We Could Be Heroes; A Sexy Superhero RP 2nd Arc Recruitment! MALES NEEDED!

[Vergil Tanner]

Ok, so, skipping ahead a little bit:

Stage 4: lift 1000lbs. He will able to jump to the roof of a two story building and jump from roof to roof even over streets with a running leap. Pupils are full feline slits. Visual acuity 20/10. Even the darkness night will be like twilight to and everything will seem to be bathed in a dim “Black Light” all heat sources, even living ones will have a dim glow to them. He will be able to follow scent trail about a day old and tell if a body is calm or frightened. He will be able to hear whispers beyond a closed door  along ultrasonic and infrasonic sounds. The will now be about a 25% improvement to reflexes and reaction time. Falling from any distance will have him landing on all fours.

Ok, so let me get this straight. You want as your power:

- Super strength (Both lifting and jumping)
- near-superhuman vision
- Darkvision (effectively)
- Heat Vision
- Super Smell (both tracking and being able to tell somebodies emotional state)
- Super Hearing (including frequencies that would normally be unhearable by humans)
- Automatic self-righting when falling
- Near-superhuman reflexes and reaction times.

Setting aside for a moment the fact that several of those abilities kind of overlap a little too much with other characters - since that can be excused a little if you're just not as good at them as the other characters - that list is just entirely too long. Look at everybody elses power, and just how specific they are. Dante has accelerated mental capabilities (basically, he thinks faster and has a photographic memory), and that's it, more or less. Nadra's ability is to be at the peak of human physical capability despite not having the necessary body for any of it. Cassie has vague, limited foresight that knocks her out with every vision. I mean...these are very, very specific things that they have. They do ONE thing VERY well. You seem to want to have a little bit of everything, and that really isn't the point of the game. The point of the game is that everybody has one specific power that they specialise in, and they come together as a group to combine their abilities. As it stands, I just feel like your character can do way too much compared to what everybody elses power is. He can lift only 100lbs less than the current world record despite being about a quarter of the guys size, can do running jumps equal to most Olympic athletes despite not having a jumpers body (which, again, kinda creeps pretty close to Nadra's power of Peak Human Ability), he has superhuman senses AND reflexes, AND can see in the dark AND use heat vision like The Predator? I mean...for this powerscale, that just seems a little excessive. My advice would be to take one specific ability and focus on THAT. Because as it stands, his abilities don't really fit the powerscale or the overall point of the game as a whole.

[Nygenn]

Name: Taylor McPaeler
Gender: Male
Position: Student
Archetype: Bully- Social Darwinist who berates people who aren't trying their best to be physically and mentally fit. Runs the Youth Fitness Club, and attempts to recruit below average people into it so that he can make them better. The club is Hell!
Power: "See All Fear, Hear All Fear, Speak All Fear"
See All Fear- People within 50 feet of his line of sight hallucinate a Primal Fear of his choice, be it fire, snakes, wolves, etc. This power becomes more powerful the more afraid the target becomes.

Weaknesses:
-Psychopaths are immune to See All Fear, and Low Fear/High Stress Resistant people have a higher threshold of tolerance.
-Power cannot penetrate through black/dark tinted substances.
-Unable to turn off See and Hear All Fear. Must wear black sunglasses/contacts, and ear plugs to nullify abilities.
-See All Evil affects the user if reflected.

Hello again. Different name, but really still the same guy, just a player not a GM or recruiter so feel free to ignore me.

If I might make a suggestion for this power, because it's quite interesting. Have you considered making it some kind of uncontrolled terror gaze? So as you have it, with the line of sight and strength depending on distance and duration of exposure. The character can't turn it off so has to shield his eyes. But as for the effects you have no knowledge or control over what they see, you just force into their minds illusions that terrify them and leave it up to the target to determine what that is. Let's say there's a character who has a fear of fire, then from a brief glimpse at the edge of your effective range she might suddenly get a glimpse of a flame from the corner of her eyes, causing her to jump or be alert. Then the closer she gets, or the longer she's exposed to your Terror Gaze the illusion grows. She will see more fires around her, and it spreads to things, it's going out of control and eventually she imagines herself surrounded in a blazing inferno.
This works the same for if someone has a fear of snakes. They see one, or a glimpse of some at first, and at full power there's a wave of snakes coming right at them from all sides.

Now you don't know what they see, but you see their reactions and can perhaps make deductions or guesses based on that.
Optionally, or additionally you perhaps have a sort of 6th sense for stress levels. Like when you touch someone or are near them you can "see" or sense their level of angst and stress. Could be cool for casual readings in classrooms when people have to get on stage, or sensing a girl's nervousness when she's approaching your character and maybe in love with him, or more likely just scared of him and his reputation. :p

You will still have to run all of this by Vergil of course, and perhaps you've already thought of this and dismissed it. I figured there's no harm in mentioning it.

[Elf]

It would have been nice to know from the start that the feline senses would be broken down into individual powers and I would have to choose just one. This changes the entire concept, so if I can think of something that will work for this I will try again.

[Bernardo Hoagie]

@Vergil

Hello again. Different name, but really still the same guy, just a player not a GM or recruiter so feel free to ignore me.

If I might make a suggestion for this power, because it's quite interesting. Have you considered making it some kind of uncontrolled terror gaze? So as you have it, with the line of sight and strength depending on distance and duration of exposure. The character can't turn it off so has to shield his eyes. But as for the effects you have no knowledge or control over what they see, you just force into their minds illusions that terrify them and leave it up to the target to determine what that is. Let's say there's a character who has a fear of fire, then from a brief glimpse at the edge of your effective range she might suddenly get a glimpse of a flame from the corner of her eyes, causing her to jump or be alert. Then the closer she gets, or the longer she's exposed to your Terror Gaze the illusion grows. She will see more fires around her, and it spreads to things, it's going out of control and eventually she imagines herself surrounded in a blazing inferno.
This works the same for if someone has a fear of snakes. They see one, or a glimpse of some at first, and at full power there's a wave of snakes coming right at them from all sides.

Now you don't know what they see, but you see their reactions and can perhaps make deductions or guesses based on that.
Optionally, or additionally you perhaps have a sort of 6th sense for stress levels. Like when you touch someone or are near them you can "see" or sense their level of angst and stress. Could be cool for casual readings in classrooms when people have to get on stage, or sensing a girl's nervousness when she's approaching your character and maybe in love with him, or more likely just scared of him and his reputation. :p

You will still have to run all of this by Vergil of course, and perhaps you've already thought of this and dismissed it. I figured there's no harm in mentioning it.

He just basically summarized exactly how I want my power to work. Can we reference this from now on, in regards to making the power work for your game? I've been trying to open up my power for evolution and increasing power, and Nyg's post helped me a ton on that regard.

[Vergil Tanner]

It would have been nice to know from the start that the feline senses would be broken down into individual powers and I would have to choose just one. This changes the entire concept, so if I can think of something that will work for this I will try again.

I think it was mentioned offhand that the power seemed entirely too broad and that the power scale didn't fit the theme of the game - by Jeflint, I believe - but apologies if that wasn't made clear. You are of course more than welcome to come up with a slightly different concept! None of the powers on their own are objectionable inherently, but having them all together does kind of make him a fair bit more powerful than the other characters.

@Vergil

He just basically summarized exactly how I want my power to work. Can we reference this from now on, in regards to making the power work for your game? I've been trying to open up my power for evolution and increasing power, and Nyg's post helped me a ton on that regard.

Ok, then why didn't you just say that in the first place? Now I need to go back and reassess the entire power...gimme a sec...

So as you have it, with the line of sight and strength depending on distance and duration of exposure.

Ok, so. What's the effective range? How close does somebody have to be for it to take effect, and how far away must they be for it to be ineffective? Is it target by target, or everybody in a cone shape? Basically, is it one at a time, can he select several different people to be affected, or is it everybody within his line of sight regardless of who he actually WANTS to affect? Or is it just the person he's specifically focusing his gaze on?

The character can't turn it off so has to shield his eyes.

Ok, so, if the person has to shield their eyes to "Turn it off," as it were, does it rely on eye contact? Or does the person being stared at get affected regardless of whether or not they're actually looking at the person? Because that sets alarm bells ringing for me. You can just stare at a person across the room, and even if they're not looking at you, they start to hallucinate and shriek in terror? Seems a touch...overpowered, from a psychic point of view, and doesn't really make much sense thematically. I'm open to the idea, but...you'd have to kind of convince me that it isn't way too strong. I mean. If it's everybody within your sight, regardless of whether they're looking at you, that basically means that you could drive an entire room of 50 people into mass hysteria just by looking at them. Um...WAY too powerful. If you had an upper limit of people it affects...maybe not. Further, if it isn't sight-based - so, they don't have to look at you for it to take effect - why would he need the glasses to block it at all?

But as for the effects you have no knowledge or control over what they see, you just force into their minds illusions that terrify them and leave it up to the target to determine what that is. Let's say there's a character who has a fear of fire, then from a brief glimpse at the edge of your effective range she might suddenly get a glimpse of a flame from the corner of her eyes, causing her to jump or be alert. Then the closer she gets, or the longer she's exposed to your Terror Gaze the illusion grows. She will see more fires around her, and it spreads to things, it's going out of control and eventually she imagines herself surrounded in a blazing inferno.
This works the same for if someone has a fear of snakes. They see one, or a glimpse of some at first, and at full power there's a wave of snakes coming right at them from all sides.

Eeeeeh...this runs into a small problem. This suggests that the power has a HUGE level of psychic intrusion ability, where previously you said that he DIDN'T know what their fears were. So he can make them see their worst fears in the world, without even knowing what they are? I'm sorry, but something about that just seems...off to me, especially after you specifically said that that wasn't how it worked. Now, I don't mind the character seeing their worst fear if your character KNOWS what their worst fear is, but him being able to just project their worst fear automatically? Seems like...I dunno, it seems too much like an "Instant Knockout," as it were, and I'm trying to avoid powers that automatically win. So what I propose is that it relies on primal fears - fire, predators, the dark, etc - and the fears get more specific the better he knows somebody.
Plus, this still raises the question of how realistic the illusions actually are, which hasn't been answered at all.

Optionally, or additionally you perhaps have a sort of 6th sense for stress levels. Like when you touch someone or are near them you can "see" or sense their level of angst and stress. Could be cool for casual readings in classrooms when people have to get on stage, or sensing a girl's nervousness when she's approaching your character and maybe in love with him, or more likely just scared of him and his reputation.

No, that's too much like telepathy / psychic empathy, and is too much like doubling up on powers. I can see a tenuous link there, but not a strong enough one to justify having it as a secondary power.


Basically, I still have most of the same questions I had before. In addition to the above points, I'll just rephrase the questions I had before that still apply here


- How many people are affected at once? Only one at a time? Two? Three? Everybody within sight? What's the limit?

- How do they hallucinate? Is it EVERYBODY in his range hallucinating the same thing, or does each person hallucinate something different?

- How does this influence the efficacy of his power? Does the amount of people hallucinating weaken the strength of the hallucination?

- You say "It gets more powerful the more afraid they are." What does that actually MEAN? HOW does it get more powerful?

- How does the hallucination behave if interacted with? Is it just a visual and auditory hallucination, or can you feel it with your hands as well? If it attacked you, would you feel the illusion of being hurt by it? EG, a Fear Wolf attacks and bites your wrist. Does it pass straight through, or latch on like a real wolf? Can it cause real damage or just the illusion of it?

- Does the power rely on eye contact? If not, why does tinted glasses thwart him?

[Zhu Que]

I know there is still work to be done on my character, but I'm hoping I got it somewhat resembling a power we can tidy up and make work better.




Name: Ri Seung-Sup / Eli Ri
Sex: Male
Position: Student
Archetype: Depending on which power decided on, the character development would lead to either kind of nerdy, or lead to that one kid that tries to be flirty and friendly with everyone, even though he doesn't quite fit the 'popular' type. I was thinking more of him being the kinda guy that he's actually pretty shy, and when he gets nervous or worried or excited he'll flirt.  Rather than him actually being an all around flirt. He would be kind of feminine but since he's pan-sexual, if someone interests him, he'd be a cheesy flirt or shy depending on the person.

I sent a short summary just to give an idea of the character.

Born in New York to to a white woman and a Korean man, Eli Ri lived there for five years before they moved to South Korea. When he was ten, his father betrayed his mother and had an affair that resulted in a second child. It was in rebellion that he started getting in trouble. Eli even ended up expelled from the expensive private school for weird concoctions in the science lab and leaving these around the school, causing damage to the school property with some of them.

His mother refused to divorce his father, but their relationship became violent. When Eli was fifteen, and his mother was hospitalized for the fourth time, he decided that it was time to take matters in his own hands. He reported his father and then contacted his mother's sister in New York, looking for help getting his mother from the situation.

At sixteen, Eli and his mother were back in New York. They had lived with his aunt for a little while, while he aimed to enter the best school in the area. This is where he found Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson High School, a school that he could try to focus in science for. He's been at "Malcolm Wheeler High" since.

Power Theme: Force Field - This could go from just simple self protection, to having to learn to make it big and strong enough to protect others.

Things we talked about

• week in - one minute sustain
• eventual 'body slam'
• invisible
• if damage is too much, force can transfer to his body
• elements aren't affected by the force field so much
• draw backs
• After start, still instant reaction but can sustain with full concentration
• possibly limited to speaking, simple thoughts and movements
• first buckler use - half a minute
• with practice  buckler up to couple minutes
• eventually a sphere
• not skin tight
• possible air tight - only as long as he can concentrate with no distractions
• buckler effectively makes him one-handed
• no 'travel power'
• throw buckler, no boomerang
• possible wall 'brace' - very short time
• work time vs concentration vs negatives
• possible to catch someone falling
• buckler 'deflects' force
• wall and sphere 'stops'
• wall is 'main' shape, buckler is condensed, spherical is stretched
• spherical protect up to three when practised
• wall 6' tall by 4' wide
• can possibly 'bridge' with wall
• FF can be instantaneous to first hit, no sustain
• must concentraite to bring anything up for sustaining
• 'toppling' wall, feels like someone a little bigger than him tackling someone
• not air tight, no parachute
• can make air tight, for short time and lots of concentration
• no vacuum of space
• wall originated on non-moving surface, can topple, less likely to be pushed back
• wall originated on body, can be pushed back, can move defended area
• possible retreat is originated on non-moving surface
• possible 'out of sight, out of mind' poof it goes away
• possible 'sight or fifty feet,' increase to 50 yards eventually
• cannot make outside of sight line
• up to discussing if characters with certain abilities can 'see'
• no instant recharge
• negative side effects change recharge rate (range from nearly instant to nearly minute)
• thrown buckler not really slowed by wind resistance
• buckler slowed some by friction
• hard focus to make air tight to be useful against gases
• spherical not useful against heavy rain or submersion

Force Field.

The force field is a manifestation of Eli’s mental fortitude used as protection from harm. In the start, he can create an instantaneous buckler ‘shield’ on reaction but not sustain. The force field is not visible, other than a shimmer that spreads out from the impact. As Eli learns to work with his power, he can start enlarging the size of his force field, though this does affect the defensive ability and concentration needed.

As Eli becomes more versed in his power and can do more, he can also protect others. In a full spherical field, he can protect up to three people. Once more in control, he can even use the force field at a distance, but only within sight. Again, the larger and farther he projects the field will dictate the defensiveness and control use.

Timing also changes as he becomes more practiced. It starts as an instantaneous interrupting or reactive protection. As Eli becomes more and more comfortable, he can sustain it for longer and longer times. Seconds become minutes, lasting for as long as he can concentrate on without being disrupted. As he learns to use the smaller, more condensed fields, he can do other things with them though shortening the time. (EX: If the Wall lasts five minutes while standing defense, spreading his concentration on a piece of equipment like searching his phone for a contact would lessen the time a third or so.)

Force Field Manifestations

Small Buckler

• Stronger defense ability.
• Quicker movements, running.
• More control with less stress.
• Best for escape or getting through a situation solo.
• Can be thrown or used for body slams.

Height Wall

• A wall his height, so pretty good defense ability.
• Less movement, moderate walking.
• Most balanced, moderate control with moderate stress.
• Best for acting as a ‘distraction’ for others to move.
• Ideal for dealing with a directed attack, can use for pushing back.

Spherical/Dome

• Full self or small group protection.
• No real movement, entirely for recouping.
• Less direct defense, more all around protection.
• Best for group change of plans in situations.
• Ideal for dealing with non-physical attacks and helping allies.

Damage each can take is based upon how condensed or stretched the force field is. A small buckler can handle more direct damage than the dome, but the dome can protect from all angles and works better for non-physical attacks. If the example of bullets is used: the buckler can take a few bullets before dispersing but takes being able to keep up and move quick enough, the dome would be only able to deal with a single piercing bullet but covers a full area and requires no movement to do so. In this example of bullets, the wall is the middle ground; can take a couple bullets but more likely defense than the buckler because of size.

Negative Side Effects

• Requires concentration, means Eli can be easily blind sided.
• Headaches and migraines from trying too hard.
• Dizziness or nausea following long or strenuous use.
• Depending on damage to force field, bleeding nose, eyes, and/or ears.
• If bad enough, can knock Eli unconscious.

I'm working on a growth chart, but I'm also trying to categorize things we talk about, you know into 'day one,' 'progress,' and 'mastered.' So I'm kinda trying to fix the snags in both the order of what we talked about, and snags in the 'growth stages.'

Growth chart I'm working on

Growth
Stage One
- Has an instant reactive 'wall' force field, no sustainability.
- Cannot create at will, only reactive.
-One minute cooldown before another wall can manifest.
- Suffers dizziness from 'instant' use.

Stage Two
- Can sustain wall with strong concentration.
- Learns to condense into a 'buckler'
- Sustainability is for fifteen to thirty seconds.
- One minute recharge.
- Nausea with repeated use.

Stage Three
- Can 'body slam' with buckler.
- Sustainability about a minute.
- Starts to suffer headaches with repeated use of stronger concentration.

Stage Four
- Can move arm and walk with buckler.
- Can start to split his attention to simple multitasking.
- Can 'topple' wall on someone by tackling it.
- Forty-five second recharge.
- Migraines with heavy concentration.

Stage Five
- Can make wall stretch a little more than his size.
- Can 'throw' buckler up to 50 feet.
- Sustainability about three minutes.
- Bloody eyes, ears, and/or nose with excessive damage to force field.

Stage Six
- Can 'stretch' wall into sphere/dome to fit him.
- A little more complex multitasking.
- Thirty second recharge.

Stage Seven
- Can sustain wall for up to five minutes depnding on concentration.
- Can raise wall/spherical at a distance of 75 feet.
- Sustain spherical for up to three minutes.

Stage Eight
- Can 'throw' buckler up to 100 feet.
- Can protect two total with dome.

Stage Nine
- Can raise wall/spherical at a distance of 100 feet.

Stage Ten
- Can protect three total with dome.

[Vergil Tanner]

Okey dokey. I asked for a full write up of just what the power can do, since I'm not entirely sure whether the "things we talked about" are things that the power can actually do, or just topics that came up. So I'll ignore that table for now, and focus on the description of the power.

The force field is a manifestation of Eli’s mental fortitude used as protection from harm. In the start, he can create an instantaneous buckler ‘shield’ on reaction but not sustain.

Ok, so, he can just throw up an instantaneous mini shield that protects him?
- How tough is it? Can it only deflect a punch, or could it deflect a car?
- How large is it, initially?

As Eli becomes more versed in his power and can do more, he can also protect others. In a full spherical field, he can protect up to three people. Once more in control, he can even use the force field at a distance, but only within sight. Again, the larger and farther he projects the field will dictate the defensiveness and control use.

How far is the maximum range? And does its maximum size decrease with range? How long does it take him to create these larger forcefields? Are they instantaneous, or do they take him some time to create?

Timing also changes as he becomes more practiced. It starts as an instantaneous interrupting or reactive protection.

Ok, woah, hang on a sec. "interrupting or reactive protection?" What does this actually mean? Do you mean it activates automatically to protect him from harm? Does he have to be aware of the danger or able to react in time, or does it activate regardless of whether he knows the danger is there, or how fast the danger approaches (EG, somebody steps up behind him and hits him with a baseball bat; does the power activate automatically, or does it stay dormant because HE doesn't know about the danger? Or if he's in a fight with a martial artist, and then kick him in the side before he even realises that their feet are moving...does the power activate, or does he have to actually spot the danger in time?)?

As Eli becomes more and more comfortable, he can sustain it for longer and longer times. Seconds become minutes, lasting for as long as he can concentrate on without being disrupted.

Define "Disrupted?" I assume that if something hits his shield, it becomes harder to maintain it, right? And enough force would shatter it entirely?

As he learns to use the smaller, more condensed fields, he can do other things with them though shortening the time.

Like? What other things would he be able to use the shields for? Or do you just mean "He can make several of them?"

• Stronger defense ability.

Ok, so, how strong is it? How big is it? Can he have multiple ones active at the same time, and does he have to consciously will the reflexive ones into existence or are they automatic, as above?

• Can be thrown or used for body slams.

Umm....what? I'm not exactly sure how this qualifies as a "forcefield." Would you mind explaining how this fits in with his theme, because this seems a little out of place.

• Less movement, moderate walking.

So he can walk forwards with the wall? This would have to be an intermediate ability, and given the concentration involved, he would have to move very slowly.

• No real movement, entirely for recouping.

I would say "No movement whatsoever."

• Less direct defense, more all around protection.

I assume, then, that it's weaker overall?

Growth
Stage One
- Has an instant reactive 'wall' force field, no sustainability.
- Cannot create at will, only reactive.

Again, I'll need you to define what "Reactive" actually MEANS, because having something that activates even if he doesn't see it coming? That's WAY too powerful. Basically makes him untouchable.

Stage Three
- Can 'body slam' with buckler.

Again, define "Bodyslam."

- Can 'throw' buckler up to 50 feet.

Again, not sure about this one.

[Zhu Que]

Okey dokey. I asked for a full write up of just what the power can do, since I'm not entirely sure whether the "things we talked about" are things that the power can actually do, or just topics that came up. So I'll ignore that table for now, and focus on the description of the power.

Yeah, that table was mostly just to cover the things Jeflint and I talked about, just so that things weren't brought up that we'd already covered, just so we didn't get distracted again. I am still figuring out what to actually do with that information.

Ok, so, he can just throw up an instantaneous mini shield that protects him?
- How tough is it? Can it only deflect a punch, or could it deflect a car?
- How large is it, initially?

So, my initial thought on that was (before I sat with a friend who does the whole 'create a power' thing WAY more than I do) to have it a small shield, but after speaking to him, we figured it would be easier if he had almost like a set amount of mass to work with, to be a limiter. Just so Eli doesn't just, you know, be able to force field everybody and become super defense. So if not too obtuse of me to ask it to be his basic 'wall,' his size, since I was thinking that the little shield is overall stronger because of being the same mass condensed?

Onto the instantaneous, I do say it is a one and done. Once the shield gets hit, it did its initial job and poof.
So, tough enough to deflect a punch, or something relatively small (I'd say not much bigger than a fist sized item), but not enough to deflect a car. It may protect him from the brunt of a hit from a car, but he's still going to be thrown back like he was hit, since the shield isn't going to stop the car outright (I mean, maybe if the car is going five or less, but still unlikely).

If the wall, the initial is about 6' tall, 4' wide. If the 'buckler,' it is condensed to about 12-15 inch diameter.

How far is the maximum range? And does its maximum size decrease with range? How long does it take him to create these larger forcefields? Are they instantaneous, or do they take him some time to create?

I'm thinking the max range is between 100ft to 150ft, wanted to go over this with you. What do you think is reasonable?
I know I personally want the limiter of he has to be able to see where he is originating the force field. Like, see it himself, not be able to sit at a security monitor and pop a shield on someone who is on the other side of the build.

I hadn't considered if size should be affected, since I was mostly going on the feel of him having a 'mass' he works with.

I was considering about the distance taking more time, since it would be harder to focus on a distant point than one closer. I never figured instant for anything he can sustain: his instantaneous reaction, he has no control over that (I'll say more on that at the question that covers it), but ones he has to focus to create take a few seconds at least. So, I could see it being something like 'x time added for x distance.' So incremental time for incremental distance? If so, I can come up with some math based on distance if we agree on a max distance.

Ok, woah, hang on a sec. "interrupting or reactive protection?" What does this actually mean? Do you mean it activates automatically to protect him from harm? Does he have to be aware of the danger or able to react in time, or does it activate regardless of whether he knows the danger is there, or how fast the danger approaches (EG, somebody steps up behind him and hits him with a baseball bat; does the power activate automatically, or does it stay dormant because HE doesn't know about the danger? Or if he's in a fight with a martial artist, and then kick him in the side before he even realises that their feet are moving...does the power activate, or does he have to actually spot the danger in time?)?

I realized now at your questions that I did not go through and revise some of the things that I had thought about as I was working on the table at the bottom. I really got all over the place and was having a hard time going back to the basic information because of trying to decipher things that were covered.

Okay, so I mean 'interrupting or reactive' by like, his brain has to go 'oh shit' and its more like when a person flinches and pulls away from something. He has to register the thing. So something blind-siding him, no instant shield. He would have to know that danger is coming at him, just it is like a last ditch effort on part of his brain to not get hit in the face. So he has no control of the instant, the best way to explain it really is like a flinch. Can't flinch if you don't notice at least, even if last moment.

So good example is like, if someone where to outright punch him from a direction that his vision can catch it, his brain throws the shield up like grabbing the 'oh shit' handle. If someone comes up behind him and hits him, no such luck, he gets hit. If someone is fast than his brain, because it does have to register the attack, then they can hit him before the shield can protect him. Brains are faster than physical forms, in a non-powered world, but it still takes the moment of 'that could hurt, no thanks.'

Define "Disrupted?" I assume that if something hits his shield, it becomes harder to maintain it, right? And enough force would shatter it entirely?

Yes, pretty exact. I think I equated it to blaring music to my spouse. Like a neighbor blaring music can cause a pounding headache, and it is hard to concentrate on your work with that going on. So in that sense, it would be like something (lets say someone hitting the shield) would be like a headache forming and making it harder to concentrate, and enough force would cause a bad enough headache to shatter the force field.

In the example of car (since it is a good example in compared to a person's fists), a car hitting, would definitely cause a near splitting headache, and would more than likely shatter the shield even when he's better at controlling them. An explosion, would definitely shatter, plus probably knock him out.

So overall, I see disrupted as something that is weakening his concentration. Someone blind-siding him would disrupt and probably break his concentration, thus dropping the force field. On that, I also thought to add to the 'recharge' that those are base times, but that if he has a headache, migraine, or bleeding orifice, the times are elongated. If unconscious, well, he's not popping another force field at the time.

Like? What other things would he be able to use the shields for? Or do you just mean "He can make several of them?"

I mainly meant this in the form of him getting better at multitasking while still concentrating on the shields. I really do not lean towards the idea of him making multiples of any force field. With that part specifically, it was that as he learns to use his 'buckler,' he can do other things like wield a weapon or vial (since science) to throw, or call someone on his phone, maybe get to do things that are a little more complicated as he gets better.

Ok, so, how strong is it? How big is it? Can he have multiple ones active at the same time, and does he have to consciously will the reflexive ones into existence or are they automatic, as above?

For 'strong,' I'll use the example that my friend helped me come up with that kinda helped me keep things in a more basic manner for me.

If his basic wall can take two or three bullets before shattering, let's say the larger spherical force field may be able to take one or two, because it is the same mass spread out. Making it technically the weaker defense, just helpful for trying to give a couple people some form of defense while the prepare something themselves, or to help deal with a gaseous attack or something. The buckler, though, would be that wall's mass condensed. So therefore, it may take three to five bullets (you know, given he reacts to defending himself, here the bullet one is less of a good example since that brings up 'dodging bullets' which he cannot do). BUT, just SAY for this example he manages to defend himself for that. So, that in turn would make it the more defensively strong. Again, understand if changes need to be worked.

Size, figured the 12-15 diameter. No multiples.

The reflexive, no concentration on his part, because they are more 'one and done' with no further use, with a recharge still. Only ones he can consciously do are the ones that require concentration and time to pop up, not instant.

Umm....what? I'm not exactly sure how this qualifies as a "forcefield." Would you mind explaining how this fits in with his theme, because this seems a little out of place.

Again, forgot to revise and detail.

The 'thrown or used for body slam' was in the thought that with the buckler, he could throw it or slam into someone.

Throwing, I was thinking that, once more skilled, say he saw an ally nearby that someone was going at from behind, that he could throw the shield to defend them, but then poof, gone and he'd have to focus to create a new one. In all actuality, I'm probably cool with removing aspect on working more on the details of his distance and timing for originating his force field further from himself. Since it really is about the same, just thought the throwing might take less time than concentrating to create a new force field from scratch.

The body slam, that was more like... he's there with his buckler, someone hitting him, and he decides to throw his body weight behind the buckler and slam into them.

So he can walk forwards with the wall? This would have to be an intermediate ability, and given the concentration involved, he would have to move very slowly.

Yeah, I was leaning towards slow, but I figured I'd wait for opinions. So, intermediate, okay. So towards the middle of my 'ten stages?'

Honestly, I was fighting with the progression, so I figured I would do some stuff best I could and get help fixing it.

I would say "No movement whatsoever."

Okay, sounds good.

I assume, then, that it's weaker overall?

Yes, weaker. I would say the strongest is the buckler, the wall is the balanced between how much it can take and where it shields, and the spherical one can take less damage overall but protects more area (not just one side, but all around).

Again, I'll need you to define what "Reactive" actually MEANS, because having something that activates even if he doesn't see it coming? That's WAY too powerful. Basically makes him untouchable.

Again, define "Bodyslam."

Again, not sure about this one.

Let me know if my answer above was able to cover this, or if it needs to be gone over again.

About the 50ft, I just put that as a possible distance.


Totally cool with adjusting and making this a more balanced power, since I definitely love the idea of everyone working as a team, instead of some being better off by themselves. I'd rather drop a part that doesn't work as well for the concept than to fight to keep if it means more hassle than it is worth.

[Anouk Daae]

Hey!
I'm sure you're all filled up already, but just in case you aren't - I wanted to throw my hat (character) in the ring.

Gender: female
Position: Student, junior at Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson High School
Archetype: Cheerleader
Power Theme: Thermovariance and thermoresistance. Essentially, she can make people's blood boil inside them while being immune to the effects of heat and fire herself.

edit: this is just the concept. If she's allowed to the next round, I can supply more detail.

[Vergil Tanner]

@Que:

So, my initial thought on that was (before I sat with a friend who does the whole 'create a power' thing WAY more than I do) to have it a small shield, but after speaking to him, we figured it would be easier if he had almost like a set amount of mass to work with, to be a limiter. Just so Eli doesn't just, you know, be able to force field everybody and become super defense. So if not too obtuse of me to ask it to be his basic 'wall,' his size, since I was thinking that the little shield is overall stronger because of being the same mass condensed?

That would make sense. What did you have in mind for its maximum mass? And of course, it would start small and build up as it got stronger.

Onto the instantaneous, I do say it is a one and done. Once the shield gets hit, it did its initial job and poof.
So, tough enough to deflect a punch, or something relatively small (I'd say not much bigger than a fist sized item), but not enough to deflect a car. It may protect him from the brunt of a hit from a car, but he's still going to be thrown back like he was hit, since the shield isn't going to stop the car outright (I mean, maybe if the car is going five or less, but still unlikely).

Ok...and once its been raised, he has to wait a minute for it to recharge, at least at basic level? So he can't just spam them to protect himself from all attacks?

I'm thinking the max range is between 100ft to 150ft, wanted to go over this with you. What do you think is reasonable?

Well, bare in mind that you said "within sight range." How often is he gonna be able to see in a straight line 100ft away. I would say the maximum - absolute maximum - would be 100ft, and he builds to that from a smaller amount as he gets experience.

I know I personally want the limiter of he has to be able to see where he is originating the force field. Like, see it himself, not be able to sit at a security monitor and pop a shield on someone who is on the other side of the build.

I was going to say that I like that as a limiter

I hadn't considered if size should be affected, since I was mostly going on the feel of him having a 'mass' he works with.

True, but think of it this way; instead of just "putting it down" around him, he's now "throwing" it, which takes more energy, right? So how does that affect the size and strength of the shield?

Okay, so I mean 'interrupting or reactive' by like, his brain has to go 'oh shit' and its more like when a person flinches and pulls away from something. He has to register the thing. So something blind-siding him, no instant shield. He would have to know that danger is coming at him, just it is like a last ditch effort on part of his brain to not get hit in the face. So he has no control of the instant, the best way to explain it really is like a flinch. Can't flinch if you don't notice at least, even if last moment.

Ok, and that's the "one and done, one minute recharge," right?

I mainly meant this in the form of him getting better at multitasking while still concentrating on the shields. I really do not lean towards the idea of him making multiples of any force field. With that part specifically, it was that as he learns to use his 'buckler,' he can do other things like wield a weapon or vial (since science) to throw, or call someone on his phone, maybe get to do things that are a little more complicated as he gets better.

Ok, that makes sense.

If his basic wall can take two or three bullets before shattering, let's say the larger spherical force field may be able to take one or two, because it is the same mass spread out. Making it technically the weaker defense, just helpful for trying to give a couple people some form of defense while the prepare something themselves, or to help deal with a gaseous attack or something. The buckler, though, would be that wall's mass condensed. So therefore, it may take three to five bullets (you know, given he reacts to defending himself, here the bullet one is less of a good example since that brings up 'dodging bullets' which he cannot do). BUT, just SAY for this example he manages to defend himself for that. So, that in turn would make it the more defensively strong. Again, understand if changes need to be worked.

Ok. So what strengths were you thinking at the Basic, Intermediate and Master level? How do the strengths of those forcefields vary? How much force can it absorb without dissipating? I'm hesitant to make you go into newtons and tons, but...that might help to get an idea

Throwing, I was thinking that, once more skilled, say he saw an ally nearby that someone was going at from behind, that he could throw the shield to defend them, but then poof, gone and he'd have to focus to create a new one. In all actuality, I'm probably cool with removing aspect on working more on the details of his distance and timing for originating his force field further from himself. Since it really is about the same, just thought the throwing might take less time than concentrating to create a new force field from scratch.

Yeah, I think I'd rather you go with just creating one around them rather than "throwing" your existing one.

The body slam, that was more like... he's there with his buckler, someone hitting him, and he decides to throw his body weight behind the buckler and slam into them.

Ah, I see. So more like a shield bash than a body slam.

Yeah, I was leaning towards slow, but I figured I'd wait for opinions. So, intermediate, okay. So towards the middle of my 'ten stages?'

Yeah, pretty much.



@Daae:

Hey!
I'm sure you're all filled up already, but just in case you aren't - I wanted to throw my hat (character) in the ring.

We're not full up just yet, don't worry!

Position: Student, junior at Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson High School

I'm afraid that, as the brief said, every character needs to be a Senior.

Power Theme: Thermovariance and thermoresistance. Essentially, she can make people's blood boil inside them while being immune to the effects of heat and fire herself.

Ok, so two things:

- I need more specifics. What does her power actually do? What does thermovariance actually mean? Can she JUST boil blood (which is already a hard sell due to how potentially Godmoddy and unblockable it is) or can she vary the temperature of other materials as well? Which ones? At what range? What are the limits and weaknesses? I need more detail to be able to make a call here.

- "Immune to heat and fire," I'll have to say no. Not only does that mean that she's completely immune to another persons power, I'm not sure how she gets "immunity from heat" from "control of heat." She can control the heat to make it lower and therefore not harmful, sure, but that isn't immunity to the heat itself. And if memory serves, our pyrokinetic can still be burned by fire if he's stupid with it.

[Anouk Daae]

Ok. Thanks anyway!

[Vergil Tanner]

I'm sorry, I'm a little unclear; does that mean that you are withdrawing your interest?

I'm not saying "No" to your ability, I would just like some extra detail on it. The process is intended to make sure that we both have a complete and full understanding of how your power works so that we can work it into the game properly. If you're no longer interested that's fine, but the above questions were not me rejecting you, rather they were asking for clarification and more information.

[Vergil Tanner]

And that goes for the rest of you as well These questions are designed to give me a greater understanding of your powers and what you see them doing in the long run, so I know whether they need tweaking for the game. Balance is important after all! Please don't take it as me trying to discourage you.

[Anouk Daae]

I'm sorry, I'm a little unclear; does that mean that you are withdrawing your interest?

I'm not saying "No" to your ability, I would just like some extra detail on it. The process is intended to make sure that we both have a complete and full understanding of how your power works so that we can work it into the game properly. If you're no longer interested that's fine, but the above questions were not me rejecting you, rather they were asking for clarification and more information.

I appreciate that. My character is a thermovariant. There is a potential for a shit-ass role player to take that ability and god-mod someone else's character. I, however, am not a shit-ass role player. I don't write my characters as doing things to other people's characters that isn't consented, which should have been a given. I wasn't suggesting that being able to make blood boil magically made her immune to heat. I was saying that she has this ability and also this other one that is often times associated with it. Two separate abilities. She has both. You said no to the second one, but that's the character - hence my response. I'm willing to remove "fire" as an immunity. but fire without heat is pointless. I'm also willing to even say she's resistant as opposed to flat out immune; while changing her from junior to senior.
Thank you for taking the time, though. It was, as I said, appreciated.

[AmandaWho]

Are you still recruiting for this game, or are you right now working through the recruits you currently have applied and aren't accepting any new ones?

[Vergil Tanner]

Well, I can only apologise. The point of the questions isn't to imply that you're a "shit ass roleplayer," it's to properly balance everybody and give specific parameters as to what they can and can't do to provide an easier shorthand. Everybody currently in the game has gone through the exact same process, and we have some amazing writers in there right now who would not even dream of GodModding.
As for the second ability, I can see resistance or immunity to heat, but the "No" was more to the immunity to fire, given that that is another characters power and we want to avoid as much overlap as possible.

I'm sorry if I offended you, but this isn't a personal attack on you. It's just a process to ensure that the power is thought out and defined properly - so we don't have arguments later on as to what the power can and can't do - provide a roadmap of how it develops, and to get to know you as a player. I'm sorry that you are no longer interested, though, and I wish you luck in your future games



Hey Amanda! We are indeed still accepting new applicants, for the moment at least

[AmandaWho]

Okey dokey, here's a character concept :)

Name: Linnie Forester

Sex: Female

Position: Student

Archetype: The smart girl. Lin is an academically high achieving "smart" girl, with the oversized glasses and the social anxiety that goes along with that. She's often at the top of the awards lists while being at the bottom of the social standing, despite her cute good looks. She comes from a standard, middle-class, hard working family and she has aspirations to either become a professional pianist (this is more of her mother's dream than her own, although Lin can pound out classical music on the ivories like nobody's business) or a veterinarian, because she loves animals.

Power Theme: "Magic". I put magic in quotation marks because it isn't magic, it just seems like it. Sort of. She can bend reality to her will, but it has to follow certain rules and regulations that make a certain kind of sense to her, hence why it seems like magic, even to her. Her ability is highly wedded to her imagination and her love of fantasy and sci fi literature. This is both a boon and a hindrance, as it allows her to cause her power to take form in the real world but also limits it to the rules she must follow.

She can cause an effect to take place, from making a glowing ball in her hand to light up a room to causing someone to fall asleep. She needs to do some kind of magical ritual, incantation, or act to make the magic take effect. The bigger and more profound the effect, the greater the requirements and more hoops she has to jump through.

Guidelines:
• An effect that would mimic something an individual can do with their own two hands within a short distance requires merely her to concentrate and think the effect into action. This would include things like causing a book to levitate down from a shelf or a door opening or closing on its own.
• An effect that could be accomplished by three people doing it together requires some handwaving and recitation of a phrase (which she makes up as she goes). This takes up to 5 seconds or so. This might be causing a heavy object, like a sofa to levitate, or to push a large person over. If she doesn't have free motion of her hands or cannot speak, she cannot cast these spells.
• An effect that would cause a serious change in the world that is normally only accomplished with sophisticated machinery is a serious ritual for her and would take several hours of chanting, burning of incense, and perhaps some greater sacrifices like spilling her own blood or taking some kind of drug. This would include trying to do things like healing a wound, cracking a safe open, summoning a lost object, or teleporting a great distance.

Weaknesses:
• The guidelines above set the requirements she must accomplish to cast a spell, she can't cause an effect to happen without going through one of those rituals  although she can make the ritual up as she goes.
• Fatigue: Use of her power is taxing. A minor effect does little to tire her out, a medium effect is like 5 minutes of heavy exercise, it will get her heart pumping and breath going. A major effect is taxing, if she attempts more than one in a 24 hour period it will likely knock her out, and a first casting will leave her exhausted like she just ran ten miles.
• Failure: The spells sometimes fail, for no good reason, even if she does it right. Minor effects very rarely fail unless she is highly distracted or emotionally distraught, medium effects fail maybe 20% of the time, and a major effect is the same. Spell failure usually means the spell simply doesn't happen, but it can also mean that the spell goes awry and something bad happens.

[Vergil Tanner]

Ok, so the biggest concern with this ability is that it has the potential to be entirely too broad; the point of the game is generally that people specialise in one specific ability, and have to pool their powers to become "Greater than the sum," y'know? Like, super strength but not invulnerability. Photographic memory but no superhuman physical abilities. The ability to blast shit with fire, but beyond that, nothing. So...what specifically can this ability do? You've been kind of vague on what specifically the powers allow her to do, so...is this a form of telekinesis? Or do you mean it more generally than that? I guess I'm just trying to figure out what exactly you want this power to be able to do, and how it will effect the rest of the world, y'know?

[AmandaWho]

I mean it to be a vague "meta" power, but I get how that might be compromising to the game in the sense that it can do anything. My thought was to limit the scope of it with weaknesses, but if it is too broad, I'll come up with another power set for her. As she stands right now, she wouldn't have a clear place on a team other than as a supporting mop up and miscellaneous person to perform a task that someone else isn't more suited for.

[PentheWonderful]

Bonjour~ Admin Pen here, to help out our illustrious GM Vergil.

I'm sad to say that, indeed "magic" might be a little too broad and a touch above our target superhero pay grade. Someone else has applied for Reality Warping powers before, and they too were asked to change their choice. The thing with that is just slightly too vague for us.

If I may recommend, however, as you are privy to "magic" why not make it more along the lines of hypnotism and illusion casting rather than actual reality warping? Such abilities would still require implant words like incantations to work and have the same effect. Just my thinking, but do feel free to use it if you like.

[Vergil Tanner]

Honestly, I don't mind the power itself, but I would want it to have specific tasks that it can accomplish rather than leaving it up to a vague "Oh, it's just maintenance." Having a vague power that could feasibly do anything makes it harder as a GM to plan stuff, for one, and runs the risk of the ability spiraling out of control.

It's up to you, really; we can either sort out some specific things it can do, or you can come up with a different ability. Your choice! As Pen suggests, a lot can be done with that kind of concept, if we split it up into different types of magic. EG, you could say that Grace is an Enchantment Specialist with her ability to seduce and charm people.

[AmandaWho]

Nah, let's scuttle that power and try another. How about this:

Power augmentation/negation: Lin has the ability to increase, or decrease, the power of other people's powers. The effect ranges from doubling a power's effectiveness to negating it completely. At a range of 50 yards she can have up to a 10% effect on a power, half that distance doubles the effect to 50%, and at touch she can double a power or turn it off.

She has to concentrate to maintain the effect she has, and if her concentration is broken then her hold over a power is broken. Using her ability is tiring for her; if she uses it at full blast, to double/negate a power, it is the endurance equivalent of running full speed. She can do this for maybe ten seconds, any longer than that and she risks passing out and/or exhaustion.

This power also gives her some ability to detect powers, but she can only feel a power nearby within 50 yards and only when it's actively being used, not when it is simply present but not in use.

[Vergil Tanner]

Hmm....ok, that sounds interesting. I think there are three main points to go over here.

1) How much she can increase or decrease a powers effectiveness. Personally, I don't want her able to completely negate a power; maybe reduce it to 30% efficacy, but her being able to switch the power off entirely seems a little TOO powerful. So, Day One, how much can she alter the strength by compared to her Maximum Potential? I don't have an issue with her doubling a power, but switching it off entirely? That's a bit harder to sell

2) The range. What's her maximum range, and how does the range she's at affect how intensely she can affect the power? (EG, at Max Potential, she can increase or decrease by 10% at 100 feet, 20% at 90 feet, etc etc).

3) How long can she do it? Both on Day One and Max Potential, and how does that time limit change in relation to the percentage she's altering it by?

[AmandaWho]

Hmm....ok, that sounds interesting. I think there are three main points to go over here.

1) How much she can increase or decrease a powers effectiveness. Personally, I don't want her able to completely negate a power; maybe reduce it to 30% efficacy, but her being able to switch the power off entirely seems a little TOO powerful. So, Day One, how much can she alter the strength by compared to her Maximum Potential? I don't have an issue with her doubling a power, but switching it off entirely? That's a bit harder to sell

2) The range. What's her maximum range, and how does the range she's at affect how intensely she can affect the power? (EG, at Max Potential, she can increase or decrease by 10% at 100 feet, 20% at 90 feet, etc etc).

3) How long can she do it? Both on Day One and Max Potential, and how does that time limit change in relation to the percentage she's altering it by?

Okay, I was thinking max potential being doubling and negation, although that only occurs with direct physical contact and for a maximum of ten seconds. As distance drags out from there, the power decreases by direct proportion out to 50 yards where it stops working. So, at 25 yards, she can boost a power by 50% or decrease it by 50%.

That would be her max.

On day one, say, she is half as effective until she masters the ability. So, at direct physical contact she can boost a power by 50% or decrease it by 50% for up to 10 seconds, and she can extend it up to a range of 50 yards with similar diminishing results.

If the maximum effect of negation on direct contact is too powerful, then set whatever level you think is appropriate, like 30%. I think in that case, though, I would want to remove the time limitation of ten seconds as I viewed that as the limiting factor on negation.

Obviously, a character like this would purely be a supporting character as she is useless unless in the presence of other powers. I'm thinking of her more in relation to the other characters, who may want to utilize her in specific situations for specific problems.

What do you think?

[AmandaWho]

Now I think of it, maybe just make this augmentation, without negation. She can simply boost others. I'm looking at the other characters and, as you say, they all have fairly simple powers, so I may be making these too complicated.

Also, feel free to just tell me if you just don't like a power. For instance, if it doesn't have enough flavor or you don't think it would fit with the others. I have no problem coming up with more powers, I enjoy doing this lol