Dr Archeville Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 Classic Comic Book Storyline #235: characters -- either a hero and villain, or a group of heroes, or a group of heroes and villains -- swap minds/bodies/powers. Hilarity ensues. How/Why? Numerous reasons. Perhaps as a consequence of the cure from Ecal's Great Genderswitch Caper. Perhaps Quirk is feeling quirky. Magic, super-science, alien tech... take your pick. Main problem I've been hitting is how, mechanically, to do it. At first I thought to do it pretty much like Possession: mind/"possessor" retains their mental ability scores, skills based on mental abilities, and powers with mental effects or descriptors, and gains the body's/"possess-ees" physical ability scores, skills based on physical abilities, and powers with physical effects or descriptors. (Core and UP are silent on attack/defense, feats, and saves.) But then there's the problem of mental-heavy people (like Dr. Archeville or Scarab) getting into physical-heavy bodies (like Dark Star or Emissary), and vice versa. And associated PL considerations -- if, for example, Scarab were in Divine's body, her Toughness from Divine's godly body & Scarab's Force Field would be +21. Which is fine for comics, but not so much for games where characters should be somewhat equal. (Though the idea of Dr. Archeville in Wesley's body, with Wes's biokinetic powers but Doc's own knowledge of life sciences & medicine, is incredibly appealing. :twisted: ) Then I got the idea that it's just personalities transferred: stats remain the same, so each player just uses a different character's sheet. It would be simplest. So, first question first: who'd be interested?
Avalon Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 I suggest something like that episode of Teen Titans where Starfire and Raven swapped bodies but not powers. So, in essence, the last option.
Dr Archeville Posted May 29, 2009 Author Posted May 29, 2009 I suggest something like that episode of Teen Titans where Starfire and Raven swapped bodies but not powers. I thought their powers remained with their bodies in that ep? (Though since Raven's powers are tied to her soul, Rave-in-Starfire should've had all of Raven's and Starfire's powers...)
Avalon Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 They had to learn how to use each other's powers since I remember Raven not flying since she needs to be extremely happy and Starfire not being able to do what Raven does since she needed to be less exhuberant.
Sandman XI Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 Sign me up. Either character would love to do this :P
Geez3r Posted May 30, 2009 Posted May 30, 2009 Um, Doc, there is you know, the Mind Switch Power. Slap the Attack and/or Range Extra on there and you're golden. And if you're looking for a villain to pop into, Malice would be up for such a challenge. Especially if he gets put into the body of a physically powerful person, which can play off of his own mental abilities, and all he has to do is kick the crap out of whoever got his body to get his suit back and he'll have enough power to RULE THE WORLD!!! :twisted: Or at least beat the snot out of a lot of meta's, though might gum up the works quite a bit if he get's put into the body of a meta. Red Star could do as well.
Dr Archeville Posted May 30, 2009 Author Posted May 30, 2009 Um, Doc, there is you know, the Mind Switch Power. Slap the Attack and/or Range Extra on there and you're golden. Not really, since Mind Switch is explained as working exactly like Possession. I.e., silent on the attack/defense, saves, and feats thing, and with all the PL issues I mentioned above. (Besides, it's a Plot Device power, there will be no save against the effect. )
Geez3r Posted May 30, 2009 Posted May 30, 2009 Oh sure, use logic and details to support your point. Way to be professional. But I like the idea of using someone else's character sheet, just to shake things up. But yeah, I do see your point about the Power Level thing (now that I have reread the post :oops: ) which could be a serious issue for the reasons I hinted at above. From a pure mechanics aspect, I would want to see what someone else would do with Malice's suit, and perhaps steal an idea or two :twisted:
alderwitch Posted May 30, 2009 Posted May 30, 2009 Well, I would guess Phantom as that sounds closer to the rest of the kids in PL and lifestyle.
Sacerdos Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 I like the idea, and playing Thunder in it would be very fun. However, a fair amount of martial arts is mental. Nailing down what does and doesn't transfer would be a PIA with her unless comic book pseudo-science were invoked to make such things clear.
Dr Archeville Posted June 1, 2009 Author Posted June 1, 2009 That's why I'm leaning towards the "switch char sheets" method. ;)
Lord Fell Posted June 1, 2009 Posted June 1, 2009 What sort of role-call have we got going on here? I wouldn't mind bringing Pompadour in on this... one of the things I'm currently RPing through for him is that he doesn't have a really good handle on his own powers yet. I would probably be operating on "deja vu, all over again!" with another new set of powers that Pompadour wouldn't understand.
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