SCUverse Game 4: Gloomweaver in Rook City

EXT. NIGHT - ROOK CITY SLUMS

ABSOLUTE ZERO (voiceover):  "I suppose arriving in your helicopter would have been out of the question?"

WRAITH:  "It's in use.  Besides, we're trying NOT to draw attention to ourselves here."

Camera shifts to consider a quintet of figures that are attempting to lounge nonchalantly in the alley behind an obviously disreputable gin-joint.  LEGACY is almost instantly recognizeable for his distinctive square jaw and chiseled musculature, despite wearing shabby street clothes over his trademark uniform and a ridiculous pair of sunglasses over half his face; attempts to conceal his legendary charisma have been earnest but clearly rather doomed.  TYLER VANCE is not much less imposing in plainclothes, and AZ is wearing the floor-length parka of a street person, but the faint blue glow from his faceplate is only concentrated eerily within the projecting fur hood which tries to conceal his armor.  With Wraith in her usual costume and lurking in the shadows, TACHYON is the only member of the team who actually passes for a local resident in her tank top and jogging pants, and thus is positioned the most prominently, acting as lookout.

TYLER VANCE:  "Given what we've seen of this town of yours, Maia, I don't doubt that people here are desperate enough to believe - and do - just about anything.  But still, what you described about this cult seems outright crazy.  They really believe this god of theirs can raise the dead?  And they're willing to kill based on that belief?"

WRAITH:  "The RCPD, those of them who are even still trying to do their jobs, say the killings are isolated incidents, crimes of passion.  But the source I talked to in the local occult underground believes there's a pattern.  The movers and shakers are said to have started out in New Orleans and Florida, mixed up with Haitian voudoun extremists, but found something even more out-there to believe in, something to do with Mayan blood sacrifices and Egyptian tomb relics...I don't fully understand it myself.  But before he managed to kill himself, the mook I cornered babbled something about a 'nightmare walker', an apocalyptically prophetic dream that all the initiates supposedly have, where doom and gloom fall across the whole world like a blanket, and death and life are transposed in an eternal hellscape.  Obviously, it's insane, but I believe that they believe it, and that this belief makes them extremely dangerous."

LEGACY:  "Belief is always what impels people to achieve their best...or worst.  I should know, I've spent my whole life trying to set an example for others to follow...it's tragic to know that there are others out there who are bound and determined to do the exact opposite.  I just hope your source is right about this being one of their gathering places."

WRAITH:  "Tony's never let me down so far.  He says he heard them shaking their death-rattles and sharpening their knives in the basement of this dive exactly one week ago, and fanatics are nothing if not creatures of habit.  Even as crappy as our disguises are, they'll be here."

TACHYON (enunciating extremely slowly and carefully):  "Speakofthedevil, lookaliveguysherecomestrouble...."

TYLER begins opening the large suitcase he was leaning on, extracting pieces of armor and strapping them on, allowing their servos to activate and finish assembling themselves into the BUNKER suit.  From the back door of the club, five gaunt and pallid figures shamble into view, the rearmost two carrying a comparably massive cylindrical object between them.  Dressed normally, they appear like a shuffling crew of slack-jawed locals at first - only when they come close does Tachyon's nose twitch and her face twist into a grimace, as the camera focuses on the leading figure's jaundiced, unblinking eye, and the several flies that swirl about it.....

Round One

Gloomweaver - Not a Target

In Play:  Zombie Servant x5

Trash: 

--------------------------------------------------------

Start of Turn: 

Play a Card: Drum of Despair.

End of Turn: Zombie attack!  6 damage to Legacy, 3 damage to Absolute Zero, 3 damage to Bunker, 3 damage to Tachyon.

-------------------------------------------------------

In Play: Zombie Servant [2], Zombie Servant [2], Zombie Servant [2], Zombie Servant [2], Zombie Servant [2], Drum of Despair [25]

Trash:

Effects: AEOVT, each Zombie deals 3 melee damage to the highest-HP non-villain target.  ASOVT, Drum of Despair deals each hero 4 infernal damage unless they destroy a card in play or discard 2 cards from their hand.

Hero HP (order to be adjusted):  Legacy 26, Wraith 26, AZ 26, Bunker 25, Tachyon 24.

Bunker starting draw: external combustion x2, gattling gun, turret mode, upgrade mode, omni cannon

Hand: external combustion x2, upgrade mode, omni-cannon

Bottom of deck: turret mode and gattling gun

Hand: external combustion x2, upgrade mode and omni cannon

HP: 25

Edit: Thanks to Ironic I corrected my previous discarding.

I was kind of planning on just killing off all the zombies with an external combustion on my turn…

Thanks for the drum reminder.

Also, does initialize allow me to draw two and put one on the bottom of my deck?

Also we have to stop posting at the same time 

Draw starting hand: [Take Down, Surge Of Strength, Heroic Interception, Next Evolution, Motivational Charge, Superhuman Durability] - I'll send Surge of Strength and Superhuman Durability to the bottom (Take Down is a hinderance most of the time in this game, but there just might be a turn when we need to buy a little time to avoid being overwhelmed, and better safe than sorry).

And Odin, I don't think we discard until the start of the Villain Turn, by which point you'll have played a card and drawn one, so it'll be something of a different situation.

Regarding those Combustions: do you want to play one and drop all the zombies at one go? Presuming so, that means I would do something else instead of using Next Evolution to tank them all as I had planned.

Yeah, I'm not up on my forum game protocol, sorry I jumped the gun.  Edited.

AZ's starting hand, as determined by spreadsheet (not in a position to grab the physical deck right this minute): Isothermic Transducer x 2, NPCU, Sub-Zero Atmosphere x 2, Cryo Chamber. Put one of each duplicate at the bottom and keep the rest. I'll rig a physical deck at the earliest opportunity, but that might not be for a bit yet.

Odin & Ironic, in previous games we've let people post turns for round 1 as soon as all the starting hands have been posted. After that, order remains fixed for the duration of the game. And yes, Bunker's Initialize power does the same "draw 2, discard 1" as ordinary end-of-turn draws. I don't recall if there's a ruling about how Wraith's Trust Fund or Tachyon's Research Grant work, but they're the only ones that have that structure here.

Good to know, jff.

...is it cheaty to observe that ideally Odin should wait until after AZ's had a play to deall all that fire damage?

I believe the agreement on "Trust Fund" was that the player would do 4x (draw 2, bottom of deck 1) and then discard two of the four "kept" cards.

Yes it does…any normal "draw" effect (except for drawing four at the start of the game) gains the benefit of the de-randomization rule, as does any "play" of villain or environment cards from the top of the deck.  (I'm debating whether automatically playing a card from the top of a hero deck, as with Atlantean Font of Power, Incapacitated Set, or eventually Setback's main power should qualify as well…other similar effects such as Timeshift and DDA, which involve any degree of choice on the hero's part, definitely do not.)  Anything which lets you gain cards in some fashion other than the word "draw" is not affected by this rule.

You perform each draw individually as a take-two-keep-one, then you perform all required discards as normal.  So in performing Trust Fund on an empty hand, you don't get to see eight cards and reject six of them; instead you bottom one from two, repeat three times, and then discard two of the four you kept.  Research Grant is the same principle: pick one of two, then pick one of two, then put the picks in your hand, then discard any card in your hand.

Since ExCom doesn't hit any hero targets other than Bunker, it hardly matters.  (But if we had redirection in this game, then yeah, that would be a little cheaty.  I kind of share Envisioner's belief that it's slightly "off" for the players to have perfect knowledge of each other's abilities; there's no Martian Manhunter to give the team perfect instantaneous awareness of each other's thoughts, so the only real reason not to have starting hands kept secret and handled through PMs, enforcing the need for players to actually say things about their "battle plans" rather than just knowing what each other have access to, is that it'd be too damn much work for me to put up with.)

The Wraith draws Grappling Hook x2, Utility Belt, Throwing Knives, Trust Fund, Mega Computer. Bottom Grappling Hook then Mega Computer

On a completely unrelated, and totally awesome, sidenote, IR/RC arrived today. I can't wait to try out the new heros and play the villians. I've fought a couple before, mostly on G+ but I did also beat Matriarch with you guys.

Wow, bottoming two anti-Environment cards in the deadliest Environment in the game?  Confidence!

(To be fair, it's still only Gloomweaver.)

Tachy-bot draws Accelerated Assault, Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed, bottoms Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response.

America's Finest

LEGACY


The Drum of Despair beats loudly, and there is no "Danger Sense Sound" as zombies pile on Legacy, dragging him to the ground.

Start: Ohgodsomanyzombies.

Play: Next Evolution

Power: Next Evolution: Immunity to Infernal Damage.

Draw: [Next Evolution/LeadFromTheFront] - Yessssssssssss… I’ll deck Next Evolution.

End: Grit my teeth and prepare for the heroic reversal.

--------------------------------

HP: 26

In Play: Next Evolution

Hand: Take Down, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Lead From The Front

Trash: Empty

Notes: Unless people have really garbage hands, taking the 4 damage is probably a good call - I've got a Heroic Interception coming AND the ultatank combo ready to roll, so we’ll have some edge as we get set up.

Tachyon

HP: 24

In Play:

Hand: Accelerated Assault, Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed

Deck: 34x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response

Trash: 

--------------------------------

Start:

Play: Fleet of Foot - DRAW! Tachy draws Quick Insight and Accelerated Assault, decks Accelerated Assault.

Quick Insight - draw Sucker Punch and Hypersonic Assault, deck Sucker Punch, draw Fleet of Foot and Nimble Strike, deck Nimble Strike, draw Hypersonic Assault, Supersonic Response, deck Hypersonic Assault, discard Blinding Speed, Supersonic Response.

Power: Rapid Recon reveals and replaces Research Grant.

Draw: Research Grant and Sonic Vortex, deck Sonic Vortex.

End:

--------------------------------

HP: 24

In Play:

Hand: Accelerated Assault, Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Hypersonic Assault, Research Grant

Deck: 24x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex

Trash: Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Bilnding Speed, Supersonic Response [4]

EVERYBODY DRAW!

Legacy gets Surge of Strength and Bolster Allies, and decks Surge of Strength.

Hand: Take Down, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Lead From The Front, Bolster Allies

Draw infrared eyepiece and micro targeting computer, deck micro targeting computer from fleet of foot.

Play infrared eyepiece

Power infrared eyepiece: look at top 2 cards and draw mega computer and infrared eyepiece. Deck infrared eyepiece

Draw suture self and grappling hook, deck suture self

Was going to play trust fund but IE was better

IREP reveals Pouch of Bones and Strength of the Grave.  One way or another the zombies will be happy next turn (briefly, until they notice that they've been gnawing on Legacy's head for five minutes and still don't taste any brains).

I hate ruining this suit so early...

Draw adhesive foam grenade and deck upgrade mode.

Bunker

HP: 25

In Play: nothing

Hand: external combustion x2, adhesive foam grenade, omni cannon,upgrade mode

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode and ???

Trash: nothing

--------------------------------

Start: nothing

Play: External Combustion (each of the zombies dies (can zombies die?) and the drum of despair [22], Bunker [23]

Power: Initialize to draw recharge mode and deck recharge mode

Draw: Draw Flak cannon and deck flak cannon (seriously? what is with this shuffling?)

End: nothing

--------------------------------

HP: 23

In Play: nothing

Hand: external combustion, adhesive foam grenade, omni cannon,upgrade mode, recharge mode, flac cannon

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode, flak cannon and ???

Trash: External Combustion

Notes: Sorry to post this before Humble-knight responds but I won't be able to make a turn for about a day. Also what zombies? All I see are burnt corpses that aren't moving.

I’m not going to be able to make the decision until I get home anyway because I don’t know what either does. That said it shouldn’t affect AZ’s turn so he can go.
Also when I pick the card does the draw rule still apply and my power is mostly moot? I remember that it was talked about but don’t remember what the decision was

EDIT: I remember that the pouch is a relic that we need to kill to win but I’m not sure if we want to have 2 out to keep him from flipping. The way the deck plays it shouldn’t be too long til it comes out even if I do bury it. So what do you guys think

I strongly recommend sending the relic away.  We don't have the damage to be dealing those yet - best to hold them off until Absolute Zero, Bunker, and Tachyon have their combos in order.

Sounds good to me. Bury the Pouch

"I do not like green drums that bang. Let's destroy it, Freedom Gang."  His horrible doggerel out of the way, Ryan Frost tapped a panel on his suit and launched a small burst of ice at the drum. When it failed to freeze as spectacularly as he planned for, some degree of moderate profanity ensued.

Absolute Zero

HP: 26

In Play: nothing

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Cryo Chamber, Onboard Module Installation

Deck: 32x?, Isothermic Transducer, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Null-Point Calibration Unit

Trash:

----

Start: Nothing

Play: Onboard Module Installation. Draw Frost-Bound drain and NPCU; keep Frost-Bound Drain and deck NPCU. Search for an Isothermic Transducer and shuffle the whole shebang. Play one of the Transducers.

Power: Thermodynamics. Deal 1 fire damage to myself [25] and 1 cold to the drum [21]

Draw: Glacial Structure & Onboard Module Installation. Keep Onboard, deck Glacial Structure

End: Nothing

-----

HP: 26

In Play: Isothermic Transducer

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

Deck: 31x?, Glacial Structure

Trash: Onboard Module Installation

So wraith is last?

Jffdougan - The Pouch of Bones and Strength of the Grave are a fair bit alike, in that both of them reduce damage to Zombies by 1, but Strength of the Grave also gives each zombie +1 damage for each zombie in play (would have been very nasty if it'd come up on turn 1 instead of the Drum), while the Pouch heals all villain targets for about H (maybe + or - 1 or 2) when a Zombie enters play (including, for original non-Skinwalker gloomy, when a cultist dies and returns as a Zombie).  Keep in mind that you can't win the game until after all the relics have appeared, but with IREP running that might not take too long, so you're probably making the right call here.

Wraith went already. AZ is last; slot Wraith's turn in where the rest of her stuff was, right after Tachyon.

should be the environment and Gloomy up next.

Yeah I went already, you responded to it

Hello?  Paging Dr. Edwin?

I'll take the drum damage

(EDIT: Why can I not access the delete function?)

I'll take the damage. Also, I am probably going to use the second external combustion this turn. So the pin/disciple should be easier to take out.

AZ will discard Cryo Chamber and Sub-Zero Atmosphere

Sorry, it's been a long week.  And yes HK, IREP's effectiveness is diminished somewhat by the draw-two rule, but then it's also increased since it causes you to draw yourself.  I may consider having Visionary's cards include a "that deck does not apply the draw-two rule on its next card play" rider, but IREP definitely does not.  Improved chances of getting Impromptu Invention are more than enough help to give the Wraith.

EXT. NIGHT - ROOK CITY SLUMS

As the shambling figures are engulfed in flame, they do not scream, but simply collapse into blackened heaps.  Abruptly, the heroes see a slim FIGURE leaning nonchalantly against the far wall of the still-steaming alley, its voluminous blue robe concealing all but a pallidly attractive female face. 

PALE CULTIST:  "Congratulations, oh Knight in Shining Machinery; you're a mass murderer!  True, these unfortunate victims were the Worthiest of our Lord, those who have fully given in to despair and accepted the inevitability of their impending demise.  But that fact will mean nothing in court; they still had names and homes and social security cards, and once their dental records are identified by the dedicated crusaders-for-justice of the Rook City Police Department, you'll all be lucky to escape criminal charges, and at the very least can look forward to a Wrongful Death lawsuit.  It may not be Our Way, but these are trying times, and we must adapt to whatever tools our adversaries give us.  Good luck trying to convince a judge that the people you just incinerated were 'the walking dead'.  We live in faithless times; no one will believe you, and I of course will deny everything.  Tell me, how does it feel to know that you cannot escape the trap of your own hypocritical laws?"

Rook City

In Play: 

Trash: 

Deck:  ? x 15.

Start of Turn: 

Play a Card: Scum and Villainy enters play; Dr. Tremata to the bottom.

End of Turn: Chosen Disciple enters play; Strength of the Grave to the bottom of the villain deck.

In Play:  Scum and Villainy.

Trash: 

Deck:  ? x 13, Dr. Tremata.

The rustic-looking drum the deceased were carrying is oddly almost untouched by the fire (and by ABSOLUTE ZERO's little zap); as it falls from between the nerveless fingers of the last two "zombies", it hits the pavement and issues an eerie, resonating "BOOOOOOOM…".  The sound seems to echo inside each of the listeners' skulls, and few of them can avoid displaying a grimace or uttering a grunt of pain; the CULTIST however is clearly unaffected.  As the sound dies away, the heroes suddenly see why the drum fell several seconds after its bearers were barbecued in place…one of the charred hulks that was supporting it just made a fist.

CULTIST:  "Well okay, almost no proof.  I will have to figure out how my testimony will account for your wounds sustained after you slew your innocent victims.  Perhaps I'll tell them you fell to quarreling among yourselves and came to blows; that always seems to happen with you 'super' types."

As the woman continues describing how she and her friends will make you look insane in a court of law, you unquestionably see the thick layer of soot fossilizing one of the blackened bodies break in several places, then the "corpse" begins taking several halting, jerky, marionette-like steps toward Legacy.  Though steeled against the mind-splitting sound of the drum, he was distracted enough by it that he doesn't think to react, and before he even notices the skeletonized figure is still moving, it is upon him, pummeling at his flesh with its carbonized hands.  The champion is too preoccupied with the zombie's more obvious attacks to notice as a tiny bone pin, tipped with a dark-red garnet, squirms of its own accord out of a pocket in the roasted cultist's former clothes, hooks itself into the fibers of his costume, and begins to "walk" like an inchworm by flexing itself until it wriggles through one hole in the fabric so that it can make another one.  In this mode, it travels rapidly around to the rear of his leg and then up the back side of his body, unerringly proceeding toward the nape of his neck.

Round Two

Gloomweaver - Not a Target

In Play:  Drum of Despair [21], Chosen Disciple [7].

Trash:  Zombie Servant x5.

Deck:  16 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave.

Start of Turn:  The green drum bangs!  Each hero (except Legacy) takes 4 infernal damage, unless they discard 2 cards or destroy a card in play.  (Wraith and Bunker and Tachyon choose to be damaged, and AZ discards to avoid it.  Waiting for Tachyon to declare damage or discards, since she has nothing to destroy.)

Play a Card: Crimson Pin enters play; Vast Following to the bottom.

End of Turn: Zombie attack!  Chosen Disciple raises a Zombie, and for narrative purposes the Zombie deals 3 melee damage to Legacy (mechanically this damage comes from the Disciple, but she's busy pretending to be an innocent bystander).  The Zombie then deals another 3 damage…if Wraith avoided the Drum's damage, this hits her, otherwise it devolves in turn to AZ or Tachyon.  If all three of them took the Drum damage, the Zombie will attack Legacy a second time, even if Bunker is also at 23 HP.

In Play: Drum of Despair [21], Chosen Disciple [7], Crimson Pin [9] (Legacy), Zombie Servant [2].

Trash:

Deck:  14 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following.

Effects: AEOVT, Disciple raises a Zombie, then Disciple deals 3 melee damage to highest HP hero target (more if a Zombie survives a round).  Zombie deals 3 melee damage to the highest-HP non-villain target.  At end of Legacy's turn, Crimson Pin deals him 3 irreducible toxic damage (unless he's immune).  ASOVT, Drum of Despair deals each hero 4 infernal damage unless they destroy a card in play or discard 2 cards from their hand.

Hero HP:  Legacy 23, Tachyon 20, Wraith 22, Bunker 19, AZ 22.

Sorry, I don't have Rook City handy - could someone remind me how to get rid of Scum And Villainy?

S&V destroys itself at the start of the turn (after the villain deals you damage).

Gotcha.  Thanks.

America's Finest

LEGACY


As the first wave of zombies fall and Frost quips, Legacy rises from the flames, unscathed save that his disguise has burned away. "Doctor Seuss," he remarks to his teammate, as he brushes off a scrap of scorched fabric still clinging to the Legacy suit. "There's hope for you yet."

But the mood darkens as an "innocent bystander" reveals her true colors. "Justice will prevail - and it won't let you get away with killing these people, either!" Legacy swears, as he takes to the air and streaks forward, going not after the mocking the cultist, but landing atop the magical drum - with an upraised hand, he casually stops the hammer from falling.

But the camera shows a pule of energy between the drum and the insidious Pin in Legacys back, and he cries out and falls to his knees... yet even so, his resolve does not break, and though he can barely stand, he keeps the drum from beating with every ounce of his strength.

Start: Whyzombieswhy?

Play: Lead From The Front

Power: Next Evolution: Immunity to Infernal Damage. Again.

Draw: [Flying Smash/[s]Thokk![/s]] - an easy choice.

End: 3 Toxic Damage from the Pin.

--------------------------------

HP: 20 or 17, depending on who all gets Drummed.

In Play: Next Evolution, Lead From The Front

Hand: Take Down, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Bolster Allies, Flying Smash

Trash: Empty

Notes: I dunno, Odin. Even with the External Combustion, I don't think we'll get the Pin off me this turn, and we clearly won't drop the Drum yet. So I'd only play Combustion if we think we can kill both the Zombie and the Cultist - otherwise, I'd advise either Flak Canon to up your damage, or Omni-Canon to start working on a Relic-breaking attack down the road (does Rook City have stuff destruction? I know Gloomy doesn't).

Oh, And in case it's not obvious, assume I redirect all Infernal Damage in the forseeable future.

Also, next Round, we'll probably want to start using some of this "no damage" tech - will you wish to go first, Tachyon, or shall I?

Finally, how does Vast Following Work?  If it really allows Gloomweaver to put all the Relics/Cultists from the top ten cards into play, that miiiiight be unbeatable.  If it doesn't, then Wraith might be able to hold off on the Infrared Eyepiece, since it moves the deck faster and will therefore bring us back to the Pouch Of Bones more quickly.

It wont put all of them, it will put at max 5 more likely 3-4. I don't mind using IE, it gives me a draw which gives me another chance to get Impromptu. That said I would like to get utility belt in play so I can do two things and add a little damage. I also think we will want to get back to the pouch because we need to kill it in order to win.

Also do we want me to grapple the environment to avoid its damage?

I don't have any good suggestions there right now other than that I'm planning to use the Onboard Installation in my hand to retrieve an extra module from the deck and get the NPCU into play. I'll probably plink something again rather than heal myself. What I do after that will depend on my draws, but I'm likely to alternate between hurting myself to freeze something and healing from same.

Tachyon takes the Drum damage. I'm also happy to Hypersonic whenever it's needed.

Tachyon

HP: 20

In Play:

Hand: Accelerated Assault, Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Hypersonic Assault, Research Grant

Deck: 24x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex

Trash: Fleet of Foot, Quick Insight, Bilnding Speed, Supersonic Response [4]

--------------------------------

Start:

Play: Fleet of Foot - DRAW! Tachy draws Synaptic Interruption and Accelerated Assault, decks Accelerated Assault.

Research Grant enters play.

Power: Research Grant; draw Blinding Speed, Lightning Reflexes, deck Blinding Speed, draw Nimble Strike and Pushing The Limits, deck Nimble Strike, discard Accelerated Assault.

Draw: Research Grant and HUD Goggles, deck Research Grant.

End:

--------------------------------

HP: 24

In Play: Research Grant

Hand: Quick Insight, Hypersonic Assault, Synaptic Interruption, Lightning Reflexes, Pushing The Limits, HUD Goggles

Deck: 16x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex, Accelerated Assault, Blinding Speed, Nimble Strike, Research Grant

Trash: Fleet of Foot x2, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed, Accelerated Assault, Supersonic Response [6]

EVERYBODY DRAW!

AZ draws Coolant Blast and Focused Apertures and decks Coolant Blast. (I'll be reshuffling when I play the Onboard, so I'm not worried too much about the chance of finding it again.)

Gets 5 random cards from the trash, brings back any Cultists or Relics from among them.  Currently none of either are dead, hence why I bottomed them.  (But it always plays a second villain card, so it's never completely harmless.)

draw adhesive maintenance unit and deck adhesive foam grenade.

@ironic: that makes sense. I am most likely going to drop into upgrade mode for a turn or two to put both flak and omni out in two turns and use either adhesive foam or external combustion depending on what we need at the time.

I'm thinking maybe we hold off on the grappling hook until something more potent shows up but I'm not sure about that.

Draw Smoke Bombs and Combat Stance, deck Combat Stance 

Wraith  

HP: 22 

In Play: Infrared Eyepiece 

Hand: Smoke Bombs, Utility Belt, Grappling Hook, Throwing Knives, Trust Fund, Mega Computer, Grappling Hook 

Deck: 26x?, Grappling Hook, Mega Computer, Micro Targeting Computer, Infrared Eyepiece, Suture Self, Combat Stance 

-------------------------------- 

Start: 

Play: Utility Belt 

Power: Infrared Eyepiece: Look at top of Villain Deck. Draw Razor Ordinance and Trust Fund, deck Trust Fund 

           Stealth: Next Damage to Wraith is reduced by 2

Draw: Impromptu Invention and Inventory Barrage, deck Inventory Barrage 

End: 

-------------------------------- 

HP: 22 

In Play: Infrared Eyepiece, Utility Belt 

Hand: Smoke Bombs, Utility Belt, Grappling Hook, Throwing Knives, Trust Fund, Mega Computer, Grappling Hook, Razor Ordinance, Impromptu Invention 

Deck: 21x?, Grappling Hook, Mega Computer, Micro Targeting Computer, Infrared Eyepiece, Suture Self, Combat Stance, Trust Fund, Inventory Barrage 

Trash: 

Effects:  Wraith may use an extra power 

              The next damage to Wraith is reduced by 2

Ophidia the Deceiver and Sable Pin.

I like it.  Things may look tense now, but time is definitely on our side.  Especially because…

I draw Inspiring Presence and Heroic Interception.  It's a painful thing to do, but I deck Inspiring Presence.  Now, between Tachyon and Legacy, we'll be able to minimize damage for three full turns while our strikers power up - with that kind of a lead, we should be able to blow through a Relic a turn by the end.

… not to be self-centered, but I would like this Pin off of me soon-ish, since for two of those turns, I'll still be taking the hits.  Though it's safe to say I will no longer be the highest HP Hero target, so nothing else should be a threat then.

In that case let's bury the pin, ophidia only does 1 damage right now

And that puts Bunker up. I'll post my turn tonight if he's done by then.

"Knight in shining machinery, eh? Well let me show you some of my toy... *cough weapons I mean." Bunker said as the Omni-cannon is deployed.

Bunker

HP: 19

In Play: nothing

Hand: external combustion, adhesive foam grenade, omni cannon, upgrade mode, recharge mode, maintenance unit, Flak Cannon

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode, flak cannon, adhesive foam greande and ???

Trash: external combustion

--------------------------------

Start: nothing

Play: Upgrade mode

Play 2: Omni-Cannon

Power: can't

Draw: Heavy plating (deck recharge mode)

End: nothing

--------------------------------

HP: 19

In Play: Omni-Cannon, Upgrade mode

Hand: external combustion, adhesive foam grenade, maintenance unit, heavy plating, recharge mode, flak cannon

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode x2, flak cannon, adhesive foam grenade and ???

Trash: External Combustion

Notes: I will probably only upgrade for one more turn. 

"Y'know, Stinson... I think this thing might be working properly for once."

He then turns and stares at the cultist through his face plate. "As for you, lady... I dislike your taste in fashion accessories for my friend. Let's say we break it first, and then look at making you a little uncomfortable. I'm already so close to dead that nothing you could do would make me any worse off. Bring it, b****."

HP: 22

In Play: Isothermic Transducer

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit,  Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation, Focused Apertures

Deck: 31x?, Glacial Structure,  Coolant Blast

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Cryo Chamber

-----

Start: Nothing

Play: Onboard Module Installation. Draw Cold Snap and Modular Realignment. Keep the Realignment so I can fish my Cryo Chamber out from the trash. Fish out a spare Calibration Unit and reshuffle everything else.

Play: Frost-Bound Drain. Deal 3 Cold damage to the pin [6, I think], take 3 fire damage myself [19]; rebound 3 more cold damage to the pin [16]

Draw: Hoarfire and Modular Realignment. Keep the Hoarfire; deck the Realignment.

End: Nothing

-----

HP: 19

In Play: Isothermic Transducer

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Focused Apertures, Modular Realignment, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Hoarfire

Deck: 27x?, Modular Realignment

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

No Power, Zero?  I feel like you could use a point of healing...

He only has the transducer out.

No, no power this time around. As pointed out, I could use some healing but lack the means at present. However, that shall be remedied shortly.

Apologies to Ironic and Jffdougan, I forgot to update Legacy's HP when the zombie re-undied and attacked him, he was at 23 before his turn.  Then when I fixed it, I accidentally doubled the damage to AZ, so his HP in the previous turn is wrong, though it's right for this turn because he hurt himself.  (Also Meerkat, you have Tachy's HP listed correctly in her start of turn, but wrong in the end.)

I think you may have misread Ophidia, Humble-Knight…I didn't remember exactly how she worked myself, or I'd have strongly advised you to reconsider bottoming the Pin instead of her.  But now that we're in process, I have to regard the choice as binding.  Alas, HP totals are thus that it will not be you who must reap the whirlwind of your decision.

EXT. NIGHT - ROOK CITY SLUMS

PALE CULTIST:  "Oh, whatever.  To heck with the lawsuit, just kill them all."

Turning her back on the battle as if in boredom, the CHOSEN ONE raises her dagger in the air, and all the zombies twitch back into action and fall upon the heroes.  From within the drum, a sepulchral rattling sound echoes; it is quickly muffled by Legacy's bulk, but then emerges as a chillingly insidious HISSSSS…

Rook City

In Play:  Scum and Villainy.

Trash: 

Deck:  ? x 13, Dr. Tremata.

Start of Turn:  The race of zombie-kind deals 4 melee damage to each hero, although they have a little trouble finding The Wraith [Legacy 16, Tachyon 16, Wraith 20, Bunker 15, AZ 15].  Scum and Villainy is destroyed.

Play a Card: Scum and Villainy enters play; Tony Taurus to the bottom.

End of Turn: Ophidia the Deceiver enters play; Indigo Pin to the bottom of the villain deck.

In Play:  Scum and Villainy.

Trash:  Scum and Villainy.

Deck:  ? x 11, Dr. Tremata, Tony Taurus.

The undead onslaught continues, and as the heroes experience their first flicker of doubt as to whether they will succeed - or even survive - their mission, it is as though a dinner bell has rung.  From within the drum, passing ethereally straight through its surface - and the body of Legacy as he holds it motionless - a ghostly serpentine form coils out, its visible portion so impossibly long that you could believe it continued forever, like the Ouroboros or Midgard Serpent of ancient myth.  Slithering effortlessly through air, its narrow head like a thread piercing the eye of a needle, it swirls around the entire battlefield in a complex knot, but finally orients unerringly on the Wraith as she struggles to elude her zombie assailant.  Rushing toward her, it opens a mouth whose dozens of "teeth" are actually duplicates of the jewelled pin stabbing into Legacy's back!  As it bites her greviously, one of these artificial fangs comes loose in the wound, and begins stabbing its own way deeper into her flesh.  But at the same time, the pin afflicting Legacy goes absolutely mad, tearing at his spinal nerve with vicious abandon; he feels all the pain of the Wraith's injury and more.

Round Three

Gloomweaver - Not a Target

In Play: Drum of Despair [21], Chosen Disciple [7], Crimson Pin [3] (Legacy), Zombie Servant [2], Ophidia the Deceiver [8].

Trash:  Zombie Servant x4.

Deck:  11 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin.

Hero HP:  Legacy 16, Tachyon 16, Wraith 20, Bunker 15, AZ 15.

Start of Turn:  Curse you, Legacy, you've foiled me again!..

Play a Card: Crimson Pin enters play next to the Wraith ; Vast Following to the bottom.  (No this is not a typo, I got the exact same two cards again.  At least that's all the Crimson Pins out of the deck.)

End of Turn: Chosen Disciple raises another Zombie, then  deals 4 melee damage to The Wraith [16].   The first Zombie then deals 3 melee  damage to Legacy [13]; Ophidia the Deceiver then deals 7 toxic damage to The Wraith [9].   The second zombie then tries to deal 3 melee damage to Tachyon [13], unless Legacy gets in the way [in which case it's Tachyon 16, Legacy 10] .   Four scriptwriters quit in protest after being ordered to make this make narrative sense; they are then rehired with substantial incentives for the third rewrite cycle.

In Play: Drum of Despair [21], Chosen Disciple [7], Crimson Pin [3] (Legacy), Zombie Servant [2], Ophidia the Deceiver [8], Crimson Pin [9] (the Wraith), Zombie Servant [2].

Trash:  Zombie Servant x3.

Deck:  9 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin, Vast Following.

Effects: AEOVT, Disciple raises a Zombie, then Disciple deals 2+Zombies melee damage to highest-HP hero target.  Each Zombie deals 3 melee damage to the highest-HP non-villain target.  Ophidia deals 5+Pins toxic damage to highest-HP hero target.  At end of Legacy's turn, Crimson Pin deals him 3 irreducible toxic damage (unless he's immune).  At end of Wraith's turn, Crimson Pin deals her 3 irreducible toxic damage.  Drum of Despair is irrelevant as long as Legacy refuses to believe in the supernatural.

Hero HP:  Legacy 13/10/6/3, Tachyon 13/16/13/16, Wraith 9/9/16/16, Bunker 15, AZ 15.

EDIT - Corrected end of turn information, including positioning the second Zombie properly in sequence, and revising the results accordingly.

Sorry guys I f'ed that up. I misread it as x = number of pins rather than h + number of pins. Legacy I apaologize

America's Finest

LEGACY


LEGACY: We won't die.  Not while there's work to be done.

Legacy forces himself back to his feet, then brings the drumstick above his head down over his knee.  There's a thunderous CRACK, followed by approrpriate theme music.

LEGACY: Tachyon, now!

Start: I will, in fact, redirect Tachyon's 3 HP zombie hit to myself... with the side effect that it is then Tachyon who takes Ophidia's 7. Sorry, Meerkat. As someone who's going to take another 3 before Tachyon shuts them down for a turn, and then start damaging myself with Heroic Interception, I suspect I'll be the first of us to run out of health in either event.

Play: Motivational Charge.

Power: Motivational Charge. 2 damage to the Drum [19], and everyone heals 1 point.

Draw: [Danger Sense/[s]Flying Smash[/s]] - Man, where's some armor?

End: 3 Toxic Damage from the Pin.

--------------------------------

HP: 11

In Play: Next Evolution, Lead From The Front, Motivational Charge

Hand: Take Down, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Bolster Allies, Flying Smash, Danger Sense

Trash: Empty

Notes: EVERYBODY REGAIN 1 HP.

Tachyon

HP: 10

In Play: Research Grant

Hand: Quick Insight, Hypersonic Assault, Synaptic Interruption, Lightning Reflexes, Pushing The Limits, HUD Goggles

Deck: 16x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex, Accelerated Assault, Blinding Speed, Nimble Strike, Research Grant

Trash: Fleet of Foot x2, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed, Accelerated Assault, Supersonic Response [6]

--------------------------------

Start:

Play: HUD Goggles enter play.

Pushing The Limits enters play.

Hypersonic Assault; 1 damage to all non-hero targets (Drum of Despair [18], Chosen Disciple [6], Crimson Pin [2] (Legacy), Zombie Servant [1] x2, Ophidia the Deceiver [7], Crimson Pin [8] (the Wraith)), and those targets can't deal damage.

Power: Research Grant; draw Lightning Reflexes, Lightspeed Barrage, deck Lightning Reflexes, draw Fleet of Foot, Pushing The Limits, deck Pushing The Limits, discard Synaptic Interruption.

Draw: Nimble Strike and Pushing The Limits, deck Pushing The Limits, Hypersonic Assault and Synaptic Interruption, deck Synaptic Interruption.

End:

--------------------------------

HP: 10

In Play: Research Grant, HUD Goggles, Pushing The Limits

Hand: Quick Insight, Lightning Reflexes, Lightspeed Barrage, Fleet of Foot, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault

Deck: 8x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex, Accelerated Assault, Blinding Speed, Nimble Strike, Research Grant, Lightning Reflexes, Pushing The Limits, Pushing The Limits, Synaptic Interruption

Trash: Fleet of Foot x2, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed, Accelerated Assault, Supersonic Response, Hypersonic Assault, Synaptic Interruption [7]

Play: Impromptu Invention
Draw Utility Belt and Smoke Bombs, deck utility belt
Find Micro Targeting computer and put it into play
Play throwing knives

Power: Infrared Eyepiece
look at top 2 cards of villain deck
Draw Throwing knives and stun bolt, deck throwing knives

Power: Throwing knives. 3 damage to Drum [15], Disciple [3], and Ophidia [4]

Draw: Micro targeting computer and stun bolt, deck micro targeting computer

"Guess I'm ruining this suit again..."

Bunker

HP: 15

In Play: Omni-Cannon, Upgrade mode

Hand:  external combustion, adhesive foam grenade, maintenance unit, heavy plating, recharge mode, flak cannon

Deck:  upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode x2, flak cannon, adhesive foam grenade and ???

Trash: external combustion

--------------------------------

Start: 3 cards under the omni-cannon (3)

Play: Flak Cannon

Play 2: External Combustion Bunker [13], Drum of Despair [12], Chosen Disciple [0], Crimson Pin [0] (Legacy), Zombie Servant [0] x2, Ophidia the Deceiver [1], Crimson Pin [5] (the Wraith)

Power: can't

Draw: Decomissioned hardware (deck heavy plating)

End: nothing

--------------------------------

HP: 15

In Play: Omni-Cannon (3), Upgrade mode, Flak Cannon

Hand: Adhesive foam greande, Decommisioned Hardware

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode x2, flak cannon, adhesive foam grenade, heavy plating and ???

Trash: External Combustion x2

Notes: Do we want an adhesive foam next turn or should i load it into the omni-cannon?

Rook City's a killer, so I am all for slowing its plays.

Get this snake outta my alley. Back home in Texas, I knew a buncha people who love serving fried rattler.  Tastes just like chicken. Who's up for something flash-frozen?

HP: 16

In Play: Isothermic Transducer

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Focused Apertures, Modular Realignment, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Hoarfire

Deck: 27x?, Modular Realignment

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

------

Start: Nothing

Play: Focused Apertures

Power: Thermodynamics. I take 1 fire damage [15]; deal 2 cold to Ophidia the deceiver [0]

Draw: Cryo Chamber and Coolant Blast. Keep Coolant Blast; deck Cryo Chamber.

End: Nothing

-----

HP: 15

In Play: Isothermic Transducer, Focused Apertures

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Modular Realignment, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Hoarfire, Coolant Blast

Deck: 25x?, Modular Realignment, Coolant Blast

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

When it comes time, I'll discard the Isothermic Transducer and one of the NPCUs from my hand in order to avoid the drum damage. Modular Realignment shenanigans inbound! (More if I had two of them, but hey....)

Drum can’t deal damage this round.

Hurm.  Does anyone know the ruling on whether NPCU works when Absolute Zero is immune to damage?

i believe it doesn't, since it converts damage to healing. 

Also, Edwin I need the cards revealed by IE

Again I must beg Ironic's forgiveness; I was mistaken in my assessment of the end-of-turn sequence.  The second zombie entered play after Ophidia the Deceiver, so it deals damage after her; with all three heroes at 16 after the Disciple hits Wraith, Ophidia can hit either of the ones whom the first Zombie doesn't hit, and the second Zombie will then hit the last of the three.  Since I get to pick the victim in ties, I will choose to have the first Zombie hit Legacy, after which he either takes the 7 from Ophidia or allows me to pick who does.  I will go repair this mess in a second.

Cursed Acolyte and the Grimoire of Curses.  Have fun…

I do not elect to take Ophidia's damage at this time.

Okay, so are Legacy and Tachyon both at 13 from Zombie wounds, or is it 16 and 10 in her favor?

Both 13.  Gotta save my strength for all that self damage.

I’m thinking we bury the relic again. The pouch is coming up relatively soon so I’d prefer to not have to deal with more than 2

Give me some time to charge omni.

Sounds legit.

Deck Relic. Acolyte on top

Apologies to Ironic and Jffdougan, I forgot to update Legacy's HP when the zombie re-undied and attacked him, he was at 23 before his turn.  Then when I fixed it, I accidentally doubled the damage to AZ, so his HP in the previous turn is wrong, though it's right for this turn because he hurt himself.  (Also Meerkat, you have Tachy's HP listed correctly in her start of turn, but wrong in the end.)

I think you may have misread Ophidia, Humble-Knight....I didn't remember exactly how she worked myself, or I'd have strongly advised you to reconsider bottoming the Pin instead of her.  But now that we're in process, I have to regard the choice as binding.  Alas, HP totals are thus that it will not be you who must reap the whirlwind of your decision.

EXT. NIGHT - ROOK CITY SLUMS

The alley rings with the echoes of Tachyon's hyperspeed, even as Bunker's fiery exhaust re-carbonizes the zombies and dissipates Ophidia's otherworldly form.  However, the carnage has ruptured a sewer main which lies far too close to the surface.

Rook City

In Play:  Scum and Villainy.

Trash:  Scum and Villainy.

Deck:  ? x 11, Dr. Tremata, Tony Taurus.

--------------------------------------------------------

Start of Turn:  Scum and Villainy's ears ring helplessly and then it is destroyed.

Play a Card: Toxic Sludge enters play; Scum and Villainy to the bottom (damn).

End of Turn: Hurray, damage that doesn't require a Legacy veto!  Legacy drops to 12 and then 9, Tachyon does the same, Wraith takes only the first instance and falls to 8, Bunker joins the 9-club, and AZ looks positively tanky at 12, then 10.

-------------------------------------------------------

In Play:  Toxic Sludge.

Trash:  Scum and Villainy x2.

Deck:  ? x 9, Dr. Tremata, Tony Taurus, Scum and Villainy.

Effects:  At SOET, each player may discard a card.  If at least one card is discarded this way, that player may destroy the only Environment card in play (Toxic Sludge).

SHADOWY FIGURE:  "You lot are proving quite a source of frustration for us!  We really owe you our thanks."

A new hooded form joins the battle, striding amidst the smoldering wreckage at the far end of the alley.  Eerie green flames coruscate about his hands and cast stark shadows from every hair of his mutton-chops.  He smiles wickedly, as members of this cult are apparently wont to do.

SCRUFFY CULTIST:  "Our brotherhood hasn't suffered this kind of anguish in weeks; conquering the soiled underbelly of this wretched city has been far too easy.  Our lord Gloomweaver has not feasted so richly in years!  With your aid, he shall soon walk this world in his very otherworldly flesh.  And so, naturally, I must reward you for your assistance in tormenting his heralds.  Here, then, is a gift of our own, to repay your generosity!"

The newcomer raises his hands, and the wan, oily flames leap from his hand, eagerly bathing the alley in still more destruction.

Round Four

Gloomweaver - Not a Target

In Play: Drum of Despair [12], Crimson Pin [5] (the Wraith).

Trash:  Zombie Servant x5, Chosen Disciple, Ophidia the Deceiver, Crimson Pin.

Deck:  Cursed Acolyte, 7 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin, Vast Following, Grimoire of Curses.

--------------------------------------------------------

Start of Turn:  The Drum makes a feeble rattling noise.

Play a Card: Cursed Acolyte enters play; Profane Zealot to the bottom.

End of Turn: Cursed Acolyte deals 3 fire and 3 infernal to each hero.  Let me know if Legacy wants to bogart an unfair share of Ronway's benevolence (and thus be incapacitated).  The HP totals below assume otherwise.

-------------------------------------------------------

In Play: Drum of Despair [12], Crimson Pin [5] (the Wraith), Cursed Acolyte [6].

Trash:  Zombie Servant x5, Chosen Disciple, Ophidia the Deceiver, Crimson Pin.

Deck:  6 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin, Vast Following, Grimoire of Curses, Profane Zealot.

Effects: AEOVT, Acolyte deals 3 fire and 3 infernal damage to each hero target.  At end of Wraith's turn, Crimson Pin deals her 3 irreducible toxic damage (in theory).  Drum of Despair cannot make itself heard over the sound of how awesome Tachyon is.

Hero HP:  Legacy 3, Tachyon 3, Wraith 2, Bunker 3, AZ 4.

That sucked....

(To be clear, you are criticizing your team's luck, or my performance as facilitator?)

I see.

Well, I would have done a number of things differently had damage not changed between when I made my choices and when things actually mattered on two back to back turns, but I suppose that's irrelevant now.  I'll kill myself with Heroic Interception.

For the story, I am sure it will be a big boon to finally eliminate a character, but I offer my sincere condolences to whomever gets stuck being invulernable for a bajeezus-gazillion rounds to slowly grind out this match.

Nahh Edwin you are a great facilitator! I was talking about our luck.

Do you think I handled the damage issues improperly?  I'm still pretty new at this after all; it's entirely possible that I did something less than ideal.  The thing with the zombie and Ophidia was an honest mistake, but the "post a whole environment and villain turn" thing really goes pear-shaped in the case of Lead from the Front - for the most part the "GM breaks ties" rule keeps SCUverse games from bogging down as normal-RAW games can, but LftF is an obvious exception, unless it's handled on some sort of "standing orders" basis which is very hard to do.

I'll kill myself with heroic interception.

Don't do that, though.  (Unless you really want to play incapacitated for a while.)  Since you can't survive playing it, and its effect won't remain in play if you're dead, you might as well do Motivational Charge or something instead.  But don't just suicide unless you think that's really your best bet to contribute to the team.  (If nothing else, you could kill Tachyon with a one-shot, gain an HP with Motivational Charge, and then have Tachy give you a card play to put out Heroic Interception during her turn; that way, if you can avoid taking damage while at 1 HP, the other heroes can survive.)

For the story, I am sure it will be a big boon to finally eliminate a character, but I offer my sincere condolences to whomever gets stuck being invulernable for a bajeezus-gazillion rounds to slowly grind out this match.

If it gets to the point where the last player left alive really wants the match to end, I can fiat it (either as victory or defeat, whichever they'd prefer).  The point is to have fun, so if all but one hero is incapacitated, we can just say that this movie is the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series, ending with the villains apparently triumphant for once, but with the heroes rallying in the sequel.

Ah, you're right - I forgot that Interception dies if I do.  Pity - I really liked the self-sacrificing element of it.

When I can actually look over my cards, I'll amend that.

I just came up with another reason to hate the Informant ruling.  If you could resolve a card play fully and then deal with triggers, Tachyon could save the heroes with Hypersonic Assault even if she were killing herself with Two Left Feet in the process.  But as it is, she's no better at this sort of thing than you are.

I'll play Bolster Allies.

For my power, Next Evolution to be immune to... whatever Ophidia does.  Toxic?

Everybody draw!

Ophidia is dead I believe

Yep, I iced her back on my turn.

Assuming someone will kill or stun the Acolyte (who otherwise has two different ways of killing you), your best bet to stay alive would proooooobably be to pick Melee, since I believe a slight majority of the deck's sources are thus.  But actually I think Gloomy is just about out of damage cards, apart from the other Cursed Acolyte.

trying to get this game moving again, Absolute Zero draws Frost-Bound Drain and sends Glacial Structure to the bottom of the deck.

bunker draw turret mode and ammo drop to the bottom

Wraith draws suture self and trust fund. Deck trust fund

Uh, is someone going to take an actual turn?....

Tachyon's up.

Tachyon draws Sonic Vortex and decks Blinding Speed, decks Blinding Speed

Tachyon

HP: 3

In Play: Research Grant, HUD Goggles, Pushing The Limits

Hand: Quick Insight, Lightning Reflexes, Lightspeed Barrage, Fleet of Foot, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex

Deck: 6x?, Sucker Punch, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex, Accelerated Assault, Blinding Speed, Nimble Strike, Research Grant, Lightning Reflexes, Pushing The Limits, Pushing The Limits, Synaptic Interruption, Blinding Speed

Trash: Fleet of Foot x2, Quick Insight, Blinding Speed, Accelerated Assault, Supersonic Response, Hypersonic Assault, Synaptic Interruption [7]

--------------------------------

Start: Screw it; Tachyon deals herself 2 sonic damage [1].

Play: Fleet of Foot; everybody draw! Tachyon draws Lightspeed Barrage, Sucker Punch, decks Sucker Punch.

Quick Insight; draw HUD Goggles and Synaptic Interruption, deck HUD Goggles, Lightspeed Barrage and HUD Goggles, deck HUD Goggles, Sucker Punch and Supersonic Response, deck Supersonic Response, discard Sucker Punch and Nimble Strike.

Lightspeed Barrage; 11 damage to the Drum [1].

Lightning Reflexes; I may play two more cards now.

Hypersonic Assault; 1 damage to the Crimson Pin [4] and the Cursed Acolyte [5] - neither can deal damage until my next turn.

Synaptic Interruption enters play.

Power: Research Grant; draw Accelerated Assault, Sucker Punch, deck Accelerated Assault, draw Nimble Strike, Hypersonic Assault, deck Nimble Strike, discard Sucker Punch.

Draw: Sonic Vortex and Accelerated Assault, deck Accelerated Assault, Blinding Speed and Nimble Strike, deck Nimble Strike.

End:

--------------------------------

HP: 1

In Play: Research Grant, HUD Goggles, Pushing The Limits, Synaptic Interruption

Hand: Lightspeed Barrage x2, Hypersonic Assault, Sonic Vortex x2, Blinding Speed

Deck: Research Grant, Lightning Reflexes, Pushing The Limits, Pushing The Limits, Synaptic Interruption, Blinding Speed, Sucker Punch, HUD Goggles, HUD Goggles, Supersonic Response, Accelerated Assault, Nimble Strike, Accelerated Assault, Nimble Strike

Trash: Fleet of Foot x3, Quick Insight x2, Blinding Speed, Accelerated Assault, Supersonic Response, Hypersonic Assault x2, Synaptic Interruption, Sucker Punch x2, Nimble Strike, Lightspeed Barrage, Lightning Reflexes [12]

Ironic's turn isn't quite done from the looks of it.

Can you confirm that you are definitely using Next Evo, and what your choice of damage type is, in view of Ophidia's absence?

Draw throat jab and mega computer. Deck mega computer

And I don’t see how legacy’s immunity would affect my play so here’s my turn.

Play Smoke Bombs

Power 1: Infrared Eyepiece. Draw impromptu invention and inventory barrage. Deck inventory barrage.
Power 2: Throwing knives hit Pin [1] and acolyte [2]

Draw throat jab and throwing knives. Deck throwing knives

Great draws this round. Hopefully we can stabilize now

may i go or shall i wait for ironic?

draw from tach is maintenance unit and deck auxilary

Drum is dead. Killing the acolyte brings out a zombie which AZ would have to kill,instead of healing. I vote you kill the pin. I can hit both on my next turn 

I'm going to go, Edwin hope ya don't mind. Also, sorry but I am not going to be able to play adhesive foam.

Bunker

HP: 3

In Play: Omni-Cannon (3), Upgrade mode, Flak Cannon

Hand:   Adhesive foam greande, Decommisioned Hardware, maintenance unit, turret mode

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode, recharge mode x2, flak cannon, adhesive foam grenade, heavy plating, auxilary power source, ammo drop and ???

Trash: External Combustion x2

--------------------------------

Start: 2 cards under the omni-cannon (5), remove upgrade mode

Play: maintenance unit

Power: flak cannon to kill the pin

Draw: Decomissioned hardware (deck turret mode)

End: nothing

--------------------------------

HP: 3

In Play: Omni-Cannon (5), Flak Cannon, maintenance unit

Hand: turret mode, Decommisioned Hardware

Deck: upgrade mode, gattling gun, turret mode x2, recharge mode x2, flak cannon, adhesive foam grenade, heavy plating, auxilary power source, ammo drop and ???

Trash: External Combustion x2, upgrade mode

Notes: dropping into turret next turn.

I apologise, both for my disappearance and for my snappishness just before it - I was going through a lot of stress from school, and took it out on this thread.  Legacy, surely, would disapprove.

I will make myself immune to Melee damage - the Acolyte kills us all if it sticks around, so we need it gone, and I'll handle the zombie.  This should also let us handle any but two of the remaining seven cards that can be played next turn.

For my draws, first I get Thokk/Thokk (after deep internal debate, I deck Thokk), then I get Next Evolution/Takedown - brilliant!  I deck Next Evolution, so if we last this turn, I can buy us one more.

We won't go down without a fight.

Edwin, I still need the top 2 cards of gloomys deck

Note that the acolyte can't deal damage thanks to Tachyon's Hypersonic Assault. I'm therefore going to put down the NPCU so I can start focusing on the bad stuff.

HP: 4

In Play: Isothermic Transducer, Focused Apertures

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Modular Realignment, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Hoarfire, Coolant Blast, Frost-Bound Drain

Deck: 25x?, Modular Realignment, Coolant Blast, Glacial Structure

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

----

Start: Nothing

Play: Null-Point Calibration Unit

Power: Thermodynamics to do myself 2 cold healing [6]

Draw: Fueled Freeze and Thermal Shockwave. Deck Shockwave, keep Fueled Freeze.

End: Nothing

----

HP: 6

In Play: Isothermic Transducer, Focused Apertures, Null Point Calibration Unit

Hand: Isothermic Transducer, Modular Realignment, Null-Point Calibration Unit, Hoarfire, Coolant Blast, Frost-Bound Drain, Fueled Freeze

Deck: 25x?, Modular Realignment, Coolant Blast, Glacial Structure, Thermal Shockwave

Trash: Onboard Module Installation, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Onboard Module Installation

As soon as we have stacking Gloomy's deck resolved, we're good to go.

Vast Following and Profane Zealot.

Profane Zealot on top.

I know the damage reduction isn't great but I'd rather just kill something than potentially having to redo all our work so far.

Oh,  yes... I will discard a duplicate Isothermic Transducer to kill the Toxic Sludge before it can do anything else ugly.

Alright, I need to get to bed soon but first I owe you a post.

EXT. NIGHT - ROOK CITY SLUMS

A new exodus of zombies fills the alley, and the heroes are clearly hopelessly outnumbered; they have no choice but to retreat through a manhole into the poisonous maintenance tunnels of the Rook City underground.

Rook City

In Play:  Toxic Sludge.

Trash:  Scum and Villainy x2.

Deck:  ? x 9, Dr. Tremata, Tony Taurus, Scum and Villainy.

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Start of Turn:  Absolute Zero becomes the official plumber of Rook City for a day.

Play a Card: It's very tempting to choose Twisting Back Alleys so that I can stop here, not bothering to figure out hero HP totals, and see whether you want to remove it by playing two replacement cards (protip: I've done this, it goes less than well as a rule).  But I will avoid the copout and instead put out another Toxic Sludge, even though this one is much less dangerous.

End of Turn: Ryan "Mario" Frost takes 2 damage [4]; everyone else is in such awful shape that they don't even bother holding their noses as they go for yet another sewer swim, figuring it can't get any worse after the day they've had.

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In Play:  Toxic Sludge

Trash:  Scum and Villainy x2, Toxic Sludge.

Deck:  ? x 7, Dr. Tremata, Tony Taurus, Scum and Villainy, Twisting Back Alleys.

Effects:  At SOET, each player may discard a card.  If at least one card is discarded this way, that player may destroy the only Environment card in play (Toxic Sludge).

INT - ROOK CITY SEWERS

From up above, the mocking voice of the mutton-chopped man echoes, as though he's speaking as loudly as he can manage from the broken heap he was left in.

SCRUFFY CULTIST:  "So, you're trying to escape; you still have hope.  Fortunately, I have the cure for that affliction."

Ignited by the last breath of a dying sorcerer, mystic green flames engulf the heroes and set even the sewers' polluted waters ablaze.  The camera focuses on Legacy as he pushes one smaller hero (possibly a de-suited Bunker) against the wall, taking the brunt of the methane explosion but sparing the one he shields with his own body.  Left with only superficial burns, the survivor escapes the scene of the carnage to call for medical aid - or for other heroes to assist in avenging the fallen.

Round Five

Gloomweaver - Not a Target

In Play: god I don't even know anymore.

Trash:  stuff

Deck:  Profane Zealot, 4 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin, Vast Following, Grimoire of Curses, Profane Zealot, Vast Following.

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Start of Turn:  A deceptive silence.

Play a Card: Cursed Acolyte enters play; Profane Zealot to the bottom.  (Again, not a typo.  My decks have been shuffled, I promise; they just seem to have organized themselves into consistent patterns.)

End of Turn: Total party kill, if I'm not mistaken.  One other hero of Legacy's choice survives (thanks to LFTF) and is invincible (per the SCUverse rules); we won't bother to play out the rest of the game unless people want to, though, as even an indestructible hero with four incap abilities per round will have a hard time destroying two more 25-HP targets, even if they're prompt in coming up.

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In Play: Cursed Acolyte [6].

Trash:  stuff.

Deck:  3 x ?, Pouch of Bones, Strength of the Grave, Vast Following, Sable Pin, Indigo Pin, Vast Following, Grimoire of Curses, Profane Zealot, Vast Following, Profane Zealot.

Effects: Cackling maniacal laughter.

Hero HP:  Not much at this point.

Profane Zealot is the ideal Gloomy play, Vast Following is the worst (since it could drop multiple non-Melee damage types on us).  There's no way the Zealot comes out, but burying Following was the right call.

I'm all for letting AZ live. Ryan Frost didn't want to be a hero but now he is the only one of the F5. Does he stay in the heroing buisness and join up with others? or does he sulk in his cryo chamber?

My point had been that the SCU verse rules involve the character who gets the Deus Ex win gets written out for "bad reception from fans." AZ gets enough flack for being a jerk that he seems to be the best candidate there.

That rule was more of a suggestion; we can do it other ways.  I'm thinking we may do more of these 3-hero games; I kinda don't like having the F5 all together all the time, it's a bit boring and verges on overpowered, especially with Legacy always having four teammates.  I'd kind of enjoy seeing Absolute Zero alongside Ra...perhaps have him join up with the B-team after they get done trashing Kismet.

Take out Legacy.

For my money, that's the most dramatic outcome here, which would really shake up what follows.

Edwin thanks for running the game. Im gonna siy out the next one

After my absurd disappearance, I think it's only apropriate that I step out, also.

Cheers!

Well if you change your mind at some point in future, Ironic, you'll be welcome in SCUverse anytime.  You too of course, HK.