M&M 2e - Interest Check (NC)

[Maegan]

I am thinking of running a Mutants & Masterminds (2nd Edition) game at a lower power level with hopefully flawed characters.  It would probably be power level 5, with the characters being part of a team hired by a city or region to protect it.  They could range for heroic idealists to fully corrupt, hopefully with interesting interactions between the various personalities.  I also wouldn't mind someone playing a re-occurring villain, or a series of villains, and acting as a co-GM.

I have little experience with systems, and haven't run an M&M game before, so anyone who joined would need to be patient. 

This game would probably be rated as non-consensual, exotic. 

Anyone interested?

[Richardson]

I have the DC adventures book which is based on M&M but I don't know if it's system compatible.  If so, I'd be interested in banging away in a superheroic world.

[Raveled]

I have the DC adventures book which is based on M&M but I don't know if it's system compatible.  If so, I'd be interested in banging away in a superheroic world.

DC Adventures is 3rd Edition M&M.

I'm intrigued by the idea, but PL 5? That's the level of beat cops and the like. Doesn't hardly seem super-heroic.

[Maegan]

Not sure about DC adventures.

I want them to start weak and grow as the game progresses, hence the low power level.  I also think it might be interesting to have them a bit more vulnerable. 

[Muse]

*smiles*  i'm good for 5, thouggh 7 or 8 is more traditional.  :)

*bows*  Pleased to meet you, Maegan, your avatar is awesome! 

[Maegan]

I'd prefer to stick with 5 for now, though I will probably be fairly generous with power points as the game progresses.

[Ixy]

Sounds like a good idea-- I love low-powered games, as it forces the player to really focus on their CHARACTER rather than their uber-powers.  I'm interested, but haven't played M&M very much, so I may be more burden than not.  Anyway... consider me 'interested' but not 100% 'committed' yet.

[Callie Del Noire]

I'm interested but it's hard to come up with anything but a 'batman' @ PL 5.

[Katina Tarask]

I'm game.  Though I'd have to second starting a bit higher (6-8).  The thing about PbP is, it's much slower than tabletop.  Even progressing fairly quickly, going up one power level may take a year, and it's extremely generous to predict a game will last that long, so it's generally wiser to start in the thick of things rather than giving that up-front growing time.  PbP games've gotta pop from the get-go.

Sounds like a good idea-- I love low-powered games, as it forces the player to really focus on their CHARACTER rather than their uber-powers.  I'm interested, but haven't played M&M very much, so I may be more burden than not.  Anyway... consider me 'interested' but not 100% 'committed' yet.

You do know this is a game where you can quite literally destroy the world with a single power point, right?

I'm interested but it's hard to come up with anything but a 'batman' @ PL 5.

Eh, it's not too terribly tough to get something else, though with so few points, it does rather encourage keeping your base ability scores average or even mining 'em for points, since there's not much wiggle room and the game does rather punish actually taking ability scores other than Constitution and maybe Strength.  But most of the standard major archetypes still work.

[Maegan]

I suppose I could boost it to 6, but don't really want to go any higher.

[Katina Tarask]

Alright.  Though there are more important questions at hand.  Like all the basics of what the game's even going to be about.

[TheMinstrelKnight]

 :o I was going to post an ad! I, I am truly loving the idea of another game. My old M&M internet group died out. I was with Epitome City... I really wanna do this again!

[Callie Del Noire]

Here is what I've done up as PL 6 (it was in my dead characters file)

Reon Kadena  Power Level: 6; Power Points Spent: 90/90
Vital Statistics
Sex: Female Age: 19 Nationality: American/Japanese Citizen (dual citizen)
Height: 5' 8" Weight: 185 lbs
Eyes: Brown (Green when using powers) Hair: Black

STR: 14 (+2), DEX: 20 (+5), CON: 14 (+2), INT: 12 (+1), WIS: 10 (+0), CHA: 12 (+1)

Tough: +6, Fort: +8, Ref: +11, Will: +4

Skills: Acrobatics 5 (+10), Computers 2 (+3), Disguise 2 (+3), Drive 2 (+7), Escape Artist 3 (+8), Gather Information 2 (+3), Knowledge (current events) 3 (+4), Knowledge (popular culture) 3 (+4), Knowledge (streetwise) 3 (+4), Language 2 (+2), Notice 2 (+2), Perform (acting) 3 (+4), Perform (dance) 3 (+4), Search 2 (+3), Stealth 2 (+7), Swim 1 (+3)
Languages: English, Japanese, Spanish

Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attractive 2, Diehard, Dodge Focus 2,   Evasion 2, Improved Critical (Strike 4) 2, Instant Up, Precise Shot, Prone Fighting, Weapon Break (Strike 4)

Powers:
Blast 5 (DC 20)
  Strike 4 (Alternate; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical (Strike 4) 2, Weapon Break; Mighty, Accurate (+2))
Protection 4 (+4 Toughness)

Combat Stats
Attack Bonus: +4 (Ranged: +4, Melee: +4, Grapple: +6)
Attacks: Blast 5, +4 (DC 20), Strike 4, +6 (DC 21), Unarmed Attack, +4 (DC 17)
Defense: +6  (Flat-footed: +2), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +5

Background
Reon was born to a pair of Japanese nationals who had moved to the San Diego region. Both her parents were international trade lawyers who were more comfortable in the office than at home. She grew up like most american kids: TV, Computers, Video Games and comic books. She also discovered cosplay when she went to Japan to visit family. Upon her return to San Diego she jumped into the scene with vigor, found the PERFECT character for her to play at the upcoming San Diego ComicCon.
Working with a couple friends, she worked to get the green and black leather jump suit to fit and grew out here hair. All it took was a little make up, black lipstick and fingernail polish and she was a popular disney villainess. The week of the Con, she went in role several times and hammed things up a lot. At one party she was more than a little drunk and high went SOMETHING happened as she was playing out a scene. Maybe it was some unknown talent, maybe she was doing something more than X. All that she knew was that as they were playing out a scene and the next her 'foe' was looking in shock at the six inch hole that she had blown in the concrete wall of the hall. The whole event had been caught by dozens of cameras, camcorders and the crew from g4 TV. She bolted from the hall and quickly lost most of the stun crowd quickly.
The aftermath of the event was pretty much that she was 'outed' as a parahuman and a quick letter from Disney's lawyers to cease and desist all future cosplay performances as that character. (Unless their live action project ever took off, in which they would like to discuss terms). Aside from that, the most signifigant changes had been a gain of 60 pounds of mass and the loss of nearly all her body fat as her body rapidly improved in physical resilience, strength, endurance and agility. She was stunned to find herself changing from 'comic book nerd' to 'hottie' overnight. With her new looks and ability she started looking into acting as a viable option and tries to downplay her powers as much as she can. One close encounter with an anti-parahuman activist drove home that she needed to learn to how to defend herself without using her powers. (Her blasts are registered as 'lethal weapons' and she had been fully briefed on the consequences of their use recklessly). Currently in addition to dance and acting studies in college, she is studying akido and kick boxing as she looks for more jobs as a model.

Personality
Going from a bit of a 'geek' to a hottie has opened up Reon a lot. She is enjoying a more physical lifestyle and looks for more physical and social challenges. She works hard, studies hard and plays hard. She hasn't done any drugs since the incident but still drinks on occasion and is a casual bi-sexual who isn't steady with anyone at the moment. When she does have to fight, she uses her agility and blasting power to avoid, escape and distract her foes as she would rather not kill. When facing someone who can hurt her, she is a less reluctant to use her abilities more offensively.

Powers
Reon generates an intense field of plasma in her body that she can direct though her hands or envelop them with. She is capable of generating sufficient force destroy concrete and metal structures. The field is stronger when she channels it in a blast. When she generates the plasma, her eyes turn green with a slight glow.
As a result of her energy generating abilites, her body has increased in density and resilience. She is capable of taking serious blows and even gunshots hits with little or no harm. (She was shot in the back twice by the anti-parahuman activist from 30 feet with a .45 caliber pistol with nothing worse than bruising. Needless to say she's not eager to test the limits of her invulnerability). Testing has indicated that her physical attributes and resilance are increasing at pace with her ability to generate plasma but to what degree is not known.


Totals: Abilities 22 + Skills 10 (40 ranks) + Feats 11 + Powers 15 + Combat 16 + Saves 16 + Drawbacks 0 = 90

[TheMinstrelKnight]

I guess I could post my favorite (and thus most thought out) character from M&M... He is Power Level 11...

Name: Franklin Nicholas Steiner
Age: 144
Height: 9'1"
Weight: 400lbs
Eye Color: Blue (Right) Brown (Left)
Hair Color: Dingy Gray
Nationality: American
PL: 11 (Cap)

STRENGTH: 28 (+8) ( Enhanced Strength (8) )   DEXTERITY: 17 (+3)  CONSTITUTION: 38 (+14)  INTELLIGENCE: 10 (+-0)  WISDOM: 12 (+1)  CHARISMA: 15 (+2)

TOUGHNESS: +14
FORTITUDE: +14
REFLEX: +3
WILL: +1

DEFENSE: +6
ATTACK: +8 (Melee), +8 (Ranged)

Skills

Acrobatics (3), Climb (8), Computers 1 (+3), Concentration (+2), Disable Device 12 (+14), Drive (+3), Escape Artist (+6), Gather Info (+6), Investigate (+12), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 4 (+6), Medcine (+2), Notice 15 (+17), Pilot 2 (+5), Profession 3 (+5), Ride 2 (+5), Search 15 (+17), Sense Motive 15 (+17), Sleight of Hand (+3), Stealth (+3), Survival (+2), (Ironic) Swim (+8)

Feats

Chokehold, Power Attack, Diehard, Fearless, Interpose, Improvized Tools, Artificer, Well-Informed, Prone Fighting, Assessment, Instant Up, Contacts, Equipment (1), Fearsome Presence (3), Quickdraw (1), Ambidexterity, Precise Shot (1), Attack Focus, Melee (2), Attack Focus, Ranged (2), Taunt, Defensive Attack, Elusive Target, Uncanny Dodge (1), Endurance (2)

Powers

"Subject #122540A5 is a tough customer; his skin, while welting under the power of bullets is nearly immune to smaller caliber handguns and causes a bit more surprise amoungst mooks who think that closer is better. He also posesses an incredible amount of strength- having stopped a building from collapsing on bystanders more than once. Though as strong as he is, it seems to be a reflex to danger and not always there- however... It also seems he's heat resistant, but the tests were inconclusive seeing as he escaped before the water test. At which he was begging to not do." - Dr. Lucian Cramer

Enhanced Constitution (20)
Enhanced Strength (8)
Immunity (13): Cold Environment (1), heat damage (5), fatigue effects (5), high pressure (1), age (1)
Impervious Toughness (5): Bullet Proof up to .50 caliber
Super Strength (7): Max 358 Tons; Goundstrike (+1 feat); Thunderclap (+1 feat)
Super Senses (2)
- Low-light Vision (30')
- Dark Vision (30')

Drawbacks

Vulnerability: Electricity (Lightening, Powers, Electric Lines-etc) (Very Common, Moderate, Non-Fatal) (-10)

Personality

He is a jovial sort, with a liking of carrousing, women, and fine dining. Though this changes while he's on the job. When on the job he is a stark, angry, snark driven commentator who will verbally assail anyone who dares get in his way; and this is usually before he pummels them into a pulp! Well, truth be told this violent way is more or less his attempt to be a 'Gumshoe'… It apparently works.

History

This monster was 'born' in 1856 in a laboratory in the middle of the south; a way of creating slaves who were both powerful and more useful for field work with enough intellect to work alone but not enough to escape. The cotton gin was completed first and the project was left at a standstill. The body complete and the mind there, but no wakefulness. As the years passed and the Civil War came about, the then President of the Confederacy enacted 'Project Patchwork'. With the body now bare-bones thanks to rot; the now protoform was improved upon! Meant to shoulder an Artillery Piece as a standard weapon and fully capable of reacting to situations with a tactical mind of a well trained officer; the beast was to be a victory piece for the South!

And with his staggaring nine-foot height, he was to be deployed where the south would be able to RIDE to victory! As history states that didn't happen. The Union won. With some help at a major turning point as the 'Artillary Man' himself turned on his own forces to decimate them enough to allow a CRUSHING Union Victory. And at that point, the 'Giant of Antietam' dropped off the Radar for many, many years.

The fact he dropped off the radar for so long and coupled with reports of a 'Giant' stopping various attacks upon people and then disappearing again coincided with the fact there are many super natural entities in the Americas. However this one spoke with a deep, southern, accent and seemed to almost be gentlemanly in his actions. Now… he's here, in a new city, and… well; taxes don't pay for themselves yeah?

Currently:

He's bought an apartment building and now has tenants… Not too sure what's going on; he's been protecting the house with Runes for some time now; perhaps he was going keep out the dead? Paranoia surely… There aren't vampires around… Right?

Mind you he's at the max PL of the game I was in and he started out as PL 8; and a standard brick build before I decided to change him about. it's pretty easy to do PL 5. :>

[Maegan]

Alright.  Though there are more important questions at hand.  Like all the basics of what the game's even going to be about.

The basic premise is that the characters make up a special team of the local police force.  They are called into deal with dangerous situations and strange crimes, especially those related to super-powered criminals.  The story would focus on their various investigations and emergency responses, as well as the character's problems and interactions. 

I like the character Callie :-)

Steiner is interesting, though would need to be toned down to PL6 if you wanted to play him.

[Ixy]

You do know this is a game where you can quite literally destroy the world with a single power point, right?

I'm sure that, like almost game systems, it's easy to abuse the rules if that's what you're into.

[TheMinstrelKnight]

I've actually had him at power level 6 before- it's not all that different; though his abilities are about... Half of what they are now (save the tough skin) and he's got very, very few people skills.

But if you start I'd love to join in.

[Callie Del Noire]

I've actually had him at power level 6 before- it's not all that different; though his abilities are about... Half of what they are now (save the tough skin) and he's got very, very few people skills.

But if you start I'd love to join in.

Does that mean he won't be coming into the game with his very own artillery piece side arm?

[TheMinstrelKnight]

No, that's sold Separately!

[Callie Del Noire]

No, that's sold Separately!

Ah man.. it's always like with that with 'Has-bro'!

[Katina Tarask]

Samantha Carmichael
Human Female, Psychic
5'6, 115 lbs, black hair, gray eyes, age 21

Str 8 (-1); Dex 8 (-1); Con 10 (+0); Int 12 (+1); Wis 16 (+3); Charisma 18/28 (+4/+9)

Attack +0; Defense +2

Tough +0/+10; Fort +3; Reflex +3; Will +9

Skills: Bluff 1/11 (+5/+20); Concentration 2 (+5); Diplomacy 1/11 (+5/+20); Disable Device 4 (+5); Gather Information 1/11 (+5/+20); Intimidate 1/11 (+5/+20); Investigate 4 (+5); Notice 7 (+10); Sense Motive 3/11 (+6/+14)

Feats: Eidetic Memory; Skill Mastery: Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, Sense Motive; Ultimate Effort: Will

Powers:
ESP
-ESP 2: Visual, Hearing

Psychic Charm
-Enhanced Ability: +10 Charisma (DC16 Will negates)
-Enhanced Skill: +10 Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate/Gather Information (DC16 Will negates, linked to Enhanced Charisma)
-Enhanced Skill: +8 Sense Motive (DC16 Will negates, linked to Enhanced Charisma)

Psychic Shield
-Protection 10 (Sustained)

Telepathy
-Communication 2: Mental

Amazing Psychic Powers Array
-Force Bolt: Blast 6 (Accurate 3, Homing 1)
*Manipulation: Emotion Control 6 (Subtle, Independent, Slow Fade)
*Telekinesis: Move Object 5 (Range: Perception, Precise)
*Mind Crush: Mental Blast 4
*Compulsion: Mind Control 6 (Independent, Sense-Dependent: requires eye contact, Slow Fade, Subtle)
*Mind Decay: Drain 4: Wisdom (Range: Perception, Slow Fade 2, Subtle, Affects Insubstantial 1)
*Mind Scan: Mind Reading 6 (Reduced Action, Subtle)

Combat Stats:
Init -1; Grapple -1; Knockback 0/-5
Attack: +0 (+6 Force Bolt)
Defense +2 (+1 Flat-footed)
Attacks:
Compulsion: Autohit, DC16 Will versus mind control
Force Bolt: +6, DC21 Tough versus damage
Manipulation: Autohit, DC16 Will versus emotion control
Mind Crush: Autohit, DC14 Will versus damage
Mind Decay: Autohit, DC14 Will versus up to 4 wisdom damage
Mind Scan: Autohit, DC16 Will versus mind reading
Psychic Charm: Passive/autohit, DC16 Will versus large effective skill/charisma boosts
Telekinesis: Autohit, +5 grapple check
Unarmed: +0, DC15 Tough versus damage

Background:
The Cult of the Third Eye.  A paranormal-obsessed organization that, through a combination of bizarre rituals, drugs, and selective breeding have produced many of the world's most powerful mentalists in  the last thousand years, ranging from prophets to kineticists to telepaths to accelerated analysts.  With their penchant to manipulate nations and politics from the shadows, they were considered one of the world's most dangerous supercriminal organizations until just over two decades ago when their main base was raided by the military.  After their compound was reduced to rubble, most of the escaping leadership was slaughtered.

Among the survivors, they found one of the organization's crown jewels; an infant of exceptional potential.  Not wanting to execute or imprison a child, the girl was handed over to Miranda and Samuel Carmichael, two FBI agents recently retired from field work, both with nigh-legendary records in dealing with supercrime.  They'd always wanted a daughter, but between fertility and their careers, they were never able to have one of their own.  With their experience, they were the only people the government could trust to raise this child safely.

They were equipped to monitor, resist, and counter their new daughter Samantha's powers, and raised her with tight discipline and rigid honor, always aiming her towards law enforcement, where her powers could be a massive legal complication.  By all appearances, they've succeeded; their daughter is joining supercriminal investigations fresh out of college.

Personality:
Samantha is, to all appearances, a very straightlaced and charming young lady, and her mental influence reinforces that appearance whenever it is desirable.  She is fully commited to her new duties as an officer of the law, having worked long and hard to get where she is today.  However, despite her parents best efforts to the contrary, she still has a strong streak of arrogance, often seeing those who lack her mental abilities as fun toys to watch and manipulate.  When she thinks she's untouchable, her nature becomes more impish, mining people's minds for juicy gossip or manipulating them for her own amusement.  She feels horrible about it afterward, of course, but it's just too much fun.

Powers:
She can kill you with her brain.  But that would probably end with her parents returning to the field, hunting her down, and arresting her or even killing her, so she tends towards less gruesome methods.  Her abilities are quite broad, allowing her to control, disable, or scan the minds of others, as well as influence the opinions of others- something she does constantly, as naturally as breathing.  She also has limited telekinetic abilities, which she uses both offensively and defensively.

Complications:
Enemy: Samantha's pedigree and abilities make her extremely valuable to the Cult of the Third Eye, and her loss is a grave embarassment to them.  They are willing to go to great lengths to get her back
Obsession: Secrets.  Samantha is not above using her powers to get her hands on information she's not supposed to have, even if it's a very bad idea to do so.
Obsession: Taking a target down is not enough.  Even when a foe is beaten, and even when it's a very bad idea, Samantha often feels compelled to go that extra mile and use her powers to utterly humiliate her enemies in whatever way she feels is appropriate.  This doesn't make her many friends.

Totals: Abilities 12 + Skills 7 (28 ranks) + Feats 3 + Powers 51 + Combat 4 + Saves 13 + Drawbacks 0 = 90

[TheMinstrelKnight]

I would like to point out that 'auto hit' abilities are often times very weak. And also, if you look at a 'mentalist' spread sheet you're going to notice a small flaw with the entire powerset of hers. It's very small, but you'll find it.

Your complications are, for the most part; worthy of being Drawbacks. You could take 6 points for the Obsessions and put them elsewhere. Since apparently they're very, very up there. Each is a 3 point worthy item.

[Bloody Rose]

I have no idea what M&M is at all, first time I heard about it

[Callie Del Noire]

I have no idea what M&M is at all, first time I heard about it

Mutants and Masterminds.. the 2nd edition is regarded by most as the best version.

[Bloody Rose]

no idea what mutants and masterminds is, lol

[Callie Del Noire]

no idea what mutants and masterminds is, lol

http://mutantsandmasterminds.com/

[Katina Tarask]

I would like to point out that 'auto hit' abilities are often times very weak. And also, if you look at a 'mentalist' spread sheet you're going to notice a small flaw with the entire powerset of hers. It's very small, but you'll find it.

Oh good God, I just had a long, drawn-out headache with the, "There is a problem but I'm not going to be more specific than that," thing.  If there's an issue, just say what it is.

Your complications are, for the most part; worthy of being Drawbacks. You could take 6 points for the Obsessions and put them elsewhere. Since apparently they're very, very up there. Each is a 3 point worthy item.

Complications are infinitely more interesting.  And more useful.  M&M is all about the hero point economy, and anything that gets that engine going is good.  I don't look for complications that could be drawbacks instead; I look for drawbacks that could be complications instead.  Particularly since complications coming up get rewarded and drawbacks coming up get punished.

Mutants and Masterminds.. the 2nd edition is regarded by most as the best version.

Where are you getting that from? o.O

I like a lot of the changes 3e/DCA have done, and I haven't heard much but positive things about it, either.

[Ixy]

god. damn. there's a lot of steps in making a character.  I am... er... making this a project for tonight over a bottle of merlot.

[Katina Tarask]

god. damn. there's a lot of steps in making a character.  I am... er... making this a project for tonight over a bottle of merlot.

I can wire you an Excel sheet I use if you think it'll help.  There are a few things it doesn't take into account (mostly powers adding to whatever combat number), but it's pretty good.

[Callie Del Noire]

I like a lot of the changes 3e/DCA have done, and I haven't heard much but positive things about it, either.

I talked to a lot of folks I know who have played it since the first edition came out and the outlook was that the change in mechanics was unneeded, and the requirement for mandatory complications was a bit much to most of us. Not to mention the new attributes aren't needed.

Minor grouses though, and I'm quite happy with all the books I got for 2nd edition so I don't need to start over again.

[TheMinstrelKnight]

Ah, sorry about the 'headache' I caused.  :'( I didn't mean to!

But yeah- just so you know it's the fact that 'auto hitting' also would require a bit of a drawback with it. Since usually it's frowned on to be able to autohit with one or two attacks and defeat an opponent with just those two rolls. Usually- the gaming group I was with had a rather fun mentalist who could send buildings at you.

Such a fun, odd, fight...

The only problem I had seen wasn't a problem but wording. So, nevermind. Dx

[Ixy]

Thanks Katina... I may have the same spreadsheet, but thanks.  :)

[Callie Del Noire]

I use Herolab myself (looking forward to the Mac Native build later this year hopefully!)

[Richardson]

As stated before, I don't have 2e but I do have a fair amount of d20 supplements and experience and wouldn't mind co-GMing if you're still interested in having someone do that.

[Katina Tarask]

I talked to a lot of folks I know who have played it since the first edition came out and the outlook was that the change in mechanics was unneeded, and the requirement for mandatory complications was a bit much to most of us. Not to mention the new attributes aren't needed.

Mandatory complications a bit much?  But... the hero point economy practically revolves around complications, and that's the heart and soul of M&M.

Ah, sorry about the 'headache' I caused.  :'( I didn't mean to!

But yeah- just so you know it's the fact that 'auto hitting' also would require a bit of a drawback with it. Since usually it's frowned on to be able to autohit with one or two attacks and defeat an opponent with just those two rolls. Usually- the gaming group I was with had a rather fun mentalist who could send buildings at you.

You're not the cause of the headache.  That was a train wreck from elsewhere.

And Perception attacks are a long story, but the odds of Sam taking out an enemy in a couple shots aren't much better than anyone else's.  Well, save from Mind Control, but I work under the assumption that Mind Control doesn't work against anyone above minion status until they're beaten the old fashioned way.

[Callie Del Noire]

Mandatory complications a bit much?  But... the hero point economy practically revolves around complications, and that's the heart and soul of M&M.

Well I know that I have several heroes who don't have complications/drawbacks, and I dislike having to make every character I make having mandatory flaws in the mechanics. I think my characters are people and dont' all have to have some cripppling or debilitating point just for more points. One of my favorite characters is a brick, she's bright bubbly and I don't see a need to tack on points to make things up.

<shrug>

It's a personal quirk. Aside from that I didn't think that 2nd edition was 'broke' enough to merit a new system mechanic.

[Katina Tarask]

Well I know that I have several heroes who don't have complications/drawbacks, and I dislike having to make every character I make having mandatory flaws in the mechanics. I think my characters are people and dont' all have to have some cripppling or debilitating point just for more points. One of my favorite characters is a brick, she's bright bubbly and I don't see a need to tack on points to make things up.

"Complications" and "crippling disorders" are two entirely different things.  A complication can be as big or as minor as you please, and come up as rarely or as often as you please (well, in the case of enemies, it's as often as the GM please, but I digress).  They certainly don't make a character less of a person,

For example, being a bit too trusting and averse to killing are perfectly valid complications, and paired with the simple motivation of doing good may not change anything at all about your brick.  How often are those an issue?  Other than being trusting, probably not often in most four-color games.  As for trusting, that's a problem precisely as often as you please, in precisely the manner in which you please.  The more it comes up, the more hero points you get, but you're still in control.  None of those complications are crippling or imposing, but they're still complications.

[Callie Del Noire]

Well be that as it may, M&M 2e is my favored system and I hope we didn't scare our GM away. :D

I really would love to play Reon sometime. Eventually.

Ever.

[TheMinstrelKnight]

I figured how to get my Equipment... Even without my Equipment Feat.

Huzzah.

[Callie Del Noire]

I figured how to get my Equipment... Even without my Equipment Feat.

Huzzah.

So you WILL be running around with artillery?

[Maegan]

Well be that as it may, M&M 2e is my favored system and I hope we didn't scare our GM away. :D

I really would love to play Reon sometime. Eventually.

Ever.

I'm still around, just haven't had a chance to go over the character sheets and didn't have anything to add to the conversation.

[Ixy]

So many choices, too. Pitching a speedster by tomorrow.

[TheMinstrelKnight]

Would anyone like the character sheet spread I use in Excel? I can link it to you and it's a fairly good usable spread sheet. :>

[Callie Del Noire]

Would anyone like the character sheet spread I use in Excel? I can link it to you and it's a fairly good usable spread sheet. :>

I use Herolab.

[Ixy]

Looking back, I think I was making this process more complicated than it needed to be.  However, I'm not entirely sure I did everything correctly and, once I have a little more spare time, I will re-process the character to fine-tune it.  Right now, it's out of the rough draft stage and up for revision.  Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
"Swift" (Katie Hill) <a href=http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=273390>(link to mythweavers)</a>

Age: 19      Ht: 5'6      Wt: 120       
Meas: 34-25-36     
Hair: Violet/Blonde (dyed)     
Skin: Light tan

Toughness	7
Fortitude	8
Reflex	8
Will	5
Defense	6
Initiative	26
Attack	6

Hero Points: 1

Abilities:
STR 12
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 8

Skills:

Acrobatics	2	(+4)
Bluff	0	(-1)
Climb	2	(+2)
Computers	1	(+1)
Concentration	0	(+0)
Craft*	0	(+0)
Diplomacy	0	-1
Disable Device	1	(+1)
Disguise	0	(-1)
Drive	1	+3
Escape Artist	1	(+3)
Gather Info	0	(-1)
Handle Animal	0	-1
Intimidate	0	-1
Investigate	3	+3
Knowledge: History	2	(+2)
Language	1	Spanish
Medicine	0	(+0)
Notice	1	(+1)
Perform	0	(-1)
Pilot	0	(+2)
Profession	0	(+0)
Ride	0	(+2)
Search	3	(+3)
Sense Motive	0	(+0)
Sleight of Hand	0	(+2)
Stealth	0	(+2)
Survival	0	(+0)
Swim	1	(+1)

Powers

Name	Rank	Action	Range	Duration
Strike	6	Standard	Touch	Instant
-Array: Trip	6	Standard	Touch	Instant
-Array: Stun	6	Standard	Touch	Instant
Regeneration	6	Reaction	Personal	Permanent
Super Speed	6	Move	Personal	Sustained
-Array: Deflect	6	Defense	Touch	Instant
-Array: Leaping	6	Move	Personal	Instant

Feats

Name	Description
Power Feat: Persistent Regeneration	Can heal abnormal damage types.
Power Feat: Rapid Fire (Super Speed)	Can can throw small objects, damage=power rank+Autofire
Power Feat: Rapid Attack	melee attack vs ANY opponents (power rank × 5 ft) radius
Attractive	+2Benefit to Bluff and Diplomacy

[Katina Tarask]

I plugged Swift into my spreadsheet and here's what I found.

Toughness is also capped at power level, not power level plus five.

Climb is off.  If you invested two ranks and have +1 strength, that should be +3.

You get four skill ranks for one power point.  I count 19 skill ranks, so you have a floating rank.

Powers are where it gets real sticks.  Short version?  You're, like, twenty-five points over.

First, the strike array.  The most expensive power is the base, and all alternate powers are an extra point.  Stun costs two points per rank, so Stun 6 costs 12 points, and two alternate powers would bring that array up to 14 points.

Super-Speed is the big one; that costs five points per rank.  So rank six Super-Speed costs thirty poins, and adding in two alternate powers makes thirty-two.

Regeneration is... more complicated than just "rank X."  You kinda buy from a menu.  If you have Ultimate Power, look at that, since it explains regeneration more clearly, but in short?  You need to allocate those ranks of regeneration.  Regeneration can either give you a bonus to constitution checks made to recover (those're DC10), or it can shorten the rest time required to make a recovery check.  With 6 ranks of regeneration, you could make recovery checks against bruises and injuries with a full round action resting and get a +1 bonus to your recovery check on top of your constitution bonus.  (Also, unless you're gonna splurge and go all the way to no-rest regeneration, which you probably can't afford, it may be better-suited as an alternate effect on super-speed, since you need to rest to use it.)

Power feats are traditionally treated as a part of the powers themselves, not independent feats.

Attractive is +4 Diplomacy/Bluff with appropriate targets.

Now, then.  Advice!

You need to trim some stuff down since, like I said, you're currently twenty-five points over.  For starters, not all your defense needs to come from straight-up base defense.  You can drop some base defense for Dodge Focus, which is cheaper.  You're in bad shape if you're ever caught by surprise, but that's a standard speedster weakness.

Also, the game allows trade-offs between attack and effect rank, as well as defense versus toughness.  As a style thing, speedsters tend to be dodgy and thus have more defense (likely mostly from Dodge Focus) than attack.  Even going to something like 2 base defense, Dodge Focus 8 (for a total of 10, with 1 flat-footed), and only your base 2 Toughness from constitution isn't unreasonable.

However, as a point-saving thing, speedsters also usually have low-damage powers that are more accurate.  If you instead had, say, +8 attack with rank 4 damage powers, or even +10 attack with rank 2 damage powers (including Super-Speed, which would still be enough to keep Deflect 6 and Leaping 6 as alternate effects).  With Super-Speed and Stun dropped down to 2, you're most of the way there, and you can buy back your land speed with a few ranks of the regular 1pp/rank Speed power outside the array.

[Ixy]

yeah, I'll get back to you on that if this game actually starts.

[Maegan]

I'm still planning to start it, have just been brushing up on the rules and waiting to see if there was anymore interest.  I will probably put up a character sheet thread tonight (and maybe an IC intro thread), and start checking everyone's math once characters are posted in it.

[Ixy]

Regarding the character: It's no surprise that things are out of balance; the spreadsheet was pretty lame.  With caps: still need tweaking, sure.  Abilities: probably my translating from spreadsheet by hand, will fix.  Stun: probably just my overlooking something, easy enough to remove or fix.  Regeneration: duh, was just trying to lock down the basics and the feat.  Re: damage vs. dodge: it's all velocity, so I see no reason to have both interlaced. 

It's a nooby superhero mock-up, sure.  Thanks for pointing that out publicly.  As for the character powers, yeah, I will level it out; nooby superheroes will have feats missing, lower caps, etc.  But I think at least the fundamentals are there and fixable, so at least Maegan has a good idea what role I'd be filling (if accepted as a player).

[Maegan]

The OOC thread is here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=97425.0
The character sheet thread is here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=97426.0

I'm not thrilled with the name :P and may change it, but it is all I have been able to come up with so far. 

Please post your character sheets in that thread and I will start going over them.  I will try to post an introduction IC thread in a day or two. 

[Muse]

Would you enjoy this guy in your game? 


   Growing up was not the happiest thing for Wilson Laslowe.  He was, as his name might suggest, a complete and hopeless nerd.  Computer literate, skinny as a pre-pubescent scarecrow, never good enough at sports, a gamer, and—worst of all—only son of a single mother whom he loved very much and actually enjoyed spending time with. 
   Will took heart that one day he would be a powerful super being like his mother Shanna.  Surely any day now he would explode into an anthropomorphic cheetah himself and finally learn what it was like too run!  Or, better yet, into a tiger man, nine feet tall and mighty beyond all measure!   
   All adolescence brought the scrawny boy was pimples and simmering resentment.  Why had his mother gone into retirement anyway?  Why play games with him when she could be outrunning racecars?  Why work that boring library job when she could be on call full time for the government? 
   On his fifteenth birthday, Will exploded at his eternally patient mother over something infinitely stupid.  In a desperate attempt to get a rise out of her, he demanded to know who his father was so he could ask him for a better name. 
   She did far worse than shout.  Shanna turned so horribly pale before walking into her room and closing the door that Will’s heart seized up. Tears burned in his eyes as he stalked up to his own bedroom to stare at pictures of himself and his mother from happier days. 
Then he turned to his computer to look up articles on his mother before her retirement. 
   She was called the Tawny Blur when she streaked down the streets of New York fighting crime as a fur clad cheetah girl.  Her friends in the hero community called her Purr, which got out too the fans and she didn’t stop from sticking.  Will had never dug deeper than that. 
   Now he did.  The internet made it frighteningly easy.  It was a popular topic of scandalous photos and worse adolescent fiction, the time when the innocent heroine had become beguiled by her arch nemesis Mordred deMagus.  In the months she spent as henchgirl to the World’s Mightiest Evil Sorcerer, she became pregnant, but the Blur escaped his hypnotic enchantments in time to throw deMagus into his own portal before Horrible Creatures from Beyond Infinity could Eat New York. 
   As his numb fingers flew over the keyboard, revealing truth after ugly truth, Will found that this whole horrible time happened a few months after the loss of Tawny’s father. 
   He found the incident now.  A year earlier, an extra-terrestrial’s ship had crash landed and was suffering a core breach that threatened to irradiate Wyoming.   The repairs, the ship’s telepath explained, would take hours.  A super speedster—a cheetah-shifter--arrived at the scene and demanded that the telepath guide him through the procedure.  Though they succeeded, the speedster died of cancer within a year. 
   
His grandfather, Wilson Laslow. 

Wilson crawled into bed with his mother that night and she held him as he cried himself too sleep, gasping apologies.   He never answered to Will again. 

Determined to follow in the family tradition, Wilson redoubled his efforts in school and athletics, but he still played video games with his mother and RPGs with some friends.  One day he came across a box of his father’s affects mothballed in a friend’s parent’s secret lair where they were gaming, using the hollo-table for a miniatures grid. 
Digging around, he located a bunch of things that didn’t make sense, but one thing to cool to leave.  An ancient icosahedron numbered 1 to 20 carved of bronze. 
Three days later, he dug it out of his pocket on the way back from school.  Becoming so engrossed in the artifact that he wasn’t quick enough to dive for cover when the latest super-skirmish came through, he caught a zot!  Wilson found his hair standing on end and power surging out of the ancient d20 and into his body. 
Wilson spread his arms, lifted into the air, and then the bronze embed in his forehead and was gone.  When he woke up in the hospital, there was no sign of it.  He spent the next few weeks dreaming of a book written in Greek, that he could somehow read. 
At the library a few weeks later he realized the copy of the Odyssey he was reading was not a translation!  The revelation that he could read Ancient Greek caused him to search out more books in that language.  Finally his search read him to close his eyes. 
The eye on his forehead opened.  The one that was basically a tattoo of an eye with a tiny bronze 20 sided dice for a pupil. 
In this fashion, he could see a book.  It proved too be the Grimorum Pythagorium, a comprehensive book of spells written by the founder of western geometry!  By studying it, he could eventually learn to do almost anything, including make talismans that would keep him on par with super-gazetteers, provided he had a steady supply of numbered perfect polyhedrons in various colors. 
The Polyhedral Prestidigator was born! 

90+1-80
--Attributes:   14 
--Saves:   18
--Powers:   28
--Feats      10
--Skills      10

Strength   12 +1
Dexterity   10 +0
Constitution   12 +1
Intelligence   18 +4
Wisdom   12 +1
Charisma   10 +0

Fortitude   6+1   =d20+7
Reflex      4   =d20+4
Will      6+1   =d20+7
Toughness:   -+1+5   =d20+6   

Attack   0   (Fencing +4, Polyhedral Thaumaturgy +6)
Defense:   10+1+5   =16

Polyhedral Thaumaturgy (13):  (This array contains 12 point powers derived from magic.  They all have the same limitation, using them requires an appropriate combination of numbered, colored, perfect polyhedrons, which are consumed in the casting.)   
--Fog of Forgetfulness
--Invisibility
--Fireball
--Levin Bolt
--Light of Revelation
--Sleep
--Teleport
--

Item: Bracelets (4):  These magic bracelets provide Armor 5.   
Item: Bag of holding (3): This crown royal bag accesses a Rank 5 pocket dimension.   
Item: Magic Ring (8):   When worn, this magic ring deflects attacks, providing +5 defense.   


FEATS (13):
Artificer
Attack Specialization: Polyhedral Thaumaturgy X3
Attack Specialization: Fencing X2
Eidetic Memory
Equipment X2
Improved Critical: Polyhedral ThaumturgyX3
Perk: Connected
Precise Shot


SKILLS (11): 
Bluff            4+0   =
Diplomacy         4+0   =
Drive            4+0   =
Investigate         6+4   =
K. Arcane Lore      6+4   =
K.             6+4   =
K. All others:         0+4   =d20+4
Perception         4+1   =
Profession: Game Desinger   4+0   =
Search            6+4   =


COMPLICATIONS: 
-1   Wilson is legally blind without his glasses, but cannot stand contacts. 

[Maegan]

That sounds fine if you'd like to join :-)  Interesting concept.