World War II - The Vanguard Issue #3 - PRELUDE

OOC We assume a number of things with this post. Frostbite, Lionheart and Silver Sentinel return to Earth in their captured space ship. Anyman has been training the Justiciars with Captain Steed. Kitten is MIA, but all the Vanguardians know/feel she is no longer on this plane of reality, and that she left to ensure a Shadow Demon did not get his hands on one of the Swords of Wayland. That sword has been recovered by Nowhere Boy, who is still on Lore Knights business.

Meanwhile the British Expeditionary force has been waiting for an attack that never came. A severe winter has meant the last 6 months or so little has happened in mainland Europe, but Poland has fallen. Neville Chamberlain has paid the price for weak leadership and resigns on May 10, 1940. His place is taken by Winston Churchill, a man who saw the threat of Hitler nigh on a decade ago.

(Our altered history is highlighted in bold).

• The Nazis, bolstering their conventional forces with superhuman agents, fire spitting robots and nigh on impervious tanks, turn their awesome manufacturing prowess to the creation of machines that defy explanation, that fly through the air without visible means of propulsion. The only saving grace is that 1940s manufacturing processes are ill suited to the intricate manufacture required by the future/hybrid technology. No matter, the Fuhrer has other means at his disposal.
  
  
• Using Lunarium and gene splicing provided by Damon Trowers, a man from Lionhearts future, the Nazi metahuman army production gathers apace. More and more young men and women volunteer for the super soldier project. Nazi propaganda gears up, the people sense victory, with little in the way of shots having been fired yet! Originally wanting peace with Britain, nothing less than total domination will now appease Herr Hitler.
  
  
• After a decisive strike against Norway that the Allies fail to stop, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns. He cannot believe the reports of flying Nazi machines and vehicles that skim over the snow when Britains own troops struggle with the arctic conditions.
  
  
• Alien forces, small in number, arrive in the solar system. Lunarium, in its pure form, is a rare element and just a kilo of the stuff can be refined into a large amount of fuel for starships and weapons. There is an uneasy peace between those who arrive knowing that the Lunarium is guarded by the Nazis 'megahuman' project. This is based on overdosing candidates with the treatments that turn them into superhumans. As a result their power is ramped up dramatically - with the serious side effect of shortening the life span of the recipient to months!
  
  
• The Nazis now actively explore magical means of conquest. With some success, they seek out artefacts that can be used against their enemies. What they don't know is that a new group of superhumans, the Lore Knights, have risen to face this threat.
  
  
• The British training program continues, with superhumans turned out at Bletchley park thanks to General Wynn, one of the Vanguardians. The problem with that is the man is old, and tired, the drain on his personal resources now telling. A special screening process ensures the candidates can handle the power and will not 'go rogue', but it slows down 'production' rapidly. The Nazis outnumber the British superhumans by 250 to 1, but many of those are considered freaks and monsters, rounded up in camps for study and extermination.
  
  
• Professor Bedlamm continues his experiments at combining human and animal DNA, creating Animen. The results are unpredictable though, and Bedlamm remains a figure of derision by Nazi high command. His current whereabouts are unknown.
  
  
• The Nazis discover the plan by the Alien P'utinarians to leave their coalition, and despatch the Gestapo to hunt down and capture P'utinarians. Many are going into hiding as humans when they realise what is happening. On board the P'utinarian mothership, they will pay the ultimate price for their brave decision.
  
  
• The Skralls, a reptilian empire devoted to aggressive expansion through the universe, view with greater interest the events on Earth. Only a fragmented hierarchy prevents them from being an unstoppable force in the galaxy.
  
  
• The Devourer, who IS an unstoppable force, looks afar from its current location where it drains the energy from a planet to leave it a lifeless husk. It senses the power of the Vanguard and desires it to appease the eternal hunger that gnaws at its being. It is en route to Earth.
  
  
• America is still neutral, but recent alarming events have caused her to ramp up military production. They are reticent about entering a war that they might not be able to win though - the Nazis have a vast superhuman army, and the United States has only a single superhuman, donated by the British (though three were empowered, two were killed recently - see Vanguard Issue #2). Every day, new and alarming reports from spies come in about the happenings in the skies above Germany, and the US looks on aghast, seeing that the cream of its technology and engineering might pales in comparison to the Nazi war machine.
  
  
• Japan, yet to enter the conflict having been waging a war in China, eyes the lands of the Pacific with greed. With a number of superhuman operatives, they crush Chinese opposition to their occupation. Their main problem is the occupation and administration of vast areas of land, but their attempts to install puppet regimes constantly fail when the population rebels against the Japanese war atrocities committed every day. Plans are made in Britain to empower Chinese nationals into a superhuman force, but are put on hold when war comes to Britains shores.
  
  
• The German forces advance. With them are mighty war machines never seen or imagined even in the realms of science fiction, with 100' tall robots spitting fire and death at those opposing them! Only the harsh winter and the thaw slows them down, as their vast weight and bulk makes progress slow. There are three such devastating machines in service, but one is plagued by constant mechanical failings. Each boasts a crew of 100 and the firepower of 50 tanks, as well as effective anti aircraft defence. They are reiniforced by metahuman operatives, though many are untrained thanks to Anymans sabotage of the main training facility in Germany, a setback for which he is still considered the nazis most wanted man.
  
  
• Damon Trowers, Claude Bentham and others seek Lionheart, the ultimate expression of the superhuman soldier. Their plan is to clone him and implant their own suggestions into the bodies to create an unstoppable force. The Vanguard scupper those plans when a trap laid for Lionheart backfires, and the hero evolves into a higher form, one not envisaged even by Bentham, a genius by any measure with the near superhuman power of being able to out think any situation! He is thwarted by the Vanguard and the cloning efforts are set back disastrously, so Bentham and Trowers plan anew to set in place their own thousand year Reich, unbeknown to Hitler and his cronies.
  
  
• The phony war is about to come to an end. Britain will see an onslaught on her shores the like of which has not been seen before. Only the Vanguard, the Justiciars, and the Lore Knights stand as a thin line between freedom... and oblivion...

In the background, the Shadow Demons wait and plot, whilst feeding off the fear and despair that war brings, gathering their power and waiting to strike... these are dark times ... the Vanguard and their allies must provide the light!

You know, I've sort of lost track of what Anyman has now, power-wise. Any way to get an updated character sheet?

No problem - that's what we're using this thread for. I updated his HTC to 5 per Vigour point, 4 per vigour to HTK, but if you want it the other way round that's no problem. I'd suggest increased strength or vigour. Strength will boost his damage and give him an extra HTC divider, Vigour will, well, make him harder than nails. Either that or a travel power of some kind maybe. Your choice, anyway. He'll be using his skills more in the coming adventures.

Admin wrote:OOC feel free to ask OOC questions in this thread. This is the 'prelude' to give a sense and taste of the battle to come.

Effectively immediately, all active characters in the Vanguard gain 1 grade of power of their choice. If a roll is required on D6, treat it as a 4 (so strength grade 2 which gives D6+6 extra strength gives +10). All characters become Class 3 superhumans. At the players choice, either Htc or Htk are allocated 5 per Vigour die, and the other stat (Htc or Htk) is allocated 4 per Vigour die.
[b]

Ok Paul quick question I remember you saying this as we were embarking on our adventure in space, I choose Intangibility grade 1 so that I could use it to infiltrate the Nazi base. But as far as I am aware I never got it straight away, does this mean I have another choice or is this the same choice. I'm easy either way, but just want to make sure I understand you correctly.

In any case Intangibility grade 1, I would love Field Manip cold again, but I like the idea of being able to be intangible and then also, that will lead to flight.

Also in your summery you didn't mention anything about the Frostbot and the computer returning. I think calling it Frostbot is quiet funny and endearing so we might stick with that for now.

As regards to the Nazi's next move, well here are some thoughts:

Britain is the prize, but perhaps along the way, the Nazi's arrogance leads them to overstretch and they go for America, just to test their strength and resolve. Perhaps they try to take the President, pre-emptive strike, but maybe the P'utinarian spies they'd been using turn on them, and the attempt gets stymied before it can begin. This together with the fact that several new heroes emerge - some brought about by exposure to Lunarium, which the Americans happen to have recovered from the crashed area 51 P'utinarian craft, and from the mobsters who clashed with General Freedom.

In addition mystical heroes from America's recent past return, somehow pulled through time, so George Washington, (he's a vampire hunter don't you know) and some Indian heroes who come forth to defend the land.

IN addition why don't the shadow princes help another hero from America, eventually that hero will be one of our PC's so can be nice and vague but he's there at America's darkest hour.

Meanwhile strike forces are attacking Germany where they least expect it. Germany over stretches itself and thus suffers some big looses.

Something has to happen in order to stop them, because as it stands with so much technology, alien forces and powers, to be honest I can't think of a reason why they don't bother to stop the Allies return to Britain and just invade Britain so they can be waiting for them when they get home. We know from what we've seen that Britain stands ready to fall, we've got so little that could stop a fall scale attack, so there needs to be a good reason why they don't just circle around and or drop a bomb on the retreating allies and invade England whilst our forces are tied up and we're over stretched?

That's what I'd do. Churchill said, even if this ancient world falls, meaning Britain, he knew that we might become the attack point and if that fell, our forces around the world would be on their own.

Anyway, something massive has to stop the Nazi's or delay them or take their eyes off what is going on, because otherwise I can't understand how they'd delay any longer?

Sj

That's what he looks like with Flight. I'll change the character sheet in the characters section if you're ok with it.

Admin wrote:
That's what he looks like with Flight. I'll change the character sheet in the characters section if you're ok with it.

Yeah looks fine need to redo that image of him, I want something slightly better with the old mask. That looks like he swiped a ladies scarf and wrapped it around his head.

I'll take a look at Bowcaster.

Sj

I was always planning on having the Agility that Putty had swapped out for Grade Two strength for Anyman. And was planning on keeping Wallcrawling as well. Now I have to decide if I want the Wallcrawling or the Strength for Dunkirk. Darn. Which do you think would work better for Dunkirk? I will take either and then the other power next time I get a new upgrade.

You make some good points about the Nazis plans. David M is the expert, but in All Star Squadron (comics) the Nazis used the spear of Wotan (I think) to prevent superhumans from leaving America otherwise the Spectre, Superman, Dr Fate and co would have run riot. Perhaps the reverse could apply to Britain - I'd thought of something along those lines for the Lore Knights adventure - Bowcaster is up by the way.

As for the All Star Squadron, the Nazis had the Spear of Destiny, the spear that pierced Christ's side, and the Japanese had the Holy Grail. Mytics of both nations cast a mega-spell at the same time. Anyone who got within the sphere of influence, who was of mystical origin or affected by Magic, would have their thinking changed so that they would side with the Axis. Get out of the range of the sphere of influence and revert back to normal. The sphere of influence would grow and shrink as the Axis's actual sphere of control shrank or grew. So normal heroes and science powered heroes like Starman or Johnny Quick could go into Axis Territory but the Specter, Green Lantern, Superman, Dr. Fate, etc couldn't.

Our biggest problem is that the Germans can find any of us with powers through their psychics, which eliminated Anyman's original plan of going to Berlin and infiltrating the Nazi High Command and kill them one by one. Even with Dunkirk, we won't be able to spring surprise attacks or ambushes because their psychics will know where we are and can warn the troops. So unless a way is found to "hide" us from their psychics, we are going to be stuck with frontal assaults with the enemy expecting us.

I'll take Strength. Being able to stretch and shapeshift, he could have figured out how to reform his muscles making even stronger than he was before.

Will post the same to the character sheets section too.

Just out of curiosity, how much is he able to pick up now?

40 strength is 10 tons. 41 strength is 20

40 strength is 10 tons. 41 strength is 20

Damn! I need to get me some weights and do a bit of lifting then!

Not sure if this will come through or not but a beautiful weather shot.

Nothing came through. Tried the link in your post but it wants me to sign up for something? normally to get anything to show you need to post it on an image hosting site. The one I use is Tinypic which used to be great, but recently it's a pain because it wants me to type in some anti-spam phrase that's usually hard to see and get right, making the whole process longer and annoying! Grrr...

Oh well, I sent it to you as a private email a bit later and hopefully you got it.

Updated Silver Sentinel with grade 1 Vigour. He's a Class 3 superhuman now so his Htc/Htk totals go up appropriately. (5 per vigour Htc, 4 per vigour htk). Ross - let me know if you have a better picture you'd rather use...

I knew it, you like that gimp picture really lol. Do you think its too dark for SS I mean with and spikes and all? It would reflect Steves feelings at the moment. Steve is feeling angry with himself for the wanted destruction of most of the human race when the dark power filled him. He has grown from this and almost over night has gone from a almost cocky young rifleman in the British army, trying to prove worthy in his deceased parents eyes to a serious, strong, selfless and borderline suicidal man who would do anything he can, even giving his life for the greater good. He must show the shadow the good in humans feeling that its scared his very soul

The character can look like whatever you want it to - even though the game is set in the 'Golden Age' (David M is much more the expert than I am of comics from this era) the tone and feel are darker because the sheer potential for destruction the Vanguard hold back. It would be easy for you guys to unleash the Dark Power every time the going gets tough (and it's going to get very tough...) but there are massive consequences. For instance unleashing the Dark Power on the Nazis trying to destroy the B.E.F. on the beach of Dunkirk will most likely result in most of the Allied troops being obliterated too. So you may ask 'what's the point?' Well, it won't always be that way - your characters will, over time, come to control more and more of the Dark Power, but until then it's like carrying a gun around with a nuclear missile as the bullet.

The Vanguard are the most powerful superheroes (note - heroes!) in the universe (that they know of!) but they can also be the most destructive. Two edged sword and all that...