Making sure I understand the Game Rules

[DrBalloon]

8. The following rules apply to powers and feats that allow for multiple characters (specifically Duplication, Summon, Minions, and Sidekick):

1. The effective PL of Minions and Sidekicks is limited to one half the PC's PL, rounded down.

2. Minions cannot use Combined Attack, and as a group, they can never provide more than a +2 bonus to any other character through the Aid Another action. (This does mean that one minion could help another minion, while a third minion helps a fourth minion, but not all three minions helping the fourth minion.)

3. All Minions must have the same stats.

4. Sidekicks may not use the Progression feat. Multiple Sidekicks are possible, but they come at full cost.

5. Duplication and Summon are not allowed as Alternate Powers of other powers, such as Magic or Cosmic Energy Control.

Is the PL of a Summoned Minion set to the rank of the Summon power, or are extra ranks possible for additional characters points by lowering the final PL (I'm looking at the tradeoff Mimic uses for rank vs. point pool here)?

All Minions must have the same stats. Is giving them a Variable power all right so that they could have different mundane skills (such as professions) from one another?

Should I use an Empower, a Transform, or a Summon Minions with the Attack, Range, and Sense Dependent (hearing) mods to get a volunteer from the audience and make him be a competent stunt clown even if he'd never performed before?

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

[DrBalloon]

8. The following rules apply to powers and feats that allow for multiple characters (specifically Duplication, Summon, Minions, and Sidekick):

1. The effective PL of Minions and Sidekicks is limited to one half the PC's PL, rounded down.

2. Minions cannot use Combined Attack, and as a group, they can never provide more than a +2 bonus to any other character through the Aid Another action. (This does mean that one minion could help another minion, while a third minion helps a fourth minion, but not all three minions helping the fourth minion.)

3. All Minions must have the same stats.

4. Sidekicks may not use the Progression feat. Multiple Sidekicks are possible, but they come at full cost.

5. Duplication and Summon are not allowed as Alternate Powers of other powers, such as Magic or Cosmic Energy Control.

Is the PL of a Summoned Minion set to the rank of the Summon power, or are extra ranks possible for additional characters points by lowering the final PL (I'm looking at the tradeoff Mimic uses for rank vs. point pool here)?

All Minions must have the same stats. Is giving them a Variable power all right so that they could have different mundane skills (such as professions) from one another?

Should I use an Empower, a Transform, or a Summon Minions with the Attack, Range, and Sense Dependent (hearing) mods to get a volunteer from the audience and make him be a competent stunt clown even if he'd never performed before?

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

[DrBalloon]

8. The following rules apply to powers and feats that allow for multiple characters (specifically Duplication, Summon, Minions, and Sidekick):

1. The effective PL of Minions and Sidekicks is limited to one half the PC's PL, rounded down.

2. Minions cannot use Combined Attack, and as a group, they can never provide more than a +2 bonus to any other character through the Aid Another action. (This does mean that one minion could help another minion, while a third minion helps a fourth minion, but not all three minions helping the fourth minion.)

3. All Minions must have the same stats.

4. Sidekicks may not use the Progression feat. Multiple Sidekicks are possible, but they come at full cost.

5. Duplication and Summon are not allowed as Alternate Powers of other powers, such as Magic or Cosmic Energy Control.

Is the PL of a Summoned Minion set to the rank of the Summon power, or are extra ranks possible for additional characters points by lowering the final PL (I'm looking at the tradeoff Mimic uses for rank vs. point pool here)?

All Minions must have the same stats. Is giving them a Variable power all right so that they could have different mundane skills (such as professions) from one another?

Should I use an Empower, a Transform, or a Summon Minions with the Attack, Range, and Sense Dependent (hearing) mods to get a volunteer from the audience and make him be a competent stunt clown even if he'd never performed before?

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

[Heridfel]

1. Summon gives you rank x 15 power points to build your minion. It has nothing to do with the PL limits, so a PL 6 character could have Summon 6, which would create a 90 pp minion. That minion would still be PL 3, but it would be a 90 pp PL 3 minion.

2. No Variable Powers for minions. Frankly, Variable Powers are rare enough for heroes, and it defeats the purpose of having all of the minions have the same stats. If you want the minions to have different mundane skills, that's probably something that can be handled through roleplay.

3. Empower or Transform would be the easier way to handle it. You aren't creating the volunteer, just doing something to him.

4. The last one sounds like a demonic bargain. I'll have to think about how I'd describe that, rules-wise.

[Heridfel]

1. Summon gives you rank x 15 power points to build your minion. It has nothing to do with the PL limits, so a PL 6 character could have Summon 6, which would create a 90 pp minion. That minion would still be PL 3, but it would be a 90 pp PL 3 minion.

2. No Variable Powers for minions. Frankly, Variable Powers are rare enough for heroes, and it defeats the purpose of having all of the minions have the same stats. If you want the minions to have different mundane skills, that's probably something that can be handled through roleplay.

3. Empower or Transform would be the easier way to handle it. You aren't creating the volunteer, just doing something to him.

4. The last one sounds like a demonic bargain. I'll have to think about how I'd describe that, rules-wise.

[Heridfel]

1. Summon gives you rank x 15 power points to build your minion. It has nothing to do with the PL limits, so a PL 6 character could have Summon 6, which would create a 90 pp minion. That minion would still be PL 3, but it would be a 90 pp PL 3 minion.

2. No Variable Powers for minions. Frankly, Variable Powers are rare enough for heroes, and it defeats the purpose of having all of the minions have the same stats. If you want the minions to have different mundane skills, that's probably something that can be handled through roleplay.

3. Empower or Transform would be the easier way to handle it. You aren't creating the volunteer, just doing something to him.

4. The last one sounds like a demonic bargain. I'll have to think about how I'd describe that, rules-wise.

[Barnum]

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

[Barnum]

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

[Barnum]

Also, is it legal to modify Transfer so both sides of the equation affect the same trait for the target, Boosting the trait so long as he fulfills some requirement I set, and Draining it when he fails to do so? Such as granting 2 or 4 points worth of Wealth so long as he does something regularly, and wrecking his life and putting him out on the streets if he refuses to do it.

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

[DrBalloon]

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

[DrBalloon]

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

[DrBalloon]

I can't think of any trait that you could drain that would automatically wreck his life and put him out on the street. Even if you could Drain benefits (which is a crazy violation of descriptors, in my opinion), the lost PPs return at a rate of 1 PP per round. He'd be poor for like a minute.

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

[Barnum]

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

1. I think you will probably find some resistance on the part of most GMs to allow buying that many necessary ranks of Slow Fade on Drain effects, though I will admit that draining someone's wealth in a game system where wealth has virtually no impact on game play ever is pretty innocuous. I probably wouldn't mind much if you bought 10 ranks of Slow Fade to make it last a year. At best such a drain would provide the occasional (yet annoying) complication. And it would be very easy to nullify or counter.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

2. First, you would have to make wealth far more important to game play from a system standpoint which I don't think we are really interested in doing here. The players get to decide how important wealth is to them and their story. Second, you'd have to gather a group of players that were as equally concerned with their characters personal lives as they are with villain busting for the power to make much sense at all. Since it is the players here who decide what threads to join, who to play with, and what stories about their characters they want to tell, it is entirely possible that even after a year of real-time play, we will only ever see some characters in costume, fighting the bad guys. They could be poor, rich, married, divorced and we'd never know, because those aren’t the stories that the player is interested in telling. A player like that would have a character that is de facto immune to the drain.

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

Petty much any attack effect that attempts to force a player to RP a certain way or tell certain stories long-term, just won't much work here, I don't think. I just don't think you'll find many other players willing to join a thread with you, if you have the power to wreck their back-story without their consent. I know I wouldn't, but I can't speak for everyone.

[Barnum]

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

1. I think you will probably find some resistance on the part of most GMs to allow buying that many necessary ranks of Slow Fade on Drain effects, though I will admit that draining someone's wealth in a game system where wealth has virtually no impact on game play ever is pretty innocuous. I probably wouldn't mind much if you bought 10 ranks of Slow Fade to make it last a year. At best such a drain would provide the occasional (yet annoying) complication. And it would be very easy to nullify or counter.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

2. First, you would have to make wealth far more important to game play from a system standpoint which I don't think we are really interested in doing here. The players get to decide how important wealth is to them and their story. Second, you'd have to gather a group of players that were as equally concerned with their characters personal lives as they are with villain busting for the power to make much sense at all. Since it is the players here who decide what threads to join, who to play with, and what stories about their characters they want to tell, it is entirely possible that even after a year of real-time play, we will only ever see some characters in costume, fighting the bad guys. They could be poor, rich, married, divorced and we'd never know, because those aren’t the stories that the player is interested in telling. A player like that would have a character that is de facto immune to the drain.

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

Petty much any attack effect that attempts to force a player to RP a certain way or tell certain stories long-term, just won't much work here, I don't think. I just don't think you'll find many other players willing to join a thread with you, if you have the power to wreck their back-story without their consent. I know I wouldn't, but I can't speak for everyone.

[Barnum]

One, Slow Fade would be a must for such an effect.

1. I think you will probably find some resistance on the part of most GMs to allow buying that many necessary ranks of Slow Fade on Drain effects, though I will admit that draining someone's wealth in a game system where wealth has virtually no impact on game play ever is pretty innocuous. I probably wouldn't mind much if you bought 10 ranks of Slow Fade to make it last a year. At best such a drain would provide the occasional (yet annoying) complication. And it would be very easy to nullify or counter.

Two, how would you translate Plutomancy or Plutophagy spells from Unknown Armies into M&M, in general? Sure, the Blast spells are easy, as are the mind-affecting spells. But spells that directly mess with someone's finances?

2. First, you would have to make wealth far more important to game play from a system standpoint which I don't think we are really interested in doing here. The players get to decide how important wealth is to them and their story. Second, you'd have to gather a group of players that were as equally concerned with their characters personal lives as they are with villain busting for the power to make much sense at all. Since it is the players here who decide what threads to join, who to play with, and what stories about their characters they want to tell, it is entirely possible that even after a year of real-time play, we will only ever see some characters in costume, fighting the bad guys. They could be poor, rich, married, divorced and we'd never know, because those aren’t the stories that the player is interested in telling. A player like that would have a character that is de facto immune to the drain.

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

Petty much any attack effect that attempts to force a player to RP a certain way or tell certain stories long-term, just won't much work here, I don't think. I just don't think you'll find many other players willing to join a thread with you, if you have the power to wreck their back-story without their consent. I know I wouldn't, but I can't speak for everyone.

[cosmicarus]

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

I just got the idea for my next character.

[cosmicarus]

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

I just got the idea for my next character.

[cosmicarus]

GM: "You failed your save. Now you are poor."

Player: "Man it really stinks that I lost all my money. Oh look! Ninjas robbing an old lady. Captain Poverty to the rescue!"

I just got the idea for my next character.