OneWhoBinds

Here's one I'm surprised no one's put up yet:

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Nemesis:

A villain that has been active for nearly two centuries. A legitimate genius who's technology not only follows a different tract from the rest of the world, but always seems to remain years in advanced of anything comparable. He is credited for being a tactician greater than Sun Tzu, and more manipulative than Machiavelli. He has built a nearly unstoppable army, and seems to have a connection to everything that happens. Truly, he is an Arch-villain to be feared above all others!

And frightening part... is how much of this is hype, not reality.

Nemesis' genius is undeniable. Mechanical and scientific, Nemesis pushes beyond 'cutting edge' of almost any discipline he chooses to study. This, at least is true. But... were he the General he is thought to be, he would have successfully conquered the world through shear force during his first rise to power. Were he as manipulative and as in control as many accredit him to being... then he has been ruling the world since at least the second world war.

The inescapable conclusion here is that either Nemesis IS everything he is thought to be, and his goal is not nor ever has been world domination... OR - Nemesis is 90% hype.

The truth* is the later. Nemesis is charismatic, for sure, but not much of a leader. He flits from one plan to the next, not out of some twisted, deceitful master plan... but simply because some shiny new thought grabs his attention. Instead of abandoning the old plan, he leaves one of his many, many doubles in charge of it, and moves on, with his forces none the wiser that they no longer are taking orders from the 'Real' Nemesis.

The frightening part of it all is that, many of his doubles - especially recently, with the Fake Nemesis being built - do not realize they are doubles! And they go on to act as Nemesis himself, creating their own plans, before leaving them to their own duplicates and moving on.

Nemesis' army isn't marching to one, supremely complex master plan. Instead, it is an organization with so many heads that it is amazing it can function at all without constantly working at cross purposes.

As for Nemesis himself? No one can say where he himself even is anymore. Or - an even more frightening thought - if the original is even still alive. He's constructed so many copies, and built them so well... the original could have died decades ago, and no one even noticed!

Not even Nemesis himself.

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*There is, of course, the question that must be raised regarding Mender Silos. Is there a connection between them? Quite likely. But the real question isn't "Is there a connection?" The real question is worse: "Which came first?"

You see, there IS an alternative explanation to Nemesis, his armies, and how they always seem one step ahead of the opposing forces. And why such a competent and technologically advanced army has yet managed to fail in all ways to move toward their stated ultimate goal of world domination.

That explanation is Mender Silos. Silos isn't some future form of Lord Nemesis... rather, it is the other way around. Lord Nemesis is a persona that Mender Silos created to have a tool he could use to manipulate the past.

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Two theories regarding one of the top AVs. Of course, I couldn't give just one... that would make things too easy!

Well, I don't think she quite qualifies as a "Main NPC," but she's someone that everyone knows, and just about every character meets at one point or another. Soooo...

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Azuria:

Azuria is well regarded as a powerful Seer, and is THE public face for MAGI. While there are those that call her a charlatan... there are also those who will deny the existence of Magic even as a Spectral Demon rips out their soul.

For those willing to accept magic, her power and skill can not be denied. She is also relatively young and attractive, making her the ideal choice to represent MAGI to the people of the world.

However, an unattended side effect of this, is that it allows her to inflict her personal point of view on so many up and coming young magical heroes.

You see, Azuria believes in Destiny. Actually, strike that. She worships Destiny. Azuria is of the school of thought that free will is an illusion. That everything a person does or will ever do, has been predetermined before they were even born.

For her, the second sight she possesses, and the visions reported by the other MAGI Seers, are not guide posts or warning. They are train tracks to the inevitable, and she will do all in her power to ensure that the events happen as have been Seen.

How else do so many powerful artifacts in her care end up in the hands of villains?

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Yeah, she just annoys me with her "destiny this" and "destiny that" way of speaking.

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Yeah, most people don't use enhancements in that kind of directly-from-the-game fashion. What would ingame be buying enhancements is usually explained in a less direct way. Actually come to think of it, look at the general description of the enhancement category - like natural/tech DOs are 'Gadgets', mutant SOs are 'secondary mutations' and such. Provides a nice easy explanation for a character to suddenly increase in power. Even moreso if you remember that ingame enhancements drop off enemies so you could even conceivably make arguments for it happening in the middle of a fight.

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Yeah... but I already figured that part out.

I'm trying to figure out a Story-based way for explaining Training Origins, Invention Origins, and Invention Sets. The rest all have individual titles and in-game descriptions.

Hmm...

The situation I have in mind is for a story, to be honest. And the scene is an experienced hero explaining enhancements - specifically IOs - to a newer hero.

But as the scene started to evolve, I hit a brick wall, of trying to explain Training Origin enhancements (what the newer hero is limited to in the scene), and trying to work out what the Common and Set IOs would actually be like in the context of the story.

Well, I'll just have to think on it more, I guess...

'lo, all.

Okay, Now I have a question for everyone.

How would you go about explaining enhancements in a RP situation?

I mean, the DOs and SOs are easy - they've got specific names and descriptions. So no need to go into much there.

Similarly, Hamidon, Hydra, and Titan origin enhancements need no help.

But what about Training Origins? Common IOs and - especially - Set IOs? How would you go about explaining those in a story or RP?

Thanks!

But what a

Okay, a good deal of this is put together from the dialogue associated with the missions in Croatoa. And not just the story arcs, either.

The Banished Pantheon reference comes from Kelly Nemmers's debriefing in her only non-arc mission. She mentions that the Banished Pantheon performed a ritual that brought the Fir Bolg to Salamanca, and that the other factions followed.

That Salamanca is being drawn into Croatoa, and vise versa, is revealed early in the Croatoa arcs.

Much of the details about the Cabal are found in the Katie Hammon TF. (Although I was off... the Cabal have been around since the early 16th century, not the 18th, as I thought. Placing them at being 400-500 years.)

The exact series of events is that, the Cabal were once the women of an unremarkable colonial town. Until the day that the Fir Bolg escaped the spirit world. Although wary of these strange creatures, the community decided to welcome them as neighbors. Unfortunately, the Red Caps were not going to just let the Fir Bolg go, and not only dragged the Fir Bolg back to the spirit world, but the humans that aided them.

Once in the spirit realm, the Red Caps slaughtered all the men, but the women escaped. They established the Cabal, vowing to utterly destroy the Red Caps.

The thing is, Red Caps are creatures that feed on hatred and misery... the kind generated by the eternal war between the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha... and the kind generated by the unwavering desire for revenge the Cabal focus on them.

Oh, and the thing about the younger ones looking for men... well, you can often find a spawn of two Cabal Minions cornering a man in Salamanca proper...

I can't personally recall ever seeing Cabal in Pocket D... but that doesn't mean I'm right. I've never seen Skulls there, either. Well, if any of the factions could leave Croatoa through normal means, it would be the Cabal...

Any other questions?

Ahem: ***SPOILERS***









...that enough space? Hmm, probably not...























There.

The main issue here is simple: Cabal are not human.

All of the Croatoa enemies are not human in any way. Four of them - all but the Red Caps - were once human, but no longer all. And for all but the spirits, the change from being human is ancient history. The Cabal is actually the youngest, only being something like... 200 years old or so.

The only reason any of these factions can manifest in Croatoa is because of an event (I think it was caused by the Banished Pantheon, again...) that has made Salamanca as much a part of the spirit realm as it is part of the 'real' world.

For this character concept to work, you need to answer how she is able to leave Croatoa in the first place. Remember, it's not getting more real as time goes by... if anything, it's slipping further into the spirit realm.

As for role-playing Cabal... they are a true manifestation of the 'women scorned.' These were once colonial-age women, wives and daughters. Then Red Caps showed up and slaughtered their men and children, and dragged them into the spirit realm, where they've mostly lost their humanity. Katie is the youngest, and the only one not consumed by their absolute hatred for the Red Caps. (At least, by canon. For your purposes, we'll ignore that last point. ^_^)

Nonetheless... Cabal are bitter, angry women, who will do anything to see the Red Caps destroyed. They've mostly lost their empathy, or to appreciate the effect their actions have on others. The younger ones are also... (ahem) frustrated with their eternal single status, and don't seem to be inclined to take 'No' for an answer when they see a guy that catches their eye.

Tragically, the very hatred they have for the Red Caps only serve to strengthen the evil things. They, like the Fir Bolg and Tuatha de Dannan before them, are now simply pawns to the Red Caps, giving them power, and unable to even realize this.

This help any?

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Oh yeah, Dark Servant slotting. That reminds me.

Dark Miasma

Dark Servant is a damage dealing pet, but does not accept damage enhancements or Pet Damage invention sets.

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It doesn't accept Damage Enhancements, thus no Pet Sets.

(Why no Damage Enhancements? Don't ask me)

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I think that was the point. It doesn't make sense that Dark Servant doesn't take Damage Enhancements or Pet Damage sets, since it deals damage. Therefore, this probably belongs on the current issues list.

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Uh...huh. Fluffy has two powers that can cause minor damage. One of which is a PBAoE, the other is Tenebrous Tentecles.

You REALLY think Pet Damage sets are going to improve Dark Servant? More than, say, slotting for To-Hit debuffs, Heals, Immobilizes, of Holds? You know, those things that he's actually throwing around, that occasinally have a secondary effect of damage?

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I've noticed something myself... I put an anchor power on an enemy, it almost immediantly runs. If I'm lucky, it may make one or two attacks before bolting, but for the most part, an Anchor power seems to be a signal for the victim to run.

I don't dare use one as an opener. If I don't already have the targets Aggro, placing the anchor on it just makes it bolt... usually to aggro everything else it can reach.

[/ QUOTE ]Castle has said the AI reacts to debuffs by often running away because it thinks it won't win the fight. So more often than not, an anchor mob will end up running away.

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Which kinda defeats the whole purpose of the anchor powers. So... unless we've got an immobilize or a hold in our build... Anchors more detrimental than anything else?

Well THAT sucks...

I've noticed something myself... I put an anchor power on an enemy, it almost immediantly runs. If I'm lucky, it may make one or two attacks before bolting, but for the most part, an Anchor power seems to be a signal for the victim to run.

I don't dare use one as an opener. If I don't already have the targets Aggro, placing the anchor on it just makes it bolt... usually to aggro everything else it can reach.

Okay, I play on Victory, and tonight... was not a good night to be in Talos Island.

First, we had the mass Zombie attacks - I think most of the non-hazard zones came down with a bad case of undeath within a span of like... 30 seconds.

But this isn't about those zones. This is about Talos. Where the Zombies were fought off with the players' usual enthusiasm. Soon Nightmares were defeated, and the dead stopped rising. Good job everyone, time to sit down, lick our wounds, and sell off loot.

But wait? What's this? A giant pumpkin-headed monster has appeared?

Yes, Eochai was paying Talos a visit. Teams of weary heroes began gathering themselves to take the monster down.

But not long after they started... the War Walls fell down. The Air Raid sirens started calling. Yes, the Rikti had decided to pop in for some tea and mayhem.

Incidentally, I understand that real estate prices in Talos are falling.... ^_~

Okay, I have a question!

Why do the Apocalypse Zombies have knockback protection?

It's not so much that they have it, as I can't find a 'thematic' reason for them to have it.

(That, and just me grumbling 'cause a lot of my Toons use KB as an iatrical part of their personal defense.)

So... IS there a reason for the Knockback protection? Or will it remain a mystery?

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I love Vig.... I never pay for anything with this... heck, with no End Red, i still never have End problems unless facing sappers.

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Wow, it must be nice to always play on a large team!

'cause that's the only situation where I EVER see Vig do anything noticeable for me. And since I am lucky if I can find one or two teammates - much less 6 or 7 - I end up forgetting that Vig even exists.

Face it, as long as Controllers are capable of buffing/debuffing at a near-equal level to Defenders, they will be the ones that teams look for. Which means - again, in my experience - that Defenders get treated as cut-rate Blasters, forced to solo regularly, and may as well make room for their new best friend: Debt, because he's never leaving.

Personally, I have to agree that Vig isn't working. I have no idea how to fix it, but as it is, it may as well not be there for Defenders.