In honor of the new "Heroic Age" at Marvel right now, I'm in the process of writing a brand-new adventure featuring the Classic Marvel roleplaying game from TSR. For complete rules and forums for this long out-of-print but still popular game, go to Classic Marvel Forever.com.
I post this first Chapter just as a way to continue my own writing enjoyment, and I am fully aware this isn't playtested. Perhaps you might want to read just for your own reading enjoyment, fully aware that you really wouldn't ever play it. Feel free to keep reading, but realize this is more draft-ish. When I'm done, I'll have the whole thing free to download as a .pdf and you can read, run the game, or find someone to be your Judge so you can play it! Regardless, I hope you enjoy...
CHAPTER 1: The Call Goes Forth!
Summary
The heroes receive individual distress calls to alert them of the menace of the monstrous Glob!
Set-Up
Invite the heroes to embellish the following scenes of a regular weekday morning… a morning that just might get interrupted!
- Amadeus Cho is in the middle of the Arizona desert, sitting on top of a cage with a half-dozen wild chupacabras (think of a monster-mix of reptile and kangaroo that eats goats) inside. The battle was long and draining, and he’s just waiting for an Olympus Group transport to arrive so they can relocate the beasts to Monster Isle.
- Rockslide, in disguise as much as he can be, is in New York to catch the upcoming Unlimited Brawling Championship match, and it:s about to start. The game is still very much “underground,” so he:s right to feel more than a little nervous. Still, Rockslide:s teammate Anole had dared him to not only catch a game but to get the autograph of the villainous Man-Killer who is about to go on stage.
- Captain America is waiting on a rooftop to rendezvous with the Black Widow; she:s on a mission and he managed to get some sensitive intel she might find useful.
- Firestar (as Angelica Jones) is in line at the admissions office for her school, hoping to finalize some paper work before today:s deadline, and after three earlier trips failed to do so. Thankfully, she:s only one person away from the next available window!
- The Black Cat is in a pawn shop, undercover, tyring to photograph evidence that the owner is fence for stolen jewelry. She:ll need to ask to see the jewelry then use a secret camera, but he seems spooked. If she doesn:t get it now, the fence will move the merchandise before she can return a second time.
The call to action (in this case, a literal call to action!) will occur, of course, at the most inconvenient time. For Amadeus and Rockslide, the call may come after answering their cell phone. For Captain America, the call comes simultaneously over a closed-circuit comm link reserved by SHIELD, while for Firestar, the call comes through the television that serves to distract students from the boredom of the admissions office line, interrupting the daytime talkshow. The Black Cat will hear the call over the pawn shop:s in-store radio. (Note that while the players are aware of the same call being heard five different ways, the characters are not.) Read the following to the players:
'Whee-oo! Whee-ooo! The alarming signal certainly does its job of attracting your attention! A mechanically-distorted, disguised voice declares: “Attention, Network! Class 5 villain now wreaking havoc at the Wickhessian Quarry, New Jersey. You and four others will engage and recruit for our destructive ranks! The Network grows! Coordiantes as follows…”'
Sure enough, if the heroes investigate (by switching to a news channel or by checking in with teammates/Contacts) they will hear reports of a monster who suddenly appeared and is currently rampaging in a New Jersey quarry, and lives and property are in danger! They must somehow excuse themselves from their respective situations to investigate. Let the heroes role-play out their response—they are free to fulfill their scene, or they may want to drop what they are doing and run! After everyone has described their scene, give a bonus to Karma to those who described how they stayed for a while to fulfill their personal obligations.
(I'll post the remainder as an extended entry just in case you want to be surprised!)
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