Latent Powers

[Michael Hopcroft]

If I wanted to create a character who doesn;t intially know they are destined to be a superhero and doesn;t even know he has superpowers, much less what they are, how would this be handled? I'm thinking about the situation where the character either has his "origin" over the course of play (he's a less powerfulnormal, then has accident and gets superpowers that he did not expect and initially has a hard time controlling) or a character with innate super-potential that emerges gradually over time (every so often he gets a new power or super-characteristic until his character is filled out to full power).

 

Is there a good way in-game to handle this sort of developemnt. And how can the player know what powers he's going to get and still play as if the character doesn't know? Other systems use a system where the Gm can assign superpowers according to his own design for the character, but that goes against the very nature of the HERO system.

 

So how to handle this?

[Killer Shrike]

This is classic Radiation Experiment stuff.

 

I would recommend 1 of 3 methods.

 

Method 1 is the "Holdback" technique, where you the GM literally holdback points and then unlock or award them in large chunks until the character is up to snuff. This lets the character progress in fits and starts, but the downside is the character may lack a cohesive design, or the player may want to do constant redesigns with each clump of XP (which is in genre for supers, but tedious to keep doing).

 

Method 2 is the "Phased" technique, where the Player designs the character thru several versions at ascending point levels, enough to satisfy your story needs as the GM. When the character acheives some goals or reaches sufficient XP, they have a Power Up and go to the next version. The pro here is the player does the work, the con is they know what their power set is going to be.

 

Method 3 is the "No Conscious Control" Route, there the Player designs the character as a normal 350 pt Super (or whatever passes for a normal Super in your campaign), and then applies NCC to every single supernatural ability, including high stats (which should be bought as Powers obviously). The points difference should leave them pointed as somewhere around a compentent normal. Then as they gain XP, the player can apply it as you allow to buy off all the NCC's (first to the -1 version of Cant Control Effects if you allow) as they wish. Eventually, they will have total control over their own powers.

[Ghost who Walks]

Method 3 (I had to come up with another)

 

Depending on what power they are going to get, you can always create a power that creates as many new limitations as it does new powers. Combine it with method 1 or 2, and it shouldn't be too hard.

 

A classic example is the Fantastic Four. They are characters that you could all do as pre-flight normals, who get powers with a ton of limitations and new disadvantages. (At least at first)

 

Spiderman is a bad example, most of the disadvantages (his horde of DNPC's) he already had before he got powers.

 

If a lot of extra stats are needed for the powerup (like a higher con/end/rec), consider going with an Endurance battery. Its cheaper, and may reflect a new hero easier (depending on what their power is).

 

You can also give new powers activation rolls, and increased time/endurance cost.