Single Power Ideas

[dafair]

For a dimension-hopping campaign arc I wanted to make a SuperWorld... a world in which everyone had a superpower, but in which most people were unsuitable to be heroes or villains for one reason or another. I was thinking of giving everyone on the world one (or maybe 2) powers that would be interesting, but would still leave them not well rounded enough or not dependable enough, or maybe even not non-destructive enough to be a hero if they were to switch dimensions and end up in the campaign universe.

 

The powers would be limited to 100 Active Points, 15 Real Points. Would love to see what you come up with.

 

First Idea: Explodo, the Exploding Man: he can explode in an energy blast that leaves him desolid for 3 months as it recharges...

Blast 16d6, Area Of Effect (1m Radius Explosion; +1/4) (100 Active Points); 1 Charge which Recovers every 1 Season (-3 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-2), No Range (-1/2), Extra Time (Extra Phase, Only to Activate, -1/2)

[Tech]

Bookworm: 10d6 Blast, 10 m radius, only vs paper (-2), 1 charge (-2), no range (-1/2), Extra time (Extra turn -1 1/4)  100 Active, 15 Real

[eepjr24]

Get Thee Hence:

EDM, Any Dimension, Physical Location corresponding to physical location in current dimension.

Usable As Attack (+1 1/4)

1 Charge per month (-3)

Others only (-1)

Costs Endurance (-1/2)

3x End Costs (-1)  [30 END]

Full Phase (-1/2)

Side Effect: Minor (5d6 Blast versus user, manifests as sickness, weakness, vertigo) (-1/4)

94 Active, 13 Real

[dafair]

Both very interesting. I love the side effect on the "Get thee Hence" power. .

[Lucius]

3 hours ago, dafair said:

For a dimension-hopping campaign arc I wanted to make a SuperWorld... a world in which everyone had a superpower, but in which most people were unsuitable to be heroes or villains for one reason or another. I was thinking of giving everyone on the world one (or maybe 2) powers that would be interesting, but would still leave them not well rounded enough or not dependable enough, or maybe even not non-destructive enough to be a hero if they were to switch dimensions and end up in the campaign universe.

 

The powers would be limited to 100 Active Points, 15 Real Points. Would love to see what you come up with.

 

First Idea: Explodo, the Exploding Man: he can explode in an energy blast that leaves him desolid for 3 months as it recharges...

Blast 16d6, Area Of Effect (1m Radius Explosion; +1/4) (100 Active Points); 1 Charge which Recovers every 1 Season (-3 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-2), No Range (-1/2), Extra Time (Extra Phase, Only to Activate, -1/2)

 

During those three months does he starve to death?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary supposes there is probably Desolidified food available in that dimension

[archer]

I could dump 100 points into faster-than-light travel and not have a superhero. The first time the character activated her power, she'd be off-planet without a spacesuit.

 

You could run a Typhoid Mary plot with someone who is unknowingly giving other people FTL but can't use the power herself. The victims disappear without a trace

[Duke Bushido]

My supers universe is filled with these:

 

Characters (NPCs) with a power or two who are _not_ "super heroes" or "super villains," but just people.

 

Honestly, I _had_ to do it.  I mean, i introduced it as a minor, once-in-a-while background gag, just to test the waters, but I was surprised at the reaction of the players: it just made so much sense to them!  I was shocked.  Like me, they figured for every one guy who got ten different powers, there were probably three or four who got one or two powers.  For every person who go some awesome movement or combat or clairvoyance power, there were likely a few who got "see in the dark, period."

 

I have no idea whatsoever how to write them up in 6e in a way that won't result in nine different discussions about what I did right or wrong, so let me just give you the basic idea of two of the still-present (and strangely popular) of these characters:

 

Steven "The Step" Stephenson (real name Jordan Piper) has the singular ability to survive a fall from any height.   That's it.  Even if he lands at terminal velocity and falls flat onto a field of high-density concrete, he'll be fine.  This does _not_ mean he can survive being hit by a car doing 50.  His amazing invulnerability only applies to falls.  He currently supports himself as a highly-demanded stuntman in the movie industry.

 

 

Danica Manning (real name Danica Manning):  Duplication.  She has become so used to being twelve people that it's rare to find her fully combined.  Currently, she supports herself as six lab assistants (mostly in the "super science" type fields), attends college where she is currently working on four different degrees (three duplicates) to go with the ones she already has. She is also dating a couple of guys, and is living a life of absolute leisure, doing whatever strikes her fancy.  When she needs to rest, the more worried, frazzled, or tired duplicates will merge for a few days with the "permanent vacation" duplicate, re-align themselves psychically, intellectually, and spiritually, and then go back to work.  Though sometimes it's not always the same one going back to the same place (nor does it really matter, so long as she has recently combined with the appropriate one).  This neat trick has given her an undeserved reputation for infinite patience.     She respects those with powers who decide to put on costumes and put their lives on the line, but in equal measure she finds the entire idea unbelievably stupid.

 

As she is does not age unless all of her is combined into one form, she expects to enjoy a long working life (with eleven retirement plans!    ), she's pretty confident that she's working toward a very, _very_ comfortable "middle age" that she plans to extend for as long as possible.

 

She's slightly sarcastic, (very slightly), almost monotone when at work, and -- well, she's not exactly anti-social; it's just that sometimes she is more company than she cares to have.    She can be bribed with a small sack of chocolate-covered mayonnaise balls from Truck's Tacos.

 

 

 

There are many, _many_ more, but for some reason, with every supers group I run, those two keep coming up as fan favorites.

[dafair]

15 hours ago, Lucius said:

 

During those three months does he starve to death?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary supposes there is probably Desolidified food available in that dimension

I suppose he must eat something in the desolid world, since I bought him no LS...

[dafair]

15 hours ago, archer said:

I could dump 100 points into faster-than-light travel and not have a superhero. The first time the character activated her power, she'd be off-planet without a spacesuit.

Yeah, that isn't exactly what i was looking for. More just regular folks who have this one thing that makes them different... Not this one thing that will kill them if they ever discover it.

[Amorkca]

3 hours ago, dafair said:

I suppose he must eat something in the desolid world, since I bought him no LS...

Semi solids??

[archer]

3 hours ago, Amorkca said:

Semi solids??

 

Jello (Affects Desolid +1/2)

[pinecone]

Travelin Dan, LS: No need to eat, No need to Sleep Dan just likes to travel, he has no home, but being homeless is little bother. And when he need to get some cash he can work several jobs part time for several weeks then go back to traveling...

[archer]

Matter-Eater Lad: he can bite, chew, eat, or drink literally anything regardless of the BODY and DEF of those objects. Everything is nutritious for him. Nothing he eats is poisonous or dangerous for him to ingest and his digestive processes removes harmful properties such as toxins, pollution, and radiation.

 

(origin: DC Comics)

[archer]

Digger Downs: a reporter whose power is to literally sniff out people who have superpowers (an ability which he used to ferret out secret ID's of heroes and villains). Probably the most useless power ever in a world where everyone is a super but at least he can smell when other people are around.

 

(origin: early editions of Champions but the character migrated to the Wild Cards shared universe)

[archer]

Rage: an under-aged kid who could transform into a superhuman adult form. That form had enhanced STR, durability, stamina, speed, and leaping. He had all the emotional control of an under-aged kid.

 

(origin: Marvel comics)

[BoloOfEarth]

I always like the idea of Larry Niven's Gil Hamilton - he lost his arm, but he has a psychic "phantom arm" that he can use - basically, very short-range TK, able to reach through walls and windows, feel and move things, etc.  Not terribly powerful, but nonetheless fairly useful.  Wonder what you could do with other handicaps resulting in powers?

 

Oh, and consider this idea borrowed for my next Champions campaign, which I think is going to be a normal world where individuals suddenly start getting superpowers. 

 

So, as to character ideas:

 

Bob "Bunny-Boy" Benson, whose legs are disproportionately powerful.  He can leap great distances, and has a pretty amazing (double-knockback) "rabbit kick".  But don't tease him - he loses his cool pretty quickly.  I guess you could say he has a "hare trigger."  Tee, hee, hee!  I slay me!

 

Police psychologist Tina Murrow calls herself "POV" due to her ability to put herself into the mind (literally) of most anybody.  (She can only affect people without any innate mental defenses.)  She can see, hear, feel, and otherwise experience everything her target senses, and gets general impressions of her target's state of mind (empathy, not direct thoughts).  She can't project her own sensory data to the target, nor alter her target's state of mind -- it's strictly a one-way street. But it's helped her incredibly in dealing with hostage situations.  Some less friendly people refer to her as "Peeper" or "Peeping Tina."

 

Tabloid reporter "Parabolic" Mike Mahoney has incredible hearing, including through walls.  (Telescopic on Hearing Group with Penetrative.)  He's skilled enough that, given time, he can filter through overlapping conversations in one room to hear something going on in a room beyond it.  (Call this Clairsentience - Hearing Group with Mobile Perception Point, requiring Extra Time.)  If he's anywhere around, you better watch what you say, or it's bound to wind up printed in the National Enquirer.

 

Phil "Folder" Wright has the unusual ability to fold anything in half repeatedly without causing it harm, and then unfold it later.  Yes, anything - paper, wood, steel, cars, willing people ...  he can fold anything.  (While folded, the thing / being becomes instantly flat, about the thickness of a business card.  Repeated folds do not increast this thickness.)  Note that whatever he folds still retains its same mass, so while he can fold up his pickup truck until it's the size of a mini Post-It, he can't carry it around in his pocket.  And people he's folded and then unfolded reported that it was like they were floating in limbo while they were folded up.  (I'd actually call this Extra-Dimensional Movement to a pocket dimension, Usable on Others.)

[archer]

Gil "the ARM" Hamilton would be perfect.

[Duke Bushido]

6 hours ago, archer said:

 

(origin: early editions of Champions 

 

I thought I had all the early ed stuff.

 

Can you point out where, so I can take a look?

 

Thanks!  

 

[archer]

5 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

 

I thought I had all the early ed stuff.

 

Can you point out where, so I can take a look?

 

Thanks!  

 

 

I believe it was Champions II or III and was mentioned in passing in flavor text mostly if I remember correctly. I don't have the time to look at the moment.

 

Thomas "Digger" Downs was created by Steve Perrin if that's any help.

[Duke Bushido]

Thanks!

 

Though if it's Perrin, it might be in the old SuperWorld stuff, too.

 

I'll find a few minutes to browse around this week.

 

Thanks again!
 

 

[assault]

In this situation, the person is probably more important than the power.

 

Being a super (hero or villain) would mainly be a function of characteristics and skills, with the actual power being either a bonus, irrelevant or, in some cases, a liability.

 

In published comics, the Red Bee and Air Wave were perfectly viable superheroes, despite the relative idiocy of their powers.

Ordinary people with the same powers wouldn't be, of course.

[assault]

22 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Thanks!

 

Though if it's Perrin, it might be in the old SuperWorld stuff, too.

 

I'll find a few minutes to browse around this week.

 

Thanks again!
 

 

 

Given the connection to Wild Cards, almost certainly Superworld.

I'd be surprised if a character sheet turns up though.

[Duke Bushido]

Thanks, but honestly-- it was just the idea that I missed something in books that I use to this day that had me curious.  (and not in Champs II; just finished a cover-to-cover on that.)  And I'm curious to see if there was a write-up of that particular power: was it a detect?  Or something else?

 

You know how it goes.

 

 

[archer]

5 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Thanks, but honestly-- it was just the idea that I missed something in books that I use to this day that had me curious.  (and not in Champs II; just finished a cover-to-cover on that.)  And I'm curious to see if there was a write-up of that particular power: was it a detect?  Or something else?

 

You know how it goes.

 

 

 

It was the origin of the character (to the best of my knowledge, not being very familiar with Superworld).  The content involving him was more of a "Breaking news from downtown! This is intrepid reporter Digger Downs bringing on on-site coverage as mayhem explodes from the city's latest battle of superpowered titans. Oh, the humanity!"

 

I believe there was some art of Digger and text of Digger speaking in several places in the book to set the tone of sections of the book. But there was no write-up of the character in Champions at that time at least.

 

It's marginally possible that I'm completely mistaken as well. It's been 20+ years since I've looked at old rules. I go back to look at Enemies books regularly but older rules books, not so much.

[archer]

On 8/12/2019 at 10:03 PM, Duke Bushido said:

 

 

You know how it goes.

 

 

 

I'm thinking now that the character went through a name change from something like Jimmy Dugan to Tommy Downs. as part of his migration from Champions to Wild Cards (a name change probably for legal reasons).

 

My brain's been a bit foggy these last couple of days as if a lot of memories have been misfiled. I'm helping my daughter move her stuff into her new classroom so I've been dealing with oppressive heat and a hell of a lot more exertion than I'm used to. My poor little brain isn't up to the strain...it's even making up poetry out of thin air as if I were a poet and didn't know it.

 

Sorry for getting your hopes up that there was some additional early Champions content that you weren't aware of.