Note: Hyborian has created a
beautiful printable pdf of this sample fight.
The players: Carl (Cyclops), Nick (Nightcrawler), Rachel (Rogue), Will (Wolverine).
The GM: Greg (GM).
Everyone rolls initiative. Initiative Counts:
Toad 32
Rogue 26 (1 HP)
Avalanche 20
Cyclops 15 (2 HP, due to Luck)
Nightcrawler 13 (2 HP, due to Luck)
Wolverine 9 (1 HP),
Blob 9 (in case of a tied initiative score, the character with highest Dexterity goes first and Wolverine with 16 beats Blob with 14)
Pyro 8
It’s the start of the session, so the players have 1 HP each, plus 1 additional HP for Cyclops and Nightcrawler because each has the Luck feat.
GM: To keep things simple, this is a normal start to a fight—that was just a description of Toad winning initiative. Toad has been hiding just inside the window of a nearby building on the second floor (out of four floors). He emerges, stands on the edge of the window-sill, and shoots his Spittle at Wolverine.
Will: (Normally when you haven’t acted yet at the start of combat you’re flat-footed and lose your Dodge bonus to Defense). Assuming I can smell him coming, Uncanny Dodge means that I’m not flatfooted. So Defense 19.
GM: You definitely can. He’s about 60 feet away from you in total, so no penalties due to range (range penalties won’t start until he gets past 80 feet, the normal range increment for a rank 8 Ranged Power). Attack Bonus +10, rolls a 7 for a total attack roll= 17. A miss! Wolverine smells Toad coming and ducks as the goop shoots past where his head used to be.
Then Toad uses his Taunt feat on you as a move action—“Not bad for one so clumsy. You’ll make the Special Olympics yet.” The GM rolls for Toad at +10 Bluff (thanks to the Fast Taunt Challenge feat, he takes no penalty to Taunt as a move action) against the best of Wolverine’s Bluff, Sense Motive or Will save (Sense Motive at +12). Toad rolls a 6 for a total of 16; Wolverine rolls a 7 for a total of 19. Wolverine keeps his cool. Rogue up next.
Rachel: Wolverine won’t be able to reach Toad up there, so I’ll go after him. “That’s not the way you greet a lady, Toad. You need to learn some manners.” Rogue flies up and punches him. Attack bonus +8, I roll a natural 20! That’s an auto-hit! Now I roll to confirm the critical, right?
GM: No, you don’t roll to confirm critical hits in M&M. A 20 auto-hits and if it would have hit without the auto-hit rule then it’s automatically a critical (pg 153). His Defense is 23, so your total of 28 would have hit him without the auto-hit rule. So you hit him and deal your normal damage plus 5. Toad is caught off guard by Rogue’s speed and she lays into him with a vicious haymaker.
Rachel—Rogue does 12 damage normally, so that’s 17 damage. Toughness Save DC 32. Note: the DC for Toughness saves= 15 + amount of damage dealt (see pg 70). For non-Toughness saves, the DC is 10+rank (and a critical hit would
add 5 to the DC as well).
GM: Wow. Toad has a +5 Toughness save bonus, so he can’t possibly make this. A natural 20 doesn’t auto-make a Toughness save, but if he rolls a natural 20, then he only takes a bruise no matter what the attack’s DC is (pg 163). He rolls a 13, for a total of 18. Miss by 14- so he’s Staggered and Stunned. Greg considers using GM Fiat to let Toad reroll the save (the Improved Roll hero point function), but he’d have to get a roll of 18 (really, 8,9,10,18,19,20 since you add 10 if the reroll is below 10) to improve on the current result, and that’s probably not worth it. Plus, it’s very thematic for Toad to get leveled by a good hit, which is what just happened here.
He’s knocked back—17 damage -2 Knockback modifier= 15. Greg looks on the Progression table—rank 15 is 50,000 feet. He decides that’s a little much and doesn’t count the critical hit damage when figuring Knockback, so rank 10 for 1000 feet. It won’t really matter in this case because Toad will hit something before long (and it won’t be super-hard, as Knockback damage is limited to the minimum of the Toughness of the object Toad hits or the Knockback result, so if the object was really hard having a higher Knockback would have let Rogue deal more damage), but it’s good to keep in mind whether Knockback makes sense before announcing it (see pg 165). Toad can try to reduce the Knockback with an Acrobatics check, but that can’t possibly affect anything so the GM skips it. He decides that Toad gets thrown into the building and hits a wooden table with Toughness 3, so he takes 3 damage.
As Toad is stunned, he can make a Concentration check to keep use of his Defensive Roll feat (DC 10+ ranks in Defensive Roll, so 12). Toad has no ranks in Concentration and 10 Wisdom, so he’s rolling at +0. Toad rolls a 2 and fails it. So Toad takes 3 damage, for a DC 18 Toughness save, and he rolls an 11, for a total of 14. Toad takes a Bruise, leaving him Staggered, Stunned, and Bruised. He’s lying prone on top of the table from the Knockback and the table has a huge crack down the middle, where the impact nearly split it in two! Toad moans pathetically.
Rachel—Rogue stifles a giggle. “That ought ta show ya!”
GM: Avalanche is up next. He moves out from behind a shed on the roof and appears at the edge of the roof, two stories above Rogue. “Hey, Toad, you idiot, you just got beat by a woman!” No response. No one besides Rogue realizes quite how hard she hit Toad.
Avalanche uses his Area Trip power on all of the X-Men on the ground. It’s a Shapeable Area and can hit any 9 5-foot cubes as long as they’re all touching each other, so he can get you all. He makes a Trip roll at +9 and rolls a 5, for a total of 14. Best of Str/Dex to avoid being tripped—you don’t get a Reflex save for half effect because it’s a Perception Area attack.
Carl: “Nice work, Rogue.” Cyclops uses his Acrobatics score to resist the trip (one of the lesser-known functions of Acrobatics—see the skill description). Acrobatics +10, plus a roll of 6—made it with a 16.
Nick: Nightcrawler also uses his Acrobatics score and at +20, he can’t possibly miss this. So he makes it.
Will: Wolverine rolls his Strength score at +5. Roll of 19, for a total of 24.
GM: The X-Men easily keep their balance despite the shaking ground beneath them. Cyclops is up next.
Carl: Cyclops knows he should deal with Pyro, as he’s the most ruthless and attacks for lethal damage with his blasts of flame. So I’m going to attack him while he’s flat-footed, using my Autofire Optic Blast power. +10 to hit, with attack roll= 15, for a total of 25. 10 damage if it hits, plus any extra from Autofire.
GM: Pyro has Uncanny Dodge (Sight), just like Cyclops, so he keeps his normal defense score of 21. But that still hits, and it hits by 4 extra over what it needed to hit, so Cyclops does 2 extra damage, for 12 damage total. DC 27 Toughness save. Pyro has a +7 to save and rolls an 18 for a total of 25- he only takes a glancing blow from Cyclop’s optic blasts and is left with a bruise. Nightcrawler is up next.
Nick: Blob is really tough and Nightcrawler doesn’t do that much damage, so I probably shouldn’t attack him because I won’t be able to hurt him. But Avalanche doesn’t seem that tough and attacking him is better than attacking Pyro and risking getting hit by both Blob and Pyro in return. So I teleport onto the roof and kick Avalanche as I appear next to him. Attack bonus +12, roll a 7 for a total of 19. 6 damage if it hits.
GM: You hit his Defense exactly. So he has to make a DC 21 Toughness save. His bonus is +9 and he rolls a 5, so that’s a total of 14—Stunned and Bruised. OK, I’m using GM Fiat to reroll that. Nightcrawler gets a hero point. Reroll is 3, but you add 10 to that since it was below 10, so 13+ 9= 22, and Avalanche is unharmed. Avalanche’s armor absorbs the kickfrom Nightcrawler. “That all you got?” he taunts. Wolverine is next.
Will: Wolverine is going after Blob. He’ll show him who the toughest melee combatant around is. Wolverine extends his claws and charges--+2 attack and -2 Defense for a round. Attack at +13, roll a natural 1!
GM: A natural 1 is an auto-miss, so that misses even though an attack roll total of 14 would have hit Blob. Wolverine stumbles as he charges Blob and his slashing claws catch only air as he regains his balance. Now Blob is up. Blob is confident now. “Trip over your own shoelaces? You are no match for the Blob” he crows. Blob swings a meaty hand at Wolverine. Attack at +7, attack roll of 17 for a hit. 11 damage, so Toughness DC 26.
Will: +11 Toughness save, I roll an 11, so a total of 22. Take a Bruise. Wolverine gets hit in the shoulder by Blob and feels the force of the blow but his adamantium skeleton absorbs most of the impact. With his healing factor he’ll be fine within moments.
GM: Pyro is up now. He steps back and lines up Wolverine with Cyclops and then uses his flamethrower to shoot a huge gust of fire that catches both of them in the blast.
Will: Are we standing in a line?
GM: Two points determine a line—the only question is whether Pyro can get on a point along the line as well to use the attack and he can since Wolverine charged pretty much head on and Cyclops is only at a slight angle behind him, so he doesn’t have to move much.
Will: Well, won’t that hit Blob too?
GM: Right, it will. Blob is amused. “That tickles,” he laughs as the fire spreads around him. Reflex DC 18 for half damage, 8 if you miss the save and 4 if you make it. Damage is lethal.
Carl: Reflex save at +9—roll an 8 for 17. Darn, missed by one. I have Evasion, so if I’d made the save I wouldn’t have taken any damage. Toughness save DC 23, rolling at +7, I roll a 16—made it exactly!
Will: Reflex save at +5—roll a 13 for 18, so I make it exactly. I take 4 damage, so Toughness save DC 18. I'm still rolling at +11 despite having a bruise from Blob, because Bruises only penalize saves against nonlethal damage. Rolling at +11—I roll an 8, so I made it by one!
GM: Wow, my villains are totally ineffective. At the end of the first round, Wolverine has a bruise, Nightcrawler has gained an HP to be at 3 HP, Toad is staggered, stunned and bruised, and Pyro is bruised. Next round- Toad would be up, but he’s stunned until Rogue’s action. So Rogue is up.
Very important side note: Toad recovers from Stun on Rogue's initiative count before she gets to take an action. This means that if Rogue tried to attack Toad now, he would not be stunned when defending against her attack.Rachel: Rogue will fly down to help Wolverine against the Blob. He’s probably quite tough but easy to hit so I’ll power attack for 2. Rolling an attack roll at +6, 14 damage if it hits: 11, for a total of 17.
GM: That hits. Toughness save DC 29—Blob rolls at +14—oh, no, a natural 1! Can’t these guys do anything right? Rogue gets a hero point (for 2 total) as I use GM Fiat to have Blob reroll. 17—that’s better—total of 31 so Blob is unharmed. Rogue almost punches him in the head, but Blob gets his arm up and deflects her attack.
Next, Avalanche growls at Nightcrawler—“now you will feel my power.” He sends waves of vibration energy at Nightcrawler. Nauseate power, attack at +9, attack roll 5=14. Nightcrawler easily teleports out of the way. “Not with aim like that, I won’t!”
Carl: Cyclops will spend a Hero Point to use his Inspire feat as a full-round action. Since I’m at rank 4, all of the others get +4 to attack rolls, checks (skill checks, ability checks and power checks), and saves until I’m up again next round (I can affect a number of allies up to my charisma bonus, 4). Cyclops calls out encouragement to his allies, which they shouldn’t need too much since we’re kicking their butts already.
GM: I know. Like you guys needed even more bonuses. Nightcrawler is next.
Nick: Might as well take advantage of Inspiration. I’ll spend a hero point to gain Power Attack for the round. Then I’ll Acrobatic Bluff to feint Avalanche as a move action- normal bonus of +20, -5 for doing it as a move action and +4 from Inspire, so I’m rolling at +19. I roll a 13, for a total of 32.
GM: Well, he can’t possibly beat that. So he loses his dodge bonus against your next attack and also gets -2 to Defense (and can’t use his Defensive Roll feat, he thinks, but he doesn’t mention that to Nick!)
Nick: Plus I get Sneak Attack bonus damage. I’ll Power Attack for 5 and attack with my standard action, +12 base -5 Power Attack + 4 Inspiration= +11. I roll a 17 for a total of 28! So that definitely hits. Damage= 6 base + 2 Sneak Attack + 5 Power Attack= 13. Nightcrawler goes after Avalanche with a furious assault.
GM: Uh oh. Nightcrawler teleports all around Avalanche and Avalanche loses sight of the blue mutant, who pops up in the air right behind him and delivers a vicious kick to the back of the head. DC 28 Toughness save, rolling at +7- I roll a natural 20! Finally some luck! It doesn’t make the save, but it’s a bruise both because it missed by 1 and because when you roll a natural 20 the worst that can happen is a bruised result. Avalanche’s helmet absorbs almost all of the energy of the kick.
Nick: I’m not done yet. I’m going to use Extra Effort to surge and take another standard action and kick him again. Attack roll at +11, roll a 15.
GM: OK. Acrobatic Bluff only caused him to be surprised against the first attack, so he sees this one coming. But that still hits. Nightcrawler teleports around and kicks Avalanche again. Avalanche sees the second kick coming, so he gets to roll this Toughness save at +8 (+9, his regular Toughness save, -1 for the Bruise he just took). Since he sees this one coming, you don’t deal Sneak Attack damage. That makes it DC 26. I roll a 17, for a total of 25. Avalanche takes another Bruise from a second kick to the stomach, but he’s still up. What a great set of rolls for once! Nick, you’ll have to spend a hero point next round or be fatigued. Will, over to you.
Will: Wolverine regenerates his Bruise (Wolverine recovers from bruises once a round with no rest and no check required—note that if he had a more serious injury he’d have to recover from that first and he only gets one recovery check in a round).
Side note: Note that a character with Regeneration that normally requires an action (Standard or Full round) can regenerate while stunned/unconscious.
Then Wolverine will unleash a fearsome roar at Blob and attack him with a slashing frenzy. Once Cyclops uses Inspiration it’s a good time to try feints because your skill bonuses are higher, and to use Power Attack to take advantage of your extra bonuses to hit. It’s also a good time to use Extra Effort to Surge to take an extra attack so you get the Inspiration bonus twice in a round. Startle as a move action, Intimidate +12 -5 +4= +11. I roll a 6, for a total of 17. Best of Intimidate, Sense Motive and Will save to resist.
GM: Blob rolls a 15 and beats you with a total of 27.
Will: That’s fine, he’s still easy to hit. Power Attack for 5, so I’m attacking at +10 (+11 – 5 PA + 4 Inspiration). Roll of 16- total of 26. That’s got to hit. Damage of 14—and it’s Wolverine’s claws, so it’s lethal.
GM: It does. Blob is rolling the save at +14 against DC 29. Natural 20! No damage. Wolverine’s claws bounce off of Blob’s tremendous stomach as Blob laughs. “Nothing hurts the Blob!”
Will: Darn. Well, I’ll use Extra Effort to Surge and attack him again. Attack roll of 9, for a total of 19. 14 more damage if it hits.
GM: That hits too. Blob rolls another save at +14 against DC 29. Roll of 11, for a total of 25. Injury plus Bruise. Wolverine’s claws rake across Blob’s stomach. “Ouch!” Blob says. “That hurt!” Now he’s up.
Blob will try to grapple Wolverine. Attack roll at +7- he rolls an 18, so a total of 25 hits your Defense of 19. Give me a grapple check. Blob rolls at +23, and rolls a 15 for a total of 38.
Will: Inspire applies to grapple checks since it increases your attack bonus. So Wolverine would normally roll at +16 but he’s rolling at +20 here. I roll a 4- total of 24. He’s got me.
GM (grinning evilly): Blob is going to throw you,
which takes his move action as well. He picks Wolverine up and heaves him at Cyclops. “Blob not dumb. Blob know about Fastball Special!” His Strength for lifting is 57; it takes about 18 Strength to lift you and throw you 5 feet, so 33 Strength can throw you 50 feet and 48 Strength can throw you 500 feet. So this is a real short throw for him—his range increment is one-fifth his maximum throwing distance, which will be well over 100 feet (see pg 162).
Attack roll to hit Cyclops- he rolls an 18, for a total of 25 and hits your 23 Defense. Both of you take 11 damage for his +11 Strength modifier. DC 26 Toughness save.
Carl: That was a surprisingly clever tactic by Blob. Too bad Inspiration doesn’t benefit me as well. Rolling at +7, roll of 15 makes 22. Cyclops takes a Bruise as Wolverine smashes into him.
Will: +4 to my normal Toughness save bonus from Inspiration, so rolling at +15. Roll of 17 for a total of 32—Wolverine is unharmed.
GM: Wolverine is on the ground, prone, in the same square as Cyclops, who managed to roll backwards and absorb most of the impact. Pyro chortles “Like sitting ducks. And soon to taste like roasted duck, too! You were never much good at dodging, one-eye!” Pyro taunts Cyclops as a move action, best of Sense Motive, Will Save and Bluff check to resist. Pyro rolls bluff at +7 (12 usual – 5 for doing it as a move action), rolls a 3 for a total of 10.
Carl: I can’t miss that with Sense Motive +13.
GM: OK, Pyro launches another Line Area Flame Blast at the two of you. 8 lethal damage; Reflex saves DC 18 for half damage, then Toughness saves.
Carl: Natural 1, for a total of 10 (natural 1s don’t auto-fail saving throws). That misses. Toughness save rolling at +7 (note that Bruises only penalize saves against nonlethal damage, so his Bruise doesn’t subtract from his roll here) against DC 23. Rolled a 19—made it!
Will: Reflex save at +5—rolled a 12, missed it. Rolling the Toughness save at +15 against DC 23—rolled a 17, so I made that too.
GM: End of the second round. Nightcrawler has 2 HP, Cyclops 1 HP, Rogue 2 HP, Wolverine 1 HP. Cyclops is bruised. Nightcrawler and Wolverine will become fatigued when their next turn rolls around unless they spend a hero point to avoid the fatigue. Toad is Staggered + Bruised, but no longer stunned. Pyro is Bruised. Blob is Injured + Bruised. Avalanche has two bruises. Inspire bonuses are still running. But the Brotherhood is still in this fight after a round of good rolls!
