Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

[GestaltBennie]

While editing the neverending Gestalt manuscript today, I came upon this little odd example and thought I'd bring out to share, perhaps as an icebreaker to ask about some of the odder packages you've created.

 

[For the uninitiated Gestalt is a world where superpowers are manifested as archetypes. Every superhero represents a big concept, sort of like a mythological deity's portfolio.

 

I hope to get it into print this year, but I've said that before. :-(. In any event, I present to you, the most delicious superhero of them all, the Food Gestalt!

 

THE FOOD GESTALT

Quote: “My Gestalt may not win battles – but I’ll take a good meal over the ability to eviscerate someone any day.â€

 

Description: When one thinks about the fundamental forces that shape our lives, few forces are more important than food. Food does more than just nourish us; meals provide us with an important element of our social vocabulary. From kingly feasts, to Japanese tea ceremonies to fast food restaurants, how we eat tells as much about us as what we eat, a fact that the Food Gestalt knows well. The Food Gestalt is the champion of fine cuisine and good taste (and occasionally good nutrition too).

For members of a superhero team, the Food Motif is very silly. On the other hand, there’s nothing to say a Food Gestalt can’t occasionally spend time away from the kitchen to perform his civic duty, appearing to the rest of the world as just another martial artist until it’s time to serve up the victory banquet. If a Food Gestalt does join a superhero team, the GM should tailor some of the scenarios to showcase their avocation.

Note: The Food Gestalt’s Variable Pool gives a minor boost to Stats and Defenses for anyone who eats his food, or adds Life Support against poisons and toxins, or provides low powered Aids. Evil Food Gestalts, on the other hand, can make poisons that tastes good.

Related Gestalts: Gestalt of Pleasure, Gestalt of Indulgence, Gestalt of Gluttony, Gestalt of Physical Fitness (nutritious foods only).

Sub-Types of this Gestalt: Gestalt of (Various Sub-Cooking Schools)

Opposed Gestalts: Gestalts of Poison.

Prominent Examples of this Gestalt: Andre Mattson, Hiroyuki Sakai.

 

Food Gestalt Package Deal

 

Food Gestalt

Cost	Power	END
26	Ego of A Chef: (Total: 26 Active Cost, 26 Real Cost) +10 PRE (Real Cost: 10) plus +8 EGO (Real Cost: 16)	0
30	Master of His Tools: Find Weakness 13- with Related Group of Attacks (All Kitchen Implements)	0
33	Food Imbues Powers: Variable Power Pool, 25 base + 8 control cost, all slots Trigger (+1/4), Usable Simultaneously (up to 32 people at once; ; +1 1/2) (58 Active Points); all slots Extra Time (5 Minutes, Preparation Time; -2), Limited Power Must Follow Established Recipes (-1)
15	Make A Great Meal: Minor Transform 3d6 (Food Into Culinary Masterpiece, 48 Hours Without Refrigeration) (30 Active Points); Conditional Power Must Follow Established Recipes (-1)	3
20	Understand Ingredient: Detect A Large Class Of Things (Food Ingredients) 11- (Smell/Taste Group), Discriminatory, Analyze	0
10	Sense What Something Tastes Like: Range with Smell/Taste Group	0

Powers Cost: 134

 

 

Cost	Skill
3	Analyze: Cooking School 11-
3	Inventor 11-
4	KS: Cooking 13-
4	KS: Food Ingredients 13-
5	PS: Cook 14-

Skills Cost: 19

 

 

Cost	Talent
2	Eidetic Memory (5 Active Points); Conditional Power: Only To Remember Food Recipes (-2)
1	Lightning Calculator (3 Active Points); Conditional Power: Only To Calculate Recipes (-2)

Talents Cost: 3

 

Total Powers and Skills Cost: 156

 

Val	Disadvantages
5	Distinctive Features: Chef's Uniform (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
5	Enraged: When His Cooking Is Insulted (Uncommon), go 8-, recover 14-
15	Psychological Limitation: Obsessed With Food (Common, Strong)
5	Psychological Limitation: Territorial About His Kitchen (Uncommon, Moderate)
5	Rivalry: Professional (Other Food Gestalts), Rival is As Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry
15	Susceptibility: When He Fails A Cooking Roll, 3d6 damage Instant (Uncommon)
5	Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x Effect Food Gestalts From Rival Cooking Schools (Uncommon)

Disadvantage Points: 55

 

Food Gestalt Scenario Hooks

 

The Party: An obnoxious rival superhero is holding a party at the same time the city is honoring a PC at their own affair, and because the rival has invited a famous Food Gestalt, no one’s accepting an invitation to your shindig. Sure it’s petty and beneath you, but if you could find a way to lure the Food Gestalt away from your rival, it sure would be satisfying.

 

Perfection: A Food Gestalt claims he’s close to finding the recipe for “the perfect foodâ€. But just what would be the perfect food? Would it be so nutritious that it gives people perfect health? Would it give people superhuman abilities? Would it recreate the legendary ambrosia of the gods? Would it be so delicious that it kills with pleasure? Determine if the Food Gestalt is about to create a piece of heaven, or unleash hell.

[MitchellS]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

I think I'm a sub-class called the Pizza Gestalt.

 

That was very cool. I'm really looking forward to this book. I hope you can get it out this year.

[Cardinal]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Very amusing.

 

Quick question, what exactly do you mean by "Must follow Established Recipes." I would think that the Food Gestalt would be something like an uber-Iron Chef with the ability to make amazing and creative new dishes at the drop of a hat. ("Oto, it looks like he is making squid ink and ginger sorbet.")

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Very amusing.

 

Quick question, what exactly do you mean by "Must follow Established Recipes." I would think that the Food Gestalt would be something like an uber-Iron Chef with the ability to make amazing and creative new dishes at the drop of a hat. ("Oto, it looks like he is making squid ink and ginger sorbet.")

 

I think I did it as a point crock, otherwise it's a rather expensive power set that'd be too expensive for most starting PCs in a competitive campaign.

 

It's nice to write up these weird little powers, but I like to be practical too. ;-) Although on second glance, maybe "Make a Great Meal" should be a cosmetic Transform, not minor (or it should specify that it also makes the food safe to eat as well as great tasting).

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So... the gestalt of food is the incredibly insulting and also quite mythical "Obnoxiously Arrogant Chef"? I'm insulted. But then, I'm a chef... maybe I'm just being obnoxiously arrogant.

 

And that thing with the "established recipes" limitation... I know of no chefs at all who follow established recipes, or use established recipes as anything other than guidelines.

[Chiba Bob]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So what constitutes a villainous Food Gestalt? Someone who promotes foods loaded with Trans Fats or a Vegan with Mental Illusions who can make soy meat substitutes taste good? Do Food Gestalts battle it out in restaurant back alleys or take a more Iron Chief approach?

 

 

[Delthrien]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Heh... ever see the Fighting Foodon cartoon? (anime -- no idea what the original title was...). My guess is that they'd look something like that.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So... the gestalt of food is the incredibly insulting and also quite mythical "Obnoxiously Arrogant Chef"? I'm insulted. But then' date=' I'm a chef... maybe I'm just being obnoxiously arrogant.[/quote']

 

Well, gets mad when his food is criticized isn't quite the same thing as "obnoxiously arrogant" chef, though Gestalt tends to paint the archetypes in broad strokes, particularly with the "pures" (Gestalts who manifest without first bonding to a human host).

 

If you're still offended, just blame Bobby Flay. :-)

 

And that thing with the "established recipes" limitation... I know of no chefs at all who follow established recipes, or use established recipes as anything other than guidelines.

 

Feel free to suggest another limitation that you think is appropriate. Though the two powers that employ the limitation are super-skill/powers, not a measure of his ability; he's a perfectly fine chef without being able to turn Grade D beef into fine cuisine, or being able to boost people's abilities to superhuman levels with his meal.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So what constitutes a villainous Food Gestalt? Someone who promotes foods loaded with Trans Fats or a Vegan with Mental Illusions who can make soy meat substitutes taste good? Do Food Gestalts battle it out in restaurant back alleys or take a more Iron Chief approach?

 

 

A villainous food gestalt would probably be an assassin whose meals kill the person who eats them, but would look like natural causes in an autopsy.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Well, gets mad when his food is criticized isn't quite the same thing as "obnoxiously arrogant" chef, though Gestalt tends to paint the archetypes in broad strokes, particularly with the "pures" (Gestalts who manifest without first bonding to a human host).

 

If you're still offended, just blame Bobby Flay. :-)

 

Oh man, that's low... to invoke that utter tool's name.

[Agent 13]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

A villainous food gestalt would probably be an assassin whose meals kill the person who eats them' date=' but would look like natural causes in an autopsy.[/quote'] I would think that a villainous food gestalt would be one who promotes a single fad, like overuse of cilantro, or vinegarettes on every salad, or hot peppers in all his food, or...

 

Crap, now I'm describing Bobby Flay.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Oh man' date=' that's low... to invoke that utter tool's name. [/quote']

 

Sorry Worldmaker. I've had a *very* bad week. :-)

[assault]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

A villainous food gestalt would probably be an assassin whose meals kill the person who eats them' date=' but would look like natural causes in an autopsy.[/quote']

 

Master Fugu.

[Chiba Bob]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

You have not only have insulted me but my chef master and my culinary school. For that you will die!"

Master Fugu.

 

 

Yes, the flavor (pun intended) of running Food Gestalts should be old (badly dubbed) martial arts flicks.

 

 

.

[steriaca]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

I'm kinda think about the odd aisan martial arts crime lord who's single to his minions to beat the charaters up is to take a big bite out of a red pepper. Call him...The Iron Wok.

 

I'm also intrested in what Scott has created for the guy who is the Gesault of all the world's bad melodrama and silent movie villians.

[Susano]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

I cannot wait to get my hands on this book. I will never run anything in it (as is), but the power constructs alone are well worth the price of admission.

[mattingly]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

On Champions MUSH, we once fought BreadMaster, who had various food-based powers including an army of Gingerbread Men. When my archer (oh, and the rest of the team, I guess) finally defeated him with a (continuous) fiery arrow, he said, "Give it up, Breadmaster. You're toast."

[Brandi]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So what constitutes a villainous Food Gestalt... a Vegan with Mental Illusions who can make soy meat substitutes taste good?

 

Actually, that'd be a righteous talent. A much better Vegan Food Gestalt villain would be one who makes people violently allergic or sickened whenever they ingest animal protein.

 

Sounds harmless enough on the surface... but what about infants at the breast?

 

ETA: Or consider the damage done to a food web/ecosystem when the predators can no longer eat.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

I'm kinda think about the odd aisan martial arts crime lord who's single to his minions to beat the charaters up is to take a big bite out of a red pepper. Call him...The Iron Wok.

 

I'm also intrested in what Scott has created for the guy who is the Gesault of all the world's bad melodrama and silent movie villians.

 

I hadn't really created one (though I did have a Silent Movie Heroine Gestalt in the Vancouver Gestalt Club game), but here's one I quickly whipped up.

 

---

MELODRAMA VILLAIN

“SHALL I FORECLOSE ON THE ORPHANAGE…â€

“YOU CAD!â€

“…OR BURN IT DOWN?â€

 

Description: Villainy existed long before the Gestalt Age, or even before the comic books that inspired it. One of the most colorful villains – which (of course) is represented among Gestalts – is the Melodrama Villain. With his distinctive opera cape, stovepipe hat, and ever-twistable moustache. While often physical inept (except when he can terrorize “fragile†women), the Melodrama Villain’s sheer determination to be bad – and his astounding luck at making an unfortunate situation a reality (running into convenient saw mills, encountering a school bus full of nuns with an opening that’s just the right size into which to fit a bomb) – can make him an extremely annoying adversary.

Related Gestalts: Gestalt of Cliffhangers, Gestalt of Silver Age Villains, Gestalt of Silent Film.

Types of this Gestalt: None known.

Opposed Gestalts: Gestalt of Melodramatic Heroes

Prominent Examples of this Gestalt: Bart Casterbridge, Hardened Criminal.

Note: A couple of this Gestalt’s powers deserve further comment. The Variable Power Pool allows the Gestalt to produce cliffhanger situations appropriate to a 1920s melodramatic serial. Some movie villains could give The Hero a protracted hand-to-hand fight (though their competence varied depending on how much time was left in the picture, how many dangerous items were in the environment, and how close the damsel was to being cut in two). The most bizarre power is his “Silent Era Movie Environment†Power; within 8†of this villain, everything is black and white, everything moves with a pronounced flicker (and fight scenes play at an accelerated speed, which is typically not a problem for supers) and everyone’s dialogue appears as cue cards instead of the spoken word.

 

Hero System Melodrama Villain Gestalt Package Deal

 

Abilities

Cost	Power	END
90	Produce Dangerous Situation (Train, Buzzsaw, Convenient Tiger Cage, Instant Sticks Of Dynamite) Out Of Nowhere: Variable Power Pool, 60 base + 30 control cost, No Skill Roll Required (+1) (120 Active Points); Conditional Power Only To Produce Situations Which Produce A Cliffhanger (-1)
79	Silent Movie Era Environment: (Total: 159 Active Cost, 79 Real Cost) Cosmetic Transform 7d6 (Reversed by Leaving The Radius), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Area Of Effect (7" Radius; +1) (105 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Always On (-1/2) (Real Cost: 52) plus Hearing Group Images Increased Size (8" radius; +3/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (14 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Always On (-1/2) (Real Cost: 7) plus Change Environment 8" radius, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (40 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Always On (-1/2) (Real Cost: 20)	0
21	Produce Rope Out Of Nowhere: Entangle 3d6, 3 DEF, Entangle And Character Both Take Damage (+1/4) (37 Active Points); Conditional Power Can Be Untied With A DEX Check vs. His Knot-Tying Skill (-1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4)	4
8	Flapjack: HA +5d6 (25 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), Conditional Power Only When Catching Someone By Surprise (-1/2)	2
10	Villain's Luck: Luck 2d6	0

Powers Cost: 208

 

 

Cost	Skill
3	Climbing 11-
3	Concealment 11-
3	Demolitions 11-
3	Forgery 11-
5	KS: Economics 14-
3	KS: Knot-Tying 12-
3	Power 11-
9	Stealth 14-

Skills Cost: 32

 

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 240

 

Val	Disadvantages
5	Distinctive Features: Looks Nasty, Always Twists Moustache (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
25	Hunted: A Stalwart Hero 14- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)
15	Psychological Limitation: Must Perform Melodramatically Evil Deeds (Common, Strong)
15	Psychological Limitation: Must Always Arrange Cliffhangers - May Never Kill Someone Directly (Common, Strong)
10	Unluck: 2d6

Disadvantage Points: 70

 

Melodrama Villainy Gestalt Scenario Hooks

 

Orphans Make Me Sick! Every orphanage and youth center in the city has been bought out by a Melodrama Villain Gestalt, who’s threatening to foreclose them all down and kick hundreds of underprivileged kids on the street! Worse, he’s gone upscale, and bought the corporation that’s running the local Children’s Hospital, and he’s threatening to shut it down unless a PC’s sweetheart marries him!

All of a sudden, a villain who seemed like he was just comedy relief has gotten a lot less funny.

 

Welcome to Cliffhanger Haven: All over the city, women are being tied to railroad (or subway or monorail) tracks. Everyone’s been rescued, but no one remembers how they got there and no one saw them being tied up. You’re sure that the local Melodrama Villain Gestalt is responsible, but he has an air-tight alibi. So how did he do it?

[Susano]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Flapjack: HA +5d6 (25 Active Points); OAF (-1)' date=' Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), Conditional Power Only When Catching Someone By Surprise (-1/2)[/quote']

 

Scott? Don't you mean a "blackjack" (or a sap)? I mean, I just don't see anyone getting knocked out by a pancake....

[starblaze]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

In the comic PS328 there is a rainmaker program. This is a program for young supers who have powers that are not really powerful but more useful. There is one child who has the ability to make rocks into edible food that taste like anything he wants it to. Unfortunately he can't make it look like anything but rocks. The food is also low in fat and calories.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Scott? Don't you mean a "blackjack" (or a sap)? I mean' date=' I just don't see anyone getting knocked out by a pancake....[/quote']

 

Yeah, it was late at night, and I was malapropimg. It's supposed to be a blackjack.

 

Either that, or it *is* flapjack, and I forgot the sticky syrup Entangle. :-)

[Susano]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Yeah, it was late at night, and I was malapropimg. It's supposed to be a blackjack.

 

Either that, or it *is* flapjack, and I forgot the sticky syrup Entangle. :-)

 

Well, to be honest, based on things I've seen from the Gestalt setting before, it might have been right the first time....

[Twilight]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

So when is this setting going to be available to the general public?

 

*Gollum mode on*

 

We wants it, it's our Precious, oh yes it is. WE WANTS IT NOW!!

 

*End Gollum mode*

 

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

 

Gestalt will be self-published. At the moment, things depend on the speed of the Superlink conversions, my ability to learn InDesign, and my ability to afford to commission artwork for it. (Unfortunately, the latter is the biggest obstacle at the moment).