Ground Rules—Take Two!

So, this is now the second blog that I'm making, seems fitting to put this on here somewhere.

For those that don't know, my name is Donavon (more universally known as DoctorBoson). I'm the same guy that writes and runs the Savage Everything! blog and have been playing and GMing Pinnacle Entertainment's Savage Worlds game system for around four years; very cheap and highly recommended if you somehow found me before you found them.

I'm creating this because, while Savage Everything! is pretty well-received, one thing that's begun to happen is folks pegging that blog as one with a more super-hero focus, which was not my intent. I got into a huge supers kick after the 2nd edition Super Powers Companion was released and went nuts working with Marvel's properties.

Because of this, I've opened up a second dump for Savaging. This one, however, is solely dedicated to the many, many (many, many, many), characters that Marvel has adapted and created for its films. Lets me free up space on the other blog for non-supers, like Game of Thrones characters, or Star Wars.

A few ground rules and house rules that I personally use to make these folks work:

1. As usual, I am pulling information from the movies and shows only. There may be some rare times when I pull from the MCU-official tie-in comics to round out certain characters, but I won't be straying outside of the MCU canon to build characters. Black Widow's gauntlets only do what we see in the films and not the insane amount of things we find in the mainstream comics, for example.
2. Also, as per the usual, these characters are being made as though I were a player and the movies were a campaign. Most characters are going to start above Novice (many of them beginning above Legendary, even), and I'm gonna be working to make it so that they are the lowest experience possible to recreate what the character is capable of on the screen. Arguments could be made to bring them up to a higher level but 90% of the time I'm sticking with what we've seen and not much more.
3. Most all of my information is going to be brought in from the Second Edition Supers Companion. The first edition was decent at the power levels it was shooting for, but given the massive power range we see in Marvel films, that won't be enough.
4. Now, a minor tweak for characters here: Power Points are not solidified for some characters. Someone like Iron Man has dozens of suits that he's made, and each of them are their own separate power sets and stats with their own Power Point pool. This means that he'll be jumping between suits and power point configurations fairly often. Most of the time, previous power sets will be notated within the characters' post.
5. Joke cameos do not count for the purposes of tags, narrative cameos do.

A few Setting Rules that are in effect:

1. Characters with Super Powers may gain them for free and at any time appropriate to the narrative (not restricted to being a Background Edge). That said, if a character with a Rising Stars! Arcane Background may take Power Points every 20 XP, regardless of rank, up to their normal maximum. Super Karma may also be applied at any time, not solely at character creation.
2. Characters without Arcane Background (Super Powers) do not gain a free Background Edge.
3. Joker's Wild! is always in effect in my games and conversions (characters automatically receive a Benny whenever one of them draws a Joker).
4. All Comic Book Combat, Power Stunts, and Power Tricks Settings Rules are in effect with one exception: Unarmed Defender is modified. This is a tricky one on a character-to-character basis as to who is considered armed or unarmed, but the general rule of thumb is that if you have Heavy Armor, have a melee attack, or have any of the attack penalty powers (parry, speed, uncanny reflexes, etc.) with a –2 or greater penalty to hit your character, or otherwise logically you don't care about weapons or are armed, you are considered an armed defender (this does not make you an armed attacker for the purposes of the rule). This means martial artists still must take the Martial Artist Edge. (A character with an unarmed attack, melee power adds that to their Martial Artist damage).
5. A character's Power Limit is one third of their total Power Points (rounded up), including Super Karma. A Four Color hero with Super Karma has a Power Limit of 19 instead of 15, for example.
6. There have been a few power changes that I've made, notably to the flight and speed tables, all listed in this document.

The last thing I'll be leaving here is a reiteration of how I judge skills. Keep in mind that this isn't what a character is implied to have: all skills and Edges are required to be seen for a character to have them. Most of these are just general guidelines, as appropriate Edges will modify how talented a character is.

• Unskilled (d4–2): A character is only vaguely capable of doing something and likely has never tried. A city-slicker that went camping 12 years ago would probably be Unskilled in Survival.
• Below Average (d4): A character that is familiar with basic principles of a skill but is sketchy on actually executing this. An avid flight-sim player might have a d4 in Piloting.
• Average (d6): This character is average at something involved in their particular line of work. Most cops would only have a d6 in Shooting.
• Above Average (d8): Among a group of friends, or people that are learned in a particular subject, this character is extremely talented in this. Link has a d8 in Smarts (puzzle-solving bastard).
• Expert (d10): This is the level where you will likely be actively pursued and paid high dollar for your abilities or services, or are otherwise just exceptionally skilled. House has a d10 in Taunt.
• Elite (d12): Simply one of the best in this particular field. The Mountain has a d12 in Intimidation (and by god did he earn that one).
• Legendary (d12+1): Stories of this characters' aptitude will be told for decades after he has passed away. Ezio has a d12+1 in Fighting (and a whole slew of Edges to go with it).
• Maximum Human Capacity (d12+2): This is the physical limit of the human body to be able to accomplish incredible feats. Louis Cyr had a d12+2 in Strength.

Here's to a good long while of Savaging. If I'm lucky, I can manage to have all the big players down by the time Civil War rolls through and I have to go back and fix everything.

—DoctorBoson