Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

[Mark Rand]

The house is based on The Mobius, the fastness, or mage's house, in the 4E book Mystic Masters. It has been expanded on to provide several gates. The maps, in MS Word form, will be posted soon.

 

The main temple of an extradimensional order is tied into the house. People from it serve as some of the staff.

 

The Ward Foundation is the team's sponsor. They also provide legal and PR support to the team. Most of the support staff is from the Anderson and Daniels families. Landscaping is provided by an outside contractor.

 

Jacob Anderson is the majordomo. His wife, Helen, is the cook. She's a Culinary Institute of America graduate. Their daughters, Mary Ann and Cindy are, respectively, the kitchen and scullery maid and help with the cooking. Jacob and Helen's son, David, is the butler. His wife, Marie, is the housekeeper. People from the temple do other household chores.

 

Ezra and Molly Daniels keep the team vehicles in good condition. Their son, Jim, is the technical manager and keeps the electrical and electronics systems in good repair. Jim's lover of five years, Sarah, is the team's nurse, and his cousin, Elaine, a recent convert to Islam, is the IT expert.

 

More to come.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

More people in and associated with the house.

 

Ellen Davis is the administrator. When she was 7, she contracted a non-contagious disease that has changed the condition of her hands. She wears gloves to keep people from seeing what they look like.

 

Richard Spaulding is the liaison from the city government. He doesn't live in the mansion and shows up only when the city needs the heroes to appear at some function.

 

John Harrison and Kate Thompson, who once worked for the CIA, are the team's DOSPA liaisons. He's a dapper, but clumsy, bureaucrat with a degree in accounting. She's an elegant, blue-eyed blonde third-generation cat burglar. He's nearsighted and wears glasses. She's highly-skilled and cool under pressure.

 

They have a five year old daughter named Molly who's hooked up to a respirator (or medical ventilator) because her lungs can't inflate properly. Megan Thomas, R.N., cares for her.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

You might find lots of ideas in one of these threads:

 

[thread=10457]Constructing a mage's mansion - Nov 23rd, '03[/thread]

[thread=14104]Mansion Plans Wanted - Feb 22nd, '04[/thread]

[thread=14352]Avengers Mansion San Francisco - Feb 28th, '04[/thread]

[thread=17962]A Mage's Mansion - Jun 6th, '04[/thread]

[thread=57981]Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion - Jul 29th, '07[/thread]

[thread=58140]Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion, version 2.0 - Aug 5th, '07[/thread]

[thread=58600]Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests - Aug 23rd, '07[/thread]

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

You might find lots of ideas in one of these threads:

 

[thread=10457]Constructing a mage's mansion - Nov 23rd, '03[/thread]

[thread=14104]Mansion Plans Wanted - Feb 22nd, '04[/thread]

[thread=14352]Avengers Mansion San Francisco - Feb 28th, '04[/thread]

[thread=17962]A Mage's Mansion - Jun 6th, '04[/thread]

[thread=57981]Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion - Jul 29th, '07[/thread]

[thread=58140]Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion, version 2.0 - Aug 5th, '07[/thread]

[thread=58600]Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests - Aug 23rd, '07[/thread]

 

All of which I've started.

["V"]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I think that was TMH's point I'm afraid.

 

And I must ask just from a people-watching viewpoint: why so many female NPCs that always wear gloves and/or old fashioned nurse uniforms?

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I might go with a different house, like Wayne Manor, instead. The Ward Foundation is the sponsor. Lisa Ward, known as Warder, who has her fastness in the Fox Chapel area, cast a few spells on the family mansion, now the team's house.

 

The first strengthened the building's defenses. The second made it possible for a maid and butler to do all the household chores. The third attached one floor of a hotel to the mansion's second floor and the Batcave to the basement. (Both came from a world where all life died out.) Maps will soon be attached.

 

David and Marie Anderson are the butler and maid. Judy Clark is the secretary/receptionist. Her husband, Randy, is the IT guy. He smokes a pipe. Jim Daniels is the technical manager. His wife, Susan, is the nurse. He drives a Celica in SCCA-sanctioned events and the region's TransAm pace car. She crews for him.

 

Jim and Kate Thompson are the federal liaisons. He's a bureaucrat, she's good at black bag jobs. Richard Spaulding is the city's liaison. He stops by when he has to.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I think that was TMH's point I'm afraid.

 

And I must ask just from a people-watching viewpoint: why so many female NPCs that always wear gloves and/or old fashioned nurse uniforms?

 

Oh well, at least people sometimes read the crap I write, right?

["V"]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

Oh well' date=' at least people sometimes read the crap I write, right?[/quote']

 

I always do, and there is no higher crap ratio than in many of the other posts round here- don't be too hard on yourself (whether honestly or passive-aggressively ). I get the feeling that you're building campaign ideas as more of a setting for interesting fiction and thought-experiments rather than for actual play (you've mentioned before that you have no actual players at the moment) and there's nothing wrong with that at all.

 

My question was simply an innocent one as to why those two themes are so central for you. None of my business I know, but I'm a compulsive people watcher & it's been intriguing me for a while.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I always do, and there is no higher crap ratio than in many of the other posts round here- don't be too hard on yourself (whether honestly or passive-aggressively ). I get the feeling that you're building campaign ideas as more of a setting for interesting fiction and thought-experiments rather than for actual play (you've mentioned before that you have no actual players at the moment) and there's nothing wrong with that at all.

 

My question was simply an innocent one as to why those two themes are so central for you. None of my business I know, but I'm a compulsive people watcher & it's been intriguing me for a while.

 

I'm a 57-year old guy who prefers gloves and real uniforms to no gloves and scrubs. White uniforms are making a slow comeback in the U.S. (to help people identify the nurses) and they, and gloves, may have made more of a comeback in a superhero universe.

["V"]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

Great stuff.

 

And as I've said elsewhere, heck it's your world it may as well be done the way you want it. FWIW I totally agree with you about nurses' uniforms. I recently had to spend a lot of time visiting a hospital and there was real confusion on the part of visitors between who were nurses, orderlies and cleaning staff - they all looked pretty much the same. Some nurses' groups actually believe that having a "traditional" nurse uniform can actually cut down antisocial behaviour towards medical staff too, since we are actually relatively easily programmed creatures and tend to respond to uniformed authority with at least a mild level of deference. Plus IMO it looks better too.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

We will go back to having Marie Anderson as housekeeper, Jim Daniels as technical manager, and Elaine Davis as administrator.

 

As housekeeper, Marie is responsible for all the domestic operations in the mansion. The maids, housemen, kitchen staff, and others report to her. The only maintenance functions that don't go through her are IT and electrical.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

As technical manager, Jim is responsible for technical support. Under him are, mechanical, IT, and forensics experts. Having a masters in electronics, he handles that area himself.

 

Elaine is the team's administrator and handles all the office functions. She works with Jim and Marie on fiscal matters and the foundation that sponsors the team on legal and PR matters.

[Narratio]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

And the real cleaning staff is hidden where? The guys/gals with the bucket, mop and long handled duster to get behind the ears of the full scale Tyrannosaur that occupies the basement? Likewise a grounds keeping staff. A lot of stuff can't be mechanized, especially with regards to gardening, without a really high level of tech.

 

On which subject, you've covered the hi-tech, what about the low tech? A general dogsbody or three would be a good idea as well. Somebody who is licensed and registered to handle the little jobs of plumbing and house wiring (oh yeah, union members as well) to ease the fears of the local health and safety weenies. Maybe they do decorating as well.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

And the real cleaning staff is hidden where? The guys/gals with the bucket, mop and long handled duster to get behind the ears of the full scale Tyrannosaur that occupies the basement? Likewise a grounds keeping staff. A lot of stuff can't be mechanized, especially with regards to gardening, without a really high level of tech.

 

On which subject, you've covered the hi-tech, what about the low tech? A general dogsbody or three would be a good idea as well. Somebody who is licensed and registered to handle the little jobs of plumbing and house wiring (oh yeah, union members as well) to ease the fears of the local health and safety weenies. Maybe they do decorating as well.

 

A gardening company takes care of the grounds and there are plenty of staffers to care for everything that needs cared for. I just didn't list them.

[Blue Jogger]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I don't care how much you pay me, I'm not cleaning the MC Escher room.

 

http://www.mcescher.nl/Gallery/back-bmp/LW389.jpg

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I don't care how much you pay me, I'm not cleaning the MC Escher room.

 

http://www.mcescher.nl/Gallery/back-bmp/LW389.jpg

 

Cool image. Fortunately, there is no such room in the base.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

As I watch various programs, I notice how little federal agencies trust each other. That leads me to this. While the DOSPA sends a liaison to the team, other agencies send representatives.

 

The liaison and representatives can bring family members and assistants. While the liaison and representatives have to be bureaucrats, the assistants and family members don't.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

Richard Spaulding is the city's liaison. A young African-American lawyer, he's an employee of the mayor's office. He shows up from time to time to get their help or gie them tickets to something.

 

John Harrison represents the DOSPA and is the team's federal liaison. A middle-aged African-American man, he was a Justice Department lawyer before joining the DOSPA. His wife, Ann, is a trauma surgeon.

 

Ralph Fox is the representative of one of the various federal agencies that exist. He's a nearsighted, klutzy, overweight, balding couch potato who burns everything he grills and has trouble with the technology of the 1970s.

 

Kate Thompson, Ralph's assistant, is everything her boss isn't. She's an elegant blue-eyed blonde who knows how to keep her cool. She did black bag jobs for the CIA until she compromised the wealthy friend of a powerful senator. The stink the senator raised after his friend was arrested caused the CIA to get her transferred to the agency Ralph's in.

 

Sarah Gray is another agency representative. A devout woman who converted to Islam when she was 18, she keeps herself completely covered.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

A cool thing about a mystical mansion as a superhero base is the fact that parts of it exist in a pocket reality.

 

As an example, when you go into the front door, instead of going into the house, you go through an office area, where a hero would get any messages or mail that were waiting for him. Press conferences and other meetings could be held here, too.

 

The office staff, and other staffers, could come from the extradimensional temple that's attached to the house. This origin for them could explain reasons for various styles of dated clothing.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

Richard Spaulding is the city's liaison. A young African-American lawyer, he's an employee of the mayor's office. He shows up from time to time to get their help or gie them tickets to something.

 

John Harrison represents the DOSPA and is the team's federal liaison. A middle-aged African-American man, he was a Justice Department lawyer before joining the DOSPA. His wife, Ann, is a trauma surgeon.

 

Ralph Fox is the representative of one of the various federal agencies that exist. He's a nearsighted, klutzy, overweight, balding couch potato who burns everything he grills and has trouble with the technology of the 1970s.

 

Kate Thompson, Ralph's assistant, is everything her boss isn't. She's an elegant blue-eyed blonde who knows how to keep her cool. She did black bag jobs for the CIA until she compromised the wealthy friend of a powerful senator. The stink the senator raised after his friend was arrested caused the CIA to get her transferred to the agency Ralph's in.

 

Sarah Gray is another agency representative. A devout woman who converted to Islam when she was 18, she keeps herself completely covered.

 

Now that I think about this, I can make it better.

 

Ralph Fox is the DOSPA liaison. Kate Thompson is his assistant. He's a former accountant. She's a former cat burglar that has done black bag jobs for the CIA. He's slightly stocky, balding, nearsighted, and somewhat klutzy. She's a classy, blue-eyed blonde that's cool under pressure.

 

They're also crazy about each other and their five year old daughter, Molly, who has to be connected to a respirator, actually a medical ventilator, and under a nurse's constant care, because her lungs don't work properly.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

In the campaign, since the United States lost World War II to Japan, the part of the United States the heroes live in, if not the whole country, follows Japanese custom.

 

Uniforms, of various colors, not scrubs, are the norm for nurses and other health care workers. Many women in these fields still wear caps while in uniform. Some nurses also wear red-lined navy-blue capes outdoors.

 

Kimonos are often seen along side more Western clothes. Important geisha are celebrities.

 

Clerical and sales people often wear a company uniform and white gloves are worn by anyone uniformed who touches the public.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Brainstorming a mystical superhero mansion and the people in it.

 

I think I'll forget about the magic and have the team's base be a country estate, complete with a great house, sprawling gardens and horses.