Ursus the Grim
2012-09-18, 09:36 AM
My brother-in-law was interested in starting a small-group game with room for mecha. He's a fan of Gundam, Armored Core, Steel Battalion etc. He's also a fan of TTGL and Evangelion but I don't think he wants to kick it up to that level of super robot.
I looked around (actually found an older thread on here) and the general consensus was that MnM's MnM supplement (I'm going to enjoy doing that) is pretty decent and that a lot of the other systems were extremely unwieldy.
I figured that I should get a full grasp of Mutants and Masterminds (core, 3e) before I delve into that supplement and try to stitch together a game. I was hoping some bored master of the system would stumble across this, see if my line of thinking is on par, and guide me away from failure.
I noticed that everything is about DC. I come from a D&D background, so the premise is pretty familiar, though I nearly choked on my coffee when I noticed only one die was required. 1d20 versus a DC set by the source, with varying degrees of failure (It seems every five units is another degree).
I also noticed that you use point-buy for everything. That is a little weird to me. I'm used to point-buy for the chassis, the abilities, but giving the option to sacrifice your ability scores to get better powers or skills or advantages? That was a little confusing at first, but when I looked at how much of it interacts, it seems pretty balanced, at least from a non-Optimization view. Like any system, I'm sure it could be broken.
Any general tips and suggestions? I'm currently operating off the OGC until I feel grounded in the system enough to purchase it.
Otherwise, I'm going to attempt to create a character, which I will outline in the spoiler below. Because its a lot to ask to ask someone to proof your character, and I'd be more than happy with responses regarding the stuff above.
So, the general concept comes first, no? I'm thinking a general bestial-type close-combat brawler. Kind of like Wolverine I suppose. I want to try and keep things simple, so I'm going to start at PL 5.
Is there a 'golden rule' for suggested overall point distribution among all the catagories? I feel like this is screaming for a 50% into abilities, 25% into skills' type suggestion.
So at level 5, I have 75 character points to work with.
Abilities
I don't think I want to give a superhero subhuman abilities at this point, so I'm going to go with Str 8, Sta 8, Agi 1, Fig 3, Int 0, Awe 2, Pre 3. That sets me back 50 points. Sounds a little steep but its going to be a pretty straightforward character.
Skills
There's a cap of 15 on total modifier for this PL, so I'm going to work with that and move backwards. Appropriate skills for him would be Athletics, Close Combat, Intimidation, Perception and Treatment. Those skills have 'wiggle room' of 7, 12, 12, 13, and 15. If I wanted to optimize each one, I would buy 6, 12, 12, 12, and 14 ranks for a full total of 28 points. But for now I'm going to limit myself so I can invest in other things. Its looking like I went overboard with the abilities scores after all. Later on, I realized I went over budget, so I'm going to cut the fat here.
Athletics 6 ranks
Close Combat 9 ranks
Intimidation 9 ranks
Total of 24, right?
Powers
I already know where I'm going with this, I think. Now, I'm under the impression that you don't come with a particularly impressive *whack* attack, and they explicitly mention razor claws, so here we go.
Totally not a ripoff of Wolverine's Claws
Damage (attack)
Standard Action, Close, Instant
Now, if I'm understanding this correctly, my to-hit and the effect rank combined can't exceed 10 (double PL 5). I'm pretty sure my to-hit is 8, which means I can only put in 2 into effect rank. I'm noticing that effect rank isn't the same thing as overall damage rank, so I believe that if I make this a Str-based effect, the effective damage rank is 10. Meaning if it connects, they have to roll Toughness versus DC 25? And because I only put two ranks into the effect, I'm only down 2 points, right? I can see how most heroes have a ton of powers, as this seems pretty cheap. Then again, its literally just an attack.
Advantages
Wait. These are seriously just 1 point each?
All-out attack (1)
Animal Empathy (1)
Assessment (1)
Benefit (Ambidextrous) (1)
Chokehold (1)
Diehard (1)
Fearless (1)
Improved Grab (1)
Improved Hold (1)
Startle (1)
Takedown (1)
So. . . all of that sets me back 11 points, right? You can see that when he isn't slashing up minions, he's choking them senseless.
All said and done. . . .
I completely overlooked Defenses, which means he's going to be a bit of a glass cannon, but its not like I'm actually going to play him. His Defense Class is only 10, and I can't figure out what his 'saves' are. The srd mentions Fort and Will. I'm not concerned with his overall effectiveness though, just the legality. It looks good to me, and I think in a few weeks I might be able to grasp the rest of the system.
I looked around (actually found an older thread on here) and the general consensus was that MnM's MnM supplement (I'm going to enjoy doing that) is pretty decent and that a lot of the other systems were extremely unwieldy.
I figured that I should get a full grasp of Mutants and Masterminds (core, 3e) before I delve into that supplement and try to stitch together a game. I was hoping some bored master of the system would stumble across this, see if my line of thinking is on par, and guide me away from failure.
I noticed that everything is about DC. I come from a D&D background, so the premise is pretty familiar, though I nearly choked on my coffee when I noticed only one die was required. 1d20 versus a DC set by the source, with varying degrees of failure (It seems every five units is another degree).
I also noticed that you use point-buy for everything. That is a little weird to me. I'm used to point-buy for the chassis, the abilities, but giving the option to sacrifice your ability scores to get better powers or skills or advantages? That was a little confusing at first, but when I looked at how much of it interacts, it seems pretty balanced, at least from a non-Optimization view. Like any system, I'm sure it could be broken.
Any general tips and suggestions? I'm currently operating off the OGC until I feel grounded in the system enough to purchase it.
Otherwise, I'm going to attempt to create a character, which I will outline in the spoiler below. Because its a lot to ask to ask someone to proof your character, and I'd be more than happy with responses regarding the stuff above.
So, the general concept comes first, no? I'm thinking a general bestial-type close-combat brawler. Kind of like Wolverine I suppose. I want to try and keep things simple, so I'm going to start at PL 5.
Is there a 'golden rule' for suggested overall point distribution among all the catagories? I feel like this is screaming for a 50% into abilities, 25% into skills' type suggestion.
So at level 5, I have 75 character points to work with.
Abilities
I don't think I want to give a superhero subhuman abilities at this point, so I'm going to go with Str 8, Sta 8, Agi 1, Fig 3, Int 0, Awe 2, Pre 3. That sets me back 50 points. Sounds a little steep but its going to be a pretty straightforward character.
Skills
There's a cap of 15 on total modifier for this PL, so I'm going to work with that and move backwards. Appropriate skills for him would be Athletics, Close Combat, Intimidation, Perception and Treatment. Those skills have 'wiggle room' of 7, 12, 12, 13, and 15. If I wanted to optimize each one, I would buy 6, 12, 12, 12, and 14 ranks for a full total of 28 points. But for now I'm going to limit myself so I can invest in other things. Its looking like I went overboard with the abilities scores after all. Later on, I realized I went over budget, so I'm going to cut the fat here.
Athletics 6 ranks
Close Combat 9 ranks
Intimidation 9 ranks
Total of 24, right?
Powers
I already know where I'm going with this, I think. Now, I'm under the impression that you don't come with a particularly impressive *whack* attack, and they explicitly mention razor claws, so here we go.
Totally not a ripoff of Wolverine's Claws
Damage (attack)
Standard Action, Close, Instant
Now, if I'm understanding this correctly, my to-hit and the effect rank combined can't exceed 10 (double PL 5). I'm pretty sure my to-hit is 8, which means I can only put in 2 into effect rank. I'm noticing that effect rank isn't the same thing as overall damage rank, so I believe that if I make this a Str-based effect, the effective damage rank is 10. Meaning if it connects, they have to roll Toughness versus DC 25? And because I only put two ranks into the effect, I'm only down 2 points, right? I can see how most heroes have a ton of powers, as this seems pretty cheap. Then again, its literally just an attack.
Advantages
Wait. These are seriously just 1 point each?
All-out attack (1)
Animal Empathy (1)
Assessment (1)
Benefit (Ambidextrous) (1)
Chokehold (1)
Diehard (1)
Fearless (1)
Improved Grab (1)
Improved Hold (1)
Startle (1)
Takedown (1)
So. . . all of that sets me back 11 points, right? You can see that when he isn't slashing up minions, he's choking them senseless.
All said and done. . . .
I completely overlooked Defenses, which means he's going to be a bit of a glass cannon, but its not like I'm actually going to play him. His Defense Class is only 10, and I can't figure out what his 'saves' are. The srd mentions Fort and Will. I'm not concerned with his overall effectiveness though, just the legality. It looks good to me, and I think in a few weeks I might be able to grasp the rest of the system.