Hero Project: Asking for Guild Input

[Kowsauni]

Hey guildies, so after a 7 month hiatus on the project I've decided to start developing my superhero home brew game again. Below is the list of abilities characters can spend their character points on (CP) that don't necessarily have a direct affect in combat. Now, some of these abilities do have direct affect in combat, such as teleport, and some of these abilities will enhance the damage of certain Action Powers (Action Powers will be posted at a later point.) Some abilities will be required to use certain equipment such as marksman to equip a rifle. However, the majority of these abilities are for role-playing purposes and character flavor. This system is going to be loose on rules out of combat and be very rollplay focused on how the characters overcome noncombat obstacles.

I'm curious if you all have any ideas for non combat abilities you would like to see incorporated into my system. I'm starting to run out of ideas myself and I'm not actually not that big on comic book hero stuff. Below is the stuff I came up with so far. Just a heads up, I wont be incorporating any abilities that deal with affecting time, otherwise, if you have any suggestions please post them below and I will consider them.


Non-combat Abilities

One CP Cost

Super Strength:
For every one Character Point put in Super Strength, characters can lift 100 pounds per point in Physical Power. Up to 5 CP can be invested in this ability. Character without Super strength can only life things within the normal human range.

Super Speed:
For every one Character Point put in Super Speed, characters can run 5mph per point in Speed Rating. Up to 5 CP can be invested in this ability. Character without Super Speed can only run within the normal human range.

Super Jump:
For every one Character Point put in Super Jump characters can jump 5 feet per point in Physical Power. Up to 5 CP can be invested in this ability. Character without Super Jump can only jump within the normal human limit.

Night Vision:
Characters can see in the dark as clear as if it was day.

Super Hearing:
The characters hearing becomes twice as sensitive. May be taken five times for hearing to become as sensitive as 5 times normal hearing range.

Eagle Eye:
The character can see objects twice as far away as normal human vision. May be taken up to five times for a total of five times human vision.

Gills:
Allows the character to breath under water.

Swim Speed:
With fins or other mechanical or supernatural means, the character swims through water as naturally as a fish.

Vertical Climb:
Either through suction cups, claws or hooks, your character can climb up vertical surfaces with ease.

Glow:
The character glows with a feint light, allowing them to light up dark places. The character can suppress this ability as they see fit.

Dim:
Light around the character is dimmer than normal, allowing the character to blend in the the night better. The character can suppress this ability as they see fit.

Heat Resistant:
Your character is not affected adversely by extreme heat. This ability has no affect in combat.

Cold Resistant:
Your character is not affected adversely by extreme heat. This ability has no affect in combat.

Animal whisperer:
Your character can talk to animals. Animals still have animal level intelligence and will respond in ways that make sense to them.

Stunt Driver:
The character is skilled at driving cars and motorcycles in an evasive manner

Sailor:
Your character knows how to sail boats and ships.

Marksman:
Your character is skilled in using firearms as well as bows and crossbows

Weapon Master:
From knives to mauls your character is skilled in using melee weapons

Martial Artist:
The character is skilled in the art of unarmed hand to hand combat.

Parkour:
The character is skilled at moving around rapidly in an urban environment by climbing and jumping running along artificial structures.

Hacker:
The character knows how to program and hack computers

Medic:
The character is trained in medicine and is skilled in treating wounded individuals

Survivalist:
Your character knows how to navigate and survive in the wilderness

Stealthy:
The character is skilled at moving around silently and remaining unseen.

Two CP Cost

Pilot:
The character knows how to fly planes, jets and helicopters

No breath:
The character no longer needs to breath to survive

Heat Vision: The characters can see heat signatures.

Echo location:
The character can detect objects using echolocation.

Tremor Sense:
You sense vibrations caused by object moving across the ground, allowing you to pinpoint their location.

Scent:
Characters can use their sense of smell to track targets or detect creatures in their vicinity obscured from vision.

Three CP Cost

Rubber Limbs:
The character can stretch their limbs or body as if they were made of rubber. There are three levels to this ability with each level increasing the amount distance the character can stretch. Each new level costs 3CP.
Level 1 – The character can stretch their limbs or body 10 ft
Level 2 – The character can stretch their limbs or body 25 ft
Level 3 – The character can stretch their limbs or body 50 ft

X-ray vision: Characters can focus their vision to see through walls, the ground and various other objects.

Chameleon:
The character can stand perfectly still and make there skin to mimic the patterns and colors around them, similar to and octopus. This causes the character to blend into its background, rendering them almost invisible to the naked eye. Moving causes this affect to end.

Four CP Cost

Flight:
With wings, jets, or through other mechanical or supernatural means, your character can fly. Can only be taken once.

Sense Thoughts:
The character can detect sentient thought within 1 yard per point in Mental Power. Once an intelligent mind has been detected the character can spend a minute mentally focusing on the target to read their current thoughts. This power can be used to pinpoint the location of an intelligent creature that is otherwise obscured from view. It requires too much time concentration to read someones thoughts in combat.

Shape Shift:
The character can change their body to take on the appearance of a different person or creature of similar shape and size. The character can stay disguised in this way for 1 hour per point in Mental Power. The character can use this ability to mimic an exact person or creature but it requires additional concentration, limiting them to 30 minutes per point in Mental Power. To regain use of the time spent shape shifted the character must spend an equal amount of time resting in their original form.

Telekinesis:
Your character can lift objects with their mind. Can be taken up to three times. The amount of weight the character can lift increase with each level.
Level 1 – The character can lift 10 pounds per point in Mental Power at a range 1 foot per point in mental power.
Level 2 – the character can lift 100 pounds per point in Mental Power at a range 10 feet per point in mental power.
Level 3 – The character can lift 1000 pounds per point in Mental Power at a range 100 feet per point in mental power.

Five CP Cost

Teleport:
Their are three levels to Teleport and they have both in and out of combat abilities. Each rank costs 2 more character points then the last. (1st lvl 5cp, 2nd lvl 7cp, 3rd lvl 9cp) Out of combat, a person can teleport once a day for as many points they have in Mental Power The affects for the different levels are as follows.
Level 1 – The character can teleport up to 500 yards to a spot they can visually see.
Level 2 – The character can teleport up to 5 miles to a spot they can visually see or a spot they have seen before and committed to memory.
Level 3 – the character can teleport up to 500 miles to a place they can visually see, have been to before, or can see though a picture or video.


Special Origins
At the beginning of character creation players can spend CP to pick a special origin for their character. Once a special origin has been picked it cannot be changed and the CP spent remains permanently invested.

Robot: 4 CP
Robot characters do not need to breath, eat or drink, but are required to spend some time each day recharging their energy reserves, either plugging in to a power source, absorbing energy through solar panels, etc
Robot characters can withstand extreme temperatures without any adverse affect and survive in a vacuum.
Robot characters can only recover hit points though the regeneration ability or other mechanical means.

Plant: 2 CP
Plant characters do not need to eat but if they don’t they must spend a certain amount of time each day either absorbing sunlight or having their body in contact with earth. Plant characters breath carbon dioxide. Plant characters do not need to sleep.

Undead: 3 CP
Undead characters do not need to breath or sleep but they must eat.
Undead characters can only regain hit points through the regeneration ability or other magical healing.
Undead characters can withstand extreme temperatures without adverse affect up until the point were flesh would either freeze or burn.

Ooze: 3 CP
The characters body is made out of a gelatinous substance. Ooze characters can squeeze there bodies through almost any size of opening, though this does not include any equipment they might be holding on them.
Ooze characters do not need to breath or sleep, but they must eat.

Elemental:
Under development

Swarm body:
Under development  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Looks interesting so far. The problem you'll run into is when people will start going 'why doesn't x affect y' like, Super Strength. Why is it only lifting? Why doesn't it effect combat or jump or speed, if it's all about muscle strength.

Is Super Speed also giving you the awareness to react to your newfound speed? Does it allow you to do multiple things really fast? Or would that be a separate power, thus making Super Speed by itself neat, but you're not exactly the best at handling yourself moving that fast.

Also, maybe increase it by factors instead of a flat rate of 5 for speed and jump. Otherwise, at max CP investment... you're still better off getting a motorcycle or buying flight of some sort cause... 25mph or 25 foot jump isn't that... impressive when other people can just fly.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

I hate using the meme...the Wizard did it... but magic. You can even break it down to different schools(like in dnd 3.5/pathfinder) and in non-combat/combat variants.

Other ideas;
-Nondimensional Space: Examples in media; The Library off The Librarians TV Series, DC's House of Mystery, A bag of Holding, Nightcrawler(Technically, he jumps to a hell-like dimension then jumps back to another location, but details...) I hope you get the idea. A place only the hero(and the party through the hero) can access, could be the size of a small coin purse, a small room or the size of a mansion.

-Quantum Engineer; Create physical items/matter out of thin air, personally I would rule that the items have to be simple in nature(a baseball bat, crowbar, etc) and don't last very long, maybe one hour per mental point, but you could also make it like the Telekinetic power and give it levels for size/complexity of the item (a copy of a key, a loaded gun, or gas for a motorbike) Side note; depending how fast you allow this to happen, it could be argued as both a non-combat and a combat power

Give me some time, and I can probably think of more...  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Technically, there's a lot of things you could argue for being both combat and non.  

[Kowsauni]

Ok, some people are missing the point here. I'm not asking for critiques on posted abilities. There will be time for that later after I have posted the entire system and it has been playtested.

Right know I' m asking for ideas for new abilities people would like to see implemented.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Raganui Minamoto

Technically, there's a lot of things you could argue for being both combat and non.

True, but their is a big difference between not having a weapon/armor, because it takes you a minute of focus it to materialize and 10K pound Acne block falling on someone head out of no where.

Oh, new ideas

-Mimic, also known as Adaptation ; as said, use a weakened version of another power for a time period. Could be that you have to see the power in use, or have witnessed someone who used it around you, alot. Ie; your comrades, or a reappearing villain.

-Camouflage; could be true invisiblity or like Snake's suit in Metal Gear; Guns of the Patriots

edit:
-Weather control: Stolen straight from X-men's Storm  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Animal Communication X: Can communicate with a specific race of beast. "What is it Lassy? Did Timmy fall down the Well, again?" *Woof, Woof* "No, your fly is open."

Would Martial arts fall under Weapon Master?  

[PupSage]

Kowsauni

Ok, some people are missing the point here. I'm not asking for critiques on posted abilities. There will be time for that later after I have posted the entire system and it has been playtested.

Right know I' m asking for ideas for new abilities people would like to see implemented.

Pheromones: NPCs will be more friendly and helpful to you. Or maybe delay one person from entering combat until you initiate it, but if other people initiate combat around you that individual will fight as if they were a neutral party defending you. They will not hurt their friends, but they will hurt yours or anyone who attacks you.  

[Kowsauni]

Ok, some good suggestions so far.

Definitively will be adding talking to animals and Martial Arts.

Will play around with the pheromone Idea. My only trepidation is I'm not planning on adding a check based system so I'm wary of abilities that let players exert control over npc's as there would be no counter or resist the affect. I guess part of it would just be up to the gm to decide were to draw the line.

Will play with an ability to change weather.

Invisibility will available as an action power, but I don't think I'm going to add it as an ability.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Alter Core Body Temp: heat detectors be damned... or a good way to meet that hot nurse/doctor in the ER. xd

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Advanced versions of Sense Thought. Maybe used in junction with, but that much is up to you

Alter Thoughts: Change a memory. *places keys on the Kitchen counter* I know, I placed my keys on the table.

Suggestion: The target is given a suggestion that they have to follow though with. Best examples comes from Star Wars Jedi Mind Trick

Quote:

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Stormtrooper: These aren't the droids we're looking for.