Endgame's End Game

 Putting down for posterity the events which concluded the racially motivated arsons adventure arc in my The Blood of Heroes (tBoH)supers roleplaying game. The portable drive got jostled during play and stopped saving data half way through. What I have is going up as an episode for the podcast, but much needs to be shared here.

Bug and Mettle drop back into the halls of the closed radio building and force their way into Endgame's control room where the mobster has the brainwashed Shamrock Bane film crew. It is all set up for round 2 against Troll and more special ops soldiers when Endgame takes their offer of de-escalation.  The gangster can't believe it at first but eventually comes around to the fact the PCs mean what they say. Turn over Shamrock and they will walk away. Further, don't sell guns and terrorize people and the PCs would leave Endgame unmolested long term. 

If Bug and Mettle can keep the other players in line as well Endgame is content to "play" along with the PCs. The value in de-escalation to overall profits is not lost on Endgame and he can't turn down the numbers. Of course he believes he can get another chance at killing the PCs down the road.

Before the PCs return to the city with their traumatized friend a mysterious black helicopter appears over the radio station and fires several Hellfire missiles into it. The attack copter delivers its full payload of 8 missiles before flying away. The building is nothing but a smoking pile of rubble. Nothing could survive the collapse if they were inside. It could only be assumed Endgame and his minions were still inside at the beginning of the attack. Troll could survive though and this EE proved it by mutating further, gaining more mass, size and power! The heroic duo coordinate abilities and put the kaiju-sized villain down before he can destroy the suburbs. 

This prompts a call to Bisbee Sharp and the FBEE, see if the feds could clean up their mess. It is not a pleasing idea to the SAIC. He resents getting led around by the nose by the PCs as they smash Capitol City gangs. The PCs have been effective, but the cost in lives and property has turned the public opinion against EEs and the government's use of them as law officers. Bug and Mettle promise they are going to bring peace to the streets if left alone to do their work, but Bisbee has yet to see the full fruits of their labor. 

Shamrock Bane is turned over to the staff at New Bedlam Asylum to heal her mind. She gets transferred along with the serial arsonist the heroes helped the FBEE apprehend. Troll is packaged in the EE containment truck and driven north to the STARHOLD downport. Their holding cells are the strongest the FBEE has right now to contain powerful EEs.

And that is kind of it. The rest of the session was spent going over the connected events so far and considering where the game goes in the future. Plot-wise it will be searching for Creepazoid and his pals Backtrack and Leatherneck. These EEs were encountered in the very first episode of tBoH Capitol City campaign. Pretty cool we are going back to a cold story thread and following the string. Like most of the plot elements in the campaign world, Creepazoid and the story behind it is not really formed. I am not modeling the entire campaign setting, only where the PCs are and only what has relevance to the action at hand. Pretty standard GM techniques. 

With the deflation which comes with an adventure arc concluding I almost talked myself into taking a break. I have been running an online game of some sort non-stop since 2012. I am definitely feeling burnout and challenged to be enthused for another creative work out which is running a ttrpg is. But thankfully I reminded myself this isn't just for fun. There are a tremendous amount of new emotional frontiers to experience and ideas to engage with and so little time! It took me about 5 days to get out of the funk, the ennui. But once I had a plot situation worthy of engagement in mind the sheer determination to win at all creative costs has been sustained. Tally ho!