Mutants & Masterminds: Lake City Universe - M&M 3E - New game in semi-gritty universe - Recruitment

[jameson (ST)]

For lethality I would recommend that everybody read the following sidebars. All page numbers are for the DC Adventure's Hero's Handbook with M&M 3e Generic in parentheses.

1. Lasting Injuries - page 178 (199) - explains how to uses complications to simulate more severe long term injuries.
   
2. Going For The Kill - Page 186 (206) - Optional rules for more lethal combats. Bullet points 1, 3, and 6 are especially salient without getting downright mean.
   
3. Death - Page 179 (199) - Death as applies in a comic genre/tone, specifically the requirement for intent.
   

I'm down with firearms, and other killing attacks being considered lethal and resulting in long term injury (by way of complications & HPs), possibly resulting in the Dying condition, and in general requiring a longer healing/recovery time. All of this can be done without having to do any changes to the rules and how combat and damage save work which I think is best because it will alleviate the need for play testing.

[Lusungu Mercy Chanda]

Okay so to sum up that last page or so... Let's keep it dinner table conversation style. I.E. anything you 'can't talk about while eating' should probably be left out of posts, yes? By that same token, let's agree to keep politics and religion out of respective OOC posts, yes?

Guns being lethal? Hell yea. One big problem with other super games is that everything is non-lethal by default even if it contains bullets.

3E makes less of a distinction on damage tracking, but I think that's okay. I'm sure with Jameson's expertise, we can think of a way to model it properly such that everyone's agreeable. But it at least sounds like we're communally open to the idea of guns being as lethal as is appropriate for being shot at. Granted you might be super tough, but that @#$%'s still gonna hurt!

To me, the adjective 'gritty' implies that this is not going to be your typical comic book hero experience. Characters will get hurt. Sometimes characters will die. Digestion will be upset.

For lethality I would recommend that everybody read the following sidebars. All page numbers are for the DC Adventure's Hero's Handbook with M&M 3e Generic in parentheses.

1. Lasting Injuries - page 178 (199) - explains how to uses complications to simulate more severe long term injuries.
   
2. Going For The Kill - Page 186 (206) - Optional rules for more lethal combats. Bullet points 1, 3, and 6 are especially salient without getting downright mean.
   
3. Death - Page 179 (199) - Death as applies in a comic genre/tone, specifically the requirement for intent.
   

I'm down with firearms, and other killing attacks being considered lethal and resulting in long term injury (by way of complications & HPs), possibly resulting in the Dying condition, and in general requiring a longer healing/recovery time. All of this can be done without having to do any changes to the rules and how combat and damage save work which I think is best because it will alleviate the need for play testing.

Thanks for the references. In general, I agree.

What I'm wondering is: are any of us opposed to character death? I don't remember reading page 199, but I'll go back and re-read it. I'm not expecting this to be an Amazing Spiderman and Friends RTZ series, and I feel like I might not be on the same page as everyone else at this point.

[jameson (ST)]

Amazing Spiderman and Friends RTZ series

I'm not sure what this is ...

[Lusungu Mercy Chanda]

I'm not sure what this is ...

Old television series that I vaguely remember from my youth, and might be misnaming, where the end of every episode had reset everything to the way it was at the start of the episode (Reset To Zero). Although the older Amazing Spider Man series might be a better example.

Sorry, I'm realizing I'm grumpy and crochety right now, and probably exagerating too much.

/me takes a deep breath.

My concern is that it sounds like the players are talking about things they don't want to hear to respect each other's space, but the game is described as gritty. I'm not looking for gratuitous anything, but I was expecting a story that wasn't necessarily something I'd want to read out loud to my mother. I don't want Quentin Tarentino either, I'm just worried (and admittedly overreacting to the fear that) I'm going to offend people because my impression of the story that Heritage is aiming at is way out of whack.

Thanks for letting me vent my fears, and I apologize if I am overreacting, I'd just rather state my case now than let misunderstandings cause problems later.

So am I misunderstanding other player's expectations?

[Superball]

For lethality I would recommend that everybody read the following sidebars. All page numbers are for the DC Adventure's Hero's Handbook with M&M 3e Generic in parentheses.

1. Lasting Injuries - page 178 (199) - explains how to uses complications to simulate more severe long term injuries.
   
2. Going For The Kill - Page 186 (206) - Optional rules for more lethal combats. Bullet points 1, 3, and 6 are especially salient without getting downright mean.
   
3. Death - Page 179 (199) - Death as applies in a comic genre/tone, specifically the requirement for intent.
   

I'm down with firearms, and other killing attacks being considered lethal and resulting in long term injury (by way of complications & HPs), possibly resulting in the Dying condition, and in general requiring a longer healing/recovery time. All of this can be done without having to do any changes to the rules and how combat and damage save work which I think is best because it will alleviate the need for play testing.

I think this provides the best of the solutions in regards to the lethality question. Heck, this conversation and how it's panned out is giving me hope this games going to work brilliantly.

@ Hellhound: So... we're talking about music? I think it's sort of bad that I cannot work out for the life of me a track for Naomi (Superball) yet...

[Superball]

Old television series that I vaguely remember from my youth, and might be misnaming, where the end of every episode had reset everything to the way it was at the start of the episode (Reset To Zero). Although the older Amazing Spider Man series might be a better example.

Sorry, I'm realizing I'm grumpy and crochety right now, and probably exagerating too much.

/me takes a deep breath.

My concern is that it sounds like the players are talking about things they don't want to hear to respect each other's space, but the game is described as gritty. I'm not looking for gratuitous anything, but I was expecting a story that wasn't necessarily something I'd want to read out loud to my mother. I don't want Quentin Tarentino either, I'm just worried (and admittedly overreacting to the fear that) I'm going to offend people because my impression of the story that Heritage is aiming at is way out of whack.

Thanks for letting me vent my fears, and I apologize if I am overreacting, I'd just rather state my case now than let misunderstandings cause problems later.

So am I misunderstanding other player's expectations?

This sort of got in while I was posting... I think we do have a misunderstanding. I think it might be due to the distinct possibility that Heritage used "Gritty" as a term when I feel he really meant "Somewhat Realistic" for his setting(s). Now, As for certain things here, in particular the content conversation, I think we really will be at our own discretion. But I do think it is fair that everyone here know the limits of their compatriots. Players have borders and when borders are crossed things start to less be fun and more a keg of drama that could have been avoided with some prior forethought.

This still might not be a story you'd wanna read your mother, but at least those playing the characters in the story will have their borders/limits respected. Respect breeds trust and that's the first step to having a solid group.

I'm sorry for the double post, but I had to respond in a way that wasn't an addendum.

[Wyrd]

Partly I was referring to something that has been mentioned in many other games--player consent. What players are allowed to do to each other without explicitly asking them first. I plan on acting , in character, as being every bit as squishy as my character is. If my character dies as the result of me being stupid, well that's my fault.

[Superball]

I don't mind the fact the world can roll me if I'm not attentive and hell, I'll take my licks as they come. But I don't think the group(s) we got here are apt for character on character griefing or harassment (which is what I think you're worried about, Wyrd.)

But... yeah. I would fully expect before someone in the group slaps me across the face with their glove, that the feeling is mutual.

And if a person wants to... practice their... carnal talents, then again, it has to be mutual.

I go by this saying: "Don't be a dick. Dicks get kicked."

[quotemyname]

@ Hellhound: So... we're talking about music? I think it's sort of bad that I cannot work out for the life of me a track for Naomi (Superball) yet...

Meh, music is a pretty big deal to me. I find theme songs for all my characters. Helps me get in the mood to play them.

[Dawn OOC]

Meh, music is a pretty big deal to me. I find theme songs for all my characters. Helps me get in the mood to play them.

I actually make playlists for characters that really inspire me. Then when I have trouble with a post, I can play that music and it puts me right back in the mood.

[quotemyname]

Yea, that's the general idea. If others post songs that put them in the right mind set for their own characters, then I will have a better idea of the characters I'm roleplaying with. If I know how your character makes you feel, I can get a better sense of how they make me feel. My suspicions or assumptions can be either confirmed or abandoned, etc.

[Dawn OOC]

Hmm. I don't have musical inspiration for Blitz yet. I'll ponder what fits her best; see what I can find.

[jameson (ST)]

Are you going to post your background and/or sheet like the rest of us have?

As for music, if I think of any I will post it, but I don't consistently operate in that fashion.

[Dawn OOC]

Are you going to post your background and/or sheet like the rest of us have?

To date, I haven't been approved, as far as I know. So I've hesitated to put anything up.

[SalmonMax]

Heritage hasn't been on in awhile. He hasn't gotten back to me either.

[jameson (ST)]

Well I can't speak for the others but I put my stuff directly up here without any PMs between me and Heritage, so technically I guess I haven't gotten "approved" either. To each their own tho.

Heri moved and only has the webbernet at the library (I think) until he can get it into his apt. Hopefully he;ll be back soon.

[Wyrd]

I wanted to finish my origin story before posting it. I have it plotted for three 'issues', doing it in a very comic book style, of which only the first is finished.

Needing to finish up characters for three different games in a very short time has left me little time for creative writing. I'd be upset if it were not for the fact that this effort now will give me more opportunities to write; part of the reason I started on this site was to hone my writing skills, though I find that I enjoy the advantages of PBP over TT, and have been a fervent gamer for quite a while.

[Lusungu Mercy Chanda]

Heritage only approved this character in principle on Sunday, and we're still possibly ironing out the details of the backstory.

Having said that, I think the crunchy stuff is ironed out, so I'll post that, along with part I of the back story.

[Heritage]

Okay, gang, sorry for the long absence, and this post will be maddeningly brief. I've been very busy at work and not online since Monday (which has been driving me crazy, believe me!). The only character that needs work at this point is Cent's (sorry dude!); the others are approved. Kat and SalmonMax, I will get back to you this weekend about the stuff you sent me. I also posted some info about some of the major villains of the universe, which I hope will be of use.

[Lusungu Mercy Chanda]

Name: Lusungu Chanda

Concept: Third world farm-girl turned experimental soldier

Origin: Mutation or Experiment

Powers: Teleportation and minor clairvoyance

Theme: Defender of the oppressed

Nagesa was born in 1990. The sixth child of poor Ugandan farmers, she ran away from home as soon as she was able to. By six, she had decided she didn't want to end up pregnant and stuck on a farm like her mother or her oldest sister. By ten, she'd mastered an elementary grasp of English and Afrikaners, enough to let her get by in any of the cities of sub-Saharan Africa. She didn't know how she'd make a living, but she'd find a way. She just new she had to get away from here.

By fourteen, she'd run away three times, and been brought home all three times by Ugandan Police troopers. Each time, her father and oldest brothers beat her with leather belts to dissuade her from trying again. She promised herself that she would not get caught the fourth time.

When she was fourteen, she found a gun and some ammunition from the corpses of UPDF and Lord's Resistance Army foragers. She hid them away, before telling her parents what had happened.

At sixteen, she ran off to Kampala, hitch-hiking along roadsides but hiding from District troopers. She spent three days in Kampala, dumpster diving, fending off other kids from gangs, and looking for a way to make a living that did not involve prostitution. On the fourth day, an idea occured to her. She walked into a UAN recruitment office, and claimed to be her older sister, so that she'd be eighteen, the minimum age of recruitment for the UAN armed forces.

"A farm girl? You're eighteen?" the recruitment officer asked her, almost yelling so that he could be heard above the loud rumbling of the laundromat next door. The skepticism painted on his sweat glistened face was abundantly clear to her.

"Does it not say so?"* she replied, her chin defiantly thrust up, another approaching denial already stirring her anger.

But instead of saying no, he just laughed, a deep, bellowing chuckle. "What can you do, little monkey, to make it worth your time in the military? Are you good with a gun?" He laughed again.

This wasn't had she'd planned on things going. She was about to scream in anger, then recovered herself. There was a glint in his eye that told her at least some of this was an act. She sat back, relaxed her shoulders, and answered the question she thought he was asking. "I've taught myself to use the computer in our school. Using it, I've taught myself English and Afrikaners. I got from my village to here on my own. I will not return to my village. And yes--" she thrust her chin up “I know how to use a gun. All farm girls do.”

The recruiter howled with laughter, as he handed her a clipboard loaded with forms. "Well, little monkey, maybe we will have something for you. Read that over, and put your signature at the bottom."

She did, signing her sister's name at the bottom instead of her own, and from then on she went by Lusungu. Nobody ever called her on it.

* This conversation translated from Lunda, the Bantu dialect of the region she was born.

Three years later, Lusungu was on an Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) recon squad. She'd learned to survive almost anywhere in Africa: jungle, dessert, mountains. Her squad had even done some training in the Antarctic, but that was more for exposure than out of any likelihood they would actually go there. Through all of this, she managed to deal with every challenge much better than those training her expected.

Things went well, until one training mission, where she woke up one morning to find her team had disappeared, and she felt strange. As she woke up, she felt groggy, as though she'd be drugged. She shook her head, and focused on trying to follow her team. After a few minutes of searching, while fighting the dizziness while trying to get the cottony feel out her mind—which was probably why she didn't notice the leopard that pounced on her. It did, and tried to bite her, but some sort of crackling field solidified between her, deflecting the bite completely as Lusungu was knocked down, and the carnivore—with no purchase—rolled on past her. She sat up quickly, to see the cat turn around. Instinctively, she tried to get out of the way, and dove to the side, to find herself, about thirty meters away, ten meters off the ground, hugging a tree trunk while standing on a tree branch. The leopard looked at her for a minute, then started to prowl towards her again, but now Lusungu knew of the threat, and made short work of it with a shot from her sniper rifle.

The threat alleviated, Lusungu used her first aid training to try to treat her symptoms, then sat in that tree for almost two hours, trying to figure out what had happened. While she was thinking about what was happening, and wondering what was happening to her, one of the members of her reconnaissance team got up to look at the feline corpse.

Lusungu, not sure who it was, decided she wasn't in great shape, and was fairly confident she knew who that was, decided to call out: “Mugombe! Is that you?”

The figure looked up, shocked, stopping just shy of pointing it's gun at the sniper in the tree.

“Lucy?”

With that, Lusungu fainted.

Abilities 52

Strength 2

Stamina 2

Agility 7

Dexterity 7

Fighting 3

Intellect 2

Awareness 4

Presence -1

Defenses 20

Dodge 12 (7 base + 5) +5 vs. Area of Effect Dodge checks

Fortitude 9 (2 base + 7)

Parry 4 (3 base +1)

Toughness 8 (2 base + 0)

Will 11 (4 base + 7)

Combat

Initiative 7

Ranged Combat (Guns) Attack 15 Dmg 5 (Sniper Rifle)

Skills 19

Acrobatics 7 (7 base)

Athletics 6 (2 base + 4 rnks)

Close Combat (5 (3 base +2 rnks)

Deception -1

Expertise 2 (base)

Insight 4(base)

Intimidation -1(base)

Investigation 2(base)

Perception 14(4base +10 rnks)

Persuasion -1(base)

Ranged Combat(Guns)15(7base+8)

Sleight of Hand 7 (base)

Stealth 20(7base+13)

Technology(2base)

Treatment(2base)

Vehicles 8 (7base +1)

Powers 39

Teleport 3 Psionic, 250 ft., 800lbs 15 pp.

(Change Direction, Change Velocity, Mass 4 for 6 flat)

(Extended for +1/rank, total of 3/rank)

Long Jump 1 Psionic, same star system 800 lbs. 6 pp

(aka Movement, space travel)(Increase Mass 4 flat)

Spatial Awareness Psionic 250 ft. 3 pp

(aka Remote Sensing)

Psionic Biosymbiote Psionic suit device 14 pp

Life Support 10

Protection 6

Feature: Usable only by someone who is Psionic 1

Removable -3

Advantages 20

Assessment (1)

Benefit(Diplomatic Immunity) (1)

Security Clearance (Uganda) (1)

Equipment (3)

Evasion (2) (+5 Dodge vs. Area Effects)

Great Endurance (1) (+5 vs. Becoming fatigued, holding breath, etc.)

Hide in Plain Sight (1)

Improved Aim (1) (Std. Aim Action gives +5 Circumstance bonus)

Languages (3) English, Afrikaners, Japanese, Mandarin

Precise Attack (2) (Ranged cover & concealment ignored (except complete cover))

Quick Draw (1) Holster or draw weapon as free action

Uncanny Dodge (1)

Tracking (1)

Power Attack (1) (trade aim for dmg 1:1 for up to 5 points worth)

Equipment 15

Sniper Rifle Ranged Dmg 5 Crit 19+ 11 ep

Binoculars (+5 equipment bonus vs. Distance penalties) 1 ep

multitool (Reduce penalty for some skill checks from -5 to -2) 1 ep

Camo clothing (foliage) +5 stealth in areas with foliage 1 ep

Com Link 1 ep

Motivations:

Doing Good (for the underdog): Lusungu knows that the worst thing that can happen in the world is for the oppression of the weak by the strong. She identifies strongly with the character of Jules at the end of Pulp Fiction.

Doing Good (for Humanity): Humanity needs protectors from alien interests. They are currently vastly outclassed. Given her relatively recent experiences, she doesn't feel much need to be tolerant of their beneficence, and instead perceives it as the first step of alien colonization of Earth, something the Western world and the Chinese don't seem to understand.Patriotism: Lusungu is devoted to her people and her country. She seeks to free Africa of the colonial tyranny of foreign interests in Africa, including those of the Western world, China, Middle Eastern countries, and South Africa.

Complications:

Motivation(Acceptance): Lugungu doesn't feel quite human any more. She feels like she's been changed in more ways than the ones scientists are actually bothering to measure. Since the missing time incident, she has felt slightly paranoid, around other people, and has had trouble trusting other people to some degree, even her old squad mates. The tries hard to overcome this, but she feels alienated. Certainly, her squad mates and immediate superiors have noticed the change in her behaviour.

Hatred: Those aliens who took away her humanity and violated her will pay, if she can ever figure out who they are and where they come from. She doesn't have it in for all aliens, but she has a chip on her shoulder, because she knows somebody did this to her!

Phobia: Complete immersion in liquids. She can't stand submarine movies, or movies like Sphere.

Phobia: Whiny drills, like dentist's tools. Since the missing time episode, she's kept herself

Prejudice: Since having become a “test subject” for the international community, Lusungu has learned of the extreme contempt that (some) first world scientists hold for the people of Africa, or at least the parts of Africa not dominated by Western culture. Lusungu noticed this even more so in some of the military personal from first world countries who examined her, and assumed her abilities as a soldier were trivially (they aren't, in fact, her whole life has lead itself to the military). Some were even surprised to learn she spoke English, even those it is the official language of Uganda. When faced with this sort of behaviour, it is hard for Lusungu not to show her disgust at the people who make these assumptions.

[SalmonMax]

Glad to see you back! I was getting worried.

Once I settle on a concept, the actual character building should go quite fast!

[Heritage]

Thanks for the page references, Jameson; my intention was always to use some of those existing options in those sidebars, not to change any rules per se. As was said earlier by someone (I forget who), more realistic is what i'm going for, not gritty in the Iron Age sense. It's more about the stakes being realistic more than anything else; "If we don't take that guy with the gun down right away, things will get nasty really fast." And not everybody's going to be bristling with ordinance and those annoying Rob Liefeld ammo pouches, but dumb punks with guns will show up from time to time.

[Superball]

You know, I look foreward t facing Dr. Doppler and Amp first hand.

Genius to Genius.

[SalmonMax]

Concept selected:

Magic-based spellcaster. More to come.

[Prince of Boredom]

Ok, so I'm just trying to figure out what we've got so far in the space group. This is what I was able to come up with, does it sound about right?

Cent/Kazou: ‘Aurelius’ - Paragon/Superman type

Wyrd: ‘Kat Scalia’ - failed inventor summoner

RushingMountain: ‘Lusungu Mercy Chanda’ - Former UPDF teleporter and minor clairvoyant

SalmonMax: Magic-based spellcaster

Jeremy: ‘Gakusha’ - Cyborg

So, I have a couple of character concepts and want to know your guys' opinion on what you think might fit best and not steal anyone else's thunder:

Apollo - Former US Air Force test pilot/astronaut imbued with cosmic power. Pretty straight forward; flight, cosmic bolts, force field, space travel, cosmic awareness and life support immunity. He'd be the poster child for US support to the alliance, likely with charity appearances, recruitment commercials and the like.

Chance - Non-powered but extremely lucky adrenaline junky. Basically a skill-monkey type with beginner's luck, luck, jack-of-all-trades, improvised weapons, throwing mastery. And of course a space suit with life support, protection and a little bit of flight.

Lazarus - Not totally a fully formed concept yet. Just an idea of someone with Immortality 20 (resurrects every round) and immunity to aging. Probably a skill monkey type as well.

The Nomad - Still a bit of a rough idea from another game H and I were in a LONG time ago. Basically a matter chameleon (ala the Absorbing Man). Not sure how he would play out in a space setting.

[SalmonMax]

Hmm! Apollo could be a good leadership candidate. Chance sounds like a cheerier, less angsty Batman which is always a good archetype.

The other two...harder to say. Lazarus is kind of a one trick pony. It's a good trick, but just being unkillable doesn't mean he'll be able to pull his weight in superhero situations. The Nomad seems fine power-wise, but without knowing a bit more about his character it's hard to form an opinion.

[Prince of Boredom]

Yeah, Apollo is my choice, I really just want to make sure he won't step on Cent's toes since he's making a paragon. I guess you could call Chance a cheerier batman without the neat toys

And yeah, the other two are still nascent ideas if Apollo and Chance don't fit for some reason.

[Shosuro Toshi]

Heritage: Just want to say, nice job with the villains.

[Lusungu Mercy Chanda]

I personally love that the Orthi make Teletubby-type shows.

I kind of get the image of Babylon 5 when I think of OS1. Does part of the space team's job include peace keeping duties on OS1?

[Wyrd]

This is not the final version of the character sheet, but since everyone seems to want to see what the others are working on, here is the version I sent to Heritage and am awaiting feedback on:

Abilities:

Str

Sta +2

Agl +2

Dex +3

Fgt +1

Int +5

Awa +2

Pre +5

40 points

Dodge(agl) 2

Fortitude(Sta) 2

Parry(Fgt) 1

Toughness(Sta) 2

Will(Awa) 2

Acrobatics Agl No move or free

Athletics Str Yes move +6

Close Combat Fgt Yes standard +2

Deception Pre Yes standard

Expertise Int No* — (Expertise: Space travel +4

Insight Awe Yes free +2

Intimidation Pre Yes standard

Investigation Int No —

Perception Awe Yes free +3

Persuasion Pre Yes — +4

Ranged Combat Dex Yes standard

Sleight of Hand Dex No standard

Stealth Agl Yes move +4

Technology Int No standard +10

Treatment Int No standard

Vehicles Dex No move +1

16

Advantages:

Animal Empathy

Attractive x2 (+5 bonus)

Benefit: Diplomatic immunity

Connected

Contacts

Improvised Tools

Inventor

Well-informed

Costs:

Communication link 1 +1dimensional

Comprehend 2per

Feature 1per Helpful Home,

Immunity 1per aging(1)

Movement 2 per Dimension travel, Time Travel

Quickness 1

Shrinking 2, full strength +1per

Summon 2 per heroic +2 per alternate effect +1 flat per extra minion

Teleport 2per accuracte +1/ extended +1/ easy +1/ change velocity +1 change direction +1

Actual powers:

Communication link 2pp 4links

Immune aging, breathe underwater 2pp

Movement Dimensional travel, 1 reality, 2 points

Helpful home,

Quickness 4 4pp

Teleport 2 12pp

Shrinking 4, 12 points

Summon 10, 40 points +alternate summons 3

[Heritage]

Wyrd, I think my biggest questions at this point are why the Shrinking, why so darn many ranks in Summon (is that even legal?) and what do you mean by 'helpful home'?

[Wyrd]

The PM I sent you asking about the features I wanted to buy for my character? That was what 'helpful home' was supposed to summarize.

I answered your question about Summon in chat when you asked me, but to repeat it here: That was supposed to be 10 ranks of summon, at a 40 power point cost, to be able to summon what I had in mind instead of faceless minions.

The shrinking is a side effect of her initial compression experiment. Why? Because I like the power. I think it's cool.

I was also having her be able to learn powers from her summons, though having to spend the power points for them, of course, and finding a summons capable of teaching her. Her first summons can't teach her flight because it's flight power comes from a race with wings--it doesn't think about it, so it doesn't have the ability to teach it, though she did absorb the power to breathe underwater from her aquatic summons.

[jameson (ST)]

Wyrd, looking at the sheet you posted above I think you have some major points costs errors on the summon (and possibly on the other powers, I haven't checked those).

Per the DC Adventures Hero's Handbook, page 118:

• Summon has a base cost of 2 pp per rank
  
• Heroic adds and additional cost of +2 per rank
  
• Multiple minions is not a flat +1 per, but is a +2 pp per rank extra that doubles the number you can summon (from 1 to 2 to 4, 8, 16, 32 etc)
  
• For 10 ranks you are looking at 40 points just for 1 heroic summon, with the cost increasing by 50% for each doubling. e.g. 4 heroic summons will cost you 80 pp!!
  

If you want me to take a closer look at your sheet, or provide some help or something in chat just let me know, I'm happy to help.

[Wyrd]

Jameson, I am not using the multiple minion rules, which would allow me to summon several minions at once, but the alternate power rules, which allows me to build a series of single 40 point summons that can be used one at a time, but that has to be banished before I can switch to a different summons. Everything in the summons power was carefully worked out--I actually deliberately tied the extra summons to another required power to increase the cost because it was so cheap to add them using some of the rules later on in the book. I also plan on requiring a fic of myself to add any more summons in the future, one per new minion, to reduce how op this character could become just from having several different power layouts.

On the other hand, my actual character is quite squishy, so part of the difficulty will be keeping me alive while the summons is doing the heavy work.

[jameson (ST)]

Ah! I misunderstood your notation. I apologize.

[Wyrd]

It's ok, though this is one of the reasons I prefer to work the character out through pm before posting them, so I don't have to answer the same question multiple times, and so I can revise how things are worded to make the final sheet make sense to other people, not just to me.

I pm'ed Heritage with a list of features that I wanted for my alternate universe and asked how many points they would cost(features instead of benefits because they are acquired through supernatural means). His response was that it sounded great, but he never told me how many points it would cost, thus the very vague description of the feature and the fact that there should be a couple of unspent points--I haven't triple checked my math, so i could be wrong there; I save that for final revisions.

[quotemyname]

Okay, after a really busy weekend and early part of this week, I'm back and actually paying attention to this

Heritage, any word when your net problems may let up and we can start?

[SalmonMax]

Finally finished the crunch of my character! Hoo. I think it'll be fun.

[Wyrd]

Last time he was on, it was from a pay by the minute location, so the actual start of this game may be delayed a bit.

Then again, from what I've seen, it is much better for this to happen before the game started than just after. A loss of internet connection for the GM early in a game is a good way to kill it.

[jameson (ST)]

Agreed. Better to wait (and thus weed out those magpie with their 5 second attention spans) than to suddenly experience radio silence a short time in.