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jkcarrier
New Gladiators
Episode 17b:
"Seed of Destruction"
Played on 3/16/2024
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
Having been freed from the trance that turned her evil, Evergreen reported to the Gladiators that she had uncovered more about the source of the plant attacks on the city. Each of the three battle sites had a large subterranean root, feeding into a central location. The roots converged at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Evergreen said that she would concentrate on destroying the individual roots, while the heroes should seek out and destroy whatever the roots are feeding into. The team raced to the Zoo.
Arriving at the Botanical Gardens, the heroes heard a disturbance at the nearby Reptile House. They were quickly ambushed by several animals, enlarged and mutated by a strange mossy growth all over their bodies.
DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE:
[Armor, Sonic Blast, Stretching Abilities: Elongation, Oozing]
GILA MONSTER:
[Disintegration Field, Invulnerability: Kinetic, Natural Weaponry]
POISON DART FROG:
[Experience Levels, Heightened Attack, Poison/Venom Ability Field]
As the battle raged on, another figure emerged from the reptile house -- a 20' tall plant-creature that seemed to be in command of the others.
GREEN MAN:
[Armor, Chemical Blast (Area Effect), Natural Weaponry, Regeneration, Size Change (19' Tall), Super Speed]
The team also heard a steady vibration or drumbeat coming from within the Reptile House. Several of them went inside to investigate, and saw the three large roots that Evergreen had described, all converging onto what looked like a gigantic acorn -- The Seed of Destruction.
From that point, the fight continued on two fronts: Some of the heroes attacked the Seed, with the Green Man fighting to defend it, while the rest of the team remained outside, battling the animal minions. The Green Man's area chemical attack took a heavy toll, and the Seed of Destruction proved to be a literal "tough nut to crack", but eventually the heroes were able to destroy it. Once they did, the Green Man's power was considerably lessened (his Armor and damage rolls were cut in half), and they finished him and his minions off soon after. The Green Man's plot to lead the plant kingdom to wipe out the animal kingdom had been thwarted.
[Loot Drops: Diamondback Rattlesnake Scales (Elongation, Oozing), Green Man Foliage (Super Speed), Poison Dart Frog Flipper (Heightened Attack)]
New Gladiators
Episode 18:
"Pre-Emptive Strike"
Played on 3/16/2024
Resources used:
Pre-Emptive Strike (Villains & Vigilantes module written by Stephen Dedman, art by Sean Knight)
From the Deeps of Space (V&V module written by Stefan Jones, art by Bill Reinhold)
Opponents Unlimited (V&V module written by Stefan Jones, art by Jeff Dee)
Additional images by Google Earth and Wikipedia
Roll Call:
Claw Master
The Dude (with Donny Kerabatsos)
Hulk
Sonic Boom
Walter Sobchak
Weather Wizard
The Gladiators were contacted by General Anthony Cotton, head of the United States Strategic Command. He asked them to meet him an an abandoned missile base near Oxford, Ohio. There, he revealed that many of the so-called "decommissioned" bases around the country were secretly still active. And someone had broken in to this one last night, killed the soldiers on duty, and made off with the twin activation keys for one of the missile silos. The assumption was that whoever stole the keys would be coming back to try and use them, so the heroes were asked to stand guard against this unusual threat.
Weather Wizard stationed himself outside, to keep an eye on the silo, while the rest of the team camped out in the underground bunker where the missile controls were. At 1:00 am, a teleportational portal opened up in the underground hallway connecting the elevator to the control room, and three identical robots floated out:
VOLTOID:
[Lightning Control, Robotic Body, Physical Disability: Mute]
The team tore into the machines (with Weather Wizard taking the elevator down to join them after the first round), and had little trouble shutting them down. During that process, however, another set of different robots emerged as reinforcements:
TROJAN I:
[Disintegration, Flight, Heightened Senses (Infrared), Robotic Body]
The odds were a little more even now, but the Gladiators still emerged triumphant. They recovered the stolen keys from the Voltoids. The teleport portal was still active, and the team elected to go through, and make sure no other threats were incoming.
[Loot Drops: Trojan Breastplate (Willpower: Pain Resistance), Voltoid Gun (Electrical Bolt)]
The portal deposited them in a large chamber (which turned out to be on an alien spaceship in orbit around the Earth). A team of alien mercenaries were standing by, and immediately attacked:
LADY SEVEN:
[Cosmic Awareness, Power Blast (with Flash Contact Ability), Transmutation (Gives Inaccurate weakness)]
SPRITE:
[Illusion (Visual/Sound), Size Change (1.8" Tall), Super Speed, Telekinesis]
STAR BOSS:
[Heightened Expertise (Trident), Natural Weaponry, Trident Gear (Special Weapon, Electrical Bolt), Uniform Gear (Flight, Life Support), Low Self-Control (Never backs down from a challenge)]
VENDETTA:
[Pistol Gear (Death Touch), Weakness Detection, Willpower (Pain Resistance)]
Outnumbered and outgunned, the mercenaries didn't last long. As they fell, they cried out for help, and then the alien leader and his personal minions arrived.
TYMPANUS:
[Armor, Heightened Senses (Full Hearing), Sonic Blast, Pistol Gear (Disintegration Ray, Paralysis Ray, Power Blast (Self-Destruct), Diminished Senses (Blind)]
RAM 101:
[Armor, Grapnel (Area Effect), Natural Weaponry (x4 Autofire), Physical Ability (Wall-Crawling), Distinctive, Unliving]
The spider-like RAM robots, with their multiple attacks, were particularly dangerous, while Tympanus peppered the good guys with Sonic and Disintegration attacks. Once their leader fell, the remaining RAMs began spraying the room with sticky webs to restrict the heroes, but they were able to break free without much effort, and Tympanus and crew were routed. Tympanus had hoped to launch the nuclear missiles, start a world war, and then colonize the resulting radioactive wasteland (as their species actually needs high radiation levels to survive). Better luck next time, crystal-face.
[Loot Drops: RAM 101 Webspitter (Area Effect Grapnel), Sprite Booties (Super Speed), Star Boss Trident (Special Weapon with Electrical Bolt Carrier)]
[The characters received 3 Character Points, giving them each a total of 169]
NOTES:
* In the second adventure, the fights with the Voltoids, the Trojans, the Mercenaries, and finally Tympanus and co. turned out to be one long continuous battle (I had expected them to at least try and rest long enough to regain Power Points before jumping into the portal, which I probably would have allowed). It worked out for the best, though, and that final fight felt suitably challenging.
* In the original Pre-Emptive Strike module, the entrance to Tympanus' ship was guarded by a couple of dragons. That seemed kind of random and off-theme to me, so I replaced them with the R.A.M. 101 robots. I also boosted the ranks of his "organic" servants by adding a couple of characters from another alien-themed adventure, From the Deeps of Space.
* I didn't get into Tympanus' motivations and background in the game...by that point it was late, I was getting tired, and I didn't think the players would care much anyway. I probably should have at least sketched it out, though.
* Walter, attacking the Seed of Destruction: "Watch me break your nuts!"
