House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

[Jhamin]

Re: House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

 

Whatever' date=' doesn't really change my point. Not everything that's done for a living comes down to a single 11- PS.[/quote']

 

If we are continuing with the Superman backgrounds, Clark is supposed to be constantly one step behind Lois professionally. Given the way Lois is talked about and carries herself I don't think it's unreasonable to give her a 15- or even a 16- on PS: Reporter. If Clark is to keep up with her he needs at least at 13- if not more.

I would think that he probably has at least an 8- if not an 11- on PS: Farmer. All of Pa Kent's chores must have had some impact.

 

As for AK, he probably has one for Kansas, Metropolis, and the entire Earth (Many versions have him going to Peking when somebody asks "Do you know any good Oriental takeout places?).

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

 

If we are continuing with the Superman backgrounds, Clark is supposed to be constantly one step behind Lois professionally. Given the way Lois is talked about and carries herself I don't think it's unreasonable to give her a 15- or even a 16- on PS: Reporter. If Clark is to keep up with her he needs at least at 13- if not more.

I would think that he probably has at least an 8- if not an 11- on PS: Farmer. All of Pa Kent's chores must have had some impact.

 

As for AK, he probably has one for Kansas, Metropolis, and the entire Earth (Many versions have him going to Peking when somebody asks "Do you know any good Oriental takeout places?).

 

I'd have said Clark was about as good, but hampered by his 'other job' - I mean, you have to be pretty hot stuff to keep your job despite spending half your time secretly doing something else.

[Kristopher]

Re: House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

 

1) Not everyone is a good roleplayer. Some are bad roleplayers, others are borderline. This does not make them bad people, nor does it ake them incapable of portraying a character other than themselves in the right circumstances.

 

2) The necessary and the useful are two different things. I can add in my head - I still want to use pen and paper if I'm adding 20 different numbers up and it matters that I be accurate.

 

3) Having it written down makes it easy to remember. This can help both GM and player. (GM, esp. for forward planning...)

 

Having notes about a character's personality and behavior written down != rules-structured Disadvantages.

 

 

As for flaws not being important for an interesting character...

 

Two words: Mary Sue.

And a challenge: Come up with a list of interesting fictional characters with no flaws.

 

Of course, because I argue against the generally accepted idea that it's flaws and limitations that make a character interesting, I must be saying that characters are fine with no flaws and no limitations, and building a long list of Mary Sue characters. (That's exactly what your post reads like, to me.)

 

Right.

 

Whatever.

 

Forget it. I'm not having that argument with you again. Not worth the trouble.

 

 

Derail averted, or something. Nothing to see here people, move along, move along.

[John Desmarais]

Re: House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

 

Fwiw,

Ben Grimm has multiple Engineering degrees.

True dat. It's easy to think of Grimm as a big dumb brick. Most fo the better writers who have worked on FF have usually managed to get across the idea that, while he always gives Reed grief over his use of super-science techno-babble, he frequently actualy understands what Reed is talkign about.

Johnny Storm has actually designed vehicles (cars and Fantasticars) from the ground up. (With help from Reed initially, of course.)

He also recently took over the running the Fantastic Four's business interests - and was actually quite good at it. This is, at the very least, an additional PS. He was also an actor for a while, probably not long enough to justify the PS (as that entails the business side of a profession) but certainly a better then everyman Acting skill.

 

And Superman...good lord, what doesn't he know? Just looking at the knowledge displayed in the construction and upkeep of The Fortress of Solitude is impressive as hell. Of course, he could just have 30 cramming slots...

 

One of the advantages of having more time (Supes doesn't really seem to need to lose 8 hours of time each day for sleep) is that it allows you to learn an awful lot of stuff if you want to. A recent Flash story touched on this type of thing in regards to Jay Garrick. Jay is an unsung super-genius due to living large chucks of his life learning things at super speed.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: House Rule: Banning Multipowers & Elemental Controls?

 

The same GM who requires 10 points be spent on background skills will need to define what they are.

OK, as the guy who brought up the idea (at least here): I define "background skills" fairly loosely depending on the genre, the campaign, and the individual character. Primarily PS, KS, LS, TF, SS and the like, but I have been known to include some perks and even certain contacts and the like. For superheroes, I think of it as any skills that come from the character's civilian identity rather than his hero ID; if your civilian persona doesn't rate even 10 points worth of skills, well I'm not sure how credible an identity that is. :shrug:

 

Personally, I like my superheroes to be real people underneath the costumes. Not everyone feels that way, of course; if it doesn't fit your game, don't use it.

 

If the player gets some use out of it' date=' it's not "stealing points", in my opinion. A GM requiring 10 points be spent on background skills should also occasionally have them impact the game.[/quote']

Agreed again. And the reverse applies: I have sometimes given characters certain "background skills" for free if I didn't feel they were ever going to be used in a game. PS: college football might be an example. But frankly -- no offense intended -- if a player's unwilling to spend even a couple points to flesh out his character's personality, then we probably wouldn't enjoy gaming together anyway. Not necessarily saying they're "wrong", but we're looking to get different things out of our games; might as well know that up front.

 

What you appear to be missing here is that Everyman skills are meant to provide a character with all the skills they need to be a productive member of society.

Well, yes, but they represent the bare minimum that EVERYONE can do. Hence the name. I don't believe all "normals" are created equally, even in a supers game. Sure, every Joe Blow has an 8- AK for the city they live in. But some people -- normals and heroes -- know their way around better than that. Supes sure seems to have more than a 25% chance of finding his way around.