[Goalsystem] Super Mission Force

[Argonor]

Looks interesting, shall have a look this upcoming weekend!

[YPU]

Anything goes. I will say that SMF will not allow you the same level of customization as SuperSystem. Trade-offs. Fast chargen and faster play mean giving up that level of detail.

But I do want to allow folks to stat up at least close versions of well-loved characters. Hence the Magic Hammer and Shield powers.

Fair enough. I'm trying to stat up a fairly generic archer type character and running into a bit of an issue with the minor abilities since none of them really fit the archetype. Taking the fast or smart boost could fix it, especially if I took both but maybe it would be more appropriate if the archer blaster could take another 2 arrows as a minor power?

[fourcolorfigs]

Fair enough. I'm trying to stat up a fairly generic archer type character and running into a bit of an issue with the minor abilities since none of them really fit the archetype. Taking the fast or smart boost could fix it, especially if I took both but maybe it would be more appropriate if the archer blaster could take another 2 arrows as a minor power?

Gotcha. I did just add Iron Will and Fortune to the Archetype's options.

[YPU]

Gotcha. I did just add Iron Will and Fortune to the Archetype's options.

That also helps. I notice that a lot of powers say "once per game" and have a recharge rating. While I get what you are going for I don't think it actually says anywhere that recharging them does give you another use. This might just be me having some preconceptions from other games but calling something once per game when there is a mechanism to use it more often feels weird.

[fourcolorfigs]

That also helps. I notice that a lot of powers say "once per game" and have a recharge rating. While I get what you are going for I don't think it actually says anywhere that recharging them does give you another use. This might just be me having some preconceptions from other games but calling something once per game when there is a mechanism to use it more often feels weird.

Agreed. I think I am going to change that right now. Thanks!

[fourcolorfigs]

Did a play-test today. Overall I am very pleased with everything. I always learn a lot when I play things out on the tabletop. We did a 2 on 2 battle--Beast & Spider-Woman vs. Electro & Rattler.









Some random notes:

-- We played Seek and Find.

-- None of the characters scored and goals on subplots so we had no Subplot dice. Playing this out got me thinking the Subplot TN3 was too high, so I am lowering it to TN2 to get more subplots flowing into the game.

-- I also ended up lowering the TN for finding the cosmic pieces from TN4 to TN3. I like it better there.

-- The way Scrapper works now is great, but I increased the Recharge on Counterattack from 1+ to 2+ because it is a darn potent.

-- The advanced Maneuvers proved easy to use and filled with character.

-- The game played great! It ended up a battle between Beast and Rattler, and Beast won out!

That's all for now! Off to see Dr. Strange soon!

[Erethor]

Played a couple games already (quick and tons of fun!) and had some thoughts:

Rules Question: Can models not in base contact with an enemy use ranged attacks against an enemy in base contact with an ally?

Example: Flash and Deathstroke are in base contact with each other. Green Arrow is 10" away and wants to make a ranged attack (Power Blast) against Deathstroke.

Is this possible? I didn't see anything in the rules to prevent it but I was wondering if this was the intent.

Design Question: I was also wondering about Minor Powers availability to certain archetypes. Are these the only choices available, or are they just suggestions? I ask because The Brick archetype doesn't have Flight, so no Superman. No (minor) SuperStrength on the Mentalist, so no Martian Manhunter. If I wanted to build a mindless robot Blaster, I can't build it right off as a Construct.

I know I can houserule it, and I understand the Powerhouse archetype can offset this, but it may be too powerful for everyday use.

If the listed minor power options are supposed to be the only ones available, would it be too unbalancing to let all minor powers be available to each archetype? That way, the major powers are still locked in to certain move rates/damage boxes, but still allows a large degree of customization.

I understand this may go against the intended spirit of near instant character generation, but I think this makes it easier to recreate a specific idea. Thoughts?

[YPU]

I can't answer on the design philosophy, but I would say that both Supes (the big blue cheese) and Martian are prime suspects for the Powerhouse. While the rules warn against overpowered nature I'm not so sure they actually will be in the end. I think action economy and lack of fine-tuned min-maxing will prevent them from steamrolling everything. I could be wrong though. I'm curious to see what sort of "broken" combos people can come up with!

[fourcolorfigs]

On smartphone so bear with me.

Can you fire ranged into a Melee? Yes! I will add a section on this tomorrow.

On taking any minor powers with archetypes? Hmmm. Need to think about this a bit. I am inclined to make current selections guidelines, and allow substitutes. But beware min maxing fun burglars 😄

Will address this more later.

[fergal]

On taking any minor powers with archetypes? Hmmm. Need to think about this a bit. I am inclined to make current selections guidelines, and allow substitutes. But beware min maxing fun burglars 😄

I'm hoping for my first play test tomorrow, but my observation from reading through.   

I like the limited 'fast creation' nature of the rules.  It suits the goals of the rules perfectly.  BUT the first thing you do when you finish that section is try to create you favorite supers and come to the conclusion that you can't make the simplified creation system recreate them perfectly.   

I really like how it works and it'd be a shame to nuke it.

Perhaps a quick section recognizing that it's not a perfect for creating every super from your favorite comics.  I think balance between supers from the comics is the reason there aren't more super hero skirmish games. 

Finding a balancing method for this will lead to a much more complicated creation/game play.   That being said:

Perhaps the opponents could get
-X number of subplots per minor power switch
-X number of free recharges per minor power switch

something like that?  Though I like it how it is Perhaps when I trying to create my supers for my first play test I'll feel differently afterwards?

[fourcolorfigs]

Ok, uploaded latest version with some corrections and issues addressed.

-- There's now a section on Ranged Combat Into Melee

-- I included a brief discussion on swapping minor power in and out of Archetype. I'll paste it here because it's good discussion fodder:

=========
Mixing and Matching?
Creative players like to tinker; it’s what we do! If an archetype does not contain the right mix of major and minor powers for you to get the character you want, discuss it with your game group. As a group you could decide to essentially make all minor powers available to every archetype.


We feel like the mix of major and minor powers in each archetype achieves a play balance and elegance a points system cannot match. If your group decides to open things up a bit and freely select minor powers from the general list that’s fine. Just be mindful of any fun burgling combos you might create.


As a compromise your group could allow each player a one-time exception to capture a specific character’s power set just right. In these cases, the player gets to swap out one minor power for another at the cost of giving his opponents an extra Subplot die each game he plays with the character in question. It’s a nod to the other players that you respect them for letting you make the exception.


Here’s one final note on this. SMF lets you tell fun and exciting comic book stories on the tabletop. More power to you if you manage to find a killer app combo by going to the mix and match method, but always remember SMF focuses on fun, not victory.
=============

-- I added a note to Amphibious that lets you swap it into any Archetype.

That's all I can think of for now!

[fourcolorfigs]

Just played a test game with Henchmen. Hand ninja. Liked the way they worked a lot, but the base number needs to higher. So I am tweaking them to start at 10, and Legion will add 5 more if you take it.

Also going to add this minor power:

Veterans
You comprise a small, crack group of well trained fighters. Your base dice pool rises from 2D to 3D, but your numbers drop from 10 to 5.

[Zeebeest]

Hey guys,

I haven't had a lot of time do do some tinkering or test anything out, but I've seen some very good comments so far and I find myself thinking about the same things.

My main concern is that it's starting to look like SS4 a little and that isn't the main goal of these rules. Just a small thing I try to keep in mind. I'm sure that these new additions open the game up in a good and most likely, balanced way.

Either way, everyone is doing great stuff and I haven't done anything noteworthy so far. I hope to contribute more next week when I have more time. Keep up the good stuff, thanks guys.

Greetings,

Zeebeest.

[fourcolorfigs]

This is sage advice. I am hoping to not be adding much more now. Just refine what we have.

Is there something specific concerning you? Having played a handful of games now, I can tell you I love it and remain super excited! 👍😄

[Zeebeest]

I really want to play a few games before I lay down some hard feedback. Sadly I have no time this week so I'll have to wait till next week 

I am still really excited about this. As I said before, if this turns out half as good as SS we are in for a real treat 

Greetings,

Zeebeest.