Marvel's Rogue

[GamePhil]

This is how I'd do it with only access to Sidekick. It's mostly the same in the full rules, but some of the details are slightly different, and some extra Limitations are available (mainly some Side Effect options that aren't in Sidekick).

 

Rogue's Power is a two step process. The first is rendering a target unconscious. For this, I suggest a large NND Energy Blast, with the defenses having an inhuman physiology or being too powerful for Rogue to absorb (that is, more than the points of the Multiform below). This might then be bought No Range, and Must Touch Exposed Skin. You might also buy it as a Damage Shield, Always On, but this gets very expensive. She may need to touch the target more than once to have it work.

 

In a 350 point game, the power-stealing portion of Rogue's abilities can be approximated reasonably well by taking a 350 pt Multiform, with (at an outside) 8 billion alternate forms, each one a blend of herself and someone on Earth she touches. This is 235 Active Points. Put this on the Limitation, Only While Touched Target Is Unconscious, call that a -1, and Cannot Choose Form, call it another -1. This is 78 Real Points. This is actually excessive: I doubt she'd ever need all 8 billion forms.

 

With these two Powers, there won't be much else that Rogue can do: she will be like she was before she gained Ms. Marvel's powers. This does require some hand waiving, in that Multiform usually requires that all the forms are written up ahead of time. Obviously, that can't be true in this case.

 

Two alternatives using the full Hero rules: use a Variable Pool of alternate forms instead buying many different forms as above (this comes out about the same cost, and still has to be approved for the same reason as above). The usual way to do it, though, is to buy a large Variable Pool to take on the target's Powers. A small Limitation for a Side Effect is appropriate to simulate her losing control if the target is too powerful and/or strong willed.

[lazarus]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

The other thing about the Multiform is she'd need an Undesired Transformation (or whatever it's named) - well, both would.

[Blue]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Very industrious

 

I did one of these a long, long time ago. It was 3rd edition or earlier, I think, so it was pretty clunky (but Rogue was my favorite character at the time). I seem to recall not being concerned with rendering the other person unconscious, but I think I did it as a "Power Transfer Pool", which limited the character to draining one power at a time.. I had to make up the advantages and limitations (things now approximated by 'variable advantage' and 'damage shield'). I'm sure my version was cheaper than what it should be, but I was making it up as I went along, so that happens.

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Rogue cant steal powers, cos there no mechanic for that in hero.

 

8 billion multiform, please. i assume this means simulate everone on earth.

 

what about the aliens. dormannu,

 

Rogue can take anyone powers, possible burnout or uncontrolled if it galactus or eternity.

 

Answer: Transfer 1d6 costs 15pts pro rated for all your linked/sfx powers. you lose 1pt she gains 1 pt exact duplicate of powers including frameworks, lim no skill based powers/effects

 

Add in 1d6 transfer all stats oend , and your good to go.

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

The other thing about the Multiform is she'd need an Undesired Transformation (or whatever it's named) - well' date=' both would.[/quote']

 

Accidental Change, perhaps? If so, I was considering the Cannot Choose Form part to cover this: she changes into the hybrid character appropriate to who she touches whether she wants to or not.

 

One flaw with this system is that she can only absorb one target's abilities at once. I'd probably be willing to allow her to get a Power Skill roll to nab more than one, as long as she didn't do this very often.

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Rogue transfers powers from other people to herself, all there powers intact up to there original power level.

 

is multiform really the best answer?

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

From a post I wrote on rec.games.frp.super-heroes in 2000 after having seen the first X-Men movie. Looking back, this version was not, as I posted, her at the end of the X-Men movie, but an amalgam of movie Rogue and comic book Rogue. Note that the writeup is 4th edition and came from Heromaker; it was done for the 250 Point Project, though as far as I know it never appeared on that web page.

 

 

This is my version of Rogue on 250 points. This is her as she was at the

end of the X-Men movie. I creatively reinterpreted rules in one or two

places, and outright broke them once. The specifics:

 

1. Telepathy in a Damage Shield. This doesn't function as "normal" mental

powers do in a Damage Shield, but rather as all other powers do (i.e. on

touch, you get hit).

 

2. Her Drain is sort of "healing in reverse". It is a slight break of the

rules, and if anyone doesn't like it, your concerns are duly noted, and

ignored, in advance. (In other words, I don't want to start a whole thread

consisting of half (or more) of the people flaming me for having done it

this way, and the other half (or less) saying "Well I think it's okay."

Yes, I did it like this because it "worked." Yes, I know it's wrong. Do I

care? Nope.)

 

2b. Drain recovers per minute. I know she put her boyfriend into a coma

for three weeks when she kissed him. Either she exaggerated, or, since it

was the first time her power was used, the GM did something funky with it.

 

3. Her mimic pool explicitly can contain skills. Special GM permission.

If you don't like it, see my commentary on #2.

 

4. I'm assuming the Sentinels exist in the background. If this is

unacceptable, change it to "Anti-mutant folks" or see my commentary on #2.

 

5. Psych Lim: Split Personality. When she mimics someone's powers, she

gains a split personality. She has to roll her EGO roll at -5 to avoid

taking on the other person's personality. This lasts as long as she has the

mimicked powers.

 

The character Rogue was created and is copyright by Marvel Comics. This

writeup Copyright © 2000 by Chris Goodwin. Permission granted to add to

online character writeup archives. Permission granted to reprint for

personal use. All other uses, ask me.

 

Rogue

Real Name: Marie

 

8 STR -2

17 DEX 21

15 CON 10

10 BODY 0

13 INT 3

11 EGO 2

15 PRE 5

20 COM 5

2 PD 0

3 ED 0

2 SPD 0

5 REC 0

30 END 0

22 STUN 0

Characteristics Cost: 44

 

37 EC (55),"Life Force Absorption",Always On(-1/2)

27a) 4D6 Drain,""Normal" Stun + Body",fade rate: per minute,

Always On(-1/2),Damage Shield(+1/2),0 END Persistent(+1) 0

28b) 9D6 Telepathy,Always On(-1/2),Damage Shield(+1/2),0 END

Persistent(+1) 0

 

106 VPP (66),no choice how powers change,restricted type of

powers,can change powers as 0 phase,no skill roll required,

"Mimic pool: must touch target to mimic its powers",Must

touch target to mimic powers or skills(-1/2)

 

2 KS: High school education 11-

5 1D6 Luck

 

Note: The Drain affects both Stun and Body, counted as

normal dice; I used the precedent of Healing being an Aid

that affects both Stun and Body.

 

Rogue specifically has special GM permission to put skills

into the VPP.

 

The Damage Shield on the Telepathy works as though it were

applied to a standard power rather than to a

mental power.

 

This is Rogue as she was at the end of the X-Men movie.

 

Powers Cost: 205

Total Cost: 249

 

Base Points: 100

15 Secret ID

10 Distinctive,"Minor",easily concealable,major

15 Distinctive,"Beautiful",concealable,major

10 Distinctive,"White streak in hair",concealable,minor

20 Hunted,"Magneto",more powerful,non-combat influence,harsh,

appear 8-

15 Hunted,"Sentinels",more powerful,harsh,appear 8-

10 Watched,"Professor X",more powerful,harsh,appear 11-

20 Psych Lim,"Has a crush on Wolverine",very common,strong

15 Psych Lim,"Afraid to touch people physically",very common,

moderate

10 Psych Lim,"Split Personality when mimicking powers",

uncommon,strong

10 Rep,"X-man",occur 8-,extreme reputation

 

Disadvantages Total: 150

Experience Spent: 0

Total Points: 250

 

 

Nowadays, the Distinctive Features: Minor would be a Social Limitation. I'd go with the other stuff pretty much as written. The Drain might be a hard sell; I might change it to an Energy Blast, NND, Does BODY. Also, perhaps the EC would need to be done differently in 5e.

 

PS: I don't think the Variable Power Pool exists in Sidekick. I think you're out of luck doing Rogue without it.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

I think Vorsch's transfer suggestion the most 'mechanically' correct solution to the puzzle but at the price of extreme accounting requirements for both the player and GM.

 

see a related thread I posted in an answer to essentially the same question for someone new to HERO here.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Actually you could go with a lot of dice of Major Transform (self into self with powers & abilities of target), Only on Self (-1), Only to Mimic Powers/Abilities of Target Touched (-1), Requires Skin Contact (-1/2) and make it Always On.

 

To it, link a lot of dice of Drain, All Superhuman Powers at Once (+2), Always On.

 

The Partial Transformation rule would even cover those times when she only gets part of a person's power, because she didn't / couldn't maintain contact long enough to get it all.

 

Expensive as all get-out, and Guaranteed to be above the Active Point cap for pretty much every campaign, but ti would work without mucking around with Multiform, Variable Power Pools, and so on. She also wouldn't be limited by the size of the points available in a Multiform or a VPP -- the Transform just keeps chugging away until it's grabbed everything (assuming she retains contact long enough to get everything).

 

You could also give the Character a Disadvantage of Accidental Change: Personality of Drained / Copied Target Becoms Dominant (as we've seen happen to Rogue a couple of times...like with Juggernaught, for example).

 

It would also be very easy to handle, bookkeeping-wise. If Rogue gets all the target's power, just give the character sheet of the target to Rogue's player and let them use all the powers & abilities on the sheet. If Rogue doesn't get it all (say she only maintains contact long enough to get 1/2) do the same thing, but tell the player "only up to 1/2 the max value listed for the powers" or whatever simple fraction she got. (I'd reccomend sticking with 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 'all' for simplicity's sake.)

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Rogue transfers powers from other people to herself, all there powers intact up to there original power level.

 

is multiform really the best answer?

 

The best? Possibly not. It is, however, the only way that I found accessible to someone with Sidekick alone, and it does the job well enough for anyone that doesn't need her to have the sometimes absurd power levels she has in the comics.

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Actually you could go with a lot of dice of Major Transform (self into self with powers & abilities of target), Only on Self (-1), Only to Mimic Powers/Abilities of Target Touched (-1), Requires Skin Contact (-1/2) and make it Always On.

 

Can't use Transform on yourself. Of course, you can always change that.

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Rogue cant steal powers, cos there no mechanic for that in hero.

 

Huh?

 

8 billion multiform, please. i assume this means simulate everone on earth.

 

No, it is meant to simulate everyone she is likely to ever meet and use her powers on. In fact, it is overdone for caution. If she ever meets in her career more than 8 billion creatures on which the Power can be used, I would be very surprised. Quite a campaign.

 

Rogue can take anyone powers, possible burnout or uncontrolled if it galactus or eternity.

 

Actually, she has been unable to take the powers of significantly less powerful individuals than these, such as Loki.

 

Answer: Transfer 1d6 costs 15pts pro rated for all your linked/sfx powers. you lose 1pt she gains 1 pt exact duplicate of powers including frameworks, lim no skill based powers/effects

 

Add in 1d6 transfer all stats oend , and your good to go.

 

As long as you are willing to expend thousands of points, anyway. That is one of the things I wanted to avoid.

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Other hero games allow you you simulate Rogue, hero wont and certainly not in Sidekick.

 

the effect of "i drain all your powers at once "( no limit, rogue ) does not exist, certainly not transfering those powers to yourself.

 

The power "Power Transfer" was overlooked 20 years ago and no one is going to mess with the system now. It can be built but its clunky and has rather strange rules.

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Couple of power transfer questions.

 

in Marvel a small mutant child took out X Factors Celestialy built ship, No power defence or was the child that powerful against 1 million tons of ultimate super tech ( could he take a celestial?, if not why not)

 

If Rogue touches galactus what happens?

 

1 he laughs

2 she laughs as the galactically powerful ROGUE

3 she explodes

4 they become a Gestalt, absorbed cos hes such a bad ass, galactus with hair issues

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Can't use Transform on yourself. Of course' date=' you can always change that.[/quote']

Quite true. But as a fairly simple way to approach the problem, I'd allow it as a GM.

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Other hero games allow you you simulate Rogue, hero wont and certainly not in Sidekick.

 

I see. Forgive me if I disagree. I believe we've seen several viable methods on this thread alone, and the Multiform approach is, I just learned, in USPD.

 

Curses! Beaten to it again!

[Bloodstone]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

You know, I was going to type up this HUGE post about how Rogues powers work but then I figured: why do all the work when you can just make a link?

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

You know' date=' I was going to type up this HUGE post about how Rogues powers work but then I figured: why do all the work when you can just make a link?

 

Goodness. When did that Skrull thing happen?

[Bloodstone]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

It's on p7 of her bio...

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

I see. Forgive me if I disagree. I believe we've seen several viable methods on this thread alone, and the Multiform approach is, I just learned, in USPD.

 

Curses! Beaten to it again!

 

I know im beating my head against a brick wall, but rogues power drain should at least fit in somwhere in the drain/adjustment catagory.

 

If you use Multiform, its just not the intended use of the power, allow EDM universere of choice, "i am who i want to be".

 

8 billion characters, give me three dice and ten minutes and ill gen one that isint incuded.

[Lupus]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

I know im beating my head against a brick wall, but rogues power drain should at least fit in somwhere in the drain/adjustment catagory.

 

If you use Multiform, its just not the intended use of the power, allow EDM universere of choice, "i am who i want to be".

 

8 billion characters, give me three dice and ten minutes and ill gen one that isint incuded.

I think the point of having 8 billion forms is that you don't fill them out all at once. The theme is necessarily limited, so hopefully the GM would be okay with working forms out on the fly when you touch someone.

 

Hands up anyone who'd actually want to gen 8 billion characters and bring them along to every game session? I doubt that , even with veryone on these forums, that we'd genned 8 billion characters between us.

 

Personally I'd never allow EDM like that. I'd also never allow EDM to simulate Wish spells, as given in FH. I'll note for the record, though (not a direct reply to Vorsch, more to the thread in general), that multiform doesn't get Rogue too well (a Rogue-like character, sure, but not Rogue herself) because her power draining should /add/ to her total points, not replace any. When she absorbs multiple people, she doesn't lose any of her own powers, she gains powers from each of the others. Which I probably wouldn't allow in a game.

[Vorsch]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

I dont consider 8 billion forms limiting, ever.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Very Interesting Idea GamePhil

 

I would however vote for the VPP though. I vote the simplest solution is always the best solution. 8 billion MFs while being only one power is complex. Plus you have to factor in the combination forms, where she uses the abilities of multiple people.

 

I tended to create my Rogue-one offs by using Transfer delayed return +2 effects EVERYTHING on the SHEET!

4d6 was her total power.

I then added +1 to the delayed return and limited it by stating that a full turn had to be maintained for each increment of time over 5 minutes advanced. Her max was a I bought it 100 years.

 

 

Answer: Transfer 1d6 costs 15pts pro rated for all your linked/sfx powers. you lose 1pt she gains 1 pt exact duplicate of powers including frameworks, lim no skill based powers/effects

 

Add in 1d6 transfer all stats oend , and your good to go.

 

Wrong Vorsh, Rogue gets memories and skills. Transfer should with the +2 get the skills as well. It is in her SFX.

 

Hawksmoor

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

because her power draining should /add/ to her total points' date=' not replace any. When she absorbs multiple people, she doesn't lose any of her own powers, she gains powers from each of the others. Which I probably wouldn't allow in a game.[/quote']

 

Actually, the write up that I gave does add to total points: she gains at least the 78 points of the Multiform Power. I'd also tend to have her lose the attack power that goes along with it, as she reaches her upper limit: she just can't hold any more.

 

But, no, it's not perfect. To perfectly capture her Powers, which are rather absolute, requires a huge expenditure of points, beyond what most people allow in their games. We just can't get away with some things they do in the comics without unbalancing the game.

[GamePhil]

Re: Marvel's Rogue

 

Very Interesting Idea GamePhil

 

I would however vote for the VPP though. I vote the simplest solution is always the best solution. 8 billion MFs while being only one power is complex. Plus you have to factor in the combination forms, where she uses the abilities of multiple people.

 

However, VPP isn't in Sidekick. That was part of the criteria when I set out to build the power.