Lore Question

[Attache]

I have generally never worried too much about CoH lore when working on backstories for characters but is there a Power Broker kind of analogue or organization in the lore where powers are for sale?

I mean, I know Crey can kind of fill that role too but I also feel like canonically, they want more in return than mere money.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Attache

[TheZag]

The warriors buy and sell magical artifacts that can grant some powers.  But ingame they mostly just keep the artifacts.

[The_Warpact]

I've started reading more into the lore recently, I have not come across anything like that.

Mostly its you are part of an organization and get experimented on or are given powers.

Crey is about the closest, the rest you're a minion or loyal or conditioned.

[Aurora_Girl]

Hero Corps. 

[The_Warpact]

5 minutes ago, Aurora_Girl said:

Hero Corps. 

They charge for powers?

[Lazarillo]

Nobody in-setting does it legally, at least.  Arguments could be made that certain factions such as Crey or Longbow will give you a super serum as a signing bonus, or as others have mentioned, certain gangs deal in artifacts or drugs that can grant super abilities.  Of course, that doesn't mean you can't make something up and do a character concept or AE story arc based around a more above-board service doing it, though!

 

27 minutes ago, Aurora_Girl said:

Hero Corps. 

They sell the heroics, but won't perform mutation surgery on a non-powered person.

[Techwright]

47 minutes ago, Aurora_Girl said:

Hero Corps. 

 

41 minutes ago, The_Warpact said:

They charge for powers?

 

In the sense that they market their supers for projects, yes.

 

 

There is a black market for magical artifacts, more than just what the Warriors deal.  It's hinted at with people having a history with the Midnighters Club.  Mercedes Sheldon, for example, takes the high road, using a natural gift to the see the auras of artifacts up for auction (and presumably acquire them for the MC.)   Darrin Wade's description shows him to be a broker of "lost information and ancient artifacts".  I believe we actually witness him in a transaction in one of the redside stories, though its been a while since I did anything that side.  He's possibly your closest analog.

 

As to tech and science, I'm not sure.  Something tickling the back of my mind says that the Sky Raiders do some tech trading, but I can't point to chapter and page. 

 

I'm pretty sure I've also seen something about underworld trading of abandoned/captured Rikti technology, but I can't point out where.

 

I'm reasonably certain we don't have a clearinghouse character or group, at least, not one covering tech, science, and magic.  Oh sure we have the Black Market and Wentworth sites, but they don't fill the story function in the game.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Techwright

[Snarky]

Superadyne, Excelsior, and so many other pathways to gain real power in the Cities.  Slightly altering, or supercharging, or completely altering these and other sources of power are the stuff of many (freaking many many) story arcs in the game.  

 

Then.... there is the Well of Furies.  Enigmatic, unfathomable, and the most powerful of all.  You could write an AE story Arc about the Well being the underlying source of ALL the power that makes magical artifacts, drugs, superscience, and temporal manipulation work in the City.  It is written as that powerful in the CoH metaverse.  An easy slide into reality as it were.

[Attache]

2 hours ago, TheZag said:

The warriors buy and sell magical artifacts that can grant some powers.  But ingame they mostly just keep the artifacts.

 

My original version of my character Crackdown on Live had a mace that he obtained while helping some Warriors do a heist as part of his initiation but when I did the re-roll for Everlasting, Street Justice felt like it would fit the overall concept better.

[JasperStone]

Nemesis ....

[Redletter]

18 hours ago, JasperStone said:

Nemesis ....

 

Alllllll according to plaaaan

[Daniel_R]

On 12/15/2021 at 11:12 PM, Snarky said:

Superadyne, Excelsior, and so many other pathways to gain real power in the Cities.  Slightly altering, or supercharging, or completely altering these and other sources of power are the stuff of many (freaking many many) story arcs in the game.  

 

Then.... there is the Well of Furies.  Enigmatic, unfathomable, and the most powerful of all.  You could write an AE story Arc about the Well being the underlying source of ALL the power that makes magical artifacts, drugs, superscience, and temporal manipulation work in the City.  It is written as that powerful in the CoH metaverse.  An easy slide into reality as it were.

 

Based on the lore left behind by the original Devs, we know that the Well is not the source of superpowers - superpowers, canonically, somehow come from the combined 'potential' of humanity. The Well represents a conduit to a power source external to that - it works as a force-multiplier.

 

There's some google docs out there in the internet ether that set out the lore around this, along with how they were planning to develop this in future story arcs. I may see if I can find them.

 

FYI - how I would develop this myself if I was writing future content - I would zero in on the character of Pandora and use that to expand on the origins of the CoH 'verse. From the lore, it's hinted that Pandora had a hand in the origins of superpowers somehow, at some point in the distant past. Might be worth an Ouroborus Storyarc to explore... 

 

[cranebump]

Someone who creates powers sounds something like Vogt from The Boys. Of course, that’s a corporation that’s monetized the results. The “why would anyone create/sell powers” is the central question to answer when it comes to designing an org that engages in that. Is it profit? Making the world “safer?” A future version of humanity? Or just plain power and control? Certainly, the discovery of a single element behind all super transformation would be a commodity that would attract all sorts of attention, from powerful individuals to governments. Frankly, I can’t imagine any powerful entity creating Supers without a control mechanism, especially as you’re basically creating Frankenstein's Monster. If I’m doing that, I’m putting in a dead switch, just in case. 

 

Speaking of, that’s a story right there: an organization devoted to a single source of “kryptonite” that takes down all Supers at their (perhaps genetic?) source.

[reisma]

Doctor Vahzilok provides powers for his Eidolons.

 

There's a whole redside arc where the Russians are trying to stop a scientist that gives people superpowers. (Dmitri Krylov)

 

The short answer is that there are several people and groups that can be used to give a character powers.

[Coyotedancer]

Don't forget the various and sundry Demons running around, too. Sonata made a deal with the Wailers for fame and fortune. The Warriors tried summoning the Envoy of Shadows to make a deal for power... We all know what the Circle's history with the demons was all about... There's nothing to say you couldn't be an Abyssal power-broker character. 

 

"Hey, Hero. I could give you a little boost... You know, just a bit of an advantage... to make sure you're up to Saving the World. Payment? Oh, nothing much. Just a bit of your Essence. A year or two of your lifespan.... Small price to pay for what I'm offering, really."

[Nerva]

From what I can tell, there's no one singular source of superpowers in the CoH 'verse.  Even discounting player-canons and the like, there's five Origins (Natural, Science, Technology, Mutation, Magic, and even then, those are just rough categories encompassing a wide variety of actual sources.  A Peacebringer and a Warrior are both Natural origin, but couldn't be more different.  Mu Mystics and Circle of Thorns magi are both Magic origin, but vastly dissimilar.  The Hamidon and a Council Galaxy soldier are both Science origin, but have all but zero similarity otherwise.

 

Given that there's so many different ways to obtain power, there's a number of people who could be, and possibly would be, brokering superpowers to the highest bidder.  Just some examples of groups that super-empower their members that could be written to do this:

• Mentioned by Reisma just above me, Dimitri Krylov has been granting people superpowers.
• Also mentioned by Reisma, unscrupulous wealthy people have paid Dr. Vahzilok to have superpowered body parts grafted onto them, becoming Eidolons.  This is the way Vahzilok makes the money he uses to fund his vile surgical science.
• Arachnos has entire projects - largely overseen by Black Scorpion - dedicated to super-empowering certain soldiers; the Crab Spider project does so through cybernetic implants, while the Mu Mystics teach long-forgotten Mu magic.  Even the Widows and Fortunatas are trained to tap into latent psychic abilities laying dormant in human minds, and the Tarantula project combines full-body cybernetic replacement with psionic potential cultivation to produce psionic cyber-spiders.
• The Tsoo empower their members with enchanted tattoos that, combined with the right martial arts and mystical training, unlock superpowers in their members.  They also deal in a drug called Rage, which has similar effects to Superadyne but interacts very badly with it if you try to combine the two.
• The Freakshow are all abusers of a drug called Excelsior, a hyper-regenerative and immunosuppressant that makes grafting their garage-built cybernetics to their body easy and (relatively) painless.
• Someone is giving superpowers to high-level members of the Family, such as the gravity control powers wielded by Family Consiglieres and the Super Strength demonstrated by Family Underbosses and Capos.
• The Trolls and Skulls engage in the Superadyne trade.
• The Destroyers in Praetoria both use and trade in Superadyne's Praetorian counterpart, Fixadyne.
• The Syndicate in Praetoria train their members in martial arts designed to unlock psychic potential, with their leadership being full-fledge psychics.
• Nosferatu of the Council is always looking to convert more loyal soldiers into Vampyri and Warwolves.
• Arakhn and Requiem of the Council has a vested interest in creating more Galaxy troopers to preserve the Nictus race and further their own goals.
• Dr. Aeon of Cap Au Diable might be interested in super-empowering individuals to test any number of experimental projects
• For that matter, Vernon Von Grun is a possibility as well
• Hellions and Skulls use dark magic to super empower their membership.  Hellions through dealing with demons; Skulls through direct exposure to the Netherworld at the risk of death.
• The Circle of Thorns have been known to sell their services in demonology, as evidenced by Johnny Sonata's story arc in St. Martial.

10 hours ago, Daniel_R said:

Based on the lore left behind by the original Devs, we know that the Well is not the source of superpowers - superpowers, canonically, somehow come from the combined 'potential' of humanity. The Well represents a conduit to a power source external to that - it works as a force-multiplier.

 

There's some google docs out there in the internet ether that set out the lore around this, along with how they were planning to develop this in future story arcs. I may see if I can find them.

 

The way I understand it - and correct me if I'm wrong here - the best way to think of the Well is like... supernatural Kerosene.  You add it to someone who already has superpowers, and their powers get crazy powerful; godlike powerful.  You add it to someone without superpowers but has the potential for them, their superpowers instantly develop to godlike levels.  There's two ways to access the Well; drinking from it directly, which grants a lot of power up-front but basically enslaves you to it, or accessing it indirectly, offering sacrifices of power to it (incarnate components) via an artifact unique to you (obtained in the Incarnate story arc) in exchange for its power, which grants you power slowly but leaves you free willed.  It's definitely got a will of its own and an agenda that involves superpowered beings entering into conflict with one another.

[A Cat]

3 minutes ago, Nerva said:

Someone is giving superpowers to high-level members of the Family, such as the gravity control powers wielded by Family Consiglieres and the Super Strength demonstrated by Family Underbosses and Capos.

Iirc this is done via pure superadyne. The impure stuff they sell to outsiders has the size effect of turning you green a la troll. 

[Lazarillo]

10 hours ago, Daniel_R said:

Based on the lore left behind by the original Devs, we know that the Well is not the source of superpowers - superpowers, canonically, somehow come from the combined 'potential' of humanity. The Well represents a conduit to a power source external to that - it works as a force-multiplier.

The analogy I once heard on the old forums, I think it even came from Positron himself, was along the lines of "The Well is not what made Peter Parker into Spider-man, the Well is the reason you can be bit by a radioactive spider and become Spider-man in the first place."  Prometheus gives a similar explanation of it in the game, IIRC, if you point out to him that you're of Natural origin and he'll comment that, yeah, nice claws you have there, ain't it funny how they're enough for you to go toe-to-toe with a thirty foot mech, or for Kheldians that the Well is the reason you're on Earth and not some other planet, essentially.

 

The Well is the source of superpowers existing at all, but is not (or not necessarily, at least), the reason any given character has superpowers.

[OmegaOne]

5 hours ago, reisma said:

Doctor Vahzilok provides powers for his Eidolons.

Well technically, Dr. Vahz just uses the choicest parts from super powered beings to give his creations powers. So I don't think he's making powers from nothing - more like sewing together parts from already-powered beings and re-using their powers. At least that's from what I can remember.

[OmegaOne]

2 hours ago, A Cat said:

Iirc this is done via pure superadyne. The impure stuff they sell to outsiders has the size effect of turning you green a la troll. 

I think you only turn Troll if you abuse the stuff (which the Trolls do - to a ridiculous degree). If you go whole-hog on the stuff you go all flashy (see: Supa Trolls)!

Edited December 17, 2021 by OmegaOne

[Clave Dark 5]

"Doctor Pumpkingrin was once a mild mannered civilian in Paragon City who wanted to buy a defused pumpkin bomb from Wentworths for his mantle for Halloween.  Turns out he lucked out when a sloppy villain put up an entire power set and typoed the price, selling it for just 2 Inf instead of 2 billions - whoops!"

[reisma]

19 hours ago, OmegaOne said:

Well technically, Dr. Vahz just uses the choicest parts from super powered beings to give his creations powers. So I don't think he's making powers from nothing - more like sewing together parts from already-powered beings and re-using their powers. At least that's from what I can remember.

Taking powers from one person and giving them to another person is still answering the question posed by the OP of "Who can give people super powers."

[OmegaOne]

3 hours ago, reisma said:

Taking powers from one person and giving them to another person is still answering the question posed by the OP of "Who can give people super powers."

True I suppose, but I think I'd rather get bitten by a radioactive animal than let Dr. Vahz near me with a needle and thread.

[Chrono-Bot]

I got an eidolon character. She was like '[censor] me up and give me some of those dark/dark powers' and Vahz was like 'okay so this is some prime hero kidney'

[A Cat]

2 hours ago, Chrono-Bot said:

I got an eidolon character. She was like '[censor] me up and give me some of those dark/dark powers' and Vahz was like 'okay so this is some prime hero kidney'

So that's where the Netherworld is. It's in the kidney.