Perils of the Rat King 2
Structure
Exposition
A Rat's Tale ...
Greetings True Believers!
Welcome back! Rats raiding the pantry? Mice turned heroes? Talk about small stories!
Last time, our heroes discovered a new criminal in New York. One that was raiding a restaurant with her own personal rodent army! They stopped her in time but not before she escaped! What had she done to the guards? Was it something from the Mad Hatter? Poison Ivy? Spider Lilly? And what was she looking for?
Taking their evidence back to their headquarters they enlist the aid of their teammate, Tesla Coil, to help them deduce what she had been doing. They had clues, and many questions, surrounding this new foe.
But the analysis took only a few minutes, it seems like Tesla might could help shed some light on what was happening. Let's listen in and see what's up!
This is Not Stan Lee saying … EXCELSIOR!
Conflict
A Side Order of Clue
( music: Back To Work )
- villain escapes, but a clue is left behind
- ( Start with Tesla coming out of his lab … he's looked at the mask remains:
- ( Clues:
Mask remains. Tainted with a chemical that requires special ingredients. Number one is a rare subspecies of Morning Glory. Sold in 3 plant nurseries around the city: Pick and Plant Nurseries, Down n' Dirty Nursery, Enchanted Forest Nurseries
)
- Mouse Help: Locations of other robberies.
- What restaurant is next to be hit? Exquis ( French for Exquisite )
Tip Toe, Through the Tulips
( music: Interrogation )
- checking up on the plants
- is located at corner of 5th and E108th St next to Stonehenge of 5th ( apartments )
- Central Park is across the street ( Bernard Family Playground )
- however they get in, they are confronted by Summon if they go to Enchanted Forest Nurseries. She's basically on the side of the angels this time.
- She has heard of Knights Vigilant. Tells them there's been no theft here since she's been working here.
- ( If the mice are allowed to talk … she'll think the mice are awesome! Will get Hank - the earth elemental - to come see. Hank of course has little opinion. )
- Summon hasn't seen anyone like the Rat King or a lady that resembles Masquerade. Has had a run on Morning Glories. Can't keep them in stock. Just sold one two minutes ago.
- Lady they are chasing does parkour for exercise. CUE chase scene!
- Note: Masquerade is careful not to go herself. She uses a mesmerized duplicate. BUT in her haste, she collects her stand ins from her current neighborhood. Which also happens to be the neighborhood of the Rat King ( that is on purpose ).
- ( Lady will try and evade. During chase she'll try and make drop of morning glories at edge of North Central Park )
- ( If caught, lady is in her early 30s, athletic, running outfit, with a bandana that doesn't quite match. Looks dingy, almost red-brown instead of brown.
- - Has the same scent as the hoods guards wore from the other night. “Old cheese”. Made from a similar, cotton, material.
- - If the bandana is removed, she will regain her senses. She was going out for a run, doesn't remember anything after that.
- - bandana will start to dissolve.
- - She lives at same brownstone as other stand ins. Location is north east Central Park )
- (Note: this is Masquerade. She set herself up so she will have an alibi via her real identity being a victim )
Home Delivery
( music: Interrogation )
- heading after the rat king
- ( either via mapped locations or robberies or because of the nursery … they enter a sewer access. Not really challenged until they get to a sewer junction not far from the Rat King's domain. )
- Unlike most of the sewer, this junction is clean. It's free of trash and the walls have been steam-scrubbed.
- ( Heroes confronted by rat guards. They have mini weapons - crossbows and the like. They use sign language to communicate. They have a limited grasp on English.
- - If attacked, rats use a hit and run approach. They will swarm if desperate. But will tend to use their size to their advantage. They use darts, etc to protect themselves. Generally non-lethal.
- ( Fight - if a fight - last 1 - 3 rounds. 3 at the extreme. Rat King steps in to stop it. )
- - Rat King is near human. Shorter than average human but almost human sized rat-human hybrid. Real Name: Dr. Elias Sinch. Was transmuted into a rat after accidentally sticking himself with his own experimental stem cell formula based off rat DNA. Intention was to manipulate / regrow lost senses through stem cell therapy with Rat genetics. Instead, he caused himself to become the world's first rat-human hybrid. Elias knows the process - at least he's sure - it can't be reversed ( he's tried ). So now, he works to provide a sanctuary for discarded lab rat subjects and wild rats that want to come into the fold.
- - He's generally not interested in crime. Considers society a bit defunct as it turned its back on him. So he built his own society in a way. He's a bit lonely. Works on his serum in hopes it can help someone disabled in the future. Very “Aquaman, King of Atlantis” vibe here.
- He will express concern over some of his subjects going missing. He suspects: Wayne Tech, STAR Labs, Lex Labs. Plans an expedition to look for evidence of this.
- Mouse Force had ZERO idea Rat King was like this. Never met him before now.
- ( While talking or fighting, Masquerade will plant evidence on Rat King's domain to frame him. She is down in the sewer planting the evidence. If caught, she has it set up that she is another ‘victim' : the victim from the nursery. She will react hysterical if the PCs have met her once. Just panic if they have not met her yet. )
- - ( If she gets him detained / arrested, she gets free access to search for the recipe she knows he has. Otherwise, she'll have to risk searching it while he's there ).
- - ( he has one of the recipe cards with the clues to the stolen Middle Eastern art and antiquities.
- - ( Rat King knows about this ‘myth'. Doesn't believe it. Thinks it was part of the hype. He did compete … his current state contributed to him losing. He was told so. But got a recipe as a consolation prize. He keeps it in a vault with his more prized possessions.
A Mistake On the Menu
( menu: United we stand, divided we fall )
- rat king proves his innocence or actually, its proven for him as Masquerade appears!
- (The Exquis is very upscale. Enough that it has Monolith Securities on staff to watch the place .. The following assumes they are a step ahead of Masquerade. )
- ( if they arrive at night )
- There are three guards from Monolith Securities due to the restaurant robberies. They haven't been drugged yet.
- On the roof, rats are working at the security system. Nibbling at the connections to short it out.
- Masquerade is hiding out next door, waiting for the rats to finish their work. She'll move in at that point.
- - First target is the guards. She needs them under her control before she commits the theft. She'll use the same bag/mask /bandana trick.
- - Any guards she nabs, she uses as thugs against the heroes.
- - She will go for the vault in the back of the restaurant, which does have the recipe with the clue to the artifacts.
- ( if they arrive at day / afternoon )
- Similar to above, add patrons being mesmerized.
- ( if they arrive after she's there. People are already mesmerized and on the lookout for her. Masquerade is in the process of getting the last recipe.)
- ( during fights! )
- during a fight, she will mimic fighting styles, etc of opponents. If attacked by powers, she'll try and deduce flaws to escape.
Previous session notes:
All Night Take Out ( music: Clock Tower Parade )
- Knights Vigilant are taking down Disco Boys that sprung a trap on the heroes using a Fake Shakedown plan.
- Alarms sound! Chez Tortuga, an upscale Caribbean restaurant across the street, is being robbed!
- By the time the heroes make it over there, two sets of thugs bolt from the building. They each head in different directions.
- ( let fight run 2 phases. Bad guys are tougher than they appear. As heroes are about to defeat one of the groups, rats attack the heroes using sticky nets made from plastic six pack rings! )
AOE : AV / EV 7 - Rats "withdraw" ( run in all directions ) and a humanoid rat, about 5' 5" tall, darts into Chez Tortuga!
- Mice team appears with a cry of "Hail!" and starts dissolving the netting. Explains: Mice colony here called for help but are missing. They are convinced this thief is behind it and a string of other thefts!
Counter Service ( music: Arrival at National Archives ) - heroes vs rat "king" or is that queen?
- ( heroes get in restaurant however they can. They can follow in the route the thugs took, find their own way. Expect use of air vents, etc )
- Inside, the restaurant is pristine. Unlike many robberies, this was done in style. Something on the level of Blackjack or GRAB. No collateral damage.
- ( once inside, if the heroes are quiet, they hear a noise from the kitchen area. If they are not quiet, they are ambushed by more rats with crude tech. Throwable items that are sticky, smoke screens, etc. It's all delaying tactics. Guys in 'rat outfits' are security guards, but once the hoods are removed, they come back to their senses. AKA Mad Hatter or Poison Ivy ... but using a modified pheromone control that the masks are laced with. )
- ( Once inside, find the night guard on the floor. Next to him is a mask and a grilled cheese sandwich that gives off aroma.
AV/EV vs will / mind : 7 ( hypnosis )
Safe is open and private recipes of chef working there are scattered all over the place. No money was taken though.
Note: Masks will dissolve quickly!
) - ( Another clue, chef competed and won the local Iron Chef competition four times in a row. Is an avid marathon runner, but has yet to win. )
- ( no pictures of wife/kids. Just a girlfriend - Sabine - and mom/dad )
- Mice contact Knight's Vigilant.
- Why? Mice colonies and rat colonies are vanishing without any sign. Last was under Chez Tortuga.
- Restaurants experiencing thefts. Mice believe this is connected.
- Recipes, unique to the chefs who work there, are being stolen. Mice have mapped locations, have map to demonstrate. Having trouble with the pattern.
- Restaurants are all upper scale restaurants. No similar cuisine.
Notes:
- What is the pattern? All chefs competed in local Iron Chef competition.
- Why the recipes? Instructions hidden in them as to location of stolen/smuggled Iranian art and archeology objects.
- How did the recipes get distributed? The cards were accidentally picked up and handed out as consolation prizes after an Iron Chef competition two weeks before ( involve a character in this ).
- Stolen objects were smuggled by a Thomas Arbuckle. He masterminded it. Once the recipes were gone, he hired the thief named Masquerade to get them back.
- To cover her crimes, she mimics the Rat King to make the heists. The police are narrowing down on the Rat King who has just started to fight back.
Relations
Protagonists
Allies
Neutrals/Bystanders
Rat King
Adversaries
- Masquerade
- assorted minions, either mind-controlled security guards or mind-controlled rats
Backdrops
Locations
- Pick and Plant Nurseries
- Down n' Dirty Nursery
- Enchanted Forest Nurseries
- Exquis ( French for Exquisite )
- Rat King's sewer lair under part of NYC
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Related Locations
Comments