Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

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greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

It also reminds me of the Killdozer story by Theordore Sturgeon, too.
scc
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by scc »

The bonus content keeps on coming!
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by scc »

I really enjoyed seeing you stat up a machine. Should he have a Will save? Maybe I should have went this route when I statted up Trull.
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Davies
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by Davies »

scc wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 11:05 pm I really enjoyed seeing you stat up a machine. Should he have a Will save?
I think greycrusader overpriced the thing's Immunity a bit -- Immunity (mental effects, interaction skills) should cost 25 points, assuming that you treat "mental" as a "very common power descriptor". It might make more sense to give it just straight Immunity 30 (Will).
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greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

You are correct, Davies-it should be Immunity 30. Just a mistake on my part. I guess technically speaking the Devil’s Engine should be a robot/construct, but it seemed to make more sense as a vehicle.

All my best.
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by scc »

I agree it works better as a vehicle. In some ways it is easier to stat. Also I believe any extra limbs get the strength of the vehicle but I am not sure about that. I thought that was in one of the vehicle books they put out.
greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

You could be correct-the only Power Profiles book I have is the Gadgets Guide one, and I didn't really go back and look at it for the write-up. From the Engine's description, it didn't seem appropriate for the mechanical arms to have the full STR score (10) of the vehicle-it was said to uproot telephone poles and clear heavy stones from its path, but nothing on the order of lifting 25 tons of weight. I think of as more akin to Power Lifting (pulling/carrying weight), though presumably the Devil's Engine could do Damage 10 by ramming/slamming into a target.

I went back and edited the write-up slightly, to better match the Gadgets Guide description.

All my best.
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

greycrusader wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 1:58 am As promised, a few adventure ideas for stories set in Old Mexico of the Freedomverse Weird Wild West era:

Mexico enjoys renewed independence after overthrowing French rule, and the nation prospers under the Restored Republic government. Tax revenues and foreign capitol drive modernization. Authorities step up the rule of law, sometimes with a heavy hand, but banditry remains a threat. Though stripped of legal powers, the Catholic Church remains a pervasive cultural influence. Fragments of Aztec traditions remain among indigenous people.

The alien Ku-Tu The Eternal lies buried and slumbering among ancient Aztec Ruins; once worshiped as a god by the native peoples, the extraterrestrial despot was overthrown by a band of heroes and placed into a mystic slumber by priests of the actual Aztec gods before the coming of the Europeans. But a small cult of his shape-shifting Jaguar Men survived and remain loyal; along with a spell-casting leader, they guard his "divine relics" (abandoned alien technology) from discovery by surveyors or explorers-through lethal means if necessary. The heroes are alerted to nefarious goings on when a archaeologist and her crew disappear while on a dig, and they are commissioned to investigate. To spice the scenario up further, add a robot guardian of the ruins-disguised as an Aztec mummy! Ku-Tu the Eternal and his followers are found in the Threat Report; for the ersatz mummy, use the Construct archetype from the Hero;s Handbook but reduce it to a PL 7 threat.
And now for a threat taken from a minor classic of early science fiction, W. Grove's A Mexican Mystery; the novel presents the tale of a advanced train engine built by a brilliant but unbalanced engineer/inventor, equipped with an early example of an "artificial brain" (a Babbage-engine computer, but much more advanced). The train engine soon proves destructive and hostile to humans,, and runs amok entirely when its creator is stabbed to death by local peasants who claim he did "The Devil's Work". Opposed by a brave Scottish engineer and the local military detachment, the book's finale sees the "Devil's Engine" seemingly destroyed, but a coda reveals the protagonist believes it actually survived and repaired itself. The malevolent machine would certainly present a wild and unique foe for Wild West heroes in Mexico or the Southwest United States of the time period.

The Devil's Engine (malevolent, self-aware steam locomotive)
Size: Huge Strength: 10 Speed: 5/3 Defense 6 Toughness 11 Extras: Impervious 8
Features: Prehensile mechanical claws equipped w/buzz-saws (2 Extra Limbs, STR 10, Limited to STR 6 for grabbing or lifting, Slashing Damage 6, Improved Critical 2, 18-20), Features 2 (Can move off-track at Spd 3, able to burn any organic matter as fuel), Reach 3 (arms and buzz-saws can extend 15 feet forward), Self-Repair (Regeneration 2, Source: scavenged metal), Steam Blast (Cone Area Damage 8, Indirect 2)

Babbage Device: INT 4 AWE 4 PRE -2; Immunity 40 (Interaction effects, Mental effects), Senses 8 (Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Acute Accurate Radius Mental Sense w/2 ranks Extended, Time Sense)
Advantages: Autopilot (Self-Piloting Vehicle, +16), Eidetic Memory, Speed of Thought (uses INT as base for Initiative rolls)
Skills: Close Combat (Mechanical Arm) 10/+10, Technology 6/+10
Complications: Resents humans for “enslaving” machines, efficiency reduced without sufficient coal or wood, limited communication (horns and wheel clicks).

Offense: Initiative +4
Buzz-Saw +10, Close Damage 6, Slashing, Critical 18-20
Claw: +10, Grab STR 6
Steam Vent: Cone Area Damage 8, Heat
Defenses: Dodge/Parry 6 Fort- Will -Toughness 11
Defenses: Dodge/Parry 6, Fort-, Will -, T
scc
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by scc »

Thanks for the new write-up. I really like it. I assume the Dodge/Parry is just 6 not 6 on the base of 10 correct?
greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

Yes, just 6, the base Defense value listed in the Hero's Handbook for a locomotive; the Devil's Engine is a bit tougher and faster (on rails) than an ordinary stream engine, but I didn't think it merited a higher Defense score. Offensively, the Engine is PL 8 (due to the Steam Vents), and 8.5 Defensively (Dodge/Parry 6, Toughness 11). For purposes of charging/ramming an opponent, I'd say use half the ranks in the Autopilot/Self-Driving skill in place of a FGH trait, doing 10 Damage (bludgeoning/crushing damage).
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by Ken »

Okay... Whoever decided to give the Scarlet Cyclone the civilian name of William Schallert needs to be heavily applauded, and flogged with a wet noodle.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

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Hope it isn't unseemly to post again in this thread after a lengthy break, but I had a little extra time this past week and dusted off an idea I had for the Wild West of the Freedomverse; this is inspired by an actual Wild West legend about a monstrous cryptid haunting the Arizona desert (and parts thereabouts)-a legend which turned out to be rooted in truth!

The High Plains Horror, AKA The Red Ghost of Arizona
PL 9
STR 7 STA -- FGH 7 AGL 2 DEX 0 INT -2 AWE 2 PRE-2

Powers:
A' Feared the Life Out O' Me!: Radius Affliction 9 (Resisted and Overcome by Will; dazed, stunned, paralyzed; Quirk-targets must be able to see the Horror); Regeneration 4 (Source: Fear-gains 1 rank/afflicted victim; recovers on rounds 2, 5, 8)

Can't Catch a Sight: Control Environment 3 (swirling sands cause impaired vision (-2) in 90' radius), Enhanced Advantage: Hide in Plain Sight

Four-Footed Fright: Feature 2: Four Legs, Movement 2 (Permeate 2, Limited to only through sand, Sure-Footed), Speed 4 (30 mph)

Unnatural Senses: Senses 8 (Detect Human Life, Accurate and Extended (-1/1000 feet), Low-Light Vision, Penetrates Concealment-Vision, Limited to seeing through sand)

No Thing God Made: Immunity (Fortitude effects)

Saber in Hand: Str Damage +1, Slashing damage, Improved Critical 18-20, Penetrating 2, Reach 1

Swollen Carcass: Growth 3 (Permanent, Innate; +3 STR, +3 Toughness, +3 Intimidation, -3 Stealth, -2 Dodge and Parry )

Tough as Leather: Immunity (heat/flame damage, piercing damage, Limited ½ effect)

Trample: STR Damage +2 (hooves), Grab-based attack

Advantages: All-Out Attack, Hide in Plain Sight, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Trip, Move-By Action, Second Chance (Snares and Traps), Startle

Skills: Athletics 3 (+10), Close Combat: Saber 3 (+10), Intimidation +8, Perception +6, Stealth +8

Defenses: Dodge 7 Parry 9 Fortitude – Toughness +9 Will +7

Offense: Initiative: +2

A'Feared: 30' radius Affliction 9 (impaired, disabled, paralyzed)

Saber in Hand: Close Damage 8, slashing, +10, Crit 18-20

Trample: Close Damage 9, crushing, +7, Grab-based

Totals: Abilities 28 + Powers 94 + Advantages 5 + Skills 8 + Defenses 30 = 150

Complications: Abomination (monstrous undead), Maimed (one-handed), Dependency-must feed on human fear once/week or become impaired, disabled, and finally comatose, Weakness-blessed weapons cause full damage)

A solitary undead monster, the High Plains Horror endlessly stalks the deserts of the American Southwest of the late 1800s, driven by the thing's hatred of the living and need to feed off human fear. Of low intelligence but sly, the Horror targets isolated homesteads, stagecoaches, and mining camps, attacking under the cover of night. The monster is preceded by howling winds and stinging sands, its unnatural presence spooking nearby animals such as dogs and horses. Typically, the creature rides into the midst of its intended victims, knocking over fencing, smashing objects at random, and riding down any who tree to flee. The Horror prefers to wound and terrify humans rather than kill, but will arbitrarily choose a target to hurl under its hooves, often with lethal effect.

The monster appears to be a unholy melding of man and mount; a four-legged beast with a leathery hide, coarse red hair laced with burrs, and a grotesque hump, with the mummified torso and upper body of a man where the thing's head should be. The humanoid half of the Horror is clothed in the remnants of some unrecognizable military garb, and its right hand is permanently clawed around a crimson-stained saber. The thing's origin is unknown: perhaps a scout or solider was eternally cursed for an act of cowardice; maybe a crazed wonder-worker called it forth from unhallowed ground; or Magic Mesa's power was somehow perverted. All that really matters is putting paid to the awful creation.

The High Plains Horror is meant as a fairly tough challenge for a fairly tough Wild West troop, perhaps 3-4 PL 7 heroes, or a slightly larger, less experienced band (4-6 PL 6 characters). The monster's partial immunity to bullets, arrows, and fire make it a real threat to western heroes who rely upon conventional weapons of the era, and tracking the thing through the desert is no mean feat. The Horror's speed and tireless nature make for a difficult chase, not to mention its supernatural affinity for the desert terrain. Characters hunting down the monster must either resort to bringing the Horror down with heavy weaponry (dynamite, Gatling guns), overcoming it with lassos, melee weapons, and brute strength, or setting up a trap and then blasting away until the thing drops. They will need swift horses, keen wits, and plenty o' firepoweer.

In a Wild West campaign where the heroes are more formidable than the typical “highly talented normals” found in such settings, consider giving the High Plains Horror a few ranks of Impervious Protection, Power Attack advantage, and boosted defenses; raise the severity of its sandstorms (-5 to visibility penalties, and perhaps impeding movement as well), or even give the creature the Concealment power. If the heroes include "mesmerists" or "spiritualists" (the Weird West equivalent of psi-heroes), consider giving the Horror additional resistance to Will-based effects.

Gamemasters who wish to use the Horror in a modern-day PL 9-10 superhero campaign should increase the monster's STR, FGH, and/or Toughness score, along with the effectiveness of its fear-based attack. The thing could easily figure into a time-travel adventure, facing off against one set of heroes in an earlier era, then being swept up in the “sands of time” to menace the present.

Note: The High Plains Horror is based on a real-life Wild West legend, the Red Ghost of Arizona, first spotted in 1883. In reality, the Red Ghost was an exceptionally large camel, one of the many imported by the U.S. Army in the mid-19th century, only for the vast majority to be sold off or turned loose in the wild shortly before the Civil War broke out. The dromedary which gave rise to the Red Ghost legend may have been one of the few actually used by a soldier or scout, one who died in the saddle, whether through violence or deprivation; the rider's body was tethered to the mount, becoming a truly ghastly sight as the carcass withered and mummified under the searing desert sun. The beast was legitimately responsible for one death (a female homesteader was trampled, though possibly by her own horse, spooked by the strange animal), and terrifying many ranchers, herders, and prospectors. The feral camel encountered humans only a handful of times over the next ten years, but those encounters proved unforgettable for those involved. Of course, tales of the beast became more and more exaggerated in the telling, with descriptions of a monster standing 30' high, able to devour grizzly bears and vanish in plain sight.The Red Ghost was finally brought low almost a decade after first being sighted, killed by a single bullet from a rancher's Winchester rifle. For more on the Red Ghost, simply copy and paste the link below:

https://arizonaoddities.com/2010/03/the ... red-ghost/
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Davies
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by Davies »

Fascinating!
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by Tattooedman »

Thanks for sharing greycrusader, here & on Facebook!
Last edited by Tattooedman on Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
greycrusader
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Re: Mutants & Masterminds - Time Traveller's Codex

Post by greycrusader »

Most welcome!
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