Paper Powers [Powers/Supers]

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I suppose I'd allow {paper's} use as insulation

Appropriate; paper pulp was commonly used as insulation for telephone wiring before plastic was readily available. I don't get the connection between paper and electricity, either.

Nor light. Sure, bleached paper can reflect light, but no better than any other lightly-colored object. It doesn't have a particularly high albedo, and not naturally at that. (The bright white papers get that way not from the paper, but the bleaching and sizing, so any light powers ought to belong to the kaolin or whatever, not the paper.)

You might justify divination powers, either mystically from Tarot (paper cards), the I Ching, etc, or with a more modern spin by having paper that can duplicate the writing from other sheets, making it easy to scry on written information from others.

Straight lift of the "psychic paper" ID/pass/clearance/etc from Doctor Who.

Symbol and rune magic would fit, though I think the source of magic there is usually considered to be the writing and not the substrate. But it's probably close enough for a character concept to say the abilities only work when you draw the appropriate sigils on paper.

[khorboth]

Hmm... I'm not up to fully statting it out right now, but what would a Body of Paper meta-trait look like? something effectively 2d. Some kind of large bonus to stealth, ability to slip through cracks, but only if they are wide enough. Susceptibility to wind and water. Probably homogeneous, but with low overall HP no real DR, but maybe some IT:DR.

This seems like a one-off batman villain with a magical origin. Something Zatana would help him track down.

[lvalero]

Mmmm. What about "Imbuements" to make the sheet of paper a shield (increments DR), a wall (increments HP) or a weapon?

[Edges]

This makes me think of a character who is somehow connected to the cosmic bureaucracy and can perform powers as long as she fills out the proper paperwork.

[Harald387]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

PK Shield with some sort of 'Requires Paper' limitation? Not sure how high of a limitation it would be, but my current guess is -40%.

"Requires Component" is -10%, perhaps -15% for extremely rare, expensive components. (PU8 p.5) Paper is cheap, legal, and plentiful in most settings, so a PK Shield variant that requires paper to work would be -10%.

This is different from 'Telekinesis (Paper Only)' - or even 'Damage Resistance (Only vs. Paper) - which would justify bigger discounts.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Edges

This makes me think of a character who is somehow connected to the cosmic bureaucracy and can perform powers as long as she fills out the proper paperwork.

Sidereal Exalted from the Exalted RPG by White Wolf did exactly this sort of thing, and it was a marvelous, lovely, and baroque system of powers. Well worth a look if you want to do that sort of thing.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by khorboth

what would a Body of Paper meta-trait look like?

Similar in general to Shadow Form, I'd think. Change the damage effects (extra damage from fire, naturally). Trade the sliding up walls for, say, Catfall or perhaps limited Flight or Super Jump (you can flutter gently to the ground should you fall). The restrictions in the third para don't really seem to fit well, so Paper Form would probably cost more, unless we invent something similarly restrictive.

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by Edges

This makes me think of a character who is somehow connected to the cosmic bureaucracy and can perform powers as long as she fills out the proper paperwork.

So a ritual magic with a Very Hard version Administration as it's core skill instead of Ritual Magic or Thaumatology.

[AlexanderHowl]

Well, it depends on what type of Sidereal powers. In short, they can use their native charms, the first level of Necromancy, the first and second levels of Sorcery, all three levels of Supernatural Martial Arts, and Sidereal Astrology. Of the five, Sidereal Astrology is closest to RPM while the rest are more complicated. For example, there is a Sidereal MA attack that can literally kill the creators of Existence, though they leave nasty ghosts.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by lvalero

Mmmm. What about "Imbuements" to make the sheet of paper a shield (increments DR), a wall (increments HP) or a weapon?

That doesn't seem to me to be "paper powers" so much as "powers using paper as a material focus." When I think of spider powers, for example, I think "can do whatever a spider can do," and light powers are "can do things wielding light," and so on.