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I was playing with the random datafile generator, trying to intentionally pick the worst options (as in fewest/lowest traits) to see what happened, and ended up making a pretty solid character thanks to the SFX and other things you're given to compensate. Check it out!quote:BLUESCREEN
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Jul 24, 2013 05:26
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 19:44 |
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Bluescreen's kind of cool, actually. The SFX really do help pull the powers into something that makes sense. But enough of things that make sense. I give you Planetman! PLANET MAN (original name unknown, legally changed to Planet T. Man---the T is for Tiberius) Affiliations Solo D10 Buddy D8 Team D6 Distinctions The Best (and Only) One At What I Do Planet, Shmanet, I Do What I Want! Do I Amuse You, Like a Clown? Power Sets PRINCE OF SPACE Full Spectrum Senses D12 Space Flight D12 Shrinking D12 Superhuman Stamina D10 SFX: Immunity. Spend a d6 doom die to ignore stress, trauma, or complications based on exposure to nonnative atmosphere, vacuum, or poison. SFX: I See All! If a pool includes Enhanced Senses, spend a doom die to step up or double Enhanced Senses and reroll. Limit: Only Works On Big Stuff. SHRINKING only affects objects planet-sized or bigger (and Pluto's a planet, I don't care what anyone says). Limit: Mutually Exclusive. Shutdown PRINCE OF SPACE to activate DESTROYER AND THROWER OF WORLDS. Shutdown DESTROYER AND THROWER OF WORLDS to recover PRINCE OF SPACE. DESTROYER AND THROWER OF WORLDS Planet Lobbing D12 Growth D12 SFX: Jupiter In My Pocket. Split PLANET LOBBING into 2d at –1 step, or 3d at –2 steps. SFX: Gigantic Area of Effect. Add a d8 and keep an additional effect die for each additional target. Limit: Reverse Effect Only. GROWTH only affects objects on which Planet Man has used SHRINKING. Limit: Why Don't You Take My Godlike Powers Seriously?? Step up mental stress based on humiliation or failure to step up the lowest die in the doom pool or add a d6 doom die. Specialties Combat Expert D8 Cosmic Master D10 Menace Master D10 ibntumart fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 12:32
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Bluescreen is pretty cool. Anyway, since ibntumart was so good as to do Planetman, I give you THE LANDLORD Boss Bailey (public) Affiliations Solo D4 Buddy D6 Team D8 Distinctions The Man Who Has Everything Beyond Greed Real Estate Emperor Power Sets MY HOUSE Environment Control d10 Superhuman Senses d10 Teleportation d10 SFX: Master of This House. Spend a d6 doom die to ignore stress, trauma or complications related to turning the environment against him. SFX: That's The Living Room, This Is The Dying Room. When using a MY HOUSE power to create a complication related to a pre-placed trap or hazard, add a d6 and step up the effect die. Limit: Earth-bound. MY HOUSE powers only function on Earth, or another planet the Landlord happens to own. Limit: Bureaucratic Entanglement. Turn a MY HOUSE power into a complication to gain a d6 doom die or step up the lowest die in the doom pool. MY PEOPLE Mind Control d10 Loyal Tenants d8 d8 d8 SFX: Payment in Unkind. Spend a d8 doom die to add a d8 to Loyal Tenants, to a maximum of 5d8. Limit: Just Guys. Loyal Tenants can be targeted as if it was a mob of enemies rather than a power - it counts as a target for Area powers, each d8 or higher effect reduces it by a full die, etc. Limit: Limited Lease. MY PEOPLE powers only function on people on Earth, or another planet the Landlord happens to own. Specialties Business Master d10 Crime Expert d8 Menace Expert d8 Psych Expert d8
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Jul 25, 2013 13:17
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They make "Animal Control" and "Plant Control" separate categories just to gently caress with us, don't they? I miss the Ultimate Powers book too.
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Jul 25, 2013 15:32
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Basically, if you randomly generate a character, and end up with the "Uncommon Powers" theme, you're better off re-rolling. Unless you want to try and explain a guy who's powers are getting really big, turning invisible, and commanding plant life.
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Jul 26, 2013 19:58
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I think of it as "The Mantis category."
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Jul 26, 2013 20:07
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Danger-Pumpkin posted:Unless you want to try and explain a guy who's powers are getting really big, turning invisible, and commanding plant life. Believe me, I do! The reason I love random rolling for supers games is trying to justify the most absurd power and origin combos. I think I need to try statting up some of the random Heroes Unlimited characters i've generated in MHR.
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Jul 26, 2013 20:32
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Oh sure, it's great the first time. But "Invisible-Giant-Plant Man" gets really old after the fifth time you've rolled him. Same with "The Intangible-Animal-Stretcher."
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Jul 26, 2013 20:37
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Remember how I said that I was working on a bunch of datafiles for an Identity Crisis event book? Well, here's the final list. All but eleven of the fifty-four player datafiles I was working on are now completed. Watcher datafiles will also be incorporated for heroes who had a minor role, and of course I've got a ton of villains to work on. Heroes were chosen based on their importance to the Identity Crisis storyline or their prominence in books published during that time period. It would be appreciated if someone could let me know if I'm missing someone big. Aquaman Arsenal The Atom Batgirl Batman Beast Boy Black Canary Coldcast Cyborg Doctor Fate Doctor Mid-Nite Elongated Man Firehawk Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) The Flash (Jay Garrick) The Flash (Wally West) Grace Choi Green Arrow Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) Green Lantern (Alan Scott) Green Lantern (John Stewart) Hawkgirl Hawkman Hourman Huntress Indigo Jade Jakeem Thunder Kid Flash (Bart Allen) Major Disaster Manhunter Manitou Raven Martian Manhunter Menagerie Mister Miracle Mister Terrific Nightwing Plastic Man Power Girl Raven Richard Dragon Robin (Tim Drake) Sand Shift Sister Superior Starfire Stargirl Superboy Superman Thunder Wildcat Wonder Girl Wonder Woman Zatanna
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Aug 7, 2013 22:29
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I'm not a DC fanatic, so I can't really say, though I am very excited to see some of these guys. Are you collecting these to share with the community, or are they more for personal use?
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Aug 10, 2013 03:13
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Danger-Pumpkin posted:I'm not a DC fanatic, so I can't really say, though I am very excited to see some of these guys. Are you collecting these to share with the community, or are they more for personal use? Once I've got the datafiles all done, I'll try to figure out a nice layout and stick them into a PDF or something. Probably upload them to the wiki, too.
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Aug 10, 2013 04:32
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So, still doing an initial read-through of the book, are some powers just flat-out better and more versatile than others? For example, if a given power can inflict Stress, do you need an Attack power? Also, what kind of boundaries do you set on what people can do with Elemental Control powers, especially ones as vaguely defined as Darkforce and Cosmic Control?
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Aug 17, 2013 00:24
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Halloween Jack posted:So, still doing an initial read-through of the book, are some powers just flat-out better and more versatile than others? For example, if a given power can inflict Stress, do you need an Attack power? You're looking at the game backwards - quite understandable because compared to most trad RPGs, Marvel Heroic is backwards. Trad RPGs are generally prescriptive - that is the stats define the gameworld and what the characters can do. Strength 15 will lift X kilos. Marvel Heroic and a lot of modern RPGs are descriptive - that is the purpose of the mechanics is to represent the effects within the fictional gameworld and to resolve conflicts when no one is sure about the actual result. And the limits on Darkforce or Cosmic Control are set by the fictional characters that are being represented within the gameworld.
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Aug 17, 2013 00:40
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Oh sure, some powers are "better" than others. But "better" can be a little tough to pin down. For example: Shape-Shifting is "better" than mimic, because A. you don't have to copy a specific power that someone else has, and B. shape-shift doesn't recommend that you create a limit to define how how the power actually functions. Durability is "better" than Resistance, because you can use durability in far more dice pools than any one type of resistance. Sorcery is "better" than any other power in the game, because technically you can use sorcery to create any effect that you can describe which the Watcher deems acceptable. The same holds for some SFX abilities too. For example, Regeneration is "better" than Second Wind, because with regeneration you spend a plot point to make your stress die vanish, while second wind requires that you spend a plot point to move your stress die into the doom pool (where it will be used against you!) And Counterattack is virtually broken, allowing you to turn your reaction roll dice into stress against your attacker (which normally costs a plot point, and is incredibly exploitable!) But "better" isn't always better, you know? More broadly applicable, or at a higher die rating, sure, but that sort of meta-gaming and min-maxing just doesn't gel with the system. This is a game about story telling, and drama, more than character advancement and reward receiving. That's why all of your XP generation is done through milestones, which are intended to represent character or event arcs, and require either/or decision making (most of the time,) and why the main things you spend XP on are fluid rewards (plot points and event assets) or mostly net-neutral changes to your character datafile (distinction/limit switch outs, replacement powersets, new milestones, etc.) Comic characters rarely "level up," so to speak, for more than a few issues, or a couple years. Most of their growth is lateral. I guess the short of what I'm trying to say here is; Yes, there are more powerful powers and SFX abilities in terms of raw numbers and usefulness, and by that definition, there are certainly some characters who are just more likely to succeed than others at any given task, but that's not really the *spirit of this game, and it ends up being more or less a moot point by the end of things. *What the spirit of this game is is making 60's era, time-traveling, teenage Cyclops join an impromptu Defenders team, with Black Bolt and Slapstick, to battle Dr. Doom's hot new invisible skyship armada, and the endless legions of Servo-guards he's laying waste to Manhattan with.
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Aug 17, 2013 02:08
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Danger-Pumpkin posted:*What the spirit of this game is is making 60's era, time-traveling, teenage Cyclops join an impromptu Defenders team, with Black Bolt and Slapstick, to battle Dr. Doom's hot new invisible skyship armada, and the endless legions of Servo-guards he's laying waste to Manhattan with. I'm on it, Chief.
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Aug 17, 2013 02:26
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It's also about having a fight where the heroes are caught between the Annihilation Wave, the Warbound and Galactus, but that might be saying too much.
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Aug 17, 2013 02:32
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Defiance Industries posted:It's also about having a fight where the heroes are caught between the Annihilation Wave, the Warbound and Galactus, but that might be saying too much. Something along these lines nearly happened; my group almost fired a Phalanx-loaded missile into the Harvester of Sorrow, which would have probably been an incredibly poor idea. They've been so self-congratulatory about it that they've completely forgotten to follow up on it and actually deal with the Phalanx, though, so they've got a very nasty surprise waiting down the road.
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Aug 17, 2013 02:36
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Hey, I've got a character building question, and I could use some opinions. I'm trying to get some friends interested in running this game live, and to test things out and explain the system, I had a few of them use the Random Datafile Generator, just to see how a character works. Oddly, they both ended up with Mystic powered characters, and they decided they wanted to run with that. In keeping with the theme, a third friend who did not use the random generator wants to make a character who they described as "Shadow Man, the Punisher, and Blade, all in one." So here's the actual issue: They want their character to have a magic pistol which is more or less normal in the "real" world, except that it harvests the souls of those it kills. In the "other world" (where demons and magic and stuff come from) the gun fires soul-powered bullets, one for each life it has taken, and these soul-bullets destroy demons (like, insta-kill them.) Now, there are a number of weird issues at play here for what is otherwise a pretty low-powered character. A. It's actually pretty hard to straight up kill a dude in this game. B. The game really doesn't take "ammo" into account, and especially not super-charged demon killing soul-ammo. C. If demons are a thing in this game (which they apparently will have to be) the magic gun is way, way, way overpowered in the Other World. I told them I'd need to think about it, but they are pretty resistant to changing the "rules" they came up with for their power. I don't want to have to tell them to make a new character though, because other than the power being really complicated, there's nothing wrong with idea from my perspective. So, any thoughts? The best I've got is using PP as the special ammo, and abstracting the actual amount of soul power the gun has at all times. Give them a 1xp milestone for killing normal bad guys, and they can trade that 1xp for 1pp as they go. I haven't pitched that idea yet, but I'd like to know what you lot think before I do.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:32
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Give them an SFX that lets them step up their effect die when inflicting physical stress on demons, as long as they've killed someone in the real world, and have them keep track of the ammo themselves. They can't use the SFX if they don't have any ammo. You might even give them a second powerset to represent their powered up armory in the other world, with the Mutually Exclusive limit.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:50
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I often use PP to represent finite things (for example, energy cells on my Adam Jensen sheet). However, you could also make it so that dealing physical trauma allows them to create an asset that they can add to rolls against demons. That way, they can throw it in to insta-kill demons that come in packs (so that if you have, say, a pack of regular d6 demons, a d8 effect will instant kill one) but more powerful demons will be like "ha ha ha, you think that a normal soul can harm me, the Lord of Demons?"
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Aug 18, 2013 20:54
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You can make a more Iron Age/Punisher with 1,000 guns in a duffel bag type of game by renaming Taken Out to Dead for non-powered characters. It's not a big deal so long as that's the universe you want to play in.
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Aug 18, 2013 21:51
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I hadn't thought of using a second powerset, but that makes a great deal of sense, so that's in. I think I'm also partial to the "trauma = create an asset" idea. I think it'd work better as a stunt, rather than an asset, since stunts can only be used once, and it seems like they can sort of be saved for however long is appropriate. I'd probably cap it at "the highest die on the traumatized character's data file. Spend a pp to step it up," just so they aren't getting d12 assets from eliminating a d6 mob die, but I think it could work pretty well. And I think I'll leave the dead/KO'd distinction up to the player. If he wants to kill, he can describe it that way. It might cause some interesting tension, depending on the milestones the team thinks up.
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Aug 23, 2013 07:02
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Danger-Pumpkin posted:Oh sure, some powers are "better" than others. But "better" can be a little tough to pin down. neonchameleon posted:You're looking at the game backwards - quite understandable because compared to most trad RPGs, Marvel Heroic is backwards. quote:And the limits on Darkforce or Cosmic Control are set by the fictional characters that are being represented within the gameworld.
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Aug 23, 2013 20:21
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When I don't know about something a player wants to use, I just ask them to explain to me what it is and how it works. You shouldn't be expected to know everything about every character to run a game.
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Aug 23, 2013 20:52
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In Marvel, the darkforce is basically semi-solid shadow stuff, from a dimension of shadows where everything is made out of shadows. Being able to control it gives the hero Cloak, for example, the ability to douse all light sources within a warehouse sized radius, or just completely blind a person with pure darkness. He can use it to make himself blend into shadows (and teleport through them), and hypothetically, he can shape the shadows however he wills them. He can use it to restrain or ensnare enemies, or to physically harm them. He can also suck the light of life out of people. So, darkforce control, like any control power, has a lot of potential uses, limited mostly by the power's die rating, and it's actual element descriptor. Whatever it's opposing element(s) might be (in this case, light) may place additional limitations on the power, at least situationally. If you want to refine what a character can or can't do with their element control powers, think up some appropriate limits, or add conditions to when the power can be used. Most element control powers require that the element be present in some form to be manipulated, for example. Generally, element control can be used however it makes sense. The only real limitations are in how the player describes it, and how the watcher arbitrates it. If something seems like it might be too much of stretch, maybe you can make it a power stunt. If it falls within the general die-rating's power level, let them do it. Is that helpful at all?
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Aug 23, 2013 21:04
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The balance in this game comes almost 100% from the plot point and action order economy and almost 0% from the die types and the SFX. Like, you can have a power set that gives you a d12 in literally everything - go right ahead. You will generate some large numbers, but you still only get to go one time per turn so your plans will still live or die on whether and how they incorporate the tactics and abilities of your teammates (if it doesn't, your enemies will get things like double actions, etc.), and also, you will generate FAR fewer plot points because you will roll far fewer 1s. Soon you will be out while the dumb kid with a rocket skateboard is crying about his parents again and has a stack of chips in front of them, and you will feel Quite The Fool. If they're having a hard time comprehending "Darkforce" or "Sorcery", don't have them play those characters. Play a big orange guy who can throw a building at people. Once they get the system, then they can swap out for the other dude. (This is a game that benefits from changing up characters too.)
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Aug 23, 2013 21:33
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Halloween Jack posted:Hm, this is what I get for looking at the game through the lens of the random datafile generator. I'm in the process of trying to sell the people I game with on less physics-engine gaming, and I wanted to be able to assure them that characters are balanced. (Hence my previous post; having a dozen ways to make a d8 dance on the head of a pin is just going to prompt them to say "What was wrong with rolling Strength+Brawl to punch the Joker in the face instead of all this 'narrative' crap?") If all you're doing is punching Joker in the face as a low end brick you do roll Affiliation + Distinction + Strength + Fighting. You can use that as an example. Almost no harder. On the other hand when Tony Stark has spent a round reprogramming the Iron Man suit to allow the Unibeam to unleash a big burst at the resonant frequency of the energy being he's fighting at the cost of shaking his armour apoart he's going to be rolling Team (d8) + Cutting Edge Tech (d8) + Superhuman Durability d12 (boosted) + Repulsors (d10 - Unibeam) + D6s equal to the number of bad guys (EMP + Tech Master d10 + Asset (Resonant Tuning) d10, and dumping a couple of plot points to get the roll to the point the effect dice exceeds d12. And if that doesn't work, or even if it does, he's going to need a lot of repairs to the Iron Man suit before it's properly functional again as he's just shut down both the superhuman strength and the entire weapons platform. Power at 2%. And with about 10 dice in the pool he might have cleared the skies, but he's handed you a lot of opportunities in the doom pool. And the best thing about that Iron Man plan? You as Watcher don't need to lift a finger. And you know Iron Man's probably going to try to shut down the rest of the suit on the final bad guy because he's going for those 10 XP.
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Aug 23, 2013 23:48
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I feel like I want to run a team with a theme next time I play in person. I'm picturing Dads in Space, so I'm trying to think of characters who are also dads, and are relevant, but not TOO relevant. So more like Howard Stark, Sean Cassidy, Christopher Summers and Jean-Luc LeBeau as opposed to Xavier, Magneto and Odin. I'm calling on you, thread, for other ideas. I need two or three more solid suggestions.
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Aug 29, 2013 06:21
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Is Nathaniel Richards pushing it? I just remember him in Hickman's FF hanging around in a t-shirt making pancakes.
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Aug 29, 2013 13:19
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Super-Skrull, Mar-Vell, Ares, Taskmaster...Mystique? I can't remember if that's canon or not.
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Aug 29, 2013 13:42
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If you're playing Marvel Super-Dads with Ares and Taskmaster, I'm driving to your house to play. I'll break in if I have to.
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Aug 29, 2013 13:46
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Puppet Master, Purple Man, General Ross, time-lost Wendell Rand (from his Confederates of the Curious days).
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Aug 29, 2013 14:25
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Corsair, Cyclops (but not really), Mastermind, Banshee, Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic, Drax, Mephisto, Black Bolt, Quicksilver, Loki (who is also a mother, don't ask).head58 posted:Puppet Master, Purple Man,
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Aug 29, 2013 14:35
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Drax is a really good choice, he's pulling double duty and has completely different dynamics with Moondragon and Cammi. Further Suggestions: The 'No, gently caress YOU, Dad' Edition: Sabretooth, Hank Pym (he's technically a grandfather thanks to Victor Mancha), Norman Osborn, Scott Lang, The Hood, Namor, Blastaar.
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Aug 29, 2013 15:12
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Dr. Phibbs McAthey posted:I talked MHRPG at GenCon last weekend with one of the (super awesome) people that work for Margaret Weiss Productions. As she was selling me on the Firefly RPG, we were both lamenting the loss of the license. She told me they would literally give her a blank stare when she tried to explain to Disney's reps just what kind of game MHRPG was, and no, it's not a video game. Not only that, but they didn't understand why they weren't pulling in millions of dollars from the product, even though for the type of product it is, MHRPG was doing very well. Much less than a million, though.
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Aug 29, 2013 18:24
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ErichZahn posted:Licensing fuckwitery Solomonic posted:Further Suggestions: The 'No, gently caress YOU, Dad' Edition:
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Aug 29, 2013 18:59
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That is almost exactly the story that the design team behind MURPG told - and that one wasn't even licensed - it was in house at Marvel. And I'll be fair to Marvel a little too - it's a fair critique of the entire RPG industry that Marvel can either clear and license a 300 page RPG book, paying someone to spend hours or days reviewing it and making sure it's OK, or you can clear and license a new design of a Spider-Man Trapper Keeper in a thousandth of the time and make 100 times the money. It just does not make financial sense to spend your licensing time on a RPG. This is why: 1 - Licenses are the bricks placed into the bagful of kittens that is a RPG before it is dropped into the river of commerce. 2 - It is absolutely insane that all four incarnations of Marvel-themed RPGs have been both released and extremely aggressively innovative for their day. They even got TSR, which had every reason to just do another D&D clone, to do something out-there and cool.
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Aug 29, 2013 20:10
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Well I am goddamned buyin the hell out of that, as soon as possible. It might be easier to get my lame real-life friends to bite, if they didn't think they were going to have to know 50 years of continuity, and play second fiddle to Wolverine, or something.
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Aug 30, 2013 02:05
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How have people dealt with multi-sided fights? For example, the heroes are mixing it up with some HYDRA agents when a unit of Cape Killers/Skrulls/ninjas/a rampaging Hulk shows up and targets both sides. How do you avoid the Watcher rolling against him/herself in those situations? Similar question for damaging environmental effects, like an earthquake or everybody is standing in fire. I could simply make it a Complication, making it more likely everybody would take damage from being attacked but that seems too passive.
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Aug 30, 2013 02:31
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 19:44 |
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I just have everyone who isn't a player character creating an Asset that the player characters can use. I don't roll, I just pick out a die type and write "Withering Suppressive Fire d6" on an index card and put it on the table or something.
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Aug 30, 2013 02:33
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