Hi all. As I'm new in the site, I'll need a character if I want to do anything remotely interesting. So far, I've thought on some concepts I wanted to discuss to make sure they're not too powergame-y and have some rules advices on how to translate those to M&M effects.
The first concept involves a spin into Teleport. I'm sure this concept has appeared somewhere else, but this is inevitable at this point in the history of comics. It involves twin brothers*, one of them shifted to an alternate dimension with special properties. The only way the shifted brother (or sister? Now that would be interesting) can travel back is if the other one travels to the alternate dimension. However, both of them don't need to be in the same spot, so from the point of view of people in the normal world, he simply vanishes – and at the same time, in another location a person with the same properties suddenly appears.
The twin in the alternate dimension, a reflection of the real world similar in many aspects to D&D's Ethereal plane allows moving very quickly and moving through solid objects, so the teleport can reach a considerable distance.
Now in game terms:
-No effect on health and toughness. It'd be cool to simulate it, but there's no easy way to do anything that remotely has the same effect. Fortunately we have an easy way out: the two brothers share a psychic link which includes empathic damage. Pain, wounds and mental effects are transferred and shared between them, so there's no need to do anything special.
-No ability to teleport other people, since they don't have their duplicate in the alternate dimension in a different location – their reflection shares their current position and again simulating it would be kind of tricky.
-Teleporting objects is tricky. I can't allow them to shift items into the alternate dimension, or else when the “teleport†happens he effectively would lose anything the brother in the alternate dimension doesn't have, which is again difficult to model rules wise. Also, there's no reason they won't have different clothes... this needs some work.
Let's say the ability that allows the brothers to exchange their dimensional positions only works if the mass or the properties of the objects they have on themselves is exactly the same; same clothes, etc.
So, how can them steal something? It's not enough if the displaced twin grabs the displaced item and they exchange dimensions – that still would leave the item behind, since only one of them has it!. The whole process, in the game world, would be like this:
a) Shifted brother travels to the item's location
Shifted brother takes the alternate dimension's item's copy and brings it to the real brother's location, but still in the alternate dimension. He leaves it there.
c) Shifted brother travels again to the place where the copy in the normal dimension is.
d) They shift dimensions. The shifted brother appears in the real world, and vice versa. Now both of them have access to one copy of the item.
e) They shift dimensions again. From the point of view of someone at the item's original location and also in game mechanics terms, a guy appeared, grabbed the item and dissapeared (This alternate dimension is acquiring a very definite set of rules)
-The teleport would be the standard power with a bunch of extras and power feats to simulate the unique nature of the “teleporting.†There's potential to make an Array with these effects as alternate powers:
a) ESP. The shifted brother can spy on a far away location.
Super senses (Visual radius), since the shifted brother can watch the one in the real world's back as long they're close
Other effects could be simulated with Second chance feat of a bunch of skills (what one doesn't know or Notice, the other one might), low rank Quickness to mental tasks (two heads are better than one), and some protection or outright Immunity (with duration changed to Sustained) to Trip, Snares and Grapples as they can shift out of those with ease. Trigger to fire Teleport when falling may also be appropriate. As for a way to contribute to damage, instead of some technobabble justification for a Damage power I though on perhaps a reinforced cattle prod with a fusion battery they jury rigged with parts from the lab they work in.
(For added hilarity, they could be brother and sister so they character would seem to change sex every time they teleport. I don't know how appropriate this would be for the site, or if even would be worth a Complication)
As for motivation, it's an easy one. With their connection, being separated in this way is painful/discomforting. After normal science failed to reunite them again, they hang on with super gadgeteers, cosmic power wielders and dimensional travelers looking for a solution to their problem.
So, does anyone have a suggestion on mechanics or name for the character(s)?
(*Relax, this has nothing to do with Duplication)