[M&M] The Last Heroes

[Rinninian]

Got it working, so many settings, poking around, can prolly get a character up Friday night or Saturday morning

[RossN]

I am interested in this but I'm having a little difficulty coming up with a PL 7 character. So far I'm considering an electricity controller (though seeing DrowNinjaPrincess's character I might rethink that!), a pseudo-mystic (actually a gadgeteer using supertech and a 'supernatural' theme to appear to have magical powers) or a speedster ex-thief gone straight after his old heroic counterpart and frenemy was killed.

[MrKinister]

Originally Posted by Rinninian

Got it working, so many settings, poking around, can prolly get a character up Friday night or Saturday morning

You'll find that the main parts of a character are represented by the tabs on top: abilities, skills, advantages, powers, equipment, etc.

Once in each section, click on "Add", and you'll get a list of the things you can add.

This gets specially full of options in Powers, where you pick a power, select the number of ranks you want, and then add Extras, Flaws, Advantages and Descriptors.

Once you get the hang of it, it goes real fast.

There is a need to know what it all means, though. You'll find it goes faster when you are more familiar with the system, so you don't have keep looking up what the options mean. But the program has a nice summary of all relevant "things" you can add to your character.

If you have questions, I am sure we can help.

[DrowNinjaPrincess]

Originally Posted by RossN

I am interested in this but I'm having a little difficulty coming up with a PL 7 character. So far I'm considering an electricity controller (though seeing DrowNinjaPrincess's character I might rethink that!), a pseudo-mystic (actually a gadgeteer using supertech and a 'supernatural' theme to appear to have magical powers) or a speedster ex-thief gone straight after his old heroic counterpart and frenemy was killed.

You probably shouldn't worry about competing with me all that much since my character can only really do one thing with electricity, as is.

My character still feels a little spread too thin. I'm wondering if throwing the Slow spell into the array of other spells is actually fair game, since I think the philosophy with arrays is typically stuff you can't do at the same time?

[MrKinister]

The original idea of an array is "alternate effects" that are mutually exclusive, like an 'Iron Man' power suit with different weapons and tools, of which only one can be used at any time. But that power exclusivity can also represent an "energy reservoir", like a Green Lantern, who can use several different powers, but is constrained by the total available power in his ring. (Dynamic Arrays)

How do you see your character using their powers?

[DrowNinjaPrincess]

The things in question are simply spells that need to be actively cast. So you could argue that it's not possible to cast multiple spells at once, and you could also say that they come from the same mana reservoir.

After thinking about it more, I decided I would just add Slow to the array. This allowed me to get a few more goodies, and I'm pretty happy with the character.

What concerns me now is that sometimes the total of attack + effect can exceed the power level of the game. When this happens, do I simply get to choose between +7 attack and 7 damage, or +6 attack and 8 damage on each turn?

[MrKinister]

Originally Posted by DrowNinjaPrincess

What concerns me now is that sometimes the total of attack + effect can exceed the power level of the game. When this happens, do I simply get to choose between +7 attack and 7 damage, or +6 attack and 8 damage on each turn?

For the purposes of M&M 3rd Edition, you keep a balance between Attack and Effect that is:

Attack + Effect = PL x 2

So, 7 Attack/7 Effect is good as it is 14. But so is 6 Attack/8 Effect, as it is also 14. That's how Power Attack and other such advantages work. What you choose to use is up to you and your design preferences.

You will also encounter this 'balance' in Toughness + Active Defenses (Dodge/Parry).

[DrowNinjaPrincess]

Yes, I understand that. What I'm saying is that right now, some powers Sorsiel has can already exceed Attack + Effect > 14. This happens due to skills, the rank of the power itself, and a bonus from equipment (which I'm hoping is alright).

I'm just wondering if this is okay, as long as everything adds up to PL x 2 when executing the attack. I'm guessing it's sort of like having power attack without actually using power attack - except you could also use power attack too.

[Rinninian]

(Hope I'm not posting too much here)

So made my first pass, and she cost about 64 points I think, so that's nice, just going through and building her up

Having trouble with the [ Complications ] Would Temper work for this? Kinda like a mood ring, any time she gets highly frustrated, she starts bleeding "psychic blood" from her forehead. This can be very alarming and off putting for anyone seeing it.

(So not real blood, but it could make a 'mess' until it fades away, but no need for actual clean up)

[Draidden]

Originally Posted by DrowNinjaPrincess

Yes, I understand that. What I'm saying is that right now, some powers Sorsiel has can already exceed Attack + Effect > 14. This happens due to skills, the rank of the power itself, and a bonus from equipment (which I'm hoping is alright).

I'm just wondering if this is okay, as long as everything adds up to PL x 2 when executing the attack. I'm guessing it's sort of like having power attack without actually using power attack - except you could also use power attack too.

I am not positive, but if it were up to me I would say it is okay, but you are limited to +7 to attack and +7 to damage. You could not change the bonuses around for a +5 attack and +9 damage or the like. So basically it would be a waste of points at the start, but maybe something your hero grows into later.

[Nightshade]

Removed

[dbaque]

@Nightshade: some small notes.
Impervious 5 or 6 make no difference, so you can save a point.
You may want to wrap up Immunity with a 10p lift support version.

For tactile telekinesis, it might be helpful to distinguish the base power 19pp from the dynamic extra. 19pp would be the points for the array. The 7pp for dynamic alternate effects is extra.
Your strike effect looks like you have some pp extra (8+3+4=15, 4 remainder) for Precise or some other extras.

Otherwise, everything adds up. You have plenty of points left to spend on skills/tweaking.

[MrKinister]

Originally Posted by DrowNinjaPrincess

Yes, I understand that. What I'm saying is that right now, some powers Sorsiel has can already exceed Attack + Effect > 14. This happens due to skills, the rank of the power itself, and a bonus from equipment (which I'm hoping is alright).

I'm just wondering if this is okay, as long as everything adds up to PL x 2 when executing the attack. I'm guessing it's sort of like having power attack without actually using power attack - except you could also use power attack too.

By all definitions that I am aware of, that is not allowed. You'd have to lower something that would bring back the powers into the constraints of the game's Power Level.

But this is ultimately up to the GM.

[MrKinister]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Tactile Telekinesis (26)
Move Object Rank 18 (Range -1, Dynamic, Precise) – 20 points
DAE: Flight (Underwater, Distracting 1 Rank: 1,000 mph / 2,000 mph Distracted) 2 points
DAE: Snare 8 (Accurate 3, Reduced Range -1/rank, 2 per rank)
DAE: Strike (Damage 8, Accurate 3/+6 to hit, Penetrating 4)

Interesting. This is an array with a Move Object power at rank 18?

If I am reading this right, this Move Object power is Close Range only, but it will be used to "hit" things, or, in other words, it requires an "attack" roll.

If this is correct, the balance of Attack/Effect <= PL x 2 applies here as well, and assuming you want to keep Attack and Effect even, the ranks for this power cannot exceed 7.

But I think I am not reading this right.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by MrKinister

Interesting. This is an array with a Move Object power at rank 18?

If I am reading this right, this Move Object power is Close Range only, but it will be used to "hit" things, or, in other words, it requires an "attack" roll.

If this is correct, the balance of Attack/Effect <= PL x 2 applies here as well, and assuming you want to keep Attack and Effect even, the ranks for this power cannot exceed 7.

But I think I am not reading this right.

Thanks for checking. I'll double check the power but I was just thinking it was for lifting and moving things, not for attacking.

Originally Posted by dbaque

@Nightshade: some small notes.
Impervious 5 or 6 make no difference, so you can save a point.
You may want to wrap up Immunity with a 10p lift support version.

For tactile telekinesis, it might be helpful to distinguish the base power 19pp from the dynamic extra. 19pp would be the points for the array. The 7pp for dynamic alternate effects is extra.
Your strike effect looks like you have some pp extra (8+3+4=15, 4 remainder) for Precise or some other extras.

Otherwise, everything adds up. You have plenty of points left to spend on skills/tweaking.

Thanks dbaque! As for the Strike I figure any extra would still be available for the other powers in the array.