HULK SMASH in M&M

[Macbeth]

Let me start out by saying that Mutants and Masterminds is a great system. I honestly think that you can create any Superhero you've ever heard of in Mutants and Masterminds...
Or at least I thought that. Now I have a problem: how do you deal with low intelligence? The M&M point buy system seems to lean toward high ability scores (as it should for a supers game), but this leaves the problem of how do you do low ability scores? How can you create a Hulk-like character (i.e. Intelligence 3 or lower) when the system seems to only allow scores of 10 or above?

 

[KDLadage]

I do not have the book in front of me, but I believe the cost for attributes is a plus and minus thing -- HULK, with an INT score of 3 would grant you 7 points (ie: have a cost of -7 points).

 

[Henry]

There is indeed a sidebar in the point-buy chapter, that talks about gaining points if you have an attribute lower than 10. It's a 1-for-1 basis, so an INT of 5 would give you 5 extra power points to play with.

Most people, however, don't seem to like having heroes that are below average, hence starting the ability scores at 10.

Interestingly, you can't create a D&D character with a score less than 8 using plain-vanilla point-buy rules.

 

[tetsujin28]

Hulk SMAH?

 

[Ranger REG]

Hulk SMAH?

Must be a queer Hulk.

Just want you to know, the Hulk's stats for most RPGs (including M&M) are presented in one download:

http://www.alliance-games.com/gametrademagazine/PDFs/GTM_40_PDFS/Hulk SMASH_1.pdf

 

[Desdichado]

Hulk's Int isn't 3 or lower -- that'd make him literally an animal, incapable of speech. Hulk's no genius, but he's not that dumb. He does speak, from time to time. In fact, depending on exactly when in the comic continuum you put him, he may actually have all of Banner's intelligence.

 

[Macbeth]

Hulk's Int isn't 3 or lower -- that'd make him literally an animal, incapable of speech. Hulk's no genius, but he's not that dumb. He does speak, from time to time. In fact, depending on exactly when in the comic continuum you put him, he may actually have all of Banner's intelligence.

I know that at some points his INT was at least at Banner's level, but the "classic," and in my opinion better, Hulk was barely intelligent at all. Considering that a normal human can have int 3, I would say that int 3 is a maximum for "dumb" Hulk, and that Int 2 with special DM approval to be able to talk would be about equal to how he was portrayed in most of his comics.

BTW, Thanks to everybody for pointing out what I missed as far as ability scores below 3 (and my spelling).

 

[Lizard]

I know that at some points his INT was at least at Banner's level, but the "classic," and in my opinion better, Hulk was barely intelligent at all. Considering that a normal human can have int 3, I would say that int 3 is a maximum for "dumb" Hulk, and that Int 2 with special DM approval to be able to talk would be about equal to how he was portrayed in most of his comics.

BTW, Thanks to everybody for pointing out what I missed as far as ability scores below 3 (and my spelling).

Oh, gods, I'm about to get into one of those "What if the Borg queen hijacked the Death Star and fought Unicron?"[1] fanboy debates.

Hulk as portrayed in the classic 60s and 70s comics would be about Int 6. He was no genius, but he as capable of thought, could tell friend from foe, could appreciate a suitably simplistic joke, could even puzzle out a problem if he was forced to sit and ponder it a bit. He wasn't a brute animal; he was a child who could juggle battleships. Besides, it takes a certain amount of wit to always come up with cute names for everyone you meet.

In the mid-80s, they started seriously screwing with the Hulk, first giving him Banners mind, then making him TOTALLY mindless, then splitting out hulk and Banner, then came the 'grey' hulk, then, oh, gods, I don't know.

But the Hulk who belonged in the Defenders, who ate beans and called Dr. Strange "Cape Man" and Valkyrie "Sword Lady", had a 6-7 int.

[1]Unicron would eat the Death Star with nary a burp, then the Borg Queen would assimilate him from inside. Just in case you were wondering.

 

[Macbeth]

Oh, gods, I'm about to get into one of those "What if the Borg queen hijacked the Death Star and fought Unicron?"[1] fanboy debates.

Hulk as portrayed in the classic 60s and 70s comics would be about Int 6. He was no genius, but he as capable of thought, could tell friend from foe, could appreciate a suitably simplistic joke, could even puzzle out a problem if he was forced to sit and ponder it a bit. He wasn't a brute animal; he was a child who could juggle battleships. Besides, it takes a certain amount of wit to always come up with cute names for everyone you meet.

In the mid-80s, they started seriously screwing with the Hulk, first giving him Banners mind, then making him TOTALLY mindless, then splitting out hulk and Banner, then came the 'grey' hulk, then, oh, gods, I don't know.

But the Hulk who belonged in the Defenders, who ate beans and called Dr. Strange "Cape Man" and Valkyrie "Sword Lady", had a 6-7 int.

[1]Unicron would eat the Death Star with nary a burp, then the Borg Queen would assimilate him from inside. Just in case you were wondering.

I agree, depending on the time his INT might be 6 ( iwould have more problems with 7, but thats still reasonable), but the Hulk that most people know (i. e. a big, rampaging moster yelling "HULK SMASH") Would probably be around INT 3-4.

Regardless, the real point of this thread is not WHAT the Hulk's intelligence is, but if M&M can handle low stats. Which it can. So posts about the Hulks int are slightly pointless.

 

[Ranger REG]

Personally, even a Int 3 Hulk can tell the difference between friends and foes. I don't think that Int 3 is animal intelligence, that would be 0 or 1.