MeLikey.
You can't spell Slaughter without laughter
All your gonna do is just farm behemoths anyways.
My thoughts on November 30.
/signed
If overall power is an issue, you could make an entire set of backstory powers take up a power-choice. So you exchange a single power to get you 6 mini-powers...
@Nitram_Tadur
a new villian arives to the city of heros and villian DARK HORN he is mor powerful than any normal team of heros
the shaddow guard a secret orgainzation of magic and technolegey hero drove him out but he now in the jungle using his powe to change animles in to his muttian army and get recuit from the roug island altering them into cyber horn bot and cyborge roug island doubled cross him now they are on the edge.
the epic genrater was created to amp up the heros power with help of the vangaured in case of some thing worst happen.
a new securety levl is created alph and beata securty clerans lv 50 and higher
hotle geneva a general none super group sg base
shope, storage and trophy rooms and much more the ultament sg base is hotel geneva
the nomanl tunle is a gauntlet of trap that to survive it is a event triple exp doubal prestgie and 4 times the influnce and complet
dedt remove if you pass fialuer is the oppsite you lose ever thing and get kick out of hotel for the tunnel is the only way to pay for this supergroup hotle base (sghb)
peinol colony for fallen heros transfer your hero to city of villian the worest villian is a arch hero (villian epic type)
vangaur satalite def station and resherach lab look for riki home world and creating new vangaured weapons and power.
power suite your power is what you whear
city zoo is finly under construction but a gang of eco teroist hate animale but they just say they love them so they can get away (task force zoo gaurd) rewared get a pet zoo keeper badge
2 new shop in town sell odd junk that you never saw telporter to coustum piece to acssesorie pargon threft shop
sword to canes, saket borad to hover board hat to neckless, insperration to vending mechcian.
robtic are us sword arm, sonic claw, lazer fingers, tech bot 2 seirus to rocket boot and jet wing anti gravity genrater to counter power shield grapling hook claw
clock tower jamer cut out travling power profeser Rowes kiddnap by the ulttron leader of the clock workes who biult this tower
all over it even jam base patrol when it crank up to the max soon they may figuer how to shut down all hero powers. stop them before that happens (task force) tempower tool pack grapler hook gravity shield rewared power set counter jamer with 2 slot bage counter guarded.
city of heros 2 (for lv 50) another city is in need of heros
Learn to spell, PLEASE!
That was actually [u]painful[u] to read, and that's hard for me to come by!
<QR>
I really like this idea... and I appreciate your taking the time to think it out and write it up so succinctly.
I'm not sure I'd use some of those powers, but at least if I wanted to create more of a "RP" type character, these would be quite valuable!
Thanks for sharing!
Satan trembles when he sees...
the weakest saint on his knees.
<----- Click there to learn how you can help!
<qr>
I strongly support this idea.
[ QUOTE ]
a new villian arives to the city of heros and villian DARK HORN he is mor powerful than any normal team of heros
the shaddow guard a secret orgainzation of magic and technolegey hero drove him out but he now in the jungle using his powe to change animles in to his muttian army and get recuit from the roug island altering them into cyber horn bot and cyborge roug island doubled cross him now they are on the edge.
the epic genrater was created to amp up the heros power with help of the vangaured in case of some thing worst happen.
a new securety levl is created alph and beata securty clerans lv 50 and higher
hotle geneva a general none super group sg base
shope, storage and trophy rooms and much more the ultament sg base is hotel geneva
the nomanl tunle is a gauntlet of trap that to survive it is a event triple exp doubal prestgie and 4 times the influnce and complet
dedt remove if you pass fialuer is the oppsite you lose ever thing and get kick out of hotel for the tunnel is the only way to pay for this supergroup hotle base (sghb)
peinol colony for fallen heros transfer your hero to city of villian the worest villian is a arch hero (villian epic type)
vangaur satalite def station and resherach lab look for riki home world and creating new vangaured weapons and power.
power suite your power is what you whear
city zoo is finly under construction but a gang of eco teroist hate animale but they just say they love them so they can get away (task force zoo gaurd) rewared get a pet zoo keeper badge
2 new shop in town sell odd junk that you never saw telporter to coustum piece to acssesorie pargon threft shop
sword to canes, saket borad to hover board hat to neckless, insperration to vending mechcian.
robtic are us sword arm, sonic claw, lazer fingers, tech bot 2 seirus to rocket boot and jet wing anti gravity genrater to counter power shield grapling hook claw
clock tower jamer cut out travling power profeser Rowes kiddnap by the ulttron leader of the clock workes who biult this tower
all over it even jam base patrol when it crank up to the max soon they may figuer how to shut down all hero powers. stop them before that happens (task force) tempower tool pack grapler hook gravity shield rewared power set counter jamer with 2 slot bage counter guarded.
city of heros 2 (for lv 50) another city is in need of heros
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh. . . . . . . .My. . . . . . . . .God.
He's back. . . . . . . . . . Unique Dragon's back.
Let the jerk hacking begin.
tl:dr
Honestly, calm down and try to spell properly if you wish someone to read that huge paragraph, with no line breaks or capitalization, hell no punctuation worth anything either.
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a new villian arives to the city of heros and villian DARK HORN he is mor powerful than any normal team of heros
[/ QUOTE ]
Wow, someone's a few IOs short of a set bonus.
That aside, I really like the underlying concept of the original post. I'm sure many of the points have been made already -- I must confess that I didn't read the entire thread.
I guess it makes me think of the "Background" advantages in various pen-and-paper RPGs. Rather than spending power picks on them (although, as a dedicated mastermind, I sympathize with that "not ANOTHER attack!" agony), maybe something akin to how the Kheldians work? You get one of these perks when you first create the character, unlock another (or choice of another) at 6 (or 10 or other arbitrary number). It's not a strict power choice, you still get your slots and such as normal, this just slides in with the inherents.
I'm inclined to wonder if it needs some counterbalance to it. I immediately see potential for "But I don't want to take a background, none of them fit with my concept, so by denying me those benefits, you're punishing me for not taking one" posts. Maybe some flat "Generic" benefit, like... "here, have a little extra starting hp."
Even narrowing them from pools into "background inherents" (or something like that) might work. Have them reflect your "real life" or outside experiences, or just... anything unique your character brings to the table.
Gut Feeling: That sinking sensation that tells you danger's right around the corner. Displays a little "Warning! There's an ambush en route!" message.
Security Expert/Safecracker: Reduced time for dealing with glowies, or more damage to vault doors or whatever.
Architect/Burglar: Knowing where the glowie is...
Local celebrity: Bonus to earned influence.
Ear to the ground: have to "interrogate" a few less enemies in street hunt missions.
Well-connected/trustworthy: get cell phone number from contacts earlier and/or fill up their bar faster so you get enhancements sooner.
And you pick one to represent "what I did (or who I was) before Outbreak/Breakout," and then get one... every 10 or 20 levels, to represent how you've spent the intervening time.
I don't know. I certainly see potential in this idea, which is why I'm feeling free to riff off of it. There are a lot of ways it could work, and I'd certainly enjoy it. I love picking up little "perks" like this in games.
"I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides." Lord Vetinari, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
Riff away, my friend! I want this thing to be fine tuned into a truly plausible and possibly implementable idea. Something that could have its ins and outs discussed at a board meeting. It must be riffed!
^_^
I like what you're saying. Not a power pool, but just sets of powers. If that happens, it breaks up the themes I was suggesting. "Ear to the ground" is less about fleshing out a back story than simply saying "Rogue" is, you know?
Still, the idea has merits.
Additionally,
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Wow, someone's a few IOs short of a set bonus.
[/ QUOTE ]
You make me wish that I had more space in my signature.
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Wow, someone's a few IOs short of a set bonus.
[/ QUOTE ]
I LOL-ed pretty hard at this.
"Ear to the Ground" could be something akin to:
[ QUOTE ]
Maybe you used to be a cop, or you ran with a gang back in the old neighborhood. Whatever it was, you've got a working knowledge of the criminal underworld. You wrap up interrogations X% sooner.
[/ QUOTE ]
It could also have a name like Contacts: Underworld, or something similar. It doesn't necessarily stipulate HOW you got this knowledge, just that you have it, and then the individual player is free to weave it into their background.
It would be equally feasible to work this into an "alter ego"/"past life" template, which would be closer to the pool suggestion I think you're advocating. As an example:
White Collar Criminal: In your past, you were convicted of a "white collar" crime. This has endowed you with certain advantages.
1. Covering Your Tracks (earned automatically at level X). The most important rule of the game? Don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar! Your resourcefulness at concealing your acts means that ambushes are less likely to head right for you. "Glowies" that spawn ambushes have a chance for the ambush not to spawn at all.
2. Ear to the Ground (level Y). You know a guy who knows a guy... Your familiarity with the criminal underground means you need to spend less time interrogating people.
3. Ditch the Loot (Level Z). Sometimes you need to get rid of the goods in a hurry and while you'll take a little hit on the percentage, your fence will still take care of you. When selling enhancements back to a store that doesn't carry that type of enhancement (say, selling a Tech SO to a mutant store), you earn X% more than you would otherwise.
And so forth.
So you could pick "Ditch the Loot" (or a hero-named equivalent, like "Haggle") if your character has some reason for having that skill. Or you could take this template, which would pick your advantages for you.
"I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides." Lord Vetinari, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
Random thought:
It'd be neat if backstories could be played through. There's two cool ways this could be worked in -- either by letting players play through a semi-custom Origin/Backstory introductory arc (alternate newbie zone) or by having players 'relive' or 'flashback' to their Backstory in order to unlock the title/accolade/whatever power.
The semi-custom story arc done through a flashback that justifies the character seems to be the most popular idea.
I worry, though, that it would run into people who dislike the "forced characterization."
Say you pick Background: Law Enforcement, and you go into a little relevant flashback. Then someone's going to protest, "but my character was Law Enforcement type X, and your arc assumes I'm type Y!"
You know, where X is... SWAT team, or undercover detective, or... like, chalk outline guy. And Y is patrol officer.
I understand that concern (personally, I just feel free to disregard it, but I've gathered that some people have trouble with that).
But if it weren't done through a flashback, it might work. "Say, Hero, you used to be in law enforcement, right? I've got a mission that would be perfect for you!" And then you go and rescue some police or something police-themed. If you used to be a burglar, you get sent to... beat up some Hellions and recover something they stole.
That avoids writing someone's backstory for them, but allows that backstory to have a role in gameplay.
It could even work as a badge mission. You tell your starter contact what your background was, and they run you through a mission or two on that background, and then you earn Background: Law Enforcement as a badge and whatever perk comes with it.
"I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides." Lord Vetinari, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
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/signed
/CAPSLOCKSIGNED
/boldsigned
/italicssigned
[u]/underlinedsigned[u]
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/quotesigned
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/glowysigned
/evilsigned
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and my own, /quotequotesigned.
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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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This is awesome. they should give you one power for free too, to make it worth doing.
I would also like to see something like this for your orgin choice.
First, I have a massive headache from just reading this thread in its entirety
Second, I really like this idea except for a few things;
-Student: as has been mentioned its a PLers dream
-Bonuses: someone (not gonna search for name) pointed out that heroes have weaknesses. I like this idea so I'd think your weaknesses in categories could be like this:
Student: While you are a quick learner you have difficulty grasping concepts without others help. [- some % xp when not teamed]
Mentor: You're a great teacher and your underlings excel when you are near. However, when they're not around you, you are lonely[-some % defense maybe? or perhaps accuracy? just throwing out some ideas]
Rogue: While you excel at crime your name is well known and the authorities are a little less kind to you [gain more debt from deaths]
Merchant: You're good with money but all that wealth makes you an easy target for other criminals[mobs' aggro range is doubled on you]
My vote for post of the year.
/signed
/signed
/signed.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
/signed so hard my head just exploded
I like the idea of being able to choose from several different options. Even a generic option that has no bonuses or penalties. But I definitely think penalties are needed to balance this out.
Some of my ideas:
Lone Wolf
When by yourself, you have learned how to survive and be a better fighter without worrying about watching over your team-mates. You gain a 5% bonus to defense and attack damage. However, when teamed, you find your tactics lacking due to the new style of combat. Therefore, you receive a 5% penalty to defense and attack damage.
Things of that nature. Make it so youc an play normally (as we do now), or so you can customize. Students get more XP when sidekicked, but don't do as good when not SK'd. Mentors do better when SKing, but gain LESS XP when they have no one sidekicked because they aren't using the full extent of their abilities. They learn by teaching, as well.
I've also the idea for a "Tactician" kind of deal.
Tactician
You've learned what it's like to fight in a group, and even lead them. Because of this, you've gained a 5% bonus to defense and damage when teaming. However, when by yourself you often find yourself somewhat overwhelmed without support, taking a 5% drop in defense and damage.
I don't like the backstory missions idea, because it's simply not customizable enough. Could we ever really get specific enough to suit all characters? Hell, my main tanker's "lone wolf" mission would be spending 200 years wandering through Europe, not contacting any humans outside of feeding on their blood.
Doesn't seem very possible to be THAT all ecompassing.
Another idea for a background:
Sadomasochist
Due to your background, you have learned how to enjoy pain, as well as enjoy giving it. You gain a 10% bonus to damage dealt, but also suffer a 10% drop in defense due to your love of pain.
As we've all said, these numbers are just examples, balance issues would definitely have to be taken into account. But I personally love another aspect that will help my tanker be something other than "another SS/INV Scranker"
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Doesn't seem very possible to be THAT all ecompassing.
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Well, that's why I'm suggesting that instead of having a flashback to "when I became a lone wolf," you have a mission that's structured to appeal or be relevant to a lone wolf.
I don't know, maybe for whatever reason you can't do the mission in a team, and for Tactician, it would be a mission with a simultaneous glowie-click.
So you're still free to establish what a background as a lone wolf encompasses, but to get the badge, you play through a mission (or mini-arc) that makes it relevant.
I don't know if I'm entirely nuts about every bonus having a drawback. As it stands in the game, the only "drawback" of picking a power or a pool is the cost of opportunity -- that you can't take something else instead. I mean, there are powers that boost one thing and lower another (Unyielding springs immediately to mind, and I suppose, on some level, pretty much any toggle boosts whatever it boosts and lowers recovery), but nothing simply for having the power in your arsenal. All the passive stuff is a straight bonus. It just seems like an unsavory precedent to introduce, and serves as a reason to keep people out of backstory pools. Especially people who aren't CoH savy, and might not understand the difference between Defense and Resistance, for example.
"I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides." Lord Vetinari, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
Hrm...I see your point. It would be annoying that since I solo most of the time, I pick Lone Wolf and do better there, but then I'm actually WEAKER in teams, where a lot of the best things are (Taskforces, Giant Monsters, etc). While I think balance needs to be taken into account, I think just lowering the bonuses a little might accomplish that goal.
Either way, I'd be happy with it, honestly. Maybe a tiny bonus that effects things over the entire life of your character, but definitely not to the point to where a Lone Wolf can solo an 8-man mission because he's by himself. Ya know?
I like this idea. Well put together and quite solid. I think Student is probably the most problematic, simply because it's a power levelers dream. It wouldn't be a horrid idea to make these somehow inherent to the character creator either, perhaps unlocked via level up like the Peacebringer travel options.