Spark

I've spent a good bit of time all over PA (and NYC/NJ) and what I've found is there is a very hard dividing line between the Pittsburgh culture and the rest of the state and that line is the edge of the Central PA region (about 50 miles west of the state capitol). The differences are most stark in the language and sports affiliations (including which college you support...if you didn't go there). And, we can go a step further. The Pittsburgh "region" MAY actually be defined as the Appalacian/Alleghenny mountain range from Tennesee into upsate New York. This includes not only a similar linguistic pattern, but also very strong economic ties. You MAY even consider Pittsburgh to be the capitol of Appalachia. So, from a game perspective, you have thousands of square acres of mountainous land that is often sparsely populated and...well, who knows what goes on there, what aliens have landed, what villains have been experimenting. A lot of the land is visited only by hunters so the first signs of trouble may be discovered by them.

OMG, I'm in Central PA now too. Where are you? I'm in Harrisburg. And, I'm running a Champions game (taking place in Pittsburgh). My players will be here in about 4 hours so this morning is re-reading my campaign notes to prepare.

I get what you are saying, but if you are going to do a scenario guide and you are picking a specific location, it has to have the feel of that place. Otherwise, just write one up about a fictional town. The draw/appeal is often based on getting the feeling down. The reson the Godfather movies were so good was because Scorcese was able to make you FEEL the food and culture. The reason the Dark Night Rises was so good was because it really kept the look and feel of the city in which it was filmed (PITTSBURGH) right down to hiring several of the Piottsburgh Steelers as players on the Gotham Knights. So, if you are picking a city in which to do it, you should at least try to understand the city. And Pittsburgh is one of the few large cities left in the US that does have a unique culture.

Two things: I cannot stress this enough. While Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are in the same state, there are actually 4 distinct regions in that state AND two of them are between the two cities. The cultures of both are VERY different and there is a HUGE rivalry between anything from Philly that is in Da 'Burg...at least from the Pittsburghers point of view. The Philly folks don't know the rivalry exists. The Pittsburgh region really has ZERO connection to Philly (other than resenting it for having way too much voting power in the state). I get the push for a "Hero Burger", but honestly we really need to remove all references to Philly. It really is a sore point. To be truely Pittsburgh, everything should have shortened names (civies intead of civilian clothing, and while the sidekick line is REALLY a nice touch, it should be shortened to kicks or sides), should really relate to the local sports heroes (and local historic superheroes in this world) AND, you need to have at least ONE burger with fries and cole slaw on top as part of the burger, not as sides. This is called Primanti style...but I doubt we could use the Primanti name without special permission from the restaurant chain. We would just call it Pittsburgh style.

THE truely Pittsburgh thing is not really pineapple. But most locally grown places like that either incorporate ethnic Slavik foods (like perogies or halupkas), or more commonly name their burgers/sandiwches after local sports stars. AND, almost all burger joints have a PITTSBURGHER (Like a Pittsburgh Burger but the words are mashed together). It's most often the burger with all the fixins.

Are these villains, heroes, or non-affiliated superpowered NPCs? The point about all the sports teams (as well as the local hero team) being black and gold was that in Pittsburgh, the heros would be all in black and gold. The villains...well, Pittsburghers tend to hate the Cleveland Browns, Cincinatti Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots (for the NFL), and...the rest of the sports, well they get a little cloudy, but the majority of the city isn't as passionate about hating other teams in those other sports. I've noticed that even NON-FOOTBALL and NON-SPORTS fans still will tell you how much they hate the Steelers' rivals. Very bizzare. However, the anthropologist in me digressed. The point was that the black and gold theme is always reserved for the city's heroes. Pittsburgh centric villains would gravitate towards purple, orange, and maybe greens. Note: Back in the day, when Pitt was an NCAA football or basketball powerhouse, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Miami and Penn State where the most hated college teams. The last few years (at least pre-covid) I haven't noticed any college animosities at all (except West Virginia and Penn State who the GenXers and older still hate).

When running games, I've found that these "specialty meeting places" (like the bar for aliens) don't need to be bars. Sometimes they can be a coffee shop, other times they can be a specific restaurant or even a park. Changing the venue for each group enriches the depth of culture across the board. Also, I'm a HUGE fan these local spots mixing combatants and of non-combatants (on-villains hanging out with villains at their local spot). These can be hangers on or people who have no clue or friends or...well, it complicates things when the heros go in to bust heads, or when the hero's hangout is assaulted by some supervillain. NOW you have normals to protect on top of everything else. Remember, the real world is replete with nuanced shading of every situatiion making the simplest of decisions very complex.

The last time I was at Tree of Life was the summer of 91. I don't know anyone there anymore.

What a FANTASTIC framework!!! Thank you SCUBA! A couple things: First, I'm a scuba diver too. Probably heading to Florida to get some bottom time in a couple months. Until then...Quarries, cold, cold quaries, Just had to get that in there. Second, I can write fairly well. OK fine, my writing is somewhat...mechanical (I do a fair amount of technical writing). I'm happy to help out writing any of those parts. Third, for those writing, it may be helpful to start off with an hour on a Zoom call (or some other platform) to get everyone on the same page. I personally wouldn't want to go down a path only to find out it wasn't what the group wanted (I am a team player afterall).

Thank you Ninja-Bear for picking up on the Ben Franklin/Philly thing. A point to note is that most Pittsburghers do...not...like...Philly people. There is a bit of friction there (in part for political reasons and in part cause...well, the Eagles or Phillies). There are SOOOOO many other famous people from Pittsburgh including Andrew Carnegie (pronounced car-NEG-ee), several other early industrialists (Mellon, Westinghouse, Heinz), Fred Rogers, Andy Warhol, Roberto Clemente, and of course Jerome Betis (or almost anyone from the Terry Bradshaw/Steel Curtain era). With the AMAZINGLY rich history of steel production, it may be more beneficial to make the robot some sort of result of many years of steel production, research within the Westinghouse company, and...well, you can do a steampunk theme since the steel heyday was really between 1905 and 1965 (it completely collapsed between 1975 and 1985...very quickly).

Someone made a point about the costumes...a GREAT point to be sure. In Pittsburgh, ALL professional sports teams use Black and Gold as their colors (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins). The City of Pittsuburgh was the first to use the color combination, but I believe it is an ULTRA dark blue, almost black. The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) uses a variation on the theme: Blue and Gold. The blue and gold are darker and ligher depending on the year. As a result, in EVERY campaign I've run in Pittsburgh, the heroes have always worn black and gold costumes. In my game that kicks off NEXT weekend, they will be part of a paid superhero group (so I don't have to kill myself getting them all together). While some of them have costumes already, the group sponsor is requiring them to wear a black and gold version of their costume. In fact, they will be issued several versions of that costume: One with all their armor and equipment; One for PR stunts that looks similar, is sparkly, but has the dangerous parts replaced by fake things (that can store candy for kids or somesuch); One for lounging around the base; One for formal events (essentially a black tux with yellow cumerbund or vests).

OK, I think I'm caught up. A couple things of note: First, I went to the University of Pittsburgh (multiple degrees) through the 80s. It is when/where I learned to play Champions. We played a LOT of Champions (several sessions a week for YEARS) and it always took place in Pittsburgh. And because I think you are going to ask, you have my by about 15 years. Second, I just started running a pseudo-modern campaign, and while NOT living in Pittsburgh (we are 3.5 hours East in Harrisburg, PA), my players chose Pittsburgh (all of us either lived in the city or went to Pitt). The characters are written up. The NPCs are ready to go. It is HEAVILY Pittsburgh centric and HEAVILY tongue-in-cheek (or at least sarcastic). I'll add my thoughts to help your planning in my next post (to keep things cleaner). Third, Tree of Life? I hope the shooting didn't affect you much. What a horror. I had been there for services many times while in college. Oh, and Chag Sameach.