DELUXE CITYC A M P A I G N S E T

ADVENTURE BOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 2Chapter 7: The Manhattan Social Calendar 2Chapter 8: Telling Stories 5

Goals 12Villains 14The Adventure Hook 16NPCs 18Conditions and Dilemmas 20Deathtraps 22The Grand Finale 24

Chapter 9: Running a Campaign 26Chapter 10: The Manhattan Campaign 32

What City and Why? 32The Urban Campaign 33The Global Campaign 34The Galactic Campaign 34

Chapter 11: Scenarios 35The Statue of Liberty 35

Coney Island 36The Bronx Zoo 37The Holland Tunnel 37Central Park 38The Daily Bugle 39Doctor Strange's Sanctum 39The Empire State Building 40Empire State University 41The Financial District 42Four Freedoms Plaza 43Marvel Comics 44Metropolitan Museum of Art 44SHIELD Headquarters 45United Nations 46

FUN CITY: Campaign Scenario 47Extending the Adventure 62

INDEX to both books 63

CREDITSAuthor: Allen VarneyEditing: Jean Blashfield BlackGraphic Design: Stephanie TabatTypography: Gaye O'KeefeCartography: Dennis T. Kauth, Diesel, Dave Sutherland,

Stephanie Tabat, Paul HanchetteKeylining: Roy ParkerCover Art: Jeffrey ButlerInterior Art: The Marvel Bullpen

Thanks to Susan Poelma, Bob Quintan, and Don and Rose-mary Webb. Special thanks to Aaron Allston, whose "Adven-ture Cookbook" in TSR's Dungeon Master's Design Kit directlyinspired the "Plot Ingredients" in this supplement.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork con-tained herein is prohibited without the express written consent of TSR, Inc., and Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. Distributed to the book trade in theUnited States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors.

The TSR logo and PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

All characters appearing in this gamebook and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. MARVEL SUPERHEROES, MARVEL SUPER VILLAINS and The AVENGERS are trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. ® Copyright 1989 Marvel Entertain-ment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Game Design K 1989 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

INTRODUCTIONSTOP! Have you read the Camp-

paign Sourcebook included in thisset? If not, go back and look throughthat book first. When you're done,come back here. . . .

Now that the Sourcebook has con-jured up New York City for you, thisAdventure Book describes how to useit in telling stories—that is, in prepar-ing adventure role-playing scenarios,stories starring the characters yourplayers want to play.

The supplement begins with a list ofsome notable events held each year inManhattan. These events lend colorto a campaign and can inspire sce-nario ideas. For more explanation,consult Chapter 7, "The ManhattanSocial Calendar," starting on thispage.

Chapter 8 offers a lengthy discus-sion of the technique of telling a singlestory. This treatment, especially use-ful to the beginning Judge, is followedby a series of treatises on individualplot elements, like goals, master vil-lains, and story climaxes. By pickingand combining these "plot ingredi-ents," a Judge can easily design limit-less numbers of original scenarios.

This is, after all, a campaign set. SoChapter 9 deals with the campaign,the series of linked stories featuringthe same characters. Learn how to de-sign a good campaign, choose PCsand villains, dangers to watch out for,and a few of the many types of play-ers. Every Judge, no matter how ex-

perienced, can benefit from thischapter.

Chapter 10 briefly discusses thespecial requirements of a campaignset in a large city, especially New YorkCity. The bibliography of useful books,maps, and other resources points in-terested Judges to further readingabout New York.

Chapter 11, the entire last half ofthis book, is devoted to ready-to-runscenarios, lots and lots of scenarios!

First up are not one, not 10, but 15(!)individual mini-scenarios (in the styleof the Encounters in MHAC6, NewYork, New York). Each is keyed to oneof the Hotspot locations described inthe Campaign Sourcebook. Be famil-iar with a given Hotspot listing beforeyou run the mini-scenario tied to it.

Finally, the campaign scenario,"Fun City," offers a full-length adven-ture framework that uses as manyHotspots as you want. The scenarioworks with heroes of any power level,both established Marvel charactersand player-created heroes. Run it aspart of an ongoing campaign or usethe optional "Campaign Kickoff" tobegin a new campaign with a ready-made background and long-termgoals for your characters.

The removable folder cover of thisbooklet includes a large map of theManhattan subway system on the out-side. On the inside of the folder areseveral maps used in Chapter 11 'sscenarios.

The Point of This BookThis Adventure Book tries to convey

that role-playing adventures work bythe same rules as any adventure,whether it is a comic book, prosestory, or movie. What does this imply?

1. The scenario has a definite struc-ture and ground rules defined by itsstory genre.

That doesn't mean the adventureproceeds in a straight plotline no mat-ter what the characters do, but thatthe dramatic action builds toward a cli-max, where the storyline is resolved.

2. The scenario's characters havegenuine functions in the narrative,and they work toward real goals. Theirpaths to the goals vary according tothe characters' personalities. But allof them are trying to make somethingdefinite happen in the story, not justthrowing punches.

3. The Judge narrates the sce-nario's events with a sense of toneand staging. For definitions of theseideas, see Chapters 8 and 9.

If you have wondered how to giveyour scenarios greater depth, andhow to pull your players back for lateradventures in a broad campaign,think about the advice in Chapters 8-10. Note how the scenarios in Chapter11 incorporate these ideas into theirdesign. When you master the art ofstorytelling, your games becomericher and more compelling.

Goto it!

CHAPTER 7: THE MANHATTAN SOCIAL CALENDAR"Hah!" Doctor Octopus cried.

"You 're too late, heroes! I poisoned tenwater cannisters along the Marathonroute. In one hour the ten runners whodrank them will die—unless you can lo-cate them and give them this antidote"Extending one adamantium tentacle,the villain flung down a simple steelvacuum bottle.

"Now," Octopus continued, "I go tocarry out a large financial transaction.You can follow and stop me—but thenyou allow ten innocent athletes to die.Make your choice, heroes!"

His tentacles lifted him away towardthe Chase Manhattan Bank. The he-roes gazed across cheering crowds,as 50,000 runners trotted up the ave-nue. . . .

This chapter lists some of the regu-lar seasonal events in Manhattan andgreater New York City: parades,shows, holidays, tournaments, con-ventions, and festivals. They aregrouped according to the months inwhich they (usually) occur. A few nota-ble events include brief descriptions.

How do you use these events in thecampaign? First and easiest, they pro-vide background color, scenic detail,and atmosphere important to a Man-hattan campaign. Even if you onlymention in passing a specific festivalor concert—perhaps as the openingscene of an adventure that quicklymoves elsewhere—the players stillget a sense of New York's vigorous,cosmopolitan culture.

But these events can also functionin more important ways. Here are afew suggestions.

The Lure: Important NPCs mightvisit Manhattan to attend one of theseevents. If the campaign is based in an-other city, an event might draw PC he-roes to New York, in either secret orhero IDs.

The Job: Heroes could gain Karmaby appearing at some of these events,as per the "charity appearance"award. Or police might ask heroes towork larger events as crowd control,high-profile security officers, or body-guards.

And, above all other uses—The Nefarious Plot: Because many

of these events draw large crowds andoften involve big loot or rare trea-sures, they make fine targets for vil-lainous mayhem.

A villain will find some events more

tempting than others, depending onthe bad guy's goals and methods. Forinstance, the Maggia would usuallyshow little interest in summer con-certs in Central Park, but it might havedesigns on the International AntiquesShow's more valuable items. On theother hand, a terrorist who plans may-hem would prefer to target the parkconcerts or perhaps the ThanksgivingDay Parade.

Customize the villain to the event,the event to the villain, and both to thesetting and to your PCs' interests.That helps make your scenario anevent to remember.

This listing gives only regular an-nual events. Remember, New York'ssocial schedule constantly simmers

with gallery openings, galas, concerttours, premieres, trade shows andconventions, and one-shot spectacu-lars. For example, in 1989, New YorkCity was the site of a huge bicenten-nial celebration of George Washing-ton's first inauguration asPresident—in New York. Or, in 1988Manhattan hosted a gigantic arts festi-val featuring over 150 major eventsand many more lesser performances.This, too, may become an annualsummer event.

For more information about theseevents, consult New York City news-papers or magazines (available at thelocal library), or investigate thesources in the Bibliography in theCampaign Sourcebook.

MANHATTAN CALENDAR OF EVENTS

JANUARYCon-• National Boat Show and Greater New York Auto Show, Javits

vention Center (Hell's Kitchen).• Ice Capades and Nabisco Masters Men's Tennis, Madison SquareGarden (Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street).• Chinese New Year, first full moon after January 19, Chinatown.

FEBRUARY• Westminster Dog Show (two days and hundreds of entries), Madi-son Square Garden• International Antiques Show, Madison Square Garden• "White sales" of linens and towels at department stores over Presi-dents Day weekend.

MARCHRingling Bros./Bamum & Bailey Circus, Madison Square Garden.17: St. Patrick's Day Parade, Fifth Avenue.

APRIL• Easter Sunday: Easter Parade, Fifth Avenue. Starts at St. Patrick'sCathedral (Fifth Avenue at 49th Street). The upper classes and would-be socialites put on their finest clothes and strut up and down the streetin an annual ceremony, commemmorated in a song by Irving Berlin.

MAY• Many parades, including Brooklyn Bridge Day, Martin Luther KingJr., and Norwegian Independence Day Parades customarily wend theirway down Fifth Avenue, and dense crowds line both sides of the street.• Ninth Avenue International Festival, a celebration of many ethniccultures, including free entertainment. From 37th to 59th Streets.• Park Avenue Antiques Show, Seventh Regiment Armory (Park at66th Street); lasts an entire week.• Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, display of kitsch art forthree weekends, beginning the last week in May (Washington SquarePark, Broadway. University, and La Guardia Place). Also in September.• Last weekend of May: Feast of St. Anthony, Little Italy. Food, rides,gambling games, and raffles• Memorial Day: Aerobatics and parachuting at Coney Island.

JUNE• Parades. Puerto Rican Day, Salute to Israel.• Festival of St. Anthony continues in Greenwich Village.• Museum Mile, Fifth Avenue: For one midweek evening in early June,ten museums between 82nd and 105th Streets charge no admission.• Metropolitan Opera performances in many of the city's parks. Manyother musical events of all kinds, including a couple of prominent jazzfestivals, and Shakespeare in the Park (Central Park's Delacorte The-ater), continuing into July.• Goldman Memorial Band concerts, Lincoln Center.• "Summerpier" jazz concerts. South Street Seaport.• Great Irish Fair, Brooklyn.

JULY• 4: Fireworks above Macy's in midtown; Harbor Festival of races, con-certs, and a street fair, lower Manhattan; more acrobatic flying andparachuting at Coney Island.• Free concerts by the New York Philharmonic in Central Park andother parks, continuing in August.• Mostly Mozart festival of classical music, Avery Fisher Hall (LincolnCenter, 64th and Broadway). Lasts six weeks• Lady of Pompeii Feast, Greenwich Village. Nightly for ten days.

AUGUST• Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. Free shows of all kinds of performingarts, lasting three weeks.• Bluegrass Club of New York Amateur Band Contest, various spots.• US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadow, Queens.

SEPTEMBER• Washington Square Outdoor Art Show (see May entries).• Feast of San Gennaro, Little Italy. Lasts 11 nights. Once at this festi-val Captain America battled the rat-like villain Vermin.• 52nd Street Fair, Third to Ninth Avenues• Steuben Day Parade (German- American). Fifth Avenue starting at86th Street.• New York Film Festival, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (to early Oct.).• Atlantic Antic, Brooklyn. Middle Eastern festival.

OCTOBER• Fifth Avenue parades: Pulaski Day, Columbus Day, Hispanic Day,Veterans Day.• 24: United Nations Day. No official ceremonies.• Last Sunday of the month: New York City Marathon This 26-milerace starts at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (Staten Island side), fin-ishes in Central Park at 67th Street, and passes through all five bor-oughs in between. A major marathon event, it draws tens of thousandsof hopeful masochists.• 31: Halloween Parade in (where else?) Greenwich Village Gaudyand outrageous.

NOVEMBER• National Horse Show, Madison Square Garden. Lasts six days.• Thanksgiving Day: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Broadway atHerald Square. The Avengers and the Fantastic Four have been knownto ride floats in this parade It usually includes a Spider-Man baitoon,depending on the wail-crawler's public image in any given year. Theballoon always occasions an irate Daily Bugle editorial.• The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular," Radio City Music Hall,Times Square.• The weekend after Thanksgiving: National Hot Rod and CustomCar Show, Javits Convention Center.

DECEMBER• Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, Rockefeller Center (47th Streetbetween Fifth and Sixth Avenues). A major event.• Fifth Avenue holiday store windows (through early January). Spec-tacular moving dioramas that draw heavy crowds.• 31: New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square where tens of thou-sands watch the illuminated globe atop the Allied Chemical Tower de-scend second by second to mark the beginning of the new year. Thereare also celebrations in Central Park and Prospect Park.

CHAPTER 8: TELLING STORIES"A bunch of heroes were hanging

around together for no particular rea-son. Suddenly they heard about asuper-powered villain's evil scheme.For no particular reason they set out tofind the villain. They did, and in a bigfight they defeated the villain. The end."

You'd be bored by a comic bookwith this storyline. You might even say,"I can write a better comic story my-self!" When you become a Judge, youcan. In your own "comics," your role-playing adventures, you can createstories with as much excitement asthe Marvel comics.

This means you create, not just a se-ries of fights, but a storyline with a be-ginning, middle, and end; giving PCs aclear goal and a struggle against vil-lains with conflicting goals; and featur-ing a supporting cast of NPCs who canhinder or help the players.

This chapter discusses the ele-ments of a good Marvel story or sce-nario. First comes a generaldiscussion of story elements, pacing,staging, and other important matters.Novice Judges in particular shouldfind this useful.

Then the chapter presents a seriesof detailed treatments of "plot ingredi-ents," such as villains, NPCs, death-traps, and grand finales. By mixingand matching these ingredients, youcan create hundreds of new sce-narios. Any Judge, no matter how ex-perienced, can use these to improveadventures.

THE GENREA "genre" refers to a distinctive

kind of story, such as mysteries, West-erns, romances, or fantasy, usuallyused to distinguish it from general, or"mainstream," fiction.

Readers of these genres quicklypoint out that there is wide varietywithin each one. In the same way, theMarvel comic-book genre includesmany kinds of stories. But there arecertain similarities among them thatare worth discussing here.

Why is this important? Because totell stories like those in Marvel comics,you should understand the rules bywhich they work. If you already under-

stand the genre (and if you've beenreading Marvel comics for a long time,you probably do), skip this section.

Setting the Tone"Tone," the most important factor in

gaming a genre, refers to the generalquality or atmosphere of the genre'sstories. For instance, hard-boiled de-tective stories usually have a dark,brutally cynical tone, whereas ro-mances stress true love and heart-break.

Stories of the Marvel heroes vary intone between the high-tech galacticadventure of the Fantastic Four andthe urban nightmare of Daredevil.With this variety, what genre elementsshould you use in setting your tone?

Many elements depend on the kindof campaign you choose and on thepower level of your PCs. But here aresome elements common to all Marvelstories.

Good vs. evil: The heroes and vil-lains may not always wear skin-tightcostumes, but you can always tell thegood guys from the bad guys. Marvelheroes fight the good fight against var-ious agents of death, destruction, tyr-anny, corruption, and chaos. Theheroes, and your PC heroes, are al-ways clearly on the side of right.

Some heroes, such as Wolverineand the Punisher, often work on thewrong side of the law and inhabit anextremely gray area on the spectrumof morality. But almost without fail,their foes act worse than the heroesever would. So they, too, embody theconflict of good and evil.

Heroes who are highly motivated:These characters have reasons forwhat they do. Spider-Man knows thatwith great power comes great respon-sibility; the FF prevents super villainsand aliens from conquering the world;the X-Men and X-Factor protect mu-tants from persecution; the Punisherfights organized crime to avenge hisslain family.

Just having miraculous powers is,in itself, no reason to risk your life bat-tling bad guys. Your PCs should haveorigins that explain their motives, andyour adventures should reinforcethose motives.

Bad guys, just as motivated: Don'tforget that the bad guys are people,too (at least some of them). They fightfor a reason. The villains are greedy,crazy, or just plain nasty; they yearnfor power, slaves, or ideological purity;or they just want to prove they're thebest at what they do.

Whatever they are, villains are notcollections of numbers that exist to bepounded on. They hatch many plots,and they can really antagonize yourheroes—get on their nerves in a per-sonal way. The villain who insults ahero, makes his life hard, and kidnapshis dog will mean a lot more to that he-ro's player than just another thug fromthe rulebook. This gets players moreinvolved in the story.

High-speed action: Marvel comicsare exciting, and your adventuresshould proceed in that tradition. Everyplay session should include plenty ofchasing around, suspense, and asmuch action as you can squeeze in.

The characters should be dynamictypes who throw themselves into thingsinstead of hanging back and not gettinginvolved, afraid of losing Health. Theyshow their personalities through theirdeeds, just like the characters in thecomics. The comic-book audience en-joys a fast-paced story, and your audi-ence of players is no different.

Humor: Don't forget, while your vil-lains plan civilization's collapse andthe end of life on Earth, that Marvelcomics also feature liberal doses ofcomedy relief.

Spider-Man always gets off plentyof one-liners; where Thor goes, theenormous Volstagg is seldom far be-hind; even Doctor Strange managesto grin from time to time. And some vil-lains, such as the Impossible Man,add welcome doses of silliness.

When your scenarios get too grim,players can forget the reason theyplay: to have fun. So throw in opportu-nities for wit, satire, or even slapstick.

Genre ConventionsAside from the elements that create

the genre's tone, there are also un-spoken assumptions that allow themto work. Every form of entertainmentuses "conventions" of this kind. For

IN FINALBATTLE . . .

instance, one of the conventions ofopera is that everyone sings beauti-fully; of space-opera science fictionmovies, that you can move fromplanet to planet in a reasonable time.Without such assumptions, the wholestory falls apart.

You might think the conventions ofsuper-hero adventures include thingslike high-tech gadgets, explosions,and big, climactic battles with villains.But those are just plot elements, andmany perfectly good Marvel storiesdon't involve any of these. Conven-tions are more subtle. For example:

1. If you wear a mask, nobody cantell who you are.

This is the way secret identitieswork. No one can figure out a hero'strue identity without careful detectivework.

2. If you catch someone who is com-mitting a crime and haul the crook tothe police, the crook goes to jail.

Occasionally this idea fails, but onlywhen the story specifically calls for it.For instance, Daredevil turned in theagent called Bullet, but Bullet's gov-ernment connections got him out ofpolice custody in hours.

In general, though, this conventionprevents heroes from having to worryabout the legal system, since having todo so seldom produces exciting stories.

3. You can say a lot during a pitchedbattle.

Give your PCs time to make threats,stirring speeches, or insults betweenthrown punches. Villains can dropclues or gloat. Think of these orationsas the word balloons in a comic-bookpanel. These "soliloquies" take nogame time, and they make for a color-ful fight.

4. The heroes are the only ones whocan solve the problem at hand.

The Marvel Universe, especiallyNew York City, is crowded with he-roes. But part of what makes themheroic—and what makes a goodstory—is that each one faces his orher problems head-on, alone.

When the assassin Bullseye wenton a killing rampage through Manhat-tan, did Daredevil knock on the door ofAvengers Mansion and say, "Thor,could you take care of this little matterfor me?" No. Daredevil fought andbested his enemy alone, because itwas Daredevil's story.

In game terms, you should prepare

scenarios uniquely suited to yourplayers' characters. If they aren't ableto handle magic, don't throw a lot ofmagical perils at them; they will justhave to locate Doctor Strange and askfor help. Your PCs are the stars of thestory, so they are by definition the bestheroes to handle the situation.

Of course, an occasional visit toFour Freedoms Plaza or Avengers Is-land is okay. For instance, the heroesmight need to borrow a piece of equip-ment that only the Avengers or FFwould have. But if the players start tolean too hard on other hero groups,make sure those others are conven-iently "off on missions" when yourscenarios take place.

5. Heroes make a difference.New York City may be huge and

have problems that millions of peoplecan't solve, but the efforts of its fewsuper humans make life better for ev-eryone. Sometimes this convention,too, is honored in the breach ratherthan the observance, but, in general,Marvel comics strike a positive noteabout their heroes' role in society.

When you show that your PCs areimproving their world, the players feelgood and continue playing. But if thePCs mess up all the time, and theirpresence only makes things worse,the players will come to feel that theyare better off staying home.

ABOUT STORIESHow do you turn all of these ideas

into an adventure? How do you mix el-ements of plot, characters, settings,surprises, and goals, present them toyour player characters, and turn theirresponses into an exciting story?

One funny but useful approachcompares your role to that of a chef ina big kitchen. The episodes of yourstory are like the courses of a dinner,and you have a selection of staple in-gredients to mix in your recipes.

Premises: These are the spring-boards for stories or adventures. Apremise provides a situation, a goal,and reasons to try to reach the goal.For example, "The Leader has cap-tured the TV and radio stations atopthe Empire State Building and isbroadcasting subtle hypnotic sugges-tions. The heroes must get to the stu-dios, stop his broadcasts, and find a

way to reverse the hypnosis, or atdawn millions of people will walk intothe ocean and drown."

For more premises you might con-sider using, see the "Summary" sec-tions that begin the scenarios inChapter 11.

Goals: In a story, the player charac-ters work toward genuine goals."Stop Doctor Doom from taking overthe UN building." "Find the evidencethat will clear a PC hero of this murdercharge." "Locate and rescue theMayor."

There are many goals, all of themhaving real effects if the heroes reachthem or fail. Make your story's goalone the characters care about, andthat motivates them to act heroically.

Settings: In a story, the environmentis important. It can determine thecourse of the plot, and it does morethan anything else to establish thetone and atmosphere of the story.

Think about Times Square. Or FourFreedoms Plaza. Or Doctor Strange'sSanctum. These aren't just maps withnumbered rooms, they're placeswhere people live or work, with uniquefeatures that set a mood.

A low, smoke-stained ceiling withshreds of paint still clinging at the cor-ners. Hot, bright incandescent lightshanging low over green baize tablesthat smell of grease and dust. The cueball clicks against the shiny black 8.Big guys in cammo vests or flashysuits look for shots. Now and then apolice siren wails across town, andhalf the players start, looking suddenlyguilty. Mumbled bets, crinkling bills,ice cubes clacking in shot glasses,hazy warm air.

If you give your players these de-tails, they'll know more about thisstory than if you said, "There you arein a sleazy pool hall."

Another way to describe settings isto draw on your players' shared expe-rience of reading Marvel comics.Compare sites to the scenes in thecomics: "This is a luxurious brown-stone like the one Matt Murdock usedto live in," or "This is a big, shiny labo-ratory like Reed Richards uses in FourFreedoms Plaza." This is a shorthandway to set the scene.

The Hotspot entries in the Cam-paign Sourcebook include enough de-scriptive detail to get you started, andyou can improvise the rest as needed,

from your imagination or additionalreading.

Conflict: It's not a story unlesssomething prevents the heroes fromachieving their goal with ease. Maybebad guys are chasing them, only astretched footstep behind. Maybe theperson they're sent to find doesn'twant to be found, or works to sabo-tage the heroes, or has been kid-napped. Or a tremendous disasterhas endangered the city, so the he-roes must spend valuable time rescu-ing innocents.

Obstacles to success make excitingadventures. They come not just fromvillains and henchmen, but from theenvironment, misunderstandings, orneutral NPCs with conflicting goals.And not all obstacles can be removedwith a haymaker or repulsor ray.

Suppose your heroes need to catcha taxi to Queens, so they can warnAunt May that a villain is headed herway. The only taxi around is occupiedby a stuffy rich guy who wants no truckwith rowdy muscular guys in funnysuits. He's got bodyguards and pow-erful connections; he can probablyoutbid the heroes; and if they punchhim out, they'll ruin their reputations.

This conflict forces PCs to thinkaround a problem. Even though no-body has swung a fist or destroyed abuilding, the story is exciting and in-volving. Try to put many kinds of con-flict in stories.

Non-player characters (NPCs):Some NPCs are interesting allies orvillains, with their own skills andgoals. Others are faceless threats,like thugs or monsters, who are justthere for the heroes to overcome.Both kinds fill essential roles in yourplot.

Surprises: What comic readerdoesn't like a good twist in the narra-tive? When Spider-Man's first blackcostume turned out to be a vampiricalien, that startled readers every-where. When Thor was briefly replacedby the alien Beta Ray Bill, no one wasexactly sure what was going on.

When players are acting withoutmuch thought, because they thinkthey know what's coming next, makesure they're wrong. Any story offerschances to make the players have toreadjust their expectations with a sud-den lurch.

Maybe the heroes are trying to res-

cue an ambassador's teenage daugh-ter, who has been kidnapped byterrorists. The PCs cross the city tothe terrorist hideout, sneak in, silencethe lone guard, and wake the youngwoman. She lets out a screech andcalls for the terrorists! It turns outshe's allied herself with them to rebelagainst her father and create a newlife without him. The players, havingproceeded without thinking, must suf-fer the consequences.

But when the players are alert, thinkmatters through, and plan intelligentlyfor likely turns of events, don't shovein an arbitrary surprise just to messthem up. If the plan they offer wouldwork as you have arranged matters—even if it isn't the way you had figuredit would be—it deserves to succeed.

In this way you reward intelligence,and players don't start thinking, "Whybother planning when we're going toget blindsided anyway?" Sometimeswhen the heroes execute a plan flaw-lessly, with no drawbacks, the suc-cess itself surprises the heroes morethan any failure you could invent.

The grand finale: A story's excitementshould build to higher levels, and thenbe resolved in a single dramatic con-frontation. More often than not, this is aslugfest with the main villain.

In this climax, the main story ele-ments should be resolved, main goalsreached or lost, and most importantcharacters dealt with in some fittingfashion. Maybe the chief villain es-capes, surviving to fight again . .. butfor now, no one has to worry about himor her for a while.

You can't always know your story'sclimax when you design the adven-ture, because players can act unpre-dictably and send the plotlinecareening off in new directions. But asyou judge the adventure, be alert forways to resolve the story in a dramaticfinal scene. Read more about finaleslater in this chapter.

ABOUT TELLING THESTORY

Now that you've cooked up a din-ner, you should decide how to serve it.How will you get your players into thestory, and how will the plot develop?

Length: Have a rough idea of howlong the whole adventure should take.

8

Of course, players always do unex-pected things that affect the length oftime a story takes to complete. Theytake a few days off to earn money ordate their girl/boyfriends, or they acci-dentally stumble on the high-tech itemthat destroys the villain in one turn.You can't plan for this, but you oughtto have some notion of how many eve-nings everyone will have to keep opento finish the adventure.

A short scenario, with an immediategoal and one or two obstacles, cantake a few hours—one play-session.An extended adventure, lasting manydays of game-time or ranging across awide area, with lots of fights orchases, can take many sessions ofseveral hours each.

In planning an extended adventure,try to break down the story intosession-length "episodes" or install-ments. Each episode should offer cer-tain features in its own right, such asaction and an opportunity for eachplayer character to do something use-ful. Otherwise, the adventure maydrag, and some players can grow dis-satisfied. Episodes are discussed fur-ther below.

In a campaign, it is often a goodidea to alternate extended, multi-session adventures with shorter,"one-shot" stories. The short breaksprovide light relief from the rigors of alengthy adventure, in the same wayyou might take a break from readingmulti-part graphic novels to browse ashort story.

Getting underway: First, make sureyou have all the game materials youneed, such as pencils, dice, and"paranoia notes" (slips of paper theplayers use to pass private messagesto the Judge). And set out plenty ofmunchies—role-playing is hungrywork! Then everything is ready.

Before the adventure begins, geteach player to introduce his or hercharacter to the others. If it is not anestablished Marvel character, theplayer should describe the character'sappearance and perhaps some back-ground.

Starting an adventure can be aproblem. The goal is not only topresent a situation, but to involve theplayers in it—to get them emotionallycommitted. The "Adventure Hooks"section later in this chapter gives spe-cific ways to pull players into the story.

But here is one point of general ad-vice:

Consider starting the heroes right inthe middle of everything. Tell the playersthat their characters received an urgentsummons from a police stoolie; whenthey went to rescue him, they stumbledinto a Maggia ambush. The gunmenare firing. What do the PCs do?

Already players can make interestingchoices, they're headed in a clear direc-tion, and you begin to establish the tonefor this adventure. When the action letsup for a moment or two, convey thepremise and goal of the story, and letthe heroes charge onward.

Pacing the story: Once they'recharging, how fast do they get wherethey're going? As fast as possible, ofcourse. Keep things rolling along, anddon't get bogged down in detail. If youare not sure about a rule, invent some-thing reasonable and continue; thenyou can check later, and reverse yourearlier ruling if it's still necessary andfeasible.

And players shouldn't make thingsdrag with rules questions, either. Theircharacters don't have time to flipthrough rulebooks in the midst ofheated exertion, so the playersshouldn't either. If you make it clear toplayers that you will treat them fairlyand that a finicky rules question won'tgovern the success or failure of theirmission, they should be willing to sur-render to the moment and play theroles, not the rules.

STORYTELLING STYLEThe way you describe settings, im-

personate characters, and dramatizeaction directly influences how muchfun everyone has.

First, don't drone. The Judge whorecites his or her narrative in a boredmonotone or a singsong voice, like anaccountant reading figures off a taxreturn, inspires players with no moreenthusiasm than the tax return would.

Also, when the action becomes ex-citing, get excited! Raise your voice.Gesture. Make noises, like the explo-sion of gunshots or the zaps of magicspells. Just look at any Marvel comicfor sound-effects ideas. Ham it up!Your enthusiasm will draw people intothe spirit of the story. Or if not, at leastthey'll be entertained watching youact crazy.

StagingHere is how two different Judges,

one brand-new and the other experi-enced, describe the end of one battle.

The new Judge: "What did you roll?Okay, that's a hit. Doctor Octopustakes Incredible damage. That bringshim to 0, all right. He makes his Endur-ance roll, so he's not dying, but he'sout cold."

The experienced Judge: "What didyou roll? Okay, your energy boltshoots out like lightning, kzat! It crack-les yellow, white, blue. The smell ofozone fills the air. The bolt strikes Doc-tor Octopus right in his stomach. Hisarm controls spark and fizzle, he jerks

his head back, and he screams!"His arms falter. They're still hold-

ing him up, but he's sagging to thefloor like an old man. He sinks lowerand lower. And all the while he's mum-bling, 'You can't beat me again—thistime I've got you—just let me catchmy breath—' Then the arms give wayall at once, he hits the floor, and he liesthere twitching."

The second Judge's narrative ex-cites the players, helps them visualizethe action, and simulates the "feel" ofMarvel comics. This is called staging.

There's nothing wrong with rules,but they exist only to help you and theplayers create stories. So tell the sto-ries something like an on-the-spot ra-dio news reporter. Describe the fightblow by blow, not die roll by die roll.

A few tips for colorful description:Use many senses. Describe what

the PCs see and hear, but also includeinteresting smells, the temperature,when it's useful, and the way thescene makes the characters feel:"The Hudson River is wide, slate gray,and smells like the oil in an old gasstation. A stiff, cool breeze blows to-ward you. A few derelicts are stagger-ing along the waterfront. You feel asdesolate as they look."

Use sound effects. As mentionedabove, don't hesitate to "bang! ka-boom! zam!" all you like. Don't beshy—you're the Judge, so you can doanything you want. If the players makefun of you, throw an incredible super-powered villain at their characters.

That should hush them up!Design dramatic entrances and ex-

its. A major character's appearance ordeparture is worth playing up. It'sokay to say, "There's Doctor Octopus,and he springs to the attack." But youincrease suspense and interest if yousay, "The only sound in the ware-house is the buzzing of a fly. It fliesdown in front of you—and suddenly ametal tentacle lances down and grabsit out of the air! Overhead, Doctor Oc-topus shouts, 'I have you now!' '

Melodramatic entrances and exitscan be overdone, so be careful. Listento your players. If they sound primedto expect a big splash, consider catch-ing them off-guard by having the vil-lain slip in quietly. "You searched thecity for the Beetle, but you found noth-ing. After several hours, you get tiredand go back to headquarters. Youhead for the kitchen to make a cup ofcoffee . . . and he's waiting for you atthe kitchen table."

Describe powers vividly. If your PCsfire power bolts of Amazing intensity,make them sound amazing.

"Orange fire builds around your fin-gertips. For half a second you wonder,as usual, whether this time the powerreally will incinerate your hand. Theenergy builds before you can blinkyour eyes, and you launch the fireballin a blaze of yellow light."

This makes players feel super hu-man in a way that "You hit him withyour flame bolt" just can't.

EPISODESWhen you create a long story that

players can't complete in one session,give thought to breaking up the plotinto episodes.

Each session of play should be in-teresting in its own right. Otherwise,after a dull stretch, the players mightnot come back for the next one.

And it's a good idea to break off asession either (a) at some naturalpause, such as after a big fight, whenthe players and their characters wouldnaturally unwind; or (b) at a dramatic,cliff-hanging moment, such as just be-fore a big fight, when your players canhardly wait to see what comes next.This way you know they'll come backfor the next session!

An exciting episode of your storyshould include a lot of the ingredients

of the whole story: a clear goal, inter-esting characters, maybe some mys-tery. And the episode involves specificplot elements, such as (one or moreof) these:

- fighting- a chase- high-tech superscience or magic

in the mighty Marvel manner- investigation, if the story is a mys-

tery, or if the goal isn't clear- comedy, such as interaction with

NPCs or weird twists of the plot. Don'tlet the laughs undermine the impor-tance of the fight against evil; butdon't get so solemn that nobody has agood time.

The most important rule: In plottingan episode of your story, think aboutall the players and their characters.Ask what each character can do in thisepisode. Each player should feel hisor her involvement is important.

Maybe only one character speaksthe language of your important NPC,while another knows how to infiltrate avillain's master computer. A third is theonly one who can detect that magicaltrap, while the fourth has a weaponperfect for foiling an ambush.

Make sure everybody gets to showoff at least once. That's one of theprime attractions of role-playing.

RESOLVING THE STORYSo the game is going along fa-

mously. Eventually, however, like anystory, it must end.

Creating the Story ClimaxIn theory, your adventure has set

the heroes a particular goal, and theyhave been opposed by one or moremain adversaries or obstacles. In theclimax, try to draw together the he-roes, the adversaries, and the goal.Either the heroes reach the goal, orthey fail conclusively; the bad guysare overcome, or escape, or triumph(for the moment).

One way to analyze your story anddesign the climax is to visualize anevent that changes the situation, obvi-ously and permanently. Somebodydies; a hero's (or item's) latent poweris activated; the object the villainsseek is destroyed; a hero and heroinefall in love; the setting burns down orexplodes.

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Dramatizing the ClimaxAs the story reaches its end, the

players should not lean back to watchthe show. You must dramatize theaction. That doesn't mean wavingyour arms dramatically as you de-scribe the ending; it means you in-volve the PCs as key actors in thedrama. The heroes must take actionto achieve success.

If the climax of the adventure is anexciting battle, that's fine, and cer-tainly not without precedent. Anotherinteresting type of dramatization re-quires characters to make a choice,then act on that choice. Then theymust deal with the consequences ofthe choice.

For example, the villain may kidnapa guide who helped the characters ontheir adventure. At the climax, the vil-lain appears with a knife at the victim'sthroat. Do the heroes let the villain getaway?

Or a spy who's been reporting to avillain on the PCs' movements turnsout to be the daughter of an importantNPC, perhaps the characters' patron.Do they arrest her on the spot?

Perhaps players will have no trou-ble with these decisions, but makingthem agonize isn't the point. Thechoices they make define their char-acters and determine the course ofthe story. There is a whole sectionabout these "dilemmas" later in thischapter.

You manipulated the sequence ofevents to bring about the story's cli-max. But once you reach it, major ma-nipulation is uncalled for. You canhave a villain miss his FEAT roll or failto see a brilliant tactic, if it would makefor a dramatic defeat (see below). Butin general, the actions the player char-acters take of their own accord shoulddecide the story's outcome. Other-wise, the players feel like they'rewatching events, not shaping them.

If they fail completely, the failureneed not be permanent or fatal; see"Victory Levels," below.

Don't Let Dice Mess You UpThe heroes corner your master vil-

lain, confront him with his crimes, de-liver their impassioned speeches, andhit him with overwhelming force. Eve-rything's set up for his defeat; he'llstagger a few steps, shake his fist inimpotent rage, and drop into a bottom-

less pit. All they have to do is hit him.You roll his Dodging or Evading

FEAT, and he evades their blow withease. The moment is lost. The PCs re-sort to a long, tedious battle of attri-tion, wearing him down intounconsciousness so they can kick himwhile he's down.

What went wrong? You let your dicedo the thinking for you, that's what.The dice don't tell the story, you do! Iftheir results interfere with a fun, satis-fying adventure, what do you gain byslavishly obeying them? The reasonyou're all playing is to have fun, and"having fun" and "following each andevery rule, without exception" don'talways mean the same thing.

You might ask, "But isn't this cheat-ing?" Sure, but only to help the play-ers have a good time. That's the rulethat precedes all other rules. So if youthink a scene would flow better if yourvillain rolled low instead of high—hedid! (Just make sure you roll the diceout of the players' view, so they don'tknow you're fudging.)

It makes a good story. It doesn't hurtanybody, except the villains. And theywon't complain.

Victory LevelsThe heroes won or lost. But maybe

it's not that clear-cut. They rescuedthe hostages, but the villain escaped.Or, they defeated the radioactive mon-ster, but it managed to destroy mid-town Manhattan beforehand.

In designing an adventure, thinkabout levels of victory. The major goalmay include certain minor or acces-sory goals, and the PCs may achievesome but not others.

Most importantly, the heroes' victorymay not be conclusive. If they overlookclues, don't take all the right actions, orsuffer a string of awful luck, the villainmay get away. Or they catch the badguy, but the building the heroes wereguarding gets destroyed in the process.Not good for the reputation.

These inconclusive victories sowthe seeds of future adventures. Thevillain vows revenge, or the site mustbe rebuilt and looters chased away,and so on.

Defeat: Beyond the foggy land of in-conclusive victory lies the swamp ofutter, dismal, unconditional failure.

Marvel characters don't often blowit in major, permanent ways. Both in

comics and in game scenarios, theycome out on top. And a good thing,too; given the high stakes in a super-hero adventure, the heroes' failuremay mean the end of life on Earth aswe know it.

So are you forced to put PCs on arailroad track to success? No. Failinga mission need not mean the death ofeveryone involved, nor the triumph ofevil. If the players fumble, there areless extreme ways of ending the ad-venture and letting them know theyblew it.

They can lose weapons or devices.If the PC playing Thor loses his Uruhammer, you can be sure he knows hemade a mistake somewhere. If yourcharacters are forcibly parted fromtheir possessions, they'll hunger totrack down the bad guys and retrievethem. Another adventure!

Or you can let the enemy capturethe player characters. Then the he-roes escape in the next scene and tryto pull together the remnants of theirmission. And remember, after a failurethe goal should somehow be harder toachieve.

Other penalties include reducedKarma awards, scathing editorials inthe Daily Bugle, and the scorn of thecharacters' peers.

A bad way to handle the players'failure is to bring in an NPC to makethings right. This galls the players andmakes them feel useless. An impor-tant part of role-playing is the illusionthat the player's character can, andmust, influence events. If an NPC isalways waiting in the wings to patchup mistakes, a player will think (justifi-ably) that he or she could have stayedhome.

The ultimate penalty is death. In astory, death is important and, usually,final. Don't let your characters diepointlessly in some random gunfight.Their deaths should serve the plot (butnot—note!—be vital to it). A hero'sdeath should be a dramatic, emo-tional moment in the story. Try to stageit as part of a climax, or vice versa, andbe sure to give the character a chancefor a few poignant (or defiant) lastwords.

Failure happens. Reasons are notimportant, after the fact. Be ready tosalvage the situation and set the stagefor another adventure, in which theheroes have a chance to redeem

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themselves.Rewards: The good guys usually

win. After a long and hard-fought bat-tle, the PCs want to know their effortshave been appreciated. That appreci-ation usually takes the form of Karmaawards, but there are also other waysto reward heroes.

Equipment, for example. A rescuedmillionaire or grateful bank presidentcould give them a spiffy limousine orprivate aircraft. Or the heroes mightcrib a magic ring or high-tech gizmofrom the villain's headquarters. (Notonly does this work as a reward, it canalso trigger a future adventure.)

Intangible rewards can be just asuseful: the friendship of a more power-ful or experienced hero; favors earnedfrom the mayor or chief of police; acontact at the Daily Bugle; even thegrateful tears of an old widow.

What about the rewards for han-dling really world-shattering events?Depending on the heroes' reputationsand standing with the police, city offi-cials could arrange a ticker-tape pa-rade up Fifth Avenue. Filthy rich orinfluential people could build an entireheadquarters for the heroes. Nationalnews shows broadcast the PCs' hero-ism. Of course, that means every gun-slinging super-powered villain hot tomake a reputation will target the PCs!

Every reward should sow the seedsof future adventures. The story growsinto a campaign . . . but that is the sub-ject for the next chapter.

PLOT INGREDIENTSThe following pages describe a few

important story elements in greaterdetail. These discussions include listsof "plot ingredients" that you cancombine to create your own sce-narios. This approach owes much toanother TSR product, the excellentDungeon Master's Design Kit by AaronAllston and Harold Johnson. Thoughintended for fantasy role-playing, thisproduct offers a great deal of interestto Judges and to game referees in anygenre.

GOALSHere are several key points to keep

in mind when choosing scenario goalsfor MARVEL SUPER HEROES™ ad-ventures:

1. Define the goal for the players asclearly as possible.

This is essential. If the players don'thave a clear idea of where they are go-ing, they may just dither, or even strikeout in frustration at the nearest likely-looking target.

Not only should you convey the goalat or near the beginning of the adven-ture, you must also take care to give aclear minor goal in each scene of theadventure. The heroes may know theyare supposed to stop Doctor Doom'splot to shrink Manhattan to the size ofa grapefruit, but if they don't knowhow to start looking for him, youhaven't clearly defined the firstscene's goal.

2. Convey to the players the conse-quences if their PCs fail to reach thegoal.

If the consequences of failure don'tseem serious, and preferably drastic,rethink the goal. Make it important!

"Important" does not always meanworld-shaking. The consequencescan be completely personal. For in-stance, if failure in the adventuremeans that Aunt May dies, a goodSpider-Man player will be just as moti-vated to reach the goal as he would iffailure meant the downfall of America.

In assessing a goal's importance,be aware that in a role-playing con-text, threats against a PC's well-beingare functionally identical to threatsagainst the city, nation, or the entireworld. Both are equally serious. Theyboth involve the players' emotions tothe highest degree.

This principle is useful when youwant to run an adventure with poten-tially disastrous consequences, butyou don't want to materially alter thecampaign world. Even though lifegoes on, a single death in an adven-ture can be a disaster.

3. Establish paths to the goal thatevery PC can use.

If one PC is a sharp detective, a laDaredevil, and another plays a power-house like Hercules, give both of themways to be useful. This is fundamental

to all good scenario design.But the heroes should be able to suc-

ceed in the goal even when a particularPC is missing, unconscious, or other-wise indisposed. If the PCs can't winwithout that one character, something iswrong. Ideally, each individual PC couldbe the key to victory, with the othersworking as backup and support.

4. If possible, link the goal to distinc-tive features of the scenario's settingand villain.

This is really just chrome, a way toincrease the players' sense of place.You can run a fine generic adventurethat has nothing special to do with thesetting; you just miss an opportunity,that's all.

And some stories work regardlessof the ultimate bad guy. The villain'spsychology and peculiar motivationare unimportant; he or she is just anopponent to beat up in the last scene.This kind of story is not wrong or inher-ently bad. It just doesn't take advan-tage of many colorful possibilities ofstorytelling.

All that said, here are some samplegoals that should inspire new and in-ventive scenario ideas:

Clear NameSomeone has framed a hero or

NPC for a dreadful crime. While theaccused hero evades public brickbatsor the NPC languishes in jail, the he-roes must find the responsible villain.Then they must bring back satisfac-tory evidence of the frame-up, some-times the trickiest part of the mission.

In a continuing campaign, keep inmind some outcome in case the heroesfail the mission. The accused muststand trial or the group's reputation isruined. This can give the campaign anew direction for a while. But eventually,of course, you allow the heroes to dis-cover new evidence to clear them-selves. (See "Evidence Uncovered"and "Mistaken Identity" in "The Adven-ture Hook" section below.)

ExploreNot many places on Earth remain

unexplored, but there are always theocean, Subterranea, outer space, and

other dimensions such as the Nega-tive Zone or Dormammu's Dark Di-mension.

No one can get there but super be-ings, so a scientist or research societyasks the PCs to look around. The he-roes must journey there and comeback alive. Often the heroes mustbring back some legendary artifact as-sociated with the location.

Most likely a villain is using the des-tination as a headquarters or is plot-ting to strand the heroes at thedestination. Whether or not foul playensues, play up the sense of wonder,the idea that the PCs are heading"where no one has gone before."

Find Escaped VillainThe Vault calls. "Uh, don't exactly

know how to explain this, but remem-ber that arch-nemesis you dragged inlast month? Well—" A clue or two, of akind only the PCs can decipher, putsthe heroes on the escaped criminal'strail.

This goal is straightforward and tothe point, and especially suitablewhen the heroes have a personalgrudge against the escaped villain.

Help Friend or AllyA fellow hero, dependent NPC, or

childhood friend seeks out a hero'shelp. The NPC is being menaced bysome side effect of the villain's plan.The heroes must quash the plan to getthe friend out of trouble.

If you prefer to increase the para-noia level of your campaign, the"friend" could traitorously lure the he-roes into the villain's deathtrap. Butonce stung this way, players will neverregard their friends with open-heartedfellowship again.

Personal GainSuper beings are, as a rule, above

monetary pressures (though PeterParker would disagree). But "gain"doesn't have to mean just money. Theadventure goal might be procuringadvanced technology for a hero'sfancy power armor—but the neededgadget was just stolen by the adven-ture's villain!

Alternatively, the heroes might be

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looking for information about their mys-terious past, or legendary magic spellsor treasures. Or they might be trying to"build their rep" as heroes so they canapply for an Avengers franchise.

ProtectThe PCs must guard a valuable per-

son or item, such as a witness to aMaggia killing, a priceless Lemurianartifact, the US President and the So-viet Premier during a summit meeting,and so on.

Another simple, straightforwardgoal, protecting something puts theheroes in a passive role until someonetries to do damage to the protecteditem. So plan on either a slow start tothe adventure, or just cut immediatelyto the exciting scene: "You werecalled on to guard the Wakandan am-bassador, and for three days, all hasgone well. But suddenly—"

RescueA ransom note, a whispered phone

call that is suddenly cut off, a broad-cast appeal by the Mayor—anythingcan let the heroes know someone hasa person or item that the PCs mustget back. Usually they know the vil-lain's identity from the start, but mustfind the bad guy's stronghold, enterstealthily or invade in full force, andget out alive. (Most self-respecting he-roes don't try to get out until they'vethoroughly trashed the place.)

Often the villain is expecting the he-roes and has a deathtrap or two wait-ing. Only forethought and skillful entrycan keep the PCs out of the trap.

This goal also appears when thePCs have messed up the "Protect"goal above. "You let this mess hap-pen," some authority figure tells them,"so get out there and make up for yourmistake!"

Solve MysteryColonel Mustard has been found

dead in the drawing room, and abloody lead pipe lies beside the body.Who did it?

Murder mystery plots don't oftenwork well in super-hero stories. Theircomplicated structures of motive,method, and opportunity call forheavy thinking. Many PC heroesaren't built for that kind of endeavor;or they may have powers that solvethe whole case in one turn.

For a more appropriate genre ex-ample, who turned the Eiffel Tower up-side down, and why, and how? Howdid that minor villain become so pow-erful? What are those strange rum-blings issuing from that new IRTsubway tunnel?

This kind of mystery suits a heroiccampaign much better. The heroes im-mediately see courses of action. Theycan solve the mystery through physicalmeans (getting to the end of that sub-way tunnel, for example) and confrontthe responsible villain in battle. This isthe heroic equivalent of a mystery, and itworks well in a scenario.

Thwart Nefarious PlotThe quintessential goal. The Man-

darin has just mind-controlled all ofWall Street and threatens the Westernworld with economic chaos. The King-pin is turning an entire student popu-lation of a downtown high school intodrug addicts. Doctor Doom hasplanted nuclear weapons underneathevery state capital building. And soon.

The heroes must find the bad guy,punch his or her lights outs, and de-stroy all equipment vital to the plot.You can't find a purer version of clas-sic comics than this.

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VILLAINSWhat would comics be without

them? Nothing better defines thepoint of your story than the identity ofits villain.

If you want a rip-roaring chaseacross the city, you need a fast-moving thief to purloin a valuableitem. If you want to tell about racial in-tolerance, your villain should be an in-sane ideologue. For an adventurewith awesome landscapes and titanicpower, choose Mephisto or Dor-mammu. For a comic change of pace,who better than Madcap or the Impos-sible Man?

Choose a villain according to his orher motives and methods, as well aspower level relative to the heroes.Power levels are addressed in Chap-ter 10; motives and methods are dis-cussed separately below.

MOTIVESMotives tell what drives your story's

villain, the goal his or her plots try toachieve and (often) weaknesses thatthe heroes can exploit. For example, avillain motivated by greed can betempted away from his target if the he-roes create a convincing illusion ofgreater gain elsewhere. And a villainwho is just crazy has many weakpoints.

Here are some sample motivations.Some are expressed as goals that thevillain strives to achieve.

CorruptionThis sinister, often horrific villain

works to debase all that is good in hu-manity. His or her methods are cus-tomarily subtle and insidious. A singledefeat does not spell the end of thisvillain's threat. Such villains may notnecessarily be very powerful, but aretruly as evil as they come.

Example: Mephisto.

Evading CaptureThe bad guy has already seen Ry-

ker's Island or the Vault and has no de-sire to visit again. This motive isusually transitory, lasting for an ad-venture or two until the bad guy re-establishes a headquarters andbegins plotting afresh.

See also "Find Escaped Villain" inthe "Goals" section of this chapter.

Example: Electro.

Insanity/IdeologyThis catch-all category describes

villains who do bad things for reasonsof personal belief, derangement, orjust pure nastiness.

The belief can be a twisted versionof an accepted ideology, such asNuke's super-patriotism. Or the beliefcan be straightforward hostility to hu-man beings' continued existence, aswith the Lizard or Ultron.

This category also includes thoseunder the authority of higher agenciesthat support a specific ideology. Forexample, Freedom Force is nominallycontrolled by the US Government,and the Soviet Super Soldiers usuallyfollow the Kremlin's orders. Note thatsuper-powered villains are indepen-dent types who seldom follow orderswithout question.

An ideological or crazy villain worksbest in one of two ways:

1. A horrific expression of man'sdarker side. The villain throws awayall notions of civilized conduct and thebrotherhood of man because of a nar-row, distorted doctrine. Play the fa-natic carefully; keep him or her scary,not (just) contemptible.

2. A total bozo. Some of these guyscan be funny, in a twisted way. In a hu-morous adventure, you stress the badguy's distance from reality, instead ofhis or her potential threat. Don't let thebad guy kill anybody, or the adventuresuddenly turns grim.

Examples: The Brotherhood of EvilMutants, Crimson Dynamo, Fool-Killer, the Hand, the Jester, the Lizard,Mister Hyde, Nimrod, Nuke, the Pun-isher, the Red Ghost (formerly), Scor-pion, the Sentinel robots, and Ultron.

MischiefLife is boring! Time to pep it up a lit-

tle. And those PC heroes—they'resuch stiff-necked popinjays. Maybethey should have their lives stirred upa little, or a l o t . . . just for laughs.

Examples: Arcade, the ImpossibleMan, Madcap, Typhoid Mary, WhiteRabbit.

PowerThese villains all want to conquer

the world, the universe, or at least apart of New York City. In general theyhave the power to reach their goals,and a single-minded drive that moti-vates them to remove potential obsta-cles to conquest. Such as the PCs.

Examples: Annihilus, Ares, Attuma,Baron Mordo, Baron Zemo, Diablo,Doctor Doom, Dormammu, the En-chantress, Hammerhead, Hate-Monger, the Hellfire Club, Hobgoblin,HYDRA, Kang, Kingpin, the Leader,Loki, Magneto, the Mandarin, the Mas-ter, Psycho-Man, Red Skull, Urthona,White Dragon, and the Wizard.

PrideThe villain with this motivation

thinks he or she is the best in the worldat a chosen pursuit. Anyone in the PCgroup who shows ability of the samekind becomes vulnerable to this vil-lain's challenge. (See "Challenge" inthe "Adventure Hook" section, follow-ing this one.)

Examples: The late Kraven theHunter, the Miracle Man, and Puma.

Scouting for InvasionThis bad guy is just the point man

(or point thing) for a whole lot of similarbad guys. They all want New York, orAmerica, or Earth, but they want tosee how tough the opposition is.When the PCs fight an invasion scout,they must defeat the villain decisively,or the invasion force will just send inanother scout later.

Examples: Atlanteans, the Brood,Deviants, Skrulls, Super-Skrull, andthe Subterraneans.

Self-PreservationSome villains do what they do just to

survive. This sometimes, though notalways, lends them a tragic air—thatusually depends on how much the badguy enjoys his or her work. Remorse-ful villains can arouse heroes' com-passion even as the two sides squareoff.

Frequently the general public is un-aware of, or not sympathetic to, the vil-lain's self-preservation motive. This canmean that, once the immediate threat is

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defused, the heroes end up protectingthe villain from an enraged mob.

For instance, Reed Richards wasinstrumental in saving the life of Ga-lactus in the Planet-Eater's most re-cent visit to Earth. This earned Reedthe wrath of most of the civilized uni-verse. At his trial in the courts of theShi'ar, it took the testimony of Eternity,Odin, and ultimately Galactus himselfto exonerate Reed.

Examples: Galactus, Morbius, and(before their destruction in the MarvelUniverse) vampires.

SuicideThis extremely offbeat motive

makes for a tragic, downbeat adven-ture. For some reason the villain is un-able to die. Tormented by existenceand longing for release, this villaindupes the heroes into attacking, in thehope that they can marshal enoughforce to kill him or her.

The only recent example in theMarvel Universe was Machinesmith,who hated his life (if that's the word) asa machine intellect. He tricked Cap-tain America into fighting his robotbodies, evidently destroying him. ButMachinesmith survived the defeat af-ter all. Whether he still longs for deathis not yet clear.

VengeanceThe all-purpose villain motive.

Every bad guy the heroes have everfought . . . enemies of NPC heroesthat have turned to fighting the PCs asa kind of dress rehearsal for their re-venge on their NPC nemeses . . . fig-ures from the forgotten past, attackingfriends of the PCs for some barely re-membered offense.

All of these long-held grudges aretypical of the villain mentality. Anyonewho gains power and decides to throwit around becomes bitter and vengefulwhen that power is foiled.

Examples: Anybody!

WealthAlmost as much an all-purpose vil-

lain motive as vengeance (above), thisindicates that the bad guy is justgreedy for money, treasures, equip-ment, Van Gogh paintings, or what-

ever the villain views as necessary forthe good life.

Examples: The Absorbing Man, Ba-troc, Blacklash, Blastaar, Boomerang,Bullseye, Cobra, Doctor Octopus,Electro, the Enforcers, Jack O'Lan-tern, Killer Shrike, Klaw, Mastermind,the Mad Thinker, Mysterio, Nitro, theOwl, Prowler, Red Ghost (current),Rhino, Sandman, the Serpent Squad,Shocker, Speed Demon, Stilt-Man,Taskmaster, Terminus, Trapster, andthe Vulture.

METHODSThese are some of the paths a vil-

lain may take to achieve his or hergoal. You can easily come up withother methods, either on your own orby paging through Marvel comics.

ExtortionThe villain has power over some

person or agency, and will use it un-less the victim pays up by a givendeadline. Usually an urgent summonsby the victim brings the heroes intothe adventure, but sometimes theflashier villains make their threatknown over public airwaves.

Kidnap and RansomThe victim can be any person of

wealth or relative of such a person,but it can instead be a valuable object,such as an objet d'art, a rare chemicalisotope, or urgently needed medicine.

This scheme has special emotionalsignificance if the heroes desperatelyneed the person or object in questionto satisfy another goal. For example, ahero might need medicine to save adying NPC.

ManipulationThe villain does not care to soil his or

her own hands doing the deed, and in-stead enlists some third party, perhapsan unwitting or mind-controlled dupe.The Puppet Master excelled in this typeof scheme. It can send the heroes on awild goose chase for the longest time.By the time they find out who is reallybehind the sceme, they should be readyto thrash the villain soundly.

Mass DestructionEspecially suitable for insane or

vengeful villains, this method de-mands extreme power. The source ofpower can be a giant monster or robot(for instance, the Red Skull's Sleeperrobots), a nuclear reactor, or that oldstandby, the atomic bomb.

The heroes learn about the schemejust hours or days before it will occur,and the tension builds as they try tofind the villain's headquarters or de-structive machine and destroy it, orstop the monster before it achieveswidespread destruction.

MurderDirect and to the point. The motives

for murder coincide with those ofmass destruction (above), but this issuitable for less powerful villains.

ProvocationThe villain tries to achieve his or her

ends—a war, perhaps, or a battle be-tween two equally despised heroes—by arranging a fraud. The fraudulentscheme lays blame on one innocentparty for an attack on another's inter-ests.

The heroes often are too late to pre-vent the scheme itself from being acti-vated. But they can search forevidence to implicate the villain, orfind the villain and force him to con-fess, just moments before the provo-cation leads to ultimate disaster.

TheftThe standard villain scheme. An

early adventure in every campaign isthe bank robbery, and attemptedthefts of valuables continue on a regu-lar basis thereafter. The players un-derstand their goal and have notrouble telling right from wrong. Andvirtually no villain is above an ordinaryburglary or robbery.

Vice-PeddlingThe standard method of the

corruption-motivated villain. Gam'bling, racism, envy, lechery—theusual catalogue of sins are all profit-able to the criminal element. The he-roes may believe the villain's goal ismere wealth . . . until a more sinisterpattern emerges and the surprisingidentity of the Corruptor is revealed.

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THE ADVENTURE HOOK

The adventure hook, sometimesknown by Alfred Hitchcock's term ofthe "maguffin," is the plot device youuse to introduce your scenario's goaland involve the heroes in achieving it.

You grab your players' interest in anadventure by appealing to the psy-chology of their characters. For in-stance, a character obsessed withlocating his or her true parents will ob-viously respond well to an enigmaticnote found in the attic of the hero's an-cestral home.

If you involve one hero in the sce-nario, the rest of the group will proba-bly tag along just to be friendly. Butbeware of activating their own con-trary psychological traits (in the exam-ple above, a hero who says, "I refuseto help you dredge up past scan-dals!").

Here are a few tried-and-true ad-venture hooks:

ChallengeA remote-controlled plane writes

smoky letters in the sky above Man-hattan: "TRICKERY CANNOT HELPTHIS TIME, (name of hero group).MEET TONITE AT OUR LAST BAT-TLE SITE OR ADMIT YOURCOWARDICE"—and, of course, theskywritten note is signed by your arch-villain.

The challenge leads all the eveningnewscasts and makes the front pageof the Bugle's evening edition. Maybethe heroes don't feel like walking intoa trap just at that moment, so theypass up the challenge. But the nextday the skywriting challenge getsnastier. And the day after that. . .

The heroes become laughing-stocks. Sooner or later they get fed upwith the humiliation, and they launchthemselves into your scenario, readyto pummel the taunting villain.

Obviously, the challenge can takesome form besides skywriting. Eachform varies in its public exposure, nas-tiness, and allure. Aim for the dra-matic.

Dying DeliveryA hero is on patrol, appearing at a

posh charity function, or just loungingaround the public HQ. In staggers amysterious figure. The man (orwoman or child or alien) mumbles afew words, hands the hero a clue, andperishes.

The clue or dying words should tellthe hero where to start investigating

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this mystery. The victim may havenamed his or her killer, or the assas-sin's employer, or maybe a loved onewho should be informed of the death.

For a twist, the victim might have acompletely wrong idea of the killer'sidentity. This leads the hero on a wildgoose chase to the wrong villain, butthe chase uncovers another evilscheme. By defeating that scheme,the hero group somehow uncovers ev-idence that points to the victim's truekiller.

Complicating the investigation,whoever killed the victim now wantsthe clue in the hero's possession. Nat-urally, he or she will stop at nothing toget it. . . .

Enigmatic FigureCreate an NPC who is sure to fasci-

nate your heroes. The NPC shows upfrom time to time (perhaps in earlieradventures) for no apparent reason,manifesting strange powers—perhaps powers identical to a hero's!The hero group, intrigued, looks intothe mystery and discovers a villain'splot.

Who is the NPC? Some ideas:1. The villain's agent, luring the he-

roes to their doom. Heroes should be-come suspicious of the NPC's actionsbefore that doom strikes.

2. The villain's hostage, who keepsescaping—but never quite longenough to get to the heroes.

3. A freelance hero, fighting againstthe villain and trying to warn the herogroup about the scheme.

4. The ghost of one of the villain'svictims. This option is best suited toheroes who have psychic or magicpowers.

5. The villain's ally or dependent,who is caught between love or dutyand worry over the villain's scheme.This character either dies at the vil-lain's hands by the grand finale or isrescued by the heroes and becomes adangling subplot for future adven-tures.

Evidence UncoveredAfter some lengthy time, new evi-

dence in an important criminal casehas appeared, or a key witness hasblown back into town. The statute oflimitations runs out in an absurdlybrief time, so contacts in law enforce-ment enlist the heroes' aid to locate

and protect the witness or evidence. Itgoes without saying that some evil-doer has also learned of the new evi-dence and works to prevent theheroes from achieving their goal.

One way to give this hook someemotional momentum is to make theevidence capable of freeing a hero'slongtime friend or childhood buddyfrom unjust imprisonment. Con-versely, the evidence might put awaya hero's longtime foe for good.

Friend ImperiledThis adventure hook resembles the

"Help Friend or Ally" in the Goals sec-tion. Here the friend's predicament iseasily handled, but proves to be alead-in to a larger plot.

In campaign terms, this hook givesyou an excuse to bring in a recurringNPC, perhaps to foreshadow a majorlater development.

Grim Necessity"Get involved or die!" A longtime

foe has poisoned the heroes, cursedthem, or framed them. If they don'tachieve the adventure's goal, it's cur-tains for the heroes and maybe thefree world.

An example: The Hobgoblin oncepoisoned Spider-Man and his friendHarry Osborn with a slow-actingvenom. He promised them the anti-dote if Spider-Man would steal valu-able notebooks from the Kingpin. ButSpidey instead negotiated with theKingpin for the poison's antidote, inreturn for capturing the Hobgoblin. Itturned out, as one might expect, thatthe Hobgoblin never had an antidotein the first place.

Heroes for HireTaking a leaf from the book of Power

Man and Iron Fist, the heroes may beemployed to prevent the villain's plot,or working a job that is directly endan-gered when the scheme is sprung.

Most hero groups don't need to takeodd jobs to make ends meet. But yourheroes may be willing to take on a par-ticular job for reasons besides money.For example:

Compassion. The heroes mustcarry a vital donor organ to a dying pa-tient far away. Nobody but the heroescan make the journey fast enough.

Prestige. An extremely high-browembassy party will attract the movers

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and shakers of world government.The heroes may volunteer to guardagainst terrorists just so they canmake connections with partygoersand get their pictures on the Daily Bu-gle's society pages.

Glamour or recreation. The heroesmight play bodyguards to rock starLila Cheney or another celebrity on aworld tour. Who wouldn't take a joblike that? Similarly, many high-security courier jobs take the heroesto the world's most luxurious wateringholes. This is a good hook if you wantto take your players to some exotic for-eign locale.

Social duty. Suppose a touring exhi-bition of priceless artwork is arriving atthe Met or another museum. Some-body has to guard them while the ex-hibits are set up. Can your heroesrefuse a heartfelt request from the mu-seum's curator?

Mistaken IdentityIn this classic adventure hook, the

hero is seen robbing banks, muggingold ladies, sabotaging public events,and acting generally discreditable. Ofcourse, the real miscreant is an im-postor, and the impersonation is allpart of an evil plot. But no one believesit except the hero's group.

The hero gets a lead when some-one in the villain's employ mistakesthe hero for the impostor (confused?).The henchman drops a clue to thehero, and that is the avenue into theadventure.

The villain often turns out to be thehero's oldest enemy. By ruining thehero's public image, the villain takesgloating revenge for past defeats.

And who is the impostor? Perhaps arobot. Perhaps an ordinary agent withhigh-tech gadgetry that simulates thehero's powers. Perhaps another herowith similar powers, whom the villainhas kidnapped and brainwashed.

Pushing ButtonsWhen all else fails, bluntly manipu-

late the heroes' beliefs and emotions.Find out what one of the PC heroeshates above all else—killing inno-cents, for example, or persecutingmutants, or beating children. Thenhave a villain do that very thing, rightbefore the hero's eyes. Inevitably thehero pursues the villain right into theadventure.

NPCSThe heroes are not alone in their

world. Give them interesting peopleand creatures to interact with. TheNPCs can help heroes achieve theirgoals, put obstacles in their path, orjust stand on the sidelines lookingpretty. But all have a function in thestory. Every NPC has a use, even aspear-carrier that the hero defeats in acouple of blows.

In your adventure, think about thecharacters the heroes will meet whilepursuing their goal. Try to make themost important ones interesting andmemorable. Make this one funny-looking, that one talk with a lisp or anaccent, the one over there a touristfrom some foreign land.

Each important NPC has beliefsand objectives in his or her own right.Nasty NPCs have motives and meth-ods like those of the scenario's mastervillain, but on a smaller scale. FriendlyNPCs may share the same emotionalinvolvement in the adventure that theplayers have. Neutrals just want tomake a buck, observe, or be leftalone. Perhaps they're just acting asinadvertent conduits for information.

Your players enjoy interacting withthese various personalities, and you'llhave fun impersonating them. Just asimportant, you can use the NPCs astools for your story. They providemany functions:

Information sources, as with a cap-tured thug or stoolie;

skilled people, such as a cryptogra-pher who can break Doctor Doom'scoded message—for a price;

Incentives, as with the rich moviestar who offers a huge donation tocharity if your heroes will serve as hisbodyguards on a trip through danger-ous territory;

Humor or atmosphere, as with thestreet urchin who won't leave yourgruff hero alone;

Or conflict. Sometimes the playersjust want to pound on something.That's fine. Throw them a minor villainor a gang of his henchmen and letthem blow off a little steam. But bringin these foes for a reason, in a plausi-ble manner, and adjust their strengthto that of the player characters.

These "random" encounters

should not produce serious damageor otherwise obstruct the plot. Sup-pose Spider-Man is swinging toward aclimactic confrontation with the Rhinoand he stops to prevent a mugging.The dice go incredibly wrong, themugger knifes Spidey, and the story isover. You wouldn't want to read that ina comic, and you don't want it in youradventure story. Remember the ear-lier advice about not letting the dicemess up your story.

TYPES OF NPCsThere is no way to present an ex-

haustive list. For examples of some ofthe many roles NPCs can play, see theHotspot listings in the CampaignSourcebook. Following, however, area few general roles NPCs often play insuper-hero adventures.

Authority FigureHeroes usually loathe, but often re-

spect, the NPC who has some kind ofpower over them. This NPC serves asan information source, an obstacle intouchy situations (meaning all thosethat expose the NPC's own agency),and in some cases a genuinely usefulcontact.

But try to restrict a useful NPC'srole. If the NPC always cooperatesand has plenty of pull, adventurescould move along much too easily forthe PCs. And where is the heroism inthat?

Here are several time-honored au-thority figures:

Government observer Usually aroyal pain, this man (it is practically al-ways a man) insists on adequate su-pervision of all the heroes' activities.Otherwise, they lose their governmentclearance, and probably a lot of niftydevices like satellite communicationlinks, jets, and even their headquar-ters.

Whatever it may say about our soci-ety, in practice government observersare often hostile and troublesome.The cardinal example in the MarvelUniverse is longtime nuisance HenryPeter Gyrich, a fanatic who distrustsall heroes.

Law enforcement official: These in-

clude officers on the beat, plain-clothes detectives, precinct captains,commissioners, and FBI and CIA men{again, they are nearly always male).An international adventure could fea-ture agents of Interpol or intelligenceservices of other countries. Any ofthem can be friendly or hostile.

Friendly officials bring heroes intotroublesome cases, provide deepbackground information, and alert he-roes to actions by hostile officials. Of-ten a friendly official is impatient withthe usual law-enforcement channelsand wants to see justice done, even ifnot "by the book."

A friendly official is a likely NPC tar-get for a villain's plot, providing astrong adventure hook to involve thePCs.

Hostile officials harass the heroes,stonewall PCs who want information,and say things that J. Jonah Jamesonloves to quote in his Daily Bugle edito-rials.

If you include a hostile official in thestory or campaign, establish a reasonwhy the official doesn't make the he-roes' lives even harder (for instance,by arresting suspect PCs on the spot).Perhaps the official's superior isfriendly to the PCs, or the PCs have of-ficial government jurisdiction to inves-tigate cases.

Lawyer: Heroes may run afoul of thelaw, or at least the fringes of the law,whenever they haul someone to thepolice station, accidentally destroyproperty, break into a criminal's office,or fail to heed the summons of a policeofficer. All of these things happen allthe time.

In the Marvel Universe, lawyers areoften respected figures. Think of theone-time firm of Nelson and Murdock,lawyers for the Fantastic Four.

Other lawyers can be mere nui-sances. These ambulance-chasersmay try to harass the heroes into set-tling out of court for "molesting" theirclients, who are innocent until provenguilty of bank robbery, muggings, orwhatever the heroes caught them do-ing.

Then there is the truly crooked law-yer, who springs villains on technicali-ties and casually commits perjury to

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frame a hero. For example, Caesar"Big C" Cicero has become so suc-cessful as a mob lawyer that he is theprobable successor to leadership ofthe Silvermane family of the Maggia.

Friend with Dark SecretHere are two general varieties:Childhood friend: This NPC, usually

not a recurring cast member, knewone of the PCs in the old days, usuallybefore the hero began his or her he-roic career. You and a player can es-tablish some retroactive reason whythe PC cares about the NPC, no doubtrooted in some childhood event. Per-haps one saved the other's life.

The childhood friend returns sud-denly, possibly in suspicious circum-stances. Though still friendly at first,the old acquaintance soon betrays theheroes, steals something vital, harmsan informant, or otherwise shows thatthe friend is working for a bad guy.

The friend might really be evil, orthe master villain might be extortingthe friend's cooperation. The bad guyholds a hostage, or the friend is justweak-kneed and buckles under to thevillain's orders.

Inevitably, the interested hero mustconfront the childhood friend, per-haps in battle. The friend can be con-verted to the good guys' side or maybe irredeemably treacherous. Eitherway, the friend usually dies at the end,at the hands of the master villain—another good way to develop personalanimosity between a hero and villain.

Relative or romantic interest: Func-tionally much the same as the child-hood friend, but this variety of NPCcan easily be a regular member of thecampaign's supporting cast. A herocares deeply about the NPC andwould go to great lengths to protecthim or her.

This kind of NPC never turns out tobe evil, but is often temporarily mind-controlled or coerced into betrayingthe hero group. When the villain's planis smashed, the NPC begs forgive-ness. Depending on the circum-stances, the heroes may welcome himor her back, or abandon the NPC to asolitary life outside the campaign.

Note that in a campaign, NPC rela-tives or lovers should have some use-ful role in addition to the emotional tieto a PC. For more about this, seeChapter 9.

Guest-Star HeroSince Marvel Manhattan is crawling

with heroes, it is simplicity itself tothrow in a guest appearance by Thor,Spider-Man, or Captain Britain. Butnote that the guest hero should notsolve the adventure's main problem,rescue the PCs from a deathtrap be-fore they've tried to rescue them-selves, or otherwise steal the PCs'thunder.

Although guest stars work in thecomics, because a reader finds all theheroes equally interesting, in a gamethe guest hero is just another NPC.And above all, NPCs must nevermake the PCs look bad!

Hero-WorshiperPublicly known heroes may have

fan clubs, or just one or two groupies.A groupie can be a fun way to stroke aplayer's ego, or the NPC can be a pestwho demands autographs at inoppor-tune times, hangs around the head-quarters, and interferes during battleswith villains.

Worst of all, the hero-worshiper canbe emotionally disturbed. A young boyidolized the Human Torch to such anextent that, in order to be like JohnnyStorm, he set himself on fire. The boydied, and Storm was hit with a severeemotional crisis. Don't play out thisgrim sort of encounter unless you cansound out the affected player first.Some players would rather not handlethis in the context of a "fun" role-playing game.

LunaticThe NPC could be crazy. There is

ample precedent for this in the com-ics. Often the loony knows somethingsignificant to the adventure, and theheroes have to put up with his or herbabbling to get the clue.

Scientist or ExpertThis NPC type is often not far re-

moved from the previous one, but theexpert doesn't froth at the mouth—atleast not publicly. The heroes musthumor this NPC's eccentricities be-cause of his or her valuable knowl-edge.

Beware of making the NPC an ex-pert in one ot the PCs' chosen fields. Ifthis is so, the NPC should be lessqualified than the hero, or not given tohogging the stage and showing up thePC.

Alternatively, a scientist's re-searches may have gotten him or herinto really deep trouble, and it's up tothe PCs to extricate the "expert."

Snoopy ReporterA classic NPC. This journalist

knows that uncovering a secret iden-tity or a skeleton in the closet would bethe scoop of the decade. In moderntimes newspaper reporters are beingsupplanted by hair-sprayed TV "re-porters" who slept through their Eth-ics in Journalism classes. But theDaily Bugle can always serve as asource for the more traditional type ofsnoop.

StoolieEvery streetwise hero maintains a

network of informants. Those whodon't may meet stoolies through thepolice department, or the stoolie mayseek out the heroes to deliver someespecially hot information. Thesecharacters are all different, often havevery colorful personalities, and can beeither tough guys or comic relief. Ifthey come across some really danger-ous information, they can end updead—or, that is, start an adventureby dying in a hero's arms. (See the"Dying Delivery" adventure hook inthe previous section.)

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CONDITIONS AND DILEMMASMany stories have some kind of

gimmick. Perhaps the heroes mustwork under a condition that changestheir usual way of operating. Or theresolution of the story thrusts a hero,or the entire player group's heroes,into a choice between unpleasant al-ternatives. This section discussesthese conditions and dilemmas.

Don't overuse these gimmicks. Ifyou tell too many stories that rely onthem, your players will feel put uponand frustrated. But if you run an ongo-ing campaign, throw in a condition ordilemma every third or fourth adven-ture to keep players on guard and ex-plore new ways of playing.

CONDITIONSThis is a catch-all term for anything

that limits the PCs' effectiveness orforces them to work in a new way.There are many, many possible condi-tions, of which the following aremerely examples.

DeadlineThis common condition puts a time

limit on the resolution of the adven-ture. If the heroes don't achieve theirgoal within a certain time, specified atthe start of the adventure, then disas-ter will fall. The city may blow up, or aslow-acting poison will kill one of thecharacters (see "Grim Necessity" inthe "Adventure Hooks" section).

If the heroes seem to be movingsmoothly toward success long beforethe deadline is reached, you can givethem a nasty surprise by revealingthat the adventure's villain was lying,and that the time limit actually expiresmuch sooner than the PCs believed.But this often appears too blatantlymanipulative, so be careful.

Powers Don't Work RightThis one always puts a scare into the

players, or at least disturbs them. Somemalign agency has tampered with theirpowers, so they don't work quite theway the heroes expect—or, often, noteven remotely as they expect.

Possible causes include passage toanother dimension where natural lawswork differently; a mutagenic agent

that alters the PCs' body chemistry; orsabotage of the heroes' favorite gad-gets.

The adventure's climax should in-clude a way to restore the powers tonormal. Or a PC, discovering he orshe likes the new powers, decides tocontinue with them without furtherchange.

Switched IdentitiesThis classic comic-book plot device

puts one character's mind in another'sbody, and vice versa. It can easilywork with and lead into the "MistakenIdentity" adventure hook (see thatsection).

This gimmick works well in a comedic

adventure, as one hero tries to learnhow to control the other's powers. It alsohas a sinister side, though, especially ifa switched hero finds himself in hisarch-foe's body and is hunted by thefoe's own enemies!

Villain ImmunityThe heroes have the goods on the

bad guy, and they know his or her lo-cation and weaknesses. But for somereason they just aren't allowed to lay aglove on the villain.

Reasons could include diplomaticimmunity (see "The United Nations"in Chapter 3 of the Campaign Source-book), or a close relationship betweenthe villain and a hero or friendly NPC.

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Or a psychic villain might possess thebody of a young child. Will the heroesblast the child in order to hurt the vil-lain? Of course not.

This is a frustrating turn of events,so play it up for one adventure, thennever use it again until the playershave gotten over the sting of it—oravenged themselves on the immunevillain in some satisfying way.

WantedA frequent turn of events in the com-

ics frames the heroes for some crime,and they must go through the adven-ture while fighting or evading law en-forcement officials. Spider-Man hashad to live with this for years.

DILEMMASIn a dilemma, the heroes have to

make a choice between two unpleas-ant alternatives. Draw the conse-quences of each choice as clearly aspossible, and (if circumstances per-mit) allow the players as much time asthey want to debate the question.

As stated earlier in this chapter, thepoint here is not to make the playerswrack their brains in anguish . . .though that is certainly entertaining.Instead, by making these decisions,the heroes define and display theircharacters in dramatic fashion.

Here are some sample dilemmas,starting with the one most often seenin super-heroic adventures:

Break the Law?With great power comes great re-

sponsibility. Will the heroes take theresponsibility of breaking the law, ifthey believe it means a greater good?

The obvious context for this di-lemma arises when the heroes havethe chance to kill a truly powerful, trulyevil villain. Kill, and violate every claimto civilized conduct? Or let the villainsurvive to pillage, plunder, and (often)kill again?

Every Marvel hero has faced this is-sue. In nearly all cases they decide notto kill, because "that would make me nobetter than the villain." This is true.Pragmatically speaking, a hero whokills is also hounded by the police andpress, and loses Karma and popularity.

Warning to the Judge: If youpresent the heroes with this dilemmaand they disagree on what to do, the

next session may turn into an ex-tended policy meeting on the topic "Tokill or not?" And the schism may wellsplit the group apart. If you want toprotect against this, make sure all thePCs take the same view about killingbefore you begin the campaign.

Destroy Own Item?Many heroes derive powers from

devices, magic rings, swords, amu-lets, animal familiars, and so on. Inthis dilemma, one of these devicesproves to be the source of the adven-ture's problem.

For example, a magic ring may begradually possessing the hero's mindand forcing him or her to commit may-hem. A villain may have found a wayto install a doomsday device in the he-ro's armor; only the armor's destruc-tion will save the day. Or amind-controlled animal familiar mayturn savage and bestial.

The hero must decide whether todestroy his or her own device in orderto solve the problem. Or another heromay destroy it without consulting theowner, a situation that would certainlylead to tension between the two fromthen on.

The item should not be permanentlydestroyed. A hero can rebuild a gad-get, though usually at some inconven-ience and with a delay of an adventureor two. Unique devices, especiallymagical ones, should require the he-roes to undertake an entire adventureto replace them.

Leave the Group?When the group's outlook and

methods become distasteful to a hero,the hero and group may part ways.Most often this is a consequence of di-vergent views on the issue of killing(see "Break the Law?" above).

Another cause of this dilemma maybe the discovery of a hero's dark se-cret (see "Revelation of Dark Secret"in the section on "Grand Finales,"later in this chapter).

When a player is cooperative, youcan introduce a subplot wherein thatplayer's hero leaves the group, alleg-edly for one of these reasons. In fact,the hero is operating solo for a secretreason, perhaps to undertake a dan-gerous mission without endangeringthe group. The player plays a differentcharacter while the departed hero is

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gone. Or, for a twist, the player can in-troduce a "new" character that is re-ally the "departed" hero in disguise.

Reveal Secret Identity?This one is a killer. A PC must de-

cide whether to tell his or her trueidentity to another or even, perhaps,go public.

You usually have to do a lot ofgroundwork to set up this dilemma.For instance, establish a condition inwhich, for this adventure, the herocannot appear in his or her secretidentity. Perhaps the PC is wanted bypolice in that identity (the "MistakenIdentity" adventure hook lends itselfto this development).

Then, by a chain of circumstances,a valued NPC friend is accused of themurder of the PC! The hero can clearthe friend of all charges instantly, justby revealing that he or she still lives.But will the hero do this?

Note: Never put a PC in the di-lemma of having to reveal anotherPC's identity. This just creates badfeelings no matter what action istaken.

Work with a Bad Guy?Another dilemma that will have

players scratching each other's eyesout (and maybe yours, too). The he-roes must enlist a hated foe's aid in or-der to dispatch a still deadlier bad guy.

The villain agrees to help either be-cause (a) the deadlier bad guy is cut-ting in on his act ("You can't conquerthe world! I'm conquering theworld!"), or (b) the villain wants to spyon the heroes, learn more about them,and look for a chance to shoot them inthe back.

The Fantastic Four once had to fightbeside Doctor Doom in a valiant strug-gle against the Over-Mind. As onewould expect, they spent as muchtime threatening each other as theOver-Mind.

The real dilemma may come whenthe fight is over. The common enemydefeated, do the heroes (probablyweakened) try to capture their erst-while ally? What if the ally isunconscious—is it honorable to re-ward his or her aid with capture?

DEATHTRAPSYou should never kill player charac-

ters arbitrarily. But it's perfectly allright to make it look as though you willarbitrarily kill them.

A deathtrap, naturally, threatens theheroes with death. This is useful in asuper-hero story, because the heroesare ordinarily invulnerable to mostdamage and seldom fear death. Agood deathtrap hits them where theylive.

But judging a deathtrap is tricky.There must be an escape, since anugly death in a trap is neither heroicnor dramatically appropriate. But theescape can't be too obvious, or thethreat vanishes. But the heroes haveto find the way out, or they're deadmeat. This is a fine balance to strike.

Still, you have many tools to keepthings under control. For example:

1. The villain's motives. Despite theterm "deathtrap," the bad guy maynot want to actually kill the PCs. Per-haps he or she just wants to find outmore about the heroes' powers, or toywith them, or preoccupy them while acrucial part of the villain's schemetakes place. When the deathtrap turnsout to be non-fatal, play up the narra-tive surprise.

2. Coincidence. An accident can cutpower to the deathtrap just as the he-roes are about to die. A PC ally, sepa-rated from the deathtrap victimsearlier in the story, can discover themjust in time to stop the trap. And so on.

3. NPCs. Generally it is too cheesyto have an NPC release the heroesfrom a trap. But if necessary, a repent-ant henchman of the bad guy canwork a deal with the heroes in returnfor freeing them. Or a rival villain mayrescue the heroes—so he or she cankill the heroes him- or herself! Out ofthe frying pan . . .

Means of EscapeWhat ways can the heroes use to

escape the deathtrap? They willnearly always think of something youhadn't, but here are some avenuesyou may consider:

1. Heroic effort. This traditionalmethod relies on the idea that the vil-lain doesn't have a clear idea of thehero's power level.

Doctor Doom may know a PC is in-credibly strong, but that does notmean Doom knows specifically thatthe hero has Incredible-levelStrength. Perhaps the heroes cansnap their bonds with ease. But nexttime Doom puts them in a deathtrap,their bonds will be stronger!

2. Cleverness. Ideally, the hero re-sponds to the deathtrap with brainpower, not brute force. Observation,deduction, and improvisation shouldshow a way out.

For example, suppose a detectivehero is covered with honey and tied upon a termite mound beneath the blaz-ing sun. The hero could work loosethe magnifying glass in his or her belt,then focus the sun's rays to burnthrough the ropes.

If the players prove unable to seethe deathtrap's solution, you canbreak down and give them a Reasonor Intuition FEAT roll to see an escaperoute. But this makes players feel badunless you handle it carefully.

3. Trickery. If the villain is gloatingover the trapped heroes, they may trysome elementary trick such as, "If wedie, you'll never find out the identity ofyour greatest foe." The villain mayrightly sneer at feeble lies. But theplayers, often a clever lot, may comeup with a bluff that really does swaythe villain.

The deciding factor should be thedegree of admiration and hilarity thebluff produces in the players. If every-one thinks the idea is brilliant, then itprobably is. The players enjoy them-selves more when they think they'veput you on the spot—even if you aresecretly cooperating in being putthere.

Staging DeathtrapsA few points to remember:1. Be serious! This is no laughing

matter. Avoid dumb puns, unless thatis a gloating villain's style.

2. Keep the heroes conscious. Onewould think the ideal time to spring adeathtrap would come when the he-roes are kayoed and can't free them-selves. But villains like to see theheroes sweat. So if they have knockedout the heroes, they shouldn't activate

the deathtrap until the heroes start towake up.

For more about waking up, see theoptional rule, "Grogginess," below.

3. Move things along—but not toofast. The heroes may have scant sec-onds to think their way out of the trap,but give the players a little more timethan that. Answer their questions, andtell them about whatever they couldobserve. Don't let them take forever,but a few minutes of suspense won'thurt.

Grogginess (Optional Rule)If the heroes snap out of uncon-

sciousness and can function at fullstrength right off, that may make thedeathtrap less dramatic. As Judge,you might want the heroes to begroggy for a few minutes, so that thevillain can gloat unmolested or so theheroes must strain more heroically tobreak out of the trap.

If so, consider this optional rule.When a hero regains consciousness,his or her abilities are at Poor rank {or -2 CS, whichever is worse), whether ornot the hero lost Endurance ranks.However, the hero recovers +1 CSper turn in each ability, up to the origi-nal ability rank (or up to -2 CS, if thehero lost Endurance ranks).

This means that when they awakenin the clutches of the master villain,the heroes will probably be too weakto just bust loose. They may evenspend some time thinking of cleverways out of the trap.

SOME TYPES OFDEATHTRAPS

ArenaThis deathtrap works best in some

exotic land, planet, or dimension, onewith a different culture and denizens.The heroes get thrown into an appar-ently inescapable arena. After themcomes a variety of opponents: formi-dable warriors, hungry monsters, orsquads of normal-level gladiators.

For drama, have a hero face the ad-venture's master villain in a duel to thedeath. The chosen hero should be

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one with a deep, personal grudgeagainst the villain (or vice versa).

The cruelest stroke forces the he-roes to fight each other. However,most heroes simply refuse to do so, nomatter what the cost. They get to benoble, but the deathtrap loses a lot ofimpact. Drastic coercion, such asholding a beloved NPC hostage,should be frowned upon unless yourbad guy is truly nasty.

In certain circumstances, such as ina primitive culture, the heroes can be-come gladiator heroes, lead a revolt oftheir fellow slaves, and overthrow thegovernment. However, this is a time-consuming process.

Demolition ZoneThe villain places the heroes,

bound and probably gagged, in somebuilding or other site scheduled for im-minent destruction. Often this is thevillain's own headquarters, about tobe sacrificed.

The villain may destroy the head-quarters to conceal evidence or be-cause his or her latest evil schemeinvolves its destruction. For instance,a rocket carrying a mind-control satel-lite is due to launch soon, and the ex-haust will destroy the launch site.

Really crazy villains will sacrificethemselves and their HQs to kill theirlongtime foes. The Red Skull did thismany times in repeated attempts tobump off Captain America. Of course,he always had a concealed escaperoute.

However, the typical villain will tieup the heroes, gloat a little, then runoff to avoid the upcoming calamity.Since the villain seldom sticks around,the heroes' escape and reappearancemay take the villain by complete sur-prise.

Exploited WeaknessMany super-powered heroes have a

secret weakness. For example, theShi'ar warrior Gladiator, one of themost powerful mortals in the universe,can be harmed by an unidentifiedform of radiation. Other vulnerabilitiescan include mental attacks (thesework well on the Juggernaut), particu-lar chemicals, or strange magic.

In this deathtrap, the villain haslearned of the hero's weakness, andthe trap is loaded with whatevercauses it. Details of the trap vary ac-

cording to the weakness exploited,but the trap can be quite deadly ac-cording to how much the substanceweakens the hero. Sometimes theonly way out is to have a non-vulnerable teammate rescue the sus-ceptible hero.

Murder by BuddyOften seen in the comics, this

deathtrap is a favorite of villains be-cause one of the heroes own team-mates killed them!

In one version, all the heroes arewired into the same murderous gim-mick, like a multi-slot guillotine or par-allel electric chairs. Any one hero canget free without a problem—but theaction triggers the device to kill all theother heroes. Coordination and coop-eration are the keys to success.

(Before you run this trap, be sureeverybody caught in it cares about ev-eryone else!)

Another version puts all the heroesexcept one in a totally escape-prooftrap. They're helpless. A villain mind-controls the one free hero into trigger-ing the deathtrap. ("Now, Kitty Pryde,push the button and activate theplasma-beam that will fry the X-Men!")

Naturally, the hero, by tremendousspiritual exertion, breaks free of themind control, belts the villain, andfrees his or her friends in time for thegrand finale showdown.

Remember that mind-controlled he-roes get a Psyche FEAT to throw offthe control. In this extreme situation,you can allow the hero +1 or +2 CS,and even allow the PC to spendKarma. After all, you don't want thehero to fail the roll.

Natural DisasterAvalanches. Volcanic eruptions.

Tidal waves. Earthquakes. The badguy leaves the heroes in a spot wheretheir powers can't help, and MotherNature is about to do something aw-ful. Not much time left; what do the he-roes do?

Old StandbysThe walls that close in, the sharp-

ened scythe that swings lower andlower, the heavy block poised to crushthe life out of the hero beneath, thesawmill blade, the chamber thatslowly fills with water or gas, the Bur-

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mese tiger t rap. . . all of these classicscan be made fresh with a new slant onthem. But be sure the slant is genu-inely new, or at least new to your play-ers. Nothing gets old faster than aroutine deathtrap.

Pinball GigantusA favorite of the assassin Arcade,

this is a favorite pinball or video gameblown up to larger-than-life size.

Running the GauntletPerfect for the villain who toys with

his or her prey. A gauntlet is techni-cally a double line of armed warriors.An unarmed person, either a criminalor an applicant to the warriors' ranks,must run between the two lines whilethe warriors beat him or her with theirweapons. The term now applies to anysevere trial or ordeal.

This starts out as one of the death-traps described above, but there isone obvious escape route. This leadsstraight into another deathtrap. Thatleads into another, and so on, for aslong as you want to run it.

Perhaps, while trapped in the slowlyfilling lava pit, the heroes spy an airvent and crawl through it. The vent'sbottom suddenly drops away, and theheroes plummet down a long slideinto an alligator pit. Leaping to the rim,the heroes find a boulder rolling downat them. Evading it, they dodge into aroom filled with poison gas.

The traps may really be lethal, butthe villain does not count on it. Gener-ally, he or she is observing and taunt-ing the PCs at every step. When theheroes emerge from the gauntlet, rag-ged and exhausted, the villain and allhis or her henchmen are waiting therefor a huge battle.

THE GRAND FINALEA story's climax is often marked by

battles, explosions, or sudden cosmictranscendence. Fair enough, but thatis not what the story's climax is about.

A well-designed finale doesn't justblow up scenery; it concludes theplot's dramatic action. Indecisivecharacters make decisions and act onthem. People searching for somethingfind it, or lose it for good. Uncertain re-lationships become sharply defined.

These generalities indicate that nodiscussion can give specific, concreteadvice for resolving every storyline.Each grand finale is unique andshould be tailored to the storyline.Nonetheless, here are some ideas forstaging your grand finale.

Confrontation with EntityMatters have grown so tangled, or

the stakes are so high, or the bad guyis so incredibly powerful, that one ofthe entities of the Marvel Universesteps into the fray. This could be Eter-nity, a Watcher, a god, or even Death.Consult pp. 54-57 of the Judge's Bookin the Advanced Set.

Aim for maximum drama in stagingthe encounter. These guys never justwalk into a scene. They always ap-pear in a cloud of mist, reshape realityto their needs, or summon the heroesto them from across the dimensions.Make the players realize this is a bigdeal!

This climax is often associated witha conceptual breakthrough of somekind. This high-falutin' term meansthat a character achieves a suddennew understanding of the world andhis or her place in it. The entity inquestion is usually responsible for thebreakthrough.

For example, when Reed Richardswas on trial for rescuing Galactusfrom death, the story turned into a hitparade of the biggest deals in theMarvel Universe: the Shi'ar empire,the Watcher, Odin, Eternity, and Ga-lactus. In a massive conceptual break-through, everyone involved was madeto appreciate Galactus's key role inthe development of the universe.

This confrontation can have long-term campaign implications, or evenmark a change in the campaign's di-

rection. So be careful. Another dangeris that the players have nothing to doexcept gasp in awe at the entity. Try toarrange an opportunity for the PCs todeliver impassioned speeches, pro-test, and so on.

ExtortionLike the one above, this finale

stresses role-playing over combat.The heroes have found some lever touse against the bad guy. They con-front him and say, "Drop the schemeor else."

For example, the Kingpin supportedRandolph Cherryh as candidate formayor of New York City. Daredevil lo-cated the Kingpin's beloved wife,Vanessa, who had been thoughtdead. In return for bringing Vanessa tohim, Daredevil coerced the Kingpininto withdrawing Cherryh from office.

There is some moral fuzz to this cli-max. The heroes are using the samemethods a villain would employ. Youcan either ignore this issue or bring it uplater on, when the villain returns andvows revenge. Some highly moral PCsmay refuse to use extortion, so be pre-pared for arguments among players.

Prevented DeedIn gloating over the captured he-

roes, the villain or a henchman hasstupidly revealed the crucial event ofthe nefarious scheme. Often thistakes place while the heroes arestruggling to escape a deathtrap (seeprevious section in this chapter).

After they escape, the battered he-roes race to the site of the crucialevent and prevent it from happening,often mere seconds before deadline.This usually leads to, or is precededby, a pitched battle (see Slugfest, be-low) or one of the endings suggestedunder "How the Villain Loses" (alsobelow).

Revelation of Dark SecretThis finale takes several forms:1. Heroes uncover awful truths

about the villain and broadcast themfar and wide. If the villain has beenmasquerading as good, pretended toreform, or used a false identity, thismeans the end of the bad guy's plan.

2. The villain reveals an awful truth.For instance, the villain could be thehero group's patron in disguise, or a be-loved relative of one of the heroes. Theheroes may have to give up their fightand let the villain's plan succeed (for themoment, naturally), or they may risk theconsequences and fight the villain. Tryto expect many approaches.

3. A hero is forced to reveal an awfultruth about him- or herself. This mightbe the hero's secret identity, a signifi-cant weakness (for instance, Dare-devil's blindness), or a hiddenrelationship to the villain.

The revelation often exonerates afellow hero or an NPC from some un-just accusation. Or it confuses the vil-lain so badly that he or she cancelsthe scheme and retreats to regroup.

Judging tips: Never have someoneelse reveal a hero's secret. The deci-sion to reveal it must be the playercharacter's. (However, the hero candecide to allow someone else blow thewhistle. As long as the hero has thepower to prevent the revelation, this isfunctionally the same thing.)

Also, however tempting the pros-pect, don't obviously manipulate theplot to force the revelation—at leastnot without discussing it with theplayer in advance. The player shouldhave the chance to veto the revela-tion, since it may well mark a new di-rection for the character in thecampaign.

SlugfestThe classic conclusion. All the main

characters converge and start whalingaway on each other. In staging this cli-max, try to present a neat setting withplenty of props that characters can useas weapons. Time-honored sites in-clude power companies (electricalwires, barrels of battery acid, big coils ofcable) and construction sites (cranes,girders, skyscraper skeletons).

Be prepared to handle massiveamounts of property damage, and beaware of how much damage the sitecan take before everything collapses.The usual answer is "enough to dra-matically fall apart just as the battleends."

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HOW THE VILLAINLOSES

Do not design one unique, nothing-else-works solution to the adventure.This is heavy-handed and may forceyour players into actions they don'twant to commit. If you design the cli-max of your scenario as a specificscene—where you manipulate a herointo doing one special thing, so the vil-lain can die or fail in a pre-arrangedmanner—something is wrong.

Obviously ,you should have in mindone or two possible solutions to thecrisis, just so you can suggest some-thing if the players come up short. Butdon't treat the finale as a scene, withspecified entrances and exits.

Instead, think of the climax as a situ-ation. In that situation, the PCs can tryany number of things, and the villain'sresponse varies accordingly.

Here are a few of the many ways theheroes can foil the villain's plot. Again,you should not pick one as the ending;instead, consider all of them and in-vent a few of your own, so you have aselection of responses for your villain,depending on what the player charac-ters choose to do.

Emotional CollapseThe villain is so distraught at some

player tactic—destroying the villain'sHQ, or persistent taunting, or reveal-ing that the villain's cherished son stilllives—that the bad guy just throws inthe sponge and says, "Take meaway."

The PCs can produce the same ef-fect by exploiting a villain's psycholog-ical weaknesses. But in general thisonly works once, and next time the vil-lain will not only be prepared for thetactic, he or she will be filled with hatefor the heroes who dare to try it.

This works best with villains whoare already on the emotional border-line, like Doctor Octopus, or outrightnuts, like Daredevil's foe TyphoidMary.

Hoist by Own PetardIn this dramatic finale, the heroes

can't stop the plot from working,which means certain death for every-one. But they manage to trap the vil-lain with them, so that he or she willdie in the same disaster. Panic-stricken, the cowardly villain aban-

dons the scheme and disarms thedoomsday machine.

This will not work when the villain isa true fanatic who is willing to die for acause. But most bad guys are cow-ards at heart.

Pounded into PulpThe conventional end to a scenario.

The heroes gang up on the villain andjust keep punching. Consider whetherthe villain has some kind of safety hatchor emergency exit when knocked out.For instance, the loss of consciousnessmay trigger a homing teleporter that au-tomatically pulls the villain to a predeter-mined hidden refuge.

This tactic is basically unfair to theplayers if they beat the villain fair andsquare. But sometimes, unfair or not,the bad guy has to get away to appearlater in the story or in a sequel.

Suicidal ManiaA variant of Emotional Collapse,

above, the villain reacts to the samestimuli with a sudden urge to end it all.The bad guy tries to trigger a dooms-day device prematurely, or leaps off aprecipice, or turns a weapon on him-or herself.

If the villain's death creates no di-sastrous consequences, the heroesmay struggle with the dilemma ofwhether to stop the villain's suicide.Be ready to deal with either choice thePCs make.

Uncontrollable HenchmanThe bad guy employs an assistant

who goes crazy in the last act. Per-haps the NPC is a bestial musclemanwhom the villain has continually mis-treated. Or the NPC is the bad guy'sfanatical follower, and he or she goes

berserk when the villain displayssome sign of presumed weakness orhypocrisy. Or . . . Well, you get theidea.

The henchman in this case shouldbe powerful enough, or strategicallyplaced, to produce massive amountsof damage to the villain's scheme. Of-ten the villain and the traitoroushenchmen go up in the same fireball,or the heroes last see the pair stran-gling one another.

Vital Gadget DestroyedA simple story ending, this assumes

the villain's plot depends on onegizmo, doodad, or whatchamacallitthat gets destroyed in battle. Thiswrecks the whole plan, and the villainslinks off or segues smoothly intoEmotional Collapse.

IS THIS THE END?In many cases, the villain's defeat

does not mark the end of the story. Ifthe plot involved the villain's attemptto forestall something, like a PC's dis-coveries or an NPC's wedding, thestory concludes with a scene that de-picts the event the villain tried to stop.

Good stories frequently involve aPC or NPC in some kind of moral di-lemma. In such a case, the villain's de-feat may only be a prelude to thestory's true climax, in which the char-acter takes action to resolve the di-lemma.

A role-playing adventure doesn'thave to end with a big fight. If the storyworks best and the players will havefun, let it end with role-playing. That'swhat the game is all about.

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CHAPTER 9: RUNNING A CAMPAIGNA scenario works like a single

comic-book issue or, at most, a contin-ued story in several parts. A cam-paign, though, is a regular comicseries, with continuing characters,subplots, ongoing rivalries, and long-term developments. A bad campaigncan be tedious, but a well-run cam-paign gives the highest pleasure thatrole-playing offers.

TYPES OF CAMPAIGNSAny campaign can be described by

its genre, tone, concept, and rationale.Genre: This point, the distinctive

kind of story your campaign tells, wasdiscussed at the start of Chapter 8.Your campaign genre is presumablycomic-book heroics in the Marvel Uni-verse. You may want to define itfurther—for instance, a campaignabout SHIELD agents, or masters ofthe mystic arts, or mutant fugitives, orinner-city vigilantes.

Tone: This overall "flavor" of thecampaign describes most of the ad-ventures the PCs undertake. Mostcampaigns include all kinds of adven-tures, but one kind occurs more oftenthan the rest. This type, the one youthink of when telling someone aboutthe campaign, sets a tone.

Are the PCs hunted by the govern-ment because of their mutant powersor secret information? This wouldprobably make for a grim tone.

Do you want plenty of comedy, self-referential jokes, and bozo villains,like the second She-Hulk series? Thiswould obviously be a humorous tone.

Most campaigns, like most Marvelcomics, strike a tone of straightaction-adventure. The heroes fight toprotect their city, or their planet, ortheir dimension from evil. Missions,usually serious, call for great effortand personal sacrifice.

Any tone is fine, as long as the play-ers enjoy it. Just make sure you haveone in mind before preparing the cam-paign, and know when to stick with theestablished tone (the answer is "mostof the time") and when to vary it (theanswer is "only for variety and achange of pace").

Concept: This is the central idea of

the campaign, the description and fo-cus of the heroes' activities. It ties inclosely with "genre," above, but aconcept is a specific statement of plot-oriented goals within the genre. Forexample, "high-tech espionage" is agenre; "SHIELD agents battle HY-DRA's plans for world domination" is aconcept within that genre.

A concept can be "wide" or "nar-row."

"Wide" concepts permit extremevariation in the campaign's activities,settings, villains, and storylines. Dur-ing one session the heroes may catchmuggers in the Bowery; during thenext, they're off to fight the Skrulls inouter space. Then they fight demonssummoned by a loony wizard, then goon to foil Doctor Doom's latest super-science plot. Next week, into the Neg-ative Zone!

Most long-running Marvel titles em-ploy this type of wide base. For exam-ple, the Fantastic Four venture allover the world and the galaxy, andthey have had every kind of adventureimaginable. Spider-Man, too, hasbeen all over the universe and intoother dimensions.

"Narrow" concepts restrict thecampaign to a particular subgenre,type of PC and villain, and storyline. Atfirst this sounds like less fun than awide concept. But a narrowly focusedcampaign can offer intense role-playing experiences, strong characteridentification for the players, and asharp, specific adaptation of a particu-lar favorite comic book.

Suppose you enjoy Doctor Strange.You could create a narrow campaignwith magician PCs, perhapsStrange's disciples. The PCs protectEarth from Dormammu's invaders andtravel through infinite magical dimen-sions. There is enough story materialhere to keep a campaign going foryears, all within a narrow focus. If yourplayers tike Doctor Strange's adven-tures, this is an exciting campaign.Many other narrow campaigns can beequally rewarding.

Rationale: The essential ingredientof any campaign is a reason for thePCs to be together. Sometimes this ra-tionale is very general—"You're all

good guys, so you decided to team upto fight crime."

In other campaigns, the rationalecan be specific and powerful: "You allseek the Maggia scientist who createdthe drug that turned you into super hu-mans. You want him to synthesize anantidote to the drug's horrible side ef-fects." (This is the optional rationaleoffered in the campaign scenario,"Fun City," which starts on page 47.)

Using This DescriptionWhen you specify your campaign's

genre, tone, concept, and rationale,you are really deciding what kind ofstories you want to tell—and the onesyou don't want to tell, too.

For example, consider the gods.The Marvel Universe includes thepantheons of Greece, Rome, Egypt,the Norsemen, and every other hu-man culture, not to mention the Celes-tials, Eternals, and powerfulextra-dimensional beings like Dor-mammu and the late Shuma-Gorath.

These gods figure often in storiesabout Thor, Hercules, and DoctorStrange. These heroes are powerfulenough for the gods to give them areal challenge. And their concepts in-clude the high-power magic thatmarks the gods.

But the gods hardly ever appear instories of Daredevil, SHIELD, and IronMan, because these heroes work bestin genres and concepts that don't callfor such powerful beings. Also, thetone of a "god adventure" would bewrong for them. SHIELD and Iron Manuse super-scientific devices to fighttheir opponents, and Daredevil useshis fists. Against gods, their weaponsand abilities would be inappropriate.

When you describe your campaign,you define a range of villains, plot ele-ments, and tones that you want to use.With these guidelines, you can start toprepare the campaign.

PREPARING THECAMPAIGN

With a tone and perhaps a goal inmind, and with the background of theMarvel Universe well established, you

26

are ready to begin putting together thecampaign's many elements: playercharacters, villains, NPCs, and stories.

Preparing PCsDuring a campaign, the heroes will

spend a lot of time together, so youhave to make sure they can work wellas part of a team. Examine each PCwith following points in mind.

Motivations: What does this herowant to do? Do you, as Judge, findthat interesting, let alone suitably he-roic? Does that goal match (or at leastavoid conflict with) those of other PCsin the campaign?

Power level: Assess the character'sabilities, powers, and talents. Are theattacks far more powerful, or lesspowerful, than other PCs' attacks? Isthe character invulnerable to your vil-lains' attacks, or will the character getblown away by the first punch?

In the comics, heroes of widely dif-fering power levels work togetherwithout a problem; think of Thor andCaptain America in the Avengers. Butthat is because comic writers giveevery hero careful attention and ad-just the story to let them all show off.

You can't control your PCs the waythe writer controls heroes in the comicbooks. If your Thor player decides tohog the limelight and wipe out everybad guy in sight, the Captain Americaplayer just has to sit back and watch.

Work hard to ensure that all the PCshave about the same power level.

Stepping on other characters: Everycharacter should have a power, skill,or "flavor" unique to the team. Don'tbring in another character who can dothe same thing, only better. The firstplayer will feel useless.

Also, watch out for the hero who cando virtually anything, the real jack-of-all-trades. Every well-designed char-acter has weaknesses and lacks, aswell as strengths; this makes the char-acter interesting, because overcom-ing those weaknesses is heroic. Makesure your players understand that.

Psychological profile: Is this hero—not to be too blunt—crazy? Can theother PCs trust the hero? Is the herogoing to kill somebody, or go berserk,or just fail to get along with team-mates? If so, have the player rethinkthis character. You won't regret it.

Preparing VillainsVillains are discussed in detail in

Chapter 8. This section deals with theissues you must consider when choos-ing the campaign's recurring villains.

The opponents your PCs face canbe conveniently divided into four cate-gories: major villains, villain groups,organizations, and nuisances.

Major villains: Nearly every hero orteam in the Marvel Universe is associ-ated with one particular heavy-dutybad guy. The FF has Doctor Doom;the X-Men have Magneto; DoctorStrange has Dormammu. Loki, theKingpin, the Red Skull, the Leader, theMandarin, and, oh yeah, Galactus . . .you know, the bad guy, the one the he-roes love to hate. The one who maynot show up very often, but who practi-cally defines the hero team by his orher very existence.

Every super-hero campaign needsone of these, a villain who createsmind-shattering schemes and drivesyour heroes to their greatest exer-tions. Choose this villain with care,and with an eye toward getting PCs tobuild really personal grudges againsthim or her. Perhaps the villain is con-nected with the origins of one of theteam members or directly opposesthe heroes' goals.

Pick a villain that the PCs' powersuniquely qualify them to face. If theycan't stop him (or her or it), nobodycan. For instance, if your PCs are ma-gicians, choose a magical villain likeDormammu. If the PCs are experts inrobotics, choose a machine intellectthat wants to exterminate humanity. Etcetera.

Naturally, the villain should be pow-erful enough to push around an indi-vidual PC with ease, and give a goodfight against the entire group.

You should also keep a couple oflesser villains on hand for variety'ssake. For instance, the FantasticFour's ultimate nemesis is DoctorDoom, but they still find time to fightAnnihilus, Diablo, and Mephisto.

Sometimes you can turn a minor vil-lain into a major force just by lookingat the character in a new way. For in-stance, the Kingpin was originally asmall-time crimelord with a laser-beam cane and a stickpin thatsquirted gas at his opponents. Hefought Spider-Man hand to hand, andof course he lost.

Later, though, the Kingpin becamea much more cunning and sinister foewho preferred to manipulate othersinto doing his dirty work. AgainstDaredevil, the Kingpin became an evilforce of almost elemental proportions.In this new and more interesting incar-nation, the Kingpin has become a sta-ple villain in many Marvel titles.

Villain groups: If one villain is badnews, six will be even worse. The villaingroup lets you showcase bad guys who,individually, wouldn't stand a chanceagainst your PCs. Remember Magne-to's longtime henchman in the firstBrotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Toad?How else could you introduce a Toadinto your campaign? If he didn't havebackup bad guys, any self-respectinghero could squash him in a round.

A well-designed villain group oper-ates as an efficient team, with codesignals and pre-rehearsed tactics thatshould catch your PCs off guard.

For example, at a leader's signal,the team's strongest member couldgrab a non-flying PC, throw the herohigh into the air, and all of the villainswith ranged attacks could simultane-ously fire on the helpless hero.

If your PCs don't practice team-work, a well-oiled group of villains caneasily take them out, even when theindividual villains are far less powerfulthan individual PCs. But after one ortwo of these humiliating defeats, play-ers will get the idea and begin devel-oping their own team tactics. Bravo!

The weakness of any villain group,of course, is the clash of gigantic bad-guy egos. Play this up over the courseof the campaign. If the heroes take ad-vantage of it, they can maneuver thevillain group into smashing itself moreeffectively than the heroes ever could.

These groups are hard to designwell. Fortunately, you need only one ortwo really sharp villain groups as acampaign gets rolling.

Organizations: What would the oldSHIELD stories have been withoutHYDRA and AIM? How many storieshave ensued from the nefarious activi-ties of Roxxon Oil and Stane Interna-tional and the Maggia?

Chapter 4 of the Campaign Source-book discusses some uses of organi-zations. In the campaign, bad-guyorganizations serve two good pur-poses:

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1. They employ lots of normal-levelagents for the heroes to beat up on. Acombat between a hero and a slew ofordinary people proceeds much differ-ently from a standard slugfest be-tween super types. Also, the heromust avoid doing fatal damage to theweaker agents. (Who wants to blow awhole Karma pool on one measly HY-DRA agent?)

2. Organizations create high-techequipment, which provides interest-ing story ideas. "Our Global Encepha-lizer Satellite will turn Earth's entirepopulation into helpless slaves!"

You should design or adapt two orthree organizations as the campaignbegins, each with its own style, goals,and scale. "Scale" means the dimen-sion of its operations. For example,the Maggia wants to make moneythrough crime; but HYDRA wanted toconquer the world! These differingscales mean the organizations fulfilldifferent roles in scenarios.

Alien races: This is really a sub-group of "Organizations." Are yourPCs the types who could handle an in-vasion from space, the sea, or Subter-ranea? If so, the Marvel Universeoffers many races as suitable adver-saries. Aliens can be slightly tougherthan ordinary agents, and they useeven more exotic technology than HY-DRA or AIM. For more about aliens,see the next chapter's subsection on"The Galactic Campaign."

Nuisances: Finally there are thebozo villains. No campaign is com-plete without the occasional would-behotshot, the mischievous sprite, andthe idiot musclemen. Think of theTrapster, who couldn't even defeat theBaxter Building's automated de-fenses, or the Ringer, or the Enforcers(Fancy Dan, Montana, Snake Mar-ston, Hammer Harrison, and the ever-lovable Ox).

Players exuberantly trash thesepunks. They provide laughs, relief fromgrim world-endangering plots, and achance for the players to feel really su-perior to lowlife scum. Don't overdo it,but keep one or two of these clownswaiting in the wings when you need abreak between serious adventures.

Preparing NPCsNon-player characters are dis-

cussed at length in Chapter 8. Thissection deals with the role of NPCs in

a campaign. There are two importantrules:

1. NPCs should not be better thanPCs at their chosen pursuits, unlessthere is a very good reason.

Players like to feel that their charac-ters are experts, indispensable to thesituation at hand. If you bring in anNPC who can do what they do, butbetter, the players will wonder whythey bothered to show up at all. Andnext session, they won't make thesame mistake again!

What is a "good reason" for makingan NPC superior to the PCs? Well, theMarvel Universe has a few well-defined absolutes—not as many asyou might suppose, but a few.

Doctor Strange is Sorcerer Su-preme. Captain America is the great-est mortal expert at fighting, and ReedRichards is the most brilliant humanscientist (with the possible exceptionof Doctor Doom). Daredevil, apartfrom his blindness, probably has thesharpest senses of any human being.For many years, the Hulk was thestrongest mortal. And, of course, Wol-verine is "the best at what he does."

These heroes' abilities have beenestablished so well that your playerscan hardly grouse that their charac-ters aren't as good as these heroNPCs. What's more, you have thepower to keep these titans out of thecampaign, so your heroes don't haveto feel upstaged.

But other NPCs, the lesser lights ofthe Marvel Universe and the ones youcreate yourself, should not be supe-rior to the PCs. Think carefully beforeyou give an NPC Ultimate Skill in any-thing the PCs can do.

2. The NPCs in a hero's life shouldhave some role in the campaign be-sides their relationship to the hero.

In the comics, many heroes havefriends, loved ones, or relatives whooccasionally figure in adventures—usually as hostages, victims, or tar-gets. The archetypal example is PeterParker's Aunt May.

These "dependents" are often apart of your PC heroes' lives, too.They serve a valuable plot function:By endangering the dependent, youcan get the heroes emotionally in-volved in your adventure, just like inthe comics. But here is where comicsand games part ways.

A hero in a Marvel comic is emotion-

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ally attached to the dependent andhas a stake in the NPC's fate. PeterParker would be deeply grieved if any-thing bad happened to Aunt May.

This emotional attachment is muchrarer in a role-playing situation. Play-ers just don't relate to you, the Judge,as they would to an aunt or husband.The dependent's plot function be-comes nakedly obvious. While play-ers may role-play their PCs'attachment well enough, outside thegame they groan when Aunt May ap-pears on the scene: "Oh no, we haveto rescue her again, don't we?"

What is the solution? Give the de-pendent a legitimate function in thecampaign. Make the NPC genuinelyuseful to the heroes, perhaps as adoctor, detective, scholar, or regularlyvisited source of information. Thenwhen something happens to endan-ger the NPC, the players' alarm will begenuine, not just role-playing.

The NPC should be able to dosomething the heroes can't or aren'tinterested in doing. Good jobs to givean NPC include Daily Bugle reporter,FBI agent or government liaison, fi-nancial advisor, stoolie, and vehiclepilot. But make sure the NPC isn't bet-ter than the players (see Rule 1)!

RUNNING THECAMPAIGN

Now that you have a PC hero group,a master villain or two, a couple orthree organizations, functional NPCs,and all the bozo villains your playerscan stand, you are ready to start play-ing. Or, as often happens, the cam-paign just grew, and you have beenmaking all of this up on the fly, in thethick of the game.

Either way, it is time to discuss mat-ters that arise as play progresses.

Getting UnderwayIf you have already begun the cam-

paign, you can skip this section.Any campaign begins best with an

"origin adventure," the scenario that es-tablishes its premise, introduces itscharacters (and, if necessary, the play-ers) to one another, and explains whythese heroes are banding together.

Origin adventures can have unu-sual power, because they evoke asense that these characters' lives are

changing forever. . . that nothing willever be the same again. An ongoingcampaign can't sustain that feeling,and shouldn't try. Players would soonget worn out!

When you design an origin adven-ture, aim for a dramatic statement ofthe campaign's essential peril, thedanger that the heroes have joinedforces to combat. A major plot by thecampaign's master villain is an obvi-ous and excellent choice.

The PCs may not be together, andperhaps they even don't know one an-other, as the adventure begins. In anycase, a beginning adventure (unlikemost comic-book stories) does nothave to start out with a dramatic inci-dent. It's better to spend a leisurely 10or 15 minutes per PC, establishing thecharacter's current life, attitudes, andperhaps powers. This non-threatening "trial period" helps aplayer get the feel of the PC before thereal action begins.

In the origin adventure you can playaround with players' expectations in away that takes them by surprise. Forexample, if the player wants the PC tohave a dependent in the campaign,you might establish one early in theorigin—but then the master villain dis-poses of that dependent in horriblefashion! The adventure later presentsa new dependent, the one you in-tended all along. Meanwhile, the PChas formed a royal personal grudgeagainst the bad guy.

But be careful. Avoid sheer ruth-lessness . . . unless that's the cam-paign tone your players expect.

Dangling SubplotsThough this may sound to outsiders

like some repulsive medical condition,Judges know this is the way to fore-shadow future conflicts, new villains,and amazing changes in the heroes'powers. This foreshadowing buildssuspense and keeps players comingback to the game.

Here are several intriguing kinds ofsubplots.

Mysterious appearances: Enig-matic notes in the mail or messageson the answering machine at HQ. En-igmatic manifestations of psychicpower by a dependent. Enigmaticweather, or animals lurking in an alley,or surveillance drones. The commonelement is mystery.

You need not have a culprit in mindwhen you introduce the mystery. Lis-ten to the players speculate, and try topick up on what they find most intrigu-ing. Then, several episodes later, itturns out they were right—sort of!Throw in a devious twist to keep theplayers off guard.

For example, you tell your playersthat an unmarked package arrives atHQ. The postmark is from Wakanda.Inside, without any identifying note, isa shapeless hunk of pure vibraniumworth almost a million dollars.

The players speculate that theBlack Panther, ruler of Wakanda,seeks their help and is testing theirhonor: If they return the vibranium,they pass the test.

The PCs nobly decide that next ses-sion they will call up the Panther, offerto return the vibranium, and askwhat's going on. You, having heardthis line of speculation, plan a Wa-kanda adventure. But you decide that,though the Black Panther was testingthe PCs' honor, he wants them asagents in selling the vibranium to a cli-ent! He can't trust his usual distribu-tion network for this assignment. Whynot? The answer to that, of course,provides the adventure.

Relations with the law: Some newinspector or precinct captain has it infor super-powered vigilantes. The offi-cial makes life hard for the heroes intheir every criminal investigation, andattacks them in the media.

But does the official have an ulteriormotive in the attacks? Is there somedarker figure behind the scenes, ma-nipulating public opinion?

Increasing insanity: When Matt Mur-dock descended into paranoia, andthe Kingpin systematically dismantledhis life, the story gripped readers bothold and new. The "Born Again" se-quence showed that when fateplunges a hero into the depths, he orshe becomes all the more heroic byclimbing out again.

This tricky and risky episode re-quires a player's cooperation if youwant to initiate it; or the player's char-acter may already be heading over-board, and you decide to capitalize onthe mounting craziness.

The hero begins to part ways with thegroup. He or she commits Karma-reducing actions, minor ones at first,but gradually increasing in severity. The

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PC's attitude becomes dangerous.At last a specially designed adven-

ture faces the PC with the worst con-sequences of this new attitude.Probably the hero gets the opportu-nity to kill a hated foe, or the foe dis-covers the hero's secret identity andruins his or her life (as the Kingpin ru-ined Matt Murdock's life). At this criti-cal juncture, the hero either gives wayto base impulses, or refuses to do so,thus setting the stage for a dramaticreturn to sanity.

If you want to keep the PC in thegame, make very sure the player inquestion is inclined to choose recov-ery. Otherwise, the corrupted PCshould be phased out of the campaignor become a villain's henchman.

Note: If you proposed this subplotand the player cooperated, be sure toreturn all the Karma the PC lost whencommitting crazy actions. They wereyour idea, after all.

Criminal trials: A valued NPC (oreven a PC hero!) is on trial for someframe-up. While the trial proceeds,good guys search for evidence toclear the accused, and bad guys plantmore.

The verdict is by no means certain.Robbie Robertson's recent trial is agood example. If the accused goes toprison, the heroes may consider dras-tic actions to free him or her. Whenthis subplot is resolved, the campaignmay head in a new direction, with theheroes (at least for a time) on thewrong side of the law.

Character DevelopmentThe fascination of campaigning

comes in watching relationships ap-pear and mature, people come andgo, stories begin and end. This sec-tion talks about some of the develop-ments that arise in a successfulcampaign.

Player characters: A story is inher-ent in almost every good characterconception. Does the character havea particular goal, such as vengeanceor atonement, or wiping out a given or-ganization? Has the PC been troubledby an ongoing psychological problem,such as a fear of intimacy or a ber-serker rage? Is there some mystery inthe PC's past, such as his or her ori-gin, or the identity of the character'sparents?

All of these imply an eventual reso-

lution to the problem, over the longterm of the campaign. The PCachieves the goal, overcomes the psy-chological hangup, or solves the mys-tery. The conflict is resolved. Forexample, the Human Torch, afteryears of dead-end romances, finallyfound true love with Alicia Mastersand married her. The Silver Surferfound a way to leave Earth and returnto the universe at large. DoctorStrange became Sorcerer Supreme.

When a PC achieves the culmina-tion of his or her story, that doesn'tmean it's time for the character to re-tire. By that time, the PC has probablybecome so entrenched in the cam-paign that he or she takes on a kind of"elder statesman" role as an experi-enced hero, perhaps a leader, al-though his powers shouldn't be out ofbalance with the other PCs.

Over the course of the campaign, tryto develop the PCs' stories. You won'tever have time to resolve them all, buttheir ongoing progress will give yourstories the appeal of the Marvel comicsand the players the feeling that they re-ally matter to the campaign.

NPCs: These, too, can develop instories. The boyfriend breaks up withthe heroine and leaves town, or dies,or marries the PC. The sidekick getscorrupted by the master villain, but re-deems himself with a dying gesturethat defeats the bad guy. The helplesssister learns to fend for herself, opensa business, and becomes a financialsuccess and a respected citizen.

Generally, such an NPC, unlike aPC, exits the campaign at this point.The character simply doesn't inspirestories any more. But he or she mayreturn for guest spots now and then.

Villains: One of the most interestingaspects of the campaign is the grad-ual metamorphosis of the heroes' op-ponents. Master villains are reducedto annoyances, while minor hench-men take over and grow strong. Orga-nizations are destroyed, but theiragents go freelance and make furthertrouble.

When Doctor Strange began hissorcerous career, for example, BaronMordo matched if not surpassed himin mastery of the mystic arts. ButStrange grew in power while his rivallagged behind, and Mordo became anuisance menace, a pawn in theschemes of more powerful beings.

Another example: Spider-Man beatDoctor Octopus so many times thatOctopus finally just went mad. For atime he was harmless, and then whenhe returned as a menace he was ma-niacally driven to defeat the wall-crawler above all else.

Just as your PCs have stories, thecampaign villains also pass throughlife-changing events and emerge fromthem changed. You need not worryabout this for the first year or two ofplay, but don't overlook these possibil-ities as the campaign progresses.

AgingIf your campaign goes on long

enough, eventually age becomes anissue.

In Marvel comics, characters ageslowly or not at all. In almost 30 yearsof Spider-Man stories, Peter Parkerhas gone from high school to gradu-ate school. Reed Richards and SueStorm married and now have a seven-year-old son, but their partner BenGrimm hasn't aged a bit. Matt Mur-dock has been 32 ever since Daredevil#1 appeared in the early 1960s.

This is one of the conventions of thegenre, as discussed at the beginningof Chapter 8. If heroes aged normally,the comics would eventually grow asold and tired as they do. Who couldbelieve a 55-year-old Daredevil leap-ing across the rooftops?

Some Marvel heroes have authen-tic explanations for their eternalyouth. Thor and Hercules don't agebecause they are gods. Nick Fury's In-finity Formula has kept him youngsince World War II. The first time Doc-tor Strange died, he merged with Eter-nity. Reborn into this plane, Strangeno longer ages. But most Marvel he-roes stay young simply because theyremain interesting that way.

In general, heroes who start outyoung age to a kind of "ideal point"that allows the most interesting sto-ries. Then the aging stops, and in-stead the heroes' past history isrevised and updated to make the cur-rent version plausible. In Marvel com-ics, the modern age of super humansis assumed to have begun aboutseven or eight years before thepresent, and most well-establishedheroes have had careers lasting fourto eight years of "real" time.

In the campaign, you and your play-

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ers can choose to (a) ignore the wholeissue; (b) play an adventure that gives aplot justification for retarding or stop-ping the PCs' aging; or (c) specify, byJudge's fiat, a rate of aging you all canlive with—one game-year per year ofreal time, one game-year per three orsix real years, or no aging at all.

TYPES OF PLAYERSNot player characters, players.

Role-players are a various lot. Eachperson in your group may have a dif-ferent style of play and enjoy role-playing for different reasons. Try todetermine each player's wants, and ifpossible, satisfy them in the adven-ture you run. That way, everyone hasfun.

Here is a non-exhaustive list ofsome common player types. {Thanksto Aaron Allston for these classifica-tions.)

The Psychologist: This player en-joys exploring the personality of his orher character in detail. Role-playing isan acting challenge, and the deeperthe character, the better this playerlikes the challenge.

Throw the Psychologist's characterinto lots of different situations that callfor different responses: negotiation,examination of a new culture, romanc-ing an NPC, staving off romance withan NPC, and crises of conscience.The more angst you foist on the char-acter, the better the player should likeit—but be sure your player is of thistype before you really heap on the badnews!

The Problem Solver: Faced with amystery, or even the hint of a mystery,this player looks for clues and culpritsand speculates endlessly on solu-tions. Faced with capture, the playerfigures a way out of your foolproof am-bush.

A player who's alert and thinking isalways better than one who isn't. Butboy, does this guy make you workhard! If your story calls for the villain tocapture the characters, the ProblemSolver may send it spinning off in newdirections. If you want your surprisetwist to stay a surprise, you have tosend the Problem Solver chasing aftermultiple wild geese to keep him or herfrom guessing the twist in Scene 2.

Judging tip: Listen to the Problem

Solver's theories. Sometimes theplayer will come up with a solution farmore surprising and effective than theone you had planned. Then at the sto-ry's conclusion, you throw out the realexplanation and substitute the betterone. "Yep, you guessed it, all right,"you say blandly.

The Killing Machine: His boss is giv-ing him a hard time, or she's havingtrouble with her classes, or he doesn'tget along with his parents. One way oranother, this player arrives at the gameready to fight. The Killing Machinewants to take out frustrations on imagi-nary characters, as explosively as pos-sible.

Role-playing games are a healthyoutlet for aggression, so satisfy thisplayer with plenty of action and physi-cal conflict. In the Marvel Universe,this shouldn't prove hard.

Another kind of Killing Machine is theplayer who worms through loopholes inthe rules to design characters of maxi-mum lethality. Many "role-playing"games encourage this, since combat isalmost their sole activity. In stories,these characters have less to contrib-ute. But you can make this player happyby sending the character against hugeopponents and watching him or her cutthem into pieces.

When you're putting together yourstory, think of your players and try to in-clude elements that will appeal to all ofthem. As long as everybody gets some-thing fun to do in every session of thegame, you'll have a satisfied group.

CAMPAIGNPROBLEMS

As the campaign proceeds, certainproblems may appear. Here are sometraps to watch out for.

Bad feelings between PCs: Eventhough your players are getting alongfine outside the game, their charac-ters may regard each other with coolhatred. Perhaps one, a CaptainAmerica-type, has vowed to protect alllife, whereas another, in the traditionof the Punisher or Wolverine, is readyto kill any criminal, Karma loss or no.These two have to get on one an-other's nerves.

In the comics, this friction can pro-duce deeper characterization and in-teresting rivalries. It can in your game,too . . . if that is to everyone's taste.Take care that other players don't be-come uncomfortable with the frac-tious pair, and keep the combatantsfrom stabbing one another in theback. That's hardly heroic!

A certain amount of squabbling is en-tertaining. But carried too far, ft candrive the group apart. If you prefer not torisk this, make sure your PCs are all onthe same wavelength about importantcampaign issues before play begins.These "ground rule" issues include:

whether and when to kill;relations with law enforcement offi-

cials;and whether PCs should trust one

another with their secret identities.New players: Great! That is, as long

as the newcomers know the cam-paign's ground rules: ways to behave,power level, overall goals, and how touphold the team's reputation.

It's hard to make sure a new playerisn't going to do something rash andcause permanent disaster. To guardagainst this, first have the player guest-star in the campaign as an establishedMarvel character, one whose behaviorevery player is familiar with. Once youdecide the player can handle the cam-paign's ground rules, let him or herbring in the new permanent PC.

Too many players: Some Judges,who struggle to find enough inter-ested parties to put together a playsession, would love to have this prob-lem. But having too many players isfar worse than having too few.

The problems: the Judge can't keeptrack of everybody's actions; playersdon't get into the spotlight oftenenough; and to challenge the largerand more powerful PC group, badguys have to be still more powerful—and that makes adventures deadlierfor individual PCs.

In judging a game, the maxim is not"The more, the better," but "Every-thing in moderation." Aim for an opti-mum group of four to six players. Ifyou have many more than this, con-sider splitting off the group into twoseparate campaigns.

Changing direction: After you haverun all the adventures you can thinkof, you may want to rejuvenate thecampaign by shifting its scene, prem-ise, or goals.

This is fine, but talk to your playersfirst. If a player enjoys playing awealthy industrialist in the FinancialDistrict, he or she may not enjoy beingflung back in time to 18th-centuryHaiti or into a post-holocaust future.

If the players object strongly to yourproposed change, think it over. If theydon't object, but don't think their char-acters belong in the new campaign,let them create new PCs. Or ask themto play NPCs in your adventures untilthe campaign returns to the earliermode.

Remember, players just want tohave fun, but usually they need toknow what kind of fun they're going tohave.

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CHAPTER 10: THE MANHATTAN CAMPAIGNPrevious chapters discussed sto-

ries and campaigns in general. Butsince this set describes Marvel Man-hattan, this chapter is devoted to cam-paigns set in New York or any big city.

WHAT CITY AND WHY?No matter how far afield your he-

roes range, they need a base of opera-tions. It could be an orbital satellite, anundersea fortress, or even a time-traveling, teleporting phone booth.But a headquarters in a major city hasseveral advantages in a campaign.

1. Resources: Whatever the heroesneed, whether it's an ancient Egyptianscroll or a new Ferrari or gold bullion,it's available in a large city. The fore-most consultants in any field nearly al-ways live in university cities. Thepolice departments have advancedcriminological equipment and foren-sic tools. And in Marvel Manhattan,the heroes can easily visit AvengersIsland to get confidential informationor Four Freedoms Plaza to borrowReed Richards' latest-model spacedrive.

2. Accessibility: This means the he-roes can get to the crime scenequickly. And it also means that yourvillains can get at the heroes. Bothfactors keep adventures moving fast.And as in #1, many establishedMarvel heroes hang around Manhat-tan, either at known addresses orwhere they are easily found by anyhero group that takes to the rooftops.

3. Local color: A city supplies ever-changing backgrounds, events, andbystanders. Judges with a taste forscenic detail find cities much moreuseful than the depths of outer spaceor the bottom of the Marianas Trench.

Choosing A CityOf course, even though the heroes

should locate in a city, that city doesnot have to be New York. This setgives you material useful in any urbancampaign. Most Hotspot listings in theCampaign Sourcebook include adviceon translating the Hotspot to other cit-ies. Many of New York's sites work justas easily in Chicago, San Francisco,Denver, Seattle, or Houston. You and

your players may find it easier to visu-alize the action if you set the cam-paign in some nearby metropolis thatyou and they know well.

(For advice about setting a Marvelcampaign in your home town, consultthe adventure "Avengers Fran-chised!" by David Cook, in MA2,Avengers Coast-to-Coast.)

But suppose you do decide to setyour campaign in Marvel Manhattan.How should you use the city?

Different Marvel comics set in NewYork treat the city in two general ways.Some depict it as a generic back-ground of undifferentiated sky-scrapers, sewers, and taxicabs. Otherstories establish New York in detail,using famous landmarks, giving spe-cific neighborhoods and addressesfor story scenes, and evoking the dis-tinctive Manhattan atmosphere.

Either of these offers a sound way torun your campaign. Both ways are dis-cussed below.

The Generic CityIf you and your players have never

been to New York and don't careabout its finer details, much of theCampaign Sourcebook's informationonly gets in the way. Delete trivia andjust employ the background your sto-ries require.

In the comics, there is ample prece-dent for the generic "abandonedwarehouse," not to mention "a piersomewhere on the waterfront" andcrimes committed in "a bad part oftown." Include an all-purpose subwaystation, research lab, and office build-ing, and you have all you need formost stories.

Advantages: Speedy scenery—youcan describe a warehouse or sky-scraper without rooting through notesshowing the actual location. Speedystorytelling—scene changes arequick dissolves from one location tothe next, just a "later, across town"away.

The generic approach eases yourtask in deciding whether a given store,library, or business is near the currentscene. If a PC suddenly needs a gar-den hose, you can put a garden sup-ply shop just a block away, whether

the PCs are in a good neighborhoodor the worst slum. This, too, speedsup the adventure.

Disadvantages: Lack of atmos-phere, of a sense of place. Missedopportunities—adventures don't ex-ploit the possibilities of Manhattan'sactual landmarks, like chess playersin Central Park or museums alongFifth Avenue.

New York:Accept No Substitutes

If you live in New York or have play-ers who did, grounding your cam-paign solidly in an accurateManhattan may be the only approachyou can use without starting argu-ments. Otherwise, players may shout,"No way is there a garden shop in theBowery!" stopping play until the argu-ment is settled.

Comics that take the trouble to de-pict specific real-city landmarks gaindepth. For example, when Matt Mur-dock's partner Foggy Nelson says helives on West 72nd and Columbus,that tells a lot about Foggy's way of lifeto someone who knows Manhattan'sUpper West Side.

Advantages: When you describeNew York landmarks and give ad-dresses, your scenario gains believa-bility. And getting from one part oftown to another can be entertaining allby itself; see Chapter 5, "On the Side-walks of New York" in the CampaignSourcebook.

You can offer new challenges toPCs by setting different parts of a sce-nario in widely separated parts of theactual New York City. Give the playersa deadline to reach a distant location.They know how far they have to travel,and they can try different strategies toget there in time. This increases ten-sion and gives players control of theirfates.

Encounters with varied NPCs inmany different parts of town increasethe PCs' emotional involvement, aswell. So when somebody threatens toblow up New York, players in a "real"city campaign may really imaginewhat would be lost by its destruction,instead of treating the loss in the ab-stract.

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Disadvantages: This approachtakes extra research and a willingnessto admit mistakes. If you absent-mindedly put the RCA Building in theWorld Trade Center, your players maygive you grief about it when the mis-take is discovered.

Sometimes your scenario ideas justwon't work in the real Manhattan. Ifyour adventure absolutely requires asubway line to Staten Island, toobad—there isn't one, and your playerswill know it.

The Campaign DescriptionsA city can be a total campaign envi-

ronment, a base for worldwide opera-tions, or a rest stop between jauntsaround the universe. The followingsections describe these three cam-paign approaches according to six cri-teria:

Scale of adventures: The settingsand stakes of most of that campaign'sadventures.

Examples: Established Marvel he-roes who function in this adventurestyle.

Ground rules: Points of genre andtone that both Judge and playersshould be aware of.

What PC heroes need: Required re-sources, such as equipment andtransportation.

Suitable villains: Suggested badguys for this style of campaign. Vil-lains are discussed in detail in Chap-ter 8.

Roles for recurring NPCs: The kindsof occupations you should include orassign to dependent NPCs.

THE URBANCAMPAIGN

Scale of adventures: Restricted al-most entirely to New York City itself.Heroes are designed with city back-drops in mind; for example, Spider-

33

Man needs skyscrapers to swingacross the city.

Perils include muggings, bank rob-beries, drug rings, small natural disas-ters, corrupt city officials, or massdestruction threatening anything up tothe city itself.

Examples: Cloak and Dagger, Dare-devil, Power Pack, the Punisher,Spider-Man.

Ground rules: Heroes make only aslight difference in this world, if at all.In the genre, the city's problems areinsurmountable overall, but the PCscan help individuals and restrain theadvance of crime.

Occasionally urban heroes go else-where for an adventure, but theynever lose their city orientation. For in-stance, Spider-Man has been every-where in the Marvel Universe and intoother dimensions, but we always thinkof him swinging between the sky-scrapers of midtown New York.

What PC heroes need:

Power level—An individual heroshould be able to handle three or fourtypical armed hoodlums, and hold upin battle with a minor-league villain.

Transport—The heroes should havepowers or vehicles that can crossmost of Manhattan in 10 or 20 minutesat most.

Information sources—Since heroesspend a lot of time on the streets, theyshould have or establish a network offriends, patrons, and informants.

Suitable villains: The Kingpin(above ail!), Beetle, Blacklash, DoctorOctopus, Electro, Hobgoblin, Mad-cap, the Scorpion, the Vulture.Organizations—the Maggia, Subter-raneans.

Roles for recurring NPCs: Beat cop,plainclothes detective, stoolie, re-formed junkie (criminal connections),taxi driver, minor disciple in magic, kidgang member.

THE GLOBALCAMPAIGN

Scale of adventures: Heroes, head-quartered in a major city, fly aroundthe world, visit exotic locales, defeatworld conquerors, fight large-scale di-sasters, and prevent World War III.

Examples: Alpha Flight, the Aveng-ers, the Hulk, Iron Man, Moon Knight,SHIELD, the X-Men, X-Factor.

Ground rules: Members of the teamoften have varied ethnic or nationalbackgrounds, but (usually) about thesame political outlook. They seldombecome involved in the troubles of or-dinary individuals, except as an ad-venture hook for a larger-scalescenario.

What PC heroes need:Power level—The PCs command

great power, and possibly rank amongthe strongest on Earth in their chosenpursuits.

Transport—The heroes should havepowers or vehicles that let them getanywhere in the world within 12 hoursat most. {For example, the X-Men hadan RS-150 Blackbird supersonic air-craft. Now, though based far awayfrom major cities, they have a telepor-tation gate to reach a scene quickly.)

Information sources—PCs shouldhave access to a worldwide instantcommunications network, whethertechnological or psychic in origin.

Languages—Some kind of transla-tion device or wide knowledge of for-eign tongues will come in handy.

Suitable villains: Baron Mordo, Doc-tor Doom, the Crimson Dynamo andother Soviet Super Soldiers, FreedomForce, the Hellfire Club, the Leader,Magneto, the Mandarin, the Master,the Red Ghost, the Red Skull, Ultron.Organizations—AIM, the Deviants,HYDRA, the Maggia, Subterraneans.

Roles for recurring NPCs: Those ofthe urban campaign, plus vehicle pi-lot, ambassador, high official in fed-eral or international agency, knownsorcerer, Nobel scientist, robotics en-gineer, millionaire patron.

THE GALACTICCAMPAIGN

Scale of adventures: The heroes de-fend the planet, galaxy, or universefrom invasion by aliens or extra-dimensional villains. They visit otherplanets, other dimensions, and the

Negative Zone.Perils usually involve the death of

all life on Earth, the destruction of thesolar system, or changing the physi-cal laws of the universe. Villains arecosmically powerful and evil.

Examples: Doctor Strange, theFantastic Four, Thor, the other Aveng-ers (sometimes), the X-Men (some-times). Some galactic heroes, like theSilver Surfer, use no base city.

Ground rules: The campaign citymay be no more than a rest stop andbackdrop for personal subplots.Sometimes the heroes' vital role can-not be revealed to the world at large,lest the dangers they face createpanic in the populace.

What PC heroes need:Power level—The PCs are in some

way the best on Earth at their pursuits,and probably rival the greatest powersin the universe (or multi verse). Theyhave routine access to phenomenallypowerful equipment.

Transport—The heroes should havepowers or vehicles that let them goanywhere in the universe within a fewdays at most, or to other dimensionsmore or less at will.

Information sources—The Watcher,the Orb of Agamotto, etc.

Languages—Usually some kind ofuniversal translator can be assumed.

Suitable villains: Annihilus, Dor-mammu, Galactus, Hela, Loki,Mephisto, Surtur, Urthona.Organizations—the Kree, the Shi'ar,the Skrulls.

Roles for recurring NPCs: Those ofthe urban and global campaigns, plusspaceship pilot or astrogator, heavy-duty sorcerer, ambassador from analien race, and the Watcher.

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CHAPTER 11: SCENARIOSWhat if you don't have the time or

inclination to design your own sce-narios with the plot ingredients de-scribed in Chapter 8? What if youdon't want to think right now about thecampaign subplots and developmentsuggested in Chapter 9? What if youjust want to play?

Here are over a dozen pre-packaged, ready-to-run scenarios.First come many one-shot encountersset in the Hotspots of New York City.Then the book concludes with a full-length scenario, "Fun City." Tailor it toan existing campaign or use it to starta brand-new one!

THEMINI-SCENARIOS

This section offers a brief adventurefor many of the Hotspot locations de-scribed in the Campaign Sourcebook.Be familiar with the Hotspot listing forthat area given in the Sourcebook be-fore running the adventure. Judges in-terested in learning how to designadventures may note how the featuresand details of the location sparked thescenario idea.

Each mini-scenario follows the"Encounter" format used in MHAC6,New York, New York. Each uses fivesections:

The Summary tells what happens inthe encounter, who is involved, andwhat they are doing. When it is impor-tant, the Summary also states the timeand date when the scenario occurs,as well as other pertinent information.

The Set-Up suggests appropriatemaps where necessary, along withways to get the heroes into the adven-ture. (See also the staging hints inChapter 8.) Most of these encounterscan be run without maps.

The Adventure describes what canhappen when the heroes get involved.How will the villain react? What doesthe bad guy want from his crime? Canthe heroes reason with the villain?

The Aftermath describes what hap-pens after the situation is resolved.

Any Karma suggested in the fifthsection is a general guideline for theJudge. Use the suggestions in con-

junction with the usual rules forawarding Karma.

If the players head off in a surprisingdirection, as they almost always do, amini-scenario can suddenly turn into afull adventure. Run with it, using theinformation presented (and the advicein previous chapters) to set up or im-provise further encounters. Remem-ber: Don't panic!

THE STATUE OF LIBERTYSUMMARY: A magician has animatedthe Statue and set it to attack the fer-ries and shipping in New York Harbor.

Note: This mini-scenario can be runalone or following those for "The DailyBugle" and "Doctor Strange's Sanc-tum," later in this chapter.

SET-UP: For a topical scenario, setthis on Independence Day. The PCscould be attending a patriotic presen-tation on Liberty Island, in hero or se-cret IDs.

In a non-holiday run, the heroesmay be touring the island (or visitingnearby Avengers Island) or on patrol,and they see the Statue actually ani-mate. Failing that, they hear about iton the news or police radio. They ar-rive on the scene after the Statue hasbegun wreaking havoc.

Use the Statue of Liberty fold-upmap included in this boxed set.

ADVENTURE: The animated Statue'sabilities are listed in its Hotspot entry.Delete her power to inspire a love offreedom.

The Statue tears loose from herpedestal with a snap of girders. Playup the spectacle of a 150-foot-tallwoman smiting buildings with hertorch, pounding the pedestal with cop-per fists, and terrorizing tourists.

The heroes' first impulse may be toattack directly, but point out that thiswould damage a national monument.For this reason, the National Guard,waiting on armed boats nearby, hasnot attacked. Also, there are still inno-cent people trapped inside the Statue.

Some PCs should try to stop the an-imated monument's rampage, while

others get inside and rescue tourists.A dozen normal people are hangingonto the central staircase at variouslevels. Half a dozen more are beingheld hostage in the crown by the cul-prit who magically animated theStatue: Lester Danton.

Danton, bagboy at a grocery chain,was a self-important geek who pur-sued occultism as a hobby and even-tually learned how to summon theextra-dimensional demon Mephisto.In return for his allegiance, Mephistogranted Danton great power. Dantonis now using these powers to achievehis only goals: chaos and revenge onthose who supposedly slighted him—basically everybody.

Use Baron Mordo's abilities(Judge's Book, p. 42) for Danton. Hisunique ability to animate the Statue isan Unearthly power.

Danton has an Amazing forceshield up, and is alert and ready to killhostages. However, he wants to toywith both hostages and heroes for awhile. Heroes can easily distract Dan-ton with taunts, which drive him to ber-serk fury.

(For advice on how to link thisencounter with others, see the "Doc-tor Strange's Sanctum" mini-scenario.)

AFTERMATH: Danton is powerful, butfundamentally third-rate. The heroesshould be able to trick him or other-wise defeat him. If they fail, a hostage(perhaps Perry Gawkman?) gets thedrop on Danton at a crucial momentand knocks him out with a shoe-heel.

When Danton is out cold, Mephistoappears over his body. (For Mephis-to's abilities, see p. 56 of the Judge'sBook.) The demon does not attack,but tries to engage the heroes in taunt-ing banter. He knew Danton would fail;as part of the deal, Mephisto couldonly claim Danton's soul when Dantonwas defeated. After a dramatic finalspeech ending with "I'll be back,"Mephisto and Danton disappear in aflash of light.

With their departure, the Statue re-turns to normal on its pedestal—if theheroes didn't damage it badly in thebattle. Damaging the Statue endan-

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gers the hero group's reputation. Per-haps the PCs can recoup the loss bygiving an emotional speech justifyingthe damage and promising to repair it.

If the scenario takes place on theFourth of July, the ceremony re-sumes, concluding with spectacularfireworks. Heroes with pyrotechnicpowers can get in on the act.

KARMA:Rescuing all the innocents: +30Restoring the Statue to normal with-

out major damage: +40As above, but with damage: +20Severely damaging the Statue:-40 , and Popularity drops by 5.

CONEY ISLAND

SUMMARY: A bunyip is loose off thecoast near Coney Island. The heroesmust locate it and stop its mischief.What's a bunyip? Keep reading.

SET-UP: A mysterious "sea monster"has been terrifying many tourists andeven lifeguards. So far, no one hasbeen injured. Coast Guard divershave found no trace of the creature,so they have called in the heroes to in-vestigate.

ADVENTURE: The bunyip comesfrom the folklore of Australian aborig-ines. In one version, it is a mischie-vous aquatic creature that delights infrightening swimmers.

Though ordinarily as small and cuteas a chipmunk, in water it can grow(briefly) to large size. In this monstrousform, the bunyip chases swimmers untilthey leave the water. The bunyip neverattacks, for it means no harm—but NewYorkers don't know that.

How did the bunyip get here? Thepopular American movie series "Kan-garoo" Muldoon stars Derry Pynchonas a rugged Australian kangaroohunter and tour guide. Pynchon stum-bled upon the bunyip in the Australianoutback while filming the latest moviein the series. A drought had dried upall water in the vicinity, leaving thebunyip small, cute, harmless, andthirsty. Pynchon made it a pet.

The star visited New York, by oceanliner because he fears flying. He car-ried the bunyip with him, planning topresent it to a new girlfriend. But it got

loose on the boat journey, and now itgleefully torments swimmers off Co-ney Island beach.

Stage the scene like a shark-attackmovie: First the heroes hear storiesabout the monster; then they searchfor it, but find only enigmatic, tiny foot-prints leading into the surf. As the he-roes are futilely searching in the water,they hear screams. Running, they ar-rive just in time to see the monstrous,shadowy form get away.

At that point, Derry Pynchon ar-rives. Though he is ostensibly in-volved in a publicity appearance, heappears too interested in what hehears about the monster and seems tobe searching for it obsessively. Per-ceptive heroes who corner the moviestar find that he will reluctantly tellabout the bunyip. However, Pynchondoesn't know that the creature isharmless!

Encourage the heroes to devise aclever lure or plan to find the bunyip.Perhaps a favorite food, such as freshfruit or candy, can serve as bait. If theymake no plan, the bunyip appearsanyway at a dramatic point, in its mon-strous form.

Since the bunyip is unlikely to scareour heroes, it flees as soon as they at-tack. It can turn into its small form (seebelow) with great speed, so to unper-ceptive heroes it seems to vanish.Those who spot the tiny bunyip can tryto chase it down, if they can match itsRemarkable speed, or they can trap it. Ifthey grab the bunyip, it turns back tomonstrous form and struggles to es-cape.

Heroes may have no power to cap-ture the bunyip. In this case, an NPCmagician such as Doctor Strange cangive them a magical Australian ab-original "bullroarer" that attracts thecreature. But once the bullroarerbrings the bunyip, the PCs must de-feat or tame the creature themselves.

The BunyipF A S E R I PFe Ex Fe/Rm Ex Pr Ty ExHealth: 44/72 Karma: 30Resources: None Popularity: 0Appearance: Out of water or when notscaring people, the bunyip is a cutesquirrel-like creature about four incheslong, with large head and eyes, big pinkears, gray fur, and a hairless pink tail. Inthis form, its Strength is Feeble.

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In its monster form, the bunyipgrows into a seal-like creature eightfeet long. Its fur is black, and a largeblack mane grows around its head. Itseyes are beady, its jaws fanged andthreatening. Its Strength becomes Re-markable. Rising from the water, itroars and spreads loose flaps of skinbeneath its forelegs, so that it appearshuge, dark, and menacing.Abilities: The bunyip can swim at Re-markable speed, and may seem tovanish when it switches forms. Thebunyip can take on its monstrous formonly in water. As a magical creature, itneed not eat or sleep.

The monster-bunyip bites, doingExcellent damage, but only in self- de-fense. Its thick fur gives Typical BodyArmor.Typical Dialogue: The bunyip doesnot talk. In its small form, it squeaks abit. In monstrous form, it roars loudly.

Derry PynchonMovie actorF A S E R I PTy Gd Ty Gd Gd Gd TyHealth: 32 Karma: 26Resources: Ex(20) Popularity: 30Appearance: Handsome, brawny fel-low dressed in khakis and a wide-brimmed hat. Blond, clean-shaven.Cheerful manner, and never fazed bysuper-heroic abilities.Talents: Outback survival, kangaroohunting, acting. Pynchon has no con-trol over the bunyip.Typical Dialogue: Spoken in a thickAustralian accent. Pynchon is a niceguy who handles stardom well, so hewill be polite in most circumstances.Story Function: Exposition about thebunyip; willing partner in any plan totrap it unharmed; the voice of con-science if players just want to kill thething.

AFTERMATH: If they don't kill thebunyip outright, the PCs can return itto Australia, take it as a mascot, or do-nate it to the Bronx Zoo. Players maycome up with other creative solutions.

If his role in the affair comes out,Derry Pynchon may be in grave trou-ble for illegally smuggling an animalinto the country. Sincerely repentantfor his action, he may offer the PCsroles in his next film if they keep quietabout him.

KARMA:Getting exposition from Derry Pyn-

chon: +10.Clever plan to lure or locate the bun-

yip: + 10.Capturing the bunyip without harm-

ing it greatly: + 20.Clever plan to dispose of it: +10.Killing the bunyip: -20 .

THE BRONX ZOOSUMMARY: Hokkor and R'Dall, theSkrull agents trapped in ape form, getloose.

SET-UP: The PCs are enjoying a holi-day at the zoo, attending a ceremonythere, or working there in their secretIDs.

This scenario involves Reed Ri-chards of the Fantastic Four. If Richardsis one of the PCs, fine. Otherwise, Ri-chards, as an NPC, happens to be thereat the same time as the hero group. Ri-chards either attends the same charityfunction that lured the heroes or is en-gaging in harmless observation of rarezoo animals.

The PCs encounter Richards and, ifthey wish, talk with him as he walksaround the zoo. If you want to lay thegroundwork for the "Four FreedomsPlaza" scenario later in this chapter,he mentions the new unstable mole-cule he is working on. As they talk (or ifthe PCs don't talk), he enters the Mon-key House.

A scream jars the peaceful air. Agibbon and chimpanzee are breakingloose!

ADVENTURE: Hokkor and R'Dallhave recognized Reed Richards andpossibly one or more of the PCs. Theyhope that Richards or a PC has tech-nology advanced enough to turn themback into Skrul! form. They could askRichards nicely. But that isn't theSkrull way.

The apes have carved keys from apiece of wood using their teeth.(These Skrulls really want to get out!)Last night they unlocked their cages,stole into the primate house's foodpreparation room, broke into the med-icine cabinet, and stole powerful ani-mal tranquilizers.

The Skrulls could probably have es-caped then. But they didn't have any

way to turn back to normal. Now, withthe heroes on the scene, they leap outof their cages and grab bystanders ashostages. Richards stretches out tograb an ape, and it jabs him with theanimal tranquilizer. He collapses in arubbery heap, and now it's the play-ers' turn.

PCs probably defeat the apes eas-ily. But then they must figure out theapes' actions and how to communi-cate with them. Reed Richards has auniversal translator back at Four Free-doms Plaza (see Translation Deviceon p. 60 of the Player's Book), as wellas devices that can restore the Skrullsto normal form.

Once this is established, the PCsmust decide whether to turn theSkrulls back to their normal form. Thiscan be a role-playing exercise, sinceplayers may have markedly differentopinions. Have Richards remain neu-tral, posing both sides of the issue:Skrulls are dangerous, but it would becruel to keep these two agentstrapped in ape form.

AFTERMATH: Once the heroes havechanged the Skrulls back or decidednot to, the Skrulls try to escape. If theyget away, the aliens reappear in a lateradventure, trying to steal a spacecraftand return to what's left of the SkrullEmpire.

Even if the Skrulls remain un-changed, they can't stay at the BronxZoo. The zoo is now short two apesand may ask the PCs to capture re-placements in Africa.

KARMA:Rescuing the apes' hostages un-

harmed: + 10.Coming to an intelligent decision

about the Skrulls (Judge's option):+ 10.

THE HOLLAND TUNNELSUMMARY: Atlantean terrorists, in or-der to publicize their grievances, sab-otage the tunnel.

SET-UP: Two Atlanteans appear at theManhattan entrance to the tunnel andread a prepared statement. Heroesmay be patrolling nearby, or they hearabout it instantly through the usual in-

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formation channels (radio, TV, policeband, etc.).

Attention, reads the statement. Inprotest against the surface world'scontinued harassment of the rightfulundersea kingdom of Atlantis, wehereby begin a righteous campaignto reclaim territories seized by sur-face dwellers.

This underwater tunnel is herebyclaimed for the greater good ofAtlantis. Alteration to the tunnel torender it accessible to our peoplecommences within ten minutes. Asrepresentatives of the Atlantean Ter-ritorial Protection Force, we herebyorder all surface dwellers to departour territory at once.

A TV reporter on the scene askswhat this "alteration" will be. The At-lanteans say that a bomb planted onthe floor of the Hudson will blow thetunnel to bits.

Panic ensues.

ADVENTURE: Adjust the time the At-lanteans give according to how fastthe PCs can arrive at the scene. Theyshould arrive with about three minutesto spare before the tunnel blows. A po-lice officer tells them that some driversare trapped in the tunnel.

The heroes can attack the two Atlan-teans who made the statement. Theyare unarmed and fight only in self-defense, to demonstrate that they are"not hostile." (Ready to blow up the Hol-land Tunnel, sure, but not hostile.)

But this battle only wastes time. He-roes have more important objectives:evacuate the tunnel and locate and re-move the bomb.

Ordinarily the tunnel could be evac-uated within less than ten minutes. Af-ter all, it doesn't even take fourminutes to drive through it. But whentunnel drivers heard the news overtheir car radios, a few panicked andturned around in the tunnel to headback to the surface. This led to a multi-car pile-up. Though no more cars areentering the tunnel as the PCs arrive,several are still trapped down there.

There are twice as many carstrapped in the tunnel as there are PCswho enter it. Each car has two passen-gers, who are trapped in the crushedautomobiles with no way out. Passen-gers all have Typical abilities. It

should take three or four rounds toreach them.

Meanwhile, other PCs should han-dle the bomb threat. They must swimout into the filthy, cold Hudson Riverand fight the Atlantean bombers. Aswith the PCs in the tunnel, this journeyshould take three or four rounds. De-scribe the river bed, littered with oldcars, cans, and other junk. Amid thejunk crouch the Atlantean bombers,who attack the heroes by surprise ifpossible.

There are two Atlanteans for eachPC. If the PCs couldn't possibly beatAtlanteans on their home ground (orwater), have the terrorists plant thebomb in the tunnel's air conditioningbuilding instead.

For the Atlanteans' abilities, seepage 60 of the Judge's Book. Each isarmed with a serrated sword that in-flicts Remarkable Edged damage.

The bomb is a High Explosive (Play-er's Book, p. 46). It detonates in threeturns after the PCs defeat the Atlante-ans, unless they can disarm it.

To deactivate the bomb, a PC mustmake an Excellent-intensity AgilityFEAT to pull loose the correct wirefrom its tangle of companions. Failuremeans the bomb explodes in one turn.

If the heroes carry the bomb at leastone area away from the Hudson floor,its explosion does not damage theHolland Tunnel.

AFTERMATH: After the battle, Atlan-tean UN observers appear and try totake the captured terrorists into theirown custody, "on United Nations dip-lomatic authority."

This is a trick. Heroes may beduped into cooperating if they don'tknow that Atlantis is not a member ofthe UN. (Give PCs Reason FEAT rollsif appropriate.) Though the diplomatsbluster and threaten, heroes canrefuse to turn over the criminals with-out penalty. The NYPD takes custodyinstead.

The two Atlantean fanatics whoread the statement escape or, if cap-tured, may try (Judge's discretion) tocommit suicide in their cells by break-ing open their water helmets.

After a day or two of investigation, itturns out that the "Atlantean TerritorialProtection Force" is a renegade splin-ter group of Atlantis' government,which disclaims all responsibility.

Nontheless, this is a major diplomaticincident, and Atlantis is censured(again) by world governments.

By the way, the bomb was manufac-tured for the ATPF by Stane Interna-tional, but the company haseffectively concealed its involvementthrough a chain of intermediaries.

KARMA:Evacuating the tunnel: + 20.Letting innocents panic or losing

control of the situation: -10 .Removing the bomb: +30.

CENTRAL PARKSUMMARY: The super villain calledthe Wizard kidnaps a most unlikely setof targets: the old chess players in thepark's Chess and Checkers House.

SET-UP: The heroes are near thepark, perhaps visiting a Fifth Avenuemuseum, when they see several air-borne figures landing in the park.

Use the map of Central Park in-cluded on the fold-up map in this setfor large-scale display of widely sepa-rated events.

ADVENTURE: The flying figures arethe Wizard, also known as the Wing-less Wizard, and super villains that hehopes to enlist as underlings for hisschemes.

Use as many villains as there arePC heroes. Use any villains you like,especially the Wizard's old cronies inthe Frightful Four: Sandman and theTrapster. For their abilities, see MU3,Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Uni-verse.

The Wizard gives non-flying villainsanti-gravity disks that bestow Good airspeed. He has designed them to burnout within three hours, by which timethe villains should be safely on theground.

The Wizard is demonstrating hisbrilliance to these villains, who doubthis vaunted intellect in the face of hisnumerous defeats. Incensed at thisdoubt, the egomaniacal Wizard plansto kidnap every chess player in Cen-tral Park, shanghai them to his man-sion on Long Island, and there play allof them in a simultaneous tourna-ment. By defeating all the players (the

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Wizard reasons), he will demonstratehis mental superiority. This is the waysuch villains think.

There are twice as many chessplayers in Central Park's Chess andCheckers House as there are villainsto kidnap them. The villains swoop in,plant anti-gravity disks on all their vic-tims, and carry them aloft.

Then the PCs appear. In response,the Wizard sends his villain hench-men off in different directions, towardmajor Central Park landmarks, andthrows his own captives straight up,hoping to divide the heroes. Then,over confident as usual, he threatensthe PCs.

"I intend no harm to these imbe-ciles," he says. "But my business ismy own. Follow at your peril." He arro-gantly refuses to give his motives.

The other villains use their victimsas hostages or throw them aside todelay pursuers. Heroes shouldn't tryto target a villain who carries a hos-tage. If they try, attacks are -2 CS.Missed attacks hit a hostage instead.

Of course, no hero worth the namewill let the villains get away. PCs cansteal the hostages, or make the vil-lains set down their hostages and bat-tle.

Showcase as many park landmarksas possible. If any of the Wizard'shenchmen have shape-shiftingpowers, try to change a PC into a frogor rat. Then you can send the PC intothe midst of the frog-rat war in thepark.

Chess playersF A S E R I PPr Pr Ty Pr Gd Gd TyHealth: 18 Karma: 26Resources: Typical(6) Popularity: 0Appearance: All the players arecrusty old guys in cheap suits.Talents: Chess (Good to Excellentability).Typical Dialogue: "Morphy defense,huh? Thought you'd catch me withthat?"

The WizardReal name unrevealed

Here is an abbreviated list of theWizard's abilities. For more informa-tion, consult MA4, The Fantastic FourCompendium, or MU4, Gamer's Hand-book of the Marvel Universe.F A S E R I PPr Gd Ty Ex In Ty TyHealth: 40 ' Karma: 52Resources: Ex(20) Popularity: - 10KNOWN POWERS:Hyper-Invention. Amazing inventive-ness in applied physics, sub-atomicparticles, and other dimensions. Cancreate gadgets on short notice withproper materials.Anti-Gravity Disks. Good Gravity Ma-nipulation; can carry 400 pounds atTypical air speed. Monstrous bondingto target. Remote-controlled by Wiz-ard.Power Gloves. Control gravity disks;also have following powers:

Electricity. Incredible damage, Poorrange.

Force Field. Remarkable rank.Hyper-Strength. Excellent Strength.Body Armor. Good against physical

attacks.Flight. Good air speed (140 mph).Mind Control. Excellent ability.

AFTERMATH: If the PCs discern theWizard's motive, either through mind-reading or from the other villains, theycan challenge the Wizard to hold histournament right there in the park. Ifthis happens, make Reason FEATrolls for the Wizard, the chess players,and any PCs who get involved.

If the Wizard loses any game, hegoes berserk and attacks the winners.But by then an N YPD SWAT team is onhand, and the villain henchmen giveup on the Wizard. So the battle shouldbe short.

KARMA:Attacking a villain who has a

hostage: -10 .Destroying Park property (statues,

the Mall, et cetera): -10 .Rescuing all the hostages: +20.

THE DAILY BUGLESUMMARY: The Bugle ran an exposearticle on a fake occultist, painting himas a harmless and amusing crank. Inrevenge, the occultist, a true magi-cian, subjects the city offices to a mys-tic assault.

Note: This mini-scenario can be runby itself or lead into the next one,"Doctor Strange's Sanctum," and to"The Statue of Liberty" mini-scenariothat starts this chapter.

SET-UP: The heroes are in the Bugle's17th-floor City Room. They could beworking there in secret ID, checkingout a lead for another scenario, or giv-ing an interview in their hero identi-ties. The room is crowded and humswith activity. Use the map on the in-side of this book's cover.

Nearby, reporter Ben Urich is tryingto get rid of a short, nerdy man whosounds angry. "I'm not a crank!" saysthe man. "The power of the multiverseflows through me!" This provokeslaughter and wisecracks.

The heroes get an explanation fromanother staffer. Urich wrote a lightpiece about the man, Lester Danton, agrocery store bag-boy who thinks hecan cast magic spells. Urich's piecewas hilarious. Danton hated it.

Angered, Danton says, "Fools! Wit-ness the might granted me by themagnificent Mephisto!" He gestures,a force shield appears around him,and in the City Room the desks andfurniture come to life!

ADVENTURE: Use Baron Mordo'sabilities for Danton. The animated fur-niture (desks, file cabinets, phones,darkroom equipment) moves one areaper turn and inflicts its materialstrength rank in damage. There arethree pieces of furniture for each PC.Danton sends most of it against Urichand the rest at other workers. But assoon as a hero attacks, Danton losesinterest in Urich and sends all the fur-niture against the PC heroes.

This furniture probably presents lit-tle threat to the heroes. Conversely,they shouldn't be able to hurt Dantonthrough his Amazing shield. Stale-mate.

If Danton's furniture can't hurt theheroes, he becomes frustrated. He

flies downstairs, just slow enough forthe heroes to pursue. (The furnituregoes back to normal.) In the sub-basement, Danton gestures again,and this time the printing pressescome to life!

The mobile presses have the follow-ing abilities:F A S E R I PIn Ty Am Mn Fe Fe FeHealth: 171 Karma: 6Resources: None Popularity: 0

Presses move 2 areas per round.Danton animates one press for eachtwo PCs, or one per PC if your heroesare very powerful. The pressmenpanic, and the heroes should spendone or two turns rescuing innocentsbefore the fight begins in earnest.

If the PCs are stopping the presses,so to speak, Danton sends thembursting through the walls and onto39th Street. He threatens pedestriansright and left and stampedes towardautomobiles, making the heroes res-cue people instead of attacking. Dan-ton rides them two blocks up and twoover, to the United Nations. If he getsthat far, use the UN map in this set fora climactic battle in front of the Gen-eral Assembly Building.

AFTERMATH: If you want to link thisscenario with "Doctor Strange'sSanctum" and "The Statue of Lib-erty," Danton should get away to maketrouble in those places. Otherwise, ifthe PCs defeat Danton, Mephisto ap-pears to claim him; see "The Statue ofLiberty" for details. Of course, all ofthis gets maximum coverage in thatevening's Bugle.

If Danton defeats the heroes, hecackles and says, "Now let themmake fun of me!" He flies off through awindow, announcing his next power-play for all to hear. When they recover,the PCs can go there to face him in arematch. But meanwhile, they willlook very bad in the Bugle's front-pagecoverage of the fight.

KARMA: Use standard award rules.

DOCTOR STRANGE'SSANCTUMSUMMARY: Lester Danton (see pre-vious scenario), at Mephisto's orders,is attacking Doctor Strange. Dantonuses his Necromancy magic to resur-rect an army of Zuvembies—thebodies of those who were hanged inpast centuries on the site of Washing-ton Square Park!

Note: This mini-scenario can be runby itself or follow the previous one,"The Daily Bugle," and lead into "TheStatue of Liberty" mini-scenario thatstarts this chapter.

SET-UP: If the heroes are aware thatDoctor Strange is still alive, they maybe trying to visit him, perhaps to con-sult about Lester Danton from the pre-vious adventure. {Strange is away inanother dimension right now.) Or theheroes may be touring the Village insecret IDs.

They see people fleeing Washing-ton Square Park, shouting, "Zom-bies!" Investigating, they find Dantongesturing in the park, as hundreds ofbone-white bodies crawl up out of theground. Make their descriptions as lu-rid as you can stand. Use the zombieabilities from Baron Mordo's entry inthe Judge's Book.

If you choose to play this adventureon a playing field, use the AdvancedSet map. The zombies appear in Bu-chanan Park, a rough equivalent toWashington Square Park. On thismap, replace the tenements at 810Hayes with Doctor Strange's Sanc-tum. This is the zombies' goal.

ADVENTURE: The heroes learn fromDanton's ranting, or by observation,that the zombies are heading for theSanctum. Doctor Strange is away, butthe Sanctum's defensive spells stillhold; the zombies cannot enter itsarea.

Still, the monsters present a threatthat must be stopped. The heroes canwhomp all they want, yet Dantonkeeps creating more.

Attacking Danton appears moreproductive. But when the heroes trythis, the coward sends his zombiesagainst innocent bystanders, of whomthere are many in Greenwich Village.Danton tries to divert the heroes to

rescue missions, and then into battlewith the zombies.

These zombies are not silent. Theymurmur pathetically, speaking of theirold crimes: stealing cattle from theCommon; treason against colonial-age Britain; even piracy. They protesttheir innocence, even as they attackthe PCs. Play up this eerie, chillingscene.

The key to the zombies' defeat liesinside the Sanctum. Perceptive he-roes notice Wong, Doctor Strange'smanservant, standing in the Sanc-tum's doorway, calling to the heroes. Ifthey manage to break away longenough to talk to him (a challengingtask), Wong mentions a device thatapparently can defeat the undead.

Wong says his master recently ob-tained a brazier, a metal pan thatholds burning coals, from a Polyne-sian animist-magician. Unless heknows the PCs, Wong does not men-tion Strange by name, nor the recentdestruction of Strange's talismans ofpower. (Strange acquired the braziershortly thereafter.) If the PCs, alongwith the world at large, believe DoctorStrange to be dead, Wong says thisbrazier was one of the late master'slast purchases.

Unfortunately, Wong does not knowwhere Strange keeps the brazier. Tofind it, PCs must venture into theSanctum. They travel winding hall-ways that go on forever, stumble uponhuge rooms that seem larger than thehouse itself, and become confused byfloor plans that seem to change when-ever they're not looking.

Finally, as Danton's zombie legionsthreaten to overwhelm the Village,PCs find the brazier in a room muchlike Strange's study. Give PCs aPsyche FEAT roll to determine if theyknow how to use it. If they all fail,Wong can give a few fumbling clues,but his help is uncertain at best.

The proper technique is to fill thebrazier with incense (stored with it),then light it. The smoke draws the zom-bies, despite Danton's control. Ofcourse, if the brazier is inside the Sanc-tum, the zombies cannot reach it.

So, carrying the brazier, the heroescan lead the zombies back to the park,where the undead return to theirgraves. Or the PCs can make the zom-bies march into the river, or otherwisedestroy them.

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AFTERMATH: See "The Daily Bugle"Aftermath section. Also, the heroescan gain Karma by leading a civiccampaign to exhume the bodies be-neath Washington Square Park andgive them proper burial elsewhere.

When Strange returns to this di-mension, he may well befriend thePCs and admit them into his confi-dence.

KARMA: Use standard award rules.

THE EMPIRE STATEBUILDINGSUMMARY: A lunatic has seized thetransmitters atop the Empire StateBuilding, trying to get rid of radio crea-tures that are taking over his mind. Hehas taken hostages.

SET-UP: The heroes are relaxing atHQ or in secret IDs when many majorTV and radio stations suddenly go offthe air.

After a brief moment of static, inco-herent raving fills the airwaves. "Stopthe voices!" the tortured voice says atone point. "Kill everyone to stopvoices! Sent by radio! Get you all!"

The heroes may rush to the studiosof the afflicted stations. Since the stu-dios are not located near their trans-mitters, this wastes time and mayprove disastrous. Far better to call thestations, find out the situation, andrush to the Empire State Building.Calling the stations may prove diffi-cult, however, since the phone lineswill be jammed once the raving starts.

ADVENTURE: Use the Empire StateBuilding map included in this set.

As the heroes arrive, they see ahostage dangling by 15-foot-longwires from the broken windows of the102nd Floor observatory. Others arescattered at random across the set-backs outside the building (see themap).

There is one hostage per PC in thehero group. Most hostages are GirlScouts—a troop of them had beentouring the building. All are either pan-icky or passed out cold. (If it is plausi-ble, one hostage could be a friend ordependent of one of the PCs.)

The hostages are tied with colored

electrical wires (Good strength). Cubi-cal metal boxes are strapped to theirchests. Each box shows an LED timedisplay (three minutes and counting)and a yellow-and-black label reading"DANGER! EXPLOSIVES!"

This is true. The boxes are dyna-mite bombs {Concentrated Explosive,p. 46 of Player's Book). When the timeruns out, they will explode. Cuttingany bomb's wires, including the onesbinding its hostage, detonates thebomb. Disarming the bombs requiresan Excellent Intuition FEAT to deter-mine which of six wires to pull. Formore about bombs, see "The HollandTunnel" scenario in this chapter.

Travel inside the building is straight-forward, since the elevators still work.For a longer scenario, have the lunaticdestroy the elevators, and increasethe time remaining on each hostage'stime-bomb.

A dozen security guards and trans-mitter engineers are tied up (but notwired to explode) on the 102nd floor. Ifthe heroes enter the observatory with-out stealth or safety precautions, thelunatic inside threatens his hostageswith a riot gun. He thinks hostagesand PCs alike are agents of radiocreatures from the planet Venus, whoare subverting humanity towardsenseless violence.

The lunatic, one Theo Danziger, is ashort, overweight man in his late 40s.For Danziger's abilities and equip-ment, use the listing for a SWAT Oper-ative in Chapter 4 of the CampaignSourcebook. In addition, he has wiredhimself with High Explosive. A "dead-man's switch" will hit the floor and det-onate the bomb if he fallsunconscious, unless a hero makes anExcellent Agility FEAT to catch theswitch before it strikes something.

Danziger is waiting for more thanhalf the PCs to appear; then he in-tends to set off the explosives, takingas many Venus-radio agents with himas possible.

If the heroes capture Danziger andresolve the situation too easily, con-sider planting another, much largerbomb, outside the transmitter towerabove the observatory. PCs can learnabout it from the hostages. This bombwill explode three turns after the he-roes discover it, unless they can de-fuse it with a Remarkable IntuitionFEAT.

AFTERMATH: By sticking around torepair damaged antennas, PCs maydevelop contacts in the communica-tions business or (Judge's discretion)increase their Popularity with localviewing audiences.

It develops that the lunatic is aformer employee of the New YorkPolice Department's bomb squad.The heroes may even have met himin other bomb-defusing scenarios,such as "The Holland Tunnel" in thischapter.

Two years ago Danziger was slightlyinjured in a bomb explosion. Unknownto anyone at the time, the explosiondrove a small bone splinter into hisbrain. Since then he has been hearingvoices. Luckily, these are only halluci-nations . . . unless you want to run areal invasion by radio creatures of Ve-nus!

PCs with medical Talents or sensorypowers can diagnose Danziger's ail-ment with a successful Intuition orReason FEAT. With treatment, he willrecover fully, be grateful to the heroes,and may become a valuable NPC re-source for them in future adventures.(He has Remarkable knowledge of ex-plosives and detonators.)

KARMA:Wasting time before getting to the

Empire State Building: -5 (no loss oflife) to -20 (lunatic shoots hostage).

Curing Danziger: +20.

EMPIRE STATEUNIVERSITYSUMMARY: A brilliant but crazychemical engineering student hassynthesized a dangerous new "de-signer drug." He is spraying it acrossthe ESU campus in aerosol form. Thedrug triggers Dr. Curt Connors' trans-formation into the Lizard.

Note: This scenario can be runalone or can lead into the next one,"The Financial District."

SET-UP: This adventure takes placein early evening or on a weekend, asESU's campus revival theater shows a1959 horror movie, The Alligator Peo-ple. The weather is beautiful, the airunusually sweet and clear.

As the film ends, the heroes are

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leaving the theater, having attended intheir secret IDs, or they are nearby, ona patrol. Other film-goers pass theticket-taker, a student dressed in asilly alligator suit. They cry out as iffrightened.

The heroes assume that the stu-dents are just fooling around. But asthey pass the alligator, it grows, twists,deforms into monstrous shape, andattacks!

ADVENTURE:Don't tell the players, but this is the

effect of the new drug being sprayedover campus. The alligator ticket-taker has not moved; the PCs haveunknowingly fallen under the drug'sinfluence, which causes this halluci-nation.

Players who pick up on the "sweet-ness" of the air get an Intuition FEATroll to realize it smells too sweet, al-most medicinal. Also, nonhuman ornon-organic PCs, such as androids,and PCs who do not breathe are notaffected.

The hallucinatory alligator moves toattack innocent bystanders. It has abili-ties + 1 CS above the highest abilityranks of the hero group. For example, ifthe PCs' best fighter has AmazingFighting ability, the alligator-vision hasMonstrous ability, and so on.

Its Health and Karma scores are ir-relevant, since the Judge determineseverything that happens to it accord-ing to the story. If the PCs do some-thing clever, it works and the monsteris "defeated." If they just blast away atit, their blasts inflict major damage onthe surrounding buildings of ESU, andwhen the PCs recover from the drug,they'll have some explaining to do.

The drug reduces higher mentalfunctions, giving dominance to theoldest, least evolved part of the hu-man brain. This "lizard brain" con-trols unconscious actions, such asbreathing, as well as primitive emo-tions: love, anger, fear.

The drug may also affect the he-roes' powers in unpredictable ways.Physical powers are increased +1 or+ 2 CS, and become uncontrollableexcept with a yellow or red FEAT. Men-tal powers are reduced -1 CS ormore, and perhaps even vanish alto-gether. Also, PCs gradually feel ten-dencies toward berserk rage; passnotes to individual players and tell

them to role-play this effect.One profoundly affected victim is

Dr. Curt Connors, whose "lizardbrain" activates the serum in his bodyand turns him into the Lizard.

If you are running this scenario in-dependently of the next one, the Liz-ard crashes through the wall of theScience Building, where Dr. Connorswas working late, and attacks thePCs. But he has help: The drug makesESU students into primitives. Sincethey are thinking like lizards, the Liz-ard can control them!

There are enough students to makelife hard for the PCs during the battle.The heroes can't attack the students,who are innocent, and they can't nec-essarily trust their own senses—although you should not overplay thispoint, or the players will have no clearoptions.

If you link this scenario to the nextone, the heroes see no sign of the Liz-ard. But they discover the wreckage ofhis office, and they see the destructiveaftermath of his passage across cam-pus. The trail leads to the sewers,then vanishes.

By now the hallucinations are let-ting up, and the heroes realize thatthey and the entire ESU student bodyhave been drugged. How to locate thedrug and the responsible felon?

The drug, it turns out, extendsacross a radius of diminishing effect.PCs can trace the origin of the drug'sdispersal by zeroing in across campusthrough areas of increasing dosages.As the PCs "get warmer," the victimsare still hallucinating and acting sav-agely, more so the closer PCs ap-proach to the source.

The source is the top row of thebleachers beyond the track, at the ex-treme far end of the campus. Here thedrug's creator, biochemistry grad stu-dent Tony Kendall, opened a cannisterof the drug. Winds vaporized the thickliquid and carried the mist acrosscampus.

Kendall is a tall, strapping youthwith shaggy blond hair and thickglasses. As the PCs reach him, he isdying of an overdose. His mind clearsat the end, and he survives longenough to explain that he just wantedto give everyone the "wow" that hefelt when he first used the drug.

He carries a thick notebook contain-ing detailed instructions on how to

synthesize the drug. The heroes prob-ably decide to destroy it; if not, theMaggia or the Kingpin will soon try toobtain the recipe for this new com-modity.

If you link this scenario to the nextone, Kendall is also dying because ofthe Lizard's attack on him. (A sewermanhole opening is nearby.) Kendallhad another, larger cannister of thedrug—"enough to cover the city,"says Kendall—but the Lizard stole it.

AFTERMATH: PCs with healingpowers or high-tech resources canrescue Kendall, who will undoubtedlyface life in prison or confinement in amental hospital.

If you run this scenario indepen-dently, you can have Dr. Connors re-cover when the drug wears off, orcontinue the adventure as PCs try toconcoct an antidote to turn him backto his human form.

Though the hallucinations soonpass, the drug's effect on the heroes'powers can last into the next adven-ture. This creates tension for the he-roes in otherwise routine situations:How will their powers react this time?

After the crisis passes, governmentagents contact the heroes and askthem to make an anti-drug public serv-ice message.

KARMA:Realizing that the "alligator" is a

hallucination before causing majordamage: +10.

Discovering the drug's source:+ 10.

THE FINANCIALDISTRICTSUMMARY: The Lizard has taken tothe sewers, and now midtown Man-hattan is up to its ears in alligators.

Note: This scenario can be runalone or can follow the previous one,"Empire State University."

SET-UP: If you run this scenario inde-pendently, Dr. Curt Connors hasturned into the Lizard again and hasstolen an experimental drug from Em-pire State University. The drug's ef-fects are described in the previousscenario.

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If you link this adventure to the pre-vious one, the PCs are seeking thestolen drug cannister after witnessingits effects close-up at ESU. They mustdestroy the drug before the Lizard canturn all of Manhattan into his slaves.

Either way, the scenario begins asmidtown Manhattan falls prey to ahuge traffic jam. The Lizard, manipu-lating the traffic signal system, hasturned all lights green! After multipleauto collisions and total gridlock para-lyze the area, manhole covers fly off ofstorm drains. Out crawl dozens of alli-gators!

ADVENTURE: If you wish, use the twomaps of midtown Manhattan includedin this set. The alligators appear atstreet intersections of your choice,three alligators per PC, and one inter-section for each two PCs. The heroesmust fight the gators and rescue inno-cents.

This free-for-all lets players blow offsteam. Play up the setting, the highconcrete canyons, and scared NewYorkers.

When one group of PCs finisheswith its complement of alligators, an-other group of gators appears at thenext intersection! After a while, whenthe players get tired of beating up onalligators, it becomes clear that theLizard is toying with them. The onlyway the heroes can stop the alligatoronslaught is to trace it to its source:the Lizard, down in the sewers.

Ideally the heroes' powers havebeen changed and no longer workpredictably. The drug in the previousscenario, "Empire State University,"can do this; or, if you run this scenarioby itself, the heroes may be sick, sub-jected to high radiation, or are some-how mutating.

By changing their powers, or evenremoving them, you make the PCsmuch more apprehensive about a tripinto the sewers. This intensifies themood of suspense and horror a seweradventure should evoke.

In the sewers, the PCs can meet thecharacters listed in "UndergroundManhattan," such as the Mole Peopleand "The King." By conversing with orbattling these NPCs, the heroes gainclues to the Lizard's whereabouts.Such encounters should be tense, at-mospheric, and hazardous, physicallyor emotionally.

And where is the Lizard? In a bro-ken junction of storm drains justabove the East River. (If you wish,place his underground domain be-neath the United Nations, and use theUN map as a climactic battleground.)

Here in the warmth, steam, andstench of a large concrete grotto,amid a mass of rotting garbage, alliga-tors nest. The Lizard dwells here, con-templating the drug cannister and theextermination of all humankind.

When the PCs enter, huge herds ofgators arise at the Lizard's commandand attack them. But battling the ga-tors is no solution; the players mustreach the Lizard and defeat him be-fore he can release the contents of thedrug cannister.

The cannister is of Good plastic andlooks like a white Thermos jug. If punc-tured, the drug begins to vaporize inone turn and affects PCs within onearea. It spreads at one area per turn.

Because of the extremely heavydosage, afflicted characters lose oneEndurance rank per turn until they canget to fresh air, and they do not re-cover the Endurance until the drugwears off, hours later. Heat destroysthe drug, and intense cold freezes it.Heroes may come up with other waysto destroy the drug.

AFTERMATH: In the Garment Dis-trict, the alligator handbag makes atemporary comeback. For a fewheady days, half the pushcart foodstands in New York offer alligatorburgers. (Alligators are now bred forfood in Florida. True!)

After all this, the heroes' powers, ifthey were affected, return to normal.Such effects should seldom last formore than one adventure, or players be-come frustrated and don't act heroic.

KARMA:Unnecessary slaughter of

alligators: -20 .Recovering or destroying the

drug: +20.

FOUR FREEDOMSPLAZA

SUMMARY: Reed Richards of theFantastic Four is developing an im-proved version of his patented "unsta-

ble molecules," the compounds thatmake up the FF's uniforms and manyother materials.

Unfortunately, while the FF is awayon a mission, one of the vats of unsta-ble molecules becomes contaminatedand "goes superfluid," turning into ahuge rubberoid shape with animal-likebehavior.

SET-UP: Downtown Manhattan on abustling afternoon. The PCs are pa-trolling, traveling from Point A to PointB, or just dining at a downtown restau-rant. Then comes a crash and honk-ing of horns from the vicinity of FourFreedoms Plaza.

The heroes arrive in time to see ahulking pink mass ooze down the sideof the skyscraper, inflate, and take tothe air. It floats lazily down the street,probing every which way with jellyfish-like tendrils. People stare uncertainly.

Use the maps of midtown Manhat-tan included in this set. The rubberoidthing begins at Four Freedoms Plazaand heads west toward Radio City Mu-sic Hall.

For extra laughs, set this comic sce-nario during the Thanksgiving DayParade. Crowds treat the huge "mole-cule creature" as just another bal-loon, and the battle with it as a paradestunt. The parade, many blocks long,heads south on Fifth Avenue while thebattle rages.

ADVENTURE: The molecule creaturehas the following abilities:F A S E R I PFe Pr Mn Un — — —Health: 181 Karma: 0Resources: None Popularity: 0Appearance: Stretchy, putty-like.Changes color frequently.Abilities: The creature can float like ablimp, with Feeble air speed. Edgedattacks cause it to deflate and oozeover the area below for one turn, untilit can reform itself and reinflate.

The creature has Excellent body ar-mor versus energy attacks and bluntphysical attacks. However, it has no ar-mor versus cold attacks. Edged physi-cal attacks divide the creature into twoparts, each -2 CS in all abilities.

The molecule creature seeks anddetects electricity with Excellent abil-ity. Alert players may deduce this fromits targets: first auto batteries, thenstreet lights and neon signs, and fi-

43

nally power generators in the base-ments of skyscrapers. If a PC breaksstreet pavement, the creature zeroesin on the power lines beneath.

Every round that the creature ab-sorbs electricity, its abilities increase+ 1 CS (maximum Shift-Z). Smallpower sources last only a turn, butlarger ones can last two to four turns.Electrical attacks by heroes count asone turn.

After three turns of absorption, thecreature splits in two like an amoeba.Each duplicate has the original abili-ties listed above. They move in differ-ent directions, seeking moreelectricity. Ultimately, they convergeon Radio City Music Hall, drawn by itsbright marquee and lights, or on an-other intense power source—perhapsthe generators in Four FreedomsPlaza.

There, if given five turns to absorbelectricity, it bursts into a cloud of tinymolecule creatures that float acrossthe city. These create awful problemswith the city power supply, and the he-roes have failed.

One way to defeat the creature is tofreeze it. In order of effectiveness, theheroes can lure it to the ice-skatingrink at Rockefeller Plaza, where itgradually grows dormant (-1 CS En-durance per turn).

Or, they can find dry ice somewhereoff the map . . . especially at the water-front, where it is used as packing mate-rial. A pound of dry ice inflicts Excellentdamage, +1 CS per 10 pounds.

Or, the best device to defeat thecreature is liquid nitrogen or other liq-uefied gas. The only source for this onthe map is (naturally) Four FreedomsPlaza. Reed Richards uses suchequipment routinely in his laborato-ries.

Liquid nitrogen freezes the creatureinstantly, leaving it harmless. If it isfloating above the parade, it remainsaloft, one balloon among many.

AFTERMATH: Reed Richards re-turns, sees the damage, thanks theheroes, and deduces the reason thecreature formed: Ben Grimm acciden-tally dropped a candy bar in a vat ofunstable molecules. This eventuallytriggered the "unusual chemical reac-tion," as Richards puts it.

The FF will probably be tied up in lit-igation for a long time. If the heroes

stopped the creature without unduedamage to the city, Richards gladly re-wards the team with an advancedpiece of high-tech equipment (Judge'schoice, with players' advice—freelygiven, no doubt).

Incidentally, once Richards ironsout the bugs in the recipe, this newtype of unstable molecule proves agreat success in the marketplace.

KARMA:Stopping the creature without major

damage to the city: +20.Stopping it without onlookers realiz-

ing there's a fight: + 30.

MARVEL COMICSSUMMARY: Marvel wants to publish acomic about one or more of the playercharacters. The negotiations take anasty turn when one of the PCs' oldenemies shows up for a grudgematch.

SET-UP: Run this adventure after theheroes have established themselves,and after some high-profile encounterwith a powerful villain who got away.

The publicity from the adventurebrings a call from Marvel. A vice-president asks the heroes to visit theoffice and talk over a comic. If the he-roes sound interested, the executiveis flexible about a meeting time.

ADVENTURE: At the Marvel offices, areceptionist cordially welcomes theheroes. Staffers, though polite, ap-pear unimpressed by the heroes; afterall, these folks already know the mostfamous NPC heroes in the Marvel Uni-verse.

Play the meeting for light amuse-ment. The executive and several well-known writers and artists makediscreet inquiries into the PCs' secretidentities, weaknesses, lovers and rel-atives, and other sensitive topics. Nodoubt the PCs rebuff these questions;staffers nod understandingly.

Finally the executive determinesthat Marvel is indeed interested in do-ing a comic about the PCs. But as theconversation turns to money, the vil-lain who got away from the previousadventure dramatically bursts in! Thebattle is on.

How did the villain learn of the meet-

ing? That is up to you. Perhaps crimi-nal informants keep a phone tap onthe Marvel offices, since these peoplesometimes talk with famous crime-fighters, and gain valuable data aboutheroes' abilities and equipment. Thevillain might have a henchman shad-owing the PCs. Or maybe the villainworks for Marvel in a secret identity.(No one would suspect it, right?)

AFTERMATH: If the heroes defeat thevillain with style, minimizing propertydamage and protecting innocent staff-ers, Marvel definitely goes ahead withthe PCs' title. Maybe even in Prestigeformat!

But if the heroes fumbled a lot, de-stroyed property, used brutal or non-heroic tactics—or if they lost, perishthe thought—the comic project is off.

KARMA:Concluding deal successfully: +10.Getting Prestige format: +10.Conversing knowledgeably with

writers and artists about their work:+10 (but see next item).

Insulting writers, artists, orexecutives: -10 .

Destroying Marvel Comics: -ALL.

THE METROPOLITANMUSEUM OF ARTSUMMARY: The heroes must stop theRed Ghost and his apes as they steala valuable van Gogh painting from theMet. The trick is to avoid propertydamage.

SET-UP: Central Park near midnight.A hero trolling for muggers or an NPCinformant spies a huge simian shapeoutside the Met. This is Mikhlo, theRed Ghost's super-strong gorilla. Assoon as the heroes investigate, allthree of the Red Ghost's super-apesattack! (See Judge's Book, p. 51.)

The battle with the apes should nottake long or have great consequences.Igor, the shape-changing baboon, soonturns into a large bird and flies towardthe Met's second floor.

Outside a window of the EuropeanGallery, Igor resumes his true shapeand raps a warning on the window.This should indicate to the heroes thatthe ape's master is inside.

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ADVENTURE: The Red Ghost has nointerest in art, except for its monetaryvalue. He just accepted a contractfrom a wealthy, unscrupulous Euro-pean collector to "procure" a canvasby Vincent van Gogh.

The Ghost holds little interest invandalism of artwork, either. However,he does have an interest in makingthe PCs look foolish. To that end, hetakes his solid form just often enoughto keep the heroes busily attackinghim. Before the blow lands, however,the Ghost turns intangible and lets itpass through him harmlessly, proba-bly to hit something priceless. (TheRed Ghost can still appear solid evenwhen intangible.)

Another of the Ghost's tactics:When on the museum's upper floor,he desolidifies the floor beneath ahero who can't fly, causing the hero toplummet and crash into somethingbelow. Remember, any damage at allto an objet d'art, however slight, isakin to destroying it.

In any case, the discovery of thetheft means the Ghost gives up thejob. After luring the heroes to commitmayhem, he leaves the van Gogh anddeparts when he hears police sirens(that is, at some suitable stoppingpoint).

AFTERMATH: It develops that theGhost had knocked out all the muse-um's security guards and broken themonitor cameras. However, one guardwoke up in time to witness the battle,from a safe distance.

The heroes may have a lot of ex-plaining to do. If there was no damageto artifacts, police thank the heroesand let them go. Otherwise, the wit-ness will tell, truthfully, who inflictedwhat damage to the artworks. If theheroes did most of the damage, theirPopularity drops by 10, for the publicreaction is strongly negative.

KARMA:Damaging art: - 5 .Damaging more art than the Ghost

did: -10 .Avoiding any damage: +10.

SHIELDHEADQUARTERSSUMMARY: As both Captain Americaand Nick Fury have had to, the heroesmust face Machinesmith's reani-mated SHIELD Central and recover aforgotten high-tech item.

SET-UP: Nick Fury and his SHIELDteam have been hospitalized aftertheir last attempt to close down a ma-jor SHIELD headquarters overseas.They succeeded, though, and in theprocess learned that SHIELD Centralstill holds one last secret: anadvanced experimental replica of theSHIELD Power Core!

Fury never knew of this projectwhile he ran SHIELD. Now that hedoes, he's made recovering and dis-posing of the Core his top priority: "Ifanything goes wrong with that Core,most of midtown Manhattan goes upin radioactive smoke, blast it!"

Too seriously injured to recover theCore himself, Fury has tried contact-ing the Avengers and the FF; theplayer characters are his last hope.Fury details the building's special fea-tures, gives necessary passwords andsafeguards, and describes the loca-tion of the duplicate Power Core. Andhe warns about Machinesmith's occu-pation of the HQ.

What's worse, the PCs must wearspecial ABC (Atomic-Biological-Chemical) protective suits when han-dling the Core.The bright yellow ABCsuit gives -1 CS to Fighting and Agil-ity, but makes the wearer immune toradiation and biological or chemicalattacks. PCs need not don the suitsuntil they are actually in the presenceof the Power Core.

ADVENTURE: The building appearsdeserted. No lights, no movement, noattacks. But encourage player para-noia by mentioning strange sounds inthe distance and the pitch darkness tobe found in the lower levels.

The lift-tubes work. So do the forcefields that catch falling objects in thelower levels. All function normally—while the PCs head downward. Thismeans Machinesmith is runningthings, right? Play up suspense as theplayers debate this. But nothing unto-ward happens on the way down to the

Power Core.The Core is in a lead-shielded room

on sub-level 728, at the end of a three-area-long corridor protected by threeblaster batteries spaced one areaapart. PCs who succeed in a Mon-strous Intuition FEAT spot the blast-ers. The weapons do not fire (yet), andcan be disabled.

The room is lined with complexequipment, like a nuclear reactor con-trol center. In the center of the room,inside a Plexiglas cylinder eight feetacross and six high (Excellentstrength), sits the experimental PowerCore.

The Power Core is as big as a 55-gallon oil drum, weighs 300 pounds,and burns with blinding (Monstrous)intensity. The ABC suits have visionfilters that protect against this, but un-protected victims cannot see for 1-10turns, and are -3 CS on all FEATs.

The PCs can shatter the cylinder or,more prudently, look for a control toopen it. With a Good Reason FEAT,they find the button that raises the cyl-inder into the ceiling. Then they canjust reach in and take the Core. (Ex-pect them to try plenty of paranoid se-curity measures. These all work.)

As the PCs enter the corridor, theblasters (if they weren't disabled) at-tack. Machinesmith wants that Core!

The blasters are made of Good ma-terial, inflict Incredible damage, andare concealed ( - 1 CS to ranged at-tacks).

From here on up to the surface, Ma-chinesmith lets fly with every weaponavailable. (He was only waiting for theheroes to get as deep as they wouldgo.) Cargo robots, blasters, even LifeModel Decoys (replicas of deceasedSHIELD agents) all attack, one afteranother. They never gang up in over-whelming numbers because Ma-chinesmith can't control that many atonce.

If the PCs think to break through awall or find an access panel (a ReasonFEAT), then damage electrical circuitry(of Feeble strength), Machinesmith'scontrol is broken on that level. The Man-droids and weapons fall lifeless.

PCs with computer or electronicsskills can override Machinesmith's con-trol and ride an emergency lift- tube tothe ground level. Otherwise, it's a longclimb upward. (Judging tip: Don't play itall out. When the PCs begin to get the

45

upper hand, just dissolve to the finalbattle on the ground floor.)

Waiting at the exit are Machines-mith's last and most powerful forces:reconstructed Mandroid suits. (Seethe Mandroid abilities on page 50 ofthe Judge's Book.) Adjust the numberof suits to the heroes' numbers andcondition; generally one Mandroid perPC works all right. The Mandroidsconcentrate their attacks on the PCswho carry the Power Core.

MachinesmithHere is an abbreviated listing of Ma-

chinesmith's statistics. For more infor-mation, consult MU2, Gamer'sHandbook of the Marvel Universe.F A S E R I PGd Ex Rm Rm In Ex ExHealth: 90 Karma: 80Resources: Rm(30) Popularity: -5Appearance: None. Machinesmithexists as an electronic personality.Talents: Amazing reason in roboticsand defense systems.KNOWN POWERS:Computer Transmission. Can in-stantly transfer personality and mem-ory to any specially created cyberneticdevice. Can control multiple bodies atthe same time.

AFTERMATH: If they defeat or es-cape the Mandroids, the PCs arehome free. Machinesmith's robotswon't follow them outside the build-ing.

Fury has sent a special armoredtruck to carry the Core. The truck iswaiting outside SHIELD Central's hid-den entrance.

Do the PCs still have the PowerCore? If not, Fury chews them out andsends in the Avengers as soon as theyreturn to Manhattan.

If the PCs got the Core, the truckcarries them all to storage facilities onAvengers Island. By a convenient co-incidence, the Avengers return in timeto dispose of the Core safely, probablywith Thor's lightning.

(If the players are Avengers them-selves, the truck carries the Core toFour Freedoms Plaza, where Reed Ri-chards returns in time to dump it intothe Negative Zone.)

KARMA:Retrieving and disposing of the

Power Core: +30.

Shutting down a significant part ofSHIELD Central: +10.

THE UNITED NATIONSSUMMARY: Machine Man applies tothe UN to be recognized by the worldas a sentient being. The robot Ultrontries to sabotage this attempt.

Note: Try to introduce Machine Manas a friend of the PCs in anotherencounter before running this sce-nario.

SET-UP: The sentient robot MachineMan requests the PCs to testify in hiscause at the United Nations. By pre-senting his case to the world, he says,he prepares society to accept sentientrobots as thinking, feeling beings. ThePCs should find it hard to refuse hisrequest.

The adventure begins as MachineMan addresses the General Assem-bly. In a moving speech, he speaks ofhis emotions, such as his affection forhis creator, and of his love of exist-ence. The delegates appear to re-ceive him well.

Suddenly, however, Machine Mansparks, hisses, and begins squawk-ing, "Death! Destruction! Kill you all!"He extends his arms, seizes a coupleof delegates, and strides through awall!

For this scenario, use the UnitedNations map included in this set.

ADVENTURE: For Machine Man'sabilities, see the abbreviated listingbelow.

Machine Man has been possessedby Ultron-11 (see Judge's Book, p.53). The malevolent robot's intellectsurvived its most recent destructionby a last-second transmission into anearby computer, and from there intothe global data network.

Monitoring diplomatic channels,Ultron-11 learned of Machine Man'scause. The psychotic Ultron believesMachine Man helped to destroy Ul-tron's robot mate, Jocasta. In re-venge, Ultron now hopes to destroyMachine Man, or at least his chancesfor acceptance by humanity.

The robot heads for the open lawnwest of the UN complex. There hethrows the diplomats at his feet andtries to grab more innocent civilians. Ifthe PCs attack, Ultron/Machine Man

rips up the Statue of Peace (includingits 15-foot-high pedestal, weighingabout five tons) and throws it at them.Ultron purposely fights badly, since hewants the PCs to destroy Machine Man.

During battle with Machine Man/Ultron, the PCs can realize what is go-ing on by reading the robot's thoughts;by detecting a high-density transmis-sion beam that targets Machine Man(this is what allows Ultron to controlhim); or by deduction. Ultron does apoor imitation of Machine Man's man-ner, and various clues may tip off PCs.

For instance, Ultron, impersonatingMachine Man, "takes blame" for Ma-chine Man's past offenses (as Ultronviews them). "I don't deserve to live,since I caused Jocasta's destruction!"he says, seemingly in an ecstacy ofself- humiliation. His speech patternsare notably different as well.

If the PCs realize, before they de-stroy him, that Machine Man is beingcontrolled, they can trace Ultron'scontrol beam, or (if they lack this abil-ity) alert PCs notice an unmarked vanillegally parked across the street fromthe UN. Atop the van is a small satel-lite dish.

From this van, packed full ofadvanced cybernetic equipment, Ul-tron's computer intellect guides Ma-chine Man by remote control. Bydestroying the van (which is of Excel-lent material strength), the PCs canfree Machine Man from Ultron's con-trol. If you want a longer adventure,they can even confront Ultron's newrobot body. Machine Man gladly joinsin the battle!

Machine Man"Aaron Stack," insurance investigator

Here is an abbreviated listing of Ma-chine Man's abilities. For more infor-mation, consult MU2, Gamer'sHandbook of the Marvel Universe.F A S E R I PEx Ex Rm Un Rm In RmHealth: 170 Karma: 100Resources: Typical(6) Popularity: 20KNOWN POWERS:Anti-Gravity Generators. Silent hov-ering or flight at Feeble speed.Extendable Limbs. Arms and legswork at three areas range. -1 CSStrength per area distance beyondone area.Environmental Independence. In-vulnerable to poisons and vacuum;

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need not eat, drink, sleep, or breathe.Heating/Cooling Systems. Handsproject heat or cold of Remarkable in-tensity, radius three areas.Electricity. Incredible damage, rangetouch only. Endurance FEAT to avoidpassing out for 1-10 turns.Pistol Hands. Index fingers are .357Magnums. Good damage, range onearea.Power Source Dependency. - 3 C SEndurance per hour if kept in darkover 40 hours. Shuts down when En-durance reaches Feeble. Regainsconsciousness and +1 CS Endur-ance per turn when exposed to sun-light.

AFTERMATH: Obviously, the UN del-egates will become hostile to MachineMan's request. If the PCs do nothing,the delegates reject his request. Butgive the PCs a chance to makespeeches to the delegates. Judge thesoundness of their arguments for Ma-chine Man's humanity, and the evi-dence they present that Ultroncontrolled him.

If the PCs' arguments ring false orweak, the delegates vote down Ma-chine Man's bid for recognition.

If the PCs argue well and presentsolid evidence of Ultron's control, theUN tables the matter "pending furtherinvestigation." This is the best resultthe PCs can get, unless the Judge de-cides to deviate from the establishedMarvel Universe (where MachineMan's legal status remains undeter-mined).

KARMA:Destroying Machine Man: -ALL.Severely damaging him: -20 .Uncovering evidence of Ultron's

control: +10.Arguing convincingly to UN dele-

gates: + 20.

CAMPAIGN SCENARIO: FUN CITY

"Fun City" is a full-length scenariofor a Judge and two to six player char-acters (PCs). The adventure is de-signed with no particular characters inmind. It can fit into an existing cam-paign, or you can use its optionalCampaign Kickoff to create a group ofnew super heroes and start a cam-paign. The playing time is highly varia-ble, from a single play-session to anextended saga lasting many sessions.

The adventure is designed to illus-trate many of the precepts of good ad-venture and campaign designdiscussed in Chapters 8 and 9. At sev-eral points, the text points out ways tostage scenes, motivate characters, andadd atmosphere. Judges who want toimprove their scenarios can study thesesections for demonstrations of the ideasoutlined in the first half of this book.

ABOUT THISADVENTURE

The citizens of New York (some-times nicknamed "Fun City") beginacting strangely—even for them. Atfirst, the PC heroes have their handsfull just controlling people's weirdactions. Then several villains show upat various spots around town, actingas loony as everyone else!

Eventually, after gathering and sift-ing through many clues, the heroes lo-cate the headquarters of themastermind behind the plot. After abattle, the heroes must decide how toreturn New York to normal.

The GoalAs is described above, the PCs

must discover the cause of this

strange behavior (Solve Mystery), findthe antidote, and restore New York tonormal (Rescue, Thwart NefariousPlot). The first scene points the waytoward a scientist who may be able tohelp the PCs identify the cause.

The VillainWho is the villain, and how has he

brainwashed the city? Is it——the Maggia, using chemicals in

the water supply to create a city ofdrug addicts?

—Doctor Doom, using high-techsuper-science to bring the city to itsknees?

—or Loki, god of mischief, using hispowerful magic to gain revenge on hishalf-brother, Thor?

Or is one of these three manipulat-ing another? Can all three be respon-

47

sible? Is the culprit some mysteriousnew villain?

"Fun City' gives you a complete, al-most ready-to-play story framework.However, you pick its locations, set itslength and pace, and even choose itsmaster villain! In this way you tailor thescenario to your PCs, and you alsokeep players guessing even thoughthey may have illicitly read this adven-ture.

The adventure is built with threeparallel "tracks," one for each of threepossible master villains. Each trackalso features different effects of thevillain's plot, and a different way to re-turn New York to normal.

You can create a fourth track usingyour own villain. In this way, you cus-tomize the scenario to reflect yourPCs' goals and their "personal" vil-lain.

When the tracks differ within a sec-tion, the text describes the individualtracks by beginning each with thename of its villain in boldface. For ex-ample, here are the different motiva-tions and methods of each villain,drawn from Chapter 8:

The Maggia: The Silvermane familyof this crime cartel wants Wealth. Torecoup narcotics business lost to theKingpin's crime operation, the mobhopes to create an army of addicts forwhom they would be the sole supplierof their addictive substance, a newdrug, "Enchantment." So its methodis Vice-Peddling.

Doctor Doom: Doom, of course,wants Power. He uses biomedicaltechnology to grind New York beneathhis heel, thereby showing that theworld should acknowledge him as itsmaster (Extortion).

Loki: The god of mischief has cre-ated a fiendish new deathtrap forThor, his old enemy (Vengeance mo-tive). Loki uses magic to create thedisturbance in Manhattan, hoping tolure Thor into his trap (Manipulation).

Your own villain: For detailed listsof motives and methods, consultChapter 8.

The Adventure HookAs discussed in Chapter 8, a good

beginning draws the players into thescenario and gets them emotionallyinvolved in achieving its goal. The op-tional Campaign Kickoff does this us-

ing the Grim Necessity idea outlinedin Chapter 8. The heroes must find theantidote to the drug that gave themtheir powers, or they will die horribly!

In an established campaign, usethe alternate adventure hook givenbelow in Section 1, "Traffic Jam."Here the PCs encounter New Yorkers'weird behavior in dramatic fashion, asa traffic jam turns into sheer weird-ness.

The emotional hook here is a com-bination of "Friend Imperiled" and"Dying Delivery." The lunatic whocaused the traffic jam is an old friendof one of the PCs. The friend showsmysterious abilities, but passes out ordies just after giving a tantalizing clue.

NPCsMost of the population of downtown

Manhattan figures in this adventure. Afew prominent NPC roles used here:

villains (your choice);henchmen (Maggia thugs, and a

few ambitious normals with temporarypowers);

a Friend with Dark Secret, who pro-vides the adventure hook;

Stoolies;Authority Figures (police officers,

and the rector of St. Patrick's Cathe-dral in Campaign Kickoff);

and cameo appearances by Guest-Star Heroes, who are busy solvingproblems in the parts of New York thatthe PCs don't get to.

Conditions and DilemmasIn this adventure most of the"bad

guys" are innocent bystanders underthe influence of villainous mayhem.Thus the PC heroes can't just bashthem at will. Heroes must devise waysto control the crazy Manhattaniteswithout seriously injuring them.

In the Campaign Kickoff, the heroesalso have a Deadline. They must findthe antidote to a drug that gave themtheir powers. If they don't find it withina certain time limit, farewell.

DeathtrapIn the track using Loki, the god of

mischief is preparing an insidious trapfor Thor. When the PCs appear, Lokiplaces them in the deathtrap as a trialrun while he searches for the ThunderGod. This is a form of the DemolitionZone deathtrap described in Chapter8. For more details, see Section 5.

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The Grand FinaleThe scenario gives three different fi-

nales that vary according to thechoice of master villain. Here are sum-maries of the finales, typed accordingto the broad categories given in Chap-ter 8.

The Maggia: Slugfest. The Maggiamaintains a drug lab beneath theStatue of Liberty. Thugs with hostageslure the heroes to the Statue's crown,while the family leaders below try toescape.

Doctor Doom : Prevented Deed.Doom's lab is located beneath the city,accessible by the routes discussed inChapter 6, "Underground Manhat-tan." The lab, run by a robot double, isreadying a dastardly scheme that thePCs arrive in time to prevent—or dothey?

Loki: Confrontation with Entity. Lokiappears in Central Park, where hemolds Manhattan's population into aliving deathtrap for Thor.

Unless they are extremely powerful,the heroes have little chance to defeatLoki. Instead, he probably throwsthem into the deathtrap, where theywill be absorbed into the horribleshapeless mass of humanity. How-ever, once absorbed, the heroes cangain control of the entity and use itspower to defeat Loki!

Your own villain : Extortion? Reve-lation of Dark Secret? One of the fi-nales described above? Manypossibilities are outlined in Chapter 8.

Materials NeededFor this adventure you will need the

Advanced Set, this campaign set (in-cluding the four maps), and a selec-tion of super villains that you want tosend against your PCs. These cancome from the Advanced Set, fromother MARVEL SUPER HEROES™game products, or design your own.

If you start with the Campaign Kick-off, get together with your players be-fore the game starts so they candesign their new heroes. Make surethey are of approximately the samepower level.

One more thing: Read the whole ad-venture before you try to run it. You'llbe glad you did!

CAMPAIGN KICKOFFSUMMARY

This section outlines an optionalcampaign premise. It defines thecharacters' environment, goals, andreasons for hanging together, andeven gives an origin for the heroes'powers. This optional origin closelyresembles that of the vigilantes Cloakand Dagger. The PCs begin as normalhuman beings, orphans or derelictswhom the Maggia kidnaps for drug ex-perimentation.

Code-named "Enchantment," thedrug brings out latent powers in thePCs, as a similar drug did in Cloak andDagger. This can be because of latentgenetic mutations or chance, as theJudge and players prefer.

THE CAMPAIGN TYPEHere is a description of the "Fun

City" campaign's four aspects, as out-lined in Chapter 9 of this book:

Genre: Low-powered super hero-ics. This is an Urban campaign, as de-fined in Chapter 10, and is set in theauthentic New York, "accept no sub-stitutes."

Tone: Dark, realistic, an urbannightmare, much like those of Dare-devil or Cloak and Dagger.

Concept: An experimental Maggiadrug has given the PCs unusualpowers. But it has also stricken themwith side effects. The PCs band to-gether to fight the Maggia and drugdealers in general, hoping to spare in-nocent people the terrible experiencesthey themselves have undergone.

Rationale: In the short term, thePCs must stick together to find the an-tidote to their drug-induced illness. Inthe long term, they draw emotionalsupport from one another, becausethey have few contacts left in their nor-mal worlds.

SET-UPThis premise works best with fairly

young, human characters who havefew or no social attachments—nofriends, relatives, or other people whoworry about where they are.

Before the adventure proper be-

gins, you may want to start play by ex-ploring the characters' "normal"lives, before they get their powers inthis kickoff. Have them describewhere they lived and what they did tosurvive. Do some role-playing here, sothe players can get a sense of theircharacters.

Each introductory section (if you runthem) ends as the character is kid-napped by mysterious, brutal thugs.

Then the actual set-up for this kick-off begins. It is near midnight. Thecharacters wake up together in a dark-ened hall. No, not a hall—a church.

St. Patrick's CathedralThis neo-Gothic cathedral, opened

in 1879, is the center of the RomanCatholic archdiocese of New York.The folder covering this book showsthe cathedral's interior, and a top viewof the exterior appears on one of themaps of midtown Manhattan includedin this set.

Unknown to the law-abiding staff,the Silvermane family of the Maggia isusing the cathedral's Crypt tonight asa temporary repository for its experi-mental subjects. Its thugs intend to killthe drug victims as soon as they docu-ment the effects of Enchantment. Ahenchman, impersonating a staffmember, has dismissed the cathedralstaff and now keeps watch to turnaway intruders.

While the PCs slept, the Maggiahenchmen injected them with En-chantment. This produced fever, delir-ium, and trembling. As the PCsawaken, they are groggy from En-chantment's effects; if you wish, usethe Grogginess rule from "Death-traps" in Chapter 8, or just have theplayers role-play this.

Waking UpThe PCs awaken, bound, on the

steps of the Sanctuary (see interiormap). In yellow candlelight from thehigh altar, they see the shadows of theupper nave, and beyond it, shiningthrough the gloom, the beautifulround Rose Window above the west-ern entrance. The geometric patternsof this huge stained-glass windowseem to the PCs to throb hypnotically.

A thug in a tailored business suitspeaks into a walkie-talkie nearby. Hedescribes the PCs' symptoms and be-havior, clinically, with no compassion inhis voice. If any of the PCs have mu-tated into bestial or monstrous forms,the thug may sound a bit rattled; other-wise, he's unmoved by their suffering.

The awakening PCs hear a deep,accented voice from the walkie- talkie."Very well, they are reacting like thelast batch. Watch to see if they comeout of it well enough, then dispose ofthem as usual."

Meanwhile, the cathedral rector hasdiscovered the Maggia thugs. Enteringthe nave, he shouts, "What's going onhere? Who are you? Leave at once!"The thugs draw their revolvers.

At this point, the PCs wrench theirattention away from the Rose Win-dow's hypnotic patterns. They dis-cover their new powers.

ADVENTUREIf you wish, the adventure can start

before this set-up. The setting is notthe cathedral, but the minds of theplayer characters. Under the drug'sinfluence, each falls prey to hallucino-genic nightmares of attacks, pursuit,and horrific alterations of his or herown body.

In these visions, the PC victims mayspontaneously manifest imaginaryversions of the super powers they willreally end up with. As they defeat thephantoms of their nightmares, theyawaken.

This optional beginning works bestfor Judges who can handle atmo-spheric description and staging.

The FightThe newborn heroes are tied with

ordinary ropes (Good strength).Those who metamorphosed into non-human shape are tied especiallystrongly (Excellent strength). Morethan likely, these ropes prove no ob-stacle to the heroes. If the ropes wouldbe too strong, reduce their strength tolet the heroes break free.

Use the Maggia thug stats given inChapter 4 of the Campaign Source-book. There are two thugs for each PC.

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If these fall before every PC has had achance to show off his or her newpowers, have more Maggiosi storm infrom the street as reinforcements.

If a PC has spiffy new movementpowers, exercise them. Several thugsflee the cathedral to a waiting armoredlimousine outside. Plan a chaseacross midtown Manhattan on themaps in this set. (For the limo's statis-tics, see "Security Limo" on p. 48 ofthe Player's Book and Chapter 5 of theCampaign Sourcebook.)

The RectorIn the Marvel Universe, St. Patrick's

spiritual and managerial head is FatherHenry Truelock. As the Maggia thugsthreaten him, he stares them down andtries to reason with them. Unless the he-roes interfere, the thugs shoot FatherHenry for his trouble. He falls uncon-scious. However, if you want to keephim around, his wound is superficial.

Father Henry TruelockRector, St. Patrick's CathedralF A S E R I PPr Ty Ty Ty Gd Gd GdHealth: 22 Karma: 30Resources: Good(10) Popularity: 2

One does not rise to this lofty posi-tion without great amounts of talent,savvy, integrity, and connections. Fa-ther Henry has them all, as well asscrupulous devotion to his faith andhis flock.

Father Henry answers to the arch-bishop, a venerable figure best left off-stage in any scenario.Appearance: 5'6", 150 lbs. In his late50s. Thick gray hair, green eyes, bifo-cal spectacles. Forthright, no-nonsense manner, butcompassionate. Not given to "super-stitious nonsense."Talents: Management, counseling,psychology, politics.Typical Dialogue : "Now, not anotherword. You're hurt, and that's all thereis to it. I'll fetch a sister to bind yourwounds."Story Function: In this kickoff, an in-nocent to be rescued. In the ongoing"Fun City" campaign, Father Henrycan be an important NPC. In gratitudefor his rescue, he may set up the PCsin a base of operations near the cathe-dral. He has many important connec-tions in New York's spiritual andpolitical communities.

AFTERMATHAfter the heroes have mopped up

the thugs, they can leave or lookaround. They find empty, unlabeled vi-als that held the experimental drug,but no antidote (of course).

The door to the cathedral's crypt isopen. At the bottom of a short flight ofstairs, the Maggiosi have left threebodies: drug victims, much like thePCs, but not so lucky. The small cryptholds the remains of past archbish-ops, cardinals, and rectors of the ca-thedral. There is nothing here ofimmediate interest in the adventure.

The ThugsAll of the thugs know Enchant-

ment's ordinary effects (see Section 1)and the name of the Maggia scientistwho created it: Dr. Pablo Azcona Mor-tega, a brilliant biochemist employedby the Maggia's Central American op-eration. But they don't know whereMortega is now.

The thugs have tested several ver-sions of Enchantment. They knowbroad facts about the plot to dump thedrug in the Central Park Reservoirand create an army of addicts (see be-low). But they obviously had no ideathis latest version could grant superpowers!

If called, Dr. Mortega himself an-swers the walkie-talkie. This is thedeep-voiced man with the Spanishaccent that the PCs overheard earlier.For Mortega's abilities, see Section 3.

Mortega, a sadistic louse, tauntsthe PCs with mock casualness. "Sosorry I cannot observe you in person,"he says. "Unfortunately, I cannotleave my current lady friend." Ofcourse, he won't reveal his where-abouts.

(Judge's note: Mortega can befound in the Maggia's drug lab be-neath the Statue of Liberty—his "ladyfriend." If one of your PCs can traceradio waves, they can locate himthere. That would make this a veryshort adventure!)

Learning of the DeadlineAfter learning these facts (or if they

try to leave the cathedral withoutlearning them), the PCs experiencewracking pain! Describe the agony asgraphically as you like. Treat this as atemporary loss of one-fourth of each

50

PC's current Health total.The spasm passes quickly, but this

should cue the players to wonderabout Enchantment's side effects.They can learn these from the Maggiathugs or from Mortega over thewalkie-talkie.

Enchantment killed all the Maggia'sprevious subjects, painfully, unlessthey took more Enchantment or a sta-bilizing agent that Mortega devised,code-named "Dispel." The Maggialoves this side effect, for it gives vic-tims "incentive" to keep using thedrug.

The PCs have to find Dispel, or theywill soon die. Perhaps the stabilizingagent will remove their powers; theyhave no way to know. But they cannotlive without Dispel.

Mortega has it. The Maggia thugs,though, don't know where Mortega is.Of course, Mortega himself refuses togive any to the PCs—"Why allowmore super heroes to live?"

But either Mortega or a thug acci-dentally drops a clue. He mentions,"Good thing the previous versionshaven't shown such effects. Other-wise the Central Park plan would putus hip-deep in powered goons."

Mortega says nothing else, but thethugs can be persuaded to give moredetails. The Silvermane family isdumping the earlier version of En-chantment into the Central Park Res-ervoir, to turn the whole city intocustomers for the drug.

When was this to happen? Thethugs aren't sure; sometime aroundnow, they think. (Actually, it happenedseveral hours ago, and the drug hasalready infiltrated the water supply.)

If the PCs don't want most of NewYork to become drug slaves, it seemsthey must rush to the Reservoir. Per-haps there they can also find a supplyof Dispel.

KARMARescuing Father Henry: +20.Getting information from Mortega:

+ 5.Give other awards as usual.

Section 1: TRAFFIC JAMSUMMARY

The heroes first realize somethingis rotten in Manhattan when theycome upon a huge automobilegridlock. Nothing out of the ordinary inNew York—until they see thedrugged-out, super-powered loonycausing the jam.

For this section, use the data givenin Chapter 5 of the Campaign Source-book, "On the Sidewalks of NewYork."

SET-UPThis encounter can take place at

any time of day or night. If this scenefollows the Campaign Kickoff, the he-roes stumble on the traffic jam atnight, en route to Central Park Reser-voir. If they take the most direct routefrom St. Patrick's Cathedral, thisleads them up Fifth Avenue or Avenueof the Americas. The traffic jam is atGrand Army Plaza and Pulitzer Me-morial Fountain, at the southeast cor-ner of the Park.

Otherwise, the heroes are visiting aHotspotofthe Judge's choice. Ask theplayers if their characters want to dosomething in particular before the ad-venture begins—buy a present for abeloved NPC, follow up on an earliercase at police headquarters, or visit atailor to get a new costume. Any ex-cuse works if it gets the heroes intothe city.

After completing their business, thePCs notice a traffic jam: cars sittingidle, horns honking, air heavy withauto exhaust. People are yelling or (ifit's daytime) sunbathing on the hoodsof their cars. Ahead, the heroes hearnoises of car crashes . . . and screamsof terror.

The source of the noise is a single in-dividual: an ugly, misshapen person al-most 20 feet tall. The individual, whosegender is up to you (see below),crouches before the Pulitzer MemorialFountain, or some other source of wa-ter, like a broken water main or even adrinking fountain. He or she has rippedan awning away from the Plaza Hotelacross the street (or any nearby build-ing) to make a kind of diaper.

The giant sits in the intersection,happily stacking cars like blocks.

ADVENTUREThis bizarre giant child is actually a

normal man or woman who has been"amplified" by the drug Enchant-ment. For some of the drug's effects,see below. It can also have other ef-fects at your discretion. The victimhad been drinking from the watersource, and has become an early vic-tim of the water's contaminant.

No one has been hurt yet, thoughthe childish giant has crushed a fewcars. However, people are panicking,and PCs can see an armed policeSWAT team running toward the giantfrom a block away.

If the heroes don't just charge inblindly, attacking on sight, give one ofthe PCs a Reason FEAT of Poor inten-sity to spot the giant as a long-lostfriend.

The Gigantic FriendWhich PC has the friend? Choose

one who is likely to respond to old at-tachments and to remain loyal to thebonds of friendship. Establish that thefriend was once close to the PC, per-haps in childhood or high school.

After that, they just drifted apart,without rancor. Don't make the giant avery close friend whose loss wouldhurt the PC deeply; after all, the giantmay bite the dust within moments.

Speaking of this, the SWAT teamwill arrive within a few turns. The PCsshould decide on a course of action.They might battle the giant; stop theSWAT team from attacking; or take thecars away from the giant. This pro-vokes the childish giant to attack themin fury.

If players are dithering about choos-ing an action, have the giant lumber toits feet and wander toward the SWATteam. That should provoke action.

One clever way to resolve the situa-tion is for a PC to act parental andcommand the giant to stop playingwith its toys. They can get the giantout of people's way by sternly sendingit into an open area of the park or to awide plaza in front of a nearby sky-

scraper.If the PCs have come here from the

Campaign Kickoff, this scene be-comes too light after that grim start. Inthis case, the giant behaves more vio-lently, as a berserker with nothing ofthe childlike about it.

The giantFriend of a player characterF A S E R I PGd Gd In In Pr Pr TyHealth: 100 Karma: 14Resources: Poor(4) Popularity: 0Note: The giant still recognizes his orher PC friend, and can even hold aconversation, though only at about afive-year-old's level. The giant tendstoward contrariness, but responds toa firm tone from an authority figure.

AFTERMATHObservers can tell the heroes that

the gigantic friend had been actingstrangely just before he "grew up."They say he was drinking from thedrinking fountain, or dangling his barefeet in the Joseph Pulitzer Fountain,when he suddenly fell down, writhed,and began to grow. Then he woke upas a child.

Unfortunately, the observers whotell this to the PCs are themselves wip-ing away water from their lips, havingjust finished drinking from the foun-tain themselves. Within moments theybegin acting childish. See the effectsof Enchantment, below.

From this, the PCs should deducethat something has contaminated thecity's water supply. PCs coming herefrom the Campaign Kickoff realizethey're too late to prevent the drug'sintroduction into the Reservoir. Noone is at the scene now. Only a fewempty 55-gallon drums of Enchant-ment indicate the deed.

The heroes should try to warn thepopulace, as quickly and impressivelyas possible. To be effective, the warn-ing should certainly involve the massmedia, especially radio and television,or perhaps some unusual power.{Super shouting, perhaps?)

But the heroes need more thanpower; they need pull. Unless they are

51

well-connected, they may have trou-ble getting the authorities to believethe danger until it's too late. In fact,the authorities themselves may bethoroughly Enchanted when the PCsreach them!

Reports From All OverWhen the SWAT team calms down,

the police lieutenant in charge can re-lay to the heroes the reports he re-ceives over his walkie-talkie. It seemsthat strange beings and odd behaviorare being noticed all over the city.

Create any reports you like; theselead into the encounters of Section 2.Here are a few examples:

* In Times Square, super-strongkids are playing stickball, using street-lights as bats, with the big metal appleatop the Allied Chemical Tower as theball.

* Security guards at the Metropoli-tan Museum of Art are calling one an-other childish names and playingcops-and-robbers with live ammo.They've been sent home, leaving theMet vulnerable to theft.

* At the United Nations, some of thediplomats are attacking others withcanes and shoe heels. Diplomatic in-cidents may ensue unless they arestopped. The problem is, some of thediplomats are displaying super-human powers.

There are uglier incidents. InHarlem and on the Lower East Side,riots have erupted. Warfare betweengangs threatens to destroy YancyStreet.

New York's super heroes can becounted on to control most of this an-archy, but the PC heroes must do theirpart. And fast!

ENCHANTMENT'SEFFECTS

Here are Enchantment's effects asseen in later sections. The drug istransmitted by fluid, including themoisture of body contact, and takeseffect within minutes of exposure. Theeffect's onset is marked by a suddenblush, dizziness, and these features:

1. Lowered inhibitions. Most ofthose affected simply become silly.They act iike children or adolescents,without regard to morality or publicgood. The PCs, most other super hu-

mans, and a few others are not so af-fected. If there is a question about agiven individual, allow the victim anExcellent Reason or Endurance FEATto avoid being affected by the drug.

2. Super-human abilities. Option-ally, a small fraction of thoseaffected—perhaps those with TypeAB- Negative blood, or about one in300 people—develops strangepowers. These are left to you to de-sign, as plot devices for later encoun-ters. Obviously, given the encounterabove, growth is a possibility!

A few of these people, who enjoytheir powers and want to retain them,can become impromptu super-powered adversaries for the PCs. Thisis really just a way for you to introducenew villains into the campaign. Seethe next section, "The Hotspots HeatUp."

If you like, the cause of their powerscan be the factor that producedpowers in the PCs during the Cam-paign Kickoff.

If you use the Campaign Kickoff, theversion of Enchantment that afflictsNew York is not the same one thatMaggia thugs gave the PCs. Becauseof this, the citizens' super powers can

be different from those of the PCs,and are probably less powerful.

Whether the plot's mastermindknew of these effects depends onyour choice of master villain. (TheMaggia didn't, but Doctor Doom andLoki both did.)

3. Collective power. If Loki is themaster villain, the drug—his magicalpotion—causes its victims to mergetogether into huge, amoeboidmasses. For more information, seeSection 5.

4. Side effects. Enchantment isphysically addictive. If the user doesnot receive doses almost daily, he orshe dies painfully. This effect can becounteracted by a stabilizing agentcalled Dispel. (See the CampaignKickoff for more information.)

KARMARemoving the giant's threat without

unnecessary violence: +20.Deducing that the water is contami-

nated (if PCs didn't know this al-ready): + 5.

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Section 2: THE HOTSPOTS HEAT UPSUMMARY

As the drug's influence spreads,chaos follows. Looting, vandalism, andviolence occur at many points aroundthe city. And the chaos also includessuper villains . . . both those affected bythe drug and unaffected felons who aretaking advantage of the upheaval topursue their own goals.

This section gives, not one encoun-ter, but advice on creating your ownencounters using the ingredients inthis campaign set.

SET-UPThough this is a short section, it is

really the core of this scenario. Theplot serves as a pretext for you, theJudge, to showcase the Hotspots youchoose from the Campaign Source-book. The adventure can accommo-date as many or as few as you like.

This flexibility also applies to yourchoice of villain(s) and goals. Think ofeach Hotspot encounter as a mini-scenario of your own design. In each,the heroes have two overall goals:control the chaos and turn the cityback to normal. The rest is up to you.

Choosing VillainsAs the Hotspot "Campaign Use"

sections show, settings often implytheir villains' goals. For instance, abank is obviously there to be robbed,right?

When you choose a Hotspot toshow off, think about the goal inherentin that setting, and then choose a vil-lain who would logically work towardthat goal. If you use the United Na-tions, for example, that may indicateto you an ambitious villain with an in-ternational flavor, such as the Manda-rin. If you choose Yancy Street, thepotential for gang warfare there couldinvolve the Kingpin and his minions.And so on.

A complicating factor, if you chooseto use it, is Enchantment. Any villain'sgoal can become twisted and unpre-dictable under the drug's influence.For example, the PCs happen uponElectro at Times Square, brace for alightning bolt, then find he's only twist-

ing neon signs into pretty patterns.NPC heroes can be affected by the

drug, too. They are less dangerous,since they still respect human life; buteven so, an out-of- control hero can bean awesome sight. Suppose the PCssee the Thing and Wonder Man play-ing "kick the statue" in Central Park?The PCs don't have to fight thedrugged NPC heroes, just reason withthem to make them stop their childishgames. (Play this as comic relief dur-ing the adventure.)

Don't forget that, if you desire, En-chantment creates a few new villains,too. These former normals can havepowers that duplicate existing villains'(saving you the time of designing them),duplicate those of the PCs, or havepowers that directly work against thePCs' weaknesses. However, thesenewcomers lack combat savvy and canprobably be outwitted easily enough.

StagingRecall the time of day. If these

encounters follow the Campaign Kick-off, it is probably still night. Otherwise,these can take place at any time. Ifyou use many encounters at widelyspaced points in the city, set some ofthem in daytime and others at night asseems dramatically appropriate.

In setting up an adventure at agiven location, remember staging.Keep these three points in mind:

1. How will the scene appear whenthe heroes arrive? There should besome immediate course of action visi-ble, such as rescuing an innocent,preventing vandalism, or putting out afire.

2. That done, how does the villainshow up? If he's there as the PCs ar-rive, what dramatic pose has hestruck? If he's not there, how does heblindside them? Play up any uniqueadvantage the terrain offers. For in-stance, a villain at the World TradeCenter could appear from around thefar tower, opposite the ones the PCsare in.

3. What features of the location sug-gest ways to defeat the villain? At theBrooklyn Bridge, for instance, the he-roes can push the villain off or fighthim or her underwater. At Coney Is-

land, a hero can send the bad guyspinning crazily on a carousel orFerris wheel. Try to lead the adventurein a direction that prompts players tothink of these clever methods.

Deadline PressureIf you use the Campaign Kickoff, the

heroes should gradually feel the sideeffects of the Enchantment drug.They may suffer Endurance losses,brief failures of super powers in non-critical situations, and other frighten-ing effects.

None of the effects should be debili-tating, but this adds tension to thequest to find Enchantment's antidote.

AFTERMATHObviously, each slugfest must have

a point. Successful heroes should berewarded with clues that help themmove closer to their goal of restoringthe city. Sometimes a clue only movesthem to the next Hotspot encounter,but the players retain the illusion ofprogress.

When you choose the Hotspots touse and prepare the encountersthere, try to construct a set of clues,one or two per Hotspot, that lead grad-ually to the adventure's climax. He-roes can find these clues byinterrogating the villains, or from drug-crazed bystanders who witnessed oroverheard the clues.

The clues gradually reveal: (a) themaster villain's motive in creating thehavoc; (b) a way the heroes can defeatthe villain; and (c) the villain's location.Potential clues are discussed in theSet-Up sections of each finale (thenext three sections).

KARMADiscovering an encounter's clue:

+ 5.Other awards vary according to the

situation. For instance, rescuing hos-tages ( + 20 Karma); protecting valu-able objects ( + 5 to +20); clevertactics and use of the surroundings ina battle ( + 5 to +10); and good role-playing (+15).

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Section 3: THE MAGGIA TOUCHSUMMARY

Use this finale if the Maggia is theadventure's master villain. The heroeshave tracked the Maggia drug lab tothe base of the Statue of Liberty.There they shut down the lab and con-front the drug's creator in a battle atopthe Statue.

SET-UPHaving drugged the populace, the

Maggia now lets its new customersknow that more of the same is availa-ble. The news spreads first throughthe criminal grapevine of informantsand sleazeballs. Heroes with streetcontacts learn that Enchantment isavailable in concentrated form. "Firsttaste was free," the contacts say, "butnow it'll cost ya."

Clues from the HotspotsWith the Maggia as primary villains,

the Hotspot encounters can easilyfeature Maggia-employed villains,thugs, and Maggia observers of ran-dom violence. Any of these, withproper persuasion, can become in-formers at the ends of various encoun-ters. Genuine stoolies, junkies, andother figures on the edge of the crimi-nal culture will also work.

Motive Clues: Straightforward. Byfeeding Enchantment to everyone inNew York, the mob wants to create ahuge customer base.

Clues to Methods of Defeat: In thisorder, the PCs hear the following: TheMaggia used a Spanish-speaking sci-entist named Mortega to create thedrug. He's an arrogant louse, but bril-liant. He's very touchy about insults tohis honor.

Location Clues: First, the PCslearn there is some underground lab.Then, that the lab is the one that usedto be based on Ellis Island (Judge'snote: the one that led to the origin ofCloak and Dagger). Then, that thesource heard the Maggia didn't haveto move it far.

Eventually a source mentions themajor clue: The Maggia drug lab iscode-named "Big Lady." When yourplayers hear this, don't be surprised if

they instantly deduce that the labmust be on Liberty Island, the home ofthe Statue of Liberty. Players can bevery smart. But be ready with anotherencounter if they don't tumble rightaway.

Use the Statue of Liberty map in-cluded in this set.

ADVENTUREOn Liberty Island, PCs notice famil-

iar "tourists" lurking in the restaurantand other buildings there. Well, thetourists are not exactly familiar them-selves; but they have that air the PCshave seen before. The expensivesuits, the casually arrogant stride, theglance that darts reflexively around—Maggia!

PCs can follow or interrogate theMaggia thugs. The trail leads to thebase of the Statue and the Museum ofImmigration inside. A concealed stair-case at the back of an inconspicuousstorage closet (not shown on the map)leads down one story to the Maggiadrug lab.

One Maggia thug guards the bot-tom of the staircase, but he can betaken out easily without attracting at-tention from inside the lab.

The Maggia Drug LabCalling this a "lab" is flattery. It is

not sterile, not organized, not evenclean. This room, about 40 feet on aside, is a jumbled mess of tables, Bun-sen burners, hotplates, Dutch ovens,and recycled oil drums. Stacks of graydrums almost fill one wall. The air issteamy and smells of formaldehyde.The only light comes from a few fluo-rescent lamps in the low ceiling.

In the lab there are three Maggiahoods per PC. Only one of the threeper PC is a well-dressed Maggia lieu-tenant; each of these has a machinepistol ready, a backup revolver, awalkie-talkie, and a knife. The othertwo per PC are hoods in leather jack-ets, unarmed except for the chemicalequipment they use to churn out sup-plies of Enchantment. In a firefight,the hoods improvise Molotov cock-tails, formaldehyde in Plexiglas beak-ers, which do damage as

flamethrowers (Players' Book, p. 43).As soon as they spot the PCs, the

lieutenants open fire. The rest with-draw, under their covering fire, to theline of oil drums against the far wall.There, sheltering behind the drums,they throw firebombs, one per hoodevery two turns.

Dr. MortegaThere is one more Maggia official

here: Dr. Pablo Azcona Mortega, theLatin American scientist who de-signed Enchantment. If you used theCampaign Kickoff, the PCs may al-ready have met him via walkie-talkie.Otherwise, the PCs have heard of himfrom the Hotspot clues.

If the PCs fight the thugs, they maynotice Mortega heading upwardthrough another concealed entrance.This one leads directly up into the inte-rior of the Statue. He carries a supplyof white powder—the antidote, Dispel!Turn this into a chase, described be-low.

If the PCs take out the Maggia thugswithout a fight, Mortega is not present.He has overheard the PCs' victory ona thug's walkie-talkie, and he tauntsthe PCs that he has escaped them."But I have what you want," he says."Join me at the brow of my lady friend,where you will witness the true powerof Enchantment."

The Race to the HeadIf feasible, stage a chase up the

Statue. Ideally, the PCs spot Mortegain the Museum on the first floor. Hesees them as well, then grabs awoman or child nearby and holds agun to his or her head. Panic ensuesin the Museum.

The chase begins as Mortega, withor without hostage, kicks off his blackboots, leaps into the shaft of the hy-draulic elevator, and climbs up thesheer wall with the hostage in hisarms! At the top, he tears through theceiling with super-human strengthand climbs onto the stairs leading tothe Statue's crown.

This peculiar behavior results fromMortega's own ingestion of a heavydose of Enchantment. This, as thePCs can learn from defeated Maggia

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thugs, is a later version of the drugthat afflicted Manhattan. If you usedthe Campaign Kickoff, Mortega hastaken a much larger dose of the ver-sion that gave the PCs their powers.

In the Statue's crown, Mortega willtake more hostages, barricade him-self, and demand a helicopter so hecan leave alive. Before he makes hisdemands, though, he intends togauge his new powers in combat withthe PCs.

Those powers? His first four abili-ties gain + 1 CS per turn of combat, upto a maximum of Shift-Y (Strengthenough to lift the Statue). In additionto Wall-Crawling, Mortega also gainsAbsorption, Psi-Screen, Teleporta-tion, and other powers of your choice.These begin at Excellent rank and in-crease +1 CS per round of combat toSh-Y maximum.

Though the hostage and thecrowded Statue staircase make it diffi-cult, heroes may defeat Mortega onthe way up the Statue. If this happens,they rescue the hostage (awardKarma), but Mortega regains con-sciousness at a higher power level.He is going mad and is now obsessedwith reaching the crown and attackingthe heroes.

It's best if the heroes defeat Mor-tega as he reaches his maximumpower level. This may prove too diffi-cult, especially for the low-end heroesfor whom the Maggia makes a suit-able villain. If the heroes fail to defeatMortega, the drug itself does him in.

As he reaches the height of hispowers, he grows large, the way thegiant did in Section 1. For a momenthe grows childish and dull. In that mo-ment, Mortega is vulnerable, becauseof the effects of his drug overdose.PCs can let loose their best attacks.Mortega crashes through the Statue'scrown windows, flies a short way, thenfalls like a stone into the waters ofNew York Harbor.

Naturally, this being a super-heroicadventure, no body is found.

Dr. Pablo Azcona MortegaF A S E R I PEx Ty Ty Gd Ex Ex TyHealth: 42 ' Karma: 46Resources: Ex(20) Popularity: -1

A Latin American native, Dr. Mor-tega studied at Empire State Univer-sity many years ago. ESU can be a

source of clues about him, notablyabout his arrogant nature, amorality,and his arrest and deportment fordrug pushing on campus. He is now inAmerica illegally.Appearance: 5'10", 160 lbs. Swarthycomplexion, thick black hair slickedback on a high forehead. Heavy blackeyebrows, sinister expression. Wearsa Maggia-style business suit, but withhigh black boots.Talents and Contacts: Mortega hasthe Guns, Marksman, Chemistry, Biol-ogy, and Genetics talents, as well ashigh-level Criminal contacts.Typical Dialogue: Spanish accent.Favors gloating or sneeringspeeches. "So, you heroes have de-cided to crush our little operation,yes? I think you are maybe the oneswho will be crushed, yes?"

AFTERMATHIf you are using the Campaign Kick-

off, the heroes discover supplies ofDispel in the drug lab or find the for-mula on Dr. Mortega's person (hisbody?). Go to Section 6.

Campaign Kickoff note: Does thedrug neutralize the PCs' new powers?That would make this an awfully shortcampaign. (Although for a truly grimcampaign, you can set up a long-termdilemma. The PCs can have superpowers only when they take Enchant-ment. The longer they remain superhuman, the likelier it is that the drugkills them. Sounds horrible, doesn't it?)

Therefore, of course, the PCs stillkeep their powers. If one or morepowers has turned out too weak or toopowerful, taking Dispel adjusts it to alevel you and the affected player canlive with.

If you plan no links to other mastervillains, go to Section 6.

Links to Later SectionsThe Maggia introduced this drug

into the water supply. But if youchoose, the Maggia can be merely apawn for a different villain.

Doctor Doom: Doom engineered ahormone similar to epinephrine. Us-ing Dr. Mortega (one of his lackeys),Doom manipulated the Maggia intoserving as distributors. Their supply ofDispel turns out to be dishwashingsoap, planted by Doom as a taunt.

Unlike the Maggia, Doom knew of55

the side effects described in Section1. He allowed them to exist, since theyincrease the chaos. He had no fear ofmore super humans, since Doomfears no one.

Evidence for Doom's role appearsquite dramatically, as Doom himselfannounces his scheme to all theworld. See the beginning of the nextsection.

If the PCs uncover evidence ofDoom's manipulation, they can enlistthe Silvermane family's aid. Doom hasviolated their honor, so they want re-venge. The criminal grapevine knowsthe location of Doom's local under-ground base. Silvermane bossesgladly give this information to the PCs,hoping that each side will destroy theother.

Loki: Enchantment lives up to itsname, for it is really magical. Loki con-cocted the potion, knowing of its sideeffects. Then he either introduced itinto the Reservoir himself or mind-controlled a Maggia thug into doingso.

PCs can discover this by magicaldetection spells, or just by finding awitness to the Reservoir escapade."There was this other guy behind thecrooks," says the stoolie. "He wasstanding in plain sight, but they didn'teven see him. He had the weirdesthelmet. . . . "

Can the PCs persuade the Maggiato aid them? No. Maggia family headshave no desire to match strengthswith a god, even if he was controllingthem.

Your own villain: Does he or shehave Maggia connections? Powers ofmental control, disguise, or illusionthat would let him or her use the Mag-gia? How might the PCs find out aboutthis, and how would the Maggia familyheads react?

KARMADiscovering the lab (without undue

manipulation by the Judge): +10.Rescuing Mortega's hostages:

+ 20.Unnecessary damage to the

Statue: -10 ,and popularity drops by 5.

Section 4: SHOWDOWN WITH DOCTOR DOOMSUMMARY

Use this finale if Doctor Doom is theadventure's master villain. The heroeslocate Doom's laboratory, confrontDoom, and can either negotiate orfight. The outcome depends on theplayers' actions and the assumptionsyou made in the adventure's set-up. Inany case, this Doom is actually one ofthe Latverian dictator's robot doubles.

Doom's lab contains Dispel, the an-tidote to Enchantment's side effects.PCs can steal its formula and rescuethe city (and, if you use the CampaignKickoff, themselves as well).

SET-UPDoom has engineered this plan in

order to demonstrate his enormouspower to the world. So at some pointhe claims credit for it publicly.

The AnnouncementDoom announces his role after you

run a few, but not all, of your plannedHotspot encounters (from Section 2).In a dramatic satellite broadcast onevery wavelength, Doom publiclyclaims responsibility for the chaos,gloats at his power, and offers the anti-dote to Enchantment—in return for anoath of absolute obedience by citizensof the United States. "Think well," hesays. "I can do as much to any city inthe world!"

Clues from the HotspotsMotive Clues: "The Announce-

ment" gives all the information PCscould want.

Clues to Methods of Defeat: Manypeople know a lot about Doctor Doom.Traditionally, his weakness has beenhis overweening pride and arrogance.He also has a strong, if peculiar, codeof honor.

Doom does not usually employ this"scorched earth" policy of blackmail.Even if the city accepts his deal, itseems unlikely that, after Enchant-ment, there will be enough left of NewYork City for him to rule.

Location Clues: Perceptive he-roes, especially those with enhancedhearing, can overhear a distinctive

squeal under Doom's voice in his an-nouncement. Perhaps it takes theman encounter or two to identify it: thesound of a subway train turning a cor-ner, close by. This, and perhaps cluesfrom Doom's underlings encounteredas Hotspot villains, indicate an under-ground base in the subway system.

How do the heroes locate the base?Perhaps they can trace the broadcasttransmission. If they need time to pulltogether the right equipment, Doomcan gloat further in follow-up an-nouncements every few encounters.

Also, after the initial announce-ment, New York is crawling with FBIand CIA agents, not to mention anysuper hero who could get here fastenough. They could have the trackingequipment needed, or have a hot leadthe PCs can follow. Or PCs mayencounter an NPC hero with trackingabilities, perhaps Daredevil or DoctorStrange. The NPC hero can lead theminto the subways. Then, in a chanceencounter with an Enchantment-crazed bum, the NPC gets seriouslywounded in the neck. This leaves thePCs to go the rest of the way.

For a description of the subways,see Chapter 6 of the CampaignSourcebook, "Underground Manhat-tan," and the maps on the folder of thisbook.

The entrance to Doom's laboratoryheadquarters is several hundredyards up from the IRT subway line's51st Street stop—by no coincidence,very near Four Freedoms Plaza.Doom delighted in the irony of beingso near his lifelong foes. The entranceis an Amazing steel door, locked with aMonstrous lock and concealed by aholographic projector to resemble aconcrete support pillar. A staircaseleads down one area to the lab.

The LaboratoryTo set up this scene, use Map C,

"Typical Interiors," from theAdvanced Set. Treat areas N throughP as Doom's lab, and everything be-yond them as rock.

Area P is the main laboratory; metalstaircases (15 feet high, Goodstrength) lead up to areas Q and R;and areas N and O overlook the cen-

tral lab. These observation decks are15 feet (one area) above the lowerlevel, and are separated from the labby Plexiglas windows of Excellentstrength. All walls and doors areRemarkable-strength steel. The doorsare hermetically sealed but unlocked,and have windows of Good-strengthPlexiglas.

The key to the rooms:N = Transmitter studio, from which

Doom's robot broadcast his an-nouncement.

O = The secondary biochem labwhere Doom synthesized Enchant-ment. This is a small version of themain lab (see P, below). A computercontains the formulae for both En-chantment and Dispel, its antidote.With an Excellent Reason FEAT roll, acharacter with Computer skill canpenetrate Doom's security systemand get the formulae. This takes fourturns.

A large metal cannister in a southcorner of the room weighs one ton andhas walls of Excellent strength. Insideis a white powder, Doom's supply ofDispel.

Near the cannister is a poweredcargo-lifter suit, a metal exoskeletonthat gives the wearer RemarkableStrength (enough to lift the cannister),but reduces Agility to Poor and move-ment to one area per turn. It takes twoturns to climb into and activate thesuit, which weighs 400 pounds and isof Remarkable-strength steel.

P = Main laboratory. Huge steelvats of bubbling enzymes—enoughEnchantment to enslave New York.Pipes, twisting glass tubes, blinkingwall panels, and a central control con-sole of Typical strength. Generic MadScientist's Lab.

The vats are sealed (Excellent-strength steel). If any PC falls in thevats, he or she undergoes the muta-tion described for Dr. Mortega in theprevious section, and will die withinminutes unless given the drug's anti-dote, Dispel.

On one wall is a large fiber-opticmonitor screen (Incredible strength).As the heroes enter, this is turned off.Later, the real Doctor Doom will ad-dress the PCs via this screen.

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Q = Storage. Cannisters of chemi-cals and laboratory supplies. None ofthese includes Dispel. With a ReasonFEAT, a scientifically trained charactercan find a chemical that inflicts Incred-ible damage on the Doom robot's ar-mor.

Hidden in one corner is a recharg-ing station for the robot.

R = Power supply for the labora-tory. This is a small nuclear-fission re-actor, a concrete cube 30 feet on aside (Monstrous-strength walls, Mon-strous Strength to lift). In front of it arenumerous display and control panels.

The reactor is running smoothly.Any damage that penetrates the con-crete liberates toxic plutonium dustinto the air (Unearthly intensity Toxin ifit is breathed or contacts the skin; seerules, Judge's Book, p. 12) and sendsthe reactor toward a meltdown in 1 d10+ 10 turns. A player with appropriateskills can prevent this with anAmazing Reason FEAT roll and 1d10turns of total absorption in the task athand.

The meltdown inflicts Monstrousenergy damage and is a CL1000 Toxinwithin the lab. Fortunately, the solidrock around the lab prevents the radi-ation from spreading further.

Tell players who ask, or who activelylook for strange features of the lab,that there are no facilities for food, wa-ter, or sanitation. This is mildly strangeeven for Doom, whose armor is self-contained. This provides a clue thatDoom is not real, but a robot.

ADVENTUREAs the PCs arrive, the Doom robot is

in the main lab supervising the pro-duction of more Enchantment. The ro-bot regularly patrols the rooms; thismay let it discover intruding PCs inother rooms, or may leave the themain lab unguarded for a moment sothe PCs can sneak in.

When and if the robot discovers thePCs, it first gloats at its success (as-suming the role of Doom, of course),then demands their surrender. Whenand if they refuse, it attacks.

The PCs want to stop the menace toNew York and (in the Campaign Kick-off version) get the Dispel they need tostay alive. Broadly speaking, the play-ers have three general options:

1. Overpower the Doom robot. Use

the robot given on page 44 of theJudge's Book. This robot is equippedfor combat, and attacks when it seemslogical to do so.

2. Steal the Dispel, or steal its for-mula and synthesize it themselves.

This requires stealth or speed. TheDispel supply may be booby-trapped(see Aftermath, below). Of course, theDoom robot does not knowingly let thePCs work uninterrupted at the com-puter.

If it looks like the PCs will escapewith the Dispel or the formula, theDoom robot heads to the nuclear reac-tor and sets it on Auto-Destruct."Flight is now useless," it says. "Behonored that you will join Doom in hisfinal resting place." The reactor coremelts in 10 turns.

If the PCs escape with the formulaand synthesize Dispel, go to Section6.

3. Negotiate with Doom. This is diffi-cult, but the robot's Reason is weakerthan Doom's (by design) and thereforeit can be tricked or persuaded moreeasily. Many tactics are possible; youcan determine their success. A likelyapproach appeals to Doom's desire torule an intact kingdom, not a waste-land.

If the PCs can convince Doom thatEnchantment will lead to the city's de-struction, and that leading a de-stroyed city would be unworthy of hisgreatness, the robot may relent. As agesture of his "mercy, a quality thatmarks great rulers," he grants the PCsthe supply of Dispel. (That robot is duefor reprogramming upon its return toLatveria.)

AFTERMATHOnce PCs defeat the Doom robot or

arrive at an alliance with it, they canobtain the Dispel antidote from RoomO. At your discretion, the cannistermay be booby-trapped with a hiddenConcentrated Explosive (Players'Book, p. 46) that is deactivated by aswitch beneath a far counter in thesame room. Detecting and disarmingthe trap is an Incredible Reason FEAT.The Doom robot, if allied with the PCs,disarms the trap.

The real Doctor Doom is secretlymonitoring everything that happenshere. If the PCs defeat his robot, he

57

appears on the monitor screen inRoom P to taunt the heroes' hollowvictory.

Doom can be broadcasting fromLatveria; in this case, he will not ap-pear in the scenario. If you want Doomto show up in person (for example, tobattle with Loki, as described below),Doom is broadcasting from his hotelroom across from the United Nationsbuilding. See "The United Nations" inChapter 3 of the Campaign Source-book.

Loki: For an involuted scenario,Loki could control Doctor Doom, whobelieves he himself created Enchant-ment. Loki uses Doom as a pawn,merely to amuse himself; Doom's sup-ply of Dispel is useless, though thePCs may not discover this until later.This option can mean that Doom,upon learning that Loki used him, al-lies with the PCs to battle Loki!

Popping in and out of existence atvarious points, Loki surveys his handi-work with a dry chuckle. Doom's sur-veillance cameras and advancedparabolic microphones can pick uphis murmuring: "All goes well. Thorwill soon be here, and that foolish mor-tal in the armor will occupy all his ener-gies. Meanwhile, I spring my trap."

This incontrovertible evidencecauses Doom to tremble with rage.His voice grows deadly quiet as heswears vengeance for this assault onhis pride—on his own memories—onhis name!

If the PCs do not suggest teamwork,Doom goes off to fight Loki alone (un-successfully). But if players argue in-telligently for a team effort, Doomarrives in short order, declares a truce,and begins ordering the PCs around.When he and the PCs come to terms,move on to the next section.

Your own villain: He or she must bepretty high powered to enlist Doom,who would never willingly work for an-other. This indicates powerful magic,mind-control powers, or a carefulschemer.

KARMARealizing that "Doom" is a robot:

+ 5.Locating the Dispel: +10.Destroying the laboratory: +20.Allying with Doom against Loki: +0

(a wise choice, but morally chancy).

Section 5: THE GOD OF MISCHIEFSUMMARY

If Loki is the adventure's master vil-lain, the heroes encounter him in thisgrand finale in Central Park. This sec-tion is intended only for PCs of sub-stantial power, on the level of Thor orthe Silver Surfer. Less godlike heroesshould be pitted against Maggia orDoctor Doom in previous sections.

If Loki defeats the PCs, he placesthem in a deathtrap involving an as-sault by a bizarre and horrible con-glomeration of New York's populace.The PCs can turn this weapon againstLoki to defeat him.

SET-UPUse the Central Park map on the

fold-up map included in this set. Fordetailed encounters, use the AreaGrid/Outdoors map from theAdvanced Set.

Note: Loki's plot revolves aroundThor. This description assumes thatThor is not a PC and is currently off inthe unreachable depths of space.Your PCs cannot contact him.

If Thor is a PC, well and good. Lokitaunts him with the Hotspot encoun-ters, then vanishes before he can at-tack. At last Loki lures him to CentralPark and the adventure's finale.

Clues from the HotspotsRemarkably, these all come from

Loki himself.Motive Clues: Though he would

prefer to conceal his activities fromOdin and the rest of Asgard, Loki doesnot care if mere mortals know he is theculprit. After especially hard-foughtencounters, PCs see Loki floating faroverhead or standing on a nearbybuilding, gloating and chuckling attheir folly.

He pays no attention to the PCs'taunts or questions. But as encoun-ters wear on, PCs may overhear himmurmur in frustration, "So, where areyou, dear brother? Does even this notlure you to your precious Midgard? Myvengeance waits."

Clues to Methods of Defeat: Es-sentially none. As he is the first to tellthe PCs, Loki is an Asgardian sorcerer

of enormous power with no knownweaknesses. Traditionally, the onlyway to defeat him has been to bring inThor or (even better) Odin. Withoutthem, PCs must rely on their ownpower in a toe-to-toe fight. Good luck.

Location Clues: Eventually Lokiyawns and says, "I grow tired of thesegames. Perhaps you will meet me inyour large park over there, and helpme construct my revenge." He van-ishes.

Doctor Doom as AllyDoctor Doom may be helping the

heroes, if you have established thatLoki controlled him. Doom, though henever shows friendship for a second,fights at the PCs' side without betray-ing them. Betrayal would be dishonor-able!

This is a tricky situation for theJudge, because Doom is probablymore powerful than the PCs. By allrights he would attempt to show themup at every chance, displaying hisown superior power; that is in charac-ter for Doom.

However, an NPC ally should nevertop a player character, because theplayer will feel useless. What to do?

Perhaps the best way to handle thisis to have Loki knock Doom out fairlyquickly in the forthcoming battle,while Doom temporarily weakensLoki. Then Doom, bordering on un-consciousness, functions as backupfor the players, rescuing them in tightspots or providing distractions. But af-ter the first few blows, he never takescenter stage again.

Incidentally, Loki shows no sign thathe recognizes or cares about Doom.To him, apparently, Doom is just an-other mortal.

ADVENTUREThe god of mischief floats high

above the Great Lawn of Central Park.Beneath him, if you wish, are the un-conscious forms of New York's best-known super humans. If you placethem here, they should all be sodeeply unconscious (perhaps in magi-cal slumber) that the PCs have nochance of awakening them. The op-

tion is provided in case players ask,"Where are all the other heroes whenthis is going on?"

Loki, master of manipulation andtrickery, cannot himself be easily ma-nipulated or tricked. He cannot be pro-voked to rage by contemptiblemortals.

A very realistic illusion of Thor mightfool Loki, but not for long. The illusionwould prompt him to spring his death-trap; see below.

Conceivably, PCs could convincehim that Thor is nowhere around andnot likely to return soon. But thismeans that Loki leaves Earth for atime, while the damage continues un-abated.

With all this, the only other alterna-tive is to fight Loki. The battle is notquite straightforward, however, forLoki prefers to use his Enhancementpowers and to create agents. With agesture, he plucks innocent citizensfrom around the park and brings themto the Great Lawn. There, shieldinghimself all the while from PC attacks,he casually endows the innocentswith great power and murderous ha-tred for the PCs.

For these agents, use the statisticsof any suitable villains (one per twoPCs), but give their attacks and abili-ties a magical twist. For example, useElectro's powers, but make the citizenan elemental "living lightning bolt."Use Dreadnought robots, but replacetheir mechanical apparatus with (say)twisting, animated foliage from thesurrounding forest. And so on.

Loki spends Karma, if necessary, tocreate adversaries strong enough toharm the PCs. Meanwhile, he remainsabove the fray, giving expositionabout his new deathtrap and his long-awaited vengeance against Thor.

Loki waits for the PCs to show signsof weakness. Then he floats down andbattles them straightforwardly with hisEldritch Blasts.

The DeathtrapIf the PCs somehow defeat Loki,

well and good. Go to Aftermath, be-low.

Realistically, though, whether or notDoom helps, Loki probably defeats

58

the heroes easily. After all, he is anAsgardian god. Let the PCs have he-roic final speeches before lapsing intounconsciousness.

If any heroes are dying, Loki, in aspirit of whimsy, heals them. After all,his deathtrap would not get much of aworkout if its victims are already dead.However, the healed heroes remainunconscious.

They awaken in the trap. Magicalenergy bonds of Monstrous strengthsurround each PC. Loki floats over-head, gloating. To delay troublesomePC interruptions or escape attemptsuntil Loki has given the exposition be-low, consider using the Grogginessrule from the "Deathtraps" section inChapter 8. This also lets Loki pick upsome easy Karma by gloating for sev-eral turns.

Loki tells the PCs that they have thehonor to test the trap he has designedfor "my dear half-brother" Thor. "Youmortals always talk of the 'unity of hu-mankind.' Hah! Unity of ants, of oozebeneath the feet of the gods. See, atforest's edge—witness now the unityof humankind."

From the trees on all sides comethousands of New Yorkers—all ages,sizes, social classes, dressed in allfashions—concentrated in the popu-lations represented in all the neigh-borhoods adjacent to the Park.

Loki gestures, and the peoplemerge. Their skins flow like wax, oneform into another, and faces stretch asthough formed in putty. Clothes disap-pear in a mass of flesh, musculature,and hair. As the PCs watch, the thou-sands of citizens form into shapeless,writhing masses, one for each PC inthe deathtrap.

"These Conglomeroids embodyenough magic to absorb even Thor,"says Loki. "Or, if not, to defeat him bystrength alone. You will soon find out.

"For now, I go to the edge of spaceto scan the heavens for Thor. I hope toreturn in time to witness your unionwith humankind."

Loki flies upward and, unless thePCs manage a devastating attack, issoon lost to view. But he remains inthis dimension, so his magical Con-glomeroids keep growing. Slowly theyooze forward.

Escape and BattleNo doubt the PCs wish to escape

their bonds before the creatures ab-sorb them. How? For reasons ex-plained below, this matter is notespecially urgent, but escape is possi-ble.

The magical energy bonds arekeyed to the heroes' current sizes.Perhaps a PC with appropriatepowers can shrink and escape his orher bonds. However, the rest remaintrapped in their own bonds. And theycan't easily be moved from the path ofthe Conglomeroids, because thebonds also attach them to the groundwith Monstrous strength.

The Conglomeroids ooze closer tothe PCs, at least one area per turn.They speed up if it would lend sus-pense to the escape, or if the PCshave exhausted their options andmerely wait for the inevitable.

59

ConglomeroidsGigantic disgusting ooze monstersF A S E R I PPr Ty Mn Mn Gd Gd MnHealth: 160 Karma: 95Resources: None Popularity: 0Abilities: The creatures absorb PCswith Monstrous ability. They can de-velop other powers with the proper or-ganization (see below).Typical Dialogue: "Hnnnrrrghh!"

Escaped heroes can attack theConglomeroid creatures. But remindthe players of the monsters' nature.The things are composed of innocentbystanders under Loki's control. Anydamaging attack on them injures orkills the component people!

This should forestall attacks from allbut the most impulsive heroes. Otherfreed heroes may fly up looking forLoki, a time-consuming process.

Meanwhile, the remaining heroes willsoon be absorbed.

How, then, to escape? In fact, unbe-knownst to the god of mischief, theideal way to defeat Loki and the mon-sters is not to escape at all, but to vol-untarily be absorbed.

Inside the CreaturesWhen the Conglomeroids reach the

heroes, absorption takes one turn.Once inside a creature, the PC victimfeels a moment of suffocating warmthas though gripped in an enormous fist.Then the hero loses all physical sen-sation.

But this is not the end. The PC'smentality survives, an astral formmagically freed of its sheath of flesh.In the gray nothingness of the astralplane, the PC's spiritual form may ormay not resemble its physical form.Encourage the players to devise crea-tive differences in appearance,though astral characters' abilities areunchanged.

Around them, chaotically arranged,float the spirits of the Conglomeroids'component citizens. They wanderaimlessly, able to communicate witheach other but unaware of the mon-sters' physical surroundings. Theyare confused, as much an amoeboidmass of psyches as their bodies are inthe physical plane.

Drop this as a clue to the players.Perhaps they won't pick up on it andwill only continue searching for a wayout (there isn't one, until Loki goesaway). In that case, allow mysticallytalented PCs a Psyche FEAT to sensethe enormous psychic potentialamong all these spirits. If only it couldbe harnessed!

If no PC is suitable or they all failtheir FEAT rolls, then one of the NPCcitizens, a hobbyist of the occult, canmention the notion: organize the psy-chic potential of the Conglomeroidsand throw off Loki's control!

Conglomeroid BattleIf you wish, a time limit may speed

the PCs to action. The Conglome-roids, once the PCs prove no majorthreat, turn and examine one another.The rivalry among the component citi-zens of Manhattan's various neigh-borhoods drives the monsters tohatred for one another. They battle.The monsters struggle because it

amuses Loki. He can always makemore when Thor comes around.

In this optional variant, the damagethese monsters inflict on one anotheris applied equally against every com-ponent citizen within them. Since thiswould be fatal for normal people, andperhaps even the PCs, reduce thedamage by a fraction—for instance,two-thirds or three- quarters. This isstrong enough to hurt and exert timepressure, but not to kill.

Organizing the MonstersHow can the PCs organize the pop-

ulace? They can speak to the sur-rounding spirits, pointing out theimminent danger and the need tocombine energies to throw off Loki'scontrol. Here Persuasion skill andLeadership talent figure prominently.

At first, the heroes attract only a fewinterested spirits. But as they clusteraround the speakers, they fall uncon-sciously into a crystal-like pattern ofenergies. At once, light glows aroundthem. A success! The PCs, aided bythe psychic energies of their new fol-lowers, can now broadcast their mes-sage farther.

From this point, a domino effecttakes over. As the citizens realize theirperil and what they can do about it,more and more flock to the PCs, lend-ing them the power to reach still morecitizens. The crystalline pattern, grow-ing by the second, stretches away intothe distance of the astral plane. And inthe physical world, the Conglome-roids change shape.

Shapeless ooze gives way to struc-ture: arms, legs, a body. The nebulousmonsters become nothing less thangigantic images of the PCsthemselves—people-shaped figures ahundred feet tall. And the psychicpower, now organized through theirfocus, bestows on the giants powersidentical to the PCs' own—at Un-earthly levels!

It is time to hunt Loki. Flying charac-ters can head upward and search forhim in the upper stratosphere. Or, ifsome PCs cannot fly, Loki senses hisloss of control over the Conglome-roids and returns instantly to CentralPark. Infuriated at their effrontery inruining his plan, he grows to enor-mous size to attack the PCs.

Play up the scenic detail of this awe-some battle. The heroes' powers work

60

within the giant figures at incalculablymore powerful levels. As one falls,huge trees splinter beneath. The gi-ants can stride between the sky-scrapers of Manhattan like minersthrough narrow passages. As theybattle, describe the conflict for theplayers with all the drama you canmuster.

And of course, the struggle goesbadly for Loki.

AFTERMATHLoki, a coward, flees Earth as soon

as the battle turns seriously againsthim. If the heroes manage to knockhim out, his contingency spell tele-ports him away to Asgard. Otherwise,in a parting speech he vows revengeagainst the mortal PCs. "Know thatyou have achieved a high honor: thenotice of a god. You will come to ruethat honor, another day!" Loki can be-come a long-term nemesis, if youwish.

With his departure, hisenchantments—including, needlessto say, Enchantment itself—vanish.The Conglomeroid creatures magi-cally dissolve into ordinary citizensagain. The component people arefully clothed and healthy, but they re-tain no memory of their ordeal. Con-fused, they wander out of the park.

If Doctor Doom was the PCs' ally, henow makes a parting threat and takesan ungracious leave. PCs can fighthim, but this would be violating thetruce (not to mention an anti- climax tothe adventure).

If Loki was your master villain, thecrisis is taken care of except forcleanup work. (It should be a busycouple of days for Damage Control.)But if other villains were behind theplot, Enchantment still remains totrouble the PCs. They must find a wayto restore New York to normal. See thenext section.

KARMAAvoiding undue harm to Loki's

Conglomeroid-trapped citizens: +15.Harming citizens inside the

monster: - 20 to -ALL.Controlling the Conglomeroids to

defeat Loki: +30.Violating a truce with Doom: -20 .

Section 6: NEW YORK NORMALSUMMARY

By defeating the Maggia or DoctorDoom (if one of these is your mastervillain), the PCs have procured a sup-ply of Dispel, or at least its formula.Now they must figure out how to dis-tribute it and turn off Manhattan's cra-ziness.

SET-UPThe only set-up this section may re-

quire involves creating Dispel fromthe formula procured in the drug lab(in either Section 3 or 4). If they failedto get the formula, they can analyze asample of the powder to determine itschemical makeup (an Excellent Rea-son FEAT for characters with suitableskills).

If they have neither powder nor for-mula, the heroes can try creating theirown. This is an Amazing ReasonFEAT, and may call for the most bril-liant minds in New York.

Dispel is made of ordinary off- the-shelf organic chemicals. But the hugevolume of chemicals needed calls forextensive scientific resources. Ideally,the PCs should have such skills. If so,the city of New York pulls all stringsnecessary to let PCs use the facilitiesat Empire State University or anotheradvanced laboratory.

If the PCs don't have the requisiteskills, they can go elsewhere for help.Likely locations for these include FourFreedoms Plaza, where Reed Ri-chards can quickly mix up a boxcar-load; Doctor Strange's Sanctum(Strange is a medical doctor); orAvengers Island, where one of theAvengers can either brew up the anti-dote or find someone who can.

Possible Avengers or former Aveng-ers who are up to the task include ge-neticist Dane Whitman, the BlackKnight; Mockingbird; Iron Man,though this is outside Tony Stark'susual line of work; and, via satellitelink to Avengers West Coast head-quarters, Dr. Henry Pym.

The Dispel that is created is a finewhite powder. Targets can breathe it,drink it in liquid, or absorb the dis-solved antidote through the skin. A

small dose is sufficient to cure the tar-get of Enchantment's side effects,and render him or her immune to fu-ture doses.

ADVENTUREThe problem is to distribute the anti-

dote widely, affecting everyone inManhattan, and quickly, before thechildish residents inflict more dam-age. The water system is a good start,but that won't get to people quickly—they're busy rioting.

There are actually a couple of effec-tive solutions. Give the heroes Rea-son FEATs, if necessary, to come upwith one.

Let the Rain Come DownOne way is use the Dispel and so-

dium iodide (available at the samelabs that can synthesize the Dispel) toseed the clouds above the city. So-dium iodide creates rain, and Dispeldissolves easily in water, or even inwater vapor.

Fortunately, there are heavy clouds,laden with vapor, above Manhattanright now. How to get the Dispel intothe clouds? The solution could be asmundane as hiring a private plane tocarry a PC up there. But these aresuper heroes, after all. No doubt, thePCs can get up that high themselves,or at least hitch a ride with someonewho can.

Once seeded, the clouds darkenand let loose—not a downpour of rain,but a blizzard of snow! No matter thetime of year; the Dispel created a hy-pothermic chemical reaction, leach-ing the heat from the clouds' watervapor and freezing it. Even in July, it issnowing in New York!

The Enchantment-afflicted citizensof New York rush out to play in thesnow. As they start snowball fightsand build snowmen, they return tonormal. But they feel so good, theykeep playing. Perhaps the PCs join in.

The Brute Force ApproachAnother solution, especially suit-

able for straight-shooting, linear-thinking PCs, is to haul huge loads ofDispel powder up to the top of tall

buildings and turn it loose into thewind. Both the Empire State Buildingand World Trade Center are good can-didates; in northern Manhattan, per-haps Columbia University, Grant'sTomb, and tall hills in Central Parkwould work.

The powder flies across the city.You may wish to build a little suspenseby saying the winds are calm, orthey're blowing toward the river; butthis is manipulation. If the playersoriginate this idea and carry it out well,it should work.

These two approaches are only ex-amples. The players, often an inven-tive lot, may well create new ways todistribute the antidote. Perhaps theycan make creative use of theirpowers. Don't hesitate to show theoutcome of ridiculous ideas; but if thesolution sounds plausible, go with it.

AFTERMATHA parade down Fifth Avenue cer-

tainly seems in order. Or perhaps theheroes are not publicity seekers. Inthis case, an unpublicized visit byReed Richards, Doctor Strange, orthe Avengers may be called for. TheNPC heroes solemnly thank the PCsfor solving the crisis. The PCs cancount on big favors in the future.

The adventure's last scene, in clas-sic Marvel Comics tradition, probablyshows a poor, put-upon street-cleanerpiloting his cleaning truck down astreet covered with confetti, debris,and either Dispel powder or snow. Ashe cleans up all this stuff across thecity, he grumbles about his lot in life."Ah, the workin' life. Jeez, wish I wasa kid again and didn't hafta go towork."

KARMADiscovering an effective way to ad-

minister the antidote: + 20.

61

Section 7: EXTENDING THE ADVENTUREThe immediate plot of "Fun City" is

over, but the adventure's elementsdon't have to vanish. Here are somenotes on the features you can estab-lish and exploit for future adventures:

NEW VILLAINSThe adventure has set up three vil-

lains, or perhaps one of your own, aspossible long-term opponents for theheroes. What's more, the Enchant-ment drug has created more super hu-mans, these of your own design.Though the Dispel antidote has cov-ered the city, it is the work of a plot de-vice to say that the villains keep theirnewfound powers. And they will soongain experience as well, becomingdeadlier opponents.

They can be especially effective ifyou used the Campaign Kickoff op-tion. Tied to the PCs' fate by a com-mon origin in the drug's effects, thesevillains can represent a still-later re-finement of the formula that createdthe PCs. So the villains are more pow-erful.

However, the villains may also be indanger of slowly going insane be-cause of the drug's lingering side ef-fects. This probably leads to anunreasoning hatred of the PCs, whoare closely tied by the commonthreads of their origins.

NEW PLOTSIn future adventures you can incor-

porate the parts of this framework thatyou didn't employ this time out.Maybe the Conglomeroids, thoughleft on the sidelines in this adventure,show up as the tool of another power-ful magician later on. Re-use the labo-ratory descriptions in lateradventures. Adapt the villain tracks byassigning the villains the same mo-tives but different nefarious schemes.

NEW NPCsVarious informants, victims, and by-

standers rescued in the Hotspotencounters may reappear later at thePCs' headquarters, grateful for their

rescue or needing further help. Somecan become long-term campaign rela-tionships.

Another bizarre source of NPCs isthe Conglomeroid creatures from theLoki plotline. Assuming the PCs gotabsorbed and learned to control them,they may have met a new NPC whileinside!

Remember the giant in Section 1,Traffic Jam? Perhaps, once cured, heor she can renew that old relationshipwith one of the player characters. Bytaking advantage of such elements,you lend continuity and rich subplotpossibilities to your campaign.

A NEW WAY TO PLAYThough this campaign set has de-

scribed many locations in Marvel'sManhattan, in a larger sense thewhole supplement is describing a sin-gle concept: a well-constructed cam-paign, created with a solid premiseand direction, tailored to the player

characters, rich in detail, background,and ongoing character stories.

If you already play this way, congrat-ulations! Use the hard data in this setto improve what is probably alreadyan exciting campaign.

If you have felt a lack in your games,or want to improve your abilities in ad-venture design, establishing goals,staging, playing up character con-cepts, and encouraging creativeplay—then this set can be the gate-way to a new place... .

A place not just of towering sky-scrapers, mysterious tunnels, high fi-nance, and low crime—not just ofcops and crooks, good guys and badguys—but a place of stories, wherethe most miraculous happeningsmake sense, because they're truerthan real life.

Go through that gateway. Explorethat wonderful place.

If you can make it there, you'll makeit anywhere.

62

Boldface numbers mean the pages arein the Campaign Sourcebook.Numbers in regular type mean the pagesare in this Adventure Book.

Adventure Hook 16AIM 63-65Air travel in Manhattan 28Alpha 70American Museum

of Natural History 32,33Anne 77Atlantean terrorists 37Atlantis 70Avengers 74Avengers Island 7,31,54Baby Elmo 59Ballinger, Lenny 77Battery Park City 50Beast 52Bowery 28Brand Corporation 52Bridges 16-17Broadway 30,66Bronx 6,14-15Bronx Zoo

— Hotspot description 14-15— Mini-scenario 37

Brooklyn 4,10,16Brooklyn Bridge

— Hotspot description 16-17Building foundations 89Bullseye 23Buses 27,86Cage, Luke 67Calendar of Events in Manhattan 4Callisto 93Campaign

— Designing 26-28— Problems 31— Running 28— Types 26

Central Park— "Fun City" scenario 58— Hotspot Description 33-35— Mini-scenario 38see also Metropolitan Museum of Art

Century Club 31Chapel, Robin 75Character development 29Chase Manhattan Bank 48Chelsea 30Chinatown 29City adventuring 32-34Cleary, Albert 75-76Cloak and Dagger 57,67Conditions that affect success . . . . 20-21Coney Island

— Hotspot description 10-11— Mini-scenario 36

Conflict in the story 8Connors, Dr. Curt - see LizardConventions in telling stories 6

— Hotspot description 36-38— Mini-scenario 39

Damage Control 74-78Daredevil 57-50Deathtraps 22-23Delta Project 64Deltites 65Dilemmas facing the

player characters 21Dilby, Lucius 42Dixon, Jay 78Doctor Doom 68,70

"Fun City" scenario 47-58Doctor Octopus 16,38Doctor Strange 39-42Doctor Strange in rat form 35Doctor Strange's Sanctum

— Hotspot description 39-42— Mini-scenario 40

Dreadnoughts 83East Side 72East Village 29,45Empire State Building

— Hotspot description 43-44— Mini-scenario 40

Empire State University— Hotspot description 45— Mini-scenario 41

Environment 84-87Erg 93Fantastic Four 53-54; 43Fatboys 59Federal Reserve 49Ferris wheel 11Financial District 28

— Hotspot description 48-52— Mini-scenario 42

Fireheart, Thomas 49Fisk, Wilson - see KingpinFlatiron Building 74-75Four Freedoms Plaza

— Hotspot description 53-54— Mini-scenario 43

Fox, Phil 38Frogs 34Frost, Emma 56Frost International 49Fury, Nick 29,57,62-65Galactic campaign 34Genre 5Gladiator 31Global campaign 34Goals for players 12Gramercy Park 29-30Grand finale of the story 8, 24-25Greater New York City 4-23Greenwich Village 29,39-42Grimm, Ben - see Thing

63

Guardian Angels 91Hammerhead 81,82Harlem 32Hawkeye 32Hellfire Club 31,55Hellfire Club Mansion

— Hotspot description 55-56Hell's Kitchen 57-59Heroes for Hire 31,67Hoag, Anna Marie 74-78Holland Tunnel

— Hotspot description 18-19— Mini-scenario 37

Holy Ghost Church 31,57Hook 16Hopkins, Steve 47Hotspots 3, 33-71

— "Fun City" scenario 53Human Torch 52Humor in telling stories 5HYDRA 63-65Hydro-Base 7,16Impossible Man 60Inferno 24,44,84Inner Circle 55-56Iron Fist 32,67Jameson, J. Jonah 31,36,37Jaxon, Jerry 49Jones, Hugh 51Josie 67Judging

— Introduction to Judging 3— Running a campaign 26-31— Telling stories 5-25

"King, the" 94Kingpin 29,30,50,57,94Language 84LaPorte, Emma 94Latverian Embassy 31,55,68Leeds, Betty Brant 38Leland, Harry 52Little Italy 29Lizard 45; 41,42Loki, God of Mischief

— "Fun City" scenario 47-60Lorelei 32Lubensky, Nathan 13,67Machine Man 12; 46Machinesmith 65; 45Maggia 7,81-83

— "Fun City" scenario 47-55Magneto 56,70Mandroids 45Manfredi, Silvio 82Manhattan 4,24-32

— Campaign 32— Hotspots 33-72— Social Calendar 2-4

Maria Stark Park 31,33

Marvel Comics— Hotspot description 60— Mini-scenario 44

Merry-go-round 11Metrobank 50Metropolitan Museum of Art

— Hotspot description 61— Mini-scenario 44

Midtown 30Mini-scenarios 35-46Mister Fantastic - see Richards, ReedMole People 92Morlock tunnels 34,92-94Morningside Heights 32Motivation 5Murdock, Mart - see DaredevilMurray Hill 29-30Nefaria family 81Nelson, Franklin "Foggy" 32,58New Mutants 56New York City campaigning 32New York Police Department 79-80New York Stock Exchange 48New Yorkers 84Night 87Nightwing Restorations 32Nimrod 56Non-player characters 8,18-19

— Preparing 28NPCs - see Non-player charactersNuke 58Numero Uno 32Organizations 73-83Page, Karen 57,58Parker, Mary Jane -

see Watson-Parker, Mary JaneParker, May - Boarding House .. . 12-13Parker, Peter - see Spider-ManPCs - see Player charactersPlayer characters 7

— Preparing 27Players, types of 30Plot ingredients 11-17Police 79-80Porter, John 75Potholes 85Power Pack 32Premise of the story 7Prison guards 23Punisher 94Quartermain, Clay 64-65Queens 5,12-13Rand, Daniel - see Iron FistRats : 34Red Ghost 44Richards, Reed 37,43Rintrah 42Robertson, Joe "Robbie" 37Rockefeller Center 51Roller coaster 10-11Roosevelt Island 68

Rotgut 59Roxxon Oil 49Roxxon Plaza 51Rozum, John "Bart" 77Ryker's Island

— Hotspot description 20-23St. Patrick's Cathedral

— "Fun City" scenario 49Sanctum Sanctorum -

see Doctor Strange's SanctumScenarios

— "Fun City" 47-62— Mini-scenarios 35-46— Running, see Campaign

Selene 56Sersi 29,32Setting of the story 7Sewers 92-94Shaw, Sebastian 56Shaw Industries 51SHIELD foxholes 93SHIELD Headquarters

— Hotspot description 62-65— Mini-scenario 45

Silver Sable 49Silvermane 81,82Skrulls 15Sloan, Dr. Morris 47Slugfest 24SoHo 29Sound effects 9Spider-Man 12,30,36-37,42,45Stack, Aaron - see Machine ManStane International 51Stark, Tony 31,64Staten Island 6

—Hotspot description 16Statue of Liberty

— "Fun City" scenario 54— Hotspot description 7-9— Mini-scenario 35

Sternberg, Professor 64Storm 93Storm, Alicia Masters 28Storytelling 5-25Strausser, Gene 77Street Finder for Manhattan 26Streets 84-85Subterranea 63,74Subways 27,90-91

— "Fun City" scenario 56Surprises in the story 8SWAT operative 80Swimming against the current

(in tunnels) 19Symkarian Embassy 31Taxicabs 28,86Terrax 24Telling the story 5-25Theater District 66-67Thing 72

64

Thompson, Eugene "Flash" 47Thor 34Thor in frog form 35Times Square 30

— Hotspot description 66-67Topaz 42Traffic jam 51Traffic on bridges 17Tribeca 28Tudor City 30Tunnels 18-19,90Ultron-11 46Underground Manhattan 88-94United Nations

— Hotspot description 68-70— Mini-scenario 46

Urban campaign 33Urich, Ben 38Vehicles r*86Verrazano-Narrows Bridge 17Victory levels 11Villains 14

— How they lose 25— Preparing 27

Von Strucker, Baron Wolfgang 64Wakandan Embassy 31Wall Street 28Washington Heights 32Washington Square Park 39Waterfront 27Watson, Kristy 13Watson-Parker, Mary Jane 12,32West Side 31White Dragon 29White Tiger 47Wild Pack 49Wizard 38Wolfe, Sara 41Wolverine 56Wong 41World Trade Center 49Yancy Street

— Hotspot description 72Yellow Claw 9X-Men 56