Disguises, Covers and Alter Egos

The following covers all forms of information on **Disguises**, **Covers** and **Alter Egos**.

## Human Disguises (TMNT and ATB)

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle & Other Strangeness and all its additional Sourcebooks, Mutants often hid away from Human eyes because they were former experiments and were already to return from the places they had escaped from such as Genetic Labs. Many pretended to be Human to avoid this. The success was based on a number of factors. Firstly, Human Features certainly help, but even if you have full Human Features, the Natural Weapons are added on top of what is there. Having full speech, bipedalism, looks and hands, results in your Deer mutant looking just like a hairy human - But they set of large Antlers on their head, how are they going to pass for a human? That's going to bring a lot of questions up.

And at its best, Natural Weapons can make the character look slightly strange compared to a regular human as a result. For example, when looking at "Bite versus Teeth" alone it's a matter of a strong jaw versus strong fangs. Fangs and other teeth appear abnormal and mutants may struggle to conceal a large set of canines that are larger than any human set of teeth, but a slightly squarer jaw than normal may not cause a batter of an eye-lid.

The Mutant may not even have things brought into question, since regular humans can be quite lacking in intelligence. However, the player's character can also simply bluff their way through a scene where things are pointed out; i.e. shouting (with fake tears) "how dare you to discriminate against my large nose, do you know the suffering I've been through? The hate I've received? You will never know my pain!" may embarrass an NPC who asks the innocent question "Why do you have such a large nose?".

However, the need to conceal the character's appearance is entirely dependant on the scenario and setting.

* In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle & Other Strangeness, being hidden certainly helps when it comes to tracking information down, or remaining hidden from scientists and bounty hunters. Certainly, the need to hide can become essential and part of the character's safety, its why the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themeselves hide to begin with.
* In After the Bomb, while in mutant settlements characters do not need to hide at all unless it's part of their character's personnelity. Unless on an undercover role, mutants have little reason for hiding at all and *After the Bomb* was designed for this in mind. Mutants can move freely around their settlements without fear to hide their natural weapons. Sine natural weapons are on display for all to see, other Mutants may take note.
* In Heroes Unlimited, the need to pose as a human may be lessened depending on the character design, a character who wishes to avoid attention make acquire a secret identity but a character who has no reason to hide may not. Having a private life depends on the player's preferred style and if they wish to invest in an alter ego.

If a Mutant was caught, their cover was blown. In this case, they were either taken to, returned to or killed. A simple DNA testwill reveal if or not a Mutant is human and is often a downfall of many Mutants. Of the mutants Apes, Hominidons and Multi-Powered Humans pass as ordinary Humans much easier then most other types of Mutants with Multi-Powered Humans being slightly given a pass at times as they are still Human.

Human Mutants introduced in Heroes Unlimited just need to hide their mutant due to discrimination, they are otherwise human.

## Covers

For Ninjas & Superspies characters, a cover is part of their character and everyone has the choice to pick up one or more covers they've held over the years. How well they pull it off is up to the character design.

However, covers add to a character's profile, but skills and the Eight Attributes contributed to how well the character could pull it off. For example, a Banker may be asked about their banks safes and how they work. The character can attempt to explain via Lock Picking skills or they can just bluff their way out, or simply be honest and say they don't know. The decision is up to them and all they have to do to not be caught is simply to be able to go through the cover without letting it slip their not really a Banker.

A character can slip in and out of their Cover when needed to avoid their foes, allowing them to mingle with the common folk, but have a risk of being acknowledged by someone from their workplace. Covers become essential to the character, because they live on the edge of Life and Death at times.

## Alter Egos

Alter Egos are part of the Heroes Unlimited plot device and are often part of what Heroes use to lead a ordinary life while protecting their loved ones. The Alter Ego is similar to the Cover in Ninjas & Superspies but is used for a more variety of reasons.

Aliens and mutants certainly benefit from alter egos, while Mega Heroes may wish to live amount mere mortals despite being near-Gods for the sake of simplicity or so they never lose their attachment to their morals.

## As a Skill

Characters can pick up Diguise as a skill.