Characters have arrived at the Appoquinimink Library (traffic was heavy due to a big political rally on the other side of town) in response to a MeetUp invite from a user named “BusyBody04” for a group called “Self-made Superheroes”, to discuss getting started at heroism, complain about the licensing process, etc. There’s a minivan in the parking lot labeled “Busybody Cleaning Services” with a picture of a vacuum and feather duster on the side.
When they arrive there’s a little confusion about which public room has been reserved for their group, so they have a few minutes to wander the first floor of the building & become familiar with the layout.
Characters meet BusyBody, a 30-something woman dressed in what could best be described as a 1950s June-Cleaver housewife dress, complete with and apron and the letters “BB” on the front of the dress. She carries a curiously large purse. Also present is Vinny from the Bronx, a Hispanic-Italian man clad in armor similar to police riot gear.
BB introduces herself in a very Minnesota-housewife-y voice as the organizer of the group and asks everyone to go around the table to introduce themselves (“No secret identities please, superhero names only!”) and say something about why they’ve come.
(At this point have players take turns introducing their characters.)
Vinny’s intro after PCs are done:
“I’m Vinny from the Bronx.”
BB Interrupts, “Superhero names only!”
V: “That is my superhero name. I, ah, just kinda figure there’s enough bad guys out there that sooner or later everybody’s gonna be a victim, so I’m just tryin’ ta even the odds a little before they get around ta me. As far as my superpowers, I got this experimental paramilitary armor I’m wearin’, plus an energy blaster rifle out in the car. Can’t say where they came from, but let’s just say sometimes I know a guy who owes me a favor, he knows a guy who owes him a favor, etc. Swap a few favors and lubricate the process with a little cash passed to the right hands, and you’d be surprised what can be disappeared from a top secret facility.”
Before BB can start her intro, sirens are heard in the distance. A crash sounds from somewhere out in the main library. As they get up to investigate, something starts pounding slowly but steadily at the door (which is odd because it’s unlocked).
BB pulls three dresses from her purse and hands one each to the three people nearest her, saying, “Hold these for me a sec, if you don’t mind.” Then her shape loses cohesion for a moment and she oozes tendrils into each of the three dresses, which then coalesce into copies of herself (4 total).
She opens the door to an unarmed zombie (not really undead, but acting in a zombie-ish fashion as if brainwashed), which says “Looock heerrr uuup” before all four copies of BB punch it.
Once zombie #1 is defeated characters go out into the main library room and find five more unarmed zombies making general mischief and threatening three librarians who are crouched behind the checkout desk. (“The zombies seem to intrinsically sense that the books are dangerous to them, yet appear even more confused than usual in their presence”)
At this point, characters goals are:
1) Protect/rescue the librarians
2) Defeat the zombies
3) Cause minimal collateral damage
(This should not be too difficult)
After this battle, BB suggests they go outside to see if there any other zombies lurking about. Characters exit to the parking lot (open space with 19” wide x 8” high library front wall behind characters; scattered vehicles, including Vinny’s car parked a few rows back), where full group of 16 zombies are passing by. Biker zombie spots characters & calls attention to them. Zombies march toward characters in 3 clusters with largest in center; a group of 3 is between chars and Vinny’s car, biker zombie is in a group of 5 farthest from characters. Smoke is rising from several points in the distance.
After initiative rolls but before combat begins, police helicopter flies by. Characters hear the famous battle cry, “If you’d like to see more heroics like these in the future, please consider a donation to my Patreon page!” Captain Generica (member of Protectors’ East Coast division) leaps from passing copter and attacks front ranks of nearest zombies (the largest group). Main group’s attention is turned on him until characters attack them.
Characters’ goals:
1) Get Vinny to his car so he can retrieve his rifle
2) Defeat 9 or more regular zombies + biker zombie (rest will flee at this point)
3) Capt Generica must survive
After battle, Capt. G talks to them: “I’ve never heard of you guys but I talked to the librarians you rescued – it looks like you handled yourselves pretty well for rookies. I’ll pass on your names to my team in case they need backup in the area or have minor missions you can handle for them.”
If asked how he will contact them without contact info, he’ll reply, “Oh, trust me, we can find you. That won’t be a problem.”
If asked for sponsorship: “Not based on a single encounter, but my team will be keeping half an eye on you for a while to see how you do. Maybe we can work something out once you get a little more real-world experience.”
As he boards police copter to fly away, he calls out, “Don’t forget the kickstarter for the Captain Generica Battle Action Replica Shield with Simulated Combat Sound Effects ends in two weeks – there’s still time to invest!”
Notes
This is the first of a gradual series of descriptions of the MP campaign I’ve been taking my players through. I’ve divided them up into a chapter format and will likely present them here in something close to the shorthand I use for my own reference when planning them, cleaned up a little so they make more sense to people who aren’t me.
This chapter’s name is, of course, taken from a chapter name in The Lord of the Rings. I’m enough of a Tolkien geek that I can’t resist the occasional reference here and there.
The layout of the library referenced here was based on the actual building size taken from information on a county website and my (flawed but workable) memory of the layout inside.
This chapter was heavy with relatively weak henchmen and no real superpowered foes; it was deliberately made fairly easy as a warm-up since we were all new to the game. The “zombies” were all basically “normals” (non-powered individuals with basic stats as described in the MP rules) carrying a random smattering of the example weapons listed under the “special weapon” power in the rulebook.
How It Played Out
While my intentions were to make this one easy, it turned out to be entirely too easy. The imbalance created by letting BB allocate so many points into a single power (duplication), combined with her ability to absorb most of the kinetic damage being thrown at her, gave her the ability to keep a large number of opponents engaged while taking (and doing) little damage herself. PCs wisely took advantage of this to pile on the remaining zombies and take them down quickly, effectively turning BB into the equivalent of an MMO “tank”… and I very much want to avoid falling into typical MMO tropes.
While BB tilted the scales too far, Captain Generica picked up the scales and proceeded to rapid-fire skull-bash his opponents into submission with them. There was nothing on the game surface he couldn’t essentially one-shot, and nothing could hit him without rolling a 1. (Lower rolls hit in MP and 1 always hits.) The zombies were essentially trying to karate-chop Godzilla.
Lessons Learned
- For now when I use higher-powered NPCs, they’ll be relegated to advisory roles or will take part in scripted “off-screen” action to drive the story without turning the PCs’ efforts into a cakewalk.
- I considered revising BB, but I have some specific story-related plans for her that are somewhat tied to the number of duplicates she can make of herself… so for the moment I’ll have to try to find other ways to manage the imbalance she creates
- I knew I’d need to gradually ramp up my henchmen / villain mix to find a better balance, but I probably need to do so a little faster than I’d initially planned. Conveniently, Chapter 2 is set to include several villains and a set of henchmen who are better/consistently armed and lightly armored.