Brainiac Pre-release

Description

++Intelligence*

*Two Personality Traits are left up to player choice; no Stat besides the listed one may be brought above two pluses.

“I am more than amused by the prospect of a battle of wits ... though I fear that with you as an opponent... the struggle might well be brief.”

— — Victor von Doom

You are a maniacal innovator, whose wild schemes are facilitated by a vast arsenal of eccentric devices. You are charismatic and dangerously brilliant, though your great hubris can leave you prone to spectacular mishaps.

Conduits designing a mission for you should feel free to give you powerful enemies and complex problems, both of which you can be well-equipped to take on. Bystanders and minor NPCs are an important part of your gameplan, so if the Conduit wants to really challenge you they could make a smaller-scale setting where a captive audience is harder to amass.

Grounded in over-the-top geniuses too smart for their own good, often with dreams of world domination, the perennial antagonists of pop culture heroes.

Examples from folklore & pop culture include:

  • Baron Münchhausen
  • Dr. Doom, Megamind, Doc Ock, Syndrome, and countless other comic book and movie supervillains
  • Eggman, Neo Cortex, and other video game antagonists
  • Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Phineas & Ferb)
  • The Brain (Pinky & the Brain)
  • The Toymaker (Doctor Who)

Challenge Level: High

Class by Julian Meier

Edition: Advent v1

Public: Yes

Signature Gear

Base Gear

Powersuit

Base

Full-body suit of mechanized armor with an obvious weak spot. Stored in a compact briefcase, deployed to encase the user over several seconds and retracted at will.

Battery Life
High
Protection
High
Encumbrance
Low
  • Pitch a physical Mid Boost for this suit to convey its owner (strength, jumping distance, etc.) as well as a thematically related Mid Impact malfunction incurred in the process, both of which reset when the suit is retracted.
  • If damage is sustained to this suit’s weak spot, Pitch a High Impact malfunction (which does not reset).

Universal Adapter

Base

Small implant embedded in a finger.

  • The owner may interface with technology or comparable objects through prolonged contact.
    • Up to a Mid Duration, scaling on how complex and tamper-proof the target is.

Thrusters

Base

Miniature single-use rockets, powerful enough to carry a person’s weight.

Quantity
5x
Speed
High
Flight Duration
Low
  • Affixable to any solid object.
  • Whenever used, Pitch a Low Impact malfunction.
  • Explode upon collision, causing Mid Damage.

Elective Gear

Attenuator

Elective

High-tech gauntlet, which may fire a continuous beam.

Uses
3x
Range
Low
  • Any target struck by this beam is frozen in space while it is held on them, during which time they are immune to harm (Low Max Duration).
    • Beings who fiercely struggle may break free early (even within seconds), though this is rendered less likely if the owner harangues them while they are frozen.

Gantry

Elective

Set of oversized mechanical arms ending in large grippers, sourced from a heavy backpack; much stronger and tougher but less agile and dextrous than regular limbs.

Lightness Boost
Mid
  • Pitch a tool to replace one or both grippers (1x Use).
    • The owner may freely swap between the two for the rest of the mission.

Decoys

Elective

Semi-convincing blow-up body doubles of the owner, deployed in seconds from wallet-sized packets. Break down at even minor resistance.

Quantity
5x
  • Deployed decoys can be assigned simple tasks. (e.g. Walking, sweeping the floor, taking a phone call, etc.)
    • Completely inactive until tasked.

Abilities

Behold!

Reveal and activate an elaborate, single-use contraption from a Pitched hidden location, no matter how implausible.

Essence Cost
Mid
Max Duration
Low
Cooldown
Low–High

Paired Action: Gleefully introduce the contraption and explain it at length; activate it only after you finish doing so.

  • The contraption’s nature and capacities are also Pitched and must be thematically appropriate to the user.
    • The contraption’s actual Impact, once activated, scales Low–High on the size of the user’s audience. (e.g. A giant robot revealed to a large crowd could operate as intended with High Impact but would break or go awry if revealed to just a handful of people, yielding only Low Impact.)
    • After being used, the contraption will break, run out of power, or otherwise be rendered defunct. Duration scales as appropriate to the contraption's intended function.

Do the Thing!

Order an underling to perform a simple physical task for you with untroubled compliance.

Essence Cost
Low
Max Duration
Low
Cooldown
Mid

Paired Action: Issue a command in a smug or imperious fashion.

  • Impact scales Low–High on how unimportant the target is (Mid at maximum when targeting an enemy).
  • Compliance ends as soon as the task is performed.
  • You may Pitch how the attempt to complete the task goes completely wrong for your character while the target remains unscathed; if you do so, this Ability’s Cost and Cooldown are negated.

Your Only Weakness!

Pitch a physical weakness or character flaw in an enemy and pontificate about it at length, compelling the target to pay attention and not interrupt your monologuing.

Essence Cost
Mid
Cooldown
Mid

Paired Action: Gloatingly explain for a Low Duration how you learned of and plan to exploit the Pitched weakness.

  • If the Pitched weakness would logically apply to multiple present enemies, all of them may be affected by the compulsion, though doing so increases this Ability’s Cooldown to High.
  • If the Paired Action is interrupted, this Ability’s Impact is reduced to Low (normally Mid).