Mutants & Masterminds: My previous campaign logs.

Charm City Campaign: Mutants & Masterminds

Charm City Overview:

So that you don’t start reading the campaign logs from my Mutants & Masterminds campaign totally blind I am offering a little information to help set the tone and give readers a feel for the world and the characters.

THE PCs: All PL10

Alchemy – Alec Holgate. A scientist and mutant. Transmutation due to nanotech infusion combined with absorption and some other talents.

Themis – Helen Troya. Named for a Greek titan. Powers of flight, super strength, and the ability to temporarily steal the powers of others.

Shield – Peter Evans. Wealthy sponsor of the team’s financial needs. A speedster and powerful empathic healer. Able to regenerate.

Dr. Prometheus – The real Prometheus of myth. An immortal, and a wielder of cosmic power.

Pagan – Aya Cade. Precognitive/Postcognitive, telepath.

At some later point I will post character sheets for the PCs. I gave the players the first 3 or 4 sessions to solidify their character information since we’re all getting used to the new system. We’ve only played three sessions so far and I’m only halfway done writing up session #1.

The group is still debating a team name.

THE WORLD

The Charm City campaign takes place in an alternate universe from our own in what in our world would be Baltimore City. Things are a bit different, not just because of the existence of super powered beings, but in other not so obvious ways.

The campaign style is somewhere between 4-color comic and grim & gritty with elements of each extreme mixed in at the appropriate times. Heroes are expected to act the part and not indiscriminately butcher foes or disregard the property of others … but with all things nobody and nothing is perfect.

In the universe of Charm City there are some important setting elements at play in shaping the present world. Those will be detailed below with a discussion of how they affect past and current events. A brief timeline is included to help explain how some events came about.

Metahumans have been around for a long time in many forms. How they get their powers is always a debate, but it is now accepted that these strange abilities have many sources, not a single definable event.

TIMELINE:

1977 – There had been long debate in the United Nations about the involvement of metahumans in the national militaries and thus international conflicts for several years after the end of the Vietnam War. Several incidents involving powered individuals serving in national militaries in numerous locations around the globe were seen as nearly igniting World War III. Over the course of several months the U.N. created and passed a measure designed to defuse the tension.

1978 - The Metahuman Non-Militarization Resolution went into full effect, banning the use of powered individuals in national militaries and authorized heavy economic and potential military sanctions against nations found to be in violation. Use of metahumans in civil law enforcement was left as an exception to the rule. The purpose of the measure was to prevent a metahuman arms race that would rival and maybe exceed the dangers of the nuclear arms race already threatening the globe. A side effect of this measure was that few nations would be willing to authorize a U.N. sponsored team of metahumans, citing national sovereignty issues, thus to date, no sanctioned U.N. team exists.

1980 – An attempt to rescue hostages held in Iran failed. Although never publicly acknowledged, there was some speculation that a metahuman among the ranks of Muslim extremists was to blame. This has mostly been discounted.

1985 – World famous scientist Alburt Tesling put forward his theory that this universe was one of many along strands of universes, much like strands of DNA, issuing from junction universes. The theory postulates that this world is approximately the 19th along a branch strand possibly 24 universes long. Using the Greek alphabet he labeled this universe Tau, and thus this planet Earth Tau or Earth-T.

Later that year he was presumed dead when an implosion occurred at his lab. His lab was permanently sealed by the government and his body was never recovered.

1986 – Public outcry and increasing amounts of litigation in the United States lead to Federal and State governments requiring insurance companies to devise and offer some form of Metahuman Disaster insurance.

The protection is often in the form of additional coverage offered along with home, business, car, and medical insurance. Also insurance is offered to government agencies. A form of liability insurance is offered for metahumans to buy if they choose to cover for their own actions. Only a few are known to have purchased the liability coverage, but there are very active advertising campaigns trying to encourage more powered individuals to do so “for the good of their neighbors and the country”.

Any metahuman organization with an operating headquarters may be required by law to carry liability coverage depending on the laws in the municipality or state in which they operate. Some zoning laws also include clauses concerning such requirements.

1993 – The Libertarian, a powered individual known for his fervent anti-war protesting and espousing of free-love/free drugs in the late 1960’s, gave his life absorbing most of the blast damage from the truck bomb used by terrorists to attack the World Trade Center in New York. He saved thousands of lives with his last heroic act and despite never having been fondly thought of by “the establishment”, was given a funeral with national honors and international television coverage.

He was age 49 and a stock broker at the time of the event.

2001 – September 11th, terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into both towers of the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon. A 4th plane was downed in Pennsylvania before it could strike any buildings. None of the known precognitive metahumans has admitted to pre-knowledge of the event, and no post-cognitive seems to have learned much from any of the debris at the sites.

2002 – October 31st, After two years of work a six story hexagonal black glass tower was completed atop the site of Fort Carroll in the harbor. The property of wealthy industrialist Nathan Alexander Black, this was not only the new headquarters for his businesses, but his home as well. The top floor holds his penthouse. Below the main six floors, in what used to be the fort are 4 more floors below the surface. Tunnels that had been below the fort since before the Civil War have been renovated and a tram-shuttle put in place to move workers to and from the shorelines. At the outset of the project, a number of organizations favoring historical preservation over development had protested and engaged Mr. Black in court battles. He won handily after the primary movers & shakers in the protest group were discovered to be part of a child pornography ring. Support for blocking development evaporated and the project began. To show his understanding for the concern of those whose interest was preserving history, Mr. Black had the first above-ground floor, and his reception lobby arranged as a museum dedicated to the history of Fort Carroll and its builders. Some still scoff at the project referring to it by several derogatory names (Tower of Doom, Dark Tower, Black Fortress, etc).

Nathan Alexander Black is owner and CEO of Modern Idea Company, Inc. which is a conglomerate of smaller companies in numerous fields.

2003 – January 5th, Work is completed on the new headquarters building on Pier 5. The newly formed and as yet unnamed team of heroes begins preparing it for use. Peter Evans the financial sponsor of the new team begins paying liability insurance for all homes, and private businesses within an 8 block radius of the building.

Starting Game Play Date: January 24th 2003

Issue #1: Testing Grounds Part 1

January 24, 2003 9:15am. The morning air was a frigid 9 degrees with winds making it feel near zero. Reports were beginning to pour in over radio and television news sources that a hostage situation was in progress. A two car Light Rail train had been taken over at the Hunt Valley rail stop.

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BREAKING NEWS:

“This is Olivia Earhardt of Channel 12 News reporting live from Hunt Valley. Fifteen minutes ago an unknown number of armed men took control of two Light Rail cars. Police have cordoned off and begun evacuations in the area surrounding the Hunt Valley Light Rail stop. Reports indicate that the train was occupied primarily by elementary school children from York, Pennsylvania on a field trip to visit the National Aquarium in downtown Charm City. Information is limited, but we do have confirmation that paramedics have taken the train’s engineer, identified as Martin Wells, to Shock/Trauma after he was shot and thrown from the lead car. Mr. Wells is reported to be unconscious and in critical condition.”

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Work at the construction site near North Avenue was progressing well despite the deep cold and biting wind. No high work was being done, but Calvert & Son’s Construction Company always made some kind of progress even if it was just preparing for the next part of the job or restocking supplies. Mr. Calvert would have it no other way.

Helen Troya was taking a 100lb crate of rivets from the back of the foreman’s pick-up truck when she heard the radio report through the open truck door. If she flew she could be there in minutes. She knew it wouldn’t take long for her new-found teammates to converge so she excused herself claiming she wasn’t feeling well.

Alec Holgate’s morning started much like any other. He sat scanning the web from a seat in the back of BagelDotCom, a cozy internet café near his small apartment. He put down his still warm coffee and took a long drag on his cigarette. He could feel the tingle in his lungs and throat as the nanotech infusing his body attacked the smoke changing it to oxygen. “All the benefits of nicotine, none of the harmful side effects” he thought. The itching used to drive him to distraction, but now it was second nature, no more scratching at his chest till it bled. Exhaling a puff of fine white smoke with the scent of fresh spring grass, he reached for the marmalade. That’s when he got the news report and knew his day was about to change.

Quickly wrapping the last of his bagel Alec headed out the door. If he was quick he might reach the construction site down the street where he knew Themis worked in her civilian identity.

Thirty students sat wide-eyed and attentive in the lecture hall listening to their unusual philosophy professor talk as if he personally knew Socrates. In fact, Dr. Prometheus did personally know Socrates. When you’re immortal these things are possible.

 This would be a day of interruptions of schedule. An excited student burst through the lecture hall door and breathily announced the breaking news to the class, obviously meaning the information for Dr. Prometheus. Class was ending so the Doctor dismissed everyone and made for his office to check the police scanner he kept there. His thoughts were interrupted when he discovered his office wasn’t empty.

Aya Cade sat perched atop the small desk in the good Doctor’s office in Hopkins University. She had skipped class this morning. Her visions had indicated something important about to happen and she knew better than to ignore her feelings. She had taken a couple of buses to get here from Towson University where she attended school. She would need his abilities to get the team into place to deal with whatever it was that was coming.

“We need to get Themis and Alchemy. They’ll be waiting a block away from the construction site on North Avenue.” She said as his door opened admitting Dr. Prometheus’ silvery clad form. Moments later they were airborne and preparing to teleport. “For someone so young”, Prometheus remarked, “You certainly know how to make an entrance, Pagan.”

9:28am

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BREAKING NEWS:

We now return you to Marshal Stuart of Channel 7 Action News live from the scene of the hostage crisis in Hunt Valley.

“The latest information indicates that numerous demands have been issued by the hostage takers. Among the demands is a request for a new engineer to drive the train uninterrupted to the airport. At that juncture a shuttle bus is expected to be waiting which will transfer the hostages and their captors to a fueled and ready Boeing 747 with only a pilot and co-pilot. Threats have been issued that any deviation from this plan and any interference from authorities or metahumans will result in the death of many of the children being held hostage. Their goal seems to be securing the release of nearly two dozen of the terrorists being held in Cuba by the U.S. military.”

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9:29am

Four heroes have assembled atop the Lifecare Insurance building near the Hunt Valley Light Rail stop where the train sits waiting. Peering cautiously over the edge trying to see into the train without being noticed, the heroes spot a multi-colored rainbow of parasols being pressed against the windows, blocking the interior from clear view.

A lone figure in the uniform of a Mass Transit engineer nervously approaches the lead car along the boarding platform, his hands held above his head.

Pagan reaches out and touches his mind telepathically and reassures him that things will be fine. “I need you to actively think about what you see as you board the train. I’ll be in your mind listening to your thoughts.” She learns his name “Charles Branch” and again assures him things will be okay.

The doors open and a pistol can be seen pointing at the frightened engineer’s head and a voice is heard urging him to get on. Whispering to her teammates Pagan conveys Charles Branch’s thoughts. “Being told to wear blindfold, not to look around. Gun in my face, oh God. Children crying. Please don’t shoot me. Okay, I’m going, can’t see, must be control cabin. Being shoved into chair, told to take off blindfold and get ready to drive. No, I won’t look around I’ll do what you say. Oh God, please don’t shoot me.”

“How many criminals did he notice?” Dr. Prometheus was already weighing plans, but the information didn’t seem promising. Perhaps, he thought, we should wait for the transfer to the shuttle bus at the airport when fewer hostages will be around them.

“One, but he was hustled up front quickly and he’s very scared. I’ll try to slip into the terrorist’s mind” she trailed off as Themis pointed out the terrorist crouching low in the cabin to avoid detection by snipers.

As Pagan began concentrating on plunging into the mind of the terrorist, the rest of the team began planning an assault strategy. Children were at risk and they felt they couldn’t wait for a transfer. Dr. Prometheus had spotted an area just behind the control cabin door where he could teleport the entire team inside to begin the assault.

Hatred, pure unfiltered hatred bolstered by a zealous faith that no matter what, the rewards of Heaven would be his for his devotion and for doing this deed. Pagan felt overwhelmed and in merely an instant, though she felt sure she had reached his subconscious mind, she was pushed out as if a door had been rudely slammed in her face.

[The terrorist made his roll by one to eject her from his mind.]

Gathering their wits the team prepared to teleport just as the train beneath them began to move away from the platform.

SURPRISE ROUND: (note: in the excitement of our first combat, I neglected to hold the surprise round to half actions thus making this a full round for our heroes. There was a slight chance had it been done right that a terrorist might have gotten off a shot in the next full round, but not much chance as you will soon see.)

The slight lurch as the train began forward covered nicely for the entrance of the four heroes. The terrorists, their attention elsewhere, took no notice of the sudden appearance of the costumed individuals.

Alchemy enacted his part of the plan immediately, transmuting a section of the thin control cabin wall from in front of him and rebuilding it in an instant between the engineer and the gun wielding target.

Within a moment Dr. Prometheus had visually identified his next location and teleported into the second car, never seeing the startled look of the would-be martyr who could now see the back of the Doctor’s silvered, billowing cape through the door window that separated the two cars. Nor would he see the look of shock grow as Prometheus blasted another terrorist that he was face to face with whose look of surprise could have served as a mirror image of the thug at his back.

Having stunned his first target, Prometheus took stock of his surroundings. “Two more unengaged, one with a child in his lap, one crouched between benches at the other end of car two!” he loudly exclaimed to his teammates.

Themis wasted no time on the thug in the first car and behind Dr. Prometheus. She leapt into flight, accelerating along the ceiling down the center of the car and burst through into the second car, rushing along to position herself hovering in front of a crouching enemy form.

[She double moved and took a hit of bruising damage when breaking through the walls between the two cars.]

“He has a rifle” she hollered. Noticing the AK-74 on the bench beside him and also noticing another figure, in a trench-coat and hat, hunched and quivering on the end bench nearby.

Pagan reached into the mind of the thug staring wide-eyed at the back of Prometheus, and sent synapses firing wildly. Pain wracked him for an instant until his mind’s reflexive defenses shut everything down. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, unconscious to the floor.

Stepping around Alchemy she looked at her next target, who, a moment ago had been training a pistol on a frightened engineer, but now stared unbelieving at a wall that had not been there.

“Stop the train!” Charles Branch heard the familiar voice say, this time with his ears and not in his mind.

FIRST FULL ROUND:

Not wanting to risk a missed shot striking any of the children behind him, Alchemy focused on the semi-automatic pistol before him. Nanotech emitted a high pitched, nearly inaudible buzz as it turned the metal of the gun to water in seconds and the terrorist’s pants grew wet twice as fast.

Realizing the desperate need to protect the children, Dr. Prometheus drew on his ties to the Power Cosmic and pulled bands of energy around the seated thug to restrain him. To insure no harm came to the child on the man’s lap, Prometheus reached deep within, redoubling his efforts, completely encasing his target in the binding energy.

[ Heroic Surge and two successful snares. ]

The crouching terrorist raised the Ak-74 to take aim at the children along the other side of the car …

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FLASHBACK:

7:32 am Friday January 24th

Aya giggled slightly at the pentagram smiley-face she had drawn on the steamed mirror of her dorm-room shower. “Not enough caffeine yet to make things less than silly” she thought as she went to her closet to dress for a day of classes. She had chosen a very casual look for the day, layered to keep out the cold and to play down her looks. “No need getting hit on this early in the semester.”

“Nine a.m., Hunt Valley Light Rail, Shield, last seat, second car, trouble”. The vision hit her in a flash and was gone like a bolt of lightning. She hated the unreliability, unpredictability, and frequently unexplainable images and flashes of the future she received. She couldn’t always make things turn out for the best, her mother’s death being proof of that.

She grabbed her phone book and a handful of change and made her way to the payphone at the end of the dorm hallway. Nobody was around as she dialed the number.

It had been another long day of meetings that had dragged on into the early hours. Managing his parent’s financial empire was something he had never really given a thought, but here he was fresh from burying both of his parents and already neck-deep into the dirty business of being Chairman of the Board. He loathed it, but his days of irresponsibility had come to a crashing halt and now he was growing up fast.

Looking at his watch, all Peter Evans could think of was a warm shower and a good long day of sleep. He was entitled to it after finalizing the contracts, and besides, Dante could handle anything that didn’t specifically need him this morning. That’s when the cell phone rang. “Worthless, useless, a waste of time” he mumbled, about to toss the phone into the closet and ignore it. Instead, he answered it and found that sleep would have to wait.

“You have to be there, I saw it in a vision.” said the excited female voice from the phone.

“Slow down, I’ve been awake almost 24 hours and I’m not quite fully aware” he replied. “I have to be where, when, and why?”

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ROUND 1 CONTINUED:

The world moved in slow motion as the alcohol scented trench-coat and hat, Shield had traded his good parka and $50 to a homeless man for, gave way to black body suit with silver stripes. What had previously appeared to be a cowering passive drunk was replaced with a blur of motion. Shield reached over the bench seat and struck downward at the terrorist’s head. The impact of the high speed punch slammed the target’s chin against the rifle stock hard, setting it spinning freely in the air as another zealot crumbled to the floor. Catching the rifle effortlessly he smiled at Themis and glanced at the stunned individual standing next to Prometheus.

[ Used a held action. ]

The task was obvious and mop-up would be quick. “One to go in car two” she thought. Themis flew up to the remaining target and punched him hard. Still reeling from the opening blast Dr. Prometheus used to stun him, the thug was knocked off his feet and halfway through the wall of the train car, squarely through what had been a poster encouraging people to “STOP VIOLENT CRIME”.

Looking at the remaining target, Pagan nearly hesitated at the thought that “this one forced me out of his mind”. Instead she poured on the power. The mental blast hammered his synapses and he, like his partners in crime, was now out of the combat. She breathed a sigh of relief as the train halted and Themis called out “Car 2 clear!”

After the hostage takers were securely bound, the team began making last minute checks in preparation for leaving. Shield made a quick sweep for any hidden bombs or weapons, Alchemy went around using his transmutation powers to repair as much of the damage they had done as possible, Dr. Prometheus assured the police the train was secure over the train’s radio, and Themis double-checked the well being of the passengers.

Pagan paused and delved into the mind of another unconscious prisoner. What she found was disturbing and informative. These men had experienced what they thought to be a glimpse and a taste of heaven. A voice and a vision, clouded by the heady smoke of hashish and incense, in a room, surrounded by luxury. Soft cushions, bounteous food, and many young, beautiful women awaiting the whim of command to serve. Brainwashed, but not mind controlled, not in the sense Pagan expected. These zealots were heavily conditioned, using their beliefs to goad them into actions of violence and hatred.

With the police, federal agents, and media converging on the scene, the group made a hasty departure, leaving the spotlight for the real heroes … the average person, doing what it takes to survive.

Two hours later the group met back at their Pier 5 headquarters to debrief over lunch.

Pagan looked out the west terrace windows at the National Aquarium situated on the next two piers. She thought about the school children whose world took a dark turn 3 hours earlier who instead should have been enjoying the wonders of the aquarium, not dealing with fears of armed hate-mongers.

The murmur of conversation behind her was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. She heard snippets of the exchange between Dr. Prometheus and someone she guessed was from the local police department. Obviously it was about the earlier incident.

“Captain Crowley of the Charm City Police Department sends his thanks for our assistance. He said that the investigation and the prisoners are now in the hands of Federal agents.” Prometheus hung up the phone and returned to the table. “The good captain has no questions for us presently, but the Federal investigators might be contacting us later. And of course the media are waiting outside this building hoping to speak to us. I prefer we limit such contact whenever possible.”

“No argument from me.” Alchemy’s years of hiding to avoid notice by the Vigilare organization had made him cautious, paranoid at times. Vigilare were the people responsible for the death of his wife and perhaps even his children. It was during his escape from their labs that he gained his ability to transmute. The injection of nano-tech as a last-ditch effort to protect him and the other escaping scientists had been miraculous for him and some of the others, but even that didn’t save his wife from being gunned down in cold blood. He wanted to know what happened to his children, but his fear held him back. Perhaps building a relationship with these other metahumans would give him the resources and confidence to try to find his children. Meanwhile he preferred to remain as low profile as the situation would allow.

Themis and Shield nodded agreement from across the table as the phone rang again.

Doctor Prometheus answered the call in his usual calm manner using only his name. “Prometheus.”

“We need a team name.” The others at the table turned to face the terrace window where the youngest of them stood outlined by a hazy nimbus of sunlight and dust motes. Pagan could see their facial expressions, their smiles and subtle grins of agreement. “Let’s think on it and see what we can come up with.”

“Anything’s better than having everyone think we’re his lackeys.” Themis thought to herself as she stood up. Excusing herself she remarked “Half a day of work lost with the excuse of not feeling well. That excuse won’t hold up long so I need to get back.”

“One moment please everyone. It seems we’re needed again.” Prometheus put down the phone and looked at the assembled heroes. “The military has lost control of one of their toys and are afraid it might be headed for civilization. They’re afraid of using explosives to stop it and want us to help minimize collateral damage. They’ve dispatched a helicopter from a base in the western part of the state to pick up those of us unable to travel quickly. It should be here in minutes.”

It wasn’t difficult to figure out that even the fastest military chopper would require some time to cover the couple hundred miles of distance from the western reaches of the state to downtown Charm City.

Shield looked up from his coffee. “Nice of them to ask.” His sarcasm wasn’t missed by anyone.

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Further escapades included:

-        Stopping the Army’s 30’ tall renegade Killbot.

-        Stopping a chameleon art thief at the museum, learning that he was working with someone in an abandoned art studio, exploring the location and discovering an old co-worker of Alchemy creating almost exact duplicates of the originals (using nanobot abilities) to be returned to museums while the originals were being sold to a mysterious German buyer. The buyer turned out to be the super villain Refractor (aka the Living Diamond). Defeated him and returned the stolen originals.

-        Stopping a bank robbery being perpetrated by what appeared to be the John Dillinger gang. They were animate wax recreations armed with working Tommy Guns. After defeating the wax minions they investigated and eventually discovered Professor Paraffin (aka the Wax Master) and turned him over to the authorities.

-        Their first real challenge: Facing a previously unknown group of more powerful super villains that outnumbered the group. They not only defeated the villains, they humiliated them. The villains escaped to an alternate earth dimension, but left enough clues for the heroes to discover a connection (Pagan’s post cognitive ability) to the missing and presumed dead, Dr. Alburt Tesling. Breaking into the scientists sealed lab they discovered a dimensional rift and through it they discovered the villains and a living Dr. Alburt Tesling. Tesling was attempting to force a merging of all 24 Earths and through a Wizard of Oz style con job had tricked these otherworld supers into working for him. Revealing the fraud to their previous enemies, they then went after Tesling unopposed. They caught up to him just in time to prevent the merging of worlds and brought the scientist back to their Earth for psychiatric rehabilitation.

Another request from the army to test out a full company of miniaturized 1’ tall killbots. The heroes surprised the military with an incredible display of power quickly eradicating the contingent of machines with only one hero being incapacitated.