Hello guys! I just ran the first session for my group and since it was my first time with WiP, I was left with a couple questions.
One of my players made a character that is supposed to be the embodiment of magic itself, codenamed Mana. She’s still young and can’t do much, but her main power is magic. OK, magic is probably one of the most complex of powers in every supers system I’ve played. On her power summary she wrote that she could fly, cast magic and whatnot. On the power profile, she wrote the following:
Simple:
– Telekinesis
– Telepathy
– Regenerate myself
Difficult:
– Open portals from one point to another
– Healing
– Create magic shields
Borderline:
– Astral Projection
Possible:
– Banish to another dimension
Impossible:
– Regenerate back from the dead
I know that the uses seem too broad in spectrum with no real measure of how much she can do, but it is a player, as she put it herself, that has a hard time “creating phrases” (that’s why she hates creating characters in Fate)
Q1) Mana used her healing magic mid-combat to help the wounds of one of her comrades. What would you call for a move to do that?
Q2) How do you usually handle regeneration in your games? What about regeneration outside combat? Do you still make them need to Fit In to regen physical damage (I’m ruling psychological/emotional damage as out of the equation)
Cronos is a guy who can control time to some extent. He’s mostly using it to age objects and break them, “teleport” from blows and that kind of stuff. It’s working fine, but since he’s a scientist, he also got a armored suit, sort of iron-man-esque. I’ve been dealing some Conditions to him that are specific to his suit and some that are specific to the person inside, depending on the blow. Since the suit is described as protective, it helps lessening the blows, that is working well. What I wondered is if, in that case, the suit and the person inside would use the same condition track. I judged that yes, and that would account for his “hero self”, not his “human guise”. Meaning that, as a hero, he can take a total punishment of 4 Criticals.
Q3) Cronos tried to stop time so that he could repair his armor. I’m guessing it would work just like Mana’s healing ability. Is that right?
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Q4) On Drives… can Drives be changed from one session to another at the will of the player (obvously grounded on fiction)? Let’s say that something happens and a player who has the Protect drive now wants to Become an Icon. Is the player free to pursuit that and change his Drive accordingly? What happens to the previous Drive(s) and their Move(s)?
I think for the time being, that’s it.
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IMO it would be really important that she “creates sentences”; if she struggles with that, you or another player should help her. Those powers, as they are written down, are not really usable in the game. Eg. “Simple: Telekinesis” does not really mean anything; the game will simply not work as intended. She should write something concrete: it’s not the power (eg Telekinesis) that it is important, but what she can actually do with it. Example: “Simple: – Use telekinesis to throw a car in the air” or “Simple: Use telekinesis to move small items (pens, coins, etc)”
Yeah, needs more “meat” in those power descriptions.
Yeah, like the others have said, the Powers Profile is where you put down concrete actions – things they can do. General abilities are for The Powers Summary. Tell them to think of it like this – you know you have powers and how long you’ve had them is up to you, but you’ve only been able to master a certain number of things so far. These are the things you have tried before and reliably repeat.
Q1) It would depend what is going on in the fiction, but at the very least she’d need to Defy any number of Dangers to be able to heal someone else in combat I imagine. Either dodging attacks made against her or her subject. If this is her thing, then make the challenging to get the action done, rather than questioning how the ability would work i.e. if she has the ability to heal someone and remove a Condition then let her, but make it challenging for her via Defy Danger or Push, as the case may be (whatever best suits the fiction at that moment).
Q2) Yes, they still need to Fit In. How they go about healing from their physical Conditions (or any Condition) is up to them and put to the player. How long would it take you to heal from the physical Condition(s) you have? Do they have that much time? Do they do something else? The scene they frame for Fit In could be just grabbing a beer and narrating how their wounds close up if that’s all the fictional positioning required for their powers, or could it be getting additional assistance or whatever else.
As for Cronos and the additional Conditions thing, you can certainly do that if you want, but it’s not necessary. Remember that his powers and suit are all fictional positioning. As long as you narrate in the game how his suit is protecting him you’re fine without changing the Condition rules for him. “The beam punches through the wall and sends you flying across the city – a normal human would have been pulverized, so it’s good thing you have your suit on. Take the Condition “dazed” for now as you pick yourself off the ground.”
Q4) Yes, players can change their Drives as needed and take any moves in a Drive (provided that they unlock it first). Moves are kept and they have access to them all the time. A leader doesn’t forget how to be a leader because they decide they want to protect the city, for example.
Alright, thanks for the replies guys!
Just making sure I got it right:
Microchip, the third character in our game is a shapeshifter much like Douglock. In one scene the enemy mob tried to shoot him with lasers. He answered by creating holes on his body so that the beams would pass thru. I told the player that was a Defy Danger rolling +Maneuver, since he needed to be faster than the beams. He rolled a 8, and then I offered him the choice to either take them or let them pass thru the holes and hit the aquarium tank behind him.
Was the use of Defy Danger correct here?
Not a problem Filipe, feel free to ask whatever you like. Your use of Defy Danger is good there, yes. The danger should he fail is clearly laid out as well, which is always important to establish before going to the dice.
Now, if he had been creating holes in his body for the first time or hadn’t mastered it yet (i.e. it wasn’t on his Powers Profile yet) then he would’ve needed to Push.
As others have already said, Mana’s powers as listed are too generic. You need to folllow-up with questions to clarify and quantify what she’s done with these powers in the past and can reliably do again. “Telekenisis? Cool! What does that mean, specifically? How does that look? What have you moved with your mind before?”
Whatever her answer is fine – whether she’s thrown things the size of a quarter, or things the size of a semi-trailer – whatever she answers, have her write that down. Later, if she said she’s moved things the size of quarters and she tries to fling a car, she might have to Push to handle something that big. Conversely, if she’s previously thrown trucks around and she wants to move a key from the wall to the cell she’s locked in, she might have to Push for the fine control to avoid accidentally ripping apart the building. Either way, she can always grow so setting the limits of what she’s done before doesn’t prevent her from doing more in the future.
Same goes for all the powers she has listed. “Create magic shields? Awesome. What sorts of things have you blocked with a magic shield before? Swords? Bullets? Are they visible? Do they appear in front of her, or can she put them anywhere she can see? Are they stuck in place once they’re created, or can they be moved?”
It’s important for her to understand that it’s OK if her powers allow her to do much more than what gets listed as the specific things she’s done before. She’s not losing abilities by defining what she’s done more specifically.
Grey Kitten I see. How much granularity you think is fine? What about you, Kyle Simons? I have a feeling that adding too much granularity will make the game slower since they’ll need to push often
They’ll need to push often, or they’ll need to stay in the scope of their ‘proven’ powers. Devil’s choice.
Needing to Push doesn’t have to slow the game down, plus it’s awesome whether they succeed or not because if they pull it off they get to add something new to the list of powers, and if they screw it up, the story gets to show an interesting consequence.
But the other thing to keep in mind is the rule of “Be a fan of your players” – design threats that let their powers as written be the perfect solution to the problems they face, give them a chance to shine and feel like super-heroes. Then, when you’ve got them thinking they’re unbeatable, switch things up and give them situations that make them come up with more creative solutions than just using their one favorite power the same way they always use it.