Mutants and Masterminds - Could someone explain how Shapeshifting works?

[Setra]

My friend decided he wanted to DM a campaign of it randomly and none of us have fully figured out all the rules, but we all seem to have different opinions on how Shapeshifting works.

My boyfriend says you use the points to fully transform into a creature, meaning that if you turn into a Monkey you'd need to spend the 26 points it'd cost to buy all of his stats, skills, advantages, etc.

My GM seems to think it's much stronger, you could just say "I turn my arm into a bear arm and gain x strength and close combat".

My opinion is that you can say do a partial shift into a bear, and increase your stats by up to the Bear's maximum, basically you CAN buy their stats but aren't forced to buy all of them.

[Lord Raziere]

well......I'll assume we're talking abut 3rd edition, since thats the only one I know of.

There are multiple ways you can shapeshift.

first there is Morph, where its simple: you fully stat out the forms you can shapeshift into and switch between the various stats you have when you shapeshift.

or you can choose The Variable Power, with a shapeshifting theme and basically transform however you want.

or you can pick all your powers, then slap the activation flaw on them.

as for partial transformation, that depends on the power. using the bear arm example, that is just Damage.

really, Mutants and Masterminds is an effect based system, all three of you are right, depending on what power effects your using.

[Setra]

well......I'll assume we're talking abut 3rd edition, since thats the only one I know of.

There are multiple ways you can shapeshift.

first there is Morph, where its simple: you fully stat out the forms you can shapeshift into and switch between the various stats you have when you shapeshift.

or you can choose The Variable Power, with a shapeshifting theme and basically transform however you want.

or you can pick all your powers, then slap the activation flaw on them.

as for partial transformation, that depends on the power. using the bear arm example, that is just Damage.

really, Mutants and Masterminds is an effect based system, all three of you are right, depending on what power effects your using.
Yeah, third edition. Specifically there is a power on page 128 made using the Variable Power, that's what I meant by Shapeshift. It's essentially the Variable Power as a Move action with a shapeshifting theme, how does that one work?

Or should I just use the Variable power?

[Lord Raziere]

Shapeshift literally is Variable, you'd be using it anyways. the theme is just fluff. the fluff limiting the powers you can take to what fits the theme, yes but fluff nonetheless.

[Sith_Happens]

Variable basically does anything the GM says it can as dictated by the power's descriptors. The straight-from-the-book Shapeshift power doesn't explicitly specify whether partial transformations are possible but the bit about shifting Ability points around strongly implies that they are.

[smuchmuch]

My boyfriend says you use the points to fully transform into a creature, meaning that if you turn into a Monkey you'd need to spend the 26 points it'd cost to buy all of his stats, skills, advantages, etc.

My GM seems to think it's much stronger, you could just say "I turn my arm into a bear arm and gain x strength and close combat".


If your shapeshift is the classic build on variable power (Variable power with a an action extra and flaw:limited to physical descriptors), then your gM is right.

What your boyfirend is describing sounds more like Morph with the Metamorph extra.