Intro

The Pitch

The world as it was came to an end with the dual world shaking cataclysms of Moramu, a primordial evil from the dawn of time awakening, sending waves of the monstrous and undead into the world, and the deaths of nearly the entire inner sea pantheon in the aftermath. The two nations on Veris were either destroyed or splintered, throwing the world into chaos, even as new gods that stopped Moramu and slew the old gods tried to hold the what they could together.

Two centuries later, Dozens of nations states barely cling to stability against the waves of their neighbors and the remnants of the monstrous dark on the eastern coast of Veris, a vast arid expanse to the north calls to many who seek riches in its hardship, and the lands to the west, with their strange environments call to explorers who wish to find the secrets that lie past the coastal plains. Those with power or influence desperately fight for their chance to make a name for themselves, at being a king, or even at divinity, while the rest just fight to survive in a world still roiling from change, clinging to the pockets of seeming stability where they are.

You sit in the middle of it all, in the city of Vrada, located nearly in the dead center of Veris. Vrada is split between the three nation-states. The Magocracy of Flore, The Merchant Council led Vane, and Hobgoblin ruled dictatorship of Khekir. Vrada has everything a city would to grow, a natural bounty from the [something] river and . Its the last stop before the Gold Hills to the north on the new and rapidly growing steam powered railway being built by Wymar Industries, and hosts the first port on the mighty River Of Hope, connecting back to the nation states of the south and the sea, and perhaps most importantly, Vrada is one of only 12 cities that holds one of the teleportation gates that was installed at the orders of the god- princess Valna, as restitution for her long dead empires past atrocities.

You have found some connection to the Wayfinders, a loose guild of people who seek knowledge, glory, riches, and the like, their Wayhouse in Vrada, is a hub, and hosts a collection of job postings for opportunities both locally and all across the continent (Some even cover travel costs!) and there are a handful of intreresting ones up for grabs...

Tone and Feel

Adventurous - I mean its a DnD game.

Curiosity - The wold isn't unknown, but its expansive, and much is still hidden.

Connection - To each other, to NPC's, to the world, I want things more connected this time.

Varied - I want this to cover a variety of themes and tones.

Sandbox - travel, meet people, be active in seeking things out.

Themes

Something new every (adventuring) day.

Forging your own way.

Cultural Clash

Touchstones

I'm supposed to list like, media things with a similar feel, but that implies I watch things and can identify media, honestly, just assume some Zelda mixed with Final Fantasy.

General Character Guidelines

Character Concept

While we are playing mutants and masterminds instead of DnD or it's ilk, I still suggest thinking of your character more as a DnD or high fantasy character than a super hero.

Your characters are above mere mortals, but not in an entirely different league, a strong hero may be capable of lifting a horse or carriage, not an entire house, A hero known for speed may run at double or triple the average man, not the speed of sound. And while you hold much strength, there are still many creatures in the untamed wilds that are threats even to you, brutish trolls, terrifyingly majestic dragons, etc.

But don't think this is a realistic game either, odd concepts are still encouraged, these are mostly power level restrictions, as even DnD fantasy itself has a nearly endless range of things with all the races and classes!

As always, run your concepts by me, and I'll have a final review of your characters.

Mutants and Masterminds Specific Guidelines

Character sheet can be found here
Rulebook

Power Level

You are PL 6, with 120 character points to start with.

Power Guidelines

Some powers as written don't work as well in a closer to the ground fantasy setting and have some modifications or guidelines

Equipment Points/Gold

The equipment advantage does not exist, you have gold instead of spending power points on items.

Movement Powers

Movement powers that increase your speed typically shouldn't be taken past rank 3 or 4 (60 or 120ft)

Flight has the restrainiable modifier by default (typically wings), while still costing 2 points per rank, this can be removed by paying 1 extra point per rank.

Leaping typically shouldn't be taken past rank 2, unless your character is using some form of magic to do so

Teleportation is a Complex action, instead of a simple action.

Regeneration

Regeneration should generally have the Source, or Not Against descriptors, and this does not reduce the cost of the power.

In some cases, such as a Lich, Vampire, or other concept that involves returning from the dead, regeneration (Only When Dead) does not need (but can still have) the source or not against flaws, however, the default time to return from the dead starts at 1 month, with each rank reducing it by half, to a minimum of 24 hours.

Arrays

Arrays should be used sparsely and only for highly thematically linked powers, and I'm outright banning dynamic arrays for ease of running the game reasons.

Character Creation Walk-through

Page 43 in the book.

Create your concept.

Choose your abilities/stats, these are basically the stats from dnd, 0 is human average, and 7 is considered the peak of human ability

Choose your attack (+ to hit) and defense (AC). These are affected by the series Power Level,
- Damage is ranked, and any given attack's damage rank, plus your to hit, cannot exceed 12 (Twice the sries power level) when added together. Eg: An attack of rank 6 can have at most, +6 to hit, rank 8 at most +4, etc.
- Defense and Toughness (Next section, but Toughness is basically your HP), when added together cannot exceed twice the series power level (12). So characters who are harder to hit are easier to hurt when they are hit, etc.

Skills
- The character sheet has the skill list, max rank is 16. I suggest taking points in at least a few skills.

Advantages
- These are basically feats/features, its a long list on page 82, but i suggest skimming it for things you think your character should be able to do.

Powers
- The scary part of the system, unless you

Equipment!
- Unlike default Mutants and Masterminds, you have gold, 500 to be exact. Mundane items (Things that dont affect your stats, such as torches, lanterns, rope, etc) can be bought for thier listed prices in the dnd 5e books, other items, such as weapons, etc, cost 25 gp per point it would cost to build them as a power (or, 25gp per EP cost they have in the MM book.)

Who are you?

List a handful of things about your character, such as 3 one or two word traits to guide your RP, what do they value, what are thier fears? What can cause you complications in RP (somewhat xenophobic? a pacifist? and other things that might cause complications) Keep them basic and easy to remember as an RP guide, and expect your values, thoughts, and complications to change over the course of the game!

Who do you know?

No one is truly an island, everyone has connections, no matter how weak, how frayed, or hostile.

Who out there likes you? Who do you like?

Parents? Friends? Try to think of who your character has relied on in the past, or could in the future, who do you want to share successes with? who would you help if they were in need? Ideally, "the other party members" will be included in that list over time, but this is for your per-existing connections to the world.

Who out there has it out for you? Who are you out for?

Parents? Rivals? Have you pissed anybody off? Who may have pissed you off? This could be an unknown figure who stole your families ancestral sword, it could be your childhood rival who found success at your cost, Maybe its the local Lord who used backhanded tactics to claim your family home, or are you hunted by a strange cult as a child of some prophecy?

What, if any Organizations are your part of, interested in, or are interested in you?

While individual connections are important, also think about what larger groups you may be connected to? A church, a town, a guild? You can see the Introduction section for preexisting guilds and organizations, but its encouraged to work with me to make something!

Why are you here?

Adventuring is hard, it's dangerous, it takes you away from home. So, why are you doing it? Fortune? Fame? Thrill seeking, sent on a mission? this doesn't need to be complex, just what has driven you out of a "normal" life to this?