Incredible powers that would suck to have

[DasBroot]

Here's a fun topic - what incredible super power built with the Hero System would be completely terrible to have?

 

I'll start it off with an NPC from my game.  My players seriously feel for this guy - he's drawn the most empathy of any NPC they've ever come across.

 

Life Support  (Immunity: All terrestrial diseases), Persistent (+1/4), Inherent (+1/4), Usable Simultaneously (up to 2,147,483,647 people at once; +9), Recipient must be within Limited Range of the Grantor for power to be granted, Grantor must grant power one Recipient at a time. (52 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, -3/4)

 

It's actually 17 billion people at once.  I broke the character generator program.

 

A medical student with the potential to innoculate the entire planet (twice over) - ending disease for a person's entire life  - and knowing that he can never do it.  Knowing that he could literally spend every waking moment doing this and never reach his potential.  At best he could hope to help 39 million of 8 billion in his life  - an incredible number of lives made better but how do you choose? How could anyone choose? How dare anyone choose?

 

Pretty heavy for a 52 active point power.

[Hyper-Man]

Here's a fun topic - what incredible super power built with the Hero System would be completely terrible to have?

 

I'll start it off with an NPC from my game.  My players seriously feel for this guy - he's drawn the most empathy of any NPC they've ever come across.

 

Life Support  (Immunity: All terrestrial diseases), Persistent (+1/4), Inherent (+1/4), Usable Simultaneously (up to 2,147,483,647 people at once; +9), Recipient must be within Limited Range of the Grantor for power to be granted, Grantor must grant power one Recipient at a time. (52 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, -3/4)

 

It's actually 17 billion people at once.  I broke the character generator program.

 

A medical student with the potential to innoculate the entire planet (twice over) - ending disease for a person's entire life  - and knowing that he can never do it.  Knowing that he could literally spend every waking moment doing this and never reach his potential.  At best he could hope to help 39 million of 8 billion in his life  - an incredible number of lives made better but how do you choose? How could anyone choose? How dare anyone choose?

 

Pretty heavy for a 52 active point power.

 

He should seek help researching how to make his power "infectious".

 

*UBO on UBO

[BoloOfEarth]

Telepathy, AoE, Always On. 

 

Perhaps I'm uniquely strange, but when I think about the sheer crap that runs through my head on a daily basis, and then imagine someone having to listen to all of that, from everybody around him, without any filters.  Knowing what everybody really thinks about you, without social niceties.  I'd imagine you'd either go insane or grow to hate all of humanity.

[Cassandra]

Density Increase Mass 800kg STR +15, KNB -3", PD +3, ED +3, No END Persistent (+1), Always On (-1/2)

 

The person would weigh as much as a car requiring special furniture, the inability to use most non-freight elevators, public transportation, small aircraft, civilian vehicles, etc..

[wcw43921]

Telepathy, AoE, Always On. 

 

Perhaps I'm uniquely strange, but when I think about the sheer crap that runs through my head on a daily basis, and then imagine someone having to listen to all of that, from everybody around him, without any filters.  Knowing what everybody really thinks about you, without social niceties.  I'd imagine you'd either go insane or grow to hate all of humanity.

 

I believe that was addressed on an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, when Buffy briefly acquired telepathy.  It was also described as one of the reasons Matt Parkman turned evil in HEROES Reborn.

 

Density Increase Mass 800kg STR +15, KNB -3", PD +3, ED +3, No END Persistent (+1), Always On (-1/2)

 

The person would weigh as much as a car requiring special furniture, the inability to use most non-freight elevators, public transportation, small aircraft, civilian vehicles, etc..

 

Welcome to the world of Benjamin J. Grimm.

[steriaca]

Prehaps a odd power. My Hetalia fan character Belle "the South" DeBaton (personification of the southern United States/Confederate States of America) always knows where "south" is, except it is not compus south, but south of the Mason/Dixon line, to the borders of the US. She can also pull out a parasol and/or fan out of thin air.

[Asperion]

Anti-Phase: Desolid, UAA, Range, AoE, Personal Immunity, 0 END, Always On

 

Imagine going through life never being able to contact another living being or having them contact you, at the extreme end this power might even affect all matter - including the food that you would like to consume.

[Badger]

Telepathy, AoE, Always On. 

 

Perhaps I'm uniquely strange, but when I think about the sheer crap that runs through my head on a daily basis, and then imagine someone having to listen to all of that, from everybody around him, without any filters.  Knowing what everybody really thinks about you, without social niceties.  I'd imagine you'd either go insane or grow to hate all of humanity.

 

Mao(?) from Code Geass had that power and was definitely out of his mind.

[Quantum]

Mao(?) from Code Geass had that power and was definitely out of his mind.

 

The 4e Champions/Dark Champions villain book "Underworld Enemies' had a character named Plain Jane who had always on telepathic invisibility.  She can be seen, but nobody consciously reacts to her presence. There's a good extender here called the ProExtender. If she walks thorough a crowd, people don't bump into her, but otherwise, everyone acts like she doesn't exist, ignoring any physical evidence she leaves behind, reflexively turning off alarms she triggers, etc..  Her crimes are a steadily escalating effort to make people notice her.  At one point, she stood next to the President and fired a gun into the air.  After 15 minutes of trying to locate the source of the gunshot, the Secret Service just stopped looking and the President finished his speech as if nothing happened.  Later, when the video of the event was reviewed, they were shocked to see a woman standing next to the President for 10 minutes after the shot, just crying.

 

What about invisibility that's on all the time. That would be pretty crappy.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Quantum

[TheDarkness]

What about invisibility that's on all the time. That would be pretty crappy.

I actually was working on an NPC with this, who actually had to spend END to stay visible, and, if knocked unconscious while visible, could actually die from the drain. If not visible when unconscious, imagine, if they were in bad shape, the difficulty of finding them and tending to them.

[phydaux]

Telepathy, AoE, Always On. 

 

Perhaps I'm uniquely strange, but when I think about the sheer crap that runs through my head on a daily basis, and then imagine someone having to listen to all of that, from everybody around him, without any filters.  Knowing what everybody really thinks about you, without social niceties.  I'd imagine you'd either go insane or grow to hate all of humanity.

 

I had a character like that in a Teen Heroes game - A high school girl with empathy & telepathy.  She knew full well that most people were shallow, thinking about themselves most of the time.  The few times the other students were thinking about her, the girls were running her down with petty jealousies, and the boys only thought her boobs & her butt.   

 

I decided that she'd have an after school job working as a small engine mechanic, because lawn mowers weren't petty.  

[BoloOfEarth]

Shrinking 6 Levels, 0 END, Persistent, Always On

 

Sure, you could become the ultimate spy.  You'd also be effectively alone the rest of your life, surrounded by giants.

 

 

Really, any "Always On" power would (or theoretically should) suck to some degree.

[Amorkca]

Radio Hearing, high volume, no mute...

[wcw43921]

Really, any "Always On" power would (or theoretically should) suck to some degree.

 

So would say Midas.

[Lixivious]

The power to defelect any attack shot at you. Sounds cool; till your freinds start dropping or buildings explode from the deflected attacks.

[Rails]

What do you do that would make people want to shoot at you, anyway?

[Armitage]

What about invisibility that's on all the time. That would be pretty crappy.

 

 

The 4e Champions/Dark Champions villain book "Underworld Enemies' had a character named Plain Jane who had always on telepathic invisibility.  She can be seen, but nobody consciously reacts to her presence.  If she walks thorough a crowd, people don't bump into her, but otherwise, everyone acts like she doesn't exist, ignoring any physical evidence she leaves behind, reflexively turning off alarms she triggers, etc..  Her crimes are a steadily escalating effort to make people notice her.  At one point, she stood next to the President and fired a gun into the air.  After 15 minutes of trying to locate the source of the gunshot, the Secret Service just stopped looking and the President finished his speech as if nothing happened.  Later, when the video of the event was reviewed, they were shocked to see a woman standing next to the President for 10 minutes after the shot, just crying.

[TheDarkness]

There's actually a character like that in the web fiction Worm. You see her when you look at her, but as soon as she leaves your gaze, you forget she exists. And thus have no reason to look at her.

[steriaca]

There's actually a character like that in the web fiction Worm. You see her when you look at her, but as soon as she leaves your gaze, you forget she exists. And thus have no reason to look at her.

Reminds me of the leader of the Brotherhood Of Dada, Mister Nobody, except it is reversed. If you look directly at him, he dissapears from view. But he is visual out of the corners of your sight.

[TheDarkness]

There's another character in Worm who is a woman when you can see her, and is a horrific monster that tears apart life when you can't see her. I'm not sure that sucks, though.

[Christopher]

Telepathy, AoE, Always On. 

 

Perhaps I'm uniquely strange, but when I think about the sheer crap that runs through my head on a daily basis, and then imagine someone having to listen to all of that, from everybody around him, without any filters.  Knowing what everybody really thinks about you, without social niceties.  I'd imagine you'd either go insane or grow to hate all of humanity.

Lady Liberty from the Webcomic the specialists is stuck with this:

http://thespecialistscomic.com/comic/cover/

It includes seeing other peoples Nightmares, wich is pretty heavy load. She jumps at the first opportunity to get that under control.

 

Density Increase Mass 800kg STR +15, KNB -3", PD +3, ED +3, No END Persistent (+1), Always On (-1/2)

 

The person would weigh as much as a car requiring special furniture, the inability to use most non-freight elevators, public transportation, small aircraft, civilian vehicles, etc..

I actually made a character like that once:

A a ground limited brickete caled "Landslide". There was once a WWYCD question on the forum for resqueing a kitten out of a tree. I realised she could not do that. No flight (only jump) and no ladder or tree could hold her weight. She could do less then the average person, while still being able to do more.

This power all came from a totally messed up/fused with a silicon based, extradimensional critters DNA.

When anybody pointed out her weight she would say "I have heavy DNA!"

Her tastebuds and digstv system was also messed up. Alcohol and most normal food tasted abysmally. She had to add sand like other people had to add salt to food.

She also used to be on a track to become a Olymphic Athlete, wich she could also forget.

 

And talk about the problems of finding a girlfind/boyfriend if you like to be "on top" once in a while.

 

What about invisibility that's on all the time. That would be pretty crappy.

There have been a lot of movies about this in the past.

It got really disgusting when that did not include anything they ate.

They usually worked around that with full body clothing/makeup.

 

I even rememebr a softcore prono series about this premise.

 

Shrinking 6 Levels, 0 END, Persistent, Always On

 

Sure, you could become the ultimate spy.  You'd also be effectively alone the rest of your life, surrounded by giants.

I once had an idea for a character that could take a shrunken superform. But she really hated to not be noticed, so I would remove the stealth bonus from that power. Never made her, however.

 

Radio Hearing, high volume, no mute...

Faradays Cage. Or any other form of Electromagnetic shielding.

Between Microelectronics and Cold War Atomic EMP research we got quite some skill on this area. Of course the needed helmet would still look ridiculous.

 

I had a variant of that idea for a SciFy setting including "Radiokinetics" (Psionics affecting radio waves like Pyrokinetic or telepath would). Specifically I realised they might be able to "hear" stuff like the song of the comet and might be drawn to odd Radiowaves:

http://www.cosmostv.org/2014/11/comet-67p-sings-mysterious-songsignal.html

 

 

There's actually a character like that in the web fiction Worm. You see her when you look at her, but as soon as she leaves your gaze, you forget she exists. And thus have no reason to look at her.

A variant of this happend in Star Trek Voyager with a whole species that had "embraced" them being forgotten, inlcuding Computer Viruses that erased any trace of them ever being there, and law enforcement to keep thier own from (ab)using that power. In the end Chakotay cheats it: He writes it down on paper.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Unforgettable_%28episode%29

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Just about anything with "Always On" is going to suck to have. There's a reason it's a limitation and not an advantage, you know. Too easy.

 

Now, come up with a few that aren't Always On.

 

Far too easy example: Immortality (IMHO).

[phydaux]

Reminds me of the leader of the Brotherhood Of Dada, Mister Nobody, except it is reversed. If you look directly at him, he dissapears from view. But he is visual out of the corners of your sight.

 

Reminds me of the character from Mystery Men - He was invisible, but only when no one was looking at him.

[Lucius]

 

The Power to See Through Everything.

 

We've all imagined being able to see through walls, but if everything opaque were perfectly transparent to you, then everything would be effectively invisible. You would have an unobstructed view of infinity - and be completely blind.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary claims that on a totally clear day you can see forever.

[DasBroot]

Just about anything with "Always On" is going to suck to have. There's a reason it's a limitation and not an advantage, you know. Too easy.

 

Now, come up with a few that aren't Always On.

 

Far too easy example: Immortality (IMHO).

 

If that weren't 'always on' - why would it suck? Immortality with an escape clause for when I feel that I have seen too much, lost too much? Sign me up.

 

 

The Power to See Through Everything.

 

We've all imagined being able to see through walls, but if everything opaque were perfectly transparent to you, then everything would be effectively invisible. You would have an unobstructed view of infinity - and be completely blind.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary claims that on a totally clear day you can see forever.

 

If you could see through everything and therefore see nothing you would, as you noted, be basically blind.  Not sure that spending a ton of points to blind yourself is in the spirit of 'incredible power'.

 

Now if you could see through everything except living flesh - I think that would technically count.  A sea of naked people and (not naked) animals.  You would have to define where cars and buildings were by the context of what their occupants are doing.  You'd be able to see survivors in a landslide and have no context on how to reach them....