M&M2e Alternate Powers

[GravyFingerz]

I just don't get the Alternate Powers rules. Can someone please explain this to me? I dont know what about it prevents me from understanding ... I guess I have trouble understanding why 1 power point feat should allow someone to be able to use another power at the limit of the primary power's power point and rank total.

Can someone help me out? Maybe I missed something in the Alternate Power rules.

 

[Thanee]

Well, you have to look at it from another direction.

Making characters with M&M with AP that are simply totally superior to those without isn't really a problem, but that's not the point here... the point is to model a specific kind of power.

The limit is, generally speaking, that you cannot use the powers at the same time, it just gives you more options. Of course, I can also think of several combinations, that easily sidestep this basic limitation and just give you twice the powers for almost no extra cost.

For example, a weapon that has multiple different fire modes would be a good power to make with AP. Trying to mix together any number of unrelated powers in a fashion, that you probably won't need more than one from each AP framework at the same time, while certainly very effective isn't a good way to use it.

When creating characters in M&M you shouldn't look at what powers are best and most powerful and what combinations will lead to the most potent results, you should think up a concept and then choose what fits the concept.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dragonblade]

The Alternate Power rule is to allow you to build a character with a wide variety of effects all built off the same core power without making it prohibitively expensive from a point cost standpoint.

Basically a character with a fire blast power can build AP's that effectively represent different settings of his power. For example, he could have one that is a straight blast, and then another one that does less damage but affects an area. Or another one that is penetrating.

The logic is that since your alternate powers cannot be used at the same time, its not really unbalancing. Having different attacks makes you more versatile but not really any more powerful since you can only use one attack at a time.

Perhaps Steve Kenson will pop his head in and shed some more light on it.

 

[3d6]

You're not limited by the rank of the primary power, only the cost. You could have Blast 5 with an Alternate Power of Strike 10, for example.

 

[Gilwen]

I tell my players to think of it as different power settings but it really can be more than that. I usally like my players to create an array with a certain theme and not just a hodge podge of powers so that they can have a lot of powers. For example a engery controller might have Fire Control as his main power but can also create a Fireball (Blast); Alternate Form (fire); Flight; Create Objects (fire contructs); Dazzle. Those other powers are cheap because you can't use them all at the same time, normally when you switch to another power the one you had activated stops working. It provides flexibility for character concepts. The AP powers will generally have one or more descriptors in common, for instance the magic power iand the AP's taken with that power would all have Magic as a descriptor, so any power that counters Magic would also counter the other AP's.

What you will probably want to pay attention to are players creating arrays all with powers that have Lasting as part of their duration. The effects of lasting powers will last even after you switch to another power you in your array (although the player does lose control of that power). This becomes even more pronouced if the player has purchased the lasting power ot a duration of Continous because a Continous (lasting) power affects the victim until countered without the possibilty of another saving throw; athough all powers of this nature should have some sort of resonable means of countering it even it is complex.

Gil

 

[Krolik]

APs are really very simple. The only thing you really need to know when creating one is the cost of the Base Power - Example: Blast 10 [20 points] - because no Alternate Power can cost more than the Base Power.

Now I want my Descriptor to be Ice - I am making an Iceman clone. So I think about what I have seen Iceman do:

He can hit people with Ice Blasts. He can engulf them in ice to capture them. He can create walls of ice. He can make sharp Ice Daggers. There are other things but we will start with this. In the game this would look as follows:

Blast 10 (Ice) 20 points
AP: Snare 10 (2 x 10 = 20)
AP: Create Object 10 (2 x 10 = 20)
AP: Blast 6 (Penetrating: +1) (6 x 3 = 18)
Total: 23 (20 base + 3 APs)

Because you can only use one Power at a time in an Alternate Power Array you get a major cost-break on the price of Alternate Powers slots. They only cost 1 point each. So the above Array costs 23 points.

When Iceman gets to attack he has a choice of any one of those four things he can attack with. He can shoot you with his big ice/snow Blast, he can encase you in Ice trapping you, he can make a wall of ice around friends to protect them, and he can make Ice Daggers to pierce very tough defenders.

Of course Iceman has many other Powers. That is just a simple example.

 

[Ben Robbins]

Part of the logic is that since you are limited to only doing one thing every round, just being able to do different things doesn't make you that much more powerful. If you have a Blast attack, and you have a Paralyze as an AP, you are still just forcing your target to make one save each round.

Certainly some APs give you a lot more bang for your buck because they let you do different types of things instead of just alternate attacks (such as taking non-combat powers like Healing or ESP as AP of attack powers). Some scrutiny is required.

Some think an AP should cost more, but since the price applies to all characters, it's really just a question of how much variety the game thinks characters in the superhero genre should have. Having it only cost 1 pp is just another way of saying "characters in comic books should be able to do lots of different things." And even if you didn't buy a particular AP, you can always use Extra Effort to Power Stunt one.

M&M is pro variety, because variety is more fun.

 

[arwink]

It's also worth noting that AP's look more powerful than they actually are. I've noticed that player character will often have a small coterie of AP's at the beginning of the campaign (averaging around 3-4 per character), but they quickly spend a lot of time buying up the alternates as proper powers as they hit upon the limintations of only using one at a time.

 

[GravyFingerz]

Thanks evertbody. I feel more confident about alternate powers, and I get them, so to say. Although I think they are still unbalanced and a bit powerful, I haven't run or played a game yet, and will reserve final judgement until I see the rules in action.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Another way to think of this is to imagine that Kryptonians naturally have wings. Superman affected by magic, can use his wings to fly when he can't use the earth's gravity differentail [from Krypton].