how would you describe the difference?

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Indeed- and it's strangely fortuitous you happened to choose this topic and that Thrudjelmer is the one who responded, given that Thrudjelmer plays a gestalt of Invisible Woman and Angel in my Roll20 Marvel campaign.

During our last game session, the heroes were trying to locate some bombs that had been set by the villain. The villain had made them invisible via a technological cloaking device. Thrudjelmer was able to use his invisibility power to make them visible again (though, I believe he had to spend karma, as the cloaks were remarkable rank vs his excellent rank invisiblility, so it was a Red FEAT).

You could, of course, rule that they are two completely different things in your own campaign. I treated them as the same, because it gave more utility to the players power and I try to gear my campaign with an eye towards making things more player oriented/fun in my games. Nothing inherently wrong with doing it another way, though.

Cloaking -=VS=- Invisibility


It usually comes down to the details of the Game Mechanics.

Cloaking is usually somewhat visible (or detectable) but covers a very broad spectrum of sensory capabilities and detection...

As an example: a Cloaking Character can usually hide from all five physical senses as well as specialized camera and optical equipment, such as heat signatures, odor, sounds, vibrations, Mental Waves, etc.... They can also Cloak in just about any environment.


Invisibility is normally very strong, but limited to one or two sensory capabilities and only functional in certain types of environments... Full visual invisibility, but can still be detected by heat signatures or vibrations.



Like most others powers in the UPB, you can have a Character who is very focused in one or two abilities or they are very well balanced, but lack sheer intensity.


Cloaking: Broad Spectrum to cloak from many senses / Less Intense.

Invisibility: Focused Spectrum to cloak from 1 or 2 senses / More Intense.

You don't need the UPB to handle invisibility covering more or less. You could just drop off some areas of the spectrum as a limitation to give your power rank a boost. For example, if you take invisibility and have Excellent rank, its that level of protection from being detected. You could ask your GM for a +1CS bonus by saying your invisibility does not cover heat signatures. On the other hand, you could say your invisibility does not actually make you invisible at all but simply prevents you from being detected by electronic sensing devices. As a GM, I might be willing to go as high as a +3CS bonus for a limitation like that.

Its all in figuring out what you want and how to get what you need with limitations.

if cloaking equals difficult to detect and invisible equals cannot be seen, then cloaking equals blending and invisible equals invisibility.

Just in their usage in sci-fi history I think of Cloaking as an effect achieved thru use of a mechanical device of some sort while Invisibility is either super power or magic based. In my games in the past any power that was in the core books we'd use that version and use the UPB to cover those powers that weren't designed with the games rules in mind to avoid situations like this.

I'm liking this thread because people are discussing stuff I have thought of.

I have always thought of invisibility as being undetectable by the naked eye, which is great until you walk through oil and leave foot prints or have paint spilled on you, or cast a shadow (which is probably impossible because of some light bending science stuff). So I figure it's effect is making the person or thing impossible for the rods and cones in your eye to perceive. In some cases the character has to be naked (the Invisible Man) and some don't (Invisible Girl). I also think of this as a power, wether the person was irritated by Cosmic Rays or take a chemical compound or put on a magick ring if you are a Hobbit.

Star Trek has greatly effected what I thing of as "cloaking", as a device that can render something or someone unseen and undetectable by other means. When cloaked sensors cannot find you heat, different forms of radiation will not register and highly advanced technology on a star ship becomes useless.
In Call of Duty Advanced Warfare (do not buy this game, it is really cool but it only works 89%) there is a level where your guy has cloaking on his exo skeleton. When he uses it he disappears, becoming transparent with slight rainbow coloring on the edges, like in the Predator movies. But it isn't perfect. The soldiers cannot see through the cloaking and the drones cannot pick you up with the lazar sensor or electric eye... unless you move to quickly. The device can't keep up and they see something. It also drains your battery and this is a great use of limitations on a potentially uber power, at least in the game.

Being loud would by the easiest way to ruin the effects of either.