Las Vegas 5E

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

I have five reasons for calling them power-hungry.

The first is the Cruciamentum that Buffy had during season three.

The second is the fact that they employ hit squads. They sent one after Buffy when her mind was in Faith's body.

The third is that they believe that they think that they're the only ones that have the right to try Slayers. They took Faith from police custody to have their own trial.

The fourth is the fact that they fired Giles for telling Buffy about the test and replacing him with Wesley, who was no good as a Watcher.

The fifth is that they permitted Joyce Summers to be the bait in Buffy's Cruciamentum.

Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander would've told the new Slayers about these events.

 

Power-Hungry seems too strong a word for them (pre 'Chosen').  Closer to point, IMO, would be 'power-accustomed'.

Though their methods were certainly (at times) untoward, I see them acting very much like strict (single parent) fathers.  In this mindset, the white-haired white-witches/goddesses (that gave Buffy the scythe) would be the absent mother (parent) figure.

Strict fathers often employ (even) extreme measures to enact their will.

And let's not forget they were literally taming the demon-within within these (inherently immature) girls/teens.

 

I liken certain rituals/ceremonies the Watchers followed as tribal, and more importantly par for the course.

 

As to their 'hit squads', I think the term is questionable.  I think I'd call 'em Field Teams.  Unless, one is equally willing to call Riley & The Initiative demon 'hitters' or 'hit squads'. Obviously, though, their Field Teams have license to kill.  Considering even Stafleet had Section 31, and our gov't of course has black ops agencies, I'm not personally indignant on this point.

 

Wesley, was afterall, the Council's "Head Boy".  I'm assuming that title equates somewhat to top of the class?  His Watcher prowess (which today has *though Slayerless* been proven), was hampered by having Faith as his charge.

Giles, often lamented the special treatment (by normal standards) that Buffy required by virtue of her (pronounced)individuality... well Faith was at least twice as unruly *and individualized* as Buffy.  Surely Wesley (fresh off the boat) couldnt've expected that!  So, I'd say his poor performance was (at least) understandable (and forgivable).

 

How the Council would react to rebuilding in the face of thousands of new chrages,... is anybody's guess.

[Mark Rand]

Good points, Nightfly. Thank you.

[Mark Rand]

Could they be on retainer to either the DOSPA or various agencies as consultants? This happened in the CU. In the Millennium City sourcebook, on page 68, it states that Witchcraft serves as one of the senior advisors to DOSPA's Mystic Affairs Bureau.

[Vorsch]

Quote

 

"

So what if the establishment pigs 'insist'?! I believe the Council of Watcher's would maintain the same stand they always have in Joss' Buffyverse.

Perhaps some individual Slayers would wanna join up, but I seriously doubt any working relationship would include the Council (or their Slayers) taking orders from 'badges'.

 

Just my opinion."

 

Your opinion seems to label police "pigs" why?

 

Vorsch

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Vorsch

Your opinion seems to label police "pigs" why?

Vorsch

 

Personal experience.  Not only do I come from a family with many cops in it, I personally went thru (more than half) the police academy - and found it to be overly racist.

 

I know, not every cop is bad.  But Ice-T's song "Cop Killer" was indicative of a real relationship-dynamic between law enforcement (even here in *liberal* California) and dark-skinned citizens.

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Could they be on retainer to either the DOSPA or various agencies as consultants? This happened in the CU. In the Millennium City sourcebook, on page 68, it states that Witchcraft serves as one of the senior advisors to DOSPA's Mystic Affairs Bureau.

 

What is DOSPA?  Dept of Supernatural Paranormal Affairs?? (just guessing).

 

I would believe that Slayers, on an individual basis (or even occassionally directed by their Watchers) might consult for official state-sanctioned agencies.  I just don't personally believe they'd "join up".

[Mark Rand]

One of my main sources of inspiration for involving the Buffyverse and the olice is the Slayer / CSI series. Please note, there are a few spoilers here.

 

At the end of the third story, Buffy joins CSI as a consultant. They pay her a retainer and, when necessary, a salary and expenses.

 

The fourth story concludes with, as an epilogue, the Sunnydale earthquake.

 

After that, the new Watchers Council is based in Las Vegas in a former Enron compound. Of course, there's a price to pay. The Slayers must help law enforcement and follow due process. In return, they learn state-of-the-art police and forensics techniques. Such things help in cities where they're not working closely with the police. (To me, this sounds like they're a sanctioned superhero team.)

 

A later story gives us some figures. There are in excess of 100 that they've found, the youngest being a nine year old child. (According to a previous story, said nine year old child is still in training and her parents have to give permission before she can start patrolling.)

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

One of my main sources of inspiration for involving the Buffyverse and the olice is the Slayer / CSI series. Please note, there are a few spoilers here.

At the end of the third story, Buffy joins CSI as a consultant. They pay her a retainer and, when necessary, a salary and expenses.

The fourth story concludes with, as an epilogue, the Sunnydale earthquake.

After that, the new Watchers Council is based in Las Vegas in a former Enron compound. Of course, there's a price to pay. The Slayers must help law enforcement and follow due process. In return, they learn state-of-the-art police and forensics techniques. Such things help in cities where they're not working closely with the police. (To me, this sounds like they're a sanctioned superhero team.)

A later story gives us some figures. There are in excess of 100 that they've found, the youngest being a nine year old child. (According to a previous story, said nine year old child is still in training and her parents have to give permission before she can start patrolling.)

 

Is this from the fan-fic you've talked about,... or is it from a real Joss comic, or something else?

[Mark Rand]

Fanfiction, Nightfly. You can find the main site at http://www.fanfiction.net.

[Mark Rand]

Keep in mind, I'm not saying it's going to be this way. Slayer Centeral (or Watcher HQ) could easily be at Angel's hotel or an estate in England.

 

However, in a universe with superheroes, I suspect that the top brass of the DOD would tell the PRIMUS, the DOSPA and, maybe, UNTIL bigshots about their Initiative group, Slayers, Vampires, Demons, Hellmouths and other such things. Somebody in Washington probably would decide that these people either get federal help or supervision, whether they want it or not

 

Of course, Riley and Samantha Finn would, if asked, tell the feds that it wasn't necessary, but the bigshots probably wouldn't listen until it was too late.

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

However, in a universe with superheroes, I suspect that the top brass of the DOD would tell the PRIMUS, the DOSPA and, maybe, UNTIL bigshots about their Initiative group, Slayers, Vampires, Demons, Hellmouths and other such things. Somebody in Washington probably would decide that these people either get federal help or supervision, weither they want it or not

 

Sounds like an oppressive regime?! Too bad that having a world full of heroes means having less freedom from military oversight.

Just my opinion, but, my CU meets Buffyverse (interpretation) doesn't remotely resemble that reasoning.

 

Too each, his own.

[Mark Rand]

How would you do it, Nightfly?

[Mentor]

Originally posted by winterhawk

This is exactly what I did in my 4th Edition campaign. Each casino sponsored a hero for the team:

 

Luxor - Pharoah

Caesar's - Gladiator

Treasure Island - Swashbuckler

Circus Circus - Highwire

MGM Grand - Lioness

 

They were very public figures, often serving as greeters and making appearances a big events like boxing matches.

 

For my 5th campaign, I decided to use MfH's idea and had a cabal of casino's covertly hire a supermercenary on Mechassassin's level. He called Wildcard and maintains a Batmanesque 'urban legend' reputation. The last supervillains that tried to knock over a casino, were never seen again.

I love the Vegas themed characters. Consider them respectfully plagerized.

[Trebuchet]

Originally posted by Mentor

I love the Vegas themed characters. Consider them respectfully plagerized.

Oh, crap...

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

How would you do it, Nightfly?

 

Well, for one, my preferred rpg-world is more cyberpunk than Silver Age supes.

 

In my game, Watcher's have a less direct hold over their Slayer charges.  Slayer's tend to group up in teams of 3-4, often choosing to associate w/ other superhero types whenever possible (and of course w/ hackers & magic users).

Watcher's are only utilized to oversee (said) groupings (of Slayers) and are around primarily for their arcane occult knowledge (as well as training of young newbie Slayers).

While I do include State agencies like UNTIL & PRIMUS, they only appear rarely & almost never carry much impact in my scenarios.

 

Even if I built my world w/ tons of caped-supers flying around, I'd still believe that most folks would (choose to, if necessary) remain blissfully ignorant (that includes the Gov't) of traditionally paranormal threats (ghosts, vampires, etc).  Especially if there are other known (openly dangerous) threats around [such as worldclass villains bent on dominating the human race / planet / etc].

 

The fact that Africa, England, and the American Southwest (in fact a former Mexican territory) were chosen as cornerstones of Joss' mythology makes sense to me (especially as he is an athiest).  I fail to see Las Vegas (or anything about it) as being next in that line of (spiritual) locales.

From African (tribal) mysticism, to England's rich Arthurian/Merlin legacy, to the shamanism of the southwest, Joss' chosen landmarks belong to a certain paranormal pedigree.

I believe the Watcher's Council would definitely reform & remain in England, their traditional home (where most of the books are)

 

As to the public's blissful ignorance, I attribute that to the fact that (as usually depicted) Vamps are both cautious and a

(literal) underground threat (ala they stay under the authorities radar on purpose).

In L.A., Angel hardly spends a majority of his time fighting Vamp threats (quite the opposite).  Who needs the feds when Gunn and his rag-tag group of homies were keeping the (regional / local) vamp threat in check??

 

As to Joss' writings, only two (spoken of) Hellmouths exist in this country (in) Sunnydale & Cleveland.  Now, naturally vamps (as well as many other evil types) congregate near Hellmouths, but outside of such mystical convergences, I believe the assumption should be that vamps (deliberately & expertly) lay low.

In a land where tons of folks have super-powers, even exceeding a Slayer's, I believe their covert nature would be [even] more magnified.

 

Please understand,... how you create your own Buffy-fan mythos is up to you.  The only reason I chime in w/ my opinions is because I'm known to be a massive Buffy fan... and it just doesn't (wouldn't) seem right if I (philosophically) couldn't enjoy a scenario created by another [great] Buffy fan.  But then again, I never read fan-fiction of any (of my) beloved franchises.

 

Perhaps a former Marine Sgt. would have his 5E Slayer join the military, I can kinda understand such stuff,... but for me I'd rather keep it as close to canon as I can get (if only out of respect for Whedon & his beloved creation)

[Mark Rand]

Mayday. thank you for your comments. They're a great help to me.

 

Would the Initative, in a superhero universe, tell other federal and international law enforcement and intelligence agencies about Hellmouths, Slayers, Vampires, Demons and such?

[Roth]

Mark I have a question, What are the names of the Buffy/CSI crossover stories?

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Mayday. thank you for your comments. They're a great help to me.

Would the Initative, in a superhero universe, tell other federal and international law enforcement and intelligence agencies about Hellmouths, Slayers, Vampires, Demons and such?

 

I believe The Initiative would share their knowledge / data.

 

To confess, upon recently watching the Riley (conclusion) epis, it was said that the mission of trying to study / control the demon threat had been abandoned in favor of strictly search & destroy tactics.

So, in that area The Initiative's research aspects probably would've been given over to UNTIL.

 

Just my $0.02

[Mark Rand]

Roth, the stories are, in order, Should Have Gone To Vegas, Manhunters, Slayer Las Vegas, and Potential Problems, in the first series. The second series, post season seven, is Welcome Wagon, The Sitter, Cataclysm, Lady Heather's Dominion and Unfinished Business.

 

Since PRIMUS and other agencies know about Slayers, Vampires and such, what would they do? In my opinion, They'd say, "Since we have enough to do, we'll let the Slayers deal with the problem. All we can do is share information with them."

 

A superhero, or superhero team could also provide help, especially with magic, computer hacking, medical care and help in figuring out any high-tech gear the Slayer might find.

 

Although there are only two Hellmouths mentioned in the series, Sunnydale and Cleveland, there could be others. Also, vampires have been found in New York City and other places. Vamps could be drawn to Vegas by the tourists.

 

Added 5/26/06, the story Cold Cases.

[Nightfly]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Since PRIMUS and other agencies know about Slayers, Vampires and such, what would they do? In my opinion, They'd say, "Since we have enough to do, we'll let the Slayers deal with the problem. All we can do is share information with them."

I'd take it even further and grant that as with The Initiative, they'd be willing to be the (emergency) calvary, and sometimes lend on-the-ground support (in addition to intel)

Originally posted by Mark Rand

A superhero, or superhero team could also provide help, especially with magic, computer hacking, medical care and help in figuring out any high-tech gear the Slayer might find.

This is exactly how I see it. Most Slayer's would either;

1) Join a super-team [as one of the admittedly lower powered members], or maybe even "enlist", which means probably not having an actual Watcher

2) Form a Slayer team of three-to four [like Charlie's Angels ], which virtually guarantees a Watcher (along with whatever white-hats they want)

3) Go it totally alone - almost guarantees not having a Watcher (would certainly need a specialized team of white-hats)

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Although there are only two Hellmouths mentioned in the series, Sunnydale and Cleveland, there could be others. Also, vampires have been found in New York City and other places. Vamps could be drawn to Vegas by the tourists.

You're totally correct.  Vamps should surely be found in nearly any size city (internationally), and in gangs.  And the Buffy-rpg allows players to make their own Hellmouths with Joss' (implied by licensing) blessing.  Las Vegas would be a deserving (as any other city) candidate - especially cuz its both urban & remote (plus isn't it known as "Sin City"?)

 

I'm liking it

[Mark Rand]

Thanks, Nightfly.

 

Las Vegas's Slayer was trained, by her mother, who owns a gymnastics school, in the ways of the ninja before she became a Slayer. Her mother often joins her on patrol.

 

Besides stakes and a crossbow, she likes to use a katana (or samurai sword), as did many ninja. Said katana, and its companion wakizashi (or short sword), according to legend, was given to a Slayer in Japan, by the Shogun after dealing with a master vampire there. The legend also states that the swords are blessed.

 

One of the Slayers friends from the gymnastics school, and another of her mother's ninjitsu students, is the local superhero team's engineer. Said techie/ninja only rarely joins her friend on patrol.

 

She's also a fifth cousin of fellow ninja Mariko Nakamura who, in my campaign, is Las Vegas's Silver Avenger.

[Nightfly]

That sounds really cool. I think it's imaginative (too) that you extend your characters families (up to and) even including 5th cousins

My Slayer ('Cherish' as in Cherish The Vampire Slayer) was also martial-trained, as well as a mutant [already] before being "called" (to Slayer duty). She has two meta-brothers (though based in other cities), and is often joined [on patrol] by the great grandson of Riley Finn.

[James Gillen]

Originally posted by Nightfly

The fact that Africa, England, and the American Southwest (in fact a former Mexican territory) were chosen as cornerstones of Joss' mythology makes sense to me (especially as he is an athiest).  I fail to see Las Vegas (or anything about it) as being next in that line of (spiritual) locales.

From African (tribal) mysticism, to England's rich Arthurian/Merlin legacy, to the shamanism of the southwest, Joss' chosen landmarks belong to a certain paranormal pedigree.

I believe the Watcher's Council would definitely reform & remain in England, their traditional home (where most of the books are)

 

The American Southwest/former Mexican territory includes the entire state of Nevada. Las Vegas also used to be Paiute and Shoshone territory (well, it still is). So the 'spiritual' angle works just as well here.

As for the territory being a Hellmouth, that's not absolutely necessary. ANGEL's Los Angeles has more demons than BUFFY's Sunnydale ever did (well, BUFFY pre-Season 6, anyway). I think their position was, "L.A. isn't a Hellmouth, but most of the things that come from Hell seem to end up there."

 

I don't read any fanfic, but I think one of the regular comic series had a short tale of Buffy (post-movie and pre-Season 1) running away from L.A. and making a brief stop in Las Vegas.

 

Oh, and here's a real-world story hook for non-Buffy games:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Dec-23-Tue-2003/news/22856152.html

 

JG

[Nightfly]

James Gillen,

I don't really know why but at first I had a negative reaction to breaking (show) canon,... but upon reviewing the Buffy-rpg (by Eden) I noticed it allows for pretty-much anything.  And afterall, Cleveland isn't exactly known as a spiritual nexus either (IMHO).

 

Addressing your point, though Nevada isn't of the 4-corners region, it definitely carries it's own legacy (see Stephen King's The Stand).

 

On another note, one Angel episode exposed Los Angeles to quite literally be Hell (I believe it was in Season 2), for what it's worth.  Angel got in an elevator (with deceased Holland), intending to go to Hell, and ended up arriving exactly where he started.

 

Joss created such a wonderfully open / imaginative universe, I'm starting to see that nearly anything is possible within it.

 

[Mark Rand]

A bit more on Silver Avenger Nakamura. I used three silver avengers to create her: Maria Chow (San Francisco), Terry Kestler (Portland), and Mayte Sanchez (Millennium City).

 

She looks like Maria Chow and is Terry Kestler with ninjutsu and Mayte Sanchez's adrenaline junkie style.

She also owns, and uses, her own martial arts weapons. Her favorites include a katana, made by a master swordsmith, that's been her family since the 16th century, throwing stars and a weighted chain.