Opinions for new easy creation

[polimorph]

I wanted to make the way to create characters a little easier because I only have the main book and don't always have access to the others. I was thinking that for actions, everything could just be at cost=AN instead of adding +'s for them. But at the same time, depending on the GM, he can add a cost if he/she likes. Now for modifiers, same thing but the GM can impose whatever restrictions are necessary. This way, people can make whatever powers they want onthefly without really needing to look in the book all the time except when taking advantages which obviously adds to cost.

This would be the same for options which almost all actions can have. I figure unless it is listed under advantages, it would be +1 to cost per option. This way players would feel less restricted. I am still fine-tuning this but I just think it is more in the tradition of the old MSRPG from the 80's which I love to death. Just looking for opinions and suggestions. thanks!

[Brainstem]

On paper that may seem fine, but when you look at what kind of power it's really going to give the players, it's just too unbalancing. What you're suggesting would make an Action like Social Skills equal in cost as Phoenix Force. The way the game is structured now, it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to stat out a 40w character, and that's without any of the sourcebooks available.

Don't feel too restricted because you only have the main book; it's all you really need. The game is very loose when it comes to creation restrictions and what abilities are available to heroes. For the most part, any power a hero may want that isn't in the main book would be easily statted as a variant on one of the actions. For example, someone wanted "Shadow Stepping" for their Master of Shadows but wasn't sure how to handle it. All that would be is the Teleportation action with the disadvantage that it only works through shadows. Bam. A new action was created.

If players want to feel less restricted in a game, just make it a higher stone count. The way the MURPG was constructed makes it so free on its own, that anything (in my opinion) that could be done to loosen the restrictions on players would mostly serve just to unbalance the game.

[thedragonmaster]

The problem is that the +'s are meant to represent the relative difficulty of using the ability (thus general Knowledge and such are AN while Teleportation is AN + 2). One option (aside from simply buying the books, got all three off ebay recently for $25 after shipping) would be to use some of the files off of the Useful Files part of the boards. I found a page that had all the costs/actions/modifiers/advantages/disadvantages/Power Armor/etc. on two pages. Printed up a couple of copies and handed them around the table at our last game and it worked out pretty good.

However, if you are more interested in coming up with a formula for the +'s I'm sure that with some thought we could figure that out. Naturally anything which a normal person can do would be just AN. I'll look over the books when I get home and try to work out some general guidelines for the +'s.

[Pope Mega Force]

Aye, I would have to agree with Brainstem. Also, the cooperation between the GM and the player would have to be limitless which I've seen in the past and from past experience, almost never happens. So initially, an idea that would be put into action in order to save time would ultimately waste time on the GM and player going back and forth on why this pricing isn't fair. Good idea in theory but a closer look would reveal that the system, while not perfect and still needs some work, would certainly work better.

[polimorph]

well, lets say I didn't have a listing for pheonix force.. would I just put it at the same cost as power cosmic? It's just hard to do that without the actual books because then someone might look it up when they have the time and see it as being different which means they would have to basically re-make their character. This is tough to run because the game was cancelled...

[thedragonmaster]

To avoid problems like that you would just have to say "Here are the rules that we have. If you want to use an ability that isn't listed in this book, bring the book it's listed in with you." Because in the end that is the only way to make sure that you're all on the same page.

EDIT: Here is the thread that has the file I was talking about. If nothing else you can have a couple copies of this laying around for when someone wants something that isn't in a book that you have.

[Brainstem]

If there wasn't a write-up for Phoenix Force, I would take the actions that are all part of it and mix them into one Action Box. When you think about it, the grit of Phoenix Force is just a Mastery of Fire on an insane acid trip. As long as the GM and the player get together and come to a solution that works, it should be fine. If a player finds a write-up of the Action they have, but it was created after their character, there's no reason to rewrite the character. If it's worked fine up until that point, there shouldn't really be much of an issue.

[polimorph]

brainstem11588 said:

Don't feel too restricted because you only have the main book; it's all you really need. The game is very loose when it comes to creation restrictions and what abilities are available to heroes. For the most part, any power a hero may want that isn't in the main book would be easily statted as a variant on one of the actions. For example, someone wanted "Shadow Stepping" for their Master of Shadows but wasn't sure how to handle it. All that would be is the Teleportation action with the disadvantage that it only works through shadows. Bam. A new action was created.

Wouldn't the "shadow stepping" power be considered an option under the mastery instead of a seperate action? Much like a power stunt? Or would their have been a disability for it saying it was also tied to his shadow mastery?

[thedragonmaster]

Really you could do it either way. There are advantages and disadvantages to each way of doing it and it all depends on how you envision it working. But generally, modes of travel granted by a mastery are treated as a separate action (at CL - 1 as per the core rule book).

[polimorph]

thedragonmaster said:

Really you could do it either way. There are advantages and disadvantages to each way of doing it and it all depends on how you envision it working. But generally, modes of travel granted by a mastery are treated as a separate action (at CL - 1 as per the core rule book).

ah, true. So let's say that I have a list of powers and descriptions of what they do. Would it be best to put them into this system onthefly or make a detailed list of how they work in this system? (Marvel Superheroes Ultimate Powers Book)

[thedragonmaster]

I'd mostly just toss them in (though I'm not familiar with the book in question). You'd just want to make sure that they are priced about the same as similar powers from the core book. As with many of the powers in the game you'll want to figure out how they work when you create the character (thus how they work for that character as opposed to a blanket statement of This is how it works.

[Brainstem]

polimorph said:

ah, true. So let's say that I have a list of powers and descriptions of what they do. Would it be best to put them into this system onthefly or make a detailed list of how they work in this system? (Marvel Superheroes Ultimate Powers Book)

I would say on the fly. One of the big points stressed in the book is that Marvel is meant to be basically picked up and played; the only table that's really necessary is the D&R chart. To make a detailed list of how they all work in the system would just slow things down.

[polimorph]

so what if I did this then... take the main book and use all the abilities in there as a template. Should someone make a "new" action, I could find something to compare it with and basically have an equivalent cost for it.

[thedragonmaster]

Sounds good to me.

[polimorph]

ok, well.. I guess that can work.... Thanks.