Power Stunts

[beyonder]

One of the things that the TSR Marvel RPG had and MURPG doesn't is the idea of Power Stunts. (Now, stop me if I'm wrong, here. There may be some overt or implied mechanic for such, but I'm not familiar with one.)

The idea is that Marvel heroes (and villains) are always coming up with nifty new uses for their powers, on-the-fly. It's an element of comicdom that just isn't allowed for in MURPG. As converted from TSR Marvel, here's how it would work in the new system:

When a player wants to try a new use for an existing Power, say, using Wall-Crawling to get a Grappling bonus (sticky hands, see?), he runs it past the GM, who decides whether the stunt is in keeping with the character and the power and whether it is balanced, and then, assuming that it's a go, assigns a Resistance to it. Resistance is equal to the cost adjustment for the Stunt as an Option, plus two. The player may then overcome the Resistance, plus the normal costs for effect, range, etc., to use the new trick for the first time. (Example: A Master of Fire wants to gain an Energy Blast. The Resistance for that Stunt is the Option's cost (+1), plus two, for a Resistance of 3. As normal, the Master must also use at least one Energy in order to actually create the fire blast; therefore, he must spend at least 4 Energy to successfully attempt the Stunt.) If he succeeds in overcoming the R, he may then write a Line about using the Stunt. The next time he uses the same Stunt, and each time after that, the Resistance is +1 rather than +2. Once he has written ten Lines about the Stunt, it becomes a new Option and gets written into that power's Action Box. The character does not also gain a rank in that power, because those ten lines earned him a new Option instead.

One catch is that Stunts must be used, at least the first time, in action, as opposed to at home in the off-hours. This is to make the Resistance a real challenge. I'm sure that there are other tweaks to be made, and it's maybe a a bit unwieldy as is, but overall .... what'cha think?

[i3ullseye]

It is already implied. You try a new use for your action, and you take negative situational modifiers for it. Fail or succeed, you can then add a line of experience ntoing that after that session if you desire.

The way I handle it is this. First attempt you have no line of XP or specialty, so you are at at least -2. The next time you HAVE a line of experience so you are at at least -1. Once you gain a rank, you can then add it as a specialty and no longer worry about negative mods.

[beyonder]

Good point, i3ullseye, and game-accurate, but that doesn't cover new Options for a power, IMHO. Are most GMs going to allow, say, Area Effect from a character who doesn't have that Option? Probably not, and gaining a rank does not allow one to gain an Option, nor do most Actions (especially Powers) allow Specialties. What I propose here is a slight expansion of the existing rules, which, as you say, already imply the ability to come up with new uses for your Powers. Maybe some GMs would already allow such, but this just makes it more semi-official and removes some of the guesswork. Does my point make more sense when put that way?

Your interpretation of the additional R costs (+2 first time, +1 after that) does make more sense than my method, so I've changed that portion. Thanks for the input.

[psistrike]

Actually a character can gain an Option for an Action with Lines of Experience=10 Lines per +1 the Option is worth.Evan said this over on one of the Yahoo groups awhile back.

[i3ullseye]

Yes.... and since he DID state that, I would interpret that to be you can use it at the hefty minus (and I woudl limit it to no more than once per session most likely) until you do accumulate those lines of XP to fully pay for it.

But here is another way you might want to handle this.

Have the character attempt it at first, and be at negative sit mods equal to the +ranking of the option PLUS the general -2 unskilled. So if it is a +2 option, make them be at -4 stones at least for the first attempt.

At the end of the session, drop 1 line of XP to pick up the option as its own action at 1 stone. From this point on there is no extra book keeping. It can be sued at 1 stone like anything else. The only rule, it can not combine with the action it is an option of. So each session, more lines of XP can be added to this one stone Action till it increases.

Then once you have enough stones in it to equal the +modifier it woudl cost as an extra PLUS ten stones, it can merge with the original action.

What does this do? Well, it makes the new action much easier to track for lines of XP and such. It also ensures it i at a VERY low power until payed for. Once you have dumped as many points in to this weak action as you wodul have too for the option to add to an Action it then converts.

More detailed example......

Captain Cerebelkum has basic Telepathy, but he decides he would like to pick up Illusions.

he has 6 stones in telepathy and tries to send an illusion during one session. Illusions are a +1 Mod, and the general mod is +2 difficulty, so he can pull this trick off the first time at 3 stones. At the end of that session he drops 1 line of XP into Illusions and has it at 1 stone. His attempting it unlocked the potential with a surge, but now it is hard to control and weak for him.

Now over the course of the next sessions he can freely use Illusions at 1 stone, but can never combine that with his Telepathy action. After earning 10 lines in this one stone power, instead of increasing to 2 stones, he drops the extra action and it becomes a feature of Telepathy for him. he does NOT gain 1 stone in telepathy, but can now do Illusions at a full 6 stones.

Now if he wanted Mind Control it woudl be a +2 option, so the initial use woudl be at only 2 stones (+2 option and +2 general unskilled difficulty). After dropping oen line of XP he woudl then have Mind Control at 1 stone that could never combine with his telepathy.

Now since control is a +2 option, he woucl have to drop 10 lines of XP into it, and bring it up to a 2 stone action first and foremost. then after he assigns 10 more liens to this 2 stone action, he erases it and adds Control as an option to his telepathy. again, telepathy does not increase 2 stones.... but now he can use his control others at the full 6 stone rank of his telepathy action.

Least.... thats how I would do it.......

[beyonder]

Psi: Thanks. That extra bit of ruling will come in handy in the future, I'll warrant.

i3ullseye: I see where you're coming from, and it makes a lot of sense (though I think I'd have a hell of a time explaining it to my less number-oriented players). However, I think that when you said

Then once you have enough stones in it to equal the +modifier it woudl cost as an extra PLUS ten stones, it can merge with the original action.

what you meant was "plus ONE stone", since the first point in the Action cost only one and not ten. If not, then I am confused (not an unusual state for me).

As much as I like your take on this, I do have one or two reservations, to wit:
1 - Characters with 9 Actions cannot do power stunts. Maybe that seems fair to you, since such characters are trading diversity of Actions for versatility OF Actions, but I don't like it so well.
2 - Even very high-powered Powers will have extremely wimpy Stunts for several games. Hmm .... I'm thinking that that might be sensible, since, like you said, the new Option would be difficult to control at first, but I'm not certain about how this bears up in the comics. Aren't new uses of existing powers normally about as strong as the original power? (I can't even imagine Magneto ever using a power at 1.) Of course, a GM could judge that one could still use the new Option at a higher level by using the "Parent" Action's AN and spending the extra 1 Unskilled (Line) Stone and the Option Cost Stones. (In your second example, Captain Cerebellum could use Mind Control at 1 for 1 Stone, or at a maximum of 3 for 6 Stones.) That seems logical, balanced, and maybe comic-realistic.

[i3ullseye]

Yup, I considered those 2 very things... and they add to why i like the idea instead of detract from it.

1) 9 actions limit. Thats right, no more. If they want the versatility of stunts of this nature, then they need to focus on merging 2 of the pre-existant actions first.

2) yes they WILL be very wimpy. and they should be. The idea is that they are far from reliable early on.