Ok so like a genie comes to you and offers to give you a superpower of your choice. He informs you that everyone on the earth is getting this same deal (EDITED - choice of superpower for them). Also you can’t be OP. So no monipulating molecules or total control of history. Its one power but it can be versatile but the more versatile it is the less powerful it will be. So like a good earmark is a straight up offensive power won’t make you more lethal than a commonly well equiped soldier. So like cyclops beam could be equivalent to antitank, antiaircraft shoulder things or whatnot. But if you were like the human torch where you can fly, produce and manipulate flame. Well your going to be on the level of a military flame thrower. Power has to be around something though so you can’t be like superman with unconnected powers of flight, heat vision, strength, invulnerability. But superstrength and resistance to damage would totally makes sense as part of one thing. As you will see below its about using your judgement.
Ok that is the setup but what I want is for you to say what your super power is and then play the role of the genie and decide how it needs to be limited to not be OP (EDITED - OVER POWERED. I realized it could be confused with original poster but im using it in the gaming sense). Here is my answer as an example.
I would ask for teleportation and the genie would be like ok but you can’t teleport anything living with you (being able to teleport people where ever like above a volcano is op. I thought about it being limited to people who allow it but you know its to easy to trick someone. I also say any living thing because dropping some predators in places or a disease). Speaking of what you can bring with it can’t be to much. No teleporting a semi truck over your opponents. Figure it can be as much as you (I) can carry on an all day hike. Also no teleporting parts of things. So if im driving the semitruck I cannot teleport away with its steering wheel but if the steering wheel of a semi truck were sitting in a junk yard it could totally come along. Ok then in addition nothing volatile. So essentially no explosives or accelerants.
On a final note I had thought about electronics and poisons but ultimately felt it was not that op and would cause the opposite where the limitations start getting pretty annoying. I also want commentary on how wrong it might be or unfair limitations with mine or anyones. I have to admit that once I thought along the lines of OP the power gets worse and worse. Not being able to bring people really locks out one of the better things with this power which is sharing it and saving folks by getting them out of danger.
EDITED - Some responses seem to miss what im going for. The idea is to eliminate anything that would make the power OP. Not limit it to the point where it is no longer a superpower. Keep in mind the examples like cyclops beams being able to take out a tank or a plane. I want legitamate super powers but also though around limiting them from being dominant over all others. Thing in terms of like balancing in a game system.
Another EDIT - this is a bit of a tease but remember everyone on earth is selecting a power from a genie (or the genie maybe he can duplicate himself) at the same time. There was a power or two I was going to put in examples but I kinda wanted to see if anyone would mention them.
EDIT3 - Ok so I teased it and not sure who might see these updates but no one took the bait so what I expected was people to jump onto disabling, copying, and absorbing powers. With everyone in the world having powers these become really useful and could guarantee a job at sensitive locations. It seems to me the examples from media I know are limited enough. Leech from marvel disables all powers around him and he can’t control it much outside of increasing the area he effects with effort or holding it in to a smaller area with effort and then the teacher from my hero academia who can precisely target one person at a time and they must be in line of sight (honestly having to not blink seems a bit much to me. I mean one on one it just makes both of them unpowered although its really powerful in a team). I think with copying powers it just needs to be some mix of one at a time, line of sight, not being able to bank or maybe a limit to banking or time period they can be banked and it being a poorer copy. I think the poorer copy has to be there given the versatility or it would be like the definitive choice. Absorbing is tough. I think it would require touch and take time to absorb and something like you could absorb 9o or 99% but the person would still have a bit left and the moment you stop touching you will be losing it and they will be regaining or something. I mean seems a pretty big deal to both shut down the other persons power as well as getting it for yourself.
I think you’d need more limits… Maybe if your mass stays within 20% of your actual body weight?
That would still be extremely strong, but not reality breaking. You’d be very limited in what animals you could turn into, but you could turn into a cheetah, a wolf, an orangutan, a swordfish, and plenty of others. The heaviest flying bird is 88lbs, so flight may or may not be in the table
I don’t mind about the coloring so much, I’d say you can pick between always bring green colored and the light and sound of the transformation, both of those give the game away in different ways
Well you talked about sneaking up on someone sleeping which sorta prompted the show for transformations. So you could not sneak up small and then turn large. I was thinking actually the orange the hunter vests are because again I was thinking how dangerous it could be running through the woods or such. Likely would not help as a bird. I think being a bird is a really big deal though and losing that would lose a lot of fun of changing into animals. Would limiting to mammals and birds be enough. Honestly I could do without changing into something like insects anyway and im ok skipping lizards and such. Mammals and birds encompass the real neat things to me.
I mean, being able to instantly turn into a bird instantly is still pretty crazy, it’s less OP than teleporting for escape, but still really powerful
Since you don’t want the time based transformation or to give up flying, maybe a skill aspect? Like, you get the body of the animal, but not the instincts. You’d have to learn how to move each new body, you’d have to teach yourself to fly with a breakable body and learn to run on all fours, but you could do it with
But you also are capped between 25-100% your normal mass… That will let you get some of the larger flying birds, as well as a bunch of larger cats, but nothing so big you can tip over cars or anything
what wrong with the tipping over cars? we are not limiting this to normal humans the example damage wise is a well equiped modern military person. The largest you can do on land I think is an elephant. Someone with super strength could throw a car at you.
Large mass changes literally break physics - if you can switch from a diving bird to an elephant and back, you wouldn’t just be throwing cars, you’d be able to send trucks flying
Limiting your maximim mass to human scale, you could still drop kick someone hard enough to splat them, which is pretty strong. Turn into a cat instead, and you could open them up like cheese as you pass
You also have an insane amount of utility - an eagles eyes can see for miles, a dog (or many animals really) can smell so well it’s like a new sense, cats operate with a reaction time beyond human scale… This is a really strong and versatile ability
If the scaling has powers at a scale properly prepared and equipped humans could operate at, I think this is the limit. There’s no answer to a rhino flying at you at 100mph… That basically can’t be dodged or stopped
Would it be any better if the transformation did not allow for any special ability outside of the froms. So changing from a small to large form under a car would hurt and squash you. Like there would be no shape change immunity and being a rhino flying at 100mph would likely injure you greatly. I mean when you land I think the increased mass would almost instantly put you at a standstill much less the air resistance.
Rhinos could turn a human to slime at that speed, they’re heavily armored and would probably not be harmed for the experience. If you could turn back into a bird instantly, you’d never even hit the ground… Something a rhino would probably survive if done correctly. Wind resistance wouldn’t do anything either
If you want instant transformations, I think there’s got to be severe tradeoffs. Even if you need room to avoid being squashed, that’s insanely powerful
I really doubt the rhino could handle these changes as easily as you think they could but alright. Im not sure they could handle a few foot drop with their weight and bone structure. Most heavy animals can barely handle their own mass.
A rhino is covered in thick keratin plates. They could slide across asphault, their knees couldn’t handle the drop but human motorcycle riders can’t either
I’m not saying it’s easy, but it is OP