We’re into the home stretch! With only three environments left to go, this is the last time that I will be making random choices; after this, every remaining option will be a choice for #13, with the remainder assigned to #14 (so I’ll kind of be making both of them at the same time.)
I’m descreasingly certain that I can get my last three villains to three reasonable environments, but let’s see how I do…
Step 1: Green Zone
Our Green Twist options are:
- Minor: Attack One (Mid), Hinder One (Mid), Hinder All (Min), Boost All (Min)
- Major: Two Actions (Mid and Min), Two Actions (Mid and Min)
Well, I guess I know what my Major Twist is. For minors, let’s take Hinder One (Mid) and Boost All (Min). Gives me a bit of variety. The major can round out as an Attack/Defend.
Step 2: Yellow Zone
In Yellow, we are looking at the following choices:
- Minor: Hinder One (Max), Hinder One PE (Mid), Mid + Min One, Hinder All (Mid)
- Major: Target One (Mid+Min), Target Two (Mid)
Uh… huh.
Well, two interesting things developing. First, I’ve managed to dodge three different minion-generating effects, so I guess those last two environments are going to be minion-y. Secondly, I’ve hit every Hinder option remaining in Yellow, so this environment is going to be wildly Hinderous. I don’t know what that means, precisely, but it’s interesting.
Let’s take an area Hinder All (Mid) and target one person with a Mid and a Min effect. For our Major, I’ll take a Target Two (Mid) and let it be an attack.
Let’s take a Hinder All (Mid) and One
Step 3: Red Zone
In our final zone, I think I know what’s going on and how to tie it to an existing villain, but there’s room for things to change. My options are:
- Minor: Two Targets Hinder PE, All Targets Mid, All Targets (Max one Mid others), Fully Heal Lieutenant
- Major: All Targets (Max), Advance Scene Tracker
So, yeah. I have successfully dodged being able to take a single minion or lieutenant generator, leaving five for the last two environments, and I have hit every Hinder on the board. I’m going to go ahead and take All Targets Mid and All Targets (Max one mid others) for my minors, and then Advance Scene Tracker for the major; things can get bad in a hurry right at the end.
Step 4: Where Are We?
Let’s take some time to visit the Daniel Montgomery Memorial Science Fair! Named in honour of a rich and civic-minded industrialist, the fair celebrates the newest inventions of college students looking to bolster their reputations and develop new tools and devices for the good of the world. Since its inception very recently, the fair has already provided winners and runners-up with lucrative contracts, and created some tangible good in the world.
So of course the Ultramind (or some similar villain) is going to crash it this year to steal some particularly valuable goods.
The Science Fair has the traits Prototype Devices d10, Overly Earnest Students d8, and Jittery Security d8.
Step 5: What Do We Do?
In Green, people become aware that the fair is under attack. Some students try to use their devices to save the day, with decidedly mixed results. One student uses a grappling ray that may or may not hit who they’re aiming at, while another tries to give them heroes a hand and accidentally coats everyone in strength-boosting nanoswarms. Security does their best to provide support and protect anyone in trouble.
In Yellow, fair devices start to interact with each other in unpredictable ways. Malfunctioning devices slow progress, a prototype psychic emitter pulls people’s nightmares out of their heads to act as their own minions, and a particularly powerful laser drill goes off.
Finally, in Red, things are out of control. Devices are exploding or deploying barricades that do not help at all, and things are heating up rapidly; the situation won’t be staying this contained for long…
The Daniel Montgomery Memorial Science Fair
Traits: Prototype Devices d10, Overly Earnest Students d8, Jittery Security d8
Green Zone
Minor Twist: Grappling Ray. A student attempts to slow the villain down with his prototype rescue device, but his aim is terrible. Hinder a random target with the Mid die.
Minor Twist: Out-of-Control Nanoswarm. Another student attempts to deploy his rehabilitative nanoswarm to help the heroes, but they spread rapidly. Boost everyone in the room with the Min die for their next physical action.
Major Twist: Security Forces. Security troops deploy, trying to help people. Attack the most threatening-seeming target (probably the villain, but who knows?) with the Mid die and Defend the most harmless-seeming target with the Min die.
Yellow Zone:
Minor Twist: Construction Webbing. A device to hold concrete in place long enough to set begins spraying the area with sticky webbing. Hinder everyone nearby with the Mid die.
Minor Twist: Psychic Emitter. An emitter designed to help people deal with their inner demons goes off, yanking nightmares out of people’s minds. Attack a target with the Mid die. Then give them a d6 minion who acts on their turn and can only take one action; decide what that action is based on that character’s deepest fears and insecurities.
Major Twist: Laser Drill. A laser drill detonates, sending a burst of crimson energy careening through the space. Attack two targets near to each other with the Mid die.
Red Zone:
Minor Twist: Cascade Explosion. A device damaged in the fighting explodes, setting off a cascade of explosions that rips through the area. Attack every target in the zone with the Max die.
Minor Twist: Auto-Barricades. The building’s anti-fire measures go off, deploying barricades meant to isolate dangerous elements. With everything that has been happening, they can’t tell misfiring devices from battling superheroes. Attack whichever character is doing the most damage or using the most elemental powers with the Max die, and Hinder every other character with the Mid die.
Major Twist: Overload. All of the devices remaining in the fair begin to overheat, threatening to blow up the whole facility! Advance the scene tracker.
Aftermath:
I almost didn’t do this one, because it felt kind of similar to Freedom-Con stylistically. But I think it’s just different enough to work, and it gives me something for the Ultramind to attack. You could also use this for a large supertech company’s experimental labs, without much in the way of change.