[M&M] Under an Orange Sky

[dr kekyll]

i also might revisit so many points in accuracy. -5 to an attribute is being completely inept or disabled, so i don't imagine you'd actually be sitting at -5 of anything very frequently. like, i get the idea that the accuracy is in the device, i'm just saying that practically speaking you probably won't be experiencing a -5 most of the time assuming you're playing a character that can function as the average able-bodied human. like if i understand your concept correctly, you're saying that since the orange sky event, your character is basically a very life-like doll with hyper-awareness unless they manipulate this psionic flow to be more capable. that's cool... it just seems like you're generally going to be using that flow to be at more than a -5 in things so that accuracy (particularly in volley which you were noting should probably be more effective) will often be wasted PP.

edit: also, i just looked back at your range modifiers and i'm confused. you have "improved range" and "extended range" listed but only "extended range" is a thing. i imagine you meant "increased range" in which case there are only 2 potential ranks to that because that one takes an effect from close to ranged and from ranged to perception. it's also worth noting that perception range attacks don't actually make attack rolls (though i believe they have to give a resistance check), so your trade-off calculations for one of those become irrelevant and the effect rank is limited to PL.

[GleefulNihilism]

Can’t help but think of MOSS and how they’d react to Gremlin. Depends a bit on how I build him but I can imagine someone freaking out when they realize that a homeless guy who clearly is having mental issues can command every computer in an x-mile radius to **** itself and die, including the ones in the flying cars and controlling construction nanites.

[Cap Ut]

Originally Posted by dr kekyll

i also might revisit so many points in accuracy. -5 to an attribute is being completely inept or disabled, so i don't imagine you'd actually be sitting at -5 of anything very frequently. like, i get the idea that the accuracy is in the device, i'm just saying that practically speaking you probably won't be experiencing a -5 most of the time assuming you're playing a character that can function as the average able-bodied human. like if i understand your concept correctly, you're saying that since the orange sky event, your character is basically a very life-like doll with hyper-awareness unless they manipulate this psionic flow to be more capable. that's cool... it just seems like you're generally going to be using that flow to be at more than a -5 in things so that accuracy (particularly in volley which you were noting should probably be more effective) will often be wasted PP.

I thought about that, but the more I was toying with the numbers, the more it seemed that when she uses the gun, she's better off using her hands only to hold her gun and nothing else.
Of course, in her everyday life and most of the out of action time she supposedly keeps her array spread out to, as you say, function as an ordinary able-bodied human, but when it's time for action, she would fully adapt for the fight, and I imagined that those points would be better off on Intelligence (to reason) or Strength (to carry her equipment), without mentioning the defences, while her hand-eye coordination would be fully focused on using the gun.

Also, thank you for the imagery of the doll, such parallel would be very fitting in the occasions she would find herself with abysmal Presence: an uncanny doll-like mockery of a human being

Originally Posted by dr kekyll

also, i just looked back at your range modifiers and i'm confused. you have "improved range" and "extended range" listed but only "extended range" is a thing. i imagine you meant "increased range" in which case there are only 2 potential ranks to that because that one takes an effect from close to ranged and from ranged to perception.

Yep, you're right, that was a typo. However from what I understand "increased range" costs 1 per rank of the power, so on a Damage 5 would cost 5, while perception range would total to 10.

Anyway I was thinking about adding a perception range effect, it kinda flew over my head before.

[dr kekyll]

Originally Posted by Cap Ut

Yep, you're right, that was a typo. However from what I understand "increased range" costs 1 per rank of the power, so on a Damage 5 would cost 5, while perception range would total to 10.

Anyway I was thinking about adding a perception range effect, it kinda flew over my head before.

oh i see. i was misunderstanding your notation. yes, that is correct.

Originally Posted by Cap Ut

while her hand-eye coordination would be fully focused on using the gun.

i guess what i'm saying is that, while she has a -5, she has no coordination of which to speak. the gun is using her to fire itself because her mind told it to or it's just so accurate that while she fires it with no real semblance of aiming, the psionic projectiles seek out their targets regardless. which... now that i visualize it is awesome. no notes. don't change a thing.

[Cap Ut]

Originally Posted by dr kekyll

while she fires it with no real semblance of aiming

To go even beyond, a possible Subtle perception power I thought about would consist of her simply imagining a bullet hitting the intended target, no "actual" firing or aiming outside of her mind. It would nicely parallel the Volley: mind bullets that physically bounce around on one side and a physical bullet fully manifested by her mind on the other.

[Cap Ut]

Originally Posted by Cap Ut

Of course, in her everyday life and most of the out of action time she supposedly keeps her array spread out to, as you say, function as an ordinary able-bodied human, but when it's time for action, she would fully adapt for the fight

Thinking a little more about it, the gun powers should probably be further Alternate effects of the flow (although not dynamic): the fact she trades coordination to become singularly effective at using the gun (which she won't use most of the time) could be interpreted as her pouring some of that psionic energy in the gun itself. This should also take care of that apparent waste of points in accuracy.

However I'm not sure how Removable would work for only a fraction of an array (obviously she can pour energy in the gun only as long as she has it). Should I build it as a Removable subarray, if this even make sense?

[dr kekyll]

i imagine you would simply attach removable to that part of the array and be unable to use it if it were removed, but it might be easier to just leave it a separate array and flavor it as requiring a negligible amount of psionic energy to actually fire. alternatively, you could make the attacks alternate powers in the array with a quirk or limitation that they require a (or this specific) focus which seems functionally the same as a removable fraction of an array.

[FoggyKnight]

While I still have two and a half days to work on it this week, does anyone see anything I ought to add to Val?

[Mitsubachi]

@FoggyKnight... I've been thinking hard about whether to offer this... you may have seen I posted then deleted it once already.

I was trawling the internet for an image for you, and found the problem you have probably come across - potential images all look a bit silly.

But I found this one, which I thought was really cool and in keeping with the tone the GM is trying to create.

But it has a problem. So I offer it without comment for you to use, or just lose, exactly as you wish.

 

The problem is, he is quite clearly a male character. Valor Ramos?

[GleefulNihilism]

I remember that movie. *Basically* a Russian knock-off of an Avengers movie.

It's ... pretty bad actually, but not as bad as my description makes it sound.

[FoggyKnight]

I noticed a lot of Guardians images when I went looking.

Thanks for the effort Mitsubachi, but I’ll stick with Val. Ironically, that guy isn’t fuzzy enough.

[PalladiaMors]

All the pictures I went searching for are either very cartoony or very NSFW. Sometimes both. That internet, man...

[FoggyKnight]

Hey good news. Turns out I didn’t donate my dc universe handbook and it is 3e. I might be able to look some stuff up physically if need be.

[Acathala]

It’s partly why I don’t like using images in my apps.

[Snicker]

Application Birth name: Elizabeth "Elle" Lennox Hero name: Miss L Age: 21 Concept: Woman gains bestial superpowers that ruin her life. Background: Not many children born in the 2020s were raised by a stay-at-home mom, but Elizabeth "Elle" Lennox was one of them. Her mother, a very beautiful woman, birthed Eleanor in her mid-twenties after marrying a very wealthy man thirty years her senior. A little over five years later, he divorced her to marry another, younger woman. She got little in the divorce, due to the man's prenup, but his child support kept the family going until Elle turned eighteen. Elle graduated high school with mediocre grades and no income. Fortunately, her mother had given her two great gifts: incredible looks and the knowledge of how to use them. She'd been modeling for years already, but now that she was an adult, she got serious about her career. Local, independent shoots led to bigger and better paying jobs, until she secured a contract as the new face of a cosmetic company. Then came the Orange Sky event. The initial terrorist attacks didn't harm her directly; in fact, she lent her face to a fundraising campaign for survivors at a fraction of her normal fee. It was later that she saw the changes in herself. Thick hair across her entire body, growing too thick and fast for razors, waxes, or even lasers to fight. Her carefully moisturized skin going an inhuman gray. Her eyes turning red, so intense they seemed to glow in the dark. And other effects, too: her muscles grew stronger, her senses grew sharper, and the fear and revulsion in people's eyes grew ever more damning. Everything Elle has worked for in her life is now gone. Her modeling contracts have been terminated. She has no other work experience, minimal education, and a rapidly dwindling bank account. All her friends were in the modeling industry, and all but one want nothing more than to forget her tragic existence - and even the one that remains only seems to provide sympathy from a safe distance. Her mother looks at her as if she doesn't recognize her anymore, and everyone else looks at her as if she is a monster. Even her cat hisses when she comes near. But the one face that looks at her with the most hate and rage is the one in the mirror. Personality: Before her transformation, most people would have struggled to describe Elle. A social chameleon, she slipped easily into most settings by being agreeable and uncontroversial. In private, even she would have struggled to identify any strong opinions within herself, as she took little interest in social issues, instead spending most of her personal time watching video shorts on the internet when not maintaining an extremely strict regimen of diet, exercise, and skin care. Now, Elle is bitter, angry, and scared. Her entire life has been upended and she has no idea how she's going to survive the next six months, let alone what to do with her life. In addition, her entire identity has been thrown into question. Previously, she identified herself by her appearance, but that has radically changed, and her growing superhuman abilities make her feel alienated and unfeminine. She also suddenly finds herself a member of a minority, and a political hot button minority at that, when she's spent the entirety of her life being comfortably apolitical. All this adds up to an emotionally vulnerable and easily provoked young woman set for dramatic life changes and, dangerously, radicalization. Physical description: Elle's appearance has been described as that of a "missing link" or evolutionary throwback, but only some of her traits are superficially simian. Most of her body is covered with shaggy black fur, and what skin is visible is a grey-black similar to that of a gorilla. Her eyes are so bright red that they appear to glow, but actually just include a highly reflective tapetum lucidum. Despite her changes, Elle retains some elements of her pre-mutation appearance. Despite her superhuman physiology, she still fits into her old clothes, though most are highly uncomfortable (and far less stylish) due to her fur. Her face has not changed besides the colour of her skin and eyes and may be recognized by anyone who knows her old appearance - and given her modeling work, that's probably a fair amount of people. Contacts: Most of the people in Elle's life have distanced themselves from her. Those that remain include: Delilah Lennox: Elle's mother. Like Elle herself, Delilah relied on her looks to support her through her early life. She became a stay-at-home mom during Elle's childhood, living entirely off of child support payments, and is struggling to make ends meet now that Elle has become an adult. She taught Elle how to maintain, maximize, and exploit her looks, and has always placed a high value on personal appearance. She remains Elle's closest confidante and pillar of support, but Elle can't help but notice the new, troubled way she looks at her; though Elle tries to deny it, it feels like the way one looks at a loved one who's changed into a stranger. Barry O'Leary: Elle's father, a corporate executive more than fifty years Elle's senior who changes companies as often as he switches out his romantic partners. Elle isn't quite sure what he does besides wear suits, earn in the high six figures, and marry women in their twenties; ever since her parents' divorce, he's kept her at a distance, but he did make it to most of her birthdays and some day around Christmas each year. Since her mutation, he's dropped her some encouraging texts and emails and even met her at her mother's house one time, so he hasn't cut off all contact with her, but their relationship is so distant that Elle doesn't know for sure how he feels about her. Hallie Tory: All of Elle's close friends before her mutation were other models. After her mutation, most cut all contact, but Hallie remains. Hallie is sympathetic to Elle's plight and offers a shoulder to cry on whenever she has time, but is utterly stumped when it comes to offering solutions, and Elle can't be sure whether it's true sympathy or heartbroken pity. Hallie also has an unofficial side gig hanging off the arm of wealthy men at social events - looking good to make them look good - and as such rubs shoulders with powerful people on the regular. Complications: (Motivation) Acceptance: At the start of the game, Elle has no idea what to do with her life, but once she falls into superheroics, she will continue to do so in the hopes of being accepted by society. If this doesn't work, she may become a supervillain to force them to accept her. (Enemy) Animal enmity: One might assume Elle has a natural connection with animals. Instead, almost all mammals are disturbed by Elle's appearance, and will either attempt to warn her off (barking, hissing, etc.) or attack her outright, as befits their nature. She even had to give her pet cat to her mother, as it would only hiss, scratch, or hide from her. (Fame) Former model: Elle's face was front and centre in many advertising campaigns and may be recognized by anyone who isn't distracted by her mutations. Post-mutation, a newspaper reported on her terminated contract with her name and a photo of her mutated appearance. If seen committing illegal acts, anyone with enough resources and motivation can eventually connect her image with her real identity. (Prejudice) Visible mutations: Elle's mutations are obvious and impossible to disguise. If she were the only mutant in the world, she might be seen as a tragic or bizarre freak, but the politicization of superhumans means she'll face the full brunt of prejudice towards them. RP sample:   RP sample "Thank you again for coming in and seeing me, Miss, um...Lennox...we still have some interviews to go, but wait for our call." "Thank you, sir," Elle says, but it's all she can do to make her voice sound neutral rather than defeated. The interview is for a minimum wage data entry job, one of the few she qualifies for with her high school diploma. Few of the resumes she sent out actually went so far as an interview. Fast food jobs rejected her out of hand, citing the health risks of shed hair in the food, and most office jobs didn't call back - likely because the first hit for her name online was connected to a schadenfreude-laden news article on how she'd been released from her lucrative modeling contract after her mutation. This attempt got as far as the interview, but clearly, only because they hadn't bothered to do their homework; when she saw the look of shock and disgust on the interviewer's face when she walked in, she knew there wasn't much hope. Also, it's taking almost all of her willpower not to scratch herself. The itch of her hair under her professional outfit is driving her crazy. "That's all, thank you," he continued. He doesn't make eye contact, his eyes on his computer monitor. "You can see yourself out." "Thank you, sir," she says again, then stands, leaning over his desk with her hand extended. This is clearly an unexpected move from her, as the man leans away in his chair defensively, finally making eye contact as he looks up at her in alarm. Elle is about to apologize, but her eyes track movement on his monitor's screen, which is now just visible from her new angle. He has a browser open to an short, repeating video clip of a very uncomfortable long-haired cat trying to claw its way out of a Christmas cat sweater. The man tracks her eyes and hurriedly switches windows to her resume. It's scrolled to the top, the default after loading, where little is visible besides her name. Abruptly, he stands and shakes her hand, looking flustered but offering no other explanation. "Good day, Miss Lennox. Bye, now." Humiliated, she steps out of the interviewer's office and makes her way to the elevators. It's an open plan office, and she spots curious eyes peeking over the tops of desk dividers or around corners in her peripheral vision. The doors to the elevators are opposite the break room, where two women are talking over coffee. They go quiet as she nears the doors, and Elle pretends not to notice, pressing the button to unlock the glass doors and open them. After she steps through the door, it takes several seconds to close, designed to do so in order to prevent them from slamming. The women speak to each other in quiet voices that Elle would not normally be able to hear, but her senses are far stronger now: "Oh, my god, is she seriously going to work here?" "I know. I mean, are we a circus now?" "Just look at her. She looks like a monkey!" "What was she thinking?" Screw it. She's not getting the job anyway. Elle grabs the door before it closes and pulls it back open, glaring at the two women. One's eyes widen while the other takes a step back, even though Elle is a good thirty feet from them. "Do you think I asked for this?!" she shouts. Immediately, the sounds of work in the office cease. The two woman watch her, frozen in place. "I had a job! I had a life!" Elle continues. "I didn't want this! Why would anyone want this?!" The woman don't react; they just stand stock still and continue to stare at her, as if they were watching a disgruntled bear. "What's the number for security?" she hears someone in the office whisper. Elle gives the woman one last glare of fury and tries to slam the door shut. Before her mutation, this would have been pointless; the glass door would have closed slightly slower than usual, still unable to slam by design. But Elle is far stronger than before, now. The glass can't take the strain and shatters, leaving the door handle in her hand. "Oh my god!" someone shouts. "Someone call 911!" another orders. The woman scream in terror. One runs out of the break room, while the other grabs the kitchenette's countertop and just screams in mortal terror. Elle can only look back and forth between the screaming employee and the handle in her hand, stupefied with shock, as a sickening dread and shame consumes her. Extra credit: At first, I want to wallow in melodramatic angst; then, I want my character to change as she comes to accept her mutations and develop a healthier, stronger identity. I want to see a society struggle to adjust to superhumanity. I want to see explore the themes of prejudice and acceptance of the X-Men, without having a paramilitary facility, invisible jet, and world-bending power to fall back on. I want to play an underdog always on their back foot. I want my character to find new connections - or remake old ones - in a world she thought hated her.