Superpowers...which would you choose?

[Master Rel]

Always, always telekinesis.

A powerful telekinetic would be able to fly, effectively have Spidey-sense (if not necessarily danger-attuned, but try surprising someone who can sense anything moving towards them) have super strength, super speed, erect an impenetrable shield, be able to blast away like Iron Man and his repulsors, or exert fine control to thread a thousand needles at once - and that's just off the top of my head.

There'd be drawbacks. Getting anything like that level of control would be incredibly hard. You'd have the risk of all that power going out of control. The level of sensitivity you'd develop to things going on around you would likely be extreme - a car passing close by might feel like a door slamming when you already have a headache, for example. Still, it really would seem to be the most practical power to me.

Failing that, I'd take flight. Even if you set a relatively low top speed, say 50 or 70 or 100 miles an hour, you'd still be able to get almost anywhere quicker than you can otherwise, and the time saved on traffic jams would be invaluable.

Ah TK.  Here is the thing TK has been used forever in comics, but until EU Star Wars the idea of strength, speed, and all those abilities other than push, pull, and maybe squeeze were unheard of.

So in this case, in this thread, TK is cool but just focus it a bit...the idea of the movie Chronicle being all TK is OP to the extent of having it all...each was better at an aspect than the other...fine detail TK, raw power, flight, tougher, etc. they were not equal at each power...so maybe look at the TK in numbers...100 points...30 push, 20 pull, 10 crush, and 40 flight...but this sort of flight and other use will need constant focus as you noted.

[Master Rel]

How about considering a unique or the very least interesting approach to a classic supper power?

Super Strength

Certainly this should include at least a small measure of toughness, endurance, etc. though these are just seasoning to the steak of super strength.

What sort of clever way of handling this power can you think of?

[Jev Moldara]

How about it not being superstrength, per se, but the super literally lessens the overall density and mass of the object, enabling them to lift it?

This would definitely explain why someone could lift an extraordinarily heavy object like a bus or a building and not have it push them into the ground due to sheer weight. After all, the hero is super, but the surrounding environment is ordinary.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

How about considering a unique or the very least interesting approach to a classic supper power?

Super Strength

Certainly this should include at least a small measure of toughness, endurance, etc. though these are just seasoning to the steak of super strength.

What sort of clever way of handling this power can you think of?

IDK if anyone here has ever watched the short-lived SyFy series "Alphas", but if not you should try and check it out.

Your question made me immediately think of one of the characters from the show.

"Bill has the ability to enhance his strength and speed triggered by a "fight or flight" response. It is implied that he can activate this state at will. Bill cannot stay in this state for very long or else he will become cripplingly fatigued."

[Master Rel]

Super Strength

I have always been a fan of the leech consideration.  Touch transfer of vitality that becomes energy to in this case fuel the super strength.  Temporary effects...slowly fading away...with the touched gaining their strength back with rest, food, water, sleep, time.

The classic girl version is through the kiss, lol I will pass on that one as portraying females in games freaks me right out...how about a unique aspect of a plus and negative contact point?

Like right and left hand?

It will not transfer without both hands on

How about you, got any ideas?

[Dragon Lancer]

In response to the original post: Pyro-kinesis.

Not only could you set something ablaze by thinking about it, you could also project a stream of fire from your hands with a limited effective range. You could also project that same stream more powerfully to produce enough thrust to let you fly. Though, obviously, you would have to learn how to control your flight, and wear some fireproof pants.

Limitations: It would take great concentration to affect your target and only your target. Your target has to be in line-of-sight. Projected stream has a maximum effective range of 100 meters.

Drawbacks: You can still be burnt to death by your fire. A lapse in concentration can set everything around your target on fire inadvertently.

[Master Rel]

How about it not being superstrength, per se, but the super literally lessens the overall density and mass of the object, enabling them to lift it?

This would definitely explain why someone could lift an extraordinarily heavy object like a bus or a building and not have it push them into the ground due to sheer weight. After all, the hero is super, but the surrounding environment is ordinary.

Great just great!  That is prime idea there my friend!

[Master Rel]

In response to the original post: Pyro-kinesis.

Not only could you set something ablaze by thinking about it, you could also project a stream of fire from your hands with a limited effective range. You could also project that same stream more powerfully to produce enough thrust to let you fly. Though, obviously, you would have to learn how to control your flight, and wear some fireproof pants.

Limitations: It would take great concentration to affect your target and only your target. Your target has to be in line-of-sight. Projected stream has a maximum effective range of 100 meters.

Drawbacks: You can still be burnt to death by your fire. A lapse in concentration can set everything around your target on fire inadvertently.

Very nice consideration of strength to vulnerability

[Dragon Lancer]

I tend to find overpowered abilities and characters to be rather boring. I mean, If you can take out anybody and anything with any power, where's the challenge? Where's the character development? Also, having only a few enemies to fight and beat over and over gets boring. I'd rather face a hoard of enemies and surprise myself by defeating them than face one enemy knowing that I'm gonna win. More sense of accomplishment.

[Jev Moldara]

Having highly enhanced senses would be nice. I mean that under normal conditions, your senses would be very enhanced, but you can also focus on one particular sense and boost is to insane levels. However, this power would have a price. Since your senses are magnified normally, you get all the benefits and the detriments of it. Yes, you can pick someone out of a massive crowd from the rooftop of an ten story building or name all the ingredients in a complex dish from a single taste, but your senses can be overwhelmed by things such as camera flashes, cigarette smoke, a car horn, excessive garlic in a dish, or anything that is jolting from a sensory perspective. Additionally, focusing on a sense would block out your perception of the other senses, which can be very dangerous. Not sure if I want this one. I enjoy spicy foods too much. If I could have the ability to protect my senses from overload, I would consider it.

[Master Rel]

All good stuff there!


How about considering another classic power...applying a unique or interesting aspect to it...

Stretching or any related "rubber" body (you can define the stretch in anyway you choose, I said rubber only to describe the classic rubber or plastic man...run with it).

 

[Master Rel]

Points all around 

[Master Rel]

Stretching

This is a fun one with potential for high levels of interest, at least for me.

I like a story of the latent mutant receiving extreme treatment for some terrible illness, say stage four cancer, and the treatment engages the mutation.

In this case cellular flexibility, organic plasticity.

I am not so much interested in shape changing like Plastic Man, more the act of stretching with an elongating or flattening result...I do like the bounce back resistance effect to incoming damage, more so to kinetic force than energy...near invulnerable to mundane physical damage (punches, falling debris, bullets) but completely vulnerable to radiant energy and related...super punches, hollow points, etc. would still bounce but would hurt like hell.

Being cellular I would think that in the long term he could reattach a severed arm for example, but it would take mundane healing time...weeks I would think.

Malleable Man

[Jev Moldara]

The problem with stretching is that the concept tends to ignore one very important aspect: Human physiology. Yes, the body can stretch, but there's only so much cellular tissue in the body, and unless the super can somehow increase the number of cells in the body as needed (and decrease them), there's only so far you can stretch. Think of it like a rubber band. Yes, it's made to stretch, but even then, there's a breaking point, and if you look closely at a stretched rubber band, you can see the beginnings where the stretching is gradually weakening the band. I'd think that this same principle applies to the super, giving them the kind of stretch marks that makes you think they gave birth to a city of babies. Ideally, a stretchable person would have a limit to how far they can stretch, with the further out they go resulting in more strain just to get there, and a greater risk of cellular integrity failure, basically ripping them in half.

No thank you.

[Master Rel]

The problem with stretching is that the concept tends to ignore one very important aspect: Human physiology. Yes, the body can stretch, but there's only so much cellular tissue in the body, and unless the super can somehow increase the number of cells in the body as needed (and decrease them), there's only so far you can stretch. Think of it like a rubber band. Yes, it's made to stretch, but even then, there's a breaking point, and if you look closely at a stretched rubber band, you can see the beginnings where the stretching is gradually weakening the band. I'd think that this same principle applies to the super, giving them the kind of stretch marks that makes you think they gave birth to a city of babies. Ideally, a stretchable person would have a limit to how far they can stretch, with the further out they go resulting in more strain just to get there, and a greater risk of cellular integrity failure, basically ripping them in half.

No thank you.

All true...I will look at this one as using the space between the atoms...when stretching I am thinking the flesh becomes "netted".  So if stretched out the flesh would have hundreds or thousands of tiny holes.

In this power consideration the flesh is out of the box...no bones or normal flesh, it is all one mass with the working parts incorporated.

This would be a tough one for a non-fantastical setting...then again in the same setting there would be no TK at all, the energy exchange involved with the process would melt the brain at least...most likely much worse...a hot bubbling puddle of goo most likely.