Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

[ParagonAlpha]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

How about an actual "Living" Room.

 

A sentient room that's whole purpose is to make your stay in it more comfortable.

 

You spill spaghetti on the carpet? Don't worry the room needs to eat occasionally.

 

Need extra pillows? It will grow them for you.

 

No need for a remote for the t.v.

 

And boy do the chairs almost seem to hug you as you sit in them.

 

Hehehe

[Drhoz]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

A Gelatinous Cube as garbage disposal.

 

A corridor that gets darker and darker as you walk down it. And it breathes

 

A large and ancient block of carved stone, standing in pride of place in one of the social rooms. It bears cuneiform writing and carvings of the PCs. Nobody knows how it got there. It just showed up.

 

The guest bedroom that broadcasts dreams to the rest of the house.

 

700 peeled-off skins of the cook, neatly folded and hanging in one of the servant's wardrobes.

 

A Pressed Fairy collection in the nursery.

 

All the fireplaces need to be defrosted if you leave the windows open in damp weather. Otherwise, they work fine.

 

The gallery is hung with dozens of portraits of the owner's ancestors. All 2 inches by 3, and all perfect.

 

Floor, walls, and ceiling are all mahogany panelling, polished to a mirror finish.

 

A beehive in the conservatory, with the bees trained to make wax effigies. Occasionally they have to be smoked before they start using them on the guests.

 

A terrarium in the front room, with spear-waving 9th century frenchmen beating on the glass.

 

A very intimate bath.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

I might use Wayne Manor instead of the Mobius as the base. It has more rooms to have fun with.

 

The garage has a gate to a pocket reality/private parking lot.

 

Two intricately carved statues flank the front door, which leads onto the foyer. Facing it is the front desk, where there is always at least one Japanese office lady. Nearby is the office of the team administrator, which is also the mailroom. She's dressed like the office ladies and always wears white gloves that hide the fact that her hands look like they're covered with lizard skin.

 

The truth is slightly stranger. The statues hide a mystical scanning system, the office ladies change into wolves when they are attacked, and the administrator changes into a fire-breathing dragon.

 

More to come. Ideas posted above by others will be added in at the right time.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

Here's more stuff.

 

The parlor is the "living room". Stairs from it lead into the ballroom.

 

The portrait with the eyes that follow you is over the dining room fireplace.

 

The sitting room has viewing portals to other places and realities on its walls. One lets you watch the Great Barrier Reef. Another lets you watch the inside of a bus in a country where Islamic-style garb is warn and the women are veiled.

 

Fairies flit about in the mansion.

 

On evenings that the ballroom's not in use, it's filled with male and female ghosts in 18th-century formal wear. Most are either waltzing or in the orchestra. Heroes may join in without any problems.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

A few more ideas:

 

The lighting adjusts itself to the needs and moods of the people using the room; turning off when you sleep, soft when romancing is happening, etc.

 

Studies, bedrooms, etc. have infinitely effective soundproofing - when the door is shut, a bomb could go off outside without being noticed. In the library, even sounds that other people make in the room are muted. However, natural, comforting sounds like wind or rain, or your own breathing, aren't affected.

 

Or maybe there is no library - just small individual shelves within easy reach of many beds and armchairs throughout the house, big enough for maybe a dozen or twenty hardcovers. The books on them are in completely random order, even volumes of encyclopedia sets and such. All the books that have been placed on any of these shelves are accessible from any of them (and there are a lot more books than would fit on the known total shelf space). If you know the book you want, just name it and you'll find it on your shelf (if the house has it). If you want to browse, each time you remove a book and replace it on the shelf, you'll find the rest have changed. There is always space for new books. Cracked spines, stained pages, dog-ears, etc. are seamlessly repaired while in this mini-L-space.

 

The oven pre-heats instantly to whatever temperature is dialed.

 

When the dishwasher cycle ends, it will be empty - the dishes are all put away. They're always perfectly clean and dry, without any pre-scrubbing necessary.

 

Or, in a less modern mansion, just a family of brownies. Leave a saucer of milk out and never, ever thank them.

 

The solarium is beneath an alien sun, one which radiates light that warms deeply, tans quickly, and never causes sunburn.

 

And off from the wish-fulfillment end of things (because magical mansions should have some random and/or spooky stuff, too):

 

Someone may have mentioned this already, it's a classic: certain outside windows show views that Aren't From Around Here. Should probably be windows that can't be opened.

 

The brownies get distant relatives visiting from out of town - gremlins.

 

Late at night, the furnace almost seems to be muttering to itself. It has a deep, raspy voice that sounds like a heavy smoker's. You can hear it through any duct, if it's quiet. It never acknowledges the inhabitants, or events in the house, but maybe it occasionally says something useful. Or it might be a completely foreign language.

 

If you sleep in one particular bedroom, sometimes you'll find some innocuous object from a dream you had, on the nightstand when you wake up. They may or may not sometimes have... properties.

 

There's a cat that has lived here since before you moved in. No one knows how it gets in and out of the building, or rooms with shut doors, but it roams freely. It isn't especially friendly or unfriendly towards the people it lets stay in its house, and seems to have no trouble finding food somewhere. To telepathy and any other test, it's an ordinary semi-feral housecat. But the sound-muting properties of the library mentioned above don't seem to affect its occasional yowls... or purrs.

[Alverant]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

Telepathic doors that unlock only if you think the right combination (for example peeling an orange with your bare hands, including the sight, touch, smell, sounds)

 

Bedroom doors that teleport you into the middle of the pool if you barge right in, if you knock first the door works normally.

 

Garden hedge maze populated with ghost-like ghouls formed from the emotional baggage of the superhero team (the ex-wife monster is particularly nasty) that wander aimlessly to unleash themselves on any unlucky soul who dares to enter their prison.

 

[edit]

I figure this would be a fun way to get rid of some psych lims. For each 5 pts absorbed into the hedge maze, 200 pts total are added to the monsters there. At some point the monsters break free and the characters must literally battle their inner demons.

[end edit]

 

Any mammal or bird or lizard in the grounds can talk, even if it can't normally.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

A few more ideas:

 

The lighting adjusts itself to the needs and moods of the people using the room; turning off when you sleep, soft when romancing is happening, etc.

 

Studies, bedrooms, etc. have infinitely effective soundproofing - when the door is shut, a bomb could go off outside without being noticed. In the library, even sounds that other people make in the room are muted. However, natural, comforting sounds like wind or rain, or your own breathing, aren't affected.

 

The oven pre-heats instantly to whatever temperature is dialed.

 

When the dishwasher cycle ends, it will be empty - the dishes are all put away. They're always perfectly clean and dry, without any pre-scrubbing necessary.

 

The solarium is beneath an alien sun, one which radiates light that warms deeply, tans quickly, and never causes sunburn.

 

Someone may have mentioned this already, it's a classic: certain outside windows show views that Aren't From Around Here. Should probably be windows that can't be opened.

 

Late at night, the furnace almost seems to be muttering to itself. It has a deep, raspy voice that sounds like a heavy smoker's. You can hear it through any duct, if it's quiet. It never acknowledges the inhabitants, or events in the house, but maybe it occasionally says something useful. Or it might be a completely foreign language.

 

If you sleep in one particular bedroom, sometimes you'll find some innocuous object from a dream you had, on the nightstand when you wake up. They may or may not sometimes have... properties.

 

There's a cat that has lived here since before you moved in. No one knows how it gets in and out of the building, or rooms with shut doors, but it roams freely. It isn't especially friendly or unfriendly towards the people it lets stay in its house, and seems to have no trouble finding food somewhere. To telepathy and any other test, it's an ordinary semi-feral housecat. But the sound-muting properties of the library mentioned above don't seem to affect its occasional yowls... or purrs.

 

Cool stuff. Consider it used. The cat's black.

 

The windows that you shouldn't (or can't) open are in the gym and game room and show a Martian landscape, complete with blowing sand and two moons. However, if you open the exterior doors of the two rooms, you find yourself on the patio beside the pool.

 

Each bedroom has a 10' x 10' room attached to it that only the occupants and anyone they designate can enter.

 

This thread is tied into one on the team liaisons. The URL will be posted as soon as possible.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

A Gelatinous Cube as garbage disposal.

 

A corridor that gets darker and darker as you walk down it. And it breathes

 

A large and ancient block of carved stone, standing in pride of place in one of the social rooms. It bears cuneiform writing and carvings of the PCs. Nobody knows how it got there. It just showed up.

 

The guest bedroom that broadcasts dreams to the rest of the house.

 

All the fireplaces need to be defrosted if you leave the windows open in damp weather. Otherwise, they work fine.

 

Floor, walls, and ceiling are all mahogany paneling, polished to a mirror finish.

 

A very intimate bath.

 

Cool stuff. Now, I have to figure out where to put the hallway and block of carved stone.

 

This thread is tied into the one on the liaisons. It's URL is http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57948.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion

 

Since it won't be used in the second version mansion, the "Jester Statue" image is being removed to make room for other attachments.