Difference between revisions of "In a Time of Heroes"

Latest revision as of 05:12, 28 April 2021

Elements

Left Hand Luke and the beggar boys

A displaced Alliance tactician full of self-loathing

An Alliance cruiser, on the lookout for scavengers

A hotel bellman, his goatlike eyes spaced too far apart

An assortment of medicines bound for a rim world on the verge of an epidemic.

Characters

Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess

Left Hand Luke

The beggar boys?

A displaced Alliance tactician

One or more Alliance crew members

One or more scavengers

A hotel bellman, with goatlike eyes spaced too far apart

Player Characters

[Chris] Kid Quasar, the Quantum Queen a diminutive alien princess from a species that is not normally so small

Covertly d8
Directly d6
For myself d6
For others d10
With love d12
With violence d4
Everyone loves me, through tone of voice and physical appearance people want to aid me, but it requires people to see and hear me
- PCs: With love
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
- Upgrade ??
It's in Kid Quasar's best interests to...
- ???
- ???

[Katie] ??? ???

Covertly d?
Directly d?
For myself d?
For others d?
With love d?
With violence d?
???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???

[Bryan] ??? ???

Covertly d?
Directly d?
For myself d?
For others d?
With love d?
With violence d?
???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???

[Rob] ??? ???

Covertly d?
Directly d?
For myself d?
For others d?
With love d?
With violence d?
???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???

Non-Player Characters

Owe List

[Bryan] Dominion
[Katie] Randy Scouse
[Bryan] Percy Anjar
[Rob] Left Hand Luke

Back Issues

Race to the Frozen Ship

Elements

Under the ice, the crashed spaceship lies.

A penthouse apartment with a secret room

The abandoned subway station, never completed and forgotten, now has a new use

A brilliant scientist, racing against time to find a cure for her affliction

Player Characters

[Bryan] Dominion, a telepathic alien creature in statis onboard the spaceship

Covertly d10
Directly d6
For myself d12
For others d4
With love d8
With violence d6
Puppetmaster, with a touch, I can switch the subject of my possession, taking control of their mind and body
- PCs: For myself
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
It's in Dominion's best interests to...
- escape the planet Earth unchained
- prevent these animals from stealing any of my physical substance

[Katie] Dr. Billie Conners, PHD in Genetics. Brilliant scientist trying to find a cure for her own affliction (Body is slowly turning to jelly).

Covertly d6
Directly d8
For myself d12
For others d10
With love d6
With violence d4
Wheelchair maneuvering
- PCs: For myself
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
It's in Dr. Billie Conners's best interests to...
- find the cure for my jelly body
- sequence the first alien genome

[Chris] Dr. Guilt, A freakishly strong genius labors underground to find the ultimate cure to the human disease!

Covertly d6
Directly d12
For myself d8
For others d4
With love d6
With violence d8
Double-muscled
- PCs: Directly and With Violence
- NPCs: Action
- Broad
- Its die is a d8
It's in Dr. Guilt's best interests to...
- throw Professor Oakbeam out of a window
- use the alien's strange anatomy and biology to perfect the doomsday virus

[David] Ken Cooper, a computer prodigy

Covertly d12
Directly d4
For myself d6
For others d8
With love d10
With violence d6
Technopathy, technology obeys me like a close friend thanks to my psionic gifts
- PCs: For others and Covertly
- NPCs: Action
- Broad
- Unique: there are no other technopaths in the galaxy
- Its die is a d8
It's in Ken's best interests to...
- find his destiny as as a spacefarer
- keep his technopathy from becoming public knowledge

Non-Player Characters

Sentient Liminal Algorithmic Processor (S.L.A.P.), on-board AI, the mind of the crashed ship

Action d8, d4
Maneuvering d6, d4
Self-protection d12, d8
Ship control, the ability to manipulate the systems on the crashed ship, good in self-protection
- PCs: ?
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Potent: Its die is a d10
It's in S.L.A.P.'s best interests to...
- return to space
- acquire novel biological specimens

Dr. Marcus Landry, a clever engineer and freshly minted post-doc

Action d10, d6
Maneuvering d10, d6
Self-protection d6, d4
Gadgeteering, A handful of small, one-time gadgets on my person that duplicate minor super powers
- PCs: For others
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
It's in Marcus's best interests to...
- defeat a supervillain

Sir Thomas Oakbeam, a wealthy and old-fashioned gentleman explorer

Action d6, d4
Maneuvering d10, d6
Self-protection d12, d8
It's in Sir Thomas's best interests to...
- secure his legacy

Battle for the Temple of the Noble Mantis

Elements

An alien princess asking for asylum

Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket

An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent

A galaxy on the cusp of open war

Additional Elements

A neutral space station around a neutral planet on neither side of the war, orbiting the planet containing the temple, whose own neutrality, perhaps temporary, has kept the planet neutral.

Characters

The alien princess [Chris]

A smuggler [David]

A customs officer [Katie]

The disillusioned adherent [Rob]

Player Characters

[Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess a diminutive alien princess from a species that is not normally so small

Covertly d8
Directly d6
For myself d6
For others d10
With love d12
With violence d4
Everyone loves me, through tone of voice and physical appearance people want to aid me, but it requires people to see and hear me
- PCs: With love
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
It's in Kid Quasar's best interests to...
- befriend an insect bot and have it become her trusted steed
- have the Temple Master declare for her people in the galactic war

[David] Ken Cooper, a human smuggler with a non-hidden heart of gold

Covertly d12
Directly d4
For myself d6
For others d8
With love d10
With violence d6
Technopathy, technology obeys me like a close friend thanks to my psionic gifts
- PCs: For others
- NPCs: Action
- Unique: there are no other technopaths in the galaxy
- Its die is a d8
It's in Ken Cooper's best interests to...
- prevent the war he sees coming, which he sees Kid Quasar as the best way to do
- keep his technopathy from becoming public knowledge

[Katie] Anka Tripper, a customs officer, a blobby frog-person, no-nonsense, naturally gifted at detecting lies, cranky, with a sticky tongue

Covertly d8
Directly d12
For myself d10
For others d6
With love d4
With violence d6
I can eat anything, if my tongue can reach it and it can fit in my mouth, I can eat it
- PCs: Directly
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
It's in Anka Tripper's best interests to...
- get the promotion by solving/catching a high profile case
- preserve the neutrality to prevent the war

[Rob] Isk, the Maimed and Rebuilt the disillusioned adherent, insectoid brought back from death with forbidden tech and filled with his children

Covertly d6
Directly d12
For myself d10
For others d6
With love d4
With violence d8
Unleash children, by entering into a harmonizing trance to connect with one's swarm of insect bots to assault and assail
- PCs: With violence
- NPCs: Action
- Far-reaching: his children can travel throughout his local area
- Its die is a d8
It's in Isk's best interests to...
- stop the princess from entering the temple of the Noble Mantis
- harmonize with the Technopath

Non-Player Characters

Snivil Gabbuh, the Temple Master, influential within the religion, but neutral within this conflict

Action d6, d4
Maneuvering d10, d6
Self-protection d12, d8
It's in Snivil Gabbuh's best interests to...
- preserve the independence of the Temple of the Noble Mantis

Nameless Guard, who has a crush

Action d12, d8
Maneuvering d10, d6
Self-protection d6, d4

Notes

Hivvand, destination planet.

Galapagos. An independently operated freighter. All of the PCs but for Anka travelling aboard.

Cooper came to KQ's attention because he was smuggling off-world clothes against the planet's protectionist policies.

Isk wants to avoid drawing special attention to his cyborg nature. KQ wants to avoid being seen by Anka.

KQ has a travelling home in a case. PortaPad. Inertial dampeners. Luxurious, though not at the standard of her home palace.

Anka discovers the case. KQ is taken to diplomatic custody. Ken is taken to the brig.

KQ escapes from custody, but has to abandon her case.

Ken escapes from the brig by distracting the guard with a love note.

Ken hacks Anka’s electronic clipboard.

Race to the temple. A freestanding stepped pyramid with a pair of giant mantis statues alongside.

Snivil is mortally wounded and dying, but not yet dead.

Anka is knocked out for the remainder of the fight.

Kid Quasar frees the insect drones, except for her new mount, and one kept by Ken Cooper. Isk runs away in the chaos, vowing revenge. The temple agrees to support the princess's planet in the war.

Oracles

http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=In_a_Wicked_Age#Fan_Oracles

Selected options:
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Superhero_Oracle_-_Modern
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Hellboy_BPRD_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Modern_Occult_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Paranormal_Spy-Thriller_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Noir_Oracle_-_Down_These_Mean_Streets
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Pulp_Oracle_-_I_Love_A_Mystery

Superhero

Ace of Cyan: She takes up the mantle of a fallen hero, desperate to make a difference
Two of Cyan: A young man discovers his birthright and the mask and cape that go with it
Three of Cyan: By day they are lovers; by night they are on other sides of the law. Neither knows the other's secret
Four of Cyan: An alien civilization bestows a gift of great power to an ordinary youth
Five of Cyan: Changed by radiation, she manifests strange powers of the mind
Six of Cyan: He is the only surviving volunteer of a genetic experiment. They wonder how long until he realizes they can't control him
Seven of Cyan: His power is in the suit
Eight of Cyan: He was content with being the sidekick until the Crisis
Nine of Cyan: A masked woman seeks glory and fame
Ten of Cyan: The millionaire playboy finds his true calling among the rooftops, beating up petty criminals
Jack of Cyan: She came to this planet only recently and tries to fit in
Queen of Cyan: Their costumes are mirror images of each other; they can never touch
King of Cyan: He uses future tech here in the past to avert the apocalypse
Ace of Magenta: Alarms from the downtown district echo in the city streets
Two of Magenta: A mysterious craft appears over the city
Three of Magenta: A three-alarm fire in the slum district
Four of Magenta: A jumper on the bridge
Five of Magenta: The visiting jewelry display at the museum provides a tempting target
Six of Magenta: A strange visitor from another world arrives in the city with a portent of danger
Seven of Magenta: A rift in time disgorges villains from the past
Eight of Magenta: A cry for help turns out to be a trap for our heroes
Nine of Magenta: A gathering of heroes and villains from around the world
Ten of Magenta: The intrepid reporter love interest is in trouble again
Jack of Magenta: A gathering of the world's brightest minds
Queen of Magenta: The test of a military weapon goes horribly wrong
King of Magenta: A government crackdown on costumed vigilantes
Ace of Yellow: An underground lair, filled with trophies
Two of Yellow: A penthouse apartment with a secret room
Three of Yellow: The warehouse by the docks, not as abandoned as one might think
Four of Yellow: An orbiting satellite, hidden from the world
Five of Yellow: A flying fortress, invisible to radar
Six of Yellow: The abandoned subway station, never completed and forgotten, now has a new use
Seven of Yellow: Beneath the river, a underwater habitat
Eight of Yellow: The sign on the building read CONDEMNED, but inside they met
Nine of Yellow: The rooftops of the block were all interconnected and had convenient shadows
Ten of Yellow: The Gothic cathedral had been undergoing renovations for years; a hidden rooftop entrance was all the security she needed
Jack of Yellow: Under the ice, the crashed spaceship lies
Queen of Yellow: The futuristic city on the Moon, shielded from prying eyes
King of Yellow: The abandoned government bunker, deep in the mountain
Ace of Black: His parents murdered, he sets off on a complicated method of revenge
Two of Black: He isn't fueled by hatred, he is Hatred
Three of Black: A trio of villains plot their revenge on the hero that did them wrong
Four of Black: She finds committing the perfect crime thrilling
Five of Black: Just one more big score, and he can retire to that island paradise
Six of Black: The parasitic hive-mind seeks hosts
Seven of Black: Who is behind the robot army?
Eight of Black: Two villains, after the same score, work against each other
Nine of Black: A vain billionaire wishes to control the nation
Ten of Black: A vast organization of masked terrorists plots to overthrow all world governments
Jack of Black: An immortal villain wages a secret war against all that is good
Queen of Black: They saved Hitler's brain!
King of Black: He's a former hero, driven mad by the loss of a loved one
Joker: A museum devoted to gigantic props.

Space Opera

A galaxy on the cusp of open war
An interplanetary cold war, threatening to turn hot in an instant
A runaway experiment, with strange, inexplicable powers
An ancient weapon of mass destruction, left behind by a forgotten race
An eccentric inventor, on the run from a dangerous corporate empire
A distress signal, with no apparent source
A small community of Christians, humans and alien converts, on the aliens' home planet
A blue skinned orphan fleeing an arranged marriage to her elderly tutor
Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket
An alien princess asking for asylum
A young fertile planet with a newly awakened consciousness
The rotting hulk of a spaceship, flagship of the old empire, found at the end of a beacon
A gunship sold at the end of war into private hands
A daring young explorer, fresh from her stint at the academy, eager to prove herself and taking on all comers
A sassy spelunker looking for an alien god's heart in the depths of a planet made up entirely of millions of space ship derelicts that have accreted over time
A crew of rogues, led by a former war hero
A young doctor, throwing away a promising career over a deadly secret
A smuggler of dubious repute, only interested in a quick payday
An expert assassin, laying low after a botched job
The universally famous monarch, hiding as a citizen of no consequence
A brilliant scientist, racing against time to find a cure for her affliction
The galactic savior-child stolen by pirates who want a planet as ransom
A stranded alien, trying to get back to its own people
A military AI, trying to override its destructive programming
The first settlers on a newly terraformed frontier world
A group of freedom-fighters, waging a desperate war against a tyrannical government
A secret technology, unearthed by an archaeologist on the homeworld of a long-dead race
A cryptic warning, left behind by an extinct alien race
The last survivor of a brutal attack, by a previously unknown race
A young woman, selected via lottery by an alien power
A wayward traveler, hopping between the stars after his homeworld was destroyed
An accidental immortal, bored with life, who has become obsessed with carrying out some mundane task
A group of alien scientists, trying to recover their lost data, possibly by vivisection
An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent
The first interspecies child is born
A colony of refugees in an asteroid belt

Firefly

The body guard of a powerful black market supplier.
An assortment of medicines bound for a rim world on the verge of an epidemic.
A female mercenary, small and cunning.
The arrival of a Reaver raiding party on a peaceful, rim world.
A crew of rival smugglers, here to help.
A displaced Alliance tactician full of self-loathing.
A destroyed township and its silent survivors.
A tattooed monk, fearsome in battle.
A squad of veteran Alliance soldiers.
An abandoned fort used as a base for a group of bandits.
A bounty hunter who has lost his way in the face of revenge.
A judge in a lawless land.
A band of brigands demanding tribute, and their spoils so far.
A religious community who believes in abducting those who can better their existence.
A cache of military weapons, and the jealous man who found them.
The captain and crew of a transport forced into servitude because of a job gone bad.
An ident card signifying its carrier has priority Alliance access.
A man in a brown coat drinking alone in a bar on unification day.
A doctor with a prejudice against the affluent.
An Alliance agent who has gone AWOL.
A wave describing an uprising intercepted by an Alliance cruiser.
The son of a town’s oppressive leader longing for change.
A herd of stolen cattle needing to be sold.
An abandoned Alliance checkpoint.
A woman with a gun, and a hatred of the Alliance.
A daughter accused of killing her father, the mayor.
An abandoned Independent blockade runner.
A pilot with a thirst for close calls.
A drought, crushing a farms existence, and the irrigation committee demanding too much for relief.
A core world politician on the run to the rim.
A space station locked down until the killer of a high ranking official can be found.
The mayor of a dusty town, and his group of murderous enforcers.
An alliance operative searching for an escaped reader.
A legendary gambler being hunted by Alliance agents due to his ability to seemingly read others thoughts
A mining community desperate for income discovers live ordinance from an Alliance patrol boat.
A self serving mercenary looking for work.
The shepherd who lost his flock.
A purveyor of stolen goods, who had his goods stolen.
A registered companion tired of her work.
A bounty hunter on the trail of his relative.
An exiled sheriff looking for acceptance.
A crime boss famed for his torture of those who fail, calls upon a debt owed.
A member of the syndicate willing to tell all.
A Reaver warship approaching a space station.
The captain of a lost ship, and a lost crew, searching for forgiveness.
A brash young engineer, with a knack for biting off more than they can chew.
A trigger happy crew member who forgot the loot in favor of shooting folks up.
A bandit camp, deserted hastily.
A bar full of patrons, robbed by a group of women.
An angry man desperate to hide the parentage of a whore’s child.
A former independent soldier mourning the death of his wife due to an Alliance experiment.
A group of rebels waiting to strike at the Alliance.
A young girl, naked, packed into a cryogenic box for transport.
An antique laser pistol, the last of it's kind.
A beautiful con artist, pretending to be an innocent.
A pair of emotionless men, wearing blue gloves, on Alliance business.
An Alliance cruiser, on the lookout for scavengers.
A Browncoat veteran, down on his luck, involved in a dangerous scheme.
A fake distress beacon.

Lovecraftian Horror

a strange piece of jewelry, like nothing else on earth
a color never seen before on earth beautiful, terrible, and totally alien
an ancient and decrepit manor, once the site of blasphemous rituals, now a young noble's summer project
a mirror that shows people their true and terrible form
a meteor, cool to the touch and shrinking with each passing day
a vision of an ancient city, whose gleaming spires no mortal has ever laid eyes upon
a cursed city on the shores of lake Hali, in the Hyades
a travelling dreamer, searching for answers in the realms of slumber
a coastal church, half-sunk in the ocean. There is the light of candles within
a curious color beyond the capacity of human sight
a drop of milky fluid that splashes onto your hand from an unknown source
a dusty workman passed in the street, his eyes briefly flashing with fear before he masters himself
a fair and beautiful lady, with a hopeless, distant gaze
a hotel bellman, his goatlike eyes spaced too far apart
a package addressed to you in a wavering hand
a pasty-faced young man, standing in the still morning mist of a churchyard
a rat that regards you with a sort of simian intelligence before darting away
a rusty key marked with a sigil that fills you with inexplicable dread
a side-street of dour tenements, never found again
a small laboratory, the walls lined with shelves crowded with phials and bottles of diverse concoctions
a sudden awareness that you know something so terrible you've buried the memory of what it was
a sudden clang, drawing your attention to a small metal object on the floor
a trail of noisome slime on a dusty window-pane
a word in an unknown language that chills the blood when heard
frenzied music from an unknown source
the peculiar smell of a cabin which has been wet with sea-water
the redolence of newly-turned earth
the shadow of an unknown thing, curdling the air as it draws inexorably closer
the shadow of something in flight, its proportions wrong for a bird
the sickly-sweet smell of decaying fruit
the wan light of a gibbous moon
vague shapes undulating deep beneath the water