An imaginary "replay".
I am sooo bored!
So I've decided to share an interesting superhero RPG with you.
This is "With Great Power...", the "Master Edition". It's surprisingly clever. I remember not "getting it" when I first read it, but having come back to it and done some research, it's pretty neat.
So strap on your shiny blue tights, because it's clobberin' time!
Jason: Hey! Let's play "With Great Power..."!
Mort: Ok. That's superheroes, right?
Stella: I like superheroes.
Jason: Yes, superheroes. So, first thing: What's your favorite thing about superheroes?
Mort: I like the melodrama.
Stella: I like the power fantasy.
Jason: And I like the crazy plot twists.
Stella: Is Izzy playing?
Jason: The game supports up to six of us, but I'm trying to keep this pretty focused, so it will just be us three. (We three?)
Jason: So now, origins! We each draw five cards from this deck to get our origin questions to help define our heroes.
Mort: Aren't you supposed to be playing the villain?
Jason: Sure, but every great villain is the hero in his own mind.
Mort: You got really defensive about that.
Jason: Shush, you!
Jason: Ok. Of those five, choose three questions to answer. If you don't know the answer, just make something up. You've got "great (editorial) power" here. Try to pick answers that will be fun for you. And feel free to steal liberally from your favorite superhero sources. Everything's been done already anyway.
Mort: My first question says that I'm cornered by citizens that are frightened of me, and asks why and how I deal with them. I'm thinking that I have a dark and mysterious, almost villainous, costume, and maybe they don't trust me. I don't want to hurt them, of course, so I just smoke bomb them and sneak away like a ninja.
Stella: Batman much?
Mort: I will bite you.
Mort: Question two: I can't do everything. What limit to my power would I really like to overcome? I think I'm just an athletic human with great gear, so I'd really like to find a way to get that super-strength that all of the other heroes seem to have.
Jason: Understandable.
Mort: And finally, a hazmat truck crashes and catches fire. How do my powers help? I guess I just swoop in on a grapple to rescue the driver, and throw out a handful of flame-retardant grenades from my utility belt to douse the flames.
Stella: [cough]sharkrepellant[cough]
Jason: Ha! Still, no negativity. Being creative is hard, and this character sounds cool.
Mort: [Sticks her tongue out at Stella.]
Stella: My questions say my powers were from an accident, and asks who's fault it was and what was lost. It also says my powers need help, and asks who helps and for what? And also that I have to be careful with my powers, and asks why.
Jason: And?
Stella: I worked as a student assistant in one of those experimental labs, when terrorists attacked and it blew up, giving me powers, but killing several people, and putting my mentor into a wheelchair. He helps me test and control my powers so that he can complete his work, but also because my powers are unstable and if I push them too hard, I could blow everybody up.
Jason: Very nice!
Mort: What about your villain?
Jason: Let's see... My power comes from a "higher authority", a netherworld creature of chaos, and I was chosen because of my punk-rock anti-authority history. I lost my best friend and drummer when he got busted for a minor drug violation and went to jail. I tried to work within the system to get him out, but I failed, and he was killed in jail. Finally, I'm being hunted by an "angel" who seeks to destroy those who have my power.
Stella: Grim.
Jason: Now, based on your answers, write down at least four more things about your hero, and assign at least one to the four categories on your hero sheet: Personal Life, Super-heroic Life, Powers, and Supporting Cast.
Mort: Um... He dresses like Batman, but with a raven theme. [Glares at Stella] He's a reformed ex-hitman. He's haunted by the literal ghost of his last victim. He's rich. He has a black and chrome penthouse apartment with secret rooms that he calls "The Roost". He has a lawyer friend who tips him off on crime stuff. Oh, and he has a bunch of high-tech gear on a utility belt. I think that's it.
Stella: My hero glows solid white with barely contained, crackling power. She can suppress it to look normal, but only for a few hours at a time. She can fly and blast things with searing cosmic energy. She currently works as Doc Grey's assistant. Doc Grey is her mentor, of course. And she has a younger brother, Davey, who's always getting into trouble.
Jason: My villain is an aging ex-punk, who was stuck in a grey, dead-end job. He's sick of "the system" and "the man" and the whole corrupt, bloated infrastructure that keeps good people down, and he's ready to bring it to the ground, Tyler Durden style. He can summon the power of his patron to turn into a huge, punk-rock demon, with black horns and a green mohawk and chains and piercings and ripped denim. And he can call on lesser demon servitor things and can travel by "hellhole" between locations. He's got a plan to fight the authorities, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Stella: You're weird.
Jason: Indeed. Now let's do Icons. These are sort of snapshots of how your character might act, depending on the tone of the phase we're playing in (which I will get to later). For now, just describe and write down your Icons. Imagine you're in a dangerous situation. For the Red Icon, how might you react in a powerful, bold, or energetic way? For the Blue Icon, how might you react in an inspiring, helpful, or virtuous way?
Mort: Hmm. A blast of black 'quill' darts flung out in all directions? For Red, I mean.
Jason: Ok.
Mort: And I throw my armored cape over somebody to protect them for Blue.
Jason: Excellent. Stella?
Stella: For red, I drag a two-fisted energy blast across a building, collapsing it on the villains.
Jason: Quite the reaction.
Stella: And for Blue, I streak out of the sky and crash down into a superhero landing and look up and say 'Let's light this up!'.
Jason: Ooh, catchphrase-y!
Jason: Let's do your 'First Published Appearance' now. We already know what we look like, but what does the public know about us?
Mort: I'm just rumors and blurry photos. It's not even clear that I'm the good guy.
Jason: Stella, what do you think the public calls Mort's hero?
Stella: The Shadow? Darkman? Blackbird?
Jason: Maybe just The Raven? Nevermore?
Mort: Ooh, ooh! I like that one. And my ghost-buddy is named 'Lenore'.
Jason: What about you, Stella?
Stella: I'm the hero of the city, swooping down to save the day. People really react well to the glowing white light. Some people wonder if I'm an alien or some kind of angel.
Mort: You could be Angel! Or Glowbug! Starlight! Shimmer!
Jason: Or Flicker? Is that a fish? Sunbeam?
Stella: I like Shimmer. Let's go with that.
Jason: Alright. That leaves me. Clearly I'm a dangerous, monstrous, satanic, terrorist threat. I probably magically blast my own personal punk soundtrack in the background while I'm wreaking havoc.
Stella: Havok? Anarchy? Thrash? Hell-face?
Jason: (Hell-face?)
Mort: Demonick! With a 'CK'. Brimstone! Ah, eevil...something.
Jason: I guess I'll go with Anarchy. Thanks, guys.
Jason: Now you each pick a Twist from the list. This is a one-use sort of special ability that lets you show off a part of your character. You can't both pick the same one, though.
Stella: I'll take 'Power Stunt'. I'm still learning what my powers can do. I've never tried to _absorb_ energy before, but I bet that would be cool.
Mort: I'll take 'Sanctum'. 'The Roost' is my lair where I feel safe and can regroup.
Jason: And I'll take "Unkillable". In order to stop me, you'll have to 'kill' me, but I'll come back, like one does.
Stella: I don't see that one.
Jason: It's on a separate villain list.
Jason: Speaking of villains, it's time for The Plan!
Stella: You're going to tell us your plan?
Jason: Well, the heroes probably don't know what it is, but as players, you need to know what you're working with. No secrets.
Stella: Or that's what you want us to think.
Jason: Aaanyway, we know what I want to do, now I just need to choose the steps to make that happen. Yeesh. Let's see here. I'm going to blow up the hydroelectric dam, flooding the city and taking out the power grid. I'll also need to unleash some spirits to possess people and foment rebellion. And I'll show the people how corrupt the mayor is, even if I have to make something up!
Jason: And... And I guess I shouldn't have started this so late. We've got our characters set up. We'll get to the action next time.
Mort: Aww.
Stella: Boo! You're bad at planning!
[One Week Later...]
Jason: Welcome back everybody! I see you have your characters, so let's dive in.
Mort: Wait, I don't know how to play this.
Jason: Don't worry. We'll go step by step. It's not like tactics will be an issue. This here's one of them "story games".
Jason: One thing to know is there's a thing called 'Tone' that plays a big part in how we describe things. There are two tones: Red and Blue. Red is hot and vibrant and active and passionate and intuitive. Blue is calm and dark and tenacious and methodical. Like that. And here I have this red d6 and a blue d6.
Jason: [Rolls the dice and gets Red 1, Blue 5]
Jason: Blue is high, so this Phase starts out with a Blue Tone.
Stella: What's a pha...
Jason: A phase is just a chunk of the story that follows a certain set of rules. The Phases (in no particular order) are Adventurous, Personal, Scheming, and Villainous. This Phase will be Adventurous (because I felt like it), so the Red tone is specifically 'Amazing' and the Blue tone is 'Tenacious'. Therefore, unless something changes, you (and I) will want to hit on the theme of 'Tenacious' as hard as we can. You can also lean on other Blue meanings in a pinch, but nobody's going to judge you, regardless.
Stella: [whispers] I'm judging you.
Jason: Stella...
Jason: As the Villain player, I start things off with the 'Splash Page'.
Villain: The sky is nearly black with smoke from the burning building. Firefighters struggle to keep the fire from spreading, as more trucks arrive to relieve those that are near exhaustion. The sirens are quiet now and everything is just the dull roar of flame. On an upper floor, a woman dangles out of a window, hanging on for dear life as flames lick at her fingers, but the ladder trucks can't get close enough because of the burning tanker truck at the building's base! The driver inside is unconscious and trapped. The firefighters are waiting for the 'jaws of life', but the burning truck could explode at any moment. Nevermore jumps the barricade on a raven-black motorcycle and skids to a halt in front of the building to find Shimmer already floating beside him.
Villain: [Hands Mort the dice] Mort... I mean, 'Nevermore', show me how you rescue the trapped driver.
Nevermore: ...
Nevermore: What? I just say?
Villain: Sorry. You roll the dice first to see if your tone is Amazing or Tenacious, but then, yeah. You just say. You have to rescue the driver, but you get to say how. Show us how cool Nevermore is."
Nevermore: [Throws Blue 1, Red 5] I guess that's Amazing.
Villain: Go on, then. Be amazing!
Nevermore: I guess I jump up from the motorcycle, landing on top of fire engine to dash up the ladder until I'm high enough, and then leap down behind the flames to land on the roof of the truck. The flames are red hot, and I think I can hear the contents boiling in the tanker. From my utility belt, I grab what looks like a laser pointer. I turn it on, and a laser beam shoots out, slicing the cab nearly in half! The other half clunks to the ground and I swing down to see the man's broken leg trapped in the crushed metal frame of the truck. I grab another device, attaching one end to the metal by the man's leg, and another to what's left of the engine block. Pushing a button, the cord between the two ends retracts, and with a groan, the wreck releases the man's leg. I throw my cape over him, and with my free hand fire a grapple and use it to swing him over to the waiting ambulance!
Villain: Amazing, indeed!
Nevermore: Now what?
Villain: If you think we're done here, just say so and give me back the dice. Otherwise, you pick another player, or me, hand them the dice and make a demand on them like I did to you. "Show me how you... whatever."
Nevermore: Oh. Ok. Ah, Shimmer, show me how you rescue the person hanging out of the window.
Shimmer: [Grabs the dice and throws Blue 4, Red 6]
Shimmer: Yes! I launch amazingly into the air and into the thick haze of smoke before descending out of it, my cosmic energy ionizing the smoke to create crackling lightning, like electric angel wings as I float down to the struggling woman and lift her into my arms. The woman gives a startled yelp as I backflip off the wall to land with a 'whump' onto one knee by the ambulance. The paramedics were grateful for Nevermore's help, but they break out into cheers for me as they collect the stunned woman!
Villain: Wow! That was crazy! But now's a great time to introduce "Fan Faves". These are stand out moments in the story that really impress you. Anybody can call one on somebody else's narration. You just point it out, and then write it down in the first available 'Fan Faves' slot. Keep an eye out for these moments, because we need nine and can't get to the end of the story without them.
Villain: [Writing] like electric... angel wings... in the smoke...
Shimmer: Do I get points for that?
Villain: No, just bragging rights, I guess. Do you want to do another one of these, or should we move on?
Shimmer: Hmm. I'm assuming we can keep the truck from exploding. I'm not interested in that so much. Here you go. You can have these back.
Villain: [Rolls dice. Gets Blue 5, Red 5] Hmm. A tie. For me, that just means that the 'Splash Tone' flips from what it was before. It was Blue, so now it's Red. This will be a Personal Phase. Red means 'Passionate', while Blue will mean 'Thoughtful'.
Villain: Bright laughter and carnival music fill the air as Shimmer... Does Shimmer have a real name?
Shimmer: Stella.
Villain: Alright. As Stella and Davey move through the crowd at the wharf carnival. Davey doesn't seem impressed. "Don't think this makes up for you missing my soccer game... again!", he says with a scowl.
Villain: [Hands Shimmer the dice.] Here, take these, but don't roll them yet. Hang onto them until the time is right.
Stella: Which is?
Villain: You'll know. It's when the tension has reached a point where you just have to respond. Don't worry about it. For now, I want you to show us more about your relationship with your little brother. Mort can play him. You'll also need to give Mort a "charge". That is, something specific that your little brother wants from you that you don't want to give him right now. That way Mort will know what kinds of things to say to you.
Stella: Davey wants me to take him to the lab where I work to meet Doc Grey.
Villain: OK. You get to set the scene. It doesn't have to be here in the carnival right now.
Stella: No, we're still at the carnival. We're playing one of those shooting gallery games, but with a sci-fi theme. Davey's starting to have a little fun.
Stella: "So, Davey, that was pretty cool, huh? Maybe you forgive me now?"
Davey: I try to play it cool. "Meh. It's alright I guess. Bunch of fake aliens and robots. I'll bet you've got much cooler stuff at the lab! Do you do alien autopsies there?!"
Stella: "What? No, just regular lab stuff. Mostly computers, really."
Davey: "I want to see! Let me meet Doc Grey! Is he like a mad scientist?"
Stella: "No, no. He's just an old guy. Besides, the lab's pretty boring, and kind of dangerous."
Davey: "How can it be boring and dangerous? You just don't trust me, do you?"
Stella: "It's not that. You're just a little kid, it's not the kind of..."
Davey: "Just a little kid?! Well you're just a big bi[drowned out by ringing prize bells].
Stella: Oh, no he didn't! This is it, right? Where I roll the dice?
Villain: Sounds good to me.
Stella: [Rolls Blue 4, Red 2] So, that's 'Thoughtful'. Not my strong suit. [sigh]
Stella: I stand there in shock for a moment, ready to lash out, but let out a long breath as I notice the tears in his eyes. "Hey." I get down on one knee and take hold of him, looking him in his eyes. "That is not cool. And I don't want to reward that kind of behavior, but I can tell that you're hurting, and that this is really important to you. Tell you what, I'll ask Doc if I can schedule a time for you to visit. He's a busy man, though, so no promises. And you'll have to stay out of trouble until then. And for God's sake, don't touch anything! Ok?"
Shimmer: ...and SCENE!
Shimmer: Ok, that was fun. Do I get to do that to Nevermore?
Villain: Yes! If you want. Hand Mort the dice and request general information about Nevermore's personal life.
Shimmer: Hey, Nevermore. Show us what you do for fun, you old grump!
Nevermore: I step out of my private gym in just gym shorts and a robe, toweling off after my workout. I flop back into an expensive-looking black leather recliner and pull out a very difficult looking crossword puzzle. I set to work on it, stabbing away at the little boxes with my pen of course, vigorously working through the clues like I'm being timed. Oh wait, I am! Fun!
Villain: I know you're the dark loner type, but I think this has to have other people to work.
Nevermore: Well, there's always Lenore.
Shimmer: Oooh! Ghost!
Lenore: Lenore floats up out of the floor behind the recliner and looks over Nevermore's shoulder. What the heck is your name, anyway?
Nevermore: Alan. Alan Polanski.
Villain: Hang on. We need a charge first. Nevermore?
Nevermore: She... wants me to do something actually fun. Probably something dumb that she'd enjoy. Maybe watch a rom-com.
Lenore: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! It's a musical!
Nevermore: Guh. There you go.
Lenore: "Aaall. Wwwhat are you doing'?"
Alan: I am uncharacteristically startled, but try to hide it. "You can see that I'm doing my crosswords. Can I not have a moment to enjoy myself?"
Lenore: "I'm bored! Mmmaybe we could take a pottery class."
Alan: "It gets funnier every time. Speaking of which, you're ruining my time." I reach over and stop the clock.
Lenore: I just float there for a while, staring at him. "Yyyou owe me."
Alan: I flinch at that. "Fine, I'll set you up in the back room..." I slap my crossword down on the couch beside me in frustration.
Lenore: "Nnno. I wwwant you to watch it with me! Iiit's no fun to watch alone. ... I'm aaalways alone."
Alan: "If only..." He rubs the bridge of his nose and stands up. He turn sharply and says...
Alan: [Rolls the dice and gets Blue 4, Red 2]
Alan: "[Sigh] Fine. I'll just have to do two crosswords tomorrow." I grab the remote and turn down the lights. A ridiculously large monitor opens in a side wall. "What are we watching?"
Lenore: "Ssseven Brides for Seven Brothers." I say in a spooky dead-pan. "It's a mmmusical."
Alan: I sigh harder. "Of course it is."
Nevermore: Ok, I think we're done. I just give the dice back to you?
Villain: I'll take them, yes.
Villain: [Rolls Red 3, Blue 2] This will be a Scheming Phase. The tone is Red, so it's "Intuitive" rather than "Methodical". There's no Splash Page for this one. We'll just get straight into it. Nevermore, roll the dice and tell us about how you investigate a recently missing city engineer. This is a "lead" pointing toward my plan to blow up the dam. Tell us what you do about it, and then you can ask me a leading question.
Nevermore: What do you mean, "leading".
Villain: You can assume and imply some facts about the lead with your question. "How does this implicate the villain" assumes that it implicates the villain. "How does this connect to this NPC character?" assumes that there's a connection there. Whatever you think would be interesting.
Nevermore: [Rolls the dice and gets Red 2, Blue 2] Huh. Neither one is the high die. How does that work?
Villain: Nice job! First, you rolled doubles, so you're "stymied". This doesn't mean you've fumbled or anything, but for whatever reason, Nevermore doesn't find the information he's looking for.
Nevermore: "World's Greatest Detective".
Villain: It also means that the Splash tone is flipped, from Red (Intuitive) to Blue (Methodical) in this case, and that's your tone as well.
Villain: AND... both dice are three or less. Which means you get to introduce a subplot. It's some question, some outside force acting without explanation. Maybe it's even what interfered with your investigation. "Who was that stranger?" "What was that roaring sound in the tunnels?" "Why does this normal guy have mob contacts?" Whatever. We'll write it down and maybe it will be answered later.
Nevermore: Ok, what else do I know about this engineer?
Villain: You tell me! Or, rather, feel free to make whatever assumptions as you investigate.
Nevermore: It's a cool night (of course) and I drift silently through the shadows of an apartment rooftop. Placing a grapple, I lower myself over the edge of the building, the rope purring quietly as I descend, until I reach the window of the missing man. Is he a man?
Villain: If you say so.
Nevermore: Deftly popping the lock, I slip into a small office. There's a computer, but there are also filing cabinets, so I start with those, carefully going through each one before returning it to its place, sometimes taking photos of important information. Then, I hear a noise through the office door. The handle turns, and the door suddenly swings open, the light spilling from behind the engineer's wife to reveal... that I'm not there. She looks around suspiciously and checks the lock on the window. Seeing nothing out of place, she pulls up her sleeve to reveal an obviously alien wristband. She boops a few buttons and a laser scan slowly creates a glowing blue grid across the walls and furniture. Satisfied, she eventually turns to leaves, locking the door behind her.
Villain: Wow, great! I can really visualize that scene. I'm adding that to the Fan Faves. After we get to the third Fan Fave, at least one of the next three will have to "echo" one of the first three in order for the story to progress. And then one of the last three will have to echo one of the first six. It's a sort of thematic callback. Anyway, nice job!
Nevermore: Thanks! I guess my subplot question is: "Why does that lady have alien technology"?
Villain: And your leading question about the plan?
Nevermore: Why is the engineer crucial to the villain's plan?
Villain: Hmm. Ok. As she's closing the door, the last bit of light closes on a framed newspaper clipping on the wall. It reads "Local Man Awarded for Catching Fatal Flaw in City Dam".
Nevermore: Aha!
Villain: We all know this, but Nevermore doesn't. He missed it. Now we can move on, or you can pass the dice to Shimmer and offer her a lead to another (or the same) part of the Plan.
Nevermore: Ok. Ah, Shimmer, tell us how you investigate reports of a popular local celebrity that led a mob in a riot against city hall (by way of spirit possession)...
[Wow! You're still reading this? That's crazy! I'm not going to lie. This is about where I would give up. As such, we're going to jump ahead a bit. Several phases later, we've had some more personal drama and some more heroics and several new Fan Faves]
Villain: [Rolls Blue 3, Red 6] That's it! Anarchy has had enough of you guys messing with his plans! This will be a Villainous Phase! In the Villainous Phase, Red is "Superlative". Crazy, over-the-top, impossible super-heroics! In the middle of a downtown intersection, a huge, translucent image of Anarchy is rocking out on an equally large guitar and screaming mostly incomprehensible punk lyrics into the city. When Nevermore and Shimmer arrive to investigate, the image turns to them and bellows, "You've interfered for the last time!", before exploding into roiling purple mist. And from this unnatural fog come screaming dark, bat-winged demons that encircle the heroes. And in the intersection where the image was, the real Anarchy chuckles a throaty laugh, his eyes glowing.
Villain: Shimmer, here are the dice. Don't roll them yet. Wait until the time is right, until you can take no more. Until then, you can describe how you fight against the enemies or how they start to overwhelm you, but you can't win or lose outright until you roll the dice. Nevermore, the same applies to you, too. Struggle against the threats or begin to slip under their crushing weight.
Villain: The dark demon things swirl around Shimmer, slashing and distracting her. Meanwhile, Anarchy clenches his fists and throws them into the air, summoning a wall of roaring flames around Nevermore.
Nevermore: I stagger from the intense heat, but then grab a breathing mask off of my belt, pull my cloak around me and dive through the flames, smoldering and a little bit on fire!
Villain: And Anarchy is there, waiting for you with a flaming haymaker punch that sends Nevermore flying across the street into a parked car that crunches under the impact!
Shimmer: I blast several of the demon things to make an opening, and fly though it to help Nevermore!
Villain: Are you rolling the dice?
Shimmer: Not yet.
Nevermore: Oh, come on! I struggle to my feet and wipe the blood from my chin.
Villain: When you look up through blurry red vision, you can't see Anarchy anymore. Just clouds of purple mist. And then you hear a sound. With a leathery flap, Anarchy descends out of the roiling fog, wings that you didn't know he had spread wide as he descends upon you, packing his elbow for the ultimate drop from the top rope...
Shimmer: Ok! Now! I'm rolling the dice! [Rolls and gets Red 5, Blue 2] Whew! Also, I'm putting that into the Fan Faves. That echos the one where Shimmer floats out of the smoke, right?
Villain: Yes, awesome. Thanks. And that will bring us one step closer to the end of this "issue". But for now, tell us what you superlative thing do to fight Anarchy. You're in control now. You can still slip or struggle, you can also succumb to Anarchy's infernal power. But I assume you'll want to stomp on him, yes?
Shimmer: Oh, yes! Flames erupt around Anarchy's elbow like he's falling out of orbit, but just before he makes contact with Nevermore's skull, he's hit with a glowing white side-tackle that sends him (and me) crashing into the side of a brick building! When the dust clears, there's just a dark hole, but then it begins to glow with white light, like a colorless sunrise, as Shimmer steps out, clapping the dust off of her glowing palms. "Big red guy goes into a wall? I'm calling that a Reverse Kool-Aid Man."
Nevermore: I like that visual on the white sunrise. I'm Fan Faving that one.
Shimmer: Cool. Mischief managed. I just give you back the dice now?
Villain: Not so fast. Anarchy has the "Unkillable" twist. We won't be able to end this phase until he appears to die.
Shimmer: Turds. Here, Nevermore, hold these dice.
Villain: Nevermore, Shimmer is now a block away and while she saved you from Anarchy, the bat-winged demons seem to have found you. At first, you hear their screeches in the mist. Then dark shapes. Soon, they're swarming you, clawing and biting!
Nevermore: I roll out from the swarm, grabbing a demon on the way out and smashing its face into a fire hydrant! I stagger backwards, using my cape as a shield as the demons throw themselves at me bodily!
Villain: It doesn't take long for the rest of the swarm to catch you, and several of them grab you, lifting you up into the air as others continue to bite and slash at you. Out of the corner of your eye you can see the dark rip in space that they must have come from, and they're flying you right toward it.
Nevermore: Nope! [Rolls Red 2, Blue 2] Nooo!
Villain: That's a Stymie. Not great. But once per game, if you want, you can use one of your Icons to ignore a roll, and use it's color for the tone.
Nevermore: I'll do that! With a burst of strength, I shove off the demons, and before I drop, I throw handfuls of feather-darts in all directions, hitting most of them in the head, neck, and chest. The injured demons disappear in puffs of sulfurous smoke! As I fall, I use my grapple gun to snag one of the flying demons, breaking my fall before I yank it out of the sky. The remaining demons hiss at me from above, but retreat to the glowing rift!
Villain: Bad-ass! You'll have to write a new Red Icon before we play this again. But for now, hand the dice to Shimmer. We've still got to deal with Anarchy. From within the darkness of the hole in the brick wall, there's a dull red glow that grows in intensity until Anarchy explodes from the hole, shaking rubble from his huge wings. He snarls, and punk music starts playing out of nowhere as he makes a wing-assisted charge at Shimmer, huge black horns in front of him!
Shimmer: I narrowly dodge, catching a shoulder that sends me crashing into a light pole!
Villain: Anarchy's horns impale a nearby car, which he lifts off the ground and hurls at you with a twist of his muscled neck! The car smashes into you, pinning you up against a building! But it also reveals a young man who had been hiding behind the car. Anarchy looks at the man with pity before grabbing him by the front of his shirt and lifting him over his head...
Shimmer: Dice! [Rolls Blue 5, Red 6] A glowing beam of light splits the car in half before rocketing toward Anarchy, blasting him out from under the young man. Nevermore dives into the fray, catching the man in his cloak and rolling away with him to safety. Okay, Nevermore?
Nevermore: Sure!
Shimmer: Anarchy shakes off the hit and unfurls his wings. His eyes glow with hellfire. But before he can act, I unload onto him with everything I've got! Anarchy holds his ground, his feet barely sliding back, though it's taking all of his strength to do so. I've got him pinned, but my strength is about to give out. That's when Anarchy is sideswiped by a city bus doing 80! Nevermore dives out of the bus just before it crushes Anarchy into an armored car, another bus, and a concrete wall! Anarchy's arm can be seen protruding from the wreckage. It twitches, and then is still. After a beat, it bursts into flame and quickly dissolves into ash. [Hands the dice to the Villain]
Nevermore: Yikes! Remind me not to piss you off! I feel like I have to Fan Fave that.
Villain: That's our ninth Fan Fave, which means we now go into the endgame: "Gloating Mode". It's basically the same, except that the villain is a little more dangerous and you can choose to "reincorporate" elements from the sublots or Fan Faves and your character elements to create something new. Once all but one of you (so, one of you) does so, that's the end of the game.
Jason "Ludanto" Smith C;E
Hello Jason.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what that was but it was batshit crazy. Love it!
Thanks! One person read it, so I guess my job is done. I think I'd like to actually play this at some point, but this was close enough for now. :)
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