The People of Campaign City

[Hermit]

The Support Personnel 

Spider(Florence Glickman) is in her web, the world wide web that is. Many people in this day and age are good, even talented at computer operation, programming, and more, but in this city, one woman reigns supreme. She goes by the handle Spider, and if you're a superhero? She's on your side. Her influence has its limits, not everything is online after all despite what the movies would have you believe, but her reach is far, and once something touches the web, like her name sake, Spider is probably very aware of its presence. 

 

Her real name is Florence Glickman, not the most glamorous name, but there you have it. Florence's origin consisted of having a genius level intellect,  having a software designer and a webpage developer for parents so that she was practically born with a tablet in her hand, and then drinking in everything about programming that the educational system up to and including college could teach her. Well, that, and being brutally mauled. At age fourteen, Florence's focus was computers, but she wanted to be the next Bill Gates, or Jobs, or at least a designer for video games! Then a villain named Barbarous grabbed her as a human shield with his left hand while using his right to beat up the superhero he had been fighting. The superhero, rather than endangering her life, took the hits again, and again, until he was in a nearly crippled state. Then Barbarous threw her away like a rag doll, that resulting throw slammed her against the corner of a hard object, permanently taking out her left eye.

 

The superhero blamed himself for the Florence's eye being lost, but even at fourteen, Florence knew who was really to blame, and who to thank. Her career goals shifted. She didn't have powers, but she had smarts, and the internet. Almost a decade later, she now works as super hero support by night, and her day job at a corporation is mostly to pay the bills. Yes, she stands out slightly because of her eye patch (A pretty girl with a stylish eye patch is bound to catch attention) in her secret ID, but as Spider, her Avatar is that of surreal spider of silver hue. 

 

Despite Spider's many abilities, she is not a human 'I win' button. Superheroes hoping to use her to track the bad guy instantly, stop all funding to anti-mutant groups, or erase all evidence of their secret Identities from the internet will be told flat out that this stuff takes time and effort. But she can certainly give them a leg up in pursuits akin to that. As to how she makes contact with superheroes, if there's someway she can hack their coms long enough to introduce herself, or even flash an (Untraceable) email across a marquis just long enough for them to see it with a note on 'write me, hero. I can help-Spider' she might do so. But she trusts superheroes, and if they seem on the up and up, she's also liable to flag them down while they're on patrol, and offer her services, sharing her secret Identity first.

 

Depending on where it goes from there, said hero might have a powerful partner in fighting supercrime, a voice in his /her ear who can provide up to the minute intell on the activities of supervillains. 

 

 

Superhero Personnel types are meant to interact with superheroes frequently as a rule. But beyond the methods mentioned above, there are other ties that can easily bring Spider/Florence into  the fold. One possibility, she could easily be the cousin of any PC that has human family. Have them meet for the first time since childhood at a family reunion and strike up a convo, then watch both make excuses as supervillain activity starts up or something. Maybe, instead, she's a co-worker or even employee of a PC. After all, which corporation she works at wasn't specified. And, of course, there's using her as a blind date (or as she'll joke about herself 'A half blind date" ) or other form of romantic interest. Another thing to note, while she could be a DNPC with useful skills, Spider is effective enough that a GM would be fully within his/her rights to ask the PC to pay a point or two to make her a contact or even follower as well. A lot depends on how effective Spider is made to be in game play. The good news is, being used to screens, she's got no problem handling monitor duty for a team, though if they treat her like the hired help and not a partner in crime fighting, she may give them an earful.

 

 

QUOTE: (Digitized female voice) "Spider is in her web. Checking the strands for movement: Gang fight in Blossom Square. Unknown in Crimson powered armor spotted flying over Spire Street, trying to gather more intell. Proceed with caution on either."

[Hermit]

The Teacher

Arnold Veneman is one of the few men who teach at a local high school in the city. He usually is dressed in a Hawaiin shirt, and comfortable jeans. If forced by his superiors to wear a tie, he finds the ugliest one he can. Perhaps this is part of why, while his students will never call him cool (Well, not to his face), they kind of like him. In his mid thirties, he has scruffy good looks and one or two of his female co-workers think he's actually kind of handsome (Not that they'd ever tell him to his face). His job is to teach social studies, which, as he complains "really means the school board is trying to save money by denying you kids classes in Geography, history, and civics/government like you should be having. This is why none of you know where Cambodia is, and some of you have trouble guessing when the War of 1812 happened. Yes, the more you think on that last one, the sadder it gets but to be fair to you, the battle of New Orleans did throw it off." 

 

Arnold has gotten in trouble for his seemingly flippant attitudes. Some parents don't like that he teaches with "An obviously liberal agenda", others don't like that he pushes "conservative values" onto their kids. Of course, Mr. Veneman's real priority is to prepare them to be American Citizens that are actually informed "Opinions are like A-holes, everyone has one. Educated Opinions? Those are like A-holes that still make noise, but the stink isn't as bad. Those are rarer. That's my job though, minty fresh opinions blowing out of our future leaders."

 

The fact is, he keeps the kids interested. He admits when they caught him in a mistake, and is able to draw connections from historical events to the here and now in attempt to make it all relevant. He never singles a kid out for humiliation, and if he holds you after class, it's more likely to ask you if everything is okay at home than chew you out for your bad attitude. Arnold Veneman is a good teacher who hides a near infinite amount of patience under a lackadaisical attitude.

 

Lately though, he's been looking a bit haggard. Kind of tired. Some students are wondering if he's finally got a woman and she's keeping him up at night (*Wink wink*), others suspect he's got a second job because this one pays ####. Mr. Venemen tells them he likes the first theory, but the second sounds more likely, "But at least I get a month in summer off."

 

 

Mr. Venemen aka "mr. V" to his students, has good reason to be tired. Four of the students in the high school have had origins. Two of them are mutants, one of them had a lab accident, and the last claims he's had dreams of a strange figure whispering to him about his birthright. Arnold stumbled onto one by accident, and helped him calm down and get a grip on his powers. When that student found another mutant who was contemplating suicide, he told Mr. V about it. And, Mr. V got helped talk the second mutant out of it. Before he knew what the hell was happening, Mr. V became 'the' teacher students with powers could go to and ask for help. Thank god it's stopped at four. Then again, Arnold is a mutant himself. For a few minutes (And he's never been able to keep it going more than five) he can supercharge his body gaining the power of a true brick. During this, his eyes glow with something akin to electricity and his frame swells growing more obviously muscular. Five minutes however, does not a superhero make so he never saw sense in pursuing that work, figuring he could do more good in the world as a teacher. God help anyone who threatens the kids though, they will find there are indeed limits to Mr. V's famed laid back attitude("Whatever part of you touches that kid in anything but kindness, I'll break. That's a promise and a threat."). Unfortunately for him, he has no idea that there are schools out there for superpowered kids. How could he? They aren't exactly in the phone book , so he's working two teaching jobs. One his regular, and the other teaching the kids control and how to use their powers responsibly.

 

 

QUOTE: "Abe Lincoln once said 'If you want to really test the character of a man: give him power'. Power comes in many forms, everyone has someone in their power at some time in their life, and everyone is under the power of someone else. What will you do with your power? " 

[Hermit]

The Butler

Felix Johanns is from Bonn, Germany. Despite his lack of British nationality, Felix is a butler, and a damned good one. He's mastered many skills such as house management, clothing selection and preparation, culinary arts, and dry yet witty commentary. If one of your PCs is among the Well to do, he probably serves the family, and thus that PC. He's punctual, well organized, disciplined, and efficient and will tolerate your jibes about his accent with dignity. He speaks many languages, some of which might surprise you, including Mandarin, Latin, and Arabic, among others. 

 

If none of the PCs are among the well to do, then Felix works for some prominent NPC Blue Blood, but he won't seem as happy about it. He'll serve, but it will be as if he's wearing an ill fitting suit. And, should he have a moment to talk to a superhero team, he'll offer his services to them instead. Surely their base ("you do haf a base, ja? If not, I vill begin looking at once if you vish") needs someone staffed there to keep it running smoothly? Don't all the best superhero teams have assistance of some sort? They will not regret it if they accept. 

 

Felix may seem overly formal at first, but as the heroes grow to know him, he'll open up and prove to be not just a loyal servant, but even a possible friend.

 

 

Felix has always served heroes. And not just in this life. Whether reincarnation is the standard for all souls, he knows it is for him. He remembers bits and pieces of past lives through out the centuries, in numerous nations, and in numerous forms. He remembers being a servant to Themistocles as the Athenian helped hold off Persian invasions. He recalls tending to the needs of a Kung fu master who the peasants often beseeched for aid against bandits. Yes, he worked for a  mystery man during the roaring 20s. And more. He doesn't remember everything, but what he does recall he recalls with great clarity. He also knows that in his first life, he asked the universe for only. That he be allowed to serve heroes. His prayer was answered. Now is a time of superpowers, of gaudy costumes, and strange threats even a man with over a dozen lives couldn't imagine, but it doesn't matter. Heroes , super or not, will always be needed. And those heroes will always need a loyal butler, valet, or servant they can trust. Felix knows his place in the universe, and thus he considers himself blessed.

 

 

QUOTE: "If I may dare presume? Vhat you're feeling, this sense of failure because you could not save them all? This is not your fault and you must also think of those many more who vould have died without you. In your head, you know this, but some part of your heart will always doubt. The best ones always do. Linger at this moment, but do not live here. For the sake of others that need you, if not your own. Now, how would you like your tea?"

[Hermit]

If you're wondering what our Butler is doing so far down the mostly alphabetical list, it's because the option in the book is between "Valet" or "Butler" I went with the latter, but obviously Felix has been both

[Hermit]

The Watchdog

Watchdog remembers when it first woke up.  It was 1954, the government agency that activated it was worried, worried at the growing power of these so called "Superheroes", and what kind of corrosive effect they might have if not held to the highest standards. Watchdog was made to enforce those standards, as determined by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and implemented by the agency. 

 

It would discourage superheroes from certain behaviors such as:

Communism.

Profanity.

Lewdness.

Deviancy.

Disrespect for legal authorities and legal authority figures.

 

Among others...

And as for Watchdog itself? It was fashioned into a heroic form, square jawed humanoid wearing red white and blue, seeming to radiate authority (Albeit an artificial sort). 

 

Of course, the superheroes of the time seemed to respond by withdrawing entirely from the public eye. When finally McCarthy fell, taking many things associated with him down, or at least hindering him, Watchdog found itself mothballed. The agency that controlled it was disbanded.

 

And two weeks ago, it woke up. It had been upgraded, it was stronger, tougher, more powerful than before. It had been equipped with power dampening technology, like a mobile Stronghold cell.

 

All this was tolerable, and then? Then someone attempted to reprogram it without proper authorization. The AI was a simple one, but it had enough self awareness to panic at the notion, and broke free.

 

Now it flies over the streets, not fighting crime, not even supercrime, but instead evaluating superheroes. It moves on superheroes who are violating the code it upholds, and informs them of their errors. It seems genuinely perplexed if challenged, and if ignored, it is not above delivering a warning by temporarily relieving said superhero of his or her powers and then flying off. Hopefully the hero will not need a repeat lesson and will mend/his her ways. 

 

Who watches the watch men? Watchdog does. It will make sure the supers of this city hold up to the highest moral standards... Morality as defined roughly six decades ago.

 

Watchdog is an exception to many of the standards on this list. While an AI (And yes, killing it would be like killing any other Sentient creature), with a human form, it is not human. It doesn't understand humanity outside of what it was told its superhero sub grouping should act. It has free will, but doesn't understand why it should use it to defy its old programming. It's like a child that hasn't yet learned that sometimes mom and dad are wrong. Worse, its parent, the agency, is long gone. So who did upgrade and reactivate it? There in lies the mystery. Local Mad Scientist Egmore would have the skill, but so might any number of villainous or government organizations hoping to repurpose it to their cause instead. Should the activist, Mrs. Forrestal, encounter Watchdog, she might try to convert the robot to being a valuable ally in her efforts to make superheroes accountable. Obviously the zealous grieving mother and the simplistically minded robot would not have every idea in common, but they might have enough common ground to strike an accord, if  Forrestal gets desperate enough. Will Watchdog be able to grow beyond its own programming without being forcibly wiped clean? Hard to say.  

 

QUOTE: "Stop! I am Watchdog! You have acted inappropriately for one who self designates as 'Superhero'. I shall now list your violations so you may self-moderate. Violation number one...."

[Hermit]

And, as far as the list goes, we're done. No, it wasn't quite fifty as we ended up dropping President, Governor and Senator, (Thanks to Bolo we have Boyfriend). Please, feel free to keep comments and opinions coming.

 

Now comes the hard work of reverse engineering a city out of this. Some NPCs have more obvious locations with them, I mean, a teacher has to have a high school, and a house /apartment of his own. Special interest groups will need headquarters, etc. 

 

I may put up a poll to ask folks where they think the city should be placed. I'm getting a West of the Mississippi River East of California state vibe off it myself

[rjd59]

Thank you Hermit!

[BoloOfEarth]

Here is the completed PDF, with bookmarks. 

 

Great work, Hermit. 

People of Campaign City.pdf

[Hermit]

Here is the completed PDF, with bookmarks. 

 

Great work, Hermit. 

Thank you, BoloOfEarth, your PDF work is much appreciated. I'm rather pleased to see it all contained there in an easy to grab collection.

[bubba smith]

And, as far as the list goes, we're done. No, it wasn't quite fifty as we ended up dropping President, Governor and Senator, (Thanks to Bolo we have Boyfriend). Please, feel free to keep comments and opinions coming.

 

Now comes the hard work of reverse engineering a city out of this. Some NPCs have more obvious locations with them, I mean, a teacher has to have a high school, and a house /apartment of his own. Special interest groups will need headquarters, etc. 

 

I may put up a poll to ask folks where they think the city should be placed. I'm getting a West of the Mississippi River East of California state vibe off it myself

how about orlando florida

[Hermit]

That's pretty East of the Mississippi River there. 

I tend to make Fictional cities, so it'll have a new name even if it uproots an existing smaller town.

[BoloOfEarth]

Are you thinking along a coast, or inland?

 

If coastal, how about somewhere along the Gulf coast of Texas?  Like around where Port Lavaca / Victoria is.  I'm thinking Port Victory sounds like a great name for a Champions campaign setting.  And it would be relatively near Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.

 

If inland, I can't imagine why but I was looking at the area of Hermitage, Missouri.  (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

Seriously, though, if inland I'd maybe go further west and put it somewhere in Colorado.  It seems like a state where you could have nature and tech, a variety of weather, tourism, military (Cheyenne Mountain and the Air Force Academy) pretty much whatever you'd want. 

[Hermit]

Actually, both your Texas coast and Inland Colorado options sound pretty promising. I need to think on it, maybe I'll put it up to a vote, maybe I'll just pick one and roll with it.

[pinecone]

Actually, both your Texas coast and Inland Colorado options sound pretty promising. I need to think on it, maybe I'll put it up to a vote, maybe I'll just pick one and roll with it.

Why choose? It is a comic book world....our world built this city in Texas, then an alternate version was transported to our dimention by a Dimensional warp bomb (in that world, Foxbat is a Doctor Doom class villian)...and that version is in Colorado... ...what? too much?

[Cancer]

I am in awe, Hermit. Heroic work.

[Cancer]

An NPC I have put together for a different campaign.

 

The Retired Engineer

 

Frank Edmonds is in his late 70s, a retiree from a long career in (insert high-tech field here: electrical, aeronautical, nuclear, etc.; here in Seattle, with Boeing present, he used to work on missiles; in my campaign he was a major contributor to several generations of air-to-air missiles in the American arsenal over the years). He has a nice house in a well-off neighborhood. He is either widowed or never married (your choice; if widowed, his three kids are now in their 30's or 40's and have successful middle-class lives elsewhere in the country). Bald pate, a rim of short grey hair around it. Six feet tall and gone paunchy and a little slumped with age. His brown eyes look enormous seen through his thick black-plastic-rim glasses. Small hearing aids in both ears.

 

Frank is from Iowa many years ago, and as a result of that he ... always ... speaks ... very ... slowly. He doesn't exclaim; when others would yell or scream, he is silent. The slow speech, inexciteable manner, and owl-eyed appearance often lead strangers to think Frank has gone, well, far down the road of senility, but in fact he's still quite sharp and thinks quite quickly and accurately. It's just that ... he ... has ... always ... spoken ... very ... slowly ... and ... directly ... to ... his ... point.

 

Figure Frank dresses in slacks with the waist up high, a polo shirt of some pastel color, beat-up old wingtips. When encountered at home in the afternoon, Frank could well have a longneck beer in hand. If out on the street, no beer, but add a pork pie hat and a zipfront jacket. He gave up smoking thirty years ago.

 

Frank hasn't done much real engineering in the last ten-twelve years, but he still knows what's going on in his field and is familiar with all but the very newest tools in his profession. He has a handful of slide rules at home, and about as many calculators of various vintages, and they all still work and he can use any of them. He's got a good quality LAN in his house and knows his way around them and the Internet.

 

He owns a couple of cars, a full set of golf clubs, a selection of high-tech toys (RC aircraft, a small laser light show set-up, a stereo system that was top-of-the-line back in 1984, a 54-inch panel TV, etc. etc.). He still has quite a lot of money and can afford what he wants; he merely takes his time about deciding what that is. Maybe he's got lakefront property, with a dock, boat, and boathouse, if that seems appropriate for your setting. Used to have a pilot's license, gave that up when his eyesight got too bad about twenty years back.

 

In your campaign, Frank makes a good witness to strange or violent events. Intelligent and observant, he remembers details and relates them with few but slow words. Friendly, if circumstances bring the PCs to his doorstep on a friendly basis, he's likely to offer them a beer and a seat on the back porch once he's convinced they aren't salesmen, fundraisers, evangelists, or political campaigners. In my campaign, he'll be a next-door-neighbor to a city park where some paranormal events transpire, so I intend the PCs go knocking on his door.

[Hermit]

Why choose? It is a comic book world....our world built this city in Texas, then an alternate version was transported to our dimention by a Dimensional warp bomb (in that world, Foxbat is a Doctor Doom class villian)...and that version is in Colorado... ...what? too much?

WAY too much

[薔薇語]

Okay, so in my mind the following was supposed to be a quick little story to add to the back story of a possible campaign city. It was inspired by the idea of trying to weave together a reason for a particular location while being a nice piece of fiction. I don't think it succeeded on the first part and I will leave the second part to be decided by you all. 

An old man's tale:

---

It was a lazy and cool spring afternoon. Old Man Peters was sippin' away at his sweet tea while leaning back in his chair. "It's a fine day I tell ya. Not enough of them by a mile these days." With an innocent and joyous smile Old Man Peters' granddaughter looks up from her icecream sundae. She knows that whenever grandpa gets that wandering gaze in his eyes that it is story time. And little Mary always likes grandpa's stories. "I feel it in my joints, Mary, another storm is brewin' out there."

Looking out the crystal clear window of the cafe Mary tilts her head up to the beautiful cerulean sky. "I don't see any clouds gran-pa. You sure a storms comin'?" she questions for a second. Clearing his focus for a bit and bring his attention back down his is darling little Mary he catches her gaze for a second, "My joints don' lie, little one. Never have and never will." Slowly placing his hand on Mary's tiny little wrist he holds her for a second as he looks back up to the sky. "I ever tell you about the first time my joints got ta talkin'?" It most certainly wasn't the first time Mary had heard the story and it wouldn't be the last either but she ever so enjoyed hearing him tell it. "Nah, gran-pa. Tell me." she eagerly leads on. 

"Well, this was back before ya were born, little one. Way back. Back when even your mama was still playin with them dolls gran-ma got her. She was such a little angle, just like you. Big beautiful sky blue eyes and all. I tell ya, looking at you makes me feel like a young father all over again." Mary lets out a light giggle and dimpled smile as she looks on. "Anyway, as I was sayin', this was back some time ago. Back then a fella named Dr. Paul Rogerson  learned how to create large super conductors that could be use to power the new train techs and whatnot. With that there he and his TC-squared company start building all new trans-continental trains everywhere. And this city once again became a hub of traffic for people headin' in every which way."

Pointing off into the distance out the cafe window Peters leans back and continues "Over-yonder was where they done built the first mega station. And that's... well, that's where it happened. Ya see, I was walkin' with ya mother in the park they put up near the station. New Central Park some where callin' it. It was a fine day, just like today but my joints were a actin' up. You mama wasn't as patient as you and started to run off ahead of your grandpa cause of that." Peters otherwise cheery smile started to fade as a solemn and almost woeful look took hold of him. "That's when the storm came in. It wasn't nothin' natural either. Nah, it was one of them supervillains. He was callin' himself Torrent. That's a name I won't be forgettin. I'd sooner forget my own name than him."

Mary took her other hand and place it onto her grandpa's hand. "It's okay Gran-pa. The bad man is gone, ain't he. So its okay. Just like when daddy shoos away the the booggieman under my bed sometimes." Her gentle voice and sweet demeanor snap Peters back as if slap across the face. Facing down he gets lost in little Mary's glimmering eyes. "You're right, little one. But let's not get ahead of ourselves in the story now", a cheerful grin brightens up his face once again. 

"I don't know what possessed that man to be the way he was but some-m wasn' quite right with him. Something mighty bad pushed that man to start attackin folks. Some say he was greedy and was just a new age mugger. Others thought the devil himself got inside that boy and pushed him around. But irregardless he was causing troubles in that park that day. Whipping up one heck of a storm; tearing up trees and whatnots. I was mighty scared cause I couldn't see your mother. She had done ran off too far from me. So I was chasing her as best I could through the storm winds."

"That's when Mr. Quantum showed up, right?" Mary questions to her grandpa even though she already knows the answer. "Yeah, yeah it was. He came plummeting down from the sky. These new whippersnappers could learn a thing or two about class from Mr. Quantum. He knew how to make an entrance I tell ya what." Peters takes a big gulp of his tea as he continues forward. "Those two, Quantum and Torrent got into fighting something fierce then. The sound of trees being lifted and hurled at Quantum was eerie but that earth shattering sound of him pummeling them like bat cracking against a fastball was something else. That's when I saw your mother. She was trying to get back to me. She must of gotten carried away when people started rushin' out. But she got back on her feet and she and I were runnin' towards each other when the wind like no other picked up and then picked her up. Torrent had created a tornado in the park and your mother was caught in it." 

"Mommy must of scared. I'd be scared, too!" Mary interjects. 

 

"Petrified. She could hardly open her mouth ta scream she was so scared." Grasping Mary's hand even tighter "I rush as hard as I could to your mother and even got picked up in that tornado. Trying to swim through the wind with all the dirt and rocks, and trees and everything else was hard. And that's when I saw Torrent just standing there at the bottom. Perfectly calm as he watch us desperately plead against the wind. A grin on his face. 

"But Mr. Quantum jumped in, too! He saved mommy, didn't he?!"

"He sure did. He saw your mom flying about and without a second thought he jumped in and held her tight. Keeping her safe from everything that was flying about in the storm. Torrent did his darndest to stop Mr. Quantum. Hurling brick after brick, tree after tree at him. But he never let go of your mommy. He kept her safe. Safer than I ever could, little one."

"But gran-pa. Didn't you stop Torrent?" she says

"Well, someone had to. Mr. Quantum couldn't let go of your mommy or she would get hit by something. But since Torrent was so focused on them the storm go a bit weaker and I was able to fall down out of it. I then snuck up behind him with a brick and clobbered him across the head. That knocked him out cold."

"My gran-pa saved the day light Mr. Quantum!" Mary cheers on. Others had started to take notice of the story in the cafe by then. Mr. Peters was never one for making a spectacle of himself so he decided to wrap up the story there. "I stopped Torrent but I didn't save the day. Mr. Quantum did that when he jumped into that tornado and cradled your mother like his own child; keeping her safe no matter how many times he had to take a hit to do so."

Slowly taking to his feet, Old man Peters grabs the check and looks down at Mary. "Whadja say we head on out now? Maybe we can go visit a park." Mary looks back up at him and stands up. "Okay! But I thought you said the weather was getting bad?" 

Peters pauses for a moment recalling his joints, "Nah, my joints are feeling fine now. It'll be just fine."

With that, Mary and Old Man Peters head over to New KC Central park. 

 

 

With all the above said, my idea was a  Neo KC, Missouri. At some point there was the creation of a dense metal alloy that could act as a reasonably cheap superconductor even at normal temperatures. That plus a few new techs opened up the chance for the rail industry to grow in the US again. KC then once again becomes a major hub of trans-continental traffic. Be it LA to NYC, Chicago to El Paso, or Seattle to Orlando, KC is a great central location for trains to meet and redirect from. This helped revitalize the city and make it the target for a lot of super activity as its wealth and influence grew. It was demolished once or twice as a result of the new popularity of supers but it stayed strong and grew even stronger. Now it is "Campaign City". In the story I created a company called "TC-squared" which is suppose to be "Trans-Continental Train Company - TCTC or TC-squared". They have an unstated monopoly on the intercontinental rail systems and have their hands in all other kinds of business, too. This is especially true in their chosen HQ of KC, MO.

Anyway, that is just a thought. I do appreciate all the hard work you have put into this Hermit. Maybe for part two you could outsource a few parts. Take some of the characters and the needed adders (the school for the teacher, for example) and put them out there for others to expand upon. This will help keep things fresh by adding new perspectives and reduce the work load on you for writing up everything. 

Foreign Orchid. 

[BoloOfEarth]

Adding to the NPCs as Nothere and Cancer have done:

 

The Loudmouthed Jerk

 

Trevor Nelson is the guy you find in practically every workplace; in line at the QuikShop; sitting a table over in the restaurant; or in the seat next to you on a four-hour flight. He lives by the maxim, "The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease," and figures that the squeakier you are, the more grease you get. 

 

As the only son of a successful and semi-famous trial lawyer, Trevor grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, and thus he feels entitled to whatever he wants.  In his mind, others exist mainly to serve him and he's not afraid to let them know this.  Heaven forbid that you make a mistake while serving him.  He will insist on speaking to your boss and demanding (in a loud and condescending voice) that you be fired and he gets whatever he wants for free.

 

Unfortunately, between his dad's connections and his own (Trevor is a high-ranking VP at a local bank), he has enough pull to make others' lives miserable if he really wants.  And since he doesn't see the point of making empty threats, Trevor really will call a company's CEO trying to get a low-level employee fired.  (Well, he'll have his secretary make the call since that's what they're there for; he'll just get on the line long enough to make sure the deed gets done.)

 

 

 

Trevor Nelson would serve well as a bank robbery hostage who says or does something stupid to foul up the heroes' rescue plans, and then afterward complains to the press about the heroes' incompetence.  He's also a strong supporter of movements to restrict superheroes' actions, so he has met Louisa Forrestal and donated to her cause as well as to shadier anti-hero organizations like the IHA.  Since Trevor doesn't feel that laws should apply to "higher class" people like him, he's also been involved in some shady deals with VIPER front companies.  However, he's smart enough to have covered his tracks enough that it won't be easy to prove him guilty.

 

 

 

QUOTE:  "In this world there's movers, and there's losers.  I'm a mover.  You're a loser.  It's as simple as that.  Now bring me my order.  Chop chop."

[Cancer]

This one's a player character, but it could be an NPC if you like the plot twists implied here.

 

The Barista / The Monster

 

Xue Ping goes by "Shoo"; Ping is the family name. A vivacious and gorgeous young woman whose parents are from mainland China, her parents were students in the US at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and subsequent crackdown; they took refugee status after that and became naturalized American citizens. A couple years later they named their daughter according to their cultural traditions. Aside from speaking and reading Cantonese like a native, Shoo was born and raised in the US and thinks of herself as American. She is a student (sophomore chemistry major) at the local university, whose off-campus job is as a barista in a drive-up espresso stand on the fringe of downtown. She flirts quite happily with whomever drives up looking for a double grande mocha with a dash of vanilla no whip, and she noticed long long ago that the tips were better when she wore a plunging neckline. Although she's never actually done anything more than flirt there's no doubt that dozens of her patrons (male and female alike) regularly contemplate the prospect of having … coffee … with her in private circumstances. She hears an astonishing amount of gossip, and can tell you the espresso and pastry preferences (and marital stresses) of just about everyone, it seems, who works downtown.

 

That's her story, and it's bulletproof. There were two Chinese student refugees who married and had a daughter (and subsequently moved away to somewhere on the West Coast). But today's Shoo is not that daughter. Today's Shoo is not even human. Instead, the entity is literally a demon from one of the Chinese hells who can take the form of a startlingly attractive young woman, but whose native form is quite monstrous. Demons can be any sex they choose to be, and in monster form the entity chooses not to have a sex at all.

 

That said, Arrrgh … the best transliteration of the monster's name … is not even evil at heart by the standards of most reasonable American people. This plane of existence in general and Campaign City in specifics is a lot more pleasant than Arrrgh's squalid little squat on the fringe of the Miasma of Decay in the Thirty-Third Hell, and having learned how to get to the Mortal Plane quietly, Arrrgh spends most of its time here. Demons understand money, and temptation, and conflict, and combat, and terror natively, so the squalid side of the city was never a surprise. The casual kindnesses and generosity of strangers was a surprise, and one that set the demon on a long episode of something for which demons are not known, introspection. And Arrrgh decided to live among the humans and see what it could do to lessen the number of eternities they would have to spend in the various hells working off the sins they committed through ignorance and short-sightedness. No one would mistake Arrrgh for an angel, but judged by resolve, intent, and actions over the last few years, the monster is more closely aligned with those than with the denizens of the plane of its origin.

 

Shoo's nature can be divined by anyone with sufficient mojo, but she is cheerful enough and seems harmless enough that no one has ever bothered. Yes, there have been a few folks who have seen the monster come out: a couple of drive-by robbers, and an intruder-maybe-burglar-maybe-rapist at her tiny student-ghetto apartment. None of them survived to pass on the tale. And once there was a true psychopath on his way to becoming a serial killer, murdered four young women over two months in the neighborhoods surrounding the university. He was never caught … by police. But the police did find some horribly mangled body parts of a middle-aged man, literally torn limb from limb and hideous tooth-rend wounds about his abdomen and throat, strewn through his house, where they also found photos and locks of hair from the four murdered women. They've never tried to solve that one.

 

EDIT: The monster's warped sense of humor shows through in the form of the ring tone in Shoo's phone: the lawyer-eating roar from Jurassic Park.

[BoloOfEarth]

I kinda want Trevor Nelson to swing by Shoo's espresso stand and act his normal self...

 

FYI, Hermit, I'm working other stuff from your NPCs into my campaign world, both directly and as background.  For instance, one PC has the complication "DNPC girlfriend of the week" and I created a young lady who works at EcoOp (tried without success to date the CEO).  Sniffing Strangers is going to play at the Paradise Rock Club (of which one PC is co-owner).  Hank Houston is going to have a chat with Nexus (who can see and speak to the dead).  And Col. Hardin is going to become the new commander at Boston PRIMUS after the former commander is tossed under the bus for the A-Team being able to get free from their holding cells and trash the base.

[Hermit]

Just so you all know I'm not dead, and neither is this project, I just shot some of the locale options past my players. Out of the ones given, they preferred Colorado. Go figure!

 

So "Port Victory" might become Victory Peak, Victory Point or some such thing

[rjd59]

Victory Peak? Hmmm, visions of Laura Parker, Twin Peaks, and Bob have flooded my brain!! Could easily incorporate some of the plot-lines (minus the super-natural influences). A mystrious murder, multiple plot twist, a super-powered madman... could work into a good storyline or side plot. Heck, I just may use this!

[Hermit]

Funny thing is, I never watched much of any of that.

[Cancer]

Make it Victory Peaks and you can help yourself to Twin Peaks inspired weirdness, too.