Heroic Interludes

[Christopher R Taylor]

This is an idea I am playing with right now possibly for Champions Rises.  Heroic interludes are little bits that a GM can throw in between scenes, little bits that only take a few minutes to resolve, but give the players a sense of being HEROIC rather than just guys in costumes who beat each other up.  They can be thrown in as hero travels somewhere or is out on the job, something between the adventure steps.  Just a little thing, then you move on.  One or two of these a session, and your heroes will start to feel like real heroes.

 

You hero spots...

• Car on fire, need to rescue people inside (before it blows?)
• Hostage holding woman with knife, cops held at bay
• Man passes out/seizure in car, rolling out of control in the street
• Man on scooter steals purse/phone etc from someone, drives away
• Jumper on the ledge of a building needs talking to
• An elderly lady is trapped in the middle of a street because she was too slow for the crosswalk, and cars are not letting him cross
• A little girl's kitty is in a tree crying and cannot get down on its own
• A child is walking along the rooftop, balancing on the rim of the roof
• A group of youths is running out of a shop with the owner behind them yelling, their arms full of goods.
• A little girl is playing hopscotch when our hero spots something falling from the building above.

 

I am writing these down in a file as I go along, stuff that usually doesn't require combat, but some RP opportunities.

[Stanley Teriaca]

Young children playing in a dangerous area. Im thinking about the Teen Angel pilot proof of concept film (another attempt at making a live action Sailor Moon like show), where two girls were playing on the train tracks.

 

Kids spotting the hero and asking for there autograph.

 

Asked to show up to a charity function. A couple of these not held up by villains should be nice.

 

An editorial which isn't exactly flattering to the hero, but isn't libel either. Think J. Johan Jamerson against Spider-Man (but it is the GMs choice to either make him kinder or meaner then him).

 

Your hero is getting sued for damage during a past fight. And frankly you can't punch lawyers. (That is, unless she is huge and green and beautiful and won't give you the time of day.)

[Barton]

49 minutes ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

An editorial which isn't exactly flattering to the hero, but isn't libel either. Think J. Johan Jamerson against Spider-Man (but it is the GMs choice to either make him kinder or meaner then him).

 

My favorite; and do not forget something along the line of superhero "THREAT OR MENACE?"

 

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Of course nobody reads newspapers any more and who watches TV news?  But a viral blogcast or xweet?  Now we're talking.

[Christopher R Taylor]

• An ambulance is trying to get a dying person to the hospital but protesters have blocked the road and now the ambulance is trapped in traffic!
• (if the group is near the ocean) a sperm whale has beached its self!  At 60 feet long and 65 tons its a hand full to help out
• Two groups of opposing protesters are coming close to violence, can you calm them down with a great Oratory roll or a Presence Attack?
• A little kid has climbed to the top of a cell tower and is stuck, can you get her down safely?
• A car accident has knocked down a power line right on top of the car, can you get them out and restrain the sparking power line?

 

 

[Doc Democracy]

The Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG has places where characters can engage in social scenes, playing out some popint of contention or conflict between the players.  If the players engage and get to a resolution which better defines the characters or resolves the conflict in a meaningful way then all the participants get a hero point.

 

The example of play in the rulebooks is one player wanting a social scence about their character.  It is provoked by a throwaway line

 

<Aeon Girl> You were more than a little scary there, Muse

<Muse - in a dangerous monotone> I was.  You don't know what I am capable of.  you don't know what I'm capable of.  you don't know what I've done...and maybe I've said too much

<Muerto> Muse, what have you done? Is there something we should know about?

 

The GM then asks if they want a social scene.  Muse's player, Rae, says yes...

 

[Rae] I think we are sitting around in the Freedom Academy talking about this.  Muse is acting like she doesn't want to talk about it but clearly some small part of her needs to open up about it and get something off her chest.

 

The players roleplay a short conversation among the heroes.  No dice are rolled but it comes out that Muse, in the past, did some sinister and terrible things.  Rae plays Muse as being cagey about it and doesnt reveal what it is just yet.  It finishes with:

 

<Rockstar> So...maybe we need to keep at least one eye on Muse

<Aeon Girl> But firt and foremost she is our teammate.  She is outr friend and I'm not going to turn on her, ever.

<Rockstar> Yeah, of course, but...

 

The GM then interjects to end the scene and move the game on

 

[Jennifer, GM] And thus some seeds of doubt are sown! Tht's great.  Everyone OK with that? Rae?  you are OK with some of the other heroes having some doubts about Muse?

[Rae] Oh definitely.  this is perfect comic book drama and I want to run with it.

 

Hero points are then handed out to the characters involved.

 

These scenes can be in between action scenes, they can be reflections to past conversations or come at the end of the session.  I think quite often players want a bit of this to come out in play and never find the right time.  This provides a formal way of getting them in there.

 

Doc

[Stanley Teriaca]

1 hour ago, Doc Democracy said:

The Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG has places where characters can engage in social scenes, playing out some popint of contention or conflict between the players.  If the players engage and get to a resolution which better defines the characters or resolves the conflict in a meaningful way then all the participants get a hero point.

 

The example of play in the rulebooks is one player wanting a social scence about their character.  It is provoked by a throwaway line

 

<Aeon Girl> You were more than a little scary there, Muse

<Muse - in a dangerous monotone> I was.  You don't know what I am capable of.  you don't know what I'm capable of.  you don't know what I've done...and maybe I've said too much

<Muerto> Muse, what have you done? Is there something we should know about?

 

The GM then asks if they want a social scene.  Muse's player, Rae, says yes...

 

[Rae] I think we are sitting around in the Freedom Academy talking about this.  Muse is acting like she doesn't want to talk about it but clearly some small part of her needs to open up about it and get something off her chest.

 

The players roleplay a short conversation among the heroes.  No dice are rolled but it comes out that Muse, in the past, did some sinister and terrible things.  Rae plays Muse as being cagey about it and doesnt reveal what it is just yet.  It finishes with:

 

<Rockstar> So...maybe we need to keep at least one eye on Muse

<Aeon Girl> But firt and foremost she is our teammate.  She is outr friend and I'm not going to turn on her, ever.

<Rockstar> Yeah, of course, but...

 

The GM then interjects to end the scene and move the game on

 

[Jennifer, GM] And thus some seeds of doubt are sown! Tht's great.  Everyone OK with that? Rae?  you are OK with some of the other heroes having some doubts about Muse?

[Rae] Oh definitely.  this is perfect comic book drama and I want to run with it.

 

Hero points are then handed out to the characters involved.

 

These scenes can be in between action scenes, they can be reflections to past conversations or come at the end of the session.  I think quite often players want a bit of this to come out in play and never find the right time.  This provides a formal way of getting them in there.

 

Doc

We can adopt this as an option rule which might award an Hero Action Point for everyone involved AND earmark them for that +1 experience point for good roleplay (note that while you CAN gain multiple HAP from doing multiple scenes like that per session, you can't stockpile + EP like that. You only get one good roleplay bonus per session after all.)

[Stanley Teriaca]

One of the heroes is asked to preform a wellfare check on an elderly citizen who during the past use to be a costumed hero himself (maybe not a super level hero, but maybe a masked hero type at one time). This doesn't actually have to fall into combat, and he might not actually be abused, but he could easily suffer from mild dementia or something like that.

[Stanley Teriaca]

12 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

• An ambulance is trying to get a dying person to the hospital but protesters have blocked the road and now the ambulance is trapped in traffic.

A more joyful variant is that it is not an accident victim, but a pregnant woman who either needs to get to the hospital STAT because the baby can't wait for traffic to move again to be born, or the hero has to help deliver the baby right here and now because the baby can't wait to be born. Either way, baby can't wait.

Edited June 25 by Stanley Teriaca

[BoloOfEarth]

• A teen acting stupid / goofing around in a multi-story shopping mall ends up going over a railing and begins falling, with the hero passing by (in secret ID) down below.
• A big fan of the hero dresses up as his "sidekick" and patrols the city looking for crime to stop.
• A tourist taking a selfie isn't paying attention crossing the street and is about to be hit by a speeding car.
• The hero overhears some strangers arguing about how heroic / menacing the hero is, and a fight erupts between them.
• The hero is in a bar when a brawl breaks out (could be between rivaling sports team fans, a few drunken louts who won't take no from some ladies, etc.)
• Among some fan mail is a request by a kid with a terminal disease to meet the hero.  Surprisingly, it's not a villain plan but a real dying kid who just wants to meet his/her hero.  (Brief aside, one adventure I created a set of fan letters / requests for help for each of the heroes.)
• A homeless man is being beaten up by some punks.
• A bike messenger darting through traffic loses control and is about to be splatted by a passing car.
• An elderly person is trying to make their way home with two armloads of groceries when a freak thunderstorm occurs.
• A down-on-his-luck guy or girl, rushing and late for a job interview, gets jostled or trips/falls, and their briefcase / purse drops, with their papers (resume, references, etc.) scattering in the wind.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Quote

Brief aside, one adventure I created a set of fan letters / requests for help for each of the heroes.

 

That was one of my most effective bits in my Golden Age campaign.  When the heroes solved a series of capers and dangers at the World's Fair, I made up a bunch of letters from little kids thanking them and handed them out.  It was fun to make them, there are some great little kid fonts and drawings available all over the internet.

 

It was amazing how quiet the room got, every one of the players really felt it.  They felt like heroes.  That's what I want to capture with this.

[DShomshak]

2 hours ago, BoloOfEarth said:

•  
• A tourist taking a selfie isn't paying attention crossing the street and is about to be hit by a speeding car.
•  

A few years ago, I heard a radio interview with a doctor who compiled a list of "deaths by selfie" to find out how often it happened. Between people standing in front of oncoming trains, people standing in front of oncoming breakers at the beach, people hanging from skyscaraper ledges, and the like, quite a lot. He thought there should be some kind of safety warnings posted, but it's hard to imagine how this could be done for every ledge, railroad track, and beach. Maybe an AI in your phone that tells you "Don't do this, it's f***ing stupid!" and shuts down the phone?

 

Until then, an opportunity for a hero to save someone and then give them a stern talking-to. (Though the idiot probably then wants a selfie with the hero. And maybe even tries taking it while being carried back to the ground.)

 

Dean Shomshak

On 6/24/2024 at 11:37 AM, Stanley Teriaca said:

Asked to show up to a charity function. A couple of these not held up by villains should be nice.

*Very* nice. Don't let the players get cynical.

 

I must make a special effort to include this if I ever get to run my Avant Guard campaign again.

 

Dean Shomshak

Edited June 26 by DShomshak

[BoloOfEarth]

On 6/24/2024 at 2:37 PM, Stanley Teriaca said:

Asked to show up to a charity function. A couple of these not held up by villains should be nice.

 

6 hours ago, DShomshak said:

*Very* nice. Don't let the players get cynical.

 

I didn't fully appreciate how often the heroes got attacked while having lunch or dinner until the time I had one of them go out on a date, and after they finished dinner and were getting ready to leave the restaurant, the player was actually shocked that they got to finish their meal in peace.

 

I then arranged them to get a medal from the city, throughout which they were all extremely paranoid.  When nothing untoward happened, they didn't know how to handle it. 

 

Edit to add:  Those sorts of things (charity functions, award ceremonies) can instead be used to introduce key NPCs that the players will later interact with.  For example, meeting a tech CEO (and fanboy of the heroes) whose company gets targeted in a later adventure by supervillains.  Or an adversarial politician or reporter who begins making trouble for them later on.

 

Edited June 26 by BoloOfEarth

[Christopher R Taylor]

Its like the caravan in a fantasy game.  Every player knows its going to be a disaster, they know they will be attacked etc.

[Stanley Teriaca]

10 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Its like the caravan in a fantasy game.  Every player knows its going to be a disaster, they know they will be attacked etc.

Unless the GM actually wants to mix things up and have the caravan not be attacked at all. Which might be a springboard for an adventure itself. But that is Fantasy Hero and THIS! IS! CHAMPIONS! (kicks a fantasy massager into a well).

[Stanley Teriaca]

The hero is asked to provide a 'light show' using there powers for a celebration (much like, say, Independance Day).

[Christopher R Taylor]

• An elderly person is trying to walk home with their groceries and is clearly out of wind.  Will they trust the hero with their bags and their home?
• A drug runner has had enough of the life and flags down the PC to hand over a duffle bag full of fentanyl.  What will the hero do with all this and the smuggler?
• Our hero sees a little boy in his pajamas and bare feet walking down the street, he ran away from home but doesn't remember where home is and has no ID.
• (for an electrical powered hero) A crossover with a parent and several little kids is broken down in a bad part of town.  The car needs a jump, which the PC can provide with their blast
• (for a strong character or one with a significant KA) Two cars have collided and are mangled.  A child inside is alive but trapped, can you get the cars apart to save the kid?
• An elderly person is sitting on a bench weeping.  They cannot remember their address and have no phone or ID.  Can you help recover their memory to get them home?
• (For a flier) A little kid's toy helicopter is stuck in wires/on top of a tree/on top of a sculpture etc.  Can you get it for them?
• You spot a truck with a hole in the side, and what looks like a little kid's hand waving from it. (human trafficking bust)
• (water area) you see a fishing boat moving in circles, and spot a man treading water in the middle of the circle.  He seems tired.
• You spot guys magnet fishing as they pull a bomb out of the water.
   

[Gauntlet]

How about this one:

 

A little old lady with overwhelmingly thick eyeglasses attacks a hero with her walking cane as she believes that he/she looks like a Supervillain she saw on the news.

 

I actually did that to one of my players once as his costume looked a lot like one of the supervillains I created. And of course when he tried to tell her that he was not the villain she didn't believe him stating that's what a villain would obviously say. Sounds funny but it is actually rather hard to take care of.

Edited July 11 by Gauntlet

[Rich McGee]

On 6/25/2024 at 11:42 AM, Stanley Teriaca said:

We can adopt this as an option rule which might award an Hero Action Point for everyone involved AND earmark them for that +1 experience point for good roleplay (note that while you CAN gain multiple HAP from doing multiple scenes like that per session, you can't stockpile + EP like that. You only get one good roleplay bonus per session after all.)

That's a solid way to port the concept to Champions.  FWIW, hero points in Sentinels are a sort of "temporary experience point" that you earn in one session to purchase perks in the next.  They're fairly minor, closer to Champions Hero Action Points than actual xp and most of the perks are one-use, with a few lasting till end of session.  The whole team earns HP at once, there are ways to earn them outside social scenes, and there's a cap of 5 HP per session (which is pretty easy to reach IME).

 

Social scenes can also involve NPCs, and might occasionally include a die roll for an Overcome action if it seems appropriate.  Many of the ideas on this thread would work fine in a quick social scene - which are probably the most common scene type in Sentinels, although you'll usually spend more actual clock time in action scenes where the bulk of the game's hard mechanics (and fights) live.

On 6/24/2024 at 4:51 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

Of course nobody reads newspapers any more and who watches TV news?  But a viral blogcast or xweet?  Now we're talking.

In modern day campaigns.  In Golden Age games your news media is more radio and papers than anything else, although some newsreels might be timely enough to matter.  There's not much of a public internet prior to the 90s and when it matured into a recognizable form is still kind of a subjective call.  Maybe there's BBS communities for super-news in the 1980s, mostly unknown to the general public.  Super-tech might change that in a more divergent setting, of course.  If Doc Tomorrow and the Chrono-Rangers won the Time War in 1946 and pulled an Authority move worldwide, blogcasts might be quaintly old-fashioned by the 1960s. 

 

A suggestion that might let some less common powers be meaningful:

 

The hero sees a stray dog keep approaching people and attempting to get them to pay attention to it.  Does it just want to play, or does its human need help and it wants you to follow?  Lot easier to tell with telepathy or omnilingual communications or canine powers.  If it's got a tracking chip some sensory powers will make it easier to return home, either way.

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

By the way, most of these interludes are based on real life events, things I personally have experienced, and new clips and short videos on youtube showing people being heroic.

Edited July 13 by Christopher R Taylor