CHAPTER 02: SECRET ORIGINS

The Mutants & Masterminds Roleplaying Game allows you to create any sort of hero you want by choosing your character’s abilities, skills, powers, and other traits. You have a “budget” of power points with which to build your hero. There are also certain limits and guidelines imposed by the game’s power level, chosen by the Gamemaster, but within those limits you can build a wide range of characters.

== HERO ARCHETYPES==

The quickest and easiest way to create your own Mutants & Masterminds hero is to look through the various hero archetypes on pages 35-49, choose one that fits the type of hero you want to play, and customize it to match your ideas. With just a few quick choices, you have a new hero, complete and ready for the game!

Each archetype offers a complete, ready-to-play power level 10 hero, the recommended starting power level for Mutants & Masterminds. Some archetypes offer a few simple choices in terms of skills, advantages, or sets of powers to fit different themes. For example, many archetypes offer a choice of an Expertise skill to round out the character’s background and interests outside of superheroism.

Some archetypes also offer an Options section, where you can change some of the pre-existing trait choices to create a different kind of hero. For example, the Crime Fighter archetype has options for a hero with less equipment, but superhuman senses, or a special vehicle of some type. Other archetypes offer similar options.

Even if the archetype does not have an Options section that does not mean you cannot customize the archetype to suit the type of hero you want to play! The archetypes are just starting points: if you are more familiar with character design in Mutants & Masterminds, feel free to change any or all of your chosen archetype’s traits. So long as you stay within the bounds of available power points, series power level, and your Gamemaster’s approval, you’re fine.

Please note, the characters on pages 35-49 include some Advantages in italicized print. Those advantages are from an Enhanced Advantage effect listed in their powers.

==HERO DESIGN ==

Designing a hero from scratch in Mutants & Masterminds follows a series of simple steps, using the information presented in the other chapters of this book. You’ll need a copy of the character sheet found in the back of the book (and also available online) and some scratch paper to design your character.

1. HERO CONCEPT Before you get started, consider what sort of hero you want to create. What are the hero’s basic abilities? What are the hero’s powers? What’s the hero’s origin? You may want to take a look at the archetypes earlier in this chapter for some ideas of the different types of heroes you can create. You also can draw inspiration from your favorite characters from comic books, television, or movies. Take a look through Chapter 5 and see if any of the powers there inspire a character idea. You may want to jot down a few notes about the sort of hero you’d prefer to play, which will help guide you through the rest of the character design process.

2. GAMEMASTER GUIDELINES
Your GM may have particular guidelines for characters in the game, such as not allowing certain powers or concepts or requiring particular descriptors. If there are no aliens in the setting, for example, then you obviously can’t play an alien hero. Likewise, if your Gamemaster bans mental powers from the series, then a psychic isn’t appropriate. Run your hero concept by your Gamemaster before you start working on it! You might also want to consult with your fellow players so you can design your characters together and ensure they’ll make a good team.

 3. POWER LEVEL

Your GM sets the starting power level for the series. Generally, this is level 10, but it may range anywhere from level 5 to level 20 or more. The power level determines the player characters’ starting power points and exactly where you can spend them. See Power Level later in this chapter for details.

==== 4. ABILITIES====

Choose the ability ranks you want your character to have and pay 2 power points for each rank. Choose defense bonuses for your character, paying 1 power point per +1 defense over the base rank provided by your hero’s abilities. To improve your hero’s Toughness, see Advantages and Powers, following. See the Abilities chapter for details.

==== 5. SKILLS====

Choose the skill ranks you want your character to have and pay 1 power point per 2 total skill ranks. See the Skills chapter for details.
==== 6. ADVANTAGES====

Choose the advantages you want your character to have and pay 1 power point per advantage or rank in a advantage. See the Advantages chapter for details.

==== 7. POWERS====

Create your hero’s powers by choosing their desired effects and paying the effects’ base cost, adjusted for any modifiers, and multiplied by the number of ranks. See the Powers chapter for details.

==== 8. COMPLICATIONS====

Choose at least two complications for your hero. You can have more, if you want, and the more complications your hero faces, the greater your chances for earning hero points during the game. See the Complications section of this chapter for details.

==== 9. DETAILS====

Go through the limits listed under Power Level in this chapter and make sure your hero’s traits all fit within them. If not, adjust the traits accordingly until they do. Go back through and add up the costs of your hero’s abilities, defenses, skills, advantages, and powers. You should end up with a figure equal to the starting power points shown on the Starting Power Points table. If not, doublecheck your math and either remove or add traits to your character to reach the starting power point total. Figure out things like your hero’s name, appearance, origin, background, and motivation. If you can, consider creating a sketch or detailed description of your hero’s costume.

==== 10. GAMEMASTER APPROVAL ====

Show your new hero to the Gamemaster for approval. The GM should check again to make sure your power points are spent and added up correctly, your hero follows the power level guidelines and any other guidelines set for the series, and that the character is generally complete and suited to the overall game. Once your GM has approved, your new hero is ready for play!

==POWER POINTS ==

You design a Mutants & Masterminds hero by spending power points on different traits. Each ability, skill, advantage, power, and other trait has an associated power point cost.

==== STARTING POWER POINTS====

The game’s power level provides a guideline for how many power points you get initially to design your character, as shown on the Starting Power Points table. The Gamemaster can vary the starting power points as desired to suit the series.

==== SPENDING POWER POINTS====

Each trait costs a certain number of power points. You “spend” or allocate your points to give your character different traits. Once spent, power points cannot be re-allocated without the use of a particular power or the Gamemaster’s permission. The basic costs of traits are given on the Basic Trait Costs table, with specific costs for powers given in the Powers chapter.

==== POWER LEVEL====

Power level is an overall measure of effectiveness and power, primarily combat ability, but also generally what sort of tasks a character can be expected to accomplish on a routine basis (see Routine Checks in The Basics chapter).

Power level is a value set by the Gamemaster for the series as a whole. It places certain limits on where and how players can spend power points when creating or improving their heroes. Power level imposes the following limits:


 * Skill Modifier: Your hero’s total modifier with any skill (ability rank + skill rank + advantage modifiers) cannot exceed the series power level +10. This includes untrained skill modifiers using only ability rank, and so sets an effective limit on all abilities associated with skills.


 * Attack & Effect: The total of your hero’s attack bonus and effect rank with that attack cannot exceed twice the series power level. If an effect allows a resistance check, but does not require an attack check, its effect


 * rank cannot exceed the series power level.


 * Dodge & Toughness: The total of your hero’s Dodge and Toughness defenses cannot exceed twice the series power level.

series power level.
 * Parry & Toughness: The total of your hero’s Parry and Toughness defenses cannot exceed twice the

power level.
 * Fortitude & Will: The total of your hero’s Fortitude and Will defenses cannot exceed twice the series

TRADE-OFFS
Note that the averaging effect of power level—the fact that all the traits it limits are paired with other traits —allows for a measure of “trade-off.” For example, attack bonus and effect rank added together cannot exceed twice the series power level, but this does not mean the two traits must themselves be equal, or that neither can be greater than the series PL. It’s entirely possible to create a hero with more fighting skill than damage capability (like the Crime Fighter or the Martial Artist in the sample Hero Archetypes), a hero with more sheer power than skill (like the Powerhouse), or a hero who is a roughly equal mix of both (like the Warrior) who are all within the series limit, PL10. The same is true of the various other traits, such as placing a greater reliance of Dodge and Parry over Toughness, or vice versa.

The GM may want to keep an eye on combinations that swing wildly towards one side or another: the hero with no Dodge/Parrry bonus to speak of but a massive Toughness bonus, or the one with no real attack bonus but capable of dishing out a tremendous amount of damage. For the most part, these designs are self-limiting, but they can pose problems in comparison to better-balanced heroes. A disparity of more than 50% between a pair of power level limited traits is something to look at closely before approving.

==== POWER LEVEL & NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS====

While the GM should keep the power level guidelines and suggested starting power points of the series in mind while creating villains and members of the supporting cast, non-player characters are not restricted by the series power level and are built on as many power points as the GM wants to give them. In other words, there is no need to add up the “cost” of a non-player character. Just assign the appropriate traits at the desired ranks.

Determine an NPC’s effective power level based on the character’s highest appropriate offensive and defensive trait(s). This power level is simply an approximation to show what level of challenge that NPC offers, and is not necessarily related to the NPC’s power point total, which may be greater than or less than the recommended starting power points for that power level.

Example: The Gamemaster is creating a villain for a power level 10 series. The bad guy has a +8 total attack bonus with a primary attack doing 16 damage. Adding these together and dividing by 2 gives the GM a power level of 12 [(16 + 8)/2]. So long as none of the villain’s other traits exceed this, the GM notes the villain’s power level as 12, a reasonable challenge for a group of PL10 heroes.

==== REALLOCATING POWER POINTS====

Normally a hero’s traits are fixed. Once power points are spent on them, they remain there. In some cases, however, the Gamemaster may allow players to re-allocate their characters’ points, changing their traits within the limits of the series power level, perhaps even losing some traits and gaining entirely new ones. This is typically a result of the transformed condition, either due to a power or encountering a transformational effect (intense radiation, mutagenic chemicals, cosmic power sources, and so forth). It’s up to the GM when these character-altering events occur, but they should be fairly rare unless their effects are intended to be temporary complications. {| align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
 * colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"|

STARTING POWER POINTS

 * style="text-align: center;"|POWER LEVEL
 * style="text-align: center;"|STARTING POWER POINTS
 * style="text-align: center;"|POWER LEVEL
 * style="text-align: center;"|STARTING POWER POINTS
 * style="text-align: center;"|01
 * style="text-align: center;"|15
 * style="text-align: center;"|11
 * style="text-align: center;"|165
 * style="text-align: center;"|02
 * style="text-align: center;"|30
 * style="text-align: center;"|12
 * style="text-align: center;"|180
 * style="text-align: center;"|03
 * style="text-align: center;"|45
 * style="text-align: center;"|13
 * style="text-align: center;"|195
 * style="text-align: center;"|04
 * style="text-align: center;"|60
 * style="text-align: center;"|14
 * style="text-align: center;"|210
 * style="text-align: center;"|05
 * style="text-align: center;"|75
 * style="text-align: center;"|15
 * style="text-align: center;"|225
 * style="text-align: center;"|06
 * style="text-align: center;"|90
 * style="text-align: center;"|16
 * style="text-align: center;"|240
 * style="text-align: center;"|07
 * style="text-align: center;"|105
 * style="text-align: center;"|17
 * style="text-align: center;"|255
 * style="text-align: center;"|08
 * style="text-align: center;"|120
 * style="text-align: center;"|18
 * style="text-align: center;"|270
 * style="text-align: center;"|09
 * style="text-align: center;"|135
 * style="text-align: center;"|19
 * style="text-align: center;"|285
 * style="text-align: center;"|10
 * style="text-align: center;"|150
 * style="text-align: center;"|20
 * style="text-align: center;"|300
 * }
 * style="text-align: center;"|09
 * style="text-align: center;"|135
 * style="text-align: center;"|19
 * style="text-align: center;"|285
 * style="text-align: center;"|10
 * style="text-align: center;"|150
 * style="text-align: center;"|20
 * style="text-align: center;"|300
 * }
 * style="text-align: center;"|300
 * }

{| align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
 * colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|

BASIC TRAIT COSTS
rank) + flat modifiers
 * style="text-align: center;"|TRAIT
 * style="text-align: center;"|COST IN POWER POINTS
 * style="text-align: center;"|Ability
 * style="text-align: center;"|02 per ability rank
 * style="text-align: center;"|Defense
 * style="text-align: center;"|01 per defense rank
 * style="text-align: center;"|Skill
 * style="text-align: center;"|01 per 2 skill ranks
 * style="text-align: center;"|Advantage
 * style="text-align: center;"|01 per advantage or advantage rank
 * style="text-align: center;"|Power
 * style="text-align: center;"|((base effect cost + extras – flaws) x
 * style="text-align: center;"|Advantage
 * style="text-align: center;"|01 per advantage or advantage rank
 * style="text-align: center;"|Power
 * style="text-align: center;"|((base effect cost + extras – flaws) x
 * style="text-align: center;"|Power
 * style="text-align: center;"|((base effect cost + extras – flaws) x
 * }

COMPLICATIONS
Comic books are full of storylines involving personal complications, and players are encouraged to come up with some for their heroes. Complications have a specific use in the game as well: they give the Gamemaster a “handle” on your hero, different challenges to introduce or include in adventures. When the GM does so, you earn hero points you can use to enhance your character’s chances of success, amongst other things. (See Hero Points in The Basics and Action & Adventure chapters for more information.)

====CHOOSING COMPLICATIONS ====

Choose at least two complications for your hero: a Motivation and at least one other. You can take as many complications as you wish, although the GM may set limits for the sake of being able to keep track of them all. Complications are also self-limiting, in that you only earn hero points for those complications that actually come into play. So even if you have more than a dozen, if the GM can only include a couple in a game session, then those are the ones that earn you hero points for that game. You can—and generally should—look for opportunities to include your hero’s complications and offer suggestions to the GM, who makes the final decision on which complications come into play at any given time.

The GM also decides what complications are appropriate for the game and can overrule any particular complication, based on the style and needs of the story and the series. Keep in mind the adventure needs to have room for all of the heroes’ complications, so individual ones can only come up so often.

====''' MOTIVATION '''====

Every hero has something that drove him or her to become a hero in the first place—a motivation that keeps them going when things get tough. Sometimes motivation is the only difference between a hero and a villain. What made your hero decide to fight for justice rather than turning toward more selfish goals? How does it affect the hero’s methods of fighting crime? Is there anything that might change or affect the hero’s motivation?

Motivation is a complication because it often determines what a hero will do in a particular situation. The GM can use your hero’s motivation to encourage certain actions, and enemies may do the same. When you properly play out your hero’s motivation, even if it isn’t necessarily the “smartest” thing to do, the GM awards you a hero point.

Common heroic motivations include the following:


 * Acceptance: The hero feels different or isolated (perhaps for being a non-human in human society) and does good to gain the trust and acceptance of others and perhaps discover what it means to be human. Some such heroes see their powers as more of a curse than a blessing, but try to do some good with them while hoping and looking for a way to have a normal life.


 * Doing Good: Some heroes fight the good fight simply because it’s the right thing to do and they believe in doing the right thing no matter what. Their strong moral center may come from a good upbringing (or a bad one that showed them what not to do) or the guidance or inspiration of a mentor or idol.


 * Greed: There are those motivated by nothing more than the opportunity to make a profit off their heroic careers. They may be mercenaries for hire or marketing machines who do good deeds but also rake in the proceeds from licensing fees and public appearances. More altruistic heroes tend to look down upon their profit-mongering peers.


 * Justice: An overwhelming thirst for justice drives some heroes, a need to see the innocent protected and the guilty punished, even if they are beyond the reach of the law. These heroes walk a thin line. For some justice becomes a thirst for vengeance for injury done to the hero in the past, like the death of a loved one.


 * Patriotism: Heroes are often devoted to the ideals of their home (or adopted) nation, and seek to serve that nation and its people with their abilities. Patriotic heroes are often honored as champions of their homelands, but it is the service, and not necessarily the recognition, that matters.


 * Recognition: Some heroes just want recognition or attention, and dressing up in a bright costume and fighting crime is one surefire way to get people to notice you. The hero may be a shy nobody out of costume or a glory-hog who loves the spotlight.


 * Responsibility: The responsibility of having great power can be a heavy burden but some heroes feel it is their duty to use the powers they’ve been given for the greater good. Oftentimes these heroes are trying to live up to an ideal like a mentor or a predecessor who inspired them.


 * Thrills: For some the life of a superhero is all about excitement, thrills, danger, and challenge. These heroes are in it for the action more than anything else.

===='''MOTIVATION AND INFLUENCE '''====

A shared motivation can create an empathic bond with others. With the GM’s permission, you might get a circumstance bonus on interaction skill checks when dealing with someone with the same motivation as yours. Similarly, you may suffer a circumstance penalty to interaction when dealing with characters of a strongly differing motivation.

===='''MOTIVATIONS AS DESCRIPTORS '''====

At the GM’s option motivation can function as a descriptor for powers (see Descriptors, page 152), allowing character to have a power affecting only subjects with a particular motivation, for example, or the ability to detect characters with a particular motivation (see Detect, page 105). Gamemasters should be very careful when applying power modifiers based on subjective qualities like motivation. An attack power affecting only “evil” targets, for example, is useless against inanimate objects, constructs, and animals (which cannot have such a quality) as well as “good” targets.

It might also not affect characters without a specific evil motivation (such as selfish mercenaries, violent vigilantes, or despots devoted solely to order, but not “evil” per se).

===='''MOTIVATIONS AS ORIGINS '''====

Some characters may derive their powers from their motivation in some way, such as heroes who draw strength from their convictions, faith, or morality. This provides a descriptor for those powers, but the hero may also suffer Power Loss (see page 28) from a change or wavering in motivation.

====''' MOTIVATIONS IN CONFLICT '''====

A character with different motivations may find them in conflict from time to time. Such conflicts provide roleplaying opportunities and complications for players and story hooks for the Gamemaster. For example, a hero motivated by Patriotism may discover a secret government agency acting against the interests of justice in the world. What is stronger, the hero’s patriotism or the desire to see the truth known and justice done? Some conflicts may even result in heroes changing motivations. See Changing Complications, in the following section, for more on this.

===='''OTHER COMPLICATIONS '''====

Other possible complications, and their uses in adventures, include:


 * Accident: You cause or suffer some sort of accident. Perhaps a stray blast damages a building or hurts an innocent bystander, your fire powers set off sprinkler systems, or you cause volatile chemicals to explode. A hero with this as a regular complication may be especially accident-prone, inexperienced with their powers, or even jinxed! The GM decides the effects of an accident, but they should be troublesome. Accidents can lead to further complications; perhaps the hero develops a guilt-complex, obsession, or phobia involving the accident.


 * Addiction: You need something, whether for physical or psychological reasons. You’ll go out of your way to satisfy your addiction, and being unable to satisfy it may lead to other complications, either involving your own faculties or your relationships with people. Several comic book heroes have struggled with various addictions and the effects on their lives.


 * Disability: You are limited by a particular disability, such as being blind, deaf, or paraplegic. When your disability places serious challenges in your path, your complication comes into play. Many “disabled” heroes have powers or other compensations for their disabilities, such as a blind hero with other enhanced senses or a paraplegic who is a powerful psychic with matchless mobility of mind over body. Even though their powers sometime make up for their disability, this complication is still appropriate because they may have to deal with it from time to time.


 * Enemy: You have an enemy, or enemies, trying to do you harm. The GM can have your enemy show up to cause you trouble, and adventures involving your enemy tend to be more complicated for you; even personal grudge-matches, if the enmity goes both ways. When having an enemy causes a particular problem for you (such as your enemy abducting a loved one or laying a trap for you), you get a hero point.


 * Fame: You’re a public figure, known almost everywhere you go, hounded by the media, swamped by fans and well-wishers, and similar problems, which create various complications.


 * Hatred: You have an irrational hatred of something, leading you to actively oppose the object of your dislike in some way, no matter the consequences. Complications involving your hatred tend to overwhelm your better judgment.


 * Honor: You have a strong personal code of honor. Generally this means you won’t take unfair advantage of opponents or use trickery, but you can define the exact terms of your code with the GM. Your honor becomes a complication when it puts you in a bind or on the horns of a moral dilemma.


 * Identity: Heroes often maintain secret identities, creating various complications as they try to keep them secret from friends and enemies alike. The dual-identity can even go beyond mere disguise for heroes who actually transform into a different persona, creating complications around controlling that transformation, or a lack of powers or abilities in one persona.


 * Obsession: You’re obsessed with a particular subject and pursue it to the exclusion of all else, which can create quite a few complications.


 * Phobia: You’re irrationally afraid of something. When confronted with it you have to fight to control your


 * fear, causing you to hesitate, flee, or act irrationally.


 * Power Loss: Certain circumstances cause some or all of your powers to fail or stop working, or rob you of them altogether. You might depend on particular objects others can steal or take from you, or lose your powers during the dark of the moon, or when exposed to exotic radiation. You may even simply lose faith in yourself, resulting in temporary weakness.

When this happens, and poses a challenge for you, your complication comes into play.


 * Prejudice: You are part of a minority group subject to the prejudices of others, which create problems. Similarly, characters with unusual origins or appearance might face prejudice, such as a demonic-looking hero who is considered suspect. Some Gamemasters and gaming groups may prefer not to deal with issues of prejudice in their games, in which case the


 * GM is free to ban this complication.


 * Quirk: Complications can often come from various personality quirks: likes, dislikes, hobbies, neuroses, and so forth. For example, a hero might have the quirk of always leaving some sort of “calling card” for the authorities along with a captured criminal. That could become a complication if somebody else starts imitating it, or uses it to cause trouble for the hero.


 * Relationship: The important people in a hero’s life are a source of strength, but they can also complicate matters considerably. If they are not in on the hero’s costumed identity, then there is juggling two lives and keeping loved ones safely in the dark. On the other hand, if the people in a hero’s life do know the truth, they are in danger from the hero’s foes and others seeking to find out.


 * Reputation: You have a bad reputation, affecting what others think of you (whether you deserve it or not). Having someone adopt a bad attitude toward you because of your reputation is a complication. You might struggle to overcome your reputation, taking chances or facing difficulties others do not as a result.


 * Responsibility: You have various demands on your time and attention. Responsibilities include family obligations, professional duties, and similar things. Failing to live up to your responsibilities can mean loss of relationships, employment, and other problems.


 * Rivalry: You feel a strong sense of competition with a person or group and have to do your best to outdo your rival at every opportunity.


 * Secret: You have something potentially damaging or embarrassing you’re hiding from the world. The most common secret for Mutants & Masterminds heroes is their true identity, but it could be a secret weakness (another complication) or some dark secret from your past. Occasionally, something (or someone) may threaten to reveal your secret.


 * Temper: Certain things just set you off. When you lose your temper you lash out at whatever provoked you.


 * Weakness: Some things can hurt you, badly. You might have a weakness that overcomes your normally strong defenses, like a werewolf is vulnerable to silver, or you may suffer harm from things that are harmless to others, from water to cold iron or exotic energies or materials. A weakness may add degrees of effect or impose an entirely different effect. Affliction (see the Powers chapter) is the typical effect, but some weaknesses inflict outright Damage, Weaken the target, or have some other effect. You and the GM can discuss common effects beforehand and it is up to the GM to decide what happens when the particular weakness comes into play. When the GM uses your weakness against you, it’s a complication.

==== CHANGING COMPLICATIONS====

Complications can (and generally should) change over the course of a series: old enemies die or are put away for good, rivalries and psychological issues are resolved, new romances and relationships begin as others end, and so forth. Work with the GM to come up with new complications for your hero as old ones are resolved. As mentioned previously, the Gamemaster may set limits as to how many ongoing complications your hero can have in play at any given time.

BACKGROUND
A lot of background details go into making your hero more than just a collection of numbers. Take a moment (if you haven’t already) to consider some of the following things about your character:

NAME
What is your character’s name? That is to say, what is the name the hero uses in public, that appears in one-inch type in the newspaper headlines? Most heroes adopt unique and distinctive “code names,” so consider a suitable name for yours. Code names are often based on powers, theme, or style. Here are some options to consider:

==== ORIGIN====

A name may be based on the hero’s origin, power source, nation (or even world) of birth, and such.

==== POWERS====

Choose a name based on the hero’s powers: Firestarter or Blaze for a flame-controlling character, Thunder or Spark for an electrical character, and so forth.

==== THEME====

Maybe the character has a theme or style suggesting a name: Paladin might be a medieval knight displaced into the present day, with a magical sword and armor. Madame Macabre may be all about magic and the occult.

==== TITLES====

Names may include various titles like Mister, Miss, Ms., Doctor, Sir, Lord, Lady, and Madam or even royal titles like King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Duke, Baron, Emperor and so forth. Military ranks are also popular parts of hero names, especially General, Major, and Captain.

==== GENDER====

Names often include gender designations like Man/Woman, Boy/Girl, Lad/Lass, and so forth.

==== SOUND====

Some code-names don’t really have anything to do with a character’s powers or background—they just sound cool: Kismet, Scion, Animus, Damask, and so forth. They may hint at the hero’s powers or origin, or have nothing to do with them.

==== REAL NAME====

Some heroes go by their given name, not using a codename at all. Oftentimes these names still sound like codenames, however. They may also be nicknames, such as “Dash” for someone with the name Dashell, or “Buzz” for someone with the name Buzcinski, or whatever other nickname a character may have, such as “Stretch” or “Tiny”.

==== ORIGIN====

What’s the origin of your hero’s powers? It can be anything from a character born with the potential for powers to someone granted them by an accident—exposure to a strange meteor, radiation, genetic engineering, or any of countless similar encounters. Here are some of the more common superhero origins:

==== ACCIDENT====

Perhaps the most common origin. The hero gains powers accidentally from exposure to some force like radiation, chemicals, unleashed mystic energies, being struck by lightning, and so forth. Accidents are often one-time events, although sometimes there is an effort to re-create an accident to deliberately make super-beings. The current science of the setting tends to influence accidental origins. Golden Age heroes in the 1940s often gained their powers from chemical accidents while Silver Age heroes in the Atomic Age of the ‘60s got their powers from radiation and modern heroes acquire powers from accidents involving genetic engineering, nanotech, and similar cutting-edge technologies.

==== ALIEN====

A hero may be a member of an alien race with unusual powers compared to humans. Either all members of the race have similar powers or particular conditions (lighter gravity, solar radiation, etc.) grant them powers while on Earth. Some “alien” races in the comics are actually superhuman offshoots of humanity living isolated from the rest of the world. “Aliens” also include mystical beings from other dimensions, from angels and demons to elementals and actual gods, as well as mortal half-breeds descended from them. An alien hero’s powers might even have another origin; being an alien only explains part of the character’s powers or is merely a background element.

==== ENDOWMENT ====

Some outside force grants the hero powers. This might be an experimental procedure (see the next entry), a godlike higher power, a secret organization that hands out powerful devices, a mysterious wizard, or something similar. The patron might expect something in return from the hero for this boon, or the gift could be unconditional.

EXPERIMENT
Some heroes gain powers from a deliberate effort, such as a scientific or mystical technique for transforming someone into a super-being. Like accidents, experiments are often impossible to duplicate. The hero may be a willing volunteer or a victim chosen to test out the technique. Some heroes create their own powers, either developing the powergranting procedure or building their own devices.

==== MUTANT====

A hero may simply be born “different,” with the genetic potential for super-powers. These latent powers typically emerge in a time of stress, especially the changes brought on by puberty, although they might also appear as a result of an accident (combining the accident and mutant origins).

==== TRAINING====

Finally, some heroes acquire powers through hard work and training, whether physical discipline, studying esoteric martial arts techniques, meditation and introspection to unlock hidden mental powers, or mastering the arts of magic. Such training is typically arduous and not everyone has what it takes to accomplish it. Heroes who gained their powers through training may have rivals or foes who trained with them (see the Enemy and Rivalry complications later in this chapter).

==== ORIGINS AS DESCRIPTORS====

Origins can serve as descriptors for a character’s powers (see Descriptors in the Powers chapter). For example, a super-powered mutant has the “mutant” descriptor, meaning the character may be detected by mutant-detection powers, affected by mutant-specific devices, and so forth. The same is true for a mystic, an alien, or any other origin.

==== ORIGIN GUIDELINES====

Your GM may decide to limit the origins for the series you’re playing for story reasons. The Gamemaster may set specific guidelines, ranging from restricting certain types of origins (no aliens or no mystics, for example) to requiring all heroes share a common type of origin, such as everyone is a mutant or the result of a unique accident. Consult with your GM before you choose a particular origin for your hero.

==== AGE====

How old is the character? Superheroes tend to hover in that indeterminate age between 20 and 40, but some heroes are younger, often teenagers, and some are older, possibly much older, depending on a hero’s background. For example, the hero might have fought in World War II but ended up in the present day due to time travel or suspended animation. Heroes with Immunity to Aging are effectively immortal—they might be thousands of years old.

Consider the effects of age on your hero. Someone who fought in the Second World War is likely to have a different worldview than a modern teenager who just acquired super-powers, to say nothing of an immortal who has seen civilizations rise and fall or a godlike being from the dawn of time. A character’s age may influence the choice of certain traits. Aged characters are likely to have lower physical ability ranks, for example, while younger ones may have fewer skill ranks (having had less time to train in various skills).

APPEARANCE
What does your hero look like? Consider things like the character’s race, sex, ethnicity, and other factors in appearance. Is the hero even human? Superheroes can be aliens, robots, androids, spirits, and beings of pure energy. Is the character short or tall? What about hair and eye color? Does the hero have any distinguishing marks or unique features; is his appearance unusual in any way (apart from running around in a costume, that is)? Does the hero qualify for the Attractive advantage? (See the Advantages chapter for details.) What about complications stemming from the hero’s looks?

==== COSTUME====

A costume is a big part of a superhero’s appearance. Like code names, most heroes have a distinctive costume, usually something skin-tight and colorful, often emblazoned with a symbol or logo. Other heroes wear more military-style outfits, fatigues or body armor with numerous bandoliers and belts. A suit of armor may serve as the hero’s costume: anything from ancient mail to a high-tech battlesuit. A few heroes don’t wear a special costume, just ordinary street clothes (which in itself can be pretty distinctive among a group of spandex-clad heroes).

In the comics, costumes are generally immune to the kind of routine wear-and-tear a hero’s powers should inflict on them. For example, heroes who can burst into flames don’t usually incinerate their clothing. The same is true for heroes who change their size or shape. Although a hero’s costume can be damaged or torn by attacks and other circumstances, it’s usually immune to the hero’s powers. This doesn’t cost any points; it’s just the way costumes work. For more on costumes as equipment, see the Gadgets & Gear chapter.

==== ALTERNATE IDENTITY====

Although heroes spend a lot of time fighting crime and using their powers to help others, most also try to find time to have lives of their own. Consider the hero’s “normal” life, both before acquiring super-powers and since. Does the hero maintain a secret identity, hiding behind a mask or other guise in order to have a semblance of a normal life while “off duty”? Describe the hero’s other identity and what the hero does while not out fighting the forces of evil.

Other heroes abandon all pretense of a “civilian” identity, revealing their true names to the world and living in the public eye. This means no juggling two separate lives, but also no ref uge from the media, adoring fans, or the hero’s enemies, who can all keep track of the hero more easily. Both approaches have their good and bad points. Consider which is best for your hero.

PERSONALITY
How would you describe your hero’s personality? While heroes tend to share a desire to use their powers for good and uphold the law, they also show a diverse range of attitudes. One hero may be dedicated to the ideals of truth, justice, and equality while another is a vigilante willing to break the law in order to ensure justice is done. Some heroes are forthright and cheerful while others are grim and unrelenting. Consider your hero’s attitudes and personality traits. Don’t overlook the effect of Motivation on your hero’s personality and vice versa (see Motivation, previously).

==== GOALS====

Finally, what are your hero’s goals? All heroes want things like peace and justice to one degree or another, but what other things does your hero want? One hero may want to find his long-lost family while another may want to avenge a terrible wrong done to her in the past. A monstrous or alien hero may seek acceptance and a new home on Earth, while a teen hero may want to live up to the legacy of a mentor or predecessor. Giving your hero a goal beyond simply “doing good” can help give the character more depth and provide opportunities for roleplaying and complications during the game. Don’t overlook it.

HERO ADVANCEMENT & IMPROVEMENT
The Gamemaster awards heroes power points at the end of each Mutants & Masterminds story. This represents the experience and confidence the heroes have gained, along with other factors contributing to an improvement in their abilities, skills, and powers.

Generally, heroes each receive 1 power point for a successfully completed adventure that lasts for one game session. If the heroes overcame especially powerful foes or difficult challenges, the GM can increase the power point award to 2 points. For adventures lasting more than one game session, the heroes should get 1 power point per session, plus a possible power point at the end if they did particularly well.

Gamemasters may vary the rate of advancement by awarding more power points per adventure, allowing heroes to increase in power faster, which may suit certain styles of play. The Gamemaster also may choose not to award a power point for an adventure in which the heroes did especially poorly, such as failing to defeat a villain’s major scheme or allowing many innocent people to suffer harm they could have prevented.

Players can spend their heroes’ awarded power points in-between adventures to improve the heroes’ traits, limited only by the series power level. They can also choose to save up unspent power points, waiting until the power level increases, in order to spend them to improve a trait already at its maximum rating or rank. Players spend power points on new or improved traits for their heroes just the same as spending them to create a hero. So if your hero has a power costing 2 points per rank, and you want to improve it by 1 rank, spend 2 of your earned power points to do so.

Just like starting power points, once earned power points have been allocated to a trait, they remain that way, unless some effect (such as a transformed condition) causes the character’s point allocation to change. See Reallocating Power Points, earlier in this chapter, for more information.

INCREASING POWER LEVEL
As heroes earn power points through adventuring and spend them to improve their traits, they will eventually run into the limits imposed by the series power level (see Power Level, earlier in this chapter, for details). For a while, this can be a good thing, since the power level limits encourage heroes to diversify and acquire new skills, advantages, and powers rather than simply pumping points into their existing traits to increase them to unwieldy levels. However, sooner or later, you’re going to want to raise the power level, giving the heroes a bit more breathing room for advancement and spending their earned power points.

A good guideline is to follow the starting power point totals when it comes to power level: when the heroes accumulate an additional 15 power points from the start of the series or the last time the power level was raised, it’s probably time to raise the power level by +1. So a power level 10 game starts out with 150-point heroes. When they have earned another 15 power points (bringing their total up to 165), the GM should consider raising the power level to 11, allowing the heroes to spend some of those power points to increase traits which are currently at the maximum limit.

When you increase the power level, you should also reevaluate the capabilities of the villains and other challenges the heroes face. While NPCs don’t earn additional power points as such, and aren’t even subject to the same power level limits as the heroes, you should feel free to improve the traits of some non-player characters to keep pace with the heroes, ensuring those antagonists remain a suitable challenge. It’s also fine to have others lag behind, as the heroes outstrip some of their old foes, who no longer represent the kind of threat they did before, plus you can introduce new villains and challenges suited to the series power level as things progress.

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