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...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!


SSgt Baloo

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Especially in older comics, some "supervillain" or "supervillains" (say, a gang with an armored flying car or a M-S* with an earthquake machine or an army of robots) hold a city hostage in the belief that once they achieve objective X no-one can wrest control of the city from them. Just what sort of schemes might a villain use to "Rule the City", apart from schemes where they run it through subterfuge?

 

Seriously, if he can take over a city but not the county/state/federal gummint, what's going to prevent the military from running in and smashing down the small-potatoes tyrant? After all, you don't want the rest of not-up-to-national-threat-level villainy to think you'll stand by and let some nobody take one of your towns without your permission? Besides, think of the lost revenue (taxes).

 

If you had a villain who wanted to take over HomeBaseBurg© and keep it, how would he do it? What are some good reasons why The Government™ wouldn't just send in the National Guard (or why they would be inneffective)? Why would supers be necessary to deal with situations military might should squash with ease?

 

* M-S = Mad Scientist, of course!

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

I have seen similar things:

In the Avengers cartoon there was one multipart-episode where a villian created a expanding field of radiation transforming everyone inside (without Immunity to radiation) into a Loyal mutant. He was absolutely certain he was unstopable, because the field would sooner or later engulf the planet and no troops could be used against him.

Question: What stops the government from firing a few atom bombs or even MIRVS on his head? (to overpower the "Superhuman Point Defense"). Sure they would have killed everyone in the city he took first but might save the world.

 

To answer your question (and propably why it worked in the cartoons):

- government is slow. Using the military on matters of inner security is problematic (that's why we have the police after all)

- body count. Whatever action you take, the mind controlled people will fight you or the enslaved ones will be used as ablative meat shield. No chance to get elected ever again.

- Normal military (guys build on 100 Points per champions 6E) vs. Supervillian (400 points) and Mooks (175 points). The bad guys are simply to good, since they train to fight superhumans.

- when there is a real word tech that could stop the villian (MIRVs + Detonating high enough for example), this tech is not avalible.

- it's the heroes story and whatever stops the government it will last until they have saved the day or it is the mission time limit (take it back until X:00, or we push the button).

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

The classic comic-book example is the Impenetrable Force-Field Dome . Slap one of these over/around your captive city, and anything unwanted up to nukes can't get in.

 

Practically speaking, you'll still need to worry about supplying the inhabitants with water, food, perhaps even air; but for story purposes you can assume that a villain smart enough to invent the dome in the first place has figured out ways around those problems. OTOH one of those workarounds could be the key to heroes getting in.

 

Doctor Doom has come up with a few interesting gimmicks for keeping the kids off his lawn. In one story he created corrosive clouds over Latveria, which dissolved metal passing through them. Missiles and aircraft just fell apart before they got close to their targets. In another case, Doom generated an illusion around the outside of his castle, making everything appear to be several feet from where it actually was. You couldn't find the gates, doors, or windows, because they weren't where you were looking.

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

The classic comic-book example is the Impenetrable Force-Field Dome . Slap one of these over/around your captive city' date=' and anything unwanted up to nukes can't get in.[/quote']

Impenetrable Force fields. What would a supervillians lair be without it? Actually he does not even needs to go the "impenetrable forcefield" and "corosive clouds" path. Even just denying the army any for of intelligence is enough. Without intelligence they have no chance for a succesfull operation against supercrime. Superheroes are faster in adapting to situations, can flee through half the city on a moments notice and don't need a lot of supply/fixed base to be effective.

 

For mystical heroes "Fog of Avalon"-Effect (just made this up) is a good idea. Take some field of mystical darkness to all senses (Especially Fog on water or Pitch Black Darkness) and soround your area with it. When you have the right passcode/talisman/guidance spell you get through. If not your are expelled on the other side of the area, someplace remote place on earth, walk into a monster/guardian or just are lost forever (dependign on the villian/mage who set it up).

In Order of the Stick Azura City was protected against any form of distance communication, clairsentience and the like via the "Cloister" spell, a Epic Level anti Scry/Send spell.

 

Out of mind, out of sight:

(Magical) Mental manipulation might simply create a area that nobody ever enters, nobody can remember what was there before and nobody ever bothers to take a look. Perfect way to hide a secret village.

But at a stronger level it might block the memory of a city ever existing at place X from the world. Might not affect the internet and computers/AI in general (so that is the way the adventure gets started).

 

Today the city, in 5 Minutes the world:

Maybe taking the city is only the preparation to unlease some mystical force of winter or similar doomsday device. Add in some way to block sight and the goverment might still be debating when you move and seal their doom.

 

It's political:

- Some foreign power is involved. Maybe their president/king/whatever was in the city so the army can't move for fear of hurting him accidently. Time for weapons of prices destruction (Superheroes)

- Or perhaps there is a large group of foreigners and there government is very concernced that they come back safe.

- The target area is claimed by multiple governments (unresolved border dispute). Once something hapens everyone dispatches forces to the area but neither side moves, because the others would take it as a try to claim the area.

- a foreign government is (openly) supporting the acts of the villian (declare the city independent and join the chinese republic after "winning" the election)

 

Megascale Force Wall that if breached will trigger a megascale RKA. It doesn't need to have to many d6 to threaten the innocent.

Of course only when it is not a "today the city, in 5 minutes the world" thing. Then the loss of live could be considered acceptable (of course the heroes would still rush to save the day before the button is pressed).

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

Once I have control of the city, and set it running the way it SHOULD be run, the world will recognize my GENUIS, and soon will ask my help in reorganizing the way we live. Sure, there will be some issues as the old, decadent, system is discarded; but TOGETHER, under my brilliant leadership, we can make a better world for the FUTURE!

 

Laugh with me now,

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

(Or I'm just going to take over the city to show Debbie from high school that I'm better then those dumb jocks. Once I do that, there is really no reason to try to hold it: mission accomplished.)

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

The classic comic-book example is the Impenetrable Force-Field Dome . Slap one of these over/around your captive city, and anything unwanted up to nukes can't get in.

 

Ironically enough, I'm working on a story with this very trope :) Only it's the superheroes who made it, the villain is just using it for his own ends.
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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

1. Devastate the rest of the country leaving the city you want under your control untouched. Not only will that give the government other things to think about, it will let the inhabitants of your city know there are worse things than bowing to your rule.

 

2. Take a city which is already naturally isolated. Manhattan is a good choice. Take control of the transportation bottleneck points. Place a weapon on the highest structure which can act as a ground to air and land to water weapon.

 

3. Take control of the natural laws in an area. Tune them so your powers/technology works, but the American military's weaponry doesn't

 

4. Steal the city. Move it to a world/time out of the reach of the government. Or put it in a bottle and keep it on your mantlepiece.

 

5. Threaten the city with a weapon of mass destruction. Control access points. Only let people out when they have hostages against their return. Rely on the larger government's reluctance to kill everyone to stop you.

 

6. Mind control everyone within a certain a radius Have good ground to air defences.

 

7. Negotiate on behalf of your alien warfleet to make the city an extraterritorial trade nexus pointing out that if the answer is "yes" then the nation can profit from trade with aliens, and if the answer is no, the asteroids fall. It was good enough for Hong Kong.

 

8. Devastate the city. Own the corporation that can rebuild it. Own the city when you are finished.

 

9. Inundate the city. Turn the inhabitants into water breathers.

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

6. Mind control everyone within a certain a radius Have good ground to air defences.

In more general terms:

Make (large parts of) the population into loyal, posibly midly superpowered minions. The aproach can vary:

Mind Controll, Mutation Field, Assimilation Nanite Swarm, Summon Hordes of formless Demons who Posess them, etc...

 

Or use some other means for "instant armies":

Robot Army (build in secret Factories), Summon Ancestor Spirits/Spirtis of Gaia/Demon Hordes or just hit with your invasion force before the good guys have a chance to react.

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

Both have been mentioned, but personally I like the combo of Mega Forceshield coupled with Doomsday Weapon set to go off ala John Crichton in Farscape. (Basically if any of his bio readings went beyond norms the nuke would blow, of course in that setting mind rapes was coupled with either crippling heat blasts or brain surgery so our would-be villian has best have some defense against telepaths if he wants to keep his city.)

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

Hmmm a time machine and a large bag of gold or maybe some usefull information on the british military mmight get you a signed deed and sovereign rights to the city signed by the founding fathers could be interesting

Repped.

 

Looks like we totally overlooked changing reality (with only the heroes being excempt), like via timetravel. Other variants are Memory-Altertion or Perma Hypnotizing.

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

Is capturing the city only a prelude to conquering the entire Tri-State Area? ;)

 

Clonus has some neat ideas there. :)

 

The Spider actually fought this menace in the Black Police Trilogy. It's fairly awesome, if incredibly violent.

 

As for means of keeping the city:

 

1) Robot Councilmen. They just constantly deadlock and don't do anything, and they're programmed to do it! Oh, wait. You don't need robots to do this!

 

2) Infectious Field: Anyone who steps into the bounds of the city gets a deadly time-release virus that will kill in three days if someone doesn't give you a pill. The pills are pretty expensive, but everyone needs them, so take your pills, citizens.

 

3) Kill Everyone and replace them with robots, zombies, or what have you. See #2, only the pill is a placebo and everyone dies.

 

4) Make it appeal to a certain type of person who feels disenfranchised yet has a useful skill set. (Minorities, Youths, Anarchists, Terrorists, whatever.) Offer those sorts of people money to come there. This is useful because then you have a built in militia. This is how all these "I shall build a city of crime" things get started.

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

It may be in the framing. In some comics' date=' the city [i']is[/i] the world. Whether Gotham city or Springfield, the world seems to be contained to the campaign city and nothing outside of it is very important at all.

 

I've actually toyed with the idea of a supers universe where there is no United States. Instead, each city controls a culturally and governmentally distinct city state (since obviously they'd need to control the surrounding agricultural area).

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

I've actually toyed with the idea of a supers universe where there is no United States. Instead' date=' each city controls a culturally and governmentally distinct city state (since obviously they'd need to control the surrounding agricultural area).[/quote']

 

That could be interesting. There might be some villain controlled city states too (See Bomb Queen for a highly tongue in cheek example).

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Re: ...And now the city is mine to control! Muahahahaha!!!

 

I've actually toyed with the idea of a supers universe where there is no United States. Instead' date=' each city controls a culturally and governmentally distinct city state (since obviously they'd need to control the surrounding agricultural area).[/quote']

 

So if I somebody were to attempt to control the Tri-State Area, there'd be no-one to stop them except the police and sheriff?

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