Is this a legit VPP, and if so, how do you build it?

[Brandi]

I was musing over something I remembered from the first X-Men movie... Mystique had shapeshifted into a Wolverine duplicate and they had a fight. She had the claws, but since they weren't adamantium he sliced right through them (causing her to shriek in pain, of course!).

 

But this got me to thinking: what if you had a really consummate shapeshifter... one who could duplicate certain powers that basically came from the limbs of people they were duplicating? The GM might rule that Wolverine's claws can't be properly duplicated as they're metal, but Sabertooth's could. Or Nightcrawler's tail. Or Angel's wings.

 

Obviously this is a VPP, but it seems like it would need some limitation along the lines of 'Can only duplicate powers that have the Restrainable or Inherent limitation'.

 

How would you guys do it? Is it even legit?

[Tom McCarthy]

I'd certainly alow it as a VPP, but I might try building it as a Multipower for a cost comparison.

 

A multipower with flight, HA, HKA, clinging, stretching, and armour might be cheaper than a VPP.

 

If it was a VPP, I'd probably give it something like a -1/2 limitation "All powers are physical and have shangechange SFX". That seems like roughly the right limitation. I wouldn't allow any of the powers to be inherent, nor would I force them to be restrainable.

 

I'd probably pay for some advantages on the VPP, perhaps No Skill Roll (or Power: Shapeshifting skill roll), perhaps Half Phase To Change.

[Lord Liaden]

I can't say for certain if it would be considered "legal" under the new administration , but there have certainly been characters published under 4th Edition who have had this kind of construct. Normally it falls out pretty much as Tom McCarthy describes it, although characters who have the Shape Shift Power used to assume animal forms will sometimes take a further Limitation on the VPP, "Powers must match shapeshifted form" (most often -1/2, having similarities to Linked).

[assault]

Re: Is this a legit VPP, and if so, how do you build it?

 

Originally posted by Brandi

But this got me to thinking: what if you had a really consummate shapeshifter... one who could duplicate certain powers that basically came from the limbs of people they were duplicating? The GM might rule that Wolverine's claws can't be properly duplicated as they're metal, but Sabertooth's could. Or Nightcrawler's tail. Or Angel's wings.

 

Obviously this is a VPP, but it seems like it would need some limitation along the lines of 'Can only duplicate powers that have the Restrainable or Inherent limitation'.

 

How would you guys do it? Is it even legit?

 

It sounds like yet another variation on the Mimic Pool.

 

I'm still fiddling about trying to get Rogue right...

 

So, I guess while I'm here:

How would you do someone who can mimic innate abilities (powers and characteristics), but not focussed ones? How would you deal with the need to touch bare skin or normal clothes, rather than armour, for example. How would you rule out being able to mimic the abilities of robots or cyborgs?

 

And then, how would you build a nice cheap little damage shield for zapping the people you mimic, as well as a bit of telepathy for absorbing their memories as well?

 

Because I'm after a look-alike, rather than an actual version of Rogue, I'm not terribly concerned about actually draining the target's powers. Simply zapping them with an NND or AVLD would be adequate. Of course, I am quite open to the idea of enforcing campaign standard Vulnerabilities and/or Susceptibilities to ensure that such a zap would generally put the target down for at least a little while.

 

Getting back to Brandi's question: is this a PC or an NPC? If it's an NPC, you can guess ahead of time who they will be mimicking, and therefore cheat! If it's a PC, life becomes more awkward, since the GM probably won't be so kind as to provide you with a list of potential people to mimic.

 

Alan

[James Gillen]

In the UNTIL Superpowers Database, the broad spectrum shapechange is defined as a VPP with Linked to Shape Shift (Linked to smaller Power, -1/4), and only for shapeshifting effects (-1/4). I'd define it as just Limited Special Effect (-1/2) as being essentially the same thing (the character is shapeshifting to grow weapons or whatever, whether she's actually using the Shape Shift Power or not).

 

JG

[Thirdbase]

What you might want to add, is "Can only duplicate naturally occuring powers (-1/2)" This would allow the copying of Sabertooths claws, but not Wolverines.