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Abilities and Superpowers 101; 'Dos' and 'don'ts' of superhuman talents
Topic Started: May 6 2008, 01:49 AM (862 Views)
Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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Oh no... I've become too attached to my avatar! I can't bear to change it!

'Superpowers'.
RANDOM TRIVIA! 'Superheroes' and 'Superpowers' are copyrighted terms held jointly by Marvel Comics and DC Comics!
They are, amongst roleplayers in fantasy, superhero and other RPG's, one of the harest things to decide about your character. They almost define the very nature of who your character actually is.
Fantastic beyond imagining and yet so damned limiting.

Although in RPs on this forum, superpowers are NOT necessarily required, they are very popular and are rather common. So, I decided to set this up so that people confused about this whole "powers beyond those of mortal men" thing no longer have to be (confused, that is).

On many occasions, I have observed people complaining (mostly to just about anyone who'll listen) about the fact that, although they have a great character concept, they have no idea what to actually give their character in terms of superhuman ability.
The same goes for people who flippantly give their character a power just so that they qualify for use in the RP and then forget all about it because it is next to useless anyway.
Or people who give their characters ULTRA-SUPER-OMEGA-HYPER power, or even worse, give their characters unthemed abilities.

The following guide shall, hopefully, answer many of the questions that you may or may not be asking yourself right now.

STEP 1: REVIEW YOUR CHARACTER CONCEPT
If you don't have one, GET ONE. It will make things a lot easier; your character's personality and general traits can often give you a good indication of what will and won't suit him/her/it.

STEP 2: FIND YOUR THEME!!!!!!!!!
I cannot STRESS this enough, but UNTHEMED POWERS are often the ones doomed to fail! I have seen people get away with it successfully (Sebastian the Hedgehog does it, and to some extent, so does Superman, but we shan't discuss him), but by and large it is NOT a good idea.
The BEST powered heroes have a theme; Jean Grey is a psychic, Spiderman has all the general traits of our (un)favourite arachnids and even Wolverine has a healing factor that led to his adamantium 'upgrade'.
Notice how I didn't put any DC heroes in those examples? DC almost NEVER themes their powers and that makes the characters LESS CREDIBLE!
In short; theme = credibility.

STEP 3: THE POWERS THEMSELVES
Now while you may not have a theme outside "I'd like him to be super-strong," that doesn't mean that you may or may not have multiple powers. Super-strong characters need to be super-tough as well in order to withstand the physical strain of such muscular prowess. Super-fast fellows are often incredibly agile too.
Of course, people with laser beam eyes may not have this 'multiple powers' problem. In fact, if you payed attention to the last step, there's a good chance you SHOUDN'T have another power with your lasers. But that's covered in the next step.
Your powers should reflect a certain aspect about your character or perhaps be something that actually works for you and the character; if you like kinetic energy manipulation, why not see if it suits your character?

STEP 4: THE MECHANICS BEHIND THE POWER
This is not NECESSARY, but it's nice to know how your power works to some extent; pyrokinesis and flame manipulation are two completely different things, for example. One is a psychic power and the other is a natural talent.
For example, your electrical powers may stem from electromagnetic control, or electrokinesis, or air manipulation, or hyper-static charge generation, or... you get the idea.
Each individual 'style' will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your power, when it willand won;t work, who is and isn't resistant to it, what it's limits are, etc etc.

STEP 5: LOOK OVER THE WHOLE THING AGAIN
Is it right? Does the power, style, theme, etc suit the character? Will you use it? Is it too powerful or too weak? Ask yourself honest questions about your character and make sure that this is going to work.

STEP 6: IF YOU ARE STILL UNSURE, ASK!
Many people are willing to give you advice; some good and some... not so good. Pay attention to everyone's ideas though, as every little piece counts.
Being the resident 'superpowers guru' (hahahahaha XD XD ), I am always happy to give you ideas (Why do you think I have a Superpowers Codex in my sig?) or to point you in the right direction. Also listen carefully to roleplayer whose characters are successful as they can often give you crucial tips as to how you can make your character and his/her/it's powers better and are excellent sources of reference and aid.

STEP 7: STOP READING THIS AND GET WORKING! :)
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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Hoffman
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Good thread. Although, I think you need to emphasize some more on the 'themed' powers section, I don't quite understand what themed means.
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Melissails
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Good thread. Although, I think you need to emphasize some more on the 'themed' powers section, I don't quite understand what themed means.

Themed as in having powers that have a general trait in common with each other. For example, electromagnetism could be a power that ties into a lightning-based theme.
"In my life of darkness, corruption, and devastation, he took me in his arms, and gave me new life so that I might live again." --Melissa Williams
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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Precisely. Ten points to Gryffindor XD

Yes, a powers "theme" is basically a group of powers all with something in common. For example, Alter Physical Structure: Metal and Telekinesis have NOTHING in common, so cannot be used together without a very good reason. However, APS: Metal and Super-Toughness fit together easily (your metal form is incredibly dense, for example).
Looking back at the theme examples;
Jean Grey's theme is psychic ability (telepathy and telekinesis primarily)
Spiderman can 'do whatever a spider can' (well... almost (see Uncyclopedia for the very good and legitimate reasons behind that statement))
Wolverine has hyper-cell-regeneration, or healing factor, which is why he was used in the Weapon X experiment in which he gained his adamantium skeleton.

DON'T, I say, DON'T be the Invisible Woman; telekinesis and telekinetic force field generation are all well and fine, but invisibility, to use a Monty Python quote, simply 'don't enter into it'. Telekinesis can't make you invisible (unless you can come up with some wierd theory about TK moving sub-atomic particles, which is downright silly).
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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Sebastian the Christmashog =D
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
May 6 2008, 01:49 AM
STEP 2: FIND YOUR THEME!!!!!!!!!
I cannot STRESS this enough, but UNTHEMED POWERS are often the ones doomed to fail! I have seen people get away with it successfully (Sebastian the Hedgehog does it, and to some extent, so does Superman, but we shan't discuss him), but by and large it is NOT a good idea.
XD I'm Flattered! Which powers are you talking about exactly?
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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I'm glad you asked (because I'm pretty curious myself).
-Water Control
-Super Speed
-Trippy Psychokinesis Stuff
-Bipolar Mode

Erm... I forget the exact names o some of them...
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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Sebastian the Christmashog =D
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Ahh. Well, yeah.. He isn't themed Exactly, but I can explain some of them. Check out my bio for some help, but...

Psychokinesis: Is from his Bloodline. Guardian of the Ultra Emeralds ((Another Version of the Chaos Emeralds in Sebastian's dimension.)) Water element also comes from this.

The Light/Dark thing? Dark was from bottled up anger, and power caused when he was abandoned, and basically left for dead. The Light came from a fusion with Maelic in his RP "The Shadow Realm."

Superspeed: He's the Sonic of his dimension basically. He's similar, but not really close to the same.
Edited by Sebastian the Christmashog =D, Jun 10 2008, 07:39 PM.
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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Okay, now the pieces begin to fit into place.
The Light/Dark form, as I am given to understand, was not a natural power?
The Super Speed... is that just because he's a hedgehog?
And as for the whole 'Guardian of the Ultra Emeralds' business... 'Ultra Energy' is like Chaos Control, yeah? And Water Control is also another 'granted' power from being a Guardian?
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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Exactly. Post edited a bit, reread plezz.

And the Light/Dark is not natural. ^^
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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Okay. So, I'm gonna make a few (probably really inaccurate) assumptions here:

1: Sebastain is basically a mix of Sonic and Knuckles from another universe/dimension/reality.
2: By being a Guardian or in the bloodline of a family of Guardians (same thing), the close proximity to the Ultra Ems gives you a control over water and the ability to harness and manipulate the energy generated by the Ultra Ems themselves.
3:Sebastian's speed comes from the assumption that "All Hedgehogs may travel at Supersonic Speeds unless specifically Proven False."
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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Not exactly. ^^;; I only got the guardian thingy from Knuckles, but It's different then Knux. Each of the nine emeralds represents a past guardian. When Sebastian has proved himself, he will get his own emerald. The super speed ((Although Incredibly Overdone, I know..)) Isn't as fast as Sonics, but a little similar. Sebastian focuses more on technique in fighting then pointless quick strikes. Although his speed DOES help, much, it is not his key aspect.

Point 2: Pretty Accurate. Each of the guardians gains the ability of water, and control over the emeralds power. The Ultra Power, is similar to Chaos Control, although it does not stop time, and isn't quite as powerful.
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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After looking at the profile, I understand it a bit more. Okay, so, taking the assumption that Superspeed is his 'Natural Power' and the Forms are a 'Received Power', basically the Ultra Energy and Water Control are mmmmm caused through 'Magical, Alien or Otherwise Paranormal Foci'. So really, we're just working with a really badass version of Rogue (X-Men), because she got a ton of powers from random places like that.
And you can actually get away with that too, which is even more frightening.
"I've heard legends of that person, how he traveled the breadth of the land reducing all he touched to rubble..."
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XD Pretty Much I suppose. He's been built up over time. If you had been here when I joined, it would be plain to see, that he definitely has been developed.
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Timothy Ulysses, Crusader
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Yeah. Whoopee for noobiness :D
But reading that bio really explained a lot too. I always wondered how the heck he was able to lift that sword (I had originally put it down to Final Fantasy Fysics...)...
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XD Naw, Only Cause of his robotic arm. Without it, he can hold it, but he's sluggish.
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Haro
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"Hmph."-In slow motion
I agree with this. Plus, I think Sonic FCs shouldn't be able to do uber blasts and whatnot, since officials aren't even that strong. I also like the concept of all FCs not being able to completely own officials, but thats another story.

@ Sebastian, maybe you should make him a little less overpowered.
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Sebastian the Christmashog =D
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Uhmm... Sebastian isn't really overpowered.. He's been defeated many times.. So don't make assumptions plezz. Also, please mind your own business, and stay on topic.
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Haro
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"Hmph."-In slow motion
Overpowered as in, too much powers.
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Sakul
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One can have as many powers as he/she wants, you have no right to say what a character can or can't do, Haro.

By having so many abilties. (If most of them aren't overpowered.) The character is very versatile, allowing him/her to operate in multiple scenarios. NOT overpowered.
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Haro
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Haro The Hedgehog
Jun 11 2008, 07:19 AM
@ Sebastian, maybe you should make him a little less overpowered.
Everybody at this forum KEEP trying to get me angry. Leave me alone, and read what I said fully. I never forced it, I just simply stated my opinion. This WHOLE forum is full...Nevermind, I'm not going to even start.
Edited by Haro, Jun 11 2008, 05:37 PM.
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