Random Heroes

[phantomdoodler]

As much as I love the relatively pain-free character generation of PnP, I do have a soft spot for random character generation, and supers rpgs have a history of such things. Could PnP have this option? I think maybe you could use the super archetypes and randomly determine from there, through a series of d6 rolls. I think you would have to assign how many hero dice you allocate, but the random system would just generate what you are going to be spending those HD on, ignoring conflicting perks or traits. For players without a strong idea of a superhero, I have found its a useful tool to at least get the ball rolling, even if you dont follow the results to the letter. Since the powers list is pretty comprehensive, I may look at the random tables from the classic Marvels Super Heroes game(which has a lot of powers) as inspiration, replacing d100 rolls with d6 or d66 tables. 

[LakeSide Len]

Heh, we toyed with it, but we couldn't come up with something we liked. I would definitely be on board with this (I spent sooo many hours rolling up random power sets in Villains & Vigilantes) if I could find a system that worked within this game's framework. Any takers??? ... That's what the LABS are for.

[rune]

The random generator in Mutants & Masterminds is really fun. I remember dealing with Heroes Unlimited random generation years ago. Other than that, I don't think I have worked with any though I have read many.

[Nestor]

I played a couple of demos of Silver Age Sentinels where we used their Random Character Generator to create our characters.

In the first demo, I ended up with a guy whose only powers were the ability to speak with birds and Flight with an Activation Roll. My moment of glory was when my character had to take flight and I mimicked pulling a cord as I repeatedly failed to make the roll to activate the power. "Hold on, I think the engine's flooded..."

[LakeSide Len]

Dang you guys for getting me thinking about random heroes .... :op

[phantomdoodler]

So I guess my plan worked then (mwahahahahahaaaah!!!!)

I think really all you need to do is to group powers into thematic groups, based on the archetype. So for example, a martial artist archetype may have
Strike, Athletics, Stealth, Might, Toughness, Willpower, Perception, Streetwise,Thievery, Survival, Stun, Ambidextrous, Blind Fighting, Enhance Defence, Hibernation, Knockdown, Lightning Reflexes, Patron, Relentless, Trackless, Uncanny Defence, Unkillable, Vanish and Weakness Detection. This could be handled with a d66 table, with certain traits being more likely to be generated (like Strike, Athletics or Toughness). Or alternatively, maybe two rolls one to determine the type (Offensive, Defensive, Movement, Mundane etc ) and then another to determine the actual trait (which could be 1-6, 2-12, 3-18 etc)

Then when creating your character a player could say mix up one or more archetypes (say a Mystic Martial Artist or a Telekinetic Powerhouse.For a totally random hero, you could also randomize the archetype tables.

[LakeSide Len]

In case you are wondering, we have been swamped and haven't even touched this idea. If anyone has time on their hands and inspiration on their side ...