WayneLigon
Adventurer
I have a PC I'll be playing in a quasi-realistic superhero game. Not 'dark', especially, nor as gritty as the Wild Cards series but more like Planetary. A few people have extraordinary abilities. Otherwise the world is identical to our real world. My character uses his ability, but of course tries to keep from being found out. As will be obvious, any government would want him.
My character can manipulate any form of non-living matter. He can create materials from nothing, shape and form them, destroy them.
(For the stat-wise, it's a Mutants and Masterminds game. My sole superpower reads:
Transmutation +10 (Extras: Continuous, Creation (Extra: Realistic), Destruction, Shapeable, Subtle, Suffocation; Source: Mutation; Cost: 10pp; Total: 100pp)
My creations are permanent unless I will them away, they are reTransformed, or someone Neutralizes them. My creation powers create things that look real, rather than like simplified versions of things. I can disintergrate things. My power does not have any 'special effects' and can't be directly linked to me. I can transform air into poisonous or inert gasses to suffocate people. Shapeable also means I can transform non-organics into organics; I could turn scrap iron into a London Broil if I wanted to. He can affect or create up to 10 5-foot cubes of matter at once.)
One of the things I want to do is to change that Realistic Extra to the Exact extra available to the power that lets you transform living things. Exact lets you duplicate a living creature down to it's DNA. I want to do the same thing to material things so that, for instance, I could duplicate a motorcycle I saw.
Now, it occurs to me that he could do the same to money. No-one would ever think that someone would counterfeit $1 and $5 bills. They'd be as grimy and worn as the original. They would, of course, have the same serial numbers. He would of course not do something truly strupid like try to buy a Ferrari with a gracery sack full of cash, but in day to day living is there any way he could ever be caught, assuming he didn't give the clerk a fist full of tens all with the same serial number? Is there any point in the chain where anyone looks at the serial number? I know old bills are destroyed after a certain period of time. If one showed up again later, how would that ever be discovered?
I'm pretty sure gold is tracked... somehow? If he showed up at a pawnshop with seven or eight gold rings, would they take them? Diamonds I'm sure are tracked in some way, but would your average buyer be able to find out that information? Police finds these things somehow, or do they? How about other precious metals?
He's somewhat ethical and so he's not looking to corner the silver market but he'll certainly do things like duplicate expensive pills for the old woman up the street. I have no idea about the general thrust of the campaign, so I'm thinking about how he might get along and even aid the group if and when they have to go on the run.
One of my original ideas was to have him run a science supply house over the internet, but then I got to thinking that (1) there must be some EPA or FDA inspection that has to occur if you're selling something like chemically pure water, or (2) some agency or governing body has to inspect places selling things like blocks of pure rare earths. Or do they? I can't find a real answer so I'm hoping some knowledgable ENWorlder can point me to some resources.
The current idea:
He's young, lives in New Jersey and owns a junkyard left to him by his grandfather. The place also abuts up next to a dump. There is no end of materials for him to use, and also it would provide justification for him 'finding' almost anything to a reasonable degree. His power would make his living expenses virtually non-existant. He can make food and drink from nothing, at any time. All he'd need would be electricity for lights and heat, and that's only if he doesn't want to use a fireplace or create chemical light (you can't really read by that break-and-shake, but if you had a gallon jug full of the stuff...?). Well, he'd want TV.
He has a good rep for being able to get hold of anything. Need the sparkplugs to a '56 chevy? He can get them. That sort of thing. That, and eBay, should grant him a fair amount of cash to live by.
Also, any Rat Bastardy ideas on how to use this power are appreciated. I've already thought of several things to do, such as turn someones clothes to glass (ouch), turn the air in their car to cement, weird stuff like that.
Any suggestions, comments or info appreciated.
My character can manipulate any form of non-living matter. He can create materials from nothing, shape and form them, destroy them.
(For the stat-wise, it's a Mutants and Masterminds game. My sole superpower reads:
Transmutation +10 (Extras: Continuous, Creation (Extra: Realistic), Destruction, Shapeable, Subtle, Suffocation; Source: Mutation; Cost: 10pp; Total: 100pp)
My creations are permanent unless I will them away, they are reTransformed, or someone Neutralizes them. My creation powers create things that look real, rather than like simplified versions of things. I can disintergrate things. My power does not have any 'special effects' and can't be directly linked to me. I can transform air into poisonous or inert gasses to suffocate people. Shapeable also means I can transform non-organics into organics; I could turn scrap iron into a London Broil if I wanted to. He can affect or create up to 10 5-foot cubes of matter at once.)
One of the things I want to do is to change that Realistic Extra to the Exact extra available to the power that lets you transform living things. Exact lets you duplicate a living creature down to it's DNA. I want to do the same thing to material things so that, for instance, I could duplicate a motorcycle I saw.
Now, it occurs to me that he could do the same to money. No-one would ever think that someone would counterfeit $1 and $5 bills. They'd be as grimy and worn as the original. They would, of course, have the same serial numbers. He would of course not do something truly strupid like try to buy a Ferrari with a gracery sack full of cash, but in day to day living is there any way he could ever be caught, assuming he didn't give the clerk a fist full of tens all with the same serial number? Is there any point in the chain where anyone looks at the serial number? I know old bills are destroyed after a certain period of time. If one showed up again later, how would that ever be discovered?
I'm pretty sure gold is tracked... somehow? If he showed up at a pawnshop with seven or eight gold rings, would they take them? Diamonds I'm sure are tracked in some way, but would your average buyer be able to find out that information? Police finds these things somehow, or do they? How about other precious metals?
He's somewhat ethical and so he's not looking to corner the silver market but he'll certainly do things like duplicate expensive pills for the old woman up the street. I have no idea about the general thrust of the campaign, so I'm thinking about how he might get along and even aid the group if and when they have to go on the run.
One of my original ideas was to have him run a science supply house over the internet, but then I got to thinking that (1) there must be some EPA or FDA inspection that has to occur if you're selling something like chemically pure water, or (2) some agency or governing body has to inspect places selling things like blocks of pure rare earths. Or do they? I can't find a real answer so I'm hoping some knowledgable ENWorlder can point me to some resources.
The current idea:
He's young, lives in New Jersey and owns a junkyard left to him by his grandfather. The place also abuts up next to a dump. There is no end of materials for him to use, and also it would provide justification for him 'finding' almost anything to a reasonable degree. His power would make his living expenses virtually non-existant. He can make food and drink from nothing, at any time. All he'd need would be electricity for lights and heat, and that's only if he doesn't want to use a fireplace or create chemical light (you can't really read by that break-and-shake, but if you had a gallon jug full of the stuff...?). Well, he'd want TV.
He has a good rep for being able to get hold of anything. Need the sparkplugs to a '56 chevy? He can get them. That sort of thing. That, and eBay, should grant him a fair amount of cash to live by.
Also, any Rat Bastardy ideas on how to use this power are appreciated. I've already thought of several things to do, such as turn someones clothes to glass (ouch), turn the air in their car to cement, weird stuff like that.
Any suggestions, comments or info appreciated.
