Valiant Views: Ninjak
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 09:37:28 AM
Hey there, Heroes!
We've got some even more news coming soon regarding these preview characters and the Quickstart! Stay tuned!
But for now, we've got Valiant's signature ninja coming in fast. Who's up for a little Ninjak?
Take it away, Steve!
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. In this preview, we look at Valiant’s ultimate secret agent and super-spy, Ninjak.
Ninjak is a prime example of a “normal human” who, well, isn’t in that some of his abilities (Agility, Dexterity, and Intellect) are above the “normal human” limit that hovers around Rank 6 and his Fighting Ability is truly superhuman at 14, but then Ninjak is one of the best all-around combatants in the Valiant Universe. He relies on that high Attack Bonus because his Damage output is relatively low for his Power Level, meaning Ninjak is going to Power Attack when he can against lower Defense targets (if he’s not using his Gadgets Advantage to simply plant a bomb on them…).
Ninjak’s “powers” are all Devices, particularly built into his uniform. In particular, his Enhanced Armor Mode is a good example of Power Level trade-offs: It exchanges upping his Toughness (Protection) at a reduction in his Dodge and Parry, keeping his Power Level the same, but recognizing situations where Ninjak needs greater Toughness while still maintaining quite high Defense Class against attacks.
He has a formidable set of Equipment, including a variety of weapons, all cutting-edge tech, but not so advanced they count as Devices.
Ninjak was the true test for the layout of the Advantages section! He has a lot of them. Notable is his Gadgets Advantage, a new one in Valiant Adventures that lets him come up with his signature “I have a device for that” move in the comics. He’s naturally got the Assessment, Connected, and Well-Informed Advantages for intelligence gathering, along with a lot of Combat Advantages reflecting his training, cunning, and skill. Of note are new Valiant Adventures Advantages like Exploit Momentum, Opportunity Attack, Riposte, Sleeper Hold, and Split Attack. The first three make use of the addition of a once per Turn Reaction option, letting Ninjak respond to things his opponents are doing. The other two are a revision of the old Chokehold Advantage and an Advantage version of the Split Effect Modifier, allowing him to make two smaller attacks in place of a larger one.
Ninjak is also a Skill monster, adding to his already formidable Abilities in all of the ninja- and espionage-related Skills. In particular, his Skill Mastery in Stealth lets Ninjak routinely disappear and conceal himself under most circumstances unless dealing with an opponent with Senses Effects that allow them to detect him (as X-O Manowar did in their initial encounters).
Steve Kenson
Final Week, New Social Goals
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 03:31:26 PM
Hello Heroes!
We are into the final week of the Valiant Adventures RPG crowdfunder, so it’s time to superpower this Kickstarter. To that end, we have created a new set of social goals for the campaign. These are keyed off social media shares and the total number of backers. You help us spread the word and your pledge gets better. Win, win! Here are the new goals:
If we hit 450 Reward Tier Backers*, dust jackets for both the Valiant Adventures Hero’s Handbook and Worlds of Valiant will unlock at $50,000. You will get to vote on the design of each dust jacket, choosing one of three designs for each book.
If we hit 550 Reward Tier Backers, all backers will get a free month of access to the new Atomic Think Tank on Mighty Networks, which we are getting ready to launch. We're building the Atomic Think Tank to be THE place to connect with the Green Ronin Publishing community, the team, and exclusive insider events and activities for your favorite Green Ronin Publishing titles! When this goal is unlocked, it means that every backer gets a VIP early-access subscription for one month, FREE! No credit card, no mess, just an all-access pass to secret playtests, Dev chats, exclusive member-only campaign tools and supplements, plus you get to hang out with heroes like you—a table of friends awaits, all we're missing is you!
If we hit 650 Reward Tier Backers, all backers will get free three months access to the Atomic Think Tank.
If you heroes help us with 200 Social Media Shares, the free 32-page adventure stretch goal will unlock at $60,000. Here are the links to share.
To the Kickstarter page: http://greenron.in/KickstartValiantAdventures
To the campaign video on YouTube: http://greenron.in/ValiantAdventures
Remember that in addition to the books themselves, we’re also offering great add-ons like Hero Point Tokens from Campaign Coins, a Valiant Adventures playmat, Condition Cards, Player and GM Journals, and more. In previous crowdfunders we’ve run, we might have done some of these as stretch goals, but we wanted all the coolness available from day 1 of the Kickstarter.
Thanks so much for your support. Let’s unlock some social goals!
Chris Pramas
Valiant Views: Faith
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 10:18:35 AM
Hey there, Heroes!
We've got a couple more of these previews for you, but we also have some big news coming soon, so stay tuned!
Here's Steve Kenson again for today's Valiant Views.
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 the high-flyiong Faith.
Faith is our first psiot character, a definite archetype in Valiant Adventures. Psiots are people with the potential for psionic powers, harbingers of the next stage of humanity. However, at this stage, few psiots “activate” and gain powers on their own, and the process of trying to force an activation is both difficult and dangerous, often ending in the subject’s death. Faith Herbert was one of the lucky ones, and she knows it.
So, Faith’s Abilities are overall decent, but not a major element of her character. She’s smart, determined, and personable, and has learned to defend herself a bit, but all-in-all, nothing outside of the normal human range of Ability Ranks.
It’s Faith’s Powers that are the focus of her character sheet. Her psiot ability is a psychokinetic “Companion Field” that allows Faith to levitate herself and other people or things in proximity. She has since learned to extend her Companion Field to both move more distant objects and to create a kind of repulsion field to block or deflect attacks and other sources of harm. Those uses go into an Array, based on what Faith is focusing on at any given moment; her Force Field protects her, while her Shield is a wider and stronger form of protection, but largely immobile since it requires more concentration.
Of particular note is Faith’s Boundless Optimism, giving her a Bonus Die on Will Resistance Checks against certain Effects, a version of the Resistance Power that models Faith’s ability to overcome personal obstacles, along with her Advantages.
Speaking of which, Faith has some Advantages involving the use of her powers in combat, particularly Evasion, Improved Disarm, Interpose (useful for her Force Field and Shield), and Redirect. She has a Benefit for her Secret Identity for the occasions when it has come in handy, such as when Faith was accused of a crime, and related Advantages like Connected and Well-Informed for both her journalist connections and her knowing a lot of other heroes. Lastly, Faith has some interpersonal Advantages: Extraordinary Effort for her unflagging determination, Leadership representing her ability to help other people overcome obstacles, Luck for her ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and a Second Chance Advantage that goes along with resisting attempts to manipulate her or get her to give up.
Faith’s Skills mostly involve her day-to-day training as a journalist and investigator, what she has learned as a hero in the field and, most of all, her boundless knowledge of pop culture and geek subjects, which the GM should find uses for in adventures much like Faith does in the comics. Her Complications mostly revolve around Faith being a good person who wants to do good and inspire other people to be better. She’s a true hero and ray of sunshine.
Valiant Views: Doctor Mirage
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:03:15 AM
Hey there, Heroes!
We're back to start off the week with another preview character in our Valiant Views series. This time featuring Doctor Mirage!
Here's Steve Kenson,
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.
Valiant Views: Bloodshot
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 09, 2024 at 10:59:42 AM
Hey there, Heroes!
We're starting a new series of character breakdowns over the next week or so, talking about how they were translated into Mutants & Masterminds.
Steve Kenson is back with a look at Bloodshot.
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 theValiant Adventures Quickstartfor 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!
~Steve Kenson
