The People of Campaign City

[Opale]

Just saw this thread.  Very cool.  I have a few suggestions.

 

To really give a campaign city an identity, you need radio guys.  Irritating radio guys.  "We're Dan and Steve in the morning, rocking you on your way to work with this non-stop all-talk rock and roll power hour!" (which is half commercials, zero songs, and 100% annoying voices).  And you need an AM shock jock conspiracy guy.  The J. Jonah Jameson of today wouldn't be a newspaper editor, he'd be your local wannabe Glenn Beck.  Sports talk radio guys are also generally well known.  You have your local "homer" who always talks about how great the local sports team is, as well a former local athlete whose playing days are far behind him, and a 'villain' type who bashes the local teams and talks about how stupid the coaches are.

 

Radio guys are something every city has, and half the population hates them.

 

As far as locations, I'd suggest coming up with as many interesting places to have superhero fights as you can.  People use banks all the time, or the middle of the city street, or warehouses.  Branching out from there and going to other places can keep the campaign fresh and memorable.  How about:

 

A large aquarium, complete with large, breakable glass panes and sea life that is a bit larger than in real life

A trainyard (active or not)

Subway tunnels

A haunted old mansion

An enormous cathedral

A comic book convention, with people in costume (sometimes as the villains you're fighting)

A movie studio set

A carnival, with a house of mirrors, a tunnel of love, some small roller coasters, etc

A steel foundry, ala Terminator 2

 

Just to be nosy and do an unreasonable demand, but is anyone able to create maps of such places with hexagons grid ? ^^

 

Mapped opale

[steriaca]

Next challenge: the Princess.

[Opale]

Another "next" challenge : the life coach for Supers

[Nothere]

Next challenge? You mean just coming up with a background cause princess is easy and I can do it right now if that's all that's required.

[TheQuestionMan]

Financial Advisor to Superheroes? 

[steriaca]

Next challenge? You mean just coming up with a background cause princess is easy and I can do it right now if that's all that's required.

Princess don't necessary mean royalty. It could also mean rich and spoiled

[Nothere]

True Princess doesn't necessarily mean royalty, but this dovetails perfectly with something else. You may remember awhile back threads about Champions in various countries. That led me to digging out my old foregin power. Mainly it was just to use as a background for the old heroic team shows up in town, and while good guys fight the heroes because of differing agendas. But I also had it in the back of my mind to send them to the other country for a visit, However while I found most of the background pages the detail pages got lost between then and now. And not being overly pleased with the temp names I came up with now I didn't start the thread. But you want a Princess? With apologies for the bad names.

 

 

In the 60's the Kingdom of Garon was overthrown by communist backed rebels led by Valan Taras King Leandas Varin IV fled to England with a large share of the treasury and began talks with Brittian and the U.S. about retaking what everyone expected to become another Soviet puppet state. However Taras immediately entered into his own discussions with the U.S.for democratic reform and foreign aid. The King got lukewarm response for his efforts to retake the Kingdom. However inside the country a dedicated group of monarchists hoped to return the monarchy.

 

The monarchists best hope seemed to be Prince Adais Taras. Now about to graduate from college in America. He's handsome, charming, intelligent, and being in the public eye popular with the people. Theres just one problem. He likes being an American  of the campaign city, and has no interest in trying to retake the throne of a country he's never been to. However his younger sister Princess Valsta Taras is starting to warm up to the idea. Being a teenager she's more interested in the trappings of royal life she sees in the movies, than actually running a country. But the monarchists figure worst case shes a figure head. Best case her brother will have to step in to help run the country.

[TheQuestionMan]

Bump GM/Player Resource

 

Cheers

 

QM

[starblaze]

 

The Crime Boss

Caspar Brown remembers it like it was yesterday. A child from a war torn African country, he had been adopted by a kindly and affluent American couple. Oh, what a wonderland the US seemed in comparison to the horrors back home. His two new parents, and their daughter, seemed determined to win him over. They were rich, they were powerful, and their hearts were pure.

 

How little that all meant. Caspar remembers his adopted sister's hat getting caught by a stiff wind and blowing into the alleyway behind the playhouse. He recalled them going to retrieve it, and yes, he clearly remembers the man who held up the Browns at gun point, and then shot them in cold blood. Had their murderer's gun not jammed, he and his sister would have surely joined them.

 

While his sister cried over the bodies, Caspar watched the gun man flee, and at that young age, he had his epiphany. 

It was all about power.

A king could shine his crown all he wanted, but if the man with the sword next to him wanted him dead, he would be. The noblest heart could be stopped by a piece of lead tearing through it, and all those good deeds wouldn't protect it. No one was ever safe, not really. 

 

The best way to defend against monsters was to become the biggest monster out there. Taking his share of his inheritance, Caspar went around the world, learning the many methods of monsterdom. He learned how to fight, of course. Perhaps he'd never been the greatest, but he was a black belt twice over. He learned how to earn one's trust, and then betray them. He learned how to make money both legally and otherwise. He learned as much as he could about everything, really. Knowledge is another form of power, after all.

 

And then he returned to the city and put his plan in motion. Covertly funding street gangs under the nickname "Mr. Ghost", outfitting them with weapons, he watched as entire neighborhoods tore themselves apart in gang wars... and then he stepped in and saved those same neighborhood as Mr. Caspar Brown, wealthy philanthropist. Of course, he wasn't stopping the crime, not really, he was stream lining it, hiding it, and making it more efficient.  People didn't really care about decency, they wanted order, and he gave it to them. Who cares about murder in the streets if it only involves a prostitute? Who cared if the system for maximum penalties and minimal rehabilitation meant those who entered in criminal activities had no where to go but down? By playing both Sinner and Saint, Caspar has forced the poor and desperate into his umbrella, while using surgical strikes (Such as drug addition, blackmail, and bribes) against those in power.

 

To this day, few know that Mr. Ghost and Caspar are one in the same. However, that does not mean the city is truly his. There are contenders for the title of top crime boss, at least two others that rival his power. He plays along, speaks of respecting territory and the like, but it's only a matter of time before he makes his move. Mr. Ghost will be king of all monsters, and he will have both the crown and the sword.

 

Mr. Ghost is not blind to the fact that superheroes are a whole new level of power. He wants that same power for himself so badly he can taste it, but he's cautious. Relying on tech means that power actually belongs to the creator of the tech who would maintain it. Mysticism often involves a risk to the freedom of one's soul, and while Caspar's soul maybe twisted, it is still his own and he intends to keep it that way. To test things out, he has had his dear sweet sister on 'vacation', where she has been altered through experimentation and brainwashed to his specifications. When she returns, he plans to use her as his personal assassin, and observe her track record and look out for side effects. If it's a truly rousing success, he may take the procedure himself. She's due to return in the next month. He looks forward to the reunion.

 

QUOTE: (As Caspar Brown) "People have mentioned that I am hard on crime. They say I hold vengeance in my heart for what happened to my parents in that alley. But I do not do what I do to avenge my pain. I do it so no other eight year old child will experience what I have. I do it to keep the monsters in the shadows where they belong."

 

(As Mr. Ghost) "You think you can stop me? Stop me from what? You think if you strike the head from the snake the body will die, ,but no. We are not one body, we are, each and all of us, monsters to the core, held to common purpose by my will for I am the King of the monsters here. This city would tear itself apart if not for my holding the reins. You should be grateful."

 

I like this.  it's kind of like the Batman/Bruce Wayne story but with a twist.

[Hermit]

I like this.  it's kind of like the Batman/Bruce Wayne story but with a twist.

Thank you.

 

I have considered making another Rival Crime boss as mentioned in the write up

[death tribble]

The Drinker

 

Some people would term him a barfly. He sits at the bar and takes a drink out of his beer. He comes in as soon as the bar opens and leaves before closing. He has five o'clock shadow and his eyes seem rheumy. He just seems to wait and people will talk to him about anything. Oddly whenever someone seems to threaten the patrons he will suddenly say 'Hey !' and stare them down. He doesn't seem to have a job or a direction but he has money and never seems to need anyone's help. He doesn't do shots or mixed drinks but will drink wine (particularly champagne) or cocktails if they are offered to him. He says his name is 'Mike'

 

Mike seems a good listener and people tend to feel better from being in his presence and unburdening themselves. Surprisingly this includes heroes and villains but it never goes as far as revealing secret identities. He usually stays in the same bar for a week or a month and then props up another bar elsewhere but some distance away.

 

 

 

Mike is rich enough not to work but is slowly dieing. He can survive the sheer presence of heroes and villains but can only stop someone from harming others if he has had a drink and they are threatening others. He can seem to calm people down by talking to them but only by non-involvement. Otherwise nothing happens.

He has a large capacity for beer but does not seem to ever get blind drunk.

 

 

[st barbara]

I didn't read the whole post but what about "The fan" a boy (or girl) who is obsessed with supers in general (or just one in particular). He/she tries to find out everything about one (or more) of the city's heroes, turns up at events and pesters them, maybe has a blog or a newsletter about the characters that they are obsessed with and generally gets in the way at inconvenient moments.

[Hermit]

I didn't read the whole post but what about "The fan" a boy (or girl) who is obsessed with supers in general (or just one in particular). He/she tries to find out everything about one (or more) of the city's heroes, turns up at events and pesters them, maybe has a blog or a newsletter about the characters that they are obsessed with and generally gets in the way at inconvenient moments.

 

Not quite the same, but we do have someone under the Collector