Overcoming your Weakness??

[Demongg]

Question:

If I've listed a weakness for my character and spent the 10 power points, should I be able to do things in-game to overcome my weakness?

For example:
If you're playing Superman, what should it take to be able to slip on your iron suit to protect yourself from a Kryptonite weilding villain?

another...
My character "Metro" has a Vulnerability and Susceptibility to going out of connection with the city.... but the villain's big bad bomb is 2 miles under the city and in danger of Metro not being able to get there...



If YOU were GMing the situation - is there a fair and reasonable thing that you would allow for the player to overcome their weakness for a short time?

Should they lose 10 points somewhere coming up with a reason to overcome the weakness?
Should they spend a Hero Point to find a short term way?


Weaknesses are FUN to enjoy - but sometimes you need to figure out a way around them to fight for freedom...

any thoughts?
-kev-

[palehorse]

Generally I try to find the most comic-booky solution...

That is, the first time it comes up in a given story, the characters' weakness allows them to get their butt kicked, or at the very least for the bad guy to get away scott free.

Then, when they meet up again, the hero knows what's coming and can take precautions, allowing them to save the day.

No hero point cost or anything like that... just whatever suits the story.

[Demongg]

Generally I try to find the most comic-booky solution...

That is, the first time it comes up in a given story, the characters' weakness allows them to get their butt kicked, or at the very least for the bad guy to get away scott free.

Then, when they meet up again, the hero knows what's coming and can take precautions, allowing them to save the day.

No hero point cost or anything like that... just whatever suits the story.

that's a good general approach... BUT since the d20 system is pretty structured with rules and points, and you DO get 10 extra points for those weaknesses I'd think there should be SOME sort of give/take.

if you can drop your weakness with little to no cost I think it takes away from your idea and turns the game balance a little...

thoughts?
-kev-

[Bailywolf]

In my mind, this is what hero points were made for. You can come up with some way of overcoming your weakness temporarily (supes in his lead lined suit for example) and you spend that hero point- for a time anyway, you'll be able to over come your weakness... but as Supes often finds, that lead lined suit is fairly easy to destroy...


For a city-linked character like DocM or your guy, perhaps he needs to take a little piece of the city with him when he goes... a fist-sized fragment of masonry for example. It won't sustain him for long... and it can be targeted and destroyed in combat... but when you have to get to that bomb, its the only lifeline you have. So you grap that little talisman of your City, spend a Hero Point, and hope the Citysmasher's bomb is closer to the surface than you fear.

-B

[DrObvious]

I would go with exacly what Bailwolf said about the Hero Points.

He also illuded to, but did not come right out and say, you need to have both and IC and OOC expliantion of why it works. OOC is of course the hero point, IC will be differnent to each situation.

[Bailywolf]

Spot on.

The IC explination can vary fairly wildly. A character like the Hulk who transforms into a big stupid smashing machine when pissed off might be required to make some kind of extreme effort of will to resist the change (a dramatic thing, full of fist clinching and shaking, which renders the character incapeable of other action until the moment of chrisis has passed).

[Steve Kenson]

FWIW, I agree with Bailywolf that Hero Points are a useful tool when it comes to overcoming weaknesses in suitably dramatic situations. Consider it a specialized use of the Inspired Editing option, subject to the GM's descretion.

For example, Superman's player, confronted with the chunk of kyptonite asks "Can I spend a Hero Point for one of the ancient jars in the museum to be made out of lead?" The GM considers and says, "Sure, but you've got to figure out how to get the kyrptonite into it."

[SmokestackJones]

Hey there,

I gotta go with the Hero Point idea. After all, that's what they're there for: so you can go beyond yourself, go the extra mile. That's what makes a hero.

-SJ

[palehorse]

Whatever works for ya!

My group has a couple of notoriously unlucky dicers, so I'd rather they keep their HP's for rerolls and the like, and handle something like this from a pure storytelling perspective, but thats just me.

[Demongg]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
Turns out spending the Hero Point with In/Out of Character reasons was exactly what we did.

My character (METRO - the Batman Beyond like legacy to Dr. Metropolis from our most EXCELLENT "Beyond Freedom" game setting) was faced with needing to confront the villains in their lair over 2 miles beneath Liberty Park..... so far under the city he would have no protection from his vulnerability - but he HAD to go, for the fate of the world!

So - he called to the city and formed a huge Iron Monger like armored suit with cords and wires (al la Dark Knight Returns) trailing behind.
I spent the HP and our GM told me the powers that he just couldn't see me using in the suit (like City Control area effect), I agreed and went into the darkness - my "Rural Suit" with a Yield Sign on my chest, a traffic light sprouting out of my helmet to light my way... and my cables crawled along the floor ahead into the layer to allow for "Transferring" (Teleportation al la Tron download style)...

it was fun... I can't wait to draw an image for it.
If you're interested in my character sheet look for Metro at:


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sensation ... ays/files/

FWIW, I agree with Bailywolf that Hero Points are a useful tool when it comes to overcoming weaknesses in suitably dramatic situations. Consider it a specialized use of the Inspired Editing option, subject to the GM's descretion.

I completely agree.... I think however that this being a d20 game (and therefor a little tactical with rules) some folks forget about using them for Inspired Editing alot.
Since there's no real game hard rule - some just don't jive with it... I'm NOT one of them.

again - thanks.
-kev-