💼 Mission B1: Meet the Mayor
Overview
What will happen:
Campers will design LED light-up wearable superhero costume to enter portals and stand out to the inhabitants of Metro City.
This scene establishes the plot of helping to defeat the Chameleon, helping save others as a theme, while also encouraging individual creativity. Technology created here should enhance their presence in the scene and communicate when they are using their super powers .
Trainee's Mission Objectives:
Embody a Superhero!
Trainees will be tasked with crafting and wearing superhero costumes to be recognized as Supers themselves.
Students will also prepare Super Personas complete with names and an explanation of their powers.
Meet the Mayor of Metro City & Prove their Superhero Status! Trainees will design bodystorm comic book costume elements like capes, masks, gloves, etc.
Additionally, they must incorporate their LED wearables into this costume so it appears they have superpowers or enhancements (think glowing hands, light up laser vision goggles, cyborg parts).
Materials & Classes Covered
Materials:
Mission Tech: Colored LED Light strips, Affiliated connections, boards, wiring, and batteries necessary
Prop: LED “Portal” to Elpheme (LED lined doorway to Elpheme room from HQ)
Universal Crafting Material
Non-Player Characters (NPCs):
Anywear Academy Facilitator
Character(s) encouraging Trainees to explore their creativity in super hero making AND to help ensure their LED lightstrip wearables are functional/can utilize coding learned in previous classes to the best of their abilities.
Mayor of Metro City
Desperate to find new Superheroes that will take on the schemes of the dastardly Supervillain ‘The Chameleon.’ The Mayor themself cares deeply for MetroCity citizens but doesn’t have superpowers, and so relies on others to assist. (to inspire the campers to help and to develop their super-personas)
Classes Covered:
Lights & Colors 1, 2, 3
Design Bodystorming
Structure
Note: The time duration represents the expected length of the role-play scene and crafting for the activity.
Please account for components such as class time, lunch & breaks in your scheduling.
Exposition (5-15 minutes)
Location: Anywear Academy HQ
The NPC Anywear Facilitator tells the Trainees they have intercepted a desperate plea for help from MetroCity, a Superhero themed world.
A Villain there named the Chameleon has thwarted other superheroes and so there is no one left to stop them. Trainees must go there as Superheroes to assist the Mayor of MetroCity, complete with super costumes, a prepared super persona (name and power description), and incorporate wearables into their costume to demonstrate their supposed superhero abilities.
Each super power must be unique, and the method to trigger them must also be unique. During this time they can brain storm or body storm their designs and this should flow into the next stage where they actually create their super hero costume
This is an initial design that they should feel free to iterate or replace later.
Class Note: If not done prior to this, now is a great time to do the Design Bodystorming class (1 hr)
Initial Incident (20-35 minutes)
Location: Anywear Academy HQ
The NPC Anywear Facilitator tells the trainees their costumes ideas are great, and if needed reminds them that they will need to use their skills with technology to give themselve the powers they need.[GOAL 1]
Campers should now work to craft their unique super hero costume and program the initial form of their powers. These can evolve later but for now they’ll need to show the people of metro city that they’re super heroes to take seriously.
Once the costumes are prepared, they also need to match the color of their wearables to the color of the gate to be able to pass through it! [GOAL 2]
Class Note: If not done prior to this, now is a great time to do the Lights & Colors 1 and/or 2 class. If these are done, consider running the Inputs 1 and/or 2 classes (1 hr each)
Rising Action (5-15 minutes)
Location: Metro City Mayor's Office
Once they have completed their super personas they travel through the gate and meet the Mayor of MetroCity. The Mayor asks who they are and each player shares the details of their super persona!.
Climax (2-5 Minutes)
Location: Metro City Mayor's Office
Confirming they are all Superheroes, the Mayor informs them of the terrible plots villain known as the ‘the Chamelon’. Are they brave enough to stand up to this mysterious terror?
The Mayor tells them that they’ll send word to the Academy the next time the villain strikes but that already the Trainees are making them feel braver.
Resolution Denouement (5-10 minutes)
Location: Anywear Academy HQ
Trainees return to the HQ to discuss what they’ve learned with their instructor/mentor.
Now’s the time to prompt them to reflect on what they’ve learned, who they’ve met, and how they feel about their wearable design so far. ( what did they think of Metro City and the Mayor?)
Trainees should leave documentation behind regarding their Superhero Personas, so that other trainees may copy their coding/build methods of representing having a superpower and so they remember their identities for future missions to MetroCity. i.e. where did they incorporate the wearable into the costume, how did it play into the persona, how they want to develop their powers further.
Documentation can include a paste bin of applicable code, a scrapbook page, or a group whiteboard that they can collaboratively work on.
Facilitator Notes
Anywear Facilitator Script Direction
”In order to be ambassadors to Metro City, you must blend in with the superheroic population. Face the challenge of designing your unique superhero costume with limited time and materials, then incorporate LED wearables into your costume to activate the gates! Disguise your technology as part of a normal supersuit, and you’ll be assisting the Mayor of Metro City in no time. Everyone should have a ‘unique’ superpower, triggered in a unique way, or it might arouse suspicion. It’s the best way to discover what nefarious plans the supervillainous Chameleon may be hatching there!”
Mayor Script Direction
“Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry, you have to help us! Our city is in the grips of terror from this new villain. I don’t even know if I can talk about them without the support of a group of powerful heroes. Please, tell me I’m speaking to brave heroes that will show this villain that they can’t just keep pushing us around!”
Tone and advice for success
The super persona’s created by the campers can be as silly or serious as they’d like. The missions of this world aren’t intended to be a big show of stage combat. It’s more around the posing and strutting of super hero entrances like those in Power Rangers, Sailor Moon and other popular media.
Mission Success Criteria
[1] Embody a Superhero!
[2] Show the Mayor their Super heroism
If Trainees meet [GOAL 1]
Then the NPC Anywear Facilitator will allow them to pass through the gate to MetroCity, and the Mayor will not doubt their ability as Superheroes when he asks about their names and powers.
If Trainees need a little help with [GOAL 1]
Either NPC Anywear Academy Facilitators or their peers assist them in adding LED light strip functionality to their wearables OR The Mayor will inquire as to why the player has no visible superpower, is it an internal or hidden super power perhaps?
If Players meet [GOAL 2]
Then the Mayor will be impressed and emboldened to tell them about ‘the Chameleon’. The Mayor will recognize their abilities and contact them again when ‘the Chameleon’ strikes next!
If Players need a little help with [GOAL 2]
Then The Mayor will work up the courage to describe how awful ‘the Chameleon’ is! As ‘the Chameleon’ is clearly intending to steal and ruin more things, the Mayor will call upon campers again soon.
Depending on group size, the Mission Structure can take different formats.
For smaller groups
In situations where there are less than three staff members and the number of students is able to manageably code or craft in one group.
The events of this mission can be run sequentiallywith the class or classes occurring after the their first design session for their super hero costume.
For larger groups
In situations where there are at least 3 staff members present and a large number of campers (>10).
Half of the group can be crafting their costume elements without technology while the other half is going through classes.
This can mean that half of the group with their first versions of their costumes can go on an initial visit to the Metro City, learn that they need to incorporate LEDs into the costumes and come back together with the other campers to share knowledge with each other providing peer mentorship opportunities.