I'm revamping the 15-minute demonstration in time for GenCon.  Lots of the changes are little craft-pieces that make it easier to transport and deploy:  for instance, swapping debt tokens out for a card that has a diagram of splitting the dice, and says "Spend this card on a side to replace one die with two dice, as follows," and like that.

But, at the same time, I have to recognize that the current demo could be better in its fundamentals than it is right now.  Major Victory and Iron Brain are pure gold, so they're not going anywhere.  The concept of a female villain to deflate MV's very male ramblings ... keen.  But Shinobi isn't that villain, etc.

So here are the new characters:

• Major Victory:  "Because America stands for justice, and justice will always lead ... to Victory!"
• Iron Brain:  "A suave and debonair villain who had one too many brushes with 'Nobody could have survived that!'  Now as a brain in a weapon-laden cybernetic jar he's out to prove that he's just as tough, just as smart, just as sexy as he ever was."
• Desperately in need of a cool name:  "This mistress of magnetism is through living her life for others.  Since her know-nothing husband left her for a younger woman, her days of hiding behind a facade of normalcy are so over.  Now she's got a new partner and a new goal:  money and power!"
• Quantum Lass:  "Torn apart by her parents messy divorce, and possessing the unbounded power of the Quantum Field itself, this young heroine has joined on as Major Victory's side-kick, but it's proving to be ... a bit different than she expected."

And for each of them I need three really good conflicts.  The player's first choice in the demo will be which of these three conflicts gets dumped onto the table, so I want them to really sing.  There are a few classics that aren't going anywhere:

• Humiliate Major Victory (Desperately in need of a cool name)
• Convert a villain to the cause of righteousness (Major Victory)
• Prove that Justice will always lead ... to Victory (Major Victory)
• Brutally murder an innocent bystander (Iron Brain)

Other than that, I am wide open.  I know that this group of folks have got to have some ideas for how to tweak these characters, and how to establish conflicts between them.  Should Major Victory be a former love interest of "Desperately in need of a cool name"?  Or a former partner?  Or both?  Do the villains need more reason to pursue villainy?  The heroes more built-in reason to pursue heroics?

Off the top of my head, no guarantee as to originality, cleverness, or coolness:

TonyLB wrote:
• Desperately in need of a cool name:  "This mistress of magnetism is through living her life for others.  Since her know-nothing husband left her for a younger woman, her days of hiding behind a facade of normalcy are so over.  Now she's got a new partner and a new goal:  money and power!"

• Humiliate Major Victory (Desperately in need of a cool name)

TonyLB wrote:
• Desperately in need of a cool name:  "This mistress of magnetism is through living her life for others.  Since her know-nothing husband left her for a younger woman, her days of hiding behind a facade of normalcy are so over.  Now she's got a new partner and a new goal:  money and power!"

Eric wrote:
All that comes to mind is Madam Tesla.

One thing you may want to try to get in the conflicts is at least a few conflicts amongst the characters on the same 'side', just to show how you can have both kinds of conflicts running around, sometimes in the same scene. No concrete suggestions right now though.

TonyLB wrote:
• Desperately in need of a cool name:  "This mistress of magnetism is through living her life for others.  Since her know-nothing husband left her for a younger woman, her days of hiding behind a facade of normalcy are so over.  Now she's got a new partner and a new goal:  money and power!"

• Quantum Lass:  "Torn apart by her parents messy divorce, and possessing the unbounded power of the Quantum Field itself, this young heroine has joined on as Major Victory's side-kick, but it's proving to be ... a bit different than she expected."

drnuncheon wrote:
So you need some kind of conflict centered around discovering/revealing that DiNoaCN is her mother, right?

The only thing I can think of for a name is Lady Electron and isn't not as cool as Madam Tesla...  Of course if you are going for funny, she could be Ohm-wrecker.  Heh.

Conflicts...

Goal: Major Victory admits defeat.  (Played by anyone really)
Goal: Madam Tesla falls in love.  (I know who I'd have her fall in love with.)
Event:  Iron Brain gets a human body.
Goal: Lady Tesla cries.
Goal: Quantum Lass impresses Major Victory. (The preventative power of this one is really cool.)
Goal: Major Victory saves an innocent.  (Another good one to show off preventative goals.)

I'm sure I'll think of more later.

Andrew wrote:
Goal: Quantum Lass impresses Major Victory. (The preventative power of this one is really cool.)

Desperately in need of a cool name:  "This mistress of magnetism is through living her life for others.  Since her know-nothing husband left her for a younger woman, her days of hiding behind a facade of normalcy are so over.  Now she's got a new partner and a new goal:  money and power!"

Side note:

"Madam" Tesla means something TOTALLY different to me than "Madame" Tesla.

The runs a VERY unusual business in the personal services industry.  The second is a respectable lady who just happens to throw lightning bolts around.

Vaxalon wrote:
Side note:

"Madam" Tesla means something TOTALLY different to me than "Madame" Tesla.

The runs a VERY unusual business in the personal services industry.  The second is a respectable lady who just happens to throw lightning bolts around.

Y'know, I think I'm just going to go with "Tesla," and watch with captivated interest how different players choose to envision the undefined portions of the character.

I am totally sure that some people will go whip-cracking super-dominatrix.  I'm also pretty sure that some of them are going to go pissed-off Susie Home-maker.  I suspect the latter ones are going to do the most appalling things.

TonyLB wrote:
Y'know, I think I'm just going to go with "Tesla," and watch with captivated interest how different players choose to envision the undefined portions of the character.

Names are hard. :-(

Bah...  Just call her Villainess A and go for it.

Oh, hey, what about "Ms. Tesla" (following Hans's understated use of "Ms." in his suggestions, which I only just recognized the value of)?  Pronounced very deliberately "MiZZZZ Tesla!  Not Miss, not Missus, MIZZ!"

And "Brutally murder an innocent bystander" has to be replaced with "Brutally murder Ms. Tesla's philandering ex-husband, Mayor Weakley."

Situation-wise, I'm figuring that we can have the villains holding hostages in City Hall, to underline their larger threat of having a huge Necro-Bomb ready to bathe the entirety of Milennium City in deadly Zombie-Radiation.  MV and QL are sent in, in disguise, to deliver the ransom and (one hopes) to free the hostages and save the day.

So far I'm coveting the current conflicts:

Major Victory:

• Convert a villain to the cause of righteousness
• Show that only a man can do a man's job.
• Defeat all villains in combat

Madame Tesla:

• Brutally murder philandering ex-husband, Mayor Weakley
• Convince Quantum Lass to help the villains escape
• Get away with the ransom money

Iron Brain:

• Humiliate Major Victory
• Make people fear you just as much as they did when you had a body
• Detonate the Necro-Bomb

Quantum Lass:

• Madame Tesla shows tenderness
• Major Victory needs Quantum Lass's help
• Get the Necro-Bomb to minimum safe distance

That's generally (1) an attempt to sway someone else's emotions/reputation (2) an attempt to establish something about yourself and (3) an attempt to manipulate "the plot."  Which of these look like winners, which need something else?

Ahey, :)

For that 80's kind of feel:

Tesla Girl

(Why, yes, I am a child of the eighties, why do you ask?)

Cheers,
J.

Okay, I've put a draft up for review.  So, thanks everyone!  Great feedback here, and I'm getting quite stoked to start running the new and improved Capes demo.