After ensuring Cleopatra and the handmaidens are safe, the PCs track the villainous Frost Giant Ivar back to the largest of his Restaurants, the one on the Pier downtown. He's gonna pay, but they need to do it in a way that doesn't end the truce with Caponeson.
There's guards out front they have to get past. They knew he had a trapdoor in his office floor over the pier, but decide to go in the front door via social rolls in hopes of looking better when Caponeson hears the tale later. That gets them inside, but Ivar keeps making them wait. Waitresses bring the catch of the day and bottles of vodka, all on the house. He's in a meeting, they are told, but will be with them shortly.
They sit and stew. Omar gets really mad and can't take it anymore. They go to break into Ivar's office. The door is big and heavy, so while Omar and Ash are smashing through it, Alyssa uses her Psychopomp powers to walk through the wall. For a couple ticks, she's alone with Ivar and his bodyguards. He picks up his marble-topped desk and smashes her with it. The dice are perfect - she's left with 1 health level. Anything more and she'll be incapacitated.
Then the door breaks open, and Omar starts casting bad juju at Ivar. Again, everything works out perfect. They hurt him, but don't drop him in that action.
The PCs second action takes place in the same tick as Ivar's - they'll be simultaneous! Despite nearly dropping a PC in one blow, he's got little hope against all 3 of them and their sidekick. So I decide (but keep it to myself) what his action is.
The PCs make their attack rolls, throwing everything they've got against him. They actually do enough damage to incapacitate him, but he still gets his simultaneous action. Again, perfection. I couldn't be happier.
He lifts the marble desktop above his head, and stomps on the aforementioned trapdoor. It gives way beneath him, and he falls beneath the pier into Puget Sound. The PCs are left in the room with his bodyguards.
And here's the beauty: Frost Giants in Scion are literally made from magic ice. In water, they heal at an astounding pace. He can't drown, and gets away scot free. The desk weighs too much for a PC to lift easily, so the only person that can follow while he's still incapacitated is the PC who's 1 health level away from incapacitation herself.
This was a flawlessly perfect session. The opening scene gave character development and introduced new NPCs, but didn't bog down at all. The plot rolled along at a good clip. Every die was exactly what it needed to be. The players' emotional investment in the story was heightened. It got personal, but without anything really special being ruined (Cleopatra lived and Omar didn't lose any magic artifacts). The villain got away to recur yet again!
Days like that are why I chose gaming as my primary hobby.
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