Every superhero group needs a Headquarters. This is their home, their meeting and living space of their super identities and – most important of all – a visible edifice and target for their equally super-powered foes.
A good HQ should say something about the group. The Justice League of America orbit far above us in their satellite, looking down on we lesser men, the Batbuddies hide in their dark and brooding cave; and the X-Men ironically isolate themselves behind locked school gates.
The heroes known as the Seven Champions are no exception, for these incarnations of the Seven Champions of Christendom call The Cathedral their home. This is, quite literally, an ancient cathedral built in a high and nigh-inaccessible part of the Yorkshire Moors. It stands proud and intact, an aged blessing on the stone walls renders it invisible to any but the purest of heart or those granted leave by its occupants.
The whole of The Cathedral and surrounding grounds (a roughly 1 mile radius) are protected by a continual aura of calm. It’s a DC20 Will Save to overcome it for a single round, and even the most angry and dangerous folk would find peace within these hallowed walls.
This is far from a high-tech HQ – you’ll find no cutting-edge computers or holographic danger rooms here – but it is surprisingly well equipped. As well as enough living space for 10 occupants (the Seven Champions, groundkeeper, caretaker and cook) there is a gym, infirmary, extensive laboratory and workshop, all running from The Cathedral’s own power supply. An old stable block has been converted into a garage, complete with maintenance pit.
The outstanding feature of The Cathedral is The Library Tower. It is easily the equal of any large public library. The caretaker regularly takes deliveries of new books, though no one quite knows where they come from. The Library specialises in History, granting a +4 to any KS:History checks if used, but covers a broad range of other topics as well, and includes the last remaining copies of several important Early Christian writings.
Building a HQ in Mutants & Masterminds is fun! Set the size (The Cathedral is a Huge structure, making it roughly the same size as a castle) and overall Toughness (at +15, the walls are thick age-old blessed stone that have suffered much punishment and survived countless centuries) then it’s just a matter of picking the features, paying 1 Equipment Point for each. Buildings can even have Powers of their own (want a Flying Castle? No problem!). For the Singular Citadel (home of the multiverse-spanning Forgotten Heroes, another superhero group of ours) I gave it a multi-dimensional teleportation device, ripe for sending heroes to everywhen and as a convenient plot-device for invading Dog Soldiers.
The Cathedral’s needs are a little more modest. Rather than a laser-guided Defence System, this haven is protected by its aura of calm. Add in the +4 bonus to KS:History checks, and we’re done.
The Cathedral, 25ep (5pp)
Toughness +15, Size: HugeConcealed, Garage, Gym, Infirmary, Isolated, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System 1, Workshop
Emotion Control 10 (DC 20, Burst Area 5,000’, Limited: Calm only, Permanent)
Enhanced Trait: +4 KS:History, Affects Others only
In total, The Cathedral costs just 25 Equipment Points. This translates to 5 Power Points which could be shared among the heroes to spread the load. Instead, I’m going to give it to them for free – The Cathedral is their base of operations, but they don’t own it. The cost is instead shared between the caretaker, groundkeeper and cook who are rather more than they appear.
Would you expect anything less?
