Character Concepts Thread

I've been struggling to come up with looks and themes for certain characters. I've tried using the costume re-design thread, but there is no basis for a re-design at all, so I am making this thread for people to discuss and develop looks and power set combinations for character themes that are hard to develop.

For example, there are some concepts that, personally, I always had a hard time making.

Speedster
Atlantean/Under water guy
Archer
Sorcerer
Beast Man
Pulp Hero

These are but a few examples for this thread.

Awesome idea to expand on the idea of players helping other players to make good, well thought out, characters!

I can't work my print screen button on my laptop (it is paired with another button, preventing from working), but I do have advice for Grim Reaper/Death characters. The use of the pirate hook can make for a pretty cool make shift scythe arm, much like the Avengers villain.

Create a bind or a macro - or just type it in.

/screenshot will actually take a screenshot.
/screenshotui 1 if you need the trays, etc. showing. Use /screenshotui 0 to turn them off after.

If you want to bind it, /bind key screenshot will do it.

As far as concepts, part of it is defining what *you* think of for them, and - of course - what parts you have available in game! If you have the vanguard bow, for instance, you can move to a very "tech" archer, beyond the compound bow they have in game. That piece would also work for a "spirit archer," for instance.

Do need to define a bit more,t hough - for instance, I read "pulp hero," and the first thing that comes to mind for *me* is a trenchcoat and fedora... basically the "gritty 30s detective" sort. Others might think 40s pilot, or someone like The Phantom.

See my Guides and Tutorials

I have a tendency to use historical/mythical elements and or hybrids of various things. Yet, some of my very best concepts have come from starting with such and such, as a Seed, and then the rest grows out of research.

One of my better characters began simply from the Magic Bolero coat. It seemed Arabic influenced, or Turkish, but I settled on Armenia - crossroads of the ancient silk trade. So I was just thrashing around with Armenian myth (a subject I know almost nothing about) drawing parallels and ran across a Goddess, who might have been a real person. 'Tsovinar'.

So, I'm toying with persons who, somehow, achieve godhood, and how a lot of the Old gods really are just like people, only written 'extra large' and with titanic powers - Not unlike our heroes, here. Anyway, spinning between this and tales of the ancient priests, priestesses, sibyls and seers, who were 'mere vessels' for whatever holy spirits worked through them... And suddenly I'm seeing a version of the million-year-old-woman... Well, not quite a million, more like 100-thousand, or 20-thousand... or, well, the precise number doesn't matter.

And the bio develops in epic-poetic form, which I've been finding very useful for cramming a lot of ideas into the small space we're allowed for a Bio.

I can barely remember when I was just a woman, just a girl, but I was one - once.
I can just remember the first time the Goddess came to me, came into me, came over me, filled me, possessed me, spoke through me, and worked miracles through my hands.
And not just one goddess, but all goddesses, who are one goddess, over and over, through time.
I journeyed from place to place and people to people, as time passed.
Goddess-touched, I grew no older, I did not die - I went on.
Filled with power and miracles, I remained powerful.
I was Inanna. I was Ishtar. I was Isis.
I was Ashera, Astarte, Anahit, Artemis.
Many goddesses and one.
But she came less often.
And less often.
And not at all.
I was alone.
For a long time.
Now it is a new time, a new place, with new gods and goddesses.
And I am here.

Be Well!
Fireheart

I simply remapped my image capture in-game to ctrl-p and it has been fine.

Here are some visual underwater characters I put together once:



As far as power sets at the time I thought mostly SS/invul tank, though SS/WP has won my player's heart. The armored underwater guys could be almost anything now that you can color your sets. In fact, NOW I have to go play with colors and power sets to see what works best. The drippy aura from the steam punk pack, of course, would work for dripping water if colored properly--I've seen it used effectively as blood, so it should do water well.

Pulp characters abound here and have been done in several different styles:

Some of mine are:




Plus, my only 50 after 7 years of this game began as a pulp character with suit and fedora and moved into a golden age style costume that I like best.

Will come back for more discussion on this.

This was my aquatic based character, Jamarion, earth/storm troller.



A speedster, the Repsol Racer



and for the hell of it, a pirate and a musketeer

I made a swamp guy a week or so ago. He's an Earth/Earth Dominator. I can't get pictures right now but I used brown and browny-green animal fur, a black hood and frayed shoulder cape, black skull face (so it's hidden), the Omega detail, shoulder, hands and feet in a brown colour, the Minotaur tail, and the Slime aura coloured in a browny-green colour. I chose earth/earth because of Quicksand, Volcanic Gasses and Mud Pots (even if the latter sucks on a Dominator). The powers are also brown with tints of dark green.

Free to good homes - one mysterious sorceress and one magically-oriented alien/somethingorother:



Seriously I have literally nothing at all to use these costumes for, despite loving both of them to bits. IMO the first one would look good with ranged Fire or Energy powers and the second is begging for Forcefields, Kinetics, Gravity, Empathy, Psionic, or something else I haven't thought of in the not-really-elements-just-screwing-with-reality theme. They both might also work with Kinetic Melee, even, since its animations are more like point-blank magical blasting (including all those fancy gestures) and less like plain old punching guys in the face.

I have a CoT inspired Sorcerer/Mage:



He uses pieces from the Magic and Martial Arts packs, but it's mostly stock costume options.

It's not the best picture, cause I have to run with minimal settings sadly.

Edit: As far as powersets go, being Circle of Thorns inspired I decided to go for a combination of Dark and Psychic powers (to fit in with other high power CoT like Baron Zoria), I ended up going with a Dark/Psi defender, But I'm considering a reroll as a Dark/Mental Blaster post i21, or waiting to see if Doms get Dark Control with their supposed shiny new goodies afterwards and going Dark/Psi Dom.

Also, when I think Sorcery specifically, it connotes a certain level of taboo, or distrust from others. Sorcery to me is the dark/forbidden magics, mind control, death magic, mental attacks, manipulation and deception. This leads me to sets like Dark, Mind, Psi and Illusion.

Where I tend to picture elementalism, particularly pyromancy as being more a part of Wizardry.

@Oathbound & @Oathbound Too

I have names for a Saxon warrior and a Gaul, but have been having a hard time coming up with the right looks.

I think a Gaul could just wear a cape,big mustache, loose pants and a winged tiara or hat; they're often depicted as barechested.

A Saxon could use the saxon half-helmet, and perhaps the jester pattern with long sleeves (in monochrome) to represent quilted body armor? And carry a kite shield with dragon on it, and some form of battle axe or sword.

But that's about the best I could come up with.

You can use the mesh design to get a good looking chain mail. Also, the cellular pattern is great to use along with stone to get a lava looking pattern.

I use Cellular on Stone for the mossy-bouder look.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Well, I didn't want to point any fingers, Flash, but the character is kinda brilliant... and creepy.

Be Well!
Fireheart

To convert my minor ego threadjack back onto topic, I will say this: If you need a concept, look at nature, because nature does crazy badass stuff like mind-controlled fungus zombie ants. In the age of the Internet you can find lots and lots of pictures of whatever awesome thing you make a character based on, so all that's left is to look at said pictures and ask yourself, "What powers or costume parts can represent this?" Don't try to come up with a visual concept all at once - look at it one piece at a time, scroll through things, find maybe even just one or two parts that work for your idea and build the rest around what looks good with those pieces. Once you have something cobbled together from the parts, that's when you stand back and think about how you can perfect it, or post it in the re-design thread so another pair of eyes can help you.

But yeah. Nature, man. Wild.

I am spit-balling here based on the thing Flash said about "taking a piece" of something and run with it.

I was once desperately trying to come up with a good concept for an Illusion controller on which I had yet to determine a secondary. One of my ideas was to go Cold Domination, but I had no idea how to mesh those two ideas. So, I looked up hypothermia, and found out (based on an inkling I had had) that sometimes folks with severe hypothermia hallucinate, get confused and even attack potential rescuers... in many occassions they get so mixed up and temperature dis-regulated that they shed their clothes... speeding up the process. All of this gave me a brilliant concept to tie Illusion with Cold... centering around the character having survived hypothermia and come out the other side able to manipulate coldness and give OTHERS hallucinations induced by temperature shifts. I loved the idea, even if it is a bit implausible... but this IS a comic book game.

Moral of the story? Browse a Wiki, scan the room you are in... ANYTHING can get the ball rolling on a brilliant character concept if you are struggling.

To clarify the making of this thread, this is more for someone who already has the idea in their head, but can't yet convert into the game. More like a template than a concept.

Here's another idea that I expect to become very popular when Beam Weapons come out: a pulp sci-fi outfit. I've made one using the retro jacket and other Rocketeer-like pieces, but I haven't been able to make an Adam Strange or the new Buck Rogers inspired costume.

what about people that have an outfit, and an idea.. but cant figure out how to make it work in the game?

Tartyrsause uses water based attacks and power.. yet I cant seem to get the game to make anything that looks watery.. armor or attacks or otherwise.