Allandrel

Do you mean like a Hasbro figure, where every costume is just a repaint with a different accessory set? Or like Spider-Man's "Identity Crisis" storyline, where he switched between foru different costumed personas? Patrick J McGraw

There's that, too. It seems like "Colossus will kill them if they try anything" would be the running gag of a Very Secret Diaries of the X-Men. Patrick J McGraw

That'll work. Thanks. Now I'm gonna go over all my other writeups and make sure I got the math right. This is what I get for majoring in World Religions. Patrick J McGraw

True. And when Weapon X has him stop a train, which could possibly splatter him, he complains about it as if it were some kind of chore rather than imminent death. Patrick J McGraw

Marvel U Xavier has no telekinetic abiities at all. I'm certainly not planning to have any players playing Xavier - even if I could trust them to play him correctly and not abuse his massive power. (So far, the group has Ultimate Cable, Bishop, and Ghost Rider, with two players undecided.) Nonetheless, I want to be able to fully stat up everybody in the Ultimate Universe, without going into ridiculous point values. Patrick J McGraw

Colossus also tries to kill the Weapon X agents who'd tortured him and his friends, so I do see you point. Now what 15-point Disadvantage to replace it with? Patrick J McGraw

From what I've seen of it, Mark Millar's new series "Wanted" has a concept like this. The world is pretty much run by supervillains, who managed to eliminate the last of the superheroes some time ago. The main character is informed that he is the unacknowledge son of the world's greatest supervillain, recently deceased, and has inherited his powers. He's all set up to be trained as a supervillain, whetehr he likes it or not. If the series goes the way I think it will, he'll probably start a lone crusade against the supervillains. Should be pretty interesting. Patrick J McGraw

Exactly my thoughts. You want long-term effects, you need Transform. The "Psionic Surgery" example power covers this sort of effect. Which gets me back to the VPP idea again. I don't like VPPs - they seem a little excessive. On the other hand, it seems the best way to represent somebody like Xavier who can do pretty much anything telepathic that he can think of, up to the limits of his power level - which a VPP would represent. Patrick J McGraw

Problem is, Xavier's mental freeze completely shuts people down. Entangle with BOECV and "Stops a Given Sense" for every sense will still leave them conscious. The effect is descrived as a "time lapse" - blink and ten minutes have passed. What powers would you use? Patrick J McGraw

They have Megascale without Cerebro. It just boosts his Megascale by a level or two. "Brainstorming" (copying skills from people he's locked onto with a Mind Scan) would require a VPP devoted to that task, rather like a Mimic Pool with different restrictions. Patrick J McGraw

I used the sub as one of my baselines - that and throwing a Sentinel about 30 feet. I figured both as heroic pushes. I went with a lower STR than you did on the "realistic" assumption that pushing a submarine would take only a fraction of the strength that dead-lifting it would. As for stopping Iron Man, it isn't so much Iron Man's strength as the momentum of his movement. Tony wasn't diverting power to his thrusters (as he did when he redirected the Citauri ship), so in game terms he was probably just doing a half move. 70 Strength is more than enough to handle that. Colossus has stopped a five-car train with only a few hundred feet of push-back. That was also clearly a Heroic Push. How that would be resolved is... uncertain. I couldn't find anything in the Champions book section on "Stopping Moving Objects" with pure strength (and Knockback Resistance) rather than using a movement power. Since he's not trying to pick the train up, but rather reduce its movement to zero, it's not going to be quite as huge a task - and looking at the STR chart, 80 (70 with full push) seems quite workable for that as well. Patrick J McGraw

Re: Ultimate Colossus Streetwise covers pretty much everything associated with organized crime. I could give him some complementary Knowledge Skills, but not really on the point values I'm working with. Of course, he can always have "PS: Arms Dealer" as an Everyman skill. Patrick J McGraw

But they don't all have the same teleport power. All of their powers relate to the same alternate dimension (the smelly brimstone place), bu in different ways. Nightcrawler uses it as a stopover for his teleportation, while Abyss' body turns into a portal to the dimension. So while their powers are related to their father's powers, they aren't identical. Patrick J McGraw

I've tried making it Linked. It gave me a headache, and still only worked out to a -1/4 Limitation. Streetwise covers that area pretty well. I suppose he could still take those as complementary skills. Patrick J McGraw

Standard Opening: I’m preparing to run a game set in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. I’ve been roleplaying for ten years, but I’m new to the Hero System. To help prepare for my game, and more importantly to help learn the ins and outs of the system, I’m statting up the entire Ultimate Universe. What I’m looking for here is feedback and suggestions on how to get the effects I want using the Hero system, rather than precisely replicating the abilities of the characters (though I’d like to do that, too). (In addition, whenever I lack information about a character’s abilities, I’m going to fall back on the assumption that they’re pretty much the same as their Marvel Universe counterpart.) Regarding point ranges: I’m building Colossus as a Standard Superheroic character. For my Ultimate Universe, Legendary Primary Characteristics go from 18-25, with 26+ as superhuman. The following Profile represents Colossus when the X-Men leave on their world tour, prior to their confrontation with Proteus (that is, issue #13). COLOSSUS (Piotr Nikolavich Rasputin) STR 25/70 (Roll 14-/23-, Lift 800 kg/400 tons, 5d6 damage/14d6 damage) (15 points) DEX 14 (Roll 12-, OCV: 5/DCV: 5) (12 points) CON 20/40 (Roll 13-/17-) (20 points) BODY 20/32 (Roll 13-/15-) (20 points) INT 10 (Roll 11-, PER Roll 11-) (0 points) EGO 18 (Roll 13-, ECV: 6) (16 points) PRE 18 (Roll 13-, PRE Attack: 4d6) (8 points) COM 16 (Roll 12-) (3 points) PD 8/20 (Total: 16/28 PD, 8/28 rPD) (3 points) ED 8/20 (Total: 16/28 ED, 8/28 rED) (4 points) SPD 3 (Phases: 4, 8, 12) (6 points) REC 9/20 (0 points) END 50/80 (5 points) STUN 50/89 (7 points) Total Characteristic Cost: 119 Running: 6†Leaping: 5†Swimming: 2†POWERS Steel Form: Density Increase (x4 mass: +10 STR, -2 Knockback, +2 PD, +2 ED), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1/2), Persistent (+1/4) (17 Active Points); Side Effect: Gains Vulnerability (x2 damage) to Magnetic Effects whenever used (-1/2), Visible (-1/4) (10 points) Characteristics: +35 STR (35 Active Points); Limited Power: Does not affect Leaping (-1/4), Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use** (-1/4) (23 points) Characteristics: +20 CON (40 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (32 points) Characteristics: +12 BODY (24 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (19 points) Characteristics: +3 PD (3 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (2 points) Characteristics: +6 ED (6 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (5 points) Damage Resistance 40 (20 PD, 20 ED) (20 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (16 points) Hardened PD and ED (10 Active Points) Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (8 points) Knockback Resistance (-4â€) (8 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (6 points) Lack of Weakness (-5) for Normal Defenses (5 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (4 points) Life Support (Total) (45 Active Points); Conditional Power: Does not work when Steel Form is not in use (-1/4) (36 points) Mental Defense Training: Mental Defense 10 (6 Active Points) (6 points) X-Men Uniform: Armor 16 (8 PD, 8 ED) (24 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2), OIF (-1/2) (12 points) * Colossus is supposed to weigh a quarter ton (Imperial) in his steel form, less than the weight this Density Increase gives him. But as we all know, Marvel tons weigh much more than regular tons. ** There are at least half a dozen ways to work out how Colossus’ powers are restricted. Since everything but Density Increase is normally in effect all the time, and DI most clearly represents “turning into steel,†Conditional Power gave me the least headache. Every other variant I’ve seen works out to a -1/4 Limitation anyway, so the game balance effect is the same however you do it. Total Power Cost: 179 SKILLS +2 with Hand to Hand Combat (10 points) Climbing 12- (3 points) Conversation 13- (3 points) KS: Mutant Affairs 11- (2 points) KS: Mutant Powers 11- (2 points) Language: English (idiomatic, native accent) (Russian is native) (4 points) Martial Arts: M. Block, M. Grab, M. Strike (11 points) Paramedics 11- (3 points) Streetwise 13- (3 points) Teamwork 12- (3 points) Trading 13- (3 points) TF: Small motorized ground vehicles, combat aircraft (1 point) PERKS Reputation: Super Hero 11- (+2, known to the general public) (4 points) Total Skill and Perk Cost: 52 Total Cost: 350 DISADVANTAGES DNPC: Family 8- (Normal, group of 4 people) (20 points) Distinctive Feature: Mutant (Concealable, Major Reaction, Detectable Only by Genetic Scan or Test) (5 points) Enraged: When teammates are KO’d (Common), go 8-, recover 11- (15 points) Hunted: Russian Mob 11- (More Pow, NCI, Limited to U.S. and Eastern Europe/Russia, Colossus has Public Identity, Watched) (15 points) Hunted: S.H.I.E.L.D. 11- (More Pow, NCI, Colossus has Public Identity, Watched) (20 points) Psychological Limitation: Code vs. Killing (Common, Strong) (15 points) Psychological Limitation: Distrusts Xavier (Common, Moderate) (10 points) Psychological Limitation: In Love with Wolverine (Common, Strong) (15 points) Reputation: Former Criminal 8- (5 points) Social Limitation: Mutant (Frequently, Major) (15 points) Social Limitation: Public Identity (Frequently, Major) (15 points) Total Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 200 Total Points: 350 Patrick J McGraw

Amy Jo Johnson is cute. Patrick J McGraw

Regarding Mind Scan and Mind Link enabling various other powers - obviously, Xavier makes use of those. He certainly maintains a Mind Link with all of the X-Men, and makes frequent use of Mind Scan (that's how he finds mutants, after all). I don't see 12 or so powers covering what's needed. Here's some examples - just from the first 5 volumes of Ultimate X-Men (since I'm working on my Ultimates game): 1. Convinces contractors that the X-Men aren't there (Mental Illusions, Area Effect, either Selective or Limited to Human mind classes - I followed Marvel's lead by defining Mutant as a separate class of mind). 2. Multiple subject telepathic broadcast and reception with the X-Men, including three people with whom he had never previously communicated (so no Mind Link, as it takes willing targets). 3. Long-distance telepathic detection and reception from selected individuals (Mind Scan + Telepathy). 4. Duplicating the skills of individuals that he is currently scanning (VPP linked to Mind Scan). 4. Controlling hormones of other individuals (Mind Control?) 5. Telepathic Broadcast to every person with 25 miles of his position (Telepathy, Area Effect, MegaScale). 6. Telekinetically separating a car into two pieces (Telekinesis). 7. Taking control of someone else's superpowers (Mind Control). 8. Creating an illusion perceived by thousands of people (Mental Illusion, Area Effect, MegaScale). 9. Blocking off major portions of an individuals memory and personality (Transform?) 10. Transmitting entire papers to people telepathically (Eidetic Memory, Mind Link). 11. Blocking off portions of an individual's powers and personality (Transform?) 12. Placing multiple individuals in "cerebral detention," with their consciousnesses effectively separated from their bodies, for an extended period of time. 13. Levitating himself and his wheelchair short distances (Flight). 14. Blocking off the Phoenix Force's access to its powers (Suppress). 15. Temporarily shutting down the minds of every non-mutant within a two-mile radius (not entangle, really, since they're unconscious... any thoughts?). And so on. He comes up with a new use of telepathy, requiring a completely new power, every two to three issues. That's a VPP. I suppose he could have a hefty Variable Advantantage of... well, every power he has, but that still doesn't cover everything the way a VPP would. Regarding the detection of psionics - I actually just realized that a few simple tweaks will accomplish what I need without seriously affecting game balance: 1. Mental Powers are only detectable with Mental Awareness. Someone can read you mind all they want without you knowing any better. 2. Everybody gets basic Mental Defense equal to their EGO/5. 3. Continuing Mental Powers are Constant, not Instant. Obviously, this will go on a power-by-power basis. Mental powers where detection doesn't normally apply won't have these drawbacks. Patrick J McGraw

In my Ultimate Universe writeup, I've finally arrived at the moment I've been dreading most: psychics. In lots of settings, psychics have clearly defined powers. The guy who reads minds just reads minds, he doesn't copy people's skills, cause their brains to release hormones to calm them, completely shut down their brain functions, and do whatever other trick can be justified as "telepathy" or "telekinesis." But Marvel psychics do all this. What's worse, they often do it on a massive scale. Charles Xavier doesn't just shut down your brain; he shuts down the brain of everyone within five miles. Moreover, some of the basic Marvel assumptions run at loggerheads with the Hero System. In Marvel, only people with experience with telepathy (and other telepaths, of course) can sense when telepathy is being used on them - which, in Hero System terms, means telepaths get much higher-level powers than they otherwise display. So, just how do I manage these guys in the Hero System? Marvel Psychics obviously have VPPs, but how would one structure such a power framework? How do address all the ways in which psionics in Marvel differ from those in the Hero system? Patrick J McGraw

Don't know where my math abilities went. I'll have to find another point to shave somewhere, then. Patrick J McGraw

It works out to 2.5 Real Points. Half-point fractions are rounded in the favor of the character, so it costs 2. OTOH, Wolverine has never been slowed down by his additional weight - neither has Bullseye, and we know for sure that he doesn't have any extra strength. While it may make him a bit heavier to carry, it doesn't affect his mobility at all. Patrick J McGraw

Here's the revision on Wolverine. Taking into account suggestions, and also the fact that I was already cutting costs left and right, I went ahead and gave him 50 more points. He is one of the most experienced heroes in the Ultimate Universe, after all. Changes are in red The following profile represents Wolverine when the X-Men start their world tour, just prior to the confrontation with Proteus (issue #13, in other words). WOLVERINE (Logan/James Howlett) STR 20 (Roll 13-, Lift 400 kg; 4d6 damage) (10 points) DEX 18 (Roll 13-, OCV: 6/DCV: 6) (24 points) CON 30 (Roll 15-) (40 points) BODY 25 (Roll 14-) (30 points) INT 13 (Roll 12-, PER Roll 15-) (3 points) EGO 20 (Roll 13-, ECV: 7) (20 points) PRE 20 (Roll 13-, PRE Attack 4d6) (10 points) COM 10 (Roll 11-) (0 points) PD 8 (Total: 16 PD, 8 rPD) (4 points) ED 8 (Total: 16 ED, 8 rED) (2 points) SPD 6 (Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) (32 points) REC 18 (16 points) END 60 (0 points) STUN 60 (10 points) Total Characteristic Points: 201 Running: 8†Jumping: 4†Swimming: 2†POWERS Adamantium Claws: Hand to hand Killing Attack 1d6 (3d6 with STR),* Armor Piercing x2 (+1), Penetrating (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1/2) (45 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2) (30 points) Unbreakable Adamantium-laced Skeleton: Physical Damage Reduction (Resistant) 25% (15 Active Points); BODY Only (-1/2) (10 points) Adamantium-Reinforced Strikes: HA +1d6 (5 Active Points); Hand to Hand Attack (-1/2) (2 points) Mutant Healing Factor: Healing 3d6 (Regeneration; 3 BODY per Turn), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (60 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2), Extra Time (1 Turn, -1) (24 points) Animal Senses: Enhanced Perception +3 (all Sense Groups), Discriminatory Sense of Smell, Tracking Sense of Smell (19 Active Points) (19 points) Athletic: Running +2†(4 Active Points) Weapon X Mental Training: Mental Defense 10 (6 Active Points) (6 points) Weapon X Thought Shielding: Mental Defense +20 (20 Active Points); Limited Power: Only vs. Telepathy (-1 ½) (8 points) X-Men Uniform: Armor 16 (8 PD, 8 ED) (24 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2), OIF (-1/2) (12 points) *When adding damage, the question of whether Wolverine’s claws count as unarmed attacks or weapon attacks came up. I decided to consider them unarmed attacks, since they are a natural part of his body (like a lion’s teeth, an eagle’s claws, or an elephant’s tusks). Thus his extra damage classes from Martial Arts give him a base damage of 5 Damage Classes before adding in his STR; combat maneuvers could add one more Damage Class before maxing out. Total Power Points: 115 SKILLS +1 Overall Skill Level (10 points) +1 with All Combat (8 points) +3 with Hand to Hand Combat (10 points) Breakfall 13- (3 points) Climbing 13- (3 points) Combat Driving 13- (3 points) Defense Maneuver II (5 points) Martial Arts: +2 Damage Classes, Killing Strike, M. Block, M. Dodge, M. Escape, M. Strike, Nerve Strike, Offensive Strike (37 points) Mechanics 12- (3 points) Security Systems 12- (3 points) Seduction 13- (3 points) Shadowing 12- (3 points) Stealth 13- (3 points) Streetwise 13- (3 points) Survival: Arctic/Subarctic, Mountain, Temperate/Subtropical, Deserts, Urban 12- (10 points) Teamwork 13- (3 points) Tracking 12- (3 points) TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Motorized Vehicles, Combat Aircraft (2 points) Two-Weapon Fighting: Hand to Hand (10 points) PERKS Contact: Nick Fury 8- (Extremely useful skills, access to major institutions, significant contacts of his own) (6 points) Reputation: Ruthless Killer 11- (+2, known to the black ops and mutant communities) (2 points) Reputation: Super Hero 11- (+2, known to the general public) (4 points) TALENTS Bump of Direction (3 points) Combat Sense 12- (Sense) (17 points) Danger Sense (Sense, Out of Combat, Intuitional) (17 points) Lightning Reflexes +2 (3 points) Resistance +2 (2 points) Total Skill, Perk, and Talent Cost: 184 Total Cost: 500 DISADVANTAGES Distinctive Features: Mutant (Concealable, Major Reaction, Detectable Only by Genetic Scans or Tests) (5 points) Distinctive Features: Metal Skeleton (Not Concealable, Major Reaction, Detectable Only By Metal Detectors) (10 points) Enraged: When Angered (Common) 8-, Recovery 8- (20 points) Hunted: Former Weapon X Operatives 8- (As Pow, Wolverine has Public Identity, Kill) (15 points) Hunted: S.H.I.E.L.D. 11- (More Pow, NCI, Wolverine has Public Identity, Watched) (20 points) Physical Limitation: No memory of life before Weapon X (Infrequently, Greatly Impairing) (10 points) Psychological Limitation: In Love with Marvel Girl (Common, Strong)(15 points) Reputation: Ruthless Killer 11- (10 points) Rivalry: Cyclops (Romantic Rival, Cyclops is Less Powerful, Wolverine Seeks to Harm Cyclops, Cyclops is Aware of Rivalry) (5 points) Social Limitation: Mutant (Frequently, Major) (15 points) Social Limitation: Public Identity (Frequently, Major) (15 points) Vulnerability: Double Effect/Damage from Magnetic Effects (Uncommon) (10 points) Total Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 350 Total Points: 500

There hasn't been any mention of it, but I can't recall seeing her trapped in any small spaces either, so it is possible. Patrick J McGraw

I consider it to require a specific item, since you're looking for an item related to specific events, not just any item with psychic residue. Patrick J McGraw

This is based on Ultimate X-Men, not the movie. Her "weather attack" power is versatile enough to duplicate any hurricane or other storm, and her MegaArea Change Environment covers the widespread weather effects. Patrick J McGraw

I'm looking at building psychometry - the ability to touch an object and sense its history. Obviously, this is Retrocognitive Clairsentience, but I'm a bit uncertain as to which Advantages and Limitations to use. OAF makes some sense for the object required, perhaps with Fixed Perception Point (the Focus in question). This both properly restricts what can be examined with psychometry, as well as the need for a focus relevant to what you need to learn. Retrocognition Only, Time Modifier, Vague and Unclear, Concentration, Extra Time and the like all make sense. What else should I include? Does the Fixed Perception point take care of any range issues, since it defines where the perception point can be located, or should I buy up the range substantially? Any other suggestions? Patrick J McGraw