HeebeeGeebee

@Kageshi_Dashi - I still think distributing zipped mish/costume/group files passed around would make the ability to branch missions easier. After the mention of villain motivation types I've started working on lowbie villain mishies in order to avoid the boring Burke or Kalinda show. I figure once I have a decently tested arc for each, I'll upload them as a zipped pack with specific lists of what the player had to have unlocked first. Then, they can publish, play, and un-publish any motivation arc they feel like for a given character.

@_Wyll_ - I think that's sort of the way of things. We're trained to be heroes and to understand how heroes, even anti-heroes work and why they (usually) succeed. Villains not so much. It's not something everyone rushes out to teach their kids and so it makes a game where you're the bad guy but still want to allow to "win" a pain in the neck.

A couple of other potential villain styles for you to contemplate

The Freak: Outwardly, this individual is an average individual forced, by society, into doing horrible things to survive. This inevitably twists said character into doing horribly depraved things. I don't lump them under Revenge or Beast because they aren't really either. They're survivors more than anything else, but even that isn't much solace when they're killing you to take your stuff/lifeforce/lunch money. Threats include overly zealous do-gooders seeking to imprison them "for their own good" and Overlords seeking to harness them as elite henchers (i.e. Solomon Grundy or Killer Croc.)

Prideful: This individual isn't in it for the cash or the power or any of that jazz. They aren't out of their gourd nor are they particularly keen on evil for evil's sake. They're in it simply for self-validation. This is arguably where villains like Kraven The Hunter and Bane come in. Yeah, sure, money's great, whatever. I just want to prove myself against a tougher opponent. When you have a guy who's climbing Mount Everest barehanded just because he's bored you might have a problem when he decides to start playing the "let's be destructive" game in your town. These guys tend to peeve off anyone in town if they work for them long enough because it becomes clear that they have their own agenda.

Enlightened: Above even the Overlord and Crazy combination, you have guys who are over and above anything the normal folk can imagine. They aren't Malfeisants because, well, this good v. evil is silly and doesn't concern them. What concern is morality to the guys who normally reshape reality with a thought. Normally, this would be the realm of Bat'Zul, Cthulu, etc. However, some players are trying to play variations on these guys. Puck, Pan, Loki, Nygslpix or however you pronounce it from DC Comics, Galactus. None of these guys are concerned with evil. Nor are they really that crazy. They just exist and are 100% bored with what the ants are doing, even if they've been, for story purposes, bound and limited in power.

Well... mine really have the entire... redemption bit going for them...

Czernabog tried to be a hero before, became a mercenary after his brother (The Human Conduit) disappeared during the Rikti War, blaming himself for it. After murdering his idol, he realized what he had become and is trying to make amends... Hero? No. Someone that might be able to make a difference? Yes. Why I Fight - The Origins of Czernabog

Nod? At the beginning of Nod's story, he's just out for vengeance, nearly as much a villain as his brother. He just puts down whomever gets in his way. As his story progresses, he begins to understand that he has something resembling a civic duty. I mean... heck... he's a 10 year old (looks like a midget in game) with a villainous brother and father and imaginary friends that do his dirty work for him. Figuring out what to do next is a bit tricky.

(OOC: The entire hope behind this is to continue with the story of Czernabog and those around him as a series of story in a very comic book format. The origin is from the perspective of Czernabog himself and is just a "first issue" introduction of the character. Feedback is more than welcome, it's begged, wheedled, and pleaded for. Thank you and enjoy!)

My name is Nikolas Stravinski Tolstoy, born Nikolas Lukovich. I am a pianist and composer. You may have heard of me... but you do not know me.

I have a twin brother, Piotr, who like myself was born with an incredible gift. We both were blessed with vast reserves of energy within us. Piotr was born with lightning in his fingertips and an uncanny skill with the creation of machines. Myself, I am a nearly bottomless well of pure energy... but I am better known for my gift with music. What many do not know, is that in return for my talents, nature left me without a voice.

I do not fight for peace.

My brother and I excelled in our chosen fields; I taking a stage name and performing in Perez Park before my 18th birthday with such masters as Johann Gruber, my idol. Piotr had gone to work at the Crey Corporation, crafting new inventions for everyday living.

Then, the Rikti War came.

Our parents were among the first victims.

Piotr came to me, begging me to join him. He had built two suits, one for each of us. They would amplify our powers tenfold... and mine would give me a voice. In the name of our mother and father, he begged me to enter the fight with him. I agreed, and The Cannon and The Human Conduit were born.

I do not fight for glory.

We were a sight to behold, laying waste to the invaders that had claimed our neighborhood... until reinforcements arrived. Swarms of Rikti descended upon us. We fought without hesitation but it was no use. The last I saw of Piotr, he was sinking beneath a mob of stinking Rikti Monkeys... I soon followed him to the ground.

When I awoke in a bed in Chiron Hospital, they told me no sign of my brother had been found. Only me.

Bandaged and bloody, I rose from my bed, stuggling to leave, to chase the invaders, to demand back my brother. They sedated me... and I slept.

I do not fight for vengeance.

The unlucky among you may have encountered Herr Kanone. It was the name I took when I worked for the 5th Column. It was purely for the money. I had been left with nothing but the suit that was my voice... and repairs were cheap. The 5th's resources were nearly limitless, and they were eager for new blood... for old blood... for any blood.

I do not fight for truth.

For the 5th, I composed symphonies of explosions. For the 5th, I conducted entire orchestras of screams. For the 5th, I played on, as long as the money was plentiful. For the money, I sold myself.

I do not fight for justice.

I was hunting for my latest prey. A deviant, they said, that needed to be silenced. I was not concerned. I only wanted to know if they had paid my fee.

I do not fight for myself.

I brought my target's entire home down upon his head. I was too greedy to pay attention to whose home it was. Searching through the rubble to confirm my kill, I found him. He had been in his den, composing his latest piece on the piano. I had been sent to silence Johann Gruber, the very man I so idolized.

I do not fight for you.

Nikolas Stravinski Tolstoy attended his funeral and wept like a child. Nikolas Stravinski Tolstoy spent the last of the 5th's blood money organizing a concert in memoriam. And Nikolas Stravinski Tolstoy played Johann Gruber's final piece, unable to see the music through his tears.

I do not fight for the money. Not anymore.

I am Czernabog, death, and I come for those who would silence the world.

I fight for the music.

I play a fair bit, and love the game, but... well... I tend to go into the character creator, make a character, play with them for a good while, then start writing about them... Some are easy (Czernabog, my main, is an Energy/Energy Blaster. Only the backstory makes him interesting ) But in my alt's case, Nod (an illusion/storm summoning controller) is tougher to explain. He's still not bad to roleplay, but its all about being very loose with the interpretation of the powers.

In example... Nod is a 10 year old boy by the named of Michael Tarcynzski, son of Clockwork Adam (long story, if I ever post my fanfic you'll understand him), and brother of the righteous Rev. Abraham Cain. Nod, after being put into the hospital by his brother, developed a psychic ability similar to that of his father and brother. However, instead of mind control or telekinesis, Nod could make his dreams become tangible, and in return, visit his enemies worst nightmares upon them.

In this way, all the illusion power set "pets" correspond to various regulars from his dreams. The storm summoning powers flow well because of their potential usage in dreams as well.

There isn't any best way to roleplay a character (although there is certainly a wrong way... *I shoted u in hed with gun. U ded now.*) other than what you feel. I mean, after all, if you don't find the hero you create interesting, why on earth would you keep playing as them?

Like everyone else has said, I'm mostly concerned with how much of my copyright for characters will apply. I mean, with the story I have (set up in serialized format like a comic book and as of now continously ongoing) I could conceivably change some details (albeit major ones, but in the world of comics, is it really that hard to find hate-mongering groups of villains or come up with a group that would experiment on a known killer with cybernetics?) and be clear of the entire City of Heroes story. But I don't want to. I'd prefer to have a venue in which to post it. But if I have to worry about my characters being taken over by CoH should it be posted to the message board in serial format, and/or selected issues submitted to the Fan Fiction portion, I'll just skip it entirely. Just seems to be a waste to me that well done work by talented authors (or artists) is being left sitting on a shelf, on a drive, or even worse, unexpressed because people are afraid their work suddenly won't be theirs anymore. I'd just like to have SOMEBODY give us an official answer on this.

-Czernabog