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Sewer Kings
This is from Victory RPG’s Sewer Kings. Images are drawn by me, but after the ones in the module.
House Rules
- Prone people are +2 to hit hand-to-hand, absent cover.
- Spend an advantage when using Regeneration and get your Regeneration level in Strength back.
Raw Treatment
Succubus showed up in costume for combat practice that early morning. Flip-Flop gave her a hug, but The Reach looked carefully at her.
“I don’t think you’re better,” said The Reach. “It’s been just a week, and we only have your word.”
Succubus said, “I could say the same about you.” She made the “crazy” gesture near her temple. “We only have your word that you’re cured.”
“Mindbender says—”
“Oh, pshaw,” said Succubus. “We’ve never met Mindbender before. Who’s to say you didn’t ask one of your old chums to claim you are fixed, with some story about testing your students? Or even to pretend to be Mindbender?”
“I didn’t—”
“I didn’t think of that,” said Flip-Flop.
“If I’m lying, then I suffer,” said Succubus. “If you’re wrong, we all suffer.”
“Mindbender cleared me,” said The Reach plaintively. He did not feel in charge of the team at this second.
“I choose to believe you. If you would return the favor, it would go a long way to re-establishing harmony in the team.”
The Reach thought about it for a minute and then grinned. “Understood, and accepted.”
Flip-Flop let out a whoosh of breath. “So we’re all good now?”
“We’re good,” said The Reach.
“Yay!” said Flip-Flop. “We can work out! Except…”
“Except?” asked the Reach.
“I should confess something.” She looked ashamed and proud at the same time. “I kinda put a bug in the West Side Treatment Facility.”[1]
“A bug?” said the Reach. “I thought of it, but it’s an invasion of privacy.”
“City property, under threat, and no worse than her occasional ESP,” said Succubus.
“I don’t like the practice,” said The Reach.
Flip-Flop explained. “Tara was injured, you’ve been busy because you’re the only full-timer among us, and I’ve had classes because midterms are coming up. We know that the West Side Treatment Facility is important to their plans—I mean, we found a set of plans and a work schedule.” As if it were no-big-deal, she said, “So I happened to save Dr. Kittner a couple of weeks ago.” They didn’t respond. “The tech genius? Founder of Link Inc? God, sometimes you people are so ignorant. He’s a big deal.” [2]
“Okay,” said The Reach. “I know about Link. They made some kind of announcement a couple of weeks ago.”
“I was there! Anyway, I saved his life, thank you very much, good job me.”
“Good job, you,” said Succubus, sounding amused.
“Thank you. I went to him. He gave me a certain children’s Christmas toy that is used by parents to spy on children.”
“Gnome In The Home. Won’t that look out of place?”
“We took the character part off, added sound, improved the resolution, and put it into some dummy binders and hooked it up to the Internet. Then I put it in the treatment facility.”
“How did you get into the treatment facility?”
“I asked,” said Flip-Flop. “They’re very happy to let a young woman tour the facility if she asks. And when they weren’t looking I added the binder to their shelf.”[3] She shrugged. “It’s labeled ‘ISO 9000 Procedures’ so no-one will look.”
“Very good,” said Succubus. “Did you perhaps do that for pump station 4?”
“No. I’ve been kind of busy,” said Flip-Flop acerbically.
“You did a good thing, Flip-Flop. I was asking a hopeful question, not impugning your actions.”
“There was nothing in pump station 4,” said The Reach.
“Then. But now?” Succubus asked him.
“Okay, good point,” said Flip-Flop. “The station controls a lot of the west side, the guy said. I bet they’re connected.” She shrugged. “But I didn’t have time or equipment.”[4]
“I’ll make a phone call,” The Reach said, “have them check the pump station. What’s in the treatment facility?”
“I haven’t actually looked,” Flip-Flop admitted. “But I’d like to look now. Can we do it before practice?”
The Reach looked at Succubus and felt a pang of guilt when he saw where her costume had been patched. “Yes.”
Succubus nodded too. Flip-Flop moved to the computer keyboard and typed. “Nothing fancy for graphics or interface. Sorry.” She opened a computer window to show a low-resolution image of an office, with a door ahead of the camera and to the right. “I have software that compensates for the fish-eye lens but it really degrades the visual quality.”
“The angle doesn’t matter,” said The Reach. “Why is there no one there? I’d better call Detective Girard too.”
“She’s probably off,” said Succubus. “Her child was due. Also it’s six in the morning.”
“I’m waking her up. Let her hate me.” He stepped away to talk.
“I’ll put the feed on our phones.” Succubus handed over her phone, unlocked.
The Reach returned. “Girard is off-duty but she was awake — it’s a boy — and she gave me Manny’s number. He’s going to check it out. If the Treatment Facility is empty, we should check it out. Maybe we can be done by class time, Henny, but I’m not certain.”
“Enh. Stefan keeps good notes.” She pulled a face. “I’m going to have to get him a gift; this’ll be twice in two weeks.”
A human-crocodile hybrid walked into view in the treatment facility office. He was followed by Demo and some furry man they had never seen.
“Shhh, there should be sound,” said Flip-Flop. She twiddled with a mixer.
The sound was still awful. They could just make out the crocodile-man saying “—hide in case—” just before the furry fellow disappeared off-screen. Then he said, “—we start. Take your posit—” Demo shrugged, pointed to a camera on a tripod that had been brought in, and then she pointed down to the console.
“—starts it,” Demo said in her strong Boston accent. Then she left.
That left the crocodile-man alone.
“Crocodile? Maybe Sobek?” asked Succubus. “Egyptian crocodile god, believed to control the flooding of the Nile.”
“It’s going down,” said The Reach. “We’ll take the sky-bikes. Flip-Flop, stick with us even though you’re faster than the bikes. These two new guys might make it six to three, so we’re going to have to be smart.”
“They were pushovers,” said Flip-Flop. She saw that The Reach was looking at the patched area of Succubus’ costume again.
“They were outnumbered then, and they nearly killed us at the prisoner transport.”
“Me,” said Succubus. “They nearly killed me. But I’m better now.”
The Reach shook his head. “Now they outnumber us,” he said. “If we move fast, we might have the element of surprise. Thanks to you, Flip-Flop. Reconnaissance first; they’ve got a whole gang to back them up and we don’t know where the other three are.”
The Reach’s phone rang as they were getting on the bikes. “We’re on it, sir.” After more reassurances, he ended the call. “The Sewer Kings have acted,” he told the other two. “They’re blackmailing the city, and they backed up toilets in the studio of KYOT to prove it.”
“If they’re trying to horrify us, that’s the wrong target. Plenty people going to be glad KYOT got sewaged,” said Flip-Flop.
Succubus watched the broadcast threat on her phone. The KYOT anchor was talking about traffic and then there was a cut to inside the treatment facility. From the background, probably the camera that Demo had pointed out. Sobek — Sewer King, she corrected herself — ranted about the despoiling ways of humankind and then flooded the KYOT station with raw sewage. He ended the broadcast with “I sent your city the number of a bank account. You will transfer $192 million dollars into it by noon or I’ll start flooding your homes with your own filth!”
Succubus summarized it for the others, and commented, “Odd number.”
“That’s the police budget,” The Reach pointed out.
The facility looked quite nice once you ignored the open sewage processing tanks: the control building had been faced with a rustic surface so it looked like an old stone house (on this side with a single door). Green grass spread over the rest of the facility, broken only by the parking lot, the guard shack, and snaking paths that gave trucks access to the storage shed and several of the tanks. Morning fog clung to the lake and the grounds.
There was a big tent set up on the far side of the road, across from the entrance to the treatment facility. Uniformed officers were carrying things from police vans into the tent. The Reach said, “The tent is a command post the police are setting up. We go there first; we’d rather they didn’t shoot at us.”
A man carrying a big monitor looked at them and said, “You want Captain Jameson there.”
The Reach nodded and led them to a pair of people sketching things on a wheeled whiteboard easel, meant for a flat floor instead of the grass boulevard. The woman was in her fifties, in a police uniform, and looked crisp. The man had clearly been woken up, shoved his feet into sneakers, and drove here wearing pajamas and a leather jacket. He still had bed-head.
“No, I’m telling you, he can do it. He can send sewage to any place in the west half of the city, including two hospitals.” They both looked up at the approaching heroes.
“The Reach?” asked the woman. “And your students.”
“Teammates,” he replied. “Sitrep?”
“About an hour ago, at least five costumed individuals broke through an interior wall to the control room.”
“Could have just asked for a tour,” Flip-Flop muttered.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Go on.”
“Exterior looks fine, so they must have used one of the doors. There are two: front door and a fire exit by the locker room.”
“Cameras or security?” asked The Reach.
“There are cameras,” said the man. Jameson introduced him: Troy Bartkowski, the plant supervisor. “Front gate by the security hut. We got a shot of a costumed man looking outside the front door, but no one has gone in or out.”
“Are there hostages?” asked Succubus.
“There are supposed to be two people on duty. We assume they’re hostages,” said Bartkowski.
“The policy is clear: we don’t negotiate,” said Jameson.
“Can you show us the layout of the building?” asked Succubus.
“The building plans have mysteriously gone missing, but I can draw them,” Bartkowski said. He picked up a pen and started at the whiteboard. “The door is on our side. Corridors run down the outside, but the lakeside wall has the break room and the locker room.” He sketched a box and indicated the rooms. “Beside the break room are the washrooms and then a conference room we sometimes use. The other side — to the north — starting from the lake are the locker room, a hot office, my office, and two more conference rooms. The control room is in the middle of all that.”
“So they could have come through from any room?”
“There’s equipment,” said Flip-Flop.
“Right. Not from the east wall, which meets the lockers and break room. The console is there.”
“We saw it in the broadcast,” said Succubus.
“Right,” said Bartkowski. “The south wall has a big monitor on it, so probably not there. But the north wall has the bathrooms.”
“Why break through a wall, anyway?” asked Flip-Flop. “The door is right there, and the facility isn’t guarded.”
“To avoid cameras?” asked The Reach.
“Maybe. Are there cameras pointing at the lake side of the building?” asked Succubus. Bartkowski shook his head no. “They have a magnetist so they could have gone in the fire door.”
“What I would do is go in the fire door, walk around to the door, and overpower the staff,” said Flip-Flop. “Even if the door is locked it’s not going to stop them. Unless there’s security we don’t know about?”
“Guard station at the entrance; that’s it.”
“And there’s nothing on the cameras?” asked Succubus.
“Nothing.”
“The one guy can fly, but none of the others had transport abilities?” asked Flip-Flop.
“No. He could have carried the others on a metal cart,” said The Reach. He looked amused and proud by them thinking; he was trying to get them to think more tactically.
“There are at least five of them; we’d have seen a cart big enough to hold them. Teleport?” she asked Succubus.
“Maybe.” Succubus smiled. “But the reason they went through the interior wall was to hide the effects of the digging.”
“I wondered if you’d get there,” said The Reach.
“Sobek — sorry, ‘Sewer King’ — told someone to hide. Suppose that was their digger. They come up anywhere in the building, break the wall and the debris hides where the digger has disturbed the floor.”
“Okay, but what do we do? ” asked Flip-Flop. “They’re expecting Succubus to go through the window in the break room because that’s how she got in the bank. There’s probably not someone in the break room — too visible — but someone in the hall outside it. Another one or two at each of the doors. No matter which way we go in, they’re prepared for us.”
“So we don’t try to be sneaky,” said The Reach. “We take the shortest route from the front door. Speed is more important than anything; we want to take down Sewer King and disable the act. Priority order is the Sewer King, the hidden digger, and Lovebite, because she can make us do things we don’t want to.”
“You’re not going to…damage….the facility, are you?” asked Bartkowski.
“We think they already have. You have reports that they’ve burst through an interior wall.”
Troy looked unhappy with that.
“Okay,” said Flip-Flop. “Then we bust open the door, I throw one of the guarding ones across the lawn. You two go for the control room in any way you can — ooze under a door, blind teleport, whatever. I’ll deal with anybody outside and join you as quickly as I can.”
“The control room has two entrances. Hard to control,” said The Reach.
“We might be overwhelmed,” said Succubus. “Captain?”
“Depends who Flip-Flop throws out. Demo we can probably handle; the other two maybe not. But we can drive something up to block the door and slow him or her from getting back.”
“It will have to do,” said The Reach. “Get someone in a truck to block the door; we’re going in. Now.”
They gave the officer enough time to get the truck moving and on the property. Succubus reached out and checked the door. It was unlocked, so she threw it open.
Lockers blocked the entrance.
“Really?” said Flip-Flip. She flexed her hands and mentally grabbed the lockers. They didn’t move.[5] “That rat has welded them together so they’re too big to go through the door. Then I’ll push.” The fused lockers flew backward and through the wall to the room beyond.
Bartkowski whimpered. “My office.”
The Reach said, “Wait for it.”
There was the sound of the lockers sliding out.
“He’s moved them,” Flip-Flop reported. “I can’t see him so I’m going in.” She flew in like a bullet[6] and Scrap Iron flew out. He caught himself in mid-air and charged back in.
The Reach gave a thumbs-up to Succubus and extended a long thread of himself into the building. He spotted Lovebite who spotted him back, but he managed to get into the control room before she could act.
Sewer King saw him as he re-formed. “Gopher!” he shouted. “For you!”
The ground softened under The Reach and swallowed his feet and ankles.
Succubus stood in the shadow of the door she had opened and disappeared. She appeared right behind Lovebite, who was striding for the door.[7] Succubus hit Lovebite hard and bounced her off the wall. Lovebite fell down, unconscious.
The door to the women’s bathroom opened, and a grenade flew in to land before The Reach.[8] The Reach engulfed it with one rubbery hand.
Flip-Flop zipped past Scrap Pile and took up a spot at the entrance to the hall that led to the control room. “Go!” she shouted to Succubus, as the lockers slid across the floor to block them in, pushing Scrap Pile on the way. “He can move that, but it will keep him busy.”
The ground under The Reach softened again, and he fell farther down, to his chest. A normal man would have been trapped.
The lockers slid away again. Scrap Pile was standing there. “You’re not as good as I am,” he said.
“But I’m much more annoying, and cuter, too,” said Flip-Flop.
In the control room, Sewer King was pecking at controls. The Reach stretched out from where he was[9] and grabbed Sewer King from where he was and threw him into the women’s bathroom, at Demo.[10]
Flip-Flop heard, “Let me try, brother,” and a metallic Fusion was standing there and swung at her.[11] Fusion hit, but Flip-Flop smiled at him. “See? Annoying.”
Succubus opened the door to the control room and stepped in. There was only The Reach chest-deep in the floor. “Where’s Sobek? —Sewer King.”
“Bathroom.” The Reach inclined his head to the side.
“I’ll protect the panel. Can you get out?”
“Been busy.”[12]
Flip-Flop backed up to guard the door. “Hey, Scrappy-Doo. Your brother can’t really hit hard at all.” She reached out to Scrap Pile’s brain but was rattled by the hit and couldn’t hit him.
Scrap Pile growled and the mass of fused lockers blocked all three of them in.
Fusion swung again at Flip-Flop and missed.
Outside, Sewer King snarled and leaped back into the control room. He hit The Reach solidly and his tail lashed out at Succubus.[13] She stepped out of the way.
The Reach oozed out of the ground and reached out to grab Demo, then slammed her against the ground. Her costume absorbed all of the damage, but she was at least lying down.
Succubus tried to reach Sewer King, but he was too far away. Rather than ’port over to him, she stayed there. Every moment the panel was protected was a moment the city was protected.
Demo slowly got up and said, “You? I’ve got something special for you.”
“Don’t damage the controls,” cried Sewer King.
“Damn,” said Demo
Flip-Flop reached out mentally and twisted both brothers’ brains.[14]
“She’s doing the brain thing again!” said Scrap Iron. A bit of his costume detached and tried to fasten itself over her eyes.[15] This was the first time that Fusion had experienced it, and he screamed in pain. His swing was wild and hit the wall, making a hole.
Inside the control room, the ground softened under Succubus’ feet; she stepped aside. Sewer King also leapt at her[16] but missed with both his fist and tail. She reached out and touched Sewer King’s side, taking some of his life force[17] but she sensed he was vital; she might not be able to do it again.
In the outside chamber, Flip-Flop twisted their brains again. Fusion fell unconscious but Scrap Pile was holding on. Another metal piece flew off his costume[18] and wrapped around her head. “Gotcha!”
Flip-Flop concentrated. The last time they met, he had done this, and she had defeated it in the same way. She looked just past the metal and hit his brain again.
He fell down. She sighed and turned to the control room.
In the control room, the ground softened under Succubus and she sidestepped it again. Sewer King roared again and pushed himself to his feet.
The Reach looked at all of them and oozed out of the hole, then said, “You’re just a nuisance,” to Demo. He[19] wrapped his hand around Demo and immobilized her.
Succubus reached out and touched Demo.[20]
“What are you doing?” screamed Demo. She struggled but she couldn’t get free.
“What I do,” replied Succubus.
Flip-Flop flew in. “I think you’re the only one who can knock out Sewer King,” The Reach told her.
“On it,” said Flip-Flop. She touched her temple and said,[21] “His mind is tough.”
The ground softened again,[22] and Succubus stepped aside again. Sewer King charged[23] and hit her, knocking her aside, and his tail swished in the air over her head. The Reach slid his other stretched hand between Sewer King and Succubus.[24]
Flip-Flop[25] hit Sewer King’s mind successfully but that wasn’t enough. Sewer King roared and batted The Reach’s hand away. He swished his tail at Succubus but missed her.
The ground softened under where she stepped to avoid the tail, and she stumbled, partly caught by the ground.[26] The Reach made a sound, then caught himself. He knew her limitations, so he gave her shadow to work with, while tightening his grip on Demo.[27]
With the shadow, Succubus could teleport into the shadow of The Reach’s other hand, and she grabbed an exposed part of Demo. “Sorry to use you as a first aid station.”[28]
Demo squirmed[29] but couldn’t get free.
Flip-Flop called ut, “The expression is ‘Sorry not sorry.’”
“Oh. Then that,” Succubus replied.
Flip-Flop tried again to hit Sewer King’s mind.[30] The crocodile-human fell unconscious.
The Reach said quietly, “Demo next, please. I’d like to let go.”
Succubus[31] said, equally quietly, “There’s an open tunnel entrance in the women’s washroom. I’m on it.” She ran and dove into the hole.
Flip-Flop said, “You’re supposed to wait for us! Also, I think Sewer King has been broadcasting this.”[32] Demo sagged and The Reach gratefully set her down. “Digger guy, you should give up. Come here and things will be better for you.”
A moment later, Succubus reappeared. “He’s gone. Tunneled out and filled in the hole after him. The hostages are there, tied up.”
“And we have the rest of the gang’s supers,” said The Reach. “That’s a good morning’s work.”
Flip-Flop checked her phone. “And I still have time to make my class! See you!” She flew off.
“And I have work,” Succubus said.
“It was a mistake for me to become a full-time superhero, wasn’t it?” said The Reach. “Go do your days. And tell the police to get in here.”
To be done
Next Flight Skybikes
I don’t think these stats have been published yet.
| Handling | Speed | Structure | Armor | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 4 | 3 | — |
|
Sewer King (Birthright)
Game Mechanics
[1] Flip-Flop pays a Determination Point for this retcon.
[2] Succubus and The Reach make Intellect rolls, difficulty 4. The Reach makes his (4+1+2) but Succubus fails (5-2).
[3] I’d charge her, but I consider it part of the retcon she already made.
[4] Or the additional Determination Point.
[5] Not too heavy; the lockers are too big to go in the door.
[6] Does she grab him? 6>4, so yes, a moderate success.
[7] She hits: 7>4, so a roll for a slam too; 7>3, so a major success, and Lovebite is slammed against the wall (there’s nowhere else to go), so she takes an additional 5 Stamina and is out.
[8] She gets 5>(4-2), so a major success…except that The Reach is going to stunt Sensory Resistance, using “Not his first rodeo” Costs him his determination point
[9] He gets an 8>6, so he’s got a strong enough grip to yank.
[10] I’m not even going to roll for it, because I doubt he aimed.
[11] His prowess is high, but he rolls -1, so it’s 5>3, no slam, but 7 Stamina. Still, the force field soaks up most of it.
[12] He stunts Alternate Form Fluid, but he’s taking a Lost Panel to pay for it.
[13] His tail uses Prowess 6, but misses: 4<5.
[14] Flip-Flop spends her Determination Point to stunt Fast Attack, and hits both of them with Mental Blast: 10>5, 6>4, so both take 6 Stamina
[15] Scrap Pile stunts Dazzle, so she gets a Determination Point back. His roll, though is 4-2<4, and he misses.
[16] He rolled badly: 6-3<5
[17] Well, good roll, but he’s stronger than she has Energy Drain, so not likely to happen again: 10>7, but she takes 3 Stamina.
[18] His willpower is 5, her coordination is 4: he hits with 5+2>4
[19] Excellent roll. 8>3, so a massive success.
[20] 7>5, so 2 Stamina
[21] But she doesn’t hit with the mental blast: 4<6 and 2< 6
[22] Gopher rolls poorly: 2<5+2 because Succubus is being defensive now.
[23] She’s in defensive mode, but that’s not enough. 6+2>5+2
[24] Question: is Demo on the same side of the wall as Succubus? 47% yes.
[25] Fast Mental attack on Sewer King: both hit. 7>6, 11>6
[26] However, she spends her determination point on recovery.
[27] He and Succubus both get a Determination Point for teamwork; for the “wrestling” hold, he maintains his hold but doesn’t improve it (1<3)
[28] Hitting isn’t a problem; she’s in a full hold. For Energy Drain, Succubus gets 8>5, so 3 more stamina and Demo is that much closer to unconscious.
[29] Her Strength check is 4=4, marginal success, no effect.
[30] This time is a major success: 10>6, so 6 stamina
[31] Succubus spends her Determination Point on GM Insight, and the GM tells her that she noticed an open hole in the ground in the women’s washroom.
[32] To hit Demo, she gets 9>5, and Demo falls unconscious.
[33] So many characters that I went with a simple table in initiative order, with attack and defense values. Damage I can remember or look up.
