[Interest Check] Mutants and Masterminds 2e

[Cold Heritage]

I think atmosphere and plot have more to do with making a campaign feel cosmic than power level. If you look at the stats of supporting characters in M&M even a PL 6 "street level" character is much more capable than a SWAT team member. A PL 10 character is pretty godlike compared to normal folks. If the player characters are treated as something extraordinary and there aren't dozens of people just as powerful as they are running around then they'll feel pretty high-powered.

I've never been in a game where my character treated as if they were all that big a deal, so I'd derive more a sense of being something extraordinary if my character could punch and do more damage than a rocket launcher, or if I had enough Super-Strength down on my sheet that my character could bench an aircraft carrier. Just my experience.

[meikle]

That's my theory, anyway.

Once you get high enough powered (say, Superman on Earth), where unless some specific screw-you situation comes up (kryptonite, you lose!) the character wins by default, the focus shifts from 'can i overcome this task?' to 'what are the consequences of the method i'm going to use to overcome this task?'

It's a different kind of story but it's not a bad kind.

(imho, anyway; I've never participated in a high-powered game that just focused on the 'i win again!' part)

[PhantomPistoleer]

I always want to play in a M&M2E campaign, but it's hard to get everyone on the same page with what numbers represent what in terms of skill/power benchmarks.  You end up getting normal hand-to-hand fighters that are doing +8L damage, which is equal to the damage done by a torpedo.

[MasterMischief]

I always want to play in a M&M2E campaign, but it's hard to get everyone on the same page with what numbers represent what in terms of skill/power benchmarks.  You end up getting normal hand-to-hand fighters that are doing +8L damage, which is equal to the damage done by a torpedo.

If you are looking for realism, it is not the system for you.  Of course if you are looking for realism in comic books, your judgment is probably skewed to begin with.  Superman vs. Batman...Batman go squish.

[Cold Heritage]

I think it is not so much a problem of realism, as a problem of consistency. After all, if a punch from the Batman does as much damage as military grade man-portable anti-tank ordnance (and much more than essentially all small arms), then things can be somewhat difficult to reconcile. M&M just simply does not care if you are a dude who did a lot of push-ups or a dude who was born on another planet with fantastic abilities; you both get to have the same PL appropriate damage output. There is nothing stopping a character whose background includes no sort of combat training having an Attack and Defense bonus equal to that of someone who was raised by Shaolin Monks to master the 38 Illuminated Forms of Divinity and succeeded in harmonizing body and mind to become the Holy Divine Fist of Justice.

[meikle]

It's easier to reconcile, I think, if you don't take the system's mechanics as representative of the in-character reality.  It's not a physics engine, it's a tool for telling stories / playing a game, and the game sucks for emulating the superhero genre if people who are playing Batman are told that to keep up with Superman they have to be willing to carry a rocket launcher around with them.

That'll be the last couple of pennies I drop in here though, since I'm not involved!

[PhantomPistoleer]

Detective Hero:  Legion PL10 (150pp)

Real Name:  Unknown   Identity:  Secret
Occupation:  Crime Fighter, Adventurer
Base of Operations:  Grimald 7

Attributes:
STR 16; DEX 18; CON 16; INT 16; WIS 16; CHA 16;

Skills:
Acrobatics 12 (+16); Climb 4 (+7); Computers 4 (+7); Craft (Mechanical) 8 (+11); Disable Device 8 (+12); Disguise 4 (+7); Drive 2 (+6); Escape Artist 8 (+12); Gather Information 8 (+11); Intimidate 4 (+7); Investigate 12 (+15); Knowledge (Behavioral Sciences) 4 (+7); Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+7); Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+7); Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+11); Language (Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Russian, Spanish); Medicine 4 (+7); Notice 7 (+10); Pilot 11 (+15); Search 8 (+11); Sense Motive 8 (+11); Sleight of Hand 6 (+10); Stealth 12 (+16); Survival 2 (+5); Swim 4 (+7)

Feats:
Acrobatic Bluff; All-Out Attack; Attack Focus 2 (Melee); Attack Specialization 2 (Unarmed Combat); Blind-Fight; Defensive Attack; Dodge Focus 5; Elusive Target; Endurance; Evasion 2; Fearless; Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike); Improved Initiative; Interpose; Hide-In-Plain Sight; Set-Up; Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Gather Investigation, Investigate, Pilot); Sneak Attack; Takedown Attack 2; Track; Uncanny Dodge; Well-Informed;

Combat:
BaB: +4 [Ranged]; +8; +10 [Melee]; +14 [Unarmed]
Grapple: +13
Damage: +5 [Unarmed]
BdB: 8 [+13 w/ Dodge Focus; +4 Flat-Footed]
Iniative: +8 [+4 Dex; +4 Feat]

Saves:
Toughness: +3 (+6 armor); Fortitude: +8 (+12 w/ Endurance); Reflex: +10; Willpower: +6

Equipment:   
Costume (13ep/3pp)
Armor Protection 3
Nomex Immunity 6 (Environmental Heal; Fire Damage) Limited (Half effect) [-1];
Tech  Commlink, Computer, Radio, Night Vision Goggles;
Gloves Strike 2 (Power Feat: Mighty)

Utility Belt 27ep/5pp
Tear Gas Dazzle/Nauseate Explosion 4 (40 ft; Ref/Fort DC 14); 18ep
AP: Sleep Gas Fatigue Explosion 6 (30 ft; Ref DC 16); 1ep
AP: Flash Bang Dazzle Burst 4 (20 ft; Ref 14); 1ep
AP: Stun Gun Stun 9; 1ep
AP: Grapple Launcher Snare 6 (Power Feat: Tether); Super-Movement 2 (Slow-Fall, Swinging; Extra: Carry Others); Fire Extinguisher; 1ep
Flashlight, Gas Mask, Multi-Tool, Parabolic Microphone, Rebreather

Drawbacks
Disability One-Eyed (Common, Moderate)
Weakness Opiate Addiction (Common, Moderate)

Devices (6pp; 10dp)
Concealment 4 [All Visual Senses; Flaw: Limited (Shadows)];
AP: Concealment 4 [All Visual Senses; Flaw: Limited to Machines]
AP: Displacement
Super Movement Trackless
Super Movement Wall-Crawling
Super Senses Direction Sense
Super Senses Distance Sense



Minion
E.V.A.
Attributes: STR 0; DEX 0; CON 0; INT 24; WIS 10; CHA 16
Skills: Computers 12 (+19); Gather Information 12 (+15); Knowledge (Earth Sciences) 8 (+15); Knowledge (History) 8 (+15); Knowledge (Life Sciences) 8 (+15); Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 8 (+15); Knowledge (Technology) 8 (+15);
Feats: Eidetic Memory;
Powers: Datalink 10 (Radio; Power Feat: Cyberspace); Comprehend 3 (Understands Languagues; Flaw: Action); Super Movement 1 (Dimension Movement; Dimensional Communication); Super-Sense 1 (Analytical Hearing); Super-Sense 1 (Radio); Incorporeal 3 (Flaw: Permanent);
Saves: TOU 0; FORT: IMMUNE; REF: 0; WILL: 0

Attributes 38 + Skills 40 + Feats 30 + Combat 16 + Saves 14 + Equipment 8 + Devices 6 + Minion 4 + Drawbacks -6

NOTES:  He's a little bit Miguel O'Hara, he's a little bit Batman. 

[Cold Heritage]

Oh wow, Evasion 2. Trollfacing area attacks since '05?

[Wintercat]

Thought you couldn't go over the border set by PL in attack or defence without a clear trade-off, marked up? Other than that, have to admit that's a nasty bit of damage-avoidance-expertise

[PhantomPistoleer]

Ah, I didn't mark it;  but the trade off is between ATK and DAM; and DEF and TOU.  Admittedly, I don't actually hit my caps in the trade-off, since I could have +14 ATK/+6DAM and +13DEF/+7TOU.  He looks mean, but he really can't take hits--and though he's versatile enough, he really can't do much damage.  He succeeds as a teammate, using redirect and set-up.

Edit:  I now hit my caps for ATK, since I had Elusive Target twice in my feats.  I went with Sneak Attack.