Pledge Manager Surveys at long last!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Nov 26, 2024 at 03:24:14 PM
Hey there Heroes!
Good news! We are finally getting the Backerkit surveys sent out! Apologies that it took so long, but we've been hard at work setting up some long-term fulfillment partners to both ensure cheaper shipping rates for folks in the UK/EU and in Australia/New Zealand, which will also extend to our other crowdfunding campaigns, as well as future direct-sales from our online store to customers in those regions! We're really excited about these new opportunities, but it has taken longer than we expected it to.
Today we are going to start with the "smoke test". For those of you unfamiliar with this process, the "smoke test" will send an initial batch of surveys, roughly 5% across all pledge levels, so we can evaluate the system and see if anything breaks, or if there's anything critical we missed. Once everything looks solid, we'll send out the remaining surveys.
Given the upcoming holiday in the US, where most of our backers for this campaign are located, we will let the smoke test run through the holiday and wait to send out the remaining surveys on Friday or Saturday if everything goes smoothly. If you aren't one of the initial 5%, no need to worry, you will see your survey in just a few days.
Fulfillment of digital and physical rewards is still a way off, but we will try to leave the surveys open for any adjustments you may want to make, or needed address changes, until the last possible moment when we go to press. We will give everyone as much advance notice as possible before we lock orders, and charge for shipping.
PDFs will start rolling out to backers as soon as the files are ready, and just before they are sent to the printer. These will be mostly complete, but we'll leave a few days between backers getting copies, and sending them to print just in case you all spot any typos or proofing errors we may have missed. It seems impossible to catch all of them, even when we hire outside proofreaders!
Thanks so much for all your patience while we got this new system in place, and for your continued patience while Alex and Steve get the books ready for release. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to reach out to us directly at [email protected].
October Update: It Takes Skill
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Oct 22, 2024 at 09:29:01 AM
Hello heroes!
Welcome to a spooky update about the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game! Today I wanted to talk about one of the big changes we’re making to the core Mutants & Masterminds experience in this iteration of the game. As long-time players of M&M are aware, Skills are more focused and specialized versions of the basic Abilities: A character with a high Agility Rank is quick, nimble, and graceful, while a character with Ranks in the Acrobatics Skill is trained specifically in those nimble movements. During the design process of Valiant Adventures we discovered that some of these Skills were a little too generalized to reflect the specialized training inherent in the idea of a Skill, or were a little too all-encompassing for a setting with the needs of Valiant. Technology is a great catch-all skill in a world where superscience is only one aspect of the wider superhero community, but Valiant comics feature a ton of high-tech action that could be steamrolled by a character with the base Technology Skill. To that end we’ve expanded the list in a few key areas to further specialize characters and increase difficulty in gameplay.
Here is a few places we’ve expanded the Skills:
● Interaction Skills: The Interaction Skills from M&M (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion, as well as the related Insight) all exist in Valiant Adventures, but there are some slight differences in terms of what you do with them due to an update to Actions and Maneuvers in the game, notably Overwhelm, which we’ll look at in another preview. Sufficient to say, interacting is something more Valiant characters can do with less required training
● Occult Skill: Given the importance of Occult knowledge to many parts of the Valiant Universe (and characters such as Doctor Mirage, Punk Mambo, and Shadowman, to name a few), we broke Occult out into its own specific skill, separate from Expertise.
● Technical Skills: The Technology Skill from M&M was too broad for the more technical Valiant setting, so it is broken down into three Skills: Computers, Electronics, and Mechanics.
● Thief Skills: We rounded out Sleight of Hand and Stealth with Thievery, a Skill that handles burglary, security systems, traps, and the like for the sneaky and felonious characters who aren’t technical experts otherwise, and with an Escape Artist Skill for slipping out of bonds and other traps.
● Vehicle Skills: Similar, rather than a single Vehicles skill from M&M, we’ve broken it down into Driving and Piloting, with the option of a separate Riding Skill, if the setting or era calls for it. (Otherwise, Riding is easily covered by the Athletics Skill.)
That gives Valiant Adventures a list of 22 Skills to the default 16 in Mutants & Masterminds. Valiant characters might have a few more Skill Ranks overall, or a slightly more focused set of Skills, while M&M characters can be assumed equally good at all of the “sub-skills” of things like Technology or Vehicles, if they have them.
There you have it! As for production updates, the Hero’s Handbook has returned from editing and is now in the capable hands of layout and I’m working through my developer’s pass of the text for Worlds of Valiant. We are pushing ahead full steam getting everything squared away for a release in 2025!
Until next time, stay Valiant!
~ Alex Thomas, M&M Line Developer
September Update: A Challenging Point!
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Sep 16, 2024 at 11:18:18 AM
Hello heroes!
It’s wild thinking about how fast the summer went by. Gen Con was basically 6 hours ago and somehow, it’s already September and time to give you all an update about the state of the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game! Initially we were hoping to release the PDF of this game in October, but thanks to a myriad of factors that won’t be possible. However, I do have some good news on that front: the Valiant Adventures Hero’s Handbook is officially off at editing. That means the text is written and I’ve gone over everything and now it’s time for the proofreading and copyediting pass. We’re really close to the first book being ready for the layout step and that is so exciting!
For this month’s update I wanted to share a bit of text from the new book aimed at our Gamemasters! We’re codifying one of the Ominiversal Variant innovations from the Atomic Think Tank in the core rules of Valiant Adventures, the Challenge Point! Challenge Points are a Gamemaster’s version of Hero Points that allows the GM to adjust the flow of adventures and encounters.
The Gamemaster can spend their Challenge Points for any of the following effects during play:
Activation: Activate an “action” on the part of the environment. Usually this is springing a trap or using some weapon or power as part of an installation or headquarters, but it might be some other hazard or aspect of the environment, depending on the circumstances.
Escape: A Challenge Point allows Non-Player Characters to escape from the heroes. The Gamemaster provides some suitable explanation for how the characters escape at the time.
Extra Action: One Non-Player Character of the Gamemaster’s choice gains an additional action of their choice on their turn.
Initiative: One Non-Player Character of the Gamemaster’s choice moves immediately to the top of the initiative order, like a use of the Seize Initiative advantage.
Instant Counter: One Non-Player Character of the Gamemaster’s choice can use their Reaction to attempt to counter an Effect.
Recover: One Non-Player Character of the Gamemaster’s choice can immediately remove a Dazed, Fatigued, or Stunned Condition. This option also allows a character to use Extra Effort without suffering Fatigue, which makes all of the uses of Extra Effort potential uses of Challenge Points as well.
Resistance: If a Non-Player Character fails a resistance check, the GM can choose to spend a Challenge Point to make the check one Degree of Success instead. This includes Damage Resistance Checks as well as checks against ongoing effects.
Challenge Points in Play
Whereas Hero Points tend to be focused on helping the heroes to succeed, recover, and endure, Challenge Points tend to focus on helping the heroes’ foes last longer (Escape, Instant Counter, Recover, and Resistance) and do more (Extra Action and Initiative). There’s no re-roll provision for Challenge Points, for example. If a villain fails a roll and you want them to try again, have them take an Extra Action to do so.
Likewise, Challenge Points function differently from Hero Points in some cases. Resistance with a Challenge Point provides an automatic success, rather than a re-roll or another attempt as with a Hero Point, allowing a villain to shrug off certain effects that would otherwise take them out of the fight too quickly, without completely negating the effects of Damage. You can think of Challenge Points in some ways as additional “minion”-level opponents for the heroes, capable of taking added actions, or sacrificing themselves for the benefit of a master villain, or otherwise serving as distractions or challenges for the heroes, but quickly removed from play once they have done their work.
Unlike the heroes, who earn Hero Points over the course of the game, the GM’s Challenge Points do not increase and only refresh at the start of a new adventure. Therefore, the Gamemaster is advised to reserve some for the climax of the adventure and other occasions where it is important to ensure a suitable challenge for the heroes and the use of Complications (following) is less suitable.
I’m so excited for GM’s everywhere to use Challenge Points to increase the threats of their Valiant villains and to forge more exciting and dangerous encounters for their heroes.
Until next time, stay Valiant!
~Alex Thomas, Mutants & Masterminds developer
July Update: Deadside Preview
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jul 26, 2024 at 09:49:47 AM
Hello, heroes!
We’re closing-in on the complete text for both Worlds of Valiant and the Valiant Hero’s Handbook. Over on the Atomic Think Tank, we’re getting feedback from folks playing the Valiant Quick-Start. If you have played through it or run it and have comments for us, check out the Think Tank or drop us a line at [email protected].
Worlds of Valiant provides more than just a look at the diverse aspects of the Valiant setting, it offers a who’s who of Valiant with all of their game traits, characters you can use as heroes, villains, or somewhere in-between. It also delves into specific game systems for handling aspects of the Valiant setting, such as this bit from the Deadside chapter:
Entering and Leaving the Deadside
There are two primary means of entering and leaving the Deadside: spirit and physical, although the difficulty of using them may vary depending on the character’s abilities and the conditions of their travel.
In some cases, it is simply a matter of the character having the correct abilities, particularly the Dimensional Travel Effect, and making the transition from the living world to the Deadside or vice versa. However, certain conditions may limit or complicate this travel—for example, the character might be able to go to the Deadside at any time, but then not be able to return for at least three days, for example. The Gamemaster decides when these conditions apply, often depending on when characters travel or where they go. Generally, experienced travelers—those trained in the Occult Skill—know about these limitations in advance, but they might not always. Gamemasters can award characters Hero Points for unexpected Complications in Deadside travel, especially if they affect their otherwise established abilities.
Deadside Portals
In some situations, characters have to either keep a portal between Earth and the Deadside open (long enough to accomplish whatever they need to do) or they want to close such a portal—again, ideally before whoever is using it can cause problems.
Keeping a portal open is typically a Concentrate Action and may also require a Check of some sort, such as Occult. The longer the portal is kept open, the more difficult it becomes: Increase the DC of each successive check to keep the portal open by at least +1, possibly more. Characters can use Extra Effort to gain an extra Standard Action to both Concentrate and do something else, otherwise their Standard Action is taken up keeping the portal open, unless the GM decides it takes a lesser action. Once no one is holding the portal open, it closes, usually at the start of the next Turn of the character who was holding it open.
Closing a portal can be as simple as a Countering Check against the character or force holding it open: Each side rolls an Opposed Check using Power Rank, Will, or Occult, and the character who wins decides if the portal stays open or closes. In some dramatic situations, the GM may decide closing a Deadside portal is a Challenge Sequence, as follows:
Time: Typically 1 round, although possibly longer.
Checks: Most often Occult, but Will or Fortitude Checks may be called for, and other magical power Ranks may apply. This is either against a set Difficulty Class or an Opposed Check against another character or force keeping the portal open. The DC for opening a Deadside portal may be lower in a blight or shadow place.
Success: When the character achieves the needed Degree of Success, the portal closes. This can be anywhere from 2 to 5 Degrees or more. Likewise, the Degree of Success needed may be lower in a blight or other place where the veil between the worlds is thin.
Consequences: The primary pressure for this Challenge is getting the portal closed in time, but the Gamemaster may decide that Failure on a Check has other consequences, including Fatigue or a Damage Resistance Check, or a Fortitude or Will Resistance Check to avoid being Stunned and no longer able to try to continue closing the portal.
Closing or eliminating a blight is similar to closing a portal, but usually with a longer time interval, minutes or even hours rather than rounds, and requiring 5 or more Degrees of Success. Deadside creatures dependent on the blight may well try to prevent it being closed as well.
The Road Ahead
Like we said, the text is almost finished for both books and Alex has begun the design work for some of the other products associated with the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game such as the GM and Player Journals. We’ll show off some of that information in an upcoming update. We’ll also be doing some more Valiant-themed actual plays on the Atomic Think Tank in order to give our members a chance to try the game with the designers before it's finalized. Finally, we’ll all be at Gen Con next week! Alex will be running a ton of M&M games at the con and we will both be at booth 101 with the rest of the Ronins. Please stop by to say hi or drop into a game we’re running!
June Valiant KS Update: Special Effects
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Jun 20, 2024 at 11:29:28 AM
Hello heroes!
I can’t believe it’s already summer time and con season. I’ll be running a ton of M&M events at Origins Game Fair when this post goes out, but I wanted to take some time to showcase some more of our new mechanics for Valiant Adventures. One of the coolest aspects of the superhero genre is the wide range of exciting powers and abilities on display. However, these unique talents manifest in thousands of different ways, which can be daunting to replicate in RPG form. We boil these superpowers down to their base Effect on the world around them.
Effects define what different powers do in game terms, from Damage to Protection, Flight, Teleport, and many other broad categories. While Valiant Adventures makes use of most of the Effects found in M&M, we have adjusted or updated some of them, along with adding a couple to give Valiant players and Gamemasters a robust toolkit for describing their characters and what they can do.
● Affliction is a key Effect when it comes to attacks that don’t necessarily inflict Damage, but focus on various Conditions. We’ve added a few new Conditions an Affliction can impose, along with providing several ready-made Effects that are specific “shorthand” configurations of Affliction to make it easier to grab just the Effect you want, and have something to call it. They include Dazzle, Mind Control, Paralyze, Snare, Stun, Suffocation, Toxin, and Transform.
● Obscure is a new Effect from our “Omniversal Variant” test articles on the M&M Patreon—with more of these articles planned for the new Atomic Think Tank. Obscure will be familiar to those who played the Second Edition of M&M. It neatly handles sense-blocking Effects from areas of darkness or blinding smoke to silence fields or even radio jamming frequencies.
● Tether is likewise an “Omniversal Variant” making its appearance in Valiant Adventures, an Effect binding the user to a target and allowing them to exert force on it at a distance.
Those are just a few examples of the 40-some Effects found in Valiant Adventures, each with their own modifiers to enhance or limit how they work. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the creative applications you come up with using these Effects and many others after the game launches!
~Alexander Thomas, lead developer for Mutants & Masterminds
