The Dreamers
A Marvel Heroic Roleplaying campaign.
Session I: Introductory Session
Our first session in the Dreamer campaign consisted of three individual “origin” type scenes, establishing a sort of background for each character. Rose Thorn’s (my character) introductory scene is presented below.
Gumdrop’s introductory scene consists or her waking up, freaking out to find she’s a Dreamer (mostly due to her body having been dramatically altered, composed now of some super-durable gelatin-like substance). She calls her mother, suffers emotional stress from conflict with her (her mother insisting she turn herself in to the authorities and Gumdrop very much not wanting to do that). Gumdrop soon hangs up on her mother in order to avoid further emotional stress but finds in the interim that witnesses in the building across the street from her apartment complex have spotted her and called the cops.
She barricades her apartment but ends up in a short confrontation with the police when they break in, holding them off for a bit until STAR agents arrive. They take her down pretty quickly and she’s taken into custody, transported to the detention facility for processing and ends up in the Southeastern Metahuman Reservation in South Carolina (aka “Summerville“).
Paladin is a marine deployed in Afghanistan and, like Gumdrop, not one of the original Dreamers. He has his dream nearly two years after the initial wave of Dreamers appeared. Furthermore, he wakes from his dream entirely unaware that he even has any super-powers at first…until he’s involved in a firefight with Muslim extremists two days later, just when he’s beginning to suspect as much. It becomes obvious to him then that he’s a Dreamer after wiping out his unit’s attackers almost single-handedly (his introductory scene dominated by that firefight).
Being a dutiful soldier and a patriotic citizen, he turns himself in to his superiors immediately. By this time (two years ago) the US government was just beginning to recover from its shock and the clumsy initial management of the situation, and have already begun considering ways to take advantage of the Metahuman phenomenon. He’s recruited and readily agrees to take part in the Metahuman Initiative, a joint Defense Department and Justice Department project utilizing “Dreamer” volunteers for military training and law enforcement roles. Especially, at first, in relation to apprehending criminal, domestic terrorist and even foreign Dreamers. He joins STAR and is stationed in Summerville, tasked with recruiting a couple of Dreamers to explore their utility in combating domestic threats. He’s one of many Dreamer STAR agents doing the same in all four Metahuman Reservations.
Rose Thorn’s introductory scene went something like this…
Rose Thorn -
Setting: Rose started her introductory scene at the local bank. Having just received her first big check from her breakout role in an action flick (one already doing amazingly well at the box office), she’s looking to upgrade her account. Things are definitely looking up for her and her agent has already fielded several offers, two of which look extremely promising. There’s talk of Academy Award nominations…
Unlike Gumdrop and Paladin, Rose actually is one of the original Dreamers and woke to find herself possessing superpowers years ago. She's been hiding that fact all along, not to mention using her abilities to land the acting role she's currently celebrating.
Hook: Eight thugs burst into the bank, wearing ski masks and gas masks. Yelling, threatening and waving guns around, they begin robbing the tellers and manhandling the manager to get at the vault.
Action: Rose takes the lead in the action scene, reaching out with her pheromone emotion control where she’s lays face down with the other patrons. Seeking to evoke a feeling of despair in the 3 thugs she can effect (those without gas masks), she hopes to slow them down enough for her to figure some way to contact the police.
Rose uses her Flashy distinction at d4 both to reflect her attempt to be circumspect about it and to get a Plot Point. She gets the Plot Point but she utterly fails to influence any of the thugs. They simply continue with the robbery, unaware anything has happened at all. Two of them escort the bank manager to the vault, two continue robbing the tellers and two keep an eye on the patrons, threatening them with guns.
Rose tries again, using the Plot Point she just earned for a plain old d6 Push. This time with her Psych Master specialty and speaking right out loud to the thugs to back it up. She lands an Extraordinary Success. Her charismatic and convincing oratory overwhelms the thugs (those without gas masks) and they immediately bemoan the utter hopelessness of the situation. They’re emotionally stressed out and Rose doesn’t pull any punches, letting them take d6 emotional trauma as well.
One of the gas-masked thugs is at the vault but the two others are working the tellers. They react to all of this with aggression toward Rose, threatening to shoot her if she doesn’t shut up, and threatening the three other thugs as well. They even begin talking about shooting one of the patrons to regain control of the situation…
Rose hits the pheromones again, going after the same three non-gas mask wearing thugs, to get them angry with the other three. This time not speaking and relying on Covert but still using her Psych specialty. That combined with activating an opportunity the Watcher rolled results in an all-out gunfight between the two thug factions in the bank. Three on three, with Watcher adding a new scene distinction: Thug Gunfight.
One of the gas-masked thugs in the fight then hears police sirens approaching and panics, grabs a hostage and makes for the rear of the building to escape. Rose is conflicted, not sure whether to give chase or stay and try to mitigate the damage from the gunfight she‘s caused. She decides to stay for a moment to see what she can do in the bank, then give chase before the fleeing thug gets too far away with the hostage.
The thugs fight, with the two remaining gas masked thugs shot, physically stressed out and in trauma, as well as one of the non-gas masked thugs. The remaining non-gas masked thug is a little stressed but still active. So Rose hits him with another despair effect, spending a PP on a simple d6 Push. She fails, drops a Plot Point to prop it up with an extra die in the total and with that the last thug is filled with despair. As the cops are showing up, he throws down his weapon, cries like a baby and prepares to surrender…while the other four are too injured to do much but lay there and bleed.
Rose takes off after the fleeing thug with the hostage, with Watcher helpfully jumping the scene to the street outside where the police having arrived and a news chopper is already in the air observing.
Panicked to find her chasing him, stuck between she and the police, the thug opens fire on her! Since the scene is intended to reveal Rose as a Dreamer, she utilizes her Flight trait and Smile for the Camera distinction in her reaction. The thug misses but Rose is now flittering around in the air, very obviously a Dreamer to all the witnesses, including the news chopper overhead.
Rose fires back at the thug, using her Thorn attack since there’s no point in holding back anymore, but she misses. When the thug then fires back at Rose again this prompts the police on the scene to finally get it together and react. They’re prepared to open fire on the thug when their turn comes around.
Rose then spends a Plot Point to activate an opportunity of Watcher’s and seizes the police on the scene as an asset, firing back while using the distraction of the police yelling out warnings that they’re about to open fire. Rose hits, dropping physical stress on the thug that immediately stresses him out and inflicts d6 Physical Trauma.
The Watcher closes the scene, describing a brave police officer nearby taking the opportunity to tackle the thug when he drops his gun and loosens his grip on the hostage.
Rose stays on hand to answer questions, already knowing she’s about to be taken into custody. Once the thugs are all detained, the local police do just that. She spends a few hours at the local police station, segregated from the other suspects until STAR agents come and claim her. She’s then transferred to the federal metahuman detention facility upstate for processing, eventually ending up at “Summerville” along with Gumdrop. Where, Watcher tells us, Paladin will be on hand to recruit both of us into one of Summerville’s new Dreamer squads.
A Marvel Heroic Roleplaying campaign.
Session I: Introductory Session
Our first session in the Dreamer campaign consisted of three individual “origin” type scenes, establishing a sort of background for each character. Rose Thorn’s (my character) introductory scene is presented below.
Gumdrop’s introductory scene consists or her waking up, freaking out to find she’s a Dreamer (mostly due to her body having been dramatically altered, composed now of some super-durable gelatin-like substance). She calls her mother, suffers emotional stress from conflict with her (her mother insisting she turn herself in to the authorities and Gumdrop very much not wanting to do that). Gumdrop soon hangs up on her mother in order to avoid further emotional stress but finds in the interim that witnesses in the building across the street from her apartment complex have spotted her and called the cops.
She barricades her apartment but ends up in a short confrontation with the police when they break in, holding them off for a bit until STAR agents arrive. They take her down pretty quickly and she’s taken into custody, transported to the detention facility for processing and ends up in the Southeastern Metahuman Reservation in South Carolina (aka “Summerville“).
Paladin is a marine deployed in Afghanistan and, like Gumdrop, not one of the original Dreamers. He has his dream nearly two years after the initial wave of Dreamers appeared. Furthermore, he wakes from his dream entirely unaware that he even has any super-powers at first…until he’s involved in a firefight with Muslim extremists two days later, just when he’s beginning to suspect as much. It becomes obvious to him then that he’s a Dreamer after wiping out his unit’s attackers almost single-handedly (his introductory scene dominated by that firefight).
Being a dutiful soldier and a patriotic citizen, he turns himself in to his superiors immediately. By this time (two years ago) the US government was just beginning to recover from its shock and the clumsy initial management of the situation, and have already begun considering ways to take advantage of the Metahuman phenomenon. He’s recruited and readily agrees to take part in the Metahuman Initiative, a joint Defense Department and Justice Department project utilizing “Dreamer” volunteers for military training and law enforcement roles. Especially, at first, in relation to apprehending criminal, domestic terrorist and even foreign Dreamers. He joins STAR and is stationed in Summerville, tasked with recruiting a couple of Dreamers to explore their utility in combating domestic threats. He’s one of many Dreamer STAR agents doing the same in all four Metahuman Reservations.
Rose Thorn’s introductory scene went something like this…
Rose Thorn -
Setting: Rose started her introductory scene at the local bank. Having just received her first big check from her breakout role in an action flick (one already doing amazingly well at the box office), she’s looking to upgrade her account. Things are definitely looking up for her and her agent has already fielded several offers, two of which look extremely promising. There’s talk of Academy Award nominations…
Unlike Gumdrop and Paladin, Rose actually is one of the original Dreamers and woke to find herself possessing superpowers years ago. She's been hiding that fact all along, not to mention using her abilities to land the acting role she's currently celebrating.
Hook: Eight thugs burst into the bank, wearing ski masks and gas masks. Yelling, threatening and waving guns around, they begin robbing the tellers and manhandling the manager to get at the vault.
Action: Rose takes the lead in the action scene, reaching out with her pheromone emotion control where she’s lays face down with the other patrons. Seeking to evoke a feeling of despair in the 3 thugs she can effect (those without gas masks), she hopes to slow them down enough for her to figure some way to contact the police.
Rose uses her Flashy distinction at d4 both to reflect her attempt to be circumspect about it and to get a Plot Point. She gets the Plot Point but she utterly fails to influence any of the thugs. They simply continue with the robbery, unaware anything has happened at all. Two of them escort the bank manager to the vault, two continue robbing the tellers and two keep an eye on the patrons, threatening them with guns.
Rose tries again, using the Plot Point she just earned for a plain old d6 Push. This time with her Psych Master specialty and speaking right out loud to the thugs to back it up. She lands an Extraordinary Success. Her charismatic and convincing oratory overwhelms the thugs (those without gas masks) and they immediately bemoan the utter hopelessness of the situation. They’re emotionally stressed out and Rose doesn’t pull any punches, letting them take d6 emotional trauma as well.
One of the gas-masked thugs is at the vault but the two others are working the tellers. They react to all of this with aggression toward Rose, threatening to shoot her if she doesn’t shut up, and threatening the three other thugs as well. They even begin talking about shooting one of the patrons to regain control of the situation…
Rose hits the pheromones again, going after the same three non-gas mask wearing thugs, to get them angry with the other three. This time not speaking and relying on Covert but still using her Psych specialty. That combined with activating an opportunity the Watcher rolled results in an all-out gunfight between the two thug factions in the bank. Three on three, with Watcher adding a new scene distinction: Thug Gunfight.
One of the gas-masked thugs in the fight then hears police sirens approaching and panics, grabs a hostage and makes for the rear of the building to escape. Rose is conflicted, not sure whether to give chase or stay and try to mitigate the damage from the gunfight she‘s caused. She decides to stay for a moment to see what she can do in the bank, then give chase before the fleeing thug gets too far away with the hostage.
The thugs fight, with the two remaining gas masked thugs shot, physically stressed out and in trauma, as well as one of the non-gas masked thugs. The remaining non-gas masked thug is a little stressed but still active. So Rose hits him with another despair effect, spending a PP on a simple d6 Push. She fails, drops a Plot Point to prop it up with an extra die in the total and with that the last thug is filled with despair. As the cops are showing up, he throws down his weapon, cries like a baby and prepares to surrender…while the other four are too injured to do much but lay there and bleed.
Rose takes off after the fleeing thug with the hostage, with Watcher helpfully jumping the scene to the street outside where the police having arrived and a news chopper is already in the air observing.
Panicked to find her chasing him, stuck between she and the police, the thug opens fire on her! Since the scene is intended to reveal Rose as a Dreamer, she utilizes her Flight trait and Smile for the Camera distinction in her reaction. The thug misses but Rose is now flittering around in the air, very obviously a Dreamer to all the witnesses, including the news chopper overhead.
Rose fires back at the thug, using her Thorn attack since there’s no point in holding back anymore, but she misses. When the thug then fires back at Rose again this prompts the police on the scene to finally get it together and react. They’re prepared to open fire on the thug when their turn comes around.
Rose then spends a Plot Point to activate an opportunity of Watcher’s and seizes the police on the scene as an asset, firing back while using the distraction of the police yelling out warnings that they’re about to open fire. Rose hits, dropping physical stress on the thug that immediately stresses him out and inflicts d6 Physical Trauma.
The Watcher closes the scene, describing a brave police officer nearby taking the opportunity to tackle the thug when he drops his gun and loosens his grip on the hostage.
Rose stays on hand to answer questions, already knowing she’s about to be taken into custody. Once the thugs are all detained, the local police do just that. She spends a few hours at the local police station, segregated from the other suspects until STAR agents come and claim her. She’s then transferred to the federal metahuman detention facility upstate for processing, eventually ending up at “Summerville” along with Gumdrop. Where, Watcher tells us, Paladin will be on hand to recruit both of us into one of Summerville’s new Dreamer squads.