PS238 by Aaron Williams

Ps238: The School for Metaprodigy Children
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2015-01-05
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2015-01-05

Jan05
by Aaron on 2015-01-05 at 2:54 pm
Issue: Chapter 1: 84 and the Ones Before

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Discussion (66) ¬

  1. Someguy
    2015-01-05, 3:34 pm | # | Reply

    Aaaannnnnnd one of the Most Powerful Magicians on Earth is NOT the first to notice! Cue more ego bruising! 🙂

    • Aaron K
      2015-01-05, 6:21 pm | # | Reply

      And yet again the little girl is!

    • James
      2015-01-06, 1:23 am | # | Reply

      Don’t forget about the Tele/path/kinetic not noticing either!

  2. Knug
    2015-01-05, 4:16 pm | # | Reply

    Too busy trying to rebuild their self-images to notice something as trivial as landscape

    • Knug
      2015-01-05, 4:18 pm | # | Reply

      Just floated across my mind that the upcoming conversation may be something like the one that took place after someone was saved from three trolls. It involved “looking ahead” and “looking behind”.

  3. Faust
    2015-01-05, 5:43 pm | # | Reply

    Cue super speed to lap them a few times and prove the point.

  4. TomT
    2015-01-05, 6:43 pm | # | Reply

    Perhaps the Conjurer should have attended grade school and high school for super powered people. Julie is quite advertant.

    • Van
      2015-01-06, 10:06 am | # | Reply

      Or, maybe he just has not done enough dungeon crawls to see this kind of thing.

      • Jerden
        2015-01-10, 12:37 pm | # | Reply

        He failed his spot check.

    • kentda
      2015-01-06, 1:38 pm | # | Reply

      It’s easy to not see ‘walls’ repeating. But when you walk by three cottages in a row, and they’re all the same …

      Perception Check, Critical Failure!

      That’s about all I can say in regards to those guys.

      • Van
        2015-01-07, 8:06 am | # | Reply

        Dude, they have critically failed every check they have made so far.

  5. J. Michael Looney
    2015-01-05, 6:59 pm | # | Reply

    84 obviously has a much higher passive perception rating than the rest of the party.

    • Me-me
      2015-01-05, 7:30 pm | # | Reply

      Nahh, she just used a hero point on it.

      I mean that, too: this is the kind of scenario (in which the protagonist, unlikely to do well at something, does it anyway) that inspired just that sort of tabletop mechanic.

    • Mechwarrior
      2015-01-05, 11:05 pm | # | Reply

      That’s because she didn’t use Wisdom as a dump stat.

      • J. Michael Looney
        2015-01-06, 12:30 am | # | Reply

        Yeah, that does seem to be the case. Which means either her DM uses a very high number of points for a build or they are using the 4d6, highest 3 method and her player rolled really high.

        This is assuming a D&D style game system. It’s been 20+ years since I have played Champions/Hero System which would be the ideal system for Ps238 role playing. IIRC there is a Hero system universe book for Ps238.

        • J. Michael Looney
          2015-01-06, 12:34 am | # | Reply

          TVTROPES says that there is a Hero System book. Hmm $9.75 on RpgNow. Might have to get that
          http://www.rpgnow.com/product/58036/Ps238

        • TomT
          2015-01-06, 2:42 am | # | Reply

          Her GM must have allowed her to roll her stats and she got a really good roll. Oddly it happens. My best character had 4 18’s and 2 16’s. Rolled in front of the DM and declared to be a wizard on rolling with 3d6.

          That was the oddest roll I’ve ever had in my life. The character did great but often was out front with the fighters and his staff. 😉

          • Nightmask
            2015-01-06, 5:14 am | #

            Or she’s generated by the classic Marvel Super-heroes RPG, since it doesn’t use build points and not that hard to randomly roll the stats she’s displaying since she’s effectively somewhere around Ms. Marvel level.

        • Andorxor
          2015-01-06, 3:21 am | # | Reply

          Maybe the child and common powers disadvantages are worth lots of points

          • Balance
            2015-01-06, 11:37 am | #

            The PS238 RPG book, which uses the sidekick part of HERO for metahuman children, lists the following disadvantages for her: Social Limitation – Secret Identity (15), Social Limitation – Minor (10), Vulnerability – 2X STUN from Argonite (10), Vulnerability – 2X BODY from Argonite (10). So, being a child counts for half as many disadvantage points as her argonite vulnerability (mostly because it’s a limiting factor more often).

            FWIW, her Intelligence is set at 10, which is fairly high among her classmates–I think only Malphast and the metasavants (Angie, Victor, and Zodon) have higher INT, and theirs only puts them 1 point higher on perception rolls (12 versus 11).

          • Opus the Poet
            2015-01-06, 3:59 pm | #

            As a child she lacks the female “most common super power”

        • Urist McDJ
          2015-01-06, 10:44 pm | # | Reply

          Since they share a universe with Nodwick, it’s possible that they have a D&D-like system.

  6. Delver
    2015-01-05, 7:26 pm | # | Reply

    Ah the old common problem gamers have. All the good names are taken!

    • Van
      2015-01-06, 10:09 am | # | Reply

      Usually they are and copyrighted by the comic book publishers. Their lawyers are real super villains.

  7. dsollen
    2015-01-05, 7:33 pm | # | Reply

    of course 84 would be the first to notice. She is clearly wiser then the rest, and everyone knows that you roll wis for perception checks. That’s what the conjuror gets for taking wis and charisma both as dump stats. tsk tsk.

    wait…84 has high wis and good charisma. could she be the bard of the group!?

    • Foradain
      2015-01-05, 7:51 pm | # | Reply

      Paladin would be my guess.

    • Mechwarrior
      2015-01-05, 11:06 pm | # | Reply

      Given how strong she is, I’m guessing she’s Roy.

    • Faust
      2015-01-06, 10:42 am | # | Reply

      Not a skilled fighter, just a brick with extras so maybe a combat based cleric.

      • Van
        2015-01-07, 8:08 am | # | Reply

        She is just inexperienced, so her combat skill is low. Even at 1st level, most fighters suck.

  8. Bailoroc
    2015-01-05, 9:05 pm | # | Reply

    I always enjoy it when older superheros bond with the younger generation.

    The metahumans are just like us!

  9. Town Crier
    2015-01-05, 11:38 pm | # | Reply

    New 100 Level Super Hero course: Get Over Yourself Already, Before a Little Girl Shows You Up.

    • By the Farmstead
      2015-01-06, 5:32 am | # | Reply

      Maybe someone offers that as a remedial/extension course for adults. To help save face, call it something like ‘Effective Teamwork (4 CR with lab) Connecting with and best utilizing diverse peers in a group situation’ It should be taught by heroes who frequently work with unfamilar heroes in deadly missions, Supes or Bats in DC, Revenant here.

  10. Nightmask
    2015-01-05, 11:50 pm | # | Reply

    So her casual and forgettable kicking of the rock proves more significant than it originally seemed and they’re all in a spacial loop for the next test. I wonder if everything’s going to prove to be a test and no location just being scenery between tests.

    • Leo Orionis
      2015-01-06, 3:36 am | # | Reply

      So they have to find the bucket missing from the roadside well because it might be significant that the bucket is missing? Hope this doesn’t turn into that old song they used to play on Dr. Demento. Anyone remember it?

      “But there’s a HOLE in the bucket!
      Dear Martha, dear Martha,
      There’s a hole in the bucket,
      Dear Matha, a hole.”

      • Van
        2015-01-06, 10:10 am | # | Reply

        I remember that one from Sesame Street in the 70’s, it was almost as annoying as the Row Row your boat.

        • The Aussie Bloke
          2015-01-07, 8:23 am | # | Reply

          We used to have a Disney version on tape… With Goofy complaining about the bucket.

          • Van
            2015-01-07, 11:56 pm | #

            Now that would just be wrong on so many levels.

      • Faust
        2015-01-06, 12:44 pm | # | Reply

        At least they won’t climb down the well and continue that way.

        There has got to be an exit from the loop somewhere.

        Ah, good old RPGs

        • Van
          2015-01-07, 8:10 am | # | Reply

          Do not be too sure. The well could be the exit. Remember there are a few myths that go that way.

          • Nightmask
            2015-01-08, 4:05 pm | #

            Given the house and well are apparently the only things in the loop outside of them and the rock it’s a good chance one of them is the way out or holds the trick to disabling the loop, just like the entrance had nothing but the obvious trigger to work with. So I agree there’s a good chance the well actually is the way out, either literally or indirectly.

  11. Moe Lane
    2015-01-06, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    I’m starting to wonder whether Phlogiston might want to consider a career change to the interesting and exciting world of metahuman education. As a chemistry teacher she’d be nigh-perfect.

    • Nobody
      2015-01-06, 12:33 am | # | Reply

      And take the job away from Mr. Alloy? How sad!

      • Van
        2015-01-06, 10:49 am | # | Reply

        With as many students as they are getting, the could probably use another science teacher.

    • By the Farmstead
      2015-01-06, 5:34 am | # | Reply

      She’d be valued more, and that can mean a lot. Not that PS238 is a boring teacher job.

      • Mechwarrior
        2015-01-06, 10:50 am | # | Reply

        She’d also be respected by her coworkers and wouldn’t need to trick them to get things done.

        However, I worry about what her former team would end up doing without her influence.

        • Van
          2015-01-08, 9:57 am | # | Reply

          All night keggers that would leave them too hung over to do any damage.

    • Prairie Son
      2015-01-07, 8:32 pm | # | Reply

      Plus, the staff could use a member who can fly under their own power. Especially given what the students get up to.

  12. Golnor
    2015-01-06, 2:28 am | # | Reply

    Wait, where’s guy number 5?

    • Andorxor
      2015-01-06, 3:24 am | # | Reply

      Hiding because the safety rules prevent that to fire based characters appear on the same page

    • Debra Hanson
      2015-01-06, 6:06 am | # | Reply

      Firedrake is coming up “behind” 84 and Phlogiston.

      • Van
        2015-01-06, 10:49 am | # | Reply

        Cue the “WTF” look on his face.

  13. Mutant for Hire
    2015-01-06, 12:51 pm | # | Reply

    So any guesses on how the men of the group rationalize not having spotted this first?

    • Rock
      2015-01-06, 1:29 pm | # | Reply

      “Faw, faw! W were too busy discussing important matters and our helmets were too tight! Faw-faw-faw-faw!” [/sarcasm]

    • Lycanthromancer
      2015-01-06, 9:33 pm | # | Reply

      They’ll probably insist that Phlogiston noticed it, and that 84 is lying.

      • Van
        2015-01-07, 8:12 am | # | Reply

        And Phlogiston would insist that their helmets are on too tight and to shut up at this point.

  14. =Tamar
    2015-01-06, 12:59 pm | # | Reply

    The rock has a crack in it. 84 may have to break it open, or maybe one of the others will be useful this time.

  15. Rock
    2015-01-06, 1:28 pm | # | Reply

    Welcome to the Möbius Strip, kiddies… Good luck getting out. ^^

  16. Rock
    2015-01-06, 1:30 pm | # | Reply

    I don’t think I shall ever be able to read the word ‘Phlogiston’ without thinking back to the heady days of the Spelljammer setting… ^^ That is still a fun way to play AD&D.

    • Van
      2015-01-07, 8:13 am | # | Reply

      You are not the only one Rock.

  17. Veritas
    2015-01-07, 8:21 am | # | Reply

    Hmm. Phlogiston seems to be a much more honest intellectual than either Neuronet or Conjuror. Those two are both so convinced of their own intelligence (which may be legitimately there, mind) that they seem to have forgotten their own fallibility. Phlogiston took a more measured approach: skepticism – not immediately taking for granted that Julie’s hunch was correct – but open-mindedness. She was apparently inclined to believe it herself, but wanted to be sure – and she’s giving Julie the credit for coming up with the idea first.

    • Nightmask
      2015-01-11, 1:14 am | # | Reply

      Well mages at least, particularly the powerful ones, tend to have as a requirement a need to consider themselves infallible particularly in their bailiwick. It’s why you see Dr. Strange and his enemies so often engaging in breaking speeches trying to shake their opponent’s belief in their infallibility as it weakens their magic. Plus group leaders in general start developing a feeling of infallibility due to leading a group for so long (only the best remain willing to listen to others fairly and compile things to go with the best idea to deal with something even if it isn’t their idea).

  18. Christopher
    2015-01-07, 9:00 pm | # | Reply

    Ah yes. Getting an proper name in a world full of supers can be tricky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xQUlQ-iys

  19. trlkly
    2015-01-08, 8:39 am | # | Reply

    I figured there’d be someone asking what the test was, but maybe y’all are all so smart you figured it out, too. They stood still, and waited to see if the others would catch up with them again.

  20. William H. Stoddard
    2015-01-09, 12:26 pm | # | Reply

    All the discussion above of 84’s stats as a superhero, and what kind of rolls she’s making, strike me as a bit beside the point. This particular episode isn’t a superhero story; it’s a fairy tale, the kind of story where the youngest brother wins out through common sense and good will. Stat checks aren’t in it in this genre. Julie’s the perfect hero for this kind of story—and of course a quest for a mystic egg is a fairy story.

  21. Ed Rhodes
    2015-01-09, 3:28 pm | # | Reply

    So the egg is running on a Hanna-Barbara engine? 🙂

    (For those not old enough, Hanna-Barbara was (and still is) an animation company that, in the 60’s, was famous for creating the “ghetto school” of animation where only the part of the body that had to move was animated and characters would walk (and sometimes run) past the same landmarks in a room multiple times!)

  22. Delver
    2015-01-10, 7:30 am | # | Reply

    You know if this were real there would be a time when 84 would shock herself when she realizes she has grown enough to not have to hover to have a face to face conversation with someone.

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