Taking the Next Logical Step

[KnightDisciple]

Right, so, this has been bouncing around in my head for a bit, and I want to go ahead and get it "in writing", as it were.

At the moment, Gabriel has the ability to talk to anyone and everyone on the planet Earth via the following power:

Communication 9 (Audio, 20,000 miles ["Anywhere On Earth"]; Extras: Area; Feats: Selective, Subtle) [20/24PP] (Ventriloquism)

Now, at some point, I want him to be able to achieve the following results:

*Hear anyone and everyone on Earth; thus, he could hold a conversation with the world, if he so wished, or someone in Cairo while he was in Los Angeles, with no cell phone required.

*Understand every verbal language; anything that uses scent, sight, telepathy, or any sense besides hearing to communicate is out. But if someone makes noise to transmit ideas to someone else, I want him to understand that.

*Be Understood by everyone; right now, he can speak in English, and that's it.

Obviously, this might take a while and some investment before it's possible, but I'm curious how I'd do it. I figure some ranks in Comprehend would cover the middle item, but I'm at a bit of a loss on how to cover the other two goals.

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[Raveled]

Comprehend 1 (Languages 1 [understand Any]) [2PP].

Possibly also Comprehend 1 (Codes; Limited: Verbal transmission only) [1PP]. Though that might come under understanding all languages, I'm not sure.

[Quinn]

You might want to throw Selective or something on that Super Senses for the "hearing everything on Earth". Granted, hearing anything you want to on Earth is seriously epic...but hearing everything at once? Not so fun.

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[Fox]

I think Quinn is thinking more about the ability to select where you hear from, in case the power doesn't inherently let you focus it.

It may be able to be turned on or off on a continuous duration...but it's still either on or off; you either have relative peace (normal human hearing), or you have every noise in the world in your head. You could choose to invoke a lower rank in the power, but then you have every noise in whatever radius you use. He seems to be offering Selective as a solution, in the way of, "I would like to listen to Africa" or "I would like to listen to this part of the city".

[Dr Archeville]

That sounds more like Auditory ESP.

[Quinn]

I think Quinn is thinking more about the ability to select where you hear from, in case the power doesn't inherently let you focus it.

It may be able to be turned on or off on a continuous duration...but it's still either on or off; you either have relative peace (normal human hearing), or you have every noise in the world in your head. You could choose to invoke a lower rank in the power, but then you have every noise in whatever radius you use. He seems to be offering Selective as a solution, in the way of, "I would like to listen to Africa" or "I would like to listen to this part of the city".

Yeah, sure, let's go with that.

I'm assuming you'd explain that you can't hear Taurus or, say, Overshadow by stating their headquarters and the like are usually soundproofed?

[quotemyname]

Could you limit that extended hearing so that it only works when he's actively using his ventriloquism? It might reduce the cost slightly. He doesn't need to hear EVERYTHING at ALL TIMES, does he?

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[Ecalsneerg]

There's also a slight variation I've seen, such as on Book of Magic's Grasscutter with two linked effects, one of which has the Common power loss (if the other effect is saved against), i.e. a Strike linked to Paralyze, where the Strike must at least bruise or the Paralyze isn't saved against at all, it just fails.

[KnightDisciple]

Saying "This power only works when this other power is on" is not grounds for a cost break in M&M. It's called "The +0 'Linked' modifier."

Yes, Audio ESP, possibly with +Simultaneous and/or linked with some Limited Quickness, is another option, if you'd rather focus your attention on one particular far-away area at a time and periodically run searches of those far-away areas. What KD described sounded more like "I want to hear everything in the world all at once."

It's more accurate to say I want to hear everyone. This is intended to let him talk to anyone and everyone all over the planet, thus it will be grouped in with his existing communication power. However, I don't need it to pick up any other sounds. I mean, I could justify it, sure, and I might add a separate Enhanced Hearing thing somewhere else, but this particular power grouping is to talk to people anywhere in the world.