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Talent Descriptors
The following descriptors are important for talent powers
and their effects.
Talent Features
Given the close similarity between talent powers and advantages, talent Feature effects can easily be thought of
as advantages and vice versa. For example, the Number
Cruncher and Speed Reading talents (see Utility Powers)
could just as easily be advantages. Any talent power with
a 1 power point per rank cost structure (such as Striking
Power, Tough, or Acquired Immunity) could easily be
made into an advantage.
Skill Knacks
A particular Feature that works well with talent powers
in conjunction with skills is the Skill Knack, allowing the
character to ignore one type of circumstance penalty
for skill-use. Existing examples include Improvised Tools
(which removes the circumstance penalty for not having
tools) or Animal Empathy (which removes the circumstance penalty on using interaction skills with animals).
Other possibilities include removing circumstance penalties for Acrobatics or Athletics (moving at normal speeds,
not vulnerable while in use, etc.), penalties for difficult
disguises with Deception, using an interaction skill more
quickly (as a move action rather than a standard action),
and so forth.
Offensive Powers
Offensive talents range from enhancing existing attack
effects (including Strength Damage) to providing new offensive capabilities, such as the sheer intimidation of Fearsome Presence or the secrets of Pressure Points.
Fearsome Presence
Your very presence can strike terror into the hearts of your
foes, allowing you to win some battles without having to
do anything more than show up!
Fearsome Presence is also an effective model for other
interaction talents with extraordinary influence over
people, such as a Befuddling Lie based on a Deception
check and inflicting the Entranced, Stunned, and Unaware
conditions, for example.
Fearsome Presence: Perception (Visual) Area Affliction (Resisted
and Overcome by Will; Impaired, Disabled, Paralyzed),
Selective, Subtle, Intimidation Check Required (DC 11) 3
points per rank.
Flurry
You can launch a virtual whirlwind of attacks against your
foes, applying the Multiattack modifier to your attack,
up to the rank of the modifier or the attack, whichever is
lower. Therefore with 3 ranks in Flurry, you can Multiattack
with a light pistol (Damage 3) even though it is normally
not capable of Multiattack fire. If you only flurry with a
subset of attackssuch as guns or melee weapons
reduce the Variable Descriptor modifier to 1 rank.
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Jonathan Lotzer (order #3533764)
Hurt Anything
Everything has a weak point, at least so far as you are concerned. Any Damage you wield is Penetrating, up to the
rank you choose, allowing you to potentially affect targets
others with the same attack could not.
Hurt Anything: Penetrating, Variable Descriptor (any Damage
Effect you wield) 1 point +1 point per rank.
Pressure Points
Youre trained in how to precisely apply pressure to
certain points of the body to cause disorientation, pain,
and even unconsciousness. Generally, this ability is acquired as an Alternate Effect of your Strength Damage at
a rank equal to your Strength rank (also making it a useful
power stunt). You can even acquire multiple versions of
this attack, representing different types of strikes or nerve
manipulation, with different conditions imposed by the
Affliction. True mastery of Pressure Points might apply the
Variable Condition modifier to the Affliction (see the Illusion Powers profile).
Pressure Points: Affliction (Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated),
Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude 1 point per rank.
Striking Power
You have trained to harden and strengthen your hands
and to focus the power of your blows, increasing your
sheer striking power. The GM may limit this power to just
a few ranks (say 23) or to a maximum you can increase
your total Strength damage, such as rank 6.
Striking Power: Strength-based Damage 1 point per rank.
Defensive Powers
The Defensive Roll advantage (Heros Handbook, page 83)
can be thought of as a defensive talent power: a version of
Sustained Protection dependent on the characters ability
to actively defend to avoid the brunt of attacks.
Acquired Immunity
Through natural talent or careful buildup, you have an acquired immunity to toxins and pathogens that allows you
to more easily resist their effects.
Acquired Immunity: Immunity 2 (diseases and poisons), Limited
to Half Effect 1 points.
Perfect Defense
Your mastery of combat technique is so great that when
you choose to go on the defensive, you are virtually un-
Tough
You are tougher than you look, perhaps a good deal
tougher. You have ranks of Protection (increasing your
Toughness defense) attributed to natural ability or training. Like other talent powers, the GM may limit you to no
more than 23 ranks.
Tough: Protection 1 point per rank.
Unfazeable
Nothing seems to shake your perfect composure, whether
due to an icy calm, a devil-may-care attitude, or just a stoic
stubbornness. Someone may as well be trying to sway a
force of nature.
Unfazeable: Immunity 5 (Interaction Skills) 5 points.
Movement Powers
It only takes a rank or two of a movement effect to outclass all but the worlds record holders in most forms of
movement (Speed 3 is slightly better than a 4-minute
mile). These abilities reflect talent and training beyond
even considerable ranks in Acrobatics or Athletics.
Parkour
Youre a master of parkour, or free-running, a style of
moving quickly through crowded urban environments.
Essentially, you suffer no movement penalties of any kind
in an urban environment, you can vault and climb quickly,
and you suffer no effect from slips or falls, so long as you
are near a hand hold or other means of catching yourself.
Circumstance penalties for your environment may still
apply, but movement penalties do not.
Parkour: Movement 5 (Environmental Adaptation (Urban), Safe
Fall, Sure-Footed 2, Wall-Crawling 1), Limited to Moving in
Urban Environments (4 ranks) 6 points.
Perfect Balance
You have such exceptional balance that you can move
along the narrowest of paths without slowing or falling.
You move at your normal speed, even along a tightrope or
Speed-Climbing
You can climb quickly and easily, like a trained human
fly. With the Check Required modifier, you still suffer the
normal results of failing an Athletics check while climbing (Heros Handbook, page 64) but you move twice as fast
(speed 1 rather than speed 2). With 2 ranks of Movement, you climb very quickly (at your normal ground
speed). Without the flaw, you also climb unerringly: you
never fall or fail to make a climb.
Speed-Climbing: Movement 1 (Wall-crawling 1), Athletics Check
Required (DC 11) 1 point.
Speed-Swimming
Youre a powerful swimmer, swimming at your speed rank
1 (rather than 2 like most swimmers). Note this talent
does not exempt you from Athletics checks to swim, or
allow you to breathe underwater.
Speed-Swimming: Swimming 1 1 point.
Vaulting
Youre capable of remarkable leaps, spanning up to 30
feet (slightly more than the worlds record for a running
long jump). Without the Check Required modifier, you can
do it effortlessly.
Vaulting: Leaping 2, Acrobatics Check Required (DC 11) 1 point.
Triple-Jointed
You can bend and contort to fit into surprisingly small
spaces and areas (half human normal size).
Triple-Jointed: Shrinking 4, Innate, Concentration, Acrobatics or
Sleight of Hand Check Required (DC 12) 3 points.
Utility Powers
A wide range of effects can represent talents, particularly
different Senses and effects like Quickness.
Acute Sense
You have a degree of sensory refinement most people do
not. While vision and hearing are normally acute, those
with this talent have additional acute senses. You can,
for example, easily distinguish between different wine
vintages by taste with Refined Palate, pick out specific
notes with Perfect Pitch, or recognize a specific brand of
perfume with Sensitive Smell.
Ambidexterous
You are truly ambidextrous, able to use either hand (or all
of your hands, if you have more than two) equally well.
You suffer no circumstance penalties due to which hand
you use to perform a task.
Ambidexterous: Feature 1 (no circumstance penalties for offhand use) 1 point.
At a Glance
You take things in quickly, instantly assessing a scene with
a single glance.
At a Glance: Senses 1 (Rapid Vision) 1 point.
Brilliant Deduction
Whether it is a few scuffs in the dirt or some stray hairs on
someones collar, you can reconstruct entire past events
with amazing accuracy just by examining the available
evidence. You can substitute an Investigation check for
the Perception check normally required for Postcognition
if your examination of the evidence is successful.
Brilliant Deduction: Senses 4 (Postcognition), Investigation
Check Required (DC 12) 2 points.
Daredevil
They say fortune favors the bold, and that has certainly always been your experience. Youve lost count of
the times when the chips have been down and fate has
handed you and your friends a lucky break.
Daredevil: Luck Control 3 points per rank.
Eagle-Eyed
You are sharp-eyed over much greater distances than
most people.
Eagle-Eyed: Senses 1 (Extended Vision) 1 point.
Light Sleeper
You are unaffected by circumstance penalties to your Perception checks to hear things due to being asleep (normally a +10 DC, Heros Handbook, page 72). Thus, youre
more likely to hear (and be awakened by) any sound.
Light Sleeper: Feature 1 (ignore hearing penalties for
sleeping) 1 point.
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Master of Disguise
You can quickly change your appearance in startling ways,
becoming virtually indistinguishable from your subject.
Master of Disguise: Morph 2 (Other People), Continuous,
Deception Check Required (DC 12), Removable (1 point),
Standard Action 5 points.
Master Linguist
You have such a talent for languages that you speak virtually all of them, and can quickly figure out a new language
if you are exposed to it for a while.
Master Linguist: Comprehend 2 (Languages, Understand
and Be Understood), Quirk (takes at least a scene to pick
up a new language) 3 points.
Number Cruncher
You can perform mathematical calculations rapidly in
your head. The basic talent subtracts 3 ranks from the time
value to perform a calculation; each additional power
point adds 3 more ranks. A realistic limit is probably 3 to 4
points (for a total of 9 to 12 ranks).
Number Cruncher: Quickness, Limited to Mathematical
Calculations 1 point per 3 ranks.
Situational Awareness
You are hyper-aware of your surroundings, making you particularly sensitive to potential threats. You have a fair chance
of avoiding surprises and ambushes others might walk into.
Situational Awareness: Senses 1 (Danger Sense, visual) 1 point.
Speed Reader
This talent is like Number Cruncher (previously) except
it applies to reading text rather than performing calculations. Each power point invested subtracts 3 from the time
value required to read a document.
Speed Reader: Quickness, Limited to Reading 1 point per
3 ranks.
Power Loss
Talent Complications
Just like talent powers tend to be fairly low-key, complications associated with them also tend towards the more
realistic, rather than weird vulnerabilities.
Addiction
Two types of addictions are common for highly talented
characters: the first is a chemical addiction of some sort,
be it performance enhancers, alcohol, medication, or recreational drugs. Sometimes the addiction is meant to help
maintain the users edge, while other times its intended
to help take the edge off always being on for those with
hyped-up physical or mental capabilities.
A related addiction is the need for something to constantly challenge the characters talents. Having such amazing
talents, the character feels the need to use them as much
and as often as possible. This often motivates talented
characters like thrill-seekers, but what they really want is
something to test their mettle, again and again.
Fame
It might be harder for a normal person to become
famous in a world where brightly-clad men and women
can fly and chuck cars over their shoulders; still an extraordinary talent is worthy of note, especially if it
is applied well. Characters with talent powers often
manage to find fame, at least for a while. Some try their
best to avoid the limelight, while others bask in its glow
and do whatever they can to hold on to it. Both present
complications in a characters life, as fameand fans
can be fickle.
Identity
Depending on how characters talents manifest, they
may or may not be able to maintain a secret identity.
If they do, then that identity if quite often as mundane
and unremarkable as possible. After all, it would be quite
noteworthy if a famous hero and a local civilian both
had the same amazing talents, wouldnt it? Having a
mundane existence can be a boon or a bane, depending
on the kind of attention the character prefers, but both
can be complicated.
Quirk
Incredibly talented types can often be... eccentric. Heroes
and villains who rely on their talents may also add the occasional flourish or focus on a particular theme. For some,
this can grow into an Obsession complication, blocking
out virtually everything else. Heroes tend to be better
at moderating their personality quirks, but still have and
follow them.
Relationship
A talented character may have a relationship with a
mentor (who may also be a family member) who helped
to bring out the characters potential. This relationship
could be a good one, still seeking out the mentor for
advice and further training, or a stormy one, with resentment towards a harsh and possibly stingy mentor. Either
way, foes and circumstances may threaten the relationship, forcing the character to act.
Reputation
A reputation for arrogance is an occupational hazard of the
incredibly talented. It doesnt take much for someone with
amazing capabilities to rub people the wrong way, especially if the character ignores social niceties. A brilliant, but
eccentric, investigator or a maverick sports-hero-turnedvigilante can easily have a difficult reputation when it
comes to dealing with both the authorities and the media.
A reputation for failure may also haunt a talented character, fallout from that one time when sheer talent and
determination wasnt enough. Such characters may have
a hard time finding those who still believe; indeed, they
have a hard time believing in themselves (see Power Loss,
previously).
Rivalry
Anything you can do, I can do better may as well be the
motto of many with talent powers. In a world of superhumans, sheer human capability and achievement matter
more than ever, at least to some, and that can lead to all
sorts of rivalries: between talented characters, between
normals and superhumans, between heroes and criminals, and so forth. Its not unusual for a hero with talent
powers to have a criminal opposite who enjoys engaging
in a little friendly rivalry (whether the hero considers it
friendly or not).
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Jonathan Lotzer (order #3533764)
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