Mark Rand

Am I reading things wrong or does the Marvel Universe version of the United States Government distrust superheroes? If so, it and SHIELD's internal problems might be a reason for the formation of PRIMUS. I know it doesn't exist in the real Marvel Universe, but it seems like something they would do. This paranoia could also be the reason the federal government demands NSC staffers as liaisons to all superhero teams The other agencies are permitted to assign only assistant liaisons.

I'm looking at an image of the VR-041 Saber Cyclone in battloid form and I see the weapons this way. In the right CADS pod are tear gas canisters and an energy sword while the left one has web canisters and an electronic stunner.

JmOz, Lord Liaden, you make good points. I found, where I don't remember, the A.C.E.S. power armor that fires missiles, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters. If I do my own version, using a Robotech mech as a base, and give it two or three Voltron weapons, it might be cool.

I just reread the cyclone material. None have energy weapons, that can be set on stun. Oh well, back to a six foot, more or less, copy of Voltron. At least his weapons, being energy-based, can have a stun setting.

Actually, like all Avengers teams, this group has a list of contacts and liaisons in city, county and state government. Most of the support staff, as usual for the Avengers, is hired through the Stark Foundation. The team's housekeeper, Donna, however, a close friend of team member Lady Arcane, wasn't. Lady Arcane hired her. No surprise there, the team's base is her fastness. Of course, like all staff members, she had to pass a background check. By Presidential order, the NSC provides the federal liaison officer. Any other agency that wants to can provide assistant liaisons, observers or support staff. The NSC liaison is a middle-aged bureaucrat who doesn't understand computers. His FBI associate is a redheaded agent who can change into a mountain lion. His CIA associate always wears gloves. A skilled agent, she specializes in black bag jobs and can easily pass herself off as a world-class cat burglar. She and the team's technical manager, a kunoichi, or female ninja, who is also a reservist, get along well.

Actually, what I'm thinking is the team's liaison is an NSC bureaucrat. The CIA and FBI have sent female agents to act as his assistants. The CIA's is an expert in black bag jobs while the FBI's, a metahuman, can change into a mountain lion. The DOD actually sent staff, two pilots, computer analyst, a physician and a nurse. One reason for so many liaisons is that the mansion is the Mobius from Mystic Masters, a fourth edition book, with added gates and a kind-hearted lady ghost. One gate goes to a pocket reality where all life died out in 1969.

The campaign I'm working on is set in San Francisco in the Marvel Universe and has Avengers teams in various cities. (See the Southwestern Pennsylvania Avengers for more details.) I'm thinking of having the CIA, DIA, DOD, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA, NSC, San Francisco city government and SFPD each assign a liaison to the team. Why? Politics, and the fact that the agencies don't trust each other to distribute information fairly. In some cases, this is a sought-after position. In other cases, this is a way to get an agent away from headquarters that the top brass doesn't like. An example: The FBI has been played on some television programs and in RPGs and fan fiction as being self-important and sometimes incompitant. An agent who lets the local police or super team, who solved the case, take credit for it instead of claiming credit for it himself could find himself assigned to a superhero team in another city as punishment.

I just got a good look at the Robotech cyclones and they are cool. Now, which one of the three do I convert to a battlesuit for my campaign?

After much consideration, I'm going to base Avengers Mansion San Francisco on the Mobius from Mystic Masters, a fourth edition book. I'm adding more gates and a nice female ghost.

Do I have to point out again that we're talking about a human-sized suit of powered armor with a person inside it (like Iron Man), not the giant mech that inspired it?

In the series, which is a space western, the Galaxy Rangers are an interplanetary police force. All have spaceships and robotic horses. One team of four have Series Five implants that have to be charged before each mission. (An END reserve?) Ranger Captain Zachary Foxx has a bionic left arm and leg. By taping his badge he can increase his arm's strength or, with enough power, fire energy blasts. (A multipower, I think.) He rides Brutus and his personal AI is GV. Ranger Shane "Goose" Gooseman is a supertrooper. When he taps his badge, he triggers his bio-defences. (A metamorph limited to human size and mass?) His robotic horse is Triton and Alma is his AI. Ranger Neko has psi powers. Tapping her badge turns on a psi amplifier. (Psi VPP, RSR, change in an instant?) She rides Mel. Ranger Walter "Doc" Hartford is a computer expert. When he taps his badge, super computer programs come from his CDU. (This one I haven't figured out.) He rides Voyager, who has a few chips loose. Is these four considered supers?

In the series, which is a space western, the Galaxy Rangers are an interplanetary police force. All have spaceships and robotic horses. One team of four have Series Five implants that have to be charged before each mission. (An END reserve?) Ranger Captain Zachary Foxx has a bionic left arm and leg. By tapping his badge he can increase his arm's strength or, with enough power, fire energy blasts. (A multipower, I think.) He rides Brutus and his personal

Actually, I prefer the Lion Force Voltron. In fact, this is the followup of my thread on the powered armor version of Voltron. Here are the weapons. Human Form Blazing Sword, 3D6 HKA, armor piercing or stun-only blade Blazing Bow, stun-only EB or normal killing damage done by a hunting arrow Electroforce Cross, 30 STR TK, only to push objects away Electrosaber, 2D6 HKA double-bladed sword or stun-only EB Spinning Laser Blades, 2D6 stun damage or normal killing damage done by a throwing star Lion Lariet, entangle Eye Beams, normal settings of a PRIMUS blaster Lion Torch, standard killing damage of a flame thrower Lion Head Attack, (suit's hands) double knockback for strength Lion Form Tail Laser, normal settings of a PRIMUS blaster Claws, normal HKA of a panther Lion Road, presence attack

I know mechs are big. This one, however, I hope, is a human-sized copy of a large one with powered-down weapons.

Has anyone done anything with the rangers from the television series Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers?

A young inventor, facinated by mechs from comics, television and role=playing games, uses one as the inspiration for a suit of powered armor. Once its completed and tested, he or she applies to the Avengers. Which mech should it be? What weapons does it have? If necessary, what can it convert into?

We're moving the California team to San Francisco. The campaign will soon follow.

The Pittsburgh in the Marvel Universe thread is up. I'm changing the team's technical advisor's heroic identity to Nekokami (Japanese for Spirit Cat). Of the two government liaisons, the pencil pusher is a middle-aged accountant who never learned how to use a computer. His partner, on the other hand, is knowledgable about high-tech stuff and gets along well with the team's technical manager. She also has the skills to convince most crooks that she's a world-class cat burglar.

Raideen would work, too. All you need to do is make the screamer hawks missiles hawk-shaped energy blasts with the noise coming from the emitters. The rest has been covered.

I forgot a few things. Pittsburgh is having a financial crisis. Discussions are getting underway to build a privately-funded arena for the Penguins. It might be in the Strip District. Construction has started on a motorsports complex on the site of Pittsburgh International Airport's old terminal building. It will be a 2.5-mile Indy-style oval with a variable-configuration internal roadcourse.

I came up with a different idea for DEMON once. The DEMON everyone knows is a decoy operation. The Morbanes use magic to communicate with the leaders of the decoy DEMON. However, they aren't the real bosses. They get their orders from "The Board". Said board members, all demons, are also the senior partners of Wolfram & Hart. Even their orders come from someone higher up. Who is it? I haven't decided. It might be Morgan LaFey. Of course, if you accept the Mists of Avalon version of Camelot as the true one, it wouldn't be her. By the way, according to a program on the Discovery Channel, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's tomb and the site of Camelot Castle have been found.

I'm starting a campain with an Avengers branch office in Pittsburgh. See the Southwestern Pennsylvania Avengers for details. In this thread, we're looking at Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. In Washington County, we have a motorsports complex consisting of a 2.88-mile road course, a dragstrip, a 1/2-mile oval and a go kart track. In Beaver County, a new thoroughbred track is under construction. It has an eight furlong dirt main track and a seven furlong grass track. (A furlong is one eighth of a mile.) Downtown Pittsburgh and the Strip District have new nightclubs opening up. The one in town has a Mid-eastern flavor and belly dancers. One club in the Strip District is very Goth and the other (actually a supper club) features stage magic. Oakland has two new bars, a Greek bar, with belly dancers, and a jazz club. Although the jazz club has no house band, the Jazz Angels have been playing there four nights a week since it opened. The old Buhl Plantarium and Institute of Popular Science is back, too, along with Jake, its old Zeiss Projector. The mansion that serves as headquarters for the Mid Atlantic Avengers is somewhere in the area. I want to put it on Millionaire Row, which is Fifth Avenue between Devonshire Street and Shady Avenue, but I'm not sure.

The basic idea is to simply take a mech from games, comics or television and use it as the basis for a human-sized suit of powered armor, like Iron Man's or Defenders. I chose the Lion Force Voltron because it's the one I'm most familiar with. What other mechs would work? What powers would they have besides body armor, flight, life support, high-range radio hearing and sight and hearing group flash protection?

I found my Shades of Black playest packet and the mansion plans are in it. I'll scan them to a floppy at work tomorrow (I don't have a scanner at home) and go from there.

Does anyone have plans of a mansion that would be a suitable headquarters for an Avengers branch team?