Specialities & SFX

[blaster219]

During discussions in in regards to Specialites, I and a player butted heads over "eligibility" for Master level Specialities. The game we're making characters for is a Teen hero game where the first Event is pretty much the origin story of the group as a whole. One of the characters had taken Acrobatic Master and there was a little bit if discussion whether the character's background really justified being a "World Class" acrobat.

The player floated the idea that a large part of the skill level was tied to the character's powers. A reasonable line of thought. But I had a conceptual problem with it. If the characters skill at acrobatics is tied to their powers, then surely it should be a power so that it can be subjected to the Limit on the Power Set. As it stood, if her Powers were Shutdown, she would retain her world class acrobatic ability. Which, if that ability is supposed to be due to her powers, just seems wrong.

The problem was, we were both right for various reasons. In the end, we came up with a compromise.

SFX I'm the best at ... - In any dice pool using POWER TRAIT, step up SPECIALITY +1 level.

Rookie* becomes Expert, Expert becomes Master, Master remains Master as you can't step up from there.

* We're using a D6 rookie level as the heroes are meant to be young and inexperienced at the start of the game. It's just like Expert and Master except it can't be used to create stunts or resources.

[pksullivan]

Look at Spider-Man's datafile. I'm pretty sure he has Acrobatic Master D10 and Peter Parker has no special training in acrobatics. It's very much based in his powers. Granted, Spider-Man as presented has had his powers and has been adventuring for decades. Superheroes are fairly static with their abilities, though. Even in the opening few issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter is able to do acrobatic stunts that are beyond the capabilities of even Olympic level athletes.

[vitruvian]

True, but the interaction between SFX and Specialties is kind of attractive. For one thing, something like that would seem to be kind of needed for Taskmaster, or for Neo suddenly knowing kung fu or how to fly a helicopter... and when Peter Parker loses his powers, he certainly does stop being able to do even Olympic level acrobatic stunts, even though that loss isn't covered in the datafile (although now that he's been trained in kung fu by Shang-Chi himself, I'd let him keep the Combat Expert even when depowered, and maybe just downgrade the Acrobatics to Expert).

So, something like this might be fun. Of course, so would introducing Leverage-style Talents as the SFX equivalent for Specialties, and maybe giving them Limits (like 'Power-Dependent: Step back by one if X Power Trait is lost or shut down') as well.

[Unknown Blitz]

For someone whose acrobatic ability is solely based on powers/innate ability, I would say that it comes down to the Reflexes power, since that power is specifically described as being (as one of three major areas) "physical agility".

And agility is a perfect word that encompasses all of what gymnasts/acrobats can do.

A person who is trained in Acrobatics as a specialty is going to be even more impressive as they have both raw talent and honed skill.

-Blitz

[pksullivan]

I don't see it. Again, the early Spider-Man example. He's leaping about and doing flips that trained gymnasts would be hard pressed to accomplish. That's clearly an acrobatic feat and not a reaction. I see reflexes more as his spider sense, warning him of the impending danger, or Quicksilver's faster-than-normal perception of reality. Reflexes may give them more opportunities to use acrobatics but isn't acrobatics in and of itself.

[Unknown Blitz]

I don't see it. Again, the early Spider-Man example. He's leaping about and doing flips that trained gymnasts would be hard pressed to accomplish. That's clearly an acrobatic feat and not a reaction. I see reflexes more as his spider sense, warning him of the impending danger, or Quicksilver's faster-than-normal perception of reality. Reflexes may give them more opportunities to use acrobatics but isn't acrobatics in and of itself.

The book specifically states that Reflexes includes "greater response time, physical agility, and aim than an average human being." (emphasis mine)

Agility is defined as: "Agility or nimbleness is the ability to change the body's position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, endurance and stamina."

That sounds exactly like what an acrobat or gymnast would use.

Spider-Man, in terms of MHR mechanics, has his Enhanced Sense power (and Spider Sense SFX) distinctly seperate from his Superhuman Reflexes (which is his seeming ability to leap around. I do like the point that if a villain were somehow able to rob Peter of his powers, he would have no ability to move and operate as an Olympic level gymnast which is what Acrobatics Master is at its core. However, due to his recent training by Shang-Chi he would have Combat specialty even if his powers were taken from him.

That said, that is my opinion on the matter, and every Watcher/group has the right to play it like they want to, each to his own.

Edit: I will say though, upon thinking more about it that at the start of his career, his acrobatic ability was purely from the spider bite, but now after so many years of being in the field and practice, he may have the skill to have Acrobatics as a specialty. However, someone at the beginning of their career with no formal training I could not see having Acrobatics Master.

-Blitz

[SKINer]

Don't want to make a new thread for such a simple question so I'll post it here, since it talks about SFX already.

I'm making a watcher character who has 'Unleashed' SFX (short description: Step up die, but die goes in doom pool if the action fails). Question:

Does this mean that Watcher character now has the ability to add to doom pool via a failed action?

[Unknown Blitz]

I think when it is a Watcher character using Unleashed type SFX (and fails), it steps back the power by -1. An example is Electro in Breakout. Now there might be other consequences for different characters that I am missing or in the future, but that's how it works at least for Electro.

-Blitz

[Grimmshade]

Don't want to make a new thread for such a simple question so I'll post it here, since it talks about SFX already.

I'm making a watcher character who has 'Unleashed' SFX (short description: Step up die, but die goes in doom pool if the action fails). Question:

Does this mean that Watcher character now has the ability to add to doom pool via a failed action?

Not 100% sure this answers your question, but OM94 says:
"Any SFX or Limits that involve the doom pool work exactly the same—the doom pool represents the general threat as opposed to a particular villain’s power, so villains whose powers complicate the situation aren’t really very different from heroes that do."

[pksullivan]

Don't want to make a new thread for such a simple question so I'll post it here, since it talks about SFX already.

I'm making a watcher character who has 'Unleashed' SFX (short description: Step up die, but die goes in doom pool if the action fails). Question:

Does this mean that Watcher character now has the ability to add to doom pool via a failed action?

Not 100% sure this answers your question, but OM94 says:
"Any SFX or Limits that involve the doom pool work exactly the same—the doom pool represents the general threat as opposed to a particular villain’s power, so villains whose powers complicate the situation aren’t really very different from heroes that do."

I'd look at it the same way that a villain can just rain fire down on innocent bystanders or destroy key support structures on buildings to increase the doom pool.