Martial
[ ] Fortify LexCorp's non-Metropolis holdings
Reason: This is really long overdue. Most of our enemies, for some reason, have been attacking Lex's strong point defensively rather than the easier targets of Lexcorp satellite buildings. We should make them not-so-tempting. But, it's a DC 77 action.
Possible Loadout: Roxanne, Carl: (29 + 8 + 3.2 + 45 = 85.2/77)
Not a bad idea, but there's been a lot of support for fortifying
Metropolis itself in hopes that the city would be better able to withstand things without Superman's intervention. The idea of deliberately trying to keep crime low and metahuman threats under control so that Metropolis arguably does not need a Superman is something a lot of us have been fans of.
Diplomacy
[ ] Meet with Veronica Cale
DC 13 Veronica Cale is a powerful if somewhat obscure woman in the world of business. However by no means does that mean her talent and skills should be underestimated. Meeting with her and potentially entering into an alliance or a collaboration of some sort could pay off immensely.
Reason: We already made a pretty good impression with her in Lexpo. A powerful woman in business who we could use as an ally. Also, fairly low DC.
Possible Loadout: +0/13
Not a bad idea at all.
[ ] Make a public showing of regret over the events of Lexpo
DC 5 While the tragedy that ultimately occurred was not in any way your fault showing more signs of contrition and show how you plan to improve things going forward will potentially win over some people whoare on the fence in regards to your character.
Reason: Really, not a bad idea to say sorry for the mess it became.
Possible Loadout: None +0/5
Since fucking this up would be
bad I want to at least put a hero unit who can assure us of success, though that only requires Diplomacy 4. Ideally I'd like non-shitty success with a Diplomacy hero, for obvious reasons- this is a very important time for our PR messaging.
[ ] Recruit Managers and Executives
DC 65 Sometimes you need an individual to be able to manage things. While you've certainly got your own hands full, having someone who is skilled in the art of business could enable you to free up more of your time and focus your efforts elsewhere
Reason: We need more Stewardship Heroes.
Possible Loadout: Pamela + Oswald + Mercy = 25 + 19 + 5.7 + 9 + 10 = 68.7 /65
Ohhh, interesting, putting Mercy on a Diplomacy action! I would... not have thought of that.
Stewardship
[ ] Create an online storefront
DC 45 You have had yet another revolutionary idea. By creating an online website through which people could purchase things (with LexCorp making a small amount of profit on each transaction) you could easily revolutionize how shopping works. If you include having LexCorp do the delivery then you can be sure people will flock to this idea.
Reason: Time to make Lexcorp the first Amazon. And, I am tired of all of our average to below average tech product rolls.
Possible Loadout: Felicity + Carol + Mari (22 +14 + 4.2 + 18 - 1.8 = 56.4/45)
Hm. Maaaybe.
[ ] Build housing for LexCorp employees
DC 4 LexCorp has many employees and not enough room to house them all within the tower. As such you can now solve this problem by providing them housing at many of the locations you now own.
Reason: Low DC action that will allow our employees to be in a secure place...that we can also have under surveillance.
Not a bad idea at all.
[ ] Begin producing hologram technology
DC 10 Hologram technology is immensely useful. While you won't be distributing the most dangerous aspects of it just yet, you can certainly see a market for illusions cropping up.
Reason: Low DC Action that opens up a new source of money
I'd
LIKE to put heroes on this to make sure it goes smoothly. It would also be nice to have Scudder be part of that team (use Rogues), though then I don't know what to do about my own plan's "Tighten Security" action.
[ ] Build a lab in Vlatava
DC 14 Count Vertigo has provided you with a relatively remote area in Vlatava where you can set up a lab and begin investigating various things you'd like to keep out of the public eye.
Reason: A great place to do physics research (such as a particle accelerator) that we don't want in the public eye. We have one for Dr. Moon- we probably will need one for Meena. Though, for less nefarious purposes.
I don't think we need to build the particle accelerator somewhere in secret. Particle accelerators are big, and hard to hide, and other scientists tend to
geek the fuck out over them and beg to get beam time on them (Meena has EVERY GODDAMN RIGHT to cackle like a mad scientist if she gets all the beam time on a world-class particle accelerator, speaking as someone with a physics background).
This would be a perfect thing to build in, say, Houston, Idaho. Or Blue Valley, Nebraska. Lots of flat land, can just dig down and set the thing up underground (as is the norm in real life) and build it.
Particle accelerators are a normal thing, not a mad scientist thing, they just
feel like a mad science thing because we can potentially do mad science with them.
Intrigue
[ ] Create a worldwide spy network
DC 72 LexCorp is rather in the dark about the internal affairs of countries outside of the US. While you do get the big news you still are unaware of what lies in the dark. This will not stand. Establishing an international spy network will help fill you in on details you otherwise wouldn't have been aware of
Reason: I think we can all agree that Lex is becoming more of a player in the secret world. But, we are often blindsided by other parties' actions. We need to fix that. We have spy satellites, now we need assets on the ground.
Possible Loadout: Leonard + Marie + Lisa + Samuel (10 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 15+ 13 + 5.2 +18 + 5.4 = 78.6/72)
This is very tempting and I want to do it
soon though I'm not sure about doing it
now.
[ ] Investigate the vanishing Lex-Phone
DC 36 One of your Lex-Phones in Central City has been sending bizarre signals as apparently it vanishes from one side of the city to the next. Investigating this strange phenomena could yield some pretty interesting results.
Reason: We have Meena, who can research the speedforce, and this will allow us to know the identity of the Flash before he even meets Superman. Maybe we could employee him. Either way, if we know of the Speedforce there is an argument to be made that Lex could gain access to it.
Possible Loadout: Katherine + Lucy (18 + 17 - 5.1 = 29.9/36)
Ehhhhh... I... guess... maybe?
Personally I'd rather not borrow trouble, and I suspect the Flash will be little or no harder to find until and unless he meets someone actually paranoid, like Batman or the Question. Who will probably immediately point out how dumb it is that he's been carrying his L-Phone around while zipping around Central City at speeds in excess of Mach Ohgodno.
[ ] Develop a Cold Engine
DC ??? (Assigning Louise to this action reduces the DC by 30 and assigning Caitlin to this action reduces the DC by 10) Louise's work on the development of a theoretical engine that derives power by draining ambient heat is an interesting prospect and is what she is most interested in getting done. As such getting to work on this project could prove to be very beneficial in the long term (This action must be completed 15 times before the rewards from it properly come about).
Reason: It's an interesting thing? Really, this seems like AMAZO v2 in operation- but we should try it at least once.
Possible Loadout: Louise + Caitlin
If it works, it's a freaking perpetual motion machine because it violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
[ ] Learn about more biology
DC 54 Learning about biology would give you a greater understanding of how life works the secrets of our genome and so much more. You will be able to build a better human cure diseases and improve the frailties of flesh.
Reason: Honestly, I hope to learn about cloning. That way, we can clone our human test subjects (with growth serum) to avoid issues of ethics and government oversight.
Possible Loadout: Karl + Moon (18 + 18 +1.8= 37.8/54)
I am... hesitant... because I think working with Dr. Moon is bringing out the worst in Dr. Helfern. I think we should ease off on the biological mad science shit for a while, at least until we get a new shrink with a stronger stomach.
[ ] Learn about military strategy
DC 14 Business is much like war. You excel at business strategy so it stands to reason that you'll excel at war strategy. The conflict with the League of Shadows has demonstrated that there is a need for you to understand warfare. You refuse to let this hole in your knowledge remain unaddressed.
[ ] Learn more about space
DC 5 Additional research is required before the SpaceLex program can truly get off the ground. Being able to understand how to navigate space and construct things for that harsh environment offers numerous opportunities and benefits for oneself. On top of that you do rather like the idea of being the man who conquered the final frontier.
[ ] Learn more about engineering
DC 18 A general all purpose field of study that can yield results in a variety of different fields. It's always nice to go back to what you know
Reason: Lex's original bread and butter. In this case, if Meena wants to build a particle accelerator- it's not a bad idea for her to study how to build a better...everything.
Potential Loadout: Meena (25/18)
I do approve of these choices.
As of now, with the quest as it stands, here's the vote tally:
[12] Develop a Cold Engine
[11] Begin producing hologram technology
[10] Improve wards
[10] Begin development of combat exosuit
[10] Locate Intergang
[10] Build a school for Metahuman youth
[10] Make a public showing of regret over the events of Lexpo
[09] Train up LexCorp forces
[09] Recruit Managers and Executives
[09] Equip your forces with improved weapons
[08] Contribute resources to the analysis of superhuman powers
[08] Learn about military strategy
[08] Kidnap a member of Intergang
[08] Improve augmentations
[07] Meet with Saied Kadesh
[07] Consult on Project S.T.R.I.P.E.
[07] Fortify Metropolis
[07] Build living quarters for Jinx
[07] Meet with Lucy Lane to talk about her family
[07] Upgrade the surveillance system in LexCorp
[07] Tighten Security
==== THE LINE ===
[05] Learn more about engineering
[04] Meet with Veronica Cale
All other options I can see have three or fewer votes unless someone accidentally misspelled their vote or something. There are a LOT of those.
Now, you can make some arguments that "Learn more about engineering" or "Meet with Veronica Cale" should be a higher priority than the ever-popular, repeatedly-failing "Build living quarters for Jinx" or "Meet with Saied Kadesh." I won't think less of anyone who switches those votes out- and note that it would be pretty easy to promote them into the Top 21.
I
would like to specifically speak up for one option in the Top 21: "Upgrade the surveillance system." My reason for doing this is that it's
specifically security against Mr. Mind. He can fool minds but he cannot, so far as we know, fool a camera, or telepathically control the person on the other end of a CCTV circuit. As long as we have physical sensors that can detect his presence, or any harm he causes by trying to gain entry, we have a reasonable degree of security against him because we have plenty of automated weapons and defenses that he cannot mind-control.
Now, this may seem like a pointless choice to others, but since there was a lot of concern about securing ourselves against Mr. Mind coming back for a second attempt, I thought it belonged up there. After all, it's a lot easier for us to build more advanced sensors and better camera monitoring of the building, than for us to invent some kind of anti-telepathy helmet and wear it around all the time.
