This week we played the Lasers & Feelings hack for superheroes Power & Grace by an unknown author. We are a newly-formed team of supers known as Outsiders, a well-financed and connected team of four supers led by Saving Grace, the legacy of one of the greatest heroes of the previous generation, a trained martial arts expert. Also on the team is science researcher Silver Streak with his frictionless field generator suit that allows him to move at super-speed; Psi-Klone who uses his telekinetic mutant powers to protect the populace; and Miss Fortune, a brooding mystic from another dimension who can barely control her bad luck powers. We have formed as the Outsiders because each of our arch-enemies—mutant mastermind Revolt, wacky gadgeteer Widget, psychic vampire Luckystrike, and chaotic blaster The Troll—have banded together into a villainous syndicate that we can’t hope to match alone.
Our story begins with Saving Grace getting an alert about syndicate activity at an abandoned cathedral, so he contacts Psi-Klone to join him. Recognizing the insignia of a mutant underworld gang on the boxes a group of suspicious characters are moving into the cathedral, Saving Grace springs into action and easily defeats the half-dozen mooks. When he enters the truck, a trap is sprung and he’s trapped inside. Psi-Klone uses his powers to unlock the truck, but Troll blasts him just as the tumblers turn. Together, Saving Grace and Psi-Klone take out Widget, but as Troll escapes, he activates the pre-wired truck bomb. Psi-Klone launches the truck straight up above the cathedral, so the explosion causes damage but no loss of life.
Having captured Widget, Miss Fortune releases her powers while questioning him about the syndicate’s plans. Unfortunately for him, he lets slip enough random details that Silver Streak can piece together the group’s intentions. While we were fighting at the cathedral, Revolt was fomenting dissension among the mutant population and will be unleashing them upon the diplomatic function at the old mansion that houses the Silesian embassy. The objective is to assassinate the Silesian dictator and start a war between the mutant and the human populations. Despite his crimes, we decide we must protect the dictator to save the world from such a war.
We split up and secret ourselves throughout the party: Miss Fortune serving appetizers, Psi-Klone mingling with the guests, Saving Grace guarding the dictator directly, and Silver Streak patrolling the perimeter. Miss Fortune leads a pair of disguised mutants deep into the mansion but gets lost herself. Saving Grace finds the guard detail’s decisions suspect. A mysterious woman extends Revolt’s offer for Psi-Klone, a fellow mutant, to walk away now before it’s too late. And Silver Streak runs into the initial frontal assault by the horde of mutant forces. Inside, Troll leads the assassination squad and blasts through the window where Saving Grace is protecting the dictator. Psi-Klone refuses Revolt’s offer, and running toward Saving Grace and radioing for an evac of the dictator, opens a hole in the wall for Silver Streak to run through. As the dictator disappears in a flash of silver, Saving Grace takes down the Troll. Psi-Klone creates a massive telekinetic vortex to occupy the attackers while the civilians escape, and Saving Grace dashes for the control room to find Miss Fortune.
Lost in the mansion, Miss Fortune has encountered her nemesis, Luckystrike. He tries to persuade her to join him, for they are the same, two sides of the same coin. His good luck countering her back luck, together she could live a normal life. The pressure to resist and protect herself from his mental assault overwhelms her, so Fortune’s powers go out of control, causing the mansion to begin shaking apart. Luckystrike always steps just out of the way of any falling debris, but Saving Grace locates her on the monitors and races to her aid. He engages Luckystrike in hand-to-hand, each dodging the other, neither able to land a solid blow, until Saving Grace stuns Luckystrike long enough for the pair to escape.
Outside, Silver Streak trips a few blocks from the mansion, felled by a Widget trap. As the giggling gadgeteer spews his venom at Silver Streak and pulls the trigger on his multi-gun, the Streak grabs the dictator and dashes away. In the blink of an eye, he has sped up a car park, dropped the dictator, circled back and come down on Widget from behind and above, just as the energy begins to emerge from the device. Psi-Klone flies into the sky to meet Revolt, who soars above the mansion, conjuring lightning. Revolt taunts him about the inevitability of the war; humans being so easy to provoke, it’s only a matter of time. After several exchanges, Psi-Klone knocks Revolt out of the sky using a car, and as he descends to the ground is joined by the rest of us. Revolt unleashes a ball of chain lightning, but working together, we manage to short out Revolt’s powers and knock him out, ending the fight.
In the epilogue, we see Silver Streak in his lab disassembling one of Widget’s devices, and Psi-Klone reaching out to the mutant community. Miss Fortune runs off to be alone, but later she receives a text from Saving Grace asking if she’s like to hang out.
Story Games Club 