I’m putting together a little superhero-style roleplaying campaign, and while I think of covered many of the bases (hah!) for a base, I’d like a little external input.
So, assuming your tone’s noirish investigation (a-la X-Files, Batman, Planetary, Sleeper, Hellboy, Angel the TV Series) … what do you have in your base?
Obviously, there’s a supercomputer of some kind - possibly a cluster of more mundane machines, as that’s easier to install surreptitiously.
You need a lab, suitable for criminal forensic investigations.
A small occult library would definitely come in handy.
It goes without saying that you’d need living quarters - possibly barracks-style, possibly individual rooms.
You may also require a training facility, whether equipped with mundane gym gear or a full holographic projection system.
And, a garage, to store the team’s vehicles.
So what else might one need? What unusual things might one include in a superhero team base?
Bathroooms. Definitely bathrooms. Toilet paper’s optional, but always appreciated.
A bar. After some toughy mission, a few of the superheroes may want to unwind with a belt or two of the hard stuff.
A hot tub. Not the “swinging singles” hot tub, but a “oh, my aching, dying ass; I’m getting too old for this shit” hot tub.
Wide screen high-def plasma flat-screen TV. With plenty of comfy recliners around it.
An old, sarcastic housekeeper, who is terminally unimpressed with the superheroes, no matter how many times they save the world. Nothing like coming home after a tough mission and having an old, sarcastic housekeeper light into them for leaving their undies on the floor or forgetting to take their boots off at the door.
This housekeeper should also be an excellent cook; an excellent Scandinavian cook.
You’d definitely need a safe for all objects of power–lantern rings, utility belts, lassos of truth, etc. You don’t want that crap getting stolen.
A kitchen. A hungry superhero can be a cranky superhero. Five-star chef and staff optional.
A mop, for when the Wonder Twins activate and Zan turns into a bucket of water again.
One plain old un-super civilian, to give the heroes something to protect when their base is inevitably infiltrated. And to give man-on-the-street answers to questions like “How do we stop the giant asteroid?” I hereby volunteer for that job.
A Danger Monitoring System of some kind, natch. Otherwise you’re just a bunch of inhumanly strong slackers lazing around your supercomputer-enhanced den.
Good responses so far. makes lots of notes I thought about the trophy room, but they don’t have any trophies yet - so an empty room to be adapted into a trophy room, perhaps.
As for the nonpowered Civilian - well, they’ve certainly got a solid tradition in the superhero genre, but I don’t think it’s appropriate in this case. (one of the NPC team member’s power ensures he can cook, clean, whatever with the best butlers and chefs in the world)
Thought about a Meeting Room, which would need communication set-up, including the Danger Monitoring System (of sorts).
If you wanted to inject a note of humor into the game, you could have all the stuff we recommended be stuff that was forgotten in the original design.
SO here they are, brand-spanking new super-hero base, and one of them is wandering around, saying, “Uhm…er…where’s the toilet?”
After a few days of lazing about, someone flips on the TV and CNN is running breaking news about a mad scientist and his mutant giant ants running amok in downtown Metropolis. The hero’s stare uncomprehending at one another, wondering how they could’ve missed this, and one of them slaps their forehead and exclaims, “Warning System! We forgot the !@#$%& Warning System!”
They’re gearing up for a mission, and one of the heroes (preferably one with heightened sense of smell) turns to another and says, “C’mon! When are you gonna wash that stinking leotard?”
Smelly hero says, “When someone gets us a laundry room with a washer and dryer! You think this is bad? Smell my socks!”
It’s precisely the sort of humor I’d put into my game.
In most of my campaigns, this would be exactly the sort of thing I might do, too. This one’s a bit more serious than my usual fare, though. I have a tendency to be silly, and that grates on some people’s nerves, and I want to try to keep it under control for the game.
I still intend to give each adventure/episode a horrendously punny title, as I have always done in the past. That’s my silly outlet.
And hook up to that 70-inch TV a game console. Preferably a classic system from the early 80s, where the game controllers had one fire button, and didn’t require super powers to play the games.
A nice comfortable chair with ottoman. After a hard day of crime fighting, one really needs nothing more than to sit down and take a load off. Also, it would be nice to sit down and relax, visualizing the way you’re going to punch Joker’s face in, so a nice chair would come in handy for that too. Something that won’t give you cramps/make your legs fall asleep. I notice that no superhero bases had any of these (except for possibly the Avengers’ Mansion of the '60s, but then again, whoever was left at home (I never figured out what for, couldn’t Tony Stark just have developed an answering machine?) was always pacing and bored, itching for something to happen.
If they had a selection of nice board games, that might have helped too.
