Knockback without damage

[EliotNess]

Howdy!

I am just getting started with the M&M system (and I look to be starting again with 2.0 if it sounds like a good deal of improvement) but until that time, I had a question for this side of the forum.

In reading the Knockback rule, a person has to be hit and fail his damage save by a certain amount to be knocked back. This is all well and good and quite cool.

What I wanted to emulate though from comics and animated shows like "JLU" is knockback without damage. For example, in the episode where Superman and Captain Marvel fight they are flinging each other with abandon through buildings and such, usually taking little or no damage. This makes sense in game terms if you think about how much it would take to damage either of them.

But right now, the rules wouldn't have a Knockback if someone was hit but saved against damage. It looked like there might be when you read an example when a car is thrown at the Pugilist and he saves and it sounds like he crawls out from underneath it undamged. As a GM I could simply "make this happen" so that if a character is hit by a car thrown at them but they save they simply "fly back a bit" but with the kind of crunchy gamers I work with it would be nice if there was convention that would allow a certain bit of being thrown around and through things without being damaged. Does this make sense?

In particular it is the idea when something hits someone but they save their damage roll, be it a thrown giant object, someone swinging a telephone pole like a bat or whatever. This isn't a "throw" or a "trip" it is simply taking into account a bit of physics and energy. Not for "realism" sake but for the "Dude, he got thrown through a wall and walked out like nothing happened!" moment.

Thoughts?

[Brainbot]

Yeah, what if you picked someone up by the scruff of their neck and tossed them back, but they didn't hit a wall? Said tossee just slid back on the ground, how would that be played?

[EliotNess]

Like most 1e questions, it goes unanswered. We played a bit last night and just used the existing rules as written, except that you flew even if you made your damage save. The thought was if you were hit successfully that means you were struck, even if you didn't take any damage. This happens all the time in comics. It actually worked out well, I thought. It made the crunchy folks a bit upset because it could put people 40 ft away and they had intended to charge the next round, that kind of thing. Will have to play balance it and see what happens.

[Dread Lord]

I generaly include knockback on critical rolls, reguardless of the final damage roll. It's not uncomon in comics to see someone go flying when the attacker dosn't really have the ability to damage the target in the first place.