DentArthurDent

Fireball. Pretty obvious.

Flight. Also obvious.

Transform. 

We already have bacteria that can ‘digest’ rock and leave behind a single metal; iron, aluminum, even gold.

We also have the ability to manipulate DNA. 
How about … programmable micro-organisms that can create patches for spaceships hulls or repair broken bones, muscles, and skin, or spacesuits or blasters or ….

Next up .. Magic Wands and Crystal Balls

Short Answer:

My group did this many, many years ago. (Some time in the late 1980s) We came up with 5 points is 200 Joules.

Caveats:
I’m just relying on memory here. Since I’m pretty sure all our calculations disappeared over two decades ago.
We did not use the Strength, Lifting or Throwing tables. They are geometric progressions. 
We decided to work with Strengths of 5 to 25. 
We got pretty good agreement with stabbing, gunfire, fire, electricity, and flight.

We had no way to calculate Mental Powers.

Long Term Effects:

Eventually we dropped using Hero points for spaceships and just used the 200J as a standard.

We ended up using two systems. Hero System for people and aliens and personal weapons. 200J for ships. 
The two very rarely crossed paths.
I think one time we had a boarding party cutting through a ship’s hull. At which point the GM said, “Your ship’s engineer calibrated the explosives for this type of hull. You’re inside.”

By the way,

We were playing Klingons v Klingons using the Hero System.

That’s when I knew that Hero could do just about anything. 

ESA in 2022

“Space-based solar power is getting serious—can it solve Earth’s energy woes?“

https://www.science.org/content/article/space-based-solar-power-getting-serious-can-it-solve-earth-s-energy-woes

Japan in 2015

“Japan space scientists make wireless energy breakthrough“

https://phys.org/news/2015-03-japan-space-scientists-wireless-energy.html

I’ve used an alternate system a few times. It works well for lower powered games when most characters have a similar speed.

Average characters act 4 times in a 12 second turn. They get 4 Phases.

Above average characters get 5 Phases. Their extra action comes after everyone else has finished their 4 Phases.

Great characters characters get 6 Phases. Their extra actions come after everyone else has finished 2 Phases and then again after 4 Phases.

Below average characters get 3 Phases and miss their 4th action.

We made an adjustment for a new player (new to role-playing) who didn’t feel like their 5 Speed was much of an advantage.

For them we let all 5 Speed players take their extra action after everyone else had completed just 2 Phases.

(It’s tough to argue with a Ceramics Engineer with several patents. And eventually she became the biggest proponent of the Hero Speed chart.)

Seconds for:

Simone Biles, Jackie Chan, Harry Houdini,

Nominating:

Ted Williams was a Naval Aviator and flight instructor. Stories are that he set all sorts of records for aerial gunnery.

Burt Lancaster did all his own stunts in “The Flame and The Arrow.” Go find the last scene on YouTube. After being a circus performer.

David Adamovich with a jacket full of knives.

Stephen Hawking as a hero. Let’s break the stereotype of physical challenges as a defining characteristic of supervillains.

Chris Hood. College athlete, brilliant engineer, dog trainer, instructor, coach, role-player (no one ever did Twilight2000 better), with an indomitable willpower that he uses to ignore the laws of physics and injustice.

Tunneling.

Years ago I had a player use Tunneling in all sorts of creative ways. 
He never broke the rules or the spirit of the power. Just good ol’ imagination.

I’d definitely go with Tunneling.

Our group played Twilight 2000 (way back in the 80s and 90s) for several years. Our “currencies” changed several times, depending on location, local resources, and need. Barter and Trading became vital skills.

For a while, the players used ammunition - small arms, mortars, C4 - as the standard for trade. Then at various times vehicle parts, including bicycles, black powder, food, and medicines. Once they even ‘acquired’ several tons of gold, and found it was only as valuable as their trustworthiness. 

Eventually the true currency became skill sets. Horticulturist and farmer. Engineer, mechanic, electrician, and gunsmith. Tactician, trader, and navigator. Some PCs became so valuable, the rest of the party would throw themselves in front to take a bullet.

The mechanic was so protected that the player quickly got bored. So, we let her play a scout as a second character. (The player was indispensable. She would point out what could be salvaged from houses and vehicles and what could be made from the scavenged parts. Being an engineer at the Oak Ridge National Labs has unexpected perks.)

The stolen booze is still on the truck, locked in a garage on __th street.

The garage is attached to an abandoned house, where six squatters are living.

They’re being paid to watch for strangers and wait for orders from the nervous German businessman living next door.

The businessman’s basement is being used by the sisters Lady Viespa and Madame Verde to make an electro-bomb. The booze is the final ingredient; to be poured into tall glass tubes topped with radio-receiver vacuum tubes connected to a large, pyramidal antenna of mahogany and brass. They are welding the pieces of the antenna together, having to wear hoods and masks to protect against the zinc vapors.

The electrobomb will be driven to ______ Park and detonated by a radio transmitter across town. The resulting explosion will be the perfect diversion as the sisters rob the ______ and make their escape in a nearby dirigible.

This website has a huge collection of pages from period Sears and Roebuck catalogs.

https://vintagedancer.com/1920s/1920s-fashion-men/

If you like lots of math and science:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248716/

if you prefer something lighter:

https://www.science.org/content/article/heavy-armor-gave-knights-workout
 

People I know who have worn armor - re-enactors and blacksmiths - tell me they would never wear armor in real life. They say it is incredible uncomfortable and exhausting to even wear a metal helm for more than fifteen or twenty minutes. And most of them played football so they are familiar with wearing gear for hours at a time.

So, a knight in plate armor was nearly invincible .. for a very limited amount of time.

Bard Songs?!?

Can you give a little more of a teaser?

I like playing with bards but I have no talent for music or lyrics. Giving my players a starting point would be great.

Our GM put small drawings of each character on clips and clipped them to the top of his GM screen. He can rearrange them in case of spell or damage effects. He just points at a drawing to let you it’s your turn.

I really like the descriptions of the sfx for the Healing potions. They go well with the deities.
 

How long do your potions last?

How many potions can one person make?

How many potions can one person carry or use?

Very interesting.

My first thoughts are to make Talismans small rings or crystals that characters look through to Detect objects.

And having a variety of Detects would help groups focus on a quest or help gather materials for a Magic cauldron or …

There seem to be a lot of uses.

For a fire god:

I might consider a Talisman that can track footprints from a warm person. For enough coin the Talisman could follow tracks days or even weeks later. Or identify and follow a specific person’s tracks.

Or a Talisman that allows the user to peer into a fire and see the past through the ‘eyes’ of the flames, as long as there are burning logs or warm coals.

I really like the Talisman idea. 

I also like the idea of balancing Mages and Fighters.

I’m having a little trouble keeping up with all the consequences of the changes. Can you list some things for me? Like, what have you created to make Magic ‘cheaper’ and what have you created to limit Magic?