Ugly Ghost Squad #11 recap
May. 8th, 2016 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #11
"The Island of Doctor Apocalypse"
Played 5/7/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 5
Enemies Fought:
Doctor Apocalypse
Guardian Robots
Demon Skeletons
Freedom Force:
Alche-Miss
Ant
Bard
Bullet
El Diablo
Eve
Man-Bot
Minuteman
Other NPCs:
Mentor
Microwave
the natives of Nacht Island
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "The Island of Doctor Apocalypse" by Bill Willingham
Synopsis:
Having defeated and captured the Destroyers, the Ugly Ghost Squad learned that their master, the mysterious Doctor Apocalypse, was holed up in a place called Nacht Island, a small archipelago north of Bermuda. They also learned that the Doctor was in control of a killer satellite armed with a devastating laser weapon that he planned to use to carry out his threat to destroy multiple U.S. cities if the government did not give in to his demands.
Flying in low to avoid radar, the heroes were nonetheless detected once they got close to the island and became the target of a barrage of missiles. They managed to destroy the missiles, as well as disabling the underwater defense turret that fired them. The turret was manned by a Guardian, one of the 10' tall robots that served as Apocalypse's main guards. After taking out the robot, they saw that the turret was also linked to an underwater railway system that connected various points on the group of islands, and the team began to follow the tunnels to avoid more missile attacks.
The Hulk decided to take along a stack of spare missiles, which turned out to be more of a liability than an asset for the most part, although they did play a role in the final battle.
Emerging from the tunnel into one of the smaller islands, the heroes were greeted with only mild curiosity by the native villagers, who were apparently used to seeing people in weird costumes roaming about. Investigating an old stone structure on the highest point of the island, the Ghost Squad found an abandoned temple filled with demonic skeleton monsters. Once the creatures were defeated, the natives became much more enthusiastic and friendly, as the monsters had been harrassing them for years. Thanatos' spirit servants sensed that winning over the natives had weakened Doctor Apocalypse in some small way.
The Ghost Squad continued to follow the tunnels, taking out various installations along the way, guerilla-style. At various points they were confronted by "Freedom Force", a team of superheroes who had fallen under Apocalypse's control. While sabotaging the factor where Apocalypse's robots were built, they found the disassembled pieces of Microwave, an android member of Freedom Force who had been taken apart when he had proved immune to the villain's mind-control. Reassembled, Microwave was able to hack into the security system and disable the remaining turrets, as well as interfering with the programming of the Guardians to make them less effective.
In a large cavern underneath the main island, they found another Freedom Force member, the alien mentalist Mentor, strapped into a device called a Psychic Amplifier. Apocalypse had not been able to take him over, but had physically overpowered him and forced him to serve as the battery for the amplifier, making his own mind-control powers more effective. Mentor believed he could reverse the effects of the machine, freeing the last member of the team, their leader Minuteman, but it would take him some time.
But time had run out, as Doctor Apocalypse, Minuteman, and a trio of Guardians appeared at the cave to confront the heroes. The Hulk ran out first, setting off a missile explosion that took out the robots. The battle was joined, as Doctor Apocalypse fired devastating energy blasts, and Minuteman harassed the team with his laser-powered "Minute Missile". The heroes were hard-pressed to make a dent in Apocalypse's magical defenses, and the odds of victory looked slim. But suddenly, Minute Man snapped out of his trance, and began using his energizing "Rally the Troops" power to enhance the Ghost Squad's attacks. With that extra edge, they began chipping away at the seemingly-implacable Apocalypse, and Captain America delivered the final blow that brought him down.
Memorable Quotes:
"Are there more missiles here? How many can I carry?" - The Hulk
"I'm standing 100 feet away from Hulk!" - Captain America
Sources and References:
Minuteman and the other mind-controlled heroes come from the video games "Freedom Force" and "Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich", two of my favorite games of all time. As you noticed, the characters are very derivative of the classic Marvel heroes: Minuteman=Capt. America, Man-Bot=Iron Man, Microwave=Vision, etc. and the games are full of that corny old comic book style I love so much. Both games are available (and dirt cheap) online:
https://www.gog.com/game/freedom_force
https://www.gog.com/game/freedom_force_vs_the_3rd_reich
More about the characters here:
http://freedomforce.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Freedom_Force
"The Island of Doctor Apocalypse"
Played 5/7/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 5
Enemies Fought:
Doctor Apocalypse
Guardian Robots
Demon Skeletons
Freedom Force:
Alche-Miss
Ant
Bard
Bullet
El Diablo
Eve
Man-Bot
Minuteman
Other NPCs:
Mentor
Microwave
the natives of Nacht Island
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "The Island of Doctor Apocalypse" by Bill Willingham
Synopsis:
Having defeated and captured the Destroyers, the Ugly Ghost Squad learned that their master, the mysterious Doctor Apocalypse, was holed up in a place called Nacht Island, a small archipelago north of Bermuda. They also learned that the Doctor was in control of a killer satellite armed with a devastating laser weapon that he planned to use to carry out his threat to destroy multiple U.S. cities if the government did not give in to his demands.
Flying in low to avoid radar, the heroes were nonetheless detected once they got close to the island and became the target of a barrage of missiles. They managed to destroy the missiles, as well as disabling the underwater defense turret that fired them. The turret was manned by a Guardian, one of the 10' tall robots that served as Apocalypse's main guards. After taking out the robot, they saw that the turret was also linked to an underwater railway system that connected various points on the group of islands, and the team began to follow the tunnels to avoid more missile attacks.
The Hulk decided to take along a stack of spare missiles, which turned out to be more of a liability than an asset for the most part, although they did play a role in the final battle.
Emerging from the tunnel into one of the smaller islands, the heroes were greeted with only mild curiosity by the native villagers, who were apparently used to seeing people in weird costumes roaming about. Investigating an old stone structure on the highest point of the island, the Ghost Squad found an abandoned temple filled with demonic skeleton monsters. Once the creatures were defeated, the natives became much more enthusiastic and friendly, as the monsters had been harrassing them for years. Thanatos' spirit servants sensed that winning over the natives had weakened Doctor Apocalypse in some small way.
The Ghost Squad continued to follow the tunnels, taking out various installations along the way, guerilla-style. At various points they were confronted by "Freedom Force", a team of superheroes who had fallen under Apocalypse's control. While sabotaging the factor where Apocalypse's robots were built, they found the disassembled pieces of Microwave, an android member of Freedom Force who had been taken apart when he had proved immune to the villain's mind-control. Reassembled, Microwave was able to hack into the security system and disable the remaining turrets, as well as interfering with the programming of the Guardians to make them less effective.
In a large cavern underneath the main island, they found another Freedom Force member, the alien mentalist Mentor, strapped into a device called a Psychic Amplifier. Apocalypse had not been able to take him over, but had physically overpowered him and forced him to serve as the battery for the amplifier, making his own mind-control powers more effective. Mentor believed he could reverse the effects of the machine, freeing the last member of the team, their leader Minuteman, but it would take him some time.
But time had run out, as Doctor Apocalypse, Minuteman, and a trio of Guardians appeared at the cave to confront the heroes. The Hulk ran out first, setting off a missile explosion that took out the robots. The battle was joined, as Doctor Apocalypse fired devastating energy blasts, and Minuteman harassed the team with his laser-powered "Minute Missile". The heroes were hard-pressed to make a dent in Apocalypse's magical defenses, and the odds of victory looked slim. But suddenly, Minute Man snapped out of his trance, and began using his energizing "Rally the Troops" power to enhance the Ghost Squad's attacks. With that extra edge, they began chipping away at the seemingly-implacable Apocalypse, and Captain America delivered the final blow that brought him down.
Memorable Quotes:
"Are there more missiles here? How many can I carry?" - The Hulk
"I'm standing 100 feet away from Hulk!" - Captain America
Sources and References:
Minuteman and the other mind-controlled heroes come from the video games "Freedom Force" and "Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich", two of my favorite games of all time. As you noticed, the characters are very derivative of the classic Marvel heroes: Minuteman=Capt. America, Man-Bot=Iron Man, Microwave=Vision, etc. and the games are full of that corny old comic book style I love so much. Both games are available (and dirt cheap) online:
https://www.gog.com/game/freedom_force
https://www.gog.com/game/freedom_force_vs_the_3rd_reich
More about the characters here:
http://freedomforce.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Freedom_Force
