How to Wildfire

[Hugh Neilson]

1 hour ago, Tech said:

I believe the simplest way to handle the "out of suit" problem is: Phys Limitation: cannot interact with world when suit is destroyed. Trying to build powers to represent him being out of the suit is pointless if the chance of his suit being wrecked is rare/small. You're forcing the player to buy powers that may never get used, which is unfair.

 

I'd flip this around.  If done as a complication, it should generally create challenges (not advantages or opportunities) for the character, and happen as frequently as the Complication points mandate.

 

If the character pays for powers, I would expect to have him routinely leave the suit for scouting expeditions, as he has clearly paid for a means of doing so very effectively.  In his first appearance, this seems very much like a Complication.  In his second, he is able to scout around Legion HQ, determine who the villain is, and what he is up to, and then overcome the challenge of being separated from his suit to resolve the scenario.  Which story does the player envision his Wildfire featuring in?

[Tech]

A Physical Complication has two components: a) how much the impairment affects and b) how often. The 'how often' includes +0 Barely: rarely has significant impact. If a player were to take this, I would use this more of a threat that could happen rather than having the character lose the suit/have it destroyed and have him float around aimlessly for awhile.

 

"A disadvantage that isn't a disadvantage isn't worth any points" has long since been part of Champions. Agreed. Making a player sit out on part of an episode because of character concept could be very frustrating, and a GM 'no-no'. Making a complication loom before the character as a threat is way more interesting in a game than having it actually taking effect. 'Course, it should happen at least once in the character's career.

 

I agree: which (what) story does the player envision his Wildfire featuring in? This ultimately determines how the character will be built and the powers.

[Hugh Neilson]

This is one of those items that does not translate well to the game.  The writer can simply write Wildfire out until he gets a new suit.  The only story I recall where he was out of the suit for a long time was his "joining LSH" story, which was essentially a Wildfire solo story in which he tried to work out what was going on and how to get at his suit, not a "four players, one of whom cannot interact with the real world" story.

[Ninja-Bear]

I took the OP’s request as how to build a Wildfire type character that is suitable for game play. However that is an assumption on my part.

[Hugh Neilson]

Sure, but for what type of game, and what type of play? 

 

Will this be a "Hack and Slash Champions" game where all scenes other than combat are just window dressing to get to the big combat scene, so having the suit broken will basically take the character out of play?  Then it's a complication which should only occur rarely.

 

Will it balance investigations and combat?  Then there is a lot of use for the ability to be incorporeal and undetectable out of combat, even if having the suit destroyed in combat would be a huge problem, and we have a Power Suite and a Complication.

 

Will this be a game focused on investigation and intrigue, only rarely venturing into combat?  Then the ability to go anywhere, undetected, seems extremely powerful - it should cost a lot of points, if it is even allowed - it could be as bad as reliable Telepathy and Mind Scan in a murder mystery game.

[dmjalund]

can a telepath sense Wildfire when out of suit?

[Matt the Bruins]

Probably depends on if the special effect of the telepathy has to do with reading brainwaves, being able to project psionic energy to scan the contents of a mind, having one's transcendental consciousness dive into the Akashic Record, eating a brain and absorbing the information contained in its RNA, etc.