[Let's Play] Marvel Super Heroes Adventure 6 — The Uncanny X-Men: An X-cellent Death

[SGamerz]

2 other books in the last poll for non-FF game LP received votes. Is there sufficient interest in either of these for our next LP?

(Descriptions of the 2 books in poll to be found in the link to the last poll thread.)

If there is interest shown in either of the 2, the LP will start 3 days from now.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for Marvel Super Heroes Adventure 6, as a X-men game sound promising. Work will be a little tight for the next two months though, so I will not be able to play any books too often.

[SGamerz]

Work will be a little tight for the next two months though, so I will not be able to play any books too often.

Same for me, my update frequency will likely be similar to yours, just at different time frame.

[pragma]

I enjoy Storytrails -- I recall the writing being pretty good -- and voted for it accordingly. Feel free to count me as a half vote if it breaks a tie.

[SGamerz]

I enjoy Storytrails -- I recall the writing being pretty good -- and voted for it accordingly. Feel free to count me as a half vote if it breaks a tie.

Sure. But in the case of a tie, I'd probably run the Storytrails book too at a later date.

[SGamerz]

Alright, so the poll ended in a tie, which means both books will be run eventually. Since pragma gracefully allowed his vote to be counted as half in such a situation, the MSH adventure will be run first.



As I mentioned in the previous poll thread, this book actually has a significant difference from the others in this series, in that there are 4 PCs instead of 1. But there are still some common rules and mechanisms. These are the stats we need to keep track of:



Health Points:
This is probably one of the most familiar stats in RPG game(book)s, no matter what it may be called (Stamina, Endurance, Life Points, etc). Basically we need to make sure this stat stays a possible value, and ideally as high as possible, and once it hits 0 or less, it's Game Over. There are no structured combats in this book, but we will lose HP when we make a bad decision or fail a FEAT roll (more on that when we come to Abilities). In this book, since there are 4 PCs, each has their own individual HP score to keep track of. The bad news is that we need to keep all 4 of them health - if one of them dies/passes out from lost HP, the game is over. Like most other RPG game(book)s, the maximum HP score is fixed for each character, and the current value can never go higher than that unless specifically told otherwise by the book. As you can see from the score card above, each PC has a different maximum HP value.

We can also decide to substitute Karma loss for HP loss as long as we have some Karma left, which brings us to the next stat:

Karma:

Unlike HP, Karma is a single pooled score shard by all 4 PCs. Also unlike HP, there's no maximum ceiling for Karma, and while we start with 30, it's possible to gain more than that. Since this is a Superhero book, according to the text, we earn Karma by "doing heroic deeds, making right decisions and generally being a good person". If we do the opposite, we may instead lose Karma.

Karma can be used in 2 ways:

1) Used to substitute HP loss. it's a 1 to 1 trade (if we lose 4 HP, we may choose to lose 4 Karma instead). It can also be a partial substitute, meaning we can split the loss between HP and Karma (e.g. lose 2 HP and 2 Karma). This can obviously be a life-saver in a pinch.

2) Used to increase our chances at attempting a FEAT. This is kind of similar as spending Honour in combat in the Cretan Chronicles series, where we spend a certain amount of Karma and use that amount as a positive modifier for our dice roll. An important similarity is that we need to decide whether or not to spend the Karma before we make the dice roll, which means it's possible that we may end up wasting Karma if we still fail the roll despite the modifier.

To elaborate more on FEATs, let's proceed to:

Abilities:
In the other books in this series, all the (lone) superheroes PCs have a long list of abilities all to themselves. Because there are 4 PCs in this book, each of them only has 3-4 Abilities each. You can refer to the score card above for the different Abilities each PC possesses.

Anyway, this is where FEAT comes in. It's basically a single die roll test with a specific Ability score as modifier (plus whatever Karma you may spend) depending on whatever task your PC is trying to accomplish. Like for example, if Rogue is trying to move some heavy object, the FEAT will probably require her to roll a die and add her Strength (which is 10), and the text will provide a qualifier value that determines whether or not she succeeds. If, for example, she needs to roll 20 or above to succeed, then she must roll 10 or above on the die, which is of course impossible, so she definitely needs to at least spend some Karma to succeed. (OTOH, if she only needs to roll 12 or above to succeed, then again, she almost definitely wouldn't need to spend any.)

So, as you can see from the score card, the characters we'll be playing will be Wolverine, Rogue, Nightcrawler and Storm, and more the most part their unique abilities are what you would more or less expect (e.g. Teleport for Nightcrawler), and of course there are some Abilities that most or all of the PC possess (some better than others). . Most of the Abilities are self-explanatory by name, and in any case, the book always chooses which Ability you are tested on, not the reader, so not too much explanation needed for each. Just a few extra notes:

1) Storm, who arguably would have been the most powerful mutant of the 4, as you can see, has no superpowers listed. This is because the story timeline for this book happens at a period after she was hit by a mutant-power-draining weapon by government agents, so she has no weather-control powers in this book. Thus, her main unique value in this adventure is her Leadership Ability.

2) Wolverine has 2 different Fighting scores, as you can see. The difference between the 2 is that fighting w/o claws is less likely to be lethal, so depending on who he's fighting, it's sometimes necessary for him to fight without them, because unnecessary killing is bad for Karma (literally, since it's an actual stat).

3) Just because Rogue has no Fighting Ability listed at all doesn't mean she's useless in a fight. It's just means she'd be rolling with other Abilities when she's fighting. This version of Rogue has already absorbed Miss Marvel's powers, so a lot of times Strength is all she needs to squash opponents. Similarly, Wolverine not having an Agility stat certainly doesn't mean he's not agile, it's just to his advantage generally to use other Abilities for his FEATs.

4) Wolverine's Fast Healing unfortunately doesn't quite work like Lone Wolf's Healing, and while he may recover HP from this Ability (sometimes rolling a FEAT to determine how much he recovers), the effect is not automatic, but instead only at points specified by the book.

5) Those familiar with the X-Men franchise would know this, but Rogue's Power Absorption Ability also carries the risk of the absorbed victim's will overwhelming Rogue's, or its memories being so repulsive to her that it may incapacities her temporarily (or on rarer occasions turn her into a threat to her own team).

POV:
This doesn't really matter much in terms of gameplay, but it doesn't affect the flow of the story. The book will be shifting POV between the 4 different PCs (sometimes they would also be split up), and the letter beside the section number would indicate the initial of the PC's name (for example, section 3W is from Wolverine's POV, 4S is from Storm's etc).

****

And that's it for the rules and mechanisms. However, I will also be adding some House Rules for this LP:

Even though this is not an FF gamebook, I will be using a certain "boon" mechanism due to the flavour of this book.

With 4 PCs in this book, I will allow the players to start the game with 4 boon "cards", each of a different power. There are 4 types of boons, each relating to one of the PCs, and can be used to save your game from early failure in different ways:

1) Wolverine card - once during the game, you may use this card to activate a Super Healing Factor to instantly restore any 1 PC's character to his or her maximum value. This obviously saves you from failure via HP loss.

2) Nightcrawler card - once during the game, you may use this card to "teleport" (aka rewind) to any previous section you'd already been to in this adventure. This saves you from any failure, but most notably the only one that saves you from auto-death sections.

3) Rogue card - once during the game, you may draw on superhuman ability to overcome any FEAT, and auto-pass any single FEAT roll without any roll of dice. Saves you from pass-or-die rolls.

4) Storm card - once during the game, you may activate your powers of Leadership Foresight, and anticipate exactly what happens in the immediate future - meaning you may read 1 section ahead to determine whether an option is a good or bad choice, OR whether failing a FEAT test is lethal to your or not (in the latter case, it will also help you determine whether and how much Karma to spend on the FEAT).

As I said, you will start with 4 cards, and you may choose to start with 1 of each or you may choose to forego certain powers for multiple uses of another.

The LP will officially begin once you've voted on how many of each card you wish to start with.

Hope you'd have fun with this one!

[pragma]

One of each card seems thematically appropriate, but I'm not a huge fan of the storm card. My vote is 2x nightcrawler, 1x rogue, 1x wolverine.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for 3 Nightcrawler cards and 1 Wolverine card. Rewinds are generally the most valuable in adventures like this.

[SGamerz]

I will confirm at least 2 Nightcrawler cards and 1 Wolverine card and leave the last card unfilled for the time being. If there's no tiebreaker (between Nightcrawler or Rogue for last card) by tomorrow night, it will be decided via randomizer.

I will proceed with the story for now...

Section 1 starts with a 'W', which means we begin the story from Wolverine's POV.

1W

"Be careful, mein Freud. She is their most dangerous player. We could lose all if she gets the advantage of us."

You note Nightcrawler's warning with a curt nod. Your fellow X-Man's analysis of your opponent is quite accurate, but you're dangerous, too.

"I'm the best at what I do," you always say, and you don't say it just to build your confidence. It just happens to be a fact. The woman opposite you holds a wooden bat, which you could shred into toothpicks with your adamantium claws, but that's not the way the game of baseball is played.

"Come on, Wolverine! Play ball!" Storm shouts from first base. She's just hit a single, but the other bases are empty. It's the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, and her team is losing by one run. The next batter, the one Nightcrawler warned you of, is Rogue, and with her superhuman strength, you might as well kiss the ball good-bye when she hits it.

"Don't rush me, woman!" you growl back at Storm, who has proven to be as formidable a baseball team captain as she is a leader of the X-Men. Even though she was robbed of her superhuman powers, she's a born leader and a real scrapper. To counter her shrewd line-up of batters, you must consider your strategy carefully.

Roberto Da Costa bats after Rogue, and you have no doubt you can strike the little twerp out. After all, he's only a New Mutant, the junior class at Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Roberto is hot-headed and can be easily psyched out. But if Rogue gets an extra-base hit, Storm may score and the game will be tied. And if Rogue hits a homer, the game will be over and her team will have won. And you hate to lose.

Storm is affectionately tousling the hair of your first baseman, Rahne Sinclair, another New Mutant. You can see that Storm is trying to put the girl off-guard so that she can steal a base. Fortunately, Rahne's fellow student, your second baseman, Danielle Moonstar, is a tougher case. And your third baseman, the youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, has earned the nickname "the Executioner" for her ability to tag out people who reach her territory.

You take one last look at Rogue and Da Costa from the pitcher's mound. Make an Intuition FEAT be rolling one die and adding the result to your Intuition ability. If the result is 20 of less, turn to 81. If it's 21 or more, turn to 119.

So apparently we start off in the middle of a baseball game. And already we face a FEAT roll. Wolverine's Intuition is 16, which means we will need to roll a 5 or above to score 21 or more. That's actually pretty difficult to do on 1 die. I'm pausing here to see if you wish to use Karma (please state how many points if you do) or a Rogue card to help pass the test, or just trust to our luck on the dice. Of course, if you vote to use the card, it also means our last undetermined card will be confirmed.

Stats Card:
Wolverine:
HP: 22
Fighting w Claws: 16
Fighting w/o Claws: 8
Intuition: 16
Fast Healing: 20
Rogue:
HP: 18
Agility: 4
Strength: 10
Power Absorption: 10
Storm:
HP: 21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 6
Leadership: 6
Nightcrawler:
HP: 21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 10
Teleportation: 6

Group Karma Pool: 30

[pragma]

This is obviously low stakes to everyone but wolverine. No karma, no card.

I'll change my vote to a 3rd nightcrawler card. I also value rewind highly. I'm just worried there will be some sticky roll to pass.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to use any karma here.

[SGamerz]

Alright, so our final card is now confirmed. Wolverine then proceeds to test his Intuition without drawing on any Karma...

Die roll = 6 (+16) = 22! We are extremely lucky on this first test! Let's hope the luck stays with us.

Anyway, the first series of options/tests surrounding the baseball games aren't important at all, and definitely not worth wasting Karma on, and are probably just a means to allow unfamiliar players to get a feel of the mechanisms before they get to the serious stuff. But it's just as well that we passed this one, since the sequence of tests or options would have been prolonged if we failed as the other team would also have to make tests of their own. This way, the sequence is shortened.

119W

That girl is just itching to clobber the ball, you realize, noting how Rogue clenches the bat. A gentle spring breeze wafts the scent of her excitement to your nose. Even more interesting, though, is the admiration you see In Roberto Da Costa's eyes as the young man watches the batter preceding him.

If I walk Rogue, you think, Roberto is goin' to be offended, an' think he needs to defend her honor He may actually psyche himself up an' bat better. Then I'll hafta go up against Petey. Peter Rasputin, also known as Colossus, though Russian-born. has adapted to the American game with a vengeance. He's an awesome batter. And walking Petey would tie the game. After Petey would come Sam Guthrie of the New Mutants, a pretty level-headed kid with a good eye. I'm goin' to have to to something tricky here, you say to yourself.

You pitch the first two balls way outside. Rogue squints her bright, green eyes and stares daggers at you, certain that you intend to walk her. Then you throw one of your curves. which she misses by a fraction of an inch. Possessing the seventh sense that once belonged to Ms. Marvel before Rogue stole it from her. the girl can sometimes anticipate things before they happen.

"Anticipate this if you can, kid." you whisper and throw an easy pitch with absolutely nothing on it.
Rogue swings with the fury of the righteous, plus the super strength she also stole from Ms. Marvel. Part of the ball flies off toward the right infield, but the other half, the jacket, flops to the ground, near home plate.

Rogue takes off for first, then slows as she rounds the bag, uncertain if it's safe to continue. She decides to stay put.

Play halts as Magneto steps onto the field. Once the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the hopefully reformed Master of Magnetism is now filling in for the space-faring Charles Xavier as mentor of the New Mutants. Xavier has provided him with a cover identity, as his nonexistent brother, Michael Xavier. Magneto plucks the ball's shredded cover from the ground and walks toward the pitcher's mound, beckoning with his umpire's cap for Storm and Rogue to approach.

"I believe this is what is known as a rule-book double." Magneto says, raising an eyebrow in your direction.

Magneto reminds you of Professor X. Both of them are tall, blue-eyed, and eggheads. Still. you shift just a little nervously under the older man's gaze. He's pretty shrewd.

"Good call, Magneto!" Rogue dances over to second base, Storm walks more thoughtfully to third.
"We shall have to be more careful in the future as to the quality of the balls we pitch to Rogue," Magneto warns you.

"Sure. Mikey." you answer with a grin. Magneto scowls at the nickname and walks back behind home plate.

Roberto Da Costa walks cockily up to the plate, certain that he can bat as well as, if not better than, Rogue. Your original estimate of the solar-powered mutant soon proves correct. You throw two straight pitches close to his body. His temper flaring, he loses his concentration. A few fast balls and a curve later, and he's out.

"Pretty sneaky pitching, Logan," Storm congratulates you.

"Thanks, Ororo. I try to keep my hand in."

"If you'll excuse me, I think I have some wounded egos to salve." the X-Men leader says.

You watch your defeated opponent stride off as your teammates approach to congratulate you. "Nice pitchin', Wolvie," Kitty Pryde chuckles, punching you fondly in the arm.

Just as Nightcrawler reaches out to congratulate you. you catch a smell in the air that can only mean trouble.

There's actually a minor bug at the next section: it's marked with a "W", but it's actually from Nightcrawler's point of view.

150WN

As you pat your team captain on the back, you notice his expression turn suddenly grim. "What is wrong. Logan?" you ask as the two of you move away from your teammates.

"I smell a fire, Kurt," Wolverine whispers. "A big one."

"The wind is coming in from the west," you note. "There's a U.S. Forest Preserve over that way. Do you think it could be a forest fire?"

Your friend shakes his head. "No. I smell traces of gasoline fumes, burning rubber, insulation, phosphorus..."

"Phosphorus? You mean like in a fire bomb?"

You look toward the X-Men's leader, but Storm is speaking intently with Magneto as he herds the youngsters back inside to attend to their studies. You signal Rogue to come over to you and Wolverine,

"What can ah do for you gentlemen?" the young woman asks in her mellifluous southern drawl.

"Rogue, I want you to fly up over the lake and see if you can spot smoke." Wolverine says.

"All right," she replies, looking at you. puzzled.

You hold her back for a moment. "Just look. Liebchen." you say. "Don't get close. The fumes could be dangerous."

"Ah''Il be real careful. Nightcrawler, shugah," Rogue replies teasingly. She runs a gloved finger up the blue fur along your arm and flashes you one of her dazzling smiles before she soars upward.

A touch of sadness creeps over you as you watch her fade into a speck in the sky. Rogue can be a charming flirt, but you know it is her only defense against the Loneliness that her mutant power forces upon her. You can't imagine what it would be like to be cursed with her power, to have to avoid touching all human flesh. If she does touch someone, she steals that person's spirit for a time and causes him to lose consciousness. Rogue originally came to the X-Men for help with this precise problem. but so far, no one has been able to discover a way to control the automatic transfer.

"1 used to feel sorry for myself," you tell Wolverine, "because I looked so different. But I cannot think of anything worse than Rogue's problem. At a time in her life when she should be beginning to explore intimacy, she doesn't dare to."

Wolverine shrugs. ' 'She's probably better off than the rest of us."

You eye Wolverine critically. You've seen him heartbroken on many occasions, and yet he hasn't given up on love. You know that beneath his gruff exterior is a man whose soul aches for the true union of body and spirit with another.

"Surely you do not mean that," you whisper.

"Maybe not," he says, watching Rogue land lightly on the balls of her feet like an acrobat, her face flushed with the exhilaration of flying. She is still not jaded by this power, even though she uses it constantly. "The fire's on Obar Island." she announces. "Billowin' clouds o' black stuff. Y'all don 't think the sparks could spread the fire over all that water. do you?"

"Probably not." Wolverine replies.

"Obar Island," you muse. "Isn't there some sort of military base there?"

"Last time ah flew over there. about a month ago," Rogue reports. "they were jus' puttin' up some buildin's and postin' it with some real unfriendly signs—alk about prosecutin' trespassers an' stuff like that."

"Sounds like the army, all right," Wolverine mutters. Just to be sure, the three of you troop into the school kitchen to use the telephone. You listen as Wolverine reports the fire to the authorities. He speaks to someone on the other end of the line for a moment, then says, "I see. Okay."

"What did they say?" you ask.

"That the situation is under control." Wolverine answers.

"Good."

"Not rælly," he replies, "cause they're lyin'."

"How do you know?" Rogue asks.

"I just do."

You've had experience with Wolverine's Intuition before, Hel s not often wrong. You'd be willing to bet he was right now, too, "But why would they lie?" you ask.

"Maybe there's some sort of poisonous gas there, and they don't want t' panic the populace." Rogue guesses.

"You got a vivid imagination, kid," Wolverine states. "But I don't smell any poison. More likely, the army just doesn't wanna' breach security on the island. They'd rather let it burn into the water than bring in outsiders,"

You shake your head. Wolverine once worked for the military. and he accepts such things matter-of-factly, but you are still appalled by such a destructive, secretive mentality. "Well?" you ask, "Should we consult with our fearless leader on this one?"

"Ah *Il go find her," Rogue offers. and she hurries off to fetch Storm.

The next section, at least, is labelled correctly with an 'S', as we switch to Storm's POV.

52S

You listen as your fellow X-Men tell you about the fire and the phone call. Ordinarily, you wouldn't hesitate to give the go-ahead to check out such a situation and offer what assistance you can. Breaching army security, though, is a serious matter. You've done it before, but only when it was extremely urgent. The U.S. Government and its auxiliaries don't trust mutants, and the X-Men in particular. You are widely considered outlaw vigilantes, and your help never seems to be very welcome.

Yet if the base on Obar Island is under attack, or if there has been an accident there, people could be dying as you consider the problem.

"Well, what's the verdict, chief?" Wolverine asks. He seems eager to go, but whether he is truly concerned or not. you can't tell.

"1 do not think it wise to involve ourselves. Logan." you reply. "'If they say they have it under control, they obviously do not want any interference, We do not want to make more trouble for ourselves."

"But the guy was lyin'. I know it!"

"Perhaps you mistook uncertainty for untruthfulness," you suggest.

"No. He sounded very calculated, almost like a man who*s been ordered to lie."

If you think you should check out the fire, turn to 98.
If you think you'd better not get involved. turn to 166.

And finally there's a choice!

Stats Card:
Wolverine:
HP: 22
Fighting w Claws: 16
Fighting w/o Claws: 8
Intuition: 16
Fast Healing: 20
Rogue:
HP: 18
Agility: 4
Strength: 10
Power Absorption: 10
Storm:
HP: 21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 6
Leadership: 6
Nightcrawler:
HP: 21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 10
Teleportation: 6

Group Karma Pool: 30

Boon Cards:
1x Wolverine
3x Nightcrawler

[pragma]

I vote for checking the fire. Seems to offer more chances for heroism.

[Thaluikhain]

Check out

(And can't we see if there are giant robots or whatever attacking without first crossing their fences?)

[SGamerz]

98S

You cannot stand by while innocent people are in danger, even if it means more trouble for the X-Men. Besides, you can sense the team members in front of you champing at the bit. Rogue, especially, can hardly contain her excitement. She looks to you as if she might fly away the moment you give the go-ahead.

"Very well," you agree. "We'll check it out."

How are we so sure that those people on the island are innocent though? This whole thing may be their fault, whatever it is. I mean, if it's a military base, we're probably not going to find random civilians there anyway.

Exploring the island is pretty much the main mission of the story, so not going ends the book pretty quickly. What happens is that Wolverine decides to go to the island on his own (the next part is told from Rogue's POV) and never comes back, and the whole thing remains a mystery.

19R

The moment Storm nods her approval of the mission, you run to tell the other members of the team, but you find no one left at the school. They all must have gone into town to quench their thirst after the ball game, you finally decide. It is just the four of you— Storm. Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and-yourself—who set out from Spuyten Cove in the small motorboat, the Lilandra.

It's still early enough in the spring for the lake's surface to be nearly deserted. You spot a few kids fishing along the shoreline. but no boats beside your own disturb the surface of the water. Storm sends you ahead to scout for any water patrol boats that might be blocking your route to the island.
Exulting in the thrill of flight, you rise out of the boat and soar overhead, high enough to be mistaken for a bird if you are seen at ali. Flying through the air, you feel at peace with the world. Innumerable times, you have been plagued with guilt over stealing Ms. Marvel's powers and consciousness and wished you could give them back—all the memories, the strength, the invulnerability, and the seventh sense. But to part with this gift of flying would be impossibly difficult.

Ah could stay up here forever! you think. But there is work to be done, so you return to the boat and report that there are no other craft on the lake at all.

"How odd." Storm murmurs. As you pass the first warning buoy. posted with a "NO TRESPASSING" notice, you spot a large, dark object floating in the water.

"it looks like a body!" you whisper.

"Why don't you check it out, Rogue?" Storm suggests.

You skim low over the water toward the shape. It is indeed a corpse, that of a man in army uniform. A creepy feeling shudders along your spine, but you dutifully pluck at the dead man's shirt and, getting a good grasp on it, haul the corpse back toward the boat.

Suddenly you feel as though you've slammed into a brick wall. You splash backward into the water, losing hold of your burden. Nightcrawler maneuvers the Lilandra up beside you.

"Are you all right?" Storm asks anxiously.

"Ah'm fine, but somethin hit me. Did you see what it was?"

"There's nothing around." Wolverine says, reaching out to pull you back into the boat.

Nightcrawler begins circling the boat around closer to the corpse. You hear a thunk and the boat rocks sickeningly.

"We must have hit something." Nightcrawler says.

"Perhaps a branch?'

"Wait a minute. guys. There's somethin' fishy here," you insist. You fly away from the boat. keeping your hands in front of you. A few yards away, you hit what feels like a smooth rock wall.

"It's some sort o' force field," you cry out, flying upward and feeling along the invisible surface. A few hundred feet up, the wall curves inward, You plunge down into the water, exploring the range of the barrier. It goes all the way down to the lake bottom and into the muck.

At the limits of your breath. you swim to the surface and emerge from the water. Landing carefully in the boat, you accept a towel from Storm,

You tell the others what you've discovered as you dry yourself off. "It goes all the way down. Prob'ly curves over the whole island up above."

"But we didn't hit anything while we were going toward the island," Nightcrawler protests. "Only when we tried to move away."

"It's probably a one-way barrier to keep people from gettin' off the island," Wolverine guesses. "Now I've gotta see what's going on out on that rock!"

Using a boat hook, Storm hauls the soldier's body aboard. The dead man appears to have been stabbed.

"Whoever did this is undoubtedly on the island," Storm surmlses. "Kurt, before we go any farther, check to the near shore and back."

Without hesitation. Nightcrawler vanishes in a small explosion. leaving a puff of foul-smelling smoke behind. A few seconds later. he reappears in the same theatrical way, but he looks somewhat drained.

"Are you all right? What happened?" you ask

Kurt shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know exactly. It was suddenly as if the shore were a hundred miles away. I couldn't make lt. I had to turn back."

"I guess we have no choice but to go forward," Storm says reluctantly. A minute later, the boat reaches Obar Island's dock—a solid, new construction. sheltering four powerboats with U.S. Army identification numbers on them and a small sailboat. The shadows are lengthening considerably as you debark with your companions. The smell of smoke is heavy all around you. and you can hear the roar and crackle of a fire somewhere in the distance.

Just as you step onto the path into the forest. Wolverine cries out, "Rogue! Look out!" and shoves you to the ground as a horrible. buzzing sphere about the size of a volleyball swoops down over your head!

You spin around to find the sphere attached to Wolverine's wrists by steel tendrils, like space-age handcuffs.

Wolverine turns pale and cries out in pain, "It's tryin' to cut off my wrists!"

Ah've gotta get this thing off of Wolvie! you think as you grab the sphere to crush it.

Make a Strength FEAT by rolling one die and adding the result to your Strength ability. If the sum is 16 or more, turn to 163. If it is 14 or 15, turn to 56. If it Is 13 or less, turn to 38.

Ok, so for this one, Rogue needs to roll the maximum 6 on 1 die to get the best result, and above 3 to avoid the worst result. So low chance of getting best result, but 50% chance to avoid the worst. Do we use any Karma here?

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, Wolverine can heal so not too worried just yet, half vote to avoid using karma.

(Rogue thinks with a phonetic accent?)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to use karma again, as Wolverine can probably take some wounds this early in the adventure.

[pragma]

Yeah, I'm ok conserving karma here. I'm worried that's the worst result is more than just damage, but temper that worry by this being an early section.

[SGamerz]

Die roll = 5 (+10) = 15.

56W

As though it were an aluminum can, Rogue crumbles the sphere in her bare hands. Some part of the sphere, however, continues to function. The steel tendrils remain tight around your wrists, and they begin to crackle with electricity. Suddenly a jolt of burning energy crawls up your arms and sets your ears ringing. Subtract 4 from your Health points.

Rogue, with her nearly invulnerable physique, grabs the tentacles and wrenches them out of their moorings somewhere deep inside the crushed sphere.
The steel bindings go limp, and the pain searing up your nerve endings subsides. The metal sphere falls to the ground.

"Oh, goll, Wolverine, I'm sorry! Are you all right?" Rogue gasps, looking at the burn marks and bruises on your wrists.

"Not your fault, kid. The thing was out to get me even If you hadn't touched it. This'll heal soon enough," you assure her, knowing that your body can recover from burns and regenerate new skin tissue with amazing speed. "If the flamln' thing had cut off my wrists, that might been harder to fix," you joke grimly. Though you have never tested the theory, it doesn't seem very likely that you could grow new hands.

I imagine it's jolly hard for Wolverine to ever lose any limbs since there aren't a lot of things that can cut through his adamantium bones, no matter how badly they may mangle the skin and flesh outside. Still, I guess the double-edged sword might be that should something does succeed in cutting a limb off, it's also highly doubtful that even his healing factor can regrow adamantium bones, since it wasn't a natural part of his anatomy to begin with?

89W

Nightcrawler pokes at the crushed metal device with a stick.

"It better stay dead if it knows what's good for it." Rogue mutters.

"There's somethin' familiar about that thing," you say, "but I can't figure out what."

"Ja," Kurt Wagner agrees, using the stick to flip the object over. revealing a confused mass of wires and electrical components.

"We better get going," Storm insists. "We won't be able to see much longer, and there's much to be done. Wolverine, keep a sharp ear out for any more of these things." She gives the crushed sphere a kick with the toe of her boot. "Yes. There is something familiar..." she murmurs.

You keep your adamantium claws unsheathed. If I run into another one of those electronic volleyballs, I'm gonna spike it one it won't forget! you think.

Less than a hundred yards into the forest, however, you begin to encounter an obstacle you cannot fight as easily—the fire. Underbrush crackles and sparks on both sides of the trail, and a few tree trunks are already charred and smoking at their bases. Smaller burning saplings block the path, making even walking treacherous.

"This place'd be an inferno already if it'd been summer," you note.

"Ja." Kurt agrees. "Lucky there was so much rain last week."

"Something very hot had to start this," Storm muses. "Rogue, scout overhead for a clearing beyond the flames, somewhere that Nightcrawler can teleport us to."

Rogue rises above the trees and heads inland. Less than a minute later. she returns. "Two hundred yards ahead, it's just about cool enough t' walk on in our boots; ' she reports. "No trees t' get in your way, elf," she assures Kurt.

Nightcrawler teleports alone, to be sure of his footing on the other side, then returns to teleport first you and then Storm behind the advancing flames. Rogue flies overhead again to join the team.

All around you. the land is devastated by fire. In the twilight. it's not easy to see the footpath, now coated with ash and soot, but your sharp sense of smell picks out the scent of warm blacktop, which once kept the path clear of undergrowth. You can feel the heat of the trail even through your thick-soled boots.

The trail begins to climb up a steep hill, making it difficult to see what lies ahead, despite the fire-cleared area. Something sets the hair on your neck and arms prickling, warning you to be on your guard against danger, but you can't. perceive- the source of your uneasiness.

Make an Intuition FEAT by rolling one die and adding the result to your Intuition ability. If the total is 19 or less, turn to 8. If it is 20 or more, turn to 108.

This is another 50/50 test, with Wolverine's Intuition at 16.

In addition to voting on whether to use Karma for the test, please also vote if you want to use Karma to substitute Wolverine's lost HP in the previous section.

[pragma]

No karma for hp, our plan was to rely on healing factor.

I'd be game to toss 1 karma into this roll, seems potentially bad /course altering.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use 1 karma in this roll, but none for hp loss.

[SGamerz]

1 Karma spent. Die roll = 5+1 (+16) = 22.

108W

At the very limit of your range of hearing, you sense a vibration that is causing the sensation of danger you feel. You realize with a start that it is the same humming noise made by the electronic sphere that attacked you earlier, but now it is increased twenty-fold!

"Incoming volleyballs! A whole horde of them!" you shout to the others. You reach the top of the hill in two leaps, charging the onslaught of miniature robots as they swoop down upon you. Your adamantium claws gleam in the rays of the setting sun as you slash upward in a berserk fury.

Make a Fighting FEAT by rolling one die and adding the result to your Fighting With Claws ability. If the total is 18 or less, turn to 124. If it is 19, 20 or 21, turn to 134. If it is 22 or more, turn to 27.

Since these are bots, lethality is not a concern (well, not theirs, anyway), so claws can be applied full. Wolverine needs to roll 3 or higher to avoid the worst result of the test and 6 to get the best result. Use Karma for this or not?

(Yeah, unfortunately, this section is going to be heavy on stat tests for a bit...)

Stats Card:
Wolverine:
HP: 18/22
Fighting w Claws: 16
Fighting w/o Claws: 8
Intuition: 16
Fast Healing: 20
Rogue:
HP: 18/18
Agility: 4
Strength: 10
Power Absorption: 10
Storm:
HP: 21/21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 6
Leadership: 6
Nightcrawler:
HP: 21/21
Fighting w/o Claws: 4
Agility: 10
Teleportation: 6

Group Karma Pool: 29

Boon Cards:
1x Wolverine
3x Nightcrawler

[pragma]

Another 1 karma here to double our chance of avoiding the worst case.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to take our chances and not use any Karma for this one.

[SGamerz]

I've determined by randomizer that Karma will not be used for this upcoming roll.

Die roll = 4(+16) = 20.

Well, we got the middle result, but at least that 1 Karma wouldn't have made a difference either way...

134W

You hack viciously at the first line of attacking mini-robots. At least four fall at your feet, done in by your razor-sharp claws. Many more, though, swarm over your head in the direction of your teammates.

As long as those little horrors stay airborne, you realize, it's got to be up to Rogue to deal with them.

For now, though, you can't turn your attention from the spheres foolish enough to fly within your arms' reach.

45R

Your heart is thumping hard as you watch Wolverine tear apart the mechanical volleyballs. Anxious to get in on the action, you fly toward the cluster of metal monsters with your arms outstretched, knocking hard into as many as you can. This ought to scramble their nerves of wirin' or logic circuits or whatever they've got, you think.

You notice that some of the spheres are firing thin blue, laserlike lights. The rays hardly register on your invulnerable body, but below, you hear Nightcrawler cry out in pain. Storm, too, seems to be trying desperately to dodge the blue bolts.

Subtract 1 from both Storm's and Nightcrawler's Health points.

From your vantage point, you can see that not all the spheres are attacking your teammates. Rapidly noting which spheres are firing the blue rays, you readjust your attack. Like a bird of prey, you drop down on the cluster of mechanical spheres.

Make an agility FEAT by rolling one die and adding the result to your Agility ability. If the total is 8 or less, turn to 139. If it is more than 8, turn to 153.

Rogue needs to roll 5 or 6 to get the better result. Please decide whether to use Karma for this test, and also whether to use it to substitute for Nightcrawler's and Storm's HP loss.