Final Monologue: A Villain's Journey (Thread Moved to Adult, Link on Post 450)

[Eric_Moser]

I’m giving my brain a couple of days off to focus on work, but soon I’ll jump back into designing the bar scene. It will be very different than the old version. I want to see what choices people would most like to see available in your first venture into the den of villainy and scum.

Meeting Putty Queen will happen regardless but it’s not like you have to spend all night talking to her, unless you want to.

Things That Can Happen in a Supervillain Bar (Pick your 2 Favorites)

• Flirt with other patrons (+Romance)
• Get into a bar fight/throw your weight around (+Legend Points)
• Get hired as a Peon/Helper (+Funds)
• Trade stories with other rookie villains (+Knowledge)
• Find a Healer (+Health)
• Spend more time with PQ (+Potential Allies)

[GEPGUN]

Influence is the meter where you’re more about throwing your weight around, gaining respect, ‘becoming a player’ eventually

I do understand the general concept, but my question lies wherein what exactly would, for example, someone trying to conquer the world be seeking. It’s obviously not political change and justice. For example, gaining funds would just be becoming rich, which isn’t exactly very Dr. Doom. When i say “take over the world”, i mean the classic, cliche, campy “I am going to literally conquer the entire world” - like in Evil Genius, where your final objective sees you literally take over the world.

Obviously, if “Take over the world” won’t be an option for a villainous goal, that’d be the answer, but it seems like a pretty obvious, standard villainous objective.

[Eric_Moser]

I can’t imagine it not being a goal. As you said, it’s a pretty standard expectation. At the start, you’re flailing around, getting your feet wet (and maybe even taking Peon work), but yeah as the story progresses I could see your MC being able to pursue more elaborate schemes for sure.

There are probably too many possible ‘world domination’ schemes to list out. I mean, everyone posting here could probably rattle a dozen ideas off the top of their heads. It will be a challenge whittling all the ideas down to what I can actually execute.

[GEPGUN]

I’d reckon you could probably whittle it down a few basic ideas, but it’d depend on how much you want, since each origin could do some pretty interesting stuff.

For example, an “Experimentation” villain could create an army of genetic supersoldiers. A Tech villain could create an superweapon. Of course, there’s also the more ‘fits-all’ way of just declaring you’re the big boss and destroying anyone who tries to stop you.

[Eric_Moser]

I can always count on you fine folks to give me feedback.

From looking at the poll, no effort would be wasted in writing any of those bar scene options (if I do a healing option, I’m sure it will be fairly brief, so not a huge deal).

I remember some players indicating that they didn’t want to ‘hang out with Putty and her friends’ all night, so I am definitely listening to those responses and making this a wider, branchier scene, with more to explore and all of the replayability that entails.

I don’t have a set date for the next update, but Labor Day weekend here in the US ends on September 5th, so I am hoping to get more content done by that point. We’ll see!

[Eric_Moser]

Okay it’s 9:45 and the house is quiet, meaning that all of the other inhabitants of the household are still dozing, so my goal is to crank out 2k words of the bar scene before I have lunch. It seems very doable. I’ll report back at noon with progress.

[Eric_Moser]

Pending Move to Adult Section

I am realizing that some upcoming content is going to be viewed as inappropriate for the main forum.

That, I believe, means that I will need to move Final Monologue over to the Adult Section and that only folks with forum accounts would be able to access the game. I will have to ‘kill’ the current Dashingdon link and establish a new link, one that would not be posted on the public space.

I’m throwing this out there so no one is surprised if/when this happens.

For example, the moment I include any of the below, it needs to move to Adult:

First, to be clear, we consider any explicit sex, rape, incest, sexual violence, violence against children or disabled people, torture, or sadistic violence to be mature content. Games which contain these or similar topics should only be posted in the Adult Content categories.

Now, I do NOT intend on including any sexual violence or stuff like that, but there will be some sex, some intense violence, and very few people (kids, helpless victims, elderly/disabled) will be safe from danger. Basically, I anticipate a level up to and including shows like The Boys and Invincible. So yeah this seems like something I should go ahead and do with the next update. I know this probably means fewer eyes on the game, but I totally understand why the rules are necessary.

I have never written anything that pushes the boundaries into the Adult Category, so this is all new for me too.

Edited to add: I got my 2k words in! I forget to post. But my wife is taking a nap and my kiddos are going out with friends, so why not go for another 1k?

[Eric_Moser]

Things are progressing well and I’m already looking ahead to the next scene, so I wanted to ask you fine folks about your archenemy’s possible power set. It’s POLL TIME again!

Your archenemy in Final Monologue will have some customizable features (gender/personality traits), but their powers will need to be set to make this workable for me to code. The powers I finally decide to use must fit a few requirements:

1. Allow for awesome fights against your MC, while keeping conflicts fresh and interesting, so basically a flexible power set.

2. Could logically grow in potency as you and your archenemy “rise through the ranks” on your respective journeys.

3. Be different than any power set available to your MC.

4. Conceivably match with any Origin.

Here are a few ideas that I think meet these requirements. Which are your 2 favorites?

• Light Constructs (sorta like Green Lantern)
• Elasticity (sorta like Ms. Marvel)
• Air Control (sorta like Red Tornado)
• Self-Duplication (sorta like Multiple Man)
• Time Control (sorta like Booster Gold…but with actual time control powers)

And if you have your own suggestion, comment away.

[Kungoru]

I like the idea of Light Constructs+Self-duplication combo. You can make it so the clones of our arch-enemy are also Light Constructs. It can mean that they only have only 1 power but I don’t think its a bad thing. The fact that we are still getting different personality traits could not make me more happy, I can’t wait to see how they will clash with our Villain!

[Belias02]

If the Elasticy power is like the power of Plastic Man then the antagonist is going to be weak to cold like him, which would be a weakness that Villians with the Cold generation power set could exploit, So maybe you should put another option.

[majinmike]

Out of the choices I would choose Light Constructs simply because of how versatile and powerful it can be at low level you could create simple tools at the highest level you have Green Lantern shenanigans they occasionally pull off, but if there were no choices.
I would choose a simple Flying Brick powerset with some type of energy projection. It is easy to write for, its a classic powerset and you can easily showcase it getting stronger. It also pretty much matches any type of superhero origin.

[Eric_Moser]

@Kungoru I am pumped to get to the scene too. Yeah I mean I could go nuts with Light Constructs, there are probably hundreds of power stunts the AE could whip out over the decades.

@Belias02 I think I could probably write around that, it’s not something as obvious as fire versus ice, but thanks for pointing it out!

@majinmike I thought about ‘flying brick’ and it’s still in contention, but I fear it could get boring to write. But…it could create a Metroman versus Megamind dynamic where the MC always seems like the underdog, which IMO is a very good thing for a narrative.

[GEPGUN]

Personally, i feel like i’d prefer a flying brick given my character is an non-flying brick. I mean, different powers are interesting and all, but it’s always fun to have an clash between two unearthly forces.

Air control seems cool, i suppose, but I personally feel like villains and heroes are better when their powers have contrast. So an alien hero who got their powers through inheritance contrasts with a villain who got theirs through self experimentation.

[Kungoru]

Eh I don’t know about that. I personally can think a lot of ways our Villain can use most of their powers such as Cold Control, Size Control etc. and how these power can evolve in the future. I think its already been decided that both our Villain and their Arch-Enemy will start from the bottom and work their way to the top so having a Flying Brick rival can be underwhelming, I think. Like how will they evolve later down the line - punch harder, fly faster.? Not saying its a bad idea, I just think it wont really fit in this sort of game.

[Eric_Moser]

I might toss the brick into a subsequent poll once I narrow down what other power sets people are leaning toward. But yeah @Kungoru although I agree it could be tougher to display how a flying brick evolves, I concede that it’s possible. I could add ‘stunts’ like the classics ‘hand clap shockwave’ or ‘ground pound’ and stuff like that later in the story. Or maybe the Brick can’t fly at all at first…that would be quite the upgrade for later!

Shit. They can fly now?

And I do think there’s some validity to making a clear contrast between AE and MC, with Flying Brick probably a good choice for that contrast (although Size Control MCs who level up their Might would have some overlap).

[Not_the_Homelander]

Are you planning on certain power sets/backstories influencing our dialogue options like if were getting swarmed by police and our backstory is alien we can say something like “Sigh when will these insects learn.”

[GEPGUN]

There’s less obvious revolution, yes, but a battle between two super strong people sounds way more interesting to me than a battle between someone just using light constructs. There’s a reason why green lantern fights are way less memorable than stuff like superman. And powers like being elastic just straight up make the battles silly.

Obviously, if you just make it generic punching it’ll be boring, but the point is that it’ll feel way more like a clash between tittans in the later parts of the game when we’re powerful than just a battle between two powered weirdos.

[Eric_Moser]

Okay, NEW poll to fine tune things. I’m removing the lowest-ranked options but adding Flying Brick to the mix. Let’s see how it fare against Light Constructs and Time Travel. I’m not saying I will definitely go with the winner, but if the results are clear, the winning option would definitely be the favorite.

Just vote for ONE! This poll will close on Friday.

• Light Constructs (sorta like Green Lantern)
• Flying Brick (sorta like Superman)
• Time Control (sorta like Booster Gold…with actual time control powers)

[KZV]

To me there is something more personal about the ‘flying brick’ type of hero, because you’re going to be engaged with them personally in every fight. They’ll take all the hits, they’ll throw all the punches, you’ll be dealing directly with them instead of punching your way through light constructs or whatever.

[Eric_Moser]

That’s a great point. I agree that intimacy is important to the narrative. Regardless of the power set picked, I’ll have to make sure to bring your MC and the AE in close physical proximity. A lot. It can’t be battle of the Pew Pew Pews!

I’m talking grappling.

All the heavy breathing.

Maybe some sweating.

But only the pervy MCs would want the AE to break out the ‘light construct’ chains and stuff. Umm this could go in unexpected directions. This Adult Category move is so freeing.