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2015-02-27, 12:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
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(MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
I was thinking about how superhero teams like the JL or the Avengers are arguably made up of heroes of different PLs, and I was wondering if that could be simulated in an MnM game with a certain amount of bonus PPs for a lower PL, or fewer for a higher one.
So, for instance, center around PL 10 with 150 PPs, as standard, but if you go up or down a PL, you lose or gain, respectively, say, 10 PPs. So PL 9 gets 160 PPs, and PL 11 gets 140 PPs. Is this balance-able, and where do y'all think it would be PP-cost-wise?Last edited by Jallorn; 2015-02-27 at 12:01 AM.
Avatar by Dogmantra
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2015-02-27, 12:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Gender
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
I don't think it would.
mostly because by doing so, you making PL9 more powerful than PL11. PL9 would be more flexible in how they spend their points, and at a certain point, both very lower level and very higher level characters become equally useless, with one having tons of points but the PL is so low they can't have a good score in anything, while the higher level ones would be able to have ridiculously high scores but only 10 points to spend, so its pointless.
meaning that players would probably just play PL10 anyways. the entire point of PL is to make sure that the game your running is at a consistent level of power- comic book hero power is more narrative than many people think. sure, technically Batman is actually PL8, but when he is playing with other heroes he gets a power upgrade to match the bigger leagues he is playing in. your going against the entire point of PL here, because the entire point of PL is to make sure everyone is playing at the same level of power regardless of their actual powers and origins. your street level vigilantes, your demigods, your robots from outer space, all that? supposed to be the same PL for all the PC's, so that they can all contribute to the situation.
I'd say forget it, because your pretty much going against the entire point of PL and taking its measures as literal when its more like something that measures narrative weight rather than what their actual capabilities are.
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2015-02-27, 12:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2012
- Location
- Mayberry, NC
- Gender
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
That's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how much it'd help. If Superman is PL15 and only gets 60 points and Batman is PL 8 and gets 200 points, then Batman is pretty versatile; but if Superman buys up nothing but Toughness and Strike he's still going to be able ignore anything that's a suitable opponent for Batman because his numbers just go too high. Sure he might miss out on some of his more iconic powers, but what does he care? He's still immune to damage and punting people into space.
If they were going to be on the same team then I'd personally just stat them both up at PL15 and shift the numbers around until they make sense; trade out a few points of Superman's Defense/Attack for Toughness/Damage; flip that for Batman. I mean sure, Batman might not be as powerful as a locomotive, but he rarely misses what he's aiming at. He might not be able to laugh off bullets, but with his ninja sorcery he can sure as hell dodge them (don't think of it as being faster than the bullet; just think of it as being smarter than the guy firing it). Between skills, resources, gadgets for every occasion; Bat family (so many applications of the sidekick feat) and everything else you could easily up his PL and keep him feeling like Batman.
The same applies to Spider-Man being in the same party as The Hulk, The Tick being paired with Sewer Urchin, or Goku hanging out with Vegeta. They're all built different, and prioritize different things, but if they wanted to play together (and feel relevant) I think they their numbers should average out.
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2015-02-27, 12:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
- Gender
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
Even if you limit it to one or two steps?
Avatar by Dogmantra
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2015-02-27, 02:02 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Poland
- Gender
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
This is a bad idea, because it lets the players cheese out their characters further, depending on which direction they want to go. And M&M is already easy enough to break.
The best way to handle the mundane/low-power members of the team is to give them the same PL, but focus on attack and defense over damage and toughness.
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2015-02-27, 10:46 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- lunar penal colony
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
This is actually something happens quite frequently on the Atomic Think Tank forum PbP games. It's usually only a 1 level trade off when it happens. 1PL = 15PP is the usual trade off. I've played in a few games and its not that big a deal if the trade offs are limited to 1PL. You're trading a small amount of power for versatility, or vice-versa if the trade offs are allowed in either direction. Is all up to the GM.
- Aerlock
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2015-02-28, 03:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2014
- Location
- Het Heru
Re: (MnM) Trading PL for extra PPs or vice versa, would it work?
This.
The Trade-off works fine and there are the above examples. Also, M&M is structured in such a way that an experienced GM with mature players can use the "Unlimited Power Level" option, which eliminates PL & it's restrictions. The option is covered in the 2e Mastermind's Manual and the 3e Gamemaster's Guide. I've actually used UPL for a large player game and had no problems with lower PL10 heroes fighting alongside big-shot PL14+ heroes. It comes down to the challenges you create for the group and players knowing how to pick their battles.Wrath of the Righteous! (Alpha)
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