Gamma World style mutant
The more things stay the same (Start of session Move):
Roll + Weird.
10+ Pick a mutant power that isn’t the one you currently have.
7-9 Pick a mutant power that you have never had.
6- The MC picks a mutant power (not your current one) and makes a hard move the first time you use it. She might make two hard moves if you flub your roll when you do use it.
Mutant powers are mostly just a mish-mosh of all the other character moves maybe? I dunno. I’m sure we could come up w/ some excellent individual ones, though they should be designed with the ephemeral nature of the Mutant in mind.
Have you seen the Grotesque by McDaldno? It has this move, actually!
Well dang. Beat to the punch.
It’s similar, but not the same. The Grotesque’s move is a hold 2 on a 10+, and hold 1 on a 7-9 to activate a mutation from a list of seven.
I read your move as a “random X-Men mutant power” kind of thing.
Okay, that makes me feel better. And yeah… Maybe session one you’ve got an extra eye that lets you see when someone talking to you is telling the full truth. Next session your skin turns green and you get a tingle down your spine whenever you turn someone on. Session after that your hair falls out and and you get +2 hard and do +1 harm with melee weapons. Next session your hair grows back as feathers, and you ALWAYS know the best escape route … well, at least, until the next session. The list of “powers” should at least be longer than the expected duration of the campaign.
Okay, refinement 1, there’s a list of “tells” and a list of “powers” you pick one, the MC picks the other (which ain’t to say you can’t make suggestions). So on a 6- you still get to pick a tell.
Some powers: You can tell when someone is telling the truth to you. You can breath fire (Close, 2 Harm, Messy). You can Phase through walls. You can hear everything.
Some tells: You grow feathers. Your skin changes color. Your gender swaps (or becomes apparent). You grow extra joints in your arms and legs. Extra eyes (or limbs? Tail?). Grow antennae. Your eyes glow. People feel sleepy when they are around you.
Tells:Food spoils, fungus/algae grows, plants wither, tumours/growths, missing limb, horrible smell, slime production, spines/quills, stunted/monsterism, gills, people are allergic to you, body make a weird noise.
Personally, I would stay away from X-Men style mutations and stick with Gamma World style mutations.
I’m not sure what the difference is between X-Men mutants and Gamma World mutants as I never owned or played Gamma World. In X-Men mythology there are hundreds of mutants who don’t have powers but just look weird or grotesque. The Morlocks come to mind.
I’d personally vote for a mix of useful and weird.