Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Metal Angel #4

Solo Gaming Appreciation Month

Metal Angel #4

Following from the last scene, Metal Angel flies off to confront the robbers.

Metal Angel soared over the city, following the old man’s directions. The outskirts of the city was full of dozens of seemingly empty warehouses, and it was impossible to determine which was the robbers hideout.

Suddenly, a loud burst of purplish energy shot out of one of them, followed by loud womp of an electrical discharge! Metal Angel dove to the building, praying he was still in time.

Metal Angel is flying around, so any attempt to avoid being noticed is a matter of luck.

Do the robbers notice Metal Angel as he approaches the building? 78, Yes
Do they wish to fight? 99 Yes and Unexpectedly…09 Upstaged.

Upstaged means that an NPC makes a big move, and any motivations or goals they have “go into overdrive.” Since the only NPC with motivation is Dominic, and he desires revenge on Metal Angel, he comes roaring out for a fight.

Suddenly, faster than Metal Angel could track, a man came barreling out of the warehouse, slamming into him. Metal Angel was knocked off balance, and began to spiral uncontrollably. As he flew by, Metal Angel recognized him as Dominic. With almost unimaginable speed, he turned and slammed into Metal Angel again, driving him down into the warehouse.

As soon as he landed, he was assaulted by a number of ions beams. His sturdy metal body protected him from the worst of the barrage, but he was disoriented. Just as he was about to fly up and out to safely, a burst of light blinded him forcing him off course, smashing into the roof of the warehouse.

He came to, just in time for another barrage, and then the sensation of a massive metal fist crashing into him. Looking up he saw another, just like him, one of metal body and wings. The man was grinning at him. Between his fight with Scarlet Wing and the punishment he had taken previously, Metal Angel knew a fight against one like himself would be near impossible. Then, came the darkness. Everything around him was pulled into lightless obscurity, and the two titans pounded at each other, barely able to see where their foe was. But others could see, and the pin pricks of energy attacks refused to let up. Metal Angel gave his heroic best, but to no avail. He soon fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

The fight against the villains was a long one; far to long for a play-by-play recap. There were a few moments where Metal Angel might have been able to turn the tide, but the combination of Raynards Darkness Control power (which effectively gave Metal Angel a -8 to everything, while Raynard, Kirk, and Benjamin could see just fine) and Chet’s mimic power was just too much for him. He was defeated and knocked out.

Of course, in proper superhero style, he’s not killed, merely captured by his foes!

The fight against the villains went poorly for our hero. So, let’s see what happens next. Our next prompt is The Wheel of Fortune.
To fill in the details, I again turn to the Loom of Fate. For this Post, I am using the “to Conflict” odds, which are slightly different than the “to Knowledge” ones I’ve be using previously.

Is Metal Angel tied up and hung over a convenient container of boiling chemicals? 69 Yes.

Are they keeping him for more information? 11 No, and…

So, they don’t need him for more information. I’m not sure what the “and” means at this point. It could be revenge, or something else.

Do they want to kill Metal Angel? 31, No. Ok, but this raises the question of why? I decide to keep chipping away.

Are they keeping him alive due to their “shared origin”? 54 Yes. Ok, that makes sense. They’re still trying to figure out what they can do, and why.

Now I need to think a bit about the Fortune represents.

Is it related to their new powers? 68, Yes.

Is there a way to take away their new powers? 97, Yes, but…

Will it take away Metal Angel’s powers, as well? 82, Yes.

Will Dominic talk to Metal Angel? 58, Yes.

Will he believe Metal Angel (that he’s sorry about Scarlet Wing and is trying to help)? 27, No.

As Metal Angel regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the pain in his arms. He felt himself floating, but his arms were pulled tight, and they hurt. With bleary eyes, he looked up and saw his hands here stuck in handcuffs, which we looped over a hook. Looking down, he saw a bubbling cauldron of reddish ooze, with waves of steam and heat emerging from it. It looked like molten metal, something hot enough to melt even him.

“You’re awake. Good. I’d hate it if you didn’t know who had beat you,” Dominic said, leaning casually on a nearby catwalk.

Metal Angel tried to speak to him, to reason with him. He told him about his conversation with the old man, and how terrible he felt about what had happened with Scarlet Wing, how he was just trying to help. But Dominic cut him off, unwilling to even listen to what he had to say.

“You’re lucky you’re like us. If you weren’t…family” he practically spat out the word, “I would have torn you apart by now. Instead you stay there, until we finish securing our future. Then, you come with us while we find you…different accommodations.”

“Family?” Metal Angel asked, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re all linked,” Dominic said. “And the only pleasure it gives me is that I can make you pay for what you did, over and over again!” With that, he spun and walked away.

Metal Angel watched him go, more confused than ever. What did he mean, they were linked? And what was this about “securing our future?” He looked around the warehouse, his rapid head movements sending him spinning. It was hard to see in the warehouse, the entire place was a mess of shadow and flame. But in a corner, he could see a sickly purplish light. The villains seemed to be encasing it in some kind of vault. He didn’t know what they wanted with it, but whatever it was, he was determined that they wouldn’t get it.

He strained against the cuffs, and they should have been easy for him to snap. But in his position, he couldn’t get any leverage. They clamped tightly on his wrists. On Metal Angel’s wrists,  he thought. But not on Cole Smiths!

He gripped the chain tightly in his hands, then allowed himself to transform back to Cole. Cole’s smaller stature allowed him to easily slip his hands out of the cuffs, but he still dangled over the fire, which was now almost unbearable. Well, one problem solved, at least.

Cole needs to get out of this predicament, and so he needs to make a skill check to swing over to the catwalk. He has the Gymnastics skill, which allows him to “work parallel bars and rings” at 60%, which I figure is close enough to what he’s trying to do. He rolls a 21—he makes it!

Next, he needs to avoid detection. While he doesn’t have the Prowl skill per se, Gymnastics and Acrobatics both give him a default chance of 35%. He rolls, and gets a 27, he’s able to sneak away undetected.

Cole swung himself back and forth gain momentum, and then let go of the chain at the apex of his swing, delicately landing on the catwalk. Just like he had spent his whole life training for. Glancing around, he saw that no one was paying him any attention, and he creeped down the walkway towards the purple light.

Next...the end of Metal Angel?

Solo Gaming Appreciation Month 2017
Story Structure: Zero Tarot
Oracle: +Zach Best’s Conjectural Roleplaying GM Emulator
#SGAM                       #SGAM2017

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