General Discussion Thread II

Time for a new thread.

You can find the old one here: Link

Continued from prior thread:

LogicsFate said:

I'll stat him out in the next day or two and post.

The idea is as follows.

Guys body creates an organic liquid-like metal, it's controlled by thought/touch togeather. It(for now) is a imperfect control. As he uses it it drips/flys off/plots away.
Though he is the source of it. It can be used by others. This is to allow the transfer to others. When a power is given away it fades as normal. Seeing as it can be given away, it can be taken also. If he we're unconsious and the BBEG knew the particulars.

When he uses it, it covers him from head to toe, he can create simple weapons, or use this amazing substance to boost his strength, speed, combat abilities, ect.


That's what I've been trying to create. Is it too much? Not enough rules backing?

The help is very much appriciated.

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If some is scraped off of him, will it regrow in time? If so, then it's not a Device, it'd be more like the Power Loss drawback.

If it's something the characters body secretes, can he give some to an ally and keep some for himself? The whole "grants power to others" seems to fall more to things like the Empowerment power (from Ultimate Power -- it's basically Shapeshift with Affects Others and Others Only), rather than a Device per se, simply because Devices tend to stay with the same character and aren't given out, at least not on a regular basis.

The powers that the "suit" provides seem simple enough, though, basic Battlesuit stuff. Enhanced Strength, Strike (w/ Mighty power feat), maybe some Enhanced Dexterity, and Enhanced Attack and Defense. Maybe some Speed, too.

Bront said:

Hand of Vecna said:

Here's a possible solution to the issue: update the Living Supers Campaign Information and Living Supers Timeline threads to include the blatantly obvious/publicly-known knowledge, like that Dr. Archeville is known throughout Germany for having done some superhero-ing work there before joining the Resolutes (and that accidents in his laboratory can be perfect sources of powers ), or that Mr. Jones and Psyren are/were both public entertainers.

(And since I've already "confessed" to reading most of the existing PC char sheets, I'd be more than willing to help with this project.)

Or, speaking of Psyren, we could all do like what Bront did for her (and what was done for most the characters in The Algernon Files and Paragons), and write up what a Knowledge check might dig up on a character.

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Not a bad idea, and I'm admitedly a little lax on the timeline (though I haven't gotten many submitions on it, and the last one I haven't added yet).

But not all PCs need be mentioned on the timeline, at least in a background sense. The timeline is for campaign events more than it is for player background events.

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I would think at least some should, since some have fairly Big Stuff in their backgrounds. As an example, Flux is listed as having been instrumental in saving the Empire State Building from destruction in early 2006.

Should there perhaps be a new sticky thread collecting publicly known/blatantly obvious stuff about the PCs? Or maybe just edit the first page in the Character Submission thread to include a one-sentence description of the character next to the link to the char sheet post?

Hand of Vecna said:

Continued from prior thread:


If some is scraped off of him, will it regrow in time? If so, then it's not a Device, it'd be more like the Power Loss drawback.

If it's something the characters body secretes, can he give some to an ally and keep some for himself? The whole "grants power to others" seems to fall more to things like the Empowerment power (from Ultimate Power -- it's basically Shapeshift with Affects Others and Others Only), rather than a Device per se, simply because Devices tend to stay with the same character and aren't given out, at least not on a regular basis.

The powers that the "suit" provides seem simple enough, though, basic Battlesuit stuff. Enhanced Strength, Strike (w/ Mighty power feat), maybe some Enhanced Dexterity, and Enhanced Attack and Defense. Maybe some Speed, too.

Click to expand...

Yep, it definitely seems more like a Power Loss drawback than a Device.

Just wanting to subscribe to the thread.

LogicsFate said:

That's what I've been trying to create. Is it too much? Not enough rules backing?

The help is very much appreciated.

Click to expand...

[Opinion only.] For me your comment about rules backing is one of the joys of the system, you should be able to build virtually any powerset you can think of, first work out what you want then work out how to do it, exactly as you appear to be doing. (Of course sometimes the concept is prohibitively expensive or unplayablly weak but ...)

On the concept: I agree with others, to me this sounds like a set of powers with the power loss drawback, the fact that the villain could pick some of the fluid up and use it for a short time is probably no more than a complication.

(If a villain locks a device up in his safe it is gone until you steal it back. that does not appear to be the case with a secreted fluid.)

I think I would go about building this using boost and some fading powers for the guy himself.

Eg

Container (Fades) 4pp/rank [You get 5pp to spend on sub powers for every rank]
Strike (Accurate, mighty)
Protection (Impervious)
Enhanced Strength
etc (You could put APs in here if you wanted)
Boost: Others only. (limited to powers in the container)

[Faded powers recover at a rate of 10pp/hour of rest (with a minimum of an hour), food and water must be consumed]

Drawback: Powerloss if the substance is scraped off recovery as per fades
Complication: A villain systematically collecting the lost fluid might be able to make use of it.

(I belive you need to predetermine the order you lose points from the container, it might be simpler to put fades on each power individually.)

I think Faded powers recover at the rate of 1pp/hour, not 10 (unless you get the Progression feat for the recovery period).

Hand of Vecna said:

I think Faded powers recover at the rate of 1pp/hour, not 10 (unless you get the Progression feat for the recovery period).

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My books are a little vague on that point. "The GM decides how a faded effect recovers, but it should generally occur outside combat and take at least an hour's time"

I read that as the whole power will recover after an hour so if you use a power 10 times and lose 10pp you get the 10 back after an hour, if you use it only once it still takes an hour to get the 1pp back.

My text was a suggestion, the recovery rules appear not to be set in stone, but I think it was fair enough. as such things go.

Ah, very good catch on the vaguness.


I went ahead and worked up a lil' "Learning About Dr. Archeville" block:
[sblock=Learning About Doktor Archeville]
The following is information characters might learn about Doktor Archeville:
Gather Information
DC 10: Viktor Archeville, "genius of science," is a metahuman native of Germany possessing a nigh-unfathomable intelligence. He fits most of the stereotypes of the "Mad Scientist," though he's uncharacteristically handsome.
DC 15: He's a member of The Resolutes, the UN-affiliated team of metahumans.
DC 20: Before joining the Resolutes, Archeville worked as a solo hero for a few years in and around Germany, making him something of a minor celebrity in parts of Europe.
DC 25: Archeville also possesses a degree of infamy. Rumors persist of some manner of inherited neurological disorder, or possibly even a series of disorders, that has plagued most of his family for generations. Perhaps the "Mad Scientist" thing isn't just an act....

Knowledge (Technology)
DC 10: Dr. Archeville is one of the top poly-scientists on the planet, working in almost all fields with uniform -- and superhuman -- ease. He's equally good with both theoretical and practical applications.
DC 15: Archeville has created numerous hyper-tech inventions, both in "proper" laboratory settings and in the field from found/scavenged items.
DC 20: Archeville wears an ultra-tech belt that allows him to manipulate gravity for various effects, primarily to fly and to generate a protective force field.
DC 25: He also frequently carries some sort of pistol or wand-like device that projects beams of energy, though what the energies are -- and what the effects of those beams are -- seems to vary from encounter to encounter[/sblock]

HoV - What would Dr A's attitude be to making technological modifications to a magical device? I was thinking a touch of technology intermixed with the magic might be nice, but if Dr A would not deign to touch such an item or would insist on taking it apart to find out how it worked first I might not ask. (Especially as the Scientist is hiding out in Japan, rather than sitting in his lab or the ready room.)