Which five heroes would be most appropriate for a street-level vigilante team? This team would be thematically matched for Rook City, and for battling villains like the Chairman and Spite.
Rook City Wraith, Mister Fixer, and Expatriette seem like the obvious choices, but who else would fit in that team? Chrono-Ranger? Nightmist? Unity?
Fanatic -- loves fighting evil and willing to do whatever it takes. She is admittedly a bit larger than life for 'street-level vigilante'. Redeemer Fanatic might be even better.
I think Nightmist is a great choice, though her arcane side is a bit out of sync with 'street-level'.
Dark Visionary? Again, not really street-level, but pretty gritty, nonetheless.
I agree about Nightmist. She'd be up for investigating occult occurrences in Rook City alleys. Can't think of a perfect fifth hero though.
May I suggest Absolute Zero?
Yes he may seem a bit too powerful for a 'Street' team, but think about how he feels always being under the watchful eyes of Legacy or Tachyon, never being able to straight out fight. He may agree just for the chance to cut loose and blow off some vaporized cryo-fluid by just smashing a bunch of goon's heads in and whatknot. If I were him, I'd jump at the chance to get out a bit.
I kind of like the idea that no matter what AZ does, the superhero world ends up dragging him in. I'm not sure he's go out of his way for street justice, he's not someone who really seems to enjoy or like the superhero lifestyle, but whenever he goes on vacation or even visits Rook City to watch a ball game, he ends up getting dragged into something and is never too happy about it.
No love for The Scholar in this discussion? He's like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Aristotle Rodor rolled up in The Dude's rug. He'd make the perfect mediator between an even-keeled Fixer and a hot-tempered Expatriette.
For a 5 person team, I'd likely recommend Wraith, Fixer, Expatriette, Scholar, and Nightmist.
There's two other angles on Absolute Zero that makes him a compelling choice: 1) he got his power from an accident at Pike Laboratories, and 2) he closely resembles Mr. Freeze, a Batman villain. Also, he's pretty morally ambiguous.
Scholar is an interesting case - while heroic, he doesn't seem like much of a crime fighter. He's usually more interested in saving the world.
I really like the idea of a "Rook City Irregulars" consisting of Wraith, Mister Fixer, Absolute Zero, Expatriette, and Nightmist. It's a very gritty team.
I thought Ab'Zero's freeze-inducing accident was at the lab Tachyon works at...?
From the website, Zero's accident was at the Pike Cryogenics Laboratory, while Tachyon's was at the Eaken-Rubendall Laboratory.
Did Ryan Frost live in Rook City for some time then?
Well, as food for thought, I'll point out that Tachyon and Chronoranger might not be gritty street level heroes, but they are nemeses of two of the Rook City villains.
Doesn't Chrono-Ranger just hate rat monsters, though? And The Matriarch is Tachyon's cousin
I think the point is that they have a direct connection to big aspects of Rook City: The villains. Chrono-Ranger is trying to claim a bounty on the Ur-Rat Beast that stole his arm and overran the world, turning it into the Final Wasteland. Tachyon has a younger cousin obsessed with undermining her because her parents compared their emotionally disturbed teenage daughter to a very successful superhero superscientist in her late thirties. Bad move.
I think what we can take from this is that there are layers to the "most thematic" five person team to take to Rook City. A Plague Rat party just wouldn't feel complete without Chrono, and The Matriarch would be screeching about her cousin joining the brawl while her birds stole every shiny thing that wasn't nailed down. But The Organization may not require Chrono or Tachyon's involvement at all.
I'd say that the appropriate Rook City group would be bigger than five, with certain subsets and side characters that could be included in certain situations (like the rap supergroup Hieroglyphics, except RC Wraith/Fixer/Expat are Souls of Mischief and Chrono-Ranger is Del Tha Funkee Homosapien).
I think the better question is who would feel out of place in an exclusively Rook City themed team?
No Bunker? He's basically military Robocop, and Rook City would be exactly the sort of place the powers that be would mount a domestic counterinsurgency... if we're doing gritty/dark.
Easy. Legacy is the most out of place. He practically glows after all.
I'm so happy that people are taking my suggestion into consideration. :3
O-X is an interesting idea, though is there a reason you think he'd join? Possibly his Empathy Circuit going haywire trying to help the innocents that are still in Rook City?
AZ would so fit in. Can you imagine him freezing a criminal to the side of a building while interrogating him?
I think the 5th hero would be the Scholar. It's not that he came in looking for trouble, he just stopped at this bar for a drink...
Totally see him doing that. From ten flights up.
"Better hurry up and tell me what I want to know, it's a warm day today…"