Hi readers, today I’m answering some questions folks have asked about the powers of each of the members of Fourth Fist. I couldn’t think of a good way to phrase this as an in-world message, so I’m just writing to you directly.
Haunter:
What determines what items her shades have when they manifest?
If you imagine that you made an action figure of the person, the shade will have anything that would be included on that action figure. The core trait, as far as Jane can determine, is that the person in question thought of the item as part of their identity/self image.
How long do her shade’s accessories stick around?
The items last as long as she keeps the shade manifested, and share the same durability issues that the shade has. They work the same as a real item in all ways, save for the fact that a jolt will pop them.
Indulger:
How can Indulger die?
You have to kill him and keep his body from touching the ground for a while, long enough that his gift loses its grip. Alternately, be strong enough to overpower his healing.
Does Indulger’s power work on things on the ground, or just the ground itsef?
It depends. In general, objects that are not part of the ground, that you can pick up and put elsewhere, don’t count. Buildings, etc. Things like roads, on the other hand, things that are basically part of the terrain, those he can control.
Preventer:
What are Preventer’s barriers basically like?
They are translucent, and they move slowly enough that folks can dodge them. You can crack and break them by striking them. It takes more times the larger the barrier is. The edges are sharp, and they move with enough force to cut people.
What does Preventer’s invincibility protect her against?
Much more than is obvious. First off, there is no way (other than a more powerful gift) to damage her. Less apparent, it is very hard to confine her. Buildings will tend to crumble, locks will open, etc. She is similarly immune to being compelled, entranced, etc. You can imagine a mighty genie, much much stronger than any of the other laws of physics, dedicated to making sure that she can take action with full agency at any given point in time.
Condemner:
Does Condemner’s fire feed on actual fire fuel, or the souls of his victims?
Both! He can spread on flammable substances, and they nourish him. He grows wildly in power and ferocity, however, if he is able to kill someone. This is interpreted as ‘feeding on their souls’, but there isn’t really a way to measure that. What is certain is that burning people make’s Condemner’s flames much more powerful, the why is still unknown.
How fast is Condemner’s Ultra Speed?
Condemner is less able to move fast than he is to react fast. You can imagine what it would be like if the world slowed down when important stuff happened. It’s pretty hard to get the drop on him, because of this. As far as land speed goes, when he is in person form he isn’t much faster than human top speed. As a fire his speed is mostly dependent on what he is spreading across.
Fisher:
How does Fisher’s 2 body setup work?
She has 2 bodies, monster and lady. She can either have both of them out, connected by her shadow, or she can pull either of them down into the shadow. She can pull small items with her, but they come out again when that body emerges. She cannot pull other people into the shadows. She cannot have both bodies in the shadow at once.
How far does her shadow stretch?
This depends on the lighting, brighter light gives her longer range, and she can also resist, to some extent, the shadow shrinking when the lights dim. It doesn’t get much further than 20 yards. Pitch darkness traps her with the form out that she currently has.
Interesting how there’s esoteric layers to the powers, i.e. Ultra Toughness 3 makes you so impervious, you aren’t just durable, you’re almost unstoppable. I wonder how often they’ll come up.
Tried doing something similar in a story a long time ago, where the character’s powers had extra defenses and such, but I never came up with a good scenario in which to show it. 😛
This halo effect on Ultra Toughness was part of why Fidel’s plan for Fourth Fist was getting the stink eye from his subordinates. It is also the reason why in the first battle of Redo Rebecah didn’t mind letting Dale sink her in the earth.
The other powers have similar supplemental effects, actually, but they are less widely known.
Hey, if u r bringing Andy back to life – completely possible and and actually what im expecting as he was already reconstructed once – you should concider giving Jane the power to absorb dead Ultras as well as humans. In fact i was very confused why that wasnt one of the possible paths he previously told her about.
More on Andy’s current state will be made clear in the next update, but that’s certainly an interesting prospect.
It’s worth pointing out that Jane and Andy were only talking about a subset of changes he could make to her gift, as she is unwilling to consider the possibility of losing the people she is currently holding in her reserve.
“They work the same as a real item in all ways, save for the fact that a jolt will pop them.”
Doesn’t that mean that the phantom guns would disappear as soon as they were fired? Maybe the bullets too? Heck, a soldier with a machine gun would get a series of kicks that would likely be hard enough to destroy them.
I guess that the idea of a “jolt” would only be one from the real world. If a real person smacks the gun with a first, then it goes away, but if a shade smacks their own gun with their first, then it wouldn’t do anything?
Hg
The kick on a gun (most guns, when braced properly, etc etc) isn’t bad enough to pop a shade. Rule of thumb, if it will still be sore a few hours later, danger of popping. Falling over, getting punched, walking into a door real hard are on the far side of dangerous. Shooting a gun is *just* on the near side.
Shades can pop one another (a surprising, or not surprising depending on how cynical you are, amount have screwed one another to death), but there does seem to be a bit of leeway which makes a shade unlikely to pop itself. It can happen, but it doesn’t seem to be as easy as the world/other shades doing it.