Ranger wrote on Oct 11^th, 2012 at 10:57pm:


Opps Sorry.. duh. My bad!  Its now Changed.  I  saw Dom's post almost a moment he posted it but refrained from posting to let others go first... already had an idea to break the ambush circle then.  Just thought I'd include your comment as we seemed to be working along the same ideas.. stupid me didn't think...silly that was thought script.

Who has yet to reply?  I think everyone has at least once...

OOC: . . . as he tries to determines any weaknesses the 'robots' might have, Rampart looks over and sees the Ghost seemingly frozen in place. Nudging him into action,  "Don't sweat it kid. We got your back"

Majestic wrote on Oct 16^th, 2012 at 5:20pm:


Dom wanted private declarations?  Thats not what I understod when I posted TB's actions...was I wrong?

I think it's because we had all pretty much all declared our actions earlier.

For myself I plan on following Power Chord's lead after I get Detect Weakness to work on them.

Decision made.

Way too complex a move for a group of individuals who haven't had a chance to work on a "playbook" in my opinion.  I think we miss some good role-playing by assuming guys who have barely shaken hands, let alone developed a real "trust", can pull a maneuver like this.

Just my two cents.

@ Ranger:  Perhaps, but Thunderbolt has already established he fights unconventionally for a basic energy projector!  The first 'team' battle that Thunderbolt, Slik Slander and Stalker had with Anvil, Razor and Haywire... Thunderbolt did just this kind of coordination to great effect.  The bad guys, though professional killers, could not get the better of us and were fought just a little beyond a stalemate.  We inflicted damage on them even though we never took a single hit nor worked as a team together before.

The reason why I'm doing this is to showcase one of the aspects of Thunderbolt's powers that is ...kinda hard to actually quantify in game.  His electric control actually makes him think faster than those around him... not smarter but ..somewhat more creative perhaps... he analyzes things really quickly and comes up with strategies that are... usually unexpected and definitely unconventional.

Does this make him a tactical genius?  No... not so much that just unpredictable.  Not chaotic, just VERY innovative... that is a power that is hard to actually showcase.

As for team familiarity and trust hindering our actions... since none of us is making the combat rolls I just leave it up to Dominic and trust to him to apply whatever 'unfamiliarity' modifiers he deems are appropriate after totaling my bonuses.

I'm sure he will roll the dice and script the results to be fair and cinematic as needed...

This is a Comic book.. we should be doing comic book things! lol!

@ Majestic:  I've been looking for a passing-strike or ramming maneuver int he rules and not found one as yet.  I just assumed it would be a straight-on collision effect... But any suggestions would be helpful!

Lord Inar, Yes our characters don't know this, but that also allows for some great role-playing opportunities. Just my 2 cents.

Hawk wrote on Oct 19^th, 2012 at 7:33pm:


LOL! So would Thunderbolt!

Dude Quit mini-maxing and go enjoy the last little bit of nice weather were having in Indiana.

Out at the park with my dog after church. It's beautiful today

Guys, just a heads up that I talked to Dom a few days ago and he's been slammed at work (working massively long days).

@Thunderbolt: Here's the "ramming" rules we came up with (and have used successfully for years):

Ramming (p. 28)
When one character (or object) rams or smashes into another, it will typically cause damage to both combatants.  This can be done by a character (or vehicle) travelling (running, driving, flying, swimming, etc.) at least 2" towards the target and moving at a speed of at least 40" per turn.  If one object takes knock-back due to the impact (which would often happen to the stationary object), then the ramming character takes only ½ damage.  Roll damage inflicted separately for each object involved (rather than once for both), and apply all applicable defenses as normal (note that it is possible for one character to hit another's defense and still take damage).  Ramming does not require a special roll to hit, provided both of the targets are approximately the same size.  The GM may apply a bonus (or subtraction) of 5-10 for a smaller object attempting to run into a significantly larger target, or vice versa.  Additionally, a large object might require a special attack to strike a much smaller target, and a smaller object might not require a special attack to hit a specific area on a very large target.

Sorry for the delay in responding, but I've been working 70+ hour work weeks, for the past two weeks, and had a three day long National Guard drill (all day Fri, Sat, Sun), and back to work this morning (I'm scheduled for 72hrs this week, plus Scared Straight), so my schedule has been tight. I'll post my reply on either Wed or Thurs, as those are the only days where I'll really have a chance to do it.

This is All supposition on my part but this is what I see... tactical-wise and indeed a bit meta story-wise.

Dom sent 12 targets after us, none of them is different in any particular way from the others... none 'obviously' their leader, and none of them has identified themselves as anything particularly special or even named whatever organization they all represent.

In comic-books such an introduction might indicate a squad of 'mooks', general trash thugs that the heroes are supposed to thrash pretty handily.  None of them was identified or even looks different from any of the others so... I'd guess no 'officer' or Evil mastermind "lieutenants" among them.   

I'm guessing none of them measures up to us individually - Certainly not as tough as Diesel in power... Dom wants it to be a good fight and not over super-quickly but not be overwhelming or so significantly challenging to expend our hit points before dealing with the main bad guy or uncovering the true mystery of what is truly going on. 

To me these appear to be mob brutes... we're supposed to finish them relatively easily.  I'd expect they are lvl 4 robot minions likely with maybe 50 ADR and possibly 5 pt invulnerability {just to make them last a little longer}.  Dom sent on average 2 per player but not exactly 14 so perhaps they are a slight bit tougher than a full 1 {of us} to 2 {of them} ratio.

I don't think we need to triple team them... duo maybe but more than anything I think we should try to use our abilities in conjunction with each other to multiply the effect of those of us that can only hurt them one at a time.

Take Thunderbolt's current tactic...
He could easily pick up Diesel and wing him around like a wrecking ball completely without any assistance from Rampart... so why include him in the plan?  Because TB can affect multiple things at once... and he does not wish to reveal this to the enemy.. for reasons I'll mention below.  Plus, it gets Rampart involved and the 'Espirit de' Corps' ball rolling.  Getting everyone thinking about how to team up to work to hit as many of the foes at once with an economy of effort.  TB's tactic allows Rampart to multiply the effect of his great strength to hit multiple foes at once and with Diesel's assistance inflict 'hopefully' significant damage upon many on the foe right off the bat... and keep them guessing from what quarter the next attack will come from.  It also keeps any powers we might possess concealed... other than brute force.  TB's tactic allows Rampart and Diesel to operate as a team and strike multiple foes with their great strength instead of one at a time - even if all they do is move about the battlefield clothes-lining multiple foes with the cable and their super-strength; it multiplies their effectiveness!  This leaves Thunderbolt to do what he usually does in a team battle - pull allies out of harm's way, countering a foes efforts with a judicious use of applied magnetic control on one of the many pieces of metal he carries with him... specifically for the purpose of controlling the battlefield and providing support for allies from an unexpected quarter that can't be easily countered or predicted by foes.

How Thunderbolt would use the same strategy to aid other party members would depend upon the bot's response to everyone else's individual actions  But TB would still try to operate in a high-guard capacity using only minimum force needed to defeat, disrupt or counter the enemies tactics.

Now storywise Meta...
The enemy has no idea what we can do so this is likely a probing attack - the minimum amount of response to our intrusion into the area they are seeking to control.  They sent roughly a 2 to 1 force against us; a good standard ratio for optimum tactical advantage with a good chance of success... with out deploying more force than might be needed and drawing more attention than necessary against an unknown foe - as they really seem from their actions to want to remain undetected while they are doing whatever they are doing.

This is the first real encounter with the foe so... storywise it would be bad scripting to intro the big enemies now when the mystery of what is truly going on still remains unknown.

From Thunderbolt's point of view... these 'bots' are here to determine the threat level the 'intruders' represent.  He expects that all that is transpiring here is being monitored by whoever is behind this to see who we are and most importantly WHAT we can do... to analyze our responses so that if the 'bot' force deployed is not enough to defeat and apprehend us... a more specialized force can be sent ready to counter our tactics and abilities.

This is why Thunderbolt did not direct his magnetic powers directly against the bots... and why he would like to refrain from throwing any lightning at them either.  He does not want to show them more than he needs too nor give them an opportunity to get a direct measure of what he can do to report back to their true boss.  He's trying to use minimal force to subdue them... let them think he's a telekinetic... not a electromagnetic controller!

This is of course all just supposition on my part... but it seems logical.  Its what I'd do if I were the GM.

My 2 cents.  lol!

Hey guys, I'm hoping you won't take this the wrong way.

And perhaps I'm completely wrong, as I've done very little PBEM or PBP before.  But I've read through lots of it, and my understanding is that it should work similarly to tabletop gameplay.

And at the table, if my players talk about "meta" stuff like this, either at the table (or if I caught them talking like that in the other room or via email), then they'd probably face some sort of penalty.  I don't even know, because I've rarely seen it occur, to be honest.  We (somewhat jokingly) always go by the rule that - if somebody else suggests doing something (out of character) - then that action can't be done!  And we usualy stick to that (so it's really not a joke, though we keep it lighthearted and aren't always super strict with it).

So if somebody goes "Ooh, you should grab him and swing him around and throw him into that light tower", then the one thing that character can't do is just that.  He can do pretty much anything else he can think of.  Just not grabbing the villain, swining him around, and then hurling him into the light tower.  That might seem a bit strict, but it's just the way our group has evolved to keep 'out of character' talk to a minimum.

Our logic is that (to use this PBP as an example), if the other characters don't know what Ghost can do (offensively), then how are they suddenly going to be able to alter their tactics to accomodate knowledge that their characters don't have?  It's really a role-playing issue.  If Iron Man and Captain America suddenly meet each other for the first time, Cap doesn't get to instantly know all about Iron Man and everything regarding how his armor works!  Nor does he (tactically) know everything about what he does and what maneuvers would work best between the two of them.

Now don't get me wrong, we do a LOT of out of character talking, joking, etc. during a session.  And I think that is all a big part of the fun of an RPG.  But we keep that OOC talk to stuff that has nothing to do with the game itself.  If somebody starts talking about stuff that is OOC regarding the game (like in the middle of a battle), it's viewed (more or less) as cheating.  They get immediately reminded by the other players, so it puts a stop to it. 

Not trying to be a stick in the mud or Mr. Grumpypants here, but I think that (especially) newer characters - that don't know each other - shouldn't be able to work out tactics with each other in the middle of a battle.  In an after-action report or evaluation?  Absolutely.  Once they've drilled and practiced together?  That makes sense.  But right now, when most are fairly unfamiliar with each other?  I think they should be played that way (as Ranger said earlier), with very little communication or understanding of what each other can do.

Hopefully you guys get where I'm coming from.  And if it's the norm for this type of game and all of the players and the GM are cool with it, then that's fine (and I'll adapt).  But if we're trying to roleplay these characters, then some of the fun of introducing a new character (like how Ghost showed up), is the fun of finding everything out.  There was some mistrust.  Will Ghost join in with the heroes during the fight?  Or perhaps he was sent by the same people that sent the robots, and will launch an offensive assault on the other PCs!  Only time will tell.   

Grumpy pants.    Point taken brother.

Rest assured, Rampart will IC his tactical analysis. Preferably outwardly if given an opportunity. If not, then at least as a thought ballon. 

Majestic wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2012 at 6:13pm:


I sort of buy this, but with a game like V&V one thing that's hard to fake is being smart. Diesel is actually a hell of a lot smarter than I am (hard to comprehend really) so time dilation and suggestions to mull over a best plan of attack/response are actually in keeping with a character of high intelligence.

I'll stick with my old maxim "No GM ever asked me to punch him to show how strong my character is"