Re: [BNW] Various

[Mark Kilfoil <kilfoilm@nbnet.nb.ca>]

PEGMatt@aol.com wrote:
> As for the power packages:
> 
> I certainly wouldn't mind a better name for them. All suggestions 
> will be entertained.

Can depend entirely on the "explanation" behind the superpowers --
both "real" and "imagined".  I.e. if people "believe" the powers
to come from one place, they will name them after it, whether or not
it *actually* comes from it..

So, if there is a DNA explanation, you already have several 
suggestions:  strands, coils, links, chains, etc.

If they all are believed to stem from a single point, they could
be "power branches" -- another thing which can suggest change over
time, evolution, variation, etc.   (I.e. further down the branch.)

If the book's perspective is the categorizing govt, consider something
along those lines:  categories, sections, files, as in "category 9
powers", "section A", "File 42"...  Or classes, or some Latin-y 
terms..

Or maybe an acronym?  SNA's (s-n-ays) [Super-Normal Abilities], 
Extra-Normal Facilities (XFAC..  XFACtors?)...

You already have a term, right?  "Deltas", I think you called them..
You could consider using Greek letters, but that would get confusing..

But "Delta strands" sounds interesting...  Suggests that you "weave"
a superhero by taking a "normal" and mixing in some "Delta strands"...

Or "Delta factors"..

Just some ideas...
 
> I'm pretty set on using the power packages. This is not a game in 
> which any kind of hero fits in. There's a distinct power level for 
> one. Also, certain kinds of heroes just don't fit the theme well and 
> can alter the game substantially.

The trouble mostly stems from the term "superhero game"...  I think
most of us immediately associate the term with open, four-colour,
wide systems without much background.  What you are suggesting is 
more in line with more modern games, where the characters are natural
outgrowths of a larger story, generally both empowered and engrossed
within it.  The types of characters are a direct result of the genre,
*especially* those with supernormal abilities.

At least, that's what I'm perceiving...  ;)  S'cool, sounds 
interesting, and I'm probably going to pick it up anyway..

> Personally, I find systems that require me to spend hours on 
> character creation a bore. I don't see the power package system as
> limiting. I see it as saving me and my Narrator hours of work on
> balancing a hero and making sure he fits in with the setting. The 
> idea here is that the work's been done. It's just that we've done it 
> for you ahead of time.

Actually, it is not the process of making characters that I find
boring, and I most certainly have spent hours making a *character*...

But hours spent basically balancing numbers through complex number-
associations (formulas) is a bit tiresome.

The key to the packages thing, though, is to make sure there is 
enough choice so that character A and B can be similar but not the
same.

But, I suspect you know all this, anyway.. ;)

> True, that's not going to satisfy those players that like to tinker 
> with rules, but hey, you guys aren't going to stick to power packages
> anyhow are you? You're going to come up with your own, and that's 
> fine. In fact, it's great. Come up with new ones and send them in. 
> We can always use more ideas. ;

Once the game is out, you likely will...  But the genre must be 
detailed enough that people have some idea what "fits" and what
doesn't...  Another thing I don't have to tell you, I suspect...

> Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for listening! ;)

MK
-- 
the encaffeinated ONE -- LIVE! from minbar!
Mark K.  <kilfoilm@nbnet.nb.ca>