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THE END OF THE FIRE is an adventure designed for The Legion of Super-Heros. It is divided up into nine chapters but comes with no maps, although recommendations are made at the beginning of each chapter of which generic map to use. This adventure is for as many or as few players as you wish. It is recommended especially in Chapter 8 that any Legion characters not being used by the players be used by the judge as NPCs (You may need all the help you can get!). The maps used in the chapters are only recommendations by this author. The GM should feel free to adapt or modify any parts of this module to suit his or her needs.
The one special rule which must be followed is regarding the Legion character Wildfire. He is exclusively an NPC, and must be controlled by the GM (This will become evident in Chapter 9).
The Karma awards summarized at the end of the chapters are only for specific actions and situations. The players may do other things during the chapter that earns karma awards, but is not covered in the summary. The GM should be prepared to award karma during any unforseen or unexpected situations.
"The alarm rings out throughout the LSH Headquarters! Ultra Boy has called all members to alert. The planet Phlon, where Cosmic Boy's brother was visiting, has been seized by The Fatal Five! They have taken over the planetary defense systems and declared martial law over the citizens of the planet. Magnetic Kid has risked his own life to send out a call to help to the Legion. You all must travel to Phlon in the Legion Space Saucer and free the planet. There is no time to waste! Only the Legion of Super-Heros can save the planet!"
The Legion can be made up of any and/or all of the available heros. Wildfire is a special exception and must be controlled by the GM as a non-player character (the reason for this will become evident later in the adventure). The legion will travel to Phlon in their Legion Space Saucer, a ship capable of holding all of them. You'll need to use a map with a lot of areas on it because, when the Legion's ship arrives at Phlon, they are met by 40 drone ships controlled by the planetary defense systems. This will be a starship battle of epic proportions! Read the following to the players:
"The Legion Space-Saucer sails silently through the dark void. In what seems like no time, you approach the planet Phlon. Suddenly, alarms sound in the cockpit compartment of the saucer. The planetary defense system, a ring of drone fighter-ships controlled by a satellite, has been activated. A swarm of close to three dozen ships are flying toward you. You're under attack!"
Some of the Legion members may be able to travel in space and thus leave the saucer. If they do so, they may engage the ships individually. Designate the top part of the map as the Legion Saucer arrival point. The bottom of the map will be the planet's atmosphere. Any crippled or destroyed ships will burn up on reentry. For purposes of this chapter, the GM may also allow that the LSH flight rings will let the players' character fly in space (with the effect of Excellent flight and Unearthly life support).
Go here for space battle rules, taken partially from MHSP2 THE SECRET WARS II module, and for the ship stats.
Read the following to the players after the space battle:
"With a last fiery explosion, the planetary defense system has been destroyed. They'll be time to replace it later. Right now, Phlon is being held captive by The Fatal Five. The Saucer enters the planet's atmosphere as the rest of you prepare and ready yourselves for battle...."
"The Space-Saucer enters the planet's atmosphere, heading toward the Capital City. Here, The Royal Palace, stands. Clearly, the key to freeing the planet is to capture the Palace. Suddenly, the saucer comes under fire as you try to avoid becoming seriously damaged!"
The pilot of the saucer must make a control FEAT to avoid getting hit by Remarkable strength laser fire. One of the player characters may be the pilot, or Braniac-5 (whether being run as a player character or NPC) is the pilot. If the FEAT fails, the ship may suffer damage and crash, as per the Player Handbook page 50-51. If the ship avoids the laser fire, read the following to the players:
"You manage to fly the ship into the heart of the Royal City and come in for a landing in front of the Palace. As you land, you see a troupe of some 40 mercenaries coming out toward the ship to seize it and capture you. As the hatch rampway is opened, the battle is joined!"
The palace is surrounded by 50 various alien mercenaries and guards. Their stats are as follows:
F- EX
A- GD
S- GD
E- GD
R- TY
I- TY
P- PR
H- 50
K- 16
Each carries a laser pistol (Good damage,2 area range) and a laser rifle (Excellent damage, 4 area range). The Legion must storm the castle and defeat these mercenaries and take the castle. The people of the planet, having seen the battle in the skies over the planet in the previous chapter, take this opportunity to revolt against their planet's seizure. During the battle, read the following to the players:
"Suddenly some of the mercenaries weapons begin to fly out of their hands and toward the waiting arms of the Phlon people. You see that this is The Magnetic Kid's work, who is leading a group of men against the mercenaries. You guys didn't think I'd let you hog all the fun did you? This is some Vacation!"
Small battles are erupting all over the planet. The people have chosen this time to revolt. If the legion is losing the battle with the mercenaries, then a force of Phlon men rescue them and defeat the mercenaries. After this battle, read the following to the players:
"So, you fools would foil our plans once again! See what it means to oppose The Fatal Five! Coming out of the front gates of the palace is a collection of the Legion's foes, banded together to seize the planet. The Emerald Empress, Mano, Tharok, The Persuader, and the gigantic Validus, known together as The Fatal Five! With a battle cry, the final fight to free the planet begins!"
This will no doubt be an all-out fight. The Legion must defeat The Fatal Five to free the planet. If they are defeated, They are imprisoned in stasis fields designed to nullify their powers. They will then be publicly executed if they do not escape. Following this titanic battle, read the following to the players:
"You have defeated the villains and freed the planet Phlon. While the planetary systems are destroyed, at least they can be replaced, now that the planet is free. You soon find the Rulers of Phlon imprisoned in the dungeons and free them. The day is won!
"Somehow the journey back to Earth and the LSH Headquarters seems to take forever. The Magnetic Kid has joined you in this return, his "vacation" over. You are all very weary following the battle with The Fatal Five. The villains were taken prisoner by Earth police forces and are imprisoned. For now, the crisis is over.
After the saucer lands, those of you who need the auto-docs head for the medical lab where Braniac-5 will see that you are healed. The rest of you just want to enjoy a little rest and relaxation.
The team has returned home to rest and recuperate. Any and all heroes are fully healed in this chapter. This chapter is mainly a role-playing one, with a chance for the players to interact with each other. That night, one of them must stay on monitor duty in the LSH Headquarters monitoring room. Let the players decide who it will be. Read the following to the player on monitor duty:
"It is late at night at the HQ. Everyone else is either asleep or out. You are on monitor duty. As you fight to stay awake under a crushing state of boredom, a shilling scream pierces the hallways and shatters your drowsiness. As you fall over backwards in the chair you were sitting in, you realize that the screams are coming from Dream Girl's quarters. She must be having the mother of all nightmares!
Let several of the player characters, including the one on monitor duty, rush into Dream Girl's room. Read the following to the players:
"You all rush into the room to find Dream Girl curled up in a fetal position on the bed, clutching at sweat-drenched covers. As you try to comfort her, she exclaims, "It's Horrible! Horrible! I was dreaming of a distant planet. Farmers were tending their fields, animals gently grazing. Out of the clear blue sky, a golden woman flew in, spreading fire and destruction. I then saw a huge, globe-looking object, as big as the moon, floating in space toward the Earth....." She pauses, gasping for air. You try to get her to calm down, but she is frightened, afraid that if she doesn't finish her tale, she never will. "I saw a giant, a massive individual. Bigger than Validus. He spread out his hands, and.....,and....." She takes another deep breath. "Then he destroyed the Earth!" Dream Girl breaks down sobbing and crying. You try to comfort her, but a single thought is running through your minds. Dream Girl's dreams, even her nightmares, always foretell the future!
This is mainly a role-playing chapter, as stated before. The GM may award Karma for good role-playing.
"I'm special agent Tharn Darrin, United Earth and Space Agency. Please have a seat." You all oblige him and take chairs. "First, we would like to congratulate you on your success at Phlon three days ago. The royal Family has sent their most gracious gratitude for your help in freeing their planet. We have about 50% of the planetary defense system replaced already, but that is not why we called you here. Early this morning, deep space probes detected a large object moving toward the Earth. We believe this to be an alien vessel of unknown origin, since it has already made course corrections. We have taken the necessary precautions, but would like The Legion to be on full alert in case the visitor turns out to be hostile." "If only that were our only problem, we would not have called this special session. I have received a distress call from the planet Kronor in the Beta section. As you know, Kronor is a peaceful planet, mainly exporting produce grown on the fertile planet. It seems that an hour ago, a "golden, flying woman" appeared in the skies over the planet. She declared That this world had been "chosen" for destruction. The planet's defense corps attacked her and she has been laying waste to many of the communities with destructive fire. They have asked us to send you, The Legion of Super-Heroes, to aid them." "Since this new threat is coming to the Earth and the planet Kronor also needs our help, I now ask you to choose two teams. One, to stay here and safeguard the planet, and the second to travel to Kronor and investigate this new threat." With that Special agent Darrin returns to his seat and turns the floor over to you."
Allow the players to decide who stays and who goes. Wildfire, an NPC controlled by the GM, goes to Kronor regardless. If there are not enough player characters to split-up the group, then you may want to skip over Chapter 6. The "away" team will travel to Kronor in the Legion Space-Saucer.
"You are traveling to the planet Kronor to investigate a strange flying golden woman. The rest of the team is back on Earth, left behind to safeguard it against what may be an incoming hostile alien. As you come in for a landing on the planet, you are startled by what you see. The once proud communities now lie in waste, burned to the ground. Lush fields and once grassy plains now lay burned, great swaths cut into them. When you land, the people crowd around you, all trying to tell you of this terrible menace. Suddenly someone screams, "She's coming back!"
From out of the sky a streak of fire flies in, crashing to the ground in front of you. As the people scatter for cover and shelter, the fire dies down. Standing in its wake is a woman, here skin gleaming golden with a metallic look. She raises a open hand in gesture to you.
"I am called Nova, herald of the great Galactus. This planet has been chosen for destruction. To resist is to incur my wraith, as well as that of my master. There is nothing you can do except accept your fate and die with dignity."
Yeah, right! Like the Legion of Super-Heroes is just going to surrender! With that you attack this woman called Nova."
Nova will battle to defeat the heros. She'll try not to kill them, however. If she defeats the heros, she flies away. When they regain consciousness, the people tell them she said something about "joining her master on Earth." During the battle, Nova begins to see the despair in the people's eyes and how they want The Legion to stop her. If she is defeated and taken prisoner by Space Authorities, she soon escapes, but has decided to find other nourishment for her master.
Following this battle the Heroes receive a partial distress cry from Earth and are asked to return there Immediately! Heroes regain their full health following this chapter.
"The screen comes to life as you are monitoring the space above the Earth. The massive sphere comes into view. It settles into an Earth orbit. As you are contemplating it, a hatchway on the side opens and in it appears a giant, clad in purple armor, he seems to almost sense your viewing him. He stands in the airless void of space before launching himself of as he flies toward the Earth, according to your tracking computers, directly toward the LSH Headquarters!
As all of you rush outside, you are greeted by the awesome sight of this being from outer space, hovering in the air above you. He is almost thirty feet tall as he speaks, "I am Galactus, devourer of worlds. In ages past, I made a vow to one of your kind that I would never threaten your world. He is long since passed from this plane of existence and my vow to him has ended long ago. I have returned to this planet that long ago defied me out of what you earthmen might call "curiosity." In the past, this pitiful planet was defended by costumed being who, although they had no hope of defeating me, still fought to defend the human race. I lost my first and greatest herald to this world, and although my own hunger gnaws at me even as I speak, I will not threaten your world."
Then galactus closes his eyes for a moment, as if listening to some unheard voice in his head. "So! Your kind would still defy me!," Galactus booms angrily, "My herald Nova has been attacked on one of your distant worlds! There can be now other recourse. I will take this world which has long been denied to me, take it to satisfy my hunger. I will devour your planet, Earth! Such is the will and way of Galactus!"
If the heroes attack Galactus he sends down his Protector robot to occupy the heroes while he departs back to his ship to make preparation s to destroy the Earth. The protector will battle the heros until it is destroyed or they are beaten. If it is destroyed, Galactus will be further angered. If the Protector can somehow be captured, it can be used in chapter 8 to negotiate with Galactus, but such an event seems highly unlikely. Following this battle, read the following to the players:
"So, you costumed defenders still protect this planet. How like annoying gnats you are to one such as myself! You are gnats that have been a pestilence to me, but no longer! Prepare yourselves, for when I return in one Earth day, this pitiful planet shall be mine!" With that, the mighty Galactus takes off at supersonic speeds toward his ship. You all rush into the HQ to send a call to the others on Kronor. The Legion must be united against this threat which can destroy the Earth!"
None of the heroes can match Galactus' flying speed, so to give chase proves to be fruitless. All that can be done is to contact the rest of the Legion and prepare to defend the Planet.
Heros will recover their Endurance rank in health following this chapter.
The other return and during an emergency meeting, Galactus' threat to the Earth is discussed. Computer records have told of Galactus' attempts to destroy the world in the late Twentieth century. Only a device called The ultimate Nullifier, according to records, is able to destroy Galactus. Its whereabouts are unknown. You watch as the Viso-screen shows a fleet of starships attacking Galactus' ship. All attempts at damaging it fail, their attacks repelled, their ships destroyed. You can think of nothing to do but wait and prepare for the coming of Galactus tomorrow and hope that he can somehow be stopped."
This is mainly another role-playing chapter. It is a chance for the players to respond and act as the real Legion would face this situation. The players may also be informed at this time that, if they defeated Nova at Kronor and she was taken captive, has escaped and her whereabouts are unknown. She will not return to Galactus until the end of the next chapter, however.
"Dawn. The dawn of what may be the last day of the planet Earth. Most of you have been awake all night, watching the Earth's defense forces vain attempts at attacking Galactus' ship. You wanted to aid them, but the Earth's President wanted you to be the planet's last line of defense. Hope is all any of you have left. In the distant past, the great heroes of the world were able to stop Galactus. You have to be worthy of their legacy. At noon, alerts show activity about Galactus' ship. He exits, a huge apparatus floating in the air and obediently following him as he comes in for a landing atop the LSH Headquarters. He begins to assemble a device you recognize from computer files. The World-Converter, a machine he uses to turn all life on the planet to energy for his consumption, leaving that planet a lifeless husk. He must be stopped now!
Prepare for an all-out battle. Any Legion heros not being used by the players can be used by the GM, or if you wish, can be controlled by the players as secondary characters. The more heros there are for this battle, the more likely they may defeat Galactus, although this is not essential. Emphasize the struggle in this battle, not the victory. Should the heros actually manage to defeat Galactus, Nova arrives and defends her master while she takes him back to the spherical ship. It then leaves the galaxy. If the Legions are defeated, however, read the following to the players:
"There is no hope now. You are beaten, defeated. Galactus has won. He turns from the aftermath of the fight and begins to work on his machine. Suddenly a solitary figure flies up to him to face Galactus face-to-face. It is Wildfire! "Hear me Galactus! You must know that I am not a normal earthling. I am a being composed of pure energy. I offer you myself in place of the planet Earth. Take me to satisfy your hunger! Spare the Earth!" "What you offer is but a crumb," Galactus roars, "A crumb, as opposed to a feast! Your group is defeated! You cannot stop me now! I thus refuse your offer! Consider yourself fortunate." "NO!," Wildfire screams as he unleashes burst of energy from both hands and his faceplate. Instead of striking the world-eater though, they hit the world-converter machine, destroying it in a massive explosion! Debris flies everywhere as those of you who are conscious try to protect those who are not. "You insignificant flea!," Galactus yells angrily,"I can reconstruct the converter with but a thought, but you have enraged the all-powerful Galactus! Prepare, you have been chosen to be the first to experience oblivion!" With that, twin beams of light emit from Galactus' eyes, striking Wildfire and totally shredding his containment suit. Before the energy being that was Wildfire can escape, he is absorbed by Galactus, his screams slowly fading away...
As you lie stunned by what has just happened, another startling event occurs. Galactus howls in pain and collapses onto the street, doubling over in pain! As you watch, he glows, a sickly grenish-black glow, and begins to shrink! The glow subsides and he is at a height of only twelve feet. His armor is cracked and pitted in places. He is visibly weakened. This may be the only chance to stop him. You all rally yourselves and attack!"
Galactus, in absorbing Wildfire's energy, had not counted on it being of a negative type. This mixture of his body's own positive and negative energies has created a sort of miniature fusion reaction in his body. His stats in this state are as follows:
F- MN
A- MN
S- MN
E- MN
R- MN
I- RM
P- AM
H- 300
K- 155
His powers have all been reduced to a Monstrous level. His burned and pitted armor now only affords him Monstrous protection as well. If the heroes rally to the task, they may actually be able to defeat him in this state! If they manage to defeat him, he uses 100 karma points in the following fashion. Read the next part to the players if they defeat Galactus:
"Galactus screams one last anguished cry and then an extraordinary event occurs. His body quivers, glows, and then seemingly disintegrates into nothing! The Devourer of Worlds has vanished! You quickly rush in the LSH Headquarters in time to see his spherical ship disappear into the void. Can the menace of Galactus be over at last? Only time will tell."
The Earth is saved, but a member of the Legion has lost his life. Galactus has in reality transported to his ship. Nova is there, waiting for him. She assists him to an awaiting chamber to lie in state while the massive chamber repairs his body and replenishes his energies. Nova then pilots the Spher-craft far away from the Galaxy to allow her master to recover. The player characters need not be informed of this, however.
"The threat is over. The world is safe. Everything is slowly returning to normal. But it is not all normal. Wildfire, your teammate, is gone. He sacrificed himself so that the Earth would be safe. His shredded containment suit has been collected. You will give this a heroes' burial, in honor of your friend. His noble sacrifice will not be forgotten. Days later, you lay his remains to rest in a park created especially for him. Many government and planetary officials are here. Millions of people crowd the streets, watching the funeral on video-screens. The president asks if one of you would deliver the eulogy for the fallen legionnaire...."
Allow one of the players to deliver a eulogy, and reward good role-playing. This has been a long ordeal, and should be taken quite seriously. After the eulogy, the coffin is lowered and quickly covered by a slab of concrete-like material. Read the following to the players
"You all gather around the now-covered gravesite, each silently paying homage to your fallen teammate and friend. Suddenly a small blue-white flame burst through the slab covering the grave. It must be the last remains of Wildfire's energy, clinging to his suit. The small pyre will serve as a memorial, illuminating his sacrifice to all who visit here. The Earth is safe from the menace of Galactus....for now."
The small flame is actually Wildfire's slowly regenerating body-energy. He shall return someday, but do not tell the players this! This concludes the module "The End of the Fire."
