PS-238 Characters

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Let's move on a bit.

 

Should Cecil Holmes be a student at PS238 (the underground portion)?

 

While he is a more or less normal kid, he does have a very unusual ability: he can detect that people have super powers.

 

Of course he is also very observant; he is the only child who can tell Moon Shadow is Tyler.

 

And he has a magic coat and a technological shrink ray gun, and combat experience with both; not to mention extra body parts that only manifest in other dimensions.

 

So should he be enrolled?

 

Revenant seems to think so.

[Tom]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

I'd expect so. He has a meta-ability, and possesses a unique magical item (his coat)...

[Yansuf]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Next one: Herschel Clay (Mantium)

 

He should have Life Support (1 pt) Only needs to sleep 8 hours per week.

His armor should include Life Support for vacuum (at least), since he has used it in space and on the moon.

 

He is also very rich (head of Clay Industries) and should have skills suitable for a CEO. While the "striped down" rules set in PS238 doesn't have several skills that would be included here, he should at least have PS: CEO or equivalent, and several knowledge skills.

[Yansuf]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Whups... so it would be. My mistake.

 

It is.

 

But I have just read issue 38 (I know issue 39 is out, but I missed 38 and just got a copy) and it looks like Tyler may have a superpower after all.

Unfortunately, I cannot think of a good way to make it in hero system.

It has been suggested that the reason nobody can tell that Tyler is Moon Shadow (except for the few adults who know he is apprenticing with Revenant, and Cecil) is that his power is to prevent people from noticing.

How would we model that?

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

It is.

 

But I have just read issue 38 (I know issue 39 is out, but I missed 38 and just got a copy) and it looks like Tyler may have a superpower after all.

Unfortunately, I cannot think of a good way to make it in hero system.

It has been suggested that the reason nobody can tell that Tyler is Moon Shadow (except for the few adults who know he is apprenticing with Revenant, and Cecil) is that his power is to prevent people from noticing.

How would we model that?

 

Cheap way? A form of Images (to not quite look like Tyler when as Moonshadow.) Expensive way? Mental Illusions or Mind Control.

[wcw43921]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

If Deep Cover were part of the game, I would go with that--it has always seemed to me to be the best way to model a character who interacts with others in both his civilian and hero IDs without them suspecting anything--like a certain mild-mannered reporter who's secretly a big-blue man of steel.

 

But Perquisites aren't part of this particular version of HERO--which on the one hand makes sense, as many of the Perquisites available to HERO characters are traditionally adults-only. I suspect if the Revenant were built under Champions rules, he'd have at least 100 points in Perquisites, starting with Money: Filthy Rich (15 pts) multiple Deep Covers with Contacts and Fringe Benefits for each, and lots of Favors, Vehicles and Bases.

 

One Perquisite that could work quite well for Tyler is Reputation. As Moon Shadow the other PS 238 students think he has all these "dark-justice powers" such as dissolving into mist, invading criminal's dreams, and other stuff that I'm afraid I don't remember exactly. The point is that the other kids' superpowered imaginations have run amok and convinced themselves that Moon Shadow is something more than an ordinary grade-school kid with a few nifty gadgets. After all, he has his own airplane--and Calling Cards. We musn't forget the Calling Cards.

 

So Reputation could go a long way in explaining why the other kids don't recognize Tyler as Moon Shadow--except that isn't part of this game.

 

One thing in this game that could work to hide his identity would be the Disguise skill. Buy it up high enough (15 pts gets him a 16- roll) and even his own parents wouldn't recognize him. You could also buy it through the costume (OIF -1/2 brings it down to 10 pts) to reflect that no one recognizes him in it--or you could leave the skill as is, and say that Revenant has been teaching Disguise to Tyler.

 

Hope that helps.

[NestorDRod]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Or simply take it as a given for the genre, in the same way that wearing glasses is a totally successful method of disguising one's identity.

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Or simply take it as a given for the genre' date=' in the same way that wearing glasses is a totally successful method of disguising one's identity. [/quote']

 

I'd call it part of the genre: any attempt, no matter how lame, to conceal your identity works. So no one recognizes Clark Kent, Henry Pym can appear maskless in front of his fan club, and no one connects James Bond with the villian base blowing up behind him.

[wcw43921]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Or simply take it as a given for the genre' date=' in the same way that wearing glasses is a totally successful method of disguising one's identity. [/quote']

 

I'd call it part of the genre: any attempt' date=' no matter how lame, to conceal your identity [b']works[/b]. So no one recognizes Clark Kent, Henry Pym can appear maskless in front of his fan club, and no one connects James Bond with the villian base blowing up behind him.

 

Except that Tyler often questions why no one recognizes him (except for Cecil) when he's in costume. It's that whole "common sense" thing--he figures anyone should be able to see through such an arguably flimsy disguise as a mask that leaves his eyes and lower face open, and he's surprised and flummoxed when people do not, despite The Revenant's (and others) attempts to explain it to him. They usually say things like "People believe what they want to believe." and other such semi-psychological phrases--but no one ever says to him, "Lighten up, kid--it's only a comic book."

 

If you're going to ask that question in the context of the story, you need to answer it in context of the story. And if you ask that question in context of the game--then you need to answer it in the context of the game.

 

Hope that helps.

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Except that Tyler often questions why no one recognizes him (except for Cecil) when he's in costume. It's that whole "common sense" thing--he figures anyone should be able to see through such an arguably flimsy disguise as a mask that leaves his eyes and lower face open, and he's surprised and flummoxed when people do not, despite The Revenant's (and others) attempts to explain it to him. They usually say things like "People believe what they want to believe." and other such semi-psychological phrases--but no one ever says to him, "Lighten up, kid--it's only a comic book."

 

If you're going to ask that question in the context of the story, you need to answer it in context of the story. And if you ask that question in context of the game--then you need to answer it in the context of the game.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Then I'd say that Tyler has something akin to GURPS' "Common Sense" Advantage. (Almost) everyone else in the universe suffers from Genre Blindness, Tyler has "Genre Awareness." Modeling that in HERO is tricky, as it basically means Tyler doesn't accept certain conventions at face value... but it also has little impact on his day-to-day life. In some ways, it's almost a Psychological Complication for him, as it causes him to question things most others don't.

[NestorDRod]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Except that Tyler often questions why no one recognizes him (except for Cecil) when he's in costume. It's that whole "common sense" thing--he figures anyone should be able to see through such an arguably flimsy disguise as a mask that leaves his eyes and lower face open, and he's surprised and flummoxed when people do not, despite The Revenant's (and others) attempts to explain it to him. They usually say things like "People believe what they want to believe." and other such semi-psychological phrases--but no one ever says to him, "Lighten up, kid--it's only a comic book."

 

If you're going to ask that question in the context of the story, you need to answer it in context of the story. And if you ask that question in context of the game--then you need to answer it in the context of the game.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Keep in mind, Williams has Tyler exhibit this skepticism as an in-joke; think Mr. Furious and his theories regarding Captain Amazing in Mystery Men. So I don't think it really needs to be addressed in the context of the game universe.

 

But if you really want to, look at it this way. Tyler's viewpoint stems from the fact that, as a kid, he's unfamiliar with certain cultural aspects that the "grown-ups" take for granted. He certainly doesn't act like he recognizes other masked heroes. It's only when he dons the mask that he's suddenly exposed to this particular idiosyncrasy.

 

Personally, I really don't think it's that big a deal.

[casualplayer]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

If you've ever watched Pop Warner football, you would know how much a uniform and football helmet blur identity. Without referencing numbers on the jerseys, unless there is a clear height discrepancy you can't tell one player from the other. We as readers get the ideal, clear face shot of Moonshadow but most people at PS238 don't.

 

I would actually give Tyler adult-super level SPD, because he gets a lot of camera time and does a lot of stuff. He usually has a held phase. I would say that he is bright and perceptive which means high INT in HERO. He commands his classmates respect in and out of costume so he probably has an exceptional PRE. Physically he's just a fairly active kid undergoing Revenant training. He does have to "Ron Stoppable" his way to victory, being highly effective but often having to look goofy while doing so.

[tarragon]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

If you've ever watched Pop Warner football' date=' you would know how much a uniform and football helmet blur identity. [/quote']

 

Very true. Simpley wearign a helmet that covers hair and ears can make recognizing someone very difficult. I referee roller derby and it took me a couple months before I reliably recognized the girls without their helmets.

[Yansuf]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Very true. Simpley wearign a helmet that covers hair and ears can make recognizing someone very difficult. I referee roller derby and it took me a couple months before I reliably recognized the girls without their helmets.

 

That's when they are in motion, have their back to you, etc.

Did you really have a problem when they were standing stationary next to you, and looking at you?

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

That's when they are in motion, have their back to you, etc.

Did you really have a problem when they were standing stationary next to you, and looking at you?

 

In the SCA, sometimes. Although it helps that everyone has different armor and helmets.

[Tom]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Don't ignore the power of a well-rooted preconception, either. 'Everyone' at PS238 'knows' Tyler doesn't have any powers...

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Don't ignore the power of a well-rooted preconception' date=' either. 'Everyone' at PS238 'knows' Tyler doesn't have any powers...[/quote']

 

Most everyone, at any rate.

[casualplayer]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Don't ignore the power of a well-rooted preconception' date=' either. 'Everyone' at PS238 'knows' Tyler doesn't have any powers...[/quote']

 

Combined with everyone knowing that Moonshadow has powers....

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Combined with everyone knowing that Moonshadow has powers....

 

Right! So that means Tyler *can't* be Captain Amazing, 'cause Captain Amazing *doesn't* wear glasses!

 

Wait, I think I'm getting my SIDs mixed up....

[Yansuf]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

In the SCA' date=' sometimes. Although it helps that everyone has different armor and helmets.[/quote']

 

In the SCA, you often have "closed face" helms.

With open faced helms I never had any problem.

[Susano]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

In the SCA, you often have "closed face" helms.

With open faced helms I never had any problem.

 

We didn't have a lot of closed face helms up in northern Atlantia. But as I said, even if you couldn't see a face, armor styles and heraldry did wonders for picking out who was who.

[tarragon]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Did you really have a problem when they were standing stationary next to you, and looking at you?

 

Yes. Skater helmets disrupt my ability to recognize faces. Others complain about it too, so it's not just me with a broken brain.

 

Moonshadow's helmet would cause me problems in real life.

[Tom]

Re: PS-238 Characters

 

Also, I'll note that while I was in the service, it was pretty much a running joke that the guys couldn't recognize the gals out of uniform and in civilian garb more often than not if they didn't normally associate outside of 'work'. And that isn't even involving masks...