MutantsRUs and Preferred Origins

[FFFF]

Back in the day, your character's origin sort of mattered. Enhancements you can slot would drop from certain enemies, and if you had a preference, you picked certain origins. Same with the location of enhancement stores. With some stores being strategically close to the tram, a low-level character, often without a travel power, could reach them safely. A few issues later, an origin specific temp power was given to make the low-level experience not as painful. With Homecoming, these anachronisms rarely apply anymore. Origin is basically flavor text at this point.

 

I find that specific origins are generally easier to craft as backgrounds.

 

• Mutants - uh, something spontaneously happened to my body or I was born that way. Easy peasy.
• Technology - I am super smart or knows someone who's super smart and I use a lot of unique toys
• Magic - You're a wizard, Harry! Or some variation of the same.
• Science - Kind of tougher than the previously three because I think you have to either intentionally play around with exotic chemicals or be put into a Frankenstein monster situation, where you're experimented on. Science characters aren't really as spontaneous, and you could argue are more intentionally made.
• Natural - the origin is relatively easy - because of training or natural gifts, you are faster/stronger/tougher than your normal human. The problem becomes justifying scaling. Easy to believe you can bust your local Skulls drug den, and maybe take on the Tsoo with their magic tattoos. However, take on the Rikti or the dwellers of the Shadow Shard? Not quite as believable.

 

Looking at my characters, I find I have the most Mutant origin characters. Their backgrounds are easy, arguably the laziest from a creativity standpoint. They were simply born that way or became that way during adolescence. In some darker-themed backgrounds, a nefarious organization created harsh conditions to trigger a latent mutation (you can somewhat argue this is a science origin instead). Technology origin and Magic origin characters generally look most like what you'd expect. Tech characters sport techy augments (power themed gauntlets, rocket boots, etc.) while magic characters either look like a witch or like a fae who just walked out of the mystic woods.  Natural characters either look a lot like normal civilians or are given a clean, spandex treatment akin to athletic wear.

 

I think the average forum goer here probably spends more time on their background than your average Homecoming player. I know that I construct a simple one even for my throwaway characters. They don't seem complete without one.

[srmalloy]

I think that Mutation and Science have an overlap the others don't innately have; Mutation is supposed to be part of your genetic inheritance, while Science is things done to you after birth, but as you describe, being exposed to something that awakens innate abilities can go either way. But I agree that origin has become more important as the framework for the character background than something fundamental to the character, as the very first concept of the game had it, controlling the number and strength of the abilities your character got.

 

And there's the other ways to blur the lines. I have a character, Machinator Magicus, who comes from an alternate universe loosely like Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos universe, where magic is technology. And it can carry over into costumes, too; I have several fire-based Science and Mutation characters who have rocket boots, dumping high-energy plasma into the thrust chambers on the boots to create the 'rocket' jets. That's what your imagination is for — to take the framework that the game gives you, with origin, powers, and costumes, and flesh it out into a character that's yours, different from all the others. And I think that's one of the things that draws people to CoH — that it gives you more freedom to make each character uniquely yours than other MMOs.

[Yomo Kimyata]

I think my origins go something like:

 

20% mutant -- anything radioactive.  Origin stories include:  was hit by a radioactive bus.

5% technology -- I never really liked this origin because it implies that the hero isn't special, they just have tech.  However, it's really easy to distinguish the gear-like border of tech SOs.

30% magic -- magic shovel, magic flintlock, magic pipe wrench.

10% science --  I usually go with the fouress potion ("Super secret soldier serum")

35% natural -- I was born this way, deal with it.  That includes aliens and most traditional mutant stories.

[biostem]

Most of my characters are magic or tech.  A close second is mutant, followed by natural, with science being a distant 5th.  I find tech or magic far easier to explain away.  To me, "mutant" means you always had that ability/potential, whereas science is some process/accidental exposure that causes the powers.  "Natural" is the toughest, because it already stretches credulity to believe any CoH character could *not* rely on magic, tech, or some other form of enhancement to survive.  The only exception would be that I consider "Natural" to encompass any traits that a character would have due to their species.  So for instance, an alien that can project energy because of their innate characteristics would be natural, and even something like a demon whose abilities are due to their demonic nature, (and not explicitly learned magic/alchemy), would also be natural...

[UltraAlt]

3 hours ago, FFFF said:

With Homecoming, these anachronisms rarely apply anymore. Origin is basically flavor text at this point.

 

It was even happening at before the Sunset.

New characters weren't being sent to their origin contacts any more even at that point.

 

You can still go to your origin contact and run origin missions.

 

 

3 hours ago, FFFF said:

Looking at my characters, I find I have the most Mutant origin characters.

 

I have no idea the percentage breakdown on the origin of my characters.

It's based on character concept.

I keep track of Archetypes, but not Origins ... other than the 5 characters I have trying to follow each of the Origin contact paths on those character.

[pawstruck]

On 10/31/2023 at 11:10 AM, FFFF said:

I think the average forum goer here probably spends more time on their background than your average Homecoming player. I know that I construct a simple one even for my throwaway characters. They don't seem complete without one.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes backstories only for myself. If I have a character with a placeholder name and/or no backstory, they are in danger of being deleted or abandoned because they're not fully made yet. I'll also remake a character that has the wrong origin for their story and powers, too, even if they're a high level. The incongruity would ruin the fantasy for me.

 

I'm gonna stick up for mutants here: Almost everything about us is genetically determined. Great warriors and athletes are admired because of their (genetic) superiority, not despite it, so long as they wield their power nobly. I also like the "my-gift-is-a-curse-and-vice-versa" angle. My main has control over electricity, but also creates electromagnetic fields wherever he goes and has to carefully avoid important technology.

 

My magic guys are usually involved with either angelic or demonic entities somehow. Probably because I believe in them IRL. (comeatmebro.jpg)

 

I think the Kheldians are some of the best writing the original dev team did, and deserve an honorable mention. I even like the void hunters!

Edited November 1, 2023 by pawstruck

[LegionAlpha]

On 10/31/2023 at 11:58 AM, Yomo Kimyata said:

I think my origins go something like:

 

35% natural -- I was born this way, deal with it.  That includes aliens and most traditional mutant stories.

 

Mainly targeted mutants on Earth. 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by LegionAlpha

[blackhand]

I really appreciate the thinking in this thread. I’m very much one to dwell on the origin simply because I want it to make sense for my bio. Mostly, my decisions are pretty similar to the above, but youve given me a few interesting twists I hadnt thought of…like natural being appropriate for other species. 
 

Another thing I enjoy about it is making the origin seemingly an ill fit, until you read the bio. 
 

Like I have a full on robot looking grav/dark troller, magic origin. But if you read the bio, youll see she had minor magic netherworld based gifts until she was killed, became a poltergeist of sorts, found a Clockwork body and started modding herself. 
 

Or I have a stereotypical angel looking claws/willpower scrapper, with techy claws, a targeting drone, caltrops, etc. Mutant. She was just born very strong, tough, and with wings. She gets annoyed actually about the angel thing. 

[Glacier Peak]

The only thing that Origin affects for me when I create a character is the list of titles I can use at Level 1 and 25 (also depends on whether I choose Villain, Vigilante, Hero, or Rogue).

 

Make all titles available to all characters! Down with the Origin gatekeeping! 🙃

[pawstruck]

9 hours ago, blackhand said:

Another thing I enjoy about it is making the origin seemingly an ill fit, until you read the bio. 

 

Whenever I see something like this, I assume people picked the wrong origin or remade the character later, twisting the lore of their own character to try and make it fit. 👽

[TheOtherTed]

In my active stable, I have exactly one Mutant character.  Nothing against the origin, but I literally don't know where to go with it, story-wise.  Usually, I choose a concept first, then go from there, but for my mutant, I did the opposite.  I started with a powerset combo and tried to find a place for it in the game's origin scheme.  Chose Mutant simply because I'd never done so, and it fit well enough.

 

Likewise, I've only ever had two Technology characters.  One was a Mastermind, and I promptly decided I didn't like Masterminds, and the other was an Archery / Devices blaster that I could never get the hang of.  Said character was quickly replaced by a natural origin Archery / Trick Arrow defender.

 

All my other characters have been about evenly split between Natural and Magic origins.  Natural because I relate more to the likes of Batman than to any truly super-powered heroes (yes, he uses tech, but he's basically a normal human with normal flaws putting himself on the line).  Magic because I like to base characters on beings from mythology, religion, folk tales, and the like.  That said, many of my Magic characters "look" natural, in terms of costume, bio, and story lines.

 

I do wish CoH had done more with the origins, but I can see that it's difficult to do without, say, divvying powersets or quest lines specifically based on origin, or forcing origin-themed leaders for TFs and the like.

[Seed22]

I have too many alts to count how many are of one origin. If I had to make a pie chart, it would look something like this:

 

• Magic: 85%
• Science: 5%
• Mutant: 3%
• Technology: 6%
• Natural: 1%

I find most of my magic toons are normal spell caster types who are young adults trying to find their own way in the City. They usually fit into the rogue alignment, as most wouldn't bother with heroics (When there are literally thousands claiming to be heroes, why would they waste their time joining the ranks when they could find a better use of their powers elsewhere and make more money? Plus, they have mystical problems to deal with, leave the mundane, to the mundane.). The other origin characters are usually various other supes or hero/villain types they encounter in their journeys, or, in some cases, the relatives of a certain magic character who themselves weren't gifted with magic but decided to take up the hero mantle since their relative won't do it themselves.

[WumpusRat]

A lot of my current characters are magic origin, as they're D&D characters that were forcibly ported into Paragon and are living here now. Even the classes that aren't inherently magical, like rogue or fighter have the magic origin, because of how they got here, and that they use magical items, etc. 

[Placta]

A quick census of my characters:

 

Magic (13) – 2 magical bloodlines (one with Praetorian and Primal versions), three supernatural beings (fairy, genie, succubus), mage, powers from artifact, powers from magical weapons, learned powers from magical book, gained powers after falling into Netherworld portal, one gained power from experimentaiton on her soul, resurrective immortality

Mutant (5) – Not much to say here, they discovered their powers in puberty like most mutants

Natural (13) – One peacebringer, the rest are just normal people who are good in a fight

Science (11) – Two mad scientists, four other experimental subjects (one by Crey, one by Neuron), one lab accident, two radioactive animal bites (kitten, monkey), prenatal exposure to Terra Volta reactor, warshade

Technology (4) – Android, inventor, nanotech, "god mode" connection with surveillance-scanning AI

 

Multiple/Ambiguous (3):

• Mutant whose powers are deadly and uncontrollable. Must be restrained by technology.
• "The finest minds of GIFT, MAGI, and SERAPH have examined her and concluded that she definitely has powers."
• Isekaied by unknown means which also granted her proficiency with weapons.
• Edit: Technically Teri belongs here because she's a mutant, but her mutation is useless and her powers come from the Kheldian bond.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Placta

[pawstruck]

Very interesting/surprising how many people prefer Natural to Mutant! I just can't suspend my disbelief long enough to watch a "normal guy" go toe to toe with... well, anyone! How the hell do you rationalize surviving even a single burst of rifle fire?

[huang3721]

8 hours ago, pawstruck said:

How the hell do you rationalize surviving even a single burst of rifle fire

 

IMO, it works both ways. My somehow vigilante felled a huge swath of Nerva Spectral Daemons with mere normal bullets. Good old kinetic bullets powered by Newton's law of motion. 

 

Edit

He also did it in a single night. Alone. One should wonder how many bullets he brought (and fired) on that fateful night. 

Edited November 11, 2023 by huang3721
edit

[Sir Myshkin]

Magic. Always Magic.

 

Want to know why? I'll tell you why.

 

Because the Magic Origin SO's are the only ones I can bloody read without needing a cryptographer to tell me which ones are which in an inventory slot since you can clearly see their colors without a ridiculous graphic overlay. I hated the idea of trying to sort through drops to find keeps versus trash, the Magic Origins were just so much easier to identify that I started rolling everything that origin just to make life easier.

 

Yes, eventually Issue 9 came around and introduced Inventions and changed the fact I never looked at another SO again, but habits die hard in my life, so Magic they still get rolled!

 

 

[TheOtherTed]

23 hours ago, pawstruck said:

Very interesting/surprising how many people prefer Natural to Mutant! I just can't suspend my disbelief long enough to watch a "normal guy" go toe to toe with... well, anyone! How the hell do you rationalize surviving even a single burst of rifle fire?

Short answer is that I don't have a good answer.  Maybe ask these guys...

 

That said, I'd guess that most mutations don't confer proof against bullets either.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by TheOtherTed
Fixed link

[DoctorDitko]

Hmmm.

Mine mostly fall into Magic or Tech.

That said, to my mind, Batman and Superman would both be Natural origin, Bruce through training and Clark through being a perfectly normal Kryptonian.

Although Batman does verge on Tech, depending on how far along the Batman <--> Iron Man spectrum he is with his current creative team.

(Batman Beyond? Could make a case either way.)

 

And a pet peeve is Mutants. You don't mutate when exposed to radiation, dammit! You either get sick and die or your DNA is damaged and your kids are the mutants!

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by DoctorDitko
Mighty Marvel Mutant Marketing...

[pawstruck]

On 11/11/2023 at 12:26 PM, TheOtherTed said:

That said, I'd guess that most mutations don't confer proof against bullets either.

 

I have to explain it to myself lol. My main involuntarily puts out an electromagnetic field, reducing kinetic impacts... but yeah, it actually makes me happy that he's not a kitted-out blaster and will still die to gunfire.

 

I guess with incarnates and stuff you could argue that origins are just that - an explanation of original powers - and that the character obtained more along the way, either through the Well or elsewhere. That's a pretty cool idea to me, but I would still write it into my backstory, as I often do my Epic/Patron sets... 🙃

[UltraAlt]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:20 PM, DoctorDitko said:

And a pet peeve is Mutants. You don't mutate when exposed to radiation, dammit! You either get sick and die or your DNA is damaged and your kids are the mutants!

 

"Because DNA is the repository of genetic information in each living cell, its integrity and stability are essential to life. DNA, however, is not inert; rather, it is a chemical entity subject to assault from the environment, and any resulting damage, if not repaired, will lead to mutation and possibly disease. Perhaps the best-known example of the link between environmental-induced DNA damage and disease is that of skin cancer, which can be caused by excessive exposure to UV radiation in the form of sunlight (and, to a lesser degree, tanning beds). Another example is the damage caused by tobacco smoke, which can lead to mutations in lung cells and subsequent cancer of the lung. Beyond environmental agents, DNA is also subject to oxidative damage from byproducts of metabolism, such as free radicals. In fact, it has been estimated that an individual cell can suffer up to one million DNA changes per day (Lodish et al., 2005)." - https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/dna-damage-repair-mechanisms-for-maintaining-dna-344/#:~:text=Because DNA is the repository,to mutation and possibly disease.

 

"Background: For the past 30 y, the incidence rate of malignant melanoma has risen steadily. Ultraviolet radiation exposure has been identified as the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for melanoma. Here, next-generation sequencing was used to analyze the relationship between multiple sun exposure factors and select cancer-related genes to determine the relationship of sun exposure on the molecular profiles of melanomas.

 

Methods: The collection and analysis of study samples were approved by the institutional review board. The patient cohort consisted of 173 patients whose melanoma tissue samples underwent next-generation sequencing analysis for somatic mutations of 50 cancer-related genes. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted.

 

Results: Patients with a history of blistering sunburn had an absolute mutation incidence of 1.67 mutations per patient, compared with patients without a history of blistering sunburn, who had an absolute mutation incidence of 1.16 mutations per patient (P = 0.028). A BRAF mutation was found in more tumors of patients who reported visiting a tanning salon (57.14%), compared with those who had not (18.75%; P = 0.0463). Patients with a previous history of skin cancer were more likely to have a CDKN2A mutation (20.83%), compared with those without a previous history of skin cancer (7.76%; P = 0.0292).

Conclusions: The trends seen in the molecular profiles of melanomas with respect to various sun exposure factors suggest that sun exposure impacts genetic makeup. Considering the increase in absolute mutation incidence in patients with a history of blistering sunburn suggests that additional genes may contribute to the pathology of malignancy. Future studies will use the unique molecular profiles of melanomas to personalize patient treatments." - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32445930/

 

"That melanin forms a protective shield over those cells' nuclei, protecting the vulnerable DNA hidden inside. And your skin darkens, and you get a tan. But that process doesn't begin until after the damage has been done, Ibrahim said. “Tanning is the body's physiological response to DNA mutation.

 

"...“If you look under, say, an electron microscope, it’s absolutely fascinating,” Ibrahim said. “You’ll see the melanocytes are like little spiders that extend out their arms. They make the melanin, which is [a dark, sun-resistant] pigment, and they package them into these little balls, called melanosomes, and they distribute these melanosomes to these 36 keratinocytes.”

When the keratinocytes send out their distress signals — MUTATION! MUTATION! — the melanocytes dump extra melanin into their neighboring cells. That melanin forms a protective shield over those cells’ nuclei, protecting the vulnerable DNA hidden inside. And your skin darkens, and you get a tan.

But that process doesn’t begin until after the damage has been done, Ibrahim said. “Tanning is the body’s physiological response to DNA mutation. So nobody tans unless their skin cells are detecting mutations to DNA,” Ibrahim said." - www.inverse.com

 

A mutation (Section 14.1) is a change in the nucleotide sequence of a short region of a genome (Figure 14.1A). Many mutations are point mutations that replace one nucleotide with another; others involve insertion or deletion of one or a few nucleotides. Mutations result either from errors in DNA replication or from the damaging effects of mutagens, such as chemicals and radiation, which react with DNA and change the structures of individual nucleotides. All cells possess DNA-repair enzymes that attempt to minimize the number of mutations that occur (Section 14.2). These enzymes work in two ways. Some are pre-replicative and search the DNA for nucleotides with unusual structures, these being replaced before replication occurs; others are post-replicative and check newly synthesized DNA for errors, correcting any errors that they find (Figure 14.1B). A possible definition of mutation is therefore a deficiency in DNA repair." - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21114/

 

There were creatures laying eggs long before there were chickens.

If a chicken lays an egg, it is a chicken egg regardless of what mutation may be born from it.

 

I don't know, but I'm pretty convinced that the word "coward" came from "cowherd".

"The cowherd just ran away when a gang of rustlers showed up."

[pawstruck]

10 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

(I Google'd something.)

 

I've seen your posts and always wondered what kind of person writes a sig like yours. (By the way, "most probably"? Ugh.) I'm beginning to understand that there are stratospheric levels of narcissism on the internet beyond what I ever imagined.

 

I'm betting most of us knew that DNA undergoes mutations based on environmental exposures, but were too polite to seize upon that singular point and post a wall of text to hijack the thread.

 

Oof. Feel free to add me to your "you hurt my feelings" list.

[TheOtherTed]

11 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

I don't know, but I'm pretty convinced that the word "coward" came from "cowherd".

Not sure what this has to do with anything, but it was too good not to quote.

 

The whole mutationt thing brings to mind the biblical quote, "With God, all things are possible."  Just substitute "mutation" with "God," and you've nailed how the superhero genre has always treated mutation.  And that's my basic problem with it, and why mutation is always a last-ditch explanation for me.

 

If, however, you can quote a paper describing how a genetic mutation can let you shoot laser beams out of your eyes, or allow you to teleport like Nightcrawler, well, now, that would be something.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by TheOtherTed
Time for coffee. Again.

[Snarky]

I tend to certain themes.  A main one is undead, specifically calling out my main, the vampiest of vampers. 

 

Another theme I have is mutants.  But I tend to need a story behind it.  What caused the mutation?  A bodybuilder using steroids, and cocaine to have the energy for endless workouts.  Then starting experimenting with Rogue Isles pharm like Superadine and Excelsior? Before getting "recruited" into a CREY drug treatment plan.  Where they were experimented on to stabilize the crazy mix of drugs and tech from Vahzilok that CREY stole.  And becoming half dead but unstoppable.  I give you a SS/Will brute and possible origins of Magic, Mutant, Science.  Let's rule out Natural there.

 

Got a robot theme running on a good percent of my characters.  Some that are mech liches.  Take a lich and fuse it with a self repairing robot and you have....fun?

[huang3721]

10 hours ago, TheOtherTed said:

22 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

I don't know, but I'm pretty convinced that the word "coward" came from "cowherd".

Not sure what this has to do with anything, but it was too good not to quote.

 

One quick google search: