Jump to content

Defunct Organizations: RAVEN, SAT, WITCH, etc... Reimagined


TheQuestionMan

Recommended Posts

For my most recent CU-based games, I adapted older Champions org materials to make a version of SAT as Russia's national "super-agency." I declared SAT the acronym for one of those arcanely lengthy and convoluted Russian organization names, like KGB, or Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti ( "Committee for State Security"). Fortunately my players never asked what SAT stood for, as I have no idea. :sneaky:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For my most recent CU-based games, I adapted older Champions org materials to make a version of SAT as Russia's national "super-agency." I declared SAT the acronym for one of those arcanely lengthy and convoluted Russian organization names, like KGB, or Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti ( "Committee for State Security"). Fortunately my players never asked what SAT stood for, as I have no idea. :sneaky:

 

I like the idea, but KBG isn't unusually lengthy or convoluted, IMHO. The full name of the FBI has about the same number of syllables. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fooling around with Google translate:

 

Союз агентских товарищей (Soyuz Agentskikh Tovarishchey)

 

Union of Agent Comrades.

 

Which seems cheesy enough for a Russian version of SAT and has the right old-school cold war legacy sound. Weren't they originally Special American Military?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At one point, I had UNTIL being allowed into the US during the Mechanon War emergency. SAT was its hastily formed replacement.

 

I didn't use PRIMUS, and around 90% of UNTIL agents were from the US. Most of the rest were Canadian.

 

UNTIL was allowed in because of their technology and experience fighting supervillains. Major Martinez rose to fame leading the opposition to Dr Destroyer's conquest of Paraguay.

 

RAVEN was a genuine competitor to VIPER, regarding the latter as just a jumped up drug cartel. (My version of VIPER originated in Asia, out of the murky anti-Communist/drug warlord/CIA milieu).

 

WITCH was, in fact, a 70s militant group, vaguely similar to the Weather Underground, the Symbionese Liberation Army and similar loons. It died off in the 80s, although some of its supervillains might still be around. It mainly used science, not magic. It used magic more in its later days than in its early ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the idea, but KBG isn't unusually lengthy or convoluted, IMHO. The full name of the FBI has about the same number of syllables. 

 

Try saying it aloud.

 

Thing about Russian is, they have a habit of creating new words for things by stringing together other words.

 

 

Fooling around with Google translate:

 

Союз агентских товарищей (Soyuz Agentskikh Tovarishchey)

 

Union of Agent Comrades.

 

Which seems cheesy enough for a Russian version of SAT and has the right old-school cold war legacy sound. Weren't they originally Special American Military?

 

Thank you, much appreciated. I might tinker with it, but that's a good start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Thing about Russian is, they have a habit of creating new words for things by stringing together other words.

 

 

Pfft. Try the Germans :)

 

The polar opposite are the Japanese, who like taking loan words and reducing them to monosylables.

 

But I agree that Russian agency names can be unwieldy. Just like very many US ones:

 

https://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/2005/html/56456.htm

 

Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation? Really? It doesn't even make a snappy acronym like FREEDOMS (Freedom of Information Document Management System). (To be fair, neither of those is an agency, but there's plenty awkward ones on that page)

 

And the ATF keeps adding letters. BATFE now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just you wait -- they're going to keep adding to it and changing it until it's finally BATMAN.

 

It'd make sense to merge them with the DEA (Pfft! Like US agencies ever merge!). That could make them BATFED. But it's not a close fit since ATF deal with controlled, not illicit stuff. 

 

I'm sure we can do better. Maybe spell out the major drugs? Weed is heading towards being a legal drug along the lines of booze and backky, so there's your "M" right there. BATFEM? Kathy Kane and Barbara Gordon may not be amused. And anyway, they'd likely use "C" for Cannabis.

 

Hmm... they do currently deal with Arson as a thing, though it doesn't make the acronym. There's the second "A".

 

Really, just needs a good alternate for Firearms starting with "N"...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm rather fond of INCLE - International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement.

 

It sounds like it should be a United organization, rather than merely International.

 

To paraphrase a certain TV show:

 

"It means that someone really wanted our name to spell out 'INCLE' "

 

Before we got reorganised earlier this year my own office had the moniker of IMPACT (Income Management Payments and Customer Team).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...