Low powered supers

[DanMcS]

What kind of powers would low-powered superheroes, or action heroes, have? Nothing flashy I suppose. Say, a hero more like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, than Superman.

The d20 modern talents have some things that could apply. Energy resistance, melee smash, damage reduction.

Godlike is kind of an example, but it has some flashy ones. You can read their d20 version of the game on their site.

Basically, I'm thinking have them as talents for a modern game, probably using Grim Tales rules.

Super-Stat: Gain +2 to a stat.
Super-Skill: Gain a +5 bonus to one skill.

What else?
Some from the godlike list of powers:
Hyperstat
Hyperskill
Aces (a general bonus to anything): Maybe a +1 luck bonus that applies to any check?
Fade: basically camoflage, could just be a bonus to Hide with a different description.
Heavy Armor: basically DR, so it already exists as a talent in modern.
Ghost: I like this one. Extra-sensory perception, your senses leave your body and can travel around. Kind-of astral projection/scrying. Could be neat.
Jinx: The opposite of Aces, you can penalize other people.
Time Fugue: you pause an object or person. Probably would be a power check of some kind, with a DC based on target size, that would let you pause it in place for a round, time enough to get out of the way.

What kind of low-powered superpowers can anyone think of? I'll probably pillage MnM for ideas, too.

 

[takyris]

I'd go with d20 Modern rather than M&M, yeah -- in M&M, you'd have to say "Yeah, don't use this, or this, or this, or this..." Still good for ideas, though.

Honestly, I think that the skill-coolness of d20 Modern gets overlooked sometimes because skills are so often the 98-pound weakling of D&D -- underappreciated, underutilized, and popularly portrayed as "replaceable by magic at mid-levels and higher". In d20 Modern, though, you've got class abilities that are designed to make skills stronger -- a lot stronger.

I could see many powers being simple modifications or extensions of skills -- Camoflauge could be "+8 to Hide Checks, and also, you can hide without cover or concealment". Mind reading or visions could run like "+4 to Sense Motive Checks, Spot Checks, and Initiative, and you can use your Sense Motive check to gain visions of the target's mind if you make a sense motive check that beats 20+their will save bonus (full, not base)".

 

[DanMcS]

I could see many powers being simple modifications or extensions of skills -- Camoflauge could be "+8 to Hide Checks, and also, you can hide without cover or concealment". Mind reading or visions could run like "+4 to Sense Motive Checks, Spot Checks, and Initiative, and you can use your Sense Motive check to gain visions of the target's mind if you make a sense motive check that beats 20+their will save bonus (full, not base)".

The Epic Level Handbook has those skill DCs for impossible feats- walking across water or a cloud is a very difficult balance check, for instance. Those are designed for campaigns with skill and stat-boosting magic, though, so I might actually lower them a bit.

3.5 jump makes a reasonable low-super "fly" at very high levels, for instance. Running jump distance equals your check, which means a 20th level character with a +5 stat bonus could jump close to 50 feet with skill alone. If you've got a hyperskill that adds to it, you're in good shape for leaping small buildings in a single bound.

In Grim, advanced talents can't be taken until 3rd level, so these super talents probably shouldn't be taken until 5th level in the class.

Superhealth should add something like 10 or 20 hit points, and add to your massive damage threshold.
Amazing save (X) should add +3 or so to the save in question.

Should these be broken up by base class like the advanced talents? IE you need 5th level Strong hero to get a hyperskill in a strength-based skill, or to get hyperstrength.

Luck and Jinx should be charismatic.

Ghost/ESP should be dedicated, maybe?

Time Fugue: dah, um, this doesn't fit a stat that I can think of. Smart or Dedicated.

Or, you could go with a different approach, supertalents don't depend on your base class at all, you just need to be 5th character level and have a talent available to spend on them. I kind of like that.

 

[malladin]

To get that level of superpowers I think I'd use D20 Modern for the base classes, but then give them the superhuman template from Adventure D20, thus their chaacter can progress nicely with the basic classes from D20M and gain superpowers that are similar to feats.

Cheerio,

Ben

 

[RangerWickett]

I'd suggest you take a look at Four-Color to Fantasy, a d20 toolkit for super powers. It's designed to be plug-and-play for D&D or D20 Modern (or Grim Tales, incidentally), and is one of the top 20 d20 products at RPGNow.com. As a pdf, you can pick it up for a few bucks (or get the original edition, which is not quite fully compatible with D20 Modern for $1).

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2201&

 

[DanMcS]

Does the revised version have that hero class that gives you points to buy from a superpower list? I think I've read this somewhere before, wasn't there a preview pdf? Now's as good a time to buy from rpgnow as any, go pdfs.

Aren't you the author, or a company guy for this? I seem to recall you pimping this a lot.

 

[Krieg]

I'd suggest you take a look at Four-Color to Fantasy, a d20 toolkit for super powers. [/url]

*cough* pimp *cough*

Seriously though 4CTF is an excellent product.

Adventure! D20 also does a very nice job with lower level superpowers.




Edit: Ack! Dan beat me to it. Daggumit!

 

[RangerWickett]

Does the revised version have that hero class that gives you points to buy from a superpower list? I think I've read this somewhere before, wasn't there a preview pdf? Now's as good a time to buy from rpgnow as any, go pdfs.

Aren't you the author, or a company guy for this? I seem to recall you pimping this a lot.

http://www.enworld.org/enpublishing/modules.php?op=modload&name=Web_Links&file=index&req=visit&lid=2

That ought to get you a zip file download. This is actually an update document that lets you use the D&D rules in d20 Modern. As for an actual teaser, we had one, but it's hidden too well for me to find it.

And yep, I'm one of three co-authors.

 

[C. Baize]

For low powered supers, I'd suggest Darwin's World 2's mutation system.

 

[HellHound]

I'm more inclined to go with either BESMd20 or (preferably) Four Colour to Fantasy than Darwin's World 2. Both are point-buy systems that let you customize your class levels to do things that most classes can't do. One is from Guardians of Order, the other from... well... us.

Not dising Darwin's World 2. That's a SWEET piece of post-apocalyptic action there, and an impressive hardcover fun of very nicely done mechanics. I use it and Omega World to run my Post-Apocalyptic campaign.