So, How Hard Can I Hit Him? [M&M]

[MisterSaturnine]

I just recently came across the Mutants and Masterminds 2nd edition core rulebook, and have been very pleased with its simplicity and versatility so far. I have, however, come across one minor stumbling block, and rather than continue trying to search for this particular rule in futility, I decided to take it to the playground. You see, I'm having trouble finding how much it costs to increase damage bonus. I know the whole increasing the threshold by lowering attack bonus, and I know attack bonus and defense bonus both cost 2 points per +1 (while saves only cost 1 point per +1), but I can't find where it says how much it costs to increase damage bonus. Is it simply defined by your strength score?

[kamikasei]

Damage bonus generally comes from the rank of the power being used. If you just want to make a simple unarmed attack and you haven't bought a Strike or anything to represent it, then yeah, it's your strength bonus.

[MisterSaturnine]

Many thank yous, kind sir.

[Arakune]

Damage/Attack: Power level of your char is the max.

So, unless you use trade of, an PL 10 char can attack at +10 attack and +10 damage max.

[Haven]

There are also a few feats that can increase your damage bonus in certain conditions, for instance "Favored Opponent" (against, well, your favored opponent" or Sneak Attack (against stunned or unaware targets, or ones you've feinted). But yeah, damage mostly comes from Blast or Strike, or related powers.

[jmbrown]

The threshold still applies for powers, right?

Like a PL10 character with defense +1 can only take 9 ranks in protection?

Also, can powers be purchased at 0 points? A lot of 1 point powers can easily be bought at zero by applying a simple flaw.

[kamikasei]

The threshold still applies for powers, right?

Like a PL10 character with defense +1 can only take 9 ranks in protection?

Yep. It's the total bonus, including contributions from powers and feats and so on, that's limited.


Also, can powers be purchased at 0 points? A lot of 1 point powers can easily be bought at zero by applying a simple flaw.

No. If you apply a -1 to a 1-point-per-rank power, it becomes 1-point-per-2-ranks.

[Gralamin]

The threshold still applies for powers, right?

Like a PL10 character with defense +1 can only take 9 ranks in protection?

Also, can powers be purchased at 0 points? A lot of 1 point powers can easily be bought at zero by applying a simple flaw.

That actually makes them 2 ranks per 1 point (Or more ranks per 1 if you put on more flaws).

[Haven]

The threshold still applies for powers, right?

Like a PL10 character with defense +1 can only take 9 ranks in protection?

Also, can powers be purchased at 0 points? A lot of 1 point powers can easily be bought at zero by applying a simple flaw.

Actually, the defense/Toughness threshold starts out as your power level for each, and you can adjust it 1-for-1 from there. So a character can have a total toughness save of +10 and a total defense bonus of +10.

But if a character already has a toughness save of +1 (if they have 12 constitution, for instance), then they can only take 9 ranks of protection, yeah. (Protection increases toughness, not defense)

[Arakune]

There are also a few feats that can increase your damage bonus in certain conditions, for instance "Favored Opponent" (against, well, your favored opponent" or Sneak Attack (against stunned or unaware targets, or ones you've feinted). But yeah, damage mostly comes from Blast or Strike, or related powers.

From MM pg 64, sneak attack.


When you make a surprise attack (see Surprise Attack, page 163),
increase your attack’s damage bonus by +2. You cannot sneak attack an
opponent you cannot accurately perceive (due to concealment) and opponents
immune to critical hits suffer no additional damage. Additional
ranks increase your Sneak Attack damage bonus by +1, to a maximum of
+5. Your total damage bonus is limited by the campaign’s power level.

So even if with +5 sneak attack, at least by that wording, it appears your max damage is still limited by PL. The only one that explicity doesn't mention that sentense is Power attack, but it doesn't let you double the original damage.

[Haven]

From MM pg 64, sneak attack.



So even if with +5 sneak attack, at least by that wording, it appears your max damage is still limited by PL. The only one that explicity doesn't mention that sentense is Power attack, but it doesn't let you double the original damage.

Er...didn't say it could exceed PL :smallconfused: But yeah, those limits are good to remember.

[Tamburlaine]

There are ways to exceed PL limits on damge bonus and the like, but only in certain situations. Autofire, for example.