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HH

In Reply To
Anime Jason 
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Member Since: Sun Sep 12, 2004
Posts: 2,834
Subj: Re: And that doesn't disturb you?
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 at 05:14:23 am EDT (Viewed 4 times)
Reply Subj: Re: And that doesn't disturb you?
Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 at 01:42:39 pm EDT (Viewed 467 times)



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    Faite is the only exception, because she has a whole myth and legend behind her existence I could get into someday.


Jolly good.


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    It's the cosmic class powers of Lara Night's that are most difficult to find a niche for. The reason why is because anything that would create a serious threat to her most common powers would also be a high priority for the Lair Legion. It's very difficult to find an excuse for them not to get involved. That leaves me with only two options: Either bet on Lara's conscience taking precedence - i.e. the threat is so dangerous to her friends at the LL, she believes she has to take it on herself so they don't get hurt; or she has to rely less on her more prolific abilities, and instead take on things that would require her unique insight (I tried that with Liu Xi and her resistance to insanity).


There are two ways to address this. One by having someone her powers can't work on for some reason, the other by having someone whose powers in no way conflict with her own. I'll address this latter idea below.


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    Incidentally, that's why I like playing with the Hooded Hood - he meets BOTH of those criteria vs Lara Night.


In many ways the Hood meets both the criteria I mentioned just now.


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    Of all of the ones you mentioned though, the most untapped one, I feel, is probably the Psychic Samurai. You can tell in just every one of her appearances that she has some history behind her, a really deep complex story. The tricky part is going into the future and the past at the same time so both are simultaneously uncovered.


High action with flashbacks is a well tested mechanism. Think the Bourne series.


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      I've been encouraging you for some time to generate a world-class villain who's specifically going to clash with these characters, for whom they'd be the first-call heroes.



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    You're right, I do, but as I mentioned above, the tricky part is making this person a threat without them being enough of one to get the attention of the Lair Legion (unless they were, and were taken prisoner).


There are a number of ways to "lodge" a villain where they can't just be instantly taken down. Amongst them:

The DOOM method: the villain has diplomatic immunity as a ruler of a foreign or alien culture

The LUTHOR method: the villain is so rich with such amazing lawyers and corporate/political pull that no charge will stick

The LOKI method: the villain isn't even human, and doesn't have a terrestrial address

The RA'S AL GHUL method: the villain exists in the shadows as a whispered myth. If you see him its because the time has come for you to die.

But looking at the PVB cast and where the unfilled niches are, I'd say that a Xavier-level evil psychic would fit the bill. There was an early PVB villain called Psychic Mastermind who's long since destroyed, but otherwise we've been pretty quiet on the uber-psychic mindwalkers. If the villain could also possess people he could evacuate one body, say a GMY drugord, and be the CEO of New Tommorrow Industries tomorrow and the head of the Cult of Shabba'Dhabba'Dhu the day after. He could have been around for ages in one body after another.

A telepath could be dangerous to your cast because:

Chiaki and he can fight on a psychic level
Yuki and he can play cat and mouse detecting and thwarting his mind-controlled pawns
Liu Xi and Lara are both very powerful but don't automatically have defences against mental illusions, having their fears and secrets exploited, or even mind control (at first).
The price of Anna's unique brain is that it may open her up to the same psychic attacks a human might face.

If you don't want a telepathic entity villain he could also be a virus or a parasite.

I'm suggesting that a could-be-anyone hiding-anwhere loves-pushing-buttons sadistic bastard villain could find a place in the top division without really treading on anybody else's turf.