New Gladiators #17a: Seed of Destruction

[jkcarrier]

New Gladiators
Episode 17a:
"Seed of Destruction"
Played on 3/2/2024
Resources used:
Mutants & Masterminds Annual #2 - Seed of Destruction (M&M module written by Steve Kenson, art by ?)
Super-Crooks and Criminals (Villains & Vigilantes module written by Ken Cliffe, art by Patrick Zircher)
Crisis at Crusader Citadel (V&V module written by Jeff Dee and Jack Herman, art by Jeff Dee)
Enter the Gene Pool (V&V module written by James Satter, art by James Bishop)
Additional art by David Jernigan and Erica Freeze

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


After several high-profile victories, the Gladiators were being honored by the Mayor of Cincinnati with the Key to the City. A crowd gathered around City Hall to watch the ceremony. However, just as things were getting underway, a mass of gigantic plant vines erupted through the street, attacking the heroes.

ANIMATED VINES
[Armor, Heightened Senses (Motion), Natural Weaponry, Paralysis Ray, Size Change (12')]

It took some doing, but the heroes managed to "prune" all the malevolent vines, and things returned to normal. The reason for the sudden attack was not forthcoming, so the heroes decided to get some rest before investigating further.

[Loot Drops: Entangling Vine (Grapnel), Vine Whip (Special Weapon)]

The next day, they got word of 3 more locations that were being attacked by animated plants: Ault Park, Krohn Conservatory, and Mt. Airy Forest. The heroes briefly considered splitting up, but ultimately decided to stick together and tackle each location in turn.

At Krohn Conservatory, they found the iconic greenhouse filled with monstrously mutated flowers, led by a woman calling herself Black Orchid. She spoke of being one of "Three Brides", who would herald the arrival of "The Master", but would not elaborate.

BLACK ORCHID
[Chemical Blast Gear, Emotion Control Gear, Heightened Cool, Invisibility Gear]

FLOWER MONSTERS
[Heightened Agility, Invulnerability (Energy), Natural Weaponry, Special Weapon (Seeds)]

Orchid's invisibility caused some consternation, but her plant minions proved not too difficult to beat, and eventually she was taken out as well.

[Loot Drops: Flower Monster's Petal (Invulnerability to Energy)]

Next up was Mt. Airy Forest, where the famous "Everybody's Treehouse" had been infested with human-sized mushroom creatures. Weirdly, their leader was a well-known hero named Evergreen, a member of the famous Crusaders. But now she was calling herself another "Bride of the Master", and had no qualms about attacking the Gladiators.

EVERGREEN
[Natural Weaponry (with Poison/Venom Carrier Attack), Regeneration, Shaping (Plants)]

MUSHROOM MONSTERS
[Chemical Body, Illusions, Stretching Abilities (Plasticity)]

This battle was a bit more difficult...the Hulk in particular was having trouble scoring any damage against the rubbery-skinned Mushrooms. But eventually they were able to overcome them, and their leader. When Evergreen woke up from her pummeling, she was deeply confused -- she had no memory of the fight, or anything else that happened over the last week. She had come to the forest to commune with nature, then everything went blank. The heroes agreed to set her free, and she promised to get to the bottom of who was behind this.

[Loot Drops: Evergreen's Blood (Regeneration), Mushroom Monster's Hat (Chemical Body)]

Moving on to Ault Park, where the Third Bride, Shillelagh, had taken over the pavilion with a horde of tree monsters.

SHILELLAGH
[Arsenal (Reflection, Regeneration, Transmutation), Shaping (Plants), Special Weapon (with Poison/Venom Carrier Attack)]

TREE MONSTERS
[Density Increase, Flash (reskinned as "Blinding Leaves"), Size Change (10' Tall)]

This proved to be the most difficult fight yet, with the massive trees being able to absorb large amounts of damage, and Shillelagh using her signature weapon to reflect the heroes' attacks back at them. But, despite taking some heavy hits, the Gladiators eventually triumphed.

Nature, it seemed, had calmed back down for the moment. But the heroes could sense that this was not yet the end...

[Loot Drops: Shillelagh's Shillelagh (Reflection), Tree Monster Bark (Density Increase)]

[The characters received 3 Character Points, giving them each a total of 166]

NOTES:
* We ran out of time before getting to the Big Boss Battle, so that will happen next week. That won't take the whole session, so I'll cook up a short adventure to fill out the rest of the time.

* I'm getting better at balancing encounters, and I felt like the players were decently challenged this week. The "3 Brides" were meant to be a random mix of easier and harder battles. I let the players choose which order to go in, and as it turned out, they ended up doing the easiest fight first, and the toughest one last.

* Claw Master (after taking a particularly big hit): "BORA! Come back!" (referring to the NPC with healing powers who died last episode)