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Holding Out For A Hero: An Original Superhero Quest

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Barondoctor said:
Time to start flipping masks. Rotating through a few different faces and voices should throw people off for a while; we could even keep a pocket notebook of which face and voice we use for which contacts.
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The big thing honestly is that they're trying to get into the DSA Powered Database. There's few powers that are magic + anything, never mind magic + strength. If/when they get through to the database our cover will depend on them thinking someone other than business owner, happily married and mother with magic and super strength and durability fits the mold of who they suspect is Vigil more.

Which given that magic can be used to fake super strength isn't impossible. Especially as vigilantes typically are very very unstable.
 
Barondoctor said:
Time to start flipping masks. Rotating through a few different faces and voices should throw people off for a while; we could even keep a pocket notebook of which face and voice we use for which contacts.

At least it'll stick until they find someone who analyzes things like gait patterns and the license plate on our bike. Which reminds me...any way we could just slip a blurriness illusion over the plate so that anybody farther than like 5 feet can't quite tell what the plate number is? It's not strictly illegal to blur our license plate, and having something that 'looks okay at first glance' but blurs characters that might look similar (1, I, and L; 0 and O, etc.) will help us cover our tracks without drawing additional attention. Besides, they're going to be looking at the heavily-armored sword-wielding person on the bike, not the license plate anyway.
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That is something you could definitely do. I could bring it up in the next few updates.
 
So any thoughts on what we did well or could improve on from this last fight?

Taking the time to improve our perception is definitely something I'm considering.

On the other hand shape shifting face mask worked like a champion in keeping us not I.D.ed
 
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2015
  • Threadmarks
    • You are holding the knife and stalking through your house. The blade was about a foot long. It's age has done nothing to dull its serrated edge. You can hear the television in the living room, playing some commercial or another, but you ignore it. You start to approach Adrian, your husband who is cooking some taco meat, oblivious to your presence. You step closer and closer and...

    "Found it! It was in the laundry room for some reason!" You call to Adrian as you place the knife in the dishwasher.

    "Huh, why would the pumpkin carving knife be in the laundry room?" Adrian asks. You shrug "Well, now we just need to get those pumpkins and we should be ready for Halloween"

    "You sure you don't want me to try lighting it up with Magic this year? I think I got it down after last time" You say in a self deprecating manner. Last time you tried, you burnt part of the lawn. Running for your hose is the only reason you didn't lose part of the house.

    "Maybe next year." Adrian says as he adds some spices to the taco meat. The meat is sizzling and your stomach is growling already.

    "Oh, Adrian. Did you forget something?" You ask.

    Adrian thinks for a second, before his eyes widen. "Oh, not this time. I got the costumes. They're under the dining room table. Picked 'em up on the way home"

    "Great." You say. "We'll show Gwen the costumes after dinner. She's gonna love 'em" You say. "Oh, did you get the decorations, too?"

    Adrian's face falls as he realizes that he messed up. "Ah- dang it."

    You giggle. "That's alright. I'll pick them up tomorrow" You say. Halloween is approaching fast. And while your family is going to spend the night before marathoning horror movies at Jasmine's place with a few friends, Halloween night, you're going to go Trick-or-Treating. You've been talking about costumes with Adrian and you're really looking forward to trying them out.

    [] You're dressing as Corporal Steel with Adrian dressing as Sunspot and Gwen as Starhammer
    [] You're dressing as your alter ego, The Vigil with Adrian dressing as Operative and Gwen as Stampede, the robot.
    [] You're dressing as Michael Myers with Adrian as Sherriff Meeker and Gwen as Jamie Lloyd.
    [] You're dressing as Lucy Wilde with Adrian dressing as Gru and Gwen as a Minion
    [] Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] You're dressing as Corporal Steel with Adrian dressing as Sunspot and Gwen as Starhammer

    Agent 99 said:
    [] You're dressing as your alter ego, The Vigil with Adrian dressing as Operative and Gwen as Stampede, the robot.
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    While it could be funny, I am very leery of pretending to be the Vigil when we actually are the Vigil.
     
    [X] You're dressing as Corporal Steel with Adrian dressing as Sunspot and Gwen as Starhammer

    I've seen my Buffy. I know that Halloween episodes tend to be a time when things get weird, and these are probably the best costumes if things get wild. Also, we finally get an opportunity to not be us; we work more on identity security through obscurity rather than some kind of active social deception-based defense. If we were a charisma-monkey, I could see us pulling a "the butts match" or some shenanigans like that, but we're not so we don't.
     
    Looks like we have a winner.

    Also fun fact, if you decided to dress as Michael Myers, I would've ended up (hopefully) reinacting a scene from one of the movies. If someone guesses which scene I was thinking of, I'll give Sonya a one-time use of Luck.
     
    Personal Development
  • Threadmarks
    • You and Jasmine are at your Lair. And you're putting enough work into it to actually call it a proper Lair. You've been cleaning out the mansion, used enough bub bombs to kill every insect in a 5 mile radius to exterminate the pests in there, and Jasmine's even rigged a solar generator for your power needs. It certainly beats buying gas ever since it hit 3.20 a gallon.

    But as for things that are more relevant to you, you've cleared out a space in the basement to put your own forge in. It'll be a good place to repair your armor in a place that isn't where your civilian identity is a lot of the time. You've even invested in some workout equipment. You're still trying to find a way to get weights that are heavy enough for you over here without raising suspicion, but you have a treadmill, some heavy bags (That admittedly you'll need to go easy on), and a few cinderblocks and metal poles. It'll have to be enough until you get some more equipment.

    "So, did you get that projector working again?" You ask Jasmine as you carry some equipment into a larger room. You're lugging a desk and Jasmine is using her new chair to carry some equipment that should help keep people from tracing us.

    "Nah. Had to buy one from my cousin. Still, this one works, and with the screen, we're good to go."

    "Nice. It'll beat crowding around a laptop like last time" You say as you both enter the room. It looks like it used to be a study, but it only has empty bookshelves. Everything worth taking was already removed by the previous occupants.

    "No doubt. I just need to pick out the movies" Jasmine says as she sets down the equipment next to her old desk, a cheap Wal-Mart table that was more suited for beer pong. "I don't wanna watch Friday the 13th again, you know?"

    "Really? Don't you wanna see Jason Takes Manhatten? I hear it takes place in New York." You say with a joking smile.

    "Only if it was about killing every single person in the city" Jasmine says, just as serious. "I don't want to see sewer baby Jason the first time I saw it, and I don't want to see him now" The next few minutes are spent setting up the anti-tracking equipment and bullshitting, talking about what movies you both want to watch on Halloween Eve. It's on a Friday, so you, and especially Gwen, can afford to stay up late. After a pause, Jasmine

    "So, you feeling better? Considering you got stabbed in the chest? I mean, I know you have that healing spell, but-"

    "I'm fine" You say. "Not even a scar. Honestly, between this, and the plasma, I think I'm getting good at consistently not dying."

    "Well, maybe you should take it easy for a little while" Jasmine says. "There was a Vigilante, Richter. He Vigilante down in Crush. He went to a back alley doctor who had healing powers. But he was fighting for 3 days straight during some riots down south. He took a fall and his chest wounds re-opened." Jasmine then makes a motion as if she's unzipping a jacket while making a sound that sounds like something going splat. "It... wasn't pretty"

    "Well... maybe you're right." You were planning on taking a few days to recuperate. Sure, a guy robbing a convenience store wouldn't be much of a threat, but if that guy could breath molten metal, that was another story. And the last Powered man you fought could take your armor apart like it was nothing. You want to make sure you're back at 100% before you get back in the fight.

    As you ponder your next move, the talk of powered healers makes you think about something.

    "Hey, do you think Rasputin was powered?" You ask.

    Savings 2.5
    Pick 3

    [] Buy equipment to make a second forge here.
    - [] (Accounting) Do some creative accounting to cover up the expenses to make them look legitimate. Can get a -3 bonus for taking time.
    [] Spend time practicing your Hapkido. Increases Hapkido skill.
    [] Go to the gym and lift some weights. Increases Strength skill.
    - [] Buy some weights and get them to your Lair. (-.25 Savings)
    [] Start doing some stretches regularly. (Bonus to Dexterity)
    - [] Start going to a yoga studio. (-.10 Savings)
    [] Start researching more magic spells. List of spells will be in a new post if this wins.
    [] Buy some puzzle books to study. (Increases IQ and Perception)
    [] Run on your treadmill to increase your endurance. (Increases CON skill)
    [] Take some online courses in Thaumaturgy. (-.5 Savings)
    [] Create another weapon.
    - [] Write in what weapon you want to make.
    [] Write in.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Run on your treadmill to increase your endurance. (Increases CON skill)
    [X] Buy some puzzle books to study. (Increases IQ and Perception)
    [X] Start researching more magic spells. List of spells will be in a new post if this wins.

    Constitution is always useful and as proven in the last fight, very important as well especially since we are a tank build who can be expected to take damage. With the second choice, we need to get those higher as they are two of our main weak points. Also improving two stats at once is a nice bargain. Lastly, new spells are our best way of increasing our versatility and catching our foes off-guard when we have new tricks up our sleeves.
     
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    [X] Run on your treadmill to increase your endurance. (Increases CON skill)
    [X] Buy some puzzle books to study. (Increases IQ and Perception)
    [X] Start researching more magic spells. List of spells will be in a new post if this wins.

    I like these as well due to how they're low key and we do not want to give more data points to who Vigil is.

    Also I really want better Perception because I'm salty over losing the loot.
     
    [X] Start doing some stretches regularly. (Bonus to Dexterity)
    -[X] Start going to a yoga studio. (-.10 Savings)
    [X] Buy some puzzle books to study. (Increases IQ and Perception)
    [X] Start researching more magic spells. List of spells will be in a new post if this wins.
     
    [X] Run on your treadmill to increase your endurance. (Increases CON skill)
    [X] Buy some puzzle books to study. (Increases IQ and Perception)
    [X] Start researching more magic spells. List of spells will be in a new post if this wins.
     
    Thursday, October 22nd 2015
  • Threadmarks
    • You've cleared your orders, done your grocery shopping, taken Gwen's rabbit to the vet, and repaired your weapons and armor. So now, you have an entire day to yourself. You've set aside a few hours to research a new spell to learn. Whether you're going to the library, looking up spells online, browsing magic user forums, or going to that sketchy book store across town that claims to sell real magic tomes, you're determined to learn something.

    [] Lightning - A direct version of your Thunderbolt spell. On enhanced successes, the lightning can chain from one person to another.
    [] Dragon Tongue - The user launches a gout of flames from their mouth. About as legal as your Fireball spell, which is to say not very.
    [] Bluescreen - Causes electronic devices to deactivate. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could be reversed by rebooting or could even break the machine entirely.
    [] Stone Rain - Breaks up stones/rocks/concrete in a radius in front of you and launches them forward.
    [] Poison Cure- Can be used to heal yourself, or someone else of most known poisons. From cyanide, if cast fast enough to plain food poisoning.
    [] Flashlight - Summons a ball of light that can be directed by the user. After it was developed, it was discovered that it can also be launched by the user as an offensive attack.
    [] Spotter - When cast, the target is covered in a bright red outline that only the user can see. This outline lasts for a minute.
    [] Regeneration - Heals the target, and increases the target's HP by 1 for 2d6 rounds. Very costly to cast when starting out.
    [] Write in (Requires QM's approval)
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Regeneration - Heals the target, and increases the target's HP by 1 for 2d6 rounds. Very costly to cast when starting out.
     
    [X] Regeneration - Heals the target, and increases the target's HP by 1 for 2d6 rounds. Very costly to cast when starting out.
     
    [X] Poison Cure- Can be used to heal yourself, or someone else of most known poisons. From cyanide, if cast fast enough to plain food poisoning.

    Very much something I'd rather have but not need.

    edit:
    [X] Bluescreen - Causes electronic devices to deactivate. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could be reversed by rebooting or could even break the machine entirely.

    Just sneakily throwing this in.
     
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    [X] Bluescreen - Causes electronic devices to deactivate. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could be reversed by rebooting or could even break the machine entirely.
    [X] Poison Cure- Can be used to heal yourself, or someone else of most known poisons. From cyanide, if cast fast enough to plain food poisoning.
    [X] Regeneration - Heals the target, and increases the target's HP by 1 for 2d6 rounds. Very costly to cast when starting out.

    I'm okay with any of these winning.
     
    [X] Bluescreen - Causes electronic devices to deactivate. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could be reversed by rebooting or could even break the machine entirely.

    Hey remember the Tech villain who wants our ass?
     
    [X] Bluescreen - Causes electronic devices to deactivate. Depending on the strength of the spell, it could be reversed by rebooting or could even break the machine entirely.

    It's a totally different tool. We're generally okay on a vertical-power sort of dimension. We need horizontal power. Skill diversity. We have the hammerest hammer that hammered in our strength and toughness. We wore a bunch of metal against a guy who does metal-kinesis and managed to fight him pretty even. We need more screwdrivers, drills, levels, saws, etc. Versatility.

    On the plus side, magic will do this. On the minus side, it can be tricky.
     
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