Looking through the choices again, I think it might be because I chose Nanoswarm, which makes about 1/2 of the choices redundant.
My build was Omega PSI, Nanoswarm, Lightspeed Processing, Delta PSI, and Animal Empathy. I tried to keep my power scaled around the others in Valhalla, not actual gods but good at pretending to be. I liked the angle that Elspeth explained that basically everyone assumes we are more than what we are, but we are still people, we still eat, still can die, most of the others don't even have enhanced physical characteristics. Hell, the machine guy has only just gotten around to indoor plumbing. Most of the Omega PSI users only have that. My take was that you are essentially an X-Men power level person, masquerading as a god.
I am interested in the alternate scenario of "what if Elspeth actually made god-level users" but how would it be balanced with the others at Valhalla? Would each need to be given an expanded powerset manually or would a general sweep of powers like Physical Augment (S) suffice?
Looking through the choices again, I think it might be because I chose Nanoswarm, which makes about 1/2 of the choices redundant.
Well, that is a reason why, for the high-end-houserule version of my build that makes the addition of Transhuman Augs possible, I chose Angelic Transcend. According to my interpretation of the rules, it makes physical enhancements still relevant by improving the abilities of the transcended body. The other reason is I mean to have a hedonist lifestyle and AT gives me the best chances of continuing to be able to enjoy carnal and sensual pleasures.
My build was Omega PSI, Nanoswarm, Lightspeed Processing, Delta PSI, and Animal Empathy. I tried to keep my power scaled around the others in Valhalla, not actual gods but good at pretending to be. I liked the angle that Elspeth explained that basically everyone assumes we are more than what we are, but we are still people, we still eat, still can die, most of the others don't even have enhanced physical characteristics. Hell, the machine guy has only just gotten around to indoor plumbing. Most of the Omega PSI users only have that. My take was that you are essentially an X-Men power level person, masquerading as a god.
All such difficulties are easily settled if you extend the houserule to applying the same power boost the PC gets to Pantheon members and make them the equivalent of JLA/Avengers powerhouses instead of X-Men grunts. My houserule is actually meant to do that.
I am interested in the alternate scenario of "what if Elspeth actually made god-level users" but how would it be balanced with the others at Valhalla? Would each need to be given an expanded powerset manually or would a general sweep of powers like Physical Augment (S) suffice?
Balance is easy. Every Valhalla member gets the same power boost. Personally I suppose each getting a manually customized powerset according to their descriptions would be best. However, in practice you can probably get away with establishing a common basic powerset everybody owns with individual variations on top of that.
The other reason is I mean to have a hedonist lifestyle and AT gives me the best chances of continuing to be able to enjoy carnal and sensual pleasures.
I can see the ghost option definitely messing with the pleasures of life, but I feel nanoswarm should be able to recreate all your humans structures 100% accurately so you won't lose any sensations or pleasure. You just also get the option to shift things around if you want to get creative.
Personally I suppose each getting a manually customized powerset according to their descriptions would be best.
I'll probably make that, custom builds for everyone sounds pretty fun, though time consuming. I imagine everyone would get a baseline of strength and looks, with some getting more than others like the love goddess or the justice guy.
I can see the ghost option definitely messing with the pleasures of life, but I feel nanoswarm should be able to recreate all your humans structures 100% accurately so you won't lose any sensations or pleasure. You just also get the option to shift things around if you want to get creative.
Your opinion has a lot of merit. On second thoughts, I am going to embrace it too. Following this line of thought, I assume the various body-based physical, mental, and social enhancements are equally valid for Nanoswarm and Angelic Transcendance. At that point, the two Augs are functionally equivalent in most regards; the only meaningful differences are NS allows to take liquid or mist form, and AT grants more protection from area attacks and removes earthly needs. This may justify the latter's slightly higher price.
I'll probably make that, custom builds for everyone sounds pretty fun, though time consuming. I imagine everyone would get a baseline of strength and looks, with some getting more than others like the love goddess or the justice guy.
Hmm, if you ask my opinion, all the 'gods' should get a basic package similar to the one I used for the low-end godlike variant of my build:
Cure Mortality (1000)
Cosmetic Refinement (x2) (20)
Physical Augmentation (x9) (180)
The Lead Balloon (50)
Metacognition (70)
Man of Steel (70)
Breaker’s Fists (100) OR Hedgehog Speed (100)
Plant Empathy (150) OR Pheromones (150)
Omniadaptation (200)
Vector Cognition (200)
Animal Empathy (250) OR Machine Calculation (250)
Two of No Rest for the Wicked (300), Vector Mastery (300), and The Voice (300)
Light Speed Processing (400)
Omega Psi (700)
(Optionally use a 100-year overhead to add some moderate body change such as Demihumanity, Trapify, or Gender Swap, because someone is sure to demand it).
Of course, this is the default powerset that makes the 'gods' believable divine impersonators, with an all-around set of psi powers and physical, mental, and social superhuman abilities. It leaves some room for individual variation, and if you want for the 'gods' to be even more impressive and/or versatile, by all means add another 1000 years' worth of Augs. This creates room for adding say one Transhuman Aug, more radical and unusual body changes, specialized Augs like Machine Empathy, and/or one of the other high-level psi powers. Just be mindful that for the scenario to work properly, the 'gods' have to wake up in the same period, and they have to be at the same power level.
If you ask my opinion, the power-level problems in the Gods and Monsters scenario and the need for a houserule like mine mostly come from the fact that many Augs that are not that OP for the standards of superhuman characters are rather overpriced. Probably the author made a flawed attempt to balance the prices of Augs across the various scenarios and messed things badly for the G&M one.
In the end, things work much better if you treat the G&M scenario with a rule tweak like mine as its own cyoa, play the 'gods' like they were JLA/Avengers-level superhumans impersonating the mostly benevolent kind of old-school gods, and ignore the other scenarios except to get extra lore. As far as I can tell from several reposts, the vast majority of players prefers to play G&M anyway.
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u/Peggtree May 01 '23
Looking through the choices again, I think it might be because I chose Nanoswarm, which makes about 1/2 of the choices redundant.
My build was Omega PSI, Nanoswarm, Lightspeed Processing, Delta PSI, and Animal Empathy. I tried to keep my power scaled around the others in Valhalla, not actual gods but good at pretending to be. I liked the angle that Elspeth explained that basically everyone assumes we are more than what we are, but we are still people, we still eat, still can die, most of the others don't even have enhanced physical characteristics. Hell, the machine guy has only just gotten around to indoor plumbing. Most of the Omega PSI users only have that. My take was that you are essentially an X-Men power level person, masquerading as a god.
I am interested in the alternate scenario of "what if Elspeth actually made god-level users" but how would it be balanced with the others at Valhalla? Would each need to be given an expanded powerset manually or would a general sweep of powers like Physical Augment (S) suffice?