Help with villain description/powers

[largosama]

Here's the situation. I'm going to be having a master villain coming up which in game, the universe/reality did not intend to exist. So, when he walks around, reality doesn't know how to affect him. The ground doesn't know what to do when it's being stepped on... the air doesn't know whether to flow right through him or go around him. He doesn't control the reality around it and never affects him negatively. However, it can affect other people (air around him might disappear for a while, ground may turn into a sinkhole for a few seconds, etc)

 

So, how do I:

 

1: Describe this to my players in a fashion so that it emphasizes that fact that reality is basically bending/distorting around him

 

2: Though I may just need the description, if I were to build this 'reality distortion' as a power, how would I build it?

[MitchellS]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Buy a small multipower with several area effect damage shield powers [0 end] and give it no conscious control. If the multipower has 6 powers then every phase roll a d6 to see which effect actives in the area [if 11 powers roll 2d6, etc].

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Plus a significant distinctive features.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I would also give him Full Life Support. He is essentially out of the Tapestry of Fate as it were so no normal environmental effects are going to harm him.

 

Flight because what is gravity but just another law that doesn't apply to him. Teleport because space too is just for those who live *here*, our boy doesn't have that problem.

 

Finally 75% Resistant Damage Reduction Physical and Energy. After all nothing in this reality really effects him does it?

 

Hawksmoor

[largosama]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I would also give him Full Life Support. He is essentially out of the Tapestry of Fate as it were so no normal environmental effects are going to harm him.

 

Flight because what is gravity but just another law that doesn't apply to him. Teleport because space too is just for those who live *here*, our boy doesn't have that problem.

 

Finally 75% Resistant Damage Reduction Physical and Energy. After all nothing in this reality really effects him does it?

 

Hawksmoor

 

Exactly. Nothing in this reality affects him. The first few times around, the heroes will only be able to foil his plans, not defeat him. The real question is going to be, how stubborn will the heroes or more to the point, the players be when fighting him and realizing that they don't have what it takes as of yet to beat him. I plan to emphasize that by having NPCs before the battle say (and repeat if necessary) that 'destroying the big bad doomgun (or whatever) is your objective, no matter who stands in your way'

 

Also, how would you describe his 'abilities' in game description? The party enters the room and out steps the big bad. How do I describe how the powers work?

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Also' date=' how would you describe his 'abilities' in game description? The party enters the room and out steps the big bad. How do I describe how the powers work?[/quote']

You mean besides what you already mentioned above?

 

Things near him should seem a little insubstantial, a bit ghostlike. Things near him should ripple slowly, like cloth in a light breeze, or slowly twist and distort from their normal shapes. Characters near him probably feel a bit queasy and dizzy, and may see themselves starting to go a bit ghostly (like Marty McFly near the end of the school dance scene in Back to the Future...looking through his own hand, etc.)

 

Air may be pouring in towards him (as the air already touching him is "going away") or rushing away from him (it's repelled by his "doesn't belong here"-ness).

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Buy a small multipower with several area effect damage shield powers [0 end] and give it no conscious control. If the multipower has 6 powers then every phase roll a d6 to see which effect actives in the area [if 11 powers roll 2d6' date= etc].

 

I'm with MitchellS on the basic concept, but IMO this would be a bit limited in scope, and a bit too expensive, for an effect that sounds like mostly window dressing. My recommendation would be to start with Change Environment. Since you say that these distortions of reality can also affect others, you might want to build in some combat effects as well. Then I would Advantage it with Varying Effect, probably at the +1 Level since the effect can be almost anything. If you give it combat effects you'll probably want to use the Varying Combat Effects Adder as well.

 

So, this is how I would break it down: Change Environment, Varying Effect, 0 END, Persistent, Personal Immunity, possibly Long-Lasting. For Limitations: Always On, No Range, No Conscious Control (to allow for whatever GM-defined effect you want at the time).

 

As for how you would describe this effect to the players, I've actually used a character with a similar reality-distorting effect before. Among the SFX I used for him: It's hard for the eye to focus on him - he looks blurry, like a projection that's out of focus. The air shimmers around him like heat rising from sunbaked pavement. Where he walks the ground sags under his weight as though made of rubber, or flows like a painted image that's running. Plants where he passes whither, or warp and twist into unnatural shapes. When he approaches animals nearby start to bristle and snarl/ bark/ howl, or cower and run away. People who get close to him become nauseated and their skin starts to crawl.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

What they said. Primarily for me it would be minor effect always on Change Environment with personal immunity no range, adding on the SFX that he is not from this reality.

 

Hawksmoor

[largosama]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

You mean besides what you already mentioned above?

 

Things near him should seem a little insubstantial, a bit ghostlike. Things near him should ripple slowly, like cloth in a light breeze, or slowly twist and distort from their normal shapes. Characters near him probably feel a bit queasy and dizzy, and may see themselves starting to go a bit ghostly (like Marty McFly near the end of the school dance scene in Back to the Future...looking through his own hand, etc.)

 

Air may be pouring in towards him (as the air already touching him is "going away") or rushing away from him (it's repelled by his "doesn't belong here"-ness).

 

Ooooo... I like the Marty McFly idea... For some reason, I've only been thinking about the environment, not about the characters themselves other then maybe 'there's no air around this guy so you're struggling to breathe'. Having the characters go a bit ghostly/fade a bit in and out of reality would rock!

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Having the characters go a bit ghostly/fade a bit in and out of reality would rock!

It would probably scare them a good deal, too...which, I suppose, is no bad thing...

[KA.]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

largosama,

One way to emphasize that he is not of this world is to have attacks pass right through him.

Your players may quickly arrive at the idea to build an attack that "Affects Desolid", but since that isn't how you built his powers, that won't work.

 

I don't know how you are planning to have your players eventually defeat him, but may I suggest, after a period of long and painful research, something like

"Extradimensional Movement, Useable as Attack".

This would, temporarily, bring him "in phase" with our reality, and allow attacks to affect him.

Which means that you also need to decide how tough he is when he is "in phase" with the local environment.

After all, if all his defenses are built on the "out of phase" SFX, bringing him "in phase" should cancel those out, so you need to build him some base defenses just based on how tough you would have to be to not have multidimensional forces rip you apart in the first place.

 

KA.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

largosama,

One way to emphasize that he is not of this world is to have attacks pass right through him.

Your players may quickly arrive at the idea to build an attack that "Affects Desolid", but since that isn't how you built his powers, that won't work.

 

I don't know how you are planning to have your players eventually defeat him, but may I suggest, after a period of long and painful research, something like

"Extradimensional Movement, Useable as Attack".

This would, temporarily, bring him "in phase" with our reality, and allow attacks to affect him.

Which means that you also need to decide how tough he is when he is "in phase" with the local environment.

After all, if all his defenses are built on the "out of phase" SFX, bringing him "in phase" should cancel those out, so you need to build him some base defenses just based on how tough you would have to be to not have multidimensional forces rip you apart in the first place.

 

KA.

A few cautions, which KA.'s post brings to mind:

 

1) Don't frustrate the players. With a situation/set-up like this, that would be all too easy to do, especially if you do as you say you're going to and have NPCs telling them "stop him at all costs" and yet they're unable to affect him with their attacks. That may lead the players to think there is a solution that will let them attack him successfully now, and when they can't find it, will feel frustrated and stupid. Not good if that happens.

 

2) If you decide to have the damage/attacks pass right through him, and yet it's not Desolid (and so an Affects Desolid attack won't work, either) then you need to have a pretty good game mechanics reason why not. Maybe he has really high defenses, and the special effect is that damage just passes through him, or maybe he has an Uncontrolled Missile Deflection with that special effect. Note the Missile Deflect won't work against large objects (like some bricks toss around) and won't work against hand-to-hand attacks, either.

 

3) Watch our for NNDs and AVLDs. If he doesn't have the defense against such an attack -- and if he does, he'd better have a darn good reason for having it or you'll have the players thinking you're trying to make their characters useless -- he could get hit by it. And that doesn't really mesh with what you want.

 

4) If KA.'s suggestion of building a device that's Extra-Dimensional Movement, Usable As an Attack is what you end up doing, make sure it's the player characters that can build such a device, or that the players come up with the idea. Otherwise, it's one NPC (the NPC who can and does come up with the idea and/or builds it) who defeats another NPC (the out-of-this-reality villain) and that's a sure way to frustrate the players. Players don't like GMing ("game masturbation"ing...in which the GM is basically 'playing with himself' -- i.e. NPCs defeat NPCs).

 

5) Lastly, just remember...some things that work well in the comic books don't work well in an RPG. "Unhittable" (or "unaffectable") villains often fall into that category. Use with caution.

[largosama]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

A few cautions, which KA.'s post brings to mind:

 

1) Don't frustrate the players. With a situation/set-up like this, that would be all too easy to do, especially if you do as you say you're going to and have NPCs telling them "stop him at all costs" and yet they're unable to affect him with their attacks. That may lead the players to think there is a solution that will let them attack him successfully now, and when they can't find it, will feel frustrated and stupid. Not good if that happens.

 

2) If you decide to have the damage/attacks pass right through him, and yet it's not Desolid (and so an Affects Desolid attack won't work, either) then you need to have a pretty good game mechanics reason why not. Maybe he has really high defenses, and the special effect is that damage just passes through him, or maybe he has an Uncontrolled Missile Deflection with that special effect. Note the Missile Deflect won't work against large objects (like some bricks toss around) and won't work against hand-to-hand attacks, either.

 

3) Watch our for NNDs and AVLDs. If he doesn't have the defense against such an attack -- and if he does, he'd better have a darn good reason for having it or you'll have the players thinking you're trying to make their characters useless -- he could get hit by it. And that doesn't really mesh with what you want.

 

4) If KA.'s suggestion of building a device that's Extra-Dimensional Movement, Usable As an Attack is what you end up doing, make sure it's the player characters that can build such a device, or that the players come up with the idea. Otherwise, it's one NPC (the NPC who can and does come up with the idea and/or builds it) who defeats another NPC (the out-of-this-reality villain) and that's a sure way to frustrate the players. Players don't like GMing ("game masturbation"ing...in which the GM is basically 'playing with himself' -- i.e. NPCs defeat NPCs).

 

5) Lastly, just remember...some things that work well in the comic books don't work well in an RPG. "Unhittable" (or "unaffectable") villains often fall into that category. Use with caution.

 

In response to Dr. Anomaly's response:

 

1: The thing that they'll have to destroy is not on the villain's body and has already been emphasized in the game that it's a 'Big Bad Dangerous Object'. Unfortunately, I can't be too specific as I'm not sure how frequently my players are on this board ;-)

 

2: This guy is affected by only specific types of attacks. An NPC that is a sometimes rival sometimes ally, knows that he can affect the big bad and the big bad's allies (who have similar but weaker 'reality hates them' powers) and that one of the team's members can affect the bad guys as well (the team fought one of the bad guy allies in a tough fight, but only one of the team members could damage it (others could affect it, but not truly damage it)... anyhoo, it will come out that a few members of the team have the ability to damage the bad guys (the remaining part of the team will have other important duties as well, don't worry about that)

 

3: Luckily, I don't think any of my players have any NNDs and AVLDs (we're fairly new to the system)... hmmm... now that I think about it, I think one of my players has a little sleeping gas, but other then that, nothing.

 

4: I have no intention of GM masturbation... my palms are hairy enough, thank you! ;-) I intend for the NPCs to steer them at least in the right direction (This super hero can affect the bad guys, but I don't know why), but it's up to the players to figure out what to do about it.

 

5: The way I've been doing this faction of bad guys is that they're all hittable and can be knocked around all to hell. However, only certain attacks actually do real damage to them. I guess the easiest way to say it in HERO terms is that they take STUN from hits but no BODY unless it's from a specific attack.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Good job then. It seems like you have things well in hand.

[steriaca]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

Another power to give this guy is Streaching, Reduced Endurance (0 END), Invisable Power Effect (at least to sight). Basicly, if he can spot something, then he can manipulate it, cause the law of "range" dose not applie to him.

 

Another power to try is Telekineses (with the same special effect), and Clinging (with the special effect of...reality does not know if he should be 'let go' or not).

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I remember an old Spider-Man villain (although I'm blanking on his name at the moment) who was a true "undead," some form of anti-life. He was able to walk on air, because he was so unnatural that the air repelled him.

 

During a fight with Spidey he was thrown into a swimming pool, and the water erupted out of the pool, completing emptying it.

[largosama]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I remember an old Spider-Man villain (although I'm blanking on his name at the moment) who was a true "undead," some form of anti-life. He was able to walk on air, because he was so unnatural that the air repelled him.

 

During a fight with Spidey he was thrown into a swimming pool, and the water erupted out of the pool, completing emptying it.

 

That sounds perfect... now I'm going to have to dig around and try to find who you are talking about.

[steriaca]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I remember an old Spider-Man villain (although I'm blanking on his name at the moment) who was a true "undead," some form of anti-life. He was able to walk on air, because he was so unnatural that the air repelled him.

 

During a fight with Spidey he was thrown into a swimming pool, and the water erupted out of the pool, completing emptying it.

 

Charon, the "undead cloan" of Profesor Miles Warner, AKA The Jackel. Turns out that Charon was neather undead or a cloan, but a virus created by the profesor which gave victoms the superpowers asosiated with Charon by overwriting there DNA, and also gave them the 'need' to destroy Spiderman.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I remembered the clone thing, but I guess I missed the virus part.

 

Are you sure it was "Charon," though? I seem to recall it being "Carrion," which of course sounds close.

[steriaca]

Re: Help with villain description/powers

 

I remembered the clone thing, but I guess I missed the virus part.

 

Are you sure it was "Charon," though? I seem to recall it being "Carrion," which of course sounds close.

 

Your proably right...it is Carrion. The fault of my bad spelling.