Mutants and Masterminds v2, Favorite Builds

[myancey]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone had any great builds they enjoyed playing in Mutants and Masterminds v2? I'm trying to piece together ideas, and it'll be my first time playing. Wanted to see what others came up with.

Thanks.

[prufock]

I don't have a specific build to offer, just suggestions. The M&M system is flexible enough to build pretty much whatever you want, though point totals can restrict you.

Tip 1: Have some fast transportation ability. Whether flight, speed, leaping, teleporting, or a vehicle of some sort, you'll want to be able to keep up with your teammates. Too much "speed of plot" can hurt your believability in a story.

Tip 2: Have some alternate powers that affect different saves. For example you can have a projectile that fires solid slugs (Blast, toughness), with an AP for viscous blobs (Snare, reflex).

Tip 3: Don't be too ambitious with the build - you'll end up spreading yourself too thin if you try to do too much.

Atomicthinktank.com has lots of comic book hero builds. MDSnowman and BARON have lists of builds.

Apart from a few powers that are broken at higher ranks, M&M is very well-balanced, and concept is more important than specific builds.

[Terraoblivion]

Generalized builds aren't really possible as it depends on what the theme of the game is and what the GM wants and doesn't want to include. In one of my current games the only powers beyond our standard issue, mass-produced mecha were minor psychic powers like danger sense and sensing other psychics. The mecha were similarly designed to mostly use plausible'ish weaponry like machine guns, rocket launchers, dazzling flares and similar. Another game, that's sadly been on hiatus right before the final battle for almost a year, had us all as magical girls with quite a few crazy, exotic abilities but strict limitations on anything involving shapechanging or messing with time or space.

Really, it's the overall idea of the game first, your idea for a character within that framework second and only then comes actual mechanics. It's quite important to keep that in mind, including for the GM, otherwise games just begin breaking down.

[KnightDisciple]

I happen to play on a play-by-post forum for Mutants and Masterminds 2E. The moderators there have done plenty of tinkering....

-This thread has several pieces on overall themed power structures (such as "magnetism", "electricity", and so on).

-Here we have some power studies, and a few different builds.

-This thread has a fair number of builds, several of them very theme-focused (like an ice-controller build, fire controller, etc.)

-Here we see several of the "basic archetypes" from the Core Rulebook revisited, touched up to where they perform better, while still keeping the same focus.

And finally...

-A list that grows almost daily, with all sorts of wacky character builds (that are still surprisingly effective!)!

[Prime32]

Seconding what Terra has said. M&M games need a strong theme in order to work, and the powers are both easy to fit together and don't come with any associated flavor - unlike D&D, you can't really design a build and then use the fluff of its components to write your backstory for you. Don't start on chargen without a concept in mind.

What is the setting of your game?

[KnightDisciple]

Seconding what Terra has said. M&M games need a strong theme in order to work, and the powers are both easy to fit together and don't come with any associated flavor. Don't start on chargen without a concept in mind.

I would say this is true, even if that theme is "a world like comic books" (which is what the M&M "default" setting of Freedom City is). If you're playing in a general superhero game, a lot of these will work fine. If you're in a more focused game type, or your setting excludes certain themes, several won't work.

[Prime32]

I would say this is true, even if that theme is "a world like comic books" (which is what the M&M "default" setting of Freedom City is). If you're playing in a general superhero game, a lot of these will work fine. If you're in a more focused game type, or your setting excludes certain themes, several won't work.

Expanding on this: even in a a general superhero game there's some things you should know about the setting. Where do powers come from, for instance? You can't place a value on "nullify the powers of mutants" unless you know how common mutants are; if everyone got their powers from a magical event then such an ability is useless. M&M is a game where you should talk to the GM a lot while developing your character.

[myancey]

Thanks for the posts guys.

The only other systems I've played aside from 3.5 D&D have been Eclipse Phase, Exalted, and Firefly..so I'm still pretty new to other systems. That being said, I find it easiest to ask for help from you guys when encountering a new system.

[KnightDisciple]

Random question to the anime/M&M fans in this thread: What structure do you think better represents characters like Kamen Riders or Power Rangers?

I could see arguments for either Alternate Form or Device, really.

[prufock]

Random question to the anime/M&M fans in this thread: What structure do you think better represents characters like Kamen Riders or Power Rangers?

I could see arguments for either Alternate Form or Device, really.

Not too familiar with Kamen Rider, but Power Rangers I think are best built with Device and the Normal Identity drawback. Summon Minion for the zords.

[Kyuu Himura]

Well, there is this thread with a bunch of comic books characters from marvel, DC, shonen jump, vertigo and a few others.

Other than that, yeah, I agree with the people before me, get a concept in your head and see if it fits the campaign.

I am, right now, having a lot of fun in the marvel campaign I'm playing with my friends. I am playing as a vigilante with a cursed magic sword inherited from my yakuza father, now my character has to feed one million bad guys to the god of war or feed his soul to the god of war, it's been a blast, really.

More than anything, have fun with your game, that's what you should do man.