(Another) World of Superhumans

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The majority of teens who awaken during a fight will probably develop Melee Attacks rather than laser eye beams, and they will probably be desiring to end the fight rather than to end the person (most fights are not to the death or else homicide figures would be higher).

Do subconscious desires count? How about people who don't realize what they want would [i]of course[i] kill a person? Then there's the people who certainly do want to kill, or just don't care if they kill but fear the consequences of doing so, and thus reign it it. It has been almost 25 years since I was a 15-year-old, but not thinking things through and disproportionate responses were a common thing. Maybe my generation were abnormal, but not from what I've seen (both before and after us). ;)

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Crushing Attack 15d (Double Knockback, +20%; Melee, C, Dual, -20%; No Blunt Trauma, -20%; No Wounding, -50%; Super, -10%) [15] would be enough to end the vast majority of fights that teens would find themselves in (it would cause an average of 13 yards of knockback to the average teen that it hit, ending most fights in one punch). Therefore, the vast majority of people who manifest during an adolescent fight would be Class I (and the Super template would have much more impact on their lives than their abilities).

...or they manifest a "cool move" they saw in a movie, read in a book, etc. without worrying or understanding the consequences. This world may evolve into a heavily censored one, whether enforced from without or just because no one can afford their works being tied into a violent manifestation of someone's power.

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The same applies to a person who manifests to survive the wilderness. DR 6 (Super, -10%; Tough Skin, -40%) [15], Nictitating Membrane 6 (Super, -10%) [6], and Temperature Tolerance 6 [6] is only 27 CP, so we are talking about a Class I super. People who are triggered by small dreams or everyday threats will usually be lower class supers, and it will be being a super that will matter more than their super abilities. The Class IIs and above just have larger dreams or face more challenging threats during their awakening.

Why is the person manifesting in the wild any less likely to have a creative thought or strong desire? Why is the person trying to make it in the city not similarly simple in nature? If it is a matter of what they've been exposed to for "inspiration"... nature's full of that. Daydreamers are daydreamers, and one of those odd quirks of life is that daydreaming can sometimes get you killed for not paying attention, sometimes keep you alive because it distracts you from the horrors or the monotony of daily living.

One's inherent potential should probably still be a factor in how powers manifest. You'll still need the drive or desire to fully tap into that potential, and some level of personal creativity can be powerful, but to justify creative power builds as opposed to justifying a high CP allowance. If we make it only about "desire", which can be spurred on by actual need, there's a fair argument that rural supers are going to have the best manifestations. Might be my personal bias, but those not living in tone just strike me as having more survival challenges yet also probably having more time to daydream.

I was originally going to just go on at length about it, but I'll keep it short; think of all the myths and legends that arose in societies where most folks were hunters, gatherers, or even just farmers. I see no reason why a 15-year-old living in the woods is going to be a Class I and not a Class IV "nature god", than that same person raised in town is going to be Superman and not just that guy who is tougher and never seems to need a coat... I do see a lot of hardworking but bored farm kids coming up with creative daydreams about how they'd accomplish their chores or field work. Innate Attacks modified to attack large areas just for plowing fields or harvesting crops. XD

[Aldric]

I think existing supers would greatly influence the kind of powers that are developed if they depend only on the state of mind of the person that's awakening and their wishes.

Also, while we have most fights ending up with bruises and stuff like that, I think it's because normal people have only their fists to rely on, I wonder what would happen if they all had assault rifles and grenades...

[transmetahuman]

I have trouble with the whole premise that most people have "small dreams". They live in a world where miraculous superpowers exist, in a higher proportion of the population than some minorites. People are only maybe two to four times more likely to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual (except in Russia, of course, where there are no gays or bis ��).

Even the laziest and least ambitious will have imagined what kinds of powers they might some day have. After genetic testing is a thing, maybe the people without the potential might resign themselves to mundanity (I personally doubt that; hope springs eternal), but that just ensures that the kids who do test positive will definitely be dreaming of their super life. No kid is going to grow up thinking "some day, I'll be able to clean toilets instantly!". I understand that the circumstances of the manifestation may limit or alter the details to something relevant, but I would imagine kids (unlikely to be certain of what what they want to be when they grow up) will grow up dreaming of the most versatile powers they can imagine.

Edit: wrote that before I saw Otaku's post, so hopefully mine is more than an "Agreed!".

[David Johnston2]

In the Wild Cards setting if your "dreams" are too big for your starting potential to manifest...well that's where you get dead people and people more handicapped than endowed by their incomplete transformation.

[transmetahuman]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

In the Wild Cards setting if your "dreams" are too big for your starting potential to manifest...well that's where you get dead people and people more handicapped than endowed by their incomplete transformation.

I've never read anything about that correlation in the books (though I'm behind on my reading of the latest books and especially of the shorts). As far as I know current theory believes it's more about dark, murky, and/or conflicting subconscious impulses and pure randomness. Never heard anything about dreams being "too big". Certainly plausible though. Do you have a reference?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by transmetahuman

I've never read anything about that correlation in the books (though I'm behind on my reading of the latest books and especially of the shorts). As far as I know current theory believes it's more about dark, murky, and/or conflicting subconscious impulses and pure randomness. Never heard anything about dreams being "too big". Certainly plausible though. Do you have a reference?

Hunh. Maybe I'm just confusing my interpretation with something that was actually established.

[AlexanderHowl]

In my opinion, greater powers come from larger dreams or larger threats, as long as the individual possesses two copies of the recessive gene and iss exposed to (or born to someone who was exposed to) to the triggering insecticide. Since it took until the 1990s to determine the genetic component and the 2000s to determine the triggering chemical, people would still be trying to figure out the exact mechanics of the initial abilities. It is likely that people would accept large threat = large powers before they accept large dreams = large powers.

Honestly, in my experience, most people have small dreams, especially when they are adolescents. They want to be popular, they want a boy/girlfriend, they want more money, they want to do better at school, they want a car, etc., most of which can be satisfied with being a Class I super. When I have asked people what super powers they would want, they generally want flight, invisibility, healing, animal communication, etc., most of which could also be satisfied with being a Class I super.

Let us take flight for example. The average Class I with Flight (Super, -10%) [36] and Enhanced Movement 2 (Air; Super, -10%) [36] is capable of flying at 48 yards per turn (96 mph). While they are only as fast as a slowest airplanes, that is probably more than enough for most people, as they will be faster than any bird at level flight. The fact that they can swim at 24 yards per turn (48 mph) is just an added bonus.

[AlexanderHowl]

Another example of a Class I dream:

Ally (Car; 150%; Constant; Minion, IQ 0, +0%; Summonable, +100%; Super, -10%) [76]. Notes: The character summons a car from their deepest dreams. They are capable of summoning and dismissing a car with just a turn of concentration.

[Aldric]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Another example of a Class I dream:

Ally (Car; 150%; Constant; Minion, IQ 0, +0%; Summonable, +100%; Super, -10%) [76]. Notes: The character summons a car from their deepest dreams. They are capable of summoning and dismissing a car with just a turn of concentration.

Only if developed after '84. Otherwise summoning takes about 5-10 mins and the car has "Taxi" written on it. But if you get it right, you also get the driver, and his name is Chuck.

[AlexanderHowl]

Another ability: Ally (Chuck; 100%; Constant; Minion, +50%; Summonable, +100%; Super, -10%) [48]. Notes: The character summons Chuck, an archetypal taxi cab driver who offers useful advice, transportation, and an extra gun.