A certain foursome...

[Ultimo]

So, I'm tinkering with another story arc, and wanted to include a superteam based on the Fantastic Four.

 

Invisible Girl (Gravity Girl) is pretty easy, she's got force fields and gravity controls.

The Thing (The Crag) is also pretty easy, I gave him stone melee and armour (though I had originally thought to use Bio-armour, but it's not THERE?).

The Human Torch (Blazing Boy) is based in Dominator powers, fire control and assault.

 

That leaves Mr. Fantastic.  Now obviously, there's no stretching abilities.  However, Reed Richards is also a supergenius, and his inventions might arguably be thought of as his actual main power.  On the team, he's the leader, and often defeats enemies by controlling them (eg. wrapping around them) or protecting his team, so perhaps a controller or defender set would be in character.  But, I'm undecided, and thought I'd poll the audience.

 

If you were making a character based on Mr. Fantastic, what power sets would you give him?

[cranebump]

I would make “Mr. Fantastic” a master mind. Bots. I might not even use him as an NPC, but rather as the main story contact. His main “super” is his genius and problem solving capacity.  he would be the one holding the team together at HQ.

[Ultimo]

9 hours ago, cranebump said:

I would make “Mr. Fantastic” a master mind. Bots. I might not even use him as an NPC, but rather as the main story contact. His main “super” is his genius and problem solving capacity.  he would be the one holding the team together at HQ.

I did consider that... but Reed never really relies on bots, but more on gadgets he uses himself.  I could do Beam Rifle, perhaps, but what would be his secondary.  He could do Traps, but he would need a primary.  I wouldn't want him to be ALL gadgets...

[cranebump]

I guess what I’m trying to say is to capture the spirit of Mr. Fantastic.  There is no way you can truly simulate the powers he has, so don’t try. Just have echoes of who he is that make your tribute obvious. In Astro City, Kurt Busiek doesn’t have a straight Fantastic Four, but he plays on the idea of them with the Furst Family. He doesn’t have Spider Man, but sort of tangentially pays tribute via Jack in the Box. No Superman, but a Samaritan. It will be clear to whom you’re paying tribute in the way the character is written, and what his role is. Plus you have 3 of the 4 pretty directly copied, so...everyone’s gonna know. 

 

Long story short:  my character will essentially be Reed Richards, but he’ll have to use what the engine provides. Since I’m constrained by that, there’s no reason for me to worry about being accurate. I’m designing something with a faint silhouette of the real thing. In the end, that might actually make my final concept more interesting (and usable, within the constraints of AE).

Edited June 19, 2021 by cranebump

[Ultimo]

Perhaps the way to go about it is to analyze his role on the team.

 

The Thing is clearly a tank, so Tanker.

Human Torch is likely their DPS, probably a Blaster.

With her force fields, Invisible Girl is the "Healer," though in this case it's more support through bubbles.

That covers the trinity... so what role does Mr. Fantastic play?

 

How does he fight?  Usually, he's binding up the bad guys, wrapping them in his arms or whole body.  That suggests a Controller or Dominator.  He's also often the one that takes the foes down with a single brilliant strategy or last minute device that counters the foe's specific abilities... but I'm not sure how that would work in CoH.  When actually in a fight, he also does throw punches, which I could easily get from Fighting...

 

He's proving to be a challenge, conceptually.  Right now, I've got him in the game as a Defender, Beam Rifle and Electric Affinity.  The Beam Rifle seems in character, in the comics he's often depicted with a gigantic complex gadget zapping the enemy with something.  It's the Electric side of it I'm struggling with, I think.  I took it initially, thinking I could rationalize it as being a connection to technology in some way, that he draws power from it... or something.

[Hardship]

You could play up the leadership role.  Can you make the Night Widow or Fortunatas on the male body type?  Or maybe go with a good Crabermind kind of build?  Something that really amplifies the other members of the team.

 

[Ultimo]

I've been tinkering with the idea of making him a Blaster...  Beam Rifle and Radiation Manipulation.  The premise is that he's manipulating subatomic particles to soup up his rifle and to beat up enemies.

 

This works for me in that he's got the gadget gun, and also fights in melee fairly well (which Reed does), plus there's a couple of holds and debuffs, which also suits his style.  Of course, he'd be pretty flimsy, but in the FF, Reed often doesn't get as directly involved.  I mean, the typical story has Reed and Sue off coming up with a plan while Ben and Johnny keep the bad guy busy.  Then he drops in and finishes them off with some kind of gimmick.

 

I don't know...  Still considering it.