Know Everything (I made a power, and I think I made it too cheap)

[Sociotard]

I was a amused by the superpower of knowing everything they built that "John Doe" show around. Here's how I saw it:
Knowledge (all knowledge that isn't secret or otherwise un-knowable) 30- (cost $2 for an 11- plus $19 to make it 30- = $21)
That's based on the bit in the skills section that says doing any truly incredible stunt is a 10 modifier. Still, $21 seems dirt cheap for the usefulness of the power. Should I buy the thing seperately for Area knowledge, People knowledge, Etc. ?

[Tom McCarthy]

Well, any skill over 17- typically needs GM approval. So, it's probably about right, but deserves a magnifying glass or such. And you're not the first to suggest this (typically, it's a Batman power).

I might use the -10 for a microbiologist to recall some obscure detail of a hitherto little known or rare species. For KS: Stuff, 30-, I'd go beyond -10 to -18 to -20.

[Monolith]

I would not allow it because I think the category is too broad. I also think it defeats the purpose of having skills in the game. Why would someone take Deduction, Criminology, and Chemistry skills when they can just take Knowledge: 30-?

The Champions Universe has "World" skills which someone can take to get a broad overview of specific areas (The Superhuman World, for example). In those cases I can see allowing tightly defined expansive categories, but I do not agree with a one skill does all approach. I would allow someone to take SS: Chemical Sciences 25- or SS: Physics Sciences 25- to show a broad knowledge of all those types of sciences (and thus give someone a penalty roll when dealing with Quantum Physics, for example) but that would be as lenient as I would go.

[Agent X]

I would let the following skills go:
Physical Sciences 30-
Biological Sciences 30-
Social Sciences 30-
World Literature 30-
stuff like that, of course with intelligence and skill levels that can apply to these skills it probably wouldn't be that expensive even with purchasing a suite of a dozen skills to accomplish the same effect.

[misterdeath]

Ah yes, Champsguy's Skills:

KS: Know Stuff 30-
PS: Do Stuff 30-

You're probably better off dragging a Skills based VPP around. But, there are lots of people that find a Skills VPP to be unbalanced.

As a compromise, go with Agent X.

D

[BNakagawa]

I dislike all constructions like this.

All it does is get one person per party to invest in skills. Nobody else needs any, because Answer Man has all the knowledge we need. We can spend all our points on levels and defenses now.

Even if they don't, it immediately devalues any skills anyone else has, because Answer Man has a 20 or less to know damn near anything you do.

I've always preferred it when character A is the authority on field a, character B is the master of b and character C is the one to consult for questions regarding c. Once you allow in something like this power, the answer is always Ask Answer Man. (Either that, or force characters A B and C to pump their knowledge skills past 21 or less.)

$0.02

[Kristopher]

It's rather hard to have a PC whose power is that he is "All-Knowing," for the reason you state. It's a legit comic-book shtick that doesn't translate well into an RPG, much like the list of problem archetypes in 5thEd Champs.

[Agent X]

Originally posted by BNakagawa
I dislike all constructions like this.

All it does is get one person per party to invest in skills. Nobody else needs any, because Answer Man has all the knowledge we need. We can spend all our points on levels and defenses now.

Even if they don't, it immediately devalues any skills anyone else has, because Answer Man has a 20 or less to know damn near anything you do.

I've always preferred it when character A is the authority on field a, character B is the master of b and character C is the one to consult for questions regarding c. Once you allow in something like this power, the answer is always Ask Answer Man. (Either that, or force characters A B and C to pump their knowledge skills past 21 or less.)

$0.02 You wouldn't want this "all-knowing" character in every game but it is a valid concept and could be useful in a game once in a while. The character can still fail a skill roll or miss an obvious application of their knowledge that would allow another character to succeed or point out the "obvious" to Captain Know-it-all. Just like Jell-o, in Hero there is always room for more.

[austenandrews]

As a GM, I generally rule that a narrowly-defined KS gives great detail, while a broadly-defined KS gives less detail. That category is so broad, you'd know extremely little about everything under the sun.

It would serve you well on the Non-Gaming Discussion board, though. ;)

-AA

[Yamo]

What about Detect: Anything I Want To Know About Anything? :)

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Yamo
What about Detect: Anything I Want To Know About Anything? :)

You would, on a successful roll, become aware of (detect) the fact that there was indeed something you wanted to know about a particular subject. :D

[pinecone]

I think this is an EC...Detect:someone who knows the answer to my question,cost END,Concentrate,Incantation:"Ummmmmmmmm",megascale up to a few hundred light years,Mind scan,Telepathy,must take target unaware,Cumlative,(A lot) concentrate,Incantation: "wait a sec...I almost got it"....:)

[Snarf]

I'm pretty sure John Doe has more than just knowledge skills, because I saw him jump in some random car and drive like a professional racer.

Maybe you could just buy overall skill levels for 10 points a level. Getting +20 would be 200 points. Nice and expensive!

[Kristopher]

Doing write-ups for a handful of aliens from an immortal (in the sense that they don't die from age) species, I decided that what would set the really old ones apart would be a number of Overall Skill Levels to represent the eons of experience they had.

[Osprey]

I'd Go with Agent X's plan:
But all applicable skills (even if they are broad) at 20- of so.

I have an NPC in my games that does something similar suing a different tack:

Telepathy with Megascale (World), NND (Defense is to not want to tell), Invisible Power Effects.
He knows everything that someone on Earth knows (unless they won't tell).