What's in the Box? (Picking up the scraps campaign)

[Hermit]

I'm just going to put some notes up for a campaign here. It's a border line teen/regular champs game.

Concept: A group of High School students, mostly Juniors and Seniors, stumble onto "The Box" a cube like super base with a mysterious past. While exploring, they end up being granted powers!

Hopefully they'll do some good with it.

 

 

Setting: The fictional town of Aloysius, Indiana, located in the South western part of the state. Though it will go much further than that. There's a lot of debate whether it deserves the title city or not. Sized Roughly 50,000 to 60,000. One of the main subsettings will be the High school they attend. Dan Quayle High "Go Quails!"

 

 

 

 

 

[Hermit]

Some facts about Dan Quayle High!

Location: 1812 Martin Luther King Road (Previously Dick Cox Street)

Founded: 1983 (Named after then Senator Quayle as a political kiss up)

Student Population: 2100

Average Teacher to Student Ratio: 1 teacher for every 25 students

School Colors: Blue and White

School Mascot: Quigly the Quail

Dress Code: Fairly casual but with limits on pants drop, amount of thigh or cleavage showing

Academic Performance: Dan Quayle High has its problems, but the school actually ranks high against other Public High Schools in Indiana. It's been safely in the top 20% for the last decade. Graduation rates as well as grade are above average. Many local politicians are eager to claim their support as part of the cause. Quayle high students offer a differing opinion: All the idiots went to Kennedy.

Sports teams: Quails: the football team is decent, the Basketball team has a losing streak that's the shame of Indiana. Track & Field has made good showing, but isn't as popular. There is a boy's wrestling team, and a girl's volleyball team has started up. The cheerleading team has brought home some trophies itself.

School Newspaper: The Call!

School Theatre and music scene: A thriving one, thanks in part to a grant from an anonymous donor. Guys and Dolls is up on the slate next for a play, and the big band is hoping to go all state! One of their students is regionally famous

School Rival: Kennedy High School and their teams, the Kennedy High Cobras! (Beware the Purple and Black)

Security: A small group of security guards have been hired but they're more of a visual deterrent at this point. There has been talk of upgrading measures as last year a drug dealer was discovered trying to slip into the school to find customers.

Community Projects: The school has encouraged its students to take on community related activities. Aiding Senior Citizens is always in demand, as is helping military families.

[Hermit]

I keep getting error messages so I best hold for a bit

[Lawnmower Boy]

It's up now. So don't leave us hanging. Is the Glee Club going to go to the regionals?

[GhostDancer]

Error messages are due to the lack of Spirits campaign notes. Face the wrath of the Underwater Panther! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_panther

 

[Hermit]

It's up now. So don't leave us hanging. Is the Glee Club going to go to the regionals?

No, but I'm thinking of making them young cultists in training who hope to sing their dark masters to this Earth

[Balabanto]

Dan Quayle High?

 

AIEEEEEE! It burns, it burns!!!!

 

Just like the "potatoe" it spawned!

[Hermit]

Some NPC blurbs:

 

Molli Banks

An eternal ray of sunshine, Molli may get on some folks nerves for perkiness, but she defies the idea some have that all cheerleaders are evil or stuck up. Lately though, some have been talking how she's been spending less and less time with her usual crowd and going.. well who knows where to do who knows what. Molli just changes the subject if asked.

 

 

"You look down, everything okay? I know some blonde jokes, want to hear one?"

 

Vance Carlton

While some might envy him, it's hard to hate Vance Carlton. He's an anti stereotype, a nice jock who has moved to defend weaker students in the past. He's no genius, but he tries to keep his studies up and thanks guys like Randy who help him get over the hump. Mostly he wants everyone to have a good time doing whatever they love doing. His mixed heritage (His mother is Filipino) has produced what most of the girls consider to be a true hunk. After a bad break up over the summer, he's free again and rumor has it he's looking for a girl who's 'different'.

 

 

"Hey, push him around again you'll have to go through me, got it?"

 

Richard "Rick the Shadow" De'Angelo

Richard De'Angelo is pretty harmless. He's not big on the violence, and while not a wimp, he's not a fighter. However, this young artist has a flare for darker material. He draws demons, paints death scenes, and so on. Because of this, more than one teacher has made a note of him. Some of his peers think he's cool, others think he's a freak.

 

 

"No Mrs Plank, things are fine at home. No, that's not a teacher the demon is eating in the drawing, I promise."

 

 

 

Uncle Bill

William Epstein isn't really Kristine's Uncle by blood, but the Harley expert and mechanic is certainly one by spirit. While his alternative lifestyle is known by some, it doesn't seem to hurt his repair business much. He gets by at his shop "Hawg Wild". He's good at fixing things.

Some say even people.

 

 

""Hang in there. Bikes run out of gas, but people? They can keep going until they give up. You got an edge."

 

Chelsea King

: Chelsea came into her freshman year stacked early and willing to settle for nothing less than grand queen B of the school. She was part of the popular crowd fast, and tormented many. By the start of her Junior year though, folks had had enough and her star was falling.

 

Then came the car wreck, and her spine was broken leaving her a paraplegic. Suddenly "Chelsea the Bitch" was "Poor Chelsea" and the school rallied around her. She claimed to have become more 'spiritual' (She's got a customized tarot set). But, rather than become a better person, this has just given Chelsea new lease to manipulate people. It's worked on 90% of the school. Her ONLY failure since the accident was that Vance (Who had felt maybe she changed and found otherwise) dumped her!

 

Nobody dumps Chelsea King, nobody!

 

"Gosh, I'm SO sorry. I didn't mean to roll over your decade old shoes."

 

 

 

Doug McGinty

 

Some call him "Douche" but only out of earshot. Not that he really needs an excuse to kick your ass. Doug McGinty doesn't bully because he's insecure. He just enjoys the hell out of it. He's one of those guys that started as a bully as a child and never grew out of it. He's not as dumb as he looks (How could he be?) so he knows to pick a fight with a weaker student when they're alone and isolated.

 

 

"You say something to me? I think you did. I think someone needs an education, and I ain't talking school."

Ms. Lavender Mullens

One of the newest teachers at the school, Ms Mullens seems oblivious to the effect she has on the majority of the male student bodies. She's nothing if not professional, but that doesn't stop some in her class from day dreaming whole rock videos about her.

 

"Why are you gentlemen having so much trouble focusing on the material?"

 

Helga Ollens

Considered by some to be the Nerd Queen of the school, Helga Ollens is probably THE smartest student in Dan Quayle High. While rather pretty, she was plagued for acne for the last few years and tormented about it, so her guard is up. She is a math and science wizard, likely to be valedictorian. And she doesn't like leaving mysteries be.

 

 

"I don't know how that happened, but someone owes the laws of science dinner and a show."

 

Mr. Pershing

No student seems to know what Mr. Pershing's first name. "El Diablo" Pershing is one guess, because the guy does not cut slackers slack, and his courses are never easy. He expects you to know the material. Be ye smug jock or coasting nerd; he's not impressed. He demands effort, not excuses. He is in short, that dying breed, a competent teacher.

And he just might care more than he dares let on.

 

"Yes, Young Lady. I know there was some sort of super powered activity at Charles and Woodward last night. What of it? Are you suggesting a mutant ate your homework?"

 

Mrs. Donna Plank

Unofficially voted most useless member of the school, Mrs. Donna Plank is the school guidance counselor. She's all big smiles and trite pop culture psychology sound bites. Mrs Plank is treated by most students like a walking after school special, but with worse acting.

 

"I think you need to ENVISION yourself as a better you, self actualize your future and denegatize your present."

 

Misty Sullivan

The new sophomore in school who just moved to the state this year, Misty Sullivan is a shy quiet girl who seems totally lost half the time and has a vaguely haunted look.

 

"Thank you for the help, as much as anyone can help me I mean. I..I gotta go."

 

Coach Thaddeus Thudpucker

The only High school coach with a swagger stick, Coach Thaddeus Thudpucker teaches some classes, but it's football that's his real calling. He sends his young men onto the field like a general sending forth his troops. Some parents are convinced he's insane, but the team is doing well so they're afraid to put him on meds and ruin a shot at state.

 

 

"Men, Football is war.... God, I love it so!"

 

 

Mr. Veradino

Mr Kelly Veradino isn't a total jerk, and for your average PE teacher, that's saying a lot. He actually gives decent advice to the wimpier kids on how to improve their condition. However, once his mind is made up, he doesn't take much lip. The older guy also has an almost comical (To modern students) distrust of modern technology.

 

"Lift with your legs or you'll hurt yourself and I don't need the guilt or the paperwork"

[assault]

Hmm... you need the Principal, or at least the weasel-ish Deputy Principal, and probably the Principal's Kid. Or at least a Teacher's Kid.

 

Principal's/Teacher's Kids are more likely to know teachers in roles other than authority figures. They can be Good Kids, who play along with the rules despite knowing that teachers are mere humans, Bad Kids, who are just as troubled as anyone else, except with a complicated relationship with authority, or Jerks, who use their relationship to authority figures for their own purposes. Of course for that to work, those authority figures have to be less than competent, in one way or another.

 

Disclaimer: my father was the school guidance counselor in high school. One of my best friends was the Principal's Son. We had other friends who were Teacher's Kids too.

[Hermit]

Thanks, Assault. I haven't quite decided what the principal and vice principal will be like yet. I had not considered a son or daughter of an administrator or teacher being among the student body, but I suppose it's highly likely that there would be at least one.

 

I HAVE decided Doug McGinty (School Bully) is the son of a police captain, who is not above looking out for his boy even as he fails to truly reign him in.

[Cancer]

To insert an option from my RL history ... it could be that neither the principal or VP has kids of high school, but the district superintendent DOES, and that boy is an arrogant, worthless do-nothing who gets away with a lot because none of the school officials dares do much to him (it's been tried ... and it didn't go well).

 

I think you should decide on what the town's main employer(s) is. That will more or less automatically tell you a lot about the social and economic structure of the community ... might not be necessary for your game, but it makes creating colortext and useable NPCs and important locations in town that much more coherent and easier, as well as providing the framework for a local social ladder that makes it easier to think about cross-town rivalries, etc. I would assume Quayle is the newer, smaller, more affluent school, while Kennedy is old, tougher, and not as good in most respects since the new money school cherry-picked better teachers and has newer and better facilities.

 

A city that big will have at least one, probably two, major employers. (With two high schools in town, I suspect it ought to be two: you won't have enough people/revenue to justify two schools otherwise.) One would mean the city is still contracting from a more prosperous time back in the Rust Belt era; two would mean it's growing and a happier place, with a substantial influx of people over the last few years. Maybe there's a tractor factory (which picked up major economic slack when the old GM parts plant was closed back in 1990), and a newer hybrid-auto plant for a big Japanese auto maker, possibly the battery-manufacture facility, which could have some associated hazardous-materials work.

[Lawnmower Boy]

To insert an option from my RL history ... it could be that neither the principal or VP has kids of high school, but the district superintendent DOES, and that boy is an arrogant, worthless do-nothing who gets away with a lot because none of the school officials dares do much to him (it's been tried ... and it didn't go well).

 

I think you should decide on what the town's main employer(s) is. That will more or less automatically tell you a lot about the social and economic structure of the community ... might not be necessary for your game, but it makes creating colortext and useable NPCs and important locations in town that much more coherent and easier, as well as providing the framework for a local social ladder that makes it easier to think about cross-town rivalries, etc. I would assume Quayle is the newer, smaller, more affluent school, while Kennedy is old, tougher, and not as good in most respects since the new money school cherry-picked better teachers and has newer and better facilities.

 

A city that big will have at least one, probably two, major employers. (With two high schools in town, I suspect it ought to be two: you won't have enough people/revenue to justify two schools otherwise.) One would mean the city is still contracting from a more prosperous time back in the Rust Belt era; two would mean it's growing and a happier place, with a substantial influx of people over the last few years. Maybe there's a tractor factory (which picked up major economic slack when the old GM parts plant was closed back in 1990), and a newer hybrid-auto plant for a big Japanese auto maker, possibly the battery-manufacture facility, which could have some associated hazardous-materials work.

An old-timey Mysterious Defence Manufacturer at one end of town, hammering iron into things that go bang from days of yore.

 

"My Great-Grand-Daddy was a rivetter right here in this shop during the Spanish War! Oh, the stories he'd tell! And I tell you what, we don't need no AI-piloted stealth drones! If a steam-powered war spiders was good enough for the --what do you mean, I can't say that-- anyway, if giant mechanical spiders were good enough in the day, they're good enough for this here War on Terror!"

 

At the other end of town is the land that was "repurposed" after a tragic and unexpected flood destroyed the scheduled French mssion/Cahokian site. A Think Tank/Problem-Solving Global Contractor has arisen, complete with its own private airport.

 

-"Be careful with those crates, you yokels, and pay no attention to the growling!"

-"Uhm, Countess? We talked about the "y" word. And just FYI, telling people to ignore stuff never works."

-"No, I'm sorry, Countess. We discussed this. We went with union labour, and you don't just 'dispose of'' Teamsters. The preferred solution is more overtime."

[assault]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear_Aerospace

 

Obviously there will be a college. Originally there would have been two - one all male, the other all female. There might still be residual elements of that separation.

 

Most of the kids at Dan Quayle High will have attended other local schools previously. Many will have siblings still attending them.

 

One thought: I'm not familiar with US schools, but I grew up in a city whose population was around 70,000 at the time (the 70s). It had a disproportionate number of boarding schools, due to being adjacent to a massive agricultural and pastoral area. It had three "state" high schools - roughly the equivalent of DQ High - the largest of which had around 1300-1400 students. DQ High, in other words, is much bigger.

 

DQ High was only established in 1983. What schools existed before then? (Kennedy, for starters). Were existing schools merged into DQ? (Probable). I suspect that DQ was created as a response to the existing schools being deemed unviable or inefficient. Or overly segregated...

[Hermit]

To insert an option from my RL history ... it could be that neither the principal or VP has kids of high school, but the district superintendent DOES, and that boy is an arrogant, worthless do-nothing who gets away with a lot because none of the school officials dares do much to him (it's been tried ... and it didn't go well).

 

I think you should decide on what the town's main employer(s) is. That will more or less automatically tell you a lot about the social and economic structure of the community ... might not be necessary for your game, but it makes creating colortext and useable NPCs and important locations in town that much more coherent and easier, as well as providing the framework for a local social ladder that makes it easier to think about cross-town rivalries, etc. I would assume Quayle is the newer, smaller, more affluent school, while Kennedy is old, tougher, and not as good in most respects since the new money school cherry-picked better teachers and has newer and better facilities.

 

A city that big will have at least one, probably two, major employers. (With two high schools in town, I suspect it ought to be two: you won't have enough people/revenue to justify two schools otherwise.) One would mean the city is still contracting from a more prosperous time back in the Rust Belt era; two would mean it's growing and a happier place, with a substantial influx of people over the last few years. Maybe there's a tractor factory (which picked up major economic slack when the old GM parts plant was closed back in 1990), and a newer hybrid-auto plant for a big Japanese auto maker, possibly the battery-manufacture facility, which could have some associated hazardous-materials work.

Well Cancer, Quayle is the older school, but it did get a major shot in the arm. It's possible Kennedy is not IN the city but nearby enough to be a rival, more of a city vs County thing, with, ironically, the city school avoiding stereotypes and performing better academically. I was thinking of a car company so the Japanese automaker idea certainly has its merit.

[Hermit]

There is an unnamed third school that is no more, that Dan Quayle replaced when it was closed down. There was a big transition, and I'm sure the city used it as an excuse to 'deal with the deadwood'.

I know there is a small tech/trade school in the area, but it is not yet named. It is typically not even thought about, unfair as that might be.

As for the other ends of the education spectrum, there are elementary schools and middle schools, of course. And yes, the PCs have siblings. There is a community college, but most end up hoping for the bigger colleges in other parts of Indiana.

Coincidentally, in game, the pcs have found a mildewed group painting of what appears to be a very old superhero team. One of the supers in the photo, a big brick looking fellow, appears to be wearing Blue and White. The use of the school colors was not lost on one of the PCs, even though they themselves commented that the painting was no likely older than the High School.

 

[assault]

There might be some kind of military base in the area - army or air force. Air force is probably better for "interesting" high tech stuff, while the army is good for "hulkbuster" type duties. (Legal restrictions can be eliminated in a superheroic world). There could be some kind of connection between high ranking officers at the base and the school - Betty and Thunderbolt Ross style - although this kind of thing can be overdone. Not everyone in town is going to have kids, or kids of the right age!

 

I've been thinking about what The Box is doing in Podunk. There are a range of potential answers, but I don't want to intrude on your plotting.

[Hermit]

I think the county has a Navy base in the real world, so I can build on that.

As for intruding, feel free to suggest what you like.

The campaign has started...

They found a painting of the heroes, well, most of them.

 

In the back of the group portrait, they see a muscle bound figure towering over others with a stylized A on his chest. He is grinning, and seems to be wearing a white and blue costume. There is another figure with arms crossed who looks spookily familiar to Sandra, but she can't place it. His costume is black with brown highlights. There is a woman in a white lab coat that seems to flow around light body armor. Her eyes are protected by goggles with reflective lenses. Speaking of body armor, there's another man wearing some sort of body armor, also fairly light with a very stylized helmet; he has struck a fighting pose. Another figure is a blue skinned woman with exaggerated cranium. She kind of looks like she stepped out of a science fiction movie. There are two other figures, maybe three, but their images are lost to mildew and mold.

 

One character found an old film projector

Fortunately, she's got a few media enthusiasts in the family, and she's seen them at work. She manages to swing the projector about, and start it up.

The film begins in a faded color with breaks it flashes the word CLASSIFIED and then rolls in herky jerky manner

Cuban Missile crisis was resolved to the satisfaction of your government. However, these pictures indicate numerous LIVING weapons WERE successfully transported to CUBA. Soviet Super Soldiers on our borders.... not to be tolerated... require immediate retrieval of pods... full pardon for your team mate.... and gratitude of your country.

During this narration, there are images of what looks like the ocean, and possibly Cuba. Also flashing on the screen are images of several people . One appears to be a great bearded man dressed in bronze age armor and furs and carrying a hammer. Another is a commanding figure with a crimson red shield but who looks, otherwise, like a soldier in soviet garb. A suit of powered armor adorns the next image's figure, again bright red and in full soviet markings. Finally, there are two women, one dressed in a fox like costume, the other having some sort of costume with a seal design on it.

Maybe more.... no longer required to turn over Tractplico! Merely required to use it. Please... nation depends on YOU.

Then it sputters and stops

 

Another PC found an old newspaper

He does find a newspaper, much of it is molded badly, but on the third page he finds an article saying how the X-15 spaceplane is exceeding expectations.

AND a Cleanatron! and evidence that one of the heroes was a real hit with the ladies.

 

 

 

 

[Doc Shadow]

I gotta say it, Hermit, you come up with some interesting campaigns. I wish I could play in one. It would be an experience to remember.

[Hermit]

I'm a better idea man than I am at delivery, imo, but thanks. I've got some good players, and by good I don't just mean they have literary flare, I mean they've been quite patient with me.

Still, that flare part does arrive. Take Randy, geeky "athletic supporter" who wants so badly to be a jock. The player's character goes to every game, and is like a good luck charm for the sports team. They like him, but they don't respect him.Well, he just had his origin not so long ago. I put it in spoilers, with my stuff in quotes to show you what he did.

 

 

 

The lock breaks off with a simple tug, and Randy finds himself looking at the locker's contents. Instead of a football or baseball uniform, there's the costume! Wow, this guy had shoulders like a linebacker or fullback, okay, maybe bigger than that. The costume is surprisingly well preserved, then again, maybe if it can handle bullets it can handle mildew too? There's also a pair of sweats that it would take two of him to fill. There's a giant key, but it has tarnished so it's impossible to make out the words inscribed on it.

There is also a book, a diary or journal it looks like.

 

"Whoa..."

Randy (almost) forgets the treasure under his arm as he looks through the prizes in The Big A's locker. He runs his hands along the well-preserved cloth of the uniform just to get a feel. This guy was huge! .oO(Man, it must be so cool to be that big. Bet his mom never told him he was too small to do anything. He must have had teams begging to sign him out of kindergarten!)

He pulls the big key out of the locker and feels the solid weight in his hand. Key to the City, no doubt, but which city? He can't imagine the key to Aloysius is much of a trophy.

Finally, he gets to the book. It's a blank book, a record book, probably. At last, he can get a name for this guy. "If this is here in the locker room, he's probably recording work out data, just like I do for the team. Let's see how his numbers look..." He sits on a nearby bench and begins to read.

 

Real strength comes from within, which is what I was told once... I didn't believe it then, but I do now. ...And the story unfolds. A story of a runty guy who never gave up, who never gave in. But who was more than stubborn, he was a believer! That mercy is not a weakness, that compassion is not a flaw. It reads like an odd combo between Yogi Bera sayings and Zen folk sayings, liberally sprinkled with odd experiences such as fighting the Shark Raiders of Mu! Facing off against the 50 ft Munster of Dr. Cheese! Being asked to judge Miss Universe, no, the REAL Miss Universe, with over 50 species!

And, of course, who could forget the day Balderdash succeeded in stealing all the world's EXCLAMATION POINTS! Things were dreadfully subdued for a week until they were restored.

 

.oO(This is so cool! This guy had an awesome life.) Randy becomes thoroughly engrossed in reading the adventures in the diary. So much better than a workout log! He sighs inwardly as he imagines what it must be like to do these things himself. .oO(I wish I'd met this guy. Maybe I could have been a sidekick or something.) Then he gets a little depressed at how stupid that sounds.

Randy reads and reads and reads some more, and it ends at an odd page that says...

... I have the oddest feeling this book isn't mine to finish, weird huh?

Well, if so, good luck to whoever you are. Never stop believing!

And Randy steps back, only to over jump, and throw himself that direction about twenty feet, and THROUGH another locker. he's good though.

"Ow, ow, ow." He climbs awkwardly out of the wrecked locker, and only then does he realize that he's not hurt. In fact, he doesn't feel even the slightest pain. The lockers must be made of cardboard, or something. He goes to look at the hole he just came through. No, it's metal.

Then he sees just how far back he flew. "Whoa." He makes his way carefully back to the locker where the diary and his phone had both fallen to the floor.

He swings the door wider to look inside again ... and the door comes off in his hand. It's light, much lighter than it should be. Maybe it really is cardboard. He tries to fold it in half to test it out, and with only a little bit of effort, he crumples the entire thing into a wad of metal. He throws the crumpled ball across the locker room and listens as the metal collides with more metal.

.oO(That's not cardboard.)

He picks up the diary once again, and reads that last page one more time.

 

... I have the oddest feeling this book isn't mine to finish, weird huh?

Well, if so, good luck to whoever you are. Never stop believing!

 

I don't believe it.

I don't...

I...

Randy reaches out and punches a locker. His hand goes right through. And it doesn't hurt at all.

I believe.

A broad smile spreads across Randy's face. He looks at the bold blue and white uniform. .oO(I believe.) He tucks the diary under his shirt, placing it with the plastic folder (which he actually had forgotten this time).

He checks the time on his cell phone. How long has he been in here? He tells the uniform, "I need to go find the others. But I'm coming back for you, don't worry." Randy carefully makes his way out of the locker room.