Speedrun, The Speedster Who Can't Use Stares

[Stanley Teriaca]

Speedrun is a cyborg speedster character who gets his speed from a series of rolling balls under the 'skirt' of the mechanical device replacing his legs. While it does grant him good speed, he can't kick nor use stairs. What is the best way to simulate thiis?

 

Yes, I know it requires a Physical Limitation. But should I also put in a power limitation on running to simulate the inability to run on uneven ground?

Edited July 9 by Stanley Teriaca

[Asperion]

I might consider two physlims:  

 

1- Requires level surface: no stairs but ramps usable. 

 

2- no legs: cannot perform actions requiring legs.

[Stanley Teriaca]

18 minutes ago, Asperion said:

I might consider two physlims:  

 

1- Requires level surface: no stairs but ramps usable. 

 

2- no legs: cannot perform actions requiring legs.

Anything power wise?

[unclevlad]

It might make sense to buy NCMs on the running as naked adders, and apply the limitations to those.  If you apply them to the base Running, then he couldn't move at all on those surfaces.

 

So, what could he NOT run across/through?

 

--sand on a beach?  

--cobblestones?

--muddy ground?  I'm thinking shallow mud, not when your foot's settling down 6 inches in the muck.  

--scrublands...lots of low, woody bushes like mesquite or creosote

--somewhat high grass...even ankle-high would seem to be tricky.  Heck, even a shallow-rooted decorative grass would seem to be a problem.  Pine straw would seem to at least leave a blatantly obvious trail.

 

My sense is, the drawbacks of the motive approach are very impairing...to the point where the inventor that developed the attachment would find something else.  ESPECIALLY if he can't climb stairs at all.  

[LoneWolf]

Basically he can only run on hard flat surfaces.  That would be worth quite a bit for a limitation but as unclevlad said it makes him incredibly limited.  When someone can get away from you by stepping onto a sidewalk that has squared off edges the character is nearly useless. 

[Gauntlet]

I am not sure that this rolling ball foot speedster would actually be as limited as you think he is. I have frequently seen bike riders go all over the place including upstairs, seen people on skateboards or skates do the same thing. Now maybe he may have an issue on soft surfaces, but even that might not be as bad as you think.

[Steve]

I’m having flashbacks to the Daleks of decades past in the description of this character’s movement. I think there are even old Doctor Who jokes about this.

[Stanley Teriaca]

1 hour ago, Steve said:

I’m having flashbacks to the Daleks of decades past in the description of this character’s movement. I think there are even old Doctor Who jokes about this.

Exactly. I decided when someone suggested wheels that this is the thing to hang on him. The image below came to mind. But maybe like @unclevlad surggested, along with @LoneWolf and @Gauntlet. He can't use his NCM over soft ground, nor uneven ground. He can climb some small steps but he also loses NCM over that type of steps. Anything over a 1 foot incline and he won't be able to use it at all. How much of a limitation is that? How much of a Physical Complication is that in your opinion?

 

And of course he can't kick, but can still preform Move By, Grab By, and Move Through attacks.

[unclevlad]

6 hours ago, Gauntlet said:

I am not sure that this rolling ball foot speedster would actually be as limited as you think he is. I have frequently seen bike riders go all over the place including upstairs, seen people on skateboards or skates do the same thing. Now maybe he may have an issue on soft surfaces, but even that might not be as bad as you think.

 

The rider can maneuver the weight of the bike, lifting it...because the bike is separate.  You can use the back wheel as a pivot point, and lift on the handlebars.  They're also light.  The setup OP has in mind seems to be as noted in the Dalek images...the entire mass presses down on the base.  There's no way to lift...and you can't even tilt it easily, you're working against the entire mass.

 

3 hours ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

Exactly. I decided when someone suggested wheels that this is the thing to hang on him. The image below came to mind. But maybe like @unclevlad surggested, along with @LoneWolf and @Gauntlet. He can't use his NCM over soft ground, nor uneven ground. He can climb some small steps but he also loses NCM over that type of steps. Anything over a 1 foot incline and he won't be able to use it at all. How much of a limitation is that? How much of a Physical Complication is that in your opinion?

 

Still a lot.  Note how easy he'd be to trap into a small space...drop a section of floor by a foot, maybe 18 inches to be safe.  He'll have to lever his way out, and that'd make him a total sitting duck.

 

Again...I go back to why was it done this way, as opposed to some other way?  Someone has to go to considerable time and expense to do this, so why would they do it *badly*?  Especially with someone where mobility is a major factor?  It's self-defeating, even self-contradictory.  This arrangement would be just fine with area-defense guard bots, say, where you don't want them to be knocked over, but you're building a speedster.

 

[Gauntlet]

Ahhhh, I was thinking wheels for feet, not a complete lack of legs. In this case you also will want to buy off all leaping. But you might want to add a Hand Attack for Move Throughs though as it seems that with that big of a downward section he would run people over.

[Stanley Teriaca]

Considering he IS a villain, he has limitations you'll never see in a superhero. And taking advantage of these limitations is a key to defeating him.

 

I might give him a rather small super leap described as hidden hydraulic jacks in order to escape small unleavened areas, but he can't use it to climb stares.

 

During that time, he'll have to have Cromedome or Countdown carry him up the stairs. It would be faster then his buying his leaping down to zero then buying a 1" NCM leaping to spring up.

 

But imagine the Knockback Resistance.

[Sean Waters]

Physical Complication: Blind?

[Sean Waters]

9 hours ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

Exactly. I decided when someone suggested wheels that this is the thing to hang on him. The image below came to mind. But maybe like @unclevlad surggested, along with @LoneWolf and @Gauntlet. He can't use his NCM over soft ground, nor uneven ground. He can climb some small steps but he also loses NCM over that type of steps. Anything over a 1 foot incline and he won't be able to use it at all. How much of a limitation is that? How much of a Physical Complication is that in your opinion?

 

And of course he can't kick, but can still preform Move By, Grab By, and Move Through attacks.

 

Even the Daleks eventually developed flight, or at least levitation because the joke got old.  Even before that they were regularly seen moving over rubble-strewn or broken ground.  The question, I suppose, the question is what the player wants the effects to be.  If the player decides the character can't get up stairs, fine: they're not going to be disappointed, but it would be an odd bit of advanced technology that didn't anticipate that problem.  I'd probably suggest that this skirt acts like a hovercraft skirt, which would allow travel over broken ground and even up stairs, and that, when on level ground, wheels can be lowered to give a speed boost (+Run Only on Level Ground -1/2).  Not being able to kick is not really a disadvantage or limitation and neither is having no legs if you have a replacement.  I imagine climbing and jumping will be difficult though, possibly swimming too (although if it is a hovercraft-like skirt surface swimming would be fine), but buying back swimming and leaping to zero is only going to get you 4 points.  Not being able to climb might be a bit of an issue too: all the villain has to do is jump over a low wall and the character can not follow.  It depends how nasty or generous the GM is planning to be.  

 

[Stanley Teriaca]

55 minutes ago, Sean Waters said:

 

Even the Daleks eventually developed flight, or at least levitation because the joke got old.  Even before that they were regularly seen moving over rubble-strewn or broken ground.  The question, I suppose, the question is what the player wants the effects to be.  If the player decides the character can't get up stairs, fine: they're not going to be disappointed, but it would be an odd bit of advanced technology that didn't anticipate that problem.  I'd probably suggest that this skirt acts like a hovercraft skirt, which would allow travel over broken ground and even up stairs, and that, when on level ground, wheels can be lowered to give a speed boost (+Run Only on Level Ground -1/2).  Not being able to kick is not really a disadvantage or limitation and neither is having no legs if you have a replacement.  I imagine climbing and jumping will be difficult though, possibly swimming too (although if it is a hovercraft-like skirt surface swimming would be fine), but buying back swimming and leaping to zero is only going to get you 4 points.  Not being able to climb might be a bit of an issue too: all the villain has to do is jump over a low wall and the character can not follow.  It depends how nasty or generous the GM is planning to be.  

 

Things to think about. Maybe a hovercraft mode would be ok. But of course the cyborg designer isn't that imaginative.

 

Remember this is a VILLAIN character. The 'player' is the Game Master. And having his abilities hindered is a standard bit for villains. How many times in comic books has the hero find a limitation to the villain's abilities and actually uses it against them?

[Sean Waters]

12 minutes ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

Things to think about. Maybe a hovercraft mode would be ok. But of course the cyborg designer isn't that imaginative.

 

Remember this is a VILLAIN character. The 'player' is the Game Master. And having his abilities hindered is a standard bit for villains. How many times in comic books has the hero find a limitation to the villain's abilities and actually uses it against them?

 

Villains often have the advantage of home ground: presumably they hole up somewhere with nice flat smooth floors and no stairs.  Even if not on home ground they are unlikely to plan to do something nefarious at the beach or the Eiffel Tower.

[Stanley Teriaca]

2 minutes ago, Sean Waters said:

 

Villains often have the advantage of home ground: presumably they hole up somewhere with nice flat smooth floors and no stairs.  Even if not on home ground they are unlikely to plan to do something nefarious at the beach or the Eiffel Tower.

Depends on if Argent Arnaky has a concert at the Eiffel Tower or not. Or there heavy metal rivals Road Kill. Anyone remember Road Kill?

[unclevlad]

7 hours ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

Considering he IS a villain, he has limitations you'll never see in a superhero. And taking advantage of these limitations is a key to defeating him.

 

I might give him a rather small super leap described as hidden hydraulic jacks in order to escape small unleavened areas, but he can't use it to climb stares.

 

During that time, he'll have to have Cromedome or Countdown carry him up the stairs. It would be faster then his buying his leaping down to zero then buying a 1" NCM leaping to spring up.

 

But imagine the Knockback Resistance.

 

Then why are you buying him as a speedster?

 

That's a massive conceptual disconnect for me here.

[Stanley Teriaca]

3 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 

Then why are you buying him as a speedster?

You explaine how to build a guy in what is basically a car he can never be separated from or he will probally die? He is a cyborg after all.

 

A speedster can mean different things. Superman is enough of a one to have a yearly around the world race for charity with the Flash after all.

3 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

That's a massive conceptual disconnect for me here.

Only if you let it. I haven't put anything to paper yet.

[Sean Waters]

17 minutes ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

You explaine how to build a guy in what is basically a car he can never be separated from or he will probally die? He is a cyborg after all.

 

A speedster can mean different things. Superman is enough of a one to have a yearly around the world race for charity with the Flash after all.

Only if you let it. I haven't put anything to paper yet.

 

Hmm. We once had a character in a game I was running that was basically just a brain in a small spider suit that bought a vehicle that looked like a robotic dog. 

 

Weird, but worked.

[Gauntlet]

High Speed does not mean you are a speedster. Have a character who has multiple arms so that he can act very often, I bought up his speed but lowered his running.