Power slot swaps

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Prodigy
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Power slot swaps

Unread post by Prodigy »

Few questions as they pertain to exchanging powers for magic and such.
1. What is the opinion on offer a Major Super Ability as a Mega-Power with a directly correlating Achille's Heel? Is there an example of this in any of the books.
2. Is there a formula for having a super ability, Major or Minor, as a spell?
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Glistam
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Re: Power slot swaps

Unread post by Glistam »

Prodigy wrote:Few questions as they pertain to exchanging powers for magic and such.
1. What is the opinion on offer a Major Super Ability as a Mega-Power with a directly correlating Achille's Heel? Is there an example of this in any of the books.

I think most Mega-Powers would be the equivalent of a Minor super ability, not a Major (with the last two as exceptions, but they also count as two Mega-powers as well, so that seems somewhat balanced). Even with an Achilles' Heel for a "weakness," I think it would be too overpowering.

But if there is an "example" of this anywhere in the books, it could probably be found by examining the N.P.C.'s in the Century Station and Gramercy Island books.
Prodigy wrote:2. Is there a formula for having a super ability, Major or Minor, as a spell?

The closest thing in canon is found in the Enchanted Object subsection of the Magic power category. A Magic Item with a superpower is "activated" by expending 15 P.P.E.. It is then usable for 24 hours, but for the duration of its activation both the magic item and the character's eyes visibly glow. The power can be deactivated at will but to re-activate it another 15 P.P.E. must be spent. There is no distinction made between Major or Minor abilities.

The only other places that might offer some guidance into this topic, outside of the Magic category in the main Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition book, that I can think of would possibly be the Immortal power category (from Powers Unlimited 2) or the Armageddon Unlimited book, with their versions of the Mystic Bestowed.

A potentially interesting note comes to mind, actually. In Powers Unlimited 2, the "Imbued" power category has an unspecified magic ritual as one of the potential ways for how a character receives the powers available in the category.
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Prodigy
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Re: Power slot swaps

Unread post by Prodigy »

Glistam wrote:
Prodigy wrote:Few questions as they pertain to exchanging powers for magic and such.
1. What is the opinion on offer a Major Super Ability as a Mega-Power with a directly correlating Achille's Heel? Is there an example of this in any of the books.

I think most Mega-Powers would be the equivalent of a Minor super ability, not a Major (with the last two as exceptions, but they also count as two Mega-powers as well, so that seems somewhat balanced). Even with an Achilles' Heel for a "weakness," I think it would be too overpowering.

But if there is an "example" of this anywhere in the books, it could probably be found by examining the N.P.C.'s in the Century Station and Gramercy Island books.
Prodigy wrote:2. Is there a formula for having a super ability, Major or Minor, as a spell?

The closest thing in canon is found in the Enchanted Object subsection of the Magic power category. A Magic Item with a superpower is "activated" by expending 15 P.P.E.. It is then usable for 24 hours, but for the duration of its activation both the magic item and the character's eyes visibly glow. The power can be deactivated at will but to re-activate it another 15 P.P.E. must be spent. There is no distinction made between Major or Minor abilities.

The only other places that might offer some guidance into this topic, outside of the Magic category in the main Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition book, that I can think of would possibly be the Immortal power category (from Powers Unlimited 2) or the Armageddon Unlimited book, with their versions of the Mystic Bestowed.

A potentially interesting note comes to mind, actually. In Powers Unlimited 2, the "Imbued" power category has an unspecified magic ritual as one of the potential ways for how a character receives the powers available in the category.


Excellent options Glistam. Thanks!
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Glistam
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Re: Power slot swaps

Unread post by Glistam »

Here's some quick, non-canon thoughts for Super Powers as Spells.

1. If a spell already exists that's close in function to an existing power (or its sub-abilities), then there's no need to try and turn that power into a spell. Something already exists.
2. Consider strongly if the entire power should be one spell, or if each sub-ability should be a separate spell.
3. Page 170 of Heroes Unlimited, Second Edition offers a table with Bio-E costs for various Minor powers. As a quick "at a glance" guide, I would consider taking the Bio-E cost, cutting it in half, and making that a P.P.E. spell cost. For powers that don't already have a duration, I'd make the duration be either 1 melee per level, 1 minute per level, or up to 10 minutes per level, depending on the power.
4. Major powers aren't an option in that section, and I don't have a thought on that yet.

I'll think on this some more but super powers as spells has always intrigued me, and this topic has finally given me some motivation to try and come up with a way to make it work.
Zerebus: "I like MDC. MDC is a hundred times better than SDC."

kiralon: "...the best way to kill an old one is to crash a moon into it."

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Temporal Wizard O.C.C. update 0.8 | Rifts random encounters
New Fire magic | New Temporal magic
Grim Gulf, the Nightlands version of Century Station

Let Chaos Magic flow in your campaigns.
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