Category: The Gauntlet: Our Community

Played a bit of impromptu Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Thursday night with my son Christopher so that he could “test drive” the Protector, his Revolutionary War era hero. On Manhattan Island, the Protector was disturbed by several brutal murders of outspoken local Patriots, most recently one John Owens, a newspaper publisher who was found butchered in his home.

The Protector started his investigation a little befuddled, so Christopher used a PP to create a resource (Oracle of Apollo d6). Our hero went to Niko’s, a small tavern in the basement of which resides this mysterious figure. Via the sacred mists, the Oracle revealed:

“Caps of blood on heads of three, you seek killers from across the sea. If you look high, they are not nigh. Seek your foe where few dare go.”

For some reason, “Caps of blood” made the Protector think of sailors. He returned to his offices, but found nothing in his business papers that was helpful. He then reviewed recent newspapers, and discovered Owens had been very critical of Nigel Robinson, a Royalist customs official, accusing Robinson of crimes and misdemeanors.

Thinking that there might be a connection between Robinson and Owens’s murder, the Protector heading through the dark, chilly Manhattan streets to the customs house. Of course, it was locked up tight for the night, but a mere window posed little difficulty for the Protector. While he didn’t know where Robinson’s office was located, the Protector did know it was on the second floor, so head moved through the Dark Government Building (scene distinction!). The second floor was darker than the first, so the Protector found and lit a lantern. He quickly located Robinson’s office and, with a well-placed kick, forced the door.

While the Protector searched Robinson’s desk and files, he didn’t see or hear the soldiers enter the building from the street, alerted by the lone lantern light glowing through the second storey windows. Consequently, our hero was ambushed by three Redcoats (doom die spent for them to go first). The soldiers entered, pistols aimed and readied, and told the Protector to surrender. The Protector did not do as ordered.

The soldiers opened fire, but the Protector used his shield to deflect the bullets. Then, he charged, taking one soldier to the floor with a tackle. The soldiers reversed their grips, using their pistols as bludgeons, but the Protector managed to deflect or dodge their numerous blows. A fierce but brief fight ensued, and, in short order, two soldiers sprawled unconscious on the floor. The third, barely more than a youth, surrendered.

The Protector talked with this soldier, one Thomas Williams, fresh in the colonies and frightened by the armored and armed man who had single-handedly overcame two soldiers. Williams didn’t know anything that helped the Protector’s search for answers, but the young soldier did seem amenable to keeping his eyes and ears open. After all, politics aside, men were being murdered. Williams agreed to leave word at Niko’s for “Pallas” if he came across any useful information. (This set up the possibility that Christopher could later use Williams as a resource.)

With a few hours of darkness left, the Protector decided to make one more stop. This time, he chose a high-risk target, namely the burrough morgue in the basement of a police building.

What happens next? Will our hero find the killer or killers? Or will the murders go unpunished? Only time (and another game session) will tell!