Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

[RavenX99]

Okay this one is a little odd. I was a HERO Guru back with 4th edition... I've grown a little rusty, having skipped over 5th edition. So I've been getting back into it with 6th edition, and teaching my 10-year-old son to build characters. So, of course, he throws me a curve-ball and I'm trying to decide how to best handle it, to distill it down to the essentials.

 

My son's character is a magical blacksmith/armorer, and one of the abilities he wants is to craft "metal plants"... marginally self-aware, capable of growing (by absorbing metals) to form bridges, ladders, barriers, etc. But not at combat speed... something like six to twelve hours to grow a bridge across a 15' chasm. Independent... he can plant one and walk away and it will follow its last instructions. Once the bridge (or whatever) has served its purpose, the "core" of the plant can shed the excess growth and return to its portable form.

 

At one level, I'm inclined to call it something like a 5-point Perk and hand-wave the actual mechanics since it's all out-of-combat effects and of marginal utility in a superhero game. On another level, I'm drawn to find an elegant way to stat this out. (It could be a lot more useful in a heroic level fantasy game.)

 

My first inclination is an automaton with Growth and appropriate advantages/limitations to make it take a long time, require a source of metal, etc.

 

I thought about abstracting it... a ladder or bridge is a very limited Flight, Usable By Others, or Barrier, etc; takes 6 hours to activate, etc. But it's not terribly independent of the character. I suppose I could build an automaton with those powers.

 

How would I approach this if it was combat speed? Throw down a "plant" and bam, Barrier in a few segments. Or a bridge to allow the normals to escape. Would combat speed fundamentally change how it gets built?

 

Thoughts?

[ned-kogar]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

Well, some interesting things have happened to Force Wall since 4th Edition - Barrier, by default, is now one way of making structures that can support weight - if it has PD - and are also, by default, rooted to the ground and permanent until destroyed. They can be bought as opaque, too. A good starting point, I'd say.

 

'Following its last instructions' doesn't really need intelligence in this case - it's just carrying out the intent of the character when the power was activated... unless the plants adapt to circumstance.

 

Personally, I think buying them as Charges would be the equivalent of independence, due to the permanent nature of Barrier constructs.

 

It would be nice if eg. a plant growing into a huge protective awning (in preparation for a storm) still offered some protection before it was fully grown - not sure how to do that... perhaps halve the Extra Time Limitation?

 

Ooh, and there's the 'Dismissable' adder in the APG, too.

 

And it's great that your son's making characters!

 

Ned

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

A non-combat reusable version might be done with a Summon vehicle/base (just use the size & def features of those constructs) with some sort of delayed effect/extra time and reusable charges Limitations to the Summon.

But a combat version is probably best done with some type of barrier.

[ShadowEater]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

I agree that Barrier is a good fit but... lets try this. Transform can turn air into stuff, so why not metal into stuff?

 

Bio-Organic Plants, Major Transform (2d6) Metal into Simple Metal Structures

Healed By Rust

Constant, Uncontrolled, Partial Transformation, Costs Endurance Only to Activate, Improved Results Group

Obvious Accessible Focus (requires Arrangement), No Range, Limited Target, Extra Time (5 minutes)

 

That would transform 2d6 body worth of metal into whatever every 5 minutes until the process was done... at about 14 real points

 

Or, a similar construct, drop the Constant, Uncontrolled, and Costs Endurance only to activate... and add however much Damage Over Time you feel appropriate. 32 times at 5 minutes a 2d6 body growth spurts ends up with 22 real points.

 

OR... one could summon a 'plant core' that can make barriers... a 'Slavishly Loyal' 100 point plant, again with an OAF that requires 'arrangement' clocks in at about 18 points and could theoretically grow any amount of metal barrier... just limit the plant's barrier power with appropriate 'extra time' limitations.

[Fearghus]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

Transform was going to be my suggestion. You'd probably have to ad an advantage to transform air or plants into specific different metal shapes, but it might be a good place to start. Then obviously extra time and a focus. I think ShadowEater's build is a good starting point.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

The issue with using Transform is about what you are trying to accomplish with the build.

The cost structure of Transform is centered about who or what can BE transformed far more than what they are transformed INTO.

Since it appears that you are more concerned with the INTO portion it is far better (in HERO at least) to actually use the mechanics that let you stat out what the INTO does (like Barrier or the summon of a vehicle or base).

[Susano]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

If you really want to have fun, the character Summons "plants" (defined as crafting them), and them the Summoned plants have the ability to grow into whatever is needed (since they can then shrink back down to portable form.) If this was a spell, I'd probably go that route. And if he has a lot of them and uses them all of the time, make them Followers.

[RavenX99]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

This is good... I hadn't considered Barrier. (Barrier's new to me... I just knew that it more or less replaced Force Wall, but haven't looked at it yet. I didn't realize it was a lot more than Force Wall with a new name.)

 

The interesting part is that with the removal of a minor restriction (it moves very slowly), this becomes a very different creature... even with that restriction, if you dropped it on the bed of a sleeping person, it could entangle them before they wake up. Remove the restriction and it could strike and grab with vine-like limbs. And it's very likely that my son might decide to go that route... one side of me feels like the solution should be capable of scaling that direction.

 

Transform is an approach I hadn't considered, but it doesn't look like a bad solution, if the GM doesn't mind coming up with game stats for freeform metal structures. One thing I like about the Transform option is it makes the power clearly dependent on the source material... if there is no metal left to Transform, then it stops growing. That has a bit of elegance to it that the "only with a source of metal" limitation doesn't.

 

The thing does need a bit of intelligence, because it's supposed to be able to react to new situations and solve problems on its own... my son is very insistent that his creations are alive and free-thinking, even if they do think slowly. (I like the story potential of created "slave" beings that evolve into independent thinking, with the ability to refuse their "master's" orders. I could create a whole sub-plot around that at some point.) That "intelligence" could be hand-waved, but I'm thinking that an Automaton with Transform (and maybe a couple supplementary abilities, like Stretching, Entangle, etc) might be a "clean" way to do it.

 

I'll need to do a little building to explore some of these options. (It's also worth noting, the solution should make sense to a bright ten-year-old. Could be a good rule of thumb for HERO in general.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

I am unfamiliar with the new rules as yet (indeed am far more at home with 4th edition - the last time I really played enough to know the rules without looking at the books). However, is gradual effect still in there?

 

It would seem to fit the slow progression of a power (and I would like to weigh in with Barrier). If you begin the power Barrier with gradual effect then after a set amount of time you should see the barrier beginning to grow and to progress over time.

 

Doc

[Susano]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

No, Gradual Effect has been removed.

[Talon]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

If they are really intelligent and independent, then Summon seems like the way to go. A creature with defenses, Growth, and STR to provide the necessary size and support, plus Shape Shift with a lot of Extra Time, would probably do the trick.

 

If there are a set number of existing ones, then Automatons would be just as good...

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

No' date=' Gradual Effect has been removed.[/quote']

 

That's a shame. Is there anything there to replace it or simply added time with GM handwavium to indicate how much its there before the time is up??

 

Doc

[ShadowEater]

Re: Nanotech / magical self-growing structure

 

Gradual Effect has been rolled into Damage Over Time... can be an Advantage or Limitation depending on the variables involved. Basically, instead of 5d6 over 5 rounds, it is 1d6 per round over 5 rounds now.

 

Summon is a good bet, although I think an Uncontrolled effect can pull off plant-levels of intelligence given the right SFX.