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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5410279" data-attributes="member: 8835">after a bunch of snips....I would call your points Hero Points, for doing heroic things, not Faith Points.  FP should be earned in a religious game by doing acts of faith, or something.  While Shepherd Book's got a point, the term Faith doesn't smack of Superheroes.Here's where your going to have some technical trouble.  I like the idea of designing the rules for each, on demand (when a player/NPC needs the power), you're still going to have some balancing issues.  I would recommend creating powers/rules for some pretty standard stuff (flying, hard to hit, hard to hurt, energy blast), so you can have a scale to base other powers by.  Comparing a new power to your standard 'this is what an energy blast can do and cost" gives you a measuring stick.Also consider multi-purpose powers, varied usage powers, and evolving powers.For instance:Cyclops has an Energy Blast through his eyes. let's say it does 1d6 per rank, and loses a d6 of effectiveness per 100 feet.  For combat, it's obvious he's just going to blast bad guys with his power until they are taken out.Outside of combat, his control of his power evolved (through improved visor and just new ideas) to turn it into a tight beam for cutting, or a wide beam for a multi-target stun (which actually gets back to a combat usage).Design-wise, you don't want to have to list all the rules for all the variations in usage for "can i use it this way", but they're going to come up.  And that's just a very simple energy blast power.  heck, I think he can even booster jump with it (as it also acts like a repulsor beam at times).Iceman has a different track.  His power is elemental.  He himself becomes covered (and later made of) ice.  he can make an ice slide to travel.  He can shoot icicles.  He trap enemies in ice, disabling them.  Rules wise, his ice attack probably does less damage than Cyclops energy blast, because, he has extra abilities (mobility, hard to hurt, disable foes).  Plus, story-wise, he was played up as less powerful than cyclops.In the evolution of the comic book, Iceman kept finding new uses for his power including that he could totally be destroyed and re-coallesce.  That's the kind of stuff to make sure the advancement system can support.I think it's lame when a superhero just develops new, unrelated powers (looking at you Emma Frost).  I think its cool when powers expand within their logical domain.  The trick within that, is not to make the expansion start off at level 1, on a level 20 PC.  After expanding from doing my 20d6 narrow blast, I don't want my wide blast to only do 1d6 total, because I only put 1 rank in it.  Whereas 20d6/number of targets hit would be equivalent and appropriate.Perhaps a way to look at it, is there is one ranking for your power category.  As it goes up, it forks into what extra options it can also do, but they all operate at basically the same power level.I see a 2 tier model, a category, and then the actual power.  Within the Power is where stuff is unlocked (perhaps the user chooses which "extra" is unlocked within that power at appropriate levels.Thus Attack, Mobility, Defense are categories, and there are powers within.  The player gets X number of ranks to spend per category, thus ensuring they don't max out one to make a lopsided pony...Kind of like how it sounds like M&M makes sure every PC has some defensive "don't get killed easily" ability.</blockquote>

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