Las Vegas - Champions Universe

[archer]

In George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards book series, the Luxor hotel hired desert and/or Egyptian-themed abnormals to populate the lobbies and put on a daily pageant. So if you had the head of a jackal, the head of a crocodile, the head of an ibis, etc., you could migrate to the US and always get a job at the Luxor.

[Pariah]

I ran a campaign based in La$ Vega$ for a lot of years. In my campaign, the stereotypical Vegas Mafia presence was basically a plainclothes VIPER nest. (The local mob boss had "done the Nest Leader a favor" and ultimately ended up running the place.) It worked quite nicely.

 

Also, I had a crooked local industrialist running a weapons R&D facility a few miles out in the desert. The heroes crossed paths with him and his organization a number of times.

 

Also, there was occasionally this bar/club/bistro a few blocks off the Strip that was connected to another dimension. (By "occasionally", I mean that it was there as often as the plot required it to be. Otherwise, it was a vacant lot.)

[Lord Liaden]

If you're thinking of importing elements from other Champions publications to Sin City, perhaps Valerian Scarlet's cursed nightclub, the Minefield, from Vibora Bay, would fit in, and provide a few plots.

[Sundog]

I'd be interested in how the presence of superhumans would change the security practices of the Casinos.

Some of the differences would be obvious - the Eye-in-the-sky security cameras would go multi-spectrum to spot invisible or chameleonic individuals. Any super with known probability manipulation powers would be banned from the gaming floors entirely - some Casinos might just ban supers outright, though I can see that creating a backlash, with others advertising their acceptance of superhumans (especially in settings where there is a significant minority of powered beings). 

I'm not sure how well games like Poker, where there's a good degree of skill and bluffing, would survive. Besides the obvious (psychics, invisible compatriots, distance-viewers) you'd also have to deal with such people as have enhanced senses - enhanced scent possessors could tell when someone is bluffing. 

The obvious way to deal with a super is another super - house psychics to spot psychic cheats, a heavy squad to deal with attempted robberies. But that wouldn't come cheap, and might reduces Casinos' viability.

[steriaca]

3 hours ago, Sundog said:

I'd be interested in how the presence of superhumans would change the security practices of the Casinos.

Some of the differences would be obvious - the Eye-in-the-sky security cameras would go multi-spectrum to spot invisible or chameleonic individuals. Any super with known probability manipulation powers would be banned from the gaming floors entirely - some Casinos might just ban supers outright, though I can see that creating a backlash, with others advertising their acceptance of superhumans (especially in settings where there is a significant minority of powered beings). 

I'm not sure how well games like Poker, where there's a good degree of skill and bluffing, would survive. Besides the obvious (psychics, invisible compatriots, distance-viewers) you'd also have to deal with such people as have enhanced senses - enhanced scent possessors could tell when someone is bluffing. 

The obvious way to deal with a super is another super - house psychics to spot psychic cheats, a heavy squad to deal with attempted robberies. But that wouldn't come cheap, and might reduces Casinos' viability.

Casinos might be less about gambling in the superhero world, and more into spectacular. Supers who are not into fighting evil or committing evil might have a better time and a good job as a performing super.

 

Because of the huge super presence, not only by Casino Security Supers, the town's own super teams, and performing supers who are more likely to defend coworkers and their jobs, casino robberies are at an all-time low.

[Pariah]

I used C.L.O.W.N. once or twice in my Vegas-based campaign. It seems like the kind of place they'd gravitate towards.