Mark Rand Posted October 30, 2006 Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 Roger Clark, a representative of the Commission on Superhuman Affairs (the DOSPA in the CU), is the federal government's official liaison to the superhero team the PCs are in. This is the same team that John Masters works with for the Deparment of Homeland Security. Mr. Clark is an easygoing bureaucrat, a total klutz, and has problems with technical equipment. He can't program VCRs, digital clocks, or digital watches. CD and DVD players, cell phones, personal computers, and cable TV gear all give him fits. To me, this is physical limitation: klutz, psycological limitation: unable to work high-tech electronic equipment, and a DEX of 7. Comments, questions, and ideas are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston GM Posted October 30, 2006 Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison psycological limitation: unable to work high-tech electronic equipment, Comments, questions, and ideas are welcome. That would be a PhysLim, not a PsychLim (just like illiteracy is a PhysLim). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted October 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison That would be a PhysLim' date=' not a PsychLim (just like illiteracy is a PhysLim).[/quote'] Okay. I wasn't sure. I'm also not sure if it's part of his being a klutz, or he's technophobic. Oh, I should've added MP3 player to the list of stuff that gives him fits. Just to make him more interesting, his wife, Sarah, is a trauma nurse who was employed by a hospital in College Park, Maryland until she was laid off. Unlike her husband, she has no problems with high-tech stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaft Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I find it amusing that this guy's name uses Captain America's last name as his first name and Superman's first name as his last one. Is there something you're not telling us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I find it amusing that this guy's name uses Captain America's last name as his first name and Superman's first name as his last one. Is there something you're not telling us? He's meant to be a takeoff of Roger Fox, the father in the FoxTrot newspaper comic strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaft Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison He's meant to be a takeoff of Roger Fox' date=' the father in the [i']FoxTrot[/i] newspaper comic strip. Sure he is... admit it- he's Captain SuperPatriot's secret ID!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Sure he is... admit it- he's Captain SuperPatriot's secret ID!!! Who's secret ID? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnought Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Who's secret ID? Captain SuperPatriot! He's the most patriotic of all heroes. You can tell because it's in his name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventus Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Does his problem with technological devices after the (insert power armor wearing hero/villain name here) power armor, causing it to malfunction while he is touching it? If so, it would be a power, with interesting side effects! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Does his problem with technological devices after the (insert power armor wearing hero/villain name here) power armor, causing it to malfunction while he is touching it? If so, it would be a power, with interesting side effects! Roger isn't a superhero. He's just a technology-challenged, and klutzy, bureaucrat. Maybe I'll change his name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventus Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Not everybody with a superpower is a superhero or supervillain. It doesn't even have to powerful enough to actually damage the power armor. And it only affects the power armor if he is trying to help the power armor wearing hero/villain. He might not even know he has the power and as a result he has no control over it. You could make it an ongoing storyline for most of the campaign that he slowly realizes he has a power. Or, better yet, continually denies he has a power even in the face of overwhelming evidence proving he has a power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Not everybody with a superpower is a superhero or supervillain. It doesn't even have to powerful enough to actually damage the power armor. And it only affects the power armor if he is trying to help the power armor wearing hero/villain. He might not even know he has the power and as a result he has no control over it. You could make it an ongoing storyline for most of the campaign that he slowly realizes he has a power. Or, better yet, continually denies he has a power even in the face of overwhelming evidence proving he has a power. In truth, Roger simply doesn't have the ability to understand high-tech gear. In fact, he sometimes has trouble with the TV remote and touch-tone phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventus Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison In truth' date=' Roger simply doesn't have the ability to understand high-tech gear. In fact, he sometimes has trouble with the TV remote and touch-tone phones.[/quote'] Physical limitation associated with his power. Or a side effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teflon Billy Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison In truth' date=' Roger simply doesn't have the ability to understand high-tech gear. In fact, he sometimes has trouble with the TV remote and touch-tone phones.[/quote']What Adventus is trying to get at is you should maybe think of adding this "anti-tech" power as a latent (and unnoticed) ability, a quirk to the character if you will. Nothing overwhelming, maybe even something that isn't going to come up. But if you're willing to decide where his wife works, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to start throwing random quirks in for NPCs, to include minor super powers. TB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison What Adventus is trying to get at is you should maybe think of adding this "anti-tech" power as a latent (and unnoticed) ability, a quirk to the character if you will. Nothing overwhelming, maybe even something that isn't going to come up. But if you're willing to decide where his wife works, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to start throwing random quirks in for NPCs, to include minor super powers. TB Maybe 2D6 Unluck with technology? One other idea I had for him was the late Robert Urich's character Harry Scofield, a klutzy bureaucrat and boring accountant, in the made for TV movie She Knows Too Much. His main co-star was Meredith Baxter, who played Samantha Ann White, a classy cat burglar who was paroled to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaft Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Roger isn't a superhero. He's just a technology-challenged, and klutzy, bureaucrat. Maybe I'll change his name. Keep the name. Keep the lack of powers too, but make it that he has a false reputation (is secretly a superhero). Maybe make it that through sheer luck, he's never around when a crisis happens, and people have started wondering if he's actually a superhero. Introduce a hero who seems to be obviously pro-government (Captain SuperPatriot? who is effectively a combination of Captain America and Superman- maybe less powerful than the boy scout, though- make him on par with the heroes in your game), and emphasize Roger Clark's clumsiness the way Christopher Reeve plays up Clark Kent's "clumsiness". Add glasses and let the players draw their own conclusions, and when they start sharing them, they might find that numerous other NPCs have concluded the same thing. Perhaps Clark is even aware of the speculation and it's a sore point for him. Imagine he introduces himself to the team, just a few days after Captain SuperPatriot has started appearing around town. He immediately, and a little too emphatically, says that he is not Captain SuperPatriot, and sharply asks the players to please dismiss all notions that they might have indicating otherwise. (I'm picturing mannerisms like Mr Incredible's insurance boss in the Incredibles). But, whenever Captain SuperPatriot isn't around, he isn't. Let the gag run for a while as hilarity ensues. For added fun, make it that Captain SuperPatriot also has some gadgets, and set it up so that the players might think Clark's techno-incompetance is an act. He led a boring life: Luck 6d6 (only to avoid Capt SuperPatriot and being around at disasters that might require a superhero) Reputation (is Captain SuperPatriot) on 8- 5 pts Psych Lim: irritated by specualtion that he might be Capt. SuperPatriot (uncommon, strong) 10 pts Physical Limitation: Clutz- has to make a DEX roll to avoid a mishap once per scene at GM's discretion(frequently, slightly limiting) 10 pts Professional Rivalry w/Captain SuperPatriot, rival is superior, rival does not know about rivalry 10 pts (his rivalry symbolises the increasing resentment that he is starting to feel towards Capt SuperPatriot. Much to his chagrin, Clark's rants are mistaken for a poor attempt at disassociating himself). Unluck 2d6, only with technology (5 pts) Voila: This guy could be in EveryMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted November 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison Nice stuff, Shaft. I might move him to a Dark Champions Animated campaign. Either way, he's getting an assistant, a classy female cat burglar that he arranged parole for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I've reread Shaft's post above. I owe you rep for it. My original idea was to have his problems with technology caused by two things. One, he's clumsy. Two, he either dislikes, distrusts, or is afraid of technology. (Some combination of these is also possible.) He disconected his office computer, put it in a pile by the waste basket, added his PAD and cell phone to the pile and brought in a manual typewriter for his own use. Fortunately for him, his office mate, the classy lady cat burglar that was paroled to him, is technologically smart and helps him out when she's not busy elsewhere. When she's busy, he misdials on his touch-tone phone, loads VHS tapes, CDs, DVDs, and other stuff the wrong way and points the remote at himself instead of what he's trying to control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison In truth' date=' Roger simply doesn't have the ability to understand high-tech gear.[/quote'] Give him several Penalty Skill Levels, then, and perhaps a 5-point Physical Disadvantage for never being able to learn any related Knowledge or Professional skills (this is not built as a Psychological Disadvantage, because no amount of therapy, hypnosis, or education can help him overcome this problem). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I may make his clumsyness the reason he has problems with high-tech gear and replace his light-fingered associate with a legally-blind secretary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I love Shaft's idea. Poses the intriguing idea of what happens to a guy if everyone assumes you're a superhero in Secret Identity mode but you're really not. Which brings up a "power" tha could be annoying in a supers campaign: Immunity to Superpowers. You are immune to gaining superpowers, and have gone through several "origin" events in your life without developing any powers whatsoever. Any attempts to induce superpowers deliberately (such as being captured by VIPER and used in their experiments) automatically fail. Which means you could run into problems in a world where "superpowers" have become so common that almost anyone you meet might have a minor (and not necessarily useful) super-ability. Your complete lack of superpowers could become a Distinctive Feature in such a world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I love Shaft's idea. Poses the intriguing idea of what happens to a guy if everyone assumes you're a superhero in Secret Identity mode but you're really not. Which brings up a "power" tha could be annoying in a supers campaign: Immunity to Superpowers. You are immune to gaining superpowers, and have gone through several "origin" events in your life without developing any powers whatsoever. Any attempts to induce superpowers deliberately (such as being captured by VIPER and used in their experiments) automatically fail. Which means you could run into problems in a world where "superpowers" have become so common that almost anyone you meet might have a minor (and not necessarily useful) super-ability. Your complete lack of superpowers could become a Distinctive Feature in such a world. I'll consider it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Rand Posted December 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Re: The klutzy government liaison I did a little reading about Roger Fox (of the Foxtrot comic strip and found a few things that can be put on Roger Clark's character sheet. He's an obsessive fan of golf and chess, but sucks at both. He's still trying to catch up on the technology of the 1970s. He's bad with computers. All of the above are, probably, physical limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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