Purpose:
The Batman Corps grew out of a desire to see law and order restored to the New Nuyork Arcoplex, and the greater Atlantic Seaboard Hyperplex. The streets are ruled by thugs and gangs, where the police are often little more than a slightly more disciplined but often underfunded gang themselves. Rather than relying on Security Corporations, or mercenaries, the Batman Corps is a heavily funded, heavily armed vigilante organization.
Agenda:
The Agenda of the Batman Corps is simple, protect the populace from the scum of the Earth. This plays out across several levels, from fighting street level crime with fisticuffs and non-lethal weaponry, to deploying advanced vehicles to stop rogue threats, to engaging in cyberwarfare through the CogNet.
There are several supporting areas in the Corps. Technology needs to be researched, and the toys of the corps have to be covertly manufactured. There is a Wayne Enterprises Slush Fund that is used to finance various R&D projects and to buy and sell small corporations that design or produce things that the Corps finds useful. The Fund and leadership of R&D is handled by the senior members of the Corps
Leader
The leader of the Corps goes by the title 'Commissioner' in homage to Commissioner Gordon, who worked as a functional liaison between the original Batman and the police department.
Commissioner Radomski is the current leader of the Corps and he primarily works to coordinate the actions of the Corps street level cells, the financial backers, and the overall operations of the Corps. He is assisted by the AISC Alfred and is advised/answerable to the senior members of the Corps. Radomski rose up from street level operations, where he fought crime and drug dealers with bare fists and has a darkly pragmatic approach to problem solving. He would have no issue with the Corps using more standard weaponry and placing much less emphasis on detain and arresting criminals, but he has a strong moral conviction to uphold the traditions and protocols of the Batman Corps. Radomski isn't happy as the Commissioner, and even though he's only been in the position a few years he is already looking for a more level headed person to take his place.
Founder
The Batman Corps remember Bruce Wayne as their founder, despite the fact that he was a fictional character created by a couple of comic book writers nearly 400 years ago. The Corps has canonized him in St. Bruce the Protector and they have daily wear jewelry and iconography that identifies them as followers of St. Bruce and his legacy of using wealth, personal power, and ability for the good of the people at not himself.
Cult of Batman: There is a small cult that venerates Batman as a semi-religious figure. The Cult treats the image of Batman in the same fashion as an avenging or warrior angel and have created a shrine to him in the slums of New Nuyork.
Membership
The Batman Corps is not a large organization, there are fewer than 300 active members, supported by approximately 4,500 supporting staff and a senior officer core of 15 to 20 retired members.
Street Ops: these members are recruited for their moral ethic and physical condition. Most are young men, and a few women. They have to be strongly moral, but not rigidly bound to the Law as history has proven legality and right and wrong don't always correspond. These physically aspected members must demonstrate unwavering self discipline and self control, and only deal out the amount of punishment as the situation requires. They are also trained that they are not Judge, Jury or Executioner. They are special police, vigilantes to gather information and to bring criminals to justice that the regular police are unable or unwilling to apprehend.
Para-Military Ops: These are the Corps members who are entrusted with the gear heavier than power armor. The Paramilitary arm of the Corps is less than a quarter of overall membership (50-80 at any given time) but their equipment, BatWings, BatMechs and so forth, make them incredibly formidable foes when facing seemingly overwhelming odds. The Para-military ops most often are called in by their superiors to handle arcanotech storm front breaches, or things that local police aren't equipped to handle and regular military is too slow to face. Many an Amerikka Command sneak attack, secret wonder weapon, or hijacked mech has been put down by the fierce black war machines of the Corps.
Cyber-Ops: The Corps has a small, but strong CogNet presence, mostly through Alfred. The AISC is supported by an elite group of hackers and counter-cyberterrorism experts who while not tied to the Corps, share its values for the CogNet. The Cyber-Ops work through a double-blind system, so that none of their real world identities are revealed. It is known that some of the Ops are top hackers for the Atlantic Federation CyberSecurity Agency, Pacific Rim Coalition's Cognitive Intelligence Agency, Amerrika Command Tele-Viper Corps, and other surprising groups.
Senior Ops: The senior ops are the de-facto leadership of the Corps and all have come from years of wearing the Black. They are retired, no longer serving in regular action. They provide intuition and organization behind the Commissioner and Alfred
Support Staff: Not all members of the Corps are active, just like all members of a military aren't soldiers. There are several thousand sympathizers, mechanics, engineers, and cottage factory workers who work to keep the Corps in the field. There are doctors who help with injuries and medical needs, and engineers and designers who keep the BatSuits and other gear on the bleeding edge of technology, and so forth. Someone has to change the oil in the BatMobile and replace the toilet paper in the BatCave and these are the men and women who do it.
Resources
Finances: The Batman Corps is well funded, and well connected. The largest financial backers are small and middle sized Corporations in the Atlantic Federation. These corps are too small to field their own security detachments and are forced to rely on mercenaries, security companies, or cross their fingers and depend on state and local law enforcement. That is fine for shoplifting and cybervandalism but shit for when Shadowrunners, terrorists, and hardened criminal enterprises show up. They fund the Wayne Enterprises Slush Fund, and out of receive a force of competent motivated crime fighters who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, but also not leave the place littered with dead bodies. Mercenaries are seldom so discriminating.
Political: The Corps doesn't have a large number of political allies. They are strongly liked and supported on a local level, as they handle messes that are problems for city and regional officials, but the Corps very existence is a black eye for megacorp based security who have extensive lobby groups. Higher level state and national officials dislike the Corps but aren't able to get much traction against them, mostly because of the Corps strong local support.
Allies: The Batman Corps has most of its allies at the corporate level and the street level. Its anti-crime campaigns combined with its secret funding of urban renewal and social improvement make it popular among common people, especially the poor and downtrodden who most often live in the urban sprawl around the arcologies, and in the geofronts. On a corporate level, the Corps enjoys robust covert support for like-minded corporations that will donate funding, or R&D to the Corps, or alternately receive the same from the Wayne Enterprises Slush Fund. Technology developed for the Corps has a habit of ending up where it needs to end up.
The Corps does have enemies as well. Higher level law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies despise the Corps and the constant meddling it does. As these organizations have been repeatedly targeted by the corps for illegal activity and corruption, when an agency has a chance to come down hard on the Corps, they will.
Security and mercenary companies strongly dislike the Batman Corps as the only thing the Corps will hit as hard as it hits organized gangs and criminal empires are security and mercenary companies.
Rather obviously organized crime groups and gangs have a fervent and virulent hatred of the corps and generally jump at the chance to kill members of the Corps.
Equipment:
The Batsuit - a light armor suit, a Batsuit is stylized for the Batman corps, and in addition to being made for street fighting, it is scaled to function inside of a vehicle, allowing for a Battrooper to remain in his or her armor suit and still be able to drive a vehicle or pilot a mech. The Batsuit is a under-over encounter suit and stylized Standard Light Ablative/Ballistic (SLAB) body armor. It has excellent protection against civilian grade weaponry and can survive brief encounters with military grade gear.
Bat Corps Heavy Trooper - The Heavy Trooper is a full fledged power armor, with interlocking plates of high end composite armor plating comparable in quality to battlemech armor. The trooper can carry a variety of weapons ranging from standard issue corps non-lethal to full on anti-armor, heavy weapons and mechbuster gear. The Trooper has an armor shroud and a jump pack for short range flight ability.
Non-Lethal Weaponry - The corps isn't about racking up body counts, its about stopping criminals and gangs and uses a variety of non-lethal weaponry.
C-10 Canister Rifle - a long gun that fires a 30mm dispensing canister. Typically, it fires tear gas or sick gas rounds used to suppress crowds. The round can be fired directly into human body mass for a heavy knock down but typically non-serious injury. There is a 30mm flashbang round for stunning large crowds as well.
Stun Baton - a powered melee weapon that can cause electric shock and temporary unconsciousness.
Grenades - available in tear gas, sick gas, flashbang
Stun Gauntlets - addition to regular SLAB and power armor, gloves discharge an electric shock on a suitable point of contact. Used in hand to hand suppression fighting
Batmobility
The corps has to get around and Batman doesn't ride the arco-tram. Aside from moving on foot, using grapnels and zip lines and jump packs, the Corps maintains a small fleet of vehicles for transportation, logistics and when needed heavy combat.
BatMobile - a variety of light personal vehicles are used by the Corps. These have been stripped and rebuilt, using robust D-engines for power and often replacing body panels with composite armor. These personal grade vehicles are equipped with LAI operating systems and can operate with vocal control from their owner, and have a variety of innovative weapons and defensive systems built into them.
Surveillance Van - a light cargo vehicle, the SV is a rolling crime lab and electronics warfare theatre. When operating as a crime lab, the SV and it's crew will work alongside state and local officials. While considered an extralegal organization and technically against the law, the street level police will almost never try to stop a crime scene investigation as the Corps SV equipment is as a rule, superior to their own.
BatManta - a light submersible, BatMantas are the underwater equivalent of the BatMobiles and are civilian and light transport submersible versions of the BatMobile. They are armored, lightly armed, and have a LAI copilot. With their enhanced power supply, a BatManta can stay underwater as long as the food supply lasts for the pilot or crew, depending on the size of the vehicle in question.
BatWing - typically medium sized Aerospace craft, these custom built craft are full fledged trans-atmospheric fighters built with the bleeding edge of technology, but have been skinned to look like civilian craft. Weapons are either pod based or carried in a full internal fashion. They have extensive stealth and electronic warfare capability and are one on one a match for any current generation aerospace craft fielded by the Federation Aerospace Force (FAsF)
BatMech - There are only a handful of these highly expensive machines in existence as they are deemed of low use and value relative to their cost. The BatMech is a 45 ton machine built with cutting edge technology, including electronic and optical stealth systems, some stolen from Amerikka Command's own Stealth projects, which have eluded Federation espionage attempts. Armor is light to moderate, and firepower is impressive, the mech can use a variety of standard issue medium mech guns and rifles, and has an over the shoulder heavy plasma cannon.
Holdings:
The BatCorps has it's own special holdings, land and buildings that it uses for its own purposes.
The Manor - a common name used for referring to a tactical base used to support a corps operation. The Manor is standard fit with a cargo bay, an infantry support bay, and vehicle support bay. 'The Manor' is one of many pre-con bases used by the corps and they all have electronic stealth systems keeping them hard to find unless someone knows where they are. Unlike other pre-con bases, the manor only has surveillance and early warning systems and communications systems mounted in its towers. Wayne Manor is a unique Pre-Con base and has an advanced CIC bay, medical bay, CogNet node, and support facilities for aerospace and mech assets. Its towers are armed with Thor railgun turrets and Hammerhead missile turrets.
The Cave - The Cave is a geofront built in secrecy north of New Nuyork and it houses several very important things, industrial and manufacturing facilities for creating classified equipment for the corps, including prototyping weapons and gear and Alfred. Alfred is the coordinating AISC that supports the Corps in it's CogNet operations as well as monitoring data streams to protect the corps from being revealed to the public at large or organizations that seek to either subsume or eliminate the Corps.
Symbolism/iconography
Batman and the Bat, obviously. The Corps has the classic Batman logo integrated into their BatSuits and Heavy Trooper Suits. This improves identification, and sometimes a group of criminals will surrender rather than face a Batman corps member in hand to hand. The heavier equipment is generally matte black and has no identification markings. This equipment usually has extensive ECM and stealth technology built into it, so it is working pretty hard on not being noticed. Unlike street punks and gang members, most merc and security mech jocks fantasize about going toe to toe with a BatMech to prove themselves and the superiority of their own mechs.
The Senior members have a ceremonial cowl and cloak, to 'protect' their identities when they meet. Likewise the active members will favor domino masks for formal meetings of the Corps. Acknowledging someone's identity and not respecting the anonymity of the mask is a major faux pas in Corps Etiquette.
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Rogue's Gallery:
Bane: A mundane super soldier (genetic augmented strength, etc), or juicer (uses combat drugs and hormones) that is unusually intelligent and charismatic. A leader inside a terrorist organization, capable of going hand to hand against standard power armors and hefting heavy infantry support weapons.
Catwoman: An agility/dexterity based physical adept (using parapsychic powers to augment physical ability) Catwoman is a themed professional elite thief. An excellent example of a freelancer shadowrunner, not evil but not good, a potential foe. Some high end electronics, an encounter suit (skin tight of course) and some light concealed weaponry, there you go.
Clayface: Storm rifts are strange events, eruptions of cosmic energy/poison/radiation. Clayface was a normal human who caught the brunt of a surge blowing out of a rift. His flesh became pliable and viscous, moldable. With the eruption of parapsychic abilities (a not uncommon occurrence) he found with contact, he could temporarily mimic other people's appearances and mannerisms. This is a function of a mental/mind controlling parapsychic ability tied into a horrific shapeshifting curse.
Harley Quinn: Not everyone in the Cosmic Era is a mutant or parapsychic. Harley is just a demented woman who is attache to the next fellow on the list. She is a zealot, and she can range from an elite mook with good gear and skills to being a chosen priestess of the crawling chaos that is the Joker. The main reason that Harley is on the list is the full bodysuit she wears, that and being batshit crazy.
The Joker: The Joker is a foe of many potentials. On the low end, the Joker is a demented genius, sadist, and darkly charismatic leader. This Joker is basically Nolan's Joker. In the middle range, the Joker is a high power parapsychic, with mind control, emotion manipulation, and molecular conversion allowing him to pull comic props and weapons seemingly out of nowhere. On the high end, the Joker is the physical manifestation of a cosmic horror, a beast that previously dwelt in the space between realities. I would personally use this final option, but make the Joker a human vessel acting as the host for the cosmic horror that is the trickster god/monster Joker. Harley is his/its High Priestess, and the Joker's gang is more a cult than a criminal enterprise.
Man-Bat: The Chiropteran Marauder (Human-Bat hybrid form) could be created with some creative and highly illegal biomodifications and genetic augmentations. This level of modification would certainly have serious impact on the sanity of the patient, such as largely losing the visible spectrum of light and entering into the realm of sonar based perception. To make a better foe, there could be a stock Man-Bat, and then there could be special forces trained Man-Bat or rogue parapsychic Man-Bat (strength, aura perception, etc)
Mr. Freeze: Cryonics are certainly a fun area for arcanotech R&D with gadgets like freeze rays, cryo-bombs, and other such ice and cold based technologies. Freeze would be an arcanotech engineer who spent too much time with his devices and has lost his sanity, becoming an avatar of cryogenic essences. Slap on a suit of power armor, a heavy cryo-beam generator and stay frosty.
The Penguin: Parapsychic ability is a fickle thing, and it works however it feels like working and is different from person to person. The Penguin's parapsychic ability manifests in a Dolittle like manner of speaking with animals, specifically avians. The Penguin is a mastermind rather than a fighter and has a mix of gang and mercenaries in his employ as well as a network of bird spies.
Poison Ivy: Another unique parapsychic, Poison Ivy responds very strongly to plant biomass, and is able to control and manipulate it (Plant Adept?) to the point that she can integrate plant traits into her own body, including photosynthesis and creating toxins and compounds in her glands and skin. A very strong parapsychic, she is not just an environmental manipulator but also a seductress and a servant of greater powers (alien plant gods?)
Ra's al Ghul: Much like the Joker, Ras can exist on several levels. On the low end he can be the obvious mastermind and evil genius, pumping out exotic arcanotech weapons and gadgets (Lazarus Pit is a bioreactor) and leading a major corporation, or underground sect. On a higher end, Ras can be a walking avatar of cosmic weirdness and power, functionally an immortal mobile storm rift with impressive parapsychic abilities, able to enslave entire regions with the force of his will. (can also draw lines between Ra's and Yuri from C&C: Red Alert)
Riddler: The Riddler has never been in my opinion a strong physical opponent. When Riddler becomes a rogue AI, it becomes much more interesting. Like the Puppermaster from Ghost in the Shell or any other hidden threat, the Riddler is a virtual threat, wreaking havoc through hacked machines and androids, and cyberrealm warfare. You didn't say the magic word, I want to play a game.
Scarecrow: A mind controlling parapsychic can easily specialize in causing and manipulating fear. Scarecrow takes it a step farther, forgetting to come back to normal and losing himself in the avatar of fear persona. The Scarecrow is a powerful parapsychic and unless sedated, can cause mass hysteria and manipulate fear across a large swath of terrain around him/it.
Two-Face: Two-Face is the unfortunate recipient of multiple personality disorder. One personality is a relatively normal lawyer-y type, while the other is a deranged sociopathic killer. Fight Club style, both are aware of each other, and the normal one can do the normal things, while the sociopath has access to strong physical adept powers like enhanced strength and exotic manipulation of fate/movement of objects.
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? Responses (8)
Update: Batman Corps is an idea I had, it is built with the Cosmic Era setting material but it is not canon to the setting, hence the Silly tag.
For all the silliness, it is still incredibly cool. I would definitely use them if I were running the setting, perhaps as a foil for the PCs. You forgot to bold the 'Holdings' section, and the Roque's Gallery is a little confusing (I don't understand all of the terms used), but otherwise, this is a great read. Thanks for the smile.
Updated and pretty much rewrote the Rogue's Gallery to be more informative
With the extra stuff in the Rogue's Gallery, a GM now has enough to run a whole mini-campaign in the New Nuyork Arcoplex. I especially like your take on the Riddler, since it moves him from the territory of vaguely annoying camp to serious-but-fun threat. What Cosmic Era submissions would you suggest I go to for more information on parapsychics?
Nvm, found a sub on the manifestation of parapsychic powers. I went ahead and linked it here, for future reference.
Update: Recovered from the void, but there is still damage in the form of formatting and general appearance errors, the indent button seems to be malfunctioning at the moment as well.
This would be a fun organization to play a member from.
The batman villains look to fit well in the Cosmic Era.
