Stronghold superhuman classification system

[Wanderer]

Hiya,

 

I was reading Stronghold and its nifty classfication system for superhuman prisoners, and while I got most of it, some parts still leave me baffled.

 

Essentially, I fail to get the precise differences between Yellow, Orange, and Red convicts as killing is involved, because I do not get what "callous disregard for human life" really means and how it differentiates from vanilla passionate and planned murder.

 

I assume that somehow it may involve unnecessary/serial/spree killing, murder for fun. But otherwise, I fail to grasp the full boundaries of the term. To make an example, a professional hitman or mercenary killer is told to be an Orange. What about a superhuman criminal that kills cops who try to arrest him and won't quit ? Or one killing people who disobey his orders in serious matters (e.g. a bank teller who refuses to open the vault during a robbery) ? Are they Orange, too ?

[Jim]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Hiya,

 

I was reading Stronghold and its nifty classfication system for superhuman prisoners, and while I got most of it, some parts still leave me baffled.

 

Essentially, I fail to get the precise differences between Yellow, Orange, and Red convicts as killing is involved, because I do not get what "callous disregard for human life" really means and how it differentiates from vanilla passionate and planned murder.

 

I assume that somehow it may involve unnecessary/serial/spree killing, murder for fun. But otherwise, I fail to grasp the full boundaries of the term. To make an example, a professional hitman or mercenary killer is told to be an Orange. What about a superhuman criminal that kills cops who try to arrest him and won't quit ? Or one killing people who disobey his orders in serious matters (e.g. a bank teller who refuses to open the vault during a robbery) ? Are they Orange, too ?

 

As I understand it, "callous disregard for human life" is usually used to indicate that while someone may not have "intended" to kill someone, he really didn't care about the natural consequences of his actions that led to, or could have led to, death(s). Instead of first degree murder, such a person's actions may constitute 2nd degree murder (lesser than 1st degree) or 1st degree manslaughter.

 

Here are some examples from Wikipedia (under the entry for Depraved heart murder):

• Piloting a motorboat at high speed through a crowded swimming area on a lake.
  
• Shooting a gun randomly at a bus with passengers aboard.
  
• Speeding in a car to the right of a school bus that is unloading children.
  
• Shooting a gun into a thicket, not knowing or caring if anyone is in the thicket.
  
• Killing someone while driving drunk, after having been convicted of drunk driving in the past
  

Hope that helps!

 

Jim

[Wanderer]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Yes, this is rather helpful, thank you a lot. So, if I understood it correctly, "callous disregard for human life" means really severe culpable negligence, bordering on the purposeful, about the easily predictable and likely consequences of your actions endangering other's life.

 

OK maybe now I get it.

 

Legally, it would typically be a less severe case of homicide than planned or felony murder. However, for the purpose of evaluating the violence risk of an inmate, Stronghold personnel ranks callous disregard as more severe than the purposeful killing of a contract assassin or cop killer, since the former is less controlled and predictable and hence more dangerous, more akin to the impulse killing for "fun" of a serial killer, than the rational homicide for a comprehensible gain (money, avoiding arrest) of a hitman or mercenary.

 

Am I correct ?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Sounds about right to me.

[Wanderer]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

OK, thank you to both for the assistance. Now I understand the difference better between Orange and Red inmates.

 

As a last sideline consideration, I would only add that given Stronghold's topic, a typical use of it would be to play a group of supervillain PC inmates planning their great escape, and for that goal, a group of Orange hitmen or mercenary badasses who blasted some "pig" in combat looks rather more sympathetic (and hence, better PC material) than a bunch of Red careless dimwits that shooted a gun randomly at a crowd.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Another interesting use for Stronghold might be having to break INTO it for some reason, or the good old 'superheroes there because they were framed' and they have to escape.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Another interesting use for Stronghold might be having to break INTO it for some reason' date=' or the good old 'superheroes there because they were framed' and they have to escape.[/quote']

 

Heroes Behind Bars scenario, p117

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Heroes Behind Bars scenario' date=' p117[/quote']

 

Shhh. i'm taking credit for ideas I didn't have!

 

(Of course, once my game reconvenes after summer, I'm gonna blow it up, so ...)

[Wanderer]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Another interesting use for Stronghold might be having to break INTO it for some reason' date=' or the good old 'superheroes there because they were framed' and they have to escape.[/quote']

 

Oh, absolutely. Whatever vibes good to you. It's just that IMO, the best part of Stronghold's (or its sister M&M sourcebook, Lockdown) story and drama potential utterly goes wasted if you can't plunge the PC as inmates to plot and execute their great breakout and escape, Shawshank Redemption or Escape from Alcatraz with power negators. Be it goodey-good super-role models framed for a crime they didn't commit, morally-ambigous super-vigilantes caught for a crime they did, heroic super rebels in bitter fight vs. a tyrannical government (Marvel's Civil War, anyone ?) or sympathetic supervillains yearning for freedom, whatever brand of PCs strikes your fancy. For me, painting law and government as the enemy comes as natural as breathing, so ther's little need to "frame" my PCs for a Stronghold, rather the government decides to go after them for the myriad of felonies they did in pursuit of higher justice and they lose the wrong fight with the goons of the Man.

 

But even if you can use Stronghold to stage a break-in story, too (my preferred plot hook for that would be to save the DNPC who got an unjust death sentence), I dunno, it feels almost too easy. Any decent team of real supers (who don't belong to the sucky street-level bottom power rung, that is) should be able to defeat the external defenses of a place like Stronghold without too much sweat. Super-prisons rely critically on keeping inmates subdued with power negators to work.

[Pattern Ghost]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

I don't see how it'd be easy. The place would have to take super powered break out attempts into consideration from super villains. Those defenses should be stout enough to challenge a hero team.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

I don't see how it'd be easy. The place would have to take super powered break out attempts into consideration from super villains. Those defenses should be stout enough to challenge a hero team.

 

Reading Stronghold, the walls do have good defenses, but it's definitely geared towards preventing breakouts from the outside vs inside. Mostly the inside relies on the Power Dampers to control the inmates.

[Wanderer]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Reading Stronghold' date=' the walls do have good defenses, but it's definitely geared towards preventing breakouts from the outside vs inside. Mostly the inside relies on the Power Dampers to control the inmates.[/quote']

 

Yeah, the defenses are decent, but not overwhelming. I got the distinct impression that they are really reliant on the assistance of external superteams to prevent break-ins. Of course, that's all the better since it leaves the limelight to a PC superteam if preventing a breakout is their thing, but IC I deemed that if a clever powerful super or superteam was able to stage a distraction to prevent government-aligned regional and national superteams to reach Stronghold quickly, its own external defenses would fold soon.

 

As it concerns preventing breakouts from the inside, yeah, the place relies on Power Dampers (and Hot Sleep) to keep inmates subdued. However, this is reasonable. I really can't see how an effective super-prison could work otherwise, without such a technology, considering the power levels a sizable portion of the inmate population may reach. Otherwise, you'd have to concentrate enough superhuman manpower in the place, to act as guards, the magnitude of a superpower's nuclear arsenal. Unless you can rely on exotic means of imprisonment such as the Phantom Zone.

[Pattern Ghost]

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

 

Hmm, maybe a rotating "special guard duty" is in order. Stronghold could have superhuman guards from various teams, or even independents, who take a turn at guard duty to prevent break-ins.