[PtA] Storm Front

[Doc Blue]

My group and I just started a PrimeTime Adventures game. Since I had been informed during our last campaing that "I always end up running a Supers Game anyway" we decided to go with a Super Game up front.

Storm Front features three hyperhumans from the Fourth Generation of heroes (Golden, Silver, and Bronze being the first three).  It focuses on their struggle to balance thier lives with their role as heroes.  They are all college students in Chicago and the year is more or less today + 1.  What follows is a synapsis of the main protagonists and the pilot episode. The universe is based heavily on the DC universe but heavily flavored with Marvel characters and my own interpretations of how the two might fit together. [On my Multiply Journal, I have more details of the universe itself.]

CHARACTER PROFILES

Erik Lunde-Thor-Bearer of Mjolnir, apparently deemed worthy enough to access the power of Thor. Raised to trust only in science and with the dream of becoming a scientist on par with Pym, the arrival of Mjolnir has brought his entire life and future into question. He wants nothing to do with the hammer or being a hero, and feels that he has been cheated out of what he wanted. Erik tries to handle things as himself before turning to his powers, which can get him (and others) into trouble.

Other than his parents (Dr. Thorleif and Dr. Erin Lunde), Erik has (unwittingly) come under the wing of Professor Ashley Haff, the university's semi-demented expert on hyper-humanity. Fellow student Rachel Richman is in many of Erik's classes, and always seems to be in the wrong place with bad things happen.

Alex'andr Wayne Grayson(Lex)-Nightfire-Raised to be a crime fighter by both parents and his only known Grandparent, as well as a host of other crime fighters arrayed under the same banner. He received much of his mental training from The Batman(Bruce Wayne) where he learned his detective skills, and the proper uses for the Various "Bat-gadets". HE received extensive physical training from Nightwing, Robin III(now Batman II), Batgirl III(Cassandra Cain) and of course Starfire. While he is seen as the Next generation of the Dark Flock i would note his super hero name is Nightfire, not Robin. A fact he tries not to let people know hurts him a great deal in some ways.

Grace Galager (??) - (Kid) Flash (IV) - Neice of Wally West and protege of Wonder Woman (Princess Diana). Heir apparant to the title of the Flash. Grew up going to the hyper-human picnics, but questions her right to be a hero.

THE PILOT EPISODE

The episode opened with Grace serving coffee to one of the patrons of the coffee shop. Erik was sitting at the end of the counter mumbling about his Golden Age Hypers class. Alex pulled up outside in his blue and gold Dodge Booster. Lex expresses surprise that Grace is working in a coffee shop and then there are screams from outside. The Protagonists look out the plate glass windows and see some bikers racing along the El tracks toward an on-coming train. Lex slips into a convienent alley, Grace speeds off for a break, and Erik clears off the on-lookers before reluctantly pulling the hammer from his duffle.

Nightfire squares off with the bikers while Thor and Kid Flash work on stopping and there-by saving the train. We get a closer look at the bikers who have a hand of cards painted on their gastanks and individual cards emblazoned on thier jackets: Ace on a trike, Queen with King in a side-car, Jane, and Ten (who is a knock-out). Nightfire wins the game of chicken and the bikers ride off the tracks, onto his new car, and out of the scene. Meanwhile, Thor pushes from the front and Kid Flash grabs the train from the back and runs backward. Together, they bring it to a safe stop.

The opening credits roll.

The voice over from the credits segways into the end of Professor Haff's lecture. Our three protags, back in civilian clothes, leave class, chatting casually about the hypers they had been discussing in class - as if they knew them. They bump into a couple of jocks who are dissing the heroes who had saved the train, claiming that they are "no Justice League". A verbal altercation ensues, but the protags manage to drive the jocks off without resorting to using thier powers.

As I recall, the next scene was split into three locations, introducing the personal sets for each of the protagonists.

[Erik/Thor's personal set] Munroe Meteorology Lab: A science laboratory in one of the University's older buildings. The lab is in one of the small towers on the decaying building, a round room with French doors that serve as windows. These open up onto a small balcony with an iron railing. There are several computers, as well as other meteorological equipment around the room, as well as two shelves of books and manuals. Against the far wall is a small set of chemistry equipment, for the students' use. Many of the lights are either burned out or simply aren't usually on, lending the place a dark look. A few old, but not quite antique, wooden desks are in the room. The walls are adorned with jetstream, moisture pattern, and climate zone maps.

Alex'andr (Lex) Wayne Grayson's Personal Set. A Grand penthouse apartment in Downtown Chicago, The interior has all the amenities one would expect of such a place, including a particularly well stocked refrigerator, ans a slighty out of place bust of Scipio Afrakanas. The appartment is decorated in rich woods and darker hued Red and purple carpets and drapes(this is where the Boy-King supposedly lives after all). Behind a secret door(accesed throught the Bust of Scipio sans the Adam West Batcave) is Nightfire's "Crime Cave" where from the clutter and attention given to the few (as of yet) displays and trophy cases it becomes apparent that this is where Alex really lives. Also one New yet suprisingly refurbished Dodge Booster which Alex claims to have been sold to him by Booster Gold himself(which it was).

Kid Flash's set is in an apparant tennament, but the apartment itself is decorated in amazon tile mosaics, marble, and rich red velvet. It is a large one-room loft, and includes a small work out area and a working kitchen.  The interior of the apartment is in stark contrast to the building it is in.

Nightfire and Kid Flash realize the real secret behind the Royal Flush Gang's attack on the El while Thor is left in the dark.

The next scene is at the energy lab (convienently located near Thor's personal set). Nightfire and Kid Flash are staking it out - waiting for the RFG to arrive. And arrive they do. A battle ensues and due to Erik's hesitance to pull out the hammer, the protags are defeated and the original Green Lantern is stolen.

Between the battle in the energy lab and the church scene, there is a scene where Kid Flash grills Erik on what he's doing there while Nightfire struggles to try and lift the fallen Mjolnir. The hammer drags him across the room to stop next to Erik, and Nightfire realizes that this little scrawny kid must be Thor. Erik protests that he's not a hero, just a science geek, but Nightfire and Kid Flash convince him to take up the hammer and help them recover the lantern.

Cut to a scene in a deserted church where the protags discuss what it means to be a hero and how they are going to find the RFG and the Lantern. Kid Flash realizes that Nightfire had bugged the King during the battle, but unfortunately, the King discovers the bug before the heroes can close in.

The heroes then serach the city as only they can. Kid Flash discovers the warehouse where the RFG is hiding out, but is herself discovered by Ten. Another battle ensues when her ally fly to her rescue, but in the end, the RFG is defeated and the Lantern is recovered.

Final scene - back in the coffee shop. More discussion of what it means to be a hero. Erik asks who they report to. The answer is no one. But sometimes they get calls. Just then, Nightfire's cell phone rings. Grace dashes off for a break, and Erik tells the others he "will meet them outside"....

End episode.

[Danny_K]

Could you tell us what the Issues were?  I'm starting my own superhero PTA game and this is intensely interesting for me.

[Doc Blue]

Sorry if it was unclear.  The issues are built into the descriptions.  In each case, they are variations on self-worth.

Kid Flash questions her right to the title Flash.  Her Focus episode will be episode two wherein we expect her to permanently don the cowl and title of "The Flash, Fastest Woman Alive"

Thor/Erik is dealing with being a man of science wielding powers born of myth and magic.

Nightfire has his focus episode in the last episode of the season (if I recall correctly).  His issue resolves around being a hyper-human member of the Bat-Family. In our interpretation, Bruce Wayne has acted as a balancing force against the hyper-human hero population.  He's not exactly thrilled that his 'grandson' has powers.  Bruce and Nightfire will be confronting one another in Nightfire's focus episode.

Does that clear things up??

[Darren Hill]

I'm interested in running PTA and suspect my players will go for a supers-style game.

How did you resolve the supers battles - did you treat the entire battle as a single conflict?
How did you resolve when more than one hero was involved?
Do you often - or ever - have multiple conflicts in a single scene?

[ashmoo]

I'm interested in running PTA and suspect my players will go for a supers-style game.

How did you resolve the supers battles - did you treat the entire battle as a single conflict?
How did you resolve when more than one hero was involved?
Do you often - or ever - have multiple conflicts in a single scene?

I can't speak for the thread originator, but in standard PTA rules there is a maximum of 1 conflict per scene.
For each conflict, the stakes are identified and two possible general outcomes are decided on. Then all players involved in the scene get to roll and for one outcome or the other.
Players not involved in the scene can spend fanmail to roll for an outcome too.

[Doc Blue]

I'm interested in running PTA and suspect my players will go for a supers-style game.

How did you resolve the supers battles - did you treat the entire battle as a single conflict?
How did you resolve when more than one hero was involved?
Do you often - or ever - have multiple conflicts in a single scene?

I can't speak for the thread originator, but in standard PTA rules there is a maximum of 1 conflict per scene.
For each conflict, the stakes are identified and two possible general outcomes are decided on. Then all players involved in the scene get to roll and for one outcome or the other.
Players not involved in the scene can spend fanmail to roll for an outcome too.

The simple answer is ashmoo nailed it.  I tried to stay as close to the main rules as possible. I will admit that in the first scene (with the RFG and the El Train) the heroes had separate but compatable goals, so I treated them as one and went forward.  There may have been a couple of cases where some heroes succeeded and others didn't based on their individual success, but I made exceptions when it 'felt right' for the story/show rather than pre-deciding to deviate from the rules as written.

That said, some comments about Supers, role-playing games, and one conflict per scene.  One of the things that attracted me to PtA was the one roll resolution.  For some time, I've ranted to whomever will listen that RPGs needed to move further from their war-gaming roots.  I thought this was particularly true of Supers games. Yeah it's fun to argue about and even play out "Who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk", but it does really model the bulk of comics well.  I want my sessions to be filled with character interaction and description - not combat.  So, despite the fact that my players were new to the idea of describing the resolution themselves, I took the plunge.  And to be honest, even the player least familiar with the Supers Genre took to it like a duck to water. The concept that you are describing a television scene is the key. "Make it cool. Make it visual. Make it something you want to watch." In short, I think that one roll to determine the results and a floating narrator to describe them comes much closer to the comic books I know and love than any detailed system I've ever played (and I've played alot) regardless of how well the combat and powers systems are thought out and designed....

{If Matt is listening, this doesn't mean I wouldn't love a chance to work on a Supers/Comics supplement to Primetime Adventures.... ;) }