guide gab Freedom League lineup and role

[angrydurf]

AA - that too is a valid answer sure.  Though personally some of those roles are arguably contradictory or prone to uh, let's call it inflamatory interactions, but that would be what we have to work around.

 

I am VERY against changing up the policy to push positive hero behavior into an IC requirement imposed on theoretically unwilling or reluctant 'heroes'.  That not only opens up civil war style registration nonsense and heroes policing other heroes it strongly changes the tone of the site to a less hopeful far more cynical one as no longer are heroes heroes due to innate moral conscience but because bigger heroes might not let them play their reindeer games. 

 

As for status of the NPCs they are currently non-entities in general, there but rarely coming in contact with stories.  I don't really care much for what is done with them but it should be done with purpose whatever is done.  Which is why I'm trying to figure out what narrative role the League is supposed to take on.  There are plenty of ways to preserve them or not but that's really the discussion to have after we figure out what the league even should be IMHO.

[KnightDisciple]

3 minutes ago, angrydurf said:

I am VERY against changing up the policy to push positive hero behavior into an IC requirement imposed on theoretically unwilling or reluctant 'heroes'.  That not only opens up civil war style registration nonsense and heroes policing other heroes it strongly changes the tone of the site to a less hopeful far more cynical one as no longer are heroes heroes due to innate moral conscience but because bigger heroes might not let them play their reindeer games. 

 

As for status of the NPCs they are currently non-entities in general, there but rarely coming in contact with stories.  I don't really care much for what is done with them but it should be done with purpose whatever is done.  Which is why I'm trying to figure out what narrative role the League is supposed to take on.  There are plenty of ways to preserve them or not but that's really the discussion to have after we figure out what the league even should be IMHO.

...That's....not really what I meant? I...argh. I knew I screwed up the wording. I'm not sure how to better express what I meant. 

 

As for the latter, when you're asking about the "narrative role of the League", do you mean the FL, inclusive of both NPCs and PC, or specifically the NPC section of the FL?

[angrydurf]

That's fine KD I has strong feels about that issue so I may have come off more intense.

 

Narrative role I just mean what do we seen the League as being in stories, how should they tie in both as an organization and whatever individuals (PC or NPC) that end up on it.  Like if one is telling a story using the league what role in the story would the league take.  Like a place to go for backup, a place to catch trouble and pass it off, a place to find the people that'll put a stop to the apocalyptic event du-jour or what not.  

 

My personal image of the league from my reading of the sourcebook and my idea of what a JLA style group is, is the Earth mightiest heroes sort of big damn hero group.  Not that that is the only way or even best way to do it here but when I think of the league that's what comes to mind for instance.  Now others would rather see a more Justice League Unlimited style thing with more of a big tent policy towards heroes I'm just trying to feel out what the goal here is as that informs what and how we deal with keeping changing replacing or removing any given set of NPCs.

[Avenger Assembled]

 

Should it be the Best and Brightest team of high PL superstars?  Should it be a collectivist clearinghouse of heroes without other ties forming short term team ups for individual threads?  Should it be a gatekeeper organization handing out priority assignments?  

 

Yes - though the middle one might be tough. In general I'm inclined to say, let's do all these things. 

[Gizmo]

A few thoughts on this stemming out of a discussion in Chat tonight. To simplify quite a bit the core dilemma as I see it is that on one hand it's a very useful narrative device to have a group of NPCs ready to serve a common benchmarks, mentors and 'quest givers', in a position of authority that makes them - while not antagonists - not necessarily friends to the PCs in the way other PCs might be. On the other hand having a group which is explicitly viewed as the best of the best in-setting and making it off-limits to PCs is galling and strains credibility a bit when the PCs are the ones naturally dealing with the actual crises we see 'on-panel'.

 

That said I don't think there's any reason we can't have both.

 

First I think it would be helpful to shift the construction of the Freedom League away from the Justice League model - "these seven characters are just the most special" - and more toward the Avengers model - "a respected organization that may have more than one active line-up at a time". Personally I'd lean away from going full-on Justice League Unlimited however, where everyone is under one banner and doesn't have much say in who they work with day-to-day.

 

This would be pretty easy to achieve. Several NPC Leaguers should realistically be retiring and we could move Daedalus into more of an R&D, advisory position since that's typically the role he serves in threads as it is. From there I'd start with an initial, 'core' line-up, probably of characters in the higher end of the PL range. I'd keep the FLAux around but make it more explicitly the characters who are serious heavy hitters but who don't live on Earth-Prime full time or otherwise have other demands on their time, your Dr. Stranges and your Namors, basically. If down the road it's useful to have some other Adjective Freedom League line-up that would totally be doable but no harm starting simple.

 

Those PCs could still serve as mentors and advisors to other PCs when their players were available and NPCs like Daedalus can keep doing what they're already doing in terms of narrative purpose. It sounds like we're largely on board with all of that as a group, save for hammering out some of the details. Where I might go above and beyond is also setting up a new NPC team to fill in the 'respected big guns the PCs don't always agree with' role without being the big guns, full stop.

 

This is still very loose but my proposal would be a government sponsored team, probably run as a branch of the military. To be clear, however, this wouldn't be a black ops team or morally dubious or a standing metahuman army. I'm thinking individuals with powers who wanted to make a difference and decided the best way to do that was by signing up rather than acting as a vigilante. They'd be patterned more after search and rescue operatives than soldiers and only operate in other countries if explicitly invited by the local government.

 

That, then, should be the sticking point for PCs even beyond the antiestablishment types. This team wouldn't be patrolling city streets at night or jumping in their supersonic jet to go to Monster Island on a scrap of intel. They'd respond to big, visible threats and then clock out at the end of the day. They'd have to be more aware of bureaucracy and politics which sets up plenty of opportunities for differences of opinion with PCs. They're not villains, they don't have a lot of dark secrets or a sinister agenda, they're just well-liked heroes in a position of authority who can butt heads with the PCs.

 

When you need somebody to talk down a bit to an inexperienced PC or bring someone in for questioning over a misunderstanding or scoff at a hard-to-believe warning from a disreputable source, these would be your guys. I doubt they'd see any more use than the NPC Freedom League does now - which is to say very little - and it's easy to explain why they aren't dealing with every little thing in every thread but they'd be available when useful. The functionality of an NPC Freedom League without the baggage. As I said it's a loose idea but I think it's worth developing especially if it helps get everyone on the same page with the first half of things.

[Vahnyu]

All excelent points, Gizmo, and I agree with them, except for this one:

Quote

They'd be patterned more after search and rescue operatives than soldiers and only operate in other countries if explicitly invited by the local government

 

The reason being that this would leave Freedom League a heavily US based team with a heavily US based team roster, and very little actual incentive for non US based heroes operating on Earth to join up with the world's best (or the world's most prolific, at any rate). At the very least, a UN accord could introduce a special clause that allows superheroes signed in the official Freedom League roster some minimal intervention priviledges, at least on member states of the UN. Non member states like Kossovo and Taiwan could operate under the "invitation by the local government only" clause, like you propose.

 

Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, in order to join the official Freedom League roster, said hero would be expected to gain an explicit government approval from his nation of citizenship, that not only allows them to operate as a member of the Freedom League, but also make them able to request Freedom League assistance or intervention on demand, as an acting representative of said nation.

[Avenger Assembled]

I've been waiting for international heroes to join the UN (like Edge) for quite some time, Vahnyu!

 

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who finds UNISON and UNIQUE to be interesting-sounding organizations. Right now their super-agents are the world's most powerful builder and a hydrokinetic martial artist - plenty of room for moe. 

[Thevshi]

I think your confusing things there Vahn.  What you are quoting from Gizmo is about a NEW NPC team that works for the government, not a restructured Freedom League that is more PC focused.  As I understand what Giz is saying that NPC team would operate separate from the League and be the potentially semi-adversarial group that PCs sometimes butt heads with.

 

I agree Giz that we should not go full-blown Justice League Unlimited (where the heroes are all under one umbrella and have little to no say in things).  I don't think there is anything you say that I really disagree with Giz.  Several of the Aux are already pretty "big guns" (both Fleur and Velocity are PL 15s), but there certainly is room for some additions.

[Vahnyu]

... damn, you're right, Thevshi! Sorry Gizmo, nevermind me, then.

 

I do still hope we incorporate internationalism into the Freedom League, but yeah, sorry for that reading comprehension failure on my part.

[angrydurf]

I think the invitation only/search and rescue/US based team is explicitly the NPC team the idea being that we don't want our PCs facing those kinds of limitations Vahn.  The rest of the league and Aux would be more like the JLA/Avengers/Current League a potent superteam (though with a more robust roster and maybe multiple "teams")

 

I think the concept has a lot of merit Gizmo.  It finally has the NPC portions of the league off screen for reason other than being NPCs without removing their usefulness as voices of authority in the hero community.  Teams that form a bit more naturally from like minded heroes will also stand the test of time a bit better than trying to put everyone in the mold of the traditional Freedom League/Aux or even a JLA Unlimited scenario.  It also allows for somewhat specialized teams to form up short or long term to deal with certain kinds of issues.

 

So the question is how to get from here to there.  The FLAux already largely serves the purpose described largely being potent heroes with specialized knowledge and off world interests of one sort or another, Invitations to Phantom, maybe Sandman, Dragonfly, any unaffiliated space type heroes not part of one of the space teams and loosely based on earth  (Cavalier?), Glamazon (For adventures under the sea!), Not sure if there's some I'm missing tried to skip those that were already in teams elsewhere.  General theme being working with interstellar/dimensional type stuff as a specialty with room for other strange environs (Underwater, sub terra type stuff too would make sense).  Though as I type this I realize it is also the theme for the Atom Family though despite the goodman building seeing extensive use in these types of threads the Atoms themselves very rarely make an appearance even when the building is over run by extradimensional not!zombies.  Not sure if that matters though.

 

The Freedom League itself has plenty of room in it or upcoming for changes so lets run through the roster as it stands.  Bowman, still young enough to stay on and with potential for leadership.  Thunder is around but of retirement age.  Daedalus as has been mentioned can go on a spacefaring sojourn again or step into tech advisor role.  Doc Metropolis fits really well as a centerpiece of the NPC team Gizmo suggested and is mostly a narrative device to excuse super battles level of destruction.  Johnny Rocket was 17 "a few years ago" at publication/opening of the setting so say 20 in 2005 so 31 now  of an age with Bowman so no good reason to eliminate him.  Lady Liberty already left the league.  Psuedo fits both into the Aux role as an alien and logically might need to take an active hand with the free grue situation so there is good reason to shift him around.  Raven is slated to retire soon and is already mostly focused on claremont.  Siren ... Have we done anything to fix her background?  Cus it is problematic as heck.  regardless Vale was getting a doctorate in '62 so must be what early eighties now?  Even with a loa riding her I think that's ripe for retirement, pre invasion she already had.  Sri Montoya makes more sense as a space NPC at this point than an earth based one particularly since we have a PC star Knight available to fill that role.  Seven got moved up already I think?  I think given history there is room to have Seven take over for Callie as headmistress of claremont actually  better keep an eye on the old magics at play there and all that.  And Nevermore isn't going to take that on.

 

So of the current lineup those that there is no good reason to remove are Bowman and Johnny Rocket.  Daedalus and Pseudo theoretically can stick around if we want as could Seven if she's there now.   Metropolis will be around but on or off the league he's still more useful narrative device than character honestly Likely NPCs moving up would be Next Gen maybe alterniteens (though they've been used as instructors at claremont and make more sense there and as interdimensional wanderers).  Bolt obviously could try to follow his father's footsteps and step into leadership though he's youngish for it and Bowman is more natural given their past dynamics.  Megastar could be muscle but is also powered by preserver tech so maybe making people  nervous in the wake of the whole gorgon thing?  Nereid really should be going back to atlantis as her primary area  of operations still a valid NPC but not really league stuff.  Sonic could go league but seems more likely to go independant post graduation.  So NPCwise without bringing in solos or making new NPCs we have a team of Bowman, Bolt, Johnny Rocket, Megastar, and Seven.  With Daedulus and Pseudo going perhaps into more advisorial roles or tied up in broader things that take up most of their time, and sonic as a maybe.

 

I still feel like we need a precipitating event to shake this up though.  Just thunder retiring and bringing in Bolt and Megastar with bowman (or Bolt) assuming the mantel of leadership just keeps the status quo.  What brings that group into the more authoritarian stance Gizmo suggested for the NPC team and opens up the league for the formation of PC teams under its banner?  Alternatively what spurs the creation of a new team in that authoritarian stance and gets Johnny and Bowman off the league (since there are easy reasons to remove the rest or not have them join.)  

[Raveled]

This is sort of digging into also-ran and Civil War territory, but if the League was mind-controlled or otherwise duped into attacking a 'friendly' target, there might be calls for more overwatch of them. I don't think there needs to be a real reason behind the creation of the new US-based team, besides the fact that a certain amount of superhumans joined up as service-people rather than put on capes.

[Avenger Assembled]

I always liked the way Wargames did it with the superheroes working for the US government - OK, the prestige is less in the superpowered community and your options are more restrained, but OTOH you get a steady salary and benefits, you can do things like retire with a pension, and you get to serve your country. I think the same could be done for a US team here (heck, we could even name it after the Wargames team and pull that towards more continuity) as well as a UN one. 

 

Is this really a story about the US government being more authoritarian, durf? I'd use that word if we were talking about a Civil War-style event, not just a change in policy that leads them  to funding a superhero team. 

 

As far as NPCs, beyond my innate lust for NPC bloood do we actually need to push any of them off-stage? I'd suggest we only do that with people who can be plausibly replaced by PCs for story purposes - so an Atlantean princess can be mentored by Glamazon rather than Nereid, a psychic can be mentored by Hologram, or Psyche, or Blue Fox, rather than the Scarab, and an up-and-coming speedster can be mentored by Fast-Forward or Velocity rather than Johnny Rocket. 

 

To my mind, the big thing is the changeover from a Justice League-style team to an Avengers-style team - which is certainly an event, but doesn't need to be a bloody one. 

[angrydurf]

I was perhaps using authoritarian incorrectly.  I meant more authoritative like respected position of authority than like draconian authoritarian government style.  I do like the idea of it being government sponsored/overseen as an explanation for a more conservative approach to crime fighting (meaning, less vigilante style patrols and whirlwind jetting off to foreign climes to fight aliens and monsters, more bureaucratic going through channels) as I feel that really locks in a a team of heroes still doing good but not being on screen as much as the PCs are.

 

I also don't think that a bloodbath is what is called for with a precipitating event.  As I elaborated above only Bowman and Johnny Rocket of the starting lineup don't have an alternate role that makes as much or more sense.  And sure the simple answer is to have Seven stick around and add in Bolt and Megastar to round out the lineup having Bowman and/or Bolt take on leadership roles.  But if we want to change up the Freedom League role in the setting as it seems we do that probably needs more reason in world than a few rotations in the cast of the league.

 

Anyway I like Gizmos ideas for the role the league plays and how to set up the Aux and other league teams.  It's just how to address that change and what role the NPCs currently on the league end up taking out of it.  

[Thevshi]

While we do not need to drop Johnny Rocket (as you say durf, he is still rather young), if we wanted to, one way would be to say that his powers started to fade for some reason or another.  I have no strong view either way, although as AA points out, we do have established PC speedsters.

As for leadership role, I would vote Bowman, as you noted before (and I did as well either here or elsewhere), he has a history as a leader, and the years on the League to make taking on that role a logical one.

So, if we are reaching a consensus on this, how do we want to move forward with it?

[Tiffany Korta]

You could always turn it around and have a more hands on international team challenge the FL status for some reason, though keep it to a friendly rivalry rather a full out Civil War. And obviously the League decides to respond by opening it up to new members. Strikes me that the whole thing should be some kind of event with lots of PC's involved.

 

One detail we need to decide is who get onto the team(s) and who gets to decide the membership.

[angrydurf]

Johnny Rocket's backstory covers that his grandfather's speed gave out with age.  Carrying that over to Johnny wouldn't be hard.  But it's a bit of a tweak to his backstory to do so.  

 

Just to toss out some basic ideas of how to move from the current league to the next version we want I'm sure there are options.

 

Hero Fatigue:

Thunder retires cus he's old and slowing down.  Raven is already heading that way too, could add in Rockets powers flagging to add him to the retire pile.  Siren could go back to being a gulf coast hero (and maybe return to prominence in vibora bay?), Pseudo and Sri Montoya go to space.  Daedalus and Doc Metropolis focus on recovery and detection/sciencey advisorial roles not wanting to take up a mantle of leadership but being too experienced to really have Bowman or themselves calling the shots.  So recruitment is needed.  Bowman forms an NPC team with himself as a lead, maybe ties it to the government in some way.  Other teams are brought in by the remaining members as equals with focus on a few areas (city, international, terminus related, etc; Bowmans Team probably more like a traditional national team)

 

Pros: Easy just get OOC interest and start to structure a few teams from interested parties that want to work in teams.  No big event needed just a convergence of coincidence to bring alot of the current team off scene.

 

Cons:  Bowman, Daedalus, and Metropolis don't really have a reason not to just round out the team with a few of the available notable NPCs and keep the status quo.  Very hard to imagine Bowman signing up to have a freedom league working for the government He was trained by Archer and the league has always stayed apolitical very purposefully.  On the whole this method is easy because we glaze over the parts that don't make sense because they are NPCs.

 

Death of Captain Thunder!:

Stratos or a similar old foe of Thunder, (Maybe Typhoon to add international incident to the pot) pushes the line too far or his powers falter and Thunder dies.  Either shortly before or thereafter Bolt and some other next Gen maybe Join up.  The team is split on how to react with bolt and some of the newer heroes striking out to get revenge on the villain in decidedly Iron Age fashion.  Other heroes on the league or PCs stop it before it gets out of hand but Bolt and the younger heroes are in a position of being less trusted and feeling less faith in their own judgement decide to sign up for government oversight.  Daedalus and Doc Metropolis don't due to having lived through the moore era and stay on to advise the next batch of PC teams now at vague odds philosophically with Bolt, Bowman, Et Al.  Raven, Siren maybe even Johnny rocket retire after the affair comes to a close to leave room for a new generation maybe privately disgusted by the affair.

 

Pros:  Clears the slate for PCs and starts a storyline for why things are different than the past while setting up a philosophical rivalry with the "by the book" heroes of the Bowman/Bolt team.  Has a certain shock value to shake up the status quo enough that PC's more entrenched in non-Freedom League roles might join up since there are changes in the organization.

 

Cons:  More work as it requires an event, thread, or at least vignette style short form story to progress it.  The Moore Era kinda covered this ground and as much as retreading stuff popular when editors were kids is in vogue in real comics not sure we want to run that meta ...  Puts Bolt and company if a pretty bad light even if they don't seal the deal.

 

The Status Quo!:

FL heroes pass the mantle to a protege as they step back.  This is most in keeping with Canon as it's what has happened through most of the history of the league.  Raven passes off to Nevermore, Sri Montoya to Cavalier, Siren to Nick Cimitiere, Rocket to velocity, and so on.  Others interested in the league join the Auxiliary.  This is how most of the league changes over the years happen.  With occasional additions and swaps.

 

Pros:  Very simple and in keeping with how things go in the books.  PC's on the team move the FL back more to the forefront for events and day to day both.

Cons:  Well Only raven has a PC protege.  So either people who are a good match retcon or rush a mentorship and there isn't a solid way for those roles to pass again if a player drops off the site for whatever reason or there is a mixed PC/NPC team in name only since they will almost never share thread space.

 

Crisis on infinite flashhpoints!

Decide what teams would make good freedom league sub teams (Interest and suitable) then have a world colliding super event where we retcon/ establish those teams into being Freedom League of the reality that comes out of the event.

 

Pros:  Fitting canon is easy as we're rewriting it.  Stops any past rulings on how League membership works from impeding the present.  Easy to make the new form of the league exactly what we want.

Cons:  Retcon events are lame.  Lots of work to rewrite new stuff that may end up having issues when it's done that need another similar event to explain the fixes going in.  Retcon events are lame.  Did I already mention that?

 

And many more!  I'm sure others have ideas.  share them!  Goals are 1 credible NPC team(can be a FL team or not) that has a good reason to not be on screen much but still impacts PCs socially.  Have the (remaining) Freedom League composed of discrete but multiple teams of PCs

 

 

[Heritage]

Personally I like options 2 and 3 best.

[Gizmo]

The first scenario you suggested is the closest to what I would go with, durf but I think it can be done with a much greater focus on the PCs.

 

Bear with me as I reiterate a bit! As you said, Captain Thunder, Lady Liberty and the Raven as the retiring trinity has a nice feel to it and doesn't require any great fanfare on-panel. Pseudo and Montoya heading to space is similarly tidy. Daedalus takes some time to focus on science and research rather than active heroing. Siren and Doc Metropolis fit easily into the idea of the FLAux as 'part-timers' who can show up if and when we need them.

 

Rather than have Bowman act out of character in forming the government team, however, I'd have him acting in a spokesman and mission control role for the PCs. He can take to the field as needed but he'd be most useful in-story as a way to deliver exposition and move the plot along, not directly ordering the PCs around but providing them with the bigger picture as needed. I'd also say that Johnny Rocket's powers make it easy to have him off on his own as much as necessary, popping up at the speed of plot now and then.

 

Beyond that, though, I think any 'new status quo' establishing thread should be about the PCs not the NPCs. Mention the retirements and trips to space in the first post then have the PCs - probably more or less the current FLAux line-up for the time being - take part in a big adventure so that the public can see what the current Freedom League looks like. Those characters are already on the League so we don't need to have any artificial recruitment drive or killing off of NPCs, the PCs are simply being called on more frequently. Certainly we could add in a couple of new PC members at the same time if we wanted but it's all about the PCs being heroic rather than wasting a whole thread or event focusing on shuffling the NPCs off the board.

 

I'd also suggest that the government team be a new group of NPCs and not be in direct response to the Freedom League roster changes. They've been training and preparing for a while and now they're ready for deployment, plain and simple. While it would be good to square away the membership and specifics ahead of time they don't even need to be mentioned on-panel until a thread comes up where they're useful to the story.

[Avenger Assembled]

I'm inclined to some variant of what durf made 1 and 3 - in other words, what Gizmo suggested. I don't know if we have a good way to make this an event without lots of carnage or, worse, lots of having to write NPCs at the expense of PCs - and I don't think anyone's inclined to that. 

[Ari]

Okay from Chat:

 

Retirement and Thanksgiving(American) party on the Lighthouse. Ceberation of Captain Thunder, Dr. Cassandra Vale and the other Silver/Bronze Age Leaguers leaving the team to the new group's capable hands.

 

Then trouble alert, the team hastens to the scene and allies with the Whatevermachine to take down the Problem(maybe something really big and non-living, with lots of different parts for people to show off their powers/skills). The Problem is defeated, the difference in style is shown and the two groups leave on more or less good terms.

 

Obviously that has its own problems, but I feel this way is simplest and most manageable and gets things rolling without unnecessary niggles.

[KnightDisciple]

This has been itching at my brain for a bit today, in that I'm a guy who likes organization, systems, and lists. I'll see if I can whip up an outline of how the "team status" will end up here after a little while. 

[KnightDisciple]

Okay, so I'm leaning most on Gizmo's suggestions and thoughts, as they're the ones that most closely align with my own on the matter.

 

Freedom League

-Mission Control: Bowman

-Support: Johnny Rocket, Daedalus, Doctor Metropolis

-Part-Time: Siryn, Sri Montoya, Pseudo, 

-Main Roster: Fleur de Joie, Velocity, Gabriel, Gaian Knight, Comrade Frost, others?

-Auxiliary: PCs who are "learning the ropes"?, specialized teams?

-Affiliate Teams: Barnstormers, West Coast teams, Liberty League?, UNISON/UNIQUE, etc.?

 

Government-sponsored/directed team: ????

 

This is a super-rough sketch. But it's basically the idea of what things are/could be once we go through all the in-character work to "shake things up". 

[angrydurf]

I think that basic breakdown works though I don't know that we want a main roster and Aux rosters.  There also might be some shake up of the Aux group make up as Velocity was main FL while PCs were briefly allowed there and is only under Aux now due to that shift so not sure how in sync that character is with that team.  I'm a big fan of PCs building teams themselves to make manageable cohesive groups that complement each other in powers and play/writting style.  So I'd say we open it up to have the NPCs as you list them then on an OOC level have players work out teams and focus for those teams to come up with where they fit in if at all.  

 

I think the "learning the ropes" type stuff is best handled by team ups and Freedoms Finest style threads than sticking people on the Aux for the sake of sticking them there.  

 

Freedom League

-Mission Control: Bowman

-Support: Johnny Rocket, Daedalus, Doctor Metropolis

-Part-Time: Siryn, Sri Montoya, Pseudo, 

-PC FL Teams

-PC Affiliate Teams

 

And getting to Affiliate or FL team status is based on a teams OOC desire then a thread or two to explain how/why (not necessarily with much NPC interaction) to explain it all.  I don't find individual membership to the league to be helpful just lead to a pool of people in vaguely teammate status by virtue of not being on a team but without the bonds, shared history, or interdependencies that make a team feel like a team.

[Ecalsneerg]

I don't have much to add, mainly because I'm tired, and luckily the discussion has gone, but I do have one point.

 

I am generally, while not necessarily wanting it at the expense of PCs, quite like the fact it's not a generic setting and there's other stuff going on, so I am firmly in the "keep some NPC members" camp. Especially Daedalus, who due to his Resurrection and trips into space often gets put up as a candidate for getting rid of despite being the easiest to integrate. You can relegate him to exposition and an easy Equipment justification, so I'd argue for his inclusion over all as opposed to where these discussions, although not the last few posts, always go in aiming to get rid of him first  Or, to sum my notion up in one letter, he's Q. I also like the idea of Montoya going off to be a more space-focused Knight like how the Justice League titles handle swapping out what Lantern they have.

I am, however, against Bowman running a government team because I don't know how much sense it makes for the whole Bowman legacy to suddenly be pro-establishment? Although for a more governmental team, perhaps SHIELD forms a specific Freedom League analogue of its own, sort of like the Ultimate/MCU Avengers not being initially privately funded.

[Gizmo]

Since we've gotten to a point where people are now summarizing each others summaries I think we can safely say there's a general consensus on the overall route to take here!

 

In the interests of moving forward I'd say the next step is to hammer out which PCs - and which players - are interested in being part of the initial line-up, starting with those already associated with the Freedom League. Off-hand, that would include Comrade Frost, Fleur de Joie, Gabriel, Gaian Knight and Velocity though there are other characters who would make sense as well. Perhaps that might be best sorted out through a round of PMs from the Guide team? Once there's a roster work can start on an actual thread for those characters.