D&D/M&M hybrid game- or am I completely insane

[Omega Lord]

Okay ever since picking up M&M a few days ago I have had quite a few interesting ideas for what to do with it. One idea that me and my friend came up with was a Dragonstar/M&M crossover. Keep the normal D&D classes but have the option to be magicaly/technologically "enhanced" super beings that, due to the inherent power level and cost, can only be created by the government or Aristocorps. I see where the munchkins would take this and have thought of a few caveats to the rules.

-Supers cannot use magical items period. This is the easiest way to handle magic/superpowers interaction. You can rationalize it by saying that the supers inherent magical ability overrides any external source of magic.

-Technology- I really dont know how to handle this one, I am thinking that supers can have free use of technolgy without spending pp's on it. That is unless the technology directly mimics super powers, then they have to use pp's.

-Leveling up- use the D&D system, course this means I will have to figure out the CR ranges for supervillans.

My original thoughts on this crossover was that in a small corner of the galaxy there is a vastly advanced but very small interstellar empire. Composed of only a few star systems this empire nontheless has vast power. Epic spell capablity, technomagic (pulled directly from Arsenal/Factory), and energy wells (a concept taken from Malhavoc's wonderful book Requiem for a God, think a self sustaining magical energy generator. Kind of like a star that radiates intense magic instead of light and heat). Thier weaknesses are their relatively small size and almost complete lack of technolgy. Luckily this tiny empire discovers the dragon empire first through scrying and covert observation. Seeing the threat that the Dragon empire poses to thier way of life, they start developing couter-measures.

The most promising anti-dragon project is the controlled exposure of raw energy well energy into living beings. Thus supers are born. After a few early "mishaps" with supers the process is perfected. Granted the cost of creating Supers is high, but the fact that when properly designed they will last indefinately (immunity to aging, suffocation, etc.) and that certain types of supers can rival full sized starships in combat (20d6 energy damage, able to move up to 1,000,000 times the speed of light) greatly offsets this shortcoming.

And thus the stage is set. Seeing as how PL 20 supers can potentialy mop the floor with a dragons scaled butt, the dragons are not pleased at all. The supers are initally an unknown assailant, entire detachments of starships disappear without a trace, key magical artifacts are stolen, the list goes on. Eventually the dragons could catch one of the supers and discover how to make their own, or perhaps they create technology to mimic the super's naturall abilities.

So what do y'all think? I dont know about you but this idea sets my mind ablaze with ideas. Course I could be stark raving crazy, never can discount that possibility.

Thoughts? opinions? criticisms? Ideas on how to mesh the two systems.

 

[bwgwl]

as much as i really love M&M, if you really want to mix it with a standard D&D setting and rules, i'd recommend you look at FCTF (Four-Color to Fantasy) instead. it is already made to be integrated into standard d20 game mechanics.

 

[Omega Lord]

Jeez, 112 views and only one reply . Well the system might change but my mind is set on the idea of superpower imbued people in the employ/in opposition to the dragon empire.

So what do you think about the idea?

Remeber ANY response is better than none. Even if said response is "You are bat crazy".

 

[Bonehoard Taffer]

As far as genre goes I think it's a great idea. Reminds me of an X Men story I read years ago.

PS I answered your question, now anwer mine.

 

[NeuroZombie]

I agree with bwgwl. I wouldn't use MnM for this type of thing at all. I would use FCtF or Deeds Not Words (My fave d20 compatible rpg). It would take way too much work to use MnM, especially when you have 2 systems that are inexpensive that were made to work with d20.

 

[Wraith Form]

Um--you're completely insane.

 

[tetsujin28]

M&M works a treat -- I've used it for high-powered fantasy ala Exalted. It does take a little more work, but it's worth the effort. There's already someone on these boards running a Planescape campaign with M&M, so you might want to ask him for some advice.

 

[s/LaSH]

If you want to do this, and I don't see why not, consider this idea: What happened to those first few test subjects? Sure, most of 'em probably exploded, but what if a few were driven insane and escaped?

Just a thought...

 

[Lugh]

A few thoughts, per your request.....

First, I want to vote on the side of look at a different system. DnW is a great supers system that should blend nicely with Dragonstar (now I just have to see if I can get it to blend with Spycraft.....). I haven't looked at Four Colors personally, so I can't say there. But, M&M makes so many fundamental changes to the d20 system that it would be a LOT of work to integrate it.

The one bit in your description that worried me was the interaction of magic and supers. I think that going with a different system might alleviate this problem somewhat. But, more than that, you have to think through the logic behind your ruling. You've said that a super's powers overwhelm any other external magic. Does that make them immune to magic cast on them? So, they can't get bull's strength, but they also can't be affected by hold person. That's a NASTY kettle of fish.

A better option might be that magic and super abilities work together fine for short durations, say less than an hour. After that, they start interacting oddly. Not just one negating the other, but more like wild surges of energy. The details would obviously change depending on the magic, and the super ability, and may even be unpredictable then.

This would make supers very unwilling to carry magic items. It would also make them nervous about having long-term spells (such as bull's strength and mage armor) cast on them. A couple of spectacular effects should convince the rest of the party that it's a bad idea, too.

Something for you to chew on.....

 

[Omega Lord]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Yes it will require a bit of work to switch M&M to D&D but I like the system (if I find one I like just about as well but is more compatible I will use it)

s\ash- yes that idea had come to mind. One idea is that perhaps an earlier test subject was infused with too much energy at one time (higher power levels must be attained gradually) and thus, evolved farther than is usually safe in one go. Thus causing a creature that is near pure magic/power (and about PL 35) and giving him a horribly alien mindset.

Lugh- Neat idea, I like I like. And the more powerful the magic the more violent the reaction! bulls strength is no big deal but something like tensers transformation or even worse an Epic spell *shudder* remember in Dune when you mixed lasguns and sheilds? Yeowch.

One thing I thought of recently is that what if one side did the smart thing and engineered a esp intensive super? what if they added post/pre cognition? yeep, talk about an information race.

Also I think that tech will work fine for supers (lasers, spacesuits, etc.) but device based supers... not entirely sure how to handle them. Perhaps say that thier tecnology requires so much personal investurature of energy (PP's) that it cannot be duplicated. Kind of contrived I know but I am willing to listen to other/better suggestions.

Again thanks for the feedback!