SCUverse Game 2: The Matriarch / Insula Primalis

General GTG Events
1

EXT. - EIKEN-RUBENDALL RESEARCH EXPEDITION PLANE

A sleek ultramodern aircraft is winging its way over Arctic waters toward a smoldering volcanic cone.  A U.S. Military cargo craft is escorting it, as is LEGACY, flying under his own power.

INT. - EIKEN-RUBENDALL RESEARCH EXPEDITION PLANE

A pretty black-haired teenager is staring out the window at the majestic, square-jawed, white-clad and caped figure of LEGACY, her expression one of absolute boredom.

LILIAN CORVUS:  "So lame...."

Camera cuts back to TACHYON, who seems to be controlling the urge to grind her teeth, and ABSOLUTE ZERO, whose body language conveys a mixture of confusion, contrition, and defensiveness.

TACHYON (quiet):  "I can't believe you let my bratty cousin Lilian on board an official exploratory flight to an island where drone reconaissance has spotted living pterodactyls.  What the hell were you thinking?"

ABSOLUTE ZERO:  "She said you approved it?  How was I supposed to know?  You've done crazier things."

TACHYON (less quiet):  "She's sixteen years old!  And if anything happens to her, Sergeant Corvus is going to have my head mounted on his wall next to all those African animals he kills for fun."

ABSOLUTE ZERO:  "We have three other superheroes along on this little eleventh-hour joyride to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle World, to say nothing of a hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment, not counting the Bunker suit, my own ambulatory prison and ICU, or any of Wraith's high-tech toys.  Even if there really are dinosaurs on this mysterious 'geothermal refuge', I doubt that your cuz would be any safer back at an inner-city public school."

TYLER VANCE (entering frame from left):  "Besides, Lily's a good kid, even if she is going through the whole teenage angst phase.  I think she just wanted to spend some time with her famous nuclear physicist slash superhero relative?"

ABSOLUTE ZERO:  "Then why's she sulking in the forward compartment?"

TACHYON:  "She's always sulking.  It's her default setting."

TYLER VANCE:  "She's probably just not a people person."

ABSOLUTE ZERO:  "That's what you think.  Believe me, I know loneliness.  She may quote awful Goth poetry at the drop of a hat, but she's not really depressed; she just likes to make a show of it.  She'd probably have a whole flock of admirers back at her school if she wanted one, but she gets off on pretending to hate everyone.  Not that I knew any of this when she showed up at the lab claiming to be your intern."

TACHYON:  "I still can't believe you fell for that."

INTERCOM:  "Attention everyone, this is your captain speaking...we are now ten minutes from landing on an uncharted island twenty kilometers above the Arctic Circle, where volcanic activity and an anomalous wind pattern result in a tropical climate year-round despite the high latitude.  Please fasten your seat belts as we prepare to make a water landing just off the coast."

An uncomfortable expression settles on TACHYON's face as she straps in, while TYLER VANCE looks relaxed and cheerful as usual.  AZ goes into the forward compartment and can be faintly heard arguing with LILIAN, who claims that seat belts are "merely a feeble attempt at preserving an illusion of safety in the face of the constant threat of man's utter annihilation by the uncaring cosmos".  Eventually he must manage to assert some authority and get the issue resolved, for he comes back and buckles himself in as well.

EXT - COAST OF INSULA PRIMALIS

The seaplane sets down onshore, while the Army craft powers along, dropping several crates as it flies over the island.  THE WRAITH can be seen clinging to the parachute straps of the largest one.  Legacy swoops in and offers her a gentlemanly hand getting down, even as the boat containing the other four arrives on shore.

Round One

Insula Primalis

In Play: No non-hero targets.

Trash:

--------------------------------------------------------

Start of Turn:

Play a Card: Obsidian Field enters play.

End of Turn:

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In Play: Obsidian Field

Trash: 

Effects: Increase all damage by 1.

Hero HP (order to be adjusted): Tachyon 27, Bunker 28, Wraith 26, Absolute Zero 29, Legacy 32

2

I'll take Ryan again if that's OK with people. Envisioner, do you still want the deck unshuffled, or should I start fresh?

3

At this point I don't care.  Do whichever is easiest for you.

4

I'll be happy to play Legacy again.

5

I'll grab Tachyon again, if that's okay.

6

 

For portability reasons, I'd been running the deck by spreadsheet. Should be pretty easy to move things around in a way that mimics shuffling cards in trash, play, and hand. :slight_smile:

Should I just post a turn?

On that topic:

Absolute Zero

Initial HP: 29

Initial draw: Focused Apertures, Cryo Chamber, Frost-Bound Drain, Fueled Freeze, Modular Realignment, Sub-Zero Atmosphere. Send Focused Apertures & Sub-Zero Atmosphere to the bottom of the deck; keep the rest.

7

I'll take Wraith again since it looks like the same team in roughly the same roles.

Initial Hand:  Throwing Knives, Throat Jab, Impromtu Invention (x2)

 

8

Everyone (including Bunker, whether he's the same player or not) is free to post their first turn.  However you will be required to maintain the same order in all future posts, so if you guys want Legacy to come first in turn order, everyone else should wait for him to post.  Feel free to discuss this issue in PM; please do not clutter up the game thread by doing so here.

9

I took my hand and trash, shuffled them, and put them on the bottom of my deck. Initial draw: “Thokk!”, Back-Fist Strike, Motivational Charge (x2), Next Evolution, Danger Sense. Put Motivational Charge and Back-Fist Strike on the bottom of the deck.

Legacy steps out onto the slick field of black glass, alert for any danger. “Look sharp, everybody!”

America’s Finest Legacy

HP: 32

Hand: “Thokk!”, Motivational Charge, Next Evolution, Danger Sense

In play:

Trash:

[hr]
Start of hero turn:

Play a card: Danger Sense enters play. Legacy is immune to damage from environment cards.

Use a power: Galvanize. Until the start of Legacy’s next turn, increase damage dealt by hero targets by 1.

Draw a card: Inspiring Presence to my hand, Heroic Interception to the bottom of the deck.

End of hero turn:

[hr]

HP: 32

Hand: “Thokk!”, Motivational Charge, Next Evolution, Inspiring Presence

In play: Danger Sense

Trash:

Deck: ? x 6, Back-Fist Strike, Superhuman Durability, Lead from the Front, Inspiring Presence, Surge of Strength, Fortitude, Bolster Allies, “Thokk!”, Lead from the Front, Bolster Allies, Next Evolution, Surge of Strength, Bolster Allies, Flying Smash, Next Evolution, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Lead from the Front, Fortitude, Surge of Strength, Take Down, The Legacy Ring, Heroic Interception, “Thokk!”, Superhuman Durability, Inspiring Presence, Motivational Charge, Back-Fist Strike, Heroic Interception

Additional effects: Legacy is immune to damage from environment cards.
Until the start of Legacy’s next turn, increase damage dealt by hero targets by 1.

10

Wraith

"Let's see.  Camo cloak; check. Set of knives; check.  Canteen; check.  Camera; check. Case of utility components; check.  Back-up case of utility components; check."


HP - 26

In Play: (None)

Hand: Throwing Knives, Throat Jab, Impromptu Invention (x2)

Deck:  36x ?

Trash: (None)

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Start of Turn:

Play a Card: Throwing Knives

Power:  Stealth           

Draw: Impromptu Invention, Inventory Barrage; Inventory Barrage to bottom of deck

End of Turn:

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HP - 26

In Play: Throwing Knives

Hand: Throat Jab, Impromptu Invention (x3)

Trash: (None)

Deck:  34x ?, Inventory Barrage

Effects: Next damage dealt to Wraith is reduced by 2

ST:

ET:

Comment:
Strong initial draw for Wraith in my opinion.  And an unexpected bonus there in the draw phase.  I half-expect some effect to make me discard my hand to crop up now.  Going to hold back on burning those for a round or so to get a better idea of what equipment is going to be best needed.
 

11

"Okay, Lilian, staybehindBunkeryouknowthebigguyinthearmorhe'llkeepyousafe, I'dsaystaybehindmebutthat'snotreallyanachieveablegoalstaysafehavefun!"

Tachyon

HP: 27

In Play: 

Hand: Nimble Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Lightspeed Barrage, Pushing The Limits

Deck:  36x?

Trash:

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Start of Turn:

Play a Card:

Use a Power:           

Draw a Card: Draw Supersonic Response, Pushing The Limits, deck Pushing The Limits, draw Synaptic Interruption, Research Grant, deck Synaptic Interruption.

End of Turn:

-------------------------------------------------------

HP: 27

In Play: 

Hand: Nimble Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Lightspeed Barrage, Pushing The Limits, Supersonic Response, Research Grant

Deck:  32x?, Pushing The Limits, Synaptic Interruption

Trash:

12

Hey, kid - give me a hand getting this thing your cousin built set up, will you? I can't stand all these tropical temperatures.

Absolute Zero

HP: 29

Hand: Cryo Chamber, Fueled Freeze, Modular Realignment, Frost-Bound Drain

In Play:

Trash:

Deck: 34x?, Focused Apertures, Sub-Zero Atmosphere

------

Start: Nothing

Play: Cryo Chamber

Power:

Draw: Fueled Freeze and Isothermic Transducer. Fueled Freeze to the bottom, transducer to hand

End: Nothing

-----

HP: 29

Hand:  Fueled Freeze, Modular Realignment, Frost-Bound Drain, Isothermic Transducer

In Play: Cryo Chamber,

Trash:

Deck: 32x?, Focused Apertures, Sub-Zero Atmosphere, Fueled Freeze

 

 

 

13

Hi, this is my first post. I've been lurking for awhile and I'd like to play bunker, if that's ok, going off the post in the set up thread by jffdougan.

EDIT: Initial Draw after jffdougan corrected me :Maintenance Unit, Adhesive Foam Grenade, Ammo Drop, Grenade Launcher, Decommissioned Hardware, Heavy Plating, Deck Decommissioned Hardware, Maintenance Unit 

Bunker

HP: 28

Hand: Adhesive Foam Grenade, Ammo Drop, Grenade Launcher, Heavy Plating

In Play:

Trash:

Deck: 36x?

-----

Start: Nothing

Play: Grenade Launcher

Power: Initialize: Draw External Combustion, Recharge Mode, deck Recharge Mode

Draw: Heavy Plating, Turret Mode, Deck Heavy Plating

End: Nothing

-----

HP: 28

Hand: Adhesive Foam Grenade, Ammo Drop, Heavy Plating, External Combustion, Turret Mode

In Play: Grenade Launcher

Trash:

Deck: 30x?, Decommissioned Hardware, Maintenance Unit, Recharge Mode, Heavy Plating   

 

14

FYI, the first two you drew should have been part of the initial hand, with two of those six sent to the bottom of the deck. Might possibly muck with your turn a bit.

15

K i'll edit it real quick.

16

Sorry it took me so long to get back here and update you guys.

Welcome to the game, Humble-Knight! And thank you for not playing an Adhesive Foam Grenade on the first turn, forcing me to figure out what that means in a game where the Environment and Villain decks are reversed (if played as normally affecting the Enviro deck, it'd mean this would be an extremely dull second round).



The cards you haven't yet seen ought to be random and unknown to you…I'm not too comfortable with you just copy-pasting card named among spreadsheet fields at whim.  Even if you are trying not to pay attention, the brain has a habit of imprinting random facts, so you might know that you have a Thermal Shockwave coming up three cards from now and then forget that you knew, so you never fix the problem, but your play is shaped by subconscious realization of your destiny.  If you can't keep a deck on hand to shuffle, perhaps carry a couple d20s in your pocket, and whenever you need to draw a random card, roll them - one is the 20s digit, the other just goes odd-even to determine whether you add 20 to the total, and whenever you roll a number higher than the current count of your deck (including any bottomed cards), you reroll.  (This might bias the roll result slightly against numbers above 20, but eventually the deck will be down to 20 cards and you can stop doing the odd-even roll, so the problem will fix itself.)

Again, you shouldn't know the order of the shuffled cards, so your deck should actually look like this:

Deck: (randomly ordered group of: The Legacy Ring, Flying Smash, Take Down, Fortitude, Danger Sense x2) - (randomly ordered group of: Back-Fist Strike, Superhuman Durability x2, Lead from the Front x3, Inspiring Presence x2, Fortitude x2, Bolster Allies x3, "Thokk!" x2, Next Evolution x2, Surge of Strength x3, Flying Smash, Motivational Charge, Heroic Interception, Take Down, The Legacy Ring, Heroic Interception) - Motivational Charge - Back-Fist Strike - Heroic Interception

I am inclined to be suspicious of Wraith's triple-Impromptu hand, but I have literally seen the same thing happen in the last two non-solo games I played (both of which featured Wraith, while the solo game in between did not).  It was likely the result of bad shuffling, but even so, it can happen, so I'll assume that Oaktree is "lucky" rather than "cheating".  So much for this game being anything resembling a challenge…

EXT - INSULA PRIMALIS

As the five intrepid superhumans (well, three superhumans and two extremely above-average "normal" humans each possessing millions of dollars worth of sophisticated gadgetry) - and, behind them, one morbid teenager - move forward across the jagged volcanic plain, they begin to notice large rotting carcasses piled on all sides, thronged with crows and vultures feasting on their entrails.  TACHYON zooms from one decayed hulk to the next, jabbering excitedly as she streaks across the dogged marching line of the other five visitors.

TACHYON (most intelligible snippet of garbled non-stop dialogue):  "…mygodit'sreallytruethesearetotallyLIVINGDINOSAURSwellokaynotlivinganymoreBUTtheywereuntilrecently, looksliketheymusthavebeencaughtbyablastofcarbonmonoxidegaswhenavolcanicventerupted, couldn'thavehappenedmorethansixhoursagoit'stoobadwehadtoapproachfromthesouthorwe'dhavegottenaniceview, hopefullythesamethingdoesn'thappenagainwhilewe'rehereit'dtotallysuckifwehadtoevacuate, wonderifIshouldtakesomesamplesbutdamnIdidn'tbringtheproperdecontaminationgear, didn'treallythinkwe'dactuallyfindanythingLIVINGhere(assumingtheseweren'tallofthemandsomeactuallyarestillliving)…"

LILIAN CORVUS (sotto voce):  "ugh…she's always so damn eager about everything, even when she's not moving at lightspeed I get tired just listening to her babble all the time, like life is all just one big adventure…one of these days she'll wake up a lonely old woman and be all like 'what happened', and she just won't get it…why the hell did I want to come along with this merry-go-round…"

As she walks sullenly behind the heroes muttering to herself, LILIAN looks about at the spectacle of death, with a mixture of disgust and fascination on her face.  Every time a new bird takes flight within her field of vision, she follows its path with her eyes, a faint ghost of a smile on her face - until she catches ABSOLUTE ZERO's faceplate turned her way, and forcibly stiffens her face into a mask of disdainful grumpiness.

Lilian Corvus - not a target

In Play:  nothing

Trash:  nothing

Deck:  don't even ask

Start of Turn:  nothing.

Play a Card:  Carrion Fields enters play; Darken the Skies to the bottom of the deck.

End of Turn:  Nothing

In Play:  Carrion Fields [15]

Trash:  nothing

Deck: 23x?, Darken the Skies.  (For the moment, the Mask of the Matriarch is shuffled into the deck, but I am more likely to search it out at the appropriate time, bottoming it if I draw it sooner, than I am to decide "now" is the appropriate time just because I drew it.)

 

EXT - VOLCANIC CARRION FIELDS

LEGACY is marching in the front of the convoy, with WRAITH lurking in the large shadow his burly frame casts; the two armored men follow behind her, guarding LILIAN, while TACHYON zooms in and out of the middle position.  Abruptly TACHYON shouts a warning, just as the camera tightens on Legacy's face.

SFX:  (insert DANGER SENSE signature sound)

TACHYON:  "LOOKOUTGUYSWE'VEGOTCOMPANYANDTHEYDON'TLOOKFRIENDLY!"

A pair of prowling Velociraptors must have been snacking on carrion, hidden from view by the great carcasses, when they caught the scent of Our Heroes and began actively prowling ahead, laying an ambush.  The first one pops into plain view, drawing Legacy's and Wraith's attention - but a second slips around a looming cadaver and pounces on Wraith's back, its claws shearing through her cloak and making a shallow series of scratches on her back!

Round Two

Insula Primalis

In Play: Obsidian Field

Trash:

Start of Turn:

Play a Card: Velociraptor Pack enters play; River of Lava to the bottom of the deck.

End of Turn: Velociraptor Pack deals 1 net damage to Wraith [25].

In Play: Obsidian Field, Velociraptor Pack [5].

Trash: 

Deck:  12 x ?, River of Lava

Effects: Increase all damage by 1.  One player may discard two cards at the end of their turn to end this effect.

Hero HP: Legacy 32, Wraith 25, Tachyon 27, Absolute Zero 29, Bunker 28.

17

[quote=  Envisioner] " ugh…she's always so damn eager about everything, even when she's not moving at lightspeed I get tired just listening to her babble all the time, like life is all just one big adventure…one of these days she'll wake up a lonely old woman and be all like 'what happened', and she just won't get it…why the hell did I want to come along with this merry-go-round…"

[/quote]

Wow Lilian, no need to use such fowl language.

Yuk, yuk, yuk…

18

So dpt, any chance of us getting a turn out of you?  I ask as one Legacy-in-Insula player to another....

EDIT - Jinx!  Looks like we cross-posted.

19

Shouldn't I know the order of the cards that were already ordered? I think my deck should be

Randomly ordered group of: Danger Sense x2, The Legacy Ring, Flying Smash, Take Down, Fortitude

Ordered: Back-Fist Strike, Superhuman Durability, Lead from the Front, Inspiring Presence, Surge of Strength, Fortitude, Bolster Allies, "Thokk!", Lead from the Front, Bolster Allies, Next Evolution, Surge of Strength

Randomly ordered group of: Bolster Allies, Flying Smash, Fortitude, Heroic Interception x2, Inspiring Presence, Lead from the Front, Motivational Charge, Next Evolution, Superhuman Durability, Surge of Strength, Take Down, The Legacy Ring, "Thokk!"

Ordered: Motivational Charge, Back-Fist Strike, Heroic Interception

It will be a little bit before I get down that far, anyway.

20

Ah, that makes sense too...sorry, I shoulda checked the previous game before opening my yap.  And sorry to nag you at the very instant you were actually doing as I requested...stupid spacetime continuum going all spacewimey....