Jab’s Power Profiles: Deleted 2nd Edition Powers- Ward! Area Effects!

[FuzzyBoots]

Side note, due to an error in moving the power description over from 2E, you can't use Quickness during combat unless you have Skill Mastery.

The other issue I have had in the past are players trying to use high levels of quickness to justify jamming an Investigation check, multiple research Knowledge checks, etc, all in their turn, without letting anybody else do anything. There's no longer a Take 20 action (see prior mention of how now you can only do Routine actions), but players may argue to just keep rolling in that case.

[Jabroniville]

Side note, due to an error in moving the power description over from 2E, you can't use Quickness during combat unless you have Skill Mastery.

The other issue I have had in the past are players trying to use high levels of quickness to justify jamming an Investigation check, multiple research Knowledge checks, etc, all in their turn, without letting anybody else do anything. There's no longer a Take 20 action (see prior mention of how now you can only do Routine actions), but players may argue to just keep rolling in that case.

Oh geez- that seems terribly annoying. Even in my short history as a GM, I've had the "wants to dominate the entire game" player stepping on everyone's toes, and that seems like one of the worst possible things in that case.

[catsi563]

For quickness regarding the inventor feat it only works at least foe me on the Design phase of Invention, Someone like Reed Peter or Tony or Vindicator aka Eve can come up with highly advanced tech or science in mere seconds but you still have to put the work in to build the invention and i usually dont allow such to be quicknesses past an hour without a hero point for what marvels FASERIP used to call Kitbashing

[Gamebook]

I have seen Quickness used for building devices in the comics, Mr Terrific once watched and marvelled as Power Girl and Supergirl built at blinding speed a big machine he had designed. Building a complex new device in reality takes often months and usually years to design it and get it to work. In comicbookdom it takes a few panels, and Quickness is useful for justifying that.

In regard to game-breaking powers M&M is literally one of the worst systems there is, it is super-easy, barely an inconvenience, to totally break the game with all sorts of powers. If you do that though you should not be playing the game, you've totally missed the point. M&M rules are there for facilitating comic-book-superhero adventure stories, not 'beating' the game. If you want to do that play a boardgame.

[JDRook]

QUICKNESS:
...
Extras & Flaws: Limited to Mental Tasks is common for computers, robots and anyone who's a super, SUPER genius. You could also have it be only Physical Tasks. Others are limited to only one kind of task (math, reading, etc.)- a -2 Flaw.

I think it should be noted that there are a few Advantages or Features that are just applications of Limited Quickness, so if you have some kind of Speedster with unmodified Quickness of at least 3 ranks, you essentially have Speed Reading, Lightning Calculator, Quick Change, Quick Draw, etc, and shouldn't have to buy them twice.

Quickness Limited to Physical could also be something that works for PCs with extra limbs or telekinesis, but I can't recall seeing it before.

A key "trick" could be combining this with the "Inventor" Feat (which almost no comic book characters do- it's too unbalancing)- it costs an hour per power-point for an invention... a Speedster with Quickness 10 could build a 10-pp invention in only twelve seconds! um, GMs should limit this, as it's effectively 11 points (Inventor + Quickness 10, maybe with Speed and the like) for an "Any Power Ever" one-off.

For quickness regarding the inventor feat it only works at least foe me on the Design phase of Invention, Someone like Reed Peter or Tony or Vindicator aka Eve can come up with highly advanced tech or science in mere seconds but you still have to put the work in to build the invention and i usually dont allow such to be quicknesses past an hour without a hero point for what marvels FASERIP used to call Kitbashing

There's already a Jury-Rigging option for inventing that skips design phase and goes right to constructing at 1 round per power point of the invention, so if you're going to make a 10p gadget, it'll take you a minute and a DC25 Tech check including the J-R penalty. Any faster than that should require buying an "Instant Gadget" Variable. An hour or a non-combat "scene" seems like a logical narrative minimum for super inventions, just so they don't take days of game-time; it's inventing in the middle of a fight that should be trickier.

I have seen Quickness used for building devices in the comics, Mr Terrific once watched and marvelled as Power Girl and Supergirl built at blinding speed a big machine he had designed. Building a complex new device in reality takes often months and usually years to design it and get it to work. In comicbookdom it takes a few panels, and Quickness is useful for justifying that.

The most interesting thing about this example for me is that there are multiple "players" involved instead of just one. Team-building an invention could be encouraged, and cut down on specialized speed-inventor builds.

[FuzzyBoots]

Another thing which may modify the ability to overuse quickness is, as someone recently pointed out to me when I complained about players overusing high values, moveby action technically only allows one standard action to be sandwiched in the middle of a move action. So no "I walk to this part of the room, do this thing, walk to the other part of the room, do this other thing, etc." Except, of course, that does make the game somewhat overly modular, same as forcing players to stop their movement every time they want to open a door, and not being able to continue moving without move by action.

[Jabroniville]

SUPER-SPEED:
Effect: This is the old 2e "Super-Speed" power- combining Speed, Quickness & Improved Initiative into one power for utility and saving on typing. I mean, that's all it is. 3 points per rank- the same cost as those combined things. This actually goes into more detail than either "Speed" or "Quickness" for the extra things Speedsters do, like Multiattack, Enhanced Defenses, etc.- the description is thus much longer than either.

Who Uses It?: Pretty much any Speedster uses some variation of this- Super-Speed merely means all the stats are at the same number.

Extras & Flaws: Same as Speed or Quickness.

Related Stuff: Same as Speed or Quickness.

How Effective Is It?: This is... fine, but I literally never use it. I prefer more of a difference between the individual components- Quicksilver is FAST, but typically doesn't use Quickness as much, for example. I find that Improved Initiative in the degree Speedsters would get using this power (typically +40 if a Super-Speed 10 character!!!) are too high to justify using this. Like, you can OCCASIONALLY move before one. It's just a lot of points used for "automatically goes first all the time".

Fixing It?: It's a big chunk of book space for something that's just combining three things together, but whatever. I can see its point, and it might help newer playlers or GMs "figure out" how to make a Speedster if they didn't read the "Profiles" at the beginning of the book.

[Davies]

Part of the problem is that Initiative is the cheapest trait in the game, at 1 point per 4 ranks -- and it's set at that price because of legacy code, since D&D3 set Improved Initiative at a flat +4 bonus. I'm not sure that it should be that inexpensive, but making it cost any more risks unbalancing the cost of Agility.

[Jabroniville]

TELEPORT:

Effect: The character can instantly travel from place to place. For 2 points per rank, you can move your rank distance on the table, so 60 feet, then 120 feet, etc. (most comic book guys would need Teleport 8-12 to get common distances, without the "Extended" Extra). As comics almost never gives actual distances, determining ranks can be tricky so I usually just wing it. At baseline, you can move 50 lbs., spending a point to double that each rank. It takes a Move Action and people trying to resist being taken along get a Dodge check.

Teleport ends up being one of the most complex and detailed powers in the entire game for the sheer vast array of Extras & Flaws it has, plus assorted rules like the weights and resisting passengers. You can also only teleport to places you can accurately sense and know well at the base cost. It can be very tricky to figure out and for years, was the ONE POWER I constantly had to read the book for, because I couldn't memorize all of it. It's also one of the most expensive powers to buy at any reasonable level or utility, meaning it's often the very top part of an Array, even for powerful Mages.

Moving across the world in ranks: New York City is 35 miles north to south (Teleport 13, or Teleport 5 w/ Extended), while the Earth's circumference is 24,000 miles (Teleport 22-ish, Teleport 13 w/ Extended). Most comic book teleporters are somewhere in between, so would be spending 15-44 points for their power.

Note that only inter-planet teleportation is allowed- you need Space or Dimensional Travel for the other stuff.

Who Uses It?: This is a vastly common power in comic book universes, though honestly quite selective on most super-teams, as it's a veritable game-breaker. Chris Claremont used it a LOT to justify his teams being globe-hoppers, but sometimes had side characters (such as Gateway) do it. Because it can cut out huge swaths of drama all at once when characters can instantly get anywhere. For this reason, the most iconic Superhero Teleporter, Nightcrawler, had incredible limitations placed on his own ability, and instead used it as a way to elevate his fighting style or escape attacks, rather than a "move the entire team elsewhere" thing.

The New Mutants, by contrast, used Magik to globe-hop in a way children wouldn't otherwise be able to. And universe-hop. But even that had limits (her mistakes could send them into REAL danger). The Avengers have only rarely had these sorts. The Justice League also tend not to, but have had an actual teleporter built on their faraway bases. Most Magic Heroes will have this, though. I often stat up Fighting Game character "Teleports" as low-rank ones with "Change Direction".

Extras & Flaws: 1-point Feats include the ability to Change Direction or Velocity- these allow you to stop a fall instantly, or change your position or angle. Increased Mass boosts the aforementioned 50-lb. weight limit. Turnabout lets you do the "Nightcrawler" trick of teleporting, taking a standard action (ie. punching someone), and then teleporting back to your position, letting you strike without being struck back.

The Extras are more complicated. "Accurate" lets you ignore the "you need to sense your location" thing, and I think a big chunk of comic book Teleporters have to use this. Extended lets you take two move actions (ie. not attack) and move your rank +8 (this is probably much more common than just buying high ranks in Teleport, as most guys don't need to do it as a combat action). This leaves you Dazed and Vulnerable... UNLESS you buy the "Easy" extra. Shit, I think I forget that entirely and stick it on characters without "Extended", lol. The "Portal" trick, naturally creating a large portal anyone can walk through, is +2/rank- it takes a standard action to maintain.

Things get even more complicated when you read the general "Extras" section of the book, because "Teleporting Someone as an Attack", a total fight-ender in an RPG scenario, is explained. Here, it's a +0/rank bonus that REPLACES your normal Teleport! And it's four full paragraphs of explanation, so you KNOW they wanted people to understand fully the ramifications of this and how to do it. The Teleport Attack is now a close-ranged standard action attack, improved by the "Range" & "Action" Extras (teleporting someone as a MOVE ACTION is absolutely broken, of course). Dodge or Will resists this. You also have to define "reasonably common" circumstances like force fields or other teleporters that can block this power. If you want to have both this and normal Teleport, buy both as Alternate Effects... or use both by Linking them together (a HUGE cost). Oddly that part's actually in the initial power's entry, so like... it's not automatic?

Flaws include "Extended Only" (preventing short battlefield teleports), or "Medium" for people who can only Teleport ALONG things- this is the Atom's "move through phone lines" power. It's common for Marvel's Darkforce users to only Teleport along shadows, too.

Related Stuff: Most of the movement powers- plus Space/Dimensional Travel could use a lot of the same Extras, like Portal. Nightcrawler and other "Combat 'Porter" types have great defensive boosts, and he also has a Fatigue-effect that can hit people he takes with him (at great cost to himself, mind you).

How Effective Is It?: Teleport is the most useful movement-based power by a ways, but has the according cost- in fact, being GOOD at Teleport means you usually have to have it at 4-5/rank, because you likely want Extended, Accurate, and other good things. Anyone like Magik, who makes world-crossing portals that fit dozens of people, is gonna be breaking the absolute bank. I'd imagine Teleport 4 w/ Extended & Accurate is a grand use of 16 points, at least, as it covers a lot of utility and isn't too expensive. Doing comics-accurate Teleport is a bit trickier as you have guys like Nightcrawler limited to 3 miles, but most characters can just 'port across the planet instantly, which takes a HUGE chunk of change.

Honestly, Teleport is so good (and so potentially game-changing) that it SHOULD be expensive. The sheer amount of Extras & Flaws is good "choice-making", too, as you can boost or lower it as you wish, and most of this is comics-accurate.

Fixing It?: Teleport seems fine to me. If anything, it's a power GMs should monitor carefully so one of your players can't just bust out of every single thing.

[Gamebook]

As a Movement power it is notable that Teleport isn't any faster than Speed or Flight, it is just different. If you don't take some of the Extras it also has some pretty serious limitations. Without Change Velocity you have to 'port from surface to surface or be prepared to hit the deck hard on arriving, and even then teleporting out of a fall requires time to do it in. Without Accurate you are pretty much restricted to line-of-sight, so a simple cloud of smoke, door or a corner could block you. In many circumstances I would say Speed or Flight is a superior power.

[JDRook]

Teleport could also be used with Agile Feint if your PC isn't already as nimble as Nightcrawler. Feinting and tricking with short-range 'ports should be just as effective as high-speed running or flight.

It's not clear if you could use Teleport with a Slam Attack like you can with most other movement powers. Since there are flat extras that allow you to alter your momentum, presumably it's conserved by default, but that would be your momentum before you actually 'port. Alternatively, "Slam" damage could be repackaged as "matter overlap" with a target, doing full damage to the target and half to the PC.

There's also the complexity of Teleport Attacks becoming Fall Damage. A vertical 'port attack of rank 6 or better will cause a fall that potentially does rank 16 Damage, but any fall greater than 500' (rank 4 distance) starting fom rest in earth gravity is going to take more than a round to fall, so the target has plenty of options to prepare as well as the possibility of being assisted by an ally.

[Jabroniville]

MOVEMENT:

Effect: Various! There are actually several different powers contained within "Movement", and most of them don't do remotely the same thing! It's unique in the book for being entirely a "catch-all", but notably it's 2 points per rank, which means it's kinda weird and tricky to detail at points. And... a huge chunk of this is the "Spider-Man Power-Set", as a lot of his extraneous powers are contained within here. But so is Time Travel and Dimensional Teleportation. And Permeating through stuff. And... something that used to be a Feat in 2nd Edition. It's weird.

For the most part, these are all small utility powers- 1-4 points each and you can do minor tricks with them- things like "move at normal speed when you otherwise wouldn't" (swinging, wall-crawling, slithering). Others (time & dimensional travel) are just the Teleport power but weirder and cheaper. In general, I find a lot of these neat little powers to throw on builds to show that you're considering all options- you can tell a clever builder by the fact that they'll throw Safe Fall onto Spider-Man alongside the obvious stuff like Swinging & Wall-Crawling, or Slithering onto a snake-guy.

[Jabroniville]

MOVEMENT- SAFE FALL:

Effect: Effectively Immunity From Falling Damage, so long as you are capable of action. It's a complicated, weird thing that says as long as you have a handhold or projection, you can stop your fall at any point. Also I keep calling this one "Slow Fall" in my builds because I never think to check.

Who Uses It?: I... I almost never use this. Like, who DOES this? Technically, every acrobatic hero in comics has the "flagpole trick" or landing on the giant soft awning of a building (which are universal to any comic taking place in New York), but none of THOSE guys have this power. I think I've only given it to Spider-Man and other wall-crawling heroes- it's effectively one of those powers DEFINED by him, as he can just stretch out his arm and latch onto anything on a building. His Webbing even has the "Affects Others" Extra in my build of him, as he can use this to catch people safely (with one notable blonde exception).

A few "Hook/Swinging" guys use this as well, I suppose. I had to check but I gave it to Daredevil, lol. huh, I guess Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender also does it? Maybe?

Extras & Flaws: It May be Limited to When Near a Surface. I guess that's supposed to be used for Spider-Man.

Related Stuff: Most of the other Movement stuff, really.

How Effective Is It?: This is a thing you wouldn't use much, but it's essentially a cheaper way to get "Immunity (Falling Damage)- Limited to When Capable of Action" since it'd be 2 points vs. 5 points. So if you're not KO'd, you could still do it.

Honestly, to me this is almost best used as a "Temporary Power"- blow a Hero Point or accept the "Tiring" condition and let your otherwise hopeless hero survive a long fall. It's 2 points and I can imagine GMs would allow you the "lucky awning" trick.

Fixing It?: It's so little-used and only costs 2 points it's not really worth getting into.

[Batgirl III]

I’ve given it to a fair few “super-acrobatic” heroes, like Captain America and Daredevil, but usually limited by the Check Required (Acrobatics or Athletics) Modifier.

The basic Acrobatics Skill let’s the user make a DC 5 test to lessen the damage from a fall by –1 per degree of success, which seems fine for guys like the Batman who can probably fall from a moderately high rooftop without being hurt too bad… But guys like Daredevil push it into clearly super-human levels, it’s not automatic though. But he can’t stop on the wall, that’s Spidey’s schtick.

Then you’ve got guys like the Black Panther, whose combination of cat-like reflexes and vibranium soled boots is explicitly said to be able to fall from any height without any injury (so long as he’s conscious). T’challa’s vibranium boots also let him run up a wall, but he can’t stop on it. Again, that’s Spidey’s thing.

[JDRook]

MOVEMENT- SAFE FALL:

Build it as equipment and it's a parachute. Make it Area Affect and it's a giant inflatable crash pad.

Really good for a cheap telekinetic AE or Power Stunt to save yourself or large groups of people from falling, since it's so inexpensive. In theory you could land an aircraft with it since it doesn't have a defined weight limit, but if you go with the Attack Modifier interpretation, Safe Fall + 13 ranks of Increased Mass could land a 747 for 15p.