Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

[AdamLeisemann]

When a meteor struck in the middle of a park, five people were bathed in its cosmic radiation, gaining powers that are just plain unfortunate. They feel that now they have powers, they are obligated to fight crime. Here are out wannabe superheroes:

 

Professor Paisley: A college professor whose power is to change the color of an object, giving it an ugly appearance with the worst color combinations possible. He also has no fashion sense. His costume is a paisley jumpsuit.

 

Hallucinogen: A hippy given the power to cause strage, seemingly drug-induced hallucinations without drugs. His costume is a tye-dye shirt and black jeans with fading.

 

Engrish Man: a former English teacher whose brain was scambled by the cosmic radiation. BNow he can turn anybody's speech unintelligible by fracturing the grammatical syntax and torturing the tenses of the very sentences. His costume makes him look like CATS of Zero Wing.

 

The Mime: An unfortunate mime who was bathed in the cosmic energy. He now has the power to make imaginary objects have real effects (he can knock a guy out with an imaginary baseball bat, for example). His costume is a typical mine's outfit. He is also mute.

 

Lady Foulmouth: This irritable wman has just discovered that she can cuss a blue streak at people and do damage to them, thanks to the cosmic radiation. Her costume is a blue streaked jumpsuit.

 

Now they've come to your characters for advice. What would you tell them?

[Susano]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Go home?

[Bloodstone]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

I thikn I would refer them to the GLA... er... GLX these days. I'm sure Flatman, Squirrel Girl, Big Birtha and Mr Immortal would mke them feel right at home.

[Barton]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

If this is a comedy game, then have fun! If a serious game have them all make new characters.

[AdamLeisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

To be honest, I was just putting up a more fun WWYCD kind of thing.

[Hopscotch]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

I would point them in the direction of the Useless Unit. The UU is where supers of there Ilk get together and do what they can.

This is an established group in our campaign world. They sport shuch members as:

• Captain Freshness- Able to tell the exact expiration date of any foodstuff.

• Wattage Dude- Able, with supreme mental effort, to change the wattage of lightbulbs.

• Modular Butt Man- Has several high tech attachments on his prosthetic rear

• Vendor the Ice Cream Man- can change anything to ice cream, but can't control the flavor.

• Nostro- sold off all of his stats and put all of his points on smell.

• Kinky the flexible lizard- The less said, the better.

 

Some people like having goups like this around in their campaign world while others feel that it ruins the tone. Just a friendly note.

 

Hopscotch

[MilkmanDan]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

I'd set them up in a cage match fight to the death against the Civic Minded Five.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Y'know... it occurs to me that, except for Professor Paisley, they're not that useless. The Professor... he's toast. All there is to it.

 

Hallucinogen... a mild mentalist, really. He could be handy for disorienting opponents, particularly coupled with Engrish Man.

 

EM: Another mentalist sort. Need to throw your villain group into complete disarray? Make it so that their tactician is completely unable to speak effectively, and they're all tripping out on mental powers. Between EM and Hallucinogen, you could get just about any team tripping over their own feet, making them easy prey for....

 

The Mime: Granted, he's not the most obvious brick, but he's close. Create imaginary baseball bats, guns, armor and the like, and go to town.

 

As a note, since I was linked to this comic from here in the first place....

 

http://www.galactanet.com/comic/90.htm

 

Lady Foulmouth: Much the same. She's an energy projector with a serious non-PR-boosting special effect... not too bad.

 

Edited. I really can spell throw, see?

[transmetahuman]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

And Hopscotch's Vendor the Ice Cream Man sounds pretty devastating. Change anything to ice cream? Far from useless.

[Cancer]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

For true uselessness, Prof. Paisley has to have become entirely color-bind by the incident, so that his power is fully uncontrolled. And rather than a jumpsuit he has to be wearing a polyester leisure suit.

 

Actually, I think The Mime is a viable and potentially very powerful character. Stat out that BOECV TK and he could just rock.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

And Hopscotch's Vendor the Ice Cream Man sounds pretty devastating. Change anything to ice cream? Far from useless.

 

Dr. Destroyer: "No! How can this be! My Doomsday Device turned into fudge ripple?!? I'M ALLERGIC TO CHOCOLATE!"

[Weldun]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Y'know... it occurs to me that' date=' except for Professor Paisley, they're not [i']that [/i]useless. The Professor... he's toast. All there is to it.

 

Hallucinogen... a mild mentalist, really. He could be handy for disorienting opponents, particularly coupled with Engrish Man.

 

EM: Another mentalist sort. Need to through your villain group into complete disarray? Make it so that their tactician is completely unable to speak effectively, and they're all tripping out on mental powers. Between EM and Hallucinogen, you could get just about any team tripping over their own feet, making them easy prey for....

 

The Mime: Granted, he's not the most obvious brick, but he's close. Create imaginary baseball bats, guns, armor and the like, and go to town.

 

As a note, since I was linked to this comic from here in the first place....

 

http://www.galactanet.com/comic/90.htm

 

Lady Foulmouth: Much the same. She's an energy projector with a serious non-PR-boosting special effect... not too bad.

I have to agree, these guys are scarily effective. Anyone remember C.L.O.W.N.? I still remember the pasting (lit.) that my PCs got AFTER they had soundly beaten Eurostar. In fact, *snip!*.

 

To Sundog: Not. A. Word.

[Nucleon]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

The Mime: An unfortunate mime who was bathed in the cosmic energy. He now has the power to make imaginary objects have real effects (he can knock a guy out with an imaginary baseball bat, for example). His costume is a typical mine's outfit. He is also mute.

 

Lady Foulmouth: This irritable wman has just discovered that she can cuss a blue streak at people and do damage to them, thanks to the cosmic radiation. Her costume is a blue streaked jumpsuit.

 

 

Magnificent characters. Who should Nucleon rep for these?

 

Nucleon cannot think of a mission such a group couldn't do, as long as Professor Paisley leads them well. His advice? Pool team perks point to buy sidekicks.

[McCoy]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Lose the Mime. He's ging to get stuck in one of those invisible boxes at the wrong time and slow you down.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

 

Magnificent characters. Who should Nucleon rep for these?

 

Nucleon cannot think of a mission such a group couldn't do, as long as Professor Paisley leads them well. His advice? Pool team perks point to buy sidekicks.

 

Think the char's are Adam's own. He doesn't have them in a game, he just came up with them for the purposes of the thread.

 

That said, statting them out - particularly The Mime - could be fun... and I think I might have some statting time on my hands this week yet....

 

As for invisible boxes McCoy - that's what invisible chainsaws are for, silly!

[TheRavenIs]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Actually other then the Prof. I could see them becoming effective. At first I'd have them stay to small time street level, then move up the power level they can go after.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

24 Mime-icry: 30 pt Multipower, All Slots have Requires a PS: Mime Skill Roll (-1/4) and Gestures (-1/4) (and this will not be listed on the powers themselves)

3m: Invisible Baseball Bat +4d6 HTH, 1.5x Knockback (+1/2)

4m: Invisible First Aid Kit 3d6 Body Healing

4m: Invisible Box 2d6, 2 DEF Entangle, +5 Inches Barrier

3m: Invisible Rocket Pack 10" Flight, x8 NCM, Only in Straight Lines

3m: Invisible Gun 6d6 Energy Blast, Beam

 

All slots are 30 Active Points. Feel free to up the point level, I was going for minor street-level. If playing the char', I'd up them to 45-60.

 

Also:

 

80: Super Mime-icry 60 point VPP, +20 Control Cost, All slots have RSR: PS: Mime and Gestures (-1/4 each).

 

Note that Invisible is not taken as an advantage; while the Mime doesn't have to have visible gear, it is obvious that he is Miming an item, and what the item does is just as visible as any other power.

 

Is good?

[AdamLeisemann]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Looks good to (mi)me.

[McCoy]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

24 Mime-icry: 30 pt Multipower, All Slots have Requires a PS: Mime Skill Roll (-1/4) and Gestures (-1/4) (and this will not be listed on the powers themselves)

3m: Invisible Baseball Bat +4d6 HTH, 1.5x Knockback (+1/2)

4m: Invisible First Aid Kit 3d6 Body Healing

4m: Invisible Box 2d6, 2 DEF Entangle, +5 Inches Barrier

3m: Invisible Rocket Pack 10" Flight, x8 NCM, Only in Straight Lines

3m: Invisible Gun 6d6 Energy Blast, Beam

 

All slots are 30 Active Points. Feel free to up the point level, I was going for minor street-level. If playing the char', I'd up them to 45-60.

 

Also:

 

80: Super Mime-icry 60 point VPP, +20 Control Cost, All slots have RSR: PS: Mime and Gestures (-1/4 each).

 

Note that Invisible is not taken as an advantage; while the Mime doesn't have to have visible gear, it is obvious that he is Miming an item, and what the item does is just as visible as any other power.

 

Is good?

OK, had an NPC like this. He could also climb an invisible tree, hide behind an invisible wall, and dropped an invisible banana peel in front of the PC speedster.

 

[edit] one I thought of later was an indirect AE EB with extra KB, walking against the wind.

 

And yes, how he was captured was he was running away after the rest of his team was defeated, and he got caught in an invisible box.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

... wow McCoy. That's gotta be one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. He got trapped in his *own* invisible box? Or someone else's...? Anyway.

 

Assuming that Paisley is this group's Giles, the other four are going to be able to go to town. If Paisley ever gets his sight corrected, the man can buy all sorts of nifty illusions. In addition, no one will be wiring up any bombs near him in the near future.

 

"No, dude the RED... what the deuce?"

 

If they came to Thia for advice, he'd walk them through the school, introduce them to some students, give them the 3-day weekend tour, let them see some exercises in action, explain that folly is the leading cause of death among heroes, and if they're serious about doing this, he'll train them to do it right.

 

But that's Thia for you.

[Weldun]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

The Specter would offer to train them in the effective use of their powers, concentrating on disrupting their opponents without also disrupting their own teammates. He would then introduce them to his friendly DoJ liason...

[Haven Walkur]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Yes, this atypical team of heroes could be very successful. Their powers are far from useless; it's just that the uses aren't exactly obvious. But given a little thought....

 

Oh, and as far as Professor Paisley's power goes? Useless? Oh no, no no no no! Does no-one else remember what Color Kid (of the Legion of Substitute Heroes) did to an alien pilot in an invading fleet?

 

Color Kid can change the colors of things. That's all. Anyway, he swapped the colors of ground and sky for the alien pilot. Disoriented, the pilot thought his sensors were malfunctioning and ignored them -- and ended up flying into the ground.

 

The Professor can change the color cues that humans with normal color-vision rely on...and we don't stop to think about it, either. How do we know a ripe apple from an unripe one? Rotten food from wholesome? One button or switch from another? How do you interpret the information on a television screen, computer screen, hologram, virtual keyboard?

 

Color. It's our default.

 

Professor Paisley could play the sky-and-ground-change-places game too. He could do the equivalent of a "white-out" by turning everything in an area the same color. He could make himself invisible by making the air a color, instead of colorless. Turn his enemy's eyes all one color, and voilà, temporarily blind enemy. Who needs a Dark Force manipulator? You've got the much-lower-overhead Professor Paisley!

 

And do I really have to spell out (no pun intended) what the Professor and Engrish Man could do to magic-using characters?

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

And do I really have to spell out (no pun intended) what the Professor and Engrish Man could do to magic-using characters?

Speaking as the player of the magic-using Dr. Anomaly...YIKES!

[Weldun]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

Whisper is glad that none of these shmucks can harm him, and that he hunts by mentally "smelling" your life force. Oh, and how yummy they all smell. And there's no sign of the Mistress to tell him not to eat them.

[McCoy]

Re: Advice for a team of unfortunate supers

 

... wow McCoy. That's gotta be one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. He got trapped in his *own* invisible box? Or someone else's...? Anyway.

His own invisible box. He had been so annoying to the PC's he had a little unluck when he was the last one standing.