Plaugue Bearer powers?

[Susano]

Okay, we have this beast that's infected with some virulent disease -- however, the beast is apparently immune and merely a carrier. Where ever the beast bases, it leaves disease causing agents behind -- so if you walk where the beast has walked, you'll get sick. Shoot the beast and make it bleed, and whoever encounters the blood will get sick. Burn it and... well, the smoke and ash will spread it everywhere.

 

Is there anyway to build this? Could one use Transform to change any place the creature passes into an "infected area"?

 

The blood part seems to be a disease template with some interesting Limitations -- but I'm not 100% sure what.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and help.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I think you could probably build this by defining the disease's effects in Powers, and then applying various Advantages & Limitations to that suite. For example, the "leaving disease-causing agents behind" might be Delayed Effect and/or Trigger plus Area Effect. The blood might be Damage Shield (possibly at limited Range or Explosion, plus Sticky), with a Limitation that it only kicks in if BODY damage is done to the beast. The "smoke and ash speading it everywhere" could be Area Effect, Megascale, Delayed Effect, Trigger, single Charge, Charge Never Recovers.

[Sunday_Gamer]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I'd probably just give the creature whatever power the disease is 0 end, persistent, Inherent, sticky, continous, Delayed Effect/Trigger, always on and personal immunity.

 

Just assign it a lifespan at the end of which the bacteria die (let's not infect the planet shall we?)

[Dust Raven]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I'm thinking along the same lines as Derek. Build the disease first, then apply whatever you need to deliver it. You could possibly buy the disease and then buy a suite of naked modifiers that will allow it to be delivered by those means.

 

The thing about burning it causes the ash to spread the disease is weird though. I don't know of any diseases that can survive being burned.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I'm thinking along the same lines as Derek. Build the disease first, then apply whatever you need to deliver it. You could possibly buy the disease and then buy a suite of naked modifiers that will allow it to be delivered by those means.

 

The thing about burning it causes the ash to spread the disease is weird though. I don't know of any diseases that can survive being burned.

 

Well, one of the big problems with vCJD (new variant Creutzveldt Jakobs Disease) is that burning the cattle corpses did not eradicate the protein causing the problem - dentists' drills etc would not be sterile simply by autoclaving - they needed a chemical wash and possibly physical cleaning as well.

 

A lot of heat resistant bacteria could survive a poor burn - clumps of cells shrivel but the outer layers protect the inner cells from destruction and those go on to infect - indeed, having been boosted into the atmosphere by the hot air they spread a good deal further than before.

 

[sorry - couldn't resist the opportunity to use my bacteriology!]

 

 

Doc

[Bloodstone]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Might be a bit out there, but could you build the disease as either a triggered summon or duplicates?

 

Shoot the thing and it summons a diseased blood spill, which then hangs around hitting things with it's Sticky Drain attacks until it's properly cleaned up and nullified.

 

Burn it and it summons diseased ashes that can fly, but are at the mercy of the wind for direction. They could have the same attack, but perhapas it's an AOE...

[Susano]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I'm thinking along the same lines as Derek. Build the disease first, then apply whatever you need to deliver it. You could possibly buy the disease and then buy a suite of naked modifiers that will allow it to be delivered by those means.

 

The thing about burning it causes the ash to spread the disease is weird though. I don't know of any diseases that can survive being burned.

 

I have the disease built... I just was looking for suggestions on how to spread it.

 

Oh, and said disease survived millions of years frozen in ice, an a-bomb test, and 20,000 fathoms of ocean. A little fire probably won't mean that much to it.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I have the disease built... I just was looking for suggestions on how to spread it.

 

Oh, and said disease survived millions of years frozen in ice, an a-bomb test, and 20,000 fathoms of ocean. A little fire probably won't mean that much to it.

 

The virus is obviously magical in nature, or highly advanced nanotechnology them. At least that's my guess.

 

I actually like Bloodstone's Summon suggestion. No need to apply any kind of loyalty modifiers to it, as it will attack the summoning character just as it will any other (it just won't have any effect, as he would have the necessary LS versus a likely NND on the disease attacks). I'm not sure how to write up a disease as a character though. It probably has Desol and Invisibility and some kind of AE NND/AVLD Attack to represent the disease taking hold. I'm not sure how to make a Continuous AE Attack stick with the target rather than the area though, or if the attack can just be declaired to work that way.

[SirViss]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

The virus is obviously magical in nature, or highly advanced nanotechnology them. At least that's my guess.

...

 

Nah, it's a mutant virus... What? If people can have superpowers, why not microorganisms...

[Robyn]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

It probably has Desol and Invisibility and some kind of AE NND/AVLD Attack to represent the disease taking hold. I'm not sure how to make a Continuous AE Attack stick with the target rather than the area though' date=' or if the attack can just be declaired to work that way.[/quote']

 

If an AOE, let's not forget Personal Immunity so that the virus doesn't immediately self-destruct

[Dust Raven]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

If an AOE' date=' let's not forget Personal Immunity so that the virus doesn't immediately self-destruct [/quote']

 

Or if it's an NND/AVLD, enough of the appropriate defense to not be affected by its own attack.

[Robyn]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Or if it's an NND/AVLD' date=' enough of the appropriate defense to not be affected by its own attack.[/quote']

 

So, the Unusual Defense is being a germ? Would it attack something at that scale, Susano? Wiping out the competition?

[Bloodstone]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

No I think DR is saying that you might build the disease as an NND requiring something like Life Support: Immunity to all terrestial Diseses and Biowarfare agents.

 

You would then give this Life Support to the beast that is the initial carrier for the disease. Or, if you were to go with my idea to use summon, you could also give the individual summons the same life support.

 

Thus, no need to buy the personal immunity advantage for the power, since by having the appropriate life support you are rendered immune to it already.

 

Now mind, if you DID go and build other diseases/germs as "characters", they might also have the same life support power and thus be immune to the uber plague...

[Robyn]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Or' date=' if you were to go with my idea to use summon, you could also give the individual summons the same life support.[/quote']

 

Exactly, the disease is made with Summon and the germs have an Area of Effect attack of some kind

 

That must be like Megascale-times-100 to a germ. Their range would still be awfully limited, though; they need a beast as a carrier to carry them around anywhere.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

That must be like Megascale-times-100 to a germ. Their range would still be awfully limited, though; they need a beast as a carrier to carry them around anywhere.

 

That really depends on if you use the optional rules for mega- and microversal hex distances

 

By default, the size of your character has no impact on the range or area of his attacks. That's determined by active points, advantages and limitations.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

One of the things that is missing from the diseases I see written up on the boards is any reflection that some of the hosts for the disease will be resistant. Even killer diseases find that some of their hosts are resistant and, if the disease pressure is applied constantly enough, a resistant population develops that co-exists with the disease.

 

It is a bad disease that wipes out its host as, once the hosts are gone, so is the disease. Usually, fatalities caused by a disease aer when the disease first encounters the host population and those with no resistance are felled. Eventually diseases are accommodated by populations and only become fatal once more when they undergo some serious mutation.

 

I understand this is not particularly superheroic, but if you have a heroic campaign then it might be worth having one or two of the party naturally immune. They may suffer limited symptoms, or take longer to succumb.

 

I would suggest a lottery among the players to determine who would be allowed to spend XP for a 1 point PERK.

 

 

Doc

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

For more drama, I might ask them all to allocate 1 point of their XP to the PERK and then randomly allocate the person in secret and let them find out the hard way which of them are actually naturally immune..

 

You would then refund the points to those who succumb through play.

 

 

Doc

[Bloodstone]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

or you could put an activation roll on the "damage" portion of the disease. If the immune person is stil a carrier, you can apply that as a naked Sticky advantage that does not have the activation roll...

 

I've actully considered making more poisons and diseases as AVLD's that apply vs "Bio Defense", a type of Power Defense that only works against that sort of attack. But NND just feels cleaner and easier to do the book keeping on

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

or you could put an activation roll on the "damage" portion of the disease. If the immune person is stil a carrier, you can apply that as a naked Sticky advantage that does not have the activation roll...

 

I've actully considered making more poisons and diseases as AVLD's that apply vs "Bio Defense", a type of Power Defense that only works against that sort of attack. But NND just feels cleaner and easier to do the book keeping on

 

 

Oh good point, I had omitted carriers!

 

I'll have to play with numbers now...

 

A disease therefore has to have several characteristics

 

Effect, transmission, incubation time and immunity characteristics.

 

When the disease hits someone who has no immunity to the disease they suffer the effects and at some point possibly become infective (though certain diseases do not transmit from person to person).

 

If the disease hits someone who has immunity to the effects then they may still carry the disease and transmit it.

 

If the disease hits someone who has immunity to its entirety then they do not suffer the effects nor do they carry it.

 

The incubation time is important. Some diseases are infective only prior to the effects becoming obvious while others are infectious after the main ravages of the disease have passed and other during the effects phase. There should be some indication of incubation times and when the infectious stage of the disease occurs.

 

I think that there is also the potential for a disease power having a small transform side-effect - non-immune host to immune host. It makes the disease more limited in effect if it recurs.

 

 

Doc

[Bloodstone]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Why do I suddenly fear that stating out the common cold will result in a archvillian made with more points then Dr Destroyer, Tekofanes and Tyrannus combined

[Alibear]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Why do I suddenly fear that stating out the common cold will result in a archvillian made with more points then Dr Destroyer' date=' Tekofanes and Tyrannus combined [/quote']

 

A minor transform with megascale shouldn't be too expensive to model. Make it v con instead of body and you're half way there.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Why do I suddenly fear that stating out the common cold will result in a archvillian made with more points then Dr Destroyer' date=' Tekofanes and Tyrannus combined [/quote']

 

I don't think the common cold would do it. The effects wouldn't cost enough. Influenza might - but then that has probably killed more people.

 

It sounds complex but if you want to model something that affects so many people then it tends to cost points and the more effect the disease has the more it costs.

 

The side effect transform wouldn't cost extra - it would decrease the overall cost....and make it more 'real'.

 

I understand though - when you start properly costing this kind of stuff it always looks more expensive than you think it should. That's why so many people would simply handwave it as plot device under most circumstances.

 

 

Doc

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Erm... you guys *do* realize that Michael has already said he's got the disease part itself already built, right?

[Susano]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

I was going to use an edited version of the Bubonic Plague from HERO Bestiary.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Plaugue Bearer powers?

 

Erm... you guys *do* realize that Michael has already said he's got the disease part itself already built' date=' right? [/quote']

 

Hell yes, but this is an interesting discussion - I'm sure that Michael is more than capable of ignoring the noise or stealing anything that would add to the game fun...

 

Doc