Somebody Else's Problem

[Marcus Impudite]

Your character is shown a surveillance tape from a local convenience store. The tape shows a fellow wearing camo cargo pants, sneakers, and a black T-shirt that reads SOMBODY ELSE'S PROBLEM in big red letters, walking into the store. He immediately starts stuffing candy bars, packs of gum, a couple of packets of honey-roasted cashews, and the latest issue of Buxom Babes magazine into his pockets. After grabbing a couple of cases of beer from the cooler, he then walks out of the store as casually as he walked in. Strangely, nobody in the store at the time, not even the store clerk, seemed to take notice of him, let alone try to stop him...even though he was in plain view of them all the whole time.

 

WWYCD?

[Clonus]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Nothing. My characters are too busy to waste time chasing after a nonviolent petty criminal they won't even be able to see.

[wick]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Check with contacts at the Police department, perhaps he had a Rap sheet before he developed his invisibility or mind control trick. Once I get a name and/or address you can investigate the area incognito and see if anthing strange has been happening in the area. Maybe do a little research, social workers, teachers, or even other street kids may be able to give you a little more insight.

 

The perp should be confronted only after determing if you can handle him. Is he violent, will he run. What is the nature of his powers. You may approach him openly if you think there is a chance to reason with him. Otherwise you can set a trap to capture him, based on his power and yours.

 

No need to go all out on this guy yet and take him down but he probably needs to be put in check before he starts to use his power for more nefarious deeds than shoplifting. Maybe he can be enlightened or maybe he needs to be locked away; depends on his tendencies and his motives.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Vigilance would flag it for further investigation, and if there were evidence of a mental power at work, he'd try to track the guy's pattern and movements, then rig a trap to catch the guy and render him unconscious. The danger of ignoring him is that he could decide to engage in bigger, badder capers, including violence against others.

[Escafarc]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

I say we take off and nuke him from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Oh wait wrong game.

[Cygnia]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Check with contacts at the Police department, perhaps he had a Rap sheet before he developed his invisibility or mind control trick. Once I get a name and/or address you can investigate the area incognito and see if anthing strange has been happening in the area. Maybe do a little research, social workers, teachers, or even other street kids may be able to give you a little more insight.

 

The perp should be confronted only after determing if you can handle him. Is he violent, will he run. What is the nature of his powers. You may approach him openly if you think there is a chance to reason with him. Otherwise you can set a trap to capture him, based on his power and yours.

 

No need to go all out on this guy yet and take him down but he probably needs to be put in check before he starts to use his power for more nefarious deeds than shoplifting. Maybe he can be enlightened or maybe he needs to be locked away; depends on his tendencies and his motives.

 

Likewise, if/when he's brought in, determine if he's the one possessing the ignoring power -- or it's the T-shirt itself producing the field.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

As others have pointed out, it depends on the scale of the game.

 

I have created a character as a DNPC that could BE this character power-wise:

 

I-Mind

 

18 Psionic Powers: Elemental Control, 44-point powers, (22 Active Points); all slots Requires A Skill Roll (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4)

 

23 3) Mental Invisibility: Invisibility to Sight, Hearing, Smell/Taste, Radio, Touch and Mystic Groups and Spatial Awareness , No Fringe, Costs END Only To Activate (+1/4) (75 Active Points); Limited Power Only vs. Sentient Targets That Character Is Aware Of (Not vs. Targets with EGO + Mental Defense Greater than 35; -1)

[hfergus]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Volt - Unless Volt had a lot of time to pursue this, given the nature of the crime, he'd put it way down on his list. If he had the time, he'd see if the police had info on him and give him a talking to if Volt found him. Would bring backup just in case.

 

Olorin - Unless he was very busy this would intrigue him. He'd check with the police, then use magic to trace the guy. Then show up in the guys home with the same copy of Buxom Babes saying "Hey, how do you like the babe on page....?" Then he'd get serious. Somewhat. "Naughty naughty. Ok, you know I cant' allow this. Stop it now and I do nothing. Continue and I deal with it." Pause "You do know I come from a world where stuff like this results in hand amputations sometimes? Just a thought. By the way, ever think of being a hero? I can arrange for pay and a subscription to the mag." Will have backup nearby.

 

Black Tiger. Ignore it unless it gets bigger.

 

Leadman. Use police contacts to find out what he can and use his detective skills to find him then act like Volt. That is, if he has the time.

 

Futurian "Umm.... Ok. What do you want me to do about this? Seems a bit penny ante. Did I say that right? If he gets violent or big time, come see me." Then he'd promptly forget about it until reminded.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

tuff-man say that he saw thw shoplifter andhold him undercitizens arrest for the cops

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Who shows you the tape? That could make a difference.

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

The S.E.P. field prevents cameras from capturing the fielded person or object as well, IIRC

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

The S.E.P. field prevents cameras from capturing the fielded person or object as well' date=' IIRC [/quote']

 

That's not true according to the original post.

[assault]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Captain Justice would try to rig up a camera gadget to allow him to "see" the perp. Fortunately, CJ's gas gun doesn't require accurate targetting...

 

Captain Wonder would probably need to ask for help from somebody else.

 

Nastyman wouldn't care.

 

(Captain Justice is a Sandman ripoff. Captain Wonder is a Captain Marvel ripoff. Nastyman is Captain Wonder with a Sid Vicious attitude.)

[megaplayboy]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

The variation on this is a guy walking in wearing a shirt saying "whatever I want", simply gets in line to buy his items, cashier charges him nothing while handing him all the money in the register, other people in line hand money to him instead of the cashier, and cute girl in line with boyfriend leaves boyfriend's side to start making out with t-shirt guy as they leave the convenience store together. The next day, everybody has fuzzy memories of what happened, conveniently forgetting what they did with their money or the money in the till.

[Drhoz]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Vitus would shrug it off as a minor variant on a standard invisibility spell, although the fact he shows up on these bizarre mechanical scrying devices you people use is strange. As to the actual thievery, clearly the Goddess of Thieves favours him. Should Vitus ever suspect the individual is in the same room, however, it is fortunate for him that most of Vitus's area-effect spells are non-lethal.

 

Zero would suspect mentalism - as such, they might be detectable, even if only as a suspicious black spot on the mental landscape of Edge City

[Matt Holck]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Void would be interested in how the man did it

 

Troy would recruit that man onto his team.

[SatinKitty]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

OddHat created a character like this once. He used him to infiltrate an enemy base where there were many people. Worked well.

[Certified]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Apollyon: Laugh, drink, go back to work... stop mid research as he realizes this cat may be better off as an ally than an amusement. Finding him may be a problem though.

[McCoy]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

Most of my characters are not going to pursue this until/unless he escalates.

 

But have a brand new character who is a cop.

 

Sgt. Brian Matthews: Use some facial recognition software vs mug snots and motor vehicle records to see if we can get an ID. "If he believes he can't be seen and can't be caught, he might be lazy and sloppy. Find the closest convenience store to that one, pull the video for the last month, see if he's been there. Then the next closest one. And so forth. If he shows up at more than one store this will establish his comfort zone." Standard police work.

 

If he gets an ID will call on him, gets a frequent location will stake-out. Either way will investigate if the perp's power extends to Kato, his K-9 partner.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Somebody Else's Problem

 

That's not true according to the original post.

He was probably refering to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's S.E.P. field device, which this is very loosely based on.