Tag Archive for: Worlds of Valiant

Valiant Views: Doctor Mirage

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Valiant Views: Doctor Mirage preview

While the Valiant Adventures Quickstart gives you a feel for what it is like to play a tabletop RPG set in the Valiant Universe, due to space limits it doesn’t provide character creation info or a deeper look at some of the signature Valiant characters. For some additional previews, we’re looking to do just that. This Valiant View is of Doctor Mirage.

Shan Fong Mirage is our first mystical character, a significant element of the Valiant Universe as we’ll see. In terms of Abilities, Dr. Mirage is above average, but still a “normal” human in most regards. Her Awareness is considerable, related to her extrasensory gifts, and her Presence is as well, owing both to her power in the spirit world and her real-world celebrity. Given how important both Awareness- and Presence-based Skills are for her, it makes sense that Dr. Mirage has good Ranks in both, as well as Intellect.

Speaking of Skills, Shan’s are, as we mentioned, strongly focused on Awareness (Insight and Perception), Presence (Deception and Persuasion), and Intellect (Investigation and Occult). Of note is the Occult Skill, new in Valiant Adventures. It’s effectively an Expertise Skill, but with the importance of Occult Skill to so many characters and situations, it was easier to define and name it as a separate Skill of its own. Mirage also has some practical “adventuring” skills: training in Close Combat, Stealth, and Treatment.

For Advantages, Shan has several related to her status as a former celebrity, like Benefit: Famous and Contacts. Most of her other Advantages relate to her talents as an occult investigator, particularly Favored Foe: Spirits, Second Chance on Investigation Checks involving the paranormal, Trance, and Well-Informed, which in her case usually involves her connections to the spirit world and the Deadside. Of particular note is Mirage’s Power Stunt Advantage: This is an addition to Valiant Adventures that is similar to the Luck Advantage (which she also has) except it is “free” uses of the Power Stunt option of extra effort, reflecting Doctor Mirage’s flexibility as a sorcerer. She can be relied upon to pull off a couple of unusual spells or effects without having to worry about fatigue or having Hero Points on-hand.

Dr. Mirage’s powers feature her protective “working clothes” which provide Protection (and increase to her Toughness) as well as Resistance to Spirit Powers. This is another instance of the Resistance mechanic, based off the new Bonus Die mechanic in Valiant Adventures (see the Valiant Adventures Quickstart for details). “See Spirits” is pre-defined Senses Effect in Valiant, given how many characters have it, and Doctor Mirage is unusual in that she can enter the Deadside largely at-will, although only in spirit form while in trance. Lastly, she has a selection of common spells, which she can supplement with her Power Stunt Advantage, as well as actual extra effort and Hero Point spending.

What about Shan’s ghostly husband Hwen? For the most part, his presence in her life is covered by her Stubborn Complication (her devotion to him) and by her Contacts, Power Stunt, and Well-Informed Advantages, which can also reflect Hwen’s influence in the Deadside and his ability to offer insights and advice, along with the effects of spending Hero Points for Inspiration.

Check out the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game on Kickstarter now!

Valiant Views: Bloodshot

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Bloodshot from Valiant Adventures RPG. Live on Kickstarter now!

 

While the Valiant Adventures Quickstart gives you a feel for what it is like to play a tabletop RPG set in the Valiant Universe, due to space limits it doesn’t provide character creation info or a deeper look at some of the signature Valiant characters. For some additional previews, we’re looking to do just that, starting with the one-man army known as Bloodshot.

Although Bloodshot is “just” a nano-enhanced human, he’s Power Level 11 because he’s a serious combatant.

In terms of Abilities, Bloodshot is mostly within the human range: His Strength is nigh-superhuman, but nowhere in the class of powerhouses like X-O Manowar. His Stamina, on the other hand, is pretty massive, Rank 10, since enduring and recovering from things is pretty much what Bloodshot does. It made sense to give him high Stamina for all of the things he’d use it for: Resistance Checks (both Fortitude and Toughness) and Recovery Checks. Since Valiant also defaults to a Damage Resistance system where even a successful Toughness Resistance Check results in a slight Damage Condition (a bruise or injury) there was no concern about Bloodshot being too tough. He still takes damage (albeit not as easily as most people) but recovers fast. His Fighting is also right up there at Rank 12, since he’s a masterful soldier and combatant.

In terms of Powers, Bloodshot is host to a colony of advanced nanites, microscopic machines, that rebuild his body and give him some machine-interfacing abilities. His main power is his Nanite Regeneration, and he has a lot of Ranks in it, making Recovery Checks fast! He has a Limit on his Regeneration that the nanites require an infusion of protein after or while rebuilding him. Bloodshot’s other powers are based on ways his nanites can modify his body (his Nanite Morphology) or connect with other machines (his Nanite Networking). Since he was conceived as an anti-psiot weapon, Bloodshot also has Resistance to Psionic Powers, a new mechanic in Valiant which grants a Bonus Die on Resistance Checks against those powers (see the Valiant Adventures Quickstart for details about Bonus and Penalty Dice).

Bloodshot has a number of Advantages, notably All-Out Attack (he often sacrifices defense, knowing he’ll bounce back), Close Attack (giving him a massive +15 attack bonus in close combat), and Ultimate Effort for resisting pain. We could have given Bloodshot a Resistance to Pain power, but Ultimate Effort seemed more in-line with how he handles things in the comics, making it more of a conscious effort and something the player chooses to engage. He also has a hefty amount of Equipment for his usual loadout of weapons.

Bloodshot’s skills are what you’d expect for a highly-trained commando. Although he has a big bonus to Computers Skill Checks, Bloodshot doesn’t himself know much about computers: It’s his nanites doing the work there. He does have some general Electronics and Mechanics Skill. Intimidation is by far his major Interaction Skill!

Check out the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game on Kickstarter now!

Valiant Worlds for Mutants & Masterminds

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 Valiant Adventures Roleplaying, Worlds of Valiant

When the DC Adventures RPG premiered with what would be the Third Edition of the Mutants & Masterminds game system, it was the only version of that edition available. The stand-alone Third Edition Hero’s Handbook wouldn’t come along until the following year. But with the Valiant Adventures RPG, using a modified version of the M&M system funding on Kickstarter now, long-time players of the Third Edition may ask themselves “Can I just use Worlds of Valiant as an M&M setting sourcebook? Do I really need the new rulebook, if all I want is the Valiant setting and characters?”

The simple answer is: You don’t need the Valiant Adventures Hero’s Handbook to get use out of the Worlds of Valiant as a setting sourcebook for your Third Edition M&M rulebook(s). Worlds will contain the bulk of the information on Valiant characters and their different corners of the universe. While Valiant does make some minor adjustments to the Third Edition rules to better suit the setting, the material in Worlds will still be quite usable. The notable areas of “translation” are:

Skills: Valiant breaks a few M&M skills into smaller sub-skills; Technology into Computers, Electronics, and Mechanics, for example, or Vehicles into Driving and Piloting. Still, the names of the skills are quite self-explanatory, and you can use them as-given in the Valiant write-ups, or translate them back to their M&M equivalents on-the-fly quite easily.

Advantages: The largest number of new character traits in Valiant Adventures are advantages, many of them based on the rules options introduced there. If a Valiant character write-up has an advantage not in the Third Edition Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook, you can just ignore it, but getting and using those advantages (in Valiant or in your regular M&M game) is one good reason to pick up the Valiant Hero’s Handbook.

Powers: A few powers—notably Healing and Regeneration—are a bit different in Valiant, to go with the adjustments to Damage and Damage Resistance to suit the Valiant Universe setting. That said, their Ranks remain essentially the same, and you can easily convert them to their M&M equivalents, if you want. We’re also looking at presenting powers in Valiant write-ups a bit differently, with more prose explanations of what a character’s powers are along with the game-system notation of their Effects. This is more a change in presentation than mechanics, however, so it doesn’t really affect the write-ups’ usability—if anything, we hope it increases it!

The other things about character stats: Abilities, Ranks, Defenses, and so forth are all the same in Valiant as in M&M Third Edition, as you can easily see by taking a look at the characters in the Valiant Adventures Quickstart. We’ll also be showing off some sample Valiant heroes soon so you can get a sense for what the Worlds book will offer and how useful it will be to you. Take a look and … Stay Valiant!