Question How would you classify 'Supers' from other 'verses?

Whateley Academy got this wonderful classification system for mutant abilities, and it got me thinking. How would abilities from other verses rate in the Whateleyverse? For instance, what would be a Conduit like the ones in Infamous Second Son, or how would an ability like Persona using be rated?

Anyways, why not propose characters, or sorts of powers from other 'verses here, and try to see what ratings they would get?

For example, how would you 'rate' Cole McGrath, or Conduits abilities, or Personas, or Harry Dresden? Or any other characters/set of powers taking your fancy?

^ - We don't even have a rating system for the other types of powers in the WU, I think...

^^... You could classify things by effects, but the MID ratings are for causes... The Syndrome vs Trait thing.

Like, any ShockAndAwe is ShockAndAwe, but how that happens... *shrugs*, but you could call them Energizer-equivalents...

On Dresden Files: I guess you could do something like, "The ability to be a Wiz 5 for 1 minute and then have to rest for a day, or able to be a Wiz 3 for the whole day, but need to sleep to keep going, etc."

Or also stick a training qualifier, like "Harry Dresden is a Master Pyromancer, but a Novice Geomancer", or like "Has the equivalent of 10 years' training..."

Some 'Supers' are easy:



MCO CLASS X TARGET EXTREME MEASURES PRE-AUTHORIZED ARE A REALLY BAD IDEA.

Actually, the Endless aren't class X. They are Class Z. I mean, if Cthulhu is dreaming, he is just a visitor in Morpheus' realm. And when Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath and Yog Sothoth (who might be considered Class Y) finally kick the bucket, Death will be there to guide them wherever they go.

JG wrote: I'd talk about Class Y entities but they ask questions incessantly.

yep they ask Why? Why Why? Why? over and over!

Kristin Darken wrote: One of the more difficult parts of such a comparison lies in the 'relatively' constrained scale of the WU power traits. Add in that the power trait ranking system we do use is specifically designed to explain mutant evolution instead of being a measurement of what those powers can do... so that even within the universe, using the ranks to describe non-mutant paranormals isn't really 'accurate' per se.

Take Dresden-verse wizards for instance - their ability is probably best measured on 3 vectors. Magick strength, Control/Finesse, and Knowledge. The first being a measure of the absolute power available to the wizard (unlike a 'mana' based system, in the Dresden verse this doesn't seem to run out). The second factor is the one impacted by fatigue... the ability to do more than just brute force throw around power, and to continue to throw it around over time. And finally, you can only do what you know how to do and have practiced... random guesswork tends to have bad results even with 'informed' guesses.

That's a very different set of rules than how the Wizard rating system of accelerated Essence replenishment works.


That said... you're welcome to give it a shot. I think you might have better luck trying to compare WU characters/powers with those others via a neutral RPG system (or a unique system that you make up specifically for that purpose) though.

Wouuld there be a RPG system involving supers and/or mutants that you know that could help with it?

(Fun fact: there is a DF RPG, and they manage the wizards' profiency with magic that way, tying it to three different skills.)

Hardric wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote: Take Dresden-verse wizards for instance - their ability is probably best measured on 3 vectors. Magick strength, Control/Finesse, and Knowledge.

...

I think you might have better luck trying to compare WU characters/powers with those others via a neutral RPG system (or a unique system that you make up specifically for that purpose) though.

Wouuld there be a RPG system involving supers and/or mutants that you know that could help with it?

(Fun fact: there is a DF RPG, and they manage the wizards' profiency with magic that way, tying it to three different skills.)

Maybe GURPS, or the Worm system, perhaps? You need something that can handle a lot of powers, and every system of definition is limited, it depends on what you're using the system for??

... That might have been an intentional ref to the DF RPG, if Kirstin has a copy...

Hardric wrote: Would there be a RPG system involving supers and/or mutants that you know that could help with it?

I know I don't really answer your question (because you are not asking about a set of rules for playing but only for comparing characters from multiple universes) but I have always (might be an exageration) thought that a game powered by the Apocalypse system would be the most appropriate system to translate the whateley universe into an actual tabletop game. Those games tend to be light on rules, allowing the focus to be put on the narrative.

Without hacking it to create a specific rule set (which is not a small endeavor), Mask might be the best option.

it is really hard to scale characters in any fictional setting, really. The mutant powers ratings are sort of open-ended after 6, because there just isn't any reasonable way to rate someone like Fey, Tennyo, Imperious, or Okami. They just aren't bound by all of the same rules everyone else are - some of them, yes, but not all.

When I tried to come up with a TTRPG campaign based on WA, I chose Fate System precisely because it doesn't try to put numbers on most of those things except in a very general way, focusing instead on what you can accomplish rather than how you compare (I also was dealing with novice players, and wanted something that wouldn't overwhelm them with minmaxing, but that's not relevant here).

Comparing between worlds is even harder. The part of the rating system for strength that isn't just 'sensors are off the scale, Captain' tops out at around 10 tons for even the strongest PK bricks, which is pretty much where the scale for the Marvel Universe starts - Spiderman, who generally isn't considered to be all that strong compared to most of the other supers, has a dead lift of around 15 tons (why this doesn't tear his mostly-normal tendons and bones apart is better left unasked). The scale in DC is even more outrageous - IIRC, even Cyborg has a dead lift around 100 tons, which is around the top for pretty much anyone Marvel has except The Hulk and some cosmic-powered beings who can be as strong as they want to be (e.g., the Champion of The Universe - as one of the Elders, being the best arena fighter is pretty much his driving purpose, it's is all he really ever does).

The superheroic 'verse which probably compares closest to WU is Wild Cards, and even there someone like The Great And Powerful Turtle is way off the scale in comparison - he lifted the USS New Jersey once (as a demonstration during a 4th of July event), and while it was only maybe 2m out of the water, that's an Iowa class battleship displacing over 58,000 tons, for fuck's sake. I really doubt anyone in WU has the PK to pull the Brooklyn Bridge off its moorings and throw it across the Hudson River, as Turtle did during the Battle of The Rox. The other big gun of the WC 'verse, Fortunato, may not have the same amount of raw power, but he's close at times, and very versatile in what he can use his pseudo-magic for. Power levels are mostly in the same range as WU, but just like with WU, there are some stark exceptions that throw any attempt at comparisons out the window.

The mechanics are wildly different, and it's not really a superhero universe, but I was thinking the other day that EGS seems to operate on a similar power level to the WU. With a slight boost to and focus on transformation of course.

I believe that Morpheus' Twisted Universe is a bit weaker than Whateley with the strongest there being around a 4 on the Whateley scale.