Blades in the Dark: A New Crew of Smugglers

Yesterday, we were supposed to play The Strange, but one of the players wasn't feeling well, which has escalated in severity from "aw, that's a shame" to "fucking ominous." In any event, instead of just canceling we decided to play something else, and we decided on Blades in the Dark, since two of the players hadn't had the pleasure and it's something I know how to run.

So! Meet the scoundrels:

• Michelle plays the Leech, Talitha Crosswind, aka Scatterbind. Scatterbind, named for a creeping ivy plant that grows in her native Dagger Isles, is a former corsair and current witchy acolyte. She served in the Imperial military as a consultant and explosives expert. She's a bit of a clothes horse, and loves to purchase bespoke garments at Dundridge and Sons. 
• Morgan plays the Hound, Aidin Dunvil, aka Talon. Talon's mother is a deathlands scavenger who hooked up with a scion of the noble Dunvil family and later dropped young Talon off with his dad. Said dad shipped Talon into the military, where he was stationed as an electro-wall guard before leaving the service to go into professional scoundrel-ing. He spends time with his mother when he can.
• Karafa plays the Cutter, Sesereth Keel, aka Demon. Demon hails from Tycheros (he has horn-like growths instead of hair, but he keeps most of them filed down, except the front two). He, too, worked for the military as an officer and is a veteran of the Unity War. He has paid obligations to the Dimmer Sisters as a bodyguard, but that's a side gig. 

Together, these three are known as "Grime & Sons." There's no Grime (and no sons, for that matter), but the crew specializes is bringing weird artifacts out of the deathlands and in dealing arms. They're on good terms with the Cabbies (who sold them the carriage and goats they use) and the Bluecoats, but things are a little tense with the Foundation (they didn't grease the right palms when they built their lair) and the Lost (who take issue with their ally Esme).

The crew hangs out at a bar in Barrowcleft called the Drunken Goat, run by Esme, a young woman who took over the bar when he father died. The Goat's clientele is most Cabbies; they hang out there waiting for work. The Lost see Esme as a tool of the establishment and she rubbed some of them the wrong way in the past.

The crew's lair is near the Goat; an abandoned warehouse that belongs to Talon's father. They've converted the loading docks into a carriage house and built living quarters inside, so it's nice, but it's got room to improve.

On this particular day (?), the crew is hanging out at the Goat when a fellow in livery walks in. He's clearly out of place, and asks Esme where he can find Mr. Grime of Grime & Sons. She points him to Demon, who asks him what he's there for. The man starts to talk about a strange artifact he needs retrieved, but Demon stops him and brings the square over to the table with Scatterbind and Talon, and the four of them chat.

The crew recognizes the man's clothes as belonging to the house of Magistrate Drav Michter. Seems Michter wants a relic retrieved from the deathlands and brought back to him. The valet shows them a drawing of it - it's a sculpture, and looks kind of a like a horse or a fish? Very surreal. Staring at it, though, both Scatterbind and Demon get empty, cold feelings. Something's off about this thing.

They ask what Michter's interest is - is he an occultist? The valet is at first reluctant to say, but Scatterbind gets him to open up a little and he says that while the Magistrate isn't himself interested in the occult, his daughter Tonna is very much so, so this is probably a gift for her. The valet shows them a crude map to where the relic is supposed to be, but he doesn't know much more about it. Perhaps more research could exist at the university in Charterhall, but he doesn't know.

Talon, interested to know more about this guy, lifts his purse, but one of the Cabbies sees it and mouths "I WANT HALF" at Talon. Talon slides him the purse, but the valet notices, stands up, and loudly accuses the Cabbie of stealing from him. Esme shoots the characters a "fix this" look, and Demon bullies the valet into sitting back down, while Scatterbind says they'll make it good. They agree on terms, and the valet leaves.

Scatterbind suggests trying to attune together and figuring out more about this thing, so they do, and watch as the relic in the drawing melts into a hole that sucks in everything around it. Shaken, they decide they need to be careful with this thing, but the money is too good to get righteous now. They decide to spend their last Coin to hire an occultist named Sander Krauli (aka "Scar"), who's known to be knowledgeable and principled, to help them with the more mystical bits of this job. And then they set off into the deathlands.

The first bit of the journey goes well. Talon sends Anise, his hunting hawk, up to find the location on the map, and indeed, they find a conical pit in the ashy ground. Talon goes to scout ahead, but slips as the ground shifts and tumbles into the pit. He uses his climbing gear to crawl out, however, and the crew anchors ropes to the carriage. Scar, Demon, and Talon rappel down while Scatterbind stays behind with the goats and makes sure they stay anchored.

As soon as they get to the bottom, though, huge pincers appear from the ground. A giant centipede-like creature surges out and bites at Talon. Demon leaps on its back and punches its head, and Talon shoots it, but its blood sizzles and burns through his bracer (where his hawk would sit). Up at the mouth of the pit, Scatterbind throws a grenade, but pulls the throw enough that the explosion doesn't splash her comrades. She wounds the creature, but only lightly.

She does, however, manage to get it to wriggle enough that Talon can shoot it right in the face, and it burrows away, bleeding. The crew berates Scar a bit ("look, I'm paid to find relics, not fight bugs"), and he sits down and focuses, and then points at the dirt. They dig a bit and find an archway, covered in the ash, but the dirt inside the archway is solid and frigid. They clear it away, and reveal a small tunnel leading back.

Scatterbind rappels down to join them. They'll need all hands to handle this relic, they figure.

Movie #548: Poltergeist

Poltergeist is a horror film starring Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, and Zelda Rubinstein. The part I always forget is that it was directed by Tobe Hooper, he of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame, but produced and heavily influenced by Steven Spielberg.

The movie revolves around the Freeling family, who live in a recently built and continually expanding development. Steve (Nelson), the father, sells these houses and kicks ass at it. The kids, Dana (Dunne), Robbie (Robins), and Carol Anne (O'Rourke) are all pretty much living their 80s white kid best lives. And then the haunting starts.

Carol Anne identifies the "TV people" who talk to her when the TV is showing static (which dates this movie more than anything). It rapidly escalates from there; chairs move around in a predictable and constant way and the mother, Diane (Williams) is initially convinced that there's nothing harmful about this, just spooky. And then the massive tree outside Robbie's window comes to life and tries to eat him, the closet door blows open and sucks Carol Anne into another dimension, and the family calls in help from SAVE the local university in the personage of Dr. Lesh (Straight), and later of diminutive psychic Tangina (Rubinstein).

I had forgotten how much I like this movie, and not just because it's such a great Chill template. The family unit is functional. It doesn't get dragged down in family drama, but there's still some tension as Robbie gets sent away to grandma's (along with the family's long-suffering golden retriever, who, as always, is the real hero here). Steve and Diane are both loving and supportive parents, and the movie doesn't waste any time on anyone denying what's happening in front of them, which allows more time to let everyone be scared and out of their depth.

And oh, man, everyone is out of their depth. Tangina "cleans" the house, but doesn't really, because she doesn't understand what really happened (as Steve later realizes, when the real estate company cleared the cemetery that the development now rests on, they moved the headstones but not the bodies, and the unquiet dead are pissed). The result of this is a false ending to the movie, as the big crazy climax leads to another big crazy climax, but it somehow doesn't feel artificially extended.

The effects in the movie mostly still hold up; the "face melting hallucination" bit is probably what looks the most fake, but it's still good enough to make me think "holy shit, this movie is rated PG?" (and yes, I'm aware of why that is, but still).

All in all, it's a classic horror movie for a reason, and shares a special distinction with The Babadook in that there are no human fatalities.

My Grade: A
Rewatch Value: Medium-high

Next up: Avengers: Infinity War

Legend of the Elements: Mud

Last night, we descended into the madness that is Legend of the Elements once again (I'm exaggerating, it's not really that mad). Here's last time.

Our heroes ride an ice floe, courtesy of Khatun, down the underground river. It emerges from beneath the Red Rocks and carries them towards the Great Stork Marsh, ending, as far as they can tell, between the village of Jasmine and the ruins of the village of Marn (side note: Marn is in ruins because Ember accidentally burnt it down). The river slows and then stops in the marsh, which is thick and sluggish. Gerda calls on her Earthshaping and makes a little island of solid ground they can camp on, but they have a couple hours before dark.

Feng summons Sable, the great Spirit-Monkey of the Seven Rings, to ask for help and advice. He's figuring that there are undead or spectral enemies here, and maybe he'll have to fight them. Sable, though, asks if he's sure that's what he'll need to do. After all, if someone is sick, can you punch the infection? Sable agrees to help Feng, but asks that he travel to Seven Rings before the new moon and bring Sable an offering of fruit, which Feng agrees to do.

Khatun looks around for edible plants that could be used to supplement the hard tack that she has to eat, and Ember makes a fire. Khatun notices that the marsh is dead - trees are barren, reeds are brittle, and there's no sign of animal life. She feels that the marsh spirit is battling something, but she isn't sure what. She decides maybe eating the local flora isn't a great idea. Ember meditates, meanwhile, and tries to focus on why she lashes out (with destructive results) when afraid. She remembers being terrified at the village of Marn, but not what exactly it was that scared her.

The characters come together around the fire and talk about what's happening. They decide that they need to keep watch as they sleep, but they have a bit of time before nightfall, so they poke around a bit more. Gerda looks into the swamp and tries to understand it through the earth, and steps out into the mud. She gets stuck, and sees the animals moving toward her (and they look dead and milky-eyed), but she learns that the marsh-spirit is devoting all its attention to the fight that it's in and that's causing the marshlands to die. Ember pulls her out of the muck, and Feng summons the marsh-spirit closer to try and figure out what's going on. The marsh-spirit laughs at his attempt, however, and a wave of mud pulls him out into the bog.

Khatun water-shapes and dilutes the mud in the area, making it harder to get stuck. Gerda focuses and looks for the heart of the marsh-spirit, and finds it in a rocky spring under the mud. Looking carefully, the characters realize that the marsh-spirit is fighting with something made of water...and also, night has fallen. The characters see human figures emerging from the dark, people who look gray and sallow and dead.

Ember, characteristically, panics, hurling fire at the walking dead, burning several. The campfire goes out, plunging the area into darkness. Feng focuses on the marsh-spirit, using mindwarp to control it and separating it from the other spirit, which it turns out is the spirit of the river.

Now free, the river-spirit rears up and threatens to drown out the marsh, the nearby village, and whatever else is there. Khatun tries to shape it, but the river laughs and floods the area, washing Ember away. The walking dead grab Gerda and drag her into the brush, but she holds fast. Khatun, defiant, sending in a gush of water to wash away the walking dead and Gerda creates a dike to form a barrier between river and marsh, and Feng and Gerda talk the spirits down.

Some distance away, though, Ember comes across a crowd of people from Jasmine. They've seen the walking dead in the marsh, and they're terrified and angry, ready to burn the marsh. Ember tries to talk them out of it, and they agree to come with her. They find an old man hung up in a tree, moaning in pain and covered in burns. Ember realizes with horror that this is the "walking dead" guy that she burned earlier; the dead are apparently returning to normal. The villagers get him down, and he doesn't remember what happened, but now the Jasmine villagers are all the more ready to burn this place down.

They emerge from the woods and see the other characters (and the recovering "walking dead" folks). They talk with the characters and demand to know how the old man got burned. Ember confesses, and the villagers get annoyed and hurl their torches, and one whacks Ember in the gut with a cudgel.

Khatun calls up water to put out the torches, and Gerda catches the cudgel on the upswing. They tell the villagers to settle down, that the warring spirits have resolved their differences. Ember promises to make amends, and the villagers accept this oath. Everyone trudges back through the marsh to the village of Jasmine.

Character Creation: Ninja Crusade 2nd Ed

Happy Saturday, time for a character.

The Game: Ninja Crusade, 2nd Edition
The Publisher: Third Eye Games 
Degree of Familiarity: None, just read it
Books Required: Just the one.

I am generally not a fan of games that take a deep dive into cultures I'm unfamiliar with. It's not a matter of not wanting to play something unlike my own demographics, but more that I know I'm not going to get the cultural contexts (being a middle class white dude from Ohio), and without a frame of reference I'd rather play pure fantasy and be able to make shit up than get someone else's life wrong.

With that said, in reading Ninja Crusade, I found the setting oddly compelling. I don't think there's a lot of realistic Japanese history going on, here, and I'm in no position to judge authenticity and cultural appropriation type stuff. I just know that the presentation of the history was easy to read and digest and the character options seem really cool.

Speaking of which, chargen! Character Creation proceeds in seven steps, and in each (or at least most) of the steps, you're choosing from a broad category and a sub-category, which give you boosts and bonuses. I like this setup; it seems pretty simple to explain and there's not too much in the way of point allocation within a long list (which is fine when everyone has a copy of the book and is savvy on chargen norms, but when the hell does that happen).

Step One: Ocean. This is the baseline of the character's personality. First thing I choose is an element: Fire, Earth, Water, Metal, or Wood. I want to play a character who adheres to the "sneaky in the shadows" side of a ninja, who sets traps and plans his approach carefully. To me that suggests Metal (could be Water, too, but I like the focus on justice and rules that Metal brings). That gives me Deception, Discipline, Might, and Speed +1, and shifts my Yin to +1. I also get a Temperament that gives me a Gift and a Trigger. I'll take Quiet. I get +1 Stealth in a crowd, but I gain 1 Karma when I stay quiet instead of passing along important information (this would be challenging to play for me).

Step Two: Village. Here I pick a profession and a focus. I think I want to be a Farmer. That gives me +1 in Athletics, Marksman, Might, and Survival. Now, for Focus...hmm. Harvester or Herder? I think Herder. I get +1 Stealth in forests and fields, but I can gain 1 Karma when I stick out in an urban environment.

Step Three: River. Here we pick a tragedy that hit the character and shaped them in a some way. I really like this step. I should conceptualize a little. I kind of want this to be a natural disaster, is that an option? Ah, yes, Victim of Circumstance. Oh, wait, these tragedies are really classified more by the effect they had than the genesis, so I need to think about it that way. Hmm. I think my character's village was destroyed in a fire that blazed out of control during a particularly dry spell during the summer, and left him Displaced. That's Victim of Circumstance, and that gives me +1 Crafts, Marksman, Perception, and Survival. Displaced gives me +1 Crafts when making stuff out of rudimentary supplies, and I get 1 Karma when I'm offended by what I perceive as an offer of charity.

Step Four: Forge. There's this war of ninja going on, as the Empire cracks down on them, and my character has a role therein. I already know I want to be a Scout, and for my Title I'll take Pathfinder. Scout gives me +1 Athletics, Fortitude, Perception, and Travel, and Pathfinder gives me +1 Crafts to make or find traps, and I get 1 Karma when I mistake an innocent for an enemy.

Step Five: Mountain. Here's where we pick the mystical ninja shit. I need to pick a clan, and I already know I want Pack of the Black Moon. I get a goddamn ninja dog, which is awesome. My Clan Gift, in fact, is said doggo. It'll fight alongside me and I can spend Ki to have any justu (magic ninja shit) I do to myself affect the dog as well. Neat! I get +1 to Athletics, Fortitude, Might, and Survival as well, and my Ki goes +1 Yang.

Contacts! This is kinda similar to Blades in the Dark, actually; there are a bunch of named characters and I pick one to be an Ally and one to be a Rival. I'll say that Sanada Mako, the trickster and illusionist, is my Ally (she's using folktales to scare away soldiers, which is good for me and my herds and we can team up when need be). My Rival is Tsuki Mei, a hunter who goes into the deep wilds to trap exotic animals for rich people, which I find really abhorrent.

Normally I'd do Bonds here, too, but those apply to other PCs, and it's just me, so on we go.

Step Six: Temple. Customization, baby. First up I get 10 Skill points, which is good because I have no points in Stealth, though I have some bonuses. I'll put three there. Two more points in Crafts, so I'm good at traps. Five left. Two in Fighting, one in Knowledge, one each in Intuition and Intimidation, that's 10. I also get two Specialties, so I'll put one in Fighting (+1 when fighting silently) and Intimidation (+1 when I'm with my doggo).

Now, Fighting Styles. I get access to Dragon and Horse Styles from my clan, but I have other options, including Trap Styles, which I know I want. I'll take Trap Mastery at level 1, meaning I can create all six types of trap, but I'm better at capture and knockdown traps. I'll also take Horse Kick at level one, so I can do that kickass thing where I jump up and kick a dude with both feet.

Step Seven: Skies. Finally, the magical stuff, or jutsu. I get six points, and justu are either Basic (1 point), Median (2 points), or Advanced (3 points). I can buy at any level, and I get access to the Way of Twin Beasts from my Clan. Let's check it out.

OK, I want Tree Hopping (which lets me jump real high from a wooden surface, like a tree), which means I'm trained in the Way of Wood. I need to take at least some Way of Twin Beasts, so let's look at that. OH SHIT, I can have my dog pee on someone and track him. That's really cool.

Well, I want In the High Grass (makes us stealthy) and Yellow Mark (the aforementioned pee-mark). And then I'll be trained in the Way of Metal, too (since I get a bonus), and I'll take The Metal Within (I can hide metal things in my flesh) and Weapon Craft (from Wood; I can touch a tree and make a wooden weapon).

And now the derived stuff, at the end where it should go: Health is 7, Psyche is 6, Initiative is 5, Strength is 6, and Movement is 9. Now I just need the background type stuff.

Riku Sumida grew up in a family of farmers. He demonstrated an aptitude for animal husbandry, and his family shifted their focus away from growing and towards herding as a result. When he was a teenager, he was courted by a ninja village run by the Pack of the Black Moon, and while he was tempted, it felt wrong to leave his family.

The first that destroyed the village and ruined his family convinced him otherwise, and Riku joined the clan, taking the name Shizukana Ryoken (the Quiet Hound). He is quite capable of fighting with a staff, a blade, or his bare hands and feet, but he much prefers to have his faithful ninja dog  Nageku (Mourning) lure them into traps. Riku is angry at the cowards who would burn a village to fight a war, and feels that while they might not feel the need to follow the rules of engagement and decency, he should. As such, he refuses to use poison in his traps, and leans toward capturing or incapacitating foes rather than killing them. His grip on these scruples weakens every day the war continues, however.

Riku is lean and slim, but deceptively strong. He keeps small shards of metal in his legs and forearms in case he needs to sever bonds or cut a throat, and he always keeps a length of twine for quickly setting traps on his person.

Blue Rose: Battle on Dark Isle

Last night we did some Blue Rose. Here's last time. On we go.

Our heroes have landed on the Dark Isle, and discover that it's pure rock - no plants growing here except some moss. They head inland, and hear chanting. They find a circle of 10 men dressed in robes, standing around an 11th one with more ornate garb. That last one is standing over their chest, and the 10 others are funneling magic into him.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's happening here - the cultists are pumping a leader full of enough power to crack the ward on the chest. Arlen realizes that there are wards around the circle and around the chest, so he can't just magic it on out. He has a vision and realizes that if they wait until the chest opens, the sorcerers will be depleted and they'll just have to deal with the leader...but they don't know if the leader will be too much to handle or if they'll be able to ward the chest again. They decide to strike now.

Arlen and Kisha flank the group, but Arlen draws attention and the leader sorcerer yells to kill him. Kisha, thinking quickly, throws up an illusion of a group of pirates charging at the sorcerers, which fools most of them. Dobbin stays on the rise that the characters found and fires arrows at the leader, while Pansy heads down into the fray and Whirlpool leaps up and lands on a sorcerer. The battle is join!

The sorcerers fight with Harm spells, and Arlen and Whirlpool take the brunt of it. Arlen drops one sorcerer with a sleep spell, and Whirlpool lays waste with this trident. Kisha jumps into the fight with her staff, and she's a skilled enough combatant that the sorcerers rarely hit her. The sorcerer leader, after getting hit a couple of times, falls back with a couple of his minions, grabs the chest, and runs. Arlen sees this and casts a Move Object spell to pull the chest back, and Dobbin comes to guard him while he pulls on it. The heroes whittle away the sorcerers until finally they lose their grip on the chest and Arlen yanks it back.

Whirlpool falls, beaten into unconsciousness by repeated attacks, but the lead sorcerer realizes that he doesn't have the numbers he did and summons up a creature made of blood to take him away into the dark.

The heroes have the chest back, but they're stuck on Dark Isle, surrounded by bodies, and they haven't seen hide nor hair of Qinis and his pirates. All of them are injured, Whirlpool pretty seriously.

Next time, we'll see how they get out of this one.

Character Creation: Unmasked

Well, I ran a superhero game last night, may as well continue the trend.

The Game: Unmasked
The Publisher: Monte Cook Games 
Degree of Familiarity: None with this game in particular, but I know all of the constituent part (supers, horror, Cypher System) pretty well
Books Required: Unmasked and the Cypher System Core

Unmasked is a superhero setting with a touch of horror, set in 1986. It reminds me a little of Better Angels, in that it's got the whole supers/horror thing going, but it succeeds where Better Angels kinda didn't because the setting is explained and detailed (also the system is intuitive). Characters in this game are teens who feel driven to collect mementos (cyphers) and put them together into a mask, which then physically transforms them into a superpowered form when worn.

And the physical transformation is a pretty important part of the game - these teens change into someone totally different, so no recognizing your best friend's voice when he's in costume. The powers and this form are in some ways a reflection of how the teen sees themself.

Anywhichway, we start off by making the teen and then adding the mask-form. Specifically, I get 6 points in each of my stats (Might, Speed, Intellect, the standard Cypher dealie) and then 2 more points to add in wherever. Actually I should do my descriptor first. My teen character only has a descriptor, not a type or a focus (those come later).

I kind of want to play a teen who's pretty clueless. Not, like, dumb, just not real sure of himself and prone to missing stuff. There are a couple of descriptors that work. I could be Clumsy, or Foolish, or Tongue-Tied. I think that one that captures the teenage experience I'm thinking of is probably Clumsy (Tongue-Tied is cool, but it gives me a bunch of physical bonuses that I don't necessarily want).

OK, sounds good. I'll put one of my two extra Stat points into Might and one into Intellect (maybe he's smarter than he thinks). From my descriptor, I lose two from Speed (butterfingers!) and gain two to Might. I'm also trained in any social interaction where I can come off as pleasantly self-deprecating.

So far, so good. I roll a d100 to give myself a background connection, and I get...oof. Close family member died last year and our family is struggling with the grief. Let's say it was my older sister. She went into the military after high school and was killed in an accident during training, but the military won't tell us much more than that (and mom and dad have stopped asking).

Now the mask-form! I need a new descriptor. I'll pick Swift, because I figure this guy would want to be more graceful and decisive. My type is the sort of super I am; smasher, thinker, mover, or changer. I'm considering thinker, but let me see. No, actually, based on the description I'm going with mover. It plays into the "changes into someone who's brave and quick and says exactly what he means" kind of thing. My Might starts at 8, Speed 12, Intellect 8, and I get 4 more Speed from my descriptor (good gravy). Also trained in initiative, but my inability in balance remains, damn it all.

Right, as a mover, I get the Explorer stuff from Cypher. That means my Might Edge is 1 and my other two are 0, but lo! I get four special abilities, and one is Extra Edge. Um, yes plz. I'll also take Trained Without Armor, Block, and No Need for Weapons.

So this is starting to take shape a little. My character's name, in teen form, is Terry Tennant (supers have alliterative names). Terry is big for his age, and that's because last summer he just bulked right up, but he trips over his own feet, he bumps into doorways, and he whangs his head a lot. For all that, Terry is a super nice guy, but he's got no game and no confidence. He tends to get laughed at in gym because he falls down and misses, but if you try to block him you're in for a shock - he's pretty solid.

When he puts on the mask, though, Terry becomes perfectly proportioned. His skin is milky white and perfectly smooth, and his eyes are a beautiful ocean-blue. His outfit is a dark blue jumpsuit with dope-looking boots. He's exactly six feet tall and built like a swimmer, and he can run like the wind. He's an expert martial artist, able to stop an incoming punch or strike every time, or get out of the way if need be.

OK, cool, let's do focus! There are a few in the Unmasked book, but by and large I'm not a fan, so let's go back to the Cypher book...or, actually, no, I like Lives on the Dark Side. The first-tier ability lets me block projectile weapons by raising my hands, so it dovetails nicely with my type.

Now, power shifts. Power shifts permanently lower the difficulty of certain very broad tasks, so it's possible for characters to do really impressive feats. I'll put one each into Speed Freak, Reaction Speed, and...I kinda want one going toward how instinctively this character moves, maybe call it From the Hip? Power shift when he doesn't stop to think or plan? Sounds good.

And that's everything except a super-name. I think he calls himself "Alabaster," and that's totally a name he came up with as Terry, because he knew it was white and kind of translucent-looking. Does it really fit? Who knows.

Sounds good!

MHR: Equality, End of Act Two

Last night, we were heroes. Rather, my players were; mostly I was brainwashed soldiers.

Last time, the characters defeated (incinerated, really) the Multitude, and learned that Logic was trying to launch missiles from Cheyenne Mountain. Arcanix did a bit of scrying of the location, and Rift pulled some security passes out of a rift, and then gated them to the front door - with a brief stopoff in St. Louis to pick up the reluctant hero Harmony (last seen here) for backup.

They enter the facility, and it's strangely empty. The PA kicks on and there's some terrified gibberish, followed by gunfire. Arcanix magically hones in on the person talking and opens a portal to a room with a bank of monitors and some highly terrified soldiers. Seeing the heroes, they open fire.

The characters are mostly able to weather that storm, but the ensuing fight is difficult. Harmony tries to stun them, Arcanix tries to knock them over with magical force, Spore tries to spore-burst them, but the soldiers seem to be empowered by some unseen force. Inferno throws fire, but only manages to set the room on fire. Rift tries to call water to quench it, but only spreads it around...and then there's an explosion and the ceiling falls in and separates the heroes.

With some effort, they manage to subdue the soldiers (well, the last few just collapse). The PA kicks on again, and a woman's voice tells them that they're welcome to wait here until the nukes are done dropping - they can help clean up afterwards, and their skills will be needed. The characters obviously aren't up for that, and find the speaker - they know her as Guerilla. Rift opens a few gateways into the room, giving the heroes some freedom of movement. Arcanix drops through one and punches at her, but she senses him and rolls out of the way. Spore appears and tries to gum up the computers working feverishly to launch the missiles, but he isn't able to break anything critical. He hears Carlsson's voice in his head, strangely devoid of emotion, telling him that he can soak up the radiation (as Multitude was supposed to do) and he'll be needed to save the world. He says that unlike Multitude, he cares about humanity, and isn't going to let the nukes go off in the first place.

Inferno flies through a rift and melts the bank of computers to slag, while Harmony creates a targeted sonic pop that dazes Guerilla. She tries to confuse Arcanix with illusions, but he just reroutes his mystical programming and conjures the demons she was counterfeiting. They grab her and incapacitate her...but Logic is still unaccounted for.

Juno concentrates, bringing her mystic senses to the fore, and finds him. She tries to capture him with a bubble of force, but he teleports free and disappears. Rift makes her gateways vibrate at a particular frequency and disrupts the power allowing him to stay invisible, and Spore infects him, reminding him of who he really is. This works, but not quite well enough. He teleports away, but Harmony hits him with the same trick and staggers him, and Arcanix blasts him into unconsciousness.

The heroes take stock, and Arcanix, interfacing with the computers, realizes that GENYS is so deep into the system here that the only way to fight it is to go in after it. Between his power and Rift's, they can do it...but it'll be fighting GENYS on its own turf.

Next session, Act Three begins.