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Post by jonas on Jan 26, 2017 2:19:38 GMT -8
Hi.
I'm currently running a postapocalyptic 'Mutant: Year Zero'-campaign where the players are - as the name implies - mutants.
At character creation, the player characters are randomly assigned with different useful mutations like flight, fire breathing and telepathy, but I also want to add bad, useless and disadvantageous mutations to the game. I've always thought it odd that people that get their super powers through random genetics (like the X-Men) never seem to get a bad roll on their dna die.
The bad mutations aren't something I'm going to inflict on the players, it will foremost be for npcs; I want to use it as a tool to paint a bleaker and more problematic world around them.
So does anyone have any cool suggestion for detrimental mutations? :-)
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Post by zoomfarg on Jan 26, 2017 4:09:06 GMT -8
Every seen Misfits? Definitely recommend it. From that show comes "lactokinesis", control over dairy products.
Here are some bleak powers:
Creeping plate scales: rigid scales begin to grow on the mutant's skin. They don't stop growing, and eventually immobilize the mutant.
Self-Shocking power: the mutant's power generates an electric current through their body in proportion to physical effort, shocking them if they try too hard at anything. This will certainly hurt, and may cause damage to organs.
Extreme hair growth: extremely fast and extensive. Maybe it accelerates with time?
Brown fat mutation: the mutant's brown fat works in over drive. (brown fat burns glucose to make heat). It consumes a lot of energy, so maybe the mutant needs to eat more. And maybe it fluctuates wildly, peaking the mutant into high fever (risking brain damage), or maybe putting them at risk of death.
Meltable skin? Not sure how to account for body heat.
Constant tears: this could easily cause dehydration, and may cause electrolyte imbalance.
Cannot form long term memories of happiness. So if the mutant becomes happy, they will experience a blackout for the duration of the happiness.
Nightly night-terrors, which are telepathically shoved in the heads of anyone nearby (regardless of if they are awake or asleep)
Everyone who looks a the mutant telepathically learns an embarrassing fact about them. The learner doesn't doubt the truth, but may question how they learned it.
Attracts rodents
Foul stench
Incites vicious attack from any animal
Can teleport, but only to places associated with emotional trauma
Must follow directions. Doesn't matter who they're from.
Sound dampener: all sound is eliminated/dampened by the power's field. Sound doesn't get in OR out. So the mutant can't hear anything, and neither can anyone nearby.
Direct eye contact with the mutant causes the victim to re-live their most painful memory. Perhaps the mutant experiences it as well. Maybe it works through a mirror, maybe it doesn't. Dunno.
Here are some others that come to mind, on the lighthearted side (mostly):
Cheese-induced super-slumber
Strange sweat power: sweat is a sticky goo. It doesn't smell bad, but it is profuse. When it dries, it's like a mild adhesive.
Cannot see animals (but also cannot see *through* animals).
Precognition that triggers when one is blackout drunk. (so it's impossible for the mutant to remember them, and they may have trouble communicating their visions coherently)
Can telepathically impart a sense of deja-vu. (If this is too useful, then maybe it only works on cats)
Photographic memory for anything written in Comic Sans.
Always knows the perfect chess move, except when playing, teaching, explaining, etc. (so basically only when observing)
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Post by ayslyn on Jan 26, 2017 6:11:56 GMT -8
I've always thought it odd that people that get their super powers through random genetics (like the X-Men) never seem to get a bad roll on their dna die. Ummm... Just to address this, but there is(was? it's been a while since I read a Marvel book) a whole group of mutants who got the short end of the stick mutation-wise. Read the Wildcards collections. 90% of the people who survive the virus end up as Jokers. However, if you want some great bad mutations, this is a great source.
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sbloyd
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Post by sbloyd on Jan 26, 2017 8:31:39 GMT -8
I'm sure there's a random table for Nurgle worshippers and/or general Chaos Mutations somewhere...
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Post by lowkeyoh on Jan 26, 2017 15:11:12 GMT -8
I've always thought it odd that people that get their super powers through random genetics (like the X-Men) never seem to get a bad roll on their dna die. Ummm... Just to address this, but there is(was? it's been a while since I read a Marvel book) a whole group of mutants who got the short end of the stick mutation-wise. Read the Wildcards collections. 90% of the people who survive the virus end up as Jokers. However, if you want some great bad mutations, this is a great source. The do it again and again. Originally you had the Morlocs, then there was Bulk and Glow Worm, and so on through the books. There's always mutants who get the short end of the stick. There's the Ultimate New Mutants 41 story about the kid who's power is to evaporate organic life around him who killed his entire town in his sleep and then Wolverine kills him in a cave after a chat.
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Post by uncommonman on Jan 26, 2017 15:52:30 GMT -8
Hi. I'm currently running a postapocalyptic 'Mutant: Year Zero'-campaign where the players are - as the name implies - mutants. At character creation, the player characters are randomly assigned with different useful mutations like flight, fire breathing and telepathy, but I also want to add bad, useless and disadvantageous mutations to the game. I've always thought it odd that people that get their super powers through random genetics (like the X-Men) never seem to get a bad roll on their dna die. The bad mutations aren't something I'm going to inflict on the players, it will foremost be for npcs; I want to use it as a tool to paint a bleaker and more problematic world around them. So does anyone have any cool suggestion for detrimental mutations? :-) Have you played any earlier versions of Mutant? There is plenty of "defekter" in those. Here is Mutant 1.0: www.dropbox.com/s/hmbul746w3yqhp7/04-101%20-%20Mutant%2C%20regler_Gothmog.pdf?dl=0The pages 22 and 26 is what you are looking for.
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Post by jonas on Jan 26, 2017 23:23:50 GMT -8
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. No, I have only played the weird cyberpunk variant. I haven't even read the older edition before, so it will be a treat to look through this one. :-D
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Post by griever789 on Jan 27, 2017 9:07:32 GMT -8
Sound dampener actually sounds like a power you get some use out of. You could be an assasim that no one hears coming and nobody can hear victims scream
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Post by kurtpotts on Jan 27, 2017 13:59:46 GMT -8
Here are a few I came up with for fun.
Everything you touch turns blue.
You can make food taste better after spending 5 min breathing on it.
You have a photographic memory, but suffer from hallucinations so you're never quite sure what is real.
You can levitate, but only while unconscious.
Your fingers become tentacles, but are so unwieldy you gain no benefit.
You gain super strength in your tongue
Your eyes shoot lasers, but like regular lasers and they aren't very bright.
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Post by uselesstriviaman on Jan 31, 2017 6:25:04 GMT -8
I've always thought it odd that people that get their super powers through random genetics (like the X-Men) never seem to get a bad roll on their dna die. Ummm... Just to address this, but there is(was? it's been a while since I read a Marvel book) a whole group of mutants who got the short end of the stick mutation-wise. Read the Wildcards collections. 90% of the people who survive the virus end up as Jokers. However, if you want some great bad mutations, this is a great source. As soon as I read the original post I began forming a reply about Wild Cards. You beat me to it.
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Post by ayslyn on Jan 31, 2017 22:04:09 GMT -8
They're great books. They show the human side of super heroes. And the downsides of having them as well. The giant who lives in Jokertown was a great example. He's like thirty or so feet tall, but proportioned normally, so his legs can't hold him. He's confined to a giant wheelchair, and is in constant pain.
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Post by uncommonman on Feb 2, 2017 11:55:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. No, I have only played the weird cyberpunk variant. I haven't even read the older edition before, so it will be a treat to look through this one. :-D I found one more book from Mutant: UA that is all defects: www.dropbox.com/s/20irsoi7kqxk8xs/Spelarboken%20-%20Defekter.pdf?dl=0And here is the (badly) translated names of some of the defects: Bad Hands, Fat, Four legs, Premature aging, Cud-chewer, Stinky, Painful power, Disease carrier, Pain sensitive, Cold blooded, Hyperactive metabolism. And "Eljest" a word jonas gladly will translate for you non swedish speakers. Edit: I forgot the worst one you could roll: Double Damage. That was almost enough to ditch the character before you started playing.
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Post by jonas on Feb 3, 2017 4:21:22 GMT -8
And "Eljest" a word jonas gladly will translate for you non swedish speakers. I barely know what it means in Swedish; I just say it when I want to sound smart. "Moose yeast"? ;-)
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Post by uncommonman on Feb 3, 2017 7:12:00 GMT -8
And "Eljest" a word jonas gladly will translate for you non swedish speakers. I barely know what it means in Swedish; I just say it when I want to sound smart. "Moose yeast"? ;-) It's meaning in this context is "absent minded" :-P But moose yeast is almost the literal translation.
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Post by kairaku on Feb 23, 2017 2:40:56 GMT -8
What about glass bones, locked in syndrome, extreme halitosis or they are allergic to everthing.
I always thought that Cassandras ability to foretell the future, but never be believed was particularly inspired bastardry. In a vaguely similar vein, how about someone who can never hit what they aim at?
Go the Midas effect to the arsehole degree. Instead of turning everything to gold they oxidise everything they come into contact with.
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