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ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

JDCorley posted:

In 2003, Marvel took the property back in-house and released the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game. It used an innovative resource allocation system in which stones of effort were put in different places on your character sheet to reflect the effort/effect your character obtained through taking that action. A lot of morons on the Internet never understood it because they never took the time to actually put stones on a piece of paper and move them around - the tactile element of the game was a big teaching helper.

I'm disappointed that confusion over the stones had anything to do with MURPG not being popular. That wasn't a particularly difficult mechanic and it worked so well for strategizing: no dice rolls or cards, you knew what you could do and what your opponent could do.

JDCorley posted:

A unique game with great production values and at a great price point made this an underrated game all the way around.

I agree. I would happily play this again if I had the chance. (Though to be fair, I'd do the same for the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game, too.)

PrincessWuffles posted:

Would anyone mind if I dumped a session report here? If I do, should I be careful about potential spoilers for a story that predates Civil War? I get that my session and how we went about things won't be yours or how you might do it, but I don't want anyone who's interested in playing the Breakout mini-event to get spoiled on any of the goings on baked into the thing.

You could always put spoiler tags if need be. And yes, please do post the session report.

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ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

PrincessWuffles posted:

This system sounds cool. Definitely going to have to do some research now. I see used copies aren't too expensive on amazon.

It's worth a buy as long as it doesn't set you back a lot. I remember the PBP sessions going pretty quickly (the game is set up as a series of immediately sequential panels, so it's streamlined that way); IRC would probably go even more efficiently.

PrincessWuffles posted:

Well, I started writing up Act 1 with spoiler tags, but now that I think about it, the only real spoilers involved with the way I ran it would be the villains and one big hero that appear. Of course, the way my players defeated them also gives away who the villain is, to a degree, so it would be a confusing mess with tags. Am I concerned over nothing here?

Either way, I'm running Act 2 in an hour or so, so after that I'll write up the whole thing for the thread.

The guy doing the Buffy RPG review put in an actual play without any spoilers and no one cared. So you'd probably be fine if you mentioned you're running the scenario in the book and anyone who doesn't want to have that spoiled should just skip ahead.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
I know this is an older thread, but gently caress it, I'm sure we're all still into Marvel comics and RPGs.

So I got my copy of the Civil War Essentials rulebook yesterday and while I didn't follow all the comics that closely, this still strikes me as a fun campaign idea to run. Those of you who've got some experience running the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game, how do you like it now? Any advice for first time Watchers or players? Am I crazy for thinking I can just jump into running the Civil War Event without running this system before?

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
I'm not quite sure I get all of the mechanic---I get the intention and dice building parts, but need to take another look at Distinctions and the Doom Pool---but I think this is one of those things that is probably obvious once you've done it a couple of times. Like you said, just jump the hell in and it'll all become clear.

Oh, one more question: did you guys use the premade characters or venture into making up your own? If---scratch that, when---I put up my Civil War recruitment thread, I will be strongly tempted to let players make up their own superheroes (or hell, their own duos/teams).

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Mr. Maltose posted:

I had a wonderful experience using random generation rules from the Marvel Website in Winson's game. Maybe give that thread a look to see how we did it? (It was a good game but ended up running out of momentum which sucked.)

Thanks for the tip! I skimmed through it and I think everything clicked into place mechanicswise. Sad to see that game end so soon, though.

PrincessWuffles posted:

The best advice I can give with regard to making characters is that you must must must know what you're making from the very beginning. The concept stage will shape your every selection in the process. The rules presented for creation are fine, but I went more for an eyeball approach using the pregens and scales in the Powers section of the rules as benchmarks. It's a good idea in the beginning to find a character who's similar to what you want, and tweak as needed. Dig in, get messy, and fight crime!

That makes sense. I played around with random character generation, but despite fun memories of rolling up crazy-rear end PCs with the old MSH Ultimate Powers Book, I remember thinking the characters I came up with were not exactly cohesive. And it was always good advice to have a firm character concept in the various Mutants & Masterminds iterations (as well as the Marvel Univere Roleplaying Game and MSH, for that matter!).

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

JDCorley posted:

The new random character creation rules are a lot more cohesive because characters have themed power sets instead of just a list of powers as in MSH. I definitely suggest making a couple of characters with it to see how it comes out.

Oh, I have. It's just that without really having a concept for the character, I would up with cohesive *power sets*, but no no good sense of the character (which made thinking up SFX and new Limits a bit tricky).

Plus I always worry with random generation. In MSH, you could have a PC who winds up with an angel who has Amazing Alter Reality in the same group as someone who rolled a half-goatman, half-fungus hero with Poor Levitation and Typical Prehensile Hair. I know that level of hilarious disparity isn't going to happen in Marvel Heroic, but there's still the chance of someone rolling a somewhat anemic single power set and someone else scoring three power sets with several D12s, right?

Meh. I should just stop worrying about that. I might try converting some of my old PCs into the current rule system and see how that works out. I might even ask one of you guys to volunteer running a mock combat to make sure I know what I'm doing.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Hmm, that's a very good point about the mechanics equalizing things. How would you frame that narratively, though? I get how the dice roll can result in Ennis's favorite antihero beating the Hulk, but this is all by default on the physical stress track and I don't see anything in Castle's arsenal logically causing the Hulk trauma. At least with preparing resources, I could envision some sort of special gamma-blocker bullets or something.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
All right, I'm convinced this won't be that hard to run. Giving my first game recruitment a go: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3510621

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Okay, figuring out how to put together dice pools and narrate so it all makes sense is actually a lot of fun. I'm really getting the sense of how a seemingly outclassed superhero can even the odds.

I have run into one thing I can't quite figure out. When you create a Complication, how long does it last? Is this entirely up to the Watcher's judgment and common sense? Can the PC---or the Watcher, in the case of an affected NPC---target the Complication and roll against something (Doom Pool plus the Complication, maybe) to remove it?

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Thanks, that was exactly the information I was looking for! Though I thought NPCs didn't ever roll against the doom pool for some reason.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Solomonic posted:

I have him regularly undergo vivid hallucinations of the people he's killed, but that may have to come to an end soon - he started with just Bushman (as per canon) and has since added four other supervillains. It's getting crowded.

If anybody else on Watcher duty is running a game over the holidays, a holiday-themed custom scene was released earlier this week and I tested it out with my group in today's session. It's really good for a one-off, particularly if you want to encourage your players to rely on more than just physical stress for everything - the Hulk in this one isn't dependent on doom dice for his SFX. In fact, he generates doom dice to symbolize him getting madder as people hit him, and the party didn't really catch onto this until he'd already been hit hard twice and loaded the Doom Pool, so they really got beaten up.

The fight ended at last, with everyone nearly stressed out and exhausted, when Captain America, Spider-Man, and Agent Coulson (who has Thor's hammer. it's a long story) held the Hulk in place so Songbird could direct a sonic scream at him using all the speakers in the Radio City Music Hall, mentally traumatizing him back into being Bruce Banner again. Good times!

*sigh* I so wish I had the time to run this. The only thing more awesome would be if Hostess fruit pies were somehow the solution. (Imported from Canada, I guess.)

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
*sigh* I was really hoping to be able to run this game again once I have a bit more free time. And yes, I know people can still play RPGs that are no longer in print, but when you can't legally acquire the rulebook and there are plenty of other games on the market with support, it can become a bit of a tough sell fairly quick.

Though the Cortex system will still be around. No idea how different Marvel Heroic was from the basic Cortex, though.

At least thanks to this thread, I wasn't caught by surprise. Just snapped up the PDF for Annihilation.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Claytor posted:

There is no "Basic Cortex." There's Cortex Action, Cortex Drama, and Cortex Heroic(?), which share the dice pool mechanic but use it in completely different ways. I don't know that Heroic Roleplaying will be seen in an MWP product again, and that makes me sad.

I meant Cortex Plus. I didn't know about the other ones and now I'm just confused. And sad, too, if the Marvel Heroic version is the only version using that Cortex mechanic MWP publishes or ever plans to publish.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Druggeddwarf posted:

I genuinely cannot believe they're going that far. That's crazy.

Took the bullet and got the PDF. Browsing through it right now.

Can I just say, that Thanos is RI-DIC-CU-LOUS!

Just got to the Eternals section of the PDF with Thanos' datafile and holy crap.

Edit: Ha, the PDF even has Dire Wraiths and Spaceknights. Now I'm even more bummed that Marvel yanked the license.

Defiance Industries posted:

I guess since we won't get the Age of Apocalypse supplement, I will have to write my own. I do rather like the idea of having a random roll table to determine what the alternate version of a character is, which was mentioned earlier in this thread.

This needs to happen.

ibntumart fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Apr 25, 2013

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

jivjov posted:

What sucks for me is my next payday isn't until after they're gonna stop selling PDFs, so I can't stock up now even if I wanted to. Kinda lovely to give us, what, 6 days lead time?

I'm feeling both generous and bummed that this game line is ending so abruptly, so (assuming DriveThruRPG allows gifting) I'll gift you one of the PDF supplements you don't already have. All the better to evangelize the system, after all. (That and I'd otherwise just spend the money on another Android mini figure or other thing I don't need.)

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Arivia posted:

Okay, I just got one of the books for this and I kind of want to run my own game as pbp because this system is amazing and awesome and works so very well.

But I don't want to run Civil War because Defiance Industries is already doing that awesomely.

So I'm kind of left with thinking of either running a big name (New) Avengers game sometime after Siege and the rough end of the Bendisverse, or running a Thunderbolts game. I kind of feel like with the focus on Marvel events there needs to be a situation to it - like I couldn't just run an Avengers game where Cap calls everyone together but it would have to be which Cap when how why?

So I'm sort of stuck. Any interest in a particular direction from people/any other ideas?

Thunderbolts would be fun. So would a Fifty State Initiative start-up. As for situations, I say just steal a plot from a story or arc you like, then tweak it a bit.

(I would recommend an Annihilation campaign, but truth be told, I'm planning on starting one later this month. Though maybe I'll run a Ronan's Roughnecks game instead and have him and some cosmic bros travel the galaxy.)

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Solomonic posted:

Annihilation Session 1 Trip Report: Songbird's player recently started watching VGCW and surprised me by spiking Ravenous on his head with a hurricanrana through the streets of Xandar. Also, Gladiator threw a destroyer ship from orbit as a weapon. I was a little tentative at first about running the event because most of my group wasn't particularly familiar with the cosmic setting, but their fondness for Platinum-developed video games appears to have bridged that gap and then some.

Did you explain it in much detail or was it more of a "the Kree Empire is blue, the Skrulls are green shapeshifters, they hate each other, the Nova Corps is an ersatz Green Lantern Corps, and Thanos is someone you don't want to piss off lightly" affair?

Arivia posted:

I think I am gonna take Defiance Industries' suggestion and do World War Hulk, because I can already think of some good ideas for it. Probably because I never read the original series and only vaguely know the concept!

The plus side is that you will definitely make it your own that way. I haven't read the series either, so if you do run it, that makes me more inclined to jump in since I won't be at a disadvantage.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
I just remembered that I never bought that game. Pity, too, as Wolverine and Deadpool as playable characters all but guarantee she'll sit down and play through with me. (Until you're at the end facing the boss in X-Men Legends and need Wolvie to back up Nightcrawler's play, but noooo, something about needing to work on her dissertation....)

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Solomonic posted:

That was all they needed - everything else just kinda filled itself in nicely. The best part is once I got their interest, they started reading stuff on their own and learned more.

That sounds like an ideal situation to me. Especially as it was the Annihilation Event Book that spurred me to learn more about Marvel alien stuff (I knew the Skrulls from their Fantastic Four clashes, I knew a bit about the Shi'ar from the X-Men, and I knew the Kree, but everything else was kind of fuzzy).


Solomonic posted:

edit: If you're gonna run Annihilation later on, is it going to be totally serious? I have this bizarre interest in playing through a plot where Blastaar is deposed from rulership of Baluur due to a paperwork error and an untimely coup while he was busy evicting door-to-door evangelists from the Universal Church of Truth, and needs to get his throne back.

I think you can get a sense of my delicate handling of cosmic-level characters here:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547580&userid=112603

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Defiance Industries posted:

If you're playing 100% seriously you are playing this game wrong. You can take that to the bank.

That was true for the old TSR game, true for the MURPG, and so very true with this iteration.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
I didn't find any of those things, but what I *did* find was this nifty set of Defenders Milestones (there's others, but seriously who cares because Defenders):

quote:

THE NON-TEAM
Don't call it a team. You've got a job to do. Once it's over you never want to see these people again.

1 XP when you assist another hero that you really don't like.
3 XP when you summon an eclectic group of heroes from across the world (or cosmos) into an informal team.
10 XP when your informal team comes together to face a threat to reality, but vows never to work together again.

PROTECTING THE WORLD FROM THE WEIRD
If normal people saw the horrors you have defeated, they would flee screaming into madness.

1 XP when you are attacked by a being from another dimension.
3 XP when you travel to another dimension to prevent an invasion.
10 XP when you either defeat your extra-dimensional enemy, or become corrupted by it.

Actually, the X-Factor Milestones are good, too. But the Defenders Milestones practically write the plots for you and makes me want to run a game where Doctor Strange basically shanghais PCs into joining his team and teleporting them into extradimensional danger every scene.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

So basically, the Matt Fraction run that just ended? With the Concordance Engines? And groovy 60's Nick Fury?

Edit for context:
I can't find the exact panel I'm looking for, but this cover art pretty well sums up the situation.


How do I miss things like this? I'll have to read this.

Defiance Industries posted:

I feel like bees should probably be a D6, since D6 usually represents small arms and I don't think bees are more powerful than guns.

Unless they're cybernetic bees propelled by a magnetic rail launcher gun. I'm sure some villain in the Marvel Universe is sitting on that very patent.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Defiance Industries posted:

I told you that one in confidence! You aren't supposed to go telling everyone about the final boss of Act 1.

Hey, at least I didn't spill the beans about the Doomwhipperbots.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Hey, I was fiddling around with designing characters, and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas that might help me. I'm designing a character around "Zoom," the Flash villain, who effectively has super speed by virtue of *existing outside of, and ahead of, normal time. Part of that is the ability to perceive events of the future, but there aren't any powers that do that, or any characters with "precognition" that I can use as a base in any of the books, from what I can tell. Other than Spider-Man's spider sense, that is.

The important thing about this character is that they aren't actually any faster than a normal (athletic) person, so I don't want to just copy from Speed or whatever. The fact that Cable, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver aren't included in these books is really starting to bug me.

*Comic books!

Quicksilver's in the X-Men supplement (p. XM50). His Time Manipulation power set has these two SFX:
  • I Saw It Coming. On a successful reaction against a physical attack action, inflict physical stress with the effect die. Spend a doom die to step it up.
  • I Told Myself. If a pool includes a Time Manipulation power, spend a doom die to reroll.
He also has a Time Mastery superpower in this power set. You could use that for your Zoomesque superhero to create assets and resources.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Resurrecting this thread without apologies because this game is awesome.

So question for those who started up Annihilation games: did you go with the one PC per player option and finagle a way for everyone to wind up together? Or did you try the Event book's idea of playing troupes, where e.g. the guy who just has to play Gladiator has the other PCs playing Shi'ar PCs, Nova has a bunch of Nova Corps PCs by his side, etc.?

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Here's my contribution (and here's the inspiration):

Angar the Screamer (David Allan Angar)

Solo D10 Buddy D8 Team D6

Distinctions
Don't Got Much Else Goin' On
Undeservedly Confident
Hippy Idealist

Powersets

Hallucinatory Scream

Mind Control D10
Sonic Blast D10

SFX: Oddly Forgettable. Add a die to the doom pool to keep an extra effect die and apply it toward a I WAS NEVER HERE Complication.
SFX: Everyone Pay Attention. Add a D6 and keep an additional effect die for each additional target.
Limit: Not As Great As I Think I Am. Both 1 and 2 on your dice count as opportunities when using a Hallucinatory Scream power.

Specialties
Crime Expert D8
Menace Expert D8

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Glad you liked him. I'm tempted to do a few more from the WTF D&D series, but in the spirit of Annihilation Event books that shall never be, instead I think I'll have a go at the High Evolutionary. Maybe Paragon, too.

I would stat up Adam Warlock, but the wiki datafile site already has a version. Though maybe I'll give it a stab anyway and see what I come up with.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
There's not a write-up for Pyro? I'll have to fix that if I get some free time tonight.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Not super happy about Pyro. I know he can build stuff out of fire like Iceman can with ice, but I wasn't sure if an SFX for that really fit him.

You could always cover that through narrating exactly what he's doing with his Fire Control power or Extra Effective SFX, though.

Thanks for doing these too, by the way. We're that much closer to a classic Freedom Force write-up.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Defiance Industries posted:

Personally, I'm happy to see how many games of MHR we have running on this forum now. We have four campaigns going now, yeah?

Possibly about to be five since my job cut overtime as of this week.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

I think that'd be pretty great. Although I still haven't figured out how to stop IRC from kicking me after 1-2 hours of inactivity. If I could stay on more often, I think it'd be really nice to chat with the community, and share tips and whatnot.

That's better than me. Chrome doesn't like SyncIRC for some reason (at least, not on my PC), so I'm sometimes not even able to get to a room to be randomly kicked out of.


Claytor posted:

I might be starting one as well once I finish the remaining 34 of these 52 datafiles I'm working on for an event guide.

Whoa, that's a hell of an Event Guide you're writing up. Does this have anything to do with the Teen Titans datafiles you posted recently?

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Would anyone care to critique my draft write-up of Nimrod? I'm rather fond of this hot pink-and-white death robot and want to do the character justice.



NIMROD (Nimrod)

Affiliations
Solo D10 Buddy D6 Team D8

Distinctions
Ultimate Sentinel
Relentless Hunter
Only Good Mutant Is a Dead Mutant

Power Sets

HUNTER-SEEKER AND INFILTRATION MODULE

Durability D10
Godlike Senses D12
Supersonic Flight D10
Shapeshifting D10
Teleport D8
Telekinesis D10
Transmutation D8

SFX: Force Field. Spend a doom die to step up or double Durability.
SFX: Shielded Scanners. Spend a doom die to ignore blindness, deafness, or other sense-based attacks or complications.
Limit: Distintegrator Ray. TRANSMUTATION only affects non-living matter and can only degrade structural integrity.
Limit: Pressor-Tractor Beam. TELEKINESIS only affects a single target and can only push or pull the target toward Nimrod in a straight line.

ASSAULT AND MOBILE JUDGMENT ARRAY

Plasma Beam D12
Leech D10
Stamina D12
Superhuman Strength D10

SFX: Versatile Weaponry. Substitute one of the following descriptors for PLASMA BEAM power: HEAT BEAM or ELECTRICAL BOLT.
SFX: Shock-Web. Area attack. Add a D6 and keep an additional effect die for each additional target.
SFX: Matrix Battle Computer. In a reaction against an opponent using a Combat or Acrobatics Specialty, spend a doom die to add a die equal to the opponent’s Combat or Acrobatics to a dice pool.
SFX: Inhibitor Field. When creating Power Loss complications on multiple targets, add a d8 for each additional target, keep an additional effect die for each target, and step up each effect die used for a Power Loss complication.
Limit: Psionic Shutdown. LEECH only affects psionic-based powers.

Specialties
Combat Master D10
Covert Expert D8
Menace Master D10
Tech Master D10

ibntumart fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Sep 24, 2013

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

First, I love the Versatile Weaponry SFX, and will probably have to borrow that idea for future use (it's so simple that it's genius!)

Thanks!

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Second, have you considered splitting the powers into two, or possibly even three power sets? In addition to making him deadlier by virtue of increased pool potential, and versatility, it would definitely help to de-clutter his datafile. It's a lot to take in as a solid block of awesome powers!

That's a very good idea, actually. I'll have to figure out a logical split, but it'll be worth it.

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Edit: I'm also not sure why he has Crime Master, but maybe it's something I just don't know about the character?

This was based on my misremembering an old story arc when he moved in with the Rodriguez family, started helping their kid with homework, and adopted a human secret identity as well as becoming a vigilante. (He let people think he was a normal dude in powered armor, not a genocide machine from the future.) I thought I remembered him hitting the streets for information; in retrospect, however, I think Nimrod mostly just used computers, satellites, and his own sensor array to track down people.

So the Crime Master specialty should go.


Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Phone posting, but I'm marathoning The Venture Bros. and I felt compelled to make this:

Brock Samson (public)

I may reskin him, but this Brock write-up is definitely going to wind up being an NPC next time I run a game. I especially love the Buttercream Frosted Murder Cake Distinction.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Danger-Pumpkin posted:

Glad you like it. I spent way too long trying to think of good references to name everything after. Just out of curiosity, who would you re-skin him as? Or was that just in general?

Honestly, I would find an excuse to make a scene with Brock happen, even if it's in an Annihilation campaign on the Kree homeworld. (Hmmm... Brock the Accuser? Feels "Ultimate Weapons are for the weak?" Sweet vintage space Charger?)

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
Pre-recruitment question for y'all. Is there interest in a Days of Future Past Redux? This will involve mutant registration, political assassinations, time travel, and Sentinels (yes, definitely maybe even Nimrod the badass math tutor up there). This would not be epic in length, but I would be cool with expanding it if PCs want to keep exploring a hellish future and trying to right wrongs. Or just coming back to the present and going "Whew, glad I don't have to live in that hellhole, when's that Annihilation Event going to start up anyway?"

The other thing I'm considering is a SWORD new recruit Event that would probably lead up to Annihilation and would definitely have the PCs become space cops gallivanting around the cosmos. (Though honestly, if the Days of Future Past Redux ends with everyone back in their own time, this would probably be the next Event I'd run anyway. Except maybe make them time cops as well, which reminds me that I need to stat up Kang the Conqueror this week.)

Halloween Jack posted:

I really want to like this game, but I don't know if I can get my regular group into a game where every dice roll is a 7-step process plus 4 things you can do with PP before the roll and 4 things you can do with PP after the roll.

I don't see it as a seven step process. Basically, it's like most other games: you look at your sheet and figure out what stats apply, then roll the relevant dice. For games that use Aspects like FUDGE and FATE, it's even more natural, I would think.

As for the stuff you can do with Plot Points, that's something you can ease them into. I mean, they don't have to use them or earn them to play the game... but you can show them how much more dynamic and fun it can be by pointing out a good use of a PP now and then the first session.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
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

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

JDCorley posted:

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.

I'm curious how this compares to Green Ronin's DC license, where they specifically had permission to do four books, but also allowed to use the system for a generic superhero RPG. And DC didn't yank the right to provide errata or support as far as I know, unlike Marvel making MWP take down the Marvel support materials online.

I have to admit I love the idea of Event books, though.

Also, agreed on the various Marvel RPG iterations.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice
I went back to revise my Nimrod write-up. Any feedback would be welcome!

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

JDCorley posted:

The Cortex Plus Hacker's Guide is out! You can get the generic (and somewhat updated versions) of Leverage, Smallville and Marvel Heroic for $20. I got it through Kickstarter, I'm cool that way. But anyway, here it is.

Do you need the Cortex System RPG rulebook to use the Hacker's Guide or just the MHR basic rules? Or do you even need that?

Edit: Oh who am I kidding, I'm buying this no matter what. Downloading from DriveThruRPG right now.

ibntumart fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Sep 26, 2013

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ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

KirbyJ posted:

Print copies are still allowed out as far as I know, as there's no real good way to pull them cost-effectively. Basically they just can't print any more and they immediately pulled all electronic versions. Stores can still sell through their stock.

Exactly. That's how I was able to score another copy of Civil War from an Amazon third party seller (what can I say? I wanted a Premium Edition version in case I'm traveling and only want to pack the one book and, um, don't have my iPad or access to my Google Drive).

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