicked closed and the woman stood with arms crossed. "When I retired I expected to actually, you know, retire. That means not being pestered." Her accent was hard to place. Possibly from southern Europe, though diluted from years of living in America. "However, be that as it may, you bear words I had not expected to hear again, and a name to whom I owe a debt. Name then, that which I can do for you that will go in some way towards payment of that debt. I am Thunder Woman, and I honour my debts." she added, simply.

Having adjusted to the fact that, despite her size and evident ability, the woman before Lionheart was unlikely to be a product of genetic manipulation he still had to wonder what had given her the evident physic that she had.  

Accepting Thunder Woman's words at face value, Lionheart was about to take a seat but then thought about it twice.  He instead floated crossing his legs before descending neatly onto a nearby cushion.  "Right that's got the elephant in the room out of the way, now lets bring you up to speed." Ignoring Kayleigh's shocked expression, Lionheart explained to Thunder Woman the reason he had come, the situation with Timpson's White Dwarf material, the subsequent encounter with Kayleigh and his breaking cover to rescue her.  

After finishing, Lionheart noticed that Kayleigh was still standing somewhat aghast. "Don't stare, Kayleigh it's rude.  Just so we understand each other I am Richard King, but I usually go by the name Lionheart.  Not that, that name means much these days.  Ho hum, timelines and all that.  So the question remains,"  He said turning back to Thunder Woman, "Where on earth we go from here?"

Sj

Kayleigh continued to gape, then sagged onto the couch...

Thunder Woman, meanwhile, put the kettle on. "My name means little, but the current civilian name I use is Rhiannon DeSoto. Every few years I will move, create a new identity and begin a new chapter of my life. I am older than I look. All you need to know is that in his time in the British Superhero group known as the Executive, Wandafar provided a great service to me and the team I was part of at the time. As a result I have no qualms with helping you."

"You need the White Dwarf Star material. I would expect such an element to be rare and have both a significant dollar and scientific value. As such it will be heavily guarded and not just by technology. Timpson is a man and a corporation with a wide, long reach. There is something else. These ... 'outbreaks' of superhuman ability seem random. Perhaps too random. This young lady and her sister are tied up in this now. I suppose there are two approaches that present themselves."

"The first - we speak to Timpson or his representatives to confront them and find out the truth."

"Or we do things below the radar. Find out what's going on before confronting him. My style is to confront. Sneaking around is not something I relish, nor am I good at. I do have friends who can do that, and who I can call on. It depends on how willing you are climb down into the pit. One cannot emerge from the pit unscathed, I have found."

Kayleigh spoke up "I HAVE to know what happened to my sister! There are others, too, who have been taken away from their families, who want answers. They have rights! I won't stop until we know what is causing this, find a cure, and bring my sister, those others, home!"

Thunder Woman turned to Lionheart and shrugged. "She has heart. It has been a while since I have had cause to champion, and this seems as good as any."

Admin wrote:Thunder Woman turned to Lionheart and shrugged. "She has heart. It has been a while since I have had cause to champion, and this seems as good as any."

"Yes, she has plenty of that."  Lionheart said a little chagrined that his simple extraction mission was fast becoming something altogether more difficult entirely. "First things first, I need this White Dwarf Material, all things being equal without it we all face a much worse threat that make rescuing your sister pointless.  If you escape a bear and fall into a pit of snakes...well you get my meaning. "  Lionheart winced at that, he wasn't hot on this whole 'bedside manner thing'.  

"I think you are right when you say Timpson will have that White Dwarf material guarded and the means to get at it he'd keep close to him.  So we've only two real options, the first is direct confrontation and the second is to try and steal it from him.  If I am honest I think the second is fraught with dangers, it could take too long and still end up having to resort to the direct approach in the end anyway.  I'd rather not make a deal with a devil, but we have to know that if we go in hot and heavy we'll equally be up against a formidable opponent who has stayed out of jail by being two steps ahead of everyone else.  The friends you've got, we might need not to get us in, but to get us out.  I am betting that Timpson expects someone to come knocking for his material and will have thought of a way to neutralise that threat.  However if we are the decoy, and our allies can come following the trap being sprung, we might yet be able to snatch some kind of victory.  What do you think?"   Lionheart was itching for a fight, it had been too long and restraining his powers increasingly made him feel itchy but unable to scratch.  

He realised a big loud confrontation ran an increased risk of drawing the attention of the authorities as well, but then that is what they had a Wandafar for.  

Using a secure line he outlined his thoughts to Wandafar, but then asked him about a decoy making enough noise to keep the government Psi forces and their goons away from the city to not warrant their attention.   Only then might they be able to play this hand out, in some measure of other.  After that then they'd have to think about what is going on with these sudden too random metahuman outbreaks.  

Sj

"Well, zis is dangerous way of doing stuff, to be sure, but maybe is way of getting two avians mit vun rock. Get ze Dwarf Star stuff und ze ladies sister free." replied Wandafar.

"I vill heck into ze computers to initiate ze protocols to vatch for attecks und send zem on ze vild goosey chase. of course, zis may make zem not so friendly to me und even brend me terrorist. Meh. Something else for Justin to sort out. He loves zet sort of chellenge. Maybe."

Thunder Woman turned to Kayleigh. "Best you wait here. I do not know the capability of you, Lionheart, but associates of Wandafar have always been useful in a fight." she grinned.

Kayleigh was about to offer a protest, but bit down her reply. "I barely know you..." she offered to Lionheart "But your help... you've risked so much already... thank you! Please. Please bring my sister back... and take care of yourself."

Thunder Woman commneted with regards Lionhearts plan. "Offering ourselves up as bait then calling in my friends sounds like a viable plan, but we need to make it convincing. Hope you don't have any qualms about knocking peoples teeth out."

"Let me make a call. Not all of my friends are within easy or close calling on distance, regardless of how fast they travel. Ironically enough, those in other dimensions my get here faster than those who still reside in America..." said Thunder Woman.

Wandafar made contact again. "I hef crossed ze lines, so to speak. Ven zey figure out zey are not under mess attack, zey vill flip ze lids to be sure. Even now I hef instigated a protocol zet hes ze President being taken to ze secret bunker place und all ze FBI and Homeland Security lot running round look for people to shoot at. In addition ze psychics are looking for ze bad people. To make it convincing, I, ah, let a few of ze prisoners out of prison. Super ones, but no one really bad. Just vuns who vill seize ze chence to be out and about und lead a merry chase before being rounded up. Amazing vot cen be done viz a few commands from a computer on ze other side of ze vorld. Zey think it is so secure und foolproof. Heh. Maybe I done zem a favour. I vill give zem ze beck door details ven ze poop hits ze spinny thing on ze ceiling to calm zem down."

A pause.

"Justin vill hef his vork cut out viz zis vun. I vill hef to move und live as a hermit I sink."

Thunder Woman came back in the room, frown on her face. "Couldn't reach as many of my old friends as I would have liked, and not all of them could - or would - promise help. Goody two shoes unfortunately. There were four I could count on though, great fighters who would battle to the death for any of the others. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

She moved to the window and slid the french door/windows open. "Once more into the breach?" she asked.

Admin wrote:Kayleigh was about to offer a protest, but bit down her reply. "I barely know you..." she offered to Lionheart "But your help... you've risked so much already... thank you! Please. Please bring my sister back... and take care of yourself."

Lionheart looked kindly toward Kayleigh, with a small smile at one side of his face, "I seem to have made a habit of getting caught up helping strangers.  Strangers who often turn out to be friends.  We might not be able to convince everyone that people with powers aren't the real threat, but we can make a difference to some it'll have been worth it".

Admin wrote: Thunder Woman came back in the room, frown on her face. "Couldn't reach as many of my old friends as I would have liked, and not all of them could - or would - promise help. Goody two shoes unfortunately. There were four I could count on though, great fighters who would battle to the death for any of the others. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

She moved to the window and slid the french door/windows open. "Once more into the breach?" she asked.

Moving now at the speed for which he had become infamous, Lionheart was at the balcony before Thunderwoman had completed her sentence forcing her to turn around awkwardly as she realised he was now standing to the side of her.  Only he wasn't standing but floating, "So what are we waiting for?"  He retorted with a quick grin.

OOC: Ok so I think we are going to case the building, floating around to get a good idea of what we can from and with any leads I can gather.  Then go in via one of the main penthouse windows.  I guess they'll be reinforced, so as an alternative it might be easier to go for the walls as they might not be so strong - given that glass would be the obvious point of entry.  It all depends on what we find when we get there given what Wandafar has set off.

Sj

OOC That probably comes out giant size :S Oh Well.

Thunder Woman nods, noting that Lionheart can fly easily

"So, I propose we try things directly, easily. Make clear our intentions to speak to Timpson and take no dissuasion as answer, yes?" she said, stepping out onto the balcony and looking over the city. "I love a good fight." she added, breathing out.

Lionheart wondered just what it was he was getting in to...

She took off like a bullet, catching Lionheart unawares slightly. He was fast though, and tracked her movement across the sky. With a burst of speed he caught up, and she turned to look at him and grinned. "Don't hesitate my friend! If you see an opportunity to act, take it! Look yonder! Tis our destination..."

The shining steel and glass tower stood high amongst other tall buildings, and the plaza in front of it was pristine and busy with people going about their business. The superhero pair swooped up and around the building, looking at the glass tower.

"I cannot say for certain which floor he would occupy, but Timpson is an egomaniac. He would want to be ruler of all he surveys... So the top would be logical... but he would know people would think that if he came under attack and ... here we go."



"Timpsons very own private superhuman army." said Thunder Woman, rolling her neck and popping her knuckles. "Even though the rest of the country is on high alert thanks to Wandafars' machinations he would of course leave something back to protect his own interests. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't try the tactic we are using to draw attention away from his other 'endeavours'."

"YOU ARE ORDERED TO CEASE AND DESIST ALL METAHUMAN ACTIVITIES!" rang out a loudspeaker from one of the armoured men. "BY ORDER OF THE DWARFSTAR GUARD, DULY DEPUTIZED BY THE AUTHORITIES OF THIS CITY TO USE ANY AND ALL MEANS TO BRING ROGUE SUPERHUMAN ELEMENTS TO JUSTICE!"

Thunder Woman glanced at Lionheart "Here's where the fun begins. We can take them on together, or I can keep them busy and you get into that place? Timpson is an accomplished weapons inventor, so do not underestimate the power of his devices. Some of these I have not seen before. He was, upon a time, an active member of a superhuman team before he dissolved it and concentrated on his various business endeavours. The man is a snake. He was a hero only to serve his own..."

"YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY THEN YOU WILL BE NEUTRALISED AND HELD FOR QUESTIONING!"

Below, the people were looking up. Some were running for cover, others reaching for smartphones, some were simply staring, amazed and fearful of what was about to happen...

Admin wrote:"YOU ARE ORDERED TO CEASE AND DESIST ALL METAHUMAN ACTIVITIES!" rang out a loudspeaker from one of the armoured men. "BY ORDER OF THE DWARFSTAR GUARD, DULY DEPUTIZED BY THE AUTHORITIES OF THIS CITY TO USE ANY AND ALL MEANS TO BRING ROGUE SUPERHUMAN ELEMENTS TO JUSTICE!"

Thunder Woman glanced at Lionheart "Here's where the fun begins. We can take them on together, or I can keep them busy and you get into that place? Timpson is an accomplished weapons inventor, so do not underestimate the power of his devices. Some of these I have not seen before. He was, upon a time, an active member of a superhuman team before he dissolved it and concentrated on his various business endeavours. The man is a snake. He was a hero only to serve his own..."

"YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY THEN YOU WILL BE NEUTRALISED AND HELD FOR QUESTIONING!"

Below, the people were looking up. Some were running for cover, others reaching for smartphones, some were simply staring, amazed and fearful of what was about to happen...

Lionheart looked at the collective number of armoured men before him, having to wonder if Timpson could counter a Psi cop like him? It was worth a try, if he could take out a good number of them before things got to heated then he might not have to tie up his only ally in a fight out here, whilst he tried to break in. "Let me try something here first."

OOC:OK so I want to use mindblast on multiple attackers, can we do that and up the use of HP to make sure the attack succeeds. I'm hoping that we can daze them long enough to blast through without having to stop and start a serious fight. But of course we'll see.

Sj

OOC I'll assume (in the interests of moving things on) you are attacking 4 of the armoured goons, we'll start with 1-4. Also assuming you up your Mind blast with power reserve (by 8 points from 7 to 15) then spend a further 7 Hero Points on acting, 7 on effect. this means you drop from 118HP to 104Hp

LIONHEART 104HP

2d10 → [10,1] = (11)

An average roll, but because you are effectively 22AV/22EV even against four of these guys, this happens...

Lionheart hovered whilst crackling 'fire' gathered about his person. The Lion symbol appeared on his chest, then seemed to grow and leap from each armoured foe he targeted!

"SPLIT! SPLIT!" bellowed one armoured man. The group peeled off in different directions and Lionheart just heard "MENTAL SHIELDS UP! WE'RE UNDER PSYCHIC ATTACK! JACKSON IS DOWN, THOMSON... GET THAT..."

Thankfully they switched to an internal feed before an obscenity was broadcast across the large plaza!

Lionheart saw the four armoured forms he'd targeted (1-4) falling like rocks towards the plaza below!

Two were heading towards parked cars, the other two were plummeting towards people - the first being a restaurant roof/cover where people were stood straining to see what was happening, the other was a woman wheeling a push chair and gasping as a huge limp form fell towards her!

OOC Four armoured goons (1-4) are out cold. You've used your DICE action, but still have a MOVE action and a SIMPLE action (that is, non move/non dice action) left. You can attempt to catch and deflect ONE of the armoured forms (to do both would require your dice action) then I will resolve Thunder Womans attack before the remaining armoured foes respond... And they will.

Admin wrote:OOC Four armoured goons (1-4) are out cold.  You've used your DICE action, but still have a MOVE action and a SIMPLE action (that is, non move/non dice action) left. You can attempt to catch and deflect ONE of the armoured forms (to do both would require your dice action) then I will resolve Thunder Womans attack before the remaining armoured foes respond... And they will.

Lionheart groaned, but speed down at top speed. He wasn't worried about the impact these armoured figures might receive, as he imagined that any engineer would have built in many levels of redundancy failures to counteract such an obvious failure such as flight. However the damage to property and people was a whole different ball game. Moving with almost blinding speed, he aimed his flight so that like an expert snooker player, his movement deflected the man off the present course to non valuable targets. Where that wasn't possible Lionheart timed his route to grab at those remaining to stop them.

OOC: Ok so will have to take care of any collateral damage first before getting back into the fray. I imagine next time I'll want to move first so as to be within striking range of these guys. But I am feeling that we might want to take the fight back to the Penthouse so that we can throw them at it, rather than where people might get hurt.

Sj

LIONHEART
HP 104

OOC No confirmation of which one you wanted to deflect (falling towards crowded restaurant or the hapless woman and pram) so will assume the woman and pram.

Speeding down, Lionheart could do little more than ram/nudge the falling armoured man aside. He did so and swooped up as the woman screamed, only to gasp in relief as the falling object slammed into the concrete, shattering it in a crater and throwing up smoke and dust!

Thunder Woman was about to lay into the enemy when she saw the falling man plummet towards the restaurant. With experience borne from years of fighting crime on every level - from street to cosmic - she made a split second decision to fly down like a rocket and grab hold of the man just before he struck. A dozen people would have been pulverised by the impact, and she takes out her frustration on the suit, punching a hole in the backpack to tear at a power supply before tossing the fellow to the ground from a low height. She looked up, then shouted "LOOK OUT!" to Lionheart as the remainder of the armoured enemies split into two groups to attack the pair of you!

Attacking with the coordination of a trained team, and possibly synced via computer, four of them targeted Lionheart, the other three swooped down to attack Thunder Woman.

OOC Attacks on Lionheart:

Lionheart has used his power reserve on Superspeed already this round.

His Opposing Value is 8, which is ok but not fantastic. He has four attacks incoming. You have the option to spend Hero points against any or all of these attacks. Unfortunately HP spend is a one shot deal, so spending against each is separate.

You can increase your Opposing Value (used to dodge) from 8 to 9 (1 point), 11 (3 points), 13 (5 points) or 16 (8 points) at your choice.

Your resistance value is far healthier with the force field up at 16 Resistance Value (RV) (used to resist damage) which for comparison would allow you to ignore tank blasts and battleship guns, for the most part. You can increase this for one or all attacks to 19 (3 points), 22 (6 points), 25 (9 points) 28 (12 points) or 31 (15 points) for maximum shrug off nuclear blast resistance.

The various incoming attacks on Lionheart are:

Sensory Attack
Ice Attack
Fire Attack
Density Increase

This might be an expensive (in terms of HP expenditure) round for Lionheart. That said he's going to have to ride the storm if he wants another crack at these guys. His initial attack was incredibly effective. Now it's their turn. Make your choice (spend HP or not) and I'll rattle the dice. Update tomorrow (not at work yay!)

Admin wrote:LIONHEART
HP 104

Your resistance value is far healthier with the force field up at 16 Resistance Value (RV) (used to resist damage) which for comparison would allow you to ignore tank blasts and battleship guns, for the most part. You can increase this for one or all attacks to 19 (3 points), 22 (6 points), 25 (9 points) 28 (12 points) or 31 (15 points) for maximum shrug off nuclear blast resistance.

The various incoming attacks on Lionheart are:

Sensory Attack
Ice Attack
Fire Attack
Density Increase

[/color]

OOC: If I understand things correctly, then increasing resistance means that even if hit it decreases the likelihood of damage, assuming they hit in the first place. So I think I'll go defensive and increase the resistance value of my forcefield so that its raised to 25 (9) points. And then seek to take them all out with another mind blast, again increasing the attack value with HP say 8 to make the attack as effective as possible. Hopefully this near to the ground if they fall they are less likely to do great harm to anyone. Whilst I am attacking, I'll contact Wandafar and see if he can't hack the defences of these systems or some other jiggery pokery to cause there to be less of a coordinated attack. Any leverage, interference or help he can give us, this end or in the control room.

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC Just to clarify. You have four incoming attacks, and want to up your defence to 25 (9 points on each attack for a total of 36 hp spent) for each of the attacks, yeah? Just making sure before you spend a third of your HP in one round! Actually Sensory Block is a mental attack and Lionheart already has 19 resistance so you may want to spend a little less, or the same, or none at all, your call.

1) Sensory Block - Lionheart RV 19 spend any HP?
2) Fire and 3) Ice attacks - Lionheart has an RV of 16 against each. Up both to 25 (9 points on each attack?)
4) Gravity Increase - just looked that up. This is an attack against Lionhearts Dex ( and Strength (. You can up one or both of those up to 16 by spending points. This is the attack LH is most vulnerable to as his Force Field doesn't protect him from gravity (otherwise he'd float around all the time, much as it wouldn't protect against gas attacks as he'd not be able to breathe and so on). You may want to spend a chunk of points on that.

Should have been a bit clearer, sorry, but it's important to see how much effort you want to use keeping LH on his feet as a set of good rolls could see him out for the count. If it seems like he's going down easy its because his superspeed is usually boosted by power reserve to 14 and makes him extremely hard to hit. Because he's used it for his mind blast (which was incredibly effective) he's at his basic stat level for the remainder of the round till he can reassign power reserve again.

So, if you can just let me know how many HP tp spend on 1-4...if you just want to get through the round and don't care about HP spending just say 'MAX ME OUT!' and I'll do the rest

OOC:Oh dear, clearly for some reason I had a drop in intelligence. I was working from the idea that adding HP to the forcefield would make it stronger for all attacks, not needing to keep pumping it with HP for every individual attack.  My Bad.  

Ok, question for later in such an attack, tactically what is best to put HP into making me harder to hit, or harder to hurt?  Just wondering for future reference.  I didn't expect these guys to be so hard, I thought we'd get through this first pitch relatively easily so I'm on the back foot a bit here.  

Anyway in terms of attack, I was looking to expedite matters in the most efficient way possible and still be upright in this battle.  I can see this going six ways to Sunday if we don't get sorted.  So firstly can I put HP into helping Wandafar's attack?  If that succeeds then it might be all the disruption we need.  However if that isn't the case or that vulnerability no longer exists I'd best use HP where they might serve the best.  Knowing me I'll spend them like sweeties and never have anything to show for my efforts in terms of character progress, otherwise.  However I need to let slide the attacks that might be least effective against me.  So lets add HP only where it would be most effective and where it will be most strategic.  If that is to Offence Value then fine, if that is to resistance then fine and if my forcefield as is can likely withstand an attack then let it remain with HP so that we can spread the load a bit.

Hope that all makes sense.

Sj

OOC I guess in terms of strategy adding HP to opposing value makes it harder to succeed with the hit (other guy needs a higher roll) and resistance value reduces the effect of a high roll, so a mix of the two (say instead of boosting one split the points you would have spent on the two). Tell you what, we'll resolve the first attack with 3HP on opposing value and 3HP on resistance for starters, then you can have a reasonable idea on how well you do.

LIONHEART HP 98

Lionheart felt the mental 'tickle' in the back of his head and reinforced his shields. He was up against the wall and had only two options. Stand firm against the wall, or crash backwards through it and get some distance to draw these goons into a one on one.

Then the attack hit like a hammer, and Lionheart reeled!

OOC They are attacking as a team. You've boosted OV to 11, RV to 22 against the Mental Attack to Sensory Block you. Roll 2d10 → [5,6] = (11)
Lionheart felt a 'rush' inside his head, like a tidal wave coming crashing towards him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other attacks incoming at the same time, and felt rather than saw a field of intense gravity gathering around him... All at once, at the same time...

The mental attack SMASHED against Lionhearts shields. The shields barely budged, despite the attack being effective and coordinated with the others. No effect. One down. A split second later the others came in...

OOC Basically a high roll would have had more effect, but because you spent on both OV and RV they needed a high roll just to effect you and an even higher roll to do big damage.

So, remaining attacks, Ice, Fire, Gravity. You have 98HP available. How much to spend on each, and do the split with opposing value/resistance value?

Admin wrote:OOC I guess in terms of strategy adding HP to opposing value makes it harder to succeed with the hit (other guy needs a higher roll) and resistance value reduces the effect of a high roll, so a mix of the two (say instead of boosting one split the points you would have spent on the two). Tell you what, we'll resolve the first attack with 3HP on opposing value and 3HP on resistance for starters, then you can have a reasonable idea on how well you do.

LIONHEART HP 98

So, remaining attacks, Ice, Fire, Gravity. You have 98HP available. How much to spend on each, and do the split with opposing value/resistance value?[/i][/color]

Lionheart shrugged off the attack, but he wasn't out of the woods yet and there was still the matter of taking these guys down before getting to the mission at hand.

OOC:I am not to worried about the ice and fire attacks as I can boast my dodge ability to try and avoid them, which is where I will spend my power reserve. But as for gravity lets again add 3/3 to our values to minimise the harm done.

Paul is there anyway we can speed the combat up? I say that because this back and forth over every decision is slowing the pace down somewhat. I realise that I don't want to out all the decision in your hands, but at the same time with usual posting rate sometimes being once a week (this present week of course it has changed), but given the pressures on you this isn't a priority so I am also thinking how can we make it better for you so that you are not having to worry about minutiae so much. Not sure what we do but this for me is the choke point in which all our games have slowed and in some* respects are most difficult, it creates a sense where things are drawn out. Not sure what the answer is, and I wonder if a more narrative, or collaborative way of doing things might be better - not sure. Having dice does mean that things are random and when things go ary it can lead to more fun. Maybe we roll all the dice at once and allocate as necessary and then narrate the outcome or something. But anything that can make combat meaningful but without it dragging on for weeks would be better. But look mate, I've always appreciated your effort to keep us in this game. Its what keeps me coming back and I don't want my preferences to overrule yours. if you like it, then lets stick with it. However I also realise it might still require some trial and error to get it right.

* Combat crawls because of the back and forth that slows down the story. However some combats have been amazing, the twists and turns, for instance on the moon base with the zombies was great. But I've also noticed that this was at a time when you could post more often. Perhaps with RLI and responsibilities we might try and different approach to keep combat exciting but less drawn out. I hate to say all this because I don't want to be demanding and ungrateful. Nor do I want to give you more work - especially if things take time to get it right. But I think there might be a basic issue, combat takes too long in this form, therefore can we try a different approach that works more practically for this form of the game? What do you think?

Sj

OOC Agreed about the combat thing. It takes a while (probably 30-45 mins per post) to sort out a round of fighting between multiple opponents. Even now as I type the wife is nattering at me, and the oldest son has come in (GET TO BED!) which slows things down. That RL thing :( As for a faster system, there has to be something we can do that breaks this cycle of you go I go and the gaps between posts. Will think on it. If there is a system we can use whereby its easy to resolve action checks and sort out several rounds or even complete fights in one post I'm all for that. Face to face gaming will always be faster, which means we are stuck either trying use a face to face game system online and have to put up with the slowdown, or find an alternative, be it house rules or a homebrew system. Will think on it and ask about on various forums I occasionally frequent (RPGnet, RPGsite amongst others. Usually don't have time to post and most of the stuff that gets posted is tripe, but occasionally there's useful ideas).

With regards this round you've used power reserve already (on your mind blast attack) so can't reassign it till next round. With that in mind I will assume you spend 5HP on Opposing value for each of the fire and ice attacks (to boost OV to 13 each).

Attacks with fire and ice on Lionheart:

Fire 2d10 → [4,4] = (8) DOUBLE plus 2d10 → [10,5] = (15) 23 total. 9 Damage I assume Lionheart absorbs this all.

Ice 2d10 → [9,2] = (11) 3 Damage. Again, assumed this is absorbed.

Lionheart down to 77HP

The gravity attack:

2d10 → [9,2] = (11) Lionheart feels his body get heavier but it fails to actually immobilise him (by 1 point) even though he groans as he staggers under his own weight!

LIONHEART HP 71

Blasted backwards by a fierce torrent of flame, Lionheart rams into a brick wall near ground level, impacting hard and sending shards of smashed bricks out in a cloud. They are scorched by the intense flames and Lionheart feels his force field pushed to its limits as he struggles to regain his feet! Gritting his teeth he steps into it, arms raised to shield his vision, then the ice hits, and spins him to the side. Gasping hard now, he's breaking off ice shards and feels ice crunching with every move.

Then he feels crushing weight down upon him and the pavement below his feet spiderwebs with cracks as he groans. With a sense of desperation about him, he looks up to see the assailants gather for another decisive blast. How much more could he take?

"SURRENDER!" bellows a modulated voice. "THERE'S NO NEED FOR US TO KILL YOU IF YOU POWER DOWN AND SUBMIT TO INCARCERATION!"

With a mental, fire, ice and gravity attack to come at him, and no way to know how Thunder Woman was getting on thanks to being bashed about and knocked from pillar to post, Lionheart considered his options. Fight on, and take these guys out, or go along with them, bide his time? Perhaps regrouping with Thunder Woman, or another tactic entirely - lead them on a merry chase to separate them, see how tough they are when NOT in a group!

OOC Lionheart can assign Power Reserve in this next round. He wins initiative : 1d10 → [10] = (10) LH, 1d10 → [7] = (7) Bad Guys so my recommendation is to boost his superspeed to 14 to use as Dex, make it a heck of a lot harder for these guys to hit. HOWEVER, you could also try last rounds attack - a Mind Blast - which was amazingly successful. They are ready for that and will have shields of some kind up against that though... Update tomorrow based on your tactics...

And yeah, I need to rack my brain. There must be a way we can resolve battles faster and keep some semblance of tactics/having a say in how things are done. Changing system isn't an issue - all you need to do is assign actions and we'll fill in the blanks - I'll never hold lack of game knowledge against you. If you want/think it would be faster, we can dust off GH/Squadron UK and try that again, or ICONS (a FATE game) maybe. Something that provides some measure of how good/bad you are against other opponents at any rate, and with exciting combat that doesn't do the you go I go thing.

Admin wrote:OOC Agreed about the combat thing. It takes a while (probably 30-45 mins per post) to sort out a round of fighting between multiple opponents. Even now as I type the wife is nattering at me, and the oldest son has come in (GET TO BED!) which slows things down. That RL thing As for a faster system, there has to be something we can do that breaks this cycle of you go I go and the gaps between posts. Will think on it. If there is a system we can use whereby its easy to resolve action checks and sort out several rounds or even complete fights in one post I'm all for that. Face to face gaming will always be faster, which means we are stuck either trying use a face to face game system online and have to put up with the slowdown, or find an alternative, be it house rules or a homebrew system. Will think on it and ask about on various forums I occasionally frequent (RPGnet, RPGsite amongst others. Usually don't have time to post and most of the stuff that gets posted is tripe, but occasionally there's useful ideas).

OOC: Anything would be preferable to the way things are, because just as things get exciting (like Frostbites nail biting battle, or this one here with Lionheart) it looses something between posts.  I know combat is meant to be fun, and it is except when we get to the tense moments ;-).  Just to say I am not that interested in changing systems I like the DC system we are using, apart from when it comes down to combat of any size, since it just drags.  It would be great to see what the alternatives are, or if someone has found a way to square the circle.  It seems to me though we have two options; 1) either I break down how I'd take down the villains in say 5 rounds (you could tell me how many rounds it would take) then you take those rounds into account as you list out what you do.  I could include all the dice rolls for my actions. And within two posts we've got the battle resolved.  But then the only downside with that is I am setting up the battle anticipating what you'll do and that would be more difficult.  or alternatively 2) You state in however many rounds what happens, including the dice rolls and I just then respond, and then your final post takes account of my actions and dice rolls (to be safe I can link them from IC so you know I wasn't cheating - bit pointless really since failure can be as interesting as success) and within three posts we've got a battle solved.  I appreciate that if I know what you'll do in advance or if you write my moves for me, it's hard for me to counter that, nor want to.  Also knowing what you're guys do and how they resolves allows me to make use of meta knowledge my character wouldn't have.  Argh, this is difficult, perhaps we just go narrative and hav done in a single post!  Just not sure what would be easier, allround.

Admin wrote:"SURRENDER!" bellows a modulated voice. "THERE'S NO NEED FOR US TO KILL YOU IF YOU POWER DOWN AND SUBMIT TO INCARCERATION!"

OOC: so my recommendation is to boost his superspeed to 14 to use as Dex, make it a heck of a lot harder for these guys to hit. HOWEVER, you could also try last rounds attack - a Mind Blast - which was amazingly successful. They are ready for that and will have shields of some kind up against that though... Update tomorrow based on your tactics...

Taking a moment to pause, relatively speaking, Lionheart smiled and wiping his mouth said, "Is that all you got!".  With a sudden boast from his incredible reserves, he sudden became a blur on the spot, speed gave him a ghostly appearance, and off he shot, back up the tower waiting for the men to begin a game of cat and mouse, and also to get some idea of how Thunder Woman was doing.  If at all possible, perhaps he could lead them to her, whereby he could lay them up and she bat them out.  In any case, Lionheart had to get an update on what was happening and fast, his plans were not working out as anticipated.

OOC: Ok merry goose chase, with power reserve boasting speed, see if I can't get an idea of how Thunder Woman is doing and take things from there.  If she is doing badly I might need to stick around and help, if she is doing ok I might be able to enlist her help to get these guys off my back.  It maybe a combination of both of something altogether different.  Difficult to anticipate.

And just to say, I appreciate you giving this some thought, I don't mean to come across as critical just want to refine what we do and enjoy.

Sj

OOC Been scratching my head over this. Will come up with something. Possibly ditching hero points as a mechanic to use to add to stats and use something along the lines of energy, whereby the character can add the points to whatever they like (like HP) or buy extra dice (roll a bunch of dice and keep best two). Then combine attack and defence into one action.

Example:

Lionheart has Agility 5 Speed 8 Perception 4 and Combat Skill (martial arts) 6. Attack is 23. His damage (strength) is 5. He also has Force Field 6 (which is used if he loses a combat round). Dave uses 4 energy points to boost attack to 27.
He fights an armoured goon with Agility 3 Speed 4 Perception 3 and Combat Skill (brawling) 2. His attack is 12. His damage (energy blast) is 6. He has Armour 5 as defence. Goon has 3 energy to spend, saving them for defence.

Both sides roll 2D10, add to their attack. Dave rolls 11, plus 27=38. goon rolls 14, plus attack is 26. 12 points difference means the attack hits and inflicts +4 damage. Add Lionhearts strength (+5) minus the goons armour (5) for a total of 4 damage. The goon spends 3 energy to drop damage by 2 points so takes only 2 points off his hit point, health total whatever.

Round done. Initiative doesn't matter (as both are attacking/defending with the same roll) but if need be determine with 1D10+speed each. For instance if someone is moving towards a foe who gets a shot off. Then the attack is resolved but the moving character inflicts no damage if they 'win' the round, they just get closer and dodge the blast.

Rolling doubles, spending energy, trying a fancy combat manoeuvre (sacrificing attack points for extra damage for instance) could all be squeezed in. It's a top of the head idea anyway.

Till then:

Lionheart switched his speed on and used it to blast past his attackers and swoop up the side of the building to get a better look at what was going on...

Thunder Woman had one armoured man in a fist and was using him as a club against another. However her ears were bleeding and she seemed disorientated. Another armoured man was righting himself with smoke pouring from his jet boots and the last was adjusting a big gun with what looked like a transmitter dish around the barrel. White sound generator? They'd been used as crowd control in the future where Lionheart had come from. This one was crude and probably only useful on single targets. In the future crowd control had been easy. Shock everyone in range with white sound that would stun their inner ear and literally scoop them up with bulldozers to tip them into a holding truck. Rough justice.

"WONDERED... WHERE YOU'D... GOT TO..." shouted Thunder Woman as she swung the helpless armoured club around to smack into his friend. The pair flew through the air and slammed against the glass and steel building, splintering glass and caving a twenty foot section of the skyscraper inwards, but amazingly not completely shattering the glass! Timpson was clearly paranoid, and his building seemed capable of withstanding a determined attack, even from superhumans!

"THEY BLASTED ME WITH SOMETHING. I CAN'T HEAR..." she shouted, flying towards the guy with the white sound blaster again.

Lionheart looked back to see his four pursuers flying in formation up towards him. They were readying weapons. Distant sirens could be heard as police and fire services made their way through traffic as civilians raced for cover, though many were drawn to the dangerous hypnotic dance of the supers in the sky!

"THE OTHER ONE HAS SOME KIND OF SYNAPSE DAMPER. SLOWS YOU DOWN AND GIVES YOU )*&*&%&^$* PINS AND NEEDLES TOO. TAKE HIM DOWN IF YOU..."

She was cut off as the armoured men double teamed her. The synapse damper lit Thunder Woman up like a christmas tree whilst the white sound blaster set Lionhearts teeth on edge, even though he'd not been the target! Thunder Woman thrashed about as she floated in the air, and fell like a stone towards the other armoured men.

Suddenly the prospect of facing six of these goons was very very real!

OOC Right then, the status of Thunder Womans goons is:

2 x damaged/partially out of fight
1 x damaged, still with functioning white sound blaster
1 x undamaged with synapse disrupter (reduce Dex and accuracy basically)

Lionhearts have:

1 x Sensory Block
1 x Fire
1 x Ice
1 x Gravity Increase

Your options:

Attack all 8. This will need a **** ton of hero points to pull off and everything you can pour into speed. You could target their suits. This makes is much harder to hit BUT you could use Martial Arts (22) to do the damage. 22 attack and damage means you could (in theory if you want) boost with hero points to have a really good chance of taking them out by disabling their suits. A good roll is needed though.

Rescue Thunder Woman and get the heck out of dodge to regroup. They will follow but Lionheart one on one (or one on two/three even) I would put money on.

Mind Blast them all. This could drop them BUT you need to max out on HP spend and get a REALLY good roll.

Taking on just one or two is easier and I think he could drop a couple but that gives them plenty of chances to take their shot at him. A lucky roll and it could be all over.

Hey, no one said being a hero would be easy....

Admin wrote:Rescue Thunder Woman and get the heck out of dodge to regroup. They will follow but Lionheart one on one (or one on two/three even) I would put money on.

Mind Blast them all. This could drop them BUT you need to max out on HP spend and get a REALLY good roll.

Taking on just one or two is easier and I think he could drop a couple but that gives them plenty of chances to take their shot at him. A lucky roll and it could be all over.

Hey, no one said being a hero would be easy.... [/i][/color]

OOC: No its easy to make a decision the real hard part is living with it afterwards. Nobody, after all, wants to look dumb with hindsight. I'll go for using martial arts, should have thought of this a while back. But it gives me a chance to change direction on them, which is something that hopefully with give me an edge. Use HP as necessary - heck what are they for if it's not to make me look less dumb, after I've made the dumbest decision of them all.

Lionheart could tell that things were going downhill rapidly, Thunder Woman would need a moment to recover and that was something none of these goons, aimed to give her. Giving up now, would seriously hamper their chances of getting the White Dwarf Material. Keying in his radio, he called Wandafar even as he prepared another attack, this time using his skillful martial arts, to try and keep them off balance. As they men neared in to him, he making it look like he had underestimated them. He spoke briefly, "Wandafar, now would be a really good time for you to have hacked these guys operation and or given us some way to beat them. We're slightly outgunned and we've still got to locate and get Timpson's White Dwarf Material and get out in one piece!"

Then speeding up, Lionheart chose a route around which, he could whip past each man to give him the chance of wiping out with his deadly hands and feet as he went.

OOC: I like the sound of the combat suggestion you had. All over in a round or so, just tell me what to do, what dice to roll and let me at them, or even you roll the dice. Heck we've been playing that long without me rolling dice, I don't mind who does it. But it'd be worth a try at least
whilst things in RL are as intense as they presently are.

Sj

OOC Lionheart goes all out to tear the suits off his attackers (using Martial arts to trash them but leave the people inside alive). He has 22AV, boosted to 41 with 19HP and 22EV, again by spending 19HP. He goes for a critical blow (hard to hit, more damage) and it's a trick shot (hard to hit, but achieves a specific purpose). He's also taking on 8 opponents (harder to hit and damage but if it does then all are affected).

2d10 → [5,6] = (11)

Good enough. The power reserve 2d10 → [5,1] = (6) has no effect (roll of 13 reqd)

Lionheart sped up to become a blur, tearing, slashing and kicking with all the power at his disposal. Failure was not an option! He was throwing EVERYTHING into this battle and it was clear that if he left even one of these guys up, they might have enough about them to get a lucky strike in on him!

With a sound like tearing metal the blur moved from target to target in a heartbeat!

Then he paused for a second, and took a step back. The armoured foes were no longer so. The suits had been shredded, torn to pieces and scrunched up into scrap.

Touching a finger to the earpiece, Wandafar spoke up "Zis men has very clever encryption. He is not only resiting my hecking, he is trying to heck ME! Cheeky svine. I must take more action, taking more time. Ze White Dwarf Star Material is in ze building I suspect but... I vonder vat is the power supply of those... skrrrzzzz crackle...skrrzzzz"

Lionheart frowned. The signal was gone. Jammed most likely. He looked up at the giant glass and steel skyscraper, until one of the dazed enemies looked up "Who.. who are you? How can you defeat us all so quickly? We have no files on you..."

Lionheart was about to reply when he heard garbled voices coming from the mostly trashed helmet of one of the men. "...plan B into effect. Your services have been appreciated but as per instructions your contract has been terminated. Your next of kin shall be informed and looked after. Goodbye."

OOC You have like, a second or two (to move at superspeed) to act before... something .. happens...

Lionheart HP 43

Admin wrote:[color=#0033ff]OOC Lionheart goes all out to tear the suits off his attackers (using Martial arts to trash them but leave the people inside alive). He has 22AV, boosted to 41 with 19HP and 22EV, again by spending 19HP. He goes for a critical blow (hard to hit, more damage) and it's a trick shot (hard to hit, but achieves a specific purpose). He's also taking on 8 opponents (harder to hit and damage but if it does then all are affected).

2d10 → [5,6] = (11)

Lionheart was about to reply when he heard garbled voices coming from the mostly trashed helmet of one of the men. "...plan B into effect. Your services have been appreciated but as per instructions your contract has been terminated. Your next of kin shall be informed and looked after. Goodbye."

[i]OOC You have like, a second or two (to move at superspeed) to act before... something .. happens...

Lionheart HP 43

OOC: Assuming my danger sense isn't going off...

Lionheart grabbed the men as many of them were about to fall (?) now that their suits were all but incapacitated. Although he realised that they might well suffer some fate worse than death if they fell, in truth Lionheart was worried more about the people below how might suffer untold damage from what they fell on. Grabbing them as he went, he shouted out as he went, "If you want to live grab the others as I swing by." OOC: Ah la Iron Man 3 I think it was.

And having got the men he took them up to the roof where he told them in no uncertain terms to play nice.

OOC: However I think that the above option is unlikely on the basis that Timpson doesn't make ideal threats. I think you also forgot to tip me off with the danger sense or that the danger was to these guys only and not to me. In which case there is probably not much I can do but get away. Seems a bit cheap, but I've no way of interfering with the armour or blocking a signal that might otherwise harm them. Being as I am the heroic type, I think I will still try and save them - not sure how other than option 1 above, but if I can some how stop them being blown to bits then I will try and do so. Trusting that if nothing else my forcefield should help.

Over the years I've tended to be so cautious, but the more I think about it I like the idea of taking risks - that's heroic right? But also I think failure, can also present more interesting challenges, if I always won, or always won with no consequences where would be the fun in that. Besides this is what a hero is, someone who risks their life for others - even the villain. Anyway hope this all makes sense.

Sj

OOC Yup, danger is to them, not you, though indirectly there is also some danger. Confusing for your sense, but nothing is always so clear cut.

LIONHEART

Swooping about at speed Lionheart grabbed one, then another armoured man. With a large pile of men in mangled metal suits Lionheart landed on a rooftop and looked about for the source of danger.

Then he realised.

Turning to the armoured men he started towards them to strip each of their armour, completely.

He was fast, but faster than electricity? Not quite. The gathered men lit up like christmas trees, remote ignited from somewhere nearby. The suits seemed to light like flares, and a smell like burning filled the air. Burning metal... plastic... flesh...

Lionheart tore strips of suit from a man who had lost the ability to scream as white fire was bursting from his mouth. He knew it was too late. As he stood with pieces of suit in his hand, he saw the armoured men were no longer recognisable. The place where they'd been showed 'shadows' of scorch marks on the rooftop. The suits had been designed, Lionheart supposed, to be incinerated at a moments notice, remotely. No proof, no evidence, everything neat and tidy, save for the life that had been utterly, completely, snuffed out.

Could he have saved them? No.

Maybe. Fly faster than a radio wave, or whatever had been sent to the suits. Or find some way to block the signal, but he wasn't to know. The man who did know was the one responsible. The man who employed these people to wear the suits and fight in his name.

Timpson.

Lionheart turned to look at the steel and glass tower. Somewhere in there Timpson watched, controlled, plotted and planned. Everything that had been done and said outside his place would have been recorded, picked through, digested, altered, manipulated, then released to show Lionheart as the bad guy, and that probably included killing his men.

Timpson had to be stopped, but he faced an enemy that was the apex predator who waited in the shadows. A man he knew little about, but whose reach was astonishing and terrifying in equal measure. This was more than just White Dwarf star material and saving an innocent sister now.

It was personal. Lionheart glanced at the piece of armour in his hand. Chestplate.

He frowned. It was some strange composite laced with a shiny grey metal interwoven between the carbon, plastic, titanium and who knew what else mesh that formed it. And in the middle, the circular chestplate part, was a small sphere. He hefted it. Difficult to gauge with superhuman strength, but was it heavier than it looked?

Thunder Woman swooped over... "What... what have you done?" she cried, aghast!

Admin wrote:Thunder Woman swooped over... "What... what have you done?" she cried, aghast!

Lionheart looked disgusted and rage was evident in his face, "It was Timpson's failsafe. These men, deserved better than this."

Lionheart took one last look at the material that had been in the chest plate, more than satisfied that Wandafar's intelligence had been spot on. Now the question wasn't just how they got more of the material they needed, but how they also stopped Timpson, if at all possible. Lionheart was bread to be a the perfect policeman, and something deep within new that a man who could run rings around authorities like this, was probably also considered to big to fail. But that just made the law and justice relative and that was not something he could standby and let happen.

Nodding to Thunderwoman, Lionheart said, "Timpson no doubt will have people make this look like we're the villains here, he'll use every trick he has got to get out of this, I am not sure if there is a hole big or deep enough to bury him after this. So if you've got any ideas I am open, otherwise we'd best get on with this. This man needs to be seen to face judgement, no one is above the law."

Lionheart then took off, pocketing the White Dwarf material before looking to gain entry to the penthouse. He was angry, but controlled his rage so that he didn't loose the control he needed on what was going on here.

OOC: OK lets proceed to breach the place. Timpson is ready for us so trying to get in with clever subtly is out of the question, so just look for the best possible route in and take all reasonable and unreasonable precautions.

Sj

Thunder Woman caught up with Lionheart as they flew the short distance towards the shining glass and steel tower.

"Wait! Before you go in all guns blazing, think about this! You need proof to take Timpson down! Even now we're probably being filmed from a dozen different angles, and his people are getting right on with making us look like the villain! We'll only prove him right by attacking that building!" she called out.

"Besides that, some of us have tried taking Timpson down... it's not that easy. He has plans, schemes... chances are he's not even IN that building... or if he is, he'll be behind every defence that his billions can buy. Charging in feels like the most satisfying thing to do I'm sure, but is it the right thing?"

The building loomed ahead of them.

"Time to choose. I suspect we will have bigger problems than making the six o clock news. Look." Lionheart followed her gaze. "The Chicago Challengers" she groaned. "Local superhero group. Whatever we decide to do, we'd better think fast!"

OOC The Challengers jet will be here in seconds, and the heroes disembarking at the same time. Thunder Woman is shaken up by the fate of the armoured warriors but knows Timpson was to blame, despite initially wondering if Lionheart had done it. This new group of heroes, however, will know only what Timpsons people have told them, and the news channels... news travels fast in the digital age... The building looms ahead. You can break it at your leisure, seemingly...