The Longshoreman and Stevedore's Union (LSU) is on strike and picketing at the docks. Talks between the union and the Ocean Transportation Alliance (OTA) have broken down. The OTA represents a number of large shipping companies. There are a host of issues that are being discussed but there has been very little compromise, especially on the side of the union, who feels that they hold all of the aces.
The OTA is losing a lot of money every day and are fed up with the union demands and inflexible stance and have about decided to take matters into their own hands. They are threatening to hire non-union workers to unload their ships. The union, of course, is outraged and the rhetoric in the media is escalating daily and has now reached the level of violent threats should "scabs" attempt to unload any ships.
At 8 am on a Monday morning, five buses arrive at Pier 48 on Wrecker's Island in the East River. The buses are filled with non-union workers (aka "scabs") who will start unloading the Maria Ventor, a large cargo ship currently docked at Pier 48. Rumours that the OTA had scabs on the way to Pier 48 have resulted in a large number of angry picketers outside the pier. Police, who were also aware of the rumours, are on hand to keep the peace. The mood is very tense and the threat of violence hangs in the air.
The Silver Chancellor has asked the League of Justice to be on hand (in disguise) in case violence ensues that is beyond the capabilities of the police to handle. There have always been rumors of links between some of the big unions and organized crime and the Silver Chancellor is fairly certain that the LSU is controlled by VIPER.
GM: Green Knight, Indigo Baron, Iron Duke, Violet Duchess and White Lady are among the picketers. You are not in super hero ID. To change will require a full phase action if you do not have Instant Change.
GM: Take your time in deciding where your characters are going to be on Wrecker's Island. You are posing as picketers so there are some limitations.
WHITE LADY: White Lady, who was currently dressed all in black leather, whipped out her iPhone to do a bit of quick research. First she called up news articles to see pictures of the protestors. "Hmm, not a lot of women there. My biker leathers should fit in reasonably well, but not the helmet. Next she called up a satellite view of the area from Google.
WHITE LADY (GM): Let me know if my assumptions about how to dress to blend in are incorrect.
WHITE LADY: White Lady made use of her recent tactics training to take charge of the meeting. "OK, I don't wear a mask, so all I need to do is ice up and I'm ready to go. I also can discreetly give someone a case of hypothermia with just a touch. My problem will be staying out of ice form for any length of time. If you remember, while waiting for the signal to go I was switching back and forth between normal and ice forms. The more heat I absorb, the longer I stay normal, to a max of about 4 hours. But the longer I can stay normal, the less time I stay in Ice form freezing things."
WHITE LADY: "What about the rest of you? Can you do anything discretely without changing? Do you care if camera's see your face? In any case I suggest leaving any identification at home to make it harder to identify you if things go sour."
INDIGO BARON: (GM) IB would position himself at the back of the crowd, where he can see what’s going on and where he can change with little chance of being noticed. He is dressed in a jeans jacket, faded flannel shirt and jeans, worn ‘wolverine’ brand work boots and a NASCAR ‘gimme cap’. To further the disguise, he hasn’t shaved in several days.
GREEN KNIGHT: Same with Green Knight. He wants to be where he can see what is going on, but can get somewhere quickly to change into Legion uniform.
GM: I've placed counters for everyone on the map. Go ahead and place yourself where you want to be. Also, if you have a better image to use for your token, send it to me and I will make a new token. The have the Token Tool so I can make pretty much any image into a token.
WHITE LADY: Since she can transform instantly, she'll be up towards the front where she might be able to slow things down long enough for the others to get into action. As for figures, the one you have works. What might be closer is one of the images of Killer Frost in something resembling a swim suit (her normal costume though not what she's wearing today). It's not that she wears white, but that her skin and hair are white (from being covered in frost). But white clothes is readily identifiable :-)
GM: In looking at White Lady, I see that she has a secret ID but I am not seeing Instant Change as a power on her sheet. If she really can change instantly, then you will need to buy Instant Change. Otherwise it will take her a full phase to assume full superhero identity, which basically means hiding her features. If she does not assume superhero ID, then it is assumed that her superhero features (usually facial) can be easily associated with her secret ID.
VIOLET DUCHESS: Heh, didn't realize Violet Duchess was so HOT!! :)
VIOLET DUCHESS: Also, what are the protesters wearing in general? What time of year is it? Will we have our radios on and connected?
VIOLET DUCHESS (GM): Can you explain the hero id issue a bit more? Is it that we don't want to be seen using our powers unless we're in our legion outfits? As far as I know, Fiona can use all of her powers regardless of what she's wearing. Her kevlar would be the exception if say she was dressed in a swimsuit. I'm going to assume that whatever 'picketer' outfit I'm wearing that my legion suit and kevlar are beneath it.
WHITE LADY: As I understand 5th Edition, instant change only applies to changing cloths. Changes that are side effects of activating powers happen when the power activates taking no additional time (usually 0 phase action). I remember seeing an example where activating Armor was a 0 phase action, which is what White Lady would be doing. Other than turning white (hair and skin covered with frost), she doesn't have any way to hide her facial features.
WHITE LADY: What she normally does to hide her ID is change her hair style with a hair clip. Not a disguise, but adds a little difference. When she knows she's going into action (like now), she leaves her ID behind so if she's knocked out she can't be positively identified. For impromptu heroics (such as putting helping with a fire on the way to the office), she leaves on her motorcycle helmet with it's tinted face shield. Mostly she's counting on no one suspecting that she's a superhero. One thing she does is not have any association between her IDs (like Clark Kent knowing how to contact Superman). The one person who would be most likely to figure things out (her secretary) already knows and helps cover for her absences.
WHITE LADY: In this situation, she'll have her hair already in the heroic style and will have left her ID behind. She'll try to avoid making contact with other picketers or doing anything memorable, trying to stay unnoticed. She'll probably fail at this, but hopefully not completely. She'll be wearing her heroic costume underneath her biker leathers, so that if she does have time to change she can do so quickly (full phase). But if the situation goes sour, the team needs someone who can respond quickly. She's not happy about it, but she seems to be the best person for the job. Her powers are good for slowing people down, hopefully buying time for the others to respond.
WHITE LADY: Bottom line, her secret ID can't stand up to scrutiny, a detailed analysis of facial structures would show a full match. Not proof positive (I don't know how unique facial features are in a large city), but probably enough for any villain hunting her. She protects her secret ID primarily by avoiding scrutiny, by not being seen by the same people. That way the most she gets (hopefully) is a "You look like that hero on TV", which she can agree with.
WHITE LADY: One last thought. If she has time before this mission, she'll stop be a thrift store and pick up cloths other than what she would normally be seen wearing. Normally she's dressed in business attire, black leather (while driving bike), or sweats (while working out). Casual cloths will fit in much better with the picketers, and not be so easily connected with her secret ID.
GM: In looking at White Lady, I see that she has a secret ID but I am not seeing Instant Change as a power on her sheet. If she really can change instantly, then you will need to buy Instant Change. Otherwise it will take her a full phase to assume full superhero identity, which basically means hiding her features. If she does not assume superhero ID, then it is assumed that her superhero features (usually facial) can be easily associated with her secret ID.
VIOLET DUCHESS: So I guess I have more of a role-playing question then. Does the legion want us in uniform before using our powers? From VD's standpoint she's probably best laying low until things get crazy. Given that she's prone to being mobbed, she would want to keep hidden. If she needs to switch into uniform then she'll have to take a phase or two to get changed.
GM: While I understand that most characters can use their powers regardless of what they are wearing, what I may do in the future is say that, for any type of Legion business, you need to be in uniform when the action starts. That means changing from whatever you are wearing to legion uniform. In 4th edition, this always took a single phase unless you had Instant Change, in which case it was a zero phase action. As I said, for this battle don't worry about it. I will assume that everyone can change to legion uniform as a zero phase action. I may change this in the future but, if I do, I will let everyone know so it won't be a surprise and I will also bring back the 5 point Instant Change power.
GM: As far as the protesters go, they are dressed in a variety of clothes - pretty much what you would expect for dockside picketers. You have your legion radios though you may not want to have them on right now as they could draw attention. They are low profile but that doesn't mean invisible. For the time of year, we can assume current time (early June).
GREEN KNIGHT: I placed Green Knight on the map. If trouble breaks out, he plans to duck behind the forklift and change into legion uniform.
GM: I need everyone to place their token prior to me sending the next turn on Monday.
WHITE LADY: I've inserted White Lady into the crowd about where she would go. She's already made any changes to be in super identity except that she's not in ice form. She's wearing her hero costume underneath some cloths she bought at goodwill for the occasion. She brought a bit of cash, around $20, but left behind all ID cards and credit cards.
WHITE LADY: The hard part for her will be managing her appetite for heat (her power pool). If's she lets herself get too hungry, she'll turn to ice involuntarily (not good). If she fills up on heat she can last 4 hours in human form, but if things go wrong right after she's filled up on heat she won't be able to absorb more. She'll try to keep her END pool between 1/4 to 3/4 full (it charges slower when she's not supercharging her speed). If she finds herself getting too hungry, she'll leave the crowd for a few minutes for a "pit stop" and go find something she can covertly chill to recharge her supply of heat energy (drain her energy pool). I like how this scenario is bringing into play the limitations and disadvantages related to her END pool :-)
GM: Why don't you send me a die roll (3d6) to determine where she is at with her END pool when the action starts. An 11 means half your pool is used. If you roll higher, then more of your pool is used. If you roll less than 11, then less of your pool is used. For example, a 3 means that you just got done with a pit stop and most of your pool is available. An 18 means that you are at about 25% of your pool and are just getting ready to head out for a pit stop.
WHITE LADY: I was thinking something like that would be good. Though her END pool will be at it's peak just before a pit stop and at it's lowed just after one. The purpose of the pitstop is to drain her END pool so as to avoid the accidental change disadvantage. In any case, here's the roll: [rolled 11]
GM: Sorry, I had it backwards. In any event, with a roll of 11, you have 120 points available in your pool on turn 0, phase 12. |