Mark Rand

9 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Humm...

Should there be any comic book specialty shops still in existence in Pittsburgh. 

 

Milwaukee still has Collector's Edge, and there still is Lost Worlds of Wonder. But the others are long gone.

 

In a related note, we lost our specialty game shop Napolian's some time ago. But we have a chain called Board Game Barister.

Eide's Entertainment on the edge of the Strip District and Phantom of the Attic in Oakland are comic book specialty shops.  Both also sell things related to comics.

On 4/24/2022 at 6:47 PM, Steve said:

It would be cool for Pittsburgh to have a bar catering to alien supervillains, like having the cantina of Mos Eisley right here on Earth.

We can put it on West Carson Street in the borough of McKees Rocks, disguised as a house.  There are sections of it where there are only a house or two.

13 minutes ago, steriaca said:

I'm not that old. But...

...I vaguely remember Burget Chief. There was also Bob's Big Boy, but just because it is absent in Milwaukee now doesn't mean it is gone from the US. Also Arthur Theacher's Fish and Chips. I never ate at Arthur's, but I remember what there outsides looked like.

 

But enough about our off topic stuff. Should Heroburger be a single restaurant, a local chain, or a national chain? I picture it as a local chain myself (big enough for the state Pittsburgh is in, and the surrounding states), but that is just me.

 

And yes, I know Heroburger has no direct thing with anyone. It is just something for the background. Like the DC UniversU's chains of restaurants (Big Belly Burger , Batburger [home of the Jokerized fries], etc.)

Local chain based in Pennsylvania, but in the Mid-Atlantic states, too. 

There are also a number of Pittsburgh-area chains like B/G, George Aiken, and Palmer's as well as Essie's Original Hot Dog Shop and Forward Lanes.  In real life, they're gone, but not in the superhero version of Pittsburgh.  Of course, it's just something for the background. 

My late father worked at the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.  Occasionally, I joined him and ate upstairs in the restaurant.  Good food there.  He also got tickets from the Pirates players who had rooms there and we parked there and walked to the games at old Forbes Field.

On 4/24/2022 at 7:27 PM, Mark Rand said:

That's one of the ideas behind The Light-Fingered Lady.  Sure, there are cat burglars there, but so are people who think the look is cool, and a few police detectives, some of which are known to be cops.  Detective Eve Belding, who was named for two characters on the Raymond Burr show Ironside, is a regular there, listening for leads.  She's also a good source of information about retired cat burglars who can give the heroes leads.

Deanne Granville, a former cat burglar who spend two years working for a federal intelligence agency instead of going to jail, is one of Eve Belding's acquaintances.

Tabitha's heroic identity is Sunspell, a role she inherited from her maternal grandmother.  A blue-eyed blonde, she's a green-eyed redhead in her heroic identity.  Her costume, like her grandmother's, has a lot of black and gold.  Her heroic identity is known to Detective Lieutenant Samantha McDonald, the Pittsburgh Police superhero liaison, who works out of Police Headquarters, which is located at 1203 Western Avenue on the Northside.

Edit: Sunspell's costume is a gold short-sleeve scoop neck leotard, black miniskirt and knee-high boots, gold opera-length gloves.  A black belt with belt pouches complete the outfit.

Retired Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is the namesake of multiple sandwiches, which are usually named using a pun on his last name’s similarity to “burger” or “hamburger”.  For instance, the Pittsburgh restaurant chain Peppi’s sells the “Roethlisburger”, at a price of $7.00, in correlation with his jersey number “7”, and also having ingredients that describe his playing style (scrambled eggs for “scrambler”, beef and sausage for his size and strength).  A Findlay, Ohio, restaurant named Tony’s and an Oxford, Ohio, restaurant named Brick Street also sell “Roethlisburger” sandwiches.

30 minutes ago, Spark said:

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.

That's one of the ideas behind The Light-Fingered Lady.  Sure, there are cat burglars there, but so are people who think the look is cool, and a few police detectives, some of which are known to be cops.  Detective Eve Belding, who was named for two characters on the Raymond Burr show Ironside, is a regular there, listening for leads.  She's also a good source of information about retired cat burglars who can give the heroes leads.

25 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Be careful.  Thomas Avery is the name of the Ancient One in the Doctor Strange tv movie. He might need a slight name adjustment before being put into the book. At least to avoid the slight chance to be sued by Disney.

His name was Thomas Lindmer.  Clinton Avery, formerly Dr. Arcane, was an NPC in a 3E module.

52 minutes ago, steriaca said:

The Clockwork is a hidden bar for the tech inclined, a place in the criminal underworld for mad scientist, robots, power armor agents, cyberspace spirits, and other technology based people to gather. While created by the underworld, it is understood that the place itself is neutral ground. A tech based hero sometimes goes there for a pint after patrolling the city, even if it is only a pint of oil and a small work bench to do some tinkering on.

There are a number of alleys in Pittsburgh.  All have "Way" designated the type of thoroughfare.  Some have addresses like regular streets.  It could be hidden in what looks like a house on an alley.

Another is The Light-Fingered Lady.  It's for cat burglars and people who like to dress like them.  Like The Clockwork, it's neutral ground.  The staff dress the part, too, with stocking masks under their ski masks.

As far as the occult world goes, Thomas Avery is an occult expert and retired mystic whose power has waned and has health issues.  He can provide background info and serves as a contact with the Trismegistus Council.  He shares his house with Marie Wells, his housekeeper, who might be a witch, Christina Valentine, a computer genius, Phoebe, his familiar, an orange tabby cat, and Muffin, Marie’s pet calico cat (her familiar if she’s a witch).  (It’s the GM’s call as to whether or not Marie’s a witch.)  There are also astrologers and occult bookstores in the city.

48 minutes ago, Spark said:

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 pseudoing-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.

Thank you for your greetings on this, the last day of Passover. 

The last time I was at Tree of Life was in April of 1990, when I was sitting shiva for my father.  At the time of the shooting I was home, in Bloomfield, getting ready for belly dance class.  Yes, guys do belly dance.  I didn't even know about it until my teacher got a call about it from someone.

10 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Imagine Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster being made of metal and dressed in colonial clothing. 

A metallic Herman Munster in colonial clothes.  Neat.  What's he called?

36 minutes ago, steriaca said:

He might have an electric robot sidekick. His name is Benjamin Franklin Stine after all. P

Okay!  What's the robot sidekick look like and what's it called?

2 hours ago, steriaca said:

The man, as I pictured him looking, dresses like Benjamin Franklin. What weapons can you think of which fits the picture of a guy who dresses like Benjamin Franklin and uses electricity as a weapon. 

The only things that come to mind is a hand-held stun gun and something, possibly hand-held, that shoots a lightning bolt.

52 minutes ago, steriaca said:

Prehaps not from his wrists, but from a kite.

A kite operated by remote control, perhaps from what looks like a smart phone, would be a cool device for a robber.  It could have any kind of device mounted to it, but the wrist-mounted stunner might be more practical in certain cases.  Of course, he could also carry a hand-held stun gun.

37 minutes ago, steriaca said:

A villain idea for the city.

 

Doctor Franklin Stine is a electricity obsessed mad scientist of an evil bent. He is also has an obsession around Benjamin Franklin. This, he dresses up almost like Benjamin Franklin and uses his invented electric inventions to commit crimes to fund his next experiment.

Nice.  He could use a wrist-mounted stunner that works like the ones used by Marvel's Black Widow.

One of the original concepts for Tabitha Clark was that she had been there costumed as Sailor Venus, complete with a plush toy Artemis.

Coyote the Trickster might give people at the Pittsburgh Comics Convention the powers and skills of the characters they're costumed as.

19 minutes ago, steriaca said:

I feel for you. And maybe I'm looking at my own future, considering I'm 52 myself, and only 15 years from retirement, and prime candidate to be murdered or killed because in films you don't talk about how far you have to go to retirement before dying. 

I'm almost 72 and already retired.  I spent 28-years working for the University of Pittsburgh as my department's courier.

6 hours ago, DShomshak said:

I don't really have anything useful to add, but when I set an adventure in Pittsburgh, just a couple tour guidebooks from my local library convinced me it's an excellent city for supers. Multiple world-class research universities, always reliable sources for characters and scenarios. One of which has the Cathedral of Learning, which is not only a cool setting for a super-scenario, it could also go in the old "Real Locations That Could Be Fantasy" thread. The PPG company HQ, which one guidebook described as resembling Superman's crystalline Fortress of Solitude. At least one of the surrounding mountains is riddled with old coal mines, ready for villains, monsters, or Mole People to inhabit. Cable cars. A histpory combining immense wealth, post-industrial blight with attendant crime, and a dazzling renaissance (but some of the old "bad parts of town" might still be there).

 

It all worked out really, really well! If that campaign ever re-starts, I may have to send the PCback for another visit.

 

Dean Shomshak

Yes, the PPG complex does look something like Superman's crystalline Fortress of Solitude and both Pitt and CMU are world-class research universities.  The mountain is, probably, Mount Washington, which was once called Coal Hill.  The cable cars are the two remaining funiculars, the Monongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline, both of which climb Mount Washington.

A couple of former Pittsburgh synagogues are Adath Jeshurun Congregation, later known as the “Margaretta Street Shul”, and Congregation B’nai Israel (the Children of Israel).

There is, in the game universe, a new B’nai Israel on Wightman Street.  Tabitha and her family worship there.  A Conservative synagogue, like the old one, it’s in an old mansion.  The chapel is the old ballroom.  The old dining room serves as the social hall.

58 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

 It can, but the points of view are limited, and the quality of the images are variable. It's better to go out, and bring a camera and a selection of lenses.

I might be the only Pittsburgh resident on these boards.  Since I'm almost 72, have bad knees, and can't drive, I'm relying on Google Images for good images of landmarks and views. 

21 minutes ago, Steve said:

It sounds like there should be one major superhero of the Jewish faith, which would certainly add to the city’s distinctive character.

Tabitha Jean Clark, a Conservative Jew, is going to get turned into a magical girl.  I'm not sure what her heroic identity will be, yet.

As it happens, I'm a Conservative Jew, too.  I attended Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation for a number of years.

Pittsburgh Area synagogues

Rodef Shalom Congregation is a Reform synagogue located at 4905 Fifth Avenue.

Congregation Beth Shalom is a Conservative synagogue located at 5915 Beacon Street.  This is the highest point in Squirrel Hill.

Shaare Torah Congregation is an Orthodox synagogue located at 2319 Murray Avenue.  The city’s beit din (rabbinical court) meets here.

Bet Tikvah is a non-denominational synagogue located within Rodef Shalom.

Congregation Poale Zedeck is an Orthodox synagogue located at 6318 Phillips Avenue.

Young Peoples Synagogue is an Orthodox synagogue located at 6404 Forbes Avenue.

Young Israel of Pittsburgh is an Orthodox synagogue located at 5831 Bartlett Street.

Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located within Rodef Shalom, at 4905 Fifth Avenue, until the building at 5898 Wilkins Ave is rebuilt.

New Light Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located in at 5915 Beacon Street, in Congregation Beth Shalom, until the Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation building it rents space in can be rebuilt.

Baal Shem Tov Shul is an Orthodox synagogue located at 6328 Forbes Avenue.

Beth Hamedrash Hagodol is an Orthodox synagogue located at 810 Fifth Avenue, in Duquesne University.

Temple Sinai is a Reform synagogue located at 5505 Forbes Avenue.

Chabad Lubavitch of Western Pennsylvania is an Orthodox synagogue located at 2100 Wightman Street.

Bnai Emunoh Chabad is an Orthodox synagogue located at 4315 Murray Avenue.

Beth El Congregation-South Hills is a Conservative synagogue located at 1900 Cochran Road.

Temple Emanuel of South Hills is a Reform synagogue located at 1250 Bower Hill Road.

Parkway Jewish Center is a Conservative synagogue located at 300 Princeton Drive.

Temple Ohav Shalom is a Reform synagogue located in Allison Park, PA.

In New American Synagogue is a department of Chabad Lubavitch of Western Pennsylvania located at 2116 Wightman Street.

Adat Shalom is a Conservative synagogue located in Cheswick, PA.

Congregation Dor Hadash is Pittsburgh’s Reconstructionist community.  It is located within Rodef Shalom, at 4905

Fifth Avenue, until the Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation building it rents space in can be rebuilt.

There are also a number of mikvaot, ritual baths, in  Pittsburgh.  The Jewish Women’s League of Pittsburgh Mikvah is located at 1722 Denniston St, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.   The Keilim Mikvah is located at Congregation Poale Zedeck 6318 Phillips Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.  The Men’s Mikvah Pittsburgh at the Lubavitch Center is located at 2100 Wightman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.  The Mikvah Lubavitch is located at 1 Yeshivah Way Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

Adath Jeshurun Congregation, better known as the “Margaretta Street Shul”, is a former Orthodox synagogue.  The building now houses a church.

Congregation B’nai Israel (the Children of Israel) is a former synagogue.  The synagogue closed in 1995 and the building was later used by the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School.  In 2021, ground was broken on a new project which will convert the building into apartments.

17 minutes ago, death tribble said:

As someone who is entirely British I had no idea who that was. She might be inspired by him, probably depending on whether you have her as a current hero or one from 1971 to 2000.

Myron was a Pittsburgh area sportscaster long associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Allegheny Valley School which provides care for more than 900 people with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, including Cope’s son who has severe autism.