Episode 17 : Toys Gone Wild!

The Immortals have been recuperating from the tough battle against the Burning Man, and the strange foe who leaped from mind to mind controlling them. Reports from the BoP suggest that all of the prisoners were later transferred successfully except Tusk who appears to have escaped into the forests of North Carolina.
Marduk took to opportunity to lend a hand in the search and rescue of mountain climbers in Oregon.
Gypsy disappeared, claiming she needed to retrieve some goods she inherited from her aunt.
C4 spent some time building himself a lab to experiment on his strange new body.
Hephaestus moved his stuff into the Academy and took over the lab vacated by Steel Dragon.
Jack Flash volunteered at the Teach School in Bath, and other elementary schools in the county encouraging health and fitness among young people. The press, normally a bit sensationalistic about the Immortals (and all Supers), have begun to accept them and treat them as a fixture in Franklin.

The Immortals reprieve was interrupted by a late breaking story, the grand opening of the new big box toy and electronic store "Toys or Else!" was marred by some kind of violence that begun shortly into a contest to win a PS3. Police cordoned off the scene, and when the Immortals (minus Marduk and Gypsy) arrived, they found out that the toys and electronics inside the store seemed to come alive, all this despite the police cutting power to the store. Inside two dozen people were held hostage, or otherwise unable to escape. The police attempted to send in an APC but it was stopped in its tracks 50ft from the door.
The Immortals appraoched and found themselves assaulted by the noise and flashing lights of every speaker, every monitor, every television screaming and flashing. They regrouped and gathered the some goggles and ear plugs to entered the building. Quickly they worked to rescue the group of staff and children.
The team faced animated toys: robot bears, miniature robotic soldiers, and a snake comprised of coaxial cables. They were able to deal with them fairly well, although Hephaestus struggled with the snake. Meanwhile Jack Flash took care of the noise and discovered what appears to be a robot comprised of dozens of machines and parts smashed together.
The giant robot rose and joined the fight launching blasts of electricity, and trying to take over the systems of the Hephaestus armor. Soon it was just the team versus the villain which they learned was really some supervillain encased in a ramshackle armor. But, this did not last long as the villain gained control of the Hephaestus armor and set it to attack C4. Now two on two, the fight looked more grim.
Thompson struggled to deal with this uninvited take-over and eventually abandoned the suit cutting its power. As he did he noticed a thin fibre-optic wire connecting his leg to the suit. Meanwhile C4 and Jack Flash set about fighting the armored foe. Using a combination of attacks, they were able to get it to stagger back into the building and reform its ablative armor. C4 used that opportunity to send tendrils deep into the ramshackle armor and touch the flesh of the teen villain inside. Then feeling flesh he exploded his finger tips knocking out and disabling the foe. The armor fell apart like so much junk, the power was cut to the rest of the store, and inside the pile of junk was the dying body of the young teen. Jack quickly stabilized the boy and summoned the paramedics. The team surveyed the damaged store. In one corner near where Jack first encountered the armor, they spied some graffiti blasted into the cinder-block walls: "Deus X."
Reports from store manager say the teen, one Donnie Morris a champion video game player, was angry at being disqualified from the contest to win the PS3 because only his console seemed to work properly during the trials. Morris was reported as being in stable condition at the Blackstone Infirmary, but still unconscious at the latest word.
Good teamwork, good roleplaying. 1 pp each.

Episode 16 : Friendly Fire

The team gets a brief reprieve from worrying over the Torrent/Tiamat situation to watch the comedy stylings of C4 at the HaHa Hut, a local comedy club. He is a big hit, and playing off his superhero powers, he lets them laugh at their problems.
Their reprieve is short lived however, as they are invited to supervise the transfer of half a dozen super-powered prisoners to Blackstone Isle from St. Agnes Hospital. They arrived and learned the identities of the transferees:

1. The Herald
2. Tusk
3. Beau Rubino
4. Impact
5. Burning Man
6. Bull Demon

Half of these were sedated for their journeys, Gypsy was able to confirm this using her telepathy. The agents seems nervous but confident. The journey never even begun. Just as the prisoners were loaded on to their specially made vehicles, one of the BoP agents fell unconscious. Then the truck holding the alleged sedated Tusk burst open, his namesake tusks ripping through the steel walls of his mobile prison. The Immortals leaped on the villains and in moments had him prone and unconscious, or so they thought. For somehow, the mind of Marduk was pulled into Tusk's body, he was returned to consciousness and tried to explain his situation. Meanwhile, 'Marduk' used this opportunity to free "Burning Man"in seconds the entire area was a major conflagration, flames reached high into the night. The Immortals spent the next few moments rescuing the various agents, drivers and villains trapped in the flames, as the Burning Man began to move away from the scene slowly. Marduk eventually recovered his body, only to find himself ablaze. Only the armored Hephaestus could spot the man on his radar, the rest of the team relied on cunning and sheer luck. Together they managed to rescue all of the agents and villains, and bring the Burning Man down. He was eventually KO'd but still ablaze.
Unsure how to proceed, Hephaestus grabbed the body of the Burning Man, and with C4 helping keep him wet (C4 had stored up a vast quantity of water earlier), they traveled for the bay. Sadly, the heat was too much C4 who dropped off and parachuted to safety, and even for the Invincible Armored Hephaestus who was close to passing out. Then a small icon appeared on the suits HUD and offered him the chance to Override Control Mechanism, not knowing exactly what he was doing, he found himself being offered several options before passing out, he instructed his suit to ditch in the bay with its passengers. Then he passed out.
For miles away the mushroom cloud of steam could be seen erupting from the shored of Blount Bay. When Jack Flash showed up, he was in sea of steamy fog unable to spot the burning man, but seeing Hephaestus, or at least the Warden armor standing upright and rigid, inside William was unconscious, but alive.
A few moments later the sea disgorged the still steaming Burning Man, and a cell of water soon surrounded him. This was confirmed to be the work of Torrent who had apparently rescued the Burning Man. She offered her help again, if their needs intersected with her territory, but she made no apologies and offered no explanations. She parted without a word.
Good Team Work.
Retroactive Hero Point for C4 (for roleplaying the comedy club, and water idea).
Retroactive Hero Point for Jack Flash (for being denied the chance to multi-stabilize (see below)
Every one received 1PP.

New Damage Roll Rule

I am contemplating a new damage roll rule. Instead of the somewhat complex system of math on your end,

Ranks + 5 + Die Roll

I am considering altering it on my end. So your roll will simply be:

Ranks + Die Roll

I will then calculate the saving throw for the victim of your attack myself. So you if your total is Rank 10 + Roll 10 = 20
If they get a save of 25 or better, they are unaffected.
If they get a save of 21-24, they are bruised.
If they get a save of 16-20, they are stunned.
If they get a save of 11-15, they are staggered and stunned.
If they get a save below 10, they are KO'd.

The numbers work out the same. But this might make it easier for you to not need to worry so much about the math during the heat of combat (you would still need to calculate power attacks and critical hits).
I don't think the math totals are different, just the means of calculation. Let me know if you would rather do the rolling.

This change should have no effect on character utility.

Episode 15: Slippery When Wet

Sailors aboard the USS North Carolina on its shakedown cruise encounter Torrent and a giant octopus deep in the Event Rift trying to investigate the silence from a scientific research platform there. The Seals are picked off in the water, then the mini-sub (ASDV), finally the CO of the NOrth Carolina tried to distract the octopus with the submarine. He succeeded, only too well. The Kraken turned on the Submarine, covered its jet intakes and brought the sub down.
The scene fades as the sub sinks deeper into the rift.

The Immortals are met by agents Warren and O'Neil of Homeland Security about Torrent. The feds offer the Immortals an opportunity to bring in their former member on their own, after that the Feds will do it their way (with extreme prejudice).
The team heads out on the Queen Anne's Grace (Ormand's yacht) and is met out in the bay by Torrent and Tiamat (riding a shark). The two supers explain that a Kraken attacked the submarine, and that they had befriended the crew of the science station. They threatened to defend themselves if necessary. The Immortals try to convince their wayward friends to come in, but they counter that there is nothing but incarceration waiting for them on land. The debates ends with a sense of hostility and the two groups part.
The Immortals discuss the situation and realize that they needed to check on the science crew, since they might not be there of their free wills. So they got a mini-sub from the Coast Guard and headed down. They were met half way by Tiamat in reptile form and she disabled the sub. They proceeded anyway and when they got to the Platform there was a fight.
Tiamat has appeared to come into her own with her powers and demonstrated considerable power. She fought Marduk and Gypsy while Jack Flash and C4 infiltrated the sea base. Gypsy used her illusion powers to make the base appear to spring a leak and this distracted Tiamat as she summoned a monstrous Kraken to hold the base together. Marduk was faced with an opportunity to attack her, but held back afraid he might kill her in her human form.
Tiamat was able to turn the tables and making a series of attacks in Reptile and Dragon form she defeated Marduk.
Meanwhile on the base, C4 and Jack Flash met a strange half octopus woman and though unable to speak, using a white board she communicated her loyalty to Tiamat and general despair about returning to the surface.
Tiamat offered the group a chance to leave with Marduk, and grudgingly they took it. She told them not to return.
1 PP Experience Award