Question The Bad Ideas thread

~Archangel~ wrote: Domoviye I like it, especially the idea that her parents try to have exorcise her. Yeah the ignore gravity things sounds alot better, also means that a Gravity Warper could effect her so her intangibility has a weak point.

Is still a Bad Idea, or is it becoming a Good Bad Idea?

Lol, if you haven't noticed this by now, Dom has made it a practice of poaching ideas from this thread and making them work quite well in most cases. Given the feedback he's provided on the idea already, I can practically guarantee that he's already working out how to incorporate just such a character into one or more of his works.

I already have a character that is permanently intangible, to the point she almost starved to death until she learned how to harder her body a little.
She works as a cop dealing with stings were someone could get hurt, mutant criminals and stakeouts.
And it seems like Archangel wants to use this one, so I can't poach her.

Just a question: if her powers don't affect her clothes... does it mean that she's always naked?

Domoviye wrote: I already have a character that is permanently intangible, to the point she almost starved to death until she learned how to harder her body a little.
She works as a cop dealing with stings were someone could get hurt, mutant criminals and stakeouts.
And it seems like Archangel wants to use this one, so I can't poach her.

Hmm, I'm flattered if you want to use Figment, in fact go ahead. I've got others that I'd be more likely to use. So poach away.

Sir Lee wrote: Just a question: if her powers don't affect her clothes... does it mean that she's always naked?

Not quite, remember she can turn off her abilities, just turning off BOTH takes nearly all her concentration. Turning off one power, usually intangibility leaves her solid but invisible, a set off clothes walking around. However that takes concentration one thing that people like to do is prank her by startling her so she goes intangible in public leaving her naked standing over a pile of her clothes. Sure she can't be seen standing there naked but everyone knows what happened, and it is still embarrassing as hell.

One of the reasons why I envisioned her intangibility/invisibility working on IR is so if it happens in the winter she doesn't freeze. Later down the road I was going have her ability take left turn when it starts effecting other parts electromagnetic spectrum. Like making her eyes temporarily intangible to visible light which forces her to figure out how see and use other parts of the EM spectrum.

Oh, while she's invisible, can she see? Wallflower had a secondary power for seeing when her invisibility is up, and Figment would need one too, since light is passing through her rather than entering her eyes.

Something to note is that infrared is a byproduct of heat, but heat can still be transferred through contact. And matter can absorb any kind of light to increase in temperature/internal energy. I feel sad that I had to go to wikipedia to make sure about this. I thought I had this down.
So it would be a good idea for her to have some kind of insulation, but if she isn't interacting with normal matter because she's intangible (oh the complications), she might not be affected by the surrounding temperatures at all, aside from heat radiation (which would also be handled by total invisibility, as long as SHE isn't radiating heat). Though, the standard invisibility conundrum might show up without proper forethought. If light passes through her, how does she see? Is it ESP? And if light was not passing through her eyes before, how do others not see her eyes/retinas?
Invisibility is an annoying power to really think about. Honestly, it's about on par with intangibility, understandably.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Oh, while she's invisible, can she see? Wallflower had a secondary power for seeing when her invisibility is up, and Figment would need one too, since light is passing through her rather than entering her eyes.

Quorry wrote: Something to note is that infrared is a byproduct of heat, but heat can still be transferred through contact. And matter can absorb any kind of light to increase in temperature/internal energy. I feel sad that I had to go to wikipedia to make sure about this. I thought I had this down.
So it would be a good idea for her to have some kind of insulation, but if she isn't interacting with normal matter because she's intangible (oh the complications), she might not be affected by the surrounding temperatures at all, aside from heat radiation (which would also be handled by total invisibility, as long as SHE isn't radiating heat). Though, the standard invisibility conundrum might show up without proper forethought. If light passes through her, how does she see? Is it ESP? And if light was not passing through her eyes before, how do others not see her eyes/retinas?
Invisibility is an annoying power to really think about. Honestly, it's about on par with intangibility, understandably.

Yes she can see quite well, it's down the road when she starts learning to control her powers better in an effort to be part of the world rather than a 'ghost at the banquet' always never able to effect or be effected that odd things happen, like losing her sight as visible light stops interacting with her eyes. How does that work? Well that is what powers testing is for, and character development is for. Maybe she does have extra senses but doesn't know she has them so then/when she starts seeing things...but they are dismissed as figments of Figment's imagination. Other worldly monsters that are attacking the kids and only she can interact with them?

Alot of Figment's powers and how they work can be summed up in the words 'Observer Effect', 'Quantum Biology', 'Many Worlds Interpretation' and 'Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle'. Now if she can figure all that out just maybe she can live and love in the world around her, instead of being always outside it.

Because she is so isolated by her powers, she has become quite the Voyeur trying to have a normal teenagers life by living vicariously through others that she watches/stalks.

Just my .02 cents.

~Archangel~ wrote: Just my .02 cents.

That's even less than 2 cents, but I guess you knew that...

Anyways: Sorta Creepy Power:

Eat food, it's remnants come to life and serve you, as long as they aren't too broken.

Usually Ambulatory Skeletons... Plants... Well, if I've got Amb. Skele. then why not Plants?

Like Eat Beef: If Cow Bones = Not Dust, then gather into a skeleton and go to Master.

Servants cannot be dispelled except through destruction. Not sure how their intelligence works... Like Computer Program, or Like-In-Life... Which would make accidental cannibalism even more disturbing...

If the food needs to be digested first, and in a certain quantity, would prevent taking people over after breathing in enough of their dust... (dead skin cells...)

Malady wrote:

~Archangel~ wrote: Just my .02 cents.

That's even less than 2 cents, but I guess you knew that...

Anyways: Sorta Creepy Power:

Eat food, it's remnants come to life and serve you, as long as they aren't too broken.

Usually Ambulatory Skeletons... Plants... Well, if I've got Amb. Skele. then why not Plants?

Like Eat Beef: If Cow Bones = Not Dust, then gather into a skeleton and go to Master.

Servants cannot be dispelled except through destruction. Not sure how their intelligence works... Like Computer Program, or Like-In-Life... Which would make accidental cannibalism even more disturbing...

If the food needs to be digested first, and in a certain quantity, would prevent taking people over after breathing in enough of their dust... (dead skin cells...)

Um you say remnants are you including after excreting? Because Poo Golems could be interesting...

~Archangel~ wrote:

Malady wrote:

~Archangel~ wrote: Just my .02 cents.

That's even less than 2 cents, but I guess you knew that...

Anyways: Sorta Creepy Power:

Eat food, it's remnants come to life and serve you, as long as they aren't too broken.

Usually Ambulatory Skeletons... Plants... Well, if I've got Amb. Skele. then why not Plants?

Like Eat Beef: If Cow Bones = Not Dust, then gather into a skeleton and go to Master.

Servants cannot be dispelled except through destruction. Not sure how their intelligence works... Like Computer Program, or Like-In-Life... Which would make accidental cannibalism even more disturbing...

If the food needs to be digested first, and in a certain quantity, would prevent taking people over after breathing in enough of their dust... (dead skin cells...)

Um you say remnants are you including after excreting? Because Poo Golems could be interesting...

Shoot. No... I mean like the remains of the organism that the power user is/was consuming, that are not, and are not being, digested.

Also, Crap Golem.

So a bucket of KFC gets you a chicken skeleton?

Valentine wrote: So a bucket of KFC gets you a chicken skeleton?

Yes. If the bones aren't too destroyed, however that's defined.

~Archangel~ wrote:

Domoviye wrote: I already have a character that is permanently intangible, to the point she almost starved to death until she learned how to harder her body a little.
She works as a cop dealing with stings were someone could get hurt, mutant criminals and stakeouts.
And it seems like Archangel wants to use this one, so I can't poach her.

Hmm, I'm flattered if you want to use Figment, in fact go ahead. I've got others that I'd be more likely to use. So poach away.

Thanks but no.
I'd at most use her as a side character, so you keep her, she's a really interesting concept that could have quite an interesting story but I don't have any real place for her.

A mutant who's only power is an intimidation aura. Anyone who sees her is convinced that she's more powerful than they are. It's strength varies based on your self image, so the more powerful you consider yourself, the stronger the effect of the intimidation. (So Aquerna would barely be bothered by it, while Nex would run screaming).

That is an awesome power.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: A mutant who's only power is an intimidation aura. Anyone who sees her is convinced that she's more powerful than they are. It's strength varies based on your self image, so the more powerful you consider yourself, the stronger the effect of the intimidation. (So Aquerna would barely be bothered by it, while Nex would run screaming).

That might actually, really suck if it couldn't be turned off... Also, do you have a codename?

Malady wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: A mutant who's only power is an intimidation aura. Anyone who sees her is convinced that she's more powerful than they are. It's strength varies based on your self image, so the more powerful you consider yourself, the stronger the effect of the intimidation. (So Aquerna would barely be bothered by it, while Nex would run screaming).

That might actually, really suck if it couldn't be turned off... Also, do you have a codename?

Not yet. I figured that if she's smart, she'd go for something vague but intimidating. I kind of like Inlé, but I'm not sure it's intimidating to people who don't get the reference.

Personally, I would name a character like that either "Nope" or "Ehei" (which is Finnish for "Nope").

I was thinking of another character. This one is where their emotions are separated inside their head into into distinct personalities. One could be hate, the other compassion and so forth. There are 8 of them but there is actually 9. One of them is a liar.

Sounds like Inside Out but with more entities. Unless you mean that they can only feel one emotion at a time, and their personality changes depending on which one is active. What if they had different powers for each emotion/personality?

Actually I was thinking that they 'radiated' the feelings of the person in charge. And I really wasn't trying to base it on Inside Out. This had been going on for years at my old company where I was given the nickname Crazy 8 when I first stated there. Wonder why. Anyway it was about the zanyness and all and I would reply it wasn't that one, it was the liar.

So its like its infectious. The personality trait radiates (not sure if this was done before, can't remember) within a certain zone of lets say 5 meters.

As for the personalities, think of it where there is a quorum of how their feeling at the moment and that personality will be the one in charge.

Edit: Perhaps it would be better if it was just one personality and that if he needed to Lie, that would be reflected. Truth, Compassion, Love and so forth. Personality wise would be harder in that they would all have the same thoughts and idea so one would be better and all.

If they radiate Lie, can people around them not tell the truth anymore? Other than that, it sounds similar to a Glamour (I've been reading the Fanfic Mother's Child), but instead of just projecting strong emotions onto others, it creates a field of effect depending on the current chosen (is it voluntary?) Trait. It sounds very useful as a psychological trick, and could be used to calm Ragers or somthing.

I'm conflicted. I really like characters with odd psychologies, and the idea of having personalities switch based on emotion, while not exactly original, makes me want to build a personality around it. It's your idea, though.

Sorry, I kinda ran with my interpretation of the personalities thing, but extended it to a shifter.
The character who is a limited shifter with a set range of forms, depending on emotional state. Each emotional state has a power associated with it, and the powers are stronger with the strength of the emotion. Their personality changes as their emotions change in a sort of feedback loop, so it is hard for them to change on purpose. However, they are in their default state after a night of sleep, so if they plan ahead they can influence their mood in the morning, and consequently their form for the rest of the day. The emotional states are based off of an emotion wheel I found. There are, coincidentally, 8 (or maybe not. depends of whether you saw the same thing I found).
The second they start feeling one emotion more than another, they experience rapid changes in hair and eye color. As the stimuli persists, their emotional state becomes more aggravated until they reach their most powerful and extreme form.
In this sense, they are a rager. If something happens to make them mad, and it doesn’t go away and nothing happens to remove them from the stimuli, they can quickly reach Rage mode (max Aggression), which is roughly equivalent in strength to EX-5. The smartest form is Awe. In this state they have perfect memory and can learn extremely quickly (from example, too). Optimism has the highest healing factor, about a Regen-5, which can be applied to others in close proximity. Love has high level empathy and can project a field of calm. Disapproval has the highest durability, through a PK field, equivalent to 2 tons of force. Contempt has gravity warping powers for flight and literally forcing opponents to bow down. Remorse is basically an emergency backup with limited time warping powers, allowing them to leap back in time ten minutes. If it takes longer than that to realize their mistake, it is irreversible. Submission is arguably the most interesting one. When they submit fully to someone, they can mimic their powers with that person’s consent. The powers can only be used in submission state.
If they use too much power, they revert to base state and are left with normal human abilities and weaknesses. When in a two-state mode (such as grief being part disapproval, part remorse), they have access to both power sets, but they last only half as long before reverting to base state.

I ended up drawing pictures of all of the basic forms (too much time on my hands). :/ Um. Is it okay if I use this? It is kinda similar to what you had, and I don't want any conflicts.

Go ahead

How about a Gadgeteer/Devisor with a Paragon trait that somehow synchronizes two or more other G/D's fugue states?
You just think the tunnels are dangerous now, do ya?

I have an idea for a character. He is a gadgeteer who is the avatar of a spirit who represents humanities belief in the power of the sword. He can create swords using the knowledge of his spirit and give them certain magical properties (i.e enchant them using runes or something similar). Thanks to his spirit he is also a master swordsman.

The basic story would be that he needs to find 5 magical weapons to help in the fight against The Bastard and his army. In his travels he will encounter ninjas, giant monsters and the occasional super villain.

His main rival at Whateley would be a Gadgeteer/Devisor and avatar who represents humanities belief in the power of firearms. So what do you think?

GrandiaKnight wrote: I have an idea for a character. He is a gadgeteer who is the avatar of a spirit who represents humanities belief in the power of the sword. He can create swords using the knowledge of his spirit and give them certain magical properties (i.e enchant them using runes or something similar). Thanks to his spirit he is also a master swordsman.

The basic story would be that he needs to find 5 magical weapons to help in the fight against The Bastard and his army. In his travels he will encounter ninjas, giant monsters and the occasional super villain.

His main rival at Whateley would be a Gadgeteer/Devisor and avatar who represents humanities belief in the power of firearms. So what do you think?

One thing to say...

Team-up = Gunblades

...just saying...

Malady wrote:

This girl: [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

She fires lasers when she's emotional...

That is perfect for a bad idea. Give this girl tranquilizers.

Domoviye wrote:

Malady wrote:

This girl: [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

She fires lasers when she's emotional...

That is perfect for a bad idea. Give this girl tranquilizers.

Go ahead and use her if you want. I suck at being original when naming. I've only got name ideas that are source - referential .

Like just grabbing an illustrator's name, Akasaka Aka ... Wait... That's Oriental Name Order, in English Order, that'd be Aka Akasaka...

And given than 'Aka' can be the word for 'Red', I'd rather use that for some girl that mutates so that she's red everywhere. ... And produces a Red Field, that just turns everything Red, and her codename's Red.

... Red.

Read those Emotion Forms things... Thought of this 10-personality love-lorn girl:

www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yelmp

***

I guess effective self-duplication is out? What if your copies are cruel to you? Is that sufficiently ineffective?



[Not embedding videos 'cause it seems too bulky. Do you guys agree? Edit: And it seems Youtube links Auto-Embed... Huh.]

The video is nice, I like the music. I don't like to think of the Emotion Forms as separate people, not like a true multiple personality case. Every 'personality' shares memories and has the same sense of self. They just feel things differently.

If self-duplication COULD be done, it would require something like, say, asexual reproduction to make clones. And that would be... interesting. It would require the person to not have a normal physiology because bones do not seem like they would appreciate duplication in that way. Ouch. If they were more fluid, it could work. Your copies, if they WERE you, would only be cruel to you if you would be cruel to them. Unless there is some kind of origin bias, where the original person is superior to the copies in some way. It would be very hard to manage this power.

Quorry wrote: The video is nice, I like the music. I don't like to think of the Emotion Forms as separate people, not like a true multiple personality case. Every 'personality' shares memories and has the same sense of self. They just feel things differently.

If self-duplication COULD be done, it would require something like, say, asexual reproduction to make clones. And that would be... interesting. It would require the person to not have a normal physiology because bones do not seem like they would appreciate duplication in that way. Ouch. If they were more fluid, it could work. Your copies, if they WERE you, would only be cruel to you if you would be cruel to them. Unless there is some kind of origin bias, where the original person is superior to the copies in some way. It would be very hard to manage this power.

One possibility would be for each personality that was created the individual would be halved. So if she was 5 feet the clone would be 2 feet, 6 inches and if that one did it it would be halved again to 1 foot 3 inches. Like a Russian Matryoshka.

In a grotesque form of producing the others, the one that is doing the making would split in half from the waist and the other would pop out. Then the other would close back up.

Wait were we talking about personality clones? I was keeping those ideas separate. I'd want to avoid that because it would make the Rager form even more dangerous, because they couldn't be forced into another emotion to stop them. Although, the ability to split into a bunch of sub-personality emotion-locked clones with different powers would be interesting. And bizarre. And really hard to justify/explain.
I'd rather keep those separate.
I had this idea a while ago of someone who could split their body without getting hurt (like the clown in one piece) but they could separate their entire body into little cubes that could then envelop things to eat them. This one would also be hard to justify, but I think it could be morbidly amazing. They would probably also need some high regen in case an important part got squished, or be like Sara where the insides are made of a semi-uniform substance. Maybe they are an enchanted/possessed construct or something? This person might be able to make clones.

I just thought of that as I was reading over the comment and as such should have no bearings on what you are doing. Think of it as another form of GDS for an background character. Just something I threw in there. So yeah I deviated from the thread, once more.

What about a biodevisor/wizard who made a serum for themselves to increase their magic/essence gathering ability and reserves, but then realized that if they ever stopped using it they would burn out because they had too much essence and their reserves wouldn't be able hold it anymore?
It's like they are addicted to magic or something.

Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Use Bio-gadget or Bio-devise to fix the unstable DNA issue, or learn magic or ESP to retrieve memories from Daughters.

Figure out if the budding can be stopped... Or, what happens if the food build-up isn't done. Would that stop the budding? Or is that some sorta-broken Regen Trait and will cause caloric depletion if the food build-up isn't done?

The daughter budding thing... has appropriately sad implications. The 'daughters' would be like Jinn, but they would never go back, and would probably be considered disposable due to their short lifespan. Also, it would kick up the death count at Whateley like crazy, if they counted as real people. If they aren't considered real people, there are even more terrible implications. I imagine a lot of trauma being caused by this.

What if the daughters could be used as 'backup bodies' in case of the original dying? Whatever keeps the original stable while the daughters disintegrate passes on to the youngest daughter when the original dies, or wills it, or something. You could play some serious mind games with that.

Quorry wrote: The daughter budding thing... has appropriately sad implications. The 'daughters' would be like Jinn, but they would never go back, and would probably be considered disposable due to their short lifespan. Also, it would kick up the death count at Whateley like crazy, if they counted as real people. If they aren't considered real people, there are even more terrible implications. I imagine a lot of trauma being caused by this.

I didn't say it was good. The topic IS "Bad Ideas" after all.

I didn't say it was 'good' either. I just like to overanalyze things.
I imagine how the 'bad ideas' would play out if someone actually wanted to use them fully.

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Can I steal this idea for a non-Whateley story?
I could fit it in so wellin a dark heroes series I'm slowly creating.

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Can I steal this idea for a non-Whateley story?
I could fit it in so wellin a dark heroes series I'm slowly creating.

Let me think a bit and toss around the concept with the Gen 2 cabal. I can see this - with mods - being a very interesting student on campus. Especially if instead of just Esper, the talent is Telepath and the 'mother' learns to transfer some of the unique knowledge of the 'daughter' back before the 'daughter' falls apart. Not perfect, so it wouldn't be like the J-team, but enough to make it not quite a total loss...

elrodw wrote:

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Can I steal this idea for a non-Whateley story?
I could fit it in so wellin a dark heroes series I'm slowly creating.

Let me think a bit and toss around the concept with the Gen 2 cabal. I can see this - with mods - being a very interesting student on campus. Especially if instead of just Esper, the talent is Telepath and the 'mother' learns to transfer some of the unique knowledge of the 'daughter' back before the 'daughter' falls apart. Not perfect, so it wouldn't be like the J-team, but enough to make it not quite a total loss...

Think of it like a snake shedding its skin as it grows. Once the new daughter is created then she sticks around with the mother feeding off of her looking a bit more older and then the older one begins to shrivel up once the process is completed. This may be seen as a way for the girl to age. She's basically shedding her youth away. Unnerving to watch.

Edit: Should have said 'original' shrivels up. Not the older one.

On this topic of clones... Can cloning machines be used as power sources for large-scale necromantic magic?

Do cloning machines exist in WU? If they did, doesn't necromantic magic require, like souls or something? Do clones made from a machine have souls? Questions

Quorry wrote: Do cloning machines exist in WU? If they did, doesn't necromantic magic require, like souls or something? Do clones made from a machine have souls? Questions

Now you're going into the philosophical realm which many would both agree and disagree. I would like to think of us as having a soul but let me ask you this. In Star Trek when anyone is transported what becomes of them? If their original matter is destroyed and a copy is made on say a planet, does their soul become remade with it? Or is the one that's transported just a clone of the original? Put further, why transport them down when all they really needed to do is make a clone of the original on the surface and then relay the information back on what they found and the clone disintegrates after a short period of time.

Or is the body not disintegrated but pushed from one location to another and then reassembled? And if so how as they are not on a platform that would be necessary for the reassembly? Because if they didn't need the platform on the surface to beam then to or fro why did they need it on the ship?

So in answer to the question about the soul, how would you describe it as its being cloned?

elrodw wrote:

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Can I steal this idea for a non-Whateley story?
I could fit it in so wellin a dark heroes series I'm slowly creating.

Let me think a bit and toss around the concept with the Gen 2 cabal. I can see this - with mods - being a very interesting student on campus. Especially if instead of just Esper, the talent is Telepath and the 'mother' learns to transfer some of the unique knowledge of the 'daughter' back before the 'daughter' falls apart. Not perfect, so it wouldn't be like the J-team, but enough to make it not quite a total loss...

Not a problem. I've got five or six other characters to actually start writing their stories first, so you can take your time.

Quorry wrote: Do cloning machines exist in WU? If they did, doesn't necromantic magic require, like souls or something? Do clones made from a machine have souls? Questions

Well, there's bio quick-clones, like Belphoebe. Make a body, add a mind engram, are they ensouled according to the Whateley-verse?

I'm fusion-fic-ing with something that gives a definite "Yes!" But, the Whateley-verse might be different...

Could it be that you have a soul when you have a sense of individuality?

Well, there's been previous soul-talk that handwaves with "No one knows what souls are, people use 'soul' for whatever they want." So, for Necro-magic, it might be that as long as the thing that the magic designates as 'soul' exists in the clone, it can use clones.

Like Egyptian Magic has Shadows as part of their soul concept. So, if the Egyptian-Necro-Magic is powered by 'Soul' Component: Shadow, then a clone could fail for other Necro-magics as the clone lacks things like Self-Identity and stuff, but still works for that ENM.

Well, the other big question is: do the clones have the same powers as the original (if any)? It would make sense in the case of mutation, unless it had to be activated. If they did end up with the same powers, it would cause a huge power imbalance. Just take someone both loyal and powerful, make tons of clones of them, and take over. Maybe a villain? Makes sense if necromancy was the other reason to use it.

I would think there are two directions this could go, dealing with souls (if they exist). Either the clones are all exact duplicates of the original, personality and all (and soul), or they end up as individuals who are similar, but have slightly different personalities (unique souls). I guess it depends on the method of cloning. If it is instantaneous I'd lean more towards the first. If it's like the Clone Troopers from Star Wars, that defeats the point really. Who wants to spend their time raising a clone kid?
Anyways, that was me trying to represent it in terms of the results, which could be used to avoid talking about souls at all. Philosophy is a freaking pain.

Edit: So often, I go to write something, then while I'm thinking of what to say, someone else puts their own thoughts up, and it looks like I didn't read it. So. Cloning exists, does copy powers. I think. Might require transferring a mind/template (i guess this is a soul equivalent) to the new body. ... Uh, hypothetically speaking, if you make an Avatar clone, could Jade put a Jinn in it? Weirdness. I guess cloning just isn't used that often for some reason.

Quorry wrote: Well, the other big question is: do the clones have the same powers as the original (if any)? It would make sense in the case of mutation, unless it had to be activated. If they did end up with the same powers, it would cause a huge power imbalance. Just take someone both loyal and powerful, make tons of clones of them, and take over. Maybe a villain? Makes sense if necromancy was the other reason to use it.

I would think there are two directions this could go, dealing with souls (if they exist). Either the clones are all exact duplicates of the original, personality and all (and soul), or they end up as individuals who are similar, but have slightly different personalities (unique souls). I guess it depends on the method of cloning. If it is instantaneous I'd lean more towards the first. If it's like the Clone Troopers from Star Wars, that defeats the point really. Who wants to spend their time raising a clone kid?
Anyways, that was me trying to represent it in terms of the results, which could be used to avoid talking about souls at all. Philosophy is a freaking pain.

Edit: So often, I go to write something, then while I'm thinking of what to say, someone else puts their own thoughts up, and it looks like I didn't read it. So. Cloning exists, does copy powers. I think. Might require transferring a mind/template (i guess this is a soul equivalent) to the new body. ... Uh, hypothetically speaking, if you make an Avatar clone, could Jade put a Jinn in it? Weirdness. I guess cloning just isn't used that often for some reason.

Well, the clones I'm working with: Radio Noise Network don't have the experience or something that was special about the original, to get them to the same level, but it might be emotional, as they have a angrier version that's stronger, and they're emotion-damped.

Malady wrote:

Quorry wrote: Well, the other big question is: do the clones have the same powers as the original (if any)? It would make sense in the case of mutation, unless it had to be activated. If they did end up with the same powers, it would cause a huge power imbalance. Just take someone both loyal and powerful, make tons of clones of them, and take over. Maybe a villain? Makes sense if necromancy was the other reason to use it.

I would think there are two directions this could go, dealing with souls (if they exist). Either the clones are all exact duplicates of the original, personality and all (and soul), or they end up as individuals who are similar, but have slightly different personalities (unique souls). I guess it depends on the method of cloning. If it is instantaneous I'd lean more towards the first. If it's like the Clone Troopers from Star Wars, that defeats the point really. Who wants to spend their time raising a clone kid?
Anyways, that was me trying to represent it in terms of the results, which could be used to avoid talking about souls at all. Philosophy is a freaking pain.

Edit: So often, I go to write something, then while I'm thinking of what to say, someone else puts their own thoughts up, and it looks like I didn't read it. So. Cloning exists, does copy powers. I think. Might require transferring a mind/template (i guess this is a soul equivalent) to the new body. ... Uh, hypothetically speaking, if you make an Avatar clone, could Jade put a Jinn in it? Weirdness. I guess cloning just isn't used that often for some reason.

Well, the clones I'm working with: Radio Noise Network don't have the experience or something that was special about the original, to get them to the same level, but it might be emotional, as they have a angrier version that's stronger, and they're emotion-damped.

Okay and what about if they 'know' they are clones? Would they be compelled to follow the originals plan or would they break away as a free thinker and thus perhaps gain an individuality for themselves. Would they feel a loss in knowing that they wouldn't exist except for so long and what would they do? It, to me, seems to go along with the idea's of robots who gain 'self-awareness'. How they react to the situation as they contemplate their own existence just like we do.

You know, I'd really like to help with all this, but the thread title says "bad ideas"... and I don't have any of those. Just ideas I haven't written about yet.

Nagrij wrote: You know, I'd really like to help with all this, but the thread title says "bad ideas"... and I don't have any of those. Just ideas I haven't written about yet.

Ah but your bad idea may be profound for someone to make it good. I've given so many ideas away I'm poor. So BAD Nagrij, BAD Nagrij.

I can't give away what I don't have! I mean you're welcome to my good ideas, or some of them... but that would be a totally different thread!

Nagrij wrote: I can't give away what I don't have! I mean you're welcome to my good ideas, or some of them... but that would be a totally different thread!

You sir, must be telepathic as I was going to suggest that. Give 'Good' ideas away thread for those that can't think of any.

Well, I usually just come up with something on the spot to throw on here when I get bored. If you spend too long on an idea by yourself, developing it, it turns into a good idea anyways. At least, when I do that I start thinking its a 'good idea'. Usually it isn't my ideas that get caught up in conversation here.

Here is another one: A person who can see the ways that other people are similar to them. They obviously use ESP for this, and maybe a form of Telepathy to glean the similarities from the minds of others. What they CAN'T see is the differences, which leads them to making some questionable choices in friends and allies.

That took like a minute. Is it a bad idea? No clue.

Quorry wrote: Well, I usually just come up with something on the spot to throw on here when I get bored. If you spend too long on an idea by yourself, developing it, it turns into a good idea anyways. At least, when I do that I start thinking its a 'good idea'. Usually it isn't my ideas that get caught up in conversation here.

Here is another one: A person who can see the ways that other people are similar to them. They obviously use ESP for this, and maybe a form of Telepathy to glean the similarities from the minds of others. What they CAN'T see is the differences, which leads them to making some questionable choices in friends and allies.

That took like a minute. Is it a bad idea? No clue.

And that's what makes the bad idea thread so good. By taking an idea that is thought to be bad and make something useful to someone else. Excuse me while I get an aspirin. That hurt.

Inspired by Chimes at Midnight, which I just finished: Baking Devisor villain who creates evil pies.

When you say evil pies, do you mean the pie is a devise, or contains biodevise stuff, or both? Although I like the idea. Themed villains are always great.

The Big Bad Wolf
He looks like a childish drawing of a big bad wolf from a child's fairytale.
If he says I'll huff and I'll puff, he can low out a very strong gust of air, enough to knock a person down.
If he wears women's clothing, he can fool people into thinking he's a woman of the correct age for the clothes for a short time, but they'll know something is off, and once out of sight will remember the idiot wolf wearing women's clothes and be amazed that they fell for it. The power only works once on a person, unless they're really weak willed.
If he sees pigs, baby goats, or picnic baskets he will really, really want to eat them, almost to the point of an obsession.

Quorry wrote: When you say evil pies, do you mean the pie is a devise, or contains biodevise stuff, or both? Although I like the idea. Themed villains are always great.

The pies as a devise is funnier. Because then they could come to life.

Pie Boy,
A pie that used to be an evil devised pie, made to have a never ending supply of cream so he could hit people over and over again. It also had arms and legs so it was self throwing.
Somehow it gained sentience and decided to be good.
Now it fights crime blinding villains with his whipped cream of justice, and making them slide in his lemony custard of goodness into the waiting arms of the police.

Domoviye wrote: Pie Boy,
A pie that used to be an evil devised pie, made to have a never ending supply of cream so he could hit people over and over again. It also had arms and legs so it was self throwing.
Somehow it gained sentience and decided to be good.
Now it fights crime blinding villains with his whipped cream of justice, and making them slide in his lemony custard of goodness into the waiting arms of the police.

I just thought he'd get a job in show business or politics.

Just thought of one, High Life

High level shifter with trigger being drugs. Appearance and power changes with each different drug, or combinations of drugs. And not

ie Ecstasy - Changes into a beautiful but airheaded party girl that projects a lets party aura
PCP - The Hulk lite
LSD - Projects trippy mental illusions
Aspirin - Fires mental blasts of migraines
Penicillin - Gains control over slimes, mold and fungus
Marijuana - The muchies, but can eat anything including insane volumes
Caffeine - Becomes a MAD SCIENTIST! With super speed
etc

Shifters with triggers are the best. High Life sounds like a criminal type, because of the drugs requirement. It would be hard to get a hold of illegal drugs otherwise. Although, with a shifter physiology, there probably wouldn't be any long term side effects... and normal medicine would be even LESS effective than on other mutants, because it would trigger changes. How the heck would they treat him for burn out? Still, I like this guy. Fun with drugs.

This makes me think of my Emotions Forms shifter, who would probably have similar reactions to mood-altering substances.

~Archangel~ wrote: Just thought of one, High Life

High level shifter with trigger being drugs. Appearance and power changes with each different drug, or combinations of drugs. And not

ie Ecstasy - Changes into a beautiful but airheaded party girl that projects a lets party aura
PCP - The Hulk lite
LSD - Projects trippy mental illusions
Aspirin - Fires mental blasts of migraines
Penicillin - Gains control over slimes, mold and fungus
Marijuana - The muchies, but can eat anything including insane volumes
Caffeine - Becomes a MAD SCIENTIST! With super speed
etc

Reminds me of Captain Trips (Wild Cards Spoilers)

And note Addiction Powered

I was thinking the same thing in that the school would not supply the drugs, but possibly accept him/her for school itself as long as he/she stayed clean. Of course there are a few corruptible officers who may make exceptions to certain items... for a price (third shift), aspirin being one that's easily obtainable. The more hard core ones not and what if he/she took a cocktail of sorts?

Of course after school that would be a different story.

Well part of his power set is that High Life doesn't suffer the addiction, or even the intended effect of the drug.

elrodw wrote: Thinking of the cloning / asexual reproduction thing AND watching the rerun of the Big Bang Theory where they speculate that Sheldon reproduces by splitting, which brought up a bad idea.

An Esper mutant reproduces every few months by budding (like yeast), which leaves the host only slightly reduced in size but produces a miniature 'daughter' which is fully-formed but grows very quickly to correct size. In the buildup to budding, the 'mother' consumes massive quantities of food, gaining weight rapidly, and then over a period of a day or two, buds a new 'daughter'. Because of the way the division happens, the 'daughter' has more fragile DNA, and thus doesn't last long (months?), which means that the 'mother' is the only stable one, but might bud off several 'daughters' before the first one basically disintegrates. Also, because of the Esper power, the 'daughter' is born with the memories of the 'mother'.

Actually, this has some similarities with an idea of mine. Not for Whateley -- for a high-fantasy variation where I thought up of a reason for the existence of the all the half-human and quasi-human magical peoples.

This one was my idea for pixies. Basically, pixies are a bee-human hybrid of sorts -- there is actually one sentient being, the Queen, who's human-scale (although rather short) and seldom seen; the pixies are her "workers", short-lived miniatures without sentient minds of their own, but telepathic with the Queen; the Queen can essentially see, speak and act through her pixies, although most of the time the pixies are on "automatic", doing routine stuff without her consicous control.

(Part of the inspiration came from an Isaac Asimov short story named Catch That Rabbit )

About clones. Belphoebe is sort of a clone. She knows she is a clone. She started with Belphegor's brain engrams. She apparently has Belphatso's powers, plus all the Drow physical stuff. While she has some of Belphungus' personality traits, she rapidly became her own person.

Her soul is a question I am not qualified to answer about.

From the stories only Jobe and Dr. DNA have created viable permanent cloning type equipment. Others have created the equipment, but the clone bodies all fall apart eventually.

The fact that cloning is limited is a relief.

Is it alright if I add a character here I created before I knew about Whateley? The powers come from a different system that, interestingly enough (considering its complexity), fits very well with the WU system. Although, the character is going to show up in my comic at some point.

Belphoebe raises a number of questions, such as: do mental powers get carried over by engrams?

Because she is a different case from Jobette, Bova and Freight Train. Those three had their original bodies modified by Jobe's serum, and it's conceivable to postulate that Jobe designed his serum to not discard whatever special abilities the patient previously had. So Jobe kept his devisor trait, Bova kept her telepathy, and Freight Train kept her TK.

But Belphoebe had no previous "template" to draw powers from; she was grown directly from Jobe's test-tubes. So where does her devisor trait come from?

If she has one, that is. She is an able technologist (she inherited the training from Belfatso) but I don't think we have ever seen an original devise from her.

If she DOES turn out to be a devisor, have two hypotheses here:
1. The devisor trait got copied with the engrams (which has all sorts of interesting consequences on our understanding of mutant powers), or
2. There was a heretofore unaccounted-for actual DNA source for the Devisor trait.

One possibility occurs to me... Jobe wasn't trying to grow a Drow, he was trying to turn an existing person into one. So the drow serum might not contain viable cells by itself. Maybe Belphegor needed a few cells to jumpstart the clone, and he used the ones most readily available (and, in his egocentric view, the best possible ones): his own. Or he might not even have noticed that he had contaminated the serum with a few skin cells of his. That would be enough.

Huh. Maybe I should have started a Belphoebe thread...

Quorry wrote: The fact that cloning is limited is a relief.

Is it alright if I add a character here I created before I knew about Whateley? The powers come from a different system that, interestingly enough (considering its complexity), fits very well with the WU system. Although, the character is going to show up in my comic at some point.

That's fine I did it with one or two of my own postings here.

Ok cool. Basically any person with powers in my comic has a complex network of tiny ley lines (approximation) throughout their bodies called a Potential Matrix (which acts a bit like a soul). This character was experimented on since birth to try and increase the density of these lines. The experiment were met with success, but he quickly developed powerful telepathy and started messing with the minds of every researcher in the facility. They tranquilized him for a while, but he somehow managed to transfer his thought patterns of consciousness from his brain to his matrix. Then he manually changed his immune system to resist the tranquilizers and broke out of the facility.
His powers are telepathy, extreme intelligence, enhanced resistance to drugs and disease, and later, force distribution. The force distribution lets him channel outside forces through his matrix to whatever solid surface he is in contact with, or across his whole body. You could shoot him with a bullet and he might lean backwards a little. If he plants himself properly, he can take a freight train head on, and emerge unscathed. Bladed weapons are nothing to him, because he can treat them all like blunt weapons.

Quorry wrote: Ok cool. Basically any person with powers in my comic has a complex network of tiny ley lines (approximation) throughout their bodies called a Potential Matrix (which acts a bit like a soul). This character was experimented on since birth to try and increase the density of these lines. The experiment were met with success, but he quickly developed powerful telepathy and started messing with the minds of every researcher in the facility. They tranquilized him for a while, but he somehow managed to transfer his thought patterns of consciousness from his brain to his matrix. Then he manually changed his immune system to resist the tranquilizers and broke out of the facility.
His powers are telepathy, extreme intelligence, enhanced resistance to drugs and disease, and later, force distribution. The force distribution lets him channel outside forces through his matrix to whatever solid surface he is in contact with, or across his whole body. You could shoot him with a bullet and he might lean backwards a little. If he plants himself properly, he can take a freight train head on, and emerge unscathed. Bladed weapons are nothing to him, because he can treat them all like blunt weapons.

Yo, dood, ur leyline network reminds me of Magic Circuits.

Interesting power. Shunting mind into body feels like Hive and nantite people.

Quorry wrote: When you say evil pies, do you mean the pie is a devise, or contains biodevise stuff, or both? Although I like the idea. Themed villains are always great.

I hadn't thought that far ahead. But I learned from Chimes at Midnight that "I got hit in the face with an evil pie" as an explanation of the horrible things that have happened to the main character never stops being funny, no matter how many times you repeat it.

Sir Lee wrote: Belphoebe raises a number of questions, such as: do mental powers get carried over by engrams?

Because she is a different case from Jobette, Bova and Freight Train. Those three had their original bodies modified by Jobe's serum, and it's conceivable to postulate that Jobe designed his serum to not discard whatever special abilities the patient previously had. So Jobe kept his devisor trait, Bova kept her telepathy, and Freight Train kept her TK.

But Belphoebe had no previous "template" to draw powers from; she was grown directly from Jobe's test-tubes. So where does her devisor trait come from?

If she has one, that is. She is an able technologist (she inherited the training from Belfatso) but I don't think we have ever seen an original devise from her.

If she DOES turn out to be a devisor, have two hypotheses here:
1. The devisor trait got copied with the engrams (which has all sorts of interesting consequences on our understanding of mutant powers), or
2. There was a heretofore unaccounted-for actual DNA source for the Devisor trait.

One possibility occurs to me... Jobe wasn't trying to grow a Drow, he was trying to turn an existing person into one. So the drow serum might not contain viable cells by itself. Maybe Belphegor needed a few cells to jumpstart the clone, and he used the ones most readily available (and, in his egocentric view, the best possible ones): his own. Or he might not even have noticed that he had contaminated the serum with a few skin cells of his. That would be enough.

Huh. Maybe I should have started a Belphoebe thread...

She either fixed or cobbled together something new during one of the She-Beast sponsored shopping trips.

Malady wrote: Yo, dood, ur leyline network reminds me of Magic Circuits.

Interesting power. Shunting mind into body feels like Hive and nantite people.

(I hope the quote doesn't mess up like it did the last time I tried)
I checked out the magic circuits thing. Interesting stuff. The main difference is that the Potential Matrix doesn't grant access to an outside power source. I suppose it was misleading to say people with powers have matrix. In my system, everyone has a matrix, but only people with a 'warped' or 'twisted' matrix can actually manipulate it to do anything. The powers are based on three main concepts:
1) connecting your matrix to someone else's, in order to do telepathic type things
2) moving energy or force from one point on the matrix to another.
3) taking energy or force into the matrix and keeping it, then releasing it later
There are a surprising number of powers possible with this, and most every character I've made can fit in Whateley, even though their powers are based on extradimensional power conduits and not physical changes. I had actually basically created a standard energizer speedster with a matrix-enhanced nervous system for one of my characters.

Anyways. There was another character I made that was pretty interesting. She had her matrix forced out of her body, and went into a coma. Her matrix got trapped in the computer network of the hospital she was being kept in, instead of fading away. After several years, she had managed to become familiar enough with the system she was trapped in to send a message out. After she was found and returned to her body, she had extremely effective technopathy, and could do things like store her memories on flash drives, bypass any network-based security, and download information into her mind. She keeps a powerful handheld communication device on her at all times to stay hooked up to the internet. She self-educated herself to tech genius levels practically overnight, and acts like a gadgeteer. If she was in WU, she couldn't go to Whateley due to the lack of reliable internet, I think.

Thought of another one. Poor me. Codename Doublespeak. A long winded individual who cannot help to explain the most simplest wants or ideas in such a way that he bores you to death. A perfect example is his need to go to the bathroom only that by the time he gets done, its to late and doesn't matter.

Well not for him anyway.

Can be a lot of fun a parties if used for the right reasons. Not his. Yours.

How would they prove this was a power and not a mental condition? Does it literally disable those listening to him?

Ib12us wrote: Thought of another one. Poor me. Codename Doublespeak. A long winded individual who cannot help to explain the most simplest wants or ideas in such a way that he bores you to death. A perfect example is his need to go to the bathroom only that by the time he gets done, its to late and doesn't matter.

Well not for him anyway.

Can be a lot of fun a parties if used for the right reasons. Not his. Yours.

Surely his codename should be Rigmarole, after the town in Oz inhabited entirely by people who talk like that. And he has a friend called Flutterbudget, too!

Quorry wrote: How would they prove this was a power and not a mental condition? Does it literally disable those listening to him?

No it captivates them to him. He did have a speaking engagement in Congress and had talked nonstop for several weeks thus putting the government in a standstill as it was a debate on the federal budget which did not get passed until a group of locals broke into the building, subduing him and sent him on a paid trip to Moscow. Its believed he is still there talking about the dead Kremlin's and the virtues of Communism.

Thought of another one. A high lev Regen who's code name is Patchworks. 'It's' body had been mutilated so many times that 'it's' body has become a patchwork of various human body parts of male/female and ethnic origins, except for the head and chest and even the face has signs of damage. One eye is brown where another is a cats eye.

Edit: Hmm now I'm thinking of keeping 'it'.

So does Patchworks have mismatched parts because they are like Frankenstein's monster (dead people pieces) or because they don't regenerate the same as before?

I thought of one just now. What about someone whose blood reacts very strongly with the air and practically explodes with enough heat to seal the wound whenever they are cut. High regen included, of course.

Find some way to get the blood into well sealed, vacuum packed plastic bags. He'll be the only person to win a real fight with water balloons.

Domoviye wrote: Find some way to get the blood into well sealed, vacuum packed plastic bags. He'll be the only person to win a real fight with water balloons.

That just makes my blood boil as with Draks teeth.

Not sure if I'll actually use it, but I've developed the character of the burning blood guy. If anyone actually wants to use him let me know and I can share that stuff.

Here's another one: The ability to produce many tiny invisible tk 'bugs' that can act independently. They each have a very small amount of TK (it takes about half of all the bugs to lift the user) and telepathy. They can be used to control actual insects, spiders, etc., or small animals if multiple bugs latch on. The bugs last a very long time, but only a certain number can be active at a time. If a bug is deactivated in a certain location, it can be resummoned at that location. The bug maker can, in a way, see through the bugs. Not direct vision, but they know what the bugs are seeing and 'hearing'.

I should be studying... but I can't help developing characters. I've done the bug person (see above), who is now codenamed Swarm.
I mentioned earlier a person who could split themselves into many many little cubes of flesh that could them move en masse to absorb things. I've though about that some more. What if they could use this to perform body modifications, by, for instance, using chemicals or devises or something to strengthen their bones before reincorporating them? What if they could absorb meat and incorporate it as muscle? I wonder if it would be reversible. They might even be able to incorporate devises themselves into their body, like a weird/creepy cyborg. I wonder if that would be a warper or shifter power or what, especially if their body worked like normal until they split. Codename Giblet, or maybe Mince.

Have it that the devises or gadgets only work for a certain amount of time before being ejected. And if he incorporated too much mass into himself, he eventually has to lose some or he won't be able to walk, wipe his butt, or raise his arms above his shoulders.

Domoviye wrote: Have it that the devises or gadgets only work for a certain amount of time before being ejected. And if he incorporated too much mass into himself, he eventually has to lose some or he won't be able to walk, wipe his butt, or raise his arms above his shoulders.

Oh, that's good. Limited mass, limited incorporation time. The mass limit could be explained by a limited nervous system, not able to effect the new muscle, or overreaching and not able to move any muscles. The time limit could just be an immune system thing. A literal rejection of the 'implant'. He'd have to be careful of what he 'eats'.

As for the whole 'make bones stronger' thing, I was thinking something like wolverine's adamantium bones, but more believable. If the guy can chunk himself, it can't be too hard to do stuff to his bones in that state. This is the kind of thing that helps me with origins. Maybe he was made or discovered by a devisor villain/ mad scientist. I like the concept of crazy Giblet. A sane person would have a few problems with seeing their own innards in cubes all over the place. It wouldn't take long for him to break as a test subject. (great, now I sound sadistic)

I'm thinking of having Giblet eat the devisor who tested on him and assimilate his devisor powers, at the cost of most of his sanity. Then again, he just assimilated someone who probably had Diedrick's. I'm thinking something along the lines of tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BoredWithInsanity when he finishes the assimilation (not that he's all fine and dandy. still pretty messed up). Fun and happy, right? Safe for all the little childrens. It would make it a lot easier for him to get a hold of new devises, and feels pretty cohesive story-wise.

A devisor who's specialty is replicating the technology from Schlock Mercenary . This is a bad idea because the Schlockverse technology almost universally depends on annie plants, annihilation reactors that power pretty much everything. But annie plants require "post-trans-uranic" elements , which don't exist in large enough quantities to actually build an annie plant.

So this a devisor with the ability to design telaporters, flying armor, full body regeneration tanks, and many marvelous weapons, but can't get the materials necessary to power any of it.

I would be surprised if the devisor couldn't create the required "post-trans-uranic" elements themselves or could find a fellow devisor who could do so in exchange for giving him some of the finished devises. I think it would be rare for a devisor to have the power to create something without the ability to also create the power supply. Plus since devisor powers work how they think they should, they could believe a process for creating those elements works and it would.

A person who puts out a field that stops any technology more complicated than a basic kids bike from working. It extends about ten feet in a sphere all around him.

Domoviye wrote: A person who puts out a field that stops any technology more complicated than a basic kids bike from working. It extends about ten feet in a sphere all around him.

And he will be named the Luddite!

Domoviye wrote: A person who puts out a field that stops any technology more complicated than a basic kids bike from working. It extends about ten feet in a sphere all around him.

Are we talking about where it relies on some form of input other than human power? By this I mean as in electronic or even possibly spring loaded as a bike uses rudimentary propulsion to move. Pedals that rotate that moves a chain that rotates a tire, whereas a gun that relies on an explosive charge struck by a hammer to cause an ignition that propels the bullet out of the barrel.

A chain could get stuck of course but the misfire of a charge is a better probability of occurring also.

Edit: Also it may make more sense if the item doesn't work that there was a reason for why instead of being unexplained.

Gears jam, propellents don't ignite, circuits short out, things like that.

Someone who can augment the powers of others within a 30' radius of themselves, but it is constantly active, they can't chose who is and isn't affected, and it has a chance of causing the augmented powers to be harder to control or even become uncontrollable until outside of the augment field again.

Dreamer wrote: I would be surprised if the devisor couldn't create the required "post-trans-uranic" elements themselves or could find a fellow devisor who could do so in exchange for giving him some of the finished devises. I think it would be rare for a devisor to have the power to create something without the ability to also create the power supply. Plus since devisor powers work how they think they should, they could believe a process for creating those elements works and it would.

Well, he can create PTUs. He just needs an annie plant to do so. And he can't make an annie plant until he has them...

Sure, he might be able to find another Devisor to make them, but there wouldn't be a guarantee that they would have the right properties, since they were constructed in a different paradigm. And it wouldn't be cheap.

Bad Idea powers:

1. I bet there's no way this power could be used in a story where powers are used:

Powers that do the opposite of what you want, like a blaster being harmless when you want harm, and harming when you want a pretty lightshow.

2. A more intense version of Roulette where the expressed powers change, day by day, or even more quickly, but either never repeat, or repeat on a long cycle, like yearly or something random like every 48 days, and possibly with some variation based on power usage during that time...

Although, that would be just taking every powers class, like Mimeo did, to learn all the powers successfully.

Malady wrote: Bad Idea powers:
(...)
2. A more intense version of Roulette where the expressed powers change, day by day, or even more quickly, but either never repeat, or repeat on a long cycle, like yearly or something random like every 48 days, and possibly with some variation based on power usage during that time...

You mean, like " Dial H for Hero ?" or maybe " Resurrection Man "? DC had done several comic series with the concept of "random powers".

Sir Lee wrote:

Malady wrote: Bad Idea powers:
(...)
2. A more intense version of Roulette where the expressed powers change, day by day, or even more quickly, but either never repeat, or repeat on a long cycle, like yearly or something random like every 48 days, and possibly with some variation based on power usage during that time...

You mean, like " Dial H for Hero ?" or maybe " Resurrection Man "? DC had done several comic series with the concept of "random powers".

Yeah, more like Resurrection Man. But, he, or she, just can't keep spinning the wheel until they get the power they want, it's set for the day, or however long, and changes only when it wants to, or whatever.

Is Burnout the only way to shuffle mutant powers in the Whateley-Verse?

Wait, burnout shuffles mutant powers (sometimes)? Interesting.
I just found out that Galahad Syndrome was a thing. I apparently have created a character with a terrible case of it that started when he was, like, five. Weird. And he's an Exemplar 1 at most. :/
It is tangentially related because said character has a problem with working himself too hard or overusing his powers until he burns out. Then some other stuff happens.
And the reason I found out about Galahad syndrome is because I was looking for existing mutants with cloth-manifesting abilities. It turns out there is an existing Character called Ribbon whose powers were really close to what I was planning. So, the idea I had wasn't new. Oh well. I'll think of something else right now.

um. New idea: a spacial warper whose entire body acts as a portal. Not the same as intangible. If you punch them your hand will come out the other side, 'skipping' past them. Then can only hold things through gloves because otherwise the object would pass through their fingers. gloves work because they are on both sides of the hand. Wait, I'm giving myself a headache. What about large flat surfaces? Argh my brain.
Maybe they can apply the same effect to surfaces as well?

Edit: and if the effect applied to light as well, they would appear only as a distortion in the air... I'm thinking the effect doesn't apply to their eyes or insides of the mouth or whatever because in that case they wouldn't be able to breath or eat. I really should stop now this power is confusing me.

Malady wrote:
2. A more intense version of Roulette where the expressed powers change, day by day, or even more quickly, but either never repeat, or repeat on a long cycle, like yearly or something random like every 48 days, and possibly with some variation based on power usage during that time...

My very first WU character has something like this. Ever since the morning after she manifested, every time she wakes up, she has a different powerset. The main "restraining bolt" on her is something called Violent Adaptive Shifter Syndrome, which basically boils down to "The longer she keeps changing, the more likely that she will fatally burnout". It wasn't inspired by Dial H for Hero, but a cartoon called "Martin Morning", where every morning, when Martin wakes up, something strange happens to him. Things like he's a flying brick or he has a talking dog. There was one episode where he woke up as a girl.


I had a Bad Idea, but I cannot express WHY it is a bad idea beyond "I have enough character expies. I do not need or want any more." and "Making a character who has the exact powers as a semi-well-known character is a bad idea" (The character is pretty much Molly from Neuromancer, only a teenager.)

Now here's a bad idea. A teen wakes up each morning as an infant and as the day progresses they age and then at night they regress. Also as the moon goes through its phases the teen will go from being a boy to being a girl and then back again. As for abilities it depends on whether they are a boy or girl and their ability goes from a beginning stage to final stage of strength.

Malady wrote:

Nocte wrote:

Hebblejebble wrote: My first contribution to this site, so of course I have to place it in the bad ideas thread.

The character "Radio Silence" has the uncontrollable warper power to nullify all the EM spectrum with a frequency lower than visible light over a substantial area around herself (covers a whole building, but not a city block).

I have a Thornie who would love her and not in a sarcastic way.

Faraday
Esper 3 (Omniglot, Hears radio transmissions)
Hawthorne

Faraday cannot leave his room because he cannot tune out all the radio noise that modern society creates. He cannot tune into a specific frequency. He hears ALL of them.

Ha! Wow! ... Now I want to see them together, but in two different timelines!

1. Faraday hates Radio Silence's personality

2. Faraday X Radio Silence Shipping!

Also, wouldn't they have to share washrooms or something, so Faraday isn't KO'd by his own power?

***

Wait... Does Faraday break all encryption when he receives his frequencies? I guess it's only frequencies that would actually be detectable by a receiver though?

No, Faraday's powers don't break encryption. He would hear it in its encrypted form.

As for sharing washrooms, that depends on the area that Radio Silence can cover. Faraday is pretty much confined to his room, as it is the only safe-place for him. If Radio Silence can cover a whole cottage, it would mean that Faraday could go out and interact with other people instead of them coming to him.

He doesn't get knocked out if he leaves his room, he just gets a really bad headache and starts screaming in various languages (omniglot, remember?) for the voices to just STOP. Considering that during a fit of babbling, he might accidentally scream in something that could warp reality or bring attention of things best not bothered, it's a safety thing that he remains in his room.

(I got the idea for Faraday from another WU fan who made a character called Medusa , who has a glamor that puts Fey's to shame. She's in Hawthorne because her glamor makes anyone who views her falls in love extremely, to the point of attempted rape. Nobody knows what she looks like, as her glamour works though images of her. She mostly communicates though text messages. She's so alone that she is willing to shed her sexual orientation if she met someone who was immune to her glamour)

Ib12us wrote: Now here's a bad idea. A teen wakes up each morning as an infant and as the day progresses they age and then at night they regress. Also as the moon goes through its phases the teen will go from being a boy to being a girl and then back again. As for abilities it depends on whether they are a boy or girl and their ability goes from a beginning stage to final stage of strength.

Okay, that reminds me of Rebirth from the Old Forum version. Domoviye said he might do something with her/him?

The basic idea is that she gives birth to him/herself at noon, girl-self dies, boy-self rapid-ages, mutates into pregnant girl-vers. cycle repeats infinitely.

Malady wrote:

Ib12us wrote: Now here's a bad idea. A teen wakes up each morning as an infant and as the day progresses they age and then at night they regress. Also as the moon goes through its phases the teen will go from being a boy to being a girl and then back again. As for abilities it depends on whether they are a boy or girl and their ability goes from a beginning stage to final stage of strength.

Okay, that reminds me of Rebirth from the Old Forum version. Domoviye said he might do something with her/him?

The basic idea is that she gives birth to him/herself at noon, girl-self dies, boy-self rapid-ages, mutates into pregnant girl-vers. cycle repeats infinitely.

Never saw it. And when I say baby, I mean toddler.

I pity the kid who gets this:

Kid who's past life is one of the creators of the Artifacers. They remember how to do the rite, and the death and destruction it took to create four of the beings.

Can they live with the guilt once they see Cait, or if she lets them live if she some how realizes what they know?

~~~

DeVille's Dust
Kara vs Wonder Cute...

More of a question really but it opens up a host of potential Bad Ideas.

We have met avatars with an archetypal spirit before: the spirit of the squirrel, the spirit of the eagle, the spirit of the boar, etc. I've noticed that these all tend to be animal spirits, are other archetypes impossible or just rare.

Could Whateley ever have a student carrying the spirit of the Unknown Soldier?

Could Jadis gain an arch-nemesis in the capes who carries the spirit of the Lawyer?

Like I said: A plethora of potential bad ideas.

Hebblejebble wrote: More of a question really but it opens up a host of potential Bad Ideas.

We have met avatars with an archetypal spirit before: the spirit of the squirrel, the spirit of the eagle, the spirit of the boar, etc. I've noticed that these all tend to be animal spirits, are other archetypes impossible or just rare.

Could Whateley ever have a student carrying the spirit of the Unknown Soldier?

Could Jadis gain an arch-nemesis in the capes who carries the spirit of the Lawyer?

Like I said: A plethora of potential bad ideas.

I think it's that all the other things that could be Archtyped have their focus already subsumed by some other entity... Like Bast/Bastet/Sekhmet is The Cat Goddess, and also The Catgirl Goddess? Look at the Sted/Ponygirl series... I've read those and got the idea of a Catgirl Goddess, but if you're using that fanon, you need about 10,000 devotees to create a God, and they're usually not all that strong. So, unless you have... Oh.... I need an Avatar to tap into that to use it as a character. Or someone that's a Wiz 7 catgirl or something, as Law of Similarity works better with more magical things, so a EX-3 Catgirl wouldn't really notice the Catgirl Goddess at all...

Another uncontrolled shifter. But not a regular shifter, and not a power-shifter like Roulette either. This shifter is a sexuality shifter. Every few days (usually 3-5 days) this shifter's sexuality changes. On day they're straight, then the next day they're gay. Then a week later they're bisexual, and after that they're straight again, then asexual, etc.

How do they know the person is a shifter and not just strange?

Domoviye wrote: How do they know the person is a shifter and not just strange?

Brain Scans indicate actual Shifting and not just personality quirks?

Ok, that could work. But why would they scan his brain that much?

Domoviye wrote: Ok, that could work. But why would they scan his brain that much?

Dunno, just came up with it as a way to prove Shifter. Perhaps the sexuality shifts are really disturbing or shocking or accompanied by other things?

Or a Paragon Doctor solves the mystery...

If we want to completely crib Morpheus's ideas, hair color changes to indicate personality (or in this case sexuality) shifts?

It seems like hair color is the first thing to come to mind when considering shifting based on personality.
That's what I did with my Emotion Shifter idea, though it goes a little farther than just hair color. It also changes the type of hair. One is very spiny, one is limp, one is fluffy, etc. Also emotion shifter wasn't cyclical.
If hair color and personality changes were all that happened to sexuality shifter person, would they even belong at Whateley? They could just claim that they dye their hair a lot.

Quorry wrote: It seems like hair color is the first thing to come to mind when considering shifting based on personality.

I have that superpower in real life, except that instead of my hair color shifting, my facial expression shifts.

Hebblejebble wrote: More of a question really but it opens up a host of potential Bad Ideas.

We have met avatars with an archetypal spirit before: the spirit of the squirrel, the spirit of the eagle, the spirit of the boar, etc. I've noticed that these all tend to be animal spirits, are other archetypes impossible or just rare.

Could Whateley ever have a student carrying the spirit of the Unknown Soldier?

Could Jadis gain an arch-nemesis in the capes who carries the spirit of the Lawyer?

Like I said: A plethora of potential bad ideas.

Actually, there are such archetypal spirits going around. See "There's an Angel in Father John's Basement." So in theory, it's conceivable that one of them could bond to an Avatar.

You can tell the difference between dyed hair and real hair color.

Okay, so you might have some trouble. Depends on how radical the change is, I guess. Also, you can wear a wig. The point is, if all your mutation does is make you hair change color and your personality change frequently, is Whateley even a good place to be? You are basically a baseline with some psychological issues to deal with, and Whateley is expensive.

Here's one. A magical devisor of sorts (By which I mean someone who have a similar effect on magic that devisors have on science) who uses magic as if it behaves the way magic works in the series Magic Ex Libris by Jim Hines.

In Magic Ex Libris, Libriomancers use the laws of similarity to tap into the collective imaginations of everyone reading identical books and pull items out of those books. Which means that this devisor would be using the magic of a story to pull magical items out of other stories. Which is just slightly too meta to be healthy.

It's also ridiculously powerful, as some authors (especially L. Frank Baum) have designed some pretty powerful objects over the years.

Not just objects, at least in the source material. Libriomancers can pull out characters too, with their own magical abilities.

I'd be more worried about a Libriomancer reading Micheal Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné and pulling out Stormbringer.

Geriatric Man
When he manifested he turned into a sixty year old man. Now if he ever comes close to death, he teleports away and is perfectly healthy, but he ages one year.
He doesn't age otherwise.
He's been alive since 1908 and looks like he's eighty years old.

Domoviye wrote: Geriatric Man
When he manifested he turned into a sixty year old man. Now if he ever comes close to death, he teleports away and is perfectly healthy, but he ages one year.
He doesn't age otherwise.
He's been alive since 1908 and looks like he's eighty years old.

OK, I think that math doesn't add up. By my reckoning, he should look *at least* 155 years old -- that if he *never* had the "teleports away and ages one year" near-death experience. Add one year for each near-death experience he had since 1922.

You missed the part where he doesn't age EXCEPT when he teleports.
So he's had abot 20 near death experiences.

By that logic, a Bibriomancer could produce a Green Lantern power ring, Iron Man's armor, the Eye of Aggamoto, the Cosmic Cube, the Infinity Gauntlet, the Ibistick, Dr. Fate's helmet, any of the THUNDER agent's power items, or even... X-RAY SPECS!

no... the x-ray specs are a lie, just like the cake.

Nagrij wrote: no... the x-ray specs are a lie, just like the cake.

My cake is not a lie! It's very nummy.

Cryptic wrote:

Nagrij wrote: no... the x-ray specs are a lie, just like the cake.

My cake is not a lie! It's very nummy.

That's just the arsenic

A little late but still in season...the Christmas Caroler! They generate audio illusions in the form of nothing but Christmas songs...constantly. And have to hear them constantly themselves.
Gluttony, ESP or PSI powers which makes people eat more and more, even if they feel full. Unfortunately they aren't immune to their own power.
The power to teleport into any building as long as there is a chimney, but only during the month of December.
A powerful PK talent, able to affect hundreds of objects at once...but only wrapping paper.
A manifestor who can only create holiday themed objects and only at the appropriate time of year.
The power to animate bones...but only turkey bones.
Sorry, just in a silly mood.

Had an idea for a background character of similar abilities a while back only instead of a Biblomancer she's a limited reality warper.

A boy or girl has a living shadow. The shadow isn't intelligent at least not noticably so, can't separate from the person, and doesn't do anything useful. Instead it moves around on its own, acting bored, happy, angry, curious, etc at its own whim.
This causes problems as it draws attention to itself and can embarrass him by acting the exact opposite of how he feels, or showing what he really feels. This is really bad when talking to important people or pretty members of the opposite sex.

What if the shadow isn't actually a separate entity, but rather moves according to the person's unconscious mind? Like, when the guy is trying to act _so cool_ in front of a bunch of hot Exemplar girls, the shadow is openly slobbering all over them?

Sort of like in Sergio Aragonés "The Shadow Knows" series for MAD Magazine ...

Yes! That's awesome, but he can't figure out if it's his inner feelings or his shadow being a crazy jerk.
And those comics were great.

ShockHawk wrote:

Domoviye wrote:

Nagrij wrote: Look at the bright side... you aren't in zombie infested Nebraska.

I live in an easily barricaded house, have reloading equipment, a lot of bullets, many kinds of weapons, and enough canned food to survive for three months or more. And I have a lot of stress. Bring them on.

Note to self: Need to research therapeutic effects of zombie slaying... might be marketable...

An insane biodevisor opens up a Zombie-Slayer theme park with real zombies...

I'm in. How much for a ticket?

Well... that answers my question... (facepalm)

the Amazon summary of June 29th, 1999 wrote: On May 11, 1999, young Holly Evans launches vegetable seedlings into the sky from her home in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey--on seed flats with Acme weather balloons. She expects the plants to stay aloft for a few weeks, allowing her to study the effects of extraterrestrial conditions on their growth and development.
On June 29, 1999, curious things start to happen all over America. A hiker in Montana finds giant turnips in the Rocky Mountains. "Cucumbers circle Kalamazoo. Lima beans loom over Levittown. Artichokes advance on Anchorage." TV news channels announce that arugula has covered Ashtabula, which puzzles Holly, because arugula is not part of her experiment. In fact, she is forced to conclude that none of the enlarged specimen sightings are a result of her initial seedling launch. Where did the giant vegetables come from then?

In the book, the giant vegetables were not caused by Holly's experiment. But what if they were? What if Holly Evans was a devisor ? What if the Big Apple really was renamed the Big Rutabaga?

What about a professional athlete, say, a boxer, who suffers a severe trauma in a fight, and manifests as a high level Rager.
And their strength scales with anger so when they are calm, they are only as strong as they were before, but at maximum rage, they are able to punch through plate steel. But, being a naturally calm person outside of their fights, they don't realize it until they lose it and almost/probably definitely kill their opponent.
-because I watched The Cinderella Man recently

Another idea, not super original. Take the archetype of 'determinator' and make it someone's power. They can literally pull themselves together to keep going through sheer force of will. However, the second they stop, any injuries they received are still there. And they don't have very good Regen, if any. They need constant Healer backup if they are to actually survive a fight.
Other than that they are invincible.
^^zombies

Terrible, Terrible power...

***

Name: Brooke Alvarez

Power: Compulsive Liar Siren: Everything she says is a lie, and everything she says is believed.

She's a teenage mutant, not an Origin or anything.

***

I feel so sorry for making this power...

She has a great future in politics.

For an interesting twist, it could turn out the power doesn't actually convince anybody of anything and isn't even a siren power at all -- it's a receptive esper ability combined with a compulsion to only say things that the people around her will believe. Her false conclusion arises due to initial conditions where the truths she is trying to say are so incredible that the compulsion forces her to lie instead.

Dear god that could turn bad so quickly.

My own idea, given to me by my daugher who is apparently a supervillain in the making.

Cutesy
Ten year old little girl who looks so very innocent with her pet bunny hopping along beside her, you'd never suspect she's trying to destroy the world.
A high level devisor, gadgeteer and exemplar (more focus on looking cute and super intelligence than physical stuff).
Her pet bunny can change into a hulking monster that acts as her muscle when she has to get messy, it still somehow keeps it cute cartoony appearance at least until it's pounding someone into the ground like a nail.
Her main goal right now is to create a space station where she can keep her stuff after destroying the world, along with a few chosen people that she likes, like her parents (someone has to cook supper and get her up in the morning).
She's hijacked a NASA shuttle once, no one could believe she wasn't just a lost little girl, until she knocked them out with her gadgets and weapons.
Unfortunately when she tried to get a passing asteroid into a geostationary orbit, things went wrong thanks to superheroes and her nanites ate the shuttle and the asteroid. She managed to escape despite the crash site being surrounded by both military and police, because really she's a cute ten year old girl, she can't be a supervillain.
She hasn't given up on her quest and has created a mind control device to take over her class and principal turning them into her minions. She's currently trying to expand it to cover the state and lead an army into creating a super rocket that when it launches her space station into orbit will crack the Earths crust.

(And yes, my five year old daughter has talked to her toys about destroying the world with an appropriately evil laugh.)

Attempting to figure out the correct Chaptering of Drunkfu's stories.

Domoviye wrote: Dear god that could turn bad so quickly.

My own idea, given to me by my daugher who is apparently a supervillain in the making.

Cutesy
Ten year old little girl who looks so very innocent with her pet bunny hopping along beside her, you'd never suspect she's trying to destroy the world.
A high level devisor, gadgeteer and exemplar (more focus on looking cute and super intelligence than physical stuff).
Her pet bunny can change into a hulking monster that acts as her muscle when she has to get messy, it still somehow keeps it cute cartoony appearance at least until it's pounding someone into the ground like a nail.
Her main goal right now is to create a space station where she can keep her stuff after destroying the world, along with a few chosen people that she likes, like her parents (someone has to cook supper and get her up in the morning).
She's hijacked a NASA shuttle once, no one could believe she wasn't just a lost little girl, until she knocked them out with her gadgets and weapons.
Unfortunately when she tried to get a passing asteroid into a geostationary orbit, things went wrong thanks to superheroes and her nanites ate the shuttle and the asteroid. She managed to escape despite the crash site being surrounded by both military and police, because really she's a cute ten year old girl, she can't be a supervillain.
She hasn't given up on her quest and has created a mind control device to take over her class and principal turning them into her minions. She's currently trying to expand it to cover the state and lead an army into creating a super rocket that when it launches her space station into orbit will crack the Earths crust.

(And yes, my five year old daughter has talked to her toys about destroying the world with an appropriately evil laugh.)

20 years ago, a 10 year old girl manifested. Her high level exemplar trait locked her at that age. She still has the brain of a 10 year old, but with 20 extra years of experience. It turns out that 20 years of experience is not good for a 10 year old's brain.


Alternatively, she could just take after Rhoda from The Bad Seed .

Never heard of that story, I'll have to look it up.
I just came up with the idea of a darkly humourous character who wants to destroy the world because it seems like the best option, after hearing my daughter tell her toy "Let's destroy the world." and then telling me not to tell anyone in a very serious voice.
She definitely gets her strange ideas from me.

What happened? I was commenting on a post... and when I finished my comment the post had disappeared. It was about the chapter numbering of "Abyss", by the way.

Sir Lee wrote: What happened? I was commenting on a post... and when I finished my comment the post had disappeared. It was about the chapter numbering of "Abyss", by the way.

Okay, from the announcement email, you said:

OK, I guess I deserved that. I'll double down and attempt to figure out the correct Chaptering for "Silver Linings." But there's no way I'll try figuring out "Insanity Prerequisite;" I think the story's name refers to the chaptering.

And from your comment, you were responding to this :

Valentine wrote: Attempting to figure out the correct Chaptering of Drunkfu's stories.

Note: That's supposed to link to post 10005, but links directly to a post don't seem to work...

Yeah, I guess that two new posts in the time I was writing my own, opening an entirely new page, did throw me a bit. Damn, if there's one thing I miss about the old forums was the option to increase the number of posts per page...

Reposting a previously deleted post:

Valentine wrote: Attempting to figure out the correct Chaptering of Drunkfu's stories.

OK, I guess I deserved that. I'll double down and attempt to figure out the correct Chaptering for "Silver Linings." But there's no way I'll try figuring out "Insanity Prerequisite;" I think the story's name refers to the chaptering.

Bad idea:
Person can change how their body reflects, refracts, and scatters light. "control" varies, requiring high levels of focus (heh) to achieve noticeable results.
Anyways, as for uses, they can trap light in their body, create focuses beams, become invisible, or change colors.
Unfortunately, the last one is mostly influenced by emotion, and some emotions (stress, getting upset) cause the wavelength of the light scattered to get dangerously short: x-ray and beyond. They need to wear a lead-lined suit in case of gamma rays.
I'm trying to think what the heck they look like. Do they look pitch-black when their scattered light goes out of the visible spectrum?
Another side effect: it is very difficult for them to appear normal - their default appearance is mono-chromatic due to wavelength-set scattering.

Hmmm... you know, I think that's not one power, but two.

One power is to change how one's body reacts to light -- absorb, reflect, let it pass, bends it along the skin etc. That's interesting by itself, and allow one to change colors by selectively absorbing/scattering different wavelengths.

The other power is to change the wavelength of electromagnetic waves. That's essentially an Energizer power, because a wave's frequency is linked to the amount of energy it carries -- to turn visible light into gamma ray they would have to pump energy into it.

Yeah, I just realized that, and thought, might as well check for responses.

So I guess they would be part Energizer, part..... warper or shifter (or both)
The Energizer power, while sounding weak, seems pretty terrifying actually, to the point of being a major biohazard. Gamma radiation goes through almost everything, and I bet this person could direct it.

Does the energy of the input and output always match? That is, if ten joules of visible light hits them and gets reflected as x-rays, will the reflection be ten joules worth of x-rays? Or would it preserve the number of photons and therefor output ten kilojoules of x-rays?

As for how they look when not reflecting visible light, it depends on how tight the effect is. Does it envelop the dead parts of their body, like hair and nails? What about the oils, shed hairs, dead skin cells, etc.? What about external substances like lotions, makeup, dust, and grime? Sufficiently tight clothes?

Hmmm
Decisions, decisions...
Input, output:
They could probably change it, as an Energizer. They could take in light for energy, use the energy to increase the frequency of scattered light. If they absorbed enough light before, they could, for a limited time, pump energy into the light scattering off of them, thereby increasing the wavelength and retaining the intensity.
On the other hand, they could also focus the effect on a small area, say, a fingertip. A laser pointer, if you will. This would allow for a much greater intensity, if they changed their finger into a functioning laser of variable frequency.
So many options.

If they were a warper (what I'll be going with probably), it could effect a small area around them (including tight clothes)
If they were a shifter (less likely, more confusing), it would effect them and maybe their own organic matter (dead skin, hair, oils, maybe lotion)

Oh I have a BAD BAD BAD idea I think I will be using in a story if I can think of how to get the components lined up right without looking like Author meddling;

Some enterprising Mad Scientist type gets a hold of some of Sara and maybe some of Schrodinger and begins cooking something up. One lab accident later an innocent student is a GOO Lite.

I'm now imagining a student who is basically a living human-shaped lava lamp. I.e., a "goo light".

Kettlekorn wrote: I'm now imagining a student who is basically a living human-shaped lava lamp. I.e., a "goo light".

You mean like a Magman ?

A truly inspired bad idea
Literal goo light, they are a shifter with the ability to freely change forms, but they can't form any details and the material is limited to a waxy goo. So, they look a bit like lava lamp blobs. AND, they glow, obviously.
Maybe they can also fly by changing their density to be less than that of air.

Yes, but the "density change" should only be as an effect of their changing their volume. In other words, when they are flying they should look a lot like a glow in the dark Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon, only with a less defined shape.

Perfect.
The uses of this ability would be very limited, but the origin would probably be hilarious.
Giant glowing balloon spotted drifting through the night sky. When a local hero went to investigate, it began to cry hysterically.
Everyone is baffled as to the source of this crying balloon. In other news, the child that went missing earlier this week has yet to be found.
Wait. Is that actually funny? I need to rethink this.