Archetypal Beginnings

Heroes

• Blaster: The perfect hero to keep at the back of a group, where he can deal plenty of damage from afar. Just don’t let enemies get too close because his defenses are weak, at least at the beginning. Some players like to build up their blasters’ melee skills, leading to the nickname “blapper” (a blaster who acts more like a scrapper).
• Controller: Few offensive attacks and the lowest starting hit point total of any hero archetype, and yet you should fear her, because she can freeze you, put you to sleep, or even turn you against your allies. She’ll need her teammates for protection, though.
• Defender: His role is to restore teammates’ health while diminishing enemies’ abilities. When he must attack, he should do so from a distance.
• Scrapper: You’ll find these heroes on the front lines of every battle, ready to go toe-to-toe with the enemy. She deals plenty of damage that way, but she’s nearly helpless against long-distance foes.
• Tanker: He differs from the scrapper in his high hit point total. He can absorb plenty of damage, making him perfect for taking the focus off teammates while they formulate a battle plan.
• Peacebringer: Available only to characters at 50th level or higher, Peacebringers are the result of merging an energy-based alien called a Kheldian and a willing host (your character). While they come with a low hit point total, Peacebringers have strong defensive powers and can fly. Eventually, they even learn how to shape-shift.
• Warshade: Some Kheldians become Nictus, which feed off life energy. A Warshade is a Nictus who has changed his ways and found a willing host in your character. His defense isn’t strong, but he uses Dark Energy in his attacks and can teleport. Like the Peacebringer, he can learn how to shape-shift.

Villains

• Corruptor: Like the heroes’ blaster archetype, corruptors’ role is to stay back and throw ranged attacks at their enemies. In this case, those attacks draw from the forces of the universe, allowing a corrupter to, for example, infect his target with radiation. As the enemy weakens, a corruptor’s Scourge ability allows him to do damage in inverse proportion to the target’s hit point loss.
• Dominator: She doesn’t have much defensive abilities, but a dominator can infect enemies’ minds, causing them to freeze, become unconscious, or run away. When necessary, she can launch ranged attacks too.
• Mastermind: Ever desire to run your own ninja crew or build an army of killer robots? If so, this archetype is for you. Masterminds possess few hit points, but the minions they control deal serious damage on their behalf.
• Brute: He likes nothing more than a good fight. The more he’s attacked, the angrier he gets, which increases his blows’ damage. If he’s not careful, though, he’ll run out of endurance.
• Stalker: Her ability to sneak through enemy areas undetected and deal deadly damage with ambush attacks gives this archetype the ability to work a battle’s periphery, looking for opportunities to disrupt ranged attacks. She’s also perfect for scouting missions.
• Arachnos Soldier: At level 50, you can join the Arachnos army and eventually become a Bane Spider, which mixes stealth with melee attacks, or a Crab Spider, who has access to several powerful weapons.
• Arachnos Widow: The other epic archetype available to villains at 50th level or higher, the Arachnos Widow begins his career as a Blood Widow, who has well-rounded abilities. Eventually, he can become a Night Widow, which focuses on strong melee strikes at the expense of ranged attacks, or a Fortunata, which comes with a variety of powerful mental attacks.

Located in Rhode Island, Paragon City started as a collection of villages and evolved into a bustling port by the start of the Civil War. After the 1929 stock market crash, however, the ensuing economic turmoil led to the rise of organized crime in the city. Two years later, a World War I veteran named Marcus Cole returned from his travels abroad imbued with superpowers whose origin remain a mystery to this day. Under the name Statesman, he took on Paragon’s criminal element and founded Freedom Phalanx, which was comprised of other early superheroes, including the enigmatic Dark Watcher.

Paragon’s Citizen Crime Fighting Act of 1937 legalized vigilantism, as long as heroes abided by the same rules as police officers, and soon others joined the fight against crime. It wasn’t long, however, before they were countered by villains, many of whom were operating from the Rogue Isles, a chain near Bermuda with a long history of turning a blind eye to illegal activity. Originally settled in the 18th century, the Rogue Isles were a haven for pirates until a volcanic eruption in 1833 broke the main island, Grandville, into four separate ones. The islands became mired in squalor, making them the perfect refuge for villains driven from Paragon City by the Freedom Phalanx.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor while Germany’s super-powered soldiers, Storm Korps, struck Paragon City, where military equipment was staged before being shipped to England. The Freedom Phalanx subsequently joined forces with England’s Dawn Patrol to fight the Axis powers abroad while back home a new group, the 1st Hero Brigade, began its training. They were soon forced to contend with the 5th Column, an army of super-powered German soldiers who had been in hiding since the Storm Korps attack. The 1st Hero Brigade beat back the 5th Column, but it remained in America and often emerged from seclusion to wreak more havoc.

During World War II, the Rogue Isles declared neutrality but leaned toward the Allies’ side, occasionally halfheartedly fighting 5th Column members hiding in its own territory. The islands’ puppet government, however, was secretly under the control of Lord Recluse, who staged a military coup in the 1950s. His organization, Arachnos, took control of the Rogue Isles and invited villains to openly operate there. He runs the islands today, turning a blind eye to criminal activity as long as it doesn’t interfere with his plans and the perpetrators pay their “taxes.”

The Era of Supervillains and Alien Invaders

The post-World War II years saw ever-increasing amounts of supervillain activity in Paragon City and throughout the United States. The war had just ended when Nemesis and his robot army attacked Washington, D.C. and almost kidnapped President Truman, who was saved by a superhero with teleportation powers. The ensuing battle shook the streets of the nation’s capital and ended with Nemesis defeated but in hiding. The fight became known as the first of the supervillain age.

As the Cold War began its long deep freeze, heroes in the United States were not immune to suspicions that they might not be patriotic enough. The Might for Right Act, passed by Congress in 1956, declared that any hero could be forced to assist the U.S. government for any reason, at any time. Many were drafted into battles against the Soviet Union’s superheroes. In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional, but even after that decision, heroes often came to their country’s aid when asked.

The end of the Cold War brought with it the unrestricted freedom of the former Soviet Union’s heroes. In 1993, some of them formed a new organization, Valiant Defenders of the Motherland, after receiving advice from Statesman, who attended their ribbon-cutting ceremony. Also in attendance was Rebecca Foss, one of the richest women in England and an entrepreneur who was inspired by the sight of street vendors selling Valiant Defenders t-shirts. She started Hero Corps, a company that sells its superhero services and consults with governments around the world. Its methods attract controversy, but Hero Corps now runs more than 100 franchise locations around the world.

In May 2002, a new threat confronted the world’s heroes when interdimensional portals opened around the globe, allowing alien invaders to attack. The Rikti War lasted six months and devastated much of the Earth, including Paragon City, which was reduced to ruins by the end. The world’s heroes ended the war after discovering that the Rikti were constantly bringing in reinforcements via hidden portals. One team of heroes staged a massive diversionary attack against the aliens, allowing a second smaller team to infiltrate the main Rikti portal and destroy it, shutting down all conduits between their world and Earth. Only one member of the second team, the invulnerable Ajax, survived.

Today, Paragon City has been partially rebuilt but is still besieged by criminals and lingering Rikti. Meanwhile, Lord Recluse operates from the Rogue Isles, orchestrating unknown plans. Both locations need the help of heroes and villains.

He Hits One to Deep Left Field... A hero deals a blow to one of the Devouring Earth’s rock troops.

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