So the Nova’s deal is that their abilities can go horribly wrong, but it’s incredible powerful and versatile, right? It even says in the Masks section that one of the benefits of being a Nova is that you can do just about anything with your powers, while other playbooks are more limited in what they can do. In exchange, you are far more dangerous to yourself and others.
But…some playbooks get access to their abilities and presumably none of the downsides.
For example, the Protege can pick elemental control or telekinesis/telepathy as a power either they have or both they and their mentor have. Earlier on, the powers were split into sections and those were “mentor only,” but it got switched to being part of a set of powers the Protoge picks from. The Outsider and the Transformed have an advance that lets them take any two abilities from other playbooks – fine for most, but what happens if the Transformed picks up Biokenesis or the Outsider comes from a fantasy land and has been learning sorcery?
If a Nova is in the group, it would feel like stepping on their toes. Here’s a character that can do what you can do, but they’re better and don’t have to worry about causing massive damage on a miss. If there isn’t a Nova it’s a bit better but then you have the issue of those abilities being really open ended and suddenly that character can probably do what the other PCs can, without needing to worry about it exploding in their faces if things go wrong. Should the GM take some of the GM moves for the Nova to be part of the character now? The outsider with Sorcery can use the powers they had before just fine, but channeling Sorcerery means the GM can take “Make their powers flare out of control” from the Nova’s moves, or start using GM moves like “Put Innocents in Danger” in ways you wouldn’t with normal misses? If you don’t, and there nothing in the rules to indicate you should do this, it gives the great power but at no worse cost then the powers the other playbooks deal in.
Am I missing something? Are Flares supposed to be super good to make up for this? Because they’re neat, but what I like about the Nova is how it lets you do whatever you want. You can effectivley have any superpower, but you have to pay a real big price for that privilitdge. The Flares are just a bonus. Am I looking at it the wrong way?
The Nova’s focus is powers that can put themself and others in danger, right? Other playbooks do not have that focus. So I think it’s totally fair they get similar powers without a downside, as the downside is the whole point of the Nova.
If a player doesn’t want to explore that downside, they shouldn’t pick the Nova. If there’s a Nova in the group and someone chooses one of their powers, the players should talk it out so no one feels as if their toes are being stepped on.
I don’t think it’s a matter of mechanical “balance”. It’s a matter of what the playbook focuses on.
I read it as being about scale. Other playbooks can get the same powers, but while they’ll be more controlled, they’re also much less grand.
For TK at least, think the difference between a Jedi and Jean Grey. Both have telekinetic abilities, but one can literally remake the universe at will while the other… not really even close to being close.
Or for plant affinity think the difference between Poison Ivie and a Ditto, one can play with plants, the other can turn into anything.
Nova have powers that allow them to change reality to its core, none of the others can. One of the flares even gets them wormwholes… I’m still surprised actual “reality warping” wasn’t one of the basic power ideas for the Nova.
In the end thou, the real difference is in the story each book is making. a Nova is a book about powers, a Protege is about working under a mentor…
So in regards to ability access…
If you look at traditional superhero teams, overlap of abilities has been a consistent theme. Multiple members of the Avengers have super-strength, multiple members can fly, multiple members are incredible durable, etc. In the process of battling or saving innocents they don’t squabble and say “Hey, you can’t use that similar power because I don’t feel special anymore”…
Considering that there are variable levels of skill, control, and intensity behind powers, characters with the same abilities can “look” really unique and different (and with the playbooks focusing on different aspects of what it means to be a hero, they should).
+Chris “HyveMynd” Stone-Bush I’m not sure about that. The section on powers mentions how the reason it gives each playbook a specific list is that they fit the themes and story that the playbook is going for. And it’s not mechanical balance I’m worried about, it more how the open endedness of the Nova seems to be balanced around the fact that they have to worry about messing things up. If there’s a Nova in the group, yeah they can do what I can whenever they want – but I don’t have to worry about accidentally blowing up the building if I fail a roll. But if they have the Nova’s abilities from another source, suddenly they don’t have that disadvantage.
+Omari Brooks That’s true, but my point is more about how each of those heroes often have something unique – no one has every power. The Nova does though, and again it seems like that’s balanced around having to worry about it going out of control.
+Benjamin Davis +erez shpirer (erez87) That’s a good point about scale, it doesn’t really say that in the book but it makes sense I think.