Along those lines, we’ve been hitting the school / academy thing pretty heavily. That’s not by any means inappropriate, but it also means that, aside from the fill-in-the-blanks about “when we first met,” we’ve not done any on-screen OUR SUPER TEAM VS. BAD GUYS scene.
Which, honestly, the Super-Hero wing of the museum seems like it would be perfect for.
Possible villains for such a scenario:
).Replying on my phone because wifi is wonky today, so short response.
When you talk about checking in and engagement, I think of PTA A plot, B plot mechanic. For me last week I felt like I had already gotten my turn at the A plot and wanted others to be able to get the spotlight. Also some evenings I just don’t have A plot energy. So maybe starting the game with, I’m thinking this field trip is an A plot for Kiln and Joe. What do you think?
Piping in on the not wanting to interrupt, I’m having trouble finding a good time to do my memory roll. Maybe doing it the end of the session and having it as a teaser for the next week.
Also, we need a hangout. Don’t want campus to feel like COVID quarantine.
More later.
Another villainous idea, albeit with a bit more prep, would be a villain group counterpart – the “Hellions” to our “Young Mutants,” if you will: a group of teen villains who will be long-term rivals for us. They could be from a corresponding evil “academy,” or some of the “bad kids” from our school, or maybe not-so-good kids from another super-school, or even just the equivalent of a metahuman street gang in Halcyon terms. And, of course, there’s an opportunity for synergies, evil counterparts, misunderstood rivals, vicious rivalries, forbidden relationships, and all that jazz.
Not something to come up with on the fly, but it’s a classic trope cluster.
(And, just for fun, all of TV Tropes’ school tropes.)
Oh, interesting. I wonder what everyone’s evil opposite would be? Might be an interesting exercise to grab another player’s character and throw their tropes on their head.
Unfortunately, I would break my own rules laid out by picking two (but only because it makes things more interesting).
The Nega-Twins come from another timeline that, thanks to a battle between Doctor Infinity and the Chrono-Detective, no longer exist. Out of sync with this timeline, the Nega-Twins each have a disruptive touch that disorients and causes pain to anyone from this timeline and grows stronger the closer the two are to one another. While they tried working with scientists and doctors from this timeline to help them deal with their issues, the constant pain and isolation it causes them has driven them into a nihilistic rage. (Evil opposites of Mette and Kiln, coming from a different time and place but with inherent problems that make integration much more difficult.)
Those were the two most difficult to “imitate” without being obvious. So good call.
Going beyond that, the adversary team would undoubtedly have a bitter, lizardlike Transformed (the Behemoth); a prideful Beacon (the Ronin), and a snarky hacker (Kaos, played by Wil Wheaton).
Was kind of what I was shooting for, yeah.
(If I can be honest, I had to kick that can down the road a bit, because I’m an idiot and totally forgot Mike was booked. Kind of dumb to have designed a team-making thing when the whole team isn’t there. If you listen to the recording, you can actually hear me thinking “you damned idiot” while I’m realizing/remembering Mike’s working. It’s pretty classic.)
Which is just as well, since you guys came up with better ideas anyway.
So coincidentally, someone posted a thread on Reddit about some subject matter that aligns with what’s been discussed on this thread. Not a bad read with some good reasoning and some interesting anecdotes.
Good article, and it aligns with some stuff I have observed is important (albeit not always in a do-as-I-do way).
Greetings Sync,
In theory, ditching the field trip AND school with a fake illness is both awesome and hilarious.
In practice, it’s kind of boring having nothing going on when everyone else is in school. Your mind starts to wander while you check news feeds, twitter, super-instas, and all the little threads of information that let you make a mental picture of Halcyon.
Today’s mental picture is a big flashing DANGER alert.
Someone’s going to attack the museum. Iconoclast? Architects of Evil? Ilijah Intrepid? Maybe all of 'em? Not good.
No one’s answering messages, texts are failing to deliver. Not good. Time to move.
Do you make it in the nick of time, or seconds too late? Roll +Freak.
Love,
Editorial
I want that middle one so badly.
As a prep note, the non-team classmates who are on the trip:
Chris is there too I think.
Yeah, she was originally on the list of not-going, but got incorporated into the action.
In case this doesn’t happen before the game (since this was said a few days ago which is weeks in quarantine time) I’ll give the heads up that I’m pretty low energy tonight so I’m not up to heavy stuff for me. But looking forward to game.
Hell, holy frickin’ heck.
Which would have guided some of the snap tropes I came up with. So I was going to go back to my post on what motivates me/Joe, only to find that James inadvertently deleted it. So hopefully that will come back soon. 
I think that’s a great way to frame it.
I agree that doing it at the end of session thing makes sense, since it’s kind of a meta thing.
I think that fits neatly into the “we need a team feel” thing. Whether that’s an abandoned room at the campus we snag, or something out in the city (something cheap and informal and probably of dubious trespass law issues), can be discussed.
Picky picky. It’s back btw.
I agree. I think this is generally what has been done, either by habit or on purpose, but it’s good to keep in mind.
This can go along with the “How is everyone feeling. Energy levels?” Getting into that habit.
Love the idea of it being a teaser. Kinda an end credit snipit.
{chants} Dubious! Dubious! Dubious!
So, Dark Joey …
He knows his origin. He was clearly altered to become a weapon – against his will. He hates it. It took his life from him. It hurts. But there’s nothing he can do about it, so all he can do is lash out, break things, break people.
He cares for nothing but for what makes him feel better. He cares for no one but for those who respect his power. It’s a bitter life, but it’s the only one he thinks he has.
He’s the Behemoth. He’s a human dinosaur for hire – or psychological manipulation.
