Gotham City goals

[Barbara Nolan]

I've heard it mentioned that we need something overarching for our characters to work toward/react to, but as far as I know that isn't determined yet.

In addition we'll probably have personal goals that we're working toward. For instance, Barbara needs to do more 'investigative reporting' and nosing around in dangerous places for her blog. She's run into Batman and gotten on his radar while finding a smuggling operation tied to Wayne Ent. goods and the Narrows. She needs to work on making a name for herself as Oracle in the vigilante community, someone who can do computer stuff for those who have more important things to do. But I don't want her to just be tied to her desk, she'll be out stirring up trouble and punching bad guys in the junk too.

[Jervis Tetch]

This guy will be working for Applied Sciences as a neuroscientist, and working on some mind control devices that may or may not work (they will). He's obsessed with Alice in Wonderland and will be working on his issues in therapy while working toward becoming the Mad Hatter. So, end result he's a villain and he'll probably get locked up (if you good guys can catch him).

[Rick Grayson]

Just as a general rule of comic book style storytelling, the hero is only as good as their villains. So an Arkham breakout might be a better catalyst for them then just to give the good guys something to do.

Since most of the villains looked to be of the mastermind variety, I planned on making Red Hood directionless by design. He hates Batman with a passion, but he's not motivated by it. He'll be more of a hired gun merc type. He could be a good Lt to hire. I'll do an intro thread for him soon.

Initially I had Spc Agent Grayson investigating high tech weapons trafficking into Gotham, though he could be assigned to look into any supervillain related activity. Not necessarily just crimes, since he's technically a spy, not law enforcement.

[Barbara Nolan]

Well in Down the Rabbit Hole Barbara and Batman ( ) are finding a smuggling ring, they could be moving weapons as well as drugs. Just a thought.

[Carter Hall]

When we started this back up, I mentioned that I had a whole heap of arc ideas and things. In the interests of being on the record, here are the ones that people are already on-board with.

Arkham Asylum

The current administrator at Arkham Asylum is Doctor Curtis Knox. He doesn't sound like a familiar villain, but he is: Google is your friend if you want to spoiler his identity. He has plans and machinations for Gotham City, and is planning to use Gotham's criminally insane to make it happen. Jonathan Crane and Harleen Quinzel still work there, and with Knox' help they have managed to preserve their secret identities, allowing them to carry out their nocturnal activities as Scarecrow and Harley Quinn without anyone finding out (yet). They are using their position as psychologists and therapists to find potential new recruits for Knox' cause, and to nudge on-the-edge patients into a life of costumed crime.

Knox' minions aren't necessarily all former Arkham patients. The Riddler is possibly going to be working with him, as can all manner of other villains. Their unifying trait is going to be the fact that as yet, no one knows who these criminals really are. They will probably be evading the police - and Batman - far more regularly than they do in the comics and cartoons too, which should make it a little more fun for people to write villains on a continuous basis. No boring stretches in prison!

Birds of Prey

In addition to the Bat family, one of Gotham's biggest crime fighting groups is the Birds of Prey. Traditionally, they are an all-female group formed by the wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon.

Because things our a little different in our timeline however, we came up with the idea that Carter Hall - formerly Hawkman - would be the genesis behind the Birds of Prey. This is why he owns the Gotham Clocktower, which is traditionally the Birds of Prey's base. However, because the Birds of Prey typically features Hawkgirl (the reincarnation of his dead wife) and Black Canary (who is his adoptive daughter in our continuity), Carter wants to preserve a little anonymity for himself, and so is going to run the Birds of Prey like Charlie's Angels, with Carter taking the anonymous role of their Oracle-style coordinator, The Question standing in for Bosley, and Gotham's kick-ass women acting as his Angels.

Based on those who exist so far, the Birds of Prey would seem to be around university age, and may well be students. With Carter also being a professor there, it's possible that the Birds will be heavily involved in any Gotham University arcs. (See below)

Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O)

The DEO is responsible for unmasking costumed vigilantes, and aiding local law enforcement with supervillains that they are otherwise unequipped to handle. Since we already have a number of "golden age" heroes in our continuity, it's entirely possible that the DEO has existed for decades: there might even have been a situation like The Incredibles (or Watchmen) where superheroes were banned, and the DEO is here to enforce that.

At least two agents are at the Gotham Field Office for the DEO. Ted Kord is a former vigilante (Blue Beetle) who was captured by the DEO and given the opportunity to escape prosecution by working for the department. His partner is Michael Holt, who suffered an accident while chasing a vigilante or villain in Gotham, and is now confined to a wheelchair. The two arranged for a transfer to Gotham, and are now working on a plan for Ted Kord to use his vigilante persona to fight fire with fire; Holt is his tech support guru.

By day however, there will still be legit DEO things going on. There is plenty of scope for additional agents (costumed or otherwise); one possibility that could be interesting is someone whose job is to liaise with the Gotham City Police Department, working with detective characters to tell that angle of the story. While we all agreed that Commissioner Gordon was going to be left as an NPC, there's plenty of room for characters like Maggie Sawyer, Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, and so on.

Gotham Gazette

Every good superhero story needs intrepid reporters. Already we have Victor Sage (The Question) and Dinah Hall (Black Canary) as reporters for the Gotham Gazette, but there's plenty of room for more. Vicki Vale is probably the most well known reporter in Gotham, due in no small part to her being played by Kim Basinger in the first Michael Keaton movie.

Reporters don't have to be traditionally from Gotham, either. With no Superman in Metropolis, perhaps Lois Lane has moved to Gotham chasing down this city's caped crusaders instead. Or, perhaps she's still working at the Daily Planet, and can be a rival reporter to spice things up a bit.

Gotham University

Universities are full of impressionable young people. They're also full of people with PhD's, and a fairly high number of DC heroes and villains seem to hold those. Team Arkham would certainly be looking to the student body for potential recruits, and Knox has at least one ally on the staff there, in the form of Professor Jonathan Crane. Many of the Birds of Prey meanwhile could come from the student body, and Professor Carter Hall stands a reasonable chance of spotting them. There was talk of Carrie Kelly possibly going to university at some point; anyone wanting to get involved on the Arrow side of things might want to have Speedy or Arrowette as students. The comics also have the Outsiders, who are more often than not teenagers with superpowers. Ray Palmer (the Atom) is a professor, and at one point led a version of the Teen Titans: that too could be folded into Gotham University, if that's something people wanted to do.

Basically, Gotham University is an ideal "day job" venue for people who wouldn't necessarily fit in with one of the other Gotham employers.

Queen Industries / Checkmate

Though formerly owned by his father, Oliver Queen is in no way affiliated with Queen Industries. Oliver's parents died on safari when he was small, and William Glenmorgan - his maternal uncle - took over running the company until he was older. Oliver was packed off to the military to learn some discipline, and then circumstances left him stranded on an island for several years. Declared dead, William Glenmorgan took full control of the company, and though Oliver has now returned, his father's company is firmly in his uncle's grasp.

William Glenmorgan isn't all that he seems, though. He isn't just a businessman: he's also secretly involved with the spy agency Checkmate. Queen Industries is a front company, providing funding for agency as well as performing research and development, and equipping the agency through a variety of carefully selected defense contracts. Also, Queen Industries has made a point of aggressively buying out any companies formerly owned by golden age superheroes, making it something of a corporate titan, and giving them access to the media, as well as just about every other industry on the planet. Assuming that we can get Vince back in the saddle, Queen Industries may even be planning a hostile take-over of Gotham's organised crime: the current CEO of Queen Industries is Roman Sionis (aka Black Mask) who historically succeeded in uniting all of Gotham's crime families under his leadership.

Checkmate itself cares very little about the law. They have similar responsibilities to the CIA and Homeland Security: keep America safe, by any means. Often, those means involve making use of individuals with superpowers and other unusual skills, and those individuals aren't necessarily all heroes. In fact, Checkmate frequently employs villains, offering them a reduced sentence in return for serving their country. Characters arrested by the DEO, heroes and villains from overseas like Bane and Count Vertigo, or even people sent to Arkham could all find themselves getting recruited by Checkmate.

Wayne Enterprises

Last but by no means least, we have Wayne Enterprises. As one would expect, they're owned by Bruce Wayne and are responsible for providing Batman with gadgets and gizmos as required. However, rather than Lucius Fox being the research and development guru, Oliver Queen is the current head of Applied Sciences. And, instead of being a glorified warehouse, Applied Sciences is a fully functioning department, which employs some of the worlds most brilliant minds.

Unfortunately, many of those minds are criminally insane. Already, Pamela Isley and Jervis Tetch are on the Wayne Enterprises payroll; Pamela's criminal alter ego is still very much a secret, and Jervis isn't a villain yet... though Team Arkham may be working to change that.

Wayne Enterprises can potentially own just about anything. They're bound to have given money to the University. They may well own the Gotham Gazette. There are sports teams; television networks; medical clinics; retail stores... if your character has a day job, and they haven't been recruited by Queen Industries, they could well be getting their cheques signed by Mr Wayne.

[Oliver Queen]

Since most of the villains looked to be of the mastermind variety, I planned on making Red Hood directionless by design. He hates Batman with a passion, but he's not motivated by it. He'll be more of a hired gun merc type. He could be a good Lt to hire. I'll do an intro thread for him soon.

It's worth bearing in mind that Red Hood is the original alias of the Joker, before his accident. Since the Joker is traditionally responsible for killing Jason, and since the Joker is now dead... maybe there's some fodder for story there.

It also might be interesting to do a Royal Flush Gang: "Ace" is a common nickname for Jason, so he'd fit right in. Someone like Roulette might make a good Queen... possibly even a Queen of Hearts, which has options for the Mad Hatter. The Royal Flush Gang ranges from bank thieves all the way up to practically a crime syndicate; and in some instances they even have a mysterious benefactor called Wild Card, who could potentially be from Team Arkham, Checkmate, or some other group altogether.

Even if they aren't always working together, it might be interesting to have some sort of cohesive crime group as a counterpoint to the Bat Family... a bit of variety, alongside stand-alone villains and things.

[Rick Grayson]

It's worth bearing in mind that Red Hood is the original alias of the Joker, before his accident. Since the Joker is traditionally responsible for killing Jason, and since the Joker is now dead... maybe there's some fodder for story there.

Yeah. The whole point in adopting the Red Hood identity was the irony, and to mess with Batman's head. That will be the case here, too. After the obligatory face off with Bats (and likely the past and future Robins), he'll be flexible enough to work with any villain.

[Red Robin]

After the obligatory face off with Bats (and likely the past and future Robins), he'll be flexible enough to work with any villain.

Oh great

[Green Arrow]

After the obligatory face off with Bats (and likely the past and future Robins), he'll be flexible enough to work with any villain.

Oh great

Pssh. Who does this knucklehead think he is?

No one gets an obligatory face-off with the past and future Robins and lives to brag about it, right Red?

[Halajiin Rabeak]

So, I've come in late, on this, but as a DC nut, I'm very interested. However, if I could come in, I'd like to bring in a character from outside Gotham, and technically from outside DC, originally.

The Spirit.

I'm talking about Will Eisner's character, The Spirit, not that crappy movie version of him. No set allegiances, but generally a good guy, and could work with the police and Commissioner Gordon in some fashion. Batman without the gadgetry, essentially. And a sweet blue suit and hat. =) Anyone have a problem with this?

My other idea would be Booster Gold, though he'd be laying low on the whole superhero schtick for a while. Still, he's awesome, and could bring a bit of levity to things.

Any thoughts?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Sounds ok to me. We're still early days in regards to actual RPing, so jumping in now is a good idea (this should probably be in the 'Canon Characters' thread though, which might need to be renamed?)

[Glen Fiddich]

So, I've come in late, on this, but as a DC nut, I'm very interested. However, if I could come in, I'd like to bring in a character from outside Gotham, and technically from outside DC, originally.

The Spirit.

I'm talking about Will Eisner's character, The Spirit, not that crappy movie version of him. No set allegiances, but generally a good guy, and could work with the police and Commissioner Gordon in some fashion. Batman without the gadgetry, essentially. And a sweet blue suit and hat. =) Anyone have a problem with this?

My other idea would be Booster Gold, though he'd be laying low on the whole superhero schtick for a while. Still, he's awesome, and could bring a bit of levity to things.

Any thoughts?

Personally, I would prefer if we kept it in the DC continuity. Half the fun of what we're doing is reimagining and rethinking the character dynamics that exist. If those aren't there, then it makes it much harder for people to know how their characters will jive with your character. If you want to play a character who is like the Spirit, I'm sure that the DC universe is big enough for you to find a way to adapt an existing character without having to bring in an outsider.

As for Booster Gold, I'm playing Ted Kord, and I would be more than happy to cross paths with his futuristic BFF.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Well, technically, The Spirit is in the DC continuity, now, and has been for a while. Much like Captain Marvel wasn't DC for a long time, but was bought-in as well. And, seeing as The Spirit has had numerous encounters with other DCU characters in his current comic series, I don't see it as really being off the mark.

[Rick Grayson]

Yeah the Spirit is totally in theme.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'm ok with it.

[Victor Fries]

You're the one that said it was "technically" not DC - I'm only going on the information you gave.

If The Spirit is in continuity, then I have no objection to him being used. A note of caution though: we have a lot of unpowered, crime-solving, loosely affiliated with law enforcement characters floating around Gotham already, and only a limited number of player-written villains for them to go up again. In order to make sure you have a reliable source of plot angles to write about, you might want to make sure that you throw in a few bonuses along with it... perhaps associating him with a specific group, giving him a day job that overlaps with people, etc.

[Guy Gardner]

Does the DEO need a good attorney? One who isn't afraid to also get his hands dirty, or piss someone off? If so, I've got the Guy for you.

And, thanks to Kale's suggestion, such a position could also give him an excuse to interact with superheroes in an official capability, as well as with those who might have something to do with supplying them with arms and equipment. Though perhaps that could also lead to... less official interaction, too.

[Barbara Nolan]

Sounds like a great angle

[Oliver Queen]

Does the DEO need a good attorney? One who isn't afraid to also get his hands dirty, or piss someone off? If so, I've got the Guy for you.

And, thanks to Kale's suggestion, such a position could also give him an excuse to interact with superheroes in an official capability, as well as with those who might have something to do with supplying them with arms and equipment. Though perhaps that could also lead to... less official interaction, too.

Is an attorney the sort of thing that the DEO would have in-house, or would they rely on local District Attorneys and the Department of Justice for that sort of thing, depending on the severity of the crime? I'm not an expert on US government agencies, but my understanding is that the DEO (like the FBI, DEA, etc) would gather the evidence and build a case, and then hand it over to another agency to do the actual prosecuting.

Perhaps Guy is a liaison to Gotham's Field Office: someone from the DOJ or the Gotham DA's Office who is there to consult / advise / specialise in vigilante and villain cases, rather than being an on-the-books DEO employee? That might even give you more scope because you'd be able to work with the GCPD as well.

[Guy Gardner]

Perhaps Guy is a liaison to Gotham's Field Office: someone from the DOJ or the Gotham DA's Office who is there to consult / advise / specialise in vigilante and villain cases, rather than being an on-the-books DEO employee? That might even give you more scope because you'd be able to work with the GCPD as well.

I like this idea. =) I think that being from the DOJ would give him more free reign than just the Gotham DA's office. Perhaps he's come in from out of town, like, Metropolis or Coast City, where he's done some significant work on their "vigilante" issues. Now I just need to figure out where to start. =P