A systematic problem

[Veiled Malice]

That depends... if I'm entertaining enough, people might actually be trying to catch me. You've seen what lengths people will go to to get on television.

Engineer a publicity stunt at a popular gym, a human balloon release. A number of bodybuilders (maybe even a professional wrestling star or two) painted in bright colors and filled up with helium into bloated giant parodies of musclemen, then let go en mass to float up into the sky. Nevermind that any weather-based hero who calls up a storm will lower the barometric pressure enough to make some of the overinflated men explode.

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

[Veiled Malice]

That depends... if I'm entertaining enough, people might actually be trying to catch me. You've seen what lengths people will go to to get on television.

Engineer a publicity stunt at a popular gym, a human balloon release. A number of bodybuilders (maybe even a professional wrestling star or two) painted in bright colors and filled up with helium into bloated giant parodies of musclemen, then let go en mass to float up into the sky. Nevermind that any weather-based hero who calls up a storm will lower the barometric pressure enough to make some of the overinflated men explode.

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

[Veiled Malice]

That depends... if I'm entertaining enough, people might actually be trying to catch me. You've seen what lengths people will go to to get on television.

Engineer a publicity stunt at a popular gym, a human balloon release. A number of bodybuilders (maybe even a professional wrestling star or two) painted in bright colors and filled up with helium into bloated giant parodies of musclemen, then let go en mass to float up into the sky. Nevermind that any weather-based hero who calls up a storm will lower the barometric pressure enough to make some of the overinflated men explode.

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

[DrBalloon]

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

That didn't take superpowers into account.

Infect someone, rebuild their physiology from the inside to be elastic and rubbery, but don't hook up any nerves that would let them voluntarily stretch. Add in anatomical separation, again under your control not the victim's, and put on a show, "exploding" your unwitting shills as the script calls for. Hero takes you in for murder? You've got the witnesses, including the supposed murder victims, who can vouch for you. Hero's rep tanks.

Of course, if you just want to attack their good name, exploding robotic baby ducklings are a fun trick. Wind them up, set the quackers homing in on the hero, and if he attacks them to destroy them before they go off, the next morning the headlines tell people that So-and-So the Superhero killed cute baby ducklings, going into detail without revealing that the duckies were bombs.

And if you're really cruel to your archnemesis, mind control the Mayor's elderly mother, put her in your costume with a gadget or two simulating your flashier powers, and pull a bait and switch on the heros chasing you so they smash her instead. Great for armored battlesuit types. One blow that you'd barely have felt, and Mr. Boy Scout has brained a senior citizen with political connections.

[DrBalloon]

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

That didn't take superpowers into account.

Infect someone, rebuild their physiology from the inside to be elastic and rubbery, but don't hook up any nerves that would let them voluntarily stretch. Add in anatomical separation, again under your control not the victim's, and put on a show, "exploding" your unwitting shills as the script calls for. Hero takes you in for murder? You've got the witnesses, including the supposed murder victims, who can vouch for you. Hero's rep tanks.

Of course, if you just want to attack their good name, exploding robotic baby ducklings are a fun trick. Wind them up, set the quackers homing in on the hero, and if he attacks them to destroy them before they go off, the next morning the headlines tell people that So-and-So the Superhero killed cute baby ducklings, going into detail without revealing that the duckies were bombs.

And if you're really cruel to your archnemesis, mind control the Mayor's elderly mother, put her in your costume with a gadget or two simulating your flashier powers, and pull a bait and switch on the heros chasing you so they smash her instead. Great for armored battlesuit types. One blow that you'd barely have felt, and Mr. Boy Scout has brained a senior citizen with political connections.

[DrBalloon]

Actually, Mythbusters already "popped" that particular myth. Human skin is too flexible and durable to blow up under terrestrial pressure differentials. Outer space, though, with enough internal pressure... :twisted:

That didn't take superpowers into account.

Infect someone, rebuild their physiology from the inside to be elastic and rubbery, but don't hook up any nerves that would let them voluntarily stretch. Add in anatomical separation, again under your control not the victim's, and put on a show, "exploding" your unwitting shills as the script calls for. Hero takes you in for murder? You've got the witnesses, including the supposed murder victims, who can vouch for you. Hero's rep tanks.

Of course, if you just want to attack their good name, exploding robotic baby ducklings are a fun trick. Wind them up, set the quackers homing in on the hero, and if he attacks them to destroy them before they go off, the next morning the headlines tell people that So-and-So the Superhero killed cute baby ducklings, going into detail without revealing that the duckies were bombs.

And if you're really cruel to your archnemesis, mind control the Mayor's elderly mother, put her in your costume with a gadget or two simulating your flashier powers, and pull a bait and switch on the heros chasing you so they smash her instead. Great for armored battlesuit types. One blow that you'd barely have felt, and Mr. Boy Scout has brained a senior citizen with political connections.

[Veiled Malice]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

[Veiled Malice]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

[Veiled Malice]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

[DrBalloon]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

The one I described just above, or over in Character Building?

Is Gestalt with the Attack Extra a valid trick? If so, generate a fanatical but non-heroic Summon Minion, Gestalt the infected/possessed man and the minion together so that they add (keep everything from the infected man component, and whatever points from the minion fit to make the 150 point total). Make the Gestalt Continuous, have the Summon Minion flexible so variants of the basic theme are available, and I think I'd have a good base. Apply skills in performance, some stuff to represent the mental linkage and some defenses as needed. The inflation isn't hard to do, an Alternate Form that the altered man has no control over, some Uncontrolled and limited Continuous Flight, and an Alternate Power of a second Alternate Form he automatically switches to under a pre-set group of conditions, changing him from a living balloon to a bunch of pieces of tattered rubber falling from the sky. After the show, pull him back together into one piece and go home to the wife and kids.

[DrBalloon]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

The one I described just above, or over in Character Building?

Is Gestalt with the Attack Extra a valid trick? If so, generate a fanatical but non-heroic Summon Minion, Gestalt the infected/possessed man and the minion together so that they add (keep everything from the infected man component, and whatever points from the minion fit to make the 150 point total). Make the Gestalt Continuous, have the Summon Minion flexible so variants of the basic theme are available, and I think I'd have a good base. Apply skills in performance, some stuff to represent the mental linkage and some defenses as needed. The inflation isn't hard to do, an Alternate Form that the altered man has no control over, some Uncontrolled and limited Continuous Flight, and an Alternate Power of a second Alternate Form he automatically switches to under a pre-set group of conditions, changing him from a living balloon to a bunch of pieces of tattered rubber falling from the sky. After the show, pull him back together into one piece and go home to the wife and kids.

[DrBalloon]

Dude, just try building a power like that first one you described. I want to see if you can actually do it in this system without rediculous amounts of baggage added in.

The one I described just above, or over in Character Building?

Is Gestalt with the Attack Extra a valid trick? If so, generate a fanatical but non-heroic Summon Minion, Gestalt the infected/possessed man and the minion together so that they add (keep everything from the infected man component, and whatever points from the minion fit to make the 150 point total). Make the Gestalt Continuous, have the Summon Minion flexible so variants of the basic theme are available, and I think I'd have a good base. Apply skills in performance, some stuff to represent the mental linkage and some defenses as needed. The inflation isn't hard to do, an Alternate Form that the altered man has no control over, some Uncontrolled and limited Continuous Flight, and an Alternate Power of a second Alternate Form he automatically switches to under a pre-set group of conditions, changing him from a living balloon to a bunch of pieces of tattered rubber falling from the sky. After the show, pull him back together into one piece and go home to the wife and kids.

[Veiled Malice]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

[Veiled Malice]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

[Veiled Malice]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

[DrBalloon]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

You may have a good point there. I'm not at all sure an illusion plus mental Transform would be enough, though, and unless UP changed Transform quite a bit from the rulebook, it doesn't seem adaquate for what I had in mind.

However, if you take a look at the comics, how many villains are one-trick ponies relative to the villain population? It's not that small of a percentage.

[DrBalloon]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

You may have a good point there. I'm not at all sure an illusion plus mental Transform would be enough, though, and unless UP changed Transform quite a bit from the rulebook, it doesn't seem adaquate for what I had in mind.

However, if you take a look at the comics, how many villains are one-trick ponies relative to the villain population? It's not that small of a percentage.

[DrBalloon]

I believe you're over thinking this. From what I have read, the Attack extra can be used on Gestalt. However, what you have in mind seems way too complex. A simple illusion linked to a mental transform could achieve what you have in mind for far less points and far greater utility.

On the other hand, I'm not sure whether or not you can add Attack onto Gestalt. The refs would have final say on that.

The point is, you've just created a power with only one purpose and spent an altogether indecent amount of points on it. I really think Transform is the way you want to go for most of the effects you're going for.

You may have a good point there. I'm not at all sure an illusion plus mental Transform would be enough, though, and unless UP changed Transform quite a bit from the rulebook, it doesn't seem adaquate for what I had in mind.

However, if you take a look at the comics, how many villains are one-trick ponies relative to the villain population? It's not that small of a percentage.

[Veiled Malice]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

[Veiled Malice]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

[Veiled Malice]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

[DrBalloon]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

Considering that one of my other characters could hold a city hostage with 2 ranks of Create Object and a few feats/extras on them, I don't think overspecialization is all that bad.

Of course, that was Captain Crap, the villain with a host of "useless" powers. He created an inch thick layer of mushy, fresh human feces hanging in 20 or 30 ft. over the city, following the pattern of the streets. It stopped the heroes in their tracks really fast when he threatened to let it drop on their fans.

His other offensive powers were Blast +2 (thrown scoop of ice cream), Nauseate at a low rank (he farted), a 20 STR, and a "Fairy Godmother Ray" that he used to put princess dresses on the police officers. I think that was the full extent of his attack powers. Oh yes, Anatomical Seperation with the Attack extra, for pinching (stealing) someone's body part. I never had a chance to use that one.

[DrBalloon]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

Considering that one of my other characters could hold a city hostage with 2 ranks of Create Object and a few feats/extras on them, I don't think overspecialization is all that bad.

Of course, that was Captain Crap, the villain with a host of "useless" powers. He created an inch thick layer of mushy, fresh human feces hanging in 20 or 30 ft. over the city, following the pattern of the streets. It stopped the heroes in their tracks really fast when he threatened to let it drop on their fans.

His other offensive powers were Blast +2 (thrown scoop of ice cream), Nauseate at a low rank (he farted), a 20 STR, and a "Fairy Godmother Ray" that he used to put princess dresses on the police officers. I think that was the full extent of his attack powers. Oh yes, Anatomical Seperation with the Attack extra, for pinching (stealing) someone's body part. I never had a chance to use that one.

[DrBalloon]

True, but that's a pretty small pony.

Anyway, I just thought that Transform would help you out more than a bunch of other powers with the Attack extra stapled to them. You'll run into a point where overspecialization kills your character before it gets off the ground. Believe me, I know.

Considering that one of my other characters could hold a city hostage with 2 ranks of Create Object and a few feats/extras on them, I don't think overspecialization is all that bad.

Of course, that was Captain Crap, the villain with a host of "useless" powers. He created an inch thick layer of mushy, fresh human feces hanging in 20 or 30 ft. over the city, following the pattern of the streets. It stopped the heroes in their tracks really fast when he threatened to let it drop on their fans.

His other offensive powers were Blast +2 (thrown scoop of ice cream), Nauseate at a low rank (he farted), a 20 STR, and a "Fairy Godmother Ray" that he used to put princess dresses on the police officers. I think that was the full extent of his attack powers. Oh yes, Anatomical Seperation with the Attack extra, for pinching (stealing) someone's body part. I never had a chance to use that one.

[zero21]

Captian..crap?... are you s***ing me? :mrgreen: way to go for thinking outta the box though.

kinda reminds me of one really low level thug villian my group had going around "spiting" acid,

not really lethal, but pretty nasty..thankfully his abilities were'nt anywhere close to city stopping scale..andit was an iron age setting to..