Overview
Power Level: High.
Difficulty Level: Medium.
Number of Characters: Any.
Featured Heroes: Lugh, Hyde.
Adventure Style: Giant slugfest. Eating Competition.
Rewards: Stopping the Fomorian rampage: 2 XP. Taking part in the eating competition: 1 XP and the hero gets a sandwich named after them. These awards replace the various XP rewards for “success.” PCs still get XP for being there and good roleplay.
Logline
A big hunger needs a big sandwich. So when some hangry mythological giants feel cheated by small sandwiches they take it out on the local New Yorkers.
Running the Adventure
The adventure is designed with a very simple plot - answer the call and follow the monsters. The whole thing is meant to take place during lunch hour on a busy weekday in October. This is to maximise the number of innocent bystanders. There are two action scenes interspersed with a brief information gathering scene. Each action scene is intended to challenge the heroes with both combat and saving innocent bystanders.
The Background section tells you, the GM, how the story has gotten to where it is, and helps define the villain’s motivation. This should help you make decisions about what happens in any given situation.
The Enter the Heroes section is the actual start of the game, when you draw the heroes into the story. The section should either say where the heroes are or give the players the choice to say where they are. Always give the players a chance to activate any disads they may want to come up in the game and give them the appropriate soap points for them.
The two action scenes, The Appetiser and The Main Meal, both describe what the scene looks like as the heroes arrive. This description includes the obvious main goal – in this case defeat the giants. But each scene has a list of possible complications that can arise during the battle. The complications are all to do with collateral damage, and preventing harm to innocent bystanders. The Main Meal also includes an optional, non-combat solution – an eating competition.
The in-between scene, The Scoop, is a simple scene that happens immediately after The Appetiser ends. Here the heroes can get some insight into the bad guys and their motivation. All important information is freely given to the heroes by the cops and the sandwich store owner.
The Aftermath section outlines a few of the possible outcomes and storylines that this adventure can lead to.
The Stats section lists the stats for the villains that the heroes might fight. There are no stats for other NPCs. Assume other NPCs have average stats and skills. Some will have higher bonuses with their professional skills. The stats will also list any soap a villain may have and which disadvantages granted it. There are also suggestions for tactics for the villains.
Background
Samhain is approaching. The days are getting cool. The gorging season is about to start. The scent of pumpkin spice wafts through the air like incense. To celebrate, a group of Fomor, beings from the Celtic Land of Myth, have come to New York because they have heard that the best and biggest sandwiches in the world are found here. And they want to eat them.
The Fomor are hideous giants, so to blend in with the humans they have all had a magical transform spell cast on them to make them look like normal humans (2m tall and built like brick naughty word houses, but hey, human.) They are dressed in modern clothes, but all in bright colours and loud tartan patterns. They speak English with a strong accent that’s similar to Northern Irish. It is fair to say that, even in disguise, they stand out. Any of them can end the disguise spell on themself at will as a 0 phase action. But once the spell is cancelled they have no way of putting it back on and become impossible to hide.
The Fomor are bad tempered and prone to violence. But they are not irrational monsters. They have their own code of honour. One that is fairly similar to Lugh’s code of honour. In fact it’s this code of honour that leads to the outbreak of trouble. The code requires guests to be treated with honour and grace; to be given good food, good treatment, and a seat in a place of honour.
So when the Fomor, expecting
“the best sandwiches in the world” are given a table by the door and, to their eyes, rather small, inadequate sandwiches they feel they are being deliberately insulted. And their code of honour means they cannot let an insult pass unavenged. That they are also hangry does not help.
The Fomor yelled their complaints at the sandwich shop owner, who yelled back. Soon the Fomor were throwing punches at staff, and furniture through windows. A cop cruiser was on the scene in a minute. The cops took one look at the large, angry men and women, and decided to taser the nearest one of them. All that did was make that Fomor, Big Breehan, really angry. Big Breehan threw off their magical disguise and attacked the police. The other Fomor decided to make a run for it. It’s not that they are scared, but they have sworn to eat
“the greatest sandwiches in the world.” They know that if they get caught up in a brawl with superheroes they will not get to eat! Their oaths and their hunger are winning out over their violent tendencies.
The scenario includes as many Fomor as there are PCs, plus one extra (Big Breehan).
Enter the Heroes
Read the following to the players:
It’s a quiet day at Revengers HQ. You’re on monitor duty. The police scanner has the usual mix of small-time crime and coffee orders. Air traffic control is its usual busy self. The Coast Guard sound like they’re having fun cruising up and down the coast on a foggy October day. The UNTIL early warning space station is broadcasting its “business as usual” signal.
Now is a good time to check if any disadvantages will come into play during the session. Ask the players:
Are there any personal issues that you might be thinking about? What are you going to do when you get off duty?
Let them answer, see if they want to activate any disads for some soap, etc. When everyone has activated the disads they want read or paraphrase the following:
You’re thinking about <whatever the player just mentioned> when someone on the police scanner starts screaming.
“It’s a monster! It’s a giant monster! Call the Revengers! Corner of 180 and 3rd!”
The Appetiser
180th and 3rd is only about a dozen blocks from Revengers HQ. All of the heroes should easily get there in 1 turn, maybe less. Even so, by the time they get there the Fomor, Big Breehan, has thrown the police car, trashing it and several other vehicles, knocked over some power lines, and is rampaging east along 180th. The cops are in full flight, their guns already emptied. There are several bystanders in trouble.
Breehan, is enraged and targeting a fallen officer (see Cops in Danger, below.) They have 3 soap from following their code of honour in the “background” section and being enraged.
Complications
Choose one complication for each hero in the group. If any complication speaks to a particular hero’s disadvantages or powers you should choose it for that hero.
Cops in danger
The two officers who responded to the initial call are in serious trouble. Breehan has thrown the squad car at Officer Reyes, who only barely jumped out of the way and is now prone on the ground, the angry Fomor bearing down on her, a car held over his head to smoosh Reyes.
Civilian trapped in a car
There is a young woman trapped in a car. The car itself is in the path of either a collapsing scaffolding or dangerous power lines (as per below.) The door is damaged and cannot open. Door: rPA3, 2 BOD to rip open. Once the door is open it’s only a ½ phase action to pull the civilian out. The windows are rPA2, 1 BOD but it requires a full phase to get the young woman out through the windows.
Collapsing scaffolding
A nearby building has scaffolding in front of it. The base supports were damaged by the squad car when it was thrown and the whole thing is in danger of collapsing. There are 3 people on the scaffolding, and another dozen in the fall zone. The hero will either have to clear the people out the danger zones or prop up the scaffolding until they get themselves out.
The scaffolding requires +7 STR to hold. It takes a character a ½ phase to hold the scaffolding, unless they have STR +14 or higher, in which case it’s a 0 phase action. Note: the hero can’t go anywhere, they have to stand still to keep holding the scaffolding. But they can take actions they can that don’t involve moving.
Without support the scaffolding will collapse in 1 turn.
The civilians have SPD 2 and non-combat move of 24m. The people on the ground can move out of the danger zone in their phases. But some of them are too terrified to move. The hero will have to make a PRE attack, TN14, to get them to move.
The 3 builders on the scaffold all have Acrobatics +3 for scrabbling about in scaffolding. Each builder needs to make 2 TN14 checks to get off the scaffolding. If the scaffolding is being supported the difficulty drops to TN12. Failure on a check means no progress was made. If an NPC fails by 4 or more they fall and are hanging on by one hand. They will only be able to hold on for 2 segments before falling.
Dangerous power lines
The battle has knocked down power lines near the combat. The torn lines are lying on the pavement. The current is making them jump around. The danger zone is a 1 hex radius. Make an attack roll +4 against anyone in the area of effect, when the zone is entered and on phases 6 & 12. NB: someone who is knocked back into the area has their defence halved unless they made an acrobatics check to keep their feet.
They do damage based on how well grounded the victim is:
Not Grounded: 3D6N, Stun only;
Grounded 5d6N;
Very Well Grounded 2d6K. Someone who lands flat on their back onto the power lines (e.g. if someone were knocked on to them) counts as well grounded.
The Scoop
Big Breehan shouldn’t take the heroes long to take out. In the aftermath of the fight the sandwich shop owner, Mr. Ballentine, rushes up to thank the heroes and tells them the following:
“I marked them for trouble soon as they walked into my shop. A big group, too loud. And everyone one of them was huge! I mean seven feet tall! And they had this weird accent, it was like Irish but not. They asked for the biggest sandwiches we got and wolfed ‘em down. And then they complained they weren’t big enough! Vito Ballentine’s Big Sandwiches aren’t big enough? Like Hell! My triple decker ham, baloney, and corned beef can feed a family! I told ‘em to shaddup! They started throwing punches and furniture. They smashed my window! Then they ran off up 3rd.”
If the heroes ask how many there were, Ballentine tells them. (There is one more for each of the heroes.)
The Fomor probably have 1 turn or more headstart on the heroes but they don’t have any special movement powers - their only option is to run.
Following the Fomor is easy. They’re seven feet tall, dressed in bright colours, running in a mob, shoving their way through the crowds, and not stopping for traffic. The trail leads up 3rd Avenue, bends slightly to the right up Quarry past the hospital, to the intersection and D’Auria-Murphy Triangle. Here the smells of food wafting down from Arthur St. bring the Fomor to a brief halt.
It should be at this point that heroes catch up with them.
The Main Course
The D’Auria-Murphy Triangle is a pedestrian island in the middle of a busy intersection. There are a couple of large trees on the eastern side of the island. On the western, pointy end there is an entrance to a public restroom under the island. The Fomor are standing on the north facing edge by the stone bust of Columbus. They have stopped briefly to inhale the scent of food wafting down from Arthur St to the north. When the heroes make themselves known the Fomor throw off their disguises and the leader, Niall Blue-Eyes, will cry:
“Do not come between the Fomor and their prey!” they warn the heroes.
If the heroes want to know what the Fomor are hunting they must make a PRE attack (TN14) to get the Fomor to answer. If the Fomor do answer they yell in chorus:
“Sandwiches! The greatest sandwiches in the world!”
“Or at least they’d better be,” Niall adds in a menacing tone.
“Aye,” says another. “That little man cheated us at the last place!”
Any sort of mention of sandwiches or food by the heroes will start a litany of complaints from the Fomor and demands to be given
“the biggest and best sandwiches!” and proud boasts about how many sandwiches they can eat. Any mention by a hero about what or how much they like to eat will provoke cries of derision and challenges like
“You? You could never eat like a Fomor!”
Complications
This battle should be a lot bigger than the first as there is 1 Fomor for every hero. This means the fight also has much more potential to cause collateral damage and harm to innocent bystanders. The intersection where it starts has a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Across the street on two sides of the triangle there are apartment buildings. Only about 40m west from the centre of the Triangle is the emergency room of St Barnabas Hospital. Beneath the Triangle is a public restroom which may well have people in it. During the battle you should make a point of mentioning how much collateral damage is being done, of the closeness of the hospital, the number of civilians who are in the immediate vicinity, etc.
This is a good time to invoke any heroic disadvantages about protecting people. Use any of the complications from the Appetiser that you have not yet used. It is also an opportunity for the villains to spend 1 soap to give them interesting things to throw, like a cement truck; or to damage, like a petrol tanker or St Barnabas Hospital, or to activate a complication as an incidental part of another action. E.g. after throwing a petrol tanker spend 1 soap to activate the dangerous power lines complication. Each Fomor has 2 soap from following their code of honour in the “background” section.
If the heroes wish to reduce collateral damage they will need to find some way to distract the Fomor from the fight. Hopefully from all the Fomor’s complaints about food and making fun of the heroes’ small appetites, the heroes reach the (correct) conclusion that they can challenge the Fomor to an eating competition. After all, food is why they’re in New York in the first place. If a hero can make a social skill check or PRES attack, TN10, the Fomor will accept the challenge. But if none of the PCs do and they fight the battle to its end this is fine too. But the heroes will miss out on a bonus XP and getting a sandwich named after them if they don’t take part in an eating competition.
Alternatively, if during the battle any of the heroes deride the Fomors’ appetites, or make claims about eating more than the Fomor, the Fomor will demand they prove it with an eating competition.
Simply offering to get the Fomor sandwiches will not defuse the situation. Their ire is up and they’re happy to take any sandwiches they find as spoils of war. It takes a challenge to their code of honour to get them to calm down.
The Fomor have already activated their Code of Honour disadvantage in this scenario and so do not earn any soap for accepting the challenge.
The Eating Competition
Once the challenge is accepted there are certain logistical realities that will need to be overcome.
The first one is that the Fomor are now all giant sized and none of them will fit into any cafe or deli. The Fomor will suggest they set up here, in the middle of the intersection. Since the battle will have brought all traffic to a stop, and possibly damaged the road, there isn’t really a downside to this suggestion. Tables and chairs (for the heroes) can be brought from neighbouring restaurants. The Fomor will sit on the ground.
The next problem is sourcing the food. Luckily the street that heads north from the Triangle, Arthur Street, is famous for its delis, restaurants, and coffee shops. All Bronx locals, and this includes all the Revengers, know this without needing a skill check. The Fomor insist that the food be sandwiches. In truth any food slapped on or between bread will satisfy this need if the heroes can make a Conversation TN 11 check. Otherwise the Fomor will kick up a fuss and even resort to insulting their hosts (the heroes.) If Lugh is present you may invoke their code of honour (to never leave an insult unavenged) disadvantage, unless it already has been activated in this scenario.
The third problem is finding enough food. No single deli is going to be able to feed half a dozen (or more) giants and superheroes. If the heroes make an appeal for help an Oratory check, TN 13, will convince all the local restaurateurs to offer their services, for a price. The restaurants will set up a schedule of sandwich deliveries, waiters and busboys running back and forth from the triangle to the various delis.
A fourth issue that might come up is that one or more of the heroes might complain that the Fomor are giants and the heroes are not. The Fomor brush this aside saying “You knew this when you challenged us. Do you concede we are the greater trenchermen*?” There is nothing they can do to shrink back down. Nor do they want to. They will eat as giants. They cannot be convinced to change their minds.
*Trencherman, or trencherwoman, is an olde fashioned word for someone who can eat a lot. It is always used as a point of pride.
Once the logistics are sorted the heroes and Fomor can get down to some serious eating.
The competition is run as a series of BOD checks with rising target numbers combined with a clock. Note that the competition is a test of endurance, not speed.
A character’s modifier for the checks is equal to their starting BOD divided by 5, rounded to the nearest whole number. The first round the TN is 10 with the TN increasing by 1 each round. So round 2 has TN 11, round 3 TN 12.
Any time a character fails a check, move their token one place up the clock. When the character reaches a new level the listed effect takes place. The first three levels are purely descriptive and have no mechanical effect. When a character reaches the last space on the clock they have lost and are out of the competition. The last person in the competition wins.
Moves - cost 1 soap to use.
During the competition the heroes and the Fomor may spend soap to activate the following moves:
Wash it down with beer! (Soda and pumpkin spiced latte are also acceptable.) This gives +2 to this round's BOD or EGO check (player’s choice.) You may activate this move after seeing your dice roll; if you do you quickly gulp down a drink to keep the food from coming back up.
By will alone. If you fail your first check you may spend a soap to use this move. If you do, you must make an EGO check (or possibly a second EGO check) against the same TN as the first check. If you succeed you count as succeeding at the first check for this round. Making this move does not affect the TN for the EGO rolls required when at 3 on the clock.
Use a different token for each competitor. Allow the players to see the clock.
0
Bring it on! | 1
The loosening of the belt. | 2
The burp with bits in it. | 3
Mind over body.
EGO rolls required. | 4
A mighty hurl.
You’re out. |
0: Bring It On! This is the starting condition
1: The loosening of the belt. You’re starting to feel constricted. Better loosen the belt.
2: The burp with bits in it. This is just what it sounds like.
3: Mind over body. From this point the character is so full that they must make an EGO check each round, in addition to the BOD check, to succeed in that round. The initial EGO check is TN 12. It increases by +1 for each round after this.
4: A mighty hurl. You vomit up everything you’ve just eaten and slump backward, defeated. You’re out of the competition.
During the competition the Fomor are happy to chat with their hosts. They mostly talk about hunting and fighting, but are also fond of music and, obviously, food.
If one of the heroes wins the competition the Fomor will accept that New York has indeed got the greatest sandwiches in the worlds. They will even be gracious about it, complimenting the many fine sandwiches served up by the delis of Arthur Street. “Your New York heroes are indeed mighty sandwiches! The bards shall sing their praises across all the land of Erin!”
But if one of the Fomor wins they say “Fah! The sandwiches of New York are small and paltry things. Next time we shall go to Norlins and eat their mighty po’boys!”
After saying their piece, win or lose, the leader opens a portal to the realm of Faerie, the Fomor step through and are gone.
Aftermath
Breehan was most likely not at the eating competition. Wherever he is being held, a few days later a magical portal opens next to him and he is dragged through, back to Erin.
The Fomor owe a favour to a mysterious witch. If in the future the heroes cross a witch then they could find themselves fighting the Fomor again.
If the fight is low on collateral damage (group call) the heroes will also get sandwiches named after them by different delis and they will be lauded in the local press. If the damage is too high they will find themselves blacklisted from delis the length of Arthur St and will be crucified in the local press.
Sandwich names
Lugh the Long Sand(wich)
The Red Crab
The Champion Hero
The Iron Sandwich
The Mighty Hyde/Hyde’s Big Bite/The Big Green Mouthful
STATS
Fomor Warriors
(Their names are: Niall Blue Eyes, Big Breehan, Niamh Three Boobs, Emer the Biter, Colleen of the Mighty Boot, Floppy Derry, and Leith the Chunderer.)
STR +12 ATTACK +6 BOD 25 (+5)
DEX +2 DEFENCE +6 STUN 60
INT +2 rPA/PA r10/20 rEA/EA r5/20
PRE +4 DAMAGE 12d6 strike REC 15
EGO +3 END 60
SOAP: 2 (Code of Honour) SPEED 3 (4, 8, 12)
POWERS
Huge Hands/Feet Area of Effect - 1 hex for strike, requires a full phase
Reach +4m
Run 24m, Leap 12m (6m up)
Disads
Code Of Honour (Psych., Common, Strong)
Enraged when hurt (more than 10 STUN) in battle (Psych., Common, Strong)
Owe a witch a favour (Social, Uncommon, Total)
Distinctive Feature Terrifying Giant (Social, Very Common, Strong)
