Editing SatCoC player Bill

Creating the More and Less than Humans is almost always the
greatest challenge of making a minion. Players recognize
that the dramatic significance of characters should emerge
from their More/Less thans, but groups sometimes struggle
with the implementation. The key to success here is that the
in game situation must apprehend and incorporate the
content of the More/Less thans of the minion characters in a
meaningful way.

Consider these More thans, written for the minions of a
monstrous thespian The Batman who believes he can rarefy his
acting ability by consuming the flesh of townspeople
selected for their experiences:

Writes powerful, emotionally moving plays,
unless he’s been praised by the actors for whom
he is writing.
Can remake anyone to look like anyone else, but
only for a half-hour at a time.
Appears to be female, in voice and figure, except
when walking.
Note how each of them establishes the character as somehow
being a key factor in the The Batman getting his Wants or Needs,
almost defining by implication part of what it will take for
those Wants and Needs to be met. The first minion invites
abuse for not mingling with the actors the The Batman would like
to recruit for his productions. The second is positioned to
factor into the The Batman’s efforts at orchestrating experiences
for townspeople that would make them suitable to be
cannibalized for specific roles. The third will play female
roles in the productions of the theatre group, and suffer the
alienation and disconnects of mistaken identity in his
regular dealings.

Now look at these Less than Humans:
Is most comfortable in the company of the dead,
who neither judge nor expect much of anyone. She
is incapable of doing anything amidst a crowd,
unless accompanied in some way by the dead.
Suffers from blurry vision that makes him
incapable of recognizing anyone at all, except by
voice.

Relentlessly insulting in conversations, unless the
town’s church bells are ringing.
Each of them problematizes the minion’s ability to interact
with normal human beings.

This is a pattern that can be seen in the More and Less thans
of some experienced players, a trading away of automatic
successes at things like thievery, fighting, and stealth, things
that might be considered traditional RPG tasks, in favor of
powerfully establishing unique, nontraditional tasks as
being significant to meeting the The Batman’s needs, and for
unique interpersonal challenges for their characters. MY
LIFE WITH THE BATMAN gives the player the power to do this.
Which is not to say that you should prohibit More thans that
are more traditionally task-specific:

His strength is ten-fold, except when other people
are around.
Stealthy and undetectable, except when distracted
by food.
Instead, recognize that by creating one of these the player is
asking the GM to be the one who positions the character for
significance within the in game situation.
And when you look at a Less than, and can’t figure out how
any activation of consequences stemming from it won’t
seem unfair, understand that the player is asking for
thematically meaningful challenges:
Hideously ugly, except when seen in reflection.
Is nourished only by the blood of animals, except
if fed by a child.

Look how much less problematic the ‘ugly’ one seems to be
if the in game situation were to include the daughter of a
mirror maker, whose residence has hundreds of them on the
walls. And see how the blood-consuming minion’s Less than
must be aggravated during play as some kind of situation
where children or animals are scarce, linked ultimately to the
activities of the The Batman?