Tywyll Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 A player in my group wanted to create a "forest spirit" style character who could merge with the forest, allowing them to be aware of events happening throughout an entire wooded area. Originally, I figured this on being simply desolid + Link Clairsentience (though I'm not certain its the best option). However, it got me thinking. Characters who "merge" with things are fairly common in both fantasy and super literature. How do you deal with someone who wants to merge with something bigger or smaller than they are? For instance, if electron man can merge with any electrical device and do ... stuff to it while he is inside, does he need to purchase linked shrinking to go with his Desolid? Seems kind of weak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... This kind of character is rare but I have seen it before. Personally, I think you're on the right track with desolidification and clairsentience. I've never made people pay for shrinking or growth to merge into different sized objects. Joining with an inanimate object of significantly different size has advantages and disadvantages that more or less balance out. For instance, merging with an oak tree makes the character easier to "hit" in a way, since the tree is easy to target and vulnerable to fire as well. A lot depends on how you adjudicate what happens to the character in the tree when the tree gets hurt. On the one hand, the character isn't exactly hurt, but he can't recover and presumably would be forced to turn solid if whatever he is inhabiting is destroyed. And I'd definitely make the character only be able to merge into one tree or bush at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... I'd think it would depend on the specific effects you wanted that actual merging to produce. Camoflage? Shapeshift is probably appropriate. Inability to hit the character? Desolidification is probably right. Shrinking and Growth? Not necessary, IMO, but again I would say it depends on the overall build. To "merge," into a small pebble that no one is likely to notice? Yeah, that could be Shapeshift and Shrinking, but then it sounds like a Power that is primarily geared toward stealth. There could be several varieties of Powers gained from some kind of merging with the floura and/or landscape. They could apply simultaneously or independently. Go wild with your imagination! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywyll Posted May 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... Actually the "merging" in this case is to "become one" with the surrounding flora. It explains the character's ability to sense the goings on in the forest. Granted, it could be used as disquise/camoflage, but that isn't its primary purpose. Its kind of like Electron Man merging with a toaster to make it work better... yes, it does allow him, if he stops moving around, to "disappear" on a kitchen cabinet, but the goal was actually to make better toast/reprogram a computer/stop the orbital death rays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... In the HSAB, I've been using Desolid to allow forest and house spirits to merge with trees and similar objects. As a lot (if not all) of them have Life Support: Full, I figure that works well enough. If you want the tree to have an entire home inside of it (as in Jeannie's bottle in I Dream Of Jeannie) then use EDM -- with the dimension being moved to a pocket space containing the spirit's home (and nothing else). In order to be aware of events in the forest, buy Clairsentience, with a limitation "Only Where There Is Woods" or something similar. To manipulate things while merged by Linked TK, Affects Physical World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... Since Desolid has to have a way to harm the character, you can simply let it be "anything that harms the forest, harms me." This could even be a Side Effect if it makes the character sufficiently vulnerable. You can also add Lockout, since you probably can't move anywhere while inside of a tree. Desolid is perfectly appropriate since you lose most or all of your ability to affect the physical world. If you want to physically manipulate the objects you inhabit, you can buy STR Affects Physical World, or in the case of computers or similar devices, Mind Control with the machine/computer class of minds. I have a FH character that merges with stone. He presses himself against a stone wall, and becomes an animated bas-relief scupture of himself. I bought this as Desolid with a limitation to reflect that he can only be on the surface of the stone. He can't pass through the wall to the other side, but he can walk along the surface to the end or door and continue around the surface to the other side. He takes only the damage that could harm the stone when directed at him. If a boulder from a catapult hits the same wall 10" away, it won't effect him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static UK Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... I had an NPC in my supers campaign that could absorb things (guns, knives, binoculars, etc,), they merged with him. I gave him a VPP so that he could model the variety of stuff he merged with and was able to use. I'm guessing that if you wanted a character to merge with, and operate things, eg a car, a VPP may be useful to model the variety of applications, that way you don't necessarily have to be able to operate all functions at once, you could pick and choose what you wanted to do. Otherwise there is Major Transformation: Character into merged object? That way, as long as you have enough points, you can 'turn' the character into the object. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Re: "Merging" acharacter with a thing... This may or may not be helpful, I'm not pushing it, merely passing the idea along, a power for Possession, http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=577044&postcount=10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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