MnM3 Centropolis (Re-bot)

[jmucchiello]

Since I'm new to M&M3, I'm going to post a power or two here for critique, if no one minds. First is her basic attack:

“Radiant Blazing Laser Blast”; A/R/D: standard, ranged, instant; Toughness DC 21/26; Total Cost: 17 cp
A bolt of pure light energy streaks from her outstretched hand to her enemy.

• 6 Ranks Damage (Toughness DC 21) 1/r, +1/r Ranged, Descriptor: Light, Goodness; Rank Cost: 2/r; Cost: 12 cp
• 1 Ranks Ricochet, Cost: 1 cp
  • +5 Ranks Damage (Toughness DC 26) 1/r, +1/r Ranged, Check Required (Deception, DC 15) -5; Rank Cost: 2/r - check; Cost: 5
  • Additional 1 Rank Ricochet (activated by Check above), Cost: 1 cp

She has to sing-song the name (along with a weird pantomime) with enthusiasm to get the extra ranks. And it takes a Deception check to fool her powers into thinking she's properly "cute". Ricochet was added because it's fun.

Next she has a nuisance glamour that she isn't really aware of:

“Aurora Aura”; A/R/D: none, personal, permanent; Will DC 16; Total Cost: 5 cp
She glows. White colored light pours off of her, occasionally swirls of colored lights are seen in the glow.

• 6 Ranks Affliction (Will DC 16) 1/r, “Entranced”, Limited Degree -2/r (only first degree affect), Permanent -1/r, Area “Burst” +1/r, Rank Cost: 1 cp/2r; Cost: 3 cp
  • Insidious (people don't realize why they were staring at her); Cost: 1 cp
• 1 Rank Environment (Light) 1/r, Permanent -1/r, Rank Cost: 1/2r, Cost: 1 cp

So anyone with a weak will within 30 feet of her tends to just stare at her unless pushed to do something else. She always just assumes people are staring at her chest and in unnerves her.

She'll also have a nova power but I haven't modeled it yet. (Waiting to do stats to see how many cp I have left.)

 

[Shayuri]

Okay, the laser beam is mechanically sound, by my cursory reading. A little wacky, but nothing wrong with that.

There's some problems with the aura.

You can't make a power with a duration of Instant (like Affliction) Permanent right out of the gate. Only powers with Sustained duration can be made Permanent. So this Affliction would need to have its duration increased to Concentration (+1/r) and then to Sustained (+1/r) before the Permanent limit can be put onto it.

Also, I'm not totally sure Insidious works here...it's a bit more subject to interpretation, but since the power is very obvious (you're always glowing brightly), the effect is pretty easy to connect to it.

And finally, this kind of ability would be super disruptive in play. It would constantly be forcing huge numbers of resistance saves, from allies as well as enemies. You may think DC 16 is easy to save against, but by sheer volume of rolls required it would quickly become a big problem.

 

[GreenKarl]

Do I? I was reading the Snare ability (which is where I was directed). I can redo it again if needed.

Yes you still need an attack roll too hit as it is a 'Ranged'. The three Range types are close (Melee/Close Attacks), Range (Ranged Attacks) and Perception (and Area, which don't require an attack roll).

And as Shayuri mentioned below with Afflictions, you need an Attack roll to hit (unless it is Perception or Range) and then the target gets a roll to Resist. How much they fail by is the result.

 

[GreenKarl]

Hmm for the Laser Beam I am not sure you paid for the Ricochet as it is 1 point per Rank... so if you want to be able to Ricochet all 11 ranks of the laser beam it costs +11 points.

Also yea the Aura would mess WITH everyone every round and would get old very fast... I would probably say as a GM I don't want to have to be making rolls every single round for every single NPC that walks around you AND it would effect all your allies, etc.

 

[jonathonhawke]

Ricochet is a flat cost, not related to the effect rank. Each rank in ricochet allows you to bounce the power once - i.e. 1 rank = one bounce, two ranks = 2 bounces, etc.

With the Aura, reducing the ranks would lower the save DC, and you could add a limitation on how often it could affect a character...
Or you could make it a Complication and have it only affect people who are out of combat - increasing the danger to bystanders because they're too Entranced to get out of the way...

 

[jmucchiello]

Yes you still need an attack roll too hit as it is a 'Ranged'. The three Range types are close (Melee/Close Attacks), Range (Ranged Attacks) and Perception (and Area, which don't require an attack roll).

I can't add. I used the bullet list so I wouldn't mess up the addition....

And as Shayuri mentioned below with Afflictions, you need an Attack roll to hit (unless it is Perception or Range) and then the target gets a roll to Resist. How much they fail by is the result.

Yeah, I lost that in the translation from website, to brain, to post. Or, I knew I would forget something somewhere. That's why I posted.

“Radiant Blazing Laser Blast”; A/R/D: standard, ranged, instant; Toughness DC 21/26; Total Cost: 19 cp
A bolt of pure light energy streaks from her outstretched hand to her enemy.

• 6 Ranks Damage (Toughness DC 21) 1/r, +1/r Ranged, Descriptor: Light, Goodness; Rank Cost: 2/r; Cost: 12 cp
• 1 Ranks Ricochet, Cost: 1 cp
  • +5 Ranks Damage (Toughness DC 26) 1/r, +1/r Ranged, Check Required (Deception, DC 15) -5; Rank Cost: 2/r - check; Cost: 5
  • Additional 1 Rank Ricochet (activated by Check above), Cost: 1 cp

“Aurora Aura”; A/R/D: none, personal, permanent; Will DC 16; Total Cost: 8 cp
She glows. White colored light pours off of her, occasionally swirls of colored lights are seen in the glow.

• 6 Ranks Affliction (Will DC 16) 1/r, “Entranced”, Area “Burst” +1/r, Increased Duration (instant->sustained) +2/r, Permanent -1/r, Limited Degree -2/r (only first degree affect), Rank Cost: 1/r; Cost: 6 cp
  • Insidious (people don't realize why they were staring at her); Cost: 1 cp
• 1 Rank Environment (Light) 1/r, Permanent -1/r, Rank Cost: 1/2r, Cost: 1 cp

As for Insidious, it means people affected by her glamour don't realize it's her glamour affecting them. The glow is obvious. The entrancing cause is not. This is obviously not a combat power but on occasion, minions and low level creeps will run toward her to attack, and just stop to admire her. Nothing unusual about that. I wonder why it happens. (And when it affect the big, evil boss, it'll also be hysterical.)

 

[Shayuri]

It would work better as a Complication than a power.

Perhaps something like, "I constantly glow, and unintentionally attract a lot of attention from people."

Then the GM can decide how he wants to make that make your life difficult.

GK and me talking about Afflictions was actually directed to Kahless.

 

[jmucchiello]

Hmm for the Laser Beam I am not sure you paid for the Ricochet as it is 1 point per Rank... so if you want to be able to Ricochet all 11 ranks of the laser beam it costs +11 points.

That's not how I read it:

RICOCHET (FLAT 1 POINT PER RANK)

You can ricochet or bounce an attack effect with this modifier off of a solid surface to change its direction. This allows you to attack around corners, overcome cover and possibly make a surprise attack against an opponent. It does not allow you to affect multiple targets. The “bounce” has no effect apart from changing the attack’s direction. You must be able to define a clear path for your attack, which must follow a straight line between each ricochet. Each rank in Ricochet allows you to bounce the attack once before it hits. Ricochet may grant a bonus to hit due to surprise, at the GM’s discretion.

Also yea the Aura would mess WITH everyone every round and would get old very fast... I would probably say as a GM I don't want to have to be making rolls every single round for every single NPC that walks around you AND it would effect all your allies, etc.

I wouldn't mind if it were handwaved. Or maybe add a big limitation: only affects someone once per day. -1/r?

EDIT: I should read all the posts before posting. Some of this rehashes what others have said.

 

[jmucchiello]

With the Aura, reducing the ranks would lower the save DC, and you could add a limitation on how often it could affect a character...
Or you could make it a Complication and have it only affect people who are out of combat - increasing the danger to bystanders because they're too Entranced to get out of the way...

As a complication it would never affect a minion (or boss). But limited to once per day might be good. The "Limited" modifier says the effect is half as effective for "some reason". So limited to "Once affected, target is immune for 24 hours" should be more limiting, shouldn't it? -2/r maybe?

 

[jmucchiello]

Answering myself: Extra Time cannot increase the time from standard, can it? There's no "full round action" concept in M&M. So would you use "Distracted" instead?