Mark Rand

Re: The Avengers in the CU Running with the idea from Ghost Who Walks, Tony contacts Warder, a lady mage he'd heard about and explained the situation to her. He agreed to tell his story, under a truth spell, to her and PRIMUS agents. Once the agents leave, Tony and Warder talk. The new Avengers begin to take shape.

Re: PRIMUS superhero teams I was thinking about this again and came up with an interesting idea. The heroes, who are based at PRIMUS Pittsburgh, in Alleghny Center, were PRIMUS agents before becoming superheroes. Guardian is an Iron Guard agent testing a prototype armor, possibly for a new class of PRIMUS agent. Warder is a Wizard agent with mystical powers. (The Wizard agents are Intelligence agents with mystical skills and/or powers.) Spirit Cat is an Intelligence agent with training in ninjitsu and some mystical abilities. Backing them up is a team of ten assault and Intelligence agents and a few civilian staffers. Intelligence agent Beth Davies leads the team and reports to Silver Avenger Terry Kestler.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea What we're doing is, of course, Dark Champions: The Animated Series, Dark Champions motivations with Four-Color attitudes. Batgirl's first recruit is Longbow, an archer with trick arrows and his own motorcycle. Everyone that goes out has a utility belt. It's the one from Dark Champions and Gadgets and Gear with adjustments, as needed, by each hero. Although the belt itself is a multipower, there's also a 50-point gadget VPP to represent mission-specific gear on the shelf and personal equipment. (Batgirl's throwing blades are razor-edged batarangs. Longbow has an extra multipower of trick arrows. Mariko's throwing blades are shuriken and her gadget VPP contains ninja weapons. Christine's gadget VPP has burglar tools.) Although Batgirl doesn't want the heroes to use guns, she keeps a locked safe of weapons in the lab for weapons testing. She also accepts the fact that Christine has a government-issure 9mm Beretta 92F and, when she goes out, Mariko carries a CO2 pistol and her gloves have retractable claws that act like the Nekode, a ninja weapon and climbing device.

This thread is a tye-in to A Bat-ty Campaign Idea. In it, quirks, one point disadvantages are used. Christine is the DOSPA liaison assigned to Batgirl and her team. A former CIA operative, specializing in black-bag jobs, she transferred to the DOSPA and was assigned to the liaison pool after an enemy power accused the CIA of stealing top-secret data from that country and a disgruntled former agency executive spilled the beans and identified the agent as Shadowdancer, Christine's CIA code name. He died soon after, when a drunk driver ran him over. While in college, Christine acted in plays. While preparing to portray a fashionably-dressed woman in a play set in 1903 Boston, she learned to do everyday tasks with gloves on and decided to wear gloves all the time. Is her always wearing gloves a 1-point quirk or a psyc lim? What package deal is best for Christine, cat burglar, cinematic spy, or field agent? Would the CIA let her let her keep her burglar tools or would she have had to get them from contacts she'd made while working for the CIA?

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea A few short items. Shortly after he publicly exposed the truth about Shadowdancer, the disgruntled former agency executive was struck down by a hit and run driver. When the driver was caught three minutes later, he was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.12, way above the legal limit of 0.08. The clothing in the gymnasium and stores can be used either for disguises or dress up. April, Christine and Mariko spent a day trying on clothes and taking photographs with Mariko's digital camera. Everything was cleaned as needed.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Square six has a crematory on the east side and five buildings on its west side. From north to south, the buildings are: Shirly's Beauty Salon, West Jewlers, Bridal City, Thompson Midical Supplies and The Oasis. Bridal City sells wedding and evening gowns, gloves, shoes, and other accessories. The Oasis sells Islamic clothing. Square seven has a gravel path winding through a garden of cacti. Square eight is a 12-unit, two story apartment building. Each unit has its own garage and entry. (The garages and four of thge units are on the first floor. The other units are on the second floor.) Square nine can be best described as a statue and sculpture garden. The Washington Monument is in the center. Surrounding it are trees, rows of hedges, flower beds, fountains, statues and sculpture. All the clothing from the closets, outerware, footware, jewelry, purses and other such items were removed and placed, on racks and shelving, in the community center gymnasium. Everything else was cremated with the wearer.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea More stuff I forgot about square two. The community center is on the north side of the block, the church is on the south side, the rectory is on the east side the apartment building is on the west side, and the parking lot is in the center. It can be entered or exited from the east or west. Onward. Square four has a theatre on its west side and. from north to south, Office Depot, the East End Medical Clinic and Style Uniform Company on the east side. There are two bus shelters in front of the uniform store. One is the gate to the Batcave. The other is the gate to Lady Arcane's house. The theatre is equipped for movies, small stage shows and lectures. Style Uniform Company, like uniform stores of the 1970s, doesn't sale scrubs. Instead, it sales white and colored dresses and pantsuits, white shoes and stockings, white caps and other items men and women in uniform needed then. Square five has a Japanese garden, complete with a pond, tea house, bridges and restrooms. The only door is on the west side. More to come. Hopefully, some of it will be from you.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Back to square two for a bit. The church has a robing room. Against one wall are lockers that'll hold school books or purses and a rack of handbells. Next to a second wall is a coat rack with choir robes for the choir and albs for the lay readers and alter servers. Above them are plastic boxes. The ones above the robes have white gloves and the ones above the albs have cinctures. (When using a handbell, gloves are worn to keep oils, dirt and fingerprints off the bells.) The last wall has a full-length mirror and a cork board with schedules and the artical from the church newsletter about Jennifer. According to the board in the community center, belly dancing classes were held several different times on the day the people died. Two things were left out of the description of the block, a parking lot for church and community center vehicles and a building with six, two-bedroom apartments.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea A political note first. Kinsey has been arrained in federal court and denied bail. Now he's in jail. The House Judiciary Committee has asked the full House for permission to conduct an impeachment inquiry. They said "Yes." Quite a bit of evidence has been taken from Kinsey's house. The Judiciary Committee and the federal DA are sharing it. Kinsey's in trouble. Onto the gateway world. It's a three by three cluster of squares, each square 1200-feet per side. The odd squares contain gardens. The even ones contain buildings. Although April and Mariko traveled through it daily to get from Lady Arcane's house to the Batcave, it wasn't really explored until Cristine and Mariko explored it. Here's what they found. Square one is a formal rose garden. Square two has a church, rectory and community center. A blood drive has going on in the church. Due to her four years in her high school choir, Jennifer, the church custodian is an honorary member of the church choir and has her own robes. Although the Musical Director hopes Jennifer will change her mind, she claims that she has too much to do to become a full time choir member. Square three is an English hedge maze. The rest of the squares are coming soon. Comment is appriciated.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea In this post, we're taking a trip. To The Batcave! Batgirl's Batcave is accessable from an elevator that runs downward from the second floor of Wayne Manor and a staircase that leads to a hidden room in the mansion's basement. A second staircase in that room comes out behind the grandfather clock in her ground floor study. Besides the two staircases, the hidden room contains the Batcave's library, disguise and makeup equipment and Batgirl's costumes and utility belts. For those who are interestedk Marie makes Batgirl's costumes while Mariko keeps the utility belt equipment ready for use. The main floor has the garage for the Batmobile, the crime lab, a workshop and a restroom. The lab, with its double-sealed doors, has up to date equipment and the workshop has everything needed to design, build and repair equipment. A ramp from the garage leads through a two mile tunnel to the surface. Sub-level one has the gymnasium, restroom, trophy room, computer room and power and machine room. The computer room has the latest equipment. The gymnasium is equipped for all kinds of training. Sub-level two is occupied mostly by an underground river. Batgirl sometimes swims here. Next, we go through the gateway.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea The two posted Slayers, both trained as Jedi Knights, are ideas I've been kicking around in my head, but I'm not sure which one, if either, will be Gotham City's Slayer. The campaign focus is the Bat Team, a group, founded by Batgirl, to fight normal crime in Gotham City. Although the Slayer and her team mates know about the Bat Team, they're not members of it. Of course, the members of the Bat Team also know about the Slayer and her team mates. The closest the Slayer and her team mates come to the Batcave is Lady Arcane's house. When they visit, they come to consult with Lady Arcane, Christine or Mariko, or get first aid from Aprl.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea You could also use wooden pellets in the shotgun.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea I wonder what's better, having only one Slayer on Earth or a bunch of them? What do you think? There seems to be an understanding between Slayer and vampires that neither side will use anything more advanced than a crossbow. Even though a lightsaber has an energy blade, its still considered a sword. Lightsabers and stakes can be hidden in pockets and purses. Stakes, lightsabers, axes, disassembled crossbows and crossbows with retractable arms can be carried in a backpack. Swords can be hidden under coats.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea In a previous post, I mentioned that the impeachement for Vice President Kinsey had begun. For those who are interested, here is a discription of the process. Source authority: American Bar Association website. Step one: The House Judiciary Committee examines the evidence and determineswhether an official impreachent inquiry is warrented. This is where the proceddings against Kinsey are. Step two: If the Hudiciary Committee finds the evidence warrents it, they ask the House for permission to proceed. Step three: If permission is granted, the Jusiciary Committee, usually by conducting hearings, whether to offer articles of impeachment to the full house. Step four: The House votes separately on each artical, with a simple majority needed to impeach the official. Step five: Articals of impeachment are then presented to the to the Secretary of the United States Senate for trial. Step six: The Senate, sitting as a jury, tries the impeachment with the Chief Justice of the United States (Eveyln Baker Long in this campaign) as presiding over the proceedings. Next, we'll take a close look at Batgirl's Batcave.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Here are a few items pertaining to the previous post. Willow's mother, a seventh-generation white witch, teaches chenistry at Sommerset High School and sometimes assists Giles with ritual magic. White witches are sometimes called guardian witches. Black is the preferred color for patrols and Slaying. Everyone on the team always carries at least one stake and knows how to use crossbows and swords. Xander prefers an axe to a sword. The Amazons carry regular longswords. Keiko and Midori both carry their lightsabers at all times. Keiko's saber has a green blade while Midori's has a red one.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Our Slayer infornation is reasonable, if our universe is the post season seven Buffyverse. But what if it isn't? Here's one version. Merrick's retired and enjoying his grandchildren. His Slayer, Keiko Nakahara, didn't burn down her high school, which was in Atlantic City, not Los Angeles. Instead, she dusted the vamps. A fleeing teanager accidently caused the fire. Her mother, Midori, a nurse, and father, Thomas, an accountant, devorced while she was in high school. An uncle taught Keiko ninjitsu before she became the Slayer. After the incident in the high school, they transferred to the only school that would take them, Sommerset High School, in Sommerset Township, a suburb of Gotham City, New Jersey. The school colors ae blue and gold, the nickname is the Comets, and the Hellmouth is under the stage of thge high school auditorium. Her Watcher is Rubert Giles. Xander Harris is one of her friends. Another friend, Willow Carter, is a cute African-American woman with braided black hair that comes to her jaw line. Will is a computer hacker and eighth-generation white witch. Unknown to anyone but Keiko, her mother, who became the school nurse after the Go Fish incident, is a Jedi Knight who fled the Empire 19-years ago and taught her daughter the ways of the Jedi. Also unknown to anyone on the team, high school students Buffy Ann Xena Summers and her best friend Cordelia Gabrielle Chase and their mothers, Joyce Summers and Sandra Chase, both of which are gym teachers at the high school, are Amazons and decendents of the Amazon tribe once ruled by Gabrielle.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Oops, got the year Barbara's parents were murdered wrong. It was 1988, not 1987. Although its September 2004 in the real world, it's late June 2005 in the campaign. Henry Hayes became President in January of 2005. Robert Kinsey became Vice President then. Kinsey often insisted that President Hayes support the wealthy businessmen that got him elected. He refused. In early June, 2005, as Kinsey spoke to a group of wealthy contributors, federal agents arrested him for various crimes. The next day, the House of Representatives began hearings to determine of Kinsey should be impeached.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea I forgot to mention a few horse-related items in the post about tracks and horse arenas. The Gotham Raceway Parade Marshall wears Western clothes and her horses Leopard Appalossa (white with dark spots all over) mares are in Western tack. The Call to Post (actually The Call To Arms from the symphonic arrangement of Tales of Hoffman) is a recording. Nearthe track is the Gotham Horse Show Arena and Rodeo Grounds. While they prefer the riders to wear Western clothes, English riding clothes are permitted. At Gotham Downs, the Parade Marshall's white Arabian stallions wear English tack. The Parade Marshall herself wears English riding clothes. Their buglar is referred to as a horn blower. He sounds the Post Parade on a coach horn and, according to some people, looks like a circus ringmaster. The Gotham Hunt Club Arena owners require English tack on the horses and the riders to wear proper English riding attire.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Good point. Batgirl is quite capable of killing vampires and keeps two stakes in her utility belt. However, she only kills ones she catches feeding. In an average week, that adds up to two vampires. Sommerset High School is the only high school in Sommerset Township. It's colors are blue and gold. It's nickname is Comets. The Hellmouth is under the stage of its auditorium. The rest of this is adapted from a posting, by me, from my "Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the CU" thread. About 19-years ago, a dark-skinned female human Jedi Knight fled the Empire in the Starchild, a freighter equipped for her by a Jedi Master. Inside, besides her astromech droid, R2-Z4, or Zephyr, were her X-wing fighter and personal belongings, including Earth clothes and ID. After landing, she entered Gotham State University, met and married John Taylor, got her nursing degree, and had a daughter that she trained as she was. Now, as Ann Taylor, R.N., B.S.N., she's Sommerset High School's nurse and the mother of a Slayer and one of her Watchers. John Taylor, M.S. in library science, a dapper African-American man is Sommerset High School's librarian and, like his wife, one of his daughter's Watchers. Although he has some combat skill, he usually sticks to research and leaves the combat training to his wife. Ronna Taylor, Gothan's Slayer, is a 17-year old African-American girl with braided black hair that falls to her jaw line. Zephyr keeps the Starchild well hidden. Tammy Ward, one of Ronna's friends and team mates, is a redheaded Jewish computerhacker and eighth-generation white witch and Lady Arcane's cousin. Two high school girls, one blonde and one brunette, and their mothers are decended from the Amazon tribe Gabrielle once led.They provide the group with added combat strength. Everyone carries stakes and knows how to use crossbows, axes and swords. While on patrol, everyone dresses in black. The Amazons carry longswords while Ann and Ronna carry their lightsabers. (Ronna's has a green blade while Ann's has a red one.)

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Won't work. The film came out in 1998, after her parents died. (They were murdered in 1987.) There was, however, a Zorro TV series in 1990 that might have given her some inspiration. After all, this Zorro used gadgets and his butler was also an inventor. Source authority, The Internet Movie Database.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea How's this? At that age, Barbara, besides liking Pokemon, found superheros interesting. Her parents told her that Zorro was an old west superhero. She agreed to see The Mask of Zorro, if they agreed to take her to see Pokemon: the Movie the next week. They agreed and the rest is history.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea The undead do exist. Batgirl knows this and has even fought, and killed, a vampire. (Her CVK isn't against undead.) She also knows about the Hellmouth in the Gotham City area and the local Slayer and lets her and her allies deal with the undead.

Re: A Look at my Version of the CU I haven't seen any of the movies with them in it. I'll decide once I rent them. Right now, I'm working on a DC Elseworlds campaign idea. Instead of Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, Barbara Wayne became Batgirl. It's on the Dark Champions forum. I'll soon start a thread about that world there. It'll describe the world as the heroes know it.

Re: A Bat-ty Campaign Idea Like many big cities, Gotham has tracks and horse arenas. North of the city, and Bristol Township, are Gotham International Speedway, Gotham Downs, Gotham Park and the Gotham Hunt Club Arena. Gotham International Speedway is a 2.5 Indy-style oval with a 3.194-mile internal road course that has two shortcuts. With shortcut one active, the track is 2.940-miles long. With shortcut two in use, the track is 2.980-miles in length. With both shortcuts in length, the track is 2.700-miles long. Gotham Downs is a throughbred track. It was a 7/8-mile turf track inside the one mile main track. Gotham Park is a greyhound track. The Gotham Hunt Club Arena has an outside steeplechase course on its grounds. A resort hotel and a large shopping mall are near these facilities. Northwest of the city, near Eagle Air Force Base, are Gotham Raceway and Gotham Motor Sports Park. Gotham Raceway is a 5/8-mile harness track with an all-weather limestone surface. Gotham Motor Sports Park has a dragstrip, a 1/2-mile oval and a 2.88-mile road course. The drag strip serves as the main straight for both tracks and the oval's backstraight is part of the road course. A hotel and a strip mall (or shopping center) are also near these tracks. There are plans to hold the first ever Gotham Vintage Car Grand Prix on a 2.33-mile temporary street circuit through the now-reopened Robinson Park. Gothan International Speedway's pace car is a Pontiac Grand Am. Gotham Motor Sports Park's pace car is a Ford Mustang Cobra. The local region of the Sports Car Club of America's pace car is a Chevy Corvette.