Need help with Gotham City 5E

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
I'm starting a campaign in Gotham City, New Jersey using Champions 5E, and I'd some help. We're using the Batman Animated timeline and this Gotham's in an alternate version of the Champions Universe where, as far as the general population knows, there is no life in outer space. UNTIL has not put a space station up and James Collingsworth is the President of the United States.
Wondering who will protect Gotham City if something happens to him, Batman has formed the Bat Team, a group of young heroes he is mentoring.
Aside from Alfred, his butler, his only assistant, so far, is his engineer, a brainy and beautiful woman. Although a skilled kunoichi, or female ninja, she prefers to design, build and repair equipment instead of fighting crime.
Due to politics, the DOSPA isn't the only agency to send liaisons to the Bat Team. Although Batman doesn't like it, he accepts them, for now. The city and county governments, not to be out done, have also sent liaisons.
The Batcave's design is still up in the air, but it does have a gateway to a pocket dimension where buildings from an Earth that had all lifeforms died out in the 1960s were relocated. Of course, the Powers That Be, or Elders of the Universe, made sure there was nothing harmful there.
A box canyon in New Jersey's part of the Appalachin Mountains is our version of Prefection, Nevada. Although there is a sterile graboid there, everything else is still in a state of flux.
Comment, as always, is invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Space Cadet]

Well, as long as you're going to steal -- er, excuse me, borrow --
stuff from movies or TV for your campaign, then don't forget a
desert town called Providence. While there may not be giant
spiders running around the place any more, there's nothing
that says that some other desert creepy-crawler couldn't have
gotten a dose of the same "mutant steroids". Just imagine the
looks on the heroes' faces when they're suddenly confronted
with a Gila Monster the size of an Apatosaurus, or a horde of
scorpions the size of railroad cars (:D )...

Space Cadet :cool:

[Mark Rand]

What movie or TV show was that from?
The "mutant steroids" sounds a bit like the Mix Master, from Tremors: The Series. It's a chemical that blends non-human DNA and it coats Perfection Valley like alge in a public swimming pool.
My version of Prefection is over 120 miles from Gotham City, which is on Little Egg Harbor. (Gotham County is the southern part of Ocean County.)
Batman and his people know about Prefection, from newspaper and television news stories, but have never been there.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Space Cadet]

Providence was the name of the town in the comedy/horror
movie Eight Legged Freaks, and IIRC, the phrase "mutant
steroids" was used in the early part of the film by the fellow
who ran a spider farm (I can't think of his name, but he play-
ed the "Nuke" druglord in RoboCop 2, and was the original
Francis Dolarhyde in Manhunter, the original version of
Red Dragon) who wound up being the first victim of the
mutated spiders, along with his pet parrot ("I see dead people!
AWWK--*!")

Space Cadet :cool:

[Mark Rand]

Thanks for the information. I just rented the DVD. If that stuff got into the harbor. strange things would happen.
Do any of our learned panel have ideas about the Batcave or what's in the pocket universe? Ideas about the liaisons and support staff are also welcome.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[GenreFiend]

Which it isn't, but if it was I wouldn't use a pocket-universe in the Batcave. That strikes me very much as more of a Fortress of Solitude kind of thing. Speaking of which, I assume there is no Superman in this version? As for stuff in the cave, the giant penney, the deactivated robot tyrannosaurous (sp?), the computer, and lots of bats are must-haves. On the other hand, I have to assume the team will not be opperating out of the cave, with all these liasons attached to it. No way would Batman ever allow that many government-affiliated people in the Batcave.

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Those are good points. All those items mentioned are in the Batcave. What I'm looking for is the layout its based on. The Mayfair version, from the old DC Heros RPG, the West End Games version, from the newer DC Universe RPG, or something else.
The pocket universe isn't in the cave, just attached to it by way of one of three gates that Lady Arcane, the universe's version of Dr. Strange, created. The other gates lead to the Batwing (Batplane) hanger and the Batboat/Batsub dock. The reason for the link to the alternate reality is to provide additional quarters for heroes that need it and give the engineer a place to test new equipment.
The only liaison who resides in the Batcave is the federal one. Where is he or she from DOSPA, PRIMUS, the FBI, or an intelligence agency and what did the liaison do before coming to Gotham?
I'm also thinking of adding a nurse to the support staff. She could be the engineer's mother and share quarters with her daughter and the liaison. Their quarters would also have a gate to Lady Arcane's house that only they could use.
Comment is invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
I just reread GenreFiend's posting. It looks like the suggestion being made is that the Bat Team have its own base, with its own support staff. It might be Lady Arcane's house. Since the house is a mage's, it would be dimensionally transcendental, or bigger on the inside than the outside. (Yes, I am a Doctor Who fan.)
Such a house could easily have gates to one or more alternate realities inside. Although some could be entered only by Lady Arcane, others could be entered only by the Bat Team and considered the team's "Batcave".
Comments are invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Some decisions have been made. The Mayfair version of the Batcave will serve as the basis for the campaign's version. Why you ask? Simple. It has the better design. The Batboat/Batsub is now docked on sub-level two, which I'll have to create. That's the level that has an underground river running through it.
There are two gates within the cave. One leads to a section of the cave that houses the Batwing (Batplane). The other goes to Dr. Arcane's house. He's the Sorcerer Supreme. His student, Lady Arcane is one of Batman's new associates. She's going to be accompanied by her familiar, a screech owl. Batman's other new associate is a kunoichi, or female ninja. No, she's not Batman's lady engineer, but they're good friends.
Should there be a nurse or should Alfred, who has the training, handle the medical chores himself.
Should Bruce arrange for the Wayne Foundation to provide funding for the engineer and, if there is one, nurse?
The liaison that arrives first will be the one that has access to the Batcave. The others can talk to Batman only in Dr. Arcane's house. What agency should that liaison be with, the DOSPA, FBI, NSA of PRIMUS?
Comments are invited, please.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[GenreFiend]

I would still have a HUGE problem with ANY liason being allowed into the cave. Batman is just not that trusting of government types (and considering the corruption that existed in the Gotham PD when he started out, with good reason). Unless this is the late Golden Age/ early Silver Age version of Batman. Also, there are a lot of magicians associating with someone who hates magic (it's possibly the only thing completely outside of his realms of knowledge and control). But, it's your game, and that's just my 1/50th of a dollar.

[JmOz]

It does however depend on WHO the representitive is...for some reason I don't see a MAJOR problem if it was Roy Harper (Former agent of Checkmate, the DEA, close friend to Dick Grayson, formerly known as Speedy, now calls himself Arsenal)

[assault]

Originally posted by JmOz
It does however depend on WHO the representitive is...for some reason I don't see a MAJOR problem if it was Roy Harper (Former agent of Checkmate, the DEA, close friend to Dick Grayson, formerly known as Speedy, now calls himself Arsenal)

Yes, this is true.

I admit that I am not at all thrilled about the idea of government representatives being allowed into the Batcave. Apart from anything else, it would endanger Batman's secret identity.

A close associate like Roy Harper might be different.

Even so, I would be inclined to give the group a separate base.

YMMV

Alan

[GenreFiend]

Both JimOz and Assault have good points. I was not taking into account the idea that the liason might be someone like Arsenal. Still, it seems like Bruce is trusing an aweful lot of people to run around underneath his house. Does the group know his ID? If not, how does he keep them from finding out?

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
It often helps me create my campaign if I suggest ideas and let our learned panel get me back on course. Thank you.
The Bat Team had its roots in a book for the second edition of Mayfair's DC Heroes RPG. They would use the cave as amuster point and train there. Since Bruce knew their identities, he revealed his to them. He would also provide them jobs at Wayne Enterprises that didn't require much of their time, but paid well. At that time, there were no liaisons and Alfred was the support staff.
The engineer came later, when Batman rescued Harold from the Penguin's clutches. To me, if he can afford to pay them, he could either pay an engineer and a nurse or make arrangements for the Wayne Foundation to do that.
The suggestion that the team have its own cave is a good one. Batman could turn a secondary cave over to them, like he turned one over to Cassandra, the third Batgirl in the main DC universe.
It would have to be linked, via communications lines to the main Batcave. A gate, or magical teleporter, would let Batman, Batgirl, and the support staff travel between caves. A second gate could lead to a safehouse that only the staff and liaisons have access to. A third gate could lead to a pocket dimension, where all humanity has died out. It could even be designed to resemble a regular door. Here, the team could have living quarters, a first aid area, a trophy room and places to train, and store costumes and equipment.
Anyone have thoughts about the nurse? Comment is invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[badger3k]

If you go with a separate cave, then I'd definitely use another medic than Alfred - he'd be too easy to connect to Bruce Wayne. If he still has a secret ID then it'd have to be someone else.

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
The nurse is either the engineer's mother (my preference) or the DOSPA liaison's wife. Suggestions?
The Wayne Foundation Batcave is the basis for the team's base. It started out as a secondary Batcave and is now the team's headquarters. It's linked by dedicated computer and phone lines to the main cave below Wayne Manor. A gate, usable only by Batman, let's him visit without giving the base's location away. That's also why the team uses normal-looking vehicles, probably sports cars.
There are two other gates. One leads to Dr. Arcane's house. Only the nurse, engineer and liaisons can use it. The other leads to a pocket universe where all life died out in the 1960s. The living quarters, infirmary, training areas, emergency stores and equipment testing area are here. I have an idea of what's there, but I haven't drawn it, yet.
A two-page spread on the Wayne Foundation Batcave can be found at the end of "The Untold Legend of the Batman" #3 (September 1980) and an isometric (I think) diagram of it can be found on page 46 of the "Batman Sourcebook", witch was written by Mike Stackpole and has a 1989 copyright date.
Comment is invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[GenreFiend]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Anyone have thoughts about the nurse? Comment is invited.
Yours,
Mark Rand
I'm always having thoughts about the nurse, but they can't be printed on a family-friendly forum.:D

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Should have said, "The nurse is either the engineer's mother (my preference) or the DOSPA liaison's wife. Who do you think she should be?"
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Those of you who have read my DOSPA agent thread know that I'm a fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". As it happens, I'm using ideas from it. The Hellmouth, which is currently closed, is near Gotham City, it's one reason the area has so many costumed criminals, and Buffy's not the Slayer. Someone else is. Batman met the Slayer when she saved him from getting fanged.
What's Batman's reaction to the whole thing? Who has he told? What federal agencies, if any, know about this problem?
Your thoughts on this matter would be most welcome.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Here's an assortment of ideas I came up with last night.
The nurse shouldn't be related to a liaison. If she was, she'd be loyal to him instead of Batman and his associates.
The gates could be technological, perhaps recovered from a crashed alien craft or a gift from someone in another reality, instead of magical. Two are simple teleporters. The third leads to a pocket universe the contents of which come from various realities where all life has died out. Its contents could includ: a hotel, from the 1960s, that was near an airport; a church that was hosting a wellness fair that was sponsored by the public health department; a college gymnasium; a medical office; bars and restaraunts; and a high school that had a pep rally going on it its auditorium. There would also be large open spaces, like a park, for long runs and a funeral parlor with cremation facilities. This would also give the heroes and staff members with clothes for disguises and to wear while working or relaxing. The nurse might decide to wear white uniforms and a cap instead of scrubs. The engineer might beside to wear a maid's or waitress's uniform while doing some housecleaning. Any of the women could decide, just for fun, to wear a choir robe over her regular clothes, or dress as either a cheerleader or an airline stewardess from the era when stews wore gloves as part of their uniforms.
As I said, these are random thoughts. Your comments are, as always, requested.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
More random thoughts for you to comment on.
Since Batman likes to be in control of his teammates, would he let them use a separate cave?
The three transporter sets were discovered by Batman when he was exploring an area in the Barcave that a minor quake uncovered. Although, on the surface, it only rattled windows, it was strong enough to unblock the entrance. After examining them, Batman discovered that they were from an ancient race that died out before dinosaurs existed and figured out how to work them.
Batman's engineer, Chrissy, comes from a wealthy Gotham family. The safehouse the support staff and liaisons use is the guesthouse on her family's estate. Only she, the nurse, and Batman can use the transporter going there.
The second transporter links the Batwing (Batplane) hanger to the Batcave.
The last transporter goes to a pocket reality found by the ancient race. Their race died out before they could explore it.
Only two liaisons live in the safehouse, the FBI liaison, a female agent with an amulet that lets her become a couger and the NSA liaison, a black-bag operations specialist who accepted the assignment after acting as locksmith for a DEA team that raided a well-connected drug distributer in Washington, D.C.
Two novice heroines have been chosen. One is Black Scorpion, a kunoichi, or female ninja. Her costume is, with two exceptions, the regular ninja garb. The exceptions are: gloves with retractable claws and a ski mask with mesh over the mouth instead of the regular ninja mask. The other is Wolf Girl, who can change into either a wolfoid, wolf-human hybred, or a timber wolf.
Comments, please.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[danbuter]

Just so you know, New Jersey is flat. It is almost all Coastal Plains. To get into the Appalachians, you need to go several hundred miles further west. (western PA, WV, western VA, western NC). Or maybe do the Adirondacks in NY, which are fairly close to the city (only a 100 miles or so away). \

But that's only if you have players like mine, who would point this out.

[Mark Rand]

According to the 2001 Rand McNalley Road Atlas, there are mountain ranges in the extreme northwestern part of New Jersey, where in borders Pennsylvania and New York.

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
More minor stuff for you to look over and comment on. I hope some people who have read these postings, but haven't comment will do so.
The map of Gotham City we're using is the one in the books. I have, however, renamed the places that DC Comics named after people that have worked on the Batman books.
The city liaison is Commissioner Gordon. The county, DOSPA and PRIMUS liaisons work through him. The FBI liaison should, too. This will help Batman seem to be an "Urban Myth" instead of a real person.
The NSA liaison started out the same way, but Batman eventually trusted her enough to let her know Chrissy's identity. She's under orders from the NSA director not to report anything that Batman tells her is secret.
The gateway transporter creates a rift into a pocket reality where buildings from Earths where all life has died out have been placed. The hotel, where the gateway sends from was near a Denver airport in 1967. In that reality, like in ours then, airline stewardesses wore gloves as part of their uniforms. There was also, according to signs on the lobby, an Islamic women's group was holding a conference in the hotel. The church next to it was from Lansing, Michigan. Signs in the lobby indicated that a health fair, sponsored by the county health department and the church, was in progress in the basement. The next block consisted of stores, restaraunts and bars from Chicago.
The team's nurse is a childhood friend of Chrissy's. Although she originally wore scrubs, she now wears white uniforms and a cap from the other reality.
More later.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
More Bat stuff for your consideration.
Wolf Girl was originally created, using HeroMachine, an on-line hero design program, for another thread. Her costume's a dark-grey and black long-sleeve and full-footed unitard that covers most of her body and has her symbol, a wolf head, in dark-grey, on her chest, black elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots, and a black, full-face mask that leaves her red hair visible. When she shifts to wolf, or wolfoid form, her fur is black and dark-grey with red highlights.
Black Scorpion's car looks like a matt-black 2001 Pontiac Ram-Air TransAm. However, it has equipment that would make James Bond or Michael Knight drool.
The NSA liaison always wears gloves, choosing the right ones for her clothes. She claims that she likes the way she looks, but Chrissy thinks she's trying to keep her fingerprints from being taken.
I'm beginning to wonder if I made the right choice in going with Gotham City. Will you help me decide? The cities up for consideration are: Colorado City, Colorado (where Colorado Springs is); Gotham City, New Jersey; Las Vegas, Nevada; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (my home town); San Angelo, California and Washington, D.C. In order to decide, I'll ned your input. I'll cast my vote, then roll dice for another. Post your opinions here by Monday, September 22, 2003 at 6PM EST. Her's my vote, Pittsburgh. What can I say? It's a 'Burg thing. The dice say Gotham. In case of a tie, I'll make a random selection. If nobody else votes, it'll be Pittsburgh.
Comments and votes are requested.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
I should've given you 6PM EDST on Monday, September 22, 2003 as the cutoff time for your comments and votes. Sorry.

[GenreFiend]

Move it to anywhere but Gotham. Disassociate Batman from the team. That's my opinion.

[Mark Rand]

GenreFiend, thanks for your post. If Batman had, due to suffering a stroke, retired, would you feel the same way?

[GenreFiend]

Things Batman does not like:
Magic
Extra-Dimensional stuff
Government Liasons
Working with "Amateurs"
Super-powered people operating in Gotham
Getting too involved with a lot of people
Too many people being in the Cave.
Etc., etc., etc.
Now, how many of those things would your campaign include?
I'm not trying to shoot you down, I'm just saying Batman would
not be involved in this, and I feel you should pull him out of
this situation. But, that's just my 1/50 of a dollar.

[Mark Rand]

Good points, GenreFiend. Somehow, I keep forgetting them. With your permission, I'll randomly assign your vote to one of the five other cities.

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
The Extra-Dimensional stuff is gone. The federal liaisons are not watching Batman, trying to discover something about him for their agencies. If he knows they're there, he hasn't let on.
In the second Batman Animated series, the one with Superman, Batman meets occult expert Jason Blood, the host of the demon Etrigan. Batman considers him an expert on occult and magic and has no reason not to trust him. Jason told Batman about the Slayer (as in Buffy). Batman met her once, while investigating a mass murder. "Vampires," the Slayer, an athletic-looking black woman with braided, black hair that hugged her skull. "With this many bodies in one place, it looks like we have a nest somewhere."
"You're the expert here," Batman said, noting that she wore black motorcycle leathers combat boots and leather gloves and had a black backpack on. "Jason Blood told me how to check them. I'll make sure the morgue people make sure none turn into vampires."
"Good." With that, she slipped into the shadows.
The Bat Team concept comes from the Batman RPG book, a supliment for the second edition of Mayfairs DC Heroes RPG. In it, Batman, wondering who would protect Gotham if something happens to him, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl creates the Bat Team. They're a group of novice heroes that he selects and trains. He knows their identities and they know those of his senior associates. He provides them with a well-paying job, in their field, with Wayne Enterprises, that doesn't take up too much time, and makes arrangements for their quarters in a middle-class neighborhood. They have to report to the Batcave at 9am each day for training and each night for patrol. Chrissy and the nurse live in Wayne Manor as Bruce's guests and change clothes in their Batcave quarters, which is about the size of a hotel room with two twin beds. Since Chrissy drives a race car for fun (in SCCA-sanctioned amateur events), she keeps her car, trailer and motorhome in Bruce's garage.
Remember, voting deadline is 6PM Eastern time this coming Monday. Thank you for your attention.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
About 20 minutes ago it occurred to me that the PCs could be a superhero team working out of PRIMUS Gotham.
One heroine is a mage and they use her house as an informal base. That's where the gateway to the other reality is.
Batman isn't happy. Does PRIMUS care? No. Silver Avenger Mariko Namura has threatened to throw him into a cage if he tries to interfere.
The voting deadline is now 6PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 24.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
About 20 minutes ago it occurred to me that the PCs could be a superhero team working out of PRIMUS Gotham.
One heroine is a mage and they use her house as an informal base. That's where the gateway to the other reality is.
Batman isn't happy. Does PRIMUS care? No. Silver Avenger Mariko Namura has threatened to throw him into a cage if he tries to interfere.
The voting deadline is now 6PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 24.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
The polls are closed. Here are the votes.
Colorado City, Colorado...0
Gotham City, New Jersey...1
Las Vegas, Nevada...0
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...1
San Angelo, California...0
Washington, D.C...0
Gotham City and Pittsburgh are tied. I'll use a d10 to decide what city gets one more vote and the win. Gotham City gets odd. Pittsburgh gets even. Here we go. Four. Pittsburgh gets an additional point and the win.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and votes.
Look for a new thread, Need help with Pittsburgh 5E, soon.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
The last post was to be the final one. However, there was one thing I forgot to tell you about this version of Batman. He has met Dr. Arcane, this universe's Archmage, knows that magic exists and, since he understands, from their talks, some of the principles, he's not afraid of it. He just can't do it.
He's also willing to work with other people, including liaisons. However, they must prove themselves to him before he'll trust them.
Watch the movie "Batman and Robin", if you can. You'll get an idea of his character. The only change from that movie is Batgirl's costume. She'd use the black and gold costume that Barbara Gordon wore in the comics.
Yours (looking for a way out of the Batcave),
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Although I'm working on Pittsburgh 5E, I think a Batman campaign is possible, if one can counter Batman's "I make the rules" style. I'm thinking of an Elseworlds Batman campaign, in the Batman movie universe, after the fourth movie.
Batman has started, and is training, a team of novice heroes to protect Gotham if something happens to him. As part of the deal, he provides them with apartments and positions at Wayne Enterprises that don't require much of their time.
He is willing to work with liaisons, provided they meet his requirements and prove trustworthy. So far, the only one who has is a female NSA agent that plays by his rules.
He knows magic exists but uses it as little as possible. So far, all he permits are two gateways, one allowing the liaison to get to her apartment (it's keyed only to her) and the one leading to a pocket reality where buildings from Earths where people have died out are. He also, knowing that vampires, demons and other undead exist, lets the Slayer deal with them.
Aside from Alfred, his support staff consists of a mother-daughter team. The mother'is a nurse who still wears white uniforms and a cap. The daughter's an electronics engineer who is also an expert with vehicles. Their cover is that of Bruce's houseguests. As part of that, they're both involved in amateur motorsports. The daughter races a Ford Probe in the SCCA's GT-3 class and drives the pace car at a track Bruce ownes. Her mother crews for her.
Yours,
Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,
Here's my current idea. Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Robin (Tim Drake) were trying to climb a building that a killer was in when the building explodes. Batman's suffered a stroke and had most of his bones shattered, Robin's dead and a someone removed their masks.
Now it's up to Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) and Nightwing (Dick Grayson), who were on another case, to keep Gotham City safe. How would they proceed?
Yours,
Mark Rand