Adder's Chargen

Blackadder

Blackadder

Inquisitor Ordo Hereticus
Name: Alex Sevier


Cape Name:


Age: 20


Gender: Male


Origin: A Death in the Family


Drive: Reconcile My Past


latest



Background: Alex came from a North Carolina back-country family. His family put itself through a great deal of effort and a serious loan to secure him the money to be the first in the family who would go to college (excepting a 2 year community college term for his father). Alex took being accepted to Carpenter University very seriously and applied himself to his work. Unfortunately, it was high standards academics, and even with intense focused study, he was still only doing so-so at best.


That didn't even include the side work he was doing through a school program to provide additional money for himself and for his family. One night, Alex arrived at the closest convience store to learn they were out of 5-Hour Energy, Red Bull, and anything else he was needing to help him get through. Dispirited, when someone stopped him outside and offered "an even better brand for a few extra bucks."

Alex had no issue absent-mindedly handing over the cash then swigging the small vial; "low dosage, man, lots of power to this." In truth, Alex didn't really even remember this the next day, when he discovered something shocking...


Unfortunately, while the powers - once Alex got a grip on them - helped with the workload pressure, it was countered by the increasing difficulty in communicating with people around him. And just because the universe wanted him to suffer more, he received a call one day from the Gaston County Sheriff. His parents had been killed in a hit and run.


Orphaned, grieving, with no money and far from home, Alex was quickly forced into making some very difficult choices...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The thoughts from the Para-Powers Rolls thread:

Lamladaz:  your vial is Wannabe, a formula that generally grants changer abilities tied strongly to the subjects subconscious desideres or dreams.


Jaye: Alternatively: Wannabe - a Tinker-ability to augment other's best or worst abilities, with a secondary Thinker ability of 'absorbing' others dreams and aspiration. Which overwrites the subject's own dreams and aspirations. Thinker ability happens over time and with repeated exposure. Tinker ability tends to ensure that the required time/exposure happens, though. (Not a Changer power, I know, but it's close?)





Blackadder: 


Wannabe
"Obtain physical and mental acuity from people you consider to be your betters, adding them to your own together with what you see as the best skill you've seen them use. Always on."


It fits the literal definition of the word, and allows a bit of flexibility, while setting a clear limit: if he's clearly alone, the enhanced abilities gradually disappear.

Scope is the one thing we should make clear: physical and mental attributes and skills, sure, but does this include powers (like going up to the super-strength/durability level)?

I'm liking the Thinker and/or Tinker approach (but of course I am). My idea for the Tinker power is essentially: "Have a teammate that's great at running? You're suddenly inspired to make a gadget that goes fast or otherwise compliments running fast." For the record. Though it could be changed to be more "Making people's dream gadgets" like "Teammate always wanted to fly? Here's a jetpack." This is borderline on the whole "Only Tinkers use their gear" thing, admittedly.
 
Well, there is the whole "Changer" aspect that nobody brought up, and I didn't see.


Which means, you change depending on how others see you, physically and possibly mentally.


I think it'd be hilarious for him to constantly be putting up this front, to pretend to be smarter so others see him as smarter, which actually does make him smarter. To pretend to be stronger, faster, so others see him as it. When fighting, to go out of his way to be scary as fuck, while others see him as a monster, he literally becomes a monster. Of course, the counter to this is if other *don't* see him as fearsome or strong, or what have you. Your enemy start genuinely believeing you as weaker, weaker you become...


Like, he has to allow himself to change, but it's always there. Always niggling in the back of his head.


That said, the actual description says tied to the subject's subconscious thoughts and desires. So it'd actually mean he'd change on what he wanted, rather than everyone else. So in that same vein, he'd change depending on how confident he actually was, and what he actually wanted. Thinks he's smart enough to pass a test? His body and mind wil accomodate. Think's he's scary, and wants to lay the smack-down? Monstrous form, here I come. With that in mind, if things don't line up to his expectations, or if his confidence or mental state is shot, shit becomes that much harder.


@Jaye@PixelWitch@Grey@Lamladaz


Thoughts guys?
 
How about a power similar to that of gladiator of marvel comics? The more confident you are, the more powerful you get.. but also the more monstrous you get.
 
Silvertongued said:
Well, there is the whole "Changer" aspect that nobody brought up, and I didn't see.
Click to expand...

Maybe it got lost in translation somewhere, but I kinda did bring up the Changer aspect? Mostly, I guess, in the "his dreams/desires change into other peoples"  but the Tinker power was meant to be a sort of... abstract Changer aspect? I suppose none of it would get him a Changer PRT classification, but it was very much taken into account.


I'll come back and read the rest in a bit. Or tomorrow morning.
 
I think it'd be hilarious for him to constantly be putting up this front, to pretend to be smarter so others see him as smarter, which actually does make him smarter. To pretend to be stronger, faster, so others see him as it. When fighting, to go out of his way to be scary as fuck, while others see him as a monster, he literally becomes a monster. Of course, the counter to this is if other *don't* see him as fearsome or strong, or what have you. Your enemy start genuinely believing you as weaker, weaker you become...


Like, he has to allow himself to change, but it's always there. Always niggling in the back of his head.
Click to expand...



I do like this. Very Superboy-Prime esque. And remember, we don't have to tie it to his desires and thoughts, if this works better. Which it does.
 
Okay I'm gonna just... do a break down.


Wannabe Vial - Key terms: subconscious dreams/desires, subject's own (power relating to self), Changer classification.


Alex Sevier - dedicated, empathetic (to family), hard-working. Probably feeling quite hopeless and desperate at the time of taking the vial.


Alex's Stresses - low-income, average academic application, possible the family's only hope?


There's not much info on Alex, unfortunately, but those seem to be the key things i could grab. For the Vial's key terms, I don't think we have to stick strictly to the terms, but those are the basic ideas that the power will likely be based on. I'm partial to the idea that the classification might change. Some sense of irony in the power is always nice, something like his dedication or empathy or hard-work improving but in a not-useful manner. Then again, Vials do tend to be more stable. On the other hand, this is a rogue Vial, so who knows.


I'm going to rescind my Tinker/Thinker idea and just spitball (the Tinker may come up again, I do like Tinkers).


Mundane Eidolon - Alex finds himself able to drastically alter his self (within human bounds) according to his deepest desire. However, he can only alter one aspect at a time, and alteration times do not overlap. (Ie. He could make himself a super smart mathematician, but he can't up his knowledge of science at the same time. Once he stops making himself math-smart, the knowledge quickly fades. Once it's faded back to baseline levels, then he can make himself science-smart). He can do the same for physical attributes (make himself get muscles to be strong) but again only one thing at a time - he can give himself good muscles, but won't be anymore durable, won't have better endurance.


Um... basically this would kinda work like Eidolon, but with human abilities instead of parahuman ones? And with only one ability instead of three. He'd have the whole "gets what he needs, not what he wants" sort of thing with how it responds to his subconscious and not his conscious.


Dream Echos - Alex shapeshifts as he sleeps, turning into whatever his avatar is in his dream. Side effect that his passenger is almost certainly controlling his dreams, now. I'm not sure how viable this is for a RP, really, and this would probably mean that Alex couldn't really have a 'secret identity'. Or, he wouldn't have a civilian identity with how he's always changing.


Mirror, Mirror - shapeshifts according to other's subconscious dreams/desires. This one would be... insidious. Say Alex joins a Wards team; one girl thinks he looks like a dumb jock, one girl subconsciously is reminded of her brother, one boy falls in lust (and hopes the crush is reciprocated), another boy thinks he looks like he'd do super well in a melee fight and the leader really, really, hopes that someone else will step up to make the orders.


So Alex joins these Wards and... finds himself less academically intelligent, but way better at sports. He feels this familial bond with a girl he's never met before but weirder than that is (despite whatever his orientation before) he finds himself checking one of the guys out. At least he's way better at brawling now, even if he's also got this impulse to start ordering people around.


Again, not sure how viable for RP, as this takes a fair amount of autonomy away.


Gear Fitter - (the original idea I had, kinda) A Tinker of all trades, but can only make what others want him to make. Will get flashes of inspiration in accordance to other's subconcious desires. Minor Thinker ability to sense (at least the gist) of other people's subconscious dreams/desires. Side effect of not sleeping/minimal sleep, no longer dreaming and possibly having issues with forming independent goals and desires.


And that's at least two viable ideas so now I'm gonna go :3 I didn't manage to do anything with his personality and/or stresses so if someone wants to work with those that would be excellent.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jaye said:
Okay I'm gonna just... do a break down.


Wannabe Vial - Key terms: subconscious dreams/desires, subject's own (power relating to self), Changer classification.


Alex Sevier - dedicated, empathetic (to family), hard-working. Probably feeling quite hopeless and desperate at the time of taking the vial.


Alex's Stresses - low-income, average academic application, possible the family's only hope?


There's not much info on Alex, unfortunately, but those seem to be the key things i could grab.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I just wanted to set up some basic outline, and provide the critical elements that lead to the power acquisition, be it a vial or a trigger event. After all, isolation is a core factor in trigger events if not parahumans in general.
 
I'm thinking Mirror Mirror. Albeit, with a propensity for being more than just mental changes. Physical changes mostly, with some mental faculty changes, but nothing that actually changes who he is as a person.


And you can keep a lot of the autonomy in it, if he's aware of how it works. It forces him to be an actor, so he can alter his power, by altering how other percieve him.


Put on a monster costume, act like a monster, get believed to be a monster, become a monster. Replace monster with anything else, and you've got your power.


Though for clarity's sake, I'd say the effect increases with the more onlookers. Mob mentality. The bigger the audience, the bigger the feedback, the more... general the changes.


@PixelWitch@Jaye@Grey@Lamladaz
 
Would Alex be able to sense when the feedback is sufficient to trigger a change? And the decision to change still remains his?
 
Yes and yes. However, if there's a lot of feedback, it could get a bit muddled for him.


Imagine a bunch of people yelling stuff at you in crowd. Complex sentences, that kind of thing. Imagine trying to pick out one specific thing exactly. Ya see what I mean?
 
Silvertongued said:
I'm thinking Mirror Mirror. Albeit, with a propensity for being more than just mental changes. Physical changes mostly, with some mental faculty changes, but nothing that actually changes who he is as a person.


And you can keep a lot of the autonomy in it, if he's aware of how it works. It forces him to be an actor, so he can alter his power, by altering how other percieve him.


Put on a monster costume, act like a monster, get believed to be a monster, become a monster. Replace monster with anything else, and you've got your power.


Though for clarity's sake, I'd say the effect increases with the more onlookers. Mob mentality. The bigger the audience, the bigger the feedback, the more... general the changes.


@PixelWitch@Jaye@Grey@Lamladaz
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, sorry, I included a lot of mental examples. But perception includes physical, too. (Like better at sports - he gets the physical changes needed to be great at sports, the muscle, the endurance, etc). But yeah, seen as a tough-guy? Able to become a tough-guy. Self-fulfilling prophecies.


As much has I like involuntary powers, I agree - this needs the voluntary component of being able to chose when a change happens. Proposal: Minor Thinker power to be able to tell what he's being perceived as (ie. "Feeling lots of 'swamp monster' and a little bit 'handsome'." so he knows lots of people are perceiving him as a swamp monster and only one or two are perceiving him as handsome.). And more agreement; a larger crowd means bigger/better transformations, but harder to pick out single perceptions.


Proposal: his choosing of when to change has two sort of 'modes'. He can either 'hear' a perception of him and turn into that (or more than one perception) or he can passively let every perception work. Thus, if he's in a crowd and can't hear one particular perception (but a shouted jumble instead) he can still change - it's just way more potluck and volatile.


Also re: Blowout in terms of mob mentality. Similar thing going on here.


Um... something mentally overwritten? That's the instinct I'm getting here, that the Vial/shard overwrote something But then again, Vial, so maybe not. Maybe he always knows others perceptions of him mentally, but can no longer tell what people think of him from physical cues? (Ie no longer knows that a frown means he's disliked, a smile means he's liked, that sort of thing).
 
I propose a slight tweak. The absolute basic ones he can still remember (smile = good, frown = bad) but more subtle elements (a sad smile meaning some hidden upset) is beyond him.
 
So do you mind creating a revised bullet point summary for which I can include in my full character thread (the way Jaye did)?
 
Go'choo covered, yo ;)  


Mirror, Mirror - Changer 3-8 / Thinker 3

  • Can choose to shapeshift into what other people subconsciously perceive him as or desire him to be. (Ie. If perceived as smart, will literally become smarter. If someone desires him to be strong, will grow muscles and durability.)
  • Subpower - can psionically/mentally 'hear' other people's perception/desires of him, but can't tell specifically who thinks what. (Ie. can tell someone wants him to be taller, but can't pinpoint the which person in the room wants that).
  • Can choose to shapeshift either into specific perceptions or can passively shift into every perception within range.
  • Ability is more effective the more people are perceiving him (aka. mob mentality). The more people paying attention and perceiving him allows the change to be harder to dispel, more durable and more realistic.
  • However, if the mob mentality doesn't have a unified perception, then it can be difficult to pick what perception to change into. (Aka. You can't hear what one person is shouting if 20 others are shouting at the same time).
  • Exploit - if he puts on an act he can make people perceive him a certain way, thus giving him some control over what perceptions he can turn into.
  • Side-Effect - the powers have overwritten his ability to perceive social cues properly. While he still remembers obvious signs like "A smile means happy" or "Crying means sad" he no longer knows more nuanced cues such as "A sad smile" or "Happy crying".

I'm... pretty sure those are the main points Sorry that was not nearly as concise as I usually write them. Um also I think we never mentioned a range - I suggest that it's just whoever can observe him; either by sight, sound or touch and it can be via video/tech or via power-assisted senses (like Master minions touching/seeing him, a Thinker feeling his mind, etc).


If that cool with the others, add;

  • Can only shapeshift into the perception/desires of people who are currently perceiving him. They can perceive him in-person or via tech and can perceive him via sight, sound, touch or parahuman senses (ie. a Master's minions touching him or a Thinker sensing his mind).
 
How we're going to break this down into Simple, Borderline, etc, I have no idea.


And playing with cape names.
 
Lemme read up on it and get some sleep, and I'll let you know.


As for the cape names, go crazy. Also, think about why he's an anti-villain cape. What happened to college and all that jazz.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top