Base Defense Systems

[Dr. MID-Nite]

I'm trying to think up some non lethal defensive weapons for a superhero base. I'll be honest though...I don't have much experience building bases. Does anyone have any builds (with appropriate base limitations) that they've used and recommend?

[steriaca]

Humm...no range area of effect net dropers sounds like something. Also teleportation platforms which automatically activate when people the base doesn't recognize steps on them (either porting them to the outside, or into a super strong jail cell).

[drunkonduty]

Hmmm, a couple that spring to mind: 

 

Capture Foam. (Entangle)

 

STUN only attacks. (Stun guns, knock out gas.)

 

Forcefield Traps.

[archer]

The ultimate defensive system: the phone call.

 

 

Hello, Avengers Mansion?

 

This is Roberta at the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four isn't home right now and there seems to be some sort of invasion force coming out of the Negative Zone. Could you send over some help?

 

I'll set the building's defenses to recognize your current membership roster. If you bring anyone else, and additional help would be welcome, have them show their Avengers Priority Identi-Card to any defensive system or building scanner so they will be logged into the system as a friendly.

 

Hello, Avengers Mansion?

 

This is Roberta at the Baxter Building....

[Christopher R Taylor]

The Baxter Building's defenses were so good in the Byrne era that they captured several low-end villains trying to rob the place, while the FF was away.  Grappels that snagged people, pits, gas, foam spray like they tried to use on the Hulk, force cages, stun rays, etc.  You want non-lethal stuff that can work on a variety of targets, but realistically they're only going to stop agents.

[archer]

A few ideas:

 

Get all the Autofire skills. You don't know how many intruders there'll be or whether there'll be innocent bystanders or hostages to avoid shooting. Best be prepared if the base has autofire blast powers of some sort.

 

Concealment so the base can try to hide mobile assets...people the team is sheltering, items in labs which you don't want the bad guys to find, etc.  I usually play editions where extra arms are cheap and define the entangles as arms. And there's extra arms in every room so the base AI can help the geeks with lab experiments and such. So the extra arms can both conceal themselves and can conceal other things around the base.

 

Martial Arts maneuvers when I'm feeling cheeky. Why give the base extra arms if they can't Martial Throw the bad guys' getaway vehicle?

 

Remember the base AI can turn off power to the lights without paying for a Darkness power. That won't slow down some enemies but it might leave others fumbling around in the dark. 

 

You could always build the base with very simple defenses. Helpful maps which mislabel the locations of rooms. Signs for individual rooms which are inaccurate (generator is labeled as the laundry room, the central AI is the broom closet). Arrows on the walls which point in random directions rather than the correct direction. "Light switches" which trigger traps or alerts. Halls which gently slop up or down so its difficult to tell which level you're on and hallway ceilings gradually sloping to different heights in order to increase the disorientation and confuse perspective. Concealed doorways to get into important areas. Fake doors which can't be forced open because they aren't real. Transparent bulletproof "plexiglass" dividing what looks like should be continuous corridors or rooms. Arrowslit "loopholes" in strategic places. Fake cameras for invaders to disable, destroy, or try to take over. Concealed real cameras and other surveillance devices. Obvious computer systems which don't connect to anything real like base controls, team databanks, etc. and which contain massive amounts of randomized garbage which might appear to be encrypted files.

 

If the signage is displayed electronically, like on screens, the AI could mess with them dynamically as the intruders infiltrate the base. The first person passing a sign sees one thing but the second person passing it sees something contradictory. Makes it more interesting if they at some point have to compare notes to see what's going on.

 

If the base is really high-tech, you could summon a "duplicate" of an invader. Treat as a shapeshifting robot which has some of the powers of the original which tries to sow confusion among the invaders. Could lead them in the wrong direction, lead them into a trap, tell them the rest of the team already reached the objective and that this group should go home, tell them the other group went over to the heroes thus needs to be terminated, etc. The robot is in contact with the base AI which should help keep up the deception.

 

Flash (sound) Damage shield for the base. Basically if you touch the base, it starts making such a loud noise that you can't hear anymore. That ought to disrupt the coordination of most attacking forces.

 

If the base has a martial arts dojo, you could have some practice robots. Build them as automatons with some maneuvers and skill levels. They could be purchased as followers for the base or purchased as a summon power. GM's choice as to whether you have to purchase the automatons' martial arts weapons as powers or if it is counted as free equipment.

 

If the base has a trophy room, it's possible that the GM would allow the AI or a robot lackey to grab some random confiscated equipment to use in defense of the base.

 

Give the base Multiform so whatever defenses the intruders get used to and whatever damage they've done all goes away when your base becomes something else. Useful if the intruders all move into what becomes the maximum security prison cells of the other form. Not to mention that the layout could completely change as well as the physical location of the AI could completely change. If this is a magician's base, the other form could have Duplicate and Shapeshift which makes the base a really wild place to be.

 

Uncontrollable continuous Transform area of effect everyone in the base into being totally committed to nonviolence and wanting to confess and be locked up for any crimes they've committed. Doesn't affect anyone wearing the team costumes, team medallion, or whatever you want to use to keep it from affecting the PC's.