The Mission Architect system in City of Heroes allows players to create their own in-game stories, but it also opens up the possibility for professional writers to share their tales with players. NCsoft and Paragon Studios announced today they are launching a guest author program and have already tapped Scott Kurtz, the creator of the PvP Web comic, and Rooster Teeth, the masterminds behind "Red vs. Blue," to bring their stories to life in City of Heroes.

Kurtz is already working on missions for LolBat, while Rooster Teeth will focus on bringing Captain Dynamic and The Great Face to life. Kurtz and Rooster Teeth's Joel Heyman will talk about their experiences in the guest author program during a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. You can read the full announcement below.

NCsoft® and Paragon Studios™ today announced a new Guest Author program for the Mission Architect user-generated content system in City of Heroes®. This program invites influential writers and aspiring game or story designers to collaborate with the team behind the City of Heroes MMORPG and publish custom missions directly into the City of Heroes game using the revolutionary Mission Architect system.

Participants in the Guest Author program will be announced on a rolling basis. The first participants of this program comprise notable industry veterans from the gaming and comic book industry:

• Rooster Teeth (www.roosterteeth.com): The machinima producers that brought the gaming world the Red vs. Blue series and created a series of live-action shorts for City of Heroes and Mission Architect (starring Barenaked Ladies’ front man, Ed Robertson, as Captain Dynamic) is ready to put their designer skills to the test. Rooster Teeth plans to bring Captain Dynamic and his nemesis, The Great Face, from YouTube to City of Heroes.
• Scott Kurtz (www.pvponline.com): The creator of the popular PvP web comic has already begun collaborating with the City of Heroes team on bringing LolBat to life within Mission Architect.

City of Heroes is currently one of North America’s most popular MMOs, having sold more than 1 million units in North America. The City of Heroes Mission Architect system offers all players an opportunity to hone their storytelling skills in an established game and social media environment.

Those of you who will be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this week should make time for the City of Heroes panel discussion entitled “Mission Architect: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Story.” Both Scott Kurtz and Rooster Teeth’s Joel Heyman will be on hand with City of Heroes developers to talk about their experiences creating their own unique, personalized missions for the game.  The panel will be Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2:30pm - 3:30pm Raven Theatre at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.