Talents

[Asta Kask]

You'll need a list of what talents to have and which not to have. Glancing through Power-Up 3 I see Born Warleader, Circuit Sense, Natural Athlete, Natural Scientist andTough Guy. Of course, many of these could be replaced with suitable Wildcard skills, if you allow them (I would). And I suggest that there should be a wide avenue for inventing new Talents that suit a person's powers - a cat-Talent (Brawling, Climbing, Jumping, Panhandling, Stealth, etc.) for a person bitten by a radioactive cat, etc.

Anyone have any ideas for new and exciting talents?

[Mark Skarr]

Personally, I despise Wildcard skills and prefer talents. My view is that Wildcard skills suit card-board cut-outs better than defined characters. Sure, one Wildcard skill might be acceptable, but, in general, they do more harm than good. The problem with Wildcard skills is that they don't let the GM say "you don't know how to do that." After all a TL4 musketeer with Guns! could repair an FGMP/12 with an IQ-based skill roll. That doesn't fit in well with just about any game unless you're playing silly. And, in Supers, the concept that you might face someone with ultratech equipment is quite possible. A character with Guns! could use any ranged weapon found in the game, regardless of the complexity--and would know how to make it work, even if they lacked the physical appendeges or psychic ability to utilize it actually. And, really, there are a buch listed in Supers, so I think we can take that as written. Also, Wildcard skills are an optional rule. A lot of people treat them as a given and standardly-accepted rule, but they are specifically optional. Much like Multiplicative Modifiers (and MM works better for supers than Wildcard skills do). So, I don't see a need to spend too much time worrying about Wildcard skills.

And, honestly, I don't think we really need to list too terribly many new talents . . . after all, that's what Power-Ups 3 was for, and there's no, real, need for Bob to write a bunch new talents up. I do, however, support allowing people to make their own talents, with GM oversight. Simply because trying to come up with talents to cover the myriad possibilities in supers is a path to madness.

Now, that said, if someone comes up with a cool, non-abusive, talent for a character, there's no reason we couldn't post it. But, spending time on them seems to be a fool's errand.

[Asta Kask]

We can't assume everyone has PU3:Talents, can we? I'm not sure what SJGs policy is on these things. I know that I inquired about writing for DF and Kromm said "You can assume people have the DF line and the Basic Set". And possibly Magic, I can't remember. With IST, you can probably assume Basic Set, Powers and Supers but probably not anything else.

As for Wildcard skills - I think they suit the genre. Someone like Reed Richards can work an alien computer from before the Big Bang without any problems. Some heroes are ridiculously proficient with every weapon imaginable. Etc. But limiting people to one Wildcard skill seems sensible.

[Mark Skarr]

Well, Bob was going to find out about stuff from Psionic Powers, so we can wait for that.

I know Reed comes up all the time when Bang skills are mentioned, but really, he doesn't have a Bang skill. If he did, I'm sure he'd have done something useful with it by now. But, the Marvel World trundles merily along similar to our world. He has the "Super Science" skill, which is not a Bang Skill.

And I disagree that the fit the genre. Specific characters maybe, but not the genre as a whole.

However, I can agree that limiting someone to a single bang skill is highly sensible, if you're using them. I would also add "logically limited" as well.

[Last Free Human]

I avoid Bang skills like the plague in my games. For character's like Reed Richards I worked up a variant on Gizmo that basically allowed the character to "know" how to do some particular amazing thing that makes sense given the character's skill set and experience once a day. "Work an alien supercomputer form beyond time? Why it seems to work just like this theoretical model I devised while brushing my teeth this morning. Obvious really."
M
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[Mark Skarr]

Yeah, after looking at it some more, Bang skills are, really, only suited for narrow-focus, limited-scope games where rule of awesome overrides anything else--especially logic, and where the ridiculousness of the power wouldn't be overbearing. A TL0 caveman with Science! would have no problem or penalty using TL12 scientific equipment (Bang skills have no TL, and include all TLs for free!). He would be understand quantum mechanics at a level that defies modern science, even though he's just a caveman who has had no tools better than what TL0 could provide.
They're bascially horribly overpowered and underlimited. Pretty much pure, unadulterated munchkinism given form. From Monster Hunters 1:

A wildcard skill is not merely shorthand for a collection of “normal” skills. It embodies a specific concept. A hero can buy every specialty of BeamWeapons, Crossbow, Gunner, Guns, and Liquid Projector, and be able to shoot anything with a trigger . . . but to a hero with Gun!, such weapons are practically a part of him – he can answer any question about guns, perform any action involving guns, and recognize any issue pertaining to guns. The descriptions below include several uses for wildcard skills, but these are only examples – any action that is directly related to the concept behind the skill is a legitimate use!

Emphasis from book.
There are examples of using Gun! for First Aid--seriously.
Wildcard skills are "optional" and should remain so. Multiplicitive Modifers are far more useful to Supers than Wildcard skills. If you want an optional rule to make "standard," I'd suggest that.

[Gold And Appel Inc]

There are examples of using Gun! for First Aid--seriously.

 

What? I cauterize his wounds with mah bulletz...