In the vein of teams like the Justice League, the Avengers, the Watchmen, and in universe the Paragons-every setting could use a team of heroes pulled from all around the globe with a common theme of serving the greater good.
As I currently aid with Generation T, a teen supergroup on the forums here, I don’t want to split my time and try to manage a second project in running a second supergroup, I would still like to see if RPers here would be interested in joining a supergroup established in universe as a global force for good (not to upstage or outdo established teams, but be their own thing.)
Thoughts?
—
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I think my intended main might fit in that group. He’ll be a power-armor-wearing Ranger specializing in firing missiles at enemies.
Sounds like fun. I have a female hero in mind for this called Windrunner. She's a demigoddess/speedster who hails from another world and uses a sword and bow in conjunction with her speed that she inherited from her human father.
Sounds very similar to Windranger and her abilities from DOTA 2
[img=300x300]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SzarPu26LWs/maxresdefault.jpg[/img]
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
Avatar by lilshironeko
Still holding down the RP fort Glad?
Nice to see ya ^_^
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I think I have at least one character of theme who could fit in this group. She's kinda a speedster, but not really. Her powers are more akin to a personal form of time manipulation, fast-forwarding basically. Most of my other chars are still in the 'development' stages to join such a group yet.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
I have an character that might fit here.
Like 90% of my heroes are teen heroes.
If I could get growth powers I'd offer up my British hero Big Ben/The Tower of London
If the team is ok with killing/being really tough on criminals I could offer up my Superman analog Supreme Man. Alien flying brick type hero who uses his race's natural aura energies to empower himself.
There's also, I suppose, Project Star: a US government Superhero.
That's about all I can think of right now to suggest.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
I'm curious here... apologies if this is overly detail-oriented, and I hope I don't overstep my bounds as a lurker who only occasionally posts. But I'm curious precisely what people think such an RP group would involve. By which I mean, versus some of the other threads in this forum section - things like 'Street Level Heroes', or 'Teen Heroes', even 'Not-Suicide-Squad', those are fairly defined genres.
But by nature, the 'Justice League' and 'Avengers' space is incredibly broad.
For example, modern interpretations generally have the group affiliated to some degree with national governments or the United Nations. In modern comics, the Justice League has had UN affiliation in various versions. The Young Justice version explicitly has a UN-approved charter. The Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers have gone a similar route - that was the whole point of the Civil War film. In this model, the storytelling is against the backdrop of international politics and global affairs.
But there could be a 'global' or 'international' superhero organisation without universal government recognition. Say, the old-school Avengers where it's Tony Stark paying for them to be put up in a mansion somewhere, or Bruce Wayne footing the organisational bill. Or maybe the group isn't well-funded, but does have a lot of volunteer goodwill. In some older comics, though we still see some of this stuff in the 90s, the storytelling focus is more on... the group itself, like, I dunno, Justice Society of America bits, where the team was treated more like some kind of member-based society. Like being part of a club. For instance, the Avengers had some storylines, even through to the 90s where there were 'auditions', chairpeople, voting and so on, really driving that club motif.
The reason I think this matters is because it ties into storytelling and character interactions.
Gladatoria's original post specified 'global', which to me implies that the point isn't just that the superhero group is very high-profile and famous, but also that the desired storytelling explicitly does take place on the world stage rather than, say, a single city's backdrop. I assume the model is the modern MCU Avengers or United Nations Justice League, but that's me assuming. Technically just saying 'Justice League' or 'Avengers' need not imply that.
So what does the forum want, from a 'global' supergroup? A non-government organisation that's independently funded and not beholden to any state? One that's explicitly backed by governments? Or something in between? I'm just wondering how people are parsing it and what collective expectations are. I know I'm personally reading this in a certain way, but at the same time, surely I'm not everyone.
EDIT: Adding an unrelated quote to avoid double-posting -
I've got nothing constructive to say here, I just wanted to quote this to praise your name choices. A giant growth hero with either of those names? That's [b]amazing[/b].
Yes, the idea here would be that a group of supers pitched the idea to lead a superhero team with a UN charter, pulling heroes from all across the globe in a goodwill effort to aid in areas where PIT and other organizations can’t.
The project, at least as I think about it, hails from citizens voicing their concerns in the wake of Hurricane Atlas, and their fear that if a villain could reek such havoc on the American east coast, what’s stopping a similar event from happening across the pond or in the Eastern hemisphere or the gulf?
I imagine that potentially, heroes audition before an existing board of world leaders (who participate in the initiative, think like the G7) or are chosen to represent their resident countries.
Either that, or a open roll call is given, where they must past a litmus test of superhero and regular laws, before being offered membership.
For example, my main heroine, Medjay, hails from Egypt, and wields the power of Neith, the Egyptian goddess of the hunt, war, wisdom, and a creation deity. She would have been either contacting by a AI representative and scouted out, or auditioned for lack of a better word with her track record, and given membership.
I think there will be a core team of 9, a trial run with established, successful heroes who can be monitored and trusted, before the Atlas Initiative offers open enrollment.
Medjay will be a part of the nine, she wields a magical bow an arrow, has supernatural tracking and magical senses, enhanced strength and speed, and fighting prowess.
The idea of these characters is that they are mid level, of course street level is accepted and encouraged to keep the team grounded, but the target audience of heroes with a measurable, non universe breaking power level.
The tone here would be true blue superhero, so killing would be heavily frowned upon, and only used as a last resort if no other alternative remained.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I would also like to limit the Core 9, to having specific roles so toes don’t get stepped on, and each character, in this trial run, has room to shine and feel useful.
Medjay specialty is archery, ranged fighting, general combat prowess, and tracking. In her civilian form as Dr. Safiya Mahmoud, she is a famous archaeologist and has connections in the field of anthropology, and academia.
So ideally, the ratio would be a defined role and function in combat, and a contribution to the team outside of combat.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
if you are going for the UN feel, it should be a hero from 9 of the big countries or Economic Blocks, appointed by their countries leaders to handle matters that are in "iffy" locations politically. Like in no mans lands, unclaimed territories, border dispute areas, countries being sanctioned by the UN... Etc.
USA, Russia, China, Japan, England, EU rep, Egypt/Iran/Iraq, South American Rep, Australia/Canada?
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I would have to modify the character concept idea for this I think then?
Huh, I could still probably have him be Chinese or Italian though as an throwback to my mixed heritage.
If we knew the roles you wanted the core 9 to fill then we could see if we had/create character concepts that could fit those roles. For example Flying Brick or Tech inventor or healer/support.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/2.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I did have an idea for a female Russian Super Soldier (made during the cold war/by communists) called Soviette.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
This would be the idea for the Core Team, as their the pilot and filling out the terms of the charter for ‘globally pulled’ talent.
As far as defined roles, a brick, Magic user, healer, tech support/inventor, spy/wetwork operative, mentalist, melee specialist/fighter are still needed
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
黄昏, Huáng Hūn, or Twilight in English, is a daoist sorceress of at least partial Chinese ancestry from Hong Kong. More later.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
2 down, 7 to go~
Magic user-check.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I'll take the US slot with Government Hero Project Star.
Using a cloned super soldier as a base and the genetic material from other supers Project Star was made to be the greatest Superhero. To save the world from villains and other Heroes if need be.
Kinda like Superboy mixed with Captain Atom.
In his CO incarnation he could shoot lightning from his eyes.
But base powers are flight, super strength, super durability.
Possibly having other powers mixed into him such as regeneration, various visions, super senses, etc.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
What slot would Windrunner fill?
Interesting, i guess thenonly ‘gripe’ here would be the name is (at least to me) a bit similar to American Star, the titular City of Titans hero who inspired the Face Hero, Anthem.
Perhaps a name like Monument perhaps or something, or the All-American?
An interesting angle would be he is the US Gov’s attempt to recreate American Star, but he’s as close as they were able to get, and he’s not perfect.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Lets get this a tad organized with using in game power sets to get this diverse team feel. Don't want 6 bruisers.
*edit* or it would seems 6 rangers lol *edit*
Twilight - China - Ranger? - ???
Medjay - Egypt - Ranger? - ???
Windrunner - ??? - Enforcer - Gladiator
Project Star - USA - Stalwart - Bastion?
Soviette - Russia - Enforcer? - Striker?
(Atamas character ) - ??? - Ranger - ???
Ill submit a character for this.
Mr. Tinker - Great Britain - Operator - Director - Psychic/Devices
Seem to be missing a guardian and commander
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
With Medjay, you can file her specialization under Hunter I believe
And my fear is that with Windrunner, I don’t see them filling out a particular role as their concept doesn’t seem entirely nailed down.
A demigoddess that is also an archer that is also a speedster.
Do you have any other concepts, Hybrid?
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
That's a good angle. I like it.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
I think a name like Monument (both as him being a literal tribute to American Star and a reference to Capital Hill, his allegiance.) with growth powers like Big Ben, would be cool.
Perhaps powers activated by a dial, regulating size and strength? (Also ensuring that if they don’t have growth powers at launch as an aesthetic, you can still play the concept.)
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
And likewise Steam!
What can you tell us about Mr. Tinker?
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
My main definitely won’t fit then, because his name is Patriot Missile and he’s a very American-themed superhero. :)
But I have another character that could fill in...
Dr. Craig Rainier Macleod, PhD was a meteorologist and “storm chaser” who ran a popular blog that appealed to professional and amateur meteorologists alike. He tracked and followed storms, particularly heavy thunderstorms and tornados. He went by the tongue-in-cheek name “Dr. Thunder”. Craig is a Canadian from Toronto.
In one case he tracked a massive storm that was going to strike in northern Saskatchewan, near uranium mines (the source of the highest-grade uranium in the world). Craig wanted to study the effects of high levels of radiation on storm activity. He set up monitoring equipment and situated himself in what he thought was a safe location. But the storm grew much larger than anticipated, and the area around the mines was bombarded with lightning. This caused a sort of feedback, where the radiation was leeched into the storm itself, supercharging it. Craig was caught up in the middle of this nightmare storm and was himself struck by lightning.
The combination of the powerful current and radiation transformed his body on a cellular level, and he gained the ability to summon and control electrical fields. In particular he can summon powerful electromagnetic barriers.
He now fights evil under his old moniker as Dr. Thunder. He’d be a Guardian in CoT, specializing in Barrier Generation. He could represent Canada in the group.
Oh by the way, I got the idea of Dr. Thunder from this:
It’s Walmart’s store brand knockoff of Dr Pepper and I really dig the stuff. :D
Alright, so that is our Guardian, and a scientist (not an inventor, so still room for Mr. Tinker)
Welcome to the Team
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Thanks for clarification on your thoughts for this, Gladatoria. As my questions... probably suggest, I'm quite keen on the idea, and I'd like to throw my hat in...
If it's a UN body with Security Council affiliation, it'd be [b]United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France[/b] as the five permanent members - France would need to take the 'EU rep' slot identified above. If it's a nine-slot group, that leaves four places to play with.
I like Steamtank's breakdown, but there's no Africa slot here. Egypt is technically an African country, but most of the continent wouldn't think of it as such. Mind you, the lack of African representation could be the sort of thing that actually [i]comes up[/i] in RP, with countries complaining.
Personally I'd suggest Central Europe/Central Asia/Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Australia/Oceania/South-east Asia as how to divvy up four remaining country slots, but that's just me.
Steamtank's done the in-game powerset breakdown, but re-listing this (hopefully Steamtank doesn't mind):
Twilight - China - Ranger - Player: Foradain - Concept: Sorceress
Medjay - Egypt - Ranger (Hunter) - Player: Gladiatoria - Concept: Divine Archer/Archeologist
Windrunner - (Country?) - Enforcer - Player: Hybrid - Concept: Divine Archer/Speedster/Swordswoman
Project Star (or other name? Monument?) - USA - Stalwart - Player: Project Hero - Concept: Flying Brick
Soviette - Russia - Enforcer - Player: Project Hero - Concept: Supersoldier
Dr. Thunder - Canada - Guardian - Player: Atamas, Concept: Electrokinesis/Barrier Gen (Edited)
(Sleepymoth's character) - (Country?) - (Build?) - Player: Sleepymoth, Concept: ?
(Glitch404's character) - (Country?) - (Build?) - Player: Glitch404, Concept: Speedster/Time Controller
Mr. Tinker - United Kingdom - Operator - Player: Steamtank, Concept: Gadgeteer?
Steamtank's list includes two characters from Project Hero, and doesn't include some people who have posted in the thread expressing firm character interest. I assume Project Hero wants the USA position, not the Russia one, so that's actually open (unless Project Hero says otherwise).
Also, while Gladiatoria's probably being deliberately polite about it, I'd say the chief issue isn't that Windrunner's concept isn't coherent, it's that both Gladiatoria and Hybrid have expressed interest in playing... archers that are blessed by gods. Either that's an overlap that can be worked with, or it needs to be resolved between players.
I'd like to take a slot myself under the mentalist heading, since nobody's thrown their hat in for the telepath role... maybe French slot, though I could take a stab at South Africa or some other country identity if it's needed. I'm flexible. The writeup below assumes French and EU representative, but if someone else wants that I'm open to negotiation.
By my count, you're also looking at hitting the nine-cap here, so... I'm also game to bow out, if there's more people than slots, and someone else wants to play.
Decade - France - Guardian - Player: Acyl, Concept: Telepath/Mentalist
Profile: 'decade' - late Middle English, via Old French and late Latin, from Greek [i]deka[/i], ‘ten’. [i]"My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure."[/i] - A superhuman who debuted in Paris, but has been seen operating across Western and Central Europe. Androgynous appearance, conflicting reports about voice, gender. Name actually comes from the ability to fully synchronise with ten individuals at once. Suspected to have government connections; affiliation to the EU confirmed in recent months. Diplomat, mediator, and 'fast learning' expert for certain skillsets, though powers are better at replicating abstract knowledge and cannot fully mimic 'muscle memory'.
This is very, very, roughly based on one of my old CoH characters, adapted to fit. CoH version was Empathy, obviously.
Just a clarification, I withdrew my original proposal because he’d be yet another Ranger and he’s from the USA (that’s a core part of my concept) which is already filled by Monument now, so I replaced it with a Guardian from Canada with an electrical theme (focused on barrier generation), Dr. Thunder.
The intention was to be deliberately polite, but yes, my issue was with a concept overlapping, which has happened in multiple threads, and is an issue I want to avoid.
And I like the inclusion of France, and you are right that those five nations tend to be a solid five, and wouldn’t let the EU speak for them.
So by my count, The US, China, Canada, France, Egypt, and England are accounted for, with each representing different archetypes and powers. That leaves four nations open, and I believe four spots, as Hybrid hasn’t indicated what country they are potentially representing.
The idea of the Core 9 is that while they don’t reflect the UN Security Council (as they are not an extension of the UN or officers) they do represent the good will of the countries involved, and thus the Core 9 are the countries with the most promising potential as far as usage, track record, and face provided with their respective superhuman.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Somebody has to have an idea for a cool Russian superhero.
Vodkaman!
Bearhug!
General Idea is like a retired Bond meets Black Butler meets DnD Gnome.
He is a spy from the Vietnam Era for GB. Not as violent as current Bond and far more curious about the information he finds than the ramifications of that information. He is steadfast loyal but past his prime as a solo operative. His mental abilities are on point but dodging bullets anymore isn't exactly his cup of tea.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
Tzangief?
Yeah, I'll just see myself out.
Huáng Hūn (Twilight) would be more a Sentinel than a Ranger (support/range rather than range/support). Lots of spells for buffing the party, a few for ranged damage, and martial arts tertiaries.
Out of combat, she's good at identifying traditions of magic from either the magic itself or the tools and rituals used.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Current breakdown: RDPS:1 MDPS:1 Tank:1 Support: 2 CC:1
Medjay - Egypt - Ranger – Hunter – Lethality/Super Agility (Gladatoria) Tracker/Investigator
Project Star - USA - Stalwart - Bastion? – Grit/Super Strength (Project_Hero) Combat Specialist
Dr. Thunder - Canada – Enforcer – Striker - Kinetic Melee/Power Control (Atama) Scientist
Twilight - China - Guardian – Sentinel - Preservation/Atrophic Blast (Foradain) Antiquities and Arcane expert
Decade – France – Guardian – Vindicator - Strategy/Psychic (Acyl) Public Relations
Mr. Tinker - Great Britain - Operator - Director - Illusion/Devices (SteamTank) Spy
(Sleepymoth)
(Glitch404)
(The Hybrid)
Let me know if I got anything wrong... we could use more hand to hand people.
Made a slight edit to Mr. Tinkers primary power, people were skipping over his psychic primary but I was flip flopping between illusion anyways so I went with that to better mold into a Spy role.
Updated 7:17 EST 7/31
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
Change Dr. Thunder to melee DPS/Enforcer. That was my original idea for him anyway. He’ll fight hand-to-hand but his attacks will be augmented by electricity. That’s a bit more balanced.
You can file Medjay down under a Tracker/Investigator
She’s not a true detective, but her powers and enhanced senses, plus her training in archaeology give her a keen ability of decontructing an environment to determine events.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
As for my character their name would be Impetus and probably a Gladiator/Enforcer with Kinetic Melee and Super Agility most likely. The other alternative could be Tactical Combat. As for what nation she would be, I'm highly unsure. It really not too often I make characters that are non-USA based :\ Anyone mind lending me a hand on that one?
Edit: Also Impetus would be tech support. Since the other roles seem to be filled and I've played characters of that background in the past.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Hmm, I mean with a name like Impetus, I thought of Greece. But in all actuality, there are tons of potential for a name workaround for a character perhaps hailing from Russia, or perhaps Australia maybe.
A character inspired by the Tasmanian Devil would be interesting.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Could look at Japan or Austrailia, could even be a long time expat from America who had gotten green carded by a country.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I like the thought of Impetus being from Australia. I was thinking Russia, but I think I'll stick to her being an Aussie.
As far as story goes its largely incomplete and not fully finished, so feel free to offer your judgement and criticisms. Her real name is Jasmine Grant, daughter to Brandon Grant - my main speedster character I have over in CO but have no intentions of making him here. She's a time-traveling historian from the future who uses her personal form of time acceleration/deceleration to "rewind" back to past events and document them for the later development of an archive after all traces of prior history from her timeline have become lost/nonexistent.
Jasmine winds up becoming trapped in the present day because time-travel shenanigans and so she decides to put her abilities to use as hero after being told of countless tales of her father's own superheroics as a child. Thus using them as motivation to take up the identity of Impetus.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
(Edit: I was still typing this when you posted saying you've settled on Australia.) As both Steamtank and Gladatoria have suggested, Australia is workable as an English-speaking country which is culturally close enough to the United States for you to easily portray... if you're worried about doing justice to a particular nationality. There's no need to worry about replicating Australian stereotypes or slang, because that's two-dimensional anyway. New Zealand is also possible, for the same reason.
Impetus could also be someone who's spent a lot of time in the United States before being nominated to the team. For example, they could have done college or even high school in the US. That lets you wave away any Americanisms, while still letting you insert country-specific bits as you research them.
Beyond high school, a lot of athletes train in the US, so there's... say, famous Russian tennis players who speak American English. If Impetus is the time-travelling daughter of a veteran super, they may also have done a superpowered version of this, e.g. she's lived in the US anyway, in her timeline.
Alternatively, since she's a time-traveller - she's got no legal identity in this timeline. It's possible she technically is American, it's just that the Australian government offered her citizenship and new paperwork when she first turned up in this universe... maybe she saved Melbourne from a disaster or something.
Buildwise this is exactly what I was thinking, including the Vindicator/Assault spec, but I'd phrase the out-of-combat bit as something like... [b]'Public and Government Relations'[/b], perhaps. Part of the point is that the character knows a lot about bureaucracy and inter-agency relations, because a) they're a telepath, and b) because their powers are a group force multiplier, they've worked a lot with police officers and military (e.g. working alongside counterterrorism and hostage rescue units).
The following are questions and suggestions for the thread. I'm just thinking out loud here, please feel free to disagree with me. :)
[b]1. TIMELINE - NEW OR OLD?:[/b] If the Atlas Initiative was formed after Hurricane Atlas hit Titan City... that was in 1998. This could mean the group has existed for some time. Or it could still be brand new, timed to begin operations in 2018... the 20th anniversary of the incident. My feeling is that a 'new' group is easier on players and allows for more growth, and Gladatoria's comments do suggest the team is new. Why the twenty-year delay? It could be a relatively recent suggestion, perhaps stemming from remarks made by diplomats back at the [i]ten-year[/i] anniversary in 2008, and the ball's been rolling since then.
[b]2. LEGAL STATUS:[/b] Even if the group isn't specifically an organ of the United Nations [i]as such[/i] - i.e. it doesn't perfectly mirror the Security Council countries or something, there may still be a UN treaty involved, which lets players accurately say it is a 'UN' group. The 'UN' label a useful shorthand which conveys certain things immediately. It's easy to call something a 'UN treaty', because all it means is that the treaty's administered by the UN or a UN agency. Doesn't mean all the countries in the world have signed the treaty.
[b]3. TEAM SELECTION, OR WHY SOME COUNTRIES AREN'T REPRESENTED:[/b] If the team's based on an intergovernmental agreement... call it the Atlas Initiative Agreement or the Treaty of Titan City, whatever, this provides an additional reason that 'obvious' nations or regions may be missing (beyond picking people based on skills/powers). Some countries might still be debating whether or not to sign the treaty. Some countries may have signed, but their domestic congress, parliament, etc. hasn't yet ratified the treaty - meaning they're not eligible to contribute a team member. There may also be tiers of membership, for example some countries may have a lower level of involvement where they've committed to have... say, their police, intelligence, and emergency services cooperate with the team, and they allow the team to enter their country for missions, but they don't contribute team members or funding.
Between all of this, it may well be that, for example, the JSDF's power-armoured hero [i]Dai-Ichi Sentai Kairanger[/i] is a perfect fit for the team... but the Japanese Diet is still arguing over whether letting him join the group violates Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.
Alternatively, since she's a time-traveller - she's got no legal identity in this timeline. It's possible she technically is American, it's just that the Australian government offered her citizenship and new paperwork when she first turned up in this universe... maybe she saved Melbourne from a disaster or something.
I actually really enjoy the points you brought up, Acyl. Since this is still technically the planning stages, I'll still openly consider most of this before making anything set-in-stone. Plus being from the future does provide some wiggle room after all.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Looking over the Enforcer powersets, Kinetic Melee looks great for Dr. Thunder. He debuffs enemies as he punches them, zapping them with electricity.
I’m also thinking he was an amateur boxer as a youth, and kept at it to stay in shape.
I like the idea that the team is new, and I was going with the idea that the reason for the delay stems from politics, other issues taking priority, and lack of meeting eligibility from other nations; hence the pilot program with the Core 9.
We also need a hero from South or Central America, so feel free to play around with other concepts.
And I like the idea of her taking the name of maybe Tessaract or Hourglass.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I'm glad you liked them!
Hell, there's a couple other possibilities I just thought of - maybe she's outright a dual citizen in her era. Presumably her father, your Champions Online character, is American, but her mother might be Australian (or whatever other nationality). Or even one of her [i]grandparents[/i] might be Australian, and that's enough for the Australian authorities of this timeline... since, hell, they could probably find and interview the family.
Related to this, there's the sports model, once again. It's quite common for countries to recruit... Olympians and other sportspeople from elsewhere, to represent them at global competitions. Best case, they've got some tenuous connection to the country (my grandfather/grandmother was from country X), worst case, they've been offered citizenship [i]so[/i] they can represent the country.
The same thing could happen with superheroes. It's probably less controversial with superheroes, than it is athletes. Brunei, for instance, is a small country, but it's a rich nation. In my own original setting for an RP campaign I do off-and-on with friends, Brunei doesn't [i]have[/i] any native superpowered humans - statistics are against them, they've only got 400k people. And they don't have a reliable supersoldier process. Therefore Brunei's [i]built[/i] their own robot hero, they've got another in power armour... and the government has a standing policy of encouraging foreign superheroes to emigrate to Brunei.
I'm directing these comments to Glitch404, but the above justifications could apply for anyone who's thinking of playing a character from Country X or Y, but might be worried about getting the nationality right. I'd say it's not worth worrying about, there's tons of reasons why, say, a hero from Brazil might not be a football-mad samba fiend or something.
Windrunner was actually an original concept I came up with trying to make something new a while back. The idea was that she was the daughter of Artemis and a speedster superhero named Instant, and thus inherited their abilities and skills. Is there any way we can work this out?
I mean the concept with these heroes, with this initial group, is that they represent their home countries and/or nations and are sanctioned under a UN Treaty/Charter.
And my original point stands, with the need for heroes in the group to have defined roles so as to not step on the toes of others.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Windrunner was also a speedster in DC Comics just FYI...
Hm, in that case how about this. Impetus is of South American decent. Born and raised, but moved to the U.S in attempt to study abroad as well compete in national sporting events, most likely the Olympics, as a way to represent her country and use this as a way to become familiar with American culture. I could scratch the whole 'Future timeline' part and just say her powers are just the results of some crazy mutation where she didn't inherit 'direct' super-speed.
As for the change in name, I personally like Impetus but Hourglass doesn't sound too bad either. I may think on that one.
Edit: As far as where in South America she would be from I was thinking Venezuela.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Expanding on my own post, in case anyone, uh, [i]cares[/i]... the above post was the 'publicly known' thumbnail version, this is the 'behind the mask' stuff. I'm also working this out in real-time, since obviously, as you can see, I am modifying the character significantly from the old CoH version. Completely different background and name, though the powerset and personality is similar. Comments welcome.
Gervaise Dubois, "Decade", doesn't know where their powers come from. A research team from the [i]École Polytechnique[/i] thinks they may be mystical in nature, actually a form of soul or astral sensitivity rather than telepathy per-se, as Gervaise lacks the brain structures that have been found in some 'biological' telepaths. All Gervaise knows is that their early teenage years were very uncomfortable, and then came the migraines...
The Decade name is an intentional misnomer, as Gervaise is capable of connecting to [i]many[/i] more than ten people simultaneously, and in fact spends much more effort blocking minds out - hence the headaches. But Decade really doesn't want to know what would happen if they opened a two-way link with everyone in range. About ten to fifteen is the practical limit at the moment, with Decade working as the network server, so to speak. However, Decade can pick up and echo 'one way' sensations from additional people in range, feeding useful data into the network... such as skimming surface thoughts of nearby enemies. Not in deep detail, but enough for, say, a hostage-rescue squad to pinpoint the locations of everyone in a building as they go in, and to provide advance warning of hostile intent. It is easier for Decade to connect people who are already used to thinking similarly and working in sync, hence why Decade has built up good relationships with European police and emergency response forces.
Decade is primarily a receiving telepath and empath rather than a projecting one. Their ability to receive drastically outstrips their ability to send. In terms of passive sensitivity and strength, Decade's one of the strongest on the planet, but they aren't capable of fine manipulation of other minds. Most of Decade's offensive telepathy is force with little finesse: for example, offloading their own pain onto a target, since Decade is always under a certain degree of stress from blocking other minds out.
The receptive nature of Decade's abilities is also an issue. The European authorities believe Decade has a 'skill copy' ability, as, for example, Decade knows National Gendarmerie procedures, handles an MP5 submachine gun like a member of German's GSG 9 police unit, and so on. The problem is that this isn't entirely [i]intentional[/i] on Decade's part, much of it is unconscious bleed-through. This is also why Gervaise uses gender-neutral 'they' pronouns in English, for themselves. Not because it's politically correct and modern, but because Gervaise genuinely has very real identity issues, and occasionally has problems recognising their own face in a mirror. In this respect, the contemporary acceptance of such things is convenient, though Gervaise hates being considered a 'tumblr millennial'.
Gervaise Dubois has a [i]licenciate[/i], or the French equivalent of a bachelor's degree, in sociology. While striving to remain professional on the job, Gervaise is often sardonic and cynical, exacerbated by the nature and drawbacks of their powers. Due to their abilities, Gervaise is fluent in several languages, but originally spoke French, English, and Arabic.
Impulso (Portuguese) - Brazil is a mixing pot of people. Dad could be a time traveler from America, thus her knowing English almost as a 1st language. His weird time traveling ability mutated in her into her moving very fast in the same time (super speed) He could have taught her all sorts of future timeline issues to try and avoid... so she grew up kinda like John Connor in Terminator... with a mission to save the future. Part of her mission is getting into this group to poke it towards preventing world ending events.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
Hourglass would have a double meaning if you made her look kind of like a bombshell.
I really like the depth of this character. I also feel that their role in PR may aid in either wearing down their cynicism, or maybe a defined role on the team helps craft their own identity.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
If you went a Force Blast / Invul power set with super speed as a movement power that would work IMO.
Would set your combat type more akin to overwhelmingly powerful shots with the goddess keeping you somehow safe. Would play drastically different from Glads characters.
Would also make sense that a group like this would need several fast responders, so representatives having quick movement powers makes sense.
Part of the reason this could have taken so many years be politically worked out was selecting the right type of heroes for the group and governments arguing over what assets (heroes) they had to commit.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I was thinking of something along those lines, but I felt that I would then need to explain partly about her father. Such as what would be his reasons for being a time traveler and such, which were things I was wanting to avoid for the most part. As for language, English is one of those dialects thats universal for the most part and is spoken if-not learned by most people, even if they don't speak it fluently. So I'm not too worried about anything on that end.
Impulso as far as names go sounds more 'masculine'. Feminine names, especially Spanish ones usually clarify femininity by way of adding an '-a' on the end of a name. So in this case I would think 'Impulsa' would sound better. But even then, since her ventures would be set more-so in the U.S. than Venezuela I feel the use of a Spanish name would be lost.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Portuguese is the national language of Brazil and why i suggested Impulso. Having a Venezuelan mom and her having natural residency in South America giving her roots to a spanish name makes sense. Plenty of people in New York City have very Spanish names and nicknames.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
Let me post Medjay’s own backstory as to help figure out the dynamics of the team.
Safiya Mahmoud was an Egyptian archaeologist excavating a recently-discovered temple to Neith, near the ruins of ancient Natopolis. It was a huge historical find and there were a number of artifacts from Neith’s priesthood.
Late one evening as she was cataloging them, some thieves snuck in to steal the more valuable artifacts. She tried to stop them, even knocking one of them unconscious with a shovel, but they overwhelmed her and she was killed.
As her Ka (soul) left her body she stood in the temple facing a beautiful woman in lower Nile regalia. She recognized her as the goddess Neith. Neith told her that she saw her give her life to protect her sacred tributes, and that she had a choice. She could help her move on to a peaceful afterlife, or return her to the world of pain and struggle, with the power to take revenge on those who defiled her treasures and to be her champion against all such blasphemers and rogues.
The archaeologist was still filled with rage against her murderers and insulted that pieces of history might be taken away for profit to hide away in some greedy plutocrat’s private collection. So Neith restored her to life, with new powers, and bestowed upon her the sacred Bow of the Hidden Skies, which can fire arrows that blaze like the sun.
The archaeologist then continued her work by day, and at night protected the artificacts from any who sought to exploit them. Eventually these artifacts were sent to a museum in Titan City, where she now works, but she also takes to the streets in her role as warrior and hunter to combat crime and other evil.
This is condensed a bit, but gives you the background for her empowerment. Safiya boats three degrees, a Bachelor’s in Archaeology from the University of Cairo, a Masters in Anthropology, and a PhD in Archaeolgy to round out her studies.
Her powers and education have thrust her into a more active role in the tracking, securing, and safeguarding of mundane and magical artifacts, as well as the pursuit of enemies across Egypt, and the Arabian region, hence her pitch by the Egyptian government to the Atlas Initiative.
She is kind and compassionate, and eager to solve or delve into a mystery, but maintains a hard edge due to being brought back from death to fight villainy, and has hidden depths of anger and bitterness. She is a self admitted workaholic, gaining three degrees before 30 at the expense of much sleep, a social life, and romance.
She took the name Medjay as both to pay homage to her country, as a traditional Medjay defended the Pharaoh and the all people of Egypt, and as a title of honor given to her by Neith herself, as the goddess saw no difference between an ancient warrior and lawman and a superhero.
She is eager to participate in an initiative that brings several cultures and talented people together and is prepared to use it as a learning experience, but is also cognizant of the potential that with a large team of heroes, comes the potential invitation for greater threats to fight.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I don't mind the name Monument. Not too sure about giving him growth powers. Though with him being a genetically engineered hero they could be added at a later date. Definitely at least the flying brick archtype.
Project Star could then be the program that made him. Which is neat cause they could also be used as a Cadmus like organization.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
I'm neutral in this discussion, but I'd like to point out a couple things in the hope that it helps people reach a peaceful compromise:
1. [b]The Hybrid posted about Windrunner [i]before[/i] Gladatoria posted about Medjay,[/b] and before people in the thread started talking about the need to avoid overlap between heroes in the group. In that respect, The Hybrid suggested playing a divinely-empowered archer/speedster [i]before anyone else[/i].
2. [b]An archer/speedster/swordswoman does make sense[/b], because it's using super-speed [i]in[/i] the use of a bow and weapons. pre-52 DC Comics gave us the heroic Owen Mercer, aka. 'Captain Boomerang II'. He used his father's identity and threw boomerangs, but it turned out - very early in Owen's introduction - he's [i]technically[/i] a Flash, he's the half-brother of Bart Allen (Impulse, Kid Flash). He could only do quick bursts of speed, but... yeah. Picture that on a projectile fighter. Note that The Hybrid has discussed Windrunner in another thread, on these forums, before.
3. [b]But archer/speedster clashes with two players, not one[/b] - it overlaps with Gladatoria's Medjay (archer) [i]and[/i] Glitch404's Impetus/Hourglass (speedster), though Impetus is technically a time controller. Granted, 'super speed' alone may be a broad enough power - for example, both Superman and the Flash would have speed, in the now-classic Justice League lineup.
4. [b]With all that said, as Gladatoria has mentioned - a major point of the global supergroup is [i]country[/i] representatives[/b] - in all the discussion of Windrunner, this hasn't come up. I think Gladatoria's been trying to get at this (in two different posts, even), but it may not be clear. I'm not clear either. What country does Windrunner even represent? That's a different issue, but it is an issue, because all the other characters are being designed as 'Egyptian Hero', 'American Hero', 'British Hero', and so on. Nationality first, to some degree, with the other details being wrapped around that. What is Windrunner?
'Impetus' is Latin, and hence a dead language, therefore I'd personally say there isn't much need to try and make it sound more Spanish or Portugeuse.
Hourglass does have the benefit of being an explicit time reference. Beyond the [i]powers[/i], if the character is also a sportswoman or athlete, the name may also work in that respect - the whole sporting attitude of 'every second counts', and 'beating the clock'.
Monument definitely works for a brick, growth powers showing up as a later mutation perhaps?
And Project Star could work, or maybe something like Project Patriot?
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Very well then. In that case I could see it used a nickname of sorts. I'm also not saying she wouldn't speak, let alone understand Portuguese in character, but just stating personally it feels like a name more fitting of a male character.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
with 9 people you will have an overlap of travel powers.
Glitch - Its your character =) Impulsa and spanish is cool by me.
I was just throwing out ideas based on your concept
Project - look at these powers: Grit/Super Strength i think they match the idea you are going for.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
And I thank you for at least offering some assistance, Steamtank ^_^ I hate to sound as if I was trying to shoot your idea down or make it sound like it wasn't good enough. It's simply that usually I have all this planned out already. So to keep things nice and simple, I'll just keep her name as 'Impetus' but perhaps have the logo that best represents her be an hourglass. That way it's the best of both worlds and it can also be a phrase she lives by? I think its a decent compromise.
"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."
Either a mutation or he's being continuously upgraded as time goes on. Having him be a super soldier as a base works in my mind as then he'd be more likely to survive having additional powers put into him.
Project Patriot works. Or The Patriot Project. I think on the surface it's presented as like a government program that helps out American heroes. But they secretly do the shadey genetic stuff. Monument would not be the first attempt, he might not even be the first successful attempt. He might not even know he was made.
Which I like. Because then it opens up a lot of doors as to what could be done with them.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Definitely in that ballpark on the powers. Probably pick up some tertiary ranged power for some sort of eye beams. Eye beams are just cool. Especially if I can have him shoot lightning from his eyes, it's such a rad idea that I don't even care how nonsensical it is.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
Medjay - Egypt - Ranger – Hunter – Lethality/Super Agility (Gladatoria) Tracker
Windrunner – Greece – Ranger – Partisan – Force Blast/Invulnerability (The Hybrid) __role?____
Project Patriot - USA - Stalwart - Bastion – Grit/Super Strength (Project_Hero) Combat Specialist
Twilight - China - Guardian – Sentinel - Preservation/Atrophic Blast (Foradain) Antiquities and Arcane expert
Dr. Thunder - Canada – Guardian – Sentinel - Barrier/Force (Atama) Scientist
Decade – France – Guardian – Vindicator - Strategy/Psychic (Acyl) Public Relations
Mr. Tinker - Great Britain - Operator - Director - Illusion/Devices (SteamTank) Spy
Impetus – Venezuela – Enforcer – Gladiator – Tactical Combat/Super Agility (Glitch404) Threat Prevention
(Sleepymoth)
Not a lot of powersets being thrown out in game terms so im doing my best to fill it in.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I'd say there's no real [i]need[/i] for giant growth powers, particularly since it's likely that City of Titans won't support them in the way Champions Online does. This doesn't matter for forum RP, but it may matter if Project Hero wants to make the character in-game at a future date. My counter-suggestion would be to have Monument's skin turn white, grey, or stony-textured when he fully powers up and pushes his invulnerability all the way... so you get a strong flying brick named [i]Monument[/i], and that's enough of a reference to bits of architecture. Literally a brick. :)
Alternatively, his skin could be rocky and grey at all times, which might actually be an error in the cloning and supersoldier process. An unintentional side effect, but not enough to deem him a failure. Craggy grey skin is sort of a comic book shorthand for 'bad clone' by now, after all. Dunno if Project Hero wants to go that route, though.
Like I have said before, my only problem or gripe was the lack of an expressed role or narrowed concept, and representing a country.
I’m not frustrated or angry, but I simply want to make sure that character powers and their respective levels aren’t all over the place.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
I just like that he has “monumental” strength and power.
Monument is a really cool name for a patriotic strongman.
And monuments don’t have to be “grey and craggy”. The skin could be smooth like marble/alabaster, which a number of monuments are decorated with.
ETA: Smooth white stone also works if you go with a red/white/blue color scheme.
Yeah, and I'm not... accusing you of anything, just trying to frame the issue (as I see it), and, for example, repeating the country question. :P
Like, in that regard, I see Steamtank has listed The Hybrid's Windrunner as 'Greece' for country, but I don't actually [i]think[/i] The Hybrid has replied on that point. It's possible the Greek thing has come up elsewhere, since I do remember The Hybrid talking about Windrunner in other forum posts. But here, not so much. Maybe we're just assuming because The Hybrid said 'demigoddess', which implies Greek or Roman. Maybe their parent's Athena or something, I dunno.
Conceptually, as Steamtank points out, due to simple [i]travel power[/i] overlap, a team's going to end up with multiple fliers, speedsters, and so on, anyway, so that's a good point. Use of a bow might be an issue, but then one could counter that there's a distinction between a bow user firing super-magic arrows, and a fighter who's using both sword and bow - the pure archer versus the sort of... more general Classical Warrior concept that wields different arms. Maybe a spear or javelin as both melee and throwing weapon? The recent CoT update proves to us that we WILL get spears and trident weapons, which I'm super-pleased about.
Personality and out-of-combat areas of expertise may differ greatly, as well. Medjay is actually a scholar and academic, whereas The Hybrid's character may be more of a martial warrior archetype - or not, but I don't know.
I apologize if that seemed defensive or pointed, it’s been a long day so I am probably not being as sensitive and objective as I should be, I just want everything to flow smoothly.
I like Decade as a concept, btw.
I was also curious as to what kind of base do you guys envision being given to the team? Vehicles? A jet that can carry all 9 is at least a must.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
The file folder for Mr. Tinker was hand delivered to each represented countries Embassy in England. It lists very little information about Tinker. What it does list is his Military Record and the reasons for his assignment to this post.
1989 – United Nations Special Service Medal
1990 – Victoria Cross, Order of Merit, Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, Gulf Medal
1992 Redacted
1993 – United Nations Service Medal
1994 Redacted
1995 Redacted
1999 Redacted
1998 – NATO Kosovo Medal
2000 – OSM Sierra Leone
2002 – OSM Afghanistan
2009 – General Service Medal, Accumulated Campaign Service Medal
2010 – Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct, NATO Meritorious Service Medal
2011-2014 Redacted
2016 – Multinational Force and Observers Medal
2017 - Redacted
Her Majesty has assigned Mr. Tinker to this endeavor in hopes of promoting a stronger global connection between the nations of the world. Mr. Tinker has a long history of working with joint task forces and holds a rank within the British Military high enough to issue his own orders should such a task demand it. The United Kingdom has full trust that our operative will do what is best for crown, country, and global diplomacy.
--------------------------Your countries private files on Mr. Tinker ----------------------------
The Russians have been trying to pin down Tinker for nearly two decades. They have no proof of any wrongdoings but suspect he is behind several foiled plans to expand Russian economic and political power. Any secret documents you have in your possession issued by us must not be kept in the same building as Tinker. He is not an enemy of the state but our secrets should not become the United Kingdoms secrets. You can trust his actions and words as long as the goal benefits his crown. He is not a combat threat to you, but we believe he can somehow make you a threat to yourself. North Korea sent its best agent to kill him in 1999 and was found dead choked on its own poison spit.
We don’t know The United Kingdoms end goal for sending Tinker, we voted against his inclusion but were outvoted. His service in several conflicts awarded him multiple NATO aye votes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
OOC Stuff:
Mr. Tinker looks roughly 6'2" and 170lbs. He has a lean former military build and you guess his age between 50 and 60. He has a slight gait in his step and carries a medium sized metal briefcase. He is always in a suit and wears Military Leather Gloves at all times.
In game he is a Director - Illusion/Devices. in RP land his primary power APPEARS to be Devices. with no secondary power, he seems weak for a super.
His Mastery is in Magnitude - Overwhelm (all points)
He has an undying curiosity for secrets. The secrets of people and machines. This has made him an excellent inventor specializing in small area devices to fit whatever his task is. While he cannot read minds his hidden primary power allows him to create situations that make his target tell him what he wants to know without them even realizing they are.
He prefers not to travel by any way other than being chauffeured. When forced to move quickly his briefcase serves as a hoverboard. He will avoid direct combat unless ordered to do so. He will also steal any interesting technology or information unless ordered not to. (like a kleptomaniac) He doesn't do it to be malicious. He just wants to know whats in it so bad it can almost make him giddy. But he is British, and that would be unseemly.
This is all a work in progress.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
The Hybrid already replied.
So, likely Greece. Though not explicitly stated. But Windrunner is the daughter of Artemis.
Also I’ve said multiple times that Dr. Thunder will be an Enforcer but that’s been ignored. I think a few people aren’t paying a lot of attention in this thread. :(
Current Count: Range DPS:2 Melee DPS:2 Tank:1 Control:1 Support:2 Undecided: 1
Medjay - Egypt - Ranger – Hunter – Lethality/Super Agility (Gladatoria) Tracker
Windrunner – Greece – Ranger – Partisan – Force Blast/Invulnerability (The Hybrid) __role?____
Project Patriot - USA - Stalwart - Bastion – Grit/Super Strength (Project_Hero) Combat Specialist
Dr. Thunder - Canada – Enforcer – Gladiator - Kinetic Melee/Atrophic Aura(Atama) Scientist
Impetus – Venezuela – Enforcer – Gladiator – Tactical Combat/Super Agility (Glitch404) Threat Prevention
Decade – France – Guardian – Vindicator - Strategy/Psychic (Acyl) Public Relations
Twilight - China - Guardian – Sentinel - Preservation/Atrophic Blast (Foradain) Arcane expert
Mr. Tinker - Great Britain - Operator - Director - Illusion/Devices (SteamTank) Spy
(Sleepymoth)
Not a lot of powersets being thrown out in game terms so im doing my best to fill it in.
Atma, what 2 power sets in game terms does your character fall under.
Windrunner, still need a general team role idea for your character. I guessed Greek for your origin country due to power origin, but lemme know.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
No worries - and thanks for the compliment. It does help that I've thought about the powerset a little bit. By now the versions I had in CoH and DCUO are different enough from this that it's possible they'll [i]all[/i] exist in CoT, someday, probably all empowered by the same source but manifesting differently. Regarding the earlier question up-thread about character growth, yes, room for the character to change is part of the idea. I suspect Decade would reach a different equilibrium from the character's CoH predecessor, though. Different person, different colleagues, different circumstances.
A jet or spacecraft makes sense, but if the team is intended to respond to emergencies around the world, they may also have some kind of teleport system. This is a common enough trope for superteams on this scale, e.g. Justice League Unlimited had a teleporter network, Young Justice had Zeta-Beams, The Authority could summon 'Doors'. Some teams in comics have depended on teleport powers provided by one particular member, e.g. a version of the Thunderbolts used Man-Thing's teleport powers for transport.
This can also coexist with the jet, it's possible the [i]jet[/i] teleports and there's no individual teleportation, e.g. the aircraft needs to be airborne for safety reasons before the teleport's engaged, maybe it produces a spherical event horizon - but they get in the air, and then BOOM they're entering airspace over a different continent, then the plane grounds itself and acts as a mobile base of operations. Or, y'know, there's teleporters [i]and[/i] the jet is just a jet, because both JLU and Young Justice did that: fixed location teleporters around the world, but aircraft and spacecraft were also used to reach other places.
Base-wise, comic tropes provide a wide range of options. Marvel's given us the Avengers Mansion, and Avengers Tower, just physical buildings in a city, somewhere, but there's also the Helicarrier concept, a mobile flying base. In DC, we've seen the Hall of Justice (another building), Mount Justice (hollowed out of a hill), the Watchtower (an orbiting space station). The space station or giant orbiting spacecraft concept is popular with DC, they've done it for Stormwatch and The Authority as well.
My personal feeling is that the space station, while cool, is probably out of scope for a more down-to-earth... uh, pun unintended... or more modest take on the Avengers/Justice League concept. Unless the team is occupying an abandoned alien or supervillain base in orbit, member governments are also likely not going to be very keen on [i]paying[/i] for something so fanciful. To me, this suggests a building somewhere. And if the team is meant to be public-facing, visibly backed by several countries, then it's likely a public headquarters with a real street address, rather than a hidden base. That's just my take, though, please feel free to disagree.
With the international motif? Perhaps a building in New York City (which houses the UN headquarters and General Assembly), or Geneva (the second-largest UN site after New York, including the old League of Nations building). Possibly Brussels (the de-facto capital of the EU, home to the major European institutions).
It is also possible that the team is based in a capital or major city for one of the member states (e.g. Titan City itself, or Washington D.C., Paris), because the long-term intention is to have an Atlas Initiative team based in [i]as many countries[/i] as they can manage, once the roster expands. While the initial nine may be headquartered in Titan City, the second nine might work out of Beijing, and the next group after that may have a base in Moscow, and so on.
Given that this is a City of Titans group, and the Atlas Initiative is [i]in-story[/i] based on the Hurricane Atlas incident, Titan City may simply be the default location for both narrative and in-universe symbolic reasons.
[b]EDIT:[/b] http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/InternationalSuperTeams/ - the GURPS International Super Teams sourcebook is a very extensive exploration of the 'UN supergroup' idea, and I know this very well because... uh, the author of GURPS IST ran a City of Heroes supergroup, and guess which SG I was in for many, many, years.
Anyway, the GURPS IST idea is that the United Nations runs a number of 'Embassies' for superteams around the world. These vary in exterior appearance, for instance the one in Japan might be a modern office tower, while the one in London may look like an old townhouse. But beneath the surface, they'd all have a certain level of security. Above ground, there might be public-facing areas like a lobby, visitor areas, meeting rooms, offices for civilian staff, living quarters for the agents, and the like. Below ground, there may be things like vehicle hangars, 'danger room' training areas, medical facilities, and so on. A combination of government office and military base. Think the X-Men's mansion, but in various country capital cities.
The book also suggests that supers might work alongside teams of non-superpowered personnel based out of the same building and also belonging to the agency. Both DC and Marvel have also flirted with this idea, e.g. the JLU cartoon clearly showed that the Justice League employed uniformed civilian personnel, Marvel has SHIELD agents. In Kurt Busiek's Astro City, the setting's main team, the Honor Guard, even run [i]their own call centre[/i]... because there's an army of people needed to manage the emergency hotlines and to field calls from the public. In such a situation, those civilian employees need space, too.
Dr. Thunder’s powersets are Kinetic Melee/Atrophic Aura.
His punches jolt enemies with electric charges and bursts of thunder, stunning and disorienting them as he pummels them into submission. He also generates an electric field around him to damage nearby enemies.
Not sure how Twilight got tagged with Antiquities; I thought that was part of Medjay's [i]schtick[/i] as an archaeologist. Twilight's Knowledge Skills are Magical Traditions and Mythology/Folklore, which would have a bit of overlap with Anthropolgy in general, but less so with Archaeology.
Twilight would not be able to tell a well-crafted replica from an antique original without using some forensic magic (Measure Age spell?), unless the antique was magically significant [i]per se[/i]. And if the replica had also been used in magical rituals while the original hadn't, it is likely Twilight would get the labels mixed up.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
What character thing is uncovered?
Whoops, my bad. Sorry. I definitely [i]read[/i] that post. I'll cop to bad comprehension on my part. As for Steamtank's list... I'm sympathetic, keeping track of everything for a group of people is tricky.
Well, let's see. Summarising, we've got a magic and sorcery type that knows folklore, a divine archer that's also an archaeologist, a flying brick supersoldier, an electricity-controlling scientist, a time controller from a hero family, a telepath who does bureaucracy and relations, a James Bond-type spy who builds his own gadgets, and... for The Hybrid's character, a divine Greek warrior type with some roots in the modern age, I guess.
Translating this to City of Titans powersets, all power archetypes are covered except Commander (CoV Mastermind, pet summoner). But Commander won't be available at launch, so if you're using this thread for a character you want to play later, that may be a factor. If it's just an RP thing, then... there is no minion or pet master character. There is only one Operator (CoH Controller, crowd control).
Looking at it from a concept and skillset point of view, most things are covered, with some overlap. Meaning to say, there's a couple of science/engineering heroes, a couple of magic types, a telepath, and so on. All the areas Gladatoria said they'd like to see are filled. So, what's left?
There is no unpowered 'Batman' stealthy ninja hero - or if not Batman, then Daredevil, or whatever. Decade (my character) and Mr. Tinker (Steamtank's) have aspects of the skilled hero archetype, but it's not really a full I AM THE NIGHT thing, not in the same way.
There's no team doctor. Twilight, maybe Medjay and Mr. Tinker may have healing abilities or gadgets, Mr. Tinker, Impetus, Decade and Project Star/Monument probably know some first aid... but nobody's an actual medical professional. Admittedly, 'doctor' is a rare archetype in comics. But it would make sense for an international handpicked superteam. There's no... I gotta struggle for comic examples, no Rescue, no Accomplished Perfect Physician, no Night Nurse, no, meh, let's go videogames, no Mercy.
There's no devil-may-care joking wisecracking type - this is more of a personality motif than a character role, but there's no... Spider-Man, no Plastic Man, no Jubilee or Deadpool. 'Comic relief' is a meta thing and not an 'in-universe' consideration, I guess, and it depends on what you like to RP.
There's no android, robot, or artificial lifeform, no character that's dealing with tough questions about their humanity - no Vision, no Red Tornado, no Cyborg. With that said, this team is country representatives... but someone's nominated national hero could well be a created being.
There's no bestial hero - though something like the Hulk or Juggernaut may be hard to justify in a government-backed group which is meant to have good public optics and be mission specialists. Likewise, there's no visiting alien stranger like Starfire or Raven, but, again, those are hard to gel with a team meant to have handpicked 'I'm representing X country' members. Not impossible, but it may take some thought.
There's no power armour/battlesuit wearer, no Iron Man, no MACH-(number), no Rocket Red, because Atama went with an electric-controlling scientist instead. Mr. Tinker is still in the team as a tech-based inventor hero, but he uses a suitcase full of gadgets.
Country-wise, there is no Russian representative - this is the biggest gap, but could be explained away if nobody wants to play a Russian character. We already have country imbalance, but if someone wants to geographically even things out, we need Russia/Central Europe or India/South Asia... I do notice nobody's mentioned India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc. in the thread so far, and, well, yeah. Maybe Bhutan or Myanmar could also be handwaved as filling a close-enough-to-India position.
Obviously the solution to this is for someone to play the Big Red Batmachine, a wisecracking medically-qualified vigilante ninja who's half-Russian, half-Indian, but actually an artificial intelligence cyborg sealed inside a suit of armour, that becomes a bigger suit of armour when they get very angry. :D
I got an Commander concept that could be used for this.
And if they potentially fill the gap of Russia, even better.
If not, we can always handwave it that Russia has not met the eligibility requirements for submitting a proper hero, perhaps, too busy dealing with internal matters or politics. But they are a large country and major world player, so I doubt they would sit this one out.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Piggybacking off of what Acyl summarized, we have one spot to fill with a hero from either the region of India and neighboring countries, or Russia.
As far as RP roles, we could use a badass normal who potentially helps ground the team, a power armor wielder, or a robot or android of some sort.
Oh, and suggestions for a starting mission, or ideas on how they all are introduced and/or meet?
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
We need a Russian Batman like Batmankoff.
[img]https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_medium/5/56434/1204661-red_son_image2.jpg[/img]
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
I kind of like that everyone when thinking of a hero a country would send went very human looking. Countries would most likely have vastly different feelings about supers and visibly odd looking heroes could cause more harm then they solve in those locations.
Its almost like the Disney Kids program where they take decently talented kids who have generally good looks and put them in the limelight.
Also depending on where Sleepy chooses to be from its easy to work that due to Tinker being sent a big country is sitting out in protest. 20 years of NATO fighting isnt about to stop overnight because some fancy people who can shoot pew pew lasers from their finger tips started working together.
Fyi, if it comes up Tinker is actually a descendant of an ancient cult of druids that originally served Loki and his real powers are considered "natural". He isn't a mutant, but it isn't magic, its something in between. That's why the Russians suspect him. Their mages can't magic detect him, quite the opposite, its like nothing is there at all. The cult all but died out from an ancient war and the few remaining families were taken under the Crowns protection around Arthurians era. They have served as spies to the ruling family ever since, more loyal to the land than the actual ruling family name.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
I personally see them occupying a high tech building perhaps near or within Phoenix Plaza, perhaps named the Duncan Building (After James Duncan, American Star.)
The office boasts a full staff, with multiple levels devoted to mundane office work, communications, crisis response, crisis monitoring, medical, and field work.
Thoughts?
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
A Baxter Building type HQ sounds good.
Maybe on extraterritorial land like the UN HQ in New York City, so that it’s technically not on US soil (yet still subject to local laws).
Not on US soil would sound like a requirement someone would insist on.
Supporting how I can, Starting up a DA group for art, stories, and concepts to be collected
http://city-of-titans.deviantart.com/
Please join up if you plan to make or collect CoT related art.
Yeah, I imagine the land is extraterritorial as to not seem as if it favors the United States or the Western Hemisphere.
As far as transportation, I think a teleportation network is perhaps an eventual thing, as this is the pilot program and thus, seeing if the team is worth the funding for extra resources.
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Pages