Good fronts for secret superhero bases?

[Drakeburn]

Hello. I need help with something.

For a superhero base of operations, what would make a good place for it?

[Kid Jake]

An exclusive day spa with an uppity receptionist that constantly loses non-supers reservations and then berates them for it.

[Karl Aegis]

A dairy factory

A sewage waste treatment facility

A place that also processes chopped nuts

[Steampunkette]

Volcano Lair on a nearby island. When the villains come after you, no civvies are in the line of fire and you can monologue to confuse them!

More seriously, how about an abandoned house, church on the outskirts of town, or a base in the sewers so it's harder to find? Another common one is a hotel perpetually renovating some area or another.

[Maglubiyet]

An exclusive day spa with an uppity receptionist that constantly loses non-supers reservations and then berates them for it.

I was thinking of a barber shop, but day spa is awesome.

A water tower -- not the ones on legs, but one of those fat ones with the base on the ground.

A movie theater multiplex -- the door to Theater 15 always has a "closed for renovations" sign on it.

Inside a parking garage -- seriously, where do all of those doors go in the big ones?

[Drakeburn]

Okay, a tiny bit about my character:

He's a physically fit, normal human being who is really skilled with archery.

Also, my character is attempting to become a teen entrepreneur. So I doubt a teen entrepreneur who is just starting out, and in a private high school, can afford an exclusive spa.

I've had the idea of having this superhero base of operations inside a clock tower connected to a business. So what would be an ideal business for a rookie teen entrepreneur?

[GoldfishBowl]

Parent's garage. School Club. Community Center's spare room.

[Maglubiyet]

Clock tower works or empty bell tower in an old church.

Unused subway tunnel.

Attic at the public library

Derelict school bus in a junk lot.

Garage seems likely though. That or an old tree fort.

[Karl Aegis]

C-could it be? The legendary Cardcaptor Sakura Expy?!?

[Drakeburn]

Cardcaptor Sakura???

Well, my first idea was to have an arcade with an office where my character can live inside, but I figured that arcades don't make that much.

Then I thought up of my character becoming the owner of a fitness center, then a warehouse, then a dance club, then a pizza parlor, and then a coffeehouse.

[Yukitsu]

Okay, a tiny bit about my character:

He's a physically fit, normal human being who is really skilled with archery.

Also, my character is attempting to become a teen entrepreneur. So I doubt a teen entrepreneur who is just starting out, and in a private high school, can afford an exclusive spa.

I've had the idea of having this superhero base of operations inside a clock tower connected to a business. So what would be an ideal business for a rookie teen entrepreneur?

Do what Green Arrow couldn't properly do and call your secret base the Quiver.

BTW, my recommendation would be a secret basement under a "cowboys and indians" style museum.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Are you 16 teenager or 18 teenager? It matters a fair bit if your still a highschooler or of college age (even if your not in college). My suggestion? The attic of your parent's garage. Since you run your business out of their garage to begin with. Most young entrepreneurs start out of their garage (or that's what the media tells me at least).

[DigoDragon]

A motel. Folks come and go all the time so it isn't questioned. Rent out the rooms you're not using and enjoy a continental breakfast before fighting crime. ;)

[Murk]

I say library.
Modern libraries always have plenty of those little doors - some even too small for actual people - of which you don't know where they go at all.
I like the feel of the young college-entrepeneur who rents a room in/close to the town library to do "business stuff", but actually has his superhero lair there. Also gives great opportunities for those old "door behind a book case"-thingies.

Besides, it would be cool to have a brawling, fighting, fireball throwing superhero who just likes books, for once.

[Red Fel]

I'm going to go in the direction of Swat Kats and suggest expanding a series of drainage tunnels under a junkyard.

The junkyard gives you cover and plenty of scrap to convert into useful materials. The drainage tunnels, once properly refitted and cleaned, give you lots of space. And the location gives you cover, as well; as a teenager, you can claim that your afterschool job is working there. Bonus points if it actually is, and the owner is the "sole adult who knows your secret identity and occasionally doles out moral support or guidance" character.

[prufock]

A laundromat. No more questions about where superheroes get their dry cleaning done!

[MrZJunior]

An abandoned super hero themed theme park.

[Drakeburn]

Are you 16 teenager or 18 teenager? It matters a fair bit if your still a highschooler or of college age (even if your not in college). My suggestion? The attic of your parent's garage. Since you run your business out of their garage to begin with. Most young entrepreneurs start out of their garage (or that's what the media tells me at least).

I'm 22 years old actually.

But my character is 16 years old. I've never heard of teenagers owning a motel, or a laundromat before.

Whenever somebody brings up "junkyard", I cannot help it when the movie Steel comes to mind. (Although it would be cool to play a character with a weaponized wheelchair )

[Feddlefew]

I'm 22 years old actually.

But my character is 16 years old. I've never heard of teenagers owning a motel, or a laundromat before.

Whenever somebody brings up "junkyard", I cannot help it when the movie Steel comes to mind. (Although it would be cool to play a character with a weaponized wheelchair )

If all the other characters are teens or young, college age kids, how about one of their parent's basements?

[Drakeburn]

If all the other characters are teens or young, college age kids, how about one of their parent's basements?

Well, my character's mother is dead, while his neglectful father owns his own corporation.

So, living with his father isn't something that is going to happen anytime soon.

[ExLibrisMortis]

A regular hero's base? When people suspect you of having superpowers, tell them they're wrong, because clearly the base would be secret if you did. If you're under 18, people will believe you're nothing but a superhero-obsessed teenager with indulgent parents, so try to look young (that should be easy, since your character is 16).

[Feddlefew]

Well, my character's mother is dead, while his neglectful father owns his own corporation.

So, living with his father isn't something that is going to happen anytime soon.

Grandparent's basment?

Uncle's/aunt's/older cousin's basement?

Legal guardian's attic?

[Lvl 2 Expert]

So this is a low powered superhero (think ninja turtles rather than superman) who is building up his own business aside from still going to high school?

The most practical businesses in that position are the ones where you don't need a building, like doing web design or something from their own room.

Apparently, your character lives on his own, just a room somewhere is probably the most realistic living space/base of operations for him. For flavor, have some adult take him under their wing. He lives at the pizza place/nightclub/clock tower and museum/wharf by the dock because the owner likes him and is letting him use a space there, not because it's their own business. If you'd deviate even more you could let them work at that place or be in training to take it over (his childless aunt really really likes him?). If this is to be his own place try to keep it simple. A small fastfood joint, a bar, a laundromat, a quaint little store with two steady customers that used to be his mom's but for which he has some great plans, something you could squint at and think "yeah, you could run that by working between school hours and nights of crime fighting" (without that being actually realistic).

But I think in the end I'm going to have to second a garage. It's the preferred workspace for starting entrepreneurs around the globe. Maybe he tunes cars, fixes computer, builds robots, you know, cool stuff. And that would also give him some workspace in which he might be able to come up with some gadgets every now and then...

[TheEmerged]

A laundromat. No more questions about where superheroes get their dry cleaning done!

I wasn't aware that was a question, really...

BTW - depending on what part of the country you're in, "barely in use mini-mall / strip mall / shopping center" can be a thing. In fact, we used a local closed shopping center as the base in one of our eariest superhero RPG campaigns decades ago. Which to this day leads to the occassional joke in the group about the proliferation of superteams in the area ever since...

[Karl Aegis]

You are totally Yue.

Spoiler: Once it has been seen it cannot be unseen

Show

This handsome hunk here.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

The bishie is strong in this one

For those who played the Sam and Max games, Bosco's Inconvenience Store

[ShaneMRoth]

Teenaged Superheroes?

Tree fort.

[TheThan]

I’m partial to the sidekick’s apartment.
But then again []The Tick[/i] is my favorite super hero cartoon.

[D+1]

A typewriter repair shop
A vinyl record store - Championship Vinyl
A you-store-it place - but all the storage spaces are "already rented out"
The seediest, low-rent "auto repair" place imaginable
A bail bonds office

[Drakeburn]

Teenaged Superheroes?

Tree fort.

I'd imagine tree forts would be good for kid sidekicks or superheroes, but I'm not sure about teenaged superheroes.