Effect: Variable
Action: Free (passive)
Range: Perception
Duration: Continuous
Saving Throw: None
Cost: 8 points per rank
You can adapt the powers you need to confront a particular opponent. Once per round, you can designate an opponent in perception range as a free action. You gain powers suited to fighting that opponent, up to (rank x 5) character points total. The Gamemaster decides what powers you get; you don’t have any
control over it. You can only designate one opponent as your Nemesis for each round.
POWER FEATS
• Affects Insubstantial: Your Nemesis power can adapt to an insubstantial opponent (likely granting you some Affects Insubstantial effect) without this power feat.
EXTRAS
• Action: For a +1 extra, your Nemesis power adapts automatically (as a reaction) to the first opponent to attack you in combat. You can designate a different opponent on your action, if you wish. Once an opponent is defeated, your power automatically adapts to the next foe that attacks you.
• Affects Others: You can grant the benefits of your Nemesis power to someone else you are touching; both you and the subject gain the same adaptations against the same opponent. Gamemasters should be cautious about allowing this extra, since stacking Nemesis-granted powers on top of an ally’s normal traits
may be unbalancing.
FLAWS
• Action: If it takes longer than a free action for your Nemesis power to adapt to an opponent, you may apply this flaw; past a full-round action, apply the Action power drawback.
• Limited to Single Combat: While Nemesis normally only adapts to one particular opponent at a time, Nemesis with this flaw doesn’t work at all if you are fighting more than one opponent at a time. In this case “fighting” means “in melee combat,” so on any round when two or more opponents make melee attacks
against you (whether or not they are successful), your Nemesis power doesn’t work and you lose any traits you gained from it.
• Uncontrolled: Nemesis is already Uncontrolled in that the GM decides what powers you get from it, and this “flaw” cannot be removed from the power.
UNDER THE HOOD: NEMESIS
Villains—and sometimes heroes—in the comic books often have just the right plan in place for any given circumstances. The ability to come up with such far-reaching contingency plans is in fact one of the greatest advantages of super-intelligent masterminds; whatever happens, they are usually prepared for it. If you wish, you can use Nemesis—or a power something like it—to duplicate this ability to be prepared for every eventuality. Of course, for villains you can also just use GM Fiat, saying that, yes, because of great Intelligence, skill, and perhaps the Master Plan feat, the villain is prepared for a particular course of action and already has countermeasures in place. In this case, just award the player(s) a hero point for the setback of the villain being ready for them. In some ways, this is fairer than giving Nemesis to a lot of villains, since non-player characters have unlimited power points to spend, and Nemesis is largely GM-controlled power anyway. On the other hand, this version of Nemesis may suit certain “mastermind” heroes, provided the player understands that the power is still under the GM’s control, meaning the Gamemaster decides what temporary traits it provides to reflect the hero’s advance knowledge or preparation. The player may offer input, but the GM’s decision is final.