# Golden Apple Rescue Squad ( Four Color to Fantasy campaign) Updated September 21th



## Horacio (Aug 1, 2002)

Well, welcome everybody. 

Last Saturday, I began to run a new campaign using the new Natural 20 superhero toolkit, _Four Color to Fantasy_ (FCTF). In fact, I must begin thanking Morrus, who kindly sent me a pre-release version to prepare the first session, because the release date was delayed some days and he knew I had a game... So thanks a lot, Morrus, this Story Hour is dedicated to you.

I had always wanted to run a supers campaign using d20, but I hadn't found a ruleset that I liked. I've got Foundation, Godlike, Paragon and Deeds Not Words, but none of them were exactly what I wanted. And when I saw the preview of FCTF in Asgard, I knew I had found my game. But I'm not here to explain why I like FCTF (if you want to know, I've written a review  ), I'm here to tell you the Story of my new campaign. Here we go!

              ------------------------------

Golden Apple Rescue Squad

Golden Apple. A middle size city in the East Coast of the USA in a world not too different from ours. A world where, after WWII, parahumans (the politically correct word for mutants) began to be born. In this world (let's call it Terra 2, as a small homage to classic DC era), almost everything is like in ours, besides those ultrapowerful guys and gals in spandex suits who fly around kicking each other superbutts.

Almost every important city has its officially endorsed parahuman protector (the biggest cities like New York or Boston have even a parahuman team) and they are popular and loved by the population.Independent parahuman heroes exist, but they authorities don't like them, and general public usually distrust them. Most parahumans work as highly qualified and well payed specialists (e.g. chemics and atomic industries employs a lot of telekinetic parahumans for doing high presition manipulatons on dangerous substances). Supervillains are not as common as you could think, why would you use your Energy Blast to rob a bank and risk to be captured by the local caped cop when you could gain a very very good salary using it to dig tunnels for a mining company? 

Golden Apple, too small to be considered one of the big cities of the East Coast yet too big to be a peaceful middle size city. The mayor, Tom Eastroad, wanted to place Golden Apple in every map, wanted 'his' city to be one of the big ones. And he knew that good publicity in the media was the first step. But publicity is expensive, and Golden Apple's budget wasn't ready for such a waste. So he needed another solution. And he found it. He had an idea, and idea that would force every TV station to speak about Golden Apple: he would create an officially endorsed parahuman team. But not the usual team, to fight criminals and those vulgar things. He would create a highly trained parahuman rescue squad, that would operate in all the New England area helping local rescue staff with their parahuman powers, and giving Golden Apple its share of free publicity each time their members help to solve a crisis. Some days latter, in a masive press conference, the Golden Apple Rescue Squad (GARS) was born.


              ------------------------------

I will try to post a small update daily, at least for a while. Tomorrow (or latter today, if I find time), I will begin with the first member of the team, Dandy. Please, if you read this story, drop a comment. Even a short one will be welcome


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## Dougal DeKree (Aug 1, 2002)

*SUPERHEROES!*

*Dougal takes a seat, opens a can of beer, grabs the peanuts und raises a shield*

--- Here is Horacio's backup waiting to yell "Great Update!" --- 

Say, will you have the houserule that arriving too late at some official gathering will give the heroes more negative XP than besting the evil villain which will cause a delay? It was like this in Marvel Superheroes game - always loved it .-)

Waiting anxiously...

Dougal DeKree, retired Gnomish Illusionist


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## arwink (Aug 1, 2002)

Super's Storyhour?

Cool.  It's probably at least a couple of weeks till I get to use 'em, and I really want to see the rules in action.

Tell on!


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## drnuncheon (Aug 1, 2002)

Ahhh, the real reason Horacio bumped everyone so often...now we are all lured to this thread for some no doubt nefarious purpose.  What will it be? A deathtrap with lasers and ill-tempered sea bass? A cunning plan to extract our brains and place them into his Story-Hour-reading machine, so he can keep track of even more threads? Hypnotic suggestion to make us all say 'GREAT UPDATE' after each post?

Nah, that last one's silly. 

_GREAT UPD-_ oh...wait...he hasn't updated yet.

Hmm.

J


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## Horacio (Aug 1, 2002)

Three answers! Wow!

Well, I had thought about doing this tomorrow, but people, you have forced me to do it now: 

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Dandy*






Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Dandy, 8th/1st level Hero/Specialist, *

Seline Douglas was the only daughter of a wealthy insdustrial of Golden Apple. She was a spoiled child , and grow to become a spoiled teenager who loved sports and mode. A morning when she was 15, while she was competing in a 100 meters race, her parahuman capacities explosed and she literally flew over the tracks, finishing the race under 5 seconds. Since that day, her life changed. She devoted uncountable hours to the delelopment of her powers, she left school to fully consacrate to her training and convinced her father to build her a special training center, the Douglas Parahuman Gym.

Seline deditated the next five years to the impovement of her parahuman capacities, without regarding to more mundame activities. In August 2000, Mayor Eastroad needed someone chic and goodlooking to put as leader of the Gloden Apple Rescue Squad, and the beautiful Miss Douglas was the perfect candidate, so she became the first member of the newly formed GARS. The initial team was composed of her (who took the call name of Dandy), Sarah Peterhason (a.k.a. Rubber Girl) and Willian Smith (Grenadier). Dandy wasn't the more experienced or the wisest, but here natural charisma and her popularity on the media helped her, and she was a good leader. 

Some months after, she accepted her homosexuality and expressed her sentiments to Rubber Girl, and the two young women began a relation that grows stronger and stronger. The fact that they didn't try to conceal it and the popularity of the two girls gained a lot of support, and the couple has apperared on the top twenty of Most Romantic Couples for two years now. 

*Stats*

Female human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 8d4 + 1d4 + 9; hp: 29; Init +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved initiative); Spd 230 ft; AC 18 (+6 Dex, +2 Heightened defense); BAB +4; Attack +12 melee (1d4 unarmed), +6 melee (varies) or +12 ranged (varies); SA Super powers; SQ Knowledge Focus (High Society), Skill Specialisation (Trumble +2) ; AL NG; Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +8; Str 10, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 20.

Skills and Feats: Balance +10(6+4), Bluff +9(5+4), Diplomacy +9(5+4), Disguise +9(5+4), Hide  +10(6+4), Intimidate +9(5+4), Move Silently +10(6+4), Perform +9(5+4), Ride +10(6+4), Swim +4(0+4), Trumble +12(6+4+2); Dodge, Expertise, Improved initiative, Improved unarmed strike, Weapon finesse (unarmed), Power attack, Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons).

Posessions: Typical for one of the welthiest girls on the East Coast, almost anything that can be bought on open market.

Hero Points: 64.

*Flight (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Can fly with good manueverability. Base rank 8. Poor to normal manueverability (2 ranks), Normal to good manueverability (2 ranks).

*Heightened Accuracy (3 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 bonus to attack roll. Base rank 1. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Charisma (2 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 Charisma. Base rank 2.

*Heightened Defense (4 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 haste bonus to Defense. Base rank 2. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Dextery (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +4 Dextery. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Heightened Fortitude (5 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. +5 Fortitude saves. Base rank 1. Increased effect x4 (4 ranks).

*Heightened Will (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. +3 Will saves. Base rank 1. Increased effect x3 (3 ranks).

*Invulnerability (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. DR 4/wood. Base rank 2. Increased effect x2 (2 ranks).

*Super Speed (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Speed of 230 ft per round. Base rank 1. Increased Speed x9 (9 ranks), Greater Speed x1 (1 rank).

*Uncanny Dodge (6 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Retien Dex bonus to AC even when caught flatfooted. Base rank 6.


                          -------------------------------

Your comments are always welcome!


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## Piratecat (Aug 1, 2002)

HULK SMASH!

Ahem. Sorry. This is cool!  I can't wait for more.

Is Golden Apple located farther north or farther south along the east coast, do you know?


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## Horacio (Aug 1, 2002)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *HULK SMASH!
> 
> Ahem. Sorry. This is cool!  I can't wait for more.*




Wow! Thanks, Mr. Cat!
Truely, it's a great honour. The most revered story hour writer of these boards likes my story!

_Horacio does a happy dance_



> *
> Is Golden Apple located farther north or farther south along the east coast, do you know? *




Well... Let me search a map of the USA (I'm Spanish, you know ) and I will tell you exactly where is it. I imagined it near Boston (maybe you can help me to place it...)


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## Piratecat (Aug 1, 2002)

Sure! Call it Providence RI, and you should be just about right. Smaller than New York or Boston but still considered a sizeable city, Providence is bedeviled with rumors of corrupt government. Seems like a good setting to me!


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## Darklone (Aug 1, 2002)

A Horacio SH  

Now he can bump his own stories!?!


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## Lazybones (Aug 1, 2002)

Hey hey, I'm here!

Where's my bumping button... oh, here it is (not that I'll need it on this thread, I'm sure).  I remember when that Champions thread started up some months back, it was very popular.  

I'm interested in seeing how d20 Supers works, I'm intrigued by the stat block and power info you've posted thus far.  Better open up a Rogues' Gallery thread!

Anyway, carry on!

Oh, and don't forget the cliffhangers!  Everybody loves cliffhangers!


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## Ziona (Aug 1, 2002)

Great Hera! What a great idea for a story hour! 
I love superhero rpgs!  This will be like reading a comic book. Can't wait to see where this goes!


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## fenzer (Aug 1, 2002)

Horacio, I am excited to see you put up this story hour.  I look forward to the many adventures of G.A.R.S.


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## Morrus (Aug 1, 2002)

This is super! (geddit?)

I can't wait to see the other PCs!


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## Krellic (Aug 1, 2002)

Surely in a Horacio supers campaign there must exist the Bump!  foe to all late posters!!!

 

We'll see...


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## drunkadelic (Aug 1, 2002)

Wow! I've only read the introduction and now I want to play.

You got a pre-release copy from Morrus, huh?

I think I know why.

I wanna buy it!

Morrus, you rascal you.  

I'll be here reading every heroic word.

Drunkadelic


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## Ashy (Aug 1, 2002)

Awww, what the heck - for an old time PS'er?  Suren I'll bump 'em!


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## Umbran (Aug 1, 2002)

The Golden Apple?

Hail Eris!  All Hail Discordia!


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## Taboo (Aug 1, 2002)

Hey, Horacio, COOL!  I'm hooked so far, I can't wait for more!

I'll let my DM know from my regular DND game, he's thinking of running a superhero game next. He's a regular on the boards, so he'll probably see this before I tell him anyway.

Awesome start on the story!


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## RangerWickett (Aug 1, 2002)

Hey, Horacio, if you want, I'll gladly doublecheck your stats to make sure you've got everything down pat.  If you don't want me to, though, I'll not tread on your gamemasterly authority.


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## Someone (Aug 1, 2002)

Note that I don´t revise each character posted or I have not another comment about the thread (I loved the Champions story hour) but Dandy has Int 12 and Expertise, that requires Int 13 in D&D. Are the prerrequisites in 4C2F different, it´s just a typo or a player´s mistake?


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## Xaltar (Aug 1, 2002)

Providence, RI !

After playing in Piratecat's Boston Superhero game during the small but spectacular BisbeeCon, I have been inspired to create a Rhode Island based superhero group.  

Providence, RI is to be their headquarters since it is also where I work.  It would be much cooler if my job description included crime fighting and wild mutant powers!

BTW Horacio, Very Cool!

- Xaltar


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## J'quan (Aug 1, 2002)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *Sure! Call it Providence RI, and you should be just about right. Smaller than New York or Boston but still considered a sizeable city, Providence is bedeviled with rumors of corrupt government. Seems like a good setting to me! *




Rumors, nothing! I thought the mayor was indicted on federal charges earlie this year.  The city is nice; one major University (Brown), and RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design) populate one side of the city with lots of students and academics.  

HP Lovecraft is buried in Providence as well; saw the gravesite in the family plot when I visited there back in 2000.  Miskatonic is really Brown Univ, you know


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## Jarval (Aug 1, 2002)

My Spider-sense is tingling...  A great new Story Hour must be about to start!  



> *Wow! Thanks, Mr. Cat!
> Truely, it's a great honour. The most revered story hour writer of these boards likes my story!*




That's odd, I've not seen Sepulchrave post here yet


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## Lela (Aug 2, 2002)

Well, it looks like I'll have yet another Story Hour to read instead of updating my own.  

Looking forward to shouting out a, "GREAT UPDATE" along with everyone else.


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## Maldur (Aug 2, 2002)

> Oh, and don't forget the cliffhangers! Everybody loves cliffhangers!



  that's solid advice from someone voted 'cliffhanger- king' by the readers of his storyhour 

Tell us more! Tell us more!


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## Broccli_Head (Aug 2, 2002)

*Love superheroes!*

Glad to see a super's game here on the boards. Like the others I am interested in seeing how d20 works with the superhero genre. I myself am slooowly setting up a superhero game using HERO and probably a world akin to BlackOmegas Vendetta world...and similar to ours....

But on with the GARS! Where is the post!?


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## Horacio (Aug 2, 2002)

Wow, people, THANKS!

Really, I didn't expected to find such an interest in my story, thanks a lot! I won't dissapoint you.

Later today, I will post an update with the next PC, Rubber Girl.

About the Expertise/Int 13 error, the player "forgot" that. But as the character concept was good, I didn't say anything 

More later!


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## Horacio (Aug 2, 2002)

So let's begin answering some of the questions and sugestions you have posted 

               -------------------------------

*Piratecat:*

Providence, RI... Good idea. Now I need a good map of Providence 

So my campaign will be centered in Providence, RI. But in Terra 2, Providence is called Golden Apple, RI. Why? There are several reasons...

Even if it is physically modelled over Providence (if I find a map), I want tohave the freedom of modifying it at will. If I want a local baseball team called Applerunners that play in a stadium built over an ancient native burial site, I can do it if I call the city Golden Apple, but if I call it Providence, it would be less real. It's a bit like Lovecraft and Miskatonic 

And the name, Golden Apple, well, Umbran has seen it, I think (haven't you, Umbran?). Discordia will a key word in this story, so the mythological resonaces of Golden Apple can be very symbolic.

And why near Boston? Well, that's a secret, but in my head, when I prepared the campaign, the city was called Miskatonic. You will read why...

               -------------------------------

*RangerWickett:*

Thanks a lot! I would gladly accept your doublechecking, specially in the FCTF specific stuff. But you will find that I modified/added some powers. In fact, I will post here the modified or new powers when they will appear.

               -------------------------------

*Someone:*

Well, each player created his/her character in the two of the session, origins and stats, commenting everything with me and the other characters. So in fact, I didn't notice the Int 12 & Expertise problem until yesterday when I posted the stats... 
And then I thought about it. I like the character concept, and it's not a very important thing... and I think the player forgot to add the +1 Int skill point each level, that means she had forgotten 4+8=12 skill points... I think I will tell her in next session to give me 2 of this points for forgetting the requirement poblem and use the other 10 points...

               -------------------------------

*J'quan:* Thanks a lot for the info! Then reality imitates fiction, because Mayor Eastroad from Golden Apple isn't also very clean...

*Darklone:* Not, I can't bump my own stories. I must add something in each post to conceal the bump 

*Lazybones:* Thanks, Lazybones! If you have questions about the stats, feel free to ask here, I don't want to open a gallery so soon. So ask here all your questions 

*Ziona:* Thanks! I hope I will translate all the action and fun we have playing it. If I succed it will be almost like a comic book 

*fenzer, Taboo, Xaltar, Lela, Broccli_Head:* Thanks! I'm glad you liked the beginning. I hope you will like it all. I hope the story won't dissapoint you 

*Morrus:* When the author of the superb FCTS book tells you he wants to see the other PCs,  then I'm proud 

*Krellic:* Bump foe... hum... idea! 

*drunkadelic:* Yes, giving me the pre-release copy was a nefarious plan form Morrus, and I hope it will succed and you buy the pdf... 

*Ashy:* Ol' tiefer, you are welcome! Thanks!

*Jarval:* Sepulchrave is maybe one of the best living writters in Earth, I agree. But Mr. Cat almost invented the story hour concept 

*Maldur:* Of course I will use cliffhangers! It will be my revenge! 

That's all, folks! I will post Rubber Girl stats latter today...


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## Horacio (Aug 2, 2002)

Here you have the update promised:

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Rubber Girl*






Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Rubber Girl, 1st/6th/2nd level Fighter/Hero/Rogue, *

Sarah Peterhason was born in 1982. She always was a shy girl. The early death of her parents had marked her childhood, and beign raised with her ultraconservative aunt Rose in a small village near Golden Apple hadn't helped to develop her character. She never had many friends, she passed most of her time lone in a corner while other children mocked on her.

All this changed when she become a teenager. She was the prettiest girl in the school, and suddently all the boys wanted to speak with her. But she wasn't interested on boys, there were all boring brutes. But she felt an attraction to other girls, attraction that, with the conservative education that her aunt has given her, she considered horribly sinful. She lived a very unhappy life, feeling herself bad and dirty, until she met an older girl, Ellen, who taught her the way of love. Sadly, it didn't last long time, because a jealeous rejected boy told the story to the priest and he informed Sarah's aunt.

Aunt Rose was horrified. The girl she had raised like a daughter, the girl who she had taken care of, the girl that without her help wouldn't have had a normal childhood, that girl was an evil vassal of Satan, an obscene devious creature of forbidden lust. Why did God had allowed that? He, in His mighty justice, wanted to test her, Rose Peterhason. And she would succed the test. That evening Aunt Rose did beat Sarah with a wooden stick until all her back was soaked on blood, and she expelled Sarah from her house, forbidding her to ever come back. Aunt Rose slept that night with the firm belief that she has passed a divine testand succeded in it. That night Sarah almost passed away. Tha pain, both physical and moral, was almost unendurable. She crawled towards Ellen's home, and told her what had happened. Next morning, both girls fled bus to Golden Apple.

Life in Golden Apple wasn't easy for a couple of pretty homeless teenager girls, but soon they learnt to survive. And for some months they were poor but happy. Some petty theft, some street performing, some sall jobs. But a fateful night, when Ellen and Sarah returned to the void old house they called home, they were assaulted by a gang. They wanted their money and _(I want to leave this story PG rated, so you can add here what do you think)_. The girls tried to run, but the gangers were faster. One of them hit Ellen on the head with a baseball bat, and the young woman fell. Sarah was horrified, full of fear and fury as the gangers surronded her. She rose her arm and cried out. And then something bizarre happened, the air solified around the gangers, covering them with a dark gelatinous substance and immobilizing them. Sarah took Ellen's body and fled without looking back.

Ellen died in Sarah's arms that night. Sarah was consummed by the grief, and shocked by the discovering of her parahuman nature. Many others would have begun a path of revenge, using their powers to beat criminals, but Sarah's good nature took her to use her powers to aid other people in distress. Over the next two years, she gained a reputation as guardian angel of innocents in Golden Apple suburbs under the name of Rubber Girl. When in August 2000 Mayor Eastroad searched members for his Gloden Apple Rescue Squad, the masked paladin of weaks known as Rubber Girl was a natural choice to join the initial team, along Seline Douglas (Dandy) and Willian Smith (Grenadier). 

For years, since Ellen's tragic death, Sarah hasn't felt love, but when she met Seline she felt in love almost at the moment. Sarah was sure Seline felt the same thing but tried to deny it, and a bit of tension appeared between them for some months, until a happy night when Seline accepted her feelings and expressed her sentiments to Rubber Girl. Since them, the happiest period on Sarah's life began and the two young women began a relation that grows stronger and stronger. The fact that they didn't try to conceal it and the popularity of the two girls gained a lot of support, and the couple has apperared on the top twenty of Most Romantic Couples for two years now. 

*Stats*

*Rubber Girl, 1st/6th/2nd level Fighter/Hero/Rogue, *
Female human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 1d10 + 6d4 + 2d6 + 9; hp: 38; Init +11 (+7 Dex, +4 Improved initiative); Spd 30 ft; AC 17 (+7 Dex); BAB +4; Attack +6 melee (varies) or +11 ranged (rubber balls, 1d6); SA Super powers; SQ Sneak Attack (1d6), Evasion; AL CG; Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +1; Str 14, Dex 24, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 14.

Skills and Feats: Balance +11(7+4), Bluff +6(2+4), Climb +6(2+4), Diplomacy +6(2+4), Disguise +6(2+4), Escape Artist  +11(7+4), Gather Information +6(2+4), Jump +3(+2+1), Move Silently +11(7+4), Perform +6(2+4), Trumble +11(7+4); Dodge, Expertise, Improved initiative, Power attack, Mobility, Point Blank Shoot, Armor Proficiency (any), Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons).

Posessions: Typical for the fiancee of one of the wealthiest gils on the city, almost everything that can be bough on the open market.

Hero Points: 48.

*Attack, proyectile (1 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can throw hard rubber balls (1d6 dmg) at 10 ft range. Base rank 1.

*Create Object (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can create rubber objects (of Harness 10) out of thin air with a size maximun of 5ft x 5ft x 5ft at close range (25 ft) from her. Can mantain two different objects and if left unattended, each object dissolves in a black puddin like substance in 9 minutes (1 mt/level). Base rank 4. Medium Creation (2 ranks), Enduring Creation (1 ranks), More creations x1 (2 rank), Minor hardness (1 rank), Average Hardness (1 rank), Close range (1 rank).

*Entrangle (10 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can produce an immovilicing rubber in a 10ft x 10 ft x 10 ft area. Base rank 8. Radius 5ft x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Dextery (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Dextery. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Impact Resistance (6 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. Can reflexively create rubber cushions between her and any upcoming obstacles, nullifying the first 8 dice of damage. Base rank 2. Increased effect x2 (4 ranks).

*Shield (5 HrPt)*  Innated. Activated. Can create a rubber shield that gives her +7 AC from a 180 arc. Base rank 4. Opaque (1 ranks).

*Superleap (2 HrPt)* Innated. Persistent. Can leap a vertical distance equal to 0.5 x base speed (15 ft) and a horizontal one equal to base speed (30 ft). Base rank 2.

                          -------------------------------

Superleap is a new power I've done. it's cost is based on Flight (5 ranks) with a big restriction (must land after each movement).

Your comments are always welcome!


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## RangerWickett (Aug 2, 2002)

Dandy, Female human Hero 8/Specialist 1; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 8d4 + 1d4 + 9; hp: 29; Init +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved initiative); Spd 230 ft; AC 18 (+6 Dex, +2 Heightened defense); BAB +4; Attack +12 melee (1d4 unarmed), +6 melee (varies) or +12 ranged (varies); SA Super powers; SQ Knowledge Focus (High Society), Skill Specialisation (Trumble +2) ; AL NG; Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +8; Str 10, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 20.

Skills and Feats: Balance +10(6+4), Bluff +9(5+4), Diplomacy +9(5+4), Disguise +9(5+4), Hide  +10(6+4), Intimidate +9(5+4), Move Silently +10(6+4), Perform +9(5+4), Ride +10(6+4), Swim +4(0+4), Trumble +12(6+4+2); Dodge, Expertise, Improved initiative, Improved unarmed strike, Weapon finesse (unarmed), Power attack, Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons).

Posessions: Typical for one of the welthiest girls on the East Coast, almost anything that can be bought on open market.

Hero Points: 64.

*Flight (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Can fly with good manueverability. Base rank 8. Poor to normal manueverability (2 ranks), Normal to good manueverability (2 ranks).

*Heightened Accuracy (3 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 bonus to attack roll. Base rank 1. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Charisma (2 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 Charisma. Base rank 2.

*Heightened Defense (4 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 haste bonus to Defense. Base rank 2. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Dextery (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Dextery. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Heightened Fortitude (5 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. +5 Fortitude saves. Base rank 1. Increased effect x4 (4 ranks).

*Heightened Will (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. +4 Will saves. Base rank 1. Increased effect x3 (3 ranks).

*Invulnerability (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. DR 5/wood. Base rank 2. Increased effect x2 (2 ranks).  (Just wondering, but why wood?) 

*Super Speed (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Speed of 230 ft per round. Base rank 1. Increased Speed x9 (9 ranks), Greater Speed x1 (2 ranks).

*Uncanny Dodge (6 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Retien Dex bonus to AC even when caught flatfooted. Base rank 6.

Yeah, you got it handled.  We were a little worried that figuring out the powers might be a little tough, but you have calmed our worries.  The only 'errors' are small ones, and as for the Expertise thing, I can see no reason why it would be unbalanced to let the character have the feat.


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## Jodo Kast (Aug 2, 2002)

Great stuff, Horacio!  Glad to see everyone's favorite Story Hour addict post his own incredible tales here!


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## Desdichado (Aug 2, 2002)

Wow, talk about some replies!


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 2, 2002)

Cool Story Hour, Horacio.

By the way, I'm from Providence, and I think 




> So my campaign will be centered in Providence, RI. But in Terra 2, Providence is called Golden Apple, RI. Why? There are several reasons...




that that's cool.

Too bad the mayor isn't named Cianci 

I can just imagine the G.A.R.S. vs. Mayor Cianci, LOL


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## RangerWickett (Aug 2, 2002)

*Rubber Girl, 1st/6th/2nd level Fighter/Hero/Rogue, *
Female human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 1d10 + 6d4 + 2d6 + 9; hp: 38; Init +11 (+7 Dex, +4 Improved initiative); Spd 30 ft; AC 17 (+7 Dex); BAB +5; Attack +7 melee (varies) or +12 ranged (rubber balls, 1d6); SA Super powers; SQ Sneak Attack (1d6), Evasion; AL CG; Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +1; Str 14, Dex 24, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 14.

Skills and Feats: Balance +11(7+4), Bluff +6(2+4), Climb +6(2+4), Diplomacy +6(2+4), Disguise +6(2+4), Escape Artist  +11(7+4), Gather Information +6(2+4), Jump +3(+2+1), Move Silently +11(7+4), Perform +6(2+4), Trumble +11(7+4); Dodge, Expertise, Improved initiative, Power attack, Mobility, Point Blank Shoot, Armor Proficiency (any), Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons).

Posessions: Typical for the fiancee of one of the wealthiest gils on the city, almost everything that can be bough on the open market.

Hero Points: 48.

*Attack, proyectile (1 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can throw hard rubber balls (1d6 dmg) as a standard action, with a 10 ft. range increment. Base rank 1.

*Create Object (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can create rubber objects (of Harness 10) out of thin air with a size maximun of 5ft x 5ft x 5ft at close range (25 ft) from her. Can mantain two different objects and if left unattended, each object dissolves in a black puddin like substance in 9 minutes (1 mt/level). Base rank 4. Medium Creation (2 ranks), Enduring Creation (1 ranks), More creations x1 (2 rank), Minor hardness (1 rank), Average Hardness (1 rank), Close range (1 rank).Close range isn't an actual enhancement for the power, but I think the cost is fair.  You might actually want to give her a restriction, since rubber really isn't useful for a lot of uses.  You can't make swords or ladders out of it, so its utility is limited compared to if she had chosen, say, stone or metal.  I'd suggest that, if you mean really flexible rubber, this would be worth a 3 HrP reduction.  If you mean something a little sturdier, maybe a 2 HrP reduction.

*Entrangle (10 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can produce an immovilicing rubber in a 10ft x 10 ft x 10 ft area. Lasts for 9 minutes before dissipating.  Reflex save DC 15 to avoid. Base rank 8. Radius 5ft (2 ranks).

*Heightened Dextery (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Dextery. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Impact Resistance (6 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. Can reflexively create rubber cushions between her and any upcoming obstacles, nullifying the first 8 dice of damage. Base rank 2. Increased effect x2 (4 ranks).

*Shield (5 HrPt)*  Innated. Activated. Can create a rubber shield that gives her +7 AC from a 180 arc. Base rank 4. Opaque (1 ranks).

*Superleap (2 HrPt)* Innated. Persistent. Can leap a vertical distance equal to 0.5 x base speed (15 ft) and a horizontal one equal to base speed (30 ft). Base rank 2.  I'd suggest this should cost 4 HrPs, instead of 2.  Flight has a base cost of 8 HrPs, which means you can't get it until 5th level (just like the fly spell if you were a wizard).  This power is about the same as the Jump spell, which you could get at 1st level, so it should cost about the same, 4 HrPs.


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## Thorntangle (Aug 2, 2002)

Horacio - looks very interesting so far. I knew it was inevitable that you would have your own story hour. Cheers to G.A.R.S.


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## Horacio (Aug 2, 2002)

Ranger Wicket, thanks a lot for you help!
I agree with you in most of the things you've put in your posts. I will correct the stats problem tomorrow morning (now here it's 11:30 p.m..

About giving a range to Create Object, I know it isn't in the book, but I took the cost for similar enhancements on other powers. I'm glad you agree with the cost. I think I will give Rubber Girl a 2 HrPt reduction because it's sturdier rubber.

And those 2 HrPt will go to Superleap power, because I think I agree with you, it deserves to be a 4 ranks power.

About Dandy, why Invulnerability doesn't work againt wood, you ask?  Really, I don't know why. I will ask the player and give you an answer, if she knows why. Maybe because it was a common substance no so common as weapon 

             --------------------

Thorntangle,  Joshua Dyal and Jodo Kast: Thanks a lot for your support! I'm glad you like the story so far!

Bob Alberton: Do you know where I could find an online map of Providence? And more info about the city? Thanks a lot!!!


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## drothgery (Aug 2, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *About Dandy, why Invulnerability doesn't work againt wood, you ask?  Really, I don't know why. I will ask the player and give you an answer, if she knows why. Maybe because it was a common substance no so common as weapon
> *




Of course, you can always send a rogue vampire slayer after her...


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## Horacio (Aug 3, 2002)

A vampiric connection... hum... If she don't give me a good excuse I will begin to think about that...


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## Horacio (Aug 3, 2002)

Let's post today's update:

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Grenadier*





Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Grenadier, 4th/5th level Fighter/Hero*

William Smith was born in 1972 at Hawai, in a militar base. His father was Colonel Arthur D. Smith, and he taught William the militar values from his early childhood. When he was 6, Willian knew he wanted to be a soldier. When he was 8, he could shoot better than some professional soldiers. When he was 12, he was black belt in karate. When the Gulf War began, Willian joined the army, thinking he was going to live his dream of protecting America and the Free World. And then his life changed.

His unit was doing a routine operation near Kuwait when and ambushed group of Irakien attacked. It was a true carnage, in some seconds most of William's unit was down. He felt rage, he felt hat, he wished all those Irakien dead... and his wishes truned truth when a handful of glowling energy balls took away from his clenched hands and explosedagainst the attackers. Then the smoke dissipated, all the Irakian were dead. Willian, and the two other survivors of the unit came back to the HQ and reported the incident and Willian's parahuman explosion.

He was transferred to the Special Parahuman Forces, when he was trained to use his abilities at his maximum potential. He was trained to use not only his powers but his mind, to infiltrate, to kill of thousand of ways. For years he did covered missions around the world. Spy actions in China. Hostages rescue in Colombia. Sabotage of chemical war laboratories in Afganistan. Anti-mafia raids in Russia. He was the best on his work. Perfect anonymous parahuman soldier.

Until the Atlanta FBI building incident, when Captain William Smith was deployed in the ruins of the building to aid the investigators and a local camera filmed him while he used his powers to dig a tunnel in the debris to rescue a trapped survivor. Next morning his photo was in all newspapers. He was an hero, everybody wanted to interview that parahuman soldier who saved the trapped FBI survivor. 

His job was ruined. He wouldn't be anonymous never again, so he couldn't continue doing cover missions. In the spy jargo, he was burnt. He passed the next two years doing public relations for the Army, visiting schools and colleges across the country, talking children and teenagers about how everyone, human or parahuman, can find a place in the Army and serve America. Until Mayor Eastroad of Golden Apple presented his G.A.R.S. project. The Army thought it was a good movement to have a man in the team, and offered Captain Smith services. He would be the gouvernement link to the team, and the Army would gain a good deal of free publicity.

So Captain Smith took the code name Grenadier and joined Seline Douglas (Dandy) and Sarah Peterhasen (Rubber Girl) in the newly formed Golden Apple Rescue Squad. The beginning was difficult, because the official leader, Dandy, hadn't any militar experience, and the team hadn't discipline. Grenadier felt he should be the leader, but he has been ordered to accept Dandy's leadership, so he obeyed. With the months, he learnt to respect Dandy, and she learnt to value Grenadier advises in tactical matters. Soon enough, the team members became not only co-workers but friends.


*Stats*

*Grenadier, 4th/5th level Fighter/Hero, *
Male human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 4d10 + 5d4 + 54; hp: 92; Init +3 (+3 Dex); Spd 30 ft; AC 13 (+3 Dex); BAB +6/+1; Attack +7/+2 melee (varies), +9/+4 ranged (varies) or +10 ranged (force balls, 1d6/3d6); SA Super powers; AL LG; Fort +11, Ref +5, Will +3; Str 12, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 8.

Skills and Feats: Climb +4(1+3), Jump +4(1+3), Knowledge (militar) +4(1+3), Move Silently +6(3+3), Swim +6(3+3); Dodge, Expertise, Power Attack, Mobility, Point Blank Shoot, Precise Shoot, Shot On the Run, Weapon Focus (force balls) Armor Proficiency (any), Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons).

Posessions: Typical for a middle class citizen, with acces to military light weapons.

Hero Points: 40.

*Attack, proyectile (balls of force) (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can throw glowing balls of pure force that explose on contact (Maximum damage 3d6 dmg) at 30 ft range. Base rank 1. Adjustable (2 ranks), Blast radius (3 ranks), Increased damage x2 (4 ranks), Increased range x2 (2 rank). 

*Energy resistance (force) (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Energy resistance (force) 20. Base rank 1. Increased effect x9 (9 ranks). Greater effect x2 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Constitution (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Constitution. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Impact Resistance (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. Nullify the first 4 dice of impact damage. Base rank 2. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).

                          -------------------------------

Your comments are always welcome!


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## FullTinCan (Aug 3, 2002)

I like what I've seen so far.  I'm eagerly awaiting the tales of the GARS heroic adventures.


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## Someone (Aug 3, 2002)

The characters are really interesting; the creations sistem seems to be simple but complete. Much better than the supers roleplaying games here available (Superheroes INC, I don´t remember another one) and his horrible random character generation and game sistem.


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## Horacio (Aug 3, 2002)

Someone said:
			
		

> *The characters are really interesting; the creations sistem seems to be simple but complete. Much better than the supers roleplaying games here available (Superheroes INC, I don´t remember another one) and his horrible random character generation and game sistem. *




Superheroes Inc.? That's a Spanish game! Are you Spanish? (I'm Spanish, but I live in France)


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## Someone (Aug 3, 2002)

Yep, I live in Cadiz. I knew you were spanish too, but I prefered to use English, since I find it more polite not to use in a public forum a language that not all people understand*.

I´ll play Superheroes today, btw... just after ending the Feng Shui module I left unfinished last week. It is almost the same adventure as "six in the chamber", but replacing the museum for a fight in a train. I bought the game only because I liked that story hour so much! (and it´s no little praise since I live in Photocopy land) If this one is half as good as that, I´ll definitely go after 4C2F.


*Except that I´m taking notes of my current campaing and I plan to write one in spanish when it´s advanced enough to update it frequently.


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## Zarthon (Aug 3, 2002)

Nice characters so far Horacio

Keep it up


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## Piratecat (Aug 4, 2002)

Here's one great link; note the "Images of Providence" section in particular. Scan the site, and you'll find LOTS of info on the city that you can steal or change as you see fit!

http://www.providenceri.com/vacation/vacation.html

Here is the site's clickable map of neighborhoods; click them to get information on each location.

And for a good map, there's always Mapquest.  Hope this helps!


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## Horacio (Aug 4, 2002)

Thanks a lot, Piratecat!
I will scan that mine of information, I'm sure I will find plenty of of ideas for next adventure.

And here the last PC, at least by the moment...

Toñorrow I will begin posting the first adventure (by now we have played two sessions).

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Blueskin*






Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Blueskin, 6th/3th level Fighter/Hero*

_Right now, Blueskin's player wants to keep her origin secret. Hopefully, more info will be disclosed in the upcoming adventures._

Blueskin is a tall (6'10") and very muscular woman with deep blue skin and glowing green eyes. Nobody know anything about her past or her true identity, the first record of her actions is from 1997 when she applied for the New York local parahuman team, the Sentinels. She was accepted as junios member in the Sentinels, being the sidekid of Defender for three years, gaining great fame when she scored the decisive hit against the alien Darkbomber just before he would use his powers to explode the Underground station under Wall Street. 

In 2001 Mayor Eastroad searched a new member for the already succesful Golden Apple Rescue Squad. Blueskin, searching a senior position in a well established team, applied and was selected. Without breaking all her links with the Sentinels, she joined the team in October 2001. Since then, she has taken part in several key actions, including the highly publicited rescue of the Queen Anne near the coast of Terranova.

Blueskin is now a fully accepted member of the team, but she initially showed a distant attitude with the other members, and she haven't told them anything about her past yet. In spite of her attitude, a true friendship is beginning to be developed between Blueskin and her colleagues.

*Stats*

*Blueskin, 2nd/7th level Fighter/Hero, *
Female human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human?); HD 2d10 + 7d4 + 63; hp: 101; Init +3 (+3 Dex); Spd 30 ft; AC 16 (+6 Natural Armor); BAB +5; Attack +13 melee (varies) or +5 ranged (varies); SA Super powers; AL ?; Fort +12, Ref +3, Will +2; Str 26, Dex 11, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 10.

Skills and Feats: Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Giant Melee Objects), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Giant Ranged Objects), Improved Unarmed Attack, Power Attack, Sunder, Armor Proficiency (any), Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons).

Posessions: Typical for a middle class citizen.

Hero Points: 56.

*Fast Healing (9 HrPt):* Innated. Heals 1 hp/round. Base rank 9. 

*Heightened Constitution (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Constitution. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Heightened Defense (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +6 AC (natural armor). Base rank 2. Increased effect x5 (10 ranks).

*Heightened Strength (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Strength. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Inexhaustable Endurance (4 HrPt):* Innated. Inmune to fatigue. Base rank 4. 

*Mighty Lifting (3 HrPt):* Innated. +10 Strength for lifting purposes. Base rank 2. Increased effect x1 (1 ranks).

*Super Strike (3 HrPt):* Innated. Hits like a +2 weapon. Base rank 1. Increased effect x1 (2 ranks).


                          -------------------------------

Your comments are always welcome!


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## Horacio (Aug 5, 2002)

This is not a bump.
I cannot bump my own threads, can I?
So here I give you more info:

*G.A.R.S. miniatures*

Before playing the first session, I thought a lot about what minis we will use. I like tactical combat, and it doesn't seems d20 to us if there are no battlemat with lots of painted lead on it. But I haven't found  super-hero minis. Yes, I know there are some brand, like Four Color Figures, that makes them, but it was just they don't seem appropiate. We had almost decided to use the old papel tokens I had from my Champions game when I had one idea: *Playmobil*!!!!

Yes, Playmobil. Maybe over there, in the U.S.A. they aren't so popular, but here in Europe every children has his/her share of Playmobil people. I've always loved my Playmobil. They are cheap, they are versatile, you have medieval playmobil, wild west playmobil, space playmobil, pirate playmobil and, of course, the most important for a super hero game, normal, present day, playmobil. 

So instead of minis, we use playmobil. And here you have the playmobil figures for three of the PCs (compare with the Heromachione drawings ):

_Yes, I know the quality isn't good, I will try again soon_

*Dandy*





*Rubber Girl*





*Grenadier*






                          -------------------------------

Your comments are always welcome!


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## drunkadelic (Aug 5, 2002)

Those minis are awesome, Horacio! Much better than my Lego Knights.  So when are we gonna have an update?


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## Krellic (Aug 5, 2002)

Excellent choice of figures that I'm sure will not detract from the game... so where is that write-up?

Now the bumper is bumped...


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## PaynAndispare (Aug 5, 2002)

Hi Horacio ... nice to see a story from you finally.  Took the liberty to add another link / pic of the Providence area for you ... kinda cool to have a setting for a campaign so close to home 

http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/RI1.htm

Picture Boston being approx. 1 hour NE on 95 ... and NYC being approx. 3 hours SW on 95


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## Horacio (Aug 5, 2002)

PaynAndispare, thanks for the link and the extra info!
And thanks to all bumpers (Krellic and drunkadelic) 

The write up of first session is not finished yet 
When I began it turned up to be way longer that I'd thought. Now, I'm writing the second half of first session. If I finish, I will post it today (now it's 10 p.m. in France), if not, I'll post it tomorrow morning (European morning, I mean).

And as bonus, some pics of our wonderful miniatures in action in the first combat, againts _Red Hair_ Mark, a well known villain with nasty weapons...


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## drnuncheon (Aug 6, 2002)

Horacio, nifty idea on the minis! Playmobil does indeed make it over here, but by the time it's on our shores it's no longer so cheap.

So, do you have an unusual gender ratio in your group, or are some of the characters being played by male players? (Note that I don't want to hijack this thread with a discussion of whether or not you 'ought' to do that - that goes on General!)

J

P.S. drunkadelic, you are drunk. Playmobil is cool but nothing matches up to LEGO!


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## madriel (Aug 6, 2002)

Great story hour, Horacio.  Interesting characters and I look forward to seeing how 4CTF plays.


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## Horacio (Aug 6, 2002)

It seems that trying to post all the first session in a post would mean a way too long post, so I'm cutting it in several small parts.

In the first part of the session (the prologue), the four players took the role of some secondary members of the cast. Dandy player took Agent Stevens and Rubbergirl ran Agent Sanders, two policemen assigned to guard a theorically easy prisoner. Grenadier player was a lawyer too heroic for his own welfare and Blueskin player was a chinese cleaning woman who incidently, was a Martial Arts expert (my little homage to Doc Midnight's Six in the Chamber story hour). The first part of the session seemed directly taken from a Tarantino movie or a Feng Shui game.


G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Prologue, part 1*

'Red Hair' Mark knew he had lost, even if he didn't fully understand why. That dammed Sentinels! He had thought New York to be a city as easy as Golden Apple, and it was... for a time. Until that silly clown, Defender, and his super powered friends, discovered his hideout and caught him. Dammed Defenders! Now he was there, in the waiting room of the Golden Apple Hall of Justice, where he was going to be judged, and as sure as his father was an old drunk, he was going to be sent to the Nohope, in the Death Valley, California, for at least ten years . A full paid trip to nowhere.

The cop who was watching him was a veteran, surely a full trained member of the APHSWAT, and he had one of that new electric gun capables of delivering 15.000 volts at 30 yards. And two other cops were waiting outside, a big guy and a pretty girl... He hadn't going to see many girls in Nohope... He hadn't any chance.

Then the policeman took his hands to his head and made a grimace of intense pain and, suddenly, he fell on the ground bleeding from his ears and nose. Before 'Red Haired' could move, he heard a voice in his head.

_Don't move! I can make you suffer the same fate that the cop, and believe me, you wouldn't love it, so remain calm. I offer you freedom. I offer you a chance of revenge. I offer you more power that you could even dream. But you will have to obbey me.

You have a choice, Mark. You can take the offer, or you can remain here, and add policeman killing to your list of crimes. They punish policeman killing with the electric chair, do you knew it? What's your choice?_






_From the report of Agent Claire Sanders, Golden Apple Police Department_

It was going to be a quiet day. In fact it was a very special day. Kyle, I mean, Agent Stevens was going to be transfered to homicides, he was going to be a detective. Kyle...

_Agent Sanders interrupts her declaration and weeps._

I'm sorry... So we had been asigned to a routine task of custody of a prisoner in the Hall of Justice. The prisoner's name was Mark Arlington, know as _Red Hair Mark_, he was accused of bank theft and use of illegal weaponary, he used to hold up bank  with a pair of energy guns. He hadn't killed anybody... yet...

_Agent Sanders interrupts her again declaration and weeps. We suggest placing her under psycological help, she seems to be under post-traumatic shock._

Even if Mr. Arlington wasn't a parahuman strictely speaking, he was placed under the direct surveillance of a member of the APHSWAT (_Anti Para Human Special Weapons And Tactics team_), Sgt. Smith. The judge was going to call for Mr. Arlington, and he waited, with Sgt. Smith, in a room near the courtroom. Agent Stevens and me were waiting outside the room, ready to act if Sgt. Smith called for us.

Suddenly, the door opened and Sgt. Smith was projected into the corridor. A passerby cried. Agent Stevens and me reached our weapons and ordered the prisoner to go out of the room with the hands under the head. The prisoner looked at as and smiled. The bastard did smile! And suddently, he wasn't there. He dissapeared!







Next one this afternoon  
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Spider_Jerusalem (Aug 6, 2002)

Nice start, and I can't help but be drawn to a story with diary excerpts - good twist on the usual story hours out there.

Looking forward to the next post.

Spider.


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## Caliber (Aug 6, 2002)

As usual, I seem to be late. Looking good Horacio!


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## el-remmen (Aug 6, 2002)

Great work, compadre!

I dropped by and the characters look great and it should be a whole lot of fun. . . I look forward to more - the insights into what happens with minor characters and with villians will give the story a very comic book feel.


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## Horacio (Aug 6, 2002)

Nemm, nice to see you here, compadre! Thanks for your kind words.

Caliber, you have arrived just in time 

Spider Jerusalem, thanks for the praise, I hope you will continue liking it.

And, as promised, let's continue with Agent Sanders' report...

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Prologue, part 2*

Agent Stevens turned around, and warned the passerbys to go out, I called for reinforcements. Then the prisoner appeared just beside Agent Stevens and punched him. I couldn't shoot, I could had hit Kyle, Agent Stevens, I mean, so I covered them and demanded the prisoner to surrender. Then all went very confused. A lawyer who was in the corridor took a chair and throwed it against _Red Hair Mark_, but he dodged it and the chair impacted on Agent Stevens, who was pushed back against the wall. And the cleaning women, and old and thin woman of oriental origins, cried something like "It be not good hit police. You be a bad man." and used her broom to attack _Red Hair Mark_, who cried in pain.

Before I could shoot at him, _Red Hair Mark_ dissapeared again. Agent Stevens stood up painfully and warned me that the prisoner (I should say the former prisoner) had taken his gun. I scanned the corridor searching for him. He wasn't supposed to have parahuman powers! The lawyer run towards Agent Stevens and begged pardom for his dumb move, and then the old woman pointed me to the window at the far end of the corridor, "He did go by that window, miss police, he did go by there!".

Agent Stevens and me ran towards the window, that was opened, and saw _Red Hair Mark_ running over the roof of the side wing of the Hall. Agent Stevens jumped on the roof and ran behind him, and I informed the central and ran behind Kyle. I heard the old woman crying  some kind of karate cry and run with us, and behind her the lawyer, who had taken a chair leg and also shouted warcries.

_Red Hair Mark_ had reached the end of the roof and jumped on the air. Agent Stevens shot him twice, and I'm almost sure that at least one of the shots hit the target, but it didn't stop him. I turned and asked the two civilians to stop, warning them ofthe danger, but they didn't want to return to the corridor. The old dame said "Bad man hit police, bad man stop must be", and the lawyer said he had been in Vietnam,  he had been a Green Beret, and he would stop the prisoner.

Agent Stevens tried to jump to the ground, but he slipped and fell. I ran before him and then...

_Agent Sanders interrupts her declaration and weeps. She is visibly very shocked._






Next one this tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Horacio (Aug 7, 2002)

So nobody posted after my last update 
Well, let's try again!

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Prologue, part 3*

... then... I saw the prisoner appear just behind the fallen body of Kyle. He was smiling! He was smiling while he took Kyle's gun and shot him. Ocne, twice, three times he shot him, without changing his smile. I didn't fully realize what I was doing, I raised my weapon and fired against the mad bastard. One of the shots impacted him on the shoulder, and he bled. He could bleed so he could be stopped, I thought. The old dame jumped literally over me and landed by _Red Hair Mark_ and hit him again with her broom. The lawyer tried to jump too, but his landing wasn't so greceful, and he didn't try to hit _Red Hair Mark_.

He looked at me, he looked at my eyes, and smile again. He was smiling when he dissapeared, his smile faded in the air like in a bad old film. I jumped to the ground and ran to check Kyle's condition. He was barely alive. I tried to stabilise him, and called for radio, asked for an ambulance. He was dying. The old woman seemed to have a knack to detect hiding people, because she said "Still here he is, watching  us like tiger watch lamb". The reinforcements shouldn't take too much time to arrive. I was knelt near Kyle, trying to stop the bleeding with one hand and covering the ground with my gun in the other hand. The old dame turned around, while doing karate-like positions, and the lawyer, who had wound his ankle in the fall, limped towards us. And there, he was there, again, still smiling. He appeared just behind the lawyer, and before anybody could do anything, he shot him in the back of the head. The lawyer fell, he was dead, he had a huge hole in the head and all his hair was covered with blood...

_Agent Sanders' nerves seem to be breaking again._

...and him, _Red Hair Mark_, was also covered with blood, with the blood of those he had killed, damm bastard! I tried to shot him, twice, but I missed. He was still similing...

_Agent Sanders' weeps again. I offer her to take a ten minutes pause, but she refuses._

The old dame ran towards him crying "Bad man, stop you must be, bad bad man!", and using her broom as a jumping stick, she hit him with a double flying kick. _Red Hair Mark_ cried in pain and shot her multiple times, and dissapearing again. Agent Stevens was stabilised, it seemed he was going to live... But _Red Hair Mark_ wasn't going to let him live, damm assasin, he appeared just before me, smiling, and shot me on the abdomen. 

"I want to give you one last intense moment in your soon to be finished life, ma belle", he said, and taking my own gun, raised him, pointed to Kyle's forehead and fired. He killed Kyle! HE KILLED KYLE! And I could do anything! I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING!

_Agent Sanders weeps and cries uncontrollablely._






Tomorrow I will finish the prologue and introduce main characters in the story line.

Your comments are always welcome, but please, post them


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## Krellic (Aug 7, 2002)

Looking forward to it, so far, so good...


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## Caliber (Aug 7, 2002)

If this is the prologue I am wondering what the actual story will be. Did you play all of this out? Or was it a more RP style prologue?


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## Horacio (Aug 7, 2002)

We did played it, indeed. In all its bloody glory...


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## Maldur (Aug 8, 2002)

hehe, the old-lady asian version of Yoda 

Great story so far!

Horacio, post more!


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## Dougal DeKree (Aug 8, 2002)

*GREAT UPDATE! (TM)*

Hey, nice start, Horacio! How about calling one of your evil Villains Sepulchrave? and his Clone could be Sepulchrave II 

Cheers!

Dougal DeKree, retired gnomish Illusionist


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## Horacio (Aug 8, 2002)

Maldur: Yes, it was interpreted like a mixture between an assian female version of yoda and Jacky Chan. Really hilarious.
Dougal, thanks for the praise. My villain's name, by the moment, is still a secret 

And, in order to finish the prologue, let's post 

*G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron*

*Prologue, part 4*

I knew I was going to die. He slowly turned the gun, my gun, and pointed to me. "I was going to give you a quick death, but you have shot me. It hurts, and I hate pain...", he said. And, with tyhat horrible smile still on his face, he shot me, twice. I felt the bullets ripe my chair, I felt more pain that I knew it could be feel. I was dying, slowly an painfully. And he was smiling, enjoying my pain. 

_See annexe for a full report on these supposed wounds._

I was slipping into a blessed unconsciousness when I heard a loud "Kiiiiiiiiiiaaaaa!" and saw the old dame hitting _Red Hair Mark_ in the head with her broom and knocked back him. Then I also heard the noise of reinforcements arriving, and I think he heard it too, because he stood up, and this time without smile, insulted us and dissapeared again. 

I don't remember anything more, until I woke up in the hospital. I know I shouldn't be alive. I should be dead, as Kyle, I should be with him. His last two shots were lethal, I know anatomy enough to know it. Why? Why am I live while Kyle is dead? Why? Why me?

_Agent Sanders' speech became a sob and we decided to conclude the report. We recomend to place her under a post-traumatic psychological treatment as soon as possible._







_Annexe to Agent Sanders' report, by Dr. Rubistein_

When the patient arrived to the hospital, she was unconscious. We took her to the emergency room and we observed one not very serious bullet wound in the abdomen. We proceded to extract the bullet and sew the wound, and placed the patient in the post-operatory room until next morning.

We found no traces of the other two alleged bullet wounds. We can only assume that the criminal failed boths shots, and the patient's brain, already under heavy trauma because of her wound and the horrible circunstances of her partner's death, imagined those wounds.






*End of Prologue*


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## Broccli_Head (Aug 8, 2002)

That was a kinda freaky prologue. 

Wondering whether those two bullets were "induced" by the bad guys. 

Can't wait to see the GARS in action to combat this threat to city security.


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## Horacio (Aug 8, 2002)

Well, the funny thing is that the GARS are a Rescue Squad, they are not supposed to go after "threats to city security", and even if the players really hat _Red Hair Mark_ and would love to go after him with their parahumn characters, the Mayor has another point of view, as you will see in next update.

In fact, it was that the aim of the prologue, to make them hate the bad guy, but without letting them to go after him... by now


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## Caliber (Aug 8, 2002)

Lol! That is truly an evil plan. I certainly never would have suspected it out of you! Good job, Horacio.


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## Maldur (Aug 9, 2002)

Good way of setting the mood 

Im eagerly awaiting the first installment


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## threshel (Aug 9, 2002)

*Awesome!*

I love that prologue!  It's a great way to do those scenes in comics books that the heroes aren't present for, but that set things up for the reader.

Kudos!


J


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## Horacio (Aug 9, 2002)

Caliber: It was an evil plan, of course. You can learn many dirty tricks reading the Story Hour forum 

Maldur: here you have the first scene of the adventure. Sadly, there is no action... yet 

threshel: Thanks! It was my idea with the prologue, giving that sense of comic-book but without having to read them a background page, having them live that background. And it worked! 

Today's update:


G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 1, the calling*

It was a beautiful morning in G.A.R.S. Manor, the headquaters of the most famous (the only) parahuman rescue team in the East Coast. Well, calling it 'manor' was either a poetic hyperbole (if you listen to Dandy, who had invented the name) or a bad joke (in Blueskin's own words), because it was a small two stories house in the south corner of Pudence Island, in Golden Apple Bay. The upper floor was the appartment of Dandy and Rubbergirl, while the lower had some chairs and desks, a good computer with a fast internet connexion and a coffee machine. We are forgetting here the underground training facilities and the small hidden heliport near the cliff, but since they are not relevant to our story and not known by the general public, it doesn't matter for this tale.

It was 8 a.m.. Dandy had taken a shower and descended intro the ground floor (Rubbergirl was still sleeping, of course, she really hated to wake up before noon), Grenadier and Blueskin had just arrived and were taking a strong coffee, when the emergency phone rang. Dandy, moving at a speed almost too fast for human eyes, ran to the phone. It meant action, and she really needed it, last week had been too quiet. She had even spoken with Mayor Eastroad about helping the Police to find that parahuman who killed two people (one of them a policeman) and wounded another two while escaping from the Hall of Justice, but Mayor Eastroad thought that the GARS shouldn't take the role of policeman, and called for Mr. Miracle, Rhode Island's official crime-fighting parahuman.

_- Golden Apple Rescue Squad, you're speaking with Dandy..._
_- Here Mayor Eastroad. It seems there is a task for the GARS..._
_- WOOOOOOOHHHHOO!!! Guys, we have a job to do!_






The task sounded interesting. Two days before, a plane carring some archeological pieces from Pararoa Island, in the South Pacific, to GAU (Golden Apple University), dissapeared over the Rocky Mountains in the middle of an unusually strong ray storm. Last communication with the plane was a call for help (_"We have been reached by a ray, we're going down. Mayday, mayday!"_). Helicopters were deployed next morning, but the bad methereological conditions and the difficult geography of the crash area didn't let them approach. It seemed a perfect task for the GARS.

Dandy flew to the upper floor to wake up Rubbergirl, who wasn't very pleased, and Grenadier and Blueskin donned their spandex uniforms, that were stored in a small closet because even if they didn't have a secret ID _(Grenadier's identity was public, and Blueskin... who can you hope to mantain a secret identity if you are a 6'4'' blue-skinned girl with glowing green-eyes?)_, they didn't walk on the street in their colourful uniforms to go to the supermarket or do the laundry. 

Fifteen minutes later, a big helicopter from the GAPD arrived to a hidden heliport near GARS Manor, and our heroes began their most disturbing adventure... by the moment.







Next one this tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## FullTinCan (Aug 9, 2002)

Excellent introduction.  I really like the mechanism of using the prologue to evoke emotions in the players/characters, but then not allowing them to do anything about the prologue because "a higher power" won't let them.

Hopefully this emotion won't erode away too quickly!


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## Caliber (Aug 9, 2002)

Great update! The plane crash idea is great. I wonder what those mysterious archaeoligical samples are ...


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## Lela (Aug 9, 2002)

Wow, after that prolog, I'm not sure how PG rated this thread really is,   but I still love it.  Keep it coming.


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 10, 2002)

Excellent story hour.  I'm normally not a fan of 'supers' storys/comics/RPGs, but this storyhour rocks!  I especially like the prologue.  I'll have to use that technique on my players sometime...

My penance is complete, Horacio  

(But I really do like the storyhour...)


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## Jarval (Aug 10, 2002)

Good stuff so far Horacio!  Looking forwards to the next update.


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## Horacio (Aug 11, 2002)

Well, people, just played today the third session, and things got nasty for the party. 

Tomorrow I'll post next update, _Scene 2, arrival_, a scene where Dandy learnt the consecuences of being impulsive...


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## Crothian (Aug 11, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *Well, people, just played today the third session, and things got nasty for the party.
> 
> Tomorrow I'll post next update, Scene 2, arrival, a scene where Dandy learnt the consecuences of being impulsive... *




Told you I'd read this and post after the game.  First, this is the first Story Hour I've read, and it's pretty good.  I wish I knew a little more about the heroes book you are using, but I think i can follow pretty well without it.  

So far, so good.


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## Supers-freak (Aug 11, 2002)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Told you I'd read this and post after the game.  First, this is the first Story Hour I've read, and it's pretty good.  I wish I knew a little more about the heroes book you are using, but I think i can follow pretty well without it.
> 
> So far, so good.   *




It's a good book.  Why not buy it, eh Crothian?  You can buy it from Natural d20 Press.


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## Crothian (Aug 12, 2002)

Supers-freak said:
			
		

> *
> 
> It's a good book.  Why not buy it, eh Crothian?  You can buy it from Natural d20 Press. *




I can't justify buying a book I won't be using anytime soon.  In the past 6 months I've really scaled back on buying any RPG books.  I haven't been running, been playing, so I find I have less desire for many of the books.  THat and I've never been a big supers genre fan.


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## denmstrsn (Aug 12, 2002)

I feel like Rubbergirl all the time.  If I had the chance, I'd still be in bed right now.


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## Horacio (Aug 12, 2002)

Answering my faithful readers 

denmstrsn: Me too, I would love to sleep until noon everyday.

Crothian: I'm very honoured to be the writer of the first story hour you've read. Now you have begun, you can choose another story hour and read it too  I hope you will continue with us.

Supers- freak: Good advise, very good advise!

Jarval: Thanks for the praise!

Bob Aberton: Your penance has been fulfilled 

Lela: Was it too violent? Too graphic? You still liked it, didn't you?

Caliber: Let me explain something. The city known as Golden Apple, in the first version of this adventure, was going to be called Miskatonic...

FullTinCan: You can be sure, they will hate Red Hair Mark a bit more every day.


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## Horacio (Aug 12, 2002)

And now, the update 

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 2, arrival*

RG: _- Why don't we have a GARSJet like Sentinels have their Flying Justice? I really hate helicopters..._
D:  _- Oh, shut up, Rubbergirl! You've already said that five times in the last ten minutes..._
BS: _- If she don't close up her mouth, I'll solve her problem. I will push her out with my fist!_
RG: _- Are you trying to scare me, you overgrown blue monster?_
G:  _- Children, be quiet! We have still some hour in this helicopter and I don't want to die from headache!_

After several hours of conversations like that one, the helicopter arrived to the Rocky Mountains area where the plane dissapeared. The emergency transponder from the missing plane was located under them, in a 5 km radius, but the abrupt geography didn't allowed to locate it more precisely.  There was a rather heavy storm over the region, and the helicopter couldn't descend, so they had to find a way for going down. 

D:  _- It's seems I'm going to be a flying taxi once more..._

The first one was Rubbergirl. As usual, as soon as Dandy left her on the ground se created a soft rubber cushion as landing pad, and soon the two others were landed by a rather tired Dandy.

D:  _- I knew I should have been asked for more flying guys for the team..._







It rained a lot, and even if Rubbergirl made them a sort of rubber coats, they were soon all dump and unconfortable. It was almost twilight. Grenadier throwed small energy balls like flares to light the path. Dandy hoovered over the group, using a portable transponder to try to locate the plane's one. Blueskin was on the head of the party, cleaning the way, throwing casually aside big rocks and broken trees.

They walked for one hour, and there was already full night when one of Grenadier's flares let them see the plane. Dandy darted foward at inhuman speed, while the other ran towars the plane. It seemed the pilot had succeded in an emergency landed, because the airplane was mostly in one piece. It had a huge hole on the right side, and both wings were broken, but the cockpit looked intact. When the others arrived, Dandy flew out of the hole in the side with a puzzled look in her pretty face.

D:  _- It's empty! No pilot, no cargo!_

It wasn't going to be a simple mission...

G:  _- What's that noise?_
RG: _- What noise?_
G:  _- I hear a "tic tac tic tac"_
BS: _- Dandy, did you touch enything?_
D:  _- Oh oh oh..._
G:  _- Rubbergirl, quick, make a protective screen! Go, people, it's a bomb!_

They suspected the tic-tac was a bomb, so they acted fast. Rubbergirl deployed a rubber screen between the group fleeing route and the plane, and everybody began to run from the crash site. Dandy took again the role of flying taxy and carried Rubbergirl some 100 yards farther. But before she could return to take the others, the bomb explosed and the area near the plane was engulfed in a fire ball. Blueskin, knowing that Grenadier couldn't survive to such an explosion, took and threw him with her mighty strength, sending it near Rubbergirl and Dandy, just before she was engulfed in the fiereball too.

RG: _- Blueskin! Nooooooo!!!!_






Next one tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome, so please, write something


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## Lela (Aug 13, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> Lela: Was it too violent? Too graphic? You still liked it, didn't you?
> *




Na, just a joke on my part.  And yes, I loved it.  Putting the logo in between sections is an amazing choice.  Reminds me of the old Batman serries, I can even hear the music when I see it.

Wonderful.

I'm just glad Blueskin has some damage reduction, I'd hate to loose someone in the very first mission.


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## Horacio (Aug 13, 2002)

Lela: Glad you liked the logo thing, I am fairly proud of it. It reminds me old Batman series too, and the Superfirends cartoon. I loved Superfriends...

Next update  :


G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 3, Seeking for clues*

RG: _- Blueskin! Nooooooo!!!!_

Nobody could have survived that explosion, they were sure they had lost Blueskin. But when the smoke dissipated, they saw a shadow walking difficulty towards them. It was Blueskin. Her usually blue skin was black and scorched, her clothes were destroyed _(besides the typical comicbook-like indestructible strategically placed rags to mantain this story PG-13)_, her hair and eyebows burnt. She walked with a heavy limp, and seemed near collapse, but she was alive.

BS: _- Don't worry, guys, I only need some minutes of rest_

And it was true, because a minute later her skin began to look less scorched, her hair began to regrow and the open wound in her leg closed. Five miutes later, she was like usual... with a lot less clothes, of course, but Rubbergirl repaired ir creating for her a superb neoprene-like grey swimsuit.

RG: _-I'd wish I could color my creations, I would leave this hero nonsense and create fashion..._






The group returned to the former crash site, now a big burned patch in the mountain. But this time, following Grenadier's expert advise, they were precautious. Dandy hoovered over the trees, seeking for potential threats, while Grenadier threw a burst of energy balls in the hope of inutilising or at least fire other possible traps. Rubbergirl prepared to make a fast shield if neccesary, and Blueskin simply tore off a big tree and took the _big quaterstaff_ hoping to use it against the head of the bastard who set the bomb trap. She was really pissed off. Nothing waited for them now, besides a lot of fragments of scorched steel, ashes and burned trees. It seemed that somebody was too interested in erasing any possible clue. So the groups debated what to do.

RG: _- We should leave this job to a crime-fighting team, Dandy. This is no more a rescue mission..._
BS: _- Somebody tried to kill us, Sillygirl, and he ruined my costume. I won't let him go before I hit him in the head with my stick!_
G:  _- Technically the girl has reason, it isn't our task anymore, and you know it, but..._
D:  _- But I'm not going to let anybody think he can hurt the GARS and going on. Let's solve the mistery, guys!_
RG: _- O.K., let's do it, but I don't think it's a good idea..._
BS: _- Dandy, give her a Scooby Snack if she quit whinning!_






According to Dandy's report, the plane was empty. That meant the cargo had dissapeared. And another question raised, why the bomb?

RG: _- Becaus ethey wanted to kill us, of course!_
G:  _- I don't think so... I think they didn't want us to find something._
D:  _- But it was empty! _
G:  _- Are you sure? You only were inside five seconds, are you sure it wasn't anything you could have missed?_
D:  _- Well... I..._
G:  _- So did I think._

But if the had moved all the cargo, they should have left a trail (at least if they haven't taken it by air, but our heroes didn't want to consider such eventuality), so they could find it outside the scorched explosion. They began to search for clues. They spent two hours, using Grenadier's makeshift energy flares to lit the scene, until Rubbergirl found an interesting thing.

RG: _- Guys... I think I've found something, you should come here. Quickly!_
BS: _- The little girl is scared, Dandy, go to confort her._

Half a second latter, Dandy landed near her girlfriend, while she stooped and vomited. Because under a tree, five hundreeds feet from the crash site, there was a dead body. A dead body with a hand size hole in the skull and a absolutly terrorized grimace in the face. Dandy vomited too while the others arrived.

Grenadier, more used to nasty things like that because of his extense military experience, examined the copse. The cause of the death seemed horribly clear: the brain of the death man has dissapeared, probably extracted by the big hole in the skull. One thing was sure, the man wasn't a crew member, they had seen the photos of the crew while travelling to the site. Greanadier seek in the copse's clothes and found a wallet with an ID card and a key card of a read motel, the Eighteenwheels Haven. Dandy used her radio to call the helicopter, but it couldn't come for them until first morning lights, so they decided to return to the crash site and rest there.

RG: _- So what are we doing now, guys?_
D:  _- It seems we're going to the Eighteenwheels Haven, Rubbergirl._
RG: _- (sigh) So we're not passing the whole affair to the police, aren't we?_

(no answer)

G:  _- I don't like it, people. It was almost too easy, finding the key in the copse's wallet and all that. I don't like it._
BS: _- It's a trap, guys, we all realize it, don't we?_
D:  _- So what do you propose?_
BS: _- To follow the clue, of course._

So they did.






Next one this tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Supers-freak (Aug 13, 2002)

You're Frnech, or Spanish?  Your English is pretty good, and you do a good job telling the story.  The players sound pretty fun, and I'm digging the game, but hey, write faster!



  See, I now know why you're always out there commenting on all the story-hours.  It's because no single storyhour ever gets updated fast enough.


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## Caliber (Aug 13, 2002)

Using a tree as a quaterstaff. Its classic super-hero. I love it. 

Great update.


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## Krellic (Aug 13, 2002)

Good stuff, consider yourself harangued for an update.  Ah, sweet irony...


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## fenzer (Aug 14, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Half a second latter, Dandy landed near her girlfriend, while she stooped and vomited. Because under a tree, five hundreeds feet from the crash site, there was a dead body. A dead body with a hand size hole in the skull and a absolutly terrorized grimace in the face. Dandy vomited too while the others arrived.
> *




I had to read this twice.  The idea of a hand sized hole in a skull is cause for pause.  

Great work Horacio.


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## Horacio (Aug 14, 2002)

Oh! 
The bumper gets bumped 
Thanks a lot, people!

fenzer: Glad you liked the image, I tried to do it as graphic as possible 

Krellic: Yes, ironic and funny. Here you have your update!

Caliber: I've been reading comic book since I was a little child, and I've always oved when a super takes something giant and uses it as a weapon. Lamp posts, trees, gas pipes, everything can the used as clubs or quaterstaffs...

Supers-freak: I'm Spanish but I live in France. Thanks for the compliment about my English. I hope it is true and I'm not doing too many mistakes...

And now, the update


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## Horacio (Aug 14, 2002)

From today, in combat updates I'm going to try to post small maps of the fighting, to help everybody to visualize it. I think a  four-color map can give a better comic book flavour to te story hour, so I took my Paint Shop Pro and here you have the result. Please, tell me what do you think.


G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 4, First fight, part 1*

The helicopter arrived as promised, and after a bit of "flying taxi" work, they were all in the chopper. Then Dandy used her charming persuasion to convince the pilot to carry them there without asking for authorisation, and the helicopter began to fly towards the Eighteenwheels Haven motel, which turned to be at some fifty miles from the crash site. While traveling, they put some civilian clothes over their spandex uniform, they didn't want to attract attention before the right moment. The pilot left them at 1 mile of the motel, with another of Dandy's flying taxy landing.

D:  _(rather fatigued) - Now it's sure, after this mission, I'm going to ask for at least a pair of flying member for the GARS!_






Our four heroes arrived to the motel. It was a rather typical road motel, with a reception building and an L-shaped rooms building. The card-key was for room 012, the farthest from the reception. So our heroes, still in street clothes (Blueskin was wearing a trenchcoat, gloves and a wide hat... in August!), went to the far corner of the building. There were some cars parked outside, and as the GARS weren't very perceptive, so they didn't notice the four shadows hidden beneath some of them. When they arrived to the door, Blueskin advanced to open it and Rubbergirl went near her to display a protective screen if neccesary, while Grenadier covered both of them with ready force ball in the hand and Dandy prepared to fly if someone tried to flee.

Then the bad guys appeared. They were Red Hair Mark, the ruthless police killer as the TV called him, and three mishappen men with guns. Only Grenadier, with his extensive military training, spotted the menace. He tried to warn the others, but they weren't unprepared and couldn't react.












Red Hair Mark had recognized the sexy girl behind the group, she was Dandy, the rich girl turned parahuman paladin. So they were the GARS. He had hope they would send a professional group of heroes behind him, not these children... _Tant pire!_ It was going to be easier... They hadn't seen him and his henchmen, that was good. He lift his gun and cried _"Now!_.

Only the boy seemed to react. It had to be Grenadier, the ex-military, of course. That green beret training. It didn't matter. He chose to fire at Dandy, she was supposedly very fast and he didn't liked surprises. The girl seemed to have an uncanny capacity to react, because even flatfooted as she was, she dodged the first shot. But Red Hair Mark was a professional, and the second shot reached her in the chest. His gun wasn't a normal one, it was a nice energy gun, and a heavy electric shock shaked the girl's body, who fell on the ground. One less.

Then that man, Grenadier, extended his arm and a glowing ball of energy, nor bigger than a golf ball, flew gracefully towards the farthest of his henchmen. The poor stupid tried to react, but he was to slow and the ball touched him, and explosed in a bright energy flash. The henchmen dropped without a word. The two other thugs acted next, firing their guns agains the slim braided girl near the door (she had to be Rubbergirl, of course). The first one failed, but the second touched Rubbergilr in the shoulder. The girl screamed as the electricity ran through her veins, but she didn't fell.

Now the surprise factor had ended, and it seemed it hadn't be too good for Mark's side... but one of the dammed heoroes has fallen and they didn't know the ace he had in his sleeve.







Your comments are always welcome!

For next one, tomorrow I go on voyage at Germany and Belgium for ten days. I carry my PC with the story, so as soon as I can find a connexion I will post next update. But I cannot promise when. Tomorrow I don't think so. Friday or Saturday, almost sure.

I count on you to keep it in the first page. If you do that, next update will be double


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## Greg Dickens (Aug 14, 2002)

Bribing us for bumps how shameful. 

Yet I like it.


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## Someone (Aug 14, 2002)

I´ve deduced already the whole story.

There´s an Ilithid city right under the Rocky Mountains, and they have _Charmed_ Red Hair Mark and given him a _Cloak of the Mountebank_. Probably, they have a plan to _Charm_ the President as well and then... Dominate the World!!!


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## Ancalagon (Aug 14, 2002)

Nice begining for an epic hero story!

Oh, by the way, natural rubber is sort of amber colored isn't it?

Ancalagon


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## Horacio (Aug 15, 2002)

Ancanlagon: (with my best Star Trek pseudo-scientific attitude  ) while natural rubber may be amber coloured, Rubbergirl's "rubber" is not natural one, it's a graylish rubber-like psionic substance with similar phisical propieties. 

Someone: Hey, it's not polite to discover my plot!  (lucky you were _mostly_ wrong)

Fee Fi: Glad you liked it 


A last "Thanks!" before going in Germany for 10 days. Either tomorrow or on Saturday I'll go to  an internet cafe with my updates in a CD ans post a double one. And from them, I'll try to keep with the daily update. Thanks again for reading it!

Until then...


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## RangerWickett (Aug 16, 2002)

You're rocking, Horacio.  But I won't be truly content until I see one of the characters actually use a giant weapon or object in combat.  

Enjoy your trip.


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## Gideon (Aug 16, 2002)

*not ilithids*

See all you have to do is exchange squid headed humanoids with two small laboratory mice, one is a genius the other's insane.


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## Lela (Aug 16, 2002)

Someone said:
			
		

> *I´ve deduced already the whole story.
> 
> There´s an Ilithid city right under the Rocky Mountains, and they have Charmed Red Hair Mark and given him a Cloak of the Mountebank. Probably, they have a plan to Charm the President as well and then... Dominate the World!!! *




Hmmmm, _Dominate World_, a new Epic spell by Someone. 

Wow, I forgot about that Fast Healing for BS.  I think I like the Quick'n bouncy combined with that for a super character.  I alwasy thought that Spiderman's bouncyness was invaluable to a modern day hero.


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## Horacio (Aug 18, 2002)

Wow, people, it has been difficult, but now I'm connected. I hate German keyboards! 

If you wanted to see giant object used as weapons, you are lucky today 

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 4, First fight, part 2*

Rubbergirl surmounted the pain as the last electric sparks left her body. Dandy was there, still convulsing under the effects of the energy bolt, maybe dying. With a anguished look in her face, she jumped towards her beloved and deployed a protective rubber screen between they and the bad guys. Dandy was alive, stunned but alive.











_Oh, merde!_ That silly girl had placed some grayish mess between him and her, and it protected the fallen flying girl too. Well, now he had only two targets to choose. According to his sources, the other woman (Blueskin was called, he believed) was very very strong and rather tough, but he thought Grenadier to be way more dangerous, because the man was an ex-soldier, he knew how to fight. So Red Hair Mark pointed his gun against Grenadier and shoot twice. Mark saw the ex-soldier suffer intense pain, but he didn't drop. Apparently he was a tough one, _tant pire!_






Grenadier felt the pain as the shots hit him, but he overcame it. Red Hair Mark was the biggest menace, but the other two misshapen thugs couldn't be ignored, so he prepared on of his biggest force grenades and threw it against them. Bingo! With a great force explosion, both foes were projected against the wall, and only one of them stood up, rather unstably. 

G:  _- Blueskin, the red haired clown is yours!_
BS: _- O.K., let's party!_

And with a chilling cry, Blueskin darted towards Red Hair Mark, jumping over the parked cars, and when she arrived, she lift her right arm and depiste the faible defense attempt, she punched his jaw with a mighty hook. The poor guy was propulsed against the window of a room and crossed it, landing in the empty room, bleeding copiously.

The remaining thug looked rather nervous. His misshapen body tembled as he raised his gun and tried to shoot Grenadier, but he failed again.






Red Hair Mark's trie to stand up. Ouch! That hurt! That dammed chick was strong. It seemed he had to use his hidden ace... He dived under cover, and cried out loud: "_Reinforcements now!_"

G:  _- Oh, ! maybe we have a problem, Blueskin..._
BS: _- Let them come, I will smash their ugly heads too!_

They heard a loud noise as the door of three rooms opened and a group of ten of these ugly men ran out. The carried not handguns but heavy weapons, Grenadier recognized five M16, two grenade launchers and three double barreled shotguns.

RG: _- We must get out of here! Dandy is wounded!_
G:  _- I know! I know! Quickly, when I open the door, run inside!_
BS: _- We aren't fleeing, are we?_
G:  _- Call it strategic retreatif you prefer, but the girls aren't prepared to face that!_

And withour further hesitation, Grenadier thew a heav force ball against the room's door, that was projected inside the room. A second later, Rubbergirl took Dandy and run inside, where she found two bonded figures with pilot uniforms, and several wooden boxes. She quickly placed Dandy and herself in full cover behind the wall.

But Blueskin didn't believed in fleeing, so she ran against the remaining surviving thug and tooking him from the collar, threw him against the incoming foes, as in a living bowling game. The flying thug impacted against one of the grenade launcher's guys and both of them fell on the ground. One out of ten, she had never been good at bowling...








Next one when I'll find another connexion 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Lela (Aug 19, 2002)

*Annoying 12-year-old voice*

_"Blueskin's in trouble, Blueskin's in trouble!"_


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 19, 2002)

Excellent update.

I'll admit, I haven't been following the story all tha closely (sorry, Horacio... )

But I'm just as able to enjoy a good action-packed update as the next d00d.

I'll follow the GARS more closely in the future.

By the way, Horacio, speaking of updates...

Go here


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## Caliber (Aug 20, 2002)

Looks great Horacio! I have to admit I am jealous of you, with all of these nifty cool battle maps and stuff. 

My story hour is sadly propless.  

Hope to see more updates soon!


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## Jodo Kast (Aug 20, 2002)

Great stuff Horacio, nothing beats giant objects as weapons!  Great battle maps.  Your preparation is admirable.  Must not let my players read this story hour, they will be jealous because they have such a lazy DM!


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## Horacio (Aug 20, 2002)

People, it has been difficult, but now I've found another connected PC, so here is the next update, with more action packed super heroic battles 

Before it, I must say thank you again. I didn't expected such warm comments, I'm very happy now, people, thanks! THANKS!

And the update is here:

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 4, First fight, part 3*







The nine remaining subhuman thugs didn't hesitate, they fired at Blueskin with all their arsenal. Five assault rifles bursts, a grenade (the other grenade launcher was down) and six shotgun shells flew towards the mighty woman. She was mostly lucky, only the grenade launcher, three burst and four shotgun shells hit home. Blueskin was covered with a dense cloud of smoke and explosions. When the smoke dissipated, a teetering Blueskin (again wearing only the "typical comicbook-like indestructible strategically placed rags" (TM) Horacio 2002) looked at them with burning hate... and fell down.

_(Meta gaming note: It meant a lot of damage! 8d6 + 3x2d8 + 4x3d6 = 89 hit points! She dropped from 101 to 12 hp, and I decreted she was stunned for a round)_

Rubbergirl heard the explosions from her hiding, hoping they hadn't killed Grenadier of Blueskin. She couldn't remain there, hidden, while her friends fighted for their lives. So she built a protective rubber refuge around the fallen Dandy (who seemed to be regaining conscience), and went outside, covering herself beneath a car. 






The monster girl had fallen! Well, maybe his men could still win... but he couldn't count on that. He had a mission to do, and even if he would want to remain there and kill those parastupid personally, he feared his boss more than he loved a fight. So Red Hair Mark took a bit of plastic explosive from his pocket and placed it in the wall, near the beds. Then, he set the timer and retreated to the bathroom...






Blueskin had fallen, but at least she still breathed. Grenadier knew he should retire, he doubted he could resist such an attack, but he couldn't leave Blueskin there. So he ran beneath the orange car to use it as cover and thew a big force ball to the incomming group. The ball flew witha nice parabolic trajectory and it impacted the remaining grenade launcher with a bright explosion. The big weapon's guy and two other with assault rifles were down and didn't lift. 

The remaining six thugs seemed a bit demoralized, but didn't surrend. They tried to shoot at booth Rubbergirl and Grenadier, but most of them failed, making big holes in the covering calls. Only Grenadier received two glance shots at the shoulder and arm, but much more was neccesary to kill him. Rubbergirl, seeing that only six foes stood, jumped over the car and landed near them, trying to capture them in a rubber mess. Her maneouver wasn't very succesful, because she only trapped two of them and the others dodged the rubber. 






Next one next time I will find a PC 
Your comments are always welcome! And thanks again!


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## Sammael99 (Aug 20, 2002)

Horacio,

I just found time to read this. Good stuff. 

I just wanted to correct one little language quirk : the expression is "tant pis !" and not "tant pire !" 

Which leads me to the next question : do you play in French, in English or in Spanish ?

I imagine that your wife is one of the female players ?


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## Siridar (Aug 20, 2002)

Woo-hoo! A super(s) story!

Great work and nice maps.


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## Jarval (Aug 20, 2002)

Good stuff Horacio, love the maps 

It seems even superheroes should fear automatic weaponary.  89 points of damage is a lot!


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## Lela (Aug 20, 2002)

89!  Wow.  It's a good thing she had that DR.


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## Sammael99 (Aug 21, 2002)

BTW, Horacio,

I hate you ! Your story hour had more reads in four weeks than mine in six months...

Ah well, I guess I can console myself by saying that mine is the most read French language story hour...


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## PaynAndispare (Aug 22, 2002)

Shameless bumpity bump to the top

weeeee ....


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 25, 2002)

Cool update!

Red Mark makes an awesome villain...


really neat storyhour


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## Horacio (Aug 26, 2002)

Hi again, my friends!

I'm back! In fact, I returned yesterday evening, but I had no time to post until now. Let's begin answering your posts...

Jodo Kast, Caliber, Siridar, Jarval: Thanks! The battle maps I post here are the adventure preparation & story hour version, when we play I use a big battlemat, playmobil figures as miniatures and playmobil objets as props. We must look funny`playing with all those little playmobil people.

Sammael99: Ben, merci pour le correction, mon ami  We play in French, well, mostly in French, because English words and expressions slip into the game frecuently. Since there are some non-Spanish speakers, we don't use Spanish. 

Lela: Blueskin has NO damage resistance, she has only 111 hp and fast healing. But the player runs her like a battletank...

PaynAndispare: Thanks for the bump!

Bob Aberton: Glad you like the story! Yes, Red Hair Mark is a good villain, but he is not THE villain, only a minion...


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## Horacio (Aug 26, 2002)

And for the update... Today a short one, before the climatic end of the fight that leads to new questions. 

Later I'll try to post some photos of Red Hair Mark...


G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 4, First fight, part 4*






Grenadier couldn't believed such stupidity. Sh#t! The girl had placed herself in a very very bad situation and now him should do something to save her pretty butt. Amateurs! He jumped over the car and ran near the silly girl, releasing another force grenade as he ran. This time only one of the free thugs fell (as also did one of the trapped in the rubber mess), still three of them stood menacing.

A very weakened Blueskin woke up painfully. She knew that if she rested some minutes she would heal, but she hadn't some minutes. With a quick glance, she gauged the situation and decided to act. Rubbergirl had messed up, and Grenadier had place himself in a bad possition because of the girl's imprudence...

And there she go, screaming like a hell fiend. She lift a car over her hear, she aimed carefully and she threw the car against the surviving missahpen folks. The car flew wand landed on the target, smashing the bad guys, a parked car and a nearby room in an orgy of noise and destruction. Blueskin smiled pleased.






A sudden explosion coming from the room of Rubbergirl had left Dandy cut Blueskin's smile and almost stopped Rubbergirl's heart. Half the front wall of that room and most of next room's one were reduced to dirt and smoke. And as the smoke dissipated, they saw Red Hair Mark, carrying a wooden box, one of the museum wooden boxes, who ran outside the rooms.

Ignoring completly Red Hair Mark, Rubbergirl darted towards the destroyed room. The shield she had deployed around Dandy hadn't resisted the explosion, but at least it had protected her a bit. In fact, it had almost certainly saved her life, because the rest of the room was completly ravaged. Dandy was grivously wounded, she bled from several wounds, and she had lots of cuts and hematomas, and she needed urgently a doctor, but she was still alive.

Grenadier threw a force ball againt the villain, but this time it failed and Red Hair Mark's smile became even wider.







Thanks again, people! Your comments are always welcome!


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## Jarval (Aug 26, 2002)

*Nice work!*

Woohoo!  She threw a car!  How cool is that? 

Looks like Dandy is in trouble though.  Good update Horacio.


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## Morrus (Aug 26, 2002)

This is still so very, very cool!


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## Horacio (Aug 26, 2002)

Jarval, thanks! I also liked when Blueskin took the car and threw it... and hit. It was very superheroic, a good comic book feeling.

Morrus: If this is cool, it's thanks to you, Ranger Wicket and Nemmerle. I'm very proud you like it, Morrus. 

And here a photo of the villain, Red Hair Mark:






I've taken it with my  digital camera, but it seems I have some problems with the focus. If anybody have any tips on taking photos of playmobil (or minis in general), I'd glady accept them.


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## Lela (Aug 27, 2002)

Coolness.


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## Jarval (Aug 27, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *And here a photo of the villain, Red Hair Mark:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Playmobil minis are just fantastic


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## Horacio (Aug 27, 2002)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Playmobil minis are just fantastic  *




I fully agree 

I'll try to post more (and better) pics later today, after the update


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## Caliber (Aug 27, 2002)

That was great when Blueskin threw the car. 

I like the Playmobil figures.

My group has been using MageKnight figures. I don't know if you have them in France though. They work alright, but have problems fitting in a standard grid.


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## Horacio (Aug 27, 2002)

And let's go with today's update, that finish the first chapter but sets some interesting questions...

G.A.R.S. Chapter 1: Lost old iron

*Scene 4, First fight, part 5*

Blueskin ran towards Red Hair Mark, screaming like an enraged banshee, and tried to hit him witha powerful right hook, but the villain seemed to be protected by some sort of force field, and Blueskin's blow stopped harmeless some inches far from Mark's face. 

Red Hair Mark's evil grim grow again when he lifted his gun and fired at Blueskin. An energy bolt was released from the gun's barrel and hit the woman in the chest, covering her with electric sparks. Blueskin fell on the ground, again. 

_(Meta gaming note: She received 4d6 = 15 hp, leaving her at -2)_

Then he looked at Grenadier and showed him a small remote control. Then he pushed a red button on it, and a spoke to Grenadier.

_It's another bomb, one many times more powerful than the last one. I now you can desactivate it, but you have not too much time. So now you have two options. You can go after me and try to catch me, and then the bomb will explode and a lot of civilians, and maybe some of your friends, will die. Or you can go inside that room, and defuse the bomb, saving all that people, and let me go. La vie est dure, mon ami..._

Grenadier choice was painful but easy. Dandy and Blueskin were out and Rubbergirl was trying to estabilise Dandy. He could try to stop Mark, but he couldn't forget that the mission of the G.A.R.S. was to rescue, not to fight super villains. So, without a word, Grenadier ran into the room, searching for the bomb. 

Red Hair Mark was yet smiling when he left took a car and drove away with the wooden box safely placed in the trunk.







When the emergency services arrived to the fight scene, Grenadier had already defused the bomb while Blueskin (whose wounds were already almost closed) and Rubbergirl tried keep Dandy alive, who was quickly carried to the hospital. Rubbergirl went with her, while Grenadier and Blueskin remained there with the police, who were too busy trying to understand what did it happen.

The police found the dead bodies of the plane's crew in one of the rooms, they both had a fist size hole in the skull and their brain was missing. The copses of the misshapen thugs were decaying at amazing speed, but the police's doctor said it was normal... because they had been dead for at least two weeks. They all also had a big hole in the skull. 

All the wooden boxes for the Musseum were found, besides the one that Red Hair Mark had taken. The Musseum curator said the missing box only had some ritual objects made in the 16th century by the Tatua Island aborigens from meteoric iron. He seemed deeply troubled, and he said he couldn't understand why would anybody kill for such items.






With that, we finish the first and not very succesful adventure of the G.A.R.S.. As any good adventure (I'm not saying this is a good adventure, only that all good adventure do that ), the end raises many unanswered questions. 

Why did Red Hair Mark wanted that meteoric iron objects? Who were the dead guys who helped him and how did the walked and fighted if they were dead? Why did they had a hole in the skull and why the other dead guys also had it? How did they force the plane to crash? Who or what did the big hole in the plane? 

Next one tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Jarval (Aug 27, 2002)

*Cool*

Meteoric iron ritual objects?  I doubt he's just collecting them for fun...

Another good update Horacio


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## Caliber (Aug 27, 2002)

Spooky good! Great job!


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 28, 2002)

Ooh...creepy...

Walking dead goons? Ritual objects?  Do I detect a hint of the supernatural? 

The GARS' job just got creepier...

And wait!  Extracted brains?  Do I detect a hint of...Mindflayer?

All around cool update, Horacio


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## Horacio (Aug 28, 2002)

Jarval, Caliber, Bob, thanks!

So let's begin the second chapter...

G.A.R.S. Chapter 2: The anvil

*Interlude*

The room was dark, cold and humid. And it sucked! He really hated this job, but he had no choice... Red Hair Mark tried to get all those negative thoughts out of his mind, the Master could catch them and Mark bet he wouldn't be very pleased. 

He left the wooden box on the ground, inside that silly star painted with chalk, pentagram the Master said it was called. Silly star was easier and more graphic. _Putain, quelle merde de travail!_. But again, he forced himself to erase all the critics from his mind and, kneeling on the ground (he also hated that, but again, he had no choice), concentrated his thoughts.

_- Master... Master... Here you have, the box with the iron objects, as you ordered._

After some unpleasant instants of silence, Mark "heard" in his mind the omnious voice of the Master.

_- Stupid! It was an easy job and you messed it all! You deserve to be punished._

Red Hair Mark felt as if a hundred of needles buried in his brain. Then each nerve of his body began to hurt as if he had jumped on a molten lava pit. Mark screamed in agony while tried to focus his mind.

_- mercy, Master, mercy! I brought you the box, Master, it wasn't my fault if those heroes appeared! mercy!_

As suddenly as it appeared, the pain vanished.

_- Well, you have another chance. But don't fail me now, or you will suffer... Open the box, show me the objects._

Mark opened the box carefully, and took the four iron pices from it. The were cold at touch, way colder than the alreaady cold room. The first one seemed a carved hammer, the second, a ornate ceremonial mask; the third object looked as a two bladed dagger, and the last one was an iron sheet engraved with symbols that seemed to move if Mark tried to fix his eyes on them.

_- Well, well, well... The Hammer of Swartcha, the Mask of the Unnamed One, the dagger of Nyalp and the Ritual of the Thousand Deaths. At last they are mine!_

Mark sighed. Maybe now he could leave, forget this job and the creepy Master, and all his supernatural _conneries_... Too late, he discovered that his folly thoughts have been caught. For a second, his brain hurt again, reminding him who was on charge there.

_- Don't make me regret my mercy, Red Hair Mark. Your mission haven't finished yet. Maybe it won't ever finish. But by now, let's center ourselves in your next task. The Anvil of Stone..._







Next one tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Jarval (Aug 28, 2002)

This "Master" is a very sinister figure.  Who knows what our heroes will face next?  I can't wait to find out


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## RangerWickett (Aug 29, 2002)

Horacio, if you consider it impolite, my apologies, but I just thought I should correct a little of your English.  I think you meant 'pity'--meaning kindness and sympathy--instead of 'piety'--meaning religious feeling.

This is an interesting turn we have here.  I still love that she threw the car, and I realize that I forgot to give good easy rules for throwing things and people through walls.

How are the rules working out for you?  Any complaints or suggestions?


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## Horacio (Aug 29, 2002)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> *Horacio, if you consider it impolite, my apologies, but I just thought I should correct a little of your English.  I think you meant 'pity'--meaning kindness and sympathy--instead of 'piety'--meaning religious feeling.*




I meant 'mercy' but I didn't find the right word. Corriged now 
Thanks a lot!




> *This is an interesting turn we have here.  I still love that she threw the car, and I realize that I forgot to give good easy rules for throwing things and people through walls.
> 
> How are the rules working out for you?  Any complaints or suggestions? *




In this evening's update I will tell you the home rules we used for pushback, wall destruction and stunning


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## Horacio (Aug 30, 2002)

Sorry about missing yesterday's update. Today I'm doing a double update, a brief one now and a longer one, introducing one of the two new G.A.R.S. members later.

G.A.R.S. Chapter 2: The anvil

*Interlude 2: New recruits*

While Dandy was recovering at the hospital, Grenadier took the leadership of the G.A.R.S. His first action was to go to the Mayor's office and ask for two more members for the team. Knowing how important good publucity was for the Mayor, Grenadier tried to press on that side...

G:_- Imagine, Mr. Eastroad, the horrible repercusions of that news, "Golden Apple's parahuman team wiped out during a rescue mission by a known villain". Well, this time we survived, but Dandy is still in the hospital, and Blueskin nearly died... twice._

After some deliberations, the Mayor agreed. The G.A.R.S. team was officially enlarged to six people, and an advertisement for parahuman wanting to join the most famous parahuman rescue team was broadcasted in all major newspapers and TV stations. The selection process was quick and clean, and according with Dandy's request, the two new members were required to be able to fly, and that left out a great deal of potential heroes. After some tests and careful reading of candidates' _curricula_, the two new members were officially chosen: Adam Rupperts a.k.a. Grav and Ellen Stuart a.k.a. Tikey






Later today I'll post Grav's stats and story...

Your comments are always welcome!


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## Someone (Aug 30, 2002)

Everybody wants to play that campaing, eh?


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## RangerWickett (Aug 30, 2002)

Horacio, do your players read this storyhour, or is it safe for us to give you evil ideas to spring on them?


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## Jarval (Aug 30, 2002)

Grav I'm guessing has powers to do with gravity, and Tikey has telekinetic ones.  Am I right (or even close)?


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## Someone (Aug 30, 2002)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *Grav I'm guessing has powers to do with gravity, and Tikey has telekinetic ones.  Am I right (or even close)? *




That would explain their flying powers. Grav could negate his own gravity and Tikey lift herself.


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## Horacio (Aug 31, 2002)

Someone said:
			
		

> *
> 
> That would explain their flying powers. Grav could negate his own gravity and Tikey lift herself. *




Wow, people, you did it!
Exactly 

But it wasn't so difficult 

So let's post Mr. Grav...

G.A.R.S. Chapter 2: The anvil

*Grav*





Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Grav, 4th/5th level Fighter/Hero*

Adam Rupperts was born in 1976 in a small country in the Middle East. His parents worked as engineers for an American oil company, and almost each other year they were transfered to another small working camp in another small country in the Persian Gulf region. Adam's childhood was fairly unconventional, he assisted to the small camp schools with other children, sons and daughters of the company workers, and lived in a small enclosed world where the camp fences represented the final frontier. By his ten years, he knew a lot about oil extraction and oil pipelines, and a lot less about going to the cinema or playing in the street with other children. But he was happy, he liked mechanics, he loved sitting near the working men in the oil wells and watching them doing their job.

When he was eighteen, after some problematics years while the Gulf War, when his family was tranfered to a safer post on a platform in the North Sea, he discovered his parahuman potential. At first, it seemed only some odd ocurrences, objects that felt when he walked near them, people that tripped and so on. But things went worse, and a night, while diputing with his parents, Adam felt his rage manifest physically when his parents were pushed back by an invisible force and flew againts the room walls. After the situation calmed, Adam and his parents realised he was a parahuman, and not in fully control of his powers. His parents talked with their bosses and the company offered Adam a full training program in a leading parahuman institute in change for two years of service for the company. He agreed, of course.

Two years later, Adam had developped his parahuman capacities to a high degree. It seemed that his powers were connected with an inconscious manipulation of gravitational forces, and he learnt to use them to fly, to push objects and to deflect incoming objects. Like the institute primary formed future mercenary or security parahumans, he also learnt a lot of combat techniques and military training. After working four years for the company first as security man and next as rescue operative, in August 2002 Adam applied for a post in the G.A.R.S. First his prior experience and his capacities, he was quickly chosen as one of the two new members of the team.

*Stats*

*Grav, 4th/5th level Fighter/Hero, *
Male human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 4d10 + 5d4 + 9; hp: 48; Init +6 (+6 Dex); Spd 40 ft (30 base + 10 superspeed); AC 16 (+6 Dex); BAB +6/+1; Attack +6/+1 melee (varies), +12/+7 ranged (varies) or +12 ranged (deflector blast, 1d6 + push); SA Super powers; AL NG; Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +3; Str 11, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 11.

Skills and Feats: Knowledge (security) +4(1+3), Profession (engineering) +4(1+3), Move Silently +9(6+3), Search +4(1+3), Spot +4(1+3), Swim +3(0+3); Dodge, Expertise, Power Attack, Mobility, Point Blank Shoot, Precise Shoot, Shot On the Run, Weapon Focus (deflector blast), Armor Proficiency (any), Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Proficiency (martial weapons).

Posessions: Typical for a middle class citizen.

Hero Points: 40.

*Attack, pushing (deflector blast) (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. Can emit  blast of force that pushes people and objects Base rank 2. Close range (2 ranks), Medium range (1 rank),  Long range (1 rank), Increased pushing x3 (6 ranks).

*Flight (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. Can fly with good manueverability. Base rank 8. Poor to normal manueverability (2 ranks), Normal to good manueverability (2 ranks).

*Heightened Dextery (12 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Dextery. Base rank 3. Increased effect x3 (9 ranks).

*Shield (9 HrPt)* Innated. Activated. Can create a force shield that gives her +7 AC from a 180 arc and moves when he moves. Base rank 4. Mobile (5 ranks).

*Superspeed (1 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. Base speed +10. Base rank 1. 








*Power description*

*Attack, pushing*

As a standard action, you can emit a ray of force, dealing 1d6 damage and doing a push attack (opposed STR roll) with a strength 10 that, if succesful, knocks back the target 5' for each point the attacker STR roll surpases the defenser roll, striking with a range touch attack, with a range of 10 feet.

*Enhancements:*

Close range (2 ranks)
Medium range (1 rank)
Long range (1 rank)
Increased damage: +1d6 (2 ranks) Multiple
Increased pushing: +2 Str to the push attack (1 rank) Multiple






Next one tomorrow 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Horacio (Aug 31, 2002)

BTW, Ranger Wicket, by now it's safe, so you can spill you evil ideas, they'll be welcome!


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## Jarval (Sep 2, 2002)

So, when do we get stats for Tikey?


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## Horacio (Sep 2, 2002)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *So, when do we get stats for Tikey?  *




Ups...  Ehm...

Yesterday morning the wether was superb in Brest (that's very very unusual) so I took my wife and children and went on excursion... 

Today I will post Tikey stats...


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## Rousing Fox (Sep 2, 2002)

*Bump !*

Just to bump the bumper ! 

Go on, Horacio, this SH is very, very, very addictive (I love superheroes stories).


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## Jarval (Sep 2, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *Yesterday morning the wether was superb in Brest (that's very very unusual) so I took my wife and children and went on excursion... *




Good reason not to post.  Living in England, I know what you mean about rarely getting good weather.  Hope you had a good day out


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## avangel (Sep 4, 2002)

Ok, where can I get the rules for this d20 superhero game?  Did I miss that?!

Great stuff!


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## Horacio (Sep 4, 2002)

avangel said:
			
		

> *Ok, where can I get the rules for this d20 superhero game?  Did I miss that?!
> 
> Great stuff! *




The game is called *Four Color to Fantasy* and it's written by Morrus, Ranger Wickett and Nemerle, and published by Natural 20 press (EN World publishing brand), and you can buy it from the EN World store, of course.

About the update, I'm finishing it right now. Sorry about the awful delay...

If you read these boards, maybe you would have noticed that thanks to a half joke in a thread and a wild combination of silliness and too much creative force, I'm (along with two other board members) now a future d20 publisher. 

Yesterday it was an intense day...


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## Horacio (Sep 4, 2002)

Let's continue with the story, and that means Tikey's stats!

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Tikey, part I*






Drawing done with HeroMachine v2.0 (beta) 

*Tikey, 9th level Hero*

Ellen Stuart childhood was a happy normal one, with loving and caring parents, two brothers and a nice house in a nice small town... at least until the FBI discovered that her parents lived a double life as masked parahuman thieves. When a full PHSWAT squad blasted the door and took her parents away, Ellen's nightmare began.

Her parents were condamned to 15 years at Nohope, in the Death Valley, an unassailable high security prison specially designed for parahuman imprisonment. Ellen and her brother went under the guardianship of the government, and placed in the Parachildren Project, a special orphanage for sons and daughters of parahuman criminals. _(See Note 1)_

The Parachildren Project seemed more a prison than an orphanage. Children were treated like convicts, an punished when they didn't obey the orders fast enough. At least twice a month, children were taken to the Infirmary, a big room where they were subjected to painful experimentations, supposely to help them to develop their potential. Dr. Druekov, the director of the project, always was present in the experimentation sessions. Ellen was seven years old when she arrived, and even if she was very frightened and hated the Infirmary sessions, at least she was with her brothers so didn't suffered too much.

A day, when she was fifteen, her brothers were chosen to join a participate in a new experimental project about parahuman development under stress. Ellen wasn't allowed to join because she hadn't still show trace of any parahuman capacity, she had been label as "failed"and she had to be separed from her parahuman brothers. When the Parachildren Project's guards dragged her away, screaming and crying, Ellen felt it was the last time she saw them. And she was right, because her two brothers and another boy died when one of the tests went wrong. Some weeks after, one of the guards filtered all the information to the press and the government declared the project cancelled and framed Dr. Druekov with murder. The children who had shown parahuman potential were transferred to an Army training camp, and Ellen and the other "failed" children were placed in more conventional institutions. Dr. Druekov dissapeared along with all the tracks of the project's activities.







*Note 1:* In those years (1986) scientists suspected that "parahumanship" can be genitically trasnmitted, so those children had the potential to become parahumans. By placing them in the Parachildren Project intitution, the government thought they could be both studied and raised to become "good" parahumans instead of "bad" ones. But often theories doesn't survive the contact with reality, and that were the case at the orphanage when Dr. Druekov, a former Soviet scientist, was placed at its head. Having worked in the Soviet _Red Parahuman Project_, Dr. Druekov was widely known as an excellent scientist, expert in parahuman physiology and psychology. But he was also a sadist and a fanatic of discipline. The project was cancelled in Automm 1994 after three children died drowned during an underwater experiment.







Your comments are always welcome!


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## Jarval (Sep 5, 2002)

Very interesting background for Tikey.  Have you ever read a book called "Hex" by Rhiannon Lassiter?  The backstory for it shares a bit with Tikey's background.

Look forwards to seeing some stats


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## Jarval (Sep 5, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *If you read these boards, maybe you would have noticed that thanks to a half joke in a thread and a wild combination of silliness and too much creative force, I'm (along with two other board members) now a future d20 publisher.
> 
> Yesterday it was an intense day... *




Must have missed this altogether!  What are you publishing?


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## Someone (Sep 5, 2002)

Seems as if lots of En-worlders are publishing. Congrats!


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## Jarval (Sep 5, 2002)

Bump


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## Horacio (Sep 6, 2002)

Jarval said:
			
		

> *Bump *




Thanks for the bump 

About your questions, I haven't read that "Hex" by Rhiannon Lassiter, I didn't ever know  Rhiannon Lassiter.

About my publishing venture, two fellow EN Worlders and me have the bizarre idea of staring a d20 company, _Two Euros and a Yank(2e&1Y)_, and begin to prepare our first product, _2E&1Y's Guide to Fiendish Stout_. 

Next update in a few hours


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## Horacio (Sep 6, 2002)

O.K., it was almost 24 hours  

Now here Tikey's stats, and a cool D) new power for 4CTF... 

*G.A.R.S. cast*

*Tikey, part II*

Some weeks after Ellen arrived to _Orson Powers' Home for Orphan Children_, bizarre incidents began to muddle the daily life of the institution. Objects that fell down without anybody pushing them, bizarre noises came from empty rooms and so on. Soon enough, a common denominator was found in all the incidents: Ellen was near. Mr. Powers, having been informed of Ellen's story, called the Parahuman Section of the FBI, and asked for a complete investigation. 

Luckily for her, Ellen heard in her head all the conversation. She didn't know how, but sometimes for the last few weeks, when she walked near a person she could hear his thoughts. And she clearly heard the director's call to the governement's agents. She didn't want to return to a special center like the _Parachildren Project_, and she wouldn't do it. That night Ellen evaded.

Since then, Ellen lived on her own, always moving along. It wasn't easy for her, a teenager alone, pursued by the FBI (at least, she believed she was pursed), without money or friends. But she survived, she learnt to use her powers to get money and dodge problems, she moved every few weeks, when somebody began to ask too many questions about her. Some baby-sitting here, some petty thefs there, some small jobs in next town. She had a knack to feel danger, she knew when it was time to take her baggage and move on.

Ellen lived that life for five years, without education or formal training, but her parahuman capacities developed from contant use, and eventually she even learnt to levitate or cover herself with a protective force field. By Summer 2001, she felt it was time to stop of hiding and fleeing, she took the identity of Tikey and searched for a parahuman job. She joined the Ohio Watchers, a small parahuman team, but she never truely liked it. In Summer 2002, she saw the advertisement for a post in the G.A.R.S., and she applied. Some weeks later, she was the sixth member of the famous rescue team.

Officially, Tikey's powers are telekinetically-based. Her telepathic abilities are unknown to the public or even to her new colleages in the G.A.R.S.. Ellen knows that telepathy is widely fear and mistrusted, and she doesn't want to suffer that estigma. Ellen has also a very strict moral code about telepathy, and she would never useher powers against an unaware or unwilling person.

*Stats*

Female human; CR 9; Medium-size humanoid (human); HD 9d4 + 9; hp: 34; Init +15 (+1 Dex + 4 Improved initiative); Spd 30 ft; AC 11 (+1 Dex); BAB +4; Attack +3 melee (varies) or +5 ranged (varies); SA Super powers; AL NG; Fort +4 (+3 base +1 Con), Ref +4 (+3 base +1 Dex), Will +12 (+3 base +5 Wis + 4 Height. Will); Str 9, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 21, Cha 17.

Skills and Feats: Bluff +6(3+3), Diplomacy +6(3+3), Perform +6(3+3), Swim +2(-1+3); Improved initiative,  Weapon Proficiency (simple weapons).

Posessions: Typical for a middle class citizen.

Hero Points: 72.

*Force field (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. See description under Tikey's stats. Base rank 2. Increased hardness x4 (4 ranks), Increased hit points x2 (4 ranks), Increased radius x1 (2 ranks).

*Heightened Charisma (2 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +2 Charisma. Base rank 2.

*Heightened Will (4 HrPt)*  Innated. Persistent. +4 Will saves. Base rank 1. Increased effect x3 (3 ranks).

*Heightened Wisdom (8 HrPt):* Innated. Persistent. +8 Wisdom. Base rank 2. Increased effect x3.

*Telekinesis (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. As a standard action, Tikey move an object at up to 190 feets away, at a speed of 30 feet per round, with an effective Strength score of 20. An unwilling taget can resist with a Will save (DC 22). Base rank 2. Minor Str. (1 rank), Moderate Str. (1 rank), High Str. x2 (6 ranks), Increased speed x1 (1 rank), Medium range(1 rank).

*Telepathic Communication (10 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. As a standard action, Tikey can send silent message to someone up to 9 miles away (even if she do not have line of sight with the target). An unwilling taget can resist with a Will save (DC 20). Base rank 5. Medium range(1 rank), Long range (1 rank), Extreme range (1 rank), Line of thought (2 ranks).

*Telepathic Scan (12 HrPt):* Innated. Activated. As a standard action, Tikey can hear the surface
thoughts of any creature she can see, up to 760 ft away. The target is always aware of the scan attempt. An unwilling taget can resist with a Will save (DC 20). Base rank 11. Medium range(1 rank), Long range (1 rank), Miscellaneus restriction: target is always aware of the scan attempt (-1 rank).






*New power: Force field*

Base rank: 2

You can creat a protective field around yourself. The field has a hardness of 1 and 5 hit point. Any succesfull attack directed to you hit the field instead. If the field arrives to 0 hp, it vanished and you must do a Will Save (DC 10 + field's hp/5 + field's hardness/2) or be stunned fot 1d6 rounds, and the field cannot be activated again until restored to at least half its original hp. When not activated, the field restores hp at 1hp/round.

*Enhancements:*

Increased radius: you can extend your field and cover everibody in an sphere of +5 ft (2 ranks) Multiple
Increased hardness: field's hardness increases by +1 (1 rank) Multiple
Increased hit points: field's hp increases by +4 (2 rank) Multiple
Increased restore speed: field's hp restores at +1 hp/round (2 rank) Multiple






Your comments are always welcome!


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## Someone (Sep 6, 2002)

The force field power seems to be really poweful. She can cover the entire group while they blast the enemy for, at the very least, one or two rounds. 

But hey, very interesting character.


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## Teflon Billy (Sep 7, 2002)

Nice stuff Horacio

You've inpired me to do a story hour.

I wish I had your utility with graphics


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## Horacio (Sep 9, 2002)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Nice stuff Horacio
> 
> You've inpired me to do a story hour.
> 
> I wish I had your utility with graphics *




Thanks a lot, Teflon Billy!

The utility for graphics is simply Paint Shop Pro. You can donwload a fully functional version for free. But, since it not specefic for maps, you will have to spend a bit of time drawing basic things (like the cars on my maps )


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## Horacio (Sep 11, 2002)

And now let's begin the second adventure 

G.A.R.S. Chapter 2: The Anvil

*Scene 1, First day at work...*

D:  _- So you're the new ones... Welcome to the team, guys._

The two new recruits arrived to G.A.R.S. Manor at 8 a.m., in full hero uniform, waiting to find an ultramodern building. The look of their faces when they saw the "Manor" and the other three G.A.R.S. members in civilian clothes taking coffee was so amusant that even Blueskin laughted.

Soon after, Dandy shown all the complex to Grav and Tikey, including the somewhat secret underground training facilities and the small hidden heliport near the cliff. They were given a desk, and computer with fast internet and a coffee mug, and their first day at work began quietly.






_11:32 a.m._

The group was training in the underground facilities, in a great room that Dandy had called Danger Room (she thought it was a very original name ). They had simulated an accident where a school bus had crashed over a bridge against a truck transporting nuclear waste, and both vehicles were going to fall in a river. The flying capacities of the two new members proved to be very useful to the team, Tikey used her telekinesis to lift the "damaged" waste barrels from the truck without touching them, and to put them in sealed containers while Dandy and Grav took the children out of the bus. The others did also a good job, Rubbergirl tied the bus to the pillar of the bridge with some rubber ropes to give time to the fliers,  Blueskin took some lampposts and used them to leverage the truck while Tikey took the barrels, and Grenadier explosed the closed cabin door to rescue the truck driver. In some ten minutes the situation was under control. No victims, no damage.

D:  _- Now, guys, a five minutes break, and then we must redo it, this time under eight minutes!_






_1:47 p.m._

The group was lunching at the nearby Harold's when Dandy mobil phone began to ring.

D: _- Yes, Mr. Eastroad, we will we there under fifteen minutes!_

It seemed that a cargo ship from South America had suffered some kind of accident that put them in danger, including a uncontrolled fire on board. The ship cargo included some hundred tons of chemical waste to be recycled in an US site, and if that waste finished under the sea the ecological damage would be irreversible. The Coast Guard had been called, but someone in the ship had shot them with high caliber weapons and they couldn't approach. It was clearly a work for the G.A.R.S.! The ran to the Manor and donned their uniforms. An helicopter waited from them in the small heliport, they were going to be carried to one Coast Guard ship that they would use as operation HQ.

D: _- Another helicopter trip... I begin to hate these things._







Next one this soon. Very soon. 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Arwen (Sep 12, 2002)

Hehehe!

Dandy's player arrived!

Horacio has talked sooooo much about the story hour he was writting that I thought it was time to come back to EN World and read it 

While he has changed/edited some minor things (like ommiting the non-Eric's-gramma-approved phrases I said when Dandy dropped in the first round of the first combat... ) the story is fairly faithful to the gaming sessions.


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## RangerWickett (Sep 12, 2002)

Arwen, if you don't mind me asking, do you have any concerns or complaints about the supers rules?  I was one of the authors of the book, so I'd like to hear your criticisms, if you have any.


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## Arwen (Sep 13, 2002)

Well, RW, there was a thing that puzzled us in the first session: there are no pushback rules. You can hit supervillains, but you cannot send them flying across the street...

We houseruled it for the second session, but it would be nice having official FCTF rules about it. Maybe in that big book of powers?


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## Lela (Sep 13, 2002)

Arwen said:
			
		

> *Well, RW, there was a thing that puzzled us in the first session: there are no pushback rules. You can hit supervillains, but you cannot send them flying across the street...
> 
> We houseruled it for the second session, but it would be nice having official FCTF rules about it. Maybe in that big book of powers? *




You can't throw the villen back?  And you can't be thrown back yourself?!?  You gotta fix that RW.  That's a must if I ever decide to buy a Supers game.


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## RangerWickett (Sep 14, 2002)

D'ah!  I originally thought a Bull Rush would cover this, but then I realized that for you to move someone really far with a Bull Rush, you have to follow them.

After thinking on it for about half an hour, I realize that it's a fairly difficult ability to model properly.  I'll work on it this weekend, and post it on this thread by Monday.


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## Horacio (Sep 14, 2002)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> *D'ah!  I originally thought a Bull Rush would cover this, but then I realized that for you to move someone really far with a Bull Rush, you have to follow them.
> 
> After thinking on it for about half an hour, I realize that it's a fairly difficult ability to model properly.  I'll work on it this weekend, and post it on this thread by Monday. *




And I'll post our house rules, and they we'll compare them, o.k.? 

Seriously, RW, it's a very very minor problem in one of the best d20 products I've bought.


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## Lela (Sep 14, 2002)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *
> 
> And I'll post our house rules, and they we'll compare them, o.k.?
> 
> Seriously, RW, it's a very very minor problem in one of the best d20 products I've bought. *




Shhhhh!  He's going to fix it!!  Don't tell him until he's already done so!!!  And always use increasing amounts of exclamation points after every sentence you type!!!!


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## fenzer (Sep 14, 2002)

Thanks you, Horacio, for a great story hour.  Keep it up!!!!!!! (It that too many?)


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## MDSnowman (Sep 19, 2002)

*Pushing Attacks*

The way I'm thinking of it the whole pushing/bull rush effect can be handled with a super feat I was thinking something like this.

Launch 'em (sorry for the name, I've been reading too much Darwin's world recently  )

Prerequisites: 7+ Ranks in either Attack Energy (Force), Attack, Burst (Force), or 30+ effective strength for purposes of lifting

Effect: Either your force attacks, or your unarmed attacks (depending on what prerequisite you met) automaticlly initate a bull rush (as per the PHB) with either a strength of 10+the number of ranks you have in your force attack, or your effective strength -10. Unlike a normal bull rush you do not travel with your foe with a successful roll. If the bull rushed foe hits a solid object they take 1d6 points of damage for every 20ft that they have travel before hitting the object.


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## RangerWickett (Sep 21, 2002)

This is still in the testing phase, and it might be too complicated.  Tell me what you think:

*Knock-back.*
As a standard action, you may attempt a knock-back, similar to a bull rush, in which you use the force of your blow to knock an opponent backward or to the side, without having to pursue him.  Though great strength is usually required to knock an opponent back like this, you must consciously choose to knock your foe back, regardless of your strength, since most hits do not provide enough thrusting power in a single direction to move your foe much.

First, determine your effective Strength for the purposes of lifting, carrying, and throwing.  For most characters, this will simply be their normal Strength score, but if you are a size other than Medium, or if you have the Mighty Lifting or Super Strength super powers, this number will be different.  The super powers’ entries describe how they modify your effective Strength, but use the following table to determine how different sizes affect lifting capacity.

Fine: -15 to effective Strength.
Diminutive:  -10 to effective Strength.
Tiny:  -5 to effective Strength.
Small:  -2 to effective Strength.
Medium-size:  No modifier to effective Strength.
Large:  +5 to effective Strength.
Huge:  +10 to effective Strength.
Gargantuan:  +15 to effective Strength.
Colossal:  +20 to effective Strength.

Thus, Zidi Wheatling, the “Halfling Titan,” has an effective Strength for lifting and throwing of 48 (base of 23, +15 from Mighty Lifting, +12 from Super Strength., -2 from being Small).  A typical gold dragon has an effective Strength of 67 (base of 47, +20 for being Colossal).  This gives Zidi an effective Strength bonus of +19, and the dragon an effective Strength bonus of +28. 

*Making a Knock-back Attack:*  You must declare a knock-back before you make your attack roll.  Note that making a knock-back is a standard action in itself, so it cannot be made during a full attack action.  Make your attack roll as normal, but if you hit, do not add your Strength modifier to your damage, since most of the force is being used to push back, not injure.

Then, make a Strength check, using your effective Strength for lifting, carrying, and throwing, as determined above.  The DC of this Strength check depends on the size of your target.

Fine: DC 4.
Diminutive:  DC 8.
Tiny:  DC 12.
Small:  DC 16.
Medium-size:  DC 20.
Large:  DC 24.
Huge:  DC 28.
Gargantuan:  DC 32.
Colossal:  DC 36.

At the game master’s prerogative, the DC may be reduced for creatures that are lighter than their size would suggest, or increased for those that are heavier than average.  A Large iron golem would probably count as a Gargantuan creature because of its immense weight, while a hollow Huge whicker monster might only count as Large for the purposes of moving it.  Also, knock-backs do not work against creatures that are intangible, and the game master may rule that certain types of creatures cannot be knocked back because of their substance or structure.  Air, fire, and water elementals cannot normally be knocked back, nor could a golem made of thin paper, since the mass of the creature is not solid enough to knock-back.

If you beat the DC of the target, you knock it back 5 feet, plus 1 foot for every point by which you succeeded, in the direction you choose.  This direction obviously must be away from you, not toward you.  You may choose to hit the target a shorter distance if you want.  To determine how high the target flies, divide the total distance by four; this is the usual height of the target at the apex of its flight.  When the target hits the ground, he takes 1d6 points of impact damage from falling and skidding.

If the target strikes a solid object before it travels its full distance, both it and the object it strikes take 1 point of damage for each foot of distance left.  This is in addition to the 1d6 points of damage the opponent takes when he lands.  If this is enough for the target to break through the object, he will keep flying, possibly striking more targets.

*Knock-back Tricks:*  Sometimes you want to do more than just send your foe flying.

If the path of your knock-backed foe travels through the square of another creature, that creature can choose to either try to dodge, or try to stop the flying creature.  If the creature wants to stop the projectile, make an opposed Strength check against that creature, as if with a bull rush, including normal modifiers for size.  Instead of your normal Strength bonus, use the remaining feet in the knocked-back creature’s flight as your bonus.  If the creature succeeds its check, the knocked-back foe lands prone in that square, and takes full damage as if it had struck an inanimate object.  The creature that blocked the flight takes no damage.

If it fails its Strength check, then both creatures fly along the same path as the first one.  The distance they travel is equal to either the amount left in the original creature’s flight, or the amount by which you beat the interposing creature’s Strength check, whichever is less.  Neither one takes any damage until they land or strike a solid surface.

If the creature wants to dodge, it must succeed a Reflex save (DC 10).  If successful, then it avoids the projectile, and the knocked-back creature continues its movement.  If the creature fails its Reflex save, treat it as if it tried to block the flight, and rolled a natural 1 for its Strength check.

You may also try to intentionally use your knock-backed foe as a ranged weapon, trying to deal damage.  After you succeed in the knock-back, make a normal ranged attack roll (usually with a –4 non-proficiency penalty).  Assume that a knocked-back creature has a range increment of 5 ft.  This is not a touch attack, since you could strike and still not deal damage.  If you successfully hit, deal damage the same way as if the hurled foe had struck an inanimate object.  If you beat the touch AC, but not the full AC, the hurled foe takes full damage, but the target you were trying to hit takes none.

If there are creatures in the way of a deliberate ranged attack like this, then they provide a cover bonus to the target’s AC, unless those creatures want to dodge.  Instead of having targets make Reflex saves to dodge in this case, simply assume that since you’re trying to avoid them, and they’re trying to avoid you, they don’t provide cover.

*Example One:*  A slumbering ancient wyrm gold Dragon is awakened when he senses a pair of kobold thieves stealing trinkets from his horde.  Instead of crushing them in his lair and having to clean up the mess, the Dragon follows them until they exit his cave, then strikes, hoping to have some fun and play kobold golf.  He easily succeeds a knock-back attack, and makes his Strength check against DC 16 (since kobolds are small).  He rolls poorly, and gets only a 32, and thus punts the scaly thief 21 feet down the mountainside.  The normal attack, plus the falling damage, easily kills the small brigand.

He chases after the second kobold as it screams and runs for its life, and this time does better, getting a Strength check of 46.  With a pitiful wail, the kobold flies a satisfying 35 feet, and a new Draconic sport is born.

*Example Two:*  While placidly playing with a group of street urchins, Zidi spots a giant Goblin charging the town’s walls.  Her first attack – hurling a wagon at it – doesn’t take it down, and the Goblin is smart enough to send his normal-sized minions in first to soften up the Halfling Titan.  Zidi doesn’t worry much about the small Goblins, but she can’t reach their huge leader, so she adopts new tactics.

With a fierce punch, she tries to knock a Goblin warrior into his leader.  She easily hits, and rolls a 31 for her Strength check, enough to knock the Goblin the 20 feet to his boss.  Unfortunately, there are too many other Goblins in the way, and after flying only 5 feet the hurled Goblin enters the same square as one of his comrades.  The Goblin tries dodge, but fails his Reflex save, and is hit nearly completely off balance.  The two Goblins could continue to fly 15 more feet, but there is one more Goblin right in front of the leader, who loyally tries to block his flying comrades.  Since by this point they only have 5 feet of flight left in them, Zidi only has a +5 bonus to her opposed Strength check, and the Goblin manages to stop the projectiles.  Both the Goblins that were flying take 1d6+5 points of impact damage from the landing, but the Goblin who stopped them is unhurt.

Peturbed, Zidi tries the next best thing the next round, and looks for a good Goblin to throw.

_Next up: guidelines for throwing living creatures!_


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## RangerWickett (Sep 21, 2002)

By the way, since I think we figured that the Hulk has a Strength of 100, he could hit the average person a good 50 feet, easily.  The PHB says that the average masonry wall (which would be equivalent to your normal building today, I guess) has 90 hit points and a hardness of 10, so you couldn't just destroy it with damage in this system.

. . .

However . . . the Strength check DC to break down such a wall would probably be only about 32, so if we make it a Strength check to break through things, instead of damage, it could work.  Fairly easily, in fact.  I seem to recall that, from the Star Wars rulebook, shielded blast doors have a Break Down DC of 60.  So the Hulk might be able to throw someone through a ship's hull.

Blueskin, not being maximized totally for Strength, could knock a person a good 10 feet on a good Knock-back, but usually she could only knock someone back a foot or two.

Oh, and maybe I'd suggest that when you get knocked back, you can make a Reflex save or Tumble check (your choice) with a DC of 5 + the distance traveled.  If you fail, you fall on your back, or face-down.  If you succeed, you manage to keep your balance enough that you land on your feet, and don't take the falling/skidding damage.


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## Horacio (Sep 21, 2002)

RW, I'm very happy you posted these rules in my story hour!

We are going to try them in this afternoon's session, and I'll write the result. At least, they are way more complete than my "houzrulez"


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## RangerWickett (Sep 21, 2002)

Great!  But if you're going to be trying them out, as written you probably won't be able to get much use out of them, since no one in the party is quite yet up to the "Throw them through mountains" level.  If you do use them, though, tell me how you like them.  Do they require too much math, too many rolls, or are they not cool enough.

Actually, I think I'll start a thread on the Nat20 forum about the rules.

But yes, the sooner you get around to putting up more sections on this adventure, the happier I'll be.


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## Horacio (Sep 21, 2002)

Thanks, Ranger Wickett!
For the second adventure we used some additional house rules. By the time this adventure began, I downloaded Green Ronin's _Mutants and Masterminds_ preview. As I've always said, the biggest virtue of _Four-Color to Fantasy_ is being able to merge with any other d20 product. So I added it to the M&Ms preview 

I love the idea of Damage Saving Throw, and I find it very superheroic (if you know what I mean and I think you know ), so we decided to test it in our second G.A.R.S. adventure. We had to do some modifications, but with a bit of common sense and the help of people at GR boards, I think we arrived to a wonderful set of house rules 

A last word about it, it's wonderful how FCTF can be merged with other d20 products. Even merging it with the M&Ms free preview was easy and gave a very good result. Morrus, RW, Nemmerle, you did a wonderful work with FCTF!







G.A.R.S. House Rules

*Damage Saving Throw*

If an attack hits, it either does damage or has a special effect (for some super-powers). The effects of superpowers are given in the power’s description. Damaging attacks have a *Damage bonus*, which determines how much the attack hurts the target. A target hit by a damaging attack must make a *Damage saving throw* to resist the damage. Like any other check, the player rolls 1d20 and adds his *Damage saving throw bonus*. The DC of the check is 15 + the attack’s damage bonus. So the DC for a Damage save against an attack with a damage bonus of +12 is 27 (or 15 + 12). If the Damage saving throw succeeds, the target takes no damage, completely shrugging off the attack. If the Damage save fails, the target takes some damage. How much depends on how badly the save fails.

To calculate the Damage bonus of an attack find the average damage (round down) and make that its damage bonus. For average caculations, each numerical bonus (e.g. +3) remains as is, a d4 becomes +2.5, d6 becomes +3.5, d8 becomes 4.5, d10 becomes +5.5, d12 becomes +6.5 and d20 becomes +10.5. So a 4d6+2 attack has an attack bonus of +16 (3.5x4+2). 

To calculate the Damage Saving Throw bonus, it's Fortitude Saving Throw bonus + Natural Armor Bonus (in this system, natural armor adds to Dam. Save and NOT to AC, this usually results in most monsters being easier to hit, but more difficult to hurt).

If a target’s Damage save fails, he or she takes damage. What sort of damage depends on two things:
the type of attack, and the amount by which the target failed the Damage saving throw. Attacks are divided in stun and lethal. Unarmed attacks, blunt weapons and energy attacks (with some exceptions) cause stun damage, edged or pointy weapons, firearms, claws and teeth and other nasty things cause lethal damage. Once you’ve
determined the damage type, consult the chart below:

DAMAGE TABLE
<TABLE>
<TR><TD>Damage Save…</TD>	<TD>Stun Damage</TD>	<TD>Lethal Damage</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Succeeds</TD>		<TD>No damage</TD>	<TD>No damage</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Fails</TD>		<TD>Hit</TD> 		<TD>Hit</TD>
<TR><TD>Fails by more than 5</TD>	<TD>Stunned</TD>	<TD>Stunned</TD>
<TR><TD>Fails by more than 10</TD>	<TD>Unconscious</TD>	<TD>Disabled</TD>
</TABLE>

* No damage: 
The target shrugs off the attack without any effect.

* Hit: 
The target suffers a minor hit. Every stun hit imposes a –1 modifier on Damage saves against further
stun damage. Every lethal hit imposes a -1 modifier on Damage saves against all forms of damage—both stun
and lethal—since it represents a more serious weakening of the character’s resistance. This penalty is
cumulative with the penalty for stun hits. So a character with 4 stun hits and 3 lethal hits suffers a -7 penalty to Damage saves against stun damage and a -3 penalty to Damage saves against lethal damage.

* Stunned: 
The target takes 1 hit as above and is stunned for 1 round. The character cannot take any actions (including free actions such as sustaining powers) and loses any dodge bonus to Defense. Attackers gain a +2 bonus to hit stunned characters. 

* Unconscious: 
The character is knocked out, effectively helpless. 

* Disabled: 
The character is conscious and able to act but terribly injured. He can take only a half action each
round (either moving or attacking, but not both), and if he performs any strenuous action, his condition changes
to unconscious after the completing the action. Strenuous actions include moving, attacking, or using
any ability that requires physical exertion or mental concentration (including most powers).






These rules are a modified version of OGC rules at the Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds preview. I hope nobody at Green Ronin will be bothered by my use of them here, and if it would be the case, please, contact me.

Next one this soon. Very soon. 
Your comments are always welcome!


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## Bob Aberton (Sep 23, 2002)

Hey, Horacio!

Cool House Rules...I may adapt the knockback one for my campaign...

Oh, and by the way (plug), my storyhour, for the first time in weeks, has been updated.  No one has replied to it, though, and it could use a favorable comment or two...and a good hard *BUMP* as well...(/plug)


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## Caliber (Sep 23, 2002)

Nifty rules Horacio! I haven't read either of the products you are meshing, but it still sounds cool!


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## Corwyn (Sep 26, 2002)

Hee Horacio 

When is the next update ?

If you don't watch out your fans will start showing withdrawal symptoms and you wouldn't want that now would you?


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## Greg Dickens (Oct 3, 2002)

Horacio, Horacio where art thou Horacio?

When is the next update?


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## Lela (Oct 3, 2002)

Fee Fi said:
			
		

> *Horacio, Horacio where art thou Horacio?
> 
> *




Deny thy RL and refuse thy job.


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## Horacio (Oct 4, 2002)

Sorry, sorry 

Real life hit me a bit hard last weeks, I had no time to even run the game. Now the group is playing third adventure, and I'm beginning to write the second one. You'll have lots of updates soon, promised!


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## Bob Aberton (Oct 5, 2002)

Glad to hear that, Horacio!

And, by the way, my storyhour has been updated...it would be honored by a visit from the Storyhour Addict...


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## Corwyn (Oct 20, 2002)

And from the dark recesses of the story hour forum come the great GARS.

Horacio stop reading all those updates and start gaming more.


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## Sniktch (Nov 13, 2002)

Where have you gone, oh Horacio, the readers turn their lonely eyes to you?

You got us hooked on superhero action and now you've abandoned us   Where's that second adventure you promised?


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## Lela (Nov 19, 2002)

A big pink *BUMP*  for you.


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## arwink (Nov 20, 2002)

We stole him for hivemind threads in meta.  But we'll give him back if he promises to update


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## GreyShadow (Dec 19, 2002)

The Hivemind should play more often!  

Bump!


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