Karma

Here's a question:

Are there any powers that you think have a better than average chance of having their owners become villians? A few threads have shown that some people feel mental powers, especially Mind Control, are of this type, but are there others you can think of.

For that matter how about the opposite, are there any powers that are more likely to turn those that have them to the side of good?

Are there any powers that you can only see Villians/Heroes having, and that you see no way for the other side to use?

Re: You've taken over the world. Now what?

Post Word Domination plan

Nicked almost wholecloth from Matthew Sernett

Step 1: Establish unified code of law, weighed heavily toward human rights

Step 2: Create economic incentives to invest in poorer nations in an attempt to increase the standard of living worldwide.

Step 3: Make standardised education available to all people for free.

Step 4: Develop a means to appropriately fund health care and higher education in an attempt to make them free to all.

Step 5: Establish economic incentives to reduce population growth and environmental damage worldwide.

Step 6: Desolve national borders, establish a world language (I'll have to be English since I *suck* at learning languages), and support the concept of a world culture in an effort to quash nationalism and ethnocentrism.

Step 7: Quell the inevitable rebellions against my magnanomous rule in as peaceful a way as possible.

Step 8: Begin to institute all the measures on the 'When I am an Evil Overlord' list with the exception of those that require me to actually *be* Evil.

Re: Difficulty reaching Super-Hero status

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, does anyone else have this problem? Yes, I would prefer to play in lower-powered campaigns, but that is not always a possibility.

Yes I've had this problem before. Somtimes I find myself adding powers and sklls which I had planned on taking later in my character's carrier just to make up the points. Even in 200 pt games I sometimes feel my charaters are more experienced than the 'novice heroes' concept should allow me to be.

"Right I'm a teenager who has just discovered my powers. So why exactly am I buying a suit of Martial Arts maneuvers and a bevy of skills and increasing my stats to superhuman levels just so I can make the point limit."

Of course alot of people can come up with great justifications how a teenager could have little or no limitations of his newly found powers and access to superscience and top level stats, but I'm never one of them. To me the point of playing a novice superhero is to get the feel of being just that 'a novice', which is why a tend to limit powers alot, and thereby have trouble 'making the grade'.

As for your character, try to think how grandad got around in the old days if he couldn't fly. Did the army have jet that he and his teammates used? Or a truck?

How about some grenades kept in one of the suits legs? Also you might be skiping on the strength the suit provides given that I see grandad 'rip the tops off of tanks' type WWII hero.

Of course, if you want to leave the suit at Golden age levels, then concentrate on what the charater brings to it. What sorts of skills talents and perks does she have. remember there is nothing worse than a PA suit hero who is useless outside her suit (and it's a trope of the genre that your hero will be caught that way at least once in their carrier).

Re: Name That Band Hero!

Foreigner, of course!

 

 

Years ago, one of our GMs did have the galactic rebel leaders have codenames from Beatles songs. Lady Madonna, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer, etc.

 

Howabout:

 

Captain Jack: Piratical motiff, slurred speech.

Piano Man: Ability to teleport pianos from anywhere on Earth! Look out above!

Pressure: crushing telekinetic

Nocturne: darkness abilities

Billy the Kid: rootin tooting shootin

The Entertainer: mental illusions and images

Angry Young Man: Mr. Furious has nothing on this guy

Stiletto: hope those defenses are Hardened

Big Shot: Growing brick

Baby Grand: Shrinker who makes a thousand duplicates!

Modern Woman: gadgeteer

Storm Front: duh

Billy Joel.

But I'm not playing

Re: How would you have handled this (GMs)?

The problem here is not that Avatar downed Toe-Tapper with a Killing attack, that could be interpreted as 'didn't know he couldn't take it', but the fact that he saved Avatar should also not come into it since you could say she was unaware of the save having been stunned silly at the time.

What makes this criminal is the taking potshots at his team-mates when they try to help him. This, above all pushes the crime into the bloodthirsty, sadistic range. Keeping an enemy's allies from getting him medical attention when he is bleeding to death is the sign of a villian, not a hero. Now the War God might support this type of behaviour, but that just means that he's a bloodthirsty War God who should be hanging out with other psychotics, not with heroes.

Were I UNTIL I'd start having the boys in 'Occult Investigations' looking for a way to exorcise a god, or at least imprison one since this guy has gone from 'shakey ally' to 'threat to public safety'.

Re: Ethics for mentalists

Side Question: Mentalist doesn't have MC. What he does have is Telepathy at high enough levels to matter. He finds a girl, reads her mind as deeply as he can and proceeds to use this in-depth knowledge to seduce her. As far as she's concerned she's found the 'perfect catch' and is probably going to enjoy the experience all the more because of it.

How ethical would you say this was?

Re: Ethics for mentalists

i.e. -- the little kid wants to try claiming he was mind-controlled to steal that candy? The court can handle this in two minutes with one cheap casting... 'OK, junior, just step this way and make your deposition -- under oath.' *casts spell*

"But at the time I thought t was my idea to steal the candy and give it to Micheal, but then I heard that he was a mentalist and they can make you think somethings your idea and I started thinking "why would I steal candy for a freak like him" and it hits me, he must have made me do it and make me think it was my idea."

When am +20 roll can make it possible to convince someone it was their idea, 'Detect Lie' becomes a whole lot less useful.

Lerts face it a powerful mentalist with IPA on his Mind control is untouchable legally, no matter what spell you cast on his victims.

Re: Ethics for mentalists

If +20 is that effective, I'd probably have to house rule another level in there where the target doesn't realize they were mind controlled, at least initially but they react normally to suddenly deciding to do bizarre things for no reason.

 

but that's difting off topic

Yes I like the idea of 'no matter how high you get you cannot change the suconcious with Mind Control'. You can convince the concsious mind that what it is doing is their own idea, but after the fact they will have reactions, based on the subconsious, in line with the actual facts of what was done to them (ie. that they were forced to do something they were opposed to). For instance the woamn who is 'convinced' the sleep with the mentalist develops a fear of being touched by men etc. desite the fact she thinks it was all her idea.

Long term damage to victims psyches would be in direct proportion to how high a level you needed to get to convince the. None for 'wouldn't mind doing' to "Years of therapy might not be enough" for those who were forced to work against theit deepest held beliefs, and even more so if they were convinced it was their idea, since the idea that you suddenly decided of your own free will to do something you find abhorent or at least 'out of character' would have to effect you more than being forced to do the same thing.

Of course if you used this ruling Mind contol would become unethical beyond the 'wouldn't mind doing' level, and using it unsanctioned would be a crime of a magnitude comparable to Killing Attacks.

Re: Ethics for mentalists

Telepathy is the ultimate 'invasion of privacy'. If you consider invading a person's privacy unethical then you have to consider telepathy in the same way. Sure the proper authorities can get permission to invade a person's privacy, but they used to have to ask for it on a case by case basis (the USA PATRIOT ACT is taking care of that). So it might be permissable by 'registered telepaths' in the line of duty, but for the most part it should be considered at the least 'icky' (Telepaths being, potentially, the ultimate peeping toms)

Mind Control however is the ultimate remover of free will. Unlike threatening people with a gun Mind Control doesn't give the person a choice (few Mind Controllers say 'Stop or I will Mind Control you' they just go ahead and do it (mostly because they consider it 'soft' since it 'doesn't hurt anyone'). And the problems that come with having a gun are magified with Mind Control. Normal police sometimes have a hard time staying within the boundries of their job when they find a 'child murderer' will go free unless they do something about it. Imagine how much easier it would be if they could 'convince' him to confess with no evidence of their 'coersion'. Sure you walked all over his Rights, but no-one will know, and it's better with him off the street.

Unethical? Maybe. But the fact is Mind control powers are probably the ones with the most corrupting effect simply because they can be used to make others do what you want, leave no evidence and can (with a Ego + 20 roll) even allow you to convince them it was their idea.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

I wasn't aware of our giant purple Moslem-hunting robots.

They are probably on the drawing-board (given some of the actual things that the military has tried (hypnotising the afghan goats, getting a group of sci-fi writers to design the anti-missile defense system) Giant Robots would probably be a less ludicrous idea).

As for what they represent these days how about metaphoric huge unstoppable machine of government (which they've probably always represented) and the USA PATRIOT Act et. al. that is as likely to attack innocent people as actual terrorists.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

I've met a fair number of celebs face to face and not recognized them out of context. In a sweat suit without makeup, Uma Thurman or Tricia Helfer are good looking women, but I didn't instantly say "Beatrix Kiddo" or "Number Six" when I saw them. Once I met one of my students when she was working as a model, and I had no idea who she was until she started talking to me.

I met a TV star working behind the counter in a cinema recently. She was wearing glasses so I obviously didn't recognise her immediately. However I had the feeling I knew her from somewhere and I eventually worked it out (then again I'm possibly more observant than your average comics world character).

But your right about context. And remember even their closes friends probably think of the Secret ID as a coward (he/she runs off whenever there is danger) and so would find it hard to believe that *they* could be a couragous hero, even if they do look similar. (How they explain 'Cowardlyman runs off, Heroman appears to save the day' escapes them is still something I'm attempting to justify (but I'm good at it, I'll get there eventually).

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

Gotta admit' date=' that one's kinda gotten old for me, too ... especially since, as far as I can tell, the Champions Universe doesn't have the Mutant Paranoia factor going, yet everybody I've ever seen play a mutant in a standard CU game assumes that they do.[/quote']

They still have Genocide (or whatever it's calling itself these days) so it still has anti-mutant hate-groups.

The thing about Mutants and mutant hating is that it allowed Marvel to deal with the problems social problems while using the screen of 'mutation' to claim they weren't ("No we're not dealing with racial hate groups or gay bashings, their mutants, their not real. Any similarities to the actual crimes being comitted against minorities is purely coincidental). And while you might be getting tired of it after 40 years, the issues are still around only now Mutant= Moslem or person of Middle Eastern Appearance instead of 'African American' or 'Gay person'.

Also many teenagers still feel like 'mutants' for one reason or another and so idenify with the mutant characters.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

I also don't mind (in fact, I love) the comicbook contention that mutations are almost always beneficial.

I'm not sure Marvel has ever said that even their 'mutations' are all benificial just that only those with beneficial mutations become 'lead characters'. It's kind of like the virus in the Wild Cards books. Those with benificial mutations become 'Aces' or 'Xmen' or 'BOEM members' etc. The other 90% of living mutants are only seen in passing, and we don'tr even talk about those who don't survive.

I mean can you really say Beak had a beneficial mutation.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

I like the fact that by putting on a mask' date=' even one that does not cover your mouth, no one will recognize your voice.[/quote']

 

Haven't yoiu noticed they change their voice in the cartoons when they enter secret ID. Same thing applies.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

Heroes must fight when they meet

Spider-Man to Spiderman 2099 upon meeting him for the first time: "Traditionally this is the point where we have a misunderstanding and fight each other. Let's not and just tell everyone we did."

See they don't 'have to', they're just expected to (that superhero club is kind of whacked).

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

Unstable molecules, or as Champs genre book puts it, "Near-Magical Costume Material".

 

Because even if they're all hotties, I still appreciate it when they can keep their clothes on.

Yet sometimes the costumes tear in combat, but never in a way that would reveal anything the wearer wouldn't want seen.

'Unstable molicule fabric that works with your powers and can be torn in combat but always keeps your dignity and secret ID intact'

Boy that's amasing stuff.

Re: [GM Advice] PC's Buying Defences vs. Adversaries Attacks

I would tell the players "Well, no, you character doesn't know how to adjust for that attack yet. No DEF for you."

Of course if they had access to a 'danger room' or something similar they might try setting it up to create that kind of attack at low levels so they could work out a defence against it (if they want to risk bombarding themselves with radiation, or what-have you).

There are always ways of justifying 'finding a way to defend against an attack' if you have these kinds of facilities. If they don't then don't let them have any defence.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

From this weekends D&D game

Player 1: What is it?

Me (also a player): It's a huge, insubstantial creature that drains your intelligence!

Player 2: Kind of like university.

Re: Power Help: Big Stone Mech

I suspect you're right' date=' but this brings up a question: since a Side Effect "runs itself" (i.e., the character doesn't make any voluntary actions), can it really be said that the character is adding his STR? That is, does a Side Effect have any STR to add to an HKA?[/quote']

All this is kind of beside the point since the side effect will do a certain amount of danage to the surounding area whether it's a HKA or a no range RKA.

 

However another question it berings up is what is the difference between a RKA and a HKA damage shield and is there one (does a HKA damage shield add the charaters STR or not and if so why?)

Re: Power Help: Big Stone Mech

Actually, Summoning Automatons is legal, as is Summoning Vehicles as per the Ultimate Vehicle. So, if the GM chose to permit it, the character could summon a Mech.

 

However, this is a dirt cheap way to get a huge boost in power. I'd be very cautious about permitting it.

It's not dirt cheap given, as someone above pointed out, that you have to use the full point cost of the vehicle (not 1/5) do determine how much it costs (plus all the amicable mods etc.).

A method you might consider is linked Growth and DI, OIHID, with the Hero ID being the Mech.

The reason I decided to build it as a 'mech' and not as a OIHID or Multiform etc. is that the character will take no damage if his 'mech' is damaged unless they target him as the 'pilot' and neither take any STUN when the mech is damaged (as with any vehicle) since the 'mech' is simply a pile of stone and metal, not a living being and the character has no more psychic link with it than a telekinetc has with the stuff he moves around (the 'mech' is simply the characters primary use of his 'terrakinesis').

Re: Power Help: Big Stone Mech

Sounds OK to me. Though since this would make it No Range, I think a Side Effect of HKA would be better.

HKA adds Str based damage which doesn't make sense in this context. This is the difference between a 'no range' RKA and a HKA (Normally RKA and HKA both cost 15 pts, because on has range and the other has 'plus STR related damage')

I have a character who has as one of his powers the ability to use the minerals in the area around him to create a humanoid magically-powered vehicle (a big stone 'mech' for want of a better term) around him.

Would you (were you GM) allow someone to summon a vehicle around themselves?

Also the 'Big Stone Mech' is able to grow and heal itself by using materiaol around it. Do you think Growth and Healing BODY with Side effect: Xd6 RKA to minerally based stuff in surrounding area, and 'must be in contact with minerals' would cover it?

Re: What does a SuperTeam need?

This is a wargamer-ism.

For future reference I consider that a personal insult.

The fact is that a group can't cover all contingencies - and shouldn't try.

Never said they should (note the lack of 'must cover all contingencies including speedsters, duplicators, mystics, gageters and anyone with a VPP equivelent powers' in my post). However, even from a non-metagaming POV most superteams who are aware of mentalists/psionics/telepaths/whatever name is given to 'those who can read and contol minds' are going to try to find a way of avoiding falling victim to them (how sucessful they are is up to the GM/writer as you point out even those with 'psionic invulnerability' can fall victim to 'pheromone control'). Few powers are more feared and invasive than those that can 'read and control minds' and even in a world where 'powered humans' are accepted most people will be weary of those who can read and control minds.

All of this means that while it's fine to have a mentalist in the team, it is not required. Of course, the team will then be vulnerable to enemy mentalists, but that's just part of the business.

True, but after (or even before) being hosed by mentalist who invade your mind and get you to kill, or at least beat up your friends (if they're feeling nice) most teams/characters are going to look for ways to make sure it doesn't happen again. After his encounter with the Puppetmaster Ben Grim became insistent about Reed finding a way to stop him taking over Ben again.

Now it's true that you can make a team with no mentalist/mental defence and realise you'll get hosed by mentalists. But any charater who becomes a mentalist's victim and does not at least try to find a way of stopping it from happening again isn't well played/written (there's a very good reason why Menton's victims in the USPD needed extenisve psychological counselling)

Re: What does a SuperTeam need?

The 'Must Have' for any team:

A Mentalist who can help protect the team from mental attacks or some technology to do the same. Lets face it, a Mentalist can take a party unprepared for their brand of attack down faster than anything (except possibly a speedster) and can do it undetected. What's worse they can stuff your reputation as heroes/good people/upstanding citizens in the toilet and flush.

To reiterate: Mentalists are dangerous, be prepared.

All this, of course, goes out the window if the GM says 'there are no Mentalists, or mental powers in this world'.

Re: Personality Archetypes

The 'Empty Gun' (My power is so useless, why do these heroes even let me on the team?)

The 'Loaded Gun' (My power is so dangerous and hard to control that I've joined the team to learn to control it (Cyclops in some incarnations)

The Angstmaster 5000 (My power and/or form makes me an outcast in society! No-one understands my pain! (Pick an obvious Marvel mutant, and even some of the less obvious ones (Rogue does it well too), plus Ben Grimm at times).

The team player (I'm willing to do what is necessary for the good of the team, I'll follow the leaders orders unless they sound like their unlikely to be good for the team. (a rare archetype among PCs, not so rare among superteams in the comics).

The Second in Command (everyone but him knows that he'll be the leader when the present leader steps down. Has all the qualities to do so. Listened to as much as the leader (even by the leader him/herself) and leads the team when the usual leader is absent (early Cyclops).