M&M: Bad First Session/All Or None

[takyris]

Ledded: Thanks! We'll see how it goes. It's going to be tough, in some cases, to figure out whether something is Training or Device based. I mean, should every whip be able to do that stuff, or should it just be "The Hero's Whip" that lets him do that? One way makes every whip more expensive, PP-wise, while the other way lets the hero lose his whip and get another one without trouble.

What I really want to do is encourage my group's creativity as much as possible in the coming session -- when I make the pitch to switch over. I flipped through M&M last night, and there were a few obvious Powers that would just completely work:

Amazing Save (duh)
Clinging (as I discussed above)
Leaping (as I discussed above)
Running (fleetness of foot)
Strike
Stun
Fatigue (pressure point muscle attack)
Paralyze (pressure point pain attack)
Drain (for Strength/Dex, either the use of poison or a pressure-point attack)
Force Field (as mentioned above)
Combat Sense
Super-Strength (minus lifting capacity improvement)
Super-Dexterity
Super-Constitution
Super-Intelligence
Super-Wisdom
Super-Charisma
(All the supers would be pretty limited -- I'd allow them four or so ranks at the most due to training)

With weapons and devices, I can see adding things like:

Snare (tangling)
Obscure (primitive smoke bombs, or a personal-range-only half-concealment version -- a cloak that partially obscures your location)
Clinging (the whip or a grappling hook or something like that)
Dazzle (as a weapon feature, a blinding strike or something)
Quills (as I mentioned, as an off-hand feature)

And then there are the kind of middle-ground ones, the ones that would only work if done properly under very specific circumstances:

Slick (some kind of oil or grease device)
Mind Control (as a way for very high-ranking nobility to give orders to lower-class folk, who instinctively obey out of sheer ingrained subservience)

Beyond that, I can imagine that magic will make use of almost everything, from Trolls with Regeneration (flaw:No fire or acid) to spirits with Incorporeal (except silver) to mystical wands that throw bolts of lightning...

So we'll see how it goes.

 

[Vigilance]

If/When I play M&M on a regular basis, I'm going to use BnV's system of disadvantages ... I.E., disads net you nothing if they don't come into play, and they never pay off Up Front.

It translates pretty easily over to M&M ... a character with a Disad gets 1-2 more PP for an adventure in which his disad played a part and he overcame it or a character gets a Hero Point when his Disad comes into play. Something like that.

--fje

Bless you my son

As a long time GURPs GM I *hated* min maxers trying to get out of their disadvantages ever showing up, so the Blood and Vigilance disad system is a reflection of that experience.

Chuck

 

[The Grackle]

This is probably an obvious change, but I scaled the points for disads from 1 to 10 depending on how serious they are. In fact, I was surprised MnM made all disads worth 10 pp. I guess they're encouraging more simple character design for a 4-color comic book feel.

Man you gotta' let a character take disabled outside of his super suit. That's why Tony Stark became Iron Man- his heart didn't work and his suit was the world's biggest and baddest pacemaker.

Min-maxing the Gurps disad system has produced some of my all time favorite characters! "Let's see, I need 100 more points. I'll make him partially deaf(from his elephant gun), overweight (what the hell he rides a bear anyway), code to protect children and orphans, spend thrift, and hunted: mole-men. Rad!"
Although I admit there were a suspicious amount of characters with no sense of smell or taste.

 

[The Grackle]

Anyway, if you want a non-"Pow/Blammo" experience, try PL7 and have guidelines for PC creation. I've done it; it works just fine. I did a PL3 and a PL5 campaign too, with fewer modifications than in typical D&D campaigns. No real issues, though I prefer PL7 to 3 or 5.

How did PL3 and 5 work out? I haven't tried it yet, but Steve Kenson commented that MnM was designed for superheroes, not lower level normals. But if it can be done, I'd like to hear about it.

I plan on getting Sidewinder: Recoiled once it's in print and I was thinking of substituting the damage save mechanic in place of hitpoints to make an especially lethal game.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Chuck,

Your disad system was one of those lovely moments of pure gaming genius. I actually said, out loud: "Yes!" When I read how it worked. One of those things that you then wonder why everybody else isn't doing it that way.

Others,

As per Cyclone's player wanting parapalegic. Yea, Iron Man was his reasoning and, really, being crippled in some way is right up the Battle Suit's alley ... Honestly, what he was doing when he was "twinking out" his PC was demonstrating that the archetype was really shoddily put together, and was more making fun of the disad system and goading me than anything else.

Seems like some people have created a whole netbook for the DC Animated Universe ... free and full of info. Unfortunately, I don't watch JLU or the new Batman's. Watched B:tA back a few years ago ... one of the best cartoons I've ever seen on American cable TV. Dunno how I'd be running a DCAU campaign.

Honestly I have to say it's all taking second fiddle for right now. I've come down with the flu. Damn dormer freshmen, they're like a biological weapons facility. I get sick at least once a semester.

--fje

 

[SmokestackJones]

Hey Heap,

Sorry about your game. Lemme refrain a lot of folks one this board: it is a good game.

As for 10-point Weaknesses, the Annual #1 has a Variable Point Weakness option. I personally like the idea of 10-point Weaknesses. As a player and GM, it really makes me think twice about adding one to my character. That's a lot of points, but I'll make sure that Weakness has an effect on the character (and as GM, I will enforce it).

BTW, you might want to check out Simpson's Character Builder. It's an Excel file that is absolutely great for building M&M characters.

-SJ

 

[Emiricol]

As for 10-point Weaknesses, the Annual #1 has a Variable Point Weakness option.

Actually, Freedom City PlayByPost (sig) has moved to that model. I really like it better than the 10 point one due to the ability to model a wider range of character types.

How did PL3 and 5 work out? I haven't tried it yet, but Steve Kenson commented that MnM was designed for superheroes, not lower level normals. But if it can be done, I'd like to hear about it.

PL3 wasn't quite glamorous enough for my tastes. Every mook was a potential threat! We used a modified rule only in that pre-determined ranks of armor and weapon could be taken for various real-world pistols, rifles, body armor etc. The PCs were all skilled normals, with no powers except through gadgets, weapons, etc.

PL 5 was really cool - the PCs were teenagers, just coming into their adolescent powers. Although I didn't DM the other NPC teens with enough angst (funny, when I was a kid I was so good at that...), the players had fun. We used the same weapons/armor rules, but unlike the PL3's they were allowed to take real powers but only one at the maximum rank. Everything else had to be (max-1) for the first power, (max-2) for rest. Each rank could have one full extra and the rest partial extras of half maximum or lower (+3 or lower). During play they were allowed to spend PP however they wanted, but could still only have one power (with one extra) at maximum rank.

The campaign world was gritty. Mutants were the only source of powers besides training, and mutants were hunted. It was very 5th Column style, and dark. Worked out super. By the end they had an HQ with mutant Followers - kids they'd freed from the Purification Camps or rescued from the clutches of government squads dedicated to detecting and tracking down mutantkind.

By the end they were about PL 9, and taking on tanks and jets, as well as the much-hated powerarmored government Enforcer g-men. It was a blast Very not 4-color though.

 

[ledded]

Chuck,

Your disad system was one of those lovely moments of pure gaming genius. I actually said, out loud: "Yes!" When I read how it worked. One of those things that you then wonder why everybody else isn't doing it that way.

I have to echo this comment too. The more I play with the Disadvantage system in BnV, the more I like it and find ways to adapt it for completely different genres. Truly one of those "rules epiphanies" where the light bulb came on for me and I just went, "Now THAT is how that is supposed to work". In game-play, it has worked GREAT with several of our characters taking different disadvantages and not a one of them getting out of balance. I even worked out a way of emulating BnV powers with gear by playing with a couple twists on DSR, similar to what Taky posted above with his whip stuff and whatnot (though I think I like what he did better). Of course, PC's (and some of my Mooks) have paid dearly for investing a lot of power or ability in a particular item once someone has taken it from them and/or immersed it in something very *bad* .

Of course we had one PC who DSR'd his superhealing so that it took a move or attack action to activate, which *really* sucks when you get knocked below 0 and/or unconscious before you have a chance to turn it on...