Gritty Mutants and Masterminds
From AngilleWiki
Mutants and Masterminds is a fantastic system. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is possibly the best "universal" gaming system, beating GURPS and HERO at their own, er, game. However, some of that breaks down in a more realistic (read: low Power Level) setting.
On that note, I (Angille) propose the following set of house rules for grittier games, while still using most of the fairly polished and universal point-buy system of M&M. It is notable that some of these rules would translate well to the "regular" higher PL gameplay, and it may be further of interest that several of these ideas are direct ripoffs from D&D 4e and SW Se.
Contents |
2d10
As you may well know from my discussion on the 2d10 System, I rather like the statistical spread of 2d10. The d20 is fantastically suited to cinematically appropriate settings - the wackiness of an average roll being just as probable as an outstanding roll is well-placed in a superheroic or legendary campaign. With the 2d10 comes other variations.
Exploding 10s
Another hallmark of my 2d10 incarnation: when any die rolls a natural 10, roll another and add it to the result. This is limited to half your PL, rounded down. For example, if a PL4 character rolled a third 10, they would not roll another die.
This has the effect of increasing the average roll of semi-heroic characters, even in a gritty setting. A PL1 character would receive no bonus rolls. The aforementioned PL4 character has an average roll of 12.2 even without Hero Points. Also, unlike the other 2d10 system used in Elemental Heroes, the exploding dice apply to every roll.
Another result of this is there is no automatic success. A PL1 character with a +0 Attack really cannot hit a character with a 21 Combat Defense. At least... not without extenuating circumstances.
Hero Point Use
The "Improve Roll" application of Hero Points changes as well. Expending a Hero Point allows you to roll a second 2d10 and pick which two of the four dice to use. Any exploded 10 carries its extra dice.
Critical Hits
If you roll at least a 9 on both dice on an attack, you score a Crit Threat, and as long as your roll hits the target you receive a +5 to your Damage or Power roll. The Improved Critical Feat reduces the minimum roll by 1 with each rank.
Defenses
| Each Defense is calculated similarly - Passive Defense is 10 + Active Defense. | |
| Toughness | Con Mod + Misc (Defensive Roll, Force Field) |
| Combat | 2pp per +1 bonus (half is a Dodge Bonus and can be lost) |
| Fortitude | better of Str or Con Mod + 1pp per +1 bonus |
| Reflex | better of Dex or Int Mod + 1pp per +1 bonus |
| Will | better of Wis or Cha Mod + 1pp per +1 bonus |
Instead of four Saving Throws and a Defense, there are five Passive Defenses. Typically, you roll your Attack Bonus versus your target's Combat Defense, then roll your Damage Bonus versus your target's Toughness Defense. Conversely, you might roll your Power Bonus versus your target's Fort, Ref or Will Defense.
On some occasions, you might need to use an Active Defense (for instance, against an ongoing effect or an area attack) - this should be up to the GM whether the DC is based on a Passive Power Rating (10 + Power Bonus, eg. a grenade) or the originator's roll with their Power Bonus (eg. mind control).
The end result of this is that the players should feel like they have more control over things. Basically, this is still the same mechanic of two rolls with bonuses opposing each other, with one side almost invariably Taking 10.
Abilities
I considered cutting discrete ability scores to have a simple 2pp per +1 bonus, but carrying capacity would have to be rethought. Yuck. Note, however, the adaptive Defenses above. Int and Cha might actually be worth their points now, though Con is still underpriced. Especially with the next section...
Alternate Damage System
| Stun Damage | Lethal Damage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Roll | Result | Roll | Result |
| Fail | none | Fail | -1 hit |
| Hit | -1 hit | Hit | -1 hit, -1 CT |
| by 5 | -2 hit | by 5 | -2 hit, -2 CT, lose Quick |
| by 10 | -3 hit, -1 CT, lose Quick | by 10 | -3 hit, -3 CT, lose 2 Quicks |
I know, I know. One of the neatest things about M&M is the damage system. It's not changing all that much, really. You'll see. Well... except for the whole making it a Spiral of Doom. Which, ya know, gritty?
Hit Points
You have Hit Points equal to your Con Mod + Power Level, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3x Power Level. You can buy Hit Points for 1pp each. For example, a PL4 character with a Con of 16 would have 7 Hit Points.
Any Hit Point damage beyond 0 is two steps down the Condition Track per Hit Point. For example, an attacker makes his Damage Roll by 8 against a defender with one remaining Hit Point. The defender loses his last Hit Point and drops two steps down the Condition Track.
Damage is assumed to be Stun Damage. Lethal is now an applicable power Extra as per p108 of the Mastermind's Manual. It must be taken to full ranks, and counts as a single application of Penetrating (see p77 of MaMa). This means that there can be multiple applications of Impervious as well, indicating things like light bulletproof vests versus heavy leather armor.
A character making an Active Damage roll treats "Fail" and "Hit" as "Succeed" and "Fail" respectively.
Condition Track
| Steps | Result |
|---|---|
| Normal | None, at full capacity |
| -1 | -1 all rolls and defenses |
| -2 | -2 all rolls and defenses |
| -3 | -4 all rolls and defenses, lose Quick |
| -4 | -8 all rolls and defenses, lose 2 Quicks |
| -5 | unconscious, possibly dying |
This is obviously enough stolen from Star Wars Saga Edition. Note that losing all your Hit Points does not cause you to fall unconscious. Even a PL1 non-minion character must be driven down the Condition Track to be knocked out or killed. And a character cannot enter the Dying state without sustaining Lethal Damage at the bottom of the Condition Track. This may be a bad move, as you could use cheap (point-wise) but powerful powers to drop someone unconscious, then use a +1 Lethal attack to kill them. We'll see...
Of course, this eliminates states like Staggered, Disabled, Fatigued, Exhausted, Dazed, Stunned and Shaken. For instance, Extra Effort moves you one persistent step down the Condition Track. It also opens the door to Powers, Feats and Hero Point effects related to the Condition Track. For example, Stun effects would be a staged removal of single or multiple Quick actions. Fatigue effects would be non-persistent steps down the Condition Track.
Healing
Expending a Hero Point as a Reaction immediately moves you one step up the Condition Track, replacing the "Cancel Fatigue" use. The "Recover" use of a Hero Point is essentially the same: a Complete action to make an immediate recovery check.
Once per hour of rest, characters can make a DC 10 Con Check to move a step up the Condition Track. Any persistent steps must have their conditions met before they can be recovered. Undefined persistent conditions (like Extra Effort for instance) need six hours of rest to make the recovery check.
Once per six hours of rest, characters can make a DC 10 Con Check to regain a Hit Point. Unconscious characters make a similar save every minute to regain consciousness, and dying characters make a similar save every hour. It is notable that recovery checks are the only rolls which are not affected by the negative modifier imposed by the Condition Track. In fact, for each consecutive failed check of a type, the character applies a +1 bonus to their next check, resetting with a success.
Alternate Advancement
| Rank | Range | Time | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 ft | Std Act (3 sec) | 1 |
| 2 | 50 ft | 2 Rnds (12 sec) | 2 |
| 3 | 350 ft | 10 Rnds (1 min) | 4 |
| 4 | 2,000 ft | 5 min | 7 |
| 5 | 2 mi | 15 min | 15 |
| 6 | 10 mi | 1 hr | 25 |
| 7 | 75 mi | 6 hrs | 40 |
| 8 | 450 mi | 1 day | 75 |
| 9 | 2,500 mi (continental) | half week | 125 |
| 10 | 15,000 mi (planetary) | fortnight | 220 |
| 11 | 100,000 mi (high orbital) | 2 months | 380 |
| 12 | 500,000 mi (close moons) | 6 months | 680 |
| 13 | 3 million mi (far moons) | 2 years | 1,200 |
| 14 | 20 million mi | 5 years | 2,000 |
| 15 | short interplanetary | 10 years | 3,600 |
| 16 | long interplanetary | 25 years | 6,500 |
| 17 | solar system | 50 years | 11,000 |
| 18 | intersystem | 100 years | 20,000 |
| 19 | galactic | 250 years | 35,000 |
| 20 | universal | 500 years | 60,000 |
My inspiration here is p73 of MaMa, but that only goes into the Value Progression. One of the things that bothers me about the standard progressions is their arbitrary use of wobbly multipliers, especially in the Time Progression (x2, x10, x5, x4, x3, etc). With the exception of Value, these progressions are relatively close to the standards; they've just been normalized to have less "wobble".
Each progression uses a multiplier against the previous value, then it's rounded to a more usable figure than, say, 3,637. Range uses x6, Time uses x4.5, moving down to x3 by the end, and Value uses x1.75.
Quick Actions
Ah, you may have noticed all the talk about Quicks above. During a turn, you can take a Standard, a Move and a Quick action, in addition to any Free actions or Reactions. Standard actions can devolve to Move actions, which in turn can devolve into Quick actions. You'll note I used a different word than 4e's "Minor" and Saga's "Swift" - this is so you can use a single-letter shorthand to differentiate between the action types. Of course, Full and Free still conflict, but it's a step in the right direction. Maybe we rename Full to Complete? C/S/M/Q/F/R - hey, they're all different now.
Basically, anything in 4e (p289 of the PHB) or Saga (p153 of the CR) that counts as Minor or Swift actions now count as Quick actions. Also, swapping powers in an Array moves up to a Quick action. In addition, the Action Extra/Flaw now includes Quick between Move and Free.
Losing two Quick actions means you can only take a Standard action during a round, though it can still devolve into a Move or Quick action. Losing three Quick actions effectively removes your turn, though through the use of a Hero Point you can regain all your lost Quick actions for one round.
Trade-offs
Quick and easy here: you can make trade-offs between all four of the traits that are tradable in the base system. That is, your Attack, Damage (or Power), Combat Defense and Toughness Defense bonuses all add up to 4x PL or less. Glass cannons are fine by me, at least in such low Power Levels.
Skills
| Skill | Sub-skills |
|---|---|
| Academic | Art, Civics, Craft, History, Philosophy |
| Athletics | Acrobatics, Climb, Jump, Ride, Swim |
| Influence | Diplomacy, Gather Info, Intimidate, Perform, Sense Motive |
| Nature | Craft, Handle Animal, Earth/Life Science, Ride, Survival |
| Occult | Arcana, Craft, History, Planar Science, Theology |
| Perception | Concentration, Notice, Search, Sense Motive, Tactics |
| Science | Behavior Science, Craft, Earth/Life Science, Physics, Medicine |
| Subterfuge | Bluff, Disguise, Forgery, Sleight of Hand, Stealth |
| Technology | Computers, Craft, Disable Device, History, Physics |
| Thievery | Disable Device, Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Streetwise |
| Urban | Business, Current Events, Gather Info, Streetwise, Survival |
| Vehicles | Drive, Pilot Aircraft, Pilot Spacecraft, Ride, Sail |
I fully support the broad skills of both 4e and Saga. Here's one step further: divorcing the skills from the abilities. An Influence + Cha check can apply to very different actions from an Influence + Str check, for example. Each rank in a skill is worth 1pp. The new ranked Skill Focus Feat gives a +4 to a single sub-skill of the broader skill, with the prerequisite of at least one rank in the broad skill. The Skill Mastery Feat now applies to a single broad skill.
Note that different characters might take different approaches to the same challenge: Thievery + Int can get you out of bonds in a very similar way to Athletics + Dex for instance. Also, some broad skills have the same sub-skill: an application of Nature (Survival) will come into play at a very different time than Urban (Survival). Note that Skill Focus in each of these is separate; Skill Focus (Nature [Survival]) will not grant a bonus to Urban (Survival). Craft has been distributed, and Profession is basically GM fiat.
