Tigereye

A lot of people have pointed out that Sherlock Holmes is a good example of a high-functioning member of autism or Asperger's syndrome (in the most recent British series, he describes himself as a "high-functioning sociopath", which I think is an exaggeration). An example of a true heroic sociopath is James Bond. MI6 has channeled his violent behavior so well that he gets depressed when he's not on a job. For physical limitations, you need look no further than Professor Xavier of X-Men fame.

Walk him and pitch to the Rhino!

You could do a write-up in this day and age as a version of Dos Equis "The Most Interesting Man In The World".

The Torpedo (kind of a retro-Pulp name) Snapshot (also gives people the idea he's just a photographer, or has light-based powers) Arsenal Swiss Mister

Merlin would be grateful she joined the team (they can use reinforcements) and would encourage her to develop her powers more, perhaps setting her up with more experienced energy projectors to assist in training her. He would also see if other heroes would better know of the origin of her powers - cosmic gemstones, of meteoric origin or otherwise, are not ten-a-penny, you know. And he'd be quite intrigued in this new young woman in the party, too, on both a personal and professional level. Casey would be amazed by the level of power (his group is relatively low-powered), and curious about her origins - where'd the big rock from space come from? Why does the gem tire her out? Is there a way to keep her from "discharging her battery" so quickly when she uses it at maximum strength? Can more than one person lend her more power? (Casey, being a car, would think of it in terms of "needing a jump"). Also, he'd try to find out - is the gem good or evil? His former master knew of many people and beings with enchanted gemstones who weren't very nice. Even if Star Bright herself is good, the gem might not be. He's a bit innocent, but not so naive as to trust some things entirely.

Merlin: Would go for a mix of the old and new; a near-copy of his converted Regency-era flat in Chelsea, only with the rooms more logically arranged and sized (his bathroom was nearly as big as his master bedroom, and his maid's quarters were within 100 square feet of his own in terms of size). Some vintage or antique furniture, decorations and dishware. All "mod cons" though, including a robot cook/butler. (He'd stop short of computerizing everything, though - he remains a creature of the Second World War in that regard.) He'll have a computer terminal but no real television. His colleagues constantly recommend new movies and shows for him to "catch up" with this thing called "Webflicks", anyway. Garage for the motorcar, with tools and frequently-needed spares. His own armoury and gadgets shop. Firing range for pistols. Being the leader of his group, he will maintain his office near common areas such as the monitor room. Hidden emergency exit that not even his teammates know about - unless the place is on fire and it's the only way out. Casey: You know those professional-level automotive service bays, like you see in those reality TV programs? Tools, parts, and manuals galore? Paint shop? Floor so clean you can deliver a baby on it? Yes, one of those. His own fuel station - why should the humans be the only ones who can get food at home? And a robot maintenance butler for when his "owner" isn't around - every so often they need to get out without him, too.

Merlin: Hire a painter. He knows several expert forgers who can do bang-up work in almost any genre; they should be able to restore the painting better than the kludge job the hapless staff member attempted. Merlin and his group can run interference for the forger while he or she (hopefully a she ) puts the seal back on. Casey: His mystic contacts include several of a good artistic bent. He can't paint (it's difficult to do when you have no hands) but there are no shortage of able hands he knows who will paint Vigo the Carpathian back where he belongs.

Not everybody is in a team, Balabanto - perhaps you've forgotten? I run a lot of my games one-on-one. And if everyone uses them, in a coordinated manner, it can only help teamwork. And why do you think they invented the GM's screen? Just to hide the maps? I've made a lot of rolls that would be lethal to an entire party of PCs that I pretend didn't happen. Like I said, BB, I think your point is valid, insofar your group is concerned. You don't cheat as it violates the purity of a game that is meant for player enjoyment alone. YMMV. In my view, that makes the enjoyment of the game a slave to its mechanisms, rather than the other way round. The mechanisms should serve the player's enjoyment - otherwise, why play an RPG? I think my viewpoint is as well, and it is based on 35 years of GMing experience. It isn't cheating to allow a re-roll once in a while, and it isn't "Monty Haul" to allow the character to escape a life-or-death situation in the process. The core of the role-playing experience is "let's make believe...". Players, especially those who have invested years in their PC's development, sometimes don't like it when failure can result from the throw of a single set of dice. And in many game universes, that can happen. Remember, winning in a RPG is not wiping the floor with the party. RPGs have plots and sub-plots and character development through experience and things like that. Again, that's my opinion.

That's a valid opinion, Balabanto, but kind of missing the point of RPGs - to kind of step outside ourselves. Some people would rather have more control of their character's narrative lives than their dice will sometimes allow. What if you have a character who should have an ability to perform when the chips are down? Case in point: My best friend, we'll call him Fox One, is naturally unlucky with dice. So much so that his rolls in clutch situations are notoriously bad, Our gaming group jokes that he tortured deer in a previous life as a Roman Centurion. (Obscure joke, but that's my group for you.) By popular acclaim, his Star Trek character was allowed to make one re-roll per game session, because otherwise the game would be hell for Fox One. He never abused the rule - sometimes he wouldn't use the "Fox One Re-Roll" rule at all - but he would do it when he would otherwise botch a situation that would jeopardize his ship and crew. It would be out of character otherwise. To me, there's enough randomness in the game that once or twice in a session (and it shouldn't be more than that), a player is allowed to say, "My character will not fail in this, no matter what." James Kirk will seduce the alien babe. Batman will escape the death trap. James Bond will get the bad guy. Wonder Woman will find the truth. Now, there's something you can do to balance it out - not let the players know how much luck they have left ("Sorry, you used up all your Fate points in the casino last session - you can't use them now against Doctor Meanguy."), make them have to "balance out" their good fortune by a botched roll further down the line or ahead of time, even if done intentionally by the player ("I'm going to let my character get knocked out by the mook as it will let me find out more about their operation.") Remember, BB- it's a game that's for the players' enjoyment and that of the GM - it's not supposed to be like professional sports or the like. It's not even like a card game - the GM is allowed to cheat if it doesn't detract significantly from the game dynamics. (Why else would the villain get away?) If the GM is allowed to say, "I didn't see that roll", it's OK too. As long as it doesn't hurt everybody's pleasure, and enhances the dramatic tension to allow release, it's cool IMO.

Although I'm not deliberately aiming for the effect, I've been told I'm pretty cinematic. The reason why, I suppose, is I always aim for at least one set piece per adventure that would probably make a good movie climax. I often try to settle for something that would make a decent book climax, but often times take it just that little bit higher...sometimes I go over the top. A friend of mine said my adventures reminded him of "an ensemble sitcom... as directed by John Woo." Realism takes a back seat in some instances in my campaigns - we're dealing with fantasy universes here in even the so-called "grittiest" ones - but if it has the flavor of reality, it can have some suspension of disbelief. I've been accused as having little patience for GMs who try to make their systems too "realistic" - it can add too much complexity, which often detracts from enjoyment for players; and is it even possible in a superhero game, for example? Instead, I try to make my campaigns internally consistent and logical, even if the internal laws have little to do with reality. Sometimes you want "grittiness" and some baseline realism - I get that. (I mean, one of my campaigns is a WWII German Luftwaffe setting for GURPS- The characters have to maintain what humanity they can, while not jeopardizing their combat pilot careers - which is not an easy task in Nazi Germany!) But I have learned to put enjoyment over reality, as this is meant to be entertaining and an acceptable break from reality...

Secret ID has become a bit less important to my character Deuce in a social sense (nearly everyone who could do him harm based on his identity is dead or quite decrepit, or so powerful that it really doesn't matter whether or not they know his identity) but it is still a powerful need in a personal, psychological sense. Having been a secret agent for so long, he can't give up the habit. Fortunately, most people don't associate obscure medically retired Royal Navy personnel with superheroes, and he has the ability to teleport to and from his personal quarters to his group's headquarters, so he can maintain his secret identity quite well. Casey has a real problem in terms of his visibility and lack of disguise (how many sentient, gold 1969 Chevrolet Corvairs do you know, even in superhero universes?) Fortunately, he's invisible to Mental Group senses, so he can normally hide in plain sight. His "owner", Nimisha, has also rigged up a camouflaging device of sorts that he can imitate up to four other air-cooled, rear-engined cars, of almost any other shape or color (so long as they're approximately the same size). He's chosen models that are broadly different enough from him that when he acts in his "superhero" guise, his enemies can't really know what they were attacked by, only that it was some kind of car!

Where's Les Nessman when you really need him? Deuce: Commenting dryly on the need of Americans to trash their own symbolism at their own expense, Deuce will round up the rest of his team, and using his network of favors, get a large supply of propane in the form of several large tanker trucks. (His organization will pay for any damages.) They will endeavor to lure the demonic creature to the outskirts of town to a local dump, where they will set the bird alight. With any luck, the remainder might be edible! Later, he will examine what evidence exists as to what larger group, if any, the occultists belonged to. Casey: Casey will recognize the large bird for what it is, and call on his "owner" to get hold of her magical contacts in town - they should be able to send the creature back to its home plane, or otherwise shrink it down to a manageable size. He'll act as a lure to get the demonic, tasty creature where it needs to be.

Yeah, I've to downgrade "the meat inside" the suits and give UNTIL less supertech than either the heroes or the villains. The United Nations as a whole is pretty underfunded, and corruption in some countries' missions is rife, even with recent honest attempts to clean things up.

Casey's a bit innocent of these things - first of all, as a car, he has no sense of smell or taste, and pheromones have no real effect on him - and he wouldn't recognize their effects on others. Second, although he is aware of the dangerous side of human sexuality, the whole thing all still slightly abstract for him, and flavored by romanticism from drive-in movies. If he notices that Byron begins to even act threateningly against Nimisha, however, he will interpose himself between them (and it's a rare brick who will still take on a roaring 2,545-pound 1960's sport coupe, especially if it's acting on its own accord) and will do whatever is necessary to protect her. Nimisha, no doubt, will want to look at the lab - her curiosity would not be satisfied otherwise. One of her contacts is Dr. Silverback, for whom she acts as a sort of part-time intern/investigative agent - he could get her into the lab, and from there her natural string-tugging tendencies will take over.

Merlin would be enormously proud of the little (?) chap, and would tell him even he is envious of the attention he is getting from women, but would advise him to also continue his medical follow-ups, as many of these substances may have terrible side-effects, especially when taken together, and could take a bit to show up. He'd also probably (through a third party) launch an investigation of the chemical laboratory. What other secrets have they been holding out on? Casey would try to hook him up with his "owner", who is a senior at Ravenswood, undergoing a late growth spurt, and very nearly an emancipated minor . Being an intelligent boy, he'd be perfect for Nimisha, who's a budding Reed Richards but so far has not shown much interest in boys. (Casey suspects that she's more interested than she lets on but overworked - romance takes time.) It would also let him keep an "eye" on whoever was responsible for the raid on the lab. Nimisha would be fascinated by his story, and if she got "hooked" - well, her parents wouldn't actually be too upset. Now, about that date... would he be interested in a petite blonde with amber eyes and an equal interest in chemistry? And owns one of the best sets of classic wheels in MC?