SCIENTIA REX M&M3e Build Playtest -- Namor vs. Doctor MarvelJune figured she had better make up her mind as quickly as possible, between two bad options, she had a few million people counting on her to take the least worst path. She could intercept the Atlantean, try to talk him down, piss him off more, and get her neck broken... or she could skip the diplomacy, hope to land a sucker punch, and
then get her neck broken. She knew what Captain Marvel would do... she also knew that the Big Red Cheese could
handle Namor if (and when) diplomacy failed.
So then... sucker punch.
Oracle's intel was limited, S.E.C.Net sonar stopped tracking Namor the moment he went airborne, satelite feeds were on a time delay of several seconds, and Namor was staying below commercial and even military radar. Oracle had given June the numbers, but Doctor Marvel let her handcrafted "Wisdom of Solomon" help her double check the math.
"An enraged Atlantean leaves the Atlantic Ocean, travelling at a speed of 200 knots, at an altitude of 800 meters." June said to herself, "Now, who can tell the class how long it will take the school board to find a substitute for your soon to be splattered teacher? Anyone? Anyone?"
PREGAMEDoctor Marvel is my original character and presonal PC, here character build is the very first in
this thread. At PL10/150PP she's the clear underdog, not to mention she has no real aquatic abilities.
Namor, the Avenging Son, is the oldest character in Marvel Comics line-up and my build of him is found on page twevele of
this very thread. At PL12/212 PP and with the fight taking place over the water, the edge is his.
Doctor Marvel's goal is to keep Namor from reaching Delaware Bay (and thus Metropolis or Gotham City) for two minutes (twenty combat rounds) at which point the JSA will arrive and bail her out. The fight opens with Marvel intercepting Namor at a point roughly 17 miles from the mouth of bay over the Atlantic.
ROUND ONEInitiative: Marvel (44) Namor (18)
Conditions: Marvel (--) Namor (--)
"Great. I'm quipping now," she thought as she closed in on the Atlantean from above, "I'm about to become shark-bait and I'm quipping. To myself. Okay, Issac Newton don't fail me now..."
Doctor Marvel braced herself for the impact; colliding with Namor at speeds in excess of Mach 84. She was coming out of the sun and, apparently, the Atlantean was unprepared, he tumbled through the air uncontrolled for a moment before regaining control. He looked dazed... breifly. He then lunges through the air, roaring in defiance:
"IMPERIOUS REX!"They both loose altitude, spiralling dramatically as the Avenging Son tries to drag her beneath the waves. Before they can fall too far, Marvel slips from his grasp and resumes flight...
Round One opens with Marvel using Speed of Mercury and Stamina of Atlas from her Rings. She elects to make a Slam Attack. She's takes a full Move at Flight 15 for a total of +6 to hit with damage effect 16.
Fate smiles on the Doctor, she opens the festivities with a 20! She opts to apply the Increased Effect Bonus, for a damage effect of 21; Namor must now make a Toughness check against DC 36, he rolls a 6 for a 20 total. Three degress of failure, so Namor is Staggered.
Marvel needs to check for her own damage, a Toughness check against DC 25; she rolls a 12 for a 27 total.
Namor is now at close range and attempts to Grab Marvel. As he is Dazed he is limited to a single Standard Action (otherwise he'd make a standard attack and follow up with a Fast Grab). It's beginning to look like a bad day for the Atlantean, he only rolls a 2(!) but that works out to be a 16, which is more than enough to beat Marvel's 11 Parry. Her resistance check of 23 overcomes his Strength and she eludes his grasp.
ROUND TWOInitiative: Marvel (54) Namor (20)
Conditions: Marvel (--) Namor (Staggered; -1 Checks)
Doctor Marvel can tell that Namor got his bell rung from her slam, so she quickly manuvers to put some distance between them... and to settle this fight at a distance where she'll have some advantage. She keeps
Speed of Mercury active, but switches to the
Power of Zeus with her other ring. She flies 800' above Namor, spins to fix him in her gave and shouts her own battlecry: "
SHAZAM!"
"You would strike at me with the storm?" Namor shouted in defiance, as he very nearly danced around the lightning bolt, "The God of Thunder himself has never bested me! You shall not stay the hand with such puny mimicry -- have at thee!"
Round Two opens with Marvel using Speed of Mercury and using a free action to swap to Power of Zeus from her Rings. Her Flight 14 easily lets her reach maximum range with a Move Action; she brings the thunder with her Standard Action. Namor needs to Dodge against DC18, he gets a 26 total.
Namor uses his move action to close distance, with his Flight 6 easily closing gap between the two.
ROUND THREEInitiative: Marvel (45) Namor (9)
Conditions: Marvel (--) Namor (Staggered; -1 Checks)
"Good lord, he can't match my raw speed," Marvel thought, again putting several hundred feet between them, "But at this distance he doesn't have too... and if I back off too far, he wins anyway. He dodged once, can he keep it up?"
Another tremendous bolt of lighting raced from the heavens, Namor laughed, rolling to the side at the last possible second... with a laugh, he hurled his trident. Doctor Marvel swiftly rolled to the right, but it had been hurled with amazing strentgh and she was thankful she'd managed.
Round Three has Marvel continuing with Mercury and Zeus. She throws another lightning bolt -- Namor beats the DC18 Dodge with an 18 on the nose.
Namor has a medium range of 800' on his Trident, and Marvel had put herself at the long range of her lightning, which is 800'. His to Hit of 13 misses Marvel's 15 Dodge.
ROUND FOURInitiative: Marvel (45) Namor (16)
Conditions: Marvel (--) Namor (Staggered; -1 Checks)
"Third times the charm, right?" Marvel asked as she again readied her ring's energy: "
SHAZAM!"
Either Namor's speed fails him or perhaps June was right and the third bolt really was blessed by some fickle God, because it catches Namor square in his well-muscled chest. He grits his teeth, but within a blink of an eye the energy of the storm is spent and he is still flying.
"Grarr..." he rushes towards Marvel, "Your tricks mean nothing to me! Nothing! Stand aside or stand still and face me!"
Round Four has Marvel continuing with Mercury and Zeus. Another bolt of lighting, this time Namor only manages a 12 and is struck.
Namor needs to make a Toughness Check, with a -1 penalty against DC 23; he rolls an for a 21 total... for one degree of failure.
Namor uses a move action to get into close range.
ROUND FIVEInitiative: Marvel (45) Namor (16)
Conditions: Marvel (--) Namor (Staggered; -2 Checks)
"Okay... time to get stupid." June said, as Namor rushed into punching distance. They were roughly 3000 feet in the air, even without the Wisdom of Solomon she knew her basic maths -- she's have a couple of seconds of free fall to save her ass if this didn't work -- she hoped. With a sudden force of will to over come all doubts, she switched the powers of both Rings at once. Strength and martial prowess swept through her, but she was dropping like a stone... straight into the face of the oncoming Atlantean!
Namor clearly didn't expect this to happen, the falling Doctor Marvel lands an mighty upper-cut on him while she falls straight down! He reels from the blow but recovers in time to smack her before she drops too far...
At the top of Round Five Marvel uses a Hero Point to pay for the Extra Effort to use two Free Actions, swapping both her Ring Arrays for Courage of Achilles and Strength of Hercules.
Namor had already put them at Close Range, so Marvel makes an unarmed attack; going All-Out Attack she rolls a 19 for a mighty 34 to hit. Smacking Namor square, he needs to make a Toughness Check, with a -2 penalty against DC25. He rolls a mere 3, for a 15 total!
Namor attacks back, his 22 total to hit easily beating the now nearly defenseless Marvel; Marvel fails her Toughness check against Namor's attack by 13, and will be dazed until the end of her next turn.
ROUND SIXInitiative: Marvel (18) Namor (17)
Conditions: Marvel (Dazed; -1 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -3 Checks)
The wind rushing past her ears is lost to the ringing in her head from Namor's blow. But the calming influence of the Courage of Achilles lets her keep her wits, as she reactivates the Speed of Mercury... Namor had got her good, but she was giving as good as she got and he was beginning to, maybe, hopefully, look the worse for wear. Sort of...
Namor took a moment to marvel at this woman, as she regainned the power of flight and swooped gracefully through the air. No matter, he was on a mission and she meant to stop him. Therefore she had to be eliminated.
Marvel swaps the Strength of Hercules for the Speed of Mercury, being dazed this is all she can do.
Namor, still Staggered, uses his Move Action to chase after the falling Doctor Marvel, keeping the two at Close Range.
ROUND SEVENInitiative: Marvel (48) Namor (19)
Conditions: Marvel (-1 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -3 Checks)
Marvel regains her wits, steadies her flight path and calls up the protective aura of Atlas. As Namor closes, she tucks and rolls, with a diving high-kick to his midsection... he shifts a bit at the last moment, her foot catches him in the ribs rather than the kiddney, but she can feel something crack under her heel.
Namor responds with uncanny speed, grabbing her leg firmly and pulling her close: rendering her immobile and leaving her vulnerable...
Marvel swaps out Courage of Achilles for Stamina of Atlas. She then proceeds to attack.
Marvel makes an Power Attack, and with another display of amazing luck rolls another natural 20! Again she opts for Increased Effect, so the final damage total is DC 25. Namor rolls a 14, for a final total of 24... the damage is beginning to pile up.
Namor attempts a Grab and catches Marvel easily with a 24, she fails to break free and is Restrained.
ROUND EIGHTInitiative: Marvel (38) Namor (12)
Conditions: Marvel (Restrained; -1 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -4 Checks)
"He smells like Old Spice and bath salts." Marvel thought in a flash, "Why do the weirdest things always pop into my brain in these situations."
Marvel's ring hummed and she felt the Strength of Hercules fill her body, she strainned against the Atlantean with the might of Olympus: "Let. ME.
GO!"
Namor grunts in shock and pain, the woman suddenly was as strong as an Orca and tore herself from his grasp... and then dropped like a stone.
"First she runs away to the clouds, then she falls toward the sea. Then the clouds, then the sea." Namor wondered at this odd woman, "I cannot decide if this woman is the bravest of all the dirt-bound surface folk... or the most foolish."
Marvel retains the Stamina of Atlas, but swaps Mercury for Hercules... she then uses her Move action to make an Escape attempt. She succeeds!
Namor is growing impaitent, but follows after her... bringing them back into close range.
ROUND NINEInitiative: Marvel (23) Namor (18)
Conditions: Marvel (-1 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -4 Checks)
"I am getting tired off thiiiiiis---!" Marvel shouted as she dropped several hundred feet before the power of Mercury swept over her and she pulled out of freefall and swooped upwards, quickly pouring on as much acceleration as she could... she looped up and over the Atlantean, and came thundering into him at several times the speed of sound.
The impact force could have shattered steel, but all it seemed to do was knock the wind out of Namor. Briefly. He clenched both fists together above his head and brought them down like a jackhammer on Marvel's back... her vision went black for a split second, pain rushing through her body like lightning.
Marvel now has the Stamina of Atlas and Speed of Mercury using her free action to switch; she uses a full move action for another Slam.
With her Flight 15 that's a total of +6 to hit with damage effect 16; she rolls an 16, for a 22 total beating Namor's Dodge; Namor needs to make a Toughness chek at a -4 penalty against DC 31... The Avenging Son only rolls a 5, for a total of 19. He spends his Hero Point for a re-roll, this time getting a 13 for a 24 total. He still fails, but the penalty is far less dreadful.
Namor uses Power Attack, rolling a total of 17 to hit. Marvel must make a Toughness Check against DC34, she manages only a 24... and is again Dazed.
ROUND TENInitiative: Marvel (50) Namor (18)
Conditions: Marvel (Dazed, -2 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -5 Checks)
Head ringing and stars dazing in front of her eyes, Marvel just tries to put as must distance between Namor and herself as possible, without loosing sight of him. The Atlantean gives chase but she cannot hear him over the roar of the wind and distance.
Marvel keeps Stamina of Atlas and Speed of Mercury. She flies roughly 2000' away... Namor closes that gap to about 200'.
ROUND ELEVENInitiative: Marvel (55) Namor (12)
Conditions: Marvel (-2 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -5 Checks)
"Okay," she thought, "Enough of the macho kung-fu. Let's do this cheap and dirty --
SHAZAM!"
Namor charges straight through the bolt, slowed only for a moment and bellowing in rage.
Marvel keeps Speed of Mercury but opts for Power of Zeus on her other ring with a Free Action, her Move action take her to 800' distance, and her Standard Action brings the lightning... Namor's Dodge fails and he needs to test against DC23 with a -5 penalty. He rolls a lowly 8, for a grand total of 15.
Namor move to bring the distance to close range.
ROUNDS ELEVEN to FOURTEENMarvel keeps the distance open with Speed of Mercury
and spamming the Power of Zeus
. Namor manages to Dodge everything and/or soak the damage. Until...ROUND FIFTEENInitiative: Marvel (45) Namor (17)
Conditions: Marvel (-2 to Checks) Namor (Staggered; -6 Checks)
"SHA-goddam-ZAM!" Marvel continued to back away from her opponent with the speed of a fighter jet, as yet another bolt out of the blue crashed into Namor.
To Marvel's exhausted amazement, Namor didn't roar in defiance or cry out in pain. He just sort of, paused. As the last of the lighting passed through him, he began to fall. Turning end over end, clearly out of control... out of action. She'd done it!
Now she just needed to catch him before he broke his spine from the fall...
Marvel keeps Speed of Mercury and Power of Zeus, her Move action take her to 800' and her Standard Action zaps Namor... Namor's Dodge fails once again, his test against DC23 with a -6 penalty sees him rolling a 2(!), which only gives him an 8 altogether... Namor is incapacitated!
AFTER-ACTION REPORT
Doctor Marvel wins! How about that? The fight shifted her way almost from the get-go, had her openning Slam Attack not resulted in that Critical Hit -- or even missed altogether -- Namor would have had his full range of actions. Putting that Staggered Condition on him is, ultimately, what kept Marvel in the fight.
Namor played more-or-less how I'd want him to. He's fast, he's got a throwing weapon, but ultimately he wants to get into close range and "wrassle."
Doctor Marvel, as expected, continues to "punch above her weight" when she has the right combination of powers active from her Ring of Wonders array; the trick is being able to pick the right combo for the moment. She really needed speed, strength, and invulnerability in order to match Namor. She could only use two. Eventually the best option really did seem to be to just play keep-away, the Damage 8 Lightning wasn't a great threat to a healthy Namor, but when the Toughness penalty got big enough... Shazam.