The Alphabet Squad

[Mr. R]

So M&Ms Atlas of the world had for their UN organization a group called the Alphabet Squad.  Each agent named after a letter in the alphabet.  All extremely capable, but with a high turn over.  This got me thinking about a Super Squad for a UN type organization but made up of super heroes (sort of like an earth bound version of DC Legion of Super Heroes.)  But I am stuck on getting started.  I don't know if I want the letters to match the Powers (A is for AIR), or just make a codename that fits the letter (Airhammer is a flying power armour user)  I think I am leaning toward the second, but what do you think?

[assault]

Both, where possible. Where it's genuinely not possible, go with the codename.

 

However, if it's an international (UN) team, codenames aren't necessarily going to be in English or a language that uses an English like alphabet.

 

You might need to reconsider the details of the concept to deal with that.

[dsatow]

It's doubtful that the UN will use a flashy name unless its an acronym.  Something, like the UN Enhanced Reserve Force(UNERF) which just 'happens' to produce a word.  The individual members are most likely going to use supernames/code names from the language of their nationality.

 

Its highly probable that the members will have a uniform rather than a costume they would wear in their country to both unite the members and to show them as a UN force rather than a force from another country.

 

In comics, the hero from a country tends to be stereotypical(to the point of almost racism) for that country.  So all chinese supers would know kung fu, japanese supers would be ninjas or samurai based, african supers would have beast totem powers, etc.  While I don't really want to suggest this, it does hasten the players getting the feeling that this is a internationally composed team.

[death tribble]

Where I was using the United Nations the name was less important than the individual. So there was Feur who had fire powers and Diplomat who was the head of what amounted to UNCLE. And Archangel to name but three.

 

I would therefore endorse any name but perhaps a different nationality

[Ockham's Spoon]

Using names from languages other than English makes sense for the UN, but then the whole concept of the Alphabet Squad gets called into question when you ask which alphabet you are using.  Even nominally Latin alphabets differ slightly from language to language, to say nothing of Greek or Cyrillic alphabets.  As such, I could see rationale for all the code names being in English as a standard with the English version of the alphabet, if only because English is more widely spoken than other languages.  Which would likely tick off some of the members of the Alphabet Squad, but that could lend itself to fun role-playing opportunities.

 

As for the names, it seems to me they should be codes for the function that they perform rather than a set of powers, esp. if turnover is high.  That way you could have different folks with different power sets (technological, mutant, or magical) that fulfill the same role.  Say for X you have the (terribly unoriginal) agent X-Ray, whose role is primarily providing reconnaissance into normally inaccessible areas.  The first X-ray agent might be a psychic with clairvoyance.  After leaving they replace him with a sorceress with a scrying spell.  Then she leaves and they introduce a techie with literal X-ray specs.  That offers maximum flexibility, but still ties the name to something rather than just a random code name.

[Mr. R]

7 hours ago, Ockham's Spoon said:

Using names from languages other than English makes sense for the UN, but then the whole concept of the Alphabet Squad gets called into question when you ask which alphabet you are using.  Even nominally Latin alphabets differ slightly from language to language, to say nothing of Greek or Cyrillic alphabets.  As such, I could see rationale for all the code names being in English as a standard with the English version of the alphabet, if only because English is more widely spoken than other languages.  Which would likely tick off some of the members of the Alphabet Squad, but that could lend itself to fun role-playing opportunities.

 

As for the names, it seems to me they should be codes for the function that they perform rather than a set of powers, esp. if turnover is high.  That way you could have different folks with different power sets (technological, mutant, or magical) that fulfill the same role.  Say for X you have the (terribly unoriginal) agent X-Ray, whose role is primarily providing reconnaissance into normally inaccessible areas.  The first X-ray agent might be a psychic with clairvoyance.  After leaving they replace him with a sorceress with a scrying spell.  Then she leaves and they introduce a techie with literal X-ray specs.  That offers maximum flexibility, but still ties the name to something rather than just a random code name.

 

 

That is a cool idea!

[Amorkca]

You could also use a Phonetic Alphabet.

[archer]

12 hours ago, Amorkca said:

You could also use a Phonetic Alphabet.

Dealing with the Crimson Uh-Venger plus 8-Ball means a group of a lot more than 26 members....

[BoloOfEarth]

I really like Ockham's Spoon's idea of tying the codename to the individual's function on the team, though this might make things difficult for those who previously had a codename that doesn't fit the Alphabet Squad's listing.  Using OS's example, what if the techie with x-ray specs was already going by another name (say, EyeSpy) when he was recruited to fill the Alphabet Squad's vacated X-Ray position?

 

RE: Amorcka's suggestion of the phonetic alphabet, I wonder if he was referring to the radio phonetic alphabet:  Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.  Some of those don't seem they would work well (November?  Quebec?  Yankee?) but others might.  For example, "Mike" could be the radio / communications position. "Kilo" may be the heavy lifter, "Alpha" could be team leader, etc.

[Lawnmower Boy]

I like Bolo's solution. It makes sense that the UN would recruit national superheroes who would each have their own names, in their own language, and, well, it's not anyone's fault, as such, that the Woganyikan translation of "Captain Upstanding Guy" is Tittiecaca Poopoo. But there you go. Even this apart, being able to refer to the agents by their one-word radio phonetic alphabet codename is an obvious advantage when there are, you know, radios involved. Given that the names don't have to be random, it makes sense 'first come, first served," in terms of the high energy photon emitter who joined back in 1979 being "X-Ray." On the other hand, the teen brawler who replaced the Mistress of the Secret Arts last week may be stuck with being "Juliet," even if his power is to ignore pain and damage while berserkly stabbing stuff with stabbie things. (No offence to Juliet's who might go berserk while stabbing stuff with stabbie things.)

[unclevlad]

One point on languages...English is the accepted language of business.  It's the closest there is to a lingua franca, and the one you can most reasonably expect people to speak at a basic level.  If code names could be in Mongolianor Swahili, how many people won't understand it?  And what kind of confusion does that entail?  From a tactical perspective, that's not a good idea.

 

No, I'd say they'd all be in English. 

 

Another option is the NATO Phonetic alphabet.  From Wikipedia:

 

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: 

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

 

Assign a general *style* to each.  Bravo and Kilo are strongmen.  Echo and X-ray are detection specialists.  And so on.  That leaves flexibility in terms of filling the slots, while maintaining a diverse set of powers.  Who do we need for this?  Alfa, Hotel, Romeo, and Yankee power sets.  Oh, Hotel and Yankee hate each other?  OK, we can use Oscar instead of Hotel.

 

Also note that this is a NATO construct, so it's already a multi-national, polyglot convention.  

[dsatow]

3 hours ago, unclevlad said:

One point on languages...English is the accepted language of business.  It's the closest there is to a lingua franca, and the one you can most reasonably expect people to speak at a basic level.  If code names could be in Mongolianor Swahili, how many people won't understand it?  And what kind of confusion does that entail?  From a tactical perspective, that's not a good idea.

 

No, I'd say they'd all be in English. 

 

Actually the UN uses 6 languages.  Arabic, Chinese(Mandarin), English, French, Russian, Spanish.

 

http://ask.un.org/faq/14463

 

Codenames don't need to be translated.  A person called Shiroyuki from Japan, would just be agent Shiroyuki.  People who have 1-2 pts in the language can translate that out to Snow White but the name wouldn't change.

[unclevlad]

Those are the official and working languages of the Security Council and General Assembly.  To me that means documents issued by these bodies will be available in these languages, and that translations into these languages will be available during debates.  What languages are used for UN peacekeeping forces, or other UN-sponsored multinational efforts?  At least at the command levels.  It's not clear all troops of a peacekeeping force would have to speak English.

 

Yeah, code names wouldn't have to be translated, but some languages are rather harder to read and/or pronounce than others.  Transliteration is an issue when dealing with non-Latin alphabets.  Saying it's English-only, or using the NATO phonetics, isn't gonna please everyone but it's enormously simpler and more practical.  The NATO phonetics put the emphasis on being a part of UNERF...good name there, the acronym being somewhat humorous is gonna be missed by bureaucrats anyway.  (Nixon era classic...the Committee for the Re-election of the President, AKA CREEP.  Oops.)  Functional names like Recon, Tank, and the like do OK with that.  The more personal the code names are, tho, the more the person in the job is emphasized.  That's not particularly desirable here.

[dsatow]

Usually, UN forces are militaries of its constituents.  NATO forces are not UN forces, they just tend to have the same goals in the regions where NATO operates.

 

To be honest, I like the concept of using the phonetic alphabet for supers ever since Dollhouse premiered.  I just don't see the UN using it mainly because they like to distance themselves from a perceived US bias.  Its probably just a personal bias to not use the phonetic alphabet for the UN but I'd thought I'd explain it, so don't mind me.

[unclevlad]

Makes sense.  The NATO phonetics would at least be a Euro-bias rather than strictly US bias.  Heck, you could do function-related code/keynames...but not all in English.  Altho that gets awkward if the hero doesn't speak the language of the code name.

 

Some of this could also depend on the purpose of this team, within a UN context.  The UN...at least here...doesn't support a direct-action combat force, so...what is it this team is expected to do?    And, who's supplying the majority of the forces?  UN peacekeepers tend to be US and Europe.  Relations between the West and Russia/China are not particularly open in our world...what are they there?  And are they willing to kick in their heroes?  It's a reasonable assertion that most smaller countries can't afford to...even if they're not embroiled in messes of their own.

[assault]

18 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

And, who's supplying the majority of the forces?  UN peacekeepers tend to be US and Europe.

 

No.

[unclevlad]

Oh.

 

OK, my bad there for sure.  I'm not sure that the supers would follow the same pattern, tho.  But if it does, I think that argues for English as a common language if this group works together.  That's a very diverse set of languages, and *some* common language is gonna be needed.  

 

And there's still a big question, at least in my mind, as to what the mission of such a group would be.

[assault]

The number, location and composition of UN peacekeeping missions varies over time, naturally. In most cases, most of their personnel is drawn from the local region. There are a few nations, Fiji for instance, that use UN missions as a way of supporting the training and funding of their forces.

 

I agree that this composition does not necessarily reflect that of a force of supers. Such a force would have whatever composition a GM decides!

 

Its mission? I'd see that as campaign dependent too. Likewise, its nature would be influenced by the nature of the UN in a particular campaign. But that's true of groups like UNTIL too.

[unclevlad]

Yah, I mentioned it in large part just to get OP to thinking about it.  Once some of these questions are addressed, it may help frame the naming convention question.  Mission will also frame the kinds of capabilities desired.

 

Or, of course, we've only made OP's head explode.

[archer]

21 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

 

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: 

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

 

Assign a general *style* to each.  Bravo and Kilo are strongmen.  Echo and X-ray are detection specialists.  And so on.  That leaves flexibility in terms of filling the slots, while maintaining a diverse set of powers.  Who do we need for this?  Alfa, Hotel, Romeo, and Yankee power sets.  Oh, Hotel and Yankee hate each other?  OK, we can use Oscar instead of Hotel.

 

 

Alpha - unit strongman

Bravo - PR front man with minimal powers

Charlie - Vietnamese martial artist

Delta - speedster

Echo - Sound-themed gadgeteer

Foxtrot - a nine year old blond boy whose imagination comes to life

Golf - Scottsman who carries a club and wears a kilt

Hotel - One of the Trump scions

India - Multi-form woman who has elephant and gurkha as her primary forms

Juliett - obese Italian matron named Julie who can eat, and bite though, anything

Kilo - density increase powers

Lima - super-athlete from Peru

Mike - infiltration specialist, particularly parachutes ("Drop the Mike!")

November - of White Russian descent (non-communist dissenters who were hunted to the point of extinction during the Soviet era). Grew up living off the land in Siberia and has a massive hatred toward the remaining communist regimes

Papa - Russian and former communist patriot hero. Would like to see Russian nationalism succeed and bring back a communist state. Bitter rival with November. Mind control and general manipulation expert.

Quebec - a Quebec separatist who has been suspected of various terrorist activities but nothing ever proven. Having her on the team is a way of bringing separatists to the table but not promising them anything.

Romeo - French movie star turned superhero after he was kidnapped by cultists and his mutation turned. Vain and a bit pompous but his striking appearance covers many flaws.

Sierra - ecology activist with elemental powers

Tango - filthy rich playboy who solves his problems by writing a check...or by a blast from his power armor.

Uniform - duplication powers make him a one man army. Or at least it would if he could learn to use weapons properly. More than a little unluck, near-sighted, colorblind, dyslexic. Only speaks and reads English.

Victor - Kumite champion twice marks him as one of the deadliest hand-to-hand combatants on the planet.

Whiskey - Grew up on the Tennessee/Kentucky border as the son of a moonshiner. When his mutation turned, he used his flight powers to help distribute product and used his blast powers against the police a couple of times, which ended up with him having to flee the US. The UN offered to mediate in exchange for his services but as of this moment, he cannot operate in the US or US territories. He's learned the Drunken Monkey style of martial arts because he thought it sounded cool.

X-Ray - teleporter, energy projector, and communications specialist.

Yankee - Appears to be a burned out hippie dude wearing an Uncle Sam costume. But he's a savvy defensive fighter with a small amount of super-strength and a pocket full of patriot-themed non-damaging gadgets.

Zulu - An African warrior who appears garbed as a traditional African warrior. He's extremely ticked off at the Black Panther movie because several people have accused him of ripping off his look from it, despite the fact that he's been around and dressed like that for years. He is not ethnically a Zulu (he his code name picked for marketing purposes while he was a mercenary) which has the Zulu people ticked off at him.

 

[Mr. R]

4 hours ago, archer said:

 

Alpha - unit strongman

Bravo - PR front man with minimal powers

Charlie - Vietnamese martial artist

Delta - speedster

Echo - Sound-themed gadgeteer

Foxtrot - a nine year old blond boy whose imagination comes to life

Golf - Scottsman who carries a club and wears a kilt

Hotel - One of the Trump scions

India - Multi-form woman who has elephant and gurkha as her primary forms

Juliett - obese Italian matron named Julie who can eat, and bite though, anything

Kilo - density increase powers

Lima - super-athlete from Peru

Mike - infiltration specialist, particularly parachutes ("Drop the Mike!")

November - of White Russian descent (non-communist dissenters who were hunted to the point of extinction during the Soviet era). Grew up living off the land in Siberia and has a massive hatred toward the remaining communist regimes

Papa - Russian and former communist patriot hero. Would like to see Russian nationalism succeed and bring back a communist state. Bitter rival with November. Mind control and general manipulation expert.

Quebec - a Quebec separatist who has been suspected of various terrorist activities but nothing ever proven. Having her on the team is a way of bringing separatists to the table but not promising them anything.

Romeo - French movie star turned superhero after he was kidnapped by cultists and his mutation turned. Vain and a bit pompous but his striking appearance covers many flaws.

Sierra - ecology activist with elemental powers

Tango - filthy rich playboy who solves his problems by writing a check...or by a blast from his power armor.

Uniform - duplication powers make him a one man army. Or at least it would if he could learn to use weapons properly. More than a little unluck, near-sighted, colorblind, dyslexic. Only speaks and reads English.

Victor - Kumite champion twice marks him as one of the deadliest hand-to-hand combatants on the planet.

Whiskey - Grew up on the Tennessee/Kentucky border as the son of a moonshiner. When his mutation turned, he used his flight powers to help distribute product and used his blast powers against the police a couple of times, which ended up with him having to flee the US. The UN offered to mediate in exchange for his services but as of this moment, he cannot operate in the US or US territories. He's learned the Drunken Monkey style of martial arts because he thought it sounded cool.

X-Ray - teleporter, energy projector, and communications specialist.

Yankee - Appears to be a burned out hippie dude wearing an Uncle Sam costume. But he's a savvy defensive fighter with a small amount of super-strength and a pocket full of patriot-themed non-damaging gadgets.

Zulu - An African warrior who appears garbed as a traditional African warrior. He's extremely ticked off at the Black Panther movie because several people have accused him of ripping off his look from it, despite the fact that he's been around and dressed like that for years. He is not ethnically a Zulu (he his code name picked for marketing purposes while he was a mercenary) which has the Zulu people ticked off at him.

 

WOW!

 

Well I have some ideas now.  I'll keep them in mind when I get around to this project!

[archer]

On 8/8/2018 at 2:22 PM, Mr. R said:

WOW!

 

Well I have some ideas now.  I'll keep them in mind when I get around to this project!

You give me a sack of puns and I can spin out superhero teams for hours.

[Mr. R]

35 minutes ago, archer said:

You give me a sack of puns and I can spin out superhero teams for hours.

 

Good to know!