The thread to take about Super Heroes/Villains/Spies/Agents/Rogues and all in between. Working on a proper OP's text for easy reference for those interested in Super games.

TQ: Do you mix Magic/Supernatural with your super games?

>>95711524 (OP)

When I had run Mutants and Masterminds, it happen I add magic and supernatural. That was the time whn I mixed horror with christmas theme were heroes are facing demon version of Santa Claus with additional mouth from his stomach, muscular killer deer and gremlin version of christmas elves..

>>95711524 (OP)
>Do you mix Magic/Supernatural with your super games?
Absolutely, one of my favorite things about cape stories is that almost any origin is possible.

>>95711524 (OP)
I do have this campaign idea where mutant powers pop up in reaction to magic coming back. Supers vs Wizards

>>95711524 (OP)
Not really but I find psychics and highly specific power sets work just as well.
I have a necromancer character who has full control of the microorganisms involved indecomposition and it allows me to control the dead, supercharge the microorganisms and make people start to decay or get sick. I also use explain ghosts as weaponized or rogue psychic energy.

Any recommendations for good published one-shots for conventions and such?

>>95711524 (OP)
>TQ
Plenty of supers games just already allow for it. Because powers are so varied that it's pretty understandable that, in a more broad interpretation of the genre, you're going to encounter powers that come from a variety of sources (supernatural ones included).

I've played M&M 3e, and it was basically fine. I'd like to play it again someday, maybe run it. It's a lot of mechanical stuff though, which is worth consideration.

I've also played Masks, which is a game I would probably be down to play again sometime, but wouldn't be all that interested in running. Because if I'm going to run a supers game specifically, I want it to be crunchier, rather than the more narrative style of thing that PbtA is (though I've run and enjoyed running other PbtA games).

I am curious though about games that are fun for spies/agents and such. Aside from the CoC-adjacent Delta Green, I haven't played any games with those themes.

>>95720089

NINJAS & SUPERSPIES - Crunchy, but holds up surprisingly well in 2025.

>>95720258
The cover is quite compelling. I'm gonna do some Google-fu, but do tell your opinions about playing it.

>>95711524 (OP)
If you're considering mixing magic into your supers games and settings, what are the pros and cons/things to consider, and if you DO mix magic in, what do you need to avoid doing?

>>95711524 (OP)
Yup. Current campaign I'm running there's a cult that's been using magic to curse people through the internet.

>>95721932
>what do you need to avoid doing?
Making things too similar, or way too different.
Former cheapens both superpowers and magic, a bloat with little substance.
Latter is a bitch to balance, leading to one being too strong, or too weak.
You make both distinct, serving as different paths to the same destination.

Alternative approach is to make them more fundamentally different.
Such as magic being more versatile but weaker than powers, or the other way around. Then you basically use one to bolster the other and make up for it's weaknesses.
Yet another thing to consider is enchanting. Both as alternative to super-tech, and as the muggle-friendly magic. So you could, for instance, keep the magic away from PCs, while letting them use constrained magical items.
Acquiring magic would, thus, constitute a major development point, allowing the nascent mage to get away with wilder shit, since he or she have actually earned it in-game.

Another "don't" is making magic too "techy". Magic is, well, magical. It actively defies explanation and spits in the face of mundane logic. It's magic, you ain't gotta 'splain shit.
Making it a kind of special science cheapens it imo. One approach to it is to treat it as a kind of limited reality warping, with all the gravity such power implies.
Mages aren't mooks that shoot fireballs instead of bullets, even the weakest of them are individuals are wielding the cosmic power to bend reality to their will.
Magic is srs bsns, and is to be treated with all the respect it commands. That doesn't mean you can't fool around with it, but it would be akin to lighting a cigarette off tokomak's plasma.
Fuck with magic, and it will fuck you, steal your wallet, leave you in a mess, and won't even call a cab for you. With great power come great consequences and shit.

good system for a tokusatsu/Power ranger style game? I've been playing Picrel recently and it's gotten me in the mood to run something with a similar tone for my usual RPG group.

Anyone here mess around with Weaverdice?
I like Worm quite a lot, but Weaverdice always just seemed to be a half-baked idea.

Only place I see it mentioned is people using the trigger rules for fanfiction.

>>95725711
>shitton of rules for tinkers when the other types barely get anything
>1d6 roll so there is barely any granularity to handle difficulty swings

I kinda like the damage system but I can't take it very seriously for an actual game.

>>95720352
NTA but it's a Palladium game, so it's a messy unbalanced shitfest. And I say that as somebody who grew up playing Palladium, loved it as a kid, and look back on those times fondly. But it's still shit.

>>95724004
There is one on DriveThru literally called henshin.

>>95720352
Agreed that it's a shitfest, character creation will make you want to scream but the gameplay is fun. But it's spies/agents in an 80s Cannon movie pulp kind of way, if that's your jam I think there's a lot to like. If you're looking for more serious spy stuff there's probably better systems.

>>95720089
GURPS Action series

>>95730858
Wut? If anything the character creation always been the best thing since you can really go full random for a character instead of having player always making optimized characters.

>>95732246
Eh, if I'm making a time investment in a character and game I don't want to have to waste it playing some randomly generated goofball.

But I was mostly talking about the fact that all the Palladium games have really shitty character creation flow/explanation, I found myself paging endlessly through the book making a character.

>>95732400
Oh, ok, that I can agree. It should use some proper page browsing code like GURPS or HERO does.

>>95728345
Balance is maintained by your gm.
Why is is so hard to imagine being able to buy 1 book that spans low to high power level and just expect players to underatand and accept a gm level veto of your over or under powered character.

Balance fags are just min/maxers who want the most powerful character by some gnostic "build" they created and cant stand a player just picking a godling off the page to play.

Palladium games fucking kicks ass

>>95711524 (OP)
What are some good ways to handle powers based on the elements in a supers setting, especially in regards to powers each element can give, like with the Fantastic Four? And what if the super in question in a spellcaster?

>>95734341
>What are some good ways to handle powers based on the elements in a supers setting, especially in regards to powers each element can give, like with the Fantastic Four?

What if, hear me out, what if you had a rock guy (Earth), a flame guy (Fire), an invisible chick (Air) and a stretchy guy (Water)?

It's just crazy enough it might work!

>>95734683
I meant more creative ways, stuff that’s more thematic/symbolic/subtler like Reed’s stretching in comparison to the Thing or the Human Torch’s approach. Like, maybe a Water villain that can drain moisture from someone with a touch. Sorry I didn’t make that clearer.

Are there any existing element-focused mage heroes or villains to take ideas for the magic side of things from, by the way?

>>95711524 (OP)
Does Marvel or DC handle magic using heroes or villains better in your opinion?

>>95733608
>Palladium games fucking kicks ass
'kay... be sure to take your Hockey skill.

>>95734341
>>95734788
>>95736710
What do you think killed /tg/s interest in capes more: hollywood slop, or this guy?

>>95739126
The slop, most definitely the slop.

>>95711524 (OP)
>Do you mix Magic/Supernatural with your super games?
Nothing wrong with that. The major settings do it, and while you can certainly have a more focused campaign centered around one origin type, magic can be a fun spice . One of the campaigns I always thought it would be entertaining to run involves the Master Mage of the setting. Since he's so good at his job, the rest of the populace doesn't understand just how much danger the Master Mage saves them from. The general populace of heroes either doesn't understand magic or greatly underestimates the threat it poses. That's why when he has to fuck off to another dimension to deal with some reality-ending bullshit, he enlists the PCs to stay in his Mystic Manor and monitor the situation on the home plane. All the PCs would be considered C or B tier at best by the public, and they'd all have some tie to the Magic world. You know, one's the scion of a Fae and a Human, another has no actual powers but is a terrific ritualist, another is a kid who's somehow formed a pact with the monster under his bed...that sort of thing.

>>95739783

The latest edition Eldritch become an spirit after his body died and Seven is not longer the Master Mage after she become an dark lord..

I can understand why they do it but it seems like giving the greatest resonsiblity to player is like giving the player an knife and told to defend themselves an giant robot.

>>95741435
Yeah, there's quite a few things I don't like about the latest edition's updates to the timeline. I get it, like you say, but it's the sort of change I would want to do IN GAME rather than as part of the larger fiction.

>>95711524 (OP)
Do you tend to take more inspiration from Marvel or DC for your original settings?

>>95742884
Marvel, plus some Image Comics.

>>95711524 (OP)
My favorite super settings are when it feels like there's several different genres and settings mashed into one. The alien is standing next to the sorcerer, who is standing to the WW2 solider, and so on. It lets you have the interesting points of conflict where characters might be extremely competent in their own wheel house, but now they are thrown out of the comfort zone and have to adapt. It also gives other characters their own natural time to shine. Thor's your guy if you need to fight a giant monster, but less so if you need to solve a mystery. This leans into the team aspect for supporting each other's strengths & weaknesses, and also makes the world feel like the heroes are constantly putting out fires.

Having said all that, making a setting like that actually work is a bitch and a half. In a long running campaign, players are going to want their characters to advance. So either you up the power level of the game, or characters broaden their skill base. That leads to never ending escalation of threats or a muddling of the contrasts between characters. Additionally, if you want to add that kind of depth to a setting, it can be hard to keep the details straight, or even to come up with them to begin with.

>>95742884
Marvel but X-Men to be more specific.

Anyone here interested in this game?

>>95747553
Sure. What's the chargen process like? I'm assuming there is one, and it's not just playing canonical characters?

>>95748052
You can play canonical, and honestly it's the best way to learn/teach the game. No need to explain the world or setting, no need to tell the player their character's backstory or personality. Just grab your favorite character and go.
95% of the all the current chargen options are in the corebook, the x-men and spider-verse expansions add some more but the core options are pretty robust.
Basically it goes;
>Decide character rank (1-6)
Rank 1 = Rookie hero
Rank 2 = Neighborhood level
Rank 3 = City level
Rank 4 = National level
Rank 5 = Global level
Rank 6 = Cosmic level
Now these are only rough general power level comparisons and don't reflect the operating area of every single character in each of these ranks.
>Pick your origin
Mutant, special training, weird science experiment, various kinds of magic or supernatural creature, there's a lot to pick from and several have specific subtypes.
>Pick your occupation
Basically either your day job when not hero-ing or what you did before.
>Pick you extra traits
You can get some starting traits (think feats basically) from your origin and occupation, then you get a number of extra ones equal to your rank.
>Pick your tags
Much like traits, tags can given by origin or occupation. The difference lies in the fact that tags have either lesser or little mechanical game impact, as such you can take as many extra ones as you want as long as it makes sense for your character and your GM approves.

>>95748323
>Pick your powers
You get 4 power selections per rank, all of them are grouped into different categories. Powers within those categories tend to have a few basic powers that are prerequisites for stronger power in that category. You can mix and match powers from different sets as much as you like from the powers you qualify for. But if your total different powersets (not counting basic powers category) are lower than your rank you get the difference in extra powers (for example if your character is rank 4 and not counting basic you only have powers from 2 other categories, you get 2 more power selections from within those categories). You can also spend power picks for extra ability points or traits on a 1 to 1 ratio.
>Assign ability points
It's point based ability score distribution. You get 5 AP per rank to assign to your ability scores which are as follows:
Melee (Str)
Agility (Dex)
Resilience (Con)
Vigilance (Wis)
Ego (Cha)
Logic (Int)
(Look what the 1st letters spell)
Instead of your modifier being you ability score -10 divided by 2 rounded down, it's literally the amount of points you put into it, so 0 is the average civie number and goes up from there (you level rank score cap is you rank+3), although you can reduce a score up to -3 for more points to spend elsewhere.

>>95711524 (OP)
How do you make anti-hero type char without making everyone else die of cringe?

I.e. char is a former henchman/rookie villain that had a run-in with the big league heroes, got beaten up and arrested.
Was a small-time criminal, so no murders or anything really bad like that on him, just robberies, destruction of property, and so on like that.
Suppose he lucked upon a rehabilitation program to get assholes like him to use their powers for good.
So he cuts a deal, serving his time in a rookie hero team, doing hero stuff with all the risks that entails, instead of doing time in the big house: super max edition.
The team's mentor doubles as his parole officer, and if he fucks up too much he'll be doing the rest of his time in prison with no parole eligibility.

How much would I be able to get away with power-wise?
The idea was to have something that's more suited for stuff like shredding people, rather than apprehending criminals, alive, and with minimal harm.
May Allah forgive me for making an*me reference, but I was thinking of someone like Chainsaw Man's Denji.
Someone similarly bereft of fucks to give, self-serving, dishonest, unscrupulous, and disrespecting authority.
At the same time, not outright evil or malicious, and with no desire to murder people for fun or profit.
…which is probably the sole reason he's not rotting in a cell.

I love this kind of ironic contrast — a former criminal serving time as a hero, or someone with lethal powers trying his best NOT to kill or maim anyone.
A devil on the side of the angels, who has no idea who or what he is anymore. I think it makes for good drama and gives a philosophical angle to explore.
Yes, I have autism, is it really so obvious?

> be me last month
> one day decide to run a M&M oneshot
> no knowledge of the system or experience with superhero games
> called my friends on wednesday, game planned for saturday
> surely the system is as simple as a snake's ass, why would i need more time
> halfway through friday realise that it is actually more complex than i thought
Simple, but not enough to teach everyone and play in one go
> decide to wing the whole thing, only things i kept were the basic tests and those tables for measurments and power levels
> saturday, the game's in an hour. Still have to prepare half the game. Fuck it, let's eyeball everything
> improvise combat rules, powers and character creation
> JesusChristTakeTheWheel.mp4
It actually went supersmooth, maybe there were some issues during CharGen as I had to pull stuff out my ass without the group noticing my bullshit. Very fun, but probably won't GM it again.

>>95750671
If you want a simplistic super game, try something like Sentinel Comics RPG.

>>95750671
>scheduling a game without actually having an understanding of the rules

That's exactly how I picture the experience of every one who says a game system sucks.

>>95725711
It's Ward really as bad as people say?

>>95753944
It's bad enough that it got me to start reading fanfiction.

Whole bunch of 'original donut steel' characters, events that do not logically follow each other, for most characters their development already happened before the storystart, the setting doesn't make a lick of sense for post-apocalypse, a whole bunch of retcons that are aggressive rebukes for the community interpretations of the previous story, excess length without justifying it, and a dogshit ending.

Here's a big ass thread from spacebattles that expands on all those reasons and more. Unfortunately SB mods are terminal faggots and have locked the thread for reasons I don't take enough dicks up the ass to fathom. /threads/why-isnt-ward-as-popular-as-worm.1122893/

I mean, some people enjoy it. But it's dogshit.

>>95753944
It only existed as an excuse for more exposition on how shards work. The story felt totally unnecessary and spiteful. The whole Panacea character assassination to be exact

>>95749523
By landing that sweet-spot between genuine threat and fucking goofy.

>>95757615
Wasn't she already a fucking lunatic creeper by the end of Worm, though?

>>95758274
Yes, but she sorta of redeemed herself and got some peace of mind. Ward just made her back into one and crank it up to eleven

>>95711524 (OP)
>TQ: Do you mix Magic/Supernatural with your super games?
If your campaign doesn't have an arc fighting an evil wizard or Dracula then it isn't a real super setting.

>>95744084
>making a setting like that actually work is a bitch and a half
Okay, so how do you handle these issues in campaigns/settings, both mechanically and narratively?

>>95758311
How about one where your group has to bodyguard for not-Harry Potty, who is a clone of Merlin, because a Wiccan cult wants to use him to restore the old magic, which the original Merlin sealed away, bringing forth a new dark age.

>>95725711
Worm is trash and its shills are worse.

>>95757792
How'd that work? For the sake of argument, let's continue with the stated example.
It would be what, using dangerous powers, but constantly holding back as much as possible? Or being careful with them to the point of slight silliness?
I wouldn't plan on going dark and broody, mind you, just be a much less heroic jerk, so I wouldn't be nearly as edgy as I would be sarcastic and cynical.
So it'd generally be playing foil to heroes' goody two-shoes heroic heroism, bringing them back down to earth and occasionally knocking them down a peg.
But I don't think that's quite what you meant, so I'm a little at a loss here. How do I shoot we- I mean, how do I find that sweet spot of semi-goofiness?

>>95747553
No, the system sucks ass.

>>95748333
Jesus, you're just the shame shill who made that cringe Marvel Multiverse thread pre-outage, aren't you? Do you really think that if you talk to yourself long enough reciting the rules people will get interested in this piece of shit game? How about you actually share some experiences running and playing the game if you've got such a raging pecker for Nu-Marvel Slop?

>>95760331
What would you like to know about?
The various con one-shots I've run?
The ongoing Xavier School campaign I'm running?
My upcoming Stone Age Avengers campaign?

>>95711524 (OP)
What is your best pseudo-science explanation for why superman substitutes can fly?

>>95766085
NTA but I'd like to hear about your plans to sudoku yourself.

>>95766301
I'm old enough that time and lack of healthcare options will do it for me

>>95749523
>May Allah forgive me for making an*me reference, but I was thinking of someone like Chainsaw Man's Denji

Making a deal of referencing an anime is a lot more cringe than just referencing the anime.

>>95766248
Super-Particles in the air

>>95767032
Especially since Chainsaw Man is a better superhero comic than 99% of American comics currently being published.

>>95767032
Cringe if you do, faggot if you don't…

>>95767390
Since it was brought up, what about the "super horror" or horror elements in general?
What should one focus on when designing a super-powered horror campaign?
To the average unpowered human, even a weak physical super would be an unstoppable monster.
Something that could tear him limb from limb, or at least break every bone in his body.
But what's scary to a super? Other than whatever kryptonite-like depowering stuff, of course.
Mind fuckery? Brainwashing? Some body snatcher scenario with monsters hiding in plain sight?
Or something of greater scope, such as demons from Hell/aliens/eldritch horror invasion?

>>95742884
rised on Marvels comics, so duh
but with bits of DC and others sources

>>95749523
I like a coldly pragmatic one, willing to let a bus fall off a bridge in favor of pursuing and eliminating the villain for good.

>>95766248
Aliphenians have a series of organs that make them the living equivalent of an ion thruster.

>>95711524 (OP)
Does anyone include powered folks in non-hero roles in their games?

>>95774671
So, supervillains?

>>95767445
Blood Blockade Battlefront is the best superhero horror series, and it deals a lot with how one's impression of fear or danger would change if you lived in a world like that

>>95774857
Other than hero OR VILLAIN roles.

>>95767445
HEROES TV show x World of Darkness.

>>95774671
I like the idea of powered celebrities and super athletes.

>>95767390
>Especially since Chainsaw Man is a better superhero comic than 99% of American comics currently being published.
Chainsaw Man is just Devil Man for zoomers.

>>95781224
Super-astronauts?

>>95781302
Those two have nothing in commom outside being about demons

>>95781540
>Super-astronauts?
Super astronauts exploring space instead of doing superheroing would be cool. That said, knowing how superhero settings are they would run into hostile aliens at some point or something similar weather or not fighting a hostile cosmic entity in self defense counts as "superheroing" is a matter of perspective however.

>>95782343
How about Super-Star Trek?

>>95781540
Literally just the Fantastic Four, bro.

>>95782542
>How about Super-Star Trek?
That works well, kinda like Legions of Superheroes or Guardians of the galaxy and what not.

>>95784312
>Literally just the Fantastic Four, bro.
The FF are superhero astronauts, we are talking about people with powers that aren't technically superheroes. They maybe have villains who are out to get them but this type of character doesn't actively go out into the streets with the intention of fighting criminals.

>>95788744
I'm talking about a space exploration military made of supers, not groups made of space superheroes.

>>95788782
Yeah, like a group of elemental-type supers on their way to terraform Mars.

>>95781302
Even if that were true (and it really, really isn't), that's not the sick burn you think it is, bro.

>>95788884
>I'm talking about a space exploration military made of supers, not groups made of space superheroes.
That's what the word "kinda" is supposed to imply. Similar but not the same.

>>95747553
It's the game I play most

>>95792394

>>95792808

>my OCs super powers are always "powered exoskeleton"
>favorite superhero was iron man, even before 2008
>was extremely hyped to watch iron man and didnt understand why no one else seemed to be
>when asked why my favorite star wars character was darth vader, the answer was not "he was interesting as a character" but "he was more man than machine"
>read the TDKR just for batman using the ex-frame
>obsessed with halo because i got to play as a big green suit of armor
I might have a problem

Who owns the City of Heroes IP? I still want to see it properly adapted to a good super system, the canceled unisystem one kinda of sucked so I am glad they didn't finished it.

>>95792840
Eh, 95% of the guy supers in my imagination are built like Spider-Man and have acrobatic skills.

>>95794029
Pretty sure it's still NCSoft. As much as I liked City of Heroes the game, the actual narrative was the least interesting part of it. Better just to cherry pick your favorite bits and shove it into your system of choice.

>>95794029
NCSoft owns it. Supposedly it is being licensed out to the Homecoming Private Server but there is zero proof outside a "Trust me bro, we're official" post on the Homecoming Forums.
>>95795577
Depends on the era. City of Villains was imo, really compelling and had some amazing writing. Going Rogue had some damn good stuff too, although it hardly felt like a Superhero game in Goldside. Plenty of /tg/ authors of games/novels like Zeb Cook and the author of the Champions PnP books worked for Cryptic, which is neat.

>>95792840
Not much of one, armor is cool. Though admittedly, I prefer mine on the goopier side.

>>95711524 (OP)
How closely are powers in your supers settings tied to personalities, and what are some ways to put new spins on the idea beyond subverting the typical stereotypes? Like for instance, we're all familiar with the idea of someone with flame powers being "hotheaded", someone with ice powers having a "cold" personality, someone with super strength and durability being heavily determined, a shapeshifter being adaptable, someone who can turn invisible being shy or feeling socially invisible, etc., but what would you suggest for this? And what are some heroes or villains in your settings who either have powers that make perfect sense for their personalities or ones that seemingly oppose said personalities, like an ice hero who has a "warm" demeanor?

>>95800591
NTA, Bio armors are so underrated.

>>95801891
I have this idea for a guy whose skin opens like panels, so black strand organ tissue envelopes him, acting as a non-Newtonian armored suit.

>>95806810
>black strand organ tissue
>acting as a non-Newtonian armored suit
Muscle fibers anon.
Something like nanotech artificial muscle replacement.
With the ability to shed some of the fibers to form a suit of armor.

Alternatively, combine the two in the form of a nanobot assembling implant that makes three distinct types.
>repair nanites
That's your heroic vigor and speedy regeneration.
>artificial muscle fiber builders
Give enhanced strength and durability.
>subdermal armor builders
Give minor (small arms and the like) protection.
Putting it into overdrive, aka "super" mode, produces a suit of armor with muscles attached, acting as an exoskeleton.
And for the organic version you simply make the machines and materials, well, organic.

>>95807690
It is also a sensory organ, tripling spatial awareness and form into tendrils, lances, or shields.

>>95808688
Then it sounds more like some Venom-like symbiotic lifeform that binds to host and produces all that stuff while being wired into host's nervous system.
Sounds cool either way though.

>>95711524 (OP)
Sure. WW2 had vampires on the Axis side, so the Allies deployed costumed avengers - additionally, America deployed the last living tyrannosaurus.

>>95813436
Did the tyrannosaurus survive the war?

>>95813902
Yes, and apart from an appearance before the Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations during the Army-McCarthy hearings, he was able to retire peacefully to Waddell, Arizona. He died in 1981, and his remains were donated to the Mesa Southwest Museum.

>>95711524 (OP)
Tell me about your mooks and minions, /tg/. What gangs, cults, armies, or other villainous organizations field the bulk of your games' hero-related injuries, and what keeps those idiots charging facefirst into fists of steel on their behalf?

>>95814087
My game's setting has an entire organization dedicated to building and repairing villain hideouts and making uniforms for the henchmen etc.

>>95817705
It must have some fantastic lobbyists if it manages to stay in business despite its business model revolving around aiding and abetting known felons.

>>95818126
>It must have some fantastic lobbyists if it manages to stay in business despite its business model revolving around aiding and abetting known felons.
That and maybe some politicians wouldn't mind an evil lair of their own....

Mutants and Masterminds, Prowlers, or something else? I'm also trying to get my group away from D&D

>>95818533
I would suggest something rules light and easy to learn or something familiar to your players, also I suggest looking into official Marvel and DC splat books for their respective settings I.E DC Adventures, Marvel Multiverse etc. Since it might help draw your players in with familiar characters and settings.

>>95818533
Depends. If they're buildfaggots, jump into M&M, it's a system that encourages you to build busted supers so they can face equally busted villains and obstacles. If it's the usual 5e crowd, try something like Sentinel Comics RPG. It's a simple system, but it gives options while encouraging flavor, and it'll get your players away from d20.

With how much both franchises (although are they considered a single franchise now?) have crossed over with DC and other comics back in the Dark Horse days and all the Marvel crossovers now. Would you ever want to use them as antagonists in your supers game? Maybe as a one-off or even an ongoing adventure?

>>95821499
Xenomorphs are good antagonists for a horror campaign.
They may not match supers in terms of raw power, but their ability to use the environment to their advantage makes for excellent ambushers, allowing them to pick heroes off one by one.
They make for good long-term thread that requires research to locate the nest, and firepower to clear it, since leaving even a single drone would mean having to start it all over.
They are a growing persistent threat to the PCs, as well as civilians. And they must be dealt with ASAP, since every day wasted means more people are caught and used to spawn more drones.

Predators can't remember the name atm on the other hand, might be a match for lower rank physical supers, and further build upon it with tech and hunting skill to be a worthy opponent even to some of the higher rank capes.
They are best served as one-off or a recurring unaligned antagonist group that simply hunts the PCs as the most dangerous game in town.
Some sort of Great Hunt event could be used to make them a more long-term threat, where PCs are repeatedly hunted and have to find some way to drive them away. A kind of a toned-down alien invasion campaign.

>>95821695
Yautja, anon. Their species is called the yautja.

>>95818533
Rob Liefeld's BLOOD P.O.U.C.H., where stats are divided up into CYBER, MUSCLES, and POUCHES.

>>95821695
Yeah, I mean, if you put them in a Heroes Unlimited campaign, it'd be neat.

How would you construct a functional, PL10 'illusionist' character in M&M2e? Someone like Mysterio, or Spellbinder? I'm joining a villain game and I really want to screw with the heroes the GM sends after us.

>>95818533
Honestly, I'm getting pretty sold on Tiny Supers. It's a fun little system.

>>95711524 (OP)
Besides powers derived from magic, where do powers in your setting actually come from? Are they genetic and the result of a mutation like with the X-Men, the result of alien interference like in Worm, from technology, psionic, or something else? And what do you have to consider when actually deciding on the source(s) your powers have and how they interact?

>>95826508
Genetic mutations caused through a terraforming virus from outer space going haywire thanks to radiation.

>>95826508
Mutation following an increase in Earth's ambient radiation due to the weakening ozone layer and the advent of the nuclear age.

>>95826187
Never heard of it, how does it play?

>>95826170
Pretend to be a reality-warping loon. Only to find out too late that you weren't pretending.
Get into the mind game business and get inside their heads, then gaslight the hell out of them.
Pretend to be a small fry serving your boss, who's really just a figurehead.

Imo, illusionists are born mindfuckers, and their whole kit exists to mess with heroes' sense of reality.
Unless you're tapping into the mind game stuff, you're not using your powers to the fullest potential.

>>95724004
Toku Legends

>>95711524 (OP)
Fictional city or real world location? Which one is better?

>>95830820
I prefer a fictional city. Either your players don't know a real city enough to care if the details are right so it might as well be fictional OR you get some pedant telling you the Blue Line train doesn't STOP there on Tuesdays, actually, and you've ruined the verisimilitude.

Does your setting have a threat like Galactus?

I'm working on a superhero-oriented system (or, really, hack for another system). I have a pretty good basic structure for a "standard hero" (somebody who just has a set power or set of powers), and "gadgeteering hero" (somebody who makes gewgaws to do things), but I'm struggling a bit on the wizard/sorcerer/mage types. What do you expect of such characters, compared to a standard powerset?

>>95832023
>What do you expect of such characters, compared to a standard powerset?
Flexibilty and limits. Given time, they can do just about anything, but they need time and sometimes esoteric materials. For the most part, Stephen Strange has a few spells he uses all the time - a basic array of attack, defense, and support - and anything else requires a magic doodad, a lost tome, an extended ritual, or maybe a pact with some serious downsides.

>>95725711
I played Weaver Dice. It works fairly well. The issue for any kind of mass adoption is that there's basically two parts to Weaver Dice:
- Core mechanics (stats, skills, etc). These are basically functional: not really broken, nothing to write home about, and don't interface with powers at all.
- Creating powers. Because the powers are created by other players/the GM, you get a lot more potential variety than your typical superhero system. Most superhero RPGs run into the issue that if you let players buy (for example) immunity to ranged attacks, then they can also buy immunity to melee attacks, to be immune to all attacks; but because of how Weaver Dice works, you can give weird cost/benefits like "yes, if you stay still in your Breaker state, you are invincible and your melee attacks are armor-piercing, but if you move out of position, that effect fades." However, this basically requires every table have a game designer with at least modest familiarity with the core rules. This doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1liL7ovAG7Q6EeLcX8nUkZBAeU-NuN1XIedFtECN8AYs/mobilebasic has a bunch of pregens, and you can see how they differ from standard TTRPG fare, but also how it's tough to come up with your own unique ones.

I don't regret playing it (it really taught me a lot about power design/game balance-type stuff), but it's hard to imagine a group picking up and playing it without somebody having prior experience for this reason.

>>95830820
Fictional city based on a real place I've lived in that the party hasn't. That way, I can steal roadmaps without it being completely obvious what I'm cribbing from.

>>95832023
Portals and scrying. Never trust your life to a wizard who can't do both of those at minimum.

>>95828098
So I need to Mad Jim Jaspers it up, then? But how would you BUILD such a character, within the confines of PL10?

>>95833925
Illusion:
4pts/rank (all sense types)
Power Feat:
Progression (buy this a number of times depending on the area you want to affect) +2 (25ft radius)
Selective (this allows you to choose who to affect) +1
Extra:
Action +1/rank (moves the power's duration from Concentration to Sustained)
Flaw:
Phantasm's -1/rank
I think other appropriate flaws to help reduce the cost would be Fades, Tiring, Distracting, etc. These are just recommendations

Total cost for Illusion: 4 pts /rank +3pts


Confuse:

1pts/rank

Extra:
Duration +3 (makes the effect continuous lasting and they only get one saving throw)
Linked +0 (linked to Illusion)(for a +1 you can use the powers separately)

Total cost for Confuse 4pts/rank

Total cost for power: 8pts/rank +3 ranks. So at PL10 and buying 10 ranks of this power would cost you 83 points.

This power gives you the ability to create false sensory inputs the characters in the effected range and allows you to confuse one of them continuously. You could change the Confuse to an area attack for +1pt/rank per step in area to effect everyone.

>>95833957
I don't really see offensive options, though.

>>95835146
Offensive if going all-in on illusions and getting the heroes to beat each other up, or lead the lone hero into a trap.
Illusionists, mentalists, and other such trickster-types are relying on their trickery for offense and defense.
They're primarily indirect fighters and usually something of a glass cannon, minus the cannon part.
They seldom pose a threat in a direct fight, often lacking both offensive and defensive powers entirely.
Absolutely devastating in a supporting role, though. Especially if backed by more combat-oriented teammates/henchmen.

>>95830820
Real world location means maps you can steal, which is sort of nice. Fictional city means having to make a map yourself (which is also fun). But there's not a lot of mapping tools for modern cities.

>>95711524 (OP)
TQ: I think kitchen sink 'all mythologies and folklore are simultaneously correct' logic is a part of the genre. My current game has a player who is a banished angel from christian heaven. One of her powers is an aoe mind blast that we fluffed as her just dropping her human disguise and letting everyone see her biblically accurate form.

In universe, most civies just think she's some mutant or similar of course. Actual christians are divided between wanting to help/worship her and thinking she's some kind of blasphemous villain or a government psyop or something.

>>95742884
Probably DC. Always have some analogy to the main cast of the justice league. Although I take a shit-ton of inspiration from spiderman specifically in how villain backstories are handled and how every bad guy you run into just happens to be your neighbor or your old maths teacher or whatever

>>95835146
>>95835644
You could also just take other damage powers as APs of the Confusion power.

>>95837362
What's the point of doing a thematic build then, if you start to add powers well outside it's scope?
If you're doing a theme build — stick to the theme, or at the very least pick adjacent stuff.
Making a kitchen sink build is lame and gay.

>>95711524 (OP)
What supers OCs have you made, be they PC or NPC? And how did you come up with their designs and powers beyond taking characters from other supers settings and changing a few details like the name like I do or Invincible does (pic related is basically Wonder Woman, for instance)?

>>95838473
I just think it makes sense that, if anon's character can conjure up an illusory spike-trap that affects all senses and that the heroes believe is real, that spike trap should be able to hurt them, if only nonlethally.

>>95835644
Although this gave me the idea of being able to conjure up 'hazards' using the Minions power to populate the Illusion with.

>>95839347
I ran a game once where a villain named Chester Cheatley was a pretty regular antagonist. He was based on classic mustache-twirlers like Dick Dastardly and Snidely Whiplash, so he was largely interested in 'normal' crime like real estate fraud and theft, but he was so over the top about it that superheroes were regularly dragged into his shenanigans. He was also a master of disguise, and once faked an alien invasion in order to distract everyone enough that he could steal shipment of government bonds in a plot I half-ripped from Die Hard. My players were so pissed hopefully at the villain when, after three sessions, they defeated Urglax (the Scourge of a Thousand Worlds!) only to unmask him as Chester.

>>95766248
>Force Field
>He controls a fundamental force such as Gravity or Electromagnetism or possesses high-level telekinesis.
>Surrounds his body with a Force Field that enables him to levitate and accounts for much of his physical durability. Also, he can extend this force field to objects he touches, rendering them weightless and allowing him to carry even massive structures without them falling apart.

>>95821695
>Consider the shenanigans if a hive of Xenos were spawned from metahuman hosts?

>>95832023
The basic Mage abilities I'd use would be:
Levitation (Self and smaller objects)
Teleportation (Self and small groups)
Mystic Bolts (or elemental)
Force Field (with limited durability)
Supernatural senses and awareness (mystics are always an early warning system for big threats)

These are just the bare bones, any individual magic user should be themed accordingly.

>>95832079
>or maybe a pact with some serious downsides.
Stephen often calls upon extradimensional entities to lend him their power with specific spells, like the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.

Try making up a few weird godlike or monstrous beings that hang out in crazy dimensions for your magic dude to call upon.

>>95841195
Isn't that Connor Kent's version of nigh-Kryptonian power?

>>95841371
By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, you're right.

Is Savage Worlds good for supers?
Anything to keep in mind?
I know there's a Supers companion book.

>>95840983
I love this idea and will be stealing it.

>>95839347
I once made a villain named Sexy Dynamite. He had an enormous afro that was cut into a new shape every time the players saw him, eight-inch platform shoes, and a seemingly endless supply of jackets made from the fur of at least six different animals each. Whenever he used his power (by striking a pose and shouting "Bang!"), he would heal his wounds and temporarily increase the size of both his muscles and his afro. He believed the world owed him money and power on account of how incredibly groovy he was, and would occasionally attack private parties for the rich and famous to liven up the squares.

>>95842877
It works better for non-powered or lower-powered heroes. It gets a little wonky when you try to recreate invulnerable demigods who can move a thousand miles a minute and punch through solid steel.

>>95841299
It ends poorly for pretty much everyone.

>>95850155
sounds good to me then, thanks!

Are animal themed powers cool or lame to you?

>>95851956
Cool. Lean into it, I say.

>>95842877
My group's experience with Savage Worlds Superheroes was that even on low power characters (Daredevil and Luke Cage tier guys) numbers bloated way too fast and it turned into us and the villains one-shotting each other every combat. I don't think we even made it to the Four Color power tier (which is supposed to be Avengers + Justice League level stuff).

>>95839347
Well, I have this character whose power is to pool all the emotional and psychological pain one has dealt to others through gossip and other hurt words, and turn it back onto them as physical trauma. Note: I thought this guy up after seeing an ad about stopping prejudice towards people with diabetes.

>>95854996
that guy could wipe out all of /v/ in one night

>>95841479
Ye.

>>95850098
That sounds amazing!

Is there any random character generator for M&M 3e?

>>95859942
There was a character quickstart guide that came with a random generator.

Does anyone know of a repository of M&M2e builds? I used to get them on Atomic Think Tank, but that's been down for years, and now when I search for builds all I get are 3e.

>>95858044
His name is Recompense.

>>95859143
I thought he was funny. I think he was a little too silly for the tastes of the superteam, but whatever.

>>95851956
Depends on the animal. Bugs get +1 point. Amphibians get +2. Birds get -19.

>>95851956
What I like about Froppy is that she is vulnerable to the cold like a frog. It is a good weakness borrowed from the animal she is based on.
>>95861288
Why do you hate birds?

>>95720089
Mutants & Masterminds is ok in that character creation and doing stuff is pretty fast and easy, i have a preference for Champions. I'd describe it as M&M is great at jumping in and playing superheroes as they exist in the comics, the characters, cliches, stories and tropes very much like what exists in the comics. Champions it's your supers custom made with all the build options available by you to tell your character's story with all the build options you want for the character you want to play and whose story you want to tell, it's your comic characters and story.

>>95733608
I dunno Hero manages balance, you can build a 200 point character that can take out the strongest toughest villain with bulletproof skin by phasing their hand through their chest and solidifying it in their heart. One character who is still a street character Harbinger of Justice is basically all Batman's skills with Punisher's attitude towards crime and more guns than Neo and is built with the same number of points it would take to make Superman but wouldn't be able to do anything against that.

>>95730858
Also another Palladium supers game, Heroes Unlimites put a bunch of restrictions on character creation and didn't include certain types of characters this wasn't for any other reason than Kevin wanting it to be "a thinking man's game". That is the creator of Heroes Unlimited imposing how other played and created characters.

Anyone else tried Gotham City Chronicles? Don't get me wrong it's fun once in a while but i don't think this is for long term campaigns. Especially with DC RPGs out there that have the whole DC universe and allow you to play as Batman or the Bat Family or your own heroes in Gotham and then switch to the Justice League and protect the world from Darkseid or play in WWII as the JSA.

>>95862761
Harbinger is straight-up a dev's recycled character, who pushes his already ridiculous point total even further by taking drawbacks that don't have any meaningful mechanical effect - in other words, the kind of bullshit PC that a reasonable GM could pitch into the trash without any qualm.

>>95862871
Can't say I have. How does it play?

>>95865967
Harbinger started as a PC that got there on earned xp. The point is that the same points used for Harbinger could be used to build Superman in Champions and yet for all the complaining Harbinger still is pretty much a Batman type street leveler who stands no chance at any powerful villain like Ogre let alone Mechanon or Dr Destroyer

>>95865976
It's decent if you're a batman fan you'll enjoy it it has options to do a GCPD style campaign like the show Gotham or the GCPD comics, options to play as powerless crimefighters like the Bat Family and low powered heroes. The only thing is it's setting remains limited to Gotham which feels limiting. There are no profiles for other superpowered characters except villains like Poison Ivy etc so don't expect to do a World's Finest style team up. They do have alternate versions of Gotham's characters though so Dark Knight Returns Batman etc. Like i said it's decent for running maybe a campaign between games but it doesn't feel like something you could keep running or keep continuously playing

Bio-engendered supers are cool. What character have ya made with this background?

>>95869604
If by 'bio engineered' you mean 'tampered with at the genetic level', then Corpse Lily. A biotech company took advantage of people with late-stage cancer to perform less than ethical and radically experimental treatments. Already facing her death, she believed the company was going to compensate her family in exchange for the invasive procedures. She died in secret in an observation room at the lab.

Like a perennial, though, she arose again in a year - seemingly healthy, seemingly herself, but with green skin. She sought out her family, only to discover the company had told them and given them nothing. Her husband had killed himself and her child, too young to remember her, had vanished into the state system. She set out for revenge on the company, who were more than pleased to capture her and vivisect her to discover how she had returned.

She keeps coming back, too. And every time she dies, she's reborn less and less human. Corpse Lily looks like a strange hybrid of plant and animal and is currently capable of producing meter-long thorns that deliver exotic toxins, and she can glide on membranous petal-wings. Previously she's shown immunity to poisons, the ability to coax the growth of plants, and sprouting constricting vines, but not in her current 'life.' Who knows what she'll turn into next time she dies?

Really wish my players would give another super game a try. I fucking hate M&M and all the SRD bullshit

>>95872444
Anything in particular you want to introduce to them?

>>95869604
Closest I had was an alien BOW taken from the crash site at Roswell that was a puddle of goo intended to devour organic life and convert it into its own mass. Black site scientists tried and failed to find a way to control the weapon (or even just keep it from eating test subjects), until one noticed that the goop could mimic electrical signals, so they decided to map the brainwaves of a wounded veteran and see if it would mimic his mind. Long story short, it did, and the weapon began to believe that it was the veteran. It served the CIA for several years, before a chance encounter with the human it was mimicking inadvertently revealed what was going on. The head of the project tried to kill everyone involved, a lot of CIA agents died, and the weapon escaped to Mexico, where it lived as a drifter for several decades.

>>95872579
Mostly SWADE with the supers supplement or FASERIP

>>95872444
>I fucking hate M&M and all the SRD bullshit
Not familiar with M&M, what do you mean?

Any good solo/duet rpg to play supers ?

>>95878941
I've heard Anyone Can Wear the Mask is a decent choice for playing by yourself or as a duo.

>>95711524 (OP)
You don't make boring heroes who have no exploitable weaknesses, do you, /tg/? Post what will throw your guy off his game, or forever be considered lame.

>>95880935
One of my PCs was a deaf telepath "listening" to other people's thoughts to hear things, if he's not actively connecting to others via his power he can't hear shit.

>>95880935
I'm trying to come up with something interesting but the general idea is that if he's actively using his power and he makes contact with a large enough body of water without turning it off he's, uh, fried.

Anyone know how to create a evolving world instead of a static status quo is god where everything else exists as background or flavor aesthetic like people have smartphones instead of old rotary phones or phone booths, modern cars instead of old cars. Make it really be a part of that world rather than look smart phones this is clearly set in the 2010s or 2020s. I need tips on how to keep the world PCs inhabit dynamic and changing. Like our world.

>>95880935
No one expects Chocolate-Peanut Man to turn into peanut-based paper. (George Washington Carver for the win)

>>95883005
Wild Talents Four-color system.
https://www.rpglibrary.org/utils/wild_talents_axes/

>>95881276
What, like an electrical short or something?

>>95880935
My guy can absorb energy from attacks, but is slow, has a crippling fear of isolation, and needs time to build up his powers by absorbing energy.

>>95880935
Extreme cold. It freezes his body, preventing him from stretching, shifting into liquid state, or absorbing attacks.

>>95885850
Yeah, he's basically a walking battery that turns kinetic force into electricity and vise versa. Using his power in water obviously electrifies it but it also "locks" his output, meaning that he will just spend all his juice in the water, unless he switches it off before being submerged.

>>95884029
Pretty cool, thanks! Have some Eve.

>>95880935
Do things like ADHD, autism, mood, mental, or psychological disorders count as weaknesses?

>>95884029
Thank you

>>95889277
Depends if it makes it easier or harder to be a superhero.

>>95893304
Disorders seldom make life in general easier, unless you're a villain, maybe.

>>95889277
Depends on the system and the roleplay.

>>95879364
Looks like I have something to check out.

What do people usually go for when designing their chars? Power-wise, I mean.

>inb4: you tell me
One of the four fundamental forces/fields/interactions, that is, gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces. That's pure power-wanking, though.
Once I get that out of my system, I design a "real" character.
I.e. something like small-scale fleshwarping with a side of bioengineering as a kind of "biological tinker" type. Basically making organs that do things, enhancing own body, healing others, making single-use parasitic critters to throw at baddies.
Tinkers and the like just seem more interesting than some not-Hulk smashing through things, with little thought put into other potential course of action.

>>95905459
Some people just want characters who can fly, is strong enough to punch through walls and can tank machine gun fire. Because they want to be in the thick of thr action, punch out bad guys and save the day from the mad scientist's crazy giant killer robot. Like how some want to be the detective and track down bad guys, interrogate henchmen and dismantle the bad guy's evil city levelling device. Everyone has a different play style.

>>95905459
I would say I usually go for something fairly straightforward, something that's already well documented in the canon so it's easy to refer to examples for making on the spot mechanical decisions. So all your standard super sets. I do tend to like more utilitarian things. A line of sight teleporter or a duplicator with flaws is more interesting to me than a Flying Sun God.

>>95906247
>Flying Sun God
There are ways you can take this very premise without turning it into a not-Superman.
Especially if various mythologies from around the world are used.
I'm sure there is some Celtic sun deity or something that could fit the "utilitarian" description, at least in part.
>something that's already well documented in the canon
>So all your standard super sets.
Doesn't it feel restrictive though? Would it be worth searching for examples (i.e. /tg/ threads, screencaps, etc.) over restricting yourself to a specific premade, or semi-premade build?
Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult mecanics-wise if you stick to a specific theme in your build? Mind you, I'm spitballing here.
Got the double whammy of loathing little to no choice, and being lost in options with free building. Setting a theme and sticking to it is the only way of self-tard-wrangling I know.

>>95905459
I'm kinda the opposite, I love super-strength and being able to shrug off guns while belting bad guys across the room. I do like icky biological stuff, though - tendrils, bodyshifting, having a little extra to add to the wheelhouse besides "wallop a dude".

>>95897007
Less than you'd think. Mental issues screw up bad guys just as much.

>>95907612
I've just realized the self-sabotaging behavior isn't strictly limited to normal people or heroes.
>when your whole villainous career is one giant super-powered cry for help
I gotta say it, I kinda feel for the Riddler here. It's one thing to be batshit crazy and enjoy it like Joker.
But it's a whole another story when you realize that you're not in control of your own mind.
This is a kind of personal horror that no one deserves, not even the bad guys.
Because the very next thing you're going to ask yourself is whether you did all those things because you wanted to, or was it the unfortunate result of your madness?
Are you really a villain? Or are you just a very sick person with powers beyond their control?
This is some serious existential dilemma, with a major identity crisis sprinkled on top for good measure.
What if none of it happened and it was all a hallucination?
Are you hallucinating right now?
Can you even tell what's real anymore?
Are "you" real?

Heroes better intervene quickly, before this spirals into a complete breakdown or drives the poor sod to an hero.

>>95794029
God I've simped for Ghost Widow for 20 fucking years and I'll simp for 20 more

>>95906850
>Got the double whammy of loathing little to no choice, and being lost in options with free building.
I meant more from a gameplay, rules adjudication standpoint. I think one of the issues with M&M and other build-a-power system is that some people try to get a little too creative and over-complicated with it, where most powers should be very basic at their heart with the odder uses being relegated to stunts and such.

>>95913040
I think that is a problem with M&M in itself. Don't get me wrong it's a decent system and emulates the comics pretty well. That is what it is good at, emulating. So simple pre-existing concept ideas are pretty easy if you're imiatating creating Arachnidman or Superstrongtoughflyingman but it lacks variety of options when it comes to character customization not just the abilities but also equipment if you want to have a character whose abilities are gadget based. You can have two telekinetics who are basically the same power wise in everything they do not going into specifics like maybe one has more fine control than the other and the other has maybe just more raw power making the two distinguisahble from the other.

>>95877554
nta but SRD mean it's based on 3.x which usually consist of d20 swing bullshit with the sharpshooter missing every shot and the mentalist guy taking down a brute with one shot and the classic "you don't have skill X with Feat Y, that mean you can't fast talk the bad guys"

>>95711524 (OP)
What are some powers that can easily be OP if not done well, and how do you handle characters with said powers?

>>95918062
My personal list of "OP if (not) done well" includes:
>light manipulation
Shit gets ridiculous real fast if you have at least some knowledge of physics.
Being able to change the wavelength makes it even crazier.
>transmutation
Even without matter-energy or matter-antimatter conversion you can still make things like chlorine trifluoride, U-235, fluoroantimonic acid, anything chlorine or fluorine-related really, that shit is scary. Not to mention the various explosive compounds.
All of that can literally be made out of thin air if the conversion is anything-to-anything, rather than 1:1 with material merely being rearranged.
>anything atomic-related
Putting aside things like hard ionizing radiation hazard, you can fuck up just about anything if you can fuck with the nuclear forces that bind matter together.
>portals
If you can cut stuff by closing portals, it becomes a terrific combat power that is often gravely underestimated.
Multiple portals paired with area-based abilities and whatnot can extend them to affect the whole battlefield via pinhole portals.
If portal ability has a range limitation, assuming no absolute range limit and multiple portals, you could chain them indefinitely via the same space folding-like effect as with pinhole portal technique.

>>95918062 >>95918301
About handling, we talking GM-wise or countering?
>GM-wise
"Your grasp exceeds grasp. You am play god. No."

As for countering:
>light manipulation
Anything that deprives the area of free photons. Darkness, shadow, and opposing light or EM force manipulation powers.
Pray that he can't tap into quantum foam.
>transmutation
Blitz attack to knock the guy out or kill him before he can throw something back.
If that fails, any forcefield-creating power to isolate him from the surrounding matter, or portal/teleportation power to throw him into space.
Anything else can and will be transmuted, starting from atmospheric gasses.
And if he CAN transmute energy, again, pray that he can't make use of zero point energy, otherwise there is no way to deprive him of things to transmute.
>atomic powers
To quote a person that worked with ClF3: for dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.
The "throw it into space" approach may work as well. But for the love of god DON'T throw him into the Sun!
Especially a villain. ESPECIALLY a spiteful one. You and everyone on Earth WILL regret it.
>portals
Blind the guy. More often than not this power requires seeing the destination, without the ability to see it's hard to use it effectively.
Trying to get into melee range is suicide even if he can't cut people in half with portals, unless you're Flash-tier fast, maybe.
Use area-based attacks — he could use portals to throw direct attacks back at you, or simply shunt it behind himself.
Invisibility power may let you get close to knock the guy out, but those types have extreme mobility and rarely stay in one place.

>>95918427
>Pray that he can't tap into quantum foam.
What do you mean?

>>95918301
>Shit gets ridiculous real fast if you have at least some knowledge of physics.
>Being able to change the wavelength makes it even crazier.
Details please.

>>95923125
Quantum foam is matter and antimatter bubbling against each other at an ultra-micro scale.

>>95923125
>What do you mean?
I mean the constant matter-antimatter particle pairs from various fields popping into existence, with subsequent annihilation. This reaction produces photons.
Even if light manipulator can't create his own light, being able to tap into the quantum foam gives him more light he could ever want.
>Details please.
It greatly depends on the scale of one's powers.
Things like bending the light's path would let you be invisible, continuously gather all the light you can reach into a light sphere, like the one found around black holes, where light reaches a stable orbit around it. Only real way to limit the scaling is to limit how much light one can affect at a time, otherwise you could gather and enough light around you to vaporize anything that gets close.
Photons are massless, but the energy they carry can and still does warp space. They can occupy the same space, unlike other particles, thus you can pour a ton of energy into a single point to create gravitational anomalies. Up to and including artificial black holes, aka kugelblitz black hole, although that would need a considerable amount of energy in a single point. Our sun, however, emits enough of it, so if you can gather all the light that comes from the sun in a few hours, pour it into the same point, you would end up with a tiny gravitational singularity.
There are even exotic uses for light, such as stimulating emission that results in the cooling of the emitting object. This is what's being used to cool things close to 0°K for study.
Consider how much light there is around you, in all frequencies. What if you could redirect it all into a single point? Shifting the wavelength of that light would let you, for instance, turn the sunlight on a sunny day into a tight beam of high-energy gamma rays to cut things with, using even the reflected light for maximum efficiency.
The wider the range of one's power, the more light one would have access to, and the more mayhem one could cause.

>>95925225
>I mean the constant matter-antimatter particle pairs from various fields popping into existence, with subsequent annihilation. This reaction produces photons.
Okay, yeah, that would be especially OP if they could control that. Do you have any thoughts on countering speedster powers?

>>95918301
What kinds of things can be done with wavelength changes besides microwaving people, BTW?

Any kind of power that manipulates particle physics gets pretty silly. One of my favorite powers is electron control, but it doesn't really matter exactly what flavor when you're in the "law of physics" territory. A more general purpose power that I think is really cool is blood control. Weaponizing that shit, make giant crystal spears or accelerate your blood in your body and do gear two. Or bloodbending if you're lame. Plus you can turn into a vampire if your character isn't keeping up with the light guy and his quantum foam and black hole bombs.

>>95929508
>countering speedster powers
You could start by making terrain difficult to traverse, especially at high speed. Things like spreading glue, lube, or ice around, turning the ground into a viscous muck, or better yet — making it a non-newtonian fluid, with speedsters sinking while others can move on it with minimal disturbance.
The greatest asset of speedsters is their mobility, after that often comes their perception. However, forcing them to constantly make use of it to dodge attacks or projectiles, for instance, would cause mental exhaustion from protracted fighting, despite it taking moments for others. This, in turn, would directly impact their performance, weakening or even exhausting them, eventually slowing them down enough to strike by non-speedsters, or catch them with one of the above methods.
>What kinds of things can be done with wavelength changes besides microwaving people, BTW?
For starters, this could drastically weaken the power of light-based attacks against the power user. Turning combat laser into radio wave emitter would keep the energy output, but individual photons would scarcely have enough energy to cause serious damage and would be easier to stop.
On the other end of the spectrum is turning sunlight into high-energy gamma rays, which shred DNA and degrade materials, cause fission, and so on.
You can also wreak havoc on communication networks by fucking with wavelengths of transmissions.
Different wavelength penetrate different materials. For instance, certain wavelength wouldn't pass aqueous humor, thus making them safe for use in combat lasers by the virtue of reduced risk of damaging reflections and backscatter.
Things like radar stealth are also possible through changing the radar's reflected pulses into something that won't be picked up.

>>95929701
>high-power blood control
>blood hardening for weapons and creating blood shields
>blood ignition/cooling/any other elemental effect for cool factor and a little versatility
>all limited to own blood only
>optional touch range limitation
>can shape it freely as long as it has connection to you
>range limited mainly by available blood supply
>also extended blood supply minor power
>optional anime "nosebleed on arousal" drawback for a giggle and point discount
>high-power regeneration, limited to blood supply only
I feel like this could be a fun build. Can't quite Dracula it up draining people, but it's a lot more balanced and feasible imo.
I'd pack special custom guns that shoot "blood bullets" with hair-thin trails for elemental attacks inside the target.

>>95930225
Then why would anyone play a speedster? If the GM is just going to constantly screw them when they try using their speedster powers by putting ice or turning the ground into muck then why even be a speedster? The problem with all of those it it feels forced by the GM to stop the speedster. It also could make the player frustrated and stop caring, i definitely would. It would also come off as the GM not coming up with ways to challenge the speedster and their powers and instead resort to cheap tricks.

>>95930389
Man, your power is moving fast. Get there before they finish setting up their traps. That guy asked how to counter a speedster, and controlling the battlefield is always the best way to fight.

Though, it reminds me of that episode of the Justice League cartoon where Sinestro and Flash were fighting, and Sinestro just blows up the whole room because he can't hit him.

>>95930389
I was thinking more in terms of "how can a PC counter enemy speedster", or vice-versa, than how a GM could fuck with them.
>It would also come off as the GM not coming up with ways to challenge the speedster and their powers and instead resort to cheap tricks.
Nobody promised you'd be fighting on a tarmac. That said, GM shouldn't even NEED to do anything like that — the collateral damage to surrounding buildings from the fighting would complicate things all on it's own.
If you don't want that, tell the other guys to exercise a little restraint and not level the whole block fighting the bad guys.
This is mostly preventable and is usually the direct consequence of players' own actions.
Otherwise what >>95930418 guy said. And good catch with the area-based attacks, forgot about that.

>>95930418
I guess if you know the speedster is the one coming you could set a grap and control the battlefield for him, but that could also allow space for abuse for the GM to repeatedly just have enemy GMPCs just setting traps for the speedster and it would wear down. If the theme of the villain is setting traps it could work but that shouldn't be every villain going up against the speedster. Flash did have weaknesses like he could be distracted, he had other villains who were speedsters themselves, slowed time. Given some of his villains who shouldn't have made sense were still able to go up against him (Captain Cold who didn't have super speed or super reflexes to keep Flash just running up to him and taking the freeze gun out of his hands and knock him out). There should be villains who have the ability to go up against that speedster for some reason or another where it feels more natural.

>>95930482
This is a much more useful response. Yes, I agree that pulling out the same solution every time is lazy and improbable.

>>95930468
They don't need to always be fighting on tarmac, but every time a speedster fights it shouldn't all just be the GM turning the ground into muck. I think it should feel natural like something in-universe reason than GM hamstringing the speedster to stop them using their speedster abilities. If done too much and too often it can become that especially if it feels blatant. The problem of the speedster i think is a session zero one with the conversation the GM has about the campaign and the character creation steps where the players create the characters and the GM oks it. After that if the character is too powerful or the character using their super speed is a mistake made during that. I don't think the solution is to stop the PC using their speedster powers though.

>>95930468
Clearly the player chose to play as a speedster PCs. The conversation at session zero and the character creation is where the GM and players lay down the expectations and create characters for the campaign. If there is a problem with the speedster character then it should be dealt with at those two points, if the GM okayed it after that then there is no reason to stop the speedster player from playing their character or stop their character using their powers.

>>95930482
I remember in M&M, the canon speedster was Johnny Rocket. And he had a villain called 'Downtime'. Rather than being fast himself, he created a bubble of slow time around him, so that to everyone's point of view he seemed to be incredibly fast. But this also meant that when Johnny Rocket hit that bubble, suddenly both he and Downtime seemed to be moving at normal speeds to each other.

>>95930801
Slow time down, have a villain with light powers or turn themselves into light, gravity villain who can create mini gravity wells pulling in things or turning off gravity so there's nothing ro run on. Plenty of villains who can challenge a speedster

>>95930801
>>95934915
The goal should be challenge the PC not knee cap them and make their character unplayable to where it isn't fun for them

What's a good name for a villain who can turn into rock? Granite, Monolith, Obelisk, Keystone?

I'm partial to 'Keystone' personally, because I like the two-syllable punch of it, but I'd love to hear other opinions.

>>95937291
I think that depends a lot on what the villain's personality and role are like. 'Keystone' works perfect for someone in a leader position, a Kingpin type. A bruiser would be named Slab or Monolith. A more sneaky assassin type might be Shard.

>>95937291
Keystone's the clear winner here, but >>95937478 is right that he's got to have the swagger to match the name. A keystone keeps the structure together, and it's the largest and most ornate stone in the archway. You need to be large and in charge if you're going to choose a name like that, or someone's going to take it from you.

>>95827875
Very swiftly. Character creation is a breeze. It's not very crunchy, though, so if that's your preference it's not going to be for you. But if you like going from concept to playable character in roughly five minutes, it's great.

>>95918062
I made a toon force hero akin to the mask, the type that is usually wanked to hell and back. Still ironing precise limits out but I've settled on the powers only working if he can make it funny. The more morose a situation, the harder it is to troll foes with goofy looney tunes antics. Though someone with a balanced sense of dark humor may not have this issue.

>>95937291
>>95937478
>>95937901

What do you guys think of this look for Keystone?

>>95720258
N&SS is a wonderful book, to many hand to hand types though, an expanded vehicle or cybernetics option would have been better
But it's palladium so you can easily pull anything you want into it, from TMNT to wizards from palladium or rifts. Heroes Unlimited mixes really well with it so if you want to make ninja that has the power to create ninja stars or a magic blade its really easy to do.

But palladium makes the best games by far and its not even close

>>95862761
>, Heroes Unlimites put a bunch of restrictions on character creation and didn't include certain types of characters this wasn't for any other reason than Kevin wanting it to be "a thinking man's game".

Whats an example youd give for a super heroe you cant make?

>>95943551
The Mega Hero in Heroes Unlimited along with a couple others which were only included in the 2nd edioton. The same place where he mentioned wanting it to be a "thinking man's game". Which weren't included in the first

>>95851956
I think totemics are pretty cool, if that counts.

>>95881276
>>95885850
>>95887439
That's pretty much Livewire from Superman TAS. She's characterized as living electricity, and her "weakness" is water because it causes her to short-circuit and shock herself.

>>95861288
>Birds get -19.
I beg your pardon?

What do you guys think of 'minion master' villains, like my guy Toyman here? Bonus points if they're cackling lunatics.

>>95951645
should ALWAYS pull out a wacky gimmick weapon when finally cornered without their minions after feigning surrender or begging for mercy.

Does anyone have any experience with destined? It seems like a neat system to run a low-power supers campaign.

I do recommend rotted capes. Even without the zombie gimmick, it has a really good system on it's own.

Psychic powers are the best kind.

>>95951862
Oh, absolutely -- and then there's the reveal that the 'defeated villain' was just another robot.

>>95951645
Love 'em, because you can do all sorts of things with them. Wacky shenanigans, mind-bending dupes, very thematic setpieces. They're also good at three of my favorite things. One, they can provide a horde of mooks to take down for those times when your players want to just strut their stuff and show off their powers. Used sparingly, it's a refreshing change of scenery. Two, they're endless fodder for specific challenges that you don't need to keep around as villains for later. A minion master can design a one-off combat encounter, as it were, and there's no worry of needing to keep the bad guy of the week alive for later. Three, they can be the source of OTHER villains. A guy like Toyman is just a hyper-specific robotics expert. Maybe to make a buck, he helps kit out some wannabes.

>>95954396
Yeah, I like that idea too. But there's something so maliciously whimsical about killer toys.

>super strength, flight, energy projection power set
>recharges via sunlight
>protected by a thin, invisible, forceshield that converts kinetic energy into electricity
was thinking of making the resident superman-stand-in based off 70s-era iron man

>>95954477
M&M actually has one of my favorite "Iron Man" copies. The CEO of...I want to say Daedalus Industries...which he inherited from his father who got it from his father and so forth, has a Greek-warrior themed battlesuit and fights for the Freedom League. However, the real truth is that he didn't get the company from his father or his grandfather, because he is, in actuality, the immortal inventor Daedalus. After denying the Gods for the loss of his son, Icarus, he was cursed with immortality and has walked the Earth since mythic times.

>>95957897
>>95961999

>>95962066

i have been paying people to draw art of my superhero characters in case i ever get a campaign going and i need the party to meet an NPC hero

>>95963520
That's a cool idea. I ran some City of Heroes screenshots through ChatGPT and it did an okay job of converting them to a drawn style, but then I immediately became sad about it and deleted them. The way you're doing it is much better.

>>95963543
I used reference images built in Champions Online and then sent it to a foreigner. The trick is to find a guy whose currency is worth less than yours so he will get paid more money when you paypal him.

>>95963575
Oh Christ, I recognize those costume pieces from the thousands of hours I spent playing Champions Online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGQ_1uIIK-c

Different topic but I noticed the Hero Boards are starting to feel like you need a PhD in Physics or Mathematics. Instead of just saying I want to make a character that flies and asking how to do it ends up with a discussion of F = m * a. One joker says he’s compiled a huge database to show why some things aren’t practical and it would cost too much to build. These asshats suck the fun right out the game. Get a life!!!

>>95964568
Huh, I get the appeal now.

>>95968233
>F=m*a
>PhD in Physics
Am*rican education, everyone.

Daredevil would hate it in Gotham.

>>95969558
Modular man is fun, and I liked the way Tom Strong dealt with him.

>>95973731
>I liked the way Tom Strong dealt with him.
What specifically did you like about him?

Posting my luchador-inspired hero, El Dorado.

>>95976141
Running a whole squad of luchadores would be an amusing session.

>>95978388
Wouldn't that just be Mucha Lucha?

>>95978416
Shh.

>>95978449
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31NxuMrtWsk&list=RD31NxuMrtWsk&start_radio=1

>>95981282
Shhhhhhhh.

>>95978416
>not remembering thumb wrestling federation
just make them into people instead of thumbs, and you have a pretty good stable of villains
the heroes were all different shades of "normal guy who trained really hard" but the bad guys were all actually super powered

>senator skull, a walking skeleton with electricity generation and a love of evil and cheating
>el fuego, a spanish dance instructor who can generate intense heat from his dance moves
>itsy bitsy, part-girl, part-spider, with 8 legs, webbing, venom, and the ability to eject digestive juices
>the time bomb, a massive person who can pile drive people hard enough to make a mushroom cloud

>>95981320
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc4zoZyCpE8&list=RDgc4zoZyCpE8&start_radio=1

Do you know Funnyman? Did you know he was created by the same creators of Superman?
How is it possible this guy is so ignored that he's even in the public domain?
He's literally the opposite of Batman... if you told me this guy is the hero who faces Owlman on Earth-3 (being the heroic version of the Joker), I'd believe it without hesitation.

>>95989626
>Do you know Funnyman?
Yeah, on a somewhat unrelated note, I love super pranksters.

>>95711524 (OP)
Are there any openly LGBTQ heroes or villains in your setting?

>>95996114
No, the child-molesters get taken out by other villains.
Even the worst of the worst have at least SOME standards.

>>95821695
Note that when DC did the Aliens/Stormwatch u crossover they used it to cut down on what had become an excessive number of characters. Most Aliens crossovers have been sort of mild but they don’t have to be.

>>95976141
Does he have any powers?

>>95711524 (OP)
How do you feel about heroes having day jobs versus heroism being a job like in MHA? I mean, heroes still have to pay the bills, and if they’re not careful a villain could figure out their routine.

>>96005568
Personally I like the trope of superheroes having jobs that basically make them heroes even in civilian life. Like an investigative reporter exposing an evil scheme, a police officer or a private eye detective fighting crime with or without a mask. rescue workers etc. Supers as a job can work but I personally don't like superheroes being registered with the government, so I would probably rather play as a "private" super providing his services for a fee.

>>96005568
Day job, definitely. Having mundane employment gives some knowledge and experience beyond punching bad guys and emergency first aid. Plus, having bills to pay gives some wealth-based characterization as well as civilian contacts outside of the hero world. Plus, it's funny seeing someone who regularly tangles with alien conquerors and psychos in animal costumes doing mundane shit to get by.
https://youtu.be/czTksCF6X8Y

>>95996114
Some, but many more are closeted or at least ambiguous. The prevalence of absurdly-tight, brightly-colored outfits among metahumans has led to more than a few rumors.

>>96003130
Super strength and durability provided by his magical mask.

>>96005568
I have conflicting feelings about it. On one hand, I like injecting a little bit of realism into an otherwise perfect power fantasy.
On the other hand, however, too much of it will turn it into a slog of wageslavery interspersed with beating up villains.

Further, I think that the secret hero/villain identity thing required for maintaining civilian life is and always will be a severe weakness.
Not only do you have civilians that you care about, but you also value your civilian identity, both of which could be threatened or used for blackmail.
Civilian life is a vice, no different from drugs and alcohol, and just as intoxicating.
Do too much and you will lose your edge, do enough and you won't be able to do your job at all.
It's best to keep a company of supers, at least they aren't as helpless as an average Joe.
There's little to gain by trying to live two incompatible lives, you'll only end up hurting yourself and the people that care about you.
Go full retard and go all-in on the life you chose over normality.
If you really wanted a normal life, you wouldn't be doing any heroing in the first place. If you can't take your life of a super anymore — quit it.
There's never any in-between — you're either the one being saved, or you're the one doing the saving.

As for paying the bills, in a setting where "hero" is not a job title, one could still find ways to monetize one's power.
Emergency services would appreciate anyone who can control or create elements, has super senses for search and rescue, and so on.
Those capable of healing can have their own private practice and earn more in a month than a wagie can earn in a decade.
Construction work, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, even the fucking entertainment industry. Hell, you could just put a few logos on your tights and make money off of advertising!
And before you say anything, earnings above the "make ends meet" level could be going to charities, so there IS a reason to keep fair prices.

>>95962087
nice feet

>>95818533
Opposite but related question, what systems are closest to D&D or how hard is it to make D&D work for a superhero setting if no system exist? I'd use a completely different system but we got two people who are new to 5e (and ttrpgs in general), and the other two only know 5e and don't really want to touch anything else if they can help it. My GM of our main campaign (who's only touched 5e) needs a break since he's feeling the burnout from work so I'm gonna run a short 3-4 session game.

>>96011765
M&M is probably the closest to D&D without being simply shoving superheroics directly into the PHB. It's a D20 system with some modifications for the genre.

>>95711524 (OP)
Happy 4th! Does your setting have any patriotic heroes? That is, ones like Captain America, whose costumes and behaviors are big on their love for their country?

>>96013389

>>96013389
There's also the category of patriotic(?) villains.

>>96013491

>>96013498

>>96013501
>>96013498
These are actual villains? I hope they died fast.

>>96016335
Yeah, they're from the M&M 1st edition book Crooks, back when they weren't sure what setting they were going to go with. Let's see...I know Johnny Reb is actually a sword that possesses people with the spirit of an undying rebel soldier. And Iron Cross is...let's see...I think he's a remnant from the 40's and rules over Neu Schwabenland (or something) which is a Nazi Arctic base. I guess I can show off the most confusing one, here, which is Czar, a former Soviet super soldier who burned trying to stop a Chernobyl like accident, but instead of being hailed as a hero, the Russians just buried him under tons of rubble and lead. Now he's the dictator of the Burning Protectorate, which I guess why he's all Soviet themes but imperial name.

>>96016774
>Soviet iconography
>Calls himself Czar

That irks me more than it perhaps should.

>>96016866
nvm I looked at the picture before I read your post.

>>96016874
It's not that far off, actually. Every Soviet thug dreams of being the Czar.

>>96016866
Yanks aren't the smartest bunch, just let it go comrade.
>tfw forcing a crook to roll for a witty retort because you just pointed out to everyone his retardation
Gotta love being a smartass.

>>96005568
superheroism as a day job means dealing with Human Resources Women when you're trying to save lives. hard pass.

>>96019594
What would her power be, mastery of paperwork, lol? See you next thread I guess.