MnM Questions

[Toj]

I have been reading some of the reviews on MnM and have some questions. I am currently thinking about buying it but I don't want another product I won't use.

Questions

Does MnM have Defense instead of AC?

How does it handle reducing damage, say from wearing armor or being invulnerable?

What applies "to hit", Str or Dex?

How does exceptional strength work for damage?

How do skill points work, if I wanted just some smart techie?

I am sure I will think of more, just give me some time.

 

[bwgwl]

well, let's see...

Does MnM have Defense instead of AC?

yes, if by Defense you mean an attribute the player controls when it increases.

just like characters in M&M have a Base Attack Bonus, they also have a Base Defense Bonus which is the basis for their Defense score. Dexterity, Super-Dexterity, Super-Speed, the Dodge feat, and other things can also increase Defense.

How does it handle reducing damage, say from wearing armor or being invulnerable?

there's really two different ways of reducing damage. the simple way is to simply buy up your Damage save (which is based on your Con score, just like Fortitude saves) with the Amazing Save power.

the second way is to buy some form of Protection: the Protection power itself, Force Field, or Armor. Protection directly reduces the damage level of the attack, before you make the damage save.

for example, someone hits you with a +10 damage Energy Blast. you have Protection +8. normally, you would have to make a Damage save at DC 25 (15 + 10 for the attack's power); but with the Protection you now only need to make a Damage save at DC 17 (15 + 10 - 8 for your Protection level).

if your Protection level is strictly greater than the attack's level, it "bounces;" i.e., it does no damage whatsoever. no Damage save needed.

What applies "to hit", Str or Dex?

Str for melee, Dex for ranged, just like the rest of d20. with the Attack Finesse feat, you can use Dex for all melee attacks as well.

How does exceptional strength work for damage?

your melee damage is your Str mod + your Super-Str level.

How do skill points work, if I wanted just some smart techie?

each skill rank costs 1 power point. if you want really high skill levels, one method is to buy Super-Intelligence (or whatever other attribute whose skills you want high). if you only want the high skill bonuses and don't care about the stat's other benefits, you can apply Flaws to your Super-Attribute so that it only affects skills.

alternatively, one common house rule is to simply grant more skill ranks per power point; 3 ranks per PP is the most common.

 

[Ranger REG]

Does MnM have Defense instead of AC?

They call it Defense.

How does it handle reducing damage, say from wearing armor or being invulnerable?

Actually, it uses a different system called Damage saving throw (based on Con). The armor absorb damage from attack. Any remaining damage is then apply to the Damage saving throw's DC. If you succeed, no effect. If you fail by a certain number, depending on the type of attack (lethal or nonlethal), you suffer a trauma (bruised, injured, stunned, unconscious, disabled). You may also suffer one or more hit previously, you add the number of accumulated hit to your DC, which makes it likelier to fail your Damage saving throw.

What applies "to hit", Str or Dex?

Melee attack uses Str. Ranged attack uses Dex. Alternately, you can acquire Attack Finesse feat to make either melee or ranged attack uses Dex.

How does exceptional strength work for damage?

Again, using the Damage saving throw mentioned above, it increase the DC.

How do skill points work, if I wanted just some smart techie?

All skills are class skills and are bought as 1 skill rank per 1 pp. Alternately at your GM's discretion, you may buy 2 or 3 skill ranks per 1 pp.

Basically, MnM is a point-buy system that covers attack bonus, defense bonus, skills, feats, super-powers, and ability scores (default score: 10).

The game recommend you start at Power Level 10 (or 10th-level character in other d20 lingo, but in name only), which determines your ceiling for the aforementioned attributes, (e.g., maximum skill rank = PL 10 + 3 = 13; maximum Attack Bonus = PL 10 = +10; maximum super-power rank = PL 10 = +10; etc.).

And the entire game uses just 1 die: d20.

For more information, check out:

Green Ronin Publishing Message Board

EDIT: As indicated in yellow.

 

[Toj]

First off, thanks for the response!

Now, how does damage itself work?

I understand now that you have a defense score, which factors in to how well you defend against incoming attacks, and that's great, and I understand that there are two ways to not take damage, your Protection score and your Damage save, now my question is, how does health work? Do you have hit points, and if so, what are they based on?

 

[bwgwl]

no hit points.

taking damage is just another saving throw in M&M. (one nice upside of this is that you only need one d20 for the whole game).

as REG mentions, there are different injury types and injury levels depending on how badly you fail your damage saves.

 

[Toj]

I must have missed REG's response when I asked the other question.

So what's the different between PL and PP? Do you gain a certain amount of PP each PL?

Also, is BAB and Defense two seperate powers/skills or is it one?

 

[Ranger REG]

I must have missed REG's response when I asked the other question.

So what's the different between PL and PP? Do you gain a certain amount of PP each PL?

As mentioned above, Power Level (PL) is somewhat a counterpart of the term "character level." It determines your ceiling limit for the attributes I also mentioned above.

For each PL you have, you're given a set amount of Power Points (PP): 15 per PL. So a PL 10 would start with 150 pp.

Also, is BAB and Defense two seperate powers/skills or is it one?

Separate. BAB bonus cost 3 pp. Defense bonus costs 2 pp. Alternately, you can break them down to the following: Melee BAB (1 pp), Unarmed BAB (1 pp), Ranged BAB (1 pp), Dodge (vs. Melee/Unarmed Attacks; 1 pp) and Evasion (vs. Ranged Attacks; 1 pp).

Basically your default PL 10 character start with all six ability scores at 10, +0 BAB, +0 Defense, no power, no skill, no feat, and 150 pp to spend.

 

[Toj]

It sounds pretty good and seems like you could make pretty much anything.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Ranger REG]

That is the idea.

I recommend you check out the message board (link is in my earlier post above). Some of your future questions may have already been answered.

 

[Toj]

I went and checked out those message boards and FAQ's etc and some of the sample characters and I liked what I saw so I went out and bought the book. I figure, like every other game I play, it will not be perfect and will require some tweaking, but that's to be expected. I just wanted something close and this seems close enough.