Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 I have this idea for a character who's a light-powers energy projector, but with a Batman-style personality/MO. I haven't worked out all the details, but so far I figure the incident that gave him his photonic powers was also a traumatic incident brought on by criminals. I call him "Balefire." Anyway, the idea is to juxtapose the usual associations with stealthy characters and light-characters. The main power I was thinking of so far (aside from the usual invisibility) was a darkness field (or change environment) that blocks both sight and any radio-based powers. The idea is that Balefire converts all the visible light photons in an area to radio waves making it very dark with tons of radio static so people with radar are confused, and can't radio for help. I can build that power, and variations thereof, just fine. What I wanted to ask you all is if you can think of any other ways that light powers (projecting light, controlling light, etc.) can be used in spooky, mysterious, or terrifying ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlin1 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Intimidating illusions (shapes moving in the darkness, looming shadows, etc.) bought as a PRE Attack. Mirror images of himself bought as DCV. Um.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by devlin1 Intimidating illusions (shapes moving in the darkness, looming shadows, etc.) bought as a PRE Attack. Mirror images of himself bought as DCV. Um.... Good. I was also thinking that maybe it could be scary to have a character who was completely black, absorbing all incoming light. This could be especially weird if the area were well-lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlin1 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 I'd call that a PRE Attack, myself, and also build into it major Sight Flash Defense or Desolid, Only to Sight Group Flash. BTW, this guy sounds pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Ghostly images of victims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlin1 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Oh, and I know it gets a bad rap around here, and that pointwise, it's inefficient, but giving him Absorption vs. Light-based Attacks linked to Armor, Only Up To Amount Rolled on Absorption Dice, would make sense to me. Personally, I like that combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by devlin1 I'd call that a PRE Attack, myself, and also build into it major Sight Flash Defense or Desolid, Only to Sight Group Flash. BTW, this guy sounds pretty cool. Thanks. And thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by Redmenace Ghostly images of victims Oh, good idea. I was originally thinking that I didn't want his Images, in the beginning, to be that sophisticated. I don't really see BF altering the trajectory of a photon in mid-air, but I could see him altering the wavelength until the photons bounce off of the air, then re-altering them to visible wavelengths (though that sounds too complicated for a mortal mind). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Champsguy Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Ever seen the TV movie "Steven King's IT"? Spooky, glowing "deadlights" would be creepy. Just by looking at them, you know it's unnatural. Those lights were also hypnotic--people would be transfixed by them. Perhaps if he had some sort of force manipulation power--he could make things come out of the light. So the bad guys are sitting around in a warehouse, playing cards, under a single hanging lightbulb (like they always do), when the light seems to grow brighter. Some sort of creature, apparently made of solid light, crawls out of the lightbulb, and drops down to attack the goons. I'm sure there are lots of creepy things you can do with light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by devlin1 Oh, and I know it gets a bad rap around here, and that pointwise, it's inefficient, but giving him Absorption vs. Light-based Attacks linked to Armor, Only Up To Amount Rolled on Absorption Dice, would make sense to me. Personally, I like that combo. I'd rather absord to END. It makes more sense to me. But the Armor brings up a good point. What's this guy do for defenses? I never really bought light-based FFs, and there's something so bland about body-armor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlin1 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by Supreme I'd rather absord to END. It makes more sense to me. Well, you can Absorb to anything you want, but the SFX of whatever you Absorb should probably be limited to light-based attacks. But the Armor brings up a good point. What's this guy do for defenses? I never really bought light-based FFs, and there's something so bland about body-armor. I have a light-based energy blaster who has a FF pseudoscientifically defined as hyper-concentrated photons that deflect attacks. Hey, I'm no scientist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzinbane Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Hmm. Well being able to increase or decrease the frequency of light provides a good basis for lots of powers. I mean the visible spectrum is just a very small chunk of what "light" is. It goes from radio frequency all the way to very high power cosmic rays. Multipower wise he should be able to "see" in various spectrums of light - maybe taking a bit of time to switch modes like the Predator did on Predator 2. He may also be able to hear police band (though as a special effect may be deaf to normal sound while listening to radio). Heck just his senses are fun to think about! Now if he can take light energy and add/reduce frequency he should be able to generate radio to cosmic rays for a number of different effects. Jamming radar, sonar, radio communications to name a few uses other than the obvious types of energy blasts (IR = Heat, visible light = flash, UV = he can be a tanning bed in his off time). I like the idea of the 3 dimensional shadow (absorbing all visible light). Invisibility is good too obviously. Illusion powers maybe limited to himself - he can act like a video screen and project an image of someone else on his own features. Even if he can't make an image at a distance if he can emit light and control it he can make himself look like different people or maybe other things. Lots and lots of ideas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Ooh! I just got another idea. He can convert incoming light to X-rays, then reconvert it to visible on it's way out. Sort of projecting his own x-ray image. So everyone would see a skeleton surrounded by ghostly flesh (of course he has to have some kind of immunity to photonic radiation). He could also be in silouette mode most of the time, then give everyone a flash of his skull during PRE attacks for extra boost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzinbane Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Turn selectively invisible - leave bones visible only... or muscles or blood vessels or just all but skin. Yuk! Villains must make roll or puke guts out as the walking digestive system man attacks them! LOL my imagination is TOO good sometimes. I can visualise the esophogas, stomach and intenstines "walking" around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by Kzinbane Turn selectively invisible - leave bones visible only... or muscles or blood vessels or just all but skin. Yuk! Villains must make roll or puke guts out as the walking digestive system man attacks them! LOL my imagination is TOO good sometimes. I can visualise the esophogas, stomach and intenstines "walking" around... Shades of Dr. Manhattan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 For Defenses, CSLs in DCV are classic: the character's image is blurred, or shifted so that he appears to be slightly away from his real location. You can do much the same thing with CV penalties from Change Environment, which is also easier to fit into a Power Framework. You could also define Missile Deflection as "point-defense lasers" which incinerate incoming projectiles, or even interfere with the wavelengths of incoming energy, dampening them. I'm not sure if you'd want to go this route, but the 4E version of Dr. Destroyer's minion Gigaton featured a Darkness power defined as a continuous field of light so intense that no one could see while they were inside it. Same game effect, but a more distinctive SFX which would certainly suit your character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by Lord Liaden ...I'm not sure if you'd want to go this route, but the 4E version of Dr. Destroyer's minion Gigaton featured a Darkness power defined as a continuous field of light so intense that no one could see while they were inside it. Same game effect, but a more distinctive SFX which would certainly suit your character. I was thinking about something like that. A big spotlight that prevented them from seeing anything outside of the spot-lit area. That could be his "balefire" (a fire maintained by sentries to warn of evil-doers). He could also add in the x-ray effect so that they each saw their own skeletons. "I know you inside and out." Sort of like the Shadow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 For some reason I am stuck on the shadow bit... Spooky: Makes lights appear in the night sky, terrifying normals. Claims to be an alien, and has his "spaceshiip" fly overhead if outnumbered (well...the glowing light part anyway) Mysterious: Teleportation, only between shadows? Able to see in total darkness...is always turning off the lights before he beats up villains. Terrifying: Taking away an opponents shadow might be fun (transform attack, perhaps). He could then recreate his victim's shadow using images, and have it do annoying things. Transform atack, being able to blind opponents for a few days might also be terrifying. Defenses: You could be justified buying missile defelection, due to his ability to "Alter light wavelengths, causing people to miss." Extra DCV could also work for this. Invisibility is also good. A Flash attack, explosion, if he takes BODY... Oh, I think you are opening yourself up to trouble if you go beyond the light band in the EM spectrum. You start getting into "Dr Destroyer" territory then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlin1 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 See, to me, a lot of these suggestions (good suggestions, don't get me wrong) are just +PRE, Attack Only, Costs END. Or Images. Both of these are really great, because they allow for all kinds of variation with just two simple powers. I also like 3d6 Flash with Explosion, Continuous, and No Range, defined as that "balefire" that blinds anyone near him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhawk Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 One of my players had a character who was exactly like the one Supreme described (Light Based Powers/Mysterious Character). One of his gags he would dim all the lights before he walked into a henchman bar/warehouse hideout/etc to create an ominous atmosphere. It got to the point where thugs were catching on and they knew when the lights dimmed..."Oh crap, its Dr. Equinox!" I think he did it with a CE with a lined PRE bonus, Only in Artificially Lit Areas or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy Gnome Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Moving shadows with no source are always spooky. Reddening the light in an area could be spooky. As could making something visible that normally isn't. Heat, the air itself, whatever. You see something strange because you're seeing a different wavelength than normal, but you don't know how to interpret what you see so it's scary. Is that a ghost? Or poison gas? Now the wall's burning! I like the "x-ray vision" suggestions the best so far. Maybe he can use terahertz waves to avoid the whole radiation poisoning thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakboy6117 Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 cloak of shadows a billowing shroud of shadowy tendrils that create terrifying monsterous apperance whilst preventing accurate targetting. basicly boosted presence linked with extra DCV willow d'wisps a swarm of baseball sized spheres of etheral lighht that drift around enemies distracting and leaving them open for attack negative ocv with area effect and personal immunity army of shadows an army of shadowy figures who seem to appear from every shadow concealing the true point of the attack. 4" area affect images -7 perception only for set effect linked with shape shifting to make the original look like his shadowy army Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted February 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Originally posted by Fuzzy Gnome Moving shadows with no source are always spooky. Reddening the light in an area could be spooky. As could making something visible that normally isn't. Heat, the air itself, whatever. You see something strange because you're seeing a different wavelength than normal, but you don't know how to interpret what you see so it's scary. Is that a ghost? Or poison gas? Now the wall's burning! I like the "x-ray vision" suggestions the best so far. Maybe he can use terahertz waves to avoid the whole radiation poisoning thing. Good stuff. What are terahertz waves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzy Gnome Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 Originally posted by Supreme Good stuff. What are terahertz waves? They were mentioned on these boards once, I think. Radiation between microwaves and infrared light, they're hard to generate or detect... except they resonate with common organic molecules or something. If you can see terahertz waves, you can see through clothing and thin walls and see people and dense foci they're carrying. It's like X-rays but the illumination is from thermal vibration of enzymes or something. Seeing through Balefire's clothes wouldn't be especially scary, even if he's packing heat. But if you were suddenly naked it'd be startling. Maybe BF could tune in and display a frequency that would show his bones or organs but not his skin. That'd be like the X-ray vision trick, but less dangerous. He could do it to someone else for atmosphere or to imitate the security scanner in Total Recall without using hazardous radiation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KA. Posted February 28, 2004 Report Share Posted February 28, 2004 While some of the ideas I am seeing seem quite good, they are more "dark based" than "light based", at least to me. How about these: 1) He could teleport using Light. Like the electrical character that can travel through power lines, he can appear anywhere there is light.(Within his range, of course.) Two thugs are talking, one of them lights a cigarette, And there is Balefire right in the middle of them! Unexpected things like the light from a watch face, or the light when a cell phone rings. Eventually criminals will be doing business in caves at midnight, terrified at the thought of the tiniest speck of light. 2) Senses through light. He can "see" and "hear" through light, allowing him to look at, and eavesdrop on, anyone who is near a light source (within range). 3) Some sort of Telepathy that involves using his light powers to "view" the impulses travelling through a person's mind.(Thanks to The Spectre!) 4) Some sort of "Light Images" based Missle Reflection. He creates an image of himself that causes one of his opponents to shoot another one. (Maybe something like IPE on Missle Reflection?) 5) Something like Darkness (Area Effect 1 Hex), defined as Unbearable Light, with the "Useable as attack" option and perhaps a Continuing Charge. (I think this is the proper construct.) You could "mark" an evildoer with a "spotlight". "You can't hide! You can't get away! Everyone knows who you are!" This would freak most people out, especially those who tend to hide in the shadows. (Sticky would make this just plain Evil. If he went to a friend for help and entered their Hex, they would get "marked" too!) KA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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