The beam whizzes by one of Octaman;s arms and he turns to see Michelle reading another "starbolt". Taking his eye off John proves a mistake as the man sizes up his punch and contents with a massive hit to the chin, sending the Stormer flying.
Unconscious from the big punch, the tentacle holding the civilian overhead let's go, sending the man falling. Lucky for him though John is there and catches him out of the air before he hits the ground.
Jacie's power blade is a faint glow inside the sphere of darkness. As Death Magnetic is vulnerable and unable to protect herself, the blade makes short work of her.
Meanwhile Kyle and Greyhound find out almost simultaneously that they have been duped. The dark fog and the cowering people were all an illusion to help Lightshow escape.
OOC: Combat Over as well as the module.
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"Wow that was great!" Marcus says coming out from under a nearby car.
"The formation of a new superhero team right here in Emerald City, along with their triumph over a deadly group of villains."
"You all need a name," he continues excitedly looking over the battlefield. He spots the van that seems to be at the center of the explosion and the strange silver storm cloud.
"That's it. I'll call you all The Silver Stormers. The good guys compared to those Dark Stormers."
As the journalist continues the area still has people hurt and fires spreading in buildings. Holding his phone up he Marcus says,
"Hey I can get some rescue pictures to go with the ones I took of your fight. Go on Stormers. You can be heroes!"
[sblock=OOC]
Scene 1: Picking up the Pieces
There is still plenty to do before saving those who aren't illusions made by a villain. Each player needs to take one of the follow crisis and make the apporaite rolls. This is everyone splitting off to help where they can and what fits their abilities best. You shoudl dicuss this in the OOC as only one hero gets one crisis and then it is off the table for the next. After you are ready I hope to read some heroic postings.
COMFORTABLE WORDS
Deeds normally count more than just talk, but when words can calm a panic and get the many rubberneckers to disperse peacefully, speeches are worthwhile. If the heroes have demonstrated good, noble conduct thus far, they face Indifferent crowds that depart once they’re sweet-talked up to Favorable or better via the normal DC 15 Persuasion check. Characters Behaving Badly thus far in the adventure (your typical ‘90s-refugee antihero, for instance) can use Intimidation instead, treating the bystanders (Will defense 0) like minions. This isn’t exactly the best public relations move, but it does clear the scene as needed.
THE WEIGHT
Some downtown buildings and walls proved not to be up to super-fight code and collapsed, burying many innocents alive. A few victims are easily found and uncovered, but most require some searching and heavy lifting before being rescued. At the extremis, the most deeply entombed victims require a DC 20 Perception check to locate, and enough Strength to lift 10 ranks of weight or greater to budge the biggest chunks of debris off the helpless, trapped people underneath. If the heroes are a little on the shrimpy side and fall short of these numbers (even with a Team Check and/or Extra Effort), remind them there
are still plenty of other victims that can be rescued with lower Strength ranks.
EMERGENCY!
As outlined above, simply locating the trapped victims is a crucial first step towards getting the necessary heavy-lifting equipment where it’s needed. In addition to being extra sets of eyes and ears, characters who answered that Charles Atlas ad can help clear a path through the rubble and into the troubled areas for the emergency services vehicles. As above, an effective lifting of Strength 10 or greater overcomes any obstacles. An effective lifting Strength 12, however, allows a hero to make a truly spectacular Emerald City debut by simply lifting the emergency vehicles themselves and carrying them over the debris to where they need to be! You can bet that image will be on the front page of The Emerald City Courier-Express tomorrow, and go viral on the net within minutes of the actual feat. Heroes with Damage effects may also be able to clear away debris with sufficiently precise use: a DC 15 attack check against the Toughness 8 rubble manages to clear a path without making the situation any worse, but two or more degrees of failure on the attack check might cause another collapse, inflicting Damage 8 on the hero and anyone else nearby.
YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW
Characters with Healing effects can be of no end of use, encountering every degree of injury possible. If the heroes live up to the name and keep at their merciful tasks, time becomes a blur for them, marked only by the sincere, heartfelt thanks of those they help. Any characters with the Treatment skill have to get by just on old-fashioned know-how when aiding the injured (DC 10 to diagnose traumas; DC 15 to stabilize the dying as usual), but are no less busy or appreciated.
FIRE
Heroes with power over flames, water, air, or the weather have an opportunity to shine by helping to put out the various fires started by the Storm and the stormers running amok. The fiercest blazes top out at rank 7 (unless the characters did something foolish earlier that exacerbated matters), and may be countered with the appropriate powers (see Countering Ongoing Effects on page 96 of the Hero’s Handbook).
GOOD LUCK![/sblock]