- Team of at least 4, with a max of 8 (obviously)
- Core team members consist of: 3 barbs and an assassin (I know that sounds odd but you'll see why later, and 4 other optional roles to be decided upon by the team.
-Characters are to be played "pure" - no twinks, gifts, or trades outside the team (See? I told you I borrowed a little).

Core Barb #1 - Leonardo: Dual wield swords, frenzy, beserk, and possibly a little whirlwind thrown in for extra measure. He'll be the team's main source of offense, as well as the leader(Notice a pattern forming?). No skill points in the warcry tree at all.

*The other two Barbs will specialize in specific skills from the Warcry skill tree in order to help compensate for their lack of offensive power and to make them more valuable to the rest of the team.

Core Barb #2 - Michelangelo: Dual wield flail-class weapons (only thing in D2 that even remotely resembles nunchaku that I can think of). More frenzy, max war cry. Grim ward can also be used but is not required. He is the proverbial "second-in-command" since he will not be AS weak as some of the other team members, also works well as a front-line fighter if the need for crowd control becomes an issue. Basically built around the basis of the singing barb variant (lots of mana) in order to keep the baddies in check and to provide some front-line assistance to Leo in Normal and Nightmare difficulty.

Core Barb #3 - Raphael: Dual wield daggers (I haven't thought much about his weapon type. Suggestions?) with max Battle Cry and Battle Orders, also some max Leap (for the stun and knockback effect). Since he'll have no offense to speak of he'll mainly be the team's Singer and serve as more crowd control to break up the mobs. He'll need to be built and developed accordingly.

Core Assassin - Donatello: Ok, I know Donatello's a male turtle, but who the hell cares? The Assassin possesses more skills that seem to personify Donatello's character (he's the one that does machines, after all). She'll use a staff, and specialize in the Traps tree, with some Fade thrown in for resistances. I haven't decided what else the Assassin could employ that's effective in a team environment, but also stays true to the character. I'm open to any suggestions or comments, good or bad so let me know what you think.

There are lots of other characters that can be added in to help compliment the core team and also to add more of the TMNT atmosphere to make for a more enjoyable experience. Again, comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Casey Jones: Paladin, used as the main tank. Vengeance for physical immunes, Smite, and the Fanaticism aura to help out the weaker "Turtles". Alternatives for Fanat could be Holy Freeze, or Conviction. Character is restricted in headgear to ONLY skull caps, masks, or bone helms. I want to stay true to the TMNT theme of the team and that's the whole point of this in the first place. Those who remember Casey will see my point a little better than the few out there who don't.

Splinter: Werewolf Druid, come on, he SORTA looks like a big rat running around on all fours.... Rabies for physical immunes and wolf helms only for headgear (still kinda resembles a rat) are the only requirements for this character. Can be built otherwise at the player's discretion.

April O'Neil: Sorceress, yet another support character. She'll specialize in Static, as well as Enchant. I still haven't quite decided on the role she should have. Her role as of now is more or less just a brainstorm.

I'm sure a lot of you are scratching your heads right now because this seems like a really hogtied concept in terms of the characters and their potential to make it as far into the game as possible. But hey, isn't that the whole idea to "Variants" anyway? Granted, it's not Ember tough (Sirian is a psychopath, by the way), but it still sounds like quite a fun little challenge. Especially if you were a fan of the show or the comic like I was. Just thought it would be a great way to freshen up a game that's, quite frankly, getting a little stale for me in terms of new things to explore (been playing since the beginning).

That's all I can think of for now. This is still in the early stages of development and I'm always open to criticisms and new ideas. If anyone's interested in joining you can contact me (please don't use this thread to try to join up, I want to use this thread for advice and suggestions) by email at scooty1283@aol.com, or through aol instant messenger at scooty1283. My b.net account is Dragon1702 if you want to get a hold of me there. If you managed to make it through this entire post, bravo. Thanks again.

Raphael:
How about an Assasin with Dual Claws? The Claws can look kind of like Raph's Sais. Whoever is the Assasin should be required to learn lots of the Martial Arts tree.

An alternative idea is to consider having all four Turtles be Barbarians, for similarity. Donatello could easily be a Staff-using Barb, perhaps using Leap Attack to make up for the lack of Staff Mastery. Heck, I think all the Turtles should use Leap Attack as much as possible. Hee hee...

Casey Jones:
I think a Scythe could be a good weapon for him: closest to his hockey stick anyway! Charge would be an appropriate skill for him to use, I think.

Have fun with this!

Xanthix

Clan Meister

Leonardo: Was the Leader. Warcries just have to be in the mix, specifically Battle Command and Battle Orders.

Donatello: Staff, Mace Mastery and Find Item & Potion, maybe with Grim Ward for variety.

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Heed the Song of Battle and unsheath the Blades of War

One thing about making successful team variants, you have to do more than role play (even if the theme is a role playing event based on some pre-existing set of characters). You have to balance the roles so that everyone has an important gameplay role to fill and some useful tools to do so.

I'd suggest sticking with just the turtles. You deck out three barbs and one assassin, but not the way you initially laid it out. You give each char some different utility skills and don't let them overlap.

1) Leonardo: Barbarian
Weapons: one-handed swords only, must dual-wield.
Skills: Sword Mastery, Frenzy, Concentrate, Leap Attack, Shout, Battle Orders.
Fashion: prefers blue. Socket weapons with a Sapphire first, wear items of nova or frost nova shield (elite Hit Power items are most preferred). If there's a Hand of Broc, he gets it.

2) Michaelangelo: Barbarian
Weapons: one-handed blunt weapons only, must dual-wield. (Use your imagination. Pretend all those are nunchaku).
Skills: Mace Mastery, Frenzy, Berserk, Leap Attack, Taunt (Mikey always was the most radical dude, you know), Whirlwind.
Fashion: prefers orange (yellow will do). Socket weapons with a topaz first, or use weapons where Hit Causes Monster to Flee. If there is Bloodfist glove available, he gets it.

3) Donatello: Barbarian
Weapons: staff only.
Skills: Mace Mastery, Enhanced Speed, Bash, Stun, Leap Attack, Berserk, Find Potion/Item, Grim Ward.
Fashion: Prefers purple. Socket weapons with an amethyst first. If Sander's set items are available, he gets them.

4) Raphael: Assassin
Weapons: claws only, must dual-wield.
Skills: Claw Mastery, Weapon Block, Blade Fury, Tiger Strike, Dragon Claw, Cobra Strike, Dragon Tail, Dragon Flight, Burst of Speed, Cloak of Shadows.
Fashion: prefers red. Socket weapons with a Ruby first, use helms that show off red.

With a team of only four, you need reliable commitment. I would only recommend this among pre-existing friends, where all are sure they can meet on a regular weekly schedule to play.

It might sound cool to include other characters, but April would be out of place, and so would Master Splinter. When it comes time to get busy, I'd go with just the turtles. Keep it simple, for both the variant and the role playing.

Edit: realized I had two colors mixed up. Now fixed.