[RPG] Thrilling Tales of the Midnight Society #3

[stevekenson]

Warning! Potential spoilers for Adamant Entertainment’s The Golden Idol of Sikral ahead:

The Golden Idol of Sikral

Asked for assistance by Prof. Kenneth Gunn, Lilith’s father, the Midnighters investigate the disappearance of a manuscript by Prof. Gunn’s recently deceased associte, Prof. Brisby, tracing the theft to his nephew, Randolph. The younger Brisby has a considerable debt run up with Anthony Driogano, scion of the Freedom City Mob, and has apparently skipped town to Central America.

Tracking Brisby to the jungles of Nicaragua, the heroes find the hidden lost valley of the Quicharu. Captured by Quicharu warriors and brought before their chief, Five Deer, the heroes are to be tested to prove the truth of their claims. In the morning, they enter the Temple of Sikral, the Quicharu frog-god, closed off to the natives for generations after the secrets of the temple’s defenses were lost.

They overcome several traps and find chambers associated with the elements. Skyler uses his rocket pack to hold off a horde of flesh-eating beetles (until St. George collapses the entrance to seal them off) and Lilith braves a deadly sand-trap to get the last key needed to access the inner chamber of the temple. Securing the golden idol of Sikral, the heroes return to the Quicharu village. When Randolph Brisby attempts to hold Five Deer hostage, Lilith shoots the rogue, earning the gratitue of the Quicharu and their chief.

Comments

[mancerbear.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun, Steve. Are the heroes superpowered (to a degree) or are they all pulpy?

[xomec.livejournal.com]

They're all pulp heroes, but most of them have some funky abilities: Lilith Gunn has mystic pistols found on an archeological dig; Max Cain was raised on Utopia Isle (giving him greater than normal Might); Skyler Hawkins has a jet-pack; and Jason St. George was taught by the monks of Shambala Vale, so he's a highly capable martial artist.

[mancerbear.livejournal.com]

I like the feel of this Steve. I'm looking forward to reading more.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

My old Pulp Heroes campaign worked somewhat like this, though the PCs were all costumed adventurers in 1920s San Francisco. Amusingly, that group's name was also "The Midnight Society." I suppose it's sufficiently pulpish in feel to be a bit of a strange attractor in nomenclatural space.

Anyway, I set the guideline that characters had normal human characteristic maxima, and would pay double for any stats above that limit, or for anything resembling a superpower. But they were allowed to have amazing skills, advanced inventions, or minor strange talents. Within that limit, the players came up with

* Anubis, the Negro Avenger, a colored attorney who fought crime and racial oppression with his mighty fists and Egyptian-styled light armor
* Blackjack, son of a local mafiosi who had turned against his family's exploitative ways
* Doctor Delirium, a former stage magician who used startling illusions to trick his foes
* Professor Machina, an inventor who had created an autogyro and a gun that fired sedative darts
* The Silk Siren, daughter of the local police chief, trained by a Chinese servant in exotic allure to get men off guard and fighting skills to kick them into the middle of next week while they drooled

[mancerbear.livejournal.com]

In my campaign, I have a Pulp Era (19202-30) group caled the Watchmen Society. I think names ending in society have the right feel. I hope to do a time traveling adventure with my Modern Age Watch so they can see what is was like way back then for those characters. Even better, perhaps I can come up with an adventure that begins in the 1920's, and ends in the Modern Age, and have the players run both the Pulp heros, as well as their own.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

That sort of effect is fun. Joss Whedon's current run on Runaways has the early-twenty-first-century characters in early-twentieth-century New York City, encountering superpowered characters of that era—none of whom seem to be "superheroes," exactly. It's pretty well done, especially the bits of culture clash between the characters from the two eras.

[blktalon.livejournal.com]

sounds like a version of doc savage or the LXG (loved that movie.