Anyone use Duplication for a hero?

[Tech]

I'm curious if anyone has bought their hero Duplication. I've thought about creating a hero with the power but want to hear other's opinions first. I'd like to know how it  played out because with Duplication, the GM potentially has to deal with 1 (or more) extra characters. As such, for myself at least as a GM, I'd have to think about that if one of the players bought it for their character. I know there are villains with the power and not interested in that aspect.

[ghost-angel]

I have a hero with Duplication; it is a very dangerous power to play with.

 

The character is a shapeshifter and one of the shapes is an Unkindness Of Ravens; so x32 Duplication to create a flock of 33 Birds. It can get out of hand if you let it (for instance we quickly decided that Teamwork + (even a small) KA w/ Penetrating was a devastating attack for the campaign and quickly pulled that back a little bit).

 

It was made easier by the fact that all the duplicates were the same build, so only one character sheet for the entirety of that shape; but having the ability to deal with that many possible Perception Rolls, Attack Rolls, etc, meant for ease we grouped things up to reasonable factors for any given situation (anywhere from 2-8 duplicates in a 'group') with applicable bonuses for such things, mob rules for attacks, +2 Per for each Raven in a small group, that kind of thing.

 

If you do such a thing, talk with the GM about how to handle so many characters on the table at once, what that means, how they interact, and what can be done to minimize rolling the dice far more often than other players if you think that'll be a problem.

[Scott Baker]

You're looking at the same basic discussion as with having followers.

 

[short pause while I read ghost-angel's post] -- I agree with his post. Just note that without an advantage it would take 16 full phases to create the 32 duplicates for ghost-angel's character. These sorts of factors will affect the possible disruption presented by the power.

 

Something that people seem to constantly forget is that each duplicate is their own person, perhaps radically so depending on how the duplication is bought and the duplicate is built. So it's not always appropriate to treat them as single-minded groups, or that they'll always do what the base character wants. With the right GM (and other players), this can open up a lot of role-playing possibilities.

 

One more thing to consider is that "duplication" can also just be the special effects of other powers. If having multiple characters running around is too unbalancing play-wise (i.e., equal time for players), powers with the special effect may work for the concept as well.

 

 

Edit: As far as the GM should be concerned, they need to account for any duplicates just like they would if the group had those additional characters as PCs.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Scott Baker

[Tech]

You're looking at the same basic discussion as with having followers.

 

[short pause while I read ghost-angel's post] -- I agree with his post. Just note that without an advantage it would take 16 full phases to create the 32 duplicates for ghost-angel's character. These sorts of factors will affect the possible disruption presented by the power.

 

Something that people seem to constantly forget is that each duplicate is their own person, perhaps radically so depending on how the duplication is bought and the duplicate is built. So it's not always appropriate to treat them as single-minded groups, or that they'll always do what the base character wants. With the right GM (and other players), this can open up a lot of role-playing possibilities.

 

One more thing to consider is that "duplication" can also just be the special effects of other powers. If having multiple characters running around is too unbalancing play-wise (i.e., equal time for players), powers with the special effect may work for the concept as well.

 

 

Edit: As far as the GM should be concerned, they need to account for any duplicates just like they would if the group had those additional characters as PCs.

 

Perhaps they're radical or perhaps not. Nothing forgotten there, as everyone knows a power's definition depends on the character concept. You are correct that it could be just the special effects.  I know about the GM concern, which I already voiced.

 

I was wondering if anyone has used the power and how things went with such a character. Did the game flow nicely with the character? How & what did the GM do, etc etc? I'm asking for the experinence of people who've already used it.

[DasBroot]

I've used it a few times but have always limited the numbers to what it appropriate for a particular adventure over how many I could create.

 

One NPC in my game - an 'ace' reporter - is a secret mutant with this power.  The players interact with her all the time and are pretty sure she's hiding superpowers (she always seems to be the first on scene) but haven't guessed this one yet (last guess was Danger Sense and a Megascale movement of some type).

 

A character I played used it for the "Wolverine Effect" - even if the group was split for story reasons a copy of him was with each team.  He was a stereotypical 'quiet defender' character specifically so I wouldn't double my RP screen time.  If he was on his own, though, watch out.

 

Another, as Scott said, didn't really have duplication at all - it was the special effect on his attacks.  An AoE accurate attack was a dozen of him attacking from all angles, etc.  He did not wear orange and black.

[Scott Baker]

Perhaps they're radical or perhaps not. Nothing forgotten there, as everyone knows a power's definition depends on the character concept. You are correct that it could be just the special effects.  I know about the GM concern, which I already voiced.

 

I was wondering if anyone has used the power and how things went with such a character. Did the game flow nicely with the character? How & what did the GM do, etc etc? I'm asking for the experinence of people who've already used it.

The things I mentioned are what made it playable. Your circumstances are not going to match my specific play experiences, so telling multiple tales of specific builds outside of the context of the GM, Players, the other PCs, and the campaign really doesn't tell you anything.

[dsatow]

I had a player with this power and as a GM I prefer if the player who has this power does a couple of things.

1) Have feedback or whatever its called.  If one clone is hurt, they all hurt.  This make stun accounting simple.

2) All clones have the same stun amounts.

3) As a player, you are able to plan your actions ahead of your phase so that you do not take any more time as the other players.  Also, consider investing in 3d6 set of different colors to make rolls for different clones.  And be quick with what DCV you hit when rolling to hit.

 

If you do take feedback (or whatever its called), be careful of AoE attacks, as the damage multiplies, and you might want to invest in danger sense.

 

Teamwork is usually a must for people with duplication.

 

Regeneration resurrection for clones is also a good thing.

 

If you are doing a Naruto style duplication, consider Summoning instead.  This way if they are defeated, you summon new "clones" to replace the ones popped.  Finally, make each summoned clone only have say 1 body and 1 stun.  This way they pop if hurt.

[ghost-angel]

Remembered another, short lived, duplicate character in a campaign.

 

These duplicates were all completely different (the SFX was each duplicate was actually a different version of that character's soul pulled from another dimension - this did not mean they were even remotely the same 'person'). To differentiate I tried using various (bad) accents.

 

This lead to one session where I started with a Jamaican accent that halfway through a sentence devolved into a Scottish accent, and then got out of hand from there. It was... well, memorable. So, you may also need a reasonable way to cue Players and GM alike into which Duplicate is doing what... results will vary.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I had a surfer dude duplicator, he didn't have a very impressive array of powers, but with duplication he was able to do some impressive coordinated attacks and stagger his moves out so he went more or less continuously in combat. He was fun to play.

[Lixivious]

I had a Chinese villian called Triad who could produce two copies of himself. The trio were martial arts based, Mantis style, however had no qualms about using firearms. They messed up my gaming group on several occasions and were the most hated of all my villians. 

[JohnnyAppleseed098]

I built a mass healer, Daraius, who had

 

Healing BODY 3d6, Decreased Re-Use Duration (1 Turn), AOE 4 Meter Radius Selective. 

 

and he could duplicate, so he sent his duplicates to fight and he just constantly healed them.   

 

As Words Die, The Daraius Clone Army Is Complete With 32 Members. 

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

One of my favorite characters was a duplicator. He had a tricky write up so that there was no base form and all duplicates could make and merge dupes as needed, but there could never be more than four at a time.

[TheQuestionMan]

Riot 5E (350) Brick (45 STR, 25 CON 25 DEF/15 rDEF, Martial Artist, & Private Detective.) - Lots of fun, helped balance a small team of Superheroes, and practical for Skills.

 

Lots of use of Teamwork - Paperwork and Surviellence with 5 Duplicate Mindlinked Experts.

 

Fastball Specials - Throwing himself into his work!

 

Ambitious - UNTIL Team UNITY Wannabe!

 

Quote: "Many hands make short work!"

[Lucius]

Something that people seem to constantly forget is that each duplicate is their own person, perhaps radically so depending on how the duplication is bought and the duplicate is built. So it's not always appropriate to treat them as single-minded groups, or that they'll always do what the base character wants. With the right GM (and other players), this can open up a lot of role-playing possibilities.

 

I don't think I could possibly have forgotten this because I don't think I ever encountered this notion until reading this post.

 

Now I can forget it.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says I probably will

[Lichlord]

Yes, a long time ago try about 1992. If used correctly, it’s a very terrifying power!

[Mr. R]

On 1/28/2016 at 12:19 PM, DasBroot said:

One NPC in my game - an 'ace' reporter - is a secret mutant with this power.  The players interact with her all the time and are pretty sure she's hiding superpowers (she always seems to be the first on scene) but haven't guessed this one yet (last guess was Danger Sense and a Megascale movement of some type).

 

That is SO COOL!

[Christopher R Taylor]

I would consider different duplicates to have different personalities and motivations etc only if they were bought that way.  Its a special effect thing, for one build they are obedient "shadows" of the real character, for another they are copies teleported in from other dimensions, etc.