Mutants & Masterminds - faq - 2nd ed.pdf - Mutants and Masterminds - pillowbookworm

MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

March 31, 2005

Since the release of Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition, fans have posed many questions about the game and its

rules. This FAQ file address the most frequently asked of these questions to provide clarifications and additional

information for M&M players and Gamemasters.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Are NPC heroes created like villains (determining their power level based on their traits) or like PC heroes (limited by the

campaign’s power level)?

The former: all NPCs in a Mutants & Masterminds game have their power level determined by what traits they have. The

campaign’s power level limit is to keep the player characters on relatively even footing.

What happened to the Costumed Adventurer archetype’s feats?

They were accidentally left out of the layout. See the Errata for them.

Some archetypes have “Impervious Toughness,” where is this power found?

See the Protection power on page 96, in particular the description of the Impervious extra. It can specifically be applied to

the Toughness save as well, which is the case with those archetypes.

Why do some archetypes have attack, defense, damage, or Toughness bonuses greater than power level 10?

As specified under Hero Archetypes (fourth paragraph, second sentence): “Several of the archetypes use the

Attack/Defense trade-off rule (page 24) to adjust their maximum attack, defense, damage, and Toughness save bonuses,

as determined by their power level.”

ABILITIES

What happens to your Reflex saving throws when you are flat-footed?

Nothing. Being flat-footed has no effect on Reflex saves. A helpless character, however, is unable to make Reflex saving

throws and automatically fails them. This includes other conditions that cause a character to become helpless, such as

paralyzed or unconscious.

What happens to your Will saving throws when you are unconscious?

Also nothing, since it’s assumed Will saves are an “unconscious” process, requiring no effort on the character’s part. In

fact, unconscious characters are essentially immune to certain mental effects, since they’re incapable of interaction or

sensing much of anything.

FEATS

Is there a limit to the number of feats you can use in a round?

There is no limit to the number of feats you can use per round or per action except for the normal time required (if any) to

use those feats. If a feat doesn't list a time to use it, assume it is a free action.

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Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition FAQ

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When using feats that swap points of your combat traits (e.g. Accurate Attack, Power Attack) do bonuses to those traits

from feats like Attack Focus or Dodge Focus count as points you can move around?

Yes. Permanent modifications to your combat traits count for the application of those feats. So you can lower the attack

bonus you gain from Attack Focus, for example, to improve damage using Power Attack, if you are making an attack to

which your Attack Focus applies. In essence, determine what your base bonus would be for that action before applying

situational modifiers for things like cover or maneuvers like a ranged Disarm attempt or Total Defense; that is the value

you can modify with combat trade-off feats.

Critical Strike requires Favored Opponent as a prerequisite. Is it then only effective against your Favored Opponents?

That’s correct. However, you only need to acquire the Critical Strike feat once to use it against any Favored Opponent(s)

you may have.

The Martial Artist, Weapon Master and Kung Fu Killer archetypes all have the Critical Strike feat, but do not have a

Favored Opponent. How is it they have and use Critical Strike?

In this case, Critical Strike essentially grants those characters the ability to spend hero points to emulate Favored

Opponent and score a critical hit against an opponent normally immune to them. The player can choose to spend the

hero point (or not) when a possible crit is rolled. This option is also open to characters who have both Favored Opponent

and Critical Strike and are faced with a non-Favored Opponent.

Does the Toughness bonus from Defensive Roll affect knockback modifier?

Yes, since the character is assumed to take less of the brunt of the attack.

Is a character with the Fearless feat immune to the effects of the Intimidate skill (including things like demoralize, startle,

and Fearsome Presence)?

Yes, since Intimidate is considered a “fear effect”.

With the Fearsome Presence feat, how long does the effect last?

Treat it as a sustained lasting effect, allowing for a new save for each time interval that passes after the initial saving

throw.

Is the bonus from Improved Block limited by power level?

Yes. Generally speaking, the bonuses provided by feats to traits limited by power level cannot improve that trait about the

PL limit.

Can you take 10 or take 20 on the Intelligence roll for Master Plan?

No, you can’t take 10 or 20 on that roll.

Uncanny Dodge says you “retain your dodge bonus when surprised or flat-footed.” Does this mean you can still lose your

dodge bonus to other things, like when you’re climbing or balancing, for example?

Yes. As the feat description says, Uncanny Dodge does not prevent loss of dodge bonus under other conditions, just when

flat-footed (at the start of combat) or when subject to a surprise attack.

Weapon Bind gives you a free disarm attempt after a successful block. Do you still need to make an attack roll for the

disarm?

No, just the opposed damage vs. Strength check; the successful block roll counts as the “attack roll” required to disarm for

Weapon Bind.

Can you take a power feat—such as Ricochet—as a regular feat, using it with the character’s normal abilities?

If the GM so allows then, yes, you can. Some characters may benefit from the ability to take power feats like Ricochet or

Split Attack to use in conjunction with things like ordinary weapons. As always, the GM has final say on which power feats

are suitable for use as regular feats in the game.

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POWERS

What’s the limit on maximum ranks you can have in a power?

There is no upper limit to power rank, except those limits specifically spelled out on page 24 of Mutants & Masterminds.

In particular, saving throw Difficulty Class and any effect on saving throw bonuses and ability scores are the primary

limiters for powers. Powers with none of these effects are limited solely by how many points the character has to spend,

and any series-specific limitations imposed by the Gamemaster.

How is the Value Progression Table applied to powers? If a power starts out with a 5-ft. radius, for example, how does it

progress?

The rank of a power isn’t always equivalent to the rank on the Time and Value Progression Table, since it starts out at 1 =

x1 to give it a baseline. Start out at whatever value the power begins at and count up from there. So, if a power starts out

with a 5 ft. radius, and radius progresses one step up the table per rank, start counting at 5, going to 10, 25, 50, 100,

250, and so forth.

If you know the progression, you don’t even really need the table. It’s easy to remember: 1, 2.5, 5, then start over again

but x10: so it goes 1, 2 (with the .5 rounded down for simplicity), 5, then 10, 25, 50, then 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2500,

5000, and so on. So if you know that Flight starts out at 10 MPH and progresses from there you can just count ranks: 1 =

10 MPH, 2 = 25 MPH, 3 = 50 MPH, and so on.

The values of the Value Progression Table can be kind of “grainy.” How, for example, do I get a character who has only

three additional limbs, or who can elongate only 15 ft.?

The progression skips over some intermediate values simply so it can fit the necessary scale into a reasonable range. M&M

needs to cover powers able to affect a single room to those able to affect continents and planets. That results in a certain

amount of “graininess” in the resolution of the progression chart.

There are basically two ways of handling intermediate values, and it’s up to the GM to decide how they are handled in

each individual game. The first is to charge for the next highest value and allow the player to voluntarily limit the

character: you can take rank 3 Additional Limbs, for example (which is normally up to five extra limbs) and decide your

character only has three. It’s a minor difference, worth only a fraction of a power point, so hardly worth quibbling over.

Alternately, the GM can allow some characters to take a drawback to reflect that the power doesn’t exploit its full value.

This is a 1-point drawback at best, and its often problematic, since it’s greater in actual value than the point difference. In

the previous example, a character with Additional Limbs 3 with the drawback “Only three Additional Limbs,” gets the

power for an effective 2 power points, which is the normal cost for two additional limbs. The character is getting the

benefit of the third limb for “free” (although it’s a fairly minor benefit).

The GM should decide which approach is best, but generally it’s easier to allow players to voluntarily limit their characters

to fit their concept and not worry about a fraction of a power point here or there than it is to assign tiny power drawbacks

to “shave” points off various powers.

If a perception range power is reduced to normal or touch range does it require an attack roll? Can Power Attack work

with it? Can it score a critical hit?

Yes to all. Not needing an attack roll is an inherent part of perception range. If the power’s range is changed, it now needs

an attack roll, and is subject to all the normal rules of powers that do so, including attack/save DC trade-offs, the Power

Attack feat, and critical hits (along with an automatic miss on a natural 1).

You can’t place a perception range power anywhere you can’t accurately perceive, but can the power’s effect work on

targets you can’t perceive in the power’s area of effect?

Essentially, no, they can’t. Area powers are normally a “spread” which is to say the power spreads out from a starting

point, but can be blocked by things like cover. So, for example, an Area Blast, like a fireball or explosion, spreads out from

the starting or impact point. A character behind cover relative to the impact point gains its protection, and total cover lets

him ignore the attack.

Perception range area effects can be spreads, in which case they work as above: spreading out from a starting point,

blocked by cover. They can also be “emanations” wherein the effect covers the entire area at once, but only affects targets

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the user can accurately perceive. So only concealment blocks the effect (although opaque total cover is also total

concealment). Pick which type of area the power has when you build/buy it. Mental powers are always emanations,

unless they have some physical effect.

For example, an Area Mental Blast can target the crooks in an alleyway. The people in the buildings on either side are

unaffected, since the mental blaster can't perceive them. So is the crook hidden behind a dumpster, for the same reason,

even though he's in the radius.

Now, if the mental blaster happens to have an accurate sense that perceives through solid objects (e.g. X-Ray Vision, ESP,

an accurate mental sense, etc.) then the walls or the dumpster aren't necessarily barriers to his mental blast, and targets

on the other side of them can be affected normally. Of course, in that case, he might want a Selective Attack so he can

avoid affecting those innocent people inside the buildings.

How do I create a permanent Alternate Form?

Make the duration of all of the Alternate Form’s non-instant powers permanent and you’ve got it.

If an Alternate Form includes Immunity or Protection—which are permanent duration powers—does it have to be

permanent duration, too?

Not necessarily. You can change the duration of Immunity or other powers to match; making a permanent power

sustained is a net +0 modifier, with no change in cost. So having those powers as part of a sustained Alternate Form

would be the same cost.

If I have a non-permanent power as part of an Alternate Form, can I do a power stunt using just that power?

Yes. You can treat the powers of an Alternate Form as separate for the purposes of performing power stunts.

The Alternate Form power says, “No power rank can be greater than your Alternate Form rank.” What about powers like

Immunity 30 (Fortitude) in an Alternate Power?

Powers that distribute their effect(s) according to rank, like Immunity, Regeneration, Super-Movement, and Super-Senses,

should generally be considered an exception to this guideline. Think of them as “bundles” of rank 1 powers rather than a

single, massive high-rank power when it comes to the limitation of something like Alternate Form.

Can you use Animate Objects on an opponent’s devices or equipment?

You can’t use Animate Objects on devices, since they are powers in their own right. Equipment is fair game, however. This

is just one of the limitations of equipment vs. devices. If the GM wants to allow Animate Objects on devices, treat it like a

use of Power Control (M&M, page 96) since it’s essentially trying to seize control of one of the subject’s powers.

Do constructs get a saving throw against Corrosion and Disintegrate?

They should get a Toughness save in place of the normal Fortitude saving throw against the Toughness reduction.

Inanimate objects get no save against the Toughness reduction.

Is Impervious Toughness more effective against Corrosion and Disintegrate?

Yes. Those powers reduce Impervious Toughness by half the usual amount (half the power’s rank, rounded down, rather

than the power’s full rank).

Can you use Deflect to block melee attacks as well as ranged attacks?

Yes, you can use any level of Deflect (except for Deflect usable only against mental attacks) to deflect melee attacks as

well. You still use your Deflect rank in place of your attack bonus, so for this to be useful, your Deflect rank should at least

equal your melee attack bonus (or it should have some extras that make it superior in other ways).

Is Deflect rank limited by power level?

Yes, the same as attack bonus (for characters with attack bonus trade-offs). Optionally, GMs may choose to consider it a

defense bonus for characters, since its primary use is defensive.

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Can the Healing power remove a dazed or stunned condition?

Yes. It's a DC 15 Healing check, like the Revive use of the Medicine skill.

When you use the Illusion power to create an image, who perceives it?

Everyone who’d normally be able to sense the image if it were real can do so. The Illusion power creates images rather

than affecting specific people, even through it technically “fools the senses.” If the power is Selective, then the user can

decide who senses the illusion and who does not. Likewise, if the power has the Phantasms modifier, then only intelligent

beings (Int 1+) can sense the illusion.

Is there a halfway point between Immunity 1 (aging) and normal aging for a character who just ages slowly or is very

long-lived?

Not specifically; this level of detail isn’t accounted for in M&M. If you wish, you can certainly define Immunity to Aging as

a character being “merely” very long-lived (with a lifespan anywhere from hundreds to even thousands of years). In game

terms, there’s no real difference, and therefore no change in cost.

Does Immunity 1 (cold or heat) mean you don’t take any damage from Cold Control or Fire Control powers?

No. The rank 1 Immunities to cold and heat are to the environmental effects (as given on M&M, page 167). Immunity to

cold or heat damage is a rank 5 Immunity for a “common power descriptor,” while Immunity to “all cold effects” or “all fire

effects” (including environmental effects and all powers with the appropriate descriptor, regardless of the type of saving

throw) is 10 ranks for a “very common” descriptor.

Does Immunity (fatigue) allow you to use extra effort without suffering any fatigue?

No. The character is just immune to fatigue from normal exertion and fatigue-inducing powers and effects. Keep in mind

that Immunity effectively provides automatic success on a saving throw or ability check to resist an effect, and there is no

such save against the fatigue of extra effort.

Does Immunity (Fortitude effects) include things like life support, immunity to aging, poison, and disease?

Yes. It includes everything requiring a Fortitude saving throw, even environmental effects. Although technically, there’s no

“saving throw” against aging, it can be considered a Fortitude effect for the purposes of immunity, so characters with this

level of Immunity do not age and cannot be aged.

Does Immunity (Fortitude effects) include Immunity to Critical Hits?

No, although many beings Immune to Fortitude effects are also Immune to Critical Hits. Critical Hits don’t allow a

Fortitude save, so Fortitude Immunity doesn’t affect them.

Is an insubstantial character immune to suffocation?

No, you need Immunity 2 (suffocation) or Immunity 9 (life support) for that. Immunity is a recommended part of Alternate

Forms for just that reason.

Can incorporeal creatures interact normally with other incorporeal creatures (as if they were both solid)?

Depending on the power descriptors and the GM’s judgment, yes.

If an incorporeal character throws a held object, what happens?

The object becomes solid once it leaves the incorporeal character's grasp, and interacts with the world like a normal solid

object.

Note, however, the character must have the Affects Others modifier in order to take objects other than clothing and

personal Devices and Equipment incorporeal, plus either turn corporeal to pick up an object, and then turn incorporeal,

taking the object into an incorporeal state with him, or have the Affects Corporeal modifier on Strength to pick up a solid

object while incorporeal.

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Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition FAQ

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