Archive: City of Heroes-1

Description

Primal Earth is a version of Earth from about 2003 -- though time continues to advance inexorably onwards -- with super-science, advanced technology, magic, mutants, aliens, superhumanly skilled martial artists, and super powers of all kinds. Heroes and Villains have been around for a long, long time, but they have become even more noticeable in the past several decades, and now the infrastructure exists to support super heroes, legally and in other areas... Facilitating these champions as authorized protectors of the peace, rather than as vigilantes. But villains are also hard at work, undermining society, bringing death and destruction to Paragon City and the faraway Rogue Isles, and making the need for heroes to combat them higher than ever.

This setting is based off of the currently-defunct MMO, "City of Heroes". This version predates "Issue 0", the original release of the game, by about a year. Not all of the events from the initial introduction have happened yet, but they will eventually, even if altered due to integration with the Multiverse. As time proceeds, the theme itself will "upgrade" accordingly. The Rogue Isles exist presently but are dealing with internal issues that prevent major interference in Paragon City. Praetorian Earth has its own problems, and interdimensional invasions from there are presently unlikely. Villains from the Rogue Isles coming to Paragon, or people from Praetoria coming to Primal Earth should be rare occurrences for now, though are not impossible.

Theme List Information

Important information regarding the City of Heroes theme on MCM will be posted below. This is a rough version of such information, and will see expansions and revisions.

To begin with, apping Rogue Isles-based characters/villains has been determined to be doable. Various other story elements and power proliferation have also been sped up by unification. Praetorians are appable (as are Rogues in general) but you need to have an explanation for why a Praetorian character is on Primal Earth at this time. Other than having a reason behind it that makes sense with the setting, it is fine to app such characters.

Much like with Praetorians, Kheldians can be apped prior to their official introduction provided that you have a reason for them being around. Nictus are already on Earth, but both they and Peacebringers/Warshades are likely to keep their existence secret from the general public for awhile.

Ouroboros, with very few exceptions, is not presently active in a way that others are aware of. Given they exist outside of time and can send people to the past, though, secret time travellers are viable.

OC Incarnates outside of the FCs available at this time (Statesman, Recluse, Reichsman, Tyrant, etc.) are not presently appable.

Any other power sets/power pools/archetypes introduced, outside of those listed as not-appable, are available. The Destined Ones of the Rogue Isles have not currently begun to appear, and thus Arachnos Soldiers and Widows would have a slightly altered storyline if they attempt to seek power. They are not attempting to become Destined Ones, in general, because the term isn't known to exist yet. If Lord Recluse is apped, the player can decide whether to accelerate Project Destiny or not.

Certain areas of Paragon City are not presently built or are off-limits, and will be introduced over the course of RP/plots. Croatoa, The Hollows, Striga Isle, Pocket D, and other locations aren't available yet but will be in the future.

All of this information can potentially be altered if there is interest and an idea posed! Don't be afraid to ask!

Registration

Heroes or those intending to fight crime or use super powers (with super powers encompassing everything from psychic powers and super strength to "dual pistols" and "a sword") in Paragon City are encouraged to register with City Hall to obtain a Paragon City I.D. This can be done off-screen, and benefits your character by granting you access to other parts of the city that might otherwise be off-limits for reasons of safety or security. These off-limits areas can be entered regardless if people have the means (stealth, teleportation, whatever method you wish to employ), but accessing them legally normally requires special permission for completely ordinary and powerless civilians. Heroes do not generally have to abide by this restriction, which is why their license lets them go where they please, more or less. You do not need a secret identity. If you have a secret identity, you do not need to reveal it in order to register. Your card updates with your powers and security level as time goes on (if you so choose. No one has to expose their abilities).

A "Provisional Hero License" is considered to be afforded by special legislature to all members of the Union, and conditionally to Confederates who have demonstrated proper conduct and a history of being helpful. The Union AND Confederate licenses may be revoked if villainous conduct is observed or if other IC reasons necessitate such. Your Union/Confederate ID doubles as a Paragon City ID for legal purposes and the purposes of access to various places, meaning that you do not need to get a separate ID.

All people registering for a PCID must also receive law enforcement instruction, so that there is no IC ignorance of whether it's okay to blow off someone's head to stop them from purse snatching or not, or similar things that could cause unnecessary problems. This instruction can occur off-screen over an appropriate IC period of time (as determined by Staff) and then simply incorporated into your standard IC conduct when being a hero! This is not optional! If you have a Paragon City I.D., you received this instruction! It's an IC requirement! If you want the PCID, and the associated skills that go in your +advantages or +info, this requires an Upgrade Application.

Heroing in Paragon City can be done without the PCID. You just do not gain the benefits that come with apping for one following the appropriate RP.

So You Want To Be A Hero?

As noted above, anyone registered in Paragon City as a hero, who has a Paragon City I.D. card, received IC instruction in law enforcement, the law of Paragon City and the United States as a whole, etc. You are not required to RP these courses out in scenes, though an appropriate amount of IC time and effort must be put into it, as you would with gaining any skill. But more than just minimizing the potential IC ramifications of IC actions by making sure all heroes are on the same page, registration comes with other benefits!

• BOMB SQUAD: Those trained as heroes of Paragon City can safely disarm a great many kinds of typical explosive devices used in Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, and Primal Earth in general. This knowledge may also extend to compareable alien explosive devices, from species who have had close contact with Primal Earth.

• CONTACTS: During a hero's career in Paragon City, they establish many connections with Contacts in numerous fields of work, study, and walks of life. Any mission undertaken successfully in the past involving a Contact makes that NPC available in the future, for further missions, to get information from on other cases if they might have expertise on the matter, and so on. At any given time, a Hero is assumed to be able to get in touch with SOMEONE who can help show them the next step or at least let them know about a case or threat that needs to be dealt with. The answer to such inquiries may not be immediate, but the wait time is typically brief.

• DETECTIVE WORK: Along with the training in law enforcement, instruction in investigative techniques, evidence analysis, interrogation, behavior recognition, and logical deduction are also provided. These can help even an amateur hero connect the dots and follow the evidence to its logical conclusion, cutting down on the amount of time needed to visit crime labs and such.

• INFLUENCE: A unique currency for heroes to use in purchasing crime-fighting equipment and other hero-related gear. High-quality and high-durability costumes, Enhancements of various kinds depending upon one's Origin (assuming a character has one), Consignment House purchases, devices that provide a benefit temporarily such as a jetpack or teleporter, and more can all be purchased with Influence. Having a Paragon City I.D. and registration as a hero allows one to accrue Influence by fighting bad guys, completing missions, and otherwise assisting in keeping the peace in Paragon City.

• MEDI-PORTER: Registered heroes get access to a personal Medi-Porter. Medi-Porters are an emergency device utilizing the city's teleportation network to teleport heroes to a hospital in their current zone when they have been defeated, getting them medical treatment as quickly as possible. It allows enemies defeated to get sent directly to a holding and secure medical facility for processing in the justice system, provided the unconscious foes are within range of the hero's own Medi-Porter. This only covers unconsciousness, not lethal injuries. A dead person can not be teleported, and the mediporter does not function outside of the scope of the teleportation network in its native setting.

NOTE: Sending in an Upgrade Application is necessary, as per Staff decision and MUSH policy.

Medi-Porters and Theme "Feel"

In City of Heroes/Villains/etc., enemies would fade out in-game, being "teleported to jail" a short time after being defeated. The same holds true on MCM (or at least usually). Both for IC reasons and thematic ones, criminals don't (usually) get killed when you smite them with whatever weapon or power you use. They go to jail. Same applies to other injured parties. This is a super hero theme, not Game of Thrones, and while dark things can and do happen, and people do sometimes die, it is something that tends to happen "off-camera" and is not trivial when it occurs. It's also generally not the emphasis of RP.

Whether energy blasts, super strength, gunfire, or bows and arrows, assume that NPC enemies are being dealt with using the appropriate level of force and no more than that, when it comes to lasting physical harm. If you pose intentionally go beyond that, and are attempting to inflict grievous harm or to kill someone, then the medi-porter safety does not apply in such a circumstance. The medi-porters are not fool-proof. Death is possible, if that is the intent of the attacker. There may be IC/OOC repercussions, but if your character's intent is to kill someone, nothing mechanically prevents such. (This is a change from previous stance on the matter, thanks to Staff feedback!)

If your character is intentionally going beyond necessary force, they may get asked questions, especially if their methods endanger innocent people. If this is recurring, then a character may be labelled a Villain or otherwise not be able to operate as a hero in Paragon City.

The medi-porter safety mechanism does not generally apply for things like demons (who go back where they came from), zombies (they might be destroyed or sent somewhere M.A.G.I. can take care of them), robots (might be impounded or locked up in storage, or might simply blow up), and various other monstrous enemies that one would not generally expect to find in a jail. Killing/destroying such beings is totally viable just as it is for anyone else, though there is likely to be much less fuss raised over decapitating a zombie.

Even Minion level enemies can potentially beat down an Invulnerable hero in large numbers (though they are considered PL 26 in a large group at BEST, so this is unlikely). They are proportionally stronger than a normal thug off the street, but they still take a very distant back seat to PCs in almost every circumstance. One hero to one minion is no contest. You will defeat them, not the other way around, because you are Elite, and you are awesome, and they are just a minor obstacle. You might not even have a scratch to show for it.

But please keep the theme's "feel" in mind, rather than attempting to accrue a pile of dead bodies. You can kill. That does not always mean the situation calls for it.

Mob Drops

Things belonging to the enemies usually go with the enemies when they're defeated. If you want to keep an item drop off of them, you need an Upgrade App and/or to app into City of Heroes-1!

If you want special equipment, an Upgrade App is going to be needed, and you probably will not be getting anything major from scavenging a random dude in the street you beat up, without consulting with your GM. Staff decision overrules everything else, of course. Characters native to the setting may pick up Enhancements from defeating enemies, but Enhancements are useless to heroes and villains not from the CoX setting due to how they work. They tie into their Origin, which is derived from a single source of power. Super powers, weapons, technology, or anything else that that does not draw from the Well of the Furies in some form gains no benefit from Enhancements.

In summary: if it's something significant, you'll want to do an Upgrade app. If you want it for just a pose or two, consult your GM, but it should be fine. Pick up a Circle of Thorns staff and hit someone with it! Grab a Crey Cryo Rifle and freeze someone in their tracks! It's only if you want to keep it that you'd need to upgrade app. Insignificant items and souvenirs are generally not needed, though they may be taken regardless. Souvenirs awarded for completing story arcs may have more personal value though!

Paragon City: Union and Confederate

Primal Earth has no unified global government. While individuals may affiliate themselves with the Union or Confederacy, Paragon City itself has enough problems without announcing allegiance in a multiversal war at this time. Confederates are free to come and go in Paragon City unless they have made themselves known as wanted criminals and actively conducted crimes within Paragon City's boundaries, or similar things that law enforcement would be cross about. You can just assume you were told about this, rather than otherwise. It will save your character and everyone else trouble!

Of course if you WANT to do illegal or morally questionable things, there's always the Alignment system...

Story Arcs

Trophies/souvenirs/badges are awarded from completing storylines (essentially Minor TPs), and demonstrate how you accomplished something cool or significant or fun within the setting. If you want such a story arc run for you, it can be arranged. These are mostly IC/OOC marks of achievement, with no benefit other than to say, "I did this, and I was awesome at it." Rare badges may provide an IC/code benefit with an appropriate Upgrade App and after appropriate RP, if approved by Staff.

Badges and souvenirs will have a separate table eventually to track them, and their requirements.

Information Resources

Contains all or almost all relevant information for City of Heroes. Look this over if not familiar.

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

For people who never got to play City of Heroes or who want a refresher, below are video tours of the various locations in Paragon City.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm1GS81j5_V-1uTDayptpzc3SfEYHGCpN

We have an OOC chatting/theme/app-discussion channel!

+radio/init CoX=4.28

We have a local IC frequency for missions, coordinating among heroes, etc.!

+radio/init PPD=6.29

We have a local IC frequency for villains and the Rogue Isles Police/Arachnos now too!

+radio/init RIP=10.31

Wanted

A list of currently wanted characters or character concepts. Will be updated as time goes on, especially as plots start to come up.

Feature Characters

The Surviving Eight/Freedom Phalanx

Statesman, Sister Psyche, Manticore, Positron, Numina, Citadel, Back Alley Brawler, Synapse

Arachnos

Lord Recluse, Captain Mako, Scirocco, Ghost Widow, Black Tarantula

Arch-Villains

Clockwork King (Clockwork)

Captain Castillo (Sky Raiders), Colonel Duray (Sky Raiders)

Reichsman (5th Column)

Elite Bosses

Frostfire (Outcasts)

3K Kelvin (Hellions)

Atta (Trolls)

Original Characters

All of them! Heroes, Villains, and Rogues!

City of Heroes Applications

Guidelines, suggestions, and stock entries for things most heroes/villains/rogues have.

Origin

Every hero, villain, or rogue has an Origin of Power. This is where their powers came from. The Origins are more than just a game-mechanic or flavor. They are metaphysical Things that shape Power and the destiny of those who wield it throughout history. The Origins are Magic, Mutant, Natural, Science, and Technology. A sixth, special category is "Incarnate", but this is not generally available. It is up to you to determine how your power sets function within the scope of your Origin.

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Category:Origins

It may be simple to figure out a Magic Origin if your power sets are Fire Blast and Fire Manipulation. You could be a fire mage, you could be the wielder of a relic that grants fire magic powers, you could be a demon or half-demon and the fire powers are how your demonic ancestry manifests, or any number of other things.

But how do you work a Magic Origin into Dual Pistols and Devices? Maybe the guns are conjured into existence by a spell you have perfected. Maybe they are enchanted to have infinite ammunition, and you supplement that with mundane equipment (or not-so-mundane). Maybe the guns and "devices" you use are some sort of techno-magic combination, using modern components to create mystical contraptions.

Maybe it's not the weapons and tools you use, but you yourself who are magical. You could be a wraith returned from the dead. You could be channeling magic energy to grant yourself physical capabilities you wouldn't have otherwise. Maybe you transform into a gun-and-device wielding hero with a special phrase or spell, and the equipment is part of the transformation.

The explanation is up to you, as long as it has some kind of internal consistency and makes some kind of thematic sense.

Archetype

Heroes, Villains, and Rogues all have an Archetype. A role that they fit into that defines their power focus and innate specialty. There are also four "Epic Archetypes", with two each for Heroes and Villains. The Heroic Archetypes are Blaster, Tanker, Scrapper, Defender, and Controller. Their Heroic Epic Archetypes are Peacebringer and Warshade. The Villainous Archetypes are Brute, Corruptor, Dominator, Stalker, and Mastermind. The Villainous Epic Archetypes are Arachnos Soldier and Arachnos Widow. Rogues can draw from both Heroic and Villainous Archetypes (but not Epic Archetypes).

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Archetypes

Powers

Every Hero, Villain, and Rogue starts with one Primary Power Set, and one Secondary Power Set. Each Power Set defines the theme of your powers, and contains various applications of your powers that you can unlock over time. There are additional powers separate from your Primary and Secondary that can also be obtained as an option if you wish, including Travel powers. These will be described later on.

Each Archetype only has access to Primary and Secondary powers that are available to their Archetype. A Blaster can not have Super Strength, and a Tanker can not have Mind Control. Some Power Pools, Epic Power Pools, or Patron Power Pools may allow one to simulate the Power Sets of other Archetypes in certain ways, but there are still limits to what your Primary and Secondary can actually be. You only get one of each.

Each Archetype lists which Primary and Secondary are available, but here is a list of all Primaries and Secondaries as well.

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Primary_Power_Sets http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Secondary_Power_Sets