M&M Conversions… (Now with questions!)
- Thread starter Sunglar
- Start date
Funny you should ask. I did a PL 5 Farscape game for a while with MnM.
There were no hardcore coversions per se, just some guidelines. At first I used the optional hit point rules so that I could still use my Farscape rpg book. But after while, it seemed to speed up combat by going to the Damage Save.
My guidelines:
PL 5, Super Attributes could only be bought up to level 2, skills cost 1 for 2 skill ranks, we ignored the feats, Skilled and Talented.
Mundane weapons and armor (PK stuff) didn't have to be paid for in PP points. They were essentialy "free."
The stats for weapons came from the MnM book after I switched to the Damage Save and no one complained. For armor, I mimicked stats from the Farscape rpg for the convience of players. If you are starting from scratch, I suggest you just work up some stuff for yourself, though it seemed that the rpg claimed there was power armor that added to your Str, I never saw such in the series.
You might want to limit a total number of feats to be bought because at lower levels they deliver more of a punch than PL level powers do.
For Powers, I suggest you go down the list and see what you want to keep, ban or restrict. Some powers can be unbalancing unless you have some "comic book" physics around for it (force fields for Incorp, heat sensors for Invisible, etc.) Some restriction can be a mandatory purchase of Flaws like Uses and Hero Points.
Good Luck.
There were no hardcore coversions per se, just some guidelines. At first I used the optional hit point rules so that I could still use my Farscape rpg book. But after while, it seemed to speed up combat by going to the Damage Save.
My guidelines:
PL 5, Super Attributes could only be bought up to level 2, skills cost 1 for 2 skill ranks, we ignored the feats, Skilled and Talented.
Mundane weapons and armor (PK stuff) didn't have to be paid for in PP points. They were essentialy "free."
The stats for weapons came from the MnM book after I switched to the Damage Save and no one complained. For armor, I mimicked stats from the Farscape rpg for the convience of players. If you are starting from scratch, I suggest you just work up some stuff for yourself, though it seemed that the rpg claimed there was power armor that added to your Str, I never saw such in the series.
You might want to limit a total number of feats to be bought because at lower levels they deliver more of a punch than PL level powers do.
For Powers, I suggest you go down the list and see what you want to keep, ban or restrict. Some powers can be unbalancing unless you have some "comic book" physics around for it (force fields for Incorp, heat sensors for Invisible, etc.) Some restriction can be a mandatory purchase of Flaws like Uses and Hero Points.
Good Luck.
s/LaSH
First Post
I'm going to try a sci-fi variant at some point. My own universe, sort of a cross between Edgar Rice Burroughs, Warhammer 40K, and DragonBall Z (created before I knew of any of these things). I think it'll go off really well, although I might have to do some deep work for certain aliens and space combat scenes, but the rest of the rules seem to complement the 'wade through minions, long duels with villains' feel and allow you to build the really weird stuff that goes on in my head.
Re: More M&M ideas!
Oh I agree! I even tried to start a MnM Torg thread, but it fell flat in the face of the regular d20 Torg thread.
The thing that frustrated me is that the "d20" thread had these guys bending and hammering out all these rules. With MnM, it would have been so much more simple. ... Perhaps too simple.
If you take the take the whole "conflicting realities" concept and made it just fluff, you could convert the game to MnM quite easily -- at the expense that no one would ever have a "paradox" with their powers and equipment. On the bonus side would be that MnM would little to no tweaking and you could add in more worlds without fear of figuring out how they all affected each other.
Not that coming up with a reality conflict rule would be that difficult, it could mostly be something that forces a Power Check depending on the Power Sources you picked compared to what Power Sources are allowed in the current reality.
On the other hand, some people LIKE complexity in their games. For example, I used the super hero version of the SAGA system to run a RIFTS game. PCs got made in minutes and combats lasted less than an hour. The players hated it.
It turned out that they WANTED all of the various combat bounes, precentages and book flipping. Deciphering all that stuff to come up with the best min/maxed character and best combat option was why they they wanted to play Rifts.
Sunglar said:
Oh I agree! I even tried to start a MnM Torg thread, but it fell flat in the face of the regular d20 Torg thread.
The thing that frustrated me is that the "d20" thread had these guys bending and hammering out all these rules. With MnM, it would have been so much more simple. ... Perhaps too simple.
If you take the take the whole "conflicting realities" concept and made it just fluff, you could convert the game to MnM quite easily -- at the expense that no one would ever have a "paradox" with their powers and equipment. On the bonus side would be that MnM would little to no tweaking and you could add in more worlds without fear of figuring out how they all affected each other.
Not that coming up with a reality conflict rule would be that difficult, it could mostly be something that forces a Power Check depending on the Power Sources you picked compared to what Power Sources are allowed in the current reality.
On the other hand, some people LIKE complexity in their games. For example, I used the super hero version of the SAGA system to run a RIFTS game. PCs got made in minutes and combats lasted less than an hour. The players hated it.
It turned out that they WANTED all of the various combat bounes, precentages and book flipping. Deciphering all that stuff to come up with the best min/maxed character and best combat option was why they they wanted to play Rifts.
Sunglar
Explorer
Vonet…
I agree with you vision. M&M is perfect for TORG; whether you want the fast and loose method or even if you want the experience with the Paradoxes. I haven’t read TORG since… WOW mid 90s! And since it was such a complex monster most of the details are lost. But to limit powers in realities you could have caps on power levels, prerequisite feats to access to certain powers, powers with built in flaws according to the reality they come from.
I must admit I am rambling here, I need to go back and double check TORG and actually FINISH reading M&M. Things like work, my thesis and marriage keep getting in the way…
I actually stopped reading the D20 TORG thread in which I lurked. I am at a point in my life were I DO NOT want games being more complex. My RIFTS days are long gone.
I am tinkering with adapting M&M first to my homebrewed Sci-Fi game. It has very specific alien races, no big mass of different aliens popping up everywhere and I am trying to see how I reproduce this. Any ideas? Racial packages? I know some Aliens will have access to some powers, nothing too powerful, as racial traits, but any other thoughts?
And while I’m here rambling, M&M could work to finally do the multi-genre game I’ve always wanted to play since reading The Dungeon sci-fantasy series edited by Philip Jose Farmer.
Well I must get back to work….
I agree with you vision. M&M is perfect for TORG; whether you want the fast and loose method or even if you want the experience with the Paradoxes. I haven’t read TORG since… WOW mid 90s! And since it was such a complex monster most of the details are lost. But to limit powers in realities you could have caps on power levels, prerequisite feats to access to certain powers, powers with built in flaws according to the reality they come from.
I must admit I am rambling here, I need to go back and double check TORG and actually FINISH reading M&M. Things like work, my thesis and marriage keep getting in the way…
I actually stopped reading the D20 TORG thread in which I lurked. I am at a point in my life were I DO NOT want games being more complex. My RIFTS days are long gone.
I am tinkering with adapting M&M first to my homebrewed Sci-Fi game. It has very specific alien races, no big mass of different aliens popping up everywhere and I am trying to see how I reproduce this. Any ideas? Racial packages? I know some Aliens will have access to some powers, nothing too powerful, as racial traits, but any other thoughts?
And while I’m here rambling, M&M could work to finally do the multi-genre game I’ve always wanted to play since reading The Dungeon sci-fantasy series edited by Philip Jose Farmer.
Well I must get back to work….
Sunglar said:
Man, I thought I was the only one who read that series. For aliens, I only had a couple of players play aliens in my space opera game, the players just sort of followed the concpets for the aliens laid out in the game. Of couse they also picked the stereotypes for said aliens (I didn't get a mystic who came from a warrior race, for example.)
I think Racial packages would work, especialy if you want an racial power that works a certain way. Remember if you can get a superpower to cost 2 points total, you can declare that it is a feat and that might help. I would suggest that since "adjusting" a normal attribute is sort of moot in a point buy game, you should only sweat it if you think a race has some innate levels of a super attribute.
Sunglar
Explorer
Voneth (sorry for missing that last h BTW)
Thanks for your ideas. The alien cultures on the campaign are very specific, and since the setting was developed some time ago, and with no system in mind I have always toiled to adapt the system to the setting.
The only one system that had sort of managed it before was Alternity. Not a perfect fit but worked with all but the most esoteric alien races. Thankfully no one wanted to play them.
I’ve considered various things to simulate the different alien “abilities”. First some species will have access to powers other don’t. Nothing to overpowering, this is not my supers meets sci-fi game that is another setting completely.
I’ve also toyed with the idea with having raising the cap on what is a super ability for some races. There will be psychics, but I may lower the power level cap, or raise the cost to avoid them for being overpowering and maybe changing them all to require concentration.
More specific details when I’m done reading thee game.
BTW I have fond memories of The Dungeon. I really need to get those books again.
I got the GM Screen today, but had to avoid buying Freedom City. Anyone out there got it? What do the rest of you think?
Thanks for your ideas. The alien cultures on the campaign are very specific, and since the setting was developed some time ago, and with no system in mind I have always toiled to adapt the system to the setting.
The only one system that had sort of managed it before was Alternity. Not a perfect fit but worked with all but the most esoteric alien races. Thankfully no one wanted to play them.
I’ve considered various things to simulate the different alien “abilities”. First some species will have access to powers other don’t. Nothing to overpowering, this is not my supers meets sci-fi game that is another setting completely.
I’ve also toyed with the idea with having raising the cap on what is a super ability for some races. There will be psychics, but I may lower the power level cap, or raise the cost to avoid them for being overpowering and maybe changing them all to require concentration.
More specific details when I’m done reading thee game.
BTW I have fond memories of The Dungeon. I really need to get those books again.
I got the GM Screen today, but had to avoid buying Freedom City. Anyone out there got it? What do the rest of you think?
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