A Question of Priorities

[Pandorym]

As I was reading the news earlier, not long after having reviewed the Freedom City supplement, I was struck with an idea to bring my character in with a bang. Why not spectacularly announce his presence while simultaneously leaving openings for Heroes and Villains alike, complete with a moral dilemma for the former? So I cooked up something relevant to the background of Lazarus Swain, known in "costume" as Ned Ludd, and gave it a news-story introduction, which you can read here.

Here's a short plan for how I'd like this to go, though I'm open to new ideas. Lazarus, with the aid of his minions, fakes his own unjust arrest; the crowd starts getting out of control, breaking windows in the offices and throwing things at the Police and Majestic's employees. Heroes are called in from across the city, though how many answer the call is up to you, to help deal with the mob before it becomes a massive riot. What no one knows save for Majestic's most trusted personnel is that Wilning is guilty as can be of fraud and, to be frank, grand theft, and data on his activities is indeed stored in the bottom level of the building.

It was in the process of being destroyed when the protesters arrived, and King is worried that someone will stumble upon his operation, so he sends a hired villain or team of villains to make sure there's nothing left of the mainframe and all the paper files that surround it, and maybe deal with the crowd as well, if possible. As soon as a hero arrives on the scene, however, a disillusioned employee reveals to him or her that the files can indict Wilning, and possibly even provide a link to King. The hero must choose between breaking up the crowd and allowing the files to be destroyed or going in to battle well-armed corporate security to recover something that might be a dead end.

Meanwhile, Lazarus pulls more strings to allow him to leave the false Police and rejoin the mob as Ned Ludd, attempting to inspire them to further acts of destruction of corporate property as he and his fellow Luddites begin smashing everything in sight that belongs to Majestic, one of the hated corporations. They'll take a dim view of anyone trying to stop them...

Thoughts? Questions? Loud denouncements? Accusations of stupidity? I'm open to it all. Post away, especially if you're interested.

[Avenger Assembled]

Count me in as interested! Avenger wouldn't care about corporate fraud, but mass riots are bad for everyone. And if he does run into Ned, the more the merrier.

[Dr Archeville]

I see one minor snag:

The hero must choose between breaking up the crowd and allowing the files to be destroyed or going in without a warrant (a criminal act) to recover something that might be a dead end.

Per the "Superhumans and the Law" sidebar on pg. 38 of the Freedom City Camapign Setting book, "Superheroes do not have to follow criminal procedures unless they are members of a police force or other law-enforcement agency. Among other things, this means superheroes don’t need to read a criminal his rights when making a “citizen’s arrest.”" I suspect this also means they don't need warrants.

[Avenger Assembled]

Well, a choice between breaking into a high-security installation and dealing with an angry crowd is still a choice.

[Pandorym]

Erm... Very good, Doctor! You've passed the little test I set up for you! I'll... um... have to make my obviously intentional "errors" harder to spot next time.

Avenger here does have a good point, but I'll leave out the bit about the warrant. Thanks for pointing that out, all jokes aside. I have to wonder, however, if breaking and entering on a hunch wouldn't be considered criminal if the files are already destroyed, and with them all evidence of criminal activity. Then it's just a heroic screw-up on private property, one hero's word against that of a well-known company. All the more reason for any heroes going after them to hurry, if I'm right.

Thanks for volunteering, Avenger! Glad to have you. I'll see if we can get any more recruits and start a thread tomorrow.

[Sandman XI]

Mind if Quark jumps in?

[Dr Archeville]

I have to wonder, however, if breaking and entering on a hunch wouldn't be considered criminal if the files are already destroyed, and with them all evidence of criminal activity. Then it's just a heroic screw-up on private property, one hero's word against that of a well-known company. All the more reason for any heroes going after them to hurry, if I'm right.

Well, I think a key thing may be whether or not the individual is recognized as a Superhero. The New Meat always has a harder time at things than the Established Guard. So, your original dilemma isn't totally blown out of the water.

[Pandorym]

Quark is quite welcome! I'm just glad to see some interest.

Doctor, thank you once again for pointing that out. I don't know how many rookies we'll have, if any, but that is a good point.

[Avenger Assembled]

So how many people were you shooting for, Pandorym? We don't want to overpopulate the eventual thread, I'll wager.

[Pandorym]

Two heroes is about right, I think; no more than three. I'm waiting to see if any villains are interested, though. I'll start the thread tonight, whether we get anyone else or not.

[Pandorym]

I forgot to say here that the thread is made.

IC

OOC