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View Full Version : Player Help Mutants and Masterminds 3E: Help with arrays, please?



roushguy
2016-03-19, 06:33 AM
The long and short of it is, I simply don't know how much an array will cost my character. If I wanted to make an Allan Quatermain-alike, how much would it cost for me to have an array of powers related to my shooting? For instance, one that punches through things, one that can shoot around corners (Ricochet) and one that can hit multiple targets (Multiattack) The PL is 8, do array powers hinder the actual level of a power? Do flaws/advantages? I'm kind of confused by this and don't want to screw up, would love some help.

prufock
2016-03-19, 09:13 AM
Arrays aren't that hard once you get the hang of them. Basically, an array is a set of alternate effects which you can only use one at a time. They should be thematically linked (so different shooting effects are a good example). You pay full cost for the highest-cost power in an array (no alternate effect can cost more than the main power), and only one point for each alternate effect. It isn't necessary to buy all the extras you want as separate alternates, though. For example, I would probably set your gun up as follows.

So for example, your gun power could be built as follows:
Damage (Ranged, Ricochet 2, Penetrating 6) 8 (24 points)
Alternate Effect: Damage (Ranged, Multiattack) 8 (1 point)

You could add other alternates to this, as long as each alternate effect costs no more than 24 points. For example, Damage 8 (close) would cost 8 points and could represent butting them with the rifle or using an attached bayonet. You could have Damage (Ranged, Burst Area) 8 for exploding bullets as another, or Damage (Ranged, Homing 8) 8 for heat-seeking bullets.

Because this is a gun, you'd probably also have it as a Device (easy to remove), which saves you 2 points per 5 spent on the total array cost. So at 25 points for the array, you actually get 10 back, costing only 15. If you have 5 more alternates, you'd get 2 more points back.

Beleriphon
2016-03-19, 10:15 AM
The long and short of it is, I simply don't know how much an array will cost my character. If I wanted to make an Allan Quatermain-alike, how much would it cost for me to have an array of powers related to my shooting? For instance, one that punches through things, one that can shoot around corners (Ricochet) and one that can hit multiple targets (Multiattack) The PL is 8, do array powers hinder the actual level of a power? Do flaws/advantages? I'm kind of confused by this and don't want to screw up, would love some help.

To answer your question, when figuring out an array you always figure out how much each power adds up to on their own with flaws, advantages and extras as a whole. Then you would compare them to each other and assign the most expensive one as the "base" power (or just pick one if there are several that have the same cost), and all other cost 1 point each as an Alternate Effect of the base power. In essence no alternate effect can cost more than the base power cost including all flaws, extras, and advantages.

Lets say we take Albrecht Fourhands the famed Great White Hunter, armed with his elephant gun.

He has a powerful gun shot, he can load a round that will blow a hole straight through four charging pachyderms, fire with such exceptional alacrity that he can attack multiple miscreants, and even bounce his shots around corners! Fantastic!

His attacks would look add up as follows if done as individual effects:

.70 cal Elephant Gun - Ranged Damage 6 (12 points)
Trigger Work - Ranged Multiattack Damage 6 (18 points)
Armour Piercer - Penetrating Ranged Damage 6 (12 points + 6 points for Penetrating = 18 points)
Trick Shot - Ranged Damage 6 + Ricochet 2 (12 points + 2 points for Ricochet = 14 points)

Since Mr. Fourhands needs at the point savings he can get (his Survival skill needs to be just a bit higher) we'll turn his shooting into an array. What we do is take the most expensive power (I'll use Trigger Work) and that's our base. All other powers cost one point each when added to the base as part of an Array. So Albrecht's array would look something like this:

Elephant Gun Array (21 points total):
Trigger Work - Ranged Multiattack Damage 6 (18 points)
Alternate Effect: Armour Piercer - Penetrating Ranged Damage 6 (1 point)
Alternate Effect: Trick Shot - Ranged Damage 6 + Ricochet 2 (1 point)
Alternate Effect: .70 cal Elephant Gun - Ranged Damage 6 (1 point)

JustIgnoreMe
2016-03-19, 11:36 AM
That last slot in the array is never going to get used, though: it offers no benefit that the other slots don't already have (it's just straight Damage 6). You could have Damage 9 for the 18 points the slot could in theory have, but that's above your Power Level. Maybe add another different advantage.

Beleriphon
2016-03-19, 02:32 PM
That last slot in the array is never going to get used, though: it offers no benefit that the other slots don't already have (it's just straight Damage 6). You could have Damage 9 for the 18 points the slot could in theory have, but that's above your Power Level. Maybe add another different advantage.

True enough, I'd probably add a few ranks of Extended Range.

noob
2016-03-19, 02:58 PM
The long and short of it is, I simply don't know how much an array will cost my character. If I wanted to make an Allan Quatermain-alike, how much would it cost for me to have an array of powers related to my shooting? For instance, one that punches through things, one that can shoot around corners (Ricochet) and one that can hit multiple targets (Multiattack) The PL is 8, do array powers hinder the actual level of a power? Do flaws/advantages? I'm kind of confused by this and don't want to screw up, would love some help.

As long as you are not nesting arrays and put only powers related to each other arrays are simple.
The default of an array is that if you use one power you can not use the other powers simultaneously(so do not put fly and shoot in the same array because else you will not be able to shoot while flying)
For making an array take N powers and put all of them in the array and then you can use powers of the array but only one at a time.
The cost of an array is the cost of the most costly power of the array + the number of powers in the array -1(with a minimum cost of 1)

JustIgnoreMe
2016-03-19, 07:03 PM
True enough, I'd probably add a few ranks of Extended Range.
Perfect! So then you've got a long-range (almost sniper) shot, to go with the armour-piercing and rapid-fire options.