New Gladiators #16: No News of a Thaw

[jkcarrier]

New Gladiators
Episode 16:
"No News of a Thaw"
Played on 2/24/2024
Resources used:
Champions Presents #1 - No News of a Thaw (Champions module written by Phil Masters, art by Fredd Gorham)
Super-Crooks and Criminals (Villains & Vigilantes module written by Ken Cliffe, art by Patrick Zircher)

Roll Call:
Claw Master
The Dude (with Donny Kerabatsos)
Hulk
Sonic Boom
Walter Sobchak
Weather Wizard

The Gladiators got word of a multi-pronged crisis centered around the University of Cincinnati: A sudden temperature drop was blanketing the area in a blizzard; a giant two-headed lizard ("Frostbite") was rampaging through the area; and people around it were being transformed into mindless "Frost Zombies". The heroes arrived on the scene and also spotted Bora, an ice-powered villain they'd battled previously. Only it appeared...she was trying to help?

FROSTBITE
[Size Change (30' tall), Transmutation (Frost Zombie), Ice Blast (with Devitalization Ray Contact), Super Speed (2 actions/round), Vulnerability (Heat Damage)]

FROST ZOMBIES
[Cold Field (Electrical Field swapped to do Entropy damage), Ice Armor, Natural Weaponry, Vulnerability (Heat Damage)]

BORA
[Healing (Empathic), Invulnerability (Entropy), Weather Control]

As the heroes battled with Frostbite and its Zombie hordes, Weather Wizard felt the surrounding climate "fighting back" against him, resisting his control. Bora combined her weather powers with his, and managed to keep the area stable so he could keep slinging Lightning Bolts. Once the creatures were subdued, Bora combined forces with Weather Wizard again to close the dimensional portal that she said Frostbite had come through. They were successful, but the effort caused Bora to pass out.

[Loot Drops: Frostbite's Icicle (Devitalization Ray), Frost Zombie's Frosting (Ice Armor w/Vulnerability to Heat Damage)]

When she recovered, Bora explained that, as part of her attempt at rehabilitation, she had been connecting with her Inuit heritage, and became a practicing shaman. As such, she was able to sense that the connections between our world and the Spirit World were getting weaker, allowing demons like Frostbite to cross over. The weak spot at the University was caused by cryogenic experiments in one of the laboratories, and she had sensed another one circling the Earth, possibly on a satellite.

She asked for the Gladiators' help to enter the Spirit World, and seal the breaches from the other side. When they agreed, she took them back to her small apartment, where she performed a ritual involving grilling seal meat and filling the room with foul-smelling smoke. When the smoke cleared, they found themselves elsewhere...a vast arctic wasteland, with a single mountain dominating the landscape. According to Bora, their goal was at the top.

A narrow path wound up and around the mountain. Before they'd gotten very far, they were confronted by strange creatures with wicked claws. "Whatever you do," Bora warned, "don't laugh".

PATH SPIRITS
[Emotion Control (Laughter), Invulnerability (Energy), Natural Weaponry, Super Speed (3 actions/round, only if opponent is laughing)]

Although they did feel a strange compulsion to laugh, the heroes managed to maintain their composure, and defeated the spirits. They did take some damage in the process, which Bora did her best to heal. Doing so seemed to severely drain her, however.

[Loot Drops: Path Spirit's Claws (Natural Weaponry), Path Spirit's Hide (Invulnerability to Energy)]

Further up the path, they entered a wooded area, and stumbled across what appeared to be some sort of satellite, half-buried in the snow. Bora explained that the satellite was bouncing between the Spirit World and the real world, weakening the barriers as it went. She noted the foreign markings on the side, and added, "Well, the Chinese government won't be happy, but we have to destroy it." But before they could act, they found themselves surrounded by giant hounds that gave off eerie howls.

GUARD DOGS
[Disintegration Field, Mental Blast, Size Change (12' Tall)]

After some difficulty, they were able to fight off the beasts, and made short work of the satellite. While that ended the immediate threat of a dimensional breach, Bora said that they still needed to find out who or what was causing the barriers to weaken in the first place.
Sonic Boom: "You mean it might be another demon behind it all?"
Bora: "If we're lucky. If we're unlucky, it might be one of the gods."

[Loot Drops: Guard Dog's Fur (Disintegration Field), Guard Dog's Skull (Mental Blast)]

Traveling further, the heroes reached the edge of a mile-wide chasm, with a rickety, ice-covered bridge stretching across. A hundred feet below, a river rapidly flowed. Approaching with caution, they crossed one at a time. As each person stepped on the bridge, they were approached by ghostly figures, resembling dead friends and loved ones. The ghosts filled them with despair, urging them to give up their quest and to throw themselves off the bridge and end it all. Most of the Gladiators were able to resist the urgings [made their CL saves], but both Walter and Donny found themselves hesitating, slipping, and falling into the icy water below. Luckily, both were able to survive and swim back to dry land, although Donny in particular was much the worse for wear. Nevertheless, they persisted.

[Loot Drops: Ghost's Whisper (Cosmic Awareness)]

At last, they reached the summit of the mountain, a vast, snow-covered plain. In the center, sitting on a large stone throne, was a gigantic woman whom Bora identified as Sedna, the Inuit sea-goddess, no friend to humanity. Surrounding her was a pack of polar bear-like creatures, their mouths full of sparks. Propped up against the throne was an open wooden coffin containing a mummified figure.
Sedna: "You've come so far, and fought so hard, only to find your doom! Your world belonged to us, once, and it is time I took it back!"

SEDNA
[Adaptation (Disease, Drowning, High Pressure, Low Pressure, Sleep, Starvation, Time), Force Field, Power Blast (Area Effect, Selective) Size Change (15' tall), Nemesis (Aulanerk), Low Self-Control (Will exclusively target anyone who insults her)]

BEAR INNUAS
[Electrical Blast (reduced to Bite range), Regeneration (Constant, Can't heal from metal weapons), Size Change (9' tall)]

A furious battle raged, as the heroes tried to pound their way through Sedna's defenses, while her Bear Innuas tore into them with their lightning teeth. Periodically, Sedna would send out a wave of destructive energy, pounding everyone in the area, but leaving her minions untouched. One of these knocked Donny unconscious, but Bora was able to revive him, again weakening herself in the process.

Throughout the battle, Bora kept stealing glances at the mummy in the coffin, as if she were trying to recognize it. As Sedna's energies were running low and the heroes were scoring more and more telling blows, she ran towards it and began trying to heal it. As Sedna finally fell, the Gladiators moved to stop Bora, but the voice of a spirit echoed in their minds, telling them to stay back [Claw Master's player consulted the "Ghost's Whisper" item and determined that they should let this happen].

The effort proved to be too much for Bora, and she collapsed into the snow, not moving. But the mummy had been restored, revealing the figure of Aulanerk the sea god, Sedna's more benevolent counterpart. He congratulated the heroes on their victory, and promised them that he would seal the barriers between worlds, and deal with Sedna. Their world would be safe.

Weather Wizard: "What about Bora?"
Aulanerk: "She has earned the right to serve by my side." The heroes then saw Bora's spirit appear next to her unmoving body. She was smiling, but there was sadness in her eyes.
Bora: "If you see Jimmy...Whiteout, my ex...tell him I hope he has a good life."

With a wave, Aulanerk sent the Gladiators back to their own world.

[Loot Drops: Aulanerk's Blessing (Experience Levels), Sedna's Belt (Force Field)]
[The characters received 3 Character Points, giving them each a total of 163]

NOTES:
* The title "No News of a Thaw" comes from the 1983 song "Cold Imagination" by Howard Devoto. The module includes several other lines from the song as chapter dividers. I wasn't familiar with the tune; it's...very 1980s.

* As soon as I revealed that the adventure was tied into Inuit Mythology, Claw Master's player reached for a copy of the old AD&D "Deities & Demigods" book to see what they'd be up against. Alas for him, even the rare 1st edition of that tome didn't have anything about Sedna & company.

* The Dude's player pointed out that he'd just been watching season 4 of the show "True Detective", which takes place in Alaska and apparently involves Inuit myths as well. Funny coincidence...or something more???

* Game balance was better this time out. My intention was that the first battle with Frostbite would be pretty easy, and things would gradually ratchet up from there, and that's more or less what happened. I also remembered to vary up the damage types, even though that meant giving the dogs a psychic howl and the bears electric teeth.

* I followed the lead of the module in having more generic minions, and fewer unique villains. That made it easier to prepare and run, but possibly at the cost of the fights being less interesting? Even still, I managed to completely forget about the Bear Innuas' Regeneration ability during the fight. The PCs were mostly focusing on Sedna anyway, so it didn't make much difference.

* The module included an NPC heroine named Ice Shadow and a mysterious shaman-type named Alan Denby to help point the PCs in the right direction and get them to the Spirit World. I decided to combine their roles into one character. And since I just had an ice-powered lady in a recent episode, I figured I'd give Bora a bit of a redemption arc. My players are a cynical and heartless bunch, but I think they were at least a little sad when she sacrificed herself at the end. When her spirit appeared, one of the players called it her "Obi-Wan moment".

* The players ignored Aulanerk's mummy during the battle, which I expected. In the unlikely event that they had healed him (or asked Bora to do it earlier than she did), he would have repaid them by either deactivating Sedna's Force Field, or reducing her Power Blast so it could only do single-target damage. But they didn't end up needing the help, so it worked out.