Vibora Bay

[Avenger Assembled]

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28107/Vibora-Bay--PDF

 

What's the interest in opening up a version of Champions' Vibora Bay as a place for PCs? 

[RocketLord]

Very interested!

[Nightshade]

I'm interested in the elevator pitch of it being a heroic New Orleans. I am looking through the PDF as we speak

[Heritage]

Yes! Very yes! In some ways, I feel Eel would be a better fit there. Also not sure if I care for Bedlam's unrelenting grimness. 

[Nightshade]

1 minute ago, Heritage said:

Also not sure if I care for Bedlam's unrelenting grimness. 

Not that I dislike Bedlam. It's an OK read, but Vibora seems the right mix of Freedom and Bedlam. Shifting to the lighter side of gray?

[Heritage]

That's fair. I think my issue with Bedlam is that it's so Iron Age; there are no good neighborhoods or places you'd want to live.

[Dr Archeville]

Pacific Northwest -- Emerald City

Midwest -- Bedlam

Northeast -- Freedom City

South/Southeast/Deep South -- Vibora Bay

 

I can see it!

[angrydurf]

I think Vibora is a neat setting and might be fun to play in.  But I also have concerns about fragmentation.  Bedlam is uniquely Bedlam enough to have gotten traction but Emerald has a distinct "Super City" Sameyness that we haven't really been able to overcome.

 

I'm interested in the pitch as to how we could make a Vibora stand out and what would give it a sufficiently unique pull to stand out from Emerald/Freedom.  What kind of more unique stories does it allow for that we can't cover in the current locales.

[Nightshade]

The same way Bedlam doubles down on the grim dark of its heroes and Emerald is the wild west boom town of heroics, Vibora Bay could do something with it's niche. Freedom is a little bit of everything, you're probably never gonna beat it's population or power. It's in the name of the site

 

I think being the hub of supernatural heroics could be something. Non-mystics are their, of course, but the weird upside down stuff that could be lurking anywhere seems to be there. Keep it heroic, but maybe pull a masquerade or deep hidden secrets. The way Bedlam is corrupt, Vibora Bay is fantastic.

 

I may be spitballing after skimming through the PDF once, but my two cents.

[Tiffany Korta]

Personally I'd rather focus more on the cities we do have rather than add any new ones. Because what will probably happen is after a bit most people that want to will be set up and everyone else will still be in Freedom City. Same as Space, Emerald City and even Bedlam. The only reason it doesn't happen in Claremont is that characters cycle out every three years or so.

[Heritage]

As I understand it, Vibora Bay is a lower power setting, which could offer a less gritty alternative to Bedlam.

[Zeitgeist Blue]

I'm with AD and Tiff here. I'd rather focus on the existing settings we already have though if Vibora Bay can give us something sufficiently different then maybe? Even if it does then there could be the same problem we see in EC, with a sparse PC population and relying on one or two GMs to run things there.

 

Bedlam kinda has the same problem going for it but it diverges so wildly from Freedom City and gives such a different flavor that people who really want a "Bedlam-kick" are drawn to create PCs and run games there.

[Amelia]

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I think Vibora is a neat setting and might be fun to play in.  But I also have concerns about fragmentation.  Bedlam is uniquely Bedlam enough to have gotten traction but Emerald has a distinct "Super City" Sameyness that we haven't really been able to overcome.

 

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Personally I'd rather focus more on the cities we do have rather than add any new ones. Because what will probably happen is after a bit most people that want to will be set up and everyone else will still be in Freedom City. Same as Space, Emerald City and even Bedlam.

 

Same.

 

I love Vibora Bay. But I'm concerned that one or two people are going to put in a lot of time and work into setting it up, and then nobody is going to run threads set there. Emerald City and SPACE are dead, and Bedlam has been on life support since it launched.

 

I'm particularly worried about Vibora Bay having a similar "vibe" to Bedlam, or, at least, the vibe we've (intentionally or not) been tweaking Bedlam to have. I could see it splitting the already small Bedlam demographic and killing both cities.

 

On the other hand, Vibora Bay would, if we imported it, immediately become the most racially integrated city in our setting, so I almost feel morally obligated to support it.

 

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Pacific Northwest -- Emerald City

Midwest -- Bedlam

Northeast -- Freedom City

South/Southeast/Deep South -- Vibora Bay

 

And as Dok pointed out, it would provide representation for what is currently an unrepresented part of the country.

 

EDIT:

The Champions setting found room for both Hudson City and Vibora Bay, so clearly it can be done. I'm more concerned about the probable lack of engagement and the potential fragmentation.

 

Side Note #1:

I suspect that part of the problem with Emerald City failing to take off is that we didn't use the Silver Storm. So not only does any prospective EC player have to ignore every third line of every EC book they read, but there's no big unifying plot element for PCs to latch onto. Why was that decision made in the first place?

 

Side Note #2:

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That's fair. I think my issue with Bedlam is that it's so Iron Age; there are no good neighborhoods or places you'd want to live.

I don't think that's true. Or, at least, I think it's an oversimplification. I can elaborate on that elsewhere if you want.

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[Darksider42]

While I do like the pitch, I more or less have the same misgivings as the others about adding another city to the roster.

[Avenger Assembled]

Ultimately it comes down to people's interest in trying something new - which is part of why we're having the discussion! No worries about doom and gloom, folks. 

[Amelia]

Fair enough.

If you imported Vibora Bay, I probably wouldn't be interested enough to run any threads there, but I'd probably build a character who lives there.

[Amelia]

For those who don't have or can't afford the book:

 

https://championsonline.fandom.com/wiki/Vibora_Bay

[Nightshade]

I'd at least try to GM stuff for it if allowed. I know new cities don't get much traffic. But the setting book gives so much to do. Probably the same as Bedlam, but I do love Vibora's style.

[Amelia]

If there's a certain type of discussion you want, maybe an actual poll would help set those parameters?

Something with options like:

• I would play a character who is based in Vibora Bay, and I would GM threads set there, too.
• I would play a character who is based in Vibora Bay, but I would probably not GM threads there.
• I would be open to having my character who is based in another city visit Vibora Bay to participate in other people's threads, but I would not play a character who is based there full-time.
• I would not play in Vibora Bay under any circumstances.

[Zeitgeist Blue]

What would also help, I think, would be to write up the site's official view on the different cities. Going beyond this, also ask the players about their views and consolidate all of that.

 

What kind of themes, tones, and stories we find? What kind of PCs, antagonists, and conflicts we run? What is the aesthetic? Other stuff.

 

Then do this for Vibora Bay. We'd get to see if it gives anything appreciably different than what we could find in, say, Bedlam or Emerald City. If it does then great!

 

If it doesn't add anything to the site that, say, Emerald City would then maybe we should focus on what we already have?

Edited July 29, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Avenger Assembled]

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KCW9SPG Here's the poll.

 

Make sure you review the Vibora Bay information above before you vote. 

 

Vibora Bay: A stormy Southern Gothic metropolis, where the gumbo is as spicy as the music, a tourist mecca with a history at once glorious and terrible. Think Opal City with a soupcon of New Orleans

[Ari]

@Grumblefloof To explain why I initially ditched the Silver Storm, it's because it was a way to just have superhumans happen, when there's no reason to have two cities swimming in open supers, and it lessens the impetus to lean into the whole secret supervillain conspiracy thing, which is genuinely unique and compelling. 

 

As well, the Storm hinges on a metaplot that doesn't really work as well in a shared game versus a home game. It kind of wouldn't make sense to leave unraveling the mystery to the chance that the thread would stall out, players or PCs involved go inactive, in short what was certain to happen in a branch city.

 

Finally I wanted the city to be more open to player impact. Freedom and Bedlam are rocks you cip away at and I hoped greater malleability would encourage experimentation and changes be made more readily. That they would initiate the Events.

 

Now, of course, I am just overcome with indifference and figuring multiple colored Storms based around the Viridian Stones would be neat.

[Brown Dynamite]

@Grumblefloof I also want to add that I had a plot in mind that would've brought a different version of the Storm into play.  But, real life basically kicked my ass for I want to say 2 maybe 3 years.  So the many many many plans I had for EC sat on the backburner.  For example during the Atlantean invasion, Emerald City was the only city that wasn't actually attacked by more than two Atlanteans.  It was supposed to be revealed that they were androids.  Which could be used in another thread to find out about the Chessmen and so on and so forth.  All my plans poof.

 

On Vibora Bay, I'm all for it.  For a lot of reasons.  Worse case scenario it doesn't work out the entire world's still a play pen for use.  Heck I've used the fictional Mystery, New Hampshire before and was gonna use the equally fictional Embouchure, Louisiana in a thread.  Both locations made up from the US 3e Atlas.  What I'm saying is, while the amount of work may be different than using a location for a one off.  In the end, the game world will keep chugging.

[Tiffany Korta]

I think the best play is to use it as an extra option and build things up, rather than just dumping the whole thing down and letting it sink or swim.

[Avenger Assembled]

All right, I'll put opening VB up on the to-do list.