02/28/2010 DOUG: Jailbreak!

Last Sunday's DOUG was a character creation session primarily for a supers game where the players play villains in a world overrun by an alien force. It's one of Pinnacle's earliest Savage settings called Necessary Evil, and it's perfect for DOUG.

Game: Jailbreak!, Savage Worlds
Style: RPG
Genre: Supers
GM: Dave Olson
Players (Factions/PCs): Aaron (Zeitlose), Trent (The Unspeakable Horror)

As most of the session was taken up with character creation the scenario itself was deliberately short. The two villains - a time-travel obsessed mechanical genius named Zeitlose and a force-controlling mime called appropriately The Unspeakable Horror - were captured by a patrol of K'tharens. These alien beings resembled a cross between a shark and a crocodile and were more commonly referred to as Fins, and they served the more insidious V'sori. It had been more than 2 years since the alien invaders came to Earth and managed to wipe out 98% of the world's superheroes, leveling cities and countries in the process.

Few cities were left intact, but the exception was Star City. An anomaly in its own right, Star City is built on an island off the coast of New York that was summoned into existence by an interstellar entity known only as the Outsider in the 50's. The island had the unique ability to grant super powers to individuals, and the government studied it for many years hoping to learn its secrets. They failed, and then parceled it off to corporations who came in and built Star City itself.

The V'sori have left most of the city intact but their presence, and that of their cruel Fin servants, is ever present. Which is how the two villains were captured. They were being transported aboard a M'buna, an alien prison ship, likely to be taken off world for "re-education." As they sat together, shackled by power-inhibiting manacles, the M'buna suddenly dropped in altitude and spun in a tailspin! With a crash the ship plowed into the ground, knocking the two villains around in the billowing smoke and small fires.

The sounds of gunfire were heard from outside, and in a moment the hatch door on the M'buna was ripped open. Stepping out of the smoke and darkness came the figure of Earth's most notorious super villain - Dr. Destruction. He held a massive laser in his hands and looked deliberately at the two imprisoned villains.

"Do you want to live?"

A simple statement to which both The Unspeakable Horror and Zeitlose readily agreed to. Dr. Destruction hauled both of them out of the wreckage and passed them off to yellow-jumpsuited servants who ushered them into a nearby low-grav carrier. Destruction joined them after a moment and the ship flew off into the night air. Thinking that they had perhaps traded one prison for another, the two villains were confronted after a moment by Dr. Destruction. He told them that he had a plan, and that in order to survive Zeitlose and the Horror were going to have to cooperate.

Then he slammed a button on the side of the wall, opening the bay hatch and sending the two villains plummeting into the night sky!

Dr. Destruction's telepathic voice informed the falling pair that they needed to release a villain named Mindjack from a V'sori prison compound, and if they agreed to help he would release their nullifiers. It didn't take much debate for the two to agree, and true to his word Destruction released the power-inhibiting manacles. The Horror was able to flap his wings and fly but Zeitlose crashed through the roof of the prison compound itself. Luckily he landed unharmed.

After a moment The Unspeakable Horror landed through the hole in the roof and the two villains opened a door leading from the office they arrived in. Shouts of panic greeted them as they found a block of cells containing prisoners, mostly non-supers. At the opposite end of the cell block the doors opened and a squad of drones - almost zombie-like slaves of the V'sori with impressive firepower built into their cobbled together flesh - showed up. Quickly the Horror pointed his finger and shot at the lead one, delivering a staggering blow of force, while Zeitlose activated his mind control device and easily took mental control over one of the drones.

But more drones showed up and the two villains dug in for a long fight. Blaster bolts ripped through the hallway, piercing Zeitlose several times while the Horror used his imaginary force guns to keep them at bay. During the firefight Zeitlose identified Mindjack but quickly realized they didn't have the key to the cells nor the technical expertise to open them. He mind controlled another drone and brought it to his side.

Behind him a prisoner begged to be released. She had blotchy skin, obviously some kind of mutant, and introduced herself as Valerie Ramirez, promising that she could help if she could be freed. The drone's electro-shock touch was able to free Mindjack, who was otherwise useless, so the Horror kept him safe while Zeitlose and the mind controlled drone dodged blaster fire to release Ramirez. After a few harrowing moments Valerie was freed, though she readily admitted to not having any relevant skills now. She said she was part of a large underground resistance movement beneath Star City and would help the villains later if possible.

With the mind controlled drone and the Horror's finger-pointing force gun powers the rest of the drones were dealt with. Klaxon alarms were sounding throughout the camp but so far the pair had not yet run into any of the Fins. Mindjack pointed them to the way out and the three of them ran through the rest of the small prison compound. Ramirez disappeared into the darkness with a thanks.

Once outside the building Dr. Destruction's anti-grav carrier arrived within moments. Zeitlose, The Unspeakable Horror, and the weak and wounded Mindjack boarded. The villainous doctor took Mindjack aside and had a quick private conversation as the carrier zipped away into the night. After a short flight the carrier landed somewhere in Southpoint in front of a long-abandoned warehouse.

Dr. Destruction opened the doors and ushered the two villains out. He told them that they're part of Omega now, and that the goal is to take back the world from the alien scum - since the villains are the rightful owners, not some backwater alien invaders. He provided them both with communicators and told them to stay low and don't get pinched by the Fins - but to expect some action in the near future.

With that, the world's greatest villain departed, leaving Zeitlose and The Unspeakable Horror in front of a warehouse - their warehouse now.

DOUG on 2/28

The plan for this Sunday is to do Necessary Evil, the Savage Worlds supers campaign where you play villains in a world besieged by an alien force for the past 2 years. I have a copy of the book along with a pdf so that can be utilized by people with laptops, but I'm thinking character creation will be part of the package. Especially since the first scenario is not very long. I'd like to start at about 1 pm on Sunday, and I should have a large box of miniatures to choose from to represent your particular villain.

Looking ahead slightly Aaron is ready for the next Fantasy Craft scenario which is tentatively planned for the first Sunday in March. Assuming Harris can make it, which hopefully he can.

DOUG continues!