Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game

May Update: Taking Action!
almost 2 years ago – Tue, May 28, 2024 at 09:36:13 AM

Hello Heroes! 

I just wanted to check in to let you know that our work continues on the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game. We’re deep into the amazing setting work of Worlds of Valiant, creating a ton of iconic statblocks and I’m personally working through my chapter on the Stalinverse at the moment. It’s a fitting bit of development work to be doing in what is traditionally Multiverse May at Mutants & Masterminds Monday!

However, I wanted to use this month’s update to chat about some of the new actions we’re introducing for this game. Valiant Adventures uses the familiar actions and action-resolution system of Mutants & Masterminds with a few additions and clarifications. In particular, we’ve taken some things that have been described as actions, in the form of “take a standard/move action to do X” and turned them into named actions to provide clear shorthand, where it’s far easier to say “take the Command Action and” or “it requires a Sustain Action each turn”.

Action Types

We’ve added Reactions to the familiar list of Standard, Move, and Free Actions. Reactions are something that you do as a reflex or in response to something else and doesn’t even need to happen on your Turn. The game rules specify when you can use your Reaction to do something. You can perform one Reaction per Round, and regain your Reaction at the start of your Turn, if you used it on the previous Round.

Reactions open up a wide range of game abilities and options where players need to make a tactical decision in terms of how to use their Reaction each turn, particularly in terms of Advantages and maneuvers in combat. One of the things I love about a lot of our Reactions is that they tap into the feeling of camaraderie and teamwork inherent in superhero teams and help fill out the options for “support” character concepts. Now you have ways to influence the action without worrying about your allies already being at the Power Level caps.

New Actions

As noted, Valiant Adventures defines a number of “new” Actions, although many of them are just pre-existing options in M&M, codified into specific Actions so players and GMs can more easily reference them. Some examples include:

●        Command (Move Action): Issuing a command to a character under your direction, such as a Minion. If you want to issue different commands to different characters or groups, each one requires a Command Action (so you can issue two different commands per Round as two Move Actions).

●        Concentrate (Standard Action): You concentrate to maintain an Effect with the Concentration Duration. So long as you continue to take this action on each of your Turns, the Effect continues.

●        Feint (Standard Action): You attempt to mislead an opponent, leaving them unprepared for your real attack. Make an Attack Check or a Deception Skill Check (your choice) opposed by the better of your target’s corresponding Attack Bonus, Deception, or Insight. If your Check succeeds, the target is Vulnerable against your next attack until the end of your next Turn.

●        Overwhelm (Standard Action): You attempt to use sheer force of personality to overwhelm someone, forcing them to briefly do as you wish. Make an Interaction Skill Check or an unskilled Presence Check against the result of your target’s Insight or Will Check: With one Degree of Success your target is Dazed, with two they are Compelled to be Helpful towards you, with three they are Controlled to be Helpful towards you. Any Condition imposed by Overwhelm is removed at the end of your next Turn.

I’m so excited to see how players engage with all of these new options and hope that it continues the narrative-driven combat of Mutants & Masterminds. If you’d like to see an example of some of these actions at play, you can check out an actual play we ran this month set in the Deadside in the video below or for more hands-on previews and playtest material come visit us at the recently reopened Atomic Think Tank! We have sections there dedicated to all of Green Ronin’s games, including separate hubs for Mutants & Masterminds and Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game! I hope this update finds you well and, until next time, make some time to play a game and be good people!

~Alex Thomas, M&M Line Developer

April Update and The Atomic Think Tank!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Apr 10, 2024 at 04:04:19 PM

Hey there Heroes,

We should have the pledge manager set up on Backerkit soon, but in the meantime we've got an update for this month from Alex, as well as a link to join us on the new Atomic Think Tank!

Take it away, Alex!

Hello heroes! I just wanted to take some time to say thank you so much to everyone who helped us fund the Valiant Adventures Roleplaying Game! We’re so excited to create a comprehensive breakdown of this amazing setting using the flexibility of Mutants & Masterminds. Since the end of the Kickstarter, Steve and I have been hard at work finishing up our sections of the Worlds of Valiant sourcebook. Gamemasters will be able to run believable, immersive games in any corner of the Valiant universe with this book. I can’t wait to start revealing portions of this text as we finish getting it ready.

Speaking of, The Atomic Think Tank, our community platform, has launched a space devoted to Worlds of Valiant, alongside the Mutants & Masterminds space, and you are invited to be among the first to join! Check it out at this link for a front row seat for the development of these books! Members of this community get the first opportunity to look through the text of the Valiant Adventures Hero’s Handbook, try the new rules with their home groups, and provide vital feedback as we continue development. If you’d like to get involved with the new Think Tank, please follow this link!

As for what comes next, Steve and I will continue the development process for Worlds of Valiant and I have begun designing the Player and Gamemaster Journals. Over the next few months we’ll continue giving previews here through Kickstarter Updates and we’ll be sharing more in depth previews on the Atomic Think Tank. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the great adaptations we’re bringing to Mutants & Masterminds and I hope you enjoy the preview process just as much as me! 

Alex Thomas - Mutants & Masterminds Line Developer

That's A Wrap!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 21, 2024 at 05:05:13 PM

Thank you so much, Heroes!

Our campaign has been a success, thanks to all of you, and we even unlocked the stretch goal for the Dust Jackets at the end there!

We're going to take a break for the evening, but we will be back soon with an update on what comes next, our plans for the pledge manager, and monthly updates on the progress & production of the Valiant Adventures RPG!

And as always... Stay Valiant!

Taking Advantage - Social Goals updates!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 12:52:03 PM

Hey there, Heroes!

Before we get to Steve Kenson's latest update, I thought we should take a moment to celebrate unlocking two of our new Social Goals unlocked recently! We're also in the final stretch of the campaign, so if you know anyone who might be on the fence, let 'em know they have until tomorrow at 5pm Pacific.

With 200 social media shares, we moved the Adventure to $60,000, and at 450 backers, we're doing both dust jackets at $50,000. With just another 75 backers to go, we're so close to getting everyone a free month to the new Atomic Think Tank!

Here's Steve with a summery of Advantages the recent PDF preview characters are using (who are now featured in the free Quickstart!).

Advantages are traits in the Mutants & Masterminds system that fall in-between Skills and Powers, particular edges or resources characters have, often letting them bend the rules in specific ways under particular circumstances. Valiant Adventures includes many familiar Advantages from the M&M core rules, along with some that have been updated in various ways, and a few new advantages as well.

When we provided pre-generated characters for the Valiant Quickstart, we included descriptions of all of their Advantages. However, when we offered previews of some of the signature Valiant heroes, there wasn’t space on their character sheets to provide descriptions of all of their Advantages: For characters like Ninjak, it would have taken an extra couple of pages!

So here is a quick summary of the new Advantages the sample Valiant heroes have. The rest can be found in the Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook or Basic Hero’s Handbook. Please note that this is not final text, but a behind-the-scenes look at just a sample of what is in store in the Valiant Adventures manuscript!

Counterattack: If an opponent hits you with a Close Attack, you can use your Reaction to make an immediate Attack against them, before your Resistance Check against their attack’s Effect, if any.

Exploit Momentum: If an opponent misses you with a Close Attack, you can use your Reaction to immediately attempt a Trip Attack against them, and they do not get an opportunity to try and trip you.

Fallen Inspiration: When you are Incapacitated (including Dying or even Dead) you immediately gain a Hero Point and can then divide your current total Hero Points as you wish among any allies able to see or hear you. 

Gadgets: You have access to one (or more) Gadgets, temporary Devices. Each Rank in this Advantage lets you produce one Gadget per adventure. The Gadget can have total Effect Ranks no greater than the series Power Level and any Extras count as additional Ranks equal to the base Effect Rank. Each Gadget is good for one Scene, after which it is no longer usable, unless you expend an additional use of this Advantage. All of your uses of Gadgets reset at the start of each adventure.

Menacing Attack: If you render an opponent Incapacitated (including Dying or Dead, at the GM’s discretion) you can use your Reaction for an immediate Overwhelm Action against all Minion opponents able to see and hear you.

Opportunity Attack: When an opponent within range of your Close Attack moves, and their movement would take them out of your Close Attack range, you can use your Reaction to make an immediate Close Attack against them before they leave your range.

Power Stunt: Each Rank in this Advantage lets you perform a Power Stunt without suffering any Fatigue. All of your uses of Power Stunt reset at the start of each adventure.

Ripose: If an opponent misses you with a Close Attack, you can use your Reaction to make an immediate Close Attack against them.

Sleeper Hold: You can put a target into a hold to knock them out. Make a Close Attack Check against a target’s Parry Defense as a Standard Action. If you hit, the target must make a Fortitude Resistance Check against a DC of (10 + your Strength Rank):

• Success: No effect.
• Failure (one degree): The target is Dazed.
• Failure (two degrees): The target is Stunned.
• Failure (three degrees): The target is Asleep.

On your Turn, you can take the Concentrate Action to maintain the sleeper hold, requiring a new Resistance Check from the target. Success removes the condition imposed by the sleeper hold and the target escapes. Failure means the Effect increases by one degree until the target is asleep. Sleeping targets get a Fortitude Resistance Check each minute to wake up unless they’re deliberately awakened.

Split Attack: When you take the Attack Action, you can divide your attack between two different targets. This usually represents rapid, but less forceful, attacks in order to hit more than one target. Divide the Effect’s Rank between the two targets as you wish and make an Attack Check for each target. The attack works on each target normally at its reduced Rank.

Tactical Advance: When you impose the Dazed or Stunned Condition on an opponent, allies able to hear you can use their Reaction to move their Speed towards that opponent.

Steve Kenson

Valiant Views: X-O Manowar
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 09:10:45 AM

Hey there, Heroes!

You may have noticed that we updated the free Valiant Adventures Quickstart yesterday! The Quickstart adventure now includes all six of these preview characters, as well as an alternate introduction to the story so you can use them instead of our original pregen characters, if you'd prefer. 

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 armored powerhouse, X-O Manowar!

Aric of Dacia was a Visigoth warrior, abducted by the alien Vine, who led a slave revolt and bonded with the sacred Armor Shanhara, a Vine relic. So it’s no surprise that Aric is above-average in his physical Abilities and has formidable Fighting, having mastered most forms of close combat in his time.

His Powers are all tied up in the Shanhara armor, granting him Enhanced Strength and Toughness. The armor is Impervious to low-Rank attacks, including most common earthly weapons like guns. It takes a heavy weapon to even scratch X-O, as Earth’s armed forces learned. Even then, the armor helps Aric recover from lethal damage in minutes. X-O can fly at high speeds and even cross interstellar distances outside of an atmosphere, plus Shanhara grants him a suite of sensors and the ability to understand earthly and alien languages alike.

While Aric can be deprived of his armor, when he takes it off, Shanhara is bonded to him and comes at his call, if possible. It takes great effort to separate X-O from his armor, as many foes have learned.

X-O doesn’t have a lot of skills: Aric was and is a warrior first and foremost, relying on his Fighting more than anything else. He has knowledge of History and Military tactics and operations, he’s athletic, perceptive, and intimidating, and not much else. He has learned some leadership skills, reflected in his Advantages, but still falls back on mostly untrained Presence Checks when it comes to social skills beyond threatening people.

Speaking of Advantages, no surprise that most of the Manowar’s are combat-related. His Counterattack makes it potentially dangerous for a foe to face him in close combat (if you come for the king, you’d best not miss!), the same with his Opportunity Attack. Takedown and Menacing Attack are an effective combo to take out minions and cow the rest with an Overwhelm reaction. His Tactical Advance Advantage makes X-O dangerous as the leader of a force, since his success can allow them to move more quickly to attack their foes at his command.

Shanhara’s occasional comments and advice tend to be limited to X-O’s Senses Powers and spending a Hero Point for Insight, in which case the GM might use Shanhara as a means to offer the Manowar suggestions. Aric’s Complications note that he is a man of honor, but one from an archaic time long past, still trying to do what he sees as good with the tremendous power he has been given.

Steve Kenson