#374- Antagonistic Allies - The battle continues, but the Queen and her forces only deal with their Host opponents until Goliath persuades her to honor their agreement for aid. Rune runs into trouble with Israeli security and makes his way back. Scorpio, Cancer, and Aquarius are forced to flee, and attention turns to the new Princess. When she is knocked out, the Queen goes to execute her, but Scion protests. Debate ensues, and the Queen quickly slays the new Princess anyway. Quiasar appears, but the others discern that he is actually a sophisticated android and take it out. A heated exchange follows, and the heroes explain to the aliens that their trust has been violated. The Queen shares that the Princess was a deadly threat that would have never relented. The Guardians explain that humanity’s laws and rules must be respected on Earth. The two sides agree to further dialogue, and make an alliance to aid each other in the future. The Queen and her kind use advanced technology to sterilize the cavern to remove any contaminants. The group travels back to Alaska and the aliens depart. Oscar Standish, watching from a nearby tree, is found to have been spying on the entire mission. They learn that he has an amazing innate understanding of technology, and agree to utilize him as a future ally.

Some pictures from the first part of our most recent adventure.  Here's the rock formations the team found themselves on.

I think the red d4 represented Headhunter's belt.

Quiasar struggles against a monster (actually an illusion created by Mirage), while an invisible Compass and Witness face off with the Silent One.

We played a pretty pivotal and impactful session last night.  The GM had a couple of curve balls thrown at him that he never expected (especially by my PC Compass):

#377 – The Darkest Deal – The team rests and recuperates, and the next day they face Force of Change in a live match held in a coliseum.  Josh Dev’roe, Obituary, Nightmare, Samhain, and Malefactor utilize areas of darkness and decimate the heroes.  Scion drops, and the other adversaries seem almost impossible to harm.  Concerned that Scion may be dead, Compass turns visible and volunteers himself as a sacrifice to the Demon Prince of Nightmares, as long as the others are spared.  Quiasar offers himself as well, but Dev’roe accepts only Compass’ offer.  Force of Change are declared the victors, Compass goes unconscious, and all are teleported out of the arena.  Back in their quarters, Scion demands that the Gentleman get ahold of Dev’roe, but he smugly refuses.  Scion slugs the man, then wraps him up, but he escapes and teleports away.  The group returns to the U.S. via the Guardian Angel.  Over the next few days, Scion implores Congress to pressure the U.N. Security Council to place an embargo on New Babylon.  A week later, Compass is located in a mental health facility in Idaho.  Tormented by nightmares, he has little memory since he disappeared.  He is seen by many experts, including the Queen of C.H.E.S.S. and the Elderess, and it is learned that undoing the demonic soul-bound nightmare curse will require negotiating with or destroying the Demon Prince of Nightmares.  The U.N. levies economic sanctions and a complete embargo on New Babylon for providing a safe haven to terrorists.   Enigma ventures into the ocean to seek answers.  Epilogue: Malefactor resurrects the greatest hero from each nation that was slain two years prior.

A picture from "Wing and a Prayer":

In the 23 years of our campaign, we've used V&V as the game system for 99% of the games.  But every once in a while we play the same campaign/characters with another game, just to mix things up.  One GM ran us in Champions once, and another did Marvel Saga another time.  This time, I converted the PCs to Marvel Heroic and did an adventure with that system.

For this one, I started out in media res.  The PCs found themselves alongside a bunch of strangers in a small room.  All told there were nine men, two women, and a cat.  Nobody really remembered how they got there, but they did know who they were.  A few of them recognized each other, but the other strangers were people they'd never seen before.

I then did a flashback, telling the PCs how they'd arrived in that small room.

One of the PCs (a security head for a large corporation) called the others to Guatemala, where there had been some trouble at one of their facilities.  A resurrected superhero was causing mischief and mayhem, aided by undead Mayan soldiers.  The heroes tracked her down in a small jungle clearing.

We now return to the game world (where we'd began; actually I'd had the transformations of the strange people in that room happen right before the flashback to Guatemala).

In an industrial warehouse, the heroes squared off with (and felt an urge to competitively beat) six iconic heroes from DC and Marvel: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Hulk!

Another fun moment happened when Scion turned invisible, made his way up onto the catwalk where the Dark Knight crouched in darkness, and stole Batman's utility belt!

Rune (now a grizzly) leapt up on boxes of crates and tangled with Captain America.

Cap later broke away and freed up the Hulk (from the webbing), removing the complication and bringing him back into the fight.

Scion made his way over to the Star Spangled hero and took his shield away from him, then used it to knock him out!

Phase and Frostpaw were able to take out Spider-Man as he attempted to flee.

Finally, Superman grabbed Quiasar, uprooted him (despite Q-Man trying to anchor himself with his amazing force field), and flew far away.  Alone, both leaders agreed that the fight needed to stop and that they should work together.

They returned to the combat, and the others joined them in opposing the (now rampaging) Hulk.  It wasn't easy, but eventually the assembled heroes were able to calm the Jade Giant down, and he reverted to weak Bruce Banner.

The PCs then "woke" and found themselves in the jungle.



Here's the summary:

#380 – Comic Tragedy – In their civilian identities, Edmund Drake (Rune), J.J. Johnstone, Jr. (Quiasar), Dr. Tai Larson (Phase), Jack Madison (Scion), and Sigurd Helmholtz (Tarnhelm) find themselves in an empty room with five other men, one woman, and a small white cat.  Nobody seems to know where they are or recall why they are there.  Suddenly there is a flash of light, and everyone present transforms or wears a costume.  The white cat is now Frostpaw, the vigilantes now wear the garb of their superpowered personas, and they feel a sense of competition against six opponents: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Hulk!  Flashback: After a dream about mystical gems, Tarnhelm calls in the Guardians after a number of grisly deaths at a U.S.A. Robotics facility in Mixco, Guatemala.  Jerry Hammond flies Rune, Quiasar, Phase, and Scion in the Guardian Angel to Central America, where they join Tarnhelm and track down former hero Sihuanaba, now resurrected as a succubus-like monster and protected by four undead Mayan soldiers.  When she is defeated her minions disappear, and only a golden bowl and comb remain.  When Rune picks them up, it magically transfers the consciousness of each of them into a nearby interactive video game, where they must beat the assembled DC and Marvel champions to prevent Darkseid from wielding the Infinity Gems!  Back in the game, a lengthy fight ensues.  Scion swipes Batman’s utility belt and later knocks out Captain America with his own shield!  Quiasar resists multiple blows from Superman, and Phase and Frostpaw knock out Spider-Man!  Finally, Superman flies Quiasar out of the area and the two leaders agree to join forces.  After they return, the heroes unite and succeed in calming the rampaging Hulk.  Victorious, the teammates awaken back in the jungle clearing in Guatemala.

Our heroes flew to Malawi (after one of them was invited to visit Leo), and they were forced to land outside the main city.  They were then driven in an open truck.  Phase and her giant cat Frostpaw chose to run alongside the vehicle.

Rune scouted ahead by taking the form of a golden eagle.

The heroes approached the attackers and, though things were tense for a bit, eventually convinced them that they were not evil, despite the fact they were traveling in Leo's vehicle.  They met with Partisan and the rebels for awhile, listening to their grievances against the dictator.  After some time they moved on, continuing their way to visit the President.

Rune suggested a friendly "duel" of sorts, until one side gave in.  Leo heartily agreed to this, and asked Rune if that meant he would be using his grizzly bear form?  He was delighted to hear that he would, and took them to an arena in the building.  There the two sides fought.

After about five turns, Leo used a choke maneuver on the bear (who couldn't speak to do any more magic), and caused Rune to go unconscious.



#381 – The Lion Roars – The Guardians’ Council meets and discusses the need for bolstering the team.  Angelus, Summoner, Sir Rathos, Spartan, Makeshift, and Spirit are made full-time mission specialists, and Tarnhelm, Psypher, Perihelion, and Helios are designated as associates.  They decide to appoint Phase as a second security chief (joining Neutron), focused on personnel.  President Leo the Lion of Malawi invites Rune to visit him, but as the team gets ready to depart Tarnhelm alerts them of possible danger.  Jerry Hammond then flies Rune, Tarnhelm, Spartan, Helios, Phase, and Quiasar to the African nation in the Guardian Angel, landing just outside the city of Lilongwe.  When the truck they are transported in is assaulted by rebels, Quiasar’s force field protects everyone, thanks to Tarnhelm’s warning.  The heroes confront the attackers and learn that Partisan and her forces despise the dictator.  They continue on to the royal palace, where the President asks Rune why he plans to assassinate him.  The Guardian is caught off guard but refutes the rumor, suggesting instead a friendly duel.  They adjourn to an arena, where Leo swiftly bests Rune, choking his grizzly form unconscious.  Having learned much about the country and its ruler, the adventurers return home.

Sorry if this posts twice (stupid net connection dropping in and out) and if it's been mentioned before.

I couldn't see it though..... I looked at the stats for Leo in Most Wanted Vol. 1 and it says Leo has 130 points of invulnerability!??!?!  Is this correct or a typo??

MHRP = Marvel Heroic Roleplay

DT. Loved the Leo write up and always the Guardians adventures are fun to follow. Can't wait to see his you do "Guerrillas in the Mist."   

Here's the recap for our game from Friday night:

#382 – Vengeance – Rune introduces his new Tome of Villainy to the team; together they look up the mysterious assassin that shares his name.  C.H.E.S.S. Knight Demaris brings a piece of advanced surveillance equipment to Foundation Headquarters and tells the Guardians it was found outside a nearby underground decommissioned Intercrime base that Goliath helped clear years earlier.  Rook Henry Caldera disappeared while investigating.  Goliath leads Phase, Rune, Araneae, Spartan, and Angelus through an abandoned subway tunnel to the site, where they find the entrance booby trapped.  After Angelus looks through and discovers ensnared captives inside, he rushes in and engages Anarch.  Araneae phases the others in, and some battle the villain while others rescue the Rook and civilians.  When the mighty villain is knocked unconscious, Araneae covers him with webbing and Angelus absorbs the explosive.  Rune teleports the wounded captives to safety while Angelus accompanies and heals them.  After a few minutes, Anarch shreds his bonds and viciously attacks Araneae, revealing that everything was set up to ensnare the hero who had defeated him previously.  The alien warlord proves to be quite durable, but the vigilantes work together and eventually take him down.



You can see two of the captives (a civilian and a Rook) ensnared by some sort of liquid energy bonds, and Rune is in wolf form.