[Hero Concept] PAPERBOY | Roaming, Speedy, Read All About It! (UPDATE IN COMMENTS)

[leiandroid]

the new york oracle's best: PAPERBOY !!

no numbers because i'm not good at that stuff, i just have a lot of ideas :~)

i am more than welcoming to people who want to toss numbers around for this kid's abilities, and i'm open to suggestions !!

 

[ziz4030]

this game needs lots of these types of team supports and characters with vehicle movement to give some actual options against deathball

you really do need a hero whose job it is to deny the enemy push, this also does it in a way where the hero makes traps but it isnt like techies,

the bike and letters is also super version of singed even more than infernus dash.

a ghost rider type dude with warios motorcycle from smash as an ult where he throws it at people after dismounting would slap.

 

[FrostyTurtle]

Awesome concept, great art too.

 

[leiandroid]

this game needs lots of these types of team supports and characters with vehicle movement to give some actual options against deathball

you really do need a hero whose job it is to deny the enemy push, this also does it in a way where the hero makes traps but it isnt like techies,

the bike and letters is also super version of singed even more than infernus dash.

a ghost rider type dude with warios motorcycle from smash as an ult where he throws it at people after dismounting would slap.

i agree ! now that i'm looking at his kit again, i think he'd make a great roaming/ganking support with his ability to bike from lane to lane.

yeah, i was thinking the paper trail sort of acted as some sort of area denial. maybe enemies are slowed as they pass through it. the damage shouldn't be negligent or over the top, but be a hindrance to some degree.

 

[leiandroid]

Awesome concept, great art too.

thanks, appreciate it !

 

[ziz4030]

i agree ! now that i'm looking at his kit again, i think he'd make a great roaming/ganking support with his ability to bike from lane to lane.

yeah, i was thinking the paper trail sort of acted as some sort of area denial. maybe enemies are slowed as they pass through it. the damage shouldn't be negligent or over the top, but be a hindrance to some degree.

allies should get speed for going through

 

[Salmanach]

Seems simple could pair nicely with tipical for support items.

 

[NeutralDrift]

I feel like this Concept Feels much more fitting in Deadlock, the New York Related ideas and consistent Time frame and Much as well a needed fresh comedic character,I like the movement ideas as it Seems like a good escape method and a good push method !

 

[top145nykanen]

Glad to see other people liking/suggesting this kind of character concept as well. Paperboy gang!


And you were right, this aligns SCARILY well with my Johnny-concept. Great minds think alike, I guess. ^^

 

[damn.abraham]

Nice artwork!

Gameplay:

For his ult, I'd make it so he can grenade lob like 3-5ish newspaper "bombs" to act like he's delivering the paper!

Art/Lore:
There was a similar one on the sub-reddit but as a Ixian "Abrams Jr." but your abilities are way more fun. Honestly? As a mash-up of the two and for lore reasons I'd make the kid an Ixian and a fan of Abrams for his detective work within their neighborhood. Maybe make his wish to be like a detective like Abrams to add to his naivety as a kid. Sorta like a Batman and Robin.

 

[leiandroid]

Nice artwork!

Gameplay:

For his ult, I'd make it so he can grenade lob like 3-5ish newspaper "bombs" to act like he's delivering the paper!

Art/Lore:
There was a similar one on the sub-reddit but as a Ixian "Abrams Jr." but your abilities are way more fun. Honestly? As a mash-up of the two and for lore reasons I'd make the kid an Ixian and a fan of Abrams for his detective work within their neighborhood. Maybe make his wish to be like a detective like Abrams to add to his naivety as a kid. Sorta like a Batman and Robin.

wait.....looking up to abrams is actually a really cute idea :')

i did actually consider making him an ixian at first ! with the little gag that he delivers kind of burned papers. and his ult would have dealt a little burn damage bc the stack is "hot" off the press, but i settled on human in the end.

 

[TF2refugee]

really cool. his personality also kind of reminds me of Pit from Kid Icarus. If I could suggest anything, it would be for him to be a control mage and focus on CC since he's probably not meant to be that physically strong. It sort of makes sense.

• Paper Trail could leave a cloud of papers for about 5 seconds which slows enemies down and makes them inaccurate while they're in the area, similar to Doorman's bell. A tier 3 upgrade could make them more vulnerable to damage in general while they're affected.
• Bicycle Route could make enemies spin in circles for a moment if he collides with them, but the paperboy himself should probably keep moving to be able to hit more enemies and use Paper Trail in the meantime. The damage from crashing into them could scale with gun to allow for an aggressive hit and run type gun build.
• Breaking News could make enemies slowly walk away or in a random direction after being hit and spawn stars above their heads, maybe you could even give him charges with an upgrade, and maybe it should scale with spirit.
• Not sure if his ult is meant to be used from a distance or in melee range but it could still also give him a fire rate buff.

All in all, this would mean his gameplay would be something like: rush in with his ult and immediately cast Bicycle Route. Crash into as many enemies as possible. Leave Paper Trail on the entire area while they're still spinning. Get far enough from the enemies. Cast Breaking News on different enemies to keep them stunned within the cloud for as long as possible while your team shoots at them or just focus all your 1 charges on a single enemy for more damage. Finish them off with his gun. Get racially slurred at by the mad enemies. Honestly I HOPE to be able to play this.

 

[leiandroid]

really cool. his personality also kind of reminds me of Pit from Kid Icarus. If I could suggest anything, it would be for him to be a control mage and focus on CC since he's probably not meant to be that physically strong. It sort of makes sense.

• Paper Trail could leave a cloud of papers for about 5 seconds which slows enemies down and makes them inaccurate while they're in the area, similar to Doorman's bell. A tier 3 upgrade could make them more vulnerable to damage in general while they're affected.
• Bicycle Route could make enemies spin in circles for a moment if he collides with them, but the paperboy himself should probably keep moving to be able to hit more enemies and use Paper Trail in the meantime. The damage from crashing into them could scale with gun to allow for an aggressive hit and run type gun build.
• Breaking News could make enemies slowly walk away or in a random direction after being hit and spawn stars above their heads, maybe you could even give him charges with an upgrade, and maybe it should scale with spirit.
• Not sure if his ult is meant to be used from a distance or in melee range but it could still also give him a fire rate buff.

All in all, this would mean his gameplay would be something like: rush in with his ult and immediately cast Bicycle Route. Crash into as many enemies as possible. Leave Paper Trail on the entire area while they're still spinning. Get far enough from the enemies. Cast Breaking News on different enemies to keep them stunned within the cloud for as long as possible while your team shoots at them or just focus all your 1 charges on a single enemy for more damage. Finish them off with his gun. Get racially slurred at by the mad enemies. Honestly I HOPE to be able to play this.

i really like these suggestions ! though i think it might add too much CC to each of his abilities ?

his ult is meant to be used in melee range, i'd imagine it's somewhat similar range to geist ult because he has a quick in and a quick out if used with bike route properly.

i def agree with giving breaking news charges, though the added disorientation might be much considering everything else.

the bike route hit and run idea is perfeccttt maybe at level 1 it's literally just a mini stun or like a half spin, lvl 2 a full spin, and lvl 3 a double spin on enemies (or something to that effect). and i also considered that bike route would have an escalating velocity and get faster the longer you ride.

and yep !! that's the tempo of paperboy ! just a fast little annoying disruptor. i'm glad you liked the concept and thanks for the feedback !!

 

[leiandroid]

hey everyone !! i've done some updates to my concept, with numbers, ability upgrades, and kill streak/critical portraits.

the numbers are pulled from existing heroes with similar-ish abilities. some things might look crazy and unbalanced but i'm just pushing what an ability can do and having fun with it.

i also noticed that, other than the New York Oracle, there is another paper called the Tulsa Star in the news stand on the map ! i decided to make this character a paperboy for the tulsa star to introduce a competitor and possibly expand the cursed apple lore.

his motivations for being such an impeccable and on-time paperboy is to dethrone the new york oracle as the top selling newspaper in the city and make the tulsa star a household name ! o7

so, RE-INTRODUCING:

Roman the Paperboy | Speedy, Roaming, Read All About It









roman, like the font: times new roman.

thanks for looking :^)

 

[dervonnebenaan]

Great artwork and mechanics. But I feel like the design is missing some supernatural or "cursed" elements to fit into the rest of Deadlock's setting. Right now, he still feels like a pretty ordinary boy except for the fact that his Newspapers explode for some reason. Maybe there's a sinister reason behind this?

Also, why does a NYC paperboy have a Tulsa Star branded bag? (apparently a historic newspaper from Oklahoma?) Is that a reference that us europeans won't understand?

 

[leiandroid]

Great artwork and mechanics. But I feel like the design is missing some supernatural or "cursed" elements to fit into the rest of Deadlock's setting. Right now, he still feels like a pretty ordinary boy except for the fact that his Newspapers explode for some reason. Maybe there's a sinister reason behind this?

Also, why does a NYC paperboy have a Tulsa Star branded bag? (apparently a historic newspaper from Oklahoma?) Is that a reference that us europeans won't understand?

i wasn't aware it was a real paper...i thought it was just an asset in the game

fark...you're right....between your comment and someone on reddit..i can rework this whole hero idea to be less human and more a paperboy for a curse dealer that "serves" their curses to look like newspapers and when the receiver tries to read it: it casts minor spells on them to inconvenience them, like a revenge service or something.

back to the drawing board perhaps ? this wouldn't change his abilities per se but maybe their effects. idk. so many possibilities. DAMMIT.

 

[dervonnebenaan]

I'm so sorry... / (>﹏<) \

 

[dervonnebenaan]

Maybe the printing presses at the Oracle have been taken over by a cult or possessed by an eldritch being, starting to mix sublime messages between the legitimate news. Reading those messages has a deteriotative effect on the mind, as seen in the Cthulhu saga, Darkest Dungeon and many more. (Think Doomscrolling Before It Was Cool). Since he can't read, the paper boy is completely oblivious to this and just keeps doing his merry rounds.

About the artwork changes: His bag could emanate an eldritch glow or be oozing with half-visible tentacles and eyes. His bike could leave behind a glowing trail of dark runes and symbols, visible to everyone, making it easier to track him down once his speed boost wears off. When he drops his ult paper stack ("Must be a heavy read!"), a big glowing elder sign could erupt from the stack.

(Only problem with this concept: There might be other heroes in the game who can't read either.

 

[coooolcoffee]

let me just start off by saying that i love this concept! a paper boy is such a classic trope that i'm shocked we haven't gotten yet. love the abilities too, although i was confused if the paper trail damaged or debuffed people (probably me just being dumb though).

i agree with dervonnebenaan when they say that it doesn't really feel supernatural or "deadlock"-y enough, but i think there are a few solutions to this without a complete overhaul. i think him being just a paperboy makes him more generic, but what if he was the paperboy? similar to how mcginnis is the inventor for fairfax, and not just an inventor.

to me, he gives off spongebob employee of the month vibes. maybe instead of a generic bike or bag, he could be bestowed magical items as a reward for his outstanding service to the new york oracle (if this part of his story will be changed) or as inherited from the founder of Tulsa Star/this underground newspaper company (which could also be a family business? im just a sucker for family businesses)

for the magical items, instead of a bike he could be given hermes shoes/boots? (below is a poster/advertisement seen ingame)
to me, i think this would fit him better than the bike, although it might be harder to read if he's in paper trail or bicycle route. as a solution for that maybe in paper trail he'd skip around joyfully but in bicycle route he'd be locked in and full on sprinting (maybe even hovering a little bit because of the shoes/boots?)

and instead of a regular bag, he could have a comedically large santa sack-like "bottomless" (literally or figuratively) bag?

i think this would learn more into deadlock's supernatural items, such as the hermes shoes, and would also make him more unique than just some paperboy. (it would also give him a really unique silhouette, making him more recognizable when using paper trail and bicycle route)

that's all i've got in my head for now! again i love the concept and sorry for such a lengthy response lmao

 

[leiandroid]

Maybe the printing presses at the Oracle have been taken over by a cult or possessed by an eldritch being, starting to mix sublime messages between the legitimate news. Reading those messages has a deteriotative effect on the mind, as seen in the Cthulhu saga, Darkest Dungeon and many more. (Think Doomscrolling Before It Was Cool). Since he can't read, the paper boy is completely oblivious to this and just keeps doing his merry rounds.

About the artwork changes: His bag could emanate an eldritch glow or be oozing with half-visible tentacles and eyes. His bike could leave behind a glowing trail of dark runes and symbols, visible to everyone, making it easier to track him down once his speed boost wears off. When he drops his ult paper stack ("Must be a heavy read!"), a big glowing elder sign could erupt from the stack.

(Only problem with this concept: There might be other heroes in the game who can't read either.

I LOOOOOVE THESE IDEASSSSS ;_;

the runes and symbols with his spells, i love love love. the fact that all this also ties in with his inability to read ! GENIUS. god, now i really wanna iterate on this concept and develop him further so that he slots into the game's canon more solidly.

see this is why devs are usually a team instead of one person !!! thank you for your feedback