The Changing Arc of E-VAC II (v.2.0)

When I originally created E2, my intent was for him to start out in a really bad situation that would slowly get better. He would start out with new powers out of control and learn to control them. He would start out having lost Jen and get her back. He would start out angry, frustrated, depressed, and scared of his friends; and he would learn to deal with it and come to accept them as they are now.

I blame the auras.

Let me explain: If it was up to me, E2 would've shown up with an aura to show how radioactive he was. And his powers would've progressed almost backwards from the order they rank, going from the blatant and unfocused down to the single targets. All to show his progress and focus.

But the game doesn't work that way. "Okay," I'm thinking. "Slight adjustment." I'll get an aura at 30, so what I need is more of a downward-pointing arc. Instead of starting at the bottom and climbing up, I'll start E low, let him sink lower, peak at 30ish with the aura, and then he can start climbing out of that hole.

Best-laid plans and all that. I had set out with the idea that E was eventually going to get better. He'd learn to control his new powers (or get rid of them when we were ready to "re-roll"), get his life back in order, and E2 would have a happy ending.

But somewhere in the 30s, it started to become painfully obvious to me that E wasn't going to get better. Between the story the players were telling, the one CoH runs you through, and the power progression... it didn't make sense that E was going to get better. The happy ending kept getting pushed farther and farther away, and although I kept telling myself that I could find a way to make it work, there's only so far I feel comfortable pushing believability.

And like I mentioned earlier, I don't think I'd want to do another version of E anyway. I want to branch out a bit, preferably without having to put the character through hell in order to explain new powers. E is already broken enough. He's earned his retirement.

Is he going to die? Maybe. I don't write endings. I let them happen. I can think of a few ways that E might come out alive, including a couple ways that would pave the road for the next team. But it'd just be so I could continue to play the existing versions (I hate to think I might have to delete one level 50 character, let alone two). Alive or dead, Jason Pace will not be a part of Team 3.0...

...well, 95% sure. I mean, nothing's set in stone yet... :)