Zombie Hustler

I always felt like there was still a little bit more to the Nance and Adair arcs (and the Leonard one redside); some questions that weren't quite answered. Notably, it seems like the precise relationship between Protean and Mr. G could use some elaborating. It would be (or would have been) cool to see a story arc that brought those two characters into the same spot, post-Going Rogue.

Dream Doctor is actually Nemesis, and is lying to all of us. This is also why he and Mender Silos are working against each other. (Or are they?)

This option is only available to Masterminds with the C.L.I.N.T. set.

I would have sworn the Devs weighed in on the change back on the old forums. My recollection is that they said something about the particle physics of the fog made it unsustainable for the overhaul they were doing. Of they could have just said they didn't like it and it didn't fit their concept for the zone overhaul. Or both.

I like the updated City map. Was there always an airport indicated on the map in Baumton and I never noticed it? If that zone ever gets a revamp, maybe the Council will take over the airport ruins for some deadly aerial operations.

I really like this idea, and I'd love to see some kind of similar concept, but able to use it on allies/enemies. Call it Power Control, and it could feature ways to boost allies' powers in various ways or minimize/negate powers of villains.

Reality Alteration: Powerset that allows you to "break" the game code. (ex. Temporarily exceed Enhancement Diversification limits, etc.)

It would be kind of cool if you could give a tip mission to another player in some way. I'm not really sure what the point would be, but the idea kind of appeals to me to Share a Tip.

I don't recall my powersets for some of them, but I have: Clockpuncher (Praetoran clockwork) Half-Clocked (Human/clockwork cyborg) Venting Machine (Canning line operator turned into living soda due to experiment gone wrong; now relies on a high tech suit to maintain his physical form) Missus Hippie

I'm fine with the rewards as is, although I must say that I do kind of miss the old Veterans reward "tree" from live.

Funny you should mention that: I was actually just going to suggest that there should be a Hami Raid added to Gold side, but this time make it Incarnate Hamidon. ("You think you've mastered the Hamidon Raid? Think again...!!!!") Also, what about a PVP Loyalist/Resistance Zone: dynamic battles where Loyalists try to protect incoming supply raids, while Resistance try to steal needed supplies and ammunition; Loyalists defend outposts from Resistance invaders; etc. Real Mad Max/Road Warrior PvP raids. Would especially love it if it could somehow incorporate the Gladiator mechanics of the Arenas to allow for players to direct large groups against one another.

I know that there didn't seem to be much interest among the devs in further content for Praetoria (for various reasons), but they did end up giving us both First Ward (my favorite zone) and Night Ward. Has anyone else speculated on what would have been a logical progression- or just your own fun idea- for Praetorian content after the Magician's arc in Night Ward? Some of my own thoughts: 1) Night Ward tie-up. A short arc to tie up the loose ends of the NW zone (do the Drudges get back on track? Does the zone still exist after the last NW arc?) 1a) Shadow Earth?: Possible spinoff of #1, where we find that NW is slowly returning to the Netherworld. Could feature some more of Black Swan and/or Shadowhunter. Maybe a new zone, or else some kind of tie-in to the Shadow Shard on Blueside. 2) New Zone: Praetorian Wasteland. Populated primarily by Praetorian Devouring Earth. Missions to explore ruins of Praetorian cities and find ways to strike back at Hamidon. Could feature some new DE models, as well as Wasteland Mutants and fun stuff. Post-Apocalyptic costume pieces (that were coming down the pike). Would be a good lead-in to Number 6's arc where the heroes are saving the last remnants of Praetorian civilization. 2a) New Tokyo Warzone: Could tie into or be alternative of #2, where instead of exploring a wasteland, we have a partial wasteland and city that is constantly under siege by DE. It could be like Recluse's Victory, where the actions of heroes can either lend it to being more of a DE infested ruin, or more of a success story of the Survivors carving out a refuge for themselves. 4) What happened to Infernal? This is a mystery that only gets further deepened by a "blink or you'll miss it" easter egg in Number 6's arc. Delving into the mystery of Praetorian Infernal could be a natural spinoff of the magical side of Praetoria that gets explored through the FW and NW arcs. Ideally, there would be a way to continue the Resistance/Loyalist storylines, though that would also entail finding a way to include those alignments and story arcs in the existing NW/FW arcs as well.

Now I want to see a supervillain in this game named "The Architect." His story arc would consist of a series of maddening, labyrinthine maps that were never the same from mission to mission, and the final showdown would feature a map that was shifting constantly. 😵😈😈

The architects were Gallifreyan.

I think the oddest office layout is the one with the "floating" floor. One set of stairs leads up to a door that immediately ends in stairs, where you then have to go underneath the floor to the opposite side of the room, to access the stairs leading right back up to the floating floor and access another set of stairs. Bizarre.

I guess I'm a wimp. I have always run at default levels (+0/1 I think?), and when I get to 30+ mission contact on Redside, adjust to -1/1 on my squishier characters (dominators, corruptors). There are only a few times when I've adjusted upwards, on some particularly strong characters. I mostly solo, though.

No option for First Ward? (Or other Praetorian zones?) 😢 In any event, I went with King's Row for Blueside. The Atlas revamp is the best looking, but I really like the new content (i24 story arcs) in King's Row. A fresh coat of paint (okay, a gritty coat of paint) would make that zone even cooler. St. Martial on Redside, and (new) Dark Astoria as hazard zone. But First Ward is still my favorite zone. Gorgeous and bright, and post-apocalyptic as all get out. If we could only get an abandoned lab in the zone for crafting...

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever played a character that primarily relies on Power Pool powers and not their primary/secondary powers?

Someone mentioned "Mastermind" types of missions a few pages back (not for the archetype). What if you could somehow use the "gladiator" mechanics along with Mayhem Mission mechanics to simulate missions where the villain directs his band of thugs to take on different types of crimes in a mission instance? He could select which groups to assign to which tasks (ie, a group of Hellions for an Arson task, Skulls for a bank raid) and then he could go around the map to back his troops up where needed to help ensure their success. These sort of missions could combined with regular villainous missions and be woven into story arcs.

I love Redside, and play it nearly as much as I do Gold. I will say that if there is one area that would improve Redside to me, it is that I think villain stories would benefit from mission branching far more than hero side stories would. The main reason is one that other posters have alluded to here, which has to do with agency and villains needing- by their very nature- to be the protagonist of the story, rather than the antagonist, reacting to events around them. Having more branching choices in missions would help to better simulate this for villains, IMO.

It sounds like you're aiming more for some kind of electrical-themed set, or maybe even something with a light affinity (think urban light pollution), but when I think of this concept, I think of philosophical concepts like psychogeography and urban wanderings (Guy Debord's "derives"), or place memory/place attachment, animism or even the idea of a genius loci. A person who is in tune with the sensations and memories that attach to urban places over time and space. Something like that could be simulated by some of the psychic power sets, or empathy, or even illusion (the pets being literal "zeitgeists"; spirits of the city brought forth to battle).

This part of your post got me to thinking of something that could combine some of the different ideas here, and maybe do something really dynamic with KW. What if this utilized some of the dynamics of Recluse's Victory and Warburg in a way that reflected changing aesthetic among the voting population of the zone? Something along the lines of: Heroes run Hero missions and the zone gets nicer; villains run Villain missions and it becomes seedier. Maybe Villain missions lead to a representative tied to Arachnos getting "elected" in the district and making the place more villain-friendly (or vice versa). This could be even less black and white than Hero/Villain, but maybe somehow tied to side switching mechanics and mission runs. Don't know how/if this could work, but imagine if it somehow weighs the number of morality missions undertaken in the zone to determine the look and feel? Or even just bases that on the number of heroes vs. villains vs. rogues vs. vigilantes in the zone at a given time. Maybe some missions or story arcs would only be available when the zone is phased one way or another? ("It's going to get much worse around here before it gets better" one hero mutters as he waits for the "redemption" story arc to activate) TLDR: Allow the players' approach to content in the zone to impact the zone's appearance like in some of the PvP zones, but without the PvP.

To build off of my idea above: what if the Arachnos in the area are a more "respectable," business-like group. The tech-side of Arachnos. Trying to make their way into the region. They could be one of several groups establishing themselves in the economic Mecca of Khallisti Wharf. Crey, Arachnos, Portal Corp, probably some other from lore, and some new ones. There could be a lot of industrial sabotage going on, with the new "Hacker" faction kind of screwing things up for the rest. This could give the option of playing some of these sides against type, as well: Arachnos, Inc. is under attack- who do the players side with? The hackers or the tech firm? Which one is in the wrong- or is anyone? (Among other stories going on in the region).

I love the look of this place, but I agree with others that it needs its own flavor. I'm not sure the background that was planned (to the extent I'm aware of it) really did had much to it. I seem to recall that it was intended to be a villain/hero shared zone, with some shared content but also unique storylines for each faction (kind of like Incarnate DA). That doesn't really do anything for me, though. We've already got the gritty dockside Independence Port, so how about we do something different with Khallisti? Maybe it's the Fisherman's Wharf of the region, combined with Silicon Valley. Hi-tech firms, artsy-craftsy people. I could see the Syndicate liking it as a spot to try and rebuild, but let's go beyond that and create something new. How about a new villainous cabal that relies on high-tech cyber warfare? Industrial saboteurs. Sometimes they take over clockwork to achieve their goals; maybe some missions take the heroes directly into cyberspace to fight these baddies off (there are all kinds of funky new maps that could achieve this; the Praetorian Penelope Yin ones or Mother Mayhem ones, for instance). You could have a group that is the Paragon equivalent of the Luddites; the 99 Percenters. Protesting against the bourgeoisie. Maybe some ex-Lost who live in some of the seedier areas.

To the best of my recollection, yes.