With Great Power: ACT I

 

Oh, my poor, dried-up blog.

I'm not a blogger. I do a little of this and a little of that, using up hobbies and such as I go.  A lot of the time, the blog just serves as a place to put things, like a notebook that I can share with the world.  After all, somebody might want to see it, and I can find it again later if I need to.

Anyway, while I'm still working on an update of Chrome Hammer, I'm also obsessed with "With Great Power: Master Edition", a sort of indie RPG about superheroes.

It has that thing with a lot of shared narrative power that some people don't even consider a "real" RPG, but whatever. Maybe it's its own thing, which is fine.  It's based on a sword-and-sorcery game called "Swords Without Master", and then sort of mapped to the original edition of "With Great Power". And it seems like it does a pretty good job!

But what it lacks is examples. Swords Without Master has several little "vignettes" of what the narration might look like, but WGP does not.  Honestly, I really had to cross-reference the two games to understand how it was supposed to be played at all. I want to get some friends to try this out, but I've got to get my head around it if I'm going to be explaining it to them. And if I can't understand after studying it, how are they supposed to?

So, as a "practice", I'm trying to solo a session. The challenge here is exacerbated because I won't have the creativity of other players to build off of, but at least I'll have plenty of time to think between every die roll. I did a previous version as a fun little script, but that's A LOT. So here, I'll just present an overview of events in this "issue" of the comic, with a few small notes regarding rules as they come up.

The Heroes

(I'm re-using the two heroes from the previous post.)

Nevermore

A grim, Batman clone but with a "raven" motif. He's a wealthy former assassin named Alan Polanski, currently haunted by his last victim, a young woman named "Lenore" that only he can see.

Red Icon: A flurry of quill darts!
Blue Icon: Shielding another with his cape
Twist: Sanctuary - The Roost

Shimmer

Stella Star, a brilliant lab assistant intern for the local super-science lab. She survived an explosion that basically turned her into a glowing energy-being. She's powerful, but unfortunately that power is unstable.

Red Icon: 2-fisted energy blast!
Blue Icon: Superhero landing, "Let's light this up!"
Twist: Power Stunt - Absorb energy

The Villain

The Haunt

A former "psychic" charlatan con-man who was killed in a legitimately supernatural accident. He's now a ghost with supernatural powers, loyal cultists, and an army of undead.  And he hates every minute of it! He wants to destroy the supernatural world so he can finally be at peace.

Villainous Twist: None

The Plan

His plan is to start a "holy war" between the powerful "Church of the Holy Flame" and all of the supernatural actors in the area. He'll do this by:

• Kidnapping famous TV psychic Zoe Zelazny and making her say awful things.
• Corrupt the "Harmony Stone", a local artifact that keeps magic in balance.
• Framing "good" supernatural agents for his own attacks on the CHF church.

The Story

Blue Adventurous Phase...

Late at night in a dockside warehouse...

Nevermore and Shimmer are sneaking around a dock warehouse at night to rescue kidnapped Atlantean children. The warehouse is poorly lit and is full of crates, shipping containers, and armed thugs.

Red...

Nevermore leaps into the light and lands three rapid-fire punches on a surprised guard in precise pressure points. The man collapses before Nevermore drags him into the darkness...

Red...

Several armed thugs stand in a circle around a small group of blue-green children. Shimmer steps out from behind a box with a quirky, "Hey, guys!"

Before they can respond, she flashes brilliantly, blinding the guards. Making finger-guns, she says "Pew! Pew! Pew!" as she blasts the guns out of the enemy's hands!

Fan Favorite 1: Shimmer "pew pews" finger-gun lasers.

Blue, Subplot...

As the guards stagger about grasping their burned fingers, Nevermore drops from the ceiling amongst the frightened Atlantean children.

Nevermore:"Don't worry! You're safe now!"

They might not understand him, but his solid stature and calm voice re-assures them.

Nevermore pulls a laser-pen from his belt and cuts a circle out of the floor, which falls into the water below. The children quickly file into the water. Before the last one goes, it says something in Atlantean and presses a golden trinket into Nevermore's palm, then dives into the hole to freedom.

Sublot: To what sacred place does the trinket grant access?

Blue Personal Phase...

A few days later, at APEX Labs...

Fluffy clouds dot the sky outside as a radio voice-over reports on the sudden stop a few days a go of the horrible ocean storms that had been plaguing the city.

Shimmer has suppressed her glow and is now wearing goggles and a lab coat. She's helping her mentor, Dr. Grey, study a dog-sized yellow alien, crackling with some kind of glowing energy behind a glass cage.

Fan Favorite 2: Crackling alien energy critter in a jar.

Dr. Grey suggests that by studying this creature, they might better be able to control and harness Shimmer's energy powers. He also suggests that they could make much more progress and do more good if she didn't waste her intellect punching criminals. He wants her to come into the lab full-time, but she argues that she's doing good now which is more important than doing good later.

Red, Stymie, Subplot...

But before they can resolve the debate, flashing red alarms sound! The lab is under attack!

Dr. Grey:"No! It's too soon!"

...Dr. Grey thinks to himself as Shimmer bursts into her glowing heroic form.

Subplot: What is Dr. Grey hiding from Shimmer?

Red Villainous Phase...

Zombies swarm the compound, overwhelming the guards! Shimmer blasts away, but they seem to be coming from everywhere! The lab doors burst open! Shimmer drags a terrified Dr. Grey from his wheelchair and out of the path of a larger than normal zombie! That zombie roars and smashes open a crate, pulling out a glowing, green scepter!

Red...

Suddenly, Nevermore smashes through a window on a cool, black, ruggedized motorcycle, landing directly on the huge zombie, crushing it, and picking up the scepter!

Fan Favorite 3: Motorcycle smashes a zombie!

Meanwhile, outside, a sea of zombies surrounds a patrol car. Lab guards stand on top, shooting desperately at the zombies that try to climb up! The zombies begin to rock the vehicle, and it soon topples over, sending the guards to disappear into the crowd of gnashing teeth!

Blue, Stymie, Sublot...

It looks too late for the guards, but then a soft glow comes from beneath the dogpile of zombies!  And soon they begin to fall off, one by one, revealing Shimmer desperately blasting zombies off of the fallen guards! She persists, but they just keep lunging at her without end, each blasted zombie replaced with another!

She begins to gather her energy for a final push, when she is suddenly knocked prone by something! It's the alien energy beast, only now it's as big as a truck, and rampaging its way out of the compound!

Subplot: Where does it think it's going?

Fan Favorite 4 (echoes FF2): Crackling alien energy beast, rampaging away from the lab!

Before Shimmer can recover, zombies leap upon her! Their claws tear at her!  Their teeth snap at her face! A zombie tackles her from behind and bends her head aside to expose her glowing neck!  Its mouth opens wide to reveal jagged, rotting teeth...

Red...

Back in the lab, Nevermore types furiously at a computer console, and shouts into a microphone...

Nevermore:"Everybody, cover your ears!"

He hits a switch, and a high-pitched screech tears across the compound, stunning the zombies!

"Thanks for the tip, Lenore", he whispers to the empty seat beside him, and then into the microphone, "Everyone! Finish them! Now!"

Then there's a montage of the zombies getting shot, burned, and blasted to bits.

Red Scheming Phase...

Red...

In the aftermath of the fight, Nevermore gets in Dr. Grey's face, asking about the green scepter, demanding to know what he's doing with such an obviously dangerous artifact! Dr. Grey explains that it is on loan so that they can study it, but not to worry as the Circle of Elder Wizards has used the Harmony Stone to dampen its power.

Loaded Question: How could the scepter be used to harm the Harmony Stone?

Suddenly, Nevermore stops, staring at nothing.
Lenore says, "Thisss link goesss both waysss. I can feel it. If the right ritualsss were used to overpower the ssscepter, the backlash could crack the Harmony Ssstone."

Dr. Grey eventually says, "Nevermore, are you..."

"Doctor," Nevermore interrupts, "we might have a problem."

Red Personal Phase...

Loud construction vehicles block traffic, honking and roaring, and banging...

Sometime in the past...

BANG!

Alan Polanski, professional assassin, begins packing up his sniper rifle as the politician in the distance collapses, and the crowd begins to panic. His partner, Frank, puts down his binoculars and starts gathering their things.  He looks up to see Alan pointing a handgun into his face.

Alan explains that the mob decided he needed to be eliminated. Frank points out that they've been partners for too long for this kind of betrayal. Alan seems conflicted, but says, "A job's a job.  You and I both know how it goes." He still seems reluctant, though. Frank slowly tries to reach for the gun behind his back...

Blue, Stymie...

With a deep crunch, the door behind them bursts open, and police pour out onto the dark rooftop!

"Drop your weapons! By the authority of the City Police, you are under arrest!"

Alan drops his weapons and raises his hands above his head.  Behind him, in the darkness, two police helicopters rise up, red and blue lights flashing, targeting him with spotlights.

Alan takes a step backward and whispers "bang", before stepping backwards off of the building and plummeting into the darkness...

Fan Favorite 5: Alan Polanski surrounded by police helicopters, says "bang".

To be continued...

(Go to ACTII)

So, that's kind of neat.  That feels like some kind of superhero story.

But this is where it breaks down for me.  What's supposed to happen next?  How do I use the tools the game gives me to continue?

I'll figure something out and get back to you with what I think will be the second third of this "issue".

Until next time, true believers!

Ĝis la revido!

Jason "Ludanto" Smith C;E