Yay! Mutants and Masterminds questions - I'm useful again!
My advice, Pony? Give out power points in low amounts, and just don't raise the power level of the campaign. That allows the characters to advance by growing in breadth, but not height - learning how to use their powers in new ways, gaining new skills, learning how to better handle themselves in a fight, etc.
So I just should ignore the whole "every 15 points raise the power level" rule?
Also, do you have any recommendations on power level?
I'll tell you a little bit more about my setting. It's not really that original idea, and certainly you will see elements from other super-hero stories, but I think I've at least twisted them in a different way.
(spoilered for long)
So, you have the world, right. Modern day. If you look outside your window, looks more or less like ours.
Super-heroes were a part of this world. Were. Past tense. Super-heroes (and super-villains) were a big thing in the 20th century, starting in earnest in the 40's and going through various eras right up until the 90's.
Then, in the 90's, things started to change. Super-heroes started retiring, and disappearing. A lot of them started suffering in the public eye, as investigative reporting and "leaked information" started showing some really ugly sides to super-heroes. The public, by and large, turned against them, and they fell from their prominence in pop culture.
As super-villains seemed to stop proliferating, the world started seeing a downturn in costumed maniacs with insane plots, too. This made super-heroes seem even more out-of-touch with the modern day, at best irrelevant and at worst, dangerous.
With a lack of their costumed nemeses to fight, the equilibrium was all out of whack and there was the very public fear that maybe these heroes would start turning to meddling in global politics or acting as dangerous, super-powerful agents of governments or private industry.
So, over the decade, super-heroes and super-villains just slowly disappeared. At the turn of the millennium, their historical contributions and effects started to find themselves downplayed in the pop-culture consciousness, and in the first decade of the 21st century, it seems people are already starting to forget them.
Why is this happening?
The answer is more insidious than people realize.
During the 90's, the world's most dangerous and intelligent super-villains decided to band together in a vast global conspiracy to not only destroy their shared foes, but to defame and belittle them in the public eye. In secret, they waged a PR war to bring the heroes off the pedestal of praise and turn the masses against them. In addition, they stopped abiding by any sense of fair-play or "the rules" of super-hero/villain encounters.
Heroes were snuffed out in their sleep after their secret identities were found. Families and loved ones became fair game in a complex web of blackmail and assassination. The villains, united together under a common banner against a common enemy, managed to strike their opponents by surprise and became impossible to predict or combat openly.
Likewise, any super-villain who wouldn't "get with the program" was disposed of. Dangerous, homicidal maniacs or destructive monsters who didn't want to conspire on a secret and global scale were slain or crippled by other villains. In just ten years, this conspiracy of intelligent, careful evil-doers had done more to curb the population of costumed psychopaths than all of the world's super-heroes had done in almost a century.
After they defeated their foes, and either brought every other villain into line or snuffed them out, this conspiracy decided on what to do next. They realized that if they went public with their machinations, or tried to declare themselves as "Emperors of Earth", people would revolt entirely. They would have open, global rebellion, and the heroes they worked so hard to defame and cast out would lead the people against them.
Instead, they became an invisible empire. They used their political influence, financial power, and ties to global corporate entities to assert secret dominance over the world's greatest powers. Their influence has been subtle, but nonetheless malignant. Over the years they have used their influence to emphasize the threat of vague, non-specific but nonetheless mundane entities, like religious extremists and terrorist groups.
Careful not to invoke any kind of "super-villainy", they keep these threats to the world as something reasonable and within the realm of legitimate military and law enforcement forces to deal with.
With these "boogeymen", they've used their dominance of policy-makers and legal frameworks to slowly erode individual rights and freedoms in many countries, slowly trying to turn the world into a place where they can eventually assert their direct rule.
But they are not unopposed. Super-heroes still exist, although they operate in secret and are as much covert freedom fighters as they are caped crusaders. The heroes that went underground during the turn of the millennium have banded together into small independent cells, recruiting would-be champions before they draw the notice of the global super-villain conspiracy.
The player characters in this setting are, essentially, new heroes who have recently decided to use their abilities, training, technology, or whatever to become super-heroes like there used to be, not knowing that there is a global organization dedicated to striking down any nascent do-gooder in a costume before they catch too much of the public's attention.
So, before they get a chance to make too much of a name for themselves and draw the invisible empire's ire, the heroes find themselves recruited into a cell of these secret warriors who teach them the horrifying truth of the world's current state.
Yay! Mutants and Masterminds questions - I'm useful again!
My advice, Pony? Give out power points in low amounts, and just don't raise the power level of the campaign. That allows the characters to advance by growing in breadth, but not height - learning how to use their powers in new ways, gaining new skills, learning how to better handle themselves in a fight, etc.
So I just should ignore the whole "every 15 points raise the power level" rule?
Also, do you have any recommendations on power level?
I'll tell you a little bit more about my setting. It's not really that original idea, and certainly you will see elements from other super-hero stories, but I think I've at least twisted them in a different way.
(spoilered for long)
So, you have the world, right. Modern day. If you look outside your window, looks more or less like ours.
Super-heroes were a part of this world. Were. Past tense. Super-heroes (and super-villains) were a big thing in the 20th century, starting in earnest in the 40's and going through various eras right up until the 90's.
Then, in the 90's, things started to change. Super-heroes started retiring, and disappearing. A lot of them started suffering in the public eye, as investigative reporting and "leaked information" started showing some really ugly sides to super-heroes. The public, by and large, turned against them, and they fell from their prominence in pop culture.
As super-villains seemed to stop proliferating, the world started seeing a downturn in costumed maniacs with insane plots, too. This made super-heroes seem even more out-of-touch with the modern day, at best irrelevant and at worst, dangerous.
With a lack of their costumed nemeses to fight, the equilibrium was all out of whack and there was the very public fear that maybe these heroes would start turning to meddling in global politics or acting as dangerous, super-powerful agents of governments or private industry.
So, over the decade, super-heroes and super-villains just slowly disappeared. At the turn of the millennium, their historical contributions and effects started to find themselves downplayed in the pop-culture consciousness, and in the first decade of the 21st century, it seems people are already starting to forget them.
Why is this happening?
The answer is more insidious than people realize.
During the 90's, the world's most dangerous and intelligent super-villains decided to band together in a vast global conspiracy to not only destroy their shared foes, but to defame and belittle them in the public eye. In secret, they waged a PR war to bring the heroes off the pedestal of praise and turn the masses against them. In addition, they stopped abiding by any sense of fair-play or "the rules" of super-hero/villain encounters.
Heroes were snuffed out in their sleep after their secret identities were found. Families and loved ones became fair game in a complex web of blackmail and assassination. The villains, united together under a common banner against a common enemy, managed to strike their opponents by surprise and became impossible to predict or combat openly.
Likewise, any super-villain who wouldn't "get with the program" was disposed of. Dangerous, homicidal maniacs or destructive monsters who didn't want to conspire on a secret and global scale were slain or crippled by other villains. In just ten years, this conspiracy of intelligent, careful evil-doers had done more to curb the population of costumed psychopaths than all of the world's super-heroes had done in almost a century.
After they defeated their foes, and either brought every other villain into line or snuffed them out, this conspiracy decided on what to do next. They realized that if they went public with their machinations, or tried to declare themselves as "Emperors of Earth", people would revolt entirely. They would have open, global rebellion, and the heroes they worked so hard to defame and cast out would lead the people against them.
Instead, they became an invisible empire. They used their political influence, financial power, and ties to global corporate entities to assert secret dominance over the world's greatest powers. Their influence has been subtle, but nonetheless malignant. Over the years they have used their influence to emphasize the threat of vague, non-specific but nonetheless mundane entities, like religious extremists and terrorist groups.
Careful not to invoke any kind of "super-villainy", they keep these threats to the world as something reasonable and within the realm of legitimate military and law enforcement forces to deal with.
With these "boogeymen", they've used their dominance of policy-makers and legal frameworks to slowly erode individual rights and freedoms in many countries, slowly trying to turn the world into a place where they can eventually assert their direct rule.
But they are not unopposed. Super-heroes still exist, although they operate in secret and are as much covert freedom fighters as they are caped crusaders. The heroes that went underground during the turn of the millennium have banded together into small independent cells, recruiting would-be champions before they draw the notice of the global super-villain conspiracy.
The player characters in this setting are, essentially, new heroes who have recently decided to use their abilities, training, technology, or whatever to become super-heroes like there used to be, not knowing that there is a global organization dedicated to striking down any nascent do-gooder in a costume before they catch too much of the public's attention.
So, before they get a chance to make too much of a name for themselves and draw the invisible empire's ire, the heroes find themselves recruited into a cell of these secret warriors who teach them the horrifying truth of the world's current state.
Sounds good.
Really, the standard assumption is that you ignore that. Power Level is a purely campaign-side thing - most campaigns will never raise it.
As far as power level goes, 8 is a pretty good level for novice heroes and almost absurdly-skilled normals. If you want to get fancy, and allow for something that seems like power-level advancement, you could have the campaign be PL10, but only give them 120 Power Points to start with. This allows for some interesting specializing and such, as you have less points and a higher maximum for attack/damage and defense/toughness - it allows for some severely lop-sided heroes, which I think is a nice option for players to have.
I've only run 2 M&M campaigns and I followed the 15 points = 1 power level rule. The first time they started as rookies and the powering up was more of them advancing and learning their powers to get stronger. I didn't allow them to take adition powers unless they fit in with their established power (IE my Water guy didn't suddenly get amazing with a bow and arrow because he felt like it) while the other the characters all got their power from a strange alien radiation so they only "Leveled up" when they found large quantities of this radiation, as it further super mutated them.
I say stick with the 15=1 and start them around level 7 thats a good balanced way to keep things fresh.
Yay! Mutants and Masterminds questions - I'm useful again!
My advice, Pony? Give out power points in low amounts, and just don't raise the power level of the campaign. That allows the characters to advance by growing in breadth, but not height - learning how to use their powers in new ways, gaining new skills, learning how to better handle themselves in a fight, etc.
So I just should ignore the whole "every 15 points raise the power level" rule?
Also, do you have any recommendations on power level?
I'll tell you a little bit more about my setting. It's not really that original idea, and certainly you will see elements from other super-hero stories, but I think I've at least twisted them in a different way.
(spoilered for long)
So, you have the world, right. Modern day. If you look outside your window, looks more or less like ours.
Super-heroes were a part of this world. Were. Past tense. Super-heroes (and super-villains) were a big thing in the 20th century, starting in earnest in the 40's and going through various eras right up until the 90's.
Then, in the 90's, things started to change. Super-heroes started retiring, and disappearing. A lot of them started suffering in the public eye, as investigative reporting and "leaked information" started showing some really ugly sides to super-heroes. The public, by and large, turned against them, and they fell from their prominence in pop culture.
As super-villains seemed to stop proliferating, the world started seeing a downturn in costumed maniacs with insane plots, too. This made super-heroes seem even more out-of-touch with the modern day, at best irrelevant and at worst, dangerous.
With a lack of their costumed nemeses to fight, the equilibrium was all out of whack and there was the very public fear that maybe these heroes would start turning to meddling in global politics or acting as dangerous, super-powerful agents of governments or private industry.
So, over the decade, super-heroes and super-villains just slowly disappeared. At the turn of the millennium, their historical contributions and effects started to find themselves downplayed in the pop-culture consciousness, and in the first decade of the 21st century, it seems people are already starting to forget them.
Why is this happening?
The answer is more insidious than people realize.
During the 90's, the world's most dangerous and intelligent super-villains decided to band together in a vast global conspiracy to not only destroy their shared foes, but to defame and belittle them in the public eye. In secret, they waged a PR war to bring the heroes off the pedestal of praise and turn the masses against them. In addition, they stopped abiding by any sense of fair-play or "the rules" of super-hero/villain encounters.
Heroes were snuffed out in their sleep after their secret identities were found. Families and loved ones became fair game in a complex web of blackmail and assassination. The villains, united together under a common banner against a common enemy, managed to strike their opponents by surprise and became impossible to predict or combat openly.
Likewise, any super-villain who wouldn't "get with the program" was disposed of. Dangerous, homicidal maniacs or destructive monsters who didn't want to conspire on a secret and global scale were slain or crippled by other villains. In just ten years, this conspiracy of intelligent, careful evil-doers had done more to curb the population of costumed psychopaths than all of the world's super-heroes had done in almost a century.
After they defeated their foes, and either brought every other villain into line or snuffed them out, this conspiracy decided on what to do next. They realized that if they went public with their machinations, or tried to declare themselves as "Emperors of Earth", people would revolt entirely. They would have open, global rebellion, and the heroes they worked so hard to defame and cast out would lead the people against them.
Instead, they became an invisible empire. They used their political influence, financial power, and ties to global corporate entities to assert secret dominance over the world's greatest powers. Their influence has been subtle, but nonetheless malignant. Over the years they have used their influence to emphasize the threat of vague, non-specific but nonetheless mundane entities, like religious extremists and terrorist groups.
Careful not to invoke any kind of "super-villainy", they keep these threats to the world as something reasonable and within the realm of legitimate military and law enforcement forces to deal with.
With these "boogeymen", they've used their dominance of policy-makers and legal frameworks to slowly erode individual rights and freedoms in many countries, slowly trying to turn the world into a place where they can eventually assert their direct rule.
But they are not unopposed. Super-heroes still exist, although they operate in secret and are as much covert freedom fighters as they are caped crusaders. The heroes that went underground during the turn of the millennium have banded together into small independent cells, recruiting would-be champions before they draw the notice of the global super-villain conspiracy.
The player characters in this setting are, essentially, new heroes who have recently decided to use their abilities, training, technology, or whatever to become super-heroes like there used to be, not knowing that there is a global organization dedicated to striking down any nascent do-gooder in a costume before they catch too much of the public's attention.
So, before they get a chance to make too much of a name for themselves and draw the invisible empire's ire, the heroes find themselves recruited into a cell of these secret warriors who teach them the horrifying truth of the world's current state.
Sounds good.
Really, the standard assumption is that you ignore that. Power Level is a purely campaign-side thing - most campaigns will never raise it.
As far as power level goes, 8 is a pretty good level for novice heroes and almost absurdly-skilled normals. If you want to get fancy, and allow for something that seems like power-level advancement, you could have the campaign be PL10, but only give them 120 Power Points to start with. This allows for some interesting specializing and such, as you have less points and a higher maximum for attack/damage and defense/toughness - it allows for some severely lop-sided heroes, which I think is a nice option for players to have.
I like the "start at PL 10 but with less points than you would normally have" idea.
Allows me to award points and lets them "grow into" being PL 10 characters without me raising the power level.
There actually have been several instances of heroes 'leveling up' in comics, it's just that it's usually decently large changes instead of very incremental ones. Sue Storm gained her force fields partway through her original run. Iceman has at times gained new things he can do with his powers. Superman has busted out new powers every now and then, though his power creep ended and was retracted long ago. Iron Man adds new gadgets to his suit every now and then.
I run a champions game, what I do is don't give out points until the end of a fairly large arc, then give out a decent chunk.
Okay, you know that Monster Building thing I linked a while back? The dude has done a really great job and expanded it all. Now you can create Monster, Traps, Powers, and Weapons, all properly formatted to look like a stat block or item card from 4e. You can take the Monsters and Traps you've put together and combine them to create Encounters, which (soon) you'll be able to export to sites like Obsidian Portal or print them up. Very awesome web tools for running a game.
Are the powers restricted for balance as well, out of curiosity.
I mean, Wizards seems to have a system going that allows them to judge the general power level of each modifier, so I imagine someone could crack that.
Okay, you know that Monster Building thing I linked a while back? The dude has done a really great job and expanded it all. Now you can create Monster, Traps, Powers, and Weapons, all properly formatted to look like a stat block or item card from 4e. You can take the Monsters and Traps you've put together and combine them to create Encounters, which (soon) you'll be able to export to sites like Obsidian Portal or print them up. Very awesome web tools for running a game.
Are the powers restricted for balance as well, out of curiosity.
I mean, Wizards seems to have a system going that allows them to judge the general power level of each modifier, so I imagine someone could crack that.
Well, I mean, it doesn't create powers for you, but let's say as a DM one of your players decided he wants to make a new spell, or you want to create a new Paragon class. Using the Power-maker, you could plan out the powers and abilities, then throw them into it to make'em look nice and organized. It doesn't take any of the planning and design out of the creation of Powers and Abilities, just wraps them in a pretty package that's well-organized.
The Marvel SuperHero RPG (the really old one) had a thing where you didn't really learn new powers, you just learned tricks with them. Like, you have a power where you shoot fire, you could learn how to make a ring with it or something, but it took some training in order to use it effectively. And these weren't written out so it was basically up to you and your GM what you could do
Blood Bowl is a game full of fantasy creatures ostensibly playing a game vaguely similar to American football, and it is very violent and full of dudes getting maimed n shit.
That said, Blood Bowl is also turn-based with very strict rules about movement, attacks, injuries, etc.
You don't need fast reflexes to play it, because other than a turn timer you can do actions at whatever pace you are comfortable with.
What is more important to playing the game well is a keen strategic mind and a knowledge of how the rules interact.
Comparing the two is like, in a way, comparing Warcraft to Warhammer
StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
edited April 2009
So I just started reading about the Anachronism card game, for one reason or another
Has anyone here ever heard of and/or played this before? Because, well, it seems like it could be fun, not only because I'm a bit of a history nerd sometimes
why dont you like, check his profile and read the infraction log?
Why don't you not assume that I know about every PM he's ever had between him and the mods about his infractions and let the adults talk over here with the special punch and the cake and the pie and the ohmygodarethosemini-quiches?!?
why dont you like, check his profile and read the infraction log?
Why don't you not assume that I know about every PM he's ever had between him and the mods about his infractions and let the adults talk over here with the special punch and the cake and the pie and the ohmygodarethosemini-quiches?!?
Posts
Hes all over that shit
So I just should ignore the whole "every 15 points raise the power level" rule?
Also, do you have any recommendations on power level?
I'll tell you a little bit more about my setting. It's not really that original idea, and certainly you will see elements from other super-hero stories, but I think I've at least twisted them in a different way.
(spoilered for long)
Super-heroes were a part of this world. Were. Past tense. Super-heroes (and super-villains) were a big thing in the 20th century, starting in earnest in the 40's and going through various eras right up until the 90's.
Then, in the 90's, things started to change. Super-heroes started retiring, and disappearing. A lot of them started suffering in the public eye, as investigative reporting and "leaked information" started showing some really ugly sides to super-heroes. The public, by and large, turned against them, and they fell from their prominence in pop culture.
As super-villains seemed to stop proliferating, the world started seeing a downturn in costumed maniacs with insane plots, too. This made super-heroes seem even more out-of-touch with the modern day, at best irrelevant and at worst, dangerous.
With a lack of their costumed nemeses to fight, the equilibrium was all out of whack and there was the very public fear that maybe these heroes would start turning to meddling in global politics or acting as dangerous, super-powerful agents of governments or private industry.
So, over the decade, super-heroes and super-villains just slowly disappeared. At the turn of the millennium, their historical contributions and effects started to find themselves downplayed in the pop-culture consciousness, and in the first decade of the 21st century, it seems people are already starting to forget them.
Why is this happening?
The answer is more insidious than people realize.
During the 90's, the world's most dangerous and intelligent super-villains decided to band together in a vast global conspiracy to not only destroy their shared foes, but to defame and belittle them in the public eye. In secret, they waged a PR war to bring the heroes off the pedestal of praise and turn the masses against them. In addition, they stopped abiding by any sense of fair-play or "the rules" of super-hero/villain encounters.
Heroes were snuffed out in their sleep after their secret identities were found. Families and loved ones became fair game in a complex web of blackmail and assassination. The villains, united together under a common banner against a common enemy, managed to strike their opponents by surprise and became impossible to predict or combat openly.
Likewise, any super-villain who wouldn't "get with the program" was disposed of. Dangerous, homicidal maniacs or destructive monsters who didn't want to conspire on a secret and global scale were slain or crippled by other villains. In just ten years, this conspiracy of intelligent, careful evil-doers had done more to curb the population of costumed psychopaths than all of the world's super-heroes had done in almost a century.
After they defeated their foes, and either brought every other villain into line or snuffed them out, this conspiracy decided on what to do next. They realized that if they went public with their machinations, or tried to declare themselves as "Emperors of Earth", people would revolt entirely. They would have open, global rebellion, and the heroes they worked so hard to defame and cast out would lead the people against them.
Instead, they became an invisible empire. They used their political influence, financial power, and ties to global corporate entities to assert secret dominance over the world's greatest powers. Their influence has been subtle, but nonetheless malignant. Over the years they have used their influence to emphasize the threat of vague, non-specific but nonetheless mundane entities, like religious extremists and terrorist groups.
Careful not to invoke any kind of "super-villainy", they keep these threats to the world as something reasonable and within the realm of legitimate military and law enforcement forces to deal with.
With these "boogeymen", they've used their dominance of policy-makers and legal frameworks to slowly erode individual rights and freedoms in many countries, slowly trying to turn the world into a place where they can eventually assert their direct rule.
But they are not unopposed. Super-heroes still exist, although they operate in secret and are as much covert freedom fighters as they are caped crusaders. The heroes that went underground during the turn of the millennium have banded together into small independent cells, recruiting would-be champions before they draw the notice of the global super-villain conspiracy.
The player characters in this setting are, essentially, new heroes who have recently decided to use their abilities, training, technology, or whatever to become super-heroes like there used to be, not knowing that there is a global organization dedicated to striking down any nascent do-gooder in a costume before they catch too much of the public's attention.
So, before they get a chance to make too much of a name for themselves and draw the invisible empire's ire, the heroes find themselves recruited into a cell of these secret warriors who teach them the horrifying truth of the world's current state.
Sounds good.
Really, the standard assumption is that you ignore that. Power Level is a purely campaign-side thing - most campaigns will never raise it.
As far as power level goes, 8 is a pretty good level for novice heroes and almost absurdly-skilled normals. If you want to get fancy, and allow for something that seems like power-level advancement, you could have the campaign be PL10, but only give them 120 Power Points to start with. This allows for some interesting specializing and such, as you have less points and a higher maximum for attack/damage and defense/toughness - it allows for some severely lop-sided heroes, which I think is a nice option for players to have.
I say stick with the 15=1 and start them around level 7 thats a good balanced way to keep things fresh.
I like the "start at PL 10 but with less points than you would normally have" idea.
Allows me to award points and lets them "grow into" being PL 10 characters without me raising the power level.
I run a champions game, what I do is don't give out points until the end of a fairly large arc, then give out a decent chunk.
Are the powers restricted for balance as well, out of curiosity.
I mean, Wizards seems to have a system going that allows them to judge the general power level of each modifier, so I imagine someone could crack that.
Secret Satan
That was pretty funny
https://www.paypal.me/hobnailtaylor
owned so many faces today in D&D
played a valor bard, it was so great
there was also a invoker and a earthstrength warden in the group
everyone had temp hit points, all the time
the DM was very frustrated
EDIT: Jesus H Christ, 5 hours for the download?!
there is no alternative to downloading the client.
still an excellent opportunity to learn Sanskrit.
they should have put the damn thing on bittorrent or something, you still have to have a key to activate it
boourns.
What's the verdict on the M&M games?
So uhh
My internet in my room is shut off
Now I'm trying to fix this, either by giving someone else in my building my router or through the magic of stealing someone else's wireless
But oh man
Sorry guys, we'll see
Secret Satan
without breaking the NDA or anything
let me say that if you are a fan of the tabletop game you should buy this game
Well, you might like it or you might not.
Blood Bowl is a game full of fantasy creatures ostensibly playing a game vaguely similar to American football, and it is very violent and full of dudes getting maimed n shit.
That said, Blood Bowl is also turn-based with very strict rules about movement, attacks, injuries, etc.
You don't need fast reflexes to play it, because other than a turn timer you can do actions at whatever pace you are comfortable with.
What is more important to playing the game well is a keen strategic mind and a knowledge of how the rules interact.
Comparing the two is like, in a way, comparing Warcraft to Warhammer
I dunno, the giant wiener carved into his forehead might hurt his parole.
why dont you like, check his profile and read the infraction log?
bout a week
looking forward to it
Right down to the dice hating me.
1 on every go fer it.
double skulls on every block roll.
Has anyone here ever heard of and/or played this before? Because, well, it seems like it could be fun, not only because I'm a bit of a history nerd sometimes
Why don't you not assume that I know about every PM he's ever had between him and the mods about his infractions and let the adults talk over here with the special punch and the cake and the pie and the ohmygodarethosemini-quiches?!?
but
his profile lists exactly when he is uninfracted.
I'm not even sure where PMs come into it
Ask Run X 3 what that means.
what
Haha, oh boy.
I bitched - which resulted in my 2 month infraction turning into a 4 month one + 2 weeks temp banning.
Don't do that