Ideas for Cliched Cartoon Powers

[The Souljourner]

So I was trying to think up a unique character concept last night, and it came to me - cartoon powers. You know, like the kind of stuff you see on Looney Tunes. My general idea is to make it a Cosmic VPP, since cartoon characters can generally make whatever they need right on the spot. Here are some ideas I've come up with:

Anvil (Energy Blast vs. PD, Indirect, maybe AoE: Hex?)
Rocket Skates (Running, OIF, Only on Appropriate Terrain)
Tiny Umbrella (Gliding, OAF)
Painted Tunnel (Desolidification, OAF, Does Not Protect Against Damage, Gestures)

I welcome other ideas... the funnier and more classic the better! :)

-Nate

[Sean Waters]

Summon: cartoon cat and cartoon mouse....

...or, possibly Jessica Rabbit :D

[caris]

There is always the giant mallet/huge fist (put thumb in mouth and blow) hand-to-hand attack.

"Hey there big boy." (Mind Control/Mental Illusions makes target think you are the perfect person for them sfx requires your character to instantly be in drag).

Fun with doors/barrels/urns (images to appear in multiple places at once)

[Pogo]

Mind control: only to make victim do something incredibly stupid ("These blockbuster bombs don't go off unless you hit them juuust right").

Damage reduction: SFX is character gets squished into a disk and spins around a few times, or beak moves to new spot on or near head.

3d6 major transform: X into X with rockets.
or
30 pt VPP, requires skill roll, only to add rockets to something. SFX must include a crosscut saw.

[Susano]

Various Transforms would work. Usually they are cosmetic (target to smoking target covered in soot and some bandages). Also various weapons that turn targets into accordions and/or tin cans after impact.

Flight defined as not having studied law and/or seen the sign saying "Danger: Cliff."

Variable Power Pool (gadgets) defined as an ACME catalog and a phone/mailbox.

[gojira]

Hmm, sticks of dynomite and shotguns, all doing stun only. (That might be a genre staple, btw. No one ever seems to die in the cartoons.)

Various disguises, from game warden (*) to Red Baron to police officer to Groucho Marx to Richard Nixon.

Movment powers too, movement too fast to be seen ("Exit, stage left!") as well as wacky Daffy Duck dodging.


(*) "It's baseball season."

[Sean Waters]

Shapeshift, stretching, desolid and resurrection will get you much of the way there.

[PhilFleischmann]

How 'bout the perspective violating powers like Teleportation, Growth and Shrinking.

You simply walk to a different spot on the animation cell and you've traveled a significant distance in just a few steps, and possibly changed size too.

[The Souljourner]

Great ideas, everyone... I forgot about cosmetic transforms.. that's a definite must have :)

Teleportation is great for the "go in one door and out another" trick, too :)

Hrm... I wonder what kind of a limitation that would be... "only from one door to another"? Doesn't allow for stepping from one scene to another, though....

Stretching, big mallet (or big boxing glove on a spring)...

Damage reduction is a must, and probably something I wouldn't even put in the VPP... it's just something cartoon characters have on 24/7 :)

-Nate

[Cancer]

I agree, Damage Reduction is essential, though I'd make it "resistant only": it reduces BODY damage but has no affect on STUN damage at all.

Also you need the obligatory Triggered Images of stars, birds, etc. dancing around one's head, with its own END reserve, where the trigger condition is being reduced to negative STUN.

[The Souljourner]

I agree, Damage Reduction is essential, though I'd make it "resistant only": it reduces BODY damage but has no affect on STUN damage at all.

Ahh, very cool idea. I still might give a reduction for STUN at a lower value, because cartoons can take a lot of hits and not get knocked out... combine that with a high amount of STUN and normal to low CON, and you get them stunned as often as normal, but they take a long time to actually get knocked out.

-Nate

[Michael Hopcroft]

Tunnelling, No Conscious Control, Activation Roll 11-, the special effect is painting a tunner in a wall. The downside is that, while the tunnel functions for everyone else because everyone else thinks it's supposed to be there, it won't work for you. Also, random things will come out of the tunnel from noweher (like semi trucks and oncoming trains).

Which reminds me -- one of the staples of the Looney Tunes is that someone will do something expecting one effect and the actual effect will be completely different. Sort of like digging a Burmese Tiger trap only to find a Burmese Toger is already there when you fall in. It's hard to model such extremely unreliable powers in HERO,l but for many campaign concepts it would be handy. Not just comedic effects either -- characters with really powerful magic will want to thyink twice about using it indiscriminately if it has unpredictably damaging effects (particularly if those effects are random).

[Susano]

Which reminds me -- one of the staples of the Looney Tunes is that someone will do something expecting one effect and the actual effect will be completely different. Sort of like digging a Burmese Tiger trap only to find a Burmese Toger is already there when you fall in. It's hard to model such extremely unreliable powers in HERO,l but for many campaign concepts it would be handy.

Actually, you might be able to get away with using Side Effects to model this. Also, the "Variable Effects" Limitation from the original Golden Age of Champions might fit as well (basically, you rolled 3d6 and had a variety of results ranging from 0 effect to 100% effective. Average was around 50%.).