Age of Ultron: Part I
I was reading the Age of Ultron series last week (still ongoing with two issues out so far) and thought, “this would make a great Event.” Rather than wait, I decided to jot down the first Action Scene and send it off to Andrew. He liked it, and wrote up the Transition Scene that covers the end of Issue 1, through issue 2. As the story progresses, I hope to have the rest of the story play out here. if you run this, please let us know!
Thanks to Andrew for writing up the Transition Scene and laying out the post.
Action Scene: How the Mighty Have Fallen
The first action scene should be one of the heroes (preferably a street level hero such as Luke Cage, Hawkeye, Daredevil or someone else) breaking one of the other player characters free. This character is in bad shape, and can’t act until the Street Hero saves them. The other hero is being tortured, and is slowly losing it. 
The house is defended by a few minor villains (any two from the MHR Breakout will do fine.) In addition, there are also Loyal Henchmen (D8 Scene Complication). The building has paper-thin walls, creaky floorboards, and numerous corners to hide in. All of these are scene distinctions.
The captured hero is in bad shape. They know Ultron’s Drones are on their way, and so begin with D4 Emotional Stress. Each turn they step up their either their Emotional Stress or their Physical Stress (as they get weaker), alternating each turn between the two. If they step past D12, they stop at D4 Trauma, but are unconscious. They now become a D6 Deadweight Complication.
The hero must get down to the basement, but can’t do so until he inflicts at least D8 physical stress on both supervillains guarding the prisoner. Once down to the basement, he finds the hero bound in whatever manner is needed to keep them in place (ropes for Spider-Man, Uru chains for Thor, that kind of thing)
Once the other hero has been freed, the Ultron Sentries show up. They intend to destroy the building, killing everyone inside. The whole building shakes and rumbles, a D12 Complication. There’s no use trying to destroy them. They’re too strong. You’re better off getting away. Once out of the building, there’s enough rubble to hide in to escape to Central Park and the crashed Helicarrier.
Transition Scene: Broken, Beaten, and Scarred
This scene can take place after How the Mighty Have Fallen.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier crashed in Central Park and is being used as a hideout for the surviving heroes in New York City. The heroes gathered there are distrustful, and in some cases hostile, to new additions to the group. They are wounded, broken, and demoralized.
When new heroes arrive at the Helicarrier, they are immediately accosted by the posted guards. These guards should be other player characters or two street level heroes. If the new heroes offer no resistance, they should be detained until they can be scanned. Tony Stark has developed a handheld scanner that he believes should detect any “bugs” that Ultron could have infected the newcomers with. There is no guarantee it is 100% effective, and it is dangerous to use because any tech could be detected by Ultron. The Watcher can determine if it is appropriate to ask for rolls vs. the doom pool when the scanner is used.
Once in the interior of the Helicarrier the scene resembles a refugee camp. Conditions are cramped and spartan, and many of the gathered heroes are unrecognizable from their usual appearance. There are ample opportunities here for the characters to take actions to attempt to improve the situation. Here are a few suggestions to get you going.
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Medical: Characters can attempt to tend to the many wounded or offer basic first aid training to any others that might want it.
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Tech: Repair a hero’s gear, or work on some way to shield advanced tech from Ultron’s scanning.
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Psych: Some of the others aren’t dealing well with the horrors they have seen as this apocalypse played out. Maybe some consoling and counseling can improve their state of mind.
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Menace: Functionally the same as a Psych action, just using some tough love and threats instead.
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Covert: No one is supposed to leave the compound, but maybe someone has a useful piece of intelligence information they gathered as they were making their run to the Helicarrier.
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Vehicle: Maybe a character can cobble together some low-tech transportation in case anyone needs to make another run outside.
It is entirely possible that this scene could devolve into a Player Hero vs. Player Hero fight. If so, refer to the Civil War Event Book (CW08) for suggestions on resolving hero vs. hero conflicts.
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4 comments on “Age of Ultron: Part I”
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Marvel Plot Points 
When you say “alternating betweent the two”, do you mean between Emotional and Physical Stress or between the two characters?
Sorry, should have been clearer. The captured character fluctuates between emotional and physical stress
Looking good Mark, can’t wait for the next part. Is there a series prior to Age of Ultron that sets up the destruction of New York and how the heroes came to be in such a bad state or is that going to be explained in the comics through flashback? I get my Marvel fix through old Graphic Novels so I’m not fully up to speed with recent events.
There’s no events that lead up to it, it’s just a standalone storyline.