M&M 2E GeneForce

This is the page for the GeneForce setting for Mutants&Masterminds, second edition. The campaign is run as a Play-by-Post game on RPG.net by The Gamesman. The players are.

Rules

The campaign uses a slightly expanded ruleset with house rules invented and ordered by The Gamesman.

Character Creation

Mutants&Masterminds is a point-based creation system. You have a number of power points (pp) available, depending on the campaign's power level (PL) and the GM's discretion. This amount is usual 15pp per PL. So a PL 6 campaign should allow 90pp. You spend these pp on Abilities, Feats, Skills, Powers and Saves.

Abilities

There are primary and secondary abilities. You buy all the primary ones and some of the secondary. The primary abilities are:

• Strength (STR)
• Agility (AGI)
• Constitution (CON)
• Intelligence (INT)
• Wisdom (WIS)
• Charisma (CHA)

As you see, all the normal d20 abilities, no further explanation needed. Each character starts with rank +0 in each. To increase the rank you pay 2pp per rank up to +6. (Yes, I use the 3E style of abilities, sue me. I just find it faster, because you don't need the exact number.)

Rank +6 is the normal maximum for a typical human, marking him as one out of millions. For example Strength +6 would mean you're the strongest person of your generation.

Now to the secondary abilities. These are:

• Base attack
• Base defense

These show how good you are in combat. Their limits will be explained later. You can raise them for 2pp per rank. They can also be raised by feats and power feats.

A normal civilian with no martial training should have a Base attack of +0 to +1,a police officer has around +3 (with higher attack for ranged combat, see Feats), Elite soldiers (Seals, Rangers, Marine Raiders etc.) clock in at about +5 to +6.

• Toughness
• Initiative

These abilities are not bought directly, but derived from your primary abilities and your powers.

Toughness is your ability to withstand damage. You roll with it against the damage an attack made on you. The result of that roll depicts the severity of your injury. You start with a Toughness equal to your CON-rank.

Initiative determines how fast your reaction timeis. Mostly it shows your standing in the combat order. Initiative starts equal to your AGI-rank.

Now to a slightly more complex part, the offensive and defensive limits: M&M pairs two abilities in two pairings. You have Attack/damage and Defense/Toughness. The sum of each pair cannot exceed the PL times 2. So in a PL 6 campaign, the sum of attack and damage cannot exceed 12. How this is split is up to the player.The same goes for the defensive pairing, defense/toughness. The exact split should be clearly marked on the record sheet and have the GM's permission.

For example: Marvel's The Thing (Ben Grimm) is quite strong and where he clobbers, no grass grows anymore (=high damage). But he is not the most accurate fighter (=low attack). If Ben Grimm was build as a PL10 character (cap 20), his stats could look like this: attack +7, damage+13 Ben Grimm also possesses a rock-hard skin (=high toughness), but is a bit clumsy and easy to hit (=low defense). His stats here could be: Defense +8, Toughness +12

In this campaign I allow such trade-offs up to a 6 rank difference between the two paired abilities.

Skills

Skills show what you have learned. You can buy them with pp. One skill rank costs 0.25pp, or easier said 1pp grants 4 skill ranks.

Here is a list of the skills available:

• Acrobatics
• Appraise
• Bluff
• Climb
• Computers
• Concentration
• Craft
  • Craft, Artistic
  • Craft, Chemical
  • Craft, Electronic
  • Craft, Mechanical
  • Craft, Structural
• Demolitions
• Diplomacy
• Disable Device
• Disguise
• Drive
• Escape Artist
• Forgery
• Gamble
• Gather Information
• Handle Animal
• Intimidate
• Investigate
• Knowledge
  • Knowledge, Arcane Lore (all kinds of mystic lore)
  • Knowledge, Art (history, artists, techniques, value etc.)
  • Knowledge, Behavioral Science (Psychology,
  • Knowledge, Business (Economics, stock market, management tactics etc.)
  • Knowledge, Civics (Law, Bureaucracy, Politics etc.)
  • Knowledge, Current Events (Current news, current official people, etc.)
  • Knowledge, Earth Sciences (Geography, geology, etc.)
  • Knowledge, History
  • Knowledge, Life Sciences (Biology, Genetics, Medicine, Ecology etc.)
  • Knowledge, Physical Sciences (Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics etc.)
  • Knowledge, Popular Culture (trends in pop culture, pop idols, current trends, superheroes and villains etc.)
  • Knowledge, Streetwise (Underworld, Gangs etc.)
  • Knowledge, Tactics
  • Knowledge, Technology (current trends in science, inventions etc.)
  • Knowledge, Philosophy (Philosophy, theology etc.)
• Language
• Medicine
• Navigate
• Notice
• Performance
• Pilot
• Profession
• Research
• Ride
• Search
• Sense Motive
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth
• Survival
• Swim

Most skills are self-explanatory with one exception: Language. Every rank in Language represents another language you speak. For the sake of comfort and due to current education systems we assume that with knowledge of a language, you can also write in it.

Feats

Feats are small benefits that individualize the character. They don't replace powers, but sometimes are equal to them. A (+) mark indicates a ranked feat. Feats cost 1pp per feat or rank of feat.

Combat Feats

• Accurate Attack

-Reduce damage bonus by a declared amount to increase attack bonus by the same amount, has to be announced at the start of your turn.

• All-out Attack

-Reduce defense bonus by a declared amount to increase attack bonus by the same amount, has to be announced at the start of your turn.

• Attack Focus (+)

- +1 bonus to melee or ranged attack rolls, must be assigned to melee or ranged.

• Attack Specialization (+)

- +2 bonus to attack rolls with a specific attack or weapon group (includes powers)

• Blind-Fight

-Re-roll miss chances from concealment, halve speed penalty in darkness

• Chokehold

-Cause an opponent you grapple to suffocate

• Combat Driver (+)

- +1 attack or dodge bonus with a specific type of ground or water vehicle

• Combat Pilot (+)

- +1 attack or dodge bonus with a specific type of flying vehicle

• Combat Reflexes (+)

-Increase number of attacks of opportunity by 1

• Counterattack

- Gain an attack of opportunity against an opponent that missed you

• Critical Strike

- Score critical hits against targets normally immune to them

• Crushing Pin

-Inflict grapple damage on any target you have pinned

• Damaging Escape

-Follow a successful escape from a grapple with a free attack against the grappler

• Dedicated Dodge

-Increase defense bonus against one opponent, reduce against others

• Defensive Attack

-Reduce attack bonus to increase defense bonus, has to be announced

• Defensive Roll (+)

- +1 Toughness save bonus

• Defensive Strike

- +4 attack bonus against an opponent that missed you in combat

• Defensive Throw

-Trip an opponent that missed you in melee

• Dirty Fighting (+)

- +1 damage bonus when fighting in close quarters

• Dodge Focus (+)

- +1 dodge bonus to your defense

• Elusive Target

-Double penalties for ranged attacks against you while you're in melee

• Evasion (+)

-Suffer less damage from attacks allowing a Reflex save

• Fast Overrun

-Make multiple Overrun attempts in a row

• Favored Condition (+)

- +1 attack or dodge bonus under specific conditions, can't exceed PL caps

• Favored Environment (+)

- +1 attack or dodge bonus in a particular environment

• Favored Opponent (+)

- +1 damage or interaction bonus against a type of opponents

• Finishing Blow

-Perform a coup de grace as a standard action

• First Strike (+)

- +2 damage bonus when you attack a flat-footed opponent

• Follow-up strike

-Follow up a critical strike with a free standard attack action

• Grappling Block

-Initiate a grapple as a free action after blocking a melee attack

• Grappling Finesse

-Use Dex for grapple checks and retain dodge bonus while grappling

• Improved Aim

-Double normal aiming bonus

• Improved Block (+)

- +2 attack bonus on attack rolls to block

• Improved Critical (+)

- +1 critical threat range with one specific attack

• Improved Defense (+)

- +2 dodge bonus from the total defense action

• Improved Disarm (+)

- +2 bonus on attack rolls to disarm an opponent

• Improved Flank

- +4 attack bonus when flanking an opponent

• Improved Grab

-Start a grapple attack as a free action after a successful melee attack

• Improved Grapple

-Make grapple checks with only one hand

• Improved Initiative (+)

- +4 bonus to Initiative

• Improved Overrun

- +4 bonus on trip checks while overrunning, Opponent can't avoid you

• Improved Pin

- -4 penalty on grappling checks against you to escape

• Improved Ranged Disarm

-No penalty on ranged attack rolls to disarm

• Improved Sunder

- +4 bonus on attack rolls to hit an object

• Improved Throw

-Opponent uses lesser of Str or Dex to defend against trip attacks

• Improved Trip

- +4 bonus on trip attacks, opponent doesn't get to trip you

• Improvised Weapon Mastery (+)

- +1 damage bonus with improvised weapons per rank

• Martial Artist

-Treat your unarmed attacks as armed

• Martial Strike (+)

- +1 unarmed damage per rank

• Move-by Action

-Move both before and after a standard action

• Opportunist

-Gain an attack of opportunity against a target affected by an ally

• Power Attack

-Reduce attack bonus to increase damage bonus, has to be announced

• Precise Shot (+)

-No penalty for shooting or throwing by obstructions

• Precise Strike

-Ignore anything than total cover when making a melee attack

• Prone Fighting

-No penalty to fighting while prone

• Quick Draw (+)

-Draw, ready or reload a weapon as a free action

• Rage (+)

-Gain bonus to Str, Fortitude and Will saves, and a penalty to defense

• Ranged Pin

-Make grapple attacks with ranged weapons.

• Redirect

-Trick an opponent into hitting someone or something else

• Reversal

-Follow a successful escape from a grapple with a free grapple attempt on the grappler

• Set-Up

-Transfer the benefit of a combat bonus to an ally

• Sneak attack (+)

- +2 damage when you surprise an opponent, has to be announced

• Speed of thoughts

-Use your Int bonus for initiative checks

• Stunning attack

-Your unarmed attack can stun an opponent, has to be announced

• Sweeping Strike

-Combine a successful melee attack with a free trip attack

• Takedown Attack (+)

-Gain a bonus melee attack when you drop an opponent

• Throwing Mastery (+)

- +1 damage bonus with thrown weapons

• Unbalancing Strike

-Remove an opponent's dodge bonus with a melee attack, has to be announced

• Uncanny Dodge (+)

-Retain your dodge bonus while flat-footed

• Veteran Fighter

-After a critical hit, you can choose a different effect for a hero point

• Weapon Bind

-Follow a successful melee block with a free disarm attempt

• Weapon Break

-Follow a successful melee block with a free sunder attempt

Fortune Feats

• Beginner's Luck

-Spend a hero point to gain 5 temporary ranks in a skill

• Inspire (+)

-Grant allies a bonus to attack rolls, saving throws and checks

• Leadership

-Spend a hero point to remove adverse conditions from an ally

• Luck (+)

-Gain an additional starting hero point

• Rallying Cry

-Spend a hero point to grant allies in hearing range a new Will save against fear or lasting mental effects

• Seize Initiative

-Spend a hero point to go first in combat

• Ultimate Effort (+)

-Spend a hero point for a 20 result on the die for a particular task

General Feats

• Almost Human

-You look like a human or only with slight, easily concealable deformities

• Ambidexterity

-Eliminate off-hand penalties

• Assessment

-Know a subject's relative combat ability

• Benefit (+)

-Gain some minor but significant benefit, for example: Wealth (ranked), Diplomatic Immunity, Weapon Carry License, Access to certain locations, Top Secret Clearance etc.

• Challenge (+)

-Gain the benefit of a specific challenge without the penalty

• Dedication

- +4 bonus on Will saves and Sense Motive checks when your allegiance is challenged

• Diehard

-Automatically stabilize when dying

• Eidetic Memory

-Perfect recall of everything you've experienced

• Endurance (+)

- +4 bonus on checks requiring endurance or stamina

• Environmental Adaption

-Suffer no penalties from a particular environment

• Equipment (+)

-Acquire 5 points worth of equipment

• Fearless

-Immunity to fear effects

• Fearsome Presence (+)

-Inspire fear in others

• Improved Concealment

-Improved Miss chance from concealment

• Improved Mental Grapple

- +2 bonus on mental grapple checks

• Instant Up

-Stand up as a free action

• Interpose

-You can trade places with an adjacent ally subject to attack

• Light Sleeper (+)

-Reduce Notice penalty by 5 for being asleep. Act immediately upon waking

• Lionheart (+)

- +4 bonus on Will saves versus fear and fear effects per rank

• Low Profile (+)

- -3 reputation bonus per rank

• Master Plan

-Gain a bonus in situations where you have a chance to plan in advance

• Minions (+)

-You have one or more followers

• Monkey Climber

-Use your Acrobatics instead your Climb skill for climbing with rudimentary handholds

• Niche Protection

-Ability or skill bonus beyond power level limits

• Quick Change (+)

-You can change clothes as a free action

• Renown (+)

- +3 reputation bonus per rank

• Second Chance (+)

-You get a second check or save against a particular hazard

• Sidekick (+)

-You have a sidekick

• Teamwork (+)

- +1 bonus to aid actions

• Trap Sense (+)

- +1 bonus to Reflex saves and defense against traps

• Trance

-Go into a deathlike trance that slows breathing

Proficiency Feats

• Archaic Weapons Proficiency

-Use archaic weapons without penalty

• Armor Proficiency

-Use armor without penalty

• Exotic Weapons Proficiency (+)

-Use an exotic weapon without penalty

• Improvised Weapons Proficiency

-Use Improvised weapons without penalty

• Special Aircraft Operations (+)

-Pilot different specialized classes of aircraft (heavy aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft, VTOL jets, dirigibles)

• Special Surface Vehicle Operation (+)

-Drive different specialized classes of surface vehicles (heavy wheeled, tracked, trains, hovercraft)

• Special Watercraft Operation (+)

-Pilot different specialized classes of water vehicles (large ships, sailing ships, submarines)

Skill Feats

• Acrobatic Bluff

-Feint and Trick using Acrobatics instead of Bluff

• Animal Empathy

-Use Handle Animals to affect the attitudes of animals

• Artificer

-Use Knowledge (Arcane Lore) and Craft to create magical devices

• Attractive (+)

- +4 bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks with people affected by your looks

• Connected

-Make a Diplomacy check to call in favors

• Contacts

-Make a gather Information check faster

• Distract (+)

-Make a Bluff or Intimidate check to daze an opponent for one round

• Fascinate (+)

-Hold a subject's attention with an interaction skill

• Hide in plain sight

-You don't need cover or concealment to hide

• Improvised Tools

-No penalty for not having the appropriate tools for a skill

• Inventor

-Use Knowledge and Craft to create devices

• Jack-of-all-Trades

-Use any skill untrained

• Online Researcher

-Use Computer instead of Gather information to..well, gather information. Also counts as having the Contacts feat.

• Ritualist

-You can create and cast arcane rituals

• Skill Mastery (+)

-Choose four skills you can take 10 with even under pressure

• Startle

-Feint using Intimidate rather than Bluff

• Taunt

-Demoralize using Bluff rather than Intimidate

• Track

-Use Survival to follow tracks

• Well-Informed

-Make an immediate Gather Information check when meeting someone

Powers as feats

• Cat's feet

-You are so adept at sneaking, you are virtually undetectable by normal hearing.

• Combat Concealment

-Make a Stealth roll against Notice to acquire partial concealment

• Deflect Arrows (+)

-Make Block rolls to deflect thrown weapons and slow projectiles with +1 bonus per rank

• Direction Sense

-You always know which way is north and are able to retrace your steps.

• Eagle Eyes

-Your eyesight is sharpened and reaches much further.

• Hardy

-You are much more resilient to diseases and poisons, halving their effect.

• Lightning Calculator

-You perform mathematical functions in your head ten times faster.

• Powerhouse

-You have reserves of raw strength but it is tiring to use them.

• Rapid Healing (+)

-Your flesh heals better. You gain +1 bonus on recovery checks per rank.

• Rapid Recovery

-Your body recovers from being disabled much faster. A check every 5 hours.

• Steadfast (+)

-You gain +4 bonus per rank against attempts to rush, trip or throw you.

• Swift

-You can move faster than the usual human

• Talented

-You are adept at two skills. Both receive a +2 bonus.

• Tiger Leap

-You have exceptional ability in jumping and jump twice as far.

• Time Sense

-You always know what time it is and have a sense for time's passing.

• Tough (+)

-Gain a +1 bonus to Toughness per rank

• Wolf's Ears

-Your hearing is sharpened and reaches much further.

Powers

What follows is a list of powers and their basic details. I also list all power modifiers. For detailed explanation please ask.

List of Powers

Name	Action	Range	Duration	Save	Cost
Additional Limbs	None	Personal	Permanent	None	1/rank
Anatomic Separation	Move	Personal	Continuous	None	2/rank
Boost	Standard	Touch	Instant	Fortitude(H)	1-5/rank

Saves

Like other d20 games, M&M uses three saving throws to ward off certain effects and damages. They are each based on a different ability and can be raised with pp, at a rate of 1pp per rank. The PL counts as the maximum rank for the saves.

These saving throws are:

• Fortitude

-Your base Fortitude save is equal to your CON rank. It represents yourbody's ability to withstand poison, disease, physical transformation and such.

• Reflex

-The base Reflex save is equal to the AGI rank. It is your ability to avoid damage by ducking away at the last second, to grab a handhold when a pit opens under you etc.

• Will

-Your WIS rank is also your base Will save. It represents the strength of your mind, your ability to resist fear and mental effects.

Setting

A short History

1985 Johannes Gertner uses a self constructed jetpack to rob the Züricher Kantonalbank and escape the swiss police forces. Though jetpacks were known throughout most countries, Gertner's design was much advanced with a never seen-before range and maneuverability. Soon after Gertner started to draw a path of robberies throughout the swiss confederation. His inclination to give on-site interviews while wearing a mask soon made him the first officially acknowledged super-villain. For months he evaded capture until he was arrested in his Monte Carlo mansion by french police forces, after his cleaning lady had found his jetpack and mask and informed the police. But Gertner was only the first, not the last. In his wake, it became more and more common to see improved designs of common inventions used in criminal activities.

1986 In Tübingen, Germany, scientist Jakob Bardele develops an engine he jokingly called the Flux Capacitor. Little did he know that his invention would bring forth both some of the worst villains and some of the best heroes the world has seen. This small sized engine had a power output like nothing ever before, equal only to a nuclear generator. The first villain using a Flux Capacitor in his crimes was Bardele's own lab assistant and son in law, Jakòv Hûdek. He stole the blueprints and sold copies of them on the black arms market. Suddenly the specs were in many hands. Not long after the first experimental power armours appeared, limited only in numbers by their building cost. While the Fux Capacitor by now is outdated and a museum relic, it was the first gamechanger.

The second one appeared the same year in a military contracted pharmaceutical lab in Nevada, USA. They developed a drug that would enhance the physical performance of anyone under its influence. The subjects were many times stronger, faster and had better reflexes. They also could stay awake for 7 days. Side effects included psychosis, enhanced aggression and impulsiveness, megalomania. The Pentagon called it a success though and released further funding for the lab and other facilities working on similar projects. Unfortunately, some of these research results found their way out of the labs into the hands of drug lords and pharmaceutical companies and juiced up criminals began to emerge.

1987