Secret War Action Scene: Assault on Castle Doom
-Time Set: Past
-Type: Action
This scene requires a number of Plot Points equal to the number of player characters to unlock.
Buildup: Getting to the Action
Open this scene where the previous Past scene (Gathering the Team) left off. The group is gathered in the safe house in Latveria. At this point Nick Fury will need to reveal the nature of the mission. To this point the characters don’t know what they are doing in Latveria. They just came when Fury called.
Fury should not reveal the full details of the plan (e.g. Killing Lucia). Just what the other characters need to know.
Main Points
- Tech based villains are being positioned within the US for a huge single act (or a scheduled series of acts) of terrorism.
- The villains are being funded by the Latverian government. So, the plan is to overthrow the government in order to prevent the act(s) of terrorism and cut off the source of funding.
Getting In
The players will be able to approach this scene in a couple of different ways. They can go with a full frontal assault, or try a stealth entry. The team will need to determine this before the mission begins. Just remember that most plans don’t survive contact with the enemy.
Also at this point Fury should give out the Kree-Tech Armor. Make sure every player has a copy of the Item Power Set.
Getting Out
The characters (except for Nick Fury, Daisy Johnson, or Black Widow) have no idea how they are getting out. Even if they asked before the mission started they were not told the truth.
Action: Assault on Castle Doom (Past)
This scene is a running battle through Castle Doom as the characters try to make their way to the Throne Room and the confrontation with Lucia Von Bardas. Use your own judgement to decide how many locations the team will need to work through to reach their goal. The difficulty in this scene is not that the individual enemies are that tough, but that there are a whole bunch of them. Most of the enemies in this scene are “faceless minions”. The players don’t necessarily have to defeat every enemy in a location before moving to the next. But, if they don’t, the enemies may try to follow them or call ahead and warn their allies that the characters are coming.
If the players are having too easy a time getting through the castle, throw some more bad guys at them. If they are having a tough time of it, you might consider giving them a chance to barricade themselves in a cleared room and have an brief Transition Scene. That way they will have a chance to use recovery actions and aid each other.
Locations
- Castle Exterior
- Distinction: Open to the Elements
- Interior Room
- Distinction: Furnishings
- Distinction: Places to Hide
- Stairways & Corridors
- Distinction: Confined Space
- Security Office
- Distinction: Enclosed Space
- Distinction: Lots of Tech
- Throne Room Foyer
- Distinction: Ornate Furnishings
- Distinction: Statues
All interior locations have the Complication: Security System- D10. This can be removed as usual, however it will return as the characters enter a new location. It can be shutdown for good only in the Security Office.
Enemies
If the players are trying a frontal assault, combat will likely start in the Castle Exterior against 3-4 Castle Doom Guards. A group of guards of this size might wait a round before using their We Need Backup SFX.
If the players are attempting a stealthy entrance, combat will likely start in an Interior Room or in the Stairways & Corridors. They may only encounter 1-2 Castle Doom Guards at first, but these guards will use We Need Backup on their first turn.
As the team makes its way through the castle they should begin encountering Tinkerer Tech Goons. Eventually they should be facing mostly these goons.
The fight in the Throne Room Foyer should be the biggest, most difficult combat of the scene. Enemies should be predominantly Tinkerer Tech Goons. Depending on the size of your group of PCs, you might also add a Mob of Guards.
Optional: Add knockoff versions of “Named Villains” to this combat. Choose one (or more) of the Secret War tech-based villains and ignore any Distinctions, Powersets, or Specialities not directly tied to the tech they are using.
Once the team has successfully cleared the foyer of threats, they can enter the Throne Room where they will find the cornered Lucia Von Bardas. At this point you will likely move to the Transition Scene: Encounter with Lucia and Fury’s Failsafe. However, if the group doesn’t have, or doesn’t want to spend the Plot Points to unlock that scene at this point, move to the Stop the Bomb Action Scene.
