M&M 3rd Edition: Need help with crunch/flavor for Final Villains

[Callos_DeTerran]

I'm going to give a bit of set-up because I think the more details I provide, the more other people will be able to help me. I am currently running a shounen (specifically Fairy Tail) game using the Mutants and Masterminds system but the thing is...I have very, very little experience with the system. I have been in exactly two M&M games (that was a single session in one case) before running this game and I'm still very, very green to it all. So green in fact that...I've been having a ton of trouble coming up with stats for my final BBEG NPCs. Normally this isn't a problem because my games are very role-play heavy and when it isn't I've been able to get by with improvising stats and using various M&M with statted out NPCs in them that I've re-skinned as Fairy Tail-esque mages but the problem is...these aren't my books but a friend's and he has read them many times. Sometimes it helps because he can guide things, subtly, in-game if he recognizes an NPC I'm using and knows the PCs are currently outclassed by them but it can also be frustrating cause at times. I don't want him to have a solid understanding of what the BBEGs can do or at least not more than his character has so I can't just use a pre-made NPC from his books. Even if I was willing, I have specific ideas in mind but no real concrete idea on how to implement them.

So...I figured I would try to get some help here to give my villains the bite to go with their bark, cause I know Playgrounders have better knowledge of the system than I do.

The Villains I need help with are...

Mary: This one is definitely one of the more complex ones as she has three different 'angelic forms' that she's twisted to evil and uses to demean and kill her opponents. The first is one that has perverted healing magic, in a very similar way to Ragnorra from the Elder Evils 3.5 book in that it revolves around 'over-healing' someone to their detriment. The second is supposed to be a very fiery sun-like angel that expresses 'ranged dominance'.

Lamashtu: This one I think I know how to stat...this villainess has constructed something she calls the 'All-Spell' which lets her absorb and copy magic directed at her which...is just Variable power, right? But I still want to give her some 'signature' spells that she tends to favor.

Clyde: ...I actually just need ideas in general for this man. x.x I know his personality (think Kimberly from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) and I know his relation to the PCs...what I don't know is what he does aside from 'probably sometime terrible'.

Zaxt: How do you make melee cool in M&M and more than just 'I attack again?' How do you do it for an incredibly speedy individual? I mean, I've seen examples for a physical powerhouse but not a speedy type.

Bepo: Anyone have cool ideas for killer music? ...And how to actually create killer music? ...Cause I don't, right now all I know is Bepo is a magician with a flute who has learned how to kill people with music.

The big problem is I have half-formed ideas about how to combine various powers together but...little practical knowledge about how they interact or how to build them so they do what I need them too. So, please, if you have ideas and want to help I would really appreciate it. And I would also appreciate a breakdown of what powers make up said idea and a brief breakdown of how using it might work (like, how to resolve it rules-wise).

[Grod_The_Giant]

So one good thing about M&M is that it's pretty easy to fake things. Power Level coverth a multitude of sins-- as long as you know your villain's PL, you know about what their DCs should be. And since you don't need to count points, you don't need to stat out their powers properly. Just follow the basic templates for offensive abilities (Damage, Affliction, Weaken... and I guess sort of also Create and Nullify), plug in the right numbers on the fly and roll.


Mary: This one is definitely one of the more complex ones as she has three different 'angelic forms' that she's twisted to evil and uses to demean and kill her opponents. The first is one that has perverted healing magic, in a very similar way to Ragnorra from the Elder Evils 3.5 book in that it revolves around 'over-healing' someone to their detriment. The second is supposed to be a very fiery sun-like angel that expresses 'ranged dominance'.
So your basic setup would be Morph 2, Metamorph 3, allowing you to change into three different forms, each with different point distributions.

For the first, it sounds like a fairly standard offensive setup-- could be pure damage, or Weaken, or an appropriate Affliction even, with your choice of modifier (though Secondary Effect might be a good choice for all of them). You could potentially link them to some sort of Enhanced trait for added fun-- say Weaken Stamina linked to Enhanced Strength, Affects Only Others-- so that the heroes are "healing" but dying from overload at the same time.
For the second, ranged fire blasts would be damage, with assorted modifiers-- Secondary Effect for a clinging napalm, Area for huge fireballs, Multiattack for wild sprays... for the "dominance" aspect, maybe link a slowing Affliction and toss out some flaming cages with Create linked to Reaction Damage.



Lamashtu: This one I think I know how to stat...this villainess has constructed something she calls the 'All-Spell' which lets her absorb and copy magic directed at her which...is just Variable power, right? But I still want to give her some 'signature' spells that she tends to favor.
So... do both? We can stat out ideas if you have them, but the signature spells would be pretty much up to you. "All-spell" would be easy, though-- Immunity (Magic), and just write down whatever power the player just used.


Clyde: ...I actually just need ideas in general for this man. x.x I know his personality (think Kimberly from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) and I know his relation to the PCs...what I don't know is what he does aside from 'probably sometime terrible'.
I don't know the character in question, but for "something weird and terrible," how about manipulating the Strong Force that holds nucli together? Letting him increase or decrease the density of things, to the point of explosive fission? I made a character like that. He had a super-dense armored form and an insubstantial ghostly one, as well as this array:

Dust to Dust: Transformation 10 (Anything to nothing- 3/rank), Continuous
Disintegrate: Perception Weaken Toughness 10, Also Affects Objects
Explosive Decompression: Perception Burst Damage 10
Defensive Unbinding: Immunity 20 (Physical), Also Affects Others
Increase Binding: Perception Affliction 10 (Impaired and Vulnerable, Disabled and Defenseless, Paralyzed; Fort)



Zaxt: How do you make melee cool in M&M and more than just 'I attack again?' How do you do it for an incredibly speedy individual? I mean, I've seen examples for a physical powerhouse but not a speedy type.
Stunts. You write up special martial arts techniques and big splashy strength stuff as Alternate Effects. Things like ground-pounds, throws, damage-plus-afflictions, that sort of thing. Speedsters can add on more stuff-- running fast enough to create whirlwinds and vortexes, grabbing custom weapons in the blink of an eye, things of that nature. My last speedster's array was as follows:

Vacuum[/B- Close Cylinder Affliction 10 (Fatigued -> Exhausted -> Incapacitated, Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude), Cumulative
[B]Whirlwind Attack- Str-Based Damage 9, Burst Area on Damage 10, Selective on 10, Alternate Resistance: Defense
Mach Speed- Speed 21 (total 29), Movement 3 (Permeate), Quickness 8 , limited to physical actions (total 12)
I Dodge It- Immunity 60 (Defense-based effects, Perception-Attacks, Area Attacks, Concentration Duration), Quirk: not against surprise attacks, Reaction Speed 1
In Two Places- Summon 10 (Duplicate), Heroic, Mental Link, Feedback

And a martial artist

Akido- Reaction Affliction 7 (Resisted by Ref, Overcome by Fort, Vulnerable, Prone)
Flurry- Multiattack on up to Damage 12, Variable descriptor 1: any melee Damage effect (Note: this would apply the aforementioned modifiers to any melee damage effect, such as a punch of a sword, of up to damage rank 12)
Perfect Hits- Perception (but not Ranged) on Damage 10, Penetrating 9, Incurable, Variable descriptor 1: any melee damage effect. (as above, but a lower maximum limit)
Hip Throw- Close Affliction 8 (Resisted by Ref, Overcome by Fort; Dazed and Vulnerable, Stunned and Prone), Cumulative
Bone Break- Grab-Based Affliction 8 (Hindered and Impaired, Immobilized and Disabled, Incap, resisted and overcome by Fort), Cumulative
Assessment- Perception Affliction 10 (Vulnerable and Impaired, resisted and overcome by Fighting), extra condition, double limited degree, limited: only against you, Subtle, Insidious



Bepo: Anyone have cool ideas for killer music? ...And how to actually create killer music? ...Cause I don't, right now all I know is Bepo is a magician with a flute who has learned how to kill people with music.
There are plenty of archetypes there: solid sound constructs are pretty common, you could just do terrible ultrasound stuff for disorientation and shattering stuff, you could do some sort of psychic mind control/emotional damage, you could do some sort of "the universe is vibrations and I can cancel them out" disintegration, you could have people hallucinate terribly (to the point of creating Phantasmal Killer type effects)... what's your pleasure?

[Aleolus]

Might I suggest looking at the BESM books? It is a roleplay system quite similar to M&M, but with the feel behind it being anime rather than comic books. Conversion between the two would be largely academic, I think

[Sith_Happens]

Grod_The_Giant already covered almost everything specific I wanted to say, so I'll just throw in a general reminder that what a power looks like and even how it works are mostly just fluff. To use a Fairy Tail example, Fire Dragon's Roar and Sky Dragon's Roar are both Cone Area Damage, the only difference between them is which one a Sky God Slayer can eat. That and the fire user is easier to throw complications at ("You've used too much power and now the whole building is burning down, take a hero point").:smallwink:

[Beleriphon]

Bepo: Anyone have cool ideas for killer music? ...And how to actually create killer music? ...Cause I don't, right now all I know is Bepo is a magician with a flute who has learned how to kill people with music.

The big problem is I have half-formed ideas about how to combine various powers together but...little practical knowledge about how they interact or how to build them so they do what I need them too. So, please, if you have ideas and want to help I would really appreciate it. And I would also appreciate a breakdown of what powers make up said idea and a brief breakdown of how using it might work (like, how to resolve it rules-wise).

Grod has good idea, I once did an Ultimate Dazzler from Ultimate X-Men and just named all of the powers after songs. Worked pretty well, since Purple Haze was crazy-purple-knock-out-gas light.