Hamlin, the Pied Piper (Rules help!)

[Rechan]

I had this idea for a neat NPC. But I have no idea how to make the powers.

 

The Pied Piper.

 

Music is in everything. In every motion, in all things, the beat of music is present. That beat is hypnotic, or can be; it stirs the soul, the heart, the mind.

 

The Pied Piper is essentially a walking Musical. He's a sound manipulator and an illusionist, but that sound he uses to compel and control his audiance. Imagine The Mask, less cartoonish, more Lounge Lizard. He does all forms of music, to a punk metal rage of sound, to a captivating, seducing Rat Pack singer, the Diva pouring her soul into the music, the Rapper drawing in the rhythm.

 

He essentially is a singer (Although can be a dancer just very well), of almost any style of music (Except Polka). Creating music out of thin air is simple for him, and thus he never needs a band or a backup. Amplifying his voice, vocalization is simple.

 

That sound that he uses to manipulate can equally be used as a weapon, like a blast of sound or a high pitch violent enough to crack certain things.

 

But his major power involves influncing others. When Kurt Kobain was able to, by playing the first four notes of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' to cause the entire audiance to mosh, because it was Him doing it, because he had the presence. As does the Pied Piper do to his audiance. He tugs at their emotions, getting them so hypnotised in the song that he can alter their mood, and compel them to do things like riot, throw money, or weep and be distracted, or feel utterly pleased and at peace. Others he can sweep into the music so powerfully that they join in, and sing their deep secrets of what's on their mind, and in their heart.

 

Finally, the Pied Piper is able to alter his enviornment, to create illusions and make them quasi-real to aid in his song. Make steps out of thin air, and light them up like spectacle. Illusions of dancers with him, of a band in the background, of stage props and the like, he weaves out of the music to make it look much like a broadway play. He can even change his appearance and dress to suit it, the most obvious one becoming a female singer for certain pieces that a woman just Fits Better at singing.

 

Usually dancing aids other forms of music, but if he is cut silent, then his powers are lessened, yet he can still do the dance to get it moving.

 

Possibilities But Not Required:

If he's silenced, he could go for the Mime aspect. And actually... create wind and wall effects. If he wanted to be sinister, could cause those fully in control of the song to dance until they have a stroke, to sing until they can't breathe any longer.

 

What do you guys think? How would I go about creating this dude in Hero? He's not going to be a really Vile guy, but more like... Say Harley Quin; More playful. He's more likely to do this for an audiance and get them to throw money at him, to start a show at a museum opening and steal a sculpture by using it as a prop in his singing, and while all are captivated, he simply walks on off. A riot caused to cover his back, a Mosh to stop people from chasing after him, etc.

[Kevin Scrivner]

Advantages and Limitations you might consider:

 

-1 OAF Pipes

+1 No Normal Defense (the defense is earplugs, being deaf, hard ear coverings)

+1 Area of Effect, since he can affect an entire audience

Megascale, for drawing all the children in the village

-1/4 Reduced by Range, the further away you are from his playing the weaker the effect

 

Possible powers:

 

Mind Control

Entangle, defined as people forced to dance whether they want to or not

Mind Scanning, since the Piper seems to be able to single out particular groups of victims

Mental Illusions

 

Neat concept but very expense to create. Since he's an NPC, I'd be tempted to just let him do what he does and only worry about game mechanics when it directly affects the PCs.

 

Also, you'll want to give him backup abilities in case his entrancing tunes aren't entrancing enough. Maybe some of his musical instruments also serve as weapons. Maybe he knows some martial arts, defined as dance moves. Maybe he has a bunch of groupies that conveniently seem to mob him (or the heroes) whenever the good guys get too close (Invisibility if losing himself in the crowd; Area of Effect Physical EB if an attack on the PCs).

[Lord Liaden]

Cool concept!

 

Mind Control is practically a must for a character like this. Mental Illusions could fit, too. A character in Champions of the North had Mind Control with the Limitation, "Requires normal speech throughout" (-1/2), meaning that if he stopped talking the MC would cease affecting his victim. You could require that his powers require that he sing constantly. Alternatively, if you go the "mime" route (aren't all mimes evil? ), his powers could require the "Gestures" Limitation.

 

You'll get a lot of mileage out of Images, for all the visual and auditory effects and illusions he creates that cause no harm. For more tangible items like stairs, bandstands etc., a shaped Force Wall would probably suffice. And don't underestimate the ability of Change Environment to set a visual and auditory "mood".

 

Hope that helps.

[Guest Champsguy]

Re: Hamlin, the Pied Piper (Rules help!)

 

Originally posted by Rechan

Music is in everything. In every motion, in all things, the beat of music is present.

 

Hah. You've never seen me dance.

[Rechan]

Well, I think that the Change Environment could work for lowering lights and brightening them (Spotlights!) Hey, that could be flashes.

 

And, I could add the limitation that the illusions only work if the Music is in action (Ergo he's using one of his powers to create music Or dance), that way it's still going on even when he's taking a pause for the music.

 

This would thusly cause the illusions to Stop when he is silenced, and thus he has got to go for the Mime to create a new illusion (Although, HIs appearance shifting doesn't stop with the music).

 

No pipe; that's just the Idea behind this. Although he could have a Microphone, but it's not 'The Piper' so much as just a concept. 'Hamlin the Pied Piper' was not my idea, but a friend's; Origionally I called him the Musical Magician.

 

Some thoughts:

 

As I said, he can use sound like EBs and effects to cause shattering high notes, maybe even flashes and such. As I said, the part with the Crowd can be used as a weapon against the PCs; get them to mosh as the PCs approach, etc. I Like martial arts as dance moves.

 

Another thing I considered was to simply give him an android assistant when he needs to do Duet. Simply project his powers to make it look like the same is coming from his partner, or more 'play the backup' while the Robot does the singing and he's just using the powers, looking inconspicious. Also allows for a quick excape.

 

No need for mindscan, tho.

 

And yeah; I'm wondering, what exactly do I do with the mental illusions and mind control, and all that good stuff? I'm not really ... Good at rules. Infact, I'm new.

 

And, seeing as I've got a group of 3 (Plus 1 party NPC whom I might ixnay, and 1 party NPC who's the head who may never get involved), he can be a large amass of points.

[Rechan]

Shaaameless bump.

[Blue]

If you are just luring them away then yes, the mind control is ideal.

 

If, as you say, there is music in everything (Except Champsguy, as noted) then you would affect reality by playing the pipes a certain way. Therefore it would be a variable power pool with a requiement that you use a musical instrument, pretty much all of the limitations listed in the post above, and a skill roll reqiured to perform the ability (sort of a performance skill).

 

I used to play guitar, until I realized I had no talent or skill. In my case I had to fail a skill roll in order to scare the heck out of people. I play like champsguy dances

[Rechan]

Well, who says you can't do that through dance or voice? I mean, what is the voice, but your own musical instrument?