Mark Rand

I'm going to go with an open system for my nest play by post game, but some of my character notes will be in Hero System format. I'll make all the dice rolls.

It should be the GM's call. For my game, they'll be neutral with some detectives willing to assist, provided that they get credit for the arrest. PRIMUS has a couple of intelligence agents in the city who get into jurisdictional spats with the FBI.

I might just call them "The Pussycats". The ladies could wear clip-on black tails and headband ears with their blue and gold street clothes. The paint scheme on their van includes the phrase, "The Pussycats Prowl With Pitt".

It has been the headquarters for Gulf Oil Company and a nesting spot for Peregrine falcons. And now one of Downtown’s most iconic buildings may become a stop for travelers and a haven for residents. Gulf Tower, a 44-story skyscraper that opened 90 years ago, could be converted into a luxury hotel and condominiums or apartments under a plan being explored by New Jersey-based owner Rugby Realty. Aaron Stauber, Rugby principal and president, said Thursday his company has started talking to potential developers about partnering in the venture. “The preliminary discussions we’ve had over the last couple of days is that this is something we want to move forward with,” he said. The conversion is being considered at a time when the historic skyscraper — built to be the headquarters for the Gulf Oil Company — is about 50% occupied after a fire shut it down for nearly six months last year. Mr. Stauber said the blaze actually served as the genesis for internal discussions about the future of the building, which might be best known for the brightly colored weather beacon that sits at its very top. Rugby, he said, spent about $40 million rebuilding some of the tower’s infrastructure in the aftermath of the incident. The fire also gave the firm a chance to figure out what might be the best plan for the building going forward. From those discussions emerged the idea of a possible conversion that would include a luxury hotel and residential units. The building, located at 707 Grant St., lends itself to such a change, Mr. Stauber said, because the elevators run up the center of the structure. That would make it easier to alter the floorplates to accommodate hotel rooms or residential units. While plans are still in the very preliminary stages, Rugby is looking to put a luxury hotel with 150 to 170 rooms on the first 12 to 13 floors of the tower, with 190 to 215 condos or apartments above that. Although Gulf Tower has 44 floors, only 38 currently are used for offices. The rest house mechanical, air handling and other equipment needed to run the building. Rugby also is considering converting one of two basement floors now used for storage into parking. On the hotel side, Mr. Stauber is aiming high — hoping to attract a high-end operator like Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons or St. Regis. “We’re talking about a grand hotel that would be one of a kind in the city,” he said. Some of those operators, he added, have done in Florida the kind of hybrid hotel-condo development that he is contemplating in Pittsburgh. Those have been very successful, he said. “That got us to exploring the notion of turning the Gulf Tower into a similar concept,” he said. Rugby still hasn’t decided whether it will do condos or apartments on the residential side. Another possibility would be to offer condo hotels — an arrangement in which the condo owner offers the space to the hotel to rent when he or she isn’t there. As for the Gulf Tower’s current office tenants, they have leases, Mr. Stauber noted. Since the discussions involving a possible residential and hotel conversion are still in the exploratory stage, there’s no need to engage them right now. “Once we have all of our ducks in a row, we can have discussions about what we want to do,” he said. But he added those that have heard about the plan have provided “positive feedback.” Since 2001, the opening of PNC Park across the Allegheny River, fans have noticed that after Pittsburgh Pirates home-runs, the “beam” light flashes in celebration. Recently it was revealed that the afternoon and evening receptionist at the lobby desk was the one responsible for this fan favorite, following the games on her cabinet radio. The slogan “Flash the beam, Regina – that one’s out of here!” has gained popularity among Pirates fans recently. The KDKA Weather Beacon, the most recent weather beacon to adorn the pyramid atop the tower, was officially dedicated on July 4, 2012. In partnership with KDKA-TV, the Gulf Tower has been retrofit with a modern, automated LED weather beacon that will tell a more complete forecast than ever before. The Design concepts were created & implemented by the Design Team of Cindy Limauro and Christopher Popowich of C & C Lighting, LLC., a Pittsburgh based company. It will also feature holiday displays. Hearkening back to the original 1950’s beacon, the entire pyramid will once again change colors at night depending on the current weather conditions. The new color-coded, tiered system works as such: Floor By Floor Breakdown 44th floor – temperature 43rd floor – temperature 42nd floor – temperature 41st floor – precipitation 40th floor – humidity 39th floor – wind speed Temperature Dark blue – <0 °F (−18 °C) Med blue – 0 to 32 °F (−18 to 0 °C) Light blue – 33 to 49 °F (1 to 9 °C) Amber – 50 to 65 °F (10 to 18 °C) Orange – 66 to 79 °F (19 to 26 °C) Red – >80 °F (27 °C) Precipitation Red purple – >.25 in (0.64 cm) Blue purple – ≤.25 in (0.64 cm) Humidity Light green – <50% Dark green – ≥50% Wind Speed Magenta – >10 mph (16 km/h) Pink – ≤10 mph (16 km/h) Sources: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (information about possible conversion) and Wikipedia (Gulf Tower lighting)

I have two more groups for you. The first is the Panther Cubs, a University of Pittsburgh-based version of Josie and the Pussycats. The trio consists of a guitarist, a drummer, and a bass guitar player who, occasionally, switches to two tambourines. Their costumes are like those of Josie and the Pussycats, but have panther (cougar) coloration. The second is the Jazz Angels. The all-girl group consists of a keyboardist, a guitarist, a drummer, a bass guitar player, a saxophonist, and a vocalist.

Here's more Pittsburgh media stuff. Pittsburgh area antenna towers.doc

I doubt it. They were under the various buildings and not connected to any other. There are, as far as I know, no entrances to the coal mines in or around the city. While there are subway and utility tunnels, they don't connect, in real life, to something like the Morlock tunnels in Marvel comics.

The Hero Store should have the PDF. DriveThruRPG probably does, too.

Television The Pittsburgh TV market is currently ranked as the 23rd largest in the United States by Nielsen. It has recently gained distinction as one of the most competitive. (In the listing below the table, network O&O’s are denoted in bold.) The market is served by: Channel Call Sign Network Since Digital subchannel Digital Subchannel Owner 2 KDKA CBS 1949 (Jan. 11) Start TV CBS 4 WTAE ABC 1958 (Sept. 14) Cozi TV -- Hearst 11 WPXI NBC 1957 (Sept. 1) Me-TV -- Cox Media 13 WQED PBS 1954 (Apr. 1) Create Neighborhood 16 WEPA-CD Cozi TV 1989 (Feb. 28) Movies! OTA Broadcasting 19 WPCW The CW 1953 (Oct. 15) CBS 22 WPNT MyTV 1978 (Sept. 26) Sinclair 31 WIIC-LD 1989 (Aug. 29) Abacus Television 39 WBYD-CD JTV 1990 (Jul. 25) Perez Broadcasting 38 WINP ION 1953 (Aug. 31) Bounce TV Court TV Ion Media 50 WPCB Cornerstone 1979 (Apr. 15) Cornerstone 53 WPGH Fox 1953 (July 14) ZUUSCountry Sinclair PCNC 1994 (Jan. 1) Cox Media AT&T SportsNet FoxSports 1986 (Apr. 13) AT&T Sports Networks PanthersTV Pitt 2010 (Sep. 21) VHF: KDKA 2 (CBS) WTAE 4 (ABC) WPXI 11 (NBC) WQED 13 (PBS) This PBS member station is a major contributor to national media as the source for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, National Geographic Explorer, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. UHF: WEPA-CD 16 WPCW 19 (CW) WPNT 22 (MyNetworkTV) WIIC-LD 31 WBYD-CD 39 WINP 38 (Ion) WPCB 40 (Cornerstone) WPGH 53 (FOX) Cable news stations: Pitt Panthers TV Pittsburgh Cable News Channel AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh Digital television stations: KNNP-TV

Parts of the city are over old coal mines, a few theaters were built below ground level, and some buildings have underground parking.

Two from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. When Point Park University debuted its new Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown in 2018, it came with the requirement that an outdoor courtyard and second floor terrace would be open to the public. But with some now treating the spaces as a “Downtown urinal,” the university is seeking to fence the area in and close off access overnight — a proposal that doesn’t sit well with city planners. Under the proposal, the public would have access to the courtyard and terrace from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. After that, the spaces would be closed off to the public unless someone is attending an event or is a guest of the university. In making the case for the changes, Shawn Gallagher, Point Park’s attorney, told the commission that the spaces have become “a haven for criminal activity” after hours. “If you walk by, it’s like a Downtown urinal,” he said. “It’s been very problematic keeping it clean and getting rid of the smell. If you walk by, it’s kind of overwhelming.” A parking lot collapsed in Penn Hills on Tuesday night, taking over a dozen cars with it. No injuries were reported. About 125 yards of pavement along the 11000 block of Frankstown Road sank in the ground around 6:15 p.m. According to Penn Hills police Chief Ron Como, the lot fell into what used to be an underground parking garage and is now an abandoned warehouse. Emergency workers were searching below ground to make sure no one was in the space, as squatters have been located there before, according to Chief Como. There is an apartment building next to the site of the collapse, and it has been condemned, according to Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV. Chief Como said he got a call around 6:30 p.m., alerting him that parts of a parking lot had collapsed, taking 14 cars with it. One woman was in a car in the lot at the time, but she was rescued by responders and sustained no injuries. The lot is in front of an apartment building that houses about 50 people, the chief said. Code enforcement is in the process of determining the structural integrity of the building and surrounding structures.

Yeah, but the companies that provide these services, and a lot of customers, especially politicians and celebrities, would be angry.

Here's two more. Triggering a country's earthquake faults. Wiping out social media and/or streaming services.

In real life,since 1983, Schenley Park has been home to a vintage motor sports car race, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, that takes place annually in mid-July. However, in the Champions Universe, this might be its first year. Think of the havoc a guy like Ted Knight's character from Caddyshack could create if he's the chairman of the race committee and he and his friends, none of which race, are the race committee, especially when he wants his grandson to drive the Lamborghini pace car instead of the Sports Car Club of America driver that should.

I'm going to use the fourth edition rules along with the Ultimate series books from the fifth edition rules.

One other idea is to threaten to blanket the world with electromagnetic pulses, wiping out everything electronic. As a demonstration, Moscow, Beijing, New York City, or Washington, D.C. would be hit with a pulse.

Washington,. D.C., or New York City would be better.

A reference to, I think, Sesame Street.

It should be something to see.

The following is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Heinz Red Zone will remain at Acrisure Stadium. And one of the big ketchup bottles could be returning as well. Kraft Heinz and the Pittsburgh Steelers have reached a verbal agreement on a new five-year deal that will maintain the global food giant’s presence at the North Shore stadium even after it lost a naming rights battle to Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acrisure. “We’re happy to say we’re going to continue to work with Heinz. Heinz is going to continue to be a corporate partner of ours,” Ryan Huzjak, Steelers vice president of sales and marketing, said Thursday.

Nice. The film studio could be a front for some criminal enterprise.

Interim superintendent Wayne Walters has been picked as the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ next permanent leader. (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

In real life, the rails have either been removed, are being removed, or are going to be removed so that it can be used as a vehicle/pedestrian/bicycle bridge. In the CU, who knows.

Which one? The bridge closest to the blast furnaces is the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge (also known as the Union Railroad Rankin Hot Metal Bridge #35). It is out of service and it hasn’t seen a train in almost 40 years. The other bridge is the George Rankin Jr. Memorial Bridge.

The Carrie Furnace site