Ayyyyy, M&M? I've got some fun ideas but with a game like this I especially want to see what potential players want to do before I start committing to anything. I'm making this thread now, very early in setting up a game, to see what the players want to make.
What the hell is M&M?Mutants and Masterminds is a tabletop RPG using the d20 system. Literally the only die used is a d20. Since it's based on D20 if you've played Dungeons and Dragons you already know how to play, aside from learning the various options you have. 1d20+bonuses vs. the check's DC, easy stuff.
As the name and banner image suggest, it's a game where you'll be playing superheroes fighting villains and saving the world and all that shit. Within that framework the game is flexible enough to handle pretty much any superhero archetype and theme, from Golden Age dudes dressed like flags with no powers to Batman to X-Men all the way up to Superman and beyond. The amount of customization is pretty staggering and a little intimidating.
So how do we do that?I don't do play-by-post, so it's gonna have to be a get-together kind of thing. IRC or Tabletop Simulator would work best, I love the tactility of TTS, but I'm open to other options.
Since I'm guessing most people who play will be new to the system, we'll probably dedicate a session at the beginning to character creation. M&M is the kind of game where it's hard to create characters in a vacuum. This thread'll be a place to conceptualize the kind of character you want to make.
What kind of character do I want to make?Good question! One thing that's important, and part of the reason I'm making this thread so early, is that the game is very character-driven. It's not like D&D where you can play a murderhobo with no personality and just enjoy the tactical challenge. You really need to invest yourself in the character you're playing to enjoy it. Luckily I've got a quick exercise you can do that'll both quickly develop a concept and give me things to work with when I set up the game:
If you want to play, whether you know the rules or not, do these three things. Write a backstory/description (three sentences is adequate, you can add a few more, but concise is good), write three core beliefs, and three core goals. That's all.
Once you're done with that, read it over and ask yourself "would I unironically watch a show/read a comic about this character?" If not, start over. It's important in M&M that you're invested in your character and enjoy roleplaying him, so make sure you really like your character.
For example:
Backstory: Knuckledragger is a toad-like alien from a planet whose gravity is a thousand times stronger than Earth's. On his homeworld he's a runt and a nerd, but on Earth he can run on the highway and punch through concrete. He's abandoned his post as ambassador and gone native, reveling in the power and adoration he gets on Earth, but he's terrified others of his species will come to Earth and steal his thunder.
Beliefs: 1. I don't deserve the respect I get on Earth. 2. Nothing I can do is enough to deserve it. 3. If others of my kind come to Earth everyone will forget about me.
Goals: 1. Keep others of his kind from coming to Earth. 2. Always do more for humanity. 3. Do something that will ensure everyone remembers him forever.
I've put together a kitchen sink sort of setting that allows for a wide variety of character types and themes but still has a semi-coherent world.
Up until 2012 the world is exactly like our own. Its history diverges on December 21, 2012, the prophesied Mayan event, later known as the Conflux. It becomes suddenly apparent that we're not the only Earth out there: Previously invisible, impermeable barriers between worlds weaken and dissolve and thousands of parallel universes come crashing together. Overnight the multiverse merges together in a chaotic slurry and separates again as the barriers reform, leaving fragments of a thousand different worlds stranded in our own.
Bizarre aliens and interdimensional beings appear. People, cities, in some cases entire planets vanish or travel through time. Mars is green and blue now. Millions of people are exposed to dimensional energies and develop strange powers. Many of the newly augmented humans, and even more of the beings from other worlds, promptly run wild on Earth and it's complete bedlam for years as superpowered forces battle each other for control of the Earth.
Thankfully not everything to come through is evil, and a loose association of augmented humans, friendly outsiders, and other superpowered beings forms to restore order and protect the world, and after a few years they manage to get things under control, forming a coalition to maintain peace.
A race of godlike outsiders accidentally teleports Los Angeles out of reality entirely, leaving only a giant crater, and as an apology they build a new one in a day and a night. The new city ends up being a haven and a sort of embassy for the dizzying array of new people and aliens. It's named Nexus, and the superheroes form their headquarters there. The campaign will be mainly centered in Nexus, and it'll start five years after the Conflux, in 2017.
While there's a ton of new, bizarre shit in the world, it's still mostly humans. Nexus, the most diverse city, is 80-90% mundane humans. Of that 10-20% the majority are minor augmented humans, a little stronger than the average, maybe a couple powers, but not really superhero worthy. The last couple percent are the real heavy-hitters, aliens, powerfully augmented superhumans and mutants, etc.
We'll be starting off in the lower-middle of the power spectrum (PL10 for those of you who know M&M). Due to the nature of the setting pretty much anything reasonable is on the table. There are plenty of normal humans with minor upgrades, and you could be a super-smart human in a battlesuit or with a ton of gadgets, or a time-traveling warrior or sorcerer from some neato ancient culture. Or you could be a heavily augmented human with high-caliber superpowers, an alien or an extradimensional entity, pretty much anything within reason.
Let me know what you want to be, preferably using the 3x3 character generation in the spoiler, and we'll see what happens.
As far as times go, I have a pretty hectic schedule right now so I can't make hard predictions about when I'll be available. Wednesday and Saturday tend to be my best days.
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Topic: Mutants and Masterminds via IRC/TTS - Interest Check, discussion, etc. (Read 5199 times)