Secret War Transition Scene: Lucia’s Monologue
-Time Set: Present
-Type: Transition
Use this scene to move from the massive ambush attack at the hospital to either Assault on Castle Doom in the Past, or Stopping the Bomb in the Present.
The heroes are battered after being ambushed twice in one night. Just as they seem to be getting the upper hand against the horde of B-List bad guys, the mastermind behind the plot appears. Lucia Von Bardas apparently survived the incident in Latveria. Now she has assembled this cast of minor characters in a plot to get retribution against Nick Fury and his meddling.
Roleplay out the monologue however you see fit. Keep in mind that very few of the characters will have any knowledge of who Lucia is, or what she’s so mad about. Even the few that do remember might not recognize her. Her former beauty has been lost in the bionic implants that are both keeping her alive, and giving her powers.
Here are the main points of her raving in the comics:
- “Congratulations on your perseverance and American spirit. Most of you were supposed to be dead by now. But so was I. So I guess we’re even.”
- She has gone to great lengths to ensure that the heroes have no way of physically touching her.
- She wants to take out Nick Fury and his team of heroes, along with NYC. She intentionally gathered the heroes here to bear witness to her breaking Fury, before she destroys them all.
- She intends to use the bomb she is creating from the assembled tech to turn NYC into a wasteland.
During this scene, the heroes will not have a chance to use recovery actions. They can, however, attempt to cause Emotional or Mental stress to Lucia before combat resumes. She is beyond reasoning with, but can be goaded and mocked which will serve to increase her stress level. This means that when combat resumes the player will already have her stress dice that they will be able to include in their attack rolls.
At the end of this Transition Scene the players will have a decision to make. Spend the necessary PP to unlock Assault on Castle Doom in the Past, or continue in the Present and move into the Stopping the Bomb Action Scene.
4 comments on “Secret War Transition Scene: Lucia’s Monologue”
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Marvel Plot Points 
When I saw this. I thought of the movie Incredibles and the joke about how villains love to Monologue.
This has been a fun read; it’s made me not only want to go back and more than just skim the source material, but also run this Event someday.
Quick min/max type question about unlocking scenes with PP: beyond MHR being a more story-centric game and likely players that value the same, what are the incentives to unlock past scenes? Might the heroes get some sort of small mechanical edge similar to spending PP in combat or transitions? Step back stress due to renewed clarity or resolve? Just thinking hypothetically about roll-players here.
And my first request: would love to see Cypher and/or Madison Jefferies, who I think have been given new life in recent X-titles. Rock on, fellas!
Actualy besides learning what happened is the real reward. Some players may have millestones tied to past sequence, and that’s an opportunity to earn more xp.
If you fell that your group won’t be attracted to unlocking the past scenes, feel free to add more rewards, as you see fit.
Also, we would love to hear from people running this event.
I was thinking: Why do you mention that Lucia has to gone to great length to sotp heroes from physically touching her … when you don’t mention how? A hint to her Force Field and to maybe some of her allies would help, but maybe there should be additional precautions? MAybe there are, and I don’t know yet.