War ‘ing! The players should NOT read this, ONLY the (GamesMaster should read this section, This section contains the storyline and solutions to all the problems encountered, so it would clefeat the purpose for anyone playing to have foreknovrledge. For ‘one thing, it would spoil an important part ofthe fam if, asa player, you already know what mysteries lie around the corner And beware! Not only is the wrath of the GamesMaster temible (and ‘occasionally fatal), but your GM will change the story around and {you'll wind up with wrong answers anyway! Sof you area player, make life easier on everyone (especially you!) and read no further Yes, this means YOU! ‘Good. We're alone, That's important, because we have a fun, fast for-Inquest, Introductory Mission for you to throw at your players. AAs the GamesMaster part of your jobis to createa world forthe players to play in. Even though you are playing a specitic scenario and going on a relatively well-defined Mission, there is in theory) 1a whole world going on around you. ‘This special Mission has been written for the X-Men. The hard cover game guide features a totally different Premier Issue (made ‘up of 3 unified Missions) which can accommodate any of the Marvel Characters. And it can most definitely be run for unique characters created by you and your players. ‘So, le’ get started on your Missfon, shall we? MISSION GamesMaster Briefing ‘You may reveal the following to the players: It is New Year's Eve and the X-Men are celebrating, at the Mansion. Cyclops ison duly, Jann Grey is sick with the fl “Around 10:00 p:m, Professor X summons Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit and tells them that Cerebro has started blink= ing A mutant is beginning to manifest at the Club Noir, on the ‘West Side of Manhattan. Prof. X tells them that he is sorry to dis- turh their celebrations, but hé needs them to locate and retrieve the new mutant Gambit and Rogue know that there's a New Year's Eve costume party going on at the eub-they had considered going bat the cover was foo steep, Prof. X tells them it's their lucky might, then, and gives them $2000 each to cover the door charge and “extras” As itis a costume party, he suggests they might want to 0 in disguise. The players have the option of being mn any costume they want (within reason). He provides them with a Micto-Cerebro programmed with data on the new mutant from the main Cerebro unit, This device, disguised as a watch, will beep when it comes within 1D feet of its target, (l’s not programmed to locate other mutants at this time, though it could be) For the purposes of this Mission, Beast will chauifeur them in the Blackbird and pick them up when they're ready (Like Professor X, Beast is only an NPC, not available to be played in this Adventure) ‘You should not reveal the following to the players: Bee rote THE INQUEST MISSION: “NEW MUTANT’S EVE” A MARVEL UNIVERSE ROLEPLAYING GAME ADVENTURE ‘At this time, the players only know what Prof, X/has told them. However the GM knows that members ofthe Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Mystique, Sabretooth, Toad and Blob) are headed over to (Club Nois as well. They don’t know about the new mutant, but they have their own agenda: They're keeping, an eye on billionaire industrialist Mlonso Valor who is visting the club that evening, He is a guest of the mysterious new lead of the revived “Friends of Humanity” The antimutant society is trying to convince Valor to support their cause, Valor lost his wife in a tragic aceident and has blamed mutants for her death ever since, Mystique found out the foo would be meeting from a reliable source, in time to hatch a devious plan, She intends to find out who the new leader of the Friends of Humanity is, assume the guise of a NYC police officer, assassinate the leader at micnight and escape in the confusion. This will eliminate an enemy, drive a rift behwcen the FoH and the ‘cops Gro tend to be anti-mutant, anyway) and convince Valor that hhe doesn’t want to be associated with the FolT's violence and pub- Listy She has brought the rest of the Brotherhood with her as back ‘up, and has paid for all their admissions in advance, They will arrive atthe club about a half hour before the X-Men. SCENE 1 Outside the Club Noir, West 50's, Manhattan (Refer to Interior Map of Club Noir for entrance, exits) “Mote: GM shoud not reveal he see cor Bonus ‘Objectives until appropriate, SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: = BONUS OBJECTIVE: — Thwart the Brotherhood! plot. If desired players could lay the Brovierhood, In that case, ‘their Primary Objective isto identify and terminate the Friends of Humanity leader: Tieir Secondary Objective is to lay the blame on someone else"Their Bonus Objective is ta thwart the X-Men’s attempt ta recover the ny mutant (however they don't know about her, yet). When the X-Men arrive at the chyp (at 11:00), they first need to get inside. The dub is sold out (at $1500 a head cover charge), and the players have to igure out how to get inside. They have a num ber of options available ‘The bouncer at the door will ask for reservations, (They don't ‘have any:) He will then settle for $1750 each (there were some no: -shows-flu season-and he’s not above making a hile extra money on the side. He'll even be reasonable and back down to $1500 if pressed, His Resistance to being convinced /coereed is 3. If they don’t want to pay, the players have to come up with another solution. For example, Rogue might use her charms. Gambit could try to talk their way in. Wolverine can always threatx fen the Bouncer (unsheathing his claws would do the trick,Ithough this might ceate unwanted attention ‘There are also the exit doors, People may come out for air during the night, and even if they don't, with 3 stones of SCENE 2 Club Noir, Inside (Refer to Interior Map of Club Noir) Note: Fat any timne during this scene violence breaks out, ‘proceed immediately to Soene 3. (Once the X-Men get inside the cub, they wil se that there aze around 150-200 partygoers on the main floor and another 5), con the balcony: Many are costumed, but some are not. There is, an ultralarge video sereen over the bar showing the Ball about to drop in Times Square, Waiters are currently czeulating with snacks; at 1:45 they will begin to pass out the champagne for {he toast, There are security cameras mounted around the cu, easily noticeable for anyone who cares to look ‘Among, the various partiers are the new leader of the Friends of Humanity, Robert Peer, and his billionaire: industrialist guest, Alonso Valor. The two men are protected ‘by bodyguards (2 guarding Valor and two Friends of ‘Humanity goons guarding Peer). Valor and Peer are not in costume and are very busy talking. ‘There isa group of younger folks nearby: Valor's 154y old daughter, Serena, and three of her friends fom high school. They're al dressed as swingers from the 61's, in go-go boots, flowered mini-dresses and funky hairdos, Hovering around them are a group of three teenage members of the FoH. They are dressed as an axe-wielding Viking, a gun-tot 3 2S ba sng cowboy and a NY Yankee with a baseball bat. The Fol teens have been given instructions to makea good impression fon Serena and her friends. (Top Socret: the new mutant is._.Serenal OF course, neither the players, nor for that matter, Serena, know this yet) Additionally, there are about a dozen adult Friends of “Humanity members in and among the crowd. ‘The Brotherhood is there, but there is no way to distin- ‘guish them immediately because they are also in costume. Blob is dressed in a giant elephant costume, Mystique as a ey machine gun included) and Sabretooth as a grizzly bear 7 Toad as a 20's gangster (violin case containing +2 Remember, your players don’t know the Brotherhood is there, so don’t spill the beans until you've ready. There is Bigfoot about the size and shape of Sabretooth. There are a couple of ‘guys in inflatable Sumo wrestler costumes, as well as a huge dragon, any of which might be the Blob. By now the players should be moving among the crowd, scanning with the Micro-Cerebro. It will beep ifit comes with- in 10 feat of Serena Serena and her friends were unimpressed with the teens balcony area. The balcony has a see-through glass tile foor and, couches, Her personal bodyguards are nearby, giving her a little slack on New Yenr’s Eve It is possible that the Brotherhood will notice the X-Men first, Sabretooth will recognize Wolverine unless his face is, concealed, and may catch his scent, even in a crowded club, ‘They may also spot Cyclops’ trademark ruby glasses, if they ‘are not disguised or concealed in some way. Ifthey do see the X-Men, they will naturally assume that the X-Men are there i | ST/ALONSO VALOR | BILLIONATRE INDUSTRIALIST ABILITIES: EQUIPMENT: Intelligence: 3 CellPhone Strenaih: 2 ‘aiity 2 i Speed: 2 een "ACTIONS: jusiness Skills: 5 eneral Knowledge: 2 fechnology:3 octal Skil: 2 Seclalte, Police | MODIFIERS: th: (5) |EHAVIOR: Wife kiled by collateral damage in Incident involu= ph mutans: Blames thr 6 conidia sppatlg ends of “Hilmanity, But aot certain, since arcup became political minefield | for its last supporters. Gepending on how the players handle | the situation, ne tay. see the error of his, ways, ee ee ae BORER ns or Ee® © LEADER, FRIENDS OF rn Auto Pistol (+2) ABILITIES: Intelligence: 2 Strenati: 3 Aaility:2 Speed: 2 Durability: 3 ACTIONS: Close Cambat:2 (4. Strength ov Weapon) Ranged Combat: 3 (+ Weapon! Leadership: 23 Politics, Gangs, Hate Grou Culture (+1), Wealth: (1) BEHAVIOR: Very larae and strong, He is interested in eonvine- ing Valav to support the new Friends of Humanity, ana wll be using his Social Skills to this end. Formerly a miner minion in the original Friends of Humanity, he is trying to revive the organiza tion, He'll do whatever Is necessary to get his funding. He's always fooking for an excuse to beat up mutanis, and wil eageriy be the first to start cracking mutie heads. BODYGUARDS/BOUNCERS @ 6 ABILITIES: EQUIPMENT: Inieligence: 1 Pistol (+2) ‘Strengtli: 2 Headset Communicator ‘Aaility: 2 Pepper Spray (+4, removes red Speed: 2 stones from Energy Reserve Durabiliy: 2 as damage) ACTIONS: Close Combat: 3 (+ Strensth or Weapon) Ranged Combat:3 (+ Vieapon) Social Skills:2 Professional Bodyguaraing, Celebrity BEHAVIOR: Vary ard use template to create different bouncers, bodyguards, and Fol! goons. Increase or decrease Actions and Aoilitis based o7 wham they work for Valor’s bodyguards are ‘op ofthe line and are better than Peer’. The 5 club bouncers are better than your average goon, thanks to lots of practice. The fumbers above are the top of the rare. Te bodyauards wilt do ‘whatever It tales to pratect thelr charges. Very confident. There ‘are 2 bodyguards on Valor, 2 on Serena arid 2 on Peer. Bouncers have Pepper Sprav but na guns SERENA VALOR AFTER HER MUTATION MANIFESTS @O®8 EQUIPMENT: None Strength: 2 Aaity: 5 Speed: 3 Durability: 4 ‘ACTIONS: Force Field: 5 (See scenario description) Socal Sils:3 Socialite Youth Cuture Nase ‘MODIFIERS: Mutant Wealth: (4) Reflexiv Dodge: (+4) Energy Shield: (+3) BEHAVIOR: Open minded, intelligent, friendly. Doesn’t approve of father’s new friends or anti-mutant attitudes, Misses mother but deesr’t blame mutants in general, just those responsible Protective of friends andl family. Feels smothered by bodyavards, ‘ather’s everprotectiveness. to stop chem. They will position themselves in such a way as to bhe near the X-Men before the assassination, to make sure they can’t interfere Ie Wolverine wanders about the club, he may smell Sabretooth near the downstairs bar: The rest of the Brotherhood is strategi- cally pheod around the club. Mystique, looking like a blonde gypsy mi flowing skirts, is nearby Valor and the Friends of Human ty leader, trying pick up as much information as she can. If the X-Men locate Serena (in the balcony) before she mani- fests he: power, they will have an opportunity to talk with her and possibly win her over to their side. Serena is open minded about mutants, and disapproves of her father sinterest in the Friends of Humanity. But there isa big dif- ference >etween being accepting of people who are different and _acceptirg that she's about to become one. Tfa total of 15 stones of ‘Social Skils are played over a minimum of 10 panels, then the ‘players will mildly convince Serena of what is happening to her and tha: her interests lie with thers. More stones will succeod in winning her over completely. (Don’t tell them this, and feel free to Jnerease the number in case they read this in their own copy of Inguest) If they direct more than 4 stones per Panel at Serena, ‘they'll come on too strong and scare her away. They can try later if they can create another opportunity FoH TEEN: sd) 6 ABILITIES: EQUIPMENT: Intelligence: Axe (+2). Strength: 2 Baseball Bat (+1) Agility: 2 Knife G1) Speed: 2 Durabiy: 1 ‘ACTIONS: Clos> Combat (1 + Sirenoth or Weapon) BEHAVIOR: Not particulary bright, vicious, 16-year olds. Like fo beal up mutants. Told to make good impression on Serena to hala win Valar‘s support. Viking fas Axe, Yankee has baseball bot, Cewuoy has fake guns, but feal knife‘The players need to make good anguments as wellas mere ly play the stones, The players might tell Serena about how what happened when their powers manifested-Rogue and Cyclops would be particularly elpful in this regard. They ‘ight try to make her accept what is happening to her. They slaould help her feel welcome. They might tell er that she will ‘need protection from a hostile world, and that theX-Men can be ‘rusted to protect her. They can point out that she may have dangerous abilities andl needs to learn how to contro them. ‘The GM is responsible for giving the Players feedback as to how Serena is responding. If the players are roleplaying, ‘welland are making good arguments for her to join them, the ‘GM might say, “You're starting to convince them. Maybe you should throw in a couple more stones.” IF they’re being too pushy, then the GM can say, “Serena's staring to got alittle edgy, like, maybe you're being a litle too pushy for her” Even if they slightly win her over by merely meeting the requirements, Serena still won't quite believe this is about to happen to her this minute, and will refuse to go with therm now. She will give them a cell-phone mamber where they can reach her to set up a meeting ata later date. At TI-50 orso, she ‘ill excuse herself and drift downstairs and rejoin her father. Tf te players successfully convince Sezena to go with them by exceading the stones nacescary, she will want to talk to her father first If this occurs before her powers have manifested then he will esist (Situational Modifier for talking him into _going is 4, plus his Social Skill of3, equals 7 stones’ Resistance, ‘After the manifestation his Resistance will only be 4, total). At best, Alonso might agree to see Prof. X soon, but he ‘won't allow his daughter to go there alone. If the players see ‘him off without problems and he has agreed to see Prof. X, then the players will have completed their Primary Objective, ‘The Leader of the Friends of Humanity will ake this very ‘ally, ane may even order his goons to throw the players out land to prevent Valor from leaving, This Would trigger the daughter's mutation, and play would shift to Scene 3. Ata few minutes before midnight, Alonso Valor is stil ‘engaged in a conversation with Robert Peer, who is urging a “inal amatant solution.” At around 11:50, they are joined by Valor’s daughter, her friends and her bodyguards SCENE 3 Midnight, inside Club Noir, or when Serena manifests her mutant powers, whichever comes first. If the Scene begins before midnight: ‘A fight or some other highly intense situation has triggered Serena's manifestation. She's been on the verge al night, and any excitement is enough to send her over the edge. If this oceurs, Serena will suddenly become surrounded ‘with a vivid pink aura. The aura will be roughly in the form ‘of her body, only 3 times larger Serena’s Force Field remains active at 4 stones (her regeneration rate) until she calms down (or is knocked out). Anyone who touches her is affected by it, including bystanders, her friends and her father, (With the help of the X-Men, she may learn to control it, drawing itinto herself and only extending it at need, as a Force Fleld, a ‘weapon or even to help her fly) But right now, its a danger- ‘ous, uncontrolled energy field, keyed to her emotional state. The crowd will seream and surge away fom her Her friends will panic. The Friends of Humanity youth will forget their instructions and sezeam insults at her- The one with the baseball bat maf t2y to use it on Serena. When Alonso Valor notices, he will become momentarily paralyzed in shock, Mystique sill take this opportunity to pull her gun and shoot Robert Peer. Gee below) _ If the Scene starts at midnight: ‘The all drops, Mystique had been waiting for the distraction ‘of midnight to Shape Shift into a NYC police officer and then shoot Peer As she changes into the cop, she draws the gun she hhad hidden under her skirt and shoots Peer. Blob throws a table at the mirror behind the har to create confusion. Toad, leaps for the chandeliers, and then pulls out his machine gun ‘and fires shots over the head of the crowd. Sabretooth covers -Mystique’s retreat. She will Shape Shift freely to confuse pur~ ‘st If the Brotherhood was aware ofthe X-Men, then the oth ‘ers besides Mystique will attack them as she makes her move. Specifically, Toad will use his Tongue Whip to snag Cyclops ‘lasses, hoping to cause rancom Optic Blast pandemonium. Sabretooth goes for Wolverine, The crowd screams and scat ters toward the exits. The bouncers try to keep onder, but fal. Everything described earlier about Serena comes to pass. Tn either case, it takes Mystique a Punel to change into the police officer, produce her gun, which she had hidden, and aim. If the players are scanning the room, the GM should desctibe her actions so that they can try to respondl in the next Panel If Serena has been won aver by the X-Men during Scene 2, she will se with them ifa fight breaks out. If not, she will attack anyone who ties to attack or grab her, and will protect her father and friends if they are attacked. Mystique, at GM discretion, may take a shot at Alonso, if she thinks she can get away Wwithit.Ifslte’s noticed the X-Men ‘with Serena earlier she may try and take her just to mess with, them, She won't jeopardize her Primary Objective to do this, AFTERMATH If the X-Men protect Serena, they will have partially accomplished their Primary Objective. IF they further convince her to meet with Prof. X, at the Institute, then they: ‘will have fully accomplished their Objective. If the X-Men defeat the Brotherhood and prevent the assassination of Peer, they achieve their Bonus Objective, ‘This may help them achieve thelr Secondary Objective by demonstrating to Alonso Valor that they're truly dedicated t0 ‘peaceful coexistence, even to the extent of protecting a hated ‘enemy: His support will be contingent on whether they also achieved their Primary Objective and protected his daughter. Ifthe players don’t succeed in protecting Serena, they will Ihave failed in their Primary Objective Ifthe players don't intervene or if they are defeated, the Brotherhood completes its Mission and leaves, and the players also will have failed in their Secondary and Bonus ‘Objectives. A new leader will replace Peer as the head of the Friends of Humanity: An embittered Alonso Valor, convinced hat mutants are the source of his problems, will turn his resources towards the Friends of Humanity. The group will ‘became a problem for the players in future missions. It 1 failure if Serena escapes into the night during the fight (perhaps she will even wind up with the Morlocks)