Hi, everyone! This project is still going. We got a kitten recently, and if you’ve ever gotten a kitten you’ll know that they take up a heck of a lot of time that you might otherwise intend to use for things like good-natured writing. Between that and a project that I’m vaguely hoping will see the light of day some time next year, but only if I finish editing it, it’s been busy!
But I am committed to getting our last seven environments finished up. With half of our environments complete, I have a vague idea of something that I want to try, but let’s see if I’m able to get there…
Step 1: Green Zone
Our Green Twist options are:
- Minor: Hinder One (Mid), Hinder One (Mid), Defend One (Mid), Attack All (Min)
- Major: Attack One (Max), Add Lieutenant
Okay. Definitely going to take a Hinder One and a Defend One for our minors, and then go with Add Lieutenant for major. I think this weird idea might be doable…
Step 2: Yellow Zone
In Yellow, we’re looking at the following options:
- Minor: Hinder One (Max), Mid + Min One, Action All (Min), Add Multi-Step Challenge
- Major: Action (Max) + Mid Effect, Advance Scene Tracker
Okay… hm… let’s take an area-effect Attack and a multi-step challenge for our minor twists, and for our major we’re just going to advance the scene tracker. This area doesn’t stay in yellow for long.
Step 3: Red Zone
Well, yellow and green are taken. What about Red?
- Minor: Action One (Max+Min), Two Actions One (Max and Mid, one Boost PE), Two Actions One (Max and Mid, Hinder PE), Add multi-step challenge.
- Major: Heal all minions, activate Doomsday Device
Well.
Okay, then. New plan. We’re going with one powerful action (Max + Min) and two actions against one target (Max and a Mid Hinder), and then activating a Doomsday Device because I need to do it eventually and there aren’t many minions and lieutenants to heal. Which means changing my plans, but not that much, because….
Step 4: Where Are We?
We are in The Hurricane Generator!
Doctor Tarralok designed his Hurricane Generator to clear a coastline of human habitation in preparation for larger-scale terraforming. He’s set up a massive device that will create the largest hurricane in human history, and it has already begun to work. Can the heroes disable the device in time, or will the region be devastated by the storm of the century?
The Hurricane Generator has the traits “Gale-Force Winds” d8, “Deadly Shrapnel” d10, and “Alien Machinery” d10.
Step 5: What Do We Do?
In the Green Zone, as the Hurricane Generator begins to spin up, gale-force winds kick up around the area, either knocking people over (and thus Hindering them) or swirling around them (and Defending them.) The Generator also deploys a basic defender – an aerial robot that uses the winds to its advantage to attack anyone trying to turn the Generator off.
In the Yellow Zone, the Generator’s winds kick up in force and begin rising upwards. They buffett everyone in the facility for minor damage, and the locked-in controls become much more difficult to shut down. The Yellow Zone is shorter than usual, which is… dangerous.
Finally, in the Red Zone, the wind begins to expand beyond the facility. With only a few actions until a devastating hurricane attacks the surrounding area, overwhelming winds knock heroes head-over-heels, sometimes slamming them into walls with terrible force and sometimes just making it impossible for them to move. At the worst possible moment, the Hurricane Generator deploys its power, destroying the facility and sending the hurricane to wreck the region.
This is a fast-paced and nasty environment. There’s a good chance that any villains trapped inside are either sacrificing themselves to keep it running, or have gotten stuck inside and are desperately trying to escape. Heroes should be working to shut the Doomsday Device down and prevent the hurricane from being properly generated.
Doctor Tarralok’s Terrible Hurricane Generator
Traits: “Gale-Force Winds” d8, “Deadly Shrapnel” d10, “Alien Machinery” d10
Green Zone
Minor Twist: Blast of wind. An early gust of wind from the heart of the generator knocks someone sprawling. Hinder a target with the Mid die.
Minor Twist: Hurricane Shield. Winds swirl around a target, shielding them from incoming attacks. Defend one target with the Mid die.
Major Twist: Aerial Custodian. Drawn by the chaos, the generator’s Aerial Custodian deploys to the fight. This robot is a d10 Lieutenant with the following traits:
- Reduce penalties from Wind or Weather by 2.
- +2 to damage saves against Wind or Weather.
The Custodian primarily targets anyone directly interfering with the Hurricane Generator, secondarily targets anyone attacking it, and goes after general trespassers if no one else is a key target.
Yellow Zone:
Minor Twist: Pulse of Wind. A blast of wind rises from the central gyroscopes, knocking everyone over. Attack all targets in the generator with the Min die.
Minor Twist: Locked In. The Generator completes its calculations and begins deployment. Create a two-step Challenge called “Locked In Systems”. Until this challenge is solved, the Doomsday Device cannot be targeted with Overcomes.
Major Twist: Firing Sequence Underway. Lights flash purple and the Generator’s platform begins to rise. Advance the Scene Tracker.
Red Zone:
Minor Twist: Pinning Winds. Winds from the platform press down on an unlucky target. Hinder one target with the Max + Min dice.
Minor Twist: Deadly Debris. The generator picks up debris and scrap that has been lying around and throws it into someone with terrible force. Attack one target with the Max die, and Hinder them with the Mid die. If they take damage from the attack, this Hinder is Persistent and Exclusive as the debris sticks them to the wall or floor.
Major Twist: Hurricane Season. The Hurricane Generator activates, unleashing a full-force hurricane against the region. If the generator is shut down before the end of the scene, heroes can limit the damage to a moderately catastrophic hurricane covering a fifty-mile radius around the generator. If the generator is not shut down by the end of the scene, the hurricane will be an overwhelming and self-sustaining disaster a hundred miles across that will travel hundreds of miles and do untold damage.
Aftermath:
My doomsday device is complete!
Do not mess with a hurricane generator, y’all. You will be blown away. Ahah.
My original idea was to just have a fight during a massive downtown storm, with wind and rain and whatnot, but the doomsday device shot that to heck. So I merged my ideas into the Hurricane Generator, and I think it turned out okay.