Rubric

1. Can I use the "Rapid Fire" maneuver to grab multiple targets at range with Telekinesis? Assume that I am going to grab and throw each target, not hold them. (I figure I can't grab and hold multiple targets because I need to let go of the first one before I can grab the second one.) ------------------------- 2. If I have Telekinesis with Area Effect (radius), I roll vs. DCV 3 and then grab everybody who doesn't dive out of the area. That raises these questions: 2a. If I grab and hold several people, do I get my full TK strength against each person in the area, or do I have to divvy it up? Like, say I grab two opponents and hold them. What happens when they both try to "break out" simultaneously? Also, if one opponent successfully breaks out, am I still holding the others? 2b. Can I do something different with each target in the area of effect (as in, throw one guy, hold another guy, etc.)? What about slamming two guys into each other? Is the answer different if I have the nonselective targetting limitation? --------------------------- 3. If I have just "regular" TK, with no area effect or other advantage, can I pick up a group of objects that are in a pile (maybe a pile of neatly stacked bricks for example)? Thanks.

Re: Avenger/Justice League in the "real" world He can't because they're... ummm... "magic" bullets. Didn't mean to hijack anything. Just to reiterate my answer to the original question: Guns are much more EFFECTIVE in the real world, than they are in comic books. People hardly ever get shot in comics, unless they're bullet proof. Does anyone remember the Image comic Wild Cats? I don't know if it's still around. There was a character called Spartan, who could regrow his limbs if he lost them. As a result, his arms got hacked off in EVERY issue. And yet, no other character ever ever got injured. Cool character hook, yes. But not too realistic. My point is, real world supers would encounter death and injury a LOT more than comic book characters do. One last thing on this whole subject: Perhaps the best way to analyze this subject is to look at the real world and ask yourself, "Why aren't there more vigilante crime fighters in real life?"

Re: Avenger/Justice League in the "real" world I would like to try a campaign like that. I could see where the "feeling like lackeys" would be a problem. If I were going to run it, maybe I would just make it kind of a background theme, rather than have it be the focus of the setting. The only thing that would be constant would be the pressure to avoid murder and collateral damage. Anyway, I'm drifting off subject. My main point on this lawsuit issue relates to the original question of what would I expect to see if supers existed in the real world. My point is that financial accountability is a big deal in the real world, whereas it is a carefully-avoided non-issue in comic books. So can legitimate, well-justified lawsuits. Well, that's true. Of course, the origin of lawsuits lies in compensating people for their loss. The result is supposed to be a return to the status quo, rather than gain. If the real world wanted super heroes, and didn't want them to be put out of business by lawsuits, I suppose there are legislative solutions. Congress could limit (or eliminate) punitive damages, and/or require super heroes to carry insurance. Everybody likes cars. They cause death and property damage. They cause endless, endless lawsuits. Yet we still have them because they are so useful.

Re: Avenger/Justice League in the "real" world Regarding sword-weilding heroes and Thor's Hammer: Maybe I misunderstood the premise. I was assuming that in the "real world", there is no such thing as Mjolnir, because Thor is a mythological (aka fictional) character. If this version of the real world that we are discussing includes magic weapons, then I guess your sword could cut through anything. But then it's not really the real world, although I can see where *that* argument is headed. Anyway, if magic weapons exist, I would still rather have a magic gun than a magic hammer. * * * Regarding villains, megalomania, doomsday, and Al Qaida: Looks like this might be a "chicken and egg" question. If you are already a murderous loon, then giving you super powers on top of it could very well cause you to build a doomsday device. My main point was just that adding super powers to an otherwise real world, would not result in the high number of would-be world conqueror's that you see in comics. I haven't really thought it through, however, and the rest of you are making good points. Take Dr. Doom. He has powered armor and he can build robots. Does that provide any plausible reason for him to want to conquer the world, if he wasn't already that way before? As for people gaining powers, and then wanting to change the world -- my view is that the world doesn't like to change, so this would be more of an imagined threat than a real one. The media would have you believe that the world is on an unstoppable path to hell in a handbasket, all because of ONE thing. (Of course, that one thing changes from day to day.) In reality, the ability of one guy to cause serious change is limited. In the rare exceptions, charisma is the main factor that allows change, not super powers. If Dr. Doom decides he wants to change the world, what's he going to do, really? Does he single-handedly destroy the world's armored divisions and air forces, and then order the Grand Latverian Army to march to victory? Is the world just sitting around while he does this? How does the Lateverian soldier deal with a heavily armed citizenry that doesn't like to be bossed around? Dr. Doom might take out a tank or two in a head to head fight, but 50 million militia men in hiding is a different matter. The whole idea seems implausible. More likely, a real world Dr. Doom would try to change the world with political assassinations and nuclear terrorism. In other words, the same thing that non-super villains already want to do in the real world. * * * Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. I don't have time to respond on the lawsuit issue right now. But, it occurs to me that if super-hero teams were sponsored by major corporations, they could afford some pretty big insurance policies to handle those lawsuits. In a litigious society, supers would have to add financial value to their employer in order to justify the high legal exposure, which means they can't be pure good guys. Free lance good guys would be rare, and would probably have to be evasive with law enforcement in order to avoid getting sued, which also means they can't be pure good guys. The corporate hero, on the other hand, would stride proudly into court, using the whole thing as a Michael Jackson-esque photo op. "Yes, I'm getting sued again. Look at me! It's only because I'm famous. There is no basis for this lawsuit! Kids, remember.... Captain Thriller drinks Pepsi!"

Re: Avenger/Justice League in the "real" world This is always an interesting subject. Here are a few thoughts: POWERS -- 1. Supers would generally have to be "bullet proof". I don't care how high your DCV is. There are a lot of guns in the real world. If you make a living looking for fights on a daily basis, you WILL sooner or later get shot. I do not think that Spiderman, with his super-agility, would really win EVERY TIME against a group of 4 or 5 well-prepared guys with shotguns. 2. Some way to detect "Crimes in progress". They just don't happen that often, and a real world hero could not reasonably expect to stumble upon them all the time. I have worked in an urban setting for 14 years. I have a two-block walk twice a day, and it's often dark. In 14 years, I have seen ONE crime in progress. Obviously, I would not make a very good super hero. 3. Look at the military for other ideas on what powers and abilities are needed for effective fighting tactics. You need: Higher mobility than your opponent, ranged weaponry, ability to operate at night, ability to disrupt opponent's communications, ability to disrupt opponent's mobility. 4. Sword-weilding heroes are cool, but not realistic. (No, your sword does not cut through metal. I don't care how strong you are.) Same with martial arts. As mentioned above, the real world uses guns. There used to be a T-shirt that said "Ninja shminja -- you can't karate chop a bullet". PERSONALITY -- The double-life of comic book characters is not realistic. Any superhero or villain who tried to maintain a secret ID would be quickly found out. In the real world, the media is huge, powerful, and very determined. There would be multiple paparazzi and legitimate reporters tracking every move of every hero. The media companies would be competing to see who can be the first to blow your cover. They would hire other supers to track you down, just so they could get the scoop. Heroes would need to embrace the media. Think Greg Kinear in [gah, what was the name of that movie] where he was a super-hero who had sponsors. As for villains, realistically there would not be many people who would think they could take over the world just because they have a metal suit. Villainy would be on a smaller scale. The mass murderers would be apprehended fairly quickly because otherwise the panic level among the populace would sky rocket. There would be more villains committing the type of perverse "evening news" crimes that real people commit, and less villains trying to build doomsday devices. OTHER ISSUES -- Once a real world hero has solved the above problems (getting killed, and/or hounded by the media), the next step is to reduce, avoid, and repair collateral damage. You put one hole in one building, and you're going to get sued. The real world likes lawsuits almost as much as they like guns and celebrities. Maybe even more. If the hero routinely damages buildings, cars, trash dumpsters, or (god forbid) a person, he will be quickly sued out of existence. I assume there would be many "retired" heroes, who simply couldn't keep up with the legal bills and insurance premiums. Maybe some of them became villains for that reason. That's all I can think of right now. Obviously there are many other interesting issues (spandex, mind control, supers in non-fighting roles like sports, Hollywood, industry, science, etc. If you could really lift 50 tons, the manufacturing industry would find a use for you, other than fighting Dr. Notorious every other day. And they would pay well.) P.S. Hey! My first post.... Hi everyone.