Datafile Inspiration - City of Heroes/Villains

[MidnightBlue]

Another GREAT place to look if you are trying to find inspiration for a character!

The dual power set setup of the City of Heroes/Villains game is perfect for making a datafile!

I'll give an example using one of my first CoH characters, Mind Lock.

A little backstory on Mind Lock...I'll try to keep this from being the disertation that it could be...

Mind Lock is my go-to character when I want to test out character creation in a supers game. He actually started as my very first randomly created character in the TSR Marvel Superheroes game. He has found himself reincarnated and reimagined in the Marvel SAGA & resource allocation games as well as Mayfair's DC Heroes game, Aberrant Storyteller AND Aberrant D20, Silver Age Sentinels (D20), Hero System (Champions), Palladium's Heroes Unlimited, City of Heroes and possibly a couple of other systems that I'm forgetting right now. Each version of Mind Lock has been unique as that system allowed. (For example: In City of Heroes he's more of a support character/secondary attacker while in the Storyteller Aberrant system he's nearly a god...easily fitting for a JLA A-team roster.)

This version of Mind Lock is as close to the City of Heroes version as I could make him off the top of my head:

Mind Lock

Affiliations: Solo D6; Buddy D8; Team D10

Distinctions: Defense Force Leader; Defender

Power Set 1: Force Field
Personal Forcefield (Superhuman Durability) D10
Force Bolt (Attack - Kinetic) D6
Subsonic Flight D8

SFX - (Multipower)
SFX - Detention Field (Afflict - Grappling)
SFX - Repulsion Field (Afflict - Knockback)
SFX - Deflection Field (Invisible Woman's Reactive Power SFX)
SFX - Clear Mind (Immunity - Psychic Attack)

Limit - (Exhausted)

Power Set 2: Psychic Blast
Mental Blast (Attack - Psychic) D10
Telekinetic Blast (Attack - Kinetic) D10
Superhuman Stamina D8

SFX - Psionic Tornado (Area Attack)
SFX - Will Domination (Affect - Unconscious)
SFX - Psychic Lance (Dangerous)
SFX - Psychic Wail (Human Torch's Nova Flame SFX, replace instance of Physical Stress with Mental Stress.)
SFX - Stamina (Second Wind)

Limit - (Exhausted)

Specialties:
Psych Expert D8
Science Master D10
Tech Master D10



Creative process to follow...

[MidnightBlue]

Drawing the inspiration out of a City of Heroes character...

Note: Realize that if you don't play the MMORPG, then some of the terminology is likely not going to make all that much sense.

Okay, Affiliations. For this, I just looked at how I usually play the character. As a Defender, flying solo is not his prefered method. He works better with at least a Tank, Blaster or Scrapper as a buddy. However, Mind Lock is also the leader of one of the super groups that I formed, Defense Force (also an original creation carried over from the original Marvel RPG) and works well within a group. So Team got the big die, followed by Buddy...and Solo as the most undesirable form of crime fighting.

Distinctions...not quite as intuitive as when I was pulling flavor names off of a Heroclix card for Ghost Rider, but I still worked it out. Defense Force Leader shows a measure of responsibility that could be a boon or hinderance. Defender (the CoH archetype for this character) can also be good or bad.

Power Sets are where translating a City of Heroes character really shines. The most important part of making a CoH character (after deciding on your archetype) is in picking your Primary and Secondary Power Sets. Walla...two CoH power sets...transfer them directly to MHR as two power sets. For Mind Lock this was Primary (Force Field) and Secondary (Psychic Blast).

In the computer game, you get to pick individual powers under those Power Sets (Shall we say, Power Traits/SFX?) as you increase your level. Most of the Power Traits and SFX names are straight from the powers that Mind Lock has "unlocked" and show a signature aspect of those powers...i.e. area attack, afflict - TYPE, etc.

Now you also get Power Pool powers in CoH...powers tied to a minor power set besides your Primary and Secondary. I just split a couple of these up and threw them under the two power sets as needed.

Limits...that was pretty easy. I had plenty to choose from, but since your powers in CoH use a renewable resource called Endurance and shutdown/turn off when you run out, Exhausted just seemed to fit perfectly.

Specialties were not really something that I could pull easily from CoH as they don't really have a "skill" system. I'm sure you could find some inspiration from various badges and awards (come to think of it, that would be a great way to grab Distinctions too). Since I already had a long running background for Mind Lock, I just pulled from that...an uber-smart scientist and inventor and the leader of Defense Force (though he does sometimes put the job before his teammates...so we'll do Psych Expert instead of Master).

Milestones...I WAS going to throw up a couple of milestones for Mind Lock, but decided to skip that stage for now. You could easily pull inspiration for milestones from the CoH game...specifically Mission oriented milestones (Bring Down Frostfire!)...or even personal goal oriented milestones from CoH, like "Form a Super Group" or some measure of proving your worth like the Cape and Aura missions.

In my exercise, I definitely found that City of Heroes characters offers up one of the easiest ways to build an MHR character's power sets.

If anyone else tries this method of datafile creation, I'd love to see the results here...both the datafile and how you felt about the process itself.

[EldritchFire]

Here's my CoH toon, sans milestones. He's a Kin/Rad defender, lvl 50, Protector server. Not that I play anymore, but still. I HAZ BRAGGING RITEZ!

Sticky-Fingered Jack

Affiliations
Solo d8 — Buddy d10 — Team d6

Distinctions
Klepto by Chance, Hero by Choice
Always in a Hurry
Oh, Shiny!

Power Sets
KINETIC MANIPULATION
Kinetic Control d10
Enhanced Reflexes d8
Super Jump d8

SFX: Kinetic Transfer. When rolling Kinetic Control to add a complication to a target, add a d6 to yourpool and keep an additional effect die to add an Asset to you or an ally. Spend a PP to step up this Asset.
SFX: Area Attack. Target multiple opponents. For every additional target, add d6 to your pool and keep +1 effect die.
SFX: Healing. Add Kinetic Control to your dice pool when helping others recover stress. Spend 1 PP
to recover your own or another's physical stress or step back your own or another's physical trauma by –1.
Limit: Exhausted. Shutdown any Kinetic Control power to gain 1 PP. Recover power by activating an opportunity or during a Transition Scene.
Limit: Conscious Activation. If stressed out, asleep, or unconscious, shutdown Kinetic Control and any associated Assets. Recover Kinetic Control when stress is recovered or you awake. If mental trauma is taken, shutdown Kinetic Control until trauma is recovered.

RADIATION EMISSION
Radiation Blast d10

SFX: Aim. Split Radiation Blast or Kinetic Control into 2d8.
SFX: Proton Volley. Add a d6 to your dice pool for an attack action and step back highest die in pool by –1. Step up physical stress inflicted by +1.
SFX: Focused Blast. Step up or double Radiation Blast on your next roll, or spend 1 PP to do both, then shutdown Radiation Blast. Recover power by activating an opportunity or during a Transition Scene.
Limit: Conscious Activation. If stressed out, asleep, or unconscious, shutdown Radiation Emission. Recover Radiation Emission when stress is recovered or you awake. If mental trauma is taken, shutdown Radiation Emission until trauma is recovered.

Specialties
Acrobatic Expert d8
Covert Expert d8

Here's the link to his datafile.

[MidnightBlue]

Nice!

I'll put up my 50 (Peregrine Alpha) one of these days. Also another RPG character - turned CoH digital character - returning to RPG (MHR) character.

Oh...I used this as a rough scale for attack powers:

D6 - Minor damage

D8 - Moderate damage

D10 - High damage

D12 - Superior damage.

I did also take into consideration how I slotted enhancements into my powers. That's why a couple of "moderate damage" attack powers became D10's instead of D8's. It represents that I have them heavily slotted towards additional damage dealing.

[Thunderstrike]

My wife loves City of Heroes.

I made one of her heroes into a datafile. I will have to post it.

[craggle]

I've started writing up some villain datafiles for use in City of Heroes based MHR games over at Exploring Infinity, starting with the Outcasts. I'm drawing some inspiration from some CoH story arcs too and plan on having a Frostfire mini-event posted soon.

[MidnightBlue]

Great!

That's the whole point of these "Datafile Inspiration - ???" threads...to help players & watchers find new and easy ways to transition what they already know into easy datafile (and storyline/setting) info!

I hope others are finding these threads inspirational.

Having played CoH/CoV for more than half a decade...and Heroclix for a full decade now (since its release in 2002)...I've got a LOT of datafile material floating around in my head just waiting to hit the paper, should I need more or different from what gets officially published.

[MidnightBlue]

Oh...and I also think that these "Inspiration" threads are a good way to draw players in from those other markets (video games and minis games where City of Heroes and Heroclix are concerned).

[MidnightBlue]

Oh great mods...could I get this thread moved to the fan-made datafiles subforum?

[EldritchFire]

Oh great mods...could I get this thread moved to the fan-made datafiles subforum?

Done.

-EF