tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post5732660197266976842..comments2024-03-26T15:35:56.004-04:00Comments on Delta's D&D Hotspot: Marvel FASERIP: Power StuntsDeltahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-18892794221258848242022-01-12T22:17:59.610-05:002022-01-12T22:17:59.610-05:00Nice! With made-up PCs, I'm all for it.Nice! With made-up PCs, I'm all for it.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-18824856576407360792021-12-28T02:33:07.295-05:002021-12-28T02:33:07.295-05:00We used power stunts...I was generally deliberatel...We used power stunts...I was generally deliberately karma generous, as it was more fun... advancement and standard uses...all with made up characters.Blue Tysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01090584083476832111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-71275599720135200522020-10-08T22:55:45.780-04:002020-10-08T22:55:45.780-04:00Interesting take! I bet there are different playgr...Interesting take! I bet there are different playgroups that slid into grooves of either save-Karma-for-stunts/advancement-only, versus never-use-Karma-for-stunts/advancement. Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-39752804485804979152020-10-07T16:52:09.257-04:002020-10-07T16:52:09.257-04:00We played a LOT of MSH (especially Advanced) over ...We played a LOT of MSH (especially Advanced) over a couple years, but always with our own characters (rather then using the Marvel universe). As such, we NEVER used power stunts...none that I can recall anyway...because the karma cost was too damn high!<br /><br />Trying to come up with something creative "on the fly" is tricky enough; but karma (which rarely comes in the bucketful) was a resource that was expended as quickly as it came in.<br /><br />I like the idea/concept of the power stunt, and use a version of it in my own supers game (still being developed) but the design/execution in MSH just doesn't work for me. It would ONLY seem to work in a very loosey-goosey, Marvel-heavy campaign. Maybe.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-7805260274590443652020-10-06T11:44:35.059-04:002020-10-06T11:44:35.059-04:00Honestly, I think that's the root of the probl...Honestly, I think that's the root of the problem - the scaling rewards. You gain less Karma as a low power hero, but you have to pay just as much as Thor would to boost a roll or develop a Power Stunt. Learning a new power has an element of added cost for higher ranks, but even then the 3000 base cost is a steep hurdle. I think you'd need to normalize the rewards across power levels in order to have any kind of reasonable advancement in a long-term game.<br /><br />Interestingly, even though the system was made for Marvel superheroes, I feel like this type of advancement is actually well suited to modeling Superman gaining new powers over the course of his publication history.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14285793254382192231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-8731952114520568612020-10-06T11:28:33.237-04:002020-10-06T11:28:33.237-04:00I agree on that point 100%. The nice thing about u...I agree on that point 100%. The nice thing about using HP for stunts, though, was that they were pretty easy to come by, so why not use them. Karma though...ugh, so costly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-46325188220665075202020-10-06T11:01:23.233-04:002020-10-06T11:01:23.233-04:00I hear that. It kind of feeds a bit into my usual ...I hear that. It kind of feeds a bit into my usual complaint about Fate/Luck point type stuff that only serves to keep a PC from dying (worst of all: down and unplayable but not technically dead yet). Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-5922337313618154542020-10-06T10:00:20.217-04:002020-10-06T10:00:20.217-04:00I loved rolling up characters using FASERIP as a k...I loved rolling up characters using FASERIP as a kid, but only got to play once or twice with my older brother. BUT I do remember playing Mutants & Masterminds and immediately seeing a connection between Hero Points and Power Stunts.<br />A big complaint from others who played M&M was that Hero Points were always being saved in case of failed Toughness checks, but we consistently used our HP to emulate feats and power add-ons. This felt to us like captain America learning how to bounce his shield off multiple targets, or the occasional use of teleport/phasing to directly attack someone with stress.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-2501406655891140512020-10-05T22:37:36.558-04:002020-10-05T22:37:36.558-04:00That sounds neat!That sounds neat!Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-1683366264582917412020-10-05T22:37:12.183-04:002020-10-05T22:37:12.183-04:00I actually kind of like wiping the Advancement rul...I actually kind of like wiping the Advancement rule off the table (or keeping it secret) so players really focus on the in-fight uses. Maybe that's easier in one-off games.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-25569064444938425062020-10-05T22:36:20.011-04:002020-10-05T22:36:20.011-04:00Great point: 100 Karma is a hefty price. I sort of...Great point: 100 Karma is a hefty price. I sort of see where it came from new powers cost 3000 + more for the rank, and under the "allowing the player to use the Power as he is paying for it" idea, this is actually at a rebate (only 1000 to get to the 10th try). <br /><br />Another thing I've found (playing Thor a lot) is that the Karma economy is on a sliding scale by power of hero. If you're beating up Unearthly foes all the time (+100 each) then the Karma builds up very rapidly. Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-66090915993467525402020-10-05T20:43:55.609-04:002020-10-05T20:43:55.609-04:00I liked the concept, still do on the whole (though...I liked the concept, still do on the whole (though the specific mechanics are potentially a problem as you note), but these days I'm happier with the approach of <i>GURPS Powers</i>, which essentially allow a player to define new power modifiers on a temporary basis by taking a negative modifier on the roll to use it, then allowing that combination to be bought up by treating it as a "technique". This allows a little more recourse to the rules as "court of appeals" without having the Referee abdicate their power of interpretation.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-80450283062693616622020-10-05T14:59:02.438-04:002020-10-05T14:59:02.438-04:00I don't remember Karma being that hard to get,...I don't remember Karma being that hard to get, but I do remember thinking it wasn't all that useful. Maybe it was my mindset at the time (that Karma = XP, and it took so much Karma to improve a power that it was basically impossible), but 100 Karma to get a chance to make real progress in improving the character seems like a pretty good deal.subhumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473278419449181642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-26602708094068868292020-10-05T13:21:45.491-04:002020-10-05T13:21:45.491-04:00Most of the people I ever played Marvel Super Hero...Most of the people I ever played Marvel Super Heroes with had closets full of comic books to pull out these references. This was the high point of their games where they and other players would argue whether X was a power stunt or not. <br /><br />My main problem was that getting 100 Karma by the rules was routinely difficult. Most of the GM's I played with gave out awards strictly from the rules and so if you were a custom character you had multiple games before you got 100 karma and then it would be gone with a Red til the next mission 20-30 games away. It was better to play even a character who had been in comics as backup for 12-24 issues because you could pull out those, and show where it had been run 10 times. [Stephen Smoogenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17026786034163911165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-29309450850840155232020-10-05T11:24:23.425-04:002020-10-05T11:24:23.425-04:00Well put, I agree! I can sort of see a tension in ...Well put, I agree! I can sort of see a tension in the rule above between (a) Judge fiat on the difficulty: old-school and minimalist, but subject to Judge bias or mishandling, vs. (b) a more formalized system that take judgement away from the Judge: more rules and number-crunching but a more dependable basis for the players. I guess that's a lot of the struggle in systems design in the decades since then. Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-6973080176351691342020-10-05T10:28:56.442-04:002020-10-05T10:28:56.442-04:00Power stunts, great. Bookkeeping (of Marvel issue...Power stunts, great. Bookkeeping (of Marvel issues, or your own character's history with a stunt) is right out! I would likely base the difficulty shift on how far of a stretch the stunt wants to be.Baquieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357103428591599364noreply@blogger.com