how do you kill someone

[Gundark]

I have been going thru the M&M rules. How do you kill someone? It says that a disabled person who performs a strenuous action is dying. okay fine, but how do you kill someone? It seems death is up to the character and not someone else. If your disabled and you take more damage then what? Am I missing something? I am looking on pages 127-129 but can't find an answer.

 

[d4]

I have been going thru the M&M rules. How do you kill someone? It says that a disabled person who performs a strenuous action is dying. okay fine, but how do you kill someone? It seems death is up to the character and not someone else. If your disabled and you take more damage then what? Am I missing something? I am looking on pages 127-129 but can't find an answer.

you are correct, and IMO that models the genre of superheroics very well. fatalities in comic books only seem to happen as major plot points, not as the result of random battles.

if you want more random deaths in combat, you can use the optional rule for massive damage on page 128.

 

[Geoff Watson]

Is it like Star Wars D20 where, once someone's down, they completely ignore all non-coup-de-grace damage?

Geoff.

 

[d4]

Is it like Star Wars D20 where, once someone's down, they completely ignore all non-coup-de-grace damage?

firstly, Star Wars d20 doesn't work that way, IIRC. (just looking through the rulebook, i couldn't see any mention of disabled characters ignoring damage.)

M&M doesn't use hit points, so you only keep track of their condition. you can damage someone to the "disabled" state, but that's the best you can do. in order for someone to go to the "dying" state, they have to be disabled and then take a strenuous action. there's no way to damage an enemy directly to the dying state.

just let me add, though, that it is possible to kill mooks and other types of lesser characters (like minions). it just isn't possible to outright kill major opponents. again, i like this as it reinforces the genre.

 

[Emiricol]

Optional rules include going to dying by failing a damage save by more than 15 L and dying instantly by failing a damage save by more than 20. So that's one option. (Page 128).

 

[Gundark]

you are correct, and IMO that models the genre of superheroics very well. fatalities in comic books only seem to happen as major plot points, not as the result of random battles.

if you want more random deaths in combat, you can use the optional rule for massive damage on page 128.

if you knocked someone unconscious then couldn't you coup de grace him. So I guess that is another way for someone to die.

Optional rules include going to dying by failing a damage save by more than 15 L and dying instantly by failing a damage save by more than 20. So that's one option. (Page 128).

I may do this

 

[Von Ether]

I think the errata has some thing on dying as well. But the original design focuses on the lack of death in the genre.

 

[Ranger REG]

Actually, it's in the FAQ:

What happens if a Disabled or Dying character takes additional damage?
Any attack that inflicts damage on a Disabled character shifts that character’s condition to Dying. Any attack that inflicts damage on a Dying character shifts the character’s condition to Dead. As per usual, attackers can choose to inflict a lesser effect (such as unconsciousness) if they prefer.

 

[d4]

if you knocked someone unconscious then couldn't you coup de grace him. So I guess that is another way for someone to die.

no, not according to the rules as they are in the book. (i'm not sure if REG's quote from the FAQ is an optional rule or a clarification of what the rule is supposed to be). a coup de grace just does more damage. there's nothing in the rulebook that says doing damage to a disabled character makes him dying.

 

[Ranger REG]

http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/files/faq.pdf

All it says is that if you're already at Disabled wound level, you get hit and failed your Damage saving throw (regardless by how much), you drop down to Dying wound level.

A Coup de grace at this point is to ensure the character truly die, thus the increase of +5 to DC vs. Damage Saving Throw.

Take the FAQ (updated 1-16-2004) however you want it.