According to the update [url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/629385] here[/url], alignment is planned to be a three-axis system (Law, Violence, and Honor). I'm interested in hearing where people's characters fall on this scale.
For my planned character Drosselmeyer his alignment pans out as follows:
Law: Very Low
While he has a personal code of ethics, Drosselmeyer has zero respect for the Law of Titan City or those of any other authority. He actively seeks to overthrow the governments of the world and install himself as the supreme authority on Earth.
Violence: Middling
Drosselmeyer is willing to go to extreme ends to meet his ultimate goal, but believes he has an imperative to minimize the harm his actions cause to innocents whenever possible. He is willing to use lethal force against his enemies, even if they have surrendered, but avoids involving civillians. He considers torture distasteful and inefficient.
Honor: High
Drosselmeyer's code of ethics places high value on respecting his promises, duties, and obligations. He will use deception as a component of his plots, but will never violate treaties, alliances, or other arrangements, even with his hated enemies.
The world is a mess and I just ... need to rule it.
[b]Lord Nightmare[/b]
Law: Extremely Low
Laws get in the way of global domination. Only fitting that Nightmare doesn't follow them. That being said, he doesn't go around breaking them just to do it. But ya know.. if a law says he can't install mind control devices around City Hall or utterly annihilate a supergroup that tries to stop him, then it's gonna get broke.
Violence: High
Two options when Nightmare has a plan going down. Surrender/Just walk away or die. If he finds a use for someone then of course he'd keep them alive and well taken care of unless the person gives him a reason not to. That being said, he rarely harms civilians on purpose. Instead, they happen to be victims of circumstance or collateral damage.
Honor: Medium
This is where things get really sketchy. When it comes to agreements, Nightmare betrays those he doesn't like especially if he has something to gain from their downfall. That being said, he isn't unethical. Enemies that cannot defend themselves won't be attacked by him, though again that doesn't mean that can't be collateral. However, if a person proves trustworthy then they'd be seen in a much higher light (though nowhere near his level.)
NOW, all that aside... he can have a temporary alignment shift to..
Violence: Unbelievably High
Honor: None
Of course.. to have that happen would be to royally piss him off to a point of pure carnage. Though it'd all be directed at the offender.. (Ala: "I will make you suffer as you watch everyone you love die a slow, painful death.. before doing the same to you")
[B]Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest...[/B]
Roleplayer; Esteemed Villain
[img]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/5.jpg[/img]
The Justice Girls have a strange array of sisters. And not all of them follow Ellysyn's example sometimes.
Law: moderate
Justice Girls are of course about Justice. They do what they can to follow the law but when red tape gets in the way they push forward to take care of the situation and bring the enemy into custody if they are able too. However, they don't do anything to break the law either. They simply find the loop holes.
Violence: Moderate
Justice Girls don't use deadly force unless it is fully totally ultimately necessary. Such as fighting undead and other creatures that lack the ability of any kind of negotiating skills or are just beyond surrendering and considered an unstable deadly force. Ammunition's used are for incapacitating enemies.
Honor: High
Justice Girls support each other and don't turn their backs on each other. They don't pick fights but will defend anyone in trouble in an instant. When Sisters go rogue they do what they can to bring that sister back towards goodness before considering to place them on the black list and hunt them down to bring them to justice before they can bring harm to anyone. They fight clean until they reach a point where fighting dirty is the only way to bring justice.
Ellysyn goes by these ratings. Other sisters may go a different route in Law and Violence. The only thing constant is Honor. Some even more honorable then others.
----------------------------------------
Owner and Big Sister of the Justice Girls -Champions Online-City of Titans-
Forum Breaker
Leader of the Ellysyn Dark Ensemble
Arch:
Law: Average
He doesn't exactly follow the laws... so much as almost nothing he does breaks the laws. Titan City cops mostly just leave him alone. They know if something is wrong in his neighborhood he will help fix it.
Violence: Extremely Low
Arch often wont even resort to necessary violence... Instead he will just 'take it' until his foe can no longer dish it. Resulting in Arch simply winning out over his enemies exhaustion.
Honor: Unbreakable
Anyone who gets to know Arch knows EXACTLY how he will act in any given situation.
Red:
Law:Non existent
Red doesn't even recognize what reality she is in... much less have any idea what laws to follow.
Violence: The unstoppable force
Senseless needless violence... Red in a nutshell. She has no malice at all, she is just pure murder in a small blood soaked cape. She won't start it, but she will finish it. Not just violence directed at her just any violence at all... She will go towards it and participate.
Honor: Non existent
She won't backstab you, it will be a front stab... because you were attacking someone... and then she will front stab that person as well.... Red is best 'released' not so much worked with... If you ever played tabletop Warhammer... she is a goblin fanatic...
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.
[u][b]Solar Guard[/b][/u]
[i]Law:[/i] High
Colonel Morgan has spent the last 70 years upholding the law as a member of the Solar Guard. While he recognizes that there are occasions where the law falls short and the rules need to be bent a little to achieve the desired outcome, as a rule he works by the book. The fact that the book has rules for acceptable collateral damage does not change this fact.
[i]Violence:[/i] Medium
While he is a soldier and as such violence is a part of his life, Vic believes in minimizing the amount of violence necessary to reach the goal. He will definitely work to prevent bystanders from getting involved and to limit any damage beyond that which is necessary. That said, if preventing a madman from incinerating a populated moon requires incinerating the madman instead, that's a call he is willing to make.
[i]Honor:[/i] High
If he gives his word on something, he'll keep it. He holds himself and those under his command to high standards and considers trustworthiness and reliability to be strong virtues. That said, deceptive tactics in war (feints, feeding false information to enemy spies, etc) are fair game.
Heh...,
- Groovy article...would be nice to see it implemented.
Galaxy-Gal would go as follows:...
Law - Somewhat Below Average By Default:
She really wants to obey the law and do good, but her actions tend to not always be appropriate. She just tends to break stuff...rather easily, so she figures that the least she can do is prevent someone else from being more destructive than she is. She almost always retains her 'Hero ID' because there's not many openings in the local job sector for a one-woman demolition crew...so she keeps the mask and helps out where she can - be it flying someone in need to the hospital for immediate medical care, lift an overturned 18-wheeler and trailer off the road to clear a traffic jam, help clear the debris from a demolished building (...not that the city would actually ask her to -DEMOLISH- a building...she would, but why encourage a bad habit?...), and (...of course...) fighting crime that local law enforcement can't handle (...or at least, not handle 'right away' as Galaxy-Gal has shown a propensity to be impatient...), which she is wont to do in a rather exuberant fashion. Still, she tries to pull her punch wherever she can when she thinks it's appropriate (...and not overly frustrated...), though she still hasn't managed to find a way to give a normal person a quick jab without causing some sort of injury in the process, and has been alluded (...somewhat accurately...) that she lacks any kind or sense of 'deftness'. A police report has been noted stating, "...'Property damage' and 'Galaxy-Gal', for the most part, seem to be intrinsically implied or synonymous by nature..."
Violence - Incredibly High to Slightly Below Extreme (Depending Upon Aggression Level):
It may well be a sigh of regret for local law enforcement as well as whatever criminal element she finds herself targeting - when Galaxy-Gal shows up, hospitals and emergency maintenance crews are put on alert. It's even theorized via certain publications (...again, somewhat accurately...) that Galaxy-Gal has a passion for violence and destruction. Psychological profiling would state that 'Galaxy-Gal has profound anger management issues'...which can be readily understood by any who observe her in action - from ripping up concrete slabs to be used as makeshift projectiles to driving her fist onto the ground so powerfully as to cause a localized seismic tremor to clapping her hands together with such force as to break the sound barrier inducing a pressurized explosion. She would say that fighting crime is the only real 'safe' way she can vent, though it can be said by many that being punched over a hundred times in one second is anything but 'gentle'. There have also been complaints filed against Galaxy-Gal by local businesses and retailers regarding the rather explosive swaths of pure energy she has been known to emit, unto which she has been cited in one publication stating, 'He wouldn't stop moving, so I blasted the entire alleyway - I got him, didn't I?'. It has been stated that her nigh undeniable passion for the extreme keeps her standing in the face of what would otherwise be considered improbable harm...even well beyond the edge of physical consciousness, recovering from even the most fatal encounters by what seems to be sheer will alone; and while this particular mindset clearly seems to confer a fantastic degree of resilience and recovery, her 'Strength of Will and Fury' seems to likewise bolster a certain amount of recklessness on her part.
Honor - (Surprisingly) High:
Galaxy-Gal doesn't go out of her way to make a promise because she knows there's some promises that she just can't keep, especially when in pain and under a lot of stress - she just gets angry and goes for the most efficient and effective solution. If that means uppercutting someone so hard they smash into the ceiling...there's times where she's actually okay with that, but she won't intentionally try to murder someone. Even when pushed to the limit, Galaxy-Gal has yet to be the direct cause of death to either her target or innocent bystander, though direct and indirect injuries are not unheard of. Most of the time she simply relocates the conflict to a less populated area to keep civilian injuries to a minimum...which she generally accomplishes by either blasting or punching her target in question as very few have been known to remain standing from under such impacts. In a particularly grueling conflict, she's not known to be 'an honorable combatant'...she'll take her target out in ways that would seem downright brutal. It's already been reported that she has no qualms smashing tough-looking opponents to the ground then slamming and V8 engine-sized slab of rock on top of them; or when pressed by multiple assailants, to spin in place so fast as to hurl her assailants away with hurricane force winds. Emitting a focused laser blast from her eyes, then driving a punishing blow where her eye blasts weakened is also a tactic she has been known to employ. Still, in regarding honor in general...(...if anything...), when given, Galaxy-Gal keeps her word...even when angry; she knows how to 'cool off' and restrain herself when the need warrants. She doesn't lie, won't consider betraying an ally and despises deceit...
((Note: this is exactly how Galaxy-Gal actually played in CoX - She was a tough little muffin that really packed a -WALLOP!- and if City of Titans can pull this off again, I'd be pleasantly surprised! ^_^ ))
Lady Nova
Law: High
While she realizes that sometimes the law can be rigid and at times black and white, Sarah ultimately believes that laws are meant to be upheld, and trusts in the TCPD and her fellow heroes..
Violence: Medium
While she is a a protector and guardian at heart, Sarah is not naive, and understands that when people are threatened by villains and those like them, violence is nessacary, but not to be used as a solution to everything. She has never taken a life, and does not plan to...she will try to save and protect everyone....something others that could exploit...
Honor: High
Sarah does not, and will never betray her ideals and personal and observed status of honor. She has a almost debilitating hero complex, and strives to be the 'paragon of the people', and acts accordingly...
Contessa Nocturne
Law: Nonexistent
Due to being born in and living through various periods of time where the law was either loose, harsh, or vacant, Cordelia simply sees the law and those who serve it as annoyances, roadblocks on her way to power and her goals. The only thing they are good for, is supporting the view of her alter ego, and painting a pretty picture over a dark canvas underneath....
Violence: Medium/High
Having lived for over a 188 years, Cordelia is no stranger to combat, violence in all it's forms, and the various facets of intimidation and torture. While she is utterly corrupted, heartless, and terrifyingly cunning, she isn't a brute or monster, and appropriately recognizes times where violence is acceptable...
Honor: Low
Over her lifetime, Cordelia has constantly and habitually lied, deceived, and manipulated everyone from friends to foe, ally and enemy alike, Cordelia only tells a transparent truth to support another lie....the only exceptions are those she considers her earned peers...and even then they may never know...
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/10.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
Lemme take a stab at this...
Magda Adair:
Law: Low to Moderate
Her focus is less on what the law is and more on simply protecting those who she thinks need protecting. That's her entire reason for living. Laws can be useful in that regard, but they can also hinder.
Violence: Low to Moderate
Being a healer and protector, Magda really does abhor violence. She'll do everything she can to find a different way to incapacitate enemies rather than resort to violence. being an empath, sometimes pain overwhelms her and makes it so that she's functionally useless... so in her view it's best to avoid that as much as possible. If she's on the ground writhing in another's pain, then she can't do her job well, can she?
Honor: High
To Magda, her honor is the only thing that can't be taken from her. It can't be compromised, and it can't be argued with. Her own personal 'Code of Conduct' is strong, and she refuses to back down from it.
Tarot Rose:
Law: Moderate-High
Being young and new in her abilities, Rose keeps to the law at every chance, going as far as to deposit her enemies in the local police station all wrapped up rather than do something that might put her on the wrong side of the law later on.
Violence: Low-Moderate
She really prefers not to have to hurt people, but when it's absolutely necessary she bows to the inevitable.
Honor: Moderate
She really hasn't worked out an honor code for herself, and consequently sometimes does at in dishonorable ways.
[color=blue]You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"
[i]George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)[/i][/color]
[url=http://www.namesakeradio.com]Come and listen to NameSake Radio![/url]
Name: States
Law: High
States, like her father before her, new that everyone has the right to up hold the law and do as much as possible to keep everyone safe. She knows that no one man or woman is above the law, Even herself .
Violence: Mild
States, really don't like violence, she feels that with violence you get more violence, and because of that she would only fight to survive or defend never for self reason or revenge..She will only look at Violence as a last measure to stopping the evil that is causing it.
Honor: Very High
States, Sense of honor must be the highest since her father's down fall, many years ago she looked up at her mother and father for the duty that they have done to the city, And now she wishes to bring the same thing to this one.. She realizes that honor means self sacrifice and to do what is right.. Even if people don't agree she must do what she the best she can do..
Name: Amerikatt (aka "The Imp of Impervium")
Law: High -- This is, after all, a supercat who actively promotes a "No Catnip" campaign! ((Just take a look at my sig!))
Violence: Very Low -- Amerikatt's "Prime Directive" is to heal sentient beings. Besides, when your claws and fangs are capable of piercing Impervium, you have to be *very* careful when dealing with fleshy Furless Naughty Spawns, so Amerikatt pulls her punches and does not seek to start a fight, but she's capable of finishing it .. quickly!
Honor: Very High! -- Amerikatt was raised by Humans with a Golden-Age set of ethics, so this Silver-Age kitty cannot help but follow and continue their excellent examples.
[center][color=purple][size=16][b][I][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78N2SP6JFaI]Just a cat from another star![/url][/I][/b][/size][/color][/center]
Name: Sylph Knight
Law: Moderate
After years of conflict against several villainous armies in her native continuity, Sylph Knight is accustomed to operating autonomously. It's not that she is ungrateful or disrespectful to due process, but rather that her finely-honed survival instincts and emotional baggage often drive her to act before thinking. To her merit, she realizes this makes her ill-suited for patrolling street crime and so tends to focus on larger, more obvious threats.
Violence: High
As a classic ubermensch, Sylph Knight is as much a sword of retribution as she is a shield for the innocent. While not inherently violent, she views almost any inconsideration with disdain but responds to violence with excess. Her dogma is that one who has never been on the receiving end learns nothing of the folly for committing transgressions against their fellow man. Those who antagonize her do so at their own peril and this has led to several complaints of excessive force.
Honor: High
A woman of extremes, Sylph Knight is just as likely to keep her word with anyone as she is to break their bones for crossing the moral event horizon. Villains that know her generally surrender once proven outclassed to avoid a brutal thrashing and the more passive heroes with whom she has worked beside quickly learn to coax promises of restraint out of her prior to any engagement. As her moral center is derived largely from a sense of consideration rather than any adherence to societal or legal obligation, this trait is paramount to separating her alignment from that of the villains she fights. She is also widely regarded for her willingness to assist or train fledgling heroes, during which she offers one of the few situational displays of voluntary restraint in order to set a better example.
Altogether, this has resulted in mixed opinions about Sylph Knight's status as a hero. Though she is too lawful and honorable to be adequately defined as an anti-hero, she has formed a long-standing sadistic streak with particularly violent or antagonistic opponents and takes no small pleasure in their suffering. She is best described as both a Blood Knight and Knight in Sour Armor who does not believe that good ever comes naturally to anyone but it remains a goal worthy of fighting towards. She also stands in as a Big Sister Mentor to most of her non-immortal or pre-middle aged colleagues.
My main (depending on power sets) will be White Samurai.
Law: High. Where possible he will be lawful and try to adhere to the laws of Titan City. He has great respect for those who put their lives on the line to protect the innocent, especially if they do not have powers to fall back on.
Violence: moderate. He's a master with the sword so when he has to, the level of violence he can dish out can be extreme though he tries to minimise the violence as best his opponent will allow
Honour: High. As his name suggests, White Samurai follows a strict code. If he gives his word, he will not break it. If an enemy surrenders, they will be treated with respect.
His Nemesis - Blood Hand:
Law: Low to non-existent. He cares nothing for the law and won't hesitate to break it if necessary.
Violence: High to extreme. Though Blood Hand will use extreme violence and aggression to get his way, he is a master of many minions so understands that each person and situation have to be dealt with differently. With his army of foot soldiers, he'll not think twice about collateral damage or harming the innocent if it gets him closer to his goal.
Honour: High. Surprisingly, Blood Hand does have a large degree of personal honour. This may not equate in any way to what most think of as honourable but it is there. Cross him though and you likely won't live to regret it. He'll think nothing of torturing someone who offends him or fails him but will reward success lavishly.
We all have it in us to be a hero to someone,
Super powers are optional.....
Part of the Phoenix Rising Initiative.....
Proud to be a hero. Prouder still to be a member of [url=http://www.watchfire-online.info]Watchfire[/url]
[b]Airhead[/b]
[i]Law[/i]: High if not distracted. Airhead believes coooperation is based on mutual respect. Common law provides a basis for mutual respect of strangers and helps to circumvent the antisocial behaviours that inevitably arise as the participating mob gets larger and larger. But he will break laws to save lives, and he will break laws if convinced by someone else that it will save lives or help others. The latter happens a little too easily.
[i]Violence[/i]: Near zero. We can all get along. On the other hand, self-preservation exists for a reason, and Airhead's power to take that instinct away has more precarious side-effects than the wings of a butterfly in China.
[i]Honour[/i]: Moderate. Airhead is incredibly forgiving of others, it is his code of honour. While he does not accept criminal behaviour, he believes that prisoners are reformed in prison. On the other hand, Airhead makes decisions for the benefit of others, and while his knowledge of others is incomplete that leaves him vulnerable to manipulation. He will always hold true to what he has seen to be true, but there are just too many things he hasn't seen. To this end, he does not necessarily trust his own words.
[b]Geezer[/b]
[i]Law[/i]: None. Opportunities exist to be taken. Any opportunity to one-up another person must be taken. It is an obsession. Opportunities are around every corner, so this means Geezer typically runs numerous schemes at the same time, going in lots of different directions. If this immense compulsive energy was more directed, he'd probably rule the world. But he's usually too busy with his schemes to think that big.
[i]Violence[/i]: Very high. The most obvious opportunities involve the meek, so Geezer is the ultimate bully. When faced with a superhero, Geezer will typically stun and run. Civilians are his preferred target. This devolved into acts of terrorism some time ago. But he does not kill for the numbers - there must be some sort of material gain, no matter how trivial. He doesn't need his victim to know he won. Secret wins have less consequences, so he can focus on the next opportunity.
[i]Honour[/i]: Low. Geezer's oneupmanship reigns supreme. He'll lie, cheat, anything, to win. But he cannot lose. If he should lose he'll keep on coming back. It's a sense of honour that is all about himself.
[size=14]"The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths." - Pushkin[/size]
[size=14] "One piece of flair is all I need." - Sister Silicon[/size]
Tiger
Law: High
Does his best to follow the law. He only attacks when attacked and uses deadly force only when someone is trying to kill him.
Violence: High
He has claws and they don't exactly come with a non-lethal option. Also, his powers come from a Tiger God, so he is always battling against his animal side.
Honor: High
Has a warriors code and lives to protect the innocent. He realizes his action not only reflect himself but his family and ancestors.
Saber Tooth Tiger
Law: Low
Might makes right. Enough said.
Violence: High
He revels in the power of the Tiger God, and people are his favorite prey.
Honor: Low
Whatever it takes to survive. The living are always right and the dead, well, they no longer matter.
[img]http://s21.postimg.org/yvchqtajr/Morality_Throttle.png[/img]
Nothing showed up, Izzy!
[center][color=purple][size=16][b][I][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78N2SP6JFaI]Just a cat from another star![/url][/I][/b][/size][/color][/center]
I'll likely have 2 mains, one good and one bad. Daedalus is all about law and order. He might bend the rules on occasion but he understands what a slippery slope that can be.
Total Violence is a brutal thug and no mistake. He has deeper motivations than that but not on the surface. Pay him well, give him his cartoons and leave him alone.
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Surgepoint
Law: Medium-High
Surgepoint has a great respect for the law and for law enforcement. He also prides himself on being a hero. However, while he may strive to be a paragon of heroic behavior, he is no lawyer and is very impulsive. Surgepoint, thanks to his time in Hollywood inflating his ego and his super reflexes making him untouchable, has developed an extremely cocky attitude. He never sets out to break the law and never does anything he thinks is wrong, but may find himself overstepping a line he didn't even know was there. He has managed to avoid doing anything seriously out of line so his heroics and his celebrity status have prevented any blow-back.
Violence: Appears high
As a hand-to-hand specialist who has studied a large variety of martial arts techniques and styles, Surgepoint's primary method of interaction with criminals involves bone and flesh colliding at speed. That said, he aims to disable rather than to kill. He is good enough to pull this off and to pretty accurately scale up his force as the threat demands. His ego and desire to show off can get the better of him though, so the method can look (and feel) pretty brutal before the fight is over. When fighting tougher foes, Surgepoint is limited in that his martial prowess is mostly only human. While he can use the electrical build-up from the effect of his super reflexes on his nervous system, this is a difficult ability to control. Fine manipulation of the force of his blows is greatly diminished when he uses this power and the results can be devastating. All around, Surgepoint isn't excessively violent in effect, but it can appear that way at times.
Honour: Medium-High
As stated before, Surgepoint strives to be an ideal hero. His biggest obstacle on that path is his ego and knack for inappropriate showmanship. He keeps promises, he doesn't make false statements knowingly, and will always work to keep collateral to a minimum. In fact, he'll often stop and brag about doing so just long enough to irritate whoever he is fighting. That very same cockiness is again his shortcoming in that he lacks the stoic willpower to adhere to too strict a code of honor. If he thinks it makes for a better story without tangibly hurting anything, or if it just seems like it will help more people, he will impulsively take an action with only minor consideration. Blowing off a scheduled celebrity or family event for a chance to go punch a crook and smile for the cameras is his most common transgression.
Future Kingpin
Law: Minor
Kingpin has no respect for written law. He has little respect for law as dictated by anyone who isn't himself. If he does anything within the law, it only to setup his next illegal activity while laying low. However, he intends to have law and order - as dictated by himself, of course - once his plans come to fruition. He believes, with absolute conviction, that the will inevitably come to fruition...it's just a matter of time.
Violence: High
For a person with no overt powers, Kingpin leaves a prodigious amount of damage and carnage in his wake. He and his army of thugs, villains, and operatives use bats, guns, explosives, combustibles, and whatever else they can lay their hands on. They will go to any length to accomplish their goals. Torture, hostages, traps, jaywalking...nothing is a step too far.
Honour: (Situational, but typically) High
With his entire goal being the unification of all major gangs, evil peoples, and villainous organization under his own banner, the self-proclaimed Future Kingpin has done well to garner a reputation as reliable among the seedier population. His political maneuvering through the world's underbelly has been impressive and marked by steadfast observance of treaties and agreements. The few times he has been betrayed were well recorded, to show the other organizations that he was struck first. His response to these transgressions was only delivered to those directly responsible, no whole-organizational destruction, however, the force of the response was, in short, overkill. This strict code of honour does not apply to heroes or anyone unessential to his plans. Outside of negotiating relationships with other villains and their groups, he will lie, cheat, backstab, and anything else he sees fit.
"All I have to do is hit you lots of times without getting hit myself. I've already won, you just don't know it yet." -Surgepoint
Doc Simian
Law: Low
Doc Simian prides himself on being a hero. That being said, he is more concerned with Justice than Law. Due to his villainous past, he knows that laws are broken every second of the day and justice is not always served. Therefore, he uses his abilities to deliver true justice, being more concerned with what is right rather than what the Law is.
Violence: High
While not every instance requires violence, Doc is not above handing out some smashmouth justice when warranted. Since his goal is to achieve true justice, Doc will be appropriately violence in this pursuit. Being a huge ape-like being does not offer many opportunities for subtlety, so what violence Doc does is usually quite damaging and he will most likely leave quite an impression when he decides violence is needed.
Honor: High
As a changed man/beast, Doc has been given a second chance and he means to take advantage of it. He now values integrity and valor and has vowed to represent these things for the rest of his life.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!
[IMG]http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv238/Caliber357/CoTSimian002a.jpg[/IMG]
This all depends on the characters:
Corvus Commander
Law: Normal
Corvus Commander is willing to do what is necessary. Whether it works within the law or outside the laws is no real concern to him so long as he can get his way.
Violence: Normal
Corvus, unlike an assortment of super villains, is not interested in killing anyone. He has no vendetta, he has no extreme greed, sense of self justification, or sickening desires. He only has his goals and intentions to make a better world whether it is under his rule or not. However, if the time must come that he must fight to the death in defense of his beliefs, himself, or others; he will do what is necessary to survive.
Honor: Fairly High
Corvus Commander has a deep sense of Honor and Dignity. He would rather choose the honorable thing to do rather than roguish or crude methods. It's one of the reasons his men stick by him even when wars he wages against gangs, militias or other criminal masterminds are bleak. He is respected even by his adversaries as a formidable foe. He however, he finds those who are dishonorable arrogant and selfish, as such he often hunts down such people with extreme prejudice.
Onto the second one!
Foolery
Law: None
Foolery believes in the laws of the jungle. He is an anarchist, a beast, a street predator. The laws of man matter nothing to a beast.
Violence: High
Foolery is willing to kill anyone and everything that get's in his way. He is pitiless, kills without reason or moral obligation.
Honor: None
Foolery has no honorable concepts except his belief in the laws of the jungle. If it's there take it, if it's alive kill it, if it's edible eat it. Foolery is literally represents all that is wrong with the human condition.
That's all I have so far. This is going to be great! So excited for the game. I do hope they add on more moral concepts later on in the game. I'd like to delve farther into the philosophical concepts of what it means to be a hero.
When life gives you lemons. SHOOT IT WITH LASERS!!!
Some nice reading in here, thanks for getting it started TheMadGent! It will certainly be interesting to see how people's characters evolve from these starting points. You never know what will happen where characters have to make that split second choice in a mission as to what they will do ;)
Anyway, I suppose I'll put up some info on the revisions I have been making with Numerology. No better time for a bit of a retcon.
Law: Low
Law tends to be a nonfactor for Numerology and while he does not set out to act explicitly against laws, he certainly doesn't abide by them.
Violence: Low
While he certainly does not hold back in a fight, Numerology's powers tend to incapacitate by nature rather than cause physical damage though saying that if there is a choice he would prefer to avoid any fights at all. Fighting tends to bring in some potentially disruptive variable and when executing a heist he has found it best to have total control of a situation.
Honour: Low
Numerology primarily looks for the most advantageous long term option available in a given situation. This is not to say that he is disloyal, but rather he only values a deal as long as he can see how it will allow him to progress and achieve his own goals. When deciding between two or more options, Numerology tends to use his own warped logic as a justification for his choices more so than any code of honour or sense of obligation.
Troicheil:
Law: medium. While he would not go out to intentionally break laws, and he is a protector, Troi does what he feels is best and allowable within his belief system. Troi isn't human and doesn't come from a human society, friction is pretty much guaranteed.
VIolence: HIgh. Killing one's opponents pretty much guarantees they won't bother you again.
Honor: High. HIgher than that. Higher even. Yeah, that high.
Buy me a beer and I'll talk you ear off.
Call me Gimli and I'll break your knees.
I think the biggest stickler is going to be "law"
I mean...Titan City is a different place with different laws. In a world with privatized police/sanctioned vigilantism... how much of what i'd do is going to be "unlawful"?
The implication from the blurb is that "breaking the law" is tantamount to the two-dimensional understanding of criminality (i.e.=badness) So I have to wonder if a) WOULD anyone besides a kill-the-baddie vigilante type even BE "unlawful" in this world, and then b) is lawfulness the dividing line between "hero" and "villain" as far as the game is concerned...
From what I can see.... it seems to be the case.... "law" is the dividing line between hero and villain (unless "alignment" is completely independent of the hero/villain dynamic)
and that Violence and Honor are simply ways of dealing with the side of the law you're on.....
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[i]....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...[/i]
Reading the link, I hope CoT doesn't go the route of calling violent heroes vigilantes. Spidey's a vigilante and not "kill them all" like CoH's alignment would called vigilantes.
As for my main...
Law: Low. Work with law enforcement, maybe even respect some of them, but could never truly trust a government that spies on people, makes someone like her, the tries to kill her to get rid of the evidence of making her in the first place. Not to mention DAs who'd sooner put an innocent in jail just to get a conviction for their own personal glory or to set the communities mind at ease. Basically she's for justice.
Violence: Low - Medium. Case by case. She's more than willing to intimidate. Willing to cause pain when she see's fit. Avoids killing.
Honor: High.
This is all based on what I think they're planning to o with the alignment system.
I figured, on a scale from 1-10,
Law: 8 (if the law was perfect, we wouldn't need heroes.)
Violence: 5 (Fights are fun, until they aren't, ya know?)
Honor: 10 (Don't worry, I've got you're back!)
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[i]....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...[/i]
Shepherd/Gideon
Law: low due to past experience with creatures such as Vampires, demons and werewolves running he government Gideon doesn't trust them.
Violence: High he kills supernatural creatures hurts and tortures humans that align themselves with such creatures.
Honor: High He is a warrior and a Martial Artist.
Sin Reaper
Law: Non existent
Violence: very high
Honor: ow
"In the end there can be only one" The Highlander
I have a "meta" question about this 3-axis alignment system. Was this something the MWM folks borrowed from another game system or did they come up with it completely on their own?
The reason I ask is that I've played a bunch of PnP and computer based RPGs over the years and I've never really seen a system quite like this before. I like how it's not binary. If it does indeed work on 1-10 scales that would allow for plenty of "grey" in-between. But I must admit I find myself trying to reconcile this system in my brain against something more traditional like the old-styled AD&D Law/Chaos/Good/Evil paradigm. To me the terms "Law" and "Honor" almost seem redundant on some level.
I'll probably get used to this regardless. It'll be interesting to see how this works dynamically within the game.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Law essentially equates to a Respect For Others or a sort of Adherence To Common Values that extend outside of oneself as established by Laws (ie. Legislation). It is representing the ability/desire to "bow to a higher authority than oneself" ... if that helps.
Honor is more a matter of being "true" to one's Word (ie. "my word is my bond") and the standards you hold the [b]Self[/b] to. Honor is all about being RESPONSIBLE for one's own actions, and reflects how "seriously" others would view your adherence to the standards you set for yourself and your own behavior ... the "limits" you place on yourself, as opposed to those placed on you from outside yourself.
So in that way, I can see Law as being the "socially accepted" limits and boundaries, while Honor is the "internally imposed" limits and boundaries you insist on upholding for your own sake, as opposed to everyone else's.
Put Law and Honor together and you get DUTY ... which is heavier than a mountain, while death is lighter than a feather (if I recall the quote correctly).
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
Redlynne
A fugitive from the Sisters of Divine Love and Retribution Catholic Girls School and Seminary, Redlynne managed to escape before completing the cult's consecration rituals and having to give her Vow of Violence to join the Order of Preying Nuns. A favored student of Sister Kii Lo Nii, The Great Teacher, Redlynne has, since absconding, gone on to adapt her fighting style into what she styles as being the Flying Feet of NO GET HITSU!!
Redlynne is unarmed, and therefore ALWAYS DANGEROUS.
Famous Quotation: "My sneakers do more damage than your sword!"
Battlecry: "[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8VD4JXUozM]Boot to the head![/url]"
Law: Low
Violence: Moderate
Honor: High
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[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
My two main characters who are a couple, Ezuka and Emmah, slightly differ.
Ezuka is overprotective of Emmah, so his view on the three alignments skews in whatever direction is best for her. (Ezuka was a kinetic melee/super reflexes scrapper.
Law: Medium-low. Laws server a purpose, but they're not the end all, be all solution to every problem.
Violence: Medium. Ezuka often must resort to violence, especially when protecting Emmah, but if no need can be met or point proven through violence, he won't bother with it.
Honor: High in some ways, low in others. By his people's standards, Ezuka is a knight, so he is an honorable person, but he's more than willing to break any honor code to protect Emmah.
Emmah is an incredibly powerful mage, but she's timid and is naive in the sense that she views the world with the idea that people will change and good will always overcome bad.
Law: Very high. She's simply afraid to break the law.
Violence: Very low. She prefers defensive and healing magics. She's very powerful offensively, but she prefers to maim rather than kill. (She was a dark, dark corruptor in City of Heroes. She blinded and snared her enemies so that she could "arrest" them. I also made her as an ice/time corruptor since she's a mage and doesn't stick with one discipline. The color tinter for powers was perfect for that idea since I could change the color of powers to make her skills as a mage look varied!)
Honor: High. As a mage, she took quite a few oaths as an apprentice especially since she's a healer. She honors them to the point of frustrating her fiance because he calls her a buzzkill.
What Red said... "Honor" in terms of this game, is more akin to "Integrity" (though it can be RP'd as a personal code or some such).... But, since most people have a better gut understanding of what it means to be "honorable", then what it means to have integrity (a sighing observation of the nature of our society)...the devs likely chose honor, even though one technically "honors" the law.
By the descriptions on the inital KS post, Law, in this game seems to specifically relate to adherence to the physical laws of the city. Now, to me, that seems complicated since we don't KNOW the laws of the city... and don't KNOW what rights and privileges meta humans do, or do not have compared to mundies. but the parting shot in the quote was that the law stat defined criminality in the game....
...as such I imagine it will be a bit like driving your car. there's the speed limit, there's the "socially acceptable speeding" limit, and then there's "reckless endangerment"
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[i]....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...[/i]
I can appreciate the definitions you supplied for these things. To me the aspects of Law and Violence are straightforward because your character's actions related to those qualities are judged deterministically by others.
But if we work with your explanation of Honor as something that is "internally determined" then I don't really see how that could ever be set to anything other than the highest rating. Whatever my "internal code of ethics" is I'm always going to judge my own adherence to that code to be perfect. Why wouldn’t I? Others might judge my actions from the outside as being "dishonorable" but those judgments are morally relativistic to their own LAWS and/or of the surrounding society's. I may be seen as being dishonorable to them because I'm not living up to the social standards they expect of me even though I may be living up to my own internal standards in a perfect manner. Basically Honor in this context is what my character makes of it regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.
This is why I believe the concepts of Law and Honor are somewhat dependently conjoined and makes it seem weird to me that they share an equal footing in an alignment system such as this. As I implied before if I close my eyes and hum loudly to myself I can sort of reconcile this disconnect I'm having so it's not that big a deal. Still the whole thing seems somewhat "forced" and not as intuitive as it probably ought to be.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Now you're just splitting hairs for the purpose of getting split ends. Someone with Low Honor is the kind of person who has no trouble lying to others, selling out their allies, saving their own skin if it means letting a million people perish in terror, and doing despicable things to their own family all for self enrichment. Honor is all about "ends justify the means" when it gets down low. Low honor is the "anyone can be bought, for the right price" end of the scale.
High honor is the sort of person who simply won't compromise or yield on what they see as THEIR principles. I won't abandon my friends. I will not tell lies, even to advance my own position and standing. I will not engage in "casual" deceptions of those I care about. I'd never sell someone down the river, or throw them under the bus, just to save myself. All for one and one for all. Blah blah blah blah blah ... you ought to have the idea by now. Think of it as being "Trustworthiness" if you must, because "honor" is a foreign concept that went out of vogue with the Industrial Revolution and the end of the Victorian Era.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
it's actually not splitting hairs, Red... it's been a viciously debated element of philosophy in western society for 3000+ years.
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[i]....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...[/i]
Yes I "had the idea" even before my original post on this topic. And for what it's worth I'm not splitting hairs here either.
Everything you just described in an attempt to differentiate "low honor" versus "high honor" could easily be transcribed into terms of being LAWFUL or UNLAWFUL, especially if you cast it in terms of what types of behavior society expects of it citizens. I still contend that "Honor" is such a vague term (in comparison to Law and Violence) that as long as my character is living up to what he/she thinks is right that he/she will consider themselves "honorable".
If your character lives in a Pirate Town (or Star Trek's Mirror, Mirror universe) then all the things you ascribe to "Low Honor" may actually be considered socially expected. How can socially expected behavior be considered dishonorable? Likewise if you live in a place firmly based on Law and morality why would your character be considered "Highly Honorable" if they are just embodying the standard qualities of every average citizen? What are they doing out of the ordinary in that case?
Bottomline unlike the strict ideas of Law and Violence the concept of Honor is morally relativistic. Sure you could say villains sneaking around Paragon City are "dishonorable". But you could just as easily consider heroes in the Rogue Isles to be "dishonorable" relative to the average Rogue Isle villain because all the heroes want to do stop villains from doing what THEY think is right.
Honor is simply a relativistic subset of Lawfulness. This is why I'm not altogether sure it fits as an equal in an alignment system like this.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Fine ... call it "Trust" or even "Trustworthiness" if you prefer if that helps you grab onto it any better. There are plenty of people who "play by the rules" (ie. Law) but who you shouldn't Trust, because they'll throw you under the bus just as soon as it's to their advantage or they think they can get away with it. It's perfectly possible to have a Judge who respects the Law, but isn't above bending the Law through their Judgements in order to serve themselves or their own agenda (sometimes called Judicial Activism), rather than bending their own views and prejudices to better fit the "spirit" of the Law they are Judging. A "corrupt" Judge, if you will ... one who lacks ... Honor.
At any rate, I get the feeling you just don't see things the way I do on this, so I might as well stop trying.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
no... red... it's Integrity.
it's defined as integrity in the original post on KS...
It's Law, Integrity, and Violence.
the devs just used "honor" because it sounds better, and people have a stronger gut response to it.
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[i]....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...[/i]