Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

[Pizza Man]

A few days ago something strange happened. A silvery dust fell all over the earth. It evaporated before anyone could get a sample. It fell seemingly from space and was luminous in the night side of the world. The fall lasted for just a minute or so, but it fell everywhere.

 

TV's talking heads are still going on about it. Every nut case and screwball is getting his time on TV. Weird stories are coming out (Bizarre crimes, people flying), none of them substantiated.

 

Yet, YOU feel different. You feel healthier. No mater how old, out of shape, or diseased you are...you feel better than you have in years.

 

and you feel something else...power. You've played Hero Games, you recognize whats going on. You are sure you have super powers, and you have a good idea what they are too. You need to try these powers out..somewhere.

 

You are right where you are in life. Married or not. employed or not.

This is not the world of comics. There is no telling how the govt will react. You know no one else with these same feelings you have.

 

What do you do?

Will you wear a mask and gloves?

Volunteer for the military? The CIA?

 

I am NOT asking what powers you will have. I'm asking what you will do, once you realize/suspect you have them. (the opening paragraph is just an excuse to hurry the story along).

 

to answer questions, you will end up with perfect health, and looking young, this will translate to 1 point of longevity on Champions rules. You will end up with a standard super heroic body and will never have to exercise to maintain your shape.

 

I don't want to influence people so i will answer later.

 

Edit to add

Addendum: Since flaws have already been poked in my thesis, let me clarify.

Powers; You feel that you can fly. How you are not sure.

also you can make sparks play about your fingers. You feel like you can build up energy in your arm and shoot it out.

Everyone gets something random...but this is what YOU get.

[Lucius]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I am NOT asking what powers you will have. I'm asking what you will do, once you realize/suspect you have them. (the opening paragraph is just an excuse to hurry the story along).

 

There is no conceivable way to answer the question without taking into account the specific new abilities acquired. The question "what will you do?" is absolutely contingent on the question "what CAN you do?"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Do I get a palindromedary?

[Outsider]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

There is no conceivable way to answer the question without taking into account the specific new abilities acquired. The question "what will you do?" is absolutely contingent on the question "what CAN you do?"

 

+1

 

Also, the set up pretty much precludes me from the decision "keep it secret". It would be quite noticable if I suddenly looked 20 years younger and totally buff.

[Pizza Man]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

There is no conceivable way to answer the question without taking into account the specific new abilities acquired. The question "what will you do?" is absolutely contingent on the question "what CAN you do?"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Do I get a palindromedary?

Shoot. That pokes a great big hole in my thread.

OK, since I'm want this to be somewhat random, and not what the players pick for themselves I will give a few clues.

let me add a bit to the OP.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

If I end up in perfect health, I definitely can't hide it because the first trip to the dialysis clinic will shoot it out of the water. "Well, you've finally lost enough weight to qualify for a kidney transplant ... but now you don't need one, because your blood doesn't need cleaning." I'd probably just ... go look for a job, since I'd definitely be off disability, probably use the powers for simple, mundane utility (flying to work, using low-yield energy blasts to mow the lawn).

[Outsider]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I suppose I would nervously wait to see if the society was going to have a witch hunt & pogrom against against the changed. In the mean time, I suppose I would just go on with my life and maybe try to make some money (entirely legally) on the side, so if/when I do either get rounded up by the authorities, or have to 'go underground', my partner doesn't lose the house. I wouldn't quit my reagular job theough, because, there's no telling if the changes are going to be permamnent, or disappear as fast as they appeared. Also, flight, energy bolts, and fitness don't exactly make me bulletproof, and I havent' any great skill or powers that let me find bad guys, so any 'superheroing' would be limited to search and resucue mainly.

[McCoy]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Training. See what I could do, how fast / far I could run. How much I could lift. Maybe run a marathon. If the one-two-three-jump doesn't get me airborn, maybe go skdiving again. Find out what I can do.

[BlackJackRackha]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Ever see the movie Unbreakable? Start by figuring out what I can do, go to great lengths to ensure that my family is safe from the repercussions of my actions, then start righting the wrongs I see everyday. Not really interested in the problems of the world, and in truth they can't be solved by some ham-handed superhero beating up the "bad guy" (and in truth, good/bad is a matter of perspective, take out the Kim Jong Il's of the world and two more idiots will show up immediately to take his place). But I could take care of my neighbors, my community, those in my world. Once that's under control, maybe move out to more communities, it'd depend on how many others have the same idea.

 

Mark

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

This is the up-side to living in the middle of nowhere: I could experiment with my new abilities (whatever they might be) without drawing any undue attention. Beyond that, I'd probably keep quiet, and wait to see how the "outside world" reacted to the situation. Quietly make inquiries to find out if certain people had also been changed. If yes, expose them. If not, go and pay them a long-overdue visit.

 

Either that or shave off my oh-so-evil goatee and swear to use my powers only for good....

[dmjalund]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Maybe I'll see if i could stat myself up using the HERO system

[Lucius]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Job one is learning the extent of my abilities.

 

Taking every precaution possible against discovery, I would try to figure that out.

 

Can I fly? How? For how long before tiring? But I would put off finding speed and altitude limits due to how hard it would be to test those unobserved.

 

If I finally manifest the power I intuit within myself, how do I do so? Can I manifest it reliably? If it's a beam of some kind, how well can I aim it? What effect does it have on metal, stone, wood, a sausage, and other objects I can try it on? Can I find ways to create more than one effect? How well can I control the "intensity?" Can I manifest it as a field rather than a beam? A force field would be nice.

 

Do I seem stronger as well as healthier?

 

I would probably inflict several types of minor injuries on myself in the process of finding out that I'm not any tougher or more resistant to pain or injury (or maybe finding out that I AM) and learning how well and how quickly I heal.

 

Have my mental abilities changed? Can I remember better, how well do I score on IQ tests now?

 

I'd be following the news assiduously. If it happened to me, it's almost certainly happened to others.

Two questions would be uppermost in my mind – how is the public and the media responding, and how is the government responding?

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And what does the palindromedary think?

[Clonus]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I'd go to a gym and determine whether I have just generic heroic build strength or am actually a flying brick. I'll poke myself with needles to see if my skin has gotten any harder and try to imagine myself surrounded by a forcefield. If I'm a glass cannon, that really restricts the kind of thing I'd dare to do. Practice marksmanship out in the forest. I live in a small town area, and it doesn't look like my power suite includes any actual trouble-finding abilities. Realistically, such a radical change in my appearance WILL be noticed. Secret identities are beside the point. Such a radical change in my physical appearance will be no less notable than my newfound ability to tase people. I'll be only leaving my house at night until I decide what actual applications my powers might have. I'll be seriously considering relocation to a bigger city. And I'll wait on just how the government is responding to the situation before I fully unveil. And I will be ordering a bodysurfing outfit and a pair of goggles delivered to me.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I have motorcycle helmets and warm clothing. First thing I wanna do is find some place to fly and then fly! Since I live near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, it would be easy for me to drive to a secluded spot, suit up, and start exploring my abilities. Fortunately I already possess a rudimentary form of "bump of direction" so that would help with navigation.

 

 

...What effect does it have on metal' date=' stone, wood, a sausage, and other objects I can try it on?[/quote']

 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Sausage!

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Training. See what I could do' date=' how fast / far I could run. How much I could lift. Maybe run a marathon. If the one-two-three-jump doesn't get me airborn, maybe go skdiving again. Find out what I can do.[/quote']

sounds senseible

[Gnaskar]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Step One: Wait a week. Both because I want to see how the world reacts to the appearance of superhumans (A global phenomenon, and I'm the only one who gets powers? I'm not that naive) and because easter week means moving from one of Norway's biggest cities (population almost 200 000; we're a tiny country) to a secluded mountain cabin.

 

Step Two: Explain away my sudden fitness with "I've been working out". My family haven't seen me for months, and my regular gang of friends haven't seen me for two weeks due to project work. I may need to get a small pillow to hide the sudden weight-loss from the local role playing community (which I interact with on a daily basis).

 

Step Three: Tell my family I'm going for a walk. I often do, and am generally gone for several hours, so that's okay. Bring ski-mask. It's Norway, and I am/was allergic to cold. No one would look twice.

 

Step Four: Experiment with jogging, running etc, to see how much my constitution has improved. Stick mostly to valleys rather than the exposed mountain tops.

 

Step Five: Eventually I’ll reach a secluded spot where I can start practicing the beam thing. I’d work on control first, learning how to aim it (if I can), seeing how noisy/flashy it is, observing any correlation between effort and effect. Once I have some idea of the basic power level, spread, and noise of the power, consider trying it at full power against a rock to see my actual power level.

 

Step Six: Scientific testing of the power. If I can fire a continuous beam, see how long it takes me to boil a liter (or metric ton, if a liter is near instant) of water. Compare energy output with food intake (I assume output will be higher).

 

Step Seven: Now that flight thing. Even more so than the EB, I want to be careful with this one. Find a really secluded valley, fly only at night. Sneaking out of the house could be problematic, but again, I can call it a walk, and get a free pass from whoever is still awake. Start with powered jumps, move on to low altitude hovering (or low velocity flight if I can’t hover), test and practice breaking before finding out how fast I can go. Test high velocity flight only over lake coasts.

 

Step Eight: By now it should be pretty clear what’s going on to the rest of the world. Some idiot has put on a cape and started fighting crime. And a dozen others have started amateur crime sprees and gotten caught, because, you know, they’re amateurs. Hope for a positive public view on super overall, but I am pessimistic.

 

Step Nine: I suspect the army will begin conscripting supers as soon as they can. I am eligible for conscription (I could be called in as soon as this summer, if they decide to refuse my application for delay due to ongoing education). They’d probably want to at least test all candidates, so I’ll get called in for that if nothing else. I’d probably end up joining the army (unlike in the US, the army can’t actually force me to Iraq/Afghanistan, so the worst I’ll be forced to do is fight local super crime). Norway’s the kind of country that could set up a quasi-military national super-team, give it insane amounts of founding, and not think twice about the implications.

 

Step Ten: Assuming I’m correct about being called in to a new army branch, and supers being barely tolerated by society, I’d try to focus my training on damage control, and friend/foe identification. I’d ask the army/conscripted super genius for some sort of protective suit, and, if regulations allow it, have it painted in a simple color scheme that complements my energy blast. I’d follow orders and try to impress upon my fellow conscripts that we’re going to need the public to trust us in the long run, so please don’t be d**ks. Also, I’d work towards getting some kind of commanding rank.

 

Step Eleven: Profit. Seriously, the army is one of the best paying gigs for a young Norwegian, especially as they get virtually all expenses covered. The dream is to be posted as team leader for a Trondheim or Oslo Super Team; somewhere with low enough crime rates that I can do some studying on the side.

 

Step Twelve: Depending on how the world evolves from this, and my comparative power level, I’d consider joining a UNITY type organization.

[Orion]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

First rule of business is to keep my mouth shut and head down. I do not want to get mixed up with all the religious crazies proclaiming the end of the world, nor do I want to get conscripted by some government group. I live on a farm in the countryside, so testing wouldn't be a problem. Tell the wife and hope she has them too - that perfect health thing is going to be great, but if we don't both have it, life will start sucking fast. I can't see me ever being a superhero (loose cannon, dark avenger, and deadly vigilante are all possible though), so I would never put on a costume. Given the powers stated, I'd probably not ever do much with them - they just aren't useful. Change the powers I'd get, and my answer could change quite a bit.

 

Fast forward a bit. Depending on the flight ability and power blast generation special effect, I might try to find a job utilizing those powers, but I just can't see our world letting people with powers just walk around unless >10% of the population are affected. If all is going well in the world, I might be willing to let scientists I'd trust test me as part of studies, but I'd never register with the government. I'd trust them with the issue of powers even less than I trust them with the issue of gun ownership.

[McCoy]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Step Two: Explain away my sudden fitness with "I've been working out".

 

 

Step Three: Tell my family I'm going for a walk. I often do, and am generally gone for several hours, so that's okay.

I've been working out, two and a quarter years now. My routein is to go for a walk, every morning at 3:00. So getting out of the house for unobserved workout time is easy.

 

Second thoughts from yesterday, once I determine if strenght, speed and stamina are human optimum or superhuman, time for martial arts training. Resume Tai Kwan Do, add Aikido. Does anone actually teach Parkour or do you just have to find someone doing it and play follow the leader?

 

Not yet considering crime fighting as a carreer. The powers that would enable me to make the biggest difference in my world would be mentalist powers. First sign of developing mind control, move to Washington and register as a lobbyest. Wouldn't mind control any of the politicians, only fellow lobbyest, one command, "Tell the truth!"

 

Until I develop mind control, train as a martial artist, train with the flight and EB, but if anything goes down try to keep the flight and EB as holdouts, last resorts.

[The Weapon]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

There is no conceivable way to answer the question without taking into account the specific new abilities acquired. The question "what will you do?" is absolutely contingent on the question "what CAN you do?"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Do I get a palindromedary?

 

So the obvious answer is "Find out what you can do.". Preferably in secret so they don't drag you away to the labs in Area 51. Possibly you talk to people you trust about whether they have had similar effects. If possible get independent verification of the effects on you, since the effect could be pyschological.

[sinanju]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I look twenty years younger, buff and muscular? I confess all to my wife. I avoid my gaming group for the next month, then explain my improved appearance by telling them I spent my tax refund on a personal trainer for the last month. Other than my wife and my gaming group, I don't really see anyone I know well regularly (un/self-employment, you know).

 

I can fly? Woohoo! A lifelong dream come true. I put together my flying outfit (black sneakers, black jeans, black t-shirt and leather jacket, black gloves, and buy or make a black balaclava-style mask to conceal my face). Then I go out flying at night. Not very high at first, not very far. I also find a local store and buy a wrist-mounted GPS unit with altitude readout (i've reserached them, they're not that expensive) and buy it for cash. I use it to navigate at night as I continue exploring my ability to fly. I will also set "waypoints" for places I want to be able to find again while flying in the dark.

 

I try lifting things to see if I'm superstrong. I try poking my fingertip with a knife to see if I'm invulnerable (or heal amazingly fast). If that works, I try bigger, sharper, harder. I try progressively hotter things. I try falling from progressively higher altitudes to determine how far I can fall before I say "Ow"--and don't try anything higher.

 

I do not go out patrolling for bad guys. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've been present when any sort of crime occurred (minor drunk hit-n-run, sound of shots fired a couple of blocks away...that's about it). Chances of my stumbling across such are...remote. While being younger, healthier and really buff will be fun, mostly I will enjoy being able to fly. A lot.

 

When I can

[Pizza Man]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

I am pleased to see a lot of common sense here.

 

I too would explore my powers in secret and after a while, cautiously send feelers to find others like me. Slow and steady, nothing rushed. Always know where the exit is.

 

And yes, I would wear a mask and gloves simply to protect myself.

[Lucius]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

And yes, I would wear a mask and gloves simply to protect myself.

 

But who's protecting the gloves?

 

That's another thing to find out. If there is some energy beam that is projected from the hands, what's it do to gloves? to anything held in the hand? Can it be projected from other parts of the body, and if so, what effect does it have on clothing?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary notes that the issues really ARE different when you're imagining it's you, not some character in a game

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

But who's protecting the gloves?

 

That's another thing to find out. If there is some energy beam that is projected from the hands, what's it do to gloves? to anything held in the hand? Can it be projected from other parts of the body, and if so, what effect does it have on clothing?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

the palindromedary notes that the issues really ARE different when you're imagining it's you, not some character in a game

 

He's got a point. The real world suffers a deficit of handwavium. Gloves that can survive conduct an energy blast without suffering damage are simply not mass produced. It's not like there's a rack of 'em in Men's clothing at Wal-Mart next to the underwear and supersuits.

[Pizza Man]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

Curses! Shot down by logic again!

[dmjalund]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

wear gloves of metallic mesh (like butchers gloves)

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Strange events...what do YOU (not your character) do?

 

wear gloves of metallic mesh (like butchers gloves)

 

That's only useful if your sparkly energy beam is electricity, and only if the amperage is low enough that it doesn't heat the chainmail glove to its melting point (or lower than that if you're immune to the electricity but not the heat).

 

"Take that evil-doer!" *TZORRTCH!* "Aaaah! My HANDS!!!"