Zortel

I'm thankful that, being British, I won't have to work Black Friday in a retail store in America :P

I'm thankful for having the friends that I do that I met through this game, for not having to go anywhere near hospital again. Last Thanksgiving I was in a ward recovering after fairly major surgery. The food was awful, the morphine was awful, the nurses lovely if a little scary at times, and the blood transfusion I am thankful for.

Thankful for my family too in that they're as nuts as I am, hoping that my writing ability will return, it's been gone long enough, and that I'll get to see my friends more and have a better job to lavish them, and myself with gifts.

Also thankful for my information on zombies, just in case I ever get caught up in a zombie apocalypse.

You had me at RWZ revamp and story arcs for the zone, I must say. Then again, RWZ revamps for any zone get thumbs up from me.

I think Jackal may be in cahoots with Tabby in scoring turkey to sneak away and eat.

Work on stories done so far: 0%, due to having to battle a spyware infection on my PC. First time it's happened in a while.

Tomorrow be Thanksgiving Day in the US, and thus, Thanksgiving in Paragon. Get out the turkeys, the cranberries and the preperations for Black Friday (The biggest American shopping day of the year if I recall. Lots of bargains, lots of people, and sadly lots of injuries ) as well as preparing to be thankful!

I'll be having a reduced number of characters available for play, mostly those that would not celebrate or only celebrate a bit. Rushmore will be taking Penumbral Paradox off to South Dakota to spend it with his family, Cindersnap'll be at the cemetary and about the Tower, among other places. The Rolando clan will be partying hard on their private island. The Unity Vigil/New Vigilants will have a turkey dinner offered for members not heading home for the holidays, and once again at this time of year, once he gets away from the visiting family Shay Bennet shall dub the Azure Arrow costume and go helping out the homeless shelters.

Now to see if I can get some stories written!

Grav/Kin Representing, and that last bit would be damn cool.

Was that going off the opening post power list Oneirohero, or the revised suggestion of powers above:

Okay, how about:

1: Cobra Strike
2: Storm Kick
3: Crippling Axe Kick
4: Dragon's Tail
5: Focus Chi
6: A stealth type power
7: A power boost type power
8: No clue whatsoever here, any ideas?
9: Eagle's Claw

That more in theme with things?

Consequently I find that some of the powers you mention as being more in the vein of things for Blaster secondaries are some of the more boring ones there are. Hence why my personal wish suggestion didn't contain them. Best way to stay alive is to make the other one fall down first.

So, I'm getting that Goad isn't that popular a choice. What about if the taunt was taken out and it was turned into more something like Surveilance? 'Assess Opponent' or some such?

As a note, the +Damage part was considered around the target being the one that gained the buff. Hence being less accurate and leaving themselves open, but having them hit harder when they do land a blow.

Exploding Shuriken in a secondary I don't think would go, and I personally loathe the non-body based powers being in an MA concept set.

Like Windows for Workgroups, but with more kicks to the face.

For introduction in Going Rogue, this set focuses on knockdown, knock back and self improvement through the focusing of chi. There are Bright, Dark and Minimal/No FX options available.

1: Palm Strike (Low Smashing Melee Damage, Knockback.)
A distance gaining move, the character would Thrust out with a palm, knocking the targeted foe back some distance. Useful when mezzed like Power Thrust for getting enemies out of melee range. (Options for the animation could include Cobra Strike, or something akin to the Power Push animation)

2: Storm Kick (Moderate Smashing Melee Damage)
The moderate damage and recharge kick from Martial Arts we all know and love. Say it with flowers. When flowers don't work, say it with a kick to the chops. The move of choice for Chuck Norris.

3: Focus Chi (Self +Damage and +ToHit)
As it says on the tin, focusing your energy to aim better, blast harder and beat up inoffending cars for bonus points.

4: Dragon's Tail (Moderate Smashing PBAOE Damage, Knockdown/back)
Knock them down to set them up with a PBAOE blast or AoE blast, or even just to get the hell out of dodge. This ground sweeping kick will trip all but the spriest foes up. Unless they happen not to have legs or be built like a brick outhouse.

5: Goad (Single Target -To Hit, -Defence, -Resistance, +Damage Taunt)
Calling your opponent out in battle can do a lot to your opponents ego, especially if your warrior's words include a 'yo momma' reference. Enraged and reckless, their attacks will go wide and leave themselves open. But when they hit you'll feel the pain, and they may ignore other opponents for the delight of breaking your teeth. Comes in a mix of taunt, bring it, cut you and come get some animations.

6: Crane Kick (High Smashing Damage Single Target Melee Attack, Knockback)
For when a palm strike doesn't convey your derision or disgust for an opponent, a kick from the hip will hurt and send them flying back, prime for ranged retribution.

7: Trained Body (Self Auto +Spd, +Jump, +Recharge, +Minor Defence (All))
Hours in the gym, dojo, streets and waxing, both on and off, have left you with an improved physique. You can run faster, jump higher, strike quicker and roll and dodge with some blows. It also gives you a warm glow when you look in the mirror. Check out those guns.

8: Eagle's Claw (Superior Smashing Damage Single Target Melee Attack, Knockdown)
The ultimate in kicking to the face technology, or punching if that's your bag. Comics will star your signature move and children will send themselves to ER attempting to replicate it on the neighbour's kid in their back garden.

9: Battle Meditation (Self Click Duration +ToHit, +Speed, +Jump, +Recharge, +Recovery, followed by self -ToHit, -Damage, -recovery, -speed, -jump)
When the chips are down, summoning up your chi, willpower, moxie or just your drive to inflict as much damage on someone as possible can really get you out of a tight spot. In your moment of madness or martial prowess you can leap tall prefab homes in a single bound, outrun a horse, attack faster than a guest on Jerry Springer and have the energy of a team of ravers. Once the moment passes though, you'll be as feeble as a kitten for a bit. Possibly not as cute.

Non-lethal rounds are better than non-lethal broadswords.

Non-lethal beheader! Non-lethal disembowl!

I'd disagree about Batman. The fact that he holds himself never to kill, but also holds himself never to let a child go through what he went through, coupled with how many the Joker has offed with his schemes, stunts and crimes over the years doesn't add up.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Batman. It's just that the Joker isn't the villain he was from the campy comics. He kills, gets put away, breaks out, kills, gets put away, breaks out, this may more be an issue with comics as a whole though regarding slow/static timelines and so forth.

The authority to kill? I agree with the saying of 'no'. The responsibility to do the right thing if the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few though is something that I feel is baked into the hero genre. From Batman and the Joker, to Superman and others, to even Wonder Woman and such.

There are villains which probably -are- killed. I'm pretty sure we don't arrest the Rikti, unless we have some kind of District 9 type place for them. Non-living Vazhilok (So the Cadavers and Abominations. Eidolons are humans given abilities through the Doctor's work) are probably taken out fully, as are Clockwork and other robot types. Hydra? I'm pretty sure they don't end up in jail. Same goes for the Banished Pantheon (Bar the Shamans.) and the Devouring Earth. Rulaaru probably get sent to the squishy eye in the sky.

I do have a police character, but he's a Peacebringer, and thus uses his abilities to try not to kill people. Not even when they throw school buses at him. If he had to kill though, and there was no reasonable choice or other option that could be done in time? He'd kill them, but feel like hell afterwards.

Liberty Belle: Lawful Good. Belle stands for the law, and is a bit more of a hardliner on this compared to Rushmore. She sees having super-powers as being a sign to be an example, a paragon of virtue, and her alter-ego Steve the car mechanic would agree. That doesn't stop him being willing to dish out some justice out of super-powered mode though, if he sees a mugging going down and he has his trusty wrench handy. Definitely not lawful stupid though.

Rushmore: Neutral Good. Being empowered by the Spirit of America, he fights for Truth, Justice and the American Way. Sure, he may clash with his opponents and villains, but he's always looking out for them too, from dropping his self-proclaimed arch nemesis' family off at Prison to see him when he goes home for Thanksgiving, or even just being there for a chat and a super powered brawl when Confederacy Caroline is having home issues.

Madame Midknight: Chaotic Good. When you're dead, life is pretty much one big joke. Doing good should be done because it makes people feel better, and if that involves turning a villain's robot minions into balloon animals then that's even better. When your home life includes a living boyfriend who's in touch with his not-a-demon side, a talking cat, a suit of armour infused with the spirits of abstract terms of law and a rat familiar who does the Snoopy dance, it's hard not to smile about how sweet things are. Call Jane Darc now, mediator for the living impaired, roleplayer, parapsychologist and someone who carries around a box of d20's with the ones rolled out.

Masochica: Definitely Chaotic Neutral. She fights for the sake of fighting, gets up to fun for the sake of fun, and gets into trouble for lulz. Not really a hero as such, she's just a science-experiment girl who loves to fight and freak people out. If there hadn't been that incident with publishing photos of a Wolf Huntsman dressed in drag on Facebook, she probably would still be on the Rogue Isles. Instead she's bouncing around Paragon looking for the best parties, most trouble and funnest people she can find.

Just a few examples, I'm not sure what alignment Zortel would come under, being what some would class as a super villain. The world will be hers one day, just... nicely done. With science! And heroes! And goodness. And an iron fist coated in smooth velvet.

I don't really have any evil characters as such, even my main villain is more Lawful Neutral. I just don't do the evil player character well.

NPC's though?

((Graveyard meetings, you say? ... /e hmmm))

Recluse snarled, his eyes glowing a bright, menacing red from under his helmet. "You stole her from me, Marcus." The villain almost spat the words out, his proto-steel clad spider arms spreading out from behind him. "And now you seek to deny me paying tribute to my dear, departed sister, on her very day of birth?"

"Tribute?!" Statesman spluttered, pulling off the long overcoat he was wearing, revealing sensible, if slightly old fashioned trousers and a light blue shirt with tie. "How many times has it been, Stefan? How many times have you stood against us, our child, and even our granddaughter!" The veteran hero eyed the gravestone of Monica Cole, nee Richter. If they were to come to blows, as they had done countless times in the past, protecting the resting place of his dear departed came first.

"My own kin, turned against me by you. So prim, so proper... and such a coward." Lord Recluse flexed his hands, balling them into fists repeatedly as he taunted. "Were the roles reversed, were science allowed to flow unimpeeded here as it does in the Isle-"

"With scant regard for the sancity of life?"

"With scant regard for those who do not matter. The weak. The feeble. Those who through experimentation and through advancement, their deaths could aid the strong. The worthy. Monica could have been saved. But she chose you. And look at her now." With a wave of his hand, he extended his arm towards the headstone.

"Enough of your games!" Statesman bellowed, surging forth as his feet took off the ground, ploughing straight into his nemesis, as he propelled them through the air, laying blow after blow with his free hand into his former brother in arms, in law. The other clenching the armour Recluse hid behind.

"And miss your tantrums, that temper? Only when you die will they stop, Marcus!" Recluse hissed, his arachnoid arms darting down to clamp around the uncostumed hero. Statesman grunted in pain as the protosteel tips pierced through his attire, the pair soon slamming down onto the concerete driveway in the cemetary to tumble and roll down the path.

Kicking free, a powerful stroke of his arms carried Recluse skittering away to begin the face off once more. Statesman hauled himself up from the concrete, muscled flesh showing from the tears and rips in his shirt. The pair watched each other, waiting before colliding again with fierce, angry attacks.

Rocky Horror Picture Show Booster Pack. Corsets and stockings for men! Loincloths! Tim Curry!

Masochica, a Spines/Regen scrapper. Formerly from the Rogue Isles, she underwent an experimental procedure done by a scientist that her parents, who work for Arachnos, knew to treat her medical condition (Fibrodysplasia ossificans progessiva, causes tissue to ossify and become like bone when damaged.)

It worked, in a sense, giving her the regenerative abilities and biological control to shift her bones about, but left her in constant pain and having a slight issue of needing to rearrange her bones and blast out chunks at times. And it turned her skin and hair blue. And she wound up getting a symbiotic second skin added as she was destroying her clothing.

She's now a perky, happy-go-lucky free spirit who's mind adapted to enjoy the constant agony she was in, and now larks about in Paragon City after an incident with Facebook, a Wolf Huntsman and some cross dressing got her in trouble with the Spiders.

She also pins her second skin back with little bone hooks from her body to shape it into new styles.

For my Natural characters though, especially the US ninja-esque The Moral, it's made of win. Doesn't stack with Combat Jumping which is a shame, but it may free me up a power pick. The ordinary emotes are of the better quality we've been getting lately, and I do love Ninja Leap CCE.

Got a few ideas how to use the costumes, and come Going Rogue...

Ninja running, /e bringit-ing on, berobed practitoners of Gun kata, anyone?