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Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M

Rachel

"Wait, the physician of peppers? that's the best you can come up with? I mean I know the good nicknames like Tzar of Terror and Prince of Panic are taken but still you couldn't come up with anything better than that? I bet your not even a real doctor."

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Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Sprite!

Lydia takes a breath as her head pops out of the ground-cum-ceiling. She makes a face. Sewers: Mustier than the library stacks at best, and that's just in the summer when there isn't all kinds of gross falling in through the street grates. They're even bigger than she'd been told, so it isn't much of a surprise when she spots the hole far down on the wall, but couldn't from above; peering through solid matter can produce weird interference patterns, more haze than shadow.

But still! There's a hole that obviously shouldn't be there. Sprite starts coming back up through the ground as more maintenance guys come over to back their buddy up. She pops out just in time for Tim to drop the hammer on a manhole cover.

"Hey guys! There's--"

*CLANG*

Fuchsia ripples spread in sympathy across Sprite's skin, canceling as they collide against one another. She takes a moment before piping up again.

"--There's a big hole going straight toward the Fist National Back, that doesn't look like it's meant to be there. And. Um. Could we have asked these guys if they had a big hole we could borrow to get down with?"

She pauses another quarter beat.

"Not judging! Just sometimes forget what it's like having to respect solidity."

MMAgCh
Aug 15, 2001
I am the poet,
The prophet of the pit
Like a hollow-point bullet
Straight to the head
I never missed...you
Garrett M. Blazington III – Herschel Langley Memorial Park

"Somebody's distracting, uncalled–for, invasive driving, yes," Garrett agrees, staring a dagger or two at Roy. "Fine?" he then repeats, looking blankly at Julie. "Oh, you. Fine. Yes, of course," Garrett nods absent-mindedly, wincing a little at the sounds that accompany the human's extricating herself from the wreckage. "I expect it would take a lot more than falling out of a tree to put a dent in you." His tone wistful, he gives his poor car a look of pure melancholy.

"Minions!" the devil exclaims when his hellspawned underlings have arrived, rubbing his hands together in an appropriately diabolical fashion. Getting to order two hapless imps around, as listless as they obviously are when it comes to the whole affair, at least appears to take Garrett's mind off his semi–wrecked car. "I require your services! A vicious, clawed beast lurks in yonder tree, and thus far it has withstood our…not inconsiderable efforts to apprehend it! What I ask of you is but to retrieve the creature for us—unharmed, I should add!" he declares with a toothy if somewhat sly smile. "My report shall make express mention of your…determination and pluck in this endeavour, of course," Garrett adds wheedlingly. "Perhaps you might consider flanking the creature along with Miss Mach here? Three of you versus one of it—it should hardly be a contest!"

I need to get these guys into a suitably cooperative mood first, I understand, so that's Persuasion 12 to attempt just that, I think? The imps have Flight 2 and can use Grab at +5, as well as possessing the Improved Grab/Hold advantages.

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Herschel Langley Memorial Park - Ascalon Gardens District

Impy and Impish don't look terrible impressed by their Master's speech or explanation about why they had been summoned. As disgruntled as an imp could be, these imps were it.

"So you got a monster here and want to get our hands dirty." Impy surmises, crossing his arms. "Figures." Impish adds. "You always leave us with the most glamorous jobs, chief." Slapping Impy on the shoulder, the two demonic indentured servants hover up to get the job done. Because that's what minions do. They get poo poo done.

An almighty racket bursts from the tree as Impy and Impish go in. After a few tense moments, Impish burst out the other side of the tree. Sans any sort of vicious, clawed beast. But not Impy! Good ol' Impy. He comes fluttering out the way he came in, over the top of Garrett's car, with the cat in hand! Some mighty feat of feline thievery must have gone on up there for him to have taken the cat, but all three of them can see that the little fella had pulled it off!

…oh wait. No. The cat twists itself 180 degrees, wiggling like mad. Claws and fur go everywhere, it's a horrific sight to behold. Such frantic thrashing was too much for Impy to bear, and the cat breaks free. Making for the tree once again, the cat darts through the branches and leaves and is soon out of sight. Not hair nor hide of that bright orange beast can be seen.

grab attacks are tricky things! first, you need to hit with the grab like any other attack (or a melee attack if you have the improved grab advantage). Once you have hit, THEY need to roll a contested check against your grab rank or strength with their strength or dodge score. So what happened here is Impish wiffed, Impy hit, but that dang cat aced the dodge check and wiggled free again before Impy could return the cat to the ground.

then the cat made a stealth check in the tree and bloody aced it so its hidden. you can try to perception it out if you like, or maybe theres another way to get passed the thick leaves……


Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

The manhole becomes a gorilla hole, as Tim's mighty ape strength rends tarmac and metal alike.

Though the entrance to the sewers was now open and large enough for Estoc and Silverback, the construction workers did not seem all too pleased. "What the flipping heck!!" One cries, and the workmen jump back at Tim breaking the ground beneath them. "What do you think you're doing!? That's city property!"

Death's Domain - Harbourside

"Though I doubt a cold constitution like yours would hold up to the heat, perhaps when you are crowned the champion of chillies you can construct a moniker more to your liking." Doctor Death declares right back in Rachel's face, crossing his arms and laughing. "Or should that be………………… if!" He adds after a suitably dramatic pause. And to the accusation that he was not a real doctor, well, one just had to look at the far wall of the bar to see that that was clearly not the case.



"Now!" He points at the group, chilli grasped between forefinger and thumb. "Do any of you so-called heroes dare challenge the might that is the Death Chilli? Or will you run with your tails between your legs like common mice!"

Yamtaggler
Feb 6, 2011

My brother gave me half of a rock and told me to wait for you in the woods...
Silverback - Outside Gorilla Hole

Huh, he'd only meant to punch the cover through. He'd have to work on that finesse thing.

Looking up from his handiwork, he noticed the workers, appropriately angry.

"Listen fellas, I'll be back in a moment to give a full accounting of my actions and the intentions behind them. Right now, I gotta go stop some bank robbers. Don't go away!"

And with that stirring speech, Silverback hops into the entrance he neatly made for himself.

I've got Lowlight vision! My powers sure are coming in handy today!

Jade Mage
Jan 4, 2013

This is Canada. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three.

Jeffery

Sweet mother of fish, did everyone get the awesome powers but me?

Estoc doesn't hold a grudge because Tim just saved his tail, but he takes great pleasure in saluting the construction workers before descending into the hole after Tim.

"Seriously, thank you Tim, you're a life and time saver." He briefly considers patting him on the back, but given what he just saw he wouldn't want it to be reciprocated.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Sprite!

"Guys?"

Whoosh! A thousand pounds of Silverback (a thousand pounds? Kind of a stereotypical guess, isn't it? Need to remember to be more sensitive) vanishes through the vastly enlarged hole.

"Guys," Lydia sighs to herself, covering her forehead as Estoc salutes the construction workers and follows suit.

"So, uh, guys!" Sprite addresses the rather burly fellows, waving uncertainly. She smiles too, as pinprick supernovae in orange and yellow blossom and fade across her body. "Like I was saying, somebody's punched a really big hole in the side of the sewer-- which isn't your fault. And now there's this one-- which isn't, either."

"But before you get too angry at us, we were told there was a robbery going on-- so there's probably like armed goons down there, and they'd be worse than us if you tripped over them-- and..."

Sprite makes a sweeping gesture at the ground.

"...Fixing all these unscheduled holes probably counts for overtime pay, right?"

---
Trying to smooth things over with the AFL-CIO here. Don't have Persuasion, but Sprite has 2 Presence and Attractive, and she's being pretty deferential for a cape.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Julia

Mach rolls her eyes. "Oh for crap's sake," she says to Impy and Impish. "It's not a monster, it's a kitten! An adorable, frightened kitten!" she declares. "You guys are scaring him!" In the mean time, though, the kitten has gotten away into the trees. Julie makes a face. "Everybody just wait a sec, okay?" she says. "Don't distract me," she says, narrowing her eyes and looking up into the trees.

Julie is using her amazing Penetrating Radar power (Senses 7 Accurate Penetrates Concealment Radio) to spot the cat in the tree and figure where he is.

Axe-man
Apr 16, 2005

The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.
Clapping Larry
Kat

"With all those degrees you could really do something with yourself you know? I mean, how many people struggle with academia? I mean, you should be proud of that. I will challenge you for your title, but I have CONDITIONS!" Kat says dramatically back in his face. "If I win, I get to ask you to do one thing, and you must do it without any arguments!" She steps forward dramatically, and her hair glows a brief reddish hue before slowly dieing down again. "Deal?"

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M

Rachel

"Fine, I'll play along. If I win though you better come along quietly." Rachel sighs "BY THE CHILL WINDS OF THE NORTH I SHALL CONQUER YOUR PUNY PEPPERS. FOUL VILLAIN!" She booms out. Obviously hamming it up for the spectators.

Ferrosol fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Mar 31, 2014

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Herschel Langley Memorial Park - Ascalon Gardens District

It takes a few moments for Julia to get her eyes working right. Or, well, working better. They worked right most of the time, to get them to look at thing beyond that which eyes normally see she had to get her brain in the right gear. And squint. Squinting was a very important step in any attempt to look at something better. After those few moments, the leaves fade away and Julia can see everything. Everything.

Including the cat, who was unaware of being seen!

Underground Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

The workers are a little stunned as Tim and Jeffrey just jump down the freshly made hole and sod off. Leaving Sprite to deal with the whole group of them on her own. Gulp.

"Overtime. Yeah." The site manager says, scowling and crossing his arms. "Do you know who has to fix the roads, and the sidewalk, and the tower blocks, and the drat near everything when you types decide to have a throw down in down town?" He asks rhetorically, and angrily. "Yeah, that's right. Us." He thumbs back to his men, who grumble in agreement. "When we gotta fix up the streets because a fight saved the city, that's one thing. You lot just breakin' things because you gotta get somewhere? That's wasting our time." He scowls even more. "You guys just better come back here and explain it all."

Underneath this argument, a world away from caring about such mundane issues, Tim and Jeffrey survey their surroundings. They see that there is a rather large hole busted into the side of the sewer they were now in, in the general direction of the Fist National Back!

Death's Domain - Harbourside

Turning his metal-headed glare at Kat, Doctor Death sweeps a hand back towards his degrees. "I help tutor at-risk youths to get them their high school diplomas, thank you very much!" He crosses his arm indignantly, the crowd turning on the heroes and booing Kat rather strongly! A few still half full baskets of ships are thrown at the lava woman!!

But when the challenge was accepted by not one but two of the heroes, boy, the crowd went ballistic! This had to be louder than the noise regulations allowed for. "Fine! I agree to your conditions, you do-gooders!! But! If I win, you 'heroes' will have to…………" Doctor Death pauses, the crowd waiting with bated breath for his reply. "…have your pictures put up on the wall of shameful spice charlatans!!!!!" He points at a corkboard near the bar, a series of photos of people with bright red faces and mild burns littering it. There had to be hundreds on there!

In one seemly movement, Doctor Death grabs two chillies from the bowl and throws them to Rachel and Kat. Though thrown with the speed of a dart, both are aimed at and end up lodged squarely in their hands. The challenge had been thrown down! The crowd goes wild!

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
...Sprite.

Sprite lowers her head. "Yeah. Point."

She looks back up. "I don't like this collateral damage thing either. Looks like a movie on the six o'clock news, but that's somebody's office or apartment that's just got a Michael Bay window."

"If it helps any, we're probably going to get raked over the coals when we get back to the office. We're just temps. But!" The translucent gal lifts herself up to her full height plus a couple of inches, as a warm solar glow manifests beneath her collar. "I'll make sure you get the dirt when we're done. In writing if you need it, so nobody comes down on you for our mess."

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

"Unless they rake you over the coals and make you mix concrete, s'makes no difference to me." The foreman says, waving for his guys to get get back to work now that they had even more of it. "Yeah yeah, sure you will. That's what they all say before running off and forgetting all about the little guys, christmas light." He shakes his head, turning around to join his workers in getting back to their jobs.

Axe-man
Apr 16, 2005

The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.
Clapping Larry
Kat

Dodging a few ships seemed like the think to do at this moment. Kat seems to bend and twist almost like liquid to avoid the baskets of chips, not that they would cause any damage, but for the fear they would set things on fire. This was unexpected to Kat, but it really shouldn't be! She gets in this grove and forgets things like this, but turning back to the doctor with a loud challenging voice she says, "OH WELL! THAT IS VERY NICE AND I AM GLAD! LET'S DO THIS"

Looking down at the pepper she thinks for a moment about a lot of things, such as, would she taste anything this time other than stale carbon, would she have to eat some lavender afterward to get rid of the smell, and finally, she really would have to brush her teeth after this. All valid and sensible things to thing really, but the situation was getting weirder by the second and thus, better to get on with it. Kat decides and just tosses the pepper in her mouth.

Instinctively, Kat shuts her mouth quickly, and looks around, not sure what will happen.

Axe-man fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Apr 2, 2014

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M

Rachel

Rachel catches the pepper in her hand and figuring the crowd probably won't let her wait give the pepper a quick chew and then swallows. "hey this is pretty good" she comments to the crowd watching eagerly "I don't get what the big fuss with all these death...." as a wave of heat hits her throat.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Julie

That's a cat! Yup, he's right up there on that branch. Truth be told, Mach's not that stealthy. Not with her cape and her flying and her tendency to hit things. The trick, though, is to come in fast enough that the target can't react. Cats react quick. Is Mach quicker? We'll find out!

As Julie's vision bores through the tress and picks out the cat on the branch, she inches just off the ground as her 'flight muscles' tense. Then, in a sudden blur, Julie whips into motion, flying rapidly through the tree, arms extended to grab the kitten in the process.

Move-by action, Flight power and Close Combat (unarmed) 8 to fly through the gaps in the tree and grab the cat in the process.

Ningyou
Aug 14, 2005

we aaaaare
not your kind of pearls
you seem kind of pho~ny
everything's a liiiiie

we aaaare
not your kind of pearls
something in your make~up
don't see eye to e~y~e

Katrina - Death's Domain, surprisingly well-reviewed on Yelp despite literally selling nothing but tortilla chips and peppers

"Whoooooooo! Go team!"

Up until now, Katrina has been doing her best to remain unnoticed. See, she doesn't *do* peppers. (Or most spicy food, for that matter, though Thai is pret~ty good.) Nuh-uh. She's been trying to just blend into the crowd slash maybe hide behind her compatriots, but now that someone else has taken the piquant picante bullet for her? Well, now she can make a contribution to the team's efforts! By yelling a lot.

"Yeah! Go team, uh....go other Kat! Cook those peppers! Yeah!" There's a halfhearted little fist-pump.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Sprite!

"Hope my phone's camera can do low-light, then," Sprite mutters to herself as the construction workers rumble away. She sighs and melts into the ground to meet up with the others.

MMAgCh
Aug 15, 2001
I am the poet,
The prophet of the pit
Like a hollow-point bullet
Straight to the head
I never missed...you
Garrett M. Blazington III – Herschel Langley Memorial Park

"It is the art of delegating, minions," Garrett informs the imps. "And trust me, I hope to be moving on to more…substantial endeavours before long. Until then, however, we shall give it our all! Shan't we?"

Watching the kitten disappear among the leaves like a tiny feline ninja, Garrett covers his face with his hand, sighing softly. "Whom does this…animal belong to, anyway?" the devil eventually asks wearily. "Perhaps someone abandoned it in that tree to get rid of it? Liable though the creature is to create a public disturbance before long, I cannot help but sympathise with whoever its unfortunate owner may be." He watches Julie as she prepares for another attack run. "Minions!" Garrett then addresses his underlings. "Circle around the tree! Cover any potential escape routes left open by Miss Mach's vector of approach! We need but corner the beast, and it shall be able to evade our grasp no more!"

The devil's theatricality is becoming a little strained, one won't have too much difficulty noticing. It is difficult to muster much energy when a task that seemed so trivial turns out to be so irritating, after all.

The imps shall attempt to AID Julie! Attack check against DC 10, she gets a +2 circumstance bonus on her attack roll if they succeed.

Or do I need to talk them into it first again? :ohdear:

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Herschel Langley Memorial Park - Ascalon Gardens District

Nobody answers Garrett's probing question, the kitty's owner left unknown. Even his imps just roll their eyes at his antiquated English and slowly flutter back up around the tree to guard any avenues of escape while Mach got into position. But sometimes, just sometimes, stealth can be supplanted by sheer speed and aggression. And this is one of those times. As Mach keeps an eye on the cat, she lines herself up with Impy and Impish so that the cat would have nowhere to go when it saw her coming. It would be trapped and funnelled into her clutches!

In the blink of an eye, she was off like a rocket! The tree cracks, branches being torn off and knocked out of the way as Mach smashes into it. But while it looked violent, her eye was always on the feline prize. Arms were outstretched, ready to grab the kitty while the tree around her got knocked out of the way. Impy and Impish are both smacked in their faces with twigs and branches, but stay in position while Mach does her job. A scant six seconds from when she shot into the tree to when she exploded out of it again, but she was now with dazed and confused cat in hand!

Teamwork! The +2 circumstance bonus provided to Mach from Impy and Impish was just enough to ensure the attack hit and the grab stuck! Mach is now the proud owner of one (1) garfield.

Underground Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

Phasing back down into the sewers Sprite, Silverback and Estoc see that there is (still) a rather large hole busted into the side of the sewer they were now in, in the general direction of the Fist National Back!

Death's Domain - Harbourside

Bravely accepting the challenge, Rachel and Other Kat pop their chillies into their mouths and chew away. The first thing Other Kat and Rachel are hit with the sheer flavour of this pepper. This wasn't the flat, out-and-out spicy type of pepper that only delivered on the heat. This chilli was like a burst of sweet, juicy, and succulent fruity flavours. It has a full on fruity flavour that’s very rich and tangy coupled with nice long low burn to it. It was packed full of flesh and seeds teases your tastebuds. It smells like a summery pineapple jam; very sweet, with a softness from the pears and a hint of the lime to keep you reminded that this is no ordinary pepper. It was hands down the most delicious chilli either of them had ever tasted.

But, when it came down to the crunch, it didn't seem too spicy. Sure, it was a little hot, but nothing they hadn't experienced before at the Ascalon Annual Chilli Cook-Off. Or the Diwali Jalfrezi Festival. It was a little hot, maybe having a glass of water would be nice, but it wasn't setting their mouths on fire or anything. So the two sentinels of justice stand tall, not even breaking a sweat. The crowd, having never seen such a dominant display of pepper power before, begin to cheer for the heroes! "Go Ice-Girl!!" "You rock Lava-Girl!!" "Pepper Princesses wooooooo!!!" But really, it was all Kat. Without her enthusiastic and loud cheering, turning the crowd around to support the would be heroes, Other Kat and Rachel wouldn't have been able to handle those peppers. But sometimes the real heroes just do what they gotta do, and don't expect much recognition for it.

Watching them intently, Doctor Death harrumphs. He too eats a pepper, flicking open a slot over his mouth to pop it in, without much trouble. But the thing about being in a robot costume is that none of our heroes could really see if he was struggling to breaking a sweat! "Okay!" The Doctor declares, pointing towards the kitchen. "You can withstand a single chilli pepper! Admirable! But!" Two frycooks come hurrying out of the kitchen, a big bowl of even bigger chillies being carried between them. "This is a competition, just one won't do! We eat until there is a champion!!!!"

Oh no! You've both just eaten an subtle weaken attack! Subtle is a power modifier that makes a power harder to detect, while the effect hits with full force. If you are hit with a blowdart, you mightn't notice the dart hitting you but the poison would still hurting you! Or, in this instance, the innocuous chilli pepper is the harbinger of a much more deadly effect!

Weaken is a power that lowers one or more traits, which can range from skills to attributes. Failing a will/fort save will hit you with a reduction in the chosen traits equal to the difference between the check result and the DC, up to the max of the weaken rank. But you both seem fine for the moment……

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Julie

Mach zeroes in and goes whipping through the tree. Branches crack and thrash, shaking the whole tree and loosening up some leaves. Just a half-dozen seconds later, Mach's zooming into the sky with a rather surprised orange cat in her arms, held tightly. It'd be terrible to drop him! The caped heroine circles around tree as she bleeds off speed, coming to a slow, graceful landing near the rest of the team. "Nice work!" she tells the imps, smiling as she pets the cat between the ears, trying to calm him. As she does so, Mach turns him a bit to look for a collar. Nope, nada. "Oh, you don't even have a name, little guy?" she asks, making a face at the cat. "Can you guys see if there's a collar around? Maybe he managed to scratch it off or something."

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Sprite!

"I told the construction workers that I'd explain what happened down here when we were done, but I don't think they believed me," Lydia says, immediately after her head clears the ceiling. "You two see anything? We should probably get moving or we'll have a hole in the vault to explain too."

Jade Mage
Jan 4, 2013

This is Canada. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three.

Jeffery
Estoc nods, "I guess this is it huh? Time to be heroes? The knight descends into the dark cave with nothing but a colorful girl and his trusty ape partner?"

He starts walking forward sword at the ready, "Well? Let's go get killed and eaten!"

MMAgCh
Aug 15, 2001
I am the poet,
The prophet of the pit
Like a hollow-point bullet
Straight to the head
I never missed...you
Garrett M. Blazington III – Herschel Langley Memorial Park

"Commendable!" Garrett exclaims, clapping his hands a couple of times. It's not applause exactly, but as a more general gesture of moderate appreciation it…serves its purpose. "I shall be sure to mention your performance in my report, minions!"

"No collar? I wonder why," the devil responds, obviously not wondering in the slightest. Nevertheless, he proceeds to walk somewhat casually round the tree, hands in his pockets, looking here and there for a sign of the elusive collar. "Maybe it's still dangling off some branch up there?" he adds with a glance at his hellspawned underlings, apparently expecting them to take a cursory look there at least.

That should be Perception 8; the imps only have Perception 2.

Yamtaggler
Feb 6, 2011

My brother gave me half of a rock and told me to wait for you in the woods...
Silverback - Surprisingly roomy sewers

Tim shrugs, "Whatever you say, kid, let's go stop some robbers."

He knuckle-walks forward, hoping somewhere in the darkness there would be a way to placate those construction workers. He'd only meant to scare 'em, honest.

Yamtaggler fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Apr 11, 2014

Axe-man
Apr 16, 2005

The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.
Clapping Larry
Kat

She smiled at Katrina clapping and being the cheer leading section. It was rather nice to not be booed at the moment though even though the task didn't seem too bad. The pepper didn't seem to do anything, but she should have figured that wasn't the end of things. "Yeah, who ever heard about a pepper competition with just one pepper? We aren't stopping till you are handing over the trophy." She seemed to be rather determined and gave a few grateful smiles toward the crowd before picking up the larger pepper and popping in her mouth with her hand on her hip.

"Bring it on." She says after swallowing it quickly.

Since she is made of lava, I am not sure if Body of Lava attacks the substance before she actually can consume it, since well she is lava on the inside. Obsidian Skin also could fit as it makes her immune to disease and poison. I think the first one makes more sense from the way I write it, but idk!

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M

Rachel

"hmm, a little warm but I've had worse...." All of a sudden a freezing lump of cold appears in her stomach as if she's just eaten a scoop of ice-cream. She smiles as the sweat vanishes from her brow. "I'm cool as ice is that really the best you've got?"

Mantle of winter protects against disease right? and a subtle pepper based attack is a disease.... other than that I've got nothing.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Julie

The heroine's hand slowly stroke over the kitten's head, between his ears. "Poor little guy. Are you a stray?" she wonders, as if the cat could answer, speaking to animals sadly not among her powers. "We could take him to the shelter," she says with reluctance, "Or just let them know," she says. "He could stay with me." Julie lifts up the cat to look it in the face. "I'll call you...Chuck."

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Herschel Langley Memorial Park - Ascalon Gardens District

Used to the abuse and sarcastic, mocking congratulations their boss gives them for a job well done, hearing Mach give them actual praise for their work is a pleasant surprise for the demonic hell-minions. "Well, you did most of the grabbing, Miss." Impish says back to the super-heroine, always modest. "I'm just glad we don't need to get scratched by that thing anymore." Impy, the more open and jerky of the pair, adds. He glares at the kitty, clearly not fond of the beast.

While Garrett more or less asks them to go find the collar, it's only because Mach had also wondered where it might be that the pair actually start looking for it. As much as they were able to. Terrible eyes, those demon minions. Impy shrugs. "Can't see nothing up here." Impish nods in agreement. "Only thing up here are leaves. And a caterpillar." Garrett himself, possessing superior eyesight to his minions thanks to a comprehensive health care plan including optical coverage, also fails to spot anything like a collar laying on the grass. Or on his car.

The cat, held softly but firmly in Mach's arms, eventually gives up trying to wiggle loose. The gentle pats between the eats may have helped just a wee bit, calming him down enough so that he was comfortable enough being held that he didn't cut Julie's face to shreds.

Underground Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

Braving the dark and foreboding sewers, our intrepid heroes pad forward in hopes of discovering why they had been sent down to the Fist National Back in the first place.

"…it waz probs nufin, ya kno-" Tim's fantastic ape-like hearing picks up, just a second before he, Jeffery and Lydia turn a corner and bump into something!

…or someone! Someones, in fact!



Ludovico!



Duomo!



Medici!



And Raffaellino!

…whom together create the nefarious gang of bank robbers, so infamous they had been on all the current affairs television shows; the Ninja Tortoises!



As Tim was leading the way, he easily comes off best in the collision and knocks the Ninja Tortoise flat on his shell. The other three behind him freeze for a second, totally surprised by the three heroes who were now in front of them!

Okay. Don't ask me how, but a group including a 500 pound gorilla and a man in a suit of armour managed to get the drop on sneak thieves. The dice must like you. So now you three are in a surprise round! A surprise round is when one group is caught unawares by another, usually by failing a perception check. Usually this is because they get dropped on from above, or jumped at from the shadows, or something like that. Here is was just a massive flunk of a dice roll.

Surprised enemies are stunned (characters cannot take any actions) and vulnerable (having to halve their active defences) until the next round, basically giving you guys a free turn to wail on tortoises. You yourselves are limited to standard and free actions, no move actions unless you convert the standard action to one. But you are all in melee range anyway so it shouldn't matter terribly.


Death's Domain - Harbourside

Sitting opposite to Doctor Death, across the official Chilli Challenge Countertop, Rachel and Kat prepare to take this pepper popping pageant all the way. The crowd cheer as they each prepare their peppers. No way they were going to lose to some man in a robot costume. Who also happened to be a villain. Making it double as bad if they happen to lose to him. No, this had to end here. This Doctor Death had to be beaten at his own game and sent home hanging his head in chilli induced shame.

These big, fat chilli peppers were easily twice the size of the first one. Plump little things, no doubt filled with an even spicier centre that would push both out intrepid heroines to their very limits of handling spice. Doctor Death begins proceedings, releasing the catch around his mouthpiece on this robot mask and biting into the pepper. Following after him, Rachel and Kat do the same. Sans taking part of a mask off, seeing as they didn't have masks on.

These peppers were a magnitude more spicy than the first, even burning the fingers if chilli flesh met human flesh. But even so, Doctor Death doesn't look like he has any trouble with them whatsoever. Even after eating several of the chillies in quick succession, there is only the faintest hint of sweat upon metal brow. Rachel, once again, feels the potential heat in this chilli. But while it may have been hot to somebody else, to her ice-cooled mouth it carried little in the way of unbearable spicy pain. Not even breaking a sweat, she swallows chilli after chilli, pepper after pepper. The crowd hoots and hollers like mad after each bite.

Kat had a different approach for dealing with the peppers, an altogether more dangerous and blazing approach! Realising that she was made of lava, Kat decides that she could just melt the pepper down into slag the moment it enters her mouth! And, being an old hand at eat slag, Kat wouldn't have any problem eating the whole bowl of peppers if she had to! But there was one little hitch to this plan which, while working a treat for those first few peppers she popped into her mouth, had an unfortunate side-effect. Heating up her insides enough to melt the pepper also heated up her outsides, which soon got to levels hot enough to ignite the beer-soaked chair she had been sitting in.

"What is this!!!!" Doctor Death proclaims, jumping up and skittering away from the raging fire. "Treachery! Betrayal! Dishonesty! Cheating!!" He bellows, which he needed to in order to be heard above the sound of the crowd screaming and running out of the building. "I will not stand for this! I will make you pay for this duplicity ten-fold!" He shakes his fist, and makes a dash for the bar!

Okay! Ferrosol! The way peppers affect people is more akin to a neuro-toxin than a disease, but at what point does a pepper induced neuro-toxin differ from an outright disease? I'm not a doctor or a scientist so the answer is complex and mysterious, perhaps even beyond my being able to decipher an answer. But you managed to pass the fortitude check again anyway so the point is moot!

Axe! Body of Lava certainly affects you and can affect things you are holding, touching, or by extension of this inside of you! So activating this power I will say does indeed melt a pepper in your mouth, but this power is also an aura attack! Turning it on to deal with the chilli peppers also happens to heat you up enough that you melt a little on the outside and set the chair your were sitting on on fire! Whoops! Take a hero point for this complication!!!

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Fell on his back? Oh jeez, I hope nobody makes us take the Voight-Kampff test anytime soon...

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
You reach down and flip the tortoise over on its back, Tim. It's there beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping, Tim. Why is that?

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Julie

Awh, little Chuck isn't trying to maul her anymore. That must mean he likes him!

"I'll call the city and let them know we found this guy," she says, holding Chuck in one arm while she reaches for her phone with the other. "Let me get him home and then we'll go see if the others need help," Julie adds. The alien eyes the busted up car with some concern. "You guys need to wait for a tow truck?"

Julie will not help the tortoise. Tortoises are dicks. Also, alien!

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
She could call him Chuck, or maybe...

Axe-man
Apr 16, 2005

The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.
Clapping Larry
Kat

Oh no. It happened again. Kat looks a bit less disheartened and a bit panicked by the fire. "Oh poo poo, I did it again. Sorry, Sorry. It wasn't my fault, I swear." Then to be accused of cheating made it worse than anything else. "Listen, I am made of lava. Okay. Things catch fire!" This can not be happening. This was the worst thing ever, and it always happened. Why couldn't I control it like I wanted. Were there classes or something out there. Another fire, another place she is banned from.

"Stupid Stupid Stupid." She says looking for a fire extinguisher. Standing in the flames without any concern or care for them. They were much too cold to actually hurt her, but it was so annoying and frustrating. "Anyone have a extinguisher?"

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M

Rachel

"Oh, Crap! what the hell did you do?" Rachel reacts to the quickly spreading fire. "hold on I'll see if I can fix it" A look of intense concentration appears on her face and all around you the air seems to chill as the temperature plummets. The fire suddenly starts to die out smothered by the cold air. Unfortunately now the whole bar is covered with a thick layer of ice and frost. "umm, fine control is not my strong point I may have went a little overboard"

PP:118/120

Using my winters bite power

Ferrosol fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Apr 17, 2014

Jade Mage
Jan 4, 2013

This is Canada. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three.

Jeffrey

Completely dropping his composure, Estoc screams "Gah, gently caress, what are you!?" at the tortoises, swinging his drawn blunt sword at the nearest!

I guess that's simply a close combat check, +10 accuracy 6 damage.

Double Monocle
Sep 4, 2008

Smug as fuck.
El Mago- Deaths Domain


El Mago will give chase!

While vaulting a table, El Mago yells "Your a robot, you dont even have taste buds! Thats cheating too!"


I would like to use my Create power to make wrestling ropes appear in front of Dr Death in an attempt to bounce him off them, possibly performing a quick leg sweep if im able to close the distance between us.

Yamtaggler
Feb 6, 2011

My brother gave me half of a rock and told me to wait for you in the woods...
Silverback- Some Stank Sewers

The collision was not a new thing for Tim, as he often underestimated his bulk. The tortoises, though, provided new insight into his obscene luck with animal-themed transformation. Hell, he was still a primate!

"Gentlemen," Tim says, calmly reaching to grab the upended Chelonian, "We're here to stop you from robbin' that bank. Er, back. You know what I mean."

I don't understand the combat at all, but I'd like to engage in the grappling. I think I should be halfway decent.

Also, I'd answer your questions, but I'm pretty sure I left my empathy box running, so I've really got to run.

Yamtaggler fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Apr 19, 2014

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Sprite!

It's like-- actually, it's exactly like one of those cartoons, where two groups of people go around a corner and literally bounce off of one another. Owing to her mastery of things on the airwaves and her faster-than-fast thought processes, Sprite recognizes her group's opponents in slapstick as the nefarious burglars they are, and not some unfortunate LARPers who took a wrong turn at the university steam tunnels. She also has enough time to encase herself in Barbie-pink plating-- a suit of armor rather more techy in styling than Estoc's traditional plate, actually quite close to that of a certain Master Chief, with minor, please-don't-sue variations.

Oh, and one forearm's encased in a football-shaped mass with a brightly glowing aperture in front of where her fist probably still is.

A bolt of energy, rather a blot in the shape of a ragged-edged cube, flies forth from the muzzle of her arm gun with a low-fi electronic explosion noise, toward one of the tortoises.

---
Bringing the Hard-Light Fields up as a Free Action, bumping Sprite's Toughness to 8.
Using the Voxel Blasters to shoot one of the baddies, +8 to hit, 8 ranged damage.

Since she styles herself a big FPS player in and out of her superheroic identity, I applied that gimmick to her combat stats: her ranged defense (dodge) is maxed out, but her melee defense (parry) is a whopping zero. She still has a high Toughness to soak damage with, and unless she can put some distance between herself and the tortoises I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope that's enough.

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Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Herschel Langley Memorial Park - Ascalon Gardens District

While waiting for either of her two fellow heroes to say anything about needing or not needing a lift, Julie feels Chuck settle down and pad a little at her arms. Clearly the little fella approved of Julie's plan of forced adoption.

Underground Outside of the Fist National Back of Delaware - Downtown Ascalon

"Cowabunga!"

Fun fact! I was writing the update and it was here where it managed to crash my entire browser for no real reason. So now I'm harbouring some very negative emotions toward you and these loving tortoises so all you get is a run down of what I was previously typing up all nice and detailed.

Combat works like this: attack vs. dodge/parry+10. If you hit that DC then the enemy has to roll their toughness against your damage+15. Grabbing is attack vs. dodge, then it's a strength vs. strength/acrobatics check. Vulnerable made the tortoises have only a DC15 as their defence since it halves their 10 dodge, and the one on his back was prone giving Tim an extra +5 to hit in melee.

Jeffrey hits with his sword but Duomo makes the toughness save.
Even with the bonuses Tim wiffs the attack against the Medici on his back.
Sprite hits the DC15 right on the nose, and then Raffaellino rolls a total of 10 vs 23 for three degrees of failure.
Three degrees of failure means Raffaellino has -1 to toughness checks, is staggered (dazed (limited to free actions and a single standard action) and hindered (-1 to speed rank)).

This concludes the surprise round, and now we are into normal init rolling stuff. It shakes out as Lydia, Tim, Jeffrey, Medici, Rafaellino, Ludovico, Duomo. So basically you guys all get to go again. I suggest you try to gang up on Raffaellino as he is messed up and Medici as he is still on his back and prone.


Death's Domain - Harbourside

Fighting fire with fire never really works, Kat knew this from first hand experience. And because of this she avoids any rash actions that would have just served to light the whole bar on fire, instead of just the small part of it that was alight now. By now Death's Domain was virtually deserted as the crowd had nearly all ran out once the fire started and heinous accusations of cheating had been thrown about. The bowl of chilies had been unceremoniously knocked over and spilt out over the floor. A few of them were partially on fire, too. This was the real tragedy, here.

Thankfully, fighting fire with ice actually does work most of the time. Rachel, rather indiscriminately, starts to lower the temperature and blasts ice all over the joint. Eventually enough of the ice and cold hit the molten, flaming mass around Kat that it began to die down. Not swift enough to actually save the chair, or the table, or the floor around Kat, Rachel was able to contain the lava to a small area and then chill it all down to nothing before it raged out of control again. Unfortunately Kat was in the middle of this as well, and is equally blasted by the ice as the fire she had accidentally let loose. It is thoroughly unpleasant for her.

"I am no pitiful machine, you numskull!" Doctor Death refutes as he dashes towards the bar. "And that's the wrong your! You should have used 'you are'!" He follows up with the quick correction, showing himself to indeed own to the degrees hung up on the walls. Only teachers and professors with those degrees would be so pedantic about grammar and spelling.

As ropes pop into existence in front of Doctor Death, he ducks down to slip under them. Mighty spry for a robot! But! Rachel had managed to freeze the entire room by this time, covering the floor with a sleek sheet of ice. In ducking down, Doctor Death loses his footing for a moment and slips over! He crashes into the ropes and bounces off them, slipping back over towards the charging El Mago! Kicking out a foot, he catches the good Doctor in a classic Arena México Leg Sweep™. Doctor Death tumbles over and faceplants, his metal helmet getting dented inwards with a cartoon sounding *THUNK*.

Couple things here Double Monocle. With your create power you can't directly affect people with it. All you can do is -make- the object, which then acts as that object. Just because you throw up ropes in front of Doctor Death doesn't mean he bounces off them, he could easily just slip through them. If you shoved him into the ropes though, he would bounce off them. Making a wall in front of him, as well, would block his way and force him to go around it. Since it doesn't have big holes in it or anything. Or you could make yourself a chair and bash him with it, but the chair itself wouldn't hit him. You get me?

And second, please include your stats when you post an action like fiteing a guy. Here your to hit was +8, and your damage was +8, so it was pretty easy to find on your sheet. But just keep it in mind for the future.

El Mago attack: Robodog: !r 1d20+8 | Robodog, 15+8 = 23
Doctor Death toughness: Robodog: !r 1d20+10 | Maidbot: Robodog, 5 +10 = 15
Failure (two degrees): The target is dazed (limited to free actions and a single standard action) until the end of their next turn and has a –1 circumstance penalty to further checks against damage.

Failure on a toughness save works in degrees, from one to four. One is just getting a -1 penalty to future toughness saves, and four is instant KO. Degrees are in lots of 5, so here failing by 8 is two degrees as it is more than five but less than ten.

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