Toybox

Background

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Neopolis

Neopolis is a town in Florida, on the same Earth as Tom Strong. It was created when it was noticed after WWII that science heroes tended to somehow greatly increase the number of fellow science heroes, science villains, monsters, supernatural things, etc. where they were operating.

Thus, Neopolis was a place where all the weirdness could live without bothering other people.

It was built on plans drawn mostly by captured Nazi super-scientists and assorted mad scientist-type villains. Although the architecture is extremely varied (as are the vehicles, people, businesses, etc), some elements are still reminiscent of National Socialist architecture.

Neopolis is a pretty big city. It’s not unlike Manhattan or Gotham. But since many things and people can fly, Neopolis is much taller and built to accommodate three-dimensional traffic.

Everyone has one or more super-powers or one or several piece of unique and advanced equipment in Neopolis, and most everyone has picked a science hero name for themselves.

When aliens, gods, robots, giant monsters, etc. visit they tend to come to Neopolis, following the law of sympathy.

The general tech level seems on par with Judge Dredd’s Mega-City one, with numerous aberrations.

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Transdimensional activity

Likewise, when contact was made with parallel realities, it occurred in Neopolis. The city is part of a system of at least 134 parallels, which are interconnected by a system of paying public transport. It resembles a train station.

Each parallel is quite different, but all seem fantastic.

• One was a Classical place with lots of Satyrs, Fauns, Centaurs, etc. and the equivalent of New York City all in modernized Classical architecture. It is called Nova Roma and seems to be the hub of the administrative systems and public transit system.
• One was a somewhat absurd generic fantasy place.>/li>
• One (“Turingville”) is populated by highly advanced robotic AIs.
• One is a Steampunk  Victorian parallel.
• One is populated by mechanosaurs.

The parallels seem to work much like Torg’s cosms . They have varying tech axiom levels (for instance electricity cannot work in Smax’s native dimension), social axiom levels, etc. as well as a set of narrative rules. Neopolis’ axioms and rules are super-hero ones, and thus fit nicely with the normal DC Heroes RPG rules and Genre Rules.

Similar reality and narrative rules have been discovered by Tom Strong when he investigated parallels on his own.

Discipline and punish

The Precinct Ten police station (aka “Top Ten”) is part of a centralized, multiversal police force, which issues them their budgets and policies and to whom they report. The H.Q. of that police force seems to be Nova Roma, aka Grand Central.

Although it covers an entire town, Top Ten is considered to just be a precinct station in terms of staffing , organization, ranks, etc.. This system was adopted in the mid-1980s after more than 25 years of failure at policing the highly chaotic town. The cops from other Earths had the experience that the Earthlings were missing.

One of the main points of the multiversal system is to view Neopolis as a single place extending not only in four physical dimensions, but also vibrating along the fifth. Most realities have their own equivalent of Neopolis. That is how each version of Neopolis ends up being considered a precinct in a greater whole, a virtual, transdimensional city.

Of course, the heavy traffic across the various versions of Neopolis has both made them all even weirder, but has also given them a common identity and subtle commonalities in culture.

Powers and Abilities

Robyn is fresh out of the police academy, though she now has a few weeks of practical experience in the field. She doesn’t have genuinely noticeable physical skills or ability. Although she’s pretty good at not being hit.

Robyn has a toybox full of obedient toys – mostly boy stuff such as tabks, helicopters and soldiers. She can give them detailed orders – such as ordering warning shots, calling shots, having a bunch of toys Team Attack to search an area for clues without disturbing the crime scene, etc.

She seems handy with science and engineering, but has always credited the toys to her father, Colonel Lilliput. Robyn’s part in maintaining her toys and designing new ones is unrevealed. It is possible she is self-effacing and prefers to credit her father who designed the original toys.

I’ll hazard a random explanation for $100, Alex…

Robyn’s deductive leaps have an uncanny ability to land on their feet. If she hazards an explanation about a problem, it is very likely to be the correct one. Even though it appears to just be a shot in the dark.

For instance, she wildly speculated that Morningbright could be fusion-powered, and that turned out true. Likewise when she wondered if the Zen Taxi Driver could be legit despite all appearances, it turned out that he was. When she wondered if Morningbright’s odd sentence was an acrostic – well, it was.

In DC Heroes EPG terms this is modeled in part by her large WIL score (to deduct correct conclusions from information), and in part by her Scientist (Observation) Subskill.

More generally speaking, when Robyn’s player take a wild guess about the nature of something, the GM should consider making her explanation true. As long as it’s as cool or cooler than the explanation the GM originally had in mind.

History

Robyn Slinger is the daughter of famous Golden Age science hero Colonel Lilliput, who is now senile. She became a legacy hero, using the toys built by her father as her “power” and calling herself Toybox.

For unknown reasons she decided to become a police officer. Once she got out of the police academy, she was sent to the Top Ten station to start working.

For subsequent events read the series, cause it’s damn good.

Personality

Robyn is a nice, patient young woman. She seems to be a bit shy.

She doesn’t act at all like you would expect from a police officer, and she doesn’t look like one at all, either. She’s more like a weird but nice and smart girl from the college, who doesn’t speak loudly and likes to have friends. The reasons why she became a cop are a complete mystery.

She certainly seems to be determined to be a good officer. Robyn makes great efforts to be liked by her fellow cops, even rude asocial curmudgeons like Smax – though Smax can quickly annoy even her. She is tolerant, and seems to have a quiet sense of wonder. She’ll happily go along with whatever weird local customs and odd adventures may happen.

Robyn’s kindness is obvious in her relationship with her aged father, who has Alzheimer’s. She lives with him (which basically means she has no private life) and arranges for neighbours and friends to care for him when she’s working.

When addressing her toys, she speaks like a military commander from a 1940s action movie. Presumably the toys’ personalities react best to this, since they mostly are boy’s toys.

Description

People with an enhanced sense of smell, such as Sergeant Caesar or Syn Jackson, have all noted that Robyn smelled nice.

Her outfit — jacket, “TOYBOX” black top, bare midriff, short skirt or long shorts, torn black stockings and huge shoes — seems pretty constant.

Quotes

(To an angry robot bystander) “Nobody is blaming Ferro-Americans, sir. C’mon… move back.”

(To her toys) “OK men, fan out and cover the area. Report on anything out of place.”

Dwarf : “Ah but, with respect, miss, Morningbright is a *dragon*.”
Toybox : “Yeah. And a murderer, a child abductor and an industrial-strength polluter. And I’m a police.”

DC Universe History

DC’s closest equivalent to Neopolis might be Superbia, the high-tech city built by the Ultramarines and hovering high above the ruins of Monte Video. The opening of relations with other realities might explain why things have been quiet there.

Robyn herself would presumably be the daughter of the Toyman, or maybe even his grand-daughter. Or niece.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Top Ten and Smax series by Alan Moore.

Helper(s): Roy Cowan, John Colagioia.