Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

[Mark Rand]

The team will tentatively be based in Seacouver, Washington. The base is a mansion that spells converted into a fastness. (A fastness is one of the names for a mage's mansion.

 

The Ward Foundation is the team sponsor. Lisa Ward, the daughter of the foundation's creators, is Warder, a local mage. Although she officially resides in the house, she spends most of her time traveling throughout the multiverse.

 

Marie Anders is the housekeeper. She's the love of Jim Daniels' life. He's the team's technical manager and is both a shadetree mechanic and handyman. Additionally, he's a member of Mensa International and drives in races sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America.

 

Sara Gray, R.N., the ghost of a nurse who died in the 1970s, tends the team's injuries. Since she died before nurses started wearing scrubs, she wears white uniforms and a cap.

 

Elaine Davis is the team's secretary/receptionist. A slender woman, she always wears gloves. (They hide the fact that the skin on her hands resembles that of a snake.) She's usually accompanied by her pet Puff, a three-foot long, green, winged, fire-breathing dragon.

 

John Harrison, a skilled bureaucrat, once was in the CIA and now represents the DOSPA. Kate Thompson, a cat burglar that spent a number of years working for the CIA, represents the Department of Homeland Security. Although they're not married, they're loyal to each other and their daughter, Molly, who is on a respirator, or medical ventilator, because her lungs aren't able to work properly.

 

Comment is invited.

[Dawn Darke]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

What is "a shadetree mechanic"?

 

Housekeepers do light housework. Who's going to do "the heavy"?

 

Who's doing the cooking? Who's doing the dishes and kitchen cleaning?

 

Who's the IT gal/guy?

 

Who handles public relations? Who keeps in contact with state, county and local LEA's?

 

Who does landscaping? Who does house repairs and maintenance?

 

More if I think of it.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

What is "a shadetree mechanic"?

 

Housekeepers do light housework. Who's going to do "the heavy"?

 

Who's doing the cooking? Who's doing the dishes and kitchen cleaning?

 

Who's the IT gal/guy?

 

Who handles public relations? Who keeps in contact with state, county and local LEA's?

 

Who does landscaping? Who does house repairs and maintenance?

 

More if I think of it.

 

This is what I'm looking for!!!

 

A shadetree mechanic is someone who works on his (or her) own cars. Marie does the cooking, dishes and kitchen cleaning.

 

Jim, being a handyman as well as a technical expert, helps her with the heavy cleaning and does the house repairs and maintenance.

 

The foundation handles PR. The team leader keeps in touch with the various LEAs. I'll come up with an IT expert. (It probably won't be Jim. He's an electronics engineer.)

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Got a still nameless IT guy. He's 6' 6", lean, wears glasses, smokes a pipe, and was on the swim team in college.

[Dawn Darke]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

This is what I'm looking for!!!

 

A shadetree mechanic is someone who works on his (or her) own cars. Marie does the cooking, dishes and kitchen cleaning.

A housekeeper that cooks!? That washes and cleans?!?? Where's she from, the mid 1800's?!!? Seriously, that's way, way too unbelievable.

 

Jim' date=' being a handyman as well as a technical expert, helps her with the heavy cleaning and does the house repairs and maintenance.[/quote']

Oh yeah, like you want Mr. Grease-to-elbows cleaning the house. Another unbelievable.

 

The foundation handles PR. The team leader keeps in touch with the various LEAs.

I hope he's an ex-cop. Otherwise they'll treat him like a buzzing fly. Cops stick together, and **** the civilians. Unfortunate but too true.

 

I'll come up with an IT expert. (It probably won't be Jim. He's an electronics engineer.)

And coated in grease, or woodchips, or muck, all the time.

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

A ghost nurse as the team's medic? Hell, why not -- if Hogwarts can

have a ghost teacher on its faculty, then I don't see any reason why

your PC team's medic couldn't be a ghost.

 

Now, about the secretary/receptionist: is she a renegade member of

some "Serpent People"-type race, or is she a weredragon?

 

 

Major Tom

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

A ghost nurse as the team's medic? Hell, why not -- if Hogwarts can

have a ghost teacher on its faculty, then I don't see any reason why

your PC team's medic couldn't be a ghost.

 

Now, about the secretary/receptionist: is she a renegade member of

some "Serpent People"-type race, or is she a weredragon?

 

 

Major Tom

 

Those were the only reasons I could think of to explain why the nurse wears a white uniform and cap instead of scrubs and the secretary/receptionist wears gloves.

 

Any other ideas?

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

A housekeeper that cooks!? That washes and cleans?!?? Where's she from, the mid 1800's?!!? Seriously, that's way, way too unbelievable.

 

Oh yeah, like you want Mr. Grease-to-elbows cleaning the house. Another unbelievable.

 

I hope he's an ex-cop. Otherwise they'll treat him like a buzzing fly. Cops stick together, and **** the civilians. Unfortunate but too true.

 

And coated in grease, or woodchips, or muck, all the time.

 

Since the heroes have federal police powers, they are treated like cops.

 

Since the house has magical properties, a lot of the heavy housework is taken care of by magic. Of course, we could assume that a lot of the household chores are done by the resident ghosts.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

In truth, even if there wasn't magic involved, Marie would still be the housekeeper. Her duties, however, would be those of a head housekeeper/majordomo. Under her would be the cook, maids (possibly one for the kitchen), housemen, and other staff members.

 

The original technician was Mariko, not Jim. She and Lisa were debutantes together. While Lisa studied magic with her uncle, Mariko obtained a masters in electronics and began racing a Lamborghini Diablo in events sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

I forgot a liaison. He's Richard Spaulding, who represents the city. He works out of the mayor's office and comes by only when the city government needs the heroes so show up at some event.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Before Lisa cast her spells on the mansion, there was a fairly large staff in there. It's possible that they stayed.

 

Jacob Anderson is the majordomo. Among his duties is the management of the household staff. His son, David, is the butler. David's wife, Marie, is the housekeeper.

 

Jacob's wife, Helen is the cook. Their eldest daughter, Mary Ann, is the kitchen maid. Mary Ann's younger sister, Cindy, is the scullery maid. Both girls also help their mother cook. Additionally, there are various maids and housemen.

 

After the spells were cast and the heroes came, things changed slightly. Randy Clark, the IT guy, is dating Elaine Davis. Jim Daniels, the technical manager, is dating Mary Ann. An outside company continues providing landscaping services. Most of the maintenance is done by the housemen while Jim handles electrical work.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

A quick thought for today. I decided that the house needed only a maid because that's all Homestead has. I'd completely forgotten that the team has "a great house". Of course, a maid might be all something like The Mobius needs. (The only DNPC listed for it in the 4E book Mystic Masters is an accountant that occasionally doubles as a cook.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Personally, if the PCs aren't hiring the staff, I'd include somebody the players only see at a distance, whose actual job is never stated, nor is his name definitively stated, but none of the other staff is in the least bit concerned. "Oh, him? He's just one of the staff. I think his name is Jack. What does he do? Hmmm... I think he's a handyman." Maybe each member of the staff knows him by a different name and occupation. "Who, Joe? He does the gardening." "Good ol' Jim? He helps Helen in the kitchen."

 

Any time the players try to catch up with him, he rounds a corner... and disappears. If they directly confront the staff, nobody recalls being introduced to him, so they admit they might have the wrong name, but really, he's been working there for years, he's no danger.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Personally, if the PCs aren't hiring the staff, I'd include somebody the players only see at a distance, whose actual job is never stated, nor is his name definitively stated, but none of the other staff is in the least bit concerned. "Oh, him? He's just one of the staff. I think his name is Jack. What does he do? Hmmm... I think he's a handyman." Maybe each member of the staff knows him by a different name and occupation. "Who, Joe? He does the gardening." "Good ol' Jim? He helps Helen in the kitchen."

 

Any time the players try to catch up with him, he rounds a corner... and disappears. If they directly confront the staff, nobody recalls being introduced to him, so they admit they might have the wrong name, but really, he's been working there for years, he's no danger.

 

I like this. It could be that, of the household staff, all but the Anderson family, are ghosts.

 

Edit: Repped.

[The Monster]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Perhaps there are several staff, rotating through. Because the house is interdimensionally coterminous with the chief temple of a holy order of some sort; the staff who seem to come and go, and have no "real-world" identity, are members of the order performing service to their order, which includes menial labor and maintenance of the aspect(s) of the house that the heroes inhabit.

Why do they do this? Perhaps because part of the magic that makes the temple able to resist massive evil sorcery is the mystic link forged to the house in our "low-magic" world, and that link requires continual maintenance, both physical and magical. Of course, occasionally - rarely - the resisted magical assaults can't be completely contained in their native dimension, and there is unfortunate leakage of apparently random magical effects.

Perhaps because opf the ancient prophecy that a great evil would invade their world through this house: they can't destroy it, because it is too powerful, so it must be watched for any sign of corruption. The innocuous performance of menial maintenance tasks provides excellent opportunities to watch for signs of distortion and evil.

Perhaps...

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Perhaps there are several staff, rotating through. Because the house is interdimensionally coterminous with the chief temple of a holy order of some sort; the staff who seem to come and go, and have no "real-world" identity, are members of the order performing service to their order, which includes menial labor and maintenance of the aspect(s) of the house that the heroes inhabit.

Why do they do this? Perhaps because part of the magic that makes the temple able to resist massive evil sorcery is the mystic link forged to the house in our "low-magic" world, and that link requires continual maintenance, both physical and magical. Of course, occasionally - rarely - the resisted magical assaults can't be completely contained in their native dimension, and there is unfortunate leakage of apparently random magical effects.

Perhaps because opf the ancient prophecy that a great evil would invade their world through this house: they can't destroy it, because it is too powerful, so it must be watched for any sign of corruption. The innocuous performance of menial maintenance tasks provides excellent opportunities to watch for signs of distortion and evil.

Perhaps...

 

Repped.

 

Which house is better for this, a "great house", like Wayne Manor, or a place like The Mobius from the 4E book Mystic Masters?

 

Would the order have people from various backgrounds or just one?

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

It occurred to me this afternoon that a "great house" would be more suited to the suburbs than a city. That way, you could have large gardens and a riding stables.

 

This would mean one or more greenhouses, workshops, a barn, garages, storage buildings, pasture space, and houses for the head gardener and stablemaster. The rest of the people on the staff here would probably live out.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

If we use a house like The Mobius from Mystic Masters, we can have a smaller domestic staff. Gerald is the butler. He is also the household manager and a skilled valet. His wife, Jeanette, is housekeeper. She doubles as a lady's maid. Helen, the cook, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. The rest of the staff consists of people from elsewhere, possibly an interdimensional temple of some holy order.

 

Elaine isn't the secretary/receptionist. She's the office manager and administrator. Jim, the technical manager, is a scientific polymath and Randy's a brainy IT guy.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Originally, the nurse was a ghost of one who died in the 1960s, but I just came up with a different one. She wears a white uniform and cap because "wearing scrubs as a regular uniform is silly".

 

Anyone following her would see her entering a cylinder 1/2 hex in diameter and 1 1/2 hexes tall. If they entered, they'd walk up a long ramp and end up in a square room 6 hexes wide. A door is in the far side and a hexagonal console is in the middle.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

Using the Mobius, the cylinder mentioned above would be in the third floor hall. Additionally, while Gerald is the household manager, Elaine, as team administrator, has final say in financial matters.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests

 

I'm considering ending this thread and the mansion take two and replacing both with one on The Mobius from the 4E book Mystic Masters.

 

The information on the house will be in an MS Word document attached to the first posting.