Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.super-heroes (
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Corey Murtagh wrote:
> Sorcier wrote:
>
>> David Meadows wrote:
>>
>>> It is "The Legion of Superheroes" in English. And by the internal
>>> logic of
>>> that comic, Val Armorr (Karate Kid) *must* have superpowers as the
>>> Legion
>>> constitution states that members MUST have a unique super power. His
>>> "super
>>> karate" is therefore, by definition, supernatural.
>>
>> I'd phrase it more as "beyond normal human levels".
>> I always felt Val's martial skill was given a hand wave as
>> being "practically a super power" so they could let him in.rain".
>
> The ability to punch a hole through armour with your fist is quite
> definitely a super power.
I know, but the in the comic book reality of the Legion of
Superheroes, Val can do this because he's that _skilled_. He's
highly adept at finding weak points and applying force very
precisely. In context of the story, he _is_ just human with
no superpowers.
Similar in that regard to Remo Williams in the Destroyed novels. (IIRC.)
> Similarly, Bullseye's targetting talent is far from 'natural'. He hits
> what he aims at, even accounting for factors which a normal human isn't
> even /capable/ of perceiving, with whatever object he has to hand.
> Balance and aerodynamics don't matter a damn, so long as he can see the
> target and throw the object that far. The only thing he /can't/ do is
> predict the future to tell which way the target is going to dodge.
He's still just a human with no superpwoers in the context of
the stories he appears in. I also throw in Deadshot as another
example.
(Side note: Bullseye can't predict which way a target will dodge, but
he does seem damn good at reacting to their motion, or telling by
stance and posture which way they will most likely jump. Folks
like Daredevil or Spidey are just too good at dodging in
unpredictable directions.)
> Brainiac I mostly agree with... except when compared to 'normal' for
> humans. His processing ability far exceeds anything an unenhanced human
> could do. When looked at as a representative of the 'mobile computer
> AI' species however, he may be /exceptional/, but is not unnaturally so.
My point on him is that he's not "superpowered".
At least no more than we'd say an elephant is superpowered because it
is so much stronger than human, or that a fish is because it can
breathe underwater.
> So just because a power doesn't /look/ spectactular, that doesn't mean
> it's not a super power.
I'd say that's up to the context of the story.
Now when you stat it for a game, it may be a different story.
You may have to turn to the "powers" section to represent it.
For example some games just don't allow strengths higher than
the believably human unless you buy something like "Super Strength".
More esoteric "non-powers" are even more likely to require referencing
a games "Super Powers" list and rules.
> And even if it /does/ look spectacular, that
> doesn't mean it /is/ either :>
True.
But that echoes the context thing.
In Legion, Val does things that _look_ spectacular, but are
_not_ superhuman.
That they are beyond what is possible in our reality doesn't
change that.
It does mean that we would rightly label them superhuman with
respect to our reality, but I'm extremely hesitant to demand that
the same real world standards define fictional humans.