[Crepusculum] User Created & Free Form Powers

[MacLeod]

I've had some real duds here on the Forge lately, so this is me hoping for a strong collection of replies this time. I've pretty much arrived in a rut for my other game designs so I'm clearing my head of them by working on something different.

Lately I have been wanting to design a rules lite superhero game. The following is a beta idea for a method of creating Powers using Keywords as loose restrictions.

There exists 40 Keywords. During Character Creation you either roll up two or choose two. This is likely based on an agreement between the players at the table.

Rolling for Keywords isn't as painfully random as it sounds. You roll two sets of 1D100, pick one result for the X-Axis and the other result is used for the Y-Axis. Then you do it once more. This gives you a small amount of control over what you receive.

Keywords form the core of each character's Power. Once a player has his Keywords he expected to detail his theme. What do your Keywords mean to your character? Does Undead mean you are one of the unliving or does it mean you can channel the thoughts and powers of the undead?
This step ensures that even those with similar Keywords will have different Powers.

Once you have your Keywords, you create 3 Techniques*. Techniques are representations of what your character knows how to do with his Powers. Think of Green Lantern and the way he learns to do different things with his power ring... Heroes begin with great power but they only unlock their true strength by using and understanding their power. As the game progresses... The players will get chances to acquire new Techniques at the behest of the GM.

* I'm wondering if Techniques is the best term I can come up with, I've been considering Extensions lately...

Techniques are encouraged to be narrowly defined but are only as mechanically detailed as the players at the table agree is necessary.
This means that if your group agrees on it, you may have to define how many feet you can teleport, whether or not you can teleport to places you've never seen before, if you can teleport others with you, etc...

My question is... does there exist too much creative freedom here for this to be a viable option for creating powers?

Any suggestions, observations, questions, comments, criticisms and such things are welcome. As long as they pertain to the topic, of course.

Suggestions regarding more/different Keywords are both welcomed and appreciated. =D I do realize that some of the Keywords are insanely vague while others overlap... The overlapping part is fine, in my opinion, because the origin of the power may yet be very different.

As a minor note... The standard power level is meant to be only slightly above street level. Imagine Batman only with powers that are narrow in scope. Nothing on the scale of Batman, Thor, Hulk, Wonder Woman, etc...

[MacLeod]

Here is the system "in motion"... so to speak. =D

. . . . . . . . . .Roy Gulvin
Occupation: Mercenary
Weapons: Katana, Various Small Firearms
Keywords: Sound, Speed

. . . . .Techniques
Silence Is Golden

Roy may project a field of complete silence around his body. Any noise that occurs within this field will be nullified completely as well as any noise that enters it. This field is invisible and very malleable, he can choose to cover only specific parts of his body.

Sealing Wind

Roy can project his aura of silence at a distance to cover objects no larger than 4'x4'.

At the Speed of Sound

Roy is capable of moving almost as fast as sound, about 900' per second. However, he is only able to do this in short bursts. This power also allows Roy to react with the alacrity required to operate at speeds of 900'/sec. The aura generated by his Powers protects his body and clothing from friction.

Sonic Boom Snap

By centering his speed bursts directly into his hand, Roy can move his fist so fast that he creates a minor sonic boom. This concussion of sound is strong enough to deafen normal humans and harm any who come in contact with the sound waves. Roy is completely protected from the sonic boom because of his Silence Aura.

[HeTeleports]

I thought I'd try it out and see if the system stays 'in motion' when it's out of the creator's hands. So far, it's decently interesting!

Calvin Spalk
Occupation: Librarian
Weapons: sharp wit (archetyping others), precariously stacked books
Keywords: Teleport (chosen - I mean, come on), Energy (42,29 - 'electricity' was my other choice.)

Techniques

Calvin can teleport a distance equivalent to the amount of energy he is willing to take from both his destination and point of origin. At Absolute Zero, Calvin cannot teleport. Teleporting across the country would sap a significant amount of power (a small scale power-outage, if only taken from one end) while crossing the room could decrease the temperature of nearby hot-drinks a single degree. Energy needs only be local to his points of origin and destination, and accessible energies are electricity and heat - or otherwise excited molecules. (no 'life-force' draining here. No borrowing from chemical processes, either.)

Calvin can teleport himself and a noticeably limited amount of mass (read: the aforementioned stack of books) without using any energy. The distance is limited to 1 mile and, for reasons unknown to Calvin and other zero-point energy researchers, works only 75% of the time.

Calvin can create a tele-portal, separate from himself, of any given size with its own points A and B. The cost of maintaining this hole is pretty severe. Size is more expensive than duration. A baseball-sized portal for one hour needs the same amount of kilowatt-hours as a home uses in a single day. A doorway-sized portal could reduce temperatures at both ends to freezing in a few minutes. Calvin has wondered about the possibility of moving the Earth to the Sun's place -- while the math might work out, he's unsure whether he has to live through the 'appearance' stage in order for things to work out.

Why does Roy Gulvin have four techniques?

Also, I noticed that the inclusion of "energy" gives me a pretty broad base to work with. It's not like an element of existence... it's the second half OF existence (matter being the first half). Not that you should replace "energy" with "Sofa" or something like that.
But I would question the following inclusions to your table: Energy, Cosmic, and Shadow/Dark (one or the other. The opposite of Light is cool.) To me, the addition of one of those to my power base makes me definitely above Wonder Woman.
Even by interpreting energy as a factor of his teleportation, Calvin becomes a power beast by accident. (Notice how none of his techniques have anything to do with attacks? That's intentional. Being able to teleport the planet -- that's not.)

The menu/table is an excellent idea, able to create some interesting powers. If you wanted, you could reduce the size of the menu and go for more creative combining...
Space + Move = Teleportation OR Flight
Speed + Fire = Super Speed with leaving a blazing trail OR Pyrokinesis of such limited order, like when you try to light the barbecue after leaving the gas on too long and it does that Whoosh that burns the hair off your arm

As a contrast to the previous idea, you can give a more mechanically specific definition to the limits of each Technique.

Also, if you wanted, you can change the table so that a single choice (rolling Teleport, for instance) would require a single roll of a 1d100. Either the Ones or Tens place is used for the X or Y axis, perhaps.


By the way. I like technique as the term. Extension is what happens when you get to add a third keyword to your character.

[MacLeod]

I'm glad you decided to try your own hand at creating some Powers. =) I really like Conservation of Energy, very smart description! Beautiful method of blending the Keywords, too. These are the sorts of things I imagined smart people doing with this system. =D

Roy has 4 Techniques because I have always had the idea for this character in my head... and he wouldn't be complete without being able to do all of those things. =) To be fair, veteran super heroes will end up having a lot more than 3 Techniques.

As a side note, I encourage folks to alter any mechanics' numbers to suit specific power levels.

Your point about the Energy Keyword is spot on. It really isn't a necessary either... When I typed it in, I had a narrow vision of energy blasts and beams to be honest. I hadn't given any thought to what energy really means. But hey, that is why I am putting this idea before the people... so smarter folks can tell me I look stupid. ^_~

I would question the following inclusions to your table: Energy, Cosmic, and Shadow/Dark (one or the other. The opposite of Light is cool.) To me, the addition of one of those to my power base makes me definitely above Wonder Woman

It really depends on the way each Keyword is interpreted. In the actual game text, the super powered street level idea is suppose to make a strong impression on the reader. Additionally, the players at the table are the final arbiters of what sticks and what doesn't. So if the crew wants to include four color interpretations, so be it. =) I don't personally intend to use the system in this way but I still wouldn't want to make it impossible to achieve.

Cosmic is another one someone else told me was a bad idea. It was a filler, to be honest. =) The idea I had would have required it to come with some baggage but I'd rather just replace it with something else.

I'm also told that Space makes nearly no sense. I could imagine it meaning something but I think its a pretty weak addition to the selection.

I think the existence of both Shadow and Dark can work since they operate on different ideas. Shadows are created by light and can be linked to a person... while darkness is the absence of light. That said, I would drop Shadow if a Keyword came along that I didn't have room for!

As a contrast to the previous idea, you can give a more mechanically specific definition to the limits of each Technique.

I'm a fan of leaving this system open for different play styles... but I do intend on including mechanical guidelines to illustrate what is and what isn't okay. Like the Keyword system I want these restrictions to be loose. This would, theoretically, stop players from teleporting planets and such insanity. =)

The menu/table is an excellent idea, able to create some interesting powers. If you wanted, you could reduce the size of the menu and go for more creative combining...
Space + Move = Teleportation OR Flight
Speed + Fire = Super Speed with leaving a blazing trail OR Pyrokinesis of such limited order, like when you try to light the barbecue after leaving the gas on too long and it does that Whoosh that burns the hair off your arm

The combination you list here are certainly possible within the current system. In fact, these are the sorts of things I would actually expect. Someone with Speed and Fire can have Techniques that only focus on one Keyword... or they can combine the two.
Then again... perhaps you were attempting to make some different point that I clearly missed...? @_@

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Random generation can be a handy helper in times of creativity.  I'm all for optional randomness.

Hugo Babbage
Occupation: Revolutionary
Weapons: Metallic web and javelin
Keywords: Create, Machine
Techniques:

Hive

Babbage is tracked and followed by dozens of variously designed, bug-like robots, which scamper unseen in the shadows.  The creatures will become hostile if he is threatened, and sometimes have a life of their own.

Creepy

Babbage can see what his hive can see, and may have the smallest robots scout under doorways and through windows ahead of him.

Crawlies

Through modification and self mutilation, Babbage has lost a sense of his humanity.  The machines in his body whir and chatter of their own accord, and create endless supplies of new bugs - which crawl out from under the skin - if his other bugs are destroyed.

I like:
Quasi-randomness
Brevity

I recommend changing:
Limitations

By limitations, I mean that it's hard to indicate how far you can push a technique.  I don't think you need to lay down hard rules, but more guidelines would be useful.  You already mentioned you were going to implement mechanics.  How is that going?

By limitations, I also mean the intensity of the kind of power you have, sort of, I suppose, a power level.  What sort of area can I affect?  How fast can I go?  These also need some guidelines, but maybe they work differently?  Once you know how your technique interacts with a world, what sort of limitations does it have with that effect?  In other words, let's say I take Hive and label it 'Attack'.  So now we now what I can do with the Hive power.  How intense will this attack be?  Does that even matter?

If it doesn't matter, and attacks, defences, etc. are going to be used for narrative, great.  I love that.  In that case though, I'd be worried about vague technique descriptions.  My Hive technique above is pretty vague.  I could use it as an attack, a defence, or something else if I was creative.  That means that vague techniques would be more advantageous than specific techniques.  What would you do to prevent vague technique descriptions?  Perhaps during character creation, the other players get to rate how vague your technique is.  If it is very vague, it may have a smaller effect on the game mechanics when used?  If it is very specific, perhaps it has a great effect when used?

[HeTeleports]

By limitations, I also mean the intensity of the kind of power you have, sort of, I suppose, a power level.  What sort of area can I affect?  How fast can I go?  These also need some guidelines, but maybe they work differently?  Once you know how your technique interacts with a world, what sort of limitations does it have with that effect?  In other words, let's say I take Hive and label it 'Attack'.  So now we now what I can do with the Hive power.  How intense will this attack be?  Does that even matter?

Actually, Matt seems to say that those types of 'defining our powers' is up to the player.
"Techniques are encouraged to be narrowly defined but are only as mechanically detailed as the players at the table agree is necessary.
This means that if your group agrees on it, you may have to define how many feet you can teleport, whether or not you can teleport to places you've never seen before, if you can teleport others with you, etc..."

It's safe to say that there really isn't such thing as too much creative freedom -- when it comes to just creating the powers.
The entire game, though, is really going to be affected if Hugo's "Creepy" technique spoils all of the GM's secrets. When it comes to the creative freedom, we can't know - yet - how much is too much, until we know what the rest of the system is.
I do like the creation of the techniques, but we haven't specified accuracy/damage rolls. Should we do that? What limits our imagination there? (Creating a blast attack with 5d4 damage?) Or does our character's information not interact with the imaginary space that way?
Those questions - by the way - shouldn't be answered yet. You haven't introduced a system; this thread has been only about the power creation branch of the system. So, don't fret too much about those types of questions (and whether our responses shoot wide of it.) Step by step.


-
I think the thing I was aiming for in my suggestion was something that informs which words make it to the chart.
There are some super-generic keywords: Energy, Space, Speed, Time, Death, Destroy, Control..
There are some specific keywords: Teleport, Magnetic, Electricity, Body, Animal, Undead..
It seems like some of the best leverage each player has used has come from combining a super-generic with a specific.
Perhaps two tables? (I dislike that.)
Perhaps just the super-generics on a single table -- and an additional mechanic to limit Captain Awesome abilities. (An additional mechanic can always be dropped off for four-color superheroes.)

[MacLeod]

Mr. Youssef is correct, Sebastian.

Techniques should be narrowly defined... they are what your character *knows* how to do with his powers. Its not the same as everything he *can* do with his powers. For instance, Hugo's theme is that he has a robotic bug factory within his body (Shino!). His techniques would demonstrate what he can do with those bugs. Say one Technique is that he can cause the bugs to explode, another would be that the little buggers can relay visual and audio information back to Hugo when he requests such information and another could be that nano versions inhabit his skin and make him super tough.

The game is both intentionally and inherently open-ended... the restrictions of which are to be generated by the players at the table when characters are being generated in addition to Theme (see below for more information). From there, the GM will determine what sorts of threats will responsibly and reasonably challenge the players and the powers they have access to. I'm thinking that anyone who creates a veteran hero will also be required to create a nemesis as well. That could be fun. =)

When it comes down to specific attack/defense mechanics, its a pretty simple matter. Average strength weapons with no special effects deal damage equal to the Effort of the Power Control die. Powerful weapons might deal double but have a crippling weakness. Weak weapons might only deal 1/2 of the Power Control die but they can have additional effects such as area attack, stunning, etc... Stacking effects may require the application of weaknesses or flaws. This part of the system will contain loose guidelines and the players at the table will decide what is fair, as with most of the game.

I agree that the best Keyword combinations are made up of a generic and a specific. The original idea involved two different tables with one being a colorful power type (electricity, magnetic, machine) with the other being a verb (control, move, attack) but I couldn't really fill out the 2nd table all that well.
A suggestion within the game text might be to roll for a Keyword and then simply select the second one to ensure the combo is craptastic. I can't really think of any solid solutions outside of replacing the weaker Keywords...
Utilizing only one Keyword per hero might be a good idea for street level play...

I have decided to include Theme as a required part of the game now... Basically, from your Keyword you must define your Power's Theme. This will help enforce tighter restrictions than what is offered by Keywords. Take Hugo, for example, his theme already exists above. This means that he won't be able to summon giant plasma mini-gun cannons from outer space ever though a different character with Create/Machine could do that if it fit their pre-existing theme.

Here is another example...

Duke has the Teleport and Shadow Keywords.
Duke has access to the Shadow Dimension. A world that mirrors our own but where shadows are living entities called Shadowkind. Each Shadowkind is connected to a specific person. Duke is able to enter this dimension and move throughout it as he pleases. This allows him to reappear in the Material World in different locations.

This character will likely have abilities that allow him to manipulate the Shadowkind and perhaps even borrow the power of this world to create effects in the Material World.

[HeTeleports]

This power creation system has effectively done a good job of avoiding the "one-trick pony" powers.

Devising threats sound do sound cool. However, review your premise first. The suggestion of creating a nemesis as part of your character creation can smack a little closely of having an evil me running around.
Still, that's not a bad idea, but it's good to have the premise set (or at least figured out). Once it's set, you can brainstorm several good ideas into the premise -- feeling out how each one should work.

[MacLeod]

I'm glad it does something right. =)
Exploring the system's strength is as important as doing the same to it's weaknesses after all!

Yeah, maybe a nemesis shouldn't be required but simply there as an option. I just think that writing out an origin and back story that includes a major recurring villain is fun. =) That said, the default assumption is that heroes are beginners and haven't had much, if any, chance of using their powers before play starts.

So, Mr. Youssef... Do you have any suggestions as to new Keywords? I really want to bump Energy and Space off, at bare minimum but for some reason every idea I get just sounds ridiculous.

For instance, dividing Animal into more specific Keywords... like Arachnid, Reptile, Mammal, etc...

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

MacLeod,

The Theme idea is useful, and explains the system more easily (so that people like me who didn't do their homework the first time round can get the concept quicker).  Good job.  Now we have a pyramid, with theme at the top, keywords underneath, and techniques at the foundation.

[Ed - You could add in another layer to that triangle, using the '2nd table' action clauses.  Theme -> Keyword -> Action -> Technique.  Any line drawn through those layers would end up with a specific technique.]

You're looking to replace energy and space... I've done some research and in doing so came up with a few items:

Stunt (Super athlete, acrobat, run up walls, bullet time)
Luck
Possession (Occupying other minds, animals, objects, swapping bodies)
Social (You already have strength and intellect, why not social?)
Network (Lots of allies)
Ghost (With connotations of insubstantiality, death, the undead, stealth, and other stuff... You have all of those already, of course)

[MacLeod]

Hm, perhaps this pyramid visualization could be used to explain the game concepts easier...?
That said, you derive Theme from Keywords so I believe Keywords would be at the very top.

An Action table isn't a bad idea conceptually... I'll have to look into what size I could make such a table before trying to make it a part of the game.

I just replaced Cosmic, Energy and Space with Adaptation, Luck and Possession.
I'm not sure if those are the best replacements but I think they are less broken/useless than the originals.

I like the idea of using Possession for more than just taking over the living. =)

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

An Action table isn't a bad idea conceptually... I'll have to look into what size I could make such a table before trying to make it a part of the game.

Perhaps we're talking at cross purposes, or perhaps you were being polite, but this was your idea:

The original idea involved two different tables with one being a colorful power type (electricity, magnetic, machine) with the other being a verb (control, move, attack) but I couldn't really fill out the 2nd table all that well.

That said, you derive Theme from Keywords so I believe Keywords would be at the very top.

You're right.  Now it looks more like an hourglass than a pyramid.  There goes that abstraction.

I'm not sure if those are the best replacements but I think they are less broken/useless than the originals.

You're doing a great job.  I like character generation and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the game.

[HeTeleports]

For "energy," I might recommend Blast. You said you were thinking of an energy beam of some kind.
For "Space," I might recommend Move. Crossing space is a superpower. Adding to the universe's room is a little 'above street level.'
"Ghost" might be genre-breaking, but if you've got a strong enough premise (which sets the specific genre we're in), it could make some creative powers.

About the nemesis thing, I don't mean to discourage that. It's legitimate to have an evil archetype, but for everyone to have one seems a little confining for character's. Before going too far, down that conversation, I'd like to hear a little more about what you're aiming for in the game.

It really depends on the way each Keyword is interpreted. In the actual game text, the super powered street level idea is suppose to make a strong impression on the reader. Additionally, the players at the table are the final arbiters of what sticks and what doesn't. So if the crew wants to include four color interpretations, so be it. =) I don't personally intend to use the system in this way but I still wouldn't want to make it impossible to achieve.

It seems like a tightly designed game can get you closer, rather than devising a superpower generation system that'll fit universally. (Mind you, GURPS has already done it for some years. Math-heavy, but they're a market leader.)
Were you aiming for heroes without the 'super'[/u]? If so, any particular type?


Sebastian finished his post first, and his last sentence is similar to where I'm going. To tie CharGen deeper into the game, we'd like to hear the rest of it. ... Does that require a different thread?

[MacLeod]

Perhaps we're talking at cross purposes, or perhaps you were being polite

I think I was approaching the verb/action word idea wrong before. After looking at it again, I still can't really come up with something very satisfactory. I like to revisit old ideas to see if I can do new things with them... so I'll likely return to the idea of a 2nd table later on once again because I do like the idea in concept. =)

You're right.  Now it looks more like an hourglass than a pyramid.  There goes that abstraction.

A pyramid would still work just fine. =)
Keywords would be at the bottom. Its the widest and most generalized portion of your powers. Also, being at the bottom represents a foundation for which everything else is built upon.
Theme isn't as loose as the Keywords it is built upon. Themes are tighter, more specific descriptions of a character's powers.
Finally, Techniques are the most specific and detailed of all the parts. There is much less room for interpretation once a technique has been created.

You're doing a great job.  I like character generation and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the game.

Thanks for the encouragement! I only wish I was a better writer and had more experience with Super Hero RPGs... This would be likely be much easier. At least it feels like I'm doing something somewhat original... a super hero focused rules lite RPG where powers are designed in a nearly free form environment.

About the nemesis thing, I don't mean to discourage that. It's legitimate to have an evil archetype, but for everyone to have one seems a little confining for character's. Before going too far, down that conversation, I'd like to hear a little more about what you're aiming for in the game.

Yeah... I see what you mean, for sure. I've been watching too much Justice League lately where each of the heroes' arch enemies tend to team up in order to oppose them. @_@
I definitely think including it as an option/suggestion would be fine though. =)

It seems like a tightly designed game can get you closer, rather than devising a superpower generation system that'll fit universally. (Mind you, GURPS has already done it for some years. Math-heavy, but they're a market leader.)
Were you aiming for heroes without the 'super'? If so, any particular type?

You are definitely right. I'm always so quick to generalize my game designs that I tend to forget how much better tightly focused games are. Most RPGers own tons of books, often a game for each subgenre anyways. =D

I was aiming for 'Batman with Flamebreathing'. I want super heroes to be a significant force but I don't want them to rule the world because of their powers. I hate it in comics when normal folk are always 100% useless in every situation. If someone wants to play a normal hero they could... likely they could just build their Powers as gadgets instead, or just forsake powers altogether.

Sebastian finished his post first, and his last sentence is similar to where I'm going. To tie CharGen deeper into the game, we'd like to hear the rest of it. ... Does that require a different thread?

I think maybe I could start a different thread about mechanics and character creation. =) It feels like the next step for at least.

Suggestions for a name would be cool, if you guys feel up to it. Crepusculum is the name of the warhead that causes a chain reaction of disaster and mutation within the game's setting... and I feel it really doesn't say, 'Super heroes!' very well. -_-

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

I think I'd need more background to help you to come up with a name.  So far, all I've got in my head is mutant vigilantes in a chaotic world, so I can only come up with names for that kind of picture.  What about... um... (I'll give explanations at the end...)

Stained Saints of Crepusculum

Havoc Point

The Babel Watch

Snarl of the Shepherds

Defenders of Bedlam

The second one could be the name of one of the towns, or something...  Snarl is a nice word because it means two things, one is a kind of growl, the other is a kind of knot.  So the snarl is both the tangle and the aggression of the vigilantes as they strive to oppose the oppressor.  If you give me some more background I can try to help some more, if you like this kind of style.