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How do you create your Champions?
klitty
Posts: 1,545 Arc User
This is an interesting thread I found necroed and you guys might want to talk about it :B
"So I've been wondering, how do other people come up with the ideas for their characters?
My ideas hit me from a different angle each time. Sometimes I start with a powerset, work out a costume and then struggle with a name, only to scrap the whole thing and start over. Other times I have a great name idea and then everything else falls into place. Occasionally I just muck around in the character creator and see if something strikes my fancy.
So, fellow Champions, how do YOU do it? Where do you start? What inspires you to create a new champion? Whether you want to spill the beans or keep your trade secrets, this is just me being curious."
- Archieved post.
"So I've been wondering, how do other people come up with the ideas for their characters?
My ideas hit me from a different angle each time. Sometimes I start with a powerset, work out a costume and then struggle with a name, only to scrap the whole thing and start over. Other times I have a great name idea and then everything else falls into place. Occasionally I just muck around in the character creator and see if something strikes my fancy.
So, fellow Champions, how do YOU do it? Where do you start? What inspires you to create a new champion? Whether you want to spill the beans or keep your trade secrets, this is just me being curious."
- Archieved post.
=^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
Post edited by klitty on
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I've noticed that barring folks who just press the randomize button or outright copy an existing character, a lot of CO heroes tend to be built around the power set, as opposed to traditional comic heroes, which tend to have their powers molded around their character or story. I mean, think about a traditional hero like Cyclops, and very little about his origin or personality suggests a "natural" fit for having eyebeams. Or, for example, Matt Fraction's "Triumph Division", a group of Filipino heroes. Instead of deciding what each hero can do, Fraction drew the inspiration from Filipino culture and history, then molding their powers to fit the theme.
I think that's in part due to CO being a game, and the fact that you choose your power set before any other decisions in character creation. This "powers-first" philosophy, especially after Archetypes were introduced, leads players to naturally gravitate towards making characters and personalities that suit the way they play, rather than letting the character determine the style. A player who picks Glacier or Devastator won't survive long trying to play their character like a Soldier or Mind, so their character's lore evolves to fit the mechanics.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does illustrate some of the differences imposed by CO's nature as a game.
--
As for my process, I tend to follow more of a theme, then picking an archetype (I'm a silver and can't use freeform) to fit the theme. If an archetype is unavailable, I try to pick something similar.
And my favorite theme? "Weird Robots".
I love robot superheroes, at least in concept. I want chunky robots that do heroics because, frankly, it's weird for a robot, or at least a robot that acts robotic (rather than an android that acts human) to be a superhero. I want chunky robots that look mechanical and not like more dudes in tights with metal bits.
As for the "weird" part, I try to pick powers that don't fit with the "robotic" idea. I love technological robots that do non-technological things, or robots that look robotic but don't act that way (I prefer the former if I can swing it).
As in "Oh! I want a tiger dressed in persian clothes, using a heavy weapon, earth and fire >:3. Or just earth and fire for synergies. And name him Khanelon!"
=^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
I am a silver player but I do have access to Gold FF if I need it. For the most part I dont xP, because of my awesome RP skills
All of my toons are used in some manner of RP (nothing unspeakable xP) So I create and build them according to what I feel is going to be right for them. I take painful amounts of time, to create costumes especially some homage ones >_>;
I think from the AT's side of things it's alot easier to make a costume and concept e.g. Inferno AT...magma/flame costume...PyreGirl or Solaris..
I give each of my chars a part in the sisterhood and give them one underlying theme/ trait which they all have namely loyalty to each other.
I think the most difficult concept to grab and put into the sister hood for me was oddly enough Night Avenger AT...it's a great AT and the Nighthawk outfit is wonderful but I only came out with a name like ShadowKlaw
Anyway, yeah..I just sort of look at the power progression of an AT and the description and create a personality then a costume around that theme then the name.
My Characters on PRIMUS
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I am @RavenForce in game
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(Hero) - Sentinel: Being a long time fan of Iron Man, dating back to my comic book days in my youth, I wanted a Power Armor hero. Also, being a long time fan of Notre Dame, I wanted a hero that used the blue and gold as a color scheme. I put the two criteria together, and created Sentinel.
(Nemesis) - Mistress Venoma: Sentinel's primary adversary is Dr. Demogaard (VIPER) as it was the result of Demogaard's attack on PRIMUS R & D that the Sentinel armor fused to my character. However, the Nemesis system doesn't allow you to use already created baddies, so instead, I created "Demogaard's trusted Lieutenant" a woman on the rise within the ranks of Viper.
(Hero) - American Gladiator: I wanted a "patriotic" hero, but wanted it to be unique, with no similarities to other patriotic heroes like Captain America. So I created a bodybuilder/athlete who actually started out doing something bad (Performance Enhancing Drugs) that caused someone to get hurt, and so the superhero gig sorta fell into his lap, as a sort of "penance" for what he did wrong.
(Villian) - Badboy Benny: Since my first time completing "Westside Intrigue Culmination", I simply wasn't happy with what I felt was a major plot hole, in that the gangs of Westside are left leaderless. Additionally, I wasn't a fan Frank Zaretti as the leader of the Cobra Lords, so I created Benny as his replacement after the Westside gang leaders were massacred.
(Heroes) - Ranger / The Spook: I created a storyline about PRIMUS' contingency plan regarding the Qularr invasion. Ranger disobeys an order which would have spelled disaster for Millennium City and the Champions, and the aftermath of that decision, has The Spook, a CIA assassin, sent to knock off Ranger. However, The Spook can't follow through however, once he learns why the Ranger is being targeted. So, they go from being adversaries to being allies.
(Hero) - Captain Awesome: A homage character, based on a nickname from "Chuck".
(Villian) - Frigidaire: I wanted to create a Nemesis which had the classical style of (don't laugh) 50's kitchen appliances. Specifically the old 50's refrigerators that had the wonderful pastel blue/green colors. Hence, the name, and a powerset of Ice.
So, you can see, I often create characters on a whim, or based on a specific story in mind, or as an homage. It really depends on the idea I first get.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
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i think the soldier archetype is better to War Machine than Power Armor, because, in cartoons and comics,Rhodes use more firearms than repulsor beams
the ninja darkstalker
Thanks:
:to unangbangkay for necro-ing the original and bringing it back to the forefront.
:to klitty for recreating it here, including my beginning post.
And thanks to everyone who responded, both here and in the original. I love to see your thought processes, your inspirations, where your ideas come from. After all, it's the reason why I initially asked the question.
Thanks again to all and keep those replies coming!
P.S. To see what I'm currently working on, check the link in my sig (yes, shameless self-promotion:rolleyes:)
Sometimes it's a color, other times it's a song, some times it's a theme, sometimes it's a set of powers I want to mess with... it all just depends.
Joy Buzzer was largely inspired by a Legion of Laughter thread asking people to create their versions of characters based on LOL names. I drew Joy Buzzer and thought "Mecha Musume Bee Girl" - and thus the character was born.
Jeanne de Leon XII was born largely out of a desire to play a mecha pilot; while heavily under the influence of a big fantasy kick I was on. End result: A character from a technologically advanced but socially medieval version of Earth; a knight who's 'steed' happens to be a giant robot.
Maaki the Wolf came from a desire to create a cohesive petmaster character - I still don't like the technological pets available, and I realized there were a great many wolf pets available... so taking that and my love of animal eared characters I created a tribal wolfgirl with a pack of intelligent wolves as her allies. From there I fleshed out details about the tribe (like how the color green is sacred to them - hence why Maaki wears a good bit of green); and why she's a hero (her brother made a deal with a fungal demon, severely damaging the tribe and forcing her to hunt him across the world).
< . .> So yeah, it just depends on what grabs me at a given moment.
Check out my Champions Online webcomic in progress!
Annoying people since 2009!
My heroes come at me at all angles. Sometimes I come up with a name first, then build around that. Sometimes I'm inspired by something I see (one of my toons is an exact replica of the Robot Action Figure). Some are attempts to replicate old Champions pnp characters. My main was actually an attempt to replicate my CoX main. Sometimes I work around a concept I've come up with. Sometimes I try to build off of a power set. And sometimes I'm just playing in the costume creator and something clicks...
I be a mish-mash...
M-O-O-N, that spells @Rhyatt
Originally Posted by mijjestic: Ultimately, though, MMO players throwing stones at each other in this fashion is basically one nerd pointing and laughing at another nerd whose glasses are thicker.
Laws yes!
A good build with a cool costume can become boring without a compelling back-story. After a while, I find it hard to care about that character anymore. An intriguing back-story has caused me to level a poor build much further than I probably should have.
A cool costume and back-story but a poorly done build leads to endless Retcons and frustration.
I have created toons based solely on a cool costume idea only to have fizzle out due to bad building and no compelling back-story.
I think marrying a solid build to a concept that excites you is the "Golden Touch".
Oh, and a good name is important. It costs to change names! It is worth the time it takes to have a good name. Coming up with a good name is an art unto itself. "Sword Chick" sucks but "Red Scorpion" is much better. Using the power set in the name is usually bad. Pick a color and an animal at least.
Naming takes time, and can usually only be done after the character concept and build is decided, but take your time. Bad names are bad.
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the ninja darkstalker
"People ask me, 'Where do you get your ideas?' I always tell them, 'Right between the eyes,' and they always think I'm kidding."
The geneses of my toons are almost as varied as the toons themselves. Happifun Security System X-4, for instance, came into being during last year's Anniversary; I was Gold then, and after I won the DJ Madbot helmet, I looked at it, saw the goofy metal grin you could stick on it, and thought that this was what a security droid might look like if it were built by a toy company. I'm not good at FF builds, but there was no PA AT then, so I started selecting PA powers and sticking them on there. It was kind of fun, but the Invincible build works even better.
HandyMan began life as one of my old PnP characters. I was creating a team of homeless supers, just because, and started running through the various reasons for someone to be homeless. The original Handyman was an inventor, using a Gadget Point Pool, who lost his job when his paranoid schizophrenia came to the fore and he became obsessed with his certainty of the coming Robot Apocalypse. The last straw came when he insisted that he had to scan the entire Board of Directors of his company to make sure none of them were disguised robots (he'd recently seen Terminator). He wouldn't leave town because he just knew the robots were waiting for him to try. Instead, he partnered with Mindseye, a telepathic alcoholic (the only way to shut up all the voices coming from everyone else's heads was to drown them in booze); Stoner, a former drug addict forced into rehab when an experimental drug therapy made his skin as impenetrable as rock (and made him immune to all toxins - including alcohol and THC); and Dreamweaver, a young runaway who'd been given a magical amulet by an old woman on the street. In this game, of course, things aren't quite so flexible, so this HandyMan is just an Inventor of stuff that doesn't always work the way he expects it to.
Backfire was another creation that worked backwards from a costume piece, in this case the VIPER Fanged Helmet. Why would a hero wear that? Because he used to be with VIPER, and for some reason he can't take it off. Why can't he take it off? Well, let's look at the available ATs and see what fits... hey, there's an idea, he's basically been turned to fire, and the costume is all that keeps him from dissipating.
Captain Americlown started in July of last year, when I for some reason got on a kick of trying to make a really good patriotic-themed super. I'd done Spirit of '76, a Behemoth who'd been in WWII and recently had his youth regenerated by a potion, and Freedom Eagle, the fourth member of his family to bear the name and the wings, and was looking for another idea; Issmir was at the time boosting his "Clowns Not Clones" initiative, and invited me to make a clown out of Captain America. As you can see, I embraced the concept enthusiastically.
Spider-Bat also started with a discussion of clones in the forums. Someone had made an offhand comment about combining two clones together, I responded with the basic idea behind Spider-Bat, and I was dared to actually make him. He waited until I'd purchased the Master AT, because I didn't know that the Night Avenger would be coming out a month or so later...
And so on.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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- Someone with destructive, Hulk levels of strength, trying to make themselves out to be more like Superman to the public eye.
- A brilliant teenage gadgeteer, a genius stuck in a high school world that crushes his budding self-confidence at every turn as he does heroics in secret.
- An android playmate discarded by the child who's outgrown it, rebuilding itself and trying to find it's place in the world, it's purpose in life.
- Poison Arrow Frog. A frog that uses poison arrows I guess???
So then from there, I usually go into costume design, which takes the longest of the whole process. Generally, a character's powers will be chosen for them because it either suits their backstory or the plan for them going forward, echoing their thematic focus in some way. And sometimes I go "oh man, Poison Arrow Frog, that'd be a great name for a mutant frog archer" and do that instead. Because you gotta have fun with it!
So then, after making an outfit and selecting their powers or roughly planning them out, we end up with fully developed ideas. I always make sure to try and give them an entertaining biographical blurb for their backstory box in-game, too. I don't like it when people spell out someone's entire life story there, and delve into weird stuff like favorite music or sexual orientation, because that's too much info and it makes you seem boring and upfront about everything. I make sure I use it to inform the basic concept, explain what's going on with the character's core message or journey, and make it a little funny. "Girlcrush" has her bio explain how she flubbed her first interview and got her own superhero name wrong(Crushgirl is obviously less... provocative a name, big mistake on her part mixing it up), which gives the immediate impression that, 1: This is a new-to-the-scene teenage hero, and 2: She is not going to be a serious business grimdark, brooding RP type.
I think that sort of thing is more important to let people know than "she is short and has red hair and her ears are pierced and shes cute and she has a wristband and a ring and she smells like a thing", which tells you nothing interesting and, perhaps, even spoils things players would have more fun learning through their interactions with you. But now I'm getting preachy and condescending, which was not my intent.
ANYWAY.
Starting with a core concept always works better for me than just jumping into the game and going "i want an ice dude, i will make one of those", since they end up thematically strong and way more interesting to RP as or write about. I really reccomend people give thought to a character's life and backstory and complications inherent in those before choosing powers for them. It makes them stronger characters.
@kelpplankton
Oldschool CoH player, Lifetime CO and STO subscriber, animator and artist.
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Like for my first character, Serien... She's a pyromantic blue imp... initially I just wanted to make a fire based hero, her appearance actually had many incarnations from a flame pattern tights wearing heroine to a wolf, till eventually her miniature blue form she has now came to be. The name, I don't even know where it came from...
Then there is Blastwave, her design was born from an iron-man homage, though looking at her you'd never see it. Initially I wanted to make her a combination of Powerarmor and Force powers with a touch of Gadgeteer... but things went wrong... nothing was working out and a funny idea hit me "she's bad at wiring" at first this caused me to just add Sparkstorm for flavor but later turned her whole build into an electric based powersuit, still under the concept of "she's bad at wiring" she's also a blue imp like Serien, though without her suit she's powerless.
Shion, my Lycan martial artist was a fun one... initially she was meant to combine Bestial and Martial Arts but that later turned to just Martial Arts with a wolf pack summon (all 3 summon skills with wolves) So needless to say the power concept influenced her design 2 forms, 1 human 1 wolf, both dressed in a martial arts garb.
then there was Crescent... her entire character, costume, name, concept, and power selection was based around a single costume peice... the Scythe from the Harajaku Girls Sidekick device... now, don't ask me how that Scythe inspired me to create an angelic hero because that part has me confused too... the weapon's shape inspired me to name her Crescent, since well scythe's are crescent shaped... and of course to use the scythe she had to be heavy weapons, though a small costume selection changed her power set slightly... the chain bracer on her right arm... caused me to add some chain skills to her
one of my more recent heroines, Nightbug has a bit of an unusual creation... I was inspired to make a character that combines the Darkness and Celestial powerset... when i got to the costume creation i realized, "all i have is a power concept" so I just played around for a while... eventually i realized i kept going to the beetle wings back acessory and thought "lets see what I can do to make these work" and after a few hours I had a costume then I had to pick a name... I still don't know how or why I settled on Nightbug...
another more recent one was Sayori, initially I had this idea for an elemental witch girl, but after a few hours trying to make a costume that would fit i gave up on that idea... but i still continued to make her... while playing with costumes i ended up selecting the no pupils eyes by mistake and the rest just hit me like a ton of bricks, "a blind weather manipulator" sticking with part of my original plan to have her as a young girl I worked a costume around being a bit playful and silly... plus my love of panda's may or may not have influenced the outcome... *whistles innocently* so now she fly's around MC in a suit that looks very much like a panda... with steelhawk wings to catch the wind.
I also have one who was inspired by my Irish heritage plus my love of technology... the happy merger of the two resulted in my lovely Irish heroine, Valiant. A young Irish girl who learned sword fighting techniques as she grew up, tinkering in her spare time she created an energy blade and a defensive suit and now fights crime... and she's deathly afraid of flying, but couldn't resist building in jet boots to her suit... so she travels around with rocket jump... needless to say if you encounter her in RP she may seem a bit shaken after landing.
so as you can see from just a few examples... I have no idea what inspires me
Sometimes just pick single set(like earth/sorcery or air) and build character just to see what that set offer. Those are usually destined to see delete button.
And sometimes, while playing on Character Creator, I came up with a cool looking costume and try to build a hero for that look. Costumes always saved but characters can't live long. Unlike stable ones on first group or generic ones on second group those guys doesn't inspire much other than looking hot, stylish or intimidating.
For me, designing villians more of a challange. They are not part of me, they are just pixels with fixed powers and ugly looking minions with missions of campy modus operandi. Not much room for imagination, so I don't bother much.
For example, I've recently been thinking of making a series of robot-themed characters. So, my mind went to thinking about the Megaman series, and started working out their costumes on a sketchpad mixing the cartoonish style of Classic with the slightly realistic android design of the game as far as I can recall whilst in a Chemistry lesson (because I've already covered the content in my notes. Bloody retaken A Levels...)..
Then, when I get home, I see what parts that I sketched have an approximate analogue in the game. Most of the time I remember actual parts from the game, but sometimes I get it wrong, and need to rework bits.
Then comes characterisiation choices.
I realise when making a costume that it doesn't really fit the character and the crude outline of what powers are going to be on that character.
I generally try to think of at least one major weakness, one minor weakness, one major strength, one minor strength in character backgrounds, that generally is reflected in design or in the powers or in the stats.
For example, a dumb robot without much sentience will have a low Intelligence stat, and have a stockier build and higher Strength stat. I know that probably gimps the character with the power choices I make, but I always feel that it's best to think of what makes sense in-character than metagame the stats.
A particularly stressed character probably wouldn't appreciate having bulky parts of their armour being caught in doorframes and suchlike, thus, they might have a sleeker design.
Beyond that... Yeah, to summarise, think of a trope or character type from somewhere else, try to make them in game, or, if you're not at your computer, sketch a basic one on paper, then try to make it, then tweak tweak tweak until it all fits together.
Personally, I always feel uncomfortable when there's no more changes I can see, and end up abandoning the character or deleting it. I think I actually prefer playing with the doll dressup featu- I mean character creator than anything else in the game.
As someone else said, most of the time the character is adapted around the power set instead of the other way around. Other times, I have a costume idea, and build the character that way. Still other times I have a name and start from there. Maybe 1/3 of my toons have a bio in the game, a couple others have partial bios in my bio file, and a few others have something in my head.
I'll list my toons and the ideas behind them.
Fuschia Bunny: This was the first character I played for any time. When I first got into the game, I saw the listings for all the different frameworks, and decided to go with a martial arts toon because I hadn't really done much with that in the P&P game. I had fun messing around with the costume creator, and stopped when I came to the bunny ears. Those reminded me of a throw away character from a Spiderman comic I'd read years ago. Kind of as a self parody, Spiderman ran across a guy that had the "absurd" origin of being bitten by a radioactive animal. In this case a rabbit and he gained "the proportionate strength and speed of a jackrabbit". So I went with that; planning to use as many kick powers as possible, and superjump. The color/animal combo seemed appropriate, and went with sort of a tuxedo look rather than bathing suit and fishnets.
Dark Violet: This was a character that started with the name, actually, started with the word ultraviolet, and as I was thinking of changing it to ultra violent or violence, I considered the darkness powerset, then changed it to what it is and created a background. Main colors are purple and black.
Around this point I was having fun with the game and was looking at making toons of each of the different frameworks.
Captain Obvious: Thinking about the fire framework and colors. Playing around with the CC, then opted for male, making him huge, shiny, orange and on fire. Then gave him an appropriate name. (cause I'm sexist and all characters with Captain in the name should be male)
Pixie Dust: This is just my sense of humor. Thinking of the might set, then opposites. Made a character that looks Tinkerbell-ish and can toss around semi trucks.
Khione: Started with the ice framework. Went to godchecker, found a reference to the (obscure) snow goddess, and so made a pale girl in roman armor.
Haibane: I'd just watched the anime Haibane Renmei, so making a support toon was what I wanted to do next. Decided on the Celestial framework and didn't want the usual overemphasized sexy angel type, so I went with a modest robe in non-bright colors.
Malachite: Semi-standard PA toon. Wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the mecha look or more western. I also had the tesla set, so it ended up being a combination. Since I like green, and needed an appropriate tough substance for the name, decided to go for gemstones and opted not to go with the standard of emerald.
Impetus: I wanted a toon with a classic hero costume, since I didn't really have one yet. Selected the force power set and chose the name by using the thesaurus for force. Then realized there was a power of the same name. :eek: The look was based around blue and white.
Fuzzy Logic: The concept was a creepy little girl with an oversized head and telepathic powers. Not Red Queen big, or even necessarily Hector Hammond large, just oversized. This character was where I was disappointed at the limitations of the character creator. The slider doesn't go high enough. Also, there weren't any really good frilly dresses at the time either. So she started out in kind of business attire, but in pink with what I could manage for frills.
Mouser: wanted a sword toon. Thinking of famous (fictional) bladesmen, and opted for a reference to the Grey Mouser, built as a cat girl with a Puss n' Boots look. Selected DB for the framework. Again, limits on the CC meant I couldn't have the appropriate hat with any decent hair style (to hide the human ears that you simply can't get rid of).
Moxie: Munitions toon. Not terribly inspired, I wanted to go with a flapper look, but couldn't do that. The name was just from old slang. I ended up using a pastel zoot suit. Although this toon ended up with more costumes than most (Cowgirl, sci-fi spacer and others) to take advantage of the various unlocked weapon looks.
Knick-Knacks: My "name" toon and one I created and deleted several times. Gadget framework. The name was from thinking of the character Toybox from the Top Ten comic. Color theme is green, and I have all the pets powers, plus some others. I wasn't really happy until the sci-fi set with the iridescent suit was added.
Strike Witch: Not terribly inspired as well. Just wanted a mysticism toon. Followed the the post by Willblack on power selection for heals/dps, and named for a recently watched (at the time) anime because it had Witch in the name. Created using pieces from the halloween set and with a black/orange theme. Eventually created several other costumes to use the looks of various fantasy pieces and other dresses and robes.
Kitsune-bi: Archery power set. Was thinking of a play on words with fire (for firing arrows). Decided on foxfire, then went with the word in japanese. So, small archer with fox tail, pointed ears and such.
Rose Killer: I wanted to use the halloween costume set more. So I created a toon with the skeleton tights, and picked the name because I was thinking of the story "Masque of the Red Death". Then I had to decide what to do with her, and picked the TK blade powerset because of the red glowing weapons.
Umbra: Generic Ninja to have a single blades toon. Though another toon with a lot of different costumes (samurai, pirate, and others) to use the various sword unlocks.
T.E.S.S.: I wanted an all pets all the time character. Then I came up with a bio to explain it, which included the name. Technological Ethereal Summoning System. Then created the look of a robot girl, and the color theme ended up as green/pale yellow.
The Orange Bishop: created based around a super group idea some friends had. The Pink Flamingo was the SG leader, so everyone else was "The" + color + bird type. We each picked a color, and I selected orange, and came across this bird in google. Since I had a name, and a color, the obvious choice for powers was a fire/healer.
Lupine Lass: Created to have a bestial supernatural character. Created a bio first (sorority girl visiting Canada at the wrong time of the month) explaining the werewolfyness. Then chose the name.
Thrud: Created when the HW framework was added. I didn't want to go with just a valkyrie (like the marvel character), but did want something viking-ish or fantasy. Found a reference to the daughter of Thor, and went with that for the character. Though I did create a decent bio for this character rather than just say she was the daughter of Thor.
Mistral: Created when the air framework was introduced. The obvious choice was for a storm/wind type name. Then decided for an faerie type based on the name, since they're cruel. It was also the time when the pulp costume set was added. So, ended up with an elf type in pulp aviator costume with the name of the cold north wind.
Oread: Created when the earth framework was introduced. Kind of a generic name, since an Oread is a type of nymph associated with hills. Which also decided on the look; skimpy outfit in earth tones.
Templar Solarus: I'd been reading about range TK on the forums, and wanted to give that a try. Since the look of the powers is lance, flying swords, and so on, that decided on a knight type, which suggested templars. I decided to go with bright yellow for the power color and a sun theme.
Fluffnyx: I'd made and deleted fighting claws toons a few times before. I was never happy with the design of the character or names I'd come up with. Then I saw Mr. Cuddles in the game. I talked to him and he was okay with me basing my toon on his look. So I created a toon with the concept of feral muppet. The name is a reference to Fluffmodeus (from Something Positive), only using the name of a female demon instead.
Crimson Fury: Created to have a fists MA toon. Another of a series of deleted toons. Because of the look on the effect of hundred fists (as mentioned by Kenpo), the idea is a super speedster. Because of the fire on some of the other powers, and blazing speed TP (and thinking of the Flash), it became a fire theme speedster.
Diamond: Wanted a range tank. Opted for the PA framework (invulnerability), so went with the gemstone name for a PA toon (like I did Malachite). The colors are white and pale blue.
I've got several other toons, but they're in the category of "forced" (or uninspired) because I wanted a toon of that framework, so not much to say and some may end up being deleted and recreated better.
In the game, I'm @Knickknacks.
2. hmm I haven't tried those 2 together (don't try TK & PA.... errgghh aaarrghh)impulse &PA is so far working. Just going o need a build for playing and one for alerts.
3. concept- puppy- leafchaser- lets make a small , harmless, freindly , incredibly stupid contrast to all the big werewolves.
4. as a joke- Christmas Rose- angel/scourge,
5. they come up in RP as an Npc and I have a slot free,that was Dr Elizabeth Finkle, melinda Finkle, Atta, bas Ata.
6. hmm can't think of a costume, I'll just use someones nemesis. Angelica- Rising Demon- Christmas Rose's good twin - demon/radiant
7. sigh... time to try AGAIN to make a workable tank.
8. grab abilities at random.
9. use a PnP character, can't do her powers, as she had a sorcery multipower plus VPP plus inventor plus luck
10. start with a pun and work from there - The Smurfer Dude. energy slide for his surfing and wind,cold powers.
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As for older characters, you could easily break them down into 3 subcategories:
Updated concepts, which are just older characters I adapted from other things I've made or played (like City of-)
Costume First: Stuff where I came up with a costume before thinking up a character/build.
Build First: Where I came up with this cool idea for a build and then had to come up with a character to fit it.
Clear Influences are those characters where you clearly see what I based them off of. Naturally, it happens freaking everywhere, but there are a few standout examples I have:
So that's an attempt to explain creative cognitive processes.
I usually, however, pick a general theme. Such as "I want to be a swordsman type, with a tech feel". Then, I'll fire up the builder and stat it out, to fit the basic concept I was working from. After that, the costume. Then, I'll go back to the builder and tweak the powers to match the look, then name and personality. I always do the personality last, because a lot of who you are comes from what you look like, and what you can do, when it comes to super heroes. I feel like the back and forth, powers and costume, is very important. However, in some cases? I've got a character I'm working on, Nameless, who's been a pnp staple for me for over 20 years. Sometimes the character is just so incredibly old and established that it actually feels wrong not to import them into new games, when I can.
RIP Caine
However there are some procedures I've used that might be worth baring in mind.
1. Picking a powerset - either one you haven't tried before or doing something different with one you have... so far so normal.
2. Spin up the ole stereogramophone and listen to some hip toons.
e.g. When I was looking for a name for my Batgirl alike (quarry build with some kicks obviously) I was hunting round for a name and got as far as Night.... something! And then ACDC came to my rescue and Night Prowler was born. Her bio is a bit simple but if you're ever stuck for names try music.
Broken Diamond was taken from an old Toyah track - she started out as an ice build and the track Broken Diamonds put me in mind of frozen pavements so... Her bio has grown a bit - something to do with an ancient star split into fragments and she seeks the forty or so residing here on earth sort of thing. But it did come from music originally.
So yeah like I said... Stuck for names/ideas? Stick a hot LP into your HiFi and be inspired by hip toons.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The one who can't shut up formerly known as 4rksakes
About the @handle - it's a long story.
Profound quote.. "I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing."
err wait, that's not right....
Truthfully, I think I have the most fun taking old over used ideas and putting my own spin on them. I'm not all that creative. I'm honestly jealous of all the creative folks I bump into around here. So, ill happily take little victories where I can. If I can take something mundane and make it my own. I feel pretty good about it.
Its why Snowflake and Cloak are some of my favorites. Nothing overly special. Typical character archetypes. But just enough there of my own self to make them stand out..if by just a bit.
Now when it actually comes to making my characters into viable builds. I tend to add a little dash of insanity. I often make it up as I go along, no builder, no plan. I try to stay within concept but how I get to the end really is more a part of how much fun its been to play the character up to that point.
I often get to 40 and do a full retcon at the end. tweaking and improving the areas I felt needed work or were weak while playing.
Ive only kept one personal rule. To keep each character fairly unique and different to play. Ive forbidden myself from reusing passives. So far i've not had to use the same passive more then once. One of these days I might end up with more characters then there are passives. But for now its been an interesting challenge and lead to some interesting builds.
So I tend to follow this process;
10. Look at a costume piece that I want to use.
20. Figure out which AT I have that it fits. (I'm silver with few financial responsibilities but still not interested in spending $50 for a freeform)
30. If AT is one I dislike, GOTO 10.
40. Roll a theme toon.
The main problem is that so many of the unlockable costume pieces/sets look like they were designed for the grimdark-my-dad-was-Cthulhu-look-at-my-trenchcoat types so I keep going back to the idea that if you're an indestructible puncher of faces who can jump far, you might be okay wearing track pants and a Cryptic jersey.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
- i get a power idea, then i wikipedia the theme looking for catchy words and to make sure i understand how the theme works in the real world.
- i get a new costume piece or set and i wonder" what can i make with this" If i really like the costume i then pick the best powers for how i see the build.
I'm a bit of a theme builder. i find it challenging sometimes to min/max within a theme. but much more rewarding than just using the flavor of the month.then i try to make the best costume i can that fits.
Some, like Thundrax, are old PnP characters.
With one, I thought "there aren't really enough African-American heroes if this used to really be Detroit" in game, so I invented a black street preacher. I decided that the worst thing I could do is make him a Luke Cage-type (especially given I have three Might toons already) or a mystic/celestial user (I wanted someone more street level, as I'm not fond of playing in the urban fantasy genre) or a thug/ex-con, so I ended up making him a Martial Arts, defined as a mutant speedster who worked at the Westside Union Gospel Mission.
With another, I realized I hadn't played a Single Blade character since beta, so I came up with one. Less than satisfied with the first two backgrounds I came up with, I eventually settled on "The Laird", an exiled clan leader from Alba, a dimension in Faerie where Scotland truly was more like the myths and folk tales of the land (where tartans as a clan symbol weren't actually a 19th Century invention, for instance, but had existed since time immemorial). He's mostly single blade, but has a couple of magic tricks (summon Wolves, teleport) to demonstrate that he comes from a more magical world.
With yet another, I looked at the backgrounds for the races in Champions Beyond (the PnP aliens supplement) and decided that an exiled Solemnid might be fun to play, and thus was born my current leveling alt, A'lu.
Sometimes I'll think of a name and design a character to fit, there are a lot of methods. I haven't designed one around a costume yet, but that's certainly a possibility.
If yes, I get a new toon, if no, I move on to: "How bout a zombie or Russian?"
If even that fails, I scrap the idea (Except in the exceptional cases of Polar Bear Girl and Stakky).
This may or may not be why I have 25 catgirls, 2 Russians, 1 zombie, 1 Cursed Demonic Russian, a Stakky, and a Polar Bear Girl...
Snark never dies.
Other times I might at whim think up of a certain archtype(lets say green lantern meets avatar the last airbender) then I would test out some combinations of powers that would compliment that or at least makes it give off the certain type of fx I had in my head.
On Call FAQ found here:On Call FAQ
The first thing I did with Armiger, and his appearance has changed some through story, taste, etc...
Powers:
I started as a Silver. I didn't have a lot of options for powers.
I saw 'The Soldier' and it was as close as I could get to what I wanted. I took that.
I started playing around with some designs. Originally, I had actually wanted as sleek and stealthy 'Spec Ops' cybernetic commando. However, the weapons were almost 'too much' for his design. He's not a big guy, and he doesn't wear a lot of heavy and bulky armor (he's more 'Grey Fox' than 'Master Chief').
I kept getting power replacers for swords and melee weapons, and I dropped a few bucks on the Specialist. I was actually quite happy with it.
I eventually buckled and got a LTS. After that, I kept the theme of munitions, switching around a bit to give him some variant attacks. Currently, he's stealth/munitions/gadgets with a few odd things here and there.
Appearance:
Never been one for huge musclemen or bigass armor parts. Despite my love of cybernetics as a theme, I don't like wires and what-have-you coming out of every part of the body. I had a few inspirations- Grey Fox, Overkill from GI Joe's Valor vs. Venom series, and a few others here and there. What I ended up with was a cool-looking Hi-tech Spec-Ops commando/assassin.
Background:
A lot of things changed about Armiger, even his name. But when I did his background, that's when I had to think.
Armiger's former military, and he got screwed over by a rogue military element. He was remade and turned into a brutal killer. I did this for a reason. For many years, I've served. And it has been an honor to do so. But throughout that time, I've noticed that while people at home shake hands and thank you (which always makes me smile, and I do appreciate that- but I'd rather you thank the family of a fallen soldier or pay respects to the wounded or dead)... well, the military really doesn't give a crap about what happens as long as you're doing what you are supposed to do for them. Up at the top, you aren't a person when you die or lose a leg- you're just a number. An inconvenience, really. They'd rather it not happen because of upcoming elections. Essentially, you may as well be a piece of equipment they have to pay to replace.
Armiger was like that. Except his was orchestrated.
Personality-wise, I made Armiger... well, a normal military guy. Twisted sense of humor, quick to make a friendly jab and talk smack, sensitive to the little precious things in life, and striving to have something resembling 'normal' where he can.
I own Koda Ortega. Yeah...
Current character roaster: The Iconica, Lady Mythica, Black Jackal, Omni-Woman, Fantomask
Currently waiting for: Moar comics! And maybe City of Titans, too. Hopefully!
I don't usually relate my costume to my powers, so when it's time for powers, I think of what I haven't played with (a lot, since I only have about one main character and one growing alt), and I decide whether they'd excite me enough to consistently play it (or else, it's the delete button). Right now, it's the celestial powerset that I'm into.
So, I choose my power and get ready to do my costume. I do the head fine, mixing eye colours which is always fun, and I realise I can't have long hair with some pieces; disappointment number one. Then, I have an image in my head I want to do, so I go to move onto the upper body. I click on "Chest Pieces", because I've decided that the torso is really boring without them, I choose, colour it, done. Then, I realise that I can't have a jacket with this chest piece, which was my original image.
By then, I'm already sad and not motivated to continue, so I either scrap it, or start with a complete, new theme, which ends up always being all black. I cry for 10 minutes.
Although, I do have one costume I'm really proud of. But yeah, most of the time, I start with a concept and end up with another one.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I used to be Hies but then Perfect World wasn't so perfect and now I'm piercingwhistle! Here, have this thread from my long-gone account. AoE Projectile Set!
Sometimes I create based on the fandom I'm currently in. Although, I've never made any clones myself. Just a close resemblance not a total obvious look.
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Alts:
Lord Sans (Full Healer FF)/Axel Leonard (Crowd Controller/Off-Tank)
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But I'm a more creative person, and I like starting off with an idea, a picture in my head. Often I'll do that, and play around with the concept in the character creator. The rest will follow and fall into place.
T-34 is my oldest concept, a simple idea of your friendly neighborhood Soviet supersoldier. After idling on the shelf for years, he finally came back re-designed as the third in a family of Soviet power armored heroes. Think Jamie Reyes by way of the Crimson Dynamo. He stayed mostly the same when coming here, though a lack of giant fusion hammers means I'm still fine-tuning his powerset. I'll probably be ditching Munitions and go straight PA.
Tide Shifter was initially taking a lead from the CoX forums and trying out a DP/Kin corruptor. Seeing that we had a flintlock handgun option, I made him a performer from a pirate pizza place with mutant powers. The less said about CoX DP the better, but fortunately I hooked him up with a great RP SG and he took off from there. So much so that I really wanted to bring him here, but alas no flintlocks and Force isn't as much fun as Kin. So I re-designed his costume, switched his mutant power to storm generation, and now he's rocking Westside like a hurricane.
Foxfire also started with a name: 'Death Wish Upon A Star'. After several unsuccessful permutations at CoX, I brought her over here and gave her a proper fairy name. It wasn't until I was introduced to The Mystic World, though, that her background and personality really started forming, as well as why a sparkly fairy would be toting a pair of .45s.
My latest idea started with my inner Tex Avery deciding to put together a literally foxy femme fatale in the character creator. Once I was done with that, I knew she'd be perfect for a pistol / tommy gun combo. Now its just a matter of whether or not I lack the shame to actually do something with her or post the costume here for someone else to run with.
Actually, there used to be a flintlock unlock before they redesigned crafting.
Hopefully they'll bring it back in some way.
Isosceles the Archangle, for instance, was made as a jab to the (then newly released) Radiant AT and all the players who couldn't spell Angel. Now, I've got a sister named Angel, so that was particularly irksome. But instead of snapping, I passive-aggressively made a geometry worshipping cultist who recruits new members into the Church of Euclid. Superheroes get millions of adoring fans after all, and who gets more fans than a young, attractive, intelligent woman?
When I can't think of a pun, I usually make a twist on a concept. Again, Radiants were nearly all angelic beings. As a rebuttal, I made John Scarbo, hero name 'Oh God Please Kill Me'. Little Johnny is a ten year old who absorbs injuries from others. That's right, when you act like an idiot in an alert and he has to heal you, all that pain goes straight to him, along with the wounds. Unnaturally pale to exsanguination, huge chunks of flesh missing, bones exposed, one eye fallen out, the other a sack of blood... Most players think the poor bastard is a neon-dressed zombie child until they read his description. He's very much alive, much to his chagrin. In fact, his title is 'Not Dead Yet'. Very much a dark humor character.
Other times, I just think 'haven't seen many of those' to myself. In this instance, I'm referring to Miss Monochrome, my martial artist action movie star from the early twentieth century. A mystical fire that burned her film reels brought her to life, so she fights crime now. As the name implies, Miss M. is completely greyscale and dresses like an old action heroine. She was going to be male, but men can't wear that pimping bowler hat with a feather.
And as for my most well known character, Lee Tosi? Well, I got the idea from Zone chat. It was yet another clone discussion, and I made the offhanded comment that if a Teleioclone was spying on us, he would weep from all the vitriol. Someone else disagreed, saying they'd look down his nose at us and call us all inferior morons. I had a spare character slot, didn't have a Might character, my Perk farmer had just killed 5k clones, and I'd been considering making a narcissist who was in the superhero business for the fame.... It all clicked into place. On the plus side, the previously constant Anti-cloning discussions have become rare when I'm on. As have the Grond jokes, oddly.
Zone chat discussion can be a good way to get ideas. It's how I came up with Emma the Emo Emu, Herr Correktsphelling (Grammar Nazi), and Taze the Rainbow. Interesting phrases, insults, trivia, or offhanded comments are a treasure trove to me.
Back before they bugfixed him to not drop Q anymore, I was chaining Black Fang Dockside runs, and during one run got Little Johnny as my healer. And I was tanking.
I'M SO SORRY.
*laughs* Oh dear, that's YOU? Awesome. I heard Isoceles mentioned in zone yesterday while I was waiting for Takofanes to show his face. I laughed out lout.
I'm an old gamer and I take a great deal of inspiration from well.. everywhere..
In the theme of the holidays.. (from my second account...)
Allow me to present Debbie Devil..
She crude, she's rude, she got kicked out of the afterlife and back to the mortal realm to attone for making the demon cry and generally making life well.. hell for them..
I was definatly going for the evil child look here so bobby socks, short ruffled skirt, formal shirt and all in a red toned (of course) plaid... Lacy cuffs, ruffled collar.. and I chose to use the dragon wings simply because 1. they're inpressive.. and 2. I don't have bat wings unlock yet! And yes very very pale skin here, cat eyes (black with red pupil). She's creat fun to play walking into club caprice ordering choclate milk and proceeding to just mess with people in a very IC way...
A typical line.. *points at (enter character name) HE SAID NAUGHTY WORDS.. I"M GONNE TELL! Unless you teach me some...
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Introducing "Hell Blade".. two swords..svelt, sexy, dangerous.
A demoness sent to the mortal realm to make certain that evil doers are making it to the afterlife in a timely manner for thier appointment in purgetory. The reality is her manner is gental, loving warm, and strong. One of the fallen angels, yet still she does have a basic goodness about her
Again a basic theme or red and black. I was aiming to create a slender elegent look reminicent of a rapier..I chose the inlay pattern on the armor for the clean look. Green skin simply creates a strong contrast that draws the eye. Fine touches of fingerless lace gloves and cuffs, lace thighthigh fishnets in red greates a striking femine and sexy touch to a fighting outfit that is both strong visually yet functional. Again with the dragon wings coloraed appropriatly.
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Introducing "Khelioshram"
A Blood elf caster (Mind archetype) based on an old World of ******** character of mine..
Note pale skinned, deep red lips and a fine featured face.. utter white Long unkept hair.. definatly has the long pointed ears (By using big hair I could oversize the ears so I could get something around the proper length for them.. the hair hides the huge lobes..Uhg!)
In her case I wanted the costume staridforward and simple. Black with bright yellow trimmings. As she sits now I did make a change. She now wears thight high heeled boots black base with the aquatic pattern in yellow which gives her a more clothed look. I tryed the bare feet leg wraps but it just didn't feel quite right. Eventually I will have her in pulp heels with fishnets once I am able to pop for the pulp set..
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Introducing "Terra"
For her backround I again draw from World of ********.. Daughter of a Green Dragon of Ysera's flight, and a Dark Elf Druid. I was going for something very specific with her.. As you can see the basic costume is exactly the same as Khelioshram with only the colors changed. For her I chose a bit more "busy" costume.. Blade ornament on the forhead and bladed ear cups give her a much more clean elegent look that invokes a eldrich crown effect. I wanted to go with horns, but all the horns in the costume creator are too large for the feel.. she would have looked clunky..As I have her set at max hight there allready going to be issues. Top and gloves use a gradient shading of Black at the bottom up into a dark green as you can see. Long fingerless gloves with the arcane pattern.. Tribal skin on the legs and tall tribal boots, and of course dragons wings colored appropriately. And yes, she's got them glowy pupiless eyes. I will eventually add some other chachkies to her outfit from other costume sets and unlocks. As you can see shes a bit bulkier then the Svalina character, so I have to be carefull what I put on her.. Bare feet or sandled feet with spartan greaves on the legs would be a good look for her.
I don't want to create toons that are to cartoony which is way easy to do in CO. Nor do I want to create a character with an overly busy look.. I belive toons should look appropriate for the genre and something you might see gracing the pages of a modern glossy graphic novel.
Once you've played with it a bit there is quite a bit you can do with the character creator even with only whats availible in a silver level account. and the basic costume pieces. I may have to go play the tabletop RPG now that I no longer have to draw my own characters..
oh.. and thanlks for letting me share!
My first character Nyx is an unleashed, I liked the hood look so kept that but made some alterations. Like using the Celtic design as well as the celestial and the like. She didn't take too long to make but I liked the look pretty much given though changed it to more of my own liking.
As for my recent character I decided to play more to a theme, the Glacier caught my attention with powers but I changed the look incredible. To a more human look only since she has ice powers made her look like some kind of skier with a parka and fur lined boots to go with the theme. Had tons of fun with that one, as for her name I tried to be creative but all I could really think of was Jackie Frost. Could have been worse names to come up with I suppose.
Later, of course, I was able to pick up the Dragon Armor pieces during the first iteration of the Hi-Pan alert, and renamed him to Frost Dragon...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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For example, I struggled for a while with my first CoH character. I knew I wanted him to be a Superman-archetype, but I couldn't find an angle that wasn't just "Superman in a different costume". Then I switched tactics a little, focused less on "big strong first hero" and went with the "Big Blue Boy Scout" angle. A twist here, a separation there, some thesaurus reading, and I came up with the super-polite yet a little naive Decorum.
That's what I plan on doing here. No duplications of those characters, I'm going to redo the archetype/homage stuff like those didn't exist. New universe. Already my first two are a "sorcerer" archetype leaning heavily on Dr. Strange named Adam Arcane and an odd mix of Wonder Woman's powers with Batman trappings called The Morrigan. I'm working on a speedster right now, but I'm still learning about the free-form stuff so he hasn't actually been made yet, plus I'm still trying to nail down a name I like.