Your Incarnate Trials

[Sakura Tenshi]

Basically: if you could have designed some Incarnate trials, what would you have made?

I've got a short list with some long descriptions, but in summary, my ideas would be meant to show how mythology interacts with the City of Heroes-verse and give some one-offs/foreshadow later possibilities and give a break from Praetorian based Incarnate content. These trials were:

Also, forgive me if I get some things wrong, my mythology is a little rusty.

1. The Redemption of the Summer Court -
In this trial, the players are contacted by the Goddess Danu herself to free the Tuatha De Dannan and Fir Bolg from the curse the Red Caps put them under.  The first phase would involve dual bosses, the trick being that you need to stop their armies from fighting eachother (don't have a complete idea how) and ultimately take down the Tuatha and Fir Bolg champion and force them to break their ages old Rivalry. But having none of it are the Red Caps who begin a ritual to break the veils between the physical world and Unseelie Court, aided by the mutual nemesis of the Tuatha and Fir Bolg; The Fomorians led by a raised Balor himself, and shockingly, the Red Caps are supported by the Invisible Queen herself, The Morrigan. After some fierce battles I hadn't quite fleshed out, involving working on casting a ritual to help cure the afflicted fey and fend off the attackers, the ritual is ultimately disrupted, but it turns out what Danu had wanted was the Fir Bolg and Tuatha to work together which breaks the curse, and all together, the Red Caps and their Allies are driven back, but for why The Morrigan would help them? She claims her reasons are hers and hers alone. (spoiler: to make sure the players, fir bolg, and tuatha face a strong enough challenge to unite them and grow stronger from it to face the coming storm. Plus as a partial war goddess, she couldn't help but poke her nose into such a great battle among her people.) (Metawise: I didn't think even empowered Redcaps and Fomorians would feel like a sufficient challenge)

2. The Journey of the Sun -
The Gods of Egypt have called the Incarnates to help with an important task: Ra has gone missing before his nightly journey to guide the sun through the Underworld and it's believed to be the work of of the minions of Apep the Great Serpent. With Set, the players must escort the sun and fend off Apep and his minions through the underworld and find the wayward sun god to restore the order of the cosmos.

3. The Challenge of Valhalla -
A boisterous Odin issues a challenge to the Incarnates, that if they are truly such great warriors and heroes, they will have no problems battling his strongest warriors in his halls to prove their mettle. In this trial players square off against Viking heroes of legend and a few lore heroes brought before Odin to help prepare his army for Ragnarok (possibly including a battle with Atlas himself), but in the middle of the fight, the armies of Loki have amassed and begun their attack on the plains of Folkvangr. Ragnarok has begun, and now the Trialgoers must face off against the End of the World itself, the Gods of Asgard strangely absent from the fight. When at last one confronts Loki, he continually makes cryptic references to this having happened before, even regularly and frustrated "father still refuses to face me!"

At the end it turns out Ragnarok has been an ongoing battle for CENTURIES and the All-Father has tricked the Trialgoers into being the latest of many to stall Loki and delay the inevitable forever, though he congratulates the players on their survival of the battle, but smugly notes as much as any of them resent him, they will probably help again since Loki's victory means the end of the world. "And none of us are keen on that after you fought a war that sacrificed one world to save your own."

Admittedly, all of these are way more hero oriented, and a few might work better as epic story-arcs like Who Will Die though. Still, I kind of like the idea of rubbing shoulders with the higher powers.

[Doc Artz]

Here's what I found in my old photos and COH news releases. Yes I kept everything but I'm open to correction:
Issue 19 included the first part of the new endgame changes referred to as the "Incarnate system," as well as an Ouroboros task force that unlocks an "Alpha Slot" on Level 50 Characters. Two difficult task forces were added for characters who had gained their Alpha Slots. Other changes included Zone events in all Praetoria city maps, opening Praetoria to levels past 20, merging subways/ferries to include all destinations (across same alignment only), power animations, increased tip mission drops, mission architect enhancements, hazard zone badges, and making the Fitness Power Pool inherent to all characters. I believe the final issue of COH, was released on May 31, 2012. On August 31, 2012, "Where Shadows Lie".
Issue 20 further expanded on the Incarnate system introduced in Issue 19. It also introduced "leagues," massive teams of characters that could involve up to 48 different characters at a time, for anything from Rikti Mother ship raids to costume contests. It introduced the Behavioral Adjustment Facility and Lambda Sector trials in Praetoria for Incarnate characters, and gave Heroes a new level 20-40 task force, and Villains a new level 20-40 strike force. Players could also sign up for incarnate trials from anywhere in the cities.
Issue 21 was the first free expansion under the City of Heroes: Freedom program. It added the First Ward zone to the Going Rogue exclusive game content, which included a new Giant Monster and a new Incarnate trial. A new Time Manipulation Power Set was also released, although only for VIP subscribers, as well as new costume options. In addition to these, the expansion created a new co-op tutorial for all players which would determine whether the player's character was a Hero or a Villain (similar to the Going Rogue tutorial).
Issue 22 re-launched the Dark Astoria zone as an Incarnate Co-op Zone. The first zone of its kind in City of Heroes, Level 50+ characters could gain Incarnate XP to unlock slots while fighting solo or in teams in normal missions (whereas before, Incarnate XP was only gained by participating in trials with League play). Further additions included a new Incarnate Trial (Dilemma Diabolique), new power sets (Beast Mastery and Darkness Control) available from the Paragon Market or free to VIPs, and a new Trial (Drowning in Blood) for Level 15+. Also of note, starting with this release Statesman had been removed as a living contact/NPC in City of Heroes after the cliffhanger of the "Who Will Die?" Signature Series player arc was revealed in January.
Issue 23 ended the Praetorian War, following the deaths of signature characters Statesman and Sister Psyche, with Emperor Cole trying to destroy the dimensions and take over Primal Earth. This also introduced the new co-op area of Night Ward where various new mystical enemy forces were gathering.
Issue 24 was to bring an epilogue to the Praetorian War storyline, with Praetorian Earth and Galaxy City evacuated because of the loss to Hamidon and several characters from other affected areas moving to Primal Earth and other parts of Paragon City to rebuild after the chaos. Heroes would help integrate and rebuild, while Villains would take the opportunity to invade Praetoria to become the new emperor. NCSoft cancelled any further development for the City of Heroes project on August 31, 2012, halting the release of Issue 24 to the beta and live servers.