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Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

BoloOfEarth

By BoloOfEarth
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BoloOfEarth Grand Master

BoloOfEarth

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I've been running a Champions game, in one form or another, for the past 17 or so years, with the same core group of 4 players the entire time, and a fifth one added about 12 years ago. In that time, we've gone through five teams of superheroes.

 

My players created their current characters without much problem, but the team name is always tough for them. (One campaign, we even used the Super-Team Name Generator in the back of the Hero System Almanac 1.) Since the heroes' names all started with "S", the press dubbed them the "S-Squad" -- I was hoping to shame them into coming up with something better. That was almost 2 years ago, and the name stuck.

 

The city (and citizens) of Chicago is now offering to fund a small base and staff, which will include a (bit overzealous) PR guy. Since "S-Squad" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue or inspire awe, the PR guy is going to start a "name the superteam" contest without the heroes' prior knowledge. People can propose names online, then the heroes will pick the top six, and finally the citizens of Chicago will vote for the new name. I'm planning to have fun with it. (Some guy named Freedy will propose they be renamed the Foxbatallion, for instance.) But I wanted some serious and not-so-serious names to throw at them when they first learn of the contest.

 

The current team is based in Chicago and thus far has rarely left the city. They have no team vehicle, and as of yet no base. The campaign tone is pretty much four-color comics, semi-serious but not too grim, with some silly or semi-silly adventures along the way.

 

The team members are:

  • Sentinel, a female radiation-based healer that can also protect others with force fields. In her secret ID, she drives an ambulance.
  • Serendipity, a luck-powered and moderately telekinetic lady that owns an Irish pub-type bar. She's also a former member of the IRA, though this is not public knowledge.
  • Styx, a regenerating martial artist-type; he was killed on duty working security for the US Dept. of State (he woke up in his casket, already buried). Styx believes he is undead, even though it's actually a mutation.
  • Squeeze, a chemist that got his powers in a lab accident. Now, he can generate super-strong fibers (hundreds of them) to stretch out, envelop and, well, squeeze his foes.
  • Synergy, another lab-accident product. He generates "positive and negative neutron flow" energy to fly, protect himself, and blast foes.
  • Subliminal, a supposed mentalist who never appears publicly. Actually, he doesn't exist at all; the heroes invented him and drop his name every now and then to keep people guessing.

 

Since some people define heroes by the villains they fight, I should let you know who they've battled (and, almost always, beaten). Almost all have been or will be recurring foes.

  • the Ultimates
  • VIPER
  • COIL
  • the Choir (from Digital Hero, all sound-based)
  • GRAB
  • Black Harlequin
  • ADEPT (a tecnology-based home-grown villain team)
  • the Alexandrian Order (a magic-based home-grown villain team)
  • the Ravagers (extremely nasty home-grown villain team)
  • the Conquerors (carried over from 4th edition Champions)
  • the Foxbat Five (a home-grown villain team headed by everybody's favorite loon)
  • the Windy City Sportsmen (sports-team themed and not too serious, just as likely to steal a truckload of beer as to rob a bank)

 

So, how about some suggestions? As I said, silly names are fine, but I'd also like some good serious names to throw at them too. (I'm not sure it will go as far as people actually voting on them; the player characters may shut the whole contest down first, but I'll let you know either way.)

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Maccabe Rising Star

Maccabe

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

I always enjoyed groups with numbers in their name, especially if the number doesn't fit some times (like the 3 heroes at the end of Displaced Paranormals 7)

I see you have 6; Super-6, Supreme-6, S.I.X. (and people can try to guess what it means...)

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Hermit Grand Master

Hermit

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

I always enjoyed groups with numbers in their name, especially if the number doesn't fit some times (like the 3 heroes at the end of Displaced Paranormals 7)

I see you have 6; Super-6, Supreme-6, S.I.X. (and people can try to guess what it means...)

 

The number 6 and the letter S isn't a bad combo :)

 

The Chi Town 6 might also work.

 

The Sentries

 

Safeguard

 

The Survivors

 

The Stalwarts or The Stalwart Six

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Enforcer84 Grand Master

Enforcer84

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

Squadron Supreme?

 

 

The Six Pack?

Since they're getting stuff from the city, how about Sanction? They could call their base the Sanctuary!

 

one of the crazy submissions must be: Rex Grossman Sucks Eggs!

 

or we could abandon the "s" names...if they operate mostly in Chicago, they could be called the Garrison.

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Tigereye Collaborator

Tigereye

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

If any of them have Distinctive Appearance, you could always name them "The Monsters of the Midway".

 

Of course, you can also use another term, one that hasn't been used in Chicago for a while, but one that would put the fear of Bog itself into the local villainery: "The Untouchables".

 

I love historical names!

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Remjin Mentor

Remjin

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

The current team is based in Chicago and thus far has rarely left the city. They have no team vehicle' date=' and as of yet no base. The campaign tone is pretty much four-color comics, semi-serious but not too grim, with some silly or semi-silly adventures along the way.[/quote']

 

Sounds like Chicago all right... no car, or inability to drive car sanely, and no base since rent is insane, ownership is ludicrous. It certainly is comic book worthy, the sheer satire and daily tragedy and its corruption make for good comics fair... and its definitely silly! =) Sorry, I live in Illinois, so...

The team members are:

  • Sentinel, a female radiation-based healer that can also protect others with force fields. In her secret ID, she drives an ambulance.
  • Serendipity, a luck-powered and moderately telekinetic lady that owns an Irish pub-type bar. She's also a former member of the IRA, though this is not public knowledge.
  • Styx, a regenerating martial artist-type; he was killed on duty working security for the US Dept. of State (he woke up in his casket, already buried). Styx believes he is undead, even though it's actually a mutation.
  • Squeeze, a chemist that got his powers in a lab accident. Now, he can generate super-strong fibers (hundreds of them) to stretch out, envelop and, well, squeeze his foes.
  • Synergy, another lab-accident product. He generates "positive and negative neutron flow" energy to fly, protect himself, and blast foes.
  • Subliminal, a supposed mentalist who never appears publicly. Actually, he doesn't exist at all; the heroes invented him and drop his name every now and then to keep people guessing.

 

So, how about some suggestions? As I said, silly names are fine, but I'd also like some good serious names to throw at them too.

 

Well, in light of this...

 

Chicago based ideas....

  • The Daley 6 (current mayor's name! News! ta-dah!)
  • Daley 6
  • Windy City Warriors
  • Da Bears
  • Cubbies Win!

 

Less stupid ideas...

  • Apoplectic (sp?)
  • Sextant (also grabs attention since the word Sex is in it =)
  • HexMate
  • Zeta Law
  • Invictus (invincible in latin?)
  • DOT Approved

 

Okay, okay, I suck tonight.. sorry...

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BoloOfEarth Grand Master

BoloOfEarth

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

Wow! Some really great ideas, makes me wish I'd done this back when the team first started, then the media could have come up with a real name. Thanks everybody!

 

The heroes finally decided on a base location (they're taking over a former VIPER base they discovered under a sparkling water bottling plant) and are looking at staffing. They said they want to hire a PR firm, so once that's decided, their team website will go up, and this "name the team" contest will be one of the first things on there.

 

Keep 'em coming, and thanks again for all who have contributed thus far. I'll rep as I can (though I'm sure some of you I'll have to "spread the love around" first).

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wcw43921 Veteran

wcw43921

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

There's always the Chicago Squad.

 

But I came up with a name that's dying to be used; The Heroic Emergency Response and Operations Force, otherwise known as--

 

HERO-Force!

 

"Squad" or "Team" could be substituted, but I don't think they work as well.

 

Also, if they're looking for real estate for a base, I think that Meigs Field would work out quite well. Of course, the city would have to repair the runways if the team's super-jet isn't VTOL capable, but otherwise I think it's a plan.

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Tigereye Collaborator

Tigereye

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

This may be a bit off-topic, but here goes (and it does fit in with the general idea of "What's in a name? Everything!")

 

The French Army have an organizational acronym that's tough to beat for eliciting sheer belly laughs. The name of the organization is "Commando de Recherche y Action au Profondeur". These are platoon-sized commando units, similar in function to Ranger or Special Forces in the US Army.

The acronym, of course, is CRAP.

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BoloOfEarth Grand Master

BoloOfEarth

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Re: Please help... Name My Superhero Group! (in-game contest)

 

I can just hear the villains now...

 

 

"Oh, crap! It's CRAP!"

 

Funny thing is, in a prior campaign, set in Detroit, they named their team The Heroes of Eastern Michigan, or THEM. That way, when they were approaching, the villains would yell, "Oh, no! It's THEM!"

 

"Who?!"

 

"THEM!"

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