How do you make stealth powers interesting and relevant in a world where powers tend to be flashier and where monsters needs more than a knife to the back to kill?
>A monster is rampaging throughout the city killing heroes left and right.
What's someone with the power to turn invisible or to not be detected by surveillance or to change their appearance even supposed to do apart from running around looking for survivors? I thought about adding mechs to the setting so these low powered supers can contribute to these types of fights.
>Superhero that can make multiple clones and transport his consciousness to those clones and effectively teleport, and a flying superheroine that can store kinetic energy in her shield that also literally gives her a spotlight with twinkle effects, and then there's some dude with a knife who wasn't dude with a knife that wasn't there before
One character can send out false data/information to senses beyond the basic and just be invisible to things like cameras or audio recorders which while fine, is a bit boring. I thought about making it into an aoe effect that turns the surrounding area grayscale to add something but that just defeats the purpose.
Is that picture concept art for variations of one guy, or did this team decide to collectively lose a leg.
On topic though while stealthy types wouldn't be able to take down the big monsters, their role could very well be for information gathering or distractions.
>A monster is Rampaging throughout the city killing heroes left and right.
Could the guy that distracts the monster to hunt him while the big guns, or the analyst team figures out how to deal with the monster. Also could just help lead the monster to an area where there's less shit/people to destroy. Survivor saving would be left to people with ability to heal/stabilize, save people under rubble, and deal with fires. A stealthy guy is just a regular guy for help he can offer.
> where monsters needs more than a knife to the back to kill?
Really depends on the monster, some could be weak to something, and getting near the monster when it knows where you are makes it impossible to use said weakness.
>One character can send out false data/information to senses beyond the basic
If I'm reading this right, he can change what people see, right? You could do so much with that, make enemies look like friends/family. Make them appear like they're trapped, make the heavy hitters just not appear for the guy, or be in places they aren't
Same anon, just saying that it's definitely a support/mastermind sort of playstyle. You don't have the brawn, so you play smart.
>Is that picture concept art for variations of one guy, or did this team decide to collectively lose a leg
Don't know. I just found a random image of what a modern stealth power user might look like. I was gonna post pic related as he's an inspiration to the character I mentioned.
>Also could just help lead the monster to an area where there's less shit/people to destroy.
For slower monsters sure but these are like bigger One Punch Man monsters in terms of sentience but their mission is to wreck shit and dab on heroes. Sealth dudes won't be the ones distracting when flying dudes with lasers are blasting the monsters
>Survivor saving would be left to people with ability to heal/stabilize, save people under rubble, and deal with fires.
Healers are rare in the setting so mini-kaiju protocol dictates that they must remain outside the fighting zone where they can heal without fearing for their lives while others do the survivor spotting that they can signal or if they can, do the transporting themselves.
>these are like bigger One Punch Man monsters in terms of sentience but their mission is to wreck shit and dab on heroes.
Worm?
The fact is that a guy with stealth powers isn't going to be particularly useful in a straight up fight against big ol monsters, just like a guy with super strength isn't particularly useful in an infiltration mission.
That being said, there is some degree of heroism in going up against something that massively outclasses you when you're not some flashy hero with a forcefield or superspeed for protection. Have him do more mundane stuff like carry incapacitated heroes out of the danger zone or whatever. He's not a threat to the kaiju but he can still save lives (and is putting his own life at risk of being inadvertently targeted in the process).
I heard about Endbringers but no.
>The fact is that a guy with stealth powers isn't going to be particularly useful in a straight up fight against big ol monsters, just like a guy with super strength isn't particularly useful in an infiltration mission.
I guess that's something I just have to come to terms with. Crisis events are hard.
"What do I do with [specialist] during missions they're not specialized in?" is a relatively common TTRPG question honestly, and in my experience the best answer is just to make sure there's ample opportunity for them in other areas or situations, and for the -players- to understand that the whole spotlight isn't going to be on them 24/7. The latter, unfortunately, isn't something you have a lot of control over, but hopefully the person who picked this stealth character in what is otherwise a high power supers game understands what he's getting into.
Since combat is presumably a huge part of the game play shouldn't a character at least be somewhat usable in combat?
Depends on the game and how much combat -is- a huge part but entirely honestly? It really depends on how mature and experienced in tabletop your players are. If they're newer and a bit more insistent on everybody being part of everything and combat being very balanced and fair, then you should definitely make sure that all the PCs are capable of contributing to combat. For players that're a bit more experienced and more -willing- to play a character who they know will never really be a threat in combat beyond some self defense? I wouldn't say they need to be, only that the player should know they won't be, and should be allowed to be very good at their non-combat things instead.
>-players- to understand that the whole spotlight isn't going to be on them 24/7.
>The latter, unfortunately, isn't something you have a lot of control over,
True lmao. Hopefully, I can weave some good narrative.
All depends on the powers or fighting style used. For example, If they can target weak-points more effectively for greater damage while the team distracts the target, they can easily turn the tide of a fight against bigger foes.
>he can change what people see
Nah, basic human senses like sight and smell and all that are unaffected with an exception. By sending false information I meant mind readers will receive wrong information or obvious info from reading the character's thoughts, same with clairvoyants, and people who can see the future all that might as well discard their visions involving him. As you can tell, it's a giant frick you to these kinds of power which seems boring. As for the exception I mentioned earlier I meant that CCTV cameras will show nothing wrong despite the character wrecking the place or people recording him will either just mute him in the recording or say different things that seem like it's on topic to the conversation being recorded but not really. Another example is being invisible to thermal vision or sending wrong information to HUDs if said HUD has extra capabilities like combat prediction.
>support/mastermind sort of playstyle. You don't have the brawn, so you play smart.
I'm guessing that was the case but it's just a bit of a bummer when a player who goes for a stealth run is just sidelined on these big sutations where most powers are useful on way or another. I'm sure I can find a role for them somewhere but I'm mostly concerned when it comes to making powers fun and something where supers need to be creative to use so the stealth power I mentioned before is something I'll revise but I'm trying to figure out how.
Well anon it sounds like you just need to give them a bigger payoff for the stealth. Why are they using a bog standard knife instead of like, Eifnir - lost knife of Loki, capable of severing flesh like hot butter?
>powers
YAWN
The stealth guy is Batman. He still has to hold his own in a fight, maybe using a mech or a plane, he just isn't Superman level.
That's not that great against Godzilla, but he'll shine against human organizations that want to do shit with the monsters. Just like Batman, the whole Batfamily shines when they can strategize and/or infiltrate.
If you need straight up firepower instead, with no preparation, Idk, call Lobo.
Reduce hitpoints so that anyone can be taken out by a stealthed character with a dagger? Stealth and ambushing is pretty pointless in most RPGs otherwise, as it only gives you a free round of chipping away at their hitpoint pool of the target.
That's not much of an issue since I'm looking for a system that does that or implement myself unless the target character has super durability or auto dodge or some shit
Thing is when it comes to these characters regardless of if they're a player or npc is that I want to put a limit of some sort so people don't stack too many things that it ends up with a seemingly identical mim-maxe character with one or two things that makes it stand out a bit. Yeah, power armor is nice on x character but maybe these group of y heroes uses spandex. I can find a balance eventually but it did become an issue some time ago. Maybe bonuses depending on the archetype? I don't know I'll think about it. I'll also have to think how relatively mundane tech becomes exciting since I'm mainly focusing on powers themselves for now. At the same time, shit like pic related is too much and I won't even know how to implement that.
Give them a knife capable of one-shotting the monster. Duh.
Else, have them function as eyes for a more powerful character who can use them artillery-spotter style to rain pain on the targets they paint.
So why's he only got a knife? Give him some explosives.
Honestly, stealth powers are underrated because that's exactly their purpose, to be unnoticed by others. Trying to make stealth powers interesting and relevant is basically making stealth powers into something they are not.
They do not deal with the monstrous threats, they deal with the more insidious threat; other humans. They do espionage, surveillance, infiltration, etc. They keep tabs on suspects, watching for hard evidence of their crimes, or to quietly check in where they can't get a warrant to.
Superman is anti monster, whereas batman is anti human.
>What's someone with the power to turn invisible or to not be detected by surveillance or to change their appearance even supposed to do apart from running around looking for survivors?
Generally speaking they would need a supplementary powerset (or stealth would be the supplementary powerset, depending). One that allows them to make good use of stealth, ideally, like high-level hand-to-hand combat capability, where they can mimic the "so fast he's teleporting" melee style of an anime martial artist except you're in and out of stealth.
Basically, if "stealth" is their power, there's been a lot of frick ups to get you where you are.
Unironically, look at 5e D&D. The rogue is something of a utility character, but one of the most powerful tools in its arsenal is the ability to more or less hide again a second time every turn. Combined with the Mobile feat, they're effectively the perfect hit-and-run combat character. Every turn the monster is swiping at shadows is a turn they're not focusing on more of a bruiser or support character, and you're still doing that sneak attack damage. Even solo, in the right environment, a stealth character can effectively use their terrain to keep up a hit-and-run style of fighting, so effective use of their powers would mean the player makes good use of ambush tactics.
A stealth character can also be used for support features, providing an aiding action to a glass cannon sort of character to ensure they hit while being able to stay out of the way. On his own without being able to choose his terrain, a stealth character wouldn't be able to do much other than infiltrate and scout, but this is a TTRPG, right? So you should have other players at the table which can make up for that.
(OP)
Take the problem backwards: focus on the monster, develop its flaws & strengths so that it ends up creating opportunities for a stealth-based character. Make the kaiju so powerful that even the super-heroes' powers can't take it down by themselves, they NEED the stealth-based character to do something to weaken it.
Like:
> kaiju has a weak point: it can only become vulnerable to the superheroes' powers if its flesh is first exposed, by direct contact only, to a highly toxic substance, lets say... chocolate :]
> Not!kryptonite can only be carried by the stealth character (highly toxic to anyone but said character is immune), and is shaped as a shard of solid material
> So, said Not!kryptonite only has an effect at short-range
> Stealth character has to sneak upon the kaiju's legs, hiding from behind torched cars to various concrete debris as the kaiju tears apart the city's buildings and they fall everywhere
> Once at range, stealth character needs to stab the kaiju's legs X amount of times for the Not!kryptonite to start working. Either the kaiju's skin is a mesh of strong scales having to be hit repetitively to be pierced, or the dose of Not!kryptonite necessary to start weakening it amounts to 10, 20 or 50 consecutive stabbings.
> Meanwhile, the various superheroes' powers can only slow down the kaiju, distract it (specifically as a mean of helping stealth character to sneak upon it), etc.
So basically, stealth character's role is to go ninja on the kaiju, gradually getting close and shank it once at striking range.
(cont., 1/2)
Hope it helps and that my english is understandable -at least you've been spared my atrocious accent, hon hon hon (weird that this onomatopea is supposed to represent a typical frog laugh, never heard anyone laughing like that).
(cont. 2/2)
A variant for any kind of stuff like a giant mecha in a SF universe would be :
> mecha has a weak point on its leg : a VERY SMOL maintenance hatch, very armored
> only the stealth character can lockpick it (being the one to have enough DEX, or any other reason)
> as well as being the only one to know the inner workings of the mecha, which cable to cut so that the mecha cannot walk anymore or which electrical wire to bypass to hack something that allows to gain access to its fire control system.
Think how nowadays you can gain access to a computer by hacking unsecured items from The Internet Of Things connected to said computer as entry points.
An interesting technique, enhanced speed, ability to slow time mixed with an ability to flash fry iron in blood particles to induce unconsciousness, shock or death.
Another may be to bend light, shadow in your direct area with a mix of regenerating healing factor.
And yet another might be to phase through solid objects with ability to dematerialise/rematerialise at will.