Look to the Skies! or "Building a Campaign Theme"

For Mutants & Masterminds prep and discussion.
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NukeHavoc
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Look to the Skies! or "Building a Campaign Theme"

Post by NukeHavoc »

In addition to character creation, I'd like to spend a little time talking about the motivation for this campaign, specifically what sort of ideas/themes you want to explore and what you want the flavor of the campaign to be.

I have some ideas in mind, and I'll be posting them once I put them to digital paper, but I also wanted to hear from you guys. We've never run this sort of thing before, so I think it's a good idea to figure out what folks are looking for, so we don't end up with one person gunning for a gritty Punisher-style game while another pines for four-color super villains.

As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to run this as a Dark City-style game, starting off with the characters doing their own thing in the city and ultimately being drawn together by a common threat, a la Heroes (or just about any comic book). Also borrowing from Heroes, I don't want a lot of long-running Chris Claremont plot lines that never reach fruition. A campaign like this one, which is secondary to both D&D campaigns, will work best with lots of short, achievable goals and story points.

I expect to rely mostly on the Freedom City source book (and perhaps one or two other books, like the super villain prison book Lockdown) for characters and setting, working them into original stories.

That's enough for now -- I have to go watch some scifi.

Thoughts?
Last edited by NukeHavoc on Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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EvilGenius
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Post by EvilGenius »

I'm excited about playing, but I would like to try the variant combat rules that you had posted about previously.

I think the setting is cool. My personal preference is to go 4 color style (for non-comic book guys, this is NOT the gritty, realistic, violent style of say, the Punisher or even the solo Wolverine stuff.) The 4-color style is, well, comic book-y. For tone, this would be similar to the current Superman movie, the Spiderman movies, the XMen movies. It's quite different from the Batman movie, or Daredevil or Hulk or Elektra or Punisher.
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erilar
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Post by erilar »

What variant combat rules?
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EvilGenius
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Post by EvilGenius »

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Post by NukeHavoc »

I still plan to get the Mastermind's Manual book, but I'm less convinced about the need for it. I can't see any variant rule that will allow for tactical scaling of game movement when you have characters who can go 250 mph or higher with others who make normal 30' moves. It's simply not doable without a hell of a lot of graph paper, a computer, or both.

I think combat worked out well in all of our playtests, and ultimately it's much less about tactical movement -- "where am I on the battle field, and what advantage does it give me -- and much more about strategic use of powers - "how can I use my power -- or some variant of my power -- to win this fight?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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erilar
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Post by erilar »

I'd still argue strongly that the abstract, no-map, fast-paced M&M rules as written and intended work very well. IMO, we're just not adjusting to such a system very quickly, due to familiarity/comfort with d20's very mini-strategy-game-esque system.
"This enemy you cannot kill. You can only drive it back damaged into the depths, and teach your children to watch the waves for its return." - Quellcrist Falconer
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NukeHavoc
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Post by NukeHavoc »

erilar wrote:I'd still argue strongly that the abstract, no-map, fast-paced M&M rules as written and intended work very well. IMO, we're just not adjusting to such a system very quickly, due to familiarity/comfort with d20's very mini-strategy-game-esque system.
I agree. And I think the whole multiple-attacks-per-round thing may be another red herring. M&M is designed to be fast and furious, and ultimately it's not about getting 3 attacks per round that is important but puzzling out how to defeat an opponent using wits and powers.

To be honest, Kull in the dwarven campaign is a prime example of multiple attacks per round slowing down the game and ultimately making it feel *less* heroic because he almost always gets a fumble when rolling five or six attacks.

It makes me think having one attack a round in M&M is the kind of flaw I want to keep.
Last edited by NukeHavoc on Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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erilar
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Post by erilar »

EvilGenius wrote: My personal preference is to go 4 color style
This approach sounds perfect, especially since this campaign will be an occasional one.
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Jonkga
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Post by Jonkga »

I'm down with all this as well. I'm all for the four-color wonder of a heroic superhero campaign.

I like the idea of going Dark City style. A few heroes working independently, or in small groups - perhaps building up to one day forming our own league, although we see how that's worked out in the books...

I think the rules work well as written, and perhaps more play is needed before we decide anything should be house ruled or anything like that. After all, multiple punches thrown could be the flavor text for a characters one attack per round hit result...
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Post by Hardcorhobbs »

Sorry I haven't posted sooner. Super busy at work and trying to work on the house again. But I agree, four color all the way! I'm really excited to play.
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NukeHavoc
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Post by NukeHavoc »

To sum up, we'll be running a Four-Color Heroes game, in the style of the X-men/Spiderman/Superman movies of the last few years. It's going to start as a Dark City/round robin style game with our heroes undergoing solitary adventures to establish themselves. The goal will be to eventually have them form up into some sort of loosely affiliated superteam, a la the X-Men B Teams or Teen Titans.
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Post by NukeHavoc »

I'd like to delve into the whole "campaign theme" thing a bit further, specifically the Silver Age/Bronze Age divide.

We talked about the Spider-man movies as an example of how we'd like to model the campaign. I think they're good inspiration, and have a lot of Silver Age of Heroes feel to them, but at the same time there are darker aspects as well -- the villains in both movies die, even if Peter doesn't kill them. For this campaign, I don't think we'd go that far -- it'd be more along the lines of classic Spider-man, where the villains make good their escape or end up in some super prison.

With the X-Men, Magento is a great villain, but I wouldn't go so far as to have him pull all the pins on the grenades to slaughter a troop of soldiers or kill someone by pulling the iron from their blood.

But is that what you guys want? For the record, I would be ok with mixing in this sort of Bronze Age moral greyness into the campaign, but only if it's what everyone wants in the campaign. If we're going for solid, four-color Silver Age action, I'm fine with that too ... I just want us all to be clear on what to expect.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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Post by Lars Porsenna »

I don't know what you mean about the "divide..."

Here's the deal: I have both the Essential Spiderman Vol.1 as well as Xmen Vol.1. These date back to the '60s, and personally find them to be a bit boring. Stories are very simple, villains one-dimensional, etc.

OTOH, later X-men volumes (late '70s to mid-80s) are fantastic...perhaps some of the best comic book stories I ever read. I think this is where I'd like to see the campaign set...a Marvel style 1978-85...

Damon.
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NukeHavoc
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Post by NukeHavoc »

Lars Porsenna wrote:I don't know what you mean about the "divide..."
Definitions from wikipedia:

Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly in the superhero genre, that lasted roughly from the late 1950s/early 1960s to the early 1970s

During the Silver Age, the character make-up of superheroes evolved. Writers injected science fiction concepts into the origins and adventures of superheroes. More importantly, superheroes became more human and troubled, and since the Silver Age, character development and personal conflict have been almost as important to a image of a superhero as super powers and epic adventures.
Bronze Age of Comics
The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of mainstream American comic books usually said to run from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s. It followed the Silver Age of Comic Books.

The Bronze Age retained many of the conventions of the Silver Age, with brightly colored superhero titles remaining the mainstay of the industry. However darker plot elements and more mature storylines featuring real-world issues, such as drug use, began to appear during the period, prefiguring the later Modern Age of Comic Books.
What I mean by the "divide" is that there is a difference between Silver Age heroes and villains and Bronze Age ones. We could carry things even further, into the Modern Age (also known as the Iron Age) but I don't think any of us are looking to go that gritty or depressing.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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Post by NukeHavoc »

As comic book readers, we're probably most familiar with the Bronze Age. As a Marvel guy, this includes such storylines as "Dark Phoenix Saga" (#129-#138,), "Days of Future Past" (#141 and #142), and "Mutant Massacre" (#210-#213).

Great stuff ... but things got pretty dark in those storylines.

I think the question really comes down to this: do you, as the heroes, want to face villains that might kill you? And do you want to be faced with the ethnical dilemma of killing (or permanently crippling) an enemy? Corresponding comic book events would include Xavier's mind-wiping of Magento or the events revealed during DC's Identity Crisis (I'm sure Bob can lend out his copy if need be).
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!" -- Doctor Strange
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