Experimental House Rules for M&M

A place to discuss game rules, homebrew systems and the like.
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squirrelly-sama
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by squirrelly-sama »

Shock wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:32 am
Davies wrote: Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:59 pm What happens if range is not exclusive, but additive?

There's already some of this in the Rules As Written. When you apply a +1 Affects Others and Self extra to a Personal range effect, you can (like it says on the box) use it on others at Close Range, as well as yourself. Technically, you have to apply a different +1 Attack extra to use it on unwilling targets, but the language of Close range on p. 147 says that you can use a Close Range effect on 'anyone and anything you can touch' -- which would tend to include one's own self.

What if this is extended? What if, on buying a Ranged effect, you can also use it as a Close effect, with the attack roll based on Fighting and the Defense based on Parry, and the possibility of a critical hit? And what if, on buying a Perception effect, you can also use it as a Ranged effect, with an attack roll based on Dexterity and a Defense based on Dodge, the penalties for range, and the possibility of a critical hit ... and as a Close effect, as above?

Even equipment might benefit from this -- the classic "we were struggling and the gun went off" situation would seem like the sort of thing that would be resolved with a Fighting vs. Parry check.

This would be an exception to the 'you always have to use a +1/rank extra' rule, which could create some confusion, however.
Being able to choose which defense you attack is a pretty strong ability. However, since you can get the same thing for a 1 point alternate effect, it probably would not adversely impact gameplay all that much.
Given how Defense PL works and how it's just easier to keep track of just one defense save I doubt being able to choose your defense target would amount to any benefit in the vast majority of situations.
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

So I'm going to be doing some extensive experimentation in the series of tournament-style playtests that I'll be making in the next three weeks, and I might as well post the house rules under experimentation here for people to tell me how crazy I'm being.

* Any Feint or Demoralize maneuver can be performed as a move action instead of a standard one if the character accepts a -5 penalty to their check.

* Only one attack bonus adjusting maneuver (Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, or Power Attack) can be used on any given attack.

* Initiative is rerolled every round, and a natural 20 on an Initiative roll allows the character to make a Surprise Attack on the subsequent round of combat. (In the unlikely event of two natural 20s on Initiative, the character with the higher total gets a Surprise Attack; if it's tied, nobody does.)

* If a Hero Point reroll on an attack roll produces a 20, even if it is not a natural 20, it still counts as a threat.

* If using the Defend maneuver, and a natural 20 is rolled on the Defend check, a character can make an additional standard action, usually used for an immediate counterattack on whoever just attacked you (sometimes called a Riposte). Note that a roll of 10 (adding 10 as usual for a Defend action) does not count as a natural 20 for these purposes, unless a Hero Point is spent before the roll, also allowing a reroll.

* The DC for any resistance check is 15+effect rank, rather than 10+effect value. The DC to overcome a condition is still 10+effect rank, but overcoming a condition requires the afflicted character to take a Recover action, unless the condition has an Instant Recovery flaw. (Exception: Conditions that have a built-in automatic recovery, such as those resulting from Feints, Demoralizes or Damage, work the same as they did before.)

* A character does not get an automatic check to overcome conditions at the end of their turn, but you can spend a Hero Point to get an additional Recovery action in a conflict, in addition to a Hero Point automatically removing dazed, fatigued and stunned or converting exhausted into fatigued.

* A Damage effect with the Alternate Resistance extra inflicts a -1 cumulative penalty to all subsequent resistance checks of that type on a failure, not to Toughness resistance checks, and it is therefore always a +1 per rank extra for those effects.

* (Specific to the tournament.) All competitors start out with 1 Hero Point, plus 1 additional Hero Point per PL their opponent has over them. Additional Hero Points may be triggered by Complications as usual. Unspent Hero Points do not transfer to subsequent fights.
Last edited by Davies on Mon Sep 20, 2021 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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FuzzyBoots
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Davies wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:25 pm * The DC for any resistance check is 15+effect rank, rather than 10+effect value. The DC to overcome a condition is still 10+effect rank, but overcoming a condition requires the afflicted character to take a Recover action, unless the condition has an Instant Recovery flaw.

* A character does not get an automatic check to overcome conditions at the end of their turn, but you can spend a Hero Point to get an additional Recovery action in a conflict, in addition to a Hero Point automatically removing dazed, fatigued and stunned or converting exhausted into fatigued.
I proposed a similar idea on the Subreddit, and one of the issues is that Stunned and Compelled become potential win buttons since the target can spend that Recover action (although,as you note, a Hero Point could work to oppose it). I suppose Extra Effort could also work for getting that reroll.
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

A Precognition Option

Whenever you use precognition, you can expend Extra Effort to make a Perception check against DC 20. You receive the opportunity to make one 'preroll' of a d20 for every degree of success you get on that roll. A 'preroll' lets you roll d20 and save that roll for later use. If the preroll is not to your satisfaction, you can discard it. At any point after making these prerolls, you can substitute that roll for any other d20 roll that you make. Once you've made your prerolls, you cannot use precognition for this purpose again until you've either used or discarded them all.

You can spend a Hero Point to add 10 to any preroll of 10 or less when you make the substitution.
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

A Recovery Option

In addition to automatically dazed, fatigued and stunned, and converting exhausted into fatigued, a spent Hero Point can automatically convert compelled into dazed. (This is the 'heroic willpower' that comes into play when a mind control target is forced to act against something they cherish.)
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

An Initiative Option

When a character's Initiative bonus changes after Initiative has been rolled -- positively or negatively -- their player can choose whether to just modify their position in the Initiative order based on that change, or to reroll Initiative with the new bonus. (Yes, this can mean that even if their Initiative bonus is less than what it was when the roll was first made, a higher roll can move them up in the Initiative order. Such are the fortunes of war.)
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greycrusader
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by greycrusader »

These have all been quite well-thought out, providing for interesting variations!

Thanks for all the options presented so far.

All my best!
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

What happens if we do this to these advantages?

Accurate Attack: When you use the Accurate Attack maneuver, you can add up to +2 to your Attack without any penalty to Damage.

All-out Attack: When you use the All-out Attack maneuver, you can add up to +2 to your Attack without any penalty to Defense.

Defensive Attack: When you use the Defensive Attack maneuver, you can add up to +2 to your Defense without any penalty to Attack.

Power Attack: When you use the Power Attack maneuver, you can add up to +2 to your Damage without any penalty to Attack.


... and does requiring you to specialize in Ranged or Close Combat attacks in each case weaken them too much?
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RainOnTheSun
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by RainOnTheSun »

Considering that it breaks PL cap, I don't think requiring specialization would weaken them too much. What I think would happen is that almost everyone would get at least one of these advantages, but you'd get diminishing returns after the first one, assuming you can only use one maneuver at a time.
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

Davies wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:34 pm
Accurate Attack (Maneuver): You have a +2 to your next attack, but your opponent's Toughness check is made at +2.
Accurate Attack (Advantage): You roll your next attack with A Bonus Die, but your opponent's Toughness check is made with A Bonus Die.

All-Out Attack (Maneuver): You have a +2 to your next attack, but anyone who attacks you also gets a +2 bonus to their attack.
All-Out Attack (Advantage): You roll your next attack with A Bonus Die, but anyone who attacks you for the rest of your turn rolls their attack with A Bonus Die.

Defensive Attack (Maneuver): Any attack made against you is made at -2, but any attack you make is also made at -2.
Defensive Attack (Advantage): Any attack made against you is made with A Penalty Die, but any attack you make is also made with A Penalty Die.

Power Attack (Maneuver): You have a -2 to your next attack, but your opponent's Toughness check is made at -2.
Power Attack (Advantage): You roll your next attack with A Penalty Die, but your opponent's Toughness check is made with a Penalty Die.
... a little bit of speculation based on the Quickstart.
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King Snarf
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by King Snarf »

Here's a little something I worked up while brainstorming ideas for a character who uses Summon, want to see what everyone thinks.

Slightly Varied: This is only for Summon effects that have the Multiple Minions extra. The minions are mostly identical, though there are a few differences in skills and advantages, to reflect different personalities, histories, or what have you. It's a one-for-one trade-off. One minion can have 4 ranks in a particular skill, whereas another minion has 4 ranks in a different skill. Generally, the trade-offs should be like- different skills should use the same base ability, and advantages should be in the same category (combat for combat, fortune for fortune, etc.). Essentially, this is the Variable Type: General extra, limited to Differences In Skills & Advantages. +0 Per Rank

Example: Miss Trio is a character who can summon forth two duplicates. Miss Trio's player, Steve, thinks one of the duplicates should be a bit of a smart aleck and the other a rough & tumble type, so he asks the GM, Sara, if the duplicates can have different skills. Sara agrees, so Steve gives the "core" Miss Trio 6 ranks in Persuasion. Instead of the duplicates both having that skill, Steve gives one 6 ranks of Deception instead and the other 6 ranks of Intimidate. Sara suggests that maybe the two duplicates might benefit from a different advantage, so Steve switches out the "core" Miss Trio's Fascinate: Persuasion advantage for Taunt for the first duplicate and Startle for the other.
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Davies
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Davies »

Pretty cool idea, and that works as a +0 cost extra.
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Shock
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Re: Experimental House Rules for M&M

Post by Shock »

I'd make it a flat +1 extra. There is some value in having varied minions. And the higher the rank in the skill, the more value it has.Having minions with varied +4s is one thing. Having one that's +12 Investigation and another that has +12 Technology is a pretty nice boost.
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