It's the Little Things....

[Lucius]

It's the little things.

Little things like

Eidetic Memory (5 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2) Real Cost: 2

Plus

Deduction Real Cost 3


A total of 5 pts, for the ability to suddenly remember a detail of something seen or heard, perhaps months or years after the fact, connect it to something just now percieved or realized, and gain an important insight. Just 5 pts, to have scenes in which the significance of something in the past abruptly becomes clear - maybe just in time to do something about it. Or maybe too late for anything but revenge.

I wrote that combo for Kristina of Aquilonia, a character I've never played, but I've had occasion to say that if I ever did, I'd be disappointed if that ability never came into play - even though it's something like 3 percent of her total points.


I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about "micropowers," about the quirky little Limited Talents or Skill combos or other low point elements that people feel help define a character, or are clever if cheap constructions, or that you just find interesting in some way. The lower the point cost the better, but I'm thinking in terms of a maximum of, say, 15 or 20 pts if we're talking about a superhero - maybe less if we're talking about heroic characters for whom 20 Real Points is not really a "micropower" but a significant investment.


Lucius Alexander

And a little palindromedary

[i3ullseye]

I am a big fan of giving the GM soemthing to work with.

11 pts....

Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group And Normal Hearing), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (67 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Extra Time (1 Minute, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4), Precognition/Retrocognition Only (-1), Blackout (-1/2)

This gives the character flashes of the past, but only when the GM decides those flashes would help propel the story forward.

[The Rose]

I lack the actual build for it off hand, but "The Rose" had to have his trademark Rose at hand; and with just a flick of a wrist he always did. A small transform - Air into a fresh Rose of any color. Maybe he just wanted to stop and smell the roses in the metropolis of Millennium City or have a little gift for someone special, either way it was always on hand for him. It was built inside a MP and only cost a single point, but even outside the MP was just a handful of points at most. I don't think the power build ever became of any game use other than flash, but that was the concept anyway, Flash.

La Rose.

[i3ullseye]

Our current game, one character is The Mime. Whatever he does becomes fully invisible reality. Walls, ropes, ladders, jackhammers, etc....

He has 2 really cool little powers added for effect. One, in his multipower, he has eating... requires skill roll like everything esle.. but it created real food with a Transform on the air around him. Sure, you can't see it, or taste it.... but it fills you up.

He also has Clinging... bought with Gestures, requires a Mime roll, does not resist knowckback.. and cant use it to climb or move. This allows him to sit on invisible chairs and lean on invisible walls without falling. he can also do the whole body tilt and mambo like a champ! Really funny things come out of this... all for only 3 points.

[Sean Waters]

It's the little things.

Little things like

Eidetic Memory (5 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2) Real Cost: 2

Plus

Deduction Real Cost 3


A total of 5 pts, ................

That's very nice: although it is very cheap it could well be the defining points of the entire build.

Here's one I like - one sneeze and the galaxy is destroyed:

Energy Blast 100d6, Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset; When sneezing; +1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Affects Desolidified Any form of Desolidification (+1/2), Armor Piercing (+1/2), Area Of Effect (425" Radius; +1), Transdimensional (Any Dimension; +1), MegaScale (1" = 100,000 lightyears; +4 3/4) (4750 Active Points)

Er...hang on, I might be a couple of orders of magnitude out there...

[ghost-angel]

I had a bard whohad a map to the nearest tavern, no matter how far that was. It acted more like a compass with distance on it. It was fun thouhlgh the campaign didn't last long enough to really have fun with it.

[Ockham's Spoon]

A favorite of mine was for a psychic medium who bought KS: Random Trivia 13- for 3 points, the sfx was that she got the information from a spirit or ghost. She couldn't really use it for any specific information because the penalties would have been too high, but it allowed the character to throw out colorful bits just for fun and for the GM to give out obscure background information that none of the heroes would reasonably know otherwise. Once in a great while when the heroes were stuck, it gave the GM a way to give them a nudge in the right direction with a handy bit of info.

[Sean Waters]

OK, being sensible this time, I often buy Luck for specific purposes:

3d6 Luck (only to find someone willing to talk to you -1): 7 points

So, you are a private investigator and turn up at a crime a scene. The cops won't let you past the yellow tape BUT you have a knack for finding someone who will talk to you, or saying the right thing to get someone to open up. Roll your luck and the result indicates that there is a bored detective you helped out with a minor trace on a runaway just a couple of months ago.

He says 'Hi', and you start chatting...

The information is not going to be handed to you on a plate: you still have to work for it, but at least this gives you a staring point.

You might be lucky in any number of other ways too: you might do well at cards, or avoid traffic cameras or...well, anything, really.

You can even build it with side effects:

3d6 Luck (15 points)
Only to guess the right direction (-1)
Side Effects (3d6 unluck -1/4)

- generally you have a good sense of direction and usually find your way to where you are going, but if you get turned around you can head off in completely the wrong direction...

It is a single construct idea that has a lot of potential applications.


...oh and I want one of those Tavern Maps...

[BNakagawa]

2 points: Can talk to cats. (fluent w/human accent) ((has linguist))

Mittens ended up the two-legged guardian of a very special cat and now speaks an alien tongue with a feline accent...

[mattingly]

One, in his multipower, he has eating... requires skill roll like everything esle.. but it created real food with a Transform on the air around him. Sure, you can't see it, or taste it.... but it fills you up.

What happens when you have to go to the bathroom later...?

[DocMan]

This makes me nostalgic for the old 10 point Instant Change, any outfit. It was mostly to make costume changes easier, but I used it at one point to infiltrate a villain base by posing as one of the minions. It wasn't my fault that they wore distinctive outfits with full helmets.

Will have to think of other examples...

Doc

[steamteck]

I bought sunglasses on an OIF to represent tons of spares so the character would just whip out another one if they stolen or smashed. The PCs really got a charge out of the character.

One of my wife's characters has STR 3 TK with a touch feedback and fine manipulation. its proved a very useful ace in the hole.

We also have a detective with eidetic memory and deduction but she also has only needs 1 hour of sleep a night so she''s always coming up with her conclusions at crazy hours and waking everyone up.

In a fantasy game my wife had a character with a match that always struck properly and never burned up

[JmOz]

Some small powers that are amazing

TK 1 Str, 1 point
Gliding 1 point

[BNakagawa]

Some small powers that are amazing

TK 1 Str, 1 point

this is technically illegal.

[Sean Waters]

this is technically illegal.

Welllllll....not technically illegal: it certainly doesn't get you 1 STR TK, but even 0 STR TK can lift 25kg (and with IPE is useful for groping strangers on buses and bars - which is technically illegal ), and you can get that for a point.