Spark

Honestly, if she is going to do all that you need her to do, a cat burgler wouldn't have the skillset. She needs organizational skills and a very detailed set of knowledge just to run personal security. Remember, burglers know security systems, how to get around them, and how to figure out when nobody is around. But they are not snipers (nor do they know how to prevent them). You've set up her role to be that of the Secret Service and her role seems to require more management, organization, cooperation, heavy planning, and failure mitigation. Instead of a burgler, the role you are describing is that of a secret service agent, or even an agent from another country that may have been turned (think Black Widow).

I'm also on the east coast and would be interested in playing!

The difference is that in the Champions universe mermaiding would be taught by ACTUAL mermaids...or at least those able to breathe underwater without SCUBA equipment.

Obviously there are muitliple organizations doing it...and if there is a chance to make money, PADI will be there.

FYI, "Mermaid" is an actual PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the primary SCUBA certification agency in the States if not the world) certification. It is a course that is offered frequently by many dive shops.

Very true. And that brings us to another thought, can we use CMU and Pitt or are there copywrite issues? If so, we need to come up with names to replace CMU and Pitt and Chatham and Carlow and...sigh

Not a bad idea. However, in a game we have THREE types of heroes: Player characters Support heros (that give color to the town, that can fill in gaps in skills/powersets, etc) Template characters that the players can each run (if they don't want to write their own characters). Each of these has a different purpose. That being said, having an already existing hero group would be a great place to start. If we carefully explain that you can use them or play them or replace them...well, this should all work. And THAT being said, my suggestions for purely and unashameadly Pittsburgh characters is... A power suiter, something unlinke the newer Ironman in that he/she would be much less configurable (no power pools). This character is often complicated to use so needs to be made simple. It should have big rivets, maybe even the US Steel logo (if we can use it...it is also the same logo the Steelers use so...) and should be more brick like with 6 or so charges of a variety of different missle/cannon like weapons (a mulitpower?) A martial artist/fighter that is more along the lines of Captain America. She could have a shield (that would look like the Pittsburgh city logo so wouldn't be throwable), and a hammer...get this....THE HEAD IS MADE OUT OF A PIECE OF STEEL I-BEAM! That should be able to be thrown...but then would have to be retreived. Not sure how to do that in Champions terms....maybe stretching as a linked power but using lockout to ensure they have to pick it up first. She would also have a utility belt that would have throwable attacks and flash bangs and other things (a big multipower with lots of limitations) A water elemental. Understand that the river is only really seen as an impediment to travel, an annoyance when the parking garages flood, and...well, mostly ignored by most residents. HOWEVER, they are there and in everyone's mind. So, we need a hero that can manipulate that water. The Cougar (or Panther or Mountain Lion or Catamount or whatever name you like for that 40 lb wild cat). They are indiginous to the area. This would be a cat-like super with fast reflexes and amazing fighting/acrobatics skills A few mutant siblings/twins/orphans...or... Pittsburgh, in recent years, has become a Mecca of sorts for tech (computers and robotics...kids taking parent's life work?) and medical research (genetics, surgery...experimentation?). These can be almost anything Should they have a theme to their powers (light, temperature, etc)? Maybe you have Thunder and Lightning or Fire and Ice or Dusk and Twilight. This is where you would get your hero that can move the entire group long distances for a battle. They could pilot the plane (in case no player has the skills) or just teleport the entier room somewhere or...whell, you get the idea.

I love this!! Oh, and there's so much more... There HAS to be two groups on social media, one that hates everything (and even spreads lies) and the other that are all fanboys. And, of course, a third that is simply the official line. As for how to include this in the book, I think the best approach would be to do some sort of columned presentation. If we allow three columns, each with a different approach that the GM/players could take. Of course the middle column is the moderate, middle of the road, approach. What would these three be? A "Golden Age", heroic, almost Homeric view where the heros are always supported and seen as saviors. Think of the original Superman movies A moderate view where the heros are sometimes good and sometimes bad and the official line will always support the heros, but some undercurrent would not. This would be similar to the MCU An extreme approach where villains are actively stoking negative social media views against the heros, the government is ready to arrest any super that isnt' one of "their guys". This dystopian viewpoint would be similar to most of the Batman movie approaches...POST 2000. I'd stay away from "Pussycats" altogether since there could be copywrite issues. Remember, the go-to costume of EVERY genX college girl (at least on the campuses I was on) was to wear something revealing, and clip on what could best be described as a "Josie and the Pussycats" ears and tail.

Interesting, but why diminutize the female version. Can they be the Iron Panthers?

This would most appropriately be done via one of the colleges like Pitt or CMU (or even Carlow). The big schools ALWAYS have radio stations for the students to run. It isn't a stretch to go one step farther to TV...or more precicely a streaming service of some sort. On a side note, because of Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood (and a few other public TV shows), we're probably best staying away from involving public TV in our publication. Of course, the individual game masters can do whatever they want.

WOW!!! THIS is the kind of deep dive I would do! You EVEN included the major out-of-market SportsNet Pittsburgh (which is how those not in the Pittsburgh area mostly get their PGH sports).

My intent here is NOT to be political. However, this poltical meme really drives home what people in Pittsburgh (even those that MOVED there from outside) think about people with no ties to Pittsburgh. Dr. Oz is running for Senate to represent the entire state of Pennsylvania. He's running against a guy from the Pittsburgh region. AND yes. This image is a stop pic of a guy holding a blank piece of cardboard with the words photoshopped onto it. Oh, and for the record, "Yinz" essentially means the plural "you" as in, "Yinz ready for lunch?" And, those "from" Pittsburgh are often PROUDLY called "Yinzers".

And THAT is the last time I'm posting something from my phone. I can't ever seem to properly proof read. Sorry about that, but I hope you all got the gist of my thoughts. Also, the founder MAY be Reginald Edward Acton (R. E. Acton). He would have had no children but would have sold off the shares and donated many millions to social projects around the city (similar to Andrew Carnegie...which, by the way, is pronounced car-NEG-ee). Carnegie donated mostly to museums and libraries (in fact, founding those systems in Pittsburgh). Acton would have donated to orphanages (which were dismantled by the 70s) and many, many programs to help children (like summer camps and arts programs). This way, nothing existing in the city today would need to be renamed, BUT all kinds of programs and events can be named in honor of this corporate magnate (serving the superhero purposes for our version of Andrew Car-NEG-ee).

There were, of course, a number of influences including Stark AND on Edna (from the Incredibles) who those writers were trying to make into a sort of Q from James Bond (but styled her on a costume designer). However, I've used things like this before (although not acronymned REACT since I came up with that this week). Essentially you have a need in super hero games for an armorer. This fills that niche. AND, in our case, it really fits into the city of Pittsburgh as a modern day technical/medical hub.

I don't know aobut the box or anything else, but I can't get images of Bloom County out of my head.