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Mark Rand

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  1. Virginia bars can sell alcohol from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.   There are no restrictions at any time for club licensees.

     

    The Light-Fingered Lady is a cat burglar-themed bar.  The staff there, and most customers, dress the part and talk softly.

     

    Zorba’s is a Greek bar.  Belly dancers perform nightly from 9 p.m. to closing.

     

    Jake’s is a jazz bar.  The Jazz Angels, a six-piece all-female jazz band, plays there Thursday through Sunday nights.  The keyboardist switches between a Korg M3 synthesizer and a Yamaha CP-70M electric piano.  Other members play drums, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, and a clarinet.  The guitarist and keyboard player are the vocalists.

     

    The Corral is a country-western bar.  The Cowgirls, a trio, plays there Thursday through Sunday.  One lady plays a violin.  The second plays an upright bass.  The third plays guitar.  The violinist hardly ever sings.  On Wednesday, Jody, who looks somewhat like the late Patsy Cline, performs her songs.

  2. The swank Birdmore Hotel is 20-stories tall.  There are tropical birds in giant cages in the lobby, and there are statues of swans out front in the fountain.  The whole hotel is filled with chandeliers and shiny brass.

     

    The Coastal City Institute consists of the main branch of the Coastal City Public Library, the Coastal City Music Hall, the Coastal City Natural History Museum, and the Coastal City Museum of Fine Arts.  The music hall isn’t internally connected to the other parts of the institute.

  3. In addition to the University of Coastal City, which has its own port, the area is home to Coastal City University, which has schools in the health sciences, including a respected medical school.  It also has schools of engineering, business, law and fine and studio arts, drama, music, and dance departments.  It is also home to the Coastal City Planetarium, where the  Physics and Astronomy's astronomy classes are taught.  The planetarium itself is also open to the public.

  4. Denise Dumont, from the 4E book Everyman, is the team's federal liaison officer. 

     

    Bonnie Knight, an electronics and mechanical genius, is the team's technical expert.

     

    Caitlin Hawke is the team's pilot.

     

    Margo LaFleur, from the 3E book To Serve and Protect, is the team's super-efficient secretary.  She shares her desk, and life, with her white cat, Dinah.

     

    Detective Lieutenant Samantha McDonald of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, also from the 3E book To Serve and Protect, is the team's liaison with the local authorities.

  5. The Champions are based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Millennium City, Michigan.  The base is at the Hazelwood Green test track location and consists of three buildings.

     

    The First Building

     

    Sticking out of the green roof are the hangars for the helicopter, supersonic VTOL jet and sky-cycles along with the antennae and weather instruments.

     

    4th floor (Secure) staff living quarters, kitchen, dining room, pantry, cleaning supply closet, and laundry. 

     

    3rd floor (secure) superhero living quarters, family room, and fiction library

     

    2nd floor (secure) security, communications/monitoring, electronics workshop, medical, reference library, trophy room

     

    1st Floor (Low, office building like security): lobby, a set of variously sized conference rooms, and a general-purpose lab.  This is what everyone THINKS is the lab but only is used when visitors need to see the lab.  Someone brings up the equipment or devices or whatever it is that should be analyzed in the lab without anyone actually knowing what kinds of labs the base has. 

     

    Basement (The most secure, and hidden): labs/workshops, workout rooms, backup generator, computer mainframe, future home of a danger-room (maybe in a sub-basement).

     

    The second building is the garage and repair shop for ground vehicles.  In front of it is a paved area that can act as a landing pad.

     

    The third building houses the auditorium for press conferences and the clerical and PR offices.

     

     

  6. The New Urbana Galleria (from the 5E book Champions Battlegrounds) could replace the defunct Century III Mall is the suburb of West Mifflin a couple of miles from Allegheny County Airport.  There would be no Memorial Park from the same book.  The National Aviary is on the North Side, both Schenley and Highland Park have lakes, most parks have athletic fields and statues, and Frick Park has many running trails/

  7. The New Urbana Galleria and Memorial Park (from the 5E book Champions Battlegrounds) are located in Bristol Township, which is just north of Gotham City.

     

    The city’s three main institutions of higher education are the University of Gotham, Gotham State University, and Glendale Technical Institute.  The University of Gotham is based on the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.  Gotham State University (which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church) is based on Duquesne University (which is also affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church).  Glendale Technical University is based on Carnegie Mellon University and is in Sommerset Township, which is on the mainland.

  8. We are in the Champions Universe.  Batman’s hometown is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Gotham City.  We are using the Dark Champions Animated rules.  The power level is standard, 400-points plus 75 in complications.  Point totals don’t have to be exact.  Close is fine.

     

    The heroes have to be at least 16-years-old.  Those of high school age use the Teen Champions rules.  Heroes attending high school attend Taylor Allderdice High School.  Those attending college attend the University of Pittsburgh.

     

    Each hero gets a utility belt with the following gadgets: 8 batarangs, 1 mini gas mask, 4 sleep gas pellets, 4 smoke pellets, a grapnel gun, 6 flex cuffs, night vision goggles, a Bat communicator, and a smartphone-size mini-Bat Computer (with instructions and cables).

     

    The heroes are based out of an auxiliary Batcave located in a hidden sub-basement of a townhouse occupied by Wayne Enterprises engineer Bonnie Curtis.  It has two armored Chevrolet C8 Corvettes, a repair area, a forensics area, and a computer that can be tied in to the main Batcomputer.

     

    Andrea Winslow is a pilot of STAT MedEvac 4.  Melody Samuels, RN, CFRN (Certified Flight Registered Nurse), is her usual flight nurse.   Deanne Marshall is their usual flight paramedic.

     

    The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department use the Explorer-based Ford Police Interceptor Utility as a squad car.  Some detectives use the Fusion Hybrid-based Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan.  The Pittsburgh Police Crime Scene Unit uses crew cab Ford F-150s with a camper shell as their vehicle.  The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire uses the Chevrolet Tahoe as a chiefs’ car.

     

    Due to increased air-space surveillance by the authorities, Batman was forced to ground his flying fleet and rely instead on “borrowed” WayneTech aircraft operating from hangars at Pittsburgh International Airport.  Batman has the Jet-wing, a flight pack featuring two large, metallic wings that could also be used as shields, a jet pack for propulsion, and small rockets.  

    The Honorable Ed Gainey is the mayor of Pittsburgh.  Lee Schmidt is the Director of the Department of Public Safety.  Chief Larry Scirotto is head of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.  Chief Darryl Jones is head of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and supervises the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.  Chief Amera A. Gilchrist is head of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services.  Dr. Wayne N. Walters is Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools.

     

    Rich Fitzgerald is the county executive of Allegheny County.  Sara G. Innamorato will succeed him in January of 2024.  Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Esq. is the District Attorney of Allegheny County.  Kevin M. Kraus is the sheriff of Allegheny County.

     

     

     

  9. The Joker is a clown-themed, prank-loving villain and Batman’s arch-enemy, who leaves behind jokes as clues to his next crime.

     

    Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot / The Penguin is a penguin-themed gentleman thief who uses his nightclub, The Iceberg Lounge, as his cover.

     

    Edward Nigma / Riddler is a criminal who leaves behind riddles as clues to his crimes.

     

    Selina Kyle / Catwoman is a cat-themed jewel thief and cat burglar in a complicated love-hate relationship with Batman.

     

    Jervis Lewis Tetch / Mad Hatter is inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to commit crimes.  He uses his mind control technology to bend people to his will.

     

    Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze is a scientist who accidentally spilled cryogenic chemicals on himself while inventing a freeze-gun.  Now requiring subzero temperatures to survive, he uses freeze-inducing weaponry and must wear a fully contained, refrigerated ice-suit.

     

    Pamela Lillian Isley / Poison Ivy, a former student of advanced botanical biochemistry, employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes.  She has the ability to control all plant life and can create new henchmen with her mutated seeds.  She is immune to all plant-based poisons.

  10. One interesting thing about the current Gotham City map was that it was created for the Clench / Earthquake / No Man's Land story line.  That's also when they named many features of Gotham City after DC Comics staffers who worked on the Batman franchise.

     

    Before that, the only semi-official map of Gotham City was the one Mayfair Games created for their DC roleplaying game.

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