Scenarios for CLOWN

[BoloOfEarth]

To quote from Hermit's quite excellent post:

 

 

Frankly, I loved C.L.O.W.N. but too often GMs use them as a way to humiliate PCs instead of make social commentary or poke fun at society. That's lead to a lot of hate for the group. I've started campaigns with folks online, asked what THEY thought of CLOWN, and it was not uncommon to have someone ask if they could buy five points off their CVK so they could list CLOWN as an exception.

 

*Sigh*

 

spoilsports.

 

Steve Long didn't like CLOWN either and so they stayed in CU Limbo. I don't think that's changed.

 

But for an unofficial 6th Edition twist on CLOWN?

 

Mmm... I have an idea. I'd have to go into details later, but a brief summary. A group of talented but frustrated individuals TRIED working with the system only to realize the system is stacked. Corrupt corporations do all sorts of unethical things and even when 'caught' they're charged with fees so relatively small they would rather keep paying them than stop.  Under flimsy excuses, some Law Enforcement agencies seize private property or terrorize people but are all but immune to prosecution for it.  Civil Rights are seen as optional.

 

At least, that's the realization they came to. Said group of civic minded folks, frustrated by complete failure and injustice at every turn stumble onto each other and have a good gripe-fest about it.

 

"There's no justice," Eddie frowned, "Hell, there's not even a sense of shame."

 

"I hear you, brother,"  Alan fumed.

 

"I bet we could," Andrew spoke up, lifting his head from his hands, a figurative light bulb going off.

 

"Bet we could what?" Eddie raised a brow.

 

"Shame them," Andrew grinned, "Think on it. These guys are above the law, but no one is above a little humiliation. That's why people fear cameras and the like... no one wants to be seen as the public's butt monkey."

 

Eddie sounded dubious, "You want to troll evil corporations, corrupt police, and other abusers of power?"

 

"Hell yes, I do," Andrew said with growing enthusiasm, "You take the most powerful and richest man in the world and make a laughing stock out of him, and people won't take them as seriously. It robs them of power, and that robs them of protection from other things."

 

"So would a bullet through the head," Alan snorted, "And it would be more certain."

 

"Hey now, that's a bit grim," Eddie frowned at Alan's comment.

 

"And backwards," Andrew said, "Killing's wrong, lives are one thing we all wanted to protect in our various endeavors, even the lives of scumballs. But their dignity? A dignity they don't deserve anyway? Oh god yes, I can see it. We'll prank them and make a public demonstration out of each and every one of them. We'll make sure everyone knows just WHY our targets where chosen. Some will say we're mean spirited, but let's face it, its not nearly as mean as these overstuffed bullies in suits have been."

 

"You really think a little bit of buffoonery will change anything?" Alan scowled uncertain.

 

Eddie had warmed to the idea, "Sure beats tilting at windmills without effect. If it helps one more innocent down trodden sap, it'll be worth it."

 

"Buffoon, that gives me an idea," Andrew took a note pad and started scribbling, "We'll need to protect our identities. We have resources, we'll need secrecy even while we expose our foes to the world."

 

Alan leaned over and looked at Andrew's note pad, noting the words, and the design drawn next to it,  "Merry Andrew the Buffoon?" He said, "That some sort of clown?"

 

Andrew kept scribbling, "Why not? There are thousands of Andrews around. And who better to topple kings than fools? The less seriously we're taken as threats, the more the public will realize our targets deserved it."

 

"This COULD get out of hand," Eddie warned, "But... I'm in for a bit of civic minded slap stick if you guys are."

 

Alan coughed into his hand, "I do know where we can get some gear, bullet proof fabrics and stuff. I'd still like weapons."

 

"Not weapons, gag items... gadgets with a theme, it's all part of the theme. And I know how to make them," Andrew grinned widely. Perhaps something had snapped in him, but if this was insanity, he welcomed it. Anything was better than the despondent futility he'd felt before this, "I can outfit you guys too."

 

"The three of us?" Alan still sounded doubtful.

 

"More will join in, more will come, there are people out there ACHING to upset the twisted status quo we're in," Andrew assured, "In a few years, we could be legion."

 

"Great, a criminal legion, that'll never end badly," Eddie chuckled doubtfully. In truth though, he was tempted as well.

 

"Not criminal, Civic," Andrew corrected, "A Civic Legion of Whacky Non-Conformists..aka C.L.O.W.N. We don't kill. We aren't in it for the money as a goal. We're here to make the world laugh at the cruel, to point fingers at those bully with the law, and to topple tyrants from high thrones. Some will call us criminals, hell, some will call us terrorists because that will allow them to bring a lot against us, but what we risk is worth it if we can finally make a difference."

 

Alan and Eddie exchanged looks, as if to say "He's crazy, you know that, right?" but also to say "I guess its catching"

 

"I'm in," Alan grinned, "Payback time on all those 'big men'." Of course, he wasn't completely in agreement. The others could do what they wanted, and Alan would join in on the looking silly, but if they were going to be risking their necks, he'd at least want a popgun of some sort.

"Like I said," Eddie put his hand out, "I'm always up for a bit of slapstick"

 

Andrew grinned and shook Eddie's hand, and then Alan's. And in that moment, CLOWN was born.

 

..................

 

In the following months, CLOWN made itself known.

 

A police sheriff who had been committing highway robbery in the name of 'civil asset forfeiture' came back to where his house should have been only to find it gone, completely and utterly removed down to the plumbing. It was being sold on ebay with proceeds going to the dozens of folks he'd taken cash and goods from on car stops.

 

The directer of an intelligence agency who had lied to congress and was twisting the laws to spy on millions found footage of his affair with a secretary put on a time lapse to the theme of the Benny Hill show on video sharing sites.  Also, numerous files of data had been replaced with multiple copies of 'Steal this Book', the bill of rights (With parts underlined) and truly bad poetry that the director had written in his teen years and thought destroyed.

 

The CEO of a car company that had been complicit in a defect cover up found her car suddenly appearing to lose control and going down a road that lit up with the fires of hell. All holograms and FX, of course, but as the fake 'gate' opened up before her, she begged God for forgiveness and confessed everything, never realizing someone had put recorders and camera in the same vehicle. This video was also released on the internet under the tag 'CEO LOSES HER ####"

 

Things did not always go smoothly. Alan was expelled when he crossed a line, but Andrew had been right. More and more people across the country, some with very special gifts, were inspired, and some were invited to join CLOWN'S ranks.

 

And the reaction of the superhero community varied from attempts to bring the troublemakers in to laughter and outright applause.

 

How's that for a 6th Ed CU version?

 

Reading the above got me thinking:  what kind of scenarios would be suitable for using CLOWN in ways that leaves them crossing swords with the heroes, without them necessarily trying to make the heroes look foolish?  I'm sure the creative folks here could come up with a few that would work well.

 

Full disclosure:  I'm starting a new Champions campaign soon and would be interested in finding ways to bring CLOWN into the mix, without causing a lot of hate among my players.  So I plan to blatantly steal borrow the ideas here for use in my campaign. And since my players don't frequent these boards, I'm more than happy to hash out and flesh out adventure ideas here.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Well, what the people of CLOWN consider injustice or a valid target may or may not be valid; on the other hand, Heroes might not have all the information CLOWN does and be protecting someone who is somewhat unsavory.  And then the heroes and CLOWN might work against the same target, but interfere with each other's plans and tactics, or approach.

[BoloOfEarth]

I'll start out with one:  many new hero groups could use corporate donations and sponsorship (read: free points toward Base, Vehicles, Agent equipment), so when the hero team is approached by MicroPear Computing with a deal on some cutting-edge computers, they likely welcome the idea.  Being paranoid, the heroes practice due diligence and make sure MPC isn't a front for VIPER, ARGENT, or some other criminal / terrorist / villainous organization.  Luckily, MPC passes muster in that regard, so the heroes can accept the company's offer of a free computer system for their base, with portable devices for the individual heroes.  (Say, 20-25 real points worth of gear.)

 

Well after the gear is all in place, the heroes hear of CLOWN hacking various MPC devices to force-display video ads for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ("Over 100 years without lethal fires!"), Foxconn ("Where coworker suicide is the key to career advancement!").  This eventually includes the heroes' new computers, happening at an inopportune moment -- the heroes are sneaking into a VIPER base when their complimentary cPhones begin blaring out a fake ad for Nike -- "What's a little child slavery if the prices are low?  If the shoe fits, Wear it!".

 

It seems that MPC's overseas factories play a little loose with work conditions and child labor.  So CLOWN starts off drawing parallels, but soon takes it to the next level and begins playing a little loose with secure information on MPC computers.

[tdk]

To quote from Hermit's quite excellent post:

 

 

 

Reading the above got me thinking:  what kind of scenarios would be suitable for using CLOWN in ways that leaves them crossing swords with the heroes, without them necessarily trying to make the heroes look foolish?  I'm sure the creative folks here could come up with a few that would work well.

 

Full disclosure:  I'm starting a new Champions campaign soon and would be interested in finding ways to bring CLOWN into the mix, without causing a lot of hate among my players.  So I plan to blatantly steal borrow the ideas here for use in my campaign. And since my players don't frequent these boards, I'm more than happy to hash out and flesh out adventure ideas here.

 

Well, my thought on reading the above was that I saw echoes of The Occupy Movement in that version of C.L.O.W.N. Maybe in your storyline, they took the place of Occupy?

[Hermit]

There's also

 

I'll start out with one:  many new hero groups could use corporate donations and sponsorship (read: free points toward Base, Vehicles, Agent equipment), so when the hero team is approached by MicroPear Computing with a deal on some cutting-edge computers, they likely welcome the idea.  Being paranoid, the heroes practice due diligence and make sure MPC isn't a front for VIPER, ARGENT, or some other criminal / terrorist / villainous organization.  Luckily, MPC passes muster in that regard, so the heroes can accept the company's offer of a free computer system for their base, with portable devices for the individual heroes.  (Say, 20-25 real points worth of gear.)

 

Well after the gear is all in place, the heroes hear of CLOWN hacking various MPC devices to force-display video ads for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ("Over 100 years without lethal fires!"), Foxconn ("Where coworker suicide is the key to career advancement!").  This eventually includes the heroes' new computers, happening at an inopportune moment -- the heroes are sneaking into a VIPER base when their complimentary cPhones begin blaring out a fake ad for Nike -- "What's a little child slavery if the prices are low?  If the shoe fits, Wear it!".

 

It seems that MPC's overseas factories play a little loose with work conditions and child labor.  So CLOWN starts off drawing parallels, but soon takes it to the next level and begins playing a little loose with secure information on MPC computers.

That's pretty good! I may rip that off...err do a homage

 

While it isn't crossing swords with the heroes, you could do something of a reverse where CLOWN hits what they see as merely a 'corrupt' target only to discover they have stumbled onto the identity of a meglomanical supervillain who is now VERY angry with them and brings his city conquering forces to bear. Maybe CLOWN embarrasses a CEO unaware she's a VIPER Nest leader...

 

Merry Andrew could have members of his team being hunted or captured and be forced to go to the PCs for help, "Good news... I found Teleos! Bad news! He found us! Help me save CLOWN before we become CLONE!"

[TheQuestionMan]

Working with like minded organizations:

Wikileaks

Anonymous

Dirty Deeds

Etc...

 

Cheers

 

QM

[BoloOfEarth]

Thought of another one I'll share.

 

One of the PC heroes, in secret ID, is a rich CEO of a large multinational corporation.  And like all multinational corps, ABC Corp takes advantage of tax loopholes that, while perfectly legal, don't seem all that ethical to CLOWN.  So the members of CLOWN begin to pull pranks on the officers of ABC Corp, especially the CEO -- completely unaware that (s)he moonlights as a superhero(ine).  Does the hero(ine) use powers to avoid the pranks, and risk blowing his/her cover?  And how does (s)he get CLOWN to move on to greener pastures?

 

Variation on the same theme:  one of the other higher-ranking officers in ABC Corp is actually doing illegal things but covering things up quite well.  CLOWN learns of the illegal activity, but not who is truly behind it and thinks the CEO is involved in the cover-up, so the CEO of ABC Corp becomes the butt of jokes that also reveal that something is seriously wrong behind the scenes at his/her own company.

[BoloOfEarth]

Minor side note:  I used to put together a one-page "newspaper" (the Hero.Net Herald, distributed mainly to supers) that I'd hand out at the start of each new adventure.  Usually an article recapping the prior adventure, an article related to the upcoming adventure, and an article or two of either filler/fluff or foreshadowing.  Stories of CLOWN's latest exploits against third parties (especially either direct foes of the PCs or real-world companies the players dislike) would be perfect filler.

 

It would be interesting to see the players applauding CLOWN's antics for weeks, and then become the focus of CLOWN's attention (whether justifiably or not).

[Christopher R Taylor]

Yeah I could see an organization like this being both friend and enemy of pretty much everyone.  Even a really scrupulous group could be attacked for using parts in their super computer from Chinese companies using little more than slave labor or child workers, or their super jet could be attacked for pollution.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

How about a real twist: The heroes are confounded by a villain hiding behind a wall of lawyers and they covertly contact CLOWN about a little idea they had for a target ...

[Christopher R Taylor]

I could see CLOWN being easily misled by villains trying to do the same thing, Yule Log.  Tricked into attacking the heroes because they're told a pack of nonsense by Viper.

[steriaca]

Humm...the government wants the heros to track down CLOWN. Unbenouced to Andrew, certain members of the Pentagon believe they seen to much on their hacking and must be tracked, and eventually eliminated (via SAT, of available).

[steriaca]

Black Harlequin believes that Merry Andrew 'stold his stick', and plans to violently kill all the current members (saving Andrew for last). He recruited Popgun for this plan, which Pop goes along with (not realizing that he is the second to last to die in his plans).

[Hermit]

Black Harlequin believes that Merry Andrew 'stold his stick', and plans to violently kill all the current members (saving Andrew for last). He recruited Popgun for this plan, which Pop goes along with (not realizing that he is the second to last to die in his plans).

 

Another twist, Black Harlequin begins committing murders while DRESSED as Merry Andrew in order to frame him. If a friend of the PCs is in the hospital because a snake in a can popped out and choked said friend, will they believe Merry when he swears it WASN'T his doing?

[steriaca]

Nice one, Hermit.

.

Next senerio: Gamefest is comming up soon. And CLOWN learns that VIPER plans a big sceam. So, CLOWN uses their influence to get the heros their as special guest of honor. And you bet your life CLOWN is not going to let some snakes ruin their special day. (VIPERS big crime: hold the entire convention hostage unless the city pays them $20 million).

[steriaca]

Some bigshot tech company clames that their new mainframe supercomputer is unhackable. April the Foolmaker is up tp the challenge, till she falls into a coma. See, the supercomputer is a hacker trap. Can the heros break into cyberspace and free the minds of all the trapped hackers before they die?

[Lucius]

Black Harlequin believes that Merry Andrew 'stold his stick',

I was really baffled by this, but I can make sense of it if I assume you meant "stole his shtick."

"Sold his stick" doesn't seem to make any sense....

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary observes that "scold his Sikh" doesn't make much sense either

[steriaca]

The most vile villian of the bulletin board, The Mispellion, has struck again.

[Cassandra]

The Hero Team hears about a string of bizarre robberies.  A dairy has a truck load of whipped cream stolen.  A candy company loses a boxcar load of chocolate.  Tons of flour and sugar go missing.  The Team catches up to the thieves as they are robbing a supermarket of all it's sticks of butter.  The Thieves uses banana peels to cause the Heroes to slip and fall allowing them to escape.  A club left at the scene lead the Heroes to an abandoned missile complex where Clown is going to launch a missile topped with the largest Chocolate Cream Pie to hit the Statue of Liberty in the face with.

[Lucius]

 

How do you see Clown and Foxbat interacting (if at all?)

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says this game isn't big enough for both of them

[BoloOfEarth]

Sorry, didn't see this until today.

 

How do you see Clown and Foxbat interacting (if at all?)

 

I don't see them crossing swords all that much.  I can't imagine CLOWN thinking they can shame Foxbat very well. and I don't see how CLOWN would fit into any of Foxbat's "Master Plans"^{TM, patent pending} (though anything possible in the fruit-loopy mind of Foxbat).

 

I could see Freddy admiring something clever that CLOWN did and trying to imitate them, with disastrous results.

[pinecone]

To quote from Hermit's quite excellent post:

 

 

 

Reading the above got me thinking:  what kind of scenarios would be suitable for using CLOWN in ways that leaves them crossing swords with the heroes, without them necessarily trying to make the heroes look foolish?  I'm sure the creative folks here could come up with a few that would work well.

 

Full disclosure:  I'm starting a new Champions campaign soon and would be interested in finding ways to bring CLOWN into the mix, without causing a lot of hate among my players.  So I plan to blatantly steal borrow the ideas here for use in my campaign. And since my players don't frequent these boards, I'm more than happy to hash out and flesh out adventure ideas here.

One way to introduce them is if you have a character with the correct back ground (Billionaire industrialist, etc) have him be wrongly targeted because of a hurtful rumor. If done right they can be on differing sides but grudgingly respectful.

 

I would likely have a Viper operation targeted at manipulating CLOWN into taking on targets of Vipers choosing. Once uncovered CLOWN is embarassed, and has learned a lesson of their own.

[pinecone]

Sorry, didn't see this until today.

 

 

I don't see them crossing swords all that much.  I can't imagine CLOWN thinking they can shame Foxbat very well. and I don't see how CLOWN would fit into any of Foxbat's "Master Plans"^{TM, patent pending} (though anything possible in the fruit-loopy mind of Foxbat).

 

I could see Freddy admiring something clever that CLOWN did and trying to imitate them, with disastrous results.

I could see Foxbat declaring himself the leader of CLOWN and taking credit for all their activities.

 

"ClownBat! The Fox of humor!"

[BoloOfEarth]

I need a headline for an article to appear in the weekly news in my Champions game.  (We play on Sunday, so I'd appreciate suggestions before then.)  Since it involves CLOWN, I thought it appropriate to post here.

 

Along with a headline, I'm willing to entertain possible additions or other suggestions to polish up the article:

 

 

 

NYC – Beuford the Bard crashed a Manhattan GOP fundraiser Friday evening to acknowledge that CLOWN is responsible for the thousands of small furry creatures that infested Trump Tower earlier that week.  Animal control officials had their hands full all week long capturing the animals, which appear to be guinea pigs genetically modified to resemble Tribbles from the Star Trek television show (except with wavier hair).

      Called “Trumples” in Beuford’s statement, the animals also have microchips implanted beneath their fur that randomly play various sound clips quoting Presidential candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail.

[steriaca]

"Trumplings Infest The Tower. Bad Bard Is To Blame."

 

"Bad Bard Mocks The Donald. Duck!"

 

"Bad Bard Unleashed The Beast Upon Trump Tower."