Party design trouble with small group

[JusticeZero]

I'm going to be running the next game. It'll be a teen champions style, low powered supers game. All of the supers in the world will be using the same origin. (Not mutants, but close enough that all the usual X-men type tropes work here)

We're starting as unpowered teens so that we can get a handle on characters before powering them up, then the origin will be in game. Two issues, but the first is more nagging right now..

 

The party is currently:

A fat computer nerd (wants to be a technopath).

A military brat (wants to be a speedster)

A football player with a cooking hobby ("I don't know what powers I want, and it'd be cool to discover them. Surprise me.")

 

Any ideas on what sort of powers might be useful here? I had an idea or two, but then I realized that the group's powers should probably tie together somehow in something vaguely resembling cohesion, for the sake of adventure design.

 

Also, trying to think of a first adventure for them unpowered. I have an idea or two, but they're not very good, if you have ideas toss them out.

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

Well, Football Player usually ends up being Brick. And the party might be needing one, from the looks of things, depending on how combat-heavy you intend to make things.

 

However, that isn't all that surprising. Maybe kinetic energy control? Pyrokinesis? ("Now we're cookin' with FIRE!") An absorption build? Might want to go with something simple with it being first time and all, but you want interesting as well.

 

As for the first adventure, say emergency at school that causes them to manifest powers while trying to escape / survive / help people?

[JusticeZero]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

Not too terribly combat heavy; nothing they can't handle in any case. What sort of things can a technopath and a speedster synergize toward that might give other ideas?

[薔薇語]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

Well, if you want a unified origin for the group, maybe the Speedster could somehow have super-charged (literally) body mechanics such that his reaction times are as fast as lightning and he can draw upon an immense amount of internal energy to move himself quite quickly. The Techopath is actually just able to see and manipulate the electrical fields of other things - namely electronics. Both could comes from the same origin. The Foodball player could possibly be the "absorption and projection" aspect of the three. Just need a suitablely Comic-booky origin to tie the three together.

 

Thus:

The Technopath can manipulate exterior electric fields

The Speedster has and manipulates his internal energies to hyper-accelerate his body.

The EP that almost resembles Zues in ability.

 

La Rose.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

cooking hobby + football = captain america type (more than straight brick)

 

One aspect of cooking is putting the right ingredients together in the right amounts at the right time. This has a certain synergy with being a football quarterback as well.

Give the guy an across the board stat increase (like Cap') and some Overall Levels and combat analysis skills (like the kid on 'No Ordinary Family') plus some combat leadership/enhancement abilities (ex: Overall Levels UBO). If you have the points, you could even give him an 'instant' martial arts knowledge.

 

If the player still wants a 'surprise' ability, you could bank a few points + later XP and give him some 'super-deduction' abilities like Precognition, Danger Sense, etc...

 

For the 1st adventure he should have 1 or 2 CSL's with a tackle (grab), plowthrough (movethrough) & dodge.

[dmjalund]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

or you could make the footballer someone who can absorb the properties of substances he touch - allowing him to be a brick, but also allows him to experiment with his powers

[csyphrett]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

if the football guy doesn't care about what powers he gets, you can give him different powers to fit whatever problem comes up.

 

if the first adventure is getting powers, you can play out an explosion at the wherever they get their powers and how do they stop it.

CES

[assault]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

The football player probably should be able to fill the brick role, even if he isn't a true brick.

 

The technopath might be able to cover it to some extend too, or may be more of a blaster, but it doesn't hurt to have two characters that can fill the role.

 

Basically, brick, blaster, fast guy is a good, well balanced set.

 

You don't really need a mentalist - they tend to complicate scenarios by allowing the players too much information. Besides, it makes NPCs mentalists scarier...

[JusticeZero]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

Yeah.. Technopath is already getting on my nerves. He worries that he won't have a combat role (Well, why make a support character and lament your role?? Isn't that like announcing at the outset 'I'm gonna be a brick!', building a brick, then whining about how much you hate melee?) No idea how exactly he would turn into a tank or blaster offhand with what isn't available? If you have any ideas (and he does not have any GADGETEER skills, at least not YET..) toss them at me. If I can get him going on something that would give him a combat role, I can swing the other way.

regarding unified themes, it's pretty much an X-men style unified origin world, so no luck there.

 

Ideas for powers i've had so far:

END vampire

Telekinetic via heat conversion (TK, weaker on cold objects, side effect: makes target cold, not on living targets... main problem being we're in alaska! it's winter!)

Portal user

Mirror image user (makes illusions of self, with some tactile component - like a duplicator, but the dupes are TK backed Images)

Still trying to think of ideas..

[csyphrett]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

What is the special effect of the technopath? Most gadgeteers can turn things into Iron Man level powers.

CES

[Cygnia]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

If technopath wants to be more "useful" in combat and keeps complaining, mutate him into Turbo Teen.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

I have a technopath NPC (Artificer, more a cyberkinetic) in my game, and he has the ability to "summon" makeshift robots to do battle for him (creating them on the fly out of nearby materials). Your techno-PC could summon a handful (say, 4) of fairly low-powered 'bots that run interference for him but won't stand up long in combat. That keeps him from being too powerful, but still have a fair hand in combat. I'd make 'em non-AIs with low INT and a small number of programs, so he has to direct their actions.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

As to the football player, I second dmjalund's idea of absorbing properties of substances he touches. That way, he could be a brick or a (liquids) energy projector. It could be either as a VPP or a Multiform. As his powers progress, he could gain the ability to actually modify the properties of outside objects (sculpting metal like clay, mending injuries, etc.).

 

If you want to stick with just one area of expertise, he could just have earthen powers. Turn hard as stone or into sand, cause minor tremors, open pits, cause dirt eruptions (Entangles), etc. That way, he covers some brick stuff but also has some ranged utility.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

As to a first adventure, if the whole thing involves them without powers, I'd make it a mystery to be solved. For instance, a theft of funds being raised for a big school trip, and a friend of the three of them is a suspect, so they have to band together to prove his/her innocence. Or someone hacks the school computer and messes with grades and other info (makes the football player and military brat and others look like they're flunking and then frames the computer nerd for it), with a common thread allowing the characters to figure out who is responsible and why.

 

If you've ever seen the show Veronica Mars, there are numerous episodes that could be mined for ideas, all without requiring use of characters' powers.

[assault]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids and your dog!

[Matt the Bruins]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

There you go! Give the football player a multiform so he can shapeshift into a huge Great Dane! Minor brick abilities plus Enhanced Senses, faster Running, and Leaping!

[Alverant]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

I don't know much about football, but if the player threw passes I could see him as a energy projector. Or if he was defensive player give him force fields and barriers. I'm trying to give alternatives to the stereotype brick.

 

For a unified theme, they could be telekinetics. The technopath manipulates the physical parts of a computer, the speedster moves himself, and the football players moves larger things (good if he throws passes during the game).

[JusticeZero]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

The technopath describes himself as basically more like a telePATH that can hack computers and electronics with his mind.. indicated that he couldn't animate them, just make phones ring, make ATM's talk to people, stuff like that.

Absolutely no need for a unified theme, in fact, it would make no sense for them to have one since they are not family or anything like that.

[Pizza Man]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

Make the technopath a flying energy projector with a gimmick, he talks to computers. Fine. run with it.

Football player, brick. Running and supper leap.

Speedster is a speedster. Just like the others said, a blaster, a brick and a speedster.

 

The openness of the Football player sounds fun. Play with a few brick ideas. Maybe stretching arms, and rubbery body.

A high rec for that one. If he goes down, he gets right back up. You could even make him a variant brick doing no range energy damage too.

[st barbara]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

I don't know much about football, but if the player threw passes I could see him as a energy projector. Or if he was defensive player give him force fields and barriers. I'm trying to give alternatives to the stereotype brick.

 

For a unified theme, they could be telekinetics. The technopath manipulates the physical parts of a computer, the speedster moves himself, and the football players moves larger things (good if he throws passes during the game).

 

How about the idea of a "tactile telekinetic" ? He doesn't hit things any harder than a person of his size and weight should, but he can lift and throw great weights around with ease.

[assault]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

There's nothing wrong with the technopath not having any combat oriented powers. It just means that he has to be able to make up for it with skills.

 

Like Air Wave, for example.

 

Of course, since you then have both a martial artist and a speedster in the group, a brick of some description would be especially useful.

[csyphrett]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

In my opinion, the technopath needs some means of offense unless he plans to make things like cars into offensive weapons.

 

i doubt an atm spitting money is going to do much in a battle

 

CES

[薔薇語]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

In my opinion, the technopath needs some means of offense unless he plans to make things like cars into offensive weapons.

 

i doubt an atm spitting money is going to do much in a battle

 

CES

 

I don't know. That could count as a Mind-Control or Flash, IMO. : )

 

La Rose.

[assault]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

To repeat myself, martial arts can substitute for the lack of offensive powers.

 

A character who can override security systems, hack computers, security cameras and so on is potentially very useful. Possibly even too useful, in some scenarios. Being able to fight supplements that nicely.

 

Of course, there was a "technopath" in Sky High whose power was constructing complex devices. Such a character could be easily be a brick, a blaster, a drainer, or all of the above.

 

PS: and a martial artist doesn't have to be a super ninja, either. Red-blooded fisticuffs has a long track record, and is justifiable for any character with enough physical ability to be a superhero. Except, of course, for brain in a jar type characters like Professor X.

[csyphrett]

Re: Party design trouble with small group

 

To repeat myself, martial arts can substitute for the lack of offensive powers.

 

A character who can override security systems, hack computers, security cameras and so on is potentially very useful. Possibly even too useful, in some scenarios. Being able to fight supplements that nicely.

 

Of course, there was a "technopath" in Sky High whose power was constructing complex devices. Such a character could be easily be a brick, a blaster, a drainer, or all of the above.

 

PS: and a martial artist doesn't have to be a super ninja, either. Red-blooded fisticuffs has a long track record, and is justifiable for any character with enough physical ability to be a superhero. Except, of course, for brain in a jar type characters like Professor X.

 

the description is a fat nerd. that doesn't lend itself to karate classes. either the power should change, or the description/starting point/base assumption of the character in my opinion.

 

it sounds like the player wants someone like oracle or wade from kim possible so he can sit back at homebase and let the other players carry the game while he isn't physcially involved.

CES