Age of Heroes (short)

[Badasterysk]

The not too distant future…


The last decade has seen irrevocable change- some call it destiny while others call it evolution. Whatever label, the course of future history has been undeniably altered. Laws and understanding that have reigned for a thousand years have yielded to men who can fly, who cannot be harmed by bullets, who can lift busses, trains and airplanes.

People with abilities once found only in the imagination of science fiction and fantasy walk the streets- some benevolent, others seeking their own ends. It is a time of dastardly deeds, diabolical schemes and vile machinations foiled by citizens of moral fortitude and righteous might who stand in defense of the masses caught in the fallout.


Welcome to the Age of Heroes.


Age of Heroes is a Mutants and Masterminds (2e) game set in Freedom City. However, heroes and villains have only been battling for just over a decade (there is no/very little historical establishment), so PCs will be entering the game as the newer generation of defenders of the common good.

Age of Heroes will be a more modern version of four-color play meshed with elements of grim-and-gritty realism. The game will begin as a ‘short’ campaign. After the ‘short’, if time is available and players are interested, Age of Heroes could become a full-fledged campaign. Think of this as a comic book mini-series that could become a regular monthly series (including the possible addition of more players).

Characters will start at PL 7 (with a maximum of 75 PPs spent on powers). I’m looking for four players, any takers?

[Deekin]

Bo-yah! First in!

[Rojito]

I would gladly attempt to join, as i have many ideas for Mutants, but i will need help with the building and mechanics of the characters.

[TheUdjat]

I'm in.

As ever, Rojito, I am available to serve as your personal calculator.

[Rojito]

lol thanks Udjat you will have a more interesting time with the new ones i got not even sure if they will WORK lol but they are ideas i have been tampering with, i will shoot you a PM with the ideas.

[Deekin]

Jun 9, 2008 21:18:19 GMT -5 Rojito said:

lol thanks Udjat you will have a more interesting time with the new ones i got not even sure if they will WORK lol but they are ideas i have been tampering with, i will shoot you a PM with the ideas.

I'd be glad to help too.

I was thinking of a psychology student turned psyker. Telepathy and Telekinesis.

In addition, I would like to recoment the Excell Character Generator. Makes the math easier.

[TheUdjat]

I'm thinking of a magic-oriented character, possibly in the spirit of the Dresden Files (the books, not the show). But as ever, that's subject to change.

[Badasterysk]

Alright, lets get the ball rolling here and open this thread up to character discussion. TheUdjat has already PMed me with his ideas (see above), so what do the rest of y'all have in mind?


If anyone else is interested in the final slot, feel free to jump in!!!!

[TheUdjat]

Except for being a good 30 points over, it's good. Our Point limit is 75, not 105.

EDIT: Wait, I think I misunderstood. I just reread the top post. He wanted no more than 75 spent on powers, is that right? Not on the whole thing?

Damn. I've got 30 more points to spend.

Toughness is too high for PL 7, anyway. And Badast was telling me he wanted to limit Arrayed powers to the PL (or 7 Arrayed powers tops, which would put you one over as it did me)

[TheUdjat]

Additional amendment: I forgot about the Toughness-Defense tradeoff. My bad.

[Badasterysk]

Jun 12, 2008 4:46:57 GMT -5 TheUdjat said:

He wanted no more than 75 spent on powers, is that right? Not on the whole thing?

Correct. 105 total PPs with no more than 75 on powers.

Damn. I've got 30 more points to spend.

Unless you want to play PL 5.

And Badast was telling me he wanted to limit Arrayed powers to the PL (or 7 Arrayed powers tops, which would put you one over as it did me)

My bad. I meant to include that when I opened the discussion to character generation. It looks like Deekin has edited it though.

Looks good so far, Deekin. Complete background, appearance, alias, and define allegiances and you'll be all set.

[TheUdjat]

Jun 12, 2008 9:35:19 GMT -5 Badasterysk said:

My bad. I meant to include that when I opened the discussion to character generation. It looks like Deekin has edited it though.

Not since I made that comment. He still has eight, but perhaps I'm getting confused again. Deekin has 1 Base Power, and 7 Alternate Powers, which I counted as a total of 8 Arrayed Powers. But by your wording, I seem to be mistaken.

Again.

Urgh.

[Badasterysk]

Well, that's what this tread is for: clarification.

One power + a maximum of 7 arrayed to it.

Also, please indicate if you are doing trade offs and how much. This is my first time with these rules and I'm not picking up the nuance (within the characters) at first glance... but I'll get there.

[TheUdjat]

Well, cool. I get that power I wanted back. Huzzah for that.

Almost done. Then I'll have something up for viewing as well.

[TheUdjat]

Speaking of Tradeoffs, a lot of those powers seem to be Rank 9 (or more with Telepathy). Unless you're allowing the Saving Throw DCs to cap out at PL (i.e. 17), some of those are a problem. Deekin seems to have balanced his regular Blast with his Attack being +5, but the book says you can't use the tradeoff rule if you have no attack roll (Otherwise you could pump something up to Rank 14 and say 'Yeah, it has a DC 24, but only an Attack of +0!' But if it has no attack roll...)

Anyway, your call. He may have wanted the extra ranks for distance and other factors rather than the Save DC.

I'm just capping all my stuff at 7. Too complicated otherwise.

[Badasterysk]

Jun 12, 2008 12:27:34 GMT -5 TheUdjat said:

Speaking of Tradeoffs, a lot of those powers seem to be Rank 9 (or more with Telepathy). Unless you're allowing the Saving Throw DCs to cap out at PL (i.e. 17), some of those are a problem. Deekin seems to have balanced his regular Blast with his Attack being +5, but the book says you can't use the tradeoff rule if you have no attack roll (Otherwise you could pump something up to Rank 14 and say 'Yeah, it has a DC 24, but only an Attack of +0!' But if it has no attack roll...)

I checked FAQs at M&M.com looking for clarification for these circumstances. What I found said that there are no PL limits on ranks for powers, only that the damage DC for the power is capped at PL (for us it would be +7). That is to say that range, duration, area effect, etc. can be calculated beyond PL, but not DCs (damage or otherwise).

However, a player may trade attack bonus for damage DC bonus. I interpret this to mean that for each individual deduction you may apply that deduction to push the maximum in another area.

What I’m seeing with Deekin’s character is that he appears to have traded down his attack by two for an increase of two to Toughness save, meaning that he would need to reduce his attack by two more in order to allow the DCs of his power to be two higher. Also, this bonus would only apply to a single power (arrayed or otherwise). Each individual DC you wish to modify above PL limits would require a commensurate deduction from the attack bonus.

I'm just capping all my stuff at 7. Too complicated otherwise.

I appreciate the discretion, Udjat.

Also, I really appreciate the discourse here (though I’d like to hear Deekin and Rojito’s thoughts on the subjects). These questions/comments/concerns are really helping me get a grasp for the mechanics.

Still looking for that fourth player. Come on, you know you want to give it a shot!

[Rojito]

Dont have many thoughts just working on my character with Udjat

[TheUdjat]

Jun 12, 2008 20:02:22 GMT -5 Deekin said:

Notes:

1. Attack Save Trade-off is for my Blast
2. Telepathy does not give a saving throw, same for mind control, move object, and ESP. So the only powers over the limit for saves is blast, and see 1.

Mind Reading and Mind Control both have Will Save. Move Object grants an effective Str Bonus to hurl objects at people, equivalent to the power rank (thus bumping Damage over the PL).

Per Badasterysk's post, I don't think any of this is a big deal, as long as we assume the higher ranks don't grant higher Save DCs or Damage bonuses. I think they can still be higher rank by his ruling (for other purposes), just without the Damage or Save benefits.

3. Attack Toughness trade off of 2.

I think you mean Defense-Toughness, but yeah.

4. 10 Points in equipment? High End Sports Car
STR 30 Speed 6 (500 MPH?) Def 9, Toughness +8 Sized Large

Rockin' Just don't give my character a ride. Technology tends to go kablooie with her around.

[Deekin]

Jun 12, 2008 22:21:09 GMT -5 TheUdjat said:

Jun 12, 2008 20:02:22 GMT -5 Deekin said:

Notes:

1. Attack Save Trade-off is for my Blast
2. Telepathy does not give a saving throw, same for mind control, move object, and ESP. So the only powers over the limit for saves is blast, and see 1.

Mind Reading and Mind Control both have Will Save. Move Object grants an effective Str Bonus to hurl objects at people, equivalent to the power rank (thus bumping Damage over the PL).

Per Badasterysk's post, I don't think any of this is a big deal, as long as we assume the higher ranks don't grant higher Save DCs or Damage bonuses. I think they can still be higher rank by his ruling (for other purposes), just without the Damage or Save benefits.

Correction. Mind Control/Mind Reading has no SET DC

You can control another character’s mind, and therefore actions. To use Mind Control, make a power check against the result of the target’s Will saving throw. If you succeed, you control the target’s actions as long as you concentrate. If you fail, there is no effect. You can try again, but the target gets a cumulative +1 on Will saves for each successive attempt in the same encounter.

You can read another character’s thoughts. To use Mind Reading, make a power check against the result of the target’s Will save.

I still have to make an Attack roll to throw stuff with TK, so my attack save trade-off applies their. It's still capped at 9, though. I don't get to apply my +17 STR bonus with it.

[Badasterysk]

Let me start by saying that this is all really good stuff here, guys.

Jun 12, 2008 22:47:52 GMT -5 Deekin said:

Jun 12, 2008 22:21:09 GMT -5 TheUdjat said:

Mind Reading and Mind Control both have Will Save. Move Object grants an effective Str Bonus to hurl objects at people, equivalent to the power rank (thus bumping Damage over the PL).

Per Badasterysk's post, I don't think any of this is a big deal, as long as we assume the higher ranks don't grant higher Save DCs or Damage bonuses. I think they can still be higher rank by his ruling (for other purposes), just without the Damage or Save benefits.

Correction. Mind Control/Mind Reading has no SET DC

You can control another character’s mind, and therefore actions. To use Mind Control, make a power check against the result of the target’s Will saving throw. If you succeed, you control the target’s actions as long as you concentrate. If you fail, there is no effect. You can try again, but the target gets a cumulative +1 on Will saves for each successive attempt in the same encounter.

You can read another character’s thoughts. To use Mind Reading, make a power check against the result of the target’s Will save.

Correct, as long as you understand that you'll only be adding +7 to your check versus the DC.

I still have to make an Attack roll to throw stuff with TK, so my attack save trade-off applies their.

Correct.

It's (TK) still capped at 9, though. I don't get to apply my +17 STR bonus with it.

Just to clarify. You've appliled your tradeoff between attack and toughness. You would need to do another tradeoff to push the TK damage save to +9 (in this case, you would need to reduce your attack to +3). Any other benefits from ranks above PL would apply (range, amount of weight you are able to move telekenitically, etc.).

BTW, your complication is interesting, Deekin. I have the same complication in real life. If I drink even one cup of coffee (Mountain Dew, energy drinks and the like are absolutely out of the question!), the next day (almost exactly 24 hours later) I get a nasty migraine (including uber light sensitivity and vomiting). The kicker is that I can take as much ibuprofen (or what-have-you) as I want, but nothing gets rid of it except more caffeine. I just end up avoiding it altogether.

Udjat, I don't see too many poeple RP females. Kudos. Also, when you and Rojito have characters ready, post them up!