Mark Rand Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 The campaign I'm working on is set in San Francisco in the Marvel Universe and has Avengers teams in various cities. (See the Southwestern Pennsylvania Avengers for more details.) I'm thinking of having the CIA, DIA, DOD, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA, NSC, San Francisco city government and SFPD each assign a liaison to the team. Why? Politics, and the fact that the agencies don't trust each other to distribute information fairly. In some cases, this is a sought-after position. In other cases, this is a way to get an agent away from headquarters that the top brass doesn't like. An example: The FBI has been played on some television programs and in RPGs and fan fiction as being self-important and sometimes incompitant. An agent who lets the local police or super team, who solved the case, take credit for it instead of claiming credit for it himself could find himself assigned to a superhero team in another city as punishment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterdeath Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Heh. I don't see any problem, provided you can keep them all straight. Government bureaucracy is a fun way to provide interactions for the players to play off on. I'd make the FBI agent the nice, straight arrow helpful one, FWIW. Someone who actually cares about his job. It's against type, and everyone'll be looking for his Ulterior Motive. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzinbane Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 My opinion All the groups except perhaps the SFPD you mention are at least in this reality (post 9/11) working together MUCH better than they ever did previously. As a GM running a campaign out of Portland I find that keeping the contacts limted is easier. My universe is quasi-champions with a bit o' Marvel built in and I chose to use Primus as my government super watch group much like Marvel has SHIELD. My group has a Primus agent and an FBI agent assigned as the contact for each organization. The PD also has a contact/working relationship. As GM though it's literally your reality - you are "God". You can make the various govt. agencies suspicious of one another and competitive or whatever you like! I just like to minimize my NPC's to make my GMing easier. Also the heroes dont' have to spend time calling or reporting to each contact person, they can just let one or two know then get back to investigation and/or battle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Re: Too Many Liaisons? Originally posted by Mark Rand I'm thinking of having the CIA, DIA, DOD, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA, NSC, San Francisco city government and SFPD each assign a liaison to the team. I'd think that only Homeland Security and/or the NSC would have an actual liason assigned to the team - ie is often at the base, is privy to lots of info, cleared for base security, etc. They would serve as go-between between the team and other parts of the government as needed - FBI, CIA, DOD, etc. As you have multiple Avengers teams, I imagine that each team's liason would have regular contact/meetings with their opposite numbers on the other teams to compare notes/address overall issues/problems that the Avengers as a whole face ("What's our policy going to be for background checks on deities?" "How are negotiations coming for access rights to operate within Russia?" etc). It's likely that one of them (probably liason with Washington DC team, or original NY team) would be "over" the others, and would take the lead in any higher-level contacts (Cabinet secretaries, the President, etc) that are needed. Localities (ie San Fran) would probably have a specified official (Deputy Mayor, Police Commissioner, etc) who aside from their other duties, coordinates as needed with the team, but I don't think that they would have an official liason that has the kind of influence/access "Avengers Liasons" have typically had (ie Henry Gyrich, Duane Freeman). In a lot of ways, an Avengers Liason would effectively be a "member" of the team, whose "powers" are a high Bureaucratics roll and loads of contacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Originally posted by misterdeath I'd make the FBI agent the nice, straight arrow helpful one, FWIW. Someone who actually cares about his job. It's against type, and everyone'll be looking for his Ulterior Motive. Heh. You /really/ want to go against type, make the CIA liason a genuine Tom Clancy novel type, dedicated, intelligent, devoted to the national security of the US but still possessed of good basic morals. You know, sort of like early Jack Ryan. (book version) Sure, a certain amount of doublethink and etc. are necessary in spookwork, but 'a certain amount' can still avoid 'screw your buddy', 'collateral damage', and 'we had to nuke the team to save it'. Then make the FBI guy the amoral career-obsessed weasel. Seriously. Who'd ever expect the CIA guy to be the honest one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterdeath Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Originally posted by Chuckg Heh. You /really/ want to go against type, make the CIA liason a genuine Tom Clancy novel type, dedicated, intelligent, devoted to the national security of the US but still possessed of good basic morals. You know, sort of like early Jack Ryan. (book version) Sure, a certain amount of doublethink and etc. are necessary in spookwork, but 'a certain amount' can still avoid 'screw your buddy', 'collateral damage', and 'we had to nuke the team to save it'. Then make the FBI guy the amoral career-obsessed weasel. Seriously. Who'd ever expect the CIA guy to be the honest one? Oooh. Do both. Make them cooperative, and work well together. Then make the SFPD guy the prick who's always worried about the Feds messing around on his turf. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted February 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Actually, what I'm thinking is the team's liaison is an NSC bureaucrat. The CIA and FBI have sent female agents to act as his assistants. The CIA's is an expert in black bag jobs while the FBI's, a metahuman, can change into a mountain lion. The DOD actually sent staff, two pilots, computer analyst, a physician and a nurse. One reason for so many liaisons is that the mansion is the Mobius from Mystic Masters, a fourth edition book, with added gates and a kind-hearted lady ghost. One gate goes to a pocket reality where all life died out in 1969. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Why not set up a situation where all of the agencies you mentioned are politically vying for a liasion to the team? Then the heroes will be forced to deal with some of the agencies "lobbying" them, some of them strongarming them, some possibly even blackmailing them, into having a liasion. The players would be forced to choose between both the agencies and the individual agents representing the agencies. It could be played for both comedic and dramatic/intrigue possibilities. Then you could pair down who you have as liasion to one or two managable npc's, and deal with the recriminations of all the rejects in game time. (What, you need a favor from us over at the CIA?...too bad you didn't accept our liaison! Getting audited...the FBI launched an investigation into your finances with the Justice Dept...could have been avoided if you'd picked us. All your high tech weaponry being confiscated...guess an NSA liasion would have been a good idea after all.) The game coul have as much fun from the fallout from the rejects as it does from the interference of the liasions you picked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 What! The California Hihway PAtrol is denied the right to send a liason to your team? For Shame! Seriously, I've played around with government liasons before. (Although not as many as you have) The best way I found to do them was as contacts, bought through the base. (They are actually located in an office somewhere offbase, with a direct line to the team HQ). That allows them to contact the group (And be contacted), but limits them interfering in the middle of a scenario. But your way of doing it sounds good. I'm picturing the governemtn supplying all these people, then the players do something the government doesn't like. Sudden;y they are gtting medical care without anestetic, their phone messages get lost, and the chauffers forgot to fill the cars with gas. Oh, and the butler changes all the locks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Actually, like all Avengers teams, this group has a list of contacts and liaisons in city, county and state government. Most of the support staff, as usual for the Avengers, is hired through the Stark Foundation. The team's housekeeper, Donna, however, a close friend of team member Lady Arcane, wasn't. Lady Arcane hired her. No surprise there, the team's base is her fastness. Of course, like all staff members, she had to pass a background check. By Presidential order, the NSC provides the federal liaison officer. Any other agency that wants to can provide assistant liaisons, observers or support staff. The NSC liaison is a middle-aged bureaucrat who doesn't understand computers. His FBI associate is a redheaded agent who can change into a mountain lion. His CIA associate always wears gloves. A skilled agent, she specializes in black bag jobs and can easily pass herself off as a world-class cat burglar. She and the team's technical manager, a kunoichi, or female ninja, who is also a reservist, get along well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 In my game there was a lot of confusion over which government agencies worked with which supers. After 9/11 the Homeland Protection Act empowered a singular group reporting directly to the president to liaise with supers. However, the competing agencies are all keeping their feelers out and trying to circumvent the system. Our PC group has already gotten their liaison into trouble with Bush (indirectly, and a bit of a story) and now he has a manager overseeing him, who "happens" to have been the prior liaison to one of the PCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayday Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Id keep all of them, but pair them off with a hero that they 'like' best and so there isnt a room full of them, but one on one conversations when need arises. Youd have to tailor them to your players and the character disads, for instance a seriously hot CIA liason is assigned to the playboy speedster while the geekish investigative Mulder type FBI guy associates with a quieter, shy member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterdeath Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Hmmm, one thing that occured to me is to have the Avengers hire a liaison officer to the liason officers. Someone payed by the Avengers to handle all of the bureaucracy and paperwork. So that the team doesn't have to. So, you'd have Team==>Avengers Liason==>Departmental Liasons==>Government departments. That only works if you've got players that don't want to deal with all the departmental hassle themselves. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Am I reading things wrong or does the Marvel Universe version of the United States Government distrust superheroes? If so, it and SHIELD's internal problems might be a reason for the formation of PRIMUS. I know it doesn't exist in the real Marvel Universe, but it seems like something they would do. This paranoia could also be the reason the federal government demands NSC staffers as liaisons to all superhero teams The other agencies are permitted to assign only assistant liaisons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakboy6117 Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 well seeing as shield is a counterterrorist agency expressly forbidden like the CIA from civilian operations some sort of super power policed force might be the obvious new agency kind of like how shield is portrayed in the ultimate universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted February 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 How's this? The NSC provides the official liaison. The DIA, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA and the superpower police agency provide assistant liaisons. What are we going to call this superpower police agency and what kind of agent will it send as a liaison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 Probably someone with superpowers. would be chosen to serve as such a liason.Remember how U.S. Agent became an Avenger? (And I'm terrible with names,so no name for the agency.Sorry). (Four to go!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhammeWhamme Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 Okay. Superhuman Strength and Tougness are pretty common powers, so they're a good 'safe' bet. Personality wise they'd need to be good with people, the liason's liasonman. Calm, efficent, friendly. As for the agency... Paranormal Treatment Bureau? (the PTB... heh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted March 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Since the superpowered police agency liaison is going to be an assistant liaison, the hero will have to know how to take orders. What about a military pilot who was "loaned" to the agency by the air force to test a prototype powered armor, the one that'll come out of the mech inspired powered armor thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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