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View Full Version : DM Help Mutants and Masterminds: The First Go-Around



ElFi
2016-01-14, 02:41 PM
Hey all. I'm new to both this site (as a user, anyway), and to being a roleplayer, so I figured I'd put this up as my very first post. My friends and I have been interested in starting a roleplaying campaign as-of recent, so I decided to take the first step and purchased a copy of Mutants and Masterminds second edition. I'm reasonably versed in the system now (though still have a lot to learn and I mean a LOT), but my players are complete newbies when it comes to this sort of thing, and obviously are going to need a little help.

Our first session takes place in a week or two, so if anybody has some last-minute advice to share (particularly on the subject of making and using maps) I'd love to hear it. Thanks.

noob
2016-01-14, 05:06 PM
1: Arrays are scary make sure players do not abuse them(arrays of arrays of arrays and so on allows to get 1024 powers in some split seconds)
2: We can tell the same thing from stacking cost mitigation for powers avoid them or your player will create universes with one action at PL1 ten years before you understand his build is 100% legit.(in the rules there is a possibility to cap the mitigations)
3: Do not let a player have a way to have 50 different powers for different purposes unless all the players agree to play a game where everyone have 50 different powers for different purposes.(morph is one way so watch players taking that)
4: If a player take summon rank X be ready to see countless waves of super chtulu invading multiverses all under the control of the player(understanding how the rules allows that needs either a PHD or being a player too)
5: inventing is an Evil tactic players use to have all the powers simultaneously: if you see a player taking QUICKNESS for inventing simply say NO.
6:Immunity with mitigations chosen in the list of general mitigations is a NO most of the time because else with 45 points the player becomes immortal and they will get back 25 points from the stats they can lower immediately and all his summons will be too.
None of those holds if you want Omnipotent players ruling the multiverse forever without having ever any problem.
Then there is the scenario and stuff of this kind.
Players will follow the scenario only and uniquely if you ask the player to do that but else he will strand from it in less than a quarter of second(it is an universal rule in RPGS)
Else they will try to have a solution and it might nearly surely surprise you.

ElFi
2016-01-14, 05:23 PM
1: Arrays are scary make sure players do not abuse them
2: We can tell the same thing from stacking cost mitigation for powers avoid them or your player will create universes with one action at PL1 ten years before you understand his build is 100% legit.
3: Do not let a player have a way to have 50 different powers for different purposes unless all the players agree to play a game where everyone have 50 different powers for different purposes.
4: If a player take summon rank X be ready to see countless waves of super chtulu invading multiverses all under the control of the player
5: inventing is an Evil tactic players use to have all the powers simultaneously: if you see a player taking QUICKNESS for inventing simply say NO.
None of those holds if you want Omnipotent players ruling the multiverse forever without having ever any problem.
Then there is the scenario and stuff of this kind.
Players will follow the scenario only and uniquely if you ask the player to do that but else he will strand from it in less than a quarter of second(it is an universal rule in RPGS)

As of yet, I don't think any of these problems have really come up.

Like I said, all of my players are inexperienced noobs like myself. They number four in total, and all of them had pretty simple ideas about what their characters can do (the group's gravity-manipulator repeatedly turned down my offers to add the Flight power to his power-set, for one glaring example). One member of the group, whose PC is a chlorokinetic that can bestow sentience to plants, DOES have the Summon Minion power, but I've limited it to a five minion maximum, and he hasn't opted to take the Horde (i.e. Zerg Rush) feat. Far as I can tell (which admittedly isn't particularly far), none of them have OP builds or even particularly optimized ones, and none of them have inventing or crafting skills built-in. Thanks for the advice, though, I'll hold onto it in the event that my players become more savvy.