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[Aberrant] Trouble coming up with a character?

Started by BillyBeanbag, March 03, 2006, 11:45:54 AM

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BillyBeanbag

I've been reinvited to join my friend's Aberrant game on Sundays (and I am very excited about it!) and I've been going through various ideas for superhero types...

and they all feel a little like retreads...

I guess I need to come up with a concept first, but sometimes I feel like most of the major power sets have been done before. So how do you keep your superspeedster from just being another Flash? Or your Ice/Cold guy from being another Iceman, etc.

Has this ever happened to you? Sometimes I think I played too many junk heroes games in my youth, as I had so many different characters that it feels a little like I've been there, done that...

Any thoughts?
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

Cyberzombie

Well, that's one of the reasons I've never really gotten into superhero stuff.  Dr. Avalanche briefly ran a Mutants & Masterminds game and I played a combination of Unbreakable and the old, pre-fame Punisher.  Wasn't exactly original, but it wasn't *totally* cliche.

I don't know exactly what sort of character you could make.  Maybe think about other genres and port over a power you've never seen a hero use before.  Like acid -- I've seen bad guys use it, but melting people and things isn't usually a comic book hero thing.

Hmm.  Maybe you could have a hero who is a demon -- his "secret identity" is a normal mortal, but the demon takes over when it's clobberin' time.  Not wholly original, but it could be fun.

Or given the theme of this board, maybe you could play a fey.  Use glamour and illusion to confuse and confound.  You could be a tiny little fellow, who grows to 12 feet tall when pissed off (complete with banhammer!).  I don't think I've ever seen *that* in a superhero before.  :)

Just try to think of something the superhero comics haven't done before, and port it over to the system.  :)
 

Knightcrawler

Choose different combo's of powers than normal.  Ones that don't normally go together.  There's bond to be some imitation of comic book heroes because the majority of powers in Abberant we just stolen from comic books.
Knightcrawler

"I Am Become Death, Destroyer Of Worlds"

Xavier Lang

Make a person first then move on to powers.  You can give them powers that suit them or don't.

Lord Lazy - he drains the vitality, stamina, Charisma, whatever out of others so they won't be motivated enough to make him do anything.

Or do a reversed super speedster, slow other people down by taking dex or even movement rate from them (Yeah, I'd have to jury rig a new power, but I'm the GM and I'm suggesting it so you at least have a shot.)

Smoking man - chain smoker and all his powers are based upon that.  Toxic vapor attack if he blows smoke at you.  His Quantum Bolt could be throwing a lit cigarrete at you.  Good or bad socials are up to you as to whether smoking makes someone look "cool" or not, etc...  An old coat you wear could provide armour etc...

If you want to do ice/cold, have it be someone doesn't shoot ice but absorbs heat from the victim.  He makes hot days cool, he doesn't enjoy winter.  Rules work the same, the feel of the power is different and you could have him shiver all the time.  He steals heat because he was a street bum who Novaed during a rough winter because he was freezing to death.

Or last, but not least.  If your truely stuck.  Make a human.  I'll spend the rest of the points for you and you won't have a clue what your soak, your damage potential, your powers, etc... are.  If you pick this option you have a copy of your character sheet and I have a copy.  I will not show you mine.  I will roll dice to add to yours.  I may give you powers you don't like at all though.  Be warned.
 

BillyBeanbag

Quote from: Xavier LangOr last, but not least.  If your truely stuck.  Make a human.  I'll spend the rest of the points for you and you won't have a clue what your soak, your damage potential, your powers, etc... are.  If you pick this option you have a copy of your character sheet and I have a copy.  I will not show you mine.  I will roll dice to add to yours.  I may give you powers you don't like at all though.  Be warned.
Oh dude, you don't know how tempting that is... but that's a lot of work for you.

I'm tinkering with an idea of a speedy gadgeteer, but the gadget rules look kind of involved and I don't want to slow down gameplay too much.  He's not fast like the flash, with only a modicum of hypermovement, but there are lot of enhancements like fast tasks, etc that add to his general speed.  DVryce asked me what I was contemplating, and when I told him he's seized upon him getting Cyberkinesis, which is freakin' cool but I want him to pack a punch of sorts too.

So I was kind of going with the concept of "Blur" who's an coffee-slugging engineering geek (you know, the kind who wears the caffeine molecule t-shirts?) who gets speedy and his brain gets quicker too. He's an engineering prodigy but he's grown tougher to withstand the speed, and he can channel his kinetic force into a blast. If I go that way, then it lends itself real well to the power Momentum Control, which is in the Players guide.

The cyberkinesis may have come post-eruption when he was so into a project that he figured out how to get into the project.

I think though, that the viability of this concept depends a lot upon how the points are spent. Both Momentum Control and Cyberkinesis are level 3 powers...

Oh and there is a power that saps dexterity like you described, called Immobilize, and I'd been toying with that as part of the kinetic energy harnessing.  Of course, then there's a similar ability with Momentum Control.

I think I might like the character concept better if I choose to go the Momentum route as opposed to the Cyberkinesis route, but it would be fun to play, and handy to the group, as well.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

Cyclotron

Quote from: BillyBeanbagSo I was kind of going with the concept of "Blur" who's an coffee-slugging engineering geek (you know, the kind who wears the caffeine molecule t-shirts?) who gets speedy and his brain gets quicker too. He's an engineering prodigy but he's grown tougher to withstand the speed, and he can channel his kinetic force into a blast.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed.
The teeth acquire stains.
The stains become a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

You could call him "Starbuck".  :D
Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace,
 NFPA 70E, Article 330.4 (F):
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BillyBeanbag

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

Knightcrawler

Quote from: Cyclotron It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed.
The teeth acquire stains.
The stains become a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

You could call him "Starbuck".  :D

Cute......Piter.   ;)
Knightcrawler

"I Am Become Death, Destroyer Of Worlds"

BillyBeanbag

A follow up. I ended up going with the Momentum Control/gadgeteer/speedster, and it's kind of funny.

A few of the gamers in my group are really good at squeezing all they can get from the points in creating a character. Me? Not so much, I don't really even think about it that much.  Last Friday night I did a character build and I was woefully disappointed in what I came up with.

So I tumbled it around in my head, and Sunday morning before the game I did it again and came out with a much better variant of this guy.  I imagine a true power gamer would have even done it better, but I wasn't trying to make a game-killer, just someone who was good at what he does. :)
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Dr. Seuss

Dacke

Quote from: BillyBeanbagI imagine a true power gamer would have even done it better, but I wasn't trying to make a game-killer, just someone who was good at what he does. :)
And what he does ain't pretty, bub.