Ideas, discussions

Yeah, I guess it depends on how much you (and Sadrielle) are happy to reskin. In mechanical terms, there's very little difference between using your Technology stones to tap into a phone call by pulling out a specialised wiretapping device, or just by touching the phone line with your finger. You're not changing or expanding the scope of what the technology can do, just the special effect of how you interact with it.

There's also the "interface directly" advantage for Computers in the X-Men guide, which is quite vaguely defined but sounds like it's sensible for this. +2 levels to cut Resistance in half - makes sense for someone who can affect tech directly with his mind.

Oh God, you're telling him how to break the system as the ultimate support leader!

I think part of the allure about taking it as a mastery and reskinning / creating a few options is the feel he wants for Spencer in general. It opens the door for the potential of buying another element mastery for much cheaper later on. Because right now he's sort of sticking to things Spencer could try to explain away (well... for the most part) as being exceptionally gifted and not "gifted".

Or somethin.

Haha, I don't think breaking the system is going to be a satisfying goal. Superhero games are always very easy to force beyond their mechanical limits.

Mastery of Electricity could definitely be used to do a lot of tech-manipulation tricks (in the same vein as Magneto using Mastery of Magnetism for all sorts of weird effects, like altering people's minds), but I feel like it's meant much more for literally hurling lightning bolts and stuff. "Mastery of Technology" is also totally fine, I'm just saying that when determining difficulty and resistance stuff, and allocating stones, it will work pretty much exactly like Technology, since that action is what gives a character... mastery over technology. :P

I really like the idea of Spencer doing some of those effects subconsciously. Like, nobody can beat him at Mario Kart - he thinks it's because he's just really good at the game, but his kart actually goes faster and handles better than everyone else's, and he always "randomly" gets the best powerups, because the console is responding to what he wants to happen.

Edit: I don't think it does allow the option of picking up another Mastery for cheaper, does it? The rulebook specifically spells out that "Separate Masteries can be learned, but each must be learned as a new Action (i.e. the 'Each additional element Advantage' does not apply to Masteries)."

Honestly, the 90's is just the beginning of the tech age, it's 10 years before he'll become a true powerhouse. I was wondering how it was going to balance out, but seeing the other masteries, they all have things like force blast, force field and energy absorption available, which are pretty well the same cost as the options I'm looking at, with the addition that almost none of mine are combat-related. Kadeton is right though, it's just flavor.

Buying additional masteries at a discount - I think what sadrielle means, is that I could add another power within my mastery afterward for much cheaper... let's say I purchase Inventing later, I think that would fall under my mastery, so for +1 to my Tech mastery (Inventing would probably be more like +2 or +3), so I would spend 5 points for Inventing of 8, where it's costing 30 points normally.

Yes. That! A whole bunch of at cost abilities centered around one theme is a waste of generation stones. So the simpler we can make this the better off Spencer the character will be.

Simpler in this case to mean choosing whichever powers can be liberally applied. I think since we are all on the same page, you don't need to worry too much about me stomping my foot down and saying your action/power doesn't apply if you wanted to take some combination of black ops / technology or biocomputing / other actions from the x-men book.

I sent you PM, let me know if you have any suggestions.

Natural and hard sciences are taught by Catherine Lancaster. History, English, and social studies is taught by Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Sports and recreation is lead by John McGuirk. Johanna Mitchell leads "home management" courses and in general the fun electives you would see typically. I'll throw their info up tonight, presently recuperating from joyous family outings.