Triple_R

I think the best water map is the Outdoor - Nerva one. I think it's called Primera (but I can't double check because I don't have CoX access, atm).

For a melee-like 'Mako'; I'd go with Claws/???.

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Anyone notice that mobs seem to run away... ALOT. Been playing my crab since I12 launch and it seems like just about everything runs and its quite annoying.
EDIT--- This happened when I was fighting scrapyarder as well... Basically he ran instantly.

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Oh dear god I hope they tone down the run away AI. I was about to pull my hair out last night after doing a COT and a Council story arc with my dark scrapper. The Thorn Casters always, and that's not hyperbole, run away and often all the way across the floor map. The Council are almost as bad. And don't be me started on how much the Croatoa witches run away, argh. For us melee folks this is incredibly unfun and frustrating.

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I agree. It's annoying for melee characters. I think the AI should at least have travel suppression when they start running.

Here My Attempt.

Natural Superjump can easily work as grappling hooks, anti-gravity boots, or even an extremely focused chi.

Natural Teleport. This is something I had to think about for my BS/Regen scrapper. I rationalize any long range teleportation as stealth movement, kind of how Batman moves when Commissioner Gordon is not looking. For short range teleports, such as TPing in front of a mob, I like the idea of her using flash grenades.

So basically, you want a biker girl with a skull motif? Well, you're options are limited.... try something like this..

You can also take off the helmet.

Off the top of my head: Commander Conquer!

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I would stress the importance of freaky hair. She looks a too calm to be freak.

Also: my freak

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Perhaps, but honestly... I'm not a huge fan of many of the freakish hair styles. I realize, Dungeon Girl is never going to sport a mowhawk because of this.

Then... sometimes you have to watch out for the calm ones.

However, I want to thank everyone who's posted and given good advice. I didn't realize that some many people had good freak show costumes. I agree that assymetry is the key to making a freakshow cyborg: that plus barb wires and spikes. Being 40 levels, I really can't make her a claw based character, sadly.

Tweaking around, I think I found a suitable Freak Armor: Here. I was inspired by the t3h S00p4rFr34k! Which fits, being dark melee.

FYI, I only wish I could have the Meatdoctor back packs for a costume.

Hello, I've been creating havoc with my Freakshow Brute. I got a few costume that capture the character. Okay, she's a Freakshow bruiser with Aeon Tech powercells in her cybernetics. But, for the longest time I fail to come up with a pleasing Freakshow Tank-style Armor.

So, I'm here to see if anyone has any insights to a design. So, far this is my best attempt: Image 1 / Image 2. Which isn't even close to Freak Tank.

I guess my question is, is it really possible to create a Freakshow Tank using the costume creator? Or something that close, with a scrap-yard power armor design.

I've done other freakshow looks for Dungeon Girl: Here, here, and here. Those costume, are simple, and I think fit well.

Any thoughts or feedback is appreicated.

This is what I came up with: Tsoo Easy

It's not an exact duplication, but I think it capture the Tsoo Sorcerer well enough. The conical hat with demon horns, fu manchu, and the 5th hostile face add a nice sinster touch.

Tell me what you think?

Now all you need is Nemesis to make an automation of Atlas and you have yourself a block buster.

I've came across this story not to long ago, and I like to express just how great I think it was as an origin story.

I liked the idea that this character being driven to be the best assassin among a secret order of meta-humans, to stand beyond her peers and rivals despite being only human. It does make sense that a natural hero has to train themselves to the extreme in order to compete against someone who can fly or shot fire.

The written memoir was an effective narrative device to connect all of the events that shaped Hanabi's life. I thought it was pretty effective because, the character's journey to the person she was many years in the making. It points out how a character's background can influence them over the ages, but also that it underlines that one seemingly innocent event can provoke an unexpected development (which is quite common for almost any super hero or villain). I believe, this was the case when Hanabi saw Back Yard Boom in action.

I think the relentless methods which Goh'Zhan used to break Hanabi was well-written. Although I do feel that going through all of this brutal training session is a bit too much for some who is under the age of seven. I got the impression that was a little too extreme, and in mt opinion, I would made her a little older (at least 13 or so) before being put to the test.

Overall, the story was excellent. I really liked how you interrupted Lord Recluse's philosophy.

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Has anyone read this yet? Any comments? I'd appreciate any feedback.

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I've read the story, and I really applaud the work. You done a great job fleshing out the concept of Stahlkrieger and bringing him to life. The same goes for all the other minor characters that been introduced; I felt like I empathized with almost all of them.

Although, when you gone and describe these characters strictly by they're powerset and archtype that took me out of the immersion. Why? Because I was reminded that this story was set inside a game and it draws attention to its mechanics. Instead of saying Psychbreaker's a grav/psy dominator, I'd rather say she's a "metahuman who can warp gravity and space with her thoughts". A villain is not 'magic fire/dark corrupter', he's an 'hellfire warlock (or demon)'.

This is a personal opinion, but I doubt anyone would refer to themself as a corrupter, scrapper, tanker or dominator. You might get away with saying Brute or Mastermind. But, I'd see if you can think of a way to describe a character without mentioning their archtype.

I really liked the ending. It was nice.

((OOC))

Warning, what I'm about to say is also going to come across as harsh criticism. If you do not wish to hear any of it, then please disregard this post.

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((Hmm. I wanted to mention. My grammer isn't bad. I'm just not in the mood for storyline and everything. I find that as an insult, because I am just trying to get into/make an RP for once. I thank you for noticing, but, this usually happens with anything I start. I have to mention I am making a novel myself, it's not nearly as bad as this.))

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If you really want to get involved into an RP thread or even start one on your own then I believe that some effort needs to regards to grammar and sentience structure. Honestly, if you show no effort then no one is really going want to engage in the story because nothing is going to draw them in.

I like to give some constructive comments about the story, since this thread made reference to that. There are two things (both work hand-in-hand) that is missing from the story: 1) Realism and 2) Attention to detail.

Simply put, without any realism, you risk alienating your readers because they're simply going to say 'WTF' and put the story down. You have to make the story realistic. Granted, in City of Heroes/Villains you people running (or flying) and shooting laser out of their eyes. Things like that are going to be unrealistic, but what needs to be realistic... well, what you need to remember is that everything that happens should have a logical consequence.

For example, in the first chapter you mention that Jemmy was a trouble-maker who burned down his mother's house and often been an accomplish for the Hellions. Yet, he was never arrested for these crimes? The worst that happened that he not allowed to leave the home without supervision (which asks the question who always watched him and why are they unable to stop him from causing trouble: that's attention to detail).

That first example is minor, thus it's not a big deal. When you something major happen that's meant to 'shock' the reader and it ends up being unrealistic, you end up with a complete mess of things. That came up when you decided to have these 'Fire Demons' just go out and destroy three city zones with no detail. How can everyone in three zones just die like that and the only it's even mentioned as a rumor from a Longbow Agent. You have to think about just what it'll take to kill everyone in those zones (each roughly two mile wide), how long it'll take to pull it off, and you have to remember that heroes like Miss Liberty and Positron will not be twiddling their thumbs while their town is being snuffed.

Something that major and catastrophic needs to given some thought. That's attention of detail. Going back to the attack which destroyed three zones. Something like that will not just happen in the blink of an eye, a lot of little things are going to happen between now and then before. If going to take time for any number of demons to actually hunt down and kill everyone in a city block. Meanwhile these people are going to try to hide and call for help, which will being the heroes' attention. If the local heroes cannot contain them, then the higher level heroes will be called. Law enforcement officials will try to evacuate civilians from the area and emergency broadcasts will flood the airwaves (I mean, all my radio channels get spammed whenever the Ritki would litter Steel Canyon)... and so things will go from there. Basically it means 'show don't tell'.

Hopefully, I didn't ramble too much. However, I felt that this needed to be said because I find it be very important to keep this stuff in mind when you're writing.

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Cool thanks for the reply.

1) I have two ways to explain this:

A) The rest of the Silverguard fought Ultimus since he was labeled a traitor.

B) Ultimus simply went quietly because he didn't want to hurt his "allies."

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I think both of those explainations work well. Altough, with either one of these explainations I wonder: do they take the runesword away from Ultimus. It would be a logical course of action, but then how would he get it back?

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2) See thats the thing, I am MUCH more of a fantasy person. I kind of like the fact my character is out of place. Not really sure how to tack it in more.

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If that's suit your tastes, then enjoy. You can keep the fantasy elements and have your character out of place in Paragon while weaving the some CoH themes in the background. I think the trick is to make the references subtle, and try to give it a fantasy-twist.

Personally, that's what I like about working the Ritki into the backstory. But, if they suite your tastes, then I'm sure a more magic-based group would do (Circle of Thorns, Banished Pantheon, Legacy Chain).

If you want another idea to tie some CoH reference is to connect Gesthal's search for arcane power. Maybe the Mayhin infusion stuff is actually based off ancient knowledge from the Circle of Thorn, who once built an ancient city on Ultimus' homeworld.

The bio was well written, and the five weapons bit sounds cool. This whole backstory has a heavy Final Fantasy vibe. However, there are few points of constructive critism that I like to point out.

1) If Ultimus had a weapon that could fell armies, then how could he get tossed into prison at all? Either there had to be a way to take the sword from him, or prevent him from drawing from it's power. The second one would make sense, if he once was able to fell entire armies to now being back at Level 1 in Atlas Park.

2) Finally, and what I think, the most important citicism that I can think of is that really doesn't tie anything in with the CoH mythos. Almost everything in the backstory is about this kingdom and it just tacked on portals to Paragon City, and Ultimus seems out of place.

Personally, I think if incorporated more CoH elements in your setting then you can not just make Ultimus a character, but one who's involved in the setting he's playing in.

Consider this:

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Instead of having the five heroes turn the tide. The Arcadian forces encountered an outside entity with the Ritki and struck a bargain. The Ritki with give the Santuary forces the secret to make their soldiers into powerful warriors (similar to the Lost) and arm them with 'sword shrouded in green light' in exchange for any of their ancient knowledge, offerings, and perhaps some land.

Emperor Gestahl, impressed by the power granted by these alien gods and their gifts (which brought Arcadia into a golden age), sought to infuse personally himself. Thus he was granted great psionic powers but at the price of his mind and soul.

It was then when Ultimus questioned the benevelont nature of these gods and the Emperor's motives. Labelled as a traitor, and hunted by Balkoth who stuck Ultimus with a powerful psionic attack which masked the hero's pure spirit from the sword and cutting off any access to it's power.

The hunt eventually lead them to an Ritki 'Holy Site' which is actually a secret teleport facility. Weakened, Ultimus was forced to flee through the portal which lead to Paragon City.



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I think this works well, because it ties a lot of your story elements with the city of heroes mythos while it maintained it's important elements. Most importantly, it gives your hero a serious motive to be running around in Paragon City.

Keep in mind, you can subsitute the Ritki with any CoH group: Arcanos, the Council, Circle of Thorns, etc. But, considering Issue 10, the Ritki work best.

I hope this helps.

The Knights of Cthulhu

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"Knights Templar" rings a poetic bell for me too, though obviously I wouldn't use that exact title.

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Plus, I knid of think that "Knights Templar" has been used in some fashion. The "Twilight Sword" or "Twilight Steel"

My advice is to start brainstorming several ideas for concepts, names, origins, and causes. Then springboard off of what inspires you.

From what you said, you've on a good start and I can imagine your looking for some knightly theme. The causes your could adopt well you could either represent a broad ideology (like "balance", or "cosmic harmony", or "forbidden arcane knowledge").

However, I would go for something more specific: maybe the group worshipped an ancient deity who's twisting its divine will. Or the group could be what's left of an ancient (fictional) civilization and they seek to restore their glory.

I would look at the Mace mastery powers from the ATs to get an idea of what powers are availiable.

Other than that, he's a Brute. While I'm note positive, I'd peg him as a Energy Aura secondary since his pool powers are similair defense shields. To make an educated guess, Super Strength or Energy Melee could be a likely primary.

My advice is to not worry about it too much. I'd focus on making a story with decent writing with solid character development and plots. Researching what Black Scorpions power might be is well and good, but don't get hanged on being exact.

I don't know how long a posted story can be, but if 30+pages is too long just post a link instead.

I'll have to agree with Bloodwolfe and say that the Clockwork is least likely to perform cybornetic experiments. They're just glorified wind-up toys. Unless he had some metal or parts in him before (pace-maker, artificial hip, hook for a hand, etc) then they wouldn't touch him and just steal his watch to tinker. However, if you want to incorporate the clockwork into your backstory, then I'm sure it can be possible.

For powers: An MA/Inv (or SR) sounds ideal, but I'll list other choices. But, I see him more has a brawler, not a kicker. Maybe Dark Melee (say the black gas it a result of his power source, and get a cover up aura for his arms around level 30). Claws is a nice choice.

If you want to be a Tank, try Inv (again) and either Energy Melee or Super Str. If you want him to be really super strong. Other routes is an Elec/Elec blaster, but since you played a blaster before and might try something different. There's nothing that suites a Controller's or Defenders powerset. Maybe Rad/Elec for a defender, but that's a strecth. Pick the AT/Power that you want to try.

Names: I like the names: Cogsworth. Junkyard Dog may have been taken. My other ideas are: Scrap Iron, Junkyard Man, or Clockwork Steel.

I see two options. One, you do what the Dragobo (in RPG World comics) does, and hold up a sign for everything he says. A bind might be /e judge_1$$local "line" or something. That's if you want to be comical, imo.

You said he wears an armor. Is it hi-tech? Then the second option is install a mini-keyboard on his gauntlet (or use some other hi-tech device) and he types in anything he wants to say. It'll come out sounding robot-like.

Or you could use telepathy. It's simple in a way, but with all the mind controllers out there, it's too common. I'd thought I offer two different spins.

Looking for some ideas? Well, if you're looking for ideas on how to interupt the character or place yourself in his mindset, I'd look at other heroes who are similar and take notes. Who sounds like this kind of hero. Profession-wise there are some hero/laywer type heroes I can name off the top of my head. Real popular... that's right: Harvey Birdman. Then there's Daredevil. Think about how they go about their business, and examine there mannerisms even if you don't think City Hall will be anything like them. You do the same for heroes who match up to his power set.

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So, who would win, Hopkins vs Dr. Vazilok? Why? Who would win, Capo Boss vs the Kraken? Why?

I realize I'm also taking advantage of the hidden premise that naturals suck, which believe me, I'm intensely aware of.

I don't think we should treat levels as a straightforward gague of raw power, in-character, is what I'm saying.

I look at levels as more of a way of keeping track of which badguys you've already soundly defeated. If, for example, there're no longer any Skulls who aren't deep grey to you, what that means in character is: you've mostly broken the Skulls as an organization, and you know their tricks. They may still occasionally harass superheroes, but they'll never again be the threat to Paragon City they were a few months ago (when you were level 6).

Levels work better for tracking novelty, individual storyline, and fame, than they do for tracking raw power.

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Interesting post, and I don't disagree with you. But, I'm going to add my thoughts on the matter.

Another to classify an enemy's level is to gauge as a threat, not compared to a hero, but Paragon city as a whole. Raw power does not equate much into this; however, things to consider and interupt is the organization that the enemy is attached to and decide how dangerous that group is when you factor in their intentions, resources, territory, and capabilities.

Example, the Hellions are low threat because they're mainly into petty crimes, and don't have the resources compared to a group like Ritki or Crey. Skulls would be more dangerous in Kings Row compared to Galaxy because KR is considered their turf. They are more dangerous in Steel or Perez because of the increased gang warfare against other criminal groups (with more resources), thus a greater threat level.

Organizations that span across every level, like Thorns or 5th. They can be explained based on their intentions. Wizards in KR's rooftop, conduction ritual sacrifices, are less or a threat than the mages who are summoning demons in FF, or possessing scienctist on PI. Am I making sense?

To answer the versus questions in the versus. Hopkin would win against Dr.Valz., (in my opinion) in a one-on-one match. However comparing the resources, and intentions both people and they're faction represent. Hopkins is clearly a higher threat. With the Kraken vs. a Capo boss. In a fight, the Kraken would own the family mobster; but (assuming this is the Kraken in PP, and not in the sewer trail) the Capo is a higher threat because the hydra are contained in the sewers and perez, while the Family (with more mafia-connections and criminal intentions) remain a higher threat level to Paragon city.

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Magic-(You have to be magic by spells for this). Your magic isnt effected by the radiation, but instead your memory is wiped, you loose all the memories of most of your enchanments, this means you must re-study all your spells. Some come back to you easy and others dont, meaning you must replace them.

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Getting smacked down by a dozen waves of Tank Smashers will do that to your noddle.

Other than that, good advice.

It depends on how they actually describe it in game, and how much artisitic license you're willing to use. I have a list of alternate ways you could roleplay the respec based on AT.

Science: easy enough, the radiation warps your powers into something. Your powers are already from wierd science.

Mutation: Also easy. Your new powers are a sign of evolution. If this was from the radiation or not, your call.

Technology: For robots and tech-suits, the radiation could either fry some hardware calling for replacement parts. You you acquired the new gear from the power plant.

Natural: Since the respec requires you to complete a trial mission, this is something that takes courage, skill, and a lot of planning. Any hero would succeeds gained a greater perspective on teamwork, fighting finesse, and their greater potental. The experience had changed them, and they learned something from it. Since I plan to swap teleport foe to gain access to the leadership, this is how I look at the respec.

Magic: This is a little harder, since now magic does not fit anywhere near a nuclear reactor. How, your magical powers can evolve much like a mutants can. Spells can be learned. Or, maybe after the great act of heroism you've pleased your gods or ascended to a new plane of understanding. Work with it.

Just my two bits of influence.

Well, I'm playing a natural Illusion/Radiation hero. This made me come up with a creative way to explain these powers. The jist of her background is that she's a secret agent who specializes in tactical insertions.

Most of the radiation emission powers are puffs of green smoke which my character employs as chemical grenades.

The main illusion power is harder to explain. Flash, blind, and invisibility can be the work of fancy gadgets.

Phantom Army and Phantasm are other 'ghost' agent which she's commands as strike team when they need to call for back-up.

Decieve (if I ever take it with respec or something) can be explain as my character being so charismatic. Spectral Wounds is up in the air (it could be a psionic attack), but I'm raking my brain too hard. Hopefully with the second update's promise to customize your powers I could fine everything.

If you want insight on how to rationalize an Radioactive Illusionist. This is one possible answer. To explain it as a telepathic psion, maybe your hero uses the power of her mind to alter the biochemistry of her oponents. Or maybe she can make them imagine the horrors of radioactive fumes as well as blinding lights and ghost men.

It's not always easy to rationalize, because unlike a other ATs. There aren't many controller primary and secondaries that go together.

Last piece of advice is to brainstorm all the concepts behind your power sets.