[SirFozzie]

Turn 1:

Heroes win the initiative:

Armed with the knowledge from the last attempt, I know now to use powers that reduce the target's defense BEFORE I do any attempts to solve the situation.


[b]Heroes!

Delphi attempts Arcane Knowledge (Power) against Serena - FAILS (12+2d6 (3))=15 vs 18
Verti-Ghost attempts Magical Knowledge (Power, Action) against Serena - FAILS (11+2d6 (7)=18 vs 18
Dupin attempts Draw a Charmed Symbol (Power, 5+ needed) SUCCESS! (5), Mystical Defense +1 until next turn
Dupin attempts Standard Solution (Progress) SUCCESS (11+2d6 (10)=21 vs 18: (PROGRESS +1)
Delphi attempts Standard Solution (Progress) FAILS (11+2d6 (5)=16 vs 18)

Villains

Serena attempts Ambiguous Prediction on Verti-Ghost - SUCCESS! (12+2d6 (10)=22 vs 18 (Verti-Ghost -2 Mystical Attack until Villain next turn)
Serena attempts Standard Deception on Delphi - FAILS (11+2d6(5)=16 vs 17
Serena attempts Standard Deception on Verti-Ghost - FAILS (11+2d6(5)=16 vs 18

Turn 2 - Note: After turn 1, Standard Solutions no longer have free failure, a failure moves it -1 towards stumped)

Heroes

Delphi - Arcane Knowledge on Serena FAILS (12+6=18) vs 18
Delphi - Standard Solution SUCCESS (11+8=19) vs 18 (Progress +1, total +2)
Dupin attempts Draw a Charmed Symbol (Power, 5+ needed) FAILS (3)
Dupin - Standard Solution SUCCESS (11+10=21) vs 18 (Progress +1, total +3)
Verti-Ghost - Get a Lead (2+) SUCCESS (2)

Foz Notes: None of Verti-Ghost's Powers seem super useful here (he would need an 8+ to succeed on Outsmarting, and it would take up his action for the turn, so attempted to Get a Lead to look at the system, and the types of bonuses it provides. We're already at +3, so I felt semi-comfortable in attempting to Get a Lead (which needs a 2+ rather then do a Solution which would need a 9)

Villain

Serena - Ambiguous Prediction on Verti-Ghost - SUCCESS (12+9=21 vs 18), VG -2 Mystical Attack Again
Serena - Cunning Plan vs all three (11+5=16 vs 17, FAILS vs Delphi) , (11+7=18 vs 18, FAILS vs Dupin), (11+5=16 vs 18 FAILS vs Verti-Ghost)

Foz Notes: This is a HORRIBLE turn for Serena's attempts to confuse our team: the Problem with Cunning Plan is that EACH failure moves the Progress meter 1 towards solved, so we went from +3 to +6 in one fell swoop!!

Turn 3:

Heroes
Delphi - Arcane Knowledge on Serena - SUCCESS! (12+10=22 vs 18), Serena -1 Mystical Attack
Delphi - Standard Solution - SUCCESS! (11+10=21 vs 18) Progress +1 (+7)
Verti-Ghost - Follow a Lead - SUCCESS (2+ needed, 3 rolled), Progress +1 (+8)
Dupin- Leap of Faith (4+ to activate, FAIL (rolled 1)

Villain

Serena - Ambiguous Prediction on Verti-Ghost, SUCCESS (12+10=22) vs 18, VG takes ANOTHER -2 Mystical Attack Penalty (he's been constantly under it for three straight turns. Apparently Serena has it in for VG, talking about his tether, etcetera)
Serena - Desperation Ploy against Delphi (4+ to Activate) FAIL (rolled 3)

Foz Notes: I was tempted to try a risky solution to end this early, but decided that the risks were too much (-1 to attack, Success +2, Failure -2). Leap of Faith is two fold, with a 4+ needed to activate, and then +3/-1 on success or failure), as it turns out, I didn't even get to roll. Get/Follow a Lead seems like the safe maneuver.. it's 2+ to get and then 2+ follow a lead, but it's +1 over two turns. Serena tried a Desperation Ploy as the heroes are just about to win the encounter, but the dice just weren't with her. Leap of Faith (and I believe Desperation Ploy) can only be used once per puzzle per character

Turn 4

Heroes
Delphi - Arcane Knowledge on Serena - SUCCESS! (12+8=20 vs 18), Serena -1 Mystical Attack until next turn
Delphi - Leap of Faith on Serena (4+ to activate, FAIL, rolled 1)
Dupin - Standard Solution - SUCCESSS (11+10=21 vs 18), Progress +1 (+9)
Dupin - Charmed Symbol - SUCCESS (5+, rolled 6) (+1 mystical defense)
Verti-Ghost - Get a Lead - SUCESS (2+ needed, rolled 3) (1 lead)

Villain
Serena - Ambiguous Prediction on Verti-Ghost, SUCCESS (12+10=22) vs 18 (yes, VG loses -2 Mystical Attack until Serena's next turn)
Serena - Cunning Plan on Delphi - CRITICAL FAIL (Backfire!) (roll of 2), loses all actions for rest of the turn, +3 Progress, (+2 normally for failed cunning plan, +1 for backfire), Current +12

Foz Notes: Oof. Don't know if the AI targeted VG as the weakest character and that's why all the Ambiguous Predictions targeted him, or what, but she really had it in for him. On the other side, Serena must have taken her 'Speak coherently" pills, as the backfire just ended it for the Heroes

Status: +12 Solved!

Delphi Gets 6 Hero Points (Now 6)
Dupin Gets 6 Hero Points (Now 25)
Verti-Ghost Gets 6 Hero Points (Now 6)


Victory Bonus: The Heroes will go first next stage



Results:

"The Vampire-Bat is doing.. something, Serena. If you know anything about this, you need to tell us. Innocents could be hurt!" Verti-Ghost attempted to convince Serena to spill the details.

"The black baron takes his place on the field. If you don't spring the white knight, death will follow in his wake...." Serena muttered, eyes aglow with mystical energy

Delphi grimaced as she tried to focus the threads of her predictive energy to make sense of the prediction that Serena had made. She shook her head as the prospective threads slipped from her hands. She turned her blindfolded gaze on Detective Dupin, whose fingers were idly drawing small mystical symbols in the air. Dupin grimaced, and then asked "The white knight?" Would that be an artifact?

Serena turned her glowing eyes on the Verti-Ghost: "Ask your tethered friend. But be forewarned, the tether that keeps him in this world can easily become a puppeter's string.

Dupin thought this over, and then turned and started to walk away. "Thanks, Ser, you've been.. uncommonly helpful"

Delphi called out to him "Wait, she hasn't told us anything..

Dupin grinned, and lit his cigarette, watching as Delphi's nose crinkled as the smell of the smoke reached her nostrils.

"She's told us what we need to know. Anything else would be gobbledygook. What we need to do next is...