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Author Topic: How do you select Legionnaires for a team?
Candlelight
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[sigh]

I actually like groupings of the same power, sometimes, depending on the situation.
For example, Garth diverting lightning blasts from Mekt to a grounded tower of some sort while Ayla directs lightning from herself, augmented by the tower energy, at a small fleet of technos advancing on the civilians; or Mysa and Glorith doing different parts of a spell to create a finihed defense or attack of some sort.

Although, in the new poll, I DID try to come up with a power rounded team
Leadership styles and abilities were also factors.

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Invisible Brainiac
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quote:
Originally posted by Not-So-Bad Lad:
On a note related to the Espionage Squad, I always wanted to see a Goodwill/Diplomat Legionnaire core consisting of Tenzil, Nura, and Chuck. They'd still be active Legionnaires, and they'd still see action, but their primary goal would be conflict resolution as backed representatives of the U.P. . You can't tell me that the idea of Matter-Eater Lad going all Kissinger on the Brain-Globes of Rambat doesn't at least bring a grin to your face. [Smile]

This sounds like an awesome idea that could make for some awesome stories!

For that matter, why couldn't the Legionnaires have different "specialties" of study - some would specialize in first contacts, others negotiations, maybe different languages, and so on.

Then when forming a team, consider sending a mix of experts and newer members interested in that area (along with considering powers, of course).

Example - storms on Winath. Besides native Ayla, maybe send along Nura (who dabbles in meteorology) and Jan (who's interested in further studying disaster management).

Or honor guard for RJ Brande while he negotiates with, say, Elia - send Reep (who's been studying the Dominator language) and Gates (who wants to learn it), alongside Imra (experienced negotiator) and Monstress (who wants to specialize in it).

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From: Wouldn't you like to know? | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
razsolo
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It's interesting looking at the way different people handle this question....Paul Levitz seems to have his definite favourite characters he relies on constantly, and other characters who are there for a specific reason and not really used otherwise. Glorith and Shrinking Violet for example have barely been used at all in the latest series, but you get the impression that there are specific stories just waiting for them to shine in...

Other writers choose powers that will be suitable for a specific mission, or a balance of power types..

My first priority when I am writing teams is to pick characters who will suit the current and long-term plot/subplots, or whose character development I can advance through the plot...a lot of the time I will base a whole adventure around spotlighting a couple of characters and/or furthering character development.

Second priority would be to pick characters who will have a moment to shine by doing something that they are uniquely suited to doing even if it's not necessary for the plot (eg: including Shadow Lass in a fight with the Emerald Eye because blanketing the Eye in darkness is an unusually effective use of her power)

Last on the list I guess is making for what I hope will be interesting/unusual group dynamics, and throwing in one or two characters that don't get much exposure. For my fanfic series I keep a list of how many times each Legionnaire has appeared in an instalment and I always try to make sure someone from the bottom ten is included in any mission...

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Invisible Brainiac
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quote:
Originally posted by razsolo:
For my fanfic series I keep a list of how many times each Legionnaire has appeared in an instalment and I always try to make sure someone from the bottom ten is included in any mission...

Two thumbs up! Wish all comics writers would do the same thing.

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Loss: How does the galaxy cope w/o the Postboot Legion?

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Set
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One thing I've noticed recently while tooling around with my old fics and considering new ones is that I spend more time choosing Legionnaires based on personality than I do on powers (which totally contradicts what I said upthread!).

The Legion has a lot of 'alpha' personalities.

Drake, Dreamy, Cos and Brainy (and some interpretations of Brek and Projectra/Sensor) all seem to think that they know best, in any given situation, and, while less likely to attempt to take over a situation (or challenge leadership), characters like Garth, Violet, Dawnstar, Shady and Brin are prone to do whatever the hell they wanted to do anyway, while others, like Jan, Imra, Tinya and Val, seem consummate 'team players,' and Gim and Jo and Invisible Jacques seem more like 'good soldiers' who do what they are told and are less likely to seize the initiative or resist instructions.

Playing with established relationships (Mon and Jo's friendship, or Ayla and Violet's romantic relationship) is one fun factor, but it's also fun to pick Legionnaires based off of personalities or character pairings that *don't* get much screentime, like Ayla and Dawnstar or Timber Wolf and Element Lad, just to see how their interactions play out and if there's anything new to learn by seeing how they mesh with people they don't normally hang out with.

It's also fun to throw preferences to the wind, such as assembling a team of Tellus, Quislet, Matter-Eater Lad, Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, just as a challenge!

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razsolo
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quote:
Originally posted by Set:
Playing with established relationships (Mon and Jo's friendship, or Ayla and Violet's romantic relationship) is one fun factor, but it's also fun to pick Legionnaires based off of personalities or character pairings that *don't* get much screentime, like Ayla and Dawnstar or Timber Wolf and Element Lad, just to see how their interactions play out and if there's anything new to learn by seeing how they mesh with people they don't normally hang out with.

I wish we saw more of this in the book...it's good to see established relationships in the spotlight, but I think you can sometimes learn more about how characters work by throwing in the proverbial odd couple every now and then - back during that bland Durlan storyline from the last series, I liked seeing Shadow Lass and Dream Girl take on one of the Durlans together because I don't think I've ever seen them really interact in any meaningful way. They're similar in that they have very passive powers and kickass fighting skills, but personality-wise they are very different.

Star Boy and Comet Queen would be another interesting match, their personalities are at opposite ends of the spectrum, but she pretty much copied Thom's origin story for her own so I'd be interested seeing what he thinks about that.

Shrinking Violet and Glorith would be another interesting pair...Vi was in Glorith's shoes as the meek one of the team for ages, I wonder how they would get along with one another?

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Set
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quote:
Originally posted by razsolo: I wish we saw more of this in the book...it's good to see established relationships in the spotlight, but I think you can sometimes learn more about how characters work by throwing in the proverbial odd couple every now and then - back during that bland Durlan storyline from the last series, I liked seeing Shadow Lass and Dream Girl take on one of the Durlans together because I don't think I've ever seen them really interact in any meaningful way. They're similar in that they have very passive powers and kickass fighting skills, but personality-wise they are very different.
Agreed. I mean, how much really is there to learn from seeing Drake and Dawny interacting with each other? I feel like we learned more about Drake from his interactions with the Legion Academy students, and that we'd learn more about Dawny if she interacted with pretty much anyone else, ever.

Breaking up couples (as recently happened with Mon and Shady) seems artificial and 'cheap,' but Tinya, Jo, Mon, Shady, Thom and Dirk have demonstrated that it is entirely possible to have relationships and *still* also have friendships outside of those relationships.

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He Who Wanders
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Interesting thoughts, Set.

Years ago, I created a series that never went anywhere, but it featured two characters with identical powers--just to see how their different personalities would handle the powers.

I think one thing that gets lost in super-hero comics is that readers want characters they can relate to (and characters relating to each other is half the fun). The super-powers can be almost anything. It's the personalities and relationships that will keep readers coming back.

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Set
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quote:
Originally posted by He Who Wanders: Years ago, I created a series that never went anywhere, but it featured two characters with identical powers--just to see how their different personalities would handle the powers.

Yeah, that's a neat concept, and one that comics kind of end up doing every time they introduce a villain with Superman's powers or an 'evil Batman' type character, showcasing someone with pretty much the same powers, but a very different personality.

If Geoff Johns, who is not exactly my favorite writer ever, can manage to write dozens of distinctive characters who all have basically the ability to generate colored light constructs from their magic rings, I'm sure that a Garth and Ayla teamup (just to name one example) could function just fine, based on the very different personalities of those two.

quote:
I think one thing that gets lost in super-hero comics is that readers want characters they can relate to (and characters relating to each other is half the fun). The super-powers can be almost anything. It's the personalities and relationships that will keep readers coming back.
Agreed. Spider Man and Wolverine aren't exactly powerhouses, and they remain very popular, because of their characterization and their interactions with others.
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