More Villains! (DC Modern) - MHRP

Hey, readers!

I enjoyed the response from the stat blocks I posted last time, so I think I'll continue by putting up more of my content from my Teen Titans game for you to peruse, steal, copy, edit, or what have you! As before, these are different from standard DC flare since they are from my revamp of said universe, but with a little tweaking, they can be right at home in your Justice League, Teen Titans, or what-have-you games.

Like last time, we're going to have the name and a brief description before the meat of the datafile. These are a collection of villains from either one-shot episodes or mini-arcs. However, the Riddler presented below was pretty much stolen from someone on the old Margaret Weis forums with a few minor changes, so I can hardly take credit for that particular brilliance. If I remembered the username, I would put it on, just so you can pour the praises on! Alas, I do not.

Without further ado: Villains!

Bane

According to the members of his Neo-Luddite society, the story of Bane is as follows. The dying town where his entire family grew up was apparently saved by the creation of a chemical factory. While the factory provided work, it also slowly killed the environment and those working inside. A tragic accident occurred while a teenage Bane slaved away, and he wore the gas-mask evermore to hide his scars, swearing to abhor and eradicate the sins of modern technology, modeling himself after an 18th century revolutionary.  Contrary to the regular look, Bane is a tall and lanky individual, whose strength defies his appearance.

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d6, Team d8

Distinctions:

Technology is Evil

Cult of Personality

“I Will Break You”

Power Sets:

Venom Addiction:

Superhuman Strength d10

Superhuman Durability d10

Superhuman Stamina d10

SFX:

Venom Burst – Step up or double Superhuman Strength for one round, then step it back to d8.

Broken – Step back the highest rated die in your pool. Then add d6 and step up physical stress inflicted by one.

Healing Factor – Spend d6 from the Doom pool to recover physical stress and step back physical trauma by -1.

Limit:

Venom Dependent – Shutdown Venom Addiction powerset when you don't have access to Venom.

The Mask:

Cybernetic Senses d8

SFX:

Immunity: Spend a d6 from the Doom Pool to ignore toxins and poisons.

Venom Reserves: Spend the highest die from the Doom Pool to restore the Venom Addiction powerset if it had been shut down.

Up the Dose – Spend a die from Doom and add d8 emotional stress to step up Superhuman Strength or Superhuman Durability for the remainder of the scene.

Limit:

Gear – Shutdown The Mask to add d6 to the Doom pool. Spend d6 from the doom pool to recover.

Specialties:

Combat Expert

Tech Expert

Psych Expert

Menace Master

Crime Expert

The Riddler

One day, mild-mannered computer programmer Edward Nygma came to a startling realization. The world was getting dumber. People stared listlessly into their devices, relying on computers to think for them while they flopped to the tune of capitalism. At this rate, evolution would break down, and humanity would be unfit for survival. Therefore, he devised a system. He would test humanity, starting with the loathsome underbelly of human life, to see if they were intelligent. If not, they would fail the test and die. If they survived they were fit to live, and possibly help him continue to test humanity. Thus, the Riddler was born.

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6

Distinctions:

Knowledge is Power

World Renowned Hacker

Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma

Power Sets:

Weaver of Conundrums:

Enhanced Senses d8

SFX:

Complex Puzzles – All assets, resources, and complications created by the Riddler can only be stepped back, rather than being shutdown, when targeted. Once it goes below a d6, it is shutdown as normal.

Ingenious – When creating an asset, resource or complication based on a riddle or puzzle, step up the resulting trait by +1.

Limits:

Outsmarted – When an asset, resources or complication created by the Riddler is shutdown, take a d8 of Emotional Stress.

Specialties:

Crime Expert d8

Tech Master d10

Psych Expert d8

Menace Expert d8

Solomon Grundy

The Lazarus Pits are a wonderful natural phenomenon that have the possibility to grant immortal life to those who find them. However, it is not usually possible for a Lazarus Pit to bring one back from the dead. This does not explain the creature only known as Solomon Grundy, who is assumed to be a Robinson Cursoe who found one of the fabled Pits, but a tainted one. Upon his death, the island's pit brought him back to life... Wrong. Seemingly immortal, Grundy is a curiosity, and potential weapon, for those who wish to live forever. 

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6

Distinctions:

Dumb as the Dead

Hulking Abomination

Unstoppable

Power Sets:

Lazarus Pit Pariah

Godlike Strength d12

Godlike Durability d12

Godlike Stamina d12

Enhanced Speed d8

SFX:

Area Attack: ~

Healing Factor - Spend a die from the Doom Pool to recover physical stress and step-back trauma.

Nothing Hurts Grundy – Spend a die from the Doom Pool to ignore physical stress.

Grundy Smash – Against a single opponent, double Godlike Strength. Remove the highest rolling die and keep an extra die for your total.

Limits:

Wasting Away – Every time Grundy uses his Healing Factor, his stamina is stepped down by one until he returns to the Lazarus Pit from which he spawned.

Specialties:

Combat Expert d8

Menace Expert d10

Amazo

Dr. Ivo seeks to live forever, but his experiments have only brought about temporary results. He has heard of the properties of the Lazarus Pits, but their temporary relief from the mortal coil was unsatisfactory. Upon discovering the Island of Solomon Grundy, he set up a base of operations and begun a series of test involving the Lazarus Pits while also working on the ultimate evolutionary being that he will eventually transplant into. The prototype is finished: Amazo, the amazingly adaptable automaton!

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d6, Team d8

Distinctions:

Infinitely Adaptable

Cold-Hearted Android

Ivo's Greatest Creation

Power Sets:

Adaptoid Android

Enhanced Senses d8

Superhuman Durability d10

Enhanced Flight d8

Mimic d12

SFX:

I Cannot Process that Emotion – Spend a die from the Doom Pool to ignore emotional stress.

Fast Learner – Spend a Doom Die. Amazo gets the “Stolen Power” asset immediately equal to the die spent.

Limit:

Strengths and Weaknesses – Amazo is subject to the limits associated with the power sets he mimics.

Specialties:

Combat Expert d8

Tech Expert d8

Hope you enjoyed these datafiles! If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes

The Fearsome Five! (DC Modern) - Marvel Heroic

Hello, readers!

Happy New Year! After our last editorial about NPC Overload, I thought it would be a nice ironic turn to show some stat sheets for NPCs! Since I've blogged quite a bit about my experiences with Marvel Heroic, I think giving back to the community with some DC-related datafiles would be just peachy.

Keep in mind that these are altered for my particular version of the DC Universe which I call 'DC Modern', but with a little adjustment here and there, they can be perfectly usable in your regular Teen Titans game, or any other setting which would require the use of the Fearsome Five!

Before each stat-block, I'll give the name and a little blurb about them. I'm pretty proud of some of the SFX and Limits I cobbled together, since I think unique permutations of the system are what fan-created content is all about!

Mammoth

Baran Flinders and his sister, Selinda, struck out on their own as High School drop-outs who were looking for trouble. They eventually wound up throwing in their lot with a gang that owed its true allegiance to the Cult of Blood. When Baran mocked the gang leader's girlfriend for her witch-like appearance, she cursed him to forever be a Mammoth. Twisted and ugly, but with the brute strength required of an enforcer, Baran was forever changed! He seeks a way to remove his curse with the help of her sister while also getting back at the gang that scorned them.

Affiliations: Solo d6, Buddy d8, Team d4

Distinctions:

Sibling Bond

Driven by Revenge

Cursed Behemoth

Power Sets:

Cursed Form

Superhuman Strength d10

Superhuman Stamina d10

Enhanced Durability d8

SFX:

Second Wind: Before you make an action using Cursed Form, move your physical stress to the Doom Pool and step up a Cursed Form power +1 for this action.

Versatile: Replace any Superhuman Cursed Form power with 2d8 or 3d6 for your next turn.

Haymaker: Double Superhuman Strength for an action, then add the second-highest rolling die from that action to the Doom Pool.

Limits:

Self Conscious: Step up any emotional stress related to comments about Mammoth's appearance.

One Track Mind: After making an attack against an opponent during an action scene, you must only attack that one target for the rest of the scene. Spend a die from the Doom Pool to change targets or do something else.

My Sister's Keeper: If Shimmer takes trauma, take emotional stress equal to the highest die in the Doom Pool.

Specialties:

Combat Expert d8

Crime Expert d8

Shimmer

If there's one thing Selinda Flinders desires, it's power. Having grown up destitute her entire life with only her brother to watch her back, she sought a way to transcend her existence and rely on herself rather than others. The chance came when her addictive habits for mystically imbued drugs landed herself and her brother in the gang life. Before they were tossed to the curb for Mammoth's insolence, she tried an experimental mixture of drugs that wound up giving her the power to change elements. Now gifted with the knowledge and power to advance their status, Selinda seeks even more power and a cure for her brother's monstrous transformation.

Affiliations: Solo d4, Buddy d8, Team d6

Distinctions:

Power Addict

Amateur Elemental

Sibling Bond

Elemental Control

Superhuman Transmutation d10

SFX:

Elemental Supremacy: Add a d6 and step up the effect die when creating an asset or complication to turn something into something else.

Family Ties: Double an Elemental Control power when creating an asset intended to be given to Mammoth.

Limits:

Inorganic Only: Elemental Control may not be used on organic lifeforms.

My Brother's Keeper: If Mammoth takes trauma, take emotional stress equal to the highest die in the Doom Pool.

Specialties:

Crime Expert d8

Science Expert d8

Gizmo

No one's quite sure where Gizmo came from. He doesn't go by any other name, and his short stature is hard to miss. However, his skill as an inventor is invaluable. He can make anything out of anything, so it seems, and his services often come at a high price, especially in cities where advanced fire-arms can be hard to come by. Now, he makes his home in the Motor City, scrounging together the pieces of dying industry to make a healthy profit in the underground.

Affiliations: Solo d8, Buddy d4, Team d6

Distinctions:

Short Temper

MacGyver-Style Inventor

Maniacal Midget

Power Sets:

"I Can Build That"

Enhanced Senses d8

Mimic d8

SFX:

Technological Intuition: When using Mimic to create technology-based assets or complications, add a d6 and step up your effect die.

Limit:

Prototype: When you create an asset or complication with Mimic, shutdown Mimic until the asset or complication is eliminated, removed, or recovered.

Cobbled Together Arsenal

Weapon d8

Flight d6

Enhanced Durability d8

SFX:

Charged Blast: Step or double Weapon on your next roll, or spend a doom die to do both, then shut down Weapon. Recover through an opportunity or during a transition scene.

Limits:

Gear – Shutdown a 'Cobbled Together Arsenal' power to add or step up a doom die.

Specialties:

Tech Master d10

Crime Expert d8

Science Expert d8

Vehicle Expert d8

Psimon

Once, Simon Jones was the second highest ranking member of the Cult of Blood with only Brother Blood above him. While the master directed the mystical side of their organization, Simon organized the gangs and the financial side of their various endeavors. However, Simon desired more, and his prayers were answered by a direct endowment of energy from the Being of Chaos Himself, Trigon. Through psychic revelation, he was able to be in limited communication with the Chaotic Incarnate, and thought that this made him higher than even Brother Blood himself! Therefore, he left the Cult of Blood in order to pursue Trigon's interests on his own.

Affiliations: Solo d8, Buddy d6, Team d4

Distinctions:

Cult of Blood Turncoat

Untapped Potential

“I Should Be in Charge!”

Power Sets:

Psychic Powers From Chaos

Mind Control d8

Telepathy d8

Psychic Resistance d8

Psychic Blast d8

SFX:

Area Attack: ~

Echo of Trigon: Step up or double any Psychic Powers From Another Dimension power for one action. If that action fails, add a die to the Doom Poop equal to the normal rating of that power die.

More Powerful Than I Thought: Step back the highest die in your attack action pool to add a d6 and step up mental stress inflicted.

Limit:

Trigon Clouds My Thoughts: Both ones and twos count as opportunities. Twos can still be used as effect die or to add to totals.

Specialties:

Psych Expert d8

Mystic Expert d8

Dr. Light

Arthur Light was a brilliant inventor for LexCorp before the company began to massively lay-off its work force in the wake of Lex Luthor's terrorist fiasco. All he could take away from his work on developing technology to defeat superhumans was his Light Suit. VATOR offered him a leadership position in their Suicide Squad taskforce, but he was swiftly fired when he proved to be utterly incompetent. Undeterred, he now focuses his malice on the teenage heroes who made him lose his position, and has proved a constant foe to the Titans.

Affiliations: Solo d8, Buddy d4, Team d6

Distinctions:

Mad Scientist

“No One Takes Me Seriously!”

Photon-Felon

Power Sets:

Light Suit

Light Control d10

Invisibility d10

Flight d8

Force Field d8

Light Blast d10

SFX:

Too Bright!: Add a d6 and step up the effect die for blinding complications.

Light Absorption: On a successful reaction against a Light-based action, convert your opponent's effect die into a Light Suit stunt or step up any Light Suit power by +1 for your next action. Spend a d6 to use this stunt if your opponent's action succeeds.

Multi-Power: Use two or more Light Suit powers in a single die pool at -1 step for each additional power.

Limit:

Gear: Shutdown Light Suit and add a d6 to the Doom Pool. Activate an opportunity to recover.

Specialties:

Science Expert

Tech Expert

Business Expert

Notes:

-All characters are lowered to minion status, but can be advanced to up the difficulty, especially if they are working by themselves or in a pair.

-Area Attack is abbreviated by a '~', because I find it tedious to rewrite the same rule that I have practically memorized.

Hope you enjoyed today's Marvel Heroic stats! If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes

Kitty Pryde's Diary - Civil War - Entry #1

(Hey, all! Since Kitty is taking a pretty active role in the recent events in the Civil War game I'm currently in, I've decided to switch over to her point of view for the time being. If next session plays out as planned, Wolverine will have plenty to cuss about in the weeks to come, but for now, let's take a peek into the life of one of my favorite mutants during this time. -Wes)

Dear Diary,

Weirdest thing! I was cleaning out my closet (which is a total wreck!) and I found you snuggled between a manual for the Danger Room and that one goofy picture of Piotr and I making macho poses by the pool. Come to find out there's a whole bunch of old pictures of us, and him, tucked into that little secret pocket in the front cover. Between those covers were the adventures of a girl that was in way, way over her head, but somehow lived to tell the tale.

Okay, when things phase through you, survival isn't a huge issue, but still!

I was about to throw you back in the box and go show Piotr (who came back from the dead!) the goofy picture when it came to me! Is there any reason I couldn't keep the log going? I mean, sure, I could just type it up nowadays in seconds, but that isn't personal or visceral. When you have a pen in your hand, you gotta think about the words as you create them, and commit yourself to them! If I was just typing this down in an ultra secret location so deeply encrypted onto my laptop that Tony would have to spend a week just to crack the first sentence, I could delete a word without even thinking about it, and it would be gone! Forever! Bam! See?

So, hope you're ready for a mouthful, because things have been really, really crazy around here.

I guess I'll start with the biggest thing. I'm part of an endangered species now. Wanda kind of lost it, altered reality to create a universe where Magneto ruled the world, and then turned everything back to normal, except for the fact that now almost every mutant lost their powers. I still have mine, but some really important guys like the Professor lost theirs! Am I lucky? I guess so. I mean, the ability to phase through stuff is as much a part of me as being Jewish or being a brunette (and staying that way!).

Since we're endangered, the government thought it'd be an awesome idea to make everyone that's left stay at the mansion guarded by Sentinels. Smart, right? I mean, yeah, the Sentinels have pilots in them now, but it's really a genius idea. Wouldn't create a powder keg situation at all! We wouldn't be pulling our hair out 'cause we can't see the latest M. Night Schamlan (or however you spell his last name...) flop at the theater, or slum around the mall with emo haircuts, blasting our punk music. Scott and his witch of a girlfriend are doing their best to keep things under control, but that didn't last long. I'll get to that.

Anyway, I had a genius idea! Well, being a genius, these things happen, but it's not like I'm bragging or anything. Charles isn't really around to guide us, but you know what I think? Isolating ourselves from humanity is the worst thing we could do to promote the unification of our races. We need to be out there, in public, doing good things like a normal person would! Instead of just saying the world when Magneto decides to turn tyrant, we could be helping everyday, spearheading medical research, or fixing broken bridges, or discovering alternative fuel sources. Our great abilities give us more than a weapon to fight evil with, but it's also a tool that can be used to build goodwill. We should be more like tools!

Okay, that came out really, really bad. No wonder everyone thinks we're terrorists, jeez. (Did I mention that the Avengers think that our slogan should be "We're Not Terrorists!"?)

That leads me to my awesome idea which is to bring this philosophy to light in a time where it's really needed! Sometimes, it's hard to look past our own issues and see what's going on outside the walls of our mansion, but things are really heating up out there. The town of Stamford got blown up because a bunch of superheroes were being careless, and the public is out for reform and control. Granted, this is how they've felt with mutants this whole time, but now their expanding their minds a little bit! In the wrong direction, but... Yeah! If there's one guy with the resources and brains to turn this whole thing one way or the other, it's Tony Stark. So, being proactive and bold, I held out the olive branch of mutant peace and decided that some collaboration was in order!

Tony and I talked a long time, and we found that our goals aren't all too dissimilar! That, and we're both really smart, so it's cool to find someone else that understands computers like you do! He agreed to hire me on as a personal assistant (which is so cool!) and together we're creating a non-profit organization to saddle onto the Superhuman Registration Act in order to make the things that suck about it suck a little less and support heroes through the transition. Our plans in the future are to eventually use this as a base-ground for helping mutants reintegrate into society, but for now, these are still pretty good goals!

Oh, and I might be running a school to help young super-humans in the very near future. Talk about pressure! What do you think sounds better? Professor Kitty, or Professor Pryde? I mean, the second one has the whole alliteration factor, but the first is casual, and I can totally see a little chibbi cat dressed in a graduate cap, glasses, and one of those pointing sticks that they used to use!

Piotr is going to draw me that one of these days, right after the awkwardness goes away.

So, let's talk about the Superhuman Registration Act for a minute. (Believe me, I can talk about this thing for ages. Tony and I created a series of instructional videos for beings from different planets, realities, and such, to get them acquainted with the law in ways they would understand, and I got to play narrator.) Basically, super-humans have to be trained and registered with the government, which is okay? They do get paid, and benefits, and I think that's awesome. The really bad thing is that all the mutants are automatically registered, which is something we've been fighting against for years. Now, any bigot senator can get our names and go harass our families! Whatever. All heroes are also supposed to help in times of emergency, but I guess they'd want to do that anyway, right? It's a real mixed bag, and there are parts of it I can get all excited about, then other parts make me want to pout and program for hours on end.

Maria Hill is a jerk!

Just wanted to get that out of the way. It's an inside joke around the mansion, you know. Speaking of her, the first thing she wanted us to do is convince all of these vigilantes and heroes that we duped into arriving at a warehouse to register. I'm not really an Avenger, or an agent of SHIELD, so sometimes I feel kind of awkward around everyone else, but Tony always makes me feel better. Well, when he's not stressed, and he's stressed a lot. Needless to say, we managed to get that off without a hitch, and even got started advertising the law assistance aspect of our organization with these neat little cards Tony invented. (I had to narrate for those too...)

This next part really tears me up, but I have to write about it, because it's really important. We got a communication that said the Xavier Mansion was having a riot, and that the Sentinels were freaking out and being a little over-zealous. My first instinct upon arrival was to make sure the kids were alright! Phasing them out of harm's way was, admittedly, not the best thing to do, but it was a tense moment! Everyone else went after the Sentinels, but they should have mixed their focus!

Because we were so sloppy, disorganized, and against such high-tech opposition, twelve kids died. Twelve of my classmates, students, whatever! Hell, I'm a consular at the Institute when I'm not working on a PhD or hanging around with Tony. I knew a lot of them, even knew some very personal stuff, and now... Now they're gone. Deleted from existence, just like that. I can't... I can't even begin to say how deeply this grieves me, especially since I could have done more to prevent it!

Scott asked me to speak at the funeral, but I couldn't. He knew I couldn't. Scott sucks. It's all Emma's fault that Scott sucks, 'cause she sucks, and she transmits all her suck into him with her mind powers or something. Shit... There I go making jokes again, to cover up how much this hurts. That's what I do, you know. I stay witty, and quippy, especially when I've got something under the surface that just stings so deeply. I can't look vulnerable in front of all these Avengers. Especially not now. We have to be strong.

This... This is why I'm starting to really believe in this project Tony and I are coming up with. See, maybe if we were trained together as a unit, briefed about the situation, and tackled this efficiently while working together, maybe those twelve guys wouldn't have died. Maybe Little Boy Blue would have finally realized that yes, girls love the color blue. Maybe Channel Surfer would finally get to test out the video game I was programming for him in my spare time where his power was the controller, since he was so frustrated with having to change the channel back to the Xbox every time he gamed. That's a lot of maybe's, but I believe in every one of them. For the future.

Something else happened that night. Spider-Man almost killed someone. It was an accident, sure, but Maria (Who is still a jerk!) presented him with an ultimatum. He could either submit to the SHIELD tribunal, who would tear him apart, or go for a public trial, which would have his real named revealed! We were all there for him, that night before he had Tony set up one of the biggest press conferences ever assembled. I even told him about my crush, but you already know all about that. Should have known he was married...   

Anyway, General Lazer (the moron who decided that we should be cooped up at the X Mansion) showed up at the press conference where Spider-Man revealed to everyone that he was the devilishly handsome Peter Parker. He bombarded the poor guy with questions about the accident, but Tony was right there to defend him, not to mention a little crowd support from yours truly. Then, well, Deadpool showed up and drove Lazer nuts, so it was a mixed bag.

To be honest, I'm... Not really sure where things are going. Wonder-Man has decided to advocate our cause, and with his help and the turn-over of Lazer, maybe Tony and I can move our ideas for mutant integration up sooner than we anticipated. This registration act could be the gateway for a whole new world where mutants are seen as super-heroes instead of genetic aberrations with their own agendas in mind. However it goes, I'm going to be there at the forefront, because I still believe in Xavier's dream.

Gotta go! Just looked at the time, and I need to squeeze some lab time in before the sun comes up. Working on a few new stuff in Tony's labs, should be pretty cool!

Love always,

Kitty

Marvel Origins - Avengers - Session 2 Report

Hey, readers!

It's been quite a while since I've thrown up my session reports, and I have quite a backlog of interesting content to inform you of! I'll be going in order of appearance here, so we will start with the second session of my experimental, universe building project, Marvel Origins: Avengers edition!

Just in case you've forgotten, our cast consists of the following:

The Sentry: A Japanese immigrant who was taken into a camp by the Americans, Bob had latent super powers, and in return for his family's protection, the government turned him into a super soldier of unspeakable power to fight on the front lines.

Doctor Strange: While serving the military during World War I, combat medic Stephen Strange discovered some occult paraphernalia in a German bunker. This began his journey to accrue as much mystical knowledge as possible, joining with two other mystics to form the Triad.

The Sub-Mariner: Prince Namor, upon hearing of the advent of the Axis powers and the danger they posed to his kingdom, decided to aid the surface dwellers in repelling the threat. This fell upon deaf ears with his fellow Atlanteans, and he now ventures alone to protect his planet and secure his supremacy. Imperius Rex!

The Vision: Formerly known as 'The Human Torch', a robot with the power to shoot flames was captured and experimented upon by one Baron Zemo who was attempting to use him as a gateway to another dimension. Upon recovery, the robot's new powers of intangibility and hyper density were readily apparent. Fearing Nazi reprogramming, he was wiped and given the personality of one Bucky Barnes and renamed Vision.

When we last left our heroes, they were preparing for D-Day! Let's jump on in.

Session Report:

Things begin with a briefing with everyone's favorite three-star general, Ross, as he gets the team up to speed on the latest intel and their specific assignment during the invasion. They have been assigned to Utah beach, where they are assigned to take out the modified mounted machine guns along with an advance unit about an hour before the rest of the invasion hits. They are also to release the Hulk on the unsuspecting Nazi troops as well to sow chaos among their ranks and thin them out so that the invasion forces have a better chance to meet up with the rest of the army.

Of course, the team is uneasy about herding around the Hulk, but Ross assures them that this is the best strategy for breaking up their ranks. In order to get the Hulk, however, the team has to go prepare Steve Rodgers, who is in the lower levels of the base in a protected, sealed off area. Everyone except Namor elects to go below and inform him of the impending mission.

When they get down there, they are greeted by the scientist in charge of monitoring Rodgers and his buxom, blonde assistant.

Sensing no danger in the air, they calmly discussed things over with Rodgers. The Sentry appealed to their similar conditions, of having a darkness inside and being used by the government for war. With his assurance that things will be alright, Steve leaves his protected room, only to be shot with a dart laced with adrenal-enhancing poison by the buxom assistant!

Steve transforms into the Hulk, surprising everyone in the room! Using his super-speed, the Sentry takes charge of the situation and immediately grapples the beast with his super strength and takes him as far away from the base as he could manage. Isolated, Bob is able to talk Steve down, and he transforms back without incident.

Meanwhile, back at the base, both Vision and Dr. Strange try their best to capture the escaping spy! Dr. Strange tries his best to strangle her with chains, but she quickly wiggles out of them, blasting them apart with some sort of untold power! Vision tries his best to grapple with her, preventing her from escaping, but she is too tough for the robot. Hearing the commotion, Namor decides to help out the incompetent surface dwellers, only to find the beautiful woman trying to leave. In an act unmatched, Namor delicately grabbed her hand and pulled her into a kiss. She melted into his arms and was no longer a threat.

Feminists would likely say a lot of stuff about how this is terrible, and how the fact that our team has no women is also terrible, but that's how the dice rolls. Can't argue with the dice.

Anyhow, the general demands an interrogation, and Namor happily volunteers to ask the questions. However, to keep the horny Atlantean in-line, Vision is also requested to be present in the room. She is hesitant at first, simply declaring that the invasion will fail by the power of the Skrull. Namor asks for five minutes alone to change her mind about revealing information, and Vision complies. When Vision returns, the Skrull spy, revealed to be named Lyja, is much more willing to talk! She explains that a Skrull ship bearing prisoners from a galactic war crashed on Earth after some mechanical failure. Their leader, a Skrull who is known to human beings as Schmidt, was taken to the leader of the area, Hitler. Seeing an opportunity for greater glory, he and his forces allied themselves with the Nazis and have been supplying them technology.

(Not bad for a Skrull)

While this news is distressing, the invasion has to proceed as planned. Lyja is kept captive at the base while the rest of the crew prepares to move out. When the assault begins the next morning, it seems that things are stacked against the Allied forces. The machine guns are devastating, and there is a ready and able regiment standing between them and victory. However, our team of Invaders make quick work of both the machine guns and the Nazi soldiers. Namor launches himself from the sea and smashes things! Vision takes out a Nazi officer, only to transform into him and order the troops to retreat. Dr. Strange rides in on a dragon he summoned and proceeds to tear apart the landscape. The Sentry works with the Hulk to tear Nazi soldiers limb from limb with his laser-katana...

However, ill-tidings come to bear as the fight winds down. Out from the sky, a giant robot of obviously alien origin lands in the midst of the battle and prepares its weapons! At the same time, Bob loses control and shifts into the Void!

Cliffhanger!

My Reactions:

Not too much I have to say on the GM side of things this session. Giving myself props, I think this particular session was very well paced. In fact, the action was about the length of a typical comic book, with a cliff hanger to boot. On that end, I was very pleased. I am also pleasantly surprised by my players almost at every junction. I wasn't expecting Lyja to be captured with a kiss of all things, but that's one of the awesome things about this system. In a system like D&D, in order to end a fight with charm, you'd have to roll incredibly high. Here, you just need a good dice pool and a suitable complication and you're gold!

The only thing I wish could have gone better was the Hulk incident. One of the most fearsome characters in MHR was taken out in one roll by Sentry, and that seems a little... Meh. I mean, yes, I could have spent Doom Dice to increase his reaction, but the Hulk isn't very good at resisting being talked down. I suppose it did work in a narrative sense, but the image of Rodgers smashing the base up was a little too good to resist.

Coming from a long view perspective on things so far, the Hulk is a bit of a quandry. He's a super-powerful being, and an important plot point that was worked into the whole backstory of things, but since his player left the project, he's just sitting there more as a tool rather than a fundamental part of the story. Of course, this is partially my fault, but what else can you do with Hulk other than send him to smash or try to get him to stop smashing? I may try to find a way to write him out temporarily, if the players don't mind. We'll see!

Otherwise, things have been going swimmingly! Next session report, you'll get to hear about the fabled 'Fight of the Sentry!' Hope you enjoyed this post. If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes

Marvel Mondays - Civil War - Session 5 Report

Hey, readers!

Before we dig into the meat of this article/report/review/thing, I would like to say that Marvel Mondays is now relegated to every-other Monday once again. For those of you who were following the X-Men series of reports, our GM has decided to switch directions to something... Not Marvel. It looks like we are going in a Star Wars direction, so be on the look out for those reports in the coming months.

That being said, I will miss playing Rogue terribly. And I just got myself an awesome Rogue shirt on discount from WeLoveFine, too...

Anyway!

As always with Civil War, you can watch the session yourself here!

Everyone was in attendance this time, which is a first, I do believe. By now, you should be familiar with the characters, which is awesome, but now we have some new ones! Joining our cast are Speed, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Wiccan, and Wonder-Man! More will likely be adding on as the rest of our troupe, myself included, picks a third character.

So, pull on the spandex and let's jump on in.

Session Summary:

Things begin in the aftermath of the Stamford explosion. The small town is in ruins, with buildings collapsing, people trapped under rubble, and fires spreading across the area. Each of our heroes arrive in their own spectacular fashion and have to deal with the emotional distress of seeing all of the destruction. Oddly enough, the two characters with trauma (Iron Man and Wolverine) aren't as affected as the rest of the crew, which includes a group of Young Avengers, Dr. Strange, Wonder-Man, and the two above mentioned heroes. Everyone does their part, which includes handing out Stark-Emergency Response Kits (SERK!), using spells to highlight trapped individuals, tearing through houses to find people, and using super-speed to rescue others at a rate none can match.

Though the emotional toll is high, the heroes manage to bring things under control. Iron Man returns to the bottle, and Wolverine informs him that a conspiracy is likely in the works and that maybe the team wasn't well enough prepared for something slipping past their radar. He takes off, saying that he's going to kill Nitro and hunt him down. Meanwhile, Speed is shouting back at some anti-mutant protesters that have gathered outside the gate, not making things any better for the already strained community.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, Ms. Marvel leads a team to re-capture Moon Knight. Being the brilliant strategist that she is, she figured a full moon would be the ideal time to apprehend a criminal whose powers are strongest at the full moon. The team consists of Hulk, Thor, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man, with Ms. Marvel leading, of course. Sounds like they should have no problem, right?

Using their covert contacts, the team manages to locate him at a penthouse, and springs the attack. Unfortunately, Moon Knight was prepared for every eventuality and rigged the place with traps to target each team member. Ms. Marvel starts the assault, trying to slam him, but gets hit by a large object in the attempt. The two of them trade blows when the unheralded arrival of a squad of Atlanteans makes things... Confusing! Even Moon Knight was expecting them to come to his aid.

The Hulk slams down, weakening the floor, but taking out a good number of the under-water goons. Spider-Man attempts to web up Moon Knight, but gets trapped in his own web! Spider-Woman tries to use her covert training to take out the traps that line the room, only to get tripped up herself... With a cord? Anyway. Luke Cage comes down and does some Sweet Christmas damage to the leader of the Atlanteans, Janus, and Thor nearly ends the conflict by slamming his hammer down, taking out the floor beneath them all! By some trick of chance, the Moon Copter arrives, and Moon Knight escapes, again, with Janus in tow while the Hulk takes out the floor, burying the team in rubble.

Our final encounter of the evening had to do with Master Pandemonium. Dr. Strange was contacted by the powers that be in order to investigate how he was able to escape their multi-dimensional magic prison. He takes an unlikely team, consisting of Iron Man, Wiccan, Wonder-Man, Tigra, Hawkeye, and... Wolverine. Yeah... I'll get to that.

Anyway, Wiccan is able to ascertain the involvement of something mystical when Loki, in a nearby cell, opens his big mouth and tries to make a deal with the team. Everyone banters back and forth a bit, Wonder-Man tries to encourage Loki with some less than savory torture-type stuff, which Iron Man disproves of, and things come to a close when Dr. Strange erects a force-field that prevents any sort of communication between the parties and Loki. No one speaks with Loki, apparently.

Tigra sniffs out some Asgardian influence on the cell, and the session wraps up there.

My Reactions:

Initially, my reactions to this session were very positive, but as the week wore on, my feelings sort of coagulated and became mixed. Hind-sight is 20-20, they say. That being said, I'm going to go over the positives first, and then discuss the things that sort of mixed and soured in my mind.

The Stamford Incident played out very well, I think. It gave everyone a chance to see the gravity of what happens when heroes fail or aren't there to prevent disaster, and it was cool to see the emotional toll along with the various creative ways to coordinate the rescue effort. I even managed to squeeze out some genuine character interaction between Wolverine and Iron Man which went off rather well, in my own humble opinion. Seeing that this group is not really accustomed to that sort of thing... I felt that if I wanted it in the game, I needed to take some initiative, so I did.

(Running out of Moon Knight pictures! >.<)

I also thought the Moon Knight fight scene played out really well. Mechanically, it was interesting to see how formidable a 'villain' can be when played by a player, especially with an optional, forum-rule that, during PVP, a player being acted against gets first dibs to opportunities. While I don't agree with that ruling, it certainly made things interesting and worked in this particular instance. The Moon Knight sub-plot is rather entertaining, all things considered, and I'm glad it showed up.

Finally, on the positive side of things, everyone continues to be great players. Good ideas, funny moments, the whole she-bang. We have a pretty awesome group.

This session wasn't perfect, however, and some things are really being brought into light in my mind that should be elaborated on.

First of all, I would like to talk about troupe-play. It was an optional way to run the game, as outlined in the beginning of the Civil War book, and for those of you not in the know, basically says that you can have multiple characters, swap 'em out, and share XP/PP between them as you go along. My guess is that the designers supposed that, with an event like Civil War, people are going to want to play it from various angles, particularly Pro-Reg/Anti-Reg with different heroes. This sounds pretty good on paper.

In execution, at least from what I'm seeing, it makes things a cluttered jumble, especially with a group size that we have and the set-up that's going on. We have so many heroes in this event right now, and the how's and why's of their presence and involvement are becoming lost to me. Initially, the justification was that this was the entirety of the Avengers, which, at about fourteen heroes is still a bit of a stretch, but it worked. Now that the GM has opened up a third slot with a wider range of options, things are breaking down in my head at the overall narrative. For example, a group of our players have taken Young Avengers characters, which is helpful that they have a reason for sticking together. Some of them showed up to help at Stamford. They apparently arrived separately, which doesn't make sense to me considering they are a team, and what about the rest of the Young Avengers...? More puzzling still, in the prison for mystical stuff, Wiccan is brought along without the rest of his group, even when Kate Bishop would probably want to see Hawkeye. Since the transition between scenes is pretty much dealt in the way of, "So-and-so contacts so-and-so about such-and-such, who's coming?", the logic and justifications start to break down in my head.

Now, granted, this is comic books. People show up in random places for no reason all the time, both of my characters included. How many series is Wolverine in now? And every single event with multiple heroes has Spider-Woman show up in the initial 'Everyone's here!' panel, and she proceeds to do nothing after that. I get that. My question becomes this: does every scene need every player involved in it? I bring this up specifically because of my situation. I haven't selected a third character yet. With Spider-Woman under a building, Wolverine was my only option for the final scene, but narrative would state that he is hunting down Nitro, on his own, right now. Why would he give a shit about how Master Pandemonium escaped? It was a question of, 'Do I want to be the one left out, or do I want to stick with what my character would narratively do?' I went with the first, and regret it, since he didn't do anything in that scene.

(See?! There she is! Pointing!)

The final issue with troupe play, especially with this many involved, is character development. With potentially twenty-one heroes in the works here, there is almost no room for it to happen to every character, and it makes it more difficult for individual characters as well. How can I complete the arc I had in mind for Spider-Woman, where she makes a good friend before the whole Civil War thing erupts and has to make a very hard decision about where she stands (as detailed in my milestones), when there is almost no inter-character interaction beyond the business at hand, and people are shifting around so much that relationships can't grow? And, when I tried to inject some of this sort of emotional stuff between Iron Man and Wolverine, it felt awkward to ask for, and was sort of ignored in the entire scheme of things.

I'm not asking for the spotlight, if that is what you're thinking. By no means should Wolverine or Spider-Woman be the stars of Civil War. All I'd like to do is create some character arcs that enrich the game, so that when the big action stuff blows up, it has weight beyond, "X amount of people died/stuff got blown up." I dunno. Maybe I'm asking for too much. Maybe I should just flow with the majority and forget about adding some depth in the way that I am. Curse my writing and acting sensibilities.

The second point has to do with some narrative order of operations and focus. In my humble opinion, Stamford should have been the last scene in the evening's line-up, and the other two scenes should have been dealt with first. I understand that the GM has some sub-plots he is trying to saddle onto Civil War, and this is perfectly reasonable, and even encouraged. However, when you are dealing with the 'inciting incident' of your entire plot, you need to focus on it, make it punch, make it matter. Steps to do this were taken, true, but having scenes afterwards/during that were in no-way related to your inciting incident weakens it. I already mentioned how Wolverine didn't give a shit about how Master Pandemonium escaped. In light of a huge tragedy that took a major emotional toll on the characters involved (according to the stress inflicted) and will start a media avalanche that leads to registration, I don't really see why the other characters would give a shit about that either.

As I said in a previous session report that got into deep discussions like this one did, I want to just put in the disclaimer here at the end that I am still enjoying myself in this game, I think the GM is doing a wonderful job juggling seven players and trying to tell a cohesive story, and I think all of my fellow players are great. Like anyone, however, little things bother me, and I wanted to bring them to light, as much for myself as others.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If not, here's a funny picture. (I actually remembered it this time!)

-Wes

Marvel Origins - Avengers - Session 1 Report

Hey, readers!

So, we have a brand new campaign to report upon here at 'Perceive Things', run by yours truly. Once again, it's another supers game with Marvel Heroic, so those of you looking for a little change of pace may be disappointed, but I'm sure that more games will open up down the pipeline in different systems/settings.

This particular game is a concept of mine put into action. It's an experiment that I'm running to create a version of the Marvel universe molded by a community and grown through gameplay. Thankfully, I have a handful of people ready to go on this merry journey with me to define the origins of the Avengers.

Now, I'm going to note here that I had no input on the campaign at the start. I gave my players three basic options: Avengers, X-Men, or Fantastic Four. Avengers won out in the majority, and the players choices and wants molded it to be set during World War II. From there, I thought it would be a cool idea to have the Kree/Skrull War bring the Avengers together, and thus our campaign was born!

Our characters are as follows:

The Sentry: A Japanese immigrant who was taken into a camp by the Americans, Bob had latent super powers, and in return for his family's protection, the government turned him into a super soldier of unspeakable power to fight on the front lines.

Doctor Strange: While serving the military during World War I, combat medic Stephen Strange discovered some occult paraphernalia in a German bunker. This began his journey to accrue as much mystical knowledge as possible, joining with two other mystics to form the Triad.

The Sub-Mariner: Prince Namor, upon hearing of the advent of the Axis powers and the danger they posed to his kingdom, decided to aid the surface dwellers in repelling the threat. This fell upon deaf ears with his fellow Atlanteans, and he now ventures alone to protect his planet and secure his supremacy. Imperius Rex!

The Vision: Formerly known as 'The Human Torch', a robot with the power to shoot flames was captured and experimented upon by one Baron Zemo who was attempting to use him as a gateway to another dimension. Upon recovery, the robot's new powers of intangibility and hyper density were readily apparent. Fearing Nazi reprogramming, he was wiped and given the personality of one Bucky Barnes and renamed Vision.

We were also supposed to have a fifth player whose concept was to have the super soldier serum go horribly wrong with Steve Rodgers and create the Hulk, but he had to bow out due to other commitments. However, his concept of the Hulk is still canon.

Without further ado, session one!

Session Summary:

Things begin with a gathering of the Allied Secret Special Forces, a branch of the special forces relegated to beings or powers beyond that of mortal man to take care of highly sensitive or important missions. After a quick briefing with the unit's commander, one General Ross, the team is cobbled together and informed that they must go behind enemy lines near the coast of France to collect recon on the beaches of Omaha and Utah in preparation. They are to meet up with a resistance cell in a small town and collect any missing information.

After a little spatting between Namor and the Sentry, they parachute down into the French countryside. Able to dodge the German patrols going up and down the streets, they manage to slip into the town and see their contact, a man named Pierre who is wearing a red beret and has a terrible French accent. He leads them into the basement of a tavern with the rest of the resistance cell, where they receive a packet full of recon and pictures, however some of it is incomplete. Namor and Dr. Strange head up to their rooms in the tavern, and the good doctor consults with the spirits in the area, sensing a disturbance. The Sentry and Vision hang around the bar for a bit, chatting some while trying not to arouse suspicion from the German soldiers before heading to bed themselves.

In the dead of night, the senses of the Sentry pick up the sound of his door creeping upon, only to find Pierre with a gun! The Sentry lasers the gun out of his hand, and the noise rouses Dr. Strange, and summons a spell of chains to bind the fiend before he can get away. The entire crew is roused, and a quick mental inspection by Stephen Strange reveals that Pierre and a majority of the resistance cell are actually made up of German spies who are assigned to assassinate the Allied Special Forces sent to pick up the recon. He manages to rewrite his memories, telling Pierre to return to the group, telling them that the mission was completed.

(Pierre, the best spy ever)

Hoping to make-up the intel that they were supposed to receive, the team splits up. Dr. Strange digs a shallow grave and dumps his body there while his astral form travels across the beaches to get an eye on the defenses set-up. Namor takes to the seas, searching the beach for armaments and mines below. The Vision shapeshifts into a German officer, steals a jeep, and keeps Bob as a prisoner while the two of them scout along the beaches and try to gather their own intel. What becomes overwhelmingly apparent is that the Germans are ready for an assault. The machine guns mounted are outfitted with an unusual brand of technology that no one recognizes. Additionally, the Vision catches sight of a most unusual craft resting beside a command post.

With pictures taken and intel gathered, the team makes sure to cover their tracks by informing a German officer that the Allied agents were killed, showing them an illusion that Strange created of the shallow graves. With their tracks covered, the team flies off across the English channel back to base, only to find a squad of bombers going to make their run across London. The Sentry manages to laser one in such a way to send it spinning into another. Namor propels himself from the water and manages to eviscerate another. The Vision, with Dr. Strange riding in his grasp, tries his best to get above one, go hyper-dense, and smash it, but while he is successful, this sends the pair plummeting to the depths below. Dr. Strange is much to distracted by his impending doom to do anything to slow them down, even failing to lasso onto one of the planes above with an incantation. Finally, Namor saves the day by swooping down and carrying the pair to shore.

Namor makes a series of snide comments towards the Sentry regarding his uselessness. Compounding with all of the insults he had received earlier from this Prince Under-the-Sea, the Sentry decides to come to blows! The pair take to the air for a battle royale, the Sentry opening with an incredible laser beam directed towards the Submariner. Much to Bob's distress, Namor stands still, arms folded and shrugs off the blast, which demoralizes the Sentry to the point of passing out. Swooping down to save him as well, the team makes it back to base to be de-briefed.

Ross is not happy that the resistance cell was composed of German spies, nor is he happy about the strange technology the crew recovers. After answering questions and being overall stern, Ross informs the team that they are to remain on base until Operation Overlord, where their task will be disarming those weapons and making sure that their secret weapon, the Hulk, doesn't get out of hand. The session ends with the team preparing for the event at hand.

My Reactions:

Overall, I believe our first session went very well. I know two of the players from college, and two of the players were new to me, but they are good guys and welcome additions to our team. I think everyone had a solid time, I know I did. What is especially encouraging is that our campaign thus-far, even without trying, is following many of the same beats as the Avengers film, with inter-team conflicts and a looming threat bigger than all of them kind of forming at all the right moments. While I'm not seeking to emulate the summer blockbuster, it doesn't hurt to borrow a beat or two.

I did wish, however, that the recon mission was a little more... Exciting? Stealth is not an aspect many RPGs convey well, Marvel Heroic included, and while I think it is a cool thing to bring into a mission or session, it always ends up feeling hollow to me somehow. Not that there was much stealth going on in the mechanics, persay, but regardless. It also wasn't terribly action-packed, which is just fine with me, but I am well aware that players have different likes and expectations than I do, hence the inclusion of the mid-air bomber fight which was a completely off-the-cuff, setting dressing turned conflict, encounter.

What I really like about these players is their ability to think outside the box and do things that I wouldn't expect. Vision using his shapeshifting to do cool things is one example, while Dr. Strange and his 'weird hobbies' lending credence to his spells is another. Namor's player hits all of the right notes with everyone's favorite Atlantean, and the very presence of the arrogant Prince is enough to put the right amount of spin to the inter-party conflicts, especially where the Sentry is involved. The highlight was, undoubtedly, the Namor/Sentry fight which was over in one blow.

We have already had our second session, which I will report on soon, but I have high hopes for the future of this game, and I just hope that my GM'ing chops are up to it. I hope you enjoyed this session report! If not, here's a funny picture.

-Wes   

Wolverine's Post M-Day Journal - Entry 3

((Hey there! This entry summarizes the events of the third and fourth session's of the game. It was not written between since the events ran together and our favorite feral mutant wouldn't have had the time to sit down and write introspectively! Enjoy!

Entry 3:

It's three in the mornin' and the only thing I can do to try and find some solace is write in this fuckin' journal.

I don't dream anymore. When the eyelids shut and sleep paralysis sets into my adamantium laced bones, a dark figure sits me next to an ancient film projector in a shadowy room. Try as I might, I can't get up, can't shut my eyes. The figure steps into the light on the screen. Sometimes it's Victor. Sometimes it's Mystique... Maybe it's always Mystique? Doesn't matter.

"Which film shall we watch tonight, Logan?" they say in the most irritating tone possible, "The one where you murder Itsu? A classic. If you're in the mood for romance, we could watch some Mariko. Maybe more Jeanie? Ah, but we watch those a little too often, don't you think? We could always play the bloody murder reel..."

Somethin' inside me is trying to stir up the guilt from a life of murder, and despite every attempt I make to keep a gruff exterior, it's startin' to work. I've ruined families, ended lives for no better reason than someone told me to do it, or I was lost in a rage. Every time I decide to make things better, to strive to fix some of the damage I've done, somethin' drags me right back down to my old ways.

That's why I can't be an Avenger.

We had a meetin', somethin' about a revision of the Mutant Registration Act that is gonna effect all of the other freaks of nature and vigilantes that put on tights and try to save the world. Stark wanted to present a unified front, under his own idealism, about the superhuman community tryin' to police itself. Some of the guys there even had the nerve to offer up the X-Mansion as a school for new recruits. Shows how ignorant they are about the livin' Hell we're goin' through over there.

There will be no more mutants. Every mutant that's left, whether they like it or not, has to be cooped up on school grounds, livin' out in tents like a fuckin' reservation. Charles is gone. Scott doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. Sentinels march around the grounds. The last thing we need are some two-bit amateurs walking in with big smiles ready to learn from a dying race.

Stark proposed an internal affairs branch of our... organization, and put up Carol to be in charge of that. Turns out we needed it faster than we ever would have thought. The Crusader shows up at the Avengers mansion with a Shi'ar bomb, guarded on all sides by Purifiers. My blood was boilin' to see those sons of bitches crawl out from the wood work, but I wasn't the only one.

Things go about as expected, with Stark and Banner disarming the bomb and the rest of us fending off the crazed religious fanatics. 'Cept Moon Knight was after some blood, and crippled Crusader. Slashed him right in the spine. If the poor sod lives, he'll be spendin' the rest of his life in a wheelchair, or worse. They clap him in irons and send him off to prison.

I can't be an Avenger, because before you know it, I'll be right in the next cell. I've killed, as an Avenger. Ended the life of Griffin in our first breakout fiasco, and no one cared then. Even though that was a wake-up call, what's to say my berserker rage won't lead me to that place again? My anger is welling up, and I'm liable to burst.

Hopped on my motorcycle afterward to help Stark present his case in front of Congress. Someone had to represent the mutants, but unfortunately, the conversation never turned in that direction. Instead, Dr. Doom is showin' footage of the lot of us tearin' through Doombots and Latverians on behalf of Colonel Nick Fury. Just like my dreams, there I am again, killin', and I can't help but watch.

Things didn't turn out so bad. Congress seemed impressed with Murdock's knowledge of law and the way we handled the Spector debacle earlier. Earned us a man on our side. 'Cept, what's one voice among the majority? Usually, jack-shit.

Next, I was sent to testify for the character of Luke Cage, who was accused of murdering some of the Purifiers, according to a pretty obviously doctored bit of footage. For some Goddamn reason, someone thought it was a good idea to bring in Marc Spector to testify. The bastard got away, after makin' a pretty solid point that the Avengers are a bunch of incompetent assholes. Apparently, someone hasn't let Konshu know that I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice.

Then the press showed up, and by this point, I was pissed. Really pissed. These assholes are never too far behind when controversial shit goes down. They don't learn. Apparently, a well placed 'go fuck yourself' doesn't send the message. I trashed some equipment, grabbed my bike, and went to a dirty pub somewhere to try the nightly game of tryin' to out-drink my healing factor.

I lost.

My gut is tellin' me that there's something goin' on beyond just a bunch of random events. If anyone knows about conspiracies, it's me. I've been the instrument of more of 'em than I can count on my claws. Someone's trying to strike while the iron is hot, taking down the community through the system. Worst part? One of the smartest men in the world is missin' it, too absorbed by tryin' to run his little band of kids playin' cops and robbers.

I'll let him know. I'll tell him when I resign.

For now, gonna sit on the couch with a beer and watch the news until I fall asleep from boredom. Not like anything news worthy happens in this country anymore.

-Logan