So, it seems to me there’s potential for a custom playbook about characters who bond with an alien or magical artifact. I’m thinking of examples like Ben Ten, the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, a young Green Lantern. The central conflict for the playbook would be about the young hero dealing with the artifact’s arcane expectations or different ideas of heroism. Playbook name might be The Recruit.
What do people think? Do you have other examples of characters in this wheelhouse? What sort of moves and abilities would make sense in a custom playbook like this?
Another example of this kind of character would be the Sam Alexander version of Nova.
I’m new to the game so I don’t know it as well as the rest of you, but I’d definitely be interested in seeing how this plays out
You could use a variation on the conflicting Labels thing that the Janus, Soldier, and Protege have going on. One label is the hero’s inclination, the other the object’s.
I’d imagine some of the backstory might involve writing down a goal/drive/tendency the artifact has that tends to flavor your partial hits on some moves—when the artifact uses you, instead of the other way around, what is it doing?
This sounds similar to the Attached playbook from The Veil, which may be a good inspiration. That playbook is for someone that has a unique object that protects them or gives them abilities. However, the object has a stat called “Hunger” that the GM can use to tell you what it wants you to do or acquire (if you do what it wants, mark experience and reduce Hunger by one).
This sounds very cool and would probably even be the first non-Magpie playbook addition I would offer at my table.
Another inspirational source from comicdom, though an adult and himself a darker version of green lantern, would be Doctor Spectrum from Supreme Power.
I like the idea of a push and pull mechanic with the tech/device.
It could also be interesting if there was a move that allowed information to be given by or pulled from the device. Maybe picking a general knowledge area the device has expertise within and rolling to get the info. Full hit = tell us what the device tells you and the GM will add any details you leave out. Partial = tell us what the device tells you, but something about the info is off, incorrect, misleading, or different than it tells you, the GM will reveal what at the appropriate time. On a miss, the GM will determine what, if anything, the device is willing to tell you.
It’s similar to The Protege, but I think the implication that the device is more than just a computer full of files sets it apart.
After having played this sort of character as both a Janus and a Nova (and contemplated using the Protege or Legacy), I would love to see a full playbook for this concept.
It sounds a lot like the legacy playbook to me
Giuseppe Grimaudo This is true. It would be cool if the Legacy members were the memories, training, and experience of previous bearers of the object…contained within the object. So like, a Green Lantern like Hal Jordan has to live up to Abin Sur and his Legacy. I also like the idea that object embodies one thing while you try to embody another. Jaime Reyes would embody Mundane, the Scarab Danger. Hal Jordan, Superior, the ring, Savior. Ben 10 embodies Savior, the Omnatrix Freak. I dig it.
I agree with careful selection of moves from other playbooks you could encapsulate the idea pretty well with a Janus, Legacy, Protege, or Nova. I’d also be intrigued to see what unique aspects a new playbook could bring to the idea.
Search here, someone made it years ago!
Giuseppe Grimaudo Yes, I think you could try to play this archetype in Legacy. But it’s off-center from the major Legacy theme of family, and has it’s own intriguing set of issues that it could be fun to create a mechanic for.
Adam Goldberg Indeed. Google+ is just so crappy for collecting material.
I found the latest post on the playbook Adam is referring to, The Bearer: plus.google.com – I’ve made a few changes to The Weilder, one of which was to rename it to The …
Has that playbook been abandoned? It looks almost ready for primetime except for a few spots that could be tightened up. If the original author didn’t mind it could be a great place to begin for someone interested in finishing this concept.
Sounds cool. I would also like to see a Playbook “The Fused/Merged”, that focuses 2 normal humans who fuse together to form a single hero similar to the way Firestorm manifests. Another variant would be a sort of “Wonder Twins” type who require contact with each other to make their powers function.
Tim Osburn isn’t the Wonder Twins type precisely the Joined playbook?
No, because their power use isn’t dependent on each other. It’s more of an association from what I can tell.
Tim Osburn that seems more a fiction/flavor thing than anything else
I was thinking that the playbook itself was 2 characters played by one player. Just like the Firestorm idea. (With the option to be shared with another player.)
I wrote a playbook for this. I’ll post it after GenCon if I remember.