Threads of Dark History

 The Raven returns!  And - nobody asks where he was, or why he's back... But, if the players don't care, I as GM am too busy to force the issue. Morning 8AM      Reece  makes a quick phone call, verifying that none of the Sunset Boys  will receive bail.  With their trial dates pushed back until after the end of the month, the violent gang members get to reside in the local prison known as The Anchor  until the end of the campaign.     Reece, Genevar, Anduin, and John  all decide they want to interrogate Jasper Coleridge , the rogue CIA agent they captured at the end of last session.     Raven and Trinket  decide that Masharma (Snakeface)  can be of financial boon to Raven's corporation-in-trust (Odin Industries), which he doesn't like is number seven or below on the American Industrials by income list (the player is concerned about his global standing as well).     Maeve  goes to the Locks, an...

Night began with the award of 1XP (it's not small in Mutants and Masterminds) for last session.  This led to the difference between XP for PCs, and CP, intended for players to mandate improvement of the NPCs.  (GM has villain points for nefarious purposes, including development of NPCs, but not a lot of them.) Morning  Went by an hourly clock, to help avoid the spotlight chaos of last session.  Wasn't totally successful, but it helped immensely.     9AM         Prof Morgan  decided to recruit NPC Alexandra the Conqueror as their prosecuting lawyer for the Sunset Boys.         Anduin Wessex  organized and motivated the task force, giving them a +1 defense bonus (which they really didn't need).         Reece  went around Greymark, making intimations to the police that the FBI was coming after corrupt cops soon.  Police Corruption rolled a 3 on its saving throw, and went into temp...

If you ever have doubts about whether your audio was failing, when only two of the eleven questions asked by a player are for new information - you might be a redneck.  I mean, yes, the answer is yes. On the plus side, the informational document on what the players have discovered since the start of the campaign is currently only five pages long, and one page of that is taken up by lawyers.  Go figure, in a campaign to restore faith in a fallen city, the players, half of them federal agents, want to do things by the book.  Show people the system actually can work, and they'll start using and trusting the system again. It's a good plan, full of hope and optimism, and goodness.  It's the plan that heroes would come up with.  It's - it's just not going to be that easy, and I don't think of that as a spoiler. Bluebooking My theory on Bluebooking is simple - anything the players can do without a major investment of time or resources, and that requires no dice rolls c...

Due to Raven's pre-game exploits, the party started with a lot of information on what Zinkmann Inc, and therefore Zolana Zinkmann have been up to.  It seems that she has an entire underground factory beneath her above-ground plant.  The players are aware of her submarine, the battle suits, and the fact that mercenaries are liberally mixed in with her security forces.  None of which says "ignore this NPC, they just aren't important". Also, because more than half the party is now federal agents (and ZERO want to be in the Trans-Atlantic League of Superheroes), the reason for the heroes to be in Science City changes.  Uncle Sam (the federal government) has cycled the agents into Science City as part of a "routine force rotation".  Naturally, the federal government can't be seen catering to the whims of terrorists, but if the agents just happen to resolve the issues in Science City, that would just be great.  Twenty minor agents are also rotated in, hand pic...

What is an Iron Hero?      Iron Heroes, or heroes from what I like to call the Iron Age of comics, are a different breed.  Forget Superman, Spider-Man, and to some extent even Batman.  Think rather of the older age of heroes - Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, the Phantom, the Shadow.  What Watchmen would have been without the presence of Doctor Manhattan.  They are faster, fitter, and tougher than mere mortals - but they aren't bulletproof.  They live by their wits, their fists, and their skills.  Rather than flying into battle, immune to all but the strongest weapons, they sneak , taking out a gang in sets of two and three rather than twenty at a time.     Because they are NOT bulletproof. Samuel Stein, AKA the Raven     For real-life reasons, this player had to step out of the game before it began.  It's a pity, because [name redacted] is driven, organized, and is excellent at uniting the disparate characters that appear a...

Like most of my campaign intro documents, this is a massive multi page (22) monster. I loaded it with useful hints and status updates. I wasn't expecting any of my players to read the whole thing, but I wanted them to get useful leads from any sections they did read. If you want the formatted version, a copy exists ( here ). 1947 Iron Heroes Primer – Save Science City   Overview – The War is Over, Welcome to the War            World War II is over; there are no more bullets flying, the bombers are being converted to fly civilian cargo, and Detroit (the Arsenal of Democracy) is cranking out cars and refrigerators.  In Paris and Geneva, the last of the peace treaties are being finalized and signed. Superheroes have had their powers rated; those above two stars (of a five star system) must belong to one or more of three leagues (Pan-Atlantic, Pan-Pacific, or Indian Ocean).  Lesser heroes, or those not permitted into a le...