What do you consider to be 'Praetorian'?
By
Decorum,
Posted on: 2010-08-20 09:11 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I've made one Praetorian variant so far, of my Forcefielder Aegis Rose. The original is a classic Silver Age Comics Code friendly character. Defend the innocent, use non-lethal force, uphold the law, dress modestly, and generally be an all out Hero with a capital H. She'll never change sides, it's not part of who she is.
That made her Praetorian a bit of a challenge to make, because Silver Age does simply not work in Praetoria. However, what if it did? It'd take quite a lot of denial to be a Silver Age Hero in Praetoria, especially since upholding the law there is morally gray at best. So I changed her backstory to heavily involve defending people outside against DE attacks at a way too early age. One magic burnout later and she's forced to flee to the only safe place around. Praetoria. When her magic begun to return, she got Powers Division'd, and decided to defend the innocent, uphold the law, use non-lethal force just like her Primal counterpart. She dresses more extravagantly, though, and she is clearly using the Silver Age persona as a facade to hide some pretty big emotional scars, both concerning the DE and a fear of burning out her magic again. She's Arcane Rose, magical prodigy, Illusion/FF Controller.
The way I see it, using some kind of Devouring Earth twist on your character is an easy way to get that small subtle change you need to have the character branch off in a completely different way. By having my character need to use her magic at such a young age, compared to her Primal who started out late in the Rikti War, she had no one to teach her and burned out. With her powers returning, she's overly cautious and instead of using magic as a blunt instrument like her Primal, she's conjuring up Illusions and being more subtle. Her fear of overdoing it also explains the AT difference in power concerning her Forcefields. My Defender can nearly Defense Cap her teammates. Her Praetorian won't.
Aegis Rose, Forcefield/Energy Defender - Freedom
"Bubble up for safety!"
In Primal Earth, Anja Holownia's mother was unknowingly pregnant with Anja when she was examining a piece of Nazi experimental equipment. The decayed shielding on it broke and the resulting radiation leak infected Anja's mother, killing her and leaving Anja mutated. Anja used her radiation powers to become Polish Princess and wage a war against Nazi remnants found in the 5th Column. She's a Rad/Rad defender and is the essence of a traditional hero with tights & cape and fighting for Good.
In Praetorian Earth, the shielding remained intact. When the Hamidon wars occurred, Anja's mother took the gear and wound up in Praetoria with her daughter. She used the technology to devise a suit for Anja which would allow her to fire radioactive blasts and manipulate the radioactive energy (Rad/Elec Blaster, colored green). Anja dreamed of her mother's homeland which she lost in the wars and has become Polish Eagle, hoping to one day carve out an empire of Nowy Polska. With her ability to travel to Primal Earth, she thinks that it might just be easier to seize the existing Polish nation there and form it into an empire with her powers rather than risk the inevitable fight with Cole.
There are THREE diffrent versions of Zaxo.
Axis Zaxo(My first one): Dispite the name he is a hero. Originally a 'well intentioned extremist' within the rebels. He grew up fearing and hating the government, but realizes there is good in some people and realizes that Paragon is diffrent.
'Prime' Zaxo: He was one of the first soldiers to follow Lord Recluse and has been in his employ ever sense it's inception. Fiercly loyal and protective of Arachnos.
Praetorian Zaxo: A soldier during the Hamidon wars who is mad at the world due to the way he and his friends where treated. (I came up with this story before I met Vagabond. xD) All the Zaxos have some form of Psionic ability, but Praetorian Zaxo is the strongest, he can numb pain and allow his men to fight harder and longer.
I think the best way to think of a Praetorian version is to take your character first and put him in the world, at the same time. (In Zaxo's case it was the Hamidon wars.) And how events would affect them diffrently.