What Character Concept Could You NOT Get to Work?

[Lunglescrops]

The title is pretty self explanatory, but I'll start off just in case there's any confusion.

Following my comment in the New Costume Pieces Request thread, I've been reminded of a couple of character concepts that I just cannot get to work.

 

My first is a living marble statue character. Using the brightest white as your primary colour and the darkest black as the secondary colour on the Spectrum costume option gives you a pretty much perfect statue effect.

 

I have a character name and backstory all made, but I just cannot get the costume right - given the character's name, it's pretty essential they wear a mask, but the Detail 1/2/3 options for the head just do not match what I see in my mind (a simple domino mask). It's so jarring that I just cannot bring myself to make the character proper.

 

I've also had an idea for a Tanker I've wanted to make for a while with a Pegasus theme that leans more toward the super-heroic than the Greco-Roman but, try as I might, I just cannot find seem to make a costume that satisfies me.

 

Finally, I've a character that I really want to be a War Mace/Dark Armor Scrapper, but every time I play them, it's just a deeply dissatisfying experience and it breaks my heart as I had intended them to be my main at one point.

 

How about you lot - what character concept could you not get to work?

[cranebump]

Whipsmart. Gadget guy. Micromesh armor. Acrobat. Tech genius. However...no electrified whip.:-( Experimented once using a petless MM for the whip powers, but it was a bit...strange. Soooo the versions of Whippie I have run as a character use various blaster powers. The latest is a BR/Regen. Not bc it fits, though. 

 

Cool thing, though: I ran my Acrobattle character as a Staff-lete in a TTRPG, so when Staff became available back in the day, I was deee-lighted.

Edited November 19, 2021 by cranebump

[Shenanigunner]

I had a great one, but (1) it needed no arms and (2) it got genned. (I could have successfully argued the latter, but having arms really ruined the concept.)

[merrypessimist]

4 hours ago, Shenanigunner said:

I had a great one, but (1) it needed no arms and (2) it got genned. (I could have successfully argued the latter, but having arms really ruined the concept.)

 

So... it was too handy to keep?

[Shenanigunner]

10 minutes ago, merrypessimist said:

 

So... it was too handy to keep?

 

No, it needed the right to NOT bear arms.

[Lazarillo]

Because I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that Masterminds can't really defend themselves, I tend to conceptualize a lot of characters who could be more "lead from the front" types, that I then don't end up playing because that would require a whole new AT (I have ideas!  Someone on HC staff, hit me up! 🙃).

 

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a tendency to come up with Controller or Dominator-type characters and then go "yeah, but I don't really think the pet fits my concept", and lose interest that way, too.  Plant Control hits me really hard with this.  No offense to Audrey, but my concept of Plant Control would involve keeping the Creeper Patch as the main summon of the set, I think.

[Xeres]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

Because I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that Masterminds can't really defend themselves, I tend to conceptualize a lot of characters who could be more "lead from the front" types, that I then don't end up playing because that would require a whole new AT (I have ideas!  Someone on HC staff, hit me up! 🙃).

 

This is a main reason why I rarely play "pet" characters in almost any game.  I keep thinking how good the character would be if the pet wasn't there.  Usually the answer is not very, so I just can't bring myself to make one, with some exceptions.

[biostem]

7 hours ago, Annwn Un Rama said:

(a simple domino mask).

Are these closer to what you're talking about?

 

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

Because I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that Masterminds can't really defend themselves, I tend to conceptualize a lot of characters who could be more "lead from the front" types, that I then don't end up playing because that would require a whole new AT (I have ideas!  Someone on HC staff, hit me up! 🙃).

For me, its just a matter of thinking of the masterminds as interpretations of the "villain of the week" on the old 1966 Batman campy TV show.  The main villain does not fight, save for the odd punch or chair throw.  He/she is much more inclined to yell "Get 'em boys" and let the goons do the first while the boss moves back to an observation point.

 

I've had a few concept failures, and I think they all come down to a lack of key costume elements.  Two examples:  The first character I ever had (and the first failure) was to have been an ice tanker with a polar bear theme, but the game just lacked too much at the start, and the result was just weird.  I also have a long-tabled Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider-ish character, but I had to make too many compromises in costuming to shoehorn in the character as a dual gun wielder, and parts of the character look off.  (The face hits the mark, though)

[Chaos String]

Ordinance Possum.  BR/Dev blaster, an homage to Rocket Racoon.  "Next humie to call me, 'O. Possum' gets shot out of a cannon."

 

Just couldn't pull together a costume that didn't look like hot garbage.

[Solarverse]

I can't make my Ice/Cold Corruptor or a Cold/Ice Defender to work. The reason is that there is no Ice Shield or Ice mastery for them. It kind of turns me off from playing mine. If I'm going elemental, I prefer going all the way or not at all.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Solarverse

[Solarverse]

25 minutes ago, biostem said:

Are these closer to what you're talking about?

 

 

I wish they looked more like masks and less like face paint. It's why I never use them.

[Troo]

10 minutes ago, Solarverse said:

I wish they looked more like masks and less like face paint. It's why I never use them.

 

Fixed it for you

 

[Lazarillo]

17 minutes ago, Techwright said:

For me, its just a matter of thinking of the masterminds as interpretations of the "villain of the week" on the old 1966 Batman campy TV show.  The main villain does not fight, save for the odd punch or chair throw.  He/she is much more inclined to yell "Get 'em boys" and let the goons do the first while the boss moves back to an observation point.

Yeah, conceptually, they kinda work that way, but the nature of the game makes that tricky to execute.  After all, the player characters don't get to hang around their hideout moving pieces on the chessboard.  They're actively pursuing the missions.  That's kinda where the conflict is for me.  It's very hard to come up with a concept for a character that both would be actively putting themselves into the battle, but not be able to battle themselves.

 

The classic Mastermind works great as a boss or enemy group leader, less as a player character, most of the time.  At least for me.

[Coyotedancer]

Carwyn...

By original concept, he's supposed to be the White Stag of the Misty Wood. A big, stompy white-furred bres.

 

There's no way to make that great shaggy beast in the costume creator. We don't even have proper antlers. So.... I went for a more human-looking version. The Huntsman of the Court of Bright Winter as he would be OUSTSIDE of the influence of Croatoa's mists. Which works well enough, I guess. But he'll never properly be Carwyn as I originally imagined him.

[Solarverse]

57 minutes ago, Troo said:

 

Fixed it for you

 

 

Hahaha, epic!  😄

[biostem]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

Yeah, conceptually, they kinda work that way, but the nature of the game makes that tricky to execute.  After all, the player characters don't get to hang around their hideout moving pieces on the chessboard.  They're actively pursuing the missions.  That's kinda where the conflict is for me.  It's very hard to come up with a concept for a character that both would be actively putting themselves into the battle, but not be able to battle themselves.

I mean, you could make your character fit in with the other minions aesthetically, then play them off as the "lieutenant" who leads the squad out in the field, while you, the player, are the actual mastermind, pulling strings behind the scenes...

[Lunglescrops]

3 hours ago, biostem said:

Are these closer to what you're talking about?

They are, exactly; you just can't place them on top of the Spectrum costume piece, which stops my character concept dead in its tracks. I know that sounds dramatic, but I will not compromise!

 

Quote

2 hours ago, Chaos String said:

Ordinance Possum.  BR/Dev blaster, an homage to Rocket Racoon.  "Next humie to call me, 'O. Possum' gets shot out of a cannon."

 

Just couldn't pull together a costume that didn't look like hot garbage.

I've had a couple of animal themed characters that I just couldn't get right. I wish there was a horse head helmet for us to use, it would really be a game changer for me.

 

Despite the number of cat head we have to choose from, I've never been able to make the panther character I've wanted to. I just keep making King from Tekken, but purple, which is not what I want. That's more my fault for having little concept beyond "purple cat man" though.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Annwn Un Rama

[Clave Dark 5]

6 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

Because I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that Masterminds can't really defend themselves, I tend to conceptualize a lot of characters who could be more "lead from the front" types, that I then don't end up playing because that would require a whole new AT (I have ideas!  Someone on HC staff, hit me up! 🙃).

I'm currently leveling a Bots/Emp MM who has both the basic gun attack that comes with Bots [whatever that's called] and Arcane Bolt.  I normally just set for bodyguard mode and run in first, gun- and bolt-blazing, and she feels pretty scary on top of her pets.  I mean, if you want 15 attacks, then yeah, that's not going to work, an MM is a support class character.  I suppose one could really skimp on the support power set and go for more attacks though.

[Parabola]

6 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a tendency to come up with Controller or Dominator-type characters and then go "yeah, but I don't really think the pet fits my concept", and lose interest that way, too.  Plant Control hits me really hard with this.  No offense to Audrey, but my concept of Plant Control would involve keeping the Creeper Patch as the main summon of the set, I think.

Given how strong plant is with just seeds and creepers (with enough recharge) you could probably leave the fly trap out and not gimp yourself too badly. I have exactly the same problem with dark control though. No concept I come up with can fit in a massive and annoying dog. It would be great if we could have some pet customisation based around some different options for the base model.

[Oginth]

There is a fictional character whom I tried to make, the problem is that he used two-handed medieval broad sword. "Broad Sword" doesn't have two-handed! "Katana" doesn't  have m medieval broad sword!

[Snarky]

Any Super Strength that is not built around being a Rage Monster.  Like, a noble heroic Super Strength.  A cold calculating Super Strength, etc. etc   

[The_Warpact]

I make alot of alt world characters, one is this worlds version of the Joker.

His name is the Larker, and for the life of me I cannot get anything to fit him. I've been trying to make this concept work since live.

I've tried Thugs/Psn MM (both pve and pvp builds), Thug/Pain MM, DP/Psn corr, DP/Pain corr,  and currently a Psn/DP fender, which still not feeling it. Frankly, I'm at a loss at this point.

 

[Snarky]

7 minutes ago, The_Warpact said:

I make alot of alt world characters, one is this worlds version of the Joker.

His name is the Larker, and for the life of me I cannot get anything to fit him. I've been trying to make this concept work since live.

I've tried Thugs/Psn MM (both pve and pvp builds), Thug/Pain MM, DP/Psn corr, DP/Pain corr,  and currently a Psn/DP fender, which still not feeling it. Frankly, I'm at a loss at this point.

 

Mind/Pain Controller or Mind/Psi Dom...

[Icono04]

3 hours ago, Oginth said:

There is a fictional character whom I tried to make, the problem is that he used two-handed medieval broad sword. "Broad Sword" doesn't have two-handed! "Katana" doesn't  have m medieval broad sword!

There are a few Titan Weapon swords that might fit the bill. Granted, they are bigger than a medieval two-handed broad sword - more like a 3-handed sword, size-wise - but even a real-life 2H sword looks a bit oversized when used by a normal-sized human.