Presently, I'm elbow-deep in my pet project... an answer to Mutants & Masterminds or the HERO System. A supers game that isn't a nightmare to learn (HERO) or an excercise in game-breaking (M&M). What I'm looking for from you:
Some ideas regarding interesting superpowers (or unique skills, or even super-vulnerabilities... any traits, really) that you might actually want to create and play with in a tabletop 'superheroes' game. Same goes for super-awesome-how-did-he-just-do-that moves and maneuvers; I want those, too! I think I've got the basics fleshed out, but I'd like to hear some ideas that gamers might actually approach such a game with, to see if the framework I've created can actually be used to build the powers and characters that come to mind.
Help an aspiring game designer out, and hit me with some ideas.
Helllp meee...
Helllp meee...
In my writing I like to make stories about characters who have some but not all of the secondary abilities that are assumed with super powers, such as the ability to see while invisible, or anchoring abilities for your super strength. While fun to write about, I'm not sure how much fun they would be to play.
What do you mean by 'anchoring ideas for your super-strength', by the way?
What do you mean by 'anchoring ideas for your super-strength', by the way?
A character with super strength isn't necessarily going to be able to pick up a car, because he needs to be able to grip it and counter balance it, but super strong guys seem to be able to pick up and swing around objects that are much larger than they are.
There's the additional problem that picking up the car wrong might just cause it to buckle and break in half, but Superman (for example) can pick up an entire island and fly it off into space, even though his only points of contact are his two hands.
See here.
No ideas, OTT?
My favorite character like this is Swamp Thing, but at this point both Alec and Tefé are pretty much the definition of "overpowered."
Most interesting or awesome powers, concepts, or fighting moves you could imagine using at the table. Open forum!
If so, someone once did charactures of some what some friends and I would be like if we were superheroes, and we ended up with a team who that included Drunkman (with he ability to make his alcohol induced dillusions of the world become reallity, throw pint glasses with lethal accuracy and travel via "the drunken route", a rather random form of telportation that he never remembers using), the Human Gasleak (with his prehensile flatulence), the Stitch-n-witch (with her ability to knit a fully-working version of anything she could think of and get enough wool for) and the Freudian Avenger (able to use Freudian psycology to undermine the very mind of any villan).
Suggested villans included the Probiotic Man (who's body was made up of friendly bacteria) and the Uber-chav (who became stronger every time his behaviour was socially unacceptable).
Needless to say, alcohol was involved in the creation of these characters.
The ability to manipulate space. This would allow for somebody to crush something by compacting space or pull something apart by spreading space out. One could also fold space and my be able to even make wormholes by doing such. On could also make a propagating wave within space to allow the spacial dimension to propel them. The only thing that can travel faster than the speed of light is space its self so if another person could make a force field to protect you and to hold in oxygen one could travel from world to world in such a manner.
The ability to manipulate matter/mass. One could change the makeup of matter on a atomic level. They would be able to change one element or compound into another.
The ability to manipulate energy. Everything is made up of energy plus there is energy throughout the universe in different forms. Atoms could be fussed to make energy (something that the above could do to make massive explosions) and would be able to control it. Could change temperatures of things and places by increasing and decreasing the amount of thermal energy in the system. Could make and absorb electrical energy.
I don't much care about the tattoo aspect, but power mimickery is interesting, especially if the character has to plan his powers ahead of time and go through a process to gain them, rather than the power absorption abilities of Rogue or Parasite.
What's the character's name?
Why the hell is this a mutant ability as opposed to a magical one, though? Seems to have no interpretation as the kind of 'evolutionary-jump' type of powers mutants are supposed to inheret.
What's the character's name?
Ink.
It's not like mutant abilities have ever made a whole lot of sense as "evolutionary jumps."
The mutant ability is the tattoo artist's ability to imbue his art with power. Ink is just a human with lots of tattoos from that guy.
Ink.
It's not like mutant abilities have ever made a whole lot of sense as "evolutionary jumps."
The mutant ability is the tattoo artist's ability to imbue his art with power. Ink is just a human with lots of tattoos from that guy.
So the artist is the mutant and the guy with the tattoos is just a lucky guy. That sounds cool. I like to play characters that can make things and that stays out of the lime light.
Touch: you feel no pain. You get hurt, but you aren't slowed down mentally by it. Also, you can induce increased sensitivity in others or remove it altogether. Kill someone with an ice cream headache, or make them unable to feel the ground underneath their feet.
Smell and Taste: The ability to overwhelm someone olfactory system is powerful. More interesting is the ability to create wish-smells and wish-tastes: an universal sensation that the recipient believes is whatever it treasures most. It will be exactly the right flavour or aroma, and will be hard to resist. An alcoholic will binge himself into unconsciousness on tap water (or draino
) and a heartless assassin will smell his mother's apple pie and take a bite of an obviously poisoned pastry.Presently, I'm elbow-deep in my pet project... an answer to Mutants & Masterminds or the HERO System. A supers game that isn't a nightmare to learn (HERO) or an excercise in game-breaking (M&M).
I personally found M&M to be fabulous. Might just be me, though.
Diplomatic powers are always cool. I like the idea of a character who can't fight (at least not on a 'super' level), but who can talk down just about anyone. Healing powers are fascinating, although I prefer "can heal others" to "I heal from anything."
The ability to turn off other's powers is also VERY nice, in my mind. The Haitian from the show Heroes is one of my favorite characters, and he's not much more effective than a standard human.
Last, but definitely not least... "Recall" abilities are flat out amazing. The ability to perfectly remember what you read, heard, saw, smelt, etc... absolutely fascination. I prefer the mental recall abilities to physical recall abilities. (Not really a fan of "I got hit by that attack, so now I can do it.")
I enjoy supers games tremendously, they are a lot of fun when done well, and you are in the right mood.
The last character I played was an samurai sword swinging Asian school girl that could control and store pain that she inflicted on others. Emotional or physical wounds could be inflicted sans pain, and she could store them up like a battery, and release it at any time. This made for some awesome RP.
I always liked the idea of precognition, the ability to manipulate machinery or simple suggestions. (Not to mention the power of the squirrel)
I enjoy supers games tremendously, they are a lot of fun when done well, and you are in the right mood.
May I ask what you typically play? I'll guess M&M, since you're a fellow 3.5er.
But the game that I played with the character described above was actually a GURPS Supers campaign, about 2 years ago.
the character described above was actually a GURPS Supers campaign, about 2 years ago.
actually a GURPS Supers campaign, about 2 years ago.
a GURPS Supers campaign
GURPS campaign
GURPS
What? I didn't run it, but I was invited and we played and had a great time. The system wasn't the greatest but it worked.