Kirsten

It increase the odds that things will drop, but it's still all up to the dice. If you had a buttload of windfalls and track your drops with them and compared them with normal drop rate, you'd see a difference.

I just love the fact that people are drooling all over the Blaster set, when several people on the forums, some of which can be seen drooling, rail strongly against further "Anime"-ization of the game...when this set is perfect for anime-style characters. Honestly, can you think of any shounen series without at least one flash-stepper?

...Uh, you guys are doin' it wrong. You're supposed to respond to the previous post's good idea with a related bad idea, and then supply your own good idea.

I fixed my post.

Global handle: @CAPSLOCK
Vindicators: Infernal, Luminary, Valkyrie, & Woodsman

Infernal:
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5527/infernall.jpg

What I was trying to do here is lighten up his color palette, give him a more "heroic" appearance, and modernize him somewhat, while keeping a somewhat "medieval-nouveau" aesthetic (if that's a thing...). I decided to switch him over to Titan Weapons because the Demon Axe seemed to fit with the idea of a Faustian hero who binds demons and forces them to aid him in heroic deeds. He came across the axe when he was assaulting a group of Banished Pantheon who were attempting to use the magic in the axe to call one of their fallen deities into our world. He could feel the great power in the axe, and decided to use it.

The color scheme I used was mostly red and orange, to evoke the though of flames.

Luminary:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9180/luminary.jpg

The one member of the Vindicators that I have long believed to be the ugliest. I tried to take the general look and make it match up more with how actual people in the game look, changing her from an uncanny valley machine into a real android (although, technically, since she's supposed to look female, she'd be a gynoid, but that has some...odd connotations to some people). In a pitch battle with Rikti Restructurists, a group of War Riders had managed to get Luminary alone. She fought bravely and managed to destroy them, but she was badly damaged, and her body was beyond repair. Her disembodied processors collaborated with Citadel to design a superior model, and Luminary decided to clean up a little. After all, it's not every day that you can completely rebuild yourself.

Valkyrie:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/8582/valkyriel.jpg

Valkyrie had always been one of my favorite Vindicators, largely because her aesthetic was very simple. I tried to capture her look while updating it, mostly using Justice parts. I switched her to Staff Fighting so she could finally use that spear on her back, but I used the trident model because there was no single-pointed spear model (consernit, Paragon!). There was little I really felt I had to change, except for using the newer parts and their better textures.

Woodsman:
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3896/woodsmans.jpg

One of the most unnoticed Vindicators, largely because he is dead. I thought I'd take him a little down the road that Paragon took Huntsman, but still have him look a bit more civilized to reflect his desire to protect humanity and nature. He still looks more feral, and perhaps less human than before, but he's still the same Woodsman. He found his new form in a ritual being performed by the Circle of Thorns to create a demon-human hybrid, with the powers of a demon but immune to the normal ways one would destroy them. Woodsman wanted to warn the other Vindicators, but there was no time, so he took possession of the body they had created before the Thorns could give it a demonic consciousness. The body bonded with him, amplifying his powers and allowing him to live...and to destroy the group of Thorns surrounding him. He returned to the surface a new man, patrolling Eden and all the natural places of Paragon to defend nature from those who would despoil it. But is his new body truly wihout will of its own?

You know, I always understood the well as an idea given form:

(TL;DR: The Well is an infant in cosmic terms, formed of not only the potential of mankind, but also the sentient sum total of humanity's ideas and theories, regardless of what they are.)

No matter what origin you are, no matter where your powers directly come from, they all had to start as an idea. Kung-Fu? Somebody thought of that. Magic? That was just a huge idea. SCIENCE? The scientific process is composed entirely of coming up with theories and ideas and methodically testing them. Mutation? A metaphor for new ideas and ways of thinking. Technology? That's when you take an idea about the universe and put it to use. Perhaps the Well itself may not have always been truly sentient at first, but humanity eventually learned and thought and prophesied and hope and sang out into the cosmos with the beauty of the universe echoing through it so powerfully that the Well achieved some kind of "Critical Thought-Mass", a minimum complexity required for it to be able to rise up and become self-aware. The reason it appears so chaotic and insane is because humanity is a very young race, and its Well more so. We are children, watched and empowered by an infant. When a kid sees a big mean monster coming for him, what does it do? It goes and finds a big strong grown-up to protect it (i.e. Tyrant). When it saw the Incarnates defeat Tyrant at the Magisterium, it realized they were even bigger and stronger, so it made them its champions. It all makes sense: The Well's just a scared cosmic kid, and Prometheus is a really crappy babysitter who doesn't know how to discipline it. If the Well had responsible guardians, it could grow to be massively powerful, but without the proper guidance, it could be lost to the coldness of the universe.

About Crey...Do you suppose they're into any Incarnate experimentation? I mean, there was the Experiment Gone Awry, a foray by Crey into the supernatural. We already know that those who take scientific approach to magic can actually be terrifying (Praetorian Percy Winkley, for example), but an entire corporation with even partial mastery over magic and Well powers would indeed be a mighty force to reckon with. It'd also give upper-level heroes a reason to pursue Crey again, with all the political maneuvering that that would require. I always rather liked the idea of a...Luthorian Paradox? The heroes have the raw power to uterly destroy the villains, but the villains utilize the power structure to stump the heroes, leaving heroes to wonder how to win on the villain's terms.

Rough Example:

Project: Demigod

Crey research into the Arachnoids and lesser Incarnates has lead to new breakthroughs in the field of para-physics, allowing the Crey Corporation to start Project: Demigod. The project is the logical continuation of the Revenant Hero Project, supernatural research, and newly acquired knowledge (and bodies) of Incarnates: The creation of Incarnates fueled by the Well's full power, but loyal to the Countess until the bitter end. Recluse has had his agents watching the project carefully for a while, and while he sees the possible threat it poses, he also realizes it could mean being freed from that blasted puddle, so he has been secretly sending Destined Ones to their deaths for Crey's research.

Villain: You see the power you could have to gain from stealing this research, either using it, or blackmailing Crey to get it back and then using it anyway. Rumor has it that Aeon has figured out Recluse's trickery and is none too happy. He could be the key to the mother lode.

Hero: For some reason, fledgling Incarnates in both the Isles and Paragon City have been disappearing, just as new, more powerful Paragon Protectors have been spotted in the streets. This seems suspicious, and you're not the only person who thinks so: Manticore has been monitoring Crey activity in the Rogue Isles through his...sources, and he is convinced Crey is involved. He needs your assistance investigating this, because despite your own fame, you're still less conspicuous than a chief member of the Phalanx, and he needs somebody deniable. Go find the truth, and tell the people at any price.

First things first: What Omega needs to be is a Custom Signature POwer.

Genesis is probably going to be either a swarm summon (Think Gang War) or possibly a Clicky self buff.

Mind: MEZ. Probably either going to be a strong group mez, or add mez procs to attacks.

Vitae: If Genesis is not a Clicky Buff, this will be. Otherwise, I could see perhaps more alpha-style enhancements.

Sammy, you're brilliant. Now, can you please get to the Shadow Shard? Portal Corp Needs you!!

Sounds like one possible way to do it.

This whole thread is win. Now you just need to work on the Shadow Shard and Praetorian stories that go up to 50. The deadline is last Tuesday. Get to work! I don't pay ya ta sit around! I pay ya for pictures of Spi-I mean...I don't pay you...So...

Huh.

Just get to it whenever...

Please?

:-t