Cocooning other's Ideas.

[Ragdoll]

Okay here's the concept I came up with. There's a metahuman out there that functions as a hero. He might be part of a team, or a solo hero in whatever city you like. He's a gadget hero. He's got some bog standard equipment, like some armour, a blaster for offense, etc, etc.

 

But he's also got the ability to intuitively design and build objects of tech quickly whenever he likes. The only problem is, he needs help to do it. He's a kind of mental parasite, a secondary mutation that works in tandem with his normal intellect. His VPP (his invention power) won't function below a certain INT score threshold. His normal Intellect is 12 or so. He's bright but no genius. Certainly not smart enough to build the armour and weapons, that he uses and no where near as smart enough to invent things on the fly with his VPP.

 

He needs at least an INT of 23 in order to use his VPP, or to 'repair' any of his bog stadard tech that he uses in his day to day heroics.

 

When he uses his secondary mutation of a willing or unconscious/restrained person, he 'extrudes' a small cocoon from the person's forehead. Inside the cocoon is a specific essence of a thought, and idea, a creative inspiration. Taken from the person, and made manifest. The hero (?) holds the cocoon in his hand and it releases that thought, idea, inspiration into his own mind, where it's used as raw material to increase his own intellect. He periodically has to use the mutation again and again to keep his Intellect above a certain score or he loses the benefit of his primary mutation. The person who's idea he stole, loses it forever, unless it's restored through psychic surgery.

 

I thought about AID first off. With a high fade rate. Say 5pt/Month, with a linked Transform Psychic Surgery that can alter ideas/creative memories, etc. I'd thought of it as no range, and the person can be actively resisting, with takes extra time for the extrusion.

 

I'm just not sure how to build it from the ground up. Any ideas are helpful.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Cocooning other's Ideas.

 

His VPP (his invention power) won't function below a certain INT score threshold. His normal Intellect is 12 or so. He's bright but no genius. Certainly not smart enough to build the armour and weapons' date=' that he uses and no where near as smart enough to invent things on the fly with his VPP.[/quote']

 

Sounds like he's got a low Power Skill Roll (based on INT). As such, he can't make much of anything complex with his VPP without something to boost the roll up.

 

When he uses his secondary mutation of a willing or unconscious/restrained person, he 'extrudes' a small cocoon from the person's forehead. Inside the cocoon is a specific essence of a thought, and idea, a creative inspiration. Taken from the person, and made manifest. The hero (?) holds the cocoon in his hand and it releases that thought, idea, inspiration into his own mind, where it's used as raw material to increase his own intellect. He periodically has to use the mutation again and again to keep his Intellect above a certain score or he loses the benefit of his primary mutation. The person who's idea he stole, loses it forever, unless it's restored through psychic surgery.

 

For the most part, this sounds like a boost to INT/Power Skill bought through some type of focus/charges or what have you. Not 100% clear on how the though bubble works though...

 

Something I'm not clear on though... Can he probe peoples minds looking for ideas?

 

I mean, if he wanders up to Tony Stark can he deduce how to make Pym Particles just because Stark is a genius? Or can he ONLY steal the ideas for Stark Tech, at which point Stark can theoretically no longer create said tech?

[Ragdoll]

Re: Cocooning other's Ideas.

 

Sounds like he's got a low Power Skill Roll (based on INT). As such, he can't make much of anything complex with his VPP without something to boost the roll up.

 

 

 

For the most part, this sounds like a boost to INT/Power Skill bought through some type of focus/charges or what have you. Not 100% clear on how the though bubble works though...

 

Something I'm not clear on though... Can he probe peoples minds looking for ideas?

 

I mean, if he wanders up to Tony Stark can he deduce how to make Pym Particles just because Stark is a genius? Or can he ONLY steal the ideas for Stark Tech, at which point Stark can theoretically no longer create said tech?

 

It's not so much that he 'probes', it's not telepathy. He delves down and finds a pattern randomly, hoists it out of thier mind, and then assimilates it. What the thought is has nothing to really 'do' with what he can create. It's basically the energy of the inspiration, the idea that gives his brain the INT boost it needs. In effect he's creating a sort of mental smart drug from a person's idea, any idea that he happens to snatch up. He gets a sense of what the idea was, but it doesn't stick around, but it's the inspirational energy of the idea that allows his now enhanced intelligence to make intuitive leaps in invention creation.

 

It doesn't matter if it was Tony Stark's idea for a new kind of reactor or a long ago buried idea he had a decent cup of tea. Both ideas create the same kind of 'boost' to him, and Stark loses the idea. He may wonder about it, 'What was I thinking about doing in that next step. Damn I wish I could recall' or he may not even remember it if it was buried somewhere from his past and he'd just mentally filed it away.

 

It's a rather horrific idea, at least in the character's eyes. Every time he extrudes some 'thought' from someone's head, he wonders if he's robbing the world of some great future work of literature, some amazing film, some great scientific break through. He convinces himself that he's only extruding from crooks and thieves. People on the outskirts of society, unlikely to contribute anything truly great. But it nags at the back of his head, what if the extrude he took from some unconscious look out kid in the Meth-Lab he broke up last week was the making for a truly great idea, for humanity. He doesn't know the fates of the people he busts. He doesn't know if they'll go on to be something great or if they'll pass from the world with merely a whimper.

 

He may be 'destroying' that chance each time he extrudes to continue his work in 'campaign city'.

[OddHat]

Re: Cocooning other's Ideas.

 

Two quick ways:

 

1) He gets +X to his power skill rolls, takes extra time and requires an expendible focus: Smart Human Victim. The focus is Expendible because he can't use that victim again, not because the victim is actually harmed. Such harm as there is is only a special effect. This is what I'd go with.

 

2) Drain Target's Int, with recovery moved down the Time Chart to (say) 1 pip per month. Link this to +X to his own skill roll.

 

Long term Transfers or Aid effects open up a can of worms about getting what you paid for, and are unfair to PCs without those options; I'd avoid them.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Cocooning other's Ideas.

 

It's not so much that he 'probes', it's not telepathy. He delves down and finds a pattern randomly, hoists it out of thier mind, and then assimilates it. What the thought is has nothing to really 'do' with what he can create. It's basically the energy of the inspiration, the idea that gives his brain the INT boost it needs. In effect he's creating a sort of mental smart drug from a person's idea, any idea that he happens to snatch up. He gets a sense of what the idea was, but it doesn't stick around, but it's the inspirational energy of the idea that allows his now enhanced intelligence to make intuitive leaps in invention creation.

 

It doesn't matter if it was Tony Stark's idea for a new kind of reactor or a long ago buried idea he had a decent cup of tea. Both ideas create the same kind of 'boost' to him, and Stark loses the idea. He may wonder about it, 'What was I thinking about doing in that next step. Damn I wish I could recall' or he may not even remember it if it was buried somewhere from his past and he'd just mentally filed it away.

 

No need for Psychic Surgery then. A target losing an idea is a potential inconvenience, but would work best as a GM controlled plot hook. I'd call it a -0 Side Effect.

 

It's a rather horrific idea, at least in the character's eyes. Every time he extrudes some 'thought' from someone's head, he wonders if he's robbing the world of some great future work of literature, some amazing film, some great scientific break through. He convinces himself that he's only extruding from crooks and thieves. People on the outskirts of society, unlikely to contribute anything truly great. But it nags at the back of his head, what if the extrude he took from some unconscious look out kid in the Meth-Lab he broke up last week was the making for a truly great idea, for humanity. He doesn't know the fates of the people he busts. He doesn't know if they'll go on to be something great or if they'll pass from the world with merely a whimper.

 

Well, he is sort of a vampire so of course there should be some angst to go along with it