In our prologue, the team uses their skills and powers to steal various aircraft and fly across the U.S., then the Pacific Ocean, finally landing on a street in Japan. It was a very impressive performance for some very skill-limited characters although Night Terror (phasing) and Nissavin (Mind Control) stood out for their particular contributions. When you can move through any wall or control minds so that you don't have to, it makes theft and trespassing quite a bit easier. This part was actually handled at the tail end of the last session since we had time left, but the real action was saved for this session.
We begin in Kobe, Japan after the team has successfully landed their stolen airplane and fled the scene. They know their target is the Gray Lotus Monastery, a retreat for meditation and contemplation, and that their target is a former super villain named The Monolith. He was defeated by Champion years ago and agreed to go into seclusion and retirement if Champion took up the environmental causes he favored. he has been at the Gray Lotus ever since.
The team wandered around the city a bit, then decided to steal a minivan and head for their target. During the trip there was much discussion of how to get in to the place and extract their target, and a rough plan was formed.
Arriving at the monastery the team attempted to talk their way in but were stonewalled by the monks who were very protective of their most unusual resident. The master of the temple spoke to them at the gate, then sought out The Monolith, but returned saying that he did not recognize their names and did not h to be disturbed. While Nissavin was trying to talk her way in, Night Terror phased out and went wandering around the monastery looking for the big villain. He located the correct building by watching the monks' movements and returned to the team as negotiations were breaking down. MegaStrike smashed down the gate while Night Blade charged in, intending to force the master to comply with their wishes. Instead a dozen monks appeared from the shadows and bushes nearby and a general brawl opened up.
As the fight started, a huge stony figure appeared at the top of a small hill inside the gate. The ground began to tremble and two mighty stone arms flexed and a voice called out "You have disturbed the tranquility of this place and my meditations and NOW YOU WILL PAY!
MegaStrike went straight for The Monolith while 'Terror, 'Blade, and Nissa took care of the monks, including the master. This took some time, during which a new player entered the scene. A man in western dress appeared near one of the buildings, pulled out a rifle, and began shooting at the team, nailing NightBlade with a crack shot. When 'Blade recovered, the enmity was on and he went after this new target, who fled, tossing out a business card and yelling "Call me sometime".
In the meantime, the two titans were still slugging it out when the last of the monks dropped to the ground. Night Blade gave up his pursuit and landed a critical strike on The Monolith and allowed MegaStrike to deliver the final blow. The huge fighter toppled over at last and the earthquakes gradually faded out.
The group made a call to Dr. Destruction who agreed to take care of the pickup. The team waited until a flying vehicle appeared and then fled the scene as another cell loaded up the unconscious villain.
Speeding back to Kobe, the team met a private charter (courtesy of the Doctor) and flew home in comfort.
DM Notes: This was a good session in most ways - the players succeeded despite several setbacks, they were creative with their approaches (even though they ended up going with Plan A in the end - sometimes the old ways are best) and they had a good time.
I had fun as well as I got to play a supervillain who didn't succumb to mind control and I got to use a lot of bennies, keeping him in the fight longer. The monks were really a warm-up act - the real fight was big guy vs. the party and it lasted almost 10 rounds total.
There was really only one thing that didn't go well but it was a big one: Dave the Swordmage from the D&D4 game wanted to join the NE game as well. Now the timing wasn't great as the team was headed for Japan at the end of the last session so I was going to have to work him in there somehow. I told him that he was at this monastery when the team attacked. I asked him to come up with a reason he was there and I would be fine with almost any reason. He struggled with this for the entire session. Once the fighting broke out he decided to get into costume (he's a wealthy millionaire batman-ish type who uses money as his super power and bought a lot of guns and gadgets) and take a shot with his big gun at Night Blade! I asked him if he was sure and he was. This annoyed Night Blade's player quite a bit, especially when it was a hit and a raise and caused a wound! The Gray One was pretty cocky at that point but then Night Blade burned a Bennie, got up and went after him - so he ran away!
This pretty much wrecked the "let's get him integrated into the team" subplot for the evening and I'll write more about that tomorrow. For now though it was a problem.
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