Is /poison Tech or Science?

If we assume the poisons are being concocted in a lab, rather than as an innate ability, or a time honored tradition (like natural poisons). Are technicians and chemical engineers who work for pharmaceutical companies more like science, or does technology still make sense for them?

I know it doesn't really matter. I just want to know what people think about it.

I'd say Science since the technology they use doesn't actually create the poison. It synthesizes it from other ingredients. But it really depends on how your character generates poison.

For example, if they use some kinda device that they keep on their person I'd go with Tech. Otherwise, I'd go with Science.

Well, science might make the poison, but the poison in that case would be tech, IMO.

I would say Technology. The line between Science and Technology is a bit blurry but my take on it has always been that with Science something was done that changed you and gave you super powers. With Technology the gear is extraneous to you, if you gave it to someone else (and trained them to use it) they would be able to replicate your skills.

I would also go with Tech. I tend to look at it from what the SO enhancements say they are. Science SOs are various particle bombardments, Tech SOs are various devices that do things. You may also consider Natural. If the only extra thing you use is fancy poison, you may just be exceptionally trained in it's delivery.

Magic It is alchemy.

Natural - It is the use of natural toxins found in nature and utilized through your extensive knowledge of natural herbs and toxins.

Mutant - You naturally generate poisons and toxins in your own system.

But personally I'm fond of Magic/Alchemy as the explanation of poisons.

Since a lot of the powers look like you spit the poison, I would say Mutant would be an acceptable Origin.

Honestly, any Origin should be able to fit any powers. (It might be a bit hard to fit Robots to Magic, but there's really nothing in the game rules that prevents it. Besides, there is also your Secondary, you could be Robots/Dark and the Dark is the Magic)

Another point I thought of, you could be Necromancy/Poison, and since the zombies vomit poison, you could make yourself look like a zombie too, and say that your poison is just a more advanced form of zombie vomit.

Is it weird that this thread made me think of a baseball coach mastermind, spittin' his tobaccy on all his foes?

I'd say it's Science. Tech brings to mind the idea that the poison (while still chemical and scientifically created) is mixed and deployed via a machine.

But as people have said, anything can be anything. I've got a Demons/Traps MM that's Tech origin, who hunted down his demonic minions and fitted them with radio collars that allow him to control him. (He also hates all demons, his own included, which fits my typical Mastermind strategy of "I've got disposable tanks! Yay!")

If the poisons are made in a lab then it would depend on the method of dispersion:

If the character uses some sort of armour mounted technology that sprayed the poison then it would be tech.

If the character has had experiments done so that they can store and spray it using their own body then I would say science.

If they are just carrying around vials of the stuff then it could be science/natural.

I like how it can be pretty much any origin. I always thought tech would be the easiest to justify, but now it seems to be the hardest. Making custom poisons in a lab feels like what a scientist would do, but the trouble with going science is it usually implies you got supernatural powers out of the arrangement.


Does it change things if I say the henchmen are all hopped up on steroids, so they're getting some of their power from the poison? Would that move things more into science, or is that still tech? I'm thinking the MM doesn't take any steroids, but the henchmen do.

Like people have said, ANY origin can be used to justify just about ANY powerset. It just depends on what kind of story you want to tell.

Personally, my Mercs/Poison MM (Professor Orange) is science, because although the poisons he throws aren't exactly powers so much as things he's made, the reason he throws poison at random people is because while he was working as a chemist, he experimented on himself and went insane. So now he runs around with chemically mind controlled soldiers, shooting and throwing poison at everyone, all to aid in his quest to make everything in the world colored orange.

It all makes perfect sense if you're insane.

My toon's name is Doctor Deviance. She recruits degenerate drug addicts to experiment on them, and then trains some of them as soldiers, and gives them massive steroid treatments. The reason I've been so torn between tech and science is because she does have kind of power armor, and all her poisons are either shot from her wrist or carried on a utility belt. (I'm skipping every spitting power) ....


So.... she's not caused by any particular experiment gone awry, just a very ruthless person who loves experimenting on people as a means of medical research.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patteroast Like people have said, ANY origin can be used to justify just about ANY powerset. It just depends on what kind of story you want to tell. Personally, my Mercs/Poison MM (Professor Orange) is science, because although the poisons he throws aren't exactly powers so much as things he's made, the reason he throws poison at random people is because while he was working as a chemist, he experimented on himself and went insane. So now he runs around with chemically mind controlled soldiers, shooting and throwing poison at everyone, all to aid in his quest to make everything in the world colored orange. It all makes perfect sense if you're insane.

Now I think I see what you're getting at. If an experiment is what caused you to be a hero/villain, then go science. If something you invented made you become a hero, then go tech. If you trained a lot at a dojo for personal reasons, then natural.

So I can see how Professor Orange fits. He wouldn't be a villain at all if he hadn't been in that experiment. Are there any heros/villains in the COH story that didn't get experimented on to make them what they are?

Power armor just screams tech.

There are lots of heroes and villians that don't have science origins: Statesman and Recluse drank from a magic fountain, Manticore isn't superpowered at all (natural and tech due to his bow), and Sister Psyche is a mutant. And that's just a few of the Freedom Phalanx. I've never done any research, but I'm thinking science may be ranked in the middle of the order of signature hero/villain origins with magic and mutant above it and tech and natural below. I could be way off, but, off the top of my head, magic and mutant seem much more prevalent.

I honestly don't know the difference between Science and Technology. Aren't they closely related??

But judging from the animation (puking), I would say Poison is more like Mutation?

It's more like Science/Tech if we shoot poison out from a pistol or something.

If you're going by the descriptions provide for us in the game, which I find to be appropriate, the Science origin states, "You received your powers either through purposeful scientific inquiry or some accident gone awry." The definition of the Tech origin is, "You derive your powers from technological devices, from suits of high-tech body armor to powerful energy weapons." Obviously, some powers and animations lend themselves better to a specific origin, but with creative thinking and costume design, you can usually work around anything to make it plausible.

Eh. I know the mutation/science thing can be about as tricky as the science/tech. Or the weapons specialist verges between tech/natural.

Here's how I see it:

A mad scientist mutates himself. He may be a mutant now, but because it was his scientific process that mutated him, I label him 'science.' Without his process, he'd never have mutated. I have a mad scientist character that uses radiation. He uses gadgets to do this, but take those away he'd quickly use his scientific knowledge to find new ways of doing the same thing. It's his science know-how that is his source.

Say you have a mad scientist poisoner, who uses a high-tech toxin gadgets for his powers. He's locked away and disarmed, but escapes. He can either (a) go to the storage closet to make new poisons quickly, or (b) find where his gadgets are stowed, and retrieve them. If he chooses (a), knowledge with or without tech, I'd peg him as 'science.' If (b) I'd peg him technology, as he relies on the gadgets he made.

Science and Mutation are closely related. The difference is, mutants are born with their powers instead of getting them from some external stimuli. Per CoH, the Mutant origin reads: "You were born with abilities which set you apart from the rest of humankind. Your powers manifested at birth, puberty, or possibly adulthood."

In many situations, Natural and Tech could be a toss up depending on the toon's bio.

If the character was born with mutated human DNA so that his body produces poison, it's mutant.

If the character was caught in an accident in the lab, a la spiderman, and changed so that the character exudes/produces poison, it's science.

If the character uses his knowledge to produce weapons, chemicals, apparatus to utilize poison, then it's tech.

Natural is a tough one for me. If you are an alien or new creature that uses poison as part of the normal physiology, then it works as natural for me. The kitana illustration could still be technology to me since the character is using technology of a past age that is more advanced than say technology from the stone age.