Mutants & Marvels: Combat!

 When we left off we were making a new character in Mutants & Marvels….or rather I was making an old character from long ago and updating him to 2015. Here’s Dan Carver, alias the Arbalest, in his current guise as Agent 13 for the Nil Group:

Arbalest

Alias Dan Carver, alias Agent 13

Former sidekick, former rogue vigilante, current agent of Nil Group

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

Resources: remarkable (+4)

Powers: Armor +3, Hardened Fists +1, Regeneration +2

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Firearms/Bows +7, Investigation +2

Contact: Nil Group

Weapon: arbalest (+3 damage, range 100’, skilled, lethal)

Combat in M&M is only two pages long. Think about that for a moment. You know with certainty you’re in OSR territory when combat takes only two pages. M&M is a game which expects a certain amount of reason on the part of both the GM and the players….and as long as the answer to a problem makes sense within the range of ranks and abilities of the game you should be able to find it.

To demonstrate combat we’re going to quickly roll up an equivalent foe for Arbalest. In this case, I’m going to make The Demon, Arbalest’s own “Doc Oc” if you will….

Allan Drake, alias the Demon, was a criminal who stole a super-serum from a more prestigious villain in the mid-eighties and after gaining both super powers and madness from imbibing he spent several years on a real tear before he was finally incarcerated. Away from his serum Allan began to deteriorate rapidly though sanity also returned to him….therapy in prison did not help. In 2008 at age 51 he was freed when a jail bust for the supercriminal Ravener took place, and Allan made for one of his secret lairs where he knew he still had serum, only to discover that most of it had gone bad….he created a new batch, but something wasn’t quite right….the madness and strength returned, but it felt like he was burning out even faster. The Demon built a power suit from his old equipment, and began a lengthy quest to hunt down the man who put him in prison: Arbalest. He’d seen Arbalest on television, and he looked younger than ever….if he could get a sample of his blood, he could recreate the old serum, he theorized, and make himself revitalized again….

Demon’s stats are:

The Demon

Alias Allan Drake

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility excellent (+2), Strength incredible (+6), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason excellent (+2), Intuition typical (+0), Psyche typical (+0)

Resources: good (+1) – hidden safehouse base

Powers: super strength, super endurance, Regeneration +1

Power Package: Demon Suit Rank 6 (Energy Blast +6, Armor +2, Flight +2) – Demon wears this batlike suit of armor which he constructed from other gadgets he had stolen long ago.

Gauntlets: Claws +4 – these retractable gauntlets let him extend long wicked looking blades for lethal damage.

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Inventor +3

Contact: an old mob connection for contract hits

The Demon’s  thing is his strength and regeneration. His suit makes him tougher and lets him fly; he cobbled it together from a glider weapon he stole a long time ago (similar to the one used by Hobgoblin in the Marvelverse).

The Demon has arranged to be on an exchange of Mutant Growth Hormone being sold at the warehouses down by the docks in Liberty City. He asked his contact to get word out to the right snitches, hoping to bait Arbalest into appearing. Arbalest, as Agent 13, took interest….especially after his Nil Group contact informed him that The Demon was a target and needed to be brought in.

The Demon makes himself obvious, and has about a dozen goons he hired to patrol the warehouse and alert him when Arbalest is spotted….half a dozen are overseeing the actual job of exchanging cash for the MGH. The goons look like this:

Demon’s Goons:

Fighting +2 Agility +1 Strength +1 Endurance +1 Reason 0 Intuition 0 Psyche 0

Skills: Firearms +2

Armor: +3 (bullet-proof vest)

Weapon: large handgun (+4 damage, range 100’, skilled and lethal)

We’ll assume Arbalest covertly reconnoitered the warehouse and dispatched a half-dozen guards and then moved in before the next one could call. From a high perch at a window overlooking the cluttered warehouse floor he sees the Demon and his men making the exchange. The seller is a panicky fellow with no interest in fighting.

Since The Demon is looking out for Arbalest, and Arbalest is trying to gain an edge, the GM declares that Arbalest should roll an Agility check for stealth and the Demon should roll an Intuition check to notice him….high roll wins surprise. Arbalest rolls a 15+6 for 21, and Demon gets a 19+0 for 19….Arbalest has the drop on him! For our example we assume a DC (difficulty class) of 10 for the goons, so they are clueless.

In M&M there is apparently no surprise rule, so this is the point where a 3.5 D20 era player might panic….but don’t! It’s a system that’s meant to be played fast and loose, within the structure of the rank system, so this is easy. The GM rules that Arbalest can take an action before he is spotted and actual rounds of combat begin.  

Arbalest decides that one-shotting The Demon is probably not going to happen….but he’ll never get a better chance than now to get the drop on him. The GM decides an unaware Demon defaults to 10 for his “roll” on Agility to defend…..so his passive defense is 11. Arblaest rolls an attack and gets 16+7 for his ranged skill, totaling 23…a nice hit. Demon immediately has to make a damage save. This is based on a DC of 12 plus the difference between the attacker’s successful roll and the target’s failed defense roll….in this case 12, so the DC is 24, as well as +3 for the weapon damage so DC 27. But….there’s a problem…

M&M doesn’t actually tell you what a Damage Save is (that I could find), just when to roll it and how to figure the DC. At this point I am inferring from other stat blocks in the book that a Damage Save is based off of Endurance and adds in any relevant power defense such as armor (also, regeneration says to add it in), because that makes sense, but it would be nice if the rules actually explained it a bit (also, some surprise rules….and attacking two or more opponents….more on this later). If this is correct, then the Demon would roll D20+9 for his damage save: he gets a 9+9 for 18, a failure. He takes 1 level of damage for every 3 he fails by….3 levels in this case. Ouch! That puts him at “stunned” on the damage track….he can’t act for the next round, and when he snaps out of it he is in an “injured” state with -4 to all rolls until he makes a proper recovery.

Now regular combat begins. Initiative is a D20 with Agility ranks added. You can play with static initiative or re-roll every round; for our purposes we’ll stick with static initiative. Here’s what we get (rolling for the Demon even though he’s currently stunned this round):

Arbalest 8+6 (14)

The Demon 10+2 (12)

Goons 3+1 (4)

Sucks to be the goons!

At the beginning of each new round an injured character gets a recovery save. Demon is injured already and this is a new round, so we check: DC is 15 plus 2 per health lost, and Demon is down 3 so his DC is 21. He rolls 11+7 (including regeneration) for 18….failure (if he had made it, every 3 over the target recovers a health).

On Arbalest’s round he decides to take The Demon out, figuring the goons will flee if the boss drops. He shoots, rolling a total of 8+7 for 15 this time. The GM figures that the Demon’s passive Agility was 11, but now he’s stunned and injured (which makes all rolls a -4) so he’s at 7 for defense now…a hit. The damage save would be DC 20 this time. Demon rolls 13+8 (endurance and armor) but -4 (injured and stunned) so 17….missed it by 3, so he takes another wound. Wow…..quite a contrast from the EGS fight! Demon is now unconscious. (For the record, the final two steps are disabled and dying).

The GM decides that the Demon’s got a safety feature in his armor suit: it powers up and flies on autopilot to his safehouse when it detects that he is unconscious. It will wait one round before doing this, though.

The goons are in a panic, so they open fire on Arbalest. There are some rules in the book for multiple foes on one target, but it’s aimed at en masse melee fighting, not ranged gunplay. The goons each roll a D20+2 for their firearms skill, and we’re assuming Arbalest is within 100 feet. It’s a cluttered warehouse so the GM could say Arbalest has a cover advantage, maybe +2, but there are no specific guidelines in M&M on combat modifiers so that sounds as good as anything.  Anyway, the six goons roll (totals) of 19, 4, 21, 11, 9 and 15. Arbalest gets six Agility rolls to dodge. His totals are: 14, 12, 8, 22, 16 and 22. He is hit by the first and third bullets….

Damage Save time for Arbalest: He needs a DC 21 and DC 29 against the two handgun shots that hit. These are lethal! Arbalest has Endurance +6, armor +3 and regeneration +2 for a bonus of +11 on his soak. He rolls a total of 26 and 18. The first one grazes him, not even a real wound. The second one hits dead center: 3 wounds, meaning he is also stunned this round. Ouch!

The goons close in. Characters typically move 30 feet in a round, so assuming Arbalest was 80 feet away the goons are about 50 feet away at the end of the round. He really needs to make a recovery roll….

Round Two.

Demon attempts a Recovery, rolling 11 against a DC 23 for 4 wounds….he’s out. Arbalest rolls Recovery (6 for endurance and 3 for regeneration)  getting a total of 13 against DC 21 for 3 wounds….he’s still stunned this round then.

The goons realize they have an edge on Arbalest, and close another 30 feet while shooting at the injured hero. One goon, named Mario Gastoni, slides away from the pack and moves over to the demon, realizing that anyone could be in that suit…..only to see the suit fire up and rocket off through the roof.

The other five fire at Arbalest: they roll 7, 4, 16, 4, 12. The GM applies the same logic to Arbalest as an injured, stunned opponent with passive defense: 10-4 plus Agility +6 totalling DC 12. Somehow only two of them hit this time. The Damage Saves are 16 and 12 respectively….Arbalest rolls D20+11 for each getting 21 and 20….he soaks it, piece of cake.

Round Three.

Arbalest will get up this round from his stun, but everyone still gets a recovery roll: Arbalest rolls an 18 vs. DC 21…no recovery. The Demon, currently on an automated flight path home, rolls 18…still unconscious.

Arbalest shakes off the stun and is now able to act, but at -4 on all rolls. He targets the closest goon to him and fires, getting a total of 22. The goon tries to dodge, rolling 13….he’s hit for a difference of 9, or three wounds….he’s stunned.

The four remaining goons open fire….Mario is elsewhere, trying to run outside to see where the Demon’s power armor is taking him. The four roll well this time: 20, 17, 12 and 20! Arbalest rolls his dodges: he gets 15, 7, 23 and 20 this time….so he’s got to make a damage save against DC 17, DC 22, and DC 12. He rolls his D20+11 for each: 23, 12 and 29. Ah, cruel fate….10 points difference from the second shot means he failed by 3 more wounds, reducing him to dying.

The goons think they’ve offed Arbalest, and maybe they have! They leave, to grab the goods and run. Next round the GM has Arbalest roll a recovery once more, but with a wopping DC 27. He rolls his recovery and somehow scores a 28 (natural 20!). The kindly GM rules that he stabilizes (by RAW I think he'd be stable, just doesn't gain a health point...maybe?)….later he is found by some cops who get an ambulance and rush the vigilante to the hospital.

Aftermath

Wow! I see a trend here. Admittedly, each combat example I’m providing puts a bit more in the “foes” department than is wise for a character to handle, but given that the superhero genre is rife with villains who employ a lot of goons I was curious to see how it worked out. Had it been Arbalest vs. Demon alone with the dice rolled the villain would have gone down without a fight…..which is in itself a bit interesting. The recovery checks are brutal....tougher, I think than True20 or MnM, both of which use a similar mechanic. 

The combat system is exceptionally minimalist. It is missing rules for all sorts of stuff that we’re used to having some guidelines on, and not just in 2015…I think I’d have liked some of these rules in 1985 as well. A short chart showing sample penalties based on cover and other factors, some rules on surprise, taking out two or more foes at once (if it’s in there I couldn’t find it) would be nice, too….my first thought was, “Arbalest should split his attacks and take out all six goons” but it wouldn’t work in the RAW….or more accurately, it would require the GM to make a call and figure out a penalty without many guidelines. Also, this may be the D&D 5E in me talking, but I think an advantage/disadvantage mechanic would compliment MnM really nicely, and also help dramatically on affecting the swinginess of the D20 rolls.

The hero and villain dropping was interesting….the recovery mechanic is nice but it’s pretty much impossible to get back on your feet without some serious endurance and modifiers if you’re down and dying. In a game with two or three allies this is okay, but a one-on-one like this demonstrated that solo heroes in the comics, under these rules, are all just one low roll away from death. In comic books characters tend to go down quickly but are rarely out, and never dying unless its a summer miniseries or big marketing event.

It would be interesting if M&M included some sort of hero point or inspiration mechanic….it would grant players some agency, such as letting them spend a hero point to automatically succeed at a recovery, or boost an attack. That would really help lend to the cinematic style of the genre M&M is aiming for.

Also, I think minion rules would be really appropriate for M&M. It talks a bit about minions (what they are) but one could easily implement a minion mechanic similar to the mooks in Feng Shui or Savage Worlds....basically one-hit wonders. It would fit M&M really well to include this, since right now even a few minions are potentially deadly to PCs. Arbalest was not really a match for six average goons with guns, for example....and I'm not sure even being epic level with 10 extra points would have necessarily saved him.

Outside of that, if you play the game straight I don’t think you’d be disappointed….especially if you're in the mood for a grimdark era Watchmanesque campaign....but be prepared for an occasional hero death!

I’ll compare and contrast with a couple other Superhero systems next: Powers (a D6-based RPG) and Icons, the cute little sidekick to Mutants & Masterminds. I’ll think about MnM. It’s a big boss of a game, and while it’s probably got all the detail I could ever want for superhero gaming, it sort of looks like drinking from a firehose full of pudding, if you catch my drift. I might also finally delve deeper into the Supers Companion for Savage Worlds.

Mutants & Marvels: Let’s Roll a Hero

I have a lot of game systems floating around right now begging for attention….having taken a look at EGS, I thought I’d move on to another indie title, this one also steeped in a bit of the superhero corner of the OSR: Mutants & Marvels, a superhero genre RPG which takes a bit of FASERIP and merges it with the D20 roll-high aesthetic. It works rather well, and is a lot of game packed into a tiny space.

Rolling up a character in M&M (hereafter identified as not related to a similar game) is based on a “rank” purchase mechanic: you have three tiers of play being heroic (Batman, Daredevil), super heroic (X-Men, Teen Titans) and epic (Superman, Thor). We’ll stick to super heroic, which give you 25 ranks to spend.

Back in the day I used to run a lot of superhero game using the old Mayfair MEGS version of DC Heroes. I have a lot of old character concepts to draw from….I think for this one I’m going to see what Arbalest can do. Arbalest is Dan Carver, a former sidekick to Captain Liberty of the Liberty League before they were wiped out in a concerted attack by the Sinister Seven. One of several “sidekick survivors” Arbalest took on the mantle of dark vigilante to hunt down the Seven in revenge for the murder of his mentor, but he eventually realized that he had strayed from the ethos of his teacher and reformed (this happened during a major showdown with the Old One which manifested in New York in 1990). Arbalest eventually began to experience severe deterioration from the Demons’ super serum which he had stolen and used in 1989, but around 2000 he went on to work for The Nil Group which repaired the damage to his system in exchange for his service as an agent. The Nil Group is an ultra-secret espionage outfit designed to track down and contain dangerous metahumans. While working for them he took on the role of Agent 13. We’ll see what Arbalest/Agent 13 looks like in M&M.

M&M has seven primary stats: fighting, agility, strength, endurance, reason, intuition and psyche (FASERIP). These rank from -2 (feeble) to +15 (unearthly). You’ve got titles (like “excellent” for each or you can use numbers (+2 is excellent). A nice chart lets you figure out where each attribute falls in relation to a chosen rank.

Arbalest is a borderline super-human; he was a well-trained normal when he was Captain Liberty’s sidekick in the 80’s, but he underwent a super-serum treatment which he stole from the villain called the Demon in 1989 which gave him metahuman strength and speed. In 2000 when he was recruited by the Nil Group received further cybernetic augmentations and was exposed to the Lazarus Mist to undo some of the genetic “unraveling” that the Demons’ super serum was doing to him physically.  This treatment repaired the damage and extended his life indefinitely—physically he looks 30 even though in 2015 he’s technically 56 years old.

(Can you tell there’s an entire genre of gaming I love which I haven’t even touched upon in the last four years of blogging?)

Anyhoo!

Arbalest has the following stats from the 25 point pool:

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

That leaves 9 ranks for powers. Since Arbalest isn’t heavy on unique powers that seems reasonable….he’s more of a classic grimdark post-Miller Batmanesque type, the sort of character that would later look comfortable in an early nineties Image lineup.

Resources are also tracked on the ability chart like attributes. Although I imagine you could spend points toward resources, the game suggests that the GM determine the resources based on the character background. Since the background for Arbalest/Agent 13 is one of a professional secret agent, we’ll give him Resources of remarkable (+4; equivalent to a small corporation….this is a super-secret outfit that skims its funds off of the receipts of the Pentagon, after all!)

Next up are powers. Power mechanics are very easy (spend ranks to get powers) and some additional rules include power packages (a way to make iron man’s suit, or other powers that are linked/grouped together) and power stunts (tricky stuff that you might be able to do….like Captain America slinging his shield around, I suppose). Additional rules here include some character origins (why you have powers) and the ubiquitous sorcery rules, since comics are notorious for making sorcery and spells very hard to model in RPGs. Finally there are 11 groups of powers presented, with an additional 25 subtypes.

For Arbalest we’re looking at some super attributes (technically already added to strength), and some general physical improvements….he’s got some residual super-serum in his veins, some cybernetic augmentations which affect regeneration and give him tougher skin and reflexes. From looking at the list, I see right off that super attribute will justify his already high strength as I set it, while Damage Resistant, Armor, Regeneration and Hardened Fists are also good choices. If I have the points I might add some senses as well, since Nil Group may have cybernetically augmented his vision and hearing as well.

Here’s what I go with:

Super Attribute: this justifies his strength and agility (which according to the chart at remarkable rank he can lift one ton and has a high natural agility….dodging single bullets).

Armor: after deciding damage resistance isn’t quite what I want (it seems to be vs. energy types) I opt for Armor excellent (+3) instead for 2 ranks. He’s basically got what was called “skinweave” in  Cyberpunk 2020; nanotech in his skin can harden up with a carbon fiber weave to absorb shock and impact.

Hardened Fists: I figure that same nanoweave carbon fiber in his skin that serves as armor also makes his fists tougher. We’ll give it to him at good (+1) for 1 rank as well, but only because his main schtick is going to be with the big arbalest he carries around.

Regeneration: the nanotreatment in his veins also keeps him alive and young. I’ll give him excellent (+2)  in this. That costs 2 ranks . We have 4 ranks left to spend.

I bypass enhanced senses for a moment and move to skills. Skills include a few specific rules: you have a series of “everyman” skills which everyone receives at a base value equal to the character’s Reason score. You can then spend one rank on a skill to get it at a value equal to the linked attribute plus one. So…in Arbalest’s case, I can buy Martial Arts, Lethal for one rank and link it to his Fighting Score, meaning he has a Martial Arts, Lethal at +5.

Right off the bat he needs training in bows (arbalests) so I jam 1 rank into getting Firearms/Bows linked to Agility (since it’s a ranged attack) for a +7.

With one more rank I’ll stick it in Investigation, a skill not on the list provided and link it to Intuition, so he has Investigation +2. Not great but he needs something to reflect his role as Nil Group Agent 13.

The skill list is short: seven everyman skills, and a sampling of seven suggested skills with the basic rules on making whatever skills would fit your character. The key thing is each skill has to be linked to an attribute to get its base value plus 1 per rank spent to improve it.

After all that, a few additional topics are discussed: secret vs. public identities (Dan Carver likes to keep his identity secret, but due to a high-profile trial in the late 80’s leading to his brief incarceration his method of doing so these days is through numerous obscure aliases). Reputation by popularity and infamy is addressed as well….as a player I could argue to the GM that Arbalest/Agent 13’s reputation of infamy was from the late 80’s, and Nil Group helped wipe out much of that….so he could “restart” at zero. But as GM I’d probably assigned a couple points to Infamy because old stories never die.

Contacts and minions are also discussed (though not sidekicks curiously). Everyone gets a contact for free at character creation, so Arbalest gets one: Nil Group. Your contact is usually normal, but by spending a rank you can make it special…I’ll leave the exact nature of the Nil Group contact/relationship open…they like it that way, anyway.

Beyond that M&M talks about archetypes and identifies eight sample archetypes with some guidelines on what they do and how to make one, followed by a character example.  One thing that the process doesn’t really talk about is equipment. You can build equipment using powers, as suggested in the  power packages discussion section (making Iron Man’s armor) but not a lot of guidance on how you stat out, say, Batman’s utility belt (although I guess you could define it as a power package as well). There’s no “omnipower” such as the DC Heroes system had to fix this problem, as an example. However, the GM section does include rules on building things in the game (gadgeteering) which are very simple and boil down to: do you have the time, resources and space? If so then you can build it. With that spirit in mind, I’m going to give Arbalest his signature weapon…it’s a heavy crossbow essentially, designed originally for sieges, but this state-of-the-art edition is easy enough for a guy with augmented strength and dexterity to haul around. It’s definitely not something you’d see the Huntress using, though!

The game stats out bows and firearms but not this weapon, so I’ll make it slightly better than a bow, worse than a heavy handgun: +3 damage, range 100’, skilled and lethal traits.

When all is done, Arbalest/Agent 13 looks like this:

Arbalest

alias Dan Carver, alias Agent 13

Former sidekick, former rogue vigilante, current agent of Nil Group

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

Resources: remarkable (+4)

Powers: Armor +3, Hardened Fists +1, Regeneration +2

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Firearms/Bows +7, Investigation +2

Contact: Nil Group

Weapon: arbalest (+3 damage, range 100’, skilled, lethal)

So how does Arbalest hold up in the wide world of bad guys? Stay tuned for next time, when we test out the combat mechanics (all two pages) of M&M. This is a very lite supers system, but honestly I suspect it will be a bit more entertaining to see how two super humans fare in a battle than the sad massacre that we saw in EGS previously….!