I stumbled over a very old thread ( http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=4763 ), but I wanted to get creative


New Quality:
Pretender
Cost: 50 BP

A character with this quality is a Pretender. Due to their innate ability to "pretend" to be anybody they want to be,
by now only few have been identified and almost all of those are held in megacorp research labs. No one knows
how many Pretenders are living among us, most of them probably have no idea of their gift themselves. Those
who recognize their ability usually try to stay under the radar, as megacorp research departments are highly
interested in exploring and abusing the Pretender phenomenon.
Game Information:
Pretender characters may make a Studying, an Int+Log (see below, 1 day) extended Test. During the studying
time, they cannot focus on anything else, further they tend to not sleep while not suffering from any sleep
deprivation. The studying usually consists of extensive data research, legwork and some trial and error
techniques that look weird and incomprehensible to bystanders.
After the player has picked the Active Skill(s), Skill group or Knowledge Skill(s) he wants to learn, the threshold is calculated as follows:
Active skill rating x2, Skill Group rating x5, Knowledge Skill rating x1.
Pretenders may learn up to Int/2 (rounded down) skills at a time by adding the desired skill ratings together. They
may also improve existing skills by adding the difference between the desired rating and the current rating to the
threshold. Skill groups count as two skills.
The attained skills function without restriction, but degrade at a rating of 1 per week and are fully lost when a
new Studying test is made.
The Studying interval may be halved by the rules of "Rushing a test" like any other extended test. Glitches indicate
dificulties in the studying process. Increase the threshold by two for every glitch. A critical glitch results in
memorizing wrong ideas and aspects, effectively halving the skill rating (rounded down).
A Pretender may only be identified through brain examination and psychologic evaluation; 5 hits on an
assensing test will only tell they are not simply mundane.
This Quality does not count against the 35BP limit, like the Infected Qualities do and is incompatible with
any quality granting a Magic or Resonance attribute.
Appropriate qualities for Pretender characters are First Impression, Blandness and Wanted. Further, a
Pretender character usually excels at Etiquette, Con and Disguise, as these will help him fooling society.

This reminds me of that short story, the Belonging Kind.

That was a damn good story.

I now want to watch this show.

Hm hm...First: Liked the show, but never watched all episodes. Seems fun enough and the rules don't seem bad. Needs days for temporary skills. So only useful for planned runs/activities or extensive downtime. And looks like a possibility in this setting. I like it. But shouldn't the maximum skill be capped by Logic, or maybe Logic+Will/2 (since that would be the base of memory tests?)

I am pretty sure there are other characters than Jarod with this quality in the media even. Maybe not with such a high logic/intuition or something. But for example:

Ray in the series Stingray demonstates this (taking a job, then one-two days later appers with a coverstory and matching skills.
And even Jonathan Chase of the new Human Target. (Maybe he just HAS all this skills learned - never really was that clear if he prepares... and it only comes up a few times.)

The Pretender? I remember watching it in my youth, as it was run back-to-back with Profiler. Both shows are definitely worth watching.

Good game idea, too.

I've never seen Stingray, but I'm pretty sure Jonathan Chase is what happens when a Great dragon mates with an Immortal elf, while bathing in Crater Lake. I just figure the guy has the skill equivalent of Intellectus.

Leaving the rules aside for the moment, this is a very interesting idea. I like it!

everybody should at least have seen pilot + some episodes.


thx. some1 should playtest it...

My first thought was expensive adept power, as they already have something in that direction with the linguistics power. But then I didn't feel well using mana. Magic has it's role already. Resonance would have been fine, but has nothing to do with it, really. So they are a new form without a special attribute. Anybody could be one, but trolls would have a really hard time... Pixies and Nosferatu would have the perfect stats, but I ruled out all awakened, as they will never be able to blend in well enough. Basically Human is the only way to go...

Pretenders?




-k

Why not simply a magical version of the skillwires? With a maximum set of skills limited by the rating of the power. You can "swap" between skills with an extended test on (please insert good solution) and every of this skills has to be purchased separately (e.g. 0,5 power-points per skill). Of course the skill granted through this should also be limited to a specific level (e.g. 4 like for activesofts) and you also cannot spezialize in it. For an edge-roll, you have to purchase the magic version of the skillwire-expert-system for additional 0,5 power points. So it is still a good ability, but not a powergaming-gamebraking one.

At least it wasn't the worst disguise ever written for that particular show/comic/series/whatchamacallit.

I mean Metroplex disguised himself as a city. Like that isn't blatantly obvious.