Pittsburgh: City of Champions

[steriaca]

3 hours ago, Mark Rand said:

As far as the occult world goes, Thomas Avery is an occult expert and retired mystic whose power has waned and has health issues.  He can provide background info and serves as a contact with the Trismegistus Council.  He shares his house with Marie Wells, his housekeeper, who might be a witch, Christina Valentine, a computer genius, Phoebe, his familiar, an orange tabby cat, and Muffin, Marie’s pet calico cat (her familiar if she’s a witch).  (It’s the GM’s call as to whether or not Marie’s a witch.)  There are also astrologers and occult bookstores in the city.

 

 

 

Be careful.  Thomas Avery is the name of the Ancient One in the Doctor Strange tv movie. He might need a slight name adjustment before being put into the book. At least to avoid the slight chance to be sued by Disney. 

 

New Unattached Thought 

 

If your a member of the sexual minority, then the place to be sceen is The Lavender Birdcage. Run by the old ex-superthieth (and openly gay gent) The Lavender Fog, supers have been known to, ahem, visit the place from time to time, some not quite believing he left crime behind him.

[Mark Rand]

25 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Be careful.  Thomas Avery is the name of the Ancient One in the Doctor Strange tv movie. He might need a slight name adjustment before being put into the book. At least to avoid the slight chance to be sued by Disney.

His name was Thomas Lindmer.  Clinton Avery, formerly Dr. Arcane, was an NPC in a 3E module.

[Steve]

It would be cool for Pittsburgh to have a bar catering to alien supervillains, like having the cantina of Mos Eisley right here on Earth.

[Spark]

When running games, I've found that these "specialty meeting places" (like the bar for aliens) don't need to be bars. Sometimes they can be a coffee shop, other times they can be a specific restaurant or even a park. Changing the venue for each group enriches the depth of culture across the board.

 

Also, I'm a HUGE fan these local spots mixing combatants and of non-combatants (on-villains hanging out with villains at their local spot). These can be hangers on or people who have no clue or friends or...well, it complicates things when the heros go in to bust heads, or when the hero's hangout is assaulted by some supervillain. NOW you have normals to protect on top of everything else.

 

Remember, the real world is replete with nuanced shading of every situatiion making the simplest of decisions very complex.

[dmjalund]

6 hours ago, steriaca said:

Nice duo. Beyond that, I got nothing. 

Black and Gold

Black.hdc Gold.hdc

[Spark]

6 hours ago, dmjalund said:

I submit these guys for our consideration

 

Are these villains, heroes, or non-affiliated superpowered NPCs?

 

The point about all the sports teams (as well as the local hero team) being black and gold was that in Pittsburgh, the heros would be all in black and gold. The villains...well, Pittsburghers tend to hate the Cleveland Browns, Cincinatti Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots (for the NFL), and...the rest of the sports, well they get a little cloudy, but the majority of the city isn't as passionate about hating other teams in those other sports. I've noticed that even NON-FOOTBALL and NON-SPORTS fans still will tell you how much they hate the Steelers' rivals. Very bizzare.

 

However, the anthropologist in me digressed. The point was that the black and gold theme is always reserved for the city's heroes. Pittsburgh centric villains would gravitate towards purple, orange, and maybe greens.

 

Note: Back in the day, when Pitt was an NCAA football or basketball powerhouse, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Miami and Penn State where the most hated college teams. The last few years (at least pre-covid) I haven't noticed any college animosities at all (except West Virginia and Penn State who the GenXers and older still hate).

[Mark Rand]

30 minutes ago, Spark said:

When running games, I've found that these "specialty meeting places" (like the bar for aliens) don't need to be bars. Sometimes they can be a coffee shop, other times they can be a specific restaurant or even a park. Changing the venue for each group enriches the depth of culture across the board.

 

Also, I'm a HUGE fan these local spots mixing combatants and of non-combatants (on-villains hanging out with villains at their local spot). These can be hangers on or people who have no clue or friends or...well, it complicates things when the heros go in to bust heads, or when the hero's hangout is assaulted by some supervillain. NOW you have normals to protect on top of everything else.

 

Remember, the real world is replete with nuanced shading of every situatiion making the simplest of decisions very complex.

That's one of the ideas behind The Light-Fingered Lady.  Sure, there are cat burglars there, but so are people who think the look is cool, and a few police detectives, some of which are known to be cops.  Detective Eve Belding, who was named for two characters on the Raymond Burr show Ironside, is a regular there, listening for leads.  She's also a good source of information about retired cat burglars who can give the heroes leads.

[steriaca]

2 hours ago, Mark Rand said:

His name was Thomas Lindmer.  Clinton Avery, formerly Dr. Arcane, was an NPC in a 3E module.

Ah. Then he IS legally different from the character. We have nothing to worry about.

[Ninja-Bear]

Like I said Pittsburgh was once the Frontier. So you could have a hero called the Frontiersman. And I’ll be cheesy and say a villain called the Red Coat.

[steriaca]

(Merge space)

 

Anyways, we have Heroburger. It is a fast food chain said to originate right in Pittsburgh. You can buy a Heroburger, Heroburger with Cheese, a Big Kahuna (grilled pineapple burger), Aquaburger (breaded fish burger), Flying Hero (chicken burger), etc. You can even have your burger with sidekicks (french fries).

 

It's a rather cheesy place, with each location having a special or two based on a city's hero (usually alluding to the choices hero name without actually meeting because of copyright enforcement).

[Spark]

Just now, steriaca said:

(Merge space)

 

Anyways, we have Heroburger. It is a fast food chain said to originate right in Pittsburgh. You can buy a Heroburger, Heroburger with Cheese, a Big Kahuna (grilled pineapple burger), Aquaburger (breaded fish burger), Flying Hero (chicken burger), etc. You can even have your burger with sidekicks (french fries).

 

It's a rather cheesy place, with each location having a special or two based on a city's hero (usually alluding to the choices hero name without actually meeting because of copyright enforcement).

 

THE truely Pittsburgh thing is not really pineapple. But most locally grown places like that either incorporate ethnic Slavik foods (like perogies or halupkas), or more commonly name their burgers/sandiwches after local sports stars. AND, almost all burger joints have a PITTSBURGHER (Like a Pittsburgh Burger but the words are mashed together). It's most often the burger with all the fixins.

[steriaca]

1 minute ago, Spark said:

 

THE truely Pittsburgh thing is not really pineapple. But most locally grown places like that either incorporate ethnic Slavik foods (like perogies or halupkas), or more commonly name their burgers/sandiwches after local sports stars. AND, almost all burger joints have a PITTSBURGHER (Like a Pittsburgh Burger but the words are mashed together). It's most often the burger with all the fixins.

True, but Heroburger is a chain restaurant...McDonald's of the superhero world. It's mascot is Heroman, Big Kahuna (which is on verge of discontinuing because nobody likes grilled pineapple), Herowoman, Kid Hero (another mascot in danger of disappearing), and a few others. The Pittsburgh area restaurants might have a few Slavic food extras. And a Pittsburger called a Pittsburgerman.

[Mark Rand]

Retired Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is the namesake of multiple sandwiches, which are usually named using a pun on his last name’s similarity to “burger” or “hamburger”.  For instance, the Pittsburgh restaurant chain Peppi’s sells the “Roethlisburger”, at a price of $7.00, in correlation with his jersey number “7”, and also having ingredients that describe his playing style (scrambled eggs for “scrambler”, beef and sausage for his size and strength).  A Findlay, Ohio, restaurant named Tony’s and an Oxford, Ohio, restaurant named Brick Street also sell “Roethlisburger” sandwiches.

[steriaca]

Considering the subject I am on now, and Pittsburgh, this WatchMojo list should be familiar.  Especially #20.

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

Well they would sell pop not soda. 😁

[Mark Rand]

Tabitha's heroic identity is Sunspell, a role she inherited from her maternal grandmother.  A blue-eyed blonde, she's a green-eyed redhead in her heroic identity.  Her costume, like her grandmother's, has a lot of black and gold.  Her heroic identity is known to Detective Lieutenant Samantha McDonald, the Pittsburgh Police superhero liaison, who works out of Police Headquarters, which is located at 1203 Western Avenue on the Northside.

 

Edit: Sunspell's costume is a gold short-sleeve scoop neck leotard, black miniskirt and knee-high boots, gold opera-length gloves.  A black belt with belt pouches complete the outfit.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Mark Rand
to include Sunspell's costume description.

[Mark Rand]

On 4/24/2022 at 7:27 PM, Mark Rand said:

That's one of the ideas behind The Light-Fingered Lady.  Sure, there are cat burglars there, but so are people who think the look is cool, and a few police detectives, some of which are known to be cops.  Detective Eve Belding, who was named for two characters on the Raymond Burr show Ironside, is a regular there, listening for leads.  She's also a good source of information about retired cat burglars who can give the heroes leads.

Deanne Granville, a former cat burglar who spend two years working for a federal intelligence agency instead of going to jail, is one of Eve Belding's acquaintances.

[Scott Ruggels]

On 4/24/2022 at 9:22 PM, steriaca said:

Considering the subject I am on now, and Pittsburgh, this WatchMojo list should be familiar.  Especially #20.

 

 

Man... I ate at a few of those.   There is still a Red Barn structure here in town, but it's a car wash, now. Howard Johnsons had better breakfasts than lunches IMO

[Mark Rand]

My late father worked at the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.  Occasionally, I joined him and ate upstairs in the restaurant.  Good food there.  He also got tickets from the Pirates players who had rooms there and we parked there and walked to the games at old Forbes Field.

[steriaca]

I'm not that old. But...

...I vaguely remember Burget Chief. There was also Bob's Big Boy, but just because it is absent in Milwaukee now doesn't mean it is gone from the US. Also Arthur Theacher's Fish and Chips. I never ate at Arthur's, but I remember what there outsides looked like.

 

But enough about our off topic stuff. Should Heroburger be a single restaurant, a local chain, or a national chain? I picture it as a local chain myself (big enough for the state Pittsburgh is in, and the surrounding states), but that is just me.

 

And yes, I know Heroburger has no direct thing with anyone. It is just something for the background. Like the DC UniversU's chains of restaurants (Big Belly Burger , Batburger [home of the Jokerized fries], etc.)

[Mark Rand]

13 minutes ago, steriaca said:

I'm not that old. But...

...I vaguely remember Burget Chief. There was also Bob's Big Boy, but just because it is absent in Milwaukee now doesn't mean it is gone from the US. Also Arthur Theacher's Fish and Chips. I never ate at Arthur's, but I remember what there outsides looked like.

 

But enough about our off topic stuff. Should Heroburger be a single restaurant, a local chain, or a national chain? I picture it as a local chain myself (big enough for the state Pittsburgh is in, and the surrounding states), but that is just me.

 

And yes, I know Heroburger has no direct thing with anyone. It is just something for the background. Like the DC UniversU's chains of restaurants (Big Belly Burger , Batburger [home of the Jokerized fries], etc.)

Local chain based in Pennsylvania, but in the Mid-Atlantic states, too. 

 

There are also a number of Pittsburgh-area chains like B/G, George Aiken, and Palmer's as well as Essie's Original Hot Dog Shop and Forward Lanes.  In real life, they're gone, but not in the superhero version of Pittsburgh.  Of course, it's just something for the background. 

[steriaca]

Humm...

Should there be any comic book specialty shops still in existence in Pittsburgh. 

 

Milwaukee still has Collector's Edge, and there still is Lost Worlds of Wonder. But the others are long gone.

 

In a related note, we lost our specialty game shop Napolian's some time ago. But we have a chain called Board Game Barister.

[Mark Rand]

9 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Humm...

Should there be any comic book specialty shops still in existence in Pittsburgh. 

 

Milwaukee still has Collector's Edge, and there still is Lost Worlds of Wonder. But the others are long gone.

 

In a related note, we lost our specialty game shop Napolian's some time ago. But we have a chain called Board Game Barister.

Eide's Entertainment on the edge of the Strip District and Phantom of the Attic in Oakland are comic book specialty shops.  Both also sell things related to comics.

On 4/24/2022 at 6:47 PM, Steve said:

It would be cool for Pittsburgh to have a bar catering to alien supervillains, like having the cantina of Mos Eisley right here on Earth.

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.

[SCUBA Hero]

Keep all the ideas coming! 👍

 

My plan is this - while I have some RL stuff that I need to attend to in the next week or so, and I do work full-time, I will take what's been posted so far plus my ideas and start to format parts of the book using Millenium City as a model, submitting them to the Patreon as they are completed.

 

That being said, I will repeat - I am not a writer!  If anyone wants to take on writing the book (or a part of the book), please message me.

[Mark Rand]

From Wikipedia: The Middle Atlantic states, commonly shortened to Mid-Atlantic states, is a region of the United States generally located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern States.  Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region typically includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.  When discussing climate, Connecticut is sometimes included in the region, as its climate is closer to that of the Mid-Atlantic states than the rest of the New England states.