This is a slight revision of the suggestion I had back on the old City boards, which was originally written back before Masterminds could transition to or start on the blue side. I've tried to correct any clear villain-only viewpoints.
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The Thought Control Mastermind is a master of bending others to his will, forcing them to do things they otherwise would not (and maybe could not) do. Thought Control MM’s take ordinary civilians, police officers, paramedics, and even minor heroes/villains, and put them under their control, improving their natural abilities and instilling portions of the MM’s psyche within them.
All Thought Control henchmen are fairly resistant to psychic attacks and moderately resistant to Confusion and Taunt effects, and have a decent bonus to Defense. Thought Control henchmen have the same movement abilities as other human henchmen, except for the Enthralled Hero.
The Thought Control Mastermind can also utilize several psychic blast attacks, as well as the ability to Confuse others around them.
Level 1 - Mental Blast - Ranged Moderate Damage (Psionic), -Recharge
This power is the same as the Psychic Blast power of the same name.
Level 1 – Control Puppets – Summon Puppets
This power summons 1-3 Puppets to do your bidding. Puppets are civilians who have been mind controlled, and so have the fewest intrinsic abilities to utilize. At first, the Thought Control Mastermind is only able to tap into their hysterical strength, but is later able to add portions of his own psyche into them to allow them the use of some psychic abilities.
The summon animation for Control Puppets has each Puppet move across on a line in front of the Mastermind, walking normally. The MM then gestures out to the Puppet, similar to the Confuse power, while the Puppet goes rigid, glows briefly around the head, and shuffles to the MM. If possible, Puppets should be summoned in the order of male, female, and male, with appropriate clothing (could have skirts or pants for female). These Puppets have comparable defenses to the Genin henchmen from the Ninjas powerset at the beginning, but gain more Psionic defenses later on (balanced by less overall Defense increases).
Basic: Puppets wear casual street clothes, like regular civilians walking around Paragon City or the Rogue Isles.
Puppet Brawl – Near identical to the Zombie Brawl power from the Necromancy powerset
Rock - Identical to the Contaminated power of the same name
Unleash Id: Puppets change into business suits.
Kick – Identical to the Fighting power of the same name
Brick - A stronger version of the Rock power shown above.
Base Speed +5%
Imbue: Puppets’ eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their heads.
Telekinetic Blast – Identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name
Drain Psyche – Identical to the Psionic Assault power of the same name
Base Speed +5% (stacks with Unleash Id)
Level 2 – Telekinetic Blast – Ranged Moderate Damage (Psionic/Smashing), Knockback
This power is the same as the Psychic Blast power of the same name.
Level 6 – Unleash Id – Ranged, Enhance Thought Control Henchmen
This power offers the first set of upgrades to a Thought Control Mastermind’s pets, by further tapping into and releasing their aggressive and chaotic subconscious desires.
Level 8 – Mind Lance – Ranged (Sniper) Superior Damage (Psionic), -Recharge
This power is identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name.
Level 12 – Manipulate Agents – Summon Agents
This power summons 1-2 Agents to do your bidding. The Agents include a male policeman and a female paramedic. (I would love to have the policeman wear the uniform of a Rogue Island Police “Ripper” lieutenant when the MM summons this Agent in an Arachnos zone, and a Paragon Police Department “PPD Sergeant” lieutenant when summoned in a Paragon City zone.) With these henchmen, the Mastermind starts with skilled individuals and pushes them beyond their normal limits.
The summoning animation for Manipulate Agents is similar to Control Puppets, with the only difference being Agent enters cautiously, followed by the controlling effects. Both of these Agents have similar defenses to Spec Ops henchmen from the Mercenaries powerset, except that their Defense improvements again skew more towards Psionic.
Policeman – Basic: As stated above, standard uniform for a RIP or PPD lieutenant, but no sunglasses.
Single Shot – Identical to the RIP power of the same name
Riot Baton – Identical to the PPD Cop power of the same name
Taser Dart – Identical to the Origin power of the same name
Unleash Id: Switch to RIP/PPD variations on the PPD SWAT Officer uniform.
Burst – Identical to the Assault Rifle power of the same name
Flashbang Grenade – Identical to the PPD Ghost power of the same name
Tear Gas Grenade – Identical to the PPD Ghost power of the same name
Imbue: Agent’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head.
Levitate – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Dominate – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Paramedic – Basic: Green jumpsuit with medical emblems.
Knife – Identical to the Blood Brother Slicer power of the same name (among others).
Throwing Knives – Identical to the Origin power of the same name.
Aid Other – Identical to the Medicine Power Pool power of the same name.
Unleash Id: Similar to the Policeman appearance (vest and helmet), but still with medical colors and emblems.
Defibrillator – Melee (ST), Moderate Dmg (Energy), animation similar to Jacob’s Ladder.
Tranquilizer Darts – Similar to the Origin power of the same name (probably stronger).
Stimulant – Identical to the Medicine Power Pool power of the same name.
Imbue: Agent’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head.
Will Domination – Identical to the Psychic Blast (Blaster) power of the same name.
Mass Hypnosis – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Fortitude – Identical to the Empathy power of the same name (used on fellow Pets only).
Level 18 - Confuse - Ranged Foe Confuse
This power is identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Level 26 – Enthrall Super – Summon Thrall
This power summons an enthralled hero/villain (or Thrall) to do your bidding. The Thrall starts off as essentially a Sonic/Energy Blaster/Defender hybrid (or a Rebirth Guardian), with Sonic blasts, Sonic buffs and debuffs, and Energy melee attacks. As the Thrall is upgraded, they add more abilities, including Flight and Psionic effects. With this henchman, the Thought Control Mastermind finally has a powerful individual that they can mold to their whims.
As with previous henchmen, the summoning animation for the Thrall has the hero landing at the summoning point in a combat stance, followed by the controlling animations. The Thrall is either male or female*, wearing any of a variety of stock hero/villain costumes. Each costume should be stylized enough to be recognizable as a Mastermind Pet, with coordinating costume elements, and emblems or patterns that emphasize their Sonic or Energy powers. While the Thrall could always wear a costume that stays more heroic or villainous, depending on their origin, they could instead start in their original costume that would then change during upgrades to something more heroic or villainous (e.g., a Hero or Vigilante MM would summon a heroic Thrall, starting with a hero's costume that morphs over to a dark hero's costume with Unleash Id and a full villain's costume with Imbue).
* I don't know how getting a definite male or female Thrall would work here. It could be handled as a specific power selection variant, where two powers are offered but only one can be picked - a respec or specific build could allow the character to switch their choice. There could be a concurrent power similar to Staff Mastery automatically gained upon picking up Enthrall Super, with icons for male and female Thralls (and leaving both deactivated means the Thrall is randomly male or female on summoning). The rename function could have separate entries for male and female Thralls, if possible. Most likely costumes would come randomly from a collection hard-coded in, versus any sort of customization available to the player - if customization is a possibility, I have another Epic AT suggestion that would definitely want that.
The Thralls defensive powers are limited only to the powers they can employ at the beginning, but they do gain some Defense to Psionics with their second upgrade.
Basic: As above, with no back detail.
Energy Punch – Identical to the Energy Manipulation power of the same name.
Scream – Identical to the Sonic Blast power of the same name.
Disruption Field – Self-version of the Sonic Resonance power of the same name.
Unleash Id: Thralls add a cape to their costume. Alternately, the costume could gain significant “villainous” elements. Thralls can also Fly.
Bone Smasher – Identical to the Energy Manipulation power of the same name.
Shout – Identical to the Sonic Blast power of the same name.
Sonic Dispersion – Identical to the Sonic Resonance power of the same name.
Imbue: Thrall’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head. Alternately, the costume could gain additional "villainous" elements. Thralls with both upgrades have increased Fly speed and greater air control; those with just Imbue only have the standard Fly ability of Unleash Id.
Scramble Thoughts – Identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name.
Psychic Scream – Identical to the Mental Manipulation power of the same name.
World of Confusion – Identical to the Mental Manipulation power of the same name.
Level 32 – Imbue – Ranged, Enhance Thought Control Henchmen
This power offers the second set of upgrades to a Thought Control Mastermind’s pets, transferring some of the mental power of the MM to each henchman. Upgrades offered with this power center around Psionic effects that mirror the style of earlier powers available to each henchman.
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I was particularly hard on the suggestion by Joshex, and I would be more than willing to subject my suggestion to similar scrutiny. I have more suggestions that I want to post, including another MM powerset (Plant). Thanks for taking a look!
