Going off the rails (Warning: Spoilers ahoy!)

Okay, so this is sort of an amusing RP question thread about how your own characters might completely derail one of the game's story arcs if they could?

This came strongest to mind during the third part of the Signature story arcs where I couldn't help but wonder what would Malaise had done if the hero who joined in on the interrogation had had and did absorb the negative energy of the Dirge before Sister Psyche did?

So, that being said, in what story arcs, at what points, and HOW would your characters potentially derail a plotline?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

Playing on my ice/ice character, I always find it amusing when fire is used as a device to move you along quickly (For example, the Roy Cooling arc, or the Protean arc redside). Really, fire? I can put out fires in Steel Canyon, but somehow I can't in missions?

Just off the top of my head: in "A Titan Called Joe" my main would have disabled the Zeus without damaging the "brain pod" life support system, then cloned a new body for the guy and transplanted the brain into it.

I always thought it was a little lame that Desdemona gets the mask in UGT when my villains are in the trial. At the very least I'd like her to have to elbow me out of the way during the cutscene.

Some of my villains would have killed Hardcase and continued helping Vivacious Verandi trash St. Martial for the lulz. Others would have just killed Hardcase. One or two might have settled for just beating him up. Especially now that I know I can.

My Elec/Elec Brute, who is a nihilist, would do everything she could to keep the truth from getting out in the RWZ arcs.

Eva Destruction would have killed, or at least tried to kill Countess Crey when I fought her. Other vigilante-aligned characters would kill, or try to kill certain other villains, either because they consider them too heinous to be allowed to live (my Scrapper who grew up on Striga and despises the Council and 5th Column would make a serious attempt at killing every one of their AVs) or because they've broken out of the Zig one too many times.

Edit: My old villain main would probably give Ghost Widow her body back.

Here's an interesting case that actually did happen in the realm of game mechanics:

Apparently, shortly after issue 15 launched, some teams proved themselves able to defeat 'The Invincible' Reichsman in the first encounter with him. Developers later went back and fixed this. Personally would have kept it and made it a non-standard TF/SF ending giving full rewards and the badge title "Plot Derailer" with the following description: "Congratulations, you've ruined the whole story with your stupid power gaming! Now go back and follow the plot rails like a good player!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

Controller Grav (grav/kin/primal) and depending on how it happens.. most likely the next who will die arc. Wormhole, dim shift.. recalls.. I'm sure I could get the target out of there, or fight the one behind the plot to an endless battle until one of us gives up.

Gravity's control might only be a 6/10 but its annoyance/grief/plot breaking factors in at a 10/10 when pushed by a creative mind.

My blaster would portal into Mother Mayhem's hospitial (like we do 30 times in SAs) and vaporize her head thus preventing the entire MoM trial like our heroes should have in the first place.

For villains:

As soon as I realized where Willy Wheeler's missions were going I'd drop kick him off the ledge he's standing near.

I would kill Synapse in WWD Part 1 instead of letting him just lay there powerless. Then I could keep his crappy powers.

For a number of the the villain contacts I'd probably say something like "Go do your own dirty leg work you arrogant <expletive>." And possibly beat them senseless afterward.

My female characters would teach Dean McArthur that no means no.

For heroes:

I'd let Manticore assassinate Malaise in WWD4. I may be a hero buy that guy had it coming.

I'd arrange to fight Maelstrom in a location with teleport dampeners so that after he goes on and on about what a badass he is he won't be able to just zap himself out of trouble.

I'd nuke the hive from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

In the Marshall Brass arc there are a couple of ways to completely derail things.

My stalker (who is more than a bit mentally unhinged) would have just killed Amanda Vines on sight, dropped the body at Brass' feet and told him "problem solved. now what?"

Or, what if I don't kill Doc Aeon, what if I like his plan for ruling the world. "Ok Doc, have fun."

Arbiter Daos would be a dead man... probably several times over... by now.

Probably the big one for me was Virgil Tankross. Since the ending of his Strike Force has him flat out saying that he used you and, more importantly, you're not getting paid.

... so when I ran it with my RP group, I'd thrown together an extra special AE mission to deal with that little detail of what happens when you screw with half a dozen brightly colored superpowered sociopaths. ^_^

My Stalker would deal with Cole and Praetoria very effectively now that she's on Primal Earth, and even the Resistance would be shocked at her tactics. By the time the storyline progresses to the iTrials, things would be FAR different.

Instead, she's forced to sit on her hands and do NOTHING within Praetoria (except for First Ward, which is very self-contained). No killing Neuron with the Dimensional Gun she got in a newspaper mission, no firing a huge death ray through a portal to melt down Cole's tower. Nothing. Not even sneaking back to hack the occasional clockwork so that it spraypaints pro-Primal slogans on the walls.

A few things spring to mind:

First Ward: ....so right, I'm going to leave an entire city of people to the mercy of the Seed of Hamidon, Cole's troops and assorted magical creatures. Uh...no. I'm going to organise disaster relief for the region, organise a task force to bring the Seed down and at least erect protections against the rift in the sky. And I'm sure as heck not leaving Katie to that fate.

Vanguard: Turn the whole organisation over to the authorities for a proper investigation to their often illegal, immoral and clearly at times specieist activities. Paragon City allows and welcomes aliens on this world and then subjects them to that group? Not on my watch.


S.

I wrecked the ending of the Twilight Son arc by keeping Cyrus Thompson alive the entire time. When I showed Hickman the screenshot, he told me in no uncertain terms that I was now the reason the world would end, and he hoped I was happy about it.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I have a character or two who would have gone with Manticore at the beginning of WWD 3, wanting to leave the Arachnos attackers in the dust and keep Miss Liberty safe. Either that, or would have just teleported her out of there.

Likewise, I've also got some who would have outright killed or knocked out Malaise after the stuff he pulled in WWD 3 and 4, or at least would have looked the other way when Manticore showed back up.

Puching Arbiter Daos when he tries to strongarm me is the one that always seems to come to me just off the top of my head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

I would ally with Lord Recluse. Not in a bad way.. But to suggest stuff like cleaning islands etc. for his benefits of getting more people to come to the rogue islands. Also being at the end of the STF to help recluse there.. Maybe fire arbitor Dias since ppl don't like him :P maybe create villain side sewer network and abandoned sewer network too.