Majestic wrote on Dec 28^th, 2010 at 2:29am:


Majestic wrote on Dec 28^th, 2010 at 2:29am:


This set-up a really awesome situation for the group.  One of the player/GMs (Tim) privately met with the player of Portal (James) and let him in on what was going to happen (that this entity Death was going to do a 'body swap' with his PC).  So his actual PC (Portal) was trapped in the body of Death (which was held captive, and thus offscreen and out of the picture) and the character of Death was now inhabiting the body of the superhero Portal!  Very much like one of those silly Disney Freaky Friday movies, or the ST episode where Kirk and Dr. Janet Lester swap bodies.

So James got to play this other character "Death" for something like 6 months, all under the auspices of playing his normal PC (Portal, and with her powers), and of course the whole time Death is reporting back to his master - Dr. Light - about what he is learning by having infiltrated the Guardians.

It was fun for James to play this, and he really enjoyed it (even though for quite a stretch his real PC was not racking up XP like the rest of the team).   

#116 – Class A Thieves – Kodiak tracks some jewelry thieves, and the team sets up a trap at a New York pawnshop.  Crocodile and Kodiak ambush the robbers, who attempt to escape with their loot.  Aided by Portal and Screamer, they capture Time Holder, but Caster and Phase escape.  Surf rescues Turf from an armored car during a transport in Nevada.  Death, in Portal’s body, schemes with Dr. Light at her base.  The mercenary is working for many different organizations: T.O.T.E.M. wants the team alive, Intercrime wants Warp, Force seeks Crocodile, and the Alliance is after Entropy.  Most of them also want to see the Guardians’ platform base destroyed.

#118 – The Parasite – Warp, Portal, Amber, and Kodiak attempt to provide security for the Prime Corporation, a high tech Maryland firm that is being robbed on a regular basis.  They engage in a futile struggle to apprehend the tiny Parasite, who toys with them before departing with more stolen information.  William Wills turns to T.O.T.E.M. to recreate his son.  A bored Motivator, disguising herself as a villain called Mastermind, recruits numerous supervillains.

#119 – Beginning Problems – The Guardians assist C.H.E.S.S. and the world in dealing with the chaos associated with Y2K.  Portal is in high demand, so Crutch aids the team.  Kodiak defeats a winged madman, then he, Crocodile, Crutch, and Amber teleport to stop hostile anarchists with a tank attacking a National Guard armory in Pennsylvania.  Portal calls Crocodile to the platform, which is experiencing electrical problems.  A Russian submarine is hijacked off the Atlantic seaboard, and the god-like old man they had met in the past sends Entropy, Quiasar, and Hematite to deal with it.  They solve the crisis, allowing Quiasar to repay his debt to the near-deity, and Hematite learns that he was brought to this dimension for this very purpose.  Portal (actually Death) catches Crocodile off-guard with a deadly attack.

#120 – Y2K – Portal (in Death’s body) convinces all at C.H.E.S.S. Central of her true identity.  She accompanies Amber, Kodiak, and Crutch to the Guardians base, where they find a massacre.  Screamer has been brutally killed, Warp and Crocodile are incapacitated, and a Hunter-Retriever robot guards hostages.  The heroes battle a T.O.T.E.M. Alpha robot and mercenaries Bandit and Brainmelt on the deck of the platform, the latter two fleeing as midnight approaches.  The vigilantes destroy the Alpha robot and capture Brainmelt, and Crutch detects a bomb.  Shadow Knight, powered by the alien Whist, arrives via a portal and miraculously stops the Hunter-Retriever, then makes it possible for Crutch to retrieve the bomb; Bandit escapes.  Epilogue: Death voluntarily switches bodies back with Portal.

#121 – Another Day in Paradise – Dale Max (Warp) defends a girl at a local video arcade from street thug C-Note, but does not use his powers; he falls after a very long fistfight, but keeps his secret identity intact.  William Wills drops his lawsuit against the Guardians.  Portal, Amber, and Warp do a public appearance, then are called to Georgetown University, where a Dr. Gerald Pontuveac briefs them on a stolen, experimental device called the Atomic Carbonizer.  They track the missing item to a residential section of D.C. where Wrack has just obliterated Mystic; they then witness a rejuvenated G-Force being chased and attacked by the monstrous Bear Claw!  Motivator watches the events unfold from afar, manipulating the players involved for her own amusement.

#123 – The Legion Strikes – One of Motivator’s guards meets the team, which is now joined by Sinder, and leads them to her secret base deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.  Finding that the Tarot Masters organization is also making an assault on the facility, the Guardians avoid being drawn into a three-way battle, letting Tarot agents Death and Empress fall before they storm inside.  The vigilantes engage Motivator, Behemoth, Iron Maiden, and Jack of the Whills in battle, but one of Motivator’s scientists goes crazy, starting the launch procedure on nuclear missiles.  The heroes stop the scientist and the missiles, and take the villains and Dr. Rashim into custody.

#124 – Revenge of the Zarton Team – The pawnshop in New York, where the team had clashed with jewelry thieves six months before, is demolished.  Found among the wreckage is the brutally murdered owner and a message to the Guardians.  C.H.E.S.S. facilities are ravaged, with officials kidnapped and supervillains set free.  Called to help, Lapke, Entropy, Portal, Amber, G-Force, and Sinder are introduced to Mr. Anybody, an investigator on the trail of the criminal Zarton Team.  Mr. Anybody, who hails from the future, and the rest of the group confronts Barbarian, Caster, Time Holder, Phase, Medusa, Meknoid, and Fib at a C.H.E.S.S. base in Delaware, and they are completely demolished by the powerful felons.

#126 – A Little Trip – Dr. Joseph Hugh (Micron), an associate of Crocodile, calls the Guardians to a Miami hospital, where a young boy faces death from a brain tumor.  The scientist shrinks Shadow Knight, Sinder, Portal, Mr. Anybody, Warp, Entropy, and himself to microscopic size, and they enter the body of the sick child.  Inside they find an entire civilization of insect-like beings, and face a moral quandary.  Somebody has to die: either millions of microscopic sentient creatures, or the boy.  Pleading their case dramatically, they persuade the life forms to change their way of life and relocate.  They aid them in the dangerous move, and the boy’s live is spared.  Epilogue: A diplomatic pouch with strange rubbings, apparently from Kodiak in Thailand, arrives for Crocodile.

#127 – In The Beginning – G-Force and Amber go on vacation to upstate New York.  Their car breaks down, and they seek repairs in idyllic Waynesboro.  They are put up at a quaint boarding house, but at night awake to the eerie sight of the entire town gathering at the local church for a rally.  The heroes spy on the meeting, then witness the charismatic leader stab a small girl and apparently heal her.  Brother Angel fires up the crowd into a frenzy and leads them to the edge of town, where they burn a black man out of his house.  The champions intervene, and find themselves opposing paranormals from the cult of the Greater Good: Brother Angel, White Guardian, Corporal Punishment, and 451.  They fight their opponents off, and then G-Force gets out of town quickly while Amber flees into the woods.

#129 – The Gathering of the Flock – Lapke, Amber, and G-Force visit a big rally for the Greater Good at the packed MCI Center.  Brother Angel works the crowd to a fever pitch, but is suddenly challenged by Bishop Fairwell.  After numerous miracles on stage, the Bishop “joins” the Greater Good, changing into Cardinal Rule to the delight of the assembly.  A bound Entropy is brought out as a sacrifice, and the Guardians engage the charlatans in battle, defeating Brother Angel, Pro-Life, White Guardian, and Corporal Punishment.  451 and Cardinal Rule get away, but the heroes, now accompanied by Entropy, raid their New Eden farm complex in New York, capturing Auntie Porn, 451, and many other members of the cult.

#131 – Fantasy Land – While investigating a strange item at a museum, Entropy, Lapke, Portal, G-Force, and Rifleman find themselves suddenly transported to a cabin in the woods.  They soon discover that they are in a strange, medieval world, and that their superpowers are gone. A wild bear attacks them, and Portal bravely incapacitates the beast.  Aggressive soldiers confront the heroes, but are driven off.  The group discovers a passageway beneath the cabin and journeys deep underground.  They are attacked by humanoid creatures called Trangens, and fight their way to safety.

#133 – The Ruined Tower of Mabeleck – The weary travelers are nursed back to health by a kindly old man named Oglor.  He sends the visitors on a quest to retrieve a great gem from a nearby tower, and they enter the ruined remains of the structure.  In the underground chambers they are surprised when Warp magically arrives through a painting.  The heroes journey through the tunnels, slaughter many Orcs, and make their way past many other creatures and traps.  They recover the gem, and as a reward Oglor sends them through a doorway.

That last one was one of the few adventures that I wasn't either a participant or a GM on.  My friend James wanted to run Gamma World, so he took our V&V characters through one session.

I think there's only been twice - in the over 20 years of the campaign - that we've played a game system other than V&V.  Once was this time, and another time one GM converted the characters to Champions and we played that.

This whole little jaunt (the last few issues) was a chance to do something different.  I had the players go into another dimension (a fantasy one) where they lost their superpowers.  Of course, part of the fun in that is trying to find their way home.  It really only lasted four "issues" (and probably that number of game sessions).  The first one I did, then another GM introduced the Dark Elves.  Then I took over again and did "The Ruined Tower of Mabelek" (which was a D&D adventure in a magazine, IIRC), and then my buddy did this last one playing Gamma World.

#136 – Journey to the City of the Earth – Wounded Canadian superhero Raven crashes through a window at Guardians Headquarters and implores the heroes for help against the huge earth monster that attacked his team, the Crimson Guard.  G-Force, Anomaly, Portal, and Entropy travel to the Granville Copper Mine near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border to rescue the superheroes and trapped miners.  The group descends into the mine and successfully wards off an assault by the clay-like creature, Gargantua.  Joined by allies Dai Oni and BlueStreak, they journey on and discover enslaved humans toiling for cruel, faerie Slavers.

#138 – An Hour for Terror, A Moment to Die – Six terrorists from the People’s Liberation Army hijack a jet at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.  Dai Oni and BlueStreak respond and attempt to take down the criminals.  One of the offenders has a bomb strapped to him, and in the skirmish it detonates, killing him and BlueStreak.  Dai Oni is able to overpower three of the hijackers, but the leader, Allen Cooper, and one of the other terrorists get away.  New superhero Majestic arrives and barely resuscitates BlueStreak.

#139 – Dar’kness Awakens – Researchers discover strange phenomena at a volcano in the Swiss Alps.  G-Force, Anomaly, Portal, Entropy, BlueStreak, and Dai Oni, along with new ally Majestic and old friend Dr. Desist, are called by C.H.E.S.S. to New York to guard a crystal being transferred to the U.S. from a London museum.  Portal recognizes writing on the gem and quickly travels to her homeland, where her Aunt Pele alerts her that the script is a warning about dangerous beings.  She arrives back just as a solar eclipse takes place, causing the crystal to melt and Dar’kness to be freed from within it.  Warp magically arrives from the dimension he was trapped in and joins the other heroes as they contend with the villain.  Dar’kness teleports away, and the volcano in the Alps erupts.

#141 – ShadowWorks – Dr. Desist, now a high-ranking Rook with C.H.E.S.S., learns from a contact named Patrick Skinner of a secret, illegal government project.  Anomaly, Majestic, Dai Oni, Portal, Warp, G-Force, Entropy, and new hero Dr. Mercury engage in a friendly bowling competition in their civilian identities.  Dr. Desist contacts Entropy with news that he has the codes into the Maryland facility housing the illicit operation.  The group hurries to the secure compound, where inside they are ambushed by shadow duplicates of themselves!  Dr. Desist briefly vanishes with his counterpart, and the others defeat their hostile doppelgangers, which disappear once they are incapacitated.  The team learns that someone set them up in an attempt to destroy them, and that much of the information Dr. Desist had been fed was false.