Incredible Cosmic Power... Itty-bitty living space.
Hmm , may be we need a true anti-hero ..with true anti - powers ..
ok taking Superman as a template..
Superman's famous arsenal of powers has included flight, super-strength, invulnerability to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat-emitting, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super-hearing, and super-breath, which enables him to blow out air at freezing temperatures, as well as exert the propulsive force of high-speed winds.[94]
our Toon will be
slower than a limping snail
unable to open the doors of tall building
as powerful as a 9V 1/200th scale model locomotive
walks with a bowlegged gate
super sensitive to all forms of pain
allergic to kevlar , impervium , armour polish , and force fields
vision powers of a mole
hearing powers of a 50 yerar old heavy metal drummer
..now just need to come up with a name ...
dang it wouldnt you just know it ..someone has already grabbed that name ..
Negativeman? >_>
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Well I couldn't resist chipping in on this.
I don't mind strong heroes, but the sort of thing here is really taking it too far in my eyes. It makes plots just a bit unworkable, I know I've been in a few where as soon as it left the investigative side and got to the actual fighting I was essentially a third wheel. It's actually why I quite like the MA, people can't do the whole thing solo with their uber powers. To the credit of people who do play these cosmic level characters, these people usually keep out of plots for just that reason. Usually, but not always.
For me though it seems a bit weak to even have them like that in the first place if it never actually gets used. If they could fix the worlds problems in a teabreak, they why haven' they? Or at least slug out some of the bigger threats of the world. If your characters defining trait is they have a lot of power that they never use except for personal amusement... well I'm not fond of that.
If we could at least stick to a rough power level it'd be a lot less headache to not have a plot ruined by a Protopath or other ridiculously powerful player character. Really though, no one's ever going to agree on where that bar is so I probably worry about it a little too much. It's why I play more light-hearted characters these days and characters like Emily One are pretty much on the backburner other than the occasionally heavily investigative times. It's hard to act serious or even useful when everyone else dwarfs you so thoroughly.
Usually I see these characters as either a club to get people to shut up when things are getting out of hand, or as a key player in a "My made up character is better than yours" willy waving contest. There isn't really many ways to do them that are fun for me, I know some people can avoid these two and do it very well, but I'd still prefer it if they didn't in all honesty.
It can on rare occasions be a good thing though. Cerridwyn can show how justice driven she really is when she's basically putting a living god on notice, fully aware she has no real chance of beating them. No one's above the law! Even if her version of it is ridiculously unbending.
It can on rare occasions be a good thing though. Cerridwyn can show how justice driven she really is when she's basically putting a living god on notice, fully aware she has no real chance of beating them. No one's above the law! Even if her version of it is ridiculously unbending. |
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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or you bump into the complete other side of the spectrum and find the 'average human superhero' whose only powers are a fancy gun and five million tons of raw grit, and whose player insists that's enough to defeat any super-powered opponent...without having a plan. Then things can get a little prickly. Thankfully, that doesn't happen too often. In general, people tend to have enough common sense to know that in a world full of supers, theirs isn't more super than anyone else because, well, everyone's super.
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It can on rare occasions be a good thing though. Cerridwyn can show how justice driven she really is when she's basically putting a living god on notice, fully aware she has no real chance of beating them. No one's above the law! Even if her version of it is ridiculously unbending.
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If it has a backside that can be kicked, Jen for one will do her damnedest. Physically and mentally
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You see, Devious, in this world of superheroes, everyone should be about as super as everyone else, but some chose to make their characters more super than the most powerful beings in the (game)world. At that point, common sense has been thrown out the window already, why should anyone else coming across such defanged uber-gods have to show any.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Thing is Birdy it still works in comics.
Superman, an alien being capable of destroying the world in seconds, hangs out with a crazy man who dresses as a bat, same with Marvels Thor, he hangs with Captain America and Spiderman as often as he does with the other 'God' characters of the Marvel universe.
Heck in most encounters it's the street level heroes who solve the problem, the cosmic level heroes end up more or less being a tank, and just slugging it out with the current villain. Meanwhile Batman/Spiderman/Who ever, sneaks around and comes up with the last minute save, discovering the villains weakness or disabling their source of power.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Superman, an alien being capable of destroying the world in seconds, hangs out with a crazy man who dresses as a bat, same with Marvels Thor, he hangs with Captain America and Spiderman as often as he does with the other 'God' characters of the Marvel universe.
Heck in most encounters it's the street level heroes who solve the problem, the cosmic level heroes end up more or less being a tank, and just slugging it out with the current villain. Meanwhile Batman/Spiderman/Who ever, sneaks around and comes up with the last minute save, discovering the villains weakness or disabling their source of power. |
This does not happen in RP. The cosmic-level characters do not stand back and let the others do what they're good at, because CosmicMan is good at everything, and generally the player wants to do everything; if someone else is doing it then CosmicMan isn't the centre of attention.
Also, Superman doesn't turn around to Batman and say "we'll do this MY way or I'll squish you like the gnat you are." This tends to be the battle strategy CosmicMan will employ when confronted by a street-level hero.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
True a lot of the time Superman is written as plot dumb, but more often as not he takes the smashy role because well, the rest of his team are much squishier than him. Likewise Batman takes the sneaky role in those encounters because well if he doesn't he'd die, plus well his costume is better for sneaking in than Superman's Red and Blue.
As for Cosmicman, surely that's a problem with the role player behind the character, rather than the character or concept itself?
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Okay, going to try and write a meaningful post in about 10 minutes. Let's see how this goes.
If you're running a plot, there are, essentially, three ways to handle Cosmic Power characters who want to get involved.
1) Tell them they can't join
Pretty much what it says - state clearly and up-front that the plot isn't designed to handle Cosmic Power characters. The advantage to this is that it allows you tighter control over the power level of the bad guys in the plot, but with the downside of actively excluding a number of characters (and possibly their players, if they only play one character, or all of their charcters are CP toons).
2) Tailor the plot to both Cosmic and non-Cosmic characters
This is a standard piece of plot-mastering advice - give everyone something to do! If you have some threats that need CP toons to deal with and other threats that non-CP characters can get their teeth into, then you have the opportunity to keep everyone engaged. Case in point is my current plotline on Union (not many posts about it, but a few), where there are two linked issues - one is that a large number of Paragon's citizens have started getting "spaced out" on a frequent and regular basis, the other is that a CP-level threat (my main villain, Psychonova) is back in town, causing trouble. At the moment, though, any character can easily get involved in any aspect of the plot, because the "threats" to characters aren't extreme or even particularly significant. Doing this has the advantage that CP characters can focus on the CP threats, while non-CP characters can handle the non-CP issues. The downside happens when the "wrong" toons try to deal with the "wrong" problem.
3) Go with the flow!
Wing it. Make it up as you go along. Play to your current crowd. If you currently have non-CP toons only, ignore elements of your plot that would need a CP character to handle them. If a CP toon turns up and gets involved, create a problem for them. Do whatever it takes to tailor each problem to the specific combination of CP and non-CP toons that are around.
The advantage to this is that it guarantees that your plot will fit the capabilities of the characters involved. The downside is that as the characters change, plot elements may shift, quite drastically, and this could throw your plot into disarray. This option is not for the faint-hearted, as it requires hugely dedicated commitment from the plot-master, the ability to be flexible with the plot, and the will to wipe out entire tranches of plotline as things change.
My prefered option, in case you hadn't guessed, is 2. It's possible to focus on the aspects that the characters present are best-suited to dealing with, and shift the focus around as the situation changes, somewhat like 3, but with a lot less effort and risk to the plotline.
It's also worth noting that any plot against a CP foe should have a non-CP solution available. If the villain is immune to all harm, make it possible to beat him with vibrant persuasion - for my current plot I've come up with three ways to resolve it, just off the top of my head, and I know for certain that the players involved will come up with something else to win the day.
But really, everyone should remember the golden rule: No plot survives contact with the players.
No matter what you plan for, no matter how complex your plot, the players, no matter how powerful they are, will be able to come up with a way to get round it that you haven't thought of. Don't reject this out of hand. Embrace it. Let the players drive the plot as much as you do. Say "Yes" to their ideas and see where it leads. A plot isn't a story: You don't get to decide the outcome ahead of time. If a CP toon solves it all in a millisecond, you've learned something. If a "street-level" toon takes a week of solid investigation to learn something you wanted to hand out on the first day, you've learned something.
Don't be afraid of players with CP toons, but neither do you have to completely pander to them, and nor do you have to let them ruin your plot. But be aware that they're around and might be able to if you're not careful.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise. ; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
As for Cosmicman, surely that's a problem with the role player behind the character, rather than the character or concept itself?
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Except in a few, well played examples, the answer you will not hear, but which is the real one is 'I want to have the best character with the best powers and be able to do absolutely everything, because I roleplay the same way I did in the playground when I was 6.'
Other reasons:
'Because it's fun to play.' That's the selfish one in any situation where everyone else is not playing the same kind of character. Why do you think PnP superhero RPGs put so much effort into banding the power levels of the characters? Because it's darn boring being a 250 point character among a bunch of 750 point characters, that's why.
'It's the character's concept.' Not a reason. Why is it your character's concept?
'I want to explore what it's like to be a god amongst mortals,' or similar. Learn to write fiction. Seriously, that kind of thing is better developed in fiction (which is what comic-books are). You have total control of what all the other characters think of yours. You can be the only CosmicMan among mortals, instead one of two-dozen CosmicMans, so you aren't really that alone in having godlike powers, are you? Roleplay, especially online, is not a good place to explore this kind of thing due to all the other people doing the same. In a PnP game, the GM would tell you what the point-limit is and you could go eat your god's character sheet, unless you're playing Abberant.
'It's a superhero game, we're allowed to make powerful characters.' Yes, it is, and yes, you are. But why do you have to be vastly more powerful than the most powerful canon beings in the game? I've heard this argument in pretty much every online RPG I've ever played in, by the way. In LotRO, the nymphomaniac elves were always older, smarter and wiser than Elrond and more powerful than Gandalf. In WoW... how man transformed dragons are there out there? In NwN I had to deal with walking gods everywhere I looked, and they were always more powerful than any of the fully statted gods in the source books. So, this reason doesn't cut it. It's just an extension of the 6 year-old playground RP excuse.
Now, it could be me getting old (which I am), but over the years I've come to appreciate that you don't need the most amazingly powerful character in the game to have a character worth playing. I also started appreciating the effort people put into creating the settings we roleplay in. So, why not actually try to fit into that setting, rather than basically just blowing a raspberry at the developers of the setting and saying 'my fun is more important than your setting and the enjoyment of every other player in the game.'
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
My prefered option, in case you hadn't guessed, is 2. It's possible to focus on the aspects that the characters present are best-suited to dealing with, and shift the focus around as the situation changes, somewhat like 3, but with a lot less effort and risk to the plotline.
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It's also worth noting that any plot against a CP foe should have a non-CP solution available. |
I wouldn't totally class Andrew as a CP Villain though. He's enormously powerful, but something of a glass cannon.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
To be fair I doubt many people who play the LOTR mmorpg, have read the Silmarillion so they don't really know how powerful Gandalf actually is.
And in WoW I have less problem with the dragon role players, after all any dragon older than a whelp in that game can assume humanoid form in that universes law, my major problems comes from the people who play Paladins as some sort of Warhammer inquisitor/witch hunter, or people playing their noble characters as dark ages lords and ladies, despite the human religion being about forgiveness and respect for others...
But I'm digressing.
While the setting of CoX, is pretty awesome it does leave a few things unsaid, are the only vampires in the world the Council/5th ones, same with werewolves.
If there were no super powers before Recluse and Statesman released them into the world, does that mean the maximum age we can set our characters to is within one lifetime previous to that event?
Did Pandora's box affect just the Earth or the rest of the universe?
Do Portal Corps only travel to alternative Earths, or have they encountered radically different universes with completely different rules of physics and differing landmasses?
Gah, digressing again.
Why people want to play cosmic level toon's?
I'm guessing kinda the same reason they play games like God of War, some people like being the center of attention, an unstoppable force.
There is also the Superman effect, people want to play some of his level.
Personally I use game mechanics, if my character is capable of doing it in game, then I'll think of a reasonable explanation for it out of character, hence Twi and the Harkon cannon being an explenation for the Warburg nukes that was more in character than nipping over and stealing a few WMD's.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Why people want to play cosmic level toon's?
I'm guessing kinda the same reason they play games like God of War, some people like being the center of attention, an unstoppable force. |
There is also the Superman effect, people want to play some of his level. |
Seriously, that's not a reason which has validity in a multi-player setting which does not generally feature characters with Superman's level of power. It's an ego trip.
Personally I use game mechanics, if my character is capable of doing it in game, then I'll think of a reasonable explanation for it out of character, hence Twi and the Harkon cannon being an explenation for the Warburg nukes that was more in character than nipping over and stealing a few WMD's |
Oh, as an aside, I forgot:
If there were no super powers before Recluse and Statesman released them into the world, does that mean the maximum age we can set our characters to is within one lifetime previous to that event? |
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
CB... if you don't want to read a thing I've written, then I guess I should ignore what you're saying too.
Seriously, that's not a reason which has validity in a multi-player setting which does not generally feature characters with Superman's level of power. It's an ego trip. |
A chance to be something more than we are in our everyday lives, if there wasn't an aspect of ego fulfillment in it we'd all be role playing characters who are essentially 'us' in Paragon city, a bunch of students and office workers.
Is this the orbital railgun-type thing? Should be fun, I doubt one of those can one-shot Annette... |
Aside from that it was decommissioned and burnt up in the atmosphere after a series of RP missions, quite some time ago.
Oh, as an aside, I forgot: This is not the first time the box has been opened, and it is moderately clear from some Lore that individuals with extraordinary abilities exist all through history. The opening of the box simply indicates a huge surge in 'metahumans.' |
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
Hmm actually there is background lore for renaissance metahumans.
Here's a few snippets from Giovanna Scaldi (the spirit possessing the mask of Vanessa DeVore aka Head of the Carnival of shadows) background:
Brother Abelard Vernoux was, like Giovanna, born special. Today we would call them mutants, but at that time, Brother Abelard believed he was blessed by God. He had the ability to read emotions and absorb the qualities of people, animals, and even objects around him. When he arrived, he found a month-long party in full swing. The lustful affair stretched out across all of the Piazza San Marco, and even into the Cathedral itself. As he traveled swiftly through the revelry, one image burned brightly in everyone’s mind: the face of Giovanna Scaldi. |
Isn't all Role play essentially an ego trip?
A chance to be something more than we are in our everyday lives, if there wasn't an aspect of ego fulfillment in it we'd all be role playing characters who are essentially 'us' in Paragon city, a bunch of students and office workers. |
And you know this, CB, or should. Maybe you've been playing Nega too much.
Gameplay mechanics prevent one shotting, hence it can't one shot. |
You see that I didn't know, all the really 'old' threats in game were around from the time before the Greek gods, or are extra-dimensional. |
Also, I have a feeling that Lady Grey predates the box opening. The war between the various factions within Croatoa dates back to a period between the openings, etc. I think the evidence is there if you go digging about, and you really only get the 'full' story of the opening of the box if you read the first CoH novel.
(*sobs* Want more CoH novels! I'll even write one if someone gives me permission and something to write about. *sob*)
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Even the lore itself contradicts one another because during the heroside 'origin of power' arc have Sister Psyche claim that no super powered mutants turned up until the splitting of the atom. Mind you the same woman complains that the 'mutant' classification is too broad, saying Synapse could be called a Mutant (he's clearly science dearie...he got his powers through horrific experiments...he wasn't born with them like you were...). So she's not exactly the smartest or most reliable source.
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I've never liked the Science vs Mutant designation. Shalice is right. Why did Synapse develop super-powers when other humans would have just plain died? Because he had a mutation which allowed him to survive? Quite possibly. Because the experiment mutated him? That's an artificial distinction between Science and Mutant origins.
OTOH, the arc suggests that all the distinctions are artificial and the actual source of power may well be just one thing.
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Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Except Brother Abelard used Psi powers which are pretty much 'Mutant poster boy/girl' powers. The same with Giovanna Scaldi it's made pretty clear she was a psi user long before psi users cropped up with regularity.
However you are probably right, these people were one in a billion, they were exceedingly rare and seen as gifted with powers from God or the Devil until the opening of Pandora's box which led to a massive upsurge in people suddenly gaining power.
I've never liked the Science vs Mutant designation. Shalice is right. Why did Synapse develop super-powers when other humans would have just plain died? Because he had a mutation which allowed him to survive? Quite possibly. Because the experiment mutated him? That's an artificial distinction between Science and Mutant origins. |
I think you missed one of the points of the Origin of Powers arc, that the Origins have changed over time. That arc seems to be the currently defined 'standard,' stating that Mutant origin stems from the nuclear tests after the war. Brother Abelard could easily be magic origin even if he was 'born with the power to...'
I've never liked the Science vs Mutant designation. Shalice is right. Why did Synapse develop super-powers when other humans would have just plain died? Because he had a mutation which allowed him to survive? Quite possibly. Because the experiment mutated him? That's an artificial distinction between Science and Mutant origins. OTOH, the arc suggests that all the distinctions are artificial and the actual source of power may well be just one thing. |
I actually really like OTOH arc, sure it's used to explain the rather BS powerset proliferation things, but it does make a kind of sense.
A little of the power was there and it affects every one in the world, sure when the box was closed we didn't get Statesman level heroes, or Positron level geniuses, but we did get people eventing electricity or people like John Henry folk lore heroes who were just a little stronger, tougher, smarter or more stubborn than others around them.
Then this power is unleashed and the scales go up, people who would of become a folk lore legend can now bench press buses, a man who might once of invented a light bulb instead creates a flying suit with laser blasters attached to it.
That said I also like the theory that mutants exist because when we split the atom we broke something very important with reality.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
There's a difference between getting the chance to play a different kind of character, and wanting your character to be better than everyone else's.
And you know this, CB, or should. Maybe you've been playing Nega too much. |
Anyway.
Nega has a lot of rules and weakness's that I planed while the character was still in the 'maybe' stage, what these weakness's are... well they'd need to be revealed through RP as I'm loathe to give out IC information OOC.
Amy Zon knows of them.
Thebe might have figured some of them out.
I'll go stand in a PvP Zone and you can shoot it at me if you want. |
It's possible that some how you could be hit hard enough that the D.O.T component of an attack could take you down, but that mechanically counts as two hits.
In an in character sense, I've always explained it as the medical systems stabilizing a person prior to teleporting them.
Of course that's just my opinion on the IC/GP mesh, others are likely to disagree.
One word... Cimerora. I think Cimerora is meant to be at the end point of the lifetime of the last surge from the box being opened. Also, I have a feeling that Lady Grey predates the box opening. The war between the various factions within Croatoa dates back to a period between the openings, etc. I think the evidence is there if you go digging about, and you really only get the 'full' story of the opening of the box if you read the first CoH novel. (*sobs* Want more CoH novels! I'll even write one if someone gives me permission and something to write about. *sob*) |
I'm not sure of the lore for that zone, so I don't know how long the Red Caps and Witches have been fighting, just that they recruited two sides of a mythical war to aid them.
Likewise I'm uncertain if the pumpkin and moosemen war is a new occurrence in the CoH time line, or if it was still occurring before world war one.
To be older than Statesman, Lady Grey only had to be like ten or twenty years older than Marcus Cole when he was a soldier. She definitely needs more explanation though.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
You also missed out my example CB.
Giovanni Scaldi (the spirit which possess the mask Vanessa DeVore wears and gives her psychic powers) and Brother Abelard turned up during the Renaissance some 400 years ago (the specifically mention Brother Abelard as a "special agent of the Inquisition").
So that was long after the last opening of the box (back in greek times) but well before the 20th century opening of the box.
Nemesis as well is older than the current opening of the box but long after the Greek one, he's been around for "atleast 180 years" which again was well before the modern opening of the box.
There's pretty ample evidence of extremly rare but still going on hero level hings before the box was opened, allow me to list.
CoT have been on and off active since he end of the Orenbengan/Mu war, including a victoran era gentlmans club.
Much of the magical goings on in Croatoa date from events a few hundred years ago, slap bang in he peroid between cimerora and the box opening.
A story arc has your ecover the relics of a bunch of american civil war area people who fough of the banished pantheon.
Nemesis fought several civil war generals too.
Then there's the hero contact in founders falls who's been reincranting forever and can remember his past lives.
Oooh oooh, don't forget the Warshades being around since ancient egypt!
I could go on, I really could. Simple fact is Pandroas box opening just massivly increased the number of super powered individuals, not that there wern't any at all before hand.
In addition to the mutation origin thing, that's Sister Psyches personal opinion, considering she'd class as a mutant and predates her own atom splitting designation...
Just to counter the Game Mechanics vs RP, I hate that so gods damn much, if we go off game mechanics we can have a street gng member fill us with leaf from a machine gun and not have to worry about it until burst number six, so personally I don't think basing what you can do in RP soley off 'I can do it in game though!' is a good idea.
Yes... out-godmoding godmoders is almost always fun when it's in an environment where it doesn't matter. They usually get very, very frustrated and storm off in a huff.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.