It pains me to admit it, but the Argent Adept leaves me a bit cold. In the spirit of trying to provide useful feedback to the design team, here are some reasons why.
The name
This guy is supposed to be the latest in a line of musical protectors of order as long as human history itself. Does the name convey that in any way? No. “Argent” means “silvery” and “Adept” means he’s pretty good at what he does. It’s about as generic a name as you could give a hero.
The costume
I think the costume looks pretty great, for a generic superhero. The white and black, offset with the orange hair is a great look, but it’s generic. Shouldn’t the latest in a line of musical protectors of order as long as human history itself be a little more Doctor Strange and a little less Superman? Sure, there’s the musical bars on the gloves, but musical bars are a modern musical invention that originated with European classical music. Is this guy an ancient protector of order, or is he the Music Meister?
The backstory
It’s a little weak, is alls I’m saying. Encountering a powerful artifact and suddenly discovering you’re a cosmic protector is pretty Green Lantern. I would have thought that the nemesis of the ancient Earth Mother of Chaos would have been something a little more epic than a bartender. It might be a little difficult to get into playing a hero who’s rallying cry could literally be, “Yesterday I had no idea who you were, but today we’re mortal enemies!”
Like I said, it almost literally physically pains me to type this out, but it’s true feedback so I think I should post it. If it were me, I’d take another pass at this hero, come up with a more epic name, change his costume to look less generic, and do a little more work on tying the hero and nemesis together. Sorry.
I agree with 1) about the name, Virtuoso sounds much more epic for what he embodies. Also agree with 2), I’ve mentioned before the white suit and orange hair is too similar to Legacy for my taste.
Thanks for breaking the ice, Spiff. I thought I might be the only one that’s a little disappointed in the newest hero. Don’t get me wrong, I’m profoundly stoked about the prospect of a music-based hero (especially, as I said in another thread, if there is some sort of drum solo card involved) BUT I’m really not digging the name.
You’re right about “argent,” but the word “Adept” means extremely skilled or proficient, and had its roots in alchemy, stemming from a Latin word that meant “one who is skilled in the secrets of everything.” The full title of his ongoing comic book is “The Argent Adept: Virtuoso of the Void” (which it will say on his card).
The idea of the costume is that while his cloak is closed, he’s unassuming, and a solid black silhouette, then when it’s magic time, his hair glows, there’s silver and bright light. His costume is formed by himself and is informed by his ideas of what music is, so the previous Virtuosos would have looked very different.
There’s quite a bit more to him than the Kickstarter bio, I assure you, and his power is not derived by an artifact. Those bios have to be grossly abbreviated, but you’ll hear more about him soon.
I like this guy a lot - though I’m more than a little biased - so I hope you give him a chance to win you over.
Thanks for explaining why the things I found underwhelming are what they are, but I still find them underwhelming.
I stand by my assessment that the character is more generic than I think you realize, but I certainly won’t push it or keep posting a defense of my position. I’ve given my feedback, and if you guys, as part of the play testing process, take a look at the things I mentioned and decide that you don’t agree, then the process will still have worked like it’s supposed to. Thanks for listening.
I admit that “Argent Adept” doesn’t do a lot for me, and the costume isn’t anything special, but I love Virtuoso of the Void, and I think his story (and what I’ve heard of his mechanics) are awesome. I can’t wait to see more about him.
I have to say I agree with the OP, very underwhelming and sort of lame in a 70’s/ early 80’s kind of way. That may be what you are going for, but it seems like there a so many better archetypes. Please, Please don’t have him doing a Guitar solo and shooting bad guys with musical notes. I can’t handle that kind of cheesey 80’s. On the plus side, there are enough characters that I don’t have to play him if I don’t like his style.
As for his name, alliteration often sounds More informal or humorous. The Wraith sounds menacing. The argent adept sounds hammy.
I doubt we’ll get things as cheesy as a guitar. I image he’ll be packing some instruments as equipment cards, and they’ll probably be standard simple instruments. The three that come to mind would be a drum, harp, or flute. I doubt that Chinese bell will actually come into play.
The Argent Adept is not as “cheesy” as some think he may be. No, no blasting enemies with intangible objects like music notes or sound waves. He is actually a great character. So great that in testing it has been decided he needs to be toned down as not to be overpowering.
