Well, just how much of a secret organization the group is...that's subject to debate. What we mean is a group which has extensive resources but is largely secret and not widely known.
The name we settled on directly evokes the canon mystic meta-group, the Midnight Squad. Except, y'know, not. The Midnight Squad is not secret at all. They do operate subtly and from the shadows in the modern era, but they're mentioned in history books...and indeed, in the 1960s and 70s, the CoH lore says they were just a regular cape-and-tights supergroup like most.
What we were thinking here is a group that isn't really high-profile, but has the whole mystical secret-agent vibe going down. Clearly some know about them; they wouldn't be coalitioned with the Legendary and Riot otherwise, after all. Metatextually, there must be some link with the Midnight Squad as well. But the secret mystic thing is more in the motif - defending the world from things that should not be known, and so on.
The thought process that gave rise to this was...well, as mentioned earlier, most of our 'traditional' cape-wearing superheroes have SGs in our circle to call home. Riot Force works great for the militant, mercenary, hard-hitting and technologically-inclined types. What we don't have is a single place for a whole other genre of characters, the mystic adventurer. The Hellboy, the John Constantine, the Alucard. To some degree the Legendary can take those types, but we figured...well, a 'First Line of Defense Against The Darkness' magic group would complement what we already have.
How far the whole 'secret cabal' thing goes remains to be seen, but it was the initial hook. That's just our attempt at giving the SG some life and personality...while not restricting the potential membership. I mean, we have a traditional robed mage, a techno-goth steampunk hacker, a guy with Chinese numerology and a snappy suit. With three wide backgrounds.
In response to what Sofaspud said ... really, origin strictly doesn't matter. It's mystic inclination, not magic in and of itself. To use the example of the three characters we have, Stormgear's guy is not really a magic user at all. He does things with chi, but he classifies that as 'Natural' - which indeed CoH canon seems to agree with. Foreshadow's 'Natural' if I recall, and as he appears in-game (redside mission)...Foreshadow has 'Chi Blast' powers. We wanted to provide as broad a base as possible, while retaining a unique mystic flavour.
What we didn't consider is that the 'secret' part of the group might be a problem. For Ankhani's defender... the 'official representative to this world' thing doesn't play well with the idea of a shadow organization, you're right. Certainly not the secret part. On the other hand, we really haven't decided how old the group is, or how much standing and influence it's supposed to have. I'm hesitant to claim that it's really all that, partially because I dislike writing one's own character (or group) with ZOMG MARY SUE POWAH.
But it may well be significant enough that, to Natalie's superiors, the group is considered a legitimate point of contact. Or it could simply be the first/initial point of contact. OOCly, the headquarters doesn't exist yet. But ICly, we figured it'd be something like a big arcane-steampunk library (lots of wood, brick, and strange bits of machinery). Trick is, the centre of the place would be some sufficiently impressive looking chamber which can see beyond dimensions. As far as Natalie's people are concerned, maybe these guys just have a good stable Internet connection.
Easier to phone home? I dunno. I know nuts about your source material. Just throwing this out.
-- Acyl
The name we settled on directly evokes the canon mystic meta-group, the Midnight Squad. Except, y'know, not. The Midnight Squad is not secret at all. They do operate subtly and from the shadows in the modern era, but they're mentioned in history books...and indeed, in the 1960s and 70s, the CoH lore says they were just a regular cape-and-tights supergroup like most.
What we were thinking here is a group that isn't really high-profile, but has the whole mystical secret-agent vibe going down. Clearly some know about them; they wouldn't be coalitioned with the Legendary and Riot otherwise, after all. Metatextually, there must be some link with the Midnight Squad as well. But the secret mystic thing is more in the motif - defending the world from things that should not be known, and so on.
The thought process that gave rise to this was...well, as mentioned earlier, most of our 'traditional' cape-wearing superheroes have SGs in our circle to call home. Riot Force works great for the militant, mercenary, hard-hitting and technologically-inclined types. What we don't have is a single place for a whole other genre of characters, the mystic adventurer. The Hellboy, the John Constantine, the Alucard. To some degree the Legendary can take those types, but we figured...well, a 'First Line of Defense Against The Darkness' magic group would complement what we already have.
How far the whole 'secret cabal' thing goes remains to be seen, but it was the initial hook. That's just our attempt at giving the SG some life and personality...while not restricting the potential membership. I mean, we have a traditional robed mage, a techno-goth steampunk hacker, a guy with Chinese numerology and a snappy suit. With three wide backgrounds.
In response to what Sofaspud said ... really, origin strictly doesn't matter. It's mystic inclination, not magic in and of itself. To use the example of the three characters we have, Stormgear's guy is not really a magic user at all. He does things with chi, but he classifies that as 'Natural' - which indeed CoH canon seems to agree with. Foreshadow's 'Natural' if I recall, and as he appears in-game (redside mission)...Foreshadow has 'Chi Blast' powers. We wanted to provide as broad a base as possible, while retaining a unique mystic flavour.
What we didn't consider is that the 'secret' part of the group might be a problem. For Ankhani's defender... the 'official representative to this world' thing doesn't play well with the idea of a shadow organization, you're right. Certainly not the secret part. On the other hand, we really haven't decided how old the group is, or how much standing and influence it's supposed to have. I'm hesitant to claim that it's really all that, partially because I dislike writing one's own character (or group) with ZOMG MARY SUE POWAH.
But it may well be significant enough that, to Natalie's superiors, the group is considered a legitimate point of contact. Or it could simply be the first/initial point of contact. OOCly, the headquarters doesn't exist yet. But ICly, we figured it'd be something like a big arcane-steampunk library (lots of wood, brick, and strange bits of machinery). Trick is, the centre of the place would be some sufficiently impressive looking chamber which can see beyond dimensions. As far as Natalie's people are concerned, maybe these guys just have a good stable Internet connection.
Easier to phone home? I dunno. I know nuts about your source material. Just throwing this out.-- Acyl