Shadow form

[Solarblast]

This is an email from a player in my BASH game.

"Basically, I want an effect of turning two-dimensional against a surface, with full hovering movement.
Hover is already an ability Blackmore has from previous upgrades. (He uses it to essentially figure-skate into battle over any flat surface.)
I DON'T want to put points into full blown flight as a character-creation preference.

What I'm trying to make could be thought of as a non-hiding-based "shadow form" that can move, and MAYBE conceal when put in a dark spot--but only from a black costume and a roll-by-roll stealth attempt. This is a character who shoots darkness bolts with a damaging weakness to light, after all. He'll prefer things that give an advantage, but has no specific hide-assist powers up to now.
(The invisibility powers tend to assume full blown invisibility in various states of motion. Mundane concealment seems to get left to the stealth skill rolls. I made adjustments accordingly.)

Someone at-table was suggesting teleportation through shadows, but it's not really what I was picturing. I more wanted the ability to flow across a surface as a non-solid, not pop into being wherever convenient. (i.e.: minions would still have a chance to get pretty spooked by this man-shaped thing darting across the floor.)

Another player suggested possible shrinking powers to simulate the two-dimensional it's, but the stat penalties didn't make sense in context.

To break down the thinking behind the particular meld-attempt a little better:

--Ghost form 2 seemed to indicate more of a gaseous form as opposed to the full blown Shadowcat. It seemed the right effect--Intangible, but not fused or permeating a surface. (If the forum disagrees, I can defer to that and kick it up to form three, but passing through objects wasn't the intention, just kind of "melting" across them in a glide.)

--Clinging seemed to work with the "surfaces only" aspect. I just haven't found a lot of ways to get across the idea of two-dimensionality that simultaneously can't be pulled off a surface with a brawn check due to added intangibility.

Problems include the way powers are supposed to be from the same category to be Linked, and these two are not.
Still, Linking seemed the best way to get across the idea that these aren't TWO individual powers that can be used, but one power-effect with functions similar to both clinging and a non-grappling "flowing" form.

Targeting the square seemed to be a logical weakness to add over top of that, since it's not specified in a form with invisibility or other such alterations. Basically, the power depends on an intact surface to project off of? It by no means needs to be a flat surface, though. (Pebbles, rocks, the sides of cars...)

Basically? I want a flat, black shape that's still a fully functioning, reasonably intelligent, condescending party Blaster, who can't fly and doesn't trust daylight or people much.

Attacks that imply an adjacent-square blast (i.e.: the haymaker attack, and most of the high-multiplier abilities) can be something he has to come out of form to do, if that sounds more reasonable as a house rule.

I'm open to suggestions~"

[Sijo]

I'm not sure if this will help, but Awesome Powers #3 introduces the power Transparency, which works (and costs) the same as Invisibility except it's a Bio-Manipulation power (and therefore more like what most people consider invisibility- the original invisibility is a Mental power and therefore more of an illusion.) More importantly, Transparency has an optional Limitation, Translucent: instead of being fully invisible, it just provides penalties to being spotted. You could define your character's power as Transparency 5 with Translucent and define it as "he's hard to notice because he looks like a shadow."

Oh and Ghost Form 1 is a liquid-like form, but again you can define it as a shadow form- unable to pass through solid matter but able to flow over it and through cracks.

[BASHMAN]

Ghost Form 3 with a limitation that it cannot go through any opaque surface. Probably with the Always On limitation.

Also give clinging if the shadow can drift over walls.

I'd also couple this with Invisibility 5, but limited so that a shadow is visible.

I don't think powers need to be in the same category to be linked.