[M&M 3E] Atomic Heroes of 1950

[The Great Triangle]

I'm interested in running a game about pulp superheroes set in 1950, using the Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition system.  The game will focus on a team of heroes tasked with defending the state of Utah, and the greater American Southwest against Communists, Aliens, Demons, and Frost Giants. 

The game will mostly be about mid range heroes with a golden age mood, meaning that both powered and unpowered characters will be welcome.  Most characters will get their powers through radiation, but magic and alien experiments or heritage are also fairly common power sources.  In the setting, superheroes are legally recognized by the government as agents of the law, though generally only with regards to super-crime.  (defined as crime committed by costumed criminals, often using magic or super-tech)  The world has a long history of costumed adventurers, but only at the end of World War II did human beings begin to routinely exhibit superpowers. 

Knowledge of the M&M 3e system will not be necessary to play, only a strong character concept.  Understanding of the d20 system will be extremely helpful, and knowing True20 even more so, but it should be possible to play without them, having another player write your character sheet.   

[Callie Del Noire]

Hmm.. I might enjoy doing a speedster.

[The Great Triangle]

Speedsters would be pretty good in the game, since more than a few battles will take place in massive, open fiels and deserts where maneuverability is important.  Ownership of vehicles capable of going extremely fast will also be a good idea, though anti-tank firepower would also come in handy for dispatching Kaiju and such.

[ShadowFox89]

 Ooooh, I'm interested. I've got a bunch of ideas, but I'll have to look over the MnM3e book again to see.

[Callie Del Noire]

Trying to find a suitable look for a speedster.

50s era could be fun

[AribethAmkiir]

I'd be interested, but I have no knowledge of M&M (I've wanted to learn it for a while), some working knowledge of D20 and have never even heard of True20.

[ShadowFox89]

Mutants and Masterminds is a fairly open ended system for building a character. You can make literally any kind of character you wish, within the limits of the power level and power points given.

I could even stat up your succubus for you ;)

Which reminds me, what tags should we expect for this game?

[Callie Del Noire]

Mutants and Masterminds is a fairly open ended system for building a character. You can make literally any kind of character you wish, within the limits of the power level and power points given.

I could even stat up your succubus for you ;)

Which reminds me, what tags should we expect for this game?

Whose Succubus?

And you know..that would make for an intersting chracter in the setting. :D

[AribethAmkiir]

That sounds like it'd be fun ShadowFox. 

[The Great Triangle]

For tags, I've made a list of tags in another thread I'll paste here in a couple hours.

What you should expect is that the primary power sources will be atomic, alien, magic, psionic, technological, and training.  The only alternate dimension is the Underworld, plus hyperspace and any power dimensions needed for your concept

[Callie Del Noire]

And for power levels?

Was thinking of one of these pictures for the speedster. :D

[TheGlyphstone]

Flagging the thread as Edisonbot.

[Callie Del Noire]

Flagging the thread as Edisonbot.

No no.. don't go with the Evil Edison as you creator! Go with Tesla.. be Atomic Robo!!!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Robo

[TheGlyphstone]

I tried to be Atomic Robo already, but Tesla is a bad guy in this universe. :( SO, I had to settle for the next best thing.

[ShadowFox89]

I think I might try for a psychic..... Or make my kitsune character for MnM3e :3

[Callie Del Noire]

I tried to be Atomic Robo already, but Tesla is a bad guy in this universe. :( SO, I had to settle for the next best thing.

That is sooo wrong.. Undead Edison is soo much better than an OCD genius like Tesla.

[The Great Triangle]

For power level, the game will be starting at PL 10, and will allow players to re-assign their points with justification any time there's an extended downtime.  (Which is a polite way of saying that your advancement will be limited to the core book level of 1 power point per adventure, 2 power points for especially hard adventures.)


As for Tesla, Tesla DID fight for the west before 1943, but his utopian futurism ultimately made him side with the Soviet Union after Edison disillusioned him with Capitalism. 

So if your atomic robo was built 1943 or earlier, Tesla would be an appropriate inventor, though you'll automatically receive the complication "suspected communist"

Speedsters don't have anything especially complicated about them in this setting, though you're free to take the complication "frequently mistaken for Kid Quantum" as speedsters often move too fast to be recognized, and Kid Quantum is a big leaguer known for getting into just about everything.

As far as demons go, they fall into two basic types in the setting, plus the "more things in heaven and earth" type demons which defy any sort of explanation.  The two types are underworld demons and alien demons.  Underworld demons come from the realm of the dead, and their signature trait is that they often lack a physical body, often using possession or an avatar to get their duties done.  Corporeal underworld demons are not unheard of, however, usually resulting from the union of a human mother and a demon father.  Most of the powers of underworld demons have the death descriptor. 

Alien demons, meanwhile, live in hyperspace, and are masters of a combination of magic and sufficiently advanced technology.  They are most known for being frequently involved in attempts to conquer the world, whereas underworld demons are typically just looking for souls to torment.  Alien demons typically have an even mix of the alien and magic descriptor in their powers.

Japanese legends in general are extremely common in the setting, thanks to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which have left Japan under seige by super powered giant monsters.  The trauma of the atomic explosions woke up nearly every magical creature in all Japan, and the loss of WW2 seriously riled up the ninja clans, who started to be hunted down by the occupying US forces.  All of this means that Japanese characters will tend to have a lot of complications, thanks to regret, things coming to hunt them down, and residual racism and mistrust from the war getting in their way.  (though is should be noted that Japan was the nation that built the most advanced technological robot hero in the world: Astro Boy)

Finally, psychic powers are fairly ubiquitous in the setting, though very few people have psychic powers of any note.  The Cerebrophone (a telepathic helmet) is considered a perfectly normal means of communication.  Police departments employ psychic detectives, and special forces soldiers are often screened for psychic resistance.  In the atomic age, the number of psychics with useful powers is increasing, and it may only be a matter of time before psychic power increases to a level that can compete with the greatest atomic heroes.

[Callie Del Noire]

Robo was built in '23. Of course I'm sure the feds love that he's atomic powered. :D

[ShadowFox89]

 I was thinking fox spirit more than actual Japanese kitsune, with some telepathy and shadow manipulation thrown in :P

[The Great Triangle]

As long as you can think up a cool name and stay least two complications, go for it!

Spirit characters often have the following power, reflecting the fact that most spirits are incorporeal.


Spirit Form

Insubstantial 4 linked Immunity 16 (life support, fatigue, aging) linked Invisibility (visual), death. 40 points

Spirits whose native form is insubstantial have the power permanent and innate, while spirits who can generate a body just have it continuous or occasionally permanent with a 0 point nullify power.  Some magicians have a limited spirit form power that leaves their body vulnerable to attack.

[The Great Triangle]

Here's my collected setting information:


[/quote]

It is a scientific fact that there is something immortal, and indivisible within every human being, and many animals as well.  When this atomic soul is assaulted, whether through hardship, intense training regmens, or the fury of battle, the human organism becomes more powerful, and gains additional abilities.  One force, however, affects the atomic soul more than any other; nuclear radiation.  As Neitzche said before he was tossed into the pit to the earth's core he dug from his island fortress "What does not kill me makes me stronger."

The bombardment of the atomic soul has created remarkable heroes throughout history; Alexander the Great, Benjamin Franklin, and of course Le Homme-Corbeau of France, whose most famous incarnation was Napoleon Bonaparte.  The first modern atomic hero was Marie Curie, and we all remember the pictures of her flying above Verdun, raining down fire and ice upon the German forces.  With the help of Madame Curie and the Petites Curies, the allies decisively defeated the Central Powers in the first world war.  As allied nations began to give doses of radiation to their heroes to create remarkable leaders, and effective soldiers, the mysterious villain Ragnarok took control of Weimar Germany at the head of the National Socialist party, begining a massive economic reform program.  Meanwhile, the French government appropriated Curie's atomic technology, and began to replicate the conditions of her experiments to produce a new generation of atomic heroes.  The end result of project Orleans was Madame Guillotine, who, along with Captain Maginot, will live in infamy for their betrayal of France.

The tradition of carrying on a costume and a name started in the 15th century with Le Homme-Corbeau of France, an identity taken by Gilles de Rais, after witnessing how inspiring the legend of Joan of Arc became.  Gilles fought a tireless battle against corruption, but was sentanced to death for the murder of children.  Unable to sustain the damage the loss of both figures would do to the French state, Jean de Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, took up the mantle of Homme-Corbeau.  Since that time, it has been fashionable for particularly famous heroes to enjoy a sort of immortality by having new adventurers take their name and costume, if they can live up to the legend.

Lady Liberty's first incarnation was Betsy Ross, a young widowed seamstress who quietly sabotaged the efforts of the British to put down the revolution.  Seventy years later, a fiery abolitionist named Lydia M. Child again donned the mask of Lady Liberty to help operate the underground railroad, and lead slaves to freedom.  At some point after the civil war, Lydia Child abandoned the identity of Lady Liberty, and it was taken up by an unknown feminist, who fought crime in the name of women's suffrage until the outbreak of World War I.  The third Lady Liberty is popularly supposed to have been Susan B. Anthony, but her identity was never revealed.  The fourth Lady Liberty was an African American, and donned the costume in the 1920s to fight mostly against the Klu Klux Klan.

During the second World War, she was killed by Demagog when he went over to the side of Ragnarok during the Normandy invasion, becoming the first Lady Liberty to be killed in the line of duty.  The fifth Lady Liberty is an atomic powered mixed race champion of the American Way, who fights to preserve all people from the bondage of communism.  She sits on the North American council of WAHMO, and is assigned as guardian over the Midwestern United States and Canada.  She spends most of her time patrolling the North Pole, making sure that nobody attempts to militarize the region, and that Santa's Workshop remains hidden and unmolested.

Some other heroes and villains that have had multiple incarnations include:  Ameterasu (disputed), Captain Prussia, Demagog, General Lee, La Femme Nikita, Ragnarok (disputed), Shiva, and Uncle Sam

In 1939, Ragnarok invaded Poland, followed by swift invasions of Denmark, Sweeden, Norway, Finland, and France.  In the begining, the French looked ready to decisively defeat the German army, but the appearance of an army of Frost Giants, followed by Madam Guillotine and Captain Maginot lead to the swift surrender of France, and the formation of a new, collaborator government in the Summer of 1940.  The winter of 1940 was defined by vast and vicious battles in the air between the Ice Dragons of the Ultimate Reich and Nikola Tesla's flying fortresses.  Meanwhile, the Japanese invaded many countries with the blessing of the Goddess Ameterasu, and the support of dozens of mystical ninja clans.  The United States responded with an embargo of oil and nuclear materials to Japan, raising tensions between the two nations. 

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US Navy at Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into the Second World War.  The costumed adventurers of the United States threw their all into the war effort, including Lady Liberty's fourth incarnation, General Lee's second incarnation, and Demagog.  Over the next few years,  the Manhattan project worked to develop the Ultimate Weapon, while America's forces fought against Ragnarok, Madame Guillotine, and Ameterasu.  At the same time, the soviet army fought a desperate battle against the Frost Giants in the darkness of winter, supported by Nikola Tesla's armored titans, and led by heroes like "Mad" Ivan, Captain Kalashnikov, La Femme Nikita, and the second through fourteenth incarnations of Hero of the People.  The war was incredibly destructive, and was joined eventually by the American atomic hero Briarpatch, who helped hold back Ragnarok before going to France to support the D-day landing. 

With the help of the Petites Curies, the latest incarnation of Homme-Corbeau, and a mysterious ghost called Dybbuk, the invasion of Germany was successful, enabling the Soviet Union to advance using their new Titan Legion, led by Tsar Bronevoj.  As World War II in Europe drew to a close, the Trinity Tests of July 16 changed the world forever, creating a new generation of atomic heroes, such as Captain Trinity, Kid Quantum, Lord Protector, and the fifth incarnation of Lady Liberty.  The atomic explosions at Hiroshima and Nagisaki bathed Japan in atomic radiation, giving hundreds of people throughout the country superpowers, and creating alarming numbers of gigantic monsters, including the vicious King Kaiju.  The trauma was so destructive to Ameterasu that she split into two beings; her more merciful and forgiving half, and her hate filled and vicious portion Oni-Sama.  As Japan collapsed into horrifying Kaiju battles and ancient horrors came out of the woodwork, the Emperor surrendered, and World War 2 came to a close. 

The years after the war were not kind to Japan.  Many atomic powered teenagers were conscripted to fight battles against the evils threatening the nation, often wearing brightly colored costumes, and using giant robots to defend the cities.  Technology advanced rapidly throughout the nation, leading to the creation of the atomic robot Astro Boy in 1949, and the formation of the Western Atomic Hero Mutuality Organization later that year.  With the Soviet Union's expanding nuclear arsenal,  WAHMO now works to contain its Soviet counterpart, SERPENT, with the majority of violent actions taking place in Asia, where open war in Korea started earlier this year. 


WAHMO is organized into a series of councils, underneath a global council that deals with global threats.  Each continent has a coucil of five atomic heroes, who help organize the fight against the problems of that continent, under the direction of a member of the global council.  The North American council is supervised by the third incarnation of General Lee, a nuclear powered hero that can call upon the ghosts of the dead.  Your PCs will be members of a team assigned to defend Salt Lake City, and the state of Utah under the greater direction of WAHMO.  You'll have to deal with people given atomic powers by nuclear tests, soviet sabeteurs from SERPENT, Oni and Kaiju sneaking into the country from Asia, and aliens coming to make unfriendly contact.  Membership in WAHMO is voluntary, though the organization provides financial stipends and legal representation to its members.  Those who refuse to join WAHMO are still listed as organizational assets if they don't openly attack the organization.

As far as optional rules go, each power will need to have at least one descriptor, and each hero will need to have at least two complications.  I will allow players to design custom equipment, but all custom equipment requires GM approval, save for vehicles.  The equipment list will be expanded considerably, but most equipment will only be available to unpowered heroes, though magic heroes will get some equipment as well.  Lethal damage is a one point flaw that can be added to any damaging power, or affliction power which causes incapacitation.  The standard equipment will be rewritten to accomidate this flaw.  A power with the lethal damage flaw inflicts the dying condition upon anyone incapacitated by the attack, and only inflicts half knockback unless the effect rank of the lethal effect is 7 or higher.  Most lethal items can have the lethal flaw bought off as a feature for one equipment point.   The knockback rules from the GM's guide will be in effect, but characters must opt in to cause knockback, and knockback damage always equals the knockback result of the attack.

[TheGlyphstone]

Robo was built in '23. Of course I'm sure the feds love that he's atomic powered. :D

I'm going with a homage to AR rather than a direct ripoff, so it'll be an Edisonbot.

[The Great Triangle]

I've finished setting up a wiki for the game!  Hooray!

https://elliquiy.com/wiki/Atomic_Hero_1950

There's your equipment list and such.

[TheVillain]

Tagging the thread as a definite maybe.

[The Great Triangle]

If anyone wants help making a character for this game, feel free to PM me!  I'd be more than happy to assist you guys in figuring out how to stat up your character.

[TheGlyphstone]

I should be fine, now that I know the PL starting point. A variant on the Construct archetype as a base, probably using Electricity-based ranged attacks (Direct Current, naturally).

[The Great Triangle]

Of course, but an Alternating current force field to restrain foes next to you would be awesome too!  (If prohibitively expensive to actually add to your character)

[Aoife]

I'm somewhat interested in this concept.  Could someone explain to me how Mutants and Masterminds works?  Quite simply, I'm curious as to whether it's a system worth picking up, as I keep hearing it mentioned.

[eavatar]

I am interested play a Captain Marvel like. Before the transformation he is a great governament agent, fully capable to take some villains by himself, but after the change he is an unbeatable amazon princess. He still doesn't know how he got tied to the amazon, but it seems both have a good deal about their life out of action.

[TheGlyphstone]

I'm somewhat interested in this concept.  Could someone explain to me how Mutants and Masterminds works?  Quite simply, I'm curious as to whether it's a system worth picking up, as I keep hearing it mentioned.

Basically, it's a d20 entirely modular point-based system. Rather than choosing a race or class or spells, you are allocated a set amount of Power Points used to buy everything. Stats cost points, feats and skills cost points, powers and abilities cost points, etc. The more points invested in any one skill/stat/power, the better it becomes, with a flat cap on the power of any one ability that scales against the points you were awarded at the start.

[ShadowFox89]

 I'm looking at Psychic or Energy Controller right now.... I don't think I've got the points to fit in Triangle's Spirit Form.

[Aoife]

Thanks for the summary Glyph, I'll pick up the core tomorrow and sketch out a character.

[TheGlyphstone]

Since you're new, what would be a good/better idea is picking up the book and looking over the Sample Archtypes. They're basically pregenerated characters each conforming to a particular type of comic book hero (the Battlesuit wearer, the Detective, the Mage, the SupermanParagon, etc.) - take the one closest to your character concept, then tweak it.

As an example, I'm playing a sentient robot built by Thomas Edison. I used the Construct archetype as a baseline, lowered some of my physical stats to boost mental stats, and changed my Ranged Electrical attack into a Melee attack to free up some points (which I then spent on an extra disabling effect tied to my electrical touch).

[The Great Triangle]

Glyphstone's  advice is pretty good, though I have a personal preference for only using the archetypes as a guide to create characters from scratch. 

In my opinion, the Archtypes serve more to show off the system then they do to provide good quality starting characters. 

For some baseline recommendations, I do believe that every character, unless their concept VERY strongly calls for being weak in some area, should max out their offensive and defensive capabilities, save perhaps for fortitude and will, which are a bit expensive to max out.  When designing powers, a very important thing to keep in mind is that if you never imagine using two powers at the same time, you should think very hard before ever paying more than one point for the second power.  Alternate power arrays exist for an important reason, and they're a great way to pick up required secondary powers and things you'll only use from time to time.

On that note, when designing a power, I find it's best to work "top down" and think up the power in comic book terms before you try to put stats to it.  When you design your power, try to look at the extras that would logically apply to it, and see what flaws you can put on it.  Remember that if you reduce the cost of a power to 0 points per rank, the power is half price, and so on, which can enable you to pick up amazingly effective, if quirky, powers. 

So, for some advice on picking up the spirit form power, I suggest figuring out your power that costs closest to 40 points, then upgrading the power to cost 40 points and making it into an alternate power of spirit form.  This has the advantage of giving you an easy transition into corporeal form, and also gives you ample justification to add limitation, activation time, and quirk flaws to both powers to reduce the cost even further.  (a limited spirit form is only 22 points, after all)  A dynamic power array could theoretically be an alternate power of your spirit form, which could be a very handy power for a trickster archetype.

As for designing a character who turns into an amazon, simply create a non-powered hero of about PL 8, then add a bunch of powers to raise your character to PL 10 using the remaining 30 points, getting a 2 flat point discount for the standard action you have to spend transforming.  (though since you change gender, you'll probably have to buy the alternate identity advantage as a power.)  If you need extra points, you could always lock a few more of your powers behind successive anime style transformation sequences or attack calls, though  30 points should just about pay for super strength, invulnerability, and fighting skills.  (with the fighting skills possibly tied to a magic sword or headband)


Here's another example power suggested for Glyphstone's character:

Edison's Phonograph

Variable 1, Activation (Standard Action), Limited (skills only), Removable, Uncontrollable   (1 point)

This drastically upgraded phonograph contains all of the death recordings and final will and testament of Thomas Edison.  By spending a standard action putting the phonograph on, and a second standard action listening to Edison speak for a few minutes, the listener temporarily gains up to 10 ranks in a skill chosen by Thomas Edison's recording from his advice.  The phonograph will often grant skill in technology, but it frequently grants the following skills also:

Expertise: Science
Expertise: The Evils of Communism
Expertise: Concrete Furniture
Expertise: Copyright Law
Expertise: Tesla Sucks

[Callie Del Noire]

Hmm.. I might have alter my speedster a bit.. make her more like Northstar than the Flash.

[TheGlyphstone]

 Are there any changes to the default skill list?

[The Great Triangle]

The only change to the skill system is that Expertise: Superhumans would properly be called Expertise: Atomic Heroes, and cover heroes without superpowers as well.  Expertise: Superpowers would remain the same, though.  You can more or less define your own areas of Expertise, and then use the defaulting rules to suss out what it covers.  I doubt that very many PCs will pick areas of expertise that are excessively narrow.

Edison's Phonograph tends to give you limited expertise skills as part of its variable function.  It's a quirk I forgot to list.  (Also, more fun than writing up say, Expertise: Atomic Heroes, limited to how much Tesla sucks.)  An improved version of the phonograph, with two ranks of variable to be able to bestow 20 ranks in a skill would cost 5 points.  (Which, to be fair, would be a lot to pay for a removable power that gives you 20 ranks in Expertise: Lightbulbs)

[TheGlyphstone]

What's Edison's Phonograph?


EDIT: Something I do need clarification on is how powers work with cost reductions. If I have, say, Quickness at the cost of 1 point per rank, but the Limitation/Flaw of Mental Only at -1 point per rank, why don't ranks for me cost 0 points each? They don't because the Mystic archetype shows me, but what rule am I missing?

[The Great Triangle]

The method for calculating the cost of powers below 1 point per rank done by the ratio of power points to ranks.  Normally, this will be multiple power points for one rank, so if a power cost 3 points per rank, it could be expressed by the ratio 3:1.  When you lower the cost per rank below 1 point, each subtraction increases the opposite side of the ratio, so a 1 point per rank power with a 1 point discount grants 2 ranks per point, like a skill, an effective ratio of 1:2.

This means:

0 points per rank = 2 ranks per point  (1:2)
-1 points per rank = 3 ranks per point (1:3)
-2 points per rank = 4 ranks per point (1:4)
-3 points per rank = 5 ranks per point (1:5)

It is not acceptable to get a power above rank 5 for 1 point, since that would just be silly.  Similarly, powers that cost 0 points are allowed only in very specific circumstances (that is, when it's logically impossible for you to NOT have the power)  No matter what, a power can never cost less than 0 points.


An example of the principle:  Say that you have the Flight 4 power to represent your ability to telekinetically hurl yourself through the air at 30 miles per hour, and you have a secondary power to use your telekinesis on objects, a move object power with the damaging and subtle extras, each costing 1 additional point per rank, meaning that your move object power costs 4 points per rank.  (therefore your secondary power is rank 4).  This secondary effect costs 1 point, increasing the cost of your Flight power to 9 points.  (from 8) 

Next, you give yourself an additional secondary effect to create a telekinetic force field to protect yourself.  This counts as a sustained protection effect, which requires a free action to use, but enables you to use extra effort to enhance your power.  Since your other secondary effects require actions to use, it would make sense for your force field to require a move action to activate, so you give it the increased action flaw, reducing its cost per rank by 1.   The increased action flaw means that, when you use a move action to activate your telekinetic force field, you gain your protection effect until the start of your next turn, at which point you must take another move action to continue to benefit from the shield.  This enables you to buy 16 ranks of protection, which would be very difficult to make a balanced character from, given the limits imposed by your power level!  Therefore, you take the distracting flaw as well, halving your active defenses while your force field is in use, and letting you squeeze more utility out of the power, adjusting your fighting style for dealing well with high accuracy, low damage foes.  The additional cost reduction from the distracting flaw means that each power point invested in your protection effect grants 3 ranks of protection, enabling you to buy an insane 24 levels of protection!  You would have to be PL 12 to even have that many levels of  protection, so you'll need an additional extra to better pay down the power.

Impervious is a perfect choice, since it enables you to raise a defensive field which deflects all small arms fire, and most melee weapons wielded by human beings.  (The strongest man in the world, wielding a claymore, could threaten you a little, but he couldn't even daze you in a single blow.)  This grants you the power "Sustained Impervious Protection 16, Distracting, Increased Action (Move)"  With this power, your active defenses (dodge and parry) will be limited to a level of 8, since using the power will halve them to 4, keeping you within power level defensive limits.  This assumes you have a native toughness of 0, which is perfectly reasonable for a psychic character with telekinesis like that.  Your character will likely want some kind of sustained protection effect at level 12 to provide protection when he doesn't want to spend a move action, but that sounds like a good idea for another power.  With this second alternate power complete, your telekinesis power now costs 10 points, as an 8 point power with 2 alternate powers.



Anyway, Edison's Phonograph is the example power I explained in the last post of mine to show an example of a power with multiple flaws.

Edison's Phonograph

Variable 1, Activation (Standard Action), Limited (skills only), Quirk (Grants limited skills), Removable, Uncontrollable   (1 point)

This drastically upgraded phonograph contains all of the death recordings and final will and testament of Thomas Edison.  By spending a standard action putting the phonograph on, and a second standard action listening to Edison speak for a few moments, the listener temporarily gains up to 10 ranks in a skill chosen by Thomas Edison's recording from his advice.  The phonograph will often grant skill in technology, but it frequently grants the following skills also:

Expertise: Science
Expertise: The Evils of Communism
Expertise: Concrete Furniture
Expertise: Copyright Law
Expertise: Tesla Sucks

[ShadowFox89]

So, for some advice on picking up the spirit form power, I suggest figuring out your power that costs closest to 40 points, then upgrading the power to cost 40 points and making it into an alternate power of spirit form.  This has the advantage of giving you an easy transition into corporeal form, and also gives you ample justification to add limitation, activation time, and quirk flaws to both powers to reduce the cost even further.  (a limited spirit form is only 22 points, after all)  A dynamic power array could theoretically be an alternate power of your spirit form, which could be a very handy power for a trickster archetype.

Hmm... The most expensive power for the Energy Controller is, well, energy control. Which is 24 points, plus 3 points for alternate powers. I might drop flight down a bit to make up the points, but I would need a way to get Energy Control (possibly Cold Energy but as 'cold fire') up to costing 40pts.... Without breaking the power level caps >.>

Time to go look for some modifiers to stick onto it.

[TheGlyphstone]

How did I miss that? I'm totally buying Edison's Phonograph, particularly if it only costs 1 point.

[The Great Triangle]

Hmm... The most expensive power for the Energy Controller is, well, energy control. Which is 24 points, plus 3 points for alternate powers. I might drop flight down a bit to make up the points, but I would need a way to get Energy Control (possibly Cold Energy but as 'cold fire') up to costing 40pts.... Without breaking the power level caps >.>

Time to go look for some modifiers to stick onto it.

The most immediately obvious idea that comes to mind is Ranged Attack 20, or Ranged Attack 13 with secondary effect and extended range (representing your ability to make things suffer painfully by burning from coldfire).  Area Ranged Attack 10 with Secondary effect is a pretty decent ability too, though you might need to jam selective on there so you don't hurt the party, which would lower your damage to 8.

Both of those options would save you a little bit of points with skills, especially ranged attack 20, though you probably don't want to be reliant on perception and area attacks to deal damage for having absolutely no ranged combat skill.  (If you want to having a fighting ability above 0, simply give your powers that actually require attack rolls the inaccurate flaw, in exchange for a few minor bennies, like indirect, ricochet, incurable, extended range, and affects insubstantial.)

[TheGlyphstone]

Throwing something out there, since I don't know how to work it:

Currently, I have a Taser Touch power: 20 points invested giving me a Damage 10 (Electric) attack at Close range, Linked to an Affliction 10 (Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) effect. If I want an Alternate Effect of this power that instead supercharges my body with electricity, inflicting damage to anyone who hits me at Close Range as a reaction, how would I build it?

[The Great Triangle]

Depends on if you want to have to make an attack roll or not:

No Attack Roll:

Perception Reaction (hit by a close combat attack) Damage 3, Contagious, Activation (Move), Electricity


Attack Roll:

Reaction (hit by a close combat attack) Damage 5,  Electricity



The Doctor Shock special; it's actually the example used in the reaction extra.  :-)

[TheGlyphstone]

And if I added the Increased Action flaw to make it require a Move action to redirect the charge, would I then be able to have it at Damage 10?


Actually, could you just break down the points spent on each of those two options, so I can tweak?



Here's what I have so far, as an Indestructible Man sort of archtype. He's easy to hit, but almost impossible to injure or disable:

Abilities: 50 points
Strength: 4
Stamina: -
Agility: 4
Dexterity: 6
Intellect: 10
Awareness: 6
Fighting: 2
Presence: -2

Powers: 41 points
Electric Touch (Damage 10) = 10 points
Linked to
Shocking Jolt (Affliction 10) = 10 points

Innate Protection 10 (Impervious 10) = 21 points

Advantages: 6 points
Assessment
Benefit 3 (Wealth)
Fearless
Skill Mastery(Technology)

Skills: 23 points
Close Combat(Unarmed) 8 ranks = 4 points
Technology 10 ranks = 5 points
Perception 14 ranks = 7 points
Insight 14 ranks = 7 points

Defenses: 28 points
Dodge 4
Parry 2
Toughness 10
Will 12
Fortitude 0 (Immune)

148 Points

[Aoife]

While I like the theme, I think I'm going to watch.  I've been looking through all the rules, and it'll take me at least a couple of weeks to chew my way through.  Enjoy the game everyone ^^

[The Great Triangle]

Good luck figuring everything out!  If you find you want to create a character, or play a bystander or minor villain, just drop me a PM.  :-)

[eavatar]

I am going to build the Amazon as well the secret agent which she is ancored. My idea was make him a PL6 agent, buying him as a sidekick  and them do the PL 10 Amazon. Are there any background restriction?

[TheGlyphstone]

That only really makes sense if they can fight side-by-side. Or was that the intention?

[eavatar]

Well, the basic idea was do a captain marvel swap, but when I was working on the sheet I've got a better idea. Instead do it in a very Shazam like style, why not make it more or less like Marvel's Captain Mar-vell, with the sidekick as an eventual tool, like she can send his "essence" to do some things for her during the fight, like she keep fighting when he is inside the building defusing the bomb

[The Great Triangle]

I'm inclined to think that Marvel universe captain marvel is too powerful to qualify as a PL 10 hero, though people are quite fond of statting up characters like Galactus at PL 10.  The biggest issue you have is that a summon shouldn't exceed your own power level, and since we've already got a summoner character in the group, I don't really want to have another one.  (one of the other PCs is a ninja master who can gather a group of ninjas)

If you've got a good way of representing the powers written up already, I might consider allowing it, but the shazam type seems a lot more balanced and less fiddly. 

[eavatar]

Okay. Do you have any other request? Are there anything else I can do to make your life easier, like a detailed background including a side cast?

[The Great Triangle]

Background and side cast are always pretty handy, and you'll usually get hero points when your characters foes come in, or your friends get in trouble, so they're often a good investment.  Feel free to write in your character in any way you like, though you should consult with me before creating new dimensions of reality or Power Level X entities. 

(new planets or even continents are perfectly okay, though, so long as they're sufficiently hard to get to.  Time travel is kosher, but you'll likely need to take time paradox immunity just to cover your bases.) 

[TheGlyphstone]

Yeah, fridge-stuffers are always welcome in Golden Age comic stories.

[TheGlyphstone]

So, I came up with a Complication I really like:

Laura Edison
Thomas Edison was a great inventor. He was an eccentric man. He was an awful father. Laura's mother mysteriously vanished shortly after she was born, so being raised by Edison alone was effectively raising herself as an only child, and she ended up with a deep and enduring dislike of war, technology in general, and the Experimental Autonomous Humanoid Synthesis Unit, Mark I (nicknamed 'Eddy') in particular. She inherited Edison's brains, his fortune, and his inventions (including that damn robot), but all she wants to do is garden. Not that anyone cares what she wants, particularly the Communist agents who show up periodically to 'convert' her away from her 'evil heritage' to the glories of Socialism. Sometimes they bring ray guns, which is the only time 'Eddy' actually pulls its weight around the house, and it's gotten so bad she has to post signs like 'If you're here to kidnap me, please mind the squash beds'. But the robot does come in handy, and since it's entailed in the fortune and better equipped to use it anyways, she keeps it around. For his part, Eddy always watches out for her, despite how she avoids him whenever she can and insults him when she can't, because that's what Edison would have wanted. He did care for her, despite her tomato plants being better at expressing it.

(Adventuring didn't give Edison the free time to raise six children in this timeline, so he only had one. She's genre savvy enough to recognize that her closest 'relative' is a superhero of sorts, in the 'Commies are abducting me? It must be Tuesday' sense, but really hates the disruption that brings to her otherwise peaceful life.)

[The Great Triangle]

Looks like a solid plan!  Edison had a fairly considerable fortune because of his role in thwarting the Martian invasion of 1912, though he spent much of it on unwise investments like humanoid battle robots. 

Your group will be joined by four support characters, who will help you with various behind the scenes tasks:

Morgan Elevrate, Transport Specialist:  Captain Morgan is an independent agent contracting with WAHMO, who pilots her airship, the Starspear, as well as a rocket powered helecopter called the Crimson Comet to get the group from place to place when needed.  She is a disorderly, drunken woman with an intense sadistic streak, but she's one of the best at what she does, and her record from the war is unimpeachable. 

Polygram, Communications Specialist: The superheroine polygram has the superpower to control cables using magnetism, and extrude them from her body at will.  Using her radio powers, she is capable of sending telegrams wirelessly anywhere in the country by thought alone, as well as tapping into vast communication networks.  Despite her superpowers, she is unwilling to go on adventures unless absolutely neccissary, and prefers to spend her days at the top of a radio tower surronded by thick spiderwebs of steel cables.

Colonel Edgar Cassidy, Military Liason: Colonel Cassidy is the team's military advisor, and is responsible for keeping track of any intellegence the team gains regarding national security.  He is a conservative man, who likes to play by regulations and pursue the doctrine of "peace through superior firepower."  He is also responsible for determining if the interests of national security would be better served by sending the team to Korea, should their body count become excessively high.  Col. Cassidy doesn't care about collatteral damage, since anything the heroes destroy is government insured, and any property damage gives him plenty of fun paperwork to fill out.

Meltdown, Scientific Advisor: Meltdown is an Atomic Hero based out of the Los Alamos laboratories, and he is capable of handing any particularly complex scientific questions the activities of the group invoke.  Meltdown, like Polygram, has a minor case of Atomic Psychosis, and is unfit for full duty.  Using his powers of matter manipulation, he can quickly produce even large amounts of exotic elements, though he is better at drawing up schematics than actually assembling prototypes. 

[Callie Del Noire]

Blitz - PL 10
Real Name: Rebecca Louise Stewart
Age: 20
Height: 5' 5" Weight: 125

Background: Born to Randolf Steward and Mary Hughes Stewart, Rebecca (Becky to her friends) was raised in a life of luxury. Her family had been long term shipping magnates, one of her ancestors was a captain on the infamous 'coal to Newcastle' event that made Timothy Dexter a rich man. By the end of the second world war, Stewart Industrial was a massive company with dozens of smaller companies fully owned by them. The company is in a lot of businesses such as automobiles, planes, ship building, medicine, electrical and electronic design as well as a bank and investment firm.
She was going to school and developing as a young socialite when the plane she and her parents were on went down. The last thing she recalled was the snow covered trees of the Rockies coming up through the windscreen of the plane. She woke to the chill of winter, laying on her back as a mysterious woman looked after her. She bound her wounds, transfused her and kept her out of the cold.
She told the girl that she had seen the plane's wing explode and that there seemed to be evidence of sabotage. And that her parents were dead. She went on to explain a few things to Becky.
She was from the future, where Becky had given her powers through a blood transfusion. And that in turn, she had come back in time to do the same with Becky, to prevent a temporal paradox from occurring. The woman kissed her, whispered a date they would meet in the future, and vanished. Becky walked out of the mountains a day later, her body's own metabolic rates having been boosted to heal her speedily.  While the accelerated healing didn't last, her body adapted to working at many times the speed of a normal human. Within a month she was running at several hundred miles an hour. She read through her family's entire library in a week, making copious notes as she embarked on a crash course in learning her position in the family fortune. Learning who to trust and who to remove from the board. About the time Blitz made her first appearance, she had picked out a manager to run the company while she retained 65% of the shares in the company.
Now that she'd ensured that her family fortune was safe, she started looking for what to do till that day in the distant future when she'd meet the woman who had saved her. Till then, she was content to be Blitz the fastest woman in the country.

[The Great Triangle]

Okay, I've made an OOC thread for the game!  I'll add other PCs to the wiki as their character sheets are completed, or they can be edited into the wiki by the players if they know how.

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=130275.new#new

[The Great Triangle]

Here's the main game thread for the game:

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=130530.msg5787357#msg5787357

If you haven't finished your character yet, you still have time (especially if your character has a special travel power of some kind) but the game will be getting started and hopefully picking up steam.  More players are welcome, just drop me a line if you need any help getting into things!

[ShadowFox89]

 I'm just having trouble putting a character together >.<'

[The Great Triangle]

When you're making a super hero, try to come up with a way to explain your character in two words, which can ideally also substitute for the name of your character. 

Some Examples:

Superman = Ultimate American
Batman = Costumed Vigilante
Spiderman = Spider-Man
Captain America = Antimatter Hitler
Dr. Manhattan = Radioactive God


What you've got for a concept so far seems to suggest either a magician, or some kind of elemental force of nature given intelligence, possibly by radiation.  The group currently consists of:

Fast, Weak support character (Blitz)
Slow, close ranged fighter (Eddy)
Tactical options/summoner Ninja (Nightshade)
Tough, slow balanced fighter (Stone Devil)

The main angle the group is missing is some kind of psychic character, particularly a character that puts a lot of focus into super senses.  A ranged bruiser won't likely fill too much of a hole, unless the ranged effect comes from telekinesis, or another power that has a lot of utility besides shooting at people.  The group doesn't really have anyone with low accuracy/high damage potential, though I kind of appreciate that the group lacks any high rank area attacks to wipe groups of minions with. 

[ShadowFox89]

 I've got a basic idea, it's just tying everything together that is the problem.

My main attack idea was actually going to be a Ranged Burst effect.

[The Great Triangle]

Well, if you've got most of your character sheet together, you can always PM it to me so I can polish it!

Often, when I'm writing a M&M character sheet, I try to find some kind of gimmick to make the character interesting, such as a power with the fades flaw your other powers are dependent on, or a creative use of overlapping powers.  (The ninja, for example, has a power that makes her a better fighter, but turns off whenever she's around other ninjas)

Your character's origin story is a good way to guide how you should put your character together, and it can help quite a bit.  Come up with a corny name, and try to come up with something suitably contrived!