Holding Out For A Hero: An Original Superhero Quest

Storyteller said:

[X] Cast Reflect on yourself and then cage the "vigilantes" with barrier

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Agent 99 said:

The men are too spread out to be able to cage them all.

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Best way to draw people's attention is by hitting them; we can't actually cage them and if our focus is making sure our buddy can escape, well...we want to do that.

[X] Throw the Fireball at them, enclosing them with it using a Barrier.
-[X] After that take the Barrier down and use Reflect to deal with any remaining enemies, then stabilise them with healing and call the police, keeping them in a Barrier separated from their weapons until the police arrive to arrest them.

When in doubt, fireball. Sounds right.

[X] Throw the Fireball at them before immediately using Reflect on yourself.

These guys are going to shoot. And while our armor is good, let's not push it.

[X] Throw the Fireball at them before immediately using Reflect on yourself.

Vote Tally


This may bear repeating, but they are far too spread out to encase them all in a barrier. You could encase one person in a barrier after throwing the fireball, however,

Also, you can only summon one barrier at a time right now, just for future reference.

Hit em with the fireball

[X] Throw the Fireball at them before immediately using Reflect on yourself.

Agent 99 said:

Their leader, however, doesn't seem phased, even though you'd have half a foot, and two sets of powers on him. "I don't know who you are, but we have things under control here." He says in a deep, calm voice. "We're just here doing our part to keep our city safe."

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Okay so I just want to mention one thing here - if Mr. 13 failed his knowledge roll here he may not know that Vigil has two powers.

Agent 99 said:

"I mean, look at you, you came out here looking for a fight. I don't know who or what you're working for,

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Especially as he doesn't know that Vigil is a Vigilante (how is something given that Vigil probably did get a little bit of attention with helping putting down Nightmare after the monster electrocuted a lot of people.)

Mr. 13 looks to be arrogant in his confidence. See him thinking that someone is supplying Vigil, that there is a bigger group behind them... And still thinking that in the US of A, in Texas that Vigil doesn't have a way of dealing with guns. Especially given that Mr. 13 is here versus at the big fire fight going on elsewhere.

Mr. 13 goes after individuals that can't protect themselves. He went after the immigrant who did not speak English. Who could not call for police easily. Not for any of the numerous gangs or criminal organizations that move through the city. And his reaction to seeing someone that is threatening to set him and his NeoNazi's on fire - is to calmly inform them that steel armor can't hold up to rifle fire. When the armor actually isn't steel. I know what stainless steel looks like. I've seen kitchen knives. We've been told that the metal that Sonya uses looks different from her original steel armor.

The fact that Vigil has armor that isn't plain steel should be apparent. And uh, magic is very good tool for bringing out rabbits and other random assortments out of hats. If he thinks that Vigil has fire powers instead... you still have someone that can control fire. (And that has problems if you have ammo on you. A round going off due to sheer heat is called cooking off. There have been big disasters due to ships having fires where the ammo was stored for very apparent reasons.)

• Gunpowder ignites at 801–867 °F.

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Source: Ammo In The Car Under Summer Heat: How Stable Is It? – Concealed Nation

Which is uh... let me put it this way. If a fire is visible at all it's 900°F minimum. And it only gets hotter.

• Dark red (first visible glow): 500 to 600 °C (900 to 1,100°F)
• Dull red: 600 to 800 °C (1,100 to 1,650 °F)
• Bright cherry red: 800 to 1,000 °C (1,650 to 1,800°F)
• Orange: 1,000 to 1,200 °C (1,800 to 2,100 °F)
• Bright yellow: 1,200 to 1,400 °C (2,100 to 2,500°F)
• White: 1,400 to 1,600 °C (2,500 to 2,900°F)

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Source: What Are the Colors of a Fire & How Hot Are They?

I said it before but the guy is arrogant.

You're right about him not knowing who Vigil is.

As for Vigil's armor looking different than steel, you're right, but 13 doesn't know that. He just sees metal armor. And he's betting on A. Their ammo being able to pernitrate that armor, B. You not being willing to risk your life for an illegal, Besides, who would? Certainly not Mr. 13. and C. the number of his guys, because he's sure that at least one of them can get a good shot in. Which, to be fair, is possible depending on the rolls and D, you not having anything else up your sleeve in terms of defense.

You're also right about him being arrogant, which is also contributing to him thinking he can intimidate you.

And I just would like to say, I love it when my readers do research like this.

[X] Throw the Fireball at them before immediately using Reflect on yourself.
-[X] "You're right, it is time to clear the riff-raff out of this city. Why don't we start with you and your thugs?"

Agent 99 said:

And I just would like to say, I love it when my readers do research like this.

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Thank you.

Under further research the ammo if in small bunches and without something to become accidental shrapnel (so not the ships' blackpowder room) it apparently is not going fast enough/concentrated enough for the explosions to be that deadly. Because it will be the casing and not the bullet that moves. But still ruins the ammo because of that. Also still loud.

When not loaded into a gun that is. Because then what happens is that the gun will essentially fire because the trigger is not needed to ignite the gunpowder because the heat will do it by itself.

Notably however that would not trigger a new bullet being cycled into the chamber in the case of an automatic or semi automatic weapon.

Though someone holding the weapon would possibly have more important problems to worry about. Ammo is not to be stored in metal containers because of the ability for shrapnel to happen given sufficient heat. That is why wooden ammo containers are proper storage - because if a fire happens the wood will burn first.

Now I was not able to find anything detailing what would occur to the loaded magazine of a weapon in a fire. The concern is always the chambered round. So toss up between the contained explosions merely ruining the weapon, just making the bullets useless, or being sufficiently damaging to actually cause harm to the individuals closest to magazines. (Apparently it depends on the structure of the loading as surrounding space is what makes the difference between loud pops as in open air and small bombs with the magazine/gun to use as shrapnel. Think the difference between a small fire cracker going off in an open hand with burns and a closed fist that would blow fingers off)

[X] Throw the Fireball at them, enclosing them with it using a Barrier.
-[X] After that take the Barrier down and use Reflect to deal with any remaining enemies, then stabilise them with healing and call the police, keeping them in a Barrier separated from their weapons until the police arrive to arrest them.

At any rate, fireballs and guns are generally not a great mix, though we probably want to be careful of where they're pointed.

I have to wonder how well the... tension towards powered individuals pairs with racism/being anti LGBT. And how that is pairing with Mr. 13's behavior. I don't see Sonya displaying super strength/durability anywhere in Vigil stepping into view. So Mr. 13 is thinking magic user/fire powered person with armor. Which given the general behavior I can fully see Mr. 13 dismissing magic/elemental power as unimportant.

Insert me going on and on about how a metal suit of armor is a weapon in and of itself as well as a defense here because even without her super strength Sonya in melee is a problem. Swords are really really good at killing unarmored people.

But given his focus upon military hardware, I can see Mr. 13 discounting the very different type of technology that Sonya is using.

Storyteller said:

I have to wonder how well the... tension towards powered individuals pairs with racism/being anti LGBT.

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It's similar, but not quite the same. People who are anti-powered have an overlap with racists and anti lgbt, but it isn't 1-th-1. It helps that people who are powered can hit above their weight class in ways that non powered minorities can, even without combat experience. That said, some of the reasons people are anti-powered are similar to why people are racist.

Powered people are considered dangerous and more prone to violence than their unpowered counterparts. They justify this because most powers have a combat use and the most prominent powered people use them for combat (Heroes and Villains). That doesn't mean that people with powers are more or less violent than people without them. They're just the most visible.

Anyway, time for a vote tally

Well, looks like we have a winner. Bad news, like I said earlier, they're too spread out to target them all at once. So, here's a list of possible targets, from closest to furthest away

[] Goon with an assault rifle
[] Mr. 13
[] Thug with a shotgun
[] Muscle with the pistol.
[] Brute with an assault rifle sneaking towards you
[] Roughneck with a long rifle in the distance.

[X] Roughneck with a long rifle in the distance.

Barrier as an alternative defense means we mostly want their attention on us. By going past everyone else we get their attention because nothing screams danger like fireball.

[X] Roughneck with a long rifle in the distance.

[X] Mr. 13

This seems most likely to get their attention.

[X] Mr. 13

Look if we are able to cook of anyone's ammunition he's the one I want to be forced to go into melee range with us.

Looks like we have a tie so far. I'll keep voting open for another day so other people can vote if they want to

[X] Roughneck with a long rifle in the distance.

Alright, looks like we have a winner. Time for some dice rolls.

First, I need a roll for Fireball, next, a roll for the barrier to trap the guy inside.

Rolling. I assume that they are both Mystic Arts rolls.

Edit: I am going to be salty about that stupid decision to improve our Brawl skill for free instead of our Mystic Arts because we have barely done any Brawl rolls while we have failed multiple Mystic Art rolls by 1.

Agent 99 said:

Alright, looks like we have a winner. Time for some dice rolls.

First, I need a roll for Fireball, next, a roll for the barrier to trap the guy inside.

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Wait a second - which vote won?

The top two votes had the same number while Barondoctor's vote acted as essentially an extension of the fireball reflect plan

Note Barondoctor's vote on the bottom is the same as the Fireball - Reflect vote but with dialogue.