Holding Out For A Hero: An Original Superhero Quest

Stampede sounds like a jackass. Not sure if she's full-on Shadow Stalker, but the rampant and repeated mass destruction makes it sound like she's just picking 'acceptable targets' and is a nominal hero at best. Gangbuster sounds like he's missing a few screws, and Operative probably has something going on, although I don't really have enough information to make a judgment.
Keep in mind, in order to become a licenced hero, you need to pass a psyche evaluation. Not all of the Vigilantes would be able to pass it.

Useful for a vigilante Mom who's sooner or later going to end up using her powers to defend her family from peril (that's how these things go right?)
...No Comment
 
[X] Kachuusha

Useful for a vigilante Mom who's sooner or later going to end up using her powers to defend her family from peril (that's how these things go right?)

Yep, or just a Mom with a city that has an active criminal population. I actually want to look up what the self defense laws for magic users are when it comes to say home invasion or in a building with an active shooter. Like parent teacher conferences.

Vigilantes are shut down hard by the cops - average civilian with super powers that wasn't looking for it?

I'm all for holding a few spells back for emergency usage only as our knight, or useful/emergency use as a civilian .

Like say a teleportation spell - probably very good in a fight, but try not to as it as it'd be a perfect spell for a civilian caught in the middle of things (and cameras) to help out/evacuate without incriminating herself.
 
A depressing amount of our comrades are just nuts. The whole thing makes the police's hardline stance against Vigilantes a lot more understandable.

I just have the image of our knight motioning the police to stand behind her as one of her... "colleagues" holds up a ticking bomb or something.

We're probably going to be getting the reputation of the "possibly moderately sane" one.
 
Yep, or just a Mom with a city that has an active criminal population. I actually want to look up what the self defense laws for magic users are when it comes to say home invasion or in a building with an active shooter. Like parent teacher conferences.
The laws are a little vague, and the ultimate results can vary depending on which judge hears the case. But the general rules that Sonya would be aware of is that you are given broad leeway is terms of what must be done to defend your home. If you kill someone who's broken into your home with a bolt of lightning, a summoned weapon, or the like, you aren't in any trouble. As long as you aren't sadistic about it, you won't get in any serious trouble.

To use two Bruce Willis characters, John McClaine in the first Die Hard would be questioned and let go. Paul Kersey would be arrested.
Adhoc vote count started by Agent 99 on Jun 27, 2018 at 2:49 PM, finished with 28 posts and 10 votes.

  • [X] Kachuusha
    [X] Gangbuster
    [X] Zihger and Majra
    [x] Meditate and study magical theory. (Increases Mystic Arts)
    [x] Most Vigilantes end up dead, retired, or in jail within 6 months. Try to find information on those who aren't.
    [x] Do research on more spells.
    - [x] Try to look up books on magic.
    [x] Find a place in the city where you can practice your spells.
    [X] Inquisitor
    [X] Whether I'm going to cook dinner when I get home, or am I going to get some fast food.

Adhoc vote count started by Agent 99 on Jun 27, 2018 at 2:50 PM, finished with 14 posts and 9 votes.
 
...
Kachuusha regularly fights with a camera crew following her. And no matter what, they never seem to get hurt on the job. In fact, in all of the videos you've seen, you haven't seen civilian casualties either.

Granted, they may get cut out in the editing room, but, if she's able to fight while still keeping civilians out of the line of fire, maybe you could learn something from her.
………………………………….
Later that evening, you're driving in an older part of Southlake, northwest of where you live in an old Ford sedan. Unlike the crowded section you call home, the buildings are further apart, with the occasional empty lot. But unlike your neck of the woods, it looks like this area is getting better. You occasionally see newer buildings that weren't there before. Newer people move in as the older generation leaves. Occasionally, you see construction sites or older buildings being renovated. The electronic music playing quietly over her radio. Quiet enough to just fade into background noise while you're talking.

"I don't see why you just don't use the mansion to train" Jasmine says.

"Because last time I tried practicing at the mansion, I nearly set the lawn on fire" You answer, thinking about the time you practiced your powers. You still haven't used your fireball spell since then. Though half of the reason is that Lightningbolt seems to be working for you so far.

"You know, if we ever do any actual renovations on that mansion, we could make a place you could use to practice magic. Hell, we could use the guest house in the back. That place is bigger than the house I grew up in." Jasmine gets a glint in her eye. You know that while she's physically here, mentally, she's at the mansion, imagining the possibilities. She's probably picturing something like the hideout that the billionaire superhero in the comics uses. You chuckle at the notion. You and Adrian aren't exactly rolling in spare cash, and the equipment you already have already chipped away at both yours and Jasmine's savings. Plus finding a construction crew that's reliable and discrete.

Still, a girl can dream.

"But back in reality, were you able to find anything?" You ask.

Jasmine smiles widely. "Of course I did." She taps her fingers on the steering wheel before reaching into her pocket. "Anyway, I've come up with a couple of options" Jasmine says as she hands you her phone. On the phone is a map of the area, with two locations already marked. "If you don't mind practicing with other people, there's a place down the street, the Power House. It's a place where people can practice with their powers. Target practice, trainers if you want..."

"And other people coming and going who might see me using the same powers as that new Vigilante" You finish. "And won't they charge for me to go there?"

"Yes" Jasmine answers before she continues. "But as for your powers, there's probably going to be at least a few people with the same, or at least similar powers to you" Jasmine says. "I dated a guy that had lightning powers. And I worked with another guy with them before he got canned for shorting out the computers. But I thought of that too. And if you want some place in the city that's a little more private, there's a place a few miles down." You scroll the screen to see where the location is.

"At the old Eastgate Plaza?" You say. "I remember that place. Old mall that closed in the 70's." You say. It closed before your time, but your dad used to talk about it. How it was the biggest mall in the city, how you could find anything there

"That's right. It's near a highway, but the area around it is surrounded by trees. I mean, you couldn't find the place if you weren't looking for it. It's out of the way so there shouldn't be any other squatters..."

"So we're squatters now?" You say with a chuckle.

"Well... technically we've been squatters for about a week since we've set up in the mansion" Jasmine says with a shrug. "Anyway, it's your call which place you want to train"

[] The Power House
[] The Eastgate Plaza
[] Actually, neither. I'll keep an eye out for some other places.
[] Neither. I'll practice at the mansion.
 
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[X] The Eastgate Plaza
privacy feels like a smarter call to me, frankly. Magic...Strikes me as the sort of skillset that if it gets out we WILL get recruiting pitches/scrutiny from the government...

...Actually part of me wants to put forward the crazy idea that we basically collaberate with other magic users how we do our shield spell and sell it to the government.
 
Strikes me as the sort of skillset that if it gets out we WILL get recruiting pitches/scrutiny from the government...
The government already knows Sonya has magic. It's a relatively rare power, but not too unprecedented

That said, pretty much everyone with powers has gotten some sort of pitch. Not just from the government, but from other private companies. Heroes with combat capable powers are headhunted by the government and private security interests. Heroes with heat generating powers are recruited by power companies, psychics are recruited as psychologists, interrogators, and pretty much anything involving the human mind, and a lot more.

The thing is, since there are a lot of people with your set of powers, and you aren't a particularly strong magic user, you aren't being targeted specifically.

If you become stronger in magic and that strength gets linked to your civilian identity, then you may b e subject to a more active recruiting campaign.

...Actually part of me wants to put forward the crazy idea that we basically collaberate with other magic users how we do our shield spell and sell it to the government.
On one hand, the government has a shield spell that they have their magic trained officials trained in. However, if a group of private citizens managed to develop a better version to the one they have, then you can be damn sure that someone from the government is going to be interested. They may also try to hire you on to a research team.

As for enchanting armor to create the shield spell, unless the armor has a constant source of magic (e.g. is worn by a magic user) then it would get weaker before collapsing, needing to be reapplied. This process, depending on the complexity of the enchantment, it could take from a few seconds to a few days. And even then, their reliability is questionable.

Finding a way around that has been the goal of a lot of concerned groups, both state actors and NGOs for decades.
 
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[X] The Eastgate Plaza
-[X] But check for other occupants before practicing first. At least in the immediate practice zone.

If there are other squatters, we don't want to get caught practicing. Even if they're just down on their luck rather than criminals. Which is another possibility
 
Normally, I'd do a vote tally, but the vote seems pretty unanimous.

Also, I'd like for someone to roll Perception for Sonya. I'll roll it for Jasmine later.
 
Rolling.

Edit:
Nevill threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: I Spy With My Little Eye Total: 87
87 87
 
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Sweep and Clear
You and Jasmine pull up to Eastgate Plaza. It's a large stone brown building, easily a few thousand feet wide and two stories tall. The signs with the names of the stores were taken down a long time ago, the outlines of the names have faded away over 40 years. As you drive up, the doors of whatever department store that was here are boarded up. There are at least eight ways in and out throughout the mall, boarded up just like this exit.

"If you would do the honors. I left my crowbar at home" Jasmine says as she looks at you expectantly.

"On it" You say. With your enhanced strength, you pull the sheets of rotted wood off of the doors easily, revealing broken glass door. While the largest would be large enough for Jasmine to crawl through, there's no way you'd get through. "Hold on..." You say. With a single kick, you kick down the doors. They crash to the ground in a heap of twisted metal and broken glass.

"If you don't mind going first." Jasmine says. She reaches into her pocket and takes out a small, metal cylindrical flashlight. Pressing the button on the back, the flashlight emits a bright blue beam of light.

"Just don't shoot at every shadow you see, and we'll be fine, Calamity Jane." You say. Gingerly, you step through the door. Jasmine shrugs and follows you. As she does, she places the sheet of wood back where it was.

It's impossible to tell for sure what store it was before the plaza was abandoned. Everything is covered in a layer of dust, to the point that you leave footprints occasionally. A central glass countertop/display in front of you may have held jewelry or perfume though that's just a guess. To the left and right, the floor turns to carpet where cloths racks may have been, but you don't see any dressing rooms. In front of you, a pair of escalators, one heading up and one heading down, are frozen, leaving them with the functionality of stairs.

"So, store by store or should we work our way up start at the bottom and work our way up?" Jasmine asks.

"Why the basement?" You ask.

"Well, I'm thinking that if you're hiding something, you'd wanna hide it in the basement" Jasmine says. "I say, we get there first. If things get crazy,

Seeing no reason to argue, you both start the long, long process of painstakingly looking through the mall. You and Jasmine stick together. You give the store a coursery look as you sweep the mall, but Jasmine goes over every inch you go through with a fine toothed comb, more than once, asking you to stop as she checks out something or another that looked off. In one of the stores, that you think may have sold appliances, there's construction equipment. Planks of wood that were brought in, power tools, paint and spackle, which has long since dried up, newspapers that were put on the floor.

"Looks like someone tried to do some remodeling here..." You say.

"Yeah, but it looks like they didn't get very far..." Jasmine says as she shines her light on the wall. "Looks like this entire wall, and some of the floors are newer. Relatively speaking." After it was pointed out to you, you start to notice it as well. THe tiles near where the equipment is slightly newer, or rather, less dust covered than the tiles from where you walked in. Jasmine shines her lights at the paper and slowly walks over.

"What are you doing, Jazz?" You ask. Jasmine bends down and sweeps some dust from the papers and inspects it.

"Checking the date" Jasmine says as she tosses the paper aside and picking up another one. "Aaaand it looks like it was around... 1992 when these guys were here. Or they really like collecting old papers"

"So, they weren't here recently" You say a little relief surging through you.

You both keep going, eventually getting through the plaza itself, and you get a sense of the basic layout of the mall. In the very center of the mall is a rotunda, with an open space that stretched from the basement to the ceiling. Up above, is a massive skylight from which hangs a metal chandelier. Evidently, no one wanted to haul it out of here. The chain supporting it is long enough that the top of the chandelier is below the top floor's floor, and wide enough to take up nearly the entire width of the rotunda. From the rotunda, there are six hallways going each way, lined with shops and occasionally branching off for something like the food court, restrooms, other stores, and offices. The hallways ended at an entrance to one of the department stores. All around the routunda, there's a set of scaffolding. Jasmine thinks that they may have been for painters, painting over the murals that were on the walls separating the basement from the first floor, and the first floor from the second. The tile floor from one of the department stores, leading to the central plaza has been torn up, leaving just the concrete.

You both continue to search Each. and Every. Store. Making sure there's nothing more dangerous than a swarm of rats hiding in the darkness. Eventually, Jasmine turns to you. "So, you said you were working on a new spell this week, right?" Jasmine says.

"Yeah" "I mean, if I'm gonna be have magic, I might as well use it, right?" You say. You think about the spell you've been training on this week. You don't want to bust it out in a real fight yet, but you think you have a good handle on it.

"So, don't keep me in suspense. What was it?" Jasmine asks.

[] "Chain Lightning Bolt. If it hits someone, then I can make the bolt pass through them and hit someone else."
[] "Mage hand" "Hey, didn't DnD steal name?" "You know I'm not into that kind of stuff, Jazz"
[] "Impression. Lets someone change their voice. If they think that I'm a man when I'm in armor, they might not think it's me when I'm outside of it"
[] "Heal. I'm technically skipping a spell tier, but I don't think that healing small cuts would make a difference. " "Well, yeah, you're gonna take some knocks out there.
[] "Reflect. It takes damage and reflects it back to whoever attacked me. I can only keep it up for a second though, so I need to get the timing right"
[] Write in (Must be approved by QM)

As you both continue your long treck through the building, you finally get to the third floor. Besides more equipment abandoned mid renovation, and a few dead rats, you haven't found anything of note. You and Jasmine had been relatively quiet the first two floors. If there was someone, or something here, you don't want to let them know. But now, you've gone through most of the mall. You're starting to relax with the job almost done. As you walk across the third floor, Jasmine turns to you again.

"You know... you feel like you're in a horror movie?" Jasmine asks as she walks forward, walking in a small jewelry store.

"What do you mean?" You ask before thinking about it. Dark place, isolated, lots of creative ways to get killed in here. And since you have enough powers to actually be the killer, you'd be killed first to establish the threat. "I see your point." You conceive. "Though we'd need a lot more people to have a decent kill count." You note.

"We don't need more people" Jasmine says. Now, she's looking behind the counter. "We'd be the opening kills. You know, how the killer always kills one or two randoms before moving on to the main cast?"

You chuckle. "Yeah. Hey, if we're getting meta, maybe we'd be in Scream 9 or whatever they're up to now."

"Well, if Ghostface did show their face around here..." She mimes drawing her pistol and points at a random direction "Bang" She says.

You chuckle as you keep searching. "Hey, maybe Ghostface is wearing a vest. Or maybe you're staring down Jason or something"

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Jasmine playfully jabs you in the shoulder before turning her attention to a kiosk in front of an abandoned storefront.

"That's right, Jason doesn't have shit on me!" You throw a few punches to emphasize the point. As you relax and get ready to continue searching...

"Hey, Sunny" You hear Jasmine say. You turn around and see Jasmine at a kiosk about 30 feet away, shining her flashlight on a gold necklace. It's plain, lacking any adornments. It It's even lost it's shine, though given it may have been here for years.

"I'm guessing the clean up crew left it behind the first time they abandoned this place" Jasmine muses as she looks at the necklace. "Oh well, mine now"

[] "Huh, it's so small, I guess no one noticed it after all this time. Though there aren't that many people around here."
[] "...you think there's more jewelry in there there?"

[] "Who the hell would leave those behind?"
[] "Hey, you think you could let me have it? I mean, when was the last time you wore jewelry?" (Charisma -10)
[] "Put it back! If this really Is a horror movie, then that thing might be cursed or something"​
 
[X] "Reflect. It takes damage and reflects it back to whoever attacked me. I can only keep it up for a second though, so I need to get the timing right"
[X] "Put it back! If this really Is a horror movie, then that thing might be cursed or something"
 
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