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Gnoman
2017-12-25, 06:19 PM
In a campaign I'm running, the initial villainous force is a cult centering around a "natural" magic user that is using his power to "gift" malleable disciples with powers of their own. At this stage, I want the powers in question to be quite limited, and generally quite "immature" or "crude", as the form it manifests in is directly related to the user's psyche. I'm also not looking for actual rules information (I'll work that out myself), just the general concept.


So far, I have two, possibly three. I'm hoping for a total of twelve (as the cult leader set that as his goal), but I may or may not actually need that many.


The two I have are:

A neglected girl who's used certain forms of action movies as an escape from dull reality. Her powers are great speed, and an extremely limited ability to transmute - this latter power can only be used to create her favored weapon and costume (a katana and a billowing white dress) from any sufficient quantity of metal/cloth.

A long-bullied boy that has long suppressed his emotions. His power is to inflict emotions on others - this can only be used for a small number of emotions, has all the subtlety of a kick to the crotch, and the effects can easily be distinguished (after the fact) from natural ones if there is reason to suspect the possibility.

The one I'm not sure of is:

An -unknown backstory- that can pump raw magical energy into objects, crafting very short-lived single-use magical items. This power is iffy because I haven't come up with a suitable backstory for it, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to set the "tone" to match the group.


Any ideas?

Berenger
2017-12-25, 07:26 PM
An -unknown backstory- that can pump raw magical energy into objects, crafting very short-lived single-use magical items. This power is iffy because I haven't come up with a suitable backstory for it, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to set the "tone" to match the group.

Shy nerd that got ridiculed at every science fair because his soda volcano / robot dog / death ray / whatever just wouldn't work (due to sabotage or ineptitude). His magic fakes basic physical / chemical / electrical effects common in such experiments.

Gnoman
2017-12-25, 07:41 PM
So he can manipulate the basic elements, but can't do much more than basic blasting with them? That could work quite well, especially if I make them fairly low-powered.

SomeNerd
2017-12-26, 01:16 AM
For the enchanter, I would have gone with something like...

A young, mute girl who has difficulty relating to others, due to an inability to communicate, and the fact that others mock her for her condition. Her only outlet is sculpting imaginary creatures from her dreams out of clay. She can 'animate' anything she's made with her own two hands, but only for a limited time, and it runs off her own subconscious instead of actually being alive.

Or that could be an entirely different character, whichever.

Some other possible ideas for powers:

A woman (or teen, if you don't want any adults) who has been through a string of abusive relationships. She has a passive ability to make people around her like her, and to make them disinclined to harm her.

A formerly religious boy, who lost his faith after his parents died in a car crash. He regained it, in a way, when he got these powers... they let him pray to... something. It's not entirely clear what actually /is/ answering him, but whatever it is, it definitely isn't god... Up to you whether it's his subconscious, some kind of cthonic entity, or whatever. To be clear, whatever it is, he can only talk to it, not draw on its power.

A boy broken out from a mental facility specifically to be granted his powers. The boy is violent and half-feral, with a tendency to scratch and bite... his powers grant him a more bestial body, and let him regenerate by eating meat of any sort.

And if you want one of the disciples to be a 'traitor', then... a young child who was already raised within a cult, but escaped from it, only to find that everything he was told about the world was false... he's gained the power to see through lies and deception.

Gnoman
2017-12-26, 03:54 PM
For the enchanter, I would have gone with something like...

A young, mute girl who has difficulty relating to others, due to an inability to communicate, and the fact that others mock her for her condition. Her only outlet is sculpting imaginary creatures from her dreams out of clay. She can 'animate' anything she's made with her own two hands, but only for a limited time, and it runs off her own subconscious instead of actually being alive.

Or that could be an entirely different character, whichever.

Doesn't fit the powerset I had in mind, but a fantastic concept. Not sure she'd fit in this specific group, but even if she doesn't I'll probably find a place for her.



A woman (or teen, if you don't want any adults) who has been through a string of abusive relationships. She has a passive ability to make people around her like her, and to make them disinclined to harm her.

Not quite there, but she's something I could build off of. Not a bad idea.



A formerly religious boy, who lost his faith after his parents died in a car crash. He regained it, in a way, when he got these powers... they let him pray to... something. It's not entirely clear what actually /is/ answering him, but whatever it is, it definitely isn't god... Up to you whether it's his subconscious, some kind of cthonic entity, or whatever. To be clear, whatever it is, he can only talk to it, not draw on its power.

That's not too far off from the cult leader.



A boy broken out from a mental facility specifically to be granted his powers. The boy is violent and half-feral, with a tendency to scratch and bite... his powers grant him a more bestial body, and let him regenerate by eating meat of any sort.

Backstory doesn't work (due to the exact nature of the cult), but I can work with the pseudo-lycanthropy powerset.



And if you want one of the disciples to be a 'traitor', then... a young child who was already raised within a cult, but escaped from it, only to find that everything he was told about the world was false... he's gained the power to see through lies and deception.

This one I can't use. Won't work in this group.

That gives me 6, which is a great leg up from where I was before.

Vogie
2017-12-29, 10:55 AM
More ideas: My World Needs Superhumans (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?522804-My-World-Needs-Superhumans) thread from the worldbuilding forum.



An -unknown backstory- that can pump raw magical energy into objects, crafting very short-lived single-use magical items. This power is iffy because I haven't come up with a suitable backstory for it, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to set the "tone" to match the group.


I think if you make the specific objects more niche, or defined in some way, it'll help set the tone. The way you have it described now, this character could be anything from Gambit to the All-Spark. Some ideas to make it more defined:

giving life to toys. It could be toys in general, a la Toyman, or a specific subset - Selfassembling erector sets, animated green army men, ability to manipulate legos in a matter similar to the microbots from Big Hero 6
giving objects a levitation floating property (starts small, eventually can create floating disks, then flying broomsticks, et cetera)
Locking the power into only being able to pump power into a specific type or material of object - Wood, concrete, glass, sand, dirt, plastic, water, ice. Each of those will have a distinct playstyle, strengths & weaknesses. A Concrete-mancer would be terrifying in a city, but useless in a rural setting, while a wood-manipulator would likely have the opposite strength.
Limiting where the character receives their power - Making them Solar power or Lunar power based will give a traditional wax/wane of power. You could also have them tap into emotional energy (requiring crowds or strong emotions), their own personal power (potentially exhausting them if they use too much), or a type of power that they don't totally understand (for example, if they're energized by UV light, the character may THINK they're solar powered... then can later discover they get energized around blacklights)

Jonagel
2017-12-31, 10:17 AM
Basic Ideas that may help, but definitely need fleshing out:

- Either someone ridiculed for their height (being too short), or actual midget ridiculed for size/height? Has the ability to change size (whether smaller, bigger, or both up to you)?

- A child who was ignored by his parents/care takers as they were distracted by games/TV/electronics etc. and now has the ability to do localized/targeted EMP bursts?

- A kid raised with the family dogs, or maybe attacked by dogs as a kid, and now has the ability to maybe (1) send people into something like a barbarian rage or (2) some feral abilities like previously suggested?

Good luck!