Hello everyone,
tonight I’ll run my first session of WiP. I’ll be the EIC and I have a few questions.
1) I am not sure how “Ease of Fitting In” is determined. Basically I am not sure how the table at p. 89 is supposed to be used. I can think of two possible scenarios:
– once the player has decided the powers of his/her character, we determine how difficult it is for the character to fit in (keeping in mind that the more powerful the character is, the harder it is for them to fit in); the decision is taken asking questions, following common sense, and taking into account limitations and drawbacks. Once we have determined the level of ease of fitting in (Occasionally difficult, frequently difficult, etc), the player gets a certain number of extra bond points and extra powers.
– the player chooses how many extra bond points (or powers) he/she wants for the character, and the ease of fitting in is determined accordingly.
I’m inclined to follow the first interpretation since it makes the most sense to me, but the book isn’t super clear.
2) I can’t find how to distribute the condition threshold for NPCs between minor, moderate and critical conditions. For example, let’s say my Mastermind has a condition threshold of 3 x [number of heroes]; with four heroes that would be 12. Do I simply “subtract” conditions (1 x minor, 2 x moderate, 3 x critical) from the condition threshold as soon as they are imposed? (e.g. if a hero inflicts a critical condition, the threshold becomes 12-3 = 9)
thanks!
(1) Either, depending on how it works out.
(2) I’m pretty sure there’s no differentiation, and I have done exactly as you suggest: x1, x2, x3. Worked pretty well.
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/sub
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Many thanks for your answer William.
The main problem I have with the first approach in (1) is that it can lead to situations that make no sense to me (fictionally). Let’s take the character Balls of Steel. Balls of Steel has
Power Summary: super strength, flight, can move close to the speed of light, psyonic powers, invulnerability, immortality, teleportation, time travel, can control matter and every form of energy, does not age, can shoot antimatter rays from every part of his body
Power profile
– simple
shrug away any form of physical damage
– difficult
Destroy a city with an antimatter ray
– borderline
teleport instantly everywhere in the universe
– possible
destroy an entire galaxy
– impossible
destroy the entire universe
Now, if we take the second approach in (1), the player could decide that he wants 6 extra Bond Points for Balls of Steel, making fitting in “occasionally difficult” for Balls of Steel.
This disturbs me since it wouldn’t make sense to me that Balls of Steel is “Occasionally difficult” given the scale and magnitude of his powers. I mean: I understand that the player is supposed to be the ultimate authority on his character; so if he imagined the character with strong bonds to people, a family and whatnots, I should take his vision into account. At the same time, I’d expect that someone as powerful as Balls of Steel would find “extremely hard to form lasting relationships”, if they could form relationships at all. It would make more sense to me if the EIC and the player of Balls of Steel had a chat going along like “well, let’s look at the powers of Balls of Steel. Wow, it seems that Balls of Steel has world-shaking powers. How easy it is for him to lead a relatively normal life?” And from there they could choose a “Ease of Fitting In” level that makes fictional sense based on the powers.
It’s not a huge problem, but I was curious how it is “supposed” to work and if I interpreted the rules correctly.
1) it’s exactly like the book says, common sense. Yes, in general more “powerful” heroes will have more trouble forming relationships, but that’s not always the case. For this hypthetical example, i can see the fact that he is simply so powerful affecting his ability to make relationships, but it’s definitely not the most extreme in the world. Think about the difference between Tony Stark and The Hulk, both are very powerful characters, but one isn’t inhibited by his powers at all, while the other can completely lose control of them and isolates himself.
2) The condition threshold is just that, a number of conditions that a character can take before being subject to loss of agency. A critical condition is not 3 conditions, it’s still just one, but it affects an NPC in the fiction much worse, and it will be nearly impossible for them to heal it or shrug it off in battle. It’s up to you to make this “fair”.
As a disclaimer, keep in mind that this is simply my interpetation of the rules (except for the condition threshold part, that is quite clearly stated in the book a multitude of times), and my 2c to try to help – and i do hope it does 🙂