Rikti Epic Archetype (very dated idea)

[megaericzero]

tldr version: Rikti EAT plagiarized from VEATs but I'm not seriously suggesting it

 

--

 

I was going through some older stuff and stumbled across this idea that a much younger me had. We're talking circa 2008. After dusting it off and touching up some details, it looks ...

 

That said, my heart's not in it anymore but it would be a shame for this much work to not see the light of day. It could make for an interesting discussion at least.

 

--

 

Costumes

Being a very "Can I copy your homework?" / "Sure, just make sure to change a few things" with the VEATS, the first costume slot is locked into being an actual Rikti, with a low-level story mission allowing you to acquire a normal costume slot disguising yourself as a human or however you want to spin it. In a world where spaghetti code wasn't an issue, any costumes in slots 2-10 could be either Rikti or not (and port that tech backwards to VEAT characters for their Arachnos uniforms). As I understand it, though, duct tape solutions on the part of the old live devs are exactly why that isn't already a thing.

 

For model choices, we have:

• Light Armor (for minions like Conscript, Guardian, etc.)
• Heavy Armor (for officers, with different shoulder pads and helmets to go between Mentalist, Chief Soldier, and Magus)
• Ceremonial Armor (for Priests, negotiators, etc.)

And, of course, these can be recolored.

(Headman Gunman armor was excluded because the permanent gun hand may cause clipping issues. You could custom model it with two regular hands, if anything. Heavy Assault Suit will be available as a power below.)

 

The costume also comes with a weapon - the Rikti gun-rifle. The kind that was given to them after their visual update, as opposed to the old sword-only or rifle-only weapon models.

 

Alignment & Story

Something that would set this EAT apart from HEATs and VEATs is the ability to start as either a hero or villain. Each side would have its own contact to fulfill the epic (as in story) portion of being an Epic Archetype. Story was never the biggest draw for me so I'll leave people more passionate about that area to decide out how that plays out. The low-hanging fruit here would probably be hero Rikti starting as traditionalists working to improve relations with Earth and getting roped-up in Paragon City's conflicts while villain Rikti are restructurists who want to exploit the social and political gap between the two worlds.

 

Powers

Powers, on the other hand, are of interest to me. So onward to the meat of the suggestion: how the Rikti archetype functions!
(This is going to look weird so bear with me.)

 

The Rikti primary set is Rikti Weapon but comes with only two powers:

	Rikti Rifle	(Ranged) Foe High Damage (Energy), Chance to Disorient
	Rikti Sword	(Melee) Foe Moderate Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Knockdown

 

The Rikti secondary set is Rikti Armor and also comes with only two powers:

	Rikti Armor	[Auto] Self +Resistance (Smashing, Lethal, Energy, Recharge)
	Rikti Training	[Auto] Self +Resistance (Psionic), +Protection (Confuse, Fear, Sleep)

(When this was originally thought-up, this would mean you'd have to take all four powers. Nowadays, I believe you can skip either one primary or one secondary as pools start opening up?)

 

Now for the method to the madness:
Instead of having "All the Powers" like HEATs or branched roles like VEATs, Rikti have access to specialization pools. At four powers each (this idea was conceived before all pools had a fifth), characters can choose their specialties piecemeal. Each build is limited to four specialization pools, similar to (but not counting against) regular pools. This fills in the space that full primary and secondary sets would.

 

The specialization pools do not have pre-requisites like normal power pools; only minimum level requirements. The exact levels themselves are arbitrary but I'd feel bad for giving the pools access to notably good powers before the actual sets they come from (eg: Regeneration Aura), so maybe thresholds at 6, 12, 20, and 30?

 

The Rikti pools and their powers are:

 

Soldier

	Blade Slice	(Melee Cone) Foe Moderate Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Disorient
	Blade Eviscerate	(Melee) Foe High Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Disorient
	Blade Swing	(Melee) Foe High Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Knockdown, Chance to Disorient
	Blade Carve	(Melee Cone) Foe High Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Disorient

 

Headman

	Plasma Volley	(Ranged Cone) Foe Moderate Damage (Smashing, Energy), Knockback
	Aim	Self +Tohit, +Damage
	Plasma Snipe	(Snipe) Foe Superior Damage (Smashing, Energy), Knockback
	Plasma Burst	(Ranged AOE) Foe Moderate Damage (Smashing, Energy), Chance to Knockback

* These powers would use the sword-rifle weapon model since we didn't include the Headman Gunman model

Mentalist

	Mental Blast	(Ranged) Foe High Damage (Psionic), -Recharge
	Mesmerize	(Ranged) Foe Moderate Damage (Psionic), Sleep
	Dominate	(Ranged) Foe Moderate Damage (Psionic), Hold
	Mass Hypnosis	(Ranged AOE) Foe Sleep

Magus

	Lightning Bolt	(Ranged) Foe High Damage (Energy), -Endurance, -Recovery; Self Chance for +Endurance
	Block of Ice	(Ranged) Moderate Damage (Cold), Hold, -Recharge, -Speed
	Fire Ball	(Ranged AOE) Foe Moderate Damage (Smashing, Heat), Minor Damage-over-Time (Heat)
	Stalagmites	(Ranged AOE) Foe Minor Damage (Lethal), Disorient, -Defense (All)

Guardian

	Protection Shield	(Ranged AOE) Ally +Defense (Smashing, Lethal, Heat, Cold, Energy, Negative)
	Radiation Emission	(PBAOE) Ally/Self Heal
	Accelerate Metabolism	(PBAOE) Ally/Self +Damage, +Recovery, +Recharge, +Speed, +Resistance (Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Sleep)
	Call Drones	(Ranged) Summon Pets (Rikti Drone x2)

 

Rikti Drone

Fly	[Auto] Self +Fly
Resistance	[Auto] Self +Defense (Melee, Ranged), +Resistance (Smashing, Heat, Cold, Energy, Negative, Psionic), +Protection (Sleep, Fear)
Drone Blast	(Ranged) Foe High Damage (Energy), Chance to Knockdown
Despawn	[Delayed (240s)] Self Dismiss

 

Communications Officer

	Transponder	(Location) Summon Henchmen (Rikti Soldier x1-3)
	Scan Target	(Ranged) Foe -Resistance (All), -Defense (All); Self +Special (see target's Combat Attributes)
	Rikti Monkey Swarm	(Ranged) Summon Pets (Rikti Monkey x10)
	Teleport Bomb	(Location) Summon Pseudopet (Rikti Bomb)

 

Rikti Soldier

Rikti Rifle	(Ranged) Foe Moderate Damage (Energy), Chance to Knockback, Chance to Disorient
Rikti Sword	(Melee) Foe Moderate Damage (Lethal, Energy), Chance to Knockback, Chance to Disorient
Resistance	[Auto] Self +Resistance (Smashing, Lethal, Energy, Psionic, Confuse, Fear, Sleep)

* Rikti Soldiers are treated as henchmen - they can be given commands and the number summoned varies by level. To avoid undermining Masterminds, their thresholds for headcount are 6 (when you can pick up the power), 16, and 26. They don't have upgrades but, given the slew of powers you can take for support and for yourself as well as the ability to micromanage them, hopefully that balances things out.

 

Rikti Monkey

Monkey Brawl	(Melee) Foe Minor Damage (Smashing)
Psychic Dart	(Ranged) Foe Minor Damage (Psionic), -Recharge
Gas	[On Defeat] (PBAOE) Minor Damage-over-Time (Toxic)
Monkey Jumping	[Auto] Self +Jump, +Speed
Despawn	[Delayed (240s)] Self Dismiss

 

Rikti Bomb

Nuclear Blast	(PBAOE) Foe Superior Damage (Smashing, Energy), Minor Damage-over-Time (Heat), -Recovery; Self Defeat
Immobilize	[Auto] Self Immobilize

 

Priest

	Transfusion	(Ranged) Foe -Endurance, -Regen; (Ranged AOE) Ally/Self Heal
	Siphon Power	(Ranged) Foe -Damage; (PBAOE) Ally/Self +Damage
	Total Domination	(Ranged AOE) Foe Hold
	Regeneration Aura	(PBAOE) Ally/Self +Regeneration

Heavy Assault Suit

	Laser Lance	(Ranged) Foe Moderate Damage (Energy), -Defense
	Sweeping Laser	(Ranged Cone) Foe Moderate Damage (Energy), -Defense
	Fusion Explosion	(Ranged AOE) Foe Minor Damage (Energy), Minor Damage-over-Time (Energy), -Resistance (All), -Regeneration
	Fusion Overload	(PBAOE) Foe High Damage (Energy), Minor Damage-over-Time (Energy), -Resistance (All), -Regeneration

 

Armored Exoskeleton

[Toggle] Self Transform, +Max HP, +Resistance (Smashing, Lethal, Heat, Cold, Energy, Negative, Toxic, Psionic), +Fly, +Protection (Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Sleep)

* The Heavy Assault Suit is treated as a transformation similar to HEAT nova and dwarf forms. However, a power pick is not needed for the transformation and no powers are granted by it. Instead, the transformation power is unlocked by taking any of the powers from the HVAS pool. While active, the character gains flight, additional damage resistance, barebones mez protection, and increased max health but is locked into using the powers from that pool.

 

To tie it all together, the Rikti inherent power is Adept (or whatever synonym isn't too corny). Through the power of sharing knowledge via Rikti psionics, mastering general skills is easy. In your hands, pool powers use secondary set modifiers instead of pool modifiers, making them more potent. This allows a Rikti character to pick powers that will fill their chosen role(s) more completely, acting in place of traditional secondary powers.

 

Want to be more of a melee archetype? Take Fighting and Presence; the higher numbers on your pool powers mean Tough is your standard smashing-lethal shield. Support? Medicine or Leadership. Damage? Force of Will got you covered.

 

Some pool powers might require custom house rules to not be broken (good or bad). I can see Hasten having higher base values being way too good. On the other hand, it's not like Hasten has a direct primary/secondary equivalent so you could argue it wouldn't be boosted since it's not necessarily nerfed with pool values to start with. Similarly, Burnout wouldn't be of any benefit since your only recharging powers as a Rikti would be the level 0 rifle and sword attack but, with Rikti pools being a custom thing in the first place, they could feasibly be coded as primary/secondary sets instead of pools/ancillaries similar to VEAT branches. SCR applies, of course.

 

And - because someone will probably ask to tack this on - potentially Rikti patron pools to round things out. This part I don't have fleshed-out but perhaps based on the four horsemen from the Lady Grey task force; giving dark (Death), electric (Famine), poison/radiation (Pestilence), and [generic teamwork powers but not overlapping leadership] (War). Each set potentially giving a toggled AOE debuff (Cloak of Fear, Conductive Aura, Radiation Infection?, [still not sure what to give War]) that can be used even while in the HVAS, given the characters they're based on.

 

Alternatively, patron pools based on other big-name Rikti like Lord of War for better armor for those who want to fully tank, Dragon for fire damage to DPS harder, and Master at Arms for calling in more pets/AOEs?

 

--

 

And that about does it for this suggestion. For unanswered questions like why pacifists in the traditionalist faction would go into combat on heroside or how things would play out if you're a Rikti character doing the RWZ arcs... I dunno. Never got that far. Sounds like something you would want to write in to the EAT contact or RP in yourself as a player.

 

The whole idea is honestly null in the face of rolling a character to RP as a human-disguised/transformed Rikti. Especially with the prismatic aether costumes. As I said at the beginning: just throwing this out in case it makes for a fun discussion.

 

Oh, and before I forget: #powercreep

[kelika2]

ill only get behind this if there is a series of rikti defector missions where they start at level 1 to level 20ish to maybe continue the incarnate missions where not-statesman takes over as position of statesman and something something space invaders chasing the wells location

[Saiyajinzoningen]

Wouldnt a Blaster / Beam Rifle / Ninja Training / Teleport / Psi Mastery

give you most of what you need for a Rikti *cough, clone* err homage character?

[megaericzero]

2 hours ago, Saiyajinzoningen said:

Wouldnt a Blaster / Beam Rifle / Ninja Training / Teleport / Psi Mastery

give you most of what you need for a Rikti *cough, clone* err homage character?

 

Oh totally.

Broad Sword / Willpower Scrapper/Tanker/Brute; Radiation Emission / Beam Rifle Def or Corr; Ice or Earth Control / Elec Assault / Fire Mastery Dom...

[TheZag]

Its an interesting take on what the rikti AT could be.  I would also like to see rikti as a AT and not just a vanity costume.  It probably couldnt ship as is though since you would be starved for power choices and then have like 8 choices open at once only to be stuck choosing the first power from several rikti pools or avoid getting locked down by getting locked down into the regular pools.  Im sure the devs could build it into what it needs for balance and progression if they wanted and if the game engine doesnt freak out when a character has 8 pool power sets.

 

[Rudra]

15 minutes ago, TheZag said:

Its an interesting take on what the rikti AT could be.  I would also like to see rikti as a AT and not just a vanity costume.  It probably couldnt ship as is though since you would be starved for power choices and then have like 8 choices open at once only to be stuck choosing the first power from several rikti pools or avoid getting locked down by getting locked down into the regular pools.  Im sure the devs could build it into what it needs for balance and progression if they wanted and if the game engine doesnt freak out when a character has 8 pool power sets.

 

Or? The proposed Rikti AT could work like the Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows of Arachnos. Wolf Spiders as mobs have a very limited selection of powers available to them. Crab Spiders and Bane Spiders as mobs even more so. And yet the SoA AT is full of options for players to make their characters with. Whether they want to stay a Wolf Spider, go Bane Spider, go Crab Spider, or go hybrid Wolf-Bane Spider or Wolf-Crab Spider. (Personally, I loved how my hybrid Wolf-Bane Spider worked back on Live. And eventually I'll be recreating that character on HC.)

 

(Edit: So like, start as a basic Rikti, at 24 you can go Mentalist or Soldier, gaining access to either the Mentalist (lieutenant and boss) options or the Soldier (Headman and Chief Soldier) options. However, I would cut out Rikti Monkey, Rikti Drone, Rikti Heavy Assault Suit, Rikti Communications Officer, and Rikti Magus.)

Edited September 11, 2023 by Rudra

[TheZag]

8 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Or? The proposed Rikti AT could work like the Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows of Arachnos. Wolf Spiders as mobs have a very limited selection of powers available to them. Crab Spiders and Bane Spiders as mobs even more so. And yet the SoA AT is full of options for players to make their characters with. Whether they want to stay a Wolf Spider, go Bane Spider, go Crab Spider, or go hybrid Wolf-Bane Spider or Wolf-Crab Spider. (Personally, I loved how my hybrid Wolf-Bane Spider worked back on Live. And eventually I'll be recreating that character on HC.)

 

(Edit: So like, start as a basic Rikti, at 24 you can go Mentalist or Soldier, gaining access to either the Mentalist (lieutenant and boss) options or the Soldier (Headman and Chief Soldier) options. However, I would cut out Rikti Monkey, Rikti Drone, Rikti Heavy Assault Suit, Rikti Communications Officer, and Rikti Magus.)

 

I never got around to actually suggesting my version of the rikti AT,  but it would have been pretty much that.  Start out as an infantry or guardian and at 24 you could become gunman or chief soldier from the infantry path and the guardian path would lead to magus/mentalist/priest.

 

The original suggestion is nice in that it would be unique to what is already available in epic AT progression.  And while unique progression isnt required for a new epic AT,  this one has the foundation to build upon that could be both new and familiar at the same time.

 

[Rudra]

43 minutes ago, TheZag said:

 

I never got around to actually suggesting my version of the rikti AT,  but it would have been pretty much that.  Start out as an infantry or guardian and at 24 you could become gunman or chief soldier from the infantry path and the guardian path would lead to magus/mentalist/priest.

 

The original suggestion is nice in that it would be unique to what is already available in epic AT progression.  And while unique progression isnt required for a new epic AT,  this one has the foundation to build upon that could be both new and familiar at the same time.

 

Want to make it even lore aligned or weirder? Have the AT start the player as a Lost. At level 12 or 15, you can go either Headman and Pariah route. At level 24, if you stayed regular Lost, you can go Rikti (grunt). If you went Headman, you can go Rikti Soldier (gaining access to basic Rikti attacks as well as Headman and Chief Soldier attacks). If you went Pariah, you can go Rikti Mentalist (as described previously).

 

Or to keep the insanity simple? The player starts as a Lost with access to lieutenant tier attacks as well. Then at 24, you go Rikti, either the Soldier tree or the Mentalist tree.

 

Previous suggestion would be a homeworld Rikti. The character would be a Traditionalist if blue side aligned and a Restructurist if red side aligned. This would have absolutely no mechanical effect. It would however, explain why you can talk to either Traditionalist or Restructurist contacts like other PCs without the contact trying to blow your head off. (So it is just the Hero/Villain alignment.) The version in this post would be a Primal Earth Rikti, like how most of the Restructurists are. However, some are in the Traditionalist ranks as well, so no harm no foul for a PC Rikti starting and progressing this way. (And since the Traditionalists have the flaw of not allowing former Primal Earth humans into their upper most command structure, it makes sense that they remain in the field interacting with other PCs.)

 

(Edit: Yes, the Lost option would require the PC first slot costume model to be replaced with an appropriate Rikti model at level 24, so this is not an approach I recommend. At all. It is just a bit of insanity I couldn't keep to myself.)

Edited September 11, 2023 by Rudra

[megaericzero]

Ooh! I hadn't thought about starting the player as a Lost.

If you go that route, you could have the first costume slot be human and have them unlock the Rikti slot when branching.

 

You could also have the EAT story's first mission be a flash forward in the style of those solo-only, personal-story missions both to frame their eventual Rikti conversion and to preview powers from the branches. Have the mission sidekick the player to 24, put an auto power to change their model to a Rikti grunt, and give them branch/pool powers in the system tray like the Cole mission in Dark Astoria. You could even rerun the mission at the branching level without the story buffs so the character can play it again as a current event, realized as a fully-transformed Rikti.

 

16 hours ago, TheZag said:

It probably couldnt ship as is though since you would be starved for power choices and then have like 8 choices open at once only to be stuck choosing the first power from several rikti pools or avoid getting locked down by getting locked down into the regular pools.

 

That was semi-intentional both because the archetype (the version in the OP) was meant to blur the line - incorporating pool powers in place of a secondary set - and because ignoring [normal] pools would require you to pick multiple branches, hashing out your specializations while still having you take bread-and-butter powers (as most start with basic attacks). If that isn't fun, we can alter or remove the level requirements. My fear is giving higher tier-type powers at too low a level or lower than a normal archetype who specializes in whatever the power does. At the same time, I don't want to force investment in the Rikti pools via prerequisites as they're meant to be more freeform like Kheldians.

[Rudra]

Another random thought (so brace for it):

 

If the REAT is to be made, how it fits into the story needs to be addressed. Simplest solution? Actually depends on how the AT itself is implemented. I'm sorry @megaericzero, but I have absolutely no idea how to work with the OP, so this is going to gloss over all that.

 

So, first option, the REAT starts the game as a Rikti option. This is @megaericzero's OP and my SOA style branching option. In all cases, the new Rikti character is a... fledgling(? What the hell do you call a starting Rikti other than just Rikti?) that is being assigned to work in the field with either Hero Corps/Vanguard to build trust with humans on behalf of the Traditionalists, or with Arachnos on behalf of the Restructurists. In either case, the starting contact explains the expectations and guidelines under which the new Rikti PC will be operating under in the field. As the character hits key level triggers, most likely every 5th level like the SOAs/WOAs, they either get a new mission/arc from the starting contact to progress the trust building/infiltration mission, or is handed off to a new contact to do same. Specifics of those missions? I don't have a clue at this time. The problem with this approach is the character would by necessity be locked into a set career progression path. You start red side? Your only available missions are red side. You start blue side? Your only available missions are blue side. You are a Traditionalist or a Restructurist, even if you go to the other side. The other contacts just won't talk to you. The other problem with this option? It doesn't explain why your character would even be able to participate in a Mothership Raid.

 

Second option, the REAT starts the game as a Rikti or a Lost. Again, the character is whatever you call a starting Rikti, except this time the PC has been recruited by Hero Corps/Vanguard or Arachnos. Using Vanguard in this case makes the rest of this much simpler since Vanguard works with both sides. You still start hero side or villain side, except your starting contact is a Vanguard operative who explains your role and gives your first mission(s). You are a recruited Rikti providing information to Vanguard. Either the Traditionalists or the Restructurists sent you to the appropriate zone to start gathering information, either for future cooperative ventures with the humans for the Traditionalists or for future dominance for the Restructurists. That part is moot anyway, just background. This explains why the PC Rikti/Lost is able to do all the same missions as the other PCs instead of just being locked into a Rikti only game. In this case, you can change sides without losing access to contacts, because the contacts at each trigger level give the same (aside from minor differences) missions. And the only missions I can see coming from the Rikti is your specialization mission, so most of your missions would be Vanguard missions. Aside from that, the bulk of the missions would be against the opposing Rikti side, gathering information and disrupting particularly dangerous plans, ostensibly for the Rikti faction you are part of, but mostly for Vanguard.

 

Third option, the REAT starts the game as a Rikti or a Lost, and functions near identical to the second option. Except your starting contact is a Rikti like the first option. The main story line I see for this would be that as you progress in levels and do more non-Rikti missions for non-Rikti contacts, the Rikti start trusting you less. This concern would first manifest at level 25 after you have undergone full Riktification if a Lost, or chosen your specialization branch if a Rikti at start. Why would this happen? Because lets face it, running around involving yourself in all the garbage humans do to each other in the game will start manifesting itself in some decidedly anti-Rikti thought. We see this in several Rikti missions, two of which I can remember from the RWZ right now. So starting at level 30 or 35, you lose access to your Rikti story contacts, and pick up Vanguard contacts, who work with you like they do with those Rikti you see in the Vanguard missions or the Cure the Lost arc. This opens the character up to several possible reasons why they would participate in say a Mothership Raid. It also does not preclude access to contacts like the Restructurist in GV who would view you as basically just another Primal due to your anti-Rikti thought, though it would add dialogue to his missions about you and your breaking off from Rikti thought.

 

The advantage of any of the provided story options is it gives a plausible reason for a Rikti character to be running around doing existing content while still giving a reason why the REAT would be able to grow and specialize as a Rikti character.

 

Edit again: Problems I have yet to figure out: How does the REAT do the Cure the Lost arc or the Join the Midnighters arcs (for at least the blue side version)?

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Rudra
Edited to corect "At" to "AT" and "be" to "by". And again to add missing "by", correct "to" to "you", and add "so most of your missions would be Vanguard missions".

[Ashington]

Sounds like an awesome Idea.

 

But honestly...I think most people would play this archetype so they could cosplay as Stargate Jaffa

 

[megaericzero]

3 hours ago, Rudra said:

I'm sorry @megaericzero, but I have absolutely no idea how to work with the OP, so this is going to gloss over all that.

 

No need to apologize. I like to see your guys' takes on the idea. Cook it however you want.

 

2 hours ago, Ashington said:

Sounds like an awesome Idea.

 

But honestly...I think most people would play this archetype so they could cosplay as Stargate Jaffa

 

How did I not see that coming? I'm all for it!