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Acquana Art Thread -- Thread Implosion 06/10/2007
- Thread starter Acquana
- Start date
Acquana
First Post
09/30/06 -- In Which Pirates Take Over My Campaign
Yay! Update! More quasi-storyhour as well.
To refresh everyone's memory, this short man is Jaeger Koffman, and the two in collars are Jackie Jaxx (left) and Andrew Zev (right).
Koffman likes to "collect." His entire family has something they collect: his younger brother Bennie collects plants, his middle sister Lenora collects unnaturaly occuring mutants (to experiment on and improve herself), and he collects shapeshifters and lycanthropes. Which is why he found interest in Gaiavein, a dragon adept at shapeshifting, and the PCs' enemy, Sahkrekal, also a dragon with this ability.
Koffman is killed by the PCs three months before, and the PCs have since discovered that he imprinted other with copies of his personality that slowly try to take over the host. (This is a page I took from Rangerwickett, so my players have him to thank.
) So far, the PCs have tracked down two imprints, and in the one shot I ran the PCs in that one found another--in Bennie Koffman of all people.
The first imprint was in the PCs' friend they thought they'd saved from Koffamn, Jackie Jaxx. Under Koffman's control, Jackie attempted to attack Traverse Town's mayor, and the PCs stopped him.
The second was in Andrew Zev, a very sad individual they rescued from Koffman and brought home to his orignal plane ... or so they thought. They broght him to a plane that was extremely similar, but not his own. The imprint of Koffman in him prepared for the PCs eventually figuring out where he was by hiring a group of mercenaries on that plane to kill them; then to make sure he himself was protected, he used Zev to land in a prison for metahumans. Under constant survellience, but out of the PCs' reach, Koffman was confident that it would only be a matter of time before his hired superpowered mercenaries would kill the PCs, and he would eventually find a way to escape prison and promptly leave that plane to do as he pleased.
Koffman didn't count on the PCs making friends on that plane, including the warden of said superpowered prison. They made a deal: if the PCs would aid an law enforcement organization on that plane in capturing the mercenaries (who were all wanted for one reason or another), then he would turn over Zev (and Koffman's imprint) to them. Admittedly, he knew he'd be in a lot of trouble, but the warden would work that out on his own--knowing that neither Zev nor his "guest" belong on that plane. Period.
The PC's help the Counterveil Organization arrest the mercenaries with stunning strategy, and only one of them escapes capture. Somehow the teleporter in the mercenary group had gotten ahold of technology belonging to Koffman--a pocketwatch that allows shifting between planes--and both the PCs and Counterveil are surpised to learn that the watch can work even with extrememly powerful superpower inhibitors around the building. However, the teleporter, Slide, is not the most violent, dangerous, or vengeful of the mercenaries, so the PCs decide they won't worry about her and instead leave her to that plane's authorities.
The warden of the prison agrees to hand over Zev despite the PCs having killed one of the mercenaries, Fanatic. It was in self-defense, so they'd had no choice. However, as the group of them head down to level 3 of the prison, what they find in the cell is not what anyone expects. There is an open portal in the middle of the cell, and Zev is being held by the throat by what for all the world looks like a pirate:
The PCs quickly get the cell door open, seeing that this man also has a pocketwatch. The "pirate" forcefully shoves Zev through before they can stop him, but to their surprise he gives his name as Jahdo Bazdalan, and offers to let them follow him. The PCs leave the plane they're on, and find themselves on a ship, reminiscent of an ancient sailing ship, sailing through abosolute nothingness. The PCs are witness to an exchange between Koffman (in Zev) and Dalan, that is extremely one-sided. Zev shouts at Dalan, Dalan only smiles and says nothing, then Zev passes out. The PCs are hesitant to attack Dalan, considering they have no clue where they are and they can see a fairly sizable crew watching them. Zev comes to and thanks Dalan, because Koffman was wiped from his mind.
Dalan then offers to give the PCs an explination, so long as they remain nonviolent. Zev is taken below deck by members of the crew to give him better clothes than prison grey, and Dalan invites the PCs into his cabin. He says he is the captain of the "Psi Killer," the ship, and it uses technology stolen from Koffman. The PCs gather that Dalan has quite a score to settle with Koffman and his imprints, and is willing to help the PCs track down the ones left. When they ask how he knew where Zev was, Dalan's entire posture changes and he simply replies, "Well, if you're planning to find him, I suppose you'll have to learn how to think like him ... won't you?"
The PCs are absolutely agahst as they realize that Dalan is also imprinted. His manner changes from what they've gathered is Dalan, back to Koffman, and back again as he talks to them. The "two" explain that while, yes, Dalan is imprinted with a copy of Koffman's personality, this imprint wishes to hunt down his "brothers." The imprint appeals to the nature of the PCs, saying that he has absolutely no interest in taking up his "father's" work, and they should not hold him responsible for his "father's" crimes. Several of the PCs (Virgil, whose mentor manipulated him, Jenna, whose father was abusive, and Hiro, whose father is a DEMON) have no choice but to agree.
So the PCs have temporarily joined the ranks of the Psi-Killer. The crew is another mishmash from all over the planes, and most of them are references to rogues and pirates. Among the crew are all of one player's former PCs; which is a joke on my part: the player constantly complains that without meaning to she ends up making pirates every time she makes a character. Well, they certainly are NOW! ba-ZING!
Also on the ship are this same player's actual pirates from a comic she's working on: Scurvy the Pirate Cat; Starbuck from Moby Dick; Will Turner from Pirates of the Carribean; this chick:
Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo! Galaxy Police GXP, and none other than Team Rocket, very happy to be pirates.
Also on board is my cat, Guiness. The night of the game that the PCs were gettnig to know the crew, we were having tacos. Guiness managed to steal a taco shell and ate it. All of us were just shocked that a cat would steal a taco shell, and we decided there was no other coarse of action than to spray him repeatedly with a water gun--and to include him on the Psi-Killer.
This is a drawing by Pojo's player showing her character Scurvy and Guiness.
And this is my drawing of Scurvy and a few members of the near-menagerie that's on board the Psi-Killer thanks to Jessie and James, and myself.
And this is the cook on board, Tarl, who comes from a version of the world of the Pirates of Dark Water (that show was so rocking awesome!)
The last two drawings I have linked to my Deviant Art site since I'm pretty sure the language in them is not for EN World. They're both strips, one for Traverse and the other for the Starcraft game.
This is a random comic in response to a random comic one of my players did about two of the characters being high--only because the two players were being exceedingly goofy that night, not because either of those characters would actually smoke up. The high characters in question are Silas and Pojo. The other guy is Kurt Dominick. As far as those two in the last panel, well ... since just about ANYONE can show up in Traverse Town, I'll let you guess.
At the Comfy Chair ...
The setup for this next strip--from the Starcraft game--goes something like this: The girl in the poncho, Val, is the computer system for the ship that the PCs travel on. However, upon first meeting Val and her "friend" Psi--a robot she made while she was bored--the PCs were unsure of what exactly she was. They had plenty of suspicisions, but no real proof as to Val's identity. Out of character one of the players suggested everyone on the ship play a game of Truth or Dare to glean info, and this is what came to my mind.
Truth or Dare
*whew* Another doozy out of the way. But now I'm all caught up! TwoDee Ten will be updating soon, Greegan was out on business this week.
Not much else to say, so enjoy September's last update.
Yay! Update! More quasi-storyhour as well.
To refresh everyone's memory, this short man is Jaeger Koffman, and the two in collars are Jackie Jaxx (left) and Andrew Zev (right).
Koffman likes to "collect." His entire family has something they collect: his younger brother Bennie collects plants, his middle sister Lenora collects unnaturaly occuring mutants (to experiment on and improve herself), and he collects shapeshifters and lycanthropes. Which is why he found interest in Gaiavein, a dragon adept at shapeshifting, and the PCs' enemy, Sahkrekal, also a dragon with this ability.
Koffman is killed by the PCs three months before, and the PCs have since discovered that he imprinted other with copies of his personality that slowly try to take over the host. (This is a page I took from Rangerwickett, so my players have him to thank.
) So far, the PCs have tracked down two imprints, and in the one shot I ran the PCs in that one found another--in Bennie Koffman of all people. The first imprint was in the PCs' friend they thought they'd saved from Koffamn, Jackie Jaxx. Under Koffman's control, Jackie attempted to attack Traverse Town's mayor, and the PCs stopped him.
The second was in Andrew Zev, a very sad individual they rescued from Koffman and brought home to his orignal plane ... or so they thought. They broght him to a plane that was extremely similar, but not his own. The imprint of Koffman in him prepared for the PCs eventually figuring out where he was by hiring a group of mercenaries on that plane to kill them; then to make sure he himself was protected, he used Zev to land in a prison for metahumans. Under constant survellience, but out of the PCs' reach, Koffman was confident that it would only be a matter of time before his hired superpowered mercenaries would kill the PCs, and he would eventually find a way to escape prison and promptly leave that plane to do as he pleased.
Koffman didn't count on the PCs making friends on that plane, including the warden of said superpowered prison. They made a deal: if the PCs would aid an law enforcement organization on that plane in capturing the mercenaries (who were all wanted for one reason or another), then he would turn over Zev (and Koffman's imprint) to them. Admittedly, he knew he'd be in a lot of trouble, but the warden would work that out on his own--knowing that neither Zev nor his "guest" belong on that plane. Period.
The PC's help the Counterveil Organization arrest the mercenaries with stunning strategy, and only one of them escapes capture. Somehow the teleporter in the mercenary group had gotten ahold of technology belonging to Koffman--a pocketwatch that allows shifting between planes--and both the PCs and Counterveil are surpised to learn that the watch can work even with extrememly powerful superpower inhibitors around the building. However, the teleporter, Slide, is not the most violent, dangerous, or vengeful of the mercenaries, so the PCs decide they won't worry about her and instead leave her to that plane's authorities.
The warden of the prison agrees to hand over Zev despite the PCs having killed one of the mercenaries, Fanatic. It was in self-defense, so they'd had no choice. However, as the group of them head down to level 3 of the prison, what they find in the cell is not what anyone expects. There is an open portal in the middle of the cell, and Zev is being held by the throat by what for all the world looks like a pirate:
The PCs quickly get the cell door open, seeing that this man also has a pocketwatch. The "pirate" forcefully shoves Zev through before they can stop him, but to their surprise he gives his name as Jahdo Bazdalan, and offers to let them follow him. The PCs leave the plane they're on, and find themselves on a ship, reminiscent of an ancient sailing ship, sailing through abosolute nothingness. The PCs are witness to an exchange between Koffman (in Zev) and Dalan, that is extremely one-sided. Zev shouts at Dalan, Dalan only smiles and says nothing, then Zev passes out. The PCs are hesitant to attack Dalan, considering they have no clue where they are and they can see a fairly sizable crew watching them. Zev comes to and thanks Dalan, because Koffman was wiped from his mind.
Dalan then offers to give the PCs an explination, so long as they remain nonviolent. Zev is taken below deck by members of the crew to give him better clothes than prison grey, and Dalan invites the PCs into his cabin. He says he is the captain of the "Psi Killer," the ship, and it uses technology stolen from Koffman. The PCs gather that Dalan has quite a score to settle with Koffman and his imprints, and is willing to help the PCs track down the ones left. When they ask how he knew where Zev was, Dalan's entire posture changes and he simply replies, "Well, if you're planning to find him, I suppose you'll have to learn how to think like him ... won't you?"
The PCs are absolutely agahst as they realize that Dalan is also imprinted. His manner changes from what they've gathered is Dalan, back to Koffman, and back again as he talks to them. The "two" explain that while, yes, Dalan is imprinted with a copy of Koffman's personality, this imprint wishes to hunt down his "brothers." The imprint appeals to the nature of the PCs, saying that he has absolutely no interest in taking up his "father's" work, and they should not hold him responsible for his "father's" crimes. Several of the PCs (Virgil, whose mentor manipulated him, Jenna, whose father was abusive, and Hiro, whose father is a DEMON) have no choice but to agree.
So the PCs have temporarily joined the ranks of the Psi-Killer. The crew is another mishmash from all over the planes, and most of them are references to rogues and pirates. Among the crew are all of one player's former PCs; which is a joke on my part: the player constantly complains that without meaning to she ends up making pirates every time she makes a character. Well, they certainly are NOW! ba-ZING!
Also on the ship are this same player's actual pirates from a comic she's working on: Scurvy the Pirate Cat; Starbuck from Moby Dick; Will Turner from Pirates of the Carribean; this chick:
Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo! Galaxy Police GXP, and none other than Team Rocket, very happy to be pirates.
Also on board is my cat, Guiness. The night of the game that the PCs were gettnig to know the crew, we were having tacos. Guiness managed to steal a taco shell and ate it. All of us were just shocked that a cat would steal a taco shell, and we decided there was no other coarse of action than to spray him repeatedly with a water gun--and to include him on the Psi-Killer.
This is a drawing by Pojo's player showing her character Scurvy and Guiness.
And this is my drawing of Scurvy and a few members of the near-menagerie that's on board the Psi-Killer thanks to Jessie and James, and myself.
And this is the cook on board, Tarl, who comes from a version of the world of the Pirates of Dark Water (that show was so rocking awesome!)
The last two drawings I have linked to my Deviant Art site since I'm pretty sure the language in them is not for EN World. They're both strips, one for Traverse and the other for the Starcraft game.
This is a random comic in response to a random comic one of my players did about two of the characters being high--only because the two players were being exceedingly goofy that night, not because either of those characters would actually smoke up. The high characters in question are Silas and Pojo. The other guy is Kurt Dominick. As far as those two in the last panel, well ... since just about ANYONE can show up in Traverse Town, I'll let you guess.
At the Comfy Chair ...
The setup for this next strip--from the Starcraft game--goes something like this: The girl in the poncho, Val, is the computer system for the ship that the PCs travel on. However, upon first meeting Val and her "friend" Psi--a robot she made while she was bored--the PCs were unsure of what exactly she was. They had plenty of suspicisions, but no real proof as to Val's identity. Out of character one of the players suggested everyone on the ship play a game of Truth or Dare to glean info, and this is what came to my mind.
Truth or Dare
*whew* Another doozy out of the way. But now I'm all caught up! TwoDee Ten will be updating soon, Greegan was out on business this week.
Not much else to say, so enjoy September's last update.
Last edited:
Acquana
First Post
Bobitron said:
Yeah, Kurt is one of the characters I know inside and out, and can manage to capture extemely subtle expression with. I would say my drawing of Dozer fighting Walker is still the best; if not then a close second.
mandyscog said:
I know if I was anywhere near Jersey I'd be doing the exact same thing.
Dire Lemming
First Post
Hey, isn't kind of unbalanced to have Jesse James and Meowth in the crew? They are after all unkillable.
Acquana
First Post
Dire Lemming said:Hey, isn't kind of unbalanced to have Jesse James and Meowth in the crew? They are after all unkillable.
True, true. The NPCs do have unfair avantage, but the players love it because I can imitate all three of them spot-on still.
I may do another strip of an interaction between Jessie and several of the main NPCs because the players nearly died laughing.
Acquana
First Post
10-05-06 -- Naruto Design Made Easy
Hey, peoplz! Wellstar's b-day is comin up, and I am much happy. ^____^ We'll be headed to visit his family tomorrow, and today I am posting!
I figure I'll start off with the bartender of the Highwind in Traverse Town. A while ago I did a vector trace of Cid Highwind from a Japanese fan comic in order to give my players a visual reference for the character--since not all of them have played Final Fantasy VII. I figured I may as well give all of you the reference as well, in a nice shiny size and format. The background element is, of course, the original CG render for the character in the game.
I ran a game for Wellstar this last weekend to take a break from work, and since it had been MONTHS since I'd run his single-person campaign--the game I run for him in his setting.
Several months ago Wellstar and I jokingly mentioned the similarities between the main heroes in his solo game and the Teen Titans. Bishoujo Star makes a pretty good Starfire, what with her bubbliness and her powers being alien; Night Ankh is a near-perfect Raven, being dark and brooding and having lots of shadow powers; and Dosek (Wellstar's character) is kinda parallel to Cyborg. Offandedly I said all we needed was a Beast Boy and a Robin, and Wellstar joked that Kato would make a perfect Robin.
Then both of us grew quiet as we realized just how amazing it would be for all four of these characters to work together.
In order to tell the storyhour for the solo game, I'll have to give a bit of background from the Traverse game. As all of you may recall, the Traverse PCs had a group of mercenaries trying to track them down while they stayed in Wellstar's setting. The group's unofficial leader, healer, and strategist was Rupture--a surgeon turned supervillian. He was a bio-manip who, in addition to healing, had a very nasty power that the PCs had no real way to counter: he could inflict a wound on himsef and someone else in his line of sight would take the brunt of damage for him.
These two were buddies, and criminals, long before they joined the mercenary team. The big guy is Bull Rush, a tank naturally, and the skinny guy is Fanatic, who the players all learned to DESPISE. He could copy the powers of anyone in his range of vision, taking on not only their abilities but their mannerisms and personality as well. While fighting the PCs, his favorites to copy were Rupture--giving them two healers and indirect damage dealers--and Pojo, countering Pojo's mind control abilities and controlling anyone who was getting the upper hand.
As you may recall, Fanatic was killed in the last run-in the Traverse PCs had with the group, the only fatality the mercenaries suffered.
The mercenaries had a mage on their side, Lady Avalon. She stuck to the back of the group, along with Hanged Man, and nullified powers using her sorcery.
The creepiest looking of the team was Hanged Man, their telepath/telekenetic. How he appeared to the PCs was as a man in prison garb hanging from a noose that floated in air. However, how he really looks is on the left there, and was never actually anywhere NEAR combat. The image of the Hanged Man was just an illusionary projection everyone assumed covered his real appearence, the appearence of someone standing where ever the Hanged Man was. However, he was usually a block or two away from the action having a cigarette, using remote viewing and his connection with his team to see what was happening, and using his powers long-range. None of the PCs expected him to look so much like a "dude."
The most heartless, violent, and downright evil of the team was Sulfuric, a walking, talking form of acid. Permanently tainted and unable to revert to a natural form, he was the least human of them. He was also top priority for the PCs to get rid of, considering the PCs could tell he was just never going to give up unless he was completely powerless to do so. Thing is, how do you fight a pile of acid? Pojo, being a chemistry major in college, came up with the best solution he could think of: base. Pojo matter created enough to completely neutralize him--the PCs had to bolt before he exploded. Pojo and the other PCs learned later through the warden of Blackgate that Sulfuric hadn't died, but had gone through something like severe brain damage instead.
Part of the agreement that the PCs made with the warden of Blackgate was to help this man, Stray Shot. Stray Shot had been a normal guy, Ashton Bronx, working for Counterveil Securities, when he and his team had infiltrated a corporate lab and come across the vat that Sulfuric was being kept in. Having been normal himself at some point, Sulfric decided to take out his rage at those who had turned him into what he was at the team of Counterveil agents--causing a lab accident that killed all the agents save Bronx, who was turned into a metahuman. Sulfuric decided to keep him as a pet, breaking his mind until he was near schizophrenic and easy for Sulfric to mold.
Stray Shot's ability was to gain momentum by bouncing off of surfaces until he moved at such a speed that he could break through walls, or kill. The warden of Blackgate wanted to get the chance to get Stray Shot away from Sulfuric and hand him over to those who could work to undo the damage Sulfuric had done to him.
The PCs agreed to help, and brought the mercenaries into custody--save for two. Fanatic was killed in the fighting, and the teleporter, Slide escaped, despite massive power drain over where the arrest took place. She revealed that she had in her possession one of Koffman's watches, and disappeared.
To go back even further, Wes Torrin--Kato--was a member of an extremely militant, organized street gang before he joined the Century Sentinels. Wes wanted out and was nearly killed for it, and has hung around the Century Sentinels ever since. When Wellstar runs the Century Sentinels campaign, Wes is often using his free time to try to hunt down those who may still be loyal to "Tengu-Sensei" after the Century Sentinels broke up the Clan. He uses one of the many things left behind from his time in the Tengu--a mental chip implanted in most of the members who were considered true Tengu. Wes uses it to his advantage, using it to locate former members and see which ones deserve to be taken off the streets. He always knew there was a chance other Tengu could use it against him, but so far he's been lucky.
Enter Kinseeker.
In the solo campaign I ran for Wellstar, Wes ran across Dillon Byrd, also a former member of the Tengu, who has spent most of his time since the Century Sentinels broke up the clan hunting down those who would "betray the cause." In other words, anyone who won't help him try to break Tengu-Sensei out of jail and follow him. Being quite resourceful, Kinseeker found a metahuman hacker who altered his implant so that he could jam the senses of other former Tengu, and even read their surface thoughts.
Just prior to the solo game, Kinseeker and Slide meet, and both of them have people they want to get out of Blackgate. Kinseeker wanting to help Tengu-Sensei, and Slide her old partners. Slide doesn't want to let on she can easily walk in and out of Blackgate if she so chooses, using the watch, and instead makes Kinseeker an offer: She knows a former member of Counterveil that the two of them can control, so long as Kinseeker can get the services of the hacker who altered his neural chip. Kinseeker agrees.
This is where Wes--who had been on the trail of someone he recognized as a former Tengu--meets up with Night Ankh, Dosek, and Bishoujo Star. The four discover that Slide wants to get Stray Shot out of the Counterveil owned metahuman sanitarium, and attempt to undo the therapy that he's gone through. One of the steps that Counterveil takes to aid in therapy for the criminally insane is a metal chip that acts as a sort of technological telepathy, easing stress and aiding in therapy sessions. Silde wants to alter the chip and undo the "progamming" that Counterveil has done to him. The four find she has convinced herself she's in love with Stray Shot, and she thinks can "save him" more than any medical science possibly could, despite the fact that Ashton had already had a fiancé before being kidnapped by Sulfuric. He also is none too pleased to see her when she, Kinseeker, and Kinseeker's hacker friend arive to bust him out of the sanitarium.
The four attempt to stop the breakout, but in a desperate frenzy--refusing to "lose Stray Shot again"--Slide pulls out the watch and teleports she, her allies, and Ashton Bronx away. After some work, the group tracks Slide, Kinseeker, the hacker, and Bronx to a run-down building used for raves. They sneak up on a heated argument between Slide and Kinseeker, Kinseeker apparently having had his contact start altering Bronx's chip without Slide present. Slide suspects that Kinseeker is going to try to double cross her upon learning about the watch, and she is quite right. Kinseeker calmly says that if Slide wants Stray Shot, then she would have to hand over the watch.
As the PCs rush into the scene, Stray Shot joins the fray, under the control of Kinseeker--who had the hacker link Stray Shot's implant to his own. During the fight, Night Ankh sleight of hands the pocketwatch away from Slide, and she and Bishoujo Star manage to incapacitate her. Kinseeker escapes--Wes doing a serious number in him in combat--but wihtout Stray Shot: Wes, using skills he'd learned from Pulse, improvises a signal jamming device that cuts off Kinseeker's control of Stray Shot. Stray Shot doesn't stop attacking, however, and Bishoujo Star manages to cause him to stop by using emotion control on him and reminding him of just how much suffering he'd been through thanks to Sulfuric and Slide. The four heroes get ahold of the hacker, who had also been trying to make a break for it, and force him to repair Stray Shot's implant.
Counterveil arrives to collect Stray Shot, who had let Slide know just how much he hated her for what she tried to do to him. Counterveil is happy to gain control of Slide's pocketwatch, wanting to use it to fortify Blackgate and Counterveil controled offices from such teleportation (essentially making sure that I can't be mean and have NPCs from the Traverse game teleport to places they shouldn't). After making sure Ashton Bronx is safely in the hands of Counterveil where he can be helped, the team of young heroes go off into the night, quite liking the idea of teamwork.
*whew* Update madness.
Soooo ... eyeah ... Kinseeker looks like a friggin Naruto character. *sigh* Not what I'd intended, but apparently if you stick ANY kind of ninja in ANY kind of vest, you end up with a Naruto character.
Ah well, I still like his design, and he doesn't wear a stupid headband.
Hey, peoplz! Wellstar's b-day is comin up, and I am much happy. ^____^ We'll be headed to visit his family tomorrow, and today I am posting!
I figure I'll start off with the bartender of the Highwind in Traverse Town. A while ago I did a vector trace of Cid Highwind from a Japanese fan comic in order to give my players a visual reference for the character--since not all of them have played Final Fantasy VII. I figured I may as well give all of you the reference as well, in a nice shiny size and format. The background element is, of course, the original CG render for the character in the game.
I ran a game for Wellstar this last weekend to take a break from work, and since it had been MONTHS since I'd run his single-person campaign--the game I run for him in his setting.
Several months ago Wellstar and I jokingly mentioned the similarities between the main heroes in his solo game and the Teen Titans. Bishoujo Star makes a pretty good Starfire, what with her bubbliness and her powers being alien; Night Ankh is a near-perfect Raven, being dark and brooding and having lots of shadow powers; and Dosek (Wellstar's character) is kinda parallel to Cyborg. Offandedly I said all we needed was a Beast Boy and a Robin, and Wellstar joked that Kato would make a perfect Robin.
Then both of us grew quiet as we realized just how amazing it would be for all four of these characters to work together.
In order to tell the storyhour for the solo game, I'll have to give a bit of background from the Traverse game. As all of you may recall, the Traverse PCs had a group of mercenaries trying to track them down while they stayed in Wellstar's setting. The group's unofficial leader, healer, and strategist was Rupture--a surgeon turned supervillian. He was a bio-manip who, in addition to healing, had a very nasty power that the PCs had no real way to counter: he could inflict a wound on himsef and someone else in his line of sight would take the brunt of damage for him.
These two were buddies, and criminals, long before they joined the mercenary team. The big guy is Bull Rush, a tank naturally, and the skinny guy is Fanatic, who the players all learned to DESPISE. He could copy the powers of anyone in his range of vision, taking on not only their abilities but their mannerisms and personality as well. While fighting the PCs, his favorites to copy were Rupture--giving them two healers and indirect damage dealers--and Pojo, countering Pojo's mind control abilities and controlling anyone who was getting the upper hand.
As you may recall, Fanatic was killed in the last run-in the Traverse PCs had with the group, the only fatality the mercenaries suffered.
The mercenaries had a mage on their side, Lady Avalon. She stuck to the back of the group, along with Hanged Man, and nullified powers using her sorcery.
The creepiest looking of the team was Hanged Man, their telepath/telekenetic. How he appeared to the PCs was as a man in prison garb hanging from a noose that floated in air. However, how he really looks is on the left there, and was never actually anywhere NEAR combat. The image of the Hanged Man was just an illusionary projection everyone assumed covered his real appearence, the appearence of someone standing where ever the Hanged Man was. However, he was usually a block or two away from the action having a cigarette, using remote viewing and his connection with his team to see what was happening, and using his powers long-range. None of the PCs expected him to look so much like a "dude."
The most heartless, violent, and downright evil of the team was Sulfuric, a walking, talking form of acid. Permanently tainted and unable to revert to a natural form, he was the least human of them. He was also top priority for the PCs to get rid of, considering the PCs could tell he was just never going to give up unless he was completely powerless to do so. Thing is, how do you fight a pile of acid? Pojo, being a chemistry major in college, came up with the best solution he could think of: base. Pojo matter created enough to completely neutralize him--the PCs had to bolt before he exploded. Pojo and the other PCs learned later through the warden of Blackgate that Sulfuric hadn't died, but had gone through something like severe brain damage instead.
Part of the agreement that the PCs made with the warden of Blackgate was to help this man, Stray Shot. Stray Shot had been a normal guy, Ashton Bronx, working for Counterveil Securities, when he and his team had infiltrated a corporate lab and come across the vat that Sulfuric was being kept in. Having been normal himself at some point, Sulfric decided to take out his rage at those who had turned him into what he was at the team of Counterveil agents--causing a lab accident that killed all the agents save Bronx, who was turned into a metahuman. Sulfuric decided to keep him as a pet, breaking his mind until he was near schizophrenic and easy for Sulfric to mold.
Stray Shot's ability was to gain momentum by bouncing off of surfaces until he moved at such a speed that he could break through walls, or kill. The warden of Blackgate wanted to get the chance to get Stray Shot away from Sulfuric and hand him over to those who could work to undo the damage Sulfuric had done to him.
The PCs agreed to help, and brought the mercenaries into custody--save for two. Fanatic was killed in the fighting, and the teleporter, Slide escaped, despite massive power drain over where the arrest took place. She revealed that she had in her possession one of Koffman's watches, and disappeared.
To go back even further, Wes Torrin--Kato--was a member of an extremely militant, organized street gang before he joined the Century Sentinels. Wes wanted out and was nearly killed for it, and has hung around the Century Sentinels ever since. When Wellstar runs the Century Sentinels campaign, Wes is often using his free time to try to hunt down those who may still be loyal to "Tengu-Sensei" after the Century Sentinels broke up the Clan. He uses one of the many things left behind from his time in the Tengu--a mental chip implanted in most of the members who were considered true Tengu. Wes uses it to his advantage, using it to locate former members and see which ones deserve to be taken off the streets. He always knew there was a chance other Tengu could use it against him, but so far he's been lucky.
Enter Kinseeker.
In the solo campaign I ran for Wellstar, Wes ran across Dillon Byrd, also a former member of the Tengu, who has spent most of his time since the Century Sentinels broke up the clan hunting down those who would "betray the cause." In other words, anyone who won't help him try to break Tengu-Sensei out of jail and follow him. Being quite resourceful, Kinseeker found a metahuman hacker who altered his implant so that he could jam the senses of other former Tengu, and even read their surface thoughts.
Just prior to the solo game, Kinseeker and Slide meet, and both of them have people they want to get out of Blackgate. Kinseeker wanting to help Tengu-Sensei, and Slide her old partners. Slide doesn't want to let on she can easily walk in and out of Blackgate if she so chooses, using the watch, and instead makes Kinseeker an offer: She knows a former member of Counterveil that the two of them can control, so long as Kinseeker can get the services of the hacker who altered his neural chip. Kinseeker agrees.
This is where Wes--who had been on the trail of someone he recognized as a former Tengu--meets up with Night Ankh, Dosek, and Bishoujo Star. The four discover that Slide wants to get Stray Shot out of the Counterveil owned metahuman sanitarium, and attempt to undo the therapy that he's gone through. One of the steps that Counterveil takes to aid in therapy for the criminally insane is a metal chip that acts as a sort of technological telepathy, easing stress and aiding in therapy sessions. Silde wants to alter the chip and undo the "progamming" that Counterveil has done to him. The four find she has convinced herself she's in love with Stray Shot, and she thinks can "save him" more than any medical science possibly could, despite the fact that Ashton had already had a fiancé before being kidnapped by Sulfuric. He also is none too pleased to see her when she, Kinseeker, and Kinseeker's hacker friend arive to bust him out of the sanitarium.
The four attempt to stop the breakout, but in a desperate frenzy--refusing to "lose Stray Shot again"--Slide pulls out the watch and teleports she, her allies, and Ashton Bronx away. After some work, the group tracks Slide, Kinseeker, the hacker, and Bronx to a run-down building used for raves. They sneak up on a heated argument between Slide and Kinseeker, Kinseeker apparently having had his contact start altering Bronx's chip without Slide present. Slide suspects that Kinseeker is going to try to double cross her upon learning about the watch, and she is quite right. Kinseeker calmly says that if Slide wants Stray Shot, then she would have to hand over the watch.
As the PCs rush into the scene, Stray Shot joins the fray, under the control of Kinseeker--who had the hacker link Stray Shot's implant to his own. During the fight, Night Ankh sleight of hands the pocketwatch away from Slide, and she and Bishoujo Star manage to incapacitate her. Kinseeker escapes--Wes doing a serious number in him in combat--but wihtout Stray Shot: Wes, using skills he'd learned from Pulse, improvises a signal jamming device that cuts off Kinseeker's control of Stray Shot. Stray Shot doesn't stop attacking, however, and Bishoujo Star manages to cause him to stop by using emotion control on him and reminding him of just how much suffering he'd been through thanks to Sulfuric and Slide. The four heroes get ahold of the hacker, who had also been trying to make a break for it, and force him to repair Stray Shot's implant.
Counterveil arrives to collect Stray Shot, who had let Slide know just how much he hated her for what she tried to do to him. Counterveil is happy to gain control of Slide's pocketwatch, wanting to use it to fortify Blackgate and Counterveil controled offices from such teleportation (essentially making sure that I can't be mean and have NPCs from the Traverse game teleport to places they shouldn't). After making sure Ashton Bronx is safely in the hands of Counterveil where he can be helped, the team of young heroes go off into the night, quite liking the idea of teamwork.
*whew* Update madness.
Soooo ... eyeah ... Kinseeker looks like a friggin Naruto character. *sigh* Not what I'd intended, but apparently if you stick ANY kind of ninja in ANY kind of vest, you end up with a Naruto character.
Ah well, I still like his design, and he doesn't wear a stupid headband.
Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
HOLY CRUD! Best. Artwork. Evar!Acquana said:
I am really impressed!
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