Useful Tidbits of Information

frobones
Demogorgon

Posts: 901

Useful Tidbits of Information Jan 19, 2010 16:17:39 GMT -8

Quote

Post by frobones on Jan 19, 2010 16:17:39 GMT -8

A little more organized this time. I'll be modifying the original post and bumping when I make additions. Besides, the former thread lost a little direction

Introduction to M&M

My guide to transisitioning from D&D to M&M, along with some character creation tips:
docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bx_dACvYRhq7NmM1ZGQ5NDMtOWU2MC00MTcyLWEwZjAtY2E3NDUxZGI1ZGY0&hl=en

Power Inspiration

Found a nice Wikipedia page that categorizes (all) powers in fictional materials along with character examples.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comic_book_superpowers#Technopathy
www.comicvine.com/superpowers/12-49870/

Problem Powers

Found a nice Atomic Think Tank thread that talks about problem powers and how to handle them, introducing an idea of Virtual PL:
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?t=31064

Power Modifiers

Power Feats are optional, meaning when you use a power you can choose to apply the feat or not.

Power Modifiers (Extras/Flaws), however, are permanent. Meaning you cannot choose to apply them or not when you use the power, they are always in effect.

(pg. 108, 110 of Core Rules)

Subtleness

Some important info on noticeability of powers since we are in a Paragons campaign: Instant, Concentration, and Sustained powers must be noticeable in some kind of way. No action, Reaction, Continuous, and Permanent powers are unnoticable by default. If an Instant, Concentration, or Sustained power has its duration changed to No Action, Reaction, Continuous, or Permanent, it remains noticeable. A No Action, Reaction, Continuous or Permanent power made Instant, Concentration, or Sustained becomes noticeable.

Mental Powers are unnoticable except by those with mental senses (like mental awareness). Also, the target of the mental effect can sense it, and the effect's source.

Instant, Concentration, and Sustained powers can be made unnoticeable with the Subtle Feat.
Reaction, Continuous, and Permanent powers can be made noticeable with the Noticeable Drawback.

(pg. 66, 67 of Core Rules)
(pg. 10, 11 of UP)
(pg. 17, 18 of UP)

Power Activation - You can only deactivate or active an effect in a round

Note that you can only activate or deactivate an effect in a round, not both. This is an important consideration for a variety of tricks, including deactivating a defensive power like Insubstantial (free action), making an attack (standard action), and becoming insubstantial again (free action), not normally an option.

However, you can activate/deactivate multiple effects in a single round. You just can't activate and deactivate the SAME effect in a round.
(pg. 12 of UP)

Linked Powers/Effects must ALL be activated at the same time.
(pg. 12 of UP)

Total Concealment

If a target has total concealment all of his attacks are considered surprise attacks. This means always ignoring Dodge bonus (at least half of their defense) and they suffer an additional -2 Defense (all of this is negated by the Uncanny Dodge Feat).

(pg. 166 of Core Rules)

Improvised Weapons

Any Improvised weapon has a damage bonus equal to your Strength modifier. If the object's toughness exceeds your Strength modifier, you get an additional damage bonus equal to the difference between your Strength modifier and the object's toughness, up to +2.

That means any improvised weapon can, at most, increase your damage bonus by +2.

(pg. 162 of Core Rules)

Selective Power Feat/Extra

The Selective Power Feat and/or Extra allows you to control what/who is affected (i.e. concealing only part of your body or making an Area attack "target enemies only").

(pg. 112 of Core Rules under Aura for insight on Selective Concealment/Auras)
(pg. 110, 113 of Core Rules)

Miscellaneous Notes

You can take 10 and 20 (with stipulation) on power checks (pg. 12 of UP)

Telekinesis/Create Object + Movable Insight

Insight on Telekinesis:
Sustained Duration clarification: www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=27082&p=442845&hilit=telekinesis#p442845
Actions need to lift and throw an object: www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=32785&p=564913&hilit=telekinesis#p564913

Insight on Create Object + Movable (Pseudo-TK)
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=17212&p=254360&hilit=movable#p254360
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12032&p=167516&hilit=movable#p167516

Generic Control Powers:
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=11740&p=164110&hilit=telekinesis#p164110

The general consensus, technically, looks to be that in order to pick something up with a Control Power and then Throw it requires 2 standard actions (2 rounds). A standard action to get control of the object and a standard action to throw it. However, it seems like its a common House Rule to allow a Full-Round Action to hastily pick up and throw an object using a Control Power.

However, if the user first establishes control of an object, he can repeatedly attack with that object each round as a standard action. Essentially, as long as you sustain control over the object, it is an extension of your being.

Last Edit: May 29, 2010 18:18:01 GMT -8 by frobones

frobones
Demogorgon

Posts: 901

Useful Tidbits of Information Feb 9, 2010 16:29:17 GMT -8

Quote

Post by frobones on Feb 9, 2010 16:29:17 GMT -8

Important stuff concerning Hero Points

Heroes start each game session with 1 hero point. During the adventure
they get opportunities to earn more hero points. Players can use
various tokens (poker chips, glass beads, etc.) to keep track of their hero
points, handing them over to the Gamemaster when they spend them. The
Gamemaster can likewise give out tokens when awarding hero points to
the players. Unspent hero points don’t carry over to the next adventure;
the heroes start out with 1 point again.

It looks like Hero Points aren't meant to be hoarded, but rather spent in a single gaming session. Hero Points reset each session/adventure (a Saturday in our case). Think of Hero Points as D&D Action points that reset when we "rest", where resting is the start of a new session. Likewise, we reset to 1 Hero Point when we "rest".

However, a fellow GM on AtomicThinkTank posted some concerns regarding exactly what a Game Session is: www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=14696&p=201914&hilit=+hero+point+#p201914

It boiled down to that a Game Session can be considered a comic book arc. However, in our case our Saturday Gatherings have been coinciding with mini story arcs that could be concluded as a session. So I guess the point I am posing is: Hero Points should reset every Saturday session we have or when a mini-arc/adventure is concluded - whichever is longer.

So, our hero points would have definitely reset after the Unity incident was "concluded". However, these Dr. Null happenings are up for interpretation. There was significant downtime in the RP world between the Dr. Null Bridge incident and the Civic park incident. So, each segment can be considered a session or the entire epic with Dr. Null can be considered a session... it's completely up to Joseph.

frobones
Demogorgon

Posts: 901

Useful Tidbits of Information Mar 3, 2010 1:31:39 GMT -8

Quote

Post by frobones on Mar 3, 2010 1:31:39 GMT -8

This deserves a post of its own:

The following link discusses what is a "reasonable" level for the Big 4 (Toughness, Defense, Save DC, and Attack):
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=35816

This is the general consensus of the forum:

One of the things you have to understand about the PL caps is that they're not only tops, they're expectations; because if you aren't meeting most of them (or having other abilities that make up for this lack) then in practice, you really aren't at that PL.

PL is a tool for the GM to know what he can and can't reasonably set as opponents; its hard coded at the top end (barring various dodges) because on the whole, GMs tend to find more trouble from overpowered characters than underpowered, but that doesn't mean the latter aren't problems.

This link has several Marvel and DC Hero/Villain builds. This should give you guys an idea on what "levels of power" to shoot for when creating your hero. Things like: "I want him to be as strong as Spider-man" or "I want him as tough as Luke Cage", etc
www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?t=24919

Last Edit: Mar 3, 2010 12:24:10 GMT -8 by frobones

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Useful Tidbits of Information

Post by frobones on Jan 19, 2010 16:17:39 GMT -8

Post by frobones on Feb 9, 2010 16:29:17 GMT -8

Post by frobones on Mar 3, 2010 1:31:39 GMT -8

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