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SlendidSuit Freelance Worrywart from Probably a Pub Since: Oct, 2011
Freelance Worrywart
#1: Jul 9th 2012 at 2:46:32 AM

I'm in the process of plotting out the first story arc of a comic series I've come up with, mostly revolving around a small group of super-powered individuals that hunt monsters in Tripoli during the Third Crusade.
The first story is a sort of murder mystery thing, where the team leader is trying to figure out what happened to his predecessor. My first intended reveal is that *gasp* the former leader murdered himself!

The idea is that he's swapped bodies with someone else and murdered his old one, and is staging a series of murders around the city for... something.

And it's here that my plot starts to wind down. I have this vague idea that I want the villain to use the same tech to possess a large mass of people at once, but I'm not really sure why he'd do it yet, or what motivations to give him. In all honesty, he's currently a bit of a non-character.

So A. Does this idea suck and B. would anybody be willing to help me brainstorm out some more plot or give me advice?
Any and all help/natter appreciated.

Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb.
Natasel Since: Nov, 2010
#2: Jul 9th 2012 at 4:15:15 AM

The Villain wants a world where everyone is his puppet.

The old guy found out but the villain found out too, the old guy had to throw off the trail and arranged to be "murdered" at the hands of the villain's lackeys but was badass enough to leave no survivors.

The murder was supposed to be a quiet affair but even the old guy couldn't make it go too smoothly (suspicions would have been raised) leaving your new guy with this strange circumstance.

The old guy is still running silent, trying to uncover more about the Villain's plan but might be tempted to highjack the plan instead of stop it.

The new guy gets hints of something amiss and investigation is getting more and more dangerous. At first it was just a little stone walling from officals. Then permits to hunt are revoked. HQ is mysteriously burned. A friend gets "robbed" fatally. All in all, its very unwelcome and hints that leaving town is a good idea.

However, the old guy is covertly helping the new guy, last minute rescue, annonymous clues, the works, in order to use the new guy as a smoke screen for his own move when the time is right.

Add a sultry love interest, a pure hearted sweet heart pining for him, the pressure of having to pay rent, religious conflicts between various groups (the new guy may or may not be part of), the specter of war (and perhaps the reason why the villain needs the slave spell) descriptions of cheap, bad food, a hobby that may inclued love interests in various positions and its your basic noir story.

PS, try to make a police officer say "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship" at the conclusion for tradition's sake.

Merlanthe Since: Dec, 2011
#3: Jul 9th 2012 at 5:08:27 PM

Did the new guy get sent to take charge because the previous leader was murdered or did he get sent to take charge becasue maybe the previosu leader was under suspicion of being corrupted in a he who hunts monsters eventually becomes a monster kinda way?

Or maybe your protagonost is a new guy on the team but not the replacement leader. He was there a couple weeks before the 'nice leader' died and decides to take matters into his own hands and investigate the death because the newly arrived replacement leader doesnt seem as concerned with the mystery and isnt anywhere near as likeable as the guy hes replacing. Maybe the new leader hasnt seen a monster up close before so doesnt understand the risks and such involved in hunting them. Maybe he doesnt believe in actual monsters and thinks the team is just hunting the standard human variety of monster only to get a nasty shock when he comes face to face with one later on.

Over the course of the investigation the replacement team leader dies because he discovered soemthing incriminating amongst the old leaders private writings which leads to a clue in the mystery. Your protagonist could end up being made leader after successfully solving the case.

Merlanthe Since: Dec, 2011
#4: Jul 9th 2012 at 5:23:33 PM

As for your villains motivations maybe he was about to be forced into retirement and was a little bitter about it after all the years hes dedicate dot monster hunting and now they just want him to retire when hes got more than enough fight left in him for decades to come.

Maybe he wants to swap bodies in order to escape punishment for a crime he was culpable in but has yet to be brought to light. He suspected someone had discovered his crime and took steps to protect himself by having that person suffer an accident but realsied it wouldnt be long before others figured out his culpability so took steps to ensure that the finger of blame would never be pointed at him. His death could even have been an attempt to frame someone else for his crime.

Maybe the bad guys recruited him to their side by offering something he wants desperately? It couldnt be something as base as wealth, not after all the years hes been willingly fighting monsters for little reward. Maybe power since lately he maybe began to feel powerless in the 'whats the point we fight them but they just keep coming' kinda way so he accepts a deal for power with a monster with the idea that he can use it in his fight against the monsters but ends up slowly being corrupted into a monster.

Maybe it could tie into why he became a monster hunter. He lost someone he loved dearly because of a monster and became a hunter as a form of revenge but now the very same monster responsible for his loss has reappeared and offered him a deal. Help with his evil plan and he will restore the lost loved one to life. Or maybe he has a loved one who is tragically ill and he agrees to help the bad guys cause they have a cure.

You could probably combine all of the above. His wife was killed by monsters leading to him becoming a hunter but now his beloved daughter who is the spit of her ma is deathly ill and the bad guys have a cure but only if he helps them in their evil plot only now the power he has been granted from making a deal with the bad guys is corrupting him.

These are all random suggestions of course but hopefully they help inspire you

Merlanthe Since: Dec, 2011
#5: Jul 9th 2012 at 5:39:34 PM

Or maybe his original body wasnt his original body to begin with!

He could have been one of the bad guys who hid from the guys hunting him by jumping into one of them, a new recruit maybe, and murdering his previous self. He then hides in plain sight for years slowly advancing through the ranks til he becomes leader all the while secretly feeding info to the nemy or some other scret crime.

Eventually he realsies that others might be becoming suspicious so fakes his own death once again by swapping bodies.

he could have spent centuries body hopping and never dying because as soon as his body gets old he swaps it for a younger version. Maybe he was enjoying his role as a monster hunter and swapped to the bad guys side because an old acquaintance who knew the truth appeared and blackmailed him into joining their evil plot. Eventually someone becomes suspicious that he is feeding info to the enemy so he fakes his own murder and swaps bodies again to escape and ends up joining the bad guys in a more permanet fashion simply because his attempt to flee the country was prevented by his old acquaintance tracking him down and insisting on his serving him if he wants to continue living.

Maybe the evil guy knows how to kill him permamently and for all the years hes lived the guy is terrified of death. But maybe he could feel sadness or regret over having to betray his old comrades which cause him to purposefully leave clues lying around the old office about the bad guy and his evil plans hoping that they would be discovered by his replacement but not intending for his own death to be discovered as fake.

How does his body hopping work anyhow? Does the previous body die when he leaves it or does he just take temporary control whilst he inhabits it? Does the owner remember what they did when under his control or end up with a spot of short term memory loss? Does he use this ability before faking his own murder or is it a well kept secret or an ability he only recently gained maybe as a deal with the devil kinda tihng?

Merlanthe Since: Dec, 2011
#6: Jul 9th 2012 at 5:40:16 PM

Sorry for all the posts but your story idea seems to have really inspired me :P

SlendidSuit Freelance Worrywart from Probably a Pub Since: Oct, 2011
Freelance Worrywart
#7: Jul 10th 2012 at 2:15:36 AM

I really like that last idea. It's something I can really work with.
Thanks for the suggestions [lol]

Gimme yer lunch money, dweeb.
Merlanthe Since: Dec, 2011
#8: Jul 10th 2012 at 5:16:11 PM

Just thought of a really good reason why he would want to posses lotsa people all at once.

The bad guys need an army to enact their plan, or maybe just to keep the good guys occupied whilst they enact their evil plan, but are small in number because of the good guys hunting them for years. Possesing crowds of people provides them with an army, one that the good gusy will have trouble fighting as the army is not comprised of monsters but possessed civilians, the very people the hunters are supposed to protect so they would be very reluctant to caus enay lasting harm.

Hope thats helpful.

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