KA.'s Idea Thread

[KA.]

Disclaimer:

I hope this thread doesn't seem too egocentric, but on the other hand, this is the Internet and the two basic reasons things exist here are to either generate profit or stroke someone's ego, so what the heck . . .

 

From time to time I have what seems, to me anyway, to be a good idea.

I often will just post it in whatever thread I happen to be reading at the time.

 

I had a couple of decent ideas yesterday, and I thought, why not start a thread and just put all my ideas in the same place?

 

Either I will have enough ideas, and enough responses, to keep the thread going, or it will fade into the underbrush like so many other threads.

 

1) The Fountain of Truth.

Someone, most likely a villain (Dr. Destroyer?) who is obsessed with immortality, has heard rumors of a magical fountain. He follows some vague clues and finds the fountain (a fairly ordinary looking stream). He is disappointed until he sees an elderly woman approach the fountain and take a deep drink. A few moments later, she transforms, becoming younger and more vibrant. The villain waits for her to leave and then either takes some water for analysis, takes a drink, whatever.

The water will test as magical, or whatever fits the campaign (mutagenic), but the exact properties cannot be determined by anything other than having a human drink it.

The point is this, this in not the Fountain of Youth, it is the Fountain of Truth.

The elderly woman in question was sweet and kind, what some would call "young at heart" so the effect of the Fountain was to make her younger, healthier, more vibrant.

As some have said about alcohol, it makes you more of whatever you already are.

Now if what you are is a greedy, uncaring, monster . . .

 

The actions you take just before drinking the water also have an effect on the outcome.

The lady in question just wanted a drink, and was doing her best not to disturb the stream or the plant life nearby, she had no idea about the Fountain's properties.

 

On the other hand, if someone were to steal all the water, or hurt someone to find the location, etc. etc. they would be guaranteed a bad outcome.

 

KA.

[KA.]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

2) Life Plus Twenty.

I have heard of a lot of desperate criminals sentenced to "Life Plus Twenty" or "Life Plus Fifty" or even "Life Plus One Hundred".

Now technically this sounds like the criminal still owes a debt to society, even after they die in prison.

 

In a certain prison in Louisiana, the Warden takes this commitment seriously.

With the application of a bit of voodoo, some inmates go on serving time long after death.

 

They could be used for various tasks:

Riot Control

Hunting Down Escapees

Guard Training

Etc.

 

KA.

[teh bunneh]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

2) Life Plus Twenty.

 

I am so stealing this idea for the fantasy campaign I'm working on.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

2) Life Plus Twenty.

I have heard of a lot of desperate criminals sentenced to "Life Plus Twenty" or "Life Plus Fifty" or even "Life Plus One Hundred".

Now technically this sounds like the criminal still owes a debt to society, even after they die in prison.

 

In a certain prison in Louisiana, the Warden takes this commitment seriously.

With the application of a bit of voodoo, some inmates go on serving time long after death.

 

They could be used for various tasks:

Riot Control

Hunting Down Escapees

Guard Training

Etc.

 

KA.

 

So, totally Repped!

 

 

EDIT: Must spread Rep, blah blah blah. Someone get him for me?

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

2) Life Plus Twenty.

I have heard of a lot of desperate criminals sentenced to "Life Plus Twenty" or "Life Plus Fifty" or even "Life Plus One Hundred".

Now technically this sounds like the criminal still owes a debt to society, even after they die in prison.

 

In a certain prison in Louisiana, the Warden takes this commitment seriously.

With the application of a bit of voodoo, some inmates go on serving time long after death.

 

They could be used for various tasks:

Riot Control

Hunting Down Escapees

Guard Training

Etc.

 

KA.

 

I'd heard it termed as "Life and a day", where you cannot be granted parole until you serve that day, and you can't start that day until you've died.

 

But the stuff you have is good... I might use it.

[DusterBoy]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Got 'im for you, Bunneh

[hfergus]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

So, totally Repped!

 

 

EDIT: Must spread Rep, blah blah blah. Someone get him for me?

Got him for you.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Cheers.

[Clonus]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

A version of the life plus idea was used in Grimjack, where people sentenced to multiple life terms had their reincarnations imprisoned.

[Pariah]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

2) Life Plus Twenty.

I have heard of a lot of desperate criminals sentenced to "Life Plus Twenty" or "Life Plus Fifty" or even "Life Plus One Hundred".

 

There was a really bizarre TV movie several years ago called White Dwarf that used a variation on this idea. One person had been sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for treason or some such, and each year that prisoner was brought in and given a serum that artificially extended his life.

 

As I recall, he'd served something like 800 years at that point. Ugh.

[KA.]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

3) Flesh and Bone

Supervillain, or perhaps very Iron Age Superhero .

Flesh and Bone is a man with a rather disturbing power.

He seperates into just that, Flesh and Bone.

I picture Flesh as an amophous blob-type creature.

Highly resistant to damage. Able to change shape, stretch, etc.

Bone is a tougher version of the typical animated skeleton (think Ray Harryhausen).

I was thinking of Duplication with two very different forms.

I may design them myself, but if anyone wants to take a shot at it, feel free.

 

KA.

[KA.]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

I thought of this the other day and wanted to post it before I forgot it.

 

4) Mr. Danger

 

(For Superheroes, or possibly Super Agents if they have really advanced technology.)

 

Your team begins to be tormented by an implacable foe.

Mr. Danger.

He is powerful enough to take on the entire team, and absorb their most powerful attacks.

His powers are seemingly limitless, but it is worse than that . . .

Even though your heroes have never met him before, he knows them.

It is not obvious at first, but as time goes on they realize he knows their strengths and weaknesses, their maneuvers, how they fight as a team, practically everything about them, at least as far as combat.

 

But there is something even stranger . . .

As time goes on, the heroes begin to realize that he doesn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything.

He often shows up only to fight them.

Most of his other actions appear to be designed solely to lure them into a fight.

 

ex.

He robs a bank a block from their headquarters in broad daylight during their weekly meeting.

He attempts to kidnap the Mayor's daughter from a ceremony honoring the hero group, knowing they will be there.

 

But other than that, he doesn't seem to have any actual goals.

He isn't trying to get rich.

He isn't accumulating power to take over the world.

He isn't trying to prove he is the greatest warrior in the world.

He isn't trying to promote his own twisted world view.

 

He just seems to be there to fight the heroes.

 

And he is.

 

Because Mr. Danger is a mobile unit of the heroes own Danger Room!

Due to a glitch in the AI, the Danger Room has decided that just waiting for the heroes to show up and train does not fulfill its primary mission. The heroes need to be ready for anything, which includes sudden unexplained attacks in the real world. Using robotics, cloning, holograms, and whatever else is available to it, it has constructed a "living" embodiment of itself.

 

Which means that Mr. Danger only exists to fight the heroes.

 

A few suggestions . . .

 

Try not to tip off the group too soon.

 

Make sure to have plans in place so that something like "End Program" will not just shut Mr. Danger down.

 

Have a backup plan in place where it takes more than physically shutting down the Danger Room to get rid of Mr. Danger, unless you want to do a pitched battle where the heroes, outside their base, have to fight their way in, past all their own defenses (with all the 'backdoors' shut off) and defeat Mr. Danger to finally end this.

 

Remember to take advantage of the fact that, as the living embodiment of the place they train, Mr. Danger will know all the heroes strengths, weaknesses, etc.

 

Remember that Mr. Danger could actually be a team, each member designed to fight a specific hero.

 

Come up with a less hokey and obvious name than Mr. Danger!

 

KA.

[Matt Holck]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

should prolly start a thread for each different idea and tag and title them by subject and materiel

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

 

4) Mr. Danger

Like Inspector Clouseau's Cato, but deadly!

 

I actually really like this idea a lot.

 

Interesting that after reading "he doesn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything.

He often shows up only to fight them" I thought "Oh, it's an X-Men villain."

[mattingly]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

I'm definitely borrowing Mr. Danger. Don't tell my players.

[teh bunneh]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Interesting that after reading "he doesn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything.

He often shows up only to fight them" I thought "Oh, it's an X-Men villain."

 

That's hilarious -- I was thinking exactly the same thing. "Sounds like someone the X-Men would fight."

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

I thought of this the other day and wanted to post it before I forgot it.

 

4) Mr. Danger

 

(For Superheroes, or possibly Super Agents if they have really advanced technology.)

 

Your team begins to be tormented by an implacable foe.

Mr. Danger.

He is powerful enough to take on the entire team, and absorb their most powerful attacks.

His powers are seemingly limitless, but it is worse than that . . .

Even though your heroes have never met him before, he knows them.

It is not obvious at first, but as time goes on they realize he knows their strengths and weaknesses, their maneuvers, how they fight as a team, practically everything about them, at least as far as combat.

 

But there is something even stranger . . .

As time goes on, the heroes begin to realize that he doesn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything.

He often shows up only to fight them.

Most of his other actions appear to be designed solely to lure them into a fight.

 

ex.

He robs a bank a block from their headquarters in broad daylight during thier weekly meeting.

He attempts to kidnap the Mayor's daughter from a ceremony honoring the hero group, knowing they will be there.

 

But other than that, he doesn't seem to have any actual goals.

He isn't trying to get rich.

He isn't accumulating power to take over the world.

He isn't trying to prove he is the greatest warrior in the world.

He isn't trying to promote his own twisted world view.

 

He just seems to be there to fight the heroes.

 

And he is.

 

Because Mr. Danger is a mobile unit of the heroes own Danger Room!

Due to a glitch in the AI, the Danger Room has decided that just waiting for the heroes to show up and train does not fulfill its primary mission. The heroes need to be ready for anything, which includes sudden unexplained attacks in the real world. Using robotics, cloning, holograms, and whatever else is available to it, it has constructed a "living" embodiment of itself.

 

Which means that Mr. Danger only exists to fight the heroes.

 

A few suggestions . . .

 

Try not to tip off the group too soon.

 

Make sure to have plans in place so that something like "End Program" will not just shut Mr. Danger down.

 

Have a backup plan in place where it takes more than physically shutting down the Danger Room to get rid of Mr. Danger, unless you want to do a pitched battle where the heroes, outside their base, have to fight their way in, past all their own defences (with all the 'backdoors' shut off) and defeat Mr. Danger to finally end this.

 

Remember to take advantage of the fact that, as the living embodiment of the place they train, Mr. Danger will know all the heroes strengths, weaknesses, etc.

 

Remember that Mr. Danger could actually be a team, each member designed to fight a specific hero.

 

Come up with a less hokey and obvious name than Mr. Danger!

 

KA.

That\s fracking brilliant!

 

Thank you

 

QM

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

I like the concept of Mr. Danger, but I would change his name to Nemesis.

 

You might also consider a more supernatural version, since you can't "End Program" on magic easily. In that case you might have a "helpful" supernatural creature that is trying to create challenges for the heroes but it got a little out of hand. Or Nemesis could be an atavistic construct that originates in the heroes' own heads after they travel on the astral plane or something. Definitely a lot of options to work with. Repped.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

This is basically what happened in Joss Wedon's (sp?) run on the X-Men (Astonishing X-Men, I think). The danger room tried to kill everyone. It actually convinced a student to kill himself, broke out of it's restrictive, non-lethal programing, made itself a body, and took out the entire team.

[KA.]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Okay, this one occurred to me at work the other day.

 

A way to "complicate" the life of a PC with either Teleportation or Desolidification.

 

One set of sfx for this sort of power is that either all (T-port) or some (Desolid) of a character's mass goes into some sort of "limbo" or other dimension during the process.

 

What if it doesn't all come back through?

 

Unless a character is constantly weighed on a very accurate scale, how would they notice the loss of less than .1% of their mass?

 

Especially if, like donated blood and shed skin cells, the lost mass "grows back" over the course of 24 hours.

 

Now the question is: "What happens to that leftover mass?"

 

What if it forms together over time into an evil twin?

What if it forms together over time into a non-evil, independent being, exactly like the character in every way?

 

At some point the new character could:

 

a) pop into existence right next to the original character when they use the power in question (which one is the "real" one?)

 

pop into existence at a random location when the original character uses the power in question

 

c) pop into existence instead of the original character, trapping the original character in limbo

 

What will the alternate character's attitude be toward the original?

 

Will they think they are the original (they were in suspended animation until their "birth")?

 

Will they hate the original, having been aware the entire time they were forming and burning with jealousy?

 

Will they think they can do a better job than the original, and want to take over their position?

 

The alternate should probably have some minor differences from the original just to make things interesting.

 

KA.

[Uncle Shecky]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

That's several cool ideas together. Hope you don't mind if I just mess around with them a little.

 

The part about creating a non-evil duplicate reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Riker discovers a duplicate of himself who, due to a transporter accident, has been trapped alone on a planet for several years (our Riker was beamed back to his ship, the other Riker materialized on the planet). The duplicate is every bit as much Riker as the character we already know: as far as he's concerned, the Riker who made it back to his ship is the duplicate, so he's resentful and feels like he's lost his life to someone else. He eventually accepts that everyone else thinks our Riker is the real one, so the duplicate takes a new name (Thomas, our Riker's middle name) and goes on with his life.

 

I think it's a little hard to get to the "non-evil duplicate" point from the ".1% of their mass" at-a-time idea. I just don't see the tiny cells developing into a duplicate with any kind of awareness of where they came from--unless someone else is intentionally causing it to happen, and educating the clone; or maybe the cells could be used by a demonic entity to create a body to inhabit and enter our dimension?

 

Otherwise, I'd think a duplicate would be better created as a one-time teleportation accident. Or perhaps, creepily, every time the character has teleported he's created an alternate version of himself, and now there's a pocket dimension where 500 different hims all live very unhappily, waiting to get out.

 

Another direction to take the ".1% of their mass" at-a-time part: something is consuming the character when he teleports. Just a little at first, but it grows each time it feeds off him, so it gets bigger and consumes more of him each time. He starts to notice bumps that look like tiny bug bites. After teleporting more, he develops scratches and wounds that look like animal bites. Eventually whatever is consuming him will either kill him in transit, or it will be strong enough to appear with him after a teleport.

[Folded]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Okay, this one occurred to me at work the other day.

 

A way to "complicate" the life of a PC with either Teleportation or Desolidification.

 

One set of sfx for this sort of power is that either all (T-port) or some (Desolid) of a character's mass goes into some sort of "limbo" or other dimension during the process.

 

What if it doesn't all come back through?

 

Unless a character is constantly weighed on a very accurate scale, how would they notice the loss of less than .1% of their mass?

 

Especially if, like donated blood and shed skin cells, the lost mass "grows back" over the course of 24 hours.

 

Now the question is: "What happens to that leftover mass?"

 

What if it forms together over time into an evil twin?

What if it forms together over time into a non-evil, independent being, exactly like the character in every way?

 

At some point the new character could:

 

a) pop into existence right next to the original character when they use the power in question (which one is the "real" one?)

 

pop into existence at a random location when the original character uses the power in question

 

c) pop into existence instead of the original character, trapping the original character in limbo

 

What will the alternate character's attitude be toward the original?

 

Will they think they are the original (they were in suspended animation until their "birth")?

 

Will they hate the original, having been aware the entire time they were forming and burning with jealousy?

 

Will they think they can do a better job than the original, and want to take over their position?

 

The alternate should probably have some minor differences from the original just to make things interesting.

 

KA.

 

Check out Schlock Mercenary's Gatekeeper storyline (I think they're called the F'Sherl'g'hanni). It's got some great ideas about how such a thing would work, and how someone could take advantage of it.

[KA.]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

It has been a while, but I recently had a new one, inspired by the old Hazel TV show no less.

In the show, the Baxters, the young couple that Hazel works for are having some minor problems. The wife is worried that the Husband will begin to take her for granted. This feeling is exacerbated by the older couple, the Williams, that live nearby and seem on the edge of divorce. The Baxters are about to have their anniversary and Mr. Baxter has forgotten, planning to go fishing with Mr. Williams that weekend. Hazel jumps in as usual and makes it look like the fishing trip was meant to be a romantic couples weekend. There are several bumps along the way, but everything works out fine in the end, with both couples happily together.

 

Which leads me to . . .

 

Lake Misery.

Lake Misery can be used in any setting with the right window dressing.

The essential parts are:

 

1) It is isolated. It is not meant to be creepy like "The Cabin in The Woods", but it is isolated.

Due to naturally occurring magnetic minerals in the surrounding mountains, cell phones don't work, teleportation doesn't work, roads are narrow and twisting, the surrounding woods are too thick to fly through. Any way you slice it, it is not that easy to get there and once you are there you are staying for a while and it is hard to communicate with the outside world. It could even be part of the "charm" of the place, you can really get away from it all. The key is to convey this without triggering Player Paranoia. It isn't a "trap".

 

2) There aren't many, or any, other people there. Basically just the crusty old caretaker. Again, he is crusty, but not scary.

For whatever reason, the PC's end up being there during the "off-season". So they are the only guests.

 

3) The Lake, Woods, etc. are beautiful. Not unnaturally beautiful, just very scenic. You can easily see why people come here even though it is isolated. But the cabins are quite rustic, almost spartan.

 

The point of Lake Misery is personal growth through adversity. It would be a great place to buy off Disadvantages, but without the Players' knowledge until the very end.

 

Example: Player A has Fear of Spiders. During his stay he keeps being tormented by them. Every night several spiders crawl into his bunk. Nothing he does will stop them from coming. One night he sees where they are coming from and for whatever reason he has to follow them alone. He ends up fighting a nest of spiders, giant spider, etc. so that he loses most of all of that fear by facing it.

But the point is it could be anything. The character with Xenophobia might get lost in the woods and be forced to rely on the help of aliens/strangers to get back to the group.

Ideally each character will go through an experience that helps them, without realizing it until the end (when they will find out that they have gotten rid of or reduced a pesky Disadvantage.

 

If worked correctly I think it could be pretty cool, as long as the players don't go crazy looking for the "villain".

 

KA.

[psyber624]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

Not triggering Player Paranoia is nearly impossible with something like this, unless you get lucky enough to have a player suggest they take a "vacation" all on their own and the PC's want to role play it out for a little "off the wall fun". Of course as soon as anything happens (that first spider in the bunk) Player Paranoia will kick in full scale (and you could have some upset PC's that you ruined there little "getaway" with actual gaming......)

[Mr. R]

Re: KA.'s Idea Thread

 

I thought of this the other day and wanted to post it before I forgot it.

 

4) Mr. Danger

 

(For Superheroes, or possibly Super Agents if they have really advanced technology.)

 

Your team begins to be tormented by an implacable foe.

Mr. Danger.

He is powerful enough to take on the entire team, and absorb their most powerful attacks.

His powers are seemingly limitless, but it is worse than that . . .

Even though your heroes have never met him before, he knows them.

It is not obvious at first, but as time goes on they realize he knows their strengths and weaknesses, their maneuvers, how they fight as a team, practically everything about them, at least as far as combat.

 

But there is something even stranger . . .

As time goes on, the heroes begin to realize that he doesn't seem to be trying to accomplish anything.

He often shows up only to fight them.

Most of his other actions appear to be designed solely to lure them into a fight.

 

ex.

He robs a bank a block from their headquarters in broad daylight during their weekly meeting.

He attempts to kidnap the Mayor's daughter from a ceremony honoring the hero group, knowing they will be there.

 

But other than that, he doesn't seem to have any actual goals.

He isn't trying to get rich.

He isn't accumulating power to take over the world.

He isn't trying to prove he is the greatest warrior in the world.

He isn't trying to promote his own twisted world view.

 

He just seems to be there to fight the heroes.

 

And he is.

 

Because Mr. Danger is a mobile unit of the heroes own Danger Room!

Due to a glitch in the AI, the Danger Room has decided that just waiting for the heroes to show up and train does not fulfill its primary mission. The heroes need to be ready for anything, which includes sudden unexplained attacks in the real world. Using robotics, cloning, holograms, and whatever else is available to it, it has constructed a "living" embodiment of itself.

 

Which means that Mr. Danger only exists to fight the heroes.

 

A few suggestions . . .

 

Try not to tip off the group too soon.

 

Make sure to have plans in place so that something like "End Program" will not just shut Mr. Danger down.

 

Have a backup plan in place where it takes more than physically shutting down the Danger Room to get rid of Mr. Danger, unless you want to do a pitched battle where the heroes, outside their base, have to fight their way in, past all their own defenses (with all the 'backdoors' shut off) and defeat Mr. Danger to finally end this.

 

Remember to take advantage of the fact that, as the living embodiment of the place they train, Mr. Danger will know all the heroes strengths, weaknesses, etc.

 

Remember that Mr. Danger could actually be a team, each member designed to fight a specific hero.

 

Come up with a less hokey and obvious name than Mr. Danger!

 

KA.

 

This is awesome. Repped!