Anti-Mutant Collars

[Klytus]

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the X-Men should know that there is technology that allows mutant powers to be "turned off". These collars have the same effect on every mutant on Earth, from the lightweights like Jubile all the way to the most powerful mutants like Rogue, Storm and Magneto.

I'm going for this effect in my own Champions campaign, but am unsure of the exact mechanic to handle it. While it is technically possible to make every anti-mutant collar something allong the lines of a 20d6 Suppress vs all Mutant powers at once, that seems a tad excessive. I've been making all mutants in my game take 2xEffect from Mutant-Suppressors as a Disad, but that still doesn't feel right.

But since these collars are almost as bad as kryptonite to Superman, I thought about definig it as a Physical Limitation: Powers Lost when subjected to anti-mutant technology. However, the frequency with which the characters would be subjected to it, its only a 10 point Disad. Considering how crippling the effect can be, it should be worth more.

Or maybe I should make everyone buy their mutant powers with a -¼ Limitation: Powers lost in an anti-mutant effect. It would give them more points to spend on powers, and very neatly define which parts of their stats are "normal" and which are "mutant".

Or maybe some combinations of the above.

It would also use this same mechanic for powers of different SFX, like psi and magical powers.

Comments and suggestions, please.

[Hawksmoor]

Our games were limitation heavy so we went with the -1/4 limitation.

Canonically I think that a x2 Vulnerability to the Suppress All Mutant Powers effect of the collars would be more appropriate in FRed. It also means that the collars do not have to be that expensive to get the effect you want.

Hawksmoor

[death tribble]

Where did this appear ?

I can't recall it from the two major X-Men titles. Was it in Extreme X-Men or Ultimate X-Men ?

[Sketchpad]

Why not make it a Transform instead? Something like:
Anti-Mutant Collar: Major Transform 10d6 (Powered Mutant to Non-Powered Mutant, Taking Collar off) (150 Active Points); OIF (Focus: Locking Collar; -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Must be Attached to Target Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (-1/4) (67 Real Points)

[Hawksmoor]

Where did this appear ?

I can't recall it from the two major X-Men titles. Was it in Extreme X-Men or Ultimate X-Men ?

Think older, much older. They appear just after Forge develops his neutralizer gun.

Hawksmoor

[BobGreenwade]

Giving mutants a Limitation or Disadvantage for effects targeting mutant powers, which other characters don't have, strikes me as counter-logical. Then again, mutants are allowed a Distinctive Feature for being detectable by mutant detectors, so there's some precedent.

So let's assume there's a Mutant Power Key (or X-gene, or whatever you want to call it), a sort of "trigger" for mutant powers. Whoever knows this key can suppress -- or possibly manipulate in other ways -- the character's mutant powers.

I think I'd call this a Vulnerability (2X Effect) to Adjustment Powers specifically targeting mutant powers, and a Physical Limitation (Infrequently, Greatly) for any "absolute effects" such as the suppressant collars.

[Klytus]

Our games were limitation heavy so we went with the -1/4 limitation.

Canonically I think that a x2 Vulnerability to the Suppress All Mutant Powers effect of the collars would be more appropriate in FRed. It also means that the collars do not have to be that expensive to get the effect you want.

Hawksmoor

I'm not so sure about that. If we assume an average of 35 points of effect on a 10d6 Supress and double it to 70, that still leaves a mutant with an 80+ multipower some powers left. That'll shut down starting heroes, but if we put one on Magneto, he'd still have more than enough power left to pulverize the collar and escape. And if we build it like so:

10d6 Supress (50 points) vs all Mutant SFX (+2) (150 Active Points), OAF (-1) = 75 Cost.

... that ain't cheap.

[freakboy6117]

yeah neutralizer collars appeared so far back they where in the first series of the x men cartoon genosha used them to keep there mutant slaves in line.

[lemming]

Where did this appear ?

I can't recall it from the two major X-Men titles. Was it in Extreme X-Men or Ultimate X-Men ?
Earlier even. I'm pretty sure we see something of the like in Days of Future past, though I'm pretty sure around the Dark Phoenix storyline they're used by the Hellfire club as well. Not quite collars back then, but same thinking.

[JakSpade]

I'm not so sure about that. If we assume an average of 35 points of effect on a 10d6 Supress and double it to 70, that still leaves a mutant with an 80+ multipower some powers left. That'll shut down starting heroes, but if we put one on Magneto, he'd still have more than enough power left to pulverize the collar and escape. And if we build it like so:

10d6 Supress (50 points) vs all Mutant SFX (+2) (150 Active Points), OAF (-1) = 75 Cost.

... that ain't cheap.

But wouldn't (or couldn't) you add something such as "Based on CON" to enhance that power, since you're suppressing genetic mutant abilities.

I agree that having all the players take disads would be bad, but making them define all their powers as "Mutant -blah blah- Powers" would help with the Suppress as well as mutant detection... if they want to take Vulnerabilities to mutant detectors and supressors, that's their option.

Onward true believers!
:thumbup: Jak

[Chiba Bob]

Why not get your players who have mutant powers buy them with the limitation Restrainable -1/2 with the special effect "Restrained By Mutant Nullifiers" and then build the collars as an Entangle with the special effect "Mutant Nullifier Collar". In this way, each player's actual mutant powers are clear and the DEF and Body of the device defined. :drink:

[BobGreenwade]

Why not get your players who have mutant powers buy them with the limitation Restrainable -1/2 with the special effect "Restrained By Mutant Nullifiers" and then build the collars as an Entangle with the special effect "Mutant Nullifier Collar". In this way, each player's actual mutant powers are clear and the DEF and Body of the device defined. :drink: This is such an obvious solution that I should have thought of it myself. The Restrainable Limitation would be at the -1/4 level, but otherwise this should be considered dead on the money. :neptune:

[Klytus]

I agree 100%

Rep cookie for Chiba Bob! :D

[Worldmaker]

Do these things work on superpowered non-mutants?

[Chiba Bob]

Limitation would be at the -1/4 level


I reread the section and you are right, it is a -1/4 modifier in this case.

[Chiba Bob]

Rep cookie for Chiba Bob! :D


Thanks for the cookie :cheers:

[Metaphysician]

I've never liked these gadgets. If they have the tech to turn off the mutant gene, they should be just as capable of turning on the mutant gene.

That said, I can buy Forge building such a gadget. What I can't buy is somebody else short of the Reed/Doom class *duplicating* the device.

[BobGreenwade]

I've never liked these gadgets. If they have the tech to turn off the mutant gene, they should be just as capable of turning on the mutant gene. Assuming, of course, that it's there to be turned on... ;)

[Klytus]

Do these things work on superpowered non-mutants?

When creating a charcter in my campaign, you must define the "source" of your powers. Mutant is the most common. Magic is another possibility, Psionic is another, and C'hi powers are common for martial-artists. A mutant collar would have no effect on somone with magical powers, but most of the other powers sources do have similar ways to shut them down: psi-supressing drugs and anti-magic talismans for instance. Psi-Mutants (like Jean Grey) would have two vulnerabilities. Other power constructs might be vulnerable to suppression, but do not necessarily have the same kind of "off-switch" effect the others do.

[DocMan]

I can see Kly is gearing up for a new campaign.

He got miffed at me because I wanted to introduce a new character. Now it looks like he's about the change the base rules and require just about all the existing characters to be re-tooled.

Would this be a bad time to mention I've got another character concept that's stomping around in my head demanding to be expressed?

Doc

[Klytus]

I can see Kly is gearing up for a new campaign.

He got miffed at me because I wanted to introduce a new character. Now it looks like he's about the change the base rules and require just about all the existing characters to be re-tooled.

Would this be a bad time to mention I've got another character concept that's stomping around in my head demanding to be expressed?

Doc

Just how many campaigns do you imagine I can run at one time to make room for all these different concepts you want to express?

[Klytus]

But wouldn't (or couldn't) you add something such as "Based on CON" to enhance that power, since you're suppressing genetic mutant abilities.

I agree that having all the players take disads would be bad, but making them define all their powers as "Mutant -blah blah- Powers" would help with the Suppress as well as mutant detection... if they want to take Vulnerabilities to mutant detectors and supressors, that's their option.

Onward true believers!
:thumbup: Jak

Actually, for a while now I've made Distinctive Feature: Mutant, and 2xEffect from Mutant Power Supressors standard disads that all mutants must take (there are similar disads for other power SFX). Its just that as the game I am expected to run approches, I am finding this mechanic had a clumsy feel to it and was searching for a different approach. I really like Chiba Bob's solution, but as DOcMan points out, it will requiring a re-tool of EVERY freaking character in my game world.

Then again, I've never kown players to compalin about extra points - which is what they'll get if every Mutant power has a mandatory -¼ Limitation on it.

[DocMan]

Just how many campaigns do you imagine I can run at one time to make room for all these different concepts you want to express?

I don't expect you to run more than one campaign. And I don't expect to change out which character is in the campaign unless we're in downtime. Or the previous one dies.

If we'd already agreed on which characters we were going to play in the upcoming campaign, I'd understand why you'd be upset. You'd already be planning for a specific party balance and changing characters would upset the balance. And in that situation, I wouldn't be inclined to change characters. Which wouldn't stop character concepts from coming to me and insisting that I write them down.

Doc