[Supers] Warp affliction: exoteleport and naked

[Mark Skarr]

The value of the Naked modifier really depends on what the effect would be for other players/enemies. In some parties, it would be more of a problem than others. Take our Teen Supers teams:

The original Teen Supers team consisted of Alice, Freddie, Johnny, Ray, Savannah, and Trixie.

If this power was used against them, only Ray and Trixie would, really, be affected. Ray used a “proton pack” that housed his powers and Trixie (aside from being deathly embarrassed by being naked) has many of her powers as spells from her Grimoire.

Alice, an illusionist, was usually naked anyway, having illusory clothes from her power (or just invisible). Savannah, being a shape-shifter, was usually naked as her animal forms don’t wear clothes (and she had absorptive change, anyway). Freddie, being nuts, didn’t really mind. He was immune to his own fire powers, but, his clothes, sadly were not. Johnny tended to wind up naked as his absorption saw him standing in Freddie’s fire field so he could keep taking minor damage to keep his fatigue battery charged while his clothes burned off.

So, two members of the party wouldn’t be phased by this ability in the slightest (Alice and Savannah). Two of them would have modesty issues (Freddy and Johnny), and the last two would be completely useless after the port (Ray and Trixie).

When Alice was comatose, and Toni took her place, she would have been crippled by the port, literally. While her powers required her emitters to focus the warp would “steal” her powers. But, requiring her back and leg braces to move, would render her more than useless as other party members would have been required to carry and assist her until they could get her back in her braces.

When Bobby joined, he, like Trixie, would have been embarrassed about being naked, but, as a big bag of hit points, wouldn’t have been otherwise affected.

The current Teen supers team (currently trying to find out what happened to the previous teens) consists of Angel, Duke, Matt, Rio, Teo and Terry.

Matt, being a shape-shifter, like Savannah, would have no problems. Rio has the ability to summon her costume to her, so, she’d be naked for a turn, but, would then have her modesty back (and her defensive powers). Angel and Teo would be embarrassed, but, unaffected (though people would wonder where Teo was pulling his bags of medicine from).

Duke wouldn’t lose his probability powers, but, he’d lose his body armor and all his weapons. Which would put him at a serious disadvantage. Terry, a battlesuit super like Iron Man, would be helpless . . . unless it was a robot, where his touch-range machine telepathy might help him.

All-in-all, the Naked modifier would still be a limitation for both teams. Only Alice, Matt, Rio and Savannah wouldn’t be seriously affected, so long as they were being supers. Alice would suffer the least, but, it would still cause her to “lose” her backpack, and thus her phone and other mundane objects.

Against the foes that the Teen Supers dealt with, when it was thugs and cultists, sure, the port would have Nerfed them, taking away their armor and weapons. But, against the more . . . unnatural enemies, it would have been an inconvenience at worst for them. Many of them would have had the ability to just resist it, and more than a couple would have had the ability to reverse it back on the user (or redirect it to a different target, curse you Rubberman!).

I, definitely, see that Naked, on the Warp Affliction is still a very valid limitation. Unless your friends have the ability to summon their costumes, or similar, you could only use it to send them somewhere safe. Not public, lest they want to get arrested. And imagine the ramifications if you used it on a bystander to get them out of the way . . . whew.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

And imagine the ramifications if you used it on a bystander to get them out of the way . . . whew.

It's awkward to save one person, let alone a few. A mother holding her baby would be problematic, because who do you port first? If you're strong enough to teleport a bus-full of people, you could save them all, but then suddenly they all find themselves in an awkward situation...

And all of this isn't even taking into account of transporting objects themselves. Objects with Payload (Suitcase, Pillow, etc) are safe, but other things will be inconvenient (books lose covers, beds show up without blankets or pillows, decorations are lost from christmas trees, etc.)

Oh, and lastly, certain enemies (think DBZ) wear clothes or armor that intentionally restricts them. Teleporting your enemy suddenly makes them better.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

It's awkward to save one person, let alone a few. A mother holding her baby would be problematic, because who do you port first? If you're strong enough to teleport a bus-full of people, you could save them all, but then suddenly they all find themselves in an awkward situation...

And all of this isn't even taking into account of transporting objects themselves. .

Actually the issue of transporting objects probably is a reason why you don't want to allow the Nude limitation. Instead go with something like "flesh only".

[Jariel]

The easiest thing to do is use Cosmic +50% (targets are nude upon arrival) since it's is an advantage for the character to strip enemies of their gear. Personally this seems like an excellent alternative ability for the Exoteleport power and you might want to discuss this with the player. Another thing to discuss is how others will react to the super using this ability. You could use it to strip an enemy of gear, but since it also takes their clothes this becomes an issue especially when used in public against female villains. Using this ability too often can easily lead to new enemies and a bad reputation amongst allies. That's why I suggested using Cosmic since you can alter the power to only strip away enemies gear and leave their normal clothes, i.e. Cosmic +50% (removes targets gear, but leaves clothing intact)

[Anthony]

Based on the various disabling conditions, an affliction that simply removed gear (without any other teleport effects) would likely be in the +100% range (on affliction); given that teleport other (naked) is still +700%, it's not a big abuse here.

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

To me, it’s still a limitation, as it limits the use of the ability. The fact that it can be used as an effective Nerf bat against gadgeteers/battesuits is not as useful as the inability to teleport someone with anything else useful.

For me the problem with this approach is that PCs are build by players, usually for a role/job. It would not be bought by the party teleporter - it would by bought by the anti-battlesuit guy, possibly together with other limitations chosen specifically for that role/job. At least often this "limitation" will be used by PCs for whom it is no limitation at all.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Jariel

You could use it to strip an enemy of gear, but since it also takes their clothes this becomes an issue especially when used in public against female villains.

Setting aside questions of sexual assault by people who are clearly horrible anyways, naked women mostly face a lot of social repercussions in Western countries. Naked men, in the wrong context, are regarded as pretty dang threatening. In a conflict with the police, not having pants on tends to make things worse for you, and you really really don't want to end up near e.g. childrens playgrounds, schoolyards.

Being naked in an inappropriate context for either gender makes you look crazy, and being a crazy-looking supervillain is going to escalate the situation.

[Not another shrubbery]

Naked is a limitation on vanilla Warp because it is removing part of the functionality of the advantage (the intrinsic ability to carry stuff). Obviously, this is not a limitation when Warp is used as an attack by making it an Affliction, since separating enemies from their equipment will almost never be a bad thing. If someone wanted Exoteleport to use solely as an attack, then Naked becomes effectively an Enhancement, as teleporting an enemy away and leaving all their stuff behind is worse for them than getting to keep their stuff with them. If they just wanted it to move their allies around, I'd say to buy it as a beneficial Affliction, which would be just as limited by Naked as regular Warp. If they want the flexibility implied by a standard Affliction build, it is probably safe to treat Naked as a feature level (+0%) modifier.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

For me the problem with this approach is that PCs are build by players, usually for a role/job. It would not be bought by the party teleporter - it would by bought by the anti-battlesuit guy, possibly together with other limitations chosen specifically for that role/job. At least often this "limitation" will be used by PCs for whom it is no limitation at all.

If the GM isn't vetting the characters to ensure that they fit within the game they are running, then the GM isn't doing their job correctly. This isn't a fault of the system, but of the GM.

If the power is created with the Accessibility Limitation of "only against foes," then "Naked" should be an enhancement. If it lacks that Accessibility, then, it's always a Limitation.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Naked is a limitation on vanilla Warp because it is removing part of the functionality of the advantage (the intrinsic ability to carry stuff). Obviously, this is not a limitation when Warp is used as an attack by making it an Affliction, since separating enemies from their equipment will almost never be a bad thing.

Again, this only applies if the attack can only be used against enemies. If you can use it on team members or innocent bystanders, then it remains a limitation because it is limiting the use and limiting your options for using it.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

If someone wanted Exoteleport to use solely as an attack, then Naked becomes effectively an Enhancement, as teleporting an enemy away and leaving all their stuff behind is worse for them than getting to keep their stuff with them.

In a general sense, I agree. But this only applies if the ability can only be used against foes. The moment it can be used against anyone (even as an attack), Naked becomes a Limitation.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

If they just wanted it to move their allies around, I'd say to buy it as a beneficial Affliction, which would be just as limited by Naked as regular Warp. If they want the flexibility implied by a standard Affliction build, it is probably safe to treat Naked as a feature level (+0%) modifier.

I completely disagree. There is never a point when "Naked" would be a +0% modifier. It would be an Enhancement if it can only be used against enemies, and a Limitation any other time. The fact that it can be used to strip a certain type of enemy of their abilities is far less relevant then the ability to send anyone away from you.

That you would not want to use it to protect someone due to potential societal repercussions is worthy of a hefty limitation. As Bruno pointed out, being naked in public doesn't tend to go well for you. Even a well-intentioned hero who teleported a by-stander away with this power would probably be sued for sexual harassment and would stand to gain a negative reputation for the ability.

[ericthered]

On the other hand, export costs so much because teleport is considered a beneficial affliction, not an aggressive one. Yes, it can be used aggressively, but compare it to heart attack, coma, or flesh to stone, which will cost less than a "stripping" teleport.