transmetahuman

Re: The Cutting Edge SuperBase...what's in it? You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to OddHat again.

Re: Super Prisons without Super Tech Or a government-employed telepath (very, very carefully watched). But that's likely to be well into human rights violations, if the law recognizes mind control at all.

The problem of how to safely and humanely incarcerate super-powered criminals has been discussed a lot on these boards. One option always mentioned for those of us who don't like across-the-board power suppression technology is the use of a pocket dimension as a prison. I'm wondering if anyone uses this option in their game, and if so what the details are - Is the dimension generated by a device, or "found"? How is the gateway generated and guarded (on both sides)? How are the prisoners' needs taken care of? Are there guards inside the prison, or are prisoners left to their own devices?

Re: [Character Concept] Mutant w/ Latent Telekinetic Power & Activator Foci As written, he needs a skill to change the powers in the VPP, taking a full phase to do it. Otherwise it takes at least a turn. Given the SFX, I'd personally go with at least the +1/2 Powers Can Be Changed As A 1/2 Phase Action, or the +1 for 0 Phase. A Telekinetic VPP isn't really creating different abilities, it's using one telekinetic ability in different ways - I'd think the whole +2 for No Skill Roll and 0 Phase change would be most appropriate. As a GM, I'd make the player describe how it feels to use the power, to get an idea what specific powers he can use, and how they are changed in combat. I'd also be skeptical of an unobtrusive collar being OIF, unless he has to manipulate it every time he uses his ability. Maybe it's okay if it's obviously technological; otherwise I'd make it IIF.

Re: Frequency of young Empyreans Gotcha. Thanks, OddHat (can't rep you for awhile, it seems). Doesn't sound like what I'm looking for, after all. Though I'm sure I'll find details on the culture interesting when I do finally pick up Hidden Lands. I've always loved The Blood. Also the jet-set witch culture in Bewitched. The wizarding world in the Harry Potter books has some of that appeal, too (though it's way too conceptually loose for my tastes in a game). I just want to tighten up the power boundaries a little more than "it's magic", so I can distinguish them from other power origins a little better.

Re: Frequency of young Empyreans

Re: CU Laws Just gotta nit-pick here - it's a pet peeve when people use "sentient" (which ants and spiders are) when they mean "sapient". sen·tience n : The ability to perceive one's environment with the senses. sapience n : The ability to apply knowledge or experience or understanding or common sense and insight. Sorry...

Re: Mystic Superheroes Owe you rep for this - might be the most useful link I've gotten all year. Thanks!

Re: Build your own "New Avengers"! Thanks! That's a lotta rep for just posting a link, I feel like I cheated or something. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm thinking about the team from a different perspective - Avengers villains. They've had a fair number of villains that are really linked to members as well as the Avengers as a whole, that I'd hate to see disappear: Ultron, the evil Asgardians and their Wrecking Crew pawns, the Red Skull... that whole mess with Wonder Man. Just for Ultron's sake, I'd want to keep Pym and the Vision on the team. And I admit to nostalgia for the period when I was reading the book, and a desire to see the Avengers as the A team, power-wise. So: Captain America Iron Man Thor (or see below) Hank Pym, in whatever incarnation; maybe the Wasp Vision (the density-changing synthezoid, not some computer program) then to mix it up: Rogue's a good choice (with Ms Marvel powers, dunno if she still has 'em. And does her power only work on mutants, or anybody? That boyfriend she killed was human) Juggernaut or She-Hulk would be fun, but we're already brick-heavy... I like Juggie's powers more, and his whole blue-collar thing would be fun to play with. Not to mention the ex-villain thing. Scarlet Witch fits my "tied in villains" criterion, the team needs a wild card power/mystic, and I guess she would be around if the Vision was the way he ought to be - but I've never seen her powers used consistently so I just don't like the character much. Maybe replace Thor with a more mystic-oriented Asgardian. Northstar is a Quicksilver who flies (right down to the obnoxious attitude - what is it about Marvel speedsters?), plus he's gay. I haven't read about him since he was supposedly an elf, but damn I'd love to see him interact with Thor. And I want a 'mo among Earth's Mightiest Mortals. Sue me. So... Cap Iron Man Thor, and/or Some mystic-ier Asgardian (preferably female, to round things out) Hank Pym Vision Rogue Juggernaut Northstar

Re: Be like unto a god One does Nobel winners, definitely. I can't come up with any kind of award/contest for villainous types, not suprisingly. But I want to keep the theme going. Actually I wouldn't be suprised, given the popularity of books and sites dedicated to serial killers, if there wasn't some kind of explicit rating system on some web site that killers could be #1 on. I'm shuddering to think about the being that awards the Miss Universe Pageant winners.

Re: Build your own "New Avengers"! Or use The Marvel Resurrection Table...

Re: Be like unto a god Nice idea. My first thought, geek that I am, was "What, intellectual and artistic ability isn't worthy of godhood? Godhood is just for jocks??". I really like your idea about backroom deals, that was cool. There'd be a lot of pressure on the judges - or does the Awarder judge by his own criteria? Is winning a medal a prerequisite? I'm guessing team sports don't qualify - or maybe the whole synchronized swimming team gets the same powers? Sort of like the neo-pantheon's "nymphs"... Depending on what qualities the Awarder is actually looking for in a god candidate... say, if one of them was heroism... it might be cool if one or more cosmic Awards went to a winner in the Special Olympics (presumeably curing his or her disability in the bargain). Sounds like he's just into athletic ability and determination, though.

Re: Damage Reduction Heh. EDM: to universe where what you want to have happen, does. That oughta bring the page count for 6th ed waaaaaaay down... Ack.

Re: Super City Sunny Rest Cemetary - Suprisingly small for the city's only cemetary. The "Sunny" part is clearly a misnomer - it is perpetually overcast and misty - but the "Rest" is appproriate. "Rest" as in "rest stop" - the secret of their success is their ability to re-use nearly every grave after the interred inevitably claws its way out. The management and security guards never talk about it - bad for business. Especially with the rent they take in from the undead and other mortality-challenged supervillains wanting stylish mausoleum digs. For some reason, none of the past residents' families ever seem to notice any of this. SCSTS - Pronounced "Zits" by locals, the Super City Subway Transit System is immense but underused. Few trains actually run, because of the loss of money as everyone realized there were far more, and more convenient, "secret" entrances to the tunnels and stations than there were official stations with turnstyles (where you would be expected to actually pay)...

Re: Steriaca's Version Of Terror Incorprated. Hmm. I don't seem to have that- at least, I can't find it. Maybe the wrong browser? Mozilla 1.7.5 for Mac OSX. Oh, well.

Re: New Avengers? There's some pretty informative reviews/synopses at http://www.medinnus.com/winghead/review/index.html It sounds friggin awful.

Re: Vari Lim with Limited Use question Thumbs down from me. "Variable Limit, Only vs. X" isn't a limitation, it's a Variable SFX advantage. And possibly Selective on your AoE. Though there might be a limitation in there somewhere to reward the cool "Description Must Be Self-Limiting" aspect of the power. As your GM, I'd need firmer groundrules on what kinds of things you have in mind before judging the limitation's worth.

Re: how to make this power 1) Why would "Works Against PRE, not BODY" be -1/2 instead of +1/4? I know it's cheaper, but it's not likely to be significantly higher than BODY or EGO. I'd probably just make both of them work vs EGO anyway, to simplify the power (otherwise what happens when one of the linked Transforms works, but the other doesn't?) 2) Since the ritual is supposed to take time, I wouldn't require All Or Nothing. That way you could use fewer dice, lowering the cost. You'll need this, because: 3) I'm not happy with "until the attacker decides to relent" as a retransform condition. Too munchkiny. I'd make him pay an extra +1 (on a par with Continuous, or NND) to let it work this way. And make there be *some* other way for it to happen against the attacker's will, even if it's something very rare like "Transform heals if the two are touching while the Archmage uses a VPP specialized Dispel vs. Soul Transfers successfully on them". 4) The character wants to bring his power along with him when he switches bodies, presumeably. One thing about the Wild Cards Jumpers that always bothered me was that they gained the victim's powers (ie the powers "went with the body", even though all powers in that world are defined as psi of some kind or another) but kept their own, too (apparently the only power that "went with the mind"). Depending on the GM, that might mean a Physical Transform in addition to the others (and a Physical Transform would definitely be needed to add on the increased aging bit, even though it's a Disadvantage). I'd let it be part of the Mental Transform(*), but either way, it's adding a power, so by 5er rules you'll need to do extra damage - probably a lot of extra damage - with the Transform. This also applies to any mental stats that get raised, and any skills that transfer (which I'd rule was "all of them"). So you're going to need that standard cumulative effect. I'd replace the aging side effect with something more mental or spiritual, too. Otherwise you'll have that same "what happens if the physical transform works but not the mental/spiritual" question that was the reason I suggested making them both against EGO, plus being that much more expensive to model a disadvantage. And clearly define which of a character's traits are mental/spiritual, and which are physical, in general terms. Is that super's Firy Aura of Infernal Malice a mental, spiritual, or physical trait? You'll need to know if you hop into his body... (*) Actually I replaced the Physical/Mental/Spiritual Transforms framework with Physical/Mental/Supernatural, with Supernatural referring to spells/enchantments, supernatural/psi powers (which is most of them that don't derive from permanent physical changes), luck/unluck, "magicky" Disads, and anything else which doesn't clearly fall into one of the other two classes. But that's just me. P.S. And I really, really like the Wild Cards series.

Re: 'So wait, how do I hold this thing?' I'm usually either holding it - spine resting on my left forearm, left fingers curled over the top to keep the sides from dropping too much - or laying in bed, resting its bottom edge on my chest or stomach (depending on what combination of glasses and contacts I'm wearing/missing). Never seemed uncomfortable to me. *shrug*

Re: Comic books Heh. Life imitates art: http://www.tv.com/ who-wants-to-be-a-superhero/show/17992/summary.html and http://www.mtv.com/onair/castingcall/story.jhtml?id=1483868

Re: Gravity manipulation costs? Another thought is that you're going to probably want a cylindrical AoE instead of a sphere. The GM is going to have to work that out, there isn't one in HERO unless you use the hugely expensive AoE (Any Area).

Re: Gravity manipulation costs? There's a problem with using TK. Reversing the Earth's gravity in an area would affect any amount of mass, even supertankers. Flight, Useable As Attack (defense is own Flight powers, maybe holding onto a fixed structure?), Ranged, Area Effect (and maybe Indirect) might be the way to go. Limitation: Can only create straight line vectors which are on a semicircle (or semidisc, more accurately) from vertical (up or down), "towards you", or any combination (to represent vector addition with the Earth's normal pull). As a GM, I wouldn't let that be worth more than -1/4 - Flight UAA is already pretty powerful for the points, and it doesn't limit you a lot. Having to impart the same vector to everything is already part of AOE; being able to modify it phase by phase is I think the default when the base power is Continuous, like Flight - but I think you'd have to take a half phase attack action every phase whether you modify the vector or not. I'm not sure. You might want to add the Affects Porous adder from TK, to affect liquids. I don't think there is any canonical way to affect gasses with TK let alone UAA Flight, but in the comics, gravity manipulators don't really shoot plumes of atmosphere upwards/around anyway. Remember that Flight adds velocity gradually (unlike throwing things with TK) - this actually helps simulate the gravity SFX. Flight UAA straight downwards doesn't really do much to things already on the ground, though. You'll have to figure out the effects you want the extra weight to have on things and make that a seperate multipower slot I guess. Suppress ST, Flight, and Running? Crushing damage? Depends on how you visualize it, and the GM.

Re: Telepaths Must Die! Let me put this another way. Man is a social animal. Attempting to get other people to "see things my way" is something we all do, all the time. Everyone on this board is doing it, every time we post- even if we don't expect to actually change anyone's opinion, we want our viewpoint understood. It's a far more common function of language than the mere sharing of factual information. Our whole culture runs on advertising. It's arguably what all art is about. Subtle and versatile mind control is the ultimate tool for this. You don't need words which might not fit, might not be put together as well as you'd like, and might not be comprehended in the way intended- you simply will the other person to understand... and, if you like, to agree. A refusal to use it would be like the most talented and persuasive writer in the history of the world, refusing to use words. It could happen, because of fear of reprisal, or empathy with the way it would make a victim feel if he knew it had happened... but the temptation to use an indetectable ability to persuade- that is more powerful, more useful, than anything else man has come up with- would have to be incredible. At first, an ethical mind controller might only use it to share comprehension. But a lot of times, sharing comprehension means sharing a common framework. It would be a slippery slope, with the things the MC felt most passionately about - and the things he has been most frustrated in his ability to share using other means - being the things he most wants to share. Empathizing with the MC, I could understand what a terrible temptation it would be to use that power. I could forgive him for using it, assuming his intentions are good. Which is why I would have a difficult time trusting someone not to use it. I don't feel that that is paranoia. I believe it would be a widespread attitude in a world where mind control existed, and therefore might be something that mentalist PCs in realistic (as opposed to "based on the genre", which is actually more what I prefer for many reasons like this) campaign worlds might like to explore, and that GMs deinitely should.

Re: Tacky, tacky, tacky !!!! Please, God, no. Please.

Re: Telepaths Must Die! Interesting. Add a third level: people who aren't quite as upstanding and shame-free as you who, having just experienced a demonstration of complete telepathic awareness of a mind, become hyperaware of their own shameful secrets. There's also the matter of your memories - if they know everything you've done, they know everything you've seen in anyone else's mind... and know that everyone else you ever do this with will now know their secrets... Some might simply want their secrets kept. Some might actually get jealous of your stain-free life and hate you for it (I'm not saying that will be common, it's just another threat category). Some might see in your mind your forgiveness for the relatively minor sins of your common man (and I assume a socially-functioning telepath almost has to develop that to survive), and be put at ease.