Aberrant RPG - Mega-Dexterity 6+ Feats

[Alex Green]

Dodge laser beams that have targeted the swift.

This sounds like a standard dodge, Don't the mechanics for M-Dex 4+ stopping fire arms work somewhat differently?

[Sprocket]

Re: "Dodge targeted laser beams"-

According to p. 158 of the core book, M-Dex 4+ lets you pluck bullets out of the air with a Block roll & M-Dex 1+ lets you Dodge ranged attacks without seeking cover.

I changed the feat in question to reflect that dodging a laser beam that has a swift 100% dead in its sights & has been fired should be more difficult than dodging a bullet - Mach speeds are pitifully slow in comparison to lightspeed. OTOH if that laser weapon's being held by someone who has yet to aim the thing & press a trigger button in hopes of hitting a swift with it, it could be dodged like any other ranged attack.

Apologies for not being sufficiently clear - my bad. ::tongue ::laugh

[metaphysician]

Be aware, that implies Mega Dex 7 is relativistic reflexes, and Mega Dex 8 is lightspeed or faster. I don't have any *problem* with such an idea, just pointing it out.

[Alex Green]

Physics is not our friend in abby... and if they have M-Dex 7 they can buy time control and/or warp which break those rules outright anyway. I'm good with it too.

[Alex Green]

• Dodge laser beams that have targeted the swift.

• Dodge laser beams that have already targeted and fired at the swift.

• Dodge laser beams that have fired at the swift.

[metaphysician]

I'd favor the first. It makes it more clear that the laser not only has been fired, but at the time its fired, it *will* hit the nova.

[Sprocket]

Re: dodging laser beams-

Thanks Alex, I'll take the first version you offered. I agree with metaphysician that it's much more clear. ::thumbup1 So now the current feat listings for M-Dex 7 & 8 are as follows:

Mega-Dexterity 7

• Dodge laser beams that have already targeted and fired at the swift.

• Juggle nitrogen tri-iodide without setting it off.

• Move too fast to be seen with unaided baseline human vision.

• x.

• x.

Mega-Dexterity 8

• Use a blade to completely flay a victim (removal of the victim's entire intact skin) in combat for a complete surprise before he can notice and react. It's done so quickly that it's bloodless and painless until the victim notices what he's missing.

• Walk or run along a stream of automatic gunfire or similar projectiles.

• x.

• x.

• x.

Re: Relativistic, lightspeed & FTL physical reflexes-

Be aware, that implies Mega Dex 7 is relativistic reflexes, and Mega Dex 8 is lightspeed or faster. I don't have any *problem* with such an idea, just pointing it out.

Yep, that's exactly what we're implying here. If the laws of physics are already more flexible than is typical where most novas are concerned, they should only become even more so for novas in the 6+ Quantum/Mega-Attribute range. ::happy

[Sprocket]

Re: M-Dex 10 "Ultimate Dodge/Parry/Block"-

Just an update for metaphysician. A cleaned-up & polished version of this trick has been added to the main listing for Mega-Dex 10 in the Mega-Dexterity section of Chapter 4, & is currently undergoing peer review. It's gotten only wholehearted approval so far, so I'm hoping it'll pass peer review. ::wink

[Alex Green]

I approved.

[metaphysician]

Thanks.

Oh, and sad to say, but no more feats from Pendaran. He's saving his 'gruesome mega-dex tricks' for when/if we ever encounter the Grey Man again.

( which hopefully won't be until we're Q6 too. . . )

[Sprocket]

Here's a feat that Alex suggested: Move fast enough that you can move across a laser trip wire without triggering it.

Since my knowledge of "laser tripwires" is minimal at best, I've no idea as to whether this is even possible for Mega-Dex 7+, much less what dot ranking would be required. ::unsure Any ideas on this from you lot?

[Snackula]

I only know a very small amount about laser tripwires, but I believe they activate the instant that their sensors stop receiving the laser signal. I know even less about physics, but my guess is this would probably be FTL territory (i.e. Mega-Dex 8+).

[Rorx]

You would have to break and remake the circuit faster than the internal electronics could notice that it had been broken. If it is just a thin trip wire of say 1mm dia then you need to move across it faster than say a circuit reacting at the equivalent of say 5GHz (?). So thats 1mm [=1x10^-3 m] in less than 0.2x10^-9 seconds = 0.2x10^6 m/s. Actually thats wrong presumably you need to move you whole body across this area in that time so more like 300-500 times that speed (30-50cm body depth?). 500 times would put the speed back up to 1x10^8 m/s. Speed of light is about 3x10^9 so need to be able to move in short bursts for 3% speed of light!

[metaphysician]

IOW, Mega Dex 7.

[Sprocket]

OK, I'll float the M-Dex 7 rating & see how that flies with the rest of the Development Team.

BTW, we're still entirely devoid of any ideas for feats ranked at M-Dex 9 & 10. If any of you can think of *anything* that would fit one or more of those empty slots, go ahead & post them here.

[BcAugust]

OK, I'll float the M-Dex 7 rating & see how that flies with the rest of the Development Team.

BTW, we're still entirely devoid of any ideas for feats ranked at M-Dex 9 & 10. If any of you can think of *anything* that would fit one or more of those empty slots, go ahead & post them here.

Well, the problem is it becomes hard to picture what they could be. Heck, if 8 is avoiding a tripwire, 9 or ten might be moving quick enough to dodge photons. And, seeing a lack of flexibility feats there. That's a big part of Mega Dex too.

[metaphysician]

I tend to envision Mega Dex 8 as being "Faster than Light Speedster", IOW, the Flash basically. I suppose that'd make Mega Dex 9 "the Silver Surfer", and Mega Dex 10 "the Runner". But, thats not helpful, as it basically is "same thing, only now your blitzing faster opponents".

[metaphysician]

Hmm, how about "the nova can escape from any physical restraint that binds him, even if it penetrates into his body ( and without tearing his own flesh )"?

[Sprocket]

Re: Silver Surfer, Runner references-

Thanks, I'll have to review these characters.

Re: Imapling restraints?-

Hmm, how about "the nova can escape from any physical restraint that binds him, even if it penetrates into his body (and without tearing his own flesh )"?

::confused What are you trying to describe here? AFAIK, objects penetrating the body & piercing/tearing the flesh are pretty much the same thing. Unless you've got some unheard-of way for a Mega-Dexterous Houdini-wannabe could remove himself from a Vlad Tepes Special without killing himself in the process, I don't follow your thinking here.

(BTW, "Vlad Tepes Special" = being impaled alive on a long wooden stake.)

[metaphysician]

Thats exactly what I'm subjecting. Or rather, stuff like "the chains are pierced through your body, there's spikes going through each limb, and some rather uncomfortable metal structure now intersects your rib cage."

Brutal and excessive means of 'restraining' someone, yes, but with Mega Stamina, its not at all certain to be fatal.

Sufficient Mega Dex, however, should allow one to extricate oneself from such apparati, even if its physically 'impossible' to remove the spikes and chains and such without tearing open one's flesh. Your just that damn agile.

[Snackula]

A few abilities the Flash has shown that might or might not be appropriate:

1) Run across thick clouds

2) Vibrate his molecules so fast he could pass through solid matter (and make it explode on the way through, if he so chooses)

3) The ability to talk so extremely fast that only other speedsters can understand him (this could possibly be exhibited at multiple levels of Mega-Dex, with only those who possess an equal or higher rating understanding what's said). Not sure if I particularly like this one, though...

4) He's also been shown to accelerate to such incredible speeds that he can travel through time. Not sure if I like this one either, but there it is. Anyway, I thought you only had to go 88 mph to time-travel. Go figure.

[Alex Green]

IMHO #2 and #4 are theme related powers... but I like #1 and #3.

[metaphysician]

Yeah. While technically, running along water or up walls is more a Hypermovement effect, I wouldn't object to saying "if you have enough mega dex, your a wuxia character. Water is a solid surface."

[Alex Green]

M-Dex 10; 'Run on air' ?

[metaphysician]

Given the level, seems fine to me. The speed involved in movement shouldn't really exceed non-mastery flight, though.

[Sprocket]

Re: Impaling restraints-

OK, I can see where this could be plausible (Google was a big help). AFAICT there's no problem with it other than the following. What dot rating would "escape from any physical restraint, even if it penetrates his body without causing himself any further damage" be ranked under?

Re: Speedster tricks-

Agreed that #2 & 4 aren't viable. For #3, AFAICT it would take Mega-Perception with the Fast Sense (Hearing) enhancement to decipher hyper-rapid speech.

AFA #1, I'm very dubious as to whether literal air-walking is viable. Even Kitty Pryde has to go intangible to do that, & she's not especially Mega-Dexterous.

That said, traveling over unstable surfaces (water, quicksand) does sound viable, as does the capability to use nearly any surface (such as leaves on a tree) for climbing.

[Snackula]

AFA #1, I'm very dubious as to whether literal air-walking is viable. Even Kitty Pryde has to go intangible to do that, & she's not especially Mega-Dexterous.

That said, traveling over unstable surfaces (water, quicksand) does sound viable, as does the capability to use nearly any surface (such as leaves on a tree) for climbing.

In this case, it's not quite air-walking... Not exactly, anyway. Rather, the Flash ran across heavy snow clouds. Not saying whether that's feasible or not; just clearing it up. To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of level-specific feats, but thought I'd offer these up anyway.

[Alex Green]

RE: Air Running

Don't spaceships bounce off planetary atmospheres?

Don't cars have to worry about flying if they go too fast?

[Sprocket]

In this case, it's not quite air-walking... Not exactly, anyway. Rather, the Flash ran across heavy snow clouds. Not saying whether that's feasible or not; just clearing it up. To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of level-specific feats, but thought I'd offer these up anyway.

I'd have to dismiss 90% of the Flash's stunts as stand-alone quantum powers grouped under a theme of "super-speed" instead of actual Mega-Dexterity feats. AFAICT, nothing's ever suffered physical/kinetic damage by crashing into a cloud. That can't be said for water, as impacting it is effectively the same as hitting solid concrete at a high enough velocity.

Don't spaceships bounce off planetary atmospheres?

Are we talking RL spacecraft or those from science fiction? AFAIK, the only possible "bounce" example I know of was that Earth-grazer asteroid that nearly hit us back in the 1980's, & whether it even "bounced" at all is debatable. I mean, we have video footage of it burning along it's brief passage through the upper atmosphere & IIRC it's trajectory remained pretty straight.

Don't cars have to worry about flying if they go too fast?

Yeah, but that "flight" is completely uncontrolled, despite what the producers of the Dukes of Hazzard would have had us think. ::laugh Even today, cars generally "fly" about as well as bricks do.

It's also more likely to happen if the car is designed to have more surfaces that can provide aerodynamic lift than it really should. Anyone recall reading about the Tucker sedan circa the late 1940's - early 1950's? It was originally supposed to have little airfoils by the front bumpers that were intended to aid in turning at high speeds. That design feature was scrapped when wind tunnel / model tests revealed that they actually decreased vehicle stability, & would've made the car more likely to flip itself up off the road.

[Psilord]

* Type faster than the parser on even a supercomputer can keep up with. (ala Stargate SG1 episode)

* Move an object thru the air at velocities great enough to superheat it. (White-hot crowbar to the head!)

* Move an object thru the air at speeds great enought to destroy it in a plasma burst, the swift being fast enough to escape the burst. (Exploding plasma burst from a thrown rock. Ouch!) ::devil

* Artificial flight. Grab a couple of trash can lids, or stop signs, and start flapping.

* Suffer 1/2 to 1/4 damage from falling due to body manipulation and micro adjustments during the moment of impact.

[Sprocket]

Re: M-Dex 7 & 8 feats-

I've submitted some of the latest suggestions for these to peer review over on the TNF project board. If the new stuff passes review, the listings for M-Dex 7 & 8 will be as follows:

Mega-Dexterity 7

• Dodge laser beams that have already targeted and fired at the swift.

• Escape from any physical restraint, even those that penetrate the body without causing himself any further damage.

• Juggle nitrogen tri-iodide without setting it off.

• Move fast enough to cross a laser "tripwire" without triggering it.

• Move too fast to be seen with unaided baseline human vision.

Mega-Dexterity 8

• Use a blade to completely flay a victim (removal of the victim's entire intact skin) in combat for a complete surprise before he can notice and react. It's done so quickly that it's bloodless and painless until the victim notices what he's missing.

• Use nearly any surface (such as leaves on a tree) for purposes of climbing.

• Walk or run along a stream of automatic gunfire or similar projectiles.

• x.

• x.

Re: Psilord's suggestions-

#1 is viable AFAICT, & is one I'd like to use.

#2 sounds viable, atmospheric friction should let this work AFAICT. Unless someone can prove otherwise?

#3 sounds great, but IIRC Aberrant uses Strength as the base for throwing things fast. Time to dig out the books again... ::laugh

#4 reminds me of newsreel footage of all those failed flying machines which never got off the ground. Not viable, but sure would be funny to watch! ::devil

#5 may be viable, but my knowledge of the falling mechanics is a bit rusty.

[Psilord]

#3 sounds great, but IIRC Aberrant uses Strength as the base for throwing things fast. Time to dig out the books again... ::laugh

While it may be that abby uses strength for speed of thrown objects (don't have my books handy), I would have to ammend that stricture. Even purely on an inertia basis a swift moving his arm at super velocity and releasing an object would impart that velocity to said object. Thus the faster the swift can move the faster the object's flight.

Assume, as always, that the swift's body would be protected from the friction damage created by his own movement. The rock in hand would likely also be protected, but the moment it was released from the swift's hand friction would take effect.

While plasma would be extremely hard to achieve through friction based heating we can assume a little lattitude with physics as per the norm for abby; the rock at sufficient velocity would heat to cracking (from expanding superheated water vapor), followed by melting, transformation to a gas and finally plasma. I picture it as even the tiniest particles (down to subatomic particles) continuing the inertia based trajectory towards the target (think the same helping hand for mega-dex here as for large objects not falling to pieces when picked up with mega-str).

If plasma seems a bit too far fetched for even mega 10, think of those subatomic particles impacting the target, ala a particle accelerator.

#4 reminds me of newsreel footage of all those failed flying machines which never got off the ground. Not viable, but sure would be funny to watch! ::devil

Hmm, I'm afraid I have to disagree here with you Sprocket. Spin a helicopter's blades slowly and you don't get off the ground. The lift comes from the shape of the blades producing a small amount lift each rotation, speed granting flight by multiplying that lift in each time frame. While a couple of stop signs for wings are terriblly shaped for producing stable lift, the speed of the swift multiplying that lift, and the mega fast and accurrate adjustments allowed by mega-dex, could produce flight.

#5 may be viable, but my knowledge of the falling mechanics is a bit rusty.

Actually, I shouldn't have posted that one. It would really fall more within the realms of mega-stamina.

[Rorx]

#4 flapping to produce flight is obviously possible - birds for example! However, it has also been done artificially, someone has built a working ornithopter based on the designs of Leonardo De Vinche. A swift of these levels should have no trouble.

[Snackula]

Personally, I would allow flying like that, though it would be fairly inefficient. Unless the nova is fairly light, it would require a good 20 foot "wingspan" to be optimal. Less than that would require a lot more effort, and fairly regular Endurance rolls. Also, it would take a lot of practice and study to perform correctly. Simply flapping up and down won't cut it; winged flight is generally more of a swimming-like stroke. Given these limitations, I'd be inclined to allow it if I was the final authority.

[Alex Green]

I'm good with those listing Sprocket.

How about... Walking between the rain drops?

[Sprocket]

Re: Current M-Dex 7/8 listings-

I'm good with those listing Sprocket.

OK, now we'll see what the rest of the Development Team thinks... ::cool

Re: Alex's new feat-

How about... Walking between the rain drops?

::blink Only during a very light rain, perhaps. Otherwise a swift will get soaked in a heavy rain or thunderstorm like anyone else AFAICT. ::shrug

Re: Psilord's suggested feats-

What's your take on these, Alex?

[Alex Green]

* Type faster than the parser on even a supercomputer can keep up with. (ala Stargate SG1 episode)

* Move an object thru the air at velocities great enough to superheat it. (White-hot crowbar to the head!)

* Move an object thru the air at speeds great enought to destroy it in a plasma burst, the swift being fast enough to escape the burst. (Exploding plasma burst from a thrown rock. Ouch!) ::devil

* Artificial flight. Grab a couple of trash can lids, or stop signs, and start flapping.

* Suffer 1/2 to 1/4 damage from falling due to body manipulation and micro adjustments during the moment of impact.

Doable (on an old style type writer even I could type faster than it could handle)

Theme (claws)

Strength

Theme

Stamina?

RE: Raindrops

If Dex 10 lets you dodge massive area of effect attacks then I suspect a lesser Dex would let you dodge an almost but not quite area of attack. After all we're also letting people grab all the scrapnel from the air.

I mean from the swift's stand point every drop is just halted in mid air, if he could catch them, why can't he just avoid them?

[Sprocket]

Re: Psilord's suggestions-

Fair enough. ::cool

Re: Raindrop Evasion-

I mean from the swift's stand point every drop is just halted in mid air, if he could catch them, why can't he just avoid them?

My thinking on it was that even a swift needs adequate room/space to maneuver. When you're outside in a storm and walking through sheets of heavy rain, the drops are so close together (a few centimeters) that they're practically clustered. (I'm speaking from personal experience here, FYI. ::laugh )

It's a less-extreme version of trying to dodge every individual grain of sand that's flying your way during a sandstorm. Sure, the grains of sand may be molasses-slow from the POV of a swift, but there's literally almost no room in between the sand grains for the swift to maneuver.

[metaphysician]

I'd still say, at worst, Mega Dex 10 allows it.

[Sprocket]

I can agree on that; thanks for the reminder of how outrageous M-Dex can get at 10 dots.

We can keep the "walk through thick rain without getting wet" as a standby if we can't come up with anything else for the last M-Dex 10 slot.