DC Villains #9: The Bird Sayings Crimes
Jan. 17th, 2021 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierDC Villains
Episode 9:
"The Bird Sayings Crimes"
[Partly inspired by World's Finest Comics #55, "The Bird Sayings Crimes!" by William Woolfolk]
Roll Call:
Bucky
Captain Republican
Chemical Lad
Mr. Roboto
The Penguin gathered his crew to brief them on his latest scheme for a series of "themed" crimes, this time based around famous bird-related sayings. First up: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". The Penguin had arranged for a shipment of illegal drugs to be smuggled from China on a container ship. The villains would be hiding out on the torch-hand of the Statue of Justice in Gotham Harbor. When the container ship passed by, a confederate aboard the boat would send up a trained carrier pigeon to the hand, with a note saying which container held the drugs. The villains would then swoop down and claim the cargo.
However, when the pigeon alighted on the torch, the note attached to its foot said, "Surprise! You're under arrest!". The drug shipment had been intercepted by the international group called the Global Guardians [which the PCs had previously contended with in episode #3]. The fiery Green Fury of Brazil, amphibious Little Mermaid of Denmark, sonic-powered Thunderlord of Taiwan, and beastly Tasmanian Devil of Australia all emerged from the ship and attacked. But the valiant international heroes proved no match for the Penguin's men, even after Little Mermaid summoned a shiver of sharks to try and even the odds. After a bit of searching, they uncovered the drug shipment and delivered it to the Penguin.
[Loot Drops: Green Fury Lipstick (Flame Blast and Ice Blast), Painkillers (Healing).]
Next on the agenda was "Birds of a feather flock together". The Penguin told the group about the annual Silver Eagle Music Festival, an annual charity concert featuring nostalgia acts such as the Maniaks, the Oliver Twists, Cosmo Puree, Great Frog, and Greg Sanders. Since, as the Penguin put it, "the show is run by a bunch of old hippies who don't trust credit cards", the box office receipts and donations would all be in cash, kept in a giant eagle-shaped "piggy bank" on center stage.
The villains arrived at the show, expecting little resistance from the elderly (and largely stoned) crowd. However, amongst the audience were the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory: the gas-gun-wielding Crimson Avenger, battling bowmen Green Arrow and Speedy, The Shining Knight with his magic sword and flying horse, the daring duo of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, and cowboy hero Vigilante (as it turned out, Vigilante and Speedy were performing at the show in their secret identities, and had supplied complimentary tickets to their teammates). Despite their superior numbers, the Seven Soldiers were unable to hold off the villains, although Mr. Roboto did fall to repeated slashes from Shining Knight's mystical sword ("Be there a man under that peculiar armor? Let us find out!"). The Silver Eagle was soon theirs, and as the Penguin put it, "The widows and orphans will have to fend for themselves for a while".
[Loot Drops: Star-Spangled Kid's Cosmic Converter Belt (Force Field and Force Blast), Vigilante's Six-Gun (Special Weapon with a bonus to hit).]
Third on the list of bird sayings crimes was "Killing two birds with one stone". The Penguin targeted two Gotham City cops who had become particular thorns in his side: Detectives Harvey Bullock and Steve "Shotgun" Smith. He had planted a phony tip to lure them into the warehouse district, and then planned to use a stone curlew (an Australian bird infamous for having a cry that sounds like a woman screaming) to drawn them into an ambush.
But the two veteran policemen deduced that this was a trap, and brought their own reinforcements: a small squad of Gotham patrolmen, plus a few of the lesser-known members of the Batman Family -- Batwoman and Bat-Girl (Kathy and Betty Kane, respectively), Ace the Bat-Hound, and, most improbably, Mogo the Bat-Ape. Bucky concentrated his attacks on Ace, whose canine senses [Analytical Scent and Hearing] were spoiling his attempts at stealth, and the valiant pooch quickly succumbed. But the other Gotham Guardians proved tougher to take down. At one point, repeated swats from the powerful arms of Mogo took out Captain Republican, and the other villains were on their last legs from a combination of gunshots and batarangs. But the Penguin's men slowly whittled down the opposition, and were able to eke out a victory. Bullock and Smith were taken off the table, and the Penguin's grip on Gotham became that much more secure.
[Loot Drops: Bat-Girl's Balloon (Emotion Control/Fear, enemies have to make an Intelligence save or be so startled they lose their next action), Batwoman's Cape (Heightened Defense), Harvey Bullock's Cigar (Heightened Expertise on all attacks).
[The player characters earned 3 character points each, giving them a total of 127.]
[Normally, since there are 4 PCs, I try to come up with 4 more-or-less equally powerful opponents for each encounter. This time, I experimented with making the enemies somewhat weaker, but greater in number, to see if it balanced out. For the most part, it did, but having all those extra NPCs to manage was a big hassle, so I'll be using this technique sparingly in the future.]
Episode 9:
"The Bird Sayings Crimes"
[Partly inspired by World's Finest Comics #55, "The Bird Sayings Crimes!" by William Woolfolk]
Roll Call:
Bucky
Captain Republican
Chemical Lad
Mr. Roboto
The Penguin gathered his crew to brief them on his latest scheme for a series of "themed" crimes, this time based around famous bird-related sayings. First up: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". The Penguin had arranged for a shipment of illegal drugs to be smuggled from China on a container ship. The villains would be hiding out on the torch-hand of the Statue of Justice in Gotham Harbor. When the container ship passed by, a confederate aboard the boat would send up a trained carrier pigeon to the hand, with a note saying which container held the drugs. The villains would then swoop down and claim the cargo.
However, when the pigeon alighted on the torch, the note attached to its foot said, "Surprise! You're under arrest!". The drug shipment had been intercepted by the international group called the Global Guardians [which the PCs had previously contended with in episode #3]. The fiery Green Fury of Brazil, amphibious Little Mermaid of Denmark, sonic-powered Thunderlord of Taiwan, and beastly Tasmanian Devil of Australia all emerged from the ship and attacked. But the valiant international heroes proved no match for the Penguin's men, even after Little Mermaid summoned a shiver of sharks to try and even the odds. After a bit of searching, they uncovered the drug shipment and delivered it to the Penguin.
[Loot Drops: Green Fury Lipstick (Flame Blast and Ice Blast), Painkillers (Healing).]
Next on the agenda was "Birds of a feather flock together". The Penguin told the group about the annual Silver Eagle Music Festival, an annual charity concert featuring nostalgia acts such as the Maniaks, the Oliver Twists, Cosmo Puree, Great Frog, and Greg Sanders. Since, as the Penguin put it, "the show is run by a bunch of old hippies who don't trust credit cards", the box office receipts and donations would all be in cash, kept in a giant eagle-shaped "piggy bank" on center stage.
The villains arrived at the show, expecting little resistance from the elderly (and largely stoned) crowd. However, amongst the audience were the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory: the gas-gun-wielding Crimson Avenger, battling bowmen Green Arrow and Speedy, The Shining Knight with his magic sword and flying horse, the daring duo of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, and cowboy hero Vigilante (as it turned out, Vigilante and Speedy were performing at the show in their secret identities, and had supplied complimentary tickets to their teammates). Despite their superior numbers, the Seven Soldiers were unable to hold off the villains, although Mr. Roboto did fall to repeated slashes from Shining Knight's mystical sword ("Be there a man under that peculiar armor? Let us find out!"). The Silver Eagle was soon theirs, and as the Penguin put it, "The widows and orphans will have to fend for themselves for a while".
[Loot Drops: Star-Spangled Kid's Cosmic Converter Belt (Force Field and Force Blast), Vigilante's Six-Gun (Special Weapon with a bonus to hit).]
Third on the list of bird sayings crimes was "Killing two birds with one stone". The Penguin targeted two Gotham City cops who had become particular thorns in his side: Detectives Harvey Bullock and Steve "Shotgun" Smith. He had planted a phony tip to lure them into the warehouse district, and then planned to use a stone curlew (an Australian bird infamous for having a cry that sounds like a woman screaming) to drawn them into an ambush.
But the two veteran policemen deduced that this was a trap, and brought their own reinforcements: a small squad of Gotham patrolmen, plus a few of the lesser-known members of the Batman Family -- Batwoman and Bat-Girl (Kathy and Betty Kane, respectively), Ace the Bat-Hound, and, most improbably, Mogo the Bat-Ape. Bucky concentrated his attacks on Ace, whose canine senses [Analytical Scent and Hearing] were spoiling his attempts at stealth, and the valiant pooch quickly succumbed. But the other Gotham Guardians proved tougher to take down. At one point, repeated swats from the powerful arms of Mogo took out Captain Republican, and the other villains were on their last legs from a combination of gunshots and batarangs. But the Penguin's men slowly whittled down the opposition, and were able to eke out a victory. Bullock and Smith were taken off the table, and the Penguin's grip on Gotham became that much more secure.
[Loot Drops: Bat-Girl's Balloon (Emotion Control/Fear, enemies have to make an Intelligence save or be so startled they lose their next action), Batwoman's Cape (Heightened Defense), Harvey Bullock's Cigar (Heightened Expertise on all attacks).
[The player characters earned 3 character points each, giving them a total of 127.]
[Normally, since there are 4 PCs, I try to come up with 4 more-or-less equally powerful opponents for each encounter. This time, I experimented with making the enemies somewhat weaker, but greater in number, to see if it balanced out. For the most part, it did, but having all those extra NPCs to manage was a big hassle, so I'll be using this technique sparingly in the future.]
