Starting a new M&M campaign...

[Elric]

That's it entirely- its not the system, its my unfamiliarity. I have years of experience (dating back to its release in the 1980s) constructing powers in HERO (my #1 system), and while I like M&M (my 2nd favorite system), I've never gotten to actually use it, so my grasp of the mechanics is incomplete. I can design HERO PCs in my head; M&M will take some getting used to.

There's lots of useful stuff at The Atomic Think Tank, the official forums.

My Roll Call thread there has two detailed character creation examples, which should be helpful in learning the character creation system: Minotaur, a powerhouse, and the Martial Artist archetype.

I also have three fights written from the perspective of the players and GM, so they're designed to help people understand the rules (Fights 1 and 2 in particular have a lot of explanation):
Fight #1: X-Men vs. Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Fight #2: Avengers vs. White Knight
Fight #3: Avengers vs. Overshadow

If you're looking for comic book conversions, the gold standard is Taliesin's Roll Call thread (he has lots of non-comic book conversions as well).

 

[ValhallaGH]

There's lots of useful stuff at The Atomic Think Tank, the official forums.

It's true. Those fights are fantastic breakdowns of big combats, round by round (and turn by turn). I really like the presentation format, too, going from purely descriptive and transitioning to mechanics.

Further, some of those builds have really creative power set-ups. Many are dirt simple, but some have really interesting (and inspiring) things done with extras, flaws, power feats, and drawbacks to create very specific effects.


My only issue with the builds on the think tank (and with most of the builds in the official books) is the paucity of skills (and to a lesser extent feats) in the character designs. There's a lot of background / utility / quirky skills that don't get included in the interests of saving points; depending upon how the campaign is run, this can be a real issue.

Still, it's worth looking at.

 

[coyote6]

Potentially devastating, definitely flashy...but it may not even touch the intended targets!

I think that may just nail it, and I can do the same with the grenades!

(I may or may not have that Golden Age book you mentioned- it sounds like it may just be an invaluable resource. Unfortunately, my books are in storage while I'm doing a whole-house renovation. Gotta go digging!)

FWIW, that option is called a "targeted Area attack"; it's described in Ultimate Power.

(Basically, when you buy Area for an attack, you can have either a general area -- everybody is autohit and gets a Ref save for half, Evasion applies, etc. -- or a targeted area -- you roll to hit everyone, you can critically hit, use autofire, attack/damage tradeoffs can be used, etc.)

So if you wanted a wildly inaccurate but absolutely devastating blast, you could have an autofire cone area blast with an Attack bonus of +5 and a damage bonus of +13, and it would technically be PL9.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ah yes, ATT...I haven't been there in some time, not since it became obvious I wasn't going to convince anyone in my group to play M&M anytime in the near future. Heck, I'm even a member of a M&M Yahoo group.

My group is very D&D-centric. When several people commented that they'd like to play a supers game- the one for which I'm designing this campaign- one guy even stated he wouldn't be participating at all when we did. I had decided to run this in M&M rather than HERO for 2 reasons: 1) because of the learning curve from 3.5Ed and 2) because W&W is coming out, and its been a while since I participated in a fantasy campaign with a little bit more flexibility than D&D offers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gearing up for this campaign has my mind working overtime...

I'm planning to set this sometime around the time of WW1 + or - (I haven't decided which).

However, I thought that it would be cool for Venus to be the secret stronghold for Germany's Cavorite Ironclad battleships after the Treaty of Versailles. Imagine the fun of fighting dino-riding proto-Nazis...or Venus being the interplanetary equivalent of Africa.

 

[ValhallaGH]

So if you wanted a wildly inaccurate but absolutely devastating blast, you could have an autofire cone area blast with an Attack bonus of +5 and a damage bonus of +13, and it would technically be PL9.

Which would be the super-GM-I-WIN-button against a PL 6 party (base damage would exceed maximum possible toughness, and attack bonus allows 50% hit rate against average defense).

GM's don't need super-I-WIN-buttons. The GM is the super-I-WIN-button.

+5 to hit for +7 with autofire would be more than enough offensive punch to rock any PL 6 party, and give lots of trouble to most PL 8 parties.


Edit: I just realized how much of a jerk that sounded like. That was not my intent, and I hope it won't be taken that way. Nor does my comment in any way detract from the accurateness of your comment.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, I'll look at that option as well.

Besides, I can always scale down the power, or even Dr. Zeus' PL. Or shift some points around for more flexibility in his powers...or even more science skills!

That is something I've always loved about games like HERO and M&M- they're so flexible, you can probably design a given power or PC dozens of different ways- each with a slightly different and distinctive flavor, but still somehow the same- and be happy.

 

[The_Warlock]

...or even more science skills!

Which is also a good way to cement him into the world as a recurring villain. SURE, stealing stuff he needs for his experiements/revenge is viable for certain things. BUT, if he is a super-intelligent ape with weird science knowledge, using his skills to start a company that gives those pesky humans weapons that they use on each other, while making money off of them to finance his plans for conquest...that is so much better.

Especially if the PCs start to like these new weapons coming on the market that help them - only to find that when they engage Dr. Zeus, the weapons seem to UTTERLY fail against him, no matter what.

Which can then start an investigation of the company and other investigations to tear down/reveal the devilish orangutan's plans to devastate humanity once his gadgets are widespread (mind control? devolution? Long range "radio" controlled explosives? Who knows!)

 

[coyote6]

Which would be the super-GM-I-WIN-button against a PL 6 party

Yeah, it would be ugly, and probably rapidly lead to lots of hero points being handed out. OTOH, if you wanted to emphasize to the PCs that "we've got to stop that gun" or something like that, it might be useful. Something like: PCs encounter minions stealing MacGuffin, thrash minions, villain shows up, lays down the Blast Of Doom, PCs get KO'd, PCs get HP, villains escape, PCs get more HP. Then in the next fight, they hopefully plan to do something about the big obvious electro-gun, and come up with a Cunning Plan (and have hero points to spend on it).

OTTH, with novices to the system, that might be a little much!

Edit: I just realized how much of a jerk that sounded like. That was not my intent, and I hope it won't be taken that way. Nor does my comment in any way detract from the accurateness of your comment.

No problem! I didn't mean it as an actual suggestion as to what to do; it probably is too much for regular use. OTOH, it is feasible under the rules (though very expensive!), and I wanted to show the possibilities.

A solo villain can have a hard time in M&M; there aren't multiple attacks, but tricks like targeted area attacks let you simulate 'em, and engage multiple heroes at once. Otherwise, even BBEGs can go down surprisingly easily, especially once PCs discover the joy of Combined Attacks, Aid Another, and feats like Set-Up.

Also, the GM could bust it out as a power stunt for the villain (giving all the PCs a hero point for the fiat, on top of any they'd get for getting KO'd) to make him look big and scary. "Disengage the safety circuits! Engage the overcharger! Now, feel my electric rage, you hairless simpletons!"

I do have a villain in a current campaign with a similar power, though his is more like +12 attack, +14 damage (he's PL13; the PCs are PL10). But it's part of that villain's schtick -- I want the PCs to have to plan to take him down, and I'd like the players to be wary (though not too wary!) of his dangerousness. That way, when they kick his ass, they'll be happy.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Which is also a good way to cement him into the world as a recurring villain. SURE, stealing stuff he needs for his experiements/revenge is viable for certain things. BUT, if he is a super-intelligent ape with weird science knowledge, using his skills to start a company that gives those pesky humans weapons that they use on each other, while making money off of them to finance his plans for conquest...that is so much better.

Especially if the PCs start to like these new weapons coming on the market that help them - only to find that when they engage Dr. Zeus, the weapons seem to UTTERLY fail against him, no matter what.

Which can then start an investigation of the company and other investigations to tear down/reveal the devilish orangutan's plans to devastate humanity once his gadgets are widespread (mind control? devolution? Long range "radio" controlled explosives? Who knows!)

Great post that really got me thinking.

The Necromancer Prof. Chun was my equivalent of Fu Manchu/Mandarin in the original story arc. (Heck, I should probably stat his lichly majesty up as well.)

Dr. Zeus could easily become my Magneto/Dr. Doom/Gorilla Grodd...with, of course, touches of Mojojojo and Dr. Zaius. I don't know if you're aware of it, but your suggestions of mind control and deevolution were used by Grodd and Mojojojo, so they're VERY appropriate. In addition, I can see his continued mastery of superscience extending his lifespan, micro-sizing his equipment, and maybe, just maybe, designing a cavorite battlesuit (more appropriate for 3rd iteration of the campaign, perhaps, set in the pre- through post-WW2 eras). Still using Tesla weapons, of course.