Weekly Discussion 72: Build Your Own Pool Power

[LiquidBandage]

This pool is intended to help a Super operate in the City.

 

Tools of the Trade

T1 - Marker Smoke: (Ranged Location AoE) It drops a little canister that emits a fountain/column of smoke (or a light/laser) to mark a position. If you have ever wanted to tell a team "I am going to pull to here", this is the power for you. This is truely a utility power, so the recharge should be Fast.

T2 - Put on the Bracelets: (Melee) High Magnitude Slow with -Fly, -Jump -Teleport that gets applied to both you and your target. It should also apply -DEF (Melee) to both you and your target, but can be enhanced to skew the debuff (defense debuff to negatively impact your target or defense buff to reduce the impact on yourself). The recharge should be somewhere in the Slow to Long range.

T3 - Mental Focus: Toggle - Provides a small unenhanceable +Recharge. Provide some Terrorize Protection (mag 4). Predominantly, this power needs to shut down -perception powers, so provide +75% resistance to Perception.

T4 - Identify Friend or Foe: Toggle - Provides a small unenhanceable +ACC and +ToHit. Provide Confuse Protection (mag 4) and some Confuse resistance (-30%). 

T5 - Mimic: Ranged - PBAoE Placate (+300%) that lasts 60 sec at a radius of 80ft. It also changes your appearance to look like whatever enemy you had targeted when you fired the power. The recharge should be in the Long to Very Long range.

 

I envision Put on The Bracelets to thematically be like Marv tangling with Kevin in Sin City. You're not going anywhere now, we're gonna tangle until one of us goes down. 

Perception tends to be an all or nothing effect that you cannot notice degrading. The lights are on or they are completely off. I hate that aspect of the mechanic. 

Also, progressing from group to group when clearing an instance it can become really annoying (as a tank) to get confused by a Succubus and not be able to do anything except eat a Break Free. 

Mimic can be explained as holographics or magic. The big thing is you look like your target, and you have a Placate aura that lasts for a while. This allows you to 'stealth' an area without actually stealthing (or being invisible). The magnitude needs to be strong enough that it fools Bosses but not Elite Bosses or AVs. In roleplay terms you are infiltrating a stronghold with a disguise that won't fool the upper echelons (or snipers that can see you at longer ranges). 

[Purrfekshawn]

Power Pool: Armor

 

 T1: Tactical Armor (autopower). Self +resistance to Smashing/Lethal/Fire/Cold damage.

 T1: Health Monitor (click). Temporarily boost Self Regeneration +resistance to Toxic damage.

 T2: Dampener Device (toggle). While toggled on provides Defense against Smashing/Lethal/Energy/Negative damage.

 T2: Concussion Pulse (click). Deals PBAoE minor Smashing damage and repels enemies, also has a fair chance to Stun (Disorient) them.

 T3: Emergency Stimpack (click). Heals Self to 100% health, and gives Mez (Stun/Hold/Sleep) protection for a good while. The Cooldown may be lowered to the point these protections could be made permanent. This power can be used while mezzed.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Purrfekshawn

[Purrfekshawn]

At last lemme introduce a power Pool that will surely be implemented somewhere across the Multiverse. So, then, it is:

 

Quantum Physics:

 

 T1: Tunneling (click). Targets teammate, teleports you next to that teammate. Very long range (10000 ft), Interruptable.
 T1: Wavefunction (click). Extends your wavefunction, which grants you very high Movement Speed boosts, Recharge speed boosts. After a while this power crashes as the wavefunction collapses, immobilizing you and debuffing Movement. Long cooldown.
 T2: Entanglement (toggle, targets single enemy). Entangles your wavefunction with that of some enemy, causing Untyped damage to the enemy based on your health level (the lower your current health is - the higher damage this power deals). Alternatively this power could debuff enemy's Damage Resistance/Defense/Regeneration based on your current health percentage.
 T2: Reality Shift (click). Shift to another universe, in which you haven't engaged adds, fully restoring Health, placating all enemies around, making you untouchable, intangible, invisible, and only affecting self for a short while.
 T3: Eigenstate (click). Enters an eigenstate, in which you are untouchable and cannot be defeated by any means. When this power crashes your health level is set randomly to 0%-100%.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Purrfekshawn

[Dahkness]

**Time Splicer** (With Travel power) Works like Sorcery. You can only pick one of these power pools.

 

T1: Timeless Meditation  “toggle” - You clear your mind in battle. For each enemies around they get -dmg to all there attacks. 

 

T2: Tearing time “single target”: you punch through time that leaves the enemy with -dmg with a chance to for -recharge 

 

T3: Battle Speed “Teleport”  After you performing the teleport you are granted with a speed buff that gives you +run speed, +jump speed, + recharge for 10 seconds. 
 

T4: Echoing punch “PBOE” - the sounds of the punch has a chance to hold surrounding enemies. Also adds -dmg to who is effected by the echo's. 

 

T5: Time Splitter “click” - You splice time around you for 30 seconds that gives you a very high chance to absorb all incoming attacks that heal you through absorb health that add to your HP bar. At the end of the duration Any extra absorb left will turn into a PBOE that will do dmg 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by Hops

[Sakura Tenshi]

Much as I think on this, the more I realize I'd be more about building who new sets and maybe ancillary pools than pool powers. I feel like existing pools cover a lot or at the very least I can't think of what could be added that hasn't already been said or isn't in the works, and I'd personally just want to see existing pool powers maybe get some changes, buffs, etc. (It's silly, but I'd love it if the fighting pool attacks were just as valid choices for a character as picking up tough and weave, or maybe tough and weave had synergy that made the attacks more viable.)

 

That said, my big feeling on pool powers is that I'm not quite a fan of the limitations on how many you can take, especially the origin pools, I understand the reasoning for this, especially the origin pools, but it would be nice if there was another way, or even just a way to get more pool powers. Maybe, since I feel the tier 4 in origin pools is the biggest breaker, have a sort of 'cross power lockout' where instead you can only pick one origin pool tier 4 power and once you do you could no longer select the others? A total hot take and really imbalancing, but it might even be cool if once all the origin pools were released, your origin also meant you got that origin pool basically for free, each power unlocking at a certain level and freeing up a chance to pick another. Admittedly, this in of itself runs into the problem of 'one origin has better powers than the other'.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Sakura Tenshi

[Dahkness]

5 minutes ago, Sakura Tenshi said:

Much as I think on this, the more I realize I'd be more about building who new sets and maybe ancillary pools than pool powers. I feel like existing pools cover a lot or at the very least I can't think of what could be added that hasn't already been said or isn't in the works, and I'd personally just want to see existing pool powers maybe get some changes, buffs, etc. (It's silly, but I'd love it if the fighting pool attacks were just as valid choices for a character as picking up tough and weave, or maybe tough and weave had synergy that made the attacks more viable.)

 

That said, my big feeling on pool powers is that I'm not quite a fan of the limitations on how many you can take, especially the origin pools, I understand the reasoning for this, especially the origin pools, but it would be nice if there was another way, or even just a way to get more pool powers. Maybe, since I feel the tier 4 in origin pools is the biggest breaker, have a sort of 'cross power lockout' where instead you can only pick one origin pool tier 4 power and once you do you could no longer select the others? A total hot take and really imbalancing, but it might even be cool if once all the origin pools were released, your origin also meant you got that origin pool basically for free, each power unlocking at a certain level and freeing up a chance to pick another. Admittedly, this in of itself runs into the problem of 'one origin has better powers than the other'.

Your over thinking it. I feel there needs to be more pool powers

Edited October 15, 2020 by Hops

[nightroarer]

I haven't worked through the whole powerset package, but swinging and/or wallcrawling/leaping travel powers would help round out the travel powers.

[Gobbledigook]

Luck

 

T1  Prosperous               Auto +5% Influence gain

 

T2  True Shot                  Auto +5% chance to hit

 

T3  Uncanny Defence    Auto +2% chance to defence

 

T4  Advantageous         Auto +2% chance to land a critical hit

 

T5  Blessed                    For 20 seconds the user gains +5% defence, +5% mitigation, +5% to hit, +2% chance to critical hit and heals 3% health every 5 seconds. 3 minute cooldown. Rainbow effect animation.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Gobbledegook

[Zombie Hustler]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:29 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

I would be surprised if any of this were at all remotely possible in the current code, but I'd love a Power Customization set.  Remember the good old days when there was more than one way to slot a power?

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. 

[GM ColdSpark]

Hi folks, I've just done a little tidying up in the thread, removing a post which came across (unintentionally in my opinon) as somewhat sexist/derogatory. I've also removed the follow-up comments as they lack context or relevance without the original post.

 

And now... back to your excellent creative ideas please.

[Naraka]

Yup, as predicted...

Edited October 18, 2020 by Naraka

[Panthonca7034]

Aww... man... *very sad bawling face* <:'C You guys left off the Mercenaries... again *composes self* Its ok, I'll take on that task

 

Fire Support Pool (For Mercenary Mastermind Powerset)

 

Tier 1: Summon Support Drone, Minigun, Use Heavy Blaster (similar to the Resistance cannons), moderate debuff, - regen - energy damage -endurance recharge time: long

 

Or

 

Tier 1: Full Auto/Cover Fire (Ported over from Assault Rifle Powerset)

 

Tier 2: Call for Air Support (Vanguard Jets, Vanguard Gunships, or Drone Aircraft fly by), fire damage medium to heavy damage, Recharge time Medium

 

Tier 3: Call for Fire Support (Could have mercenaries show up with large cannons or carrying a large cannon then they leave, or simply a very large blast on a mob) Knockback, Knockdown Recharge time very long

 

Or

 

Tier 3: Heavy Caliber/Heavy Plasma Blaster/Malta Sapper Gun (either ported from the Heavy resistance blasters or large modified cannon)

 

Tier 4: Call for Ambush (Similar to Gang War but with mercenary troops wielding pistols, stun/sapper weapons, and automatic fire) -recovery, toxic damage, Recharge time very long

 

Tier 5: Orbital Space Weapon (Similar to the war walker orbital lance works, then huge blast from space) heavy damage lethal damage nuke attack, recharge time Long

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Panthonca7034
corrected typos and grammar

[Alchemystic]

So I was thinking of a few more 'generic' style pools that don't really have much of a theme behind them besides being accessible to just about any character concept, like the ones we have now (besides origin power pools of course!)

 

I made these pools to sort of 'fill in the gaps' in utility that the current ones are lacking in; ranged damage, self buff, control and mez. I also opted to use some of the more esoteric effects are extremely rare, like boosting range or offering endurance discount, or even revealing a map or showing NPC data.

 

They follow the same rules as the other normal pools powers, not limiting what other pools you can pick, and only having the first two powers accessible right away instead of three like travel pools.

Personality

Your strength of personality allows you to increase your ability to resist mental distractions, while asserting your influence over others.

 

 - Challenge: A single target taunt power that also placates foes around the target, creating a '1v1' effect.

 - Charisma: A toggle power that grants you resistance to Placate, Taunt and Confusion, as well as Perception and Damage debuffs.

 - Confidence: A toggle power that grants you resistance to Fear and Sleep, as well as Defense and ToHit debuffs.

 - Charm: A click power that causes a single target to become Confused, with a low chance of confusing nearby foes too.

 - Prowess: A click power that acts as a weaker version of Power Build up

 

This power pool is intended to serve as a decent means of shoring up mez protection that currently isn't offered in other standard pool powers, while also offering similar aggro mitigating powers to Presence, topped off with a handy boost power.

 

This pool is inspired by the cliche bluster and bravado of heroes and villains, playing on their ability to constantly make quips or speeches even in the midst of battle.

---

Intellect

Your amazing intellect imbues you with higher thought processes that allow you greater focus and forsight.

 

 - Analyze: A click power that reveals an NPCs data much like the Power Analyzer temp power, and also gives a small boost to ToHit.

 - Quick Thinking: A click power that grants extra endurance and a slight boost to recharge.

 - Mental Barrier: A toggle power that increases psychic resistance and defense.

 - Insight: A click power that buffs an ally and increases the effectiveness of their archetype inherent power.

 - Genius: A click power that grants extra Mez chance and magnitude for a short time.

 

Intellect is intended as a pool power that improves the overall performance of a character and his allies, with access to a handy psionic toggle power as slight bump to resistance/defense values.

 

This pool plays on the archetypical 'smart guy' of the team, a person with such a brain that's capable of going turbo, allowing them to perceive every angle and hypothesize every outcome.

---

Self Defense

You are trained in the arts of self defense, allowing you to control your enemies through special attacks.

 

 - Throw: A melee click power that deals light smashing damage repels a single target similar to Ki Push.

 - Trip: A melee click power delivers light smashing damage and knocks down enemies in a cone.

 - Grapple: A toggle power that can only be activated/maintained in melee range. Holds a single target and deals no damage.

 - Counterattack: A melee click power that works much like Parry, delivering moderate smashing damage and significantly boosting Melee Defense for a short time.

 - Disengage: A click power that placates all nearby foes and teleports you to the targeted location

 

Self Defense is a diet control set, which works a little differently. All powers are melee focused instead of range, allowing you a little more mez in close quarters combat.

 

This pool fits into that character trope of knowing judo or wrestling to subdue an enemy, where you toss goons aside and lock down the big boss.

---

Survival

You have incredible instincts and physical fortitude that improve your chances of survival.

 

 - Awareness: A click power that reveals the map, and grants a small boost to perception and range.

 - Constitution: A toggle power that increases resistance to toxic damage, and increases regeneration.

 - Acclimate: A toggle power that increases resistance to fire and cold damage.

 - Preparedness: A click power that grants absorb and a slight endurance discount.

 - Escape: A click power that can only be activated when Mezzed, breaking you free and increasing movement speed for a short time.

 

Survival is a small pool dedicated to increasing... well, survival. A few resistance powers and buffs to healing are core to this, as well as abilities that help perceive or avoid danger.

 

Themes for this set were the lone wolf, the grizzled survivor, somebody who can endure the worst and come out on top because he knows how to stay alive through the worst.

---

Sidearm

You possess a small caliber sidearm that you can use as a backup weapon, allowing you to fire on enemies at range.

 

 - Single Shot: A single target ranged attack that deals moderate lethal damage.

 - Covering Fire: A single target ranged attack that deals light lethal damage and reduces the target's recharge and speed.

 - Ricochet: A chaining power that ricochets a bullet between multiple foes dealing moderate lethal damage.

 - Point Blank Shot: A close range power that deals high lethal damage and knocks the target back.

 - Rapid Reload: A click power that instantly recharges all of your Sidearm powers, and grants them an endurance discount for a short duration.

 

The inclusion of a dedicated mini-blast set seemed apt, since we have Fighting as a mini-melee set. Ranged damage is key, and just like Fighting, an abundant damage type was chosen; Lethal.

 

Who doesn't want a handgun? Okay, maybe a few people, but for characters that have few options to attack at range, a sidearm like this is perfect, it works for a nice thematic piece for edgy broody types, or for those who want a simple option for defending themselves.

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Tyrannical

[GM Miss]