Need Super-Power Ideas (any system)

Lady Caramel <lcaramel.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs.DeleteThis@4ax.com>...
> All,
>
> I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
> I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
> I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> bedroom.
>

Use classic powers, but attached to nonstereotypical
personalities or professions.

Examples I have played:

Mindranger: a telepath--who was a Texas Ranger before
he got powers. A polite, honest cop with mind powers.
A relatively weak mentalist, because he was also a
tough cop.

Mr. Malleable: a stretcher--who had a Crocodile Hunter
type show before he got powers. Retained close ties
with the Discovery Channel; had a lot of Great White
Hunter type skills. The stretchy powers added to his
ratings.

MiG-36: a power suit pilot--a Russian Air Force pilot,
using a prototype developed by the MiG design bureau
(technically, "MiG-36" was the name of the suit, not
his name); the MiG bureau was trying hard to get the
US Air Force interested in the suit, since Russia
couldn't afford it. The suit itself was designed to
be a mass-produced military hardware prototype, meaning
it was not optimally designed for superhero work.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

dchilders.RemoveThis@cablespeed.com (Dan Childers) wrote in message news:<c02c3b0f.0407220801.157a5baf.RemoveThis@posting.google.com>...
> Lady Caramel <lcaramel.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs.RemoveThis@4ax.com>...
> > All,
> >
> > I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> > .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
> >
> > I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> > same old ya know what I'm saying?
> >
> > I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> > bedroom.
> >
>
> Use classic powers, but attached to nonstereotypical
> personalities or professions.
>
> Examples I have played:
>
> Mindranger: a telepath--who was a Texas Ranger before
> he got powers. A polite, honest cop with mind powers.
> A relatively weak mentalist, because he was also a
> tough cop.
>
> Mr. Malleable: a stretcher--who had a Crocodile Hunter
> type show before he got powers. Retained close ties
> with the Discovery Channel; had a lot of Great White
> Hunter type skills. The stretchy powers added to his
> ratings.
>
> MiG-36: a power suit pilot--a Russian Air Force pilot,
> using a prototype developed by the MiG design bureau
> (technically, "MiG-36" was the name of the suit, not
> his name); the MiG bureau was trying hard to get the
> US Air Force interested in the suit, since Russia
> couldn't afford it. The suit itself was designed to
> be a mass-produced military hardware prototype, meaning
> it was not optimally designed for superhero work.

Or Meta-4--a robot who only speaks in....well, you know.....

j.




I'm really JiminQueens. It's a hotmail account. Bitchslap a spammer today.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

In our last thrilling episode, Lady Caramel <lcaramel.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> was
pushed over the cliffs of rec.games.frp.super-heroes on Thu, 22 Jul
2004 00:51:46 -0500 by Zoog, minion of Zathar. As he fell, he
screamed:
>All,
>
>I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
>.... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
>I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
>same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
>I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
>bedroom.

A telekenetic who can only affect things within a few milimeters of
his skin. He uses this to fake having super strength.

In Champions this would be bought as TK (No Range).
--

Douglas E. Berry Do the OBVIOUS thing to send e-mail
Atheist #2147, Atheist Vet #5

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as
when they do it from religious conviction."
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pense'es, #894.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

"Lady Caramel" <lcaramel.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs@4ax.com...
> All,
>
> I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
> I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
> I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> bedroom.

The one I thought of the other day and was tempted to use as an NPC in my
current Aberrant series:
A character with Elemental Anima (Sonic) - I don't know what the equivalent
powers are in other systems, basically it lets them magnify and control
sound, and use it for various things. A tap-dancer with this power, to be
more precise. Tappity-tap, tappity-tap-tap-BOOM!

Cheers,
Grant
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

"Lady Caramel" <lcaramel RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs@4ax.com...
> All,
>
> I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
> I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
> I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> bedroom.
>
> Lady Caramel
>

A normal with a .50 DE and ten overall levels. (or bow and arrow and a
sword)
or add every advantage you can think of to extra limb.
Martial artist with superpowers.

What system are you playing?
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 00:51:46 -0500, Lady Caramel <lcaramel.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote:
>All,
>
>I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
>.... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
>I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
>same old ya know what I'm saying?

How about a guy who can shoot out firey blasts? And fly, too.

Or a guy who's really really strong, but (get this) -- he's also nearly
invulnerable!

Or how about a guy who can climb walls and is really fast and strong, like
a spider would be if it were proportionally sized as a human. (No web
shooting though -- that's kind of gross. Might be cool if maybe he
invented some devices to shoot webs with instead.)

Or how about someone who just has to power to control all fruit. Maybe
limit him to a certain kind of fruit (like oranges?) if you think that's
too powerful.

--
chuk
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

cgoodin.TakeThisOut@sfu.ca (Chuk Goodin) wrote in news:cdp7ut$e8m$1@morgoth.sfu.ca:

[...]

> how about someone who just has to power to control all fruit. Maybe
> limit him to a certain kind of fruit (like oranges?) if you think
> that's too powerful.

The Green Grocer can use his energy-ring to control all green fruits
and vegetables (telekinetically hurling them at enemies, making them
grow to huge sizes, summoning mass quantities out of thin air, etc.)
but is powerless over squash, lemons, bananas and other yellow foods.

"By ripest grapes, or limes so sour, no evil shall escape my power!"


--
>;K
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

"Lady Caramel" <lcaramel DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs@4ax.com...
> All,
>
> I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
> I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
> I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> bedroom.
>
> Lady Caramel
>

Here's a couple ideas that links two separate powers creating an unusual
effect.

1. A person can teleport but the air in the space he enters is pushed away
at
super-sonic speed. The guy becomes a teleporting human bomb.

2. How about an invisible giant. I don't care how stealthy an invisible man
can be, it becomes a bit more difficult when you're 20 feet tall.Also a
giant can be
intimidating, but you can't use your size to scare people if they can't see
you.

I even got names for them: Ground Zero and the Inviso-Titan.

Hope this helps.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

Lady Caramel <lcaramel.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<hcluf0t4gn4ooshkiqiuqcod8p96pbn5cs.RemoveThis@4ax.com>...
> All,
>
> I'm needing some super powers for a game, but my creative sizzle is
> .... poof. Any suggestions? I prefer non-tech ideas.
>
> I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
> same old ya know what I'm saying?
>
> I could use some spare ideas ya have sitting around in your guest
> bedroom.
>
> Lady Caramel


Let me take a pee on this...

A teleporter/conjuror whose power only works on objects of up to a pound in
weight, with a range (coming or going) of under a mile.

Someone whose magic word of transformation is secretly an acronym, each
letter representing the first letter in the name of a powerful supernatural
being. The transformed character has one power from each letter/spirit.

Silent a. You see heroes and villains with the power of silent e every so
often, so why not someone with another vowel?

The power to make absolutely true predictions of future events, but only
when marriage and courtship are involved. And the prediction comes out
phrased so weirdly that it's darn near impossible to understand right
until it actually happens (see Old Man Mose, a character who possessed
just this power).

We've seen plenty of characters made of strange substances. How about a
character who has two parts of their body oddly composed, of different
materials, but the rest is normal? Such as one thumb being iron and the
other thumb butter.

An energy projector - whose color and type of energy depends which direction
he's facing, and corresponds to the kingdoms in the Land of Oz.

A spamomancer, a mage who derives their power from, and does divinations based
on, unsolicited email. Do a web search on the terms "discount jesus" and "spam"
and you may find the site I got this idea from.

A hero whose blood transforms into scorpions or maggots after leaving his body.
He's immune. Other people nearby aren't.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 18:42:51 +0000, Douglas Berry wrote:

{Foomph...}

> A telekenetic who can only affect things within a few milimeters of his
> skin. He uses this to fake having super strength.
>
> In Champions this would be bought as TK (No Range).

I did something like that once for a villian: TK 90 STR, no force, only
to lift 'unliftable' objects.
I had to create him, I had established that trying to lift a building was
a bad idea, (one of the 11 pre-campaign deaths of supers was of someone
who tried[1]), but also used a headline of "CIBC branch stolen."


[1] The others were 2 in a big fight when a dozen convicted felons were
empowered, 7 finding out that superpowers<>bulletproof, and one finding
out that bulletproof<>125mm shell proof

--
Phoenix
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

Spitz512 wrote:

> Here's a couple ideas that links two separate powers creating an unusual
> effect.
>
> 1. A person can teleport but the air in the space he enters is pushed away
> at
> super-sonic speed. The guy becomes a teleporting human bomb.

As a real-world note, air being superheated and expanding so hard that it
exceeds the speed of sound and causes a sonic boom is the source of the
thunder from a lightning bolt. Thus, such a teleporter should cause
considerably less damage than a lightning bolt (since he has the
thunderclap, but not the heat or electricity).

> 2. How about an invisible giant. I don't care how stealthy an invisible
> man can be, it becomes a bit more difficult when you're 20 feet tall.Also
> a giant can be
> intimidating, but you can't use your size to scare people if they can't
> see you.

Sure you can. Pick them up. Smash down a tree. Heck, it might be easier
to intimidate someone as an invisible giant... they only have your word for
how big you *really* are... and they don't know when you'll show up, or if
your foot might be hovering over them right now, ready to squash them...

--
ZZzz |\ _,,,---,,_ Travis S. Casey <efindel.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net>
/,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ No one agrees with me. Not even me.
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_)
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 00:51:46 -0500, Lady Caramel
<lcaramel.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I want something classic or iconic and yet I don't want the same old
>same old ya know what I'm saying?

OK, here are a few of my old characters:

Nowhere Man: Has very fine power over light. He can shoot
lasers, but his main shtick is that he is never where he appears to be
(or even looks like what he appears to look like). The apparent hero
is a light image, while he operates from relative safety, invislby.
Depending on the power level, he can also do a blinding blast, a
series of color that puts the subject into an hypnotic trance, etc.

Iceberg: Only 10% of him is here. He has 10 times the strength
of a normal person, and attacks only do 10% damage. He can teleport up
to 60 feet (10 body lengths).

Mr. Invincible: Fantastically strong and invunerable. Problem
is that he can only exist for 2 minutes, at which point he reverts to
a nerdish scientist. He must then wait 2 hours for his powers to
recharge.

George Reynolds: Mercenary warrrior from another planet,
trapped on Earth. From a heavier gravity planet, so he's somewhat
stronger and hardier than humans. Also has a force field (adjustable
for spacesuit mode or combat mode), and a gun that fires various
chemical cartridges for various effects. I used him as a lynchpin for
a superhero group, using his disabled but otherwise intact spaceship
as a high-tech headquarters.
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system) 

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:24:04 -0400, Rick Pikul <rwpikul RemoveThis @sympatico.ca>
wrote:

>On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 18:42:51 +0000, Douglas Berry wrote:
>
> {Foomph...}
>
>> A telekenetic who can only affect things within a few milimeters of his
>> skin. He uses this to fake having super strength.
>>
>> In Champions this would be bought as TK (No Range).

Not allowed under 5th edition rules. Instead you would buy the extra
Strength with limitation of without the mods to other stats to produce
the equiv.


> I did something like that once for a villian: TK 90 STR, no force, only
>to lift 'unliftable' objects.
> I had to create him, I had established that trying to lift a building was
>a bad idea, (one of the 11 pre-campaign deaths of supers was of someone
>who tried[1]), but also used a headline of "CIBC branch stolen."
>
>
> [1] The others were 2 in a big fight when a dozen convicted felons were
>empowered, 7 finding out that superpowers<>bulletproof, and one finding
>out that bulletproof<>125mm shell proof

--------------------------------------------------------
Joseph Teller joeteller RemoveThis @mindspring.com
www.fantasylibrary.com
 >> Stay informed about: Need Super-Power Ideas (any system)