Doesn't he look familiar?

[DataPacRat]

Mike the Demoness's character sheet is still somewhat in flux. One idea I've added to the original concept is a Follower - a fawning, lizardy, familiar-type demonic imp who thinks Mike is still the original succubus pretending to be someone else. Partly as light comedy relief, partly to show Mike what a /real/ demon would think about any given situation, partly as an occasional GM mouthpiece.

 

As is obvious from my questions here, my HERO-fu is weak. And, I seem to have mislaid my HERO sourcebook on mystic superheroes. So, what sort of low-level evilness would you find most interesting to inflict on a PC (your own or someone else's)? (Currently, the sheet lists him as a 5-point follower, so he'd most likely be built on 25 base + 100 disadvantage points, if that makes any difference.) The fellow may or may not actually provide any /benefit/ to the PC for those 5 points, but he's glomped on tight for the foreseeable future...

 

 

"/There/ you are, boss. That was real smart of you, getting yourself shown on a reality TV show - you /know/ I'm addicted to the things. I don't know what sort of plan you've got going in that sneaky head of yours, but I want in on it, because it's gotta be big. I mean, you /know/ how annoyed the Big Boys get at publicizing the existence of Our Side. Clever dodge with the new name and claiming to be an atheist. So I figure, either the payoff for this plan is so big that it's gonna be worth the risk, or you've got something to hold over the head of your boss to keep 'em from coming after you, and either way, I'm gonna stick by your side 'till I figure out what it is..."

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

If the little imp is nothing but trouble, I'd think he'd actually be more of a DNPC than a follower ... assuming the PCs, for whatever reason, feel some need to protect him and keep him around.

 

If not, he's just a zero-value plot point.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

If the little imp is nothing but trouble, I'd think he'd actually be more of a DNPC than a follower ... assuming the PCs, for whatever reason, feel some need to protect him and keep him around.

 

If not, he's just a zero-value plot point.

 

Quite. I'd be really annoyed if a GM started treating something I spent points for like a disadvantage. Just how is this "sidekitsch" supposed to be useful, huh?

[DataPacRat]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Quite. I'd be really annoyed if a GM started treating something I spent points for like a disadvantage. Just how is this "sidekitsch" supposed to be useful' date=' huh?[/quote']

 

If nothing else, he's got eyes and ears and a mouth, and, at least some of the time, can be convinced by his 'boss' to go look at something and report back, or deliver messages, or maybe carry a spare widget.

 

Whatever else he might be able to do... has yet to be established, and is kind of what I was asking for suggestions on. A bat-winged cat who can fly? A walking talking END Reserve? A Deadman-a-like who can possess random civvies for a few moments at a time? A minor tempter mentalist who can make a mortal indulge in a sin? Maybe he can pop over to Hell and back on his own power?

 

And while we're at it, what would the most interesting disadvantages to saddle him with? Physical Limitations versus holy ground and objects, or maybe a Vulnerability or Susceptibility to them, are fairly obvious... but what else?

[Lucius]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Quite. I'd be really annoyed if a GM started treating something I spent points for like a disadvantage. Just how is this "sidekitsch" supposed to be useful' date=' huh?[/quote']

 

I don’t know, I thought things like THIS might be useful….

 

"/There/ you are, boss. That was real smart of you, getting yourself shown on a reality TV show - you /know/ I'm addicted to the things. I don't know what sort of plan you've got going in that sneaky head of yours, but I want in on it, because it's gotta be big. I mean, you /know/ how annoyed the Big Boys get at publicizing the existence of Our Side. Clever dodge with the new name and claiming to be an atheist. So I figure, either the payoff for this plan is so big that it's gonna be worth the risk, or you've got something to hold over the head of your boss to keep 'em from coming after you, and either way, I'm gonna stick by your side 'till I figure out what it is..."

 

As DataPacRat says (emphasis mine)

 

Partly as light comedy relief, partly to show Mike what a /real/ demon would think about any given situation, partly as an occasional GM mouthpiece.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And a suddenly sinister looking palindromedary

[Lucius]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

For some reason, I'm thinking Invisibility and Teleportation are appropriate powers for the little imp to have. The Invisibility would be broad (probably cover sight and hearing - somehow I have this picture of the little lizard thing sitting on the character's shoulder or standing on the furniture, yakking away, and no one knows it's there except the character) but with limits (Visible to anyone or anything supernatural, for starters. Possibly even if the only connection to the supernatural is being a member of the clergy...)

 

Besides, both those powers are good defenses, and this low-powered imp should have ways of staying out of the way in superpowered combat.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks it should look like the Geico Gekko. Maybe talk like that too....

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Whatever the points that you spend on the familiar, I'd recommend you model it as follows:

 

Follower: Familiar (however many points)

Hunted: Familiar (8-, less powerful, mildly punish, hero is easy to find)

 

This represents the fact that the familiar is available at all times, as a follower. However, about 1/3 of the time, the familiar "helps" out by doing something the character doesn't want it to. With GM permission, you can actually combine the Familiar with the Hunted and purchase it as a single advantage (or disadvantage).

[DataPacRat]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

For some reason, I'm thinking Invisibility and Teleportation are appropriate powers for the little imp to have. The Invisibility would be broad (probably cover sight and hearing - somehow I have this picture of the little lizard thing sitting on the character's shoulder or standing on the furniture, yakking away, and no one knows it's there except the character) but with limits (Visible to anyone or anything supernatural, for starters. Possibly even if the only connection to the supernatural is being a member of the clergy...)

 

Besides, both those powers are good defenses, and this low-powered imp should have ways of staying out of the way in superpowered combat.

 

Not a bad approach... "Okay, she's a flaming demoness, and she's talking to mid-air. Is there really some sort of other demon there that we can't see... or is she just bug-nuts? And which would be worse?"

 

Possibly use Desolid instead of Teleport, so he can simply fly/slither/whatever through walls, ala the shikigami who hangs around the protagonist in the manga/anime DeathNote.

[DataPacRat]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Whatever the points that you spend on the familiar, I'd recommend you model it as follows:

 

Follower: Familiar (however many points)

Hunted: Familiar (8-, less powerful, mildly punish, hero is easy to find)

 

This represents the fact that the familiar is available at all times, as a follower. However, about 1/3 of the time, the familiar "helps" out by doing something the character doesn't want it to. With GM permission, you can actually combine the Familiar with the Hunted and purchase it as a single advantage (or disadvantage).

 

Heh. That's just about the sort of relationship I'd be happy to model, whether they're combined into a single item or not.

 

Do you have any examples of such a combination being used elsewhere, which I can show to my GM when I mention this idea?"

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Heh. That's just about the sort of relationship I'd be happy to model, whether they're combined into a single item or not.

 

Do you have any examples of such a combination being used elsewhere, which I can show to my GM when I mention this idea?"

 

 

Hm... good question - I thought there was a section in the book about "combining talents and disadvantages", but I'm not seeing it. To the Rules forum!

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

In thinking about it, another way to model the "unconsciously misinterprets the Mistresses' commands is as follows:

 

Follower (however many points): RSR (Int Check), Side Effect: failure on INT check results in misinterpreted instruction, -1/2.

 

This represents the requirement that the character has to phrase the command carefully; a failure to do so results in room for 'interpretation', and things end up going poorly. Modifiers to the INT roll would include negatives for vague commands. But even the most well-thought commands can be misinterpreted by those who truly believe they have their mistresses' best interests at heart. "Yeah, she told me not to stop and do anything else. But I'm sure what she REALLY meant was not to stop unless it's important..."

[Querysphinx]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

I remember a long time ago I made a cat familiar for a witch character. It had all the abilities I'm sure a supernatural cat would possess.

 

Invisibility. Only when not moving (how many times have you tripped over a cat you're sure wasn't there before)

Teleport. Only when nobody is looking.

Danger Sense.

Telepathy.

Disads: Never gives anyone a straight answer.

 

For Mike's companion.

 

How about a shapeshifting imp. Sometimes its a mouse Sometimes it's a candle flame. Sometimes it's an earring. Even Mike can't tell what the imp is unless it reveals itself by speaking or acting in an unnatural way. i.e. The candle flame hops off the candle and starts walking across the crinkly paper. Or worse, mike's underwear starts talking to her.

[Lucius]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Not a bad approach... "Okay, she's a flaming demoness, and she's talking to mid-air. Is there really some sort of other demon there that we can't see... or is she just bug-nuts? And which would be worse?"

 

Possibly use Desolid instead of Teleport, so he can simply fly/slither/whatever through walls, ala the shikigami who hangs around the protagonist in the manga/anime DeathNote.

 

Actually, I was thinking of situations such as I've seen many times in drama, and even more often in comedy, of the sort where the invisible being is badgering (haunting, nagging, yakking at, any variation on making itself impossible to ignore) someone who, aware that no one else sees it, is trying pretend not to see it either.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Trying to ignore the palindromedary for once

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Doesn't he look familiar?

 

Actually, I was thinking of situations such as I've seen many times in drama, and even more often in comedy, of the sort where the invisible being is badgering (haunting, nagging, yakking at, any variation on making itself impossible to ignore) someone who, aware that no one else sees it, is trying pretend not to see it either.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Trying to ignore the palindromedary for once

 

Sounds sort of like the main character in Drop Dead Fred. Put that way, it's not an unpalatable idea.