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For a long time, people have been discussing alter egos and origin stories. Today, I would like to introduce:
The Back Story Power Pools
Back Story Power Pools are Power Pools available at a level 4 (or some other very early level). These powers represent the experiences that a character has had in their life previous to becoming a hero/villain that have shaped how they approach the Herculean task of changing the world.
Back Story Power Pools (from here on referred to as BSPPs) provide benefits to the players that enhance the experience of the world of CoX without altering the strategies of fighting or detracting from those who choose not to use them.
The restrictions for picking Power Pool Powers still apply. You still need to have 1 or 2 to pick 3, and two powers to pick 4.
Here are some examples of ideas.
Rogue
Even before you began your official career in Paragon City/The Rogue Isles, you led a disreputable life. Whether you were a high profile hit man or a self righteous pick pocket, you understand how complicated crimes work.
1) Pilfer Your hands are faster than most peoples eyes, allowing you to grab and hide objects at incredible speeds. Due to this, your interruption time for mission related objects is lowered 20%.
2) Eavesdrop Your ear is constantly to the ground on the subject of big crimes. You know when they are going to happen before anyone else. You must complete one less newspaper/radio mission before unlocking a Safeguard/Mayhem mission.
3) Criminal Efficiency - Every second is an opportunity to either slip up or hit it big. You value these seconds, and make the most of them. When you enter a Safeguard/Mayhem Mission, your team immediately gets a 2 Minute bonus. This power may only be stacked once.
4) Blueprint Knowledge A good rogue knows the area before attempting to get anything out of it. You are the best warrior you know, and glowing mission objectives appear on your map when you enter the mission.
Obviously, the purpose of the Rogue Power Pool is to increase ones enjoyment of the newspaper/radio missions. This can be great for those that dont like the story of CoX and just want to play.
Student
You may have been a college student. You may have been a religious scholar. In the grand scheme of things, you study hard and learn quickly, a skill that can be invaluable to a developing hero.
1) Subservient When someone tells you what to do, you do it well. When you are in lackey/sidekick mode, your level is increased by an additional level, making you the same strength as your Mentor/Boss.
2) Protective You take care of your Mentor/Boss loyally. Toggle: While this power is active and you are within an appropriate range of your Mentor/Boss, they receive a defense bonus.
3) Visual Learner Learning by example is a specific strength of yours. When you complete a mission in Sidekick/Lackey mode, you receive an experience bonus.
4) Studious Through your studies youve valued mistakes and negative experiences, as they are the best teacher of all. When in sidekick/lackey mode, your experience debt burns off at a twenty-five percent higher rate.
This is a good Power Pool for beginners. Additionally, it can serve as an incentive for players to make long term duo characters.
[u]Although I did not write it out, I suggest a symmetrical version of this called "Instructor", which rewards people for being Mentors/Bosses. The third power of that pool would allow one to have two lackeys/sidekicks.[u]
Lone Wolf
Youve been by yourself most of your life. That doesnt bother you, though. In fact, not much bothers you anymore.
1) Inner Strength When you are on a mission without a team, Inspirations provide an additional 5% bonus.
2) Unshaken Youve been outnumbered so many times, it doesnt frighten you. When more than four enemies are simultaneously attacking (drawn aggro from four enemies), you receive an 8% attack bonus.
3) Vicious Strike When you are alone, sometimes you have to play dirty, just to survive. When you are on a mission solo, you have a slightly increased chance of stunning enemies.
4) Wanderer- The more you are by yourself, the more you learn. When you complete a mission solo, you receive an experience bonus.
This is for the breed of folk that want to solo City of Heroes/Villains, or for those that just want to feel hardcore by diving into the fray themselves.
Merchant
Before all of this started, you dealt in currency, and lots of it. You understand its value more than most people.
1) Silver Tongue You can haggle and negotiate easily, always getting the better bargain. When buying Enhancements, you receive a 10% discount.
2) Businessperson Your ability to come off trustworthy always gets you in with people. When completing missions for non-broker contacts, your relationship meter fills more rapidly.
3) Haggler Somehow, when someone buys from you, they always think that they are coming out ahead, even though you completely ripped them off. When selling Enhancements, you sell them for an additional 10%.
4) Business Deal Friends give friends discounts. Your Kindred Contacts sell you Enhancements at an additional 20% discount.
These enhancements enable people to be more focused on enhancing their character and contacts, driving them to complete the story missions. Also, it may influence trade, as Merchants will inevitably buy enhancements and then sell them for profit at the market.
Obviously, many of these will have to be tweaked. There are several more that I have in mind, but I am not trying to sell the individual pools, I am trying to sell the idea in general.
What do you think?
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Not reading all 9 pages, but here's my take.
I love the idea. They're useful, they don't assume any particular origin, and they actually encourage styles of play that up until now have proved, uh, counterproductive (yes, i soloed a Kinetic Defender from 1-25... I'm nuts.)
But I also think there may be little 'build room' for a lot of players/characters.
So here's my suggestion.
Have these powers available at the "enhancement slot" levels, as an alternative to extra slots for your other powers. So instead of sacrificing a power choice, you lose a set of enhancement slots (at least two, at most three.) This will make the other powers slightly weaker, BUT you gain the advantage of the background pool choices.
