secretary to heroes

[Mark Rand]

The Champions are based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and use team member Doctor Arcane'sfastness,/I] his family's mansion, as their headquarters. Carol West is the team's secretary/receptionist. Her office is the mansion's old dining room. She's efficient, easy to get along with, and, due to the fact that her visual field is only 10 degrees in diameter, legally blind. Also, since both her parents were born blind, she knows Braille.

 

Ginger, her beloved, and well-trained guide dog, is a coppery-red golden retriever. When Carol's in her office, Ginger naps under a section of Carol's horseshoe-shaped desk. When Carol's in her room on the second floor, Ginger naps under a chair.

 

Anything I forgot?

[Steve Long]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

I've moved this because it seems to be a Champions-related post rather than Dark Champions (though the NPC described could fit in just about any genre, I s'pose). Please carry on.

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

I've moved this because it seems to be a Champions-related post rather than Dark Champions (though the NPC described could fit in just about any genre' date=' I s'pose). Please carry on. [/quote']

No problem, Steve. Thank you. Come on, folks. Let's hear from you.

[Hermit]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Well, what's she look like? How old is she? Her usual prefered dress style? That sort of thing.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Also, is this thread just for your secretary mentioned, or was it an invitation for other people to tell about their team's secretaries?

[eloch]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

What are Ginger's combat stats?? Or is Ginger an OAF??

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

What are Ginger's combat stats?? Or is Ginger an OAF??

Ginger's stats are the same as any working dog with guide dog training.

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Also' date=' is this thread just for your secretary mentioned, or was it an invitation for other people to tell about their team's secretaries?[/quote']

I have no objection to people telling about their team's secretaries. It could generate ideas for people needing them. That's what we're here for, right?

[Karmakaze]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Heh. In my modern pulp game, the agency secretary just got promoted to field work (something about being psychic), so I gave them Tracy. Tracy looks barely 14, but has (carefully faked) paperwork claiming she's a 16 year old emancipated minor. Actually, she's 35, but is suffering from a spell that is causing her to age backwards. This frustrates her to no end. "You all remember how much adolescence sucked? Try it backwards!" She is, despite her appearance, quite competent at the job.

 

Then there's Charlene, from the Univeristy of Hellenback games (superhero college students). She's the departmental secretary for the parapsychology department. The coffee pot near her desk contains the best coffee on campus, and she can locate any parapsychology professor who is not actively hiding. She's never displayed any unusual abilities except (a) never being harmed or distressed by the stuff that goes on in the department and ( always being out on vacation when anything really major is going on. She puts in for her vacation at the beginning of the year.

[Cancer]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

I admit I'm attracted to the opposite concept for a superhero team's secretary ... something like Roz from Monsters, Inc. She doesn't take crap from nobody, not even a superhero!

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Our superhero team doesn't have a secretary per se, but does have a sort of general helper / secretary / assistant for the base, named Julie Newman. But she's "different" in more ways than you might think.

 

Julie is an android, and in addition to being very strong (STR 30) and durable, she also doesn't sleep, has very fast reflexes, and a perfect memory. She also believes she's an amnesiac, but that's not quite the case.

 

Quite a while back, I used my real-world self as the villain of a story arc (after all, I'm in the Milennium City sourcebook, so why not? ). It wasn't obvious at first that the "real me" character was the villain -- things were set up to make Dr. Silverback look like the villain, and the "real me" was actually helping the heroes try and figure out what was going on. It wasn't really that hard to make the characters think Dr. Silverback was the villain, but I think that's because the players know that my character, Dr. Anomaly, has an ongoing rivalry with Dr. Silverback, and they probably just assumed that I don't like Dr. Silverback. (Not true; I don't have any problem at all with Dr. Silverback -- it's my character that has the rivalry, not me. )

 

In any case, the characters and players both were suitably shocked to discover that the "real me" character was in fact the villain of the piece. "Psychotic" wouldn't be too far off the mark -- he'd killed dozens (they never did find out how many) of people to fuel the creation of his supercomputer set-up, the Soulfire Network. During the final confrontation in which this was revealed, he carefully and ernestly explained that since he'd only use people who were "valueless" and didn't contribute to society (homeless people and the like) he hadn't done anything wrong, since now they could serve society, instead of leeching off it.

 

The big battle was with a squad of gorgeous fem-bots that the "real me" character had created for personal defense and...uh..."entertainment." During that big battle, the "real me" got fatally injured due to some equipment exploding, and it looked like he was going to die. Scarab, who's a multiformer with various Egyptian gods as the different forms, used her Anubis form to prevent the "real me" from dying permanently, by binding his spirit into the least-broken of the fem-bot bodies. The fem-bot was later repaired fully and the personality inside the body doesn't remember who or what she (he) was before, hence the 'amnesiac' bit. Since she had no place to go, the team offered to let her stay on at the base, and she just sort of drifted into the secretary / assistant role.

 

Anubis considers the "real me" character to be performing the spiritual equivalent of "community service" to make up for his misdeeds, before being released to continue his journey into the Great Beyond.

 

So the team "secretary" is the game-world's "me" sort of "reincarnated" in a female android body. Not something that I, as a GM, would have ever anticipated...!

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Well' date=' what's she look like? How old is she? Her usual prefered dress style? That sort of thing.[/quote']

On duty, Carol wears sweaters with either skirts or slacks and comfortable, low-heel shoes. Off duty, she wears jeans and running shoes. Additionally, she's in her 20s, cute, and her short, red hair is almost the same shade as Ginger's fur.

Just for your information, the fastness is based on the version of Wayne Manor in the Batman Sourcebook published by Mayfair Games, in 1989 for the DC Heroes RPG. According to the map, Carol's office, the mansion's former dining room, is 90-feet by 90-feet. I just might have her office, which connects to the team's den, also connect to an apartment for her.

[ghost-angel]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Then there's Charlene' date=' from the Univeristy of Hellenback games (superhero college students). She's the departmental secretary for the parapsychology department. The coffee pot near her desk contains the best coffee on campus, and she can locate any parapsychology professor who is not actively hiding. She's never displayed any unusual abilities except (a) never being harmed or distressed by the stuff that goes on in the department and ( always being out on vacation when anything [i']really[/i] major is going on. She puts in for her vacation at the beginning of the year.

This character intrigues me for some reason - is there a write up for her, or possibly more on her background/personality?

[Trebuchet]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Great plot there, Doc A!

 

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Dr. Anomaly again."

 

Darn.

[Big Willy]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Just for your information, the fastness is based on the version of Wayne Manor in the Batman Sourcebook published by Mayfair Games, in 1989 for the DC Heroes RPG. According to the map, Carol's office, the mansion's former dining room, is 90-feet by 90-feet. I just might have her office, which connects to the team's den, also connect to an apartment for her.

 

You could just build her a house in the office.

[Chuckg]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

From the "Aegis" campaign I used to be running

 

Chloe Watson, team receptionist

 

The 'Aegis' superteam were employees of the City of Chicago, after five chance-met superheroes came together to save the city from an attack by Holocaust. Mayor Daley, clever opportunist that he is, immediately held a parade in their honor and generally glad-handed and fast-talked them into accepting a position as Chicago's official superteam. After they said 'yes', he handed them a base (the former site of Chicago's old VIPER nest, the Aerie) and some staff. Well, a few Chicago PD for base security, some phone #'s in City Hall to call for press relations and etc, and a receptionist.

 

Chloe was the receptionist. A local girl from the North Side, Chloe was formerly a clerk in the Department of Public Works, a job she's had ever since she graduated high school, her being too poor for college. (She's currently attending night school at Chicago University).

 

Chloe is in her early 20s, and, this being a superhero game, a diamond in the rough. She's got near-total recall, types like a whiz, has a cheerful and outgoing personality, and is a shameless comic book and anime fangirl. This plus her memory has actually translated into a very good knowledge of the 'real-life' supers scene as well... Chloe's KS: Superhuman World skill is actually higher than that of anybody on the team, and compares to some of PRIMUS' dedicated full-time intelligence analysts. She's fast on the uptake (high SPD) but has no combat skills or DEX worth mentioning, although she's getting very good on learning how to duck. She also has good Contacts throughout the city bureaucracy -- she doesn't know anybody important, but she's networked in to a lot of administrative assistants and cubicle slaves just like her, spread all throughout several departments -- you know, the people who really know what's going on. She's also very good with computers... and if you're wondering how the heck somebody this good was stuck in such a dead-end job, the answer is a combination of the legendary inefficiency and apathy of the Chicago Department of Public Works, and Chloe being a trifle scatter-brained re: long-term planning. (For one thing, she got the receptionist job by being the only city employee who actually volunteered to go work in an office that's guaranteed to be hit by at least one supervillain attack a year -- everybody else, including the cops, was actively avoiding it.)

 

Chloe's personality can be summed up in this nutshell -- when Foxbat crashed the base lobby, she ended up correcting him on superhero trivia.

 

Scene -- Foxbat has just blocked Malleable Man's attack by snatching a hardbound book off the desk and holding it up.

 

Foxbat -- "Ha-ha! Invincible Shield Of Knowledge technique! Eat your heart out, Captain Patriot!"

 

Chloe (disapprovingly) -- "Captain Patriot didn't have a shield."

 

Foxbat (sheepishly) -- "... oh, right."

 

Inspiration -- Winifred Burkle, from "Angel", only not a superscientific genius.

[Karmakaze]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

This character intrigues me for some reason - is there a write up for her' date=' or possibly more on her background/personality?[/quote']

 

I've never statted up Charlene since she's really a plot device and background color PC. What she knows is what advances the plot and she won't be getting into combat (because if things are bad enough that combat reaches the offices, she's probably on vacation that day).

 

In the game, the Parapsychology department is mostly made up of theoreticians, but there are always going to be a few outliers. (It's like the Physics department, which has very few Mad Scientists - really. hardly any.) And then there's the grad students, who feel the need to experiment... Charlene's had this job longer than most of the professors have had tenure and has seen students come and go. If you've ever dealt with a really good departmental secretary, they really do have their hands on the pulse of the department. That was the basis I used for the character.

 

I deliberatly never laid down whether the vacation thing is a supernatural effect or just the result of a lot of experience. It's supposed to be one of those subtle background things. Either way, she doesn't warn people about whatever she knows - students never listen anyway. It was established that she brews the best coffee on campus because I had a PC with a coffee addiction once and it just seemed appropriate.

[Chuckg]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Just remembered another note:

 

When I sent the 'Aegis' team to a dark alternate future where VIPER had successfully conquered the world, one of the devices I used to get across just how dark things had gotten was to have them meet up with Chloe again in the Resistance's redoubt, 12 years later.

 

She was in her 30s now, and had reached the Resistance as one of their admin people -- she did both logistical coordinating and intelligence analysis, in addition to helping out as and when she could. She'd gotten /there/ via PRIMUS, which is where she'd ended up getting an executive assistant job after being Aegis' team receptionist, in this alternate future timeline.

 

When the team met up with her again... well, she was still wearing her glasses, and still had her hair in a ponytail, and still looked pretty much like her old petite self, no dramatic scars or anything like that...

 

... but she was busy teaching a class of teenagers on how to maintain and field-strip an M-16.

 

My players reacted with , as they were intended to.

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

You could just build her a house in the office.

I forgot who big the room was when I decided that it would be her office. Think I'll find a different fastness for their headquarters. Now, where is my copy of Mystic Masters? With a few adjustments, Mobius would be perfect.

[FlyBoy]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

She hasn't appeared yet in the campaign, but she will:

 

Rachel "Rae" Damian (played by Ali Larter): Quite possibly the worst receptionist in the history of business. Cold and *****y. Never answers the phones, and barely acknowledges anyone's existence. Always has her nose buried in a book (usually non-fiction or philosophy).

[Cancer]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Rachel "Rae" Damian (played by Ali Larter): Quite possibly the worst receptionist in the history of business. Cold and *****y. Never answers the phones' date=' and barely acknowledges anyone's existence. Always has her nose buried in a book (usually non-fiction or philosophy).[/quote']

 

Hey, I've met her.

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Just for your information' date=' the [i']fastness[/i] is based on the version of Wayne Manor in the Batman Sourcebook published by Mayfair Games, in 1989 for the DC Heroes RPG. According to the map, Carol's office, the mansion's former dining room, is 90-feet by 90-feet. I just might have her office, which connects to the team's den, also connect to an apartment for her.

In the book, the maps have square grids instead of hex ones, and all listed grids are 1 square = 5 feet. Strangely enough, while Wayne Manor had a grid, there was no scale and the Batcave had a scale, but no grid. That's bad proofreading.

It just occurred to me that the old dining room could be converted into a group of offices.

[Basil]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Just for your information, the fastness is based on the version of Wayne Manor in the Batman Sourcebook published by Mayfair Games, in 1989 for the DC Heroes RPG. According to the map, Carol's office, the mansion's former dining room, is 90-feet by 90-feet. I just might have her office, which connects to the team's den, also connect to an apartment for her.

You could just build her a house in the office.

 

LOL. That's about what I was thinking.

 

90' x 90'? That's one BIG office. Now, office and living quarters, that makes better sense.

[Mark Rand]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

LOL. That's about what I was thinking.

 

90' x 90'? That's one BIG office. Now, office and living quarters, that makes better sense.

Believe it or not, I miscounted the squares. I thought it was 19 squares in each direction. It isn't. It's 9 by 10 squares. Assuming each square is five feet, that makes it 45 by 50 feet in size, That should be big enough for Carol's office and office space for the liaisons and team leader.

[Basil]

Re: secretary to heroes

 

Believe it or not' date=' I miscounted the squares. I thought it was 19 squares in each direction. It isn't. It's 9 by 10 squares. Assuming each square is five feet, that makes it 45 by 50 feet in size, That should be big enough for Carol's office and office space for the liaisons and team leader.[/quote']

 

Ah! OK, that sounds more reasonable.