MTAM - Dry Cracker Session - Issue #0.66
So...here's how the test run on the M+M ruleset and character play went...
Metagame: Since we couldn't get the whole Crew together for the session, I figured that a good dry run with the system and combat would be a good idea, particularly to squeeze out any problems ppl had with powers or their skills, and allow for adjustments. I was also generally curious how the characters would do in combat with minions, mooks, and someone almost their PL but not quite.
Present: The Feather, The Untouchable, Kitsune, and DQ Mamba (later)
Setup: TF, TU, and Kit have all been independently tracking an influx of meth that is supposed to arrive at a shipping depot around midnight. For the Feather, she has had a lot of her showgirl co-workers and friends getting strung out and toothless on this crap, and what better way to deal with your friends personal problems than to beat up on some criminals? For the Untouchable, he has been watching as a corrupt financier in Colorado has been trying to move more business (legit or otherwise) into Vegas. However, since this requires a lot of muscle in the underworld to actualize, he's trying to bribe his way into the scene using a large shipment of meth. Kitsune has learned about the shipment by NINJAFACESTABbing mooks associated with the Iron Chain. Since the Chain <3<3<3 drugs, he figures its a good way to put a crimp in whatever plans they might have. The three heroes arrive at the depot via separate methods (Untouchable gets the win for smuggling himself inside a shipping container).
General play: Not long after the heroes converge, the shipment arrives and begins backing into the warehouse facility where the dope will presumably be moved. UT uses his Machine Control to override the truck's drivetrain and slam it back into the loading dock, stunning everyone. Kitsune NINJAMELDS into the back of the trailer, surprising a Goomba and starts chokeholding him out. The Feather floats around a little uneventfully 'cause she was (unintentionally) positioned a little far away from the action and had to catch up. Untouchable goes all Leeroy Jenkins toward the Cab, punches through the driverside window and knocks a few teeth out of the driver. The Goomba riding shotgun pulls his piece and blows his own driver's head off trying to shoot the Untouchable (nice critical miss on the Goomba's part). While Kitsune continues to struggle with the Goomba in the back, the Feather launches into action, hops on the Semi's running board and TK-flings the Goomba's pistol out of his hand. Untouchable takes command of the semi and tears ass out of the depot to the general astonishment of the assembled undocumented workers who had been hired to lug the dope around.
Later, our heroes interrogate their remaining prisoners with the special help of The Feather's emotional persuasiveness and general mind probing (the GM only used the phrase Mind Rape once). Through this, and the Untouchable's attempts to make them shit themselves worse than they already had been, they learn that the depot stop was actually planned as a double-cross before the final destination of the meth - an abandoned truck stop out in the desert. A local dope czar, having also learned about the shipment, wanted to skim some product off the top. Given the fact that the couriers didn't give a shit and would be paid for it, they showed up. Untouchable laments that his hasty action kept him from catching this other peddler in the act.
Learning the location of the real destination, the heroes decide to "play along" with this plan in order to surprise the bad guys. Of course, they know the deception won't last long 'cause: 1) they don't have disguises that will work, 2) due to the GPS in the truck (which UT found), the bad guys know the truck was delayed, 3) the windshield of the truck is rather obviously covered in blood and brains.
Meanwhile (god I love being able to legitimately use these comic book segues), Dark Queen Mamba is already at the truck stop, having learned about the set up from her loudmouth gangster-wannabe brother. He took a job as a driver for the other truck expected to take the meth away once it arrives. She lies in wait for the truck to arrive while a good number of undocumented workers and roughnecks mill about, and some sweaty, sharp-but-tackily dressed Goons bitch about the heat in Russian. While a bunch of Goons toting around some AKs is technically an illegal activity, combine this with a bunch of meth and you've got a pretty decent bust set up. It isn't too long before the truck appears at the entrance to the truck stop and starts heading toward the oversized garage.
DQ Mamba is pretty surprised, however, when she sees the truck suddenly downshift and plow directly into the garage and into the back of the other truck waiting within. This was, of course, a classic Untouchable Plan (Grand Guignol seems to be the Untouchable's stock and trade - good thing he's in the right genre for it). Kitsune, who has NINJAMELDED beneath a snazzy luxury sedan waiting within the garage (where a Mafiya Goon and his Boss are presently enjoying Nevada's tolerance of love-for-hire with some showgirls), slices all four tires with his NINJABLADE. This makes a nice trap as UT again hacked the rented sedan's LoJack to show it as stolen, thereby locking all the doors and killing the engine.
The Feather, having been the one who was driving the truck, managed to dive out of the cab just before impact but didn't really make a sound landing. Complicating this is DQM's instinctive action to drop the entire truckstop into unrelenting blackness, showering everyone within with a crippling, primordial fear. Well, not everyone, but a lot of them. So it is that the garage devolves into pandemonium, AKs firing off into the air, shotguns discharging into fellows, UT making a Dynamic Entry into some poor Goon's face, then picking up another mook and tossing him into another mook.
About this time, the car door of the luxury sedan flies off of its hinges and out emerges our Russian Mob Enforcer, Glass Jaw Josef (a powersuited bruiser fueled by all the power of Futurist Russia!) His moniker is generally for the transparent titanoplexi neck and jaw guard he wears -- Honest. Our heroes brace themselves for a battle royale as Josef rallies his men to converge and attack.
Finale / Wrapup: UNFORTUNATELY, I was working on about four hours sleep and was dropping dead of tired, along with having overrun the "deadline" of the game session by about two hours. We had started later than usual as I was not expecting to have to handle a lot of domestic stuff prior to showing up at the game (about an hour or so late). There was also Mike having to build his character at the last moment (he had tossed an earlier char build previously), and there were other early build tweaks to be had among most of the PCs prior to starting, delaying things from beginning for at least another hour or more once I got there. So, we just narrated the end of the battle with GJJ, indicating that teamwork triumphed and evil was defeated. Josef deported back to Russia, and although Project Allegiance attempts to confiscate his power-suit, diplomacy demands that they return it to the Russian authorities.
Analysis: Everyone really got into the game, even Morgan - who had previously expressed being "blah" about the game. Due to the streamlined ruleset, generally narrative tone of combat and ability, and pace of action - everyone pretty much kept their attention. Being able to run over the deadline by two hours with no one really complaining is a good sign.
Rulechecking was a bitch, especially since Mike's character is a grappling fiend, and a lot of stacked minuses made things a little annoying but we plugged on (even if I kept forgetting that damage saves are DC 15+dmg, not 10+dmg).
Character wise, there are some kiiiinda unbalanced things - UT's Datalink/Machine Control might need to be nerfed to logical standards (a truck is not the internet, although using the LoJack was really clever), and his skills are fucking godly for certain things (which makes sense since he's plays the Batman role on the team). Unsurprisingly (given who designed him), Kitsune has some issues with his feats (he took pretty much every goddamned combat feat) - and his Permeate power is gonna have to be nerfed. He explicitly took it so he could walk around unfettered and to get out of bonds instantly - which IMO makes it a slightly depowered version of the Insubstantial power at Rank 4 (total insubstantiality) - which normally costs 20 PP at least. Since Permeate is a Super Movement power, he has this at the cost of 2 PP. Pretty unreasonable, but I need to think of a balance for this when I hit him with the nerfstick. Any suggestions are welcome.
DQM's player didn't show up until well into the session (she wasn't expected to show up), so we didn't get to see much of her. However, we did get to have her exercise a power feat (Emotion Control boosted to Area: Burst range) using hero points, so that worked out well. The players seemed to just ignore them for the most part - but then again, they didn't really run into any need for them.
I am disappointed we didn't get an actual chance to see Glass Jaw Josef in action. I needed to see how the characters would stand up against non Goon/Goomba characters (low level enemies, a step up from minions) and someone almost their PL (GJJ was designed at PL8) with some defenses behind him. I don't think the PCs felt in danger, although because we were all new to this too, I don't know if they necessarily felt "in control" either. It is to Le Sigh.
Next up: First session set up and metagame.
Metagame: Since we couldn't get the whole Crew together for the session, I figured that a good dry run with the system and combat would be a good idea, particularly to squeeze out any problems ppl had with powers or their skills, and allow for adjustments. I was also generally curious how the characters would do in combat with minions, mooks, and someone almost their PL but not quite.
Present: The Feather, The Untouchable, Kitsune, and DQ Mamba (later)
Setup: TF, TU, and Kit have all been independently tracking an influx of meth that is supposed to arrive at a shipping depot around midnight. For the Feather, she has had a lot of her showgirl co-workers and friends getting strung out and toothless on this crap, and what better way to deal with your friends personal problems than to beat up on some criminals? For the Untouchable, he has been watching as a corrupt financier in Colorado has been trying to move more business (legit or otherwise) into Vegas. However, since this requires a lot of muscle in the underworld to actualize, he's trying to bribe his way into the scene using a large shipment of meth. Kitsune has learned about the shipment by NINJAFACESTABbing mooks associated with the Iron Chain. Since the Chain <3<3<3 drugs, he figures its a good way to put a crimp in whatever plans they might have. The three heroes arrive at the depot via separate methods (Untouchable gets the win for smuggling himself inside a shipping container).
General play: Not long after the heroes converge, the shipment arrives and begins backing into the warehouse facility where the dope will presumably be moved. UT uses his Machine Control to override the truck's drivetrain and slam it back into the loading dock, stunning everyone. Kitsune NINJAMELDS into the back of the trailer, surprising a Goomba and starts chokeholding him out. The Feather floats around a little uneventfully 'cause she was (unintentionally) positioned a little far away from the action and had to catch up. Untouchable goes all Leeroy Jenkins toward the Cab, punches through the driverside window and knocks a few teeth out of the driver. The Goomba riding shotgun pulls his piece and blows his own driver's head off trying to shoot the Untouchable (nice critical miss on the Goomba's part). While Kitsune continues to struggle with the Goomba in the back, the Feather launches into action, hops on the Semi's running board and TK-flings the Goomba's pistol out of his hand. Untouchable takes command of the semi and tears ass out of the depot to the general astonishment of the assembled undocumented workers who had been hired to lug the dope around.
Later, our heroes interrogate their remaining prisoners with the special help of The Feather's emotional persuasiveness and general mind probing (the GM only used the phrase Mind Rape once). Through this, and the Untouchable's attempts to make them shit themselves worse than they already had been, they learn that the depot stop was actually planned as a double-cross before the final destination of the meth - an abandoned truck stop out in the desert. A local dope czar, having also learned about the shipment, wanted to skim some product off the top. Given the fact that the couriers didn't give a shit and would be paid for it, they showed up. Untouchable laments that his hasty action kept him from catching this other peddler in the act.
Learning the location of the real destination, the heroes decide to "play along" with this plan in order to surprise the bad guys. Of course, they know the deception won't last long 'cause: 1) they don't have disguises that will work, 2) due to the GPS in the truck (which UT found), the bad guys know the truck was delayed, 3) the windshield of the truck is rather obviously covered in blood and brains.
Meanwhile (god I love being able to legitimately use these comic book segues), Dark Queen Mamba is already at the truck stop, having learned about the set up from her loudmouth gangster-wannabe brother. He took a job as a driver for the other truck expected to take the meth away once it arrives. She lies in wait for the truck to arrive while a good number of undocumented workers and roughnecks mill about, and some sweaty, sharp-but-tackily dressed Goons bitch about the heat in Russian. While a bunch of Goons toting around some AKs is technically an illegal activity, combine this with a bunch of meth and you've got a pretty decent bust set up. It isn't too long before the truck appears at the entrance to the truck stop and starts heading toward the oversized garage.
DQ Mamba is pretty surprised, however, when she sees the truck suddenly downshift and plow directly into the garage and into the back of the other truck waiting within. This was, of course, a classic Untouchable Plan (Grand Guignol seems to be the Untouchable's stock and trade - good thing he's in the right genre for it). Kitsune, who has NINJAMELDED beneath a snazzy luxury sedan waiting within the garage (where a Mafiya Goon and his Boss are presently enjoying Nevada's tolerance of love-for-hire with some showgirls), slices all four tires with his NINJABLADE. This makes a nice trap as UT again hacked the rented sedan's LoJack to show it as stolen, thereby locking all the doors and killing the engine.
The Feather, having been the one who was driving the truck, managed to dive out of the cab just before impact but didn't really make a sound landing. Complicating this is DQM's instinctive action to drop the entire truckstop into unrelenting blackness, showering everyone within with a crippling, primordial fear. Well, not everyone, but a lot of them. So it is that the garage devolves into pandemonium, AKs firing off into the air, shotguns discharging into fellows, UT making a Dynamic Entry into some poor Goon's face, then picking up another mook and tossing him into another mook.
About this time, the car door of the luxury sedan flies off of its hinges and out emerges our Russian Mob Enforcer, Glass Jaw Josef (a powersuited bruiser fueled by all the power of Futurist Russia!) His moniker is generally for the transparent titanoplexi neck and jaw guard he wears -- Honest. Our heroes brace themselves for a battle royale as Josef rallies his men to converge and attack.
Finale / Wrapup: UNFORTUNATELY, I was working on about four hours sleep and was dropping dead of tired, along with having overrun the "deadline" of the game session by about two hours. We had started later than usual as I was not expecting to have to handle a lot of domestic stuff prior to showing up at the game (about an hour or so late). There was also Mike having to build his character at the last moment (he had tossed an earlier char build previously), and there were other early build tweaks to be had among most of the PCs prior to starting, delaying things from beginning for at least another hour or more once I got there. So, we just narrated the end of the battle with GJJ, indicating that teamwork triumphed and evil was defeated. Josef deported back to Russia, and although Project Allegiance attempts to confiscate his power-suit, diplomacy demands that they return it to the Russian authorities.
Analysis: Everyone really got into the game, even Morgan - who had previously expressed being "blah" about the game. Due to the streamlined ruleset, generally narrative tone of combat and ability, and pace of action - everyone pretty much kept their attention. Being able to run over the deadline by two hours with no one really complaining is a good sign.
Rulechecking was a bitch, especially since Mike's character is a grappling fiend, and a lot of stacked minuses made things a little annoying but we plugged on (even if I kept forgetting that damage saves are DC 15+dmg, not 10+dmg).
Character wise, there are some kiiiinda unbalanced things - UT's Datalink/Machine Control might need to be nerfed to logical standards (a truck is not the internet, although using the LoJack was really clever), and his skills are fucking godly for certain things (which makes sense since he's plays the Batman role on the team). Unsurprisingly (given who designed him), Kitsune has some issues with his feats (he took pretty much every goddamned combat feat) - and his Permeate power is gonna have to be nerfed. He explicitly took it so he could walk around unfettered and to get out of bonds instantly - which IMO makes it a slightly depowered version of the Insubstantial power at Rank 4 (total insubstantiality) - which normally costs 20 PP at least. Since Permeate is a Super Movement power, he has this at the cost of 2 PP. Pretty unreasonable, but I need to think of a balance for this when I hit him with the nerfstick. Any suggestions are welcome.
DQM's player didn't show up until well into the session (she wasn't expected to show up), so we didn't get to see much of her. However, we did get to have her exercise a power feat (Emotion Control boosted to Area: Burst range) using hero points, so that worked out well. The players seemed to just ignore them for the most part - but then again, they didn't really run into any need for them.
I am disappointed we didn't get an actual chance to see Glass Jaw Josef in action. I needed to see how the characters would stand up against non Goon/Goomba characters (low level enemies, a step up from minions) and someone almost their PL (GJJ was designed at PL8) with some defenses behind him. I don't think the PCs felt in danger, although because we were all new to this too, I don't know if they necessarily felt "in control" either. It is to Le Sigh.
Next up: First session set up and metagame.