The Lore Knights ride again! Morning Star Issue #1

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

"Boy these powers..."John was a bit lost for words as he felt almost too overwhelmed to continue, but then managed to regain his composure, "they take getting used to."

Looking both ways up the corridor, Bowcaster nodded to Buccaneers early suggestion, "Yes I think before we proceed it might be wise to know as much as we can."

"I didn't know you could do that," Morningstar says to Buccaneer, finally coming out of the fog, cigar stuck in the side of his mouth. "Change your appearance like that."

"How do you do, Bowcaster, I'm Morningstar," the armor clad man in the half helm says.

"Having Buccaneer run ahead hasn't worked too well for us yet," he tells the man. "Each time, he runs into what appears to be a beautiful woman and gets snared by her. Vampires and a witch so far."

"You only run ahead," turning back to Bowcaster, "if you promise not to stop when you see another woman but immediately turn around and come back to us. No stopping to chat her up!"

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Buccaneer looked about to protest at Morningstars dig, then laughed and shook his head. "yes, yes. I know. /I'm a sucker for a pretty face! The last one wasn't so pretty though! Right! I'll scout ahead, be back in a jiffy!"

With that, he simply disappeared, a waft of wind in his wake!

he'd been gone only a heartbeat when there was a loud metallic CLACK! and a cry of pain! Morningstar and Bowcaster looked at one another, then down the corridor (OOC the straight ahead) where Buccaneer had gone. With his telescopic vision and night vision combined, Bowcaster could see that Buccaneer had fallen victim to a nasty trap! There were two - a blade had swung out from a wall, which he'd avoided, only to run into what appeared to be a sticky near invisible spiders web across the corridor! He struggled and pulled like a fly, but only succeeded in tangling himself up!

"I suppose you fellows will think this funny!" he yelled back down the corridor. "I need to get used to my speed. I mean, did you see the way I dodged that nasty blade thing? Shame I didn't see this in... what the heck is THAT!"

He was lying on his back, wrapped in near invisible strands of webbing, and looking straight up, presumably to some hole in the ceiling! Sure enough, long thin legs started to come out of the hole... and they kept coming! Whatever was coming out of the hole was huge!

OOC Buccaneer is around 40 yards away on the straight ahead corridor, and trussed up like a spiders next meal, which he will be! Over to y'all...

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

He was lying on his back, wrapped in near invisible strands of webbing, and looking straight up, presumably to some hole in the ceiling! Sure enough, long thin legs started to come out of the hole... and they kept coming! Whatever was coming out of the hole was huge!

OOC Buccaneer is around 40 yards away on the straight ahead corridor, and trussed up like a spiders next meal, which he will be! Over to y'all....

ooc: Hot damn! We are in a dungeon crawl!!! Yes! Every superhero needs to have a D&D type adventure now and then!

'Time to strut your stuff, Bowcaster," Morningstar says as he starts charging forward to help out Buccaneer, knowing Bowcaster can attack before he can.

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

DavidMcMahon wrote:'Time to strut your stuff, Bowcaster," Morningstar says as he starts charging forward to help out Buccaneer, knowing Bowcaster can attack before he can.

"Err Yes of course." Bowcaster said somewhat taken aback by the giant spider that was creeping toward his new found friend.

With his bow pulled back he selected the most appropriate arrow. Alone or with more time he'd have selected a blinding arrow, but this time he thought best go for a straight attack.

OOC:
I'll roll but since I don't know the Spider's stats to face off against I'll let you cover the rest Paul.

2d10=13.

Just aiming to hit the Spider and stop it advancing to give Morningstar chance to get to Buccaneer.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

DavidMcMahon wrote:

ooc: Hot damn! We are in a dungeon crawl!!! Yes! Every superhero needs to have a D&D type adventure now and then!

OOC Your career as a superhero should take you beyond bank robberies and death rays that blow up the world Besides, variety is the spice of life, and the Lore Knights remit (at least this ones) is to fight that which man was not meant to know about, which reminds me...



Even as Morningstar charged forwards, pulling his mace up, the rest of the creature dropped from the hole in the ceiling, intent on binding up her foe! She saw the other two approaching, and hissed a challenge!

Bowcaster levelled his bow to his cheek, and stared at the creature from out of some nightmare! It couldn't exist... and yet there it was! He let fly...

OOC Acting Value (AV) is Bowcasters Weaponry (10). Opposing Value (OV) is the creatures Dexterity (9). Target number is 11+OV (9)-AV (10)=10 or more. The roll of 13 boosts the Effect value from 14 to 16 points. The creature has 9 Body, so it takes 7 damage!

The arrow glows and fizzes as it spins through the air, slamming into the creatures chest! It lets out an all too human sounding scream, and the creature sways, badly wounded!

OOC Initiative. The heroes lowest score is 17 (Morningstar). The Creature has 16. (9 Dex, 2 Int, 5 Infl) Morningstar and Bowcaster can pull off a team attack if they wish but I don't think it's going to be needed... That said, rolled 2 for the good guys, 7 for the bad one. 19 for our heroes, 23 for the creature, giving it 2 frames. It uses one to meet Morningstars charge, and another to open its mouth and vomit thick sticky webbing all over him! AV (10, Glue power of creature) vs OV (7 M Stars Dex). Target is 11+7-10=8 or more. Roll of 3+6, 9. Hit. Glue is a special power. It needs to hit first (roll against Dex) then acts against the Defenders strength. A strong character might overcome it. Effect value (10)-Resistance Value (5, Morningstars Strength). Result is 5Aps. Morningstars Dexterity is reduced to 0 whilst he's 'stuck' and he cannot move!

Morningstar is drenched in sticky, foul smelling ooze that entangles him with every heartbeat! He crashes to the floor with a metallic clatter, all the while trying to free himself!

Bowcaster feels a flush of panic come over himself for a moment but nocks another arrow.

OOC 4 frames to the good guys. Morningstar tries to free himself. Use his Strength (5) as Acting and Effect value against the Result APs of the Glue attack (also 5). Roll of 5+10, 15. Target was 11+5-5=11. The roll of 15 boosts the Effect Value of Morningstars strength from 5 to 7. 7-5 (the result APs from the glue attack) =2. He only needed one Result AP or more to break free...

With a growl and lunge, Morningstar snaps the elastic webbing like so much crepe paper wrapped around him and clambers to his feet!

OOC Bowcaster fires again. Same as before, 10 or more to hit. Rolled 12. Boosts Effect value by 1 to 15. That'll do it. Another 6 damage, putting the creature on -4 body...

With a shriek the creature goes down, an arrow embedded in its chest! Morningstar growls, giving the dying thing a nudge with his boot to make sure it's staying down, then leans in to help free Buccaneer. "Don't say it!" he hisses. "I know what you're about to say with that cigar chomping sarcastic mouth of yours! I walked into another trap! Yes, but I was avoiding the blade trap... that I also set off." Pulling the freed Buccaneer to his feet, Morningstar looks about. The creature lived in a hollow gouged from the dungeon ceiling, and there were a number of bones clung to webbing in there. Plus the area stank of rotting meat.

Buccaneer knelt. "What was that?" he asked of the rasping hiss coming from the Spider Womans mouth. Buccaneer listened closely to the things mouth, then stood back. "She says... kill her... it would be a mercy. We really need to stop the people behind this, changing ordinary folk into.. into..."

He let the words trail off, and turned to Bowcaster "You are as deadly with a bow as he is with that Mace. I thank you, again." Dusting strands of webbing from himself, he glanced down at the dying creature and looked deeper down the corridor. "Must be trapped to discourage people. Onwards, or back to the other way?" He looked down. "And what about her?"

OOC just like that, fight is over. Combat is very fast, no long dragged out battles so far, but these are single opponents and the Lore Knights are very powerful. And the foes are going to get tougher still. We'll start introducing a few combat manoeuvres I will tell you about in the next few posts... For now - onwards or back? And the spider woman... what of her/it?

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Admin wrote:"Must be trapped to discourage people. Onwards, or back to the other way?" He looked down. "And what about her?"

Bowcaster took a moment to reflect on what he'd seen. "Assuming these traps and this monster were here to stop people, I think we can assume that we're heading in the right direction. What do you say Morningstar?"

OOC:
Didn't want to take charge here, but did want to point out what might seem obvious as a reason to press on. Most people trap where they want protection after all.

Assuming we do go on I'm going to suggest that Buccaneer doesn't become live bait and stays closer to us, his quick wits saved him last time, but even so we don't want to go into any other traps or else we might not get out so easily.

Admin wrote:OOC just like that, fight is over. Combat is very fast, no long dragged out battles so far, but these are single opponents and the Lore Knights are very powerful. And the foes are going to get tougher still. We'll start introducing a few combat manoeuvres I will tell you about in the next few posts... For now - onwards or back? And the spider woman... what of her/it?

Yes that was fast, but I appreciate that, since a post a day where one just updates a particular move can seem a real drag to the game. Sometimes you do want to bring on the epic, but other times you just want to keep it moving and this is where in a PBEM it can be deathly, but so far so good. Like the idea of new manoeuvres as well.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Bowcaster took a moment to reflect on what he'd seen. "Assuming these traps and this monster were here to stop people, I think we can assume that we're heading in the right direction. What do you say Morningstar?"

"It's always women," Morningstar mutters as he pulls another cigar from his pouch and lights it. "Bane of my existence! But ..."

He stops and looks off into the distance thinking.

"It is ALWAYS women, isn't Buccaneer," he asks. "Every foe we have gone up against has been female, even though there were some men in that cell as well. Why? To make us drop our guard? Or are women somehow easier to control or to give powers to? Women are more emotional than men. Maybe that's the reason. Or is the leader of this cult a man who has a thing for monstrous women?"

He relights the cigar he had almost had lit when he stopped to think.

"Yes. *PUFF* *PUFF* We are going the right way. The more traps, the more I'm convinced of it. I guess I better lead since I'm the one most invulnerable."

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

"You have a point there." said Buccaneer, pondering. "Wonder why? I'd love to get my hands on the fiend that is changing these poor women against their... look out!"

Morningstar turned, hearing Buccaneers warning... just before a stone block dropped from above down onto him! The other two rushed forward, and it was here that Bowcaster discovered his terrific strength! He moved broken slabs of stone as if they were balsa wood! Buccaneer, himself near superhuman strong, struggled with the weight of some but could only look on in disbelief as the ones he struggled with, Bowcaster simply took off him and tossed aside! As the rubble was moved, a waft of cigar smoke blew upwards and Morningstar got to his feet, shield dusty but unmarked. There wasn't a scratch on him!

"My... god!" hissed Buccaneer. "That slab must have weighed nigh on a ton! It should have splattered you! And here you stand, dusty but unmarked!"

Suddenly the was a deep, booming growl coming from down the corridor. the trio could see they'd near reached the end where it turned to the right, possibly into some open chamber, with firelight flickering away in there...

"I don't like the sound of that!" hissed Buccaneer...



OOC forward to investigate, burst in, all guns blazing, use stealth or turn round and get the hell out of dodge? Something big this way lurks...

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

ooc: Stealth? What the hell is that?

"Remind me not to arm wrestle either of you chaps," Morningstar says once he is free. "I'm not as strong as either of you. My power is basically in my armor and morningstar."

Suddenly the was a deep, booming growl coming from down the corridor. the trio could see they'd near reached the end where it turned to the right, possibly into some open chamber, with firelight flickering away in there...

"I don't like the sound of that!" hissed Buccaneer...

"Right! Time to face the beasty! Me first, then Buccaneer and then Bowcaster. I'm guessing you prefer range Bowcaster? I will take on whatever it is head on. You two move to the side and do what you think you need to do, once we get to a spot that allows that, that is."

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Right! Time to face the beasty! Me first, then Buccaneer and then Bowcaster. I'm guessing you prefer range Bowcaster? I will take on whatever it is head on. You two move to the side and do what you think you need to do, once we get to a spot that allows that, that is."

Still somewhat taken aback by what had just happened, both to Morningstar and himself, Bowcaster simply nodded. He was doing his best not to let the shock of what was happening get to him, shutting down and focusing on the task at hand. But still it took some concentration. At this point he was just happy to follow Morningstar's lead, the man clearly had more familiarity with what was going on and indeed with his own powers.

OOC:

So ready to range ahead, I could offer to send a flare arrow down the corridor so that we can at least blind or reveal a bit more of what was going on.

I'll roll and you can figure that in for us as well:

2d10=11

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Morningstar rounds a corner... only to come into what appears to be the viewing area of an arena! The room was very large, and the gallery ran all around the edge of a sunken pit. There were people sat down in brown robes, hooded and watching intently. At first glance Morningstar figured the place to be full of them! They were so intent on the battle to come in the arena itself they hadn't noticed the Lore Knight standing behind them!



Bowcaster readies his bow to send a flare arrow past Morningstar and into the arena (or the gallery area around the arena if he so chose) but looked on, astounded, at the huge creatures about to do battle.

Buccaneer whispered "What the hecks going on here? And what are those brutes?"

The growling continued, the three circling one another. There seemed to be a glance, an agreement between two of the 8' tall behemoths, and they paced about to gang up on the remaining creature.

Just then, one of the observers turned to say something to the person next to them and saw the glint of light from torches catch onto the mirrored shield of Morningstar!

"INTRUDERS!" the woman cried, as the hood fell back from her head! The others whirled, women all, and some drew wicked curved daggers, black blades catching the light and some oil slick substance dripping from them!

Across the other side of the arena, several of the women stood, and one shouted "MEN! DO OUR BIDDING! DESTROY THE INTRUDERS!"

The three creatures in the arena turned and looked up.. then started towards the arena wall towards the Lore Knights so that they could climb up the short distance to the gallery!

OOC Ok, you have a free frame before anything these guys can do will affect you. There are a dozen or so robed women in reach where they sit/stand and half of those have pulled daggers. In the four sections of the room there are a similar amount. All the robed people here are women. The three creatures in the pit all appear male. D&D players might recognise a Minotaur, Ogre, and Troll...

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Admin wrote:Across the other side of the arena, several of the women stood, and one shouted "MEN! DO OUR BIDDING! DESTROY THE INTRUDERS!"

As Bowcaster pulled the arrow he desired most from his pack, he couldn't help quip under the strain, "This looks like no worse than my mothers WI meetings. Lets take them!"

Then as he pulled back his bow he added quickly, "You might want to shut your eyes." Before launching a flare arrow into the arena, hoping like before he might blind the group in this dimly lit place so they might take advantage of their confusion.

OOC:

Admin wrote:OOC Ok, you have a free frame before anything these guys can do will affect you.

Ok here goes my roll - Oh Dear 2d10=8. Not so good then this time.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER


Looking for whoever has the biggest throne or best looking seat and heading for her.

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Bowcaster proved himself to be 'merely' human - or at least part, in that his shot missed!

OOC I assumed you were trying to blind as many as possible. That bumped up the difficulty to 10 which meant you were looking at a roll of 11 for a chance at blinding 9-15 people. Roll of 8, missed, but you would have needed 13 or more. On a single target, or even on 5 or 6 normal human targets like these, it might have scraped by.

The flare arrow sank into the wall beside a post holding up the ceiling, causing it to shine bright, like the sun!

That was enough to cause panic in the place, and Morningstar found himself having to barge his way through women dressed in thin robes and little else! The hot blooded male in him thought it good sport, the realisation that the women were in charge of doing something very sinister, very evil in this place, sent a shiver down his spine however.

Buccaneer shouted "Watch for the monsters! Here they come!"

An enormous hand clasped the railing, crimped the metal as if it were paper, and hauled up the arm, shoulder and head of the Minotaur! With a bellow it roared, sounding more like a lion than a bull headed man!

OOC Initiative time. Shouldn't be too hard to sort this one. Even though the women in here are 'normal' (2 across the board in most cases) the monsters bump up the average with high Dexterity. Still, a roll of 8 for the good guys, 4 for the bad means 4 frames (D10+lowest initiative score on each side - M Star has 17, the women have mostly 6) for the good guys.

Barging his way around the viewing gallery, Morningstar puffs away on his cigar and shoves those aside that seek to hinder him. Because he's being jostled and blocked, his progress is slowed, but he finally comes around to a raised dais where three chairs sit above the others, all occupied by women in darker coloured roves, trimmed in gold and purple. One stands forward, blocking the progress of the hero towards another who she protects. Throwing aside part of her bulky robe, she reveals herself to be carrying a large snake, and her head a sea of boiling snakes, writhing and coiling about, then glaring at Morningstar with hate filled eyes!

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" she hisses, with a forked tongue.



OOC Morningstar has 2 frames left to act, is in swinging range of the Medusa. All around there are running women, bumping and bashing into him. He is aware of some of them having poison dripping daggers! Bowcaster and Buccaneer are at the entrance to the gallery, some 10m away. Buccaneer will act once Bowcaster has moved.

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Admin wrote:OOC Morningstar has 2 frames left to act, is in swinging range of the Medusa. All around there are running women, bumping and bashing into him. He is aware of some of them having poison dripping daggers! Bowcaster and Buccaneer are at the entrance to the gallery, some 10m away. Buccaneer will act once Bowcaster has moved.[/i]

Looking somewhat disgruntled by his less than impressive shot, Bowcaster loaded a different arrow, seeing the beasts coming toward them, he tried a different tactic.

OOC: Going to use my Freeze Spell arrow.

So here is my role again...2d10=12 double 6 so roll again: 2d10=8 so that makes a roll of 20 to my Freeze Arrow shot at the nearest bestie bearing down on us.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

OOC The difficulty is boosted by 4 points because he is attempting a 'trick shot' - there's only a hand and an arm exposed at the railing to aim at. That said, the dice roll looks favourable... The target number is 11, plus the Opposing Value (creatures Influence of 5) plus 4 from the trick shot to total 20, less the Acting value ( points of Mystic Freeze, which are 9) meaning a target number of 11.

Mystic Freeze is actually a magical attack rather than a physical one, so the Acting/Effect value are the APs of the power (9) whilst the Opposing value is the creatures Influence stat (5) and the Resistance value is it's spirit stat (5). Your roll of 20 exceeds the target number by 9 points, giving +4 to the effect value of the shot, boosting it from 9 to 13.

Effect Value of 13 - Resistance Value of 5 = 8 RAPs (Result Aps). Not only is that good enough to freeze the foe, it's also going to be hard for it to break free! It would use it's Infl (5) and Aura (4) as Acting/Effect values against the RAPs of 8 as the Opposing/Resistance value. To free itself in other words, the creature would need a roll of 24 or more! Not likely any time soon...

With a shot that would turn William Tell green with envy, Bowcaster smoothly nocks and fires, his energy arrow speeding into the Minotaurs hand! It's cries freeze in its throat as its muscles turn rigid, the skin a pale grey, and the thing becomes completely immobilised! It's weight is too much for the railing - and the seating area around it - and there is a loud cracking sound as it starts breaking away! The women nearest the edge scream as the outward floorboards smash away, sending them tumbling into the pit to land with a thud on the hard packed earth floor!

OOC That's one frame. 3 more frames to act for Bowcaster... The Minotaur is out of the fight, unless the dice turn up a crazy roll (he needs 24 or more to break free)

Buccaneer frowns "I don't want to hit women! I'll.. yes! C'mere ya big ugly lump!" He speeds forward (OOC 1 frame) and jumps down into the pit, landing without injury (OOC another frame) then attacks the Ogre with his sword!

OOC Buccaneers Weaponry (9) is Acting value against the Opposing value of 4 (Ogres Dex). Buccaneer feels confident. He's trying for a Critical Blow which boosts the opposing value by 4 points to 8. He needs 11+8-9=10 or more to hit. Roll of 7+8, 15. He boosts his effect value (Sword:9) to 12 points thanks to his roll, but the critical blow reduces the opponents resistance value by 6 points to 2! The Ogres Body is 8, which would normally be the Resistance Value, but that's reduced to 2 from the critical blow. He does 12-2=10 damage, dropping the thing as it slides from his blade!

Buccaneer postures, poses, then levels his blade and thrusts it deep into the chest of the Ogre! The magical weapon slices through hard leathery skin and sinew, into muscle and vital organs beneath! The Ogre looks stunned at the tiny blade showing only an inch of steel before the hilt inserted into his chest! The foot and a half that goes through its body barely pierces the skin on the other side, but it's left it's mark!

The Ogre falls back, sending dust up and a huge THOOM!

The speedster then turns to the Troll. The green skinned monstrosity is lighter on its feet, and Buccaneer feels less sure about this opponent. Still, he gamely attacks.

OOC Normal attack for Buccaneer. His AV (9) vs Opponents OV (Dex 6) means 11+6-9=7 or more. Roll of 9+3, 12. He boosts his effect value from 9 to 10 against the Trolls body of 9. 10-9=1 damage.

This time Buccaneer barely scratches the skin of the Troll, which looks down at the wound. And the wound starts to close!

"Whoa!" said Buccaneer, looking up at his foe. "I didn't see THAT coming!"

OOC 3 frames for Bowcaster, 2 for Morningstar then the bad guys get their goes... The Minotaur is frozen for a while, the Ogre is down and bleeding, the troll is on 8/9 Body.

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Admin wrote:OOC 3 frames for Bowcaster, 2 for Morningstar then the bad guys get their goes... The Minotaur is frozen for a while, the Ogre is down and bleeding, the troll is on 8/9 Body.

Rallied by the power of his attack Bowcaster looks first to help Buccaneer before firing some more at the snake women facing Morning Star.

OOC:
2d10=11 for another freeze shot at the troll, 2d10=8, 2d10=8 for two shots this time energy blast at the serpent woman

Bowcaster, unleashed arrows faster than he thought possible, but then realised with speed comes a loss of accuracy.

as an aside I think that you might have answered this thread before the other vanguard thread, I know I posted up over a day ago and so did Ross yesterday? I only mention it as I know that sometimes emails updating threads don't come through.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Bowcaster lines his shot up against the troll. With Buccaneer in the way, it's a little more tricky (OOC +2OV) but he feels confident.

OOC AV (Flash:9) vs OV (Infl 5+2=7). Target 11+7-9=9 or more. 11 hits, and boosts EV by 1 to 10. Effect Value 10 - Spirit (the Trolls Resistance value) of 5 means 5 Result APs (RAPs). I can see why the abbreviations might get confusing. I'll do a sheet with a list of them. The Troll is frozen.

An arrow speeds past Buccaneers ear! He turns, shouting "Hey!" then looks back, to see the Troll towering over him, fist raised... and not moving! Only the creatures eyes move, staring with baleful menace down at his foe! Buccaneer grinned, that Errol Flynn face he wore simply uncanny in it's resemblance, then turned and gave a thumbs up!

Bowcaster spun, sighting again. His bow changed, into one of glowing energy, from the ghostly mist like thing it'd been a heartbeat before!

OOC Energy Blast (9) not as effective as his Projectile Weapons power (14) BUT it is against armoured foes - for instance anyone with Skin Armour (like tough skin in GH) would find it doesn't work against Energy Blast. Right then. Medusa has 7 Dex. AV (9) vs 11+OV7=18-9. Need 9 or over. Both shots (8s) miss!

Bowcaster rushes his shots. The Medusa sees them and has time to duck! With a hiss she snarls, and turns to take care of the threat in front of her first!

OOC Morningstar has 2 frames to act. This lady, being a Medusa, has the powers and abilities you'd expect of such a creature. With that in mind you can clobber her as usual, or perhaps take up a more defensive stance, because when she starts gazing about... Well, I'm sure you've seen Clash of the Titans

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

Admin wrote:Bowcaster rushes his shots. The Medusa sees them and has time to duck! With a hiss she snarls, and turns to take care of the threat in front of her first!

"Blast it!" Bowcaster muttered under his breath. He didn't like cursing whilst their were ladies present, even if they were cultists with poison daggers.

OOC:

Ok Paul ready to fire off a few more shots at that Medusa when I've got the chance, right now picking off enemies seems to be my best ploy, but I realise we might be minced by our oncoming foes. So my first move is to take to the air, get a better angle on the Medusa and then fire at her, those laser beam eyes are a sight to make saw eyes after all.

Sj

Just got a few seconds at work to send this.

"Pass, smesh," Morningstar says, puffing mightily on his cigar and creating the fog around. He then hit the snake woman.

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

OOC Apologies for the delay. Every time - quite literally - I have sat down to post over the last 2 days I have been interrupted! NNNGH! Anyway, here we go.

Calmly puffing away on his cigar, Morningstar hefts his shield, pulls it back, and sends the powerful weapon screaming up and over, down towards the Medusas' head!

OOC Should be fairly clear cut. We have a target number of 11+7 (Her Dex as Opposing Value) - 11 (Morningstars weaponry skill as Acting Value) = 7 or more. This will be messy! Ah, roll of 2+5=7. Just about scraped it! Effect value 15 - Resistance Value (6 - her Body) = 9 damage. Splut.

The mace scythed down, and like a brick landing on a pile of eggs destroyed the Medusas' head!

Those around immediately shrieked in grief, falling to their knees as their headless leader crashed to the floor!

Morningstar looked about, searching for foes to pulp, but only the women in their robes lying on the floor, sobbing, presented themselves. He saw Bowcaster take to the air, flying without visible means and pointing the bow at any who posed a threat. With the three lumbering creatures down, the leader of this coven dead, there seemed little else for the Lore Knights to do. Buccaneer looked up. "Is that it? Have we won?"

"Won?" asked one of the women. "You have slain one of our priestesses! Won? You have brought doom on yourselves and this world of men!" she laughed, cackling, which soon turned into hysterical laughter, and in turn, sobbing as she collapsed on the floor, curled up.

From his vantage point high up, Bowcaster looked about. He couldn't see any other ... wait!

He pointed, and Morningstar turned. Behind the throne, a draw curtain. Yanking it aside with weapon held high he saw a plain door.

With a careful look out, Morningstar looked in the corridor beyond.



It led onwards, into this hellish hole! What manner of horrors yet awaited the Lore Knights? Looking back through the cloud of smoke he'd produced, Morningstar saw another potential problem in the room they were in. There were dozens of witches, or at least acolytes of witches. Would they leave them to do as they liked? Plus the two huge enchanted creatures, frozen in place. The third lay in a pool of expanding blood!

Buccaneer saw Morningstars look, then looked at the massive creatures dwarfing him. "I'm... not comfortable with slaying helpless enemies. We need to get to the bottom of all this though. Do we carry on, or ask these women?"

OOC the fight is over (for now). You have a couple of options, unless you can think of more. Where to chaps?

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

It led onwards, into this hellish hole! What manner of horrors yet awaited the Lore Knights? Looking back through the cloud of smoke he'd produced, Morningstar saw another potential problem in the room they were in. There were dozens of witches, or at least acolytes of witches. Would they leave them to do as they liked? Plus the two huge enchanted creatures, frozen in place. The third lay in a pool of expanding blood!

Buccaneer saw Morningstars look, then looked at the massive creatures dwarfing him. "I'm... not comfortable with slaying helpless enemies. We need to get to the bottom of all this though. Do we carry on, or ask these women?"

"Same here," Morningstar admits. "In a fight is one thing or if they are guards or something, but when they are standing around helpless ...."

"Why don't you go find a few more cells and start moving the women into them, Buccanneeer? Keep out of this corridor. Leave a few who were near the medusa for Bowcaster and I to talk to. Not sure what to do about the monsters though. Leave them? And maybe they will return to normal? Wish one of us knew more about magic."

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Same here," Morningstar admits. "In a fight is one thing or if they are guards or something, but when they are standing around helpless ...."

With a slight sigh of relief, Bowcaster nods also. He was quiet shocked by the level of violence he'd witnessed. But this was war and desperate times...he thought to himself.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Why don't you go find a few more cells and start moving the women into them, Buccanneeer? Keep out of this corridor. Leave a few who were near the medusa for Bowcaster and I to talk to. Not sure what to do about the monsters though. Leave them? And maybe they will return to normal? Wish one of us knew more about magic."

"Agreed" Bowcaster said returning to the ground. "But I suggest we lock all of them in separate cells (OOC: There was more than one cell wasn't there?). That way we can be sure we don't leave a problem to catch us out later on."

OOC
Ok escourt our prisoners to their cells and then make sure we get ourselves in gear to plunge deeper into this maze.

Sj

MORNINGSTAR & BUCCANEER & BOWCASTER

OOC you only passed the one cell and that was pretty full. More 'converts' to the cause, whether willing or otherwise...

Buccaneer thinks for a second. "Hey, I got an idea. How about we round them up into a circle and you freeze them - like you did with those big guys? I mean, look at the size of them? Just one of those would be about equivalent to half a dozen of these ladies. And with the fight gone out of them...?"

OOC A little autopiloting...

Bowcaster glanced at Morningstar who shrugged, and watched as Buccaneer 'persuaded' the ladies - either by directing them or scooping them up - onto the arena floor. He had an idea he'd be able to angle his arrow to affect several at once, but how many? Then he thought - it didn't matter - he could simply keep firing arrows until they were frozen!

OOC The Multi Attack option allows you to attack more than one target with a power in range. So Professor X can use his telepathy to talk to a crowd, Magneto can pick up every car in the junkyard with a decent enough roll, Superman can blast every asteroid hurtling towards Earth with his heat vision and so on. If you roll high enough...



You simply pick the number of targets, bump the Opposing and Resistance Values (both 2 in this case) up by the appropriate amount and roll. In this case I aimed for 8 targets for you, a roll of 10 or more needed (Target 11+OV8=19-9=10). Rolled 14, which boosts Effect value to 11 (from 9). EV11 - RV8=3 Result APs. 8 Frozen witches. Easy

Within moments, the witches gathered in the arena were like statues, knelt or curled up where Buccaneer had left them. The Lore Knights wondered whether they might have moved at all - the fight seemed to have gone out of them with the death of their leader, but best to make sure. Bowcaster put another freeze arrow into the two behemoths, just to make sure they stayed put.

That left three witches looking defiantly up at Morningstar. "You'll never get information from us!" "Pig!" spat another. "The master will destroy you! He has promised us immortal life and power unmatched!" said the third.

OOC Charisma as a skill (possessed by Morningstar and Buccaneer at the same APs, 5) can be used to persuade, interrogate or intimidate. Superman is good at Persuasion, Batman at Intimidation. Allegedly, certain members of the armed forces at Guantanamo Bay are good at Interrogation. Depends how you want to play it?