Protectorate Creation Guide

A Practical Guide to the Protectorate

PRT? Protectorate? Whats the Difference?

The Parahuman Response Team (PRT) oversee all parahuman activities in the United States of America, Its territories, and most of Canada.

Members of the Protectorate, or its youth organization the Wards, are parahuman employees of the PRT and are subject to all the same rules and regulations that are imposed on everyone else, from the Director, to the troopers, to the filing clerks, to the janitorial staff.

The regulations put upon you by the PRT are there not only to help you do your job, but to make sure you can’t fuck things up too badly. If this is a problem, there are several non-government controlled hero teams who may take you in (at the risk of being legally responsible for you), or you can go on as an independent hero.

What, Specifically, does the PRT do?

What If I disregard all this?
Your character will either be fired from the Protectorate, or they will be transferred out of the city to punishment duty elsewhere (read: NPCed). Repeat offenders will lose the privilege to play Protectorate heroes.

Enforces the laws and regulations of the United States

Performs research and testing into the fields of parahuman sciences

Regulates all government-affiliated cape activity

Investigates parahuman-related crime

Ensures the continuity of the Federal government in the event of total societal collapse

As a member of the PRT, you are responsible for all of the above.

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Mental Health Requirements

Parahumans are traumatized by default, But people handle that trauma differently & some handle it far far worse than others. You aren't expected to maintain perfect mental health, that an unreasonable request, but members of the Protectorate & Wards are expected to maintain a level of professional decorum, & to work on their issues. The PRT provides & subsidizes mental health services for their employees. Your cape is expected to be sane & reasonable enough to pass bi-monthly in-universe Psych Evaluations. (These are off-screen & are basically an IC reason for the PRT to remain informed about the sanity of its heroes.)

Professional Expectations

There Protectorate can't afford an infinite Roster, and simply put, if you’re going to fuck around, we’d rather give that limited space to someone who takes it seriously.

Members of the Protectorate are expected to

◆Follow & respect the Parahuman Response Team's chain of command.

◆Interact respectfully with the civilian public, the Media, & other Agencies.

◆Share only approved info, or the bare minimum to reassure the Media.

◆Refrain from all criminal activities, including fraternizing with criminals.

◆Prioritize saving lives over property or the capture of criminals.

◆In-combat Utilize minimum necessary force, avoid lasting injury & lethality when able.

Training & Equipment

Professional Costume Standards
The PRT does not half-ass the Costumes for the Protectorate & Wards. The PR & Image Department exist so you can look professional, with high quality costumes, that don't look like they were cobbled together on a budget. And to ensure you don't look overly trashy or villainous. If your making a protectorate hero you need to look the part.

What about Containment Foam?
Containment foam does exist, but we don’t bring it out often because it’s not fun in a roleplay setting. Doesn’t mean it’s off the table though.

The PRT trains its heroes with the essentials before that cape even thinks about going out on their first patrol.

This includes power testing to understand the basics of how your power works, but also practical skills & techniques for law enforcement.

Someone with a lengthy career in the Protectorate, should have some actual experience to show for it, and should have more than the bare essentials provided by basic training, if they are even remotely serious about their career as a hero.

Below is the bare minimum that a new Protectorate/Ward is expected to possess before being allowed to actually patrol, & fight crime.

The Basic Training Essentials

◆Basic Hand-to-Hand combat training

◆Basic First Aid & CPR

◆Basic & Relevant Understanding of laws & legal procedures

◆Basic Radio & Communicator Operation

The Basic & Required Equipment

◆Police Zipcuffs & Handcuffs

◆PRT comms (with NUCLEUS encryption module)

◆Police Medkit

◆Police Baton or taser

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Calling the PRT in an emergency

If you are in an emergency situation, call 911. There is not a special PRT or Protectorate emergency line.

If your house is on fire, you do not look up your local fire department, you call 911.

You can look up how Real-life emergency service dispatch systems work, but long story short, you call 911, get a dispatcher, and let them know what’s happening the same as you would for non-parahuman crime.

At no point will a member of the public be able to call 911 and speak to a Cape.

The PRT console?
"The console” is not run by Wards. It is run by a PRT dispatcher who handles all radio communication with the Protectorate, Wards, and specific affiliated independent heroes using the PRT system. They keep track of every hero and will check in regularly to make sure you are okay. If you don’t check in, or you go off track, they will notice and act accordingly.

What if people start dying?
If there are casualties, civilian, hero, or villain or otherwise then the situation has escalated beyond the norm, and you should check in with @PRT on the discord about the situation.

For those who want to get in the weeds, Denver’s 911 system is managed by the Sheriff’s Office, who handles the calls and acts as intermediaries between the public and whichever emergency service needs to deal with things.

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation:

1.) A supervillain is robbing a store. A local bystander sees this and calls 911.

2.) Dispatcher takes this call, and since it’s parahuman-related, alerts the PRT & other relevant emergency services.

3.) The PRT would dispatch a squad of officers, as well as redirect any nearby patrolling heroes. This would occur over encrypted radio communications. If you’re a villain you don’t get to intercept this. No I don’t care if you’re a Thinker. That’s not how this works.

4.) The heroes would do the active fighting, with the PRT officers and other responding emergency personnel mostly acting to keep civilians out of the line of fire. If a fight goes on for an extended period, reinforcements will arrive. Villains should try to get away before then.

5.) When the fight is over, more PRT personnel will arrive on-scene to secure any evidence, clean the scene up, and interview witnesses. These personnel, like all other PRT employees, are broadly competent and armed, and if you’re trying to slip something by them you need to let us know.

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Calling the PRT (non-emergency)

If you’re just looking for a meeting with the PRT or Protectorate, and you’re not a villain, assume it’s something that can be set up easily enough, It will either occur in a public (non-secure) conference room, or in one that has had some hardening against surveillance.

If you’re calling to speak with a specific hero, that can happen. Unless you’re a known trusted actor (fellow hero), that call will be monitored and recorded for M/S purposes. It might be recorded anyway.

If you’re a villain or no-name hero calling the PRT, you need to @PRT on the Discord so we can go over it. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing if you don’t want it to be, but we need to know.