You Wake Up With Powers... Now What? [M&M 3e]

[prufock]

I'm entertaining the idea of running a very open sandbox-y game with my group. If you've ever entertained those hypothetical questions of "what superpowers would you like to have?" and "what would you do if you had superpowers?" you'll understand the type of game for which I'm aiming.

Basically, the players make PL2 analogues of themselves. None of them have combat training, so their 30 points will mostly be spent on skills, maybe a point or two in certain abilities, a few feats, and some equipment. Then they add 60 more points worth of powers on top of that to make a PL 6 character.

Story: The previous night the affected people were all at the same bar. They're partying, celebrating something. The next morning they wake up at home, possibly hung over, with no memory of how they got home. Over the course of the next day or two, they discover they have powers. Now what do they do with them?

There will be some urges to use their powers for profit, perhaps to use them for common good, maybe hide them, whatever. They may still need to keep their jobs, or they may become famous. They may attract followers or enemies. They might be branded angels or demons or saviours or mutants or nutjobs.

I'm not concerned with the actual mechanism by which they receive powers - it will likely remain a mystery. I haven't conceived of one, and probably won't. It's really just a plot convenience to get to the consequences.

What I AM looking for is some possible plot hooks, keeping in mind this will be a very open-ended game. Anything can happen, but except for a couple dozen people suddenly having superpowers, the world is exactly like ours. I have a few ideas, but I'd like to collect as many as possible to see how the players might respond to certain events, opportunities, setbacks, and so on.

If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it! Thanks.

[Beleriphon]

What I AM looking for is some possible plot hooks, keeping in mind this will be a very open-ended game. Anything can happen, but except for a couple dozen people suddenly having superpowers, the world is exactly like ours. I have a few ideas, but I'd like to collect as many as possible to see how the players might respond to certain events, opportunities, setbacks, and so on.

If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it! Thanks.

If you do this make sure that the players build their own characters, or don't make them build themsleves in M&M. I can be... problematic for a group to do so.

If you want them to be functionally superheroes then you probably want to go with at least PL 8. Make them build PL2 character first (with 30 points), then after you've played for a little while go with the PL increase and the extra points. PL6 is a bit low for this sort of thing since that PL is more akin to an exceptioally skilled person, rather than a person with superpowers. You may find that the players 1) don't max out relevant PL caps making them functionally a lower PL with a bunch of points, 2) don't feel like the characters have superpowers since none of them are at a high enough rank to feel that way, or 3) they dump a bunch of points into an attack effect and keep a +2 to attack bonus to jack the effect rank up to absurd levels.

[prufock]

If you do this make sure that the players build their own characters, or don't make them build themsleves in M&M. I can be... problematic for a group to do so.

They don't need to be exactly similar to themselves. They can have different professions, life situations, and personality traits. However, I do want them to be similar enough that the decisions and actions of the character are what the player would do in that situation. That's really the route I'd like to explore.


If you want them to be functionally superheroes then you probably want to go with at least PL 8.
I'd like to keep this "street level." Judging by the NPC section of the Hero's Handbook, a trained soldier or swat officer has the highest non-super PL at 5. There may be a few real-life people who have abilities that might exceed these - people at the peak of human achievement. However, none of those people can fly, shoot lasers out of their eyes, punch out a rhino, or get hit by a bus and walk away.

I do see what you're saying about caps though. I would talk this over with the group, maybe put them at 7 or 8, or maybe even lower their pre-power level to 1. Maybe that's all they'd need.

[Jay R]

The most obvious plot hook is that they aren't the only ones this happened to. Some street gang in the city has started flying around knocking down buildings.

(Of course, in a Marvel-type universe, the police would automatically blame anybody who has super-powers.)

Scientific groups (including some criminal ones) want to study them to see if it can be duplicated.

The bribes offered to politicians are trivial compared to the ones offered to people with lasers coming out of their eyes.

Thousands of business people want to hire them. Can you tell the legitimate offers from the crooks?

A tiny island nation or small village somewhere threatens to destroy the capital of any nation that doesn't surrender to them within 24 hours.

Even if you know you will never reveal it, the search for the origin of these powers can yield many plots. Is there an exhibit of artifacts from a lost civilization in the museum? Did some laboratory recently invent a bizarre ray? Is there an increase in cancer victims, and are they suing the superheroes? Is there a growing body of people who believe that the heroes are alien doppelgangers murdering humans and taking their places?

[prufock]

The most obvious plot hook is that they aren't the only ones this happened to. Some street gang in the city has started flying around knocking down buildings.

(Of course, in a Marvel-type universe, the police would automatically blame anybody who has super-powers.)
This should be fairly easy to implement. The "event" that grants them their powers is going to happen in a public space, and not all those gifted are going to be do-gooders. Even those who were law-abiding before might crack with the new power, or think that no one can stop them.


Scientific groups (including some criminal ones) want to study them to see if it can be duplicated.
Interesting one. This would only work if at least some of them go public with their abilities. Others might prefer to keep it secret. Definitely an option though.


The bribes offered to politicians are trivial compared to the ones offered to people with lasers coming out of their eyes.

Thousands of business people want to hire them. Can you tell the legitimate offers from the crooks?
Ahhhhh, now there's one that hadn't occurred to me at all! I like it. Again, requires going public (or someone finding out).


A tiny island nation or small village somewhere threatens to destroy the capital of any nation that doesn't surrender to them within 24 hours.
I think I'll steer clear of earth-shattering ideas for this run. These guys aren't necessarily super-heroes, they're just super.


Even if you know you will never reveal it, the search for the origin of these powers can yield many plots. Is there an exhibit of artifacts from a lost civilization in the museum? Did some laboratory recently invent a bizarre ray? Is there an increase in cancer victims, and are they suing the superheroes? Is there a growing body of people who believe that the heroes are alien doppelgangers murdering humans and taking their places?
Good point. The police/feds might come around asking questions.

Thanks for the input.

[The Reverend]

Be careful about powers.

I played in a sandbox style game, homebrewed rule system that the dn came up with that was remarkably similar to m&m when it came out. My character had very minor TK abilities, I couldn't move over a couple pounds of material, but I could do so with pinpoint accuracy, inside of objects and people, and to a couple dozen separate items at once. Basically I dealt with threats by closing off peoples carotid artery and making them black out, cooking off ammo in their clip, pulling out sparkplug wires and gas lines, closing eyelids, pinching nerves, etc. I was viciously effective and i went for almost a dozen game sessions before the rest of the party figured out what was going on in character or out. I had discussed my strategies with the dm and allowed him to role for me so that my superpowers remained secret.

The dm finally put us in a situation where my options were use my powers openly or kill myself and a couple team mates.

[prufock]

Be careful about powers.

I played in a sandbox style game, homebrewed rule system that the dn came up with that was remarkably similar to m&m when it came out. My character had very minor TK abilities, I couldn't move over a couple pounds of material, but I could do so with pinpoint accuracy, inside of objects and people, and to a couple dozen separate items at once. Basically I dealt with threats by closing off peoples carotid artery and making them black out, cooking off ammo in their clip, pulling out sparkplug wires and gas lines, closing eyelids, pinching nerves, etc. I was viciously effective and i went for almost a dozen game sessions before the rest of the party figured out what was going on in character or out. I had discussed my strategies with the dm and allowed him to role for me so that my superpowers remained secret.

All of these would be fine uses, in my opinion. The fun for the players might be to see what they CAN do; the fun for me as a DM is to see what they WILL do.

Besides which, the M&M rules deal with this quite efficiently and effectively. The DC of saves versus your powers is limited, as is the max bonus to a particular save.