chase

Way back in the day, I had Cole Mackinnon- Soldier Mastermind... the man, the myth, the legend. The John wayne of John waynes. Personality of a brick wall- it was his troops that had the charm. All my time was spent making macro'd squad banter for his team starting with personalities that I'd once served with. Idle banter, flirting banter for Pocket D, battle banter, arguing with each other over whose turn it was to "pull" and other 4th wall breakers (blaming "lag" for a death) , dozens of war movie homages. There were whole scenarios made for specific scenes in specific taskforces. I had to create a whole switchboard macro system to loop through the right macro at the right time. I went on a binge where writing and testing the banter took up more time than playing the game. The mothership raid was one of those moments. (tons of movie homages, especially leaning into Independence Day and ALIENS.) I never got to use them. Shutdown occurred first. I could have fit it in on the last few months- maybe part of one of those insane "all-mastermind-only-mastermind maxed out Mothership raid lagfests" - but I spent the last few months on a demorecording taskforce trying to capture and catalogue every quest in the game (for a possible emulator reconstruction that we thankfully never needed). Le sigh

No head, no hands, no feet. 🫤 if you still have the limbs, I guess you can do body spelling (think "YMCA" song) 💃🎵 💃🎵 💃🎵 otherwise... emote morse code by changing the pace of chest inhale-exhale? - .... .. ... / -- .- -.-- / - .- -.- . / .- / .-- .... .. .-.. . people reply back by tapping morse code lightly on the skin? or... telepathy. You don't need to BE a telepath. you just have to find one. (then again, they try to link to your mind, experience the feedback of all the trauma set upon you, and become a quivering incoherent mass in the corner until someone finds a good therapist)

Most are assuming that since you're headless, you're unable to speak, but they're making some assumptions on the other features, so: You're also earless. Can you even hear? You're also eyeless. Are you sightless? I'll leave out mention of the brain. Regarding Speech Alternatives: From a roleplay standpoint, being speechless really impacts how YOU interact with others. I haven't known fully mute folk, but I've known several deaf folk with very limited speech range, and I've known some with severe motor control that impacted their ability to form all but a few words easily. The typical RP trope of having someone just write things down in full conversation and share it bugged my deaf friends because it really doesn't work well in RL like that. it diminishes the experience. It takes far longer to write fully than just speak it. You MIGHT get away with a patient enough store clerk to wait to answer a hastily-scrawled "cucumbers?" if their pronunciation is too off, but not writing, "pardon me sir, where are the cucumbers?" We don't notice this in RP because we're all typing... which is pretty darn slow already... but it's something to consider in the RP. EDIT. More to come, just hit "Save" early Gesture, or a combination of gesture and nearby props, are often far faster and very easily understood to the the less verbally challenged. We don't tend to realize how much we innately incorporate gesture in daily actions. I found it hugely amusing to find a mute RP'er that maintained a notebook they'd emote flipping through. It works for complex answers, but finding basic "yes" and "no" values were hilarious... or numbers (1-10, at least)... and there's others. (Sidenote: Lip reading is HUGELY overrated in RP too. A good experienced lip reader in close proximity with a full view of the mouth will still only l confidently pick up a third of the words using mouth shape. Knowing the context of the conversation and reading body language, can rule out a few options and make educated guesses. (Context REALLY helps- people who leap off on random tangents can frustrate the HELL out of a lip reader.).

Some things to consider in trying to find RP: - the unlocking of "supergroup bases" changed the geography of RP. Pocket D's RP crowd now has over a dozen nightclub "bases" to choose from and quite literally hundreds of custom locations, from bookstores to astral planes, meditation chambers to city blocks... and sometimes ACTUAL bases. That can make it harder to find, overall. (the homecoming wiki has an "everlasting base list" if you want to find a setting that works for your story). - although I'm a big advocate of the RP global channels as a way to find each other, there have been... managerial disputes... over the years that seem to have led some/many to sour on them. - Discords. Roleplayers are using them nowadays much more frequently than forums it seems. Start with at least the server-specific channels of the official homecoming server.

The questlines don't fit so well for my style of play, but the setting always did. I like playing "trying to do some good, but flawed" characters redside... usually struggling against the system and sometimes making bad (hard) choices. Paragon's good-guy social safety net makes that more difficult... and there are always a few mega-billionaires or superstar heroes that seem all-too-eager to write a check to eliminate your financial woes there. Sure, there are mega-billionaire villains as well, but their gifts at least have strings attached that lead to interesting rp opportunity. Strangely, I've not recreated any of my favorite redside rp characters on homecoming. Maybe that will change

A couple of ways to look at this: Tabby would probably like people to think of a theme song reflecting her resilience and overcoming personal adversity, imagining something like Demi Lovato's Warrior. Unfortunately, she's a realist, and she BELIEVES that most people that see her immediately hear the theme song to their favorite substantially-NSFW anime. In my headcanon, that's the (very fictional) "Neko Neko Ninja Pincess" series, whose main character looks terrifyingly like her- now on its second season despite being banned in 23 countries, 5 states, 47 municipalities, and 15 major faith groups. And me? most of the RP antics she inspires can only be experienced with Yakity Sax playing on continuous loop.

Family always ALWAYS comes first - no forewarning necessary- and anyone not understanding isn't worthy of your time. Be there for your mom. Be there for any other family members also affected by this scare, and be mindful of yourself and your own needs. The stress can sneak up on you in terrible ways. When you're ready to return, we -the RP community- will be here for you.

What's your Main's theme song? the introduction from the twilight zone. ....No... wait... that's my RL theme song. Crazy Train. ...No... that's my RL Alt's theme song.

That's the illusion of space compression. Walk across a moderately-sized city center, then across any zone in-game. It's not just the count of structures but the SCALE of structures that makes the illusion work. Compare the scale of a ferryboat using an average-height person. A car. A city block. The footprint of a typical skyscraper. For as massive as the dam seems in Faultline, the water it holds back is downright miniscule. This isn't a criticism-- They do a good job of representing ENOUGH of basic things like infrastructure and retail and residential (and prisons, and industrial spaces, and ports) to make it feel expansive- maintaining that illusion without compromising gameplay and pacing. That's a big challenge. Just don't take it too literally. If it were put on a real-world map scaled appropriately for a major metropolis, the street-level views would be VERY different (and FAR more impressive than they already are)

I do get what you're saying, but I guess I'm far more forgiving. Games make cities smaller and more navigable than their lore suggest and they omit boring stuff that doesn't add to the narrative. CoH offers a far more vast experience than... say... any Bethesda game's "city" but it still does it. The more literally we take what's presented to us as "the whole world" the more we will run into these barriers. Just like time is dilated down to such a rapid day/night cycle that it would be ridiculous to be taken seriously, the worldspace is dilated down into only what's needed to facilitate the illusion. Nothing more. I just appreciate the details that they HAVE made the effort to include and assume what's missing (like vehicle elevators or an area BIG ENOUGH to warrant vehicles exists just out of view of my current camera's position.

I'm so impressed. I've never heard of Udio before and while some diss on AI creations, I think this perfectly illustrates how it can be used to enrich creations. Your lyrics, your vision, their audio based on your instruction... a winning combination. I've had a few music-themed characters in the past that could have really been fleshed out better with this. Also. If you don't mind me asking, what/who's the source for the images? In theory, the Cyrus Thompson Community Center (mentioned in the Coh Comics, but only the statue was ever put in the game, IIRC) should be "a block or two" from your music store. arc rooms to teach self-defense Tuesday nights. I have a college-age martial-arts-themed character focused on opposing gangs in Kings' Row who teaches self-defense classes there Tuesday nights. She lives in some beat-down loft apartment nearby that probably breaks every building code in the city and often wears gang colors when wanting to travel the street without being noticed. If you don't mind me asking- what/who is the source for your cover images? I struggled through photoshop back in the day for my comic images- never created anything this calibre.

I do like all of this. "Initially designed to be a secret weapon against Cole's regime" OR "Designed by someone very threatened by Cole's regime, but built in the main world. Her creator sees all the ingredients on this world for a similar caped-hegemony to arise, particularly with all Praetorian refugees now here." They could be absolutely rational in that fear and just work to prevent it OR their trauma may leave them with a more distorted worldview, seeing threats in shadows, attributing the worst motives from even things not in the shadows. They see the hands of this shadow government everywhere, maneuvering to the inevitable takeover. They're still good people, but they're just seeing the world through the lens of their fears and prior trauma. In that sense, the creator doesn't necessarily need a reason to keep secrets from her, like her origin. People with irrational fears make irrational decisions for irrational reasons. This could also lead to a story arc of her having to oppose her creator. They don't have to go full madboy-evil-- they absolutely CAN but they can just as easily be working through totally benevolent reasons if the world's seen through their PTSD-distorted lens. The world isn't that way, though, putting them on the wrong side of the law. They need to be stopped, as heartbreaking of a confrontation as that may be. (Now if I was a GM putting a player through such a story, I'd end it with a tiny hint of something nefarious- something that suggests that maybe- just maybe- their creator was on to something.... that maybe they weren't entirely wrong in their paranoia. Something to sow a little doubt into whether they character did the right thin in stopping their creator... perhaps sow a little of that same paranoia in the character.... but I'm a cruel GM in that way.)

1) There's no harm in starting on another server- it might be beneficial on starting out if it seems to have more active players matching your powerset. However, Everlasting isn't EXCLUSIVELY roleplaying, so you can still start there to learn the basics without upsetting anybody. You'll find plenty willing to help. (My wife and I have my "mains" on Torchbearer, as she's more of an offline story-creator than a roleplayer. We go there exclusively to "fight crime" together and then I have my RP characters on Everlasting) 2) I'd suggest Scrapper or Brute, myself. Tankers are great but have a durability that's really scaled for larger mobs than you fight in small teams and lower damage that makes battles more of a slog. Brutes and Scrappers have a balance of defense and offense, so they do solo's great and tank on small teams rather well. Brutes have a "fury" meter that builds up in intense fights, then drops after so expect "fury-lock" where you, as a player, get drunk with power, racing off to the next foe when common sense would tell you to take a moment to heal. Scrappers have crit chances that aren't as tied to such a mechanic, so you may be more inclined to pause and approach a target in a sane manner tactically. There's an argument to be made for blasters, though- their lack of defense DOES make them more squishy... but not notably so until the late-teen levels. One of the more annoying things a MELEE player has to deal with in teams is being too blinded by special effects to see that foes have moved (or been knocked back) out of melee range. A predominantly-ranged character doesn't have the same problem. You might think Sentinels have the ideal mix of moderate defense and ranged attack, but they're a post-shutdown addition that I personally like, but I'm told the consensus is that they are better for experienced players. ---- This is probably more controversial, but I also suggest temporarily disabling leveling in the early-teens. By that time, you'll have a nice small batch of attacks for a reasonable chain of attack and still have some annoying holes in your defense, but its a great time to get acquainted with everything. Skyway and Kings' Row have a great many contacts (assuring things don't get repetitive on alts) and alternatives like radio missions, bank heists, etc and the leveling rate's a bit accelerated, so it's easy to blink and miss all this. ( You also have the single overarching narrative of the Hollows available to you). By the mid-late teens you'll see more foes with stuns/holds/slows/immobilize attacks, your travel power, the invention system and auction house (to name a few) so this is an ideal time to just pause, assure you're comfortable with the basics, and give you a chance to focus entirely on those things as they come. Don't try to do it all, but give yourself time to do *enough*

Welcome, RainingVeins, As TheOtherTed indicated, lore is somewhat flexible here. One of the things that City of Heroes really did well was to provide deep enough lore for the lore-hounds while keeping things open enough to allow others to introduce any superhero-themed-trope to the world without appearing misplaced. I even recommend not burdening yourself by tying your character directly to lore events. Although we're all rather adept in handwaving away timeline wibbly-wobbliness, I've got college characters that originally started their hero career during the crisis of the first Rikti invasion (May 23rd, 2002 ) and some of them have yet to graduate almost 23 years later. It's somewhat intuitive to include the events of the tutorial in your initial story, but that originally came out in 2011- some people will RP that event as happening just a few days ago and some will have volumes of personal story developed, married, had kids, etc, since then. Amazingly, most of us are flexible enough RP'ers that these vast differences rarely come out, but it does hilight the benefits of bring-your-own backstory too. For more evidence, check out the Federal Bureau of Super-powered Affairs database https://fbsa.wiki/wiki/Main_Page. You'll find people creating entire worlds of backstory without it ever really clashing too much with the game's. Or check out the game's wiki https://fbsa.wiki/wiki/Main_Page. Or ask any specific questions. There are so many directions you can take that when i tried to make a broad outline here, it got out of hand quickly. Regarding "places to go" - Everlasting server is your best bet to find roleplayers. - Many hang out around atlas park. - Pocket D (a hidden-away superhero nightclub) used to be very VERY common, but so many people have made their own social spots in the "supergroup bases" areas that I don't know how hopping any one place IS anymore. - The homecoming discord has sections for both "Roleplay" in general or the "Everlasting" server that are great ways to find people or in-game events. - There's also a City of Roleplay discord and an Everlasting Roleplay discord that are excellent for developing connections. There are probably more, but sadly my time's been so short lately, I barely get to log in.

Very good writeup, as always McSpazz. Although the devs went through great lengths to stretch game necessities like war walls and mediporters into the lore, I do try to avoid direct reference to them in my characters' day-to-day. As you've suggested- instant-heal and instant-travel both can greatly reduce drama opportunities, and I particularly like the narrative contrast of my otherwise-exceptional heroes' busy day interrupted by the necessary delay of mundane monorail or ferry systems. In stories those are perfect for more human interactions, but with in-game RP, you're usually too busy getting your character from point A to point B to really appreciate it. (Tangent: I've often imagined making a "ferryboat" or "monorail car" tiny base with teleporters hidden to all zones, but meant to host "travel talk" for like-minded folk, but I imagine that's far too niche to see much use, You RP during the journey then TP out when you reach your stop.) With the characters I tend to RP, mediporters are easy to handwave away for my own use (Tabby doesn't wear much to attach a 'porter to, the "patch" version doesn't adher to her fur well, and the unregistered heroes would have no legit access to them). Without a mediporter of my own, I would still have to deal with the well-intentioned hero who selflessly removes their own... but I imagine they're bio-locked, (except... see "arrest teleporter" below) When I encounter a medical emergency in RP, I'm sometimes not sure whether they're seeking a mediporter option or not. You can effectively ask their preferences without breaking character with something like this: /em 's eyes dart the injuries, taking mental inventory while cursing her fuzzy memories of first aid class, all the while hoping to find an intact mediporter patch and...umm... punch it, maybe? How do you trigger the trucking thing? and why hasn't it kicked in on its own by now, dammit?" That gives the injured party opportunity to not only describe their injuries but also help you negotiate the desired level of drama and resolution opportunities. They can say whether the mediporter is found, damaged, showing "no signal" or "jammer" activity, etc. With super-strength and super transport options, a reasonable RP patient should also include whether they appear "safe to move" or needing careful handling. "Arrest Teleporter" I cannot find anything on the wiki explicitly saying this as part of the lore but I recall a dev exchange early... and vaguely recall something in the lore itself... that implies that the foes that we defeat get something like an 'arrest teleporter' attached to them, sending the guy my wife just fireballed in the face to the Zig's very (very) large inmate burn ward. It was a weak attempt to handwave away despawning of defeated foes- something like you clip a transponder onto them and they're whisked away. Unfortunately, if this does exist: 1) It means that teleporters may not be bio-locked to the assigned hero, as we certainly can't pre-bio-lock who we'll be fighting 2) It makes teleporters a far more ubiquitous solution. 3) My main's character's encumbrance should be max'ed out on arrest teleporters for all the burn victims criminals his wife fricasees arrests in a single visit to Crey corp. (there's a reason why his battlecry is, "Don't make me get my wife...")