WWYCD: think of the children

[Guest daeudi_454]

A man had been going throught the list of the Sex Offender Registry foir your metropolis and killing anyone with multiple counts of offenses against kids. He managed to kill over 2 dozen of them before he was captured in the middle of taking down his next victim, but escaped from the station while they were trying to identify him. He has used a variety of means to kill offenders, in fact he hasn't killed in the same way twice. He has used only non-lethal weapons and tactics to avoid police and to escape. In fact, he was only captured because a police officer was wounded by friendly fire, and he didn't want any others hurt.

 

Hours after his escape, he issued a statement to thhe media saying: "These people I have hunted are hunting your children. They have all been multiple offenders, meaning there is no doubt about guilt. The recidivism rate for these monsters means they will do it again. I do this for every child in the city. I do this for your child. And I encourage you, find them before they find yours."

 

A friend of yours on the force has asked for your help, because nobody gets that much gear on thhe street, or hides that long, without someone noticing. Three more are dead, in different parts of the city, and the escape took place 42 hours ago...

 

[OddHat]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Rupert "Gold Star" Gillman:

Has he actually injured any police?

 

Has he actually injured any civillians other than the multiply convicted child-rapists?

 

Has he been killing the rapists in such a way as to risk seriously injuring innocents (i.e. car bombings, firing machine guns in crowded apartment buildings, etc)?

 

If the answer to the above three questions is "no", then there isn't much of a problem. I'll look into it if I get time.

 

If the answer to any of the above is yes, I'll stake out a likely target and try to talk to him. We'll work things out, one way or another.

[Manic Typist]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

How has he killed them exactly?

 

Quick, and efficiently? Relatively painless like a bullet to the head?

 

Or slow and tortuous? Because if it's the latter, then he might actually be doing this because he LIKES it, which would bear watching.

 

Also, do we know (FOR SURE) that it's a "he?"

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Millennium takes to the media. Using 35 PRE and persuasion 17-, urges suspect to surrender to police before someone gets hurt, urges public to contact him if they know whare suspect is.

 

Cheeta gets list of names, addresses, etc, from sex offender registry, contacts as many as possible, invites them to protective custody until suspect is captured.

 

Iron Will will use retrocognition where he escaped to find out if it was "assisted" by anyone on the police force. Will locate the suspect by mind scan, coordinate capture, and follow through the trial.

 

Snow Leopard will visit his apartment, get his scent, track by scent.

 

Dolphin has to get some enhanced senses. Will try to stake out some pontential victims that didn't accept Cheeta's offer of protective custody.

 

[out of character] I have no problem with the law being changed to keep pedophiles locked up as long as they are a threat. But until then, once they get out of prison they have "paid their debt to society" and not be subject to vigilanty action because of their past.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Has he actually injured any police?

Only punches, CS, and stun guns.

Has he actually injured any civillians other than the multiply convicted child-rapists?

Civilians were injured during a chase' date=' when the target side swiped their car. Also a girlfriend suffered a broken arm while fleeing from a target's home in panic.

Has he been killing the rapists in such a way as to risk seriously injuring innocents (i.e. car bombings, firing machine guns in crowded apartment buildings, etc)?

No- Sniper shots, poison, exsanguination, garrote, etc.

How has he killed them exactly? Quick, and efficiently? Relatively painless like a bullet to the head?

Or slow and tortuous? Because if it's the latter, then he might actually be doing this because he LIKES it, which would bear watching.

This has varied, and the police are caught up in specualting about if the method of death is pre-planned or a matter of opportunity. One target did seem to be primed for torture, but then killed quickly, as if the killer were interrupted

Also' date=' do we know (FOR SURE) that it's a "he?"[/quote']

The killer wears a hard armor that the lab has declared to be hi-endurance/ hi-temp resin impregnated ballistic fibers. (based on pieces tat were shhot off.) This includes a helmet with full face mask. The voice was electronically distorted but sounded male, and the torso of the armor does not appear to be built for someone with breasts. The police were still attempting to release the helmet locks when the killer escaped. Police psychologists say the killer is a white male between 25-35, probably divorced, with a child who was a victim, possibly killed. However, no such case has been active in the past 90 days.

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

The killer wears a hard armor that the lab has declared to be hi-endurance/ hi-temp resin impregnated ballistic fibers. (based on pieces tat were shhot off.) This includes a helmet with full face mask. The voice was electronically distorted but sounded male' date=' and the torso of the armor does not appear to be built for someone with breasts. The police were still attempting to release the helmet locks when the killer escaped. Police psychologists say the killer is a white male between 25-35, probably divorced, with a child who was a victim, possibly killed. However, no such case has been active in the past 90 days.[/quote']

Strike "Snow Leopard will visit his apartment" and replace with "Snow leopard will attempt to get suspects sent from the shot off fragments. If sucessful will try to locate current whereabouts tracking by scent, if cannot locate suspect will try to backtrack to suspect's apartment to check for further clues."

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

And apply what I learned from the last WWYCD, Millennium and Dolphin will go to as many of the crime scenes as the police will allow. As will Snow Leopard, if she can't get his scent.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

No prints, and all gear is either untraceable or too common to trace. No hair or other fibers. The killer's scent on the armor fragments is heavily masked by chemicals from his suit, but would be detectable with a high enough PER, Disc, analyze. But tracking that scent proves very difficult because of modern transport options. Gender smells to be male. His distinctive footprints in armor shows that he watches his targets for around an hour before he makes his move.

 

Iron Will: okay, now I know why everyone hates it when I play mentalists. This guy would solve the case. Moving on...lol

 

The subject does seem to usually know when the police are moving in on his location, even when dispatch uses text only across the car computers.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

[out of character] I have no problem with the law being changed to keep pedophiles locked up as long as they are a threat. But until then' date=' once they get out of prison they have "paid their debt to society" and not be subject to vigilanty action because of their past.[/quote'] Personally, unless there is someway to prove they are no longer inclined to do it, I would keep them locked up for life. Or at the very least, some form of constant GPS tracking and chemical castration. Unlike bank robbery, or even murder, the danger with sex criminals is that they are almost never reformed- and reformation is the official purpose of the penal system today. (I know its hogwash, but its official.)

But back to the WWYCD....

[sinanju]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Hell's Angel, Man-Ape, Black Mask, Wednesday, Cassandra and Black Knight--all the PCs I've written about in these threads but one--all have the same reaction. It doesn't matter whether the men he's murdering are guilty. It doesn't matter whether they'll never change. The killer has no right to commit murder, executing people simply because he has decided they have no right to live. No one appointed him judge, jury and executioner. Each of them would do his or her best to catch the guy and stop him.

 

The only exception is Outlander, who would agree with him that they deserve death, but she doesn't play judge, jury and executioner any more...and he can't either. Besides, she'd track and capture him simply because he's intrigued her by making himself such an apparently elusive threat.

[Chuckg]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Starguard and Dr. Pain will both attempt to stop the killer if they can find him, because they don't believe in vigilanteism. They won't feel good about it, however. (For that matter, this kind of Iron Age scenario shouldn't even have Starguard /in/ it.)

 

The Baron von Darien, as expected, would have absolutely no problem with this guy. Heck, he might look him up just to give him pointers. Or recruit him for the fight against demons and vampires as well as sexual offenders... not only does he have useful aptitudes, he's got the right attitude.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

No one appointed him judge' date=' jury and executioner. Each of them would do his or her best to catch the guy and stop him.[/quote']

Methods?

 

Part of the plot is that there would be characters in the party who did agree with the subjects intentions. Ideally, it would cause some contention among the party.

 

What if the next perv to die had photos of kids from your DNPCs school? Not even neccesarily your characters kid, just some of their classmates?

(For that matter' date=' this kind of Iron Age scenario shouldn't even have Starguard /in/ it.)[/quote']

Which is why I picked DC instead of C... in C, I would hope that all the characters would hunt the killer down.

[Eosin]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Uriel - I tell the cop that we should be thankful that someone hasn't forgotten justice.

 

Savant - "Wish I could help but I am knee deep in solving these bank robberies by the Idea Men and the Pack keeps is simmering in the background."

 

Both are DC vigilates both have killed for lesser crimes but Savant never set out to kill when it could be avoided. Uriel on the other hand has taken part in more than one execution.

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

No prints' date=' and all gear is either untraceable or too common to trace. No hair or other fibers. The killer's scent on the armor fragments is heavily masked by chemicals from his suit, but would be detectable with a high enough PER, Disc, analyze. But tracking that scent proves very difficult because of modern transport options. Gender smells to be male. His distinctive footprints in armor shows that he watches his targets for around an hour before he makes his move.[/quote']

Humm, if the armor is outgassing that strongly, that's not going to shower off. If Snow Leopard passes him on the street she will be able to recognize him.

 

Doubt that he is taking a bus or taxi from his hits, and in this post-911 world he is sure not taking the subway. Indicates he has a car.

 

Plot all the crime scenes on a map. Look to see if theyre are any natural bounderies. If not, take the northernmost, southernmost, easternmost and westernmost, draw a rectangle. This is our perp's comfort zone. He lives, works, goes to school, or church, or has a significant hobby in that area. This is where his heart is. She will start in the middle, spiraling outward. Take a couple of uniforms with her. She will be looking for anything that smells like the armor. She will concentrate on

• Parking garages
  
• Public storage spaces
  
• elementary schools and daycare centers
  
• arcades
  
• playgrounds
  

Check people in the area, bystanders, and most especally staff. Could our perp have had a child taken, not his own but one he fees responsible for, from under his very nose?

 

If this turns up dry, will get the list of poential victims and see if any of them smell like the armor. Could he be an offender with self-hatred turned outward?

 

Then get a list from DMV of everyone who fits the profile, lives in the area she's outlined, and has a car registered.

 

This will take a lot of trips in and out of the police station, check to see if anyone there smells like the armor.

[Badger]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Badger- in a Dark Champions campaign would have no problem with the guy. He (maybe) would reluctantly help catch him only due to the fact that the few innocents you mentioned were hurt. But, definitely would be against a lot of his codes. No respect for trash like the targets of his executions. And we are talking helping the police catch him if he is in a cooperative mood. If not, he'll tell the police to catch him themselves. Seeing how Badger has a supersense to detect energies. Does the suspect have any kind of unusual life energy? Anything abnormal about it from other humans. Is it a powerful energy? Or from someone he may be familiar with? Just want to know as he might have an easier time tracking if yes. In the event it is a normal human he has never met before? That's out.

[Kyle A.]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Preacher: Well Preacher would not be somebody the police would contact. But Preacher would track down this guy, probably with help from Daniel and his gadgets. Then Preacher would tell him that what he was doing was not a sin. It was the very justice of the Lord and that Preacher would listen to the man's confession if he had any sins to confess.

 

Hell Strider: When she was contacted by the cops she'd simply tell them that this man is doing what they should have done. Then she'd ignore any additional requests for assitance from the cops. However she'd gladly help this guy if he ran into her and asked for her help.

 

In Real Life I favor executing all rapists and child predators. Killing might be too good for them but until we figure out how to overnight people straight to Hell it will have to do.

[Manic Typist]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Hm. A few things I would follow up:

 

1) When did he start, exactly? Is that day the anniversary of any child molestations or child killings, especially of particular note?

 

2) Is he going down the list top to bottom, bottom to top, or random selections?

 

3) What calibur are the sniper bullets? Are there any conclusive or firm ballistics tests from them? What about the serial markings on the CS grenades? The stun guns? Anyone buying these lately that might seem suspicious? What was used for the exsanguination (brutal, by the way hehe)? Was the garrotte made of anything unusual or exotic?

 

4) Where can the material that his armor is made from be bought? What sort of skills does it take to work this stuff into what he is wearing (i.e. a VERY nice suit of armor)?

 

5) Has he displayed any martial skills when fighting in hand to hand?

[Constantine]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

My new DC character, Sanction would be wary of the police contacting him, and would look for some sort of trap. Why contact one vigillante about capturing another one? But since he is trying to establish a better relationship with the police department, he'd hear them out. Based on the situation as given above, he'd tell the police that this guy doesn't serve his attention. He's killing people who have been convicted multiple times of raping children. Other damage was incidental, and not really life threatening. When a cop was hurt he stopped so they'd concentrate on helping their fellow officer and not chasing him. Sounds like there are a lot badder people in the world that need chasing down. Now, if you wanna point me the direction of some of them...

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Humm, if the armor is outgassing that strongly, that's not going to shower off. If Snow Leopard passes him on the street she will be able to recognize him. Plot all the crime scenes on a map. She will be looking for anything that smells like the armor. Check people in the area, bystanders, and most especally staff. Could our perp have had a child taken, not his own but one he fees responsible for, from under his very nose?

You're good.

If this turns up dry' date=' will get the list of poential victims and see if any of them smell like the armor. Could he be an offender with self-hatred turned outward? [/quote'] I wouldn't do that, it would humanize them. But I Really like the way you think of options. Repped- as soon as I can actually give you more..

1) When did he start, exactly? Is that day the anniversary of any child molestations or child killings, especially of particular note?

2) Is he going down the list top to bottom, bottom to top, or random selections?

3) What calibur are the sniper bullets? Are there any conclusive or firm ballistics tests from them? What about the serial markings on the CS grenades? The stun guns? Anyone buying these lately that might seem suspicious? What was used for the exsanguination (brutal, by the way hehe)? Was the garrotte made of anything unusual or exotic?

4) Where can the material that his armor is made from be bought? What sort of skills does it take to work this stuff into what he is wearing (i.e. a VERY nice suit of armor)?

5) Has he displayed any martial skills when fighting in hand to hand?

1> 8 weeks ago, the date seems to be insignificant in relation to convicted cases.

2> He started at the most number of offenses, but once thhe police made thhe connection, he is going seemingly randomly.

3> The rifle bullets were ,22LR Remmingtons, available at any K-Wal. The CS grenades were non--standard, home built jobs. The stun guns are a stun baton, available at any gunshop, plus one built into each fist/wrist of the armor. The exsanguination was performed by tying the victim up, and insert many insulin style needles into neck and wrist vessels- and then pulling the stops out. The garrote was some form of thin wire, either a camp saw or guitar string, difficult to determine form the marks on the neck.

4> The resin is typically used for boat engine areas, highly resistant to heat. The ballistic fiber is coomon to vests, but not in this size. It is possible that bolts of it were directly ordered from the DuPont corporation in Deleware, but would be difficult to get records across state lines. SKILLS: Fiberglass techniques, electronics, Chemistry, Weaponsmith modern.

He has displayed some MA techniques, but nothing to suggest a particular style, or any great mastery.

[Zed-F]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Soulbarb has huuuuge problems with anyone going around and molesting kids, and moreover thinks this guy has the right idea. So unless his modus operandi changes and he starts getting a lot less careful about what he's doing, the cops are going to get zero help from her on this one. Heck, the vig is doing their jobs, they should be thankful as far as she's concerned. Once again, she's more worried about how come there are so many child molesters on the loose in the first place, than she is about what this one vig is doing to stop them. Usually I wouldn't think there would be more than a handful in any one city at any given point in time, given normal population densities & crime rates, yet this guy seems to have no shortage of legitimate targets.

 

Cerulean is another one who probably shouldn't be in this story. He'd help the police stop the killer, but have a lot of questions to ask about what kind of society/government could permit this sort of thing to go on.

[Guest daeudi_454]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Once again' date=' she's more worried about how come there are so many child molesters on the loose in the first place, than she is about what this one vig is doing to stop them. Usually I wouldn't think there would be more than a handful in any one city at any given point in time, given normal population densities & crime rates, yet this guy seems to have no shortage of legitimate targets.[/quote']

Are you kidding? There are over 1788 convicted sex offenders in Indianpolis/Marion County alone. No idea what percentage are baby-rapers, but too damned many. Go to http://www.familywatchdog.org to see how many live in your area.

EDIT: Of the first 20 individuals listed at http://www.indianasheriffs.org for Marion County (Indianapolis)

18 were convicted of a sexual offense with a minor, 1 convicted of 3 offenses. 1 convicted of a crime against an adult.

If those odds are maintained through the rest- that's 89 habitual offenders in Indy alone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But what I really like here is the fact that it is almost 50/50 on who would help, and who would capture... If I get that kinda percentage when I run this, it ought to make it very interesting.

[Zed-F]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Can't check how many live in my area, as the local sex offender database is not open to public browsing. I suppose the natural questions are not only how many people in the database are child molesters but also how many of those are repeat offenders who have been active relatively recently and how many of those are the 'dangerous' type -- e.g. the kind that are not just into fondling but also physical abuse and/or murder. Especially if the latter group is significantly larger than one would expect relative to other cities of similar size, Soulbarb would want to know why. It appears from the description above that the vigilante is exercising due diligence in his target selection, and if she finds this is so when she checks into the murders, Soulbarb would certainly not be inclined to interfere with his activities.

 

This sort of case could easily, depending on how it was presented, become a long-term campaign plot for Soulbarb, as it ties in heavily with her origins, motivations, and psych lims.

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Gray Ghost

Call me idealistic, but a murderer is a murderer and needs to be brought to justice. Yes, there are some crimes which cannot be excused. But justice is not vengeance and vengeance cannot be tolerated in a civil society. Even in a world where the justice and penal systems are broken, there are still lines which must not be crossed, even by those who would dare call themselves vigilantes.

 

For my part, I would check the various registries on-line to see if there was a pattern or order to the killings, then check with any police contacts I have for recent similar but lesser crimes. Next, I would check my local news archives for any recent case of child molestation where the alleged offender was acquitted or killed his victims, leaving a single mother or father. Finally, I would cross-reference the latter with the first dozen murders to see if any coincidences jump out at me. Any leads would get me onto the legwork of questioning social workers and other officials who might have personal experience and memories to fill in the blanks.

 

What I discover will determine my actions from that point.

[sinanju]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Methods?

 

Part of the plot is that there would be characters in the party who did agree with the subjects intentions. Ideally, it would cause some contention among the party.

 

Hell's Angel works solo. She's a member of a loose alliance of superheroes in Empire City (a PbEM game), but each PC essentially has his or her own "comic" and crossovers occur only occasionally. She'd have to try to find him the old fashioned way--investigation, stakeouts and the like.

 

Man-Ape is one of the GGU Denver Defenders. Only just joined them, so he'd have to find out whether one of his teammates felt strongly otherwise.

 

Black Mask and Cassandra are both solo characters as well. No inter-team conflict on the issue there. Like Hell's Angel, they'd have to use good old fashioned detective work to try to find the bad guy.

 

Black Knight is a new member of the Justice Squad (Zornwil's face-to-face Champions game). With Laughton and Nexus on the team, finding the bad guy will be easy as falling off a log.

 

What if the next perv to die had photos of kids from your DNPCs school? Not even neccesarily your characters kid, just some of their classmates?

 

It doesn't change the situation for my PCs--catching the guy in the act is one thing, and you do what you have to to stop him and bring him to justice. But hunting down and murdering people--even these pedophile creeps--isn't heroism. It's criminal. It's murder.

[i3ullseye]

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

 

Many of my characters might just be the one DOING the killing, but i digress. And since I often play mentalists, we will avoid that route.

 

General answer, I team up with a local reporter, and have him run a story really bashing this guy. Explaining how sick he is, and how he is no better than those he is killing. then I stay close to this reporter as the killer comes to him to try to get him to print his rebuttal.

 

The psychosis of this vigillante is one to have people adore and appreciate him for his noble act. If society isn't appreciative, then likely society must be wrong in his eyes. And he will likely do whatever it takes to show what a great service he is doing for these children.

 

If he is hesitant, yo find a child related to one of his victims and have them crying on local TV. If that doesn't urge a rebuttal out of the killer (and exposing himself enough to leave some traceable clues) then you might not have much chance to catch him again.