The part of the Capes manual that I'd most like to see elaborated about is Exemplars.  I know that there are no plans for Capes II: Superhero Boogaloo, though, so I'm looking to you folks.

Everybody says allatime that Exemplars are a huuuge important part of play and I still feel like I don't have a very good grasp on them yet.  I'm not so good at building that inherent conflict and I'm especially not good at coming up with Free Conflicts.  I think what I really need is just some further examples.

This is a thread in the vein of the "You Kick, We Bang" threads:

You post a brief character idea and (more importantly) some exemplars.  I'd like to see both the conflict sentence ("Aunt Sylvie is great, but she'd be scared silly if she knew I risked my life as a super-hero.") as well as the Free Conflict.  Bonus points for extra commentary on each exemplar.

We comment on whether the exemplars are good, why they aren't as good as they could be, and how they can be improved upon.

By the way, I started this thread because of Sindyr's request for critique.

I'll go first:

Character:  Max Millions, millionaire playboy and high-tech crimefighter.  Gadgeteer/Charmer.  If Bruce Wayne hadn't gone through that childhood tragedy crap and had grown up happy instead of whacked and had still gone into the hero business, he'd be a lot like this guy.  (No relation to Astro City's Max O'Millions.)

Exemplars:

Justice - Sally Swann, District Attorney.  "The legal system is a great thing, but too many crooks are going free."  I have a feeling that this sentence really should be more about Sally specifically somehow.  That's probably something that's going to make coming up with a good free conflict more difficult.
Free Conflict: 
Okay, I've got a few conflict ideas here.  I'm not sure which are good.  Please feel free to comment on each of these.
Event: Someone guilty gets away scott free.
Event: Justice is not served.  (These two seem like they should be more ambivalent somehow.)
Event: Sally gets mad at Max.  (This one feels really weak.  It doesn't address the root conflict very well.)
Goal: Max convinces Sally to excuse his vigilante justice just this once.  Again.  (I think I like this one, but it doesn't feel right.)

Love - Suzie Starr, Max's girlfriend.  "I love Suzie, but I'm just not ready to commit to marriage."  Okay, firstly I'm not sure if that's good enough because it's not especially tied in to the whole superhero schtick.  Then again, a bunch in the book don't seem to specifically reference the superheroicness, so I'll go with it for this.
Free Conflict:
Event:  Suzie hints that she'd like Max to propose.  (Okay, this feels really strong.)
Event:  Max proposes to Suzie. (This feels much weaker.  I think it seems like there's less room to maneuver in resolution narration.)
Event: Max and Suzie...hrm.  I want something that can go either way.  If they're currently together, they break up.  If they're apart, they reunite.  I dunno how to do that with a single event.  Now that I think about it, that doesn't seem like a good conflict anyway.  What's conflicting about it?  What's to fight over?  Nevermind, this wasn't well thought out.
Goal: Max convinces Suzie to slow down.  (Okay, I think this is the best yet.)

Truth - Sam Sharpe, Max's girlfriend.  "Sam tells me everything, but I can't tell him everything about me."  This seems pretty good.  Maybe I'm getting better at this.
Free Conflict:
Event: Max feels guilty about lying to Sam about his secret identity.  (Bah, that is weak.)
Goal: Sam finds out Max's secret.  (Okay, this seems good but what happens the first time Sam wins this one?)
Goal: Max doesn't have to lie to Sam. (Right, this seems like an awesome one.  I'm gonna quite while I think I'm ahead.)

Will reply more detailed later, but is Max lying to Sam about his engagement to Suzie?  That would be funny - kinda like a combo superhero soap opera... hehe

You know you can create characters that aren't exemplars that are tied to each other?  That you can have Sam *and* Suzie *and* Sally all exist - it's just that only one can be the free exemplar for Max - and depending on your groups Spotlight rules, they may not all be eligible for Spotlight status, meaning anyone could pick them up and play them.

But should I assume that you want one of those three characters to exist and the other two not to?  Or will Max be dating both Sam and Suzie at the same time? Do they know about each other?

It boggles the mind. ;)

I'm not trying to set up a soap opera here.  This wasn't intended to be "here's big complex situation, what do you think?" thread.  None of these are characters that I intend to use in an actual game.  I'm just trying to get the hang of creating good Exemplars.

This is more like:

Here's a character.

Here's an exemplar relationship and some conflicts, are these good or bad and why?

Here's another exemplar, totally unrelated to the first.  Forget the first one.  Here are some conflicts for this one, how are these?

Here's another.  Forget the first two, let's talk about this one. 

And hahahahah, I totally screwed up on the last one.  That's what I get for cutting and pasting.  It was supposed to be:

Truth - Sam Sharpe, Max's best friend.  Not girlfriend.

I noticed that - thought maybe Sam was Samantha....

but your way is best. :)

Matthew wrote:
Justice - Sally Swann, District Attorney.  "The legal system is a great thing, but too many crooks are going free."  I have a feeling that this sentence really should be more about Sally specifically somehow.  That's probably something that's going to make coming up with a good free conflict more difficult.
Free Conflict: 
Okay, I've got a few conflict ideas here.  I'm not sure which are good.  Please feel free to comment on each of these.
Event: Someone guilty gets away scott free.
Event: Justice is not served.  (These two seem like they should be more ambivalent somehow.)
Event: Sally gets mad at Max.  (This one feels really weak.  It doesn't address the root conflict very well.)
Goal: Max convinces Sally to excuse his vigilante justice just this once.  Again.  (I think I like this one, but it doesn't feel right.)

Love - Suzie Starr, Max's girlfriend.  "I love Suzie, but I'm just not ready to commit to marriage."  Okay, firstly I'm not sure if that's good enough because it's not especially tied in to the whole superhero schtick.  Then again, a bunch in the book don't seem to specifically reference the superheroicness, so I'll go with it for this.
Free Conflict:
Event:  Suzie hints that she'd like Max to propose.  (Okay, this feels really strong.)
Event:  Max proposes to Suzie. (This feels much weaker.  I think it seems like there's less room to maneuver in resolution narration.)
Event: Max and Suzie...hrm.  I want something that can go either way.  If they're currently together, they break up.  If they're apart, they reunite.  I dunno how to do that with a single event.  Now that I think about it, that doesn't seem like a good conflict anyway.  What's conflicting about it?  What's to fight over?  Nevermind, this wasn't well thought out.
Goal: Max convinces Suzie to slow down.  (Okay, I think this is the best yet.)

Truth - Sam Sharpe, Max's friend.  "Sam tells me everything, but I can't tell him everything about me."  This seems pretty good.  Maybe I'm getting better at this.
Free Conflict:
Event: Max feels guilty about lying to Sam about his secret identity.  (Bah, that is weak.)
Goal: Sam finds out Max's secret.  (Okay, this seems good but what happens the first time Sam wins this one?)
Goal: Max doesn't have to lie to Sam. (Right, this seems like an awesome one.  I'm gonna quite while I think I'm ahead.)

Matthew wrote:
Justice - Sally Swann, District Attorney.  "The legal system is a great thing, but too many crooks are going free." 

Event: Someone guilty gets away scott free.

Event: Max and Suzie...hrm.  I want something that can go either way.  If they're currently together, they break up.  If they're apart, they reunite.  I dunno how to do that with a single event.   Now that I think about it, that doesn't seem like a good conflict anyway.  What's conflicting about it?  What's to fight over?  Nevermind, this wasn't well thought out.

Truth - Sam Sharpe, Max's girlfriend.  "Sam tells me everything, but I can't tell him everything about me."  This seems pretty good.  Maybe I'm getting better at this.

Goal: Sam finds out Max's secret.  (Okay, this seems good but what happens the first time Sam wins this one?)

Hans wrote:
Is it just me, are are the genders here a bit confused.  Now, if it was Sam Sharpe, Max's Boyfriend, then we are getting into some fascinating territory...

Hans, all of this is exactly the sort of advice I was hoping to get.  All of your suggestions were right on target.

I may do another character/exemplar set tomorrow.  Hopefully some other people will chime in as well.

"Event: One of Max's big secrets is about to be exposed" 

Event: Max and Suzie...hrm.  I want something that can go either way.  If they're currently together, they break up.  If they're apart, they reunite.  I dunno how to do that with a single event.  Now that I think about it, that doesn't seem like a good conflict anyway.  What's conflicting about it?  What's to fight over?  Nevermind, this wasn't well thought out.

Yes, that's just what I was trying to say. 

I can see that being a real pain as his mobile goes off and Susie wants to talk about their relationship as he is desperately trying to foil a nefarious plan ;)

That sounds funny! ;)

New character, new exemplars.  I think I'm gonna do this one at a time.

Thomas Mercenary, product of a government experiment in tapping into psionic potential.  Left The Project on bad terms.

Exemplars:

Power - Agent Seymour Roth, assigned to convince Thomas to return to The Project.  "Agent Roth has the information I need to understand my abilities, but wants me under the Project's control."
Free Conflict - Event: Thomas decides whether to trust Roth. 
Free Conflict - Event: Roth reveals information about Thomas.
Free Conflict - Goal: Convince Thomas he needs us.

All of these seem okay, but not very strong.

I assume that in actual play you would only choose one of the above, since as I recently found out, we only get one free exmplar per character, not per drive.

Oh, sure, I'm just suggesting alternate free conflicts to get feedback on various approaches.

Matthew wrote:
Thomas Mercenary, product of a government experiment in tapping into psionic potential.  Left The Project on bad terms.

Matthew wrote:
Power - Agent Seymour Roth, assigned to convince Thomas to return to The Project.  "Agent Roth has the information I need to understand my abilities, but wants me under the Project's control."

drnuncheon wrote:
This is asomewhat similar to the Power exemplar for my character (his demonic father), so I'm looking for something similar.

Event: Roth offers Thomas a deal.

Open-ended enough to (hopefully) create fighting for control.  And yet it seems so innocent on the surface.

See, I'd emphasize the events much less and the goals much more.  I think they lend character to the people involved:

Sally:  Goal:  Create justice within the law

Suzie:  Goal:  Max convinces Suzie he's sincere in his love (alternately "Suzie convinces herself Max isn't sincere in his love" ... very different, but also cool)

Sam:  Goal:  Max doesn't have to lie to Sam (yeah, that one's gold ... stick with it)

Marilyn:  Goal:  Flip out and kill people

Roth:  Goal:  Roth convinces Thomas to accept the deal he's offering

When I went to bed last night, I was all "I totally don't get what you're saying about Goals over events," but when I woke up this morning it was crystal clear.  Yeah, I think I can see what you mean. 

Okay, new page.

Jerry Meyers (aka Supersonic), a teenage Speedster/Spunky Kid who can make it across town to stop a bank robbery and be back before the tardy bell for fourth period Trig class, but can't find the time to do his homework.

Duty Exemplar - Mrs. Stanwick, the Social Studies teacher.  "Mrs. Stanwick is always riding me about living up to my potential, but I can't tell her that's what I'm trying to do."  (I'm pretty satisfied with this. It feels strong.)
Free Conflict ideas:

Goal: Find some time to do my schoolwork.
Goal: Guilt Jerry for neglecting his schoolwork.  Both of these seem weak.

Goal: Make Mrs. Stanwick proud of me.  This seems pretty good.

Goal: Prevent Jerry from doing superhero stuff.  Okay, this is one interesting.  Mrs. Stanwick doesn't know that Jerry's a superhero.  She doesn't know that she's trying to accomplish this goal.  She thinks she's just trying to get him to study for a test or fill out college applications, but all that will stop him from superheroing.  However, this is a weak goal because while it's in play it doesn't stop Jerry.  I think it'd be better done as Goal: Do superhero stuff.

I like the "Proud of me" one.  I'll also point out the far more depressing flip-side:

Goal:  Don't disappoint Mrs. Stanwick.

You get a strong set up for the "Do I go stop the bank robbery, and disappoint Mrs. Stanwick by cutting class?" dilemma.

Ah, I like "Don't disappoint" too. 

I'd really like to see some exemplar examples (examplars? :D) from other people, especially ones that you found to work well.  Does anybody have some good ones to show off?

Here's the Exemplar Network from Proton High School, a teen-heroes game I ran.  It's deliberately pretty tangled:

Jenny Swift:  Shallow teen speedster
Horatio Hiss:  Budding supervillain
Jack Quinn:  Sterling citizen, student body president, invulnerable, super-strong, nice-guy, pushover
Molly Sykes:  Goth psyche-vampire

Jenny-Horatio:  Goal:  Jenny does something Horatio thinks is cool
Molly-Horatio:  Goal:  Horatio notices Molly exists
Horatio-Jack:  Goal:  Humiliate Jack Quinn
Jenny-Jack:  Goal:  Drive Jack to make a forceful decision
Jack-Molly:  Goal:  Help Molly live up to her potential
Jenny-Molly:  Goal:  Reveal hidden depth in Jenny's thoughts

Ah, nice.  These are really interesting.

TonyLB wrote:
Jenny-Molly:  Goal:  Reveal hidden depth in Jenny's thoughts

Well, it never really got run in play (I've only run Proton High the once ... it needs a severe retune before it makes a return visit) and it didn't come up ... so in practical terms, it's never been played.

In hypothetical, I had it as hanging off of Molly's Despair Drive ... she was bound and determined to show that even a perky pep-squad girl like Jenny Swift actually had deep thoughts about suicide and darkness and evil.  Whereas Jenny (again, in my mind) would protest "Nope!  I really am this shallow, and proud of it!"

Ah, I see.  That's a really interesting relationship. 

Here's a new one:

The Mentor, a Mind Reader/Puppet Master.  One of the professors at Evil University, head of the graduate program.  Uses grad students as minions in his nefarious side-projects.  I'm imagining using a slightly modified Mook/Sycophant to represent a bunch of generic fratboy thugs.  The Mentor usually goes through minions like kleenex, but he's reluctant to do so with...

Power Exemplar - Chipwell Vanderbilt "Chip" Thoroughfaire IV, one of the Mentor's students.  "I think Chip has serious potential, but if I don't watch out he'll turn on me."

Free Conflict ideas:

Goal: Show him that he can't get along without me.
I really like that this one can be a goal for either character.  The Mentor uses it to bind Chip to him so that Chip doesn't betray him or overthrow him.  Chip uses it so the Mentor doesn't get him killed.

Goal: Betray the Mentor.
I like this one very much.  It's kinda menacing.

Goal: Goad Chip into making a mistake.
Man, this whole relationship is really terrible.  I may actually play this so I can see how it goes.

I do love me my master-minion relationships.  For Chip and his mentor I'd lean toward "Goal:  Establish Trust."  It's nice and vague, and 90% of the meaning gets written in when people use the Inspirations from it later.  Does the trust between mentor and Chip allow them to work together to ward off their enemies?  Or does Chip use his mentor's trust in order to betray him?

Ahhhhh.  See, there's a little trick of reversal about some of these that I just haven't gotten yet. 

Because I was so pleased with the way they turned out, I've written up Max Millions and Sam, Thomas Mercenary and Agent Roth, and The Mentor and Chip.  I hope to get at least a couple of them in play this weekend.

I'd still like to hear from folks about their experiences (positive and negative) with Exemplars so I can hopefully learn by example.

Characters:
I'm playing an older but wiser character named Sheriff who has a troubled relationship with his ex-sidekick. He was formerly known as Deputy(I haven't come up with the current name yet).Sheriff is a brain over brawn gadgeteer and Deputy is more action oriented martial artist.

Root of the conflict:
During a case couple of years ago Deputy was captured by a criminal and horribly tortured before Sheriff could save him.( I think this will make a great flashback scene) This failure has haunted Sheriff since then(think Batman after Death in the family).Deputy on the other hand blaims Sheriff for his ordeal and moved to another part of city/left town to start on his own trusting nobody but himself.

So I'm thinking Deputy is duty exemplar because he represents Sheriffs greates failure. Only decent free conflict I've come up with is: Event: Old wounds are re-opened.

So what do you think? Also other conflict ideas would be nice because I'm not quite satisfied with an event as the conflict. I think a goal as the conflict would be stronger and more emotionally involving.

Goal:  Deputy blames Sherrif for his current problems.

TonyLB wrote:
Goal:  Deputy blames Sherrif for his current problems.

TonyLB wrote:
Goal:  Deputy blames Sherrif for his current problems.

I'm really digging the ex-sidekick vibe.  I've spun up a few ideas for conflicts, but none of them top Tony's suggestion.