He parks the car a couple of blocks away and goes the rest of the way via Bat Grapple swings. As he approaches the safe house, he hears gunfire and once he gets within visual range he sees two prone bodies lying by the front door of the small house. He hears a few more shots, then silence as he closes in. He stealthily approaches the door and peers inside.Batman tries to contact Jim Gordon (man, I need to get him posted) but he can’t reach him. He settles for Harvey Bullock. He’ll try to persuade him to assist. I’ll consider Bullock as Unfavorable towards him. Batman gets a 22 on the check. 2 degrees of success. Bullock gets him the address in short order. Fortunately he’s fairly close so he summons the Batmobile and heads that direction.
As he slides in the cracked front door, he notices that the two men out front had their slash wounds on their chests and necks. Looking into the warehouse he sees a shirtless man wearing a white full-face mask surrounded by 4 more bleeding bodies. The man brandishes a 3-clawed glove on his right hand, preparing to deliver a killing strike to a woman he holds by the throat with his other hand.With his Skill Mastery, he’s at 30 Stealth. No one can beat that. His Perception roll is a nat 20 for a 40. He sees EVERYTHING.
The Dark Knight runs in and hits the assassin with a flying shoulder tackle, knocking the woman free and sending both men sprawling but both of them quickly roll to their feet. “Ah, yes,” Vega says, smiling beneath his mask. “The legendary Batman. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Vega. And it is my destiny to rid the world of ugliness. And I find flying rodents to be quite disgusting. So, I am afraid I must rid the world of you.”Surprise Round: Batman will Charge in for a Slam Attack to knock Vega away from his quarry. He hits with an adjusted 30. Since he moved his full speed, Vega has to make a DC20 TC. He blows it big time. He’ll use his HP to reroll and gets a 20 to avoid damage. But I will rule that he lost his grip on the woman. Batman makes his DC17 TC with a 24.
Vega left himself open after his last claw strike and the Batman took advantage of the opening nailing his foe with a hard right uppercut that lifted the street fighter off his feet and through a window. Batman was distracted for just a second as he heard one of the fallen officers groan in pain. The Dark Knight then looked out the broken window to find Vega was gone. Hearing the witness call for help, he made the decision to contact the GCPD and emergency services and let Vega go. For now…Round 1: Initiative: Vega – 17, Batman – 13. The room is 20x20 with a few pieces of furniture. Vega will test his opponent with a DA2 claw strike. He connects with a 26. Batman gets a nat 1 on his DC19 TC, HP to reroll allows him to pass with a 25. Batman will try to Startle Vega as move action. Vega will resist with Insight. They both roll 4’s so Batman wins 19 to 11. Batman will PA5 unarmed and he misses badly with a nat 2. Geez…
Round 2: Vega’s feeling confident. He will try to Agile Feint as move action. Batman opposes with Insight. Vega gets a nat 2, Batman gets a 19. No need to bother with the math, Vega fails. He’ll stay on the defensive, though, with another DA2 claw strike. Nat 1. Geez, I am rolling crappy. Batman goes PA5 again and this time he connects with a 32. DC24 TC for Vega, 17 for a 2nd degree failure.
Round 3: Vega is not quite as confident after getting clocked. He’ll again try to Agile Feint as a move and gets a 22, even with the -5. Batman gets a 26 on Insight so avoid it. Vega goes AA2 with his Spinning claw attack but misses with a 22. Man, the dice are not on his side tonight. Batman attacks PA5 again but he misses with a 19.
Round 4: Vega stays on the offensive but defensively, with a DA3 claw strike. Misses again with a nat 5. Batman will try to Startle him again as a move. He succeeds again. PA5 and he hits again with an adjusted 33. Another DC24 TC for Vega and he blows it big time. He should be knocked out but where’s the fun in that?
--Final Status – Vega (-2 toughness, escaped, 0 hp), Batman (fine, 1 hp)
Bruce hits up street informant Contacts and gets a 27. With a fourth degree of success, he gets the location and the time. He takes the Batmobile and parks about a half mile away then moves towards the warehouse. He gets an 18 on Stealth to sneak around the building. He rolls a Perception check of 23 to case the place. He sees no guards at either the front or back. He sneaks up to a window and sees Bane standing in the middle of the warehouse with hostage tied to a chair .
Bane gets a nat 20 on his Perception to easily see that his foe is here. There was no shipment, it was a set up to call Batman out for a fight. He calls out to his nemesis to inform him of such and that if he refuses, he will snap the hostage’s neck. Batman drops down to the main floor about 40 ft north of Bane. The Dark Knight accepts his challenge and gets an HP for the complication of the hostage.
Comments: I am surprised Bruce won a slugfest against Bane but the dice were with him. I think I need to tweak my Attack of Opportunity mechanic. It really hindered some of the stick and move things I wanted to try with Bruce. Ordinarily I would give 1-2 PP for a “Session” like this but I want to level my PCs up quicky to “normal” PL so I’m giving Bruce 5 this time. Maybe I won’t be as giving next time, but....I probably will.Round 1: Initiative: Bane – 21, Batman – 13. Bane will Charge Batman and go AA2 to keep his +13 to hit unarmed. And he bombs it with a 4 for a 17. Seeing Bane off balance, Batman goes PA4 unarmed and hits with a 20. Bane only gets a 13 against the DC23 TC for a 2nd degree failure. Batman drops a Smoke Pellet for Hide in Plain Sight and will use his Move action to Stealth mode. He beats Bane’s perception 24 to 17 so I’ll give Bruce a surprise attack. Bane will be vulnerable to his next attack. Bruce will use EE for an extra action to punch Bane again, PA4 and he hits again with a 20. Bane fails the DC23 TC 3rd degree with a 10. He’ll use his HP to reroll and gets a 22 for a 1st degree failure. Batman is fatigued. Not a great start for Bane.
Round 2: Bane resists his Venom for now and comes back swinging PA2 unarmed and barely misses with a 21. Batman swings away PA4 again and connects with a 29. Bane blows another DC24 TC with a 12. He’s now Staggered.
Round 3: Bane is frustrated and decides to hit the Venom Pump and that’s all he can do. Batman will burn an HP to shake the Fatigued condition and then Disengages. He then Grapple Guns off of the cargo hook cable, uses Athletics to double his speed, getting a 17 to move 60 ft to the south.
Round 4: Bane activates his Healing from the Venom Pump. He heals his Staggered condition and then moves 30 ft towards Batman. Batman pulls out and flings a Batarang at Bane and misses with a nat 1. He’s not getting that one back...
Round 5: Bane moves into close range on Bruce again and attacks unarmed AA2. He finally hits with a 31. Bruce fails the DC22 TC with a 12. Batman attacks PA4 unarmed and hits with a 26. Bane passes the TC with a 26. The tide seems to be turning.
Round 6: Bane swings AA2 again and hits with a 25. Batman blows the DC22 TC with a 12. He’ll use his last HP to reroll and makes the check with a 25 of his own. Bane invokes his Fast Grab. DC17 Dodge check for Bruce and he passes with a 19. He swings again PA4 unarmed and hits again. But Bane makes the DC23 TC with a 26.
Round 7: Bane goes PA2 unarmed again and misses with a 19. Batman drops a Flash Bang and Bane fails the Dodge check. But he easily makes the Fort check with a 26.
Round 8: Bane connects AA2 unarmed with a 25. But Batman makes the DC22 TC again with another 25. Bruce swings PA2 unarmed and misses.
Round 9: Bane wants to try and put Bruce down so he swings PA5 and misses by a mile. The Dark Knight comes back with a PA4 uppercut of his own and connects with the 20 he needed. Bane rolls a 12 for another 3rd degree failure. Since he healed his Staggered, I don’t think this takes him out. So Bruce will use EE for another attack and he hits again with a 20 and Bane rolls a nat 2 for another 3rd degree failure and he’s out! A weary Batman disconnects Bane’s Venom Pump and secures him before freeing the hostage and calling GCPD.
Final Status – Bane (-5 Toughness, staggered, incapacitated, 0 hp), Batman (-1 Toughness, fatigued, 0 hp)
Deathstroke is well hidden so I’m giving Pete a harder DC than 10 for his Spidey [Danger] Sense. Let’s go 20. He gets a nat 20. I’m going to overrule that and say he failed, giving him an HP. I want Deathstroke to have the early advantage. Slade gets to aim and he’ll AA2 with his sniper rifle to hit the web line at DC20. He gets an adjusted 33. Pete is falling so now we’ll go to Initiative…
Comments: Well, that was some weird, wild stuff. I thought they were pretty evenly matched build-wise but as we all know, the dice are a fickle mistress. I had to have Slade escape so I could set up a rematch later. Even though I played Deathstroke as more of an NPC, I’ll give 3 PP to both and move on to the next test. With a different dice roller.Round 1: Initiative: Deathstroke – 25, Spider-Man – 18. I’m going to say Spidey is Vulnerable while he’s falling and Slade will fire another AA2 shot at him and hits easily with a 29. DC20 TC for Spidey and he gets a nat 1. HP to reroll gets him an adjusted 23 to avoid damage. Pete gathers himself and fires another web line (reactivating his Flight). His Spider Sense is going crazy and this time I’ll let his Perception roll of 23 stand so he knows where the shots came from and he swings up there to end his turn.
Round 2: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. Slade will get another shot at Spidey as he approaches, this time PA2 with the sniper rifle and hits again with a 28. Oh geez, another nat 1 for Pete on the D22 TC. Last HP to reroll and he gets a 26 to avoid damage again. He swoops in with a flying kick, PA2 unarmed, and hits with a 29. DC25 TC for Deathstroke and HE gets a nat 1! He’ll burn his HP and get an adjusted 24 for a 1st degree failure. What is up with all these 1’s?!?!?.
Round 3: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. Since they’re melee now, The Terminator will Quick Draw his sword and swing at Pete with an SA. He misses with a 23. Spidey swings a punch at Slade but gets ANOTHER NAT 1!!!! Grrrr…It’s like I’m rolling for my D&D character...
Round 4: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. Let’s try again, this time Deathstroke will go AA2 with his sword and this time…great Odin’s ravens, another 1…Wow…
Spidey will try to Feint as a move action and he succeeds against Deathstroke’s Insight check, 23 to 16. Slade is Vulnerable so Pete goes PA2 unarmed and hits with a 27. Slade only gets a 12 against the DC25 TC so he takes a 3rd degree failure.
Round 5: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. Slade will stick out another round of combat and he switches his sword for his Power Staff and goes AA3 with it and…nat 1. This has gone WAY past ridiculous!!! *sigh* At least he recovers a Toughness penalty with his Regeneration.
Another gift round for Spidey. He’ll PA2 unarmed again and he hits with a 28. At least this time Slade got a 22 on the DC25 TC. He only lost the Toughness rank he regained.
Round 6: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. Deathstroke takes another jab at him with the Power Staff, this time PA2 and he misses again with a 16. He just can’t catch a break. Spidey will try to web Slade up and he hits with a Web Sling Affliction. DC20 Dodge check for Slade and, you can’t make it up, Slade rolls a 1! He’s Hindered and Vulnerable. I think I’ve seen enough. Deathstroke has no chance the way I’m rolling for him.
Round 7: Initiative: Deathstroke, Spider-Man. I’m not even rolling for this sequence. I can’t take anymore 1’s…
GM Fiats: Deathstroke breaks the web, Spidey automatically fails the Dodge and Fort checks with a second degree failure against his Flash Bang afflictions allowing Deathstroke to escape. Pete gets 2 HP for his troubles.
Status – Spider-Man (fine, 2 hp), Deathstroke (-2 toughness, staggered, 0 hp)