Superhero Game Power Modifiers - What, When, and Why?

Anyone running a superhero game - or any game with power modifiers for that matter - will want to look at various power modifiers and ask themselves: Who gets what power modifier, when do they come into play, and why are power modifiers a thing for this?

The "why" is easy to explain: Power modifiers are a thing because they give a set of conditions where powers are able to be turned off, either as part of a setting deal with power dampening shackles, Kryptonite cages, power thieves (ala DC's Parasite and Marvel's Rogue), or a granting authority saying, "you have failed me for the last time."  It's a given for the genre that a character's powers will be turned off at least once.

What power modifiers are in play?  This is the big question that needs to be decided when designing any setting that has powers, not just a superhero universe.

* Are powers innate?  Then Biological (-10%; GURPS Powers, p. 26), Mutant (-10%; GURPS Supers, p. 34), Psionic (-10%; Powers, p. 28), Savant (-10%; Supers, p. 34), and Super (-10%; Powers, p. 29) are viable, along with a Passive Biological (-5%) and Mutant Biology (-0%), the latter two detailed below.
* Are "powers" really different forms of technology?  Then Electronic (-30%), Mechanical (-10%), Nanotech (-15%), Passive Nanotech (-10%), and Superscience (-10%), all from Supers, p. 34, along with Chemical (-10%), detailed below, are likely to be in play.
* Does magic exist?  Then Magical (-10%; Powers, p. 27) should be made available.
* Does the power come from spiritual enlightenment? Chi (-10%; Powers, p. 26) is appropriate.
* Are there entities that can grant and take away powers?  Divine (-10%; Powers, p. 26) Demonic (-10%; detailed below), and Spirit (-10% or -25%; Powers, p. 28) can fill those roles.

(Moral (-10%; Powers, p. 27) and Nature (-10%; Powers, p. 28) are normally not viable in a superhero universe.)

Of course, each universe has its own set of rules.  In my case, I tend to look towards Marvel and DC for inspirations, and both of those have a gamut of power modifiers.

Examples

Biological (-10%): This is applied for characters who expend some sort of energy, commonly Fatigue Points but could use an Energy Reserve, to power innate abilities.  For example, the Flash/Barry Allen played by John Wesley Shipp in 1990-'91's The Flash television series, who had to constantly replenish his body's store of energy after using his powers.

Chemical (-10%): These characters have to take a chemical (or occasionally alchemical) concoction, usually in the form of a pill, drink, or sometimes injection, to either maintain or sometimes trigger the powers.  DC's Hourman (who gained incredible strength, agility, durability, and reflexes for an hour by taking a pill) and Bane (when he was using the drug Venom) are probably the two better-known if still somewhat obscure characters using it.  In a sci-fi game, characters along the lines of a Rifts Juicer would qualify.

Chi (-10%): The character has learned - usually through meditation techniques taught in Eastern mysticism, but occasionally through other kinds of martial arts - to channel his body's natural energies to perform incredible feats.  While the flashier aspects are common to those of manga/anime (Naruto, Dragonball Z, etc.) and fighting vid-games (like Street Fighter), a number of western comics characters have this (the Question, Iron Fist, and arguably Batman).  It's sometimes hard to say with "non-powered" characters who qualifies and who does not; a good rule of thumb is whether the character loses his abilities if he fails to follow a self-imposed Disadvantage such as a Vow or Code of Honor.

Divine (-10%) and Demonic (-10%): Any character who is empowered by a deity, major demon, or cosmic entity (and the line between those is often quite fuzzy) that is able to remove or suppress the powers at will is probably going to have one of these two power modifiers.  The main difference is whether the entity will remove the powers in a life-threatening situation; use Divine for the more benevolent entities that won't and Demonic for the less benevolent ones who will.

Electronic (-30%): This power modifier is common to cyborg type characters, as well as battlesuit type characters who don't purchase their battlesuits as Alternate Forms.

Elemental (-10%): The only power modifier that is permitted to "stack" with others, most notably with Mutant, Psionic, and Super.  Builds of Powers that use both Super and Elemental as sources tend to roll the two into a single power modifier, such as Cryokinetic, Electrokinetic, Pyrokinetic, etc.  Air, Cold/Ice, Darkness/Darkforce (the latter being shorthand for "solid darkness"), Earth, Electricity/Lightning, Heat/Fire, Light, Sonic/Vibration, and Water are the most common "elements", though Radiation has its place in the occasional build.  (I'm currently writing a series of Pyramid articles that create a number of elemental Powers for supers to use; I might go ahead and pitch it as a book instead, should I get enough articles under my belt.)

Magical (-10%): Characters with this power modifier aren't necessarily mages.  Most characters with magical powers are actually unable to cast spells in the traditional manner (spellcasters in superhero settings commonly use Ritual Path Magic, Realm Magic, Sorcery, or straight Magic-magic); instead, their powers were granted to them by magical means.  A number of characters in comics have magical artifacts granting powers, which would be the abilities with Gadget modifiers as well as the power modifier.

Mechanical (-10%): Some characters, particularly proto-supers in pulp-era and steampunk fiction, have powers with this power modifier.  These abilities are commonly hydraulic or pneumatic in nature, though some can be intricate clockwork.  Very few characters nowadays have this, as even the mechanical aspects of a number of tech-based characters have electronics controlling the mechanisms.

Mutant (-10%): A variation (sometimes a subset) of Super, characters with this power modifier are born with genetic variations which permit them to gain powers, usually (but not always) during puberty.

Mutant Biology (-0%): A variation of Mutant, above, but used when there is no way to suppress or turn off the power because the power is in reality a physical mutation, such as wings, a tail able to be used as a third arm, or feet with toes arranged to be used as hands.

Nanotech (-15%): The premise for this is that the powers are granted by nanotechnology. In superhero type settings, this is commonly the result of alien or highly experimental technology.

Passive Biological (-5%): Similar to the Biological power modifier, but these are for passive rather than active abilities, such as DR and Injury Tolerance, or for abilities that already cost fatigue or some other form of energy to use, such as Super ST or Warp.

Psionic (-10%): Often seen alongside or as a component of Super or Mutant, this is generally described as "powers of the mind": telepathy, telekinesis, illusions, and ESP are the main versions seen in the typical source material.

Spirit (-10% or -25%): Usually seen in more mystic aspects of a superhero universe, commonly in powers related to voodoo or Amerindian traditions.

Super (-10%): This is typically the go-to power modifier for super-powers.  If the powers don't fit any of the other categories, it's probably some form of Super.

Superscience (-10%): This is commonly used by characters who have equipment rather than innate powers that follow the general rules of Super, above, and are described as being "sufficiently advance technology".  Probably the best known example is Green Lantern (and the various other "lantern" corps).

New Power Modifiers

Chemical (-10%): These abilities are dependent upon some form of chemical/alchemical potion being applied to the body on a regular basis, whether through ingestion, inhalation, skin application, or injection.  This potion is the equivalent of Maintenance (One Person; Weekly) (-5%); the potion takes at least an hour to create. In addition, the effects of the potion can be counteracted through other pharmaceutical means, same as with the Passive Biological power modifier, below (-5%).

Demonic (-10%): These abilities are granted by supernatural entities that are at best uncaring or more often actively malevolent (a "demon").  The entity requires the character follow a -10 point self-imposed disadvantage of the demon's choosing, which may not be one of the 'heroic' disads.  Should the character violate the demon's code, the demon will remove the ability.  Demons are notorious for removing the ability immediately upon violation, even (especially!) in life-threatening situations (-0%), and usually requires only a minor quest or minor harm to restore (-0%).

Mutant Biology (-0%): These abilities are physical mutations or adaptations, and cannot be negated through any means save surgical removal.  It counts as a power modifier as the abilities may benefit from any Power Talents that would conceivably include them.

Passive Biological (-5%): Like Biological (Powers, p. 26), these abilities are part of the character's physiology, but may be negated through the application of drugs geared specifically for such purpose (-5%).  As these abilities are passive in nature, no FP expenditure is necessary.

I'll probably touch upon the cosmic scale of things, including the use of a Cosmic (+10% to +50%) power modifier in such a universe, in a later post.