Basic Action Super Heroes!

Ever since I've recently been doing a lot of conversions here, the subject of Power Stunts (and Power Tricks) has come up several times. So I decided to post a thread to air them all. (And yes I know at least some of these were asked years ago. Still, a refresher never hurts, especially with all the new material that's come out.)

-Exactly which Powers can be simulated as Stunts or Tricks? It seems you can emulate *anything* as long as you have a Hero Die or Hero point- and that's way too much flexibility. I know the Narrator is supposed to decide on a case-by-case basis, but a guideline of some sort would help.

(My guess: Power Stunts should be restricted to other Powers within the same Category or Suite. To compensate, Tricks may be of any kind.)

-At what Intensity do these Powers operate?

(My guess: at the same level as the base Power. This would mean the character is limited to Powers of equal or lesser cost. That encourages character advancement.)

-Can these Powers include modifiers such as Enhancements or Limitations? If so do they affect the Power's level? (my guess is yes and no, respectively.)

-This one is tricky: when converting an existing character, how can you tell if a particular ability is a Power in its own and not a Power Stunt or Trick? Because some characters use the same "stunt" a LOT, often multiple times in the same adventure, so either it's a Power or they have a lot of Hero Dies to spend.

(My personal approach is to treat it like Multipowers- eg. if a character has an ability that he uses a lot while also using other powers, it's probably a Power, but if it's something he keeps in reserve, it's likely a Stunt.)

-Is it still official that only X-Mastery, Gadgeteer and Grimoire can use Power Tricks, or can any Power be used for those now?

Any feedback is appreciated!

I think that less guidance is better. If you make too many rules like "must be same category" you get into situations where classic comic-trope power stunts become impossible (using Super Speed to phase through a wall for instance).

Instead if the Narrator can shoot down ideas that make no sense (I use my Super Speed to read the alien's mind) and encourage players to come up with a reason the power works (I phase through the wall by vibrating my molecules so fast they become incorporeal).

My answers aren't official, but here goes.

Sijo wrote:
-Exactly which Powers can be simulated as Stunts or Tricks?

It depends on the character concept. A Green Lantern "do anything" power is a lot more versatile than Cyclops' eye beams.

Sijo wrote: -At what Intensity do these Powers operate?

(My guess: at the same level as the base Power. This would mean the character is limited to Powers of equal or lesser cost. That encourages character advancement.)

That's my assumption.

Sijo wrote: -Can these Powers include modifiers such as Enhancements or Limitations? If so do they affect the Power's level? (my guess is yes and no, respectively.)

I don't recall this coming up in my game. You can gain an enhancement by pushing yourself.

Sijo wrote: -Is it still official that only X-Mastery, Gadgeteer and Grimoire can use Power Tricks, or can any Power be used for those now?

My understanding is that Tricks only work with those things you listed.

Hey, I welcome all comments, official or not, so Thanks!

Personally, I like things straightened out beforehand; I mean sure there have to be cases where the Narrator has to make in-game calls, but those tend to slow down things, so the less frequent the better.

And btw, the Flash's vibrations never quite sat well with me. Things like running over water? Perfectly acceptable, that's applied physics. But how does he control his molecular vibrations? That's *not* a physical human ability he could have just accelerated! (I suspect they came up with the pseudoscientific Speed Force just to explain such stunts.)

By its very nature comic book superheroes don't make sense. Trying to apply logic to it all will just give you headaches and make appreciating the genre even harder.

I disagree. It's like Fantasy: it's not real, but it must have some rules even if only made up ones, AND stick to them for consistency. As logical creatures, we need them to relate to the story. (Of course this doesn't apply to all genres, in fact doing senseless things is exactly what cartoons like Looney Tunes are all about- but most superheroes aren't like that.)