Last one for May. See how time flies!
- The point is to push back the evil, knowing that enough rolling pebbles can cause an avalanche.
One of the most important things in an M&M game is that your character is one member of a team of superheroes. That has two really critical implications: character niches and the basic responsibility of being in a team.
You need all the players to have niches, things they’re good at and things they’re not. The reason for this isn’t balance vs the GM, but balance vs the other players. Everyone needs their chance in the spotlight. Designing a character around getting lots more attacks, actions, etc or being far tougher than the rest of the team, or around having a solution for every situation that might arise, is not designing a character with a niche. It’s not illegal or even explicitly warned against in the books, but the supers genre has plenty of “Mary Sues” and godmoding characters, and they’re all hated by fans and generally thought of as terrible. Now imagine how bad it must be if you’re another character in that comic. Not the funnest game experience.
The other thing you need to do is fit into a team. Part of that is conceptual: no psycho loner personalities. But part of it is more related to powers. Being totally indetectable so you never get attacked is the same as saying “everyone else fields my attacks for me”. Being Orbital Laser Man, Intangible Blaster Guy or the dreaded Bathroom Mentalist all fall into this category. It’s your responsibility to make a character who is a sensible part of the team they’re on, otherwise you end up with The BMX Bandit and The Angel Summoner again.
So what I’m saying is: don’t look at those 150 points and try to make the sungle baddest dude who ever wore his undies on the outside. It’s no fun for everyone else if they made superheroes instead. And if your GM asks you to reconsider a concept or power, they’re not being a twit, they’re trying to keep the game fun for everyone else. I know, it sounds moralistic, oversimpilifed and more remeniscent of the kindergarten playground than the game table. But it’s the truth.
- But here’s my solution. If someone starts talking on a phone, start talking back to them. Pretend they’re talking to you. Since they’re forcing you to be part of their conversation, don’t just sit there like a wallflower. Join in!
- That’s magic. You just called it magic. We’re not doing magic here.
- …”but we don’t own a lifesize clown statue”…
- … and instead we get a book written by Captain Obvious (oh, sorry, Ari “4e is great !” Marmell) full of tantalizing passages such as “the interesting thing about the noble quarter is that the nobility live there !”, useless rules (guilds and houses rules are so crap that Wotc must have actually noticed that and fixed the problem with PHB2 affiliation rules), silly monsters and some random statblocks.
- As a teacher, you learn that many problems can be solved by not giving people the opportunity to cause them. More opportunity = more chance of problems.
- You are insisting that I am wrong because I defend a play style that is contrary to your preference and support the DM’s right to refuse to allow any mechanic they choose. The DM does have the ultimate power of choice by the simple fact that they can choose not to DM – END OF GAME! You can claim that it is petty, but no more so than continuing to push the issue of being allowed the mechanics you want until the DM relents.
- I’ve already ruled that Iron Heart Surge is not a universal passkey to every unwanted effect, including night and gravity, regardless of what the RAW says
- And this, I think, is the crux of the matter: I, the same as many others, say it’s the DMs world, and if a player doesn’t find it to his taste, he’s free to find another game with a world that’s more to his liking.
Have a great week everyone!
