[Powers] Randomized Modular Abilities

[Prince Charon]

Occasionally in fiction you'll see a character who controls when they switch powers (or temporarily gain powers), but has no apparent control over what power or powers they get. The classic example from DC comics is Robby Reed, and other users of the H-Dial, but I'm sure I've seen some non-Gadget-based versions as well - one possible example is Schmendrick the Magician, from The Last Unicorn (based on the novel of the same name), who seems to work best when he lets the magic do as it will; this may be something more like the Whimsy spell from S. John Ross, though.

The simplest way to cover most of these options, IMHO, is Cosmic Modular Abilities with a 'Randomize' limitation, though I'm really not sure how much of a limitation it should be (the old Whimsy as Powers thread had suggestions, but didn't come to a conclusion, and was pretty specific to the Whimsy spell). My current guess is below, but suggestions would be welcome:

'Randomize, -40%
You control when your Modular Abilities activate (switch abilities, or grant abilities if the power is normally dormant), and what the abilities do when you get them, but what abilities you actually get will be determined by the GM, standing in for chance, the gods, or some other entity. If you pull your abilities from a limited list, the dice may usually make that decision, instead. If you also don't control what the abilities do when activated (like poor Schmendrick, and other Whimsy spell users), that's probably a specific variant on the Uncontrollable limitation, and if you don't control this power at all, add Unconscious Only.'

I vaguely recall a mod saying that if you aren't sure how big a limitation should be, try -40%, so that's what it is at the moment. Not sure how well that works, though.

Thoughts?

[David Johnston2]

All right, here's my thought. Dial H for Hero in it's original and most successful incarnation ran on ideas submitted by the readership who were prepared to do the work for no more acknowledgement than on panel credit and there was a reason for that. The GM is busy enough designing your opponents without having to constantly redesign your character as well. It means he'll have to spend his ideas for new characters on your character.

In order to make something approximating this idea work, you need the Ben 10 approach. A limited selection of options designed by the player but not total control over which of the options come into play.

[Donny Brook]

I could see something like this being linked to Danger Sense, Intuition or Serendipity. On a successful trigger of one of those abilities the GM would give the character an ability that could be applicable to whatever the stimulus is and it would be up to the character to figure out what to do with it.

(BTW, another character from literature with a random power is Croyd Crenson (aka The Sleeper) from the Wild Cards books.)

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

All right, here's my thought. Dial H for Hero in it's original and most successful incarnation ran on ideas submitted by the readership who were prepared to do the work for no more acknowledgement than on panel credit and there was a reason for that. The GM is busy enough designing your opponents without having to constantly redesign your character as well. It means he'll have to spend his ideas for new characters on your character.

In order to make something approximating this idea work, you need the Ben 10 approach. A limited selection of options designed by the player but not total control over which of the options come into play.

To be fair, I was mentioning Dial H purely as an example of the concept, rather than a serious suggestion of it being applied to a game.

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I could see something like this being linked to Danger Sense, Intuition or Serendipity. On a successful trigger of one of those abilities the GM would give the character an ability that could be applicable to whatever the stimulus is and it would be up to the character to figure out what to do with it.

I hadn't considered that, but it's a good idea.

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

(BTW, another character from literature with a random power is Croyd Crenson (aka The Sleeper) from the Wild Cards books.)

It's been a rather long time since I read Wild Cards, so that's probably why I forgot about him (or never read the books he was in, if he wasn't in many).

[Varyon]

Eidolon from the Worm web serial worked like this, with some twists because that's how Wildbow rolls. He had three random powers at a time, and he could swap them out for other random powers - but for a while after a swap, any new powers would be markedly weaker than their full potential, building up slowly.

As others have noted, something like this is probably going to work out best if you have a pre-existing list of powers - like the spells from Sorcery - to choose from, rather than needing to build them on-the-spot. Honestly, this feels more like a job for Alternate Abilities than for Modular Abilities; not having control over exactly which power you end up with may be appropriate to increase the Modular Abilities discount by around 10%. So, let's say you have 6 abilities that are each worth [50], and it's random which you'll get when you swap them out. Simply having those 6 powers would cost [300], while having them as alternate abilities (with only one available at a time) would cost [100], a savings of [-200]. Randomizing which you get would boost this by +10%, for a savings of [-220], reducing end cost to [80]. You'd need some minimum number of abilities to qualify for the discount - I'd suggest 6, such that you can simply roll a dice to see which ability you end up with (indeed, I'd recommend sticking to a number that can readily be reached with a dice roll or two; using nonstandard dice can also be useful). Arguably, having a lot of abilities might justify a larger discount, but I'd caution against going up to +50%, as at that point you're basically only paying for one ability and getting all the others for free.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

In order to make something approximating this idea work, you need the Ben 10 approach. A limited selection of options designed by the player but not total control over which of the options come into play.

That's an important point. The value of the Random limitation might need to be adjusted by your chances of getting a useful option, even if it's not your preferred option.

For a character with randomized powers, the player and the GM need to collaborate to come up with a list of powers and a fair way to determine which power you get.

If possible, the player should be the one rolling the dice to see what power they get, both because it's more fun for the player and saves time for the GM.