Pittsburgh: City of Champions

[Steve]

1 hour ago, Mark Rand said:

We can put it on West Carson Street in the borough of McKees Rocks, disguised as a house.  There are sections of it where there are only a house or two.

Superhero to young sidekick as they eye the place from a distance: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

[steriaca]

Well...

 

Anyone want to contribute to the Heroburger menu? It should reflect what people eat in a fast food environment in Philadelphia, and the best people to do that are people from the area.

 

But of course there are stuff all restaurants have on the menu.

Heroburger your standard hamburger. 

Heroburger with cheese 

Frykicks standard french fries, named because what's a hamburger without fries? A superhero without a sidekick. 

 

You can order your burger "maskless" (without the top bun), or even "in cilvilan clothing" (no bun at all), but those are "hidden menu items".

[Steve]

1 hour ago, steriaca said:Anyone want to contribute to the Heroburger menu? It should reflect what people eat in a fast food environment in Philadelphia, and the best people to do that are people from the area.

Philadelphia?

1 hour ago, steriaca said:

Well...

 

Anyone want to contribute to the Heroburger menu? It should reflect what people eat in a fast food environment in Philadelphia, and the best people to do that are people from the area.

 

But of course there are stuff all restaurants have on the menu.

Heroburger your standard hamburger. 

Heroburger with cheese 

Frykicks standard french fries, named because what's a hamburger without fries? A superhero without a sidekick. 

 

You can order your burger "maskless" (without the top bun), or even "in cilvilan clothing" (no bun at all), but those are "hidden menu items".

Philadelphia?

[steriaca]

3 minutes ago, Steve said:

Philadelphia?

Philadelphia?

Sorry. Pittsburgh. It's in the blasted title. Yet I bleeping put down the wrong town.

[Spark]

10 hours ago, steriaca said:

Well...

 

Anyone want to contribute to the Heroburger menu? It should reflect what people eat in a fast food environment in Philadelphia, and the best people to do that are people from the area.

 

But of course there are stuff all restaurants have on the menu.

Heroburger your standard hamburger. 

Heroburger with cheese 

Frykicks standard french fries, named because what's a hamburger without fries? A superhero without a sidekick. 

 

You can order your burger "maskless" (without the top bun), or even "in cilvilan clothing" (no bun at all), but those are "hidden menu items".

 

Two things:

1. I cannot stress this enough. While Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in the same state, there are actually 4 distinct regions in that state AND two of them are between the two cities. The cultures of both are VERY different and there is a HUGE rivalry between anything from Philly that is in Da 'Burg...at least from the Pittsburghers point of view. The Philly folks don't know the rivalry exists. The Pittsburgh region really has ZERO connection to Philly (other than resenting it for having way too much voting power in the state). I get the push for a "Hero Burger", but honestly we really need to remove all references to Philly. It really is a sore point.
2. To be truely Pittsburgh, everything should have shortened names (civies intead of civilian clothing, and while the sidekick line is REALLY a nice touch, it should be shortened to kicks or sides), should really relate to the local sports heroes (and local historic superheroes in this world) AND, you need to have at least ONE burger with fries and cole slaw on top as part of the burger, not as sides. This is called Primanti style...but I doubt we could use the Primanti name without special permission from the restaurant chain. We would just call it Pittsburgh style.

[steriaca]

5 hours ago, Spark said:

 

Two things:

1. I cannot stress this enough. While Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in the same state, there are actually 4 distinct regions in that state AND two of them are between the two cities. The cultures of both are VERY different and there is a HUGE rivalry between anything from Philly that is in Da 'Burg...at least from the Pittsburghers point of view. The Philly folks don't know the rivalry exists. The Pittsburgh region really has ZERO connection to Philly (other than resenting it for having way too much voting power in the state). I get the push for a "Hero Burger", but honestly we really need to remove all references to Philly. It really is a sore point.
2. To be truely Pittsburgh, everything should have shortened names (civies intead of civilian clothing, and while the sidekick line is REALLY a nice touch, it should be shortened to kicks or sides), should really relate to the local sports heroes (and local historic superheroes in this world) AND, you need to have at least ONE burger with fries and cole slaw on top as part of the burger, not as sides. This is called Primanti style...but I doubt we could use the Primanti name without special permission from the restaurant chain. We would just call it Pittsburgh style.

Your forgetting one important thing Spark. This is a fictional universe. How things are in the real world don't have to apply. Attitudes in the real world don't have to apply. This is a city with bleeping superheroes and supervillains in it. A local state group of superheroes would be celebrated regardless if they are Pittsburgh born or Philly born. A supervillain would be hated regardless of if he is Phily or Pittsburgh born.

 

And if course I'm definitely not a native. I'm from Milwaukee, and we don't exactly have a true hatred city. We don't exactly hate Chicago.

[Spark]

1 hour ago, steriaca said:

Your forgetting one important thing Spark. This is a fictional universe. How things are in the real world don't have to apply. Attitudes in the real world don't have to apply. This is a city with bleeping superheroes and supervillains in it. A local state group of superheroes would be celebrated regardless if they are Pittsburgh born or Philly born. A supervillain would be hated regardless of if he is Phily or Pittsburgh born.

 

And if course I'm definitely not a native. I'm from Milwaukee, and we don't exactly have a true hatred city. We don't exactly hate Chicago.

 

I get what you are saying, but if you are going to do a scenario guide and you are picking a specific location, it has to have the feel of that place. Otherwise, just write one up about a fictional town. The draw/appeal is often based on getting the feeling down.

 

The reson the Godfather movies were so good was because Scorcese was able to make you FEEL the food and culture. The reason the Dark Night Rises was so good was because it really kept the look and feel of the city in which it was filmed (PITTSBURGH) right down to hiring several of the Piottsburgh Steelers as players on the Gotham Knights.

 

So, if you are picking a city in which to do it, you should at least try to understand the city. And Pittsburgh is one of the few large cities left in the US that does have a unique culture.

[steriaca]

47 minutes ago, Spark said:

 

I get what you are saying, but if you are going to do a scenario guide and you are picking a specific location, it has to have the feel of that place. Otherwise, just write one up about a fictional town. The draw/appeal is often based on getting the feeling down.

 

The reson the Godfather movies were so good was because Scorcese was able to make you FEEL the food and culture. The reason the Dark Night Rises was so good was because it really kept the look and feel of the city in which it was filmed (PITTSBURGH) right down to hiring several of the Piottsburgh Steelers as players on the Gotham Knights.

 

So, if you are picking a city in which to do it, you should at least try to understand the city. And Pittsburgh is one of the few large cities left in the US that does have a unique culture.

I understand it needs to have flavor. But not to the point that your saying "play this way OR ELSE". Different game masters have different styles of play.

 

A section on popular landmarks. A section on the attitude of a typical Pittsburghian. A sidebar of common slang words. A list of famous Pittburgians.

 

Speaking of famous Pittburgians, shouldn't there be more heroes and villains of various seriousness? I figure about 10 stated out, and about 20 with a paragraph of description (I'm willing to put Franklin Stine and his henchmen for a sidebar to make room for more important people).

[Mark Rand]

3 hours ago, steriaca said:

I understand it needs to have flavor. But not to the point that your saying "play this way OR ELSE". Different game masters have different styles of play.

 

A section on popular landmarks. A section on the attitude of a typical Pittsburghian. A sidebar of common slang words. A list of famous Pittburgians.

 

Speaking of famous Pittburgians, shouldn't there be more heroes and villains of various seriousness? I figure about 10 stated out, and about 20 with a paragraph of description (I'm willing to put Franklin Stine and his henchmen for a sidebar to make room for more important people).

I have a list of landmarks that I want to check over before I post it.  As far as slang goes, have a look at the attached.

Western Pennsylvania English.doc

[SCUBA Hero]

3 hours ago, steriaca said:

Speaking of famous Pittburgians, shouldn't there be more heroes and villains of various seriousness? I figure about 10 stated out, and about 20 with a paragraph of description (I'm willing to put Franklin Stine and his henchmen for a sidebar to make room for more important people).

 

Yes.  Look at Millenium City or Vibora Bay for examples on how many (although there will be more in P: CoC so that adventures and a campaign are ready to go out of the box).  For instance, for each 'Age' there was a writeup for a superhero from that age.  And, as you noted, consider how having supers around since 1938 has affected the city and culture.

[Ninja-Bear]

6 hours ago, Mark Rand said:

I have a list of landmarks that I want to check over before I post it.  As far as slang goes, have a look at the attached.

Western Pennsylvania English.doc 74 kB · 1 download

I’m in Central PA, and I speak most of that. Btw folks if you don’t know, we usually don’t say Pennsylvania but P A. Mark, do you guys kitten the lights? Or ever turn off the on switch?

 

I on no is it would be cliche but how about a Armor hero named Forge?

[SCUBA Hero]

I absolutely *do* want to capture and keep the flavor of Pittsburgh.

[Spark]

7 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I’m in Central PA, and I speak most of that. Btw folks if you don’t know, we usually don’t say Pennsylvania but P A. Mark, do you guys kitten the lights? Or ever turn off the on switch?

I on no is it would be cliche but how about a Armor hero named Forge?

 

OMG, I'm in Central PA now too. Where are you? I'm in Harrisburg. And, I'm running a Champions game (taking place in Pittsburgh). My players will be here in about 4 hours so this morning is re-reading my campaign notes to prepare.

[Mark Rand]

My landmark list is attached.

Pittsburgh landmarks.doc

[Mark Rand]

21 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I’m in Central PA, and I speak most of that. Btw folks if you don’t know, we usually don’t say Pennsylvania but P A. Mark, do you guys kitten the lights? Or ever turn off the on switch?

 

I on no is it would be cliche but how about a Armor hero named Forge?

To my knowledge, we don't use those expressions in my part of the state.

 

The armored hero named Forge sounds cool.

[Spark]

9 hours ago, Mark Rand said:

To my knowledge, we don't use those expressions in my part of the state.

 

The armored hero named Forge sounds cool.

 

I've spent a good bit of time all over PA (and NYC/NJ) and what I've found is there is a very hard dividing line between the Pittsburgh culture and the rest of the state and that line is the edge of the Central PA region (about 50 miles west of the state capitol). The differences are most stark in the language and sports affiliations (including which college you support...if you didn't go there).

 

And, we can go a step further. The Pittsburgh "region" MAY actually be defined as the Appalacian/Alleghenny mountain range from Tennesee into upsate New York. This includes not only a similar linguistic pattern, but also very strong economic ties. You MAY even consider Pittsburgh to be the capitol of Appalachia.

 

So, from a game perspective, you have thousands of square acres of mountainous land that is often sparsely populated and...well, who knows what goes on there, what aliens have landed, what villains have been experimenting. A lot of the land is visited only by hunters so the first signs of trouble may be discovered by them.

[Mark Rand]

The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County and Westmoreland County.  It has a population of about 600,000 people.

 

The region is approximately fifty-five miles southeast of Pittsburgh; the Laurel Highlands center on Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The mountains making up the Laurel Highlands are the highest in Pennsylvania, with Mount Davis in Somerset County the highest point in the state at 3,213 feet (979 m).  Because of the elevation, weather in the Laurel Highlands is generally cooler and wetter than in most other parts of the state.

 

The Laurel Highlands are a popular area for camping, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, whitewater kayaking, trout fishing, wildlife viewing, and downhill (and cross-country) skiing, and golf.

 

Amusement parks and resorts

• Hidden Valley Resort

• Idlewild Park and Soak Zone

• Nemacolin Woodlands

• Polymath Park

• Seven Springs Mountain Resort

• Laurel Mountain

• Summit Inn Resort

 

Architecture

• Fallingwater

• Kentuck Knob

• Polymath Park

 

National Parks & Historic sites

 

National Parks

• Allegheny Portage Railroad

• Flight 93 National Memorial

• Fort Necessity

• Friendship Hill

• Johnstown Flood National Memorial

 

UNESCO World Heritage Site

• Fallingwater

 

Historic Sites

• Bowman’s Castle

• Bushy Run Battlefield

• Compass Inn

• Fort Ligonier

• Hannastown, Pennsylvania

• Heritage Discovery Center

• Johnstown Flood Museum

• Johnstown Inclined Plane

• National Road

• Quecreek Mine Rescue

• Route of the Lincoln Highway

• Somerset County Courthouse

• Somerset Historical Center

• Staple Bend Tunnel

• Uptown Somerset Historic District

• Wagner–Ritter House & Garden

• West Overton, Pennsylvania

 

Parks and outdoor recreation

 

State Parks and Forests

• Forbes State Forest

• Gallitzin State Forest

• Keystone State Park

• Kooser State Park

• Laurel Hill State Park

• Laurel Mountain State Park

• Laurel Ridge State Park

• Laurel Summit State Park

• Linn Run State Park

• Mount Davis (part of Forbes State Forest)

• Ohiopyle State Park

• Prince Gallitzin State Park

• Youghiogheny River

 

Trails

• Coal and Coke Trail

• Ghost Town Trail

• Great Allegheny Passage

• Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (part of Laurel Ridge State Park)

• Jim Mayer Riverwalk

• Westmoreland Heritage Trail

• Five Star Trail

 

Downhill ski areas

• Hidden Valley Resort

• Laurel Mountain Ski Resort

• Seven Springs Mountain Resort

 

 

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

17 hours ago, Mark Rand said:

To my knowledge, we don't use those expressions in my part of the state.

 

The armored hero named Forge sounds cool.

Well to be fair, I have PA Dutch background on my mom’s side and Perry County-Redneck on my Dad’s side. My wife is from Corry, PA and she complains about our language. And Chicken Pot Pie better be in a Pot! Not this pie busy 😂.

[Ninja-Bear]

I know Pittsburgh is used to snow though not like Corry. Erie typically doesn’t get as much as the snow belt. So you need at least a snow themed villain or hero and well the joke in PA is that you can all four season in one day, we could have a weather themed hero or villain or group. Did I mention potholes? A villain with tunneling at range. Or just a miner and themed person as well. 

[Spark]

16 minutes ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I know Pittsburgh is used to snow though not like Corry. Erie typically doesn’t get as much as the snow belt. So you need at least a snow themed villain or hero and well the joke in PA is that you can all four season in one day, we could have a weather themed hero or villain or group. Did I mention potholes? A villain with tunneling at range. Or just a miner and themed person as well. 

 

The weather is a great point. Yes. In one day, you can go from 35 degrees to 75 and sunny, and then back down to 55 and raining. And, in the region, snow can be heavy (not like Wisconsin or Michigan heavy, but...). However, in the city limits the snow is half to a third as deep as it is in the suburbs.

[SCUBA Hero]

11 hours ago, Spark said:

So, from a game perspective, you have thousands of square acres of mountainous land that is often sparsely populated and...well, who knows what goes on there, what aliens have landed, what villains have been experimenting. A lot of the land is visited only by hunters so the first signs of trouble may be discovered by them.

 

Excellent!  A wealth of game ideas for the book...

3 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

So you need at least a snow themed villain or hero and well the joke in PA is that you can all four season in one day, we could have a weather themed hero or villain or group.

 

How about one villain with four aspects and No Conscious Control on when they switch?

[steriaca]

Well, it's time to dust off my Captain Cold homage Winterblade. A villain super thief who uses an "ice sword". Yes, the sword can shoot a freezing beam. But it can also create a blade of hard ice which is usable like a sword.

 

Again, a homage to all of the DC Comics villains who use ice guns.

[Ninja-Bear]

3 hours ago, steriaca said:

Well, it's time to dust off my Captain Cold homage Winterblade. A villain super thief who usewhen "ice sword". Yes, the sword can shoot a freezing beam. But it can also create a blade of hard ice which is usable like a sword.

 

Again, a homage to all of the DC Comics villains who use ice guns.

I like this! Especially because we touched on Pittsburgh having a Tech base. You did remind me that once I made a villain based on my oldest Halloween costume- Ice Wolf! The costume was MK style inspired ninja suit and came with an icicle staff. The sheet was El Muerte Obfisco (from BBB). He could generate Ice weapons (non flexible ones) and I think I bought them OIF. You could Disarm or break them but he could reform them.

[steriaca]

4 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I like this! Especially because we touched on Pittsburgh having a Tech base. You did remind me that once I made a villain based on my oldest Halloween costume- Ice Wolf! The costume was MK style inspired ninja suit and came with an icicle staff. The sheet was El Muerte Obfisco (from BBB). He could generate Ice weapons (non flexible ones) and I think I bought them OIF. You could Disarm or break them but he could reform them.

There is nothing in the unofficial villain handbook which says there can't be multiple ice manipulators in the same city. In fact, your subzeroiod could probably have gauntlets which can create weapons out of the moisture in the air.

[Ninja-Bear]

@steriaca, with Ice Wolf, I’m going for the Mystical Ninja angle. Come to think of it. With all the outside forests, there could be a ninja camp somewhere.