An Avengers Campaign

[Mark Rand]

This campaign is set in an alternate Marvel Universe that split from the mainstream universe (assuming there is one) just before the Avengers Timeslide series. There are several crossover universes in this campaign. Two, the CSI and Tremors: The Series universes are of little importance. Another, the Xenaverse may be considered minor. The Amazon tribes have survived to this day. (Amazons are women who are skilled in armed and unarmed combat, know the Greek language, both Amazon and Greek culture and customs, and worship Artemis.)

The other two, the Buffyverse, after season five of Angel, and the Jack Ryan universe, after he became President, are quite important. (The Buffyverse tells us what the world knows about the undead and the Jack Ryan universe tells us who the President is and how he became President.)

Now, to the Avengers themselves. They are Earth's best-known and most-respected team. By vote of the United Nations, they are also a world power.

The Avengers have decided to set up various branch teams to monitor trouble spots.around the world.

The Northwestern team, based in Seattle, will cover Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Canada.

The California team, based in Santa Barbara, covers California and the Western section of Mexico.

The Southwest team, based in Los Vegas, covers Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

The Texas team, based in Fort Worth, covers Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and the major part of Mexico.

The Souther team, based in Miami, covers Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, the Carolinas, and the West Indies.

The Great Plains team, based in Minneapolis, covers the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and parts of Canada.

The Great Lakes team, based in Chicago, covers Illinois, Wisconson, Michigan, Indiana, and parts of Canada.

The Mid-Atlantic team, based in Pittsburgh, covers Pennsylvania, Ohio (including the Cleveland Hellmouth), Kentucky, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The New England Avengers, based in New York City, cover Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and parts of Canada.

There are also to be teams in the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, England, Tokyo, and three other places.

Not all teams are completely in place yet. However, the Washington, D.C., New England, and Mid-Atlantic teams are.

The Mid-Atlantic team will be the one the PCs are in.

[Rage]

And then?

How does this interact with Batman, Batgirl, and the Scooby Gang in Gotham New Jersey?

[Mark Rand]

And then?

How does this interact with Batman, Batgirl, and the Scooby Gang in Gotham New Jersey?

Gotham City, Batman, and Batgirl aren't in this universe. Atlantic City, the template for "The Haven", however, has two Slayers and their asociates.

[Mark Rand]

Here are a few crossovers that I forgot.

Frank Miller's Sin City is set in Basin City in Southeast Colorado. It received the nickname Sin City because of the corrupt polititions and police.

Unicorn Mountain, a novel by Michael Bishop, is set in and around Snowy Falls, Colorado, a town too small to show up on most maps.

We're also taking Senator Robert Kinsey and the NID from Stargate SG-1 because they're cool bad guys.

Now, concerning how Jack Ryan became President. In Tom Clancy's books, just after he was sworn in as Vice President, an airliner crashed into the Capital Building, killing the President, the Diplomatic Corps, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and everyone in Congress that was there. Additionally, he and Cathy have three children.

In our version, Jack was the cabinet member that had to watch the State of the Union address from the White House, just in case something happened. Something did. Terrorists dropped a 757, full of passangers and explosives on the Capitol Building. The boom was heard, and felt, at the White House. Also, Jack and Cathy have an additional child, an older daughter, named Holly, that they adopted. She handles the big cats for The Ross Brothers Circus's main show, is the girl in the blade box and the snake charmer for the circus side show, and is married to Matt Reese,the bandleader.

In case you're wondering why the 757 wasn't shot down, the air force knew that one million pieces falling to the ground would do more damage than the plane itself would. It also happened too fast for any kind of super response.

Next, hopefully, we'll visit Pittsburgh.

[Mark Rand]

Welcome to the Pittsburgh area.

Pittsburgh is a city like any other. It's the county seat of Alleghny County and has financial problems, two new stadiums, the oldest hockey arena in the NHL, and 40% of its real estate is tax-exempt.

Let's go north first.

Stark Industries has a plant up in the Cranberry Township area.

The area also boasts Pittsburgh Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile Indy-style oval with an internal 3.194-mile internal road course with two shortcuts that let it be shortned to either, 2.700, 2.940, or 2.980-miles. The front straight doubles as a dragstrip and the owner doesn't allow amateur racing on the track at all.

Oakland, a wonderful neighborhood, is our next stop.

After the old Buhl Planetarium was shut down, Tony Stark bought the old Zeiss Mark II Planetarium Star Projector, it's console, the 10-inch, Siderostat-type, refractor telescope, the Van de Graff electrostatic generator, and the 1,000,000-volt Oudin-type Tesla coil. These things were stored in a warehouse until Tony bought the former Syria Mosque site from it's current owner and built an up to date, and code, planetarium building there and installed the equipment there. After everything was tested, the building, and everything in it, was donated to the University of Pittsburgh on the condition that it be open to the public the same times the old Buhl Planetarium was. They agreed.

More to come.

[Mark Rand]

We continue with the Planetarium.

The opening sequence from Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, better known as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Made Contact, is played every time the Zeiss, otherwise known as Jake, comes out of its pit.

In addition to the 10-inch Siderostat telescope, the planetarium has two portable telescopes, a 6-inch refractor, and an 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector, that, on good nights, are set up on the roof. When the Pittsburgh area has an eclipse, the 11-inch telescope is set up with a video camera connected to it and the images are available on the web and closed-circuit monitors in the building.

The folks at the Carnegie Science Center probably aren't happy that there's another planetarium in town.

To the South Side for a quick visit.

This area has many bars and night clubs. Pat's has wonderful jazz. The Jazz Angels have played there Thursday through Sunday for the past two years. Zorba's, a Greek bar, has belly dancers nightly from 8 pm until they close at 2 am. Those in the know say that some of the region's best perform there.

Still more to come.

[Mark Rand]

Next, we go east.

A rural part of nearby Westmoreland County is home to the Serendipity Ranch, where developmentally disadvantaged people work with horses. The staff, medical people, social workers, horse experts, and others, all wear Western clothes, as do many of the patients.

Now, we're going south.

Washington County is home to Washington County Raceway. It has a dragstrip, a half-mile oval, a 2.66-mile road course, and a half-mile figure 8 track. The dragstrip serves as the main straight for the oval and road course. The oval's back straight is part of the road course. The figure 8 track is inside the oval.

Both the track and the Steel Cities Region of the Sports Car Club of America have Ford Mustang pace cars.

[Mark Rand]

The Mid-Atlantic Avengers use Doctor Arcane's mansion as their headquarters. Since it's a fastness, it's bigger on the inside than the outside.

[Mark Rand]

The Black Scorpion thread is up on the Dark Champions forum.

[Mark Rand]

Are all of the crossovers necessary in this campaign? No, they're just there to add color to the universe.

[Mark Rand]

I've gone through this thread and reformatted my posts to make them easier to read.

[Cold Steel]

My head hurts.

[Major Tom]

If you think that what's been posted thus far is enough to give you a head-
ache, you should take a look at FanFiction.net when you get the chance.
There's a story called "Potentials" in the "TV Crossovers" section that not
only features Jack Ryan and Senator Kinsey, but also has characters from
Airwolf, Battlestar Galactica (TOS), CSI, Highlander
(the series), Law and Order: SVU, Stargate: SG-1, and The
X-Files. There are also parts of the story that involve interimensional
travel to the universes of, respectively, Babylon 5, Space: Above
and Beyond, Starship Troopers, and Star Trek: TNG.

It's every bit as entertaining and interesting as the various campaign ideas/
worlds that Mr. Rand has shared with us in the past.


Major Tom

[Yansuf]

The New England Avengers, based in New York City, cover Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and parts of Canada.

So, New Hampshire has managed to seceed?

[Mark Rand]

So, New Hampshire has managed to seceed?

No. I just forgot to put it in.